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Discussion: Was Alexander out of character?
🕑 Added 2024-02-22 00:35:53 +0000 UTCThis post started as a small comment to future plans but them just exploded, so I'm making it a unique post. Future plans coming soon, I promise!
Was Alexander out of character (in the DLC)?
(Spoilers for Alexander's DLC & Sebastian's route below.)
I saw a small comment like this and I want to discuss it briefly because I spent a great deal of time thinking about Alexander's character while writing and this was actually and honestly a regular, reoccurring concern for me.
I had writers block over his character more than once because of some core concepts related to him.
Initially, Alexander suffered from a similar problem as Julian did in Sebastian's route. He wore a mask. A mask that was too good at convincing everyone he was someone he was not.
This is a failing on my part with the early work in the game because I did a poor or too subtle job at cracking that mask to the player to hint at the real character underneath. Same with Julian. Same with the overall 'world' influence of Obsession.
- Part of that failure is because it was all still developing and things changed as the game developed.
- Part of it is just me needing to improve my writing and lay better groundwork.
- Part of it was that things that seemed obvious to me were not obvious for the player.
- Part of it was the subtle seeds I did plant were too easily forgotten/missed/misunderstood.
- Part of it is Alexander was never intended to be a route, too! He was a side character!
My first game! First public writing of a large scale story, too. Lessons I am learning. And glad to be able to learn! I want to improve and this is a great discussion to have.
In no way do I want to sound defensive or corrective by posting this. If I ever sound that way, it's unintentional and just because I'm typing off my stream of consciousness.
Your interpretation of the work as the reader is never incorrect. This is about my retrospective on the story to identify where and how I can improve my writing to present a full and clear narrative and characters. I always welcome this kind of feedback and love hearing your thoughts and opinions.
Alex's character is summed up pretty easily and this is repeated in the game a few times. There are three golden rules:
- What does Alex want?
- What do the people important to him want (Sebastian & Isabella)?
- Fuck everything else.
Early Alexander came across much more as a "Alex wants to fuck around and nothing else". But that was a part of the mask and I think there were small hints along the way of that.
There is one scene in particular that comes to mind where Alex plans to kidnap Monika instead of delivering her to Seb as promised. (Before the roadside sex scene.) At first look, this is a betrayal against Sebastian. Except... it isn't in Alexander's mind.
Alexander "Surely you're not stupid enough to think you can succeed? You know what's going to happen, right? You'll crack like an egg in a few days, I drag your ass back here, hand you over to Sebastian as his fucking hero, and you're right back where you started."
Just like with Alex sleeping with Monika in Alexander's path of his own route... it has a 'greater good' perspective. By 'breaking' Monika and handing her over later, he's giving Sebastian what his brother wants. Those lines weren't throwaway, they were exactly what Alex planned to do in Seb's route.
Alexander pursued exactly what he wanted: Some fun playtime AND making his brother happy. Rule 1 & Rule 2. Fuck whatever Monika wanted, Rule 3.
Sure, he could have just delivered Monika immediately... but Monika wasn't a suitable partner for Sebastian from Alex's perspective. Monika would try to run away or hurt his brother, and she was clearly (again, from his perspective) a manipulative bitch for being willing to fuck Alex to escape Seb. He also wanted to protect Sebastian!
Twisted, but the rules are consistent.
The mask falls off in Alex's route as the player delves into his mind to discover why these golden rules exist in the first place.
Rule 1: What does Alex really want? Deep down, he wants unconditional and eternal love (which he externally communicates as trust and commitment). He wants what Sebastian believes in so strongly. He wants that eternal soul mate kind of love along with a hedonistic life. But HIS life experience has told him that kind of love isn't real and watching Seb suffer for it only reinforces that disbelief.
Rule 2: Alex cares so deeply about Sebastian and Isabella because they are the only people who have unconditionally loved him his entire life. That's why this rule exists. His siblings accepted him for exactly who he was and never tried to change him. Even his parents failed there. Therefore, Alexander will always return that love and support.
So in essence, one thing Alex always wants (rule 1) is to support his siblings (rule 2).
Alexander’s route was particularly difficult to write (and the exact reason I didn’t intend to create his route in the first place), because the question that must be presented at some point is obvious: What happens when these rules conflict?
And the answer I kept falling back on was pretty simple:
They don’t.
Alexander will never let them conflict.
Because the only love Alexander believes in is the love for his siblings. That only instance of unconditional love he has ever known.
Alexander will not be happy if his siblings are not happy. So, in essence, rule 1 and rule 2 are the exact same rule. Their happiness is what Alexander wants.
The only way to force these rules to conflict is to destroy that basic belief. (Which is what one of the What If stories touches on.)
Even if Alexander found his soulmate, even if that soulmate was Sebastian's soulmate, too... it doesn't matter. Alexander wants both and will not settle for anything less (and that's where things can get dangerous for Monika).
Sebastian loves Monika enough to compromise. Alexander loves his brother enough (as a brother, don't get weird!) to compromise, too. Monika is the wildcard.
So............ yep. That's what I was thinking while writing Alexander's route. I think his character is in-character throughout the entire game... but it does require some twisted logic at various points to understand how the 3 rules apply early on.
Alexander refuses to admit that he wants unconditional love like a soulmate and refuses to believe in that kind of love exists in the first place. But if it does exist, then the unconditional love he has for his siblings is equally (if not even more) important.
Oddly as I was writing Alexander's route, at various times I wondered to myself if he was actually the most mentally healthy character of all the boys.
But that's for you guys to decide, not me.
XD
