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pastorfutureletthembe · 7 months ago

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Saving Lu Guang!!

For obvious reasons, we're all assuming Cheng Xiaoshi is the one who needs to be saved. The final plot twist of season 2 is the main reason:

I'm sorry Cheng Xiaoshi I’ve always been telling you to not change the past but I couldn’t follow my own words. Even if I know death is an unchangeable point, I still want to use the last chance to go back to the beginning, and save you.

But. Lu Guang is the most unreliable character you'd find out there. His version of the story is sometimes inconsistent.

Many details don't add up, might it be the fact he doesn't have his phone with him at a moment as important as closing a trap on Liu Min, or that the scene in the hospital bathroom is different when Cheng Xiaoshi dives as Lu Guang, or the simple obvious impression that it's future Cheng Xiaoshi who's giving him the partner talk on the basketball court--

Well, there might be someone in Lu Guang's corner diving and changing things without him being aware of it. This person being Cheng Xiaoshi himself is most likely.

Now, why would Cheng Xiaoshi dive into the past after all this time when he decided against it after Lu Guang's death? Saving Lu Guang or Qiao Ling is the most realistic and in character reason but there is more to this particular theory today.

Remember, whatever we think, there is more to the story. As omniscient as Lu Guang seems to us at the moment, he, himself, doesn't have all the information.

Past or Future, it has been clear until now that official content is hiding many secrets yet to be uncovered. Dive with me into this madness once more~

This meta is largely inspired by this thread

>> Lu Guang's secret

Let's start with something as basic as characters concept arts. Those always strike me as out of charater, because Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi's personality seems somehow switched: on the character sheets, Cheng Xiaoshi looks pissed and Lu Guang smiles (like a creep).

Two things are worth noticing in this first pack of pictures:

Lu Guang's character sheet looks like a frame if the film roll has been exposed to light while loading in the camera. It is damaged. His smile in the background is also absolutely not his. In the light of Yingdu Chapter's teaser, it could mean Lu Guang is possessed by either Li Tianchen or Vein. Not only that but the surexposition makes it impossible to know the exact color of his eyes. Could be yellow, red, blue, gray.

They are both trapped in the bottom of a hourglass. Cheng Xiashi looks at Lu Guang in a frustrated/angry manner, and this face is a lot like the one in the background of his character sheet. It could implied that Lu Guang got them into some kind of bad situation.

Promotional posters presenting season 2's characters have Li Tianchen in Qiao Ling's shadow while Liu Xiao in Qian Jin's. Lu Guang is Cheng Xiaoshi's. Lu Guang lies/manipulates Cheng Xiaoshi for his own good since the start, he hides secrets after all. He is as much a puppeteer as Liu Xiao. He is very knowlegdable but we have no idea to what extent. We can only assume that whatever he is doing, he's doing it for Cheng Xiaoshi's sake.

These details and the implications don't put Lu guang under a good light. Lu Guang always was a morally gray character, however his logic paired with Cheng Xiaoshi's compassion make them the duo we are rooting for.

A popular theory is that Lu Guang betrayed a Time-Something Organization to save Cheng Xiaoshi and is now being punished. Another one is that he made a deal with Vein to grant his wish. In any case, he might have ties with Vein and Liu Xiao, as a whole or separatly, we can only speculate so far.

In my meta on the Promotional Poster for the AR GAME, and the Light and Color theory, I mentioned that "Burning Palace" hints on a Fourth character being part of this new group, and argued that the missing character is already part of the cast: Lu Guang.

Futhermore, whatever happened, he can only be at fault: Lu Guang is supposely the one who introduced Cheng Xiaoshi to his powers. We still don't know the origins behind those, and I won't start the disucussion in this meta, but we know that at some point, in this timeline or another, Cheng Xiaoshi tried to convince Lu Guang to use their power to earn money and pay their debts. Link Click Live Action is not canon to the donghua, but in this adaptation, Lu Guang is the one coming to Cheng Xiaoshi and teaching him the useful way to use his strange energy.

To resume, Lu Guang isn't only keeping secrets from Cheng Xiaoshi. As an audience, we know close to nothing about him, even less than his roommate! Except for the fact he's probably been diving back in time to change the past. Therefore, he cannot be trusted regarding his abilities, his past, or even his motivations. Lu Guang knowing everything or more than others because he lived through several repeats is a false fact. When something unexpected happen, he totally freaks out and he is a control freak. It's okay, we love him as he is. But! He is the definition of unreliable as far as narrators go.

In the past or in the future, Cheng Xiaoshi has to find out the truth at some point. His reaction shouldn't be important for this meta though. Actually, I think the official artworks of him being pissed shouldn't be taken quite literally. The hints I talked about above don't mean anything about HIM or his feelings but it says everything about Lu Guang's actions and the implications of those: he is doing something he knows is wrong and his ultimate goal is exactly the same as some antagonist. Being kept in the dark, lied to or manipulated, Cheng Xiaoshi wouldn't focus on any of it.

Why? If Lu Guang actually rewrote reality and put himself in a doomed situation for him, Cheng Xiaoshi would absolutely try to cancel this accomplishment. That's the only important information we need for this meta.

Cheng Xiaoshi went back in time as someone they knew before so we can assume he would do it again if needed. Imagine our guy coming back as Qiao Ling, as his own wingman to force Lu Guang back into his life? If the talk on the basketball court didn't work, I'm pretty sure getting Lu Guang to do physical work in the studio and bully him to admit he likes Cheng Xiaoshi would do the trick. That's a start anyway.

With these few starting points, we can go deeper now:

>> Through the Looking Glass

There's a myriad of instances where Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi are kept apart from each other by glass or shown as each other's shadow or reflection. And I've been mentioning it for a while now but finally, after almost a year, I think I've finally cracked this case!

Starting with Surprising Click Posters, there are 5 visible TV screens with a message of ERROR on Lu Guang's. No matter the meaning, I think it is important to note that Lu Guang is just as much a spectator as we are. The plot happens as it's supposed to happen: no matter what, they'll end up at the same point. For some reasons, I always believed that Cheng Xiaoshi was trapped behind the glass, in the TV, as a playable character, if you may. That's part of how their abilities work together, isn't it? Their deal is Cheng Xiaoshi dives but Lu Guang drives. Well, I'm not so sure anymore. The Picture of the carwash is random but interesting. Cheng Xiaoshi is outside and is knocking at the window.

Who's the one trapped behind glass after all? What if Lu Guang himself is trapped in a TV and Cheng Xiaoshi is trying to get him out?

The first one seen with a camera in INPLICK's art isn't Cheng Xiaoshi but Lu Guang. The story is told from his perspective. But this is Link Click we're talking about so this means basically nothing. Cheng Xiaoshi dives into pictures, he is the one with real control. Lu Guang, all-knowing that he is, is introduced as a passenger, an observer. Even after the big reveal regarding his diving abilities, his strict rules and his attempts to protect the main timeline bring him to failure. This cycle is only set to start again over and over, making it an actual time loop.

In "OVERTHINK", Cheng Xiaoshi is the one using the camera. He looks away from Lu Guang (in deception or sadness I'd say). Once he takes the picture, there is no one there: it could mean Cheng Xiaoshi is using one of Lu Guang's pictures to dive. Yes, Lu Guang's picture: after all, it is Lu Guang's camera that he is using.

Take a look at this meta: Rolleiflex

This aside, Lu Guang is the reflection/shadow, not Cheng Xiaoshi, and thus on several instances. A shadow or a reflection can't do shit. Lu Guang has no control, even if he's being sneaky and acts in the dark. Lu Guang isn't the one calling the shots.

Cheng Xiaoshi is knocking through the glass to reach Lu Guang who's always watching us, the audience. His motivation, objectives, values, worth depends on Cheng Xiaoshi's survival but he doesn't see him. Perhaps his obsession is blinding him to the point he sort of dehumanized his friend. Indeed, the distance between them is as wide as the one between you and them. Coincidentally, when he does look at us, Cheng Xiaoshi is looking at him.

I'll probably write a structured and complete meta about it at some point but for now I'll just put this idea in your head: who else looks at Lu Guang's reflection and portrait, always?

Liu Xiao.

lover_astrid on X often follows Liu Xiaos's trail, they point out interesting things those, specifically: x x

Let's start with Liu Xiao monolgue at the end of season 2:

"It seems that one has only one destined path. But in reality, it is made up of countless parallel lines. It can be driven by one's personality. And can also change with the influence of others. Sometimes we wanna change it. But we can't. I wanna bring more parallel lines together to turn all uncertainties into certainties."

If we cannot change one's path (aka death is an unchangeable node), what is the point in turning incertainties into certainties? For one thing, I think he means to flatten a curve: make it one unique path for one specific node, like a True Timeline of sorts. Then, what does it imply? My guess is to remove either Cheng Xiaoshi or Lu Guang entirely. A theory to take with a grain of salt.

At this point, if we talk about his identity as today, before Yingdu Chapter, he could very much be an alteration of either Lu Guang or Cheng Xiaoshi trying to right a wrong. In the teaser of Surprising Click, he is standing with a picture in front of the familiar couch, many TV screens surrounding him. He's oviously a watcher. He has more knowledge than Lu Guang, and he's obsessed with him apparently, which implies that he knows about his abilities, maybe personally.

Secondly, the text Liu Xiao is reading is part of Shakespeare’s sonnets (39). I won't go too deep into the meaning of it but feel free to read this analysis. It does speaks of lovers separation, but as something that need or should happen.

Lastly, the black feather is Lu Guang's. Liu Xiao can reach Lu Guang but Cheng Xiaoshi cannot. Liu Xiao is always staring at Lu Guang's image and he has his feather as a memory, but Cheng Xiaoshi is separated from his friend by glass.

Edit: this feather thing is even more important now that Yingdu Chapter Opening THE EYE has been released. It shows a notebook with codes in it and the bookmark used is a white piece with the word REWIND on it. It's probably Lu Guang's notebook. The symmetry of making Liu Xiao an alternative version of Cheng Xiaoshi is more and more likely.

In BREAK! Cheng Xiaoshi is the one looking at us. It's like a nudge: hey, actually, I am the one telling you the story, pay attention please. When he raps in songs, he always starts by interrupting loudly to get your attention as well. "Now I'm talking. And Lu Guang will take over."

Cheng Xiaoshi's hand is on a bubble. I always thought it was a mere planet but it's actually a see-through marble. I think it is possible that Lu Guang is inside. The title itself, "BREAK!" is a giveaway of what it will take to free Lu Guang from this. But hold that thought for now.

The hourglass is a recurring motif in Link Click. It is Lu Guang's symbol. It might means that Lu Guang is in a timeloop. Perhaps he isn't only going through repeats but he is trapped in ONE endless loop. Perhaps he's already saved Cheng Xiaoshi but forgot; cut from the reality he belongs to.

The hourglass is not only an object we come across in PVs. The Birthday artwork for Lu Guang showed him in one, with forget-me-not flowers replacing sand. The Bday arts are actually very interesting because both Cheng Xiaoshi's and Lu Guang's heavily hint on Tarot Cards: the Hanged Man and the Fool. I'm working on an ass-long meta regarding the Tarot Imagery in Link Click so I won't go into too many details here.

We have the Hanged Man: he might be intuitive but he is lost, feeling trapped, is self-limited, in need for release only possible by letting go. There is a part of this arcane that tells us we know the prefered outcome but it might blind us, bring us to a prophecy we're actively trying to keep from realization. He sacrifices himself but for what?

In myths, might it be Judas hanging from the tree because of guilt, or Odin when he sacrificed himself to gain the knowledge of the runes, we're talking about an obsessive person who acts according to their own beliefs, with strong moral values. The Hanged Man speaks of selflessness... giving and not expecting in return, making sacrifices for what must be done. The truth is the Hanged Man picked his hill and will die on it. This card comes before Death, representing the peace that comes from accepting what is out of our control or no longer resisting our fate. This is all about letting our own hubris prevent us from taking a different approach.

The cat here is covering one of his eyes, which could be a parallel to Odin once more. I mentioned at the end of this meta that Lu Guang's sight has been stolen. So, it might be a choice that he is in the situation he is in but perhaps he shouldn't have made decisions on wrong beliefs.

I'll let you know that the reversed Hanged Man suggests that the seemingly noble deed of offering yourself as the sacrificial lamb is, at least for the time being, a useless gesture.

Now, the Fool. As a tarot card, I find this one very interesting and mysterious. Arthur Edward Waite gives the Fool the number 0, but in his book he discusses the Fool between Judgment (XX), and The World (XXI). He is suspended between realities. The Fool is usually considered part of the Major Arcana in tarot reasing but this is not true in tarot card games; the Fool's role in most games is independent of both the plain suit cards and the trump cards, it does not belong to either category. The Fool proceeds without calculation, spontaneously, without hesitation or resistance. Without a blueprint, he is freed up from rules, restrictions and systems.

Portrayed as an empty headed simpleton unaware of the forces that move him. In the Waite-Rider deck, you'll see him immortalized right before his fall of a cliff, walking with his loyal dog. He's impulsive and careless. But tradition tells us that he has a secret that protects him: the magic of synchronicity. Now that seems counter-productive in my meta but basically synchronicity is what happens when seemingly unrelated events coincide in improbable ways that have some sort of significance for you. Carl Jung believed synchronicities were evidence of a unifying consciousness at play in the universe, creating physical manifestations of what's happening in our psyche.

Together, the Fool and the Hanged Man encourage to take a step into the unknown and to trust that everything will work out in the end. This combinaison warns of a time when sacrifice and surrender is necessary for growth and transformation.

The Hanged Man understands that his position is a sacrifice that he needs to make in order to progress forward. But only by letting go of old patterns or beliefs that are holding him back can he embrace a new path leading to a good resolution.

The gears and hourglass present in these artworks are kind of self-explanatory. A cog only works as part of a machine, and the machine can only work if everything in there is where it should be and fullfills its role. One action or series of actions repeated on loop. The hourglass measures time but it comes to a stop at some point: has to be turned around so the sand it contains keep flowing. It has a start and a stop.

Finally, the character's flowers aren't only pretty, they're also meaningful. Both are related to Love and Death. Forget-Me-Not are popular enough: related to the wish to be remembered even after our passing, translated into devotion and enduring love. Bellies speaks of everlasting love even beyond death, symbol of cheerfulness and loyalty.

>> Time is like Music

"VORTEX" is a palindrome, meaning it is the same when played forward or backward. The sequence itself shows this: it starts with a reverse and then, once Cheng Xiaoshi touches Lu Guang's hand, he falls down. It is a hourglass in shape and sounds. Also, it would be very clever if the story of Link Click as we've seen it had the same construction in its narrative: starting with a reverse and slowly unfolding the accurate chain of events.

This hourglass, we can find it in the "BREAK!" PV, but also in "XETROverthink". Cheng Xiaoshi literally dives into it to try and reach an unconscious Lu Guang, enlightening the idea that our favorite unreliable narrator has blind spots. We don't see Cheng Xiaoshi catching his friend because the scene cuts to the hourglass.

So, what if Link Click lied to us since the beginning? What if one other version of Cheng Xiaoshi is actually the main character and knows more than Lu Guang himself?

In "The Tides", when walking in front of the painting of a man with fabricated wings (and we know this story is one of a widower), Cheng Xiaoshi looks at it while Lu Guang looks the opposite way. There are different ways to interpret this (because this is animation so we can't be 100% sure). Once again, Lu Guang could be looking at the audience or merely glancing at his lost friend in longing.

Still, this shot offers two possible points of view:

It could be that Lu Guang empathizes with the widower's story: he is living it. He knows all of it already so he doesn't need to look at the doomed romance on the wall or actually investigate the mansion. He probably did it already.

Cheng Xiaoshi is looking at Lu Guang's shadow/reflection when he looks up at the painting. Or perhaps it is the opposite: Cheng Xiaoshi is looking at himself. This is merely a reflection to him. And Lu Guang thinks he knows the role he is playing in the story but, really, he's clueless.

We don't see who makes the figurines clap later but from their position in the previous shot, we can safely assume it is Cheng Xiaoshi's finger pushing the woman's hand down. Which is interesting. It either means Cheng Xiaoshi will always willingly choose to meet Lu Guang half way... Or Cheng Xiaoshi won't allow them to be kept apart and the real secrets unfold there.

Surprisingly, you might have missed an obvious hint that dropped this summer, or simply overlooked: H A N D S.

The wings on the painting might look like Lu Guang's demonic ones but I do not believe it is a coincidence that Lu Guang usually sits by Cheng Xiaoshi's right when they clap. The first time we see them do it, and this exact frame has been used in PV and Overthink, Lu Guang claps down. Also, the "BREAK!" poster shows Cheng Xiaoshi as an angel and they are standing in the exact same position as the figures in the mansion. Once again, the hourglass floats, ominous, between their palms.

Note that even when Lu Guang receives Cheng Xiaoshi's hand, he is on the right side.

Next: None of us skipped "Dive Back in Time" so we know it by heart. Still, I find hints in this intro on a daily basis. If you pay attention, you'll not only notice that Cheng Xiaoshi probably dives in the first three seconds, but he's looking down through glass, at Lu Guang. Lu Guang, who stands at the top of a building here, is still not above Cheng Xiaoshi. Two things:

In the chronological order, the story told is this: First, Cheng Xiaoshi dives into the picture and then we see Lu Guang changing the timeline to save Cheng Xiaoshi. This is basically Inception. The story/the show that we're watching is happening inside a picture. The whole thing is a dive.

The glass could be from the frame but it could very much so be from the usually hourglass, symbol of Lu Guang's obsession.

Another interesting detail is this shot:

Thanks to the watch, we know those are Lu Guang's hands but it is a pose we only see Cheng Xiaoshi takes. Because this is the "sponsors screen", this became Cheng Xiaoshi's signature move to me. We see the story through Lu Guang's perspective, but it's really Cheng Xiaoshi that we should focus on, here.

This particular sequence also offers a reverse: a fall, the "frame" sign with hands, one of the hand making a sign to "look up"/"go back up", then we are pulled up. It is the same narrative as "VORTEX" but this time we find ourselves on the other end, the correct order.

"Break!" lyrics once again seem to fit to Lu Guang more (and I think that's the point, "You're not just a tool" can only be addressed to CXS because that's how Lu Guang and Qiao Ling usually call him). Although the word break is used only once in the song ("make or break a leg"), the action of BREAKing is Cheng Xiaoshi's. Plus, the broken glass is the hourglass.

Speaking of broken glass and reflection, this shot of Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi in reverse in "VORTEX"- I reversed it according to the background (falling down). Once more, Cheng Xiaoshi is the main body, Lu Guang is not actually there. He is a reflection.

In a way, this theory only gives more sense to "XETROVerthink": Lu Guang appears in the hourglass but it's Cheng Xiaoshi who swims to him in order to save him, not the other way around. The rest of this PV is Cheng Xiaoshi's POV too.

Aside from the visual theme that shows basically everything we need to know about Link Click's plot, you have obviously the lyrics. As much as "VORTEX" and both ENDs, they could be read as Lu Guang or Cheng Xiaoshi's pov. But like I said at the beginning of this meta, some lines aren't working for Lu Guang at all.

There has been a hint of Lu Guang trying to stay away, in Lu Guang's flash back, but failing. We don't know if these memories belong to the timeline we're currently watching or not, but they egg us on the very real possibility that Lu Guang might chose to stay away from Cheng Xiaoshi in order to save his life. After all, their powers are complimentary and work together. Their side hustle depends on this. Arguably, and this is an realistic conclusion to draw: this job is what kills Cheng Xiaoshi. It's only natural to suppose he wouldn't die if Lu Guang wasn't in his life.

Your eyes, there ain't nowhere left to hide behind Something secretive hidden inside your mind If it ain't for your misguided taste I'd turn out so ordinary Fabulously un-addictively bore out my own brain Well, don't you feel sorry I'll love where I'm going now

Blue: Diving into Lu Guang's past/picture, could uncovered all secrets, Cheng Xiaoshi could understand him and, from this perspective, there is no possibility to hide anything.

Pink: Cheng Xiaoshi wants to correct Lu Guang's correction, he doesn't want to live an ordinary and boring life Lu Guang isn't a part of. He likes their side hustle as well, I think, because, as I said in the past regarding LCLA, he wants to help people, it's part of his core.

Possibly, our favorite unreliable narrator actually went through it in the end. This hopefully won't stick, not if Cheng Xiaoshi has something to say about it.

Cheng Xiaoshi wouldn't really want things any other way, and that's why this theory of him trying to get Lu Guang back into his storyline seems so plausible to me. Good or bad memories, he just want his partner back.

Because, after all, doesn't it sound like a line someone who remembers a friend who doesn't exist would say?

Chase you to the end of the world just to say your name once more.

I always thought it was a strange way to put it. Most of the time, songs and movies say the opposite "I want to hear you call my name one last time." You know the kind. But here, he wants to say it. Because he lives in a world where no one with that name exists!!

Food for thought. 👀

#Meta #the daily life of alice's hyperfixation #lu guang #cheng xiaoshi #link click #shiguang dailiren #时光代理人

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mysterialistic · 6 months ago

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I have an issue with the fact that Qiao Ling and Xiao Li are dead too. (Long ramble)

For me, this undermines Lu Guang's complexity and motivation. Why? Because they're portraying him as some kind of hero—the great "last hope."

For over a year since the Season 2 finale, we've believed the opposite about Lu Guang. We saw him as hypocritical and deceitful because he was trying to change the past and break a death node—a rule he established and even scolded Cheng Xiaoshi for disobeying. At the end of Season 2, Lu Guang says, "I want to use the last chance to go back to the beginning and save YOU." For so long, it’s been clear that he only cared about saving Cheng Xiaoshi. They've repeatedly emphasized and convinced us through songs and promotional material of this: that his sole focus was Cheng Xiaoshi, and no one else mattered to him.

The fact that Lu Guang prioritized saving Cheng Xiaoshi, despite the potential consequences for others (like the theory that avoiding Cheng Xiaoshi's tragic fate caused the deaths of Li Tianxi, Chen Bin, and Emma), is what made Lu Guang a great character. He wasn’t a typical hero—he was human. He was afraid of loss and suffering, of living without his best friend. This fear consumed him to the point where he never even allowed himself to grieve. Cheng Xiaoshi brought meaning and color to his life, and Lu Guang deemed him the only one worthy of saving because of his good intentions and kind heart.

If they now include Qiao Ling and Xiao Li among those Lu Guang wants to save, it completely changes the essence of his character. It takes away the personal, deeply human motivation that made him so complex and relatable. We could relate to him because, if we were in his position, with the power of going back in time after tragically loosing a loved one, many of us would do the same or at least consider it. And now, instead of Lu Guang being driven by personal loss and denial, he becomes a stereotypical hero trying to save everyone. It’s an absolute cliché that even goes against the main principle of the series back in season 1: "past or future let them be".

Maybe Qiao Ling being dead could make sense, since she’s close to him, but even that feels off. Lu Guang has never shown a strong desire to save her specifically. Besides, it doesn’t align with what we’ve seen: in Lu Guang’s memory, Qiao Ling didn’t see herself die like Cheng Xiaoshi did. Killing her off would also strip away an interesting aspect of her character—her determination to protect her younger brother. In Season 3, she could confront Lu Guang about his actions and actively try to help him. If she’s meant to die too, it reduces her to a damsel in distress, reinforcing the unfortunate tendency of Link Click to mishandle its female characters.

As for Xiao Li, his inclusion feels completely random. He wasn’t close enough to Lu Guang to justify being a major motivation for him. If anything, he would be at the very bottom of Lu Guang’s list of priorities.

Anyway, I’m sorry for the long ramble—I just needed to get this off my chest. I still hope this might be a red herring and that they’re not actually dead yet. Or perhaps they died in the first timeline, but Lu Guang managed to save them while still being unable to save Cheng Xiaoshi, no matter how hard he tried. I don’t know. I’ll trust Link Click and wait to see how they justify or resolve this in a way that makes sense and preserves the characters’ essence.

#link click #shiguang daili ren #lu guang #cheng xiaoshi #shiguang #qiao ling #yingdu spoilers

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dgnrtshunch · 1 month ago

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Lu Guang is NOT a hypocrite

ever since the season 2 finale came out people have been calling Lu Guang hypocritical for breaking his own rules he'd set of not changing the past. And post season two? It ABSOLUTELY 100% makes sense to look at it that way. But now, with the addition of the Bridon/Yingdu chapter and the context it brings, I'm not so sure anymore

In Bridon the opening scene is Lu Guang watching Cheng Xiaoshi die. There's a bit to observe from this scene. Firstly, I have the idea that Lu Guang didn't have any of these rules in the first timeline. In fact, the opening scene of Bridon shows the exact opposite, as Vein states his reason for attacking them is because they changed the past. I imagine that in the first timeline, they probably both had a good idea that they shouldn't change much because of the butterfly effect, but there were no strict rules on making changes in general. Maybe Cheng Xiaoshi tried to save someone from dying in the past once, but it didn't work, and that's why Lu Guang now has the idea that a dead person cannot be saved through time travel. This gives an idea of why Lu Guang might now have strict rules on not changing the past and not saving people from death; he knows that if they change the past, Vein might come after them, and he knows that death is unchangeable and doesn't want to see Cheng Xiaoshi go through watching someone he hoped he could save die.

But that can still be hypocritical, if he knows that death is unchangeable, then why is he actively trying to save Cheng Xiaoshi?

Let's think back to the opening scene again, then. Cheng Xiaoshi is dead, Qiao Ling is dead, and Lu Guang himself has a stomach wound he's actively bleeding out of and is having trouble staying upright. It doesn't take an expert to see that in this case, unless Lu Guang wanted to die as well, diving back is his best option. Something that stands out to me is this Haolin quote (source), where he states that Lu Guang didn't initially want to change the past.

This basically confirms going back was more of a spur of the moment thing, again, likely because he didn't have a choice. I assume Lu Guang probably went just a little bit slightly insane by the end of Bridon (he knowingly sent a man to his death and all. lol) and considering the constant onslaught of PTSD-induced nightmares, he probably decided along the way that he had to save Cheng Xiaoshi no matter what.

So is him telling Cheng Xiaoshi not to try and save people hypocritical, then? One last point.

Shao Yuanyuan is doing the exact same thing to try and save Cheng Weimin that Lu Guang is doing trying to save Cheng Xiaoshi. In the scene where Shao Yuanyuan and Cheng Xiaoshi speak, she tells him not to investigate any further and to stay out of it, because otherwise, her attempt to save Cheng Weimin might get disrupted. She has a plan to follow, and deviations from that plan could mean that saving Cheng Weimin would become less and less likely a possibility. I believe Lu Guang is in a similar position. Maybe not as calculated as Shao Yuanyuan because he's been at it for less time and knows less generally, but I believe the whole reason he tells Cheng Xiaoshi not to stray from his instructions and not to change anything is because he believes he needs to be in control in order for his attempt at saving Cheng Xiaoshi to work out. Let's say that in the first timeline they didn't have their signature three rules at all. Lu Guang came up with them in the second timeline after he'd committed to saving Cheng Xiaoshi, because he knew he couldn't repeat the same mistakes as the first timeline and had a plan he wanted to follow. This could also explain how furious Lu Guang was in episode 9 when he found out Cheng Xiaoshi dove without him, not only cause he was worried about him, but also because it was possible that the more Cheng Xiaoshi deviated from Lu Guang's script, the less likely it'd be that he could actually save him. That's why he yells at him about the timeline spinning out of control.

that's my 2 cents, let me know your thoughts or any arguments for/against this theory🫶happy to discuss

#lu guang #cheng xiaoshi #shao yuanyuan #cheng weimin #link click vein #link click #shiguang dailiren #sgdlr #link click theory #link click bridon #bridon arc #yingdu chapter #link click spoilers #bridon spoilers #yingdu spoilers #theory #/analysis?#idk #textpost

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croded · 3 months ago

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so in the link click song "Now & Forever" the whole MV is a little chibi Qiao Ling walking along a long strip of film as little moments of some other characters' lives play out in the background. That was extremely cute, and that shit made me cry.

that shit made me cry.

And then this made me think that wait - is this song a representation of Qiao Ling's new power? The one she got from Li Tianxi? Where she can spectate other people's memories? Is the song just her exploring her power privately with pictures of old clients that they had?

This would make good sense with what we know so far if it weren't for the second part of the MV. Some of the memories that play out are still memories of the characters (e.g. little Emma eating spring rolls with her parents at home, Xiao Li and Qian Jin in the police force together before things all went to shit, Liu Siwen and Ouyang finally together in old age), BUT there are scenes where the scenes are instead good ending what-could-have-beens that never happened in the show (and let me tell you that shit made me CRY.)

(as far as I remember, Li Tianchen never got to be there with them)

(again, as far as i remember, Xu Shanshan never made it to the firm with Dong Yi because of the liu min stuff happening)

(.....self explanatory. Chen Bin I miss you every day. You would've been the best dad)

so... What if there's a mutation of the power that Li Tianxi passed over to Qiao Ling? What if Qiao Ling got the ability to see the potential futures as well? This would be a REAL game changer in Lu Guang's battle against fate (and maybe Liu Xiao) to save Cheng Xiaoshi.

(on a side note, in LadyCharity's fic courage of stars, Qiao Ling gained the ability to see into the future, but very vaguely - and that blew my mind when I first read it. absolutely BANGER fic btw, if you haven't read it please do) [CORRECTION ON THIS PART (thank you kuschelkissen): okay so that was my bad. she doesn't exactly "see the future" but rather the present of a guy in the future. that's all I can say without spoilers :') are you confused? if you read the fic you wouldn't be :)))) begging on my knees please go read it]

this might just be delusional ramblings and also copium of the highest degree, but I hope for (more like I need) Qiao Ling to be much more relevant in S3, especially with this new VERY useful surveillance power (and possible wild card power mutations?? eyes emoji)

#link click #shiguang dailiren #shiguang daili ren #时光代理人 #qiao ling #that being said the chen bin moments in the mv always make tears come to my eyes #“oh she seems emotionally closed off at first glance” just show her a picture of chen bin and you will be splattered by her tears #Now & Forever #link click song

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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 14 days ago

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Map of Dreams - A Few Connections and Observations

Just a few notes on some lyrics and imagery from the Map of Dreams song and video! I used the translated lyrics from the wiki page; if these are incorrect... sorry.

Xia Fei

"Chattering birds, don't come bother me" <- This is intriguing in the context of what "chattering birds" have been symbolic of in Link Click; namely, those who spread rumours and taint one's reputation.

[ID: Screenshots from s2 ep9. Birds that spread rumours of his wife's infidelity circle fox Li Fan's head. End ID.]

"Seven parts dazzling, three parts mysterious" <- Once again implying that Xia Fei has secrets. In his character song, Renting a Shell/Body, he is largely implied to hide his true feelings behind a faked smile and his pretty appearance. This could be related to his alleged darker side, his mission to uncover the truth of Vein's "death", or something to do with Bahati and Cheng Weimin.

Qiao Ling

"Who do you think you are?" / "Please, we're all equal here" <- There is an interesting contrast between the Photo Studio Trio and the Hot Headed Trio which I'm hoping s3 will touch more on.

The Photo Studio Trio invests their livelihoods in helping out ordinary people, and learn of their stories in the process. I think of Cheng Xiaoshi's emotional investment in the struggles of their clients, and Lu Guang's unwillingness to outright dismiss things like tarot because they must have persisted for a reason, or his claim that there is no hierarchy to art. Qiao Ling is the one to contact clients first and speak with them in person; she even has a line in s2, also echoed in Train Trail: "Now, can you tell me your story as well?"

By contrast, if you look at the Hot Headed Trio, you see implications that the three have large egos and feel they are somehow different or special - Liu Xiao's cool confidence, Vein's cocky arrogance, etc. Some lines from House of the Hot Headed: "Whoever can't make it big, better understand, time to shut ya mouth" / "The people on the ground can't learn to be like me, walking in the clouds"

Xia Fei acts as though his looks put him above others in Map of Dreams, which is what Qiao Ling reacts to.

Liu Xiao

"Out of body experiences, just a little trick" <- I really wonder about the stinger of Bridon arc ep 1 where CXS finds the photo and ends up outside the school. Apparently it felt like his power activating, but his eyes were not yellow, nor did he clap, and Liu Xiao immediately afterwards responds to it like all is going according to plan. I wonder if he somehow sent a vision in some way; if he has another power like that.

The butterflies in the background of his image here are interesting - they've been pinned. If he wants to turn uncertainties into certainties, maybe the best way to do that is to prevent any "butterflies" from flapping their wings.

"Stealing the torch called fate" <- Hello, Prometheus reference.

[ID: From the video for Prometheus. Liu Xiao holds a pink flame in his hand. End ID.]

"Fate bends to my will, I am the god who extinguished the torch" / "Steal the torch of the gods, fall down the tallest cliffs, people with no place to return waiting for the world to fall apart"

Vein

Not much to say about his lyrics or lines, other than that it's interesting he's the only non-human of the cast in Map of Dreams. In PAIN, it looks like he might be a vampire... are we implying something about his near-death from Wang Qing?

Probably not, but the idea of him actually being a vampire or some kind of creature is funny to me.

Cheng Xiaoshi

"Operation Save the World" <- Makes me think of Vortex and The Eye. "Where do we go? Where do we end up when we save the world?" / "To the point where we got sick of pretending like we are saviors"

"Who's actually the chosen one?" <- I think the lore for this in Map of Dreams is that CXS finds a magic sword and goes on a quest to save the world in accordance with a note left by his dad. Combined with Train Trail's "The world has already heard legends of us", the interest from Li Tianchen in Cheng Xiaoshi's ability, the interest in Cheng Xiaoshi in general from Vein, and the central relevance of Cheng Weimin, Shao Yuanyuan, and their son's death node to the plot, I expect that there is something about Cheng Xiaoshi, whether it's his ability, something to do with his parents, or his own actions, that makes him the focus of all these people.

Everyone wants Cheng Xiaoshi fr...

Lu Guang

*points* Cat.

Kitty, even.

#:)#hope this is fun #there's a couple things that make me go 👀#storyrambles #link click #sgdlr #map of dreams #xia fei #qiao ling #liu xiao #lu guang #vein #xiao weiying #cheng xiaoshi

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mykingdomforapen · 6 months ago

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It would be easier for Lu Guang to simply swallow it down and bear it. But it wouldn’t be right.

In truth, nothing felt right. Heels of his hands pressed against his swollen, dry eyes, a crick in his neck, his heart trapped in his throat. One side of his head felt like it was being pulverized, the pain of the migraine stirring up trouble in his stomach. And Cheng Xiaoshi’s dulcet tones in his ear, his pleas no longer endearing.

Lu Guang squeezed his eyes shut at Cheng Xiaoshi’s insistence.

“Lu Guang, come on,” he said urgently. “We need to finish this.”

This was a pile of photographs lined up across their coffee table, marked in chronological order, detailing the lifespan of a relationship between two cousins. The boys had grown up together like twins, Qiao Ling had told them when she outlined the case for them, but then grew apart after one of the cousins developed a gambling addiction. The last straw was when he stole money from his cousin’s mother to feed the insatiable beast, and the cousin cut ties.

He suspects that his cousin also stole their grandmother’s jade, Qiao Ling told Lu Guang in preparation for the case. He wants us to help confirm if that’s true, and if so–if he sold it.

Which would have been straightforward enough, if the gambling cousin was still alive. Unfortunately, he wasn’t.

Hence, the ten plus photographs on the living room coffee table.

Lu Guang shifted his hands from his eyes to his temples, giving them a sorry massage that only made him more miserable. He had been poring through photos for hours now, each of them a photo uploaded to the gamblin cousin’s cloud that the client had managed to pull, dating from five years ago–when the grandmother’s jewelry had gone missing–to five months ago, when the cousin had been found dead in his tiny apartment reeking of alcohol and debt. He scoured every interaction the cousin had with their elderly grandmother for any sign of theft, while Cheng Xiaoshi dived into any photo where he could root around the cousin’s apartment for proof.

Even after five hours straight, they could neither confirm nor deny anything. The instant noodles that Qiao Ling had brought over to them had grown cold and untouched on the side. Lu Guang’s scalp scalded with the migraine, and Cheng Xiaoshi stank heavily of eucalyptus oil smeared under his nose to assuage the nausea that came from back-to-back diving. Lu Guang could smell its medicinal chill when Cheng Xiaoshi came too close to his ear.

“Can you please back off?” Lu Guang said through gritted teeth.

Cheng Xiaoshi huffed as he threw himself backwards on the chair. Lu Guang avoided looking anywhere in his direction as he unscrewed a bottle of soy milk to ease his chapped throat. Cheng XIaoshi fared none better, but he had the self-perception of a goldfish to mask it.

“We’re so close, though,” Cheng Xiaoshi said. “There were addresses to jewelry shops on his Baidu Maps search history. If we can find a photo that happened either right before or right after that one, I’m sure I can find more–”

“Cheng Xiaoshi, we’ve been at this for almost six hours,” Lu Guang groaned. “Taking a break for at least thirty minutes won’t make a difference.”

Cheng Xiaoshi huffed until his bangs flopped carelessly across his forehead. Lu Guang wiped his lips with the back of his hand, gagging slightly.

“What if I forget?” said Cheng Xiaoshi.

Lu Guang exhaled deeply, teeth clenched and nostrils flaring so that it came more as the exasperated hiss of a steamer.

“Then write it down, idiot,” he snapped. “Am I your mother?”

Cheng Xiaoshi’s jaw clenched instinctively, just as Lu Guang’s did the same–for a moment, hesitating, ready to bite down on the words before they escaped his mouth. But they had punched their way through his teeth nonetheless, and at the end of the day, Lu Guang would have let them. Even if he knew that, while he never commented on it, it stung Cheng Xiaoshi.

Because Lu Guang had said the same the first time they had this argument.

The first time they had this argument, Lu Guang was still only twenty years old. He and Cheng Xiaoshi muddled through their abilities with curiosity and bravado. The only thing Lu Guang was afraid of was drowning, and it was abstract.

The first time, Lu Guang grumbled at Cheng Xiaoshi. I’m tired, asshole, he said. Can’t you give me a break? Cheng Xiaoshi said something tone deaf–but you don’t even have to dive, you can just sit there and tell me what to do, it’s easy for you–and at that, Lu Guang stomped up to the bedroom, muttering it’s useless trying to argue with you to himself as he locked the door behind him. He burrowed himself angrily in the bedsheets and didn’t emerge until Cheng Xiaoshi cooked an entire apology dinner.

I’m sorry, Cheng Xiaoshi said quietly when Lu Guang stuffed his mouths with softened carrots. Do you–do you want to talk about it?

He said it with his back straight, even though his spine was shaking. Arguments rarely ended well in his experience–usually with a fist to the cheek, or a door slammed in his face while all the neighbors looked disapprovingly at him with full assurance that he was in the wrong. For Cheng Xiaoshi to be able to talk to Lu Guang took a bravery and a faith that he had to fight for, that he had to learn with blood, sweat, and tears to get through this life.

Yeah, Lu Guang mumbled. I do, and they had finally laid their abilities on the table next to the pot of pork shoulder soup and small bowls of dipping sauce. This was new to the both of them, their magic of a great price, and they were learning their breaking points together. Lu Guang shared his needs to be met, Cheng Xiaoshi his fears of being of no help to others, opening their hearts to make space to grow, and at the end when Cheng Xiaoshi asked Are we okay now? Lu Guang said, Even better.

So Lu Guang couldn’t grin and bear it, as much as he hated this frustration, this headache, the thought of tossing and turning on the top bunk with a heavy, hurting heart. He and Cheng Xiaoshi needed this moment where they grew so that the other could take up more space in their lives. Cheng Xiaoshi needed to learn that he would be loved even if he was upsetting. Lu Guang needed to learn to be honest. They were precious truths that would have carried them through the rest of their lives, if Cheng Xiaoshi had lived long enough for it.

Except this was the second time Lu Guang was having this argument. Everything should be the same, but he wasn’t.

He wasn’t because Cheng Xiaoshi was dead, and yet alive for now. Because Cheng Xiaoshi’s mission-driven stubbornness was what got him killed, and Lu Guang now could see the all bloodred flags leading up to September. Because Lu Guang could now name the anxiety that drove Cheng Xiaoshi into doing things now, before the wait of them consumed him alive, but Cheng Xiaoshi couldn’t yet and Lu Guang had to keep it to himself. Because he and Cheng Xiaoshi were plunging into the photos of a dead man over and over again, and every time Cheng Xiaoshi said something honest about it, Lu Guang had to swallow down how sick it made him feel. It’s so messed up, Lu Guang, Cheng Xiaoshi had said, that this guy has been dead for half a year, and I feel his heart beating in my chest. Lu Guang buried his face in his hands and tried not to cry, even when Cheng Xiaoshi was not here to see it.

“Then write it down, idiot,” Lu Guang said, only realising belatedly he never said the last word the first time round. “Am I your mother?”

Cheng Xiaoshi flinched. Lu Guang didn’t remember that. He thought Cheng Xiaoshi only gritted his teeth. There was a gleam in Cheng Xiaoshi’s eyes that could either be tears or nausea, but Lu Guang knew better than to point it out. Any time Lu Guang pointed out where Cheng Xiaoshi was falling apart at the seams, he would dismiss them like they meant nothing, like they weren’t the reason Lu Guang couldn’t sleep at night, terrified of morning.

“The hell is wrong with you?” Cheng Xiaoshi muttered.

“I’m tired, asshole!” Lu Guang snapped. He didn’t need a script for this. He felt sick to his stomach. He felt like nothing was ever going to be right, and he didn’t know how to make it better. He didn’t know what to do. “Can’t you give me a break?”

“But you don’t even have to dive!” Cheng Xiaoshi protested. “You can just sit there and tell me what to do, it’s easy for you!”

Was it easy? Was it easy to watch Cheng Xiaoshi throw himself into the past over and over again and shrug off Lu Guang’s concern as unnecessary, until he ended up on the wrong side of the bullet? To try again and again to look for what went wrong in the past, obsessing over each detail and torn butterfly wing until he scrounged for the right answer? To feel old and young at once, helpless and culpable simultaneously? To constantly lie, even though he was supposed to have grown to be honest?

Go upstairs, his memory urged him. Lock the door behind you. Go.

But something fiercer, louder than his memory took hold of him, balling itself into a fiery pit in his throat and scalding its way out of him.

“It’s easy for me?” Lu Guang choked out. “Is it? I’m the one who has to try and figure out how to fix everything! I have to fix everything, and you never think twice!”

Lu Guang felt the tears bully their way to his lashes, no matter how much he tried to fight them back. He stared at Cheng Xiaoshi until his vision blurred with sickness and fury, the boy he was supposed to save and couldn’t help but fail. I don’t know what to do, his soul cried out. I’m the only one who can fix this and I don’t even know what to do.

“Useless!” Lu Guang hurled.

He didn’t know to whom he was shouting it, but he knew as soon as it landed that he aimed it at the wrong place. Cheng Xiaoshi froze, breath stuck midway up his throat, eyes wide as if he had been shot in the stomach, and Lu Guang knew that look too well. He went as still as stone, scarcely breathing as Lu Guang’s voice settled like the remains of an earthquake, leaving behind silent wreckage.

Lu Guang caught up with his breath, dizzy with the catharsis, until its tingling numbness gave way to sudden realization. This was not how any of this was supposed to go.

Cheng Xiaoshi blinked rapidly, looking away–the tightening of his jaw could not mask the way his lips shook.

“Forget it, then,” Cheng Xiaoshi muttered. “Let’s just–yeah. Break. Sounds good.”

He stood up from the seat and left the room quickly, shoving his hands into his jacket pocket. He hurried out the front door of the shop, the twinkling of the door bell the only thing keeping Lu Guang company as he was left behind in the sunroom.

#link click #LC writes #cheng xiaoshi #lu guang #in my gdocs this is titled 'LG soiled the friendship garden'

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this-blurry-photograph · 5 months ago

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So Lu Guang is going back in time to try and save Cheng Xiaoshi. Mama Cheng is going back in time to try and save Cheng Weimin. Mama Cheng told Cheng Xiaoshi to stay quiet and so Cheng Xiaoshi probably never told Lu Guang about it. Do we have two time travelers going back to try and save different people and getting in eachother's way? Is that why Lu Guang kept noticing things were different? Are Mama Cheng's actions causing ripple affects that Lu Guang can see?

This first difference was Cheng Xiaoshi not showing Lu Guang the photo right away and that was because the news of the gambling scam being caught interupted them. Liu Xiao exposed them because of, or as a result of, something to do with Cheng Weimin. Was that because Mama Cheng had changed something?

The second difference was the photo of Xia Fei used in the airport, and Liu Xiao showing up. Xia Fei has a connection to Cheng Weimin through the Bahati language school. Although he wasn't one of the kids who died in the fire, nor did he survive it, so where he was at that time is a mystery.

The third difference was them not escaping to the right and instead meeting Vein. Vein, who is looking for something Wang Qing has in her possession. But Wang Qing is working with Mama Cheng so that item might have actually been her's. Plus Wang Qing has her own connection to Cheng Weimin, and she survived the fire that seems to have killed Cheng Weimin. A fire that Mama Cheng, if that was her talking to Cheng Weimin in the fire, suspects was planned.

The more I think about it the more I think that Liu Xiao and Vein aren't after Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi, but instead are after Cheng Xiaoshi's parents and their interest in Cheng Xiaoshi is because of that. Their recruitment of Xia Fei could also be because of his involvement with Cheng Weimin.

Edit: I just wrote this entire thing and posted it and then realized that we did get a family name for Cheng Xiaoshi's mother earlier this season. Qiao Ling called her Auntie Shao, and I've been calling her Mama Cheng this whole time. Oh my goodness.

#link click #shiguang dailiren #link click spoilers #yingdu chapter #link click theories #my post #cheng xiaoshi #lu guang #liu xiao #vein #xia fei #wang qing #cheng weimin #mama shao

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miyakazashi · 4 months ago

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Thoughts about Bridon episode 1

These are just some random thoughts, so don't mind them if they sound outrageous, but I mean half of Link Click's current fandom theories sound outrageous or absolutely insane, am I right ?

1. Evil Qiao Ling ?

Hear me out, let me explain my thought process first, so I was at the post-credits scene of episode 1, where this happens...

Liu Xiao gets informed by an unknown person, that someone "Finally found it", and also claims that the "game" can finally start.

With this theory I'm assuming that "Finally found it", refers to Cheng Xiaoshi "finding the Bridon photo", and I know this looks obvious, but it could also be the timing playing with us, regardless, that's what I'm going with for this theory.

Then this scene comes into play in this little theory, where Qiao Ling basically gets Cheng Xiaoshi to look through that particular part of the shelf, where he then finds the photo, now I know she said "a black box" and not the shelf, but she left after Cheng Xiaoshi said that he hadn't seen it, immediately saying that he would look elsewhere (the place where the photo coincidentally is), it's extremely possible that Qiao Ling basically forced him to look there, then heard from outside the room that Cheng Xiaoshi had found it, then calls Liu Xiao and tells him, which leads to that whole thing Liu Xiao did in episode 2 to get Cheng Xiaoshi on his way to Bridon, which checks out with the whole "the game can start thing", with this particular version of this theory,yes,Qiao Ling would be evil,and would be apart of the antagonists in some way, however, after I had some time to think, another thought came to mind.

2. Li Tianchen was controlling Qiao Ling ?

Is there a chance that Li Tianchen was controlling Qiao Ling to get information for Liu Xiao, since in season 2, with him going through hell and back to get Liu Min's phone for Liu Xiao, I don't think it's a stretch to say that he started working for him that early on, since they had to have been contacting each other during the time they weren't able to meet.

So basically, Li Tianchen controls Qiao Ling, and gets Cheng Xiaoshi to see the Bridon photo, then tells Liu Xiao about it.

And though a bit unrelated to the theory, Li Tianchen being the unknown caller would also make sense because of another line Liu Xiao said, "Good work, leave the rest to me", or rather the original Chinese line, “辛苦了，接下來就交給我吧”, since after listening to the line for awhile, I somehow think he was actually saying “交給我們” instead of “交給我”, fellow Chinese speakers, feel free to correct me, but I'm pretty sure the 們 can be heard, it's really subtle though, so I'm not sure, this small difference would change the English translation of the line into, "Good work, leave the rest to us", and if we're assuming "us" means Liu Xiao and Vein, it absolutely checks out, since Li Tianchen would be the only one of the group not in and also not going to Bridon for this plan.

Another small theory I have, is about this line Vein said in episode 1

3. Who is "Vein" in Bridon Episode 1 ?

"This is your punishment for changing the past"

So I saw this video where someone pointed out that this line is extremely similar to that one line in season 1 said by a controlled Qiao Ling, and said to Cheng Xiaoshi, after Lu guang got stabbed.

"This is the punishment for your breach of the game rules"

But the person stops there and doesn't really say much about the similarity, but immediately I was thinking, what if, ok hear me out- what if, Li Tianchen was controlling Vein in Bridon Episode 1, it would not only explain the similar line, but it would also explain the fact that Vein seemed to be a bit over powered in episode 1.

Cause I remember there was a time in the fandom, where alot of people were questioning why it seemed like Vein wasn't really at his full power in the opening scene, like he wasn't even at his average power let alone full, some pointed out that Cheng Xiaoshi being able to even land a kick on him was a bit surprising and also the fact that he literally walked over (instead of sprinting) to retrieve his gun (could mean he actually got tired?), someone even pointed out that his expression after Lu guang shut the door to the dark room on him, was really unlike him, the conclusion was that people thought that Vein's fighting style looked really different and was kinda odd in Episode 1 as opposed to what we see in Episode 4 or Episode 6, which are definitely more..uhhh.. wild ???

This different fighting style also led to many thinking that the Vein we saw was Xia Fei disguised as Vein, but Actually what if it's old age finally catching up to post-Bridon, 28-year-old Vein

Ahem, what if it was just because Li Tianchen was controlling Vein, and was actually the one fighting Lu guang and Cheng Xiaoshi, obviously he'd be fighting with Vein's strength, which gave him the upper-hand for most of the fight, but without Vein's particular fighting style and strategies, he still wouldn't be able to utilize Vein's strength properly, causing us to see something off in the way "Vein" fights in episode 1.

Now as to whether or not Vein was aware that Li Tianchen would be controlling him, I'd think he'd be unaware, but actually it could go both ways, they could have planned it so that Li Tianchen would control him during the attack, though I can't think of a reason, and it could also be something Liu Xiao and Li Tianchen kept from Vein, meaning these three might have different goals as well, or maybe Liu Xiao's just weird like that, and is betraying Vein for absolutely no reason

Anyways, if your still here, thanks for listening to me yapping (yapping here late at night btw, I'm so tired, expect typos), and feel free to add to the theory too.

*And again as always, I apologize in advance if any of this is common sense in the fandom

#link click #link click yingdu #linkclick #link click bridon arc #時光代理人 #shiguang daili ren #shiguang dailiren #sgdlr #link click spoilers #vein #qiao ling #liu xiao #li tianchen

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yingdu-lover · 4 months ago

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Rough Translation of a Few Questions from the Link Click Art Book Interview with Director Li Haolin

many many thanks to @whispersoflullaby 🐥

I will attach the full interview in Mandarin (if any Chinese speaker is interested in producing a proper translation 🙇🥹 jajsjsdj please do) These google translations give me headache, tbh.

Q 10. Regarding the female character Yang and others, how did Director Li adjust the role relationship and atmosphere between them?

The audience has always cared about this role. Although she doesn't have many roles, her presence is still very important. It better reflects the tacit understanding between the two boys. There is no problem, but it is not so easy to get the two boys to get along. I want to set up a bond for emotional communication between boys. For example, Lu Guang wants to know what Cheng Xiaoshi thinks of "me", Cheng Xiaoshi wants to know what Lu Guang thinks of "me"--these ideas can be transformed through Qiao Ling. q. Is it equivalent to balancing each other's opinions among them and balancing the relationship between them? - It's not about balancing their relationship, but it's about her being a channel for them to communicate. The communication I am talking about is inner core communication. q. The more emotional part? - Right. For example, in episode 10, Cheng Xiaoshi possessed Xu Shanshan and listened to Qiao Ling talk about how Lu Guang viewed him at that time. This kind of plot can only be transformed well through her.

(if only I could get the Chinese sub *sighs*)

|| In Chinese ||

Q 10. 关于养等这位女性角色,李导是如何调整他们之间的角色关系和相处氛围的? - 养等这个角色,观众们一直很在意。虽然她的戏份不多,但她的存在还是很重要的。更体现两个男生之间的默契,这没什么问题,但是要让这两个男生交起心来就不那么容易,我想设置一个让男生和男生之间有情感交流的纽带,比如陆光想知道程小时怎么看“我”的,程小时想知道陆光怎么看“我”的,程小时对“我”的想法是怎么样的,随光对 “我”的想法是怎么样的,这些想法通过乔等是可以转化出来的。 q. 相当于养等在他们中间平衡相互的看法,平衡他们两个之间的关系? - 不算平衡他们俩的关系,而是说她是让他们两个交流的一个通道。我说的交流是内心的内核交流。 q. 是更感性的那部分? - 对。比如第10集,程小时附身在徐继继身上,听乔苓讲当时陆光东样看待自己的,这种桥段只有通过她才能很好地转化出来。

Q 11. Among all the characters, which one do Li and others like the most? - It's like asking your own child who he likes. It's a bit difficult to choose. Which one do you like?

I can only say that I like them all: But saying that I like them all, this answer seems a bit boring. I will tell the truth. I still like them all, each has its own characteristics. Let’s talk about the shining points of the three protagonists. Cheng Xiaoshi is righteous and very real. He is very naive. Innocence is hard to spend. In the real society, innocence has become more and more scarce. Lu Guang is calm, knowledgeable, very bright, mysterious, and a perfect boy. Qiao Ling...cannot simply be said to be a girl next door, but an image of a big sister who can hold the trio together. Although rational, she has a strong part, but she also has a very soft part, and these advantages of her will be reflected in the subsequent plots.

|| In Chinese ||

Q 11. 在所有的角色中,李等最喜欢哪位? - 这就像问自己家的孩子,到底喜欢谁,有点难选。你说喜欢哪一个。我只能说都喜欢:但说都喜欢,这个回答好像又有点无聊,我实话实说。还是都喜欢的,各有各的特点。那就聊聊三个主角身上的闪光点吧。程小时就是正义,而且也很真实,他这个人很天真,天真是难能可费的,现实社会中,天真已经变得越来越稀缺。陆光是沉稳、高知、又很黎明、神秘、是一个街完美的男生形象。乔等,不能简单说是一个邻家女孩,而是一个大姐姐的形象,能够 hold住三人组。虽然有理性。刚烈的部分,但她又有很柔软的部分,后面的剧情中也会把她的这些优点体现出来。

And that "why did we have a male duo rather than a female-male duo" question. Pasting the question in Chinese first.

Q 9.可能这个问题在其他的场合也被问过很多遍了,就是李导是怎样确定用程小时和阳光这样的双男主配置的? - 前面说到,我希望主角的能力是不完美的,能力必须分成两半,分给两个人,这是第一点,第二,我们当时讨论过,如果是一男一女的配置,两个角色放在一起会面临一个问题:到底给不给他们情感线?后来发现横竖摆不平这个事情,还有各方面的考虑,最后才会有现在的双男主。关于程小时和陆光的性格,我前面也有说到过:程小时是不稳定的因素,因为他能进入照片却不知道将来会发生什么,而陆光是稳定的因重。二人必須搭配互补起来,才能完美发挥他们的能力。

I can't help but tag you @croded 😭 could you please take a look- like, what are the implications? a lot can be lost in translation if context sensitivity is not taken into account.

09. This question may have been asked many times on other occasions. How did Director Li determine the configuration of dual male protagonists like Cheng Xioashi and Lu Guang?

As mentioned earlier, I hope that the protagonist's ability is not perfect, and the ability must be divided in half and divided between two people. This is the first point. Second, we discussed at the time that if it is a male and a female configuration, the two characters will face a problem when they are put together: Will they be given emotional lines? Later, I found out that this matter is uneven, and there are various considerations, and finally we have the current dual male protagonists. Regarding the characters of Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang, I have mentioned before: Cheng Xiaoshi is an unstable factor because he can enter the photo but does not know what will happen in the future, while Lu Guang is a stable factor. The two must complement each other in order to fully utilize their abilities.

For the full interview in Chinese...I am still working on it so

#link click #shiguang daili ren #lu guang #shiguang #时光代理人 #cheng xiaoshi #donghua #sgdlr #sgdlr artbook #interview with li haolin

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aashidoodles · 1 month ago

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do you have bullet points to share about your thoughts on vampire hunter ? :0 if you wanna wait until you eventually draw stuff about it though no worries !!! i'm just curious ehehgjsdg

UFUFUFUFUFU!!!!!! (*⌒∇⌒*)

WELL, SINCE YOU ASKED MY FRIEND ALLOW ME TO SET THE TABLE☆☆

I have so many ideas and I am so glad you asked because I would be more than happy to talk about them!!!

So anyone who's interested, gather round the table and get comfortable

cuz it's time for an ideas dump!! Into the aashi imagination we go!!

I love a classic isekai story, so the main character will be transported from her mundane life to a fantasy novel she had recently read about vampires and magic.

How she got isekai'd doesn't really matter but since it's Qiao Ling for this au, let's say she overworked herself cuz I could see her doing that

(Journalist found isekai'd in her office cuz she wouldn't stop working 😔)

So, in the novel world, she wakes up one day as the main protagonist.

She is a human with a magical ability that allows her to imbue a special force that makes any weapon she uses extremely powerful against vampires.

(Some sort of life energy based toxin that gets into their blood stream killing them off or something will work out the details of that later)

So first plot point of the novel is Qiao Ling (now the mc of the vampire story) is sent with her younger brother (a priest within the local church, gonna be Cheng Xiaoshi since its the vampire au) to meet with a socially reclusive noble to moved into an old mansion nearby town recently (Lu Guang in this case).

And by meet they really mean hunt this guy down because there are rumors that this man is a vampire and ofc humans in this story are terrified and demonize them.

(They arent both hunters, only ql is but priests can quel spirits which a lot of vampires use to fuel their magic. So the priest was sent mostly as backup for his sister)

But having read the story, ql knows that this side character that was mostly just there to serve as the sibling's first kill and as shock value for a later reveal in the story.

(A vampire, yes, but not an evil monster. Just a guy. And just like humans, some do good things, and others do bad things. )

So having no need to kill him, ql tells the priest to go by himself to check on the mysterious noble since she knows he'll be fine.

She's convinced that without her presence scaring the guy, the priest probably won't even find out the noble is a vampire as every other vampire in the story did a very good job at hiding their identity until they decided to reveal it.

And in the meantime, she goes on her own quest to obtain an op item hidden in the caves near her village. It's original purpose in the story was to be used against her by one of her enemies.

So obviously, she wants to go to get it for herself to make her abilities op and so that the enemy doesn't have it later.

We follow her on a montage of her journey which takes about a week of travelling and sneaking through the cave to find a mysterious gun that is very responsive to being imbued with magic, making it an incredibly powerful weapon that could kill any manner of being with one bullet.

It's cute and provides a moment for ql to recount the og novel and what she expects to be coming up in the story to prepare for it.

But when she returns, something that didn't happen in the original novel occurs.

Some members of the church tell her that her brother's been acting strange and going awol for long periods of time.

Though she's getting conflicting messages as some of the village folk laugh at this and say her brother is fine.

Concerned, she sneaks into the castle with her weapon ready, fearing she made a mistake leaving her brother to take this case alone.

But when she finds him, she realizes another plotpoint deviation occurred and that her brother and the nobleman have fallen in love with each other.

Pleasantly surprised at this deviation, she and her brother make way to return to the village (though she does have to drag him to leave bcs they're both pretty smitten and reluctant to let go)

But as they're about to leave she also offers to let the man stay at their place rather than stay alone here.

A bit surprised and anxious by the offer he declines, but the priest coaxes him into changing his decision to "he'll think about it" and they head off.

When they return to the village though, anxiety has spread across the town and the people of the church are convinced that the mc's brother was seduced by a demon and turned into one himself. So ofc, they arrest him and sentence him to death.

Ql tries to reason with them, but one of them sees puncture scars on the priest's wrist and refuses to listen to her. (vampires aren't created by a vampire drinking a human's blood but not like fear mongering ppl ever really know what they're talking abt)

They tie him up and order her to shoot him since only her weapon can kill vampires.

She obviously can't bring herself to do it. Unfortunately though another vampire hunter (who was originally her rival/li) shoots her brother down and the timing is so bad.

Just as the priest falls to the ground, the vampire (who after a few minutes after the siblings left, caved and decided to join them) walks into the square and is in shock.

He runs to the priest who has already stopped breathing as he holds him and goes into a terrified manic state.

Ql can hear him lamenting abt how the universe is punishing him for finally daring to try and make connections and if it's a monster the people want, he'll give it to them.

He grabs ql's arm and tells her he doesn't know who's innocent or guilty but trusts her judgement and that she has until he's killed the all the church members in the square before he burns the whole place to the ground.

Also terrified and confused herself, ql gathers whoever she can and has them cart away as they watch the village engulf in flames.

Last thing she sees before the cart makes it over the hill is the vampire holding the priest amongst the flames of the village.

And as the season ends, she questions whether she made the right choices now that things look worse than ever before.

Her brother is dead (?) (As i mentioned in my last doodles the vampire does manage to turn the priest b4 it was too late and saved his life but she doesnt know that yet hehe) , her village is up in flames and a side character who was never supposed to be around is now a heartbroken monster.

So yeah, thats the story in my head up to this point in a nutshell.

Absolutely riveting in my head, but no idea if that translated well onto page 😅

But thanks for asking about this story, gave me a good reason to actually rough sketch an idea for this story and of boy am I on the edge of my seat with energy to wanting to actually write this haha!!! (*｀▽´*)(*ﾟ∀ﾟ) (will it happen, who knows but it was deffo fun putting some of this together)

#ask response #aashi doodles #link click #but an au idea #was this convoluted #yes probably lmao #but a very fun idea to sketch out nonetheless #vampire au

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veinspookiebear · 4 months ago

Text

what's yours is mine (and mine is yours)

Rating: G

Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Pairing: Cheng Xiaoshi/Lu Guang

Tags: Domestic Fluff, Sharing Clothes, Cuddling & Snuggling, No Spoilers, there's some vague references but nothing spoilery, i just needed them to be cute and snuggle

Words: 1.5k

Summary: Cheng Xiaoshi gets caught in the rain, and upon finding out he has nothing to change into when he returns home, decides to steal clothes from Lu Guang instead. He quickly finds out why he has nothing to change into.

---

Cheng Xiaoshi swore he checked the weather before heading out.

Or, well, less checked and more glanced at; it was displayed on his home screen, so when he opened his phone to read a text from Qiao Ling, there it was. Still, he was almost certain that the little raincloud had been a sun symbol, and the percent for precipitation had been low.

So why did the skies decide, seemingly out of nowhere, that he deserved to be drenched today?

"Here I was, trying to be nice," he grumbled to himself, protectively clutching the bag holding Lu Guang's book he'd picked up against his chest, "And this is my reward?"

Thunder answered him with a low rumble, and the clouds didn't relent. The grocery bag hanging from his other hand didn't get the same mercy of being shielded from the pouring rain. Most of it was for dinner tonight, anyway. Forget the groceries—he didn't get to be shielded whatsoever! His hopelessly soaked clothes stuck to his skin, and he shivered, hugging himself. His head lowering only really made it worse by letting his hair drip into his eyes. Hair that he couldn't move because his hands were full.

The sight of the Time Photo Studio was a welcome one. Even as he fumbled to free a hand enough to open the door, he breathed a sigh of relief. He almost tripped inside in his haste.

"Lu Guang, I'm home," he called out wearily, setting the bags on the counter and kicking off his wet shoes and jacket. A chill seeped through him, almost more without the extra layer. He needed to change, or at least get a towel and dry off.

"Lu Guang?" he called out again. "Where are you? I could use some help out here!"

Nothing. Rain muffled some sound, so maybe Lu Guang didn't hear him—or vice versa.

He'd hate water tracked through the studio, but Cheng Xiaoshi wasn't about to stand here freezing his ass off. Huffing, he headed upstairs, half expecting to see Lu Guang at the desk with headphones or something, but he wasn't there either. Weird. He'd worry about that after he got something warmer on.

As soon as he reached his very empty-looking drawer, he remembered he was supposed to do laundry today. Shit. He thought he had at least one outfit left, but if he did, it wasn't where it should've been.

Okay. That was fine. Lu Guang wouldn't care if he borrowed some of his clothes, right? About time he returned the favor!

He knew of one large sweater that would probably fit him well enough, and fortunately, the blue stood out among his other lighter-toned clothes. Triumphantly, Cheng Xiaoshi plucked it out. He changed quickly, immediately becoming much warmer as the sweater settled against his skin. It smelled like Lu Guang, familiar and comforting.

Now, to actually find the bastard.

Avoiding little puddles, Cheng Xiaoshi stomped back downstairs. "Lu Guang! This is getting silly, where…?"

The bathroom door opened, catching his attention. Lu Guang's hair was fluffy, freshly dried; more importantly, he was wearing—

"Are those my clothes?"

They spoke simultaneously, then froze, staring at each other. Awkwardness filled the space between them as they realized the pure irony of the situation.

"So that's where my last outfit went," Cheng Xiaoshi murmured, tone warm with amusement.

"I see you've taken to stealing my clothes instead of washing your own," Lu Guang deflected coolly, but the pink on his pale cheeks gave him away.

"I wouldn't have needed to if you didn't steal first! What's the point of taking mine?! You have plenty left!"

Lu Guang looked away—and right at the door, where a wet jacket lay on the floor surrounded by puddles that trailed up the stairs. He turned back slowly, gray eyes narrowed. "Cheng Xiaoshi."

Wuh oh.

"Uhhhhh," Cheng Xiaoshi shifted his weight from side to side, half-debating running back out into the storm. "In my defense! You were using the bathroom, so I couldn't get a towel until now! I called for you when I got home!"

"Well, it's free now."

"Right."

Cheng Xiaoshi darted past him before he could say anything else. He grabbed a towel and sprinted back to the front door, where Lu Guang was picking up his jacket with a sigh.

"Hey, at least I kept your book safe! It wasn't even supposed to rain, you can't blame me," he pointed out as he tossed the towel on the floor.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome!"

It didn't take too long to clean up, especially with Lu Guang helping. They settled on the sunroom couch afterwards, listening to the rain patter against the glass. Lu Guang flipped open his book; Cheng Xiaoshi tried to read over his shoulder at first, but there were a few too many science-y words for his liking, and he leaned back to watch him instead. There was something oddly satisfying about seeing him reading the book he'd gone out of his way to get for him.

Especially when he was wearing Cheng Xiaoshi's shirt. They'd just brushed over that. It was large on him, sleeves partly covering slender fingers as they turned the book's pages, but it was also inexplicably fitting. Maybe Cheng Xiaoshi was biased, but he looked good in it. (Lu Guang always looked good, but even more so now.) It was a domestic thing to share clothes so freely. He felt cozy thinking about it as he snuggled into the sweater he wore.

Although, he actually had a reason to be wearing said sweater.

"You never answered why you went for my clothes instead of your own," Cheng Xiaoshi mentioned, leaning closer. Lu Guang didn't look up from his book.

"They were closer."

Cheng Xiaoshi raised an eyebrow. "They're in the same place, basically."

"Different drawers are closer or farther away depending on where you're standing."

"You're usually better at excuses than this. C'mon, Guang Guang," Cheng Xiaoshi pouted, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I don't mind, I'm just curious!"

Lu Guang scoffed, leaning away. "Do I need to have a reason?"

"So you don't have one." Cheng Xiaoshi paused, taking that in. He just chose to wear his clothes? "I mean… I guess not?"

"I—" Lu Guang covered his face with a hand, embarrassed, as he mumbled, "They're… comfier in weather like this. I don't know how to explain it. Tch, it's weird—"

"It's not weird," Cheng Xiaoshi said softly, grinning, "But it is the cutest thing I've heard."

Lu Guang groaned and curled into as much of a ball as was possible with his feet still on the floor. "Shut up. Please."

He wanted to tease him, but he couldn't find the heart to after that. Chuckling, he wrapped his arms around him instead. Lu Guang made a small noise of protest, but he didn't actually try to push him away.

"You can take my clothes whenever. They're yours as much as they are mine, at this point," Cheng Xiaoshi mumbled into his hair, affection fluttering in his chest. Lu Guang's responding grumble was muffled in his shoulder.

Slowly, he released him. He missed the contact as soon as he did. The sunroom was cold with a distinct lack of its usual sun, rain furthering the chill; Lu Guang was warm and soft, like gentle sunlight in his own ways.

Their eyes met. Cheng Xiaoshi smiled sheepishly, and Lu Guang sighed.

"… Lie down."

"Uh… okay?"

As soon as he got comfortable, stretched out on the couch, Lu Guang flopped on top of him. Cheng Xiaoshi's eyes widened in surprise, and Lu Guang firmly fixed his eyes on his book.

"You're clingier on rainy days…" Cheng Xiaoshi observed, settling an arm around him. Soft hair tickled his chin, and Lu Guang's weight pressed against him like a blanket. "Not that I'm complaining."

"You just seemed cold."

"Don't want to admit it. I see how it is."

"Idiot. Let me read."

"Okay, fine." And boldly, to finish it off, he pressed a kiss to the top of his head. He watched as Lu Guang short-circuited, his book nearly falling from his hands. Cheng Xiaoshi caught it, snickering quietly.

"How does anyone handle you?" Lu Guang grumbled. Cheng Xiaoshi imagined a blush across his pretty face, even if he couldn't see it with how he angled his head away.

"You do," he grinned.

"Unfortunately."

"Hey!"

Lu Guang ignored him. Cheng Xiaoshi pouted, but he couldn't really be annoyed when he was getting cuddles. He sighed, letting his eyes wander up to the skylight, raindrops speckling the glass and dark clouds rolling in the sky above.

Then he felt lips brush his jaw. He looked down just in time to catch Lu Guang's gaze. He averted his eyes back to his book immediately, and left Cheng Xiaoshi too stunned for words.

"Can't handle me, huh…?" Cheng Xiaoshi murmured. Lu Guang just hummed. He left it there, arms wrapped around him snugly as he continued to read, the patter of rain outside providing a nice ambiance.

#link click #shiguang dailiren #cheng xiaoshi #lu guang #shiguang #quill's fics #i hope i got their characters decently correct i'm still new to writing them #and this isn't meant to be groundbreaking it's just fun #i'll write something with plot as soon as i can sTICK TO AN IDEA

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muninnhuginn · 6 months ago

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Liu Xiao Overview and Speculation

Thought I'd pull together what we actually know of Liu Xiao thus far and throw in a few of my own speculations for good measure. For someone with so little screentime, there's actually a decent amount to dig into.

This post will contain spoilers up to episode three of yingdu as this is what has aired at the time I'm writing this. I'm going to try and reference episodes and rough timestamps best I can throughout this in case anyone wants to check through themselves.

(Note: made slight edits due to translation issues. See @protect-namine's reblog for more context)

Family

So, our first direct reference to Liu Xiao in the series proper is in season two episode one (~14m), where Liu Jing says that Liu Min doesn't have "half the talent of his younger brother". It's also known that Liu Xiao is currently "away" (later clarified as him studying abroad) and people are anticipating his return.

Essentially, Liu Min is the unfavourite, seen as constantly causing trouble and needing bailing out (with copious amounts of money), whilst Liu Xiao is the golden child. (Interestingly, Qian Jin being so used to solving Liu Min's problems in order to protect the reputation of the company for Liu Jing is likely exactly why Li Tianchen and Liu Min initially came into contact)

Now, Liu Jing may see Liu Xiao as the talented heir to the company, especially as Liu Min was widely seen as a nepo hire (s1e9 ~4m), but Liu Xiao's own opinion on his family seems to lean more towards surface level appeasement, whilst he himself is more distant to them. He refers to his own father as Boss Liu and says that he's not close with him (yingdu ep 2). When interacting with his mother (s2e12), he largely nods along, but it's clear he has his own plans to be getting on with that take priority. And that largely maps to his background machinations in season two overall.

Liu Min

Just going to tangent a second to mention my personal pet theory that Liu Min is likely adopted. Liu Xiao could also be, to be fair, but I think there's more evidence down the Liu Min end for me to be more confident of in this stage.

There's the elephant in the room that these are two sons of differing age who would have been born under the one-child policy. And sure, there have always been exceptions to the policy (and those who are rich are more likely to just pay the relevant fine), but my point is that it's a *choice* to have different age siblings (compare-contrast the Lis who are explicitly twins and the relationship between Qiao Ling and Cheng Xiaoshi who are not biologically related but have a siblingesque dynamic).

The final bit of circumstantial evidence is Liu Min's hair. As you see in the photo above (s2e12 ~18m), Liu Min has had blond hair from a very young age, which significantly decreases the likelihood of him dyeing it. This photo also shows his mum's hair colour is naturally black (as opposed to the brown dye she has in her dressed-up present day aesthetic), which means both parents are black hair to Liu Min's blond. (Side note, but the framing of this photo is so striking in how it directs the eyes to see Liu Min as the clear black sheep of the family.)

If it gets confirmed that Liu Min is adopted and Liu Xiao *isn't* though, then it does cast a different light on Liu Min being seen as the worthless sibling. The fact that in this photo of his childhood he's smiling bright yet his later appearances have him so wrapped in self-delusion that he'll order hits on online strangers and cling to any chance of 'friendship'. The way that when he was younger Liu Jing would show him off to business associates but by the time of yingdu he was persona non grata. Liu Min gets more pitiful the more we know of him.

Emma/Quede Games client

So, let's dial it back to season one. I know I'm far from the first person to think this way, but I'll try to explain how I came to the conclusion that the client in Emma (s1e1) was either Liu Xiao or intentionally influenced by him.

(I'm saying 'influenced by' as an option rather than straight up him for a few reasons, but one of them is... translation choices. See below (s1e9 ~18m):

One translation names Emma as the client in her own case (I'm not *totally* sure she'd be alive to order her own dive, but okay - I'm not going into Emma ep timelines rn) and the other just says she was a player in said case rather than explicitly the client. The other reason I'm saying 'influenced by' as an option rather than straight up Liu Xiao is because he was out of the country during the entirety of season one, only returning in the final episode of season two. So whilst it's possible he could have recruited Qiao Ling directly (phones aren't limited by country, after all) I'm just going to keep it as "part of Liu Xiao's plan".)

Anyway, s1e1, we first find out that there's a client who wants to obtain the financial data for Quede Games before it's released to the public. This eventually leads to financial discrepancies coming to light. Zhu Ye, the CFO, was embezzling money, and ends up under investigation. As we later find out, he was funneling money both to himself and Liu Min. (And once Liu Min finds out his source of extra income is cut off, he goes after Emma as the one responsible)

It's laid out in the episode itself that only the CFO has this data. But who would know enough about the data in the first place to know what it would reveal? Surely it would have to be inside information from someone with reason to bring the company into disrepute. Quede Games is implied to be very efficient at massaging over scandals (Liu Jing makes reference to this in s2e1, as does Liu Min in s2e9) so it would take something big for them to properly break into the news.

Now, the client *could* be Emma, as she did have the knowledge of the discrepancies, but not only does the timeline not match (aka, she would already be dead unless I'm missing something) but it also doesn't align with what we know of her outlook. Emma started as someone trying to make it big in the city, but by the time of her episode, she was close to her breaking point. What she wanted was her parents, not to lose her job.

So, it's probably not Emma. It's not Zhu Ye, because why would he tell on himself? Not Liu Jing, because he seems to think Zhu Ye being investigated is an attack on him. I guess I can't technically rule out Liu Jing's wife, but as we don't even get her name, that seems a long shot. So, who's left with connection to Quede Games? Liu Xiao.

Liu Xiao had Li Tianchen obtain Liu Min's phone from under the noses of both Qian Jin and Liu Jing (s2e12 ~21m). Our only real hint as to what is on that phone comes much earlier in season two, during the discussion between Qian Jin and Liu Jing (s2e4 ~1m). "I'm not interested in your family secrets," says Qian Jin, implying that's exactly what's on the missing phone. Qian Jin is privy to all sorts of dirty secrets in his role as company fixer, so it's curious that this seems more personal than business. Either way though, the phone is proof that Liu Xiao is working against his father, even if he plays nice to his parents' faces.

And, of course, Liu Jing mentions in that exact same conversation: "First, Zhu Ye being investigated, now Liu Min. Someone must be messing with me!" Like, yes, wonder who that could be.

Liu Xiao's actions involve secretively working against his parents. I'd say attacking the company by exposing financial fraud would fit the bill perfectly.

Motives and personality

His PV is called 'manipulator' and... yeah, hard to argue against that. His official art features him playing puppeteer to Li Tianchen even. What I *would* like to argue though is what *type* of manipulator he is.

Liu Xiao plays the long game. He's not just "mask on, get benefit, escape". He sewed seeds in Li Tianchen *years* prior and only reaped them in the current day. In a similar way, he speaks cordially to his parents. They both speak of him as though they're proud of him and that he's "much better than their other son". And yet, he's been working against them for some time. He's intelligent and charismatic enough to pull it off.

Liu Xiao's relationship with Li Tianchen is the most telling though, in how he uses his friendship as a leash. On first meeting Li Tianchen (s2e4 ~0m), he validates Li Tianchen hiding away with Li Tianxi when the abuse kicks off. But he follows it up with his speech about animals, clearly framing Liu Lan as a scared animal, whilst implying that Li Tianchen was also a scared animal, but one who could change to become a hunter if he stopped hiding.

Liu Xiao then continues this framing throughout their childhood flashbacks and into the present day timeline (s2e9 ~13m | s2e12 ~21m). The idea is that Li Tianchen can become a hunter but it's *conditional*. Li Tianchen could be friends with Liu Xiao but he has to *act*. Liu Xiao will only deign to be friends with someone who "has guts". I have no idea how much of this was intentional vs subconscious manipulation, but either way, Liu Xiao isolated Li Tianchen's guilt over not acting in order to make him act the way *he* wanted.

Anyway, he also seems to have a strong belief in a higher order (and I'm starting to think said higher order is *himself*), what with his whole "make the timelines into one single river". Liu Xiao's stated aim is to "turn uncertainties into certainties". The world as it is runs in parallel lines, influenced by many factors (personality, other people, etc). Like a game of poker or russian roulette, really.

Given his hunter-prey speech, it seems clear that he believes himself to be a "hunter". That he's doing this not because he has some great need, but because he wants to control events. Win this grand game he's set up for himself. Which is curious because in yingdu ep 2, he says, "you use your unfair advantages to stay in control."

Regardless of what you believe about Liu Xiao's powers, it's hard not to think that this applies somewhat to himself. But it'd be interesting if he saw himself attacking Quede Games and taking down the gambling ring as him "evening the odds" for others. Imo, I'm not sure the idea fits with his personality (as, yk, *hunter-prey* speech), but it could certainly be spun that way.

And any good manipulator needs some good press.

#link click #link click spoilers #shiguang dailiren spoilers

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sarshles-cheescake-li · 11 months ago

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A metaphysical argument for why Lu Guang was the one who risked his intestines falling out to go save his little meow meow

Needless to say, spoilers ahead!

Part 1: Introduction to the bootstrap paradox

There's a lot I could say about the supposed time loop that occurs in episodes 7-8-9 of season 2. Most of them -- the kettle, the lack of a speedboat, Lu Guang's characterization -- have been said better by other theorists. But I'm here to explain the bootstrap/predestination paradox.

The bootstrap paradox is when something is sent back in time, which creates an infinite loop, making the thing seems like it has no origin. The example I learned it with was with time machines. Say you open your door one day to find a book, written by yourself, containing information on how to build a time machine. You take, I dunno, let's say ten years building the thing. Then you use your new time machine to send the book back in time, to your ten-years-ago self, to seal the loop. Works great, right? You've closed the loop, and now you have a time machine.

There's only one problem. Where the hell did that book come from in the first place?

I mean, yes, obviously, it's from the future. But someone had to have written that book, right? But you, the supposed writer of the book, only got it because it got sent back in time by a version of you that already had the book. We assume there was no way you could've figured out how to build a time machine yourself. But that means that the knowledge about the time machine essentially just, popped out of nowhere. Poof! Just like that.

The information about Cheng Xiaoshi and Li Tianchen/Li Tianxi's location is like that. The only reason any of the characters know it is because of Lu Guang. But if their narration is to be believed, then "Lu Guang" only knew it because he was being possessed by Cheng Xiaoshi, who already learned the information in the future. So… how did anyone get that information in the first place?

I generally consider there to be two solutions to the bootstrap paradox. One is an obfuscated origin -- one where the information was obtainable even without the loop, but its origin is hidden by the loop's existence. Say if, without the loop, Li Tianchen releases Cheng Xiaoshi from his control once they're on the boat, and Cheng Xiaoshi figures out where he is. He manages to survive the encounter with the antagonists, and eventually makes it home. But, in the process, Qiao Ling dies. So now Cheng Xiaoshi both has information available to him about where he was during the boat scene, and also a reason to start the loop -- Qiao Ling is dead, and might not be dead if he didn't get taken in the first place. So he takes Lu Guang's photo, and starts the loop.

This particular version of the obfuscated origin theory is… probably not the case. Largely because we don't know how changing the timeline so drastically interacts with Cheng Xiaoshi's ability, specifically, what would happen if he were to clap back into a "present" that technically no longer exists. However, my personal theory -- that I'll discuss in another post -- does fall under the obfuscated origin solution, just slightly to the left.

The second solution to bootstrap is just an allowance for these types of paradoxes to exist. Each story handles it differently. In my model of time -- which I'm pretty sure Link Click doesn't follow, because why would it -- these types of loops are a close relative of magic, because of their self-defining nature. Now, I'm going to say that this is not the case in Link Click, based on what we've seen of Cheng Xiaoshi's power so far.

Part 2: Cheng Xiaoshi's power is weird, man

For the second solution to be valid, we should ideally have at least one of three proofs.

This is the most convincing proof -- if we have another example of an exclusive, stable time loop (exclusive as in the events involved in the loop would not have happened without the loop's presence, stable as in the loop doesn't contradict itself the way it does in, for example, the grandfather paradox). This would just plainly prove the fact that Cheng Xiaoshi can create the loop we see in episodes 7-8-9.

Cheng Xiaoshi's dives should be able to have causality effects up to and including his decision to dive, at the very least. Essentially, Cheng Xiaoshi needs to be able to create an effect on the world that shows up before the dive concludes. This demonstrates the flexibility of the timeline -- that it allows Cheng Xiaoshi to make changes to events that precede his dive, instead of only events that succeed it. While this isn't as strong as the first proof, it would show that, at the minimum, Cheng Xiaoshi is able "cause" his own dive.

In cases where Cheng Xiaoshi observes a person who he has/will dive into, he should be viewing the "dived" version and not the "original" version. This demonstrates that the timeline "knows" about Cheng Xiaoshi's dives before he performs them. This way, it makes sense if the "Lu Guang" Cheng Xiaoshi saw was a "dived" version, instead of original-Lu-Guang. This is our bottom line, because without this, then… Well, there's really nothing showing that Cheng Xiaoshi was even possessing Lu Guang during that first run of events that we saw.

Let's go through them one by one. The first proof is pretty much a no-go. There is only one dive in the entire series where this type of causality is even discussed, and that's during the dive into Li Tianxi (referred to as Xixi from now on. By the way, fun fact -- although the English sub appears to subtitle her nickname as "Xixi," it's actually pronounced "Xiaoxi" in Mandarin. I was confused about this for a while because Xixi and Xiaoxi would both be valid and common nicknames for her, in terms of convention, haha. If anyone ever wants to hear me talk about some hard-to-translate linguistic details in Link Click, let me know!). In this dive, Lu Guang tells Cheng Xiaoshi to pick up the photo, saying that if the photo disappears, then "the future that we live in will cease to exist." You could make an argument here that Cheng Xiaoshi's act of picking up the photo allows for the dive to happen, fulfilling proof 1. However, this proves stability -- that the dive does not contradict, or nullify itself -- but it doesn't prove exclusivity. That is, we have no way of knowing what would've happened to the photo if Cheng Xiaoshi hadn't dived. It's plausible that Xixi or Li Tianchen would've picked up the photo in the end anyway, regardless of Cheng Xiaoshi's influence. Thus, this is much closer to just being their typical motto while diving -- leave the past untouched, or as close as they can get it to the original.

The second proof is harder to say. We can't say for sure whether or not we've ever seen the effect of Cheng Xiaoshi's dives occur before he makes the decision to dive, for two reasons. One is the butterfly effect -- many causes may have effects, but those effects may be extremely hard to trace back to their original causes. It's possible that maybe Cheng Xiaoshi as Xu Shan Shan asking Qiao Ling about what Lu Guang saw in him might've, I don't know, kept Qiao Ling occupied where otherwise she would've gone "Oh I forgot my phone in the studio" or something. And the fact that Qiao Ling never came back to the studio demonstrates that Cheng Xiaoshi created an effect prior to him diving. But there's no solid proof for this being the case. The second one is that it's just much harder to prove impossibility than simple absence. That is, even if we've never seen this happen, it doesn't mean it can't happen -- it just means we haven't seen it yet.

However, from a writing perspective, there's some solid evidence that, while Cheng Xiaoshi's power has the potential for "effects," those effects are only observable to Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang themselves after the "cause" has already occurred. That is, any effects of Cheng Xiaoshi's dives only become evident after the dive has already happened. The strongest proof for this is Chen Xiao's camera in episode five, and Lu Guang's narration. As a result of Cheng Xiaoshi's actions while possessing Chen Xiao, the camera that presumably would've been destroyed in the original timeline is preserved. Chen Xiao's father then finds the camera and brings it to Chen Xiao, who then brings it to the studio to get developed. Lu Guang says here that this is why they don't ask about the future -- because the future is inevitably changed by their actions. While this was an emotionally touching scene in terms of storytelling, I believe it also serves a double purpose, showing us the limits of Cheng Xiaoshi's diving. It shows explicitly that his dives can change the timeline, but he himself will only experience the effects of that change after he's already dived. This makes quite a lot of sense, combined with part three, which is that:

I'm nearly 100% sure that Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang themselves always experience the "original" series of events when they go through things in real time, and never otherwise.

The best example of this is with the Xu Shanshan dive in episode 10. After combing through the episode and comparing it to episode 8, there are three major deviations in Cheng Xiaoshi's behaviour during the dive versus Xu Shanshan's during the first run through. First is a general difference in voice, mannerisms, and expressions. Especially near the beginning of the dive, Cheng Xiaoshi sounds different than Xu Shanshan. Even later, does small things like turn his head and make expressions at a different time. However, I'm not going to take this one as seriously, considering we're not sure if this is showing actual reality or is for the viewer's benefit, demonstrating the difference between the two. After all, we, the viewer sees that anyone possessed by Cheng Xiaoshi has their eyes turn gold, but no one in the story itself notices it. Me, personally, I think I would notice if my best friend took a photo and then came back with differently coloured eyes. I don't know though, I might just be built different like that.

Second is that Xu Shanshan says "I'm not like a certain someone, leeching off other people" (second half paraphrased) whereas Cheng Xiaoshi says "I don't [want to be like] a certain someone, leeching off other people." Again, this one is questionable, because the dialogue actually spoken is the exact same (in terms of words), and the English sub is the exact same, but the Chinese subtitles has a 像想 in place of 像 in the second run-through. Which is weird, because [want to be like] is actually 想像 and not 像想… confusing. Like, this is 100% a typo by the subtitles team, but what was the original intended version? No one knows. The last, and only actual deviation I found, was that Xu Shanshan goes "Hey, Qiao" when asking about how Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang get their information from photos, whereas Cheng Xiaoshi just says "Qiao."

This, combined with the fact that Lu Guang is able to "see" the original in the first place, all make a strong case that, in Link Click, the timeline doesn't "know" that Cheng Xiaoshi has dived until he actually does it, at which point it tries to catch up. This is consistent with everything else we've seen. It makes sense that the effect of his dives are only noticeable to him after the fact, because the timeline has to basically make live edits to itself to deal with his existence.

With this in mind, the Lu Guang we see in episode 7 simply couldn't've been Cheng Xiaoshi. This was a real time event, so it had to have been the undived version of Lu Guang doing… all that. Of course, the question here is how Lu Guang even got the information about Cheng Xiaoshi's whereabouts in the first place. I might make more posts theorizing about Lu Guang's powers and their limitations, the nature of his loop, etc… But for now, I've been grinding this post for about two hours. That's all. I hope you all enjoyed reading this!

#link click #link click theory #link click spoilers #shiguang daili ren #sgdlr

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