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We’ve got ourselves a lil anxious boi!

Drop by and meet this gentleman on my Webtoon, Master of Tides!

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Hey all! I have recently put up a new upload on my webtoon, Master of Tides! If you’re interested in mermaids and magic, fantasy and adventure into the unknown world in the ocean, stop by! Likes, comments and subs give me big art strength, thankuuuu!

And if you’re a Line app user, I have emotes available at the end of my recent chapter, it’s only $1 for a set of 8 really cute emotes designed by yours truly. Give them a go if you’re interested : )

Link to my Webtoon:

https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/master-of-tides/list?title_no=488869

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V and Rika’s Relationship Analysis

So, I have been wrapping my head around just t r y i n g to understand Mystic Messenger’s controversial couple, V and Rika. Did I get it? Probably fuk not but I want to share my thoughts and observations cause I really need to stop overthinking these two xD

Are they/is their relationship toxic?

In my opinion, YES. And here’s why based on my observations for both characters:

Rika is a child of deep rooted trauma (I did not play her DLC sorry), from what I’ve seen, she has been neglected multiple times in her life and has commitment/abandonment issues

Throughout their relationship, Rika has ‘tested’ V’s love for her by threatening his livelihood as well as hers as a way to reaffirm he won’t abandon her

She abused her partner physically by scratching his eyes near blind without remorse, need I say more?

V is also a child of deep rooted trauma, from what I can tell, he is self neglectful

Throughout their relationship, V has acted like a pilar for Rika during her hard times but he’s actually being a doormat

He doesn’t place any value in himself and finds temporary value from others (like when V tells Rika to project all her pain onto him so she doesn’t have to feel sad herself, this is his way of feeling valued/valuable to others)

This makes for a VERY toxic relationship because both people are lacking on the inside. It’s true being loved/loving another person is easier than loving yourself, but what happens when two people who lack love try to give love? It’s in-genuine. The reason V’s route works for him is because MC is made out to be a character who is loved/loving and has something to give and so V can fill the love he lacked in himself. He learns to love himself from being loved by another and in return can love her.

Love Like the Sun

Throughout the game, V and Rika’s relationship is compared to the sun A LOT. About how the sun is the mother of all beings. So let’s talk about it

The sun is warm, bright and embraces all living things with its love, but if you get too close it can burn you alive

In terms of love like the sun, that’s beautiful and scary as shit (but low key kinda true)

When it comes to V and Rika’s relationship, this metaphor feels more like codependency than love

They both have this mindset and attitude that without each other, they would be nothing. They give each other something to survive off of, like when Rika tells MC her darkness cannot survive without V’s light and V’s light cannot survive without her darkness. In nature that’s probably true, but in a relationship that’s toxic. Say it with me now, that’s codependency!! Relying on another person’s existence to drive your life is not healthy for you or for the other person.

In nature, plants do not survive because of the sun. The sun supports plants and gives them the strength and nutrients to grow on their own. V tried to support Rika but he did not support her the way she needed to be. So let’s dive into that a bit

What DO they need?

This may or may not be obvious but imma say it anyway: THEY NEED SELF LOOOOVE

V’s ‘acceptance’ of Rika made her trauma and mental state worse because he didn’t actually accept and embrace her

Accepting someone is not just blindly (pun intended) taking every part of them and saying yes to everything they say and do

V has stated he knows Rika the best but there are parts of her life he wasn’t aware of and parts of her he didn’t understand, but instead took bits of her from moment to moment; that is not acceptance therefore Rika continued to grow disdainful of V and continued to ‘test’ him

Rika needed to learn to embrace herself rather than look towards others to embrace her

V is/was obsessed with Rika, but more than that he was obsessed with proving his value/worth through loving her

After V lost his mother there was an emptiness inside him from not loving his mother when she was alive and he saw a part of himself in Rika (a lonely, empty, broken soul that needed love) and became obsessed with filling that hole through loving another without understanding how

V needed the courage to find his purpose without relying on others to give him that purpose

They both looked outside themselves to feel loved and relied too much on external validation. It’s after V is genuinely loved by another (MC) that he no longer feels the need to prove himself and understands loving ones self and loving someone else is more than just acceptance but support and understanding of one another. And it’s after V and Rika part ways that Rika understands she is enough. That she is capable of love and loving, without fear.

My Thoughts and Feelings on the Secret Ending

Taking what I’ve observed from the game as a whole, I wanted to look back at the SE and share my general thoughts and feelings, feel free to disagree

I think the entire time, V always cared for Rika but I really feel he didn’t love her

He wanted to stop Rika from harming the RFA because he loves and cares for all the members, but I felt in his mind he felt guilty about where his relationship went and thought surrendering himself was an act of love for both parties

And we know how that went…

After Rika’s traumatic incident, there was a part of me that felt very sad to see her smiling at the sun because I felt she resided to her codependency of V

It is very sweet that before V died, he reminded her he will always be with her, he will always be her sun, but it’s bittersweet because thinking about everything that happened during their relationship before his death, it begs the question if it was really love

So when Rika looks up at the sun in the SE, I can understand she feels guilty for everything that happened but it hurts cause maybe she still believes it was all from a place of love (which I personally felt it wasn’t)

My Final Thoughts

Yeah…I’ve been thinking about this for MONTHS now so pardon my brain vomit

I think V and Rika both were harmful to each other, no one party is to blame for the fall of their relationship. I honestly loved V’s route because I felt they both deserve to love and be loved and find fulfillment and happiness in their lives, just NOT WITH EACH OTHER. Going into a relationship with good intentions doesn’t mean much if you can’t act on it; you can only tell someone ‘I love you’ enough times before your (in)actions catch up with you. Going into a relationship for selfish reasons is not love either, that’s just temporary self satisfaction. I believe their relationship is a good lesson on the importance of self love, we all need the support to find it but need to build it on our own.

But hey, this is all just my opinion. I just REALLY want to talk about this cause I’ve had no one to discuss it with since I started the game xD

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Not sure who else needed Han’s Moving Castle (other than me xD) But here you go anyway!

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Jumin Han Personality Assessment

I made this mainly so I can (as much as I can) properly portray him in my fan art, but I thought I could share this with others cause why not? These are purely observations I made from playing MM, Jumin’s route and others so I can be wrong, pls don’t come at me if you disagree ^^;;

- Jumin is possessive

- when it comes to Elizabeth and/or the MC he likes to be over protective and be the number one person to treasure them

- at times he’ll physically lash out (i.e corner her, grab her hand/arm tightly, general physical motions that prevent her from leaving him)

- he doesn’t go so far as to hurt her, but enough to surprise and slightly scare her

- he is rational, so if she gently, calmly confronts him he’ll relax

- Jumin is demanding (not in a dictatorship way, just very assertive and decisive)

- if there is something he wants and/or wants done, he doesn’t hesitate to get it done himself or demands others to

- he does this mostly to Jaehee since she’s his assistant

- is passively demanding with others (mainly comes up when he’s giving advice, stating it like it’s a fact)

- his decisiveness doesn’t leave much room for discussion unless reasonably disagreed with

- he does understand ‘no’ is a no and doesn’t push people past their limit (like how he doesn’t push V to get surgery on his eyes but will still ask, or in Seven’s route when Saeyoung talks about leaving the rfa and Jumin respects his decision even tho he disagrees)

- Jumin is selfish

- not always, but often prioritizes his wants, needs and struggles over reason and responsibility

- occasionally he does become impatient if he’s unable to access something he wants (mostly it’s time with MC/Elizabeth)

- tho when his responsibilities are intense, he either puts in his full effort and attention or (in his route) closes himself off out of frustration and/or fear

- Jumin is non-judgmental

- he is conservative, but he doesn’t judge others if their thoughts/behaviors differ from his (unless there is a logical reason to like in V’s route)

- his misunderstandings mainly stem from his naiveté and miscommunication with others

- he does have a very “I’m right” type of attitude but he can and does admit he’s wrong (with hard evidence, he’s not someone who can just accept something’s wrong without reason or proof)

- Other things I noticed about Jumin’s behavior

- he’s a mediator but is not afraid of confrontation

- philosophical but not as much as V

- if something upsets him enough, he is petty

- he actually does act out emotionally from time to time but it’s in much more subtle ways than Yoosung and Zen (ex. going silent/suddenly leaving chatroom, subtle expressions, being sentimental, little things that break his general composure)

-he does struggle with confronting those he cares about/is close to because he doesn’t want to make them feel bad or hurt them

- he’s not sensitive to other’s criticisms about him, but when it comes to those he feels close to he does get hurt/bothered by their criticisms of him (like his chatroom with Zen in his route)

- his receiving love language is quality time and his giving love languages are acts of service and gift giving

- if you carefully read his messages, Jumin’s intentions for the things he says and does are much sweeter than they come across on the surface

- his coldness is a defense mechanism and is developed for his nurtured personality (he’s actually very nurturing but has little experience practicing it so he comes off harsher than he intends)

- he LOVES small details

- an observant learner

- lacks empathy but is very caring to those he loves

- has abandonment issues (he’ll use his wealth and resources to make those he cares about stay by his side even if it costs him his personal well being)

- if he can, he’ll try be respectful but low key tempt the person in some way to stay

- self-neglectful (especially emotionally)

- stubborn in his ways but can be open minded for the those he loves (i.e he’s open to new experiences and thoughts from those he cares about but he has firm boundaries for himself)

- he has a childlike demeanor (except for when it’s needed for him to be mature) Jumin does have a childlike whimsy in the way he acts and talks

- he expresses his love and admiration in EXTRA ways when in public (like proposing in front of news reporters, basically turning MC into a celebrity and buying beyond necessary amounts of lavish gifts simply because they remind him of the MC)

- but his favorite way to express his love and admiration are through small intimate moments (making/having breakfast together, taking naps/sleeping together even just existing in the same space)

(Note: w0w so many likes and reposts tf thanku all!! If you’re interested in me analyzing other MM characters, I would love to know : 3 Plus it gives me a reason to play more hee hee)

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Oh my god when he laughed doh

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This piece is small but I hope it helps you feel better through whatever you’re going through <3

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Okay but like his story as an artist really got to me for some reason

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[One hour of pinterest later…]

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I’d imagine the first time he cries in front of MC chan would be a little uncomfortable but our girl’s got him 👀💕💕💕

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Me playing V’s route: you dam right I cried

Me playing Ray’s route: yOu DAmn fUcKin RiGhT i cRieD liKe a liTTle BITCH

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I just want to see him to be cute okay

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Hey look ma I took a picture of the sun ☀️📸

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I feel like Jihyun’s the type of guy who would wear pearl jewelry in the spring, either way he dam gorgeous inside and out 👌🌸💕💕

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Not sure how y’all feel but I love my traumatized blind photographer✨ 📸💧💧💧✨

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Okay okay just one more edgy Jumin taking a selfie I’ll go okay baaaaaaiiiii