just wishing

EPIC MANIFESTO PART 2

schnappsed — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:31:14 GMT

Title: A Reason For Our Existence
Author: schnappsed - BECAUSE I AM AWESOME
Pairing: Allelujah Haptism/Marie Parfacy
Fandom: Gundam 00
Word count: 10,000
Spoilers: The entire anime series and the Side Story written for Allelujah.
Note/WARNING: First off this is horribly over the max and in such I'm splitting the post in half and making two posts- I hope that's okay. I've seen it done before. I am very long winded and destroyed the max last time too. This post is also VERY image heavy and very very long winded so grab a soda and be prepared to sit for a little while lol. Oh and also- I am writing for a canon pairing. The express point of this manifesto is not to proof canonz, but to instead explain why I love this pairing. I encourage anyone and everyone to read it :D I'd also like to note that I use the side story, but the parts I use coincide so heavily with the anime there's no need to debate their canonical elements. Onto part 2!

Section 5: Saving Marie

Allelujah has suddenly obtained a new purpose in his life and it focuses on Marie’s future. He wants to save her, it is one of the first thing he declares in the new season. One has to ask though, save her from what? To answer this we need to look back at season 1 and then look at more things we learned in Season 2.

When one thinks about Allelujah’s idea of saving Marie we have to consider when he destroyed the Super Solder research facility. We see on various occasions that Allelujah is just a kind hearted person, but he had a personal dilemma with this on his own. He wanted to believe that every Super Soldier research specimen would be grateful one day if they could be saved from their fate of being used as human weapons- he doesn’t want to believe that they could be grateful for what’s happening to them. One could easily use this to assume that Allelujah saved Marie for his own selfish reasons, that he believed something about her that was unfair or just based on his own opinion. However in that same episode we see that Allelujah also has this idea shot down by Hallelujah- and Soma is used as his example. Soma does not regret or hate her fate and fights willingly, so isn’t he wrong? Allelujah does one of two things to recognize that he was wrong in his line of thinking: 1. He shoots and kills all the Super Soldier research specimens and 2. He never ever confronts Soma, pities her, or hesitates to fight her. We see in Season 2 he is not above confrontation, he even crashes Marie’s Ahead. But Allelujah, the big softie at heart, not only accepts that she is a super soldier and that she wants to fight him but he himself joins with Hallelujah to fight her. After this episode he is no longer shown showing remorse to those who are already cursed with that fate.

Now we come to a new line of thought, when he learned Marie was Soma he attained a new bias which was unfair. He had been accepting of her fate and even fought against her. However even Hallelujah acknowledges that had he known it was Marie he was fighting he wouldn’t have fought back. Is this simply because of his feelings for Marie or because of his perception of Marie’s own desires? He states during episode 7 that ever since he learned that she was Soma Peries he thought only of her, and that he wanted to save her. We can assume from this at first glance that this is because he is being ridiculous and simply wanted to force his romantic interest on her. After all, didn’t he already accept her desire to fight when she was Soma Peries?
There is a stunning difference in the will of someone to save someone they love for their happiness and the will of someone to save someone they love so that person can be happy. Allelujah Haptism had no selfish thoughts about all of it. First off, she denies she is Marie Parfacy to his face and rather than scream at her that that’s wrong, Allelujah retains a calm exterior and states that no, she is definitely Marie. He becomes stupid at some points, he is so desperate to save her that he crashes both of their mobile suits and damages them to the point that they need to be rescued. However aside from a few instances of irrational thought Allelujah remains composed in several things he does. The first thing he does is that he refuses to fight Marie even when she is attacking him as Soma. He is true to what Hallelujah said: he would not fight. He is pinned to the ground and all he does is call her by name. We can assume this is Allelujah being an idiot- but that’s not the case. Again, this is a girl he has fought before. We could assume he is love sick…but examining the latter half of the episode in question is important.

Allelujah is quite confused in this episode. He’s stated that all he’s wanted to do is to save her, yet even he doesn’t know how. He is not being ridiculous and begging her to come to Celestial Being. He has recognized that there isn’t much he can do. This is why he can be considered mature, he never once offers for her to come to Celestial Being and he never asks her to abandon her position. They are met by Colonel Smirnov and he makes a declaration: He doesn’t want Marie Parfacy, even as Soma Peries, to be forced to fight. He doesn’t want her to be used as a Super Soldier because she is a nice person and doesn’t like to hurt people. (note something about getting to know her personality years ago) Now let’s take a momentary break. How would Allelujah know? He hasn’t spoken to her since their childhood. What makes him think he can make such an assumption?

Marie and Allelujah’s Knowledge of one another

It’s fair to say it’s been about 10 years since Allelujah saw Marie. It’s fair to say it's been even longer since he spoke to her. So what does Allelujah know? I think what we should look at here is a much bigger picture…Allelujah and Marie are not people with huge hopes and dreams. In fact, Soma Peries’ only desire was to be a perfect Super Soldier until she met Colonel Smirnov who treated her like a person and wanted to adopt her. Due to their situations these are not people we can objectively treat the same as we would Lockon or Setsuna- who while having their objectives are people with harder shells to crack or to get to know. That is not to say Allelujah and Marie are bad people or that they lack any true development, but as we get to know them we know they are trapped in a certain time. Most of all we have to recognize that without ever having those key moments to define their life before tragedy, these two characters only had personalities developed from certain events. And truthfully, they are beings created for one purpose; as weapons. Thus they do not have familial pasts that scarred them, like Neil or Setsuna, nor have they lived in the shadow of a sibling, like Lyle, nor have they lost someone to war, like Sumeragi.

There are not facts to name about Allelujah and Marie. If you named facts they’d be from their meeting onward and there would be seldom facts other than ‘Allelujah kills his comrades, regrets it, is accepted by Veda, is in Celestial Being’ and ‘Marie is comatose, Marie becomes Soma, Marie meets Smirnov, fights and kills Hallelujah’. This does not mean they lack personality- it means their only characteristic is based on their personality. All the facts they can name about each other are important. Marie is a kind individual- we don’t learn that she is necessarily kind in the short time we see her before episode 7. We learn she is a grateful and humble person, but we see her only once. We see more importantly however that Allelujah spends a lot of time with her. Not only has that but Allelujah regretted not taking her at first. Perhaps most importantly however is that while he never mentions Marie Parfacy until he learns she is alive he keeps a memento of her in his name. Allelujah never takes on an alias nor does he change his name at all. Allelujah keeps the name the comatose girl he spent most of his days with gave him. She meant so much to him that despite the fact that time moved on and he didn’t necessarily know if she was alive he kept the name.

These are two individuals who knew each other as children, but had every right to remember each other. We think that they’re just children but at the time they meet they show a rather bizarre sense of maturity as well as immaturity. Marie doesn’t curse life but instead is grateful she is alive because she knows one person. Allelujah doesn’t begin to hate his own life until he kills his own comrades, and he is able to identify the moment he met Marie as his baptism. Even though they are characteristically childish as children, they have mature elements gained from the fact that they are tortured children who suffered from being research specimens. They are notably more mature because of the lives they led at the institute.

So can we say Allelujah and Marie know each other? Yes, actually. They spent a lot of time together, Allelujah kept the name she gave him; in the past she even defined Allelujah as ‘everything to her’. These are two people who are defined by their personalities and single actions, not necessarily by what they’ve done in their lives. After all Marie met Allelujah when he had no memories, and thus played a crucial part in shaping who he is. And the same goes for Marie, as a comatose patient she had no one else to talk to. Not to say they even claim to know everything about one another, nor does the other assume their affection for them is unconditional. Allelujah is convinced early in season 2 that Marie would most likely hate him for destroying their former home. What they know are the basics of each others’ personalities, the parts that shaped who they were as they grew up. So what they know is not something like a trivial fact or a memory, they know who they are at the basics of their personalities- and for two people with no real lives aside from the lives they ended up in that is a significant detail that can be used to show they do know each other well.

Saving Marie Continued

Allelujah’s one desire is that Marie never be forced to fight. He knows that she is a kind person and he knows the Super Soldiers are used by the HRL as mere tools. What Allelujah’s mission was wasn’t to prevent her from what she wanted to do, but rather to prevent her from being forced into something. Let us take into consideration what happened when the Colonel accepted his promise and told Marie to live happily with Allelujah. Marie went with Allelujah to Celestial Being. What we have here is the beginning of some serious example. For instance, let’s begin with the attack on Memento Mori. In this fight Sumeragi asked Marie to assist them with deciding on when to activate the Trans Am system so they would be able to complete the mission. Marie is able to assist them because of her C-Level Quantum Brainwaves.

What we see after this fight is not a confrontation between Allelujah and Marie. This is important. Rather, Sumeragi herself goes to apologize for getting Marie to participate in the battle. Allelujah remarks that what’s done is done, and most importantly he says ‘Besides, Marie agreed to it.’ This is significant in showing that Allelujah’s main concern is that she not be forced into fighting when she doesn’t want to. He asks that she not do it again and it’s clear that he never talks to Marie about it. This is because he realizes Marie accepted it. His main concern is whether she wants to fight or not, and whether she’s going to be forced into doing it. We can see that his intentions are not bad or controlling because once she returns to her Soma persona later in battle and he is having a hard time coping with her fighting, he brings up the Colonel’s promise. Allelujah is not talking to Soma at this time and is rather speaking to himself while Lyle and Saji are in the room- two people who in all likelihood do not know about his promise to the Colonel. If Allelujah was truly being selfish his only remark would be that he doesn’t want her to fight, but he is trying to keep his promise to the Colonel.

The only time Allelujah is guilty of confronting Soma is when he asks her to help pilot the ship instead of fighting. One could take this as selfishness but rather than telling her not to fight at all or begging her, he merely asks her to fight in a less risky situation. If you will recall the fates of Chris and Licht at the end of Season 1, Allelujah himself knows this is not a risk free situation but he would prefer if she had to fight that she do it in a less risky situation. It is imperative to note this is the only time during canon that he actively asks her not to participate in battle- he does not lack faith in her but rather does not wish for her to be forced into battle because she is a Super Soldier.

When he finally shows his own discomfort he does not disregard that she wants to fight. Rather he asks her to fight in a different and safer way. He does not disrespect her but instead he does not want her to endanger herself. A special emphasis is placed on that because Soma realizes he’s doing it so she won’t fight in the battle, but rather than further argue she shows frustration by trying to walk off. When he stops her she gets teary eyed and has an angry look on her face. This symbolizes that even Soma understands the difference in the fighting situations. It must also be kept in mind that Allelujah already had to stop her from chasing after Andrei for revenge. In that respect he was even further worried about her because of the state Sergei’s death has left her in. He only wishes to protect her rather than to belittle her fighting abilities for his own selfish reasons.

As a final note that Allelujah did not just stop her to be selfish, he has again and again put his own desires second for what would be best for Marie. He is willing to die just so she may be happy rather than live on to be with her. His desire is to protect Marie’s life so Marie will be happy, not to protect Marie so he will be able to be with her. This is a demonstration of a selfless love and is in such further evidence that Allelujah did not do it solely out of selfish desire, even if he can does definitely do it because he does love her, the kind of love he feels for her in that respect is selfless.

Now that we have established what it is Allelujah meant by saving her, let’s explore their feelings now. Let’s see how they affected one another as characters and how this compares to their past representations.

Section 6: Thank you for giving me a reason to live. – Allelujah’s development with Marie, his relationship with others, and how they’re affected by his development.

When we first got to know Allelujah in Season 1 he was a quiet individual who was kind and yet plagued by his past. Occasionally he would make a worrisome comment about a friend, but most of his development came from the torment provided by his other half: Hallelujah. He would be happy and able one episode, but his character never had more than laughs and some sly comments. What really developed Allelujah was when he was forced to confront his past. Again we see this reoccurring idea that Allelujah’s past isn’t just in his mind, it’s haunting him every day. After he destroys the Super Soldier facility and the whole world learns about it he is given a sense of closure. From then on when we see him it’s typically minor and he is shown being the nice person he is. He stays with Ian to take care of the ship, he gets knocked out in battle by Soma, he and the other pilots question the trinity siblings. However what is it that develops his character beyond the Super Soldier facility?

Allelujah has two turning points in the series. The first one is when he decides to fight with Hallelujah. He even has to spend a moment convincing Hallelujah he wants to live, and it is because he wants the worlds’ answer for their struggle. Allelujah has seemingly found his answer, and so it is very symbolic when Hallelujah dies. What had forced him to live is now gone and he must survive on his own. The second turning point comes during the four years. His will to live had seemingly not lasted long. He had accepted his fate as punishment for what he’d done, and allowed himself to rot away. But he knew about Marie, and he knew she was alive, and he wanted to save her. The first thing he says when the series starts is Marie. Allelujah was a character who’s will to live did not exist: he had to be forced to exist. Hallelujah’s death and Marie returning to his life simultaneously are very symbolic. With Hallelujah’s death, the death of something forcing him to live, came Marie, who was someone making him willing to live.

Allelujah was in season 1 a character who needed to develop in this direction. Many people think it’s wasted potential, but this is what the entire first season was building up to. Let’s look at things though, how mature is their relationship? Does it develop at all? The answer is a completely big YES. It’s not hidden behind magical pages in the manga story we didn’t see or in a hidden episode, it’s all plain to see. Let’s observe how their relationship affected the people around them to see how realistically things were handled, and then let’s take a look at how their relationships with other people were affected by their being together.

Let’s start with Feldt as hers is the most complicated to begin with. Feldt is the first to react to Marie, as she is deeply hurt by what Soma Peries helped do- she was aiding the forces who caused the deaths of many people she cared about. Feldt acknowledges it’s not her fault but storms off and Allelujah explains that this is because the people on the ship are her family. This is important because Allelujah, while he tries to defend Marie, doesn’t bitch slap or hurt Feldt. He understands enough to comprehend what Feldt is feeling even though she’s angry at someone he cares about. More than that, Marie is not angry at Feldt and is rather seemingly saddened because of her own actions as Soma Peries. Rather than just push the burden away, they seem to understand Feldt’s emotions and allow her to come to terms with it rather than act like immature children.

The very first thing in this episode that’s noted is that Lasse is asking Sumeragi if it’s really okay for someone from the Super Soldier facility to be there, and Sumeragi acts pretty understanding as well. Even though the members of the crew have doubts Sumeragi explains that Allelujah needs her. This is an observation she was able to make after hearing him talk about Marie. It’s an important thing to note even if minor.

Though the hostilities are also important there are a few other important details. Are they clingy immature losers who hog each other’s air? Not at all. Notable proof of this is Saji Crossroad and how often he and Marie seem to talk. Marie notices him looking sad in an episode and speaks to him. They both seem to relate on being so devoted to someone and they hit it off pretty well. There are at least 2 episodes where the only time Marie is really seen is just hanging out with Saji, and Allelujah is talking to the other meisters. This is significant because these two have been pegged immature and whiney by a lot of people. Yet Marie makes friends in a whole new place and Allelujah keeps his priorities. They are not clingy or overzealous and seem like normal people. It’s safe to assume that Allelujah was able to grow as a person once he escaped the Super Soldier facility, and that has likely attributed to his attitude.

There is another slight issue I’d like to address with this knowledge: Is Marie really only about 11 or 12 mentally, given that she was suppressed by Soma’s personality? Marie has acted more mature than a 12 year old girl, and referencing her confirmation that she remembers Soma’s memories and personalities it is safe to assume from their actions that Marie retained her experiences and grew from them as her own person, and is not a figurative 12 year old. This claim is supported by their calm demeanors around one another and their acceptance of their situation. To support this I’d like to reference that Marie hugged the Colonel, was upset when he was in danger, and she herself was hurt by his death. In such, concluding that Marie and Soma are completely different and that Marie is only 12 is not supported by any evidence in the show other than figurative and symbolic art from the Gundam Side Story- Marie acts like a 23 year old woman and not like a 12 year old girl. Her interaction and reaction with Smirnov confirms this and thus proves that their interaction with other people helps to establish how deep their love for one another is. Even Allelujah acknowledges the Colonel by taking his promise seriously. For one final reference, she notes that she recognized Allelujah right away. This had to be during the first season when she was supressed as he does not have quantum brainwaves in season 2. This means she is aware even when she is not the dominant personality, and in such grew up even when Soma was the dominant personality.

Finally, Lyle is another example of their interaction with others and how it affects Allelujah’s maturity. Despite the fact that Allelujah is a confused and hurt individual when Marie becomes Soma again rather than whine he instead listens to Lyle’s advice. Lyle doesn’t even give him a real talk; he simply states four lines and tells them that if he cares about Marie he’ll give her some space. He does and barely calls her Marie from then on, only when in battle and to himself. Lyle is an important end note because he simply stated an opinion that might be hard to hear – but Allelujah, like a mature individual, took his advice to heart.
Extensively, I would say this concludes that Allelujah and Marie’s effects on one another in a relationship help compliment their positive aspects. The people around them also seem to compliment their relationship, helping it grow and helping the character’s individually make more mature choices for themselves and for each other.

From these things we can also draw that the theory that there is a lack of development is not completely sound. While there are not many episodes completely centric to them, in almost every episode they are seen either with someone else or together. This represents that they are able to co exist without deep dependency and yet spend time together. When Mileina questioned if they were lovers they had already been talking, when Feldt was upset and confronted Marie they’d been walking together. There are small elements throughout the whole show that shows they do interact on a private level as well as the major things we see about them, which is a significant part of most relationships. While they could be developed more, they were developed more than enough to logically explain their connection and love with one another. The people around them and their part in developing them explained in this section is a perfect example of this.

Section 7: Hallelujah

When Hallelujah is first ‘introduced’ he seems to be something that Allelujah accepts as a part of himself. They refer to each other as their other half, and they are essentially completely different but exactly the same. They are the same person. Hallelujah however represents what Allelujah cannot do, he cannot survive on his own because he has no will to do horrible things. He is Allelujah at his basest, most feral level. However after he kills the children to survive it becomes Hallelujah’s full time job to make sure that Allelujah lives, because he has cursed his own existence. As mentioned before in this manifesto his death is a completely symbolic event. Hallelujah stands for Allelujah’s darker side, and for the more impulsive side of himself. He is, in essence, almost afraid of Hallelujah. When Hallelujah does things they are typically vicious and evil, and Allelujah can’t stand thinking that he may be that way on the inside.

While many people doubt it, Hallelujah’s reappearance is a very important event. He does not reappear because of doubt in Allelujah’s mind, but rather because of the GN Particles released by 00-Raiser. What 00-Raiser stands for is essentially what the series is about in the first place. It’s about uniting humanity so that they may understand each other better and fighting would be avoided. Hallelujah’s reappearance is not fan service, it ties in with that whole idea and essentially gives an even bigger importance to Allelujah and Marie’s relationship. The first few times he appears are not as crucial as his final two appearances.

First off, Hallelujah doesn’t say much in Season 2. He only appeared about 6 times in Season 1 but there would be times when he was acknowledged more and he was given bigger scenes. In Season 2 Allelujah does not seem remorseful about his death, but rather has moments of doubt where he is not competent in his own ability. This furthers the idea that while they are different they are essentially the same person- which is an important idea.

Hallelujah’s most crucial line, showing that even he has grown a bit, comes during episode 24, when he tells Allelujah to stop getting distracted in battle and to focus on Marie. Now, in Season 1 Marie was a necessary sacrifice. She was being dominated by her other self, and wanted to kill Hallelujah, so there was no reason to keep her alive. He hid the truth from Allelujah and made it his mission to kill her because she was a huge threat to his life. Once she becomes Marie again though, he wants to protect her, because he knows that without her, Allelujah would lose the will to live. Hallelujah has made an important statement here. He is no longer acknowledging his own life as the most important, he is acknowledging Allelujah’s *reason* for living as the most important. He could have easily said “You’ll get yourself killed like that” or something to mess with Allelujah’s head- but he did not. He said what would be most effective to keep him alive...but it wasn't even something that might keep him alive- it would just keep his will to live alive. And here's the catch, he tells Allelujah to concentrate on looking for Marie rather than looking away. He's not even telling him to fight, he's telling him to LOOK for Marie! That could very well get him killed.

Given the situation this is important. He was in a huge battle and perhaps focusing on looking Marie could’ve killed him- he could’ve shot something going her way instead of his. He was told, in a huge battle with huge consequences, to fight for the thing he was living for more than his own life. Furthermore, he was told this by his crazy other half who’s survival was the most important thing to him. The GN particles did their job at this point- they helped everything come together. Hallelujah was not essentially different, he was still just the dark half of Allelujah, but still part of Allelujah- the same person but the opposite. In a way one could say that Hallelujah’s character grew. Though he only said a few lines what he said when he knew he only had a limited time to say them gives this message.

He acknowledged that 1. The way to keep Allelujah alive is to give him a reason to live, and 2. That the thing most important to Allelujah is Marie. It sounds like a lot to take from one statement, but Hallelujah’s only goal makes sense when paired with this conclusion. He wants to keep Allelujah alive? Protect the thing that is most important to Allelujah. Hallelujah acknowledges Marie’s importance and puts a person before himself, even at the potential cost of his life, which is a monumental development in his character. Most importantly? It fits with the goal of the entire show- unity and coming together so that the fighting can end. It’s only fitting that Hallelujah would be gone for good after that, signifying that Allelujah’s internal battle would be over for good.

The entire show ends in the next episode, in which Hallelujah and Allelujah fight together for awhile and then the entire battle is ended when Ribbons Almark is defeated. The episode seems like it will end with the Gundam pilots being gone, but that is not the case and Marie and Allelujah are shown together while Celestial Being is shown continuing their mission for justice and the eradication of war.

Section 8: Finding a Purpose…A Reason For Our Existence

When the story ends the viewer is given several monologues from different character’s. One of the most important ones in the ending is Allelujah. Allelujah and Marie are not on board the Ptolemaios, but instead they are on a backpack trip somewhere in the world. Though there are not an infinite amount of lines in it the ending is simple. Allelujah still feels guilt over the things he’s done to make the world change. He seems to be brooding over it until Marie says his name and he looks at her with a smile. They continue on their way and he states that they are going to find the reason for their existence. The emphasis is placed on ‘we’ as to state that both he and Marie together are going to be doing it.

This is an important revelation. These two have gained an important sense of maturity from the things they’ve done and the fact that they’re together. They both have one another, their reasons for continuing to live, but together they want to find out their reasons for existing. We can easily reference here that they are two Super Soldiers (and while it is never made clear if Allelujah was an orphan or a designer baby he does not remember a life before so he is the same as Marie) who’s lives were forged around the battlefield even though they didn’t necessarily want to fight. Now they have to question their existence in a more important way than they had been before. They chose to take a different path than to continue to make the world change. This is probably the biggest change anyone in the story made, even the repentant Andrei or the newly married Kati and Patrick. The whole world is changing, and so are they, they have to change and to discover the reason for their existence outside of the battlefield.

It goes without saying that is a huge thing to do. They left Celestial Being, they’re finding themselves, and Allelujah notes that they’re doing it together. They’ve pretty much decided to spend the rest of their lives together looking for what it is they’re there for as people. There have been a lot of people they’ve interacted with. Sumeragi is one of Allelujah’s good friends and was understanding of his reason for fighting and that Marie was onboard. Lyle gave him advice, Saji was Marie’s friend, and Feldt even noted that everyone on board was her family. They made this decision not because they no longer care for their friends, but because their friends had essentially found their reason for existing in a place where they still questioned theirs.

It was the presence of the other in their life that made them want to move forward in life and find something that they wanted to exist for. It’s their relationship and their love for each other that made them want to further pursue something greater in life.

Probably the greatest thing about it though is that they’re being mature. They are in love and have each other but they want to find something even beyond that. Beyond finding a reason to live they want to find a reason for existing- something that fulfills their lives TOGETHER. They are not immature teenagers who think existing with just the other is all they need. Instead together they’re trying to find something much greater than that. They’re acting like adults who are trying to find their meaning in life. Being together allows them to mature in that sense. Being together is what’s best for them as characters.

A lot of people feel that Allelujah did not live up to his potential, but this is essentially what his character started from and logically ended in. He was being forced to live by his other half and was only going to continue living to make the world answer for what had happened in his life. As he developed down the road it changed from being forced to live to suddenly having a reason to live. Then as the story ended he went from a character who had no reason to live, a character stacked with guilt to a character who was going to change and look for something in life with someone he loves.

It’s not just Allelujah who developed that way though. Soma was a character who’s seemingly only purpose was to fight. Even as she gained the Colonel she became a character wracked with guilt over her own actions. When she became Marie again she also had someone who could understand the kind of guilt Marie felt, and someone who truly cared about her. She went from just a soldier to someone who was grateful to be alive and to be able to search for her purpose with Allelujah. The pairing is beneficial to both characters and gives their lives meaningful conclusions. If anything looking at the later stages of the story they were foreshadowed in more ways than one.

So to put this manifesto to rest: The characters matured together. They were able to become better people thanks to what happened between them. Not only that but they were able to search for something greater in life. They had motivation to fight and change the world- they helped change the world because they had one another to protect, and their pain behind them. Their relationship helped to solve their inner issues and it helped them through their harder times. Allelujah and Marie don’t just care about each other either, though they are the reason that the other continued to fight and live on so that they could find their reason for existing together. I can conclude with no shadow of a doubt that they are one of the better Gundam pairings I have seen developed, simply because what it does for each of the character’s both together as well as individually.

Thank you for taking the time to read my manifesto! I appreciate that you would take the time to read it :)- I hope it gave you something to think about whether you like the pairing or not!

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EPIC MANIFESTO PART 1

schnappsed — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:27:24 GMT

Title: A Reason For Our Existence
Author: schnappsed *salutes*
Pairing: Allelujah Haptism/Marie Parfacy
Fandom: Gundam 00
Word count: 10,000
Spoilers: The entire anime series and the Side Story written for Allelujah.
Note/WARNING: First off this is horribly over the max and in such I'm splitting the post in half and making two posts- I hope that's okay. I've seen it done before. I am very long winded and destroyed the max last time too. This post is also VERY image heavy and very very long winded so grab a soda and be prepared to sit for a little while lol.

AND~ I don't want to argue over this manifesto! I wrote it solely for fun and I hope that when you read it you will read it out of intrigue, not out of the desire to argue.

Table of Contents:

Section 1: Introduction
Section 2: Foreshadowing
Section 3: The Past
Section 4: The End Of Season 1
Section 5: Saving Marie
Section 6: Thank you for giving me a reason to live.
Section 7: Hallelujah
Section 8: Finding a Purpose…A Reason For Our Existence

Section 1: Introduction

The Characters:
Allelujah Haptism

Allelujah Haptism is introduced to the audience as a Gundam Meister for the group Celestial Being. Early on in the series he is shown to have a kind, gentle disposition. He also has interactions with himself that can be misinterpreted as a schizophrenic tendency; however, he actually is speaking to Hallelujah. Hallelujah is his ‘other’ personality. It is revealed that Allelujah is a super soldier, and thus has enhanced capabilities and modifications to his body. Hallelujah was ‘born’ as a result of the Super Soldier research facilities tests and experimentation. Hallelujah represents a baser, more feral and instinctive personality. He is completely motivated by the need to survive, and has murderous tendencies. In sum, he is the complete opposite of Allelujah, who is reluctant to take life and has no real motivation to survive. His survival depends more on Hallelujah, who is willing to do the unthinkable in battle to ensure they come out alive.

As a child, Allelujah was the subject of extensive tests and experiments at the Human Reform League's Superhuman facility. He was a failed subject, however, and was marked for "extermination". TO avoid death he escaped the facility with several other "failures". Unfortunately, their plan did not extend beyond escaping the colony, and once supplies ran out Hallelujah took over Allelujah's body and killed everyone on board. Allelujah curses his own existence at this point as well as the world he lives in. He goes on to become a member of Celestial Being. During the first season of the series, Hallelujah hints that Allelujah never had a normal life, even after escaping the Superhuman Institute.

It can be noted that the reason Allelujah was fighting with Celestial Being was to make the world answer for what happened to him and all the children in the Super Soldier research facility. Season 1 closes with Allelujah fighting Soma Peries on equal ground, teaming up with Hallelujah to become the ideal solider. HE claims then that his reason for existing is to make the world answer for what happened to him. In the end, he is captured, restrained and held captive for four years. During his captivity he focuses on two points: that he is receiving just punishment for his crimes and that he should be allowed to rot away in prison, and that he had finally "found" Marie Parfacy, the woman known by all as Soma Peries. During the end of Season 1 he is fighting Soma Peries on equal footing and teams up with Hallelujah saying that he wants to live to make the world answer for what happened to him. At the end of the battle he is captured and locked away for 4 years, and two things are revealed: He thought he deserved the punishment and allowed himself to rot away, all he thought of during his captivity was Marie Parfacy, the woman who was known as Soma Peries, who was his greatest nemesis as well as a Super Soldier.

B. Hallelujah Haptism:

Hallelujah Haptism is notable due in part to his significant role in Allelujah’s moral conflict and the mere fact that he is his other persona. Hallelujah’s motivations never seem to be deeper than sadistic desires and keeping himself alive. He has even stated that he would drink the blood of others if it meant he would survive when he otherwise wouldn’t. He is a stark contrast to Allelujah but there are some key things he does to contradict his own behavior in things that are beneficial to Allelujah as a person.

Marie Parfacy:

Marie Parfacy was another research specimen at the Super Human Institute. Her response to the procedure was that she lost all of her senses. In a sense the procedure had to be effective, because she had the ability to cry out with her quantum brainwaves. However her immobility eventually led to another personality being imprinted over her own. This personality was given another name and was conditioned to be the perfect Super Soldier. From then on she was known as Soma Peries.

Throughout Season 1 of the series, Soma Peries believes that the only part of her she should acknowledge is her duty as a Super Soldier. Regardless of circumstance, her number one priority was success on the battlefield and fulfilling her obligations as the ace of the HRL. She actually becomes Allelujah’s greatest nemesis as their quantum brainwaves react to each other on a dangerous level. Their reaction to each other’s brainwaves is so intense that at one point Soma is driven past the point of reason and causes a space station accident, nearly killing those inside. To prevent further accidents, she is given a specialized suit which blocks out incoming quantum brainwaves, allowing her to become a dangerous weapon against Celestial Being.

Soma herself learns to become more human and less like a Super Soldier- even sacrificing the opportunity to kill Allelujah, whom she calls by his specimen number, to save Colonel Smirnov who has become like a father to her. She is shown with him during the four year period between seasons and has shown a more docile and kind side to her personality.

B. Soma Peries:
Some Peries is a lot harder to separate from Marie-being that she is the one most disconnected from Allelujah. Not only that but she appears first in the story as opposed to Marie who appears later. Even though Marie is a character who can be explained on her own it is important to note that she and Soma have always shown considerably large differences. Not only that, but some of her later actions also play a part in developing who the dominant persona is and developing Marie’s relationship with Allelujah.

The Characters Together:

Naturally there is a lot left to be said about these two that needs to be brought to light- but it’s important that it bought forth together. Alone the characters are intriguing but nearly blank slates. Allelujah is a morally stressed individual who is forced to do things he doesn’t like and has a kind heart. Marie is little more than a comatose girl who became Soma Peries. So what is it that needs to be further explored?

Allelujah's earliest memories after waking up from the experiments done on his body involve hearing someone calling out 'in his head'. The person was, of course, Marie, whose only form of communication was through quantum brainwaves. It is interesting to note that Allelujah was the only person who responded to her call. In Allelujah’s childhood the first thing he awoke to after his surgery was the sound of someone calling out with their quantum brainwaves. This was Marie Parfacy- who had all her senses stripped of her. Allelujah went to find her and was able to communicate with her thanks to her quantum brainwaves (which are seen later in the series as Hallelujah tells her he’ll kill her and she hears it all the way in space while he is in a space station). She introduces herself as Marie and when he says he has no name she says she’ll give him a name. She names him Allelujah in thanks to God because she is alive and able to finally speak with someone. Allelujah later refers to this as his actual baptism.

Both in the anime and the side story (and a minor part in the manga) there are instances shown where they are talking. The reoccurring memories in the side story and in the canon, though temporary and shorter, can easily show that the two support the idea of how they were important to each other. Allelujah came ‘whenever he could’, and there’s something to be said for the fact that the doctors in the facility observed and allowed this to occur, and he is shown doing everything from simply talking to her to reading stories to her. Eventually when Allelujah had to escape he is shown with a look of remorse that he has to leave her and in the side story it goes further by showing Marie herself being upset when he has to go, even stating that to her, Allelujah was 'everything.'

At the end of Season 1, after disabling Allelujah's Gundam, Soma exits her cockpit for the first time in his presence, to assist the injured Colonel Smirnov. Allelujah, seeing her for the first time, recognizes her instantly as the child he doted on during his time in the Institute. He even asks Hallelujah if he knew Soma's identity and Hallelujah merely stated that ‘he wouldn’t fight if he knew, he’d just die.’ Allelujah is captured by the Federation and spends four years captive. Season 2 of the series opens with Soma being admitted to his cell to confirm his identity. When allowed to speak, Allelujah expresses his feelings of relief that she is alive. Soma is taken aback by this man calling her 'Marie', and vehemently denies being called that name despite Allelujah's insistence.

There is a lot more to be said about these characters, but this is the basic information needed to be able to understand the manifesto.

Section 2: Foreshadowing

The first time we see Allelujah is pretty simple, he is just another pilot (minus the talking to himself issues) for Celestial Being. However around episode 5 we finally see Allelujah himself being developed and it’s because of Soma Peries. While preparing to board a shuttle, he comes in contact with Soma's brainwaves and collapses under the immense pain. Soma reacts in a similar fashion, and is further upset when Hallelujah emerges and threatens to kill her for interfering with his brainwaves. In her panic, she causes the station accident and nearly kills thousands. However, Allelujah goes against his mission plan to save them. This is the first time we see Allelujah’s kindness come out for real. He sacrifices the advantage Neil’s Gundam has just to save a bunch of people- because that is simply his nature.

When we next come across development with Allelujah he is almost taken captive. Soma is no longer affected by his quantum brainwaves and so only he is given the bad effects. He passes out and then Hallelujah awakens- we see that Hallelujah has a sinister and sadistic view of things. What he desires isn’t necessary- when he cannot kill Soma he tortures the soldier that stayed behind to buy them time. Allelujah is morally traumatized by his other half and even cries- asking if that’s how he’s supposed to be. It is this incident that prompts Hallelujah and Allelujah to decide to take out the Super Soldier research facility.

We see a pattern here- it’s Soma’s direct effect on Allelujah that always prompts some sort of direct character growth for Allelujah. It does not mean that it is romantic, necessarily, nor does it mean it’s some divine sign. Even Soma does not know she is Marie and merely wanted to capture his Gundam and kill or take Allelujah captive. It does however show something significant, these two have had a deep foreshadowing the entire season. Their quantum brainwaves affect each other deeply- yet when Allelujah is at the Super Soldier research facility the only thing that hinders him is his own emotions. While their connection does not make for a romantic pairing, it does connect the two characters suspiciously. Allelujah’s main character development always happened due mostly in part to Soma, even if other characters were involved.

Now why is this important to note? Mostly because even Allelujah states “Only Marie’s quantum brainwaves could affect me so much.” He even states the significance in their quantum brainwaves and it shows us that while their foreshadowing may not have been the most romantic nor the most conclusive, it definitely shows they’ve been connected since they came near each other. Furthermore, while only a fun thing to consider, it can be seen as a parallel to the entire story itself. Allelujah is not developed unless Soma does something near him- and it isn’t until he has Marie to motivate him that he is willing to develop himself. To further that point the real idea of the manifesto has to be directed.

Marie and Allelujah themselves are individuals that we have to consider have developed around each other even when they weren’t directly themselves nor believing the other to be the person they cared for so much. Again, this is merely to state that the ideas of the pairing started since the very beginning, starting with the characters physical (quantum brainwaves) connection and then delving deeper into their emotional connection. The pairing itself can’t be established on what could be passed off as coincidences, however, so one must examine the character interactions to fully support that there was anything foreshadowed in the first place.

Section 3: The Past

Ever since Season 1 one of the deciding factors in Allelujah’s entire character was the facility. One might be able to say he is a character trapped by his past. While Neil is haunted by his, at times he is still able to move forward and think of others, even protecting Tieria Erde at the cost of one of his eyes. However, Allelujah has a constant reminder of his past: Hallelujah. As a specimen at the Super Soldier facility the procedure left him to develop his alter ego who is the one who tended to take over and do bad things he could not will himself to do. Hallelujah never went away and never had a reason to, as Allelujah cursed his own existence. He was absorbed by his mistakes and what he had done and so not only is he emotionally trapped in this time but he refuses to believe in his own self worth because of it.
It is important to note that Allelujah dwells on himself as the villain. While the other characters demonize themselves to an extent, Allelujah blames no one in his past and does not focus on the past other than how bad it made him or how unfortunate it was. Even though destroying the Super Soldier facility was the best thing to do for other children as well as for himself to rid the world of the corrupt doctors he can only think about himself being the bearer of sin. It is important to note this as we go on to talk about one of the most significant events he experienced in the super soldier research facility.

When Allelujah first awoke in the facility the first thing he heard was the cries of Marie Parfacy. Marie Parfacy had been robbed of all her senses by the procedure and only had the ability to call out with her quantum brain waves. He finds her by following her cries and once he meets up with her she states she can’t even tell where he is because she has none of her senses. She introduces herself and asks him his name, but he cannot remember. At this point Allelujah is given his name. She gives him the name Allelujah to thank God and he is unsure why, what should he be thankful for? She tells him ‘for being alive, of course’! There is a special emphasis placed on this scene as the entire scene had been black and white but once she says this his entire world goes into color. He refers to this event in the future as his baptism.

A nice continuation of events occurs here acknowledged, as I stated before, in many canonical sources. Marie and Allelujah talk and Allelujah comes to visit her chamber whenever he is able to. He is seen sleeping there and even reading to her. When Soma is being forced to remember her identity as Marie she directly refers to these events, which in their manga form indicated her line of thought to be “You were everything to me, nakama, friends, family…and….” These were two children who had no real knowledge of an outside world and found solace in each other’s company. Allelujah showed remorse for leaving and Marie was shown crying out for him as he left.
At this point, I’d like to address a few things about Allelujah’s maturity. We have established that Allelujah is a character hung up on his past and finds himself to be someone who is unforgivable. We have also established that Marie is one of the only good thoughts in his mind. What is important to note here about Allelujah, is that before he saw her alive at the end of season 1 Allelujah never harped on Marie’s memory for comfort. She had been a source of hope for him and he cared about her, perhaps even loved her, but Allelujah never thought of her until he knew she was alive for sure. Hallelujah never guilt tripped him about her and he never used her as a crutch for comfort.

While it would be easy to brush off Allelujah’s feelings as immature if he spent the entirety of Season 1 whining about his long lost Marie who was a child, it is important we note that even as Allelujah struggles to want to live, he never thinks about Marie. Allelujah is a character hung up on the past but he is not so selfish and immature a character that his only belief and happiness in life comes from the past. Rather, Allelujah uses the past only as a symbol to prove he is worthless in his own eyes. Allelujah is not the self pitying type, nor the lovesick obsessive, he simply remembered all the bad he did as a person and clung onto it as a reason to forsake his own life and demand answers from the world. It is important for his character that we note how he thinks of the past and how he doesn’t. He is not so naïve that he is a young child who clings onto a girl who could be dead, but he is a 19 year old young man who believes he has no worth because of the sins he has committed.

Another final note before moving on is to note that while Allelujah seemed to not use her as a crutch and was able to function on a decent level and never thought of her- it is obvious he still remembered her and cared about her and should not be mistaken for his lack of remembrance of who she was. The only solid evidence needed to be presented to acknowledge this point is that while he never thought of her he still kept the name that she gave him. This is significant to show that Allelujah was able to establish a realistic balance of remembering Marie and obsessing over Marie.

To add a small note for future reference, one might say that when she reappears he uses her as a crutch. To explore this and retort it we need to get further down the line and establish Allelujah’s future actions.

Section 4: The End of Season 1

As we reached Season 1’s end something important happened in Allelujah- he had grown somewhat as a character and while he had not forgiven himself, he wanted the world to answer for what had happened to him. When he is captured at the end of Season 1 a few things have transpired but what compliments this fact is that his initial reaction to being captured was that he should rot. While Allelujah seemingly found a temporary reason to live it was based on his past as well. He wanted the world to acknowledge the wrong doing done to him, and he was unable to keep this resolve when he was captured, he wanted to pay off the debt of blood he had collected as a Meister. He did not have the ability to keep a goal because there was nothing making him want to live when all he had was self hatred. He is still stuck in his bad past actions.
One of the other noticeable things aside from his temporary desire to live is that once he is defeated he discovers the woman he had been fighting and just tried to kill is none other than Marie Parfacy, the girl who gave him his name and helped him cope with who he was while in the facility. What’s interesting is that he never noticed and then questions Hallelujah “Did you know Hallelujah?”. It’s interesting how little Allelujah knew and then he catches on to how obvious it probably was, to the extent his alter ego knew. It’s interesting that he further never obsessed over Marie to the extent he didn’t keep her in his thoughts consistently, even to the extent that he didn’t notice something which was obvious to Hallelujah and even to the dormant Marie herself, which she later revealed. (As a minor note to clarify when she knew it was Allelujah, he has quantum brainwaves so it had to be during her dormant period for her to be able to recognize him with quantum brainwaves, which signifies she was aware while dormant)

When Season 1 ends he is captured and locked away for four years. The first line he says in Season 2 is “Marie”. Allelujah had forsaken himself to rot away forever but he also had many thoughts of Marie. One could say this is where he clings and begins to immature in regards to her, but he does not seem to use her as a crutch. She has to identify him as Season 2 begins and she denies that she is Marie once he confronts her. Rather than throw an immature fit the starved captive who’d been tied away for four years simply states that she is in fact Marie. He keeps amazing wits about himself until he is rescued and has to leave her. Once rescued by his comrades, Allelujah goes through a pained moment when he realizes that he cannot save Marie just yet. He must first return and fight alongside his fellow Meisters in order to get her back. You see Allelujah has not spent four years thinking about being with Marie, or being forgiven by Marie for his transgressions. The first thing we see in fact is that he doubts she’d ever forgive him, but he still wants to save her. This is how season 1 ends and season 2 begins, and yet Allelujah is showing an astounding level of maturity. He has a new reason to fight; he is remaining calm and collected. He just states the simple truth- he is going to save Marie.

This makes an important point for Allelujah. He is still the kind composed person he is but he no longer has Hallelujah or his quantum brainwaves, yet he is determined to save Marie. There is a purpose in his life because of this. Thus, he transitions as a character into a person who went from drifting through a life of guilt to a person with purpose and a conviction. But as it was shown before, Allelujah isn’t doing it for his personal self gratification. Allelujah is doing it because he wants to save Marie. He has made a 180 from fighting against her, the only thing that matters when it comes to Marie is that he wants to save her.

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schnappsed — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:31:27 GMT

This is my private journal where I post Gundam and etc posts. It's private because I do not have popular opinions and I do not wish to force my blatant and most hateful opinions on those who have done me no harm. I over exaggerate in truth- I simply do not wished to be cornered and told how wrong things I like are. I love heartfelt discussions but I will say whatever is posted in this journal I generally post out of the desire to express my feelings.