I Wanted To Make This Post Since A Couple Of Months Ago. As Proper Summer Is Coming, Song And Tang Style

nothing has made me realize that joongdok are gay and canon more than this bingo and the fact that joongdok cross every single one

homoerotic fighting: divorce arc and theater dungeon

gay stare: this happens on every interaction. I cannot list them all in one post

Adopted a child together: Yoo Joonghyuk raised Biyoo. Yoo Joonghyuk trained Shin Yooseung hard to the point she has the story "Disciple of the Supreme King." Yoo Joonghyuk sparred with Lee Gilyoung and taught him lessons on regrets (Lee Gilyoung thought Yoo Joonghyuk can't be philosophical to save his life). All three of these kids consider Kim Dokja their father too.

"Let's run away together.": "Let's go back to Earth, Kim Dokja.

Lands in a homoerotic position: The only duo to have seen each other naked. Among other things.

Jokes about them being gay: "Hmm, maybe if your position changes..." "Wait, how did you give birth to a child?" "Are you two a couple?" "I heard you're interested in sodomy." "I know. I know. You don't like girls." "I think you're misinformed. Hyung likes a man." "I'M NOT INTERESTED IN MEN." "I think I know who spread that rumor but ignore her. I like women." etc

Gets mistaken for a couple: Read above but also the fact they got nominated for Star Stream's best chemistry award.

Promises that sounds like vows: Having a story that's titled "Life and Death Companions" (aka marriage vows) isn't enough they had to make each other promises like "We can save the world. You know that right." "I'll finish your story for you." "I'll end your oldest dream." "You fool, you're not reading alone." "If you won't do it (won't open up to me), fool, then I will (force you to open up to me)." "If I choose you as my sponsor will I get to meet you?" "1864." "Tell me you fool if I continue to regress will I ever get to meet you?" "Let's make a promise. Never give up on life. As long as you don't give up on life, I will continue to write for you."

Referred to as a married couple: To this day Lee Jihye thought they were divorced and Yoo Joonghyuk hadn't paid child support.

Violence, cannibalism, or blood: some people might consider choking your soulmate upon first meeting to be violent. Also consuming stories (people are stories) as a metaphor for cannibalism. I don't need to talk about blood. Yoo Joonghyuk's blood was spilled 1864 times and none of it scarred him as much as him being forced to spill Kim Dokja's blood by his own hands.

Parallels or foils of each other: although not too... in your face, joongdok are foils of each other at times. Case in point the CEO interview where Kim Dokja says he doesn't plan to save anyone but his friends (he ends up saving everyone at the cost of his own) and Yoo Joonghyuk says he'll try his best to see this turn to its end (he ends up leaving everything for the chance to bring one person back). They're also parallels in very specific ways. Kim Dokja has chosen to parallel 999th Yoo Joonghyuk. Both self-sacrifice out of love for their companions and guilt over their own survival (thinking they're both the only person to actually "exist"). And Lee Hakhyun is a parallel to 1863rd Yoo Joonghyuk.

"You saved me.": "You saved me once. Now I'm going to save you." "He recognized that light. It was the light of the star that had protected him all this time."

If one was a girl, they'd end up together: so many people in the fandom have said this. Especially when they learn that Punisher is Yoo Joonghyuk.

Adopted a pet together: Breaking the Sky Sword Master kicked their asses and so they had no choice but to adopt her.

Both Single: See, this is what sets JoongDok apart from other yaoi. They do not have love interests. Lee Seolhwa doesn't care for Yoo Joonghyuk romantically in this round, and Yoo Joonghyuk hasn't had the time to even think about romance when his life and death companion is giving him a brand new regression depression every time he sacrifices himself. And as for Kim Dokja, the idea of dating him gets treated as a joke by the KimCom women who also make lighthearted fun about his size (Jung Heewon and Han Sooyoung) and frankly speaking, all of them deserve better than these two.

Being the only ones able to understand each other: "Perhaps, Yoo Joonghyuk understood my heart better than anyone else." ALSO I have a take that many of you reading this might consider it controversial, but you will only take this away from me once I'm dead. Yoo Joonghyuk and Kim Dokja understand each other better than Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung do. Sure, Yoo Joonghyuk and Kim Dokja have a wall they need to break first before reaching the point of understanding each other without the need to speak words. But Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung have a wall too and they never once managed to actually break it (They know nothing about each other outside of fiction related matters, which I guess you could make the argument that in a story where fiction became reality other things wouldn't matter, however keep in mind that all the problems Kimcom faced during the epilogue come from the fact that these two do not, in fact, understand each other. Kim Dokja treated Han Sooyoung as a companion but Han Sooyoung saw Kim Dokja as only a reader.)

Lives together (and they were roommates): Singshong already said in their interview for the simplified chinese release that Kim Dokja's dream of 'Buying a big house and living together with everyone' is shared by Yoo Joonghyuk too.

Trauma bonded: *insert he's just like me fr image*

Codependent / Can't live without each other: there's no one in orv who embodies this as well and as catastrophically as these two do. being created for the sole purpose of saving one person. taking the chance to regress and doom the world over and over to save him. searching for this one person harder than anyone else.

Accidental kiss / hug / hand holding etc: Yes, I know. JoongDok do everything under the sun but hug. It's as shocking to you as it is to me. They have held hands however when they were announcing the name of their nebula and a biblical angel thought the perfect name for it would be 'forbidden fruit.' When in doubt, always turn to yaoi.

Breakup scene: Normal people when they break up: each go their own way. They block each other on social media etc. JoongDok when they broke up: Hundreds dead. Thousands injured. Friends not spared. Depression galore.

Practically on a date: Look me in the eye and tell me Murim arc and Journey to the West arc is not just JoongDok on a date.

Their happy ending MUST include both of them: yeah that's why 551 chapters weren't enough. Now we're 123 chapters away from chapter 1000.

"What did you do to them?" AKA protective: "Was it you who beat my companion to this state?" "I will find the person responsible for this mess and... kill them."

LOTS of physical touch: their first meeting starts with a physical touch. They constantly touch each other without fail.

🎐 Wind Breaker Chapter 158: The Great Fires of Extinction (End of the Noroshi arc)

💭THOUGHTS & ANALYSIS [⚠️SPOILERS⚠️]

🧵Twitter/X Version 📖Where to read the manga: Kodansha | Other 📺Watch Season 1 now (S2 in 2025!): Crunchyroll, Netflix

There’s actually not much to analyze about this chapter ‘cause it’s simply well said. So I’ll be sharing my thoughts & feelings. This chapter has such a warm (with a hint of sad) end to a rollercoaster of an arc

Oof my dear boy here needs to rest

I do kinda feel bad for Endo. In a way, he just has this longing and slow burn love for Chika and he just knew he can’t be seen by him the same way he sees Umemiya; being accepted in his world.

Endo gives him everything while he receives nothing (but punches and kicks).

No wait. This is adorable. TF. Endo expects a good hit from Chika but was ecstatic when the kick was harmless. Chika didn’t even give one hit but multiple soft hits??!! STAHP! That’s too cute.

The way Chika's fist froze when Endo mentioned a hot bath 🥲 He's tired af and being babied by Endo 😭

This confirms all the things he said to Sakura about Umemiya is his negative perspective of him. He DETESTS and is jealous of the guy who’s able to be in his Chika’s world.

Now…this is sad.

Something tells me Chika had a really bad experience with people at a very young age…or maybe had none at all :(

Maybe links to his probable face blindness. People who have such condition are usually mistaken to be cold or indifferent towards people, but it's because they have a hard time remembering people's faces. Although, in here, it sounds like his indifference to humans makes him develop face blindness. So I hope we get to hear more of Chika’s past in their talk.

Ah, there’s our Umemiya.

Come to think of it, since his biological family died, Umemiya was exposed to people from different walks of like who are not his blood since he was 9. He has grown and absorbed a vast world for 8-9yrs.

And he could truly tell Chika how amazing it is.

Without even realizing it, Chika actually made the first step to expanding his world. It started from the moment he accepted Umemiya. He even said Ume’s name before Ume told him this trick.

And now that he is aware of it, Chika looks like he decided to accept more people in his world, little by little.

(For some reason, maybe it's because his hair is drenched wet, but he looks lost here 🥺)

I SCREAMED. I knew it. And I’m not even an endochika stan. Oh Endo. Chika has acknowledged him 😫AND A FULL NAME!

(I actually thought we’ll have something dramatic like Togame & Choji crying scene but i dont think it’s ready for that lol)

HUZZAH! UME WON! WE WON! 🎐

Tsubaki collapsed in relief, cutie Choji cheering, and Bofurin, Shishitoren and Roppo Ichiza together rejoicing 🥹and our Class 1-1 are okay 😭

Now y’all gotta tend to your wounds, bath and rest! Jeez 😮‍💨🤧

No words were said but that smile and gesture says a lot. Both leaders didn’t lose. They kept each other's promises.

Umemiya is thankful, happy, and proud of Sakura. Not only for winning and being there for him, but for becoming the person he is now. He is glad his kouhai part of the found family, Bofurin 🥹💚

And we got a double COLOR spread of the two!! 😭😭😭 Thank you Nii sensei! This is beautiful 💚

I hope they get to talk after ALL that. Sakura was a bit shaken up in seeing Umemiya like that and I'm sure he has questions about what Endo meant. Either way, I'm sure Umemiya would want to chat with Sakura about his fight with Endo.

Side note: I LOVE the silly exchange between Umemiya and Endo 🤣most especially reading those small text beside the dialogue bubbles.

I can hear the sarcasm in the “since you didn’t even give half a sht about me before” 🤣🤣🤣

Ah what an end to a great long arc! What a wild ride that was. Hope we get that BBQ! All of them (us included) deserve it 😭

Thank you so much Nii sensei for such an awesome arc. And Jacqueline and team for translating and lettering the manga for us 🥰 You all work hard! 💚

🧵Twitter/X Version 📖Where to read the manga: Kodansha | Other 📺Watch Season 1 now (S2 in 2025!): Crunchyroll, Netflix

Thank you for reading! See you in next week's chapter (Tuesday)!

I think one of the funniest things about the Sabzeruz event is that the devs choose to go with Candace, Traveler, and Paimon having a whole "Ooh, two mysterious men are going into an alley to have a 'private' conversation; they must be bad guys!" only to then go "Oh just kidding, it was only Alhaitham and Kaveh doing typical Alhaitham and Kaveh things."

Except the "Alhaitham and Kaveh" thing in question this time was talking about Mehrak, a sentient robot that Kaveh built using absolutely forbidden technology, and which he then whole-heartedly willed would develop a consciousness of its own, violating one of the central taboos of his nation's governing agency, committing what amounts to an inherent and extreme felony punishable by law.

Alhaitham and Kaveh: Listen, we're not bad guys discussing illegal activity here. We're just two men having a private, personal conversation. Happens all the time.

Paimon, Candace, and Traveler: Oh cool, they're not doing a crime; they're just gay.

But they were, in fact, doing a crime.

stanning fengqing is so useless bc 100% of their interactions are them canonically trying to off one another, but the way i need to interpret them are borderline delusional. like yes, look, they briefly glanced at each other in absolute loathing and abhorrence of each other's existence, and they do indeed strike at each other's most mortifying moments with the intention to hurt deeply. BUT if you look CLOSELY at how their gazes LINGER then you can tell that they actually very slightly in a very teeny tiny way yearn for each other in a way that transcends distance and time...no no wait come back i swear it's true—

anyway mei nianqing going "my dear highness" while getting chocked by jun wu who is actively trying to kill him is kinda insane. mnq is the biggest freak in this series and doesnt get nearly enough credit for it

okay listen I do in fact hate jun wu with my whole heart but respect to him for making his divorce with mei nianqing literally everyone's problem

eng ver of endo and takiishi profiles (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧

Charlos iceberg lore rated by how insane it makes me

//2ha spoilers

my 2ha secret santa gift to @/martyrsdaughter on twitter! they asked for shuangmeimeng so here it is uwu

Some foreshadowing of FQ's precious friendship I missed before.

This means them working together looks exactly like them about to strangle each other.

It also means it's indistinguishable to Xie Lian, who both knows them best but also doesn't know them at all. Which is a reoccurring theme in the book, someone who is the most intimate with someone still not really knowing them.

Anyway, this literally means every time they've been seen arguing by third parties, they could have not been arguing at all. Can you fucking imagine. Seeing them at a table looking like they're hissing and barking and the end product is "...okay so we're getting the chicken and the eggplant." "And the salad." "Right, the salad, too."

Fucking maniacs.