Guardian fanfic recs

[maggie33]

I posted my 3rd Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng fic and to celebrate I made a rec post of my favorite fics for that pairing. But first some fanfic musings.

With Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan fanfic there is enough of it that I can be choosy. If a fic looks like something that wouldn’t interest me I don’t read it. With Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng fics are scarce, so I at least tried to read everything in English.

What I find interesting is that different writers use different methods of writing their names in fanfic. With Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan people are pretty consistent, it’s always full names (with Yunlan sometimes for Zhao Yunlan). But with Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng it’s a complete arbitrariness.

With Guo Changcheng it’s easier – it’s usually Changcheng (or Chang Cheng), sometimes Guo – whether it’s from his or Chu Shuzhi’s POV. But it seems with Chu Shuzhi it’s so much harder – I’ve seen all of those: Chu, Chu Shuzhi, Shuzhi, Shu Zhi.

And I get it. I have absolutely no problem with writing full names when it comes to Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei. It felt a bit strange at first, coming from Western TV fandoms, when I started reading Guardian fanfic, but I got used to it pretty quickly. Now it feels jarring when someone uses just Zhao or Shen in fanfic. But I can’t for the life of me use Chu Shuzhi in my own fanfic the same way, always with the full name. It looks awkward to me. I really don’t know why. :) And I have absolutely no problem with reading Chu/Guo fics where they are just Chu and Guo.


And now onto the recs. Here are 14 fics, in order from oldest to newest – the list is quite long, so it goes behind the cut.


a litany of firsts by cosipotente

I think this is my favorite Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng fic. It starts right after almost freezing to death in episode 18.


First Kiss by kirakiraakira13

A short and sweet fic about the first kiss.


A Peaceful and Ordinary Life by bazemayonnaise (Ninjaninaiii)

A fic about both of them dealing with the aftermath of episodes 33 and 34.


Soul of the Mountain God by Gotcocomilk

That fic borrows heavily from the novel canon, which is not my thing usually. But it has lovely Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng scenes.


Five times Chu didn't tell Guo he loved him (because he didn't need to) by fkyb (Chrysomie)

Exactly what is says on the tin – a five times fic.


tie me up by ssantisheep

A nice, porny fic with possessive Chu Shuzhi.


The moments after by weilongfu

The first Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng fic I read. Reincarnation AU, it borrows some things from the novel, but not much. This is one of those rare times that the reincarnation trope works for me.


Ring of Fire by LazyGeisha

High school AU, because every pairing needs one. :)


what it means to dream by inexhaustible

Chu Shuzhi character study – a fic about him using Logevity Dial to share his life force with Guo Changcheng in episodes 33.


to protect and serve by inexhaustible

A wonderful and funny fic about Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng from the rest of the SID team’s POV.


to hold dear by inexhaustible

Hot PWP, archive locked.


One hell of a work week by Moon_Lovers_Lover

Hilarious AU with references to drama canon and with implied reincarnation.


归属感 (of belonging) by inexhaustible

Domestic fluff – a sweet post-canon fic.


Guard Your Mind by Little_Dimples

Still not finished, but very funny, cracky WIP with Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng and Lin Jing/Da Qing pairings, taking part entirely in group chat. Last updated on 07.01.2019

Comments

[green]

Thank you for posting this! \o/

[maggie33]

I hope you'll like at least some of them. And see, I finally decided on the icon. :D

[green]

I read the first one and it was SO SWEET. <3

[mecurtin]

Thank you very much for this!

[maggie33]

I'm so glad people find it helpful. :)

[kimboo_york]

This is a blessing! Thank you for your efforts!!!! ♥

[maggie33]

No problem. It was a pleasure. :) And ohhh, your icon is wonderful.

[china_shop]

But it seems with Chu Shuzhi it’s so much harder – I’ve seen all of those: Chu, Chu Shuzhi, Shuzhi, Shu Zhi.

Does anyone ever use Chu-ge, from Changcheng's POV? That would seem most natural to me.

[maggie33]

Like consistently through the whole fic? I don't recall such case. But some fics I only started to read and gave up pretty early, so who knows, maybe? :)

[bonibaru]

I have read a fair amount and have not seen Chu-ge used for an entire fic yet.

[qikiqtarjuaq]

I remember xia (a.k.a. inexhaustible) using that in his fic. Mostly on account of the brain-breaking debate on using "-ge" vs "bro" and how hilarious bro would sound in a PWP fic. :P

But it's also one of those things where it works perfectly in dialogue, but it's up to personal preference whether that's kept in narration as well.

[maggie33]

But it's also one of those things where it works perfectly in dialogue, but it's up to personal preference whether that's kept in narration as well.

Exactly. Guo Changcheng never calls him anything else but Chu-ge, so it’s natural in dialogue.

And yes, bro in PWP – heh, I think it would be equal parts hilarious and off-putting. :)

[bonibaru]

My current WIP has Chu Shuzhi in it often enough (as a secondary character support) that at first I couldn't make myself write out his entire name, he was Lao Chu and Chu-ge more than was probably reasonable, so I switched back to Chu Shuzhi and now that I've been doing it for two months and 70k+ words, it looks weird just to see it as Chu.

[maggie33]

You know, I tried that with this new fic, after writing it I changed every Chu to Chu Shuzhi. And then I changed it back, because it still looked awkward to me. But I guess after 70k words I would get used to it, too. :)

[bonibaru]

There comes a tipping point at which you just don't have a choice any more, your brain has to switch or explode lol

[jo_lasalle]

But I can’t for the life of me use Chu Shuzhi in my own fanfic the same way, always with the full name.

OMG it's not just me!!! Really, I made the transition to full names for basically everyone else in my own head (and somehow Shen Wei was always Shen Wei even before I read that that's the normal way to do it), but Chu is driving me to distraction. I'm just like, 'argh I can't it feels so WEIRD'.

I guess exposure in the long run might do it but still, I read your post and went OMG IT'S NOT JUST ME. *g*

[maggie33]

'argh I can't it feels so WEIRD'.

It does feel weird. When I tried it with this new fic (putting always the full name), I didn’t even have much problem with some of the scenes, but with sex scenes – oh no, it looked so stilted. I had to change it back to Chu. :)

And maybe I would get used to it if other writers were always using the full name, but they are not. So instead I got used to not paying attention how Chu Shuzhi’s name is written in fics. :)