(princess) original Nice supermacy ✨ @nadezhdarein - Tumblr Blog

fancomic tbhx: hero life is (not) drama

Instead of being manipulated by capitalists, Yang Cheng and Nice team up to build their own hero agency; to fulfill their obsession and desires.

Actually, I just wanted to write something serious—a combo of manipulative Nice and psycho Yang Cheng… but somehow it ended up as a comedy 😭😭 I just can’t let go of my headcanon about horny Yang Cheng being obsessed with Shang Cao every time I try to write a serious combo of psycho Yang Cheng and manipulative Nice 🥲🥲🙏🙏

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Anyway, I never expected to draw a fancomic again after quitting and giving up on drawing ten years ago because of my condition. Drawing wasn’t supposed to be in my bingo card for this year and near future. But somehow, I got nostalgic again... with my princess in distress because of horny Yang Cheng 😹😹

It’s not bad, actually. I just forgot everything; including how to import my drawing in good quality 🥲

I tried to upload in ao3, it's good for my eyes: this link

#tbhx #to be hero x #tbhx nice #nice to be hero x #og nice #to be hero x nice #e soul #yang cheng tbhx #nice tbhx #yang cheng to be hero x

nadezhdarein

I don’t want to dislike Lin Ling.

But compared to everything Nice went through, Lin Ling feels so damn lucky to get his hero title without truly suffering like Nice. And he even got it because of my beloved peacock. It feels like Lin Ling is standing on his naive heroism, built on top of Nice’s suffering—even though, in the first place, Lin Ling didn’t even want it.

Yes, Moon will be killed in front of him. But honestly, for me, that’s still not enough compared to Nice, who literally lost everything.

I don’t know if I want to continue this series or not, especially if Nice really doesn’t make it. But at the very least, I want Lin Ling to have some real character development—through suffering. I don’t want him to stay as the typical shounen MC who believes that “friendship, love, lalala~” will solve the world’s problems. No. I want Lin Ling to get slapped by the harsh reality of what it means to be a hero.

starcrossedcoffeepot

On the contrary, I'd like to think that Nice and Lin Ling were put to the same test, and chose different paths. They are both super compelling characters in their own rights. Nice is probably THE most interesting character in tbhx to me, because he reads so specifically like the Macbeths. Actually, many tbhx characters remind me of some kind of Shakespearian tragedy protagonists and maybe I'll get into that some other time.

Even on a surface level, he had the "out damn spot!" moment (Lady Macbeth), every time he had a psychotic guilty meltdown over being unable to scrub the figurative blood and dirt or the literal fear juice off of his hands. And just like Macbeth, he went down this path of his own free will out of a desire to do the "greater good" and then used that desire to justify less morally good actions. While Macbeth wanted the power that becoming the king of Scotland would bring him, and justified murder by telling himself he'd do a better job at ruling, Nice wanted to be a great hero, and used that to justify being Shang De's lackey and doing some not great mercenary stuff.

My point here is, Lin Ling and Nice are a masterclass in writing foils. They were given the same thesis question, and chose fundamentally different answers. The question is, "if you have to give up everything that makes you you to get a hero's lifestyle, fame, and destiny, is it worth it?"

Even though Lin Ling and Nice are both set up by how the fans reshape who they are, their roles, and their identities through trust value, they are fundamentally different people. And it all boils down to my sister's hot take that good ol fashioned customer service would fix the tragic heroes in tbhx.

Lin Ling's choice boils down to a single moment but is set up through his whole arc. His interactions with Moon, Firm Man, and even Nice are three puzzle pieces, evidences that back this thesis up. His story starts from the beginning goes forward, and Nice's starts at the beginning and is retrospectively built backward. Wise men learn from their own mistakes, wiser men learn from the mistakes of others.

From Moon, he learns that the real Nice is miserable to be around, and she's trapped by the trust value system and by her contracts to the Treeman Cooperation. The hero system is not glamorous and is not always to be envied. It's often abusive and hard on its victims.

From Firm Man, he learns that the system can be rejected. That the fans' expectations for you is confining but escapable. Good men get trapped by wanting to do good. They accept the pressures and the duties that they are relied upon to maintain. And even though that is honorable, it is unsustainable without finding a balance.

From Nice's legacy, he learns firsthand what kind of pressure the fans had him under. Lin Ling develops OCD and the intense scrupulously that comes with the trust value of the Perfect Hero™️. And so he rejected the system and took it on his terms. He accepted the consequences of coming clean, and he earned his outcome.

Nice never had anybody to learn from - nor did he have anybody to hold him accountable to standing up to Shang De. Moon and Wreck never show up in the flashback scenes where he is deevolving. They never seem to cross his mind. Only Shang De shows up as an all-consuming force to get approval from. Shang De, of course, is his closest tangible representation of the system itself. Nice was (is?) married to his abusive job. He never got the courage. He made his choice, and he chose the system. He earned his outcome. That's the tragedy of his character, and WHY it makes him so compelling. We see him continuously spiral deeper, trying to be better within others' expectations of him. If he gets it finally right, he might finally get what he wants. Shang De's approval, getting into the top 10, positive feedback, affirmations that he was right all along. Even though he keeps getting punished for failing an impossible task, he never learns the balance. He never learns to walk away in a healthy way. So he takes the cowards way out. He jumps from a rooftop, and he makes sure to finger gun his commercial company's intern on the way down.

But the narrative won't even let him escape. after the events of episode 24, it seems that his story isn't over yet. He wanted the ultimate escape, but the fact that he's brought back to life gives him another shot at learning from his and others' past mistakes and grow from them. He might make new friends and they might hold him accountable to that courage to walk away from the sunk cost fallacy of the trust value system. We may yet get a redemption arc! It's going to get even wilder and I am here for it!

nadezhdarein

Thank you for your analysis. Before episode 20, I used to think like you.. however after learning what kind of Nice had to experiece, I think you also missing some point in this case.

When we compare the characters as human beings, it isn’t wise to just compare event-by-event. We need to understand things holistically and comprehensively. We need to look at context, environment, chain-rule effects (butterfly effects), etc. It will be full of psychological and social behavioral analysis.

Nice and Lin Ling don’t face the same questions in this story. Their problems are very different. Nice—as a condensation of every hero—gets all the problems of heroes, while Lin Ling only gets the question of being himself versus being what everyone expects.

While Lin Ling can have other choices to become himself, Nice didn’t have that choice. If we treat this case like a thesis problem: Lin Ling had room to learn and find the answer he wanted; Nice didn’t. Worse, Nice didn’t have free will to decide what kind of life he wanted to write.

The first problem for Nice is grooming and manipulation in a toxic environment—something Lin Ling didn’t experience. From my experience handling these cases… it’s terrifying. All victims often have no real choice. Even when they technically do, they choose the perpetrator. Neuroscience explains that victims sometimes view the perpetrator as a “safe” place because the brain adapts to associate safety with the abuser rather than with a stranger or a social worker. Ironic, right?

Nice chooses Mr. Shang not because he wants to be a hero or because he refuses to give up. He thinks Mr. Shang is the safest place for him. That explains why Nice gets contaminated by fear value—he goes directly to Mr. Shang. He lost everything, and he adapted to believe Mr. Shang is the safest place no matter what Mr. Shang does to him.

Honestly, your earlier analysis triggered me a lot… (partly because of my stress at work and after ep 24). When you said “Nice didn’t have anyone to learn from”… yes, that’s true, but it’s also wrong in a different way. I try to avoid that statement because it risks minimizing how severe the case is and can end up blaming the victim. We need a secure place first (which Nice didn’t have) before someone can learn and heal.

You also forgot to compare Nice and Lin Ling by age and time as heroes. Their timelines are key factors in their journeys. If Lin Ling had the exact same experience at the same age and for the same amount of time… I think he would have killed himself even faster than Nice.

I don’t want to hate on Lin Ling. But if Lin Ling told Nice something like, “I can survive under this kind of expectation, why can’t you?”—I would become his biggest hater. I despise people who say that because it reduces complex trauma to a simple “just get over it” moralizing.

Nice doesn’t need a redemption arc; he needs a therapy arc or maybe a revenge arc. For me, his choosing to die is not necessarily “bad.” Even though my country and religion forbid suicide, sometimes death feels like an answer. As someone who survives with this kind of sht in the world, instead of blaming the victim or the person who died by suicide, I want to focus on the problem so there won’t be more victims.

starcrossedcoffeepot

First of all, thank you so much for giving such a sincere and honest response, really. It's a lot to chew on, but I like that. This show has so many directions to latch on to, and ways of relating to characters. I'm sorry you have to go through some really unpleasant circumstances with your job and other parts of your life.

I also think that you identify with Nice's circumstances personally, which might explain the differences in the scope of our discussion. It's not wrong to get comfort from identifying with a character's struggles.

I think two things can be true - Nice is a victim. But trauma is a cycle that needs to be broken. Statistically, victims become abusers if there is no external or internal change acted upon them. It is often more respectful to both treat them with compassion for what they can't control (other people's actions against them) and then give credit for their own agency (what they can control - their own actions).

Shang De used Nice to do some really shady stuff, dangling his desire to become a hero like a carrot on a stick over his head to make his do what he wanted. Nice, having no way out, did everything he was told, and had to justify it to himself to deal with the cognitive dissonance between his actions and what he knew to be right - what real heroes do. That's how he ended up in the shady alien ship murder circle with E-soul and Ghostblade in episode 20 ("The Ruins Incident"), and it took Queen and Loli to give him (and everybody else there) a reality check.

To which I said that I think it could be a redemption arc from the things he did with his own agency. Redemption arcs ARE healing arcs. Because healing is coming to understand reality a little clearer and learning how to form healthy habits through that (like therapy) and to take personal agency and responsibility back. To separate what was done to us vs what we have done, and change what we have the power to going forward. Bringing him back from the dead to fight in the tournament around a potentially new support system is SUPER interesting. I reckon the Johnnies or Queen or Cyan or even Ahu would make much better people for Nice to learn to break the cycle from.

All that to say, I want to emphasize the compassion point towards victims. Being abused NEVER earns more abuse. But I don't think Lin Ling's existence takes away from Nice's agency or lack thereof. Nice didn't get the short end of the stick just because Lin Ling didn't seem to suffer "as much".

nadezhdarein

Thanks for your analysis. I’m sorry if I sound harsh… I’m watching TBHX for entertainment, but it ended up adding more stress.

However, again, I disagree with you. For me, Nice joining the hero competition isn’t a redemption arc as therapy journey—it’s more like a revenge arc, or worse: exploitation of trauma by the people who brought him back. It basically forces Nice to face his trauma again before he’s had any real chance to process it, especially with fear value still inside his body. Trauma recovery starts in the body (somatic processing, emotional regulation, supervised harm reduction), not in public performance.

As a victim of grooming and manipulation, Nice needed therapy first before facing new problems—especially anything related to being a hero. What kind of “therapy” could he possibly have had in under a year that would make him ready for redemption through competition, while his trauma and fear value are still inside him? The hero competition only worsens his trauma. At worst, it sets him up to be re-victimized by perpetrators.

Healing doesn’t start with clarity or “understanding” the trauma. It starts with processing the trauma in the body and regulating the overwhelming negative emotions. That’s important—because the goal isn’t to deny negative emotions (they’re part of human life), but to move through them without damaging the body and mind.

This process takes time. It’s not just counseling or medication; it often involves exercises, supervised expression, and ensuring patient safety. If needed, patients are allowed to “harm” in a controlled way to neutralize emotions—but always under observation. By contrast, Nice was just thrown into the hero competition without supervision, risking harm both to himself and others. (Honestly, I hope X is acting as his “supervisor” if this competition is somehow framed as his healing journey.)

Yes, I agree that we need to stop the trauma cycle and prevent victims from becoming perpetrators. But the root of the trauma cycle isn’t “crab mentality”—it’s unresolved trauma within victims that shapes their perspective and behavior. Victims can’t gain clarity if the trauma isn’t processed. Without processing, they end up trapped and become new perpetrators.

Personally, I actually want Nice to take revenge as part of his healing. Not to continue the trauma cycle—but sometimes we need “accidents” to shake society awake, to expose how messed up the system is. Because the problem isn’t just at the individual level; it’s at the social-system level.

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About Lin Ling: I don’t hate Lin Ling. My frustration is that his path feels like plot armor in a world where everything else is complex. He inherits Nice’s legacy without truly grappling with the sacrifices behind it. He doesn’t try hard enough to understand Nice’s suicide; instead, he just benefits from Nice’s leftover trust value.

Yes, Lin Ling and Nice didn’t know each other. But when you inherit the legacy of someone who died by suicide, isn’t it natural to want to understand why? Lin Ling didn’t. He only learned the surface effects of Nice’s trust value, not who Nice was. Worse, when Miss J answered, he accepted too easily that Nice “chose” suicide.

As a normal person, if we inherit someone’s legacy after their suicide, we would need to understand why they made that choice. Lin Ling didn’t go deep enough.

That’s why I want him to suffer—not out of hate, but for character development. Suffering is part of human life, and it creates wisdom. Right now, Lin Ling’s suffering is shallow compared to the weight of the hero system he’s stepped into. He became a top 9 hero because of Nice’s legacy, but without fully understanding Nice.

And how can you understand the hardship of being a hero if you never face real suffering? It’s the same as how we can’t understand joy without knowing sorrow. Lin Ling needs to face that, or else he’ll never grow beyond a shounen-style protagonist with plot armor.

#tbhx #to be hero x #nice tbhx