#but man. he was incorrect and now it's on wiki :(

[goldenpinof]

whoever updates dnp's wikipedia page needs to double check what Dan says. they licensed Truth Bombs to Paramount to make the Burn Book game, not to Warner Bros. it's literally on the packaging. and like, Mean Girls is Paramount's movie.

this is gonna be some mandela effect conspiracy theory in 5 years

[sapphire-weapon]

Leon Kennedy’s wiki page is filled with lies and bullshit

And whoever is running the wiki is so afraid of being told that they’re wrong that editing on it is currently disabled -- so I figured I’d just compile a list of errors on my own.

This isn’t fully comprehensive, because my eyes started to glaze over at a certain point, but. It is color coordinated and fully explained.

If you need to reference Leon’s wiki for any reason, please make sure that you have this post up also as well, so that you’re not pulling bad information. Most of the wiki is fine, but there are some things in here, man. People really do just be going on the internet and telling lies.

Notice how there's no citation for this. The source that's actually being pulled from is an offhanded comment the RE2 concept artist made in an art book that Capcom released called Capcom Design Works. It was only ever released in Japan.

Concept artists don't have access to the script and aren't involved with the actual creation of the character. Concept artists are given a general description of what a character should look like and what their general demeanor is. The devs told this artist specifically to make Leon look tanned, so the artist wondered if maybe Leon's heritage was from somewhere in southern Europe — maybe Italy?

It is important to know that Leon's character was conceived and had art drawn of him back when Resident Evil 2 had a completely different story. A different version of RE2 reached 80% completion before being scrapped and completely redone from the ground up. The story changed dramatically. Claire Redfield wasn't even in this original version of RE2; it was a different character entirely named Elza Walker. (source one, source two)

Ergo, even if the intention was to give Leon an Italian background originally, that story no longer exists and has nothing to do with the version of Resident Evil 2 that actually released.

This isn't a big deal, but "offered" is a really funny way of saying "threatened into."

Leon also was never in USSTRATCOM. That's a bullshit lie based on an old build of RE4 that never got released and was, in fact, turned into the game Haunting Ground instead. The wiki says that the proof of this is in a file in Darkside Chronicles. No such file exists -- and, even if it did, Yoshiaki Hirabayashi (who's been a producer and writer for RE since the original REmake) said recently that Darkside Chronicles is no longer canon anyway.

None of this is ever stated in the games. This is pulled from a promotional marketing interview from 1997 — so, before RE2 was even finished or released. There's a decent chance that this interview was done right after 1.5 got thrown out and 2's final story wasn't even fully realized yet.

Capcom has actually given Leon several different backgrounds throughout the years, and none of them have ever made it into the games.

The official Resident Evil 2 novelization has Leon fresh out of college and moving to Raccoon City from New York.

Welcome to Raccoon City wrote that Leon's dad was a cop, and that's how he got into the force, too.

But there's no indication of any of them being true for Leon as he exists in the games. There's no reason to think of the crime background as any more or less canon than the other two, except maybe that someone just likes it better?

In fact, part of that crime backstory is outwardly and explicitly contradicted in Resident Evil 2 itself:

So take that for what you will.

The wiki cites "Official GuideBook" as the source for this. No book with that title exists.

What they're actually referring to is The Resident Evil Archives, which is a book that is filled to bursting with factually incorrect information about the games. Here's the full excerpt of the passage containing that backstory:

Is this really what we're taking as canon fact now? Claire and Sherry being Leon's "single focus" in RE2, with absolutely no mention of Ada at all? Leon being mad about Claire "making her own decisions"?

Here's something else fun from the RE Archives:

I don't see anything on this wiki page about how Leon willingly gave Sherry up to the US Army, nor anything about him reaching out to the federal government himself in order to willingly join their ranks. It's very interesting how only the "drunk at a motel" part made it in.

Citation needed???? The citation is the Resident Evil 2 Remake. This is something that's actually stated in a game — and the wiki is treating it as fanfiction, listing it as secondary to whatever bullshit the RE Archives book is spouting.

This is also the single only glimpse we have ever gotten into anything Leon was doing prior to the intro of RE2. The games do not go any further back in time to explain anything further about where he's from or what his life was like.

This is straight-up not true. It's just an out-and-out lie.

So, Leon and Benford only started working together ten years prior to Benford's death in June of 2013 — making the genesis of that partnership land in 2003. 2002 at the earliest. Neither of those years are 1998, which is the year that Leon was coerced into government custody.

It also makes no sense as to why Leon would like, trust, and respect Benford so much if he was the man responsible for threatening Sherry and ruining his life. It also makes no sense for Benford to be a child-threatening piece of garbage and then also be described as having integrity and being a man of his word.

The only thing that RE6 actually says about who Benford was prior to becoming President was that he was "in the military." 2002 makes sense for Leon and Benford to have met, then, since 2002 was the year of Operation Javier. Leon's status in the government isn't exactly clear during the events of Operation Javier — Leon isn't sent in as a federal LEO; he's sent in with military special forces.

The likeliest explanation is that Adam Benford was the lead commanding officer overseeing Operation Javier — who, upon suspecting he might be dealing with B.O.W.'s, went "Hey, get me the Raccoon City guy. I want him going on this one."

And the rest, as they say, is history.

This is all purely conjecture on my part and cannot be proven or disproven either way — but it, at the very least, makes more sense than just assuming that this one particular file in RE6 got the year of the Raccoon City incident wrong. It also makes more sense than assuming that Leon has some sort of weird Stockholm Syndrome concerning Adam Benford, when he (Leon) is so angry and cynical and jaded in literally every single title after RE4 about his career and about being shackled to the government.

Adam Benford being the guy behind Leon's kidnapping is so beyond the pale and absurd, and the only real basis for it is an advertisement for an airsoft gun, and I'm not joking. I don't know how anyone tries to argue that that ad is more canon than what's both stated and shown in the actual series, but here we are.

This is something that is only true in Resident Evil 4 Remake. Originally, Operation Javier was the first time that Leon and Krauser ever met, per Darkside Chronicles. It is very weird that this detail exists in the wiki, but then the wiki goes on to only describe the DSC version of Operation Javier, with no mention given to the complete overhaul that that story got in RE4make. You wouldn't be able to even asspull a "Krauser only started training Leon after Operation Javier" explanation, either, because in OG RE4, Leon is under the impression that Krauser actually died almost immediately after returning home.

There's no citation for this, but the source is the box art for the Wii version of RE4. However, no other version of RE4 ever makes mention of what school Ashley was going to. The only hint we have ever gotten in a game as to where Ashley was going to school is actually in RE4make, because the sorority stickers on her phone correspond with a sorority out of New York.

There's no citation for this, because the source is RE: Umbrella Corps, which has no provable basis in canon.

This isn't true. Here's the citation that the wiki uses:

There's no year given there, and there's no indication that this happened at some sort of TerraSave reunion. In fact, them meeting in 2010 makes no sense, because this file establishes that there were no open lines of communication between the US government and the BSAA prior to this moment — so how the fuck would Chris have gotten his hands on Leon's report outlining the events of RE4 back in 2009?

Considering the fact that Lost in Nightmares took place in 2006, and that explicitly involved remnants of Umbrella via Oswell Spencer, chances are that that's probably closer to the time that this meeting between Leon and Chris actually happened.

Or, if you wanted to be cheeky about it, you could say that this happened in 2008 so that Hunnigan's "hadn't seen each other in ten years" thing is actually at least a little bit true — since Leon and Chris actually first spoke back in either late 1998 or early 1999, per Code Veronica and Darkside Chronicles.

But there's really no canonical indication of it either way. You can't even use Benford as a benchmark, because Hunnigan could've been reporting to him as POTUS or as a military officer. There's really no way to know.

So, that’s that. I hope we all learned something today. For future reference, don’t look outside of the actual games or movies for information about the series, because it is constantly being contradicted by either other supplementary material or actual game canon. This is the formula you should be following:

numbered game entries are the most canon. numbered game entries will always have the final say. period.

spinoff games starring the recurring cast* (Revelations, Code Veronica, etc) are the second highest tier canon.

CGI movies starring the main cast are the third highest tier canon.

spinoff games not starring the main cast (Outbreak, Dead Aim, etc) are the fourth highest tier canon.

anything else should be ignored.

*spinoff games that have a story, that is. things like The Mercenaries 3D and RE:Verse clearly don’t count and are there for fun gameplay purposes only.

In an instance where things on the same tier contradict each other, the most recent installment wins out.

So, Sherry’s age in RE2 is 10 because RE6 said so – even though OG RE2’s manual had her age listed as 12. Her age of 10 years was then also reaffirmed in RE2make. So, she was 10.

And Gaiden’s not canon, despite it starring Leon and Barry, because RE4, RE6, and Revelations 2 do not acknowledge it as such.

It is very easy to follow this canon if you follow that recipe. 

I also have an essential canon list already typed up and ready to go. These are the only titles you should ever have to even think about committing to your brainspace.

Please don’t let bad faith actors lead you astray, and stop leaning so hard on the wiki until it fixes its problems.

My inbox is always open for questions.

[burning-bubble-tea]

I played Imposter Factory with a friend recently and this is kinda my thoughts on it along with my general thoughts with the To The Moon series.

Also uh spoilers.

So in the game Lynri and Quincy have a child named Tobias who at a pivotal decision in their life, they chose to have Tobias early due to Lynri’s medical condition. Lynri feels guilt for this when Tobias passes a few years later due to complications with his health due to being born so premature.

The big twist of the game is that Tobias is actually Neil in a simulated alternative timeline and in reality, Lynri chose to have her baby first and then treat her illness afterwards.

In the reality timeline, Tobias is Neil and while he does inherit his mother’s chronic illness, he grows up to be an adult. Due to delaying her treatment Lynri passes away but does get to see Neil grow up a significant portion of his life.

I really like how the game doesn’t really present either timeline as better than the other. Tobias’s life is just as valuable as Neil’s life no matter how short it was. Neither choice was the correct choice for Lynri and Quincy to make as they did not know the future and could decide what they prefer.

Lynri is not selfish for seeking treatment and thus having to give birth to Tobias prematurely and Neil should not feel like it was his fault for having to make his mother choose between himself and herself.

Ultimately it was Lynri’s choice and neither one of them were incorrect, they were just different choices that let Quincy and Lynri down different paths.

Now the To The Moon series has this sort up interesting choice that’s also not correct or incorrect. The first game shows a man who chooses to have his memories altered so that as he passes, he dies with the memories of a so-called perfect life. In Finding Paradise, Colin feels as if he’s missing that perfect life but ultimately he doesn’t need to have his memory altered as his life was fine the way it is and he can pass with no regrets.

Johnny wanted to go to the moon because of a subconscious promise that he forgot that he made to his future wife when he was a child. He forgot that promise but it was so ingrained in his subconscious (along with the repressed memories of his twin) that the solution was to alter his memory and take him to the moon in the simulated memory. It was a way of fulfilling his promise since obviously he couldn’t go to the moon if he didn’t remember the promise which is what Sigmund promises to its clients.

However for Colin, Sigmund’s services wasn’t exactly needed. He just had a sense that maybe he was missing out on something (it’s literally described in the wiki and I think by Neil as FOMO hahahahah) and while he does have regrets, he doesn’t need to change anything.

Both Colin and Johnny make a choice. Neither of them are the right and wrong choice but they’re choices. By going to Sigmund, Johnny is able to unlock his memories of his twin and his childhood and is given memories of a life where his twin doesn’t die and he doesn’t forget. Colin thinks he needs Sigmund’s services but ultimately doesn’t. I think the only changes are Faye erasing Sigmund from his memory if I read the wiki right hahahahha I haven’t played finding paradise is awhile.

What I’m kinda getting at is that both the simulated memories and reality are fine. Neither are represented narratively as inherently good or bad. For Johnny it was good, for Colin, it was not needed. And that’s why I really like how Imposter Factory treated Lynri and Quincy. At the end, they find out their life is just a simulation within like thousands of other simulations. All the Lynri’s and Quincy’s from all the simulated timelines are all turned into one and they’re offered a simulated life where everything is perfect. Lynri’s chronic illness is cured and there is no complications with her pregnancy, they get to see Neil grow up and marry Eva, they get to travel the world together. It’s not all too much different from their reality life other than that Lynri and Quincy were given more time. However before accepting the offer of the perfect simulated timeline, Lynri feels apathetic towards it, feeling as if there’s not worth in it because it is simulated. However To The Moon does not place a moral value on the simulated memories, they just are, and they bring happiness. It is not some matrix red pill blue pill shit, and it’s not a sinister lie since the person is consenting to the procedure, it’s simply a decision. For Quincy and Lynri, it’s a decision that gives them more time, and to experience a life where they essentially have the maximum amount of time together.

Tobias, Lynri and Neil’s lives are not worth less because they’re shorter, they’re just as valuable, however with the simulated world, they’re given more time together. Tobias and Lynri dying is sad and tragic but to mis quote Ride the Cyclone, “I would gladly take my [few years] over nothing”. The simulated world simply gives them more time together that reality couldn’t give them. And to misquote Don Hertzfeldt World of Tomorrow, “you are alive and living now, now is the envy of all the dead”. So Lynri had envy of other because she essentially viewed herself as destined to die and die soon. But the simulated world gave her more of the now that she ignored. Lynri lived her life planning for the future because she wanted to leave a mark on the world before she died. And in doing so, she missed the now. But the simulated world gave her so much now, even if it is simulated, it doesn’t make it any less valuable. And maybe because it’s just as good or maybe it’s because it requires no defining of moral judgment. Either way, simulated Lynri and Quincy are alive in some sense, they are definitely sentient being able to grapple with the concept that they are living in a simulated world, and they do have to die as the simulation needs to end, but Faye offers them the simulated life, where they get more now to spend together. In that context it doesn’t matter if the simulated world is “real” or not. One gives you more now even if it’s not in reality and the other option is just no more.

And in the reality world, is poor Neil. He granted a virtual copy of his parents a perfect simulated life. But he’s living in the past. Hopefully he learns to enjoy more of the now, as there’s nothing wrong with the past, it’s important to take the past with us.

I guess I sorta have a fascination with the concepts of moral philosophy but all my technical knowledge of it is like watching The Good Place and taking one introductory course in philosophy in university. Oh and I guess watching things like Philosophy tube, and there is philosophy in all my courses even if they’re not strictly labelled philosophy.

I dunno, I just love life and the lessons I take away from To The Moon boiled down and oversimplified is that hindsight is 20/20 HAHAHAHA. Sigmund in universe can use hindsight and alter memories but the virtual memories don’t negate the good lives in reality. We make choice and they may have ramifications but we won’t ever know the branching timelines and so we don’t have to dwell on it forever.

Oh yeah also the most important message: RICEBOT THE CREATOR OF WORLDS AND THE COOKER OF RICE. QUINCY WAS ROBBED OF HIS RICE REWARDS.

[fallen6253]

Was looking at the fandom's wiki page and:

kind of hilarious to me that the fandom’s wiki assumes Kim Seung Jong is dead (it's got the little cross after his name lol).  Like I have no clue if that was revealed by the author and I didn’t know about it, but.  If this was what we assumed because of how Choi Han kept looking at the wooden sword (I just assumed it meant he would kick his ass into a hospital at most).

That’s incredibly funny to me bcause like.  He didn’t kill Cale in the novel when he insulted his dead family, and he will slaughter any enemies that threaten his home, but Choi Han.  That is murder in the modern world sweetie, and police are a lot less okay with it than the Roan kingdom.  

I like how we just assume that while Choi Han does not want to ruin the life of the person he possessed, he is so down to commit murder because it’s just what needs to happen now.

It is a little concerning though because I don't know if that was ever confirmed as a fake world or a mirror of the real past, but if it's real that could be what happened to the man that saved little Rok Soo. Cale admits that he had a lot of help getting away from his uncle, but there is this perpetual shadow following all of his life where everyone he cares for is ruined in some way. So I worry that if Choi Han murdered his uncle in someone else's body, and somehow left evidence, that was how the man who saved Kim Rok Soo was destroyed and that to Rok Soo, it was his fault in some way. I know that this sort of thing tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, similar to Cale's sloth test, but I'm not too sure.

Thoughts? Ideas? Theories? Want me to shut up about my totally incorrect opinions? Correct me yourself!! :)

[waitmyturtles]

Not Me — very first impressions:

1) Yep. OIL FIGHT.

2) YEP. SHIRTLESS WASH-OFF SCENE. WOW, GIVING! (Did we get shirtless in Theory of Love?! I don’t think so, right?)

3) Tawi is a stand-in for Thaksin Shinawatra, right? (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatra)

If that’s right, then it’s hilarious for me to be watching Not Me like literally right now, as he returned to Thailand like two days ago and was arrested after being in exile for so long. But I might have the Tawi reference incorrect — I’m sure there are other corrupt political/business leaders that Tawi could also be based off of.

4) First. First, man.

I’m watching Not Me slowly as I’m moving, but that was a STRONG start.

[crithaus]

man I am thinking about it but Zephrah is but one of the Ashari homelands, thus Keyleth is the heiress apparent of the air ashari people, the princess, and she was chosen which is cool according to the wiki even if Vilya was her mother she still had to be chosen to go on the aramente, which I wonder if she failed would her nobility pass on to the next person? Does her princesshood come from her mother or her position as tempest-incumbent? I would imagine the second one And I wonder how this stacks up legitimacy wise to the rest of Tal'dorei and Exandria proper cuz Syldor only seems super impressed by Percy even tho Syldor sucks and is a shit metric so nvm but inside her domain, her small but significant section of people, she is a la Germany during the 1700-1800s, a princess amongst the 3 other leaders of the Ashari, now it seems the Ashari governmental system is at least a little less centralized than say Tal'dorei but it still technically has Kiki as their princess now I'm making a point with this so bear with me,

And Percy, in much the same position, is, or was the second he stepped back into Whitestone, and especially showcased in TLOVM, the Big Man on Campus, the top authority, in fact he says in EP 64 to Syldor that he is of the Royal House of Whitestone, before his lil responsibility shirking ass defected to Cassandra he was the boss here, and if Whitestone is a Royal House and yet outside of Uriel's jurisdiction and his line of succession too, and Whitestone has had a Duke and a Count within it's borders as well and Percy being able to title people higher than he is, or being lower ranked than the people of those houses when they are not the main and royal House of Whitestone, is just silly and commensensically incorrect so he's higher here than duke, count, and baron, that's like principality status, one rung below Uriel's deal, a little Monaco in the Europe that is Tal'dorei. so he's a Prince, was probably the Grand Prince in the wee moments before he gave it to Cass, he's a Prince which is so cool, prince of a similarly insular people to Shepard, just like Keyleth

Keyleth is a little more involved in, to borrow from kerrick's letter, the 'gardening' of Zephrah post campaign but still she and Percy are on a very level field here which thrills the Me because it's two stressed out, very lonely and burdened babies, too young for this shit, with surprisingly good leadership skills and without either of the parents that knew how to do all this ruling stuff trying their very best to get through it all intact, Percy might took a hard left into evil demon territory for a second, but no wonder honestly that those two latched onto each other so hard, they had one other person who knew intimately the pressure the other was under, and I mean it goes even deeper truly,

They would have only began preparing Keyleth for her aramente when it became clear Vilya failed hers, years after she left, and Percy might not have been Julius or Vesper but after the massacre in the back of his mind he had to have known that when he went back he'd be in Charge for however long it took him to kill himself revenging his family, so by the time the two of them met they really were side by side with the wide gulf of Responsibility they Weren't Ready For in front of them, which makes it cuter to me that this was how Percy attempted to bond with Kiki at first prestream but like

Man, my little Royal Duo, kicking ass and taking names, Percy mighta broken the mold a little with this council but y'know I think if it were really a big deal despite Keyleth taking BH to him directly they would have had to talk to Cass and the rest of the Council first upon meeting them all so 😌 council served it's narrative purpose now my lord and lady can rule as they please, or at least Vex can which I will take to the Bank, I mean Lady De Rolo Coinmistress of Tal'dorei and her trophy husband? Absolutely (also this makes vex a princess by marriage and also it'll make Vax a PRINCE by marriage when they get him back (cuz they're gonna I choose to believe, it's what Vex deserves damnit, I refuse to be pulled from this fantasy) and he'll hate that it'll be so cute and funny)

But man this friendship, forged under the stoop of backs bowed by such responsibility set on them both far far far too young but bearing it flawlessly anyway, really is so... Percy's going to freak the fuck out when he finds out what Otohan did to her, it's gonna be so good

Their friendship man, it is so important to me. They see each other, they understand, through thick and thin and they are both broken and and a little fucked up but they still stick by each other, Keyleth rails at Percy whenever his bloodlust during the Briarwood arc gets outta control, and Percy's always there to shore Keyleth up when her charisma falls a little flat, it's a friendship built on being seen so deeply and understood in a way that only they can, even if it still isn't quite enough to mend their worse habits, even if it isn't enough to convince Percy to forgive himself then and it isn't enough for Keyleth to acknowledge that the past did happen and was horrible but the bright future is still being written. And they mirror each other sometimes, look at Percy during the Briarwood Arc vs Keyleth and Raishan, look at Keyleth seeing how poorly revenge treats Percy and yet committing to it anyway, they are so similar in so many ways. But it is enough, to be seen by each other.

also please look at this sketchingsparrow knows what I'm putting down

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: Odd Squad UK -- "Bad-Luck-itis" Episode Followup, Part 1

Lol they spelled it grammatically incorrect on the title card. Which I wasn't alerted to until someone on the Wiki pointed it out to me. Rest assured, people, I didn't ace English in school to spell it without a double hyphen.

Round 3 of Ozzie is a Very Silly Germ Carrier has arrived! This time, he develops Bad-Luck-itis, and...well, ladies and gents, it's this series'/season's "find the cure" episode. We all knew it was coming. The question, then, is if it's actually any good. "Into the Odd Woods" from Odd Squad Mobile Unit was interesting enough, so let's hope this episode delivers the same kind of punch.

Let's dive below the break!

Putting aside that there is apparently a snack cart that comes through every once in a while...because, y'know...London Underground...

Your writer for this episode. He has...absolutely no repertoire aside from this one episode, which I'm already immediately wary of. Some of the Season 3 writers at least had some experience to back themselves up. This guy? Diddly-piddly squat.

Oh Lord help me.

"Of course she wants free chips. It's chips, for free!"

"...Isn't it 'pie and chips'?"

"Mm, no, I don't have any pie, sorry."

(Congratulations! If you get this reference, you're qualified for a veteran's discount.)

Four episodes in and Orli hasn't brushed up on her British English, clearly.

She'll be scratching her head about crisps vs. chips for a while.

Is...do I need to get my eyes checked or is that a T-shirt Ozzie is weari- okay, it's not a shirt. Had to skip another second. Not a T-shirt.

That being said, agents having their jackets open is a pretty rare sight. If you recall, the Mobile Unit never had their jackets open. Olympia and Otis had them off...once? As did Olive and Otto.

And this is in a different context, too. The man's sick here, but everywhere else, jackets are open to signify "fuck you, I'm talkin' business".

He's...he's got a fucking backpack...like...like school but it's...it's for work...

This isn't even the one Academy students have. This is toyetic, but the irony is that these backpacks, as far as I can tell, are not merch.

Great, now I have someone I can actually blame for the high rate of black cats in animal shelters.

Every single writer who had a hand in this fucking episode.

Seriously, we've had broken mirrors before...upside-down horseshoes...take your pick of bad luck charms, but don't perpetuate a very serious problem that exists worldwide, you fucking assholes.

Sincerely, someone who worked in animal shelters and once owned a black cat. (Rest in peace, Jasmine.)

"You walk under any ladders?"

"About 100 of 'em!"

Okay, Britain is a huge place. So is the UK. But to have about 100 people working on stuff that requires ladders, when Ozzie and other agents would normally take the tubes to work, is some massive bullshit.

So you have to push forward a myth to make cats suffer, you have to look ugly enough, and you have to have half of your town's population be coincidentally working on outdoor projects to contract Bad-Luck-itis.

Remember when life was simpler and all you needed was an unlucky coin? I remember. That was nice. Now we have this convoluted shit.

I see not even Captain O has lost the insta-teleportation abilities that nearly every other Director in this franchise has.

Okay, so I doubt they'll bring it up here, but...apparently Osgood is a medic as well as a chef.

And so I feel the need to ask: why does this precinct not have Doctors or Nurses, and what sadistic ass-backwards shit is that?

"...Will it kill me?"

"No, it will not kill you. Unless you wait five minutes."

"Well, shit."

Clearly, unlike in the days of Season 1 and Season 2, they couldn't afford the "lemme smash" treatment for computers.

So they removed it from Ozzie's desk to break it without anything of value being lost.

Which...makes no sense, but shit's expensive nowadays, people.

Hey, that's...not pink. Why's he got orange on him? Food and Beverage department is not orange, Rob, and if you watched Odd Squad you'd get it right the first time.

"A blade of magical grass", but...they did that already in Season 2.

0/10. Only a quarter in and I pity the fool that is Rob.

Smart people say this is like Logan the Ogre.

Wise people say this is genderbent aged-up Willow from The Owl House.

"And if you pick the wrong one, it'll turn you to stone!"

Something something Guardian of the Rocks can fix that shit.

And you can tell it's magical! It glows. Oooooooh.

So we somehow went from a Bed Room, to a Pillow Room, to a Snuggly Pillow Room.

And let's be honest, there is no distinction between the two. Not a one.

That aside, 0/10, already a bad idea to yote Ozzie in there. Put the man in a non-Acme safe and we'll be talkin'.

...I take that back. That's not a Snuggly Pillow Room. That's a fucking psych ward room. Have you ever seen the walls of that shit? It looks like pillows, but it's not pillows!

I was half-expecting him to scream in it, but really I just wanna see how many people's he's killed by pillow-smothering.

I'm sorry, I know that snuggling a pillow and sleeping with one are not mutually exclusive, but...is Orwell straight-up telling Ozzie to sleep through the illness he has?

That's not how this works, sir! That's not how any of this works! Especially not in the Oddverse!

Huh, and speak of the devil...here's the Guardian of the Rocks' wife.

...Ex-wife. They're divorced. Nasty spat over rock soup. Typical couple things.

"She reminds me a lot of the Guardian of the-"

"Rocks?"

"Uh...no. The Guardian of the Glade. Who's the Guardian of the Rocks?"

"..."

"Osgood?"

"Yeah, bad news..."

Okay, new headcanon: she's married or was married to the Guardian of the Rocks, and raised a son who became the Guardian of the Glade.

Headcanon accepted. Now make it canon, Rob.

If even Orli can guess the schtick halfway in, that's how you know you're trapped watching a hellish episode.

...ROB.

Hey, remember when the Odd Squadcast had an episode specifically about badges and their evolution, and included what they used to weigh?

I remember.

...FUCKING ROB.

I see someone's taking their cues from Hilda.

Orwell, you poor fuck-schmuck.

(Also, a bit of an audio-balancing error -- Orwell sounds a bit muffled on the first line, but when shoving Ozzie into the room, his voice sounds clearer.)

Behold, one of the very few times Orwell emotes.

And now I'm wondering why the actor was cast for a stoic character, because look at these cartoony-ass expressions!

Ohhhhhh so this was from an upcoming episode too, huh?

Honestly, there's been lots of speculation about the second scene with the octopus-like creature being part of the series/season finale, and if that's the case, I'm gonna die laughing because of the absurd episode gap.

(On to Part 2!)

[thattiredanimator1t0mblr]

Has anyone thought of the possibility of PLATONIC yandere miguel and miles(or y/n)??

Edit: I think this may have turned out more of just overprotective father figure!Miguel rather then platonic yandere!miguel. So I'm sorry about that :(

(This is all strictly platonic as miles is 15/16 and miguel is in his 30s or something, flowerfang/flowerbite DNI, this is a father and son relationship only!!)

(Also, platonic shipping warning? I checked the shipping wiki and Google, platonic shipping is just appreciating two fictional characters who are friends or have a familial bond, please correct me if I'm wrong!/gen)

(Warning! Cussing, bad spelling, and OOC!characters)

Okay, so like, miles meeting miguel and as soon as miguel sees him he's like "...that's my son now." (No offense to miles actual dad XD), like seriously, imagine miguel helping miles wiht his spanish and stuff, or jsut doing his spanish homework for him because miles is forgetting all his spanish. Miguel literally breaking into miles house/or whenever miles is staying at, at like 6 in the morning to make him breakfast because that man is emotionally constipated and doesn't know how to show affection other then gifts or acts of service. Miguel saying how "he(miles) needs to be studied and taken care of, he's the original anomaly. He needs supervision." While holding adoption papers. Or miguel literally having a rivalry with miles dad on who's the better father and shit(sorry that is jsut way too funny for me XDD). Miguel packs miles a beautiful spiderman 2099 lunch box(with either Quesadillas or Empanadas, or even both.). That one scene in ITSV where miles dad is like "you gotta say i love you back." And stuff? That's miguel whenever miles goes off on a mission(let's pretend he let's miles into the spider society). And miles is so done with miguels bullshit, like he jsut has this tired deadpanned expression(which when I imagine it, is absolutely hilarious.), but he can't really do anything cause miguels like 6'9 behemoth and miles is just a 15 year old boy.

(Miles and miguel cooking, incorrect quote)

Miguel: mijo, are you okay??

Miles, crying: yea it's jsut these onions.

Miguel @ the onions: what the fuck did you do to my son

(Got that off Google tumblr images :] )

Miguel glaring at hobie because he believes hobie may be a bad influence on miles. Or miguel making sure miles has like 3 other spider-people come with him on missions to make sure he's protected.

Sorry this doesn't have much of a 'yandere vibe' to it, I'm not good at writing yandere characters, but I'm trying to learn and this came out alot more of just miguel being overprotective father figure rather then a platonic yandere, so please forgive me for that. ;-;

[braveryhearted]

❛ just a few more stitches and you’ll be as good as new. ❜ // from Ikutsuki to Sho! I don't know anything about Sho so I read his wiki page, but if I ever end up with incorrect information or wrong guesses, lemme know!

NOT SURE IF THIS IS A MEME OR NOT

Fighting has been his whole life. Well, in his mind anyways. Closing up wounds that would just reopen the next battle were made a waste of time in Sho's mind. Other people thought differently apparently. Of course, his adoptive father was one of those people Sho thinks is acting out of character. This was the person who made him fight on a daily basis. Why were they showing a tiny amount of kindness now?

"Stop worrying about me, old man!" Still, he's sitting here, allowing time to be wasted anyways. Deep down, maybe there's a part of him that wants to be taken care of by someone, anyone. Too bad it's from the man that put the plume of dusk inside of him.

"Besides, I'm not your son. I'm an experiment for your data. Born to battle. You've told me that ever since". Che! Sho's so distraught, he can't think of a pun retort here.

@quillheel

[sapphire-weapon]

I’ve been a Leon fangirl since middle school (so… 13ish? 14ish? I don’t remember) and I kept seeing many people misinterpret his character from all spectrums of RE Fans. The ones that are neutral, don’t like him, or love him a lot all misinterpret him as this dude that flirts with every woman he sees.

So when I came across your blog, and seeing your meta stuff on Leon plus your latest posts about Leon (and the damn fact that the wiki on his page is filled with LIES?!?! Like wow, now I don’t want to use fan wikis more than ever, so thank you so much for bringing that to a lot of fans’ attentions especially when most of us used the wikis for information on stuff) made me go, “finally! Someone who doesn’t treat Leon as a “ladies man” as canon fact instead of a headcanon!”

Now, there is nothing wrong with flirty Leon, but it felt like a headcanon that got spread around the fandom as “canon” when it isn’t.

people who see him that way, i think, are too stuck on RE4 OG. because if RE4 OG was still the most recent canonpoint, that interpretation of him would be accurate. leon basically hits his peak sluttery in ID, and then it dramatically drops off a cliff. because, like. he IS a slut who tries to fuck hunnigan, looks up ada's dress in RE4, and openly declares intentions to homewreck shen may's relationship. but then he chills the fuck out after shen may won't cheat on her boyfriend with him lmao like he fucks ada prior to damnation, but that seems like a cooling off compared to his other shenanigans.

so i think of it kind of like this:

remake leon, who's not a whore at all and therefore cannot have his sluttery get mapped out, has a different chart entirely:

but people in this fandom are, by and large, stupid creatures who don't think that there are two timelines with OG and remake, so they just slap the slut label on every version of leon, which is just simply incorrect.

leon is the most complicated character in all of resident evil, so i'm not surprised to see him get as misinterpreted as he does, but. i get ur frustration.

and i will be here "old man yells at cloud"-ing with the truth until i can't anymore.

[agonycrossbow]

Leon Kennedy’s wiki page is filled with lies and bullshit

And whoever is running the wiki is so afraid of being told that they’re wrong that editing on it is currently disabled -- so I figured I’d just compile a list of errors on my own.

This isn’t fully comprehensive, because my eyes started to glaze over at a certain point, but. It is color coordinated and fully explained.

If you need to reference Leon’s wiki for any reason, please make sure that you have this post up also as well, so that you’re not pulling bad information. Most of the wiki is fine, but there are some things in here, man. People really do just be going on the internet and telling lies.

Notice how there's no citation for this. The source that's actually being pulled from is an offhanded comment the RE2 concept artist made in an art book that Capcom released called Capcom Design Works. It was only ever released in Japan.

Concept artists don't have access to the script and aren't involved with the actual creation of the character. Concept artists are given a general description of what a character should look like and what their general demeanor is. The devs told this artist specifically to make Leon look tanned, so the artist wondered if maybe Leon's heritage was from somewhere in southern Europe — maybe Italy?

It is important to know that Leon's character was conceived and had art drawn of him back when Resident Evil 2 had a completely different story. A different version of RE2 reached 80% completion before being scrapped and completely redone from the ground up. The story changed dramatically. Claire Redfield wasn't even in this original version of RE2; it was a different character entirely named Elza Walker. (source one, source two)

Ergo, even if the intention was to give Leon an Italian background originally, that story no longer exists and has nothing to do with the version of Resident Evil 2 that actually released.

This isn't a big deal, but "offered" is a really funny way of saying "threatened into."

Leon also was never in USSTRATCOM. That's a bullshit lie based on an old build of RE4 that never got released and was, in fact, turned into the game Haunting Ground instead.

None of this is ever stated in the games. This is pulled from a promotional marketing interview from 1997 — so, before RE2 was even finished or released. There's a decent chance that this interview was done right after 1.5 got thrown out and 2's final story wasn't even fully realized yet.

Capcom has actually given Leon several different backgrounds throughout the years, and none of them have ever made it into the games.

The official Resident Evil 2 novelization has Leon fresh out of college and moving to Raccoon City from New York.

Welcome to Raccoon City wrote that Leon's dad was a cop, and that's how he got into the force, too.

But there's no indication of any of them being true for Leon as he exists in the games. There's no reason to think of the crime background as any more or less canon than the other two, except maybe that someone just likes it better?

In fact, part of that crime backstory is outwardly and explicitly contradicted in Resident Evil 2 itself:

So take that for what you will.

The wiki cites "Official GuideBook" as the source for this. No book with that title exists.

What they're actually referring to is The Resident Evil Archives, which is a book that is filled to bursting with factually incorrect information about the games. Here's the full excerpt of the passage containing that backstory:

Is this really what we're taking as canon fact now? Claire and Sherry being Leon's "single focus" in RE2, with absolutely no mention of Ada at all? Leon being mad about Claire "making her own decisions"?

Here's something else fun from the RE Archives:

I don't see anything on this wiki page about how Leon willingly gave Sherry up to the US Army, nor anything about him reaching out to the federal government himself in order to willingly join their ranks. It's very interesting how only the "drunk at a motel" part made it in.

Citation needed???? The citation is the Resident Evil 2 Remake. This is something that's actually stated in a game — and the wiki is treating it as fanfiction, listing it as secondary to whatever bullshit the RE Archives book is spouting.

This is also the single only glimpse we have ever gotten into anything Leon was doing prior to the intro of RE2. The games do not go any further back in time to explain anything further about where he's from or what his life was like.

This is straight-up not true. It's just an out-and-out lie.

So, Leon and Benford only started working together ten years prior to Benford's death in June of 2013 — making the genesis of that partnership land in 2003. 2002 at the earliest. Neither of those years are 1998, which is the year that Leon was coerced into government custody.

It also makes no sense as to why Leon would like, trust, and respect Benford so much if he was the man responsible for threatening Sherry and ruining his life. It also makes no sense for Benford to be a child-threatening piece of garbage and then also be described as having integrity and being a man of his word.

The only thing that RE6 actually says about who Benford was prior to becoming President was that he was "in the military." 2002 makes sense for Leon and Benford to have met, then, since 2002 was the year of Operation Javier. Leon's status in the government isn't exactly clear during the events of Operation Javier — Leon isn't sent in as a federal LEO; he's sent in with military special forces.

The likeliest explanation is that Adam Benford was the lead commanding officer overseeing Operation Javier — who, upon suspecting he might be dealing with B.O.W.'s, went "Hey, get me the Raccoon City guy. I want him going on this one."

And the rest, as they say, is history.

This is all purely conjecture on my part and cannot be proven or disproven either way — but it, at the very least, makes more sense than just assuming that this one particular file in RE6 got the year of the Raccoon City incident wrong. It also makes more sense than assuming that Leon has some sort of weird Stockholm Syndrome concerning Adam Benford, when he (Leon) is so angry and cynical and jaded in literally every single title after RE4 about his career and about being shackled to the government.

Adam Benford being the guy behind Leon's kidnapping is so beyond the pale and absurd, and the only real basis for it is an advertisement for an airsoft gun, and I'm not joking. I don't know how anyone tries to argue that that ad is more canon than what's both stated and shown in the actual series, but here we are.

This is something that is only true in Resident Evil 4 Remake. Originally, Operation Javier was the first time that Leon and Krauser ever met, per Darkside Chronicles. It is very weird that this detail exists in the wiki, but then the wiki goes on to only describe the DSC version of Operation Javier, with no mention given to the complete overhaul that that story got in RE4make. You wouldn't be able to even asspull a "Krauser only started training Leon after Operation Javier" explanation, either, because in OG RE4, Leon is under the impression that Krauser actually died almost immediately after returning home.

There's no citation for this, but the source is the box art for the Wii version of RE4. However, no other version of RE4 ever makes mention of what school Ashley was going to. The only hint we have ever gotten in a game as to where Ashley was going to school is actually in RE4make, because the sorority stickers on her phone correspond with a sorority out of New York.

There's no citation for this, because the source is RE: Umbrella Corps, which has no provable basis in canon.

This isn't true. Here's the citation that the wiki uses:

There's no year given there, and there's no indication that this happened at some sort of TerraSave reunion. In fact, them meeting in 2010 makes no sense, because this file establishes that there were no open lines of communication between the US government and the BSAA prior to this moment — so how the fuck would Chris have gotten his hands on Leon's report outlining the events of RE4 back in 2009?

Considering the fact that Lost in Nightmares took place in 2006, and that explicitly involved remnants of Umbrella via Oswell Spencer, chances are that that's probably closer to the time that this meeting between Leon and Chris actually happened.

Or, if you wanted to be cheeky about it, you could say that this happened in 2008 so that Hunnigan's "hadn't seen each other in ten years" thing is actually at least a little bit true — since Leon and Chris actually first spoke back in either late 1998 or early 1999, per Code Veronica and Darkside Chronicles.

But there's really no canonical indication of it either way. You can't even use Benford as a benchmark, because Hunnigan could've been reporting to him as POTUS or as a military officer. There's really no way to know.

So, that’s that. I hope we all learned something today. For future reference, don’t look outside of the actual games or movies for information about the series, because it is constantly being contradicted by either other supplementary material or actual game canon. This is the formula you should be following:

numbered game entries are the most canon. numbered game entries will always have the final say. period.

spinoff games starring the recurring cast* (Revelations, Code Veronica, etc) are the second highest tier canon.

CGI movies starring the main cast are the third highest tier canon.

spinoff games not starring the main cast (Outbreak, Dead Aim, etc) are the fourth highest tier canon.

anything else should be ignored.

*spinoff games that have a story, that is. things like The Mercenaries 3D and RE:Verse clearly don’t count and are there for fun gameplay purposes only.

In an instance where things on the same tier contradict each other, the most recent installment wins out.

So, Sherry’s age in RE2 is 10 because RE6 said so – even though OG RE2’s manual had her age listed as 12. Her age of 10 years was then also reaffirmed in RE2make. So, she was 10.

And Gaiden’s not canon, despite it starring Leon and Barry, because RE4, RE6, and Revelations 2 do not acknowledge it as such.

It is very easy to follow this canon if you follow that recipe. 

Please don’t let bad faith actors lead you astray, and stop leaning so hard on the wiki until it fixes its problems.

My inbox is always open for questions.

[blacksurvivalnostalgichanges]

Luke:If you ever feel unattractive, remember you look like your ancestors, and hey, all of them found someone.

JP:What if you were adopted?

Luke:

Luke:I’m not up on the whole genetics thing, but-

[griancraft]

worldbuilding and characters!! literally anything you can think of, honestly. um i guess my biggest questions would be about what even like. are watchers, why is grian a bird also why is watcher grian a thing but i do want to know basically anything. -🍇 [btw this is the blog transgirlranboo just so you know ^^]

omg hiiii..... hella username ok so watchers are a little hard to explain? basically there was this series called evolution smp, sometimes reffered to as evo. in this series there are these beings that control the server behind the scenes. they sometimes communicated with the players! Grian, at the end of the series, becomes a watcher. if this is incorrect its because i have terrible memory. I reccommend watching the series or at least reading the wiki! Grian is a bird because he is good with an eytra and at one point had the persona of "poultry man". Poultry man went around and did pranks. the fandom latched onto this, and it really took off when parrots were introduced somehow. now, interpretations of grian are usually winged. parrot! grian is most popular but watcher! grian is a big contender

[soulsillk]

Okay, this is the thing: Bryan Intihar, the senior creative director at Insomniac, says Spider-Man 2 is set in 2021, but that's LITERALLY impossible. Spider-Man 1 is set in 2018 in October based on Peter's calendar in the opening scene which says October (and the gravestone at the end of the game which states the year May died as 2018), and that is later reaffirmed by the Halloween party Peter goes to later on to find Dr. Delaney.

Miles is still 15 during the The City That Never Sleeps DLC since it's set around a month after the first game ends.

From this, we learn in MM that Miles has been training with Peter for a little under a year. That means that the Miles Morales game is set in 2019, since it was December 2019 and January 2020 had not yet come around since there was no New Year's celebration acknowledged in the game and there are still Christmas decorations around the city— and if it did happen, Miles slept through it/we weren't shown it, but the final mission "Memory Lane" seems to be 4-7 days after the MM game's main storyline, so it is possible.

However, if 10 months have passed since the Miles Morales game, and the game was set in 2019, then it doesn't make any sense for the next game to now be set in 2021. This little detail is driving me absolutely bonkers, because it's very obviously wrong, along with Miles' age. He JUST turned 17 in the last game, which is confirmed by the postcard we see that Jefferson meant to give him last year (2018) which says it was for Miles' 16th birthday— and again— it's only been 10 months from MM to SM2, so him being 18 is also not possible, and is instead incorrect, but we'll get to that in a bit.

Regardless, the year and month for SM2 would still be October 2020 according to what Intihar said, not October 2021.

The timeline for the new game is all wrong.

The first game exclusively stayed in 2018, if it spilled over into 2019 we would've seen snow and other indicators that it was now wintertime, or maybe even mentions of Thanksgiving/Christmas... but there wasn't. Miles' game exclusively happens at the tail end of 2019, since the game's real world release date of 2020 does not reflect the actual year inside of the game(s) and is instead a year ahead of the MM game.

This mix-up is not surprising to me, seeing as both Insomniac and the fandom wiki consistently get Miles' birth year wrong. It's not 2002, it's 2003. Peter is 23 in the first game and Miles is 15. That's an 8 year difference. 1995 + 8 = 2003.

So that's another tally against them.

I mean, unless Mr. Intihar was mistaken back in July 21, 2023 and the "6 Months Later" we see in the May 24, 2023 gameplay trailer is the actual timestamp, which STILL leaves Miles at 17 and Peter at 25, not 18 and 26 (since Peter's birthday is on October 14, 1995 and— AGAIN— there's an 8 year difference between them based on the first game with them respectively being 23 and 15). So Peter wouldn't be 26 yet if the second game is set six months after, because it would be June 2020. Which doesn't take into account that Peter would have JUST turned 25 two months before the MM game.

All of this to say that Spider-Man 2 is definitely not set in 2021. So what the hell is Bryan Intihar on, cause the math definitely ain't mathing 🤨

Lord, the Insomniac timeline for the Spider-Man games is a fucking mess

[disneydeb1928]

One Piece Theory: The SWORD Initiative

The SWORD Initiative 

SWORD first appeared in Chapter 956 when it was discovered that X Drake, a member of the 11 Supernovas was, in fact, an undercover Marine. Not much is known regarding this organization other then Drake is the Captain and Koby is also a member.

Storytelling: Oda is not a newbie when it comes to storytelling. I’ve said it a million times, but I will say it again: Oda has mastered a very unique type of storytelling. Many others will tell you the same thing. He is a man who values how you feel about characters above how you may feel about his organizations overall. This is why, he always introduces characters, allowing you to make your own judgements before revealing more information on them. With that being said, some people may believe that since this is a recent addition to the plot that this organization must not have been around long. However, that just isn’t true. Oda would never create something this relevant to the story that isn’t routed deep in the past. He loves to make his reveals and have us gasp because suddenly something that happened 200 chapters ago now makes sense. With that being said, I think it is safe to say that there is more to this organization that meets the eye. Therefore, let’s first establish their existence within the established timeline.

Timeline:

X Drake was born on October 24, 1491. We know that he was taken in by the marines when he was 20 years old (in 1511) after the incident of Rosinante stealing the Ope Ope no Mi from his father’s pirate crew. The wiki says that “He [would] eventually enlist as a Marine himself” indicating that he didn’t join right away.

Drake doesn’t appear in the story until chapter 498 (in the year 1522). That means that there are 11 years unaccounted for. In that time, we know he apparently rose to the rank of rear admiral before defecting (Ch. 509)  – again no timeline specifics have been give (but I don’t doubt we will get them in the future).

However, me may be able to speculate based on other Marines.

·         Tashigi was able to go from Master Chief Petty Officer to Ensign (skipping Warrant Officer) in the couple of months that took place between the Loguetown Arc and the Post-Enies Lobby Arc. After the timeskip, Tashigi was a Captain (skipping 4 positions). Therefore, overall, for her to go from Master Chief Petty Officer to Captain, it took roughly 2 years and a couple of months.

·         Similarly, Smoker was able to from a Captain to a Commodore and then to Vice Admiral in the same time period (2 years and a couple of months).

·         Therefore, one could speculate that to go from Master Chief Petty Officer to Vice Admiral it would take around 4 years and 6 months. Since Rear Admiral is only one rank below Vice Admiral I’m going to say that the times are probably similar. [Disclaimer 1: I say this recognizing that there are probably 1000 different things that go into promotions within the Marines (such as accomplishments, age, etc) and that not every person is going to advance at the same pace. With that being said, I do think that we can still learn a lot from it – He’s not a background character after all]. In conclusion, I think 4 years and 6 months is a decent ballpark to aim for and I am willing to speculate that it would have taken Drake at least 4 and a half years to reach the rank of Rear Admiral, putting his age at around 24 (placing this in the year 1515) [Disclaimer 2: This age is completely based off the possibility that Drake joined the marines during the first year he was with them]. All this means, is that at the earliest Drake was a Rear Admiral by 1515.

We are led to believe that his defection has always been staged, and that from the beginning, everything he did was towards advancing SWORD’s goal. So that means SWORD has existed since before the beginning of the series.

We do not know how long he was a pirate before he made his appearance, however, by the time he did, he already had a full crew and a bounty of 222,000,000. We know that Cavendish became a Supernova in 1521, so I think we can make that the latest that Drake could have possibly left the Marines.  

Flashing forward, I think we can pretty much conclude that Koby joined SWORD at some point during the 2-year timeskip.

The Creation of SWORD

If that is the case, that we can conclude one of two things. Either:

1.      Drake created the SWORD organization and began his own mission alone

2.      SWORD already existed before that point and someone approached him to join and start his mission

There isn’t enough information available at this point to really say either way. However, I would speculate that SWORD wasn’t Drake’s idea.

Possible SWORD Members

1.) Issho / Fujitora & Ryokugyu

Issho and Ryokugyu are both new Admirals to replace the positions that Kuzan and Akainu left open during the 2-year timeskip. From what we’ve seen of Issho’s personality, I think he is probably one of the more likely options for SWORD members. He intentionally blinded himself when he became disgusted with all the evil and corruption he had seen in the world (Ch. 799). Some might say that he joined the Marines to fight that evil but perhaps the Marines are the evil he wanted to fight? We’ve seen multiple instances where he put the good of the people above capturing Luffy and the Straw Hats. So much so, Akainu and him got into a heated debate that ended with Issho being band from any Marine base until Luffy was captured (Ch. 801).

Outside of personality wise and evidence of him going outside of Marine orders, there is another reason he is on this list, as well as why I grouped him with Ryokugyu, who we know almost nothing about. And the answer to that is: The Folklore of Momotaro.

An excerpt of the Folklore of Momotaro:

“When he matured into adolescence, Momotarō left his parents to fight a band of Oni (demons or ogres) who marauded over their land, by seeking them out in the distant island where they dwelled (a place called Onigashima or "Demon Island"). En route, Momotarō met and befriended a talking dog, monkey and pheasant, who agreed to help him in his quest in exchange for a portion of his rations (kibi dango or "millet dumplings"). At the island, Momotarō and his animal friends penetrated the demons' fort and beat the band of demons into surrendering. Momotarō and his new friends returned home with the demons' plundered treasure and the demon chief as a captive.”

It has been said before that Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru’s Admirals alias are based on the three animals that helped Momotaro (pheasant, dog, and monkey). A fan wrote to Oda in the recent SBS (Vol. 76) and theorized that Fujitora and Ryokugyu (The tiger and ox) are based on the oni (demons) that Momotaro had to face during his adventure, which would imply that they could be against the World Government. Oda jokingly responded, “I’m not saying a single thing about whether this theory is correct or incorrect, okay? (cold sweat)”. If this is true, I think this could serve as proof that they are either members of SWORD or even the Revolutionary Army.

2.) Kuzan / Aokiji

Kuzan, very similar to Issho, has had multiple instances where he has deviated from what Akainu refers to as “absolute justice”. For starters, he was the once responsible for allowing Nico Robin to escape from the Buster Call on Ohara by providing a small boat while also a trail of ice for her to leave safely. Another example is when he (similar to Issho) didn’t arrest Luffy because he defeated Crocodile, saving Alabasta.

However, I think a big reason why many people speculate that he may be a part of SWORD are the parallels between him and X Drake. After the timeskip, we discover that after losing the Fleet Admiral fight between him and Akainu, Kuzan resigned from the Marines. Afterwards, he became affiliated with the Blackbeard Pirates, just like how Drake resigned and created the Drake Pirates. I will say, that these similarities give just as many reasons as why he would be a SWORD member as for why he isn’t. It’s possible these stories are too alike for Oda to tie them to the same cause. However, it is possible that the SWORD initiative is all about going undercover as pirates. But if that was true, then why is Koby not undercover? Just food for thought.

3.) Smoker & Tashigi

If we were to make a list of likeable Marines, Smoker would probably slotted right behind Koby. From the moment he comforted that crying little girl in Loguetown, he gained a lot of fan-fare. I think a lot of people hope that Smoker is a member of SWORD. Like the previous two Admirals above, he has had his fair share of compromising the Marines’ belief in “absolute justice” in order to do the right thing. In fact, out of all of the Marines mentioned on this list, he has done this the most. All of those moments have served as an example of his character. Outside of that, I think it is interesting that Smoker decided to request transfer to G-5 at the beginning of the timeskip, a place known for having difficulties. I think it is definitely possible Smoker is a member.

4.) Rosinante

Very similar to Kuzan and Drake, Rosinante placed himself undercover in order to stop his brother, Doflamingo. It is very possible that this was a very early SWORD mission. Or it could have what led to the creation of SWORD.

6.) Sengoku & 7.) Monkey D. Garp

Like Smoker and Tashigi, these last two are an example of ‘we like them, so we want them to be a part of this good organization’.

Honestly, I have tried to wrap my mind around why the heck Garp is even still involved with the Marines. The only other ‘D.’-bearer we know that was in the Marines, was Jaguar D. Saul, who ended up defecting in order to save Nico Robin during the Ohara Incident. If Garp is not a member of this shadow organization, then there is a deeper reason for why he joined the Marines and stayed.

[akaluan]

I have so many questions for the new soulmate au, which I love! The rights and exceptions and whatnot outlined in the treaties and laws which Erich and Tanya refer to - what are they, in a basic overview, and how long have they been a thing legally? Can Erich get in contact with his wife and tell her what's going on or give her a warning of the Reapers without Kisuke catching wind of it? Where's Kisuke's timeline right now, how did he find Erich? And what does a plum tree mean here?

*laughs* Yeah, I saw your comment and was planning on making a post about it, so now’s as good a time as any i suppose.

So!

a) Soulmate treaties/laws

They’ve been in effect for a couple centuries now in their current form (i mean, with revisions/addendum etc), but societies have had various versions of them off and on for... most of civilization.

Current form, however, involves a couple basic things that Tanya and Erich have alluded to:

1) Soulmates cannot be kept from each other against their will

(Tanya is very UGH about this one because it means that Kisuke showing up in the MIDDLE OF THEIR CAMP during war is perfectly legal and any attempt to prohibit that can be claimed as “soulmate interference” which could get her into deep trouble. It’s MEANT to be a Romeo/Juliet clause, so that people who have a soulmate across some divide -- family conflict, nations in a cold war, etc -- have a legal right to meet each other)

(It does NOT technically permit actions like sabotage/stealing/etc, and anyone caught using this clause to perpetrate damage to their soulmate’s group falls into a murky grey area because Oh No, What If They Were Doing It At Their Soulmate’s Urging, What If There’s Some Cause. But a lot of the time both soulmates just get in huge trouble and are prosecuted as a unit.)

2) Soulmates who are from ideologically incompatible groups or from groups that have traditionally been prosecutor/prosecuted are not forced to be together.

(IE: Reaper/Quincy style situations or similar.)

2a) Soulmates who fall under this clause can be kept apart without repercussions so long as there’s evidence that one or both sides is having a detrimental effect on the other.

(Tanya’s using ‘Erich was scared out of his wits and going for his gun’ as her justification. It’ll fly. Just. But also she’s not ENTIRELY using this clause, she’s using the next one. Though this was absolutely the clause she was using when she chased Kisuke off.)

2b) Soulmates who fall under this clause have a right to a 3rd party being present at all times to monitor interactions.

(It’s the enforced chaperone clause, wheee! And absolutely what Tanya’s using right now.)

2c) Soulmates who fall under this clause have a right to repudiate their soulmate without repercussions.

(I mean. In practice. In theory there’s your standard “well couldn’t you have worked it out? You were soulmates!” response from a portion of society, but generally there’s a lot less judgment of repudiation via this clause than repudiation without this clause.)

(Tanya is partially incorrect in her statement that Erich’s justified in repudiating Kisuke right now, though. Because there tends to need to be records/evidence/etc that’s admissible in court for this to fly and uuhhhh... There Really Isn’t.)

3) Soulmates have rights and privileges equal to married couples no matter their gender or actual relationship or how MANY soulmates are in the group

(It’s ASSUMED that everyone with a soulmate will be in a Standard Sexual Relationship at some point and then... no one really Questions It to find out. It’s an annoying assumption but it DOES give everyone blanket rights!)

(Multi-soulmates have been a thing as long as civilization has, so in this universe, same-sex and multi-pairing groups are just as “correct” as one man-one woman. You have your religious wingnuts of course who think that people with soulmates that doesn’t meet Their Religious Standard are going to go burn in hell, but it’s not as common or widespread.)

---

There are absolutely more but those are the only ones I’ve really given thought to bc they’re the only one’s that “matter” right now.

Also, regarding multi-soulmates, the statistics are approximately like this:

0 soulmate: 10%

1 soulmate: 50%

2 soulmate: 25%

3 soulmate: 10%

4+ soulmate: 5%

Give or take.

b) Can Erich get in contact with his wife and tell her what's going on or give her a warning of the Reapers without Kisuke catching wind of it?

I mean, kinda? He’s limited by the situation he’s in right now, of course -- he’s on one of the borders, basically in guerrilla warfare mode, and supplies/ability to send mail is VERY limited and radio contact has to be kept to a minimum and is usually restricted to military information only.

Soulmates CAN communicate in a limited fashion through the marks themselves, but only emotions. So Alexis sensed his fear but not what he was afraid of. As far as she knows, he just had another brush with death, not found out that their second soulmate is a Reaper.

Communication with Alexis is going to have to wait until certain events occur or until I decide that she’s had enough and she’s invoking soulmate law 1 and checking in on her husband despite the active combat zone.

(No one can tell her no, after all =) )

c) Where's Kisuke's timeline right now, how did he find Erich?

Kisuke is like.. 3 to 5 years after the exile from Soul Society. He’s semi-recovered from the stress and found a balance for the crushing depression, and now he wants something that’s HIS and thus his trip to Find His Soulmates.

Soulmates can tell limited direction-to-soulmate if they concentrate hard enough (and are in the same world), but it’s sorta like playing a world-level game of Hot And Cold. Kisuke, who has all the time in the world and the stubbornness to match, can dedicate the sort of time to this that Erich cannot.

(Also, sharing powers through soulmarks is limited to spiritual powers AND helps to ‘light up’ a direction because the person being pulled from can feel the direction of pull. From Erich’s moment of panic to the time Kisuke found him that night, Kisuke was basically hunting for an entire day even though he was already ‘close by’.)

d) And what does a plum tree mean here?             

Syyymboliiiism

Okay but serious answer:

Kisuke - Plum Tree: (Genius, Keep your promise, fidelity) + (Protective charm against evil)

Flowers: (Perseverance, hope)

(Tanya, being formerly Japanese, reads the ‘protective charm’ meaning into the plum tree whereas Erich doesn’t because he doesn’t know about it. Both meaning sets are correct, however)

Alexis - Oak: (Hospitality, Bravery, Humanity)

Erich - Walnut: (Intelligence, stratagem)

e) And a question you didn’t ask: Akitsushima Dominion?

Sometimes I forget people don’t live in the Tanya the Evil Wiki or roll around in it’s lore like I do.

It’s the in-world name for Japan.

Also, Kisuke IS speaking Japanese, and Tanya outed herself as knowing Japanese though Erich hasn’t had time to mentally process that little fact yet. Erich knows Japanese because he was a diplomat-ish-y person at one point I believe (I forget his exact position but he went to foreign countries before the war broke out) and he’s a big believer in knowing foreign languages because it can give him an advantage.