#hitman theory

[midnight1nk]

New year, new arc.

What a way to start 2025, excited SMG4 fans are jumping in their seats. And naturally, theorists are already hard at work looking into the "Hitman" arc. Now, with a couple of episodes and teasers out, let's see if I can take a crack at it.

Though, unfortunately due to new information, a lot of this had to be shortened and rewritten. So, just a fair warning for you all.

Analysis & Predictions for the Hitman Arc

⚠️ DISCLAIMER IN INTRO POST ⚠️

THE TEASERS

Can we talk about the teasers? Let’s talk about the teasers. /ref

There has been some discussion about them, what they mean in the arc, so I do wanna clear some things up before we go on: the teasers and the canon timeline don’t exactly line up with each other, one to one, but the teasers do give clues in what this arc is about.

First off, post scheduling patterns. These can tell us how long the arc will be:

Teasers for full arcs (≥7 episodes) would be posted once every week, near the same day an episode is released right after

Teasers for a mini-arc (like the Meme Factory one) or story changes (building the Castle, 3's Coffee & Bombs) would be posted twice every week, sandwiched between every new episode (therefore more frequent posting)

Second, as I mentioned before, teasers don’t line up with the canon plot, but they're not completely wrong. For example, WOTFI 2024: the teasers told us that the Crew except for Meggy received tickets in the mail to a new carnival in town (later revealed to be Puzzle Park), but in canon, they were personally brought into Puzzle Park by Leggy before being trapped there. Even so, one thing still holds true, that a new carnival is set up and most of the Crew gets invited.

Same thing here for the Hitman Arc! Let’s go through them one by one:

Many fans have picked up on the composition as a one by one reference to the SpongeBob "Kill Everyone" meme (also known as the Magic Conch Shell meme). This was later confirmed by Ben, who has been making the teasers for the Team:

A bit of context behind the meme itself: in the SpongeBob series, there is a purple shell with a sound system attached, referred as the Magic Conch Shell, in which characters plead to the shell for advice/solution to a problem and from pulling the draw string, they believe in whatever the shell answers without question. Here are the some scenes:

Since it’s connected to this one, let’s go over to the next one:

And here is where we connect to the canon timeline that, between “Hobo Mario” and “You Shouldn’t Have Done That”, Mario took the kids as part of the mission given to him. Then, later on it is revealed that the one who gave it was Mr. WPNZ, and Mario did it because he thought the mission would eventually reduce Karen’s stress as a single mother.

This, we learn but don’t you find it strange that in both teasers, Mario is presented as menacing or dazed? Following instructions from a (seemingly random) walkie-talkie in such a state without question, even if it's Mario we're talking about?

You already know the cogs in my theorist brain were working overtime, and indeed, we believed for a while that Mario may have been turned into a sleeper agent. Though it was technically disproven since Mario did it willingly to help Karen, there’s something I can’t put my finger on. It just feels strange. We’ll come back to this. Anyway, up next, the third and fourth teaser posted:

This time, we get Karen’s side, preparing herself to fight and doing whatever it takes to find her kids with help from SMG4.

Now, if the captions taught us anything is that the “speaker” is a character related to the arc (most of the time being 4 reacting to the situation). For the hitman arc, they are 2 voices:

Teaser 1 — the “speaker” is not talking to Mario out of fear but of persuasion, convincing Mario that they’re friendly. Trustworthy. This is the voice of the walkie-talkie since that’s how the mission was given and the device is in the teaser itself, which we now know that is Mr. WPNZ

Teaser 2 — Instead of Mr. WPNZ, the “speaker” switched to another character, based on the name “mario” not capitalized and the confused tone. A contrast to the first teaser’s speaker. This belongs to Karen’s kids. (Difference is they’re confused about Mario standing by the doorway in the teaser while in canon they questioned Mario after they arrived at the warehouse.)

Teaser 3 & 4 — As we learned from “You Shouldn’t Have Done That”, Mr. WPNZ practically bashes on Karen as a mother. It only makes sense that Mr. WPNZ returns as the “speaker”, only this time bashing on her for thinking she can run away from her past as an assassin.

Again, the teasers and the canon timeline aren’t the exact same. But I present this to you now so you can keep this in mind later on. Ok? Coolio 👍

MR. WPNZ & HITMAN INC.

Speaking of, let’s go over what I analyzed about one of the arc’s main antagonist: Mr. WPNZ

The name “WPNZ” sounds more like a code name than an actual one — Sure, none of the names in the universe are considered normal. We got numbers in here for meme’s sake /silly. But it’s more so that the name is strangely written as four letters. At least, SMG turns out to be an abbreviation of “Super Meme Guardian”. If Mr. WPNZ is part of Hitman Inc, then it’ll make sense for him to have a code name. It allows the corporation to dehumanize them so they can be assassins. (Did Karen have a code name too?) ....oh god, why is my gut telling me the Team’s going to pull the Conquest speech meme from Invincible *head in hands*

“I ain’t no liar when it comes to guns, kid.” “I’ll even give ya a target to practice on.” — Obviously skilled with guns and programming but it also confirms that he’s willing to lie and whatever it takes to accomplish his goal.

“Brother’s getting on your nerves? I know that feeling…” — Now, this is up to the viewer whether or not to believe him completely. It could just be another form of manipulation from WPNZ to join in “the game” but it’s also possible that he’s relating to her through shared experiences. So yes, WPNZ could have brothers/siblings.

Well, that’s all set and good. But I’m sure that’s not what you all came for. Ahem. Mr. WPNZ, you are the father

The nickname he calls the kids, “half pints” — Yes, it’s an actual nickname people use but also, a pint of milk = cats stereotypically drink milk. That nickname’s too specific for the Team to use, it’d be weird otherwise.

“Wanna see something cool?” — Somehow (and hopefully I’m not the only one), I got reminded of the “hey! you wanna see something cool?” meme from Puss in Boots 2 movie when I first heard it. Probably the Team didn’t intend to write that BUT if it was, props to them. Because if you knew anything about the movie, it’s about a cat constantly risking his life for his pride and what it means to sacrifice for success: family and love. While Puss in Boots learns a valuable lesson, the same couldn’t be said for Mr. WPNZ, who chose to stay with Hitman Inc. and is willing to lure the kids into the corporation.

“Reckless and chaotic” — this was what Karen describe about the father in “The Fight Of All Time” and I personally think it fits for Mr. WPNZ. He approved of their confrontational attitude after Zack asked “Where’s this bozo who wanted to play minecraft?”, manipulating literal kids to use a gun as a game element or “stress reliever”, or the fact that the target range/game is seen as “a little action”. Uh, red flags here, like hello? It doesn’t matter if this isn’t a real gun or not, it’s still insane to treat it like a toy.

“Who are you calling old? C’mere, ya little idiot!” — It speaks for itself, there’s absolutely no reason why WPNZ would act fatherly toward them other than he really is their father.

Bashing on Karen the whole time — WPNZ has been calling Karen as a boring and strict mom to use as an “uncool” example. Not only that, he’s taking credit for the kids’ skills by saying, “I guess it must be in your blood”.

WPNZ’s yellow and gray subtitles — The subtitles are a very important aspect in the show. Like, for example, the color theory of 3’s subtitles with the shade of blue determining how true he is in what he says. For this part, please to take this with a grain of salt. Usually the subtitle colors are based on the color scheme of each character, but I think it works here, excluding Cory since he only speaks in audio clips. Karen and Zack’s subtitles are shades of green/teal. Katie’s has teal and yellow, naturally because of her appearance. HOWEVER, WPNZ also has yellow in his subtitles. It can be a coincidence, but then again, the existence of a father wasn’t mentioned until recently, giving the Team time to design the father and have the colors picked out intentionally.

But you might be wondering, why now is he looking for his kids and testing their shooting skills? For that, we’re gonna have to talk about the underlying antagonist of this arc: Hitman Inc.

Ever since the corporation’s debut in the “We Must Kill Mario” episode, it’s still a mystery to this day so let’s pick apart every detail we do have!

Known as Karen’s former job, they are a shadow corporation…. literally, the identities of the higher-ups are so secret that they’re seen as shadowy figures. Karen’s boss had to literally use a voice filter on a phone call to Karen, a former employee. Anyway, as businesses like this typically do, they have connections and take special requests from clients. And the biggest mystery of all: their technology.

Somehow, they’re able to control devices remotely → Karen’s phone in “We Must Kill Mario” and the PC computers in “You Shouldn’t Have Done That”

(WPNZ) able to create a portal to teleport the kids somewhere else

This level of tech reminded many fans of Tari & Clench (how they could teleport into video games and have glitch effects) or the portal Mario made in “Mario Teaches Parenting”, but much more sophisticated and advanced.

Then, there’s the walkie-talkie. In the arc's first episode, when Karen tries to create the illusion of the dumpsters as an "exclusive shopping mall, " Mario jumps into one of the bins and finds an ominous walkie-talkie. Mario thinks nothing of it and claims it as his new phone. By the end, as Mario follows along behind Karen and her kids back to their home, the walkie-talkie sparks up with static noise, prompting Mario to pick it up (like an actual phone). We could only hear a muffled voice coming through but we do see Mario's face drastically changing, his face expressionless and his eyes wide open.... before the episode cuts to its usual jolly end credits.

And that right there, my dear fellows, was the start of the sleeper agent theory.

MARIO AND THE SLEEPER AGENT THEORY

Every time I rewind that last scene, something about the static feels familiar. It reminded me a lot of the static/"Please Stand By" noise from Mr Puzzles' TV head in the PV arc, when it lures the Crew in the basement before getting mind controlled ("No TV Make Mario No Okie Dokie") and what caught Mario's attention to the gateway out of said control and back to the real world ("Mr Puzzles' Incredible Game Show Spectacular"). Plus, the same static imagery is seen in the eyes of the Crew as a visual cue that they're under Puzzles' control. The same neutral expression and wide eyes.

Now, am I saying that the person behind the walkie-talkie is Mr Puzzles? No, he isn’t even involved in this arc.

But seeing how this static was used in the mind-controlling process in PV, the walkie-talkie noise could work the same way as a form of hypnotism. I mean, notice what his expression was like in the first two teasers and the start of “You Shouldn’t Have Done That”. He's just expressionless, as if he was being hypnotized.

[*record scratch*]

Except for one thing, right after the walkie-talkie (Mr. WPNZ) invited the kids to play minecraft, this happened:

Did… did that mean Mario did this willingly? Well, it did sound like something Mario would do, always caring for his friends in his own way. Just like Karen in the same episode, he did the wrong things for the right reasons and simply wanted to help relieve her stress as a single mother. I guess this theory’s all for nothing.

… [*another record scratch*]

Hold up, did Mr. WPNZ call Mario... by name? Not only in this episode here but in the first teaser too. When Mario first answered the walkie-talkie, he didn’t introduce himself. He just said "hello there".

Hell, the walkie-talkie found in the dumpster bin by Mario was also strange, it seemed too convenient for him to find it in the first place.

And what about the kids? The kids were there in the warehouse with Mario and were taken away by Mr. WPNZ. How come Mario just noticed they were gone once Karen came in? He was right there, sitting next to them!

This was exactly what was troubling me, this itch I had for the teasers. It was strange, all of it. What was going on?

THE PLAN

In order to fully understand, my dear fellows, it’s time to put the pieces together. But we’re not starting from the first episode of the arc, we have to go back when everything truly started: “We Must Kill Mario”. Here, I created a timeline of events for you to follow along. Be warned that since we don't have all of the information, I had to fill it in with some hypothetical stuff so the narrative will flow:

✧ ahem ✧

Hitman Inc. recruited Karen, possibly late teen to young adult, and both sides got what they wanted:

Karen was a stray at a very young age and had to survive growing up in the streets. Just to live another day (that we all understood from her perspective), she took the offer.

The corporation essentially found a homeless person desperate enough to kill for them. Her name? Not like it mattered. Besides, who’s going to miss her if she dies on the job? She would be put to good use.

Years went by, as Karen trained to become one of the best hitmen the corporation they had, doing whatever it takes to get the mission done. Even if it seemed too extreme. In return, Karen was given food, a bed, and (possibly) a code name. Finally, she had security. Purpose. The corporation may be demanding at times but she couldn’t go against them, they gave her everything after all.

And here is where she got acquainted with Mr WPNZ, a fellow hitman. Perhaps they were simply co-workers or even lovers; whatever they were, they got to know each other quite well. Enough to know for Karen to describe him as “reckless and chaotic”. But then, she turned out to be pregnant.

Was it even planned? How did she react when she found out? No one knows (yet), but this made her question everything. If these kittens were to be born, she would be bringing them to a world of risk and danger. If she kept them, that is. Perhaps in that moment, she opened her eyes for the first time in a while, thawed her cold heart at the idea of becoming a mother. Every task given always had a risk and she was willing to serve for the corporation, but now, she may have found a new purpose to live: for her kids.

She chose to keep her kids. Though the problem still stood, the corporation. Even if the higher-ups let Karen keep her kids at the base, there’s no guarantee she would return to them alive if a job goes wrong. Regardless, they might use them just as they used her. She couldn’t bear with the idea so she quits, revealing to them about her pregnancy. Maybe they warned her that if she leaves, she will be returning to the streets again. Maybe WPNZ didn’t understand her perspective and tried to stopped her. Regardless, she didn’t care and wanted to break all ties from this life. She can figure out on her own.

Indeed she did. Naturally, her children were her life so she gave them the life she never got to have. A home, toys. A childhood. Karen and her family even got some friends that wasn’t affiliated with the corporation. Sure, she had to take multiple jobs to support themselves economically, but it’s worth it. Better than risking her life.

Then, in the episode “We Must Kill Mario”, a phone call came in. Karen didn’t suspect much and answered with “Hello? This is Karen speaking.” Unfortunately for her, she just gave the corporation her name, confirming that it was their former assassin.

“Hello, Karen…”

They were able to connect with Karen after so long via phone call, to propose a mission for her, and in return received information to use against her. Think about it:

Karen reminded them that she quit because of her kids → her boss emphasized how dangerous the target was by bringing in children (like hers) could be killed, into the discussion → Karen finally gave in

Her boss described the target’s appearance bc “apparently [Karen] might know him” and therefore would be close to her → Karen assumed it was Mario, saying his name out loud.

Within that call alone, Hitman Inc. learned several things:

The kids’ existence is confirmed and it wasn’t a ploy for her leaving the corporation

The only thing stopping Karen from doing her job is her kids (and if her kids are involved in her mission, she would have to comply)

Mario was someone close to Karen and her family, trusted, connecting a physical description with a name

Of course, the phone call ended. The episode went on as it did Marty turning out to be the true target and Karen unable to finish the job.

They called her again in episode “The Fight of All Time”, offering her a new job. But once again, she declined, not wanting to be involved in this life. At this point, it was getting annoying, humiliating even. The corporation just lost one of their best hitmen, and Karen’s refusing every time because of her kids. They were the ones who gave her everything, and she is rejecting the conditions she agreed to in the first place? No, they made a deal. She is meant to serve them; she is no position to reject them like this. She has to come back to them in a different way.

So, what do they do? Make her desperate, just as how she was when they first recruited her.

They had connections after all, possibly had a couple of recording devices spying on her as well. They could have her get fired from her many jobs, have businesses reject her job applications. Have her get evicted from the home she worked so hard to get.

But just as how the episode “Hobo Mario” ended, Karen and her family were able to get their home back, thanks to Mr. Monoploy. There was still had a trick up their sleeve. A failsafe in the name of Mario.

After all, from the phone call months ago, they know about Mario’s connection to Karen and are able to know what he looked like based on his physical description. As Mario was known to casually rummage through dumpsters (just as he did in “We Must Kill Mario”), one of their connections planted a walkie-talkie for him to find. Then, when the time came, the corporation sent out the agent closest to Karen, Mr. WPNZ. As to why:

if the corporation took the kids, Karen will no doubt follow after them, right to where they want her to be.

They are pretty secretive when it comes to their identities. There’s a risk to have the boss talk to Mario or the kids without a voice changer. So they send out someone with charm and friendly face.

Mr WPNZ was the father of her kids, so naturally it’ll be easier for the kids to connect with him than the boss. (and ofc WPNZ would know about his kids.)

So, the corporation gave Mr. WPNZ Mario’s name and the mission to give to the red plumber.

“Hey Mario! Buddy..pal.. let’s be friends, huh?”

Now, it’s up to you, the viewer, to make a choice.

Mr. WPNZ was so charming enough that he was able to convince Mario that he could take care of the children for poor Karen. Natural manipulation,

OR, if you want the sleeper agent theory to still live, the static was used as a sound tick to control a part of Mario’s mind. Sure, Mario would be able to think for himself, but this static would make it easier for WPNZ to hypnotize. If you've seen the movie “Now You See Me”, it’s basically the bank robbery scene explained. I’ll leave the clip below:

ah, one of my favorite movies :)

They basically took advantage of Mario’s kind heart and have him take the kids, their Uncle Mario, to the abandoned warehouse where they had already set up the PCs for WPNZ, and the corporation can access remotely. Well, those kids were expecting the minecraft movie, so why not invite them to play the game itself? It is a game kids enjoy anyway.

Mr. WPNZ took care of the rest while Karen’s off trying to find her kids. Besides, even if she isn’t able to be on time, they have earned themselves a few recruits. But first, they have to see their potential. After all, the corporation seeks out specific qualities in its recruits:

if they can do the task “quick and simple” — must be tested for speed, agility, and precision

if they have the guts to accept any task given to them, even if it means they have to go against their own friends and family — to dehumanize them and turn them into cold-blooded killers

That’s exactly why WPNZ convinced them to use firearms and brought out a shooting range as part of their “game”.

the challenge for the most kills in 10 minutes

the target cutouts as enemies — assets used from the game TF2

Minecraft Mario used as an animated target — if they’re willing to “kill” their dear Uncle Mario, something Karen couldn’t do the first time since 4 was there to stop her.

And indeed, both WPNZ and Hitman Inc. learned from this “game”,

Katie — a sharpshooter, though it was harder to convince her to join them

Zack — not afraid to take on a challenge, just as daring as his father and may be the easiest to convince

Cory — the first to go and shoot head-on, without question asked

These kids had potential alright. WPNZ was impressed by their skills, complimenting them as “not bad”, and taking the credit for the kids inheriting these skills from him.

What was Karen thinking? She left the thrill of being an assassin just to become a boring mom? His kids have so much potential to be part of the corporation, to be just like him. All they need is a couple more years of training to become perfect assassins. What was she thinking, that she could just run away from her past and abandoned everything she learned?

WPNZ couldn’t never understand why, more than willing to give his kids up to the corporation. So using the portal technology he could control remotely, he took the kids through the game. To wherever the next part of the plan the corporation had in mind.

Mario? Well, he can take the fall if Karen happens to find him. And, if we’re still on the sleeper agent theory route, Mario wouldn’t notice the kids next to him are gone. Just so they can clean up their tracks.

No doubt Karen’s gonna do whatever it takes to have her kids back, and it means exactly what it is, whatever it takes. Returning to her old self again, being extreme. She’s becoming desperate, bingo.

✧ ...and scene ✧

To where this arc might end, there is a possibility. Hitman Inc. could offer up a deal, either:

Karen gives herself up and returns as an assassin,

OR WPMZ, and by extension the corporation, will take custody of the kids, and they will be trained to become future assassins

Ofc, there’s no guarantee that the kids will be granted their freedom, or that Karen will be able to see her kids again. Then again, because desperation is clouding her judgment, Karen might make a hasty decision and not notice. Well, they haven’t considered several things:

Other than having Mario as a friend, Karen also has SMG4. Just has he did in “We Must Kill Mario”, he will able to ground Karen to a clearer mind. Settle things out between Karen and Mario. 4 is the balance she needs to get her kids back.

Unfortunately, they might underestimated how much a parent could love their children, especially a mother. If you kidnap her children, there might not be another day to live because of Karen.

If, just in case, the corporation isn’t taken down by the end of the mini-arc, Karen would still be out of a job. Sure, she got her home and kids back, but they do need the money. Whether or not the corporations are pulling the strings to ensure she doesn’t.

That’s where 3 comes in.

I know he had a brief moment in one episode, but there are a couple of things that 3 and Karen could relate to each other. Both of them know what it’s like to raise who they consider their children, and how they changed from being the person they used to be. And sometimes, though it’s hard to admit, they need a bit of help. So, if Karen wants to, she could work for 3.

With no risk for her and her family, no involvement with Hitman Inc. But hey, that’s just a theory…

AN SMG4 THEORY

🎶Thanks for dropping by🎶

[zoroara]

A collection of flame information

I decided to compile and categorize flame information that is both said in canon, not said directly in canon but is observable and then throw in a couple of theories of my own. In this post I will be separating them by type. It's gonna be fucking long so here's a read more. I will not be bringing up actual flame abilities here, but rather the concept as a whole.

First, the Canon ones, which I'll define as what is outright stated:

Every person has flames.

How flames manifest are determined by the wavelength they are.

Every person has different strengths of each wavelength, your strongest wavelength is your primary flame If you have multiple decently strong wavelengths, you are capable of manifesting more than one flame type, but it will take training and effort to manifest.

Flames are not determined by anything special other than these things.

Though the Vongola has rules on how they expect certain flame users to act as guardians, no other organization with flames does however.

Having enough dying will can prevent death, and should you have enough vengeance in your heart during this time, all types of flame can become black and become the flame of night and keep you alive indefinitely, as long as you have a body.

Hyper Dying Will Mode is separate to rings, and works differently, however can clear the body to be capable of manifesting flames through removing internal barriers, the previous mode Dying Will Mode, however only removed external, thus it did not manifest flames with the exception of the one on the head. However, it is not as strong as a person with a ring's dying will flames, but is on par with someone who can naturally bring out their dying will flame(eg. Xanxus).

Dying will mode minus state, is by temporarily turning your dying will into a state that is the opposite for seconds at a time hence the flickering look of it. During the Minus state, with practice you can make it possible to absorb and freeze other people's dying will attacks.

Rings, come in several varieties for each flame. These are the flames they will magnify the best and be able to work with.

Rings also come in grades, outside of certain ring sets(vongola, mare, etc) which have no limits due to materials used, A rank is the highest rank, and the lowest is E rank. These latter case of rings, have a limit on how much flame they can magnify at a time, and will break if put over said limit.

Rings can convert flames that previously were not manifested(eg. Yamamoto not being able to create flames without a ring), and when taken off, they will not be able to create flame, it does not react in any special way with flame users already capable of manifesting their flames or flame users that are in dying will mode.

Box weapons each serve a utility purpose to them, some only able to do one thing, others able to do many depending on how they were built. A majority of supplementary abilities come from box weapons manipulating how flames work.(Eg. Sky petrification only happens due to the box weapons, bester and natsu.) Each box weapon has rules of use and how it manipulates the flame put into it.

Sky flames can open any box weapon, however through this use, the box weapon is inherently weaker than someone of the same power and proper flame type using it.

Mammon chains(and their ring cover variant), when wrapped around devices that would help produce flame(eg. pacifiers rings), hide them from detection.

----------------------------------------

Next, are observational, things that follow a clear through line in canon and do not change, but are only noticeable through observation:

First starting with the manifestation of flames.

Being able to manifest flames without assistance of some form is an extreme rarity.

With the exception of Xanxus and some arcobaleno(as seen in rainbow arc when they lose their pacifiers), all other flame users require some intervention to do so. This comes in several forms, rings, dying will pills/bullets, pacifiers, Mukuro's eye, etc.

All this will end up with a flow chart that looks like this:

Though box weapons manipulate flames to a specific ruleset, it seems possible that one can use the abilities of a box weapon without a box weapon. Though training is required and seems to only show as rudimentary as possible(Eg. TYL Squalo creating a barrier with flame with only his ring, which TYL Yam had to use a box weapon for), special abilities of the box weapons seem to be unable to be re-creatable by simple flame.

Flames of wrath, within canon are only theorized to be a hybrid of storm and sky flames, however, through observation of how this works, it does in fact work like how one would expect this combination to work

As Hibari uses multiple rings to put in a box weapon before they shatter, it seems that using multiple rings can in fact spread out the strain on the rings long enough to be used, however it seems they will shatter quickly after use like this, thus is not an effective long period strategy, and rather is a way to short term raise how much flame you can actually output at once. (only works if you're already breaking rings though)

The crystals produced by zero point inherently feed and grow on others dying will. It is not produced by your own, but by absorbing and manipulating others dying will to create the crystals themselves.

(for clarity: I'm saying that the crystals produced at any point are only produced because the target has flames that can be manipulated to create crystals and aren't produced by the person using the technique, like the crystals aren't FROM tsuna, the crystals always grow from his target, so it's a manipulation technique of someone's own flame, to pull apart and neutralize it and from that point it neutralizes itself.

In addition to humans which produced flame, it works on box weapons because they're made of flame, it works on the moscas in the future because they have little batteries of flame, it works on ghost because it's made of flame, it works in the onsen because there's MANY TARGETS WITH POWERFUL FLAMES which is why it ends up so fucking big)

Mammon chains(and their ring cover variant), when wrapped around devices that would help produce flame(eg. pacifiers rings), prevent the device from producing flames all together. While not explicitly stated, the chains are always taken off or the covers open in order to use flames. With one exception being mammon. However in Rainbow arc, Mammon is capable of using a flame without a device(pacifier), so it can be observed that this is probably what they're using instead.

Flames, due to being energy wave forms, are detectable through machinery and their output can also be detected. This is observed at many points even being a main point getting to choice, however, it being the wave output that is detected is more observational so I put it here.

------------

NOW for what is straight up theory on my end, where there is varying amount of support for what i'm saying here, and is much more extrapolation on my end, so they are more... Ideas than anything substancial.

Earth flames are not real flames: This is more because of how they only manifested by the owners of the rings. To me, it is simply more likely, that the shimon rings, are capable of drawing the same wave lengths that sky flames use, but in an alternate way to produce a different set of flame, in the same way that Box weapons and vongola gear can produce much more distinct abilities, however far more extreme and in a set of rings. The additional odd parasitoid looks of the rings also give off that feel to me.

Flame hybrids are produced when a sky flame wavelength is equal to another wavelength: Pretty much what it says on the tin, I theorize flames like the flames of wrath are produced when a person's primary flame is sky, with another flame is equal strength to their sky flame. Then, the Harmonization factor of sky flame, melds with what would be another strong flame to create a new primary flame type. This does theoretically mean there should be more flame hybrids, however this combination must be incredibly rare to have a stable version.

Methods through the Vongola Tenants were probably chosen: Other groups are chosen through other means, such as the arcobaleno being chosen through simple sheer power. However it is noted that the vongola rules are not followed by the other groups at all. The Vongola statements are very specific, but looking through it simply, they had chosen these rules for what would be the best user for each flame. A storm flame who is willing to be violent in battle when the main ability of a storm flame is in fact one that's destructive in nature. An unwillingness to be, would make using the flame not nearly as useful. These are the personalities they believe are capable of using the flames the best. It also, happens to be the personalities that the original group showed, which means they likely determined that to keep the vongola clear on how they should act in the future, they should follow these tenants. It did not work out how they desired.

It is possible to change flames: Through external means, if one could manipulate the wavelength of their primary flame, they would be able to create flames of a different type. This would require much more experimental technology than what currently exists in khr.

Thank you for reading and I hope this information is helpful to anyone who needs a quick resource on how flames work as an overall, and not just their abilities.

[myth-blossom]

I'm so very tickled about the holiday decorations now available in the Hitmansion 😍 but as I started taking some screenshots, I noticed the reflections in the ornaments show the moving boxes and crates from when you first start Freelancer, regardless of the decorations you've chosen in the area around the tree.

Yes, the reflections aren't clean-cut and that's fine. But the implications for my fandom brain are HUGE. Are you telling me this holiday magic is all in 47's head? Is he STILL stuck in that damn basement?!

HALP

[ketchup-chup]

Some KHR thoughts I have been having recently… You know how they always make it a point to like say how similar Yuni is to Luce (said by both Lal and Reborn during the future arc)? To the point that Luce’s prototype design was literally just Yuni?

Meanwhile Aria doesn’t seem to resemble them all that much outside of the obvious features (birthmark under the eye, same hair and eye colour). But you know who she does resemble?

Anime pic of Aria for better quality:

Sephira!!!

[catpriciousmarjara]

Katekyo Hitman Reborn!: Namimori Location

(Documenting my research process so I won't forget and get confused why I did something in a fic during a later read through. Nothing serious really.)

Where exactly is Namimori in canon?

As I was writing a khr fic, I realized I needed the exact location of Namimori for one sentence. A sentence that wasn't even important in the long run. Rather than abandon that single sentence I decided to try and locate where the town of Namimori would be in Japan. Because apparently I like pain.

There is virtually no information on the actual location of Namimori anywhere. So I had went on a research binge. And I found something that gave me a starting point.

In 2009, there was a special KHR episode that was aired during the Jump Super Anime Tour titled, Vongola Style School Trip, Arrives!

Saying that I found it is not that accurate. Its more that I went looking for an episode like this specifically. This isn't the first time I tried to locate fictional locations on a map for the sake of the plot. And I've realized that episodes centered around trips provide amazing clues, especially where the trip starts, where it ends, the scenery outside etc.

Thats what I hoped for here as well. And the hunch paid off! Between timestamps 3:07-3:10, there's a map. Not very detailed mind you. Just enough to show the direction where they came from. But that's better than nothing.

So they're going to Nagoya city, which is in the Aichi Prefecture. Its in the Chūbu region. It also looks like they're coming from the Kanto region, possibly from the direction of Tokyo.

So that means we can leave out the Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu regions in the south. There's no way Namimori is in Hokkaido, or Okinawa, so those two prefectures are out as well. The most likely locations for the town to be in is in the Kanto, and Chubu regions.

Comparing the physical map of Japan with the short glimpse we get, I'm reasonably sure they passed by Mt. Fuji as well.

See that little protrusion under Fuji-san? I'm pretty sure thats what we see in the map shown in the episode. So yeah they passed Mount Fuji.

Another thing, see that arch like thing before the protrusion? Thats Kanagawa prefecture, and we can see in the very beginning of the video, around the 0.03-0.04 timestamps, that they don't start anywhere there.

See? They pass by it completely and started somewhere well before Kanagawa. So Kanagawa is out.

Lets go back to Fuji-san again.

The mountain lies between the Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefecture borders.

That gives us three possible routes:

Chiba-> Tokyo-> Yamanashi-> Shizuoka-> Aichi [Nagoya City}

Tokyo-> Yamanashi-> Shizuoka-> Aichi [Nagoya City}

Yamanashi -> Shizuoka -> Aichi [Nagoya City]

Why did I decide on Tokyo as the starting point in Kanto despite there being other prefectures in the region?

In KHR's seventh volume, Hot Summer Arrives!, we get chapter 57, Swimming at the Sea. Its a beach chapter.

The beach is described as being close by and the fact that Ryohei's boxing club senpai, Kuroda Eiji and his buddies Kisanuki Yukio and Ookura Takuya, apparently work there as lifeguards, supports this. (You know...cos they're in middle school and all and jobs at that age tend to be close by...for civilians at least.)

Which means that prefectures like Saitama, Tochigi, and Gunma, which are all landlocked as you can see on the map below, are automatically disqualified as locations for Namimori.

By that same logic, Yamanashi is also disqualified.

Ibaraki is not counted because despite the abrupt beginning and ending of the map scene in the episode, we can guess that the starting point of the trip wasn't quite that far back. By the curve of the arrow I mean. {Yeah I know this is a reach but I'm pretty sure I'm right.}

That just leaves Tokyo and Chiba.

The argument in favour of Chiba is a meta one. Tokyo is an iconic location when it comes to manga and anime. Most anime set in Tokyo shows several shenanigans centered around Tokyo's various landmarks. Even works not set in Tokyo sometimes have Tokyo episodes and Tokyo adventures. Like Haikyuu for example.

Considering how much shenaniganry and crackishness KHR has, it would be very strange if it was set in Tokyo and yet didn't have any Tokyo misadventures in it. Reborn would just go ahead and name Tokyo Tower Vongola Tower or something just like he named Nagoya Castle Vongola Castle. So Namimori might not be in Tokyo, but in Chiba instead...which is still part of the Greater Tokyo Area now that I think about it, so still Tokyo in a way?

I couldn't find a way to clearly articulate an argument in favour of Tokyo when a friend send me this link.

I was walking on a path well-tread! @ladydraculena had already slashed through the figurative jungles for me!

I went looking for the two locations marked in the map in their post but it seems like Namimori Steamed Buns has since closed down. Hibari Nursery School on the other hand is going strong.

With this information the argument in favour of Tokyo grew much stronger.

Thus canonically the town of Namimori is most likely located in Tokyo and if not in Tokyo proper, definitely in the Greater Tokyo Area.

(Please note that I left the Tohoku region out of this. The region is very distinct and neither anime nor the manga has shown a singular sign of being set in Tohoku. By that I mean that if a work is set in Tohoku, it would be impossible to hide its Tohoku, or mistake it as somewhere else.)

Edit: @rooigseix pointed out that since most of KHR's usual shenanigans strictly happens in Namimori, the usual Tokyo adventure trope meta might not be applicable in this case. Namimori might be far away from Tokyo centre like the Ota or Edogawa districts, which are close to the sea as well.

Edit: @lightning-will-bovino pointed out Kokuyo land and there is in fact a theme park called Noah Forest Amusement Park or Mori-no-Yeunchi near the Hibari Nursery School!

It seems very likely that Amano-sensei was inspired by the area. It might not be where Namimori is actually located but the existence of these establishments in close quarters lends further credence to the theory of Namimori being in the Tokyo area.

In conlusion, the most likely location of Namimori would be in Tokyo prefecture but close to the Chiba border. Not landlocked as well.

Thus, Edogawa ward is the most suitable location.

And after all of that, I decided that Tokyo wasn't a good fit for my fic's Namimori and by my magical writer powers shifted it to Mie Prefecture instead. ╥﹏╥

[bioedwinmx]

Ok, chart time. KHR Undying Will Flames into divided into a cohesive whole (Pretty sure somebody already did this like this)

So we have 3 axis under the Sky (which would be Sky Flames / Unity)

So the X axis is the axis of Reality: Storm and Mist flames represent everything that is, that could be and isn't.

The Y axis is the axis of Change: Lighting and Rain flames are everything that changes and everything that doesn't.

And the the Z axis is the Axis of Replication (I guess it should be named Parallel): Basically, it just represents every possible configuration of anything that can exist. Cloud and Sun flames multiply stuff in different ways with a lot of room for variation and evolution.

These axis represent the world, Reality affects Space, Change affects Time and Replication affects Parallels.

So, the Trinisette

The Mare Sky ring controls Replication, and it lets the user get to see parallel realities and go insane through overload.

The Sky arcobaleno gets Change, that let's her see the future, we'll not really, Yuni got that from her family... I think. The arcobaleno get transformed into babies though.

The Vongola sky ring get Reality, so they get to see every other user of the ring since their creation. Apparently, they can also be reforged, cool.

Anyways, an idiot would think that getting the trinisette would let him change the world. It probably wouldn't.

BTW I might be insane, don't know how much if this actually holds up to close inspection. It's 1 am and I'm very hyper.

[writer-haru]

khr headcanon about Jura, France

I believe this is the location of Vindice.

For those who don't know, Jura is a real location both in Katekyo Hitman Reborn and our actual home planet. According to the wikipedia page:

"The Jura mountains are wooded and rolling, not craggy and rocky like the Alps."

M.M, Ken, and Chikusa are depicted in a mountainous, snowy area 10km from the location of the Vindice during the Future Arc.

Now, there's some lore reasons for this theory too.

There are actually three reasons for France to be considered an important location in the KHR manga.

Fran, a ridiculously powerful illusionist who can trick the Vindice.

2. The pacifier fountain---something that "powers up" the Arcoblaeno's beam.

3. M.M, who according to the wikia lives in France and is spotted in a cabin close by to the Vindice.

With that said, my proposal is this:

The Vindice is located in Jura, France. The Vindice reside there because of the power of the pacifier fountain helping keep their power strong. They know about Fran not because Byakuran traded that knowledge for Ghost (he didn't, he is implied to not actually know Fran existed in canon at the time of the future arc), but because Fran was just. Always nearby. They already knew about him, he was on their radar all this time because of his close vicinity. Why? Jura, France.

[dreaming-hibi]

Let's thank @ilx-8s for this one theory

Let me summarize it for those of us who don't read the replies in posts: "Freed from the curse Yuni would outlive everyone"

And like, yeah, absolutely true!

In my case, I'll admit that I totally forgot to do that math, because if the rest of the Arcobaleno got freed from their baby curse, then Yuni obviously got rid of her short-lifespan curse! How does someone forget something like that?

Anyway, considering Yuni's ancestor is Sepira, who was the same species as Kawahira, then certainly she could have a long lifespan now (and outlive everyone).

But! I definitely think she won't.

I mean, I love angst as much as the next person, but (un)fortunately I don't think Yuni is heading in that direction.

Let's recap what we know of Sepira:

Sepira is the same specie as Kawahira/Checker Face, a True Earthling as opposed to New Earthling (humans)

From what we understand, Sepira was at least more proactive than Kawahira at trying to find a solution to the Tri-ni-sette as well as the burden it had on the Arcobaleno

Sepira was the one who decided to give the Vongola Rings to Giotto (and its hinted that this happened BEFORE the establishment of the Vongola Famiglia, so while he was still leader of his vigilante group) and keep the Mare Rings in her newly formed famiglia, the Giglio Nero

Sepira could see the future

She was Giglio Nero Prima

Let's recap what we don't know about her:

How she died

If she was an Arcobaleno

While this inscription on a wall with Sepira's birthmark on it might suggest otherwise, it's unlikely that Sepira was a Sky Arcobaleno at any point in time. If she had been then Luce, her descendant, would have already been in possession of the Sky pacifier on the Fated Day.

So Sepira wasn't an Arcobaleno (someone, please, go tell the KHR wikia to change that). Then how did she die? Kawahira and Sepira are the same species, but he's alive and she's not, so what is the difference between them? How did she die in a way that wasn't considered unnatural enough for Kawahira to remark on it?

Well, I think the answer is in their way of living!

Sepira decided to live among and like a human, while Kawahira decided to live like the cryptid he is. So it makes sense that Sepira's lifespan adapted to that of a normal human being (and why Kawahira talks like she's died in a natural way, because she has!). And it would make even more sense that her descendants would be even more human if she procreated with a human. Unless they self-reproduce which explains the absence of both Aria's and Yuni's father and why Gamma had no idea Aria had a kid.

Sorry, angst, but I don't think Yuni will be going down the path of "I have a longer lifespan than all the people I know so I will watch them die one day".

[innytoes]

Between looking up houses in LA on zillow for a fanfic and researching how US medical debt works for that same fic, I have concluded that Ray Molina is a hit man.

[dank-memes-my-ex-gf-sends-me]

[khr-guilded-cage]

I think Sky Flames aren't the 'Leaders'

They are the HEART

[midnight1nk]

on four in thumbnail. Remember axol being bedridden and then he just shows up fine and everyone goes “i thought you got hurt really bad??” And axol goes “I thought so too :)” and he’s possessed and thats why? Whagt i f

..... *ahem* goop!4

OKOK FINE you can push me down the stairs /lh

I'm totally unsure what's going to happen with 4 (please team i'm begging you to do this movie justice) but IF it happens, 4 better be resting in bed for at least a scene, then have him okay in a later scene, "huh ig I got better :)"

yea a little too quickly. AND THEN IGBP 2—

thanks for the ask!

[marshmallowwitharubberband]

Hold up! What if the Dying Will Flames of KHR are just golden cores forcefully formed/awakened?

[yakool-foolio]

All that Phantom talk yesterday got me obsessing even more over Hitman Zilch, so I'll serve y'all one of my finest grim dishes on the house!

Hitman Zilch dons the personas of his victims partly in hopes that combining bits and pieces of these identities will grant him all the attention n love from Yomi he desires, destroying all that barely remains of his original self to become an amalgam of people he's killed but believes would suit Yomi's wants in a partner. Maybe he even believes that adding Yomi's own identity to his collection is the highest form of love, showing that he is willing to become one with him by metaphorically wearing his skin, loving him inside and out.

[feyd-rautha-apologist]

Daria: Damn, this tattoo artist on instagram makes pretty good stuff, I should try getting one from them

The tattoo artist in question:

[p5x-theories]

Everyone keeps suggesting that Sojiro not owning LeBlanc means something bad happened to him but it could always mean that Wakaba never died in this universe

Haha, yeah! If we assume there really are counterparts to every P5 character in P5X's universe that have just lived different lives, the butterfly effect becomes super apparently really quickly: Goro Akechi lived a different life, which inherently means Shido, Joker, Okumura, Haru, Maruki, Wakaba, Sojiro, and Futaba's lives would all look pretty different right now, too.