#guang yap

[nerds-yearbook]

On May 29, 2024 Raven Darkholm (Mystique) and Irene Adler (Destiny) renewed their wedding vows at the former Avenger's Mansion (Avengers Vacation Experience Hotel) before family and friends including the X-Men and the Avengers. The ceremony was performed by their son Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler). Irene's bridesmaids were Anna Marie (Rogue) and Ororo Munroe (Storm). Much to her annoyance, Saturnyne was not invited. Instead of asking for an invitation or just gatecrashing, she hired the Technet (Gatecrasher, Yap, Joyboy, China Doll, and Scatterbrain) to kidnap lovers Betsy Braddock (Captain Britain) and Rachel Summers (Phoenix II/Askani) to take their places. Wedding gifts included a free counseling session with Emma Frost (actually Loki), an engraved gun from Wolverine (Logan Howlett), a robot Clone from Mr Sinester (Nathaniel Essex), Pixie got them the horn from a demon in Limbo, Bing brought them a distillation of mutant powers that was an hallucinogenic, and Anole was handing out protest t-shirts. Not surprising, the couple used the occasion for some mischief. ("Something Borrowed, Something Blue", "Wedding Gatecrashers", "Get Mystique... A Gift!", "E'pe'e is Truth", "The Thief's Surprise", Marvel Voices Pride The Wedding Special vol 2 1#, Marvel Comic, Event)

[veinspookiebear]

It's a little bit funny how many times Lu Guang admits in his internal dialogue in Bridon arc how he actually just. has no idea what he's doing. he and Liu Xiao are playing some mastermind game of chess with literal time and space except Liu Xiao has a long-term intricate strategy 47 moves ahead and Lu Guang is just moving his little white knight all over the board playing it safe until he catches Liu Xiao's rook unawares. any space in his brain for master plotting is taken up by Cheng Xiaoshi

[yingdu-lover]

"I am not an accessory...I want freedom!" : Li Haolin's critique of the comphet media expectations, toxic entertainment industry and deconstruction of 'heroism' in To Be Bero X episode 2

Disclaimer : There are two more episodes left, and things will go haywire beyond our expectations; interpretations will change. However, I do believe that the core message should not change; the vision Li Haolin has, and I hope people who have watched his previous works recognize this. Li Haolin did say that the core theme remains the same in all To Be Hero works. May I have the pleasure of reminding you that Link Click was previously named 'To Be Hero: Photo'? Yeah. That being said, I should start my yapping.

Note : If you are a Link Clicker and have gone through all the stages of emotional peculiarities when Yingdu was airing, you may have noticed, with a critical lens, that Yingdu was very vocal about the nuances and politics of the entertainment industry. The recurring dialectic between (heteropatriarchal) capitalist consumerism and subversive counter-narratives really makes me happy; it affirms that Li Haolin is a political artist.

TBHX had a massive worldwide release; of course, it is aimed at an international audience, but I am sure that releasing TBHX a short period after Yingdu's completion was something Li Haolin did purposefully. Probably, it was a deliberate nod to avid Link Click fans to keep thinking intertextually. I took that as a sign.

Link Click and To Be Hero : Photo

(If you wish to skip this section, you can, but you won't be able to understand much when I actually start talking about To Be Hero X. I will draw ample comparisons with these discussions.)

Link Click, especially Yingdu, really deconstructs the concept and construction of 'Hero' and their identity. To quote Li Haolin: Tbhx is not your usual superhero story. It is fundamentally deconstructing the typical popular narratives.

To summarise, Link Click has/shows/raises questions about

1. explicit references to the concept of 'Hero'

2. how heteronormative masculinist capitalism forges the figure of 'Hero'

3. the question of agency : The dichotomy between public and private

4. narrative identity : hero, villain or is it a blur?

5. the 'soft' power of artistic hierarchy : genre and gender

6. the politics of ordinariness in popular culture (the communist propaganda :D)

[Of course, a lot of introductory yapping is about Link Click! It's important! So I am not stopping]

1. explicit references to the concept of 'Hero'

Starting with the 'Hero' (Hero with a capital H) theme, I think the first time we were introduced to Power Rangers-type heroes in Link Click was in the Doudou episode. Oh my God, this was the only episode that really stressed me out. Anyway, the Doudou story hits so hard because it is painfully realistic; it weaves simple yet endearing love with guilt, escapism, patience, helplessness, brutal honesty, and the acceptance of vulnerability, creating an alternative form of 'heroism' that is both funny and poignant at the same time. It is truly one of the most powerful episodes in the entire season 1.

Season 2's 'hero' discourse is more nuanced, so I'll discuss it while addressing the fifth point. It continues in Yingdu.

Ah, Yingdu. Cheng Xiaoshi's studio was called 'Hero Photo Studio' (ah) before Lu Guang moved in (actually- no, 'Hero' was replaced with 'Time' after they returned from Yingdu and Cheng Xiaoshi kept the promise he made with his maa)

Cheng Xiaoshi exclaiming : am I a hero in a freaking donghua-?! (ah.)

And those lines from The Eye full version :

No matter how hard we looked in the lost and found We never could shine the moonlight underground To the point where we got sick of pretending like we are saviors Till we learn to carry on

Heroes and their savior complex: What is a hero if he does not save people? Useless, right? Heroes are built on narratives. There needs to be a villain to blame, victims to be saved, and most importantly, people to identify the hero as a hero and give the final verdict. What happens when even one parameter is missing?

It's quite amazing how Lu Guang is highlighting his fragility. He does pretend, and he has to be adamant and quite delulu in order to continue his task, or he will collapse.

The interesting thing is that there is an utterance of 'we' rather than 'I.' So, is Cheng Xiaoshi cognizant of this? Something is amiss. It beautifully haunts. It's not just a recollection of the past or their shared suffering and understanding of the world, but rather a sense of final submission on Lu Guang's part.

2. how heteronormative masculinist capitalism forges the figure of 'Hero'

'Heroism' is a fundamentally masculinist construction. Even the term 'virtue,' which has taken on a moral connotation in modern vocabulary, is actually associated with virility/vir (the Latin word for 'man'). Historically, justice, reason, and virtue—the three most basic tenets of heroism—were reserved for (and believed to be possessed only by) exclusively able-bodied men. Women are bestial, devoid of reason, driven by excessive passion, and therefore can never be eligible for the role of a 'Hero.' Even in recent years, the trend is that a female character has to renounce some (or all) parts of her femininity to access aggressive masculinity. Moreover, she can almost never exist without being a shadow to her male counterpart(s). In short, humanist 'Heroism' is predominantly masculine. Female characters must follow a norm to be considered a 'Hero'; they can't topple a system. The fixed binary positions of hero/heroine are heteronormative constructs. Ever wondered why, when a 'heroine' saves a 'Hero' (let's assume both are able-bodied, of equal caliber), it's considered very 'subversive'? It should just be another story of saving people, right? But...It is the normative story that sells. It sells, and that's what matters to capitalism. An alternative story of heroism will remain alternative and special (you know those companies that hire disabled people, queer people, and Black people as a form of tokenism? Then they sack them first without any legible reason or notice). A cluster of 'heroes' will never be able to compete with the 'Hero' (hero with a capital H).

Now, what kind of 'hero' is Qiao Ling?

Honestly speaking, she has been saving Shiguang's ass since the beginning of season 1. Whether it is financial help, legal help, paying hospital bills, paying their bail, or confronting difficult opponents, Qiao Ling hardly backs down. She takes risks; she is overprotective of Shiguang, but since her 'heroism' is so subtle and there is a lack of an audience to identify her as a hero, her 'heroism' goes unnoticed for the most part.

3. the question of agency : The dichotomy between public and private

I discussed a hell lot about it in my analysis of Xia Fei's character before. A few excerpts-

He (Xia Fei) is smart enough to know he is being exploited (and tbh the theme of surveillance and making him the 'morbid' object of gaze, I say morbid because in the last scene of his pv, it's a dead shot, his eyes look so dead, the camera's battery is dead. But yk what remains? his face card. The like button continually popping with likes made me very uncomfortable.

and

Also Xia Fei's story talks about another important theme of the donghua; photo! How photos taken in private spheres are meant to preserve memories of the loved ones, loved encounters. How you capture someone you love in that still image, alive with the emotion you associate with them, giving it an afterlife. The photo becomes the literal and metaphorical medium through which Lu Guang can rewrite history. Forget-me-not, remembrance. It empowers him.

-

On the contrary, for Xia Fei, it is the panopticon seizing his life and rendering it absurd. The emotive power and affect for lu guang changes into viscous institutionalised power politics for Xia Fei. Brilliant! 😭

Xia Fei is surrounded by cameras and it's the play of fate that it continues even to his private life (while befriending Shiguang)

The most perfect focus Wandering between gazes

-

Wherever there's a good position, I'll offer a smile To the lights, I lend this beautiful body To stand in the center

-

No need to guess, this complete disguise The crowd will eventually forget this mask It doesn't matter if the great fire extinguishes the truth Who will it be, perfectly concealed The stolen gaze Yeah, I know I gotta run Yeah, fake a smile in calm

It's a public performance and an elaborate enterprise of concealing the truth; the more you can hide yourself and present what the viewers want, the more success comes to your plate. But very dangerously, when the mask starts to replace your real face, you don't even process it in the beginning, but when it's realized, it's actually too late.

4. narrative identity : hero, villain or is it a blur?

Let alone heroes, villains, or contradictions, all of us are a cluster of fragmented or gap narratives trying to make sense of each other's existence. The reason we resonate with others is that some of our own narratives click with theirs. Our narratives have gaps, and we fill those gaps with what we want to believe. The way we perceive others, forge relationships with others, or even ourselves fills in the gaps in the storytelling. That's how we become complex human beings. Objectively, we are on a perpetual stage of liminality, but to make it easier for our subjectivity, we appropriate narratives according to our ease and taste.

A few months ago, I would easily lose my calm over the 'Is Lu Guang evil?' debate. Now, I feel that it is actually important. Lu Guang himself doesn't identify as a 'Hero.' The problematization of Lu Guang's stance as a 'Hero' is important. Remember the fable-esque story of the forest fire that began featuring in S2 and continued in Yingdu? Who was the culprit? Who was the hero? We may NEVER know. When you are searching for the absolute truth, after a point in time, you realize that absolute truth has no practical value. If you have watched Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (I strongly recommend this movie; please watch it), you know how people choose a narrative for their own convenience and continue their lives with it, however contradictory they might be from each other. This is what really happens in our daily lives. The problem arises when one narrative is weaponized by a certain group and preached as the grand narrative, and the people who believe in alternative narratives become victims of persecution.

The similar story follows in creating the figures of a 'Hero' or a 'villain.' Until now, Xia Fei and Lu Guang's characters have subverted those horizons of expectations the most in the Link Click universe.

5. the 'soft' power of artistic hierarchy : genre and gender

First, I would like to mention a few lines from Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own

Speaking crudely, football and sport are 'important'; the worship of fashion, the buying of clothes 'trivial'. And these values are inevitably transferred from life to fiction. This is an important book, the critic assumes, because it deals with war. This is an insignificant book because it deals with the feelings of women in a drawing room.

Sadly, there will be even a tiny residual of internalized misogyny even when we grow up. It's hard to deal with and that's why it's very important to point out. Romance and shipping is for feminine minds, therefore 'trivial' as a genre. War narratives and heroic battles talk about 'serious' topics, therefore it has an actual 'plot.'

Firstly,

the notion of heroism is inextricably linked with patriotism. In modern-day popular narratives, we may not see the blatant nationalism, but there always remains an echo of 'sacrificing for our own people.' Who are these people? Heroism can't exist if there is no distinction between 'us' and the 'other.' Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. (Very rough translation: It is one's sweet duty to die for his fatherland/country.)

Heroic narratives are war narratives. If you change the perspective, your hero becomes a villain. We always like to see ourselves at the end of suffering as people who have been wronged; injustice has been thwarted against us, and it's our hero's duty to save us.

I know this is more relevant to tbhx, but if you look closely, Link Click implicitly builds upon this: the hierarchy of gendered genres.

Also, Lu Guang's commentary on art, fiction, and philosophy was much more than just shits and giggles. He equates Shakespeare with donghua and manhua; all of these are forms of popular art with different modes of presenting philosophy. Donning a mask and playing a character from Shakespeare's play and cosplaying as a donghua or manhua character are not that different. Lu Guang questions the hierarchy of high culture and low culture. He writes his diary in Latin and Mandarin; he is undoubtedly a fierce scholar. He respects alternative belief systems such as Tarot cards, traditional Chinese medicine; indigenous or pagan forms of knowledge that are often looked down upon by modern Western scientific disciplines (I will write a separate post on this). The crux of my discussion is that Lu Guang continuously identifies the various forms of hierarchy in social beliefs and art and questions their validity. It's a form of soft power that no one bats an eye at, but many do not realize that it shapes how they process information. It is very much linked to the gendered hierarchy, as misogyny and the exclusion of women are very pervasive. And this brings to our last point : the question of power.

6. the politics of ordinariness in popular culture (the communist propaganda :D)

Lmao. Did I say communist propaganda? wth sure.

I will start my combined discussion from here.

Heroes are these big, big people with big, big superpowers-very flashy, very cute, and very demure. Can ordinary people afford to be a hero? It's not a new question, but I can't remember anyone who has dealt with this topic the way Li Haolin has.

I have talked about this before. This genre reflects Li Haolin's vision in his various works. Take, for example, an episode from To Be Hero: Leaf, where little children are playing on the midnight streets, where all the adults have gone for a factory strike. There is a HUGE focus on ordinary people. The reason I remember Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin's Odessa Steps sequence is not because it was a government-funded Russian film to preach communism, but because it showed how to decentralize your focus from grand narratives in artistic representation (for example: navy mutiny and soldiers fighting) and strike the audience with alternative, lesser important narratives (normal people suffering from the war). Digressing from the crime-suspense plot and delving deep into Emma's experience, weaving the Shiguang story with hers in 'Keep in Mind' was not truly a necessity plot-wise, but Haolin felt compelled to do so. To the person who mentioned in their post: 'link click' centers around two young boys who are struggling to pay their debt. I will forever be indebted to you. It's all there, but we need to identify it.

Now that I have discussed all of that, let's dive back into To Be Hero X. Just a list so that I don't forget things,

1. Moon and her plight : Idol culture and how relationship rumours affect female idols' public reputation

2. how corporate dehumanizes people

3. Private queer lives and politics in entertainment industry: Wreck and Nice's relationship as a twofold critique on the audience.

So, Moon.

Can you imagine how disturbing it is to be romantically associated with a person just because you signed a contract with a company? For three years, her main identity was someone's girlfriend, whom she didn't even love. She used to be a travel vlogger, a woman who constantly travels and archives different experiences. If you are into the earliest feminist discourses, women traveling is a frequent topic. From Mary Wollstonecraft to Virginia Woolf - everybody acknowledges that. From THAT, she became someone's girlfriend. The sheer humiliation. The most heartbreaking part is that it is the people's expectations which curbed her teleportation powers; it can only open to Nice's side. Moon can't leave Nice. But is Nice bound to her? I don't think there were any suggestions like that.

If you have already guessed it, then congratulations! You are right; Moon's experience as a female idol is actually a microcosmic representation of how women are treated in a heteropatriarchal society.

When they were hatching the plan to 'free' Moon, Lin Ling said :

'Since Nice is a perfect husband, you can't say no to his proposal.'

Of course! If a man is handsome, virtuous, a respectable 'Hero', and the people love to see the heroine as the Hero's partner, how dare the heroine refuse this proposal? The Moon's consent does not matter. It would be a narrative so audacious and absurd that it would not sell. Champagne problems, ha?

And that woman who constantly speaks corporate said: "We have locked them in the same room for a whole month without any other engagement. Of course, they will grow feelings for each other." Ah, fuck-ass logic. Before you jump on me saying, 'But oh, what about the propinquity effect?' and shit, it is a very heteronormative notion to assume that a man and a woman will always develop romantic feelings for each other. Many people (me, I am the many people) headcanon that Moon is queer, aro-ace, and a strong independent woman—I second all of these, but my point is Moon doesn't need a thesis paper on her sexual preference or romantic orientation to reject Nice or Nice's substitute. Again, Lin Ling is Nice's substitute! Imagine the horror: you are shipped with a man you don't love, and people want you to marry him. Then the fucking company doesn't even have the basic courtesy to inform you that that man died, and now you are playing the same game with a substitute! It's a double violation of Moon's dignity. So, Moon is just a mindless idk animal? You throw a man assigned to be her husband or his decoy WITHOUT her consent and EXPECT her to fall in love with him? I mean, Moon would eventually know about Lin Ling's identity...wha-what was the point of excluding her from the discussion and keeping her in the dark? If it was just work, then why wasn't she consulted before the step was taken? She is the central figure, and she has no say in any of the mayhem unfolding.

Moon could be a sorted woman totally comfortable with her heterosexuality and still say no to Nice, even if he is the last surviving man on Earth. She just doesn't like him; it's that simple. That should be the end of the debate. However, people are not ready to accept that. The audience of the 'To Be Hero X' world and the real audience of 'To Be Hero X' donghua both should question themselves: is it okay to still enforce a relationship between them when the woman clearly expresses her sheer irritation at this fake relationship?

And that staged marriage plot! A perfect woman can either be a wife or a dead wife. Part of the reason Lin Ling cries while holding Moon during Moon's 'death' scene is that Moon has to metaphorically and literally die and withdraw herself from the narrative in order to chase the freedom she deserves. She can't exist with her individuality and agency in this world; capitalism and heteronormativity will not allow that.

Also, Moon's mock attempt at suicide is not funny. If I remember correctly, Li Haolin said in the Link Click art book interview that Liu Siwen and his girlfriend's story was something he actually took from a real-life story from a newspaper. Contrary to the happy ending in episode 5.5, the girl actually ended her life.

Another thing I want to mention is Moon from Lin Ling's perspective. In that interview, Lin Ling said

: Moon is not my girlfriend, she is my goddess.

It is not a typical 'romantic' declaration. Lin Ling acknowledges his position and accepts the fact that he will never be able to reach an equal position with Xiao Yueqing. That's why Yueqing is an inspiration to be admired from afar. And do you know why he accepts this? Because he respects Xiao Yueqing. During their one month together, Lin Ling realized that she never loved Nice to begin with. Lin Ling was the person she learned to be a bit softer. "Lin Ling is a much better name," she said. There is no possibility of assuming a relationship (which, honestly, most men don't even pay heed to. If I love you, I will be eligible to be with you, I will make you fall for me, and then how will you be able to say no to me? This is the general logic. Annoy, cross boundaries, violate personal space, and then coerce the woman into falling in love with you because YOUR love is so pure, omg) when the other party doesn't reciprocate. Lin Ling can still love her, but the love will not be actualized. I think Lin Ling was really upset when he learned that Yuqqing was forced to be in a fake relationship with Nice. He didn't want to hurt her more. The idol-fan relationship was fine, but in my opinion, Lin Ling did see her as more than an idol. His simple efforts to make things better for Xiao Yueqing without the illogical hope that 'if I do this, she will fall in love with me' make their relationship very humane. There might be a desire to be with her, but it never becomes the determining motive. I think Lin Ling would say this to Xiao Yueqing: Ti voglio bene. The literal translation of this Italian phrase is 'I want good for you,' which feels more impactful to me than its allegedly more intense romantic cousin.

Whatever the nature of the feelings Lin Ling had for Xiao Yueqing, if more people had this kind of feeling for others in our world, the world would be a much better place than it is today.

I love Li Haolin for how he tries to liberate heterosexual relationships from heteronormative constraints. In a sense, he introduces a splash of queerness into those relationships. Haolin's hetero couples are couples not merely because they share the same room as a boy and a girl. He portrays heterosocial relationships in a beautiful way. There is room to explore and form different kinds of human bonding. If things were normal, maybe Moon would form a really good friendship with Lin Ling. I feel that Lin Ling is the best interpreter of Moon as a human in tbhx.

2. how corporate dehumanizes people

Moon clearly has a more marginalized space in the dynamic, but how does one process power and position thrown towards them without their full control? Nice's character makes us ponder over this. Power and privilege come with a price. For Moon, she still had room to be subversive because things were clearly not working in her favor. What excuse does Nice have in this regard? It's much more complex. His death was so comical and absurd that until a new character is introduced in the second episode, we don't even feel that a real person has died. THAT is the power of perspective and storytelling. Lin Ling didn't quite process what he saw and perhaps didn't feel the need to bother. And Moon... yes, Moon had her reasons and irritation towards Nice, but it was really appalling to see that she did not even feel a little sad about Nice's death. How bitter must her workplace be? How much does capitalism isolate people to the point where fellow sufferers do not even bat an eye at each other? I am not blaming Moon, but I am asking you to consider the horrifying simplicity in this admission: so what if he died? You arranged for another one? Well, I felt chills. Imagine, one day you die, and then, very unfortunately, you didn't actually die and return to see a clone of yourself performing better than you probably could have done. Corporate not only dehumanizes people but makes people dehumanize each other and that's how it thrives.

Next, I would ask you to remember or re-read the third discussion; the question of agency : The dichotomy between public and private. Just replace Xia Fei with Nice. Heck, listen to Xia Fei's character song and if that doesn't make you remember Nice-

fake a smile in calm

3. Private queer lives and politics in the entertainment industry: Wreck and Nice's relationship as a twofold critique on the audience.

*sighs*.

I thought Haolin would just tease us with a iykyk rivals-enemies to lovers trope between a hero and a villain. Like, people who want to ship, ship. I really didn't expect him to pick shiguang, reverse the colour scheme and maintain the trauma and go : did you like my doomed yaoi?! 😃 man-

Haolin's obsession with widows needs to be studied. He pulled the similar string thrice in Yingdu and it's just the second episode in tbhx. Chill, man.

Back to analysis...what should I say? Let's assume you are Wreck.

you look at him like this. You wanted to be a hero with Nice together. So, for Wreck, to be a hero really meant to be with Nice.

Then one day, a script shattered everything. He became a hero, you became his villain, a literal stepping stone for him, so that his trust value increases.

The flashback suggests that Nice would frequently visit Wreck's house, probably the only place he could call 'home.' Nice would let his imperfect but real, unguarded self liberate in front of him.

And then suddenly, one day, he calls Moon his 'goddess.' You text him, call him, and send letters, but he doesn't reply. You shared a private life beyond the gaze of the camera and the prompt of scripts with him, and the company doesn't feel the need to inform you of his death. You reached there for the much-awaited encounter because nothing makes sense to you. The moment he speaks, a world shatters in your heart; he doesn't seem like your Nice. Still, you urge him to speak, almost pleadingly, because nothing makes sense and you hold onto that one tiny belief that things are still okay; maybe it's just a play. Then the illusion breaks. You can't tolerate it anymore and implore the imposter to speak the truth. He says that Nice committed suicide. He died.

People will remember Moon as an individual and someone who had an emotional dynamic with Lin Ling. But Wreck makes us mourn for the original Nice who died.

I don't know if Wreck knew that Nice was capable of doing something like that. He had already begun to cry, and when he heard the truth, he didn't even say things like, 'It can't be possible,' or 'How can it be possible?' Probably, it was more than possible, and that's why he was so tortured and disturbed. Wreck fell to his death with a smile, thinking that perhaps he might finally be able to be together with Nice peacefully.

Now, after everything, people will come and say: 'Ah, they were best friends.' Sure, they were. And that doesn't sit mutually exclusive to being lovers. What I feel is that it is a very conscious narrative within the narrative that Haolin deliberately put forth to unfold the compulsory heterosexuality and queer erasure in the viewership. Fans in the tbhx world forgot Wreck and didn't bother to understand what made him a villain. If tbhx donghua fans do the same after knowing the other perspectives, it's really... just, um, disappointing. You are proving Haolin's point, and you are the type of fans being criticized in the show. If Wreck were a female villain, my god.

I mean, yeah, I am kind of tired of 'proving' that they were lovers. It's the basic lack of media literacy.

I HAVE YAPPED TOO MUCH HELLO

did moon really survive? we don't know. did nice really die? we don't know. did wreck really die? i don't know. did LIN LING REALLY survive? I DON'T KNOW.

But I don't think those will totally topple these reflections.

Special note :

hello, today is this head emptu's birthday. please give him blessings and pray that he does not bite through the longevity noodles. He has a wife at home. and a sister. please. He has a family.

[crabboytahomaru]

Thinking about yingdu ep1 again… I remember seeing someone talk about Lu Guang effectually killing his past self as he takes over his body, and I was just thinking about it.

He took the opportunity to fall in love for the first time from himself. Never again will he see Cheng Xiaoshi and see him as himself, unburdened by his future, all the timelines, and just let himself love. What happens in the past is controlled by the future, Lu Guang deciding to go back into the past is an event that has already happened. So was there even a university Lu Guang that wasn’t his future self inhabiting his body? Was there even a Lu Guang that got to meet Cheng Xiaoshi and fall in love with him for the first time?

[inkinthetypewriter]

my friend showed me this picture and asked me who was link and who was click and i had a little laugh before i explained to them that the english title has no relevance to the names of the characters and that the names of them can be pretty complicated to say/remember if you haven’t seen it so for their convenience they call lu guang link and cheng xiaoshi click and i love it

[fictionfixations]

rewatching bridon arc for the en dub (be prepared for more yapping after this) and i have to question

how the fuck did the photo not fall out during this part

he takes it out and puts it on top of the book

and aside from that we know its not glued cause she just took a photo and put it in and then closed the book nothing else

photo is no longer on top

GIRL THROWS IT (why) so if there was a photo there its gone

idk maybe there was a line i missed but i cant approve of throwing a book for any reason😭 i just wouldnt trust that something wouldnt go wrong (dude what if she didnt catch it!?!?!?)

also i just realized she takes the pen with her too aw

anyway cute moments of dub i liked

"Lu Guang! Grab the developed photos for me pleasee~!" like something about that please is just pleasing to the ears. its like a sort of playful-ness to it? but not quite in the same category as like 'pretty please?' i dont know how to explain it its just how i feel about it 💀 like it doesnt necessarily sound like a could you pretty please do this, but more of a like a simple you doing stuff for friends and then theyre like thank you and its just. that simple?? idk i kinda feel like im yapping outta thin air im tired man 😭 like its a simple request between friends and cxs appreciates it when lu guang does it but its not in a him trying to get out of doing stuff type of thing

also actually since watching bridon arc for the first time i got into mdzs so i keep staring at at the i forget the name but i keep staring at the cosplay and thinking wwx!?

also very wangxian coded imo with cxs talking about like 'the pretty girls' or something something he was gonna photograph (you can see i forget things very easily i literally just saw that scene like 20 minutes ago) and then lu guang chokes on his soda and cxs is like ohh? you excited about the girls? or something like that 💀 and then also wwx realizing its lu guang and then being like hey beauty is beauty something something i forgot what he said? i think the subtitle for what he said in chinese tho was something like 'well im also good at photographing a beautiful boy like you'

like with wwx flirting with girls and talking about girls (unaware he is into guys) and like bringing up girls to lwj like arent you interested and lwj is just like ..no. or like the the one with locauts or whatever its called i forgor and theres this girl who finds him pretty or something iirc and is giving him like free locauts (its like a food i think?) and then wwx looks at lwj and is like heyy miss lwj is pretty handsome too right? lmao

anyway i got off topic (i really havent had an opportunity to yap about mdzs to anyone outside of my one post of 'hey is it just me or do you sometimes read lan zhan but the other way around so it kinda sounds like san lang😭 ??')

look at him hes so cute LMFAO

'but i need help sometimes 🥺'

never gonna get over her name being Vivian but shes Vivan in contacts (pretty sure thats an error and gives me same vibes as 'Camrea' in the Link Click Live Action. ALSO ITS SO GOOD you need to watch it also the song is PEAK (its not following the same plot as the the donghua but i find it really cool (new clients!! ALSO CXS GETS ACTUAL THERAPY)! they also did the earthquake episode really well, and had something unique to it for people who have already seen the donghua so its not just a copy and paste, if anything it felt worse in a good way at some parts😭.)

LIKE HOLY SHIT LISTEN TO THIS

YES IM PROMOTING THE LIVE ACTION DUDE ive never watched like a live action based on like asian animated stuff before so this was my first experience and i really enjoyed it

okay, here it is. the pretty please in comparison to the please from before. tell me you hear a difference or if im just hearing stuff

anyway cxs is so impulsive dude please share all your plans at least with lu guang before doing them. ..i mean i know you kind of prob think of them up on the spot but i swear youre gonna make everyone grow gray hairs

i love the voice LMFAO its THIS quality that i say isnt in the please from earlier and thats why i say its different from the kind of 'pretty please' tone of voice you have (?? im not shutting up about this i love domestic moments)

anyway actually

since im listening in english and i already know what happens its easier for me to not pay so much attention to subtitles and whats going on and look around instead for details i missed before (theres a lot i missed tbh because im the type who doesnt notice stuff even if its right in front me)

..... *stares at what slang this sounds like if you say it out loud*

lu guang the epitome of disappointment like wtf am i doing here at this powerpoint slideshow explaining to some dumbass how he got scammed and is still in disbelief 💀💀💀

even cxs is like. dude.. come on..

?? whyd she hit the chair?? to emphasize her point??

LMFAO

? doesnt really look like he hung up? did he do it off screen?

dude i keep seeing wangxian 💀💀 'you keep saying no to this stuff and then change your mind when i need ya' 'you always say no but then you always change your mind' or something i dont remember what he said but it was about the rabbits and lwj being like no to them and then wwx is like well ok ill give them to someone else and lwj is like. ..who? and wwx is like to a butcher! theyll make for nice roasted meat! and then lwj is like. i. will. keep. them. and then wwx is like haha so you do want them! you always say no but then [something something i forget what he said]

and thats not like a complaint either i love wangxian and i love shiguang so much 😭 i feel like the vibes are similar tho. teasing black-haired one who acts more immature and unserious but has a heart of gold, stoic one (in white, lwj in white, lu guang with white hair) who usually pushes back against the teasing but actually really really cares and tbh kinda really wants to save/help the black-haired one and stop him from being in so much danger (and have also lived through the black-haired one dying. no this is not a spoiler if you open up the novel or donghua the first line is literally 'wei wuxian is dead!' and if youre here i assume youve seen season 1 and 2 of link click as well as bridon arc)

'just be careful, all right?' 'it'll be fine. you'll be watching my back the whole time.' 😭😭😭😭😭 cxs trusts him so much nadisajnduifhjndrgrfij

lu guang: he'll be the death of me (exasperated)

dont set up the death flags im gonna crash out if the only way cxs lives is lu guang dying and then either cxs listens (the same way he listened to lu guang being like no dont intervene keep the photo safe with like the pink-haired family i forget the last name and cxs listening even though he really wants to stop the bad things from happening because he KNOWS how important it is to not change anything poor baby :( ) or maybe he'll act

although he decided not to in the car when he thought lu guang was dead but also he isnt aware of lu guang time travelling

to save him

and i wonder if knowing that lu guang is doing so much for him, and then to die for him, if that would be a breaking point of actually fuck this im gonna save you!

i want them to get a happy ending man 😭 i kinda wish there was a source material this took from so i could read ahead and be assured that ah yes they are ok 💀

lu guang calling it gross hearing cxs call someone babe 💀💀💀💀

same vibes as lwj being angry at wwx whenever he flirted with someone else in front of him 😭

?? dating asmr for lu guang of if i was on a date with my crush mayhaps

lu guang is so stressed not wanting cxs in danger but he also knows cxs is too stubborn for him to tell him to not go 😭

'i can't stay forever' i wonder if that could also on the other hand mean like i cant promise to stay in this time forever but ill stay as long as i can (until cxs dies or something probably)

NO BABY JUST SMILED AND THEN HE RECALLED CXS' DYING WORDS OH MY GOD

actually wait wheres partners for life did i miss it ??

i cant remember watching the ending in full- i kinda watched bridon arc in a watch party so when the ed played id have like a few minute break to quickly do stuff i hadnt been able to for the past half hour (or hour for ep 1) before rushing to see end credit scene lmfao

gives me same vibes as in like my s-class hunters with um. um. um. yknow what im pretty sure thats spoilers but if you know that scene you probably understand what i mean???

'i swear why is express delivery so unreliable' GIRL i can actually relate to this a few months ago i moved and im just sat here in misery as some furniture has gotten lost and its like dude all my stuff was in there tf do i do now wth 😭😭😭

it arrived eventually but if i got lost idk what id do it has all my stationary and like drawings and journals 💀

actually how tf DID he know ????

'found it, has he?' oh i just got chills down my spine man damn thats a deep voice

oh wait he was on call did someone alert him? whyd it show a scene of him closing a book tho was that a red herring

or well i think the books important if i recall it had a hint or something but tbh i forgor

'now we can finally start the game'

😭😭😭???

the music picking up like probably the mans heartbeat after liu xiao(? is that his name i always worry i misremember) presses the trigger and then it like quiets down a little after the man picks up the gun because of his ability of like yeah its okay still nervous but less

do we know why hes so interested in cxs' dad or is that prob a thing we'll learn in s3

malewife energy we love a man who can clean (tho iirc cxs does the cooking right? or am i misremembering)

bruhs like 'lu guang protect me! youre on my side right?'

LMFAO THE WINKING

SERIOUSLY WANGXIAN VIBES

wwx is doing something silly and then hides behind lwj like cmon youre on my side right and then lwj is like *sigh* and then defends him

i wish no trauma aus were canon dude it might be boring as hell but itd be so cute and i just want to wrap them all up in bubble wrap aghh

male.wife.

ohh the filter put on the voices when showing parts of something that happened in a previous timeline is spooky

its like. kinda distorted a little bit which is cool. like you know how its like something something the more you i think you copy a tape or something like that the worse it gets? its like generation loss or something like that i forget exactly but it reminds me of that. ithappened in a different time so its distorted, a little messed up, not in perfect condition, or at least maybe in his memories. idk if im making sense i want to sleep but i wanna finish the ep first

bruhs like what is this? a message? now?

trying to understand the reason of why his mom didnt want him to go to bridon but tbh im not the best at putting puzzles together i need like an explanation or something thats probably just like a re-explanation of events just in a way that idk a 5 year old could understand 💀

wait is cxs taller than lu guang

HE IS WTH I JUST NEVER NOTICED LMFAO

why does what vein says kinda osunds like an innuendo 😭 bruh please not my innuendo during the lu guang trauma scene

ITS NOT FINE LU GUANG GET A THERAPIST

TAKE A PAGE OF OUT OF THE LIVE ACTION BOOK actually like get a therapist 😭😭😭

?? he has a fang? i just never noticed

[nocontextspiderman]

Web of Spider-Man Annual #7 (1991)

[corxoran]

Ugh okay turns out I said this in a voice message but I was telling my friend how lu guang trying over and over again (and someone on here making a joke about lu guang getting bad ending #1000000) reminded me of a visual novel player choosing routes.

So yeah isekai type au where lu guang is a loner who is obsessed with this one visual novel that stars the love interest Cheng Xiaoshi, but is more than just romance! There's action, time traveling shenanigans, etc etc. He becomes so attached to this character that he wishes he could meet him, or have someone like that in his actual life, because he doesn't have any friends. And then... boom! He wakes up as the mc in the photo studio!!!

[theparadoxunlocked]

This is what I think of every single time I refer to Lu guang as LG

[forgetmenomore]

Does anybody else find the similarities between Li Tianxi and Cheng Xiaoshi eerie?

I picked it up pretty quickly (big brain and big forehead). I also noticed after the s2 finale is that they have another striking similarity: they're both dead, because yippee and why not?

Not to mention the film tapes representing restraint or inability? The tape wraps around Li Tianxi's mouth and eyes for her inability to speak or speak up- especially against her brother's actions (who originally had good intent but oh my gosh that must've been traumatic). Plus, that running scene with Li Tianxi running from the past and Cheng Xiaoshi running towards it?

These two have quite a bunch of similarities. The most striking difference is how one has people to support them while the other doesn't. Let's hope the next difference is that Cheng Xiaoshi lives, because if he doesn't-

*sobbing*

[kentuckyfriedmegumi]

tagged by @rocketkid300 to share the first lines of ten of your latest fanfics (or up to if you have fewer) and tag ten people.

okokok i'm going to share the first ten lines of my most recently edited works, including my unpublished WIPs, for some fun variety!

SHIGUANG (shiguang; unnamed WIP) Lu Guang could only stare in horror as Cheng Xiaoshi collapsed to the ground, coughing as his back hit the concrete.

With a Love I Seemed to Lose (itafushi) Megumi remembers the first time that his memory slipped.

Hachiōji Castle (itafushi) Itadori and Fushiguro sit side by side in what looks to be a case files room.

Necessary Evil (itafushi) Yuuji raises his scarf a little higher as the winter air bites at his cheeks. 

False Alarm (not published (yet); itafushi) Megumi stands in the back of the clinic, absentmindedly flipping through a file, as the sounds of the vet’s office pierce his ears.

Hot Off the Press (itafushi) Fushiguro Megumi didn’t hate his job.

15 Minutes (itafushi) The first thing that registers is the blaring alarm playing out of a phone’s speaker.

Paint It Black (megumi character study/itafushi) Megumi remembers the first time he felt anger.

skinny dipping (water under the bridge) (itafushi) There are a lot of things in Megumi’s life that leave him a bit bewildered, stunned by the sheer unexpectedness of it all.

don't you want me like i want you, baby? (itafushi) “Yuuji, you’re being pathetic.”

thanks again, LL, for the tag!!! i will do my best to tag 10 ppl... of course, anyone who wants to join is willing to participate, too! @fictionalrelapse @shehatescoffee @kat-likes-writing @hijinks-n-lowjinks @yearnwormwrites @aburningconstellation @earthtodora @silverprism-s @niiikasa @fluffy-bacon363

[veinspookiebear]

Did anyone else notice in Bridon arc ep 6, Lu Guang's eyes are yellow as he tells him he'll come running if CXS needs him, right before he runs off to WQ's office?

Like I'm not crazy right. That is YELLOW

And at first I was like "maybe it's just the light" because it's ONLY this bit that I saw, but then he blinks after the train passes and his eyes are gray again. It FEELS very intentional to me. Like?? Was he possessed there for some reason? We didn't see him take any pictures, but we do see that CXS must've taken a selfie with Xia Fei to put as his phone background, so it's not impossible they just didn't show it...

The thing is, he doesn't really say or do anything groundbreaking while his eyes are yellow briefly here. All he does is tell CXS he'll be there for him if he needs. I don't see why the only two people we know who can possess people and their eyes be yellow as a result (CXS himself and his mother) would go back so briefly just to have him say that. Unless he was possessed much longer, maybe the whole time he's orchestrating everything, and this is the only hint we get.

I've rewatched that bit like four times now by the way I am NO closer to understanding what the hell happened 😭 it'd be so interesting if Lu Guang WAS being controlled for all that, though. Maybe by CXS. I have seen theories that he's diving too (although I don't know if there's enough strength for them yet, but i wouldn't put it past Link Click to twist everything around again like that)

[yingdu-lover]

One of the best things 'The Eye' and 'Lull' have done is helping me reinterpret the romantic under(?!)tones of the previous openings and endings without any weird guilt (of forcing my gay agenda on anything, which I know is idiotic but anyway). Go back and listen to Vortex, Dive Back in Time and The Tides, everything falls into place all of a sudden. And ALSO, read the damn lyrics of Overthink!

ps : I forgot Break and Flash - the gayest gay ones. I will discuss if I want later :3

Yingdu is standing there with a scythe or something as I write this but I am actually feeling very content right now. Oh, also! found a theory on twitter thread titled This isn’t the dead wife you’re looking for: how Link Click leverages the “dead wife” trope for CXS while actively subverting it (bro wrote an almost academic paper, delicious arguments really, a similar discussion I was having with a friend the other day) which really makes a lot of sense! The form and content aligns very perfectly if we keep that theory in mind.

Edit : Some more Shiguang ramblings I posted.

I have tears in my Shiguang eyes cause I skipped lunch to edit this, I am hungry and I feel like crying.

[crabboytahomaru]

Lu Guang was so funny this ep cos he could have just been normal and face Cheng Xiaoshi’s wrath for sneaking out of bed or like even just ask for him to come back normally but noooo he had to pretend he was sick, sneak back, and curl up all pathetic in bed for what reason?? You want cxs to dote on you?? You don’t want to disappoint him if he found out you snuck out?? Gay.

[starcollectorsilas]

love touch starved characters. characters who lean into passing hands on their backs or arms. characters who are outwardly tough but have multiple pillows and a plushie to be able to sleep at night, needing something to hold. something to hold them. characters who slap away the hand going to their shoulder because they know once they get that contact they'll want nothing more than to collapse into open arms. and that hurts them more than not having it at all. not allowing it.

because those welcoming arms weren't always so warm, and they don't want to feel it when they get cold again.

[sunnyyflowerrs]

never said the words “oh my god they are in love” as much as i did watching link click