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whizzerd
Since: Oct, 2010
15th Apr, 2019 04:59:20 AM
they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob
Scorpion451
(Edited uphill both ways)
15th Apr, 2019 08:08:08 PM
Please Wake Up is the more tragic version of this, often accompanied by Died in Your Arms Tonight
When Character 1's friend, family member, etc. is dead, but they attempt to interact with their corpse (Character 2) as if everything is normal. This would include Character 1 continuing to carry out day-to-day activities with Character 2, such as playing a board game or going somewhere with them.
Despite Character 2 not giving any acknowledgement or response to Character 1's actions, Character 1 will most likely find workarounds to compensate for this; one example being when Character 2 is given food but doesn't touch it, Character 1 will feed them (even opting to move Character 2's jaw to make them chew and swallow). Or, in extreme cases, Character 1 may even "puppet" Character 2, moving their mouth and doing an impression of their voice as to act out Character 2 delivering a verbal response. Character 1 will then respond as themselves accordingly.
There are two possibilities as to why Character 1 is acting as if Character 2 is still alive...
1: Character 1 is unaware that Character 2 is actually dead. They may believe that Character 2 is simply acting aloof or so.
2: Character 1 IS aware that Character 2 is dead, but is extremely unwilling to let go. In such a case, Character 1 will pretend and act as if Character 2 is still alive, with the intent of giving themselves the illusion that everything is normal. As described above, they will go as far as to acting out how Character 2's would respond.
A great example of this behavior would be in the Salad Fingers series, as Salad Fingers continuously acts towards inanimate objects/dead bodies as if they were animate, regardless of whether or not he knows the truth.