I thought I might do a little bit of a story/chapter breakdown/explanation post for this. Just because I can, I suppose. There are a couple (not many, but a couple nonetheless) of hidden things throughout the story. This is also me going all English teacher on yo  trying to be interesting and sneaky?  Don't worry, you don't need to read my ramblings if you don't want. (: 
Alternatively, you can just skip to the parts you want to know about?

This story is literally the only thing I have ever written that I am mildly proud of.

On the title. 

The use of the letter A instead of The refers to not just one stargazer - The would be more personal and really hone in on a particular character. This way, I could get the best of both worlds and swap between both Kyungsoo and Jongin. Fun, right? All the angst!~ Stargazers, to me, represent dreamers. In this case, both Kyungsoo and Jongin are dreamers; they both look upon the unknown. That's the mystery of life, I suppose. 
Symphony is really pretty much self explanatory. A symphony, to me, tells a story. This is Jongin's story. It is also Kyungsoo's. A symphony is also a musical composition often told in four movements. There are four chapters in this symphony.

On the chapter numbers.
Roman numerals are fun!~ In all honesty, I really thought the option of having only four chapters, but using roman numerals was a good way to be tricksy (Gollum~). The only way I remember IV (four) is that V is five and IV is 'one before five.'
In doing this, V looks solid. III fits together. But IV is out of place, it looks unfinished - like there should be more, but there's not. In this, Jongin's life was unfinished, it was cut short, just before his final chapter (that being the rest of his life ... ? )
 

On Joonmyeon. 
He didn't die. Nope. Honestly, most Lieutenants - in the 1950's, WWI and WWII, etc - did not fight. He just remained in the trench and blew his whistle. He had to command a squadron, but he did not fight. Instead, he managed to make his way back to the General and report the massacre. (Which would have taken a long time to get back, report the deaths and then have the stretcherbearers/those who dealt with the deceased get back to the battlefield.)

On the Cassette.
Jongin did not die with it. It was left on the small shelf in the trench along with the other fallen soldiers' most prized possessions (Chanyeol's picture of Baekhyun, etc.) Those objects would have still been there when the stretcherbearers returned several days later and, since Joonmyeon was alive, he could easily identify that the notebook and cassette were Jongin's.
The only time the cassette and notebook 'left his heart' was when he died. They are splattered with blood due to the bodies of the fallen soldiers who died just on the rim of the trench.

Fun fact - the message Kyungsoo recorded on the cassette was, in a sense, the last words he spoke to Jongin. And now he has that on his conscious. 

On Sehun.
He's an . That's all. 


... And why he took the letters.
He had motives for taking them and keeping them from Kyungsoo. Believe me, he did. And for the longest time, I was going to talk all about it in the third chapter. But after a lot of thought, I decided that not knowing why he took the letters (aside from being able to easily manipulating Kyungsoo) made him seem ... Less human? More callous? Cold? Heartless? All of the above? Yeah. 

On the setting. 
Originally, I intended this to be similar to the Battle of Kapyong, and despite that was fought mostly by Australian troops, it fit quite well with the terrain of Korea in which I wanted this to take place. However, the trench, the diversion - my inspiration took a turn and that was inspired by the Battle of the Lone Pine in Gallipoli. (Also fought by Australia and New Zealand. The diversions, at least, were ANZAC). The event with so many sent 'on a suicide mission' as feints, diversions - that actually happened. Waves and waves of soldiers sent into battle by a General in Gallipoli, knowing full well that none would return. That fact made me angry. 
 

On inspiration.
The idea for the cassette was inspired by the film Hamburger Hill (although the character who received it was able to hear his girlfriend's recording/political rant). I wateched that a few days before Christmas and the cassette scene just stuck. So did all the limb-blowing scenes. They ... Were vivid. ;^; 

Gallipoli. Actual facts and the Australian Drama. (Watch itttttttttt~)

Jongin's final note ('I do not consider myself brave ...') is very close to what my great grandfather wrote to my great grandmother whilst serving in Gallipoli. I thought it was beautiful, so this, I guess, is my way of sharing it with you.


On Jongin's letters.
Did you notice the gradual loss of formality? Jongin's letters went from 'My love, Kyungsoo. Forever yours,'  to 'Kyungsoo,  Jongin'.
This was very intentional. It shows Jongin's gradual loss of hope, although he still is desperately wanting to hold onto his past.  I did something similar for one of my second year Professional Writing uni assignments (I failed that assignment LOL). War letters (written by a PoW), gradually losing the formality. It shows the desperation of soldiers; there is no love, no comfort in war. It doesn't matter if you have family back home - it does not differentiate. 

 

On research.

Buuuuuh. I seriously researched the most stupid of things, but I suppose, in a way, I'm glad I did? The little things in this story; the ferris wheel, the flask, the cassette player, the radio in Kaisoo's house, what pens they used, the helicopters, elastic bands  - All things like this, I made sure they were around during the time this story was set and used the appropriate model for them (helicopter and radio). 




I think that's everything? Now I think I need to go write something happy. Or more angst. More angst sounds good.