leo x piper is kinda my self-indulgent secret ship heh, it's nice to talk about it sometimes hgjfkl;
4. Their favorite show to watch together?
I think they would love watching stupid movies (romcoms or unnecessarily sentimental and cheesy) together not bc they like them but so that they could make fun of the lines/scenes together like best friends do (bc ofc they are best friends first, lovers later). leo mimicking them in his stupid way, and piper giggling and rofling about like a buffalo the way she can't before others. they are the kinda couple who would enjoy everything they watch together.
but their ultimate fav, repeat to 10000x movie list till they have memorized every line is HTTYD, cuz yeah, leo-hiccup, toothless-festus, and ig piper is a lot like astrid? AND DRAgons!!! so yeah their go-to, top-of-head movie when they are lazy to try something new
(the only thing they never watch is tristan mclean movies lmao)
14. Who falls asleep during a movie?
Neither, but on hectic days when they are super tired, both of them catch the sleep bug and fall asleep.
if Leo is first to wake up to find the movie is over, he'd pick up piper and carry her to their bed, taking care she doesn't wake up (watching her sleep is secretly his fav thing, yk cuz of piper's cute way of sleeping: "inhaling through the nose, exhaling with a little puff through the mouth" and "her hair looked like it had become a nest for a friendly hamster")
on the other hand, if piper is first to wake, she'd prob simply arrange some pillows for their necks and go back to sleep, snuggling into him bc no chance she is getting cold lol
which brings me to the next choice!
24. Sleeping/cuddling positions? (Big spoon, little spoon, etc.)?
ggfhjk i love this question specifically for this ship cuz Piper is 100% the little spoon!
iirc (forgive me my knowledge of HoO is getting rusty! seriously, it's time for a full reread T_T) both piper and leo are the same height, right? maybe as adults, leo gets a late growth spurt of a couple of inches over her (which is annoying cuz leo is finally taller but secretly she likes it, cuz perfect for a side snuggle)
even otherwise, piper is always, subconsciously snuggling into his side cuz he is so hot warm. even if he hasn't used his fire, there is always some residual warmth in him all the time, which she has got used to searching out for. say, if leo gets up in the middle of the night to drink some water/got a brand new design idea in his head he just has to jot down NOW,,, by the time he returns to bed, piper is completely rolled up in his side of the bed, searching for him in her sleep (he loves this habit of hers! it also probs makes him feel better about his fire too)
iirc, his mom's warehouse caught fire in the middle of winter, right?? ig he'd slowly come to like winters better, bc of piper snuggling more into him during winters agfhjk
and iirc, he likes to sleep with a hug pillow, right? his old hug pillow has been replaced by piper!
39. Do they get along with the other's family? If not, how do they deal with the other's family?
on leo's side, hephaestus will be very suspicious of the daughter of aphrodite (cuz of his own experience with her) but talking to piper, he will be slightly mollified abt her… yet, his advice for Leo always will be to trust his machines more than the human specimen of his girlfriend (ofc leo won't take it seriously)
//toa spoilers/// now josephine and hemithea are his foster mothers i am sure piper would get along with them super well as well <3
on piper's side, leo has already met Tristan in Lost Hero and knows him as piper's friend, so he'd be pretty much chill with what pipes does and who she dates,, he might try to give Leo The Talk as his duty as her father, but Piper would kick her dad out before that ever happens (Leo just being the awkward bean like during the whole helicopter ride in TLH lol)
oth, leo would be mildly (understated) scared of Aphrodite. if they ever meet her (by chance) he'd keep fidgeting and tapping 'i love you' on his jeans till piper clasps his hand and taps back 'it's okay' but i think aphrodite won't be as scary as leo imagines in his head; she'd probs find him amusing and intrigued that her daughter actually prefers leo over jason.
40. Who is the skilled shopper for holidays? Who always waits 'til the last minute to get all of their gifts? (Which one gets stressed out easily)?
piper! she won't--but she would use her charmspeak to bargain for the best prices in those overly expensive, money grabbing malls, something that leo always finds terrifyingly awesome lmao,, piper gets excited for holiday shopping and stuff whereas leo tags along obediently (and use his magic toolbelt to stove away the shopping bags lol)
leo always forgets all of the important days because of his adhd (extreme even by demigod standards) and piper, having known him for long, understands this and never gets mad or anything but he'd always feel guilty about this and makes up for it in a completely random surprise gift he handdesigns for her. Of course, piper loves his stupid (affectionately) and most times, completely non-functional (cuz Leo himself doesn't know what they do loool but they are always weirdly complicated) gifts so much! like say a music box that goes moo! but bake out fresh cookies lmao
@longagoitwastuesday (I think you and @jacksintention are the same person, your writing seems similar; jic I am tagging both of you)
ahfhghikl thank you so much for all your comments on my meandering rambling post! honestly I dunno how I got from point A to point B without losing track of what I was meaning to say in the first place lol but it all came together in the end so :D
I totally understand you not agreeing 100% with me (and you don't have to! as long as you are being nice to me about our difference in opinions, I don't have a problem!) and I am glad, despite this, you could enjoy the rest of it! If I have to take a wild guess, it must be about Jack where our views differ, and while I am very curious about your thoughts, i would like to hear them after i finish my lacie post bc i wanna write about her (and Jack) from my own first impressions of the story.
Part 2: Ah I understand being frustrated seeing the fandom jumping from one opinion to another with every chapter update (that's the problem with a serially updating manga, with tons of plot twist) and i can't speak for myself what i might have done had i been reading this serially as well. reading this altogether helped me form a more solid opinion about overall events happening in the series. Although I have to confess while reading Past Arc, I saw Oswald more as a victim of circumstances (as in, I sympathized with his depressed state at the time and I solely blamed Jack for taking advantage of his friend like that) but later reading on into the last Arc, I started to hold him responsible for a major part in the Tragedy as well as I explained in that essay.
Part 3 +
hmm, it's interesting to me that you feel that way from my writing. I won't say I like him (um, no, I don't think I like him as much as many other characters in the story. In fact, I like Lacie way way more than him) but yeah, I did pity him in the beginning when I thought he was struggling with last minute measures so the world won't come to an end bc of Jack's recklessness. I think the moment I started to.... dislike (i am so conflicted where exactly i stand on the love/hate scale for him) him was when he decided that killing Lacie was the only way to prevent the Tragedy of Sablier. That's just victim blaming at its finest. He already cast Lacie into the Abyss and killed her once. Now, he wants to drag her out out of it and kill her once again? for what? making one (1) friend in her whole life? please.
so yeah, I don't really think I like him, but I did try my best to keep my personal opinions out of this essay and keep it neutral (mostly) so maybe, that's the reason you feel like i like him.
Other than that, thank you for your words: "Even today, I'd say it's perhaps not super extended to find such a nuanced criticism of his character."
"suffering hero to Jack's villain" -> for me, this is not Oswald, but Oz. Oz (and even both Alices) is the ever suffering hero to Jack's villain. Oz never wanted to kill or hurt anybody; he agreed to become a chain for Jack for White Alice's sake. But then, he was forced to commit mass murders and even had to witness his dear Alice commit suicide right before his eyes. Like, it's all so, so, heartbreaking for a doll that got a spark of life and just wanted to do good for his two girls. Even later, when he was in Jack's body, he had to stand by and watch Jack hurt his friends until he, spurred on by Oscar's words, managed to take control of Jack's body. So, if you see Oswald and Jack, I hold his negligence partly responsible for the way Jack turned out. But Oz is a victim through and through.
Part 4: Yes, I agree with all of what you say here! Oswald had the power to end the cycle of trauma by stopping Lacie's execution (if you see Retrace 91/92, he even attacks one of the Juries there. He could have done that at his Succession Ceremony if the Jury tried to intervene in his decision or take away his title of Glen. Moreover, as I understand, there is only one Jury for one story and they are no big fighters or anything.) but in spite of having all the powers of the Abyss, he lacked the strong will to take a huge, game-changing decision and that turned out to be his undoing.
About Alice:
ahhh I am not sure if it is an artistic choice to give Oswald and Alice just enough interactions for us readers to realize that they had been on good terms once,, yet I find it super interesting that Alice has no other memories of him while she has tons of Jack. Like Jack taught her to dance, braid her hair, taught her to play the piano too (I think?) and I don't know whether that memory of Jack and Alice near Lacie's grave and listening to her music is real or manipulated, for Alice iirc was never let out of the castle. so where does that memory come from? Is it Alice's wish that she imagines to be real? On the other hand, White Alice and Glen seem to have had some small interactions after all, bc if you remember Break's teatime with her down in the Abyss, she does mention Glen telling her about chains and stuff and claims to hate him as well. again, with the context of Retrace 76/77, I don't know if I can trust those memories either because her own were already shredded and lost at the point.
And, I was not quite sure the reason she hated Glen anyway. Like, I have seen many different reasons floating around, from her knowing in some way that Glen cast her mother into the Abyss that the other Alice doesn't—to Glen not letting her talk to Jack (?) (uh, I am not sure what this exactly means, but I remember her saying the same to Break as well, I guess it's bc of her broken memories she remembers like that),, it's all very confusing—but.... I think your reason makes the most sense to me. Because, if Glen kept her caged in and didn't let her go out and that's the reason she hated him, then yeah, it makes a lot more sense, why Jack was easily able to sway her to his side with the promise of taking her to the Rose Gardens of Vessalius House.
But, on the whole, yes, I do believe Oswald dropped visiting Alices after Jack took charge of them. Because, artistic choice or not, in such a painful event as Alice witnessing her uncle getting beheaded right in front of her, she must fondly remember and regret all those other memories as well, right? but she still has flashbacks to just that one scene.... so take it as you will.
About Black Alice, it's sad if you think about it. She really loved her uncle, okay? yeah, she might be an idiot for being ok with remaining in a cage among other things, but i think of her as more of a lovable idiot. She loves everything and everyone around her without noticing faults in them. She is that impressionable and good-natured child. She even names her favorite doll after Oswald! In fact, (once again) it's Levi that realizes how Alice likes Oswald the best (and interesting how Levi does spend a lot of time with Alice up until his death in spite of her being a product of his experiments. he has his moments, i guess? lol. and idk if he ever told her that he was her dad. does Oswald know this? or, did he tell only Jack? I mean, like obviously after seeing Alice, Oswald must have realized Lacie had been pregnant when he cast her into the Abyss but does he know Levi is the dad? He might have assumed it's Jack or someone else? idk)
okay, I am rambling now but what I mean to say is Alice really did love her uncle. But Oswald was so drowned by his sorrow and regrets that he didn't open his eyes to what he could still protect, instead spent his days dwelling on what he couldn't. In the end, Alice took her own life.... and, in more than one way, Oswald failed Lacie all over once again. I know for sure, Lacie loved her kids bc she went all the way down into the Abyss to request 'her' to take care of them when they are born and hoped the plush dolls could be friends with them. So yeah. He just keeps hurting her again and again.
ahjfjshgj thank you so much!! about Lacie, I have tons to write about her but i think I hurt my hand a bit, so i am taking a little break from writing so both those essays will have to wait :(( i meant to write an analysis about Lacie separate and about Jack/Lacie (and both topics have soooo much to write idek where to start lol, but i will figure that out. rn, I must worry about my fingers more so yeah a break from fanfics and writing in general is necessary (cuz i can't avoid irl work anw :((( )
and actuaaaaally, I wanna write about Levi too. In spite of his few appearances in the story, I feel like I might have tons to write about him if I reread the series. Such as, he is the sole Plot Starter Flint for the Entire series: it's his experiment that led to the creation of the Will of the Abyss; the only standalone (sorta) arc—Head Hunter's Arc— happened bc of Humpty-Dumpty, the chain that was formed from Levi's body. He has the most fuck-around-and-have-fun energy of all characters, and yet, I think, I think, it might be controversial for this fandom, but I think he is deeper than what comes across. Especially, his expressions in the last few chapters did not.... seem of a person having fun with all this. although he did keep repeating that he was having fun and that's all that matters to him but.... unreliable narrator much? idk. i still hate to the core what he did to Lacie but i wanna know what made him so warped in the first place.
Finally, part 5:
Warning to anyone who likes Reim!!!! please, please, please don't proceed any further. You have been warned. If you read on, it's at your own risk!!! if you get upset by my views don't come @ me. If Reim is your favorite character, stop here, press the back button, leave this page.
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I have never written an analysis on Reim, but if you mean this post, then yeah i did rant about him. I didn't delete it, just took it off the main tag bc it was attracting Unnecessary Attention from the fandom.
(also please don't reblog the linked post, I didn't delete it but I don't want it to attract attention again)
My Opinions on him largely differs from the general Fandom Opinion from what I have seen. To put it simply, his character annoys me. Whatever I wrote in that post, I still stand by—two points as the tip of Iceberg Of My Opinions on him:
1] He didn't trust Break enough to reveal the nature of his Chain to him
2] I am sorry but I can never get behind his excuse for shooting a child as this:
He didn't even try to simply disarm/render her unconscious (like Break did for Zwei); no, he shot her. In the head. With full intent to kill. A child who was chatting merrily with him. A child who told him everything about the Baskervilles. A child who had wholeheartedly accepted him as her friend. In fact, the build up in the panels leading up to his shooting is… ominous, to say the least. Then he closes his eyes and tells himself that he is doing the Right Thing bc, ofc, he is The Good Guy. Nah, I can only see his selfishness here: he wanted to do something Useful for once, bc he is always called weak and useless. He wanted to go back to his people, inform them Baskervilles are here, but "oh, I took care of one of them all by myself." He (and the whole Pandora, for that matter) has this Black and White worldview: Baskervilles: Black: Bad and Pandora: White: Good. In spite of Lily telling him everything about herself, he still doesn't make the slightest attempt to change his view of them. At least, Break didn't have that kind of prejudice; he did "talk" to Lottie as he would to any other 'human enemy'—in the end, he even apologizes for being a jerk to her... and then goes on to being a jerk again lmao
Point no. 1 is..... I don't have words about how much I hate him for withholding such vital information. From Break. Break, of all people, who he knows is always looking out for him, thinks of him as his only friend, might engage in a fight for his sake etc. And then, says shit like this:
What. is. wrong. Xerx. what's. with. that. sad. face. While reading this chapter fresh, I uttered Shut Up at the same time as Break, you know. That's why I believe he was also, for once, really pissed off Reim didn't share something this important. Break would have died. Like D I E D if best boy Gil didn't arrive on the scene on time. Please. Why you look so sad. Go die in a ditch somewhere.
And, I loved Fang, okay? He might be a minor character and all, one that the fandom most likely doesn't care about but... I loved him, for all the small things that were shown to us, he was one of a kind of an honorable gentleman and a true warrior. He genuinely politely talks to his enemies—he even said he was honored to cross blades with a strong fighter like Break. He didn't want to use his chain bc he wanted to fight Break (who was using Mad Hatter anyway) one-on-one like.... what a strong warrior code! Fang died because of Reim, only and only because of him. Not only bc of all what I wrote here, but also—like what was Reim even trying to do by distracting Lily in the heat of the battle? trying to get her killed? Break was poised to kill her and she lets down her guard bc of Reim, that's why Fang couldn't even block his sword.
You know, what's sadder, Lily had no intention to kill him even if he shot her in the head with full intention to kill. See:
Yeah, the only reason he appeared 'dead' to Fang was bc he put himself in hibernation. Had Break known of this, he would have rushed to check on Reim's wounds first, instead of immediately giving him up for dead and jumping in to revenge him.
Eventually Break succumbed to his injuries from this very battle, because, you see:
Break has always passed out bc of his Chain (and he won't die from it) but he was unparalleled in his sword skills. Fang got an advantage on him bc of his underground attacks with his chain. This is the first time Break got injured. The first time Break got injured. With things moving so fast after this, his injury never heals properly; while in captivity, Vincent reopens that wound and finally, Break succumbs to it. I read a couple of meta about how time was never Break's ally that's why his time runs out,,, but I maintain he died bc someone he considered a friend didn't reciprocate his sentiment enough to trust him with vital information and that's what cost him his life in the end. and then, you wonder why he always wants to be a one-man army.
This is just the tip of Iceberg of My Opinions on him. Retrace 93 must be why he is so upheld as a beacon of diplomacy or something in this fandom but sorry to say, my views differ. I think people overlook Lottie's role there. Not everyone might agree with me, and might still credit Reim for doing something that Break already set in motion and Lottie brought to the finish line. All of his "bullet points" were nothing that couldn't have happened 40 chapters ago had he not blindly clung onto his prejudice. And, finally, happens in Retrace 93 with Reim and Lily becoming friends at the cost of one life on either side. Isn't it ironic that this 'friendship' that started off on the wrong foot thwarted the other that was actively pursued by both sides? the things that might have changed if Fang never died? Lottie might even have helped them in some way while Break, Sharon and Shirley were imprisoned. other than this, it might be bc I am already annoyed enough by him but I dislike his overall attitude toward Lily in this chapter. (annnnd if it is true, he proposed to Sharon within a year of Break's death..... well. idk if I can take it canon or it's just a non-canon sidenovel thingie buuut it rubs me in the wrong way for... reasons. or, maybe it's just me. i take those kind of things seriously)
Anyway, jic what you meant by Opinion on Reim was not this, and something in the lines of Good/Nice/Different/What a lovable character he is, isn't he? ^^
then let's just pretend you didn't read any of this and:
But in case, you wanna read more of My Opinions on him, I will have another 50-page rant ready lol; I can never possibly physically sit down and write a neutral unbiased analysis on him. No, I feel so strongly about him that I will always end up ranting. I might even attempt a neutral analysis on Levi, of all people, some day; can't on Reim. Sigh.
either way, i'd rather spend my time writing about characters i love than wasting my time thinking about those i don't. sooo, chances are I won't write anything more about him anyway; but yeah, to put it shortly, I don't have much of an opinion on him.
10. Who is always reminding the other not to forget important documents/general things before leaving out the door?
Thank you @frankenjoly for the ship ask! ships of my choice"" is hard to pick (I have so many!) but I decided to go with ramposano cuz I don't talk about them as much as I want to on here XD (and these questions fit them perfectly ghjfk)
4. Their favorite show to watch together?
For Ranpo, it's def crime series/documentary! He prob calls out the criminal within two seconds of the "murder" and if the murderer turns out to be a red herring planted (for sake of a deliberate plot twist or smth) he would list out all the reasons why it's impossible for them to have committed the murder lol (ofc, Yosano is in agreement but she won't admit it out loud lolol) Yosano might whine to switch to something else but secretly she loves watching crime thrillers with Ranpo, mainly bc he gets so excited about them and his excitement is contagious ghfjk
As for Yosano, I think she'd like watching something slice-of-life-y or light romcom just to de-stress; sometimes, she might watch more cheesy sentimental movies for a good cathartic cry. Ranpo hates them but joins her anyway (bc it's fun to see her expressions more than the movie lmao) honestly he doesn't understand why they are creating unnecesssary misunderstandings/situations and why the plot reveal wasn't obvious right from the beginning. Neither why Yosano is crying for the characters but he would let her cry and console (re:teasing consoling) her in whatever way he can. later, they will dip into a big tub of ice-cream too!
7. Who's clumsier?
Ranpo, but a drunk Yosano is def clumsier than a sober Ranpo. Honestly, they are both somewhere on the clumsy scale-> Ranpo with his clothes, belongings, getting lost etc., while Yosano might trip over her heels if she is lost in thoughts but walk up and leave like nothing lmao (doesn't make her any less clumsy and Ranpo definitely noticed asa she entered the room haha)
10. Who is always reminding the other not to forget important documents/general things before leaving out the door?
Yosano! But at times, Ranpo points out, as casually as he can, something he knew/figured out she had forgotten, so she gets caught off-guard (and Ranpo gets his gotcha moment lol)
just popped by to say that I really like your Pandora Hearts related stuff! Not many people still involved in this fandom and even less in that ship ;)
BTW, I haven't seen it anywhere in your analyses so I wonder whether you know about the existence of this older official card deck. It has rather interesting choice of colours for certain characters ;)
Have a nice day!
DEAR ANON I am so sorry I am answering this ask so late (but like I couldn't have answered it earlier even if I wanted to 😭)
But,,,, BUT..... ahhhh this is one rare ask about my favorite ship that has been living rent-free in my head for months and I couldn't see it before now (it's a month late I am really sorry orz)
//even less in that ship ;)// lolol there is me and only me involved in this ship *sad lonely rarepair noises* but I just can't help but ship them cuz they click so well in my head ghfjksl
ahfjkl I confess I had no idea about the existence of the older official card deck until you tell me now! annnnd //rather interesting choice of colours for certain characters ;)// SCREAMINFhsjgk whaaaatt wdym "interesting choice"???? omggg why is this so tantalizing??? anon, dear anon please come back i beg you come back and give me that small piece of canon(? maybe?) content for my ship I am literally in tears lol 😭😭😭 (until then, I am going to be here making up all sorts of scenarios for whatever might be in the card deck ghfjfk)
Really thank you so much for this ask ❤❤!! It was a pleasant surprise when I opened my inbox today (and found this is actually, really about my fav ship!!! I am screaming rn 🥺😭)
Have a nice rest of the day you too!! And a very happy new year ahead!!!
@longagoitwastuesday hi, just thought I should share this with you! It appears Jack did take White Alice to his home. So, the visit to Lacie's grave was not a manipulated memory as I was wondering. (Retrace 73)
Like, the Tower in the Baskerville grounds don't have all those curtains and such intricate interior architecture? It's just mostly a stone prison, more or less.
vsvfbfh love your answers in the tag games. And also,still listening to 2nd gen groups in 2023 is a mood! 🩷🩷🩷 Once a legend,always a legend!
Your literature taste is immaculate!🩷
ghfjklgh I knooow! my tastes in kpop boys has not changed in a million years lmao; my favs back then were SuJu, 2pm and Infinite; annnd like that, a lot of old songs of SHINee, BigBang, 2NE1 and CNBlue are still my all-time favorites! (how sad so many of these latter got disbanded/embroiled into a bunch of problems over time)
I kinda lost touch by the time of 3rd gen tho I still do listen to EXO, BTS and GOT7 songs and by 4th gen... I am drawing a complete blank lol I was randomly listening to Limitless by NCT7 the other day and that was pretty good so ig it's on me that I haven't been digging around for new songs T_T
agfhdj thank you, same goes for you too! I haven't been reading as many books as I used to tho, so that this tag game made up for a good readlist thro' everyone tagging their fav books gjfhl; Dune has been on my readlist for a long time so this gives me the chance to check it out!
I was wondering if you have any theory on who from the ADA that Mori will choose to trade to the PM? I am thinking Tanizaki or Atsushi. Tanizaki because of his ability is very useful, but I was also speculating on possibly Atsushi to guilt Dazai? What are your thoughts?
A BSD ask? I wasn’t expecting one so thanks anon!
I believe many people have already written about this topic so I don’t want to go into a lot of details. I will simply try to eliminate who Mori is unlikely to recruit to his side based on their ability and their usefulness. Also, tbvh, it’s quite hard for me to make any solid theories about this series... though, I will try (and I could be totally wrong anyway lol the author is waiting to swing another wild curveball right into my face)
Before coming to your question, I just want to recap a few things and then build off it bc I feel it’s important sort of.
So, at the time Mori made the deal with Fukuzawa to rescue the ADA from the Hunting Dogs, Port Mafia was (seemingly) not being targeted by either the DoA or the Hunting Dogs. The Agency was made out to be terrorists for whatever reason whereas the Port Mafia was stronger on the power scale and ADA needed their protection (even if it was against their will).
But now? With all that has happened, most of the Port Mafia has been turned to mindless vampires. I held out some hope that the top executives might have been whisked off to safety before the vampire outbreak could spread to them—after ch. 98, I don’t think so. Chuuya is the strongest martial artist in the PM. If he has been turned, then no doubt the rest too must have been turned. Mori (and maybe, a few subordinates for his protection) are probably the only ones left human in the PM.
I am guessing by the time the news of what’s going on with the lower ranks reached the top brass, it was already too late and perhaps, Chuuya had to sacrifice himself to protect his Boss? Well, that’s just my headcanon—since going by his casuals, the popular theory is that he was caught off-guard. Maybe.
Anyway, my point is that both ADA and PM are on a (seemingly) losing end rn, comparatively PM even more so. Port Mafia (Mori) has even judged that the Agency’s strategy is essential to the Mafia too. See—
The tables have turned now and the Agency, cornered as they are, are stronger on the power scale (they have strength by their numbers alone. The ADA hasn’t lost any members so far except for Dazai who is working from the prison through Ango anyway) compared to PM, which has only one important figure now. Meaning, rn, the Deal isn’t gonna go through. Surely, Mori’s first priority is to bring PM back to normal, right?
And, for that, we need Dazai. He has to make contact with Bram Stoker and neutralize the Vampire ability (Dracula??) (the same way he did for Q).
Annnd, this—if my guess is right—will take place at the end of DoA arc. How the DoA arc will end, idk. Pretty sure nobody will die and stay dead (Yosano is right there and as long as she is safe, we can put that thought out of mind. Please heal Akutagawa and Tachihara too, Yosano-sensei~) but not whether everything will be back to normal as before.
You see, the DoA arc is the longest arc so far and I can’t even compare the amount of damage the ADA and the PM has taken to that in the Guild or the Cannibalism arc. More importantly, Dostoyevsky. The guy wasn’t really involved in either of the earlier arcs. The first one—he meant for the Guild to take the hit and in the second—he meant to get arrested.
I have no idea what his real agenda is because continuous attempts at burning down a city to hunt a single novel seems tedious and uneconomical. If I were the leader of a massive underground network, I would rather keep it lowkey and locate the Book without any fanfare plus keeping the news of my search from the ears of the major protectors (?? what do I call them?) of the city. That’s why it feels to me that either the Book isn’t really a Book and something else (unlikely bc they apparently already wrote the DoA scenarios on a Page from it) or he was (for the 1584th time) lying about his actual mission. Maybe, not about him wanting to rid the world of the ability users but the rest? (something like this theory maybe?)
Oh, but back to topic. Why did I get talking about Fyodor lol sorry
tl;dr, only if Yokohama returns to normal with the ADA and the PM back to their usual petty animosity will the Deal make any sense. Till then, the two organizations have to work together, whether they like it or not, bc that’s the only way to protect the city and the country. If the Hunting Dogs (not Fukuchi) become their temporary allies, even better.
Well, having said this, let’s go through the list of the Agency members (ability users only) and see the chances of who might get traded into the PM anyway.
Yosano: I don’t think Mori was being serious when he said he wanted Yosano to join the Mafia. It was probably more to cause confusion and a feeling of betrayal (if the false news of Fukuzawa agreeing to trade Yosano was believed, that is) among the ADA ranks and nothing more. But I could be wrong ofc.
Kyouka: Even if she weren’t an ex-PM member, I doubt Mori would particularly demand for her coz the PM already has an assassin trained by Verlaine (Gin) and an ability user with the same ability (Kouyou). Wasting the one chance to get hands on a powerful ability user from the ADA on her doesn’t seem likely.
Ranpo: No, obviously.
Kunikida: His ability is quite useful as we saw during the Cannibalism Arc (him activating it for Tanizaki over a long distance) and during the Introduction Arc (when he and Dazai switched places to neutralize the countdown ability user (I forgot the name)); add to it, he is Dazai’s current trusted partner. But, but, he isn’t exactly cut out to be a mafioso because of his highly valued ideals. Recruiting him might cause more harm to the Mafia than good. In short, this (lol sorry Kunikida)—
Kenji: he is a tank like Chuuya; might make him a good addition to the PM if only for his ability. Taking into account his personality... well, it is not like I won’t love to see a happy sunshine-y ever-optimistic mafia lol
Atsushi: Now we are getting a bit closer to the possibility. Depends on Akutagawa btw
Akutagawa survives the DoA arc:
In this case, Atsushi won’t be traded. Because the Shin Soukoku will continue to work as a unit. Mori doesn’t have to go out of his way to hire the other part of the SSKK into the mafia.
Take Soukoku, for example. Chuuya is still in PM whereas Dazai moved to ADA. Yet during the fight against Lovecraft and Steinbeck, Mori sent Chuuya to form Soukoku once again and Dazai, in spite of his earlier reluctance to make an alliance with the PM (Mori) on the whole, had no choice but to agree. Similarly, at the time of crisis, Mori (or, rather, Dazai) will definitely make the Shin Soukoku to work together again.
Akutagawa doesn’t survive the DoA arc:
In this case, as you say, I can see the possibility of Mori hiring Atsushi if only to guilt Dazai bc he was the one to (indirectly or otherwise) send Akutagawa to his death. Chances are low, though, coz Mori is a cold, calculating man who values results over emotions. Only if he gets to guilt-trip Dazai into doing something for him via this route, then yeah. Otherwise, no.
Add to that, the fact that Atsushi’s tiger is closely related to the Book in some way? idek what the whole sporadic abduction of poor weretiger was all about? Now, the guy who was really after the Book doesn’t seem at all interested in Atsushi? Was he simply bluffing about him being related to the Book so the Guild and Shibusawa enter Japan and launch an attack on Yokohama?
Tanizaki: Frankly, he is the best choice for the transfer. He says he goes feral for his sister but he was also all ready to straight up assassinate the PM boss to save their President had it not been for Kouyou (she even remarks about his terrifying bloodlust as does Hirotsu about how his ability is so well suited for sneak assassinations.)
See—
Not only that, he is the first to recover from the shock of the sudden Deal between the two leaders and adapt the fastest to the new circumstances—
Annd the first to offer to switch to the Mafia instead of Yosano:
All in all, Tanizaki seems the best choice. He has an ability suitable for stealth jobs—he is serious and ready to go to any lengths (even, kill) to pull off the job assigned to him. But most importantly, he doesn’t have any fast ideals. Hirotsu and Kouyou have already noted this and no doubt, Mori too. Among the members of the ADA, he does seem the perfect candidate for the transfer. But, well, let’s see what happens :)
