With this whole campaign underway, I thought I might finally talk about one of my greatest challenges in making Experience Points:
Writing about the role of a healthy relationship in trauma recovery ~without~ making sex and romance seem like a magic fix.
(a 🧵)
Writing about the role of a healthy relationship in trauma recovery ~without~ making sex and romance seem like a magic fix.
(a 🧵)
https://twitter.com/yozhikisblue/status/1496486251288956933
From Matt's bad ex stories to the MC’s anxiety-driven inner monologues, the reader gets glimmers of insight into the baggage they’ve hauled into this new relationship.
Both characters are a little world-weary, but for very different reasons.
Both characters are a little world-weary, but for very different reasons.
The story never dwells on their past. It never gives a full rundown of their damage from start to finish. But it’s always there in the background.
A slight wince.
An awkwardly-worded question that asks the wrong thing.
An unspoken insecurity.
A slight wince.
An awkwardly-worded question that asks the wrong thing.
An unspoken insecurity.
Both of them care. They want to reassure each other. But it doesn’t always come out right.
Their own fears are stumbling blocks, making them clumsy or unfair by turns.
When they get it though—man, they really get it.
Their own fears are stumbling blocks, making them clumsy or unfair by turns.
When they get it though—man, they really get it.
So as much as it is an erotic fantasy, Experience Points is also a solidarity fantasy.
Matt and Alex each have a very different set of experiences.
But they’re united by their nerdy counterculture interests and their mutual attraction. A solid motivation to reach out and try to really understand each other.
But they’re united by their nerdy counterculture interests and their mutual attraction. A solid motivation to reach out and try to really understand each other.
Of course, all is not solved merely by attempting to bridge the gap.
The differences between them remain. The past lingers. Misunderstandings abound, and must be reckoned with.
Both have a long way to go in learning to communicate their needs.
The differences between them remain. The past lingers. Misunderstandings abound, and must be reckoned with.
Both have a long way to go in learning to communicate their needs.
And crucially: there is some internal work they each have to do on their own.
As good as some shared moments are, they can’t fully escape themselves in each other.
Not forever, anyway. ; ) (if only it were so simple)
As good as some shared moments are, they can’t fully escape themselves in each other.
Not forever, anyway. ; ) (if only it were so simple)
Do Alex and Matt get a happy ending?
Yes!
But it isn’t the kind of happy ending where all their problems are solved.
It’s a hopeful ending.
An optimistic ending that suggests they’re both on the way to something kinder: A path of recovery that involves each other.
Yes!
But it isn’t the kind of happy ending where all their problems are solved.
It’s a hopeful ending.
An optimistic ending that suggests they’re both on the way to something kinder: A path of recovery that involves each other.
• • •
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