The Psychology of Hot Gimmick

[snapdragon76]

Usually I don't talk about fandom stuff until the last, but I got to thinking about this recently. flamika has said she was rereading volumes 1-7 and she was making observations on what she's read so far. Now, she's a Shinogu fan (nothing wrong with that, I happen to like him myself), whereas I'm a Ryoki fan. Now a lot of people don't like Ryoki. It's perfectly understandable since when we first meet him, he's a major jerk. However, as you go through the series, you discover many different layers to him and more on his backgroud and to why he is the way he is and the way he changes over the course of the series.

For instance, a lot of readers seem to want Hatsumi to end up with Shinogu. I can understand why, He's a really sweet guy whereas Ryoki just seems to be an asshole. But the thing with Shinogu is, he wants to do so much for Hatsumi. Almost too much. In doing so, he'd prevent her in many ways from being able to do things for herself. He wants to protect and shelter her and while that can be good, too much can be detrimental, especially to someone like Hatsumi. Ryoki almost forces her to actively think for herself and learn to eventually stand up for herself and the decisions she makes.

People always say that Ryoki doesn't treat Hatsumi like he should. While that's true, the thing is... he doesn't know how to. I mean, look at his family life. His father is absent the majority of the time and has actually told him that he doesn't care for him as much as he does someone else. His mother smothers him and only cares about his grades and the status they give him (and her by association). So he hasn't had a lot of examples to live by. He's said he doesn't care about his parents mostly because they really don't care about him. So it baffles him as to why Hatsumi cares so much about hers. She's had a good family life, especially in comparison to Ryoki. Ryoki's family may be rich and important, but they don't care about each other. Hatsumi's family (while working class) actually care about and love each other. Through his relationship with Hatsumi, he begins to actually care about someone. Hell, even love someone. This is a foreign feeling for him and he doesn't know how to handle it. So he reacts the only way he knows how. However, we do se an eventual softening of him. I mean, it's not instantanious. It happens gradually and for the most part, Ryoki is who he is. But the change is there.


Sorry about the rambling. I guess I sometimes feel the need to defend Ryoki sometimes. Especially since most people tend to not look beyond the surface. And hello! Psychology student here! Don't even get me started on Azusa...

Anyway...



I was soooo glad the hippies won!!! Yay!!! I loved them! They really weren't in it for the money. Yeah, I'm sure they liked to win and stuff, but they really were excited about traveling and the adventure of the whole thing. And they had the best attitudes out of all of the teams. I know they got frustrated from time to time, but they were mostly really laid back and cool. I mean, even the two times they lost all their stuff, they were pretty cool about it.

On 'Lost' I had a feeling Michael was up to something. And I was right. Last night showed what happened while he was with the Others. I think the really creepy thing about them is that they know so much about the survivors. Hell, they even know Sawyer's real name!! Only like about 2 or 3 of the survivors know that! I'm kinda surprised they don't already know about Sun's pregnacy. And why are they so adamant about having Michael bring back Jack, Sawyer, Kate and Hurley? What is it about those four that the Others could be interested in? And why did they take some of Michael's blood? And it was good to see Walt again. Although he was right. They are pretending. We all saw the costumes and thatrical makeup used to make them appear scraggly. They only want people to see what they want them to see. Creepy.



Yesterday I watched the "Weapons of Class Destruction" episode of 'Veronica Mars.' And I had no idea Jonathan Taylor Thomas was in that episode as the Fed guy! Whoa! And, of course, I saw... The Kiss. And I squeed like the good LoVe fangirl I am.

Today I have to try and put some of my clothes away. I can put away what I can, but I need hangars and stuff for a bunch of stuff and my winter clothes are gonna be stored in one of theose vacuum bags... once we get them. I'm also doing laundry.

I have an idea for a wallpaper actually. Maybe a couple. I think 'Star Wars' and possibly MARS. Hmmmm, I'll have to see how my creative juices are flowing...

Trivia of the day: The first U.S. patent for an animal was issued to geneticists at Harvard University in 1988. The animal--called an oncomouse--is a genetically engineered mouse that is highly susceptible to breast cancer.

Comments

[moontyger.livejournal.com]

Ooo, a Star Wars wallpaper... I could use a good one as some of the ones I had saved seem to have mysteriously disappeared.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* I know what that's like.

Actually, they're gonna lean more toward the Expanded Universe as opposed tothe regular trilogy and the prequels. Still interested?

[moontyger.livejournal.com]

yes, although I admit somewhat less so. Kind of depends on what kind of EU ones you are doing.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

I'll be posting then on today's post, so you can have a look see for yourself.

I think they turned out kinda neat myself...

[thesnipe.livejournal.com]

Yeah now that the hippies won the money they will be able stay calm, I mean I'm sure that money can buy a lot of weed. lol jk

I did really enjoy the show though, unfortunately I can't seem to find my way into Lost, maybe it's too late in the show.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

*snort* Hey now...


I came into a bit late also, but it was during the first season and the network replayed it rom the beginning again so I was able to catch up. I think the first season DVD set is out there somewhere if you wanted to take a stab at it.

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

I assumed that they took some of Michael's blood to run tests. The lady was implying that Walt was able to do things not normal, so most likely they'd want to see if he got his special gift from Michael. I felt so bad for Michael though... Betray his friends, or never see Walt again.

(As for the specific people wanted, they seem to most likely of the entire group to rally the masses into action.)

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

*nods* I see your point. And Walt has been known to be able to do things from time to time. Like know when things are gonna happen before they do, that sort of thing.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

You make a really good point about how Shinobu would treat Hatsumi. If she were with him (twitchiness aside - *twitch*), she wouldn't have to grow. And boy! does she need to grow.

Yes, Ryoki is a broken bastard, but he truly cares about Hatsumi, and although he doesn't express it tenderly, he wants her to grow. That's why he's always calling her a dummy. That's a facet of him wanting her to choose between him and her family. (The other facet is pure selfish - I didn't say he was perfect. ^_^)

Thinking about it, I don't think I like the omake at the end of Vol. 8 (I think it was that one). I know love at first sight is more romantic, and in the shoujo manga tradition, but it's not healthy, really.

It's interesting that Azusa has pretty much disappeared as a potential boyfriend for Hatsumi. Now, he's just the guy who's looking for the truth with Shinogu. If not for that whole "tried to get revenge" thing, he would probably be my choice for Hatsumi guy. He's got a good balance of being good to her and trying to get her to be a more complete & independent person.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was another thing with the whole Shinogu/Hatsumi dynamic. I mean, when I first started reading the series, I always got this creepy vibe whenever Shinogu and Hatsumi interacted. Sorta like "Something's not quite right here." Then, as I find out the truth, I was too far on Ryoki's side to really see beyond that (besides, I always thought Shinogu and Asahi would be cute).

Yeah, Ryoki's family life is seriously messd up. Which is one of the reasons I like him and Hatsumi together. Eventually she shows him what it's like to actually care for someone and he starts to experience these things for the first time in his life. So, they kinda need each other.

Awww, I adored the omake actually. I thought it was cute and it gave us a little more detail on the whole 'shoving down the stairs' thing. I don'tthink he should've done it, but it wsa nice to see that he felt really horrible about it afterward, even if Hatsumi didn't know he did.

Azusa is too screwed up in his own way to really be concidered boyfriend material for rally anyone. I keep thinking Oedipal Complex!! I mean, his dad really loves him and wants to be a family again, but he's too consumed by revenge to let anything of a normal family life happen to him.