#bias analysis

[karmicpunishment]

yuno t3 spoilers

i'll be so honest i can't tell if its just like 10 people on twitter I stumbled on or if people are genuinely worrying the milgram project creator is misogynistic because they put yuno in milgram for a probable suicide attempt induced miscarriage instead of a medically induced abortion, like we thought before

like maybe they might be idk them personally and most people have at least a little misogyny engraved in their beliefs because of how the world is, especially right now

but its already been established that milgram (the prison not the project itself) is misogynistic. it's homophobic. it's ableist. it's label for a 'murder' and 'murderer' are intentionally vague and disagreeable. it relies on child labor. it's physically restrains and mentally tortures its prisoners, and doesn't care about their well-being. it leaves "justice" in the hands of one, intentionally underinformed individual (and then again in the hands of the biased masses watching for entertainment). it does not go along with morals or laws. it's aim is for judgment, information gathering and entertainment. These things are INTENTIONAL. milgram (again I'm talking about the prison) is corrupt. its BAD!!! it always has been!!! I'm pretty sure that's part of the point of all this.

[causticsodaa]

Opposites Attract: A Design Analysis

(i cant think of a better title)

Wind Breaker probably has the most unique character designs I’ve seen in animanga. It’s clear that Nii Satoru puts a lot of care in them, whether it be their clothing styles to what the designs themselves symbolize, and how they pertain to the characters themselves.

This is also a common theme in other mangas as well. However, there has been one particular aspect of certain character designs that have always intrigued me: ones which involve two characters meant to contrast each other (whether narratively or just their personalities) having blatantly opposing elements in their designs and traits.

In this analysis, I’ll be talking about these specific design choices when it comes to the Wind Breaker characters, specifically Togame and Choji!

I’ve already briefly gone over some of their design elements in one of my other posts, but I’ll reiterate it here to save you some time, as well as provide some more in-depth analysis.

I. Hair

Prior to Choji becoming the leader of Shishitoren, Togame and Choji’s hair were short, most likely to highlight their youth at the time. Not much to say here, since their hairstyles look rather similar, but I’ll talk more about this later I’m still sad the anime cut their pre sstr appearances they were so cute

Right after Choji becomes the leader, Togame has noticeably longer hair that he lets down. This could represent that Togame had nothing to tie him down (ie. he was still free) before Choji went haywire. Choji’s hair stays the relatively the same.

After Togame makes his promise to Choji, he braids his normally let down hair to signify how he’s now bound to Shishitoren and Choji wishes. On the other hand, Choji’s hair is now much more longer and messier during the Shishitoren Arc, mostly likely to represent his tattered mental state.

During the climax of Togame vs. Sakura however, he removes his hairtie and lets his hair flow freely again—now that he’s seen the true error of his ways, he no longer ties himself down to Shishitoren.

On the contrary, Choji rips out his own hair during his fight with Umemiya. This is meant to further highlight his degraded mental state, and his frustration upon hearing Umemiya’s words + him not being able to understand his current situation. In a way, this could also symbolize how Choji had ripped Shishitoren apart (hence the title of the chapter being called ‘Ripped Down).

Post-Shishitoren, both boys go through a Expository Hairstyle Change and decide to cut their hair. Togame even has an undercut to solidify that he truly has nothing that ties himself down anymore. Even Choji’s hair is less messier. Their current hairstyles are also somewhat reminiscent to when they were younger in my opinion; showing that Shishitoren has gone back to normal.

Choji and Togame’s hair also contrast each other. Togame has straighter, black hair that used to be much longer than Choji’s, while the latter has beige curly hair that stays relatively short throughout the series.

II. Bodies

To start, Togame and Choji are the classic Tall x Shorter duo, with a whopping 39 centimeter (~15 inches or 1 foot and 1/4ths in 🇺🇸🦅 units) height difference:

Choji is pretty thin, while Togame is more bulkier in build.

Togame’s face is much more broad and chiseled, while Choji’s is a lot more rounder (like a bunny….). Choji’s has a button nose, and Togame’s long and thick too.

Speaking of which, their facial features can be attributed to their namesakes; Tomiyama has the Japanese character for rabbit in it, while Togame has the turtle kanji in his.

III. Eyes

Choji’s eyes are round and wide, while Togame’s are slanted and narrow. Additionally, Choji’s eyes are sometimes colored a reddish-brown/red (it reminds me of a REW rabbit), while Togame’s are emerald; red and green are complimentary/contrasting colors.

Togame and Choji had ‘soulless’ eyes during the Shishitoren arc. It’s more apparent for Choji’s eyes—which shows the drab state of his mentality at the time and the empty feeling he has after becoming Shishitoren’s leader. Togame’s eyes are less empty on the other hand, representing the cruel façade he put up. Both of their eyes eventually return to normal and regain their shines after they reconcile.

IV. Additional Tidbits

Togame and Choji are a literal reference to ‘The Tortoise and The Hare’, from their story to their namesakes. Yes, the Aesop fable. They even mention a race in their backstory:

Since Choji is the hare and Togame is the tortoise, they are fast and slow respectively. Choji speaks very rapidly and excitedly, while Togame speaks in a very drawn out and slow way:

This translates to their fighting styles. Togame uses his weight and grappling skills against his enemies, while Choji uses his height and speed to his advantage.

Since Togame calls Choji the Sun, this implies that he’s the Moon given that he’s Shishitoren’s second in command. Choji and Togame’s relationship fits the Sun and Moon dynamic overall (Togame is drawn to Choji and Choji’s ‘rays’ allows him to shine as well, but the Sun and Moon cannot coexist without each other). You might as well call him the love of your life Togame

(ran into image limit) Togame doesn’t like texting and prefers calls, while Choji texts a lot

Choji dislikes waiting, whereas Togame doesn’t like being pressed for time (lines up with the tortoise and hare correlation)

Togame stretches first thing in the morning, Choji likes to bask in the sun

Both have eating competitions listed as their hobby

Togame’s dream is to have a quiet/retired life, while Choji wants to open a shop with Togame WE GET IT!!! YOU’RE MARRIED!!!!

[arbitersart]

Had some thoughts on the structure of recent life series seasons and went into english major mode. Thought it was worth sharing here too!

[ottogatto]

I did some googling and found some interviews, and the actor has a background I think is quite relevant to Snape - he was the working class child of an immigrant single mum who grew up in working class East London and got scholarships to private school and then drama school because he was unusually talented, where he was one of only two black kids among all the rich white students and was treated badly by teachers for being different.

I think the reactions to the casting are really telling. I suspect the showrunners made this choice partly to tick a corporate box (they can’t race swap one of the main child characters, it would be so unfair to the child actor) but partly in order to tell Snape’s story faithfully for a new audience who is very far removed from the realities of life in the slums in 1960s Britain. People just don’t seem to get the classism and prejudice and ostracism Snape faces, and don’t understand the reasons why he’s on the losing side of the power dynamic in every relationship he has, but suddenly when he’s not white everyone gets it immediately. ‘But it makes my favourite character look bad when they abuse/abandon/manipulate Snape if he’s black!’ Yes, because it was always bad. They’re so so so close to getting it. And for that alone, the choice is worth it.

Oh gosh, no wonder he accepted the role! I trust him even more to give justice to Snape. You perfectly said it all.

[kinokoshoujoart]

scribbles based on my Another Wonderful Life file where i discovered Rock and Nami showing up together at Vesta’s farmhouse late at night on multiple occasions to cause various types of chaos and disturbance and havoc until Marlin and Vesta’s bedtime (which they both announce in unison to kick everyone out) this included

Rock levitating and attempting to rizz up vesta

Nami making a beeline for Celia’s room where she stands around making very subtle remarks (celia isn’t even in her room)

Marlin Enduring

haunting crime scene photos of the shenanigans:

[teacup-gathering-itself]

📢Just bc YOU want to peg Hugh Dancy 📢 does NOT make Will Graham a bottom 📢

[king-lena]

i just wrote a whole post on how david and roger’s perception of each other ultimately led to their downfall and it started off as like a paragraph of surface level observations and somehow morphed into an essay length analysis that i can’t possibly justify posting 😭 i did kind of cook tho ngl i’m proud of her

[disastrid]

Coffman navigates over to the Wikipedia article about one of the conspirators—Arthur Nebe, a high-ranking member of the SS. Apart from his role in the plot, Nebe’s main claim to notability is that he came up with the idea of turning vans into mobile gas chambers by piping in exhaust fumes. The article acknowledges both of these facts, along with the detail that Nebe tested his system on the mentally ill. But it also says that he worked to “reduce the atrocities committed,” going so far as to give his bloodthirsty superiors inflated death totals. Coffman will recall that she feels “totally disoriented.” She cannot believe that an innovator in mass murder would have tried to protect the Jews and other supposed subhumans his troops rounded up. She checks the footnotes. The claim is attributed to War of Extermination, a compendium of academic essays originally published in 1995. Coffman knows the book is legit, because she happens to have a copy on loan from the library. When she goes to the cited page, she finds a paragraph that appears to confirm all the Wikipedia article’s wild claims. But then she reads the first sentence of the next paragraph: “This is, of course, nonsense.” The level of bad faith is eye-opening for Coffman. She is “very appalled.” She sees that her confidence in Wikipedia was “very much misplaced.” All it takes to warp historical memory, she realizes, is something this small, achievable for almost anyone with a keyboard. “So few people can have so much impact, it’s a little scary,” she says. She begins to turn a more critical eye to what she sees on Wikipedia. Especially the footnotes.

Emphasis is my own, because it's just so important.

Exercise a healthy skepticism for everything you read.

This goes for any kind of research, not just in Wikipedia. This happens in all kinds of contexts, purposeful or not.

Look at works cited, look at the original source. Make sure you understand the context of whatever you're looking at, be it a photo, a quote, or excerpt.

It may sound laborious, but honestly like anything else, the more you practice the easier it gets. For places like wikipedia with links in citations, it's even easier to track things down.

A works cited section in a wiki article is a great place to start your research, but your research should never end there.

[kick-a-long]

I am not Jewish this is good faith feel free not to give me emotional labor etc but do you have advice on how to determine if a "Jewish" org is actually Jewish or if the source is good? I'm finding a lot of sources on jumblr that folks I follow say are reporting the actual news are Israeli and therefore predominantly in Hebrew, while big English speaking sources like nyt are consistently called antisemitic. Before I would have said oh nyt has some liberal lean but is fairly reliable. Now I am questioning everything I know in terms of reliability. Any advice on how to know if it will be biased or not if it's in English?

this is a great question because I'm still finding out the answer. The short, upsettingly accurate, answer is that it's fair to assume that non-israeli/non jewish coverage of i/p and antisemitism will be dogshit and blame jews for being targeted. I don't like that tho because that's how you end up in an echo chamber and racist and delulu on conspiracy stuff so... the adult long answer is it's important to cross reference.

it's hard because you can't take a news org at face value or as all good or all evil. An antisemitic source will seem like it is addressing antisemitism and getting better in a way that makes you think they will report accurate and fair news but then they turn around and report Gaza health ministry/UNRWA reports without even citing that it's from hamas and contradicting witnesses and geolocation data on video. (looking at you CNN you filthy animals.) It's like... it can get tin foil hat very quickly...

the truth is you have to look at what type of info is being reported and where it's coming from not just the people or org reporting it. NPR is a good example. they often have wildly antisemitic writers who frame jews as the problem behind everything from immigration, racism, all world conflict and bullshit like that, but they also have writers on staff who report pretty fairly. the easiest way to know the difference is to look for actual facts that can be cross-referenced. Look at what they say and fact check it with another source most likely to disagree and then weigh what the info is and where the papers identify that they got it.

for example: If a paper says "one million people exploded by new israel invisible bomb yesterday," ask some questions.

1: be skeptical and realistic: "well... that number and description seems totally unbelievable but let's check if israel did anything to anyone yesterday."

2: who is saying this?: look at who else is reporting the events: "that should be the front page story in every paper. oh a bunch of liberal media is reporting that?! wow, they aren't using a lot of specifics or saying where they got this info... that's pretty fucked..."

3: look for counter evidence: "ok, let's look at an israeli paper since they are most likely to give exonerating details. they say it's all made up? they said there was gun fire yesterday but no bombing in the area and they say there are no such things as invisible bombs. well now it's he said she said. maybe the western media means hard to track bombs and a few people died and they are sensationalizing?"

4: look at what the facts reported are and where is the info coming from: "well everyone agrees the reports are coming from the gaza health ministry but the israeli paper is saying that hamas made up the numbers and devices because hamas set off an explosion in a crowd accidentally. is there anyone not from israel saying this? oh a jewish paper in america has proof that hamas set the explosion and that it wasn't when and where the american media said it was???

5: give it a minute: "wow 24 hours later a witness came forward to say they saw a random dude blow up stuff and that the IDF wasn't involved?!"

My example seems crazy but there are times when it's important to keep checking because there has been some real bullshit slung and some fiction non-sense done.

Did I immediately believe that israel exploded every single hezbollah pager all at once? fuck no. That sounds like cartoon bullshit. turned out to be true.

Did/would israel starve 14 thousand babies in 48 hours? Why is every paper saying this is 100% absolutely true? how the fuck would you a. be able to come up with that number b. how would it be that high? and c. why are there no sources for it? turned out to be cartoonish bullshit. and extra evil because kids in a war zone shouldn't be lied about. don't cry wolf and then be surprised when no one believes the real wolf is here.

the most important part is to try and see all people as people. the human race is like 40/60 evil horrible fuckers to people doing their best.

Anyway, thanks for the question, (no emotional labor is too much for me. i am the emotional Sampson of ranting.) sorry i couldn't edit it down into a smaller list. <3

[eeriepromis]

Mods and Deepbias - Open Letter about the Toxicity in the Official Discord

If you've been feeling frustrated, isolated, or unfairly targeted due to biased moderation and ongoing toxicity in the official Love and Deepspace Discord server, you're not alone. Below you'll find two versions of an open letter addressing these serious concerns directly to Love and Deepspace's customer service. Feel free to copy, customize, and send this letter to the game's support team.

Together, we can ensure our voices are heard, bring attention to this issue, and advocate for a safer, fairer, and more welcoming environment for all fans. By speaking out, we remind the company that their global moderation team should embody fairness, respect, and genuine support - not bias, toxicity, or unfair treatment of fans.

Your voice matters. Let's work together to reclaim a healthier fandom space.

Here's their e-mail adress: loveanddeepspace-en@infoldgames.com

You can also send these letters to the ingame Customer Service and/or mention them in future surveys.

Version 1:

Subject: Concerns Regarding Bias and Moderation Issues in the Official Love and Deepspace Discord Server

Dear Love and Deepspace Customer Support,

I am writing as a dedicated and passionate player who has grown increasingly concerned about the ongoing moderation bias on the official Love and Deepspace Discord server, particularly concerning Caleb fans and our experiences within the community.

It has become apparent that certain members of your moderation team exhibit clear biases against Caleb fans (also affectionately known as Caleb girlies). Unfortunately, these biases have resulted in unfair treatment, unjustified timeouts, and in some cases, unwarranted permanent bans. This has severely impacted the community's morale and our ability to freely and safely participate in server activities.

To outline some specific concerns:

Historical Bias:

- Before Caleb's official release as a love interest, moderators openly mocked and discouraged discussions about him, dismissing Caleb as merely an NPC. Community members who anticipated his release were banned without reasonable cause.

Recent Bias and Unfair Treatment:

- Leading up to Caleb's Myth release event, numerous Caleb fans have again been targeted with unjust timeouts. Moderators used the server's search function specifically to find minor infractions to justify extending these punishments.

- Comparatively, similar infractions by fans of other love interests often receive no punishment or merely warnings.

Lack of Safe Space and Hostility:

- Caleb's dedicated Discord channel has experienced continuous disruptions from fans of other characters without adequate moderation intervention. However, Caleb fans face immediate repercussions when defending themselves.

- Moderators have shown tolerance or even indirect encouragement toward negative comments and hostility against Caleb fans.

Impact on Community and Player Experience:

- Due to consistent negative experiences, many Caleb fans, new and old, have felt unwelcome and driven out of the official server.

- This has led Caleb fans to create external Discord servers to enjoy discussions peacefully, indicating a clear failure of the official moderation system to provide a supportive and welcoming environment.

We kindly ask for your immediate attention to these issues. Transparent, fair, and unbiased moderation is crucial for maintaining a healthy and vibrant community. We deeply appreciate the game, its lore, and its characters, including Caleb, and we seek nothing more than equitable treatment and a safe environment for all players.

Thank you very much for considering our concerns. We look forward to your prompt response and a resolution that allows all members of your community to engage positively with the game we all love.

Sincerely, A Dedicated and Concerned Fan

Version 2:

Subject: Concerns Regarding Bias and Moderation Issues in the Official Love and Deepspace Discord Server

Dear Love and Deepspace Customer Service Team,

I am reaching out to you to address ongoing concerns regarding the moderation practices in the official Love and Deepspace Discord server, particularly related to the handling of discussions surrounding the character Caleb and his fan community.

Since November, moderation has repeatedly displayed biases against Caleb fans. Initially, moderators outright banned and silenced Caleb fans who simply anticipated or discussed his release as a Love Interest. Caleb fans were denied a dedicated space for discussion, and even mentioning him in general channels or other character channels resulted in unjust bans and timeouts. Despite clear evidence hinting at Caleb’s eventual release as a Love Interest, moderators dismissed these discussions, at times mockingly claiming Caleb was merely an NPC or villain.

These actions have significantly affected the community's morale and created a hostile environment for Caleb supporters. Recently, just before Caleb's highly anticipated limited Myth event, moderators again unfairly targeted active Caleb fans, including myself. Moderators specifically searched through past messages to justify extended and unreasonable timeouts, misinterpreting messages as misinformation or moderation criticism, even when statements were factual or expressed genuine confusion over moderation practices.

Meanwhile, moderators have permitted suggestive and contentious content in other character channels, ignored hostility toward Caleb fans, and allowed misinformation and harassment aimed at Caleb supporters to continue unchecked. This clear inconsistency in rule enforcement reveals a troubling bias that damages community trust and cohesion.

Furthermore, this behavior disrespects the hard work, passion, and dedication of the game's developers, writers, voice actors, and artists, who have invested countless hours into creating Caleb’s character, narrative, and content. The moderators’ biased practices undermine the inclusive environment that the Love and Deepspace team strives to foster. As a result, dedicated fans are being driven away from the official community, harming both player retention and the game’s reputation.

I urge you to thoroughly review moderation practices and ensure fairness, transparency, and consistency for all fans, regardless of their preferred characters. Addressing this issue promptly will demonstrate your commitment to maintaining a welcoming and supportive community for all players and honoring the extensive effort put forth by your development and creative teams.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to seeing improvements and your response.

Sincerely, A Dedicated and Concerned Fan

[wesleysniperking]

Usopp, Representation, and the Black Experience: My Perspective (maybe TL;DR)

Disclaimer: This post reflects my personal interpretation and connection with Usopp's character. I understand that not everyone may share the same perspective, and that's okay. This is just my own take based on my experiences and thoughts about identity and representation.

When it comes to Black characters, I’ve noticed a recurring theme where they often distance themselves from their non-Black friends or take time away due to personal struggles. It’s a reflection of the weight they carry, and sometimes there’s even some regret for doing so. I can think of plenty of shows that have touched on this, and honestly, I get it. A lot of Black people, myself included, feel the need to face things alone, likely because of deep-rooted issues tied to our history, upbringing, and the challenges of navigating predominantly non-Black spaces—especially when tokenism is involved.

I’ve been that person, and in many ways, I still am. My sister and mom often joke that Usopp feels like a Black guy with a lot of “white” friends. They also mention how Black men, especially those in subcultures like the hipster scene, often juggle two social circles. My cousin, a big One Piece fan, is the perfect example of this. Even Jacob Gibson, who plays Usopp in the live-action series, gives off a similar vibe.

I know this might come off as blunt or even as a generalization, but to me, Usopp reflects a part of the Black experience. He’s like the Lando (or Finn) in Star Wars, Link Hayes in The Mod Squad, Noah in Young Riders, and Marcellus in The Originals. He’s the Renee in Ally McBeal, Tucker in Danny Phantom, Black Panther in Avengers, Cyborg in Teen Titans, Gerald in Hey Arnold, James Rhodes in Iron Man, Chris Washington in Get Out, Ben in Night of the Living Dead, and Christopher in Scrubs. He’s that Black guy.

Maybe One Piece could show Usopp as more than just his race, but it’s hard to ignore the connection. And that’s okay. It’s something I’ve been reflecting on for a while, and I wanted to share it.

GIF credit

Usopp fan club (feel free to join)

[mcytegg]

you can love a character and still admit when they're wrong. i love roshambogames but can acknowledge his flaws (he has none) & can hold him accountable for his wrongdoings (he’s never done anything wrong in his life) & call him out for his actions (which are always correct)

[bamjammy]

ANYA IS THE MAIN CHARACTER! Here's why! (Spoilers ahead)

First things first I wanna clarify exactly what I mean when I say "main character". There is a difference between a protagonist and a main character, that being a protagonist is the perspective we see the story from, it is who the story follows. The main character, as I understand it, is the driving force of the story. They are the primary mover of the plot or progression. These roles often coincide, but not always. In the case of Mouthwashing, Jimmy is the protagonist (or Curly, you could argue, but I think we spend more time playing as Jimmy).

Anya, though we don't see the story through her eyes, is the defining factor that shapes the story. SHE is at the center of everything that happens, whether against her will or otherwise. Without Anya, the crew wouldn't have died. Without Anya, Jimmy never would've crashed the ship in the first place. Not that any of that is her fault, of course, in fact it's quite the opposite, just that without Anya, there would be no Mouthwashing.

Jimmy crashed the ship because he found out Anya was pregnant. Daisuke got hurt because Anya cracked under the pressure and locked herself in the medbay. Even though she is the first to die, everything that happened to her and even a couple of the actions she took left ripples on the story after her death.

If Daisuke didn't get hurt, Swansea wouldn't have snapped, and Jimmy wouldn't have killed him. (Not to mention all the visions he has of the "baby" even after her death)

That's why I think she is the main character, and her story is arguably the MOST important part of the game, and ignoring it is to ignore the very meaning of the game. Unfortunately I've seen quite a few fans fall into the trap of either not understanding the implications or actively ignoring them for personal comfort. I understand, it's an extremely difficult topic, but it is a crucial part of Mouthwashing as a whole that can't go unaddressed.

Anyways I love Anya I would die for her I would do anything for her unlike Curly <3

[animation-is-my-jam]

Tobey, you're so close to Becky...

How did you NOT hear that?!

The amount Becky was also caught up slipping up with her identity around Tobey of all people isn't much, but also more than enough.

Becky is so lucky that people of this city somehow lose their hearing whenever she whispers around them in close proximity. The audio engineer who works with the narrator should be given a raise/lhj.

And yep, it's not surprising that he's the one always trying to accuse her.

Unrelated, but this scene is interesting because yeah, of course, Tobey wouldn't really know what kind of person Wordgirl would like. Tobey has this dedicated crush, but I always got the feeling he doesn't actually know her well enough yet. I mean, he knows some stuff as we can see in. "Have you seen my remote", but thats because it's also things he enjoys (they have things in common), and I mean, how would she not be thrilled over dictionaries? But when it comes to other things, yeah, of course he wouldn't know. They are enemies. So he's putting these assumptions of what someone like Wordgirl would like, aka this emphasis of needing to be some superior person to match her. I have this whole Tobey analysis of how he changes his process of how to get Wordgirl to like him, and this method of thinking that he has to be the one to prove that he's smarter, stronger, or in this episode have "power". Well, Wordgirl is an alien superhero. He has this idea that she's above everyone (and uh, ig Becky herself in a way thinks this but shh thats for another time), and that's why he likes her because in his dumb ego mind, he's found his equal, but in this episode and some glimpses of others he also thinks that even he has to catch up to match her because he's just an earthling. So he either tries to prove he's smarter or stronger with his robots against her, or he tries to gain notoriety and power amongst other humans so she can be impressed as he thinks. Plus, how he says it. "Guys with power." Hmm, I'll repress my Tobey and gender analysis for now, but it's clear how he wants to just be perceived as this powerful dashing guy because probably he's been bullied a lot for his appearance and ofc his lack of physical strength. And we know he has the world's lowest self-esteem, and he just masks it all by putting on his typical arrogant facade where he thinks this is the reality. Cause sometimes he's not doing it just for Wordgirl to get her attention, he does it because he doesn't want to be seen as a failure or as lesser (he sometimes throws away his plans for it being about Wordgirl at first just to not lose). He's got issues with self-worth, doesn't he...

[vanesawye]

great critique of season 3 jancy by jexonite

[hopefull-mindset]

Komaeda’s Symbolic Death

:@kelperings

… I feel bad that it’s still not done, so I’ll give you a piece of what I had concerning his death itself. I have more about his death when it came to his intentions, but my shit post was about the symbolic meaning.

The song “Let Us Sing of a Hollow Victory”, also translated as “Sing the Empty Happiness”, plays three times during the second game. The first time had been in the warehouse where Komaeda’s corpse was found, presumably as a way to cover the sounds being made from the inside. A haunting choir of voices come together to sing to a tune befitting the day of judgment. His body is splayed out onto the floor and his mouth is taped over. Odin’s spear, Gungnir, fell into his chest prompted by his left hand. The right hand was stabbed by the support of Monokuma’s plush toy after cutting up his limbs.

The right hand is righteous and holds authority. The left hand is lesser in power and holds judgment. It’s why Lady Justice is usually depicted with a sword in her right and scales in her left. However, the left hand has associations with sinister means and, at times, luck due to its rarity of being someone’s dominant hand. By stabbing his right hand and tying his limbs, he’s forsaken his own human authority to his belief in fate guiding his path. On the other hand, Gungnir had been used in the previous game to punish the rule breaker, Mukuro Ikusaba, who had been in disguise as her sister, Junko Enoshima.

Komaeda’s use of it, regardless if it was to heighten the mystery of his death or a narrative reference to Ikusaba’s death, emphasizes the core of his purpose by dying. To punish both himself and the others for their grievous, irredeemable sins. Nagito Komaeda’s perception of ultimate hope is similar to his perception of the students of Hope’s Peak Academy. They are symbols without their humanity in consideration, made to bring about an idea before a person. In other words, something closer to death than death itself as no person can truly be such a thing with an intact ego.

The state his dead body is left in is reminiscent of crucifixion. The spear could be said to be an allusion to the Spear of Longinus, piercing the body of Jesus to confirm his death. Unfortunately, this is a false allusion as it is Odin’s spear piercing him. Jesus Christ, as a christian symbol born from sacrifice, is generally depicted as an advocate of salvation through redemption rather than condemnation. It is not punishment handed to those who have done wrong, it is forgiveness. And on the contrary, stabbing the good to get rid of the dirt with the support of Monokuma’s plush parallels the irony to Komaeda’s methods of achieving hope through the killing game.

Thank you for the positive response to my post… I appreciate it! There’s more about the lose of humanity and becoming a tool to an ideal in the Hajime section (what it truly means to lose your humanity and ego, no longer being able to accord yourself to bias in passivity) and briefly touched upon with Peko (the act of assimilating the bias of your ego into your “objective belief” as a tool to your beliefs, as it’s the only way to truly die for them).

Man, wait till what I have to say about Chiaki (actual tool) and Makoto (narrative idealistic tool)

Original Post