#i'm gonna ask folks respectfully not to clown on this just because you don't like the character alright?

[sir-adamus]

I think that's what's been sort of bothering me about the future of Neo since yesterday. Before last episode I was still sort of on the maybe we can talk her down train (because we really hadn't seen a whole lot of her this volume), but then yesterday happened and I was like "nope. Definitely not talking this one out." And I'm not even sure if she's coming back to Remnant after this. I know none of our heroes would be okay with it after this (Which is completely valid because she literally bullied and tortured a 17 year old until she broke). So the complete ??? of Neo's future has kind of rattled me. Cuz it would really feel weird if she doesn't play a conscious part in the final two episodes, regardless of the outcome, you know? I'm not sure I'm articulating this correctly.

no worries anon, i have difficulties articulating almost everything i say so i get it

yeah with Neo it's interesting because like; they have invested a lot of time and writing into giving us her perspective, her backstory, making her a three-dimensional character that has sympathetic qualities and we can understand why she feels the way she does even when she's clearly in the wrong - we started volume 8 in her perspective as she realises she's in way over her head with Cinder, rankles at being treated like an errand girl and not an equal party in spite of their deal (which culminates in her threatening Cinder to force her to make good on her end of it because she'd been pussyfooting around on it - and Cinder responded in her usual, extremely petty way), and then we got Roman Holiday and saw the full extent of how she ended up where she did and the issues she faced with being refused autonomy. like, they clearly want us to be invested in her character and the struggles she faces even when she's being fucked up and horrible; there's layers to it, it's fiction, we can be invested in the dimensionality of a character and want to see that character in a better place while still acknowledging that they're making horrendous choices

and right after the self-destructive spiral that it's been clear she's been on since she reappeared in volume 6 reaches its culmination, forced to reckon with the fact that she's got nothing else now, which is an interesting turn for a character - "and then what?" is a trope for a reason - but before Neo can make a choice on what she's gonna be now, or strip back everything and realise what she wanted in the first place (before she settled in what was ultimately a very unhealthy dynamic with Torchwick - again, understandable why she did, because he was the only person in her life that treated her with any decency or respect for her autonomy - but she had nothing outside of that, which then led to this spiral she's in and her current actions because, like many of the characters she has a lot of parallels with, it was something to do other than grieve and process the losses), she has her autonomy ripped away from her, to be used as a puppet by the malevolent entity that is using her as a mouthpiece, forcing her to speak with a voice that isn't her own

it's "and i must scream" taken up to eleven if she's still conscious in there, and what the Cat did is horrific and violating and no one deserves it regardless, but it's worse with the context of Neo's history how she's once again being used for someone else's agenda

i could see them doing a fighting from the inside thing with her because of all that context with her, rediscovering that her original goal was to be free and fighting against the monster trying to use her (for example by summoning the Jabberwalker with her Semblance, because the Cat has her body but they don't have her mind and that's what her Semblance draws from), and that could go a lot of ways with it being enough to buy time for the heroes to defeat the Cat with her going down with them or the heroes manage to exorcise the Cat but save Neo (maybe they have to save Neo to defeat the Cat, Jaune's semblance has been used to bolster people fighting against mind control before and with the way Neo's Semblance interacts with the Ever After she could unleash some hell on the Cat as a result) - and there's a discussion there if she'd be returned to normal or if she'd be changed by the experience, furthering the analogue she's been having with Ruby's progression through this volume (the idea of Neo's body still being altered even with the Cat's influence gone, and possibly some semblance of its powers remaining could be interesting to explore)

in the event she does survive, she's still left with "and then what", and the opportunity is there for her to make better or at least different choices, because revenge wasn't satisfying and it left her empty; maybe it'll be a walking the earth thing now that she has to decompress and deal with the shit she's been repressing (and the Ever After's basically built for that), with a now begrudging respect for the heroes for saving her ass (because like, if they can defeat the Cat without killing her they probably would, they're not executioners and continuing a cycle of revenge doesn't help anybody, especially if she's in no position and has no desire to fight back anymore), maybe showing up later down the line as a sometimes ally once she finds a new reason for being. or hell maybe in the "we haven't forgiven you for what you've done and we probably won't but we'll have your back as long as you have ours" situation that Emerald is in now

like, Neo's a messy and complicated character - intentionally - and this has all been left with a messy and complicated resolution because of the Cat hijacking her before her character could really be resolved - and i guess i'm maybe being optimistic here but this show is optimistic, even though we're in the darkest hour right now the optimism is coming

but i like the idea that we're not operating on something that's rigidly black and white, all-or-nothing kinda thing. that in fighting an impossible war on the scale we're getting to, you'll find allies in those who have done unforgivable things and the point is not to forgive them (and honestly the fact that people are still conflating redemption with forgiveness when they are entirely separate things is another thing that bothers me, and i'm on record saying in the most positive version of events i don't think Neo would even be redeemed, so much as it just being a heel-face turn and leaving it at that) but to accept that they're making better choices now in the moment and that's something you can work with

anyway this got long and rambly and probably not terribly coherent, but yeah