Ive been seeing a lot of criticism about the recent collab, that it doesn't fit or make sense, and as a lover of the movies and cyberpunk I wanna add my silly thoughts 💫 i think it fits 1000% the more I think about Lads × Blade Runner 2049, the more I wonder if we're looking at a parallel that goes beyond the obvious K and Joi references, and what caught my attention is the possibility that this collaboration places both the players and the five LIs in K's position, just from opposite sides of the screen..in the pv the five LIs appear as enormous holograms extending their hands toward us in a scene reminiscent of Joi's interaction with K, the reference becomes even harder to ignore when they use the line, "You look lonely, I can fix that" lol and at first glance, the symbolism seems clear enough, we occupy K's place, looking up at these virtual figures, while the male leads take on Joi's role and honestly, it's a fitting parallel for an otome game cmon, we know the characters exist within a fictional world, yet the affection, attachment, and emotions we experience through them are genuine, their virtual nature doesn't make what we feel any less real. buut I can't stop thinking about the orange sandstorm poster, because it introduces a detail that complicates this otherwise 'straightforward' comparison, in Blade Runner 2049, the orange desert is where K searches for the truth about himself. His journey is deeply tied to questions of identity, his purpose, and whether his existence means anything beyond what he was designed to be, yet in the collaboration poster, the ones standing within that same orange sandstorm are the five LIs???? 😭 why put them there????? maaybe it's simply a reference to the movie's visual language, true, but if the imagery is meant to carry a deeper narrative implication, I wonder if we're being invited to consider the LIs as more than our Joi equivalents, like what if, in this particular part of the story, they're K, too? And we are their Joi? You know instead of a simple division between the human player and the virtual characters, we get two sides confronting different versions of the same existential dilemma...that would be cool. For us, the question is whether our feelings can be real when the people who inspire them exist in a virtual world. For the LIs, the question might be whether their feelings, identities, and choices have meaning when their own existence is subject to a system that defines them 🤔 us Caleb mains have seen this 4th wall break already and one of the central questions in Blade Runner 2049 is whether someone needs to be extraordinary, uniquely destined, or born with a special purpose to have a meaningful existence. K's journey challenges that assumption, his significance doesn't ultimately depend on being the person he once believed he might be, bc what matters is what he chooses to do, even when those choices don't grant him the special identity he hoped for, his life matters without the prophecy. His choices matter without the validation of being someone extraordinary. So what if the LIs are being placed in a similar position? If their identities and circumstances are shaped by a system, does that automatically determine the limits of who they can become? Or can the decisions they make, and the love they choose to give, become something that exceeds the conditions of their creation? Idk man (+)