re: In defense of misunderstanding as a plot device, speculation on a culture not my own
@ljwrites @JessMahler semi relatedly, in that this is often my complaint about misunderstanding plots (though it can also come up in other situations) is i really don’t particularly enjoy stories where the expectation is a HEA/HFN and yet one is left with the ominous certainty that while this *particular* conflict has been resolved, a near identical one is likely to pop up five minutes from now because no one’s bothered learning anything from the first one
this is perhaps why i love pride and prejudice despite generally considering myself to dislike misunderstanding plots—resolving the misunderstandings doesn’t actually solve anything! genuine efforts to improve their own characters that are driven by resolving those misunderstandings is what actually drives the resolution.
re: In defense of misunderstanding as a plot device, speculation on a culture not my own
@ljwrites @Satsuma @JessMahler@indiepocalypse.social yes!
Pride and Prejudice has the main characters (especially Darcy) spend plenty of time reflecting on where they went wrong and working to do better. It makes the whole book genuine and about consideration and change, not shallow and thoughtless.
re: In defense of misunderstanding as a plot device, speculation on a culture not my own
@Satsuma @JessMahler this reminds me of someone pointing out that apology without change is just manipulation. Okay miunderstanding solved, hurray, but what action did they actually take to make sure it doesn't happen again? It leaves a bad taste in the mouth while we're told absolutely nothing is wrong.