#OOC ~ OUT OF PERSONA ~

[townslore]

be nice to him please he was born in a wet cardboard box all alone [pro/ship dni]

[fan-tube-asks]

can i get a hug from bot pretipls,,,

Silliy hug

[marycom15]

Thinking about mary pcfc again,,, per usual. [LONG POST]

They're such a simple character but so interesting!! It makes my blood boil how much mischaracterisation i've seen seeing of them in the fandom because they're literally the easiest chara ever like HOW do you get them wrong :/// some people clearly just don't care about any characters other than their blorbos... not dropping names this time though.

The thing about Mary is that we never get to fully see them. Sure, both Mary and Mark appear quite often, and the lines between those two characters often blur, but we never quite get a full picture of them. I strongly believe that the true character of 'Mary' lies somewhere between the God and Mark persona. The distinction between them two gets stomped all over by the show, and often times the fans can’t quite tell whether the other characters see Mary or Mark in certain scenes, some going as far as to speculate that the others know both are the same person. But that's just obviously not true.

PCFC is known for its unclear distinctions between canon and non-canon episodes, most of its runtime composed of semi-canon lore where the direct events probably never took place in canon, yet the relationships and traits established through them persists. It's a curious phenomenon clearly sparked by the fact that the writers do not know shit and should all be fired. It's no wonder then that when they have a character who's split into two different personas, they often entirely forget about it and just write them as something inbetween - a compromise between their two sides. Which, funnily enough, is as close as we ever get to seeing the 'real' Mary.

For those a bit slower and Mary haters, let me explain this even more simply - and to do that, we need to get to the core of Mary's character, their defining trait in the series. Their divinity.

We actually don't know that much about it. Despite how well-established divine beings are within the PCFC universe, they're mostly more minor deities that operate under Mary's watch (like the love pantheon) or have been directly gifted power by them (like the mods). Mary themselves rarely expands upon their divine power and whenever they're seen as the God persona, they act generally distant and closed off. While they're still a kind god, they make sure to leave space between themselves and the mortals - Elo being an exception, but we'll get to them.

When it comes to the origins of their powers, we only know that they ascended rather suddenly, and presumably without much say on the matter. There's been mentions of a previous god and the 'Champion' who ruled under him, but they both presumably left, leaving Mary to clean up the chaos caused by the Lawless Time. We don't know exactly when they rose to power, but considering how clumsily they were handling their godhood at first, it's safe to assume they only gained divinity quite some time AFTER the previous rulers left, and probably rushed to try and fix the world before even fully understanding their powers.

Inexperienced and suddenly given a unimaginable power, they actually handled it all pretty well. Fuck you Mary haters and all those who think they were shit in the early episodes!! Mary haters DNI!! They just rose to power DURING a long-term crisis and they were just one guy with no guidance! But one thing's right - while they still took care to be kind, they were disconnected from the actual civilization. In my opinion, it's partly because obviously their status as a god made it harder to have casual interactions, but also partly because Mary was desperately trying to act 'godly'. Let me explain

They were obviously unsure of their power and role, doubting their own abilities, but they were still the god, protector of people - so they needed to appear strong. Partially to try and convince themselves they're not entirely unfit for the role, and partially to reassure the public. They developed this distant and rather unemotional persona, hiding their face and heart - sure, they were still a 'good and kind god', but they couldn't quite connect. Connection isn't meant for gods. It's mortal.

Quite obviously that put them under a lot of stress. They treated their relationship not as an interaction, an equal exchange, but as a chance to prove themselves to be likeable and get people to revere them. Early season, they were so focused on their role as a god, they completely forgot that they were still partially human, and had human needs. This is where, sadly, I do have to mention a certain character. Yes, I'm talking about sk*w. CW for all of the shit it does in early seasons, trust me guys i hate it just as much as the next person (or even more!!), but it's undeniably an important part of Mary's storyline.

In some ways, Skew is a folly to Mary. While Mary struggles to interact with others, Skew seems to be a natural people magnet. Mary's divinity is forced upon them, and they solemnly decide to accept this life in order to fullfill their duties, Skew ascends fully willing and eager to take up his role. Mary's a good person, and Skew is the definition of evil and problematic. But it can't be denied that he is liked by the other characters, at the very least during the first few seasons. And Mary's jealous.

At that point my poor baby has been working so hard to rebuild civilization, yet they're rarely met with any actual appreciation. The people are clearly evil :(((. And so they try to fit into society, by mimicking the way Skew acts - this is a trend that persists in all of their arcs btw, mimicking others and failing a bit. This is where the whole seemingly random part of them claiming to be evil comes from, in case you non-Mary fans didn't know. But instead of being appreciated, they get ridiculed instead - with Skew as the main perpetrator.

We all know how the evil arc goes. It’s no wonder they target Skew, really. They’ve been bottling up frustration for a long time now, simply pushing forward to do best by their beloved civilization, and when they get attacked by him for trying to fit in, Mary decides to make him.. Just like them. Kind, good and caring – and everyone *hates it*. I think that at first robo-skew represents Mary’s true values, but of course they get twisted as Mary rages on.

And this is where Elocom comes into play!!! My OTP <333 Elocom haters you’re the worst, dni I hope you get exposed and cancelled. Elo’s the only one who stands up for Mary, and they get immediately attached. She’s their most devoted follower, and they’re obsessed with her in turn. Their relationship is definitely incredibly codependent during the evil arc, but that barely lasts after it ends. Mary sees someone who offers them a bit of sympathy and immediately starts showering them with love. They were desperate for this connection, no matter how much they might’ve been denying it.

Which makes it even more tragic when Elo falls.

No matter how much ‘divine wrath’ they instilled upon the world during that arc, this is when Mary finally felt humanity again. Since the day of their ascension (which for all we know could’ve been well over a month ago!!) they’ve been living as a divine being, despite their body still being mortal. Sure, many things changed once they rose to power, but its clear that they haven’t fully transformed. There are changes, and they’re definitely the most powerful of the divine characters we know, but their power level is still oddly close to the lower deities considering their status as Parkour God.

They aren’t fully divine, which isn’t actually something we get much info on, though many visual clues point towards their distaste of fully embracing godhood and god boots being the reason for this. I am absolutely insane about the fact that the writers refuse to elaborate on Mary’s divinity because there’s !! So much we don’t know. I really hope this gets expanded on in the reboot ;(

When Elo falls, Mary doesn’t visit. They lose that one piece of humanity they had, but this time, they’ve tasted enough to realise their yearning for it. And so, the Mark persona is born. It says a lot that we basically know nothing about their life as a pro, and says even more that they themselves barely seem to remember it. Not in a typical way, they do recall people and events, but they fully cannot piece back together the person they used to be. A few of the background characters remark on how Mark has changed, but chuck it up to the chaos of the godless era. They no longer know who they were – in a way, they’re rediscovering themselves in this new role of God alongside the viewers, who have a similar level of knowledge about pre-godhood Mark. Which is pretty much zero.

So, who does Mark end up being? An exaggerated idea of humanity. They’re odd, a bit off-putting, but generally seen as just a bit of a funky and harmless weirdo. Mark tries so hard to blend in by simply repeating the things he’s noticed others like – but by looking solely at the moments which get most attention and laughs, he completely misses the mundane aspects of being mortal. In a way, Mark’s an amazing human disguise when it comes to their odd bits of personality, but they lack the casual and mundane parts, which makes them feel odd and unnatural to others. They’ve forgotten what it’s like to be human, and their notes are faulty.

With both the Mary and Mark side of this character established, it’s time to repeat my point – neither of them are the true Mary. The truth lies somewhere inbetween. ‘Mary’ is them desperately trying to be a god, and ‘Mark’ is them desperately trying to be a human. Their whole issue stems from not being able to fully embrace godhood, being stuck between two worlds with no real place to be. Maybe that’s why there are so many new deities and other divine-esque beings. Maybe Mary’s just observing them, hoping to find a way to exist without fully detaching themselves from their humanity.

To summarize, we know exactly as much about Mary as they do – which is not much. I see many ways for their story to go. They could embrace divinity and gain a higher level of power, or they could do the opposite and forfeit godhood in the name of humanity. Maybe they manage to find a way to exist in this odd space between two worlds they’ve found themselves in. Maybe something completely different will happen. The longer the series goes on, the more the lines between Mary and Mark blur, which makes me believe that it’s building up to some sort of big moment – especially if you remember that no matter how blurred the lines are for us, the characters still act as if Mary and Mark were separate people during the important scenes.

There’s still a lot to be explored about them, and I hope the writers don’t butcher my beloved babygirl :((((( they don’t deserve it!! Skew traumatized them so bad. I hope Elocom is endgame and Skewlocom burns in superhell <3 Also I literally can't stand the people who say they don't "get" Mary like bitch be for real with me!! Their character is literally so easy to understand its sooo annoying like wdym they're complicated. They're literally just stuck between two worlds. That's so simple it's got the number 2 in it, which is a low number. Which means its not complicated. Idiots.

[flightofgoro]

chronic maybe later dance, busy making idols of my friends — just like you.

[skrrtscree]

That feeling when you can't stop thinking abt the new guy..

[kairugah]

tonight the headcanon swirling around in my head is the idea that akiren buys the toy ray gun that he sees at the end of the proof of justice OVA as a way to cope w his grief and make up for the childhood that akechi lost, even just a little bit. & then when akechi returns during the third semester akiren gifts it to him as a sort of late christmas present, causing akechi's impenetrable facade of apathy over his own impending death to crack because of the fact that he hasn't received such a personalized gift in years and it fucking hurts that the only times he feels truly acknowledged for who he is & not just the mask he puts on is when it's not going to matter in the end anyways (the other time being in the engine room)

[jazbell]

akira gets a job at junes and is immediately fired bc of morgana (au)

[glacialswordsman]

[hopefuture]

Consider if you will

The image of Clark flipping burgers at a backyard BBQ in a trucker hat, a beer in one hand, yelling at the football game from across the patio

[books-and-dragons]

Ik it's been awhile since I have dropped a HC on you, but consider: Akira doing some unnecessarily dangerous stunt in the Metaverse and feeling so proud of himself... and then he's shocked when the team gets angry/worried that he risked his own safety like that.

"Guys, it's fine, only I would have gotten hurt!"

And then they just get even angrier and he's confused and startled they're so worked up about it. He's not used to people worrying about him.

omg june, hi!!! aaa i yelled when i saw your user pop up, hope you're doing well!!

your brainworms are angsty as ever and oh how i love it

i'm such a believer in the akira-is-passively-reckless-about-his-own-life concept, you'll have to rip it from my cold, dead hands

considering the in-game clues we get about how he's not great about keeping himself well-fed and has an automatic tendency to throw himself aside for the sake of other people's safety, akira's probably got a huge lack of self preservation to add to that (maybe even, a complete lack of care for his own wellbeing) (i'm absolutely blaming his home life for this)

which works well enough for someone in a leadership position, he'd make sacrifices for others very easily and yeah!! he's just so used to not putting himself into consideration- he doesn't even think about his own safety. nobody else ever has, so why should he?

it trickles into everything he does. the last healing item goes to a teammate, whatever funds he makes from part-time jobs goes into the phantom thieves (nevermind that he's living on sojiro's patronage curry and instant noodles, that's unimportant, he's unimportant), he offers unconditional support and a listening ear to every confidant he meets, and helps them with all their problems- even if it is to his own detriment. on the battlefield against a new enemy, joker will do his best to find the weakness- because if they repel anything, at least then he carries the brunt of the backlash. it's natural, instinctive, and therefore he sees no wrong in it.

and for a long time, he gets away with this reckless abandon for his own safety.

except he goes a step too far, maybe he decides to distract another hoard of shadows on his own? or makes what should be an impossible zipline move to cross to the other side of a chasm. against a rampaging enemy, he throws himself in the firing line. after months of excusing the passing recklessness, this is a step too far for the phantom thieves.

when they're reunited with joker, he's not greeted by praise for his dramatic flourish, or impressed and spirited cheers for carving a path deeper into the palace, but instead worried frowns and scolding reprimands. flurries of hands which search for his injuries and want to heal, and he doesn't need it he's fine-

and oh you're so right it would hurt so much because akira would be so confused by their concern!! at first, he probably assumes they're talking about anything but him. did he accidentally break a treasure on his landing? for some reason, had the thieves not wanted that shadow hurt? what was it this time, what had he done wrong- because he had to have done something wrong he always does something wrong, eventually

when it gets through to akira that no, they're worried about his safety the boy blue-screens there and then.

it's not something he's ever been used to- care, affection....attention. nobody's cared enough to look close enough before, and suddenly akira doesn't know what to do with this worry, with this obvious sign that people care about him, that someone values akira kurusu....he's in a bit of a fugue as the diarahan washes over him, so much do he can't even scold what he'd deem an unnecessary use of energy

they call it a day in the palace not long after.

learning to value your own life isn't something that's easy, but akira's surrounded by people who care about him now- they can be patient. this time, they're taking the lead to help akira, not the other way around.

maybe makoto challenges him to find a more safe plan, that doesn't involve reckless action. ryuji helps him be more open about his feelings. ann teaches akira how to appreciate himself. futaba shows him how to trust in what people promise. yusuke guides him through self-appreciation in his own, artistic style. haru helps akira define himself, outside of the parameters his parents set for him. morgana stays at his side through it all.

in their own way, they'll help akira find some self-worth, and hope to see the fruits of their labour in akira guarding a bit more often in battle, turning to his teammates instead of charging in headfirst and bearing the weight of shadows' attentions himself. they'll wait patiently for the day he asks for help, and be proud when he does.

for now, they'll accept the occasional willingness to head back to a saferoom, or retreat from battle. they'll mentally cheer when he uses one of their few healing items to patch a gash in his side. it's all about the small steps.

[fortifice]

I do write stuff that isn’t sampard shaped I said like a lying liar.

[xluciifer]

What if I made a persona huh????

What if it's just these two if they had a love child???

What if??????

[zalimbane]

i'm a sucker for arranged marriages , so i really wanna someday do a au or something where gort is like: i have to have a consort in order to be taken seriously , and he just either picks a random person in bg and its your muse . or he picks a trusted ally (your muse). but then they go to a feast or a gala and have to act like a real married couple and they make silly little jabs at him slowly throughout the night but now he has to genuinely pretend he is that person and it kills him .

[calmlythrilling]

oh if we want to talk about current debate... both suck. i am allergic to most animals and plants, i hate math despite being good at it, and while science looks cool i never been able to fully understand the whole cells thing for some reason? but i have never been able to give actual history my full attention either and barely passed my history classes. i'm with rin's "let's read a manga" take

[tierra-paldeana]

I can see Rika chasing the main character with a shoe after they went into Area Zero without permission..

Then Rika making them food afterwards because she was so worried.

// idk what she says in english, but in spanish she says she'll drag them outta there if she has to- she's so protective with them haha. i think if she was told about what happened with briar in the area zero underdepths she'd pass out FJHJKHFKDJHF

also yes 100% she's making food for them after some big sis scolding. she tends to do this too if she finds out they're sick or sad as well

[scarecrow-in-a-hatake]