wishstonedragon:

brinkofmemories:

mistyfdfa:

mistyfandom:

brinkofmemories:

Happy Halloween, guys! Naoto from Persona 4, as a succubus from Catherine. This was voted for on Twitter (Follow me here!: https://twitter.com/BrinkOfMemories/status/792829248197300225).

Hope you’ve had a great weekend!

Love it!

Talked with @etienne-rune about this picture and how it looks from her perspective that Naoto is Ace–and once again learned about a blind spot I have. 

To me it was a fun presentation of a character who struggled with her feminine side and felt comfortable enough to wear a Halloween costume that normally would be clinging to Rise. 

After some discussion however, I could see where this is could be seen as uncomfortable/humiliating for an ace person as having to wear men’s clothes when MtF or vice versa.

While our reads on the character are very different, I even actively ship YuNao, it was a reminder that there are Intersections I do not even consider.

So, ordinarily I only post art on here, but I thought this was an intriguing post, and worth responding to.

First off, broadly speaking, I think it’s worth saying that the costume stuff I draw on here is just for fun. As long as I think it looks cool or attractive or cute or whatever word you want to use, I don’t really consider the context.

On the other hand, I think there’s value to be found in discussing context even in things where the context isn’t intrinsic to the piece itself, but is perceived by the viewer.

In regards to how I think Naoto would react to wearing an outfit like this (if we assume that this is an outfit, and not a portrayal of her as a succubus), I guess I’d fall halfway between yours and your friend’s perspective. I don’t think it’s something Naoto would choose to wear, but I don’t think she’d be against wearing it in a certain situation.

I think people focus too heavily on the sexism and gender role issues in Naoto’s storyline because it’s a lot more interesting and relevant, and something that people feel very strongly about. I’d argue however, that this actually a part of a larger whole which, when considered, Naoto’s character fits neatly into: the distinction between childhood and adulthood.

Persona 4 is a game about how we perceive ourselves, each other and how we want to be perceived. Nearly everything in Naoto’s story revolves around the idea that Naoto so desperately wants to be an adult that she’s actually rather childish. Both her S Link and dungeon focus almost entirely on this, but the reveal that she’s actually a girl kind of overshadows it, despite its relative irrelevance.

Naoto doesn’t dress like a boy because she’s transgender or because she’s ashamed or anything like that, she does it because she tries to portray herself as a stoic, mature, hero character like the ones from the stories she reads. She sees the role as a masculine one due to the way such heroes are portrayed in the media - in detective and noir, the man is always the hero (stoic, strong etc.) whilst the woman is physically attractive, sexual and duplicitous.

Naoto wants to be seen as a cool, masculine character, which is why her development over the course of the game is about her realisation that the real her - the sometimes dorky, not genius-level IQ, definitely female her - is actually okay and even pretty likeable. She has to stop being childish and accept who she is and where she is in life. Over the course of P4 and its spinoffs, she makes references to wearing skirts, ballroom dancing and seemingly knowing how to apply makeup (amongst other things). She’s not afraid or embarassed by femininity, but before her dungeon, she doesn’t want it seen as part of her image.

All of P4′s stories are about accepting who you are, but Naoto’s focuses on growing up, and if you take the post dungeon Naoto as the ‘real’ Naoto (and there’s not reason why you shouldn’t, seeing as we all do for every other character) then from start to end it’s actually a pretty nice arc.

All of this is a very long winded way of saying that if she’s going to be embarassed by wearing a stripy bodysuit, I would think it’s less because it’s feminine and more because it’s ridiculous.

I’m always glad when someone takes the time to look past what the immediate Shadow of a character says. “Shadow says it will operate her, CLEARLY that means she is FtM!!”.

I agree with “she wants to be taken as an adult”, however, I do also think she has some self-perceived gender identity issues - but not the ones generally accredited to her. Her issue is having grown up with the ideal that, to be what she wants to be, sher cannot be herself. She cannot be a child. She cannot be a girl. So she tries to mask both. 

Her disdain for anything female reaches deep, and not because she rejects it as herself (she even says straight-up to Yukiko “That is not the issue!), but more because she rejects the idea of it. To be female puts one in a drawer of domestic obedience, of being the ‘damsel in distress’, of being unable to cope, of being unable to drive one’s own goals. 

BUT, I enjoyed reading this take on her, as it opens a discussion with myself that I’ve yet to have about her.

Next up: Why anyone saying Kanji is CLEARLY homosexual drives me insane…