#in that he went through all their traumas and struggled with all their flaws and no one ever reached a hand out to help him

[bie-tch]

To be completely honest, I don't really think Kai will become a centipede monster. I knowww it's sad but my reason as to why is pretty agreeable I think.

Usually, whenever a character is transformed into a monster or just a non-human in general, it's always been about accepting and overcoming parts of yourself youd rather hide. When Zane was revealed to be a nindroid, he learned that the others would accept him as their brother no matter what, and soon enough, it became a strength for him. Literally, he gained his true potential shortly after. He no longer sees him being a nindroid separate to his identity. He went from Zane, a ninja, to Zane, the titanium ninja. He's still him, always will be, just shiny :)

When Jay was turned into a Venomari, it became a reflection of his insecurities, the parts of himself he tries to mask with flashy bravado and exaggerated stories, especially around Nya, who he had a massive crush on. It ended similarly to Zane, where Nya said he would accept him no matter what. Flaws and all. Knowing this, He was able to gain his true potential too. Realizing that being himself was far better than covering it up with glitter and foundation.

Then when Cole became a ghost, it was a tragedy. He no longer felt like himself, no longer saw himself as a person. Instead a living husk of his former glory. But, with the encouragement and unyielding support of his teammates, his family, he learned to accept this new body of his, as inhuman as it was. It symbolized trauma, and the strength it takes to see the good in every bad situation. It carries later into the show, where even though he's back to being a human, the scars are still there. They will never truly go away, but he learned to accept himself as himself, weird ghost scars and all.

Lloyd is the definition of grappling with identity. From being the son of Lord Garmadon, to becoming the legendary Green Ninja, then the ultimate Spinjitzu Master, then returning to simply being the Green Ninja, knowing hes half Oni half dragon, and ultimately just Lloyd? He carries many versions of himself, each with parts he struggles to accept. He’s the textbook case of change: from idolizing his father to fearing he’ll become him. It’s this internal conflict that makes it so hard for him to see himself as anything other than a ninja. While we see him begin to accept his identity later in the series, DR shows us that he still has some ways to go before he truly feels at home in his own skin.

Nya's transformation was also just.. unwanted, in my opinion. It was about doing everything you can to protect the ones you love, even if it hurts you. She's very similar to Kai in this regard, and it's very realistic that they share similar ideals when it comes to how they view their role in the team. Nya thought that merging with the sea was the only option, and faced with Jay unconscious after drowning, she had no choice. It was unwanted change, similar to Cole. This time, however, instead of Nya bringing herself back, it was the others who brought her back. It's a beautiful way to show that family will go through hell and beyond if it means protecting the ones you love.

What does this all mean, however? Why do these transformations matter?

Well, here's an answer. Despite everything, despite the hardships, they all came out of it better. They came out of it having learned something positive about themselves, even though it scarred them tremendously. Think of it like a caterpillar. In order to transform into butterfly, they have to break down and rebuild. In the end, the transformations ended up becoming a reminder to stay strong and steadfast. And it's nice that everyone had a moment like that.

Weeelllll.... not everyone.

Kai is the only one who hasn’t undergone a non-human arc, and that’s surprising, considering he’s probably one of the first characters you'd expect to experience one. With his personality and tendency to hide things from others in fear of being shamed or shunned, an arc like that would benefit him. Right?

This is where monstrosity comes in I fear. And not in a good way.

I think this series will be contradicting what those arcs symbolized. I think it will become the opposite to what the other ninja experienced. I dont think Kai will turn into a centipede creature or just any monster in general. No, not really. And that might be confusing, because In order to survive the land of the monsters, you need to become one yourself, right?

But i still think Kai will be the only one not to undergo a non-human transformation. Not because it wont happen, but because he doesn't need to. In fact, I think it matches the others perfectly. Everyone in the team became a monster physically, but they stayed the same. Same likes, same hates, just with different colored skin or lack thereof. They didn't change, their views didn't change, their morals didn't change.

But Kais did.

And Kai is.

He is a monster.

Maybe not physically, maybe not literally,

But mentally. But his actions were.

And that's enough, isn't it?

[apenapaperandadoofus]

Gosh I just still find it to interesting how people keep demonizing the tgcf side characters (cough Feng Xin and Mu Qing cough cough) when the literal point of the book is everyone fucks up sometimes and has flaws 😭

Like god forbid these two people have had their struggles and have also gone through crap just like XL did (to the same extent? No. But just because XL went through something more traumatizing or harder doesn’t take away from the fact the others were suffering as well? Just because one suffered more doesn’t mean the rest were having a good and dandy time? 😭💀)

I mean it’s fine if you don’t like them cuz yknow sometimes characters just aren’t it for some people, but like that doesn’t mean their struggles weren’t real? They didn’t go through hell too? All of the Xianle trio was struggling and they all made bad decisions because of it bc they were dumb 20 year olds who don’t have their frontal lobes developed yet and are placed with way too much responsibility from a young age

god forbid young people make mistakes during a time period of their life where oh I don’t know THEIR COUNTRY GOT OBLITERATED amirite 👉👉

Feng Xin was worried about Jian Lang AND taking care of XLs parents. By himself. Even when XL was having his whole trauma thing FX still supported him and the rest when he could’ve easily left, a young guy taking care of 4 people (5 with baby?) and himself isn’t an easy endeavor give the poor man a b r e a k of course he was later frustrated like 😭😭 HES OVERWORKED AND SAD

MQ I’ve already talked about him and his whole situation so I’m not repeating myself again 💀

Can’t people just. Not hate characters cuz of mistakes blindly/blaming it all on them being a bad person and not actually see that the situation literally made them like this and guided their behavior? If we all did that we’d be Xie Lian and Hua Cheng haters, and even Qi Rong has fans (which I see more FX and MQ hate than QR and it’s so surprising) which like yeah bitch is funny af and it’s cute he adopts Guzi but uh- he literally dragged a child through a street in a carriage. A ten year old. (But we don’t see people shit on him bc of that do we)

Gosh re reading the whole series again reminded me of so many things like aaaah these poor guys and they were babies aaaaa they needed therapy not that bs 😭

I’d love to see anyone go through what MQ and FX went through and not go insane

[muisley]

What are your thoughts on other otacon ships?

truthfully i'm a big pliskin x otacon truther they had crazy chemistry like whatever happened to that guy...?

my more serious answer is very long winded, sorry, anyway:

when i think about otacon’s possible (romantic) ships, ex. sniper wolf and naomi, they don’t feel like genuine love to me. they read more like emotional projection to me. given his specific background of abuse and neglect, it makes sense that he struggles with forming healthy and reciprocal attachments. people who grow up with that sort of trauma, often, grow up mistaking attention for affection, when not processing that trauma, and clinging to any form of warmth as a survival instinct. it’s not about connection: it’s about filling a void.

he meets both of them, when otacon is at his lowest; isolated and desperate. and in that state, he doesn’t fall for the person as they are, but for what they represent, it's a coping mechanism. his feelings are only real in the sense that his pain is real, but they’re rooted in loneliness. he only sees an idealised version of them, not their true selves. meanwhile neither naomi/sniper wolf truly see him either.

naomi exploits his desperation to break snake (beefing with kojima for this forever): manipulating him and encouraging him to change parts of himself (glasses). sw never showed interest in him at all. they were one-sided emotional lifelines he clung to when he had nothing else.

that’s why his relationship with Snake feels so different AND so much more compelling to me. there’s mutual respect, understanding and trust. they don’t have to perform or change to be accepted. they see each other fully (flaws, trauma and baggage). they've been through so much together and still choose to stay by each other’s side until the end, because they genuinely care. they bring out the best in each other. for both, it's their first relationship that isn’t about coping or survival. it's mutual. it’s about learning to be loved and be changed by each other. and, as a result, they end up breaking the cycle of grief that their lineage gave them, etc. fulfilling the boss' legacy. crazy stuff. it's real love, baby!

not sure if that even answers the question you were asking, i'm sorry if it did not, i went off in a tangent here.........

[genericpuff]

Who is your favorite LO character? Who is your favorite LR character?

i feeeeel like my answers change every time i get asked this question JFDSKLAFJSDALK but that's okay because it just means i'm constantly finding new ways to analyze and explore these characters >:3

LO faves: Minthe and Hephaestus.

Minthe because she obviously gets such shit treatment in the comic and subsequently from the fanbase, but she's a lot more relatable than 99% of the characters in the plot, she feels like she has actual depth and a real character arc, even if that arc ended with an unceremonious whisper. It goes to show how great of a character she was that Rachel practically had to nerf her out of the plot, because it was often only ever at its best when she was present. Funny how as soon as she was written out, there was nothing interesting going on with Hades or Persephone anymore - the plot was literally so boring without her that Rachel literally tried to create a Minthe 2.0 through Leuce, and we all know how well that went /s

As for Hephaestus, nothing super specific, I just like his vibes. Maybe it's just my absent older brother issues, but I would love to just like, hang out with him, game in the same room as him, just autistic parallel play stuff, I think he would be into that. Only complaint is the design flaw of giving him running blades as the default prosthetic, that can't be comfortable for his hips and joints. But that's not his fault u.u and that's basically my only complaint about him which makes him a winner in my book, esp compared to the rest of the cast. He might not be in the comic all that much, but that was clearly to his benefit because it seems the more attention Rachel pays to a character, the worse they wind up being in the long run due to poor writing. Hephaestus is in the comic just enough, not too little, not too often.

So yeah, Minthe and Hephaestus are both 10/10 characters written by a 0/10 writer. They did the best they could... not Rachel of course, she did literally the bare minimum of "representation" which often came across as ignorant white knighting at best and blatant stereotyping / stigmatizing at worst, I mean that Hephaestus and Minthe did the best they could as genuinely interesting characters with unique circumstances and disabilities who were being written by an amateur Wattpad-level writer with a privileged white guilt complex lmao

LR faves (within the cast that's currently been introduced): Persephone and Dionysus.

I know, very different from my LO choices, esp considering Persephone herself within LO is literally one of the most insufferable characters by the end, but I'm frankly having a great time rewriting her in my own way, especially in regards to her specific role as the "wrathful side" of Kore. I know I've gotten questions regarding the interpretation of Kore as a DID system, and while that interpretation is totally valid, the angle I always approached it from was that repressed trauma and emotional bottlenecking. Obviously those two things are, in and of themselves, contributing factors to DID, so far be it from me to tell people they can't identify with Kore / Persephone as DID representation. It just motivates me even more to give her the character arc she deserves and never got. It's gonna be messy. It's even gonna be downright ugly at times.

But I hope, in the end, that anyone who identifies with her struggles will find closure and comfort in the resolution of her story. It's certainly a challenging tightrope to walk, between honoring the themes of her original myth, retelling a version of her that almost existed in LO (a version that I was hoping for and never got), and dissecting the implications of my own version of her throughout LR's narrative, but it's a challenge that I've been having a great time undertaking and all I can hope for is that I can meet and possibly exceed my own expectations - as well as the readers - in the end. This is Kore's story - it's also Persephone's.

As for Dionysus... he's just a very, very fun character to write, and someone who I had the advantage of introducing before he was depicted in LO. It wasn't intentional but it sure as shit paid off because even though I'm sure some will assume that this is my own re-interpretation of Rachel's version of the character, myself and anyone else who was there at the time can vouch that Dionysus was aaaalllll me, baby LMAO

All that said, we're obviously going at it from a VERY different angle than how he was tackled in LO, but I'm hoping people enjoy his presence in the story, especially as he becomes more involved (which is very, very soon wink wink) The roles have definitely reversed here with Dionysus taking on more of a "parental" role to Kore rather than the other way around. I feel like his characterization has only grown stronger in hindsight compared to what we got in LO, especially where he's one of the only characters who beat LO to the punch and wound up being in a sort of arms race with Rachel's depiction ─=≡Σ((( つ•̀ω•́)つ

[mayaketu]

Character analysis: Naruto vs Boruto’s forgiving natures

Naruto is a kind person. But a lot of people interpret all of his actions to being foolishly kind, when Naruto really is just a traumatized & principled character that empathizes with people based off that.

Both are traumatized & principled, but have different traumas driving their actions.

Let’s examine Naruto first:

Notice, Naruto does not decide to be understanding until he draws a connection between himself and his opponent being victims of child abuse. Naruto never tried to empathize with Orochimaru, Danzo or Madara, nor had much of a negative reaction to their demise at all. Naruto also knew all 3 of them had repeatedly committed the worst sin- abused children. His biggest trauma.

Naruto hasn’t been advocating for people to escape consequences, he wanted people to atone because he understood that they were traumatized as children & never got the guidance that saved Naruto from going down their exact path. He wasn’t rly being gullible (he had nothing to lose by the time he tried talk-no-jutsu lol), kind or even forgiving- he decided no matter how difficult to stick to his principles he learned from Jiraiya. To try to stop the cycle of hatred by having people atone rather than to punish them through revenge.

Naruto’s biggest flaw though, is that he is overly blinded by his abandonment trauma- he feels he has to “save” people who went through child abuse like he did. He projects too much of his own feelings onto them- when they are their own people who won’t necessarily turn around as easily as Naruto did- which is why he lost his arm to sasuke who wouldn’t relent until beaten into submission. & (temporarily) lost his life to kawaki.

In psych terms, Naruto is trying to reinforce to himself that he was always worthy of being saved, which is what drives him to go as far as he does. It’s not really his kindness, or passion but his trauma is the way Naruto deeply connects to others.

Episode 10 of boruto NNG. This convo is not in the manga but it’s clear from the manga as well that this is how Naruto feels:

This is why Naruto struggled so much to connect with Boruto. Boruto wasn’t an abused child- thats why it seemed Naruto didn’t “care” about Boruto and Himawari as much as Kawaki. His bio kids were the first people very close to him without significant trauma for him to build a relationship on. Hima was still pretty young, & not as outspoken as boruto, so we didnt see that dynamic as much with her.

Boruto is still early in his story & has a lot more to learn. So this is as of chapter 14 of TBV.

Boruto’s current analysis:

Boruto has spent his whole life building healthy connections unlike Naruto, yet seems to have the same desire to “save” even the most “irredeemable” people. There are 2 reasons why.

Reason 1, For Boruto he is able to forgive kawaki because he understands that he’s not in a position to judge him. Boruto recognizes that he is a threat because of momoshiki, and blames & hates himself for everyone being endangered, not kawaki who is actually protecting them in his own twisted way. & now, feeling the pain of abandonment, he also empathizes with kawaki, thus forgiving him. This is how BORUTO sees it right now.

He’s also trying to make the right choices he knows ADULT Naruto would make, but adult Naruto has confronted his self hatred & knows not to take or blame everything on himself. Boruto hasn’t learned that yet, he’s willing to accept help when it’s dire, but still believes the overall burden is his alone. He has also been mainly taught by Sasuke, who still hasn’t overcome his own self hatred as much as Naruto has & desire to handle everything alone.

*boruto has actually been struggling with self hatred since getting caught cheating, that’s why he irrationally hated all ninja tech- it’s from the shame of being exposed. Self hatred is a huge underlying part of his character I could expand on later; I’m focusing on this comparison to Naruto here.

Boruto is blinded by his self hatred in the same way Naruto is blinded by his abandonment trauma. That’s why some of their actions seem so irrational, they are fueled by trauma. & These blind spots are where they both make their most costly mistakes.

That’s why he naively defied Koji’s order to escape and instead released code. He knows from Naruto he can’t do everything alone, but he lacks the wisdom to understand when/how to apply it. He should’ve relied on Koji’s advice rather than trying to plan on his own which led to a huge mistake. Code is still loose.

Reason 2, Boruto’s will is to be shadow hokage. To bear burdens for the sake of the village and people he loves. Part of bearing the burden is swallowing your pride for the greater good, which he learned from Sasuke. He’s not being kind or forgiving by saving Code. He wanted to kill the shinju ASAP before they could evolve further and needed his help.

Same with asking to train Kawaki. Kawaki’s fate is tied to both Naruto/Hinata, the EARTH & boruto’s fates. Outside of any emotional reasons, he literally cannot afford to let Kawaki die + kawaki’s unique abilities (shrinking claw marks particularly) are instrumental in defeating the shinju. & Especially now that the shinju are growing in number and in other villages, boruto cannot always be there to protect kawaki. Kawaki needs to get stronger fast for the sake of the planet.

I’m interested in the larger convo between boruto and kawaki and training him, but we’ll have to see once chapter 15 officially drops.

[danadiadea]

You’re completely correct. The narrative gaslights us into viewing adult Severus’ responses to the Marauders as petty, as if he should put it to one side because they’re on the same team now and that it’s a major character flaw that he’s unable to do this.

Fuck that. If Severus ever got validation of what they did to him, then maybe. But he never does, so why should he be a good little girl and shut up about it? And JKR went so hard with the bullying - it’s one thing to be hung up over schoolboy bullying in your 30s, it’s another thing entirely to be hung up over sexual assault, attempted murder, and an institutional cover up.

Exactly. Not only Severus has extremely traumatic experiences and shows clear signs of PTSD, he never even got space where his feelings were validated and his struggles acknowledged. How is he supposed to "get over it"?

People love to frame Snape as extremely revengeful and vindictive, but what is so vindictive about him? Outing Remus when Remus put people's lives in danger as a werewolf and lied to Albus, after 16 years of keeping his secret, and 1 year of attempts to subtly warn the students about the man who, as Snape has all the reasons to believe, works with a murderer that already used him as a weapon once, while making him a complicated cure that gives him an opportunity to work at all? Not asking Voldemort for James’ life even if he comes to Dumbledore afterwards and warns the head of the order he is going to "kill them all"? Wanting a terrorist and a traitor of your closest person to be Kissed perhaps a little more than you would if you were not personally a victim of his cruelty? Not talking sweetly to Remus and Sirius and not trusting them when he has absolutely zero reasons to? Being triggered (which is not a choice and is something people have to receive professional help with) by the face of his abuser on a boy he has to protect? Seemingly forgiving Minerva and at least partly Albus who both don't seem to even acknowledge what the fuck did he come through under their "care"? This is not "extra revengeful". This is normal and human and way less messy then I'd be.

I'd put the flyers with "Remus Lupin is a werewolf" all around Diagon Alley during a school break or at least after the graduation. I'd stomp on Sirius' face when he laid unconsious before me and took only children to the castle and called the Dementors then to kiss him right there myself. I'd not risk my life for a man who publically undressed me and a woman who chose to overlook it. I'd talk to Albus and Minerva and Horace the way Severus talked to Lupin and Black, especially if Minerva kept praising James and Sirius like she did. Now THIS is really revengeful! What Severus does is just normal, humane reaction of a person who has trauma and is forced to relive it and has a constant psychological pressure on top of that and no safe spaces or support systems to work with all the shit he went through. This isn't Snape's awful character flaw – this is how human psyche works.

[bellestarot]

Mingyu's Reading

January 14, 2025

Right Now

It seems like he's dealing with relationships at the moment. It looks like he has many options and there’s someone specific who caught his attention.

He seems to be moving on very quickly from a connection he had with someone else. He’s hoping that the next connection he has will be healthier because, apparently, he was with someone who wasn’t in a good mental state, possibly with toxic tendencies or something similar. This person caused him a lot of hurt, but it also seems like the damage in that connection was mutual.

Things are happening very quickly for him; there aren’t many changes, yet he’s acting impulsively. He quickly judges and doesn’t seem to be thinking clearly right now.

Love Life

He’s not in a relationship at the moment and wants freedom. He misses someone he either used to date or never actually had a relationship with but deeply desired to. This person appears to have a feminine energy. It’s someone he has known for a long time, possibly someone he studied with in the past or went to school with. He sometimes thinks about this person and feels sad that nothing ever happened between them.

He feels like he’s not very responsible when it comes to relationships because when he gets involved, he loses himself in the other person and can’t focus on his own life. This has been a pattern for him when he desires someone deeply. He gets so focused on them that he overlooks obvious flaws.

However, he’s been in contact with people and has plenty of options for dating—many people are interested in him. Yet, even with someone trying to catch his attention, he still feels very empty inside.

Career

He’s trying to balance his personal and financial life. He has a problem with overspending, sometimes excessively, so he’s been working on managing his money and career better.

He feels manipulated to the point where he doesn’t have a social life anymore. It seems like his workplace consumes him entirely.

Psychologically, he’s been going through a lot, which has been hurting him. He wants to have fun and escape the seriousness and control of his work life, to spend more time with friends and be more social. But he feels manipulated right now.

It all seems tied to someone higher up in his company, like a boss or someone in a position of power. Compared to this person, he feels very small and voiceless. He feels trapped and unheard, as if he doesn’t matter. He doesn’t know what decisions to make, what to say, or how to act.

Family

His relationship with both his parents is terrible. He’s been having a lot of anxiety attacks and cannot communicate with his father. Things have also worsened in his relationship with his mother.

He feels controlled by his family or struggles with past trauma related to control. He feels deeply hurt and believes he has no one in his family to rely on.

Friendships

There’s a male friend he would like to reconnect with, someone who seems to be a bit distant right now. He’s been wanting to see this person again.

He also has a female friend he likes more than just as a friend. He feels strong emotions for her.

He has many friendships in the spotlight, including people in the music industry who enjoy partying, drinking, and dancing. However, he feels very trapped. He wants to reconnect with these people and meet up with his friends, but he doesn’t feel like he has the freedom to do so right now.

Future

He’s going to mature a lot and face some situations that will help him grow as a person and learn to love himself more. Despite appearances, he has low self-esteem and is very critical of himself. This journey will teach him to take control of who he is, know himself better, and love himself first. He’ll learn this lesson.

He’s likely to encounter issues with some people, possibly friends who aren’t true friends and who will reveal their true colors. He’ll begin to distance himself from these individuals once he realizes they’re not good for him, though it will give him a lot of headaches.

In terms of work, he’ll seek psychological help to deal with the stress, but the job will continue to take a heavy toll on his mental health. He might have friends willing to help him through this, but he’ll struggle because the work is draining him.

I see him moving away from his image of being a party-goer or someone who enjoys going out and having fun. He’ll seek a quieter, more peaceful life, going out less and enjoying simpler pleasures. This seems tied to his process of maturing.

Advice

"It is possible to love and not be happy, it is possible to be happy and not love, but to love and be happy at the same time, that would be a miracle."

— Honoré de Balzac

[everyurlithinkofistoolong]

Shauna backstory incoming next season possibly?

I see a lot of people solely blame Shauna's behavior on the trauma of her pregnancy, Jackie's death, and stillborn. And while those things are pretty traumatic, I think there's more to shauna's behavior than that meets the eye. We see her exhibiting bad behaviors even before the plane crash: her screwing Jeff and also her starting that fight with Tai (?) at the party. Shauna has always struggled to control her temper, I think what she went through in the wilderness just brought out in an extreme degree.

Which brings me to something interesting... we have seen the home lives of all the main girls in the wilderness timeline, but Shauna. We've seen Van's, Tai's, Lottie's, and Natalie's. We even see Jackie's parents in the adult timeline. We've seen how how they have been raised inform their behavior in the wilderness. How it made them who they are. In a way, it isn't that the wilderness stuck with them, but rather they brought their baggage to the wilderness, which then exacerbated their flaws.

(Funnily enough we've never seen Misty's either really but I've always put up her weirdness to how she's treated by her classmates rather than her homelife)

Speaking of Misty, this season made it very clear that Shauna is a masterclass at projection. And she's been projecting all season onto Misty in the adult timeline. There is this one nugget of subtext that's been itching at my brain. After the whole debacle with Shauna's breaks not working, Shauna snaps at Misty and says this:

Something must have warped you when you were little. Your parents, someone did something to you, because you are a verified psycho and you feed off this shit. You're insane.

(Let me cornplate for a second. I find it very funny that shauna and misty almost drive through a playground with kids and their parents right before shaunas rant. Like okay! Cool)

With the whole Coach Ben trial, Shauna was the most insistant that he is guilty. Maybe she just wanted him to take the fall for setting the cabin on fire (since it was pretty left up in the air who exactly was the one who did it, but I think its heavily implied atp that it was actually Shauna). But why so much anger? Why the hatred? I believe deep down, Shauna was actually angry that Coach Ben abandoned them. Abandoned her, not only that, but abandoned her after she just had a baby.

There was one tiny nugget of a line during Ben's trial. Him apologizing directly to Shauna for abandoning her.

Why? Why have him specifically single out Shauna to apologize to her for abandonment? Hell, why have Coach Ben bring up his family/parents at all? Yeah, it's a interesting fact to learn about his character but it's not particuarily heart wrenching. There was nothing in the show previously that made us remotely interested in Coach Ben's family. He dies soon after anyways. So why?

Why other than to bring up this idea of family/parental trauma into the season and how the wilderness brings it out in these characters? The same season where Shauna goes batshit? To possibly set up Shauna having an overwhelming and extreme reaction to feeling abandoned by an adult figure in her life while she's vulnerable?

I believe we know Shauna's parents are divorced but that's about it. Everything about Shauna's life before the plane crash is a blank slate. We're led to believe it was an incredibly mundane and normal girl-next-door homelife, but were also led to believe Shauna herself was this mundane housewife with a mundane family before everything hit the fan. Especially when we look at Shauna's relationship with Callie:

1. How Callie herself admits thay Shauna doesn't look at her with love

2. How Jeff apologizes for not protecting Callie from Shauna.

Is Jeff playing the role here of the parent that possibly abandoned Shauna? And is Shauna in the role of the parent that might have been harming her, the one she needed protection from? And by Jeff assuring Callie that she's not like Shauna and taking Callie and running, are they breaking the cycle? And with Shaunas possibly abandonment issues, how is she going to take Jeff and Callie abandoning her? It doesn't seem from the letter she's drafting that she's taking it all that well.

Another interesting thing is not only the contrast of Shauna v Misty, but also Shauna v Natalie.

Natalie herself doesn't come from a good home. The show is upfront about it and unloads onto all of Natalie's backstory very early on. Her killing her father I think also informs us about Natalie's hesitancy to kill and how she maintains her humanity through all of this. Natalie has killed before, not only that, she's killed her father. Natalie understands the weight and guilt of having taken someone's life, which is why I think she takes it all very very seriously and doesn't succumb to her impulses. And the homelife in question is similar to the one I've been building up here: the abuser (Natalie's father) and the enabler (Natalie's mother).

Shauna is quite the opposite. She gives in to all her angry impulses. I wonder if this is because Shauna's abuser is still alive in the wilderness timeline and shes still being victimized back at home. Shauna never had the opportunity to rid herself of her abuser like Natalie did, so all that anger still lives in her, festering. Shauna likes the feeling of being in power and being feared because at home she's tormented and powerless and given the fact that nobody brings it up, Shauna might be suffering in silence. Which also informs her resentment of Jackie- it's one thing if she was just jealous, it's another thing if Shauna is going through hell and back and Jackie seemed to have it all: perfect family, parents who loved her, perfect home, perfect boyfriend, and Jackie is none the wiser of what's going on with Shauna.

Think of when Lottie says she doesn't want to leave because there is no home to go to. Shauna is the most adament out of all of them against leaving. For some reason, Shauna does not want to go home. Which is weird right? After all that she's been through, doesn't she want to run back into her parents arms in the comfort of her own home? That's what any well adjusted child would want after suffering something traumatic. While Natalie most definitely doesn't have a great life at home, her abuser is dead and she can count on not having to go back to him after the wilderness. Perhaps Shauna cannot?

It's also very interesting that Natalie and Shauna both have characteristic weapons. Natalie has her gun and Shauna has her butcher knife. When in season 3, they become interchangeable. Now, Shauna has the gun and Natalie is using the knife to cut up Coach Ben. Almost like their characters are being blurred for some reason.

This honestly makes Shauna make more sense me to than her suddenly going insane. It also makes me wonder, why is Shauna so secretive about it? It seems like even Jackie did not know anything that could have been possibly going on with her. Well, only time will tell.

[random111sposts]

[S2 SPOILERS] My problems with JayVik (Mostly Jayce) and season 2 in general

DISCLAIMER: YOU CAN SHIP JAYVIK, IT'S FINE, I JUST WANNA EXPLAIN WHY I DON'T AND HOW THE SHIP ENDED UP HARMING THE CHARACTERS' ARCS INSTEAD

WE HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS, THIS IS MINE

The more and more I rewatch season 2 of Arcane and the more I talk about it with my friend, the more I see problems with the writing and how they did the characters

A lot of it revolving around Jayce specifically and how they seem to have sacrificed Jayce and Viktor's individual characterization and why I don't see Viktor and Jayce together and much prefer they stay just friends and focused more on their own individual struggles and stories

(It seemed like they wanted to put more emphasis on how much Viktor and Jayce need each other rather than focus on how they need to fix up their own individual growth, like how Mel was basically cast aside for some reason as if she and Jayce weren't a thing so he left her alone to become astral buddies with his partner without even saying good bye to Mel first

Sure, just forget the woman who influenced you greatly both in bad and good ways, the same woman who was trying to convince the council not to want weapons made with Hexcore

Forget the woman who you would go to for comfort and who WAS THERE FOR YOU WHILE YOU WERE STRUGGLING WITH YOUR DYING BEST FRIEND

And how Viktor keeps on doing stupid shit like not defending himself or hiding in Act 2 when he himself says that Jayce is not acting like himself and even invites Jayce, thus allowing Jayce to do exactly what you would expect your bestfriend who you said seemed not like himself would do, kill people

He wastes Ambessa's and Singed's time and visits Jayce first even though he can just forcefully get Jayce to join him anyway by having Singed already go through the plan in Act 3 when Viktor was a villain

But nah, doc, gotta talk with my boyfriend first even though I'm currently supposed to be the version of myself that prioritizes evolution more cuz I changed after being killed)

(I wish they went more in depth about Viktor wanting to help the people of Zaun and creating inventions while also struggling with his own flaws and weaknesses both physically and mentally while also having to deal with the discrimination and ignorance of Piltover towards what they keep doing that ends up harming Zaun)

(I wish they went more in depth about how ignorant and naive Jayce is with how he keep accidentally causing more harm towards Zaun like when Ekko called him out for basically making shit that bring the trash of Piltover over to Zaun. Then have Jayce start to grow more as a character and actually LEARN AND KEEP TRYING to go against the superficial demands of his fellow council members and actually try to help the people of Zaun properly by actually listening to them and not just listen to the higher ups because he's a people pleaser. Have Jayce learn more to be independent and less susceptible to being easily manipulated and influenced

DO NOT JUST IMMEDIATELY SHOW SOME TIME TRAVELLING BULLSHIT THEN HAVE JAYCE SUDDENLY KILL GOD VIKTOR THEN SUDDENLY MAKE JAYCE SEEM LIKE HE'S RHE HERO ALL ALONG WHEN WE DIDN'T PROPERLY SEE HIS CHARACTER GROW OTHER THAN HIM BEING FORCED TO BE HARDENED DUE TO THE TRAUMA OF BEING TRAPPED IN A DYSTOPIA

That's not growth, THAT'S TRAUMA

AND PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF FUCKING GOD, STOP MAKING HIM DO THE "Trust me bro" SHIT LIKE HOW HE DIDN'T ELABORATE ON HOW HEXCORE IS A CURSE TO VIKTOR AND HOW ALL HE DID TO PROVE VIKTOR IS BAD IS SHOW A MANNEQUIN)

Like, with Jayce and Mel, they barely had a proper resolution with Jayce just leaving Mel to play Astral God with Viktor without even thinking about how this would affect Mel

And with Jayce's decision to kill Viktor I initially thought "Okay, cool"

But then, the more I think about it, why didn't Jayce just talk to Viktor and ACTUALLY explain how the Hexcore is a curse? THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HE DOES ANYWAYS AT THE FINALE, SO WHY NOT DO IT BACK IN ACT 2?

SHOW VIKTOR YOUR MEMORIES OR TALK OR SOMETHING SINCE YOU DO THAT ANYWAYS AT THE END

Like Jesus, all Jayce said was "Hexcore is a curse" without elaborating then kills Salo

I keep justifying why Jayce killed Viktor immediately with the whole "Jayce is traumatized cuz he was trapped in a dystopia for God knows how long" but someone else pointed out that it probably isn't enough to justify Jayce's brutality

And I already made a post all about Viktor's POV during all of season 2 so I wouldn't blame Viktor for now changing his views on the world AFTER BEING KILLED BY HIS BESTFRIEND AND WAKING UP TO ALL HIS PEOPLE DYING TOO

https://www.tumblr.com/random111sposts/769459212648693760/viktors-pov-hexcore-kills-friend-i-am-about

I was initially fine with Jayce being a dumbass in season 1 mostly because his dumbassery is constantly called out (Vi calls him out when he panics about killing a child by pointing out how he people have been harming for years and he is just to ignorant about it, Viktor KEEPS calling out Jayce's bullshit like with preventing Zaunites from crossing the bridge and Jayce considering making weapons)

But season 2, not many people do that as much so I ended up getting more and more mad with Jayce's actions since not many of the characters are gonna call him out

The closest was (again) Viktor who full on ended their partnership because Jayce broke their promised, revived Viktor with the thing that killed Sky, and MADE WEAPONS with said thing

Now onto Viktor, my main problem is THEY HAD MORE POTENTIAL TO FLESH OUT VIKTOR'S CHARACTER

LIKE HAVING HIM WORK TOGETHER WITH JINX?

HAVE HIM HAVE MORE PARALLELS WITH SINGED?

HAVE HIM REALIZE BEFORE THAT HE ACCIDENTALLY MADE A HIVEMIND AND STRUGGLE TO UNDO IT THEN GET DEPRESSED THAT HE ONCE AGAIN ENDED UP HARMING PEOPLE IN AN ATTEMPT TO SAVE OTHERS?

BUT NO, LET'S HAVE VIKTOR BE AN EMOTIONAL DUMB FUCK AND NOT ASK JINX AND VI "Hey, since I'm helping your dad and stuff, mind helping me by defending my people since my ex BFF is coming here and he seems not to be in the right mind?"

VIKTOR WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN IF THEY WOULD SAY YES BUT MIGHT AS WELL TRY, RIGHT?

WE COULD'VE HAD A COOL ZAUN NATION THING WHERE VI, JINX, ISHA, VANDER, AND VIKTOR WORK TOGETHER TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE

BUT NO, HAVE VIKTOR DO NOTHING TO TRY TO DEFEND HIMSELF, HAVE HIM INVITE JAYCE OVER, THEN HAVE HIM MEDITATE WHILE JAYCE TURNS HIM INTO A DAMN DONUT

YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

Also, the damn line "You were trying to fix imperfections" or whatever

JAYCE, VIKTOR WAS FUCKING DYING

COUGHING BLOOD

WHAT? THE HELL YOU MEAN HE'S A PERFECTIONIST

If anyone was a perfectionist, IT WAS FUCKING PILTOVER, NOT THE DISABLED GUY DYING WHILE TRYING TO HELP OTHERS

Another missed potential, they kept show Jinx as Les Miserables or something in the intro, so obviously seemed like she would be a revolutionist

And Viktor wants to help the less fortunate and gets mad whenever Piltover does anything to further ostracize Zaunites

WHY NOT HAVE THE TWO WORK TOGETHER IN THE REVOLUTION?

MACHINE HERALD AND THE FEARED WANTED GIRL WORKING TOGETHER TO REBEL AGAINST THE PRIVILEGED

THAT WOULD'VE BEEN SO FUCKING COOL

COME ON

[luna-rainbow]

Tony Stark fans are just something else. They are so determined for him to have some kind of monopoly on trauma so that they can use it as an excuse for his crappy actions.

Nobody *but nobody* can have as much trauma as him. They'll even go to the point of trying to change history, as I saw recently on a major Wiki, where they kept removing edits relating to Bucky's trauma.

Out of curiosity...how do we know it was Tony fans that were doing the edits?

A lot of people identify closely with Tony's specific type of trauma. The gifted child with parental neglect who, despite all material needs being met, struggle with lifelong issues of attachment and abandonment. This is why it was a bit silly to retcon Tony's mother back into the works when the first two movies suggested Tony's mother was absent and he had a father who was more interested in his work than his son -- the present and loving mother in CACW diluted the childhood neglect which had in some ways explained Tony's major flaws. In the comics Howard was an abusive alcoholic (while Maria was around but presumably couldn't protect Tony), which provides a different type of trauma that a lot of people identify with. That said, we never saw that facet in the MCU, neither Howard's alcoholism nor Tony's own.

I can't remember whether it was said of Trump or Musk, but I recently saw a commentary say that "at his core he just wants to be liked". And just like these two billionaire narcissists, Tony desperately wants to be liked. He's smart, rich, charismatic and a philanthropist, but deeply insecure about it, so he needs people to know and acknowledge him as such. He's still stuck in the mindset of pushing the boundaries, because his wealth and status meant boundaries had almost never applied to him. He's still finding his way in the world, and his (post Iron Man) mistakes come from a place of good intentions.

These are all characteristics that a lot of people identify with easily - especially the online crowd. Who doesn't have a bit of crippling insecurity, who doesn't fancy a bit of anti-authority snark, and who doesn't make well-meaning mistakes? This is especially true of the younger crowd because...let's face it, Tony is a teenager in a 40 year old body.

The problem when people identify too closely with their blorbos is that any criticism of the character suddenly feels like an attack against their own person. How dare you call Tony a selfish dick, don't you see he was neglected by his dad and he went through a horrible hostage situation in Afghanistan and he should be allowed to feel betrayed by Steve not telling him publicly available information!!!

[arnrdsjj]

yapping about kokuto's route ^^

WAHOO! i’m finally done with kokuto’s best end. honestly, i ended up feeling like i overestimated myself and it was a little bit too much for only one go: up until christmas, the development of his character could hardly be tracked, but everything went south and he himself went absolute bonkers for obvious reasons afterwards. the true final boss of jj who i barely managed to keep up with. that’s my fave right there!

i doubt i’ve got much interesting to say since i’ve pointed out quite a lot of things in my previous post about this boy, but i’ll probably start with what i’m the saltiest about at the moment—the romance part. that was not it. at least not for me. i’m not in the least opposed to, so to say, toxic or destructive dynamics in fiction, and considering that it’s exactly what i expect their so-called love to end up being like sooner or later, i’m just surprised it was given to me wrapped in a cutesy pink and not a woeful black ribbon lmao

kisa gets flabbergasted with each big ass flirt move from kokuto, realizes her feelings for him upon the rush of guilt, blames herself for everything this boy is going through as if he weren’t mentally ill for the greater part of his life, frantically shouts love confessions hoping to stop him from drowning himself—the sequence of events made me realize that we skipped too many steps for it to make sense. i also think it’s enough to consider applying for a restraining order, kisa-chan /j. all that time, i was watching kokuto seemingly succeed in breaking through his issues at long last, but kisa was there only taking steps back while dealing with all that. i’m sorry, she deserves so much better than that. i hope kai and suzu’s routes won’t disappoint me in that respect given that i’m planning to go for them next. all i need is her vibing and actually enjoying her life in univeil. please

your eyes didn’t lie to you, i said seemingly succeed because i’ll go as far as to say that kisa is not the key to resolution of kokuto’s suffering. as iffy as it may sound, she’s just a bonus to his story. just like all his issues with women turned out to be. the tip of kokuto neji’s iceberg, which only has one simple thing at the bottom of it, and that’s bereavement

despite him constantly talking about his struggle with women and asking kisa to act out something purely hetero romantic, his whole story is about grief he never overcame and all the repercussions of it. one of those is that he hides his true worries behind one of his plots where he villainizes a woman—who his dad had an affair with and who was the reason he wilted—in order to avoid any excessive thought that might leave him hurting all over. after all, it’s so much easier to let your feelings simmer and shoot them out in the guise of abhorrence and disgust for someone you never knew and will never know than to accept reality, flaws and reasons of someone you genuinely love, and even more so let go of them once and for all

kokuto is lucky to have met kisa. even though unintentionally, she’s the woman who breaks the curse of la femme fatale he’s focused on much and much more than on his own father in that whole situationship, who shatters his only coping mechanism, who breaks that iceberg, exposes him to sheer suffering he’s been avoiding all his life and leaves him no other choice but to deal with it. the way he latches onto her so tightly and starts to dream of their happily ever after feels like an insane trauma response: she’s the woman who saved him and swears that she loves him, so comparing himself to his father, he feels the desperate need to do his utmost not to disappoint and accidentally make her leave him because of the void inside him, knowing damn well how it might end for him with his dad set as a (not very good) example

notice how even upon some closure, things don’t get better for him—all’s because his genuine feelings still slumber deep down unaddressed

originally, things result in a whole predicament because kokuto copies his dad to the point that he secludes himself in his comfort zone, frightened to lose touch with his talent and, consequently, all the people he loves, for it’s the only way he can keep them by his side—or so he thinks—and gets stuck in a robotic life, never cutting himself any slack and never making any individual progress, only delving into the other people’s worries and writing about them until his well of ideas eventually runs dry

the plotline with the dad is raw and beautiful in all its little details. i love the fact that kokuto locks him away and never comes back to think about him properly, so he’s had this old image of him in his head all the while, the one that was created when he was still a child—an oddball with the genius for writing who lives a messy life full of colors and inspiration. he admires his cool dad to the point that he looks like his copycat which is only natural since he’s got it all to be like him—talent, fervor, imagination—only to grow up, face his past, and realize that his dad wasn’t what he remembers him to have been, that nothing, in fact, in the present is left from his past and it’s about time he moved on. as he realizes that his father is dead, that he’ll never see him smile brightly and stand on the big stage again, he breaks down, and his reaction clearly shows how desperate he’s been in trying to repress his feelings and fears all these years

i was shedding tears of joy seeing everyone in quartz believe in kokuto till the very end and support him in every little baby step he took. it’s a shame that they stop taking all he’s been doing for them as their leader for granted only as worse comes to worst, but let’s be honest, kokuto is the only one to blame. he wasn’t candid even once with himself, let alone those around him (who theoretically could leave him on learning the whole truth about him, though, so his feelings are understandable and valid too). the way he openly asks them to help him become the best version of himself, the way he utters, “i’m falling even more in love with quartz,” so openly, so earnestly when he realizes that they’ve loved him all along not only for his talent, but for who he is, that they love him even if there’s nothing more to him than “a happy-go-lucky clown” side, that they’re patient enough to let him grow at his own pace and guide to the places he’s always been afraid to go on his own—all of this warmed my heart in the best possible way

i also have to say: i did not expect kokuto’s relationship with chui to be that precious. they can see right through each other, but they never seem to use it for their own benefit. two points got me all jittery: the fact that kokuto never had a closure as regards takihime, for he couldn’t face the emotions the heroine experienced because of how personal they felt, and the fact that chui expressed his wish to stand with kokuto on the same stage once more after finally seeing him being sincere and thus shining like never before during quartz’s last performance. at one point, i caught myself thinking of them sitting in a classroom a year ago, buzzing with excitement for the new play, discussing the concept of death to get closer to their characters, kokuto sharing some tiny bits about his father and his feelings and chui consoling him, in his own unique way. i want more of them, seriously

that’s pretty much all from me. the last scene of the route kind of broke me, positively. kokuto has grown so much… he finally looked his fears in the eye and is ready to prove how talented he is to the entire world. i hope he’ll have even more fun in tamasakaza… i also hope he explodes <3 (lovingly)

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

I am so happy with how this week’s episode went down.

I’ve been so worried that the point of the show was just going to end up being: Sometimes the Jedi are the Bad Guys and maybe the villains have a point! or The witches were Evil and Deserved to be killed!!

Because those would be such boring stories to tell.

We all know the jedi have flaws and that they make mistakes. We don’t need a show to use that as some dramatic reveal. I wouldn’t enjoy star wars as a franchise if the jedi were perfect.

The idea of their innate goodness being exploited and manipulated and used against them has always been really interesting to me. I’ve always believed the jedi as a whole are good and that the problems come from individuals.

That could mean individual jedi who struggle with what being a jedi requires. (Anakin and Sol with their clear struggles with attachment) Jedi who have experienced certain trauma that inevitably affects their decisions. (Anakin, Barriss, Reva, and so many more) Or those who shouldn’t’ve been jedi in the first place (pong krell🤬)

It also means basically anyone else who believes and/or has gone through similar things. (the martez sisters blaming the jedi for their parent’s death, the people of the republic who believed the jedi were responsible for the war etc.)

And of course there are the actual villains who intentionally cause problems.

These things are all unavoidable and thats what makes star wars so compelling to me. The fall of the jedi was the result of Palpatine amplifying these factors to bring forth something that was always going to happen and that nobody could stop.

On the other side, I am so relieved that the witches weren’t revealed as the true villains or something because that would’ve also been so boring, and also kinda dumb.

Introducing this beautiful group of women with their own unique history, culture, and way of using the force…only to turn around and be like

Ha ha nope! The jedi are the only good guys and everyone else is evil!

Yeah I would’ve hated that.

I feel like this episode did a really good job at showing that what happened was a combination of everyone’s fears, biases, and hubris clashing in the worst way imaginable.

Neither the Jedi as a whole, nor the witches were 100% responsible.

The council told the jedi to leave the witches alone but they didn’t listen. The order cannot be blamed only those who were apart of that mission.

You can blame either side for their choices but both sides had their reasons and both sides were neither right nor wrong.

Sol was wrong to prioritize attachment to osha over following orders. But he was right to want what was best for her.

Torbin was wrong to run back and infiltrate their home. But he was made to believe it would mean completing his mission.

Mae was wrong to lock the place down and start a fire. But she just wanted her sister to stay.

Koril was wrong to go straight to violence. But she wanted to keep her children, and her past has led her not to trust.

I could go on and on but I’m getting too lazy to type more.

Basically what I’m saying is I am happy that the show didn’t chose to be fully anti jedi.

And I am happy that the show didn’t introduce a badass GORGEOUS black lesbian witch as the ruler of this coven only to make her a villain for loving her children

[postal-ech]

Alright no, I need to go into detail on this shit cause I swear to god, it lives rent free in my head. I'll split the post off here cause there's gonna be some spoilers for Lisa the Undone as well as a few other Lisa Fan Games that are on my mind

I'm also giving a CW here, cause Lisa covers some dark topics, and I want to unload it a bit here, especially given what I've seen out of Lisa the Undone.

Buckle up, it's gonna be a long, very autistically hyperfixated post.

So

I initially never really got into Lisa when it first came out. I was a shitlord that saw the fan content first, especially this project known as Interlopers - essentially, a Lisa-Undertale crossover featuring Buddy Armstrong and Chara Dreemur.

It piqued my interest a bit, but I never realized how one sided it was in exploring this stuff, especially given it was this crossover AU. It focused mainly on the Undertale fandom and some of the things that were popular at the time. It WAS going to explore its own version of Olathe on a sequel series but that was canceled later on, and the idea has become dormant since.

Later on, my curiosity grew and I looked into the Lisa side of things more. I discovered Lisa the Pointless, Lisa the Hopeful, and then I started looking into other fan projects here too.

Why this pretext? Because that was the gateway into Lisa proper.

I only got Lisa the Painful and Lisa the Joyful after its definitive edition released. At this point, I was pretty well versed in Brad's story - his trauma and pain, the struggles he faces after, the Joy abuse to numb the pain - so when I saw the campfire scenes between Brad and the other party members, especially with members like Terry or Queen Rodger, Bo and Olan, it sparked something there that's for fucking sure.

And then I got to the secret boss.

I'm a dude thar enjoys reading into shit, looking deep at the meaning of written projects be it games, movies, books, etc - Lore is my god damn drug, to put it in a TL:DR.

Seeing this huge call back to Lisa the First, Seeing the symbolism of joy spiders worshipping a Blue Eclipse above Brad's childhood home, fighting the manifestation of Marty Armstrong and reading the deeper, personal stuff that's said afterwards

That song, too, towards the very end of the sequence, with the music that's reminiscent of s church choir singing as Brad's childhood self descends into the darkness

That's what truly sold me on Lisa.

I know everyone has mixed feelings on Lisa the Joyful of course, especially in the way it handled Buddy - Some people were fine with it, and others didn't like the way she became this bloodthirsty girl out to murder shit indiscriminately

I say fair enough honestly, Joyful was a bit of a slog to get through compared to Painful

HOWEVER

There were two things I still enjoyed about it:

One, Dustin. Dustin was and still is the goddest boy despite his own flaws, and I was upset it wasn't explored more before his untimely death. Buddy actually starting to care about him before it all went downhill was tragic in its own right

Two, the DE content. Again, a lot of people were still mixed on it, but personally I saw it as a better expansion into Buddy healing from her trauma, understanding that- while Brad certainly was in the wrong in the way he raised her, he still tried his best in a world that definitely wanted to exploit her in the most horrific ways imaginable.

I'm fine with her even mentioning Lisa cause let's all be real here, she's definitely at least heard of her through Brad in some way, shape or form, and the ending bit where he explains the dead flower to her only reinforces that for me.

The more supernatural side of things feel interesting too, cause maybe it's just me, but reading into things, The Flash always had this sort of supernatural spin to it - how Olathe got so fucked up, how time doesn't seem to be entirely right in some areas or how everything got all mountainous and the likes. Probably just headcanon stuff but fuck it, I enjoy the speculation.

AND NOW, THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR: LISA THE UNDONE.

So, with that context out of the way, I'll get into my proper thoughts with Lisa: The Undone.

Firstly, again I know not everyone will really agree with the ideas the Definitive Edition put out, especially in the case of Joyful with its Lisa the First callback and Buddy just slamming on Buzzo the way she does. That being said, I love the way Lisa the Undone tackles these ideas Joyful initially set our and explores them more.

The idea of Buddy being less hateful at first, just wanting to genuinely explore the weird and wacky world of Olathe despite its darkness is very welcome. With Dustin especially, this is only amplified.

A lot of the headcanoned and original stuff feel like they can fit right into the base Lisa games too honestly, and that's another thing I really appreciate about this fan gams

But the most important thing to me is the found family relationship between Dustin and Buddy, as well as the two other companions you can recruit.

Dustin is by no means perfect. This is undeniable enough given his actions in Painful and Joyful - He wants to do good, but it becomes a bit of a messiah complex especially for Buddy - who mind you, is only a pubescent kid during all of this shit. This is still translated well in this fan game, just less of a prominent character point - He still wants Buddy to have a good life and to be safe, but there's a clear struggle with seeing her as the Future of Olathe

And seeing her as just Buddy. Just Her.

And the fact that over the time, throughout the chapters, you see Dustin refer to her less as this important figure for the world and more as like a sibling, or just straight up family, that right there is what sells me on this.

Especially towards the end, where depending on your choices in the game, Buddy does eventually admit she can't help but care about people like Dustin.

That hits. That hits a good fucking bit.

And that's what I love to see in this. Sure, it may end with one of the two dying in part 2 of Undone, or depending on your actions it may end with tragedy for either of them

But the fact it works this found family dynamic so God damn well here, with how Buddy and Dustin care for each other AS that family despite Brad's own fuck-ups between the both of them.

Fuck man. It's good, and I hope this fandom explores it more here - especially with DE putting things into an interesting context too.

On a side note, God I also hope it explores DE's Warlord skills mechanics in the future, it's some god damn martial arts shit I love. Sure it may be Mega Man-esque bur god dammit the idea of Buddy learning and incorporating some ideas given from how each Warlord fights is SUCH a good idea and if there's ever a fan game that had Buddy exploring the greater world of Olathe, meeting the likes of Alex Churchland or Beltboy and shit like that, I wanna see her develop her own form of martial arts with or without the katana she's grown accustomed with god dammit.

God, I love Lisa. I love these games as much ad Undertale and Deltarune, and I need to write out some more shit for this series.

Thanks Austin Jorgensen you god damn mad man, and thanks to the Fandom for putting out such genuine bangers.

[threecheersforinking]

Review: Boys Over Flowers

*this review will contain spoilers!*

Hi everyone! This is going to be an extremely long, unsolicited recap of all my thoughts about Boys Over Flowers. I don't know a single person in my real life who has watched this, so I'm using this blog as my space to infodump because this show has become my new hyperfixation. If anyone at all ends up reading this, I really appreciate it! But this is mostly entirely for myself lol.

As someone who is pretty deep into the shoujo anime world and just recently getting into kdramas, I have heard of this show in passing many times. Kkotboda Namja is referenced in Korean media a lot and Hana Yori Dango is lauded as a classic shoujo in the manga sphere, so I figured it might be good to watch the show just to be able to get all the references and consume a piece of shoujo history. Originally, I thought it would be a mindless watch that I might have to force myself to finish; I started off concerned about getting through 25 episodes, but in the end, I ended up wishing there were more lol.

I'm gonna be honest, when I first started watching it, I was like uhhh this is... kinda bad. especially in the beginning. But I became endeared to the quirks I originally criticized. The slow motion dramatic replay shots, the shaky camera, the questionable acting skills all are an essential part of the show itself.

In general, the story was more compelling than I was expecting. But the characters were undoubtedly the best part of the show for me. I always find myself getting attached to media where characters are the focus, and I believe that's why I enjoyed this so much. So I am going to go into each character a bit more in depth.

Thoughts on Jandi

As far as shoujo protagonists go, Jandi is pretty quintessential and standard. She is poor, she is hardworking, she is kind. We've all seen this before. But I always liked her, and she grew on me even more as the series went on. She has the ever-present shoujo 'hard working poor girl' trait, but the show took that to a more serious level than I was expecting. The arc where she had to essentially raise her little bother by herself forced her to mature so quickly, which felt very realistic to me.

I also really loved how much of a 'girl's girl' she was; as far as earlier episodes go, the episode that focused on Minji was one of my favorites. I loved how she called out those popular girls on their hypocrisy for criticizing Minji's plastic surgery when they've all had surgery themselves. She also was such a good friend to both Minji and Gaeul and a very strong, assertive person.

As far as her indecisiveness goes, that is kind of a requirement for being a shoujo protagonist in a love triangle, but it did still get on my nerves even though I was fully anticipating it.

Thoughts on F4 (ranked in order of how much I liked them)

Yijung

Yijung was my favorite F4 boy by far. I just thought he had the most interesting and complex backstory. His struggle with his parents was very humanizing and the way he handled it so poorly felt like a realistic response to that kind of trauma. Ultimately, he made bad choices, but in an understanding and forgivable way that made him complex, not unlikeable (unlike someone else... but more on that later).

Jihoo

Jihoo was another character I grew to be very fond of. I was interested in his backstory a lot too, and although we knew from the beginning that he experienced a tragic loss as a child, learning that he carried the guilt of thinking he killed his family for 15 years really gave extra context to his stoicness and sadness. His reunion arc with his grandfather brought me to tears several times, and it really gave his character a lot more depth. My biggest issue with Jihoo is that I felt like he was almost too perfect sometimes; it's why I liked the grandfather reunion arc so much, I thought it gave him some much needed flaws.

Junpyo

Speaking of flaws, look who it is! Obviously, I have a lot of conflicted feelings on Junpyo. As someone who is actually very open minded about redemption arcs, I didn't have too much of an issue with him being a bully at the beginning, but his, truthfully, abusive tendencies were such a turn off and felt completely unnecessary. Unlike Yijung, Junpyo's trauma/bad choices made him extremely unlikable and nearly unforgivable. The constant physical violence against completely innocent people and his unwillingness to listen to Jandi explain herself were hard to watch, knowing that he's one of the romantic leads that we're supposed to be rooting for. I also felt like until the final arc, any character development he had gotten just kept undoing itself every time he found a new thing to get angry about. Despite all this, I enjoyed what his character became towards the end of the story. I just wish it wasn't such a painful and unnecessary journey for him to finally become that way.

Woobin

Woobin was kind of a disappointing character in general; I can only assume that he was a bigger character in the manga and they just didn't have time to really develop him in the show, because that's pretty much the only valid explanation for his lack of substance. At the beginning of the show, Yijung and Woobin got less screentime than Junpyo/Jihoo did, but as Yijung started to get more development, Woobin became even more noticeably lacking. They threw in that one scene where he was stressing over being the son of a mafia boss or something (which felt completely out of left field by the way) but because it was the only scene where he was given any backstory it might as well not have existed at all. Overall, he was nice to Jandi and a good friend and I enjoyed him in all the F4 group scenes, I just wish he was a bit more of a fully developed character.

Other Characters

Before I get into the friend characters, I wanted to say that something I really loved about this show was how genuinely kind all the older female characters were to Jandi. For some reason I was expecting most of them to secretly be evil or mean but they were all extremely kindhearted and helpful people, which just made the viewing experience better. Even Minji, who was literally the only one who actually did turn out mean, was able to reconcile with Jandi and end their friendship on a neutral/positive note.

Gaeul

I loved Gaeul from the start, I thought she was so adorable and the perfect best friend character for a shoujo. I honestly wasn't even expecting her to be a fully fleshed-out secondary character in the show, I thought she would just be Jandi's coworker who she gossiped with on occasion. But the fact that she became such a major player in the story made me very happy. I also really loved her with Yijung and was practically screaming at the screen for them to get together, but more on that later.

Jaekyung

Jaekyung was interesting. She was a little ditzy and out of touch, but extremely kindhearted despite her wealthy background. I think her introduction into the show, which subsequently threw a curveball into the relationship of Jandi x Junpyo, came at a good time. I found it refreshing that she was always nice and friendly to Jandi, but also didn't want to give up on Junpyo just because Jandi liked him. My biggest issue with Jaekyung was that her concession at the end of the wedding felt a little out of left field, considering how adamant she had been previously about her pursuit of Junpyo. But based on the nature of her personality, I can see that being believable. I also wish she made another appearance after the wedding arc was over, but we didn't see her again after that :(

Junhee

Junhee was yet another character that I expected to be kind of bitchy/mean but who turned out to be extremely cool and nice. The literal only thing that bothered me about her was that I couldn't fathom how she and Junpyo were supposedly raised in the same home but turned out so different, lol. I guess it's a testament to how girls vs. boys were treated in their patriarchal household, but still jarring.

The Romance

I want to start off by saying that I'm someone who is ok with love triangles. I think there's a lot of people who are tired of them and don't like them, but I am okay with it so long as it's interesting.

That being said, when it comes to love triangles I think a lot of people conflate the character they like better with the character the protagonist very clearly wants more. To me (and to most people I'd assume) Jihoo was just overwhelmingly the better choice. I'd go as far as to say he's the objectively better choice. He was always a million times more kind and thoughtful than Junpyo and truly loved Jandi for almost the entire show. However, I could never fully see him being endgame because Jandi was simply more focused on Junpyo and had more history with him.

I know this is a hot take, but I actually really enjoy the 'bickering couple' trope. I think a little back and forth roasting of each other is fun and entertaining! But bickering is not the same thing as genuine cruelty and one sided bullying. Which is pretty much what was happening at the beginning of the story. However, by the time Junpyo finally mellowed out, I really grew to love his dynamic with Jandi. The teasing was just that; teasing, and not bullying anymore. I just wish there was about 200% more of that dynamic and 100% less of whatever the hell they were doing in the first 2/3rds of the show.

As for couples outside of the main trio, I was the BIGGEST Gaeul/Yijung shipper from the minute they first interacted. I cared way more about them than the main love triangle and was on the edge of my seat whenever they showed up. My biggest criticism of them though is that it took WAY too long. And believe me, I can handle a slow burn, but at a certain point it felt so dragged out that I almost stopped caring (it wasn't confirmed canon until the literal last 10 minutes of the whole show lol). Of course, I was still pleased, but man! Give me a break.

The Show In General

I think it became obvious to me early on that this is like, the mother of all shoujos. Most of the common shoujo tropes I mentioned in this review probably either originated or were popularized by both this show and the original manga. It really set a standard and became iconic, despite its many flaws.

(Side note, I hope I'm not in the wrong for still calling this kdrama a shoujo, I think it being based on a shoujo manga makes it a fair enough label but correct me if I'm wrong)

I also just started reading the manga and wow, they uh... toned some stuff down for the show didn't they? I do like it though, it's different. But I can definitely see why some changes were made from the manga to the show. So far out of all the characters, Jihoo and Junpyo's manga versions feel the most different from their kdrama equivalents, which is a bit surprising as they are the main characters. But we'll have to see if that changes as I get further in.

I also am aware of the several other adaptations of Hana Yori Dango such as the Japanese drama and Meteor Garden (although I am put off by the fact that it's 50+ episodes?? are they an hour long too? if so... I'm not sure about that one) but I knew Boys Over Flowers/Kkotboda Namja was the one I wanted to start with due to its popularity, and I think that was a good choice.

This is a 15 year old show but I know there is still somewhat of an active fanbase for it on here so if you're a hardcore Hana Yori Dango stan please go easy on me! These are just my opinions so take them with a grain of salt.

Anyway, if anyone ended up reading this to the end thank you for reading. I'm going to be posting more kdrama reviews on this blog that I promise will be way shorter. Bye!

-threecheersforinking

[loversinmalta]

No matter which ship I personally choose for Buck, I hope maybe in some part, no matter how small, what I say here can diffuse some of the antagonism shippers of both sides have. I think we can all agree Buck is our national treasure and deserves to be treated with so much love. The fact that we are all rooting so fiercely for Buck to be with either Tommy or Eddie may be to do with the fact that at the end of the day all 3 are so complex and have their own traumas each but still are all looking for happiness and are genuinely heroic. We know the struggles that life has laid for Buck and Eddie well and we are getting to know Tommy and I feel as if there is more to Tommy's story we don't know yet. Just a feeling when I see him even for the small amounts of time on screen that he went through things that burned him. All 3 share this I feel and all 3 are trying to persevere. And just find that human connection. No matter what happens I just hope Tommy doesn't lose the 118 or Buck in his life. Because I think he has been alone for far too long and is finally understand what it's like to actually have a found family. So shoutout to all 3 characters and the actors that play them for delivering us these sometimes flawed but pure hearted characters.

As well as the rest of the 118 and their spouses/guest starring actors as well.

[jamiesfootball]

What are your thoughts on Ted? Is it good he went home?

These are two separate answers but I'm gonna try to combine them into one thought bubble (bear with me).

My short answer regarding Ted's ending is that you can't create a fully fleshed out character for 2-3 seasons and then in the final hour decide he was Mary Poppins all along. The Mary Poppins is meant to be strange, not-quite of normal ilk. She's the static character who leads the change in others, the one who inspires. You don't usually see the inner thoughts and workings of a static character.

From the very first time the audience meets Ted, we understand that this is not a static character because he is literally one of our starting POVs. We see his uncertainty about flying across the globe to go teach a sport he doesn't understand. We see him turning to Beard for reassurance. We see him stick his hand out where it isn't wanted while he tries to find common ground with people in a new country. We see the beginnings of a panic attack at the press conference.

That is is episode one. He is not a static character. He is not a strange and unusual person impossible to understand. He is inspiring, yes, but that is because of his humanity- his kindness.

He is not a Mary Poppins.

Ted is at his most interesting when he is a complicated, struggling, but ultimately kind man who tries his best to show genuine empathy and compassion towards others. The fact that this same trait doubles as a flaw is equally intriguing.

Ted can reassure Sam that Jamie won't be coming back, or Ted can reach out to Jamie when he's struggling and ask him to come back. Both are acts of kindness. He can not do both.

Ted can show Rebecca empathy and understanding for her trying to sabotage Richmond, but it ties his hands on being honest to Jamie about why he was sent away in the first place.

In trying to balance kindness, Ted struggles to be direct. He struggles to come right out and tell people how he's feeling about situations. Despite encouraging other people to talk about their feelings, he dances around his own and avoids awkward confrontations. I think that is the flaw that Ted most needed to explore. At the same time, I hesitate to say he could have learned too much given how he was struggling to process his own trauma with his dad and how it effected his relationships with those around him. (Put a pin here, I'll be back for it in a later.)

Pivoting back to Ted's purpose in the narrative, unfortunately as the show ran through season three, it became too near-sighted on The Message and in turn lost sight of making sure the characters had fulfilling interactions with each other. This especially becomes apparent when it comes to Ted, whose motto in season one is 'be curious not judgemental.' I maintain that season three was a low point for Ted emotionally, and if I were to assign a reason in-universe as to why Ted seemed so off from his usual self, it would be that in his depression, he no longer had the energy to realize he wasn't being curious. One indication of this would be how many times Ted casts assumptions on people in season three, compared to his hey-do-you-think conversational openers from earlier seasons. Some examples would include:

-never trying to figure out what makes Zava tick (this is a big one to me. I think season one Ted would have been all over trying to crack Zava like a nut)

-assuming he already knows why Jamie is upset about Zava joining the team and brushing it off

-assuming that Dr Jacob would propose + assuming that Michelle would say yes instead of trying to ferret out whether

-his assumptions about Henry being bullied (the knee-jerk reaction as a parent to protect your kid is understandable, the lack of delving into the situation and why it happened are more what I mean here)

-his whole conversation with Jamie about his dad. Other people in more succinct words have pointed out how it feels like he fully projected what he needed to hear onto Jamie's situation, and I think that's fairly accurate. This was not a 'talk to me and tell me what's going on so I can better understand how i need to help you' conversation. This was a 'oh that's whats going on? how about you do this? that work? alright then' talk.

So the finale struts back around and Ted has made a decision. He's going home. And it's meant to feel like closure. They play the Cat Stevens song and it's supposed to feel like Ted has finally made a step in the right direction (which is certainly one take on those lyrics but I digress). He's going back home. He's going to be with his son. He's letting go of the damage his father leaving did to him. He's giving up on something and he's finally okay with that. He left Richmond better than he found it and that's what matters.

Everyone else can cry but he's not crying. He's finally with Henry again.

So here's my two cents. And this is definitely just my opinion but-

THAT'S FUCKING STUPID.

Because the only way that Henry OR Richmond exists is in a false dichotomy wherein the two cannot possibly coincide, despite the fact that there are MANY KIDS' SHOWS ABOUT CHILDREN MOVING TO NEW LOCATIONS EVEN NEW COUNTRIES because that is a NORMAL THING THAT HAPPENS IN THE NORMAL WORLD ALL THE TIME.

Like holy shit that is. That is just the plot of a Disney channel show. 'My dad the football coach moved to england to coach the other football.' That is just the plot of a Disney channel original movie with a $300 budget that magically gets a sequel. Is that what I'm supposed to say 'oh no, that could never happen' over? Because I"m already watching a TV show. You can put a show in another show- I'm fine with that.

Remember that pin above? Time to pull it out. Because you know what would have been a more narratively satisfying conclusion?

If Ted had actually asked Henry and Michelle if they'd liked to move to London to be closer to him. If he had actually expressed his fucking need to have both his Kansas family and his Richmond family close to him. Maybe they would have said no, maybe they would have said yes, but you know what? It would have at least opened the door to the discussion about what Ted might need as a person moving forward, whichever way the chips fell. At least he would have done the one thing we didn't see him do all show:

Ask for something for himself. Because he wants it. Not for the good of his family, or the team, or anyone else. Just for Ted.

I am not saying his son isn't the most important thing in his life. I am saying as a goddamn adult person, you can NOT mold your life around your kids. You can't. Full stop. It is not healthy. You put your kid's needs above your own, but as a parent your needs have to come second. You have to take care of your own emotional health so that you have the bandwidth to give them support. You have to set the example of what healthy boundaries and taking care of yourself looks like.

Could Ted make new social connections back in Kansas? Well that's the thing isn't it- season one Ted could have. Easily. Season three Ted? The one who's checked out and looks tired all the time and isn't even following his own motto anymore and didn't even cry like he'd miss his friends when he was leaving? I'm not sure about that Ted. I'm worried about that Ted. I'm worried he's going to put himself in a situation where for the next 9 years of his life his only priority is going to be keeping Henry happy by giving Henry the attention he never got from his own father. And after that? Henry's an adult. Henry has to go live his own life.

And Henry's going to be able to tell, by the way, if his dad is struggling. Whatever Ted's emotional health is like, Henry is going to pick up on it. This isn't a one way road. Kids notice.

Ted untangled himself enough to admit that what he wants is to be close to Henry. I commend that. But then he decided that there was only one way to do that, and he didn't look any further than that. The narrative didn't look any further than that. For a show that itself raises the topic of mental health, it feels tone-deaf to pretend that Ted moving away from his entire support group is a happy ending. He doesn't even have Beard!

So to summarize: what do I think about Ted? I think he's a fascinating character. I think he has a genuine kindness to him that is rare. I think he is flawed, and a little bent up on the inside, and he's got a lot of issues to work through. And I think the show did him a disservice by painting him going back to Kansas as a sign that everything was going to be okay.