#Meta Arena

[satoshy12]

Underworld Fighter/Bodyguard Danny

It had already been a few years since Danny, for his job, left Amity Park. Working as a bodyguard or fighter in a meta-arcade. His sponsor was Veronica Sinclair, also known as Roulette, as he fought in her arena against other metas or villains for money.

Since she built her new undeground arena, where metahumans can fight for money and similar things, they are forbidden to join normal competitions as it's "unfair" against normal humans.

I mean, it would be unfair to see Superman in a boxing ring against a normal human, but still.

Roulette doesn't need to capture heroes, as the meta fights out of their own free will, and she still earns a lot of money. Even a few politicians and others came to watch the fights. From CEOs, crime bosses, and even once, the Presidents of the World!

As a fighter for Roulette and her bodyguard, Danny has had around 400 fights since the very beginning of the arena and 0 losses.

His boss asked if he could work as a warden in Arkham Asylum for the Mayor of Gotham, as it had an important meeting for one month.

As being told by Veronica, Danny had no problem with it; his sister worked in Arkham, and his daughter Dani wanted to visit her. He could stay for one month, then take his vacation to visit Amity Park. And it's not the first time he worked as Bodyguard for someone else, he did work for few people like Lex Luthor or Pinguin. For Lex he got to a job as he thought against Parasite.

1 Month later

Batman wasn't sure what was happening; no villain had broken out in more than a month. And he didn't hear anything from the Joker.

He learned that because of a new Warden who already left Arkham, no one tried to escape. Someone who one-shot Solomon Grundy K.O. with a punch and put the Joker, Professor Pyg, and Victor Zsasz into a coma with a single uppercut to the stomach?

Gordon seemed to be very happy as he said that, but seem very sad that the Warden had left.

+ Danny smiled at Dani, as they were driving with Jazz to Amity Park. Still he didn't like the talk both were doing about boys. Dani is too young!

But it had been nice to meet Pinguin again, it was a long time he worked for him and Sofia Falcone too. Or Bane from the Arena, he thought he stopped being a Villains like Victor as it's paid well enough in the Arena.

Mr Freeze:" For Nora." he earns in 1 fight the same as he does as thief.

Danny is adult, around 28 years old or older.

[pineapplesquash]

Meta Knight may have enough mental fortitude to avoid getting possessed, but not enough to avoid being an absolutely fucking gay ass

EDIT: added a flower on top on MK’s head

[beaulesbian]

some slight dressrosa middle-of-the-arc spoilers

i couldn't help but notice how the way luffy first started noticing that dressrosa wasn't all nice and pretty when he was down in the cells with the gladiators in the arena, (chapter 726)

and hearing how they described the place reminded him of the grey terminal (near his windmill village), where he, ace and sabo met and grew up.

the way the gladiators and people who doflamingo doesn't like, and the toys are treated and discarded in dressrosa, is very similar like luffy remembers what was happening outside the walls of the kingdom of goa,

(chapters 583, 585)

and then few chapters later in dressrosa,

sabo (at this point he wasn't introduced as sabo, only someone who took luffy lucy's place in the arena fighting for the flame flame fruit) was thinking something very similar about the place he grew up in - the goa kingdom, except he's talking about putting on appearances because he didn't want to be part of the aristocratic class seeing what they did to the other people outside the walls. but it was still the place where he met ace, and later luffy.

(also i really love sabo re-introduced this way seeing he had that pipeline as his weapon - where in the post marineford luffy's flashbacks, as a kid it was all of theirs fighting sticks, ace and sabo's especially - chapter 583, and even when he was leaving - ch 588) and he still has it on himself now! it's just a nice touch to realize in the manga that it wasn't luffy anymore, but someone else.

and now he's back to get that last piece that they have of Ace, his flame flame fruit ;-; (ch 744) (and being all proud of his little kid brother luffy who's gonna be the pirate king! ;-;)

the way both luffy and sabo got to the arena to get the ace's fruit power, and keep thinking of their childhood, of ace, of something that remind them of their home in the childhood, and for luffy to see sabo meant that he still had one of his brothers!

.

(and small zolu sidenote, bc it was nice that zoro was the one running beside luffy seeing him crying about sabo and worrying. im not sure luffy explained who he was, yet, at this scene, but zoro definitely understood that someone important showed up back in luffy's life!)

[things-stronger-than-fear]

can we talk about the katniss/lucy gray parallels (or lack thereof) for a sec?

they're superficially the same, because of the things we talk about all the time: they're both female victors from 12. there are things that come with that culture and background -- the mockingjay, the plants, the songs. those similarities aren't so much between them as people, as individuals -- they're born of coming from the same culture. the most significant thing they share is their resilience; their spirit of resistance and rebellion. their defiance.

but really, all those things they share, only serve to demonstrate just how different they are as individuals (because personality is different from upbringing or values).

we parallel their sarcastic bows, but they're so so different. lucy gray is a performer mockingly curtseying and saying "kiss my ass", where katniss is a hunter who doesn't have time for this society bullcrap.

they both sing the hanging tree, but as i've ranted about, their renditions show how different they are: lucy gray, again, a performer with a spirit unbroken, loud and charming and sassing right to the capitol's face, daring them to defy her, daring them to look away. katniss, again, a hunter, quiet but unyielding, sparking rebellion under the capitol's nose.

they both won their games, but in such different ways. lucy gray charmed the snakes (both literal and in the form of one coriolanus snow), while katniss threw down with weaponry.

lucy gray said look at me, care about me. katniss said fight for me, fight with me.

and so what we see is that they are not at all the same person, but that's what's so important. because it's not just one person or one type of person that puts their foot down and rebels. we don't need a specific kind of Chosen One to light the spark -- anyone can.

[2063april5]

The Surak we see in The Savage Curtain is a manifestation of Spock's idea of Surak, so if the first thing he does is reprimand Spock for showing emotion that's because that is exactly what Spock would expect. That the greatest vulcan who ever lived, father of all we now hold true and his personal role model would be disappointed in him

[ask-prismaknight]

Meta Knight, why did you destroy your own ship?

"...I'm not sure I understand."

(Reminder that Knightmare modes, arenas, etc are not canon in my AU)

[pomegranatecookiez]

[ladyluscinia]

Your post about Ed's trauma vs. the Stormtrooper fights is right on the money imo. What gets me is that it didn't have to be an impediment when there could have been a fuckery! The reunited Revenge crew, now even stronger b/c of Izzy's integration, could have pulled an amazing Theatre Kid con that highlighted Ed and Stede's creative chemistry and this underdog group's ability to Bugs Bunny their way past better fighters with no casualties. Instead, Ricky has the biggest fuckery of s2, wtf?

Re: This. I think the fandom might have made the idea of fuckeries more interesting and important than canon intended to, in hindsight.

Like the idea of doing piracy through primarily theatre gay productions that upend the risk of dying in combat in favor of special effects hijinks was a really good comedy concept. And it worked well with the two main character types we got in S1 - silly theatrical underdog who cannot win a swordfight for the life of him + dramatic hidden depths guy who became a legendary pirate but can't actually kill people himself - and the rest of the crew's vibe in general - eclectic misfits that will not be intimidating anyone. I even liked it for Izzy! I know we liked to say he was from Black Sails but tbh he really wasn't, and the guy who slashed up Stede's shirt without breaking skin was made for selling that kind of bullshit as dangerous.

But - for all the extensive meta tracking how Stede's underdog trickery comes out on top again and again (primarily from Stede blogs, obviously, though everyone seemed to agree it was pretty solid) - canon only describes 2 instances as fuckeries: the introduction of the concept in 1x06, and Stede faking his death in 1x10. Everything else - even in S2 - is just fandom extending the concept because we think it's cool and makes sense. Ricky doesn't do "a fuckery", he just betrays Zheng with a trick and makes a pun about it.

Looking back, I think fuckeries only exist as a thing in OFMD meta because we liked the thought of them, and the kind of comedic canon they would support (team crafts, hijinks, no danger, muppet logic). I think S2 makes it clear canon only viewed a "fuckery" as the symbolic first step in Stede being a pirate. He's introduced to the concept when he's not ready yet, and then he successfully crafts and executes one at the end of S1 (against people who aren't trying to fight him, crucially) to show his rebirth. Now in S2 he's free to move onto real piracy - life threatening situations and swordfights. The penchant for trickery and underdog jokes is just character flavor, not an actual pursuit of its own.

That's why raids in 2x05 are just raids, talking in 2x06 is just talking, and the Navy dress-up in 2x08 is not an alternative to getting past the British mooks, but some kind of leg up on surprise attacking them (at least that's what it kinda looks like?). It's not "a fuckery" - it's a battle plan that can be sprinkled with hints of fuckery to spook, befuddle, or surprise. You still win with skill at violence.

Piracy is an action/adventure genre about killing your enemies with swords, guns, and cannons, and apparently OFMD was never looking to challenge that - just play in the space of our cast getting good (or maybe getting out).

[cuppajj]

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[nevert-the-guy]

The fun thing about my brain is that it'll make me start connecting dots that never needed to be connected.

Like, what is this?

[thatsparrow]

post-honor among thieves thoughts

a delight!!

truly, a fun fantasy film with all the right blends of serious stakes and goofy missteps that is so emblematic of playing dnd

one of the things I was most curious about going into it was—given that so much of dnd is a) collaborative storytelling and b) ultimately determined by dice rolls, how would those elements of unpredictability translate to a scripted story? (which I suppose is not new to dnd-based media, there have been novels and the 80s show, but those aren't things that I've consumed.) and like. yes the story was pretty predictable overall, but I did like that there were moments of abject failure scattered throughout that really captured the vibe of rolling a nat 1 (it was also very fun to half-watch it through a lens of, oh, this person would be rolling a deception check right now. this person is succeeding then failing on a bunch of acrobatics checks, etc.)

it is. so very fun to me that bards are categorically also spellcasters, and yet they did not let chris pine do one damn magical thing, that lute was a melee weapon only

michelle rodriguez barbarian my beloved (also like, in terms of balancing references to the game with still making the movie accessible, part of me was expecting/hoping to see some visual indication of her going into a rage, but I did like that they didn't tip the hand quite that much while still making clear during fight scenes that, oh, she definitely has some rage-fueled strength right now that is allowing her to yeet a dude across a courtyard)

seeing all the spells and wildshaping was incredibly fucking cool!! that may have been the bit I was most excited about, and it did not disappoint—doric's whole infiltration and then escape of the castle was so good. the displacer beasts. the mimics!

sir that's just a portal gun

the comp het was so funny. look, I really loved both justice smith and sophia lillis but cmon guys. there was nothing there

although speaking of, edgin and holga as determinedly platonic best friends raising a child together was an absolute delight—the bit when edgin says to kira like 'I'm not trying to bring back your mom but my wife' bc yeah!! kira's mom is already right there!!

halfling bradley cooper having a clear type of 'women twice my size who could break me in half' is so valid

god paladin regé-jean page be still my heart (although yeah, the paladin as a straight-laced LG humorless type is not the only way to interpret the class, but I thought it did make for a nice contrast w the rest of the party)

but also his armor! I thought the costumers did a great job of giving them all designs/looks that spoke to their classes. truly, the visuals of the whole movie were so cool—not just in terms of the aesthetics, but the framing and movement of the shots, too. very dynamic, very fun to watch

overall, a genuinely good time!!

[theoneprecioustome]

Makoto's Soul, Aikoto & "Eternity"

I've been talking about this since at least 2015, but I just realized I've never made a thread to tie everything together.

TL;DR I think that once Makoto's soul is freed from the seal, his soul will move onto "Eternity". I also think Atlus has foreshadowed that his soul and Aigis' will eventually reunite there.

This post will have spoilers from all of the games involving Persona 3. So, here we go!

The Background

We all know that after the events of P3, Liz set out on a mission to "save" Makoto. There has been a lot of theorizing about whether this involves bringing Makoto back to life or not, but to me it's pretty clear that it doesn't. After all, The Answer outright told us that Makoto had a funeral, which means he does not have a physical body to return to anymore.

I think... I'm finally at peace with losing him... Odd... for some reason, the tears are only now coming... I should have attended his farewell... I was so foolish, locking myself away. Looking back, I remember that Metis would cry... To think I had discarded such a basic emotion...

When Liz says that she wants to save him, she means that she wants to save his soul from the fate of being The Great Seal. The reason for this is obvious, as The Answer shows us that in its efforts to get to Nyx, Erebus tries to tear Makoto away from the door.

It goes without saying that Erebus breaking the Seal equals Erebus breaking Makoto's very soul, thus making him disappear forever.

[...] the soul can still be harmed

As such, this is the fate Liz is trying to save him from.

The How

How Liz will attain this wish of hers is anyone's guess. However, one thing is for certain: this miracle can only be attained by joining forces with the rest of the cast.

Pretty much every game that has addressed Liz's journey has set-up this very fact. My personal theory is that once Atlus is ready to retire the "Neo" Persona cast, they will likely reunite the main players in a game where one of the objectives will be to free Makoto's soul from the seal. This way, we will see a fitting conclusion where the bonds forged between each cast will bring forth the miracle that sets Makoto free. But I digress!

Going back to my main point, Liz has been set up to request help from the rest of the cast. However, there is one person Atlus has outright set-up to join Liz in her quest, and that person is Aigis.

This is once again foreshadowed in P3D, where Liz happens to mention her dream right as she is talking to Aigis and Makoto.

So we can be certain that — unless their plans change — Aigis will be one of the main players involved in freeing Makoto's soul from the seal.

Which finally brings me to my actual theory!

Eternity (永遠)

I believe that once Makoto is freed from the seal, his soul will finally be able to move onto the afterlife. As per Persona Q, this is called Eternity.

"Where all life is born and returns to..."

My theory is that Atlus have been setting this up since Persona Q, which was also directed by Hashino — just like Persona 3.

And to give things an Aikoto spin... Aigis just so happens to be the one to ask what "Eternity" is all about. Which is very fitting, because Zen and Rei parallel Aigis' and Makoto to an uncanny degree.

Zen is an otherworldly being (aka, non-human) whose duty brings him to Rei (a human) in order to ferry her to the afterlife. However, one thing leads to another and they lose their memories. They then go on living together, nonethewiser to the truth, and we get things like these:

Zen essentially goes through Aigis' entire character arc, including slowly coming to realize that he has changed and what keeps him by Rei's side isn't duty, but his desire to be there.

The parallels are so strong that (as you can see above) some of their lines are pretty much the same.

Which leads me to this:

Through his bond with Rei, Zen develops an actual soul capable of parting with her to Eternity. And that's what they do at the end of the game.

So this very long parenthesis has been to say: I think we may one day see the same thing for Aikoto.

After all, we have been told multiple times that Aigis is alive now:

It's only natural that once she passes on, her soul will also join the place where all life returns to.

Now, there are a couple of ways in which this could play. If Liz' mission were to take "eons" of time and Aigis' soul is only hanging onto her worn-down body by a thread, then it's likely that she will rest only after Makoto has been saved from his fate, which could lead us to something like this.

If their journey actually takes place only a few years from now, then Aigis will likely stick around until the last of SEES are gone.

Whatever the case, unless Atlus plans change (which is indeed possible, specially considering Makoto's popularity), it seems safe to assume that Aikoto will be eventually reunited there.

[carefreemonk]

☆ (have mercy)

[ azama steps up to the mic ]

Well now, who have we here but young Alcryst!

I'm impressed! By the fact he's managed to further this existence of his! See, I wouldn't have expected it from a guy whose backbone wouldn't even serve to feed a dog.

... Is that what you were expecting me to say?

Actually, that's not giving him enough credit. He has plenty of other perfectly serviceable bones to spare, after all ♡

... I jest! Don't look at me like that!! His reputation may differ greatly depending on which of his peers you ask, but my own experience fighting alongside him has left me with a net mostly-positive impression.

I'd be more confident fighting alongside him if he looked more confident in himself, mind. Perhaps the problem here isn't a spine so much as it might be proper motivation...? I swear I sense some bark in him, I do! I've seen hints of it!

Rooting for you! I'll be sure to invite you to my next wedding!!

Wait I forgot the compliment part didn't I uhhh I like his choice in hairclip! Quite bold! Très avant-garde! ✨️

[midnightsnowfight]

MetaMay 6-12

Gosh I could never stop drawing Meta Knight 😂

(The person next to Meta in Day 10 is my oc. After exams I might try and do another ref for her, since my thoughts will be more organised)

But yeah. Starla LOVES tea ☕️ (both thr beverage and the gossip)

[ehatnow]

I have come to the realization that Meta not only went back to protect the Waddle Dees

But also to fight Kirby

[king-k-ripple]