Accepting Tragedy · 1:34pm Sep 6th, 2022
Recently I have discovered an unusual preference in the stuff I read, mostly in how I didn't notice sooner. I absolutely adore tragedy. I would like to try and detail as to why, because for the longest time my favorite thing to read was usually the opposite. To begin I don't have full understanding of myself, so some of what I say may not be...conclusive, or just vague. For example I have come to associate tragedy to depth of character, which isn't really true nor does it even explain what the depth is even supposed to be. Now allow me to ramble, for just a moments time.
Tragedy is the concept of things going horribly wrong--either depressingly or horrifyingly--to good people, although sometimes the tragedy doesn't need to be specifically towards good people, but rather, likeable at the very least. This generally means that there is no happy ending which is part of the appeal, however, there are cases where this isn't true either. I find that my life is in a constant cycle where nothing good or bad happens and strangely enough when I am in such a rut I desire something horrific to happen to try to force me into action, tragedy. I enjoy tragedy, not because I take pleasure in it, but because it gives me emotion when there is nothing. Its the common trope of people listening to sad music when they are sad, I just put it more dramatically.
Perhaps another appeal of tragedy is simply the new perspective it allows. People often reveal their true selves in the darkest moments and that is why I read tragedy, because I want to see the best in people overcome the worst in others. It can be rather difficult to write a Mary Sue in these kind of circumstances because the entire point is that things go wrong which is the anti-thesis behind a Mary Sue where everything revolves around them and is solved easily, albeit despite this they still exist amidst tragedy. Hence I find it easier to jump into a story with tragedy as its premise. I have found that sometimes I will jump into a story with tragedy as its premise, but it contains no actual tragedy and unsurprisingly its linked to isekai.
I still remember when the new isekai trope was becoming a Villainess, to create an isekai based on the concept of powerlessness and tragedy. To be taken to a new world where your fated to die was something that instantly grabbed me...seeing it now 90% of them don't actually do this. The few that do I absolutely adore, but I'd be lying if it was common despite how ingrained in tragedy the very premise is. This tends to lead me to think on the concept of stakes and how far one should actually go with them. How far is too far? When I look at tragedy and see just how far some of them can go, but still create an entire story stemming from what normally would've been the conclusion to another it makes me wonder why such punishing moments aren't seen more. Well the answers probably obvious like how some people just prefer a happy ending, to see little strife where everything just goes right. I know that's why I watched MLP for a time, because I felt like nothing could ever go wrong in those moments.
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