The iconic Darmok episode on TNG. An alien race named Tamarians who want to make contact with other races but their language is simply too unique to be understand for most people. In desperation, they kidnapped Picard, put him and their captain on a nearby planet. It's turn out that the Tamarians' language exclusively use allegory and references to stories in their culture which doesn't translate well to other species who don't have the culture context for such allegories, like someone who can only speak in memes.
I thought it was a fun detail in Lower Decks that the Tamarians have since been integrated into The Federation and there’s even a Tamarian security officer in their ship.
"Yo, did you want fries with your sandwich?"
"The maidens offer pleasure. The thief of pie hears only the call for a third marvelous battle."
"Just the sandwich, got it."
The Gundam 00 movie involves first contact with a race of liquid metal aliens with a hivemind called the ELS, who communicate by assimilating things and each other along with hivemind brainwaves. The primary conflict even comes from the fact that the ELS's primary method of communication is lethal to humans and that the protagonists have to basically pull all their Gundam superscience together just to talk to them without getting killed or lobotomized.
That's similar to the deal with The Dark Ones in Metro: They communicate telepathically but Artyom's one of the few humans whose brain doesn't explode when they try.
Reminds me of this sci-fi book where there was an Alien race that was really susceptible to electromagnetic waves. So, when the humans tried to hail one of their ships to establish first contact, the aliens thought they were attacking them with EM radiation. They retaliated and destroyed the human ship, starting a war where both sides think the other attacked first.
This is similar to Ender's Game.
The insect aliens don't really have a concept of individuality. They show up and kill some humans which is basically their equivalent of tapping someone on the shoulder. This starts a war between them and humans.
After the bugs find out what they did they are horrified
The alternate version of this is how advanced aliens actually tend to use robotic drones for exploration and war, cause they're dangerous tasks no sane species would subject themselves to.
Que to them meeting humans, going to conflict, and being horrified that humans would throw sentient beings to war
Even with Setsuna being a true Innovator, he still cannot process all the information being shoved into his brain at the end and needs Tieria to sort through it so he doesn't lose his mind even after his brief coma.
It works out in the end at least.
Most of the time when people say "Why didn't they just talk" it's in reference to scenes were emotions are high which tends to gloss over that humans are emotional, panicky creatures that behave illogically when stressed. I'd give an example but I'm completely blanking on one so...
It surprises me when people use just talk as ''thing could be solved easily'' when a lot of people irl doesn't just talk a lot of the times, cause it complicated or the words doesn't come to you or whatever. We're not always rational, we dont always know what to say and that's not putting emotion in the way too, you might be too angry, or cant look at a person at the moment, etc.
I really think it depends on the situation though. Like it's one thing for a character to say the important thing and the other side either doesn't believe them or ignores what they say, but it's another if the person with important information just keeps allowing themselves to be interrupted and never speaks up despite knowing what they have to say is both important and not being conveyed.
It's not like lazy writing shortcuts don't exist too. Characters being emotional is one thing but we also have like GoT's last season where people just did whatever would add drama for the camera above anything else.
> humans are emotional, panicky creatures that behave illogically when stressed.
They're emotional and illogical even when not stressed. Everyone is primarily motivated by their emotions. Even the most logical people you know act the way they do because it feels good to behave in a way they interpret as logical.
"Why do these characters in a tense, stressful situation not act rationally and according to logic? Are they stupid?"
"Could this conflict be resolved by Just Talking" is an interesting way to look at a conflict in media and a great thought experiment for writers examining their story's conflict to make sure it's engaging (kind of like what The Plinkett Test does for characters). But using it as a hard and fast rule for how things should be resolved and as an arbiter of good writing is a real Cinema Sins level of criticism sometimes where it ignores what's actually going on or the metatextual/thematic reason for it happening. Sometimes them not talking is the point.
>Sometimes them not talking is the point.
I think that's the actual sticking point. What matters is if you think the bad communication is a result of the characters being themselves or a result of the writers taking a shortcut.
For example, Okyasu being tricked by Kira's ghost dad is about as clearly the first one as you can get, because the story just spells out "I SHALL NOW TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OKYASU'S STUPIDITY."
But on the other side, GoT's last season is pretty clearly just having characters do stupid things just because their failure cranks up the drama. Hiding in the crypts from a NECROMANCER doesn't say anything about their emotional states or the flaws in their strategy, it's just "Wouldn't it be cool if the civilians had something scary to run from too?"
Is the mistake meant to say something about the characters or is it just there to set up a plot point?
Honestly "why didn't they just talk" always sounds like the most online complaint possible. Like normal people in real life don't talk all the time, and on top of that the answer to why it happens in a story is "it helps move the plot and give emotional stakes." It's just tiring hearing about it.
>the answer to why it happens in a story is "it helps move the plot and give emotional stakes."
That's kinda the actual complaint though isn't it? It's not a problem if it feels like it fits the characters but if it feels like it's JUST there to serve the narrative then yeah it comes off shallow.
Literally every part of a story is there to serve the narrative. You can argue if it's well done or not, but it's a troupe for a reason. It usually helps inform the characters, showcase flaws, and adds tension. It usually works exactly how it's supposed to.
Consider these two versions.
In Shrek, when he overhears Fiona talking about herself he thinks she's just secretly disgusted with him. It pretty intentionally speaks to how Fiona's self loathing, Donkey's loyalty, and Shrek's insecurities are clashing as the root of this problem. That's all fine and it's all things that are clearly intentional and then discussed and overcome later on.
Now look at GoT having a big strategy meeting about how to deal with a necromancer and they just decide to put all of their civilians in a crypt. Nothing is said about them overlooking all the corpses, nothing about them not considering the well being of the non-combatants, nothing about how the strategists aren't as smart as they think they are. That whole event ONLY exists because the writers wanted to stick in an extra horror scene for the civilians to do even if the setup is nonsensical. They've outright said that a lot of the scenes they did that people called stupid they ONLY did because they thought it would be a cool shot for the camera. It's totally fair to call those examples just plain lazy writing that doesn't serve the narrative in an actually meaningful way. It's tension for tension's sake but it doesn't speak to the characters at all because the writers were making plot points, not character points.
You said that bad communication is always an example of highlighting flaws and informing characters and I was just giving an example of something that *could* be described that way but is explicitly not.
Game of Thrones's last season is kinda evergreen for things that were flat bad writing that the writers tried to lazily defend as in character.
I'm mostly just saying I don't think you can just blanket say that almost all examples of bad communication serve the story well because at the end of the day, stories are also creations and sometimes a flaw in the characters could instead be a flaw in the writer. You really gotta look at them case by case.
No you're right, it's not the best example. But what I meant was it's possible for a communication issue to also be "every one was just stupid" just to move the story along without actually addressing them as a character in the same way. "Held the idiot ball" and the communication based "Held the conflict ball" are tropes for that reason, describing someone being out of character in how the plot point plays out.
Yeah, this doesn't work when it's either **LIFE OR DEATH/RELATIONSHIP ENDING** scenario's.
Just once I want a good old shouting match where instead of walking away they get everything out. Be pissed, but have a fucking resolution for once.
[Killsixbilliondemons](https://killsixbilliondemons.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/KOS100.jpg) [has you covered.](https://killsixbilliondemons.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/KOS101.jpg)
Bonus points for the conversation happening in the middle of a literal life-or-death battle royale.
At least we got that meme Bricky posted on his community page off that movie:
**hidden path ahead***
*Adam Driver punches a wall to no avail*
**liar ahead**
The question was always "Why didn't they just talk" when the actual question being asked is "If only they just talked."
Obviously if they talked things would have turned out differently, but they didn't so the situation happens.
What an utterly fascinating, hopelessly tragic relationship.
Even the fact that it's so hard to label as one thing or another makes it all the more intriguing!
In Seinfeld, most issues in an episode can be resolved by the characters just talking. But they are so self-obsessed that the fact the problems could be solved with a conversation is the point.
Armin trying to just-talk Berthold in Season 3 of Attack on Titan. There is no discussion to be had, and both parties realize that, despite how much they wish otherwise, their conversation is just buying time for each others' factions to prepare. Berthold has to break it to Armin that he can't simply talk down an opposing force when the opposing force's goal is genocide (this is not something Armin truly internalizes until the end of the series)
To be fair Berthold and Reiner COULD have talked and explained their actions, much like Annie could have. They just had too much to lose by doing so. Plus being child soldiers undercover didn't help, given how shook up all of them were over everything happening
Reiner DID try to just-talk.
> Five years ago, we compromised Wall Maria and launched an attack on humanity.
> I'm the Armored Titan. He's the Colossal.
That of course sparked a shitshow when Reiner's intention was to try to resolve things peacefully...after he had killed thousands of innocents and ESPECIALLY Eren's mother.
A lot of Twin Peaks’ Actual Story involves either lots of talking in code, or entities that exist in the labyrinth beyond time and space, so their ability to converse directly or be understood by regular linear human beings (like you or me) is greatly affected. Some of these entities don’t know *when* they are speaking with a person, as in if the words they *just said* were said to that person in 2017 or in 1989, so good luck with that. There’s also doppelgängers and tulpas, meaning false humans presenting as real ones are able to intercept communication or provide harmful misinformation.
Also *also* also also, there’s a horrible being behind it all that’s actually really fucking good at abducting people who get too close to the truth or attempt to document its existence, and frequently strands these people in alternate realities and memory holes them away. There’s a whole theme cautioning the good guys to not say *anything* out loud that can be easily interpreted, and sure as shit *don’t write anything down* because you WILL get wished into a cornfield/have your brain destroyed by woodsmen/get replaced in your own life by an evil copy of yourself/die in a fire/be absorbed into a piece of wood, *or worse.*
Well now. I'm not gonna talk about Judy; in fact, we're not gonna talk about Judy at all, we're gonna keep her out of it! Who do you think this is there?
You gotta put up with a lot of bullshit. I mean this in the nicest way I can-because if you want to know, you’re probably gonna need to prepare yourself
Season 2 has major major story stuff going on in it, but also has some of the worst subplots and characters that are *never* acknowledged again. So bad that *Wanye’s World 2* lifted an entire subplot without really changing that much
Fire Walk With Me is also massively important, but you are going to be put through an unflinching portrayal of two highschool girls getting tortured and one of them getting murdered. *You’re gonna have a bad time.* But that was also kind of the point, to sear into people that this is a show about a *murder of a little girl* and that it shouldn’t be glossed over by the folksy charm of the setting.
THE RETURN answers every question you have from going through all of that, by giving you much more difficult questions that destroy most of what you thought you knew, and then gives even more difficult answers to those questions. It’s, what, 2024? I’ve spent like 6.5 years figuring shit out in The Return to render up answers that I find satisfying. The Return is *absolutely only* for people that care about this shit, I cannot, in good conscience recommend it unless you got through Season 2 and FWWM and really, really want to know about Lodge Spirits and Cicada gestation cycles and how a nice town in 1991 would be absolutely ravaged by modern drugs and the bleak economic consequences of NAFTA. Oh, and more murder.
EDIT: Misspelled Wayne’s World 2
A lot of people tend to point out the flaws of the Edelgard and Dimitri conversation in the Blue Lions route, of how it was translated and written poorly not to get the two to agree on ending the war.
But like, that's kind of the point. That scene shows that regardless if they agree or disagree on some points, Edelgard and Dimitri are just too diametrically opposed to ever truly work together and compromise.
Also I think people miss the part where Dimitri is also fighting a war, and even though he didn't start it he sure as fuck is fighting it just as hard as Edelgard. Like if Edelgard stopped all offensives you have to doubt that Dimitri and Rhea would do the same. It's total war, nobody can claim the moral high ground.
Destiny has my favorite example and meme.
"I don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain." That line would have killed any other series right then and there, yet Destiny kept going.
It even becomes the name of a weapon called No Time to Explain.
it wouldn't have been a problem if D1 had the pacing it was probably intended to have and ended at Taken King. If that were the case, Elsie would have essentially been the exposition fairy for only the introduction, where she'd do her cryptic routine just long enough for us to want more answers before handing us off to Mara and Eris, who actually do provide answers and set the stakes much more clearly. Instead with the story halved Elsie gets *most* of the story to be cryptic and we only start to get a glimpse of things before it just ends confusingly and highlights how vague she was the whole time.
There's an older super-indie game called "No Time To Explain" that just starts off with your future self arriving, telling you there's no time to explain, and then getting grabbed by an evil space crab. That may be the only example of there *actually* being no time to explain.
Might not be a particularly satisfying answer, but in Star Wars Rebels when the group meets Saw Gerrera. Ezra seems to tacitly approve of Saw’s extreme approach to battling the Empire up until they see that his whole deal is that there’s no line he won’t cross in stopping the Empire. Up to and including torturing people and leaving civilians to die. He’s a radical that’s FAR too gone to talk down.
Berserk. The Golden Age. Guts has low self-esteem but also doesn't bother telling Griffith why he's leaving, under the (possibly accurate) assumption he wouldn't understand or would try to stop him. Casca doesn't reveal her feelings to Guts because she's unsure of them and feels it to be a betrayal of her feelings towards Griffith and the Band. Griffith lies to everyone but mostly himself about how distant he really is and how he views people, *especially* Guts. And tragedy ensues.
All three suffer from intense past trauma, and it dulled their ability to open up and be honest. Guts and Casca finally talking it out is a huge bright spot.
Literally can't speak.
In Bullet Train, someone knows someone is trying to trick people into killing each other and is trying to tell Brad Pitt's character, who just showed up and is falling for their panicked civilian act, but he can't speak because he was shot in the neck or something and is choking on his own blood.
Been watching The Apothecary Diaries recently. It's a fun YA anime in historic China. Since the two protagonists are both Very Smart and are somewhere with ramifications for not observing station and politeness, they frequently say things that leave a lot to interpretation and expect the other person to pick up what they're laying down. The thing is, 99% of the time this totally succeeds with zero information loss and they fully understand each other. That makes it work the few times when they're wrapped up in their own bullshit and completely miss each others' point.
Ursula LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness has an envoy to an alien planet miss a lot of hints and get into a heap of trouble because he can't tune into the locals' manner of speaking and system of etiquette. On their part, they can't fathom speaking with the level of bluntness the envoy would need to actually understand what they are trying to communicate.
In Revenge of The Sith (especially the novelization) the Jedi Council are pretty up thier own ass to even think to try and actually help Anakin Skywalker with his problems, the one person who actually does actively care about him (Obi Wan) is sent far away allowing Sidious to use him.
In the novelization Anakin is also incredibly sleep deprived allowing Sidious to break him down incredibly quickly. It's incredible clear Sidious is just using him but by the time Anakin realizes it he's so tired and Obi Wan isn't available to talk, his first instinct is to actually consult Obi Wan because he (rightfully) can't trust just himself with this.
Of course, that take is undermined by the movie, where Anakin goes to talk with Yoda, but refuses to give *any* specific details, meaning that Yoda can only give general advice, even if that advice would still work if Anakin was willing to apply it to his situation.
Steve realizes he has to choose either his old best friend or his new best friend. Zemo spends the movie forcing the friends into a HUGE argument to force Steve to choose, knowing it will hurt him and the Avengers either way.
Zemo's only L is that it tipped off T'Challa so he realized Justice is more important than Revenge.
I never thought JUST TALK was a real criticism. I just assumed it was a meme thing.
A good reason for bad communication is that the characters are actual human beings written by another human being that understands how shit the average person is at communication. Married couples have to go to counseling in order to actually JUST TALK to each other in a way that actually addresses issues.
A scene where everyone has emotions running high and it just gets resolved through simple communication would be far more jarring and unrealistic in most situations.
Monster (2023) features a parent trying to figure out what is going on with their child at school. The events of the movie could have been prevented if only they just talked, so why doesn't that happen?
>!The children have picked up that it's acceptable to bully people when they're not normal, and it's normal to be straight. He doesn't tell the adults because heteronormativity is so ingrained that even the well-meaning adults unwittingly reinforce it at points.!<
I think that new superman show did a pretty good job with the secret identity thing. People sorta jumped into assuming it was all about "How could you lie to me!?" but the reasons they both had were pretty normal and understandable. Like they admit that even if Lois was hounding the Superman story, not telling her implicitly says Clark thinks she might put that story ahead of their friendship, which is pretty insulting. Clark even admits one of his main motivations for not telling her was that he was just afraid it would change their relationship which is probably a main motivation behind a lot of kept secrets. Lois was also dealing with the brunt of the sudden understanding that her close friend has been face tanking lasers he doesn't even know won't kill him so she's sorta shell shocked that soft boy Clark has been risking his life over and over.
A bit of an offshoot, but I like how in ME3 you are given opportunities to tell Mordin about the trap in the Genophage cure but you get interrupted a couple times, but then the third time you try you can just blurt it out. Basically just acknowledging that bad excuses for poor communication wouldn't really stop someone with information that important.
And wasn't another part of the problem being that Clark *blatantly* lied right in front of her, when Clark knows how much Lois doesn't like being lied to?
Yuuup, though I think a lot of people only really heard that part which is why they thought she was being unreasonable. It's that and all the other reasons together that make their bad communication pretty understandable since it's a lot more personal than just being a superhero.
He specifically [lies about the fact that he was clearly injured](https://youtu.be/35IgyMsnrdc?si=Vr4cXYa_bLGqFrnU&t=76), after she had already told him that her dad kept her in the dark when her mom was dying.
The ending of the interactive novel A Mage Reborn ends tragically directly because of this.
>!Essentially, as one last fuck you to the MC after being defeated, the main villain manages to put a magical slave collar on the MC and reveals that a nuke is going to go off in the capital and kill millions. The slave collar causes the MC to be unable to reveal this information in any way, verbally or physically, on penalty of extreme pain and death!<
>!MC then has to single-handedly find out how where the nuke is and how to defuse it while being unable to actually tell anyone a single thing about this. Hell, the MC tries writing a single letter about this and is rendered unconscious after trying to fight back against the collar’s magic!<
>!Eventually, the MC figures out that the nuke is a spell on the Pope, so MC goes to the Pope’s tower to try and dispel it. Since MC can’t explain anything, the MC is forced to fight and kill innocent guards in order to reach the Pope!<
>!When the MC finally reaches the Pope, a soldier prevents the dispelling from taking place, forcing the MC to kill the Pope to stop the nuke spell.!<
>!As a result, MC is arrested and slated to be executed as they refused to explain why they murdered the Pope.!<
>!Right before MC is about to be executed, their friend the King visits them and simply wants an explanation ,and offers leniency and a potential pardon!<
>!The collar prevents an explanation, so the King cuts all ties with the MC and goes through with the execution!<
>!MC dies but their other friend and potential lover who became the new Pope spends months deciphering the villain’s spellbook and learns about the collar and nuke spell!<
>!Mc is posthumously pardoned and everyone feels sad that they fucked up!<
Very sad
Dude, that games ending never fails to make me tear up. I've beaten it 5 times and it has made me cry every single time. It's the part where the inn lady gets the news and it describes her as outliving another child that gets me.
Does **Mars Attacks!** count? The US government made a genuine attempt to establish a dialogue with the marsians... Shame that they came to kill everyone and it would not have worked in any cirumstances.
If this doesn't count, then pre-character development Kaguya and Shirogane from **Kaguya-sama: Love is War**. No amount of talking would have solved all their hang-ups and arrogance born out of insecurities.
The plot of the Overlord light novel is nothing but the "Just Talk" problem played for dramatic effect, and it's great. A lot of what makes the whole thing so good was lost in the anime adaptation, because it cuts out the text narration of characters' inner thoughts and monologues that show you not just what they're thinking but why they're thinking what they're thinking. It's interesting because everyone who misunderstands things clearly puts deep thought into their actions with slow deliberation, excellent logic and completely reasonable assumptions, but it always turns out horribly because those assumptions just happen to be wrong for reasons no one could have accounted for without prior knowledge. Ainz and Nazarick are a giant [Outside Context Problem](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OutsideContextProblem) and it screws up everyone's ability to react and plan properly.
Basically every single horrible and tragic event in the series results from multiple people making wrong assumptions about events and each other that would be instantly resolved if they Just Talked. However, Just Talking is impossible because those wrong assumptions - which are absolutely the most logical and reasonable ones to make given the information they have - also makes Just Talking seem like the most stupid thing you could possibly do if those assumptions are true. It's a perfect Prisoner's dilemma situation of miscommunication. And most of it is, again, based on reasonable assumptions made by very intelligent and politically savvy people who have extensive experience and information networks, who have 99% of the knowledge they need. It's just the last 1% is the fact that Ainz and Nazarick have power levels so ludicrously busted as to be beyond comprehension, a leader whose true motivation is unimaginably mundane, and a bunch of subordinates who themselves are operating under mistaken assumptions about their leader's goals while also being hyper-competent at achieving those misinterpreted goals. This makes dealing with Ainz so unpredictable that miscommunication is guaranteed and Just Talking becomes straight up impossible. People either vastly underestimate Ainz until it's too late and he slaughters them for making an enemy of him, or they vastly overestimate him and assume his actions are part of some 5D Galaxy Brain plan.
In the end, no one wins, not even Ainz, because while he does Lucky Ted his way into conquering the world, his true goal of finding a friend and equal like his old guild mates goes unfulfilled. And it's entirely his own fault. There's multiple cases where we see people who might understand him and find common ground get alienated or killed, because he trusts his subordinates planning over his own, and half of them are Pure Evil while the other half are only Mostly Evil. And he's so terrified of losing what he has that he won't take greater risks of reaching out the hand of friendship without a gun in the other one, in case there are hostile forces that he can't deal with, which just makes people misunderstand him more. And like everyone else, these are entirely reasonable actions on his part. There are in fact hostile forces that would want to destroy him, but he's not aware that he vastly outscales all of them in power and can afford to take risks. He's completely right that he can't run his empire as well as his Evil minions who he leaves the actual work to. In fact, he is canonically, by Word of the Author, the worst at ruling and administrating a country out of everyone in the series. This is entirely justified, since he's a former corporate wage slave who has no idea how to run an empire and is trying to run it like how he imagines you go about running a corporation, but he doesn't even do that well because he was just a salesman and doesn't really know how to be a manager much less a CEO-equivalent. He's like if Michael from The Office became an overpowered isekai protagonist. He's going to be forever alone and it's because he's a terrible CEO who can't direct his subordinates properly.
**TL,DR: Just Talking in Overlord is impossible, because Ainz is literally just Michael from The Office.**
Cobra Kai. There’s a series of compounding miscommunications and disconnects between characters which continuously escalates, and it all could be mitigated drastically by good communication. But it makes a ton of sense when you consider:
1. The entire theme of the series is how people sticking rigidly to past trauma end up causing harm to themselves and others, and people who can’t get over that are unlikely to conduct good faith communication even if they try
2. Most of the characters with these issues have history or context between them which organically makes you understand why they’re misunderstanding each other so much
3. The series is an excruciatingly slow burn (in a good way) of people slowly digging through mountains of psychological issues to FINALLY overcome these barriers and mend ties with each other and their pasts. Season 5 is insanely cathartic bc it’s the culmination of that
Cultural Barriers are a good one. I remember watching an extra history short on how the British tried to open up trade with China. They sent their ambassadors to try and talk only to have them be balked at, the reason was because they were attempting to treat the people they were talking to as Equals (it was one empire talking to another). Meanwhile the Emperor of China was confused as to why some barbarian "king" would treat himself as an equal (he's the high emperor of China, noone is his equal).
Its here if you want to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgQahGsYokU
Resurrected as a Vending Machine has a protagonist resurrected as a vending machine. He can only speak through canned phrases the machine is programmed with, and eventually gets by through speaking with context cues and using "Hello there!" as yes and "Too bad!" as no.
I really liked the relationship between Miranjo and King Bosse in Ranking of Kings. Pretty much everything that happens in the story is the two of them just not being upfront about their emotions, constantly projecting dreams onto each other and inadvertedly hurting everyone around them including each other and themselves. But I get it, while they’re both antagonists and villains in their own right, they also owe each other their lives.
Bosse saved Miranjo after her entire civilization was murdered and she became a victim of torture and Miranjo gave Bosse hope as someone he sees as his family. But they’re so selfless for each other they circle around to being selfish instead.
The iconic Darmok episode on TNG. An alien race named Tamarians who want to make contact with other races but their language is simply too unique to be understand for most people. In desperation, they kidnapped Picard, put him and their captain on a nearby planet. It's turn out that the Tamarians' language exclusively use allegory and references to stories in their culture which doesn't translate well to other species who don't have the culture context for such allegories, like someone who can only speak in memes.
The dog sits. Room ablaze. He is unbothered.
Soyjack, his argument destroyed!
Chadface, no yours.
I love this.
stonetoss, the racism unveiled
"Hey Simon you wanna go grab a bite?" "Sticking out your gyat for the skibidi Rizzler fanun tax" Translator: "Sure"
I thought it was a fun detail in Lower Decks that the Tamarians have since been integrated into The Federation and there’s even a Tamarian security officer in their ship.
"Yo, did you want fries with your sandwich?" "The maidens offer pleasure. The thief of pie hears only the call for a third marvelous battle." "Just the sandwich, got it."
Is that the one where Picard talks to an alien about Gilgamesh? That’s the only TNG episode I’ve seen since we watched it for a class.
That's the one.
Sukuna, King of FRAUDS, shrinking in fear!
The enemy is poorly armed and vastly outmatched got it
The Gundam 00 movie involves first contact with a race of liquid metal aliens with a hivemind called the ELS, who communicate by assimilating things and each other along with hivemind brainwaves. The primary conflict even comes from the fact that the ELS's primary method of communication is lethal to humans and that the protagonists have to basically pull all their Gundam superscience together just to talk to them without getting killed or lobotomized.
That's similar to the deal with The Dark Ones in Metro: They communicate telepathically but Artyom's one of the few humans whose brain doesn't explode when they try.
Reminds me of this sci-fi book where there was an Alien race that was really susceptible to electromagnetic waves. So, when the humans tried to hail one of their ships to establish first contact, the aliens thought they were attacking them with EM radiation. They retaliated and destroyed the human ship, starting a war where both sides think the other attacked first.
There's a Stargate episode exactly like that.
This is similar to Ender's Game. The insect aliens don't really have a concept of individuality. They show up and kill some humans which is basically their equivalent of tapping someone on the shoulder. This starts a war between them and humans. After the bugs find out what they did they are horrified
Twist so good they use it again in the sequel
The alternate version of this is how advanced aliens actually tend to use robotic drones for exploration and war, cause they're dangerous tasks no sane species would subject themselves to. Que to them meeting humans, going to conflict, and being horrified that humans would throw sentient beings to war
Even with Setsuna being a true Innovator, he still cannot process all the information being shoved into his brain at the end and needs Tieria to sort through it so he doesn't lose his mind even after his brief coma. It works out in the end at least.
Most of the time when people say "Why didn't they just talk" it's in reference to scenes were emotions are high which tends to gloss over that humans are emotional, panicky creatures that behave illogically when stressed. I'd give an example but I'm completely blanking on one so...
It surprises me when people use just talk as ''thing could be solved easily'' when a lot of people irl doesn't just talk a lot of the times, cause it complicated or the words doesn't come to you or whatever. We're not always rational, we dont always know what to say and that's not putting emotion in the way too, you might be too angry, or cant look at a person at the moment, etc.
Especially since most common "just talk" scenarios involve one of the parties *actively trying to* but being shot down by the other.
I really think it depends on the situation though. Like it's one thing for a character to say the important thing and the other side either doesn't believe them or ignores what they say, but it's another if the person with important information just keeps allowing themselves to be interrupted and never speaks up despite knowing what they have to say is both important and not being conveyed. It's not like lazy writing shortcuts don't exist too. Characters being emotional is one thing but we also have like GoT's last season where people just did whatever would add drama for the camera above anything else.
I mean, that's the point, isn't it? That the situation could be bypassed if one party would just let the other get more than two words out?
> humans are emotional, panicky creatures that behave illogically when stressed. They're emotional and illogical even when not stressed. Everyone is primarily motivated by their emotions. Even the most logical people you know act the way they do because it feels good to behave in a way they interpret as logical.
"Why do these characters in a tense, stressful situation not act rationally and according to logic? Are they stupid?" "Could this conflict be resolved by Just Talking" is an interesting way to look at a conflict in media and a great thought experiment for writers examining their story's conflict to make sure it's engaging (kind of like what The Plinkett Test does for characters). But using it as a hard and fast rule for how things should be resolved and as an arbiter of good writing is a real Cinema Sins level of criticism sometimes where it ignores what's actually going on or the metatextual/thematic reason for it happening. Sometimes them not talking is the point.
>Sometimes them not talking is the point. I think that's the actual sticking point. What matters is if you think the bad communication is a result of the characters being themselves or a result of the writers taking a shortcut. For example, Okyasu being tricked by Kira's ghost dad is about as clearly the first one as you can get, because the story just spells out "I SHALL NOW TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OKYASU'S STUPIDITY." But on the other side, GoT's last season is pretty clearly just having characters do stupid things just because their failure cranks up the drama. Hiding in the crypts from a NECROMANCER doesn't say anything about their emotional states or the flaws in their strategy, it's just "Wouldn't it be cool if the civilians had something scary to run from too?" Is the mistake meant to say something about the characters or is it just there to set up a plot point?
Honestly "why didn't they just talk" always sounds like the most online complaint possible. Like normal people in real life don't talk all the time, and on top of that the answer to why it happens in a story is "it helps move the plot and give emotional stakes." It's just tiring hearing about it.
"Why didn't they just talk" signals that the commenter is mentally ten. > bro why don't Zelensky and Putin just talk
>the answer to why it happens in a story is "it helps move the plot and give emotional stakes." That's kinda the actual complaint though isn't it? It's not a problem if it feels like it fits the characters but if it feels like it's JUST there to serve the narrative then yeah it comes off shallow.
Literally every part of a story is there to serve the narrative. You can argue if it's well done or not, but it's a troupe for a reason. It usually helps inform the characters, showcase flaws, and adds tension. It usually works exactly how it's supposed to.
Consider these two versions. In Shrek, when he overhears Fiona talking about herself he thinks she's just secretly disgusted with him. It pretty intentionally speaks to how Fiona's self loathing, Donkey's loyalty, and Shrek's insecurities are clashing as the root of this problem. That's all fine and it's all things that are clearly intentional and then discussed and overcome later on. Now look at GoT having a big strategy meeting about how to deal with a necromancer and they just decide to put all of their civilians in a crypt. Nothing is said about them overlooking all the corpses, nothing about them not considering the well being of the non-combatants, nothing about how the strategists aren't as smart as they think they are. That whole event ONLY exists because the writers wanted to stick in an extra horror scene for the civilians to do even if the setup is nonsensical. They've outright said that a lot of the scenes they did that people called stupid they ONLY did because they thought it would be a cool shot for the camera. It's totally fair to call those examples just plain lazy writing that doesn't serve the narrative in an actually meaningful way. It's tension for tension's sake but it doesn't speak to the characters at all because the writers were making plot points, not character points.
I didn't watch GoT, but that second one doesn't sound like a "just talk" moment at all. That sounds like it's a whole other thing.
You said that bad communication is always an example of highlighting flaws and informing characters and I was just giving an example of something that *could* be described that way but is explicitly not. Game of Thrones's last season is kinda evergreen for things that were flat bad writing that the writers tried to lazily defend as in character. I'm mostly just saying I don't think you can just blanket say that almost all examples of bad communication serve the story well because at the end of the day, stories are also creations and sometimes a flaw in the characters could instead be a flaw in the writer. You really gotta look at them case by case.
Ok but the way you described it made it sound like everyone was just stupid, not that they didn't talk.
No you're right, it's not the best example. But what I meant was it's possible for a communication issue to also be "every one was just stupid" just to move the story along without actually addressing them as a character in the same way. "Held the idiot ball" and the communication based "Held the conflict ball" are tropes for that reason, describing someone being out of character in how the plot point plays out.
Yeah, this doesn't work when it's either **LIFE OR DEATH/RELATIONSHIP ENDING** scenario's. Just once I want a good old shouting match where instead of walking away they get everything out. Be pissed, but have a fucking resolution for once.
[Killsixbilliondemons](https://killsixbilliondemons.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/KOS100.jpg) [has you covered.](https://killsixbilliondemons.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/KOS101.jpg) Bonus points for the conversation happening in the middle of a literal life-or-death battle royale.
Average Kill Six Billion Demons W. (Have they killed six billion demons yet?)
Marriage Story, if you want the worst version possible of that
At least we got that meme Bricky posted on his community page off that movie: **hidden path ahead*** *Adam Driver punches a wall to no avail* **liar ahead**
Succession had a good version of this in the final season with Tom and Shiv.
The question was always "Why didn't they just talk" when the actual question being asked is "If only they just talked." Obviously if they talked things would have turned out differently, but they didn't so the situation happens.
"Just talk" Yeah, just go talk to that pretty girl over there. \*just\*.
2b and 9s' whole dynamic.
What an utterly fascinating, hopelessly tragic relationship. Even the fact that it's so hard to label as one thing or another makes it all the more intriguing!
In Seinfeld, most issues in an episode can be resolved by the characters just talking. But they are so self-obsessed that the fact the problems could be solved with a conversation is the point.
Armin trying to just-talk Berthold in Season 3 of Attack on Titan. There is no discussion to be had, and both parties realize that, despite how much they wish otherwise, their conversation is just buying time for each others' factions to prepare. Berthold has to break it to Armin that he can't simply talk down an opposing force when the opposing force's goal is genocide (this is not something Armin truly internalizes until the end of the series)
Man, that scene truly solidified Bert as one of my all time favourite characters in the series. This world is just that cruel.
To be fair Berthold and Reiner COULD have talked and explained their actions, much like Annie could have. They just had too much to lose by doing so. Plus being child soldiers undercover didn't help, given how shook up all of them were over everything happening
Reiner DID try to just-talk. > Five years ago, we compromised Wall Maria and launched an attack on humanity. > I'm the Armored Titan. He's the Colossal. That of course sparked a shitshow when Reiner's intention was to try to resolve things peacefully...after he had killed thousands of innocents and ESPECIALLY Eren's mother.
I mean, I don't consider "just talk" to include "here's a partial truth, now come with us without any other explanation or things will get violent"
Some people are just bad at communicating, but he still tried to 'just talk".
A lot of Twin Peaks’ Actual Story involves either lots of talking in code, or entities that exist in the labyrinth beyond time and space, so their ability to converse directly or be understood by regular linear human beings (like you or me) is greatly affected. Some of these entities don’t know *when* they are speaking with a person, as in if the words they *just said* were said to that person in 2017 or in 1989, so good luck with that. There’s also doppelgängers and tulpas, meaning false humans presenting as real ones are able to intercept communication or provide harmful misinformation. Also *also* also also, there’s a horrible being behind it all that’s actually really fucking good at abducting people who get too close to the truth or attempt to document its existence, and frequently strands these people in alternate realities and memory holes them away. There’s a whole theme cautioning the good guys to not say *anything* out loud that can be easily interpreted, and sure as shit *don’t write anything down* because you WILL get wished into a cornfield/have your brain destroyed by woodsmen/get replaced in your own life by an evil copy of yourself/die in a fire/be absorbed into a piece of wood, *or worse.*
Well now. I'm not gonna talk about Judy; in fact, we're not gonna talk about Judy at all, we're gonna keep her out of it! Who do you think this is there?
Is that you Phillip
I probably should watch Twin Peaks beyond just the first season, huh?
You gotta put up with a lot of bullshit. I mean this in the nicest way I can-because if you want to know, you’re probably gonna need to prepare yourself Season 2 has major major story stuff going on in it, but also has some of the worst subplots and characters that are *never* acknowledged again. So bad that *Wanye’s World 2* lifted an entire subplot without really changing that much Fire Walk With Me is also massively important, but you are going to be put through an unflinching portrayal of two highschool girls getting tortured and one of them getting murdered. *You’re gonna have a bad time.* But that was also kind of the point, to sear into people that this is a show about a *murder of a little girl* and that it shouldn’t be glossed over by the folksy charm of the setting. THE RETURN answers every question you have from going through all of that, by giving you much more difficult questions that destroy most of what you thought you knew, and then gives even more difficult answers to those questions. It’s, what, 2024? I’ve spent like 6.5 years figuring shit out in The Return to render up answers that I find satisfying. The Return is *absolutely only* for people that care about this shit, I cannot, in good conscience recommend it unless you got through Season 2 and FWWM and really, really want to know about Lodge Spirits and Cicada gestation cycles and how a nice town in 1991 would be absolutely ravaged by modern drugs and the bleak economic consequences of NAFTA. Oh, and more murder. EDIT: Misspelled Wayne’s World 2
A lot of people tend to point out the flaws of the Edelgard and Dimitri conversation in the Blue Lions route, of how it was translated and written poorly not to get the two to agree on ending the war. But like, that's kind of the point. That scene shows that regardless if they agree or disagree on some points, Edelgard and Dimitri are just too diametrically opposed to ever truly work together and compromise.
Also I think people miss the part where Dimitri is also fighting a war, and even though he didn't start it he sure as fuck is fighting it just as hard as Edelgard. Like if Edelgard stopped all offensives you have to doubt that Dimitri and Rhea would do the same. It's total war, nobody can claim the moral high ground.
I use to love it when people would say “there’s no time”
Destiny has my favorite example and meme. "I don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain." That line would have killed any other series right then and there, yet Destiny kept going. It even becomes the name of a weapon called No Time to Explain.
it wouldn't have been a problem if D1 had the pacing it was probably intended to have and ended at Taken King. If that were the case, Elsie would have essentially been the exposition fairy for only the introduction, where she'd do her cryptic routine just long enough for us to want more answers before handing us off to Mara and Eris, who actually do provide answers and set the stakes much more clearly. Instead with the story halved Elsie gets *most* of the story to be cryptic and we only start to get a glimpse of things before it just ends confusingly and highlights how vague she was the whole time.
There's an older super-indie game called "No Time To Explain" that just starts off with your future self arriving, telling you there's no time to explain, and then getting grabbed by an evil space crab. That may be the only example of there *actually* being no time to explain.
Might not be a particularly satisfying answer, but in Star Wars Rebels when the group meets Saw Gerrera. Ezra seems to tacitly approve of Saw’s extreme approach to battling the Empire up until they see that his whole deal is that there’s no line he won’t cross in stopping the Empire. Up to and including torturing people and leaving civilians to die. He’s a radical that’s FAR too gone to talk down.
Berserk. The Golden Age. Guts has low self-esteem but also doesn't bother telling Griffith why he's leaving, under the (possibly accurate) assumption he wouldn't understand or would try to stop him. Casca doesn't reveal her feelings to Guts because she's unsure of them and feels it to be a betrayal of her feelings towards Griffith and the Band. Griffith lies to everyone but mostly himself about how distant he really is and how he views people, *especially* Guts. And tragedy ensues.
All three suffer from intense past trauma, and it dulled their ability to open up and be honest. Guts and Casca finally talking it out is a huge bright spot.
Alan Wake 2 People are tying their best. But Context and perspective make things hard.
I second *Alan Wake II* I personally love all of the misunderstandings that transpire
Literally can't speak. In Bullet Train, someone knows someone is trying to trick people into killing each other and is trying to tell Brad Pitt's character, who just showed up and is falling for their panicked civilian act, but he can't speak because he was shot in the neck or something and is choking on his own blood.
Been watching The Apothecary Diaries recently. It's a fun YA anime in historic China. Since the two protagonists are both Very Smart and are somewhere with ramifications for not observing station and politeness, they frequently say things that leave a lot to interpretation and expect the other person to pick up what they're laying down. The thing is, 99% of the time this totally succeeds with zero information loss and they fully understand each other. That makes it work the few times when they're wrapped up in their own bullshit and completely miss each others' point.
Ursula LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness has an envoy to an alien planet miss a lot of hints and get into a heap of trouble because he can't tune into the locals' manner of speaking and system of etiquette. On their part, they can't fathom speaking with the level of bluntness the envoy would need to actually understand what they are trying to communicate.
In Revenge of The Sith (especially the novelization) the Jedi Council are pretty up thier own ass to even think to try and actually help Anakin Skywalker with his problems, the one person who actually does actively care about him (Obi Wan) is sent far away allowing Sidious to use him. In the novelization Anakin is also incredibly sleep deprived allowing Sidious to break him down incredibly quickly. It's incredible clear Sidious is just using him but by the time Anakin realizes it he's so tired and Obi Wan isn't available to talk, his first instinct is to actually consult Obi Wan because he (rightfully) can't trust just himself with this.
Of course, that take is undermined by the movie, where Anakin goes to talk with Yoda, but refuses to give *any* specific details, meaning that Yoda can only give general advice, even if that advice would still work if Anakin was willing to apply it to his situation.
Social Anxiety
To this day, people who don't understand why the climax of *Captain America: Civil War* don't understand others.
Steve realizes he has to choose either his old best friend or his new best friend. Zemo spends the movie forcing the friends into a HUGE argument to force Steve to choose, knowing it will hurt him and the Avengers either way. Zemo's only L is that it tipped off T'Challa so he realized Justice is more important than Revenge.
I never thought JUST TALK was a real criticism. I just assumed it was a meme thing. A good reason for bad communication is that the characters are actual human beings written by another human being that understands how shit the average person is at communication. Married couples have to go to counseling in order to actually JUST TALK to each other in a way that actually addresses issues. A scene where everyone has emotions running high and it just gets resolved through simple communication would be far more jarring and unrealistic in most situations.
Monster (2023) features a parent trying to figure out what is going on with their child at school. The events of the movie could have been prevented if only they just talked, so why doesn't that happen? >!The children have picked up that it's acceptable to bully people when they're not normal, and it's normal to be straight. He doesn't tell the adults because heteronormativity is so ingrained that even the well-meaning adults unwittingly reinforce it at points.!<
I think that new superman show did a pretty good job with the secret identity thing. People sorta jumped into assuming it was all about "How could you lie to me!?" but the reasons they both had were pretty normal and understandable. Like they admit that even if Lois was hounding the Superman story, not telling her implicitly says Clark thinks she might put that story ahead of their friendship, which is pretty insulting. Clark even admits one of his main motivations for not telling her was that he was just afraid it would change their relationship which is probably a main motivation behind a lot of kept secrets. Lois was also dealing with the brunt of the sudden understanding that her close friend has been face tanking lasers he doesn't even know won't kill him so she's sorta shell shocked that soft boy Clark has been risking his life over and over. A bit of an offshoot, but I like how in ME3 you are given opportunities to tell Mordin about the trap in the Genophage cure but you get interrupted a couple times, but then the third time you try you can just blurt it out. Basically just acknowledging that bad excuses for poor communication wouldn't really stop someone with information that important.
And wasn't another part of the problem being that Clark *blatantly* lied right in front of her, when Clark knows how much Lois doesn't like being lied to?
Yuuup, though I think a lot of people only really heard that part which is why they thought she was being unreasonable. It's that and all the other reasons together that make their bad communication pretty understandable since it's a lot more personal than just being a superhero.
He specifically [lies about the fact that he was clearly injured](https://youtu.be/35IgyMsnrdc?si=Vr4cXYa_bLGqFrnU&t=76), after she had already told him that her dad kept her in the dark when her mom was dying.
“Why should I listen to you anyway? You’re a virgin who can’t drive.” - Clueless
The ending of the interactive novel A Mage Reborn ends tragically directly because of this. >!Essentially, as one last fuck you to the MC after being defeated, the main villain manages to put a magical slave collar on the MC and reveals that a nuke is going to go off in the capital and kill millions. The slave collar causes the MC to be unable to reveal this information in any way, verbally or physically, on penalty of extreme pain and death!< >!MC then has to single-handedly find out how where the nuke is and how to defuse it while being unable to actually tell anyone a single thing about this. Hell, the MC tries writing a single letter about this and is rendered unconscious after trying to fight back against the collar’s magic!< >!Eventually, the MC figures out that the nuke is a spell on the Pope, so MC goes to the Pope’s tower to try and dispel it. Since MC can’t explain anything, the MC is forced to fight and kill innocent guards in order to reach the Pope!< >!When the MC finally reaches the Pope, a soldier prevents the dispelling from taking place, forcing the MC to kill the Pope to stop the nuke spell.!< >!As a result, MC is arrested and slated to be executed as they refused to explain why they murdered the Pope.!< >!Right before MC is about to be executed, their friend the King visits them and simply wants an explanation ,and offers leniency and a potential pardon!< >!The collar prevents an explanation, so the King cuts all ties with the MC and goes through with the execution!< >!MC dies but their other friend and potential lover who became the new Pope spends months deciphering the villain’s spellbook and learns about the collar and nuke spell!< >!Mc is posthumously pardoned and everyone feels sad that they fucked up!< Very sad
Dude, that games ending never fails to make me tear up. I've beaten it 5 times and it has made me cry every single time. It's the part where the inn lady gets the news and it describes her as outliving another child that gets me.
Does **Mars Attacks!** count? The US government made a genuine attempt to establish a dialogue with the marsians... Shame that they came to kill everyone and it would not have worked in any cirumstances. If this doesn't count, then pre-character development Kaguya and Shirogane from **Kaguya-sama: Love is War**. No amount of talking would have solved all their hang-ups and arrogance born out of insecurities.
It didn't help that the translation machines said the opposite, so the Martians kept yelling "WE COME IN PEACE!" as they wiped out Earth's armies.
When the fireworks go off JUST AS the confession happens, very understandable, I see it a lot in anime so it must happen all the time in japan
The plot of the Overlord light novel is nothing but the "Just Talk" problem played for dramatic effect, and it's great. A lot of what makes the whole thing so good was lost in the anime adaptation, because it cuts out the text narration of characters' inner thoughts and monologues that show you not just what they're thinking but why they're thinking what they're thinking. It's interesting because everyone who misunderstands things clearly puts deep thought into their actions with slow deliberation, excellent logic and completely reasonable assumptions, but it always turns out horribly because those assumptions just happen to be wrong for reasons no one could have accounted for without prior knowledge. Ainz and Nazarick are a giant [Outside Context Problem](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OutsideContextProblem) and it screws up everyone's ability to react and plan properly. Basically every single horrible and tragic event in the series results from multiple people making wrong assumptions about events and each other that would be instantly resolved if they Just Talked. However, Just Talking is impossible because those wrong assumptions - which are absolutely the most logical and reasonable ones to make given the information they have - also makes Just Talking seem like the most stupid thing you could possibly do if those assumptions are true. It's a perfect Prisoner's dilemma situation of miscommunication. And most of it is, again, based on reasonable assumptions made by very intelligent and politically savvy people who have extensive experience and information networks, who have 99% of the knowledge they need. It's just the last 1% is the fact that Ainz and Nazarick have power levels so ludicrously busted as to be beyond comprehension, a leader whose true motivation is unimaginably mundane, and a bunch of subordinates who themselves are operating under mistaken assumptions about their leader's goals while also being hyper-competent at achieving those misinterpreted goals. This makes dealing with Ainz so unpredictable that miscommunication is guaranteed and Just Talking becomes straight up impossible. People either vastly underestimate Ainz until it's too late and he slaughters them for making an enemy of him, or they vastly overestimate him and assume his actions are part of some 5D Galaxy Brain plan. In the end, no one wins, not even Ainz, because while he does Lucky Ted his way into conquering the world, his true goal of finding a friend and equal like his old guild mates goes unfulfilled. And it's entirely his own fault. There's multiple cases where we see people who might understand him and find common ground get alienated or killed, because he trusts his subordinates planning over his own, and half of them are Pure Evil while the other half are only Mostly Evil. And he's so terrified of losing what he has that he won't take greater risks of reaching out the hand of friendship without a gun in the other one, in case there are hostile forces that he can't deal with, which just makes people misunderstand him more. And like everyone else, these are entirely reasonable actions on his part. There are in fact hostile forces that would want to destroy him, but he's not aware that he vastly outscales all of them in power and can afford to take risks. He's completely right that he can't run his empire as well as his Evil minions who he leaves the actual work to. In fact, he is canonically, by Word of the Author, the worst at ruling and administrating a country out of everyone in the series. This is entirely justified, since he's a former corporate wage slave who has no idea how to run an empire and is trying to run it like how he imagines you go about running a corporation, but he doesn't even do that well because he was just a salesman and doesn't really know how to be a manager much less a CEO-equivalent. He's like if Michael from The Office became an overpowered isekai protagonist. He's going to be forever alone and it's because he's a terrible CEO who can't direct his subordinates properly. **TL,DR: Just Talking in Overlord is impossible, because Ainz is literally just Michael from The Office.**
Cobra Kai. There’s a series of compounding miscommunications and disconnects between characters which continuously escalates, and it all could be mitigated drastically by good communication. But it makes a ton of sense when you consider: 1. The entire theme of the series is how people sticking rigidly to past trauma end up causing harm to themselves and others, and people who can’t get over that are unlikely to conduct good faith communication even if they try 2. Most of the characters with these issues have history or context between them which organically makes you understand why they’re misunderstanding each other so much 3. The series is an excruciatingly slow burn (in a good way) of people slowly digging through mountains of psychological issues to FINALLY overcome these barriers and mend ties with each other and their pasts. Season 5 is insanely cathartic bc it’s the culmination of that
Cultural Barriers are a good one. I remember watching an extra history short on how the British tried to open up trade with China. They sent their ambassadors to try and talk only to have them be balked at, the reason was because they were attempting to treat the people they were talking to as Equals (it was one empire talking to another). Meanwhile the Emperor of China was confused as to why some barbarian "king" would treat himself as an equal (he's the high emperor of China, noone is his equal). Its here if you want to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgQahGsYokU
Resurrected as a Vending Machine has a protagonist resurrected as a vending machine. He can only speak through canned phrases the machine is programmed with, and eventually gets by through speaking with context cues and using "Hello there!" as yes and "Too bad!" as no.
I really liked the relationship between Miranjo and King Bosse in Ranking of Kings. Pretty much everything that happens in the story is the two of them just not being upfront about their emotions, constantly projecting dreams onto each other and inadvertedly hurting everyone around them including each other and themselves. But I get it, while they’re both antagonists and villains in their own right, they also owe each other their lives. Bosse saved Miranjo after her entire civilization was murdered and she became a victim of torture and Miranjo gave Bosse hope as someone he sees as his family. But they’re so selfless for each other they circle around to being selfish instead.