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Big Len ★

@biggestlen

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talent and expectations | arturo giles rant

I was really hesitant to post this here, but it has been a while since I've posted an analysis and I feel like Arturo isn't talked enough, so why not. This was written on a twt thread that was meant for me and one friend so it's a bit messy. Also take into account that we're lacking a lot of info on him so none of this is my definitive opinion and I'm sure my thoughts will change and develop when more DRDT releases. And like in all my rants, this is just my opinion and interpretation, and I 100% respect other different perspectives!

VERY messy, very incoherent thoughts and opinions.

Much like David, Teruko, Arei and Ace, among other DRDT characters, Arturo is another example of a person who closed themselves off emotionally to the point of losing empathy because they dont want to face their issues. I feel like the fandom fails to see this because he's the icky one, the one that makes people uncomfortable. There's nothing wrong with being uncomfortable with Arturo's actions, he IS a weirdo, but I think it's a shame that he isn't as understood and talked about as the other characters who fall into this. I would even say that this is a huge part of DRDT's message. You have to open yourself up to others and trust, you have to face your reality, and so on.

Arturo outright denies what happened with his sister because he can't handle the guilt that would come to admit that he had some sort of responsibility over his sister's suicide. If we take his word for it, his sister commited suicide because of him leaving to make his own life (although I don't doubt there's more to it), which he absolutely rejects and denies to the point of threatening Eden. This comes from the extreme distress the situation gives him. He often shows being emotionally closed off, being extremely evasive of his issues, and a lack of empathy constant through the game that is in no small part because of this. Because if you hate and reject others and don't even stop to consider the effect your words has on them, then your mind is at peace and you don't have to face these flaws. It's like they don't even exist- just like Arturo himself says, they're all below human to him. In return, he seems deeply affected by J's rejection and attitude, so it's easy to assume that he is generally affected by other people's actions, just shuts that down more often than not. Arturo is a mess, he's full of contradictions, but this is not all that surprising considering his life until now.

We know that all DRDT characters are over 18, but Arturo is specifically 18. As far as I know, Min has mentioned being 18 on her bonus episode, so considering a few years should have passed, she is probably above 18, or exactly 18. Either way, this makes Arturo one of the youngest, if not the youngest in the cast. And yet, I feel like the fandom fails to see this sometimes and always expect better from him— which is another focal point of his character, in my opinion, and the next point i want to go into. Just like the meme says, I feel like a lot of people have fallen for the character's facade that's meant to be dismantled by the viewer, much like David's lies (I will keep bringing him up bc he's the easiest to compare, but this applies to many other characters, which makes me believe even more that it's the case for Arturo too).

I believe the point of Arturo's characterization is that your talent doesnt translate to actual ability when faced with certain situations, and also, that intelligence doesnt translate to maturity. This is more easily seen in David and his complex relationship with his speech persona and the world as a whole, but that's a different topic that many people have already delved into and not the point of this rant. (I will sidetrack for a second to say that one of my favorite things about DRDT is how you can make some sort of connection between almost any duo of characters, it's really interesting to me how they're all just constantly projecting their issues onto each other despite how much they have in common). But we can still see it on Arturo, especially with his attitude during the trial when he doesn't see himself as able to save Levi, of course he doesn't, he's young and doesn't have the type of experience the others assume he has. Adding to this that Arturo started studying ONLY plastic surgery since he was 12, it's easy to assume that he hasn't grown up normally, even more if he did actually leave his house to pursue his studies. I believe that Arturo's immaturity (despite his intelligence) comes from here.

Part of me hopes that Arturo doesn't get a redemption arc like Arei, I hope he doesnt get redeemed at all, because a lot of people can only sympathise when a character shows the specific emotions they can sympathise with (fear, sadness and regret, mostly) but as soon as they break that mold, there's a lack of willingness to sympathise and understand them (I have a separate rant on my twt priv about how characters who display anger instead of sadness are way more disliked and misunderstood, if anyone wants me to post it I'll think about it, although it's even more personal than this one). I think it'd be more interesting if he takes a different direction, although I'm definitely very curious to see how will Ace's words affect him in the future, and whether Levi lives or dies.

Lastly, although obviously DRDT is a fangan and not an official game, I think it's important to remember one of the core aspects of Danganronpa when discussing DRDT, which is how talents affect people's lives and personalities. This is easily seen in many DRDT characters so I won't go too into it aside from Arturo. We have characters whose whole personalities were shaped around their talent (Junko being the biggest example, but many others come to mind), and I believe Arturo is another example of this that goes unnoticed. Veronika herself has theorized that Arturo's initial slight aversion towards ugliness, before it was an actual issue, was worsened by his talent. Obviously Veronika isn't Arturo, but judging by his reaction and her talent to pinpoint people's deepest issues, we can assume this is true to an extent. This also connects to Arturo's quote about Mai: ''A girl who sees the beauty in everyone''. So there's definitely more to his personality than meets the eye, and as ''weird'' (i hate the use of that word esp in fandom spaces) as he is, I don't think he's all that worse or hard to comprehend than the rest.

My original rant stopped here so I don't really know how to end it. But I hope it was interesting!

Taking the tiniest break from Kai and P:EG to spread the Tetro Danganronpa agenda...

Please go on Youtube and listen (yes, LISTEN) to Tetro Danganronpa Pink! It's an incredible audio drama killing game with awesome characters.

Anyway Yanagi and Hayashi are my favs. I really like Wada and a few others but these two specifically need more love and I wanted to draw them. Should I have??? posted this in the discord??? I always seem to silently haunt discords???

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i've decided we're chilling this friday! this will almost certainly match the tone of today's episodes (can you tell i wrote this yesterday!!!!)

look how relaxed we are! everything is good!

[spoilers for this friday ahead]

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one of my favourite things to do these days is pick one character from the drdt cast and put them into p:eg. because it's like putting a hydrogen bomb in a class of coughing babies. and the situations it causes are incredible. you put Arei in there and she swipes Eva's console in the trial and puts an end to the argument armament before it even begins. you put Veronika in there and she's directly in Diana's face going "hey Wolfgang's mom looks a lot like you do you think he saw the resemblance in his final moments ?" you put Teruko in there and she's straight up changing the series of events that occur. it's great you should do it too

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