#vortex link click

[thatoneweirdo14]

You know you're insane when you can recite the whole reversed part of Vortex word for word

[chisutofu]

Play it 'til the end and then reset. Knowing it all, am I destined to fall? Like once you did for me

[harvocel]

process pics for reset

[hoverdreamer]

where do we end up when we save the world?

[sharowolet]

“Even if you start over, you won’t be free

Of the deep sea that swallows time”

Looking forward to the emotional damage coming in soon 🥹🫶

Lyrics from Fleurells (Twitter) translation of the season 2 ending song The TIDES [Link]

[ID: digital drawing of Cheng Xiaoshi, Lu Guang, and Qiao Ling. The bottom half of the image is CXS lying down and crying on the beach sand, one arm covering his face with the hand holding onto a red string and the other arm clutching his chest. The tide is rolling over him. In the top half is dark waters reflecting stars from the sky. Lu Guang and Qiao Ling can also be seen in the water’s reflection looking at CXS . Lu Guang has one hand out reaching for CXS, and Qiao Ling is turned away with a knife in her hand, threatening to cut the red string around them. The shadows on the beach are dark squares and then ocean tides are partly composed of small white squares. ]

[dakuibyte]

Vortex

"Knowing it all am I destined to fall?"

"Like once you did for me."

[butterfirefly]

I guess that there was never such a thing Like everything's meant to be But I'mma win this silly game Until then I will never leave

Take back all my regrets And camouflage it like your silhouette Time is like music Play it 'til the end and then reset Knowing it all, am I destined to fall? Like once you did for me

[juthemagicalclown]

all these people who are getting into Link Click because of the popularity of the new opening won't experience the PURE SHOCK we went through when the show turned from cute and chill to emotionally devastating, or when we listened to this new hopeless OP for the first time after being used to the cute and cheerful Dive Back In Time, and this makes me so sad

[thatoneweirdo14]

watch me do a full analysis of the VORTEX lyrics

[chisutofu]

**link click spoilers ahead**

it's just funny how after season 2 wrapped up, both opening soundtracks finally make perfect fucking sense in both LG & CXS's pov

dive back in time

LG's pov: "time no longer flew like it was when the flash froze everything before. without you, i don't know if I could take this road" (we all know that LG painstakingly went back in time over and over again in hopes to create a timeline where CXS does'nt d*e. we don't know how many times he has done this but for him it doesn't even matter anymore bc he can't see a world without CXS in it)

CXS's pov: "every minute that I dialed back in time, every single existence rewinds, something secretive hidden inside your mind" (CXS to his seemingly rational partner. yes, he trusts him fully but maybe deep down there's a nagging feeling that there's something about LG he just couldn't figure out---and now we know why)

vortex (has both CXS & LG's pov but mainly LG's)

CXS: "where do we end up when we save the world, truth in the shadows so brightened in gold. place our fate into the ones aren't in control" (CXS' moral dilemma every single time he goes back to the past but really can't change anything no matter how bad it is bc this is the number one rule they've established w/ LG)

LG: "i guess that there was never such a thing like everything's meant to be. but i'mma win this silly game, until then I will never leave" (LG's evident determination to keep trying and gambling until he can win CXS's life back in the game of fate)

LG: "wasn't it hard to follow? i'd do it again tomorrow. it drag me down and drag me down. maybe we'll never leave" (LG knows he is a hypocrite and the guilt was probably eating away at him for the longest time, but at this point he is way past wrestling with his morality that it is no longer a question of how he saves cxs but "when"...in which timeline...and he will keep trying until then)

CXS: "i've held promises unbroken, even when the night has fallen" (referring to all the times he kept LG's reminder to try not to change the past no matter what happens and no matter how fcked up it gets. there may be times when he gets impulsive and tries to save everyone but in the end he know he has to accept whatever may come)

LG: "shattered mirrors our reflection, should you keep the light on reason" (referring to himself. he basically lost his mind when he loses CXS the first time that it doesn't even matter if he keeps on gambling away the fate of everyone else. what only matters to him is that he can get to an ending where he saves CXS)

idk if i am reaching but this is just me and my mental gymnastics after s2. i rest my case

[nemoys]

shiguang and their endless parallels when it comes to eachother

I'm still not over the finale (and trust me many essays are due from my end), and one of the things that I cant seem to get over are how expertly shiguang prove to be excellent mirrors of one another, with multiple references cross the 2 seasons showcasing this,

argument #1 : core personalities (status quo)

lu guang is rational. he is ever placid. he thinks five times before he speaks, and even so, is a man of few words. from the very start lu guang has been shown to be the ever mature, serious and aware between him and his best friend, despite being 'younger' lol mentally that's not the case rn I guess.

he is well aware of what exactly to do at which situation, and has been shown to get anxious when things tend to get unpredictable. he withholds information if he believes it would affect xiaoshi's state of mind, he has always been more aware of his ability in comparison to xiaoshi, and is seemingly hyper aware of the moral responsibility and karmic debt he must repay should he act against it.

he isn't adept at fighting, and is clearly the sort to wield a pen over a sword. he rarely even loses his cool, and when he does. well.

cheng xiaoshi ís imprudent, rash. he places heart over mind and acts on impulse. he needs to consistently be reminded to avoid giving into his urges during a situation at hand. he is clingy, he is an open book. he values his partner and sister more than the world, and his loyalty is evident. he's very loud and overt when it comes to his opinons, and can be interpreted as a more childish, naive type.

while xioashi has an idea of the greater moral responsibility he must hold, he is often shown to restrain himself only when lu guang requests it. even if he questions it, he listens to him, regardless of whatever alter motive lu guang may have (in cxs' eyes, there is none)

he is very martially adept, and can often take advantage of a situation if it comes to physical confrontation. very obviously a sword over pen sorta lad. to be immensely martially adept however, requires strategical thinking does it not?

argument #2 : cheng xiaoshi being a dark angel narrative

the highest stakes to shiguang have always been their own wellbeing. referenced multiple times throughout season 1 and 2, their partnership means a lot more than just a friendship to the two of them.

episode 3 showcases the sheer trust they have in each other when paralleling basketball scenes.

but how does their personality play out when times get the most dire?

back in episode 11. of the first season, shit hits the fan, and xiaoshi hatches a plan. this becomes a recurring theme when stakes reach their peak in the show btw, and showcases just how strategical cxs can really be. he plans for nearly every scenario, with almost no input from lu guang's end whatsoever.

he even (temporarily) wins the battle. he accounts for nearly everything including his own, and lu guang's safety. xiaoshi's reliability is shown very clearly here.

oh boy does cxs pull through. the shit is flying and cxs somehow narrowly dodges the blow. despite ql being possessed, with his partner quite literally stabbed through he maintains a clear stance when fighting, he thinks about the situation they are in and acts accordingly when the police show up, painting himself as the temporary perpetrator.

when lu guang's 'death' is announced, cxs laments for him silently, through their everyday, and begins to seriously consider shifting the timeline. however, he knows he shouldn't, that he cant. not necessarily because of the karmic retribution, but because lu guang would never agree to that. he considers his thoughts, and actions.

when it comes to lu guang, he thinks. he considers the best possible scenario. he strategises and he doesn't rush into things immediately.

argument #3: lu guang being a light devil narrative

to lu guang, he rarely shifts from his placid stance. but when it comes to cxs' danger, his wellbeing is the ONLY thought running through his head. (I plan on covering this in immense detail in it's own blog because holy SHIT the references I've found that date all the way back to season 1 and the damn chibi shorts)

instances of such can be dated all back to season 1, where lu guang rushes out of a police station and through an unknowing ql to yell at cxs over the potential consequences of fucking up their timeline. you would know a lot about that, wouldn't you lu guang?

when it comes to cxs, lu guang is selfish. lu guang is irrational. he does not think, no he does, but all he thinks about is cheng xiaoshi. a building is burning? where is cxs? I'm getting tortured? at least its not cxs. I'm getting STABBED TO THE SIDE? better than it happening to cxs. cxs got shot? time to use my lacking physical prowess to pummel the guy who did that.

the only time we have seen such raw RAGE from cxs happens to be the finale of season 2. the pure impulse he acts on beating the shit out of qj the second he shoots cxs. oh, the girl behind him is literally dying? when cxs got shot in the side so priorities. it's crazy just how irrational this man is when it comes to cheng xiaoshi, and we haven't even gotten into the fact that lu guang literally ripped apart the FABRIC OF HIS TIMELINE, THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM, because cheng xiaoshi died in it, and to live in a world without him is more dire than whatever karmic debt may fall upon him.

lu guang, he is rational, he is methodical. but he is selfish, and he loves. he's perhaps committed one of the most selfish acts one possibly can, and has quite literally gone against a rule he held so dear, a rule that he quite possibly upholds just because he is terrified of making it worse. he didn't even sleep on his decision, bloody clothes and a null void expression on his face as he decided to hell with the world, he needs to get it right this time around, even at the cost of himself

but as this show has proven time and time again, death is inevitable, at most, it can only be delayed

old official art depicting the two which inspired this blog, thought it made for a good visual

[chiamew]

enstars collab has successfully snared me I'm gonna watch link click

[arthur-lesters-balls]

my (shitty) artistic rendition of what the average link click s1 episode was like to #me

[id: the first image is the phineas and ferb meme of jeremy sleeping with a turkey and milk on his hand, but i painted his hair white, to indicate lu guang. the second image is the spongebob in silent hill meme, but i painted long black hair on his head to indicate cheng xiaoshi. /.end id]

[clickedwrong]

honestly all that stuff about lu guang being suicidal. like yeah. boy doesn't have anything left from his old life. didnt try to keep anything. everything's just... hyperfocused on cxs

if he loses cxs, there's no tether left for him, and he's almost just done with this