Stories that left you disappointed for a reason

[SasariRomanii]

I am in a couple of closed Reddit communities for ppl in publishing, and from what I have been hearing from english-speaking colleagues the trend has been to turn down books in 3rd PoV because many readers among gen z and younger nees to self-insert

But actually it's not covid's fault. It's world economy and culture shift towards brainrot. Global book industry as a whole is in crisis because:
- people are reading less which leads to drop in education and reading comprehension overall, which, in turn, leads to less strict literary standards.
- books and printing is getting more expensive
- global quality of living, earnings and spendings are on decline, or in stagnation at best
- people are mighty stressed because they are poor; hence why entertaining slop is more popular than heavy themes.
- due to globalisation the entry level to publishing is lower. Self-publishibg also contributes to the lowered standards.

Ergo you cannot afford to publish something non-marketable. And, considering that average level of culture, critical thinking and comprehension is on the decline BECAUSE people are reading less (ironic, I know), the mass books published are aimed at that mass unsophisticated reader. It's a vicious circle that we won't be able to escape until the standard of living improves again.

3rd person POV is good and IFs should try to use it more

 

[Ireth313]

3rd person POV is good and IFs should try to use it more

TBh I think that if an IF author is making a somewhat fixed MC, having them in 3rd person PoV will save the said author from a plethora of "so what if a MC who has a voice of a nightingale, brown eyes and is very shy comes up to a RO and HUGS THEM!!!" asks. Or from speculations about limited options.

I feel like if you are going with 2nd person PoV, the readers to a degree expect you to cater to their way of thinking and feeling, but with a 3rd person many readers will feel like they are piloting a character who has their own psyche

 

[seneya]

It's also a skill issue of authors telling players what they feel instead of making the player feel it. "You are angry" No. Describe the scene in a way that makes the reader feel anger. It's easier from inside one's head than outside actually.
But if the MC is a blank slate with barely any emotions of their own, yeah, it doesn't work as well.

 

[kecap asin]

Does anyone else ever feel annoyed when a story keeps introducing a new character or NPC in almost every chapter?
I recently read Love After Death. At first, I was interested in the premise—like, oh, a story about overcoming grief after losing a loved one, etc., etc.
But then most of the conflict isn’t even about that. It comes from all these other characters who keep getting introduced for seemingly no reason.
Like, the first conflict is with your dead lover’s mother. That one I kind of get—she's controlling and wants the house your dead lover apparently always paid for. But then that conflict becomes meaningless because, conveniently, the house was actually a gift from your parental figure all along.
Then there’s a new conflict involving the MC’s sibling, who gets introduced in a later chapter. Suddenly, there’s a whole new problem with the MC’s abusive family, drama with the dad, and a bunch of other siblings.
My main point is: I don’t know what the focus of the story really is. There are too many new characters bringing their own problems, which ends up overshadowing the original story about the MC and their dead lover.

Bringing this rant again because, appearently the main problem, which is the dead lover, is actually alive and now they are in memory loss era.
I- I just can't at this point. This is so frustating that the story kept jumping onto one problem to another one, like this is a literal adhd if it was a story...

 

[Vanya]

Bringing this rant again because, appearently the main problem, which is the dead lover, is actually alive and now they are in memory loss era.
I- I just can't at this point. This is so frustating that the story kept jumping onto one problem to another one, like this is a literal adhd if it was a story...

Ahh! I really liked the story when it first came out, I cried so much at how heartbreaking it was, and the plot was actually refreshing in a way, and then... I can't understand the logic of E being alive (aside from people asking the author to bring them back) and tbh I can't even understand why your father and your brother needed to make an appearance or what do they contribute to the plot. The story had so much potential and now I can't even bring myself to really enjoy it anymore. I can't even bring myself to romance anyone because why would I want my MC to romance anyone else if I know my boyfriend (and the only RO I really enjoyed) is alive!

And omg, of course even this IF ended up falling into the poly hell! I just read the leaked demo and some choices for the poly are so awkward, like the one with the veterinary. Too much information and the options are too cringy. Also Eki and T don't have anything in common and I can't even remember one interaction between them or them showing interest in eachother before the author decided to add the poly.

 

[Gone_Dead]

Ahh! I really liked the story when it first came out, I cried so much at how heartbreaking it was, and the plot was actually refreshing in a way, and then... I can't understand the logic of E being alive (aside from people asking the author to bring them back) and tbh I can't even understand why your father and your brother needed to make an appearance or what do they contribute to the plot. The story had so much potential and now I can't even bring myself to really enjoy it anymore. I can't even bring myself to romance anyone because why would I want my MC to romance anyone else if I know my boyfriend (and the only RO I really enjoyed) is alive!

And omg, of course even this IF ended up falling into the poly hell! I just read the leaked demo and some choices for the poly are so awkward, like the one with the veterinary. Too much information and the options are too cringy. Also Eki and T don't have anything in common and I can't even remember one interaction between them or them showing interest in eachother before the author decided to add the poly.

Imo, if it was planned from the start that your lover was always going to survive, then i don't find the sense in having multiple ROs. The IF only takes place in like a span of 3 or so months so far and idk how someone would move on from the love of their life in like 3 months. It took me that time to move on from finishing the Mass Effect trilogy, I can't imagine moving on from a lover in that time.

I remember seeing this movie where the female lead gets into an accident and gets amnesia. The female lead also has a dysfunctional family which dislikes her fiance. Idk why I even mentioned this.

 

[kecap asin]

Ahh! I really liked the story when it first came out, I cried so much at how heartbreaking it was, and the plot was actually refreshing in a way, and then... I can't understand the logic of E being alive (aside from people asking the author to bring them back) and tbh I can't even understand why your father and your brother needed to make an appearance or what do they contribute to the plot. The story had so much potential and now I can't even bring myself to really enjoy it anymore. I can't even bring myself to romance anyone because why would I want my MC to romance anyone else if I know my boyfriend (and the only RO I really enjoyed) is alive!

And omg, of course even this IF ended up falling into the poly hell! I just read the leaked demo and some choices for the poly are so awkward, like the one with the veterinary. Too much information and the options are too cringy. Also Eki and T don't have anything in common and I can't even remember one interaction between them or them showing interest in eachother before the author decided to add the poly.

I read the Tumblr ask, and I was thinking, surely the author won’t do that. It’s ridiculous. Like, please—it's fine to have conflict, and honestly, the dead lover angle is actually a pretty good source of tension.

And yeah, I gotta agree with the poly part. I don’t really care much about poly stuff, but it can work if all the parties actually have chemistry. So far, it’s just the MC going, “Hey, you know that pervy neighbor’s kid, right? Aren’t they cool??”

Like, you gotta let them interact or at least have some kind of spark if you want to do it right. You know, like normal people who are clearly interested in each other would.

 

[yourstalkeroutside]

I am in a couple of closed Reddit communities for ppl in publishing, and from what I have been hearing from english-speaking colleagues the trend has been to turn down books in 3rd PoV because many readers among gen z and younger nees to self-insert

But actually it's not covid's fault. It's world economy and culture shift towards brainrot. Global book industry as a whole is in crisis because:
- people are reading less which leads to drop in education and reading comprehension overall, which, in turn, leads to less strict literary standards.
- books and printing is getting more expensive
- global quality of living, earnings and spendings are on decline, or in stagnation at best
- people are mighty stressed because they are poor; hence why entertaining slop is more popular than heavy themes.
- due to globalisation the entry level to publishing is lower. Self-publishibg also contributes to the lowered standards.

Ergo you cannot afford to publish something non-marketable. And, considering that average level of culture, critical thinking and comprehension is on the decline BECAUSE people are reading less (ironic, I know), the mass books published are aimed at that mass unsophisticated reader. It's a vicious circle that we won't be able to escape until the standard of living improves again.

I remember my classmates in High School disliking reading anything that didn't have pictures in it because they found it too hard to read and thought I was weird for reading 'bulky' books (It was Percy Jackson) but they all loved Wattpad. As I said before, slop has always existed. However, covid and AI made an existing problem worse by turning the entire market into Wattpad self insert books, with very few books outside those getting traction solely because those writers already had a large fan base to being with. People desperate for community and powered by the nostalgia of being 13 years old on Wattpad and Quotev took over the scene in 2020 and the teens who would've thought I was weird in 2017 are now self-proclaimed bookworms because getting and publishing a book is now easier than ever and manuscripts which would've normally got rejected by agents or fixed by editors are now raking in thousands of readers on Kindle. The end result is what I said here

Books and reading is now a disposable commodity and people only write because of the clout it might give them, not because they have any story to tell. It's brainless, fast food consumerism at it finest.

That being said, I understand how my age group got there. We're the first group to grow up with unchecked internet access so we were swarmed with the trope/stereotype of the Dumb Jocks and the popular girls that barely passed classes and cheated on tests being cool and loved while people who liked books and intellectual things were shown as uncool and heavily disliked. Even the subversions operate on needing the watcher/reader to believe that the 'nerd' is lesser than someone into sports and or fashion. While I don't believe fiction affects reality in the sense that liking violent video games is going to make you violent, I do believe that bombarding children with the messaging that reading and intellect is for losers is going to create a society that doesn't like or appreciate reading and intellect.

 

[CQ2205]

Ahh! I really liked the story when it first came out, I cried so much at how heartbreaking it was, and the plot was actually refreshing in a way, and then... I can't understand the logic of E being alive (aside from people asking the author to bring them back) and tbh I can't even understand why your father and your brother needed to make an appearance or what do they contribute to the plot. The story had so much potential and now I can't even bring myself to really enjoy it anymore. I can't even bring myself to romance anyone because why would I want my MC to romance anyone else if I know my boyfriend (and the only RO I really enjoyed) is alive!

And omg, of course even this IF ended up falling into the poly hell! I just read the leaked demo and some choices for the poly are so awkward, like the one with the veterinary. Too much information and the options are too cringy. Also Eki and T don't have anything in common and I can't even remember one interaction between them or them showing interest in eachother before the author decided to add the poly.

Wait, E is alive now?? It’s been so long since I read that IF. I actually cried when E died because I genuinely liked them, but wasn’t the whole point of the story supposed to be about grief and moving on? I don’t really get the logic of bringing E back with an amnesia plot. So now they’re an RO with amnesia that we have to win over again? Just to confirm. I saw the leaked demo and saved it, but I’ve been putting off reading it, and I stopped following the author on tumblr ages ago, so I had no idea.
If that’s the case… then what’s even the point of having other ROs? Like, why would I romance anyone else when I know my partner’s actually alive?

And I’m so confused, if they were alive, where were they this whole time??? Didn’t they have a funeral? Didn’t the hospital confirm their death?? It’s been forever since I read it, so maybe I’m forgetting something, but in the hospital they said E didn’t make it. Unless their family faked it? To take advantage of the fact that E doesn’t remember the MC and pretended they died so the MC wouldn’t go after them? Which doesn’t really make sense to me because, unless they planned to keep an eye on E forever or move somewhere else, at some point the MC would’ve run into them again. Anyway, I don’t know, I’m just confused lol

About the poly thing, I honestly have nothing left to say to express my frustration lol. I’m so tired of seeing the same ask every single time “I can’t choose between this RO and that one, can we have a poly route?” I literally just saw that ask again about Blink because people can’t seem to choose between Cy and Echo, and instead of just playing each route separately, they want poly, poly, and more poly. I’m gonna stop talking before I get annoyed again

 

[Foulwarden]

This is so frustating that the story kept jumping onto one problem to another one, like this is a literal adhd if it was a story...

My french that’s a spoilerrrr hide it or something.

The premise was so good at first, losing a lover and dealing with grief. But then it turned into the same old IF story (fans in Tumblr begged for the lover’s return and the author just… agreed) Like why can’t authors stick with what they planned?

Like, you gotta let them interact or at least have some kind of spark if you want to do it right. You know, like normal people who are clearly interested in each other would.

It’s a V-poly, both into MC not each other.

 

[dontfollowme]

Why throw poly into every SINGLE GAME

Authors it’s totally okay to not be inclusive to everyone and the poly thing doesn’t even make SENSE here

 

[Vanya]

It’s a V-poly, both into MC not each other.

Truly? From the choices I got the impression it was not. Like there's a lot of options where we can tell T how Eki asked about them an stuff like that, actually we can bring them up to eachother a lot of times, and theres's two or three times where we can hang out with both at the same time so I though they were supposed to be into eachother too.

Wait, E is alive now?? It’s been so long since I read that IF. I actually cried when E died because I genuinely liked them, but wasn’t the whole point of the story supposed to be about grief and moving on? I don’t really get the logic of bringing E back with an amnesia plot. So now they’re an RO with amnesia that we have to win over again? Just to confirm. I saw the leaked demo and saved it, but I’ve been putting off reading it, and I stopped following the author on tumblr ages ago, so I had no idea.
If that’s the case… then what’s even the point of having other ROs? Like, why would I romance anyone else when I know my partner’s actually alive?
.
And I’m so confused, if they were alive, where were they this whole time??? Didn’t they have a funeral? Didn’t the hospital confirm their death?? It’s been forever since I read it, so maybe I’m forgetting something, but in the hospital they said E didn’t make it. Unless their family faked it? To take advantage of the fact that E doesn’t remember the MC and pretended they died so the MC wouldn’t go after them? Which doesn’t really make sense to me because, unless they planned to keep an eye on E forever or move somewhere else, at some point the MC would’ve run into them again. Anyway, I don’t know, I’m just confused lol

Sorry about the spoiler. I should have hidden it before In the new demo it's kind of explained, but not really, so there's still some plot holes. But yeah, you're actually right about the amnesia part and we needing to win them over again. Right now tho, MC still doesn't know they're alive.

Spoiler

I guess the mother just faked everything, also the Hospital, E's friends and their sibling ( yes the RO one) all know and are playing the mother's game. Also E knows about us because they heard their mother being mean to us on the phone an it made them sad. They even sent us flowers, with their father's help, because apparently the father doesn't know we don't know. Oh, and E's friends want them to remember us and are trying to make them remember, but also not because they think it's not good for E right now, because why would it be good to someone with amnesia to remember the love of their life, right.

Idk, it's all too complicated and doesn't make sense tbh. At this point I'm just waiting for the moment E's former lover is introduced and tries to seduce them or tries to make them believe they were still together or something. Which is not so far fetched if you think about it.

About the poly thing, I honestly have nothing left to say to express my frustration lol. I’m so tired of seeing the same ask every single time “I can’t choose between this RO and that one, can we have a poly route?” I literally just saw that ask again about Blink because people can’t seem to choose between Cy and Echo, and instead of just playing each route separately, they want poly, poly, and more poly. I’m gonna stop talking before I get annoyed again

I saw it too! Why, just why, can't people play two different routes?! And once again it seems it wasn't even planned before, so yeah.

 

[Foulwarden]

Truly? From the choices I got the impression it was not. Like there's a lot of options where we can tell T how Eki asked about them an stuff like that, actually we can bring them up to eachother a lot of times, and theres's two or three times where we can hang out with both at the same time so I though they were supposed to be into eachother too.

Maybe the mc is trying to make them open to the idea? (they clearly are)
Don’t really know and not interested in playing that route.

 

[szin9]

I played INFAMOUS again to get a better opinion of the game. Here we go, the story itself is very promising and incredible—congratulations to the author!!

As for my thoughts about the story, I know there are many topics that could be explored, but I’ll focus on MC, Seven (and Avina). I understand that Seven went through a lot of difficult situations in their life, including being abandoned by their own father, feeling betrayed by the band (since the main idea was born from Seven and MC together, thanks to both of them creating the band), and the struggles of being raised by only one parent—especially a single mother, which is very admirable, loving, and honorable on Lucy’s part, Seven’s mother.

The feeling of betrayal from the band is even greater, and Seven feels a much deeper betrayal from MC regarding everything that happened with the band. Seven lost their best friend and maybe their romantic partner, who seemed to be the love of their life and other issues. It’s clear that Seven, in their current state, has really been through a lot, judging by how they’re acting now...

What frustrates me is how Seven treats MC in the present. Yes, there’s a lot of backstory, many mistakes and regrets, but come on, just get over it already... It’s been three years, it’s not recent anymore. If Seven doesn’t want to resolve things with MC, that’s fine, but they don’t need to treat MC so terribly since that’s already in the past and it’s just pointless. During their breakup, it was childish and unnecessary for Seven to ghost MC for a month (and I’ve seen that they broke up via message... I don’t know if that’s true or not). They didn’t have the courage to do it face-to-face, right? But nooo, do it through a message. Or at least try to have a sensible, honest conversation with their partner, see things from another perspective, or find another way because, was MC their whole world? Why, then, do they quickly bury those big feelings?

Afterward, Seven and their “big red flag” go out sleeping around with people from MC’s circle—and they make sure MC finds out about it. In my opinion, it seems more like revenge, an attempt to rub it in MC’s face, because, from what I can tell, Seven probably didn’t even enjoy those encounters. It seems they did it more to hurt MC, which makes sense given their personality and character development. Maybe they’re demisexual? I don’t believe Seven is the type to sleep with just anyone, no. Seven is the kind of person who needs a strong connection with someone before that happens. That’s why they probably didn’t like casual ***, just did it to hurt MC.

Regarding Seven’s sexual preferences—possibly being demisexual—feel free to correct me or explain better how to approach this subject and the topic itself; I’d be very happy to learn more .

MC isn’t entirely innocent in this either; not only did Seven have serious mental and emotional issues in their relationship—like excessive attachment—but MC should’ve tried harder to understand their best friend’s feelings, especially as their partner, and respond in a healthy, necessary way. Although they loved Seven, I felt MC was somewhat oblivious to their best friend’s and their own romantic partner’s feelings.

Even though MC wasn’t as attached as Seven, the attachment was mutual. And even with the limited control over the band’s voting, MC could’ve done something. I mean... Seven was their best friend (and in the romance route) and their partner. Maybe MC could’ve left the band with Seven, or done something else, I don't know. It just gives the feeling that MC prioritized the band over their romantic partner and childhood best friend.

Now, about Avina—I don’t know, but I’ve never gotten good vibes from them, haha. Honestly, I’ve always felt they were acting fake around MC. And what’s this obsession with Seven? Avina never leaves their side; it’s like that bad attachment there was before between MC and Seven when they were on good terms. They’re on a life's mission to take the place MC once had in Seven’s life? I mean, they clearly don’t like when MC is around and want Seven to notice them just like they notice Seven, to make themselves the most important person in Seven’s life, to be treated as such.

From the POVs, it’s clear that Avina tries to get Seven’s attention and thinks they’re their savior—that Seven is desperate and needs them. But we see that even Seven says they don’t always like that and prefer to be alone. They also don’t feel comfortable opening up to Avina, despite them insisting they do so.

According to the game and POVs, Seven and Avina are just best friends, but I find it hard to believe that. It seems like Seven just sees them as a friend, nothing more. But maybe (implicit) Avina feels more than that, though it’s not explicit. Maybe we’ll see this develop later? It’s annoying how much Avina interferes in Seven and MC’s relationship, though. That’s something only they should sort out. As friends, they can give advice, show concern, but they're crossing boundaries by meddling in their relationship. Seven is an adult and old enough to handle this on their own, right?. Besides, the story of MC and Seven is very complex, with many feelings involved and unresolved issues. Avina should just give them some space and respect that this is their story, only theirs.

I just can’t quite grasp Seven’s feelings about MC nowadays. It’s funny, lol. They treat MC badly, but deep down, I think, very deep down, they still love MC in their own way. (but they still need to resolve their emotional issues and instability to better handle this love). I mean, MC is their first love, and despite everything, from Seven’s point of view (maybe from MC's side, yes too, maybe not.), they’re still the love of their life. It seems like Seven's cure will happen when they and MC make peace and get back together.

Feel free to share your thoughts!
Big text, I know........ Sorry

 

[OrionCats]

I remember reading love after death and thinking e’s sibling was acting weird, like, they asked if they weren’t being a little dramatic for acting like that. And I thought it would be funny if e was actually in a coma/ had amnesia, because it would explain why the sibling and doctor were like that. Didn’t expect to actually guess.

Imo, if it was planned from the start that your lover was always going to survive, then i don't find the sense in having multiple ROs. The IF only takes place in like a span of 3 or so months so far and idk how someone would move on from the love of their life in like 3 months. It took me that time to move on from finishing the Mass Effect trilogy, I can't imagine moving on from a lover in that time.

Was it really a few months?? How can the mc romance other ro so soon? You are right, it takes me more time to move on from finishing a show/game I really liked than it takes them to find another soulmate or whatever. Honest question, do people get over that so fast?

 

[LittlePapi]

During their breakup, it was childish and unnecessary for Seven to ghost MC for a month (and I’ve seen that they broke up via message... I don’t know if that’s true or not).

As a self-insert, if someone as beautiful and amazing as MC broke up with me, I also don't think I'd be able to get over them, hell I would have ghosted them for 7 years, I mean, why else would anyone in their right mind call themselves Seven (no seriously, why)?

...That was far too insightful an input, worry not, there are still a relatively small amount of mysteries left for others to discuss, I made sure to not be too helpful with that very purpose! XOXO

 

[mis07]

MC isn’t entirely innocent in this either; not only did Seven have serious mental and emotional issues in their relationship—like excessive attachment—but MC should’ve tried harder to understand their best friend’s feelings, especially as their partner, and respond in a healthy, necessary way. Although they loved Seven, I felt MC was somewhat oblivious to their best friend’s and their own romantic partner’s feelings.

Even though MC wasn’t as attached as Seven, the attachment was mutual. And even with the limited control over the band’s voting, MC could’ve done something. I mean... Seven was their best friend (and in the romance route) and their partner. Maybe MC could’ve left the band with Seven, or done something else, I don't know. It just gives the feeling that MC prioritized the band over their romantic partner and childhood best friend.

Let me just start by saying...I know how scattered this post is. I'm very sorry.

I mostly lurk without having an account but after seeing this post, I just had to speak on this. After reading through most if not all of the author's tumblr posts on the matter and all of the POVs that include Seven, I've come to the conclusion that Seven was mostly the issue in the relationship regardless of if they were friends or romantic, or both (and depending on the day asked, the author would agree with me. She's very fickle when it comes to Seven). The issue is that MC is customizable and depending on player input they can be almost blameless for what happened between them whereas no matter what MC does, Seven is...Seven. I'm not going to gather all Seven has done to MC because that would be tiring and someone here has almost already done that in this exact thread, iirc. There's a few things people miss. The unspoken implication in the Diner POV that Seven blocks MC from getting with people Seven knows. This POV also confirms that regardless of whether or not MC has romantic feelings for Seven, Seven feels romantic feelings towards them (unless she wants to rewrite that POV, lol). Seven also cyberstalks MC and has no remorse for any of their actions post-breakup/ex-friendship (And yet Avina feels MC is the controlling/abusive one).


That reminds me, someone earlier in this thread had a very intriguing post that I agreed with. Seven is a flawed character. I enjoy books/media with flawed/imperfect characters, however it is a bit confusing to have the author coddle them depending on how she's feeling that day/hour when asked a question. If she owns that they are troubled, I have no issues. This also applies to Avina. They are apparently perfect but when reading their POVs, they too come off as controlling, neglectful, and self-centered (and at one point treats Seven like a collared pet of theirs). This would not be an issue if not for the author implying that both Seven and them are perfect people and that MC is a monster in comparison. This is especially weird considering how abnormal their relationship is, even compared to the supposedly atrocious relationship MC & Seven had /hj. The author is either trolling or needs to rewrite swaths of her game. The game will clearly state something and her tumblr will say the opposite.

-Game/POVs: Avina is annoying and clingy, to an obsessive degree.
-Author's ramblings (greatly paraphrased, considering she's made so many posts on this) : They're so perfect for one another and it's actually a way healthier relationship than they had with MC!
For her sake...I really hope she is joking.


The first time I saw a post where the author says Seven and them are meant for each other, I thought "Oh, is it because they're both abusive?" but...no, I was completely wrong. The issue with those characters lie with how the author wants them to be perceived vs. how they are actually written. I too have also gotten very bad feelings about Avina, they come off as predatory (too harsh, maybe?), they don't have good intentions.


Also, the only point of yours I somewhat disagree with is that MC owes Seven for not understanding them after the band-vote-incident. In certain POVs/Chapters of Infamous itself, it's shown that MC did attempt to ask Seven what was wrong several times and Seven would brush them off and say they were fine, even on the night of the party/ at the party. If Seven really wanted MC to run off with them, they could have communicated that. Again, there's also the matter of having a customizable MC, where you could potentially have an MC with autism who does not understand social cues. Not saying MC is blameless but it does seems like the issue lies mostly with Seven. I know my MC only stayed with the band after the incident because they 1. were going to try to include Seven as much as possible regardless of the rest of the band's opinions and 2. Did not want to write off years of friendship over something that could be fixed (in my head, I know this is most likely never going to happen, lmao).


If you want to enjoy Infamous you need to: avoid her tumblr, and hope she is trolling when it comes to posts on Seven, Avina, and the relationship dynamics between them.
Sorry for how long and confusing this was, this isn't even all my thoughts on this. Seven has done a lot more and the author has tried to defend them for all of it. Again, she either needs to reevaluate her writing if this isn't intentional but if it is...the coyness isn't cute. And no, what MC did/didn't do doesn't justify all that Seven did and still does to MC. Mind you, I like Seven. I just don't like how I am supposed to percieve them according to their author.

Also, did anyone else pick up on how Seven, despite publically cheating on MC with several people they both knew, felt MC was cheating on them when they found out MC was potentially on a date/working with Victoria? I know it was vague, left at just that, to imply it could have meant cheating as in actually cheating in the competition, cheating...romantically,(Seven...you're down bad, and a hypocrite) , or....both?

 

[MalloryV]

Let me just start by saying...I know how scattered this post is. I'm very sorry.

I mostly lurk without having an account but after seeing this post, I just had to speak on this. After reading through most if not all of the author's tumblr posts on the matter and all of the POVs that include Seven, I've come to the conclusion that Seven was mostly the issue in the relationship regardless of if they were friends or romantic, or both (and depending on the day asked, the author would agree with me. She's very fickle when it comes to Seven). The issue is that MC is customizable and depending on player input they can be almost blameless for what happened between them whereas no matter what MC does, Seven is...Seven. I'm not going to gather all Seven has done to MC because that would be tiring and someone here has almost already done that in this exact thread, iirc. There's a few things people miss. The unspoken implication in the Diner POV that Seven blocks MC from getting with people Seven knows. This POV also confirms that regardless of whether or not MC has romantic feelings for Seven, Seven feels romantic feelings towards them (unless she wants to rewrite that POV, lol). Seven also cyberstalks MC and has no remorse for any of their actions post-breakup/ex-friendship (And yet Avina feels MC is the controlling/abusive one).


That reminds me, someone earlier in this thread had a very intriguing post that I agreed with. Seven is a flawed character. I enjoy books/media with flawed/imperfect characters, however it is a bit confusing to have the author coddle them depending on how she's feeling that day/hour when asked a question. If she owns that they are troubled, I have no issues. This also applies to Avina. They are apparently perfect but when reading their POVs, they too come off as controlling, neglectful, and self-centered (and at one point treats Seven like a collared pet of theirs). This would not be an issue if not for the author implying that both Seven and them are perfect people and that MC is a monster in comparison. This is especially weird considering how abnormal their relationship is, even compared to the supposedly atrocious relationship MC & Seven had /hj. The author is either trolling or needs to rewrite swaths of her game. The game will clearly state something and her tumblr will say the opposite.

-Game/POVs: Avina is annoying and clingy, to an obsessive degree.
-Author's ramblings (greatly paraphrased, considering she's made so many posts on this) : They're so perfect for one another and it's actually a way healthier relationship than they had with MC!
For her sake...I really hope she is joking.


The first time I saw a post where the author says Seven and them are meant for each other, I thought "Oh, is it because they're both abusive?" but...no, I was completely wrong. The issue with those characters lie with how the author wants them to be perceived vs. how they are actually written. I too have also gotten very bad feelings about Avina, they come off as predatory (too harsh, maybe?), they don't have good intentions.


Also, the only point of yours I somewhat disagree with is that MC owes Seven for not understanding them after the band-vote-incident. In certain POVs/Chapters of Infamous itself, it's shown that MC did attempt to ask Seven what was wrong several times and Seven would brush them off and say they were fine, even on the night of the party/ at the party. If Seven really wanted MC to run off with them, they could have communicated that. Again, there's also the matter of having a customizable MC, where you could potentially have an MC with autism who does not understand social cues. Not saying MC is blameless but it does seems like the issue lies mostly with Seven. I know my MC only stayed with the band after the incident because they 1. were going to try to include Seven as much as possible regardless of the rest of the band's opinions and 2. Did not want to write off years of friendship over something that could be fixed (in my head, I know this is most likely never going to happen, lmao).


If you want to enjoy Infamous you need to: avoid her tumblr, and hope she is trolling when it comes to posts on Seven, Avina, and the relationship dynamics between them.
Sorry for how long and confusing this was, this isn't even all my thoughts on this. Seven has done a lot more and the author has tried to defend them for all of it. Again, she either needs to reevaluate her writing if this isn't intentional but if it is...the coyness isn't cute. And no, what MC did/didn't do doesn't justify all that Seven did and still does to MC. Mind you, I like Seven. I just don't like how I am supposed to percieve them according to their author.

Also, did anyone else pick up on how Seven, despite publically cheating on MC with several people they both knew, felt MC was cheating on them when they found out MC was potentially on a date/working with Victoria? I know it was vague, left at just that, to imply it could have meant cheating as in actually cheating in the competition, cheating...romantically,(Seven...you're down bad, and a hypocrite) , or....both?

NI don't think at all that Amy treats either Seven or Alvina as perfect beings.

Besides, Seven didn't betray the MC. The timeline should be like this; Vote - Seven tries to make themselves swallow this - Argument at the party - Ghosting - Breakup - Seven "dates" other people.

The point has always been this: Seven was much more dependent on the MC than the MC was on them.

It makes much more sense to play with an MC who wants to please everyone, and ends up hurting a lot more people. Or an arrogant/selfish MC.

Having played several combinations, honestly, I don't see all that "The author pushes us to forgive Seven, to like Seven," etc...

I think people need to understand that Amy loves to troll. Honestly, I would too. Because no matter what you say, people will hear what they want to hear.

Just like with the MC's beauty and talent. Even the game itself shows us that the MC is talented and gorgeous. Some people will continue to believe that the MC is the worst.

 

[mis07]

NI don't think at all that Amy treats either Seven or Alvina as perfect beings.

Besides, Seven didn't betray the MC. The timeline should be like this; Vote - Seven tries to make themselves swallow this - Argument at the party - Ghosting - Breakup - Seven "dates" other people.

The point has always been this: Seven was much more dependent on the MC than the MC was on them.

It makes much more sense to play with an MC who wants to please everyone, and ends up hurting a lot more people. Or an arrogant/selfish MC.

Having played several combinations, honestly, I don't see all that "The author pushes us to forgive Seven, to like Seven," etc...

I think people need to understand that Amy loves to troll. Honestly, I would too. Because no matter what you say, people will hear what they want to hear.

Just like with the MC's beauty and talent. Even the game itself shows us that the MC is talented and gorgeous. Some people will continue to believe that the MC is the worst.

There are several instances where she (the author)says Seven and Avina are very nice/misunderstood when they have been shown being malicious/acting with bad intent in the game/POVs. My issue is how the author cannot decide her feelings towards her characters.

The part that makes it seem like Seven “betrayed” the MC is Seven’s hypocrisy. They were allowed (ofc, they have their own free will) to sleep around with people they both knew but the second MC is potentially with someone else, the writing makes it feel as if Seven felt cheated on in that moment. It’s hypocrisy, well written, too. They’re no longer dating, yet to Seven…

My issue with the trolling is that it seems the author actually does change her opinion on a whim. Some posts are too emotionally charged for her to not be telling at least a little bit of the truth. I know these are fictional characters but there have been some posts of hers as well that seem to be dumbing Seven down to a little silly/dramatic person when the ask/discussion the author was referring to was specifically about Seven being abusive towards MC. I am not one of the accusers that said MC was a loser, they're a lot better than most of the cast think. I think specifically in some of her posts online, she makes it seem like their relationship was a hellish mess in comparison to what Avina and Seven could have...when in fact it seems like a repeating cycle but worse (plus, if the author isn't trolling and they do have a relationship...what was the point of all those old posts about having really good platonic relationships in the game?). Her trolling appears genuine sometimes and if it is sometimes genuine, then she's talking about abusive behaviors very flippantly. I would not be arguing any of this if not for her posts on both of her blogs that imply her feelings about this. She's joking, yet most of the people who follow her, even other IF writers (I guess that makes it easy to avoid their IFs), agree with her on plenty of these posts. I can understand her joking about this, but there are fans who genuinely believe all of the posts arguing those two are perfect.

 

[MalloryV]

There are several instances where she (the author)says Seven and Avina are very nice/misunderstood when they have been shown being malicious/acting with bad intent in the game/POVs. My issue is how the author cannot decide her feelings towards her characters.

The part that makes it seem like Seven “betrayed” the MC is Seven’s hypocrisy. They were allowed (ofc, they have their own free will) to sleep around with people they both knew but the second MC is potentially with someone else, the writing makes it feel as if Seven felt cheated on in that moment. It’s hypocrisy, well written, too. They’re no longer dating, yet to Seven…

My issue with the trolling is that it seems the author actually does change her opinion on a whim. Some posts are too emotionally charged for her to not be telling at least a little bit of the truth. I know these are fictional characters but there have been some posts of hers as well that seem to be dumbing Seven down to a little silly/dramatic person when the ask/discussion the author was referring to was specifically about Seven being abusive towards MC. I am not one of the accusers that said MC was a loser, they're a lot better than most of the cast think. I think specifically in some of her posts online, she makes it seem like their relationship was a hellish mess in comparison to what Avina and Seven could have...when in fact it seems like a repeating cycle but worse (plus, if the author isn't trolling and they do have a relationship...what was the point of all those old posts about having really good platonic relationships in the game?). Her trolling appears genuine sometimes and if it is sometimes genuine, then she's talking about abusive behaviors very flippantly. I would not be arguing any of this if not for her posts on both of her blogs that imply her feelings about this. She's joking, yet most of the people who follow her, even other IF writers (I guess that makes it easy to avoid their IFs), agree with her on plenty of these posts. I can understand her joking about this, but there are fans who genuinely believe all of the posts arguing those two are perfect.

Honestly, I don't think Alvina has done anything potentially harmful/evil to MC yet? Apart from not liking the MC, and trying to distance Seven from a person, who Alvina believes is bad... They did nothing.

Seven, however, is a completely different beast. I agree that they's no saint, but I never felt like Amy was trying to make them look like one. Maybe it's because I'm not a native English speaker, and so for me, something gets lost in translation. Who knows.

As I said, I don't think Amy really thinks of Alvina and Seven as a perfect match. Would I like to see them together? Absolutely not. But I don't think that's the point of Alvina and Seven.

Their POVs seem to go like this: Alvina wants to replace the MC, perhaps without realizing it.

Seven though, no matter how "close" he says they are, never seems to really open up to them. In one of the POVs, if I'm not mistaken, Seven himself says that Alvina can't understand them. Something like that.

And I mean, Seven is hypocritical. And what happens when you feel betrayed and you're dependent on someone.

I say this because when I was younger it was the same as Seven.

She was a girl who gave everything for the people close to me, especially those I was dependent on. In that moment, you feel betrayed, as if someone had stabbed you in the heart. Your entire psyche changes. That person who once brought you happiness has now caused you unimaginable pain. It doesn't matter if it was a small, silly matter.

You feel like the air is missing. The ground beneath your feet. It's as if someone has torn a part of you away, leaving you in pieces. And that's where anger kicks in. The desire for revenge kicks in. You want that person to feel even a little bit of the harm they've done to you. What if they do the same thing? Even worse, because you don't think logically.

That's not an excuse. Of course not.

I don't think Amy really changes her mind, but we'll only really know that later.

I can think one thing about her, you another... But in the end, none of us really know what she want for her characters, for the story, and what she really think.

Of course, everyone may or may not like the way she approaches questions. I wish she were clearer, But I don't have any problems with the way it interacts either. As long as the story is written coherently.