How Lacey Games Explores Girlhood Trauma
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2024
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Thank you for voicing Lacey @piximouse_!
Make sure you read the pinned comment if you're sensitive to any content warnings!
// watch videos early:
/ @minaxa
// socials:
linktr.ee/minaxa
// discord server:
/ discord
// timestamps:
00:00 intro
01:34 Lacey's Wardrobe
06:35 Lacey's Diner
15:54 Lacey's Petshop
30:09 The Rabbithole of Laceygames.com
49:20 Themes/Questions
52:42 closing thoughts
// music used (in order):
♫ Yume 2kki - Ruined Garden
♫ Yume 2kki - Lotus Water
♫ Yume 2kki - Green Neon World
♫ Yume 2kki - Mansion: Terrace
♫ Yume 2kki - Red Rock Caves
♫ Yume 2kki - Cat Cemetery
♫ Yume 2kki - Nocturnal Groove
♫ Yume 2kki - Underwater Amusement Park
♫ Yume 2kki - Oil Puddle World
♫ Yume 2kki - Radiant Ruins
♫ Yume 2kki - Abandoned Apartments
♫ Yume 2kki - Cocktail Lounge
♫ Yume 2kki - The Ceiling
♫ Yume 2kki - Piano Alley
♫ Yume 2kki - Sea Sponge Path
#laceygames #digitalhorror 
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Content Warning for those who need it!!
abuse (animal, sexual), flashing lights, gore/body horror, r*pe, trauma, stalkers, suicide, drugs, incest, loud noises, death/murder (human, animal), trypophobia, cannibalism, insects
special shoutout to @piximouse_ for voicing lacey in the video!
EDIT: I mistakenly assumed that Jay was strangling Lacey at the end of the new episode. It seems like it was actually Lacey strangling the other version of herself (which makes a lot more sense, lmfao) Sorry for the confusion!
murder is missing i think (from the stalker one)
more accurate content warning would be like this (Content Warning Yes)
@@holyshitthatisalotofdrugs added that, thank you
thank you Minaxa
I waited for that vid ❤
I just realised something horrifying in the first game.
A lot of SA victims are asked what they were wearing while it happened. For Lacey, it doesn’t matter what she was wearing because the end result was always going to be the same.
that is so good i never thought about it like that, poor Lacey
You can litterally work in construction as a adult male and you will still get sexually assaulted and nobody will care.
:(
I think its a more deeper commentary on this culture on general. SA victims are often shamed on dressing up "slutty" and "provoking" the perpetrators, as if it was their choice in this matter.
@@neckbeardeater682there's an exhibition out there called "what were you wearing", the outfits came from SA survivors to showcase what they were wearing during the assault. And... these are all just normal clothes. It doesn't even matter what is "normal" to wear and what isn't though. If someone wants to dress "sexy", all the power to them, let them enjoy the confidence it brings to them but good God why are there people out there thinking that the choice of clothes on anyone would give them the right to make advances? What does it matter what the victim was wearing? It's so frustrating, isn't it...
"games for girls" is really haunting because these really are games for girls. Stalking, abuse, these are things too many women have to live with and relate to
yeah, not just women but young girls too. its devastating.
Meanwhile "games for boys":
*die in war, take revenge, fight and sacrifice yourself*
Yes because women and girls are the only ones who get abused,boys are never abused,they never grow up into emotionally detached guys who get written off as bitter incels because they don't understand people like others do...
And men. It's really a game that anyone should play and can relate to.
Edit: I'm not trying to make it about men, sorry if it seems like that. I just wanted to say that anyone could go through it and that this game could be relatable to them.
I guess you could say it's "games for people" men, women and children have been suffering since the start of the humanity, a lot of people deal with this. I can tell you are probably American, you should be lucky in a lot of other countries these things you talk about are much much more common.
To me, Lacey Games is a story about grief.
Grief at a lost childhood to an abuser.
Grief at a loss of safety to a stalker.
Grief at the unfathomable loss of someone you consider a close friend.
Grief at having to present and act in certain ways, and the toll that can take on someone's psyche.
I really love this take on the theme
It gives "I don't look pretty when I grieve" a new meaning
The series has a lot scary moments, but every video from Diner onwards gets sadder and less terrifying. Petshop is probably my favorite due to the mix of the usual shock horror, the front-and-center details of Lacey/Roscio's past, and personal bias towards its metaphor, since I wasn't into skateboarding or makeup.
k
@@ridiculiciousI noticed that. The first game was literally turned my stomach around with how creepy everything is shown.
Lacey's games is literally the embodiment of "Art is supposed to disturb the comforted and comfort the disturbed.", it comforts the women that SUFFERED through those situations and almost had the same fate as her, meanwhile disturbing the ones who didn't, it shows the reality of people's perspectives.
I'm so happy that this was made by someone here from Brazil, it's so good and well made, Ghosttundra is an incredible person.
Not that deep but ok
@@mrpickles-hb6zx tfym not that deep? I'm describing what it actually is.
I agree w what ur saying but I wouldn’t say that ppl who haven’t been through this are “comforted”😭 not going through terrible abuse shouldn’t be the standard of like.. comfort
@@idkmanwoah uhm, it's a famous phrase in art, when I mean comforted I mean they're going to ger disturbed by this. I wrote it wrong- it's supposed to be "Art is supposed to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed."
@@skellsum_ no mate i know of the phrase, yeah i was prolly confused cus u wrote it wrong
I noticed in Lacey's pet shop when the pigs were shown they were eating flowers. when a girl loses her virginity it is sometimes called deflowering. So the pig who represents her uncle eating flowers is pretty good and messed up symbolism.
it could also mean joy and innocence (Perhaps pleasure (?)
@@iSourdough1 i don't think joy or pleasure is a good interpretation at all when this is what we're talking about.
@@clutterint I think the person means that the uncle is consuming Lacey's joy and pleasure.
@@clutterint as eldritchteletubby said already, I think they meant they're taking away her joy and ability to feel pleasure.
Bruuuuuh i thought the same but I thought I had gone too far
"these are real girls games" is a line that will always go hard
Okay, Jesus.
@@l-exist That ironically sounds really funny XD
jesus watches the Lacey games series let’s goooooooo!!!
@@l-exist JESUS!!!
jesus walks in: Yeah?
Dawg that joint does not go hard at all
So, I'm gonna share another reason why Jay's story is horrifying and disturbing with a personal story. I was contemplating sharing it, and finally the memories won. I was out of state for work, when I got the call that my childhood best friend, let's call her C, died. Found out someone slipped her a Xanax that was tainted with fentanyl, and it took a few days for them to find her. C was very much a tomboy, we used to go on hikes and camping, explore unmarked trails, ride bikes, build shelters and swings, find turtles, because they were her favorite- some of the most amazing memories of my life. She was naturally beautiful, I only ever saw her in makeup once for prom, and it was so little, you could barely tell- that is to say, it was such a rarity that's the only time I really remember it, and she wasn't too fond of it.
She reached out the night everything happened, but I was so tired, I just assumed I could get back to her in the morning, and I didn't realize that she was gone until a few days later after they found her, and after a friend reached out. She was only 21. But I was out of state, and couldn't afford to fly back for the funeral- i literally didn't have the money and couldn't get a day off.
The next time I saw C was a picture sent to me of the funeral by our mutual friend, who only captioned it "wtf". Her face was practically painted, with purple eyeshadow, unnatural lipstick, caked with so much foundation, in a champagne colored dress that hung so tightly, you could see that they had removed organs during the autopsy and didn't put them back- or anything else for that matter. It didn't look like C, it looked like a grotesque wax doll made to look like C, made by someone who didn't care to learn even the slightest thing about her. And I know that there's plenty of good morticians that care about their clients out there, but the absolute lack of care in making C resemble herself was horrific, it felt like they stripped away everything that made her C in favor of some sick male fantasy of who they thought C should be. C would never wear purple eyeshadow, but now they could put her in what they felt she should wear because C couldn't say no. That funeral home should be shut the fuck down for how they handled C- how many other people who were like C got the same treatment?
I love makeup, but to this day, I can't wear purple eyeshadow. It brings back these painful memories and fills me with this sick feeling. The Jay story hit close to home in the sense that when used in a mortuary context, by someone inexperienced or ill intentioned, it can take away someone's personhood. I've seen morticians who make people look natural, like themselves after much longer not being found. C had her entire personality stripped from her in an instant and couldn't protest because she was gone. Similarly, Jay couldn't protest, because she too was gone.
By god, I am so sorry to hear this.
This is horrific and I'm so sorry for your loss. May C rest in peace.
This is horrible. I'm sorry for your loss.
Im sorry for your loss, but the Funeral Home were just trying to give her a proper funeral, they had the best of intentions, you would want the best/ prettiest she could be.
@@carved6749I want to argue because this makes me sick. No. They took away her organs. That's not okay. They didn't even ask anyone anything. It's pure evil and you are too ignorant to understand.
Almost cried when Lacey repeats "he took my angel from me." As a victim of SA and childhood neglect, it felt like she wasn't just talking about a dog.
Also want to mention the symbolism of the pet shop - how the cute helpless animals were being deformed when the owners could have just chosen a pet that met their preferences already (e.g. get a snake that already has no limbs, not a rabbit). Because they don't just want a pet with xyz, they want to force one that doesn't to fit their preference.
This happens all the time with irl relationships/societal standards. Like when podcast bros complain of a lack of "traditional" women, although they exclusively pursue the opposite, wishing not for a traditional woman of her own preference but for one they can break and reform into one.
The element that Lacey was contributing to it was interesting. We're expected to perpetuate the same standards we suffer/have suffered under unto others. Otherwise we get the bad ending. Maybe Grace's avoidance has similar reasoning.
I feel like there is something more going on with the animals based on the clients. Likely fked up tasks she had to do for her uncles friends or something or other im not sure. But knowing the game has deepness on so many levels there is something else there than just her "editing" animals - especially because we see many pigs eating flowers... its really really messed up but he likely wasnt the only one doing things to her especially considering the fact that some of the notes seemed to state that he was ignorant / crazy to what he was doing to her + her diner she says its all she has left and would rather die - likely was what she had when she finally got away or something -- especially especially with the info of "I wanted a cat this time" seems like the animals being messed up was a regular thing. (I hadnt finished the vid when I first typed this)
There are some theories that she was actually talking about an abortion.
@Lynn-mc9zk For sure, I like how you interpreted it and the questions that reading brings up! Lacey Games seems to be so up to interpretation and inspires a lot of analytic thought - it's awesome. It feels appropriate to call themselves "real" Girls' Games with their handling of such universal themes as trauma and abuse. Really, anyone can identify with them, whether via literal or symbolic frameworks and that brings such a familiar and visceral feeling to the horror. That's so impressive to me!
@@Beth-ux6jnI thought it was implying that the uncle was sex trafficking people and forcing Lacey to help.
@frostycane5134 Definitely could be! The use of arbitrary beauty standards as a form of control applies pretty universally, including in trafficking, and I hadn't seen it mentioned yet. I hoped my reading could serve to complement other theories, not exclude them. Hope that helps 😊
One small thing I noticed; Jay is stated to have said, "I'd only be caught dead wearing makeup," and when we do see her wearing makeup, it's on her corpse. She was literally caught dead with makeup on. "You are not excused from vanity yet." Even in her death, Jay has to meet the standard that caused it. She still needs to be a "proper girl" even when she's dead.
It wasn't so much because Lacey was trying to force a standard on her... like, she's her close friend, she'd never do that to her, lol. She tries applying makeup on her to make her appear more feminine cause she thinks it could bring her back... of course, obviously it's too late, but Lacey is in such a deep state of denial that she can't accept that her friend is truly gone.
@midnalazuli793
You're right! I wanted to refer to how ironic the scene was because even still, with the same standards that killed her, Lacey believes that it can bring her back. Though you're entirely correct with Lacey not wanting to push it onto her, just thinking it'll bring her back.
@@alex_alr1ght
Yeah, I guess I just thought you were saying she was doing it to spite her or something, but now I think I get what you were trying to say, it's just kind of ironic how in Lacey's efforts to do what she thinks is the only way to get her friend back, she does the opposite of what she would want by putting makeup on her, lol.
Can someone explain to me how Jay died please? Like I didn’t get the last part who attacked who thru these flashing images but it looked like Jay ran straight onto Lacey to choke her and then stabbed her in the neck. Yet that was Jay who turned out to be dead
@@ash_wlfie1363
Jay is NOT the one strangling Lacey in that one image. It was the morgue version of Lacey strangling her makeup parlor counterpart. I don't know how anyone could even think that was Jay strangling Lacey when it doesn't look anything like her. Like, Jay would never wear a skirt, and she doesn't have teal hair. I'm seriously annoyed at minaxa for making that mistake, because now so many people think Jay and Lacey fought when they didn't.
The pigs were DEFINITELY meant to be her uncle. Not only is he who she calls such, but the pigs themselves are literally eating flowers. The term "de-flowering" rings in the back of my skull like a bad omen every time I look at it
I think it's also possible that the pigs are meant to represent Lacey's family, who were probably no better than her uncle was. The fact that they were gone as quickly as they can could imply they weren't around Lacey very much, and completely entrusted her in the hands of her good-for-nothing uncle that abused her. They may have even taken part in the abuse themselves.
i thought them as s. abusers don't know who they are but im pretty sure eating flowers thing is connected with laceys childhood u know flowers are mostly used to portray the innocence of childhood and them getting eated by pigs honestly gave me goosebumps
the uncle is💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
This connects with the scene in the bathroom, which is about abortion. When she enters the bathroom, the tub is full of blood and she mocks that is in fact lemonade. One of the most common symptoms for abortion with induced medicine is blood clot up to a size of a lemon. Then she says "and it stinks and it smells, oh, I get it, someone melted here. Pulverized remains enter my pores (...) my legs smell and turn yellow (lemon color)." Then she goes to the mirror. Look at herself, her body changing, it's still her, but something happened, something physical. Then she goes back to her room and she sees her "dog" all red, resembling a lot of bloody a fetus. Later on, she said about her dog: "my little angel, I couldn't take it anymore, you can hurt me all you like but you weren't allowed to take it away from me, Ill let you f rot". The BAD dog is a living creature that is allegedly bad for her, and yet she mourns hurting the bad dog. She mentions having later on a cat and enjoying life, like life goes on, as if nothing happened, but she is still haunted by it. When she lights herself on fire, she says her uncle was "too worried about his sins becoming too visible on my skin - he always worried about the silliest things". Then, it was just a nightmare. It's gone, like a period. But not really.
@@naircnaraujo oh wow. i was struggling to understand the 'lemonade' thing, & you just connected the dots for me
Something I noticed is that Lacy still sees the dead as alive. First we see these animals being killed, but she sees them as "alive" and "perfect for the customer", next we see the skeleton cat, obviously being dead but still alive, then we hear her reflection talking to someone who is melted, then later she talks about not wanting to leave her bed because her uncle's corpse was under the bed and she was scared of him seeing her, and if all the clients in the makeup parlour are corpses, then she's defiling corpses believing she's making clients pretty, and lastly, she holds Jay in her arms, talking to her, telling her to sit still, telling her that she just needs makeup and it wouldn't have happened. She can't comprehend death, she knows what it is, but her shattered mind can't accept it.
you did not have to attack me that personally.. (but this was a REALLY great analysis!)
damn, dude yeah
And I feel like that all has to do with the type of trauma she's endured. We know for a fact her uncle killed her dog and then she killed him, but what happened before that? Had she been exposed to death before? Or was her understanding of reality warped, on the other hand, because of a lack of exposure? The there's also the perspective of her wanting to die, contrasting with her lack of an understanding of death. Is that lack of understanding maybe just some sign of regression as a way to cope with her trauma? Or does she perhaps see death, maybe going to heaven, as a way to keep on existing, but without the pressures of real life, because things don't affect you anymore once you're death? I truly love this series so much, it's so thought provoking...
@@starlight8115 Perhaps she thinks of death as something better, due to her trauma. Maybe she believes that death will be better then her current life.
Getting a cooking mama ad after the Lacey’s diner segment is crazy 💀
Ain't no way 😭😭😭
@@Sir_Sumair I swear on my mama 😭
@lulu_achoo On your… Cooking Mama? (I’m so sorry)
something about Lacey's Wardrobe I've just realised:
If you think about it, the player is basically like an abuser in that game. Forcing her to do things she doesn't want (she's literally PLEADING for you not to do it), dressing her up however *YOU* like etc.
I Just realized i think we (the player) might be the parents of Lacey because we aren't the one doing the abusing but we are enabling it idk you can correct me
(ALSO THANKS DAISYYY)
@@Kikiwithamachinegun that could be the case too
it really depends on your ends of interpretation, Since the author/creator has given no context.
OH
The player could just be acting as Lacey's subconscious forcing her to partake in something that she doesn't want to do out of peer pressure. She feels compelled to dress to meet expectations because that's what the world expects her to do and going against that makes her an outcast in society. That looming fear nudges her along even if it means risking her life to a stalker who's eager to put her life at the mercy of his hands.
As someone suggested, the rouse of “restaurant” became clear as day with the revelation of “makeup parlor”- she’s not working a restaurant, she’s being trafficked to “customers”, hence them being pigs like her uncle and the “ingredients” being that that traffickers use to keep their victims “going” on the streets.
That probably means that “pet shop” was all a nightmare because she feared becoming the thing she’s hates the most- a “groomer”. At the end it’s revealed it’s all a nightmare, and what is Lacey doing in the game? “Grooming pets for their masters”
It’s chilling symbolism that I can’t get enough of. I truly can”t wait to see more
oh my god someone pin this because its genius
This is interesting, but the most common cases of CSA are from the nuclear families of the victims, so I see it more as the way Minaxa and other people have been analizing it as. Although your own interpretation is totally valid too bc well, that's what art is all about.
That would also circle back to the cat without skin, it hurts others because it was hurt, and she doesn't want to become that
Oh God
Oh my fucking God
@@FaiaHalo that might very well be, as that's very true! The only reason why I think differently is because Lacey never mentions any other relatives directly, just her uncle, which I find strange because she never even talks about a mom or dad. And usually, someone who's a predator has friends just like them that they force their victims to interact with making a ring. However as you said, it's art so it's all subjective until we're told directly lol!
The overarching message of the Beauty Parlour game is a really heart wrenching one. The expectation for women to always look 'presentable' and 'pretty' is one that follows us to our graves. Sadly, It reminds me of Marilyn Monroe, in a way. Her whole life, her intelligence and capabilities were overlooked in favour of her beauty and sex-appeal. Even after she was buried, a man called Richard F. Poncher bought the crypt right above hers and requested to be buried face-down, 'on top' of Marilyn. The woman just would not be left alone even in death. It's honestly sick.
Really? That is GROSS!
I had no idea that happened that's disgusting wtf
I think her body "disappeared" for a while as well.
WHAT@@Lunxrrr
What was poncher thinking☠️
Honestly? Violently killing off a site character and traumatizing the userbase because concerned parents were being fucking weird about her being a tomboy is such a power move. Rocio was real for that one. Lord knows parents like that traumatize their actual tomboys every damn day.
real and true
I like the parallels that parents in laceys game being concerned over a tomboy vs irl parents not being concerned over girly games containing a barely disguised fetish
About girly games containing a barley disguised fetish, you’re talking about those Elsagate games?
this stuff literally happens all the time too. There are lots of things to be ACTUALLY worried about when it comes to kids' safety, but things get reported, deplatformed, receive harassment or backlash, get banned, etc. just for breaking gender roles CONSTANTLY irl while real issues get ignored. It... really spoke to me as a trans person, actually. The way they refer to her as "some kind of boy-girl" and threaten to ban her and the website from schools in particular feels so relevant to the way trans education and representation, even down to targeting characters that aren't trans at all but don't fit their gender's stereotypes (girls like Jay being "tomboyish" and boys wearing dresses or makeup), is constantly targeted by far right hate groups. Books that so much as have a gnc background character are being put on these huge ban lists in the US as we speak, and there are hate groups in the UK trying to achieve the same thing.
Allowing someone to *die* for their nonconformity, and degrading their corpse with things they would never want and don't represent who they are, just to fit a gendered beauty standard, or a societal expectation..... it feels.... horribly familiar to me.
@@sophisticatedPJsRIGHTT, how did we mess up so bad as a society..
@@sophisticatedPJs yg
@@sophisticatedPJs >Allowing someone to die for their nonconformity, and degrading their corpse with things they would never want and don't represent who they are
I'm not trans but that thought really creeped me out
I think the most relatable part of the lacey games is when lacey comes across the cage, and she gets in it, saying how horrible it is to be there, but how comfortable is it because that's all she knows. Typically, living with trauma from a young age can make it a lot harder for the person to heal when theyre grown because misery and trauma is all they know. The feeling of being miserable is more comforting than the unknown, and staying in the cage, suffering with traumatic feelings is too familiar that some people never leave. When I came across that part, I never felt such a chilling reliability than that.
It truly is "the real girl games."
edit: i like to quote “this is the real girl games” often. it does in fact go hard.
Sounds like a case of misery loves company, the way you put it. Especially when you are so young as Lacey, the idea of coping and coming to terms with your demons or the damage done...it almost seems like a joke.
But then again, ruminating on the dark side at her age is part of the norm....when one is forced to come to terms with themselves. It feels hopeless.
No word of a lie, the misery and cynicism is kinda familiar to me. Why worry about the probabilities or the positives when the bleakness is easier to point out?
Better the devil you know
The most relatable part of this is the fact that there’s a key inside
Cisbi male here, can confirm this attitude crosses gender boundaries.
it almost made me cry because oh my god thats what ive been feeling my whole life.
As much as i'd like, i cannot believe that the Lacey series is about expectations or failures to meet them, and it honestly feels like a more "male-centered" take imo. (and this is not bad! it's not criticism at all!)
I honestly believe it is about the female horror - and the idea that you cannot escape it. Stalking, S*A, the fact that you have to conform to a certain standard of beauty to even be considered human, the concept of feeling utterly powerless and dirty and disgusting, masking it all away with a smile.
Everything is what you learn growing up as a woman, and that is why the "games for girls" medium is used to convey such a profound impact. It's what we learn as we grow from the transition from girls to women.
me too!! especially the line with “these are the REAL girl’s games.” this is what it CAN be like to be a girl. though i do feel like it can be about the expectations and failure FOR girls, because it happens. i love what you said about everything is what you learn growing up as a woman, that resonates strongly :( ❤️ lacey’s games are the perfect example of female horror and i love it so much. lacey feels so important to me and its like she’s screaming “give me back my girlhood it was mine first” in a sense if that makes sense
I truly love his analysis but what might be hard for men to understand (which is not their fault, it's the society we live in) is a lot of the lacey's games horror is SPECIFICALLY woman/afab horror. Girls are fundamentally taught that you are a girl, therefore you're in danger. The threat of stalking, abuse, violence, r*pe, conforming to gender, being unattractive therefore undeserving of love, etc. are always present in women's minds in a way it just isn't for men.
@@moon-rats It is really hard to understand women's fears as you said, i think men experience fear differently from women. It seems to me we don't feel a lot of fear, and that causes us to lack caution. Thus putting ourselves and sometimes others in dangerous situations, and when something bad happens we don't get helped nor can we accept it when its offered. And this when true fear kicks in for us. At least that's my general experience.
@@uorfi7774This is a stupid take, what it is that men don’t see fear until they’re the ones being preyed upon. Nobody fears differently, it’s just that YOU are what we fear. We will have and will ALWAYS fear men, whilst our lives revolve around how men perceive us. We fear the world built around us by men, the narrative we will never escape. These things are atrocities that are determined to happen to all women, like an inescapable game. This isn’t a “fear” or a “what if?” this is a genuine reality, I couldn’t pin a single woman in my life who hadn’t been in these positions in life. That’s the difference, that’s the true fear women face. None of this is made up, i’m only 15 and I and everyone i know has, been, or will be victimized in this way. This isn’t a horror game, it’s an allegory. This isn’t a woman’s “fear” this is a woman’s pessimistic factuality.
@@DianaRatsom Honestly, i don't get what your point was to say my take is stupid. I was complementing the fact the OP and the comment i was replying to stated: "the game seems to have a male-centered take" and "it's hard for men to understand women fears". I wasn't trying to explain women's fear. And yes i do think our fears are different in some way or another and that caused the feeling they have written about in the comments, men do in fact have fears women most times would not understand and the same goes the other way. That's all. I'm not trying to say one is better or worse than the other. I'm saying they're different. And also, your aggression is completely unnecessary. Men are as defenseless as any woman. We all eat, drink, think and live what and if the rich and powerful allows us.
"i look so ugly when i'm crying, when i grieve" is such a heavy phrase, the world cant stop after someone important dies, is so unfair
The part where Lacey was just holding the uncomfortably realistic corpse of Jay and putting on the makeup so slowly, drawing out the moment to be as disturbing as possible. Actual chills…
I know right? For me, I think it's definitely the most disturbing moment in the whole series. Not only is it dragged out to an agonizingly painful extent, but Lacey's reaction makes it SOOO much worse. Like, you can really tell how close she was with Jay, and how much her death effected her, because she had a full blown mental breakdown. The fact that Jay was killed off for "not being feminine enough" also seems to insinuate that Lacey tries putting makeup on her corpse in an attempt to bring her back, even though it's already too late... it's just really freaking sad. I feel terrible for both Lacey and her friend, Jay.
I might even go as far as to say Lacey loved Jay in some way, wether it be a sisterly love or a romantic love. It breaks my heart to see Lacey suffer so much all for nothing.
@@TheLocalEnbyy im rly curious but why do u think she might have loved her in a romantic way?
@@urisuu_ just the sheer amount of despair and regret in Lacey’s words and actions with Jay. I’m leaning more towards a sisterly bond but a romantic bond definitely isn’t off the table. Well… I guess it is considering Jay died but you get what I mean.
@@TheLocalEnbyy also imo Jay being perceived as "not feminine enough" can be read as a nod towards how a lot of gueer girls were treated growing up. a lot of afab people who either turn out to be attracted to women or they turn out being trans are treated like absolute SHIT for the crime of being "too boyish" because they just dont have the same connection to girly things that a lot of cishet girls do. but man the concept of Jay being killed off for being too non-girly hurts in a highly relatable way to me lolllll
the diner game hurt. as a woman the “this is all I have, this is what people want from me and if I don’t give it when they want it, this is what they do to me,” definitely hit me differently
yg
feels like a metaphor for human s☆x trafficking.
As someone who is 33 and convinced nobody likes me unless I put out...yeahhh
@@kaydwessie296 im sorry u feel that way
Once you realise a man's only uses are for labour and we can live without them just with sperm banks...and that 2/3 of our ancestors were women etc..Men are always in over abundance. They have such extreme womb envy because they know how insignificant they are.
I've noticed that there are two types of coloring in the games, bright and colorful, and then dull and sullen. The makeup parlour is bright and colorful, the mortuary is dull and sullen. The pet shop is bright and colorful, the house is dull and sullen. The entire wardrobe game is bright and colorful, the stalker is dull and sullen. The dull and sullen colors seem to be "reality" whereas the bright and colorful colors seem to be a facade. So with this idea, then with the idea from another comment, Lacy is actually being forced to change three times that day for every other activity, the pet shop could be a way she interprets being groomed, but reimagining it as pet grooming rather than child grooming, the makeup parlour can be her trying to cope with Jay's death, seeing her as a client rather than a corpse.
No duh
“This pain hurts so comfortably.” Is such an amazing line.
i always interpreted the reason laceys uncle is mentioned in laceys diner in the first place is to imply why she only has the diner and nothing else. that she got away from her uncle but she could only pay to live by herself using funds from the diner. which is why, when it doesnt work out, she’d rather end it than go back. i think for that reason is why its my favorite. theres a lot of layers and ways to interpret it
I said this in my own comment but just in case it gets lost I wanted to add my take here lol
Like the makeup parlor being a cover for a morgue and greiving process, I think the diner is a cover for a much less... glamorous job that a child without funds and used to abuse might take. I think that is actually the reason her uncle appears; because these customers supply her with the same type of abuse in a way.
I know it isn't as spelled out as the other games but it also makes the dress up game make sense too. Day after day of going on "dates" with guys who far too obsessed with her, but she can't stop because she needs the money. Don't make her go out that door is just as much a reference to her financial situation as it is a meta reference to the game.
@@aurorechaton7604 ooh, i didnt even think of that!!! that makes a lot of sense. that would put the needy customers in a very different light and also make her breaking point make a little more sense. i thought it was a little too exaggerated that she would serve her uncle in a dish to customers but with this take i can see that making a little bit more sense if you take it less literally.
i'll be honest, i probably didn't think of that because I didn't even realize lacey was in a morgue until minaxa mentioned it in this video lmao!! i was genuinely surprised, like, "ohhh THATS why they all had their eyes closed and began falling apart.." but like i said thats probably why laceys diner is my favorite, theres so much room for exploration and theories!!!
I love this Lacey game's story the most it's so scary and I love the art when the game turns scary. It feels nostalgic but scary ldk how to describe it.
I don't think there's any real continuity between the dark hidden secrets in each of the games (if there was, it wouldn't make sense as to how Lacey can die every episode, only to come back in the next with no explanation). I think each hidden secret is just Rocio venting out her real-life traumas by projecting them onto her characters. I think everything that's happened to Lacey was based off a traumatic event that happened to Rocio herself.
The Lacey games being a backward timeline would be an interesting way to see this imo
The fact that it seemed as if parents were more concerned about jay dressing like a boy than the fact that the game has horror in it-
I know right? lol.
The disturbing ending in Lacey's Diner had been uncovered as far back as 2007, so you'd think the parents who complained about Jay in more recent years would've realized the site had way bigger problems.
@@midnalazuli793 I mean the parents complaining how jay dressed is the whole theme of the original video
@@HammedBorger882
True, but Lacey Games already had a bad rep for its disturbing secret ending in Lacey's Diner... so you'd think they'd be more concerned over that than how Jay dresses.
@@midnalazuli793 there was literally a comment from one of the moms which said "I am a very concerned mom". ma'am, if you were REALLY concerned you'd know there are other things to be worried about??
that's pretty accurate for bigoted parents
"my screams were inaudible for him"
This sentence holds the weight of it all.
I was shocked to realise that Lacy's voice acting wasn't in the real video from Ghosttundra!!!! Her voice was so emotional and added to my experience
Really? I’m sad to hear that. It really elevated the experience
i love how its one of those "games for GIRLS" sites , i remember how boys who were at my school hated the idea of playing any femine girly game , and as a girl , my mom never wanted me playing any of those "boy" games which were just violent shooters and id always get jealous of how my brother could play then because of the whole "boys will be boys" but even then I still played them , I felt proud for not playing the girly games and acted like I wasn't like all the other girls because of it.
its nice to show that even at the surface level girls want to play those scary games , those 'disturbing' games because their interesting the lacey game site had seemingly a lot of games and a big fanbase so even if there was the creepy aspect , people , most likely young girls , still kept coming back and playing them
Honestly as someone who did play "girl games" growing up I can tell you the free flash games you find online can legit be more disturbing than any shooter games lol. I swear so many of them have the most disgusting "pimple removing" gameplay moment you've ever seen it's not even funny
I relate to this, I still have trouble with connecting to my feminine side because of how I’ve always been treated. I never watched shows/ played with toys like MLP and the Littlest pet shop even though I did like them because I always felt judged for doing it, like it destroyed my entire masculine side because that’s how the people around me treated it. I was either feminine or masculine, no in between or grey area
lil bro missed the point 💀
I barley played girl games because I thought there are weird. Instead I played "boy games" on newgrounds or other flash game platform among with my siblings. Like stickmin, multiplayer, shooting etc.
I was the opposite. My access to the internet as a young, creative kid wasn't montiored to the degree of a lot of people's, and so I played lot dress up games "for girls". I liked playing girls in video games because of how much variety they could have with their hair, their clothes, ect. While boys were stuck with 6 ugly hair styles and boring and dull clothing options (at least, according to 8y/o me). If I wanted to play as a boy, I'd still use the girl option because even the tomboy clothing looked more usable than whatever the game designers gave for "boy" clothing.
I spent a few years working in a funeral home in my small town. And let me say, having experienced it, i did not know that I needed the horror of 'a person you knew is on your prep table in the morgue' to be shared.
It's an insane experience.
Bruh... that's unreal. I hope you managed to recover from that. :(
Indeed. I never worked at a funeral, but knowing what your handling is your old friend/family/associate/etc....as a corpse....well, I can't say.
As I said, I can't understand how that feels, but I am willing to lend an ear.
@@cyberprime9355 I'm alright! I went into the field specifically because I wanted to help people. Especially living in such a small area, it was only a matter of time before someone I knew was there.
It was an honor to help put him to rest. Even if it was a sobering experience!
@@midnalazuli793 I did! It wasn't necessarily easy. I took a couple days because it was someone I had graduated with that I was kind of friends with. But it was that horrifying recognition of your own mortality.
But it really solidified my love of the work and told me for certain that I wanted to do funeral home work for the rest of my life.
kel pfp!! i guess we have a fascination in trauma in common
As a girl, I never thought that I could be into things like skating or sports because of dumb gender stereotypes and it led me to wanting to be a boy SO bad, but I knew that my mom would never let me do that. I’ve experienced not feeling pretty enough, and some other things Lacey went through and I find her such a relatable character with the trauma she’s faced and her emotional difficulties.
i never meet a "skater chick" that would feel held back because of gender
basically the environment is to blame
where i grew up there was no gender stereotypes
we all climbed and fell from trees
we all ate our teeth trying to recreate tony hawk's pro skater moves
we all played games
never EVER
hanging out and doing things in a group never made any girl question her identity
As a trans woman I relate to everything here but the plot of Jay hits particularly hard. The demand of gender conformity, calling Jay a “boy girl thing” dehumanizing them, forcing make up on Jay after death, it honestly almost feels directed towards a trans audience especially with that last detail. Trans people are commonly abused and mis treated after death. If you were seen as a girl make up is forced on you, headstones use legal info and not someone’s real name, our bodies are treated like commodities and rarities after our deaths something to dissect or use to one’s pleasure.
I feel like I have to be beautiful otherwise no one will like me. I'm only 12 years old
@@The_Rat_Qu3n3 They teach us these impossible standards form the second we are born. You will escape it. Even if it takes a long time even if it’s hard you will be able to break free from this parasitic judgement. I promise it will get better
RIGHT? That part really hit me the most. When you're trans, you have to try TWICE as hard to get by in society.
@@The_Rat_Qu3n3 As a trans guy who’s ego was ruined by beauty standards, don’t be afraid to be yourself. You’re young and can grow up to be whoever you want. Don’t let anyone else- even your family, tell you otherwise. As long as you’re healthy and happy and no one gets hurt, do whatever you want.
Lord, it can be really hard being trans and relating really hard to media about femme trauma. I’m happy knowing I’m not the only one
I don't think it's Jay choking Lacey in that freeze frame. I think it's another Lacey - specifically, the Lacey from the morgue segments choking the Lacey from the makeup parlor segments. Could be an image of self-loathing, or the reality intruding on the fantasy.
I definitely don't think it's Jay in that one image. I think it's the morgue version of Lacey attacking her Makeup Parlor counterpart, which represents Rocio attacking the overly feminine version of her creation that society (including those awful parents who complained that Jay wasn't girly enough) wants her to be.
I was going to post about this myself, but wanted to check the comments first to make sure it wasn't already posted. Glad I stumbled on this post before I did. I agree, it's definitely Lacey vs Lacey, Expectation vs Reality, without a doubt.
@@darklandking
Couldn't have said it better myself.
I honestly hope Minaxa goes back and fixes this mistake, because I really don't want viewers to get the wrong idea.
In my opinion its jay choking lacey and its this like. when lacey says "maybe if you had been a little more feminine" when she's cradling Jay's dead body the jay choking lacey part is jays anger at lacey trying to almost force femininity on jay because she doesn't understand her being masculine and she feels like jay being masculine will get her hurt but only ends up hurting jay in the process- causing her to lash out at lacey. OR !!! another theory i have is that it could be like. lacey mentions in the pet shop one where lacey willingly gets in the cage its because the pain is comforting so it could also be that she seeks out traits that remind her of her uncle and gets bad friends who choke her or attack her when mad which is why i also feel like when masies character is explored later if it is then it could be another representation of that
@@alexreese1574
It's not Jay. Her hair is different, and her outfit is different. The reason Lacey says "maybe if you had been a little more feminine..." is because the reason Jay was killed off was because of entitled parents who complained that Jay was a bad influence on their daughters for being a tomboy and therefore "not feminine enough," and that's why Lacey is applying makeup to Jay's corpse, because she thinks it'll bring her back.
I noticed that in Lacey's makeup parlor, all the 'clients' eyes are closed, well, except for the one that opened her eyes to reveal them, so the morgue theory makes sense since again, all the eyes are closed, like most dead people are! But also the fact that that one 'client' opened her eyes is a real phenomenon that happens in dead people, it's called 'rigor mortis', this can also cause dead people to open their mouth.
Rigor mortis is a stage of decomposition that happens in all people so not necessarily a unique condition or anything, it occurs normally about 3-4 hours after death. Morgues pretty much have to put these freakish eye caps with bumps to hold the eyelids close on their eyes, or else all people's eyes would be open lol. There's other methods like stay cream used on thinner people where because it's a light adhesive applied on the eyes, could open with too much manipulation, which I find to actually be more likely than rigor mortis suddenly kicking in on one specific body (it's a very gradual change)
@@memethornislowkeysad8987 I appreciate this! I’m obviously not an expert, so I’m not gonna say that you’re wrong (not like I’d know lol)
I honestly had to laugh so hard when I read "rigor mortis", I thought that was just a meme-
@@BloxxingDinosaurus lol, no, it’s a real thing
@@Syd904
Yes, I looked it up, it's what Germans call "corpse stiffness". I just thought it was a Rick & Morty reference and this comment would turn into a "this cat is called big boobs look him up on google" type of joke, lol.
I noticed in the cats part, when the cat says “i have been hurt so il hurt others” it means when your having trouble with things,you somehow reflect your sufferings to others bc you cant handle it. People cant handle there sufferings, so they give it someone else. The cat represents, people who suffer so much that they cant handle it anymore. But i also noticed that a bird took her skin away from her, i think that the bird experiences things to so the bird, reflected it suffering to the cat but the cat couldnt handle it too, so she reflected it to lacy. After lacy gives back the “skin” but even though her skin is back she doesnt look normal basically meaning “ people cant fix you, you have to fix yourself”
Jay being killed off for not being feminine enough really hit me hard. As a kid, that was the biggest criticism adults had of me. I was smart, as polite as an autistic child learning social cues can be, and I was quiet when they wanted me to be. I didn't get into trouble, I didn't sneak out, I didn't get caught kissing boys. But none of that mattered, because I didn't wear make-up or skirts, and I didn't want to paint my nails, and I didn't want to wear pink all the time. I wasn't feminine, and it was the biggest divide between me and my former cheerleader mom, who at one point (while she didn't think I could hear) confessed that she wished I was more like my more feminine cousins. It seemed like everything I did was failing some random invisible rules. Don't talk like that, don't stand like that, don't _sit_ like that, don't _eat_ like that, over and over until it felt like I was even breathing wrong.
Anyway, turns out I'm trans, and watching a character become a reason for weird hover-moms to try to boycott a website over because she's not performing girlhood the way they want hits harder and harder the more I think about it. Jay isn't even super boyish - she's just not hyper-feminine like Lacey and Macey are. She's literally just an acknowledgement that some girls like sports and don't wear make-up, which is literally true, and she has to go because that means she's not selling the lie that little girls have to exist in one specific way. She _has_ to be more feminine. Why? For who? It doesn't really matter. Those are the rules of the _real_ games for girls, so she'd better get it line or get out.
My grandma was like that too. I wasn’t always a girly girl (for my family’s standards) and my they were always criticizing me for what I enjoyed and wore. I was 7 and a lot of the time my grandma would make me wear uncomfortable dresses and stuff. Even now as a teen my dad tries to get me into that stuff. So yah. Apparently all girls should all be the same and have girly styles and stuff:/
Honest to god, that is how I feel. I’m trans masc too, but I was definitely the reverse as a kid. I loved “girly” things, “girly” activities/hobbies, and all of that jazz, but as I got older, it just made less and less sense to me, as there was apparently more and more things that I was doing wrong
Your comment hits me really hard as an AuDHD enby who grew up calling myself a tomboy. My parents didn't mind so much when I was a kid, but once I hit my mid teens, it was time to start "acting like a lady." But that's exactly what it was... acting. Because that *wasn't me.*
Something I thought was really interesting is the way the character bios are written
"Star girl Maisie is smart and knows all about astrology AND astronomy" is all present tense which continues through her description
"Skate girl Jay is always down to go out with friends" is present tense which continues through her description
"Lacey is a fun loving girl who loves a good adventure! She can be a bit of an airhead sometimes, but she's very determined and had lots of friends!" is the only time we see past tense used in a character bio, and its purpose is to show that Lacey used to have more friends than just these two
This makes Lacey's character a bit more tragic, as we've now seen the number shrink twice
First with her dog, and now with Jay
It leaves me to wonder if the friends she used to have are alive, and if not, what that means for Rocio if Lacey is a stand-in for her own life
Or I'm reading too much into it :)
It could be, on one hand, it could be in the most literal sense that she lost a friend due to a tragic accident involving (as implied in Jay's minigame) crashing into a wall while practicing an extreme sport to even be more metaphorical, perhaps it's her own way of portraying how she "used to" have a friend, that friend being Grace, as she probably believed Grace was her friend and this portrayal of "losing a friend" could either be that she genuinely believes that it's her fault that Grace was trying to flounce away from her, to trying to say that she lost a person that she once believed to be her friend. Y'know? Maybe I'm the one who's overthinking.
I don't know if I believe in this theory that Jay was meant to be based off a real-life friend of Rocio's who tragically died. My own belief is that Rocio resonated a lot with Jay, because if you take one look at her, you'll realize that Rocio isn't exactly a girly girl. She even has the same hairstyle as Jay with the Raccoon braid, so I think it's fair to say that Rocio definitely implemented a lot of her own style into Jay's design and personality. So when parents started criticizing Jay because they thought that her being a tomboy was a bad influence on their daughters, Rocio took it very personally, so she decided to kill her off to spite those parents and to teach them a lesson on how she thought society treated girls like her who just wanted to be themselves, and were met with scorn for not meet societal expectations. Lacey's reaction to Jay's death is also a reflection of how deeply it impacted Rocio to do what she did, because it was like killing off a part of herself.
One parent also said something along the lines of "keep Lacey and the other one and get rid of the tomboy, and it should all be fine." Well, I think Rocio wanted to show that parent exactly what would happen if Jay was removed from Lacey's world, as we can see in the heart-wrenching scene where Lacey is having a mental breakdown over Jay's death. Jay was a true friend to her, and without her, a huge part of her world is gone and can never be replaced, which I think is also represented greatly during the goodbye song at the end.
@@midnalazuli793 Ooh, that's a much better observation than mine.
@@masterwiglytuff9591
Thanks. I can't really completely disprove the idea that Jay was based off of a real-life friend of Rocio, I just don't see it as being very likely, since if it was the case, I feel like there'd be more subliminal hints about it in the episode.
@@midnalazuli793 This interpretation is so good!
it didn’t even occur to me that lacey was working in a morgue, putting makeup on dead girls. what i thought initially is that lacey is in clear denial of jay’s death, and snuck into a morgue to desperately try and make her corpse look “alive” again with makeup. even in death, jay couldn’t escape beauty standards.
but your analysis is definitely the true intent of the narrative being shown.
I think the idea was that Lacey tried applying makeup to Jay's corpse because she thought if she had made her look more feminine, she'd come back... which obviously was never going to work, but that's how deep in denial that Lacey was.
Trypophobia warning:
Close your eyes here -> 46:09 and count to 20 or wait till he says "In the final music number" if you have trypophobia
Also close your eyes -> 48:16 and count to 10 or wait till he says "but that's exactly"
Thank you!!
@@piroulinee My pleasure.
Ty this should be higher
@@allfortime I wish it was. The warning from the RUclipsr didn’t specify where in the video, so I did.
Tf is trypophobia?
I relate so much to this series. This is the only series that really accurately shows the deep pain that follows you as an adult when your childhood was taken from you by force. How you find comfort in your own pain because it's all that you've ever known. How painful it is to see your friends, family, colleagues, or abusers go about their day and how it makes you wish you can inflict the same pain onto them just so that they can understand. How trauma makes you hate your own reflection in the mirror. How women and afab people often become alienated and spat upon when their experiences do not align with society's often unrealistic expectations of womanhood. And how people will say that they will always be your best friend and support you when you really need it, but leave and dehumanize you the moment your trauma isn't "quirky" anymore and it's too much for them to handle.
Supernatural demons and monsters not real, but the horror that women and afab people are forced to go through (SA, CSA, stalking, etc.) are very much real and often far more terrifying.
I dealt with parental abuse and not SA as a child but I still feel like a former husk of myself. My entire world crashed and I contemplated suicide at the age of ten, and time has still continued forward and I'm now a year away from twenty. I don't feel like I'm twenty. I have a job and I graduated with honors in spite of my horrendous mental health but I still feel disillusioned with knowing my abuser is out there living her life and not even thinking of me while I have to grapple with the damage inflicted on me every single day, and I just find that unfair. I was just a child. I did nothing wrong. Childhood trauma really does take everything it wants out of you and still demands more. I've lived more years with my trauma than I lived without it now. I can't even say I'll never be the same because this is all I am now and have been for almost ten years.
Something about Grace’s whole attitude towards Rocio who is clearly heavily traumatized and disturbed and her nonchalant “oh there’s nothing I can do” attitude bothers me and I just feel so upset by it as something who suffers from mental health issues as it’s such a familiar response to me and it makes me sick. grace and Rocio obviously HAD to be close why would they work together on something and name their game development brand with their own surnames???? So it just infuriates me that Grace keeps saying time after fucking time that “Rocio was just cuckoo” and “I was scared” in the least scared uncaring tone I’ve ever heard in my life something about her just sets off my red flag meter and I just can’t like her for some reason everytime she spoke I just got the worst feeling idk maybe it’s just the way her actress delivers her lines I just she brings up some very personal bad feelings for me
Agreed. The creator def nailed that particular kind of bully perfectly. It fully reminded me of someone with some DEEP hatred for the traumatized person and probably smugly antagonized and gaslit them every chance they got. All while pretending to be their "friend". Chillingly accurate stuff in this arg.
@@DarlingMissDarling THATS WHY SHE MAKES ME SO UPSET this is such a perfect way to put it I swear I used to have a “friend” like her (I don’t talk to her anymore thank god) and it just upsets me and like you said it’s important to give credit where it’s due not only did ghosttundra nail that kinda person in the script but the actress’s delivery was so accurate to the exact tone of voice they do it gave me trauma flashbacks, it was like I was back in highschool
An hour later, but- you hit the nail right in the exact spot.
@@DarlingMissDarlingSame coz like that's the vibe I got once she started saying that "Rocio is just cuckoo" like miss gurl c'mon you gotta understand why Rocio is probably going through trauma. We've gotten bits of lore about her and Grace, tbh I wanna know more about what actually happened between them and hear Rocio's side of the story
I belive in the end they were also talking abt how rocio went to the phyc ward or deserved to b in one
There's an actual Lacey Games website you can visit, and on it there's a section called "fan space" that displays kids drawings of the characters with Rocio leaving comments under them. One of these comments had her telling a nine year old girl her drawing was "utter fucking trash" and that "Lacey" hates it. After an (in-universe) parent complained about it in an email, the comment was changed.
What’s the website called?
Jesus christ? Honestly this entire franchise is a whole rabbit hole
Pretty sure the website is fanmade
@@Quackervoltz I know it is
@@JG-pt3xe
The website isn't fanmade. It's the real website that ghosttundra created for the series. It was hosted on Neocities, and it used to be accessible until some time ago. However, none of the games were actually playable, and you could only access 3/5 pages.
28:18 A woman staring in the mirror is often saddening, lacey describes a person ROTTING on her pores, when she is referring to how she perceives her own beauty after having bedrot and been too depressed to actually take care of herself. The creator staring in the mirror as you suggested could also suggest that it was an outlet for her, seeing herself as Lacey in the mirror as they both writhe uncomfortably.
my favorite part is probably just how lacey works in a morgue and is forcing herself to dissociate hard enough that she forgets where she is. i really appreciate how this series approaches dissociation and ptsd as how it feels- as a sort of reality-bending constant event rather than an affliction.
Yeah, I think she was deluding herself into believing she was working in a normal makeup parlor so she wouldn't have to face the reality of her friend being dead. She'd think Jay was just a normal client who needed her makeup done... but eventually, reality sets in, and you see the situation for what it is.
lacey games bring me so much comfort, it really is a perfect representation of living with trauma, ESPECIALLY when isolation from others can make things so much worse. living with the horrors without anyone to help you feel a lot like these games. from the bottom of my heart, I'm glad they exist.
It's terrible how much of this (and the feeling of going through it) is basically drowning in the emotions. I wish it was easier to get people out of it...
@@ghostagent3552You are not alone I feel the exact same way, sometimes and I think for all us wish and wonder if we can just get in there and intervene and defend lacey from her worries and lend her a big help and assistance like she wants initially in the games.
I feel you.. + Having the childhood trauma and not recognizing it was/is the worst part of IT all 🥲
“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”
Lacey herself hits too close to home because I went through a lot of the things she went through, seeing it portrayed so bluntly makes me feel so seen.
I think, in the bathroom scene where the in-game lacey looks into the mirror and whispers to the player that she made so many games for us- just not full of "those lies" - she's trying to say her intention for making these games is to prepare other girls for what girlhood is really like, rather than the saccharine candyfloss often marketed towards young girls. As someone who grew up feeling intense cognitive dissonance watching all this media and comparing it to my extremely bleak life, i can understand the sentiment and even indulged in that in an unhealthy way when i was a child as well.
also: you did a truly INCREDIBLE job here, and show a deep well of compassion and empathy. I hope you're really proud of what you've done here, bc Im proud of you! (for as much as that's worth from an internet stranger, hah.)
Yeah,
I mean from my experience she’s right about girlhood too.
That's true. But I also think it's a mental distortion to believe that "non traumatizing games are just lies". It is not normal or rational. I would say that exposing younger girls to this kind of content is unethical. If they had a good childhood, this is just traumatizing. Even if the girl went through hardships, they may find comfort in this. But ultimately? They are finding comfort in reliving abusive experiences. I'd say that kids are not necessarily ready to handle these messages. Cognitively and all. 😢
Rocio was clearly not okay. And I understand. I feel the same way. I looked at shocking and content, felt comfort because it was "familiar". Having a shitty life would make you feel dissociated from the advertisements and "happy 🎉 lives" they claim we're supposed to have. But. It was never healthy. I realized the effect it had on me and that... others didn't feel that way. Which is even more isolating
@@marieclaireching oh no, that was part of the point i was trying to make - i know it's not healthy, i know it wasnt healthy when my brain did that too, sorry I didnt get it across well but you worded it beautifully. and yeah - a huge part of it for me was becoming so convinced the 'happy life' story sold by a lot of games for girls was false that i straight up *couldnt* accept them as anything close to reality for the longest time, also not healthy. and yeah its not healthy to traumatize other people with your trauma, i just understand when you're locked up in it, you dont even see it that way sometimes
This also makes sense with the line from one of the Lacey's Diner still images "part of the ingrained paranoia was owed directly to the fact that they used to teach kids such perverse little bizarre lies that they passed off as the truth"
Exactly. I honestly wish more meeting with delve into the well...trauma and horror of girlhood. Being a girl is not fun
I just realized. Her hair clips look like roman numerals that equal 12; The Hanged Man is the twelfth major arcana in Tarot.
oh
I know this is out of pocket... but is that a jojo reference?
@@TheCrackman. Not now buddy, not now.
Please
As a man, its quite hard to emphasize on how woman feels and unfortunately have to go through these frightening and gut wrenching situations. I seriously cannot believe how hard they have got their lives. Its so disturbing that these situations are actually happening in real life, and there are filthy people who are willing and doing it. Lacey's series just showed how traumatizing these events are for women and how women have to navigate through rough paths. I am only 17 minutes progressed in the video. I just couldnt take it just by only seeing those 2 videos. Its heartbreaking, plus on how the pinned comment mentions stuff that will happen throughout the video, its just extremely sad, or I dont know, this feeling, its like, rage filled with disgust with a great pint of sadness and helplessness. I wish to do something about this whole situation that women are constantly experiencing.
just being kind & supportive of women around you, and calling out harmful behaviors men display while in your presence, are more than enough help 🩵 men will often only listen to other men, so I think the most important thing is not being afraid to say what someone is doing or saying is wrong
Jay's "lack of femininity" gets shown as fast as the start of the rabbit hole video. As the singer introduces the girls, I was expecting all 3 to have rhyming names, but instead we have Lacey, Macey and Skater Jay, the first 2 being shown as typically femenine and girly, while Jay not. Hell, they even make sure to say "skater" first, and not her name, which in itself is a very male sounding name.
Yeah, I don't think it's a coincidence that the tomboy character was given a gender-neutral name.
Putting quotations on "lack of femininity" is just denying truth
@@midnalazuli793 Kacey is a gender nuetral name that rhymes with the other two. I'm more certain that they gave Jay a non-rhyming name on purpose
@@glassofmid
You say that like there aren’t a dozen other feminine sounding names that rhyme with “Lacey.”
@@midnalazuli793 What the actual fuck are you talking about im talking about GENDER NEUTRAL names, not "mainly" feminine ones
As a person who suffers from trauma as well. I am also enraged. So many people who are more typical discard people who are heavily traumatized so easily and are judgmental. Calling her wierd. Like there was nothing you could do? Bs. You could have been there for her. Let her know she's not alone. That she's worthy
I'm not traumatized and I was still enraged. The woman was making games about child abuse from the victim's perspective and apparently, if I remember right, screaming at random and hurting herself at work. How much more obvious could she have been?!? (sighs) I think Grace is as dumb as a brick and I think it has literally never occurred to her that other people do things for a reason.
YES!!!!! The ending where lacy and jay was hugging felt like her last ditch effort to feel some resemblance of comfort. That’s all she truly needed, someone that is there for her and be her shoulder to cry on. As someone with trauma and mental health struggles I relate to this so strongly. We put on this front to be perceived as “normal” and over time the more hardships life throws our way, the more that facade starts to slip. People who are more “typical” don’t understand the effect that trauma can have in the rest of your life. This game made me feel so validated in my traumatic experience as a woman
this. i’ve had friends that were this dismissive and would treat my trauma responses like i was being purposefully crazy or manipulative, despite knowing full well about the history of abuse i suffered through. they just don’t get it, and the difference between their normal, healthy lives with people who love them vs my life full of pain and suffering and isolation was what eventually made them stop reaching out to me. they just couldn’t comprehend how someone as hurt as me could be like them, and they decided that i was just incapable of healing and left. they still tell people that know me that they “just didn’t know how to help”, when i told them time and again how i needed them to be there for me and all the ways they could support me. they just weren’t willing to meet me in the middle, it was too inconvenient and draining for a normal, untraumatized person like them to do the bare minimum.
@@amaryllisrivera6323 I'd do anything for a friend like Jay.
I think "typical" people (curious choice of words btw) are sorta scared and exhausted by traumatized people. Like, you know the term "trauma-dumbing" that has caught on in recent years? That's probably the most understandable example of how people don't really want to deal with other's trauma unless they A) share it, B) know them personally, or C) it's their job. Everyone has their own problems and with us being imperfect humans, a lot of the time we just can't bother to invest, as the thinking is "1 time isn't enough to help... oh jeez... and I'm late on rent this month..." A lot of people are drained when they have to comfort, and even when they choose to.
You can test this yourself: Just take any person who's more traumatized than you and try not to get overwhelmed.
I usually get nervous when I see guys (I'm assuming you're a guy? I apologize if I'm wrong) cover topics related to the trauma of being a girl. But you covered this extremely well! There are some parts I find you could've discussed better- for example, Grace's dismissiveness of Rocio's very clear struggles with mental health really gave me the vibe of victim blaming, though I'm not quite sure how to articulate that- but aside from a few small "you could've gone more into that", I think you did a great job!
Honestly, I feel like I knew a few girls like Grace growing up. The types who were all buddy-buddy on the surface, especially if they were comparatively socially isolated (like if they were being bullied, they'd be great friends with other victims), but they'd back out of a friendship at a moment when they were really needed - like a mental health emergency, or a friend literally being taken out of school for their own safety. I almost feel like girls who are fake nice are worse than girls who are outright awful people, because at least the latter category are honest about who they are.
Grace reads as a depiction of something trauma survivors often encounter: the "good friend" that doesn't actually want to hear about your problems because your problems are just way too heavy. The one who brushes off your trauma responses as "crazy (affectionate)" until those things actually begin to have negative effects on them, at which point it becomes "crazy (derogatory)". I don't think she's really hiding anything, I genuinely believe she has no idea what happened to Rocio. Because Rocio was a "bad" victim whose behaviors could no longer be seen as quirky and funny, so Grace stopped being her friend.
That's not to put all the blame on Grace, though. If Rocio has been through even a fraction of what we see happen to Lacey, the ability to help her is far beyond what Grace was ever capable of. As much as you may say "but you should still stick by your friend," there has to be a line. If you have a friend that continuously acts out to the point of basically ruining something the two of you started with good intentions and shows no desire to get better, it really doesn't matter what the reason is. It matters to your friend, of course. But it stops mattering to you because it becomes clear that being near this person will only hurt you more.
That's probably the most difficult thing about trauma: when people abandon trauma survivors, it is often completely justifiable. Even if you're close friends, you can't expect someone to martyr themselves to try to help you. But the abandonment becomes its own trauma which makes things even worse going forward. Rinse, repeat.
I feel like that's the horror of the backstory behind the games.
Your breakdown of what Grace is, is very relatable to me and my friend. My friend is very suicidal and problematic (in a sense that she brings troubles to herself a lot) and I just dont understand why she is that way, for I never heard of the reasons. I felt that being with her made me stressed or just worse in someway and planned to distant myself from her when we graduate, but things happended and I stopped being her friend entirely. I feel kinda guilty but I noticed that being without her improved my mood greatly.
Thankyou for putting it in words, now I kinda understand my situation now. Thankyou, truly.
What Grace did is NOT justifiable, she goes WAY too far with her mockery of Rocio, literally just gossiping about her and wishing death upon her. Grace is NOT a good person, she has zero empathy for someone this close to her. She only made stupid assumptions about Rocio instead of maybe asking her what's wrong or listening to what she has to say, which most likely also made Rocio stray further from maybe seeking the professional help she actually needs. And unless Grace is mental herself, she is simply an irresponsible jerk who you cannot trust.
Nah, you are right that she goes way too far. But I disagree that she's in the wrong for not asking about it. It can be very hard to ask that when you see something is clearly VERY wrong. If Rocio did want Grace to know, she should have told her. You can't blame people for not being mind readers.
Literally, the ONLY thing Grace did with the context we have so far is that she makes fun of Racio. There is NO excuse for that and she's a jerk who can't be trusted for that reason.
Everything else falls within the realm of "understandable reaction to being a young person who has no idea how to deal with a friend's trauma".
@@siri-ek7bo I'm glad you did what was right for you. I hope that your friend gets the help she needs too.
Thank you for adding this. As much as I think this game is impactful for showing the real issues that many girls unfortunately face, if the flash game website were real, Rocio would not be justified in terrifying and perhaps traumatizing young girls because of what was happening to her. I think that’s something that some commenters aren’t thinking about when criticizing Gracie. That Rocio was becoming the cat who had been hurt and was hurting others.
Okay, I don't know if ghosttundra (I think its spelled that way) tought about this... But the use of girl flash games used to represent this story feels metaphorical in some kind of way, Girl flash game websites normally have games that represent thing expected of little girls to become when they grow into women, or things that are expected of girls to like or just cute fun mini games. For example: The wedding games, the dating games, dress-up games, the borderline fetish pregnancy games, etc... And I don't know how to explain it. But it somehow feels so metaphorical on what's expected of girls and on what happens in girls mental states. I genuinely can't explain it. But I feel the its somewhat metaphorical. (Forgive me if it has bad grammar, I'm 13 years old.)
You’re completely fine grammar-wise, and I think you’re right on the money! It’s parodying media meant for younger girls, even parodying certain book series’ with the hand-drawn doodle aesthetics.
Imo you're totally correct here. Pretty sure that the main point of a in-universe creator is a contrast between fantasy of womanhood for children presented by old flash games that you described and reality that a lot of real people have to deal with.
And creator in our world uses it as a vehicle for a couple more themes, like indifference for other that can very much harm people who need help.
Fantastic analysis
You have better grammar than a lot of people in my high school.
You are right, the dissonance between how people think life looks for young girls and how it is actually, is legit insane. Girlhood is watching out over your shoulder for r@psts, it's violence from other girls, it's isolation, it's condemnation for daring to live unmlested by groomers, the fetishisation pushed on you. With both supporting parents some of us live happily, with one parent we live vulnerable and exploited, with none almost noone makes it through. The secsual exploitation of teenege girls need to be brought to light and on the political scene since the ppl in power benefit most from it.
It kind of sounded like she was calling out for help, but the other girl(s) who should have been her allies ignored the signals and just called her weird. They became part of the problem.
“Uncle? Have you seen Puddles anywhere…? I can’t find her…! I checked everywhere. _Everywhere…_ *Stop **_laughing-!”_*
21:29 Haunts my friggin dreams, such a good VA, absolute props
I'm fully convinced that all the creepy stuff that happens must've been a cry for help yet no one took it that way, not even her supposed friend Grace.
Kibo PFP Kibo PFP
@@PrincessStickyHoney_Bun yeah I agree. Grace's behavior just infuriated me..
I know how that feels
hell the writing in the Lacey games are so relatable because I genuinely do wanna type / talk like a stereotypical crazy person just because its genuinely the only way to express how I actually *feel*
it’s beautiful writing, however. it really helps us feel that feeling of loneliness and hopelessness, which is most likely how she feels as well.
no one will reach out to her. everyone’s turned their backs on her. she’s all alone.
@@PrincessStickyHoney_Bun Don't call the cops if you're concerned for someone's health, in what world are the police there to help rather than terrify?
The makeup scene really says a lot about how society can dement a girls mind with beauty standards. Society has made beauty a necessity in a girls life, to the point having to be pretty is survival at that point. If you’re not “beautiful” or “pretty” you’re not going to survive in this world, and without beauty, you’re as good as dead. That’s how I personally viewed beauty, to the point I’ve obsessed over my looks and started to wear makeup, I just want to survive in this world.
You know what crazy, some men are also obsessed with beauty.
When I was a teen and went down the red pill rabbit hole, I thought I wasn't good looking enough and I thought that I needed to be a rich men in order to be valuable as a man.
It's sad that nowadays, teens are entering the red pill rabbit hole, and also becoming depressed just because they don't fit the typical Alpha Man role and the fact that they're not making a curtain amount of money.
Social media is going to be the downfall of humans!
There's actually much darker context behind the makeup scene. Jay was apparently killed off because parents complained that she wasn't "feminine" enough, and so Lacey tries applying makeup to Jay's corpse because she believe it might bring her back... of course, it's far too late for that.
don't fall into the misogny rabbit hole
Well, i guess thats the thing that will never be eradicated from this sad society. All the girls from my school were all wearing makeup even in grade 8. Also think it has to do with tiktok
@@BewyxAnims Yup, Both men and women suffer under the constant competition.
For women, it's generally about who's the most "desirable", who can "catch" the best shortcut to a luxurious life.
For men, it's generally about who's the most successful and powerful, who can dominate and conquer the most.
It's an endless competition that's not even against the opposite sex, but our own.
These games, especially the makeup one, reminds me of a specific poem I read recently. "Barbie Doll" (I don't remember the poet) where it basically talks about girlhood and expectations of being perfect. It's interesting that different mediums can discuss and present similar themes
Jay saying "id only be caught DEAD wearing makeup" then to be wearing makeup when dead is very ironic
How is it ironic-?
@@Ibert0318 she wasn't wearing makeup while alive, then dead she had makeup put on her, making the "id be caught dead wearing makeup" ironic
@@Weird.Girl. I think I forgot what irony is.. thx for the explanation tho! ☺️
I think it was intended as forshadowing rather than irony, imo
i think that's the point
It's pretty amazing how ghosttundra manages to make use of the usual, over-the-top edge factor you find in flash game horror parodies and take it a step further by combining it with such terrifyingly realistic subjects to balance it out. The sudden flashes of violence, profanity and death feel less like shock factor and more like the gradual psychotic breakdown of a girl who went through horrific sh*t and was forced to bottle it up for so long that this is her way of expressing the loneliness, pain and anger she feels at herself and the world around her.
Every time we get a new peek at how much suffering Lacey/Rocio has to go through, which both disturbs you and makes you want to give her the biggest hug. Most of us know girls who went through a similar experience with creepy stalkers or ab*sive homes, so much trauma where they don't always have the tools needed to heal from the pain and move on in a healthy manner. It's just a terrifying and heartbreaking realization all around.
yes!!! this is exactly why it's so dark. because rocio is severely traumatized and that reflects on her work.
yeah!! especially with the fact someone made the game this way, rather than it being OoooOoo CURSED EXE... rocio was communicating through the language of the flash game era - edgy shock horror. which, now that i'm typing it out, makes it seem like such a tragic cry for recognition and help given how shock content has always spread like wildfire around the internet. the familiar pain of the cage hit so hard... this violence that lacey herself enacts is disturbing to people, but to rocio, the trauma and the misery are things she can understand and find catharsis in. having suffered so much, she understands the desperation to fight back, and maybe she sees beauty in it like lacey sees beauty in that painting. augh, ghosttundra really did do something amazing here!
@@avelynn5976 fr, even the childhood safe space of flash games can't be separated from the traumatic experience of her actual childhood. this is the real girl games, the constant and inescapable trauma.
The thing with Jay is so ironic because taking one look at her when she first showed up on screen I immediately liked her, and as a kid, that's who I wanted to be, but wasn't _allowed_ to because I was supposed to be 'feminine.' There's some irony in the real world parallels between what happens to Jay and what happens in real life to AFAB folks like me who grow up being forced to dress and act a certain way that just... Isn't who we are.
To this day I can't wear dresses without feeling like my skin is crawling because of how much I was forced to play dress up, I only was allowed to get a suit jacket during my sophmore year of highschool and had to fight tooth and nail for it instead of being shoved into a dress for prom. And to this day, I've never tried make-up beyond putting on nail polish because the thought of it makes me feel physically queasy. What happens to Jay isn't just to show Rocio having a negative reaction to criticism, it's a realistic depiction of what happens when you're 'different.'
The world likes to treat girls like dolls, you HAVE to like pink, you HAVE to wear dresses and like princess movies and yada yada yada, and if you like any 'boy' things there's something wrong with you. The fact that even in death Jay isn't being allowed to express herself is... Well, it hits close to home. There's a ton of other things I relate to in this series, but this is my first time knowing about Jay and I had to say my piece on that.
be yourself
@@LordoftheTrees-uq4bi complex af
@@LordoftheTrees-uq4bi dAMN
I think Jay’s part is meant to represent what it’s like to be GNC or trans. (keep in mind, some people with dysphoria choose to remain GNC without changing genders) Basically, she was being constantly pressured by her friends to be more “feminine” to the point where her dysphoria ended up causing her to commit suicide. Which would explain why she was found dead.
I think Jay’s part is meant to represent what it’s like to be GNC or trans. (keep in mind, some people with dysphoria choose to remain GNC without changing genders) Basically, she was being constantly pressured by her friends to be more “feminine” to the point where her dysphoria ended up causing her to commit suicide. Which would explain why she was found dead.
Man, I just feel bad for Lacey. I'm not even all that freaked out, it's just really fucking sad.
Grace is such an interesting character, because when you're severely depressed and anxious, THATS WHAT EVERYONE FEELS LIKE, it feel like you're screaming and everyone is just ignoring it, it feels like no mater what you do all your friends will just be like "idk she's just a little cukoo" she's exactly the feeling of the depressed person who desperately wants help but can't just ask for it distilled into a character
“These are the real girls games”
I think this is pretty easy to figure out? I mean, growing up as a young woman, I have literally heard the way women are expected to and expect each other to act referred to as “girls’ games”. A woman who knows how to dress nice, smile pretty, and convince others is often described as “knowing how to play the game”. Women who play “girl’s games” lean into social expectations and use them to their advantage. They can manipulate people around them or at the very least win people over by meeting these standards.
I can remember my mom telling me back in elementary school that I need to make sure I always looked good, because ‘people are nice to pretty girls and that’s how the game is played’.
I don’t understand how other people didn’t immediately pick up on it. The moment those words were said, I immediately knew that this was about the social stigma surrounding young girls and women. Particularly the expectations. Not just from society as a whole, but also from other women. It also was about childhood trauma, because “girls’ games’ usually refers to middle schools/highschool girls specifically. It’s the backhanded compliments, gossiping, rumors, and all of that.
I think that might actually directly connect back to Grace. The way she talks about her friend. Calling her crazy, keeping the blame from her, pointing all the fingers at Rocio, saying she was always just weird, etc… Sounds a lot like what a middle school girl might say when there’s rumors going around about someone in her friend group. She doesn’t want to be lumped in with her, so she’s dogpiling the blame. That’s associated with “girls’ games”.
To me, that was the author telling us point blank what the message was - literally yelling it at the viewer.
Totally agree! The whole mirror segment stands out as a thesis tatement for the whole series. It's really weird how quick a lot of people are to disregard it as a mere shock factor scene.
I know everyone is talking about the cage, but I wanted to add a little to this as well. A lot of children who are traumatized grow into adults with very low stress tolerances or with a multitude of triggers. Many adults cope with these triggers through a mechanism called Age regression. This coping mechanism may involve acts such as playing with nostalgic toys, putting yourself in the headspace of a young child, or having a safe, enclosed space such as a closet or cage to feel safe and protected in. Lacey’s comfort in the cage reminds me a lot of folks I know who utilize that specific coping mechanism as a way to feel safe and secure in a space where they know no one can get to them.
This probably isn’t what the original author intended, but I think it’s interesting.
yeah true
as someone who age regresses frequently (involuntarily) i do often have thoughts of having a big cage to decorate. i dont know WHY a cage exactly, but something about an enclosed space just sounds comfortable. its not that we want to be locked away, but that we want a small space of our own where we cant be hurt anymore. im glad you're aware of this, it makes me feel seen, thank you :)
Maybe it wasn't what ghosttundra had in mind, but honestly, I see it as a very valid and plausible metaphor.
There are age regression players that do so without the same traumas to my knowledge, as Ive talked occasionally with a number of them. There's multiple reasons for it, but you are correct in that being able to do so when you can in life does help feel like being more 'complete' due to reasons, benign and malevolent, you couldn't have the childhood or teenhood you wished for.
My friend plays Lacey’s wardrobe. He said that in the end, there is a specific combo of clothes you need to wear to save lady from being murdered, because her uncle won’t recognize her. I don’t know much still, but I am pretty in to this stuff.
There's something deeply comforting and even touching about discovering the phenomenon that is Lacey Games during this nostalgic wave of girlhood and what is characteristic of a girl's childhood. As a black neurodivergent woman, I struggle to identify with all the media ideas associated with girlhood.
There are common things we share as girls growing up, but they're not all wrapped up in ribbons and tenderness.
Our reality as teenagers can be rough, raw and cruel, and to see this in a game that looks like a typical "Girls Go Games" (iykyk) is magical and brilliant. The true creator of this game series is pure genius, like this deserve a whole video essay series about it cause there is so much depth and substances !
So, a parent had problems with one of the characters having feminin traits and ignored all the gory stuff in sh*tty looking flesh games they gave thier child acces to.
Responsible parents, ladies and gentleman.
My view is that before the death of Jay there was less gore and the little that existed is hidden. The death of Jay was the breaking point of the creator, even though she killed off Jay herself.
@@PhantomGato-v- good point
tbh it kinda rings true. a lot of parents are fine with kids seeing extremely fucked up things but the moment someone doesn't conform (in this case, in the context of gender) they throw a fit
Out of EVERY horror movie/arg I've ever seen I've never been so terrified when watching Laceys series, mainly because in many of the games the abuser does look like someone who traumatized me, they didnt do what happened to lacey but attempted to. Which really put the fear of god in me, making Laceys story feel so realistic and traumatizing
I'm really sorry to hear about that and I hope that you're in a better place now
yg
It's kinda like how monsters used to feel like when you were a kid: It's not that much about what the monster will do to you, but that the monster might exist and might come bursting down through the door any second.
You fear the potential more than the results.
Agreed. Also, Aku pfp
Laceys always brings me comfort for the oddest reason as I found myself relating to Laceys experiences.. I really felt seen ever since I first stumbled upon the videos… the line “these are the real girls games” is such a hard line because a lot of young girls and women go through things Lacey has gone through, it’s a totally mask off presentation of what really happens and isn’t covered in the stereotypical glitter ponies and princesses. I really love Lacey’s flash games and I’m excited to see future installments of it!
Helli fellow enby
@@user-ky2rk8tp5g OH MY GOODNESS HI???
Maybe this is far fetched but the mirror scene feels like _we_ are Lacey. Women who can, even in the smallest degree, relate to the pain of an abused or exploited girl. What "girl games" actually are is this very feeling for an alarming amount of girls out there. We seek solace in the pink flash games but the screen's reflecting a reality looming right behind and over us, masked with pink.
How dare these conserned parents underestimate the true beauty of tomboys
I believe in tomboy and muscle mommy supremacy
i know this is a weird place to say this but, im a tomboy and my mum doesnt like that >:(
Total tomboy, not just because I love the outfits, but also it's comfy and practical
ah, fellow apostles of the Tomboyism faith, may I introduce you all to the sect of Tomboyism taught by the great scholar Rimmy Downunder?
@@yukibirbI don’t think this’s a weird place to say it I mean for some times and circumstances you might feel it’s a bit weird but I think it’s fine to talk and say things that are related or not in videos comment’s especially like the subject of lacey.
Y’all broke that new video down faster then Lacey having an actual breakdown
Like Jesus that new Lacey video was out like hours ago
To be fair, it took a couple minutes for the video to get to that part, lol.
I feel so bad for Lacey, i wish i could just reach through the screen and tell her things are okay.
At 47:18, the frame that you see, it's not jay trying to kill lacey, it's Lacey wanting to end herself, one begin laycey after jay's passing (where she has a t shirt and more scene style) and the other of lacey in her usual girlish style, nothing, just something i noticed.
Yeah, the Lacey doing the strangling is Lacey after she's accepted Jay's death, the morgue version, while the Lacey being strangled is Lacey when she was still in denial over Jay's death, the makeup parlor version.
You know the rabbithole part has such a subtle theme, with Rocío striking back at criticism and how people such as Grace and others are willing to put down your creations over personal preferences and prejudices, and as such something as simple to someone else as Jay's design not being adequate, to Rocío is equal to kill of her character whose she spent time to bring to life. It's a fascinating metacommentary on both social standards and personal struggle over criticism. It's amazing.
She literally went "you want her gone? Fine, but the price will be traumatizing your children more".
I feel like Rocio took the criticisms aimed at Jay very personally, because she herself appeared to be a tomboy, she even has the exact same Raccoon-style braid that Jay has, so I think she may have seen a lot of herself in Jay. The act of killing her off may have been Rocio's way of expressing how she thought society treated girls like her who don't meet their expectations of what a girl "should" be.
I legit thought the wardrobe and restaurant ones were real when they first came out. It genuinely feels like a low budget flash game with a hidden scary factor to it. And the thing is, there actually were flash games like that. Remember the black liquorice game from nickelodeon? Remember the my little pony luna game with a scary image at the end?
Well Luna game and its sequels weren't official but I know what you mean
Oh that black licorice game used to scare the shit out of me as a kid 😭
The Luna game was a creepy pasta and also not a flash game, so maybe a bad example
The Luna game was a fan game
@@Quackervoltz been a good ten years, so my memory ain't that great. But as far as I know, it was still a real game that was on equestria daily
I practically cried when you see Lacey on the floor of the makeup parlor, because I realized, she was naturally beautiful, but because of society she thought that she was ugly and disgusting, and I just, broke down.
Art is meant to disturb the comforted and comfort the disturbed.
it does both for me what does that mean 😭😭
@@setraluluvsyour life is filled with both, disturb and comfort. I feel both as well, especially because I had a privileged child compared to others. Despite my COCSA/Child on Child s/an and groooming incident I seemingly still am comforted as I lost that innocence’s as a pre-teen.
A blink and you'll miss it moment right at the end of Jay's Skating Game, on the very last frame just before she meets her untimely demise, Jay's expression suddenly reflects her recognition of her imminent fate...
In other words, Jay knew she was fucked and was horrified right as she was impaled!
was looking for someone to mention this.
@@averyoddguy4015 Tbh I caught it when I had watched the video just before watching this one, and was kinda surprised it didn't get mentioned
I noticed Jay's expression change myself when I first watched the episode, and it really made me uncomfortable. Even if it was brief, it was heartbreaking seeing her so horrified at what she knew would be her last moments alive.
@@midnalazuli793 I know what you mean. The sight of someone's face just suddenly twisting to pure horror has always and likely will always make me uncomfortable
The audio even switched to what I think is Jay gasping in fear right as the horror and realization set in.
i actually thought Jay was killed in an accident and lacey just either kept her corpse or killed a person who looked really similar to jay and deluded herself into thinking she was alive. but still nice video !
I read it as her "lack of femininity" somehow got her killed...
Well, if her accident had something to do with her liking to skate, then I suppose that would, in some twisted way, be the reason she died.
But I personally read it as the bigoted moms that disliked her character were the ones that got her killed both in game and outside of the game.
That their constant harassment of the real inspiration for that character ended up being what was the last straw that made her kill herself, or some bigoted person went out of their way to hurt her.
That is why Lacey is so focused on "being pretty" and wishing Jay would have done the same.
@@bibbobella
I don't believe that Jay was based on anyone real, I think that Rocio resonated a lot with Jay because she herself was a tomboy, and if you look at her picture, you'll see she has the same Racoon-style braid that Jay has, so when the moms complained about Jay and insisted she be removed from the site, Rocio took those complaints very personally, and wanted to teach them a lesson on how she thought society perceived girls like who didn't meet societal expectations on how a girl "should" look and act. I also believe the reason Lacey applies makeup on Jay's corpse is because she thinks that making her appear more feminine will somehow bring her back, despite it already being too late.
It's heavily implied that the makeup parlor is actually a morgue, and Lacey was the embalmer. That's why some of the clients randomly start to deform, and Lacey has to "fix them," but when Jay's body arrives, Lacey has a full blown mental breakdown, because she hasn't yet accepted that Jay is gone. So you are half right when you say that Lacey deluded herself into thinking Jay was still alive, and that's what makes the scene itself so gut-wrenching. It's probably the most visually upset we've ever seen Lacey, and she's been through a LOT of messed up stuff.
I think that Jay had an accident while skating and died, but Lacey was saying "if you were more feminine, this wouldn't have happened to you" when she put the make up on Jay's corpse, but quickly realized that was wrong and started regretting it
It’s insane how deep this goes. Ghostthundra didn’t just make another scary analog horror game with a unique twist (which would’ve still been really good). They wrote a story, hidden between a simple looking concept. It’s a mixture of completely obvious and strongly pronounced visual telling were it even sometimes feels a bit cheap, just to then evolve into something deep, cryptic and emotional.
The fact that Lacey's voice sounds like a normal person makes it a lot scarier since its not distorted like other types of analog horror its clean and sounds like anyone else that needs help
that's someone voicing the lines for the purpose of this video i think, not in the sourcw material
Real Talk:
Lacey's Games highlights something I had been telling myself since I left college:
"You could pander to all, but please nobody. Not even yourself."
I would also go one step further and say that the pursuit of Perfection, of any kind, is its own kind of corruption. Yet, the pursuit of happiness, for the individual, is the best feeling one can have.
Yet, no happiness ever comes without a price tag. For some....it is especially steep. Especially cruel. Even moreso under the watchful eyes of a judgmental, yet pretentious few. If not that, then wrath of someone or some two who were supposesd to protect and support you.
Then, there is the loss of Jay, which shook the band the hardest, but Lacey especially seemed really broken.
Amen
Yeah, Lacey seemed to be in full-blown denial over Jay's death, and thought that if she applied makeup to her corpse, it would bring her back, since the reason she was killed off was because parents thought she "wasn't feminine enough." It didn't seem like she was able to accept it until she wrote her that goodbye song, which was even more depressing. Even though we never see Lacey and Jay directly interact, Lacey's breakdown over Jay's death I think showcases how VERY close the two of them were.
Also, seeing as how Jay was killed off nearing the end of YaniAso's lifespan (Jay's Skating Game came out in 2009, which was only one year before YaniAso went defunct, and Grace cut ties with Rocio), I feel like Jay's absence being the thing that marks the end of Lacey and the Jammers, could be a reflection of how Grace cutting ties with Rocio marks the end of YaniAso games.
@@midnalazuli793 indeed it does. Considering the fact it was so close the end, sounds like ignorance was pure bliss until it couldn't be justified.
I don't think Grace was negligent per se toward Rocio's situation, but just never worked up the nerve to see if she honestly needed help. But being spurned by a comment from a mother in regards to a tomboy....well, the dam of emotions finally broken, and Rocio's own demons went along for the ride.
Something I'd like to add that could just be me misreading, it almost looks like Lacey is sucking in her stomach (you can see this from how her ribs dent inward to her stomach) which goes hand-in-hand with insecurity. (Specifically in Wardrobe)
I think it’s an interesting thing you pointed out because she also says she’s hungry and would eat anything as it had been days. I’m not very surprised by the horrific acts people can do to one another and if her uncle literally locked her in the cage and starved her, I’d believe it. IK the cage is a metaphor tho and as someone who nearly died from how skeletal I was and left bed ridden as a teen, it wouldn’t surprise me if she has some form of a restrictive ED esp with the type of abuse she goes through. It’s the one thing she can control and like for me, it gave her a high after a certain point of no food. The fact her uncle is also referred to as a pig and the scene at the dinner table may nod to this.
She may view his gluttony as becoming like him or associating a horrible person with food and weight may make her think it’s bad like him. That’s just my thoughts tho, I also think him being referred to as a pig is also to describe his disgusting behaviors in general. I knew someone in hs where her parents decided to punish her for look like a (in their words) “tranny” bc she was a tomboy. They did this by not giving her lunch so she’d only have dinner and snacks and maybe breakfast. Even if she got enough food with the other meals and snacks, punishing someone by not giving them a meal and hovering the dining area during lunch at home to make sure she doesn’t eat it is horrible to say the least. She was the child they tossed aside after her mom remarried and her new brothers became the favorites of both parents.
@@beccawaltz7591 I'm sorry for them and you. Hope you get better!
@@beccawaltz7591 People really can be terrible. I give my condolences to your friend; I hope they're doing much better now. I was literally just at the Wardrobe when I made the comment, but now, I do think you could definitely be right. It also makes sense with how she says it was comforting, since with not being like him it would be a sense of security, and because it was heavily inferred there was SA happening, she could have also half unconsciously been trying to get a "better body" for him. Stuff like this truly disgusting; it makes me really think about the poor souls trapped in these situations, which is why I love stuff like this that spreads this kind of awareness. This even trains people to recognize the signs of this kind of abuse.
@@beccawaltz7591 you guys didnt deserve to hurt like that, its so cruel. i hope you both are doing okay, and please remember to take care of yourselves
They say that sometimes.. "art disturbs the comforted and comforts the disturbed." And.. this is it. This is one of the things that comforted me. Stalking, s/a, abuse, ect and many more trauma that girls/woman go true.. I've experienced most of what was talked about in the video. This type of "girls games" is really the true girls games. This has comforted me in many ways more than one.
I like the fact that this series feels like it was made by people who genuinely care about spreading awareness, like they completely understand what they're writing about.
They don't just use it for shock value or internet points, there's no oversimplification of the problems, and there's none of that bullcrap where misandry is used in place of feminism. Feminism is not about putting other people down so that women look better. It's about showing people what's wrong with the treatment and expectations of women, and Lacey displays those issues perfectly.
Basically, an internet horror series based on old flash games spreads awareness better than most TV, as in a lot of TV, instead of actually showing anything important, they show a woman insulting or humiliating a man and then pat themselves on the back for being "brave".
I'm disappointed.
Exactly
Changeing an entire website into a Horror ARG because people diddnt like my OC out of sheer spite alone
that
that just sounds like smt i would do that is verry relatable to me
GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE YOU LIKE FICTIONAL MINORS I KNOW WHO YOU ARE anyway that is totally off topic and i have no idea why you would mention that LACEYS FLASHGAMES ARE FOR THE TRAUMATIZED AFAB'S LIKE MEE GET OUTT
Cringe as fuck tbh. Why not just make a story in the beginning with said OC?
@@leonardwimbelton8920 the anger that inspires action by spite is something to be admired imo. i think it wouldve been cringe only if they had changed it to appeal to others (which on its own is not bad either - just going off of what i assume you meant).
@@leonardwimbelton8920 be normal
@@mus1c3gg Going out of your way to completely change your OC into something "worse" just because you received criticism from some people is just as bad. If you really enjoy creating something, it's better not to have it be fuelled by spite imo. That usually just leads to the content being worse for it
Grace’s attitude towards Rocío makes me wonder if she contributed to the story’s tragic conclusion. She constantly calls her insane and cuckoo, and never bothers to discover why Rocío acted the way she did. Obviously, Grace doesn’t have to be responsible for Rocío’s mental and emotional turmoil, but the way she talks about Rocío seems quite cruel. The part at the beginning where Grace talks about Rocío screaming during the recording session and pulling out her hair was disturbing, and it essentially told me that the people around her knew something was wrong with her, but their lack of understanding, whether deliberate or not, only contributed to her worsening mental state. Also, as you mentioned, Rocío and Grace were probably very close at some point while operating Yaniaso Games, so Grace’s insensitivity might’ve left Rocío feeling hopeless, even isolated. Imagine that the closest person to you, who you believe will take your feelings into consideration, reacts to your deep-rooted issues in a jarring, disconcerting way. Not to say that Rocío’s actions across the series are justified, but Grace isn’t innocent either.
Yeah, I really hated Grace's attitude during the whole video. It was so bizarre to see her go from seeming genuinely chill in the last episode to being this totally heartless and dismissive jerk who couldn't have cared less about making even the smallest effort to help her supposed friend who was obviously suffering. Not that Rocio is a saint or anything, but Grace definitely made things worse by not doing anything.
I think lacy games capture the true feelings of being miss treated, especially when it comes to breaking down its metaphors. I feel like some of the most relatable metaphor is when lacy is in the cage and she finds 'painful comfort' in as sad as it is that how most girls feel when they've gone through similar event's that lacy has gone through, including myself.
i think it is especially disgusting that in lacey's wardrobe, the player selects long, baggy, "inoffensive" pants and then changes to more "provocative" shorts while she is pleading for help
Hi i grew up as a young girl and a victim of some of the stuff in this series, let me be one of the first to say some of these comments reallt dont get it i feel. This is a great coverage of the series! It is over the top, but it captures that perfect sense of dread i feel just having to live in this body, its a familiar feeling for many girls, rhe first game explores dread, hopelessness, fear... and nobody will do anything about it. Not even the police. and her pleading was so real. The second game was so good at portraying the built up rage inside.
So many codes,so much gory imagery, so much discomfort. Its all so ramped up to a hundred, or more. To an unbelievable degree. But i can say, more than any series, this captures what it feels like to be a girl who got the bad end of the stick of life.
Thank you laceys, and im curious about everyone elses theories too:) this was just my own experience with it because i think it can be pretty interesting after living these sorts of things.
Damn I can’t really say much cause I suck at comforting but lemme send you virtual hug and hope you stay strong AND FUCKIN CRUSH IT at whatever your goals are.
@@enriqueperezarce5485 haha I appreciate the kind thoughts, and don't worry, I am absolutely crushing life!! I hope you are too :) thanks for commenting under my opinion!
Very mature way of putting and i like how you accepted it was over the top but still symbolised the trauma people go through rather than it being what actually happens to all girls lol. Good comment.
@@adamthake6570
OMG YES people in the comments are so like "this is the real girl games" as if abuse is the only destiny to a girl. Like... Aren't we nowadays fighting the objetification, therefore, abuse of women and girls??? So it is not the ONLY destiny for girls and that we can trace our own destiny?
Like, as if being a "real girl" is only having trauma and all that...
@@adamthake6570 Yeah, I really dislike the "trauma porn" or "opression olympics" that paint abuse as having a personality trait and thus... desirable, ugh... But these games really are in good taste and the symbolism is really the key here. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of similar media, but all just feel like "Trauma, directed by Zack Snyder"
I did not expect jays corpse to be so in detail, and the makeup on the corpse was such a good segment it made me feel sick, this series is so good at horror.
I noticed in the makeup part that she mentions “ she just need a little makeup for fixing, just like me” but as you can see that makeup cant fix you and make you normal and pretty again. You have to fix yourself, and not hide everything. While with jay i also realized that, lacy cant cope with her friend dying, meaning that lacy has a hard time coping with the change that she tries to make her friend “normal” again but fails bc shes already dead, not like her clients she could still fix them and hid the suffering. But i think that lacy tries so hard to fix everything but she cant.
i think lacey's dinner is a metafore to her saying about her trauma and revenge
day 1 - she tries her best to serve to customers this simple dish, yet she fails, promises herself to do better
metafore - she tries to tell somebody the toned-down version of abuse, gets left
day 2 - same thing, but she gets angry when they leave
metafore - she tries to tell somebody yet again, but she is tired of being left alone and retelling the same story
day 3 - disguisting dish, served to disguisting humans, restaurant gets closed
metafore - lacey doesn't cover up the ugly truth about her trauma with her uncle, she gives RAW truth to people who left her, she doesn't see hope in them, hence their ugly features. the restaurant closes, it shows, that people shut fer off, she can't tell anyone her trauma, because it's too brutal - can't serve the dish, it's too dirty. she can't escape her past, she takes her own life
ofc i might be wrong with this theory, but it just makes so much sense, would explain her uncle's head in the dish (he was the main part of her trauma)
One of the subliminal images reveals a forum of mothers complaining about how they perceived Jay as a bad influence on their daughters for "not being feminine enough."
If you take one look at Rocio, you'll notice right away that she isn't exactly a "girly girl," so I think she definitely resonated with Jay's style, especially considering she has the exact same hairstyle as her with the raccoon-style braid.
So when parents began complaining about a character just for being a tomboy, Rocio would've taken it very personal, especially considering Jay was a fan favorite who all the kids that played Lacey Games really loved. She killed off Jay out of spite towards those parents, and she did it in a really brutal way because it not only represents how she feels society treats girls like her, but also because she wanted those parents to see what their actions have lead to, and that it's because of them that their daughters would be traumatized that their favorite character was killed off. (Not saying this was in any way justified on Rocio's end, there isn't really any "good guys" in this situation).
Also, because Lacey is heavily implied to be an insert of Rocio, I feel like her breakdown over Jay's death is also a reflection of how much it hurt Rocio to do what she did. She obviously loved Jay as her own creation, and killing her off was like killing a part of herself.
I love the switch of Lacey going from the morgues dark room in sweats and a sweater to the pink glittery pink font girly makeup parlor. It’s like going into autopilot or make believe to take your mind off of whatever it is your doing.
Just when I think I’ve desensitized myself to horror…. Something truly horrifying pops up and shows me that I ain’t seen nothing yet. This just so happens to be one of those “somethings”.