I'm kind of at my wits' end here. I have specifically objected to someone putting in my mouth the notion that Zach has good intentions, and much like with the other poster, it was in the very post you're replying to. And yet, here we are and you'd rather box this strawman.
I'll try to reiterate: i consider Zach to be someone who doesn't have bad intentions but also isn't particularly good person. He's your average "neutral" how one could put it -- largely selfish, but not intentionally malicious. Someone with a mix of positive and negative impulses. Is this now more understandable? Please, say it is. I don't think i can make it more explicit and i don't want to entirely lose the faint remaining hope that people are capable of grasping more nuance than the most blatant good/bad dichotomy. ._.
No doubt about it...
He's just your average incel who blames everyone else for his problems and doesn't take an ounce of responsability... completely average, neutral guy.
He's extremely selfish, completely amoral, fully willing to get dirty to get what he wants...
He's not your average, "he's a little bit over the top" guy, he's far beyond that.
It's not neutral when your self interest goes far beyond the respect for others.
Yeah, because no guy with an ounce of morals has ever asked their friend to be their wingman and to help them score with a girl. This is something only a person completely lacking morals would do. Please. Could we park those high horses outside...?
And don't try to make this a "but it's different because he asks Ethan!" argument. Zach doesn't know what sort of a person Ethan is. From his PoV he's basically doing the same thing he did with MC -- asked a friend for his help to get a girl. And may i remind, the MC wasn't all, "eeeew get away you freak only a completely amoral person would ask for such thing and think of a girl as something to get!" but instead cooperated, both providing advice and orchestrating a situation during the drinking game where Val could potentially interact with Zach.
Please refer to my earlier post you've apparently ignored for the counter-argument on this. Doesn't seem like there's any real point in me repeating myself here.
I guess the MC needed to pull off a miracle and drop Layla, Valeria, maybe Erynn and Gabi as bonuses on his lap to be a "solid" friend.
Because if you try to help him, does everything he wants, counsel him to tone down in spots... he still blames the MC.
He's a static character that always blames the MC no matter how good of friend you play, he's always this guy who blames others for his failures...
And you are largely mixing what people say about him here with the MC actions from the game.
And btw IT IS different, Ethan is asking for shit that can hurt random persons livelihoods, like when Zach identifies John, there's only so much the "he's dumb" can forgive.
And recently he completely crossed the line into doing things for revenge.
Not to mention Ethan's lies shouldn't pass the sniff test when he knows Erynn is good friends with MC.
Oh... and you made so many posts on this topic i have frankly no freaking idea which post you are talking about.
You can try to help him, he still blames the MC.
The biggest asshole MC never stops himself from getting in those situations in the first place, even though, unlike Zach who is too dense for that, he actually understands that he is/would be hurting people with such behavior. I don't think this sort of MC comes out of it looking any better in comparison. Quite the opposite, because he has no defense of ignorance to hide behind.
You give the "dumb defense" too much credit for my taste... and not enough to the complete lack of respect and morals.
Again, Zach isn't your average "he can be a little too much at times", those guys when they aren't complete assholes can apologize and say "Sorry, i thought everyone was having fun" when confronted and they feel bad for annoying or harming others. Maybe(with time) they can learn to fine tune their humor...
When the guy that is a "little too much"(being gentle) never listens and chooses blame others, it shows that he is an asshole and completely loses my goodwill.
Zach's first impression is of a guy who tries a bit too much but good natured...
But by now we've seen that he goes FAAAAAAR beyond that, but somehow you are sticking to the first impression.
I'm somehow more understanding of the guy who is split between his ex that he still likes and the new girl he just met.
And if you completely cross every line, at least the hand of Goddess Nyx will punish the MC
