#I'd prefer that she ally semi-antagonistically with the Coup Crew than with the HHB

[dear-kumari]

Why don't we talk abt the double standards that exists in any? This chap jaeha tells hiury that he can't see violence against a defenceless woman no matter the circumstances while 2 chap ago he threatened the same woman of life just for trying to slap yona and let's not forget how they're absolutely fine to danger the mortal innocent ppl just to save(?) their immortal pal. Ofc I don't stand for hiurys violence but logically he's doing this to keep the most imp secret safe. But yk both situations aren't framed equally in terms of morality

Hi anon!  fwiw, I haven’t actually read the chapter yet; I’m waiting for the fan scanlation rn, since ET Scans have made it abundantly clear that they aren’t reliable translators (ofc I can’t completely avoid them because ppl post their stuff in the tags, but whatever).  So, just assume anything I say about it here is my impression based on quick translations and summaries I’ve seen on Twitter.

I do agree that there’s a double standard in the framing of CC vs. HHB, and that the tournament chapters vs. ch. 201/204 really drive home that double standard.  As far as Jaeha’s actions, I guess I’ll push back a little on his behalf and say that he didn’t threaten Meinyan with violence in ch. 202, his best bro Kija did.  We do have an instance of him threatening a defenseless woman’s life, though, and that was during the tournament!  He also threatened her baby. :)  But, ya know, it’s totally okay because he only trying to provoke Geuntae into cutting him down — which, given the circumstances, could’ve led to even worse consequences, like riots and political unrest breaking out because the Earth Tribe general killed the sacred green dragon — so yeah, no negative framing or callouts necessary for him there.  Lovable scamp, that Jaeha.  Even the guy whose wife and child he just threatened can’t stay mad at him!

Forgive me for going on a tangent here, but yeah, the whole tournament fiasco was some bs.  The in-universe justification that Jaeha and Kija were “carefully aiming” the rocks so people wouldn’t get “seriously” hurt was also bs.  Rapa almost got his face crushed in by one, and Hak had to catch a man-sized one and deflect others while in the middle of a crowd.  People were also scrambling over each other in a panic to get out of the lower seats, so someone could’ve been hurt or killed there as well.  Also, how the hell would they know that no one had been seriously injured?  A projectile’s kinda out of your hands once you fling it, plus they both immediately passed out and had to get medical attention.  Jaeha had no way of confirming that people hadn’t gotten hurt or killed; we can only assume he was right because no one’s brought it up since.  Yayyy, I love when nothing matters

And like I’ve mentioned before, I don’t think they even needed to have “real” consequences for their actions during the tournament.  What they needed was for literally anyone outside of their insular found family circle to be like “hey, that was stupid and immoral and you should feel bad.”  Suwon and Keishuk have to deal with Yona’s righteous callouts in ch. 201/204 after making stupid reckless decisions, so where’s the righteous callout for the dragons’ stupid reckless decisions?  Why is it okay for one group of people to go this far to protect their own but not okay when another group does basically the same thing?  idk why this has to be said, but throwing deadly projectiles at crowds of innocent civilians isn't morally superior to siccing Hyuri on someone.

(Also re: Hyuri himself, I don’t think his morality or decision-making factors into this at all, so Jaeha’s words towards him kinda just feel unnecessary.  The man has no agency, he’s just a big scary plot device.  I love him and his wacky goofy murder antics, but it’s true.)

When the dragons go too far to keep their totally capable bros “safe” and ignore any alternatives, they get cheers and a knowing smirk from Hak and some flaccid “stop being so reckless” scolding from their bros.  When the coup bois go too far to keep king and country safe and ignore any alternatives, they get smacked with callouts and villainous framing up the wazoo.  More importantly, they only ever make decisions like this in service of getting characters from point A to point B and making Yona look good.  There’s been a lot of debate about whether Suwon’s decision in the latest chapter was logical or not, but idk if it even matters.  As long as this series feels the need to make hot passionate love to the protagonists’ self-righteousness at every turn, it will never mature into the good, nuanced coming-of-age story it thinks it is.