jejemonmon:

I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of hate towards Zen’s hair. I understand that it’s not meant to be taken seriously, because most of these posts are just jokes about wanting to cut his hair, but I just never really got it. I don’t know if I’m the only one, but even down to Zen’s hair I’ve always thought it had some sort of underlying meaning to it. I got over 300 reblogs from my previous post about loving Zen’s hair, so here’s a little theory for you guys regarding it.

Let’s go back to his childhood days first. He was verbally and physically (to an extent) abused by his parents who didn’t support his dream. There was a part where his mom was forcefully trying to cut his hair and he was protesting against it. This is where my theory begins.

We know that he did want to grow his hair out, it’s just that he wasn’t allowed to. After he ran away from home he could do whatever he wanted, so he decided to finally grow it out. Outside we see Zen as this independent, confident, hardworking guy who makes his own decisions. But is he really that guy?

Throughout his route we see that ultimately, he’s still seeking approval from his parents. I mean there’s even a visual novel where he finally decides to call them and make amends, so it shows that after all those years he still hasn’t forgotten about them. In his Valentine’s Day DLC After Ending, we see that he and MC were planning to tie the knot, but they chose to hold it off until his parents approved of their marriage.

I personally never liked rattails, I mean who really does anyway? It’s a pretty old-fashioned hairstyle. Zen, as he claims, is the moST bEAUtiFuL mAN iN tHe wOrLd. You’d think he would find a good hairstyle to match his perfect face. So why does he choose this hairstyle?

It could be that
1) He likes that hairstyle leave him alone
2) He’s, again, still seeking approval from his parents

From the front, it still looks like he has short hair (picture attached above). It’s what his parents would’ve wanted. He still isn’t confident enough to fully commit to the long hair he’s always wanted because it would go against his parents’ preference.

From the side and back, long hair (picture attached above). It’s his way of saying that he’s now independent and he can finally make his own decisions without being weighed down by his parents.

His hair symbolizes an internal conflict Zen has with himself. Does he want his parents’ approval more than he values his independence, or the other way round? Nevertheless, he stuck with that hairstyle. Because no matter what, Zen is just as insecure as the majority of us, if not even more.

He’s still looking for validation from his parents. He’s still traumatized from the verbal abuse he had gone through. He just wants them to be proud of him, and that’s why even when he goes against their wishes and runs away from home, he still keeps a ‘short’ hairstyle for them.

And I guess that’s why I can never really bring myself to hate his hair, because I feel like it sums him up as a person really well. I KNOW THIS IS PRETTY FAR-FETCHED, but you guys have to understand that I AM a literature student, so coming up with theories like this and linking this and that together is my absolute favourite thing to do. I hope I’ve explained myself clearly.

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• REBLOG IF YOU ACTUALLY LOVE ZEN’S HAIR
• 1ST THEORY: ZEN LOVES YOU IN EVERY ROUTE
• 2ND THEORY: ZEN LOVES YOU IN EVERY ROUTE (+DIMENSIONS)