#first time doing a theory

[aninipanin1]

BLUE LOCK MANGA SPOILERS BELOW:

I am NOT a theory blog, but I am a literature fanatic, so I REALLY want to talk about the Nagi thing and what I think the options are from here. You can debate me in the comments, but please do remain respectful and hear me out for a minute, lol

Idk, I may release a separate account for things like these, so my literature work will not get buried, but idrk.

Okay so, this plot of Nagi being eliminated is something I PREFER AND LOVE better than the other two controversies (the Rinsagi and Barou Shidou one), I am not against these other two but I was a bit confused for a second. But the Nagi one was something surprising yet not at the same time.

Death is foreshadowed for Nagi. And by death means a metaphorical one. Something the other Blue Lock players went through. This is my analysis of the whole Blue Lock evolution.

In order to evolve, one has to die. It has been a theme I have been noticing ever since the beginning of the story. And the thing that sealed it in for me is what Barou said to Nagi after the match between Ubers and Manshine:

Let me list out the major characters that I remember having have to go through this death, forgive me if some of them are a bit bleary because I cannot really decide which one is which.

1. Bachira

Bachira had this happen to him in the 4 vs. 4 in the second selection. In fact, the parallels between him and Nagi in the NEL are almost laughable. Bachira was wondering if his head was filled with thoughts and doubts if he should pass or not. What should he do?

In fact, due to his back story, we know that, like Nagi, Bachira did not want to be alone forever. That is the reason he even attached himself to Isagi because he feels that Isagi is that person he has been waiting for, the one he wanted to play football with.

However, unlike Nagi, Bachira did not pass. Even if he did not score, he made a conviction, a decision that he does not need a monster in order to succeed. He managed to evolve himself into another level, to get rid of the monster (or rather keep it locked in ig because it does come back in the NEL?)

He stopped leaning into his monster to make the beautiful plays he imagined (like how he will pass the ball to his monster when he was a child, that his coach before even chided him for making weird passes), but instead makes those plays himself.

(I will come back to Bachira later)

2. Barou

The 3 vs. 3 in the second selection is very obvious (I won't explain this because it's kind of self-explanatory) and here, he evolved too. He managed to find a new way to fight in Blue Lock. By devouring the light and becoming some sort of the Villain King in order to dominate the field.

It is still connected to his original ego to drag off anyone off the main actor seat, but it is a refined technique and thinking.

3. Chigiri

Now for Chigiri, I personally think that his death happened before Blue Lock. When he had his injury, I think that is where his metaphorical death happened. And unlike the aforementioned players, his death was a little longer as he just managed to rise from the ashes when he entered Blue Lock.

His newer outlook about not caring about being a genius and instead having to run past someone being the only thing he cares about elevated his original ego and made him evolve.

4. Rin

For Rin, I personally think that it's more on the U20 match rather than the snowy night he had the fight with Sae. Since the despair of having so many people by his side made him recoil in disgust.

Due to the realization of this, as well as his realization that he is not just Itoshi Sae's brother but instead, he is the egoist, Itoshi Rin made him stop incorporating his brother's play in his own and instead went with his original ego.

Now, these are only a few examples, and there are some characters who have more than just one death. Isagi literally has to 'die or kill' his current self everytime he incorporates a new skill to adapt (him being literally broken apart with the puzzle pieces)

According to Oxford Dictionary, death is not just the end of the life of a person or organism. It is also the destruction or end of something.

The end of a disillusioned thinking they, as well as their environement buried in their head into a better philosophy that hones their original ego. (I wanna make a post about the effect of the teachings of the past teachers and environment of the Blue Lockers into their egos being buried, turning their philosophy disillusioned and even self-destructive)

But anyway, moving on to Nagi. Out of the major characters, he is the one who has yet to 'die.' And I personally think this elimination would help him evolve his ego.

But wait...what even is his ego?

That is the thing, I don't know if he even has one (forgive me I have yet to read EpiNagi, but I will maybe I'll find something)

But in the main storyline, he doesn't have one. For me, one's ego literally means their original state. It is your nature, the thing you yearn for in your rawest form. Without anything holding you back, no ethics, no pressure, what is it you desire? What is it you hunger?

Whatever your answer is, that is your ego. It's something unique to only you, and even though to satisfy that hunger, you may conclude to a dream that can intersect with other people (like how every blue locker wants to be the best in the world) but your reasons and ways to achieve it are different.

Now, to Nagi. Sure, he has it. The talent, the way to achieve that goal (which we dont even get a confirmation that he wants), but what is his reason? For Reo?

I dont think the answer is Reo. As shown in the flashbacks, your ego is something developed within you when you are younger even. Since well, it is your nature, the thing you yearn for without any of the shackles and experience you go through in life.

As we see, ones ego is NEVER dependent on someone else. Everyone of us is different, therefore to achieve what you yearn for, you have to do it alone in order to fulfill that hunger within you. After all, who knows your hunger better than yourself?

Not wanting alone, maybe? It is debatable. It reminds me of Kaiser's yearning for love, to be human. And Nagi not wanting alone can become a good ego, but does that not sound counterintuitive with what ego is?

Your ego should not be dependent on someone as mentioned. But I can see it go two ways.

1. Nagi has a deeper ego. One that we maybe able to see if we have a backstory of him way before he met Reo as a child (kinda like how Rin had two backstories)

This can follow the same formula as the other major characters, where he will thrive as someone alone. And well, it would put the spin off manga good use lol

Or

2. Nagi's ego IS not wanting to be alone.

For the second option, it may explain the reason why of all characters, Nagi has a spin-off manga. His ego is DIFFERENT from what the other characters have. Where others' ego can stand alone, but Nagi's cant, and he needs someone.

The literal OPPOSITE of how ego is in the original series. Isagi is the mc of the og manga, he is someone who follows the blueprint of Ego's philosophy to a tee. Heck, we can even see that Ego may or may not have some bias for Isagi.

Why would he not? Isagi is literally the player that embodies his philosophy and keeps applying it. Heck they even synchronise in thoughts lol.

Meanwhile, in the movie, Ego didnt seem to like Nagi. The person who is literally the OPPOSITE on what he wanted to achieve. So you cant blame him.

So wouldn't it be interesting if the spin-off and the og manga went the complete opposite of each other? Nagi is the one to follow the plots a lot of sports manga follow. The one who can not win alone, or rather his ego, is dependent on someone.

While Isagi, follows the Blue Lock philosophy. Heck, it would even be funny to see that Ego taught Kunigami to distance himself from the teachings of Blue Lock in order to be the copy of Noa. To get rid of everything, to instill a different philosophy.

To which Kunigami failed (Isagi mentioned this, that even if Kunigami tries to act like a heartless robot, deep down he is still that emotional, good guy with a hero complex and is even the reason why he used this to make Kuni pass to him), but the person that got eliminated is the one who ended up succeeding in something Kunigami failed at.

It can also mirror between Kuni and Nagi being the two major characters that ended up eliminated, but the first one did not succeed in changing his philosophy but the other one did.

Okay, switch topic, about what I think is a theory as to what Nagi's backstory is if my theory is correct and how this connects to Bachira. There is one reason in my mind:

Bachira has a loving mom.

I know simple lmao. But lets get deeper in that.

We know that Nagi's parents practice the 'hands off' parental approach (idk I just call it abandonment), meaning he is always alone in his life. We can have a legit backstory of him as a kid being alone always as well. Because in my read of the situation, this is how he has been raised (if you can even call it that) even as a child.

Meanwhile, Bachira has a loving mom. One that actually affirms his son's feelings. And though he feels lonely when he plays football, he has someone who pays attention to him and loves him, making it easier for child Bachira to yearn for something else other than a companion.

But Nagi does NOT have that. How can he think of anything else when the loneliness glares at him so hard? It even looked like he did not have friends before Reo, meaning he was ISOLATED.

Heck, to prove this, he even has Choki. A freaking cactus just to be able to talk to someone or something. It has been glaring us that Nagi is LONELY. He is isolated. For me, this is a different lonely.

A lonely that is so cold, like in the middle of a dessert wasteland at night with no one to offer anything to him. That's why he yearns to not be lonely. Now, you guys might be saying "isnt it a little close to Kaiser's ego? To receive love?"

My answer is no. Kaiser wishes to improve himself to stop being sub human and become human to become someone worthy of love. Nagi does not have that thinking. He wants someone to be with him, someone who would fill that loneliness.

To deepen this even more, Nagi's loneliness may also be the reason why he is so naive and a bit shallow at times. Like when he asked Isagi why he tried so hard? A question that formed because he is a shallow thinker.

Why wouldn't he be a shallow thinker anyway? He is a genius, a genius that gets everything without trying. Losing the sight of the journey, because he has no journey.

Along with this, no one is there to even teach him any of these stuff. Hes kinda like Rapunzel from Tangled, but without the manipulation and forced isolation.

Also funny, he was compared to a baby chick, when baby chicks are very, very reliant on their mother. To those around them, but Nagi does not have anyone to rely to. To ask his questions to.

Well, until Reo appeared.

That is why when Reo befriended him, it was so important to Nagi even if he isnt showy about it. Whenever he tries to improve, he would always mention Reo's name. About how he is so excited to show it to Reo and everything.

Nagi thinks that if he plays for Reo, he won't be lonely. I know we joke in the fandom about how Reo is so obsessed with Nagi, but I'd argue Nagi is as obsessed with Reo.

It was the first time he had someone pay attention to him. At first, he looked quite apprehensive about it, and a little bit not okay with it since he is still lazy and Reo wants him to play. But, after a while, Reo grew on him, enough that he even started to play even if he complained.

It's a slow build imo. But it is there.

But this yearning for connection can be explored more than just with Reo. He asks questions to different people, Isagi, Rin, Barou, etc. About why they work hard. Why do they even try? And all those questions.

Nagi yearns for connections, especially when Reo does not give him the right answers. Does that mean he is betraying Reo? Nope. In his mind, he is doing this to become stronger for who? For Reo.

Heck, the author can even set Nagi up as a final rival of Isagi for this. Where two different ideologies clash. The two different philosophies of the spin off and the main manga would clash and where a winner will be declared for the final selection.

It is the philosophy of an individualistic egotism vs. the philosophy of collective Egotism. Both are egos but are different at the same time.

Anyways, I hope Kaneshiro continues Nagi's story because he is a really interesting and mysterious character. It would be sad to see such a huge potential both in talent and story wise go away like that.

But I have trust. While rereading some chapters for this, I recognized how good of a writer Kaneshiro is and how the metaphorical death of the players all mirror each other in some way which makes me feel like he is some sort of mastermind.

I know this theory has some holes. Things like, Bachira's words to Nagi when he hesitated to score and relied on Reo. And the negative connotations of his fear of being alone, because with how it is framed, his fear of being alone is negative.

But like I said. This is a THEORY. Feel free to argue with me in the comments! I want to have debates because I am SO BORED, and I wanna talk Blue Lock.

The only thing I dont wanna talk about is how Kaneshiro made a mistake by eliminating with Nagi because I think he made the right choice by doing this (unless he brings Nagi back with that voting system thing which idk how i'll react lol)

Sorry if some of these are scattered because I LITERALLY just typed everything in my head without having to write it down lol. I might repost this with a cleaner format. But for now, just enjoy my yapping😔

Anyways, shoutout to a channel in Youtube named Suzels. Please search his videos since he is like one of the saving graces of the Blue Lock fandom when it comes to literary comprehension lol. This theory is inspired by his video about Nagi.

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[sunn-mechanic]

[ID in alt]

Guess that makes me Evil

--

I could not stop thinking about how Vex is probably dead in DR, that shit makes me so unwell

Also, version without the lyrics below, bc I like both:

[ID in alt]

[strangertheory]

Any time I see a post that says "nobody else has pointed this out" and it's about Byler, I can promise you that @kaypeace21 absolutely has pointed it out, and she pointed it out many years ago.

[fallofthecelestial]

Okay. Since we're going over all the takes on Mr. X at this point.. What if his powers really don't have a backside. What if (the state of) his normal life is the backside.

What if his normal life is akin to that of heroes where he has to pretend to be something he's not and follow rules that the people who control his life came up with to further their own goals. What if he can only be free of other people's beliefs and expectations when he's a hero.

What if in reality he truly is like everyone else. The other heroes. The ordinary people. All those who work themselves to the bone, who are tired and overworked and sick of all the exploitation...

What if when he's in the form of the number one hero.. when he becomes the most sought after product on the hero market..

Is when he gains the freedom to truly be himself

[s0fter-sin]

one of my favourite aspects of supernatural that you very rarely see in paranormal shows is that sam and dean are already versed in the world they live in. there’s no sudden discovery of ghosts and demons and now they have to learn about them along with the audience; they are born into it and already know all about it. it allows the audience to follow their personal story instead of also trying to figure out this new world and its rules

the first season is full of knowledge we never see them learn; “w*ndigoes are in the minnesota woods or- or northern michigan. i’ve never even heard of one this far west.” […] “great. well then this [his gun] is useless.” (1x02), “you don’t break a curse. you get the hell out of its way.” (1x08), d: “it’s a god. a pagan god, anyway.” […] “the annual cycle of its killings? and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. like some kind of fertility right.” […] s: “the last meal. given to sacrificial victims. d: “yeah, i’m thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan god.” (1x11)

almost every episode in the first season is a monster they’ve faced before that they then explain to the audience in a way that should feel patronising; like it’s the same speech given over and over again but instead, the audience almost feels included in the knowledge. it’s stated with such an innate confidence and comfort in said knowledge that it feels like we already knew it too; “spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. if they want inside, they just go through the walls.” […] “the claws, the speed that it moves; could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog.” (1x02), “it's biblical numerology. you know noah's ark, it rained for forty days. the number means death.” (1x04), “no no no, not the reaper, a reaper. there's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by 100 different names.” […] “you said it yourself that the clock stopped, right? reapers stop time. and you can only see 'em when they're coming at you which is why i could see it and you couldn't.” (1x12)

they already know and, at least in the first season, already have what they need to kill whatever they’re hunting; already know to salt and burn bones for spirits, fire for a w*ndigo, exorcisms for demons, a silver bullet to the heart for shapeshifters. there’s only three times in the entire first season that they run into something new to them; 1x14 when sam gets his first vision that leads him to another psychic, 1x16 when dean calls caleb for help on the sigil he put together and he tells him about daevas, and 1x20 when they find out vampires are real- and they only don’t know that bc john thought they were hunted to extinction and not worth mentioning

(there’s also technically two half instances if you count one of them knowing something the other doesn’t - sam figuring out the tulpa in 1x17 and dean already knowing about the shtriga in 1x18 - but those still rely on sam and dean having prior knowledge)

even when they’re uncertain about facing something, it’s not bc they don’t know what it is; it’s precisely bc they know what it is and acknowledge that it’ll be a difficult hunt (“i don't know, man. this isn't our normal gig. i mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. this is big. and i wish dad was here.” 1x04)

so much of the tension in paranormal shows typically comes from the main character(s) not knowing what is happening to them/the people around them and having to find out how to resolve it. supernatural is unique in that it operates more like a police procedural. the tension comes from solving the clues and identifying patterns to figure out who (what) the killer is and intercepting before they can take another victim

it’s such a different tone to go for when compared to other shows that came both before, during, and after its run. it sets sam and dean on even footing with each other since they both have the same knowledge going in, and it puts them in a place of authority usually reserved for an outside character

the shows i compare spn to most is charmed, buffy and teen wolf; every main character in those shows are brought into the paranormal world knowing nothing, putting them on the same level as the audience, and they have their mc interact with others already knowledgeable about that world in order to overcome their problem/monster of the week. the audience organically learns about this new world as the characters learn about it. it’s a sound writing strategy that prevents “as we already know”-style exposition but something that complicates it is if your world building isn’t unique or intriguing enough, this slow introduction can become boring

we’ve seen shows like these before; sitting through the same tropes of characters learning to use their powers, struggling with no longer feeling normal/relating to the regular world around them, and not knowing how much they can trust the people already involved in this new world gets repetitive. all three shows eventually reach the same level of comfort with their new world that spn starts with but if the characters aren’t enough to draw you in, you can end up dropping it before they reach that point (and often, before the overarching plot can really kick in and evolve the show beyond the villain of the week format)

it’s the superhero origin movie in tv format; dragged out and overplayed. dropping the audience into an established world of course comes with its own problems but you also have the benefit of pre-existing established character dynamics that let the audience slot in like they’ve always been there instead of just getting to know all the characters while the characters also get to know each other

sam and dean already knowing about the supernatural lets the audience immediately get to the core of the story; the conflict between sam and dean, the search for their father, and the mystery of what killed their mother

[welcometogrouchland]

(ID in alt) I literally said I was gonna post this month's ago and then never had the wherewithal to describe it and so I didn't Lmao (said with pain). But since I'm thinking of opening my commissions I figured I should remind ppl that I. Yknow. Can draw.

Lots of Steph here (I had major art block making all of these and my brain worms for her kept me going) + some sprinkles of stephcass for Cass nation to enjoy!

[charrators]

i feel like it means something that the camera focuses on the license plate that says “jax.001”. like i Don’t think it means that he was the first, but apparently, when you duplicate an object in blender, the copy is called (object).001 so like. What The Fuck

[burningfunobject]

S2 arcane spoilers!!

Anyone else notice how dim viktors eyes look in the new season like

And it's like this for nearly every other shot

Compared to his eyes in s1

And he's rlly out of character too

And sure that could be the trauma of EVERYTHING that's happened

But I feel like it's more than that

The hexcore is controlling him obviously so maybe we'll see him try to fight against it??

I really hope he does bc I don't think the whole magic arcane Jesus thing is really working for me tbh

OR if he doesn't manage to get free of the hexcore maybe he decides to lean into it by baking himself even more robotic buy powered by hextech or whatever the new equivalent would be

I've also been thinking maybe he'll start upsetting the chem barrens?? But it seems kinda unlikely

[3rd-shrike]

another theory of who the @askoverkill director is: siffrin. obviously!

but, well. specifically ISAT siffrin.

i've been giddy since loop's reveal, because it means that this theory i've been holding onto since i read through the entire blog a few days ago holds more water!! i mean, there's a lot of evidence to touch on!!! (so please expect this to be lengthy and FULL of images... sorry!!)

references on a character design level to specifically events related to ISAT's siffrin, loop's attitude towards the siffrins (including themself), and a buncha other things like choices in worldbuilding that might be me nitpicking but still lend the idea a bit more credence... this au makes me insane i think.

i'll be discussing it down here:

✦ "regarding the director's character design..."

let's start with the most direct and blatantly obvious reference to ISAT sif!

the star on their chest.

unlike loop's current star (which has remained mostly consistent with their star in ISAT), this one is lopsided & more reminiscent of a crack, with the edges spreading outwards in lines. and gee, i wonder where we've seen that star before...

the star that happens when siffrin & the king attempt to say their country's name. i should also point out that these kind of cracks are similar to the ones seen in the sky once you get past the king in act 5, which are a result of siffrin's just-about-giving-up of his wish.

not only that but the spiraling eyes! the 2-lined white star!

i also wonder who that could be referencing...

(please disregard the empty box, that's where the battle sprite is)

while you could argue that the spiral can be taken from loop's image when you lose the act 6 battle, i'd say that mal du pays' spiral eyes have more significance, since we often see loop with mostly normal eyes, while the only close-up of mal du pays eyes we see is a spiraling one, and they are literally a representation of siffrin's fears and self-hatred.

the star, too, is drawn differently to the way loop's star is! loop's eyes, both in ISAT & in overkill, are drawn with a more average, rounded star. siffrin and the director's star pupils, in comparison, are drawn very simply with just two intersecting lines. no rounding, no sharpening of the points, just a cross.

and a bit more conceptually, in contrast to loops' star head, the director's head is described as a black ball, and when combined with the black & white mask + the shining light... it almost feels like an eclipse, or a black hole (though this one's a bit of a reach).

✦ "regarding loop (and the siffrins, a little)..."

a bit more abstract & loosely connected to the theory, but loop exists!!! seeing as their star has barely changed from its usual upright four-pointed glory (other than it becoming rougher/frizzier & looking more like a blood splatter at sometimes), i'm inclined to believe that this is still loop-as-in-saap-siffrin.

(as mentioned previously,) they also have the rounded red star in their eyes that they get in the second phase of their act 6 boss battle (and in their special attack frame), and the double spike + closed eye seems to be taken from that too.

and if we take into account their heavy experience with guiding the siffrins (and genuine shock at there being a kid), their mentions of a 'usual' script for them to follow, absolute resignation and exhaustion with having to lead these siffrins to their deaths over and over and over again... it really feels like loop's been there from the start. you'd be preeety hard-pressed to make a copy of loop specifically, so that leaves either ISAT sif or another siffrin we've not known yet, and i'm more inclined to believe the former's more likely, given the (probably mocking) reference to loop's "royal we".

✦ "regarding other things referencing ISAT events..."

there are a few things to mention! first of all: the sky breaking. the world ending.

this all reminds me very heavily of act 5's... everything, really. the sky breaking into the signature red, the mentions by the party & loop of sif's wish ending/breaking the world. it all feels waaay too relevant to ignore, and that word choice definitely feels on point.

and then there are the curses! the theatre & blood curses. turns you into a puppet, and makes you rot while alive. very thematic. very reminiscent of a certain someone's spiraling thoughts.

and more recently, the explanation for the outer & inner loops!! this one fucking blows my mind away, bc jegus christ that's so cool??? but it also makes sense if you consider a LOT of ISAT siffrin's thoughts about the time loop in act 4 & 5:

the director's not only got siffrin dying over and over, but they've got the entire play repeating again and again. it makes sense, especially if ISAT sif felt like that was basically the highlight of their lives (in true king fashion), not to mention the reason all of them ever met. and if mira is considered the director's "favourite actor", then it's only natural that the outer loops (likely triggered by zem) would start from the beginning of the crisis, from mirabelle's dormont, when the play truly started.

finally, there's also the little bits of words we can see in the director's reference sheet! (courtesy of @shadowedfaith048)

likely hinting towards this being post-ISAT in some way! and bearing in mind the "a bad wish" at the bottom, it can be assumed that a lot of this might be the unfortunate result of wishing (and maybe wishes being broken, who knows!)

✦ "in conclusion..."

i believe that, in some way, the director is ISAT siffrin after something went awry with their (or even just a) wish. maybe it isn't even just ISAT sif! ze could be two or more sifs stuffed in a trench coat! and maybe the worst possible ending happened during the act 5 battle w/ bigfrin, and the ensuing world-ending & destruction from giving up their wish was amplified by a hundred. maybe this happened after act 6, some time after sif did get his happy ending. i do believe that at the very least, this had to have happened after ISAT's act 4. too much red in there for me to believe otherwise.

i might reblog & update the evidence list as the story progresses, so please don't take this as final!!! new evidence could come out that might result in inconsistencies for this theory, lore drops could further push it to be true, (again) who the hell knows!!

and for myself? i'm just having the time of my life connecting possible dots and going insane over this au lmao

[gumy-shark]

kageyama parents they could never make me hate you

[egophiliac]

the lovers, reversed

(aka I'm still freaking out about Jou)

[strawberryjamikins]

(First photo is the reference I used)

the sketch vs the finished piece

[pheyphem]

ignoring the obvious. is anyone else really fucking intrigued/confused by this room

it is so STARKLY different from the rest of the phouse like it has fuzzy padded brown walls?? like they have a reason for every design choice in the phouse so why did they go with fuzzy brown walls in here and here only (it seems)??/?

drop your ideas below

[arttsuka]

what’s the bad ending to mer-fidd?

Getting cannibalised by Bill probably

[sarshles-cheescake-li]

I wonder if Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi's rule around past and future was about protecting the timeline and the future, or about protecting Cheng Xiaoshi?

After all, on a universal, metaphysical scale of things, physics shouldn't care about whether a change to its pathway is observable to humans or not. It shouldn't care whether someone changes the timeline enough to have noticeable changes on the human level, or just on the micro level -- one second late here, a few centimetres too far here.

Besides, I would presume that for the sake of the universe's peace of mind, it wouldn't give people reality-breaking powers for the fun of it.

But what we do know is that changing the past drains you. It tires you out, wrings the smile from your face and the crinkle from your eyes. After all, if someone got murdered, to you, it's a tragedy. If someone got murdered because of something you did or didn't do, then to you, it's sin. And if they weren't supposed to die in the first place, but you went back and changed something, and now they are? That's practically your crime, isn't it (to clarify, this is a literary hyperbole)?

But you can't just not change the past. Because if someone gets hurt and you could've saved them, then that's no different, really, from dooming them yourself. Does inaction not carry the same consequences as action? Does the crime of omission not weigh on the scale just as heavily as the crime of commission?

Cheng Xiaoshi learns. Cheng Xiaoshi cares, about everyone and everything, deeply. Whether it be because he dives in and inherits their emotions, or because he is too full of love for every single living thing, Cheng Xiaoshi is the type of person to see everyone whom he can reach as his responsibility. But that is a horrible, horrible mindset for a time-traveler, isn't it?

So -- imagine. Lu Guang, in the first few loops, without his rules, changing the past with his partner, watching Cheng Xiaoshi fall apart again and again, drowned by his own perceived sins. And we don't know who Lu Guang was, at this point. Was he perhaps more stilted, less able to be Cheng Xiaoshi's psychologist, as director Li once joked? What would've happened to a Cheng Xiaoshi who carried more burdens and whose Lu Guang was not yet practiced at bringing him back up from his lowest points?

So Lu Guang learns. The first rule is a time limit, and the second rule of obedience. Maybe this was their own rule to begin with, to make sure Cheng Xiaoshi remained within Lu Guang's reach. Maybe it was made later, so that Lu Guang could guide Cheng Xiaoshi and shoulder more responsibility. If he could make himself the gunman and Cheng Xiaoshi the gun, maybe the latter would not feel so guilty over whom gets caught in the crossfire.

Maybe later he learns that that doesn't work, that Cheng Xiaoshi still feels deeply guilty about the people hurt by the new histories they create. So then the third rule: Past or future, leave them be. I had always found it strange why this rule included the future, in addition to the past. If it's about timeline stability, wouldn't it just be about the past?

But maybe it's for Cheng Xiaoshi's sake. If Cheng Xiaoshi thinks that he isn't allowed to change the past for some higher, nobler reason, if it's Lu Guang making him follow the rules and not he himself, then the choice is out of his hands. It's not that he's "leaving someone to die." It's the timeline which demands they must die. He cannot change it, so he will not. And if it's for that same higher, nobler reason that he cannot try to track the changes that he created, then that choice is out of his hands, too. Then it's about him "not wanting to know what happens" it's that he "shouldn't know what happens."

Cheng Xiaoshi, left to its own devices, flies too high and burns himself out, trying to care for too many people too deeply, all at once. But what if Lu Guang chains him to the ground? Here are the rules, Cheng Xiaoshi. You must stay for only twelve hours (So I will know where you are and you will not lose yourself living infinitely in the past). You must listen to me (so you can punch me and blame me if things go wrong instead of yourself). You cannot change the past (So please don't try to, because once you do, it will suffocate you) and you cannot ask about the future (you don't need to know what your actions have wrought). And Cheng Xiaoshi remains, unburnt, unscathed. If anyone asks him why he won't fly higher, it's a simple answer -- Lu Guang asked me not to.

Lastly, this one is purely speculation, and I don't think it's true, but -- do we actually get confirmation, at any point in the story, that Cheng Xiaoshi can't dive into photos that he's already dove into? Did he ever actually try and have it fail, or did Lu Guang simply tell him that?

Maybe there is no diving limit. Maybe Cheng Xiaoshi can dive into the same photo as many times as he wants. But then why would Lu Guang tell he couldn't?

It's simple.

You must not get caught up trying to change a past that doesn't want to be changed.

After all, Lu Guang knows very well what happens if you do, doesn't he?