#How are we doing?

[TOC2]

##Ben
- From my analysis of Wani, I understand Ben as being constructed - hiding behind a mask. His personality is fake(? definitely not the right word, but can’t come up with one that conveys what i mean better) and clean, his only expressed interest is in photography (which, as we see from the Wedding, lacks the passion that makes his work really stand out), and his actions throughout the story all revolve around a deep-seated fear of being “found out”.

- Additionally, Ben is someone who just sort of… does what others tell him. Scaler makes him clean up after Olivia when the janitor’s could’ve done it. Ben folds to Mia at every single turn, the only point of exception being when he realizes that HE’S the reason that Olivia has been spiraling into self-doubt all of High-School.

- Most of what Ben is stems from his psychosis, his belief that others will judge him for it, and the subsequent attempt to be as responsible and normal as possible to hide it. He has not become a person, so much as he has become his superficial idea of what a person should be.

- Additionally, having been given the chance to do some reading on antipsychotics (gen2), it lines up pretty well with this interpretation of Ben. Antipsychotics in general mess with your brain chemistry by blocking neural pathways from communicating - Gen 2 are just a lot less severe and personality-destroying than Gen 1. As it was described to me by a friend with a pharmaceutical background, being on Gen 2s is like getting your thoughts/emotions ‘muffled’, with things like fear response getting obliterated.

- I’ve tried to keep all of this in mind while writing Ben in Para-Plegic. My initial goal was to convey Ben as someone who was, at his core, an undeveloped person (similar to Inco), but who has become so good at his routine that not even he really questions how much of a person he is (no hobbies, no friends, very few interests, etc). I have also attempted to convey that he is actively thinking about how to act when interacting with other people (socialization is a conscious action), that his thoughts and emotions are a bit sterile (due to the effects of his medication), and that he is prone to agitation (a symptom of his mental illness), which he actively curtails.

- His path to self-improvement through Mia is an extension of why he fell in love with Mia in Wani: she makes him feel like he isn’t insane. In Wani, she knew about his meds the whole time, but so far (and likely for most of the story), it’s just that he doesn’t have to think about how to act or worry about how he comes off with her most of the time. He just does things. Ideally, this will eventually extend into his everyday thoughts and actions as well - fill out the hollow shell.

%red% Do you think I’ve conveyed any of this well enough? Do you think there are any places where I faltered and strayed from this without realizing? Do you believe that I made Ben too emotionally intelligent? Also, do you think that this is, ultimately, authentic to the canon Ben? %%

##Mia
- From my analysis of Wani, I understand Mia as being an extremely pragmatic psychopath with poor temper control and somewhat of a sadistic streak. Everything that she does is very clearly understood through an angle of “What do I need to say/do in order to get what I want?”. The only time she acts in a self-destructive manner is when her temper gets the better of her - which is also where her violent streak comes into play.

- In Para-Plegic, this is all still the same, with the added detail of an appreciation for theatre (which I’ve been informed is an actual detail that didn’t make it into the game). Her wheelchair has not affected her in the way that it ruined Olivia in high school; she is not the sort of person to withdraw into insular depression. She isn’t at all concerned about “cripple pity”, and will take whatever gives her a leg up (lol) in life.

- Instead, it has made her angrier, more stressful, and more worried. She thinks practically about her future - she likes mechanic work and cars, and she likes the theater. She HAD a promising, strong body, but then she went and destroyed it in a car accident. She is PETRIFIED of spending her life as a lowlife loser who can’t take care of herself - and, from her perspective, the only shot she has left at a career she enjoys is one of her hobbies, theater. She doesn’t feel that she’s good enough at it, though - which only makes her more angsty.

- Her road to self-improvement through Ben is defined by addressing her anger, hatred, and extremely-pragmatic view of others, and learning to let go of it - to see people as people. Ben was able to break through her initial bristling by challenging her impetuousness - refusing to back down (Lunara, the weak willed) OR escalate tension (Olivia, the strong willed) with her, something nobody else does. She identifies him as the Student Council President, and immediately begins abusing his trust by stealing his information and sabotaging other applicants to the stage play to increase her chances of getting Dorothy. She also, however, begins opening up to him without really realizing it. It’s only once she’s burnt every bridge, completely failed in her plot, and then gets surprised by Ben AGAIN that she is actually willing to try changing her mind on things.

%red% I obviously intend on exploring various parts of her (including her belief that “she’s only got one basket left to put her eggs into”) in the future, but do you believe that I’ve adequately expressed Mia as a character based on this information? Do you think this feels authentic to the canon Mia?%%

##Olivia
- Olivia is EXTREMELY well developed in Wani. However, there’s a detail of her character that I have felt is a bit understated (at least prior to discussions about Para-Plegic), and that is her egocentrism. Olivia has an overwhelming tendency to frame things in relation to how they affect her, or how she feels about them. She takes lots of things for granted, then throws them away because she can’t get over her wheelchair hangups - Liz spells this out to her face in Chapter 12. This is something present throughout the story, and only really disappears in E4 (and the very last scene of E3) - her best case scenario. Additionally, she’s rather vindictive - being perfectly capable of holding onto a grudge for years of her life. 

- The whole of Olivia’s active spiral into self-doubt and depression can be traced back to the Art Contest in Freshman year - when she went from “some girl who does art” to feeling like “the wheelchair girl who isn’t allowed to fail”. This has robbed her of her ability to self-actualize, and caused her to collapse in on herself.

- In Para-Plegic, the ONLY fundamental change to Olivia’s character is that her legs work - everything else is an knock-on effect. She still has the same tendency towards egocentrism and vindictiveness. However, without a wheelchair, the Freshman year Art Contest has the complete opposite effect on her psyche: she has gone from “some girl who does art” to “Oh my God look at this teenager, have you seen her art? She’s the next best thing since sliced bread!” This was the worst possible thing to be showered with during her transition out of childhood and into adolescence. It has bred a haughty, selfish narcissist - one with no issues about self-actualization keeping her from imposing her nasty thoughts onto others.

- Her relationship with Inco in Para-Plegic mirrors that of Ben and Mia in Wani: one where the bully takes advantage of an underdeveloped and meek boyfriend. Here, we see an Olivia who has encountered a guy who showers her in unconditional praise whenever she wants, who she thinks is cute, and who has a seemingly bottomless wallet and no qualms about splurging. He’s her wallet and her pet.

%red%Do you feel like this is authentic to the canon Olivia? Additionally, do you feel like her rather fast-growing relationship with Inco hasn’t been properly highlighted yet?%%

##Iadakan
- In Wani, while it isn’t especially highlighted given the laser-focus of the plot on Olivia, Trent Iadakan was also an extremely important figure in Ben’s life as well. My initial hope was to have Iadakan serve as a mentor figure to Ben, providing him advice when Ben was conflicted or listless, and trying to foster Ben’s interest in photography into something much more passionate.

%red%Do you believe that I’ve used Iadakan well enough? Should I have leaned on him more heavily?%%

##Kiara & Lunara
- Lunara is a bit of a difficult character, since there is so very little canon material to work with. However, when I think about Lunara, I get the impression of her being sneaky. She’s kind of cunning, she’s two-faced, and she is vain - she fishes for complements and basks in them when they come her way. She is also honestly a weirdo, but a very sociable one.

- I have assigned her the narrative roll that Damien filled in Wani: the only reason that their friend group exists, and the force that has pushed Ben and Mia closer together to see if they’ll spark something. To this end, I’ve stapled on a completely arbitrary piece of backstory onto her: she’s Mia’s only contact from before St Hammond, and she’s invested in Mia entirely because she knew the person she was before the accident, and wants to see that person come back.

%red% Do you feel that my analysis of Lunara is authentic to her (admittedly small) canon appearance? How well have I expressed this characterization of her throughout Para-Plegic? Do you feel like the role she’s taken has felt natural?%%

- Kiara is in an even worse boat than Lunara, as her introduction was far more anemic than the bubbly and loquacious raptor. All that we really have to work with in terms of her characterization are that she’s a stereotypical valley girl, she’s BFFs with Lunara, and she is promiscuous.

- I’ve not expanded much on her character, but instead just tried to give her more screen time. Her role in the narrative is similar to that of Liz. She really only hangs out with Mia because Lunara’s there: more of a friend-by-extension. I did change one thing about her canon, which is to move her hooking up with Buster far earlier in the timeline. This was to make her feel more dynamic and reinforce a part of her character (promiscuity).

%red%Do you feel like Kiara is portrayed well in Para-Plegic? Do you believe that she would be better served with more traits and characterization, or does she feel well rounded?%%

##Future Concerns
- I will, eventually, be forced to confront the home life situation of both Mia and Ben. I’ve already alluded to the sort of idea I have with Ben’s home life: middle-class, quiet, sterile, parents that are present in body but without any meaningful connection - a mirror of Ben’s own issues. However, Mia’s is a bit of a problem. I have a good idea of how I want Mia’s home life to be, but there already exists a home life for Mia in the form of Cassandra, Tony, etc.

%red%I definitely do not want Naomi and Mia to be related in my fic, and I hesitate to use Tony and Cassandra because I don’t want preconceived notions to muddy the waters, and I don’t want this fic to feel like it’s derivative of anything EXCEPT for the canon works of Wani itself. However, I have no clue what the popular reception to me ignoring generally agreed upon characters to replace them with completely new ones (that may or may not be similar) would be. What are your thoughts on this issue?%%

- Given the chapter structure of Wani, the next bundle of chapters will be the Arcade (Getting to know the girl + start of conscious affection from the girl), the Sickness (More discussion about home life, bonding through their situation), the Wedding (Start of conscious affection from the boy), Extortion (Climax of the bully’s browbeating), and the Monsoon (Addressing the root cause of the girl’s problems).

- The setting and content of a number of these chapters, like the Arcade and the Extortion, would obviously HAVE to change (similarly to how End of Summer had to change).

- However, there’s also the issue of additional plot points I’ve introduced, as well as my desire to expand upon the supporting cast: specifically, Mia’s abominable behavior towards Lunara and Kiara. Additionally, I’ve played around with the idea of Ben having a deeper scene with Damien in the future, and I still feel like Ben’s relationship with Iadakan needs to be more clearly represented. 

%red%Do you feel as though I should begin to introduce extra chapters, so that I can properly give these characters and relationships time to breathe and develop?%%

- Going forwards, Wani mostly drops the classroom as a location for scenes to occur.

%red%Do you believe that I should try to give Scaler and the two new teachers (Sizzle and Garfunkel) a more important role and more character development, or should they remain as background characters that gradually get phased out of relevance in the story (AKA, do you care about their presence at all)?%%
%red%Also, do you feel that Mr Ferris is underutilized in this fic, or do you find his absence mostly irrelevant?%%

- I have attempted to keep the narration mostly dry in order to color it by Ben's perspective - much as Wani is colored by Inco's perspective. However, there have been a couple of moments where more colorful prose have broken through: namely, the hallway first contact, and (though this is an extreme example) discovering Mia in the rain. I felt as though these two moments deserved more evocative language.

%red% Do you believe that the relatively bland narration is a service or a disservice to the fic? Should I stop worrying about it?%%