#the minor changes they make to the timeline and the addition of a filler episode that never happens in the manga drive me nuts

[live-laugh-obsess]

i want maidsama to be given the 2019 fruits basket treatment. i am manifesting ✨👁👄👁✨

[thosch3i]

Hi hi! So the lost tombs and chronology all super confuse me. So tlt2 ended on a cliffhanger that was not resolved by tlt3 which is ultimate note, but now there is another tlt3 that I am guessing is made by the same studio as tlt2 (but not UN) that actually follows tlt2? And it has the same WPZ as tlt2 (but sadly different WX, ZQL though I’m sure these guys are great). You seem to know what you’re talking about so I’m hoping you can help!

UN also ended on a cliff hanger so I’m wondering if they’ll get a sequel from their studio that comes before tomb of the sea.

ahhh hello anon! yes ahaha the dmbj dramas are certainly very confusing--because they keep switching the screenwriters/entire production team between dramas. huanrui did tlt1 (2015), tlt2 (2019), and the sequel to tlt2 (2021). they're also technically the production company for un (2020), but linghe did like all the directing/casting/writing so its significantly different in tone and quality from the other dramas huanrui produced. npss (dmbj author) did sha hai (2018) and tltr (2020), with sha hai being in collab with linghe, so you can see lots of parallels with un and shared cast. (gonna add that i dont know much about the m9 because that’s not what im personally interested in, so i’m only going by stories with wu xie & the iron triangle.)

unfortunately, the dramas pretty have no continuity as a result of all the weird shit and multiple studios doing different dramas and messy stuff going on behind the scenes. the author's production company currently has all the rights back for filming future dramas, which is......imo, a good thing for book fans who love the author but a 😬 thing for book fans who like the original story more than what the author is now doing with it. I'll uh avoid saying too much opinion stuff though so no more on that 😅

that aside! yes 云顶天宫 “explore with the note” part 2......is the direct sequel to tlt2 and done by the same studio. unfortunately the writers are different and im not sure how much of the production team is the same either. idk how much you know about the novels so brief summary here--for the chinese version, the main story has 9 parts split among 8 books (though the official eng tls have each part being a different book) with some important content being as follows:

official eng title “cavern of blood zombies” (first time wx goes into a tomb, first t3j meeting)

official eng title “angry sea, hidden sands” (xisha seabed tomb, introduce a-ning)

official eng title “bronze tree of death” (bronze tree in qinling, wx & lao yang solo adventure)

official eng title “palace of doom” (heavenly palace on the clouds, introduce bronze gate)

official eng title “deadly desert winds” (golmud, introduce hei xiazi, desert, rainforest, tamutuo)

official eng title “graveyard of a queen” (the rest of that arc, wu sanxing & xie lianhuan reveal, jade meteorite, amnesiac xiaoge and escape, sanshu vanishes for good--also i think the official eng tl covers a couple chapters of the beginning of the next part too)

阴山古楼 (searching for xiaoge’s memories in banai, miluotuo cave, i think introduction of wu erbai)

邛笼石影 (auction/hotel iron triangle fight, introduce xiao hua & xiuxiu, wx & xh on the mountains alone while pz & xg go with granny huo)

finale (rescue from zhang family mansion, changbai mountain goodbye, 10 years promise)

after the main story are the main sequels:

zang hai hua (tibetan sea flower; unfinished & abandoned) covers wu xie a few years after xiaoge has entered the gate, searching to understand xiaoge’s past

sha hai (tomb of the sea; unfinished & abandoned) covers wu xie’s plan to wipe out the wang family, after zhh

chongqi (reunion: the sound of the providence) covers wu xie’s lung disease and how he recovers from that, set after they pick up xiaoge again from the bronze gate. thunder city and everything.

灯海寻尸&万山极夜 (still updating on wechat) don’t worry about this one since it’s still a WIP lol

btw between sha hai and chongqi there’s also ten years later (a short story) that covers how wu xie and pangzi pick up xiaoge from the bronze gate and take him home

the dramas Do Not Connect To Each Other At All, which the exception of tlt2 & tlt2 pt2 somewhat, but they go in this order:

盗墓笔记 / the lost tomb 1 (2015): covers part 1 but with major OCs and filler, and includes the auction scene from part 8 for some reason, so introduces xiao hua early.

怒海潜沙&秦岭神树 / the lost tomb 2 (2019) technically “explore with the note”: covers parts 2 & 3 but with major OCs and filler, introduces xiao hua & xiuxiu (and hei xiazi briefly) early. last couple episodes also cover the beginning of part 4. not a direct sequel to tlt1 despite being done by the same studio.

云顶天宫 / heavenly palace on the clouds (2021) technically also “explore with the note”: covers part 4 with major OCs and filler (and the same changes carrying over from tlt2). some episodes are identical to the last couple episodes of tlt2. works as a direct sequel only if you ignore the last couple episodes of tlt2 that take place in the snowy mountains. (those episodes of tlt2 were filmed after this drama was filmed, and im still not sure why they dragged the wu xie and xiaoge from tlt2 back to changbai mountain to film those episodes.)

终极笔记 / ultimate note (2020): covers parts 5-8 with minor OCs and minimal filler, also introduces xiao hua & xiuxiu early. the only adaptation that resembles its source material most of the time.

沙海 / tomb of the sea (2018): covers the second sequel with major OCs and filler. includes some bits from zhh and the short story “three days of silence”.

重启之极海听雷 / the lost tomb reboot (2020): covers third sequel with major OCs and filler.

in addition there is the prequel series mystic nine (2016) and side movies for the dramas that the author produced. there is also a single standalone movie--time raiders (2016) that is....well it’s. very strange. it’s fully subbed on youtube if you’re interested?

the best way to watch the dramas is to assume each one is its own self-contained AU set along different points of the dmbj timeline because even the dramas the author himself worked on don’t have continuity LOL (and with the exception of ultimate note & sha hai most of the time, also assume most characters are pretty OOC from the novels).

i uh regret to inform you though, that ultimate note will not be getting a sequel unless the author magically decides to not care about making money anymore and sells the rights to film the finale to linghe or something ^^;;;; it’s....unfortunate bc un is the most highly-rated dmbj adaptation on douban by A Lot, but it’s an adaptation that the author had literally nothing to do with whatsoever.

more information on some of the side movies/stage plays/manhua/donghua here.

summaries of the main novel stories (currently through zhh) here.

edited mtl (some of which has apparently been looked over by native cn speakers) of the novels following where official eng tls end here. (there are many scattered extras as well.)

you can get the official eng tl books/ebooks on amazon or elsewhere(?), but if you have problems purchasing them or like you just dont wanna support amazon or something, dm me off anon. (also i dont want to be mean but frankly the official tls are kinda bad too ^^;;;)

a rough timeline (spoilers galore) for the dmbj novels here. (fair warning im not 100% sure how accurate all of this is--they put three days of silence as 1991 but looking at the info in zhh, it seems like it should have been before the 1950s...but it’s more than fine as a general overview.)

anyway i hope that was helpful in some way? dmbj is a Very Confusing thing to get into ahahaha, one of my twitter mutuals has made a few carrds if you think they might be helpful: book, dramas (slightly out of date bc it says heavenly palace hasn’t aired yet), ultimate note (got its own carrd by virtue of being the only adaptation aside from sha hai sometimes that most og book fans acknowledge lol ^^;;;)

also anon if anything wasn’t clear or if you had more questions feel free to ask again sorry ahahaha im kinda tired rn @.@ 

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 143

One of my favorite things from the dub is when Cell uses the Kamehameha for the first time, and Dameon Clarke makes the second “me” syllable as creepy as possible.   Doesn’t really happen that way in the Japanese version, but it’s still cool.

Anyway, Piccolo manages to dodge the blast easily enough, but Cell gets the drop on him and grabs him from behind.    I’m kind of wondering if that wasn’t the point all along.   Cell already used the Special Beam Cannon and got nowhere with it, so it makes sense that his Kamehameha was only a feint.  

Also what is up with Cell’s feet?   They look enormous.

Cell tries to impale Piccolo with his tail, but Piccolo manages to twist so that it hits his arm instead.   Cell doesn’t seem to mind, since Piccolo won’t be able to escape.  

Back at Kame House, there’s a news bulletin about the armed forces being sent in to deal with the crisis in Gingertown.   The town is referred to as a suburb of West City, which seems odd to me.   If it’s so close, why didn’t Cell just start his killing spree in the metropolitan area? 

Suffice to say, the tanks are only a minor annoyance to Cell, who defeats them all, even while holding Piccolo with most of his limbs.   Would it surprise you to learn that the tanks were all filler?

And the pain of getting his arm consumed is pretty intense.    For a moment, we see Kami screaming too.   

Piccolo manages to bonk Cell with the back of his head to free himself, but his left arm has been reduced to a withered husk.    Cell points out that he can’t possibly win or escape in this condition, and Piccolo concedes defeat.

But Piccolo’s last request is to know what this creature is, and Cell decides to oblige him, since he’s going to kill him soon anyway.    Okay, so here we go.   First, his name’s Cell, and he was created by Dr. Gero, just like the Androids.   

Here again, this is where the Androids/Cyborgs/Jinzoningen thing falls apart.    Some of Gero’s creations are androids and some of them are cyborgs, but Cell is clearly neither, nor do I thin the label “Artificial Human” really applies.

Cell was part of a separate project in which Dr. Gero was trying to use the DNA of the most powerful warriors on Earth to create his own fighter.  So I’m pretty sure that makes Cell purely biological.   He’s more of a genetics experiment, much like how Serpentor from G.I. Joe was created using the genes of history’s greatest leaders, villans, and tyrants, and also Sergeant Slaughter.  

Unlike Serpentor, though, Gero’s concept took far too long to produce, so he programmed a supercomputer to complete the work in his absence.  

“To hell with this.”  -- Dr. Gero, apparently.

What I’m not so clear on was whether Gero intended for the computer to keep working on this as a backup plan, or if he just neglected to shut it down.   Either way, the computer kept working on Cell, even after Dr. Gero’s death. 

So whose cells were used in the process?   It depends on which version you watch.  The Funimation dub just went nuts and went with Nappa, Gohan, Piccolo, Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, and “others”.   I’m pretty sure this was only because the montage that played during this scene showed Nappa and Gohan in the flashback.    As for the “others”, we see Cell use different techniques later in the story, so maybe Funimation just decided that it made sense.   

However, in the Japanese version, and in the manga, Cell states only Piccolo, Goku, Vegeta, Frieza and King Cold were used in his design.  

Cell also mentions that Trunks might have been sampled as well, but the computer decided there was no need for additional Saiyan DNA.   This all looks like a continuity gaffe to me, since Cell is supposed to be from the timeline where Goku killed Frieza and his father, but I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Piccolo asks how the samples were harvested without anyone knowing, and Cell explains that it was a tiny spy robot that would have gone unnoticed.   I’m not sure if this is the same robot that Gero mentioned back in Episode 127.

That machine only observed Goku and the others in battle, and recorded relevant data.   This other one apparently scrapes small tissue samples as directed by Gero’s computer.   Piccolo destroys it as soon as Cell points it out, but that won’t change anything.

Because Cell, the one standing here now, is from the future, when the computer has already completed the work.     I think Cell’s math is off here.   He came back from the year Age 788 to 763, and it’s 767 now.   So it’ll be 21 years before he’s completed, not 24.  

In any case, Piccolo’s actions can only interfere with the computer’s work in this timeline.   He points out that Gero’s laboratory was already destroyed (back in Episode 134).    Cell says that the computer was in the basement, so it doesn’t matter.  

Piccolo asks why he waited so long to make his move.   Remember, Cell arrived in the time machine four years ago.   Cell explains that he couldn’t fit in the time machine as he is now, so he had to revert to an egg.    When he arrived in the past, he hatched, left the time machine, and burrowed underground to wait until he was re-matured.  

So why’d he come back in time?    Cell explains that his goal is to achieve his perfect form, and the computer told him that he could grow stronger by consuming humans, but he would only attain perfection by absorbing two specific targets: Androids 17 and 18.   However, when Cell awoke in Age 788, 17 and 18 no longer existed.   

Fortunately for Cell, Trunks had a time machine, so he just killed him, and used it to go into the past.  

Cell’s destination in the time machine always confused me.   Why go back to Age 763 specifically?   In all versions of this story, Cell claims that the controls were already set, so all he did was start it.  But that makes no sense, because why would Trunks want to go back to Age 763?   If he visited the Z-Fighters in that year, they wouldn’t know who he was.   Piccolo assume that this Future-Future Trunks must have beaten the androids in his own era, and he must have been planning to travel back in time to tell the Z-Fighters of this timeline the good news.   But that only makes sense if he planned to travel to this year, Age 767.  

I’m thinking Cell must have at least dialed the date back a few years, because he knew that he’d need time to mature into his adult form before hunting down the Androids.    If he had gone directly to Age 767, it would be Age 771 before he could start looking for the androids, and that might be too late.  But Cell apparently knows that 17 and 18 were activated in 767, so he knew that if he had a four-year head start, he could be ready to find them before anyone else could have a chance to destroy them.  

Cell also adds that the computer told him that his perfect form would be invincible.   Piccolo asks him why that should matter to Cell.   What does he need all that power for?    In the dub, he pointed out that Cell was already the strongest being in his own era, especially since he killed Trunks.  

But Cell, like the androids, is basically a creature who does what he’s told.    The computer designed him to achieve his perfect form, and that’s what he’s going to do.    It also doesn’t hurt that he was based upon warriors who craved greater strength.    So this could be a matter of instinct for Cell.   Either way, he can’t be satisfied until he’s perfect.  

With that answered, Cell figures it’s time to finish Piccolo off...

But then Piccolo just rips off his bad arm and sprouts a new one.   

Turns out Piccolo was just feigning surrender in the hopes of getting Cell to tell his story.    And Piccolo might have needed time to regenerate his arm, although he’s been pretty speedy about this in the past.  

He also mocks Cell for falling for that trick.    If he’s based on Piccolo’s cells, then shouldn’t Cell be aware of that ability?   My guess is that Cell was too high on his apparent victory that he didn’t bother to question Piccolo’s willingness to surrender.    In Cell’s mind, surrender was the only logical thing to do, so it never occurred to him that Piccolo might resort to deception.   

It’s also possible that Cell genuinely didn’t know about this.   Gero knew all sorts of things about the Z-Fighters, because he’s studied the data from his spy robots.    Some, if not all of that information, was programmed into 16, 17, 18, and 19.   They all know what senzu beans are, for example, so they probably know about Piccolo growing back his arm during fights with Goku and Raditz.   However, Cell may not have been given access to those files.  He seems to know a great deal, and he knows Piccolo’s tecniques, but he may have learned the Special Beam Cannon through instinct.   Powers like Namekian regeneration may not have been explained to him by Gero’s computer.   

In any event, the fight is back on, and now Cell doesn’t have the shroud of mystery to compensate for Piccolo’s power advantage.   

[ao3feed-buckybarnes]

And The Masquerade

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2KbVlal

by MomoYoMaki

Grocery shopping had become something of a big deal in their house, if only because each trip needed to be planned as if they were stockpiling to outlast a siege. It was an unavoidable side effect when your family consisted of thirteen overly active girls that burned through calories like pro athletes and one enhanced super soldier that went through the same amount all on his own. "Papa, the price isn't going to change just because you're glaring at it." Natasha pointed out.

Words: 7966, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 2 of Look into my eyes, it’s where my demons hide

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Natasha Romanov, Peggy Carter, Tony Stark, Phil Coulson

Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov

Additional Tags: Bucky and his baby assassin squad, domesticity for the assassins, Bucky Barnes Feels, Protective Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Black Widow - Freeform, AU, tiny Natasha, taking names as she does, Timeline What Timeline, This is basically a cozy filler, because they deserve it, thirteen girls under one roof, Wow think about that, Tony only makes a brief appearance, seriously so brief, Peggy is a badass, no matter her age, Aunt Peggy, Bucky is mastering this stay at home dad thing, just ignore the knives, minor dissociative episode, it actually turns kinda sweet, SHIELD, SHIELDRA, Canada in all it's chill glory, Black Widow training Bucky style, There are so many girls to keep track of, What Have I Done

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2KbVlal