thinking about how "justice" was what started Ren's Fool journey. he was a Fool to step in and save that woman which then ruined his life. he was a Fool to fight back, to keep doing it, to fall into schemes and nearly getting himself and his friends killed and a Fool to fight against god until the end. from start to finish he sticks to his justice, even when that justice is tested in third semester he remains true to himself and what is "right", no matter what has to be done. from ruining his life, to almost losing his life, to destroying the power that fuelled his justice, to giving up his one wish and the life he has always wanted.
for justice. he's now freer and simultaneously more "bounded" by the world than before. more friends, more possibilities, more promises. and it all starts and ends with that visage, his spirit of his rebellion:
...Death awaits him if you do nothing. Was your previous decision a mistake then?
(No need for mere words. Show me your true feelings.)
Very well... I have heeded your resolve. Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I... Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage!...
Ren's justice is really about saving people. no matter the cost. the part "willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice" describes Akechi to a tee actually. and the line "was your previous decision a mistake then" is really about having no regrets. no more what ifs.
for all that Akechi says, what is his true form ? if Ren, the one behind a thousand masks, is so much about unmasking others, will he know the true feelings of someone who lives as his masks like Akechi ?
(sometimes it hurts to think that Robin Hood, probably Akechi's last remaining trace of his childhood dream, is likened to a lie. even if it's true plot wise. just as how while Loki's indeed his hatred manifested, it is his way of fighting back a world that has only put him down)
(i am today years old when i realize all the third semester personas are like the "true" version of the first personas of the thieves. like arsene -> raoul is his true name, a person instead of a legend, a phantom in the minds of ppl. awakening to this version is like realizing the true self of their true self, which further reinforces my thoughts that third semester is about fighting and saving yourself. we only know the true Ren when we let him go through the same fight the other thieves had to: give up on the one thing they wish for, or give up true justice)
(Akechi really is justice until the very end. he dreams of being a hero to save ppl, having teammates on his side, uncovering the truth. he sacrifices everything to have justice for his mother and for himself, to protect the first people that could be his friends. he refuses to budge even when it's his life, his second chance, his regrets, not when it means he would get away with his crimes, when he wouldn't pay for what he has done, when he would lose his freedom. in the end, he never budges on what is right - and that is Ren in a nutshell)
(bcs nothing says sticking to your values more than having the one thing that can shake them shoved to your face, hurting over the choice and gritting your teeth to choose justice anyway. it means that in the end he regrets nothing, from ruining his life to save that woman we never saw again. no more what ifs. this is who he is. this is his justice)
(that art of Ren and Akechi merged into one face lives in my head forever. none takes the "i am thou, thou art i" bit to the level that they do. they make me sick...)
origamiaround
dailybridgerton
titsay
germansingergirl
romaincrisis
