#though i recognise pb is a story after western tradition and thus

[markiafc]

i see the train of thought people go through that makes them want to see tommy kill himself in the end. but i think as someone deeply invested in (often chinese) stories where it concludes with the protagonist's suicide, or at least there is an overarching debate over whether they should commit the deed, i want tommy to live. because i always want them to live! it's personally devastating every time these characters drag themselves through suffering, enduring and enduring, and have their narratives resolve with suicide; the final word is always vital to the thematics of the story, and it's so bleak when that is the ultimate answer it has to give.

not to say i reject tragedies or bad endings and want them to be more positive, the shows i have in mind that do this are very precious and valuable to me. and it's important that they conclude the way they do.

more so, i always find myself dreading a suicidal character going through with it + curious whenever these types of stories can devise some other horror. and there are other possible avenues for tommy maybe, like wandering the wastes without an end in sight for one. but everyone seems to talk about tommy's end like it's a foregone conclusion and also the only conclusion :(