Alright. So, a thread I never thought I'd make: I'm partway through Fata Morgana -Reincarnation-, and there's something I'm really not happy about, to the point where it's making me reconsider my uniform praise for the original game.

SPOILER WARNING: All of Fata Morgana, including part of Reincarnation (naturally).

CONTENT WARNING: Anything that can apply to the First Door of the original VN. If this means nothing to you, don't read this thread.

(This is your last warning. Avert eyes now.)

So.

I just finished the segment about Mell and Nellie.

And... I really don't like it.

First, bit of context: I already took the original First Door quite personally, when I read it. This is because I have a little sister I don't have a very good relationship with, to the point she's told me I actively contributed to her depression and that I was a terrible brother

Due to this, when I read the original VN, I felt like defending Mell- he doesn't owe an explanation to Nellie for falling in love with someone, he didn't know about the (gloriously ironic) sister thing, he had every right to push nellie away after... that.

But at the end I swallowed my doubts about it- Mell indeed had problems with paying enough attention to his sister, so I chalked things up to that.

But...

Reincarnation, and how it treated Mell and Nellie's dynamic, really shook my confidence in the narrative justification of Mell's fate.

A small recap:

Nellie and Mell are two high schoolers in London (14 and 17 respectively), Nellie's been admiring Mell from afar for years. Coincidentally the two actually meet at a vacation in France, and have a great time, and keep in touch once they go back home.

They grow close (Nellie interprets this as blossoming romance), and things are going swimmingly for Nellie.

If they'd left it here, it would've been a somewhat reasonable conclusion, although it'd be a cop-out: Nellie gets to swoon all over Mell, families aren't ruined, etc.

(Which I understand why would be uncomfortable for some.)

But here's what happens: In yet another bout of jolly plot contrivance (known and welcome elsewhere in Reincarnation), it turns out Mell's dad and Nellie's mom... divorced when Nellie was a baby and Nellie's mom just... literally never mentioned it to Nellie (and vice versa).

The obvious conclusion is that Nellie and Mell are blood-related siblings, who are now living together (parents move in together) as a family again.

This is the crux of the issue: Nellie's head over heels for Mell at this point, but... they can't be a couple. Can't blame her.

At this point I was kind of laughing at Nellie's ludicrous misfortune. Nellie is a whole mess, and Reincarnation made this clear.

One key difference, though: Mell here had every reason and right to be distant from Nellie. In the OG story, Nellie had child marriage looming over

her, and Mell's refusal to support her against that was a genuinely terrible thing.

Here? Mell is not responsible for Nellie in any way, he didn't grow up with her, he isn't ignoring her need for help... He's just a kid, like Nellie, going through a tough time.

Mell figures out a few days in that Nellie *likes* likes her, and decides to distance himself from her to let her calm down. A mature, sensible response, considering the circumstances.

So far so good, writing-wise.

Soon after, Nellie overhears Mell on the phone talking about how he just wants this year to be over so that he can move out to university and end this "family farce". (Kind of relatable, anecdotally. Moving on.) Nellie is hurt by this, as Mell has been faking enthusiasm so far.

Mell has some heart-to-heart with Nellie about how she only saw one side of him and he's actually a cynical and cowardly person due to growing up poor and having to earn everything. Nellie's sympathetic but still sad that he wants to move out.

This is good! Mell reflecting on

why he's distant from Nellie is an interesting and worthwhile part of their dynamic to explore! He questions his own reasoning and wonders if he's weirded out by Nellie because he's not used to being someone's priority in the family.

But, that gets cut short.

The parents don't even get sprites (naturally), so they causing this trauma isn't even really explored, which is kinda bad but they were non-elements in the original story as well, so, fair.

Anyhow, here's where the writing goes to shit: Nellie ultimately cannot take the thought of Mell just playing the part of nice stepson/stepbro for an entire year... and like in the original story, decides to sneak into his room in the night and kiss him while he is sleeping.

This, of course, parallels the climax of Door 1- Mell wakes up, and he's UNDERSTANDABLY disgusted. Nellie says "Either accept my love or reject me so hard I can hate you until you go." Mell says he can't do either, and Nellie storms out of the house.

Now, Mell has to decide on whether or not he wants to go after her. He hears the voice of his past self telling him to go and make up with her, so he does that. He finds Nellie and tells her that they cannot be a couple because "society doesn't accept that kind of love" and

"because it's wrong", and they agree to be supportive siblings and Mell says "Maybe I'll consider staying", et cetera. "Happy" ending.

Okay. That's the "small" recap.

Here's why I hate this:
1. It's VERY unfair to Mell.
2. It's not introspective, emotionally intelligent, incisive writing. It's flippant at best, ignorant at worst.

#1:

Mell was sexually assaulted. He was kissed without his consent BY A FAMILY MEMBER, and let me remind you he's underage. He's disgusted by this... and REINCARNATION BLAMES HIM. Mell is put at fault for *being disgusted by a kiss he did not consent to*.