helooooo

Did Jackie force her to live in her shadow, no. But was it also incredibly hard for Shauna to remain friends with Jackie and have her own choices, yes.

We see that when Shauna tries on clothes not really looking for criticism and Jackie immediately shakes her head at her. We see it when Jackie ignores Shauna when she votes against her.

Exibit A) compulsory heterosexuality

I don't really see many aroace people use this term but most aroace people are not heterosexual. However they can convince themselves that they have crushes to blend in with heterosexual society. While I do think that reading Misty's obsession with Coach Ben as a crush is incredibly valid, I think this obsession can also be interpreted differently. I think that Misty's obsession with Ben could be read as her enjoying the power dynamic she has over him and feeling actually needed for once in her life. She thrives off of his vulnerability. Therefore I'd say that Misty thinks that she's in love with Ben but she's really just unhealthily obsessed with him and the power she has over him.

We don't really see enough of her with the other men she attempts to dates to actually see if she likes them.

And she does not seem to actually care about Walter outside of their shared hobbies.

Also Christina Ricci plays her to not give a flying fuck about men.

Exibit B) Not liking women

While I do low-key ship mistynat I think that their dynamic can be read non romantically. I think Misty could just be really obsessive about Nat similar to coach Ben but differently because this time tits not about power dynamics but the fact that Natalie knows her secret about the transponder and told nobody so she feels like she owes her her life.

Exibit C) Prioritising friendship over everything

Basically the majority of Misty's arcs are about her really really wanting to have close friendships with people which might just be a neurodivergent thing or maybe it's an aroace neurodivergent thing idk I'm both

Exibit D) Aroace flag t-shirt

Misty- House MD

Akilah- The Pitt

Tai- The Queen's Gambit

Van- Gravity Falls

Lottie- The Haunting of Hill House

Mari- Miraculous Ladybug

Jackie- Derry Girls

Shauna- I am not ok with this

Natalie- The end of the fxxxing world

Travis- Breaking Bad

Javi- Arcane

Melissa- Brooklyn Nine Nine

Gen- Only Murders in the Building

To begin with, I'm not saying this to diss Jackieshauna shippers or people that headcanon Shauna as lesbian thought I personally would hc her as queer rather than any restrictive label but if I had to go for another label I think that she is bi. I think the problem I have with lesbain Shauna headcanons is that people end up chalking her relationship with Jeff to just being comphet when there are so many more layers to it.

The same with when people say that she just married Jeff because it's what the thinks that Jackie would have done and that is absolutely correct but there's more to it then just that.

You have to remember that by the time Shaunas returned from the wilderness, she's not only lost Jackie but her child who is also Jeff's child. And also everything happened because she slept with Jeff and for her to just never really talk to him again. Her returning to him after the wilderness meant her grief mean something.

And also she probably sought some comfort in Jeff when she returned since it was probably a lot easier to rely on him to provide for her rather than putting in the effort of finding a job and working and actually having to be a productive member of society.

And he was probably the only person she really had since she wasn't supposed to be in contact with the other survivors and I highly doubt she's close with either of her parents.

And he became the father of her child.

And we see her go to him for comfort when Natalie dies.

Because she does love him. I don't believe that she loves him romantically (the script even says this when Callie asks her when she fell out of love with him). But I think that there is a very specific bond that they share after this specific traumatic event that they both (but very majorly Shauna) went through and to just say that she doesn't care about him at all waters down their relationship a lot.

LIKE LOOK AT THESE QUOTES FROM MAG 32 AND DON'T TELL ME THAT THEYRE NOT LOTTIE CODED

"I itch all the time. Deep beneath my skin, where the bone sits, enshrined in flesh, I feel it. Something, not moving but that wants to move. Wants to be free. It itches, and I don’t think I want it. I don’t know what to do."

"You can’t see it, of course. It isn’t real. Not like you or I are real. It’s more of an everywhere."

"There is a wasps’ nest in my attic. A fat, sprawling thing that crouches in the shadowed corner. It thrums with life and malice. I could sit there for hours, watching the swirls of pulp and paper on its surface. I have done."

"Perhaps I’ve always heard it. Perhaps the itch has always been the real me, and it was the happy, smiling Jane who called herself a witch and drank wine in the park when it was sunny. Maybe it was her who was the maddened illusion that hides the sick squirming reality of what I am."