#except for the fact that i work in an entomology lab. if i have to dissect one more grasshopper i'll be so so sick

[soupcrouton]

Yeah i think i might. Quit my job.

[occultadama]

Appropriating nature - Alpha Males to Worker Ants.

Why do we only aproppriate and relate to nature when it applies to dominance or taking other people's stuff? The best example of this is wolf politics or the fallacy of the "Alpha Male" which found its footing in since debunked science . It was born of synthetic conditions that only tell us the distressed lupine psychology once wolves are held captive. The concept of an "alpha male" is infact modelled on emotional distress displayed by wolves once they are stripped of thier freedom...Alpha Wolfs complete flim flam. (Somewhere Joe Rogan is weeping into a deer carcass)

So post WW2 (The exact time we're our relationship with nature really seems to collapse with the same grace as Charles and Diana - we are Charles in this scenario btw) a scientist named Schenkel was tasked with studying captive wolfs and thier hierarchies. Which was directed to support new ideas of classism and capitalism. The wolves were found to be aggressive (me too if I was trapped in a small lab) to one another fighting and concluding with a victorious male. This made way to the term "Alpha male" and our misunderstanding of archetypal male behaviour. All of which would encourage competitive male work hierarchies and the "dog eat dog", toxic male culture rife in modern culture (i believe everytime "alpha male" is uttered in earnest, a man will start another "political discussion and satire"  podcast and be sponsored by a protein supplement)

What later studies found was these conclusions by schenkel were largely due to the subjects being held in captivity.  Other studies conducted in there natural enviroment found wolf packs operate within family units. The references of alphas refer to the mother and father were "power" is distributed equally and its used more to ensure pack members have what they need I.e being safe and fed. Dominance fights are infact very rare. The study was conducted over 14 years and made none of Schenkels observations of lupin social structures. Concluding "Alpha male" refers exclusive to the breeding couple and nothing else.

Its not more appropriate to refer to a doe deer as an alpha. Its a meaningless term that has been attached to social and institutional structures and then absorbed as fact. The entire justification for schenkels theory is validated by natural science when in reality it just enforces an artifical dominance hierarchy amongst humans. Its like studying humans in prison and asserting  "oh wow humans really like trading things for cigarettes"

Curiously we rarely appropriate nature in regard to insects. The only real comparisons I can strike is with the industrious hard working honey bee - which is directly championing over working for a "hive" or Queen. We even visualise many work infographics as hives. Making a distinction of the lesser workers (bees) and a buisness money pot (queen) A model in lue of the Queen is also exclusively male in our aproppriation. A similar appropriation can be found in our interpretation of ant colonies. The exceptions being that ants triumph due to thier lacking emotional capacity and dominate strength, it resonates better with our misunderstanding of male traits and emotional capacity.

Despite our constant misinterpretation of nature and its absorption into our social structures it communicates the power of natures mascots we use to orientate ourselves and one another. It has been historically used for nefarious gain but can this be subverted? Nature is far more giving and kind than it is dominant and aggressive. How can we appropriate the positive interuptative traits of nature? Could animation be a way to rearrange our entomological appropriation? Is this appropriation of nature good at all? This last one is the trickiest for me.

We mould our understanding of nature in relation to our own human experiences. As a consequence the seperate and complex intelligence of nature is sidelined and abstractified. We no longer look beyond the "Alpha wolf" label for example. A species becomes defined by our reductive and inaccurate human lens. The hard working and robot ant become only this and now incapable of escaping the role human narrative has forced upon it. The appropriation of nature in our language, science and entertainment may in fact shoo away our biophilia. It strips species down to a singular emotional construct.  They can no longer be seen outside of it and this often gets absorbed into popular culture. We rationialise deplorable human behaviour into a precast mould that we pour the natural world into. We simplify and politicise natural  "science" to fortify indifference to one another and often non progressive, Conservative ideal and capitalism. We use it to double down on alot of unnatural evolved human idiocy. As if we are aware it's damaging for all involved so we grasp at the earth to find reasoning. This reminds me alot of Kafkas reflections in regard to bureaucracy and how he projects it onto nature (The Metamorphosis 1915)

The interuptive nature of this phenomena however does leave appropriation vulnerable to the opposite application. As an artist there's a strength to be found in subjectivity and interuptation that isn't bound to accuracy. Illuminating and exaggerating favourable insect behaviour to fit around comparable human habits may encourage behavioral change and biophilia. Appropriation of nature in both a biophobic and biophilic sense supports E O Wilsons observations of us as the "Poetic Species". That we favour our metaphors, symbols and interuptations much more than our data. E.g we have compared and modelled much of our gender roles around misinterpreted or debatable animal pack hierarchies.

Ok. I'm beginning to walk into neighbouring Gardens now, I don't know where I am anymore and people are looking at me through their windows. Il stop here. I've lost my footing and fell into a ditch.

[sanctferum]

Dangan Ronpa V3 Chapter 2 Trial Part 2!

Last time, Maki may or may not have lied, but if she’s telling the truth, Kaito has a potential motive for having done it again. Potentially.

Monokuma & Cubs theater: Voting time edition! The Monokubs start to freak out over having apparently missed the second part of the trial. (They haven’t.)

...Are the Monokubs making fun of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within? Is that what this is?

A little after midnight, Ryoma visited Maki at her research lab. He wanted to see the motive video...perhaps, since he had Maki’s video, he assumed she would have his? Maki didn’t look at her video, as she said back when the videos were first distributed, so we don’t know if that’s true.

Did someone know who had whose videos? Kokichi perhaps, but did he have time to watch the motive videos before returning to the Entomology Lab? But no one else would know, so it has to be...

So Ryoma went to Maki’s room, since she had told him it was unlocked. That’s where the pad would have been. Ryoma offered to trade motive videos, but Maki didn’t want to see hers.

Maki didn’t bring it up because she knew if she brought it up, people would suspect her...

Did Kokichi tell Ryoma about the motive video? If so, Maki’s story gains more credibility.

Kokichi confirms it. But he didn’t watch the whole thing - he just checked who had whose video.

Still, we can’t be absolutely sure Maki is telling the truth...even if it’s likely, it’s not certain.

Lie bullet time! Shuichi and Kaito never met last night...but no one but us two know that! Shuichi spins a story, basing it off the truth - him and Kaito did exercise together at one point. And in this story, Shuichi and Kaito heard two people talking. Maki, and someone else. Ryoma.

Everyone ends up buying it. Except Miu. And Kokichi...

When was Ryoma placed in the piranha tank? During night-time, it has to be. But how? I think I know.

Seems people can’t decide when the body was placed. During night-time, or not during night-time? Monokuma interferes at this point, and activates the morphenomananana...the scrum debate setup.

Exact same cutscene for it, too, including showing all the Monokubs in the background...despite the fact that Monokid is dead. You fucked up there Spike Chunsoft.

A corpse could enter the gym at night-time...The blackened moved the body from the pool area to the gym using the window, like I’ve been saying.

They didn’t use the ladder, because it isn’t tall enough. And how would they have replaced it in the gym in between night-time and the show without anyone noticing?

How did the body get placed in the tank without the pane shifting?

“Tell ‘em Shuichi”,the spiritual successor of “Tell ‘em Makoto”

gg Kaito

Where was Ryoma killed? It’s gotta be the stone sink in his lab, right?

Wait, the culprit steered the topic away from the actual murder scene...I can’t remember who got us onto this topic, though...was it Kirumi?

Where did Ryoma drown? Can’t be the pool. Sirens didn’t go off. It’s definitely the sink.

And the handcuffs are proof of that.

Ryoma could’ve used the Shukuchi method to avoid capture. Was he ambushed by the blackened?

Kokichi knows something...again. And isn’t telling us.

The lab is parallel to the gym...if you use the window.

Psyche taxi!

I don’t like this minigame. Also I got a hidden Monokuma through it, somehow?

The blackened used the tennis nety wire...we know it can reach, if it’s 50 feet or less. Kaito told us. Which doesn’t look good for him.

No...it’s the rope! The rope in the puddle!

Last night, the rope was on stage. And the next morning it had been moved backstage.

50 feet between the lab window and gym...50 feet. I know that number. I just don’t know how it factors in yet.

Gonta says it would work if there was another rope...that must be how the tennis net wire factors in.

But how did they carry the body over the ropes? It would have been all the person’s weight, plus Ryoma’s body’s weight.

Miu has an idea! It’s probably nonsensical and lewd.

Hmmm. Miu has a decent idea, but it wouldn’t quite be precise enough. If you handcuffed Ryoma’s body and slid it across the rope via the handcuff, how would it land in the piranha tank?

Kokichi says the culprit put the body in the piranha tank with their own hands. But then he says that it probably isn’t possible. What’s he trying to tell us?

Kaito...what’s up with you? I’m really not sure whether to trust you or not, man...

what could have been used with the rope to move the body between the windows? The inflatable tire thing, perhaps?

What’s the Hangman’s Gambit trying to tell me?

Ropeway?

A vessel for the ropeway...the inflatable tire has to have been it.

So they stood on the inner tube as it crossed the gym via gravity, put the body in the tank without putting themselves into the gym, and left.

But how did they not enter the gym if they put their foot on the windowsill?

The blackened asked the Monokubs if putting their foot on the windowsill was allowed...

Monokuma is less than happy that Monosuke slipped up and admitted a crucial detail...

Monodam tries to calm things down between the Kubs, and Kokichi points out that if the Monokubs were asked such a thing, Shuichi got the method of transportation right after all.

The culprit got rid of the ropeway by dropping one part of it in the gym and the other in Ryoma’s lab, which is where they reeled it up from after depositing the corpse.

While cleaning up, the inner tube fell into the pool and the culprit was unable to retrieve it without breaking the rules.

Almost the perfect crime? A bold and cunning plan? Not Kaito, then, he’s an idiot.

The culprit...Shuichi says he’s got a good idea of who it is.

Someone who was in the gym beforehand...but who?

Someone who went to the gym beforehand. Kirumi, Himiko, and Angie were in the gym. And the person who shifted the debate away from the real murder scene was Kirumi.

Looks like we’re right...

Why would she kill Ryoma? The only thing I can think of is that she fulfills all requests given to her. Could Kokichi have requested a killing to spice things up?

Kirumi spent those five minutes in the gym completing the preparations? Tying the rope to the window and placing the partition in the piranha tank?

The abrasions on the window frames must be from the rope being weighed down by the weight of two bodies.

Wh...for everyone? Is she lying, or?

A duty to serve and protect everyone...and if she surrenders, they won’t forgive her. Is the “they” she’s talking about someone else besides the Ultimates?

Kaito gets it. “everyone”. But that phrase isn’t referring to the Ultimates.

Kokichi is smart. What other “everyone” is it likely to be? Why, whoever is in her motive video, of course.

Kirumi says that “everyone” is referring to the Ultimates. I ain’t buying it.

Everyone’s taking Kirumi’s side. She was so kind and good to everyone. But...to just drop this now would be turning away from the truth...right?

Insufficient proof. It’s true, we don’t have enough proof. Hmmm. What can we use as proof?

Maki or Kaito as suspects...I dunno...I’m mighty suspicious of them, but you too, Kirumi.

YES. Shuichi made a promise to seek the truth. He promised Kaede not to be afraid of the truth anymore. So he can’t back down.

The final clue...it’s the scrap of cloth in the water, right?

It was used to control the inner tube? How?

By using their hands for friction...which means that the person with black gloves is very suspicious, Kirumi Tojo.

I’ll prove it with this Argument Armament!

She’s wearing gloves now...but that’s because there’s spare gloves in her room.

Closing Argument!

We’re starting out with Act 5 of the incident.

And that’s the truth of this case...but why did Ryoma agree to meet with Kirumi alone at night? And why did Kirumi kill someone in the first place?

Kirumi’s pride as a maid makes her take on any request she receives...did someone request that she kill Ryoma, or what?

Voting time!

Everyone voted for Kirumi. Except herself, she voted for Shuichi.

Once again, we got the back route path.

And we ended up being correct. Kirumi was the killer.

Shuichi thinks Kirumi still cares about us...but no one can deny that she just tried to kill us all, so...

The request Kirumi accepted, that lead to all this...was it a request from her motive video?

Kirumi watched the motive video on the Kub Pad she received. Somehow, the Kubs gave her the fight video...her own.

Everyone was supposed to get their own videos, but the Kubs screwed up.

Monokuma pretends that redistributing the videos was what he intended all along. Monosuke is absolutely done with the whole mushy crap between Kubs and other Kubs and his pops. Monodam is silent about that, probably because he plans to push Monosuke into the way of the next execution.

Kirumi received her own video, but why? Bad luck, nothing more.

We’re gonna watch Kirumi’s motive video and something about it is apparently hard to believe...

Kirumi was suddenly summoned by the Prime Minister of Japan one day. Told to serve her country. Told to SAVE her country.

“Make this country great again”, he said, in a clear reference to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. Well OK, probably not in-universe. And then...the prime minister gave his authority away. To Kirumi.

Kirumi is, in all but name, the Prime Minister of Japan. And the most important people in her life...are her fellow countrymen and countrywomen. Every Japanese citizen. And an unfortunate event will soon effect all of Japan...and every man, woman, and child in it.

Kirumi didn’t even remember her role as Prime Minister until watching the video...but she still doesn’t remember what she was supposed to save the country from...

Could the unprecedented crisis facing Japan have anything to do with the Ultimate Hunt?

Kirumi was devoted to everyone in Japan...and weighed the fate of a country with the weight of the fate of 12 fellow students, and found the country needing her more. Even if it meant her classmates would die...

Kokichi thinks they should have let themselves die. If it means everyone in the country dies but you live, it isn’t worth it.

Miu brings up a good point. What does Monokuma plan to do with the rest of humanity?

“I am the ruler of this world. Nothing is beyond my power.” The words “this world” in yellow...hmmmm.

Kirumi killed Ryoma because Ryoma was easy to kill. Someone without a good reason to live....She summoned him to his own lab, revealed the motive video...and Ryoma turned his back on her to clean up the tennis balls in the court...in all likelihood, Ryoma knew he would be killed if he did that by that point. But having no reason to live, and having met someone with such a strong reason to live...he did nothing to stop his own demise.

Ryoma likely made things that easy because he saw his motive video...sapping him of any reason to live. The reason he wanted his motive video was that he had no reason to live...no one important to him to escape to. He figured by watching the video, he might see who Monokuma thought was most important to him, and that person could give him the will to live.

His motive was empty. Nothing. No one. Just Monokuma taunting him about how there was no one in the entire world that was important to him.

No reason to live. But Kirumi was the opposite. She had too many reasons to live. And that’s why she killed.

Gonta and Tenko would both rather sacrifice themselves if it meant Kirumi could keep living...because what value is there in their own lives compared to hers?

Once again, Shuichi revealed the truth and it lead to hopelessness...

But Kaito won’t let people give up. No one’s life is more or less important than another’s. Because life is priceless. You can’t compare two lives to one another like it’s some kind of math problem. Life’s purpose is simple - to be lived.

Kirumi had been desperately hoping to live. Hoping that someone would volunteer to be sacrificed in her place. And if not for Kaito’s speech, it might have worked.

Or maybe, she wanted to try and get everyone to rise up and defend her. While the Exisals eliminated them, she could try to escape.

So says Kokichi, at least. And Kirumi confirms that he was right...

Even after losing, she refuses to give up. What is her plan...?

To save her country, she’d debase herself and give up all pride, do anything, kill anyone...and then she runs for it.

Monokuma is busy laughing at the very concept that she can escape. Everyone urges her to run and get away...but Monokuma is already preparing a punishment.

Ultimate Maid execution: Strand of Agony.

Kirumi finds herself boxed in on both sides by silhouettes representing the people of Japan, with protest signs. A vine falls down, covered in sharp thorns. Kirumi climbs it, willing away the pain of the thorns. Chainsaws start to pop out of the wall. Kirumi climbs, as her clothes and flesh is shredded. She finally reaches the top, to find that the sky she was climbing to was a mere drawing. Then, letting loose a scream of utter frustration, she realizes the vine is breaking, which it does, and she falls to her death.

Meanwhile, Monodam pushes Monosuke into the vine. He loses his glasses in the confusion and blindly searches around for them. As he’s about to find them, Kirumi falls onto his body, destroying him and killing her.

Monotaro and Monophanie are freaking out and vomiting. Monodam claims Monosuke was getting in the way of the Monokubs getting along...just like Monokid.

Nothing will stop Monodam from getting along with his two remaining siblings...not even Monokuma himself. And with that, Monodam issues forth a proclamation...the Monokubs are in charge of the academy now. Monokuma finds it adorable and amusing that Monodam threatened him. He’s so amused he sneezes...and blows up. Hope you got another spare, dude.

Everyone is sick of the killing game. Utterly sick of it. Afraid for themselves. Afraid of themselves. Willing to let themselves stay trapped forever if it means no one else dies. But as long as they’re trapped, they have no way of knowing whether the motive videos are true...

Kokichi is still thinking about how Kirumi regained memories from watching her own video...but everyone’s decided that if their lost memories would make them want to kill, it’s for the best that no one watch the videos.

Maybe, facing the truth won’t be enough...at least, not alone. Maybe running is a valid option too. Didn’t work for Kirumi, but still...

As everyone leaves the shrine of judgement, Gonta says something strange. The stars are beautiful in the sky, but...they aren’t the stars Gonta knows. Wherever this place is located might not be Japan after all.

Everyone starts to leave again, but Kokichi warns that there’s someone in the group who is a liar, an even worse case of compulsive lying than his. Maki.

Ryoma was blackmailing Maki to get the motive video. HMMMMM. Is she really not the Ultimate Child Caregiver, then?

Kokichi seems to think her true identity is something else, all right. But what?

Kokichi has known Maki’s true identity the entire time. Even if he’s lying, the look on Maki’s face confirms that she has deep secrets to hide...and then Maki rushes Kokichi and starts to choke him.

Kill from the shadows? Is she the Ultimate Assassin?

Oh fuck, she is! I wonder if her backstory up till now, with children liking her and being an orphan, was entirely made up?

And thus ends chapter 2, and we get Kirumi’s gloves as a present.