sub zapwrap {
  my ($this, $next) = @_;
  return
    $this =~ m{
      ^ \#       # '#' at the beginning of the string
      ( [\#=] )  # a '#' or an '='  (saved to $1)
      \1*        # that character 0 or more times
      $          # end of line
    }x

    and

    $next =~ m{
      ^          # beginning of string
      $1+        # that character 1 or more times
      $          # end of string
    }x;
}