#anyway yeah. according to some people in the fandom characters' actions can be inferred UNLESS that character is a teenage girl

[neixins]

LITERALLY!!!! the parallels with meinyan are such a good point, i didn't even think of that!! i need to reread her chapters....

and yeah i think the most obvious solution to the current predicament is for hak, su-won, and zeno to work together from outside the chalice. like i can see a new contract possibly being attempted as a trick similar to the fake hostage situation in south kai, but i don't think that'd be a permanent solution. besides, the series has always been in part about the power of community, and yona has needed people around her to succeed since the beginning so her getting out of this all alone without anyone's help wouldn't make any thematic sense.

on that note—and this will be a bit of a tangent, sorry—i've seen some people criticize yona for "acting like a god only when it suits her" but iirc the only time she actually embraced the fact that she's hiryuu's reincarnation was when she was trying to save her friends, in a highly stressful situation where she didn't have time to consider every possible consequence. otherwise, she's always been very adamant about being human. she doesn't really want to be a queen, let alone a god, and it's strange to me when people insist that she needs to be both/either. like just let her and the rest of the hhb go back to their wandering xia ways!! they're most suited to helping people in very concrete ways, not by sacrificing themselves to the gods (which nobody should be doing anyway lol) or by governing (which should be left to other characters). (i've also seen a few people complain recently about how the dragon warriors only joined her bc she's hiryuu's reincarnation which lol. lmao, even. a reread of the first 7 volumes is in order, methinks, since yona is very clear from the beginning about being just a girl looking for help and not wanting to force anyone to join her, but i guess now that she's making decisions people don't like, they're willfully misinterpreting the early chapters too (and even when they can't do that with sinha and jaeha, they still do it with gija, as if yona didn't clearly tell him that she's not a god and he still chose to be like "okie dokie :) onward we go!". which goes into my whole issue with people infantilizing gija and acting like he has no agency but if i start going on that tangent i'll never shut up))

anyway, tangent over! i also feel like the gods' threat to kill hak is kind of.. hollow? not in terms of emotional impact bc i think it's an incredibly effective way to create a feeling of being trapped which the gods can use to coerce yona into staying with them. i just keep going back to the line about the gods losing their power if they break their contracts, which they've been doing for a while now, with keeping yona inside the chalice and maiming the dragon warriors and so on and so forth. they're already weakened, and attempting to kill hak (and potentially even just the threat of it) would just be another nail in their own coffins. like i wouldn't be surprised if the next chapter starts and they're melting wicked-witch-of-the-west style dfjgdkskj

the only thing i somewhat disagree with is that yona didn't succeed in saving the dragons. like they're still trapped inside the chalice with her (sans zeno obviously) so they're not fully in the clear, but i don't think that them becoming disabled is worse than being stuck in a magically-induced coma inside an eldritch hellscape. and ngl the notion that the dragons might've been sent back only to wake up without their powers and with no knowledge of how or why that happened had me worried bc it would've felt like a parallel to how disabled people's autonomy often gets ignored in medical settings (even if they wouldn't have been quite so visibly disabled in that case), so i was actually relieved when they woke up and fought back, even if it left them really badly injured. honestly, while i think there's currently a 50/50 chance of the gods agreeing to restore the dragons' limbs/eyes, i'd prefer it if that didn't happen and they got disability aids after getting out of the chalice instead. like now that they're conscious and can actually agree to it if they wish, i'd find it less uncomfortable, but the fantasy genre is full of the magical cure trope and i personally like how the story is going against that so far.

Chapter 267 ramble

I said this about Suwon last time but I think we should all read akayona with more emotions sometimes maybe. like, in general. for everyone. I don't want Yona to be Suwon and to only think of the greater good. I want Suwon and Yona to coexist, like they've been working on for a while now. I don't like the theory that Suwon will die to save Hak and/or Yona, I don't think it's good and I don't think it makes sense with what the story has been exploring and conveying so far, and I would feel the same if it was Yona or anyone instead of Suwon. Anyone sacrificing themselves to appease/please the gods would be the lamest conclusion ever. The story hasn't been subtle about challenging the notions that sacrifices, punishments and now contracts are necessary. Like,, no they're not. They need everyone here.

I was more sceptical when Yona didn't hesitate at all in chapter 257, but here I don't think it's an issue. Like first, we see her be affected and waver when the gods use the dragons' limbs against her. She recovers her composure because dragons are here and tell her to not worry about this. But more importantly, Yona has known hell, and it's there that she met people reaching out their hands to others in need again and again, and this is what inspired her to fight and bring help to those in need back. It's in hell she met her friends, her family and was moved by people's kindness again and again. She has no reason to be scared of what the gods are warning her about, she has known wars, she has known disasters. She will just stand against everything the future throw at her like she said in ch257. She loves the mess that is Kouka Kingdom and its people. I don't think there was anything better she could have done in her situation. She doesn't have the means and power to do anything but either submit to the gods or escape, she needs outside help. Yona is not responsible for the dragons losing their limbs, nor for Kouka's current state. The gods are the only ones being unreasonable and irrational here, you just can't win against something irrational like that, she can only leave.

Moreover, I don't want Yona to decide the terms of Kouka's future for everyone like a god, and the best way to do that is again to leave, not make any deal with the gods, and face everything on Earth as a human like she always did, which she's exactly what she's trying to do in ch267. Yona already said she's resolved to find ways to bring an end to wars, we've seen her participate to help out tribes and countries and people again and again. That's what she does. Relying on a contract with the gods (even though we have seen how damaging and harmful it is on the long run! again and again! and they're not reliable! Don't we all want the gods to just stop with their vows and contracts and prophecy and rules already?) is the easy, coward way out. Humans don't need the powers of the gods. They don't need divine protection. They have accomplished everything by fighting as they are. Yona was helped by the gods' powers sure, but her development is about being strong enough to not depend on her friends' powers, and it's most of all the characters trying to help out others that truly accomplish things. The people on Earth are all working hard to help each other out and deal with each problem together, even now. They will manage, they will be fine. Let's believe in the power of people. All they need is the human Yona too, and the humans four dragons, and the humans Suwon and Hak. All of Kouka need to be freed from the gods' supervision.

Literally no one right now is asking for anything the gods have ever been doing, they only ever did this for themselves. The gods are fear mongering right now, and I don't think it's worth falling into the trap of believing all life is doomed without their protection like they want us to. I don't think they're objective. They always considered humans were stupid detestable creatures that are destined to destroy themselves without their intervention. I don't think they realize how resilient people on Earth are. (Lili alone would gag them!) Natural disasters are one thing, but how do they know wars will be break out? Wars are started and enacted by people, and are stopped by people as well. We have seen characters facing sort of natural disasters (even if it wasn't natural back then) by working out together during the flooding of Kin Province for example, or when Kuuto was burned down. People have infinite ressources when they work together. Suwon is resolved to find a way to bring back the sky knowing he can't influence the Gods too. It's their business. It's their country. Yona belongs to Earth and people in Kouka want her back because she is waited for, loved, and needed as the human Yona there. Like it is the case for every other character.

I think the theory of Suwon dying and sacrificing himself has no solid basis either. Like, I don't know, he might consider it, but I just don't think it will happen and if it goes there, it will be prevented. I may be naive, but to me the story is conveying that it's not something wishable? Suwon doesn't need to die and wait for punishment (or """redemption""" like I've seen some call it) to be "even". Suwon can live, and find the best path where no one has to be sacrified and punished, himself included. Isn't it what chapter 262 ends on? It's not about equivalent exchange and balance, it's about love and hope for the future. Characters in akatsuki no yona have been giving without expecting anything in return again and again, even if they were hurt before, this is the crux of it to me. This is the nature of Hiryuu's actions in the past too. So no ending can be satisfying if the Gods don't do the same. (Or else just vanish forever.) Without mentioning that it has been established Suwon wants to live. Like, even with what looks like passive suicidal ideation, Suwon wants to live. He can't help being curious about what will happen next. He simply needs help to believe a better future for him is possible too.

And this help can still come. The story isn't over yet. Zeno is still immortal, the dragons have lost their limbs, are not even truly back to normal and are stuck in the chalice, Yona is stuck too, the crimson illness is still a thing etc.. Let's not rush things, and let's look at the bigger picture and find a better solution than just sending anyone that pleases the gods to heavens so they're happy and give everything else ppl want in exchange.