Leasebound Critique - Blog Posts

Leasebound chapter 8 part 1

I like the maybe foreshadowing of the scene ? At least i hope it foreshadow or else it's gonna be yet again a great cover used somewhere it doesn't belong

Omfg this already pisses me out

Why would Riley be scared fr , isn't blaire your girlfriend?? Doesn't she respect you and listen to you ???

It genuinely feels the most regular conversation we where able to get so far , its fluid and makes sense

This is also a nice insight on the characters

Blaire self awareness and empathy and the same for Jaden, wich knowing Riley will end up with Jaden simply strike me as weird , rusty is basically modeling Jaden after blaire except for the "gendie" stuff . Jaden isn't her own person and rather a reflection of what attracts Riley

So , youre gonna tell me blaire can just guess stuff about Jaden but not realize her own gf discomfort and issues ?? It's such a terrible line of writing , because it sets blaire for failure right at the start , with a gf that uncomfrontational that obviously doesn't want to work on her issues then yes their couple is doomed because Riley has the key of communication and refuses to use it

Its a sweet scene that highlights what Riley likes in a person , but again , its something that is reflected onto Jaden, she isn't a person and rather plot point , she's not the one living theses events she's rusty vehicule to tell a story wich never truly worked in any media , you need to be able to have empathy nor relate for the main character wich cannot be done if the main character is a shell

in the events like Jaden where she isn't a character (wich she should be at this point we are at the 8 chapter) it's dull and will only attract shallow individuals that project themselves onto your work rather than consume it (see ya dystopia stories) i have no doubts the writers behind theses meant to create powerful yet relatable main character

But the issue is to be palatable and attract an audience that was deemed as too dumb (women) the main characters are vehicules of their stories

Wich divergence missed the mark terribly , it gave off a shallow power fantasy where instead of people deconstructing her work and understanding it they projected themselves into it and became way too attached to be critical of it

And the same is happening with leasebound , Jaden is the vehicule because rusty simply can't write compelling characters

The most compelling ones are thoses we see the least because we don't have enough time with them to actually see their development (or rather lack of in this comic)

And that's exactly my point coming stronger

Jaden is an empty shell only there to be what the viewer will impose onto her

She's not too good or too bad , she's not too nice or too mean , a perfect middle of everything , the characters with the most personality is blaire , she put boundaries , talk , has strong opinions

While Riley and Jaden don't have anything, they're bland , they're nothing except vehicules for a stagnant story

Just yikes

If you can't handle social interaction including people making sure they're respecting you then don't talk to people

Like , terfs will complain that people uses they/them as neutral/when they don't know but then complain when they get their pronouns asked ? It's a fight you cannot win because in either case they will complain , hence proving again it's a movement that lies in women being victims rather than strong forces

Im not sure if this is a trope but the dumbification of really smart women by the author is always a very interesting thing to happen in my opinion

Jaden is a medical major , she absolutely had to go trough years of English she knows about pronouns , showing confusion about *why* pronouns would've been the way to go

And honestly it only support my point about the emptiness of Jaden's character

And i don't think its on purpose , but dumbifying a black women only support further bad stereotypes and misogynoire, because at the same time that it's weirdly racist to think a black person wouldn't know about pronouns it's also misogynistic because Jaden is a women so rusty is actively being misogynistic under her audience nose like, yall are going to say radfeminism is for everyone but then you will portray a black women who GRADUATED in medicine as unknowing of pronouns ?

And to add onto this

Her audience actively masculinize the black woman , wich is insanely weird , and racist at worst

You complain about people asking your pronouns , using they/them as default

But then do this to a fictional black women ?? How do yall act with black women irl then ??? Its worrying

Im sorry but what

Did I miss a page or something??? There's is nothing to transition or that make sense between theses 2 pages

Like where did the dishes thing came from ??

Also it's crazy work to give Jaden ashy ass palms , that chapter was terrible in normalized racism , again I don't think that rusty is inherently racist , but she follows a movement rooted in white centered interest and was known to dislike black women or see them as too masculine so therefore "not really women"

Genuinely what's going on , there's for sure pages missing because wtf

There's nothing in between where are all theses come from

What's going on with Riley??? Like it's so badly portrayed , its exactly of neurotypicals will portray panic attacks because they thinks it's that overwhelming thing

And its also a very bad case of "narrative mental illness" because Riley anxiety isn't portrayed accurately at all and only becomes relevant when it serves the narrative wich it doesn't work like that , the main issue is how it's portrayed

Truly in the last 3 pages we get an anxious Riley but then page 2 we get an okish Riley?? And last page she get anxious over what??? It's such bad writing for real its so bad