#is lu guang a time traveler? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chubphoe-linkclick · 1 month

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People like to point to a lot of random scenes in Link Click to justify why ShiGuang being romantic is canon. Now, I'm not the creator of Link Click, I have no authority on the subject. So most the time, it's a "lets agree to disagree" situation.

However, there is one scene from Episode 1 that I find down-right offensive for people to point to as evidence of Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang being an item:

There is no doubt that this scene is incredibly beautiful and loving, but romance isn't what makes this scene beautiful, nor is it what makes the bond they share so touching and engaging to watch. The fact that they honest-to-God love and care about each other is.

What makes this particular scene really lovely is information we're given later in the show. Its full tenderness only clicks in hindsight once we know more about the characters and Cheng Xiaoshi's past. Specifically, when we understand more about how their powers work and the tragic fact that Xiaoshi is (effectively) an orphan.

So we need to back up a few steps.

The scene begins with us seeing Emma dreaming about her parents, and we eventually see a visual representation of how Cheng Xiaoshi is also experiencing this dream as her, taking on her feelings.

Then there's her parents leaving, metaphorical for how out of her life they are now and how much Emma misses her parents (duh).

The fun part comes from the fact that it's not Emma we see as a child at this point, but Xiaoshi. He is being left behind by his parents.

Look at this face. IT'S THE FACE OF PAIN, and for me it honestly didn't make sense why this dream was as emotionally impactful for him as it was (on my first watchthrough).

Afterwards Cheng Xiaoshi wakes up, and Lu Guang notices this. At times like this, I really appreciate the dub for localising what's being said better than the more literal subtitles (even though the dub definitely says some shit that just ain't true). The dub's word choices are:

LG: "You're up?" CXS: "I dreamt that I had spring rolls with my parents." LG: "Folks on your mind?" CXS: "Yeah, and they're on hers as well."

LG: "When you became her, you took on some of her feelings and her memories. It must be tough." CXS: "... I wonder if they'll come back."

and then Cheng Xiaoshi rolls over and starts hugging himself tightly because of the unbearable pain

It takes a hot second for Lu Guang to realise what Cheng Xiaoshi actually means by his statement, that the 'they' in question is his own parents rather than anyone in Emma's life. Naturally, Lu Guang understands that Cheng Xiaoshi is suffering immensely right now because Xiaoshi's being forced to feel the agonising hole is his life that came from the worst thing that ever happened to him.

And so, he reaches through time and space (metaphorically?) to comfort him, his all-time best friend and, yes, potential romantic partner, telling him that "It will work out, just rest." Because SWEET JESUS, WHO WOULDN'T TRY COMFORTING THEIR FRIEND IN THAT MOMENT!? WHO??

It's beautiful. It's sweet. It's loving. It shows how in-tune they are to each other and that they care about each other's well being. No macho shit here, only a wholesome connection that we are all jealous of and celebrate.

Bonus analysis: knowing Cheng Xiaoshi's emotional state at this point, his re-suffering of the pain from being separated from his parents, then makes the message from Emma's mother and his reaction to it all the more emotionally touching.

Maybe the reason he sent the reply "I miss you" wasn't even for Emma's sake in that moment, but a result of the line between his own loneliness and hers having become so blurred in that sleepy moment.

I'd just like to clarify again, if you think they're gay together: cool. If you think this scene is the reason why: not cool.

Romance isn't the highest form of love, and it's not gay or weird to love your friends. What Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang have is really beautiful, and I honestly don't think I've ever seen such a great depiction of two men who are so comfortably close to each other.

Whether their relationship is platonic or otherwise doesn't really matter here. What upsets me is the unhealthy elevation of romantic love as the most true and purest form of love over all other kinds -- that you can only care about someone this much and want them in your life ONLY if you want to marry them or something -- an idea that ends up hurting a lot of people.

Romance isn't what makes this scene beautiful, nor is it what makes the bond they share so touching and engaging to watch. The fact that they honest-to-God love and care about each other is.

#link click #shiguang dailiren #link click analysis #cheng xiaoshi #lu guang #whatever they have is lightyears ahead of human comprehension #bros that travel through time together stay together #no homo tho

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anotherferalrat · 23 days

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YOU COWARDS.

You fools!

I have. SCOURED. The shiguang tag on ao3.

And you mfs have failled me.

WHERE'S ALL THE POST S2 ROYALTY AUS??? IT WAS LITERALLY. RIGHT. THERE. CHENG XIAOSHI WAS LU GUANG'S KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR. LI TIANCHEN LITERALLY WENT you both are the homosexual supporting cast and this is MYYYY fanfic.

WHERE'S THE PRINCE XIAOSHI AND ADVISOR LU GUANG FICS? WHERE'S XIAOSHI BEING THE PRINCE LOVED BY ALL AND LU GUANG DIRTYING HIS HANDS AND CORRUPTING HIS MORALS TO SECRETLY KEEP THE KINGDOM SAFE??

Where. Is the prince lu guang. With his personal bodyguard/knight xiaoshi fics? Where's the angst where cheng xiaoshi feels useless bc lu guang keeps trying to sacrifice himself whenever they're in danger?? WHERE'S LU GUANG NEARLY DRIVING HIS KINGDOM INTO THE GROUND OR GIVING UP HIS THRONE BECAUSE PRINCE LI FROM A NEIGHBORING KINGDOM KIDNAPS THE PERSON MOST IMPORTANT TO HIM

WHEREEEEE. IS THE INHERENT ANGSTTT. OF LOVING SOMEONE YOU CAN NEVER HAVE. BECAUSE OF YOUR STATION but doing it anyways<3?????

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scarlet-traveler · 3 months

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My only wish for Link Click season 3 is an episode in Lu Guang’s POV. Like I’ve been so interested in him since the first episode of the first season but we’re always focusing on Cheng Xiaoshi (which isn’t a bad thing, I love him too!!) and the rest of the plot and I just wanna see his thoughts on stuff too! Let the show pick his brain for a bit! It doesn’t even have to be during the major events of the next season it can just be a flashback or something, I’ll take anything and be super happy 🤞🤞

#traveler speaks #link click #lu guang #mainly wanna see his thoughts on cxs #like he can act nonchalant around him all he wants but I know he cares #he broke the rules of time for him after all #just wanna know what he really thinks about his friend :’)

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daily-linkclick · 8 months

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daily link click: 8/22/23

yellow!LG, reverse au

#link click #lu guang #or do i mean... original timeline.....#someone put in the tags of the last theory post i rb'd #where they think lu guang became a time traveller to stop cxs from dying #iirc #anyways i fucking love that and also believe that #this was just a little thing i thought of while thinking of that #if its real then link click is just yaoi madoka magica KSDFKWEHFKFJSHDJKSF #also its wild drawing lu guang with any kind of emotion #that isnt serious

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nuctua-larc · 1 month

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Rewatching fairytail and. I have a type.

#link click #shiguang daili ren #cheng xiaoshi #lu guang #cheng xiaoshi x lu guang #fairy tail #sting eucliffe #rogue cheney #my art #same ship different format i stg they even have time travel this shit writes itself

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gh0stmew · 9 months

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LINK CLICK SEASON 2 SPOILERS

Holy fuck so there was a live performance of Vortex today where they had footage playing in the background that seems like it could possibly be from future episodes

Clip of Lu Guang sinking that looks similar to Cheng Xiaoshi in the opening

Xiaoshi falling and reaching out for something

Multiple versions of Xiaoshi, maybe from different timelines?? 🫠

Lu Guang in a different outfit. Could be a flashback or later in the season after he gets out of the hospital

#the theory that lu guang time traveled to prevent xiaoshi from dying is getting more real everyday..#link click #link click season 2 #cheng xiaoshi #lu guang #shiguang

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currently-haunted · 6 months

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so uhh I've been listening to first opening on repeat after watching s2

#link click #shiguang daili ren #shiguang #these living together in photostudio time-travelling gays sure do be pining #my art #curr's art #for some reason lu guang is so hard for me to draw #drawing cheng xioshi in comparison is a breeze

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catsushinyakajima · 6 months

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There's something so ironic about Lu Guang saying "death is an unchangeable node"

S2 ending spoilers!!///

One of the first lines we hear from LG, or hear from the show in general, is "Past or future, let them be." The logic is that you shouldn't try to change the past or alter the future, especially not unmovable nodes like death, because it messes up the timeline.

But how does LG know this?

We never questioned the logic throughout the first two seasons because it's the most rational sounding time travel logic, but realistically, in order for someone to find ground rules for a power they need to "experiment" with it first.

This means that LG has gone back, changed the past, and messed up the timeline, in order to know this. And this has been confirmed with the season 2 ending saying that he went back to save CXS from dying.

Now on to the second part: LG repeats this rule nearly every episode, to the point that it's basically a mantra for CXS. And when CXS tries to break this rule, LG gets upset or tries to stop him. But why is he so adamant that CXS follows this rule when he himself broke it?

Because LG has created a timeline where CXS lives, or at least lives longer than in the other ones. And CXS changing the past for others might alter the timeline to one where he doesn't live.

This shit was literally laid out from the start. In s1 ep3(earthquake), LG's main reasoning was that the timeline shift could change the lives they were currently living.

But why was that what he was most paranoid about? The earthquake would've still happened, some people would've been evacuated, but that doesn't necessarily mean that CXS and LG wouldn't meet in college and be friends the way they had.

It was because he knew he couldn't confirm CXS's life in that timeline the way he could in this one.

On to the third point: LG keeps repeating "death is an unchangeable node".

This one isn't even a rule, so why does he keep saying it? Like CXS listens to it, literally couldn't save Emma twice because of it and accepted it, so does LG really need to say it so much?

I think those words are mainly for himself. Possibly a reminder that his efforts are futile? Or that whatever world he's created cannot overcome such a great node? I don't know, but it's definitely ironic considering he refuses to believe in that fact time and time again.

#lu guang #cheng xiaoshi #link click #link click season 2 #LG is so down bad like wtf #when a character goes back in time again and again to save someone #omniscient reader's viewpoint #steins;gate #shiguang daili ren #Shiguang #time travel

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animegoil-vnc · 7 months

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thinking about how lu guang's biggest fear is being seen. whether in a literal way, with how shy and uncomfortable he is in front of a camera or other situation where he's the center of attention, or in a metaphorical way in the sense that it's very difficult to get any glimpse into what he's thinking or feeling at any moment - no one knows anything about him, and he keeps his cards very close to his chest (except for how much he cares about CXS, sorry, he failed *that* stealth check). and while there may be a plot-relevant reason for it if the time-traveling theories are true, he just seems like the kind of person who has a hard time opening up and being vulnerable - even the few times he smiles, it seems to be when no one is really looking at him. I also get the sense that he's probably a little too independent because he just doesn't know how to put himself out there and ask for help and how that can actually be one of the biggest challenges to overcome when you're in a relationship.

#link click #honestly i see him being a hot mess of hangups for totally different reasons than CXS #CXS has trauma #LG just has issues #(unless time traveling theory is true #then he also has trauma #lu guang

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inkyweenus · 8 months

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Thinking about time travel and all the secrets Lu Guang is keeping. And how long he's been keeping them.

And also what his limitations are... because I don't think he knows as much as he thinks he knows.

I've got a lot of thoughts and a lot of questions. I tried to organize them in the hopes to maybe work out some ideas, but it got a bit... Much. Weigh in if you have thoughts because...I'm clearly vibrating in place wanting to talk about this. But anyway, here we go.

How is the present affected by future dives into the past? (Alternate timelines or pre-determined track)

This section is basically me asking a lot of questions that might just be writing holes or maybe not and we just don't find out for, like, 6 years. And that's fine. I'm here for it, I just need to sort out all these theories in my head.

In S1E9, LG looks into the surveillance photo and sees CXS on the solo dive. Is this because CXS was currently in the photo? Is it because CXS had already done the solo dive and so LG was seeing the affected photo? Is it because CXS was always going to go into the photo, so LG saw the past that always was going to be?

When Liu Min called from Xu Shanshan's phone, was it because CXS was always going to set up the meeting? What if CXS hadn't come to that conclusion and didn't reveal himself in Shanshan's body? Would the call have never happened? Does Lu Guang allow this huge "deviation" because he saw it was supposed to happen? Did he lie about what he saw in the photo? Was his elevated concern in that moment he claimed was about CXS's potential mental state while of going into his friend's potentially dying body actually about CXS starting the game? Is he just as clueless as everyone else and now everything is spiralling?

Chen Xiao. Chen Xiao, Chen Xiao. Oh man. "Nothing will be affected" my ass Lu Guang. Pretty sure you created an entire person that didn't previously exist from that mission. Sure, all the people that were supposed to die in the earthquake died, but Chen Xiao did NOT have a wedding ring on when he came to the photoshop to hire them. He was a miserable man with regrets he couldn't move past, including missing his "first love." Now, I get that first loves have a lot of weight, but he's like 30+ and so desperate... this is not a man who looks at his wedding ring with care and sings his son to sleep. But he becomes that. Where did that child come from?!?

Just because the 12 hours after the photo are the same doesn't mean that the 12 years after it are. Lingering resentment--or the lack thereof-- is a strong shaping force. Also. Chen Xiao's lack of regrets from a successful mission means that he never would have hired them to dive in the first place. So to make it full circle, Chen Xiao "returns" to the photo shop (for the first time?) to have CXS develop the photos he took himself on the camera he saved from the wreckage...And, I have to assume from the implication of a new timeline, THAT is how they get paid for the job. How much are they charging to develop film? Was it worth it??

Does LG even know about this kind of change? Is it just too far out of his range to see? He didn't seem to know about Emma until he saw the news, so maybe he's limited in what he can see, but he found that article pretty fast, so maybe he knew something was happening. It's hard to know.

What are the extent of LG's powers? Is he from the future?

He always says not to ask about the "past or future." I assumed this meant the future of the past that CXS was currently in, but what if he also means the future of the present that we're currently seeing? Can he see the future of the present he's in now?

In season 1, he knew that CXS would appear as himself when he dove into the surveillance camera footage. How? It was obviously CXS's first time doing that, but maybe not LG's. If it was his first time, how did he know?

We recently learned that he can see the present through surveillance footage the same way he does looking at footage of the past. Does this mean he can also see 12 hours into the future? It's 20:44 when LG unlocks Chen Bin's phone, so it's probably around 21:00 when he uses his powers. Does he know how things will unfold? Does he see the twins moving through the building? Does he realize there are two of them?

He's obviously been up to something this whole season: watching the clock, hiding photos, opening up stitches without much physical effort beyond using his powers... 🤔

My current crack theory is that LG reopening his stitches while using his powers to watch the fight is actually related to him escaping and/or jumping off the boat to free CXS. I'm not sure how because it's definitely more than 12 hours between the events, but something is up.

It's not surprising to me that CXS and Wang Juan were controlled through touch. The moment Li Tianxi reached out her hand to shake CXS's I yelled at my TV. It looked too similar to LG reaching out to start a dive.

And I yelled even louder when she made contact

CXS can dive on his own and LG can see into a photo on his own. The physical touch only connects their minds, it's not necessary to activate the powers. Could LG touch CXS and communicate telepathically without diving into a photo if they had an activation touch? Does LJ need a time travel element to get into CXS's head?

I think Li Tianchen's powers at least are touch related because when he touched Xixi, CXS lost his connection with LG. But I think there may be something else going on with the twins. I'm just not sure what I think yet. We wouldn't know if one was possessing the other because their eyes are the same.

How do the powers manifest, and what does that mean for Lu Guang's backstory?

I think we saw the moment when Li Tianxi and/or Li Tianchen acquire powers. Was it a predisposition that unlocked during a highly traumatic moment or did it just manifest somehow from an extreme desire to take control of the situation?

Li Tianxi was a child who wanted to communicate and be present but felt trapped in her over stimulated body. Li Tianchen was a boy with strong ideals and a sense of protectiveness... without the strength of an adult body to follow through with that protection. While they were holding the photo, huddled together in close physical contact after Tianchen's head injury, one of them or the combined force of them was able to 1.) take over their mother's body and 2.) blank out Xixi's mind to the point of cutting CXS's connection with LG and eventually the whole photo. But something went very wrong along the way. Maybe some signals were crossed.

CXS is a highly empathetic person. He feels so much for everyone and wants to connect with people emotionally. And his powers reflect that. We know CXS has probably at some point had a strong enough desire to go back in time, if anything to see his parents.

What, then, do the circumstances look like for a logical, emotionally reserved--but deeply caring--person to acquire powers to see snapshots of the past? What would drive him to want to change the past so much that he manifests these powers?

We know CXS had never done a dive without LG before he temporarily went rogue in S1E9... because he didn't know he could do it until he tried.

We know S1E1 isn't the first time they dive. CXS nags LG about having heard the rules a hyperbolic amount of times. So the powers aren't new at this point. But I don't think they both had powers before they met. So how and when did they get their powers? Was it when they met? When they travelled abroad? After some accident or something?

LG just shows up in CXS's life unannounced. Twice. And that's how they got close. Was it just the random fated meeting of soulmates as per fiction standards or did LG intentionally seek out CXS for more timey-wimey reasons? Did meeting LG activate CXS's powers? Did they experience something together to have compatible abilities? Did LG already have his and teach CXS how to manifest his own? How much did LG already know before he picked up that basketball?

I have this other crack theory that I absolutely hate and don't want to be true at all and almost certainly isn't, but, like...what if if LG and CXS are actually the same person from different timelines. Like LG is a version of CXS that doesn't get to have familial love and maybe experiences too much trauma, and he goes back in time to give himself some semblance of a home and a set of rules to hone his powers without altering the timeline that he's actively changing. They're intentionally written to be two halves of a whole, and there's been more than one joke made about LG being a ghost or not existing. I hate it. But it's in my head.

One last question for today... because I have to wonder:

Who makes the rules?

Has LG just read enough books to feel knowledgeable about how time travel works? Is he from the future trying to maintain a desired outcome? Are they following the rules of a third party who's orchestrating the flow of events from a distance? Are they... Leaving their fates to the ones who aren't in control?

#link click #shiguang dailiren #This is obnoxiously long but I'm not sorry. I ask too many speculative questions and don't answer any of them. This is my brain right now.#It's not my fault that Lu Guang has too many secrets and time travel writing can kinda set its own rules #Send help #Also just assume that any theories I posit are all heavily influenced by my brain reading Shiguang as cannon rather than just a ship.#Because it is. It's literally the title of the show. Can't change my mind. But I'm very impressionable when it comes to other theories so..#Tell me about your thoughts so I can mitigate my own

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