Do not read this post if you have not read my story Trouble is a Friend. It has tons of spoilers and probably won't make much sense to you.
I wrote the story "Trouble is a Friend" the summer after my freshman year, approximately July of 2011. Since then it has a small local fanbase even though I've barely edited it. However, some people always questions why the story went the way it did despite where it was supposedly was going. Partially for my own rationalization, here are the top five questions people have about what happens in "Trouble is a Friend."
Why didn't Olivianne and Will get together?
The first few people who read "Trouble" asked me the same thing and the answer is simple: Olivianne needed a friend, not a boyfriend. This was also a result of me growing up as a person figuring out that you don't need a romantic partner to feel okay. Also, if Will and Olivianne got together, it wouldn't be healthy since Olivianne wasn't a whole person, especially by the end of the story.
Also, especially with the theory that Olivianne only existed in Will's head, it wouldn't have been realistic.
What Made Charlotte Henderson So Great?
Charlotte first represented this perfect girl object that Will, like many of his "middle class" peers was attracted to. However, what makes Charlotte different was that she sort of represented what society wanted her to be: this quiet but beautiful entity you can look at. It was only until she talked to you and that you talked back to her that you realized that she was actually a person. While she doesn't get much "screentime" in the story, she is still a decently realistic character. She isn't actually perfect, but she's real. She's Will's less blunt reality check, because if it wasn't for Olivianne's constant advice, she probably would have disappeared.
What was the purpose of Jake?
Jake, who never got a last name in the short story, was evidence that Olivianne existed outside of Will. He, unlike Will, fought Olivianne, which basically gave evidence to Olivianne trying to support her own advice, even if it was just about Dexter vs Mickey. I didn't want Will to be a "savior" of Olivianne, so she needed another friend in her background. She needed another friend that caused her trouble. In a way, all of the characters serve as foils to one another in some way.
What was the stuff at the bottom of the cupboard?
I remember wanting to bring that up in the story later, but other conflicts, like Olivianne's mental disorder and alcoholism, kind of overshadowed it. If I had to guess what past me thought was at the bottom of the cupboard, I would say it was a bundle of news clippings of Olivianne's mom.
What happened after Olivianne and Will walked into the bakery?
I did write a short piece from Olivianne's point of view about what happened after they walked into the bakery, which described how Olivianne met Charlotte, but to be honest, I don't think it mattered what happened when Livy and Will walked into the bakery. Will's story was mostly done: he got control of his life and got the girl by actually talking to her. Olivianne refound one of her best friends and was hopefully on her way to recovery. We don't know where they were going to go from there, but we know that they were friends again. And really, that's all that mattered.
No comments:
Post a Comment