#linboss

[thepanky]

late nights with lin

[glavnei]

lin wearing akula's jacket

[shelovestobite]

over time akula and lin's secret meetings (abt rollerz plans discussion) became secret dates and they used different outfits so that they would not be recognized together (usually it was very random clothes from their wardrobe)

[kikidewynter]

once again sharing this song by tia carrere, lin’s voice actor

[jerdynnn]

wow i love the 3rd street saints class of 2006!!!

[lesbiansaint]

In your car, the radio up We keep tryin’ to talk about us

[stilwaterskeeter]

Lin/Playa Headcanons

This has been a top priority post since I made this blog believe it or not. This will also be specifically a female Playa/Boss character because I personally headcanon Lin as a lesbian

This post also goes out to @syndicateau because wlw Lin rights

Lin had pretty low expectations of The Playa when they first met, she shared Johnny’s opinion of the new girl. Doesn’t look like much and a little bummed out she got stuck babysitting the new girl instead of working with a more experienced Saint

That being said, Lin was however relieved that the new kid was a girl. There’s not many in the Saints at the time and Lin was getting real sick of some of these asshole dudes and their gross comments so The Playa is a breath of fresh air, even though they’re pretty quiet most of the time

Lin was pretty quickly impressed with The Playa. She was efficient, skilled, and followed Lin’s plans, never tried to outshine her or do her own thing because she thinks her plan is better than Lin’s or some crap

And even when The Playa went off the plan, it actually helped the plan instead of just derailing it and putting them back at square one

Not to mention she was also pretty cute and Lin certainly wasn’t going to complain about working with someone easy on the eyes

Lin was also one of the first people in the Saints to hear The Playa talk

She made some witty comment when they were scoping out Donnie’s garage and it took Lin a moment to process it was The Playa who said something next to her

Lin tried to coax more out of the girl be joking how she didn’t know she could even talk but she’s met with more silence and a shrug

She doesn’t have an explanation for replaying that dumb joke The Playa made in her head and ruining her focus after that

It wasn’t even that funny, what the hell

After that, Lin tries to get The Playa to talk more in various different ways. She says it’s just to prove she’s not crazy and that the girl definitely can talk, but in actuality she just liked their voice and wants to hear it more. And the fact that she could in theory have Actual Conversations with her and make excuses to talk to her more was a Big plus for Lin

Her “plans” to get The Playa to talk consist of just leaving extended pauses between certain sentences when she’s talking about her plans to leave her a chance to speak up. And also of directly asking her random questions when they’re hanging out that aren’t as simple as yes or no

The questions plan works a few times. Asking why she’s in the Saints or trying to ask anything about her past really will usually coax a comment about how it’s “not worth the time” or how it’s “in the past so what does it matter?”

The Playa also starts chiming in with more witty comments as time goes on, all of them about as funny as a piece of wet cardboard usually but Lin laughs anyways

She doesn’t have an excuse for that and Johnny makes fun of her for it relentlessly because “Damn, Lin. I didn’t know you had such a shitty sense of humor.” And other wise comments

Speaking of Johnny: He and Aisha both act as (albeit shitty) wingmen for Lin and The Playa because they know Damn Well what’s going on between them even if neither Lin or The Playa will admit it

Johnny gets a rise out of The Playa by always making random comments about how “Hey, you seen Lin today? She’s lookin’ pretty hot—“ and then continues to describe Lin in literally just whatever clothes he thinks of first because he really doesn’t pay attention to Lin like that ever but The Playa does

She always corrects him with an added comment about how weird it is that he was looking because she’s kind of gullible and she doesn’t catch on that he’s just messing with her

Aisha and Johnny both repeatedly try asking Lin about The Playa like “The Playa’s kind of attractive, and you work with her a lot, you thinkin’ about making any moves?”

Lin always responds with the same eyeroll and dodging the question. “I don’t really have the time, Eesh, I’m busy” or “You work with her a lot too, Johnny, you sure you don’t wanna try anything?”

That’s not a no, Lin

Lin starts taking The Playa to Freckle Bitch’s and to street races she’s competing in when she doesn’t need to be hiding or undercover from Rollerz

She says it’s just because she wants to talk business with her or that she wants The Playa there “just in case any Rollerz show up to ruin the fun”

But we all know she just wants excuses to spend time with her and maybe show off a little

Girls totally dig street racers right?

She also starts taking the time to help The Playa learn how to race better and offers to help her fix up her cars for racing

Lin’s actually pretty private about her work when she’s working on her voxel, but she never minds The Playa hanging around when she’s busy with the car

It’s another chance to show off for her of course she’s totally okay with The Playa’s presence

The Playa literally couldn’t understand less about what the fuck Lin is saying when she’s talking technical about all the guts of mechanic work but she listens intently nonetheless

If Lin cares about it then shit so does she

Not to mention Lin’s kind of hot when she’s working on the car and gets all passionate and into it

The Playa is reasonably a little touchy and jealous about Lin stringing Donnie along even for the mission

Lin actually seems to enjoy the time she spends with Donnie and starts mentioning unrelated pieces of information from their time like shitty jokes Donnie made or Donnie being a klutz

The Playa is starting to think she had Lin pegged all wrong and misunderstood all the signals because it’s starting to look like Lin is actually into Donnie and even if she had a chance before she probably missed it now

Johnny and Aisha think that’s absolutely ridiculous because They Know Lin doesn’t swing that way but they aren’t about to be the assholes who out her, even though Johnny comes close one time when The Playa is trying his patience with all this “woe is me” crap

When Mr.Sharp has Lin in the pool hall, it takes him a painstaking anount of time to get Lin to comply and lure The Playa there

She was not about to get her stuck in this situation with her. It’s her problem and whether she’d ever admit it out loud or not, she doesn’t want her to get hurt. Especially not because of her own mistake

Eventually she only complies because she thinks that if anyone could end this with Sharp dead and neither of them severely injured, it’s The Playa

Jokes on her, I guess, huh?

Oh Boy here’s where it gets fun. I’m gonna split the rest into 2 different versions. One where Lin lives and one where she dies.

Lin Dies

The Playa doesn’t even think for a second that Lin needs her to get her out of the water

Lin’s too fucking badass, she doesn’t need help, she can handle herself

The Playa was too blindsighted by her anger at Donnie and Sharp to think twice about it. She gets out of the water and fucking bolts for the first car she can grab and races off because she’s going to fucking kill Sharp and she’s really going to teach Donnie a fucking lesson for betraying Lin’s trust like that

Lin loved him and he just left her and The Playa to fucking drown? Oh, he’s going to fuckin’ get it

She doesn’t find out until the next day that Lin drowned...she drowned because she didn’t help her

She was so caught up in killing Sharp and how Donnie betrayed Lin that she didn’t think for a second that she was ultimately the one who put the last nail in Lin’s coffin. She is the one who betrayed Lin the worst

Johnny and Eesh do their beat to keep The Playa’s spirits up but Johnny is Johnny and isn’t much comfort or help and she’s not the most comfortable with confiding in Aisha at the time

They do take her to tag along on some of their smaller dates though and Johnny starts putting time into trying to find where Donnie ran off to because “revenge is the best medicine”

Donnie and The Boss really get into it in SR2 when she finds him throwing the flowers into Lin’s watery grave

Donnie’s really fucking confused at first when she’s yelling at him for betraying Lin’s trust and love like he did. He manages to get in a few words that makes The Boss pause for a moment because Donnie definitely just established that he thought Lin and her were together

“You what? What the fuck made you think that?”

“I-I don’t know! She really liked you a-and I just kind of assumed—“

The Boss originally was just interested in revenge but now she’s going to get Donnie to rig some Brotherhood trucks so she isn’t just wasting time while she interrogates him about Lin

Whomp whomp whomp, turns out he and Lin talked about cars, her, and Joseph and there was never anything romantic there

“I can’t believe you thought me and Lin— We were both gay, what the hell, man. I thought you knew about her.”

The Boss also decides then and there that she’s not done with Donnie yet though, she wants him to hurt like she hurt for so long

Lin Lives

When Lin wakes up in a fucking ambulance she’s really fucking confused because she should be dead

She used what breath she had left to get The Playa out, what the fuck is she doing alive and on her way to the hospital?

Lin absolutely cannot believe for a second that The Playa wasted precious time to save her. She didn’t think they cared about others that much, let alone her

She hates being cooped up in the hospital and hates Julius’ babysitters waiting with her while the Rollerz are still around, but honestly she doesn’t mind when The Playa shows up between missions to tell her in detail how she killed Sharp and later Joseph

And after the Rollerz are out, while The Playa still doesn’t have a ton of free time, she still visits as much as she can just to talk

She talks a lot now

Jokes about how much money she’s being forced to dosh out on mechanics while Lin is out of commision

Talks about that one time Mr.Wong hired her to kill a hot dog mascot and about how she fucked up bad enough that it took her $500 at Forgive & Forget to get the cops off of her ass

Tells Lin about how Johnny is ever the classy guy and got his knee blown out with a shotgun from Big Tony because he couldn’t help from making a sex joke about Tanya and how Dex and Troy are constantly at each others’ throats with The Carnales

It’s like the new girl just doesn’t shut up ever now

And funny enough, Lin finds that she really doesn’t mind. She really likes talking to this girl

Oh no, Johnny was right

Lin thinks for a while about date ideas she can ask The Playa on after she gets discharged but they all sound annoying, lame, and way too cushy for her tastes

Ultimately she invites The Playa to her place because “Fuck it, after all the shit we’ve done I don’t care. I almost died and I’m not about to miss my chance again because I can’t think of something like a date idea.”

The Playa is very confused at all the increasingly obvious passes Lin is making towards her when they’re at her crib because they’re still pretty sure she was into Donnie and not her

Lin has the patience of a rock and gets frustrated and gives up within the first hour or two, “How are you this stupid?! How am I still attracted to you?! I’m trying to get into your fucking pants, do you wanna fuck or not?”

In SR2, it turns out Lin had the same idea as The Boss and they ran into each other at the courthouse both trying to break Johnny out.

They work as well together as they always have, it’s like almost no time has passed at all

“You get Johnny, babe. I’ll meet you two outside. Same old voxel but it’s purple because fuck the Rollerz.”

“Meet us up front, no point in going the long way if they already know we’re here.”

“And don’t get blown up again, okay?”

“Fuck, I missed you.”

[naanima]

NIF 2 FINALE

Random thoughts and observations for last two eps. You have no idea how hard it was to avoid spoilers. SO EXCITED.

GODDAMMIT! ANRU! :( Also, Yuanqi, you fricking idiot. How did you think it was going to turn out.

So, confession time, I'm actually kind of on General Di(?)'s side. And it is true, Pingjing would be a better Emperor... extremely sad but a good Emperor. Also, Yuanshi used the exact phrasing as the Emperor in NIF in calling Di a traitor. I'm not even sure why I find that noteworthy, except concern. In many ways I feel that they did fail Yuanshi. They should have taught him better, they should have controlled the Empress' influence. He is a good and smart kid, but still a kid who should have been better prepared by the adults in his life, and the Emperor KNEW the situation at court and he knew the Empress, and just urgh. This whole series is about humans and their faults because of paranoia, greed and sentiment. I kind of love it.

CHANGLIN MANOR IS JINGYAN'S OLD HOME?!! *CRIES* Lin Shu and Jingyan protecting their kids. I mean descendents.

If Feizhan dies I'm fucking giving up on this show.

SCREAMS INTO THE VOID. OMFG!! IS HE DEAD, IS HE ALIVE?! WTF?!

SU-MANOR. CREYS. MEI CHANGSU!!!!!! Also,  I barked out a laugh because even six decades after his death MCS can still cause so much grief in his enemies. Lols.

FEIZHAN!!!! STILL ALIVE! PLEASE SURVIVE. NO, YOU FUCKERS. WTF?!

I kind of love General Di. BUT FEIZHAN!!!

I LOVE Pingjing's black outfit with the scarf. The actor for Xiao Yuanqi is amazing. And the conversation between Yuanqi and Pingjing is amazing. It is the same conversation that has been happening throughout the series. It is about the potential for the future.

FEIZHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK THE GODS!!

PINGJING'S TINY SMIRK!!!! I love Yuanqi's sword. CHI YAN BRACELET SAVING PINGJING!!!!! LIN SHU!!!! CREYS. The fight choreography was really well done. Loves it.

Yuanqi... you. Christ. Even in death he has tied everything up nicely.

Yuanshi - wow. Holy shit. Yeah, that's the future Emperor. Pingjing, run. Chinese Emperors are notorious for being ruthless once they truly assume power.

IT ISN'T ABOUT WHO YOUR BIO PARENTS ARE! IT IS ABOUT CHOOSING TO BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE. CREYS.

Yes!!! Pingzhang and Tingsheng's wish was for you to be free. To be yourself and not them.

Also, I don't know how to say this, but Yuanqi's character is kind of terrifying. He is a good kid but he is also the Emperor. And the last conversation between the two - ALL THE IMPLICATIONS. And OMFG! THAT IS XIAO JINGYAN'S GRANDSON. Pingjing will return if Yuanshi ever needs him, but he can't stay. It isnt just that Pingjing wants to be happy but it is also the political implications. Xiao Pingjing is the heir to Chang Lin, he has the loyalty and trust of a hundred thousand. There are more than a few who believes he would make a better Emperor. He CAN'T be at court. General Yue is so smart - Pingjing is tired of politics, but he is also in such a dangerous political position.

LINBOSS!!!! OMFG! WHAT IS THIS STUPID SPONTANEOUS WATERWORKS ON MY PART?! PINGJING EVEN WARNS HER ABOUT HOW UNCERTAIN THE FUTURE IS AND THE POSSIBILITY HE MIGHT NEED TO RETURN, AND IT IS ALL GOOD! YES!!!!

OMFG! WE ACTUALLY GOT A HAPPY ENDING FOR A MEMBER OF THE XIAO FAMILY. OMFG!!!! I LOVE THIS SHOW.

[naanima]

Disclaimer, my Chinese is not the best but I'll have a crack. The conversation between Yue and XPJ (my humble opinion) is pretty much the most important conversation in the last ep. Yue explicitly states that PJ is too powerful, he called a hundred thousand without the backing of the Emperor, AND they came. He is too dangerous, and his stay in court will only lead to paranoia and fear. However, it is not the only reason, the most important is that PJ is tired, he is hollow (?). If PJ really wants to he can find a way to stay in court. But PJ doesn't, and both implied and explicit thoughts is that both Yue and PJ are too smart for their own good but they are also dumb (loyal) in the eight ways.

PJ tells the Emperor he will return if he is ever needed. There is also a whole tangent about Yuanshi needing to choose his own future, make his own decisions. That he is not going to become bad just because of his lineage. Pingzhang was the son of a traitor but no one would ever say he wasn't loyal.

Yuanshi is young, but he is the Emperor, and both Yuanqi and General Di made the comments (or heavily implied) about how Xiao Pingjing would be a better Emperor. And even if Yuanshi believes PJ would never betray him, there is still the possibility and politically PJ is too dangerous to be in court.

I'm not sure if this will make sense, but historically and in all Chinese historical dramas, Emperors are known to becoming ruthless once they fully come into power. They cannot to be seen as weak, they cannot be seen as easily swayed, and they cannot have someone who has saved them, who has seen them at their weakest, at their most vulnerable live. They are the son of heaven, and they must be above reproach. It is telling that people who have never seen Yuanshi looks at him with awe. He is divine and cannot be seen as weak. Pingjing can't be seen as stronger than Yuanshi. I was chatting with a Chinese friend of mine, and it is funny that both of us knew the exact moment, 100% that Xiao Ping Jing couldn't stay in court. It was when Yuanshi heard Yuanqi and PJ talk to one another, it was when Yuanqi listed all the reasons that Yuanshi doesn't deserve the throne, that Pingjing, Changlin would be the better choice. We were like, crap, he just said all of that publicly. Pingjing can't stay. And then to have that followed up with Yuanshi publicly stating Chang Lin wouldn't betray him - it is both an expression of true trust, but also a saving grace for PJ. Then the order for Yuanqi's death. That, that is the Emperor.

Xiao Yuanshi is Emperor. It doesn't matter how young he is. He has ordered the death of a person without advice. He must make all future decisions on his own. And what type of Emperor he will be in the future is unknown, but it will be his choice, he can't rely on others.

One last thing, even the AMAZING/HAPPY ending between PJ and LINBOSS is tempered with Pingjing's warning that the future is uncertain and he might need to return to court. Pingjing is still a son of Chang Lin, he understands his duty, but he is also becoming his own person, both Pingzhang and Tingsheng wanted him to be happy. And PJ is tired.

I really don't know if this made sense, but the ending worked for me because PJ is still loyal, but he gets respite before he is needed once more.

Finale Thoughts: Nirvana in Fire 2

RANT INCOMING :P SPOILERS AHEAD.

I loved this show. Is it Nirvana in Fire 1? It isn’t in my humble opinion. Is it a good show? Yes 100%, possibly even great in my books for Asian Drama.

I was with this show 150% throughout. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me appreciate good drama. And of course there are 1-2 missed scenes and plot holes but well, every show has them. Whaddaya do?

The last 5 minutes of the shoe however disappointed me hugely. Now I am not a Mandarin speaker, but I can glean enough to understand that yay Pingjing and Lin Xi had their happy and cute ending (ALSO FEIZHAN LIVED YAAAAS).

But it seemed so so so out of character for the Pingjing this show had built up. Pingjing liked and loved a carefree life, until he learnt to bear the responsibilities of his family name. After TS’ death, indeed, he was set free to live a happy life again, chilling at Langya Hall. A well deserved rest after the years of shit and politics.

Even when he had an inkling that something was wrong, Pingjing sent a letter to Minister Xun - because no matter what, there was an elder at court who was loyal to the Emperor. And was clever in his own way. Okay, understood he wanted to keep to his quiet abode.

Now, in the end everything has changed. General Yue and Feizhan are incredible tactical and martial minds, but Yuanshi is still a 14 year old who has NO ONE left but Pingjing who he can trust and who can work the courts to his advantage with his brilliant mind if he wants to. Many many ministers, signed up to be with Yuanqi as we saw in Episode 47-48. After Minister Xun has passed I am sure there is a giant power vaccumm left behind. Who will handle all of this?

Pingjing can stay back in the capital for at least a few years till Yuanshi is an adult? Support and help him rebuild the nation? Now remember in NIF1 once the Emperor became sick and Jingyan was regent ALL enemies took the chance to attack - even with a powerful martial Crown Prince at the centre. Though Bei Yan is gone and Da Yu was subdued by Pingjing, Donghai is still bristling and Southern Chu is also there. No matter the talent of the generals, Yuanshi has to hold fort down alone in the capital - while changing over to a new administration. It is not an easy task! Citizens will be affected.

I dont expect Pingjing to clean up the messes of others. But he can do so so so much more.

I understand Pingjing wants to be happy. Lin Xi is a smart woman and not one to hold herself or him back. They can be together a few years later, or Pingjing takes holidays to be with her and his family.

The directors and Hai Yan gave us two beautiful worlds crafted with the essence of deep military loyalty, sibling-hood, love for the nation and love. Jingyan and Lin Shu/Mei Changsu is one of the greatest love stories ever told in my opinion. No matter how much fix-it fic I write, it still remains a fact that MCS with his decaying body, willed to sacrifice it for the nation.Jingyan took upon the toughest mantle for the good of the citizens and risked treason for Prince Qi. Nihuang swallowed her bitterness at the Emperor to serve the people of Yunnan. The nation had failed all 3 of them yet they persevered.

TS, Pingzhang all dedicated themselves to the country - TS’ younger brother died worrying and loving him first before caring for his own kid. This sweetness exists between Yuanshi and Pingjing - the deep bond of love - but I dont know why PJ cannot stay with him and help him. There is no need to be a military commander, just stay and help Yuanshi get back on his feet.

Pingjing has worked very very very hard. He has shown us a journey from naivete to measured intelligence and strategic planning. If the storytellers wanted to give us a stock happy ending, they succeeded (although I very very much doubt if Hai Yan is into happy endings at all ahaha).

However I would have felt the realistic bittersweet ending, where Pinjing would have put his country and his duty to support his little brother, the same way his father and his brother and his grandfather Jingyan and granduncle/secret grandmum MCS had done. I still think he and Lin Xi could have had a happy life.

I dont want PJ to be another Lin Shu. But in my mind I cannot accept the whole badly-CGI’d running off into the sunset bit. This is Nirvana in Fire, I need to see more pain.

END RANT.

Please feel free to disagree with me. I would LOVE to hear the opinions of those reading.

[shelovestobite]

i've never walked home as fast as i did today

[shelovestobite]

BIG MOOD

[shelovestobite]

art comparison: linboss

2023-2022-2021

[shelovestobite]

linboss sketches drop

and i a little bit obsessed with these old people lololol

[shelovestobite]

another linboss sketches drop

[shelovestobite]

this song has linboss vibes for me

[kikidewynter]

just realised i’ve hoarded enough songs to make a linboss playlist but i’d have to take some from my lin playlist and do you know how long it took me to perfect that one. i’ll die before i let anything happen to it