I'd like to present something I've been daydreaming about for a while, inspired heavily by my time in the 2016 Undertale AU space. Lots of art and details under the cut.
Without Kris, there is no vessel for us to oversee the story. Without Kris, there is no story. Right...? Wrong.
In KNIGHTSHIFT, Kris' role in the regular story is taken by Susie. She works alongside The Soul to defend the Darkworlds as THE SWORD. She also works with GHOUELLE HOLIDAY, the youngest member of the Halloween-centric Holiday family. The two of them are joined by JEVIL, the tricky Guide of the Dark.
Also worth noting, in this AU, Dess (or rather Autumn Holiday) is still alive but incredibly guilt-ridden after having Kris go missing when she was supposed to be taking care of them.
Here is some insight into Susie and Ghouelle's characters. I'm not well versed in spritework, so excuse the simple colour edits.
Onto THE DREEMURR family. When their adoptive child, Kris, went missing at a young age, the family was torn apart. Asriel left town, Asgore became much more subdued, and Toriel temporarily quit teaching. Now, with years gone by, their quiet grief serves as a constant reminder that something went wrong in Hometown.
But their child was not killed. No, Kris simply stumbled into THE DARK. Twisted and influenced by a terrifying force, they became The Knight, using their confusion and anger as fuel to try to bring about eternal darkness.
Susie and Ghouelle are befriended by the Guide of the Dark, JEVIL. A curious little magician who seems to know much more than they let on; Jevil joins the party and helps them through the DarkWorlds. They possess the ability to use "Chaos Magic", which is channeled through their paintbrush scythe to inflict a random effect on enemies.
THE SWORD.
THE WITCH.
THE TRICKSTER.
Three heroes of LIGHT destined to banish the roaring DARKNESS at the edge of the world. This is. . . KNIGHTSHIFT.
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Let it be known I'm just doing this for fun and DO NOT have a whole story planned out. Fanart and stuff is welcome? Doubt it'll happen but I hope this is at least inspiring to some people :]
GOOD CHAPTER!!!!! oh my god the torture dance is back. And there's a crazy new stand. I'm really really intrigued by who the "enemy among the marines" could be.. maybe they're tied to Paco's backstory bc he was in the army? There's also a chance Meryl Mei is behind it all bc there was some oddly convenient timing for her appearance..
Really really excited. It's becoming more and more clear that Jojolands is Araki's best work so far.
Got home from a Summerween party with friends and now I'm getting emotional listening to paramore in bed . I've ended up turning into the kind of girl I thought was cool when I was like 5. Yeah. Idk I just wanted to have this thought on record
Hit the jackpot on FB Marketplace and scored ALL OF THESE for $100 CAD sealed.
Overjoyed to have these. Speed Racer is one of my favorite movies of all time :]]] . I've got pleasant memories of seeing it for the first time with my dad on TV.
I think I'll open the ones on the right.. maybe leave the rest sealed (for now). I've got duplicates of Racer X's Augury and the Royalton GRX so I'm opening the ones with worn packaging.
Really big fan of the 4th episode of Invincible season 4. Sure it's kind of maybe filler but also it's the most entertaining thing so far. Bruce Campbell Satan. Slayer needledrop. Genuinely funny dialogue. Good stuff
Okay okay okay. So in my eyes, there's three major themes here: the value of an imperfect world, the freedom of not being the protagonist, and the lasting benefit of forming bonds.
As long as the Chainsaw Devil existed, Denji was never going to have peace. Time and time again, devils were going to come for him, to take Chainsaw's power for themselves and create their perfect world. The constant escalation resulted in Yoru's deathless world, where everyone would suffer forever. So in this new timeline, the Chainsaw Devil doesn't exist. Here, you can't simply remove everything you don't like. You have to accept that there are good movies AND bad movies.
Without Chainsaw, Makima can't pursue her perfect world, thus she's replaced with the more innocent and childish Nayuta. Without the possibility of a perfect world, she might accept that good movies and bad movies both exist. Here, she has the potential to grow up happy.
In the original timeline, Denji would've died in the Zombie fight if it wasn't for Pochita. But here he's instead rescued by Power. Power, who wasn't there in the original timeline. Power, who immediately takes Denji under her wing, though she initially hated humans. Because Power remembers, if only subconsciously, the bond they shared in the other world. And that bond is quickly rekindled, signified by Denji calling her the nickname, Powy. Despite not remembering him, Power and Nayuta still sense affection towards him. That bond wasn't wasted. It has value beyond death.
Finally, Denji and Asa. In this new timeline, neither of them are devils. They are both perfectly average people. They are both freed from their roles as protagonists. This of course means that their lives are forfeit. They will die some day, in some devil attack, as if it's nothing. Like so many other nameless background characters. Because everyone's lives are forfeit in a world where death exists. But we saw Yoru's deathless world, and it was endless suffering. So here they have the freedom to be unexceptional, and to die one day. An imperfect world, where death, and good and bad movies, all exist, forever.
100% of the opinion that the CSM ending will be received similarly to AOT's ending. It's divisive now, it'll be debated for months, then once it gets adapted in the anime people will see that it has actually been fantastic this whole time & it'll be widely loved.
I think too many people are caught up in what they want the story or characters to be, rather than what they ARE. There are people out there who still think Denji is some stupid sex freak and not a hypersexual victim with no support system.
It's just like how people thought Eren was a super cool, in-the-right warrior of justice and not a selfish idiot who went down a bad path because he felt like he could.
Like it or hate it now, Chainsaw Man's ending is perfect for what the overall themes of the story have been. This is how it was always going to turn out. There was never going to be a final battle against all the horsemen and Denji "getting the girl". Pochita kind of says this himself in 231.
Been reading CSM weekly since Part 2 started. Been a fan since early 2020. Can't really put into words how impactful and significant Denji is to me as a character. Now it's over! And it ended perfectly and I loved the story the whole way through. It'll be neat to not feel a deep sense of anxiety every night before a chapter.. bc now I know everything turns out okay.
I just feel a sense of.. relief. Yeah. This is the best possible ending, based on what happened in the whole story. Maybe we'll get a part 3? Idk. I am totally satisfied without one. Denji's happy.
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