Aesthetic: Gradual Collapse
Contrast: Sudden Collapse.
I mean, sudden collapses and fainting and crumpling are all fantastic, but what about the slower ones? When they realize they’re getting dizzy and faint and the pain hurts too much to stay standing?
They stumble back until they hit a wall but the friction isn’t enough to keep them upright and they begin a slow slide down, frozen in shock and pain.
They grab a railing to stay upright, but their hand trembles with the strain and their knees waver and all the determination in the world can’t keep them standing as they slip an inch lower with every breath.
They latch onto a piece of furniture, hoping to lean against it - and then their arms tremble and crumple and they grab something else and something else and something else until their hands are locked around a table leg and they’re crying on the floor.
They desperately grasp onto anyone who is willing to help, to support them, to offer a shoulder to lean on - only they’re heavy and the other person is unbalanced and they try their best to stay upright but it ends up being more of a graceless tumble than a controlled fall.
Gradual collapses. Slower, more desperate, more panicked. But they end up on the ground all the same.