When the Narrator's Perspective is Different...

[verysunshine]

In a visual novel with first-person narration, sometimes a situation comes up where the narrator's perspective on some huge political or social topic is different from the author's, but the universe agrees with the narrator. Would it be better for the narrator to give their perspective without interruption or to occasionally slip in moments to imply that the author thinks something else (see A Modest Proposal)?

[SundownKid]

I wouldn't insert any "author's notes" into a story, certainly not. You don't have to make it clear what your "IRL" opinion is.

If you wanted to show something was "wrong" in your eyes, you could perhaps add another character who does agree with your opinion. For example, maybe the narrator is a gun nut and wants to buy a rocket launcher. The other character could say "but dude, rocket launchers are dangerous and have no place being owned by civilians". Then the narrator would say "but I want it anyway!" but the reader would see that you don't completely agree with that viewpoint.

[kitsubasa]

It depends on the reason why the universe agrees with the narrator, I think. Namely; does the universe agree because it reflects reality, or is it a created universe (eg. a fantasy or sci-fi setting)?

If you're writing, say, historical fiction, and your characters have realistic attitudes for their place and time, I don't think any sort of note explaining that you disagree is needed. For instance, my current project is narrated by a protagonist with a lot of opinions most modern readers would find sexist... because he's a man in the 18th century. I haven't bothered to explain that my opinions differ to his at all because I think people are generally smart enough to realise it's an artifact of the times and his personality -- though in this case, the fact I'm a woman will probably also play a big part in readers recognising these aren't my actual views.

Some people will still prefer to avoid a piece of media in the instance of honest-but-uncritiqued controversial setting details, but I think provided the world is preexisting, that's down to personal taste. Some people believe all replication of commonly-frowned-upon values should be critiqued, that's a valid view. Some people believe it's unnecessary, that's also valid. Do we need to document mistakes to ensure they aren't repeated and to be truthful about our history/our world -- or do we need to make readers feel welcome within a text set somewhen/somewhere that they aren't?

Buuut. If you're creating a world where views you disagree with are a potentially uncritiqued founding element? You probably need to go back to the drawing board and consider your choices. An original setting is a part of your views, opinions, desires, and ideas made into a place -- and if the place you create from those is somewhere with disagreeable elements for flavour... ehhh. If it's for focal plot reasons, go wild, but otherwise, we don't really need more fantasy settings where the author is trying to swing epidemic sexual assault or cultural homophobia as 'totally regrettable but 'important' things that we happen to not be talking about'. In this case... best to critique, discuss, or exclude.

I think the other thing that can help, if possible, is presenting all sides of a plot point if it comes up and you're uncomfortable with the stance most of your characters/setting take. For instance, if you've got a casually sexist character like the one I'm writing, paying extra attention to how women act around him can show you understand the whole situation -- if they can't speak out against it, maybe they're described as physically uncomfortable. As long as everyone's well-rounded, a range of views and responses to any given issue should crop up organically. : D

[Jate]

I would say only do this if you can do it very well. Otherwise, no. If you're worried about your game affecting your image, you can always put a disclaimer at the start of the game to distance yourself from your characters' views, rather than squeeze it into the middle of the game.

[Kailoto]

The problem with using A Modest Proposal as an example, however, is that it was explicitly satirical. Sure, Jonathon Swift believed that the Irish were being mistreated, but no one, not even the most aristocratic of Englishmen, seriously believed that the Irish should start eating their babies. The 18th century was weird, but it wasn't that weird. So it wasn't so much as Swift slipping in his own viewpoints amongst a different, prevailing opinion, but him using his viewpoints as the foundation, and conveying it through the exaggeration of its counterpoint.

"Author commentary," in the sense of an author inserting their own opinions into a piece of fiction for no other reason than to have them there, is best saved for bonus content or left out altogether. If you really want to get a point across, then make the work align with that point. If the point is not that important to the work itself, though, then keep the two separate. I might personally feel like climate change is a huge problem, but I don't have to insert that into every story. But if I want to, then I have to build a story around climate change, and make it a cornerstone of the piece.

And remember that just because the characters or even the universe in a fictional universe act one way, that doesn't necessarily mean the author is condoning it. Adolus Huxley's A Brave New World showed a stable utopian society, dystopian by our current standards, where only one major character disagrees with the world they live in. And yet that entire work was made to caution people from becoming too much like the society in the novel. It's not outright satire, but it works in much the same way - making a claim by highlighting the flaws in its opposition.

Most people are intelligent enough to understand that the views of the narrator or characters contained within a work of fiction do not represent the views of the creator. And in case you're worried, either for legal reasons or just for clarity, then you can always put a warning in the VN somewhere. But the worst thing you can do is try to balance it out by inserting your own views, because that creates a work that is at odds with itself and cannot be honest with the player.

[verysunshine]

All of you said the same thing, so I think I've got my answer. I don't need to put in any sort of "character opinion" disclaimer.

Sundance Kid, your example is brilliant. Kalioto, kitsubasa, thank you for the long explanations. Jate, thanks for the short one.