#yingdu arc

[90108s]

cxs likes to steal his hat

[ID: Two drawings of Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang, where they’re in their Yingdu Chapter airport outfits. The first drawing is Cheng Xiaoshi looking at Lu Guang and reaching for his cat hat. Lu Guang silently side-eyes him as he does. The second drawing is Cheng Xiaoshi wearing the hat with a big smile, and Lu Guang looking exasperated. They’re both blushing.]

[phantome29]

put witty caption of choice here bc I'm still embarrassed by how self-indulgent this wasdhkj

also my first Shinji chair drawing and ofc it had to be of Lu Guang

[ghostlyenola]

Link Click Yingdu arc spoilers(??)

I'm calling it right now, the Yingdu arc will end with CXS's death. I don't really have any solid proof for that other than my assumption of the arc taking place in another timeline, perhaps after the first.

Am I ready to see CXS die twice? Gosh no. I fear I won't survive until the end of this.

[lazuliamin]

Happy 3rd Anniversary Link Click!

[hermanoga]

my babies are famous

[dragonselkie]

how can you be excited for something and dread it at the same time (link click yingdu chapter this winter)

[loveandviolets]

that moment you realize you've fucked a little too much with the timeline

[idontdrinkgatorade]

back to the glory days i guess (binged an entire season of anime today)

[jelly-ies]

Yingdu arc spoilers!!!

[jalpari]

I AM LITERALLY FEASTING ON CRUMBS BUT EITHER WAY I AM SO THANKFUL FOR ALL THE LINK CLICK CONTENT COMING IN!! SEASON 3 SGDLR YINGDU ARC COME SAVE ME SOON 😭😭😭 LOOK AT THIS PRECIOUS TRIO!! BUNNY QIAO LING! CUTIE PUPPY CHENG XIAOSHI!! PRETTY KITTY LU GUANG!! MY BABIES SHIGUANG!! BEST BOYFIES 🥺🥺🥺

[kuschelkissen]

I just learnt that Yingdu arc will be two parts with 4 episodes each...

If they're gonna split that up, I'm gonna cry. Please. Having to wait a week between each of these episodes will already be torture, because I just KNOW you guys will end each and every single one of these on a cliffhanger of doom like you did with the other 2 seasons, but... don't split that up?? Like, actually splitting it up???

I'm about to throw up.

[dreamsarebutterflies]

Are you watching the live action Link Click? Thoughts?

Hi Anon! Glad you asked. This review will be spoilers free✨

Link Click is a particular show, very different from everthing I've ever seen. I got warped into the rabbit hole in the matter of 5episodes. The fifth episode being about the earthquake.

As for the live action, the narrative choices (/changes) are so weird to me and the pace is not engaging at all. The acting isn't too bad, but I don't see any chemistry between the actors, which is a shame. To be perfectly honest, I think the scenes are too long and only half of the dialog is useful. As a writer, I don't like the show on its own. It is kinda badly written. Sorry. In my opinion, the most annoying part is Qiao Ling (the acting is off, her job barely brings anything to the story and outside of it, she has no purpose - I only watched 8 episodes though).

There are still interesting plotlines! The whole psychological aspect was surprising. The show literally broke me with CXS's PTSD after the earthquake episode. I didn't realize I needed this. It felt like the fanfictions I read everyday 😂🤌✨ I'm curious about the shrink who took an interest in CXS, and I believe he's played by the most charismatic actor in the show. The second good point is that we don't revisit the same photograph as in the doungha, except for the earthquake arc. Sadly, the "cases" aren't as interesting but it is still worth mentioning. We also get more of LG's background! And finally, the way CXS and LG dive is different. The set where they communicate is a good way to show their shared mindspace.

CXS and LG's relationship is slowly evolving into a caring one and I'm here for it. LG is an asshole and CXS is dumb, though. I don't mean it is a bad thing, but it is still disturbing that they are so out of character? The manhua made LG too sweet but it could easily be explained by his desire to make CXS happy. The doungha and the chibisodes gave them more complex personalities as well while the live action struggles to show them as flesh out characters.

That being said-

Dear anon, you must know about my headcanon: EVERY DIFFERENT FORMAT/SUPPORT IS A DIFFERENT TIMELINE. Hear me out: the donghua, the manhua, the live action, the musical are all different timelines. The live action being release right before the yingdu chapter is not innocent at all, and it is the rawest version of the story so far.

Take Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang's relationship for example. After so long, we have an understanding of Lu Guang's motivations. He knows more than he lets on, and the main reason for that is that he already lived through most of the events we, as viewers, are following. In the live action though, he doesn't understand, nor "like" Cheng Xiaoshi. He wants to test him. It could be the first or the second time Lu Guang is going through the storyline.

If this theory is revealed to be correct, the live action itself could serve as ORIGIN STORY, which would be so cool!

[anulithots]

Link click yapper here sorry but Im dying to know how many lasts/first did CXS forget/never got to experience again. Like I think that CXS did off himself in the flashback LG has when he got shot so I wonder what changed in that timeline for the ending to change (although the results were the same)

TW for discussions of CXS’s suicide

Oohhh so like what differences there was in this timeline from the last? The things CXS experienced the last time around that he won’t be able to experience in the current timeline for the sake of keeping him alive?

(I am in pain. Also note that plot theories are slightly out of my area of expertise - character and theme analysis - but I’ll try my best!)

Okay so this is partially inspired by @snowpoet123’s amazing fic - three time’s the charm - so I think that CXS doesn’t get to experience becoming close with Lu Guang in this timeline, and there MUST be some things he missed there. Not to say that Lu Guang and CXS aren’t as close in the current timeline because they are close in literally every timeline and every medium they are so queer for each other afjaskdfjasd. (I have a whole essay on the trust between them /exaggeration but not by much). So I imagine that CXS would miss a lot of those ‘firsts’ with Lu Guang like… idk what do normal freinds do… okay nevermind what would these two nuerodivergent sillies do… I imagine they would play a lot of basketball and just hang out before and after a lot before they did the whole ‘moving in together and being business partners thing’ (apologies for my pandering the headache is headaching today).

Like in the current timeline he ‘miraculously appeared in their lives’. So I imagine there would be lots of little misadventures - similar to the chibi shorts - before they trusted each other to such a degree. Paticularly in college and such… and I’ll have to see the yingdu arc to be sure but… hmm I imainge tihngs would be different there as well. And I don’t think it’s needs to be dramatic at all, like it would be wonderous if their first tiem around they are just.. there for each other.

I saw this one headcannon where CXS would speak for Lu Guang if Lu Guang didn’t know what to say (in social situations). And I think it would go both ways tbh. With Lu GUang doing things for CXS if CXS is upset (similar to post-ep 5)

… I feel like I’m not answering this right. mmm i’ll come back to this and add more thoughts… after I nap.

OKay what changed for the timeline to change -

If one goes with the ‘Lu Guang didn’t have powers in the first timeline and CXS passed them to Lu Guang when he died in Lu Guang’s arms (very queer of him)’ theory, then they wouldn’t have had their time travel business in the first timeline. Perhaps CXS went on his own through photos, and one can theorize whether he went back in time for the same purpose of getting information from the photos… because a part of me is like: ‘what if he tried to find his parents?’

But considering that CXS brought up the idea of the time travel business to Lu Guang, one can assume he came up with the idea first… and after sleeping my brain still isn’t working sooo I might come back to this.

But perhaps the time travel business originally was CXS diving into photos on his own, Qiao Ling getting clients, and CXS is still becoming friends with Lu Guang.

Without Lu Guang’s guidance, I do imagine CXS might mess around in time, and wouldn’t know the parameters of what can and can’t happen. ANd perhaps because he went back into time on his own, could not tell anyone and didn’t have much support for how emotionally draining the photos are…. perhaps then he dethatched from the world (See CXS post s1ep5) and did off himself because of that.

Lu Guang is horrified because at this point they’ve gotten very close, and he goes back in time to save him. Ta da ta da!

Thank you for the ask!

(My apologies if this is incoherent, I might write some more on this later!)

[muninnhuginn]

Link Click Watch Order

Thought I'd put together a recommended watch order for those who want to get into Link Click. This pretty much follows airing order, but as most people getting into the series now probably don't know when every single bit and piece aired, I thought it'd still be useful to put them all in one place.

Season One episodes 1 to 5 - These are split into arcs which make for obvious places to take breaks when watching.

Bonus episode (5.5) - This was aired as a bonus episode and takes place some time ambiguously around season one. However, events from it get referenced quite a bit. Its airing position between episodes 5 and 6 is probably the best place to watch it, though technically you could also watch after episodes 1 or 2.

Season One episodes 6 to 11

(Optional: Shiguang Zhaoxiangguan de Richang/Daily Life in the Lightime - These are short chibi episodes that are (largely) pretty light and comedic in tone. They contain a number of indirect references you'll only really get after watching season one. The episodes were canonised as of season two and fill in a few holes here and there in terms of minor questions you may have. That said, you can easily move on from season one to season two without feeling like you're missing something.)

Season Two episodes 1 to 12 - This is much more serialised than season one so if you think you need to watch the next episode in case it's a more obvious place to stop, it really isn't. Just stop wherever you want to. There are no obvious breaks.

Notes:

Even though it has an official English name, it's still helpful to know the series' other names when hunting around: Shiguang Dailiren/时光代理人/Time Agents.

There is an upcoming story called Link Click: Yingdu Chapter we don't yet have an airdate for. I haven't included it in the watchlist for obvious reasons, but I imagine that when it releases it'll occupy a similar place as between-season content like the chibi shorts, to be watched between season two and the currently unaired season three.

There is various other bonus content which doesn't really fit anywhere in the mainline watch order. 'Link Click: Troubles of Ordinary' people is another bonus chibi episode separate from the rest of the shorts, but isn't referenced in the mainline series unless I'm forgetting something. There's also an audiodrama, but I'm unsure if there are English subtitles available for them which apparently has MTL English subtitles via Chrome but no official TL. Aside from these, there are also some short animated ads/collabs. My personal take on all these bonus bits is to leave them aside for now and just watch if you're desperate enough for extra content when you're finished with the series.

[apollos-boyfriend]

i’m gonna be so real i really hope the yingdu arc is just a compilation of cxs fucking dying to anything and everything. lg turns around for one second and the idiot’s choked to death on boba. desperately manifesting the vibes of baby in a construction zone

[hermanoga]

suggest me some feel good donghua/anime/novel/any piece of media/literature to cope with the impending disaster yingdu is going to inevitably unleash. thank you in advance.