Unnecessary Addition:

Rubix speaking again. That last arc ended on a somewhat heavy note, and rather than give everyone whiplash by jumping straight back into comedic Level 5 shenanigans, I'll instead do another 'author's note'. Below are some additional thoughts I've had in regards to 'Super Seven' and other miscellaneous opinions.

Like for instance…

What prevents Accelerator's clothes from exploding off when he uses his powers? On record, he's worn ankle belts on his pants. And unless that was a fashion statement, I assume they were utilized in some way to keep his pants from flying off. Does he Velcro his clothes to his skin?

Such insightful things like that.

Once again, I promise to make this as short as I can.

So…

Let's start with…

Appearances

Something I've realized, due to my writing style *cough* laziness *cough* I haven't made any descriptions about anyone's appearance or dress. Unless, of course, there's something notable or remarkable. So right now, I'll go down the line and give some proper imagery like any competent writer would. And everyone reading this knows that I'm a totally competent writer.

(This is the part where people are supposed to laugh or uncomfortably shift their eyes. And I pretend that I've told a totally competent joke.)

There are also songs and artists listed down below that are unrelated/related. Feel free to ignore them.

The Disgusting "Accelerator"

Rather than dress in his usual linear designs, he wears a plain button-up shirt with slacks. This would be his Nagatenjouki Academy uniform minus the blazer. And during his time in the lab, he should be wearing a white coat over this uniform. The thought behind this is that he's putting some effort into looking formal, though not too much. With a loose tie and half-tucked shirt, Accelerator might be considered unintentionally stylish.

Bloody Stream by Coda

The Arrogant "Dark Matter"

There's no reason Kakine Teitoku should look any different than he does in New Testament. Though, his appearance here is slightly more unkempt and his hair would maybe be longer. His look should invoke a more laidback and cool kind of character. But if his eyes were to suddenly turn black and if he were to suddenly start shouting obscenities at Accelerator, his appearance would easily accommodate this personality too. Not that this sort of thing is planned. As of now, I still have no idea what to do with his character in 'Super Seven'.

Butterfly by Kōji Wada (tri. version)

The Ignorant "Railgun"

I don't want to talk about where in the timeline 'Super Seven' is supposed to take place in relation to canon. There's no point in trying to fit it to canon as 'Super Seven' is too nonsensical with its 4th wall breaking… but reasonably, Misaka Mikoto should have access to a high school uniform at this point. Or, at least, she should be thinking about experimenting with new uniforms, maybe to prepare herself for the future. The vague image I have is something fairly similar to what she already wears in New Testament but darker and heavier in color scheme. Something that signals a step up in maturity from Tokiwadai anyway. Thematically, her appearance would make her "cool" in idolm ster terms.

"fake!fake!" by A Crow is White

The Contemptuous "Meltdowner"

With Mugino Shizuri, she isn't beholden to a school uniform, nor does she have the goal to "clean her act". With that in mind, her clothes change freely to her mood. I can't say much other than that she goes through a catalogue of fashionable outfits. Though, I will say that during Movie Meltdown, I pictured her with her hair tied up in a ponytail while she was applying makeup on others. As the great philosopher Kyon once said "Ponytails something something".

Okuu's Nuclear Fusion Dojo by IOSYS

The Paranoid "Mental Out"

Whether it's intentional or coincidental, Shokuhou Misaki's appearance mirrors that of Misaka Mikoto. She sorta has the 'gyaru' version of her uniform, but it's not too over-the-top. Notably, she ties a jersey around her waist and rolls up her sleeves. She also displays an abundance of trinkets and pins on her bag. Of course, her staple gloves and stocking are still there.

True Story by Rie Kugimiya

The Foolish "Sogiita Gunha"

His design is perfect. No change required.

To All Tha Dreamers by Soul'd Out

Nunotaba Shinobu

Occasionally wears goth Lolita cosplay to work. Otherwise, she continues wearing her Nagatenjouki Academy uniform.

Close Encounters

'Close Encounters' takes place right after 'Work in Progress'. It also features a cow. Well, no. It features Nunotaba Shinobu and a guy in a hazmat suit. Here, I delve into the reason why I wanted Shinobu to be a part of this fic, mainly her proximity to Accelerator. Or her perceived proximity. Being technically a 'classmate' as well as someone involved with Level 6 Shift, she has plenty of reasons to cross paths with him. Canonically, they don't. But this is fanfiction, so haha losers!

(Wait for another uncomfortable laugh. And keep moving forward.)

Obscure reference time: One of the titled segments, 'Boys and Girls of a Science Era', is an instrumental Touhou melody that I happen to like. In association with Shinobu, it seems like a good fit. Then again, that's just me imposing my own thoughts on two mediums I hardly understand.

I suppose the world Shinobu thinks of at the end of 'Close Encounters' is the same world in Parallelogram, which is another fic I made a long while back.

'Alien Alien' and 'Stratostella' are sci-fi/alien themed Vocoloid songs. And if you haven't guessed it by now, I happen to listen to a lot of random music in my spare time that may or may not influence what I write.

The real mystery presented in this mini-arc is not whether aliens exist or not, but who was the guy in the hazmat suit? Hazmat Suit guy (which I will hereby call H.S.) might forever be an unknown. Foreseeably, I doubt H.S. will ever be relevant again, so don't get your hopes up for a reveal any time soon.

Motion Picture Meltdown

Spoilers.

It's all a movie.

From the opening title to the ending credits, it's supposed to be a film. I love making confusing messes and this happens to be one of them.

The Meltdown Arc (which despite its name isn't only about Mugino) is about the group attempting to make a movie… about the group attempting to make a movie. As you can see, it's super convoluted. And after coming up with the idea, I realized that stripping away the first layer would make a nice twist. Thus, we have Motion Picture Meltdown and a separate Movie Meltdown Epilogue. As briefly mentioned in the epilogue, a lot of points in Motion Picture Meltdown hint at what happened behind the scenes.

I may have overdone it with references. Off the top of my head, there's Blade Runner, Overwatch, Wickerman, Bill O' Reilly, and Re:Zero references that are scattered here and there. I also referenced more of my previous fanfics: 'Super SS', 'Super Endymion', and 'Super Collider'.

I feel like I should say… I really like 'Super Collider'. I may be biased since I wrote it, but I feel like it's pretty good. I mean, yeah, it's stupid. But c'mon. It's not long. It's got a good character arc. It's actually got a satisfying ending, unlike some of my other works. If someone here hasn't ready 'Super Collider', give it shot. Read 'Super Collider'. I don't know what else to say here. If you like 'Super Seven', you'll most likely like 'Super Collider' too. The point I'm trying to make is- please read 'Super Collider'.

The Meltdown Arc also brings in a slew of characters, notably the rest of ITEM and not-Kamijou Touma.

I bet people who read 'Super Seven' think to themselves 'Where's Touma? Where is he? Isn't he the main character? I want more Touma! He's a funny guy! He's gotta appear eventually, right?' Well… he exists. That's for certain. But, for better or worse, I don't want him to play any role in 'Super Seven'. Simply, there are already too many characters I have to manage, and adding him in would break many of the dynamics I've already set up. It would break the story. That being, a story about a bunch of Level 5s bumping heads with each other. Also, he would inadvertently solve everyone's problems and soak up a lot of spotlight. So that's my excuse.

Estelle Rosenthal also makes her first official fanfic appearance as far as I can tell. Personally, I find her character adorable, especially in the Accelerator Idol Spin-Off. (Which by the way everyone should read since it's everything I've ever wanted out of a 4-koma series about Level 5s).

Of the events I wanted to include but couldn't due to possible loss in focus: I really wanted to include moments where Mikoto would be a terrible person toward Accelerator. I mean, just affably terrible. With Accelerator being the coffee boy, she would find ways to annoy him and prevent him from doing his job. If anyone thought the moment with Estelle in the epilogue came out of nowhere (where she asks about Accelerator and Mikoto's relationship)… well, it's because of that.

To sum it up, the Meltdown Arc was fun to write. Is it good? I have no idea. For all I know, I might be the only person who finds this hilarious. I hope people enjoyed it, but I wouldn't be surprised if people came out of it more confused than anything else.

Science Time

'Science Time' is a precursor to the nth-child Displacement Arc. It basically describes Accelerator's part-time job which resulted from his decision in 'Startup'. There's a lot of unnecessary info dumping here, but it makes me feel good having the context written out.

The pop quiz Shinobu gives Accelerator, surprise surprise, has meaning in that each word is supposed to describe a negative character trait of each Level 5. For traits, what I came up with was: Self-Disgust, Arrogance, Ignorance, Contempt, Paranoia, Cowardice, and Foolishness. I'm sure there are probably better examples out there that are more well-defined. I am particularly impartial to calling Mugino contemptuous. And I might even go back and change some of these if I think of some better negative traits. Nonetheless, Accelerator's self-loathing is a theme in nth-child Displacement and these traits will probably show up again to varying degrees.

Nth-child Displacement

Accelerator (past)

Nth-child Displacement follows Accelerator (past) and the events he experiences before going back to his original time. It's objectively the best and worst day of his life. Fun fact: When I wrote about him, I wrote him as Misaka Mikoto. He's basically her in attitude and role, and I supposed I lampshaded this when I had Mikoto play as boke against his tsukkomi. Accelerator has a lot of insecurities that he internalizes which in the end are actually justified. While I don't want to describe him as a ticking time bomb, he just doesn't have self-control. And this is something he is painfully aware of.

Misaka Mikoto

In nth-child Displacement, I showed Misaka Mikoto at her lowest point. I chose 'ignorance' as her negative character trait, and I suppose that trait is reflected in her actions towards the situation and towards herself.

The scene where Mikoto blows up at Accelerator and relays all her frustrations is something I've always thought about. And well, I think most people who have read or watched the Sisters' Arc have also wanted to see this kind of interaction, as there hasn't been closure for these two yet. In 'Super Seven' I've built up to this particular moment with 'Work in Progress' and 'Close Encounters'. And even though she said everything to the wrong Accelerator, it's still a very personal moment.

At the end of nth-child Displacement, I made her play hero to Accelerator's villain. Arguably, she was the worst person for that job. But having the right person making the right calls hardly makes for interesting development. I'll admit that if Touma had gotten involved, there would have been a happier outcome.

Charm

To clarify, the charm Accelerator has is more or less a monkey's paw with three wishes. Accelerator's first wish 'I want to be taken away' was interpreted as 'I want to find a place where I belong'. This brings him into the future, because… at no point did Accelerator felt like he 'belonged' anytime previous. His second wish was something he didn't even verbalize, 'I want to destroy'. This created 'faux wings' that were more tentacles-like in structure. And the third wish… Well, I guess that's still up in the air.

Another fun fact: Accelerator's adventure in the present took about 777 minutes. Get it? This fic is called Super Seven? So it's… yeah…

Timeline

With the way nth-child Displacement ended, I don't think anyone could call it a happy ending or even an 'ending' at that. Technically, Accelerator's (Past) story continues. And as his story goes on, he has more low points than high ones. As such, wrapping things up neatly was never an option or a goal.

Nth-child Displacement takes place before Gutsy Girl, and transitioning between them, parts of nth-child do impact Gutsy Girl. Effectively, these two arcs take on a more serious flavor. I'm aware these serious bits aren't everyone's cup of tea, but having these moments sets up a more natural dynamic between the Level 5s…

Which is totally unnecessary for a 4th wall breaking gag comedy.

Super Seven

Now that nth-child Displacement is done, 'Super Seven' should have a lighter feel. One that's a bit more genuine than before. I do plan on telling Accelerator's (Present) side eventually, but the next chapter will, thankfully, feature the rest of the Level 5s. They've been out of the spotlight for way too long.

If anyone's reached this far, thanks for putting up with my nonsense.

I appreciate the feedback I've gotten in the reviews.

Until next chapter…

-Rubix


Suggested listening for 'Super Seven: Phase 3': Wendy by Village Man's Store