#he would probably be in the first or last group depending on his arc

[riccissance]

With the Yellowjackets cast talking about how the Antler Queen role might not be so clear-cut, I’ve started thinking a lot about the possibility of the person in the position changing regularly and what it would look like for the characters.

Assuming the Antler Queen decides who they hunt next, I think it’s safe to assume that Natalie and Taissa would be most hesitant to accept the role. However, they are both determined to survive and would reluctantly give in if it was positioned as “make a choice or you’re next”. Especially if Van and Travis asked them to. They would probably make their decisions based on logic. They’d choose whoever was least helpful, had the smallest chances of survival, or whoever might target them or their loved ones. 

Shauna and Misty would definitely pick whoever they were most pissed at and would not even try to hide it. Misty would probably make a performance out of it and pretend to be a believer in the culty shit for attention but everyone would see through her. They also are probably the safest from being chosen since they have roles that would be difficult to impossible for someone else to fill as the butcher and medic. Nat and Travis would be next safest but since they technically have the same role, one could be expendable. 

Then Lottie and Van would be the true believers. They would genuinely believe they were picking who The Wilderness wanted dead. They’d go with their gut for better or worse (with the obvious exception of Tai for Van). It’d probably mostly be a coping mechanism to separate themselves from their actions since they’d believe they were acting as a proxy for The Wilderness. 

It would also help explain the “warring clans” from the synopsis (if that even still applies). It would be less full-on separation and more strategic alliances based on the Antler Queen role. 

[lizdive]

I propose reader being a big brother figure who's responsible and reliable for the astral express trio (March 7th, trailblazer, Dan Heng) since Welt is the grandpa/father figure while himeko is the mother figure

i do 💍 /j this is such a cute idea i love the astral express crew found family trope it’s so cute <33 i don’t think i did this too well concept wise i’m sorry,,, but thank you for requesting <3 If you’re not satisfied then just tell me and i’ll redo it !! <33

notes 𐙚 male! reader — "you" + "he/him" + "big brother" used to refer to the reader ,, reader as an older brother figure ,, platonic relationships ,, trailblazer is not specific — can be seen as stelle or caelus ,, not proofread so excuse typos auhm ,,,,,,,

⭑ Whether you joined first or last, your closeness to the express does not differ. You’ll always be the one MARCH runs to when she wants to try out new outfits and needs an opinion, or when DAN HENG needs help with the archives, or when the TRAILBLAZER wants to go dumpster diving.

⭑ If you joined before DAN HENG, you probably had the role of Astral Express Guard and handled the archives. You left the most of the archive work to DAN HENG when he joined so he could freely enjoy the archives, but whether you give up your role as Astral Express Guard or still hold it alongside DAN HENG is up to you.

⭑ HIMEKO and WELT are very thankful for your responsibility and reliability, and HIMEKO will praise you for it with a pat on the head or the back. While DAN HENG is responsible and reliable, too, it’s nice for someone to relieve the stress of the TRAILBLAZER and MARCH from his shoulders while looking after him, too.

⭑ Also, while DAN HENG is a victim of the TRAILBLAZER and MARCH’s shenanigans, you’re always there to put a stop to them before they get too out of hand. Sometimes whenever you four are on a mission and your separated from the group, the moment you all meet back up DAN HENG will snitch on MARCH and the TRAILBLAZER. They’ll convince you to not snitch to HIMEKO and WELT after you scold them.

⭑ You’re the unofficial official chaperone for those three so good luck.

⭑ During crew group photos you’ll always be in the middle between WELT and HIMEKO. Doesn’t matter if you’re on the shorter side or the taller side.

⭑ After the Xianxhou arc, DAN HENG will find solace in your presence. Whether it’s just in silence or you comforting him verbally, he appreciates it. If you stay with him on the express during Penacony, he may feel a tear being shed from how touched he is.

⭑ The TRAILBLAZER will call you 'big brother' and depending on how you view / play them, it can be seen as either teasing or genuine. MARCH does it, too, but it’s joking.

⭑ WELT always feels himself relaxing more when you join him on missions because he knows you’ll be able to handle yourself and enemies as well as keep up with negotiations and pitch in ideas should there be any. He’ll make sure you don’t push yourself, of course, but he will appreciate you fighting diligently.

⭑ With HIMEKO it just feels like you’re babysitting the crew while she deals with the important things. It’s like when a mother is talking with a teacher and the oldest is trying to keep his siblings in check so they don’t do anything stupid.

⭑ The trio would follow big brother! reader like ducklings and if anyone calls them out on it, they’ll deny it. Maybe TRAILBLAZER wouldn’t and would crack a joke, but DAN HENG and MARCH will definitely deny it, DAN HENG being better at doing so than MARCH. big brother! reader just laughs and says he’s fine with it and doesn’t mind.

⭑ Good heart health is most likely non-existent. Poor heart will be at risk of stopping permanently with all the shit those three get into. HIMEKO and WELT will start taking your place in missions because you’ll need 5–12 stress and anxiety-free rest days after every few missions.

⭑ If anything during a mission is going downhill you’re the first person the trio will think to call. Big brother to the rescue!

[demodraws0606]

What Cyberpunk DeadBoy Means and What it's Potentially Foreshadowing (aka very complicated analysis that makes a lot of sense and could happen depending on how colorpalet is feeling while writing the story)

Now I'm seeing so many people like running around wondering what this event could mean for the future for multiple reasons and like I've made like one post throwing my hat into the ring.

I've been frustrated with people's unwillingness to realise that this comm is prob foreshadowing because this is not the first time Colorpalet has hidden foreshadowing into comms weither subtely or not

Exemple's being :

-Akito's second comm foreshadowing his third event

-Lower's cover art literally foreshadowing what would happen to Mafuyu's phone in her event

-88 vocals being emurui and nenekasa foreshadowing the kind of dynamic the disbandement arc had with nenekasa wanting to move forward with emurui being scared of isolation

-Probably way better exemples that I forgot

I've seen people make Some assumptions which I don't agree with but there is one thing I think is true

There is 100 pourcent gonna be struggle between corporation/reality and WxS.

Purely because that's been WxS's entire theme since the beginning. They constantly bash you over the head with the theme of compromising with reality and the importance of dreams. In fact the pick of Maiki-P is not at all surprising as he basically has the same message WxS has just... well harsher.

The Big thing people have ignored however is by focusing on the lyrics, they've ignored something that's personally to me even more telling and that's the line distribution

We know for a fact colorpalet loves to mess around with line distribution, weither it's to make characters say lines that fit them or to kind of foreshadow their headspace.

Now something Big happens with the line distribution of Cyberpunk Deadboy that i've seen NO ONE notice and that's in the last chorus (that and also Tsukasa's lines which people have pointed out but it works less on it's own which is why I'm gonna analyse his lines afterwards).

This is the only time the chorus is like that, the others have a much more even distribution.

In fact the distribution choice makes it look like the rest of WxS is Talking to Rui.

It's even more evident considering the lines they chose to make WxS sing compared to only just Rui

Emu/Tsukasa/Nene saying kimi (you)

Rui saying boku (i)

Which honestly makes me think this is colorpalet foreshadowing some kind of issue reguarding specifically Rui. Remember Emu's second event ? The story of Rilley whose imagination was crippled by the industry to the point where he didn't really have any artistic vision until Emu's grandpa helped him.

In fact remember how the flashback that showcases that has Rilley working on a film

Now we get to Tsukasa's line which have been pointed out to be kind of sus but it's not just his lines.

Tsukasa refuses to sing with Rui (unless it's a line they all sing together but i consider those exceptions). In fact pretty much everyone has a duo line with each other except those two.

In fact in the section where Rui has duo lines with everybody, Tsukasa is the only one he doesnt sing with and the visuals make it clear that it's something that we're supposed to find strange

And then we of course have Tsukasa's solo lines

Tsukasa is the only one that say "fuzakeruna" outside of Rui (of course ignoring entire group WxS lines) and i've seen some people pointed out how it sounds like he's saying it in response to Rui's lines. Which I agree with.

Then we got his big boy solo lines

These lines will make more sense with my theory/analysis but right now if we go with the idea that WxS in the last chorus were speaking to Rui and Tsukasa in this comm refuses to sing with Rui then this implies those lines are Tsukasa speaking to Rui.

And this is where the insanity begins because people have pointed out a concerning trend with Ruikasa that I know some people use for shipping fuel but for me kinda feels more so like foreshadowing.

IGNORING all the ARG ass weirdness of the Fixer 2dmv, this choice to switch Ruikasa's colors have to mean something in my opinion outside of just wholesome shipping influence especially considering the two songs they do this are less than jovial.

What this kind of color switching signifies to me is that, Ruikasa somehow are/or will switch places.

And with that let me bring back Tsukasa's lines

These lines stand out because Tsukasa before remembering his dreams was extremely shallow only doing things for fame and probably the money that would come with it.

Now if you think about everything I've layed out I think you can gain a pretty clear picture.

Of Rui falling into the trap Rilley did, becoming jaded and losing the true motivation of his dream (or at least starting to have doubts). Becoming stuck with the struggle of managing dreams and reality.

Rui's costume even has a mask which can be a metaphor for his artistic voice and individuality being silenced .

Which now you get into the line distribution where WxS is implied to be talking to Rui.

And you get to Tsukasa, who is refusing to sing with Rui and in fact seems to be arguing with Rui if we really want to overthink it. In fact almost switching their roles from the main story.

Because Tsukasa has grown now and how else to show that growth than to switch Rui and Tsukasa's perspectives/roles.

Now how this would happen really depends since there are multiple ways they can go about it with the time they have.

There is obviously mystery dude dude (who i know now is sakaki) who still gives me bad vibes. However there is actually two way they can make mystery dude trigger this sort of plot :

-Mystery dude is malicious and actively manipulates/confronts Rui to make him rethink his worldview

-Mystery dude isn't malicious but instead is just jaded/has been through a lot of industry bullshit which ends up rubbing off on Rui accidentally

But you can even just not have mystery dude involved with this at all (which i doubt but still) because you know what loose plotpoint is still lingering over WxS, fucking Asahi

Rui still has not talked about Asahi to WxS, in fact Curtain Call ends on an explicit cliffhanger which is never really emotionally concluded (at least in Rui's own events, technically the arc ender did but there are still a lot of loose threads from that arc). Why would Colorpalet make Asahi come back after Rui graduates, they could've just had him disappear into the sunset but instead they hint at his potential comeback.

Unless Rui will be forced to again confront similar feelings he did during Curtain Call this time with possibly an added layer of whatever happens during WxS's freelance arc.

Anyways yeah this is overly complicated but then again colorpalet is not being easy with us so...yeah.

[corviiids]

this can be a fic prompt or just me asking your thoughts on a scenario, whatever sparks joy for you: p5 au in the death note universe where goro has a death note... but so does ren. do they both use them? just one of them? neither of them bc they both realize it's foolish? (its not even a debate who the L stand in is, obviously its detective prince goro, you've already set up how he'd handle keeping kira from thinking he's a particular threat in your kira game answer-)

(deciding to make this unrebloggable to keep it in the family so to speak. pleeease dont screenshot and repost it, thank you for your consideration i appreciate)

great question. they'd both use it. however i think goro would not use the death note the same way that light does, he would use it more selfishly. either the same way he uses the metaverse (to join and subsequently sabotage shido) or to create a conspiracy of his own. nobody has time for my seventy year presentation on what makes light and goro superficially similar but deeply different in every way that matters

ren (& co) are more likely to become kira. (or something close to it, likely much lesser in scale and not to the same level of commitment.) i think a lot of people forget how close they came to straight up killing kamoshida in that first arc. annrenryuji had all resolved that if their infiltration ended with kamoshida's death then they were still ready to go ahead with it. gestures very vaguely at one of my many (unexecuted) roleswap concepts which i was contemplating, which was roleswap where the only thing that changes is morgana finds goro instead so the gang become the 'phantom assassins'.

for all the PT's targets, they have a deadline which if not met something bad will happen, but some of those deadlines and consequences are pretty damn severe even on top of all their ideological frustrations. if heartstealing was off the table and murder was all they had, and they were backed into a corner like that, i have no problem whatsoever believing they'd see the death note as a lifeline and last resort.

i will also say that i don't think all the thieves would join in this plan. at minimum ann, ryuji, and likely futaba would probably be on board. haru and makoto are absolutely capable of murder in the abstract but have much, much higher barriers to entry due to their initial reserved personalities. i don't think yusuke would be down with killing madarame and he has little to no reason to want to kill anyone else in context, although again in the abstract i don't think it's entirely beneath him either if pushed far enough. if they wouldn't, ren and morgana would do it alone.

'L stand-in' is murkier because it depends how the term is being used - broadly, detective searching for the murderer? yeah, goro would probably do it, either to increase his own profile / because shido wants intel on how to circumvent or take advantage of this supernatural murder method / because goro himself wants it. but i do think L's role in death note goes quite a bit deeper than the traditional detective in a cat and mouse story, wont go into that, it's too complicated, you get it anyway. i will say without the aid of the metaverse i dont think goro would be able to intuit or identify how the death note works. he'd probably identify the group because they're the least subtle people on the planet but he wouldn't be able to discern the means.

if goro were using the death note but was uninvolved with the phantom thieves, they would absolutely try to find him. they would fail

[starwikia]

Undead Unluck Theory

Feng’s Character Arc isn’t over - Possible Unfade Evolution

I’ve been thinking about this theory for a while and with chapter 191 partly confirming something for me I think it’s time to write it down.

Basically: Start Investing in Feng Kowloon stocks.

Major Spoiler Warning all the way up to chapter 191 of the manga. 

This theory initially spawned after chapter 177 came out. More specifically, it spawned from the spread panel that showcased the current union members (minus Chikara, Sean, and Yusai who were shown to be in the operating room with Latla and Rip).

Here it was shown that Feng was not with the other union members. Earlier it was hinted that he didn’t join because he wasn’t with them when the group time skipped from 1999 to 2015.

At the time I had suspected that Feng simply hadn’t time traveled with everyone else and had used those 15 years to train (taking advantage of Unfade) and might’ve rejoined later, but no, turns out he hasn’t joined the Union at all.

Which made me ask this: why didn’t Feng join the union? It would’ve been easy for Tozuka to write a little panel or two where Fuuko could’ve said, “ok sorry I lied to you, I promise this time we’ll fight monsters this time though” and Feng could’ve begrudgingly agreed to join at that point.

The thing with Undead Unluck is that Tozuka has a habit of constantly setting up minor plot details and then giving them major payoffs later on. It’s one of the best parts of the manga’s writing in my opinion. So I believe Feng not joining the union at this point of time was a very deliberate writing choice on the author's part.

So with that in mind, let’s get started.

Current Quest Rounds

Currently, there are four quests active.

Let’s take out “Capture of UMA Burn”. It's not relevant for this theory. What matters for this theory are the quests for Language, Beast, and Summer.

Language and Beast have relevance because of their rewards. Four extra seats added to the round table means four negators can participate on quests. But that’s all they can offer for this topic.

Summer, on the other hand, is extremely important. Because in loop 100, Summer was the exact quest Feng got his formal debut in.

My prediction is that in a direct parallel to loop 100, the 101 version of the Summer quest is where we’re going to get reintroduced to Feng, and probably get told that he’s been up to for the last fifteen or so years.

What follows is that one of the union members will tell Feng about the Sick fight, to which he will be extremely disappointed to have missed out on. It’s at this point that upon learning there’s more of these extremely strong UMAs that he’ll go, “Fine, you win Fuuko Izumo, I’ll join your Union.”

My guess is that, assuming that Fuuko successfully recruits the five negators Andy led her to, the open seats will go as following:

- Feng

- Top

- Tatiana

- Latla/Julia

This is because the first three are more suited to go straight into combat roles. As for Latla and Julia, I think the last seat could go to either one of them. It depends on whether Julia manifests Unjustice during this quest period but if she doesn’t, Latla can now fight directly due to being equipped with one half of Blade Runner.

This would leave Ichico, Nico, Kururu, Haruka, Bunny and Julia/Latla (aka the one who didn’t get the seat) as support members until new seats are rewarded.

It’s extremely important to note that at this point Feng isn’t part of the Union because he cares about protecting people or saving the world. Despite him acknowledging Shen as his son, Feng still prioritizes his quest of being the strongest more.

Unfade Intermission (AKA Billy Would Kick Feng's Ass if they fought Right Now)

This is where I talk about my thoughts of Unfade because this is where it would flow best.

(I am also going to put a quick disclaimer that this isn’t an invitation for power scaling arguments as they don’t have any relevance here.)

Anyway, Unfade, Feng’s negation ability. In Feng’s character bio in the volume 8 extras Unfade is described as a self-targeting compulsory activation type. “An ability that Negates aging after activation.”

… aaaand that’s all Unfade can do, really. 

In fact, Unfade stands out from other negation powers because from what we’ve been shown it has no viability in combat. I think the only negation that shares this trait is Unsleep. The reason Feng is such a threatening person has to do almost entirely with his years of cultivating his skills as a martial artist (granted, having an ageless, unfading body which is forever at peak condition probably does help a lot but I digress). It’s worth noting that if Unfade had been given to almost any other person, they wouldn’t nearly be as dangerous as Feng is.

It is my belief that within the current negators, you take out their powers and make them fight purely hand to hand as normal humans? Feng comes out the strongest, if not pretty damn close to it.

However, the second that negation powers are added into the fray, Feng would lose his title as the strongest, and he would lose that title very quickly. In a negator fight with, say, Billy, he wipes the floor with Feng, easily. Feng having no idea how negator powers work is how Fuuko was able to keep him in check for so long in loop 101.

In UU, negation powers don’t get stronger via traditional training. In order to level up, the negator in question has to expand their interpretation of their powers.

By expanding their interpretation, this typically leads to the negator having a journey of self discovery about themselves. Inherently due to this system, a lot of times this means that negators evolving their powers tend to be directly tied into character development. It’s a neat system! One of my favorite power systems in SJ because of how naturally it ties together with the narrative.

But for Feng? This is the literal worst thing for him. Because even though he’s a legendary martial artist, Feng has a terrible understanding of people. He’s the least emotionally intelligent person among the negators, and it’s not even close. Shen, who was raised by Feng for around twenty years, notes that Feng’s unending pursuit of strength hasn’t brought him any sense of fulfillment and that Feng himself isn’t even self aware of that fact.

Feng didn’t even realize he even had a negation tragedy until 150 years after his ability manifested. Even then, Shen (who, for the record, only found out about negations like… 15  minutes prior), had to spell it out to Feng.

Throughout loops 100 and 101, we’ve seen how differently negation abilities can evolve. Negation abilities so far have tend to have fallen in three ways:

It has direct ties into character development and how they evolve as people (Unluck, Unchange, Unseen)

It has manifested differently due to the wildly different circumstances between loops (Unfair)

The negator have found ways to work around what would be entirely detrimental abilities to make them useable to get through day to day life (Unsleep, Untell)

The idea that Unfade has never evolved since manifestation ties pretty well with how stagnant Feng has been as a person throughout most of his life. In fact, while the circumstances of manifestation are different, Feng 100 getting UF as an old man vs Feng 101 getting UF when he was around his twenties, the ability itself hasn’t changed at all. Which definitely isn’t unique but it is worth noting, I feel.

Master Rule VII

Remember at the beginning of this post that stated chapter 191 partly confirmed something to me? Yeah that’s relevant now. This was the big clincher that inspired me to write this giant theory. 

Right now we don’t know exactly what Master Rule VII represents exactly (it’s possible “Time Defense” is just an attack name just like how Andy uses ��Crimson Bullet"), however he is absolutely heavily time based if not outright time. My top prediction for him is that he’s UMA Time or Fade. (For simplicity’s sake, this theory will use “VII” when it comes to referring to him.)

Anyway, assuming that we’re going in order of counting down, then naturally VII is next in the line up. Feng's first round as a union member means he’s conveniently part of the quest period where, chances are, he might be a hard counter to the UMA that represents time in some capacity, as Unfade negates the passage of time affecting his body. Everyone in the Roundtable comes to this conclusion as well and thus Feng is signed up for the quest for the neutralization of VII. In this scenario, Shen would also be one of the negators in this quest, this is going to be extremely important. 

However as the actual fight begins, Feng turns out to not be a perfect counter to VII for one reason or another. This fight would end up being a struggle for everyone involved because VII would presumably use his time abilities to avoid hits and disorient everyone by time lagging them like how he did to Andy in 191.

During this fight, Shen is going to be in danger, and possibly get hit with a fatal injury before he can even react. Feng, witnessing this, is going to have one thought in his head, “Shen is going to die.” “My son is about to die.”

And at that moment Feng recalls what Fuuko believes the meaning of being the strongest:

“Those who care for others with an unwavering heart have always been the strongest people around.”

And Feng, after decades of not knowing what she meant, finally realizes what Fuuko was trying to tell him. And this, in turn, causes Unfade to evolve. 

Interestingly, Feng back in loop 100 is stated to figure out how souls worked, but this hasn’t come up since. 

And I think this would be a great opportunity to fire that Chekhov’s Gun, because my friend (who also reads the manga) gave a really cool possibility on how Unfade could evolve into a combat viable ability by combining the idea of Feng mastering using his soul in combat. The basic idea follows that by unleashing his soul in his impacts he would be able to make strikes that don’t fade away. Tying into the idea of how he only unlocks Unfade’s true potential when he opens himself up to the more metaphorical version of “the impact he has on others” and vice versa.

(Of course this is just one idea of how Unfade could evolve, I just really like this idea because it ties with UU’s constant video game analogies, with Unfade’s evolution being akin to a damage multiplier like when you get a really good combo in a fighting game. Basically Tozuka would acknowledge Feng’s a giant Tekken reference).

I know that negation abilities are classified with external or self targeting, but Sean alone proves that if you bend the rules enough, you can get away with not following those classifications to the letter.

Either way, this upgrade leads Feng to turn the tides against VII and complete the quest in a way that leads to the Union getting away without casualties. Maybe as a bonus we get Feng making a Shen-esq joke (like "Your rules are outdated, you old coot" or smth) to tie how much influence both of them have had on each other. Also ideally Feng stops having the emotional intelligence of a goldfish and trying to fight Fuuko at a drop of a hat but that might be asking for too much, honestly. 

After the fight Feng would finally drop his tsundere bullshit and admits out loud (and to himself) that yes, he cares for Mei and Shen not just because they’re his disciples but because he genuinely loves them as family.

This would also be the point he’s marked as a true member of the Union because he now wants to protect his family.

[starry-eyed-steve]

Max taking the risk in season 2 is the reason she survived so long, and it will (hopefully) be the reason she gets saved in season 5.

I love the angsty lumax scenes comparisons/parallels like every other person, but it's not true that Max getting involved led to her being in a coma in s4. I think people want an angsty Lucas arc for the last season where he blames himself for everything, but I need someone to reassure him it's not because he got Max involved in s2. I believe his guilt will mostly stem from him not being able to stop Jason in time, letting Max go through with the half-baked plan and, in general, letting Max isolate in the months leading up to Vecna. (Which is already enough. Someone needs to give him a hug in s5)

Max being part of the group by accepting the risk, actually saved her life in multiple ways.

In s3, the chance of her dying due to Billy would have been significantly higher than it actually was. Billy would have gotten possessed either way. It was Karen's fault, not Max or the party, that he was at the wrong place at the right time. If Max hadn't known about the Mindflayer or El, she wouldn't have suspected anything, thus making her an easy target to get flayed as well.

If she were to survive s3 on her own, Vecna would have still targeted her because she felt guilty about Billy dying not because she witnessed it but because she wished that something would happen to him to make the abuse she suffered from him stop. And when something did happen, she blamed herself. Her complicated relationship with Billy is the reason why she got cursed. It was never because she took the risk. Her issues stem from outside of the supernatural things. Without Lucas and her friends, she wouldn't have survived the first attack. She would have been confused like Chrissy, Patrick, and Fred, not knowing what was going on and then dying a horrific death.

Taking the risk ensured her to live as long as she did because she had the opportunity to get information that were vitol for her physical well-being.

But taking the risk also gave her the opportunity to live a more fulfilled life. In the beginning of s2, Max was super closed off. She was scared to get close to anyone because of her brother. He was threatening to harm people if Max disobeyed him (aka him trying to run the party over as a scare tatic to get her back under control after the argument). So she pushed Dustin and Lucas away. It was easier and safer for everyone involved. If we take Runaway Max as canon, then Billy actually physically harmed one of her friends, so it's understandable that Max tries her hardest to stay away in the beginning. Only due to Lucas and Dustin constant persuading and pushing she opened up a bit more. And then when Lucas told her the huge secret she was suddenly a part of something so big she had to allow herself to trust others because her life was dependent on it. It gave her the opportunity to be honest and vulnerable to an outsider, which also then led her to free herself from her brother's control by the end of s2. Meeting Steve and the rest and seeing that someone was willing to protect her from her brother's abuse gave her the strength to set boundaries, which then allowed her to be happier and more open. She met El and found amazing friends in the party, which she wouldn't be close otherwise. It also allowed her to have a different relationship with Billy. In s3, they seemed to be more relaxed before everything went south.

Without getting involved, she probably would still be the closed off girl she was at the beginning of s2. She would still be under Billy's control until he died. And then she would be alone without anyone really looking out for her, which would lead to her definite death in s4.

Lucas saved her physically and emotionally by giving her the opportunity to take the risk. And because of that, she can still be saved in s5.

[azapofinspiration]

So about Corruption…

Who all knows about Corruption anyway? Like Soukoku was well known for their feats but were their methods and trump card well known?

It’s just something I’ve been wondering while reading through BSD, considering how powerful Corruption is and how it tends to be used as a last resort, especially considering how well Dazai and Chuuya can handle threats without it, both separately and by teaming up. Plus, it doesn’t seem like something they’d want their enemies to be too aware of.

So Mori and the Executives of PM (both past ones and current ones) obviously know as he made that info about Chuuya’s past and the gov experiments Executive level exclusive. Hirotsu knows as implied in the Dead Apple Prologue when Chuuya alluded to it while going to get Dazai back. Clearly, he knew exactly what Chuuya might use to get Dazai back and defeat the enemy. But even if not an Executive, he has seniority and looked after SKK when they were teens.

But does anyone else know in the PM?

When talking about SKK, Akutagawa doesn’t mention it (focusing more on just what the two were capable of when they teamed up and their specialties) and while Chuuya’s power is well known and respected - after all he’s not considered both the strongest ability user and martial arts specialist for nothing - it’s unclear if the full extent of his powers is. Anyone who joined after Dazai left would probably have even less than a clue as Higuchi didn’t even know the extent of Dazai’s work in the PM at first.

Obviously, the government and the higher ups in the Special Abilities Division know as they created the singularity in the first place. Or maybe Ango learned by spying on the PM or if Dazai bragged about (in which case, Oda probably knew too). And then the Division would have known how Chuuya’s powers have developed since he escaped. Not all of the Division knows though as Tsujimura didn’t know the details of it until she saw it, though she was told it might kill him.

I would assume the Hunting Dogs probably know (and Tachihara through them) as it seems they were the successors to the Arahabaki project.

Steinbeck and potentially his allies in the New Guild might know because he actually witnessed it (and Dazai bragged about it) and got to live to tell the tale. I don’t know what he might do with that info though.

Fyodor knows because Ace sold out the PM and he gained the info from him. Though then again, he was also there for Dead Apple and seems to have been lurking in Yokohama for a while so he might have made some observations and guesses about it and Ace’s info simply confirmed it. But Fukuchi might have already known before - both due to his ties to the military and gov and due to being the leader of the Hinting Dogs. It’s unclear whether Sigma and the others in the DOA know the full extent of Chuuya’s ability but they know he’s strong.

And then, finally, there’s the ADA.

I think Fukuzawa (and Ranpo naturally) might know especially from when SKK reunited during the Guild Arc, but it’s unclear if the rest of them know. It’d depend on if Dazai told them or not. I’ve seen people’s opinions go both ways on this.

Sure, Dazai likes to show off his Chuuya knowledge but he only really told Steinbeck because he was there. Though Corruption was a potential danger in the Cannibalism Arc, so maybe he did?

He’s never given up any of the Mafia’s secrets from what we can tell (which is part of what gives him leverage over them) and Chuuya especially is important to him so I don’t see him revealing more than he has to.

So overall, while there are several groups and people who might know about Corruption, it doesn’t seem to be too well known, with usually the higher-up levels of each organization being the ones most likely aware of its existence and uses. At least from what I can tell.

What do you think?

[happilylovingchaos]

911 Lone Star Countdown - Disasters Week Questions

Hello and thank you for including me @lonestar-s5countdown! This is a little trickier for me to answer tbh. I think 9-1-1 might stand to have longer-lasting consequences from their natural disasters (no need to skip past tsunami wreckage recovery or months-long rebuilding of the highway collapse, those would make some meaty dramatic narrative arcs), but otherwise it so far edges out Lone Star when it comes to order of experience (like, which state got which disaster first).

1) My favorite disaster… okay, gonna have to divvy btwn the 9-1-1s for this!

The plane crash in 9-1-1 (OG) would probably be my underrated favorite in terms of narrative developments for Buck, Bobby and Abby.

Season 4’s heat wave was more glossed over for plot setup, but I didn’t mind this natural disaster precisely because it was a little smaller in scale and because the plot setups (even the Iris arc tho that definitely needed fine tuning in hindsight) hooked me in already. (I also didn’t mind Brianna and Caleb in this one b/c this time Caleb’s situation was not his own fault.)

2) Since they’ve already done tornadoes (though, there’s always a chance they’ll do those again), a volcanic eruption, wildfires and a winter storm, I would think the only disasters LS hasn’t gotten down yet are freeway collapses, floods (barring how the cast would look while soaking wet, don’t ignore areas like Galveston, writers! There’s WAY more to the state than farmland, Dallas, Austin and El Paso yk! Let’s just say before I digress I kinda wish the showrunners were able to film in actual Texas), a border skirmish (just out of genuine interest— not getting any more political and no Owen’s refugee rescue doesn’t count) or droughts/ water shortages (no, heat waves also don’t count). I also just realized that the domestic terrorist arc could have waited for a later season too! O’Brien and Owen had chaotic good vibes much akin to him and Billy Tyson (if the three of them worked together tho? The 126 should probably move their whole firefighter team out of Travis County b/c they ain’t gonna go through the second-hand pain again).

3) They had and lost me at meteor/ asteroid, so I’m not sure I’d say looking forward to it. It all depends on execution, I suppose? (Sorry for the question mark, I’m just baffled since that usually needs film-length amount of time— I’ve seen the film Deep Impact. Scientific nitpicks aside the investigations, action and future implications in that film were well-paced enough.)

4) My top 3? Judd b/c he’s a great all-around leader whenever shit hits the fan— honest (sometimes to a fault but I can kinda relate), strong integrity and conscientiousness, and so dad-like even before he became a dad. Mateo b/c he’d be like the underrated badass youngest brother of any group— speaking as an only child tho. Third… boy, I can’t break this tie. It’s a draw between Tommy (she’s very composed and professional even during the times she isn’t) and Paul (I’d like to learn memorization-observational skills from him, and he fits the “cool Zen mode” temperament a little better than Carlos, don’t @ me).

5) This is painful… okay I’m so sorry. I don’t think I can answer this one as of now.

Tagging next: @lutavero @reyesstrand @toomanycupsoftea @fitzherbertssmolder @marjansmarwani @trkstrnd

[attackfish]

@candleslitsnow asked for an AU in which Jet and his freedom fighters ran into Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, disguised as Kyoshi warriors, rather than Zuko and Iroh.

Sometimes I get a prompt that makes me go, "Ah yes, you share the same kind of malicious sense of humor that I have."

1. So the thing about Avatar the Last Airbender is that I can't say that x-character is y-character's foil. I can, but I have to clarify that they are also z, a, b, c, and d's foil, because Avatar: the Last Airbender is an absolute master class in parallel character arcs and thematic cohesiveness. So you can in fact pull out any of those parallel character arcs and compare them to each other, and all of the characters can function as foils to each other, and you can compare and contrast them and it is great writing. But of course some characters are more obviously narrative foils. Jet serves as a foil primarily to Katara and Sokka when he is first introduced, and then in Book Two, he serves as a foil to Zuko. But there is a character that is a whole lot alike in some fundemental ways that he never meets. And Zuko's reaction to him in canon is colored by this fact. Because that character is Azula.

2. But actually the show does go out of its way to draw a strong narrative parallel between Jet and Azula, wherein Jet's approach to Zuko, and attempt to get to go to join him functions as a microcosm of Azula's attempt to do the same thing in the first and last episodes of Book Two, and later when Zuko ultimately comes to reject each of them, they react in very similar ways. There is a solid literary essay to be written on this by somebody who isn't me. All of this is a lot of words to say that Jet and Azula share similar tactics, and are manipulative in very similar ways. And people like that are good at recognizing each other for what they are, and seeing each other as threats.

3. All this means that I can't imagine Jet would approach Azula. He's going to make his manipulative little approach to Mai and/or Ty Lee, before he knows about Azula. He would probably like Ty Lee better, because of how wide eyed and innocent she seems, but really it depends on who he meets first. But Mai and Ty Lee both have a lot of experience with Azula, and they would have no problem recognizing Jet's brand of manipulation, and uh, leadership. And they also would have no trouble figuring out that Azula has him completely outclassed, so they would bring him home for her to eat alive.

4. As I mentioned, Jet is going to cotton onto the fact that Azula is a threat real fast, and the last time he looked at a group of people and picked out one of them as a threat, he tried to separate that one from the group and have him killed. That was Sokka, and it did not work out well for him. It would probably be pretty funny to watch him try and fail to do that with Azula. She might even let him try for a while before closing the trap in around him. But either way she's going to find him very entertaining, and she is going to have him arrested and hauled off to the Fire Nation to cool his heels in a cell at the Boiling Rock, along with Suki. If Longshot and Smellerbee were with him during this whole thing, they're going to the separate prison that the Kyoshi Warriors went to. If not, they're going to have no idea where he disappeared to. Either way, he's going alone.

5. He's going to meet Suki, they're going to hate each other, flash forward a few months, and Zuko and Sokka are going to show up. Zuko will of course have never met Jet before, but Sokka has, and he is not going to be happy to see this particular jerkface again Escaping from the Boiling Rock is going to be fun.

[socialcarcrash]

I completely agree with you about Sweets! His death was such a shame. How do you think he would have changed the dynamics in seasons 10 through 12 if he was still alive with the plots and characters (like Aubrey and Karen)?

AUBREY: im an aubrey-sweets friendship truther at heart, so first thing to acknowledge is the thing with aubreys dad.

We all know sweets has a slight obsession/ interest (depending on the perspective) with his friends childhoods, and that’s understandable. I can see him really helping him out at that time, and providing a perspective that would hopefully relieve the guilt he experiences after turning his dad in. also really random idea that popped into my brain!! aubrey is the most adhd coded guy ive ever seen, so i can see sweets waltzing past his desk and dropping off snacks and drinks to help him focus :)

i just think those two could have got super close. Aubrey clearly felt out of place when he first joined, a feeling that sweets shared and grew from so maybe he would have just provided that extra support for him!

KAREN: i havent got so much on this, cause i dont know her as well as i should, however; i know those ‘is psychology a real science’ debates would have got way more heated!!! its now 2v2, b&b and sweets and karen, i can see them sitting in the diner having the most heated debate ever seen and the rest of the diner is just sat silently like ‘what the fuck 0-0’.

I also think at first, sweets struggled having someone who pushed him and knew a lot about ‘his’ field, which comes with lots of special interests. (i get quite stressed if i meet a person who is into the same fields of physics that i am, especially if i am the person who is known for liking it amongst my group, and i think sweets probably has the same think). But he learns to talk with her and infodump about their theories and cases together! a form of healthy competition forms i think, one that eventually encourages them to work harder.

ZACK: i felt like it was important to mention him,even though i mentioned him in the last one, so ill just expand on this one a bit.

I just want to know what the team would have thought about sweets knowing all along that zack was innocent. What would they have felt? betrayed? understanding? sad? Maybe sweets would never have told them during this time, maybe he kept it a secret until he testified on the stand.

Sometimes i think the death of sweets is what prompted Zack to admit to never having killed anyone, so maybe if he was still alive Zack would still be there and no-one would ever know. That could give way for another new plot line where sweets lets it slip that zack was innocent, but maybe not. who knows :)

(now an extra cause i wanted to do him hes the loml)

HODGINS: this is a big one, cause the poor guy really goes through it (*cough* the doom in the boom *cough*). I love this arc, it gets way to much hate. disabled hodgins for the win!!

I think sweets totally understands his anger, and allows him to feel it (as he should!). But i think he would have put a stop to him taking it out on angela, cause it’s counterproductive to build barriers between those you love when you’re struggling. I can see hodgins (after the usual pestering from sweets for a while) just rocking up at his office looking ready to murder someone (so real) and sweets just lets him talk, and shout and probably cry a bit too.

I just think the adjustment wouldn’t have been easier, but he would have had a way to handle it better and that would mean so much!!!

okay cool im done (for now- i might revisit this idea later with a few other characters) :)

[vacantgodling]

HIII hi i'm (mostly) normal again now and i'm gonna yap about sunbringer's song to you. specifically the fanfic version bc that's what's on the brain right now. though the specific thing i wanna yap about is also just a fact about eden as a character that means a lot to me. and that's his huge soft spot for children.

(off the top of my head i don't remember how much bg3 lore you're familiar with so. if any of this is confusing pls feel free to ask for clarification fjasld;kjf i love to yap about it. anyway)

SO ANYWAY! eden is a very selfish and logical character, and ESPECIALLY at the start of sunbringer's song, his main goal is to figure out what the fuck happened to him and save himself from the fuckin Parasite shit he's got going on.

he decides to let the other major characters travel with him because they're working towards the same goal, and he reasons that having more people working towards the same goal means that they'll get shit done faster. he doesn't have much interest in them as people, but he's helping them because he expects them to help him in return. everyone wins. and this is his approach to most interactions early in the story.

(side-note, but god i'm also so excited for eden to slowly become attached to the group. he thinks he's doing suuuuch a good job keeping them at arm's length and that this is all just to cure his fuckin brain worm, but before he realizes it he's decided that he would gladly die for any of them. they're his best friends. found family but he's the last one to figure that out.)

(and that but twofold for the romance shit he's gonna have going on with gale and wyll,,,,, i wanna talk so much about the romance arc i have in mind for those three and the slowburnnnnn but i'm nervous for no gd reason)

BUT ANYWAY. AN EXCEPTION TO THAT IS CHILDREN. there's a few instances in the early arcs of this story where eden is presented with a situation where a child is in danger, and without fail every time, he drops everything to help. eden has a HUGE soft spot for kids and their safety is important to him, even kids he doesn't know.

with adults, it's gonna depend on the circumstances whether or not he does anything to help. with a kid, he's going to help.

and a lot of this comes from his upbringing. eden basically had to raise himself and his younger brother, and he easily falls into an older sibling role when interacting with kids. that, and he remembers all too well how the adults in his life when he was a child didn't do shit for him... so, much of the time, he assumes that no one else is going to help, and it is up to him to protect the child.

one of my favorite examples from this in the first proper arc of the story is with a little tiefling boy who wandered away from his parents, and ended up being lured to the edge of a cliff by a flock of harpies that wanted to fucking kill and eat him. eden sees what's going on, figures out what's about to happen, and decides *absolutely the fuck not.* he takes charge and grabs the boy, taking him away from the danger and handing him off to another member of the group. and then he turns to take care of the harpies.

another example is with another tiefling kid being threatened by a powerful druid. eden knows logically that he should be working with this druid because she has a lot of power and influence in this area, and if he wants to be healed, he's probably gonna wanna stay on her good side.

but when he sees her threatening to fucking kill an innocent child, all of that goes out the window, and now the only thing stopping eden from attempting to gore this woman with his horns is knowing that this is a fight he won't win.

idk i'm not sure how much sense this is making but it's something that makes me super emotional to think about. all bets are off when it comes to kids, especially younger kids. eden sees a kid on their own and goes "is anyone gonna be their new brother?" and doesn't wait for an answer.

okay thank u for your time

1. i don’t know much about bg3 tbh my only knowledge of it is other people’s ocs, mainly eden tho HFJDJRJ so in my mind its just the eden game where eden is the mc and im sure thats not good for his ego PFF—

2. eden being a big brother makes me HMM EMOTIONAL and the instinctual way he just looks after any kiddo he comes across: wEH

3. i can’t wait until eden has the realization that welp he’s stuck with these guys they are his family now and he’s stuck it’s gonna be both sweet and really funny FJEJRJA

[chirpsythismorning]

I am going to be honest, I want a quick Mlvn breakup and a quicker Byler buildup/it going canon BUT I also think it is very fitting for Mlvn's breakup to take place in the later episodes. E1 is literally into action, El's focus seems to be on Max and she doesn't break up her relationship issues with Mike for that reason. I just cannot really see El coming at Mike and bringing up her relationship issues or breaking up with him with everything else going on in these first episodes. It seems very likely that she'd just ignore the topic and would want to focus on Max and the fight that is coming to Hawkins. Her breaking up with Mike could potentially happen in EP3 or E4 when she feels ready to talk or when Mike finally brings up the argument when the time comes. Ofc they will have to focus on relationship issues too but I just think it doesn't fit in the early episodes to go for a Mlvn breakup.

It really does depend on how the first two episodes go down I feel like.

I doubt they're saving the time jump for smack dab halfway through the season. I just don't think mid-point would be enough time to have left to finally jump into the time difference. And I also doubt they'll devote up to 5 episodes to directly post s4, bc in all reality, they probably want to have the aged up cast be doing as much footage post-time jump as possible.

Along with that, they did say that early s5 would be fast paced. They revealed that s5 opener was pretty much set in stone, and that the first 2-3ish hours are pretty fast paced and they have a plan.

And for those reasons I do think we're in for an early s5 time jump.

Which means if we're looking at them having a plan and getting to work within like 1-3 hours, i'm going to guess that whatever happens at that 3 hour mark is going to be massive, leading to the time jump, into a setting where Mike and El are most certainly broke up.

This doesn't even have to do with byler purposes.

Mike AND El deserve closure on their relationship as soon as possible. Fans that love Mike and El don't need to be wasting their time watching s5 El scenes thinking she's holding out hope for Mike or this or that. She did not like his monologue, as it was quite literally the opposite of what she wanted to hear. So why leave that truth up to interpretation for half the last season? Why not let El speak for herself, allow the audience to digest it and accept it, so they too can focus on El focusing on Max.

I think if they were going to do a whole other half season of them being together along with them still being together post-time jump, it would make their point of having El distance herself from Mike at the end of s4 sort of moot?

I do truly think the next time they hang out or talk, she's not going to want there to be this present assumption they are still together because of what he said at Surfer Boy. I think that after what happened at the hospital, Mike might have started to convince himself that she did feel all those things for him and that his love for her saved max and it's miracle worthy. But then she's ignoring him at the cabin and that's not exactly great for that interpretation of things...

Being in a relationship means there is going to be an expectation that they want moments of privacy to be alone together and they're going to be gravitating towards each other in group settings and stuff... and that's just not happening, s4's ending made that more clear than anything else arguably.

So while I do think that El is going to be focused on Max, having this ambiguity most of the season that Mike is like in the back of her mind and stuff would take away focus from El finally having an arc compeleltely seperate from Mike and with the audience finally being able to let go of Mike and El. Because arguably, a big part of the reason fans can't let go of it is because they are convinced El wants and needs Mike romantically, irrefutably, and she still feels this way at the end of s4. But that is not the case. And with this being the very last season, the whole season needs to feel cohesive and not like a back and forth fake out for love triangle reasons.

This is why I think they've always made a point to have conflict between couples early in the season, because then it allows you to give the other part of the love triangle a chance without feeling guilty about it.

For example, Steve and Nancy technically never broke up. They went through almost an identical situation as Mike and El did, where Steve asked her to tell him that she loved him and she couldn't, followed by them just not seeing each other for the rest of the season and her showing up at the end with Jonathan by her side. They had a talk about it and Steve seemed to understand. They didn't need to say out loud I break up with you, for both of them to know it was pretty much over. Arguably it was even more over in Mike and El's case, because El actually sent Mike a letter without the word love, making it pretty obvious where she stood in their relationship.

And this is sort of how I understand the break-up in s5 to go down, where it's not even really a break up? Like are they even technically back together? Following the approach they went with jancy in s2, arguably, all that needs to happen is Mike and El having a moment alone, with Mike struggling to try to be who she wants him to be (bc he still probably assumes she wants him that way) and her just confronting him that they both cut the bs... I'm praying PRAYING for an I'm not stupid final parallel from El to Mike.

Basically, it can be argued El already broke up with him, or at least wanted a break and so her acknowledging her side of things and how she felt, now after years of not being able to really speak for herself (like literally), she finally can, and addressing how she feels about everything is something that needs to be done sooner than later.

El doesn't need to be in silence with the audience assuming her thoughts for her, any longer than necessary at this point. And she can focus on Max before during and after all of that, with the audience being forced to accept that there is no room for ambiguity in where she stands in the situation.

And I think Mike is obviously going to be confused.

And I think Will is probably going to be trying to give them their space assuming they want privacy.

And it's all going to be very tragic and epic basically.

But with the time jump likely happening earlier in the season than later, I think that we're due for an early milkvan breakup for the obvious reasons, but also because both of those characters deserve closure instead of living in uncertainty any longer.

Not to mention, byler getting together after like a few days or a week after mike and el broke up, would be uncomfy. It's just not ideal when they have the affordance of a time jump right there that they can take advantage of, give Mike and Will a little more slow-burn (depending on where they're even at I'm scared someones going to get stuck in the UD or something like JESUS).

To me it all just makes sense when you consider a bunch of other factors beyond just El needs to focus on Max. Bc... Yeah no shit and she doesn't need the audience thinking she's focused on Mike when she's not...

Like let's give El her independence arc and have it be for real and not with this cloud of she needs romantic love to feel fulfilled dragging her along. Romantic love is wonderful and beautiful, but for women it is always always framed as peak endgame for us, when we are more than that and we deserve some stories that focus on those other aspects of ourselves as being enough to make us whole, especially when the person we want to love doesn't love us the way we want to be loved, and so we're just settling for a love for the sake of an idea, and not how it actually makes us feel.

And I also think it's likely that we're looking at byler being stuck together at least 2+ episodes by themselves, and that's likely to be middle season, and Mike and El will definitely need to be broken up at that point to appreciate those scenes...

For now I think it's very likely that the break up will happen either in 5x01 or 5x02. If it happens later than that, then I think it's likely that we'll get a flashback revealing they've been broken up for a while and it'll make us rethink their previous scenes a little bit differently.

I also think it's likely that no matter what happens, there's a big possibility Will and maybe even the others won't be clued in on the break up right away, but especially Will. And that will cause him to distance himself and lead to a convo where he's basically confronted by Mike frustrated over Will avoiding him, with Will revealing that he'd thought that's what Mike wanted, for Will to give him and El space... And Mike, already broken up with El at this point's reaction to that... would be interesting. Because obviously that's not true. Maybe that could lead up to their 3rd and final boss fight?

I do believe we're getting a s5 fight (Will packed a blue shirt for himself in his backpack, which he has in Hawkins), but I also think it's going to end differently than the previous two..

On that note, when it comes to the byler aspect of it, it really is crunch time. Each season has to make you feel a certain way about things. I don't think it would make sense to have s5 be exactly like s4 for half of the running time, and then switch up halfway through, to like okay NOW it's obvious Mike and El aren't in love and Mike and Will are on their way. The WHOLE season needs to make us feel that way, so that we can appreciate it as like a whole experience.

Like I said, they could get away with it being 5x02, maybe 5x03, but I do think that they need to give off a vibe of 'we want you to be rooting for Mike and Will' as early as possible, so people can register it, agknowledge it and then have the capacity to appreciate it the way they intend, all in time for them actually getting together. And 1-2 episodes near the end isn't enough time for that. And having too much ambiguity for Mike and El simultaneously as they're building up Mike and Will's obvious endgame, would be just unfair to all of them, but especially El.

Please give us an I dump your ass part II and have them laugh crying bc it's something Max said...

Now that I think about it. Max being in the hospital could make Mike feel a little bit in agreement with how Max felt about his actions in s3... Like it's not like he would be resentful or arguing with a person in a coma right? If anything he'll be thinking even more critically of his behavior with El when he doesn't have Max there to call him out for it...

Thinking thoughts...

[webbedphantom]

Okay so I know I have a bunch of drafts but I really want to talk about my Ideas for Sae's Palace in my AU

To start off with, if you're familiar with the AU at all, you'd know that the MetaNav just straight up doesn't exist, so you might be wondering how I'd even do Sae's Palace? Like is it more about changing her heart through character interactions, kinda like how they do in-game but just making that the focus?

Yes and no.

They do actually go into her Palace, but to explain the how and why of it, there's some setup I need to do first.

See, the way this world works is that with every Persona user awakened by the Metaverse Serum (AF-15), the more the Metaverse begins to leak into the real world. And by the time of Sae's arc, there's now no less than 8 people awakened in this manner, meaning that the connection is now strong enough for something major to cross over, provided it got a little push.

The specifics of this I haven't exactly worked out yet, but someone (probably Akechi being driven mad by his symbiote) sets off a device that causes Palaces to erupt out of the ground, covering the surrounding area in a thick fog that turns people into mindless puppets for the shadows to control, forcing them to go out and bring more people into it. (If you've read my Other Verses doc, this is the scenario that inspired the Kingdom Come verse)

Naturally, this whole scenario isn't something the team was prepared to handle, and since it's affecting the entire city, they need to split up to take care of things, trying to save as many people as they can.

There's a lot that happens during this section, with each of the team members getting their own little missions fighting against one of the palaces (including a lot of original ones, as aside from Shido, Okumura, and Futaba, every other Palace Ruler is in prison and they sort of turn the place into a mishmash of all of their Palaces), either on their own or in small groups, before meeting back up to try and get things back to normal.

Now before we get into Sae proper, we need to do a bit more background to catch you up on her history in this world.

At the beginning of the year, Makoto and Sae's father was still alive, and was a police captain heading the team assigned to bring in the Spider-Man. But while he eventually realizes that they're on the same side, and even helps Aaron and the team against the Shadow Possessed victims, in the end he dies, getting stabbed through the chest by Jack-o'-lantern (As in someone possessed by a Jack-o'-lantern/Pyro Jack, though an evolved version of it that was strengthened by Yaldabaoth to make it more akin to the comic book supervillain of the same name. He's got a sort of Grim Reaper vibe to him, including a gigantic scythe blade on one of his arms) taking a blow that was meant for Aaron.

This naturally scars Makoto pretty badly, since she saw it happen. And while she didn't see the event herself, Sae was no different. She and her father had grown a bit distant over the years, but she still loved and respected him greatly, so losing him really tore her up inside.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Shido pulled some strings to make it seem as though it was Spider-Man who killed Captain Niijima. After all, no one really knew what happened that night, only that the Captain was last seen chasing after the vigilante, and while he didn't use it often, Aaron was known to carry a knife, even if it had a completely different blade from the actual murder weapon.

So Sae, believing in the lies of the falsified autopsy report, began to hunt down the Phantom Spider like her life depended on it.

Over the course of the next few months, Makoto would encounter the symbiote, which led to her lashing out at everyone around her as it took advantage of rage and grief. This would include her sister, and while the team would get her to come to her senses, it would lead to Sae finding out that she not only knew, but worked alongside the Spider. And while she would forgive her for what she did while wearing the suit, that revelation would cause her to disown her younger sister, forcing Makoto to stay with Futaba and Sojiro until she could get her bearings again.

NOW back to our present crisis, despite the growing rift between the two, Makoto still cares deeply for her sister, and immediately rushes to her workplace to make sure she's okay. Only to find a casino standing in the place of the courthouse.

Makoto manages to infiltrate the place, searching desperately for Sae, only to find her on a sort of show stage, being held captive by her Shadow. She tries to free her but ends up getting caught, and is forced to relinquish her symbiote to keep her sister from harm.

Aaron, having just wrapped up dealing with all of his old villains and the Shadows of the Palace Rulers trying to break out of prison, gets word (somehow, I'm not quite sure yet. Maybe Futaba??) that Makoto has been captured, and despite how exhausted he is, he immediately rushes over to try to save her.

Now I'm not quite sure how to work this in, but an idea I had that I thought would make for a neat scene was if Shadow Sae, for some reason, forced the two sisters to do a duet of Whims of Fate (inspired by this cover of the song). Not really sure why, maybe she's just toying with them or something, but I really like the concept.

As this is going on, Aaron begins tearing through the casino, fighting through hoards of shadows, chucking roulette tables across rooms, smashing through walls. He's getting tired but he can't afford to wait even a second, not while Makoto's in danger.

He breaks into the show room, and the second Sae sees him (the man who she believes killed her father), she snaps. Her shadow immediately transforms into Leviathan and begins to tear into the Spider. Makoto seeing this as a chance to escape, trying to use the fight as a distraction to get Sae to safety and get her suit back.

But Sae refuses to move, just staring at the battle before her in silence, almost frozen, but not due to trauma of seeing the Spider again. She's seen him before, several times. No, she's rather torn. Part of her wants him to see justice, to be brought in for his crime and unmasked. But another part of her, the part her shadow embodies, just wants him dead, wants him to suffer like she had to. So she just... watches.

Makoto isn't satisfied with that, though. She tries again and again to get through to her sister, to get her away from here or to convince her that Aaron didn't do it, but nothing seems to work. All the while Aaron is fighting for his life, and he's losing. He's too worn out, and can barely keep up with Leviathan's onslaught of attacks.

Eventually, Makoto figures out that the only way she'll be able to get through is by confessing everything, recounting how she was there when their Dad died, how she saw him get stabbed through the chest to save Aaron, how he fought so hard to keep them all safe, how they did everything they could to save him but it wasn't enough. It's painful for her, to relive one of the worst moments of her life, but she can't let her sister keep lashing out at the wrong man.

It takes Sae a while to process this, unsure if she entirely believes it. But in the end, she decides to act, helping Makoto get her symbiote back and working with her to take down her shadow and get them all out of here.

This would eventually lead to her getting her Persona, though it wouldn't happen right away. She needs to confirm the lies for herself, and come to terms with just how close her darker half came to killing someone, and how she was content to just watch it happen. But at some point, either towards the end or after the Palace situation is resolved, she would awaken to her power (One of the only natural awakenings in the AU, because yeah the connection to the Metaverse is now so strong that Personas can manifest in reality without the serum) as the Wraith.

She'd be a sort of mix between Wraith from the comics and Daredevil (both OG and Electra flavours), using her Persona to induce fear in her enemies, as well as hard hitting physical and gun skills, twin stun batons which she can ricochet off walls like Daredevil's billy clubs, and Wraith's wrapping... thingies for swinging around or tying people up.

I'm not entirely sure what her Persona would be though. I've seen some people either give her a Transformer like Makoto, or turn Leviathan into her Persona, and while I feel like that last one has some potential, I also think she should have something more... original I guess?

I don't know, kinda just spitballing at this point. Most of this stuff is very loose and definitely still needs some work, but I think the general idea is solid.

But anyways, that's my concept. Someday I want to flesh out the rest of this arc, like have an actual explanation for the Palace thing as well as a resolution to it, plus all the little side stories that take place with the rest of the team (I'd love for Futaba to come across the Palace of a shut-in who's going through something similar to what she does in canon, and for Haru to take on Sugimura. Maybe even have Ann and Ryuji come help Aaron at the prison so they can team up to take down Kamoshida, since they weren't actually a part of that fight in this universe).

There's a lot of potential here, honestly.

But that's enough of my ramblings. Thanks for reading!

[4filen0tfound4]

hey can you do a character analysis/comparison on zonic and shard to find out what silver likes in his men

Cries. They’re both stupid guys who piss her off idk. Real analysis tho

Ok Ok so Shard and Zonic have completely different origins. One was created purely to cause chaos and the other was created purely for order and stability.

However, they’re both Sonic. Yet how they view that is also entirely different. Ever since Shard was just “Metal Sonic” his entire purpose was not only to live up to him (power wise), but to best him. After he was rebuilt, he wanted nothing more but to live up to Sonic. Sure he could match with him power wise, but he couldn’t just copy and paste his exact personality and friend groups. I think his entire arc was him becoming his own person and realizing he’s more than just Metal or Sonic. With Zonic, he knows he’s just like Sonic, and even believes that he can beat him if he really needed to. Due to his origins, he feels superior to Sonic, while Shard looks down on his origins as it’s the exact cause of his insecurities. I believe, despite these differences, their core values and personalities are very similar. Zonic puts up this serious front for the sake of a mission, but it barely lasts that long. They’re both so. GOOFY. They make terrible puns nobody laughs at besides themselves and can act cheeky if they believe they’re better than whoever they’re being cheeky with. They’re also quick to act. Like a pathetic wet cat. The moment their insecurities are exposed and if there’s a doubt in their mind they fumble. I think it affects Zonic more than Shard, because he’s so used to being so sure of himself that if something goes wrong, it messes him up like crazy. Thissss is what also affects how they interact with Sonic. Despite his superiority complex, Zonic is really dependent on Sonic. This can stem off of his own fears that are now eased when he works along Sonic, or just the fact that Sonic is from the Prime Zone and without Sonic there’s literally no. Purpose for him. No matter what, Sonic is the OG and Zonic is the copy. His entire world is structured after Sonic’s and made to protect and defend Sonic’s. Shard has the exact same dilemma concerning Sonic, but it’s now taken from a more personal level (which I rlly enjoy and makes the comparison more fun) His interactions after he was rebuilt started out tense, but through the development of friendship and his displays of kindness, he was able to become Sonic’s friend. I’m not gonna say Zonic and Sonic didn’t develop a friendship bc they definitely did, but Sonic put trust in Zonic *after* Zonic revealed he was him. It was more like a “I have to trust you bc you are me even tho I can’t always agree with you” then develop a friendship rather than “You have to earn my trust because I never had any for you in the first place” like it was for Shard

BUT WHATEVER WHO CARES AB SONIC LETS TALK AB SILVER !!! Shard and Silver had more of a one sided enemy thing going on. Silver wasn’t there to make friends, but ended up making friends anyway because idk this is sonic the hedgehog. They were very. Brash and rude to each other, but Shard was clearly having fun teasing and messing with Silv while Silv was debating on killing him like half the time (I’m getting lazy just reread the wiki page like the rest of us) Because Zonic fucking DIED and every zone was erased besides the prime zone (which was a fucking LIE bc of the silver age and like several other issues but whatever) Silv and Zonic never interacted howeverrrr it’s easy to predict how they’ll interact. Silv, unless told that he could trust him in the beginning and that they need to work together, would be hostile and probably bite him ngl. Zonic, esp after the Silver Age, would probably arrest Silver. This would cause Silver to be on edge and they would probably fight a lot. Zonic would win but not rlly bc Silver doesn’t stop fighting that’s like his thing. I still think that although their fights would like strain their relationship, they would end up becoming allies due to having a similar goal and a similar way to attain it. Also thank god Silver is finally partnered with someone who wouldn’t blink if told he needs to kill someone in order to maintain order. They both have the same job and morals, so if they ever got over their differences then they would probably make a good team. So um TLDR Silver likes guys that he hates and finds annoying and only get in her way, only to find out it’s a good kind of annoying and they can rlly be her friends. They’re just like me fr

[floralcrematorium]

What about,

🌴, 👻, 🤢.

I'm not really sure what else to say.

Thanks for the ask! Sorry I really ramble on in this one

🌴 - Out of the official nations, who do you consider the most underrated?

Of the main group? Definitely China, but that's something everyone can agree on.

I'm not sure who I would consider underrated per say because that implies I'm familiar with them and think they deserve more attention. There's a lot of characters I'm not familiar with either because of a lack of canon attention, fandom attention, or disinterest on my part (thinking specifically of Australia and New Zealand on that last point, sorry!). It also depends on like,,, the corner of the fandom you've found yourself in. I try to branch out because I like to know about characters outside of the ones we see most often in source. That and fans making content for the East Asia and South East Asia characters go hard in regards to all aspects of putting their faves out there.

I think the two characters who come to mind that I don't see a lot of content for are Cameroon and Thailand. Cameroon is seen maybe? Once? In the source material? And I can't remember seeing Thailand more than once in the anime as well. I've been seeking out more SE Asia content as I look to learn more about the Philippines (I am attempting to reconnect with my heritage so I seek Piri content, but that's not the point here), and I think I run into people talking about Mr. Thailand the least? Like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines are relatively new characters (I know they've been out for a couple years but I've been back in the fandom for like. a month) and get a good amount of attention. I also know Vietnam seems to be pretty well liked? Anyway, I really need to catch up on the webcomic because I know there was a SEAsia arc that I've taken a peek at but haven't read (not gonna lie to you besties, the only webcomic strip I've read read since being back is the furby one).

I also never see anything about Moldova (probably because he is a child) and Cyprus (unless it's to make fun of his haircut).

👻 - There are lots of explanations about what happened to Prussia after he was dissolved and why he's still around. What's yours?

Full transparency, I am going completely off of memory here. I personally think that nations still maintain their physical beings even after their official dissolutions -- the land may be under a different name, but their culture still lives on through their people. Poland being the prime example. I don't have enough knowledge on Partitioned Poland so I'm not going to ramble about something I have no business rambling about, but long story short: Poland was a powerful state, then didn't exist in name but Poles maintained their cultural identity through their fight for independence, and then Poland became a sovereign state again? Knowing the way Germany was divided following the Potsdam conference, I think Prussia as a,,, human thing must've undergone something similar to Poland. I know the timeline of Prussia's real life dissolution is a bit dubious; You'll get different answers (the unification of Germany, pre-WWII, 1945/47, and 1957).

I personally think so long the culture and people of a nation persist, so does their personification. I think nations are physically powerful in some way (See: Alfred's super strength) and are capable of unnatural regeneration and such, but I don't think they're almighty supernatural beings. I like the idea that first and foremost they are human. Their loss of sovereignty doesn't mean they'll die, but they're no longer seemingly invincible.

Also, Gilbert is one spiteful motherfucker. God will have to kill Gilbert himself.

🤢 - What aspect of canon bugs you the most? Could be a name, an age, a birthday, etc.

A lot. There's the obvious easy answer of... early canon material and the English dub, but that's something literally everyone talks about and we've all heard it enough.

It's not my business to speak on the names of other nations' names, but I've seen lots of criticism and suggestions for better names for characters like Greece, Egypt, and all 5 Nordics

Age is the one that bothers me the most. I cannot talk about it without rambling and getting disorganized so here are very very basic points. I have deleted 3 separate drafts of rants, so here are simple bullets with no further explanation:

Veneziano and Romano should not be depicted as children during the Renaissance considering a. the cities they respectively represent at their core are old as fuck and b. Italy as we know it today was unified in 1861. There's a lot of nuance and history here that I don't have the time to get into

Why is Alfred a teenager when a. America as a sovieregn state today is older than both Italy and Germany, who are given the human ages in Hetalia of 20 while Alfred is 19, and b. the United States entered a state of rapid growth (cough imperialism cough colonialism cough Western capitalism). I think he should technically older, but am not too mad because personality wise, he is very much 19

Why is Canada depicted as the same age physically as America all the time when Canada's road to independence was much much more drawn out than America's (this is a topic I need to look into further because I have No solids answers)

Why is China the only Hetalia who is given their age in regards to the actual age of the country whereas everyone else gets the age of their human body (I know it's probably just for the bit on how old China's been around, but Japan and India are also pretty damn old)

Aging can be based on numerous different things which. Is. Confusing. This is why I don't like writing nationverse lol

ANYWAY

Something else that bothers me are the things in Alfred's design that represents parts of the country. His bomber jacket has a 50 on the back and he wears it in the WWII strips when Alaska and Hawai'i weren't legally states yet. Also why are his glasses Texas????? Huh???? The cowlick being Nantucket is cute, I like that. BUT TEXAS????? I kinda wish there was something to represent the Great Lakes, but hey, that's what headcanons are for

Why do they keep darkening Francis' hair color?????? I actually really like it darker, but I swear with each season his hair gets a shade darker and it's kinda funny

Anyway. This took too long to write, sorry it's so long to read.

Hetalia Asks

[laf-outloud]

What an episode!!! The cast isn’t lying when they say each episode just gets better and better!

I love how quick Abby is to tell people Hoyt’s crimes to bring them into the group. I also love that Kate is going to be the group’s voice of reason. Abby is too emotionally invested (guess that happens when your husband is murdered), Hoyt is too chaotic, and Calian has too much on his plate and mind.

Abby with the quick thinking setting herself up as Sheriff Davidson’s gentle lady assistant. Despite the protests of the boys her taking this job gives her the one they need to take down the Davidsons. I always worry Abby is going to set off Tom’s alarm bells, but sometimes it pays to be underestimated. Ask not how misogyny ruins your life, but how you can make it work in your favor. She really effortlessly switches between independent woman who can get a man’s begrudging respect (with the judge in Austin) and delicate lady depending on the situation/company. I love a wily woman, and Abby is slowly adjusting to the Wild West.

I know I’m in the minority, but I actually like Lucia. I think she’ll surprise us, I would be shocked if she was the only one who didn’t contain multitudes. Plus, I find her dynamic with Calian to be very sweet. They’re too people torn between their families and their desires to be their own people. And I don’t blame her for getting a bit flustered around Calian, I would too. Sorry Hoyt!

Kai’s character is starting to get fleshed out, and I am shocked at what is being revealed. Murder, theft and love along the railroad? What a backstory! Though how dare that snake oil salesman extort Kai, he’s just trying to make a new, honest life for himself. He’s better than me, I would have killed him the first time he came around. He’s the kind of creep no one would miss.

Kate really knows how to put on a show! Get you a Pinkerton agent who can solve crime and throw a party and with same flare. Katie Findley is such a talent, I’m so glad they got to show off their stuff. And devastated at how things played out between her and Hagan. Hopefully this isn’t the last we see of him, I was looking forward to see more of their Father-Daughter // business partners in crime dynamic. Him leaving his hat behind for her was so bittersweet too. I don’t want them to leave off on a bad note! She needs to know he only signed over the hotel to protect her!

And Tom Davidson this episode! He’s always getting one over on our heroes, and it’s so frustrating in the best way possible. Loved seeing him interact with his aunt (the real mastermind behind all this) and a peek into his backstory. Rescued from an asylum in his youth by his aunt? No wonder he’s so quick to do all of her bidding, and why he’s not afraid of the stakes. He’s probably seen some things, experienced some trauma. And the musical number may have warned the town council to be wary of him, but it also let him know that he needs to collect some allies/curry some favor with the townspeople. And he was smart to collect Kai. Was so surprised when he appeared and “saved” the day! And I think we’re going to see more of him pursing Abby, romantically. Between his interest in the last episode and his aunt encouraging him twice that Abby has her stamp of approval, this is shaping up to be a quite the game of cat and mouse. First he stole the job, and now potentially the wife, abet unknowingly.

Lots of potential love arcs emerge in this episode. The classic love triangle between Hoyt-Abby-Calian (Abby and Hoyt’s romp had great tension, and I loved Hoyt mentioning to others to try and bring it back to being platonic), and Hoyt-Lucia-Calian (if anyone could steal a lady from Hoyt, it’s Calian). Hints of something between Kai and Kate (is it just admiration, a puppy crush, something more?) and Tom potentially pursuing Abby. Really enjoying how they tackle romance in this show, I like that it lurks in the background rather than overtaking the mysteries of the town and it’s people that we’re watching unfold.

Fantastic review! Spot on with everything! Careful, or I'm going to start expecting these every episode! LMAO!

I'll have to watch again because I missed fully watching Calian and Lucia's scenes. I think she's sweet, but where everyone else is so dynamic, I worry that she can get a bit lost.

Kai needs to join the group of four! If only because I think both he and Kate are a bit rattled right now and they need each other. (I wondered if there was tragedy in Kai's past, though I didn't peg him for murder!) Also, do I think Kate and Kai will end in romance? Probably not. I don't see Kate as wanting that kind of relationship, but it's adorable to see.

"...it also let him know that he needs to collect some allies/curry some favor with the townspeople. And he was smart to collect Kai." I did not catch that as a calculated move from Tom to curry favor with everyone's favorite launderer/restauranter/designer/murderer.

All the awards to Katie Findlay for a stellar performance tonight!

I absolutely love how every minute in this show moves the stories along, increases the tension, and provides new mysteries. Nothing is wasted and I am never bored!

"Ask not how misogyny ruins your life, but how you can make it work in your favor." This should be every woman's motto!

(Petition for Nathaniel Hagan to be drawn back into town!)