chapter one had me like ">\< woman" because that's what I call a beautiful wlw relationship! the conniving! the mutual adoration! cute nickname! and outright gayness
honestly, ollie reads to me as a character with BPD because he behaves similarly to how my father acts. obviously having trauma or mental illnesses doesn't excuse your actions, it explains it. What's the worst is seeing this entire series of kids just suffering, and knowing that some of this is reflected in reality. Some of the violence stuff might be exaggerated but children learning toxic behaviors after neglect or abuse is sadly real. Kids being told that their skill set isn't important because they're not test smart or book smart can be so frustrating, especially when it feels like they're not good at anything that doesn't get them in trouble.
The kids are most certainly responsible for their actions. Ollie gaslighted John and used him to receive the attention and protection he wanted from his parents, at the cost of others. He couldn't control his parents, i.e. make them pay attention to him, so he took it out on other kids by trying to control them. He has a serious fear of abandonment and attachment issues. John was abused but he perpetuated the cycle of violence, even though he didn't know any better, and because John/his friends were violent their victims also became violent. It became a horrible cycle. John probably wouldn't have gone the way he did if he didn't feel that there was something lacking in his life, because the positive attention he received for being violent was something he hadn't received previously. He's not book smart so he was put down, his dad was his dad, and that all made John vulnerable to manipulation.
Ginny's friend Monica gave in to peer pressure out of concern for herself, and while it's understandable, she should've gone to the teachers about it. I get the feeling that by making herself vulnerable to the other girls and trying to stay in their good graces, they realized they could take advantage of her since she would try to be friends, and that ultimately put her in a worse position than if she'd helped Ginny out. Sky was someone who felt betrayed, hurt, and couldn't accept that he was beaten up for no reason. He started out as a victim of the cycle of violence, but because nobody signed him up for therapy he was never able to move past it, and became vengeful. It can be hard to let go of things, and he might have PTSD as a result of what looks like long-term bullying. It's understandable since bullying can be a major trauma for some kids, but it's also possible he wasn't craving release from his trauma but to obtain power he never had. His parents made a mistake in letting Sky get revenge instead of trying to help him cope and move on.
John's dad is similar to Sky in that he started out as a victim of abuse, or likely started as one, and perpetuated the cycle instead of breaking it. He beat John to the point of severe bruising but didn't realize it was wrong because it was how he treated. He knew violence was bad but wasn't aware he was being violent. He felt entitled to a certain type of behavior from John just because he did the very basic parental duties. A child is not obligated to behave a certain way because you do the bare minimum: you brought that child into this world, and you are responsible for it if you didn't choose to yeetus deletus the fetus.
Ollie's mom gave up on her kid because she was too busy, but also because she couldn't immediately get him to behave the way he wants. If someone has a bad habit or a bad way of thinking, not considering if Ollie actually did have a mental illness, it can be very hard to correct that behavior. There are times where you find yourself going back to it after a period of doing well, even if you actually wanted to change. Trying to change a child who has violence and manipulation being effective ways of forming emotional bonds as an idea is very hard, and it was unrealistic of her to expect results without putting time into understanding what the root of the problem was. When she gave Ollie a new jacket but didn't spend time with him, she gave him the idea that material objects are important displays of affection and attention. And a very easy way of getting stuff you want is through stepping on people weaker than you, and I'm guessing it did feel like he was being admired/feared/thought about by the people he took from. After a while, Ollie began to feel entitled to things around him, because he didn't get what he wanted as a kid. If Ollie did have a mental illness, then the way Ollie's mom handled thing is even worse, since being abandoned is something people with bpd often fear, and can exacerbate their symptoms. The diagnosis is just speculation on my part, so don't take the last bit too seriously. What's important is that Ollie's mom and John's dad played a big role in how their kids turned out.
But at the end of the day, they're all human. We can all be expected to make mistakes. What's important is making an effort to make things right and change, that begins with accepting that you were wrong, which is something really hard to do. It's realistic that even if apologies are exchanged and therapy begins that some people may never choose to forgive each other. Ginny can choose to forgive Monica or forget her. It's up to her. I think that all of these characters' big issues can be somewhat explained, though their responses are not justified.
How you respond to a situation is understandable, but that doesn't make what you did morally right.
sorry for the long comment lol
How much money do I have to pay for author's to stop pumping out the same straight heterosexual romances with boring personality hot guys and two girls with incredible sexual tension between them that will never get together because hot guy with black hair and money is hot? Man. It's always like uwu we're gonna date and have balls then we "save" the poor people by giving them some rights when we still take advantage of them by being nobility with taxes/companies benefitting off a corrupt system! Or when they write males with no personality it's like, bro if you hate writing men so much, then don't lmao. You have guys like Izekiel and the characters from Stepmother's Marchen, then you have whatever the fuck is going on with the non-redhead guys in this comic. The gap is insane.
I'm not against straight comics because it's a guilty pleasure for me as a sapphic, but god damn they all have the same men. I'm just - at least this generic black hair duke has somewhat of a personality, even if it's not the best one. It's just so painful how most of these stories copy each other so blatantly that they can't even bother to change the hair color and eye color of their MLs.
I think so too, all of media based on idealistic characters. The woman is shy, clumsy, honest because it’s cute and man is cold but has a puppy like personality when he’s with fl. there are different people in the world. But while I’m reading the comics to escape from reality, the world that I escaped to has the people who are same it’s... i don’t know
Btw I recommend you to read “lost and found” it’s not isekai, but every character has their own flaws, personality And life (●￣(ｴ)￣●)
I completely agree with you! There’s too many repetitive male leads with the same kind of particular concept like u said “black hair guy has a cold personality but is soft and kind when he’s with the FL” and of course we have the stupid somewhat gullible piece of shit prince who’s fallen for the white lotus hoe with sneaky tricks up her sleeves climbing up the ranks so easily due to the princes dumb bitvhass.
Then there’s the cocky redhead ofc who’s the leader of the guild I mean he’s okay I guess but my honest opinion on him is biased since I despise people who draw out their weapons so easily without a second thought towards others who are innocent and being bothered by some stupid bastards. Like if he did that on impulse due to past trauma then I understand but so far not a fan lol.