Blood on the Tracks - Vol. 2 Ch. 11 - Cross

[PossumT]

@SotiCoto So, you already know that you wouldn't think or react in the same way as a normal 14-year-old? Why does it surprise you so much that he'd go into shock and not know how to act?

 

[SotiCoto]

@PossumT : Because I'm not my only basis for reference, obviously. Abnormal as I may be, I've been aware of plenty of 14-year-olds in my life, including 5 younger siblings (or temporary step-siblings in the case of 2 of them)... plus oodles of others I knew when I went to school many many years ago. I've even known a few Japanese people... though the only thing I'll say there is that they weren't 14 (was in University I knew them).
So obviously the reason it is so bizarre is that real 14-year-olds don't behave like that. No, not even under extreme circumstances. It is unnatural behaviour.

 

[Nyaaa]

The mom was surprised there. She expected him to tell the truth. But no. He lied.

 

[DevLogger]

Folks, folks, folks...The 'gawk factor' that takes up several panels is a method of conveying suspense by the author; it is a commonplace tool and the amount of panels it takes up should not be related purely to real time.

Seiko tells her story, while 'reassuringly' placing her hand is on Seiichi's shoulder. She's doing two things here: first, she's reminding him that if she goes down, he will no longer be able to feel her presence, and also intoning to him exactly how the event (has to have) happened. Remember that Seiichi has already lied to his family before about what occured, so if he changes that scripted explanation that his mother just gave, he will also be in trouble; lying through omission of details "Shigeru fell" is still lying. It's likely that Seiko was prepared to be outed by her son, but everything that he 'does' for her only strengthens the control she has over him, and she bet on that instead. I've given up on my previous unreliable narrator theory; it's plain to see that Seiko has some mental issues going on, but she's not doing this simply out of revenge for past situations, she wants to protect her family at any cost.

 

[AnotherRat]

Damn, I really want Seiko's meat buns 🤤

 

[Thanastar]

@SotiCoto people have different responses, making up the following generally (and shaped heavily by traumas, upbringing, and so on)- fight, flight, fawn, and freeze. Not everyone is going to behave like you (common mind fallacy) and even you might- probably will- come to a point where there are no good options, no ones acceptable to you, or so on- and will probably freeze.

Clearly your response is to fight, mine is as well largely- that and flight- but that's not always the wisest thing. Freezing- facing a dilemma where I knew I couldn't afford to act- probably has saved me from being a murder, worse yet a murderer with witnesses- in one occasion. Freezing has saved me from getting completely fucked over (for example- think what would happen if your reaction were to fight- in the damn army) as well. And so on.

And I've learnt and continue to learn. There's things- many in fact- I wish I hadn't done in the "fight/confrontation" response- and I've learned to manage my reaction and let my head cool. Even fawning has its place- whether it be as the grease that relationships- romantic, platonic, business and whatnot- run on- or to divert attention. And if your head cools, or you just plain know either way you hate the person and they deserve every bit that's coming to them? If you "must" (or want to, for self-satisfaction) act all the better to do so when they think you're the last one to do it- all the better to do so without them perhaps ever even knowing it was you.

Making people your enemy is dangerous, and making them feel cornered by you more so- whether that be physical, material, social- as Sun Tzu wrote- "build a golden bridge for your enemies to retreat on." Logically it also makes more sense to either have people's self-interest align with your own or seem that way, also.

 

[RiverChamploo]

Even tho the mother needs to be held accountable for what she did I'm kinda glad Sei lied for her. It kinda adds an extra layer of complexity to their relationship. I said earlier that I believe Seiko's closeness to her son isn't only due to her love for her son, but because he's all she has since I believe she feels isolated from the rest of her family. And now I believe that Sei now feels the same. Although he has love for his cousin, he is no differentfrom the rest of the family, judgmental and at times malicious. His mother is the one who has always been there for him and went out of his way to provide him comfort. Like when his cousin nearly shoved him off a cliff it was his mother saved him just for the two of them to mocked and gaslit by the whole family INCLUDING HIS DAD. This condescending attitude that they both had to put up with brought the two of them closer in my eyes. And it's interesting to see hmSei try to protect his mother, just like how she's been protecting him.

 

[eirianrobotto]

It's night. Do ramen, at least.

Jk.
I understand, it's a storytelling device.

 

[ZeroPunchMan]

@EzWeeb : Of course they don't. Normal people are idiots beyond reason. Walking, noise-making cancer. Overinflated egos mired in collectivism without the personal responsibility nor the wits to justify any of it.
Normal people are the filth I have to wade through if I want to get anything done whatsoever.

Of course they don't think like that or they wouldn't be like that in the first place.
To claim they think at all would be gross exaggeration.

Dude.. what?

Whatever sippy cup YOU been drinking out of as a toddler was definitely not BPA-free.. paired with a metal straw consisting of 95% lead ☠️☠️☠️

Normal people have "overinflated egos"? Your awful stench leaking through my phone screen immediately reeks of classic [narcissistic, skinny basement-dweller Type-A].. exactly what you claim to hate as no one who doesn't have an ego of any sort refers to others as "normal/regular" people in a negative connotation.. implying you are superior in some way which is actually LAUGHABLE if we're talking about the likes of you. 🤣🤣🤣

Well, maybe you're at the very least superior at being an absolute gooner who contradicts himself with absolute confidence.

Not to mention.. I seriously doubt that even without "walking, noise-making cancer filth" supposedly getting in your way.. you wouldn't be getting much of anything done since you describe yourself as "too lazy" (let's ignore the part about you saying you would've been a school shooter). Just like lazy people anyways to make excuses for everything and blame society for their own incompetence and low willpower stopping themselves from getting shit done.

Get a life. Go outside and touch the tallest blade of grass you can find, which the many genuinely good people in this world have made sure is THERE.. and prevented the alternate timeline where there is no grass but a wasteland left behind by a nuclear war. Not exactly metaphorical as people like Stanislav Petrov and Vasili Arkhipov exist.

Maybe go to the gym if you unfortunately find yourself too stupid to be capable of anything else that is productive. Idk.

 

[ZeroPunchMan]

@sirflimflam : Two things here...
At this stage in the manga (which I later dropped for being complete horseshite), I wasn't convinced she had actually done anything of the sort. This is EXACTLY the sort of manga that engages in deceptive psychological shenanigans, and figured that he'd probably imagined it because he couldn't see clearly what was going on. At least there was sufficient cause for him to be uncertain about what he saw... which would lead one to naturally err on the side of "denial with suspicion".
Regardless, enough time has passed that if anything, fear would usually be motivating him to behave in a less conspicuous manner since he isn't sure what could come of drawing too much attention to himself.
Instead... he is just gawping like a complete retard... ages after the fact. 99% certain he IS brain-damaged here.

As to the other part... if my mother pushed someone off a cliff and I was the only witness... I'd probably just nod appraisingly and say "Nice." ... maybe a bit envious that she got to kill someone before I did ... But then I'm an extreme misanthrope and want most of humanity dead (my mother isn't, but that isn't really the point).
I mean... I don't even know you, but if you were standing on the edge of a cliff with nobody around, you can bet I'd kick you off and laugh as you fell... just because you were there.

Okay, I would agree with it being funny to kick someone off a cliff.. as long as the subject in question is a murderer, r@pist, abuser..

Or maybe some worthless filth like you who apparently thinks it would be funny to do that to an innocent person, according to your words.

Man, if we ever cross paths in real life.. you sure as hell better hope you're not anywhere near a cliff in the woods. Whether it's rocks, sticks, small boulders.. I have a habit of picking up and throwing things of no value down vertical heights for the sheer hell of it.

 

[ZeroPunchMan]

@SotiCoto people have different responses, making up the following generally (and shaped heavily by traumas, upbringing, and so on)- fight, flight, fawn, and freeze. Not everyone is going to behave like you (common mind fallacy) and even you might- probably will- come to a point where there are no good options, no ones acceptable to you, or so on- and will probably freeze.

Clearly your response is to fight, mine is as well largely- that and flight- but that's not always the wisest thing. Freezing- facing a dilemma where I knew I couldn't afford to act- probably has saved me from being a murder, worse yet a murderer with witnesses- in one occasion. Freezing has saved me from getting completely fucked over (for example- think what would happen if your reaction were to fight- in the damn army) as well. And so on.

And I've learnt and continue to learn. There's things- many in fact- I wish I hadn't done in the "fight/confrontation" response- and I've learned to manage my reaction and let my head cool. Even fawning has its place- whether it be as the grease that relationships- romantic, platonic, business and whatnot- run on- or to divert attention. And if your head cools, or you just plain know either way you hate the person and they deserve every bit that's coming to them? If you "must" (or want to, for self-satisfaction) act all the better to do so when they think you're the last one to do it- all the better to do so without them perhaps ever even knowing it was you.

Making people your enemy is dangerous, and making them feel cornered by you more so- whether that be physical, material, social- as Sun Tzu wrote- "build a golden bridge for your enemies to retreat on." Logically it also makes more sense to either have people's self-interest align with your own or seem that way, also.

Probably the most well-informed response I've seen in a while.. though unfortunately, I fear your patience and wisdom is spent on an individual who couldn't easily pour water out of a bottle with the instructions on the bottom.

Much less possesses the intelligence capacity to comprehend such complex topics.

"Not to talk with people although they can be talked with is to waste people. To talk with people although they can't be talked with is to waste words. A man of understanding does not waste people, but he also does not waste words."
- Confucius, The Analects