#lc yingdu

[linkclick-unfocused]

He looks like. a little guy. a little dude. he looks like he meows for a living and he gets paid in scritches and kibble bits.

[ookaryi]

Me 4 seconds after seeing a cool character in the new arc

[tinyevilgremlin]

link click — text posts pt. 2/?, pt. 1

[remiruen]

B L I N K G O N E

[veifei]

also we were all betting on cxs or qiao ling FORCING lu guang to cosplay but all along he was in the fucking anime club?? and is a POPULAR, WELL KNOWN COSPLAYER at that??? he seemed pretty content too, and rather natural, if reserved, at the con/clubroom.

underneath the enigmatic act he's just a nerd who loves good stories god i adore him. praying yingdu drops more wack lg lore pleasepleaseplease

[curapicas]

Why I think Lu Guang's answer to the riddle was the detective:

It's given at the same time Cheng Xiaoshi gives his own for misdirection. The one who gave the same answer as CXS was his own dad, a guy that for all his failings, was loved enough by SYY to try and change his death node - WQ is also attached to him, therefore we expect/hope CWM has an ethical side to himself; meanwhile the one who gave the same answer as LG was Vein.

It happens right before LG bets on Vein being murdered on that room, an antithesis to CXS changing the past for what he hopes is for the best to those involved (note: I'm fine with the guy trying to fix a death node by dumping a death node on his bestie's murderer, just pointing out them as a partnership don't EVER do things intending to eliminate the bad guys, ya feel me?)

CXS' answer presumes innocence (more on how to me, this reflects on link click's overall messages under the cut), but LG is analytical; he'd take in consideration that the detective is poor and the animals had a coin;

the riddle states that "you" are the detective. LG spends yingdu burdened by knowledge and trying to solve a disappearance along with CXS; we also know LG feels guilt over what he's doing and CXS' death (which is why he was harsh on Vivian not deserving CXS' sympathy when they were on the phone). Therefore, he not only has been functioning as a detective throughout yingdu and link click as a whole, but also presumes guilt for himself (meanwhile Vein presumes that ppl have hidden intentions like he usually does, I guess)

In other words; LG answers he's the detective bc he not only takes the seemingly innocuous clues into consideration, but by the end of yingdu he feels guilty and burdened by what he has done and feels he has to do. A far cry from the 1st episode, where he identified with the noble heroine who goes into a doomed quest; now he thinks of himself as the sharp detective who would burn a forest down to get what he wants.

Now, personally I vibe with LG and CXS pointing to two different directions: LG makes the audience aware that amidst all of the tragedies in link click, someone is benefiting; there's a person or a group who doesn't care others are being stepped on, which has been the case of the antagonists so far, be it LX or the typical bullies; and LG puts himself among them, since he doesn't justify to himself he has noble intentions so it's okay that they won't help with Emma's investigation, for example.

CXS is the other side of link click: actually, bad things will happen without anyone meaning to, as is the earthquake, the noodle lesbians' divergence, the time nodes getting messed up by well-meaning intentions.

Note: The big takeaway here is that LG thinks it's the detective bc he thinks he's the detective and LG knows himself as guilty. Not that his answer was (or wasn't) the most logical/obvious and CXS' was too naive, I'm actually trying to prove that even if he answers purely using logic, LG is being emotional about it too! A correct answer is NOT the point of the riddle

btw, the positive spin of LG going from the tragic heroine to the cruel detective is that he no longer is passive about fate, and sees it as something that can be seized, which gives him hope

[snorlaxlovesme]

losing my shit that Liu Xiao was lorded to be this master chess player and here i am watching him absolutely bomb at Tetris

[duomeiszd]

"I love everybody because I love you"

very quick link click sketch 🥺 I probably won't color it or anything but I am trying to finish up my other lc WIPs so I can post them here! I love them so bad guys 😭😭😭😭 0TL 0TL

[psychopomp-namine]

cheng weimin and shao yuanyuan abandoning cheng xiaoshi at the tender age of 8 years old gets even more fucked up when you think about how they know about the photo diving ability and that bahati is a school related to abilities

like okay listen. one of you has the ability to go back in time by clapping your hands while looking at a photo. presumably you know that abilities are passed on to children. they can activate at any time, perhaps during traumatic moments like with the twins. one of you went to teach at a school for superpowered kids so presumably you know how this works.

and you think you can just abandon a kid with unactivated powers?? leave him with trauma ripe for awakening abilities? what if it wasn't the bridon photo that triggered it huh? what if cheng xiaoshi, at the tender age of 8, cried so hard wondering about his parents and then he accidentally claps himself into a random photo (IN A PHOTO STUDIO! A SHOP ABOUT PHOTOS!! WHERE HE LIVES!!!) with no one to guide him? what if he gets stuck there??? as a kid???

like okay yeah lu guang discovered his ability at 7 years old but apparently someone was there to help him. and also his ability doesn't like, harm him physically. he's not possessing someone or anything. so we're all just lucky cheng xiaoshi never discovered his powers until he was an adult because like. if he discovered that as a kid, lonely as he was?? he'd be so fucked. oh my god. just thinking about it gets me heated like what the fuck cheng weimin. shao yuanyuan. what the fuck. what if your 8 year old kid with abandonment issues got stuck possessing some random person and he doesn't know what's happening. he doesn't know anything. his parents left him and he's not even himself anymore and he's not home and how does he fix this, how does he go back. the horror of it all.

[dokjas-lostselfpreservation]

one thing I love the most about the LinkClick fandom is how no one complains about the absolute-unserious-crackhead energy cus we all balance it out with equally shakespeare-level-fic-writing and no one complains about characters/things getting too fanon cus we balance that out with sherlock-level-anylasis.

[1001galaxygal]

spoilers for link click bridon arc ep 1

ive seen some people criticizing the new link click episode for being confusing or sidetracking the main plot, and i think they are missing a lot of what The Point of this episode is.

so first i wanna talk about WHY i think this episode is structured the way it is and then i wanna talk about the new information we've received in terms of the lore and timeline shenanigans and generally ramble about how great of a set up episode this!

SO first: the structure of the episode. ive seen quite a few people confused or unhappy with the plot lines this episode, and i think first its important to understand that that was two episodes mushed into one.

1st episode - anime con

2nd- scammer girl

soooo lets talk about what these two episodes do for the overall narrative AND our understanding of the characters.

in episode 1, we see cxs die - and there is a LOT of mystery still surrounding this event but i think what we're supposed to gather is that there are two main timelines. timeline a (the original where we see cxs die) and timeline b (the timeline were following for the rest of the season and in s1 and s2). we've been shown no reason to believe lu guang has traveled back more than once. this is the first time that we see lu guang travel - evident by his emotional reaction to seeing cxs die. its not resignation, its shock. he didnt expect him to die at all. and his reaction to seeing cxs again in their first meeting in timeline b.

so what is the anime con sideplot doing there? firstly i think its evident by the way lu guang turns away near the end that he is planning to stay away from cxs. but he chooses not to BECAUSE of the way we get that classic feel good adventure with a problem and resolution- cxs LIKES being helpful and kind, it makes him happy. and seeing cxs happy makes lu guang happy and so he decides to abandon the idea of leaving. in a meta sense the episode returns us to a sense of normalcy not just to the audience but to lu guang too. secondly, this episode shows us how lu guang introduces his powers to cxs and qiao ling. he tells them its divination, and while he eventually tells cxs that thats not true, it does show us how qiao ling would know to get them jobs in s1 while not knowing about their powers.. she thinks lu guang is psychic lol! also in this timeline (timeline b) this is the shiguang meetcute!! this is how they became friends! this is re-contextualizing all of season 1! super cool and exciting!

so for episode 2- what the purpose here? mainly its too show us a rudimentary form of what shiguang's missions are like! think about it! this episode is the first ever time cxs goes on a mission with lu guang in his ear telling him what to do! this is SO IMPORTANT for contextualizing their relationship with each other! also cxs being accidentally put in danger and lu guang being able to save him this time? this is cathartic for lu guang as well, to trust he can keep cxs safe, this is why he asks to live w cxs at the end of the episode!

tldr: this episode's structure might feel kinda all over the place but thats kind of the point! lu guang as well as the audience are having to resettle in a new timeline, and the stories her serve as the avanues to understanding the characters and timeline better!

so what did we learn about the LOREEE?

1st: timeline a shiguang were messing with the past which is why vein comes to kill them - what they were messing with and why is still yet to be revealed, but it wasnt due to lu guang traveling to save cxs cuz cxs hadnt died yet

2nd: the 12 hour limit is there because if you stay for longer than 12 hours in the photograph you stay there forever - you become part of the photograph, which is why lu guang's eyes return to normal from the yellow. we do not yet know if this means that lu guang no longer has cxs's power or if he still has it.

3: there is likely only two timelines - timeline a where cxs dies and timeline b- the current one were in and the one that takes place in s1 and 2.

4: cxs probably gets his powers from someone in london dying in his arms

5: Powers are passed down through death, which means in s3 qiao ling will have li tianxi's powers!!!!

6: lu guang is absolutely weak to cxs puppy eyes! that man folded immediately

thats all ive gotten from just this episode! in conclusion, this episode does a great job of confirming SO MANY theories, giving us an insight into the characters (especially lu guang) and setting up the adventure going forward that leads them to london! really excited to see how the next episodes play out!!!

[this-blurry-photograph]

Oh, Lu Guang, honey. You just keep lying to yourself.

[tinyevilgremlin]

there's just something about how, through wang qing's voice, cheng xiaoshi breathes life into his own feelings,

"just due to some difference, i've been judged, ignored, and bullied by everyone around me."

the bullying wang qing faced may have been for a different reason, but it's bullying nonetheless, it's these teenagers harming and holding power over another "just due to some difference", it's what happened to a young cheng xiaoshi after his parents left him, it's what continues to happen to so many children and teenagers all because they're perceived as "different", and others deem this difference as "wrong", as enough of a reason to justify their cruel behaviour.

these lines are universal in that sense, anyone who's been on the receiving end of such ostracization, of such hurt and humiliation, would relate to it, and this is why it's just so, so cathartic when he has this outburst — lc lays emphasis not only on his heartbreak at being abandoned, but also everything else he has had to endure because of said abandonment.

[mykingdomforapen]

Your best friend doesn't want you to notice that he's hurting himself, but you do.

Cheng Xiaoshi doesn't go for the arms, which means that he has thought thoroughly about this before. Instead as the two of you sit at the Sherlock Holmes themed pub that you took him to after that dive, he has one arm wrapped around his middle, and his hand tucked furtively under his white shirt at his waist.

You're not supposed to notice, but he's digging his fingernails deep into his skin until the sting of it can shock him out of crying.

You want to say something. He wants you to not notice. He's pretending that he's admiring the pub's decorum, its classic architecture and the Victorian silhouettes framed on the walls, pretending that his fish and chips and mushy peas require all of his attention. If he looks up, if you see his eyes, you know you'll see the tears rimming the edges, the pink that begins to settle in, and that's the last thing he wants.

You don't know what to do.

You're doing the best you can, and it doesn't feel like enough. Not after Cheng Xiaoshi's heart was shattered, after the hero that he built up in his head of his father so gently and eloquently snuffed out his hope like a candle. Cheng Xiaoshi won't say it, everything that he has ever feared and believed about himself, but you know that it is evolving from fear to fact in his heart--that he is unwanted by his own father, by his neighbors and peers, by virtually everyone because of some innate deficiency, some failure he cannot pay for with anything but his own skin. His parents' absence had severed self-worth from his whole being since he was a child, and as much as he had learned to skip and run and dance and laugh in spite of it, it is painfully obvious, and you can never help but notice it sometimes, the way his laugh will hobble like a stool with uneven legs.

You took him out to the River Thames in hopes that summer city lights will brighten his spirits and distract him. He agreed jubilantly, talked a mile a minute as he looked up pubs that served something not fried so that your throat will not be sore. He smiled at you. Talked in a voice that is affectionate and cheerful. Made you think that things are going to get better, that he'll be okay. And now he digs his fingernails into his flesh until he leaves welts.

You can't help but look at his arms. He wears short sleeves, and you've seen him in swimming trunks before, and you know that you would have noticed scars. But obviously, there are places of him that you haven't seen before where ugly scars could stay--his soul, for one. But you can't help but worry, after what he had said through Wang Qing's lips when she pulled up her sleeve and showed Cheng Weimin all those mottled bruises. Cheng Xiaoshi retreats into himself in his sadness, you know. And once it's out of your sight and reach, you don't know what it morphs into, and where else he will claw at himself.

But he's looking away from you, and makes mundane commentary to show that he is here, beside you. He talks nonsense of Sherlock Holmes, how he remembers there being a translated book in his attic--stops himself when he realises whose it was, then laughs louder, jokes stupider, compliments your choice in pub as if you had opened it, and you realise he worries about you, too.

It becomes a spar, almost. You suggest going to a gelato shop after this, so that he can have something sweet. He scolds you gently for considering eating something cold while you're sick. You bring up the possibility of seeing the Winnie the Pooh exhibit that he had wanted to go to but deemed not enough time. He says that he'd rather make sure you rested. It's maddening. It's a stalemate. You want to wrench his hand away from his middle. You alone know that in another life, a different sort of wound struck that place. A different kind of self-harm.

You wait until you're both out of the pub. Because he hates crying in front of people, and even more so in public. Because if you catch him red-handed, and clawed, he will hate himself for it, and he has been through enough. You both compromise on the gelato because you reasoned to him that affogato is warm. He orders a cone and he's licking the edges before they melt and you think about how much you wish life was kinder to him, and how much you wish he was kinder to himself.

"Cheng Xiaoshi," you say.

He pauses. He looks at you, and there's nervousness in his eyes, because he is convinced that you're going to say something that will make him cry. He doesn't want your pity, but how could you ever give him pity? His father confirmed his greatest nightmare, and Cheng Xiaoshi stood up and defended the little boy who wept alone and afraid in his home. He protected that inner child, even if not all parts of himself will agree.

"How's your ice cream?" you say instead.

"Good!" he says, with a little relief. "Do you want to try some?"

"Idiot, I'll spread my sickness to you."

"I don't mind. It's a good flavor. It'll go well with your coffee. Come on--"

He takes your spoon and scoops a bit of his into your affogato, and you can't help it. You reach over and ruffle his hair. It's soft and thick and you don't know what to say.

"Are you wiping your sticky hands on me?" he jokes.

But when you don't pull away, and don't speak, he quiets. Your hands are gentle, and you always keep your nails to the quick. Your touch will never hurt him. I'm proud of you, your fingers say as they stroke his head. I'm so, so proud of you. And that silent, clawed hand finally slips away from his middle.

[veifei]

love the idea that xia fei is for the most part unperturbed by vein's weirdness because why is he used to vein describing people as tasty he's not shocked at all just mildly disgruntled cos his boss's off-putting freak aura he's emitting has scared xia fei's new friends away

[curapicas]

gotta love how THAT Vein PV made everyone see him say "you look tasty" and leap over the horny implications straight into the cannibalistic implications LMAO