I donāt know what I was expecting from this chapter, but I wasnāt expecting Marco backstory LOLL. Mother Rosa mentionā¦ please come backā¦. We also now have a better approximation of Marcoās age, since heās clearly still a child but older than 12 when Josh was 12.
Lisa seems to be actively in the process of dying for more power. āWe have no interest in arguing with youā and the focus on methods I find interesting. In previous arcs and and specifically recently with Charlotte, the idea of violence as a tool to get to the negotiating table has been brought up. However, here we can see that even now there is no negotiating going on. Interestingly, there is also no focus on what methods they do think she should use. Thereās a complete disinterest in engaging with her on any level. They neither agree nor disagree with her ideas, and while they disagree with the extent of her violence, thereās no expression of what outlet they do think should occur for her expression of ideas. Barbara and Leah both have been shown to understand gender based oppression, and oppose it, but theyāve also been uninvolved in enacting any sort of systemic change. If violence is a no go, or at least this extent of violence, what is the appropriate level of violence or alternative methods that they hold should be used? Again, none of the cast outside of Lisa has expressed what they specifically think an ideal world should look like, and what the appropriate methods for accomplishing that are. Whether thatās a weakness of the story or a purposeful critique, Iām not sure yet.
I had thought that there had been a direct reference to the Hammer of Witches, but hadnāt screenshotted it and forgot it was Marco! Itās kind of incredibly fitting. The Hammer of Witches, or Malleus Maleficarum is one of the most influential texts on witchcraft in Europe. It was written by Heinrich Kramer, a Dominican Priest, who was misogynistic to a degree that was notable even in the 15th century when he was alive. Like, he was so misogynistic that other theologians were condemning him in his time, including a bishop. One of the Popes did like his work though. He deeply disliked women, and the Malleus Maleficarum is one of the works most influential to tying ideas of witchcraft to women, and specifically womenās sexuality. Ideas of women have shifted over time, and in this specific time period misogynistic constructions of women held them to be excessively sexual and insatiable, and also more easily susceptible to sin as they were held to be less capable of reasoning then men. Heinrich Kramer did not disagree, and the Malleus Maleficarum is a deeply misogynistic text that is obsessive about womenās sexuality in much of the same manner that Marco talks about Imuri. That itās the weapon he uses against Lisa is immensely charged, whether on purpose or otherwise.
The Japanese word he uses for aspiration also translates to longing, but it is a different word than the word used for longing in the chapter title. Idk enough about Japanese to make any commentary about that, but if anyone who does has any thoughts Iād be interested in hearing them.
Chapter ends with Lisa offering up her uterus, her reproductive organ, which also feels incredibly charged on a gender level. Sheās been tied to ideas of pregnancy (c section headless woman, the story of the curse of Eve, swallowing the fetuses, her status as a lesbian in a time period and society that valued her primarily in her availability to men including in the range of reproductive labor). Really wondering where thatās going to go.
The two women who should have the most to say to Lisa are reduced to supporting roles for a man to speak directly that they are not interested in addressing her points. In the ideal world this ought to be intentional but with the current level of writing I'm not even sure anymore.
Lisa used Beelzebub so much Leah said she looks like her, #WhatDoesAsmodeusEvenDo.
(No but seriously, you think the Asmodeus contract will come into play at all?)
Even with all the Beelzebub spamming we still don't get why and how Lisa cursed him to not enter eastern Europe or the history between them, don't have any meaningful interaction with Leah for her village and the Barbara convo is disappointing to say the least. Compared to all other plot points Asmodeus is pretty behind the list, so with how fast and underutilized everything is I doubt it would.
A thing I appreciate about Make the Exorcist Fall in Love is that at no point does the story treat Joshua as 'lucky' or shrug off his trauma because he got away from Asmodeus. He's deeply effected by what happened to him. The story never shies away from the fact that even if the victim manages to escape before things escalate to rape, sexual assault still took place and the event is still very likely to be traumatic.
I actually really supprised that Barbara ghost this entire wrath part, because the entire part 7 is about misogyny. And itās heavily implied that Barbara have some kind of biased toward women from the trauma she have suffer from mostly men. So while lisa broadcasting a whole speech about misogyny, where is Barbara? Also when the exorcist getting revived we donāt even see Barbara, is she even died? Where is she? How does she felt about lisa speech?
Also a little bit off topic on why is barbara ghosting the entire wrath arc. I hope the authors will dive deeper into Leah and Barbara relationship and also her relationship with Mikhail with their common shared theme of appearance and gender.
(This file made me even more curious on barbara backstory and what Leah meant to her)
I keep waiting for Ekuoto to acknowledge that structurally speaking Satan should be this arcās final villain (since itās been the demon lord whoās each arcās main antagonist), but then I realized that heās probably been feeding on the wrath of the apocalypse that, while now undone, will probably result in even more wrath. So like huh.
Iām actually very worried about the narrative behind Vasilisa and Belpehgor after this chapter, we all know that she a fraudulent sexist bum, this isnāt even a debate. But if Belpehgor is portray as a good guy in the next chapter then I feel like the story is going down hill. Belpehgor misogyny came from his son death which he also took part in, making a misogynistic character defeat a misandrist female character who get traumatized by men (which is not an excuse at all btw just a reason why she act like the way she did) is not good writing at all I fear. Itās would be decent or good written if Belpehgor fix his misogyny before defeat Vasilisa or getting portrayed as the "good guy" but I felt like we havenāt seen him fix his misogyny yet. The infantilized of Belpehgor in this fandom is already a problem with how the fan treat him like he just a cute incel who will shelter Josh from the "evil wh0re imuri" and ignore all his wrong doing. If he actually defeat Vasilisa in the next chapter without getting his misogyny fix then I can sadly say that mtefil is bad.
The fact that Satan seems interested though still feels ominous lol. Canāt tell if this hurts or helps whatever his long term plans are.
So glad we got another depressed Verge shot sorry ur life is agony king.
Mikhail appears to be faceless. Itās not clear to me whether or not the shadows are a permanent design choice or a censorship thatāll be undone in the volume release, but Iām leaning towards purposeful stylistic choice. Was so glad to see Leah is alive yayyy Leah I love u.
Reintroduction of Belā¦ hmmā¦ on one hand thereās a bit of interest in the fact that both Bel and Lisa function as ājealous exā archetypes. Lisa is literally an ex sexual partner of Imuri, who dislikes Josh, and Imuriās dislike of Bel was often framed in a comedic love triangle way, with Bel similarly disliking her along a similar vein. But, as we can see from the first page of this chapter, Bel remains the same incel-core misogynist as always, so I have trepidation as to what his interactions with Lisa may look like. Narratively, it would be pretty bad if he does much more than this in terms of fighting with Lisa.
If everyone remembers what happened in the last five days, including the civilians, thatāll be so fucked. Iām not against it as a narrative choice but like what r u supposed to do after having lived the apocalypse as though it was real, and remember having been murdered by another guy who definitely remembers having murdered you.
What are your thoughts on the current mtefil arc? Personally my face throughout the entirety of it all is š¬
My themes and such are fighting with my dread. Literally. What will win depends on how the arc is resolved. With more chapter passing by the more intense the fight gets. There are lots of things I can still enjoy in theory and have fun rolling them around my head (I believe my posts are enough proof) but the execution makes me want to stab my heart gouge my eyes and run to the nearest cliff. Not because it's entirely bad but because it brings too many conflicting feelings. It runs in a constant loop of "the way this plotline is handled sucks -> oh it's addressing what makes it sucks -> wait no why are you doubling down on that -> huh so they are really going to acknowledge that? -> damn the writing here sucks" especially with the Imuri/Lisa/Joshua trio and JoshImuri romance, which, is the center of this arc.
Currently the dread is gaining the upper hand in making me doom messaging my friend before every chapter drop and by thinking just how atrocious so many takes on every sites outside my comfort zones are. I'm fighting it off with the "what positives can I take out of this" stick and "everything is planned" shield.
Y'know, with the way the current arc is going, I kinda hope they cycle back to how Beelzebub knew the original (?) Baba Yaga, or at least one of her main hosts.
The Wiki seems to think the meat contract from the current chapter was a previous contract with Baba Yaga (I was assuming Lisa herself made a separate one, to be seen which interpretation is right), but if so, that would be a weird contract to essentially go:
- I want your finger.
- Give me your nephilim if I kill enough people to put meat on the world.
- Also if you go to Germany I will nuke you (metaphorically).
Like, he clearly remembers her. He forgot Leah and Dante despite devastating their lives such a short time before the series began.
Beelzebub is the one contracting the witch cult, too, and Baba Yaga is the Witch of Wrath, the first one, Satan's witch. Considering she tricked him, I'm surprised he'd be out and out so willing to contract so many other witches.
I assume the Finger was some sort of safety measure that Baba Yaga used to keep him 'out' of Europe? Or pretend to hold it until their contract was fulfilled (which she never intended to do)?
Beelzebub desecrated Mother Rosa's corpse upon his return, he seems to remember people who do him wrong, but again-- that doesn't really match with him associating with the Witch Cult.
I feel like there's something to peel away at here, I just don't know what.
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