>>63278792i'm glad you thought so! admittedly the whole scenario probably does require some suspension of disbelief that a caring girlfriend like Shiori would let it get this far - truthfully, i based the decline of their relationship in the face of Anon's growing apathy on my last relationship
(especially the first note that shiori writes but throws away). as the author, i probably could've done a better job of setting up an elaborate backstory but didn't because it's just a super long greentext at the end of the day and i didn't really want to write some big fanfic and setup the justifications that shape why Anon and Shiori are the way they are in the story. and besides, trying to come up with justifications now after-the-fact for why they didn't talk in the story would feel super contrived for me www
the basic premise of what i wanted to go for as for why these two act the way they do is that Anon is trapped under this mental block that came about after being coerced into choosing a life that he didn't want and since because work is such a big part of someone's life (especially for Japanese salarymen) it's soured a lot of his feelings towards many things even if they're unrelated. if you've ever worked a job you hated and you've let it consume you or tried to have/had a family member dictate your career for you, you kinda get the gist of it.
as for Shiori's end, i wanted to come up with the idea that in contrast to Anon, a lot of things are working out for her but at the same time it's only because of Anon that she can feel that way - from childhood to the present in the story, he's always been a reassuring presence for her and it's because that she's known him for so long as a hard-charging kind of guy, the idea that Anon is dealing with something that he can't handle alone is a foreign concept to her. and as for her unwillingness to press it, i THINK i wanted to kind of put a subtext that Shiori feels like she owes a lot to Anon and so she doesn't feel right intruding when she thinks he doesn't want her to. plus with how Anon's decline started in college when he changed his major "for the sake of their future together" she probably feels a lot of unjustified guilt and responsibility that he is the way he is because of her when that's not the case.
remember kids, poor communication sinks ships
>>63279249that's a shame, i would've loved to read it. still, i hope you can post one even if you feel embarrassed about it. there's no shame in trying to be creative!
