#subversion p2

[futurefind]

ritsuka has bags under her eyes, flecks of chocolate stuck to her hands and cheeks and even a little bit in her hair? how did that happen? either way, she was clearly up all night making chocolate for everyone. her eyes are bright, though, as she hands rea her gift. "happy valentine's day!" (for fate!rea!)

Holiday Asks / Always Accepting // @voidfragments

The older woman seems like she's in better shape— at first. Like she's low on sleep, perhaps, but not like she's similarly made everyone in Chaldea chocolate for another year in a row.

She brightens when she sees Ritsuka and—

Starts, stunned with surprise at the chocolates shoved under her nose.

"Fujimaru!" she cheers, a few beats later, when her brain finally decides to catch up with her senses. "Gosh! Thanks so much!"

She tucks it away (with a quick and dirty anti-melting preservation spell) before pulling out another package and handing it to Ritsuka in turn.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" she beams right back. "How about next year we make everyone chocolates together...!" A playful wink. "I know the staff's favorites...!"

(Citation needed.)

(And then, belatedly, with Rea going from a stunned bunny to a cat that got the canary:

"Have you given Mash her chocolate yet~?")

[angeldeviloshi]

Thinking about what Denji's saying here.

I often feel like people don't give Denji enough credit to think for himself due to his hedonistic tendencies when he's simply going about things the way he knows best, moral compass included. This is interesting coming after 191-194.

Yoru already established herself as "a devil" even teaching him to play as one despite Denji's protests about her killing innocents at a whim. Denji himself recognises that Yoru is bad news as he ruminates to Pochita about her while cooking the potstickers himself.

I already wrote about this in my ch.194 thread, but I see ch.194 onwards as Denji's attempt to "tame" Yoru the way he did in stopping Makima's regeneration through his cooking and eating of her as well as his raising of Nayuta to convince her she doesn't have to be antagonistic towards humans.

(ch.194 analysis for reference)

Denji redoing the potstickers his way to show her what love can look like through the love he knows. He'll let her shoot, but within bounds. And maybe Yoru would understand the weight of that love and be less trigger-happy. Make her less of a devil.

But Yoru establishes that this is not her. She's War! The manifestation of human destruction. Denji can't project the women he loved onto her in believing she'll be altered by his love nor can he bet on her having even Fumiko's marginal empathy as a redeeming trait. She's "the only woman he needs."

Expanding on this continuing from my post about toxic masculinity gender subversion in my post (on bsky) yesterday, Denji being in the position to "soften" Yoru, encouraging Asa to take on a less bleak outlook on life. His own thinking paused to humour Yoru even being reduced to a sexual object/trophy.

It's also kinda apt that the last panel focuses on Chimerasaw Man. The virtuous foil to Denji's Chainsaw Man as the representation of justice. Denji's upset with Yoru for righteous reasons just as Denji was being questioned by Chimerasaw Man about his heroism in who he thinks is worth saving.

(that post from yesterday on bsky under cut)

I think I've posted about it before but I kinda view fjmt's fetish for csm in particular to be more about the men being pathetic sad guys than it is about femdom women, at least it has the vibe of the women serving to enhance the eroticism of male sub dynamic/behaviour. But that's coming from me. Essentially ch. 193 but Denji isn't the vehicle for fjmt, Yoru is. Like is this not the fluctuations of tension and progression throughout p2's arcs described here? The carrot and the stick.

Idk it's just like the appeal of seemingly strong powerful intimidating men not being infallible bc they are those things, nor is it exclusive to them bc they're men. Their vulnerability being exposed while their wounds are pressed on by the women who can be those things too couched in male gaze. Pinned against the wall with the blade of their toxic masculinity wielded and pressed against their neck, the pain a harsh reminder that they too are only soft and pliable flesh.

[callmearcturus]

redoing this ask because fuck that poll lmaoooo i have a persona question, IMO persona's romance system can sometimes fail when its clear the devs wanted one character to be the "canon" love interest for the overall story, but added in side romances to please fans (p2 with [spoiler redacted], p3 with aigis, and p4 with rise based on how much time is focused on their dynamic and bond) but i feel like P5 *intended* for Makoto to be the go-to romance option (especially with how she was handled in the anime) but Royal switched it to Akechi. Do you think that Persona should just stick with one romance option, have a small number of options that they develop, or have it be "every npc is an option" type deal. personally i think it depends on the game? but i feel as if P5 would have benefited from only having 5 romance options (Haru, Makoto, Akechi, Hifumi, and maybe Yusuke?)

Hmmmmm.

It's hard to consider this without also thinking about the other dating sim RPGs, i.e. Bioware. What's interesting there is that some of the romances felt intended (Liara in Mass Effect especially) but there were multiple really good options.

What I find interesting is how Persona and Bioware games handle the shared authorship of the characters. There's an entire Game Maker's Toolkit video about how the narrative designers had to design on a tightrope, keeping the cinematic nature of the story rolling but also making the player feel like they had a handle on the direction (even when the latter was mostly imagined).

Okay, here's two weird thoughts:

The wide array of Persona romances are pretty shallow and would benefit from a shift to much fewer romances that are far more fleshed out.

Akechi is so shocking and compelling because the comparative shallowness of the other romances, because he is a subversion of them.

To me, what makes Akechi the far-and-away best 'romance' of Persona 5 Royal is that he's not a romance 'option.' The player has very little agency over how Joker feels about Akechi. If you hit a couple of flags, then Joker is fucked up and in love with Akechi. That's just it. Maruki gives everyone what they want, and what Joker wants is Akechi.

The fact that Joker is a partially player-directed character that autonomously decides to be in love with Akechi is the secret sauce, imo. Ergo, if you improve the romances overall, you lose some of the specialness inherent in Akechi.

I had a LOT of problems with P5R's writing and especially its structure. I would remove Makoto entirely but for pacing issues, not for the strength of her writing. I'd cut a lot of cruft from the game.

I don't know if I would take away the gutpunch of Akechi though. Not for P5R. For other Persona games, 100% yes, I would. Narrow the scope of romances, maybe even stick just to party members so its easier to build a coherent, meaningful narrative with the love interest.

i hope some of that makes sense, i'm a bit sick and meandering today

[iridescentscarecrow]

Why can't Pochita take control of Denji now?

i'm actually not entirely sure why so in-world. the csm power system is hard to understand and i don't by any means think i have a hold over it + i do believe a lot of it is imagined by fjmt in terms of narrative impact rather than continuous logic (which i don't personally take issue with).

re: narratively;; i've always managed to rationalise it with makima's "save me chainsaw man" dialogue. she's quite literally calling the CSM out of denji (the csm she wants and attempts to produce) and her authorial role allows her to do so. the subversive effect of the CSM emerging is later seen with how pochita takes kobeni on a date (denji's dream) -- underlining the partiality of makima's vision of the CSM/ denji's stake in it and pochita too.

in p2 right now, i see even the panel with pochita telling denji about his legs as a twisted inversion of what the CSM was/what pochita meant in p1. the chainsaw man isn't the Dream where "no bad things happen" anymore, it's the thing keeping denji down on the operating table, the author is dead. there's no one to make him materialise again, only the fans hovering over his carcass. tangentially, it's very interesting how denji's participation in violence changes / with him forcibly thrusting himself into it near the end and getting taken apart as a consequence. pochita is a haunting nightmare, alongside the dreaming young boy in the alleyway, denji himself. it's also of note, i think, that the remnant of csm's hulking form is only then seen in the fakesaw man/distinct from denji's ownership of this idea.

pochita being able to take control of his body now isn't something i can easily see happening (at least in a similar fashion as it did in p1): there is no author to subvert, no want to affirm, no one it's capable of saving: only denji tortured by this idea of himself.

thank you for the ask, anon!

[dustedandsocial]

If the parapolitics people weren't cretins this is what they would be doing. It would just require faith on their part that they themselves wouldn't lose interest in the subversion the moment they had an actual naked truth in their grip, disintegrating their object by chasing it into a void. That means making your actions meaningful in the present tense—i.e. subordinating revelation to a conscious political goal. That's the only way they would prevent themselves from eroticizing conspiracy, it would have to serve a non-passive orientation.

Like when Pasolini attempted to reveal the scandal of the P2 Lodge, he didn't do so with any awe or secret admiration for the cunning of the perpetrators. He considered them the lowest form of human life and expressed nothing but mocking contempt for them. He condescended to their aspirations. Pasolini had his own mission in life that such a revelation was subordinated to.

Which brings us back to the same problem everyone has across the board, I guess: not being able to close the distance between what you desire politically and how you reproduce yourself in the world now. That's where "the party" is supposed to come in, right? Problem is, if such a structure isn't consciously put together by the people who are subordinated to it, then the lack of involvement in design will have them latching on to it as a fetish object that conceals social relations.

[punrifyingflame]

Embers of Fate [Subversion part 2]

Words: 1056

Lailah was, suffice to say, a little bit confused.

She had woken up in a place only just vaguely familiar to her, immediately being told that something horrible had happened by the item- a phone, her memory supplied her with- on her nightstand. She had no real context of when she’d arrived here (again) and how she’d arrived here (again), but she supposed now wouldn’t be the best time to ask those questions. Rather, it would be a better thing to ask how to help this person, who was supposedly ill.

According to this phone, the other Lailah was still within the city. There was nothing indicating she had even left the sector, in fact- she too was still in Archimedes, so apparently she hadn’t been the sort to run.

However, while Lailah could say there was a familiarity to this… setting, and even to some of the faces she passed by, she couldn’t say she quite remembered here. She did, but didn’t- odd. It was all very odd. Who was she to discuss oddity, though? After all, she was visible here, an oddity of itself! But that at least was a welcome one, to know that she could talk to more than just the shepherd and his squires.

Her searching through the ward was more of a brisk walk through it- she in truth wasn’t terribly sure where she should be going or where this other her would be, so it was best to familiarize herself with the area. It didn’t seem like her double was moving at all, or at least the app wasn’t telling her as much- which was for the best. That seemed good.

Eventually, her walking led her away from the cobbled streets and out to a quieter area. Delicate flowers lined the path, bringing a smile to her face- it was some place she was sure would’ve been nice to visit with Sorey and the others. And perhaps she could- the vague recollections that seemed to be getting a little clearer made her believe her friends and companions could be here.

“Oh!”

A gasp escaped her lips as she looked to the end of the path, a young woman looking the same as her (although dressed differently) standing and staring out towards the sea, hair waving in the breeze. This had to be her double, the other Lailah- she could sense the hints of anxiety in the air like buddings of malevolence, but it was finding no hold in her heart.

“This place is… beautiful, don’t you think?” An unexpected question from her other, still turned to face away from the seraph. Her voice was quiet enough that it was almost lost to the wind- but Lailah had spent many years listening in to the whispered prayers of those in Ladylake. It wasn’t terribly hard for her to hear, not with a little focus. “It’s called Filotimo here- savior’s respite. Beautiful, but… tragic.”

The sound of waves crashing against the cliffs below washed away the sound of words, the only thing left to disturb the silence hanging over them being the sounds of birds and sea. Lailah could understand the implications- a place like this, a name like that… it would not be the first time she’d known of a place used in human sacrifice.

“Yes… tragic indeed. Why are you here, then?”

“I’m not quite sure, to be honest. I suppose I wanted to be… away from people. I may be from a city, but it can still be overwhelming at times. Do you understand?”

Her double turned to face her now, and Lailah smiled with a shake of her head.

“That may be a difficult question for me to answer. It is not easy to be in places with large amounts of humans, at times- I am not like you, although I suppose you may have gathered that already.” Her double nodded, a light smile on her face as Lailah continued. “Human emotion- be they good or bad- have the capacity to impact my health, and the health of those like me.”

“Then, wouldn’t it be best to live away from humans? If they could cause you harm so easily.”

“Perhaps… and that is what some of my kind do. But I believe, even if they have capacity for cruelty and hatred, they have an even greater potential for kindness and growth. A human being may not have magic- but they have the power to change who they are, something that differs from us seraphim. And I love that potential- the potential of a second chance.”

“I see.” Her double paused for a moment, bringing a finger to her lip, before smiling widely. “You’re the sort of person I’d hoped another me might be. I can’t say that I fully understand exactly what you are- but had things gone differently, I would’ve liked to talk more with you.”

“And I, you.”

“It would be best not to delay much longer, correct? I’ve heard talk of things- I’ll admit, half of me wants to run away at this very moment.”

“Yes, likely for the best then. It was nice to meet you- farewell.”

She smiled as she held her phone out to the other Lailah, watching as she faded into the air before holding the device close to her chest. There were thoughts, feelings, emotions that lingered- plenty of things she was certain she would need time to sort through, but she would have time. She always had the time to do so, now would not be any different from the rest.

Had things worked out differently, it would’ve been quite fun to get to know the other her, she was certain. Had she been human, she wondered what her life might’ve been like- but something like that was impossible to comprehend for a seraph who had lived as long as she had, who had seen as much as she had.

Where one adventure ends, another would begin.

There was a lot she had to figure out now, for certain, and she would in time. But now it was time for her to find her way back to the city proper- her other had been calm, but it was possible that others may not be as lucky. If she could help some calm down, then that would be wonderful.

[macbethz]

You know how a lot of video game franchises in recent years have done soft reboots by aging up their main character a bit and making them a dilf? Still have not seen a single game franchise have the balls to do that w female characters and give us a milf. On a completely unrelated note, my pitch for portal 3 is

[lalaluuz]

When Luz became aware of the spotty memories of this Other Luz, she was still… emotionally compromised. The fact that the Other Luz had her own Other Amity, whom Other Luz was admiring from afar… well, that didn’t help things. It kind of stung, actually, since Luz knew they’d end up together eventually, even though her own Amity had gone home now. Her emotions were a swirling mess, and it made trying to locate Other Luz… hard. And Luz found herself stalling despite knowing she shouldn’t.

Meanwhile, she knew that Other Luz was absolutely, definitely fading. She’d come across her double a few times, each time not managing to catch her, and each time finding that her double was more and more not in her right mind. And the pressing threat of death–actual death, for both of them–finally pushed Luz into moving a little more purposefully. But by then, Other Luz had deteriorated even further, and was disoriented and acting rather crazy, even by Luz standards.

After losing track of her, again, Luz kinda collapsed onto the ground, sitting first and then laying back, staring at the sky with a disheartened wrinkle in her brow.

”What am I doing wrong? How am I supposed to get her?”

[divineshadows]

(This is.... really bad.)

(‘...Yeah.’)

(We... we need to protect everyone.)

(‘Our power is back. The centurions aren’t here, but this has to be enough.’)

(..Yeah. It has to be. We won’t let this place be destroyed.)

[tradetales-blog]

She wasn’t surprised, to find her double had made her way to the sea. If she were anything like Tressa herself, then no wonder -- if she was hoping for a way out from her troubles, then no wonder. It makes her heart ache, if she’s at all honest. The name of this place, the ‘Swirling Gulf’, sounded wild and dangerous, as if it could swallow you whole. But after the difficulty trying to get inside the place, eventually claiming to be a tourist, Tressa quickly realised it had become a home to the wealthy. A controlled place, wasn’t it? Rare, wonderful, magnificent... but heavily cultivated, all the same.

She wondered if this was what the other her was looking for. She knows, deep down, that it isn’t. That she would have gone to the most daring place she could find.

Asking around, the locals seemed to peg that moniker to a place called the shipyard -- and respond with utter horror whenever she asked for directions. Apparently, it wasn’t exactly a favourable place, haunted with ghosts and the target of many uncomfortable rumours. Largely untouched by the settlers of this place. It was a place likely to hold long forgotten treasure, if you asked Tressa -- the place she was sure her other self had gone searching.

There was no point waiting -- no point losing any more time. Getting to this point had already taken long enough, and the time for the both of them was running out. Standing before the ship with the protective gear she’d rented, she can understand why others avoid the place. It was eerie, a place she would usually bypass out of respect for the loss that had happened here. But if a reckless girl didn’t want to be found... why ever would she go anywhere else?

The waters are almost silent, as she passes through them, aside for the creaking of the ship’s parts and the sounds of the wildlife passing through -- small fish, mainly, but sometimes Tressa thought she saw something else moving in the dark waters. Whenever she pursued the movement, though, hoping to find the girl she was looking for -- there was nothing to be found. A chill runs down her spine. She does not like ghosts, the last person to go seeking them out, whatever her curious reputation. Her other self, though, had to be the same way. Leaving her alone out here with her worst nightmare... aside from not being an option, it just wasn’t her style.

She swims deeper.

Eventually, she finds something unlike the depths of the sea -- a shimmering beam of light. The surface? A cavern, perhaps? Unlikely, but a desperate girl could have tried it, and a curious one can hardly stop herself from seeing what the source was, swimming through a splintered hole in the ship’s ceiling and into a small room. A cursory glance tells her it was likely once the captain’s cabin. Her body tells her that it is partially filled with water, and partially with air -- a triangular, diagonal shaft of the sea. It shouldn’t be possible, but the place already betrays all reason. The water shifts and seems to move, as if the ghosts here were still trying to breathe.

In the pocket, though, is a girl -- equipment half removed, apparently struggling with her oxygen tank. It’s easy to see her, then. It’s easy to see that this girl had the same face as her own.

“Tressa...”

She assumes the other girl uses the same name -- and she assumes right. Her double flinches, hands tensing around the tank, before her eyes flicker around the cabin for an exit. Tressa was over the only one, of course -- and she could imagine in such a precarious situation, it must seem dangerous to move. She is no stranger to danger, but she has never desired to throw away her life. The shaking of the girl’s limbs tells Tressa that she isn’t the only version of herself, with such an earnest desire to live.

She takes in a deep gulp of air. “Are you alright? What’s wrong with your tank?”

“I’ll be fine, if you go. I can handle it... I can handle it myself!”

“Really...?” She peers closer at it, but the girl’s own demeanour is easy enough to read. “How long have you been down here? Are you running out?”

“Longer than you’re supposed to use these things.” The girl frowns, indignant. “You want to replace me, don’t you? Why don’t you just let me drown out here?”

She shakes her head. “Hey, I’m you. You’re me. I wouldn’t drown anyone. And you wouldn’t want to drown me, right? This situation is way too creepy! Like something you’d tell your kids to make them behave. I’m not falling for it... not like that.”

“Like that?” But there’s a recognition in the other her’s eyes, a recognition that gives Tressa hope. So her double wasn’t out to kill her, whatever scary stories would say. Her double... was herself. Tressa. “Sure. I don’t want to kill anyone. But... you can’t just take my place. There can’t just be two of us!”

“I wish there could be. I’ve always wanted to be friends with myself. Then things would never get lonely.” She pauses, the word striking something in her, before she turns to look her double in the eye. Softly pushing herself up towards pocket of air, brushing herself up against her mirror, she tugs her breathing equipment from her face. “Tressa... you’re lonely, aren’t you?”

She flinches again, seeming to shy away. And then -- a pout, an avoidance of the eyes -- almost childish, almost familiar. “How would you know? I’ve never met you in my life! You don’t know anything about who I am!”

“Maybe not. But... I’ve been lonely, too. Really lonely. Not that there wasn’t anyone I could turn to, or laugh with... but... there wasn’t anyone who understood me. I didn’t just want to work in my parents’ store, even if I loved them so much... that kind of day to day... it just isn’t living, it just isn’t being me!” Tressa stops, smiling softly, before moving to meet the others’ gaze. “That kind of thing... no matter how many people are around you... it’s lonely. It’s like you’re the only person who’s like that, like you couldn’t ever explain it, or make someone understand. I think maybe that’s something that happens, when you’re... Tressa.”

The other girl crumples. Reaches for her eyes, only visibly wavering as her head is out of the water. “You really are me. I couldn’t tell that to anyone.”

Tressa smiles. “Me neither.”

There’s a pause. Tressa watches herself -- the girl’s face changing, becoming calmer, but more melancholy as each moment passes. “Even so... even if you know how it feels.” She clutches her chest. “There still can’t be two of us. There isn’t a place where we aren’t lonely, is there? We can’t turn to each other. I have to do things myself!”

“Yeah... you do. There isn’t any point, if it isn’t you. Right?”

She pauses. It’s uncanny to her -- it must be, to her too. “Right.”

“I know that too. But... you don’t have to be lonely forever. I promise. I know that, since I’m... not lonely anymore. But someone tried to help me, so we could both exist. There can be two of us. There should be. If you trust me, Tressa.”

A moment of hesitation. “I don’t know if I should.” Followed by a sigh -- slightly impish, hopeful, asking for a sign. “But I don’t have any other ideas.”

If she were honest -- if she were honest, Tressa wasn’t sure either. To trust the word of a mysterious voice she’d never heard before, someone who was likely in charge of this place, perhaps responsible for the whole incident? Yet if Tressa was known for something, it was seeing the good in even the most unexpected things. Perhaps she was gullible. Perhaps it would backfire on her -- perhaps this time would be the time. But... it was worth a try.

For the sake of a girl, just like her, who had been so terribly lonely. It was worth a try.

She pulls out her phone, hopefully shaking water from the thing before lighting up the screen. Thankfully, it seemed to be either waterproof, or delaying breaking for now. “Right now, you’re... going to die. You feel weird, don’t you? It’s why you ran away. But, someone told me that there’s a way to help. So I had to look for you.” She taps the app that they were directed to, showing her double the screen. “They said that you can go into another world... a parallel one. And there all of the people who got caught up in this mess can stay alive, and live how they wanted to.”

She pauses. It all sounded even weirder aloud. Looking at the other girl, Tressa smiles sheepishly, for the first time looking a little worried. “It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it...? Apparently the stranger who offered this way out is going against the rules. I’m not sure I like following orders from someone I can’t even see, but... even worse, I can’t just watch this happen.”

She meets the other’s eyes, her smile softening. “It’s your choice, though. I can’t decide who you trust... or how you want to live.” Falling silent, she watches her other self’s face, eyes falling to the phone. She reaches out her hand to touch it, making Tressa yelp, pulling it back -- “If you touch it with the app open, you’ll just go right there! I don’t want you to get pushed into it if you aren’t ready, you know...”

Her double’s hand hovers in the air. She presses her lips together. “I am dying... aren’t I? It isn’t something I really wanted to think about... really, I’m too young for something like that... I always thought I still had so much time, to do what I wanted to do.” Her eyes clouding over, she looks down, Tressa’s gaze still on her. “But I don’t want to give up. Dying all alone down here... that’s the last way I want to go!”

A smile finally surfaces on the double’s face. “Maybe it will go wrong. Maybe it’s crazy. I’m crazy, for even listening to you, but... a lot of things could go wrong anywhere. I’m tired of this world. Of sitting behind a counter, dreaming of the day where I can run away... where fortune finally blows in my direction... I’m tired of only dreaming!”

She pauses, as if short of breath, meeting Tressa’s eyes. She smiles back. With a smaller smile, her double tucks her hair -- wet and dripping -- behind one ear. “Just tell me one thing. You said... you used to feel lonely. How was it that you changed...?”

“Ehehe...” Holding out the phone, for her other self to touch, her face glows warmly. “I followed my heart. I did what I wanted to do. Even if it was scary, even if it was reckless.” Lifting up her free hand to meet her double’s, clasping her hand in hers, she nods in confirmation -- reassurance. “Thank you... for letting me meet you, Tressa. Something tells me you’re gonna be just fine.”

The girl nods. Closes her eyes. Before reaching to touch the screen.

Smiling, enveloped in a white light, she says -- “Thank you.”

[anglerfishnabe]

@skullrift

“ ....he’s definitely tracking us somehow. “

The location is an abandoned building in the ground levels of Fibonacci ward. Despite trying to shake the guy off for so long it has been proven futile. They had to be on the go constantly or find way to prevent him from getting too close. It was only one of the few things that bothered Ogata about him but it might have been the biggest one as they didn’t have any way to track him back.

His employer happened to be there when they got attacked. The bullets only barely missed and Ogata had the time to lead them off the scene but even then...

“ I don’t think we have any tracking devices on us.... “

“ Sir, I don’t think I need to state this but I don’t remember having a twin brother. “

He lowers his binoculars turning to give a brief look at the back before turning them back forth again. 

“ .....I can do this alone sir so I could take you home and then try to deal with him. “

He’s not being noble here, he just doesn’t feel like trying to look for another job right now.

[gildedusurper]

#TBD

{ OK I was debating whether to make a drabble or post this starter call and yall can guess which decision won

capping this event starter call at 2 but friends are exempt! }

[iridescentscarecrow]

ask on retrospring (archived) --

Q. ah yes I was the one who sent ask about the Reddit post before;

thank you for your thoughtful comments as always, I'm much grateful for it.

here is another post by the same person, /Yayuu (not me at all suggesting that you check out their other other posts that are also CSM kanji analyses) on which I'd again kindly ask for your insight.

wish you a good day ahead!

https://www.reddit.com/r/ChainsawMan/comments/164mgs7/ch_141_analysis_fujimoto_just_mentioned_god_a/

_____

A. hello again! i've not yet gotten time to go over the rest of this user's posts but i will surely do so when i find some time.

the post you've linked was an intriguing read asw. God in CSM is a concept that i think can be very linked to how religion is articulated in part 2.

re: the points that this post brings up, i have some (q messy) thoughts i'll throw at you--

angel devil's name is something i've always regarded as an inherent contradiction centered around a reference to godhood/belief (one that bears thinking about alongside the human//devil dichotomy of part 2 and i think especially wrt comparing them to makima the Necessary Evil, the humanlike devil who resembles Angel... there's an interesting analogue to makima's performance of gender i like to poke at) ... because in part one power functions through the State (which deploys devils... a belief system with its intricacy in materialised devils (ideas directly formed from human imagination. many thoughts re: religion here). but the State refuses to bestow idolatry to devils by name even if it makes use of them. God is obscured.

the polarity here comes in with p2's Church - use of the word God then placed next to their worship of the CSM, the fire devil preying on desires... so much of it is layered in Myth (prophecy, the csm, the echoing kumbaya). belief system overturned, God brought in -- miri's whole instrumenthood and justification of himself also through what God believes in. we've broken out of the carcass of the state (despite the state and the church being Aligned in exploitation -- fumiko // barem's fanhood re: denji's private and public self) and we're faced with its glistening insides.. and it makes sense then that God is brought back in focus because what do people Believe in then? thinking of yuko's discontentment with the system making her Give herself to a Higher Justice. this tying into p2's themes. thinking of the jesus-denji analogy (you might find my post on that interesting) -- tying that in here with God as a visible higher power (also a subversion of makima's motherhood. she was no god. it's painfully masculine a role)... makes for much to chew on!

thank you as always for the ask, anon! i hope you have a wonderful day too :)

[rollingheads-blog1]

“Mrow, this is a cat-tastrophe...”

[tarnunghai]

Event Starter | @direheterosis

She was still missing some scales, mostly on one of her shoulders, from her encounter with her double a little while ago. Not too big of a deal, the scales would come back, but she wasn’t sure if they’d come back the same as they were before.

Mostly, she was concerned about what it’d do to her camouflage. She already had scales that never fully healed that won’t change colours with the rest of her, she didn’t really want more.

Until they grew back, she occasionally (and right now, for instance) changed  colours, seeing how well the area around her injuries changed. Several times she’d gone from purple to some other colour to purple to polka dotted and back to purple, until she noticed a very large someone was watching her do it.

“...The polka dot thing isn’t my doing, I swear.”

[courageousguise]

@blowyourhousedown

Even if he’d rather not admit it, Link was honestly feeling pretty exhausted. After everything that’d just happened with the other him, it was like he was feeling everything and nothing all at once- so simple enough to say, he wasn’t expressive like he normally was, while trying to figure his way back from the forest to the city.

It was then that he noticed something- a huge wolf. Far bigger than he’d ever seen before, enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. However... it wasn’t like a wolfos. It didn’t seem like it wanted to hurt him- not... unnatural. Not dark.

So because of that, he wasn’t as on guard as he might’ve otherwise been. The hand that’d reflexively gone to his sword moved away, as he let out a sigh. Whatever was up with that huge wolf, it’d go away sooner or later.