#like his wikia page

[best-enemies]

Sure I have like a thousand wips but instead I just picked up my 2 year old wip that has over 10 chapters and nearly 100 pages worth of fic about Patience narrating how the Doctor was the worst husband she ever had (mind you. She married Rassilon) and picking up on clues that he might have cheated on her with the Master.

[theconfusedartist]

Alex and Desmomd are so funny to think about being together bc

Every time I'm playing prototype (so I can accurately see where the missions need to change to have Desmond in them), I...don't really need to change much to add Desmond in any given scene?? I mean, he's NOT in every scene but like, he could be if he wanted to

[thecodeveronica]

I think about this concept art of Simon actually being able to do the "Objection!" fingerpoint a lot

It would've been so cool if they'd implemented that animation toward the end of DD when Edgeworth hands off the prosecution of the last case back to him. Like, for right before the big Phantom reveal or something. Almost as an expression of him being freed and finally putting an end to the literal phantom of his past

sorry, he just. he just. looks so good. doing that. that's all. that's the real reason. just kinda. needed to say this somewhere. bye.

[shurisneakers]

unsolved (iii)

Summary: Bucky doesn't even believe in the paranormal. So who the hell thought it was a good idea to stick him in a series about everything haunted for the internet's amusement? With his loose-canon of a teammate who has no concept of subtlety or shits left to give, to make things even worse. (Buzzfeed unsolved AU)

Warnings: swearing, frustrated bucky at his little shit supreme, obnoxious reader, cryptids, graveyards

A/N: good evening. i am fighting demons (tummy ache). comments and feedback are always appreciated thank u for the love on the series so far i adore u guys sm <;33

Previous part || Series masterlist

A few days after the first video goes up, Bucky returns from his run to a SHIELD file taped to his door.  

He opens to a black and white photo of him from back in the day, and a page full of his details. Full name, blood group, previous addresses, aliases, best colours to match his undertone, favourite Gilmore Girl boyfriend. 

He flips the page to the section on his known connections, only for a sheet of paper to fall out. Sharpie sprawled haphazardly across it, in big red letters. 

NO AUNT. 

BITCH.

He bites back a grin.

The video does reasonably well. Not record breaking numbers or anything, but for once there aren’t TikToks of people counting how many times he blinks to make sure he’s an actual human. 

Always a man of his word, though he has regretted it every single time, he agrees to a second video. It follows after a disgraceful bout of bitching and even pleading, but a few hours later, he resigns himself to his fate silently. 

That is until the schedule for the next video shoot is posted to the server, and he sees it’s at night. 

The night he uses to sleep. The night.

Before he can even type out his rejection, his door receives four sharp knocks. He doesn’t even need to open it to know who it was.  

It’s like you could read his thoughts. Probably could. He doesn’t know the extent of your telekinesis. 

In your hands is a large cardboard box and on your face is a stupidly big grin. 

“Good evening,” you greet. 

“Tell me the show’s getting cancelled,” he says. 

“Nope. We–” you announce, reaching into the box and shoving something onto his chest, “--are going on a trip. Demon hunting.”

“Demon hunting?” 

“To Westley Cemetery,” you add, letting the box tumble onto the floor as you grip its contents. “To catch the Westley Cemetery Cryptid.”

“What the hell is the Westley Cemetery Cryptid?” Bucky demands.

“Creature that lives in the cemetery, watches people from the trees and runs after you if you’re there too long. No known kills, but a couple of scratches and spooks,” you list off. 

His face twists. “That’s not a real thing.”

“Uh, yes it is.” You rest a hand on your hip. “My sources told me so.”

“Who are your sources?”

“Twitter.”

Bucky stares at you without a word.

“It’s totally real. It’s got a Wikia page and everything,” you argue against his complete silence. “I believe in it.”

“That means nothing.”

“Rude.” You glare pointedly. “Anyway, point is, we’re going out tonight to the cemetery and we’re gonna catch this thing on tape.”

Bucky tracks your gaze to finally look down at what you’ve shoved into his hands. It’s a headband, with two cameras attached to it, one facing your face and the other outward. Night vision, he guesses. 

He sighs. “How long? An hour?” 

“Was Hamlet written in an hour? Was Sharknado filmed in an hour?” you exclaim. “Great art takes time. We’re staying out there as long as we need to. So help me, we will emerge victorious.”

Bucky stares at you. “Two hours.”

“Seven.”

“Thirty minutes.”

“Your will is weak and your spirit is cowardly.” You return his fixed look with equal intensity, if not more, which he didn't think was possible. “Three hours.”

“Deal.”

“Great.” You stick your hand out, and he grabs on firmly. “See you at 1am.”

“1am?!”

It is 1am, it is cold and Bucky is miserable. 

But he’s there. In the cemetery. With the stupid camera rig on his head. 

You offer him whiskey to warm him up, and he agrees. 

You then tell him you don’t actually have any because you didn’t think he’d accept.

He hates it here.

The wind whistles around the both of you. The eerie silence is only compounded by the fact that he can’t see anything beyond a certain point. The night is especially dark and there is no moonlight.

He trudges through the patchy grass, dry leaves crunching under his boots.

The camera being so close to his face along with the fact that you wouldn’t stop singing the same three fucking lines of the song over and over again, makes him want to tear his hair out.

“That thing’s not gonna get near us if you don’t shut up,” he grumbles.

“Nonsense,” you hum. “I’m a goddamn delight. He’s gonna be trippin’ over himself to get to me.”

“He doesn’t exist.”

“He definitely does, and you know what? I bet your shit vibes are gonna attract him. Moth to flame and all that. Karmic justice.” 

Bucky stares straight ahead, swerving to avoid running into cracked tombstones. 

You go back to singing, but worse this time. 

“What if we don’t get anything?” he interrupts, to protect his sanity. “No one wants to watch a bunch of people just walk around the dark for 20 minutes.”

There’s no response. 

It takes a second for Bucky to realise the singing’s stopped too.

He stops in his tracks, head swivelling to look for you.

“The fuck…” he mutters. 

In the cemetery, he is truly alone for a moment. Silent, other than wrought iron gates creaking in the far distance. 

The leaves of the tree above him rustle.

Bucky looks up, squinting against the darkness. 

Against the stillness of the night, he sees it. A figure stands tall on the branches of the tree, silhouette obscured by the leaves. 

It leers down at him, unmoving.

Bucky doesn’t even flinch.

“Very funny,” he says. “Hilarious.”

“We’ll fake it,” the figure calls from above. “If we don’t get any footage, I’ll just get on up there and fuck around and you record.”

“Get down,” he demands. “We’re not faking footage.”

If this show had to die this way, so be it.

“Bore,” you boo, lowering yourself to the ground with ease. “If I didn't know any better, I’d say you don’t want to be a part of this series.”

“I don’t.”

“Anyway,” you say obnoxiously, “we won’t have to. There is definitely a cryptid here. I can feel it in my bones.”

“We’re halfway through the graveyard and there’s nothing here,” he shoots back. “We should call it quits.”

“You’re right,” you say, to his surprise. “We need to cover more ground. Let’s split up.”

That is most definitely not what he was saying.

But you start singing again and so Bucky agrees faster than you finish the same stupid third line for the hundredth time that hour.

Bucky is a man of dignity.

Less than five minutes later, he gives up.

He takes a seat against the trunk of a tall tree, in a relatively open clearing. 

He figures if he just takes a nap then the two hours would pass by quicker. 

Bucky has no idea where you’ve gone. The lack of light doesn’t help, even with his advanced vision. 

He crosses his arms behind his head and settles back, eyes closing. 

Not even a second later, he wants to rip his hair out when the stupid song you were singing reintroduces itself in his head.

“For fuck’s sake,” he groans. 

The tree he’s leaning against shifts ever so slightly.

His eyes fly open, but he doesn’t move an inch.

Instinctually, his breathing slows and his ears tune in to pick up even the faintest sounds.

The draft whispers, and he knows for a fact that something is above him.

A branch cracks. 

“Go away,” Bucky says loudly. 

A second passes. 

And then another. 

“You’re supposed to be looking for the thing,” you shout.

“It’ll find me if it wants to.” He shifts to make himself more comfortable. “I’m givin’ him a real shot here.” 

“You didn’t even look up.”

“Didn’t have to.”

“He could have been above you.”

“But he wasn’t.” Bucky’s eyes close again. 

“You’re terrible.” It comes back muffled, and branches shift. “I’m headin’ that way. One of us has to put some effort into this.”

“Joy. Knock yourself out.”

The trunk moves under his muscles again and Bucky lets out a small exhale, settling back into the position he was in.

Until he hears you singing in the distance. Same three lines, same off-key tune.

Bucky drags his palm across his face. 

An hour passes. 

Unlike his original plan, he does not sleep.

He instead recounts every element he remembers from the periodic table. 

Replays every Dodgers game from his childhood, and then gets mad at their shift. 

Then he tries to recollect every fact he knows about you so far. Mutant, captured and experimented on, broke free several years before him. Met Nat along the way and befriended her. Telekinesis, slowed aging. Escape artist. Wedding videographer. Allegedly.

He just doesn’t get how you’re so goddamn chirpy all the time, given that he’d been through something similar and come out the way he had. 

It had taken him a month to say anything to anyone other than Steve. You went out for brunch with Sam the same weekend you showed up at the compound.

He doesn’t get you.

Speaking of which, he hasn’t actually seen you in a while. 

He checks the time on his watch. Nearly 3am.

He had a fucking workout in the morning and no lizard-man was going to be the cause for Steve outrunning him.

He pushes himself off the ground with a groan, and stretches out his sore limbs. Definitely too old for lying around a cemetery beyond midnight.

He calls out your name loudly, and then again, before waiting. 

He hears bells ringing in the distance. 

Bucky looks up.

In the shadows of the trees, he comes face to face with the same sight as before. A figure, standing on the branches.  

“There’s nothing here,” he calls out, sighing. “Can we just leave?”

The twigs creek, and for a second he thinks you’re going to fall. 

“Already told you I’m not faking footage, get down from there,” he repeats. “I’m leaving. I’ll see you at the gate.”

The leaves shuffle around before he hears branches break. 

Something you say gets obscured by your movement, but you disappear again. He thinks that maybe you were cursing him out, and deservedly so. He just couldn’t find it in himself to care. 

He rolls his eyes, but starts making his way to the entrance of the graveyard.

The walk back is faster, and he holds back a yawn as the gates start creeping up on the horizon. 

There’s no sign of you. He half thinks you ditched him here and went back to the compound. Or fell off the tree and were just laying there. 

But he decides to wait, leaning against the exposed concrete wall. 

Eyes closed, he rubs his temples and decides that if you’re not here in the next thirty seconds, he’ll just–

“Hey,” you greeet from right in front of him.

“Where the hell did you go?” he demands. 

You blink at him, before holding up a wrapper. 

“Got a sandwich. I was hungry. The diner was real nice too, I spent like half an hour talkin’ to the owner.”

He stares at you. “You just left to get a sandwich?”

“Yeah, and I got you one, too,” you reply, tossing him a paper bag. “You’re welcome. God bless that man, but those things aren’t cheap.”

“You’ve not been here for the last half hour?”  

“I mean, I spent like ten minutes looking.” You shrug, taking another bite. “All I got was a bunch of grass.”

Ten minutes. Bucky had sat under the stupid tree for an hour. 

“So you just left,” he says dryly.

“Yes,” you reply like it’s not even worth debating. “Besides, if anyone could find a cryptid it’d be you. A fellow cryptid.”

Bucky spins on his heel to leave.

“You’re welcome for dinner,” you call out, and he can hear you laugh.

He flips you the finger, and regrets it a second later when your singing resumes.

The sandwich is good. He appreciates it.

He even manages to keep pace with Steve the next morning. 

What he doesn’t appreciate is coming back to fifteen missed calls and four video calls from you.

From: co-host (TGS)

can you pick up 

From: co-host (TGS)

i know you have nothing going on in your life you are bitchless

Bucky switches off his phone for the next three hours. 

Finally, it’s a threat that you will show up at his door again and Bucky finally video calls you back that evening. 

“What,” he states.

“Took you long enough,” you huff, sitting up to adjust the camera. In the middle of the ordeal, Bucky sees your laptop open.

“What do you want?” he repeats.

“The team sent over the videos from last night,” you tell him. “At some point in the video you said ‘we’re not faking footage, get down from there.”

“Yeah.”

He hears you play the footage faintly in the background, almost to substantiate your point. He cringes at the sound of his own voice.  

“Who were you talking to?” 

Bucky rolls his eyes. “Heard you in the trees. Figured you climbed up there again.”

“Ah.” You click your tongue. “Interesting.”

“What.”

You hum. “See, that wasn’t me.”

Bucky’s eyes narrow. “Yes, it was.”

“No, it wasn’t,” you say calmly. “I’d left to get dinner way before all that.”

“Right.”

“I’m serious. Got the timestamp on my video to prove it.” You look up at him through the camera finally. “So who were you actually talking to, Barnes?”

Bucky’s nose twitches.

“Bye,” he says shortly.

“Dude,” he hears you laugh loudly through the phone. “I fuckin’ told you you’d attract these things, you–”

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing!

to keep up with updates for this fic and others, please follow @shurisneakersupdates and turn on post notifications!

Next part

[runaeveena]

i give you the band of brothers character iceberg inspired by [x]

full detailing under the cut

Tier 1, signified by a stock image photo of an old man sitting on a bench with the words "Why don't you watch some TV with your ol' peepaw?" next to him.

- Winters, Nixon, Speirs, Compton, Luz, Lipton, Sobel, Roe

- this is the most basic tier. these are the characters your stepdad in the military remembers from watching the show after his tour or what your high school history teacher knows. hell this is what jimmy fallon remembers from the show.

Tier 2, signified by a screenshot of two 10+ old youtube videos entitled "Band of Brothers Funniest Moments"

- Guarnere, Webster, Malarkey, Liegbott, Toye, Randleman, Heffron, Blithe, Perconte

- this tier shows youve seen the show more than once, also best characterized by my college friend who would show me these videos as soon as i mentioned i liked bob despite the fact that he didnt actually know anything about world war two

Tier 3, signified by a tweet found here that basically makes fun of the current 101st Airborne

- Muck, Talbert, Dike, Grant, Sisk, Wynn, Sink, Powers, Hoobler, Welsh, Spina, Garcia, Penkala, Hall

- this is entering true fandom territory. youve seen the show more than five times or interact with enough bob content to pick up other characters. or youre an obsessed military official who uses bob as propaganda to stir up the current airborne infantry

Tier 4, signified by a screenshot of the Band of Brothers reddit tag

- O'Keefe, Tipper, Meehan, Cobb, More, Heyliger, Janovec, Gordon, Evans, Strayer, Christenson, Peacock, Miller, Hashey

- you are actually genuinely unfortunately a deep fan of this show and you are forever marked

Tier 5, signified by the tumblr tag #hbo war

- Ramirez, Alley, Vest, McClung, Shames, Dukeman, Van Klinken, Julian, Lorraine, Plesha, Petty

- hi girlies ;)

Tier 6 and 7, signified by the front page of the Band of Brothers fandom wiki page

- Smith Jr., Zielinski, Lesniewksi

- Boyle, Rodgers, Mellet

- as stated in my little notes, if you're an admin for the bob fandom wikia you have more power than anyone in the world like the level of imdb searching this requires is more harrowing than actual war

Tier 8, signified by a screenshot of the Stephen E. Ambrose Austria tours with Band of Brothers casts, a screenshot of Matthew Leitch's reunion youtube with other actors, and the Dead Eyes Podcast cover

- the other Zielinski

- you know way to much to be a weird fan

Tier 9, signified by a stock image of a pile of books

- Burr Smith

- you are a scholar

[sandy-weeds]

where did the name "huracan" come from?

THIS IS VERY, VERY COMPLICATED.

As you know, Mink's AllMate is just called "tori" (lit. "bird") throughout DMMD. But, in Re:Connect, he proudly tells Aoba that Mink has given him a name.

I'm not a professional translator or well-researched on gods, so here's just what I think and what I've found.

Katakana: ルラカン Lit.: Rurakan Official romanization: Rulacane

As far as I've always known, "Rurakan" and "Rulacane" are just nonsense words. Like, they don't mean anything in particular. If you look them up both in English and Japanese, all that will come up is DMMD.

Luckily we have a little bit more to go off of when the AllMate explains the meaning behind the name:

(You can also see this "god who controls wind" written on his official profile above)

But there is no god of the wind named Rurakan or Rulacane. So, the closest fan translators found is the Mayan God called Hurácan.

In Spanish, this means "hurricane" which, as you know, is like a strong wind storm. It also sounds a lot like the romanization they used, "rulacane." The god in question can also control the winds, among other things, but the name itself means "one leg." Though Mink's AllMate only has one eye, he definitely has two legs…maybe the anklet on only one signifies this? But, wind plays a role in Mink's R:C route, mentioned several times, and also mentioned in the song "Angel" (ending song for the drama CD).

Anyway, I found this note on his Wikia entry from 2014 and I wanted to address it:

Some of my findings contradict with the person's comment above.

From what I can find, Rurakan is not the Japanese name for the Mayan god as they suggest: It IS Hurakan. See the Japanese Wiki page for the god here. I found this via the Japanese Wiki page for Mayan gods (third down on the list).

There's a model of Lamborghini car named Huracan and it is written like this: "ウラカン" (lit. "Urakan"). This is, apparently, how the Spanish version of the word is written in Japanese (via Wikipedia; see below).

Different from the Lambo, the God itself in Japanese on the Wiki is written as フラカン (lit. "Hurakan", translated as "Huracan").

I don't know where they are getting the "kanji for his name" from since his name is literally only written in katakana (which signifies it's a foreign word).

So, in summary:

Rurakan is not a "real" name or word that means anything, despite saying that it means something. They also chose not to name him Hurakan, even though it could've been written like that in katakana, despite attributing the meaning behind that name.

My best guess as to why is so that they weren't naming him an actual God name (perhaps out of respect? I don't know...then there's the fucking Lambo, which is funny because he spent time as a vehicle, himself. )

You can choose to refer to him as his literal name, the translated version of that literal name, or his intended namesake based on the given meaning.

Though "Rurakan," is the most accurate, I've always just rolled with Huracan, his namesake, for many years now since it's what translators I followed back then used. But the fandom still calls him lots of things.

Personally, I don't think he would mind the slight variations and translations on his name. I think he's just happy to be called something special.

Edit: Huracan is used in the English Dub of the anime by Sentai Filmworks.

[xmoonlitxdreamx]

OW2 Junkrat & Roadhog Relationship (part 1)

Part 2: [click] Part 3: [click] Part 4: [click] Part 5: [click]

Hello! I’ve been curious to try to better understand what Junkrat and Roadhog’s relationship characterization is intended to be in OW2, so I’m gonna take the time to look at various voice lines and other media & try to provide various interpretations of these things.

I'll try to provide both positive and negative interpretations where I see fit, but be aware that I do ship roadrat so I have a bias for interpreting their relationship positively rather than negatively. Overwatch to me though is a franchise that is very loose with its characterization & allows for multiple interpretations of the same characters simultaneously, so I’ll try to be open-minded in the way that I interpret things. Some of these interpretations may also be based on stuff I’ve read in passing from other people here and on twitter, too, so if something looks familiar to what someone else said that’s why. (Apologies for the lack of citations;;)

This first post is looking at Junkrat's OW2 voice lines sourced from this wikia page. (These voice lines may not be up-to-date, and the page does not include many event-specific voice lines) Again, I’ll only be talking about lines that I think give insight into Junkrat and Roadhog’s relationship and how they think of each other.

Anyway! that's that. Interpretations/etc are under the cut!

“So, I was like, Roadhog, mate, just 'cause that's how you see it, doesn't mean that's how she sees it, right? But enough of my earbashing. Let's get out there.”

If taken as truthful: Roadhog goes to Junkrat for romantic advice

If taken as unreliable: Junkrat considers himself as someone who gives good romantic advice, and decided to use Roadhog in his made-up example

In either interpretation: Junkrat considers Roadhog a close enough friend that he talks about Roadhog to other people, and allegedly has personal conversations with Roadhog at some points. (Whether or not Junkrat and Roadhog actually had this conversation isn’t certain since imo Junkrat seems the type to talk out of his ass, but it shows that Junkrat thinks he and Roadhog are close enough that they could have this conversation.)

Unrelated to Junkrat and Roadhog's dynamic, but if taken as truthful this could suggest Roadhog has an interest in women; but if taken as unreliable, it doesn't suggest anything about Roadhog's sexuality

“I feel a sweet verse coming on. Roadhog, give me a beat. …Roadhog?”

Junkrat instinctively commands Roadhog to do things; suggestive of him perceiving himself as “leader” in their relationship.

Roadhog doesn’t listen to him here, so Roadhog likely doesn’t think of himself as subordinate to Junkrat.

This is also a very playful command, so to me it comes from a friendly/playful place that Junkrat wants to sing (rap?) with Roadhog. Could be taken further that Junkrat uses the guise of “I’m Roadhog’s boss and he’s my subordinate” as an excuse to do regular friend stuff with Roadhog.

“Things always go well when you’re working with Junkrat and Roadhog”

Junkrat thinks positively of his partnership with Roadhog, seems to trust him and have confidence when they’re together

“Such perfidy cannot go unanswered!” (respawn line when eliminated by Roadhog)

Perfidy definition from Google: deceitfulness, untrustworthiness

Basically he feels Roadhog is being disloyal to him, indicating that he thinks of Roadhog as someone who’s supposed to be his loyal partner in crime

Possibly suggests that he would seek revenge if Roadhog is disloyal to him, but as usual the delivery is kind of playful, so it might just be more indicative of him acting out this sort of “leader role” for fun

“Guess we know who’s really on top, don’t we?” (eliminating Roadhog)

Suggests that even Junkrat thinks that Roadhog is the one with the power in their partnership, but when push comes to shove Junkrat is the real leader between the two of them

this is innuendo, so this could also suggest that they have sex with each other

not an interpretation, but I actually thought they got rid of this voice line for OW2 so I was surprised to see it on this list lol

“Sorry, old friend..,” (eliminating Roadhog)

straightforward, Junkrat thinks of Roadhog as an old friend

“Bet you never thought you’d see pigs fly! *laughs*” (eliminating Roadhog with concussion mine)

uses pig-related nicknames/etc for Roadhog casually

“Another hogfight for the Cerulean Chancellor!” (eliminating Sigma using Gravitic Flux)

Thb I have no idea what’s going on here, I just thought it was weird he says hogfight. I googled hogfight to see if it’s a common idiom and nothing really came up. No idea if this actually has anything to do with Roadhog, feel free to enlighten me. (idk much abt Sigma)

“That’s what happens when you cross Junkrat and Roadhog!” (to ally Roadhog eliminating an enemy)

Again, suggests he thinks positive of their relationship, indicative that he sees the two of them as partners in crime

“Don’t die on me, you big lug!” (Roadhog downed in PVE)

Worries about Roadhog when he’s hurt; uses affectionate names for him

“They got Hoggie!” (Roadhog downed in PVE)

Same as above, though this nickname is specifically cutesy/endearing compared to the previous

“Who’s gonna revive the roadkill?” (Roadhog yet to be revived in PVE)

Along with affectionate nicknames, Junkrat also uses rude nicknames to refer to Roadhog

Taken in isolation I guess this could suggest that he thinks negatively of Roadhog, but given all the other voice lines where he seems to think positively of Roadhog this is more likely a teasing/playful way of referring to Roadhog

“At least I’m not a hog.” (along with “At least I’m not a rat.” from Roadhog)

Taken in isolation, could suggest that Junkrat doesn’t like Roadhog

Could suggest a sort of competitiveness between the two of them, or possibly that the two of them bicker a lot and don’t always see eye-to-eye

Junkrat: Me mate Roadhog says there's a fetching price on your noggin. Not as high as the one on ours, mind you...

Lifeweaver: He said all that?

Junkrat: It was more like, "Gonna turn that bloke in. Worth a heap, hurrrrrrr..."

Lifeweaver: Thank you for the warning. And the convincing impression.

Junkrat talks about Roadhog to other people

Junkrat hears Roadhog talk enough that he can do a pretty good impression of him—this is potentially indicative of how close they are considering Roadhog is known to not talk often.

Junkrat thinks of Roadhog as his friend (“My mate Roadhog”)

It’s kinda unclear if Roadhog said this stuff about Lifeweaver directly to Junkrat, or if it’s just something Roadhog was saying to himself. If it’s the latter, it’s possible to interpret that Roadhog mutters things to himself & Junkrat pays attention to it. This might suggest that Junkrat isn’t so self-centered when it comes to Roadhog and remembers things that Roadhog says. (kind of a stretch of an interpretation, but hey)

Unrelated but mysteriously, Roadhog seems to speak Australian English in Junkrat’s impression of him (he says “bloke,” which isn’t used in American English). This makes me think Roadhog is supposed to speaking Australian English (which makes sense given that he’s Australian) but in the game he just. Doesn’t. for some reason.

Lifeweaver: Are you and Roadhog together?

Junkrat: Do you ever see us apart?

Lifeweaver: No. I mean, are you a couple?

Junkrat: Yes! A couple of dashing rogues! Not sure what you're missing here...

From an outsider’s perspective (Lifeweaver), Junkrat and Roadhog seem like a couple.

Junkrat and Roadhog are always together (“Do you ever see us apart?” implies they’re never apart)

Tbh there’s a lot of ways to interpret Junkrat’s last line, but I think the most straightforward interpretation is just that he’s oblivious to what Lifeweaver is asking, possibly because of the phrasing. Other possible interpretations:

He doesn’t think of himself and Roadhog as a couple and likewise is oblivious to the fact that they seem like a couple to other people.

Junkrat doesn’t know what couples are (though I think this can be disproven by the fact that he’s “giving” Roadhog relationship advice in one of the voice lines I mentioned earlier)

Junkrat isn’t interested in Roadhog and is deliberately friend-zoning him here

Junkrat and Roadhog are a couple (since he answers “yes,”), but he backpedals because it’s supposed to be a secret

Junkrat’s just messing with Lifeweaver and being intentionally obtuse (unlikely imo, he seems earnest here)

Junkrat thinks of Roadhog as a “dashing rogue”

Roadhog: Say “bacon” one more time.

Junkrat: “Bacon, one more time.”

Junkrat likes to annoy Roadhog

Junkrat isn’t scared of annoying Roadhog

Reaper: You got a problem, Junker?

Roadhog: *chuckle*

Junkrat: I don’t do problems—just solutions!

Roadhog: *laughs* Yeah!

I can’t find the audio for this interaction on the wikia, so I’m not sure what the inflection is. Seems likely that Roadhog is sarcastically agreeing with Junkrat here, but I can’t tell.

Edit: I was told that Roadhog's "Yeah" sounds genuine in-game, so this could be an indication of Roadhog actually following along with Junkrat & engaging in their partners-in-crime dynamic

Edit 2: Roadhog's quotes page indicated that only one of the three dialogue options are triggered by Reaper's line, so Roadhog's "yeah" is most likely not in response to Junkrat's potential line

Summary of this section: It seems like Junkrat thinks positively of Roadhog, thinks of him as a friend, and considers the two of them to be partners in crime. He sometimes uses affectionate pet names for Roadhog, but also uses some crass nicknames with him. There may be a sense of competitiveness between the two of them, where Junkrat thinks of himself as leader while Roadhog thinks otherwise. Junkrat occasionally uses this imagined “superior/subordinate” status playfully as a way to engage in regular friendship activities with Roadhog.

The next section will be me looking at Roadhog's OW2 voicelines. iirc he doesn't mention Junkrat as much as Junkrat mentions him, so I anticipate it'll be shorter and probably less positive lol but anyway! Thanks for reading!

Part 2: [click] Part 3: [click] Part 4: [click] Part 5: [click]

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"THIS SUPERHERO, AN ANDROID, A ROBOT BODY POSSESSED OF THE ELEMENTAL FORCE OF A TORNADO..."

PIC INFO: Resolution at 1280x1853 -- Spotlight on a 1985 DC house ad for "Red Tornado" Vol. 1, continuity-heavy four-part story arc (July-October, 1985); Kurt Busiek was drawn to the copious history and cross-connections with other series.

"This superhero, an android, a robot body possessed of the elemental force of a tornado, feels alienated from the human race but protective of it."

-- DC COMICS, c. summer 1985

SERIES OVERVIEW: "In 1983, Kurt Busiek was still relatively new to writing for the comic book industry when Dick Giordano (editor in chief at DC comics) offered him a chance to write the "Red Tornado" mini-series. Prior to this, Busiek had written an issue of "Green Lantern," a few issues of "Marvel’s Power Man/Iron Fist" and a few "Green Lantern Corps" back-up tales. Giordano’s big plan was to have lesser-know JLA characters featured in their own distinct mini-series (most likely with the hopes of raising reader interest in the JLA). When Giordano asked Busiek if he had any ideas on how to handle the Red Tornado, Busiek jumped at the opportunity (once citing Red Tornado as one of his favorite DC characters). Busiek sought to alter Red Tornado for the better -- attempting to make the character more in touch with his human side -- hence adding to the Red Tornado mythos and giving future writers something more to explore. Thus, the creation of this four issue mini-series.

PART II: One of the biggest challenges for Busiek was making the Red Tornado interesting. Popular opinion in DC fandom (at the time) was that the Red Tornado was one of the more boring characters out there. As a matter of fact, since being introduced by Gardner Fox and Dick Dillin in 1968, the Red Tornado had already been killed off and resurrected twice in JLA history before appearing in this mini-series. The problem with the Red Tornado was that he’s always been a passive character in a comic series (JLA) that focused on big drama - Red Tornado was either the first character quickly destroyed/disabled by the villain to demonstrate how powerful the villain was or Red Tornado hung out in the back and did some busy work while all the other more popular characters had all of the action. This isn’t really surprising considering the Red Tornado was originally created as a revamp of a Golden Age DC character (Ma Hunkel) and was never intended to be more than an annual guest-star.

PART III: The plans for this mini-series were hatched in 1983 and it took about 2 years before they finally saw completion. Something else was happening during 1983 and 1985, and that something else was the plotting of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" storyline by Marv Wolfman and other DC editors. It was decided by the powers that be at DC comics that Red Tornado would be destroyed once again in "Crisis on Infinite Earths" #8 (2 months after the mini-series came out!). Busiek wrote this mini-series with the intention of it leading into a regular series, but by the time it had been launched Busiek was made aware of DC’s plans for the Red Tornado -- thus rendering his story somewhat useless -- an exercise in futility."

-- DC IN THE '80s (webzine for DC Comics fans from the '80s)

Source: https://forum.sanctuary.fr/t/page-s-de-pub/185608/225?page=9, DC Wikia, various, etc...

[herefortheclout19]

A rambling analysis about Aaravos as a whole

Post Season 6, the enigma that is Aaravos FINALLY got a deeper dive into his character and backstory and we finally know three important things, (in my opinion) that are critical when creating a character in any form of media:

1. Motivations

2. Goal(s)

3. What’s keeping those goals from being fulfilled

1. motivations

it’s obvious that his motivation to everything he does is his love for Leola, and how he’s coping with being bereaved of his child. In addition, I’d also like to address that his second motivation is for a world unlike the one the Cosmic Order and the Archdragons desire. Obviously, what I mean is the cycle of violence itself- and yes, Aaravos continues the cycle, but he’s also trying to break it with his startouch ability of prophetic visions, or how season 6 puts it, “becoming time blind.”

Due to this ability, I think Aaravos instigated the Battle of the Storm Spire and manipulated Viren to make it happen because he wanted to force the elves and humans to unite under one cause. On the other hand, it can be argued that “actually Aaravos is only causing harm, just look at Lux Aurea,” and of course that seems like the easiest explanation for his actions, but I think I can refute that claim.

By corrupting Lux Aurea, he knew that by doing so, it would be enough to motivate the elves into a confrontation with Viren and the rest of the human kingdoms + their armies. Yes, Aaravos did say, “do you want to conquer Xadia?” To Viren, but I believe that that was merely a way to goad him into conflict, and it shouldn’t be taken seriously because that’s not one of Aaravos’s intentions or legitimate goals.

2. Goal(s)

Like I said before, Aaravos isn’t planning on conquering Xadia, he’s obviously planning on avenging his deceased daughter, by killing (presumably) everyone who approved of Leola’s execution. Sol Regem was killed, and now as season 7 approaches, the Cosmic Order is next. Knowing that only a startouch elf can kill another startouch elf- according to the TDP Wikia page, it’s obvious that this is what he’s planning on accomplishing.

The season 7 summary states that he’s planning on, “inverting life and death,” which to me seems like he’s attempting to revive Leola in some incredible feat of magic. Deep magic?

Putting his personal issues aside, when it comes to Xadia itself, Aaravos is planning on restoring the solidarity between East and West Xadia, and mending the continent as a whole, and he’s doing it through people like Janai.

As a character who is merciful, Janai is a revolutionary figure who struggles with also healing the old wounds between the dragon and elven part of Xadia and the human part of Xadia. Her perception of peace and mercy is why I believe that Aaravos is in a tandem mindset with her and wishes to keep her as a reigning monarch in Lux Aurea, or she would’ve been dead by now.

The Sunfire monarchs are influential historical figures- look to Sol Regem, whose hatred for humanity no doubt influenced the outcome of segregating humans into the west. And Aditi, whose voice was enough to motivate the succession conflict from tearing Xadia apart.

When Aaravos haunts Janai in her dreams, it’s a threat, but it’s also a warning. It’s him challenging her to either become her grandmother, “your just like your grandmother,” and also to beware of her fate, lest it become Janai’s as well, “I swallowed her,” S5EP9. Because Aaravos disapproved of Aditi’s actions and influence, he’s trying to use fear to control Janai and keep her from becoming her grandmother before her. By that, Aditi may have been a “wise and trusted leader,” according to Zubeia, but I think she was also a cruel leader who had a skewed perception of mercy, (just look to Kim’Dael.)Yes, Aditi wanted to restore peace, but one act of benevolence (ending the succession crisis,) isn’t enough to justify one act of “mercy.” (Kim’Dael’s Mercy Debt)

3. What’s keeping those goals from being fulfilled:

I’ll keep this one short, but it’s clear that The Cosmic Order itself is keeping him from accomplishing this goal. During the trial, Aaravos couldn’t stand up alone to them with his actions and thus resorted to verbal confrontation in order to convince the council to let Leola go. This didn’t work, and despite how powerful he is, Aaravos couldn’t forcefully use magic to prevent the council from killing Leola. With season 7 coming up, I think he’ll try to get The Merciful One to ally with him against the other members of the council. As much as he hates them for having Leola killed, perhaps Aaravos can convince TMO into regretting their decision in condemning Leola and to help stand up to the rest of the Cosmic Council, since TMO is the only one to have approached Aaravos post trial, probably due to a now shattered friendship.

That’s all for now! I might make a part two going more into depth, but this is it, thanks to anyone for reading my unintelligent yapping :)

[jeio-kimi]

Lost In Translation

A deep dive into the widespread misinformation of 19 Days (19天) prod. By: Old Xian (Old先)

Part: 1

Part: 2

Hello! 19 days readers! How many times have you and I seen this online?

"19 days takes place in the past when all of the characters are in middle school."

"I've been reading 19 Days online, and I just found out that they're all 15 year olds??!"

"What? They don't look like they're in middle school."

Many people within the 19 Days Fandom seem to believe in two important details about this story: 1. This story is a flashback. 2. The flashback of this story takes place when the characters are in middle school.

However, while it is provably canonical that the story we are reading is majorly in the past. The ages of the characters have never been specified by the creator of the web series Old Xian. In fact, there is more evidence directing towards an older age for the main characters than the one perceived by most readers. But why is this the case? If the story itself shows the readers what the ages should be assumed to be, why would so many people assume a completely different age? This confusion is mostly caused through the mistranslation of the readers.

Now, while it should be stated that 19 Days has no official English translation at this time. The fandom's appointed English translator, "Maomaozaii" (on Twitter), has never stated within the translation of a chapter, nor off script the canonical ages of the characters. So where is this "they're all 15 year olds" claim derive from?

Here's what I've fround:

19 Days: Chapter 45

In what is probably one of the most perplexing chapters of the series, Our main character Zhan Zheng Xi, explains that his best friend Jian Yi had disappeared after the second day of high-school began. Jian Yi explains in a "flashback" sequence that he was kindaped to an island by two strange men, which Zhan Zheng Xi has a hard time believing.

This has lead to the majority of the fandom assuming that the story of 19 days takes place before Jian Yi was kindaped. When the two boys would have been in middle school.

However this idea can be quickly debunked when continuing to the next chapter.

It is never stated how long Jian Yi was gone for, but what is stated is that both boys are still in high-school after Jian Yi returns.

After showing back up to Zhan Zheng Xi house, Jian Yi works on homework and expresses that he wants to attend the same university as Zhan Zheng Xi when he graduates. The chapters after Jian Yi's return continue with the two's daily life in high-school with no reference of taking place in the past. Due to this I can be assured that the story is taking place contemporarily.

19 Days Wikia

Now I'm sure most of us understand why "Wiki" & "Wikipedia" pages are not considered reliable sources, I will explain just incase. Fandom "Wiki" and "Wikipedia" itself are pages of a website that can be created and edited by anyone with a wiki account. These accounts are not moderated and not verified by the site owners. Meaning, any information released on the web pages are not from official or trusted sources, and shouldn't be taken as authentic. The 19 days Wikia, makes claims of canonical information that has never been specified by the creator, within or outside of the web series. Along with this, the web page itself is entirely outdated, only having coverage of the series up to chapter 210. As well as other false information.

19 Days: Chapter 122

This chapter introduces the infamous "3rd Year" label on the lockers next to He Tian and Jian Yi. Most people will see this and try to surmise what "3rd Year" refers too. So let's talk about the Chinese school system.

"3rd Year" in this instance can refer one of two Grade levels: "Chu-3" (9th Grade) or Gao-3 (12th Grade). The assimilation by viewers that believed that Jian Yi is still in middle school with Zhan Zheng Xi that the "3rd Year" label refers to "Chu-3" making all of our main characters 9th graders. However, as I stated earlier, it is shown to us that Jian Yi and Zhan Zheng Xi are both still in high-school when he returns. Which if the label refers to "Gao-3" or 12th Grade this would also make since. If Jian Yi gets kindaped the second day of 10th grade (second day of high-school), disappears for two years, then comes back, it would make him a 10th grader. Which would make the most sense following what is shown to us within the story. I will STRONGLY note; that neither, Jian Yi nor He Tian interact with the side the lockers labeled "3rd Year" are on. So, it's possible that it's not even in reference to their grade level.

So... what are their ages?

Continues in:

Part: 2

[beaulesbian]

Thoughts and more thoughts about the potential of Rob Lucci after chapter 1111 - spoilers and theory

(disclaimer: this might be totally implausible and not at all what could happen, but it's something that's been on my mind since last chapter, so here are my thoughts on this. again, very long post ahead, I don't know how it keeps happening)

The way Oda allowed Lucci to feel during chapter 1111, is something I didn't expect to find so intriguing, and it points to how much depth really has each character in this story.

There is a subtle change of certain aspects of Rob Lucci's personality since the start of Egghead, and in the chapter 1111 even a bigger focus is on his reaction to meeting Mars Gorosei and asking for Kaku to be spared.

Given this swept away answer with seeing whom he's been serving all this time, there could come a realization that'd sort of wake him up. There's a potential to somewhat turn power of Cipher Pol agents from blindlessly following the World Government. To stop being the WG's shield.

It's very probable the story might deal with the reform or even collapse as a whole of the World Government - especially since the Gorosei are currently Luffy's main enemies. With that, the Cipher Poll intelligence could play a significant part of it as well, along with other moving pieces like the Revolutionary Army, Shanks, Luffy's fleet or even Morgans and his newspapers, and, of course, the Strawhats.

There's been comments of readers who only saw Lucci and Zoro's fight as one dimensional - one has to win, the other has to lose, and comparing points and skills without really diving into their respective characters - thankfully Oda knows those characters and knows how to make the story interesting and compelling. Where before I hoped we would get a follow up about the words directed at Zoro, instead Lucci was given more space for this chapter.

Where one would hope for Zoro to win and move to other parts of the island with the Strawhats, we instead stayed with Lucci and him witnessing Mars in his full on demon form - something that even Lucci was shocked to see.

Those two pages were such incredible moments for Lucci as a character who serves fully the Gorosei and the World Government in first place, yet! Yet! In the last part he's on the page, he's allowed and shown to be worried and caring for someone else than himself- after arcs and arcs where he appeared here and there just carrying out on orders and missions without seemingly caring about anyone to much depth before, he's given space to actually express the concern regarding Kaku.

Of course he's still this same of bloodthirsty killer, just like in Enies Lobby, (ch. 382),

both his immediate fight upon seeing Luffy on Egghead, and later against Zoro paints it clear what he's capable of.

Rob Lucci is regarded as one of the strongest assassin's in the Cipher Pol agency CP9 (and later with higher rank of CP0). Just reading his wikia to remember more moments, the section about his personality is mostly compiled of traits like cold-hearted, agressive, and especially taking the Wold Governments meaning of Justice into brutal heights, thinking all is allowed to accomplish his goals/missions/orders.

There's his past and how he has been trained by WG to do as they told him, or even go to length which he wasn't even ask to do, but knowing his position as assassin he did as he wanted.

By the end of Water 7 and leaving to Enies Lobby, where he preteded to be friends with Iceberg, Paulie and other shipwrights for 5 years, he didn't show any regrets leaving the place (contrary to Kaku, who seemed to really enjoy his work as shipwright and is sometimes shown really excited about new places and such)

Up until the chapter 1111 I mostly took him as someone really dutiful to follow orders through and through and not gave it much more thought beside that, but it's true that this already started to shift around chapter 1062, when we see Lucci, Kaku and Stussy on their way to Egghead Island:

"They want us to eliminate the most useful man in the world..."

"The last thing a man as keenly perceptive as you should be doing is looking for answers." (says Stussy, a double agent working for Vegapunk, lol).

I wouldn't call it distrust in WG, yet. At this point he was still adamant about following the mission to kill Vegapunk. But maybe it's more visible that he's thinking more about such orders and their consequences.

He fights Luffy immediately after setting foot on Egghead, calls it as it is in wanting to defeat Luffy and destroy his whole crew without any pretense (and maybe that honesty was why Luffy took his word for their brief cooperation in fighting Seraphim). ch. 1076

He says this honestly, yet after the Strawhats and Vegapunks are healing later on, Lucci still tries to attack Vegapunk, ch.1091

Once knowing Kizaru appeared too, Lucci returnes back to finish his mission, he strikes at Vegapunk again - unsuccessfuly because Stussy takes that attack, and Zoro pushes him from the lab and then keep him occupied until the latest chapter 1111.

And that is a big part of him, eyes always on the mission - get information to his bosses, to Navy/Saturn/Gorosei/Kizaru, and keep his enemies occupied or better yet - dead. This thinking was always present with him to this point in ch. 1111, and that is from where it could lead to even more nuance in his future decisions:

The first time seeing Mars in his demon form there's that blink-and-you-miss it expression of pure horror, hinting that even the highest ranking agents probably had no idea just what the true nature of the Gorosei looks like, and that a sight like that can pull this expression from Lucci:

After that brief shocked state, he goes back to immediately report all informations he has on Vegapunks, Strawhats, even their plan of escape, as well as mentioning the other Cipher Pol agents, trapped in the Lab:

then there's this panel, "well done. no further questions.":

which reminded me of very similar words Lucci said to Robin in Water 7, ch. 348: "you've fulfilled your role. good work."

Maybe it's not intended as parallel, but just that similarity of something he's been clearly hearing from his higher ups, that he added it to his own vocabulary.

But then there's this more surprising part of ch. 1111:

After his shock of seeing that monster in front of him, and after giving Mars all the informations, he still finds the strength to ask him to spare his partner's life, to save Kaku:

What he gets as an answer is along the lines of: "it might be difficult when everyone to us is like ants" and that's the last of Rob Lucci for this chapter.

Mars seem to share this same thinking like Saturn expressed before, while the navy guy heard that even the life of an CP0 agents isn't something Saturn (and Gorosei) would really be troubled over, if lost.

and hearing that from Mars could be an eyeopening moment for Lucci.

They're assassins and an intelligence agency of almost the highest standing among the World Governement, but even the lives of Kaku and such seem to mean nothing to the Gorosei.

The point of the current anime episode 1098 where Lucci & CP0 were just arriving on Egghead reminded me how he was asking Vegapunk about the missing Cipher Pol agents and their disappearances, ch. 1068:

It's not that he was only concerned about Kaku in the latest chapter, but since the end of Water 7 - and seeing how his crew cared for him to pay for his medical bills (cover story chapters 491 - 528, manga only, which is very interesting that the anime didn't adapt that cover story), I think he started to care more about "his own people" - the Cipher Pol agents in general - even to visit to their "hometown" while he was healing and defended that place (and the new young trainees) from the Marines who were sent to attack CP9 after their failure at Enies Lobby:

So the question is.. once Lucci saw just who he was serving all those years, the World Government and the Gorosei - and now seeing Mars in his bird monster form disregarding any care for any lives, even their own agents - will that be a tipping point for him?

He asked Mars to spare Kaku but got an answer that all of them, Cipher Pol agents even on the highest places, are still the same as insects in the eyes of the Gorosei

Could that be something that will help him make a certain change?

My possible theory of what he might do/what might happen (given that he still has the strength to walk after his fight with Zoro):

Find Kaku himself - he was trapped in the bubble like the other Seraphim - we don't know if anyone else un-trapped him in the meantime, and Lucci himself doesn't know about the bubble prison, given his flashback to Kaku is just him laying down, as he last remembers that from the Lab.

Sanji said to Kaku that Lucci abandoned him - something that Lucci kept taunting Zoro with during their fight - about the inability to sacrifice one from their team for the greater good. (It could mean that Kaku either wouldn't count on Lucci coming back, but it would work even better if it was shown Lucci actually coming back for Kaku

and they could go finish their side mission of rescuing the other Cipher Pol agents -

and that's another thing -

even during that brief panel of their rescue -they were thankful to Luffy! Despite their positions of agents of Government, which puts them always directly opposing pirates/Strawhats/Luffy, they appreciated and thanked Luffy for giving them food and saving them, ch. 1090

This together I feel could become a moment of all these agents realizing that Luffy isn't their real enemy - or wake up from their WG brainwashed thinking once they see just who is outside fighting: Gorosei in their monster forms vs. Luffy

I think that Rob Lucci stands there now as one of the few who could sway the Governments power to a tipping point from the inside.

Not precisely helping Luffy or Strawhats, but taking that power of the intelligence agency away from the WG and Marines.

It was shown in multiple pages how the Gorosei care more about the rank and position than any lives of their trained assassins, and think of them as something to be disgarded left and right.

Their intelligence agency and assassins act as a Shield to the WG, and the CP0 even carries that in their name: AEGIS, (a powerful shield from greek mythology).

If the other agents would follow Lucci in a different direction, he could be the one to take away that shield from the Gorosei, uncover one of the layers that act as their security, leaving them more exposed and vulnerable to future attacks (possibly from people like Dragon and Revolutionary army when the time comes for them to strike).

[sirshio]

SINCE WHEN WE KNOW CAVENDISH'S SECOND NAME?????

I opened his Wikia page and saw THIS:

"Balthazar Tiberius Cavendish is a stuffy, formal British time traveler..."

No, I like name Tiberius, it even suits him, but! I've seen his page for a lot of times and there hasn't been his full name, just "Balthazar T. Cavendish"!

[extraordinarilyextreme]

on yeqing, opposites and equals.

contains yrzx manhua/donghua spoilers!!!

in an interview, Mi Er said the following:

虽然看上去两个人很迥异，但是会投脾气。

Although these two seem wholly different at first glance, their temperaments are compatible.

and that's something i really like about this ship, which is how complementary they are.

ZGQ explicitly spells out their differences in manhua ch. 228 (donghua s4, ep. 5):

and a wikia page further expands on this idea:

诸葛青不同于王也的“先天下之忧而忧”，他是一个凡事会先从自己和家族的角度出发，做事会以此为优先的人，但也有正常的道德底线，是一个很现实的角色。

Zhuge Qing is unlike Wang Ye, who "is concerned for everyone beneath the heavens before they themselves are worried¹." He is someone whose starting point [of consideration] regarding all things will be from the perspective of himself and his family clan, and he will prioritize this when taking action. But [he] also possesses a normal moral bottom line. [As such, he] is a very realistic character.

half of a famous line from 《岳阳楼记》 Memorial to Yueyang Tower by Song dynasty politician and poet 范仲淹 Fan Zhongyan. the second part goes “后天下之乐而乐” / to be happy only after everyone beneath the heavens is happy.

furthermore, at the end of Biyou Village arc (donghua s5, ep. 12; manhua chs. 307-311), we learn that, since young, ZGQ has been expected to revitalize his family clan and sect.

(yes, Zhuge Bai reveals in manhua ch. 249 that...)

so, with that kind of pressure, is it any wonder that ZGQ would develop a 心魔 / inner demon? ZGQ is just like any other "ordinary" person with desires; it's just that his desire became an all-consuming obsession.

on the other hand, WY is "extra-ordinary." WY considers things like money and wealth or fame and profit as external; even the allure of Feng-hou Qimen, one of the legendary Eight Supremes, can't tempt him—and that's why only he can be its master.

in fact, when WY returns to Wudang, we learn that he's seemingly always had this "other-worldly" personality (manhua chs. 405-410). unlike his same-age peers, he's always concerned himself with things "beyond" the ordinary (or, secular).

(manhua ch. 407)

so it's with these two completely differing mindsets that the two then clash upon Longhu-shan.

the initial contrast between them is especially stark. we have WY who is attending for some greater, world-altering reason that is nearly impossible to fathom in full. and then we have ZGQ who is willing to throw away his life in pursuit of something "material" (the truth of Feng-hou Qimen). and when one considers how WY tries to dissuade ZCL from pursuing the truth in the next match-up, ZGQ's desire seems even more "vulgar."

(LA s1, ep. 14; see also manhua ch. 120)

indeed, upon first glance, the distance between WY and ZGQ seems insurmountable. the peerless little Daoist, who selflessly relinquished his own chance at enlightenment to throw himself headfirst into the chaos of the mortals... and the genius sorcerer, whose pride turned him into nothing more than a foolish frog at the bottom of a well.

(LA s1, ep. 13; see also manhua ch. 110)

of course, we'll soon see that they actually are not so different after all. but the problem lies in the fact that the two of them—for a not insignificant duration—both also believe the distance between them to be real. or, in other words, they fall prey to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

it's not that WY has ever looked down on ZGQ; rather, because he's had such "smooth" life experiences (compared to BaoLan, for example), he admits he wrongly developed a sense of superiority.

(donghua s3, ep. 7; see also manhua ch. 196, LA s1, ep. 23)

and that's why "Beijing arc" is so important. the official title of that storyline is 入世篇 / Entering the [Secular] World arc. it's where WY discovers, for the first time, that he may have been overestimating his abilities. he's not "beyond" the secular or "extra-ordinary" at all. he's not "above" anyone, he's just been privileged and fortunate to have been able to lead such an "easy" life so far—where every aspect of his life has felt as simple and routine as clearing enemies in a dungeon crawl game. that's why he ultimately decides to become a 行者 / traveler and “看看自己到底几斤几两” / "see just what exactly I'm capable of."

HOWEVER. aware WY may be of his limits, the combination of his sense of responsibility, 怜悯之心 / heart of compassion, and fundamental goodness trumps that humility.

as 清虚舟湫 on lofter put it:

老王他……太好了。我现实里其实可能不太愿意和这类人相处，没别的，就是太好了。站在这种人身边你会自愧不如，这人实在太好了；你想劝他别搅和这些事呢，他嘴上好好好然后一如既往的去做；你想帮他呢，他就拒绝，根本不给你能帮他的机会。王也骨子里就是会把自己放在上位，认为自己有能力去改变一些东西，是哪怕会牺牲自我，也要渡众生的好神仙。

lao-Wang, he... is too good. I actually might not be very willing to interact with this kind of person in real-life; nothing personal, [he's] just too good. Standing beside this type of person, you will feel ashamed and inadequate, [because] this person is simply far too good. You may want to advise him to not get mixed up in these matters, but he'll say "OK, OK, OK" and then still [get involved] just as before. You may want to help him, but he'll just reject [you] and not leave any chance at all for you to help him. In Wang Ye's bones is [the instinct] to [naturally] elevate himself, to believe that he has the ability to change some things. Even if he [ends up] sacrificing himself, he will still redeem every living being—this is the "good deity" that he is.

plus, one of the core principles of the 全真 Quanzhen denomination of Daoism is 清修自苦 / cultivating with purity and seeking out hardship. this means WY is meant to live a troubled and bitter life. it's his duty to intervene.

as for ZGQ: like most others, he also puts WY upon a pedestal—but unlike most others, it's not for WY's abilities. it's for WY's character.

when ZGQ spills his heart to Fu Rong in manhua chs. 308-309, we learn that the source of his angst is not just the fact he was unable to master the Zhuge family's True Fire of Samadhi, or that WY possesses a skill more powerful.

(manhua ch. 308)

it's because, for just an instant, ZGQ harbored the venomous thought: if only WY did not exist.

(manhua ch. 309)

that ZGQ feels so tortured actually demonstrates how his character and temperament matches WY's so well. ZGQ claims to be someone completely opposite WY—someone who, for himself, will do anything—but their bottom lines are the same. their 道 / life paths are the same. and not only the same, but equal.

WY began to recognize that as early as their first meeting. the idea of 逆大势而行 / behaving in a manner that opposes the momentum of the times applies not only to their predecessor Zhuge Liang, but to both WY and ZGQ. neither sorcerer made the choice most "beneficial" to them: WY gave up his sole chance at peace to try and stop ZCL (to no avail), and ZGQ was willing to risk his life to understand WY's secrets.

WY understood that they shared this trait, which is why ZGQ's parting promise outside Longhu-shan was even more special.

“我这人不爱被卷进麻烦, 但你有麻烦的话我管。”

"The person that I am doesn't like to be involved in trouble, but if it's you who has troubles - I'll take care of them."

(manhua ch. 131)

despite WY's annoyed reaction, he was secretly very touched by those words. even if ZGQ's true goal was the Feng-hou Qimen, no one had ever offered such a thing to someone like WY before; it's likely, even, that WY had never considered such a thing possible prior to this moment.

ZGQ's sincerity, coupled with WY's own guilt over changing ZGQ's fate without permission (see manhua ch. 222), led WY to open his heart up to this friendship in earnest.

in summary, as a bilibili bullet comment put it: 两个人都问心有愧 / the two of them both have a guilty conscience. in spite of that, they are both putting in the effort to be true friends.

when WY realizes ZGQ might be in danger at Biyou Village, he chases him there without hesitation (manhua ch. 222). because ZGQ wants to “用对等的身姿和他站在一起” / "stand together with [WY] in equal bearing" (manhua ch. 309), he faces his own fears and conquers his obsession (manhua chs. 310-311). worried about how the company is using ZGQ to lure out Ma Xianhong, WY goes so far as to divine the answer (manhua ch. 373). and when the company targets WY, ZGQ tries to lie and downplay their relationship to protect him (manhua ch. 630).

this, then, brings us to the most recent chapters (manhua chs. 675-676).

WY—who can't be contacted by anyone, and has shaken off every person sent to tail him—agrees to meet in-person with ZGQ with just one phone call.

as 昂 on lofter suggested:

大家应该包括张楚岚也联系不上他，有点猜想是王也还没想好怎么处理，不确定张楚岚的态度才不联系，他想找个人商量一下，张楚岚为了自己的目的不一定会给出什么答案，不一定能站在王也的角度，张楚岚这个时候公司那边的，狗头.jpg 我滴天，所以王也一直在等诸葛青联系他吗？

"Everyone" should also include Zhang Chulan who can't contact him. Somewhat guessing that it's Wang Ye who hasn't figured out yet how to deal with [Chen Jinkui's matter]; he's unsure of Zhang Chulan's attitude [on the matter], so that's why he hasn't contacted [him]. He wants to find someone to discuss it over with. For his own purposes, Zhang Chulan may not be [willing] to come up with any solutions; [he] may not be able to [consider] from Wang Ye's perspective. At this time, Zhang Chulan is on the company's side. [doge.jpg] Oh My God, so has Wang Ye been waiting for Zhuge Qing to contact him all along?

shipping aside, i think this is a very reasonable conjecture. 薏仁椰青很美味的！on lofter lays it out very nicely:

梦回北京篇一些月下谈心啊…… “道长你赢得了一个 可以倾心相交的好友” 七年了身边能够倾诉的 还是他

Dreaming back to some of Beijing arc's heart-to-hearts beneath the moon... "Daozhang, what you've won is a good friend that you can exchange hearts with completely." (Ma Xianhong's words from manhua ch. 228) Seven years have passed, the only one beside him he can pour his heart out to—is still him.

in spite of the "distance" between them, the only one who fully understands them—and, in turn, the only one they wholly trust—is each other.

i really like this analysis by sisal on lofter:

怎么说呢，不能只说是爱情，我更喜欢说是宿命。 这张图其实把他们俩想要的都表达了。一个是像内寻“我到底是谁”，而另一个背负着振兴诸葛家的使命。但从现在看，他们都南辕北辙。一个，最寻清净的，折了清净；另一个，心魔缠了许久。他们欣赏对方，理解对方。他们都是极好的人，所以他们的宿命纠缠，反复缠绕，但不会因为利益成为宿敌，而是战友，知己，灵魂伴侣。 而里面的一个石子，穿越了时空，将两个人物命运纽带联系。

How should I put it? You can't only say it's love, I prefer to say it's 'fate.' This image actually has portrayed what both of want. One wants to figure out "who exactly am I" from within himself, while the other shoulders the duty of revitalizing the Zhuge family. But as things are, they've both acted in ways that have thwarted their intentions. One of them seeks peace the most, yet broke [his] peace; the other was haunted by his inner demon for a long time. They admire each other, understand each other. They are both extremely good people, which is why their fates are entangled, and continue to intertwine, yet they won't become mortal enemies for the sake of their interests, but rather brothers-in-arms, zhiji, and soulmates. As for the little stone within [this chapter], it traveled across space and time to connect and link together the fates of these two characters.

the little stone being, of course, not unlike the one WY used during their match to demonstrate Feng-hou Qimen.

(LA s1, ep. 13; see also manhua ch. 110)

but whereas that first stone clearly demonstrated the difference between them, WY uses this one to bridge their disparity.

(manhua ch. 110 / ch. 675)

ZGQ doesn't disappoint either. many readers (including me) were worried about ZGQ's reaction following the ending of manhua ch. 675; seeing WY's Feng-hou Qimen reach new heights, would ZGQ be shocked? envious? unreconciled?

NO! the answer is revealed in the next chapter, as ZGQ delivers a mighty slap across WY's face.

(manhua ch. 676)

who gives a damn about whatever Supreme! what ZGQ cares about is getting revenge for 王也踏青图.jpg (ch. 269) and whether WY is here in-person!

ZGQ has set down his obsession for good, and now he really can stand (sit) shoulder-to-shoulder beside WY—and make good on his promise.

(manhua ch. 181 / ch. 186 / ch. 222 / ch. 676)

if WY is in trouble, ZGQ will face it together beside him.

i've unfortunately lost track of the OP on lofter, but someone also pointed out the significance of YeQing's positions in the little pavilion:

ZGQ faces "life," whereas WY sits behind him at "death." i don't think this is only about WY's failing health, but rather another demonstration of their dynamic.

time and time again, ZGQ turns to face WY head-on—WY who has 出世 / gone beyond and left the secular world, WY who is the enlightened Daoist up on a lofty perch, WY who is untouchable—and grounds him in the land of the living.

"you don't have to be alone," ZGQ is saying. "you aren't alone." at Longhu-shan, in Beijing, at Biyou Village, and now here in this little pavilion.

"you are human," ZGQ is saying. "you are fallible." and, most importantly, "you are still alive." he says this, then sits down at "death" beside WY.

"so," ZGQ is saying, "live with me."

清虚舟湫 on lofter concludes:

所以这更显得老青的重要性了。咱们这位小神仙可主动求救了。

As such, this even more so demonstrates lao-Qing's importance. This little deity of ours is taking the initiative to ask to be saved.

to turn a god into a man: 明知不可为而为 / to do something knowing full well of its impossible nature.

this is the practice WY reveres and admires most.

on the topic of "death" and "life," i also want to highlight the similarity in YeQing's responses to being defeated (by a fellow sorcerer, no less):

(manhua ch. 109 / ch. 377)

see? ZGQ's desire-turned-obsession was never so "vulgar" as it first appeared. it's "secular," it's "ordinary." WY himself—despite his attempts to dissuade ZGQ, BaoLan, and Ma Xianhong—desires his own form of "truth."

(manhua ch. 410)

as expected of a sorcerer (see manhua ch. 108; LA s1, ep. 13).

as expected of a cultivator (see manhua ch. 196; LA s1, ep. 23).

as expected of a human. to want to lead a life with meaning; to want to understand one's true self.

and this is where it gets interesting, right? because at Biyou Village, Ma Xianhong says this (manhua ch. 229):

and what were each of YeQing's decisions?

WY, who prioritizes the world, chose ZGQ.

ZGQ, who prioritizes himself, chose WY.

yet again, neither sorcerer made the "best" choice. but the choice they did make—fully cemented the place the other holds in their heart.

indeed, 飞蛾扑火 / moth to a flame, fatal and fated. each other's moth, each other's flame.

indeed, 冤家 / foes, and also destined lovers.

indeed, returning to the fundamental principle of Daoism: 阴阳和合 / the harmony between Yin and Yang. two beings that appear antithetical and distinct, but truthfully are complementary, interconnected, and transform the other. a false dichotomy; instead, parts of a unified whole.

opposites and equals: one cannot exist without the other.

Moth to a flame, forever altered by the other, buffeted by the winds – such is the share of fated affinity that belongs only to them. (from 水中月，镜中花 | moon in the water, blossoms in the mirror)

[jakotsuto]

I noticed this on the Band of Seven wikia page and I want to talk about it.

It’s definitely a fascinating train of thought to follow, and it definitely echoes the conclusion the majority of the fandom came to when it comes to Jakotsu’s character, that he’s one-dimensionally lustful and that’s where his character starts and ends. 

I want to try to make the argument that Jakotsu’s primary, notable trait isn’t lust, but just the way he dresses up the actual crux of his character.

Jakotsu’s loneliness

AO3 link if you wanna read with the gifs working

Part One: Fantasy

Jakotsu’s crush on Inuyasha is a very prominent part of his screen time, and it’s most of what we see him talk about. It’s easy to boil that down to the fact Inuyasha is a very beautiful man, but the funny thing is that, in actuality, his interest starts before he ever sees him.

He’s shown dreamily expressing excitement at even the prospect of meeting Inuyasha. He doesn’t know if Inuyasha is his type, good looking, strong enough to merit all the fuss – but he’s still excited about it. 

I’ve discussed this before in my analysis on Jakotsu and Mukotsu, how Jakotsu uses battle as a replacement for intimacy, and I’ll be elaborating on that a little here, too.

Jakotsu is using battle as a means to fulfill that particular desire to be close to men in any way. We don’t see him initiate closeness even platonically with other men, but we do see his visible surprise when Bankotsu initiates it with him. (More on this in Jakotsu Isn’t Handsy) 

While for the most part, I do feel like Jakotsu is satisfied with what he gets from his friendships, he also seems aware of the line that exists between them due to his attraction to men, and doesn’t really push the boundaries. 

I believe this is because Jakotsu (even with being weird and viewed as a bit of a ditz) is aware of how his sexuality exists in this world, and he’s sequestered it into the violent part of his life where he feels he can actually express it. He has control of it on the battlefield, using his fighting as a means to materialize his fantasies in lieu of a relationship.

Despite the fact he’s evil, he clearly does long for romance, and his fantasies are a proxy he uses to cope with that desire since he sees it as implausible for him to get it by normal means, and he becomes visibly frustrated when outside forces do anything to interfere with him engaging in those dreams.

The way he reacts to Sango butting into his battle with Inuyasha is intense anger - even angrier than when Mukotsu tried to kill him. 

While we mostly see his infatuation play out with Inuyasha, we also see his tendency to devolve into fantasy during the flashback of Bankotsu asking him to go to war with him, where Jakotsu is hopeful they’ll recruit handsome men, before almost sheepishly admitting that’s not a good idea.

Jakotsu: I’ll slice you up piece by little piece. Once I get going, even smart mouths like you quickly become submissive. And in the end, you’ll be on your knees, crying and begging me… You’ll cry, “Jakotsu, just hold me in your arms for a while, please!”

This line here is very interesting because Jakotsu is expressing the desire to be desired. He wants Inuyasha to crave his gentleness, to crave love and affection from him. He sees the possibility of a pseudo-romantic moment as the prize, ultimately, and everything is working up to that, because he doesn’t believe those moments exist outside of battle.

During the fight, Inuyasha asks Jakotsu why he doesn’t just finish him off, and Jakotsu says,

I think a lot about Jakotsu’s expression here, primarily the way his eyes shake. It’s almost jarring. Because while I think they replace the intimacy he desires from men, a way of keeping their attention and being able to feel desired by them for just a small moment and feel close to them, they aren’t fulfilling long term. He goes right back to being alone.

Jakotsu: I couldn’t help myself. I only get excited when I can cut my victims up nice and slow. Besides, I’ve died once already. I was unexpectedly brought back to life and able to meet a sweet thing like you. Talk about a bonus.

When he asks Inuyasha to finish him off he specifically says, “I don’t mind dying by your hands, Inuyasha.” And warns him that he’ll keep seeking him out if he doesn’t. I don’t know if he’s disappointed Inuyasha doesn’t kill him, but he’s certainly confused why he’d be spared when, from Inuyasha’s perspective, he should deserve it.

Our final example of Jakotsu’s loneliness is this look he gives to Renkotsu right before Renkotsu removes his jewel shard.

Jakotsu smiles. Instead of being angry, or judgemental, he’s just relieved he’s not dying all alone in this cave. In his final moments, he’s not by himself.

[terraterrafunki]

Mfc anon here, i genuinely didnt know im so sorry!!! 😭😭😭 I only scrolled thru ur sprunkigate posts n stuff i didnt know u shipped mfc with anyone- /gen /srs

It is the stemscreen tag on the blog here plus it's referenced and even has a note on it in the about the ocs page on the blog

I'm glad you weren't trying to imply anything at least. Still it does feel a bit passively insensitive to mfc's character. Like most intepretations are fan interpretations since he barely has an established personality. You can't trust the wikia either since anyone can edit that. One time it listed him as being an age regressor but had no source to back it up?? It was, again, another fan interpretation.

In the AU and how he's interpreted here, he's actually older than Fun Bot. He was Garnold and Clukr's first attempt at creating artifical intelligence and Garnold was so impressed by Mr. Fun Computer's intelligence that he greenlit the project to make Fun Bot. So at least in Spunki!AU Fun Bot wouldn't have existed with Mr. Fun Computer.

He just has a lot of whimsy and enjoys being alive and being in life. Cares a lot about his loved ones, and is very unabashedly himself

-Terra

[quirkwizard]

Would Kuro/Sleepy Ash’s powers work as a quirk?

For those of you who don't know who this is, here's a link to his Wikia page. As for his abilities, I think the shadowy energy he makes is pretty generic. However his cat form and subsequent massive cat form could make for an interesting Quirk.

I see it working as a Transformation type Quirk that allows the user to turn into a small black cat. The user retains all of their intelligence and speech while in this form. The user has all the natural abilities of a housecat, including greater agility, sensory abilities, and sharp claws. The true power of the Quirk comes in the user's ability to augment their body, capable of improving the size and power of their feline parts. This can target the body itself or certain traits within it, such as the user enhancing their night vision to see the perfectly in the dark or making their claws large and sharp enough to act like knives. This gives the user a good mix of options, their cat-like form granting them a bevy of options. They can pounce to get around the battlefield, tie and trip people with their tail, track enemy movement through their whiskers, alter their form as the situation calls for it, or simply sneak and dodge around as a cat. Though the user's small size can leave them quite vulnerable, with enough damage forcing the user to return to human form. Altering too much for too long can make it difficult to maintain it as the user needs to concentrate to do so. A possible name for the Quirk could be "Black Cat".