On All Fronts My Dude - Blog Posts

im scared to ask how you feel about lottie as a character

i have a very complicated relationship with lottie and ive been DYINGGG to talking about her because shes more interesting than shauna can ever dream of being. SHE'S the complex female character we need more of.

okay so to preface: i have multiple scales for character appreciation in my mind. there's writing (how well they're characterized and their role as a narrative decive), personality (how much i would fw them as people), action defendability (self explanatory, how willing i am to ride for their defense), and treatment in the fandom (how contrarian i wanna be)

yall know how it is yapping under the cut

lottie. ohhh boy.

writing: oh no notes. 10/10 she is one of the most fascinating characters in the show. her setup and descent is so well done, and her motivations are beyond complex, like you have her trying to do the best for everyone, but also her whole "the wilderness will choose" mindset. she contrasts herself in the yummiest ways possible. her role in the story is absolutely the most relevant and important for the narrative to progress the way it does. as a character, shes's so well done it makes me wish that i could be objective about the whole thing

personality: unfortunately im not able to enjoy characters simply from a robot analysis objective scale. lottie's personality is -while interesting- absolutely INFURIATING to watch. i personally cant stand characters that i call "progress blockers". she repeatedly forces her belief system (deep psychosis) onto the rest of the team, at the expense of escape or actual rational thought. this is where i have to admit: i root for morally sound, logical characters especially in shows like this. "but you can't watch the cannibalism show and complain about the cannibalism" first off. who said im complaining about the cannibalism. im just complaining that shes tormenting my favs (ben, travis, akilah, nat). i do like that she plays a complicated role as the group's mediator, except her mind is so warped, she does an awful job at it (drugging travis, letting shauna beat her up, deluding her followers). i think that shows how much she cares for these people deep down, and i can respect that. more on that later in ther actions section.

actions: so lottie, like i mentioned earlier, has a really interesting internal conflict of wanting to do whats best for as many of the team as she can, while also not being against sacrificing them for the wilderness's mercy. she very much believes that the ends justify the means. however. i can't ever look past her scenes on doomcoming. and im hoping that the people who made it this far aren't illiterate fucking troglodytes who want to debate on what actually happened to travis that night. because it was s/a, actually, it was attempted gang rape and then attempted ritualistic murder. "you cant watch the murder show and hold it against the murderers" we all know damn well that thats not what was most upsetting about that scene, and im allowed to hold certain crimes over eachother in terms of severity. and quite frankly i just cant bring myself to like a character who engaged -ACTIVELY LED AND RATIONALIZED- in that. lottie's whole schtick is that she just doesnt fucking understand or respect boundaries, literally and metaphorically. moving on from doomcoming, she's weird and culty about shauna's baby, which shauna has full right to be freaked out and pissed about. she becomes the leader of the group in s2 and then can't make proper decisions. she lets shauna almost beat her to death instead of trying to mediate the situation rationally, setting up shauna's vengeful nature we see in s3. thats something i could talk about for hours, how shes partially responsible for the shauna we all know and hate. her drugging travis and akilah is a page straight out of misty's handbook, and i dont think i have to explain why it's wrong. her killing edwin?? denying them all escape, causing a chain reaction with shauna and tai also staying behind??? that elevated my blood pressure to a level dangerous to my health. i cannot stand progress blockers. yes, i know she thinks everything she does is right. that doesn't make me (a rational bystander) like her actions any more. again, there are rational people in the show, so im just gravitated towards them sorry guys.

fandom: lottie has two types of people rooting for her in the fandom. theres the "omg my lord and savior she can do no wrong" group and the "omg crazy ass schizo mental illness queen" group and neither of them get her. she's flawed. but her flaws shouldn't all be attributed to dehumanizing conversations about her mental illness. let's not forget that she was a 17 year old going cold turkey on antipsychotics after living the last decade on them, in a situation that's beyond stressful, mind you. no fucking wonder she turned out that way. whatever. i feel like there arent a lot of her fans who recognize the absolute gray nuance in her character. or maybe im just on tiktok too much and everyone on there is fucking rotted beyond belief.

conclusion: i love her. i hate her. im neutral. she scares me. i blame her for all the problems out there and she's doing her best. that's the point

guh