#{crow flies free - ooc}

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

“Because what if he forgets his own birthday?”

https://twitter.com/_hofutofu/status/871020315052097538

[weirdponytail]

“The Lucas Problem” pt 1 (Huntik Fanfiction, SnT drabble)

(A/N: Part one of that Lucas drabble I’ve been bashing out. Everyone is a little OoC, Lucas is a rude and grumpy jerk, and Zhalia sets him straight about toying with the Fears brothers abandonment issues. Dante is just as protective of the brothers as his girlfriend is, and Lok and Sophie take their roles as ‘big happy family don’t mess with us’ quite seriously. Feel free to critique the parts with the Casterwill team, I’m still very shaky on how to write them. :3 cheers!)

THE LUCAS PROBLEM

It was a rather crowded week at the Venice Casterwill Townhouse.

See, there had been a bit of emergency remodeling at Dante’s house. The various attempts by Blood Spirals to break his home defenses had, in a final cosmic act of petty vengeances after their defeat, managed to collapse the shields two weeks after the defeat of the Betrayer.

And it also collapsed part of the plumbing. So until further notice, Dante and Lok were crashing at Sophie’s place.

To make it even more crowded, not to mention slightly awkward for Harrison, Zhalia had appeared with the Fears boys. She had an order from Foundation HQ to move out of her apartment because of multiple threats on her and Harrison’s lives. Due to a few being anonymously sent from what appeared to be low tier Casterwills and even a few Foundation foot soldiers, not to mention the remaining Blood Spirals, the former spy thought it best to take refuge with the actual Casterwill leader.

With Sophie’s influence and protection, Zhalia would actually sleep a little better than in a hotel, knowing that any carried out threats from Casterwills would be met with something they feared worse than death: Excommunication. Harrison would be safe with the team and Zhalia watching him until they found a suitable apartment that would quickly be rendered safely invisible via ‘Does Not Exist’ Foundation blacklisting.

Then Lucas showed up, Dellix and Lane at his heels. “Family time,” he had said. Though honestly, it looked as if one of the other Casterwill elders had pinched his ear and told him to get to know his sister a little better now that they weren’t in danger of being shot at every few minutes. Seeing as Sophie hadn’t heard a word from her brother since the final conflict, it came as quite the surprise.

The team had all groaned a bit when they heard that Lucas was going to be around. Sure, he was a little more tolerable than when they first met, and everyone was quite fine with Dellix and Lane hanging out, but Lucas was still just a tick below insufferable in his high and mighty attitude. Even Sophie was nearly fed up with him by the third day of his visit, biting back some rather unladylike language she had learned from Zhalia whenever her brother sneered or commented on how LeBlanche’s way of cooking wasn’t exactly how a ‘proper Casterwill’ would have done it.

Poor Harrison and Den caught the brunt of the young man’s rudeness. Just bordering the edge of statements that the original Huntik team could justifiably call him out for, Lucas took nearly every opportunity he saw when around the boys to make snide comments about traitors and his team’s successes in hunting down the remaining Blood Spirals. Once he learned that they had grown up in an orphanage, instead of eliciting empathy as someone who had also lost both parents, Lucas seemed to view them with even more disgust than before.

Dellix and Lane, on the other hand, were near perfect houseguests. They helped with meals, joined in on any group activities the Huntik team happened to have going on, and were all around funny and enjoyable to have in the Townhouse.

‘The Lucas Problem,’ as LeBlanche had stiffly called it in a private conversation with Sophie one evening, reached a head by day four.

It was nearly lunchtime, and LeBlanche and Cherit had offered to make a refreshing summer meal for the group. Everyone else was gathered in one of the Townhouse’s split reading and media rooms. Dante and Zhalia were at one of the tables, scrolling through various activity reports and mission offers on their Holotome and Technomicon respectively. The younger two-thirds of the Huntik team was playing low volume video games on the massive TV that graced the wall above the fireplace. Dellix and Lane had taken the last remaining seats at opposite ends of the couch, cheering on whoever struck their fancy as they waited for a chance to swap in.

Lucas had decided to grace everyone with his presence half an hour ago, taking up one of the armchairs that tilted away from the television to read one of the Casterwill manuscripts he had dug up from the library shelves. Lok, ever good natured even to wet towels like Sophie’s brother, had invited Lucas to join them for a round but had been shot down more harshly than even Zhalia had managed before her betrayal. Dellix and Lane had quietly apologized, and soon it was all forgotten as the next match got underway.

Forgotten, that is, until it was time to pick a new game.

After three hours of Left 4 Dead co-op and verses, the play style was getting a little stale. Sophie opened up the cabinet filled to bursting with games for various consoles– all bought after much pestering from Lok and then Den later on– for them to peruse and was immediately mobbed by the Fears brothers.

“Smash Bros Brawl!” Den crowed, snatching the case from the shelf. “This’ll be great!”

Harrison shoulder checked his elder twin to the side, an impressive feat for such a boney boy. “No way! You know all the exploits!” He picked up the battered Game Cube case for the earlier version of the classic game. “Smash Bros Melee!”

Den’s eyes narrowed as he straightened from where Harrison had shoved him. “Brawl.”

Harrison bristled right back. “Melee!”

“Oh dear.” Sophie sighed. Lok grinned widely and patted the empty space on the couch beside him. “Here they go again.” The Casterwill heiress sat beside her boyfriend and leaned against his side. “You’d think they would have let go of this sort of thing after nearly killing each other.”

“Sophie, I gotta tell you.” The mirth was evident in Lok’s voice as the growled stand off between the twins grew to shouting. “When you actually grow up with a sibling…sometimes you don’t ever grow out of this kind of thing.”

“Hey.” Zhalia didn’t even look up from her Technomicon. It was nearly three weeks after the final battle with the Betrayer now, and she had learned to let Den and Harrison settle their differences in whatever way they saw fit. Taking sides or shutting their arguments down just led to miniature replays of the night the two had been separated, and brought up feelings of abandonment and betrayal. Letting the boys duke it out to vent their emotions over the trauma of the previous months ended up being the healthiest option she and Dante had found so far. “Keep it to an unpowered level, guys. I’m not cleaning up another busted window with you two.”

The twins grunted in acknowledgement and had the respect to place their argued game cases in the moderate safety of the cupboard…before launching at each other and ending up in a scrabbling knot of limbs and teeth and nails as they viciously wrestled on the rug in front of the fireplace.

Dellix and Lane had become used to the occasional spat between the two brothers during their visit. They sat back with Lok and Sophie on the couch, watching with amusement as the boys used every dirty trick available to them in attempts to gain the upper hand. The noise level increased exponentially, echoing down the halls and filling the room with mangled hybrid sentences of English and Dutch swearing.

All of a sudden, Lucas’s voice cut through the din.

“If you two don’t be quiet and act like civilized human beings, that woman is going to take you back to where she found you and bloody leave you there! I’m trying to concentrate!”

Lucas looked rather smugly satisfied at the abrupt silence his words had brought.

If he had taken the time to glance up from his musty old book he would have seen what a massive mistake he just made.

Den and Harrison had both frozen in place, wide eyes locked together in a look of shock and deeply ingrained fear of losing their home again. Sophie and Lok were both on their feet, and despite Lok holding Sophie back with a hand on her shoulder as she shook with tight lipped rage, the Lambert boy had blue sparks flicking off his clenched fist.

Dante’s glare was literally as powerful as fire. No one had noticed, but a tiny flame had burst to life on the table, which he had quickly smothered with his palm before turning his smoldering gaze to the elder Casterwill.

Even Dellix and Lane knew that their commander had crossed a line. The dark skinned swordsman subconsciously moved his hand to the sheath that rested against his knee, feeling the tension in the air thicken to a nearly unbearable level. Lane shifted uneasily as her fingers drifted to the amulet at her neck, ready to call Wildwood Druid at a moment’s notice if things seemed out of hand for her larger counterpart.

Zhalia had stopped at the sound of Lucas’s words, finger hovering over the final keycode rune to unlock the database entry she needed. If Dante seemed angry, then the woman across from him was at a level well beyond rage. She was at a point that surpassed any outward betrayal of the emotion, face deadpan as she slowly closed the lid of her Technomicon and stood.

Her voice, low and just barely containing the pure feral wrath that only Dante could feel rolling off her in heart crushing pulses, cut through the heavy silence like a razor bladed knife.

“Lucas. Sparing match. Outside. Now.”

Lucas waved her off, still engrossed in his book. The very idea of fighting Zhalia seemed to bore him. “I’m in the middle of a manuscript. Maybe later.”

The Casterwill elder let out a yell of surprise when an unknown assailant grabbed a fistful of his shirt on each shoulder and roughly yanked him over the back of the armchair, manuscript flipping from his hands and sliding across a nearby table. Dante wrenched the younger man around to bring him eye to eye, moving his grip to clench bunches of fabric so tight under his throat that it forced the Casterwill to lift his chin so he could keep breathing normally.

In an icy wave of realization, Lucas had the distinct feeling that he was looking a very angry, very protective, and very deadly lion in the eye.

And all that anger was focused on him.

“It’s rude to turn down a dance from a lady.” Dante growled. “But at any rate, she wasn’t asking, Lucas.”

A white steel sword suddenly appeared at Dante’s throat. In a flash Zhalia was at her partner’s side, and put herself between the bristling Dellix and seething Dante. Unafraid, she pushed the back of her hand against the flat of the blade, ready to deflect any ill-advised movement against her boyfriend’s neck.

“You had better put this away before I make you eat it, Dellix.” Zhalia’s soft voice held the fine edge of what was very much not an idle threat. “I’ve got nothing against you or Lane. I just want a chance to give your little leader a lesson in manners on the sparring field.”

“Oh, he’ll fight you alright.” The locked together foursome looked over when Sophie cut in. “Lucas, you went too far. This match isn’t a suggestion, it’s an order. From me.” Her green eyes flashed. “Dellix, Lane. Stand down. Zhalia and Lucas, you both have ten minutes to prepare. Meet in the courtyard and we’ll discuss the rules of the match. Dante’s referee.”

At the Casterwill leader’s command, Dellix stepped back and sheathed his blade, though a little reluctantly. Dante kept his gaze on Lucas for a long, tense second before shoving the young man back and letting go of his shirt.

As the Huntik team gathered itself up to head downstairs, Zhalia took a moment to slip past Lucas, getting very much in his personal space.

“I’m going to mop the floor with you, kid.”

Lucas was sure the woman had hissed those words in his ear as she passed, but hadn’t even glimpsed her lips moving. Despite the disturbing finality the statement had, he straightened his shirt and marched off to retrieve his amulets.

He was a Casterwill, after all. And no one would defeat him on his own ground.

(posting this on ff.net tomorrow morning because my eyeball is trying to explode. Friggin migraines, man...)

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

Lemme get this straight

there’s a timeline in which Akechi went to Shujin

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

Goro Akechi’s Past; a look at the P5 Detective’s timeline.

Some more thoughts about our detective boy under the cut. These, dealing with his past. Again, spoiler city. This one gets a bit heavy, since it relates to real world conditions in Japan.

...Over the course of writing this one, I’ve actually been surprised at the result. I ask anyone who has knowledge of Akechi’s full history to read this, if only to realize with me the full depth of what his life had. And how it’s a pretty direct deconstruction of how Japan deals with it’s biggest outcasts.

So. I’ve mentioned before just how fucked up Akechi’s childhood must have been overall. We know from his statements (and he wasn’t exactly likely to lie) that after his mother’s suicide, he never ONCE was able to make a connection with anyone else, always tossed aside and ignored, if not despised outright. It’s a bit surprising when I hear people downgrade the damage this could mean to a person, down to “waah waah someone notice me”, or worse, believing that his real intention really WAS to have Shido give him parental recognition.

But let’s expand on what “never making connections” can really mean.

We’re not sure how old Akechi was when he lost his mother, but it’s likely he was extremely young. His birth at all was a scandal, and supposedly plunged his mother into a despair-filled life from the moment he was born. Maybe, just maybe Akechi could have made a connection with his mother, and had something to hold onto... But he couldn’t. She was just driven deeper into despair, until she took her life. Why she was driven to it exactly isn’t clear, but Goro had nowhere to go but into the orphanage at this point.

If luck had favored him, maybe he could have been like Shinjiro. Made friends in the orphanage, connections, found people he could care about and bond with. But he couldn’t. For whatever reason, he was never given consideration. Not only does this imply no friends or even acquaintances he could count on, it meant everyone he came across actively rejected any attempt to bond made. For a child grieving over the horrific sight of his mother’s suicide? That would hurt. As such, the only other thing he could hold onto would be the knowledge of Shido. The knowledge of the man who ruined his mother’s life. Knowledge that would turn into a grudge by this point.

From there, he would age into a young child. Perhaps if fortune had smiled upon him, he’d be like Akihiko. Adopted into a wealthy family, or even just a family at all, granted outlets for his determination to improve. He’d retain his nobility, perhaps even a little of his childhood fantasy. If only he’d connect with some parents. But he couldn’t. Not one would take him in, leaving the boy to grow up fast and fend for himself. And, at about 15, Akechi would be forced out of the orphanage and released into the world, now legally able to work... And having to in order to survive while homeless. For the record, this is a real world problem. Thousands of children dropped into orphanages because their parents can’t handle the stress. Including the low rate of adoption overall, this means many children are forced out without a proper support system, resulting in deep systematic mental disorders and trauma, on top of homelessness. And that’s after an orphanage environment of violence and survival of the fittest, where the young get beat up by the elders.

So. Now Akechi is 15. Forced into the Japanese work environment with no prior schooling, no job history, and nobody to care for him while he gets on his feet, after a lifetime of getting beat up and forced to fight to survive. There is still hope for him, though. Group Homes are still very much a thing in Japan. In an effort to keep the population together, some of these would-be homeless children are taken in by complete strangers, raised as family because Japan believes so strongly in the concept. If Akechi could just make that one connection with SOMEONE, while he struggled to work jobs, study, and rise in the world, they could reach out and care for him while he got on his feet. By this point, he might not have been able to be stopped from going after Shido with the fury he has, but Akechi could still hold onto his respect for humanity. ...But he couldn’t. No one, not one person would grant him that wish. As such, Goro would now be thrust into the world alone, his only chance to escape the slums, escape homelessness, escape a life of nothingness was to frenzy himself into accomplishment. Discriminated against at work, as most orphans are. Pushed back against by teachers, like all without evident prestige. And yet, he would persist, with a determination to make Shido pay for what he’d done to Goro’s mother...

...And here, he would meet Loki.

Goro Akechi is 17 by the time of P5, probably 18 by the end. The timeline of events including the beginning of the murders, would put the birth of his powers around 2 years earlier. This lines up with his line to Akira, lamenting that he hadn’t met the protagonist a few years earlier, how things might have been different. Goro Akechi was 15, a shattered child desperately struggling to live in the cruel world around him, when along would come Loki. The manifestation of his will to live, to find his truth, to rebel. A determination so strong, it would prove to be potentially the strongest initial Persona in the franchise’s history, rivaling Minato Arisato’s Thanatos. ...And a sentient personality, able to impart upon Goro select knowledge. Not how to change a person’s heart to good, but how to drive them to madness... Or kill them.

Goro would then downright skyrocket through the ranks. From a homeless orphan without any support from anyone in the world, to a respected and intelligent detective in school and secure enough in finance to have his own place and luxuries? The man was determined, and regardless of how much he gained directly from Shido’s influence, he still earned his intelligence, refinement, self-improvement. It’s just sad what he had to give up to get there.

It pains me to write this, because it makes me acknowledge how broken the system of orphanages is in Japan, and indeed, most all the world. How even if most find some saving grace, some connection that can pull them to a better life, there will always be one, or some, or many, who slip through the cracks. The worst kind of outcast Japan can possibly look down upon... The ones without connections.

When you say that Goro Akechi cannot be instantly forgiven for his crimes, his murders, you’re right. He has killed, downright drenched in blood, and deserves due justice. ...But I cannot say a 15 year old child, who has gone his entire life without a connection, deserved what was forced upon him. Nor would I say the man trapped in a duel to the death with his mindless clone deserves no chance to live, to redeem himself. If not through some singular act, then jail time and penance.

Because I look back at how many times Goro Akechi had a chance at a different life, to find just one person able to save him from this path of dark, murderous ‘justice.’ ...And then I realize. How easy it would be for Yaldabaoth to keep him down this path. To take his mother’s life. To break his body in the orphanage, to break his soul in society, to break his hope in the workplace, and grant him the most destructive and violent power possible at the lowest point in his life... And then reward him for committing murder. Finally making people respect him. Letting the faceless masses see him, acknowledge him, love him... If only superficially. For a child who had gone is entire life devoid of connections... Even these false ones would feel comforting.

...The boy deserved a chance.

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

I think it’s time for another little Persona theory, connecting across games. This time, I’ll talk about the connections Goro has to another character in the franchise, and how that reflects on them both... Though I don’t just mean the character you're likely thinking of. Spoilers below the cut, as always.

So. Goro Akechi. Most people have already made connections between him and Adachi from P4, given they’re both seemingly-heroic detectives who turn out to be killers in service to an eldritch god. However, enough is different about them that I feel deserves attention. Yes, Goro killed more people, but it was in service to a goal. The end doesn’t justify the means, but at least he had an end; destroying Shido in the most effective way possible. Adachi was just plain bored, and his ‘end’ was letting all of humanity fade into the Fog. Adachi’s goal actually lined up with his godlike beneficiary, unlike Akechi here. From what we could tell, Akechi was thrust into the Metaverse on his own, given the most destructive initial Persona yet. One known for being a trickster deity no less, who likely “mentored” him in the same way Arsene did for Akira. And led him to kill, unaware there was even a way to change people in the Metaverse other than killing. It’s entirely possible Loki convinced Akechi that killing Shadow Selves would change their hearts, and then when that failed that using his own Maddening spell would work. (And the calling card/treasure system RELIED on Morgana’s prior knowledge to be figured out.) I’m saying the kid was likely broken beyond measure, beyond his already fragile state from his youth.

Kinda like another kid we know.

So. A child who’s an orphan, went most of his life without meaningful connections, discovers his incredibly powerful Persona and (one way or another) ends up killing someone. This gives him a resolve, tragic and self-destructive as it is. He remains relevant to the scene, with his own goal parallel to the protagonists, though it isn’t until late in the game that he joins... Solely to fulfill his purpose, and for a single dungeon/boss fight’s worth. Then, around the time of the next major battle, the boy tries one last time to fulfill his purpose, and gets shot and killed saving the others.

Now. Was I talking about Goro Akechi or Shinjiro Aragaki? (And yeah, naming similarities, __ro A____i. Just because.)

Akechi is how I feel Shinjiro might have ended up if Shinji didn’t have a connection to hold onto and give his life purpose... Even if it was for someone else, not himself. Shinji was in more or less the same position... Orphaned without family and unwanted on the streets. But where Shinji was around others when he got his power, (even if his awakening was because of Kirijo Group torture/experimentation, he did quickly connect with Aki and Mitsuru) Akechi had nobody but Loki. The horrors of staring into the abyss on your own in Persona is universally traumatic. Doesn’t matter if it’s surviving The Dark Hour, or being tossed into the TV World, or in this case... Being stuck in the Metaverse. Especially if everyone naturally considers you “a threat.”

Interestingly, Akechi admits in his last moments that he understands the weight of his crimes... Implying that after taking down Shido, he probably didn’t care about his own life anyway and would let himself die as penance. Where Adachi needed a whole extra game’s plotline (P4:AU) to understand his crimes, and Shinjiro accepted accidental manslaughter as being equivalent and likewise unforgivable as murder, Akechi committed actual crimes with the understanding they were wrong. “He was just too deep in it to stop,” or whatever else Loki would convince him of. As such, him intentionally sacrificing himself to stop his mental duplicate makes sense in a way... If he had complete faith in Akira to see his vengeance, his “justice” through, then he had nothing left to live for and his death was needed. Wayyyy too much like Shinjiro’s belief that in the end, he believed had to die to atone for his sin.

So. Does Akechi deserve a chance at redemption/life? It’s up to interpretation. After all, I follow the theory that Yaldabaoth was responsible for not only getting Akechi’s mother killed, but keeping him from making any other connections. A Wild Card user, groomed from childhood to be a wrathful, chaotic paradox without the troublesome bonds of “friendship” to keep him on Humanity’s side? Sounds perfect for a would-be god’s bid to destroy and control the world. But, if you want to believe Akechi’s actions are inherently unforgivable, no matter why or how they came about, he doesn’t have to deserve redemption to you. All I’d ask is that you don’t harass others who think a broken soul deserves therapy. And jail time, clearly, but therapy too.

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

Okay

Did not realize how popular sitting on Goro’s lap and getting caressed would be.

I adore you all for putting up with this bird child and his animal instincts.

Now to get back to writing replies.

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

(Okay, just saw Guardians of the Galaxy 2. It has a scene in it. It involves one character and many... many struggles revolving around him and his father. And while I loved every part of the movie. Goro sat in the back of my mind. Just sobbing. Because to see this hurt. Also hey, I’m back.)

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

Don't ever speak to me of Takoyaki. Especially Spicy ones...

Here lies a dead bird. Cause of death; Russian Takoyaki Special.

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

*Audible yawn*

Morning from EST, all. I’ll be tryin’ to finish off my little audio project today, hope that goes over well... Then, I’ll be doing something else I’m interested in. Making a Fate/ verse for Akechi. Something that’ll make interaction with Fate/ muses a bit easier. Not that I’ll be letting up on the Persona front, just that I’d enjoy the variety.

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

How has no one done a Fate/Persona verse thing where the Persona muses summon Servants? I mean, granted, the Wild Cards would be broken af by summoning multiple... Ah well.

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

Desire, Being-For-Itself, and Being-For-Others; An Essay on Persona 5 and it’s Ending.

Persona 5 is an interesting beast. It is a sequel to one of the most beloved, and similarly milked franchises to come out of Japan. Combat both streamlined and expanded in equal measure, providing both more options for play and less confusion of effects. It opens doors for the future, provides windows into the past, and offers canonical insight into the nature of Persona’s world… But I’m not here to discuss any of that. Sure, I could talk about the cast’s strengths across the board, or the wonderful addition of Light and Dark skills actively having damage variants rather than Instant Death moves I ignore, or how Mementos, Palaces, all of it directly confirms my myriad theories about the Sea of Consciousness and the possibilities inherent… But I’m not here for that.

I am here to discuss the final villain, against our hero, the ideological dispute inherent to the game. How, where once SMT was defined by Order versus Law versus Neutrality, and Persona has been defined as Bad versus Good (or Golden) endings, Persona 5 mechanically follows the order of Bad versus Good endings, but in doing so showcases a dynamic rarely effected in video games; an argument against Bad Faith, in favor of Choice. Still, I’m getting ahead of myself. To grasp this argument, we will be diving into spoiler territory. So. Under the cut we go. Oh, and if you enjoy this little essay, I’d request sharing it so that we may get a conversation going on the ideology of this game we all enjoy.

So then, I’m hoping you’ve finished the game, because otherwise this will be spoiling everything to do with it’s ending. You’re sure you’re good for this? Okay then.

Before we dive too deep, let’s clear up what our main villain is. Yaldabaoth, the Demiurge is a cognizant anthropomorphization (or human form given to a concept) of order. Specifically, he is order at any cost without thought to the morality behind it. If we take Yaldabaoth’s word literally, that he exists as a creation of the mind, then we can take him as the eventual conclusion and extreme of the Japanese mentality that order is better than justice. And, yes, sadly that is accurate to Japan by and large. Non-Japanese views on the protagonist getting arrested for protecting a woman from rape may vary, but most cultures would argue that the ends (saving someone,) justify the means (assaulting the criminal,) whether those means were true or not (since the protagonist did not do such.)

Still, best to take all this with a grain of salt, given what we know. We know Persona has gods and goddesses, has real-life artifacts and science capable of generating supernatural scenarios, and so on. While Yaldabaoth may be a creation of the populace’s mind, it’s reasonable to think he’s just a real life deity like Nyx or Izanami who decided to act as a creation, so as to gain the direct support and belief of the mass populace. It’s also possible all deities in the franchise, past present and future, are creations of the human mind at large that exist in some layer of the Sea of Consciousness. It’s just that one or another may latch onto some popular thought and become powerful enough to affect reality, outside the Sea. We know that much to be true. After all, Mona being able to turn into a car is, to paraphrase the cat himself, “because people believe cats can turn into cars.” A My Neighbor Totoro reference explains how a self-aware cat can turn into a car. Considering that, it’s not hard to believe that religions created the gods that appear in Persona, rather than the gods creating the religions.

So then, what is Yaldabaoth standing for? As he puts it, the Demiurge is offering humanity “the freedom to surrender choice.” To give up the freedom of choice itself that all sentient beings enjoy at every moment of their lives, in an attempt to in turn be free from any repercussions. To never feel guilt for a mistake or accident, to never feel pride for an achievement or glory, to never feel envy or greed or gluttony or lust or wrath. To be free from sin itself, Yaldabaoth attempts to offer humanity freedom from choice. But, as you may have noticed, this offer is false. It’s not a choice, it’s not a freedom, and it’s certainly not a way to live. Why exactly, though?

Well, Yaldabaoth is removing the sense of self from human consciousness. As written in philosophical heavyweight Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, existence for humans rests within three states of being. Being-In-Itself, the solid state of non-conscious being. Being-For-Itself, the fluid state inherent of dynamic choices of a conscious mind. And lastly, Being-For-Others, the awareness of the state as described by others than the individual itself.

To put it in blunt terms, the protagonist’s Being-In-Itself is a human, with a brain, working body parts, and living tissue. It’s the literal interpretation of a being that is always static, and can describe anything from people to trees to air.

The protagonist’s Being-For-Itself, then, is the choices that he makes, and the person as a result that he is both from past choices and future ones. This is what the player has active control over most of all, and everything you do does in fact constitute a choice. Whether it’s walking versus running versus fast-travelling to your destinations, choosing to spend time with someone versus working the job versus just going to sleep, or doing a Palace as soon as it’s available versus putting it off to the last minute to not doing it at all and getting a bad ending. Within the context of the game, the protagonist is making these choices, and as a result is built from them.

Finally, Being-For-Others is what we are defined as by others, so for the protagonist it’s most easily identified by the Phansite or the little bits we here from other people. He’s identified as a thug by his fellow classmates despite them having no evidence to support this outside of hearsay. He’s identified as a criminal by Akechi, Sae, and the Police as a result of him doing something outside the law, controlling another person’s heart. He’s identified as a hero by those he saves in the Metaverse, and near the end of the game is threatened with erasure of existence by Yaldabaoth erasing the public’s consciousness of their ever existing.

All of these come together to make up a person’s existence, though how each aspect is weighted against others is up to that person. What makes this interesting then is how Yaldabaoth’s actions try to remove both the Being-For-Itself, and the Being-For-Others, from all of humanity.

As Mona points out, humanity cannot exist without Desire. As it turns out, this was a veiled reference to the Being-For-Itself within humanity, something that many characters have challenged. While often acting in villainous ways, every character with a Palace had a strong Desire inherent to their being. Each one was associated with a different religious sin, but they were also still desires; things that made them have a sense of self, different from any other Shadow. Similarly, the Persona users have no Palace but have strong senses of themselves and goals to achieve. They had individual identities that pushed them to action, something that made their Being-For-Itself just as, if not more powerful than those with a Palace. In finding their place in reality, they found the power of spirit to go along with it. It’s the same logic behind their Persona Second Awakenings; at the end of each route, the Persona user finds a better sense of themselves. They make choices (whether it’s to not join the track team, or become a better model, or live as an artist both with a desire to make a living from it but without the greed from it’s extreme,) that shape who they are as people in their own minds. And as such, gain better Persona to boot… Going from the semi-real like Captain Kidd and Zorro to full mythological gods like Sun Wukong and Mercury. Meanwhile, people who don’t yet have Palaces inside the Metaverse take the form of regular Shadows. They have no connection to each other, but they have a distorted view of themselves born from a desire. They don’t have to be malicious, or have the distortion beaten out of them however, as Mishima proved. The point is, all humans have this desire, have this Being-For-Itself… Or should, anyway.

The flipside to this is the Being-For-Others. How others perceive you. And we get multiple uses of this throughout the game. Obvious examples include ranking up Confidants so as to gain power. The unique benefits of each are mostly unique to P5, but the idea of your sense of self growing by connecting and bonding with others is heavily explored across the series. However, P5 also briefly touches on the opposite side of this; on not making connections, and being forgotten or ignored by the public. Akechi is a Wild Card user, whose sense of Being-For-Itself is so strong that it birthed one of the most absurdly powerful Initial Persona in the series to date in Loki. In fact, if we take the idea that he had no connections aside from the Protagonist to it’s conclusion, we can guess that he outright created a second Persona purely from his own force of self in Robin Hood. That Loki was born from the sense of self he found in his early life, and Robin Hood is the sense of self he portrays to the public. But even with such a strong sense of self, he still loses to the Protagonist and his friends, purely because their bonds create a larger strength overall. This isn’t just numbers, however, it’s that the Protagonist’s sense of self is enhanced by the perception of those around him of him… Including Akechi himself. Falling back on a line I love from Persona 3, “Two in harmony surpass One in perfection.” Indeed, it’s the erasure of that perception by the public that is Yaldabaoth’s final plan to erase the Phantom Thieves from existence; in merging Mementos with Reality, Yaldabaoth uses his influence to make the public cease to believe the Thieves exist, thereby erasing them from reality itself… Given that thanks to Mementos entering reality, losing the sense of Being-For-Others means not existing in public minds… And thus in reality.

And thus we get to the crux of Yaldabaoth’s plan. In removing the sense of Being-For-Itself that all humans have by making such desires taboo, the eldritch god forces humanity to slide into a state of stasis. In giving up their freedom of choice, the public loses what makes it unique in any way. They become the husks we see in Mementos Depths, locked away in cages in perpetuity. They believe there is nothing more to life because of what they’ve been told. And as such, merely are wasting away into nothing. Quicker than you’d think, because without that sense of self, suddenly they also begin to vanish thanks to exactly what happened with the Phantom Thieves. They vanish from reality because they no longer have personal desire, nor are they acknowledged by those around them. We don’t know how many vanish before the Phantom Thieves start to break the public’s apathy, but we can assume many. Hell, this may explain why Akechi goes completely unmentioned in the finale of the game; he too has been erased from public consciousness, and thus ceases to exist in our world. Whether his sense of self would be enough to ignore this is up for debate.

For those of you who may have sat there reading all that, or watching the people in Mementos Depths worrying, “Am I like them?” Never fear. You are making choices. You’re appreciating the art of the game, or reading the story, or making connections that matter in your life, or simply enjoying yourself. As a result, you playing this game still have Being-For-Itself. In talking to others about this game, you are enhancing your Being-For-Others. The only way you would be in the same state as those poor souls in the game was if you effectively curled up into a ball, and tried to think about nothing, not just for a set period of time, but for as long as you could before you died. In short, as long as you have something you desire, you won’t fall into that pitfall.

That is where the Protagonist shines in the finale. By being the culmination of all these concepts. His sense of self, fueled by both his Being-For-Itself, (Arsene,) and his Being-For-Others, (Confidants, party members, and eventually 100% of the population) creates Satanael, the largest and potentially most powerful Persona in the franchise to date. Granted, Satanael is gone now, given that it’s form was given in part by the populace… Which now cleanly is split in two as to whether to believe in the Thieves or not. Regardless, he still stands as the counterpoint to Yaldabaoth’s offer. Where Yaldabaoth offered humanity meaningless existence without desire, (and in turn, no existence at all,) Satanael offers humanity life lived through desire, and yes, sin. The protagonist reminds humanity of the freedom of choice it truly has, and that taking no choice, no responsibility for your actions, is no choice at all. It is the cessation of existence.

And that’s the point of P5’s ending; that we are built of both the choices we make and how others see us, and it is our responsibility to live for what we desire. So go forth. Enjoy a New Game Plus, go write, draw, roleplay, discuss, theorize. Live for your desires.

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

Alright, did not expect that last one to get so heavy. Happy to know my previous history with Shinjiro as a muse went to good use reminding me what Akechi would have had to go through. Seriously, I hope it was a decent read for anyone taking a look, and that it provided a little insight as to why I portray Akechi the way I do. That being said, if there’s anyone out there interested in conversation on this blog, or on any other character’s backstory, send me a shout, would ya? Always available on IM. It really does feel nice to, aheh... make new connections.

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

-sigh- Yep, I’m throwing in the towel. I can’t make themes to save my life. At this point it’s either commission/beg a friend to do it, or give in and accept sub-standard form and pray it doesn’t upset potential writing partners.

Eh, still, good news... Feels like it’s becoming that much more acceptable to talk spoilers over Akechi. In that case, I can do more drabbles and such, if anyone’s interested. Thoughts?

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

It genuinely warms my heart that in every Persona game’s fandom, the animal mascot character has a squad of dupes that all get along and are all perfect. And lo... the cat came back.

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

Sorry my formal beginning of RP on this account is taking longer than expected. I had real life, but now... Now I think I have something else to do first.

If you don’t mind, I’m about to write an essay on the ending of Persona 5. Namely, the conflict inherent between the final boss and our protagonists. The ideological conflict, and how it applies to us as players. If you were as disquieted by the final dungeon as I was, you’ll understand what I mean. Also I’ll be referencing things. Strap in.

[phantomwingbeats-blog]

(Fuck. The urge to write up a Shadow self P4 style for Akechi is strong. The boy’s no blank slate, I can tell you that.)