I think it's hard for me to figure out what's going on in a story without a single, reliable perspective to follow. In 2nd person, I'm trying to follow the "you" in the story, and there wasn't really a clear description of what was happening from that perspective.

Now I realize it's because "you" is the object, not subject. But I had so much trouble separating those characters in my mind, I couldn't be both "I' and "you" at the same time.

Oops, I mentioned the wrong piece. Not "We Will See You Now," it was here:

https://franwilde.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/a-complete-shock-honor/

"Others, a bit later, told me in various ways that “Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand,” would be easier to read if it was in third person. Less scary, less uncomfortable.

But as time went on, I realized I’d written this story to be uncomfortable. My life is uncomfortable. The story is in first person because I’m in first person."

I read that and I was like "wait, what? No, that's (probably) not what they meant. Things are in 1st person all the time, people can follow *that*. It's the *2nd* person perspective that's unsettling."

And maybe I'm wrong and that's just a me thing. But at the least, there's some confusion there where the author thinks this is clearly from a 1st person perspective, and some people read it in 2nd. It's a weird blending you don't see often.

@zephasaurus_hex 2nd person narration is rare indeed, & so quite unsettling. The fact it is hard to use well does not help. It certainly challenge the relation between the author, the narrator and the protagonists, especially the main one.

@zephasaurus_hex I have to say though that one of books that let me in awe these last few years was written at the 2nd, & it was a really great choice. It felt pretty well, as the main protagonist has precisely a changing personnality, very much influenced by the outside, & the narrator was sometime almost like a inner persona speaking to himself from the outside looking in.

@zephasaurus_hex I have to had also, that the book I read was in French, where 2nd singular and plural are more differentiated then in English, but I have no idea how it the perception is different as I haven’t read anything using a 2nd person narration in English so far.

@zephasaurus_hex Also, I live in a country where we have more other languages, the main other one uses th 2nd person often as an equivalent of “one”, and that use may be more common to my ears due to that, which can also have an influence on how I perceive it.

@zephasaurus_hex thank you so much for sharing your experience reading this story!

I actually had had a draft toot in my app from earlier this week to all everyone what they thought of the perspective. I didn't even realize that the way it was written might actually make it less accessible to some.

I had worried after I posted it that the story might actually be too much horror. I discovered it looking at the Hugo nominee list.

@Einahpets I barely registered it as horror, so hard to say about that. XD But even with the point that the 2nd person perspective makes it more unsettling, I should clarify that I don't think that's a bad thing.

It was confusing for me personally, but the uneasiness of it works and I can't imagine it being as powerful in 3rd person.

I am very glad you linked those other essays, though. Helped me understand a lot better.

@zephasaurus_hex RE: pronouns, I sort of gendered animals as a kid (dogs= boy, cats= girl), and I refer to myself in 3rd person sometimes in my head which is annoying, as I don't like my name. I think this might be part of why I wasn't diagnosed as a child because I wasn't "obvious" (I was sperging all over the place actually) One thing I have trouble with is when someone uses "you" if they are referring to me or if they mean "someone in general" 1/2

@zephasaurus_hex I'm curious, how did you read this story, (in case that impacted it). I listened to the podcast that read it, and then read the physical version after. Do you think the way you read it would have made a difference? 2/2

@zephasaurus_hex 3/3 And if it wasn't clear, I identified with the narrator (I think that's why the author says 1st person even though it's in 2nd, because if you read the interview, it's lifeofauthor.txt) because it's very relatable.

@lapis Ooh, good question. I just read the text. I wonder if hearing it spoken would have been more clear that it was a person, a character in the story, talking *to* me.

I think I'll try that today.

@lapis I do a lot of dissociating with pronouns. In *text* I use the first-person pronoun *all the time* but it's harder in speech, especially when I'm at work or stressed?

So I'll say "you" when I mean me but I'm sort of thinking of myself as just this separate entity. XD

And then I say "they" for like...literally everyone else. People frequently have to ask me who I'm talking about. I'm focusing on what they did, thinking of a specific person gets hard.