(Spoilers- for Link Click, and To Be Hero X)
What the hell do all these mean Li Haoling??? What do all these mean!!!??? (Being stuck in a time loop, and dying over and over again? (Gross oversimplification I know, I’m sorry 😭) For Cheng Xiaoshi’s and Lu Guang’s case (I’m assuming). But then what about X? (I swear, if we don’t learn this man’s real name next season!) Like why the hell is X going through the creepy liquid montage???)
It’s inarguably a very beautiful, cinematic sequence. But it’s also hella disturbing and concerning all at once.
My concern for X went through the roof, all the way to the moon, from the moment I noticed these parallels. X, please, please don’t be a time traveler, or something of the sort. Just for your sake, because you’ll suffer inhumane tortures to your mind and possibly body for it.
(gold? What is Li Haoling’s fixation on gold and/or yellow stem from? Like what did it do to you???)
(Now (because I can’t stop thinking about it), the parallels and differences all three of these have. Cheng Xiaoshi does not fade away into the bubbles, which is what X is shown going through, or come from it, which is what Lu Guang is shown to be? He’s just himself, dropping into the water. X is already in the mysterious liquid? With a pair of eyes watching him. Lu Guang is composed of it from the beginning before becoming himself and going down? With Cheng Xiaoshi dropping after him? We saw Lu Guang drop off the side of the building, but not in the water? So X is mired in it, never out of it, Cheng Xiaoshi is separate from it, while Lu Guang is it? I don’t even know what I’m going on about.
Onto colors it is! Or shades? Shadows? Yup, I’ve lost my mind a long time ago. So Cheng Xiaoshi, is always in the dark, shadowed, during his drop, or being pulled out. X is indistinct, at times shown in pieces, at other times blurred, when it’s a full body, or face shot, also in murky waters. Lu Guang is clear, in the light from beginning to end.
We couldn’t tell with Cheng Xiaoshi, since he was in the shadows (it’s the motherfucking line!), but X’s eyes were open at times, and he closed it at others. Lu Guang had his closed the entire time.
What else?
The colors and property’s of the liquid. It’s like a dye in Cheng Xiaoshi’s case, very colorful, but normal(?) colors. I can’t quite describe the case for X. Because what is that? It’s not supposed to shimmer(?) like that? The colors are too bright(?) is seems to be molten metal like? Iridescent? I can’t tell what it is. For Lu Guang, I can find no other way to describe it than, dreamy bubble. From the property to the color.
Anything else I can think of? The background? What they’re in? Lake like(?) for Cheng Xiaoshi? I’m not commenting on X (bizarre). The ocean and sky for Lu Guang?
(Don’t think I can think of anything else? Might add more if I do, I’ll see.)
The titles! I can’t think what exactly, but there’s something in Vortex and Inertia? That’s similar-ish? Like, there is something there. I just can’t put my finger on it.)
