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sebthesnipe · 4 years

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The Dreamer by Whatwashernameagin an Analysis? Part 4

All portions:

Chapter 1: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4

Chapter 2: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4

The Dreamer

@whatwashernameagain

It is finally here… sorry I took so long. Life has been… hectic to say the least.

Reminder: Spoilers under cut!

So, if you remember correctly (I know its been awhile), we left off just before the cut to Roman and Logan’s first meeting. The scene starts off with rain… but Eva’s use of descriptors is always so pure and beautiful I can’t resist quoting it here. “Rain was beating against the window in heavy sheets of freezing water coming down hard on the city. The air felt alive with crackling currents of lightning and rumbling thunder almost constantly growling like an ancient, rumbling animal. It was a particularly nasty day, perfect for what the media preposterously called’ villainy’, which [Logan] did not intend to be involved in today. At all” (Whatwashernameagain).

*rubs hands together deliciously* Oh the imagery….

So! Here we go! First off, rain is symbolic in a lot of different literature styles to represent a wide variety of things. In dreams, water can represent a number of things depending on the source. Rivers can symbolize emotions, something changing, or the need to change. Rain tends to reveal emotions as well, usually strong feelings, depression or despair… even rejection, anger, grief. Thunder accompanying rain can be a warning sign that you are not paying close enough attention to someone’s needs, or possibly your own. Or it can simply be used to bring your attention to something important in life. Generally dreaming about a heavy rain storm such as this would indicate something unfortunate or a problematic event that could cause you a lot of turmoil in the near future; an incoming loss or losses.

You may think I’m getting off topic but I’m really not. Sure, Logan isn’t dreaming… But Eva is! What is a story but a daydream written down on a piece of paper (or in this case typed up on a blog)? According to Freud (yes, we’re gong back to Psychoanalysis Theory in Literature); dreams are our subconscious trying to warn/tell us about ourselves, even if we don’t want to hear it (Rivkin, Julie). In this case, the cold sheets of rain are a foreshadow of what is to come; the pain and turmoil that will no doubt will be dropped into our laps… especially Logan’s lap. The change/character development that Logan is about to go through... What could this be foreshadowing? Well… Eva writes that the freezing water was coming down hard on the city…. Not just Logan… So… What ever is about to happen is about to affect everyone… It is not an isolated incident... whatever/whoever is about to happen is important to the city/world, not just Logan. And the only person that could really have that much reach besides Logan himself: The Dreamer; everyone’s hero… The shining hope that spreads warmth where ever he goes… Whatever is about to happen… ain’t going to be pretty… (Well, aside from Roman himself… He’s pretty no matter what but you get what I’m saying).

Secondly, Eva and her similes are always fantastic: “rumbling thunder almost constantly growling like an ancient, rumbling animal” (Whatwashernameagain). The imagery, itself causes the reader to picture some incorporeal creature hidden behind the clouds, growling and hissing at the world below. The dark feeling pulling the foreshadowing blanket closer around the reader, almost suffocatingly so.

Eva switches back to her usual humorous self just as easily as ever, making fun of the media and their reference to ‘villainy’ and pointing out that Logan had no intentions of such things… at least not with the weather as it was… Why is that so amusing? Well, here is a man who is willing to kill, topple multi-million companies, go toe to toe with a superhero… sitting at home in his jammies and sipping tea… It is adorably hilarious! It also humanizes Logan. His usual cold harsh calculating demeanor is stripped away. We see, perhaps for the first time, the /real/ Logan; just relaxing at home. Its... nice... comforting...

TOO BAD ITS ALL ABOUT TO BE RUINED!!!!

Within the next para my suspicions are confirmed. “Since Logan was, per definitionem, a human, it should not be surprising that he was unwinding at home at a day such as this. In a fluffy sweater falling over his hands and hips, wool socks pulled over the hem of his sweatpants, curled up with a mug of cocoa in a nest of pillows at his window” (Whatwashernameagain). Granted I already knew this was coming because I’ve read it, but it doesn’t make the imagery of this big bad villain in an oversized sweater any less adorable. If you aren’t aware of this already… I love Logan so much T.T. It doesn’t help that Eva adds to the adorable image with an italicized ‘No one must ever know.’ I’d bet a certain amount of money that Remy has feeds of Logan lounging around in his comfy wear and cocoa watching Disney movies (to criticize how illogical certain actions are both physically and mentally, of course… no other reasons… at all) that he keeps in a secure folder for whenever he needs a pick me up and shows them to Logan whenever he just wants to mess with the villain. But the italicized thought lends to the fact that once again Logan is no doubt ashamed of his humanity and wishes to keep it hidden, away from the world... away from himself. Sure its mostly for image purposes but in the end, he is not someone who takes to his human side lightly.

Going back to the story… A knock at the door?! -gasp- Who could it be?! Once again, I love Eva’s imagery; “He barely heard the knock on his door over the growling akin to boulders sliding against each other and the pitter-patter against his window” (Whatwashernameagain). She doesn’t stretch so far to make the reader work to see the image she’s painting but just far enough that they are unique yet manageable. I’m not going to go back into the psychoanalysis for the rain but I will say that bringing it up here is a fantastic way to connect the foreshadowing in the first paragraph I’ve mentioned to the one we are on currently, bringing us full circle and signaling that whatever turmoil is meant for Logan begins here. It is also nice because it allows the mood to change so easily from humor to seriousness once more… Though… discovering Remus is an ACTUAL lizard made me squeal a bit. That was such a sweet and adorable nod to the character that I can’t even be upset that he’s not a bigger part of the story… He’s a freaking lizard!!! I love it!!!!

We see Logan freeze and follow his train of thought as he approaches the door cautiously. We see apart of him that we’ve known is there but haven’t really experienced. Logan has been calculating and cold throughout the story, only taking risks where the benefit outweighed the danger but now… now we see his paranoia…. His isolation. He mentions that no one knew his address and even his neighbors stayed away due to his intimidation and cool manners. He calls his home a ‘fort of solitude’ (no doubt a play on Superman’s Fortress of Solitude but that’s a-whole-nother thing I’m not gonna get into), something he had cultivated carefully, and the very reason he wares the mask that he apparently finds ridiculous. But it also shows us how little he interacts with the outside world... the fact that he has no one. His only friend is a computer he created himself. It lends to the loneliness I’ve mentioned before. The lack of companionship and friends... Logan is utterly and completely alone. Its almost heartbreaking.

This is the only place he feels safe. The only place he can be himself. Sure, he doesn’t change himself too much when he is out being the Utilitarianist but… this is different. He doesn’t have to hide behind anything there. He can just sit back and relax, try not to be reminded of all that is wrong with the world. He can just be… him. Which honestly… is surprisingly difficult for most people to achieve and he has it… right there. With his comfy sweater and favorite cocoa… Except… now he has to worry about whoever is on the other side of the door, invading his only place of safety.

The symbology is here too, though most would overlook it. Logan’s home could symbolize himself, considering, in essence, a person’s home is exactly as I described: a place they could be their true selves and relax. Its so personal and private. His home which he has built to be the foundation of his work… of himself, is now being invaded by an outside source and throwing everything off balance. This outside source being The Dreamer. The catch is… this isn’t the first time this has happened… though it is the first time it physically has.

Roman has invaded Logan’s thoughts and processes long before he showed up at the villain’s door. He has thrown Logan way off, forcing him to feel things, to argue with him, to aim for things he shouldn’t want. Roman has forced Logan out of his comfort zone mentally a number of different times and for any individual that can be upsetting but for someone who is unaccustomed to regular emotions…how prides themselves in their control... it can be earthshattering. Logan who already sees a hope in Roman, a light, that he doesn’t want to want and yet does; Logan who is being betrayed by his human side, despite being driven by logic, has been invaded by a presence he never asked for… by Roman himself and the worst part is… The hero has no idea whatsoever…He’s like penicillin... A fungi Logan never wanted and yet can heal so many things if he would just let it but the risk is way too great... The chances of the fungi growing out of control and destroying everything Logan is is far too great... and now… Now, Roman is there… physically invading Logan’s sanctuary; no doubt stirring up all these unwanted feelings once more. The fear is no doubt the worst though… Logan hasn’t calculated Roman knowing who he is, where he was… He hasn’t calculated any of this. Suddenly Logan’s foundation, his safety net, his computer like calculations have failed him… Everything is crumbling with fear and its only been a microsecond. Could you possibly imagine how terrifying that could be?

With the state of terror Logan no doubt feels, it is no wonder that the villain bolts away from the door and brandishes a weapon. Its as if he’s attempting to put as much distance between them both physically and mentally as possible. This is no doubt a fight or flight type of response for Logan which is such a human reaction, driven by his fear rather than logic which no doubt annoys the man even more.

Eva goes on to describe an interaction between Logan and the Supercomputer which brings to light a bit more about Logan’s reactions and Remy’s motives. We see Logan slowly returning to his more logical demeanor, obviously beginning to gain the upper hand in his battle against his instincts. He questions Remy about how Roman managed to get to the front door as he does his best to remain calm, reminding the reader, and no doubt himself, that he was trained in a number of martial arts. Which honestly, I love the idea of seeing our precious nerd in white robes throwing punches or kicks around a room… He’s just so… adorable I love it! Remy responds with his usual sass ‘not even considering lowering his volume’, which only brings our attention back to the turmoil Logan is no doubt going through (a freezing rain storm you might say). The words about Remy’s volume and the cringe Logan offers at the thought of the door being busted in only cements the villain’s terrified state. The conversation goes on, Remy with his usual sass and Logan in his frustrated trepidation.

Remy finally admits why the hero is there and Logan stands dumbfounded at discovering that Roman is injured, hurrying back to the window to peak out and get a good look at the other man. Why would his enemy come to him? Why would Roman show up injured unless it was some sort of trap or game plan Logan hadn’t thought of... no doubt, all of these questions are running through the man’s mind.

“The Dreamer was still there, leaning against the side of the building in the middle of the freezing rain, drenched to the bone. His head was lowered as if he were close to losing consciousness” (Whatwashernameagain). There is so much to be said here… ugh… okay… first lets touch on Roman…

****CHAPTER 2 SPOILERS****

Roman is standing hunched over, the image weakness, and obviously about to pass out. This could symbolize a lot of things from the state of our planet, to the political climate in America. In Chapter 2 we learn a lot about how he was mistreated and abused but this… this is another sense of foreshadowing. Here the shining hope of the world is drenched in the rain, huddled and shivering, nothing that he is supposed to be. The symbolism alone hurts.

The symbol of hope in the world is dying. Roman is not just a man. He is THE Dreamer… Without him the world would be lightless… darkness everywhere… no one and nothing to look up to. Now, I realize that Eva probably wasn’t going for this but… I really need to because its beautiful. The Dreamer, is broken, battered and bruised, used by the people who were meant to help him, mold him to save the world, to make the world a better place. The very same people that promised him they’d achieve his dream together. What could this possibly symbolize? Well, a lot of things really… Consider this… The state of America right now… politicians promising to make America Great Again, making people believe that everything was going to get better… but then they sew hate for one another, invite discourse and rage… threaten war with other countries, all in the name of ‘the people’ leaving the country in the same state Roman currently is: Battered, bruised and thoroughly used.

If that symbol wasn’t good enough you could always look at the state of the planet… The planet providing us with everything she has, food, water, shelter… and humanity cutting down the rainforest, killing off species, polluting waters, slaughtering animals for money… don’t get me started on the sharks in china… or the elephants in Africa… I think I need to switch the subject again sorry… But it /is/ a good example… And if Roman is on the doorstep to Logan’s home… He probably has realized the fissures he’s caused in society and that Logan may be his only chance. Logan is all he has to turn to, just like the planet has no one but us to try and care for it.

Here Roman sits, bleeding out… The symbol of the people… the same people (though not all of them of course) who would see him exploited and abused, tortured and experimented on for their own gain… The symbol of hope which is dimming due to the very people he is meant to shine for… In the same sense humanity destroys the ecosystem around them and yet demands more from it. We poison our water, ourselves… the land you name it; all in the name of bettering ourselves… Roman does the same. He pushes himself to be better for the world… do better for the world… but as he does, he’s sowing the seeds for the rich, killing himself in the process… All because he was willing to give too much. His intentions are so pure and yet the results are so horrible; and the public is completely fooled. He is what can happen without change.

The analogies I used may be a bit confusing I apologize it is very late and I’m very tired, but I hope I got it across. Roman’s symbolization of both the American political climate and/or the environmental war we live in today is just so moving to me that I don’t know how to put it into words.

***END OF CHAPTER 2 SPOILERS***

Here Roman sits, on the doorstep of his archenemy the last man you’d expect him to turn to, needing help. The light is gone. There is no hope… The hope that had been there is now washed away with the rain… the only thing left is a man… a man wounded and alone… There is no Dreamer here, not right now… And without Logan there is no hope for him.

The change from Roman being Logan’s sense of hope, his source of emotions, to Logan now carrying the torch is so drastic and sudden it sends the reader reeling beautifully. Here stands a man who wanted nothing to do with any of the feelings Roman causes, is now forced to carry it all, and so suddenly… Logan is now Roman’s hope... his lifeline.. The roles have been reversed... It makes for quite the anti-hero. And Eva managed all of this with just a single sentence (“The Dreamer was still there, leaning against the side of the building in the middle of the freezing rain, drenched to the bone. His head was lowered as if he were close to losing consciousness” (Whatwashernameagain).) If that isn’t talent, then I don’t know what is.

Directly after this line, we get to see Logan’s reaction: “Utterly foregoing any logical deliberation for perhaps the first time in his life, Logan ripped the door open” (Whatwashernameagain). This is another fantastic line. Why? Because we get to see more of the real Logan that he tries to push away and pretend doesn’t exist. You see, as the Utilitarianist, Logan doesn’t think about ‘the individual’ that’s not what he’s supposed to focus on. Logan is supposed to focus on what would do the most good for the most people. He doesn’t sweat the small stuff. It is another one of those stark contrasts between he and Roman. Roman is all about the individual; taking down bad guys left and right, caring about each individual rescue. Here though… Logan has forgotten himself to his human ego once more. He has thrown his safety blanket, the very thing he defines himself, his logic, to the wind. This is another great foreshadowing tool (though I’m only guessing its foreshadowing). Logan has stripped himself of, what he feels like, is his only defining feature. Without his logic, what is Logan? He is just a man, isn’t he? Or is it possible that he is something else entirely? Something more than just a man; something less than one? I’m not talking about super heroes or supervillains. I mean identifying himself as a person. Roman has now pushed Logan to be something, or someone Logan had never considered, had never been brave enough to consider. Could it be that with Roman’s help he’ll turn into Logan 2.0. That is not to say that O.G. Logan was bad or by any means lessor but Logan 2.0… Well, he’s already learning to be the beacon of hope for Roman… and now he has thrown his logic out the window? Perhaps they will do a number on each other? Oh… eh… I mean… on each other’s personalities and ethics…. Yeah… ethics…

Getting back to the story!

Roman takes in the sight of Logan above him, a bit startled as he does so. After everything Roman’s been through that is not surprising… He also has taken quite a risk coming to the villain. He is injured and no doubt would make an easy target if Logan so chose, but the thing about Roman is hope, just as I’ve been saying (am I a broken record yet?). We’ve learned that Roman has a naive sense of positivity in everything he does… I mean… he’s named himself The Dreamer, after all… There is no reason he shouldn’t have it in this as well. Alone, wounded, and at the mercy of whoever he turns to, Roman chose Logan… The Utilitarianist, to save him; clinging to his hope that the good he has seen in this man, the man who has saved him once before with no foreseeable ulterior motive, is real. And for a moment, seeing Logan hovering over him, blade in hand, he probably doubted himself. But… the thing is… If Roman truly believed Logan would hurt him, he would fight in this instant… Roman may be injured and hopeless but from what we’ve learned about him he’s not a quitter… No, he trusts his hope… his heart… He truly believes Logan is a good man and that is cemented and proven by his reaction: “He was looking up at him like a drowned, frightened cat, caramel hair sticking to his ashen face, none of his usual latino-tan to be seen... Logan had never seen him look this beaten. His usually bright green eyes blinked up at him through rain-soaked lashes, apparently barely able to focus on him. He looked dazed” (Whatwashernameagain).

Again, Eva is wonderful with her similes ‘like a drowned, frightened cat’. It’s the use of literary devices like these that help breath life into a scene. While the reader could no doubt visualize Roman’s wounded stature, the expression is something that is a bit harder to describe so it’s the use of things like similes that really aide the author when used correctly and I truly do love the image of the big sullen eyes on Roman’s face… just beautiful.

Logan is the first to speak. What would you say in a situation like this? No one would really know until they were put into a situation like this… though I feel as if Eva grasped that really well hen Logan asks what sounds like a stupid question. He asks if Roman was drugged; not an ‘are you alright’ or ‘what happened’ because in reality most of us probably wouldn’t respond in such a manner as that if the person we thought hated us appeared on our doorstep bleeding. No, Logan asked the first thing that came to his mind, humanizing him even more. It was quite lovely; a perfect response.

“The Dreamer swallowed visibly, apparently unable to form words. His wide eyes were wet with tears – washed away before they had a chance to fall. Fear was an unfamiliar look on his attractive face, yet it was clear in the bright flashes of lightning that he was afraid. He looked up at Logan, trembling with exhaustion and pain. His features twisted as he tried to hold back a sob that seemed painful on his torso” (Whatwashernameagain).

This must be even more shocking for Logan…. Logan who doesn’t work with emotion… Logan who doesn’t socialize outside of his work, Remy, and his online source… Logan who detests the very idea of intense emotional outburst is now faced with his archenemy’s tears… Roman is crying! The Dreamer is crying! And while we realize that the superhero is broken (as does Roman if the tears are anything to go by; finding that his own dreams are shattered; he is now broken inside and out), that hope is fading, this is perhaps the first time the realization really strikes Logan. The fear in his rival’s features, the exhaustion and pain… that sob! None of these things are things Logan is accustomed to handling, none of these things are things that he is prepared to deal with especially coming from a man he admires and respects (though he’d never admit it). So, not only is the villain, no doubt terrified, but now he is no doubt concerned, filled with worry, and doubt. He has not had to comfort someone before... Medically he can no doubt handle this situation but... dealing with Roman’s emotions... Its way out of his comfort zone, especially when he’s barely able to handle his own at the moment.

Roman apologizes explaining that he didn’t know where else to turn (which honestly eliminates the idea I had that his ‘sidekick’ had figured out where Logan lived and led Roman there to be saved); reinforcing the idea that Roman’s hope is what led him to the villain. He then collapsing, Logan hurrying forward to catch the man, discarding his weapon in the process; his weapon his only real defense against the man… the only barrier between the two of them, keeping them in their rightful places: Roman as a hero, Logan as a villain. And yet… now they sit, huddled in the ran on the steps of his home, nothing to divide them. There is no logic here… no place for it. They’re on the same side now… Their own. Everything Logan has been so adamant about is gone in this moment... The lines drawn by society have disappeared.

“’Oh no no no.’ Logan muttered, carefully cradling the back of the man’s head in his palm as he examined him” (Whatwashernameagain). Logan takes such care in handling this man, the man he’s supposed to despise… the ‘thorn in his shoe’; already showing signs of the changes we will no doubt get to witness in the coming chapters. He cradles him as if he is fragile, because at the moment he is… he’s barely hanging on and Logan is going to put that big sexy brain of his to work to figure out how to avoid this. Logan lifts the larger man off the ground to carry him inside no doubt but something Eva writes catches my attention:

“[Logan] had been careful to keep his emotional distance from this man as much as he possibly could, but as he looked down at his pained, helpless face, he could not think of him as anyone but Roman” (Whatwashernameagain).

I think this is the best way she could have ended this chapter. She brings us full circle into what Logan is meant to be and what he is not. She brings to light his struggle when it comes to emotions and the desire to be rid of them… of the suppression towards them when it involves Roman. The same desire and suppression we saw at the beginning of the chapter and now the character development we see in him now. He is throwing his logic out the window to care for his only friend… though he has not quite realized that he is his only friend… We feel his desperation, his need, to save Roman… and while he carries Roman over his shoulder into safety… he carries the very hope he has yearned for… both physically and metaphorically… The hope he has never wanted to be and yet... is forced to be now...

Thank you so much for baring with me through all my sporadic and eccentric rambling. I really hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much to Whatwashernameagain for writing such an amazing piece and reblogging my work. I love reading your reactions!

This is the end of Chapter 1. I plan on writing Chapter 2 as soon as possible, but with the holidays and finals coming up it may be a bit; so, stay tuned!

I’d love to hear from you guys so drop me a message or an ask, or even a comment!

I love you all!

Until next time!

Rivkin, Julie. Literary Theory: a Practical Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, 2017.

“Utilitarianism.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/utilitarianism.

Whatwashernameagain. “The Dreamer - Chapter 1.” Hello Guys Gals And Non Binary Friends, 8 Sept. 2019, https://whatwashernameagain.tumblr.com/post/187581477262/the-dreamer-chapter-1.

#The Dreamer #villain!logan #hero!Roman #Sanders sides #logince #logan sanders #roman sanders #logan/roman #roman/logan #analysis #reader response #reaction #fanfication #whatwashernameagain

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septembercfawkes · 6 years

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Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Don't Use Flashbacks!"

At some point in your writing journey, you may have had someone complain about a flashback in your story. Or maybe you were the one complaining about someone else's. Or maybe you axed one simply because you were told to, but you don't understand why.

Want to know one of my not-so-secret secrets? Just as I love great prologues, I love great flashbacks! Every time someone told me they were bad, a little particle of my creativity died, because a number of my all-time favorite stories use flashbacks--and they were sometimes some of my favorite parts! (Isn't that so bad?? ;)

What's the Rule?

Flashbacks are scenes that take place in an earlier time than the story's main timeline.

Advice that is commonly given to writers learning the craft is,

Don't use flashbacks!

Why it's a Rule

Why are flashbacks such an issue?

Let me explain.

A lot of new writers overuse flashbacks and use them at the wrong times and in the wrong ways. I've looked at a lot of unpublished story openings. You might would be shocked how often stories begin in the present and then have a flashback only several paragraphs in. This is a problem for a few reasons, but some particular to this opening are:

- If you flashback too early, it might be a sign that you started the story in the wrong spot - If you flashback too early, it might be a sign that what's happening in the present doesn't have enough tension or intrigue to hold the audience, and you are trying to make up for it by going backwards - If you flashback too early, the audience hasn't had time to get grounded into the story and characters. Until they care about the story and the characters, they likely won't care about the flashback.

You may be tempted to have a flashback in the opening of your novel or somewhere in your first five chapters. You probably should almost never do this. The audience needs to care about what's happening in the present first.

But flashbacks can go wrong at other parts of the story too, not just the opening. It's just that they can be particularly problematic in the opening, and they are surprisingly commonly put in there.

One of the main problems with flashbacks is this:

Because flashbacks happen in the past, they immediately and inherently take immediacy (and therefore tension) out of the story.

What has already happened has already happened, and it can't be changed, and it's in the past, so typically it can't be as interesting as the present. Remember a week ago when I said more tension is created by looking forward, not back?

A lot of times, unpublished writers want to put in whole scenes of flashbacks when a bit of summary or backstory weaved in would work fine. Whatever they are trying to include does not need or deserve its own flashback scene.

So,

What is included in the flashback doesn't usually need its own scene. The information can be weaved into the main timeline

Uugh, but a great flashback and be so, well . . . great. Let's move along.

When and How to Break the Rule

Remember a few sentences ago when I said that the audience won't care about the flashback until they care about the story and characters? This is why you should almost never have a flashback near the beginning. On some rare occasions you can get away with it if you absolutely have to (in a particular type of story tricky to pull off, they may function as teasers)--but if you use one early, it should be short. After all, in the beginning of the novel, you are still trying to get the audience invested in the story, and killing tension and immediacy is not a great approach.

(Worth noting is that using flashbacks once or a few times in a story is different than having a story that follows two or more different timelines that are weaved together. In that case, you would be showing multiple timelines in the opening of the story and that's fine, though it has its own advantages and disadvantages.)

Flashbacks are typically most powerful when looking back is effective because of what we know or suspect in the present or predict for the future.

There has to be some kind of value in looking back that's worth the change in time and the lack of immediacy.

The audience doesn't usually care about the flashback until they care about the present story and characters, so, in order to make a flashback most effective, you relate it to what is happening or could happen in the story. This might be done obviously, or it might be done more covertly.

You've probably seen this time and again and may or may not have realized it.

There are really two main reasons to use a flashback.

1. Character Background and Motivation

Flashbacks should not be your automatic go-to for backstory and motivation, but it can be a good reason to have a flashback if having something in the past rendered dramatically adds to our understanding of the character in the present (or in some cases, future).

Not all backgrounds deserve their own flashback, and you want to be careful that in putting this information in a dramatized one that you aren't actually diminishing your character's subtext and intrigue by revealing everything on the page about them or revealing it at the wrong point. Even with the flashback, they should still have some subtext.

Subtext > Flashback

The subtext should always be greater than the flashback. This means the flashback either maintains some subtext or introduces new subtext.

The backstory needs to be interesting enough to sustain the audience despite the lack of immediacy.

These kinds of flashbacks provide insight into why a character is the way he is or how she knows what she knows, or anything like that. But they are probably one of the most overused flashbacks, because writers may care more about the character's past than the audience actually does (which is why it needs to be particularly interesting)

In the movie Split, protagonist Casey is unusual compared to other girls her age, and when she and two others are abducted, Casey understands how her abductor operates better than the others (and how to survive). The audience wonders about her unusual behaviors and demeanor and methods, but in flashbacks it's revealed that like their abductor, she has also had to weather repetitive abuse. Watching the flashbacks play out is more powerful because of how atypical she and her backstory are. They wouldn't have been as emotionally effective if relayed in dialogue or summary.

Once again the flashbacks are powerful because our understanding of the past is important to the present (her character and the fact she's dealing with an abductor) and future (because of her background, she has success getting away.) One key of writing particularly great flashbacks is to get the audience to wonder, want, and yearn for them before they happen. That way when they do happen, readers are glued to the book. 2. Important Past Events and/or Information

Like character background, key events or information might be important for the audience to understand or appreciate the present (or future of the) story. These things should add depth or significance to the narrative. If they don't do either of these things, you might want to reevaluate if you really need them as a flashback. For important events, it might not be plausible to fit them into the story in the typical ways. If it happened long before the main story--perhaps even decades--it might not work well at the beginning of the novel. In some cases, you can make it work as a prologue or opening, but only if it carries the right promises and gives the right impression of the main story. With events and information--these things may not seem important or pertinent to the story at the beginning, in and of themselves. But as the story develops, so does the need for them. Again, this may relate to having the audience hunger for the flashbacks before they are on the page. Other times, having this important information enter the story at a particular point adds value both to the flashback and the present story. This can be really great for mysteries and undercurrents.

In a flashback at the right point, the audience may put together who the murderer actually is, for example, because looking back at the event from a particular point in the main story gives the flashback a different meaning and context. This may or may not be something that the character puts together, depending on how it's handled and the effect you are going for. But do you see how handling a flashback in that way may actually make a story more powerful? Not weaker? This is perhaps one of my favorite ways flashbacks are used. Now that the audience and/or character has realized something from receiving the right flashback and the right time, the future of the story changes. Therefore the flashback is pertinent to the past, present, AND future of the story. Now that's a great flashback. (And a lot easier said than done. But it can be done. And hopefully it now makes more sense why I love a good flashback.) Worth noting is that the flashback itself should have tension or intrigue and/or emotional appeals. Like I said, pacing has to do more with tension, intrigue, and conflict than with cutting or adding something. Similarly, you can help make up for lost tension when looking backwards by making sure the actual flashback scene has that. Keep in mind that sometimes the point and context of the main story may be used to provide that when looking back at the right moment in the book. How long a flashback can sustain an audience is proportional to how relevant it is to the present and future of the story, and how hungry they are for it. (Perhaps an exception to this would be a flashback that functions as a teaser. In that case, as with all teasers, it should be short.) Whew! Now let's look at a famous example that embodies ALL these things.

But before I get some flack, I should acknowledge that some people may not actually consider this a flashback because we are getting information the same time as the protagonist and are technically in the protagonist's viewpoint. (J. K. Rowling cleverly gets away with any would-be flashbacks by have the pensieve.) However, I argue that the sequence would have been nearly as effective on the audience, if not just as effective, if it was handled as a typical flashback, as long as Harry still got the same information (maybe he'd get it through dialogue while the audience was treated to a flashback). Anyway, my point is, whether or not this is considered technically a flashback, it still functions as one and hits all the points I've been making. And it is: "The Prince's Tale." Perhaps one of the most anticipated, pivotal chapters of the entire Harry Potter series (and some would probably argue that it is the most pivotal.) And guess what? That chapter is essentially 30 freakin' pages of flashbacks. And every. Single. Moment. Was riveting. How does that work? Because it accomplished everything I outlined here.

1. The audience was not only hungry, but starved for it. And the need for the flashbacks developed as the story did. From the very first book, Snape has been difficult to discern. By the time we got to "The Prince's Tale" everyone was starving to understand him and his allegiances (some say he's even one of the best characters written of our time). The need to understand grew. What the heck was his story and-- 2. Motivation and background were important to know and understand. Finally we get Snape's backstory. Finally we understand his motivations better than we ever have before. And holy cow, are they important. Not just to his character, but to other characters--Lily, James, Dumbledore, and especially, Harry. 3. Subtext is greater than the flashbacks. Even though we finally get Snape's backstory and motive, Rowling feeds us an entirely new kind of subtext, which gives us an entirely different interpretation of everything Snape has done in the series. The scenes don't directly tell everything to us. They still allow room for the audience to put things together themselves. 4. Important past events and/or information. All of the information is important to the overall story--in fact, some of it is absolutely vital. 5. Having this important information enter the story at this particular point adds value both to the flashback and the present story. If we had received this information at a different part of the series, or throughout the series, it would have had a very different affect on the narrative and on the readers' experiences. When it comes in, adds value. It was important both to the past and the present that the information be revealed at that time. 6. Therefore the flashback is pertinent to the past, present, AND future of the story. Because of the flashbacks, Harry learns the last thing he needs to do in order to defeat Voldemort. The flashbacks are important to all three time periods and help us predict what will happen next. 7. The flashback itself should have tension or intrigue and/or emotional appeals Is there really much more intriguing than finally learning Snape's backstory? The tension that begins to build as we begin to understand what Harry must do? The sense of mystery and shock and . . . love? 8. How long a flashback can sustain an audience is proportional to how relevant it is to the present and future of the story. Because of these things, Rowling was able to easily sustain an audience through about 30 pages of flashbacks. If that chapter isn't a good example of flashbacks, I don't know what is.

#Writing Tips #writing tips and tricks #Writeblr #writerblr #flashback #writing advice #writing lesson #writing lessons #writing reference #harry potter #split #author #editor #writer #fanfic #fanfiction #creative writing #fiction writing #writing a book

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blueeyeswhitegarden · 5 years

Note

Arc V and My Hero Academia for the anime ask meme!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V:

don’t watch period| drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes| give it a go, could be your thing| 5 star recommendation

fav characters: There are so many characters in this series that I love. Yuya is still my favorite character in the franchise, Yuzu’s determination is terrific, Yugo is always fun, Reira’s development was a wonderful surprise, Reiji is a wonderfully refreshing rival, Serena is cool and tough, Gongenzaka is just an awesome best friend type of character, Zarc is still my favorite final villain and Dennis’s development is both interesting and emotional. I could just go on about all of these characters even longer since they’re all so likable and interesting.

least fav characters: I think it would be Yuri. It’s mainly because he was just the hammy over the top secondary villain for most of the series. That does make him entertaining, but it didn’t make him too interesting. His backstory helped, but it felt a bit too little, too late. It also probably doesn’t help that they him defeat a ton of characters within a relatively short amount of time in order to hype him up further for his duel with Yuya.

I didn’t care much for Sawatari either, although I think I’ve warmed up a bit on him. I just didn’t like how self-centered he was. He came off as a cocky jerk and it showed in his dueling. He wanted to entertain the crowd, but he wanted the attention all for himself. It also didn’t help that people got on my case for preferring Yuya’s Entertainment Dueling over Sawatari. Not to mention they kept saying that his development made him automatically better than other characters. People getting on my case for liking or disliking a character in this series is practically a theme onto itself. I’m somewhat surprised that didn’t happen with Yuto, especially when my feelings for him changed as the series progressed. I still like Yuto, but he went from one of my favorites to just okay partly due to how overhyped I think he was. People were acting as if he was the main character instead of Yuya, calling Yuya the Standard Yuto and even claiming that the outcome of the series would somehow be better if Yuto absorbed Yuya instead and just flat out became the main character. I still generally like Yuto, but that kind of attitude does impact how I see him too.

fav relationship: I love Yuya and Yuzu’s relationship so much. Whether you see their relationship as romantic or platonic, I think that it’s clear that they do love each other. The group friendship between Yuya, Yuzu, Gongenzaka is so great. Yuya, Yuzu and Sora’s friendship is so wonderful too. Yugo and Rin are my second favorite pairing in the series. I love Yuya and Jack’s friendship so much and how they grow to respect each other. Yuya and Ed’s friendship is pretty great too.

fav moment: There are so many great moments in the series, but I’d still have to go with Yuya vs. Jack round two. That was just such a fantastic duel. Whenever I think about that match, Yuya getting the crowd to duel alongside him, Jack happily accepting defeat with a smile and raising Yuya’s arm as the victor at the end, I can’t help but feel happier inside and out.

headcanons/theories: I still like the idea of the original Zarc being within Yuya. There wouldn’t be enough of him to where Yuya could talk to him, but he’d still get more of his memories over time. The Zarc in Reira is kind of another fragment of his demon self with traces of his original self. If Zarc was split apart into four pieces the first time, he could be split into five pieces the second time around.

unpopular opinion: I think that Yuzu doesn’t get nearly enough credit for effectively saving the world. I can understand people being upset that she didn’t get a duel in the third season. That was a disappointment for me too, but I feel like people also overlook that she still had an important role in the storyline and had significant impact on other characters even without dueling. It’s also one of the reasons why I hate it when people say that she became a plot device character. In my experience, plot device characters usually only have one important relationship with another character. While the show focused more on Yuya and Yuzu’s friendship once they were separated, she still affected other characters like Sora, Serena and Yugo. Her relationships with them, along with Shuzo, were pretty important too. I understand that people want more proactive female duelists in this franchise. We don’t have a lot of them, but I don’t think that’s the only way a character can contribute to the storyline.

how’d you find it: I’ve been watching the franchise for years and I watched it right after watching Zexal. I never made it passed the first season of the dub since I didn’t care for most of the voices or changes and I’d rather not get the two versions mixed up in my mind too.

random thoughts: I love this series so much. Even with the fanbase being problematic to say the least, it doesn’t affect my love for Arc V. I love so many characters, so many duels and so many moments. It celebrates the franchise while providing its own story at the same time. Arc V makes me appreciate that I’ve been a fan of the franchise all these years. It is a terrific series, easily my favorite series in the franchise and quite possibly my favorite toyetic series. I love Arc V so much.

My Hero Academia:

don’t watch period| drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes| give it a go, could be your thing| 5 star recommendation

fav characters: Midoriya is so likable and you pretty much instantly want to root for him. Urarka is so sweet and I love her bubbly personality. Iida is pretty fun and his role in the Hero Killer arc made him more interesting. Todoroki is pretty cool and I like how his development was handled. All Might is just such a great likable mentor figure. Aizawa turned out to be a lot cooler than I expected, mainly due to his fight during the USJ attack in the first season.

least fav characters: Mineta is the obligatory answer, but that sexist pervert is indeed the worse. He might be the most one note character in the cast and Hagakure’s gag is being invisible. While I don’t think he’d be one of my least favorite characters anymore, my initial reaction to Bakugo was not good. I knew that he’d be the bully rival character, but I wasn’t expecting him to tell Midoriya to commit suicide in the first episode. His attitude in the first season in general, especially in his first fight against Midoriya, also hit a nerve. I’ve dealt with bullies who treat you like emotional punching bags and hit harder when they think that you’re better at them in something, which is basically what happened during that first combat training match. He does fortunately become more interesting as the series progressed and he was always surprisingly smart, but that initial negative reaction was still pretty intense.

fav relationship: I love Midoriya and All Might’s student/mentor relationship. It’s probably one of my favorite things about the series since they become like a father and son so quickly. I’m happy that I finally get all of the Dad Might jokes I would hear about before watching the series now. Their connection feels so genuine and sweet. The group friendship between Midoriya, Uraraka and Iida is wonderful. Their group dynamic is so great and sweet. Midoriya and Totoroki’s friendship is pretty great. While it feels a bit one-sided, I grew to like Bakugo and Kirashima’s friendship. Kirashmia’s concern over Bakugo when he was kidnapped and Bakugo paying him back afterwards made it a lot sweeter than I expected.

fav moment: I still love All Might telling Midoriya that he could become a hero. No matter how many times I see that moment, Midoriya crying is still so emotionally effective. The final blow during Midoriya and Todoroki’s fight in the Sports Festival was just amazing. The fight against the Hero Killer was pretty awesome. All Might hugging Midoriya after the fight against All For One was so emotional and touching. I wanted to see them hug since the Sports Festival arc and it finally happened, but at such a price.

headcanons/theories: I’m not sure if I have any at the moment. I still need to finish season three, so I might some once I finish that up.

unpopular opinion: I don’t really like the Midoriya and Bakugo pairing. I can kind of see why people would like it, but it just doesn’t appeal to me. I usually don’t like pairings where at least one of the characters don’t like the other one. Plus, after seeing Midoriya help Bakugo pass their final exam against All Might, I think that Midoriya is way too good for him.

how’d you find it: I heard about the manga and anime for awhile, but I didn’t watch it until it was on Toonami. I loved it pretty much from the first episode, watched it weekly through the first season and then I binged watched season two and most of season three within four days. I was enjoying the series too much to just watch it weekly when I could watch more right away. Plus, I didn’t want to accidentally spoil anything while looking up what to reblog, especially when a lot of people had already seen the first couple of seasons at least.

random thoughts: My Hero Academia is really good. It is definitely a shonen series and I don’t know if it breaks a lot of new ground compared to just executing familiar concepts really well, but either way, it is a lot of fun. The characters are likable, the fights are solid, the powers are cool, the setting is unique and the emotional moments are well earned. It is a great show and I’m glad that I finally started to watch it.

Thank you for asking. ^_^

#Asks #Arc V #Arc V Spoilers #My Hero Academia

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cherry-valentine · 5 years

Text

Fall 2018 Anime Season

Here’s what I’m watching:

Golden Kamuy Season 2 is at the top of my watch list. Season one was my favorite show of the Spring season, and everything great about the show is still around. It still has some of the best characters around (protagonist Sugimoto being a personal favorite of mine) and the cast just keeps expanding to include more awesome characters, most of whom are incredibly charming even when they’re terrible people (like the simply adorable Edogai-kun, the obvious anime take on Ed Gein, who likes to hold flamboyant impromptu fashion shows to display the various outfits he’s made using human skin). The series has a weirdness to it that keeps things lively and unpredictable, but it’s all grounded by how very likable and down to earth all the characters are, even the antagonists who are capable of extreme cruelty. There’s also a subtle, poignant side to the story. The end of episode 17 had a powerful moment that left me in tears, and had some very thought-provoking things to say about soldiers returning from war. The animation isn’t the best around, and the art overall is a bit generic, but the story and characters carry the show with capable hands. The music is pretty neat too.

Tsurune is one of three sports anime I’m watching this season, all three of which feature sports I haven’t seen in anime yet and am completely unfamiliar with. This one is about archery, which is a much more formal and stuffy sport than I realized (or maybe that’s just Japanese archery). The show’s slow pace and soft color pallete make it this season’s “soothing feel good” show (there’s always at least one). There’s some lovely scenery, all of the characters are pretty (even the elderly teacher is adorable), and there’s not much in the way of hot blooded sports action. It’s still a pleasing show to watch though. There’s a trio of lady archers in the club who are just fabulous. I love their deadpan, snarky responses to the flirty guy’s attempts to get cute with them (when he mentions that seeing cute girls in their traditional archery outfits makes him want to do archery, one of them swiftly says, “We’re not here to motivate you to do archery.”). Episode two almost took a dramatic turn that had me excited, and would have given the show a unique, supernatural twist if it didn’t almost immediately turn again back to the standard plot line (the cool twist was actually just a misunderstanding, unfortunately). The core group of boys are cute but they have surprisingly little chemistry together, considering this is a series by KyoAni.

Run With the Wind is another sports anime, this one about track and field (I guess? I don’t really know anything about sports, I just know it’s about dudes running). The character designs remind me so much of Haikyuu!! that I had to check and see if it was by the same mangaka. Otherwise, this series is fairly different from most sports anime I’ve seen. For one thing, the characters are in college, not high school or middle school, so they have to balance the sport with things like seminars, job hunts, paying bills, and other responsibilities. This gives the show a very different vibe, in that these characters clearly have lives outside the sport. Another difference is that the majority of the team is made up of rank amateurs, many of them being basically blackmailed into joining. The point of the show ends up being about the experience of getting out there and running with your friends, rather than being focused on wins or losses. It’s a pretty refreshing take on the sports genre. The animation is fluid and the characters are surprisingly realistic. Definitely worth a watch.

Hinomaru Sumo is the last sports anime this season, and as the title suggests, it’s about sumo wrestling. It’s also the only one of the three that’s totally hot blooded and action-packed, with intense matches, crazy training sequences, and bitter rivalries. The art is suitable, with attractive, stocky male characters who hang out in those very revealing sumo belts. It’s interesting that the show portrays several different body types, all in positive ways. Some are more muscular while others look more fat. They’re all glorified in their own way, which is nice. Special mention should go to the music, particularly the energetic opening and ending themes. They’re unskippable. Of the three sports anime I’m watching this season, this one is the most fun and the one I look forward to watching the most each week. Even though it’s a more stereotypical sports anime, well, I like sports anime for a reason. I like the melodrama and the totally unrealistic moves and the numerous rival teams of quirky characters. So while it is refreshing to watch something different from time to time (like Run With the Wind), I’m still drawn to this sort of show. Near the top of my watch list.

Dakaretai (I’m not typing up that long ass title) is a guilty pleasure. It’s a yaoi anime that does very little to dispel the notion that yaoi anime is trashy fanservice for fujoshi and is insulting to actual gay men. Many of the worst tropes are here, including dubious consent, relationships that revolve around sex and nothing else, and gay men being portrayed in a predatory fashion. I know these are major problems in yaoi, but I can’t help enjoying the show. The art is great, with stylish character designs. The central relationship is probably very unhealthy, but I’ve seen a lot worse in yaoi and it’s at least entertaining to watch. The show also does comedy very well. Several scenes have cracked me up, with some of the best comic timing I’ve seen in anime in a long time. Yes, the show is problematic, but like with many other series in the past, I’m still enjoying it.

SSSS Gridman is apparently the anime adaptation of a 90‘s tokusatsu series. I don’t know the original, but I’ve watched enough Ultraman series to know that I enjoy tokusatsu and kaiju stuff, so this series should be right up my alley. Should be, but it’s honestly not as great as I hoped after watching the stellar first episode. If not for a couple of interesting characters, and some nifty monster designs, I would have dropped this series around episode four. The heroes are bland and have received practically no character development whatsoever, and the villain is insufferably annoying. She’s a type of character that’s inexplicably popular these days (a mean-spirited girl who talks and behaves in a cutesy way that’s supposed to make her cruel nature seem ironic, I guess), but I honestly find her scenes to be painful to sit through. The kaiju battles are nicely done, well-animated and exciting. The art in general looks great. I’m watching because I have a soft spot for tokusatsu and kaiju, but it’s near the bottom of my watch list.

Carry-Over Shows From Previous Seasons: Black Clover Banana Fish

Best of Season: Best New Show: Hinomaru Sumo Best Opening Theme: Hinomaru Sumo Best Ending Theme: Hinomaru Sumo Best Male Character: Ushio Hinomaru (Hinomaru Sumo) Best Female Character: None (sadly)

#Anime #Anime Reviews #Seasonal Anime Reviews #Anime Recommendations #Fall 2018 Anime #Hinomaru Sumo #Golden Kamuy #Text

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jaeheekangisimportant · 6 years

Note

what's your top six of the routes and why? :o

Okay this is going under a read more cause it’s surprisingly long sorry I kind of went off more then I planned to.

Also, I discuss sexual misconduct and assault toward the end of this, it’s not too detailed but I did want to give people some warning just in case

1. Yoosung – It was my first route so it’s always been a bitspecial to me, but even putting that aside I just really like his route. I knowa lot of people fixate on the whole “just like Rika” thing and take issue withit but honestly, I could never bring myself to care about it that much. Like,no I didn’t exactly like being compared to his dead cousin, but I didn’t getangry or annoyed at Yoosung for it. I understood that it was coming from aplace of grief. He was in a deep depression because of Rika’s supposed deathand he never got the closure he needed for it, and no one else seemed to betaking him or his feelings seriously. It’s not surprising that he would clingto the first person (MC) who showed genuine interest in him and try to findwhat he lost (Rika) in her. It’s not right for him to do that, of course, but Icould understand and empathize and so I was willing to be patient. And it’s notlike he does it the whole route anyway, he stops the Rika comparisons within afew days, and from them on he sees MC as her own person and likes her for whoshe is, though he’s of course still dealing with his grief. I thought it waswell-written, honestly. I guess I can understand not wanting a romance thatfocuses so much on your love interest grieving someone else but… yeah I justcouldn’t be bothered by it in the same way everyone else seemed to be. I lovedYoosung’s character development and I enjoyed every minute of it. Plus, sinceit was my first route and I knew absolute nothing going into this game,everything was genuinely surprising and fresh and felt real to me, a feeling Islowly lost as I did more routes. Plus, Yoosung’s endings are the best?His good ending is so beautiful and his normal ending is just super cute. Andhis bad endings… well they certainly live up to being bad endings lmao. They were interesting at least and they got astrong emotional response out of me so, that’s saying something at least.

2. Jumin – Okay so everyone seems to have pretty strongopinions about Jumin’s route one way or the other. For the people who are onthe side of not liking it, let me just say… I get it. Really, I do. I also kindof, um, don’t care? Okay that sounds bad just hold on. I’m not reallyinterested in writing out a big defense of why Jumin’s route isn’t Problematicbecause for one thing, plenty of people have done that already and for anotherthing, I don’t necessarily disagree with the people who don’t like Jumin’sroute. I get where they’re coming from, parts of his route are veryuncomfortable. I don’t think he’s as bad as certain people make him out to be,but he undeniably crosses the line at some points of his route, and I candefinitely understand not liking it because of that. As for why I like it, well, part of it again camedown to how much I empathized with Jumin, which was a lot. Much like Yoosung,no one else in the game seems to take Jumin very seriously. They write him offas unfeeling and no one really tries to understand or sympathize with him. So,I got why Jumin acted out the way he did in his route, though of courseunderstanding is not the same thing as excusing. But the other thing is… I thinkhis route is wildly entertaining. It was the only one, aside from Yoosung’s,where I genuinely had no idea where it was going. Jaehee’s route, thoughenjoyable, was easy for me to predict, as was Zen’s route. And Seven’s route Igot spoiled for long before I even got to it. I liked that Jumin’s route was sounpredictable to me, it made it really fun to go through, and I thought Juminwas a really interesting character and I liked getting into his head and learningmore about him. It was still fun to play even after the first time. So, since Iliked Jumin’s route so much purely for the entertainment factor of it, it waseasy for me to forgive the more “wtf” parts of it. And listen guys, Jumin mademe strawberry pancakes and read me to sleep, why would I ever want to leave hishouse to begin with?? (Also, fun fact: it was Jumin’s route that made merealize Jaehee was my favorite character.)

3. Jaehee – I’ve already talked a lot about her route here, andhow I don’t like the ambiguity of it and the weird pseudo-romance between herand Zen that only serves to placate the people who don’t want Jaehee/MCromance. It breaks my heart that my favorite character in the game and of alltime is only my third favorite route, but I mean, her route is still good and Istill enjoyed it a lot. It’s just unfortunate that I don’t love it quite asmuch as I love her. But enough negatives. In general, I don’t see a lot ofsimilarities between myself and Jaehee, but what she said about how she holdsherself back from being happy because she’s afraid of it disappearing? Boy thathit me hard. I really loved Jaehee’sgrowth throughout her route, seeing her realize her own worth and that it’sokay to take risks sometimes and she doesn’t always have to play it safe,seeing her find a true place in the RFA and in the world, it was all sobeautiful! I think Jaehee’s route is interesting in how it deals withloneliness and self-worth, and plus Jaehee herself is just so cute?? The textsshe sends and the responses you can give are just so adorable I love how muchJaehee opens up she really is so charming and fun. So yeah very solid route, Ijust wish certain things had been handleddifferently but y’all know that already I don’t need to go into it again.

4. Seven – Uuuuh boy. Hm. I’m not a huge fan of Seven’sroute. Particularly, I don’t care for the actual romance in Seven’s route.Which is kind of a big deal. But I’ll get to that. A lot of the “reveals” inSeven’s route were spoiled for me back when I was still only on my second route,so there were very few surprises when I actually got to Seven’s. To befair, a lot of these things I probably would have guessed myself anyway becausethe hints aren’t exactly subtle, but I didn’t even get the satisfaction ofwatching my guesses be proven correct myself because I didn’t get to make thoseguesses at all, I was spoiled too early. My fault for following a lot of MMblogs so early on in my playing, but still annoying. Not everythingwas spoiled for me at least, there was still a lot I didn’t know about Sevenand Saeran’s past and that was interesting to learn about. I also loved that littlesubplot in Seven’s route with Yoosung and Jumin lmao. As I’ve said tho, theweakest part of Seven’s route for me was the romance with him. I didn’t likehow mean he is to MC, and I had a difficult time placing myself in MC’s shoesbecause I couldn’t find any reason that I would want to keep pursuing someonewho was treating me and acting the way Seven was, so I felt really disconnectedfrom the whole thing. Probably super hypocritical of me to take issue with theway Seven treated MC when I didn’t take issue with the way Jumin treated her,but I simply wasn’t as invested in romancing Seven. I always seem to have that problemwith Seven. Even in his Christmas route and even in his Valentine’s afterending, I just… didn’t care. Like, they were objectively cute, and I swear I actuallylike Seven, but somehow when it comes to romance with him I disengage almostentirely. So idk man, maybe I only like Seven as a friend?? It’s weird. Sevenis such a strange character for me for a lot of reasons I won’t go into but thepoint is, since a lot of the mystery around Seven was ruined for me early on,his route didn’t hold as much interest for me as it should have, and the factthat I wasn’t invested in the romance part of it didn’t help. I don’t hate hisroute or anything, but I have a hard time saying I like it.

5. Zen – I don’t like Zen so there was very little chance of meliking his route anyway. Even if that wasn’t the case, tho, it stillwould have ranked very low because of the whole Echo Girl thing. I just… reallydon’t like stories that are like “girl ruins guy’s life with false sexualmisconduct accusations” because it pretty much never happens like that in reallife and it only perpetuates the idea that victims of assault and harassmentare lying and dramatic, and that makes it more difficult for people to come forward when ithappens to them. Zen’s route makes a big thing out of Echo Girl accusing him “withoutproof”, and of course we know that she was in fact lying, but the way it’spresented it’s like… look, I’m always going to be inclined to believe thevictim, with or without proof, because the consequences of me believing themand being proven wrong will do far less damage than if I didn’t believe them,and they were telling the truth. It’s not immoral for people to have believedEcho Girl’s story even if she didn’t have “proof” (which, what would that looklike anyway?). Also the way they disprove her claims is pretty gross too,because they disprove it by showing that Echo Girl was attracted to Zen and saidthings about wanting to have sex with him before the alleged incident, sotherefore she must be lying. That’s not how that fucking works. And again, weknow that Echo Girl was lying, and that she was in fact the one harassing him, but think about what this is implying. Thatbecause Echo Girl is attracted to Zen, he couldn’t have assaulted her? Thatbecause she said before that she would like to have sex with him, she couldn’t possibly have changed her mind and therefore he couldn’t have assaultedher? That because she expressed interest in him, it’s impossible that anyadvances he made could have been inappropriate and therefore he couldn’t haveassaulted her? Echo Girl being attracted to Zen has absolutely nothing to dowith whether or not she could have been harassed or assaulted by him! Saying that herinterest in him is enough to disprove her claims is really gross! It doesn’tmatter that they were false, the implications of all this is still bad! Theycould have and should have handled all of this differently, the route wouldhave been better off for it, but the way it’s written is just so bad and perpetuatesall kinds of awful ideas.

6. V – ahaha ahhsha alskd I’ve already said enough about V andhis route I don’t think I need to say more

#this took me more than two hours askdhak #thank you for asking tho anon this was fun #ask #anon

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