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lin ling, yang cheng, and exploitation (because their similarities are insane . to me .)

(spoilers for ep 5 below)

its interesting how li haolin is framing our "perfect heroes" (lin ling and presumably yang cheng taking roles in the top 10) to be the ideal victims tbh. both are incredibly isolated and lonely without a proper support system, therefore relying on an easy crutch offered by hero society.

lin ling found his motivation (however parasocial it may be) through watching xiao yueqing in her hero persona and creating advertisements for her (which he refers to as a "labor of love" in ep.1), and ultimately found fulfillment to be a hero after realizing he wanted to protect those he cared for. (i have my gripes with how moon was treated but i addressed that in a previous post)

(personally, i'm not fond of the way his motivation seems soley to revolve around becoming a sword for those he loves as it's still quite self-sacrificial and the hero system will eat him alive. he may not be pressured to be "perfect," but when you are only a single person the public's demands will tear you apart as they project all their grievances onto you, regardless of whether or not it's reasonable)

similarly, yang cheng's motivation also revolves around another hero. (yes he has a crush on a girl, but it's not like her existence kept him going. he's just extremely lonely and self isolated and doesn't know what to do with himself lol)

e-soul saving him at a young age after undergoing a traumatic event (watching his parents die violently in front of him and nearly getting abducted himself) and became the sole thing that kept him going. he doesn't even consider himself worth saving, really, because he says he just wants to be able to face e-soul proudly. when the kid assumes he wanted to be a hero like e-soul, he dismisses it as impossible, and says there's no point in going to the event because there's no way e-soul would notice someone like him.

(sound familiar? lin ling tells his boss that his ad is effective because it shows even "nobodies like him" can be heroes. the thing is, even though lin ling said it to persuade his boss, he never really thought he could be a hero until the fight with his boss, but even then it was moreso because of his role as nice than rather being a hero himself. that doesn't happen until the end of his arc in ep. 4).

when yang cheng does get a taste of trust value and what heroism can offer, he's immediately cornered by the ceo's son who had judged the e-soul competition. even though the guy's initially set up to be a love-rival, we're quickly reminded that he's a businessman's son- one that intends to poach this viral underdog.

li haolin's really trying to hone in on the fact that the hero system's exploitative of vulnerable people and that exploitation isn't an infection of the hero system, but a symptom itself (and i am so here for it)

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Hsy 🌺 sweet william aka poet’s carnation

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@cedarwrought don't hide this in the tags!

I absolutely am obsessed with the contrast Yang Cheng's story is giving us against Lin Ling's. Lin Ling is showing us the true horror of what trust value and people's expectations can do to you, and then Yang Cheng is showing us that as long as one person believes in you, you can find the power to stand up to do what you always had in you to do.

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he said, with bad intentions

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reblog to tell the person you reblogged this from that they are deserving of love and affection

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Ep. 5 timeline track

I saw the preview and I HOPED that funny little deer was little Lin Ling. Because come on, the hairstyle, hair and eye color, his honest commentary with in-depth trend analysis about the show in this episode…. Hire this kid now and he will make you a top 10 hero. He's a GENIUS.

and you have to admit, what a delicious drama that would be. A hero who was your childhood idol and friend, years later kills your love in front of your eyes...

But! unfortunately, there's only five year gap between the events. And the boy has different name

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pouring one out for xyq rn

she got her freedom taken away by the very fans who once supported her travels. was forced to stay by the side of a man who didn't even care for her. sat there as someone else wearing his face calls her his goddess- objectifying her and deifying her once again- and then? gets locked on the same floor as him for a month!

A MONTH.

yes they got along by the end and yes lin ling was considerate. but really. after having to face the reality she would be tied to this guy for as long as their fans wish, it must've been agony.

and then! when she's finally able to leave, to be free as she wished, she's stranded on an uninhabited island. doomed to send out messages in bottles in the vain hope that someone, anyone would save her.

then the boy that saved her- because really, as loathe as she is to call anyone a hero, he saved her- shows up again. properly gives her back her freedom. the public believes she's dead, but they gave her the power to go wherever she pleases. she can be free. really free.

and then she got shot in the head.

no frills, no monologue- just a quick, dismissive death. one meant to impact lin ling.

even in her death xiao yueqing was not granted decency.

she will always be tied to a man.

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Something about love and masks in TBHX...

E-Soul not taking off his mask signifies his commitment to the people’s trust.

But for Yang Cheng, him removing his mask signifies his love for Xia Qing.

Same thing with Lin Ling. The moment “Xiao Yueqing” was in danger, he readily threw away the Nice persona. But then he met Xiao Yueqing as himself, and the latter immediately died.

Wreck also removed his mask when he looked for Nice. Meanwhile, Nice never had to wear a mask around Wreck… Now, they’re both assumed dead.

I think…the principle TBHX wants to tell us is that loving any one person is detrimental to being a hero.

When Lin Ling went down to save Xiao Yueqing, he essentially chose her over the millions of people who trust in him. To love her was betraying everybody else and losing his trust value. Although he later regained his trust value because of his willingness to sacrifice himself for her, imagine if the situation had been more extreme. What if the situation was Lin Ling having to choose between Xiao Yueqing’s safety and the safety of millions of random supporters? Would he have chosen the one person he loves or saved the lives of many others?

A hero, therefore, must never love another like a partner. Because a hero’s love cannot ever be for just one person. It’s for everyone.

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one is all it takes

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I absolutely am obsessed with the contrast Yang Cheng's story is giving us against Lin Ling's. Lin Ling is showing us the true horror of what trust value and people's expectations can do to you, and then Yang Cheng is showing us that as long as one person believes in you, you can find the power to stand up to do what you always had in you to do.

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By far the funniest experience so far watching tbhx is having the power cut off just as Yang Cheng got hit in the back of the head

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No because older teen/adult who has beef with this one child who knows they're being a bit bratty but keep at it will always be such a funny dynamic

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Kids these days have it rough and also kids these days are absolutely brutal

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i simply do not have a discorder's soul

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oh God oh God she’s gonna be the one to help him heal from all the life-long self-hatred isn’t she

her selfless and and easy way to love is gonna be the thing that’ll pull him out of the dark hole he’s chained himself to ever since he was a kid isn’t it

she’s his literal light at the end of the tunnel his literal sunshine and breath of fresh air isn’t she

she’s the angel to his demon isn’t she ISNT SHE

and he doesn’t even know what to think or do about it he’s so taken aback and confused and can’t believe it’s real and wHY IS DING YUXI SO GOOD AT PORTRAYING SO MANY EMOTIONS THROUGH ONLY HIS EYES

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LOVE GAME IN EASTERN FANTASY 永夜星河 ✧ 2024 ✧ Silly Photo Shoot Extras w/ Ding Yuxi and Yu Shuxin (weibo/tl)

🪷Miss Lin, whether you like it or not you have to marry today 😸Strangle me to death then !

🪷What are you screaming for 😸I want to get off work !

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"Everyone in the story is not just a background character. Everyone is vibrant, full of life and character. There are so many lovely, warm-hearted, and kind people."

When an isekai tells you that everyone in the story matters, when YOU matter to the story, when no one is expendable, that everyone is capable of kindness and change even if the audience can't see the culmination of it. When it tells you that your story isn't finished as long as you're alive and that you can make amends and move forward and perhaps have the life stolen from you returned.....