#you know what? maybe “forgiveness” is Yu's own reverse uno on manipulation

[taldigi]

on Perfidy

Reader, do you know what "perfidy" means? I have a feeling you do, based on the little scene that has just unfolded here. But you should look up the word in your dictionary, just to be sure.

for as fucked as the whole adachi social link should/could have been... well, as far as the narrative is concerned, the only "bad" thing related to it is is the accomplice ending. hunger route is considered the canon one and the "good one" and the narrative around it enforces that idea.

It's a symptom of golden's kinda.. scuffed writing. it's out of character in the same way the scooter scene is out of character and lopsided- and in the same way Marie's link is forced into the cracks of the narrative and how needs to spend her whole SL revolving around spending time with the IT (in order to justify her dungeon and her place in the final photo) and so the characters morals are tilted in the same way to make the jester link work as well.

Hell, Rise baits Yu into approaching Adachi. weather or not she meant to do it or not. Rise only does so because the narrative needs her to. Yosuke forgives Yu 'cause the narrative needs him to- because him not knowing makes it worse.

in a world where Yosuke gets (justifiably IMO) angry about it and the route has severe consequences, is also a world where an alternative event is an option. The true failing of rank 8 is that it doesn't meet it's full potential as the hard-hitting moment that it could be.

In the end, I ultimately think (and choose to read it in a way) that... well, that Yu is allowed to be wrong. Yu is allowed to make grave errors and falter, even misguided ones like trusting Adachi. Yu's character is allowed to be human and suffer the consequences of being abused and manipulated and stressed and still have a big stupid heart that cares too much for people who don't deserve it.

I also think that the way it's handled can also say a lot about Yosuke and his growth as a person and his relationship and his fundamental understanding of Yu. He is able to extend the grace to forgive him- because of all people, he knows that Yu is suffering the weight on his shoulders. Yu, who (on top of being deeply rattled from Nanako's hospitalization) does his best to fulfill the role of perfect hero, perfect brother, perfect leader and friend and student- is trying so hard to save everyone and in that lies the weakness of failing to realize that he can't save everyone.

So, Is Yu an arrogant saint who fully forgives adachi- because he chooses to treat it as the morally correct decision despite it spitting in his team's faith? Is he a person who's stumbling under months of frantic, life or death rescue missions who's sense of judgment is warped by the loss of his family? Is he a kid who's been nonstop manipulated and groomed by a man for months? and who should yosuke see him as?

It can be an event that brings foreward the idea that Yu isn't perfect and that his fool needs his magician to show him the way now more than ever- a magician who's able to step back and see that in the heat of his own emotions, had almost got a (relatively) innocent man killed?

Yu is forced to come to the realization that he can't save everyone but he can be there to snap adachi's neck the second he even looks the wrong way- and yosuke's going to be the one there to hold him in place while he does it. True friends will help you bury the body, after all.

Overall, I think Jester Rank 8 can be a souyo cracking moment, or it can be a protagonist humanization one that makes it stronger (angst or fluff arcana...)

everything about me fucking wraps around to tale of desperaux. awooo.