#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.

#danny fenton #danny phantom #dp #dc #dcau #dc comics #dp x dc #dc x dp #dp + dc #batman #Roulette #DCAU #justice league #underground fighter Danny #Meta Arena #Legal work for Roulette?? #Joker #Solomon Grundy #Proffesor Pyg #Victor Zsasz #James Gordon #Arkham Guard #Arkham Warden Danny #Bodyguard Danny #Dad Danny #dani fenton #Bruce Wayne #Veronica Sinclair #Jazz x Jason #Dani x Jon Kent

[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

#this is also how I like to think that hole in the ceiling #at the arena where you fight Dedede also came about #Metadede #Meta Knight #King Dedede #Kirby #kirby and the forgotten land #Kirby and the forgotten lands

[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!)

#this manga making me emo about these brothers once again ;-; #asl brothers #sabo #revolutionary sabo #monkey d. luffy #portgas d. ace #one piece #one piece manga #long post #mine #im sure all my other questions will be answered when i read more into the arc! but i have to share this before i forget it. #its just these parallels of luffy and sabo thinking about the place they met. in the arena fighting for ace's flame fruit #gif:op manga #gif:op meta

[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.

#seriously. why am i so invested. #I DON'T EVEN GO HERE #the hunger games #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #katniss everdeen #thg meta #anyways i do believe somewhere in the multiverse there's a timeline where lucy gray /does/ spark the rebellion #(in a deeper and more immediate way) #like. look at the way the capitol had to erase her. (and not just because snow was a salty scorned ex.) #there's a universe where she's too popular for the records to really be erased. where she becomes a celebrity and #gains a platform and a network and /access/. where she flexes those snake-charming skills on the capitol. #there's a universe where she sways coryo a little more thoroughly. where she's ripped from him by the capitol #and it radicalizes him. doesn't make him a good person or less of a ruthless player in the game. but one with different goals. #there's a universe where she doesn't have coryo there to cheat for her. in that one she can't hold the snakes off forever. #she dies in the arena. there is no victor and no hope. there is nothing but love for a girl who should've survived. #in this universe the people revolt because the capitol has grown to love her and the districts see nothing to lose. #there's a universe where she survives and gains the respect of all the academy students. children are the future. #this is how the capitol loses control. #there's a universe where lucy gray sticks around in 12 past the music ban. in this universe she'll write quiet songs of rebellion. #she'll run. not out of panem but within it. she will be a singing ghost starting fires throughout a country fractured. #ANYWAYS. I WILL STOP.

[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

#valiant effort of this episode to try to emulate the iconic Arena. failed effort but valiant nonetheless #the savage curtain #spock #star trek #tos #st: tos #surak #vulcans #he's also his grandpa so of course he would treat him like sarek #his i beg forgiveness. i will kill the image of surak with a stick for making him say that #trek meta #my meta #rotating Spock in my mind. business as usual

[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)

#i should prob add that to the pinned post cause i keep getting asks about stuff in knightmare #but yeah. theyre not canon haha #the only part of arenas canon to my au are the soul boss fights #marx soul; magolor soul; soul of sectonia; star dream soul os (the final phase) are canon #as well as chaos elfilis #and the forgotten isles as a whole #anon #meta knight

[pomegranatecookiez]

#cookie run #candy diver cookie #candy diver is either gonna be useless or obliterate the meta and i dont know which is worse #hopefully theyre good because most of the cookies i really like arent that good #the only cookies on my arena team i actually like as characters are wildberry and caviar #when candy diver comes out ill probably put them and pome on my team instead of pv #for context my current team is wildberry/black pearl/caviar/vampire/pure vanilla #probably not the best team but at least im in master 5 soooooo <3

[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).

#and by *not* looking to challenge that or do something unique it draws firmer comparisons to other pirate media i've seen #which is certainly a choice considering ofmd is not winning in the arena of 'best war with the british empire' #but they actually had a leg to stand on in cartoonish hijinks #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd meta #ofmd 2x08 #stede bonnet ofmd #blackbeard ofmd #ofmd piracy #genre #ladyluscinia #ask #anon

[cuppajj]

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

#im about to be such a menace to the arena meta #jj plays cookie run

[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?

#my art #disclaimer: like 95% of my persona knowledge was acquired second hand #that other 5% being the p4a manga #so don't take this too seriously #kirby #persona #persona 3 #persona 4 arena #meta knight #aigis #aigis persona #labrys #labrys persona #i'm not tagging the characters in the examples #mostly to avoid all of the p3 protag's names #(like what is he doing? tax evasion?) #and i specified in the games specifically for meta knight #because of the light novel where he dies and tries to return to the world of the living #i could've come up with more stuff between kirby and aigis #like how they've both fought two different kinds of death itself and won #(with a big asterisk for one of aigis's cases) #or their large storage capacities #(kirby's stomach and aigis's p4a weaponry) #or their weirdly-shaped hearts #(which tbf aigis shares with labrys too) #but i didn't want it to become unbalanced with the meta knight-labrys side #because the only other thing i can think of between them is... #...having distinctive accents? #which meta knight only really has in the anime dub... #so i left it smaller than i could've

[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!!

#oh also the sort of meta visuals of the wealthy guys betting on and looking at the tabletop mini version of the arena #(i.e. how we the players usually see it. also gotta love all the other adventuring parties competing in the games) #anyway that's the takeaway. good and fun. predictable sure but mostly good and fun #honor among thieves #kayla talks media

[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.

#aikoto #persona 3 #persona q #aigis #makoto yuki #games #pq #arena #meta #don't get me started on all of aikoto's ties to “eternity” #like love through all eternity #but I didn't really check PQ's Japanese script so lol #if aigis hangs back to wait for sees then it's possible makoto may reincarnate and run into her in that way #after all they're fated to meet #but that would be kind of weird so I'd rather imagine makoto waiting for her so they can reincarnate together lmao

[ehatnow]

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

But also to fight Kirby

#kirby #meta knight #kirby and the forgotten land #im sry im an idiot #i only realized this after watching a playthru #i was like #hey hold up #meta came to the town after u finish world 3 #world 3 is right before the snow level #and u get the arena right after #this confirms my theory that no #meta did not see dedede #he saw the snow and said no

[king-k-ripple]

#kirby #kirby memes #kirby super star #kirby super star ultra #meta knight #kirby copy ability #thor: ragnarok #the arena #boss rush

[mai-komagata]

so i rewatched arena last night

takeaways:

they say they don't recognize the ship -- that is fine, they can get different ships in like 8 years, the federation probably doesn't have a catalog of all their vessels.

they don't seem particularly confused as to what the gorn are -- you can read it as "they have never heard of it before" but they don't actually say that. Uhura seems pretty horrified to hear about the gorn. Which tracks.

Colony being destroyed and colonists being in melty face mode tracks with gorn doing what they do to colonies.

This being a weird territorial dispute is not a bad angle -- federation thinks they are to blame, but maybe those are there ritual breeding grounds and we are impinging.

Kirk feels revulsion at the gorn, which tracks our experience of them so far.

Juveniles being super fast and agile and old gorn being lumbering but super strong tracks with a lot of lizard species.

I liked the "these are incomprehensible evil creatures" angle in arena, and I think that meshes with xenomorph experience, in a way simply lizard suit + alien language wouldn't for modern audiences.

Kirk (and Spock) showing compassion for the gorn angle is def interesting. And def more hearfelt if you have all this gorn history, which would make compassion difficult. You'd hope Kirk would generally have compassion for a random alien species. But it makes a more compelling narrative if they have thus far been presented as incomprehensible monsters until Arena, because then the compassion is more radical, and the encounter with the Metrons made them realize otherwise.

#obviously its not free of retcons #but i think it can fit close enough #snw meta #star trek strange new worlds spoilers #star trek tos #arena #close enough for a 60 year old show #im not rewatching the gorn ENT ep sorry #strange new worlds

[tangsakura]

Just Dinner Tonight?: What You Missed On That Hisoka X Machi Scene [A Dialogue Analysis]

+ mini lessons on Japanese language. 

Warnings: if you haven’t read chapter 55 of Hunter x Hunter or watched episode 32 of the anime, then it’s gonna be spoiler so don’t go any further if that's the case; bad grammar; unedited; typos.

Remember reading the last three panels of this page, or seeing those in the anime? That time when Hisoka asked Machi for dinner.  

In the official manga and anime translations, they translated these lines as Hisoka asking Machi dinner for the night, but that's not exactly the case. Plus, there’s more implications to his words that had been lost in translation and also difficult to express in English.

In the official raws, he said the following lines, which were also said in the anime:

「ところでどうだい? 今夜♥ 一緒に食事でも........」

Pronounced as: Tokoro de doo dai? Konya issho ni shookuji demo.....

So the first part (excluding 今夜♥) is translated like this, literally:

"Anyways, how about it? (or 'how about this?')"

One thing that I found fascinating here is that his question ended with dai (だい). This ending is usually used in male speech and/or if the question they're asking is directed towards someone they're close with like friends and family (or some sort, whichever makes them be close or comfortable enough with each other) or anyone younger like children. Or when asking a question to someone informally and you’re, implicitly demanding or asking for an answer to the question; may sound rude especially if you’re not close with them (unless you’re intentionally rude or indicating you’re not close to them). 

I don’t think the purpose of this question is the latter, but the former. For him to use this is like, well for me, breaking a bit of his mask. Showing us how close they are, or at least how much he trusts her. Maybe it's the part of him that wants to deepen their relationship that's peeking through the cracks. Whatever it is, their relationship is clearly not just a shallow, typical give-and-take one. At least, in my opinion, to Hisoka's POV.

Also, I find it funny that in this short scene, he's talking in a more masculine way. I've said before in my Hisoka meta analysis that he speaks in masculine language, but it’s not so masculine and it’s much closer to neutral. But when he transitions the subject from the Phantom Troupe stuff to this invitation, he started off strong, in a much more masculine manner than the usual. To think that he’d be more manly in asking her. Because he can just end the sentence with どう and it will still retain the same translation. 

Bonus points for the heart. He’s really presenting himself as excited or thrilled for his proposition to her for that night. 

(You can take a break here. Resume your reading when you’re ready.)

The words on the second part, just before Machi slammed the door on him, literally translates to:

今夜♥ - tonight ♥  

一緒に - together

食事でも - a meal or something

You would’ve heard this by now that Japanese verbs normally goes at the end. Sometimes they are omitted, but those who know Japanese can infer what the ending is based on context.

So if Machi didn’t shut the door on him, the sentence might’ve ended like this.

今夜♥ 一緒に食事でも【しようか? ♥】

今夜♥ 一緒に食事でも【するか? ♥】

It can also end with the same verbs, but without the か and the question mark. The verb can also be conjugated differently, depending on how Hisoka wanted to present himself to her, his mood, or whatever the variables he’s considering that are present in that scene. (obviously the heart will be at the end cuz he ‘likes’ her)

So the possible full literal translation could be:

“Tonight ♥ [Let’s have] a meal together or something.”

“Tonight ♥ [Shall we have] a meal together or something.”

“Tonight ♥ [We should have] a meal together or something.”

And so on and so forth, depending on the verb conjugation.

But the main message is that he’s inviting her “to have dinner or something tonight”. Because of the formatting the translations team has to take into account and also the size of the speech bubbles in the panels, the proofreader and the quality checkers/control people had to make sure to rephrase the translation until they can perfectly fit it inside the bubble as they desired. 

So, we get: “How about dinner......?” in a nice format.

They’re not completely wrong. Hisoka did ask Machi to have a meal with him that night, but there’s also implications in that sentence that are lost in translation.

Allow me to explain that “or something” in my full literal translations previously.

So if Hisoka is just asking Machi to have a meal with him tonight, it would look like this instead:

「今夜♥ 一緒に食事を........」(Konya issho ni shookuji o......)

But we have でも beside 食事. でも means ‘but’ in English, but it can also be used as a particle to indicate open options.

So let’s say, you want to ask a friend to go out for a drink at Starbucks, you can say:

「スタバにコーヒーでも飲みに行こうか?」ー Should (or ‘Shall’) we go to Starbucks to drink coffee (or something else).

If you put を instead of でも, you’re only limiting yourselves to having coffee when you go to Starbucks for a drink. By using でも, you are not limiting yourselves to just coffee. If you change your mind or find something better, you can get other drinks like a frappuccino, iced tea, or whatever it is.

So Hisoka is inviting Machi to dinner, but he’s also open to doing other options should any of them find anything better than having a meal or change their mind about eating dinner for the night. Well, if they’re just gonna be in Hisoka’s room the whole night, then there’s just a couple options available to them if they don’t wanna eat....... and we should know what those are by now. And this is where the famous unofficial translation of the scene came from. You know, the translation when Hisoka asked Machi to spend the night with him directly.

What made me laugh with this 「今夜♥ 一緒に食事でも........」is that it’s so indirect. Like we know Hisoka is straightforward. He literally and directly would state his intentions, especially to those he wanted to fight. Unless it would get in his way or something, then he will lie or come up with a white lie. He’s even not scared of doing the taboo, like the infamous r*pe sign he did when he asked Illumi if he could go after Killua to ‘kill’ him. 

But this time he was asking it like normal guy to someone he’s in some sort of relationship with.......... Also, he looks like a shy guy asking this type of question, but this might just be me. Like where’s the bold Hisoka I know? Whomst. But then again, that might just be censorship done since it’s a shounen series......

Also this man staring at the door for moments after Machi slammed the door on him...... Poor boy.

Anyways, that’s the end of this analysis post. Let me know what you think of it. I would love to hear your opinions. As usual, I will answer comments or stuff when I am in the mood.

Until next time.

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