Why are people pressed that she complains about the hand she's been dealt in life?
She's a child, with a neglectful Mother, and because of that neglect she has to manage school, a job, paying bills and rent, which is something her MOTHER should be doing. Shinra never complains, she thinks about it, sure, because that's her life but she's trying to move forward and survive for something better, she wants to make her life something more than it is right now for the future.
And when this rich brat is like "uR iNtErEsTiNg" bc he saw her eat food off the floor bc she was literally starving, do you expect her to just be okay with that? From her perspective, do you have any idea how insulting that is, for some rich rando to say that, when she's struggling to make ends meet and he's just all casual about it because she's poor and 'interesting' and he's just BORED. get bent. Her anger in that scene is and was totally justified.
Not to mention putting up with sexual harassment at work, again, things no one should ever have to go through in a work place. And it's awful because she's already thought about this before and what would happen if she were to report her manager. i.e. she quits leaving her with no paycheck that she needs for necessities. Which she explains, but Blondie still says that she should quit. And as much as I hate to say it, we all have things we don't like about our workplace, sometimes it is a handsy co-worker/manager, sometimes it's the pay, sometimes is just the working conditions, but we all make sacrifices, and I don't mean that "Oh we're martyrs or something for putting up with work bullshit" far from it, it shouldn't have to be that way, and it's so sad that she understands these things when she shouldn't have to, just like she shouldn't have to make those sacrifices at such a young age, but again. "I quit/don't work" = I don't eat or pay bills. This is her pov, and if being able to eat and pay bills means dealing with sexual harassment, she's already made her point very clear that she wouldn't quit in Ch 1.(which is not something I approve of, but given her circumstances and the criteria for jobs, i.e. one not requiring signature of parent/guardian, it is unfortunately understandable why she stays at her job, and explains as much)
---
Now onto the point of her mother. Like I said, her mother is neglectful, there's no denying that. But in ch. 2, we see Shinra think "I probably want someone to be kind to me". Her whole life she's been fed kindness in scraps. How does this connect to her mother? Our first impression of the relationship between Shinra and her mother, is that she's constantly upset with her mother for not being there for her, which is valid, but because she's so starved for any kindness or affection, when we see the mother show up, despite Shinra lecturing her, we also see how happy she is that her mother is back home, and is so pleased that she won't be alone now. There was this study that a baby monkey, if it's been orphaned will cling to the nearest thing, I forgot the whole entirety of the study, but I remember that part at least. Shinra is literally clinging to these little bits of affections she has with her mom, she cherishes the time she can spend with her Mom. She even looks happy when she tells Rai, that her mom came back home. And the point I'm trying to make is not that her mom is a good person/parent or whatever, that's not it at all. What I'm trying to say is that her mother's way of disappearing without any word and then reappearing and being all affectionate and sweet, only to drop off the map, has set the standard for what Shinra bases her expectations for the way people treat her kindly. Which is the barest minimum. Look, not all parents deserve kids, but all children deserve (good)parents.
Her Mother literally gives the barest shits about her kid, always these empty promises and statements of how all she needs is Shinra after a break up, only to then leave again when a new man or an old ex shows up. Can you imagine growing up in such a contradictory environment? "You're all I need, I'm going to stop dating" "Oh wait, I gotta GO, I just got a new boyfriend" That's the type of "kindness/affection" she knows. there one moment, gone the next. Which is why she is so distrustful of the trio. First Rai makes it seem like she's just amusement to ease his boredom, the next he's trying to be helpful.
For her, this is unknown territory, and she only see's it and trusts it as "the rich frolicking with the poor", that makes sense, and then when he show's up being all serious about wanting to be friends or for her to at least take advantage of the help the trio can giver her, she's still wary, bc seriously tf? It's a lot for a child who really has no healthy understanding of what "kindness" is. Which is terribly sad, no child should go through that. Which is why when she admits that she wanted someone to be kind to her, it's a big step in her recognizing that the scraps of affection from her mother were in fact not 'real kindness'. Which is why I really like Kanan Nakamura, he may be part of the trio, but his actions to me were more genuine. Though I can begrudgingly admit that it was Rai's intervention that led to that tearful eating food scene in Ch. 2, which also lead to Shinra deciding to use them as a means of survival.
and at the behest of Rai, when Nagisa comes or something, she accepts Nagisa's kindness, because like I said before and suspect, she doesn't know what real kindness is. She can't tell when someone is being deceptive. Which is some thing you'd think she'd know, since she has been taking care of herself for so long, but alas that is not the case.
Shinra wasn't deceived by her pervert manager, it was clear what he was doing, despite his weak attempt at gaslighting by saying "oh I don't see you as a girl don't worry" literally no one bought that, and neither did she. But Nagisa was sly, she made it seem like she was helping her out with the make-up first and that made Shinra happy, so when Nagisa brought the sugar-daddy thing up, even though Shinra was cautious about it bc of what she heard about it being not safe and such, Nagisa spun this entire thing of how she "had a lot of friends that also did it, it'll be fine, don't worry, here, I'll even help you" which, I mean, just sounds like another fellow student trying to help her out, even if Shinra wasn't too sure about the whole thing. She thought Nagisa was just being nice or "kind" because she doesn't know better.
She IS naive when it comes to affairs with other people, she doesn't really interact with people because she never felt the need to, but she's started to change in the name of survival, bc she realized that she can't do this alone, hence her entire thing of taking the trio's offer on them helping her.
So back to what I was trying to say at the beginning. I believe that Shinra has the right to fucking complain about her situation, so excuse her for actually finding people she can bitch about it to. She literally has never done it before, imagine how relieving it is for her to actually talk about it, even if she's frustrated with the Richies. And I find it fascinating to read comments complaining about the fact that she's self deprecating or something, bc I don't think she really is, or I don't see it as a bad thing, I say let it out y'know.
And to clarify, I'm not a psychologist or anything of the sort, I just know things from my own life experience, this is purely my opinion of what I think of Shinra's situation and story so far. And that aside, I really like this manga so far, I can't wait to see where things go from here.
-----
I feel like some of my points may not have been conveyed as clearly as I wanted them to be, and that some of them may be a reach in certain aspects, then again some may be correct, but yeah. Feel free to comment or give constructive criticism.
.
JUST TELL HIM FLAT OUT "No, I don't want to date you. I thought that was a one night stand, and honestly that's all I want it to be. Please leave me alone." THERE, and if he doesn't listen, file a report with HR and if he doesn't stop, then go to the police, but nOO, I know it won't happen. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(I'm so glad to have comments back though)
I'm a bit wary of Dylan at the moment. We know that he's obsessed with Charlize, and not in the healthiest of ways, and that he'd most likely do anything to keep her by his side, right?
So what I think that he might be willing to turn her into the living sword to always keep her by his side. And I think this, because he put two and two together from what Char had explained about what happens when people eat the Ehrite(is that how it's spelled?), and how there was only one case of a person maintaining their ego, making the experiment a success, and that person was Char herself. So I can't help but think that when Char runs away that it might be in line with my theory, or that after she runs away Dylan obsesses even more over her and is willing to turn her into a sword just to keep her by his side.
'Course, he could just beat the emperor for even thinking of making Char into Kiera, but oh well, I'm looking forward to how it'll pan out.
My theory banks on the fact that he steps from borderline to batshit crazy obsessive, I've seen a few manhwas, and just tropes in general, like that before. You can call what I came up with the imagination of an overactive mind or whatever.
Though yeah, I hope he isn't the kind that would do that to Char.
It's long so read at your own risk fellow earthlings.
-
-
I have read multiple things before that've made my blood boil, but oh boy this one might take the cake.
I mean, she endured all that crap and abuse as a child for years, finally getting freedom upon leaving for university, only for her to get her world turned upside down by becoming the villainess(who isn't really a villain, more-so just a kid that got the short end of the stick when they thought they drew the long stick) of a game, who endures the same abuse that she just got away from.
That's not what makes me upset though, it's the actual dnjDNSFjnakjdnKJ AuDaCiTy that her 'family' has, to be shOcked when they see what Penelope is going through. Apparently it's possible that the head of the house, the Duke no less, has no clue that the child he willingly brought in, was subject to such abuse basically for the entire time since she was brought to the mansion(six-ish years). It's his literal home, you can't tell me that he doesn't know what is happening in his own home-- it's his job to know, to look after the estate as well as the subjects, to know what's happening in his estate. How ignorant do you have to be blind to such blatant neglect.
oh hO, and the 'brOtHeRs'. Those little turds, who know how the people of the estate see her(which is negatively, and as a matter of fact, the father also knows), choose to ignore it. Only when the 2nd brother actually catches Penelope's maid feeding her rotten food does he intervene, first surprised at the meal she's forcing herself to eat(because it's before the choice option was removed), then getting mad at the maid for doing so. Like buddy, you've also joined in on the bullying, so it is really so surprising to see a maid treating Penelope without and ounce of respect, when the entire family doesn't even show her respect? And when she's apologizing to the eldest son for the 'commotion' that wasn't her fault, which he also know's wasn't her fault, but still blamed her for making a ruckus? wOrDs fAiL to explain just how frustrating it is(I know it was in a beginning chapter, but I could go on and on about these bastards).
Personally, to me it doesn't matter that they're just now(throughout the story) realizing how terribly they and the household have been treating Penelope, and are just now starting to care a little bit more about her well-being, and even showing some kindness here and there to her. But, I say it doesn't matter because they had 6 long years to realize, hey maybe Penelope is acting out for a reason-- granted she of course changed only after the MC woke up in Penelope's body, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have, idk, maybe actually given a fuck before.
When you put a child in a neglectful, abusive, or un-nurturing environment what do you think is going to happen to the child? there are different outcomes, some children lose their will, they become quiet or subdued versions of themselves; some children act out with pranks, because maybe that'll garner some attention positive or not, maybe even a few laughs; some become overly anxious or fearful or overly apologetic since they don't know what they did to deserve such an unloving environment; some just take it as it comes, because children are so innocently forgiving when they're young, they'll think maybe after this my parent will start to like me; and some children will lash out in anger, throwing tantrums, or being aggressive, because any attention is attention, regardless if it's bad attention. It's heartbreaking.
Only after six years of neglect do they start to change, and for what? do they think she'll be happy, grateful? She'll be somewhat grateful, but the question can also be asked "Where was all this care for me when I was younger? Why now?". Both the MC and the Penelope before the MC transmigrated to the game, grew up in the same situation/environment, they both dealt with it differently, the MC trying her best to be invisible, and the Penelope of the game lashed out and threw tantrums, but do you expect that the current Penelope/MC is going to be like "Oh my family is being nicer to me now, guess that makes everything okay"? No, she's not going to act that way. them being nicer-ish doesn't make up for their past neglect, it's a start in the right direction- towards being better as people and as a family members, but that doesn't change the fact that there was a time where they didn't care. Of course, you can't change the past, you can only learn from it, but for Penelope, who wasn't really shown any kindness at the Duchy, simply being nicer doesn't mean anything unless it's shown in their future actions.
As a note, I don't mean to offend anyone with my rant, nor do I claim to be an expert in child psychology or child development, but I know from firsthand experiences, from seeing my friends and other kids change because of the unhealthy environment at home, that neglectful or abusive homes are fricking detrimental to children. And I specifically mean parents that have the Choice or the Ability to hang out with their kid, get to know their kid, but choose to ignore or abuse them. Parents like the Duke who had the ability to be a parent to Penelope, but ultimately just chose not, ignoring her when she needed a parental figure(because she was only 12djskfnajkdsedksnfjdasnjdsf what a jerk) letting her spend money as she pleased because that'll apparently make up for his lack of absence.
And When she finally stands up for herself, against the 2nd brother, and says what she actually wants to say, it was really satisfying. Also my frustration, doesn't mean that I don't like the story, because I really enjoy reading this, I just don't really like her families ignorance. The story/plot and art though? Chefs Kiss, bellissima.
This concludes my frustrated and extremely long rant.
It makes me so sad and mad, they literally didn’t care for her presence, she was starving RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. And they didn’t know?!!! I feel so bad for Penelope. She was a child who was subjected to so much abuse and didn’t understand it. No matter how much she screamed and cried no one heard her, no one paid attention. And then everyone saw her as a nuisance who only sullied their family name because of how she acted out. Not wondering as to why. She was being abused for years in that household. I feel so bad for the FL who also just got out of her audible family just to be put in another. Both of the families took them in without thinking of how it would effect them or taking any responsibility of their well being.
Legitimately thought this had been on hiatus for some reason lol, beginning of the year hitting me too hard rn, but when I saw that it updated I was so fuckin Happy, and that's a rare thing for me. ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶
n E way, Sensei eating the berries was so funny