Compartmentalising

Lovely Zen with the stars

I finished the Zen route in Mystic Messenger, which has left me feeling strangely bereft. Maybe it's because of the voice acting and the format of the app, but it is far more affecting than the normal otome apps. Of course, maybe it's because this app also sometimes comes knocking on the fourth wall a little slyly, like Cheritz thinks you won't notice or you'll think it's funny, but really it makes me a bit sad. It's a bittersweet thing.

Maybe we are all robots spouting our lines. God knows I feel like that sometimes.

I loved the image of Zen on his rooftop among the stars the best out of all of images because there is something wistful about it and vulnerable. Maybe because I am also feeling that way right now. I liked that the character, on first glance, seems absolutely brimming with confidence and narcissism but inside he's a bit of a mess and just wants love and acceptance. He's lonely and driven and has been wandering the wilds alone for too long.

I am, of course, reading too much into this game.

At any rate, I started the Yoosung route after and am on day 5 now. Weirdly, I don't always complete more than one route in a game but MM is interesting enough that I thought, yes, I'll do it. But...to be honest...it's feeling very strange. Maybe especially because it is Yoosung. The recommended order is Zen > Yoosung > Jaehee > Jumin > Seven...though I know I'll never do Jaehee because I can't stand her, no matter how well meaning she's supposed to be. Yoosung is the youngest. He's a puppy and cute and blonde (so SO not me) and you have to kind of act as this combination mother/girlfriend figure and it's a fine line (a line, apparently, that if you go too much in one direction and you'll wind up with some crazy yandere ending). And after Zen, I'm kind of ... meh. It's not the same feeling. Flustered Yoosung feels like a kid that you need to give some guidance to. Flustered Zen was just adorable and you want to hug him.

But I'll finish it to get a bit more of the story and then go on to Jumin and Seven, but inside, I think I'm always going to feel like the Zen route was the true one (even if, apparently, it's supposed to be Seven). Because I love that little lost man-boy among the stars.

And this is something I found on Deviantart by Complexwish (the others in this series are great too, especially Jumin with the wine) and I love it because I can totally see it happening. It's very Zen, down to the cooling down in front of the fridge and doing math problems in his head. Heh. I can't believe I actually let myself indulge in writing some fan fiction.