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tenshinoakuma) wrote2008-11-21 04:50 pm
tenshinoakuma) wrote2008-11-21 04:50 pm
[Essay] Joshua on Humanity and Sexuality
This is going to be mostly about Canon!Joshua, though a lot of what is said here can be applied to TST!Joshua as well. Liberal doses of headcanon and incoherency!
--
On Humanity
At present time, I believe, truly, that Joshua likes people. Or rather, he is enamoured with the potential of people, rather than liking the people themselves. I don't think Joshua really considers himself a part of humanity (especially once he became Composer in canon); it's always him and people/humanity, rather than him being one of the people that exists. It's kind of hard for me to explain this because it feels kind of vague an intangible right now 8|
You could say Joshua is always an observer of humanity, but doesn't feel involved in humanity. Joshua doesn't understand other people. As he says himself:
But what makes him so detached from other people, I think, is that he doesn't even TRY to understand people, and has no sympathy or empathy for others. Joshua knows how people think. That much is clear from the way he is able to easily manipulate others. But Joshua isn't able to understand WHY people do things that he views as futile. It's like with art. You can see art that is technically (and I mean technically as in their technique) flawless, but lacks the heart and soul of the artist. Or rather, the heart and soul of the artist isn't expressed in such a way that the viewer can FEEL it. Joshua understands how to manipulate the emotions of others, but he doesn't understand the actual emotions.
And I find this highly ironic, because Joshua, despite his detachment to everything, is so heavily emotionally invested in his goals that when things don't work out, he throws a temper tantrum, but still keeps trying to make it work.
Where was I going with this...
Oh yes, observer. Joshua loves what people have the potential to do. Let's face it, people can do amazing things. But what he ultimately hates is how people don't have an interest in realising their full potential. It's likely he doesn't like a lot of the rules and boundaries that are dictated by social standards blah blah things that were decided by adults, because he feels a lot of them cage in that potential. And I'm probably sure he doesn't like really stupid shit like random acts of violence as well because it's completely unecessary. It frustrates him to no end that people can't see all of this, and he pushes himself to try and almost force people to see that everything could be so much better.
But when he's given the chance to change all this, Joshua doesn't think twice about committing the very things he dislikes (lol random acts of violence 8| ) if it will bring himself to a position that will allow him to change all this. The ends justifies the means and all. And I think that's part of the reason Joshua is still stuck in the cycle of life and death. Or rather, that he's stuck and not GOING anywhere. Because he tries too hard to force others to change that he adds to the negativity in Shibuya.
It's really hard to think about doing good and doing bad, when in the Game, you are killing Reapers to survive. But the Game is, essentially part of the process in which a person's Soul is refined. If you consider the UG the spirit world and the RG the physical world, you could say that the cycle of life and death in TWEWY is basically cycling between the UG and the RG until the Soul is refined enough to ascend. So once people are erased in the UG, it can be thought of as that their time is up in the UG and there is little more they can learn from the UG at their present state, so back they go to the RG.
As a side note, I think that maybe for most standard Games, reincarnation actually means erasure.
And then you have Joshua, who could be so close to ascending. But he can't, not yet, because he just can't let go of humanity. He wants to make it better, but you can only guide people; ultimately people choose what they want to do. And it seems the best place for him to learn that is in the UG as Composer, where he has all the power to change humanity, but still has the inability to do so.
On Sexuality
Sorta similar to Joshua's view of humanity, I don't think Joshua really believes it applies to him! I believe Joshua's asexual rather than flat out gay, but this is possibly because my default setting for characters is asexual 8| Joshua's always given me the impression that he knows about the hormonal urges, but doesn't know or understand what it's like to have them. Sure, he may flirt with Neku and all that, but during the game, it doesn't feel real to me. It feels more like he's doing it to irritate Neku, more than anything. Post game, who knows? The closest I can see Joshua, in his immediate post game state, coming to Neku (and I think there is, at least, some attachment to his little proxy) is a kind of distant, platonic relationship rather than anything physical.
I think this is more a talk about how Joshua views individuals rather than sexuality, because he doesn't seem to be the kind of person who cares about whether a person dimples or dangles. Rather, he seems to far more interested in what goes on in an individual's head, and is far more attracted to a person's mind and Soul than anything physical. Or something 8|
Bonus: When Joshua is forced into a corner, forced to choose when he doesn't know what choice to make, when he becomes desperate for an answer, he'll force someone else to choose for him, whether they know it or not.
--
On Humanity
At present time, I believe, truly, that Joshua likes people. Or rather, he is enamoured with the potential of people, rather than liking the people themselves. I don't think Joshua really considers himself a part of humanity (especially once he became Composer in canon); it's always him and people/humanity, rather than him being one of the people that exists. It's kind of hard for me to explain this because it feels kind of vague an intangible right now 8|
You could say Joshua is always an observer of humanity, but doesn't feel involved in humanity. Joshua doesn't understand other people. As he says himself:
"Understanding other people isn't hard, Neku. It's impossible."
But what makes him so detached from other people, I think, is that he doesn't even TRY to understand people, and has no sympathy or empathy for others. Joshua knows how people think. That much is clear from the way he is able to easily manipulate others. But Joshua isn't able to understand WHY people do things that he views as futile. It's like with art. You can see art that is technically (and I mean technically as in their technique) flawless, but lacks the heart and soul of the artist. Or rather, the heart and soul of the artist isn't expressed in such a way that the viewer can FEEL it. Joshua understands how to manipulate the emotions of others, but he doesn't understand the actual emotions.
And I find this highly ironic, because Joshua, despite his detachment to everything, is so heavily emotionally invested in his goals that when things don't work out, he throws a temper tantrum, but still keeps trying to make it work.
Where was I going with this...
Oh yes, observer. Joshua loves what people have the potential to do. Let's face it, people can do amazing things. But what he ultimately hates is how people don't have an interest in realising their full potential. It's likely he doesn't like a lot of the rules and boundaries that are dictated by social standards blah blah things that were decided by adults, because he feels a lot of them cage in that potential. And I'm probably sure he doesn't like really stupid shit like random acts of violence as well because it's completely unecessary. It frustrates him to no end that people can't see all of this, and he pushes himself to try and almost force people to see that everything could be so much better.
But when he's given the chance to change all this, Joshua doesn't think twice about committing the very things he dislikes (lol random acts of violence 8| ) if it will bring himself to a position that will allow him to change all this. The ends justifies the means and all. And I think that's part of the reason Joshua is still stuck in the cycle of life and death. Or rather, that he's stuck and not GOING anywhere. Because he tries too hard to force others to change that he adds to the negativity in Shibuya.
It's really hard to think about doing good and doing bad, when in the Game, you are killing Reapers to survive. But the Game is, essentially part of the process in which a person's Soul is refined. If you consider the UG the spirit world and the RG the physical world, you could say that the cycle of life and death in TWEWY is basically cycling between the UG and the RG until the Soul is refined enough to ascend. So once people are erased in the UG, it can be thought of as that their time is up in the UG and there is little more they can learn from the UG at their present state, so back they go to the RG.
As a side note, I think that maybe for most standard Games, reincarnation actually means erasure.
And then you have Joshua, who could be so close to ascending. But he can't, not yet, because he just can't let go of humanity. He wants to make it better, but you can only guide people; ultimately people choose what they want to do. And it seems the best place for him to learn that is in the UG as Composer, where he has all the power to change humanity, but still has the inability to do so.
On Sexuality
Sorta similar to Joshua's view of humanity, I don't think Joshua really believes it applies to him! I believe Joshua's asexual rather than flat out gay, but this is possibly because my default setting for characters is asexual 8| Joshua's always given me the impression that he knows about the hormonal urges, but doesn't know or understand what it's like to have them. Sure, he may flirt with Neku and all that, but during the game, it doesn't feel real to me. It feels more like he's doing it to irritate Neku, more than anything. Post game, who knows? The closest I can see Joshua, in his immediate post game state, coming to Neku (and I think there is, at least, some attachment to his little proxy) is a kind of distant, platonic relationship rather than anything physical.
I think this is more a talk about how Joshua views individuals rather than sexuality, because he doesn't seem to be the kind of person who cares about whether a person dimples or dangles. Rather, he seems to far more interested in what goes on in an individual's head, and is far more attracted to a person's mind and Soul than anything physical. Or something 8|
Bonus: When Joshua is forced into a corner, forced to choose when he doesn't know what choice to make, when he becomes desperate for an answer, he'll force someone else to choose for him, whether they know it or not.
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