>>2082926
Another aspect of this story to note is this. What exactly is the point of the characters in this story? I ask because, just like with Elias, the only other character who has anything happening in this series is Jonathan. How so?
Well, Johnathan is the one with the emotional turmoil, and we spend three chapters going through the motions with him before everything is just...resolved. We never really get anything reaching a cathartic conclusion, because his point in the story was rapidly changed. How can you tell?
Go back and tell yourself this when he is first introduced: This character is going to be the focus of EVERYTHING happening outside of Tobias and Tyson having sex.
You then start to realize that this story isn't even about Tyson and Tobias, this story is Johnathan's personal struggles, hardships, and emotional turmoil. He's the character we spend most of the central focus on, whether it is because he's being a foil to his brother, or nemesis to Elias, or having to deal with his personal issues...which are what led to his alcholism. He is the one who everyone is concerned with, for better or for worse, all the way up until both his mother and grandmother die. It's his emotions that are the main concern, and it is his thoughts which need to change/grow before the story comes to an end. All the way up until he has a redemption arc...that basically boils down to...nothing really. He doesn't earn forgiveness, he's given it. He doesn't make amends, he just changes because the story says he has to change. And it is really interesting to see how that plays itself out, because Johnathan ends up having more of a character than either Tyson or Tobias. How so?
What is Tyson in this story?
In the first few chapters, he's the conquest for Tobias. Tobias 'earns' him by defending him against others, and then dominates him afterwards, both physically and mentally. You'll notice that almost every objection/concern Tyson has is ignored by Tobias, both in and out of bed. In the next, he's then the 'wife' of the story, being told that his husband wants a child and then being forced into literally picking one up, even though he had no say in the matter. Remember, Tobias didn't really think about what it meant to have a child, he just wanted one, and so the decision was. It was Tyson who did the research and saw to the two of them being educated on what exactly they were getting into, not like it mattered, because Tobias had already made his decision. And now, going into this latest chapter, Tyson is about to be the 'sex toy' because Tobias is being goaded into devolving his 'wife' into such a thing by another man...because he is concerned about his masculinity? Which is ironic, because before this Tobias always did whatever he wanted with/to Tyson, regardless of his concerns.
So what about Tobias?
Well, even though he is the central POV character most of the time, it's Johnathan who he's constantly in conflict with. Tobias, despite having a backstory and so much detail put into him, doesn't really have a goal for most of the chapters of the stories if it does not involve trying to make his brother look bad, because he's already won at life -see the 1/2 chapter and how smug he is about his brother being basically ostracized from the family after he and Tyson get married. Which now looks very strange when you realize that he's going to have to make amends with Jonathan later on. Tobias the beloved of the family, has a great husband, he's merged his and his husband's family/businesses together, and he picked up a literally perfect child. Yet, despite all of this, he...has no real character. He gets mad and easily insulted by Jonathan, and now this new guy, he then forgives his brother after their mother dies, just because, and he doesn't really much to say/do with Elias in any deep emotional sense, because Jonathan seems to have a stronger bond with him, if the Summer Side Comic is anything to go by, plus the smaller pictures with the family. Think about it, what connective aspect is there between Elias and Tobias, as opposed to Elias and Johnathan? Or better to say, what is it that Tyson/Tobias actually do with their son that is relevant to anything going on with this kid?
And speaking of Elias...
He's...not a character, he's a very interesting concept.
He's a perfect child who, despite being in an orphanage, is quiet, kind, forgiving, nonjudgmental, and not at all fearful of anything or anyone around him, not even Johnathan. He has two wonderful parents who send him to therapy, let's him go to school, and has an extended family that showers him with adoration, even at the extent of pushing Johnathan out of the family, in a manner of speaking. And yet, what does he personally want? What is the single issue/conflict that keeps him relevant in this story? He's not mad at Johnathan, seeing as they get along well by the end of chapter 5, yet he doesn't really have any fears/conflicts with anything around him, but he also doesn't have any particular goals/hurdles to overcome. He just exists to exist. Much like Tyson's family, Elias is brought in to set up or explain things to the readers, but then put away and forgotten, unless he is around Jonathan.
And this is interesting because Maririn has introduced an entirely new/old character into the story, pushing Elias out of anything that can happen, barring this new character's children not being a central focus of the story.
It's really funny to think about how much changing the focus/goal of this narrative changed who was important to this story.
Edited at 2022/02/18 13:41:51
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