Er. Thought he went about it in a sarcastic way but I thought his points were still actual points if maybe not to the importance that he seems to think they
have.
I do agree with this line in particular: "because I find it very hard to believe that they're all just there because of the savory taste of imported
regret, and don't really care one way or the other that anything actually changes." Unfortunately, this is probably tied up with the whole Catholic
idea of confess and be free and I've never really understood that either. This is particularly problematic given how much that idea is tied up with the
scene so caveat on the opinion below.
I think this scene would have been really hard to pull off given how personal or how emotional religion is in general. It is perhaps inevitable something's
going to stick the wrong way, although it being based off of AMG helps. This scene is just really weird from my opinion for a similar reason. It makes the gods
look like vultures that somehow feed upon depression, regret, and evil energy. It's not bad - the idea of evil gods or at least morally ambiguous gods is
not a new one even in this universe - but I get the idea that AMG goddesses and gods starting to appear like Queen Beryl and Metallia with better PR firms is
probably not the right impression I'm supposed to get from this scene.
Also, someone mentioned off the teaser that they were having a hard time understanding how Paradox would fit into something as, well, private as a confession
is. Plot-wise, well, I see why he potentially needs to be there, probably as part of his becoming and really accepting full godhood and all that entails. I do
think that that too added to the overall surreal feeling of that scene.
I agree with two other points of his. It seemed like character exposition/growth all happened off screen, but I think it happened for both Doug and Paradox.
Paradox's, of course, happened when he went off and disappeared, but the focus on Paradox's experience of eating negative energy during the confession
scene seemed to block Doug's own character growth. (Perhaps irreverently, the phrase "addition by subtraction - for reals!" was also running
through my head during that scene) Megumi's monolithic hate for Mara does seem odd, but since we've never been able to see inside her head, it's
hard to relate to her but I'm sure something is happening there.
I thought it was an odd chapter overall and constrained by the necessity of setting up for the next chapter although I have liked and still like the fic as a
whole.
have.
I do agree with this line in particular: "because I find it very hard to believe that they're all just there because of the savory taste of imported
regret, and don't really care one way or the other that anything actually changes." Unfortunately, this is probably tied up with the whole Catholic
idea of confess and be free and I've never really understood that either. This is particularly problematic given how much that idea is tied up with the
scene so caveat on the opinion below.
I think this scene would have been really hard to pull off given how personal or how emotional religion is in general. It is perhaps inevitable something's
going to stick the wrong way, although it being based off of AMG helps. This scene is just really weird from my opinion for a similar reason. It makes the gods
look like vultures that somehow feed upon depression, regret, and evil energy. It's not bad - the idea of evil gods or at least morally ambiguous gods is
not a new one even in this universe - but I get the idea that AMG goddesses and gods starting to appear like Queen Beryl and Metallia with better PR firms is
probably not the right impression I'm supposed to get from this scene.
Also, someone mentioned off the teaser that they were having a hard time understanding how Paradox would fit into something as, well, private as a confession
is. Plot-wise, well, I see why he potentially needs to be there, probably as part of his becoming and really accepting full godhood and all that entails. I do
think that that too added to the overall surreal feeling of that scene.
I agree with two other points of his. It seemed like character exposition/growth all happened off screen, but I think it happened for both Doug and Paradox.
Paradox's, of course, happened when he went off and disappeared, but the focus on Paradox's experience of eating negative energy during the confession
scene seemed to block Doug's own character growth. (Perhaps irreverently, the phrase "addition by subtraction - for reals!" was also running
through my head during that scene) Megumi's monolithic hate for Mara does seem odd, but since we've never been able to see inside her head, it's
hard to relate to her but I'm sure something is happening there.
I thought it was an odd chapter overall and constrained by the necessity of setting up for the next chapter although I have liked and still like the fic as a
whole.