Every single time I see one of those “theories” that Saeran ~loved MC the whole time~ and ~definitely before his brother did~ and is therefore ~the true route~ I honestly want to bash my head against a wall. I mean, really, does anyone, literally ANYONE remember anything from Original Story? Anything at all? Because, yeah, this
Saeran does not, at any point, express romantic feelings for MC in Original Story. Never once. The closest he gets is commenting that she’s cute in the prologue, but that’s not love, it’s a comment on physical appearance (and anyway, he’s kidnapping her to force her to be his assistant in that scene, and openly says that he could just “get rid of” her, but that it would “be a shame” since she’s “so cute,” which tbh sounds an awful lot like what a potential rapist would say). In Saeyoung’s Bad Story Ending 1, pictured above, he literally says that he doesn’t know why Saeyoung is so into MC, but that he’d like to find out, which he figures he can do by raping her (since “I should have you” is a polite way of saying “I should fuck you,” and we already know thanks to Saeran saying it over and over again in Original Story that he does not give MC a choice in these matters). Particularly when you consider that he’s taking racy photos of MC just to fuck with Saeyoung, and the fact that he says he’ll make MC his assistant in the prologue because Saeyoung has an assistant and therefore he wants one, too, it’s pretty damn evident that Saeran’s interest in MC only exists because he sees her as a way to triumph over his brother. i.e., MC is a tool, a game piece, a toy, something to use to get a victory over on Saeyoung, rather than a person that Saeran actually has feelings for.
Yes, Saeran says that “I brought her here, so she’s mine” and “I saw her first” et cetera—but that has nothing to do with any fanon reset theory. It’s specifically referring to the fact that Saeran sent MC to the apartment in Original Story, and/or was the one to bring her to Magenta in Another Story. Saeran is the first person MC canonically interacts with, but both times their interactions and meetings were predicated on lies, manipulation, and in the case of Another Story, emotional abuse in the form of gaslighting and isolation (since, yes, “I get the feeling that the AIs are real people” “oh no, they’re not real people, you’re so silly, it’s all in your head, they’re totally fake!” is indeed gaslighting since he’s intentionally making MC question her own perception and judgment). That’s not love. In Another Story it’s obsession at best. In Original Story it isn’t even that, because he was using her as a tool.
Lastly, I honestly cannot believe that anyone would look at Saeran in the Secret Endings and suggest that “omg he’s sad bc he loves MC and she ended up with Saeyoung~” Like, honestly? Really? You guys are going to trivialize and reduce his recovery and trauma—you guys are going to trivialize the fact that he spent HIS ENTIRE LIFE being tortured, abused, and force-fed narcotics, and that at present he is adjusting to being free and still very early in his recovery by saying that he’s sad because he doesn’t have MC’s magic vag? Really? You’re going to take one of the most realistic depictions of trauma recovery in this medium and reduce all of that to “he’s a sad jellybean bc he’s not with my self-insert :(” ? Seriously?!
Honestly, there’s a lot of nonsense in this fandom, but this is some of the most ridiculous. It’s a huge insult and disservice to Saeran’s character to trivialize his trauma and recovery in the Secret Endings like that. It’s ridiculously cliché to create a love triangle between the twins and MC, particularly when such a thing would likely drive a wedge between brothers who don’t need any more wedges between them. And it’s blatantly gross to suggest that a character who not only explicitly says that he doesn’t understand why another character is interested, but also routinely threatens, questionably sexually assaults (it’s unclear whether MC consented to those photographs, but again, Saeran always makes it clear MC doesn’t have a choice in these bad endings, so), and kidnaps MC was actually in love with her. The above pictured screencaps are not the behavior of one who is in love with someone. They are not. And before you say, “Well, in one of HIS Bad Endings, Jumin [yadda yadda” or anything similar, remember that Saeran doesn’t actually have positive interactions with MC in Original Story. Even after he’s rescued, Saeyoung is the one he interacts with, not MC. Any time Saeran gets his hand son MC in Original Story, this is how he behaves. It’s not positive, it’s not healthy, and it’s not love. Stop romanticizing this nasty bullshit, ffs.
(And note: I’m NOT saying that you can’t ship Saeran/MC, because I honestly dgaf what you ship. But I am saying that calling how Saeran treats MC in the Original Story is actually love—that he loved her and still treated her like that—is gross af. And I’m also saying that it’s especially gross af to trivialize his trauma and recovery by reducing it to him just being sad that he doesn’t get the girl. Ship whatever you want, but this whole “Saeran is the one truly in love with MC in all routes all the time it’s canon” nonsense is just that—nonsense, straight up.)
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