#basically i feel like any kind of krejjh-arkady interaction about this episode is going to be juicy

[tunedtostatic]

I turned my meandering tags from my “Arkady is the baby of the Rumor crew” post into a longer meta thing like the navel-gazer I am because I’m still thinking about this

OP was “Arkady technically being the baby of the original Rumor crew is both funny (because she, not to mention the others, absolutely does not act like it), and heartbreaking (because she, not to mention the others, absolutely does not act like it)” with disclaimer “I haven't listened to the new episode yet apologies if anything in it makes this post tasteless and/or incorrect somehow #I mean incorrect probably no since the only avenue to that would be Krejjh being the Dwarnian-maturity equivalent of < 27 which I doubt” that I edited that if Episode 7 doesn't underline part two of point two, idk what does

#but seriously the 'technically' here is only because of Violet coming next at ~28 #next is Brian at 34 and like there are fandom jokes predicated on the dynamic of Arkady as Brian's big sister #and they're funny because they're not wrong but when you look at the ages Brian is closer to a decade older than her than he is to her age

#of course with the advent of RJ Arkady is not the baby of the Iris 2 #there's probably something to be said about Arkady's animosity toward them in light of all this #to the others RJ is more easily a Poor Misguided Kid while to Arkady (and Violet) they're closer to just being a peer

#anyway I think Arkady's characterization really hits the nail on the head for a character #who had to be competent during trauma during‚ as Violet put it‚ developmentally important years #hypercompetent in professional/social contexts but with large gaps in her personal emotional skills #(*Not* saying this to be nasty about her orientation. Ace adults are adults and being grey-ace is not some kind of adulthood deficit. #but rather the like. hiding in the air vents)

I think one way Arkady is such a delightful character concept is as a dramatization of spending the “becoming an adult” years under stress with no consistent older adult presence. She’s given a gun in desperate circumstances on Cresswin, then goes to the front lines of a war where the adult presence is the terrible leadership, teaching herself skills (“I hack, I lie, I fight”) and becoming superfluously good at them along the way. At twenty-seven, she’s been “doing adulthood” for well over a decade, and in many ways the result is hypercompetence. She’s an experienced deputy leader of the crew who can improvise, collaborate, or take the lead on any challenge. But she skipped a lot of emotional development steps and never had the chance to learn “how to do adulthood” from adults under okay circumstances.

The result is...like, not to project (second-hand project?) onto fictional characters, but when listening to the podcast it feels like part of Arkady’s ridiculousness is that she’s dealing with the same contrast me/friends who took on some adult responsibilities as teenagers are dealing with. She grew up presenting as “more adult than the adults” and would have been the last person to notice (or be told) she still had growing up to do, but in reality she does have these areas of emotional maturity that never had a chance to develop. (And PTSD she isn’t dealing with, which is kind of a separate but connected issue.) It’s a contrast that seems dramatized by the difference between Kay Grisham/Sister Theresa Margaret/Duchess Calpurnia Higginsworth-Cob interacting with people on the job during a con and Arkady interacting with people in her personal life.

Back to Arkady being the baby of the crew, Arkady’s competence and authority makes her dynamic with the crew interesting. Obviously it’s good she has a home with people who respect her competence instead of treating her like a kid sister because she isn’t in her thirties (can you imagine). But the way Sana, Brian and Krejjh lean on her as a hypercompetent First Mate makes it seem important for Violet to be around to poke at the edges of her issues. Arkady might have a point about Violet’s “huge panicky eyes” making it hard to talk to about her about her past, but Violet having that alarmed outsider POV on the shit Arkady has been through and the ways it has affected her matters too.

(Episode 7 spoilers) Yes I’m annoyed with Krejjh for making impulsive choices that led to Arkady getting shot and then continuing to lean on her emotionally as a shoulder to cry on at the end of the episode, though speaking of projecting onto fictional characters I’ve definitely screwed up in the same kind of ways Krejjh did, so no hate. But I am wondering if them treating Arkady as an invulnerable protector will come up at some point in addition to wherever the thing with Arkady’s PTSD is going.