#can nolyssa build something comparable to what he's built with Shinae?

[trashlie]

On another note, why do we only talk about StalkYoo x Dieter/Kousuke being the real love triangle, when Alyssa is also right there? Is it simply because she isn't considered a true love interest? I wonder if Quimchee is also doing a trope subversion of the scheming second female lead as well. They are usually written off as one dimensional and easy to hate. 3/3

You know, I've thought about this before lol like.... I think it's even come up in the reddit when people talk about Stalkyoo. I think the general consensus is, yes, she's not considered a true love interest.

With that in mind, I guess a lot of just assume that relationship will inevitably end. This kind of goes hand in hand with the concept of Stalkyoo foundations, I think - we feel like there's more development and potential for Stalkyoo than we do for Nolyssa, right? There seems to be a sense that if Nol is to stay with Alyssa, forever, it will be a similar situation to Rand and Yui, something arranged and loveless. And if ILY Is about defeating generational cycles, that would be one for Nol to end, right? Also, I think there's just something so demoralizing about the idea of him staying in a relationship that doesn't make him happy and even ultimately marrying her. It feels like the antithesis of what we want for Nol: to be happy, to be free, and to not be tethered to his family. Even were Alyssa to escape Yui's grasp, could she do it before Nol comes to resent her? Could they salvage any of the friendship that once was?

While I don't expect a perfectly happy ending, the idea of Nol being tethered to an arranged relationship is too depressing, and not even because of my shipping alliances. I'd rather him be single than forced into something for show. I really want his story to be about overcoming the trauma he's been through, unlearning what he's carried for so long, and being free of this god forsaken family. Somehow tethered to Alyssa doesn't seem to fit that bill does it?

But maybe I'm wrong and we'll find out that Alyssa does carry some affection for him that they can one day rebuild - I guess it depends on if he ever grows to actually resent her, if he can divorce her from the connections to the family and to the times when he reached out and received nothing. To me, that sounds like a difficult reconciliation. As amicable people, sure? But as a lover....?

So I guess when people talk about the love triangle/square, there's a lot of inadvertent writing Alyssa out of the picture because she's seen as an obstacle to be overcome, not a love interest, and that is, admittedly, not fair to her as a character. But when she herself makes it clear (as far as we can tell) that she's not in it because she loves him, it's hard to view her as a romantic party, I think. She starts to be seen the same way Rand is, the way Kousuke is, the way Yui is: a person to be escaped, a connection to sever.

I do think there will be a time we will see her role in the love geometrical shape a little more clearly, though, though maybe not necessarily as "romance" but more... I feel like Alyssa is very shaken by Nol's change in personality. Obviously she seems shaken because she's worried it's connected to her secret, but can she be shaken because she's taken him for granted and the idea that he's different than who she thought all along bothers her? (Hey look more Alyssa and Shinae foils!) I can't blame her there, to be honest. Realizing she knows very little about this guy she's technically dating, noticing a big shift in his personality. But because she needs to hang on to him and maintain the life she has, I think we might see her cleave to him a little more?

Someone said in the infamous trio illustration where Nol and Shinae are sharing earbuds, the song being played is Pacify Her by Melanie Martinez and that if you look at the lyrics and assume Shinae in the narrator's voice and Nol the Blue Boy, then it reads HEAVILY of an Alyssa Nol Shinae dynamic.

Tying in to this, I think a lot of people who write Alyssa out of the love shape are people who read into the idea that there are some non-platonic feelings developing between Nol and Shinae, and when Shinae acts as a foil to show exactly the ways Alyssa falls short of Nol's needs, it really just amplifies this feeling that "Alyssa will not be a contender of Nol's affection", because we've essentially come to accept that he's growing weary of her and Shinae offers him solace. Even if you view this in the most non-romantic lens, the juxtaposition of how Alyssa is with Nol compared to Shinae still shows that one centers conversations around herself and her needs and the other tends to deflect from herself and is therefore able to take notice of his needs. It just becomes so easy to ship one over the other when it feels like there is a basis for it. Even before it was revealed Alyssa and Nol's relationship was a sham, people shipped Stalkyoo and this is probably a big reason here: because he seems so unhappy with Alyssa and she doesn't seem to feel much regarding him and when we see him with Shinae we see him involuntarily let his guard down a little or open up just a tiny bit.

I've probably talked about this so much at this point but essentially: Shinae deliberately foils Alyssa to show the depth of her relationship with Nol, the way that they both have an automatic defense for each other, the way that they both notice the little things that often go missed. And whether you consciously are aware of this, whether you even think that their feelings veer from friendship, you still find yourself aware that the way Alyssa treats Nol is... not ideal. That he reaches out and creates openings for her that she doesn't take. And it's hard to look at their relationship and go "yeah this is good I guess". Especially once it's revealed that Nol wanted to break up and they seem to just be using each other, it's so easy for readers to stop thinking of Alyssa as a love interest because that requires love and interest, right?

It's funny that you bring up the possibility of subverting that trope because we definitely aren't at a point where we can see that, right? Alyssa isn't exactly sympathetic to us as readers - however, she's also not treated (at least, I don't think so) as a scheming jealous bitch type. THAT SAID, considering Alyssa as a parallel or eventual foil to Kousuke, will we see her find a phase of paranoia, where the idea of Nol and Shinae interacting makes her uncomfortable, not because she's jealous of Shinae or their relationship, but just because she has a secret and an image to protect? That's not a total subversion of the trope, but it's still something, right? It's a little more dimensional, I think, than "Stay away from my man I liked him first and you don't deserve him" which is how that scheming second lead trope often goes.

As was the case with Maya, I feel like we won't see Alyssa's side of the story for a while - maybe we have to see her fall far before we finally get to see her side? Maybe we'll get lucky and Nol will at least reminisce on things and give us a teaser for her. I really do want to learn more about Alyssa - I'm not sure what could make me actually sympathetic towards her short of her, you know, taking accountability. But subverting a trope doesn't necessarily mean you set up looking like it and go a different way. It could simply be a naïve girl scheming, who just wants something a little bigger than herself (contrasted with the usually cold, jaded, "bitch" type character casted in this role). It could be that quim is playing around with the personality type of the schemer, because Alyssa does this for her own validation because Alyssa does not exist without an audience.

Idk what are you thinking about this? I'm eager to hear!

#I Love Yoo #ILY Brainrot #Alyssa Cho #Nolyssa #Yeonggi #Nolan Oliver T. Lochlainn #at the end of the day i guess it's easy for readers to write Alyssa off because there's a general assumption that relationship will one day #end. or a hope for it lol. #one day i'll finish writing my post about Stalkyoo formations so i can talk more about this but #the general idea is that if we consider the story is at its midway mark and Stalkyoo are the two characters that (at least in my opinion) #have received the most foundational building then it's hard to imagine how relationships that don't have much to prop them up will occur #that's not to say it's impossible #i fully expect to maybe see the dynamic change come the time of the timeskip #and tbh a lot relies on what happens with Shinae and Nol #all their foundation could go to waste if they don't clear things up with each other #but this isn't about them lmao even if it kind of is #can nolyssa build something comparable to what he's built with Shinae? #Alyssa's current lack of awareness beyond herself makes that seem pretty difficult doesn't it? but this also goes back to: #we are deliberately kept in the dark about her so there's so much we don't yet know about her! #she is a wild card!