#pensive boy

[pumpkinthistle]

Reynie Muldoon.

[phantasmatoucan]

GO MY PARAS!!!!

[honeysweetcorvidart]

what you’ve become can not be undone/and you’ll never be much of anyone

[psychopomp-namine]

some thoughts on the photo diving ability users

this is more of a speculation post. I want to talk about the main theme of link click, revisit cheng xiaoshi's character arc as we can now compare him to other users with the photo diving ability, as well as some thoughts on the narrative roles of shao yuanyuan and lu guang. they all kinda relate to each other, so I'm putting them here in one post.

i. past or future, let it be.

others have pointed out reasons why the possibility of cheng xiaoshi also time looping would be a disappointing turn from his character arc, which I agree with. I will not go into that here. instead, I wish to revisit a theme that I really wish link click would go back to as its main motto: "past or future, let it be."

I still believe this is and has always been the core theme of the show as a whole. and it's one of the reasons I personally fell in love with S1 and even in S2. you can't change the past. and even if you could go back to the past, you're only doing so to change your future, but you can't undo what has already happened. you can't jeopardize the present. past or future, let it be.

although yingdu deals with butterfly effects instead of closed loops, I don't think it's exempt from this lesson either. the fact that lu guang is now learning to make this final timeline count and that he is, for the first time, looking towards the future and not the past (because this is the "last time") is him finally reaching the same place as cheng xiaoshi in terms of the character growth cheng xiaoshi exhibited by early season 2. they are, for the first time, running towards the same direction together. a shared future. this present future. there are no do-overs after this.

even if cheng xiaoshi ends up diving into the past and timeloops for whatever reason, I don't want it to be the solution to everything. changing the past has never been the solution in link click (yingdu arc notwithstanding). it goes against the main lesson of the show. so if he ever does that, I want it to be because he wants to stabilize the past and prevent any more changes to it.

more than two people timelooping for each other, I think there's more catharsis in two time travelers committing to make this final timeline really count. this is the last time. this is their only time. so, past or future, let it be.

and if the lyrics to songs like train trail and break are anything to go by (they literally include the phrase "past or future, let it be"), I think we'll definitely still loop back to this theme again in S3.

ii. revisiting cheng xiaoshi's character arc

on that note, I want to make a quick comparison of our photo diving ability havers, because I think lu guang and shao yuanyuan serve as a useful comparative lens for us to see cheng xiaoshi with. I did this in the tags of a previous post but I think it deserves its own post now.

cheng xiaoshi gets called immature a lot sometimes by other people, which I don't really believe to be true or an accurate description of him. and shao yuanyuan provides me with another reason that bolsters my belief in this.

the ability to change the past is a dangerous power, but it's cheng xiaoshi who learns the lesson of link click the fastest. past or future, let it be. lu guang is willing to erase the present timeline by diving into the past, and shao yuanyuan is doing... whatever it is she's doing to save cheng weimin.

in comparison, cheng xiaoshi matures relatively quickly about not abusing his powers, and he is overall more resistant to the temptation of using time travel to undo death by S2. after emma, cheng xiaoshi learns not to change a death node. not even that of his best friend's, whom he loves very dearly. this is a marked contrast not only to lu guang, but also to his mother.

it's a very underrated aspect of him because cheng xiaoshi is often described as impulsive and reckless, but he does take these lessons to heart and as long as he's given space to think things through, he comes out with rather emotionally mature decisions. I love this aspect of him sooo much. his big heart carries so much responsibility, and he takes it very seriously.

which is why I am very confident that in S3, we can trust cheng xiaoshi with the timeline. so much so that I do believe he can make things right without having to change the past drastically (but I'm very sure the show will tempt him to anyway).

if there's anyone in this show who can be trusted to take care of the timeline, it's cheng xiaoshi.

iii. shao yuanyuan and lu guang's narrative roles

on the flip side, let's talk about our other two divers. there's a really great "what if" post written by @sonchop that I've been thinking about recently that I'll touch upon later. I highly recommend reading through it.

when talking about lu guang, we have to remember what constraints the writers are writing under with regards to his character. see, lu guang is a tricky character to write under censorship rules. my personal understanding (which may run contrary to some fans', but I believe there's a lot more lu guang apologists here on tumblr lol) is that lu guang is meant to be a hypocrite willing to do morally questionable things for cheng xiaoshi. but he is also most likely slated for a happy ending. it will be difficult to make both things happen under censorship. these are the limitations the writers are working with.

for example, let's look at how lu guang was written in yingdu arc. lu guang wants to murder vein, hence why he talked about creating an "unchangeable node" -- aka, a death node. his intentions are very clear, and the show even frames this by animating him as wang qing's puppeteer and even "crushing" his hand as vein gets a heart attack. but he can't be shown directly actually murdering vein if we want to give him a happy ending later, because that's a no-no under censorship.

think of it as similar to how in S2 they had to pivot the red eyes concept because they can't let red eyes remain at large after stabbing lu guang.

so lu guang has to be written in such a way where his intent is not necessarily "morally acceptable" but his actions are in such a way that a really good lawyer can defend him in court. he didn't technically kill vein. he's not the murderer technically speaking. you can't charge him guilty just for talking to vein for 30 seconds.

the way I personally see it: lu guang is in a precarious narrative position and needs to be written delicately to “deserve” his happy ending under censorship rules.

so. circling back to the post I mentioned at the beginning of this section. my theory is that introducing shao yuanyuan as the main wildcard of the timeline changes will be what narratively "absolves" lu guang from his own timeline trampling "sins" thereby making it "acceptable" for him to get a happy ending. a sort of situation where, as the post says, what if shao yuanyuan's own timelooping caused the butterfly effect that led to lu guang timelooping. he wouldn't have needed to timeloop if they fix shao yuanyuan's timelooping. (<- speculation only)

anyway, so I think in S3 it'll be interesting to see how far they can take lu guang. but I probably won't expect him to like, actually kill people himself or whatever. the best he can do is probably something like his chessmaster style "gambling" in yingdu. which I guess works out for the liu xiao paralleling.

at the same time. for the bittersweet ending likers, there's still hope!! even if it's possible they'll give lu guang a happy ending, I think cheng xiaoshi will lose something in any ending. with the way they're setting up shao yuanyuan's role, I don't think cheng xiaoshi can have both his parents and lu guang together in his life atm. maybe they'll show us something in the future to make that possible, but for now, I don't see it. (something something, "just because you can't see hope doesn't mean it's not there)

anyway. if cheng xiaoshi is supposed to be the character — the hero — who learns to embody the lesson of link click ("past or future, let it be"), shao yuanyuan is the character who, as far as we know, refuses to. I mean, she left cheng xiaoshi in 2008. he's an adult now. she hasn't learned to let go in all these years. it'll be a wonder if we can find a way for her to let go after all this time. and lu guang so far is the character in-between the two spectrums. he could have ended up like shao yuanyuan, but the ending of yingdu makes me think he's committing to this "last" timeline. his line about looking into the future is an important moment for him.

it'll be interesting to see the three of them deal with the timelines in S3.

again this is all just thoughts and speculation. in any case, whatever happens in S3, I am very excited for what's in store for us, as I'm really liking what they're setting up with our three photo divers.

[tears-of-xion]

Wanted to draw Chat Noir with a limited color palette, so I did! I ended up creating my own palette to use since I couldn't find one that had the vibes I wanted. ^^

-

Please do not use or re-post my artwork without my permission. Thank you!   (reblogs, however, are welcome and appreciated)

I do not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, nor it’s characters. All rights to their owners.

[everylevishot]

Levi #2176

Chapter 139.5 - 悪童 (Bad Boy)

[simelune]

-_- now why am i obsessed w another sim.

[cor-lapis]

They put my boy is soup can't have shit in Fontaine

when/if Childe gets back to the Harbingers he's never getting another overseas vacation approved in his life

[gojooooo]

😭😭😭 that’s his tiger cub your honor. his little monkey if you will. you cannot separate them i’m sorry it’s against the rules (source: because i said so)

[tvok]

Dennis McField Apology Tour

Bonus:

[threadneedle]

[mhaccunoval]

are these anything.

[ahollowgrave]

i never take the 24 hour maintenance serious until its 24 hour maintenance.............

[chenyuvale]

hello!! and happy valentine's day! i hope you'll have a wonderful day ahead of yourself. do you have any plans? or will it be a spontaneous day? either way, i hope it goes lovely and filled with love for you!

so i think you like baizhluc huh... /s :D

how do you think they'd be spending the valentine's day? can be canon compliant or a modern setting, im curious how their day would fare. considering his profession baizhu is a busy man, just as diluc but diluc can reschedule meetings to another time i suppose. who would do the planning for their day or would there be surprises? would it be a slow and steady day or an exciting one that'll leave them breathless?

happy valentine's day again and take careee. cant wait to hear your thoughts!

funny that you say breathless i actually have an au called breathless its sorta modern au with vampire diluc ghost baizhu :> (ive yet to .. update it in a hot second tho it gets thought abt once every halloween)

yeah !! as you said they are both busy men but baizhus work cant afford to have time to ever fully rest ( :< poor baizhu, yes diluc tries to get him away from work as best as he can but its really a pointless endeavor , esp when a patient is DYING baizhu cant really. Leave. and diluc knows this too </3 he cant be too cranky abt it)

so diluc spends his time in liyue, he has the day off and decided to spend it entirely with baizhu, in the morning helping baizhu make tea, in the day assisting with small pharmacy tasks, in the evening only somewhat closing up shop, as on paper thats when baizhu gets off, however its only a matter of time before a kid comes running to the pharmacy claiming their parent is dying when its just a common cold

when he does have the time though; this valentines, diluc suggested doing each others hair or hair styles. baizhu was almost a little over eager when he first heard the idea as he loves braiding anyones hair who will allow him to braid, and in turn diluc likes simply brushing out someones hair, especially baizhu's.... Especially Baizhu's...

baizhu has fun braiding dilucs hair, even if its a bit of a thick untameable mess, theres a braid !! and it looks not the best but thats not baizhus fault. after the braids done though, dilucs turn to do baizhus hair arrives and other than brushing endlessly,,,,,, diluc has no IDEA how to style it, its so much hair and all diluc knows is ponytail.. sure he Could also braid it but dilucs braids are wonky and uneven, he'd feel bad doing that so they jus spend. a while diluc brushing baizhus hair and giving up on certain styles (i think eventually after baizhu has enough time to read like 3 books, diluc just puts his hair in a bun finally)

[dvnieldraws]

having a haikyuu era again <3

[golden-eye-ramblings]

Renatus x Agito Headcanons Part 2

And we to be contuvered~ Gonna be a lil spicy suggestive for this section but nothing super explicit. Again, I will reiterate, they’re both freaks. Sadist and masochist it was bound to happen. Also expect manga spoilers but it’s more like implications. Anyhoo!

————

Has Relationship Experience: Renatus(doesn’t remember who he dated but knows he dated and is more natural about it it’s complicated </3)

Takes Charge: Renatus

Goes Along: Agito

Most Perceptive to Subtle Changes: Agito

Has Good Penmanship: Agito

Most Likely to Borrow Clothes: Renatus(by accident)

Words of Affirmations: Agito

Acts of Service: Renatus

Most Likely to Give Gifts: Agito

Takes Care of the Other When Sick: Renatus(doesn’t get sick)

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Active?: Absolutely.

• Renatus’ and Agito’s relationship isn’t officially out until after the ending events. World back to normal yadda yadda. Even still after everything has begun settling down and back to normal routine(with some major changes in the system of course), the two are still apprehensive about pursuing things further.

• They still deeply care for each other, much to their detriment. Putting each others thoughts before themselves and not really addressing the very obvious tension between them. Initially the plan was to keep things quiet until the gossip tabloids died down before going public.

• That obviously did not happen. Keeping their distance from each other only made them feel worse. Renatus became more irritable and hostile. The stress making his memory worse. Meanwhile Agito remained neutral face as ever but the pain he felt in his heart had started affecting the local wildlife populations’ behavior. Unintentionally causing the animals to be more aggressive.

• Ryoh had begun to notice the changes in their behavior and how their work has also begun to suffer. He caught on quick like Sophina. And he did also agree to keep quiet but urged them(separately) to talk to each other about what was wrong. Agito said nothing, though Hippo-tan was growling quite aggressively. Renatus snapped at Ryoh to keep his damned nose out of his business.

• Renatus did at least take Ryoh’s advice. His irritation and frustration getting the better of him, he shouldn’t be this angry or care so much about this whole stupid situation. But it isn’t stupid, is it? Maybe part of him is still clinging onto hope, unconsciously tracing the scar on his cheek. Can’t recall the face, the name, maybe Agito would be different though. Maybe… He slaps his hands against his cheeks to snap himself out of his thoughts. Fuck this, he thought. He needs to talk to Agito, now.

• Agito began his walk home. Hippo-tan who usually sits on his shoulder, now being held tight in his arms. His expression a restrained grimace, the ache in his heart refusing to leave. No amount of pain or the following relief of endorphins made it go away. A tightness in his throat, the suffocating loneliness. It’s all too much. Looking down at his little dragon who meets his gaze with a worried draconic yap, licking his nose with a sticky tongue to try and ease his anxieties. Agito wants to cry, he doesn’t deserve this. He stops in his tracks, tilting his head in confusion from his own thoughts. Doesn’t deserve kindness? Pain? The suffering is different. He wants it to stop but he doesn’t know how. But why?

• The two eventually find each other. Agito, by chance. Renatus, with purpose. Ideally what they wanted to do, what they should do, is address their issues first, talk it through like normal adults and discuss what to do next. But tensions were too high.

• No words were spoken. Agito drops his arms and Hippo-tan hovers over to sit atop a trashcan and wait patiently. Renatus furrows his brows, a little bead of sweat going down his temple as he balls his fist in his pocket. Agito swallows hard, a shaky breath exhaled, his heart won’t stop racing.

• Renatus makes the first move by technicality. But they both meet in the middle. Renatus grabs Agito by his tie to pull him down and the two lock lips. Agito isn’t sure where to put his hands, nervously held at his front before they move to rest on Renatus shoulders, pulling him even closer. He’s inexperienced but gods is he eager and willing. Renatus moves his hands to grab his waist, slamming him against the grimy walls of the alley. Agito clings to him like a lifeline-

• The sound and flash of a camera startles them both. And before long, they find themselves in Ryoh’s office, Sophina pinching the bridge of her nose and Ryoh tossing a newspaper with the latest hot article smack dab in the front. Renatus leaned back against the chair with his legs propped on the desk, Agito is actively avoiding eye contact. The plan to keep it subtle backfired spectacularly.

To be continued in part 3. This is a big ass post don’t want to make it any bigger sooo another cliffhanger yahoo.