okay Imma finally yell about things properly, in an ask, bc it deserves one and I'm only a little too feral about this. Did you notice, well, everything between Joshua and Shoka? Did you notice when Shoka said that she didn't really mind dying, that having powers made her feel good about herself, and that after 3 years of the same monotony of a Game that never really changes made her not really care about those fancy powers and end up quite closed off and snarky about life? Did you notice that it took her some time but she finally found a friend who could understand her?? Did you notice how freaking gutted she was that Rindo would return to the RG but she would have to be stuck in the UG??? Did you notice that Joshua EXPLICITLY shows up when Shoka's thanking Rindo for being a good PARTNER?? do you see what I'm getting at here bc its killing me, its killing me that Joshua is giving this girl everything he cannot have bc he's too far up the power chain to ever go back, he crossed a line of no return, but GODAMNIT if he's not gonna do this for them. He's gonna paint this up as a challenge, as a Game, bc Angels cant be nice and cant just return people to the UG willy-nilly, but he's pretty damn good at this game and he's gonna use that to HELP people. I am not okay. I love them all so much.
I can safely tell you that I did not notice any of that but I am absolutely thrilled to have it all pointed out to me! Those parallels are amazing!
It's funny, because you recently mentioned that you were convinced for your playthrough that Swallow was Joshua. That's honestly a conclusion that I had come to and likely would have held to for the rest of my playthrough if not for some minor interference. I was looking at Swallow through some pretty cynical lens at the time, but I still saw someone who was capable of so much... "closet kindness" if you will in that they were a genuine pillar of support to Rindo as well as very intelligent with how much Rindo respected their advice.
Naturally, the reveal turned many of my assumptions on their head, and I'm sure yours too, but at the same time, it's kind of wild to think that with enough time and maybe even more talent, Shoka could have ended up just like Joshua. That conclusion may not have always had to be so far off.
The weird Shinjuku rule plot device is more than just a last-minute stake reveal that gives us some insight into the earlier reactions of the Shinjuku Reapers, it's also an opportunity for Joshua to, as you say, do something kind and break someone else free from a cycle that, in a different way from her, consumed him. That's so interesting to think about. The idea that Joshua saw a bit of himself in Shoka, which I'm seeing more of even now just thinking of their personality similarities. That's so cool!
