#Boy … Protagonist-Centered Morality really does poison everything it touches huh

[dear-kumari]

hey i’m not disappointed by ur answer at all! and i agree, i liked her when she was first introduced, character design and the way she challenged yona, i just also love the page when she attacked joodoh for how it was drawn and joodoh’s expression lmao. i think it’s unfair for ppl to think she’s strong now bc i think it was clear she had a lot of fortitude the way she carried herself and offered soo won her deal at the beginning. i remember ppl thot it was silly she didn’t have a backup plan, but rly think she just couldn’t even think abt him turning her down bc she was sure he was lonely for family like her. she wouldn’t allow herself to consider the possibility. i do hope her frustrations w yona aren’t completely brushed aside in the future, bc i LOVED her whole speech abt that and def felt her pain. she was so sympathetic already, i’d be pissed too her in situation. the way i saw it, she knows she’s going to die young, and she wanted to at least die w dignity/secure position of power that’s HERS, not as a concubine. have all that she can bc her life’s gonna be short. and what’s wrong with that? it’s not like she had grand evil plans to use the dragons for, she doesn’t have enough time. i don’t want it to go straight to understanding yona’s had some hard times, bc that doesn’t change the point. her being angry w soo won now feels like a shift from that, but she could be angry w them both kusanagi doesn’t have to choose. basically, i rly hope her role can still be to push yona’s thinking abt hiryuu, since they’re both at the castle now still and someone has to bring her ho-chan....

(Anon, you have finally motivated me to figure out how people have been sending these insanely long asks lately, and for that I must thank you.)  I understand what you’re saying and I guess I do agree with a lot of it.  As nice as the sentiment is, though, I doubt she’s gonna be able to keep up the same level of animosity towards Yona as she has towards Suwon.  One thing I loved about her character at the start was that she didn’t owe Yona anything, unlike Suwon who always has the fact of his betrayal hanging on his mind no matter how valid his feelings and actions are — but then Kusanagi ruined that element of her character not three chapters in because, hey, why let a strong, compelling, motivated female character just exist independently of the protagonist’s divine influence, amirite?  It’s not like she could’ve negotiated her own imprisonment or anything when things went sideways, demonstrating her competency and quick thinking as a member of a cutthroat court or anything like that — nope, Yona has to step in with her Moral Compass™, Jaeha has to save her while she’s on her knees (I hate it here lol), and Yun has to show her the compassion she’s never received to melt her Ice Queen heart.  I think the stuff with Yun could’ve been fine and heartwarming on its own, but the whole conga line of “look how awesome and perfect the HHB is uwu” just doesn’t give her that room to be resentful of Yona’s ignorance without the narrative throwing what she owes Yona back in her face.  So … no, I think Kusanagi has already chosen, and poorly at that.

Can she still push Yona to think about her role as Hiryuu?  Sure, with time, I think the broad lessons Yona needs to learn about divine power and the gods will finally sink in.  But the framing is already super reductive, so I don’t think it’ll necessarily conclude with Yona needing to be critical of her own actions.  This is probably gonna end with the “wow this illness sucks”/ “okay then I’ll fix it” *fixes it* scenario that I expressed concern over before, one that nominally solves the problem but doesn’t actually take into account Yona’s personal relationship with power and responsibility.  If we’re just building up to Yona as a selfless savior of humanity, then I’m sorry, but I feel bad for both of these young women — Meinyan for being denied agency and dignity, and Yona for being denied dynamism and nuance.