More Songs That Remind Me Of The Prequels

More Songs that Remind Me of the Prequels

This time, I thought my choices captured the high-energy, tense vibes of the story more than every lyric being true to the plot. Thoughts or additions, anyone?

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"Problems" by Mother Mother - Could reflect how the twins are irreconcilably different, emphasizes their contrast. Mostly reflects Rhian's deflating pov throughout the plot?

"This Love" by Maroon 5 - Has to be interpreted platonically. Reminds me of Rafal continually leaving, if he were represented as the woman in the song.

"loneliness for love" by lovelytheband - Rhian's pov again.

"Somebody to Die For" by Hurts - Captures the melodrama well. Not entirely true to Rafal's character, but it could represent his misguided savior complex and how his "villainous purpose" was stated to be driven by some kind of underlying love or warmth in his soul for Rhian, originally.

"GOSSIP" by Måneskin - Vaguely reminds me of the Circus of Talents and the duplicitous Evers of the time.

"The Bidding" by Tally Hall - Fits the vibe of the worldly and well-traveled Rafal, ceding some smaller arguments to Rhian, like how he mentioned he had before in Fall. Also, this in part fits how Rafal seduces other characters and strings them along.

"Innocently Annoying at 3AM" by Elysewood - Casually morbid and captures Rafal's characteristic coldness and probably how he can be accusatory toward Rhian. The brusqueness, the abruptness of the delivery of certain lines is really good, like, I can superimpose my interpretation of what Rafal's voice would sound like onto this at times, when the speaker cuts himself off.

"Falling from the Sky" by Kailee Morgue - About falling charades, masks, and being two-faced. It's very Fall Rhian-esque, or it could be addressed to Fall Rhian.

Rafal, i want to trap you into something and have someone play you. Trap you in a card maybe? People use you to gamble and they need to free you by magic.

Trap you in an RPG where my friends will play you and keep having you die against enemies? And then you respawn?

Fun right?

Rafal: [blithely] I'm certain I could free myself from your traps. Besides, I've died and "respawned" enough for one lifetime already. Though, I'll definitely keep those ideas in mind for my enemies. Like you. [He grins and his hand glows with sorcery as he says, mockingly,] Fun, right? We'll "play" whenever you're ready.

Both are adorable!!!

✨️Bottled souls of the twin School Masters✨️

I have no idea how to fix the camera quality, they never focus on the right thing 😭

On that note, some other things of the same topic

Bottled Wish Fish eggs

👇I dunno 😂

I wonder what other potions in SGE could be cool to make?

HAH! I love this! Also, the coattails on Rafal's ghost—I love their poses at the end! And what's the last panel of? Agatha and some object?

AIQPQMWXJXHAOAOQHZN

this audio reminded me of them if rafal was like a ghost and randomly appeared during tlea lol

also the proportions are like NOT the best but i think it's too late to fix😔

Do you think/Feel Rafal or Rhian is a psychopath? Or they just flat out monsters.

No, I do not believe either of them are psychopaths (or completely cold-blooded monsters), even if Rafal did exhibit some psychopathic or ASPD-like traits during Rise. Both brothers have/had displayed consciences at times and seemed at least capable of affective empathy. Whenever I claim a character is "psychotic" or a "psychopath," I am usually using the colloquial meaning, not diagnosing them. Also, I'm not an expert and they are fictional, so I can't really confirm anything about them. Despite all this, there is a chance the Pen robbed Rhian of his humanity, which could mean he became a psychopath or an otherwise remorseless person in Fall.

In the modern publishing landscape, these days, I think like we do not have many (if any) point-of-view characters with low social motivation for whatever reason.

Sure, there are lots of characters with social anxiety or other perceived or legitimate foibles to overcome, there are many YA villain origin stories, and there are many unpalatable, traditionally "unlikable" men in classics, but disregarding those, who else do we have?

Can the state of openly being alone (and content) rarely be presented as morally-neutral or as the end result of a narrative? Must it always be that either being alone is the starting point, so there's room for "personal growth," or that being alone is seen as "undesirable" and/or an indication that the person alone has a "problem" or something otherwise wrong with them, like a deficit or moral failing that in some kind of karmic way gives them "what they deserve," which is being alone and discontent with it?

Characters with society anxiety, any differences in communication, or other reasons that interfere with forging connections "don't count" because they may still be motivated. Traits such as these only stand in the way of gaining relationships, as plot obstacles. They aren't intrinsically tied to indifference or to low motivation. So, these characters clearly are not experiencing a lack of interest. And they are not the ones rejecting others. Thus, they "don't count" as far as the archetype that I'm looking for goes.

Characters who undergo villain arcs or otherwise negative arcs may want to maintain their relationships or gain them, so some examples are immediately disqualified (hence not having low social motivation), even if they are the type of character most likely to alienate themselves by a story's end, conflicting with what they wanted.

(Unfortunately, Coriolanus Snow, who is quite close to the type of protagonist I'm searching for "doesn't count" because he has some drive to keep people in his life.

Rafal Mistral partially "counts," and is satisfying as a character, but also doesn't count because he temporarily makes "friends" or allies, depending on how you look at his exploits. Yet, despite all this, not having friends isn't exactly framed as a morally-neutral state either, so he is also disqualified by the end. Basically, he does have low social motivation, but his narrative lacks the conditions that would make the natural consequences of that low motivation play out for themselves. He is always surrounded by people, even if he hates every last one of them.

And, generally speaking, the usual, moody-broody, "misunderstood" YA love-interests very easily "don't count" because they have a desire to get closer to their object of affection.

Even Katniss Everdeen, an overall good person, who usually views herself as "unlikable," befriends others, originally for pragmatic, survival purposes. However, she does start with low social motivation, so that's something in her favor.

And yes, I'm aware that we need other people in this world—I would just like to see someone prove that supposed truth wrong once. And perhaps succeed in their world, if that's not too much to ask for.)

Also, are there any instances of characters who progressively alienate themselves from others, in which that progression is not inherently seen as negative? Like, what about non-corrupt misanthropes? Are there few of those in literature? (Maybe—Eleanor Oliphant from literary fiction counts, but something about that book did not appeal me and I didn't finish it.)

Classics guys sort of "count," but I haven't really seen examples of any comparable protagonists today since many authors and readers write and look for "relatability" in blank slate everyman figures oftentimes.

(I'm not done with Crime and Punishment yet, but Raskolnikov is very tentatively looking like a safe bet for a character who may end up alone and who may not be completely malcontent over such a fate, even if I'm expecting tragedy. I'm that not far along, but I also wouldn't mind it too greatly if he died, I suppose.

And even Sherlock Holmes has Watson as his constant, even if he's notoriously asocial! So he "doesn't count" either.

Carol from Main Street also comes close, but still ultimately desires approval from others.

Maybe no one is truly immune to humanity and I should give up on this notion?)

How many pov characters out there are 1) apathetic toward the masses and 2a) either alienate themselves as the plot progresses or 2b) do not make any friends? (I will allow them making friends and consequently losing them though because that still ends in net zero!)

Indeed, this "gap" in protagonists I've been running into lately, especially with coming-of-age arcs and protagonists whose arc is some form of "getting out of their shell," is: why do we (almost?) never see protagonists who just flat-out don't progress in terms of connecting with fellow humans?

Wouldn't having even a handful of those types be reflective of reality? (We as a society are more disconnected than ever, to be fair, despite constantly having access to one another via technology.)

Or I would completely understand it, if it were narratively impractical to have a plot in which a protagonist makes zero friends. Maybe, it's a near-unwritable form for a story?

So, my question is: does anyone have book recommendations, which present a character whose end goal is not to make friends or forge connections (any other ambitions or motivations are fine) and whose state of being friendless both lasts and is regarded as morally-neutral or as not outright evil? Any genre is fine. High fantasy is preferable. I am stumped.

(I also wouldn't mind recommendations of books in which the protagonist is vilified due to being alone, even if that is not my primary query here.)