#phil talks

Hi, I always accept asks! But the fact that I'm writing this post for the third time I think speaks numbers about why I'm so slow with that... Gotta break the habit somehow

Let's talk about treasure. Treasure is a manifestation of one's desire, it's starting point, a root. It doesn't even has to be an object, as we know with Futaba, so its just the original source of distortion, a trigger what allowed a person to form certain conclusion, certain belief. Like in Madarame's case, his treasure allowed him to think "I can make a lot of money if I use my students and my fame", like for Kamoshida his medal meant "I can do whatever I want because people are rewarding me for my hard work", and for Futaba it was "I am the reason mom died, so it's my duty to live in grief and follow her, eventually".

To understand what treasure would manifest itself as, we need to know what is the nature of his distortion. It forms as a Carnival, there he and his friends can hang out and have fun without a care in the world. There they don't need to think about future or look for a purpose in life, they can just relive the glory days of Phantom Thieves and be heroes again. Which means his distortion is deeply rooted in PTs business and his memories of the past year. He cares for his friends and confidants deeply, which makes him feel less anytime he's not able to impress or help them in any way. He learned the hard true after his conviction, and only been proven right during the game – love is something you need to earn. Which is why he's a prisoner of his heart, why also Arsene, the first manifestation of his heart has shackles. He's bound by bonds he made, and absolutely terrified to lose them.

I often think about how would the process of palace formation go exactly. I like to imagine once a person indulges in their distorted desires more and more, little secluded corner of the Mementos they reside in gets increasingly more elements of corresponding distortion, like slot machines appearing and distant casino sounds start playing in Sae's place. And then, after they cross a breaking point, their distortion grows and breakes away from Mementos, forming an individual space - a palace. They dive so deep into their new belief, it encompasses them, dragging further and further away from the influence of the masses – they leave the collective unconscious and now perceive the world out of their distorted bubble.

So how would the fact that a Trickster, a Wildcard appears to be the ruler of the palace change it's inner workings? First of all – Joker's Palace is able to hold more shadows than just himself. His palace is never consistent, it always changes with it's ruler, it follows Ren whenever he goes and bends to whatever Ren feels or wishes at the moment. It's sort of half Mementos half palace – after being destroyed two times Metaverse can't manifest itself properly, so it's just stuck clinging to the most powerful anchor in sight. Second – as I've said, being a wildcard affects Carnival's appearance – depending on whatever Ren is doing or whoever he's spending time with, it's exterior changes. Huge fair held in this Carnival is a lot bigger the first time Phantom Thieves enter his palace just because he got to spend time with them not long before that. Circus, previously being a blurry tent in the far end, also expands the further thieves get in their infiltration, and so on. Even his Shadow seems to always change drastically, depending on who he's talking with at the moment, ever bending to please his confidants.

So, to sum it all up, we need something that would represent the start of his journey as a Phantom Thief and act as a mask in real life. Something what would disguise his appearance, hide his true feelings, making it easier to bend himself to please anyone...

His glasses. His glasses are his treasure.

He got them at the start of his probation and never really got rid of them, despite not needing to blend in or act nicely anymore. It's his shield, his only defense between true feelings stumbling out without any consideration. He needs to be strong, he needs to be considerate, he needs to be cool for people to value him, so a thing what could cloud their perception of him is perfect.

I would have never thought of glasses being his treasure if Huddy didn't suggest it... Biggest brain I've ever seen, I'm just filling in blanks of her genius lmao

The absurd keeps humans yearning for meaning. I’d compare the absurd to edging.

Can a human live in spite of the absurd?

Without the absurd, what would humans base their reason off of?

[Logic? Self-interest? Happieness? Pleasure? It doesn’t matter!]

Humans would not value life. Then what would they live? The body wills them to.

Feeling a lot of things and being very touched at the moment..