#I WILL NOT FALTER!!!! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

windcarvedlyre · 4 months ago

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I've been following @druidposting's DR2 playthrough on discord and we just had a really good discussion about DR's Closing Arguments. Specifically the way the murderer is depicted as grey and featureless, which until now I found a bit annoying.

In Danganronpa it's repeatedly the case that we don't have the full picture until the talking actually stops- which always goes beyond the end of the trial. We generally vote first and come to understand what the murderer's actual motive was, sometimes filling in important pieces of the timeline in the process, afterwards.

But none of that matters for the killing game because characters' emotions aren't directly relevant to who was the 'blackened'- the only thing that matters to Monokuma- so it comes out afterwards and does nothing to change their execution. It doesn't matter how sympathetic they are (basically everyone) or whether other people share responsibility for the situation (eg. Hanamura, Pekoyama, Momota) or whether they intended to murder at all (Nanami). They objectively pulled the trigger and nothing else matters. Nothing about them as a person matters.

The Closing Argument mechanic might illustrate that problem- literally. They're a dramatic, conclusive summary of the entire case... constructed before the vote even happens, before we know if we're actually right, and they're missing something really important:

The actual perpetrator.

We quite literally don't even begin to see the real person behind the crime, any real exploration of their mental state, anything besides the cold, hard facts of the murder that are necessary to convict them, until the comic finishes and the protagonist makes their final accusation- replacing the grey figure with their real appearance in a shot that's often intensely emotional.

And these comics lack crucial parts of the case's timeline and sometimes important parts of the very scenes they depict that we only find out about afterwards. And those are what we know; characters may die with some pieces of the truth and prevent us from ever learning them. These aren't objective depictions of the murder, they're the protagonist's subjective attempt to connect the facts they have. A join-the-dots portrait of someone with missing dots and no colour.

Even characters' expressions may not match how they truly feel, with the grey placeholder potentially looking way more confident and sinister than they were in reality. Pasting Falter's commentary here since they put it well.

For obvious reasons this could especially be a problem for characters that die before the trial- the ones we never get a post-vote testimony from. DR1 chapter 4 really highlighted that in the way Asahina's huge misinterpretation of Oogami's feelings took up a lot of the post-trial discussion, only for Monokuma to reveal Oogami's real suicide note and recontextualise everything.

It might really be a problem for how Komaeda's depicted in DR2 chapter 5. While he isn't greyed out, we get panel after panel where he's either level-headed or maniacally evil, and even the depictions of his self-torture and death don't humanise him:

But we know that his real feelings were more complicated than that. We have his actual corpse to compare the last page to.

He died afraid.

If we approach the comic as Hinata's mental image of him instead of reality, he died without anyone truly understanding him. He was alarming, very hard to relate to, actively fought against people doing so, ensured even the killer didn't watch him die, and the survivors couldn't begin to understand his motive until a chapter later. The Closing Argument reflects that.

Early in DR1 Togami calls out the rest of his class for judging others by their own standards. However, he, too, is doing this, maybe more so than many other characters; his inability to view other people through anything but the cold, brutal logic of the killing game bites him in the ass in chapter 4. In DR2 chapter 2 voting without a good understanding of Pekoyama's motive or Kuzuryuu's involvement nearly got everyone killed. Komaeda's a walking embodiment of the problems with flattening people into caricatures and not empathising with them, suffered from people doing that back to him, and his case- the Closing Argument for which turned everyone else into grey placeholders- was impossible to solve with objective facts. It was only survivable because the survivors cooperated and one person tried to analyse things the way he would.

The games have always been a critique of the justice system and Japanese society and push us to care about others as individuals, not reduce them to- and judge their right to exist by- something they've done or their net impact on society. There are always consequences when someone neglects to do that, and the above might be yet another way the games explore that theme.

#danganronpa #dr analysis #komaedology #komaeda #.txt #sorry @ non komaedaheads for making it about komaeda again LMAO #that was not the intention initially he's just... a really good exploration of this #and i think about his expressions in that comic vs his corpse and what we retroactively knew he was dealing with a lot #btw don't send spoilers to falter please!! i'm @ing to credit them- this was a discussion not solely my ideas- but they are not done yet #and aren't reading this post until they're caught up for obvious reasons #this came from discussing ch2 since the incomplete picture people voted with nearly killed them #(btw don't @ me about komaeda's description in the second-last paragraph being an oversimplification; i know :p )#(he has nuance- especially outside of the killing game- but i'm just focusing on the thematically relevant broad strokes here)#(eg. i feel like he demonstrates empathy sometimes but kodaka has said that lack of ability to empathise/be empathised with #is a theme for him- and the ways he's been proactive in the killing game consistently lacked regard for others' feelings/individuality #reducing them to interchangeable Ultimates(TM) instead. it's partly why he self-destructed while everyone else #was able to forgive themself and keep moving forwards imo. your worth being defined rigidly by objective contributions to society #does not mesh well with the idea of rehabilitating people who've destroyed the world before they could even start to improve it #and even if he did give them a chance at surviving he still succumbed to his own ideology in the end #killed himself for 'hope' and to be 'important' like he 'wanted' but died terrified and in pain and alone instead of fulfilled #man i wish 2.5's ending/postnwp canon in general dug into that ;-; )#ANYWAY ty for reading all that. i feel like i rambled a lot in this one. i have a headache now ghdkjsfgdsf

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saaltskies · 13 days ago

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The way Volo does care about people despite how he might pretend he hates them and people only ever use and manipulate each other

If he hates the world so much and just wants his suffering to end he could just kill himself or something why are you trying to restart the world so no one ever suffers again, hmm?

Man. I think about what if he won. Would he even have the guts to go through with his plan? He has to. He's come this far. He's done this much. He has to... right?

He likes people too much

Him being all friendly wasn't completely an act he really is like that even if he really hated the player and was using them. He likes people. He likes to yap. He likes to gossip. He likes getting all nerdy about ruins. But he's so convinced the world is doomed and beyond saving. So much so he's willing to rip open the sky, manipulate and betray someone who thought of him as a good friend, and take his fight to the heavens and the creator itself.

#go to therapy king #what is wrong with himmmmmm #he just needs a friend #but as long as he's in this mindset he'd never be able to recognize them #also thinking about “i will stand before arceus at last- no i will conquer it”#and how his original plan was to ask arceus why he had to suffer so much and it changed into wanting to take it down and recreate the world #he's so set on this path but perhaps deep down his true desire is to meet it and to understand his life #and if that is the case would he falter when face to face with arceus itself?#also thinking about “in the end i was alone” you didnt have to be! you have your pokemon! you could have had friends if you let them!#you had one right there! and boy you fumbled that friendship soooooo baddddddd #ough.......#pokemon #pla #volo #i just think he's neat #ive never thought about him a day in my life

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nabi-unveiled · 2 months ago

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Sticking the Landing is Hard

It's no secret that I adore When It Rains, It Pours. I have written an immense amount about the symbols, characters, parallels, and interpretations of this show. I've taken a deep dive into almost every aspect of the show possible. The characters and narrative resonate DEEPLY for me. The fandom experience has been AMAZING.

At its core, it IS a show that has multiple interpretations. Many people will not like that aspect of it. I love it. I enjoy shows that make me think, that send me on symbol treasure hunts and prompt deep dives. But more importantly, I felt like a lot of its messages were true to real life. Did they ever like me? Did I actually like them? Why did I do that? Why did I stay? Why did I not say anything? When is a relationship over? These are all questions I have asked myself.

I think it's fine that I don't fully understand what each character is thinking. I've been with my husband for almost 20 years, and I still couldn't tell you even a majority of the time what he's thinking. Not with 100% confidence. So it doesn't bother me that we debate over whether Kaori really liked Hagiwara or not. There's a lot of ambiguity in life. Real life is messy, and people are complex and messy. It's tragically beautiful that way.

That said - sticking the landing is hard. In general, I dislike finales. NOT because the show is coming to an end like people inevitably lament on finale day. I started watching Asian series precisely because they DO end. But finale episodes tend to commit a lot of crimes. Pacing issues. Last minute plot arcs. Time skips. No plot at all. Unearned redemption. There's a LOT of ways that a finale can go wrong. Most of the time, a finale episode commits multiple crimes.

So if you absolutely adore When It Rains and only want to read positive vibes or do a deep dive on symbols/parallels, then let me direct you to this post here. That's where I talk about all of the things the finale got right. My finale wish list fared pretty well after all. There was a lot of good and quite a few unexpected treasures.

But that's not this post. Because even if you adore a show, you can have criticisms. I hold out hope, but I've yet to find a perfect show. If you're willing to entertain that kind of discourse, it's below the cut.

Since you've decided to keep reading, I'm going to assume you can handle me being straightforward. With criticism, I tend to be blunt. And just like I obsess over all of the positive details, I can nitpick with the best of them. It's a double-edged sword.

Now just because I notice something, doesn't mean it becomes a criticism. It depends on the show. For example, I noticed that Fadel/Bison never worried about fingerprints during their "murder" of Lilly. Do I care? NO! It's The Heart Killers. That's actually on brand.

In When It Rains, I expect things to be nuanced, layered, and realistic. That's the vibe it has carried thus far. It has been permeated with symbolism, parallels and callbacks. That's what I expect of it. The cheating will never bother me. People DO cheat. That's the story this tells. Even incredibly good people do things that are not "good" at times. I cast no stones.

And make no mistake - I'm INCREDIBLY happy that Sei/Hagiwara got their happy ending. But.....there were stumbles, a few missteps, and an outright (unforgivable) crime in the finale.

I'll start with the smallest criticisms and work my way up.

The Stumbles

Stumbles are what I call the small things that don't matter to most people but irk me. They can impact the narrative, but most of the time they don't.

Stumble #1 - Inaccurate Meteorology

Low air pressure would be a result of WARMER temperatures. Would it matter in most shows? Nope. The science nerd in me would be annoyed, but I'd move on. I'd treat it with the same nonchalance as Kant/Bison's magic tattoos. However, this show uses weather for symbolism. These details become more important. Plus, cold rain? Why are we getting cold rain now? Symbolically, it doesn't make sense. I can only hope it's a translation issue.

Stumble #2 - Forcing the Final Kiss

The show demanded a kiss in the rain. We got it. Yay! I'm glad we did. BUT...it felt forced. Like someone saying "You've gotta kiss now. the credits are almost done!" While there are a few narrative missteps that contributed, most of this feeling comes from the blocking.

The umbrella should've been used to pull Sei closer to kiss (like a tie), and THEN set aside while kissing. Symbolically, the umbrella HAD to go to the side. We needed them fully in the rain. But the way the umbrella was moved in this scene, made the movement of the umbrella feel contrived. For a show that's felt very real, it felt scripted. Therefore I enjoyed the scene a whole lot less than I would've otherwise. The smiles afterwards were still adorable. The ending shot is beautiful. The kiss in episode 5 is better. Feel free to disagree.

Stumble #3 - The Asylum Phone Case

If you want your symbols to mean something, you have to be consistent. There's meaning behind this painting. Basically, it represents being trapped. I didn't even have to bring it up, because so many other people did. If Sei has moved on and is no longer trapped, then the case should've changed. The phone was broke anyways. No need to keep it.

The Missteps

Missteps are my next level of criticism. These are the things that don't ruin a show, but they do hurt it. Finale episodes are notorious for missteps. Pacing and plot arc issues are most common.

Misstep #1 - Hagiwara deleting Sei's contact information

This action is supposed to parallel Sei deleting the rain app. However, it made sense that Sei deleted the rain app. He no longer needs the "fake rain". He's moving on to where he can hear the real rain. It's part of healing for him. It makes NO sense for Hagiwara to delete Sei's contact information. In fact, that's actually OUT of character for him.

I'm not surprised that he didn't contact Sei directly. I've pointed out before that Hagiwara is a mirror. He reflects what the other person wants, and we know he has a high level of respect for personal boundaries. However, Hagiwara waited patiently for a YEAR when his girlfriend wouldn't have sex with him. He KNOWS Sei has just went through something traumatic and is dealing with A LOT.

He couldn't wait a month before deleting him? At MOST, we're talking 1.5 months between when they had sex and reuniting at the museum. Most likely we're actually talking less than a month. Hagiwara would not have moved on that fast. He is not that complacent with Sei. I refuse to believe it. He's better than that (when he's with Sei).

Misstep #2 - The co-worker emailing Sei

The way this show does parallels and callbacks, Sei was required to be nominated to host the party.

After all, they told us that would happen in episode 2.

But notice what else they said there? That Sei would rely on Hagiwara when the time came. There was actually no good reason for the coworker to e-mail Sei after she left the room. It's unlikely behavior. Sei had already thought about reaching out to Hagiwara.

Party planning would have given him the excuse he needed to do it. Him sending an e-mail to Hagiwara would have shown more initiative and added just one more example that Sei actually did miss and want to be with Hagiwara. It would have also completed the parallel (since Hagiwara initiated e-mail the first time). He still could've received an automated response that Hagiwara was on leave and made a connection to the date of the museum closing. It's a missed opportunity to indicate the depth of Sei's feelings.

Misstep #3 - Pacing. Many people will take issue with the fact that our leads are only together the last few minutes. That doesn't bother me at all. I cut my teeth on BBC period pieces where you were lucky to get a three second handhold at the end of a six hour series. We saw all of the things that Sei & Hagiwara want to do with each other, and I know they'll continue their life afterwards.

However, there WAS a pacing issue. Notably, the whole encounter with Fujisawa and Sei took too long. That time would've been better spent showing more about Hagiwara adjusting to single life, Sei dealing with his trauma, them DRINKING COFFEE and/or them missing each other in general. I could think of a lot of things that would've better served than that long-ass conversation. Resolution needed to happen, but it shouldn't have taken 8.5 MINUTES of a 24 minute episode. For those curious, the resolution with Kaori took 6.5 minutes.

Misstep #4 - Sei is healed! The magic trauma wand got waved. This one would typically be a crime for me. It's a very common crime in dramaland. But there is wiggle room for some interpretation here. The biggest problem is time. Trauma takes TIME to heal, and we've had about a month.

Sei was still spiraling when washing his hands just a few episodes ago. He still refused to take transportation. But apparently, not only did the SA not causes issues, Sei's other issues are mostly gone.

Sei can now take whatever transportation necessary to make the long commute to Fujisawa's studio. Sei now makes insightful statements about how it can't be anyone's fault.

I had truly wanted Sei to make progress in healing. I'm glad he's wearing color. I'm glad he forgot the perfume. I'm glad he's reaching out to former friends. He still doesn't have LINE (maybe that WAS personal preference?). But we didn't get to see any of the things that helped him cope with the aftermath. A shot of Sei going into a therapists' office or trying to work up the nerve to get in a vehicle would've done wonders. Trauma has to be WORKED on. It doesn't magically disappear. Plus, the SA would have ADDED to the trauma.

The only reason this didn't land as an outright crime is because we don't know that he DIDN'T do those things either. We also don't REALLY know how far along he was in his healing process about his parents' death. We know he had made significant process over the years so it's possible that his trauma wasn't still as present as some earlier episodes implied (which would make those scenes a misstep).

THE CRIME: Character Assassination

Fujisawa's character now makes no sense. It's not that his character could be interpreted multiple ways. It's that it CAN'T be interpreted, because it's inconsistent.

I've went on a journey with Fujisawa's character. Back in episode 3 when I first started posting about this show, I delighted in the fact that there were no "bad guys". The show seemed to be about conflicting priorities which was a delightfully fresh take.

After multiple rewatches and episode 4, I had decided that I had missed the plot. Fujisawa WAS a bad news bear. No problem. We now had one story about mismatched priorities and one about manipulation/control. Still important stories to tell.

Then came episode 6. I haven't read the novel, but I know what happened there. Doesn't matter to me. I base my analysis strictly on the show. I knew people interpreted the SA/dubcon scene different ways. I had even received an inquiry about whether I thought Fujisawa had raped Sei. I had prepared a (long) answer. I was 100% confident that Fujisawa HAD raped Sei. I went through all of the pacing, the blocking, the parallels, etc. comparing the scene to the fantasy scene in episode 1 and the sex scene with Hagiwara. There are a LOT of parallels. Add in several points of both Fujisawa's and Sei's dialogue, and I had NO DOUBT that it was rape.

However, I decided to hold off just in case there would be additional evidence in episode 7. We hadn't had resolution after all. We knew Sei would confront Fujisawa. And NOW? I can't post it. Going STRICTLY by what the show presented, I can no longer be 100% confident.

To be clear, I actually have NO issue with Sei's response to Fujisawa. Adding in the new information that they had been best friends since they were KIDS clarified a lot of Sei's dependence on him.

Sei had put up with and excused Fujisawa's behavior for SO LONG, that it actually makes sense he would find a way to excuse and forgive Fujisawa again. In some ways, he needed to do that for himself. As an audience, we may not like it. But it's realistic. People forgive and overlook the actions of their abusers all the time.

I also have no problem with the "reveal" that Fujisawa had always liked Sei in a sexual way. The show had already told us it was coming.

Even the symbols told us that Fujisawa was actually more sexually responsive than Kaori. He didn't eat the yogurt. He drank coffee.

Fujisawa's feelings of guilt track. It's not my culture, but I've watched Asian media for over 20 years. Being involved in ANY way with the death of parent(s) ALWAYS causes complications. And note - Sei didn't say that it wouldn't have mattered. He said that Fujisawa could have kept quiet and just let them live happily.

Now, I'm great with messy, complicated characters. But messy (i.e. layered/complex) and inconsistent are different things. Here's the problem. Fujisawa gracefully bowing out and letting Sei live on his own? That's inconsistent with what we've been taught about him. Codependency, a moment of rage resulting in a terrible event, and regret over his actions resulting in them parting ways? This resolution WOULD'VE worked with my initial impression of Fujisawa. It would've made for a complex, messy, and realistic character if we had stuck with the initial characterization. Even the guilt would've worked.

However, this resolution DOESN'T work with everything we've been shown in the last few episodes. Fujisawa has been depicted as someone carefully cutting Sei off from his friends, as someone who controlled almost every aspect of Sei's life from what he wore to what he ate to where he went. "Letting go" doesn't match the person who was going to whisk Sei away to the countryside for daring to talk with another man. That type of behavior? It doesn't go away even if the person regrets their actions. If that's Fujisawa, then the show basically gave up realism to tie up the ending with a pretty bow. "We need you to go away now so that the leads can be happy."

So...we have two versions of Fujisawa. One where Fujisawa/Sei were equally codependent in a relationship that worked for neither. And one where Fujisawa was a controlling abuser. The evidence conflicts. I've frequently said in this show that things "could be both" and that "both interpretations worked". However, these two versions ARE mutually exclusive. He can't be both. So either the crime was in the finale or....there were missteps all along the way.

#there's a lot to love about this show #and there was a lot of good in the finale too #I still love the show #but the Fujisawa/Sei storyline faltered #sticking the landing is hard #futtara doshaburi #when it rains it pours #my when it rains meta #criticism

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sbeana · 2 years ago

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fencing au doodles . I lowkey don't like this one but I think gids shirt is funny

#tlt #the locked tomb #tlt modern au #the locked tomb art #gideon nav #gideon the ninth #camilla hect #tlt art #griddlehark #harrow the ninth #nona the ninth #if Gideon ever had to do the leg workouts my old fencing coach used to make me do.... shed die again #we used to do something called russian wall sits #where we'd do wall sits with a weight #but if we faltered or something our coach would have his son whip a tennis ball at us #we either dodged or just took it #lord knows i can wall sit crazy long now

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vee-is-a-clown · 5 months ago

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Ok you know what makes me angry? Why is Allura so mature and humble? She's a daddy's girl only child princess who was set to inherit a flourishing kingdom. Sure, she's well educated and probably elegant and graceful and tactful because that's how she was raised to act for diplomatic reasons but she was also probably spoiled throughout her adolescence. She probably got whatever she wanted whenever she wanted because her family had the resources to give it to her. Who's to say she isn't a spoiled brat who can otherwise act kind and approachable? Even if she isn't a brat, she was still handed her life on a silver platter. She has to learn how to operate and be self sufficient.

When she gets out of that pod, she should be scared. She should be angry. And she deserves to be so. Her father that she relied on for just about everything shoved her into a sleeping pod and suddenly she's awoken by someone who isn't him. Logically, that means he lost. She should be kicking and screaming. She should be having the worst panic attack ever. She should be mourning everyone and everything she's ever known. She should be mourning the status quo that will never again be maintained. She should be mourning the future that can never come to fruition.

She has to figure out life without any system or technology that she's ever relied on. Coran doesn't know how to fix and maintain everything. She's like one of those people that wake up from 10+ year comas and don't understand modern technology. She is my dad who has had the same flip phone since forever and now must figure out how to use a phone with a touch screen.

Every luxury she had as a princess is gone. The castle chef who knew exactly how she liked her food. Her mother's ladies in waiting who told her the castle gossip. Her own ladies in waiting who'd sneak out to festivals and other trivial things with her. The cleaners that arranged her room exactly as she liked it. HER MOM. I don't care if she was a daddy's girl, she still has got to miss her mom.

I feel like she should've had more outbursts. Seeing Keith in the red paladin armor should've made her cry. In fact, all of them should have. The new paladins in their armor is a symbol of a new era- an era without the people she loves. She deserves to scream at the top of her lungs and lock herself in her room and trash something. She should be yelling that life isn't fair. She should be angry. She should be so angry.

I don't care if she's trying to hold it together for the paladins in the show. She's holding together too well. She needs more moments of instability. She needs to grieve. She needs to be tired. She needs to be imperfect.

#I feel like if she had more clear flaws people wouldn't criticize her for her moments where she falters #I mean #there will always be people who criticize the teenage girl for acting like a teenage girl #but if she was more clearly affected by the terrible things around her I think people would understand her more #I made this post because I was randomly reminded of how my mom thought that Allura was supposed to end up with Shiro because they were both #like the parents of the castle and got angry because she shouldn't have been a parental figure at all #maybe an older sister to Pidge but she is nowhere near a parent #I'm sorry if this is incoherent #I'm tired #of this shit and also like sleepy tired #I've probably already posted a rant like this before but i don't care #Even if I say it a thousand times I will mean it every time #vld #voltron legendary disappointment #voltron #allura voltron #princess allura #allura #princess Allura vld #allura vld #vld allura

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