u/Educational-Jello779

Link: https://x.com/sgdlr\_offical/status/2106230258819014665

Post by @heartonachainn on Twitter!

Found this really good post that nicely summarized some thoughts I had on Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi's confrontation in episode 8.

I'm really glad we're getting to see Cheng Xiaoshi's emotionally maturity again, especially now in relation to Lu Guang's anxiety and secrets. He's always been the more "heart on his sleeve" person of the two of them, but that doesn't mean he's not able to step back and realize what other people might need.

Super curious if we'll get a third attempt from Cheng Xiaoshi to have Lu Guang lean on him, and what that might look like? Or, maybe Qiao Ling tells him to drop it after the next episode now that she can function as Lu Guang's moral support?

Link: https://x.com/qhqfeihuo/status/2104059400877162504

Art by @MaoMaoTanuki on Twitter

Cheng Xiaoshi come fight these men, they all want your boy

Art by @_cal1751 on Twitter

Oh, the amount I would pay to see Link Click as a slice of life anime 😭

The way they're both trying to puppet each other omg.

Vein and Lu Guang are probably my favourite dynamic this season! There's so much intrigue here.

😭 Qiao Ling leave some grace and beauty for the rest of us

Links: first, second

Source

I wanted to make this post because I read a few of the ones criticizing season 3 during my break at work, and have been thinking about them since. To be clear, I think all posts and criticisms of the show are fair, and honestly I share a few of them even as someone who considers themself a superfan of the show. I think that the humor in this season so far has been a little heavy-handed and definitely not fitting, especially the sequence with Felix in episode 2 (small reminder that parts of that EP got cut before global airing because fans who saw it in a preview found it to be in bad taste).

That all being said however, I think people are jumping the gun on quite a few points regarding season 3 in comparison to seasons 1 and 2, especially when it comes to the amount of humor and tone.

Season 1 *started* with jokes about sexual harassment and a bit of slightly crass humor. I've rewatched the show enough to know that Cheng Xiaoshi immediately starts reaching for Emma's chest when he is in her body, and only stops because Lu Guang tells him to. A similar scene plays out when Emma is being cornered by her boss and only escapes having to kiss him because her mother called. I agree that the Felix scene is more than a little extreme, especially with how extra-silly Cheng Xiaoshi is, but it is tackling a similar topic with a similar, kind of graceless tone.

I've also seen a few people say that season 3 feels completely out of place with seasons 1 and 2, to the point where it feels like a different show, which especially stuck out to me. I personally fell in love with season 1's more episodic story format, with each case taking 1-3 episodes to resolve, and was incredibly surprised when season 2 turned into a cop story focused all on the Li twins and Qian Jin. In comparison, I think season 3 returns a bit to the season 1 formula, with each episode feeling a little episodic but staying focused on our main cast now.

And that brings me to my main point of this post, a sort of reminder that we've basically seen NONE of season 3.

Unlike seasons 1 and 2, which had 11-12 episodes, and Bridon Arc which got 6, season 3 is slated for 2 parts and 24 episodes total. So far we are only 5 episodes into a 24 episode season, and I am personally amazed at how much information we've gotten already.

In the span of 5 episodes we learnt most of Lu Guang and Liu Xiao's backstories, met and interacted with 2 new characters (A Yuan and Jae Lee), learnt more context on past timelines, and seen more of the villains than we saw throughout all of Bridon Arc. And we still have 7 episodes left in this part alone!

Again, I do think it's fair to feel frustrated by the change of focus. The plot has essentially gone from revealing Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi's slowly and through background details to exploring it directly, but I really don't think enough of season 3 has aired yet for the show to have "fallen off" already? I might also direct people to one of the episodes of the chibi shorts, where chibi Li Haolin does warn that this season will be slow burn.

I think there is lots of space for debate and discussion, but I personally am really curious where all of the plot build up and intrigue of this season will lead us, and what else will get revealed before the last episode of episode 1 airs.

Link

As someone who also headcanoned Jae Lee as Korean I'm curious how other people felt about the theory? I think it would've been nice to have a little bit of diversity in the show (even if that's just other East Asian ethnicities) but also I understand for the ease of the show why they went with this.

Li Haolin who hurt you and how much did you yearn for them

Bring him to an all you can eat buffet PLEASEE

From season 3 eps 1 and 6

Why are all these children childhood friends and why is everyone taking pictures of each other 😭

From Bridon Arc ep 3

I accidentally started a war in the comments on my last post but it IS this bisexual boy's time to shine

Link

Guys this show is kinda like a BL right?? Right!?!

Link: https://x.com/Ropes3amThought/status/2094607800672432556

Screenshot from chibi shorts season 2 ep 1

Links: Twitter, Xiaohongshu

Link: https://x.com/nai\_0183/status/2093461522123047098

But fr justice to Wang Qing my girl basically carried this episode

>!What do you mean they weren't sharing a bed here?! I legit gasped I thought it'd be the biggest Shiguang moment we get 😭🤍🖤 Still an incredibly sweet scene but I just wanted my peak Shiguang 😔!<