just like we're always gonna do.

"you look great!" - normal. Anyone could say this. Could be true or could just be lying to be nice. Very normal expected thing to say to someone

Don’t ever hug a lobster when you see one on the street,

For decorum is essential when a lobster you must greet.

You may comment on the weather, compliment his choice of hat,

But crustaceans like their space if one should stop them for a chat.

Don’t ever hug a lobster when you’re strolling down the coast,

Simply nod and give a greeting, or a handshake at the most,

For a lobster’s first priority is formal social graces,

And one seemes over-familiar if a lobster one embraces.

Don’t ever hug a lobster when you meet one in the sea,

For a lobster’s spines and chitin make it difficult, you see,

And he might become self-conscious if you bring that fact to light,

Like it's heavily implied with the OG, but outright stated in the revision; he was always just a little bit behind, sometimes close but never quite crossing paths. And it's pretty clear narratively that that's what the function of the wraith butterflies were; so he could cover tons of ground that he wouldn't be able to just by himself, and eventually find his gege.

But imagine how much it probably sucked. He'd get so close. He knew that General Hua, the mysterious and kind general that kept getting demoted because he kept protecting civilians, was Xie Lian. He learned the Banyue language in hopes of finding out more, in hopes of finding him. But Xie Lian is trampled and killed and his body thrown into a river until he resurrects and goes on to live a new life again.

It happens again and again. Xie Lian lives countless lives, dies, and just moves on. Over and over, the vast majority of which are just flippantly mentioned in passing by Xie Lian.

Imagine being Hua Cheng. Getting so close. So close. You know you're right on his heels. You're so excited, you can't contain it. And then you find out you were just a little too late. A year, a month, whatever. And he's dead.

And you have to start all over again.

The argument starts small. Hua Cheng is doing his usual thing that is fixing things before Xie Lian even notices, like repairing roof, cleaning the shrine, providing food and having bandages already ready before Xie Lian even realizes he's hurt

And Xie Lian finally sighs and says something like, "San Lang… you dont have to treat me so carefully. I've survived worse than this."

Which is exactly the wrong thing to say to Hua Cheng because to Hua Cheng that sounds like, " I suffered before, so it doesn't matter."

So he just smiles that thin smile and goes, "Gege is right. You've survived much worse." And then he disappears but Hua Cheng is terrible at actually staying away. So he starts lurking. Not in a scary way but In a pathetically obvious ghost king way.

For example, A suspiciously silver butterfly sitting on Xie Lian's sleeve, a gambler in Ghost City staring too hard from the corner, a tall man in red who immediately turns around when Xie Lian looks up.

Xie Lian, "San Lang."

The man, "…Wrong person."

Xie Lian, "you're wearing your own boots" The man leaves.

It goes on for days. But still every time Xie Lian needs something, it’s already handled. the broken door is fixed overnight medicine left on the table, someone chases away troublemakers before they even get close

Hua Cheng thinks he's being subtle, he is not.

Finally Xie Lian corners him on the paradise manor rooftop

Hua Cheng is leaning on the railing pretending to watch the street like he was there the whole timep

Xie Lian says gently, "San Lang… are you still angry?"

Hua Cheng doesn’t answer for a long time and then he says quietly, "Gege said he's lived through worse."

Silence and then his voice drops, almost bitter, "As if that makes it acceptable."

Xie Lian tries to respond, but Hua Cheng cuts in. For once he actually sounds… upset.

"You've had it worse. I know that." He finally looks at him, "Which is exactly why I want to take care of you now."

"Just because you suffered before doesn't mean you deserve to keep suffering."

And suddenly the whole argument collapses because Xie Lian realizes that hua cheng wasn't trying to protect xie lian. Hua cheng knows xie lian is more than capable of protecting himself. He was js trying to give him a life where he didn’t have to endure things alone anymore.

Xie Lian sighs, a little helpless, and says: "San Lang… you realize I wasn't rejecting you, right?"

Hua Cheng mutters, "It sounded like you were."

Then after a pause, he continues, "Also you almost fell off a roof yesterday."

Xie Lian blinks,"You were watching that?"

(If that doesn't work right: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-7550 )

new edo city is a contradiction, because edo is the old name for tokyo.

in the edo period (tokugawa shogunate) edo was still called edo and it was the practical capital where the shogun ruled, but the emperer and the official capital was kyoto. it changed officially afterwards, with the name change. tokyo 東京 is eastern capital

so its the same thing, a modernised historical edo setting, implying that tokyo either never happened, or it went back to being the edo period and edo city later

the logo says 'great edo warrior: tonosaman'. the character on the fan and his forehead is 'tono' btw.

tonosamans suit looks sprt of futuristic as well, implying its not a completely historical setting. and tonosaman hei/3 has a metal arm.

tonosamanjuu that yahari sells in 1.4 is a play on tonosaman and manjuu (steamed bun)

akudaikan is 悪 (bad) and 代官, an official. in the edo period a local governor. collectes taxes and also in charge of legal things. got called a magistrate, which is like a judge in a minor court. wikipedia actually has a whole section called 悪代官, apparently its a thing in pop culture that the daikan is corrupt, and apparently people call bosses that give them hard work daikan

himesaman from 姫様 is just from prinesss. basically 'princessman', which doesnt make much sense in english, but the actual meaning of 'man' isnt relevent here, its just used to mean superhero.

tonosaman hei 丙 means third. it can be third as in tonosaman 1, himesaman and hes the 3rd, but apparently in the show he had 2 brothers who are 1 and 2. (thats what the screenshot says)

丙 comes from an alternate numbering system from historical china. 甲乙丙丁 etc. one of the current uses is in legal contexts numbering parties in a contract

his spear is also in the shape of that character

and torisaman in kurain is 鳥様. 'bird lord', 'bird princess,' or something

"warrior from the land of the dead, torisaman"

the person in kurain who was killing people for the government was torihimesama 鳥姫様, Bird Princess. so in the screenshot naruhodos connecting the way mayoi looks up to the person in kurain to the tv show

The horse following him is ZhuGe Liang, Liu Bei's advisor (you know because he's wielding a fan, which is his signature... tool, some games shows him use it as a weapon).

Also throughout this whole thing they're speaking mock archaic Chinese extremely badly.

Translation:

Liu Bei: I shall borrow the power of Guan Yu's sword! *Smacks the balls*

ZhuGe Liang: Your Majesty, this shot was dopeth as fuck! *Uses his fan to push a ball in* - Liu Bei: Ball #3 goes in the top left hole. *Scores correctly* ZhuGe Liang: Your Majesty, why is your sword so rusty? Liu Bei: This is the Blade of Tetanus! Ha ha ha. - Guan Yu: Big Brother, the horse seems hungry. *puts some hay on the table so the horse shoves all the balls into the hole as it eats* Liu Bei: What a good horse Di Lu (Liu Bei's horse) is! Scored so beautifully, how timely it knew to be hungry!

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