#linling

[chakkai]

Someone on FB said that X,Nice and Linling look like a family... and now I cant unsee it...

[nino221]

A Theory About the Hero Symbols of Nice and Zero, Lin Ling

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time on the voting website and have been paying close attention to the art and hero symbols of each character. The more I look, the more I feel there’s a deeper meaning to them, so I wanted to share this with everyone.

1. Nice's Art and the Sun

First off, I have to say that Nice is the character with the most unique art, even more so than X. It's not just that his art was changed; it's the Sun symbol behind him. This isn't just a static background; it's an animated image that can move left and right just like the character's symbol. This seems to be exclusive to Nice, a unique feature only he has.

Second, this sun is different from Nice's hero symbol (HS). Not many heroes are associated with more than one symbol. For example, X has his 'X' tie, Queen has her spear, Cyan has the four-leaf clover, and Dragon Boy has the circle on his forehead. All of these match their respective symbols, but Nice's has nothing in common with his. His HS looks like a tornado or, as some friends have suggested, an "eclipse"—which I'll talk about later. Even though it's not his official HS, the sun image is everywhere with him—in his art, on merchandise like rings, and so on.

2. The Theory of Nice and Zero's Sun

Speaking of the eclipse and the sun, the person most related is Zero. The sun has many meanings: it represents the power of belief, light, authority, goodness, and victory.Zero was once the greatest "Sun," but when his fear went beyond its limits, the sun became an eclipse, obscuring his reason, absorbing his light and belief, and completely turning him into the most terrifying antagonist, a true evil deity.

Nice's HS is an eclipse, which suggests that Nice is following the exact same path as Zero. He is also facing a similar "degeneration," where his belief is being obscured by fear. If not for a small hiccup (X got involved, right? XD), he would have completely changed too.

However, Nice is always accompanied by the sun, whether before or after Episode 24. This makes me think of two things: the compass and the memorial stone in the movie. This might be a hint that no matter what path Nice takes and what the final outcome is, there will always be a light, a compass needle to guide him toward goodness.

3. Nice and Lin Ling's HS on the Website

I'm telling you, besides X, Nice and Lin Ling are either the centers of Season 2 or at least the most important. The website code is so obvious!!!

Compared to Nice, Lin Ling's symbol is clearer: a shining sun. He and Nice are like two sides of the same coin—one is the sun, the other is an eclipse. But there would be nothing to write about if it was just that. The developers went so far as to put both of their hero symbols into the tasks used to earn votes on the website. I guarantee anyone who's voted has seen these two symbols, whether they paid attention or not.One is tied to "One-time Chance," and the other is tied to "Daily Chance."

For those who don't know, this is the foundation for farming votes. When you sign up, you get a large number of votes from the first section, and second, you log in daily to farm votes from the second section. Based on this, both of them can be seen as the "keys" or "foundation" of this very "Value of Trust"

* Nice - "One-Time Chance": Nice's HS is linked to tasks like the one-time new-user gift, which gives a lot of votes. This could symbolize a single, decisive event or a unique moment. This "One-time Chance" shows that Nice's role might be fateful—a singular, unrepeatable event that has a permanent impact.

* Lin Ling - "Daily Chance": In contrast, Lin Ling's symbol is tied to tasks that can be completed daily. This reflects Lin Ling's very nature and his philosophy on what it means to be a hero. He isn't a fated hero with special powers from the start. Instead, he becomes a hero by accumulating "belief" and doing small, consistent things every day. The "Daily Chance" represents the perseverance, effort, and process that Lin Ling went through to become a hero, which aligns with his statement that "anyone can become a hero." This can also be seen as a foreshadowing of his gradual rise and his potential to create a turning point for the future generation of heroes.

[feiyuki]

Friendly reminder to what happened in ep4 lol

Btw the analysis video is up! Watch it here

[huahuahua-png]

LET LIN LING BE HAPPY CHALLENGE

[callthemstarchild]

X IS THE HIEROPHANT

Hey yall! first TBHX post but hear me out!

I have several tarot decks and when I saw the cards in the finale, I immediately busted out my books and started looking. The card I want to bring the most attention to as it is the most difficult to notice is Major Arcana card V: The Hierophant

Here is the definition provided by the book from my "The Fountain" Tarot Deck

So I sent these photos of my tarot book to my lovely friend who got me into this show (shoutout @knightmikaza! also screw u T-T) and we were talking abt TBHX and i went back to look at this picture I took and I'm rereading the definition and it hits me:

X is the Hierophant

I think we could all glean from the finale is that X has a larger part to play in this narrative, that there is a bigger threat out there and X is here to act as a warning sign, a final canary in the coal mine for some larger force. It's my personal opinion that X exists as a radical figure outside the hero commission but also as a massive fuck you to what the landscape of heroes has become. Over and over through season 1 we have seen what becomes of "old heroes" from the burnout to the anguish to the being thrown aside. We see this in Smile crying because he misses his wife and kids, firm man being forced to retire by the very figure who made him into a hero, to Old E-Soul going through the motions of being hero when you can tell his hearts just not in it anymore.

And then here comes some random guy. who takes the title of X and holds it for four years straight. He has no connections, and he has this larger perspective that the other heroes don't seem to get. I think context is important here and specifically the context of who has context and who doesn't . We the audience have the context of the hero agencies' awful behaviour, the public in the show Does Not. X is acting as a sort of spotlight to the fact things aren't working as they should in a truly altruistic sense or either in a capitalist hellscape it was always going to turn into this sense.

Going back to the definition of the hierophant, I think from this and the songs which represent the thoughts of X, we can kinda glean the vibe that X has old-school-hero type beliefs. He is one of the few truly altruistic heroes left in a way. Many of the top ten heroes we see in the show start with altruistic motivations and get beaten down and jaded by the churning of the hero industry. Through this we can assume that X represents the ideas of old altruistic heroes, thus protecting the traditions of the original ideas of heroism.

Then moving on to the point about guidance, let's talk about episode 24, and the talk X and Ahu have. X is very plainly and blatantly laying out the reality of the hero agencies to Ahu. Many of these revelations or truths were likely handed to him by the girl in the ending who I will be calling "Tarot Girl" since we don't know her identity. In this sense Tarot Girl entrusted these truths to X to share with the world through him becoming a hero. Because X's existence speaks to the original idea that anyone can be a hero as we see LinLing state in episode one. X represents the purest form of a hero, unchained from all the business that most heroes have to deal with from the agencies.

With this X clearly represents the beliefs of what it means to be a hero from a truly altruistic view, the pure ideal of a hero held in the hearts and minds of the public compared to the dirty reality hidden from them. X is the link between those cherished beliefs and those beliefs in practice. His whole existence asks heroes the question: Why are you doing this? It forced them to reckon with what they wanted versus what they have become. Someone who was able to become so powerful circumventing the entire monster that the hero industry has become.

By standing apart and separated from everything heroes have become, X asks simply: Are you truly living by your beliefs? Are you still doing this to save people?

And yes some people aren't doing this to save people (cough cough lucky cyan but thats a topic for another day honestly i find her existence as a hero fascinating and I have many thoughts about how from a truly altruistic and intrinsic motivational view she is Not a good hero but again, another time) but many of them started out with a simple goal. Again going back to the stories of LinLing, Loli, YangCheng, Ahu and Queen (technically).

Would these people be able to stick to their morals without the interference of the agencies? I'm not sure, but X is forcing them to look at it like that. X is an entity all his own. LinLing was thrown into the hero industry and immediately forced to face the ugliness that pushed him around and forced him to fit into the persona of nice.

X is the hierophant.

X is the warning sign, the advisor asking these heroes to consider their original convictions and by revealing himself to be just Some Guy, immediately brings into question the need for the parasitic agencies at all. Are they really bringing order? We the audience understand that to be mostly no, but by standing as himself apart from all the glitz glamour and glory, X is forcing that question into the heroes minds.

Here is another explanation from Queer Tarot deck that I also felt fit this argument.

To finish this off, my lovely friend Mika (tagged above) supplied this: "[X] gives percy jackson vibes, that he will either be the saviour or the bringer of their destruction"

[mime-trix]

I'm having too much fun making these

[adaerika]

I REALLY like his design. Too bad we haven't really seen him in the show yet

You can see the sketches linked to the image

[arix3l]

new hyperfixation just rolled in to cope with the three others im waiting on updates for