>>68880189Ok cool. There's a lot of ways to go about this, but the mental frame that's useful here is just to think of it as Hansel and Grettel breadcrumbs. So, basically, the most common difficulty here is that you have Past Events A to Z, but that those don't necessarily match one to one with how we want to actually drip information to the reader. Of course, that's a pretty easy way to do it, and a decent comparison point is the Jecht spheres in FFX. The thing about FFX, though, is there's a set pilgrimage route, so it makes sense that you basically find Jecht spheres in the order of Jecht's journey.
In this case, especially if it's a mystery, the issue is that Jecht didn't go on some pilgrimage, but presumably had some series of life events in a series of places, and therefore if we want to find more Jecht spheres it basically involves meeting someone who goes "oh, that Jecht son of a bitch, yeah he went here to Point D, you should go there."
So, the answers to the issues changes a bit depending on whether your characters are deliberately trying to find out the past or not. Presumably they're searching for someone who's missing, so it's deliberate. Honestly, it's worth saying, if this is your actual direct premise that's already been given to the reader, a reader really won't have any qualms about characters saying "yes, go here next." It feels weird as a writer to do so, but if you look at basically anything with a "retrace their footsteps" premise, then yeah, it's almost necessarily going to involve arcs being connected by some character directly revealing where the next Jecht sphere is.
The bigger issue maybe is less about feeling artificial, and more about things not getting too samey. This kind of story is episodic almost by design though, and I don't think necessarily that's bad. You can use the format to your advantage by basically designing episodes around every new reveal of information. Again, Frieren is a really easy model here, where there's a real simple formula.
Go to Place C. Remember Past Event C. Now I'm with my new companions, so we have Present Comparison Event C. Boom, boom, boom, right? Not all that different from Jecht spheres.
For something maybe a little less pilgrimage, maybe the reference point is something like Samurai Champloo. That entire series you don't even remember what they're trying to do, something about some sunflower man. Now, in that story, the main plot is more of an excuse for the journey, but it still serves us well, because basically it shows you can do the "every arc is its own movie" approach, where you give every single arc its own central theme, cast of characters, and unique aesthetic.
I have more to say but post is already getting long and my hands actually kinda hurt... I've been having wrist issuse lately. Hope this helps.
