#INFO UTIL

[slocumjoe]

Anyway do you ever think about how piper is given weight in the main plot only to be shoved into a ditch to make way for Nick Valentine Synth Detective, who has large presence in the main plot + a personal quest + a whole ass DLC

[xmoonlitxdreamx]

OW2 Junkrat & Roadhog Relationship (part 3)

Part 1: [click] Part 2: [click] Part 4: [click] Part 5: [click]

Hello!! Here's part 3 of this series where I look closely at Junkrat & Roadhog's characterization in OW2 content. This post will be looking at the 2024 short story A Friendly Rivalry. This post is really long compared to my other ones, and I apologize for that...!!!! There's just a bit more to say here since this is a short story and not just voice lines.

This short story is available to read for free here. The page numbers I’ll be referencing are from the PDF on that page. I talked a lot about this short story in these posts here and here, so some of this stuff may be the same as what I’ve said there. I may also interpret the narration to partially be from Junkrat’s point of view, so keep that in mind for when I make commentary using quotes from the narration. Anyway, enjoy (?) and thanks for reading!

A several-paragraph summary can be found at the end if you don't feel like reading all my bullet points lol

Page 1

“…Roadhog, [Junkrat’s] much larger, much more heavily shackled partner…”

The narration recognizes Roadhog as Junkrat’s partner

If the narration is biased toward Junkrat’s perspective, this also suggests Junkrat thinks of Roadhog as his partner

“Junkrat wasn’t listening. He had a strong suspicion his best mate was nervous. ‘Relax!’ he said. ‘I’ll do all the talking.’”

Junkrat thinks of Roadhog as his best mate

Junkrat tries to understand Roadhog’s emotions

Junkrat feels inclined to calm Roadhog’s nerves if he thinks Roadhog is nervous

“Roadhog said nothing. / ‘Come on,’ Junkrat said…”

The two of them have “conversations” where Roadhog says nothing and Junkrat responds as if Roadhog is participating in the conversation

This can be interpreted as:

Roadhog doesn’t want to talk to Junkrat and frequently ignores him, but Junkrat isn’t aware of this or doesn’t care and decides to carry on conversation anyway

Junkrat is particularly good at reading Roadhog to the point that he can “understand” Roadhog without him saying anything

Some mix of these two interpretations

(Junkrat speaking) “’[The queen and I] are tight as marbles! Not like you and me,’ he added hastily.”

Junkrat considers himself and Roadhog to be “tight as marbles”

This isn’t a real idiom, but it’s probably a good thing meaning “close friends”

Junkrat suspects that Roadhog would be jealous if he was closer to someone else than he is of Roadhog (hence why he quickly added “Not like you and me” to the end of his statement)

It’s unclear if Roadhog actually thinks this way, and it’s likely that this is just an imagined impression that Junkrat has of Roadhog (based on lines on the next page)

“Roadhog gumbled. Junkrat took this as a positive sign.”

Junkrat tries to interpret Roadhog’s non-verbal cues (unclear how successfully he is at this)

Page 2

(Junkrat) “’Maybe we’ll spend a few days in the clink. […] Is that what you’re worried about?’” / “Junkrat snapped his fingers. ‘You think we should escape now! You’re right.’” / (Junkrat) “’What is it, then? What are you waiting for?” / “For the first time in a long while, Junkrat was speechless. Roadhog sighed. ‘Finally.’”

Here, Junkrat cycles through a few different attempts at reading Roadhog’s silence. All of his attempts at understanding why Roadhog is quiet are incorrect, suggesting that he’s not actually good at reading Roadhog even though he acts like he understands him.

When Junkrat and Roadhog are having these sort of one-sided conversations, it’s likely that Roadhog is usually just quiet because he’s waiting for Junkrat to shut up.

Junkrat does earnestly seem worried about Roadhog here.

it also seems like Junkrat uses these “conversations” with Roadhog as a way to organize/understand his own thoughts and feelings by verbalizing them.

(Junkrat) “’Let’s do this thing!’ / Roadhog did not leap to his feet and rip the chains from the wall. Junkrat was losing patience with him.”

Junkrat commands Roadhog to do things and visualizes Roadhog following his orders when he comes up with these commands; he possibly takes it as a given that he would have some sort of authority to tell Roadhog what to do

Junkrat gets annoyed when Roadhog doesn’t go along with his plans

Roadhog doesn’t always go along with Junkrat’s plans

“Roadhog tapped [Junkrat] on the shoulder.”

This is just me being delusional but I interpret this as Roadhog sometimes using a delicate touch to get Junkrat’s attention lol

(idk I think I was just surprised it wasn’t like “Roadhog grabbed Junkrat’s shoulder and yanked him toward the blahblah” or something LMAO idk it’s kind of uncharacteristic of him so it stood out to me)

Could also be an indication that Roadhog keeps Junkrat focused/etc in situations where Junkrat gets distracted

Page 3

“This is outrageous!” gasped Junkrat. “Roadhog and I are loyal subjects.”

Junkrat sometimes speaks on behalf of Roadhog

Roadhog doesn’t stop him from doing this, so even if what Junkrat says isn’t necessarily reflective of Roadhog’s actual thoughts, it’s possible he’s fine with Junkrat speaking for him

JQ lists off a bunch of “allegations” that Junkrat and Roadhog did together (demolition of Junkertown’s main gate, blasting Outback Bill’s Premium Sausage Stand to chunks, the Biscuit incident)

The two of them cause trouble in Junkertown together, presumably for fun

Judging from the “explosive” theme of the allegations it was probably Junkrat who came up with the idea for these schemes, but the fact that they’re both being tried together by JQ suggests Roadhog also participated (probably willingly)

Kind of an aside but I sometimes see the comment that “Roadhog only hangs out with Junkrat for the money/for his treasure”; considering these schemes that they got up to don’t really seem to have a monetary goal in mind (Junkrat probably just felt like blowing stuff up), it seems more likely to me that Roadhog also just likes causing trouble (even if he doesn’t act like he’s as into it as Junkrat) and hangs out with Junkrat because he wants to be a menace too sometimes (?)

“’We—’ Junkrat paused and glanced at Roadhog, who nodded. “Right, we did do that one. Sorry, mate!”

Junkrat goes to Roadhog when he’s unsure about something (unclear if this is a faulty memory thing or not); Junkrat trusts Roadhog to be his back up on things he’s unsure about.

“…Roadhog wound his chain hook around his meaty forearm.”

If we take the narration to be somewhat from Junkrat’s perspective, Junkrat thinks of Roadhog’s forearm as meaty. (this is such a stretch LMAO whatever this is my post) (I won’t be making more comments like this unless it’s more obvious that it’s from Junkrat’s POV and not specifically the narration’s POV)

“’You die,’ Roadhog said. ‘I’m living.’”

Roadhog is not particularly tied to his partnership with Junkrat; verbally expresses that he’s more concerned with his own safety than Junkrat’s

Roadhog is blunt and snarky (?) when talking to Junkrat

Page 4

“…a huge ball-shaped mech swung into the air. Roadhog grabbed Junkrat by the bandolier and hurled him out of the way.”

Despite expressing like .02 seconds ago that he doesn’t care if Junkrat dies, he pulls Junkrat out of danger

Suggests that the things Roadhog says verbally are not necessarily indicative of his actual feelings (eg: says “whatever man you can die” but doesn’t actually want Junkrat to die); suggest his internal self is maybe not as harsh or indifferent as his external self

Roadhog is physically willing to save Junkrat from dangerous situations (even if he verbally says otherwise)

“’Keep moving, idiot,’ Roadhog said.

Another indication of Roadhog’s words being harsh (calling Junkrat an idiot) but having good underlying intentions (wants Junkrat to keep moving so he doesn’t get hurt)

“Junkrat raised a finger to retort, but Roadhog was already hurtling toward the far wall at unconscionable speed, wrapped around the bulk of the champ”

Suggests the two of them bicker so often that Junkrat instinctively wants to argue even when they’re in the middle of battle

Roadhog got hit by Wrecking Ball while Junkrat was preoccupied with arguing with him; could suggest that Junkrat is not as good at looking out for Roadhog as Roadhog is at looking out for Junkrat

Possible that Roadhog sacrificed his own focus on the battle to tell Junkrat to stay safe, and then got injured as a result; could suggest that Roadhog actually does prioritize Junkrat’s safety over his own (despite saying otherwise previously). (honestly this isn’t strongly indicated in the writing so I don’t exactly think this was necessarily the intended reading.)

“’Roadhog!’ [Junkrat] shrieked as he shot toward the ground. ‘Catch me!’ / Roadhog did not catch him. Roadhog lay at the far end of the arena, unmoving.“

It’s possible that Junkrat relies on Roadhog to get him out of sticky situations so often that he just instinctively calls out to Roadhog to help him when he’s in trouble. (It’s unclear from this line if Roadhog would have actually helped him since he’s currently passed out)

Page 5

“Junkrat and Roadhog dove apart as bullets screamed past.”

They were standing next to each other. :)

“’It’s all right, Roadhog!’ Junkrat panted, ripping another grenade off his bandolier. “All we’ve gotta do… keep our distance…”

Junkrat tries to comfort Roadhog if he thinks Roadhog is worried

This is also another instance of Junkrat using Roadhog as a way to verbalize his own personal concerns (He’s personally worried, but he instead expresses that/comforts himself by saying “It’s all right, Roadhog”)

Junkrat attempts to be the tactical authority between them (unclear if successful)

Page 6-7

“’Junkrat,’ [Roadhog] said. / ’Junkrat, you’re a genius?’ Junkrat said hopefully. / ’Knife,’ Roadhog said. / ‘Oh, what a relief. I thought you were gonna say idiot.’ / ‘Knife,’ Roadhog said, because one of the Wreckers had thrown one.”

Junkrat is worried that Roadhog was gonna be mad at him for revealing his treasure/getting the town to turn on him

Junkrat is more concerned about Roadhog’s opinion of him than the increasing danger around him (aka the knife coming toward him)

Roadhog feels inclined to warn Junkrat of danger

Roadhog uses concise language when talking to Junkrat (though tbh he just does this with everyone)

“’Mako,’ [Junker Queen] said, ‘is he lying [about his treasure]?’ / ‘Don’t know,’ Roadhog said.”

Junkrat never told Roadhog what his treasure is (it’s more or less revealed later in the story that Roadhog’s “don’t know” is truthful)

This could contribute to the notion that Roadhog just sticks around with Junkrat because he feels like it and not because he has particular investment in Junkrat’s treasure

Could be interpreted as indication that Roadhog doesn’t know now to read Junkrat (or doesn’t care to learn to read him) in that he can’t tell if Junkrat is lying or not

“’I was really looking forward to watching you die,’ [Junker Queen] said. / ‘Me too,’ Roadhog said.”

Roadhog expresses verbally that he’s tired of sticking around Junkrat and wants him dead

Contrasts with the couple times he tried to stop Junkrat from dying in the previous pages, so likely more intended as a way to express his annoyance than to be taken literally

“Firing a grapple through the crowd, Wrecking Ball surged forward. Roadhog charged after, laying about with his hook to keep the path clear. Junkrat followed…with the Queen’s knife at his back.”

Roadhog immediately starts following Wrecking Ball (aka presumably doing what Junker Queen wants him to do), suggesting he doesn’t have strong affiliations and will just go along with whatever, or that he possibly is more willing to take orders from Junker Queen than Junkrat.

For me this comes out of nowhere; JQ doesn’t even command them to start doing stuff or explain what she wants them to do other than saying “Champ! Lay out the red carpet!” (which I don’t think would be something Roadhog understands)… so for me idk if this is really indicative of anything about Roadhog so much as it is strange writing lmao;; but that’s my personal take, obv the above reading is still possible.

Being totally honest I also have no idea how to visualize the way they’re walking here. I guess they’re following like… single file? Behind Wrecking ball? Anyway.

Page 8

“’Roadhog,’ he whispered. / ‘No,’ Roadhog said. / ‘What do you mean, no?’ / ‘No more plans.’

Roadhog actually is good at reading Junkrat, as he predicts what Junkrat is going to say here. Either that or Junkrat is just predictable (in that he’s always scheming).

Junkrat tries to work together with Roadhog when things go bad for them

Roadhog is uncooperative with Junkrat and doesn’t listen to him

“Junkrat almost exploded. But he decided, rather cunningly he thought, to save his temper for later.”

Junkrat and Roadhog likely argue over things, potentially because Junkrat loses his temper easily

(Junkrat) “’Once Queenie gets the treasure, we’re expendable. Right?’ / Roadhog said nothing.”

Possible that Roadhog doesn’t respond to Junkrat when he’s annoyed with him.

(Junkrat) “’So, once we get through the door, wait for my signal. All right?’”

Junkrat again taking on a leader sort of role between the two of them and asserting a situation where he makes the decisions while Roadhog waits for commands

Unclear of what Roadhog thinks of this (the narration doesn’t comment on Roadhog much here)

Page 9

“On [Junkrat’s] left, someone was making the funny bubbling sound people made when Roadhog got angry in their vicinity.”

“funny bubbling sound” = presumably the sound of someone choking/being strangled or sth

Kind of playful language used for violence, I think this primarily signals that Junkrat thinks of violence as something fun; but since this sort of language was specifically used in reference to Roadhog causing violence, this could suggest that he’s particularly entertained when Roadhog gets into fights.

Page 10

(Junkrat) “Roadhog! Catch m—”

Junkrat tries to command Roadhog again, has a habit of relying on Roadhog

Roadhog doesn’t catch him/doesn’t listen to his orders

“’Get him up,’ said the Queen. / Roadhog lifted Junkrat into the air and dangled him there.”

Roadhog is more inclined to follow orders from Junker Queen than Junkrat

Emphasizes that he doesn’t think of Junkrat as someone with authority over him

(Junkrat) “’Roadhog! Now!’ / Roadhog stared at him blankly. / ‘I’m giving the signal!’ Junkrat added desperately. / Roadhog scratched his elbow”

Driving home that Roadhog has no interest in taking orders from Junkrat, despite Junkrat’s constant attempts at telling him what to do

“’Forget to tell him the plan, didya?’ said the Junker Queen […] / ‘I suppose I did,’ [Junkrat] said sadly.”

This is actually weird to me, there wasn’t really any indication that he had a specific plan in mind or that he forgot to say something to Roadhog; it was more like JQ interrupted them during their discussion before Junkrat told Roadhog anything.

Kind of suggests that rather than Roadhog deliberately not following Junkrat’s orders, it’s just that Junkrat forgot to tell him what to do. (I think this suggestion is strange because throughout the rest of the story we’ve been given suggestions that Roadhog dislikes taking orders from Junkrat, so that would be his main reason for not following Junkrat here)

Anyway imo this dialogue between JQ and Junkrat is more just a weird writing inconsistency than suggestive of anything between how willing Roadhog would be to take orders from Junkrat

Page 11

“Roadhog peered around them, his mask failing to hide his awe.”

Confirmation that Roadhog didn’t know what Junkrat’s treasure was (either never asked him or Junkrat never told him)

Summary (?):

1) Junkrat thinks of Roadhog as his partner in crime and his friend. He tries to read Roadhog's non-verbal cues and worries about Roadhog if he believes Roadhog is worried. However, he's not actually skilled at reading Roadhog's emotions or understanding Roadhog's intentions. He believes that Roadhog considers him a friend and that Roadhog would be jealous if he was closer to someone else. It's unlikely that Roadhog actually thinks this way. That said, Junkrat sometimes speaks on behalf of Roadhog in conversations with other people; Roadhog doesn't stop him from doing this. Roadhog also seems to have some skill in understanding Junkrat's intentions and emotions, suggesting he does pay attention to Junkrat to some degree.

2) The two of them have one-sided conversations frequently, where Junkrat talks to Roadhog and Roadhog says nothing in response. It's likely that Junkrat uses these "conversations" with Roadhog primarily as a means to verbalize his own thoughts and come up with solutions to problems he's personally experiencing. Roadhog is usually silent during these conversations because he thinks Junkrat is being noisy/annoying and he's waiting for Junkrat to shut up.

3) Junkrat tries to act as the leader between the two of them and frequently commands Roadhog to do things. His commands are primarily directed at Roadhog with the intent to save him from sticky situations. This could suggest that he either trusts Roadhog's abilities, that he likes having authority over someone, or that he relies on Roadhog to be responsible while he behaves recklessly. Roadhog is never shown to follow Junkrat's orders in this short story, and is instead shown to follow Junker Queen's orders. This suggests that Roadhog doesn't think of Junkrat as an authority figure over him, but he is willing to take orders from people he actually respects. Junkrat gets annoyed by Roadhog's "insubordination," but he continues to command Roadhog to do things regardless of whether Roadhog ever follows through.

4) Roadhog is shown to be gentle (?) with Junkrat in one instance. This is also an instance where he was redirecting Junkrat's attention away from distractions, so it may be the case that Roadhog sometimes takes on the responsibility of keeping Junkrat focused in situations where he's not paying attention. Junkrat has also been shown to look to Roadhog for confirmation when he's unsure of something (memory, etc).

5) Junkrat and Roadhog have caused a lot of trouble together in Junkertown (New Junk City? idk) in the form of blowing things up. These schemes are likely orchestrated by Junkrat, though Roadhog is indicated to have participated as well. It is possible to interpret from this that Junkrat's treasure is not the only motivator for why Roadhog hangs out with Junkrat (as these schemes did not involve money or treasure), and that Roadhog hangs out with Junkrat because he likes to cause trouble with Junkrat for fun. It is also revealed that Roadhog doesn't know what Junkrat's treasure is, meaning he either never asked Junkrat or Junkrat never told him. This could further support the notion that Roadhog is more motivated to hang out with Junkrat to cause mayhem than to take his treasure.

6) Roadhog is shown on multiple instances to speak harshly toward Junkrat, and also expresses verbally that he doesn't care if Junkrat dies. This is contrasted with his actions, where he saves Junkrat from getting hit by Wrecking Ball and tries to warn Junkrat of oncoming danger. This suggests that Roadhog's external demeanor and words are not always indicative of his internal feelings, and that he doesn't earnestly want Junkrat to get hurt or die. He is also somewhat suggested to put himself in danger for Junkrat's sake and prioritize Junkrat's safety over his own. Junkrat is not shown to be good at looking out for Roadhog, and sometimes prioritizes bickering with Roadhog over both his and Roadhog's safety.

7) Despite his posturing, Junkrat is shown to care about what Roadhog thinks of him, and he doesn't want Roadhog to think of him as an idiot when his plans go awry. He at times may care more about Roadhog’s opinion of him than of any danger that may be happening around him. He is also shown to find it entertaining when Roadhog commits acts of violence as his ally.

---

ANYWAY!!!!!! thanks for reading if you did lol I know it's like way too long... I'll prob do one more post after this, looking at things like their character profiles on the OW2 website, promos from twitter/etc, details in ow2 skins, and event-specific voice lines. If anyone has any leads (?) or points that they want me to include or talk about, feel free to message me or send me an ask! I'm just going off of stuff that I'm aware of, so I'm sure I'll miss some stuff haha;;

Thanks again for reading!

Part 1: [click] Part 2: [click] Part 4: [click] Part 5: [click]

[ikishima]

Opening a post of someone on here asking for skincare recs and seeing every single one suggested either fall under “company that directly states their support for israel” or “company that does business with israel” was very jarring, are you guys seriously limiting yourselves to the bds list and “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” excusing yourself for every other thing you buy? Like the bds list is the bare MINIMUM. You’re bare minimum-ing your support for divesting from an apartheid state & limiting your financial impact for the continuation of the genocide against Palestinians? Your skincare routine is not more important than other people’s literal lives.

[cheapcheapfaker]

[da3drat]

Somebody proposed a deletion of the morrowind alchemy effects overview page on the uesp and my heart actually stopped for a second I NEED THAT

[ur-local-kiwi]

thinking of "rewriting" / making my own headcanon versions of the main knk boys bc trying to write anything for them as-is is torture,,, eve. pookie. ily but u r giving me so little to work with here TTOTT

[araneitela]

Jace: Sends a meta ask about combat preferences Me: Okay, okay, let me make this short and touch on just the katana... The equivalent of piles, and piles of paperwork in my OneNote and FF tabs: 🤔

[writhe]

trying to play it REALLY COOL about needing to move out in a month and having nowhere to go

[mistmoose]

I am alive, I SWEAR!

I've mentioned before that the husband and I are in the process of buying a house and that has NOT been going well because the fuckers selling the house DIDN'T HAVE THE GDAMN TITLE so for the last few weeks we've been desperately trying to get it declared lost and have it replaced (which is basically just a reprint of the title).

This has been stressing us out because we've had to renegotiate a lot with the various companies we've retained to work on the house and property so we don't have to pay some exorbitant fines.

Primarily, I've been working, scrolling twt on my phone, coming home and just collapsing on the couch with the house phone in my hand to talk with my realtor, the bank, the contractors, and my mother-in-law trying to get things smoothed out and back on track.

Y'all, I'm exhausted and very frustrated, but I am alive.

I'll slowly get back in the swing of things and jump into all the posts I was tagged in - I TOTALLY SAW THEM BUT HAD NO SPOONS LEFT IN ME -, and start reblogging all the fabulous art and fic and discussions I've seen!! So muuuuuuuuch to catch up on but I'm really looking forward to it because, honestly, it's so relaxing to just engage in fannish things and let my brain be saturated in serotonin.

[chryblossomjjk]

oh so he’s a breathy grunter i see 🧐📝

[zo1nkss]

I wamt so badly to learn how to make gifs but I've tried googling my entire fucking life away looking for information on HOW THE FUCK YOU DO THAT and I have come out with 0 answers :)

[girleulogy]

Also wishing they would’ve dropped Sam in the avatar universe he’s literally the katara of that show like esp being manipulated into using bloodbending to protect the ppl she loves and feeling tainted in some way/ when she used her own sweat to escape prison? Sam

[phantastragoria]

Like who?????????????????? Everyone from his past is/has been dead for years, and if they aren't going to expand on Anything at all from Ewing's run then it isn't going to be anyone from Mornius................. Do I dare get my hopes up that they'll actually do anything with Victoria? (I shouldn't but I can dream.)

[escherbug]

It’s funny how you can have been done with changing your legal name and gender on your important identifying paperwork for months, maybe even over a year, and you’ll still have to deadname yourself to strangers because someone didn’t listen to you when you asked them to update your paperwork

[wizardsspellbook]

Greater Identify