“Adapting yourself to society is essentially being brainwashed to match societal requirements. The only difference from your situation is that the source of it is not clearly defined. There are no humans who have not been brainwashed. Now the problem: within that context - within your brainwashed, restrained psyche - what do you value the most? Bound tightly by the world, what do you still desire?” - Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator Part 2

MGS2 is one of the most romantic games I’ve ever played. Not really in terms of the relationship between Raiden and Rose, which I still do really like and I feel like Rose gets unnecessarily shat on a lot for having the audacity to be openly worried about Raiden and communicating her feelings which is (shockingly!) necessary for a successful relationship. But moreso in terms of its approach to life. MGS2 is at once both keenly aware of how artificial our reality is, yet still holds the highest regard for our emotions: not seeking to crush them with facts and logic, but instead reinforce just how essential they are as one of the few things we can trust.

What I’m saying is that Raiden is an absolute chad for listening to a 10 minute lecture on how the concept of self is meaningless, even fallacious, and simply going “no thanks”.