Mending and folding

"Mending and folding" is a genre of drama novels in Bujanski pop culture.

## Background

### "Blocker syndrome" of 1890's Bujan

These books were first written in the 1910s, to help people who were sad or angry they were either blocked or banned - or more likely, who still remembered such incidents thirty years ago by Terrans over some errors.

The authors of these novels noticed that online blocks defined their country's modern history in a tragic, twisted way. From the massacres of Terrans by the death gangs, to imprisonment and executions of suspected online blockers in Black July, Bujanski society treats online blocks very seriously and harshly: what is considered as a painful way to free one's self from a troublemaker in Terra is seen in Bujan as a declaration of war against an innocent person and society in general, making wrongful blockers more akin to terrorists for their extremely unacceptable antisocial attitude.

Even after the blocks were removed upon independence, and the blockers now had to apologise to their victims, many people in Bujan were traumatised by those online incidents, associating them and the blockers with the dark era of Wannaenid rule. This bitterness that affected the whole nation and led to the July ruin is known as the "blocker syndrome": or to Terrans, the "Buyanian syndrome".

### Alexander Leon

One of the most famous authors in 1910s Bujan was himself a Terran, Alexander Leon, who went to prison after independence for blocking so many people and swindling them over the most trivial mistakes. The fact that a lot of people were still traumatised by his actions filled him with shame. Many people blamed him for various killings that took place after independence, for encouraging hatred against his country's people. He also had to deal with angry passersby, cursing back at him and yelling, "I will never coexist with one who made my friends into his enemies, such as you!"

To resolve this, this former fanboy began writing novels to help people learn to cope with suffering and guilt as he did. The most well-known of his novels was "Not Everyone Can Like You", itself a "mending and folding novel". Knowing that he would still be hated for what he did before independence, the writer also added an apology as its introduction, stained with ink and his own tears.

## Premise

In a typical "mending and folding" novel, the main character always begins with a rejection due to some mistake. A block in a website. A slammed door. Dragged out of his favourite library or hockey rink.

The story consists of how he reacts to his loss. Rage, mourning, sorrow, anything a typical person would do, but not to the extent of violence as seen ten years ago. Eventually, he does something, and it catches up to him, or he finds ways to recover. Or he finds a job, raises his money as he grows up. Or he eventually stumbles upon nicer people whom he learns to respect.

The novels end either in the main character looking forward to a better future, or he ends up with more than everything and everyone he had lost to his mistakes. Some novels, for a happier ending, also include his former enemies noticing him and even apologising for what they did in the last - while others, to satisfy some customers, depict their enemies dying in horrific ways.

## Trivia

* As a rule, no penance or prison to the offender is shown, because the novels were meant to teach people how to cope with loss and rejection.

## See also

* Canvas, a movie about dealing with loss.