Poll: Guo Changcheng's major (drama)

[china_shop]

Poll #33343 Changcheng's qualifications

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18

View Respondents

What did Guo Changcheng study at university?

View Answers

Anthropology
0 (0.0%)

Chinese Language Teaching and Applied Chinese Language Studies
4 (22.2%)

Computer Science
0 (0.0%)

Corporate Governance and Sustainability
3 (16.7%)

Creative Writing
3 (16.7%)

Criminology
2 (11.1%)

Economics
4 (22.2%)

Environmental Studies
1 (5.6%)

Financial Accounting and Management
2 (11.1%)

History or Art History
3 (16.7%)

Law
0 (0.0%)

Media Studies
0 (0.0%)

Philosophy
1 (5.6%)

Psychology
1 (5.6%)

Visual Communication Design
1 (5.6%)

other
1 (5.6%)

he couldn't settle on a major and kept switching
7 (38.9%)

Best forgiveness/redemption moment

View Answers

Wang Xiangyang relinquishing the Merit Brush on his deathbed
1 (5.6%)

Ya Qing switching sides and then kneeling to Zhu Hong
5 (27.8%)

Ye Zun's posthumous reconciliation with Shen Wei
6 (33.3%)

Zhao Xinci fighting alongside the Yashou elders
2 (11.1%)

Cong Bo agreeing to work for the SID
2 (11.1%)

Ye Huo acknowledging the Envoy's authority
3 (16.7%)

Lin Jing becoming a double agent
3 (16.7%)

Da Ji fighting to protect Dragon City
1 (5.6%)

Wang Yike crying after accidentally ageing her girlfriend
3 (16.7%)

Dr Feng Qubing giving his life force to reverse the harm he did
7 (38.9%)

other
1 (5.6%)

Comments

[amedia]

Poor Guo Changcheng and his major! I like to think of him switching periodically and finally managing to take enough upper-division courses to end up with a General Studies degree.

Definitely not a philosophy major. One thing I have learned from my profession is that philosophy profs are, for the most part, mean. Seriously. Poor Xiao Guo would not survive. There's a reason I go to interdisciplinary conferences instead of philosophical conferences!*

*I should probably add that the philosophy faculty where I currently teach are not mean, but we are exceptions, honest.

[china_shop]

> I like to think of him switching periodically and finally managing to take enough upper-division courses to end up with a General Studies degree.

Aww! That seems quite plausible. *pets him* :D

> One thing I have learned from my profession is that philosophy profs are, for the most part, mean.

Oh, no! (Whyyy?) (*gives student!Changcheng a fear-baton for philosophy class, lol*)

I had one excellent philosophy lecturer who was good at not only answering questions, but also at figuring out where you'd gone wrong to be asking that question in the first place. But maybe he was an exception, too. /o\

[amedia]

(What a fantastic fear-baton icon!!!)

I'm not sure why philosophy profs tend to be mean, but I have a few hypotheses ... The effect seems more concentrated in larger groups and in more prestigious, research-focused institutions, which probably explains why our group is relatively mellow (a smaller group at a teaching-focused university).

[BTW, I'm very impressed with your lecturer, who was good at not only answering questions, but also at figuring out where you'd gone wrong to be asking that question in the first place. That's an excellent skill! It's one thing to understand a subject, but quite another to be good at teaching and interacting with students. ♥]

I think it's partly that the discipline itself attracts weirdos, to be blunt. I always shuddered internally when a student came in as a brand-new freshman wanting to major in philosophy because it usually meant that they'd read some Ayn Rand or Nietzsche and latched onto it like it was a guiding signpost for their life. [Spoiler: neither of those work very well as a guide to life.]

It's also a discipline that deals with very very basic questions about reality, right and wrong, and so forth. So if you're a French prof who specializes in literature and you think Alain Robbe-Grillet is a brilliant, groundbreaking writer, and your colleague in French literature thinks that Alain Robbe-Grillet is a pervert obsessed with sex and violence, you can still probably find some other things to agree on, like maybe you both hated being forced to read Madame Bovary as undergrads or something.

But if you're a philosophy prof who follows Hume and holds that knowledge is, strictly speaking, impossible, and that cause-and-effect is an illusion, while your colleague prefers the 20th century pragmatists and insists that the truth of any idea depends on its usefulness in real life - your fundamental worldviews are utterly incompatible.

I'm sure there are other reasons, too, but I don't mean to hijack this thread!

What I *really* want to say is that Dragon City University appears to be one of those high-prestige universities, just going by the pressure on Shen Wei to join a research project in the first episode, so it's likely their philosophy profs are mean. If Guo Changcheng lucked into an actual nice person for Intro to Philosophy, they'd probably gently steer him away from the upper-division classes for his own good.

Ooh! that would be a nice mini-plot-bun-bun for my OC the elderly Professor Zhi! (makes a note)

[facethestrange]

"Poor Guo Changcheng and his major! I like to think of him switching periodically and finally managing to take enough upper-division courses to end up with a General Studies degree."

That's my vote too! :) He's not the best at decision-making after all. ♡

[trobadora]

I like to think of him switching periodically and finally managing to take enough upper-division courses to end up with a General Studies degree.

It would fit him! Is there such a thing in China, do you know? There isn't here, as far as I know. (Not that it matters; Haixing isn't China. *g*)

[china_shop]

I think here you'd probably fold as much of it as you could into the nearest degree (Bachelor of Arts, Commerce, or whatever). Or at least, that was the case in the early 90s, lol.

[oracularmayhem]

Creative Writing! Clearly he loves it, and he journals very well.

[amedia]

Ooh, I like this idea!

[china_shop]

Yes! Maybe he's a webnovelist in his spare time, too? :D

ETA: Though, oh, I just thought -- studying Creative Writing would require him to show other people his creative work! Would he?? ;D

[facethestrange]

Lol damn, this made me realize that he probably really didn't have a good time, no matter what he studied - is there any degree where you don't have to present your work? xD (And yeah, presenting creative writing is likely more stressful than presenting facts, but still, all the public speaking, poor Xiao Guo. D:) Maybe something technical, where it's more important how something works than how the student talks about it, but I honestly don't even know if that's how technical degrees work. xD

[facethestrange]

Aw, I didn't even think of how much he enjoys writing! I like this idea. :D

[facethestrange]

POLL! :D ♡♡♡

For Xiao Guo I picked the things that are, or at least were, the default degrees where I live (= what you do when you have no idea what to do), which is economics, accounting and psychology, but idk if that's in any way similar anywhere else. I also thought maybe his degree is something that's actually relevant to working at the SID, but in the end I don't really think so - he got thrown at them, he didn't need the credentials? And mostly I'm very fond of the idea that he just kept switching, so that's my main vote - it would be very on-brand for him. :D

And in the second poll I voted for Feng Qubing - his story was unexpectedly heartbreaking. D:

[china_shop]

POLL! :D :D :D

the default degrees where I live (= what you do when you have no idea what to do), which is economics, accounting and psychology

Oh, that's so interesting. I don't even know what the default degrees would be here. I feel like all the young people I know are doing some variant of engineering, but that must be a statistical anomaly, surely!

I also thought maybe his degree is something that's actually relevant to working at the SID, but in the end I don't really think so - he got thrown at them, he didn't need the credentials?

Yeah, agreed. I think if he had relevant qualifications, ZYL might feel less saddled with him. ;-)

And mostly I'm very fond of the idea that he just kept switching, so that's my main vote - it would be very on-brand for him. :D

:D :D :D

And in the second poll I voted for Feng Qubing - his story was unexpectedly heartbreaking. D:

Snap!! I find him really interesting, and I really like how his first impulse when he finds out what's going on is to try and set it right.

[maggie33]

Heh, another fun poll. And I have never thought about what Xiao Guo could be studying. But yep, indecision and switching sounds like Xiao Guo for me. :)

And wow, so many powerful scenes in that second poll. I think if I had to pick just one I would probably pick Dr Feng Qubing giving his life force. I remember that scene hitting me hard when I was watching it for the 1st time.

[china_shop]

But yep, indecision and switching sounds like Xiao Guo for me. :)

Hee! Yes. *pets him so much*

I think if I had to pick just one I would probably pick Dr Feng Qubing giving his life force. I remember that scene hitting me hard when I was watching it for the 1st time.

*high fives you* :D

[facethestrange]

We have exactly the same answers, yay. *high five* :D

"I remember that scene hitting me hard when I was watching it for the 1st time."

Right?? It's such an unexpectedly tragic storyline.

[china_shop]

Thinking about it more, and more seriously, I think Xiao Guo wants to be useful, and he was raised by public service types, so I think he'd probably take something that would set him up for a desk job, and then he'd just muddle through. I don't know what that something would be, though. I don't get the impression he's super into numbers...

For the redemption, I definitely choose Dr Feng. He didn't intentionally do harm, and when he realised what was happening, his first impulse was to make amends.

[facethestrange]

ITA with both! ♡

I think GCC actively wants to be just an average person with an average (secure) job, which means he'd probably also choose an average degree, but idk what exactly it would be. I can see him studying something he's not into, just because that's what you do, and it's not super difficult, and it will pay well enough.

[trobadora]

For Xiao-Guo, I think some public service-related degree seems most likely, given his family, his general desire to be useful, and the fact that he did go into the Ministry.

Redemption: Ye Zun, no competition whatsoever. That entire reconciliation scene is just fantastic and I love it to pieces, Ye Zun completely shattered and finally able to see the truth, and then taking Shen Wei's hand ... ♥ ♥ ♥

Most of the others are also good, though I really dislike Feng Qubing - he's such an arse, refusing to help ZYL until he's sufficiently grovelled to. And while he gives his life to undo the harm he did with his powers and I respect that, I'm not so sure he even understands he did anything wrong in a much more mundane way.

[facethestrange]

AW. I always have so much love for your icon. ♡

"I really dislike Feng Qubing - he's such an arse, refusing to help ZYL until he's sufficiently grovelled to."

Damn, this is such a good point. Ftr I find his story tragic and sad (because of how much he didn't know, and the decision he made once he knew the full picture), but his personality is off-putting indeed.

[china_shop]

That makes sense about GCC. It's the family business!

That entire reconciliation scene is just fantastic and I love it to pieces, Ye Zun completely shattered and finally able to see the truth, and then taking Shen Wei's hand ... ♥ ♥ ♥

Aww! Moment of grace. <3 It always strikes me that it takes enormous generosity on Shen Wei's part, given everything YZ has cost him.

You already know I find Feng Qubing much more interesting and sympathetic than you do, so I won't get into that again. ;-p (*waves a tiny flag for anyone who wants to join me for a FQB likefest*)

[amedia]

For Xiao-Guo, I think some public service-related degree seems most likely, given his family, his general desire to be useful, and the fact that he did go into the Ministry. *nodnod* - I just posted something about Public Administration above and then read this post. *foreheadsmack*

I think he'd be tempted by Social Work, but I suspect his aunt and uncle might warn him away. TODS used to do interdisciplinary presentations with a Social Work professor, so I got to know a bit about the field, and while it isn't especially academically difficult, it can be very, very emotionally draining.

Redemption: Ye Zun, no competition whatsoever. That entire reconciliation scene is just fantastic and I love it to pieces, Ye Zun completely shattered and finally able to see the truth, and then taking Shen Wei's hand ... ♥ ♥ ♥

I love that moment so much. ♥ ♥ ♥

[trepkos]

I put creative writing because of his diary.

[china_shop]

That makes sense! I love the idea that a high school teacher might have gently pressured him to develop his talent. :D

[facethestrange]

I like this idea a lot, and now I want to read Xiao Guo's stories, especially about the fictionalized versions of his SID colleagues - I'm sure he writes those. :D :D :D