Breaking bad

Honestly I have been a bit upset about some comments I've read in this section so let me share here a few elements of analysis.
This work of Uru-chan actually has a lot of depth, so it is nice to pause and think about it, instead of taking everything litteraly.
Disclaimer : I have read this story once, so obviously I can't remember everything.

1. First, John is obviously an anti-hero. He is turning extremely violent, unlikeable, and unconsistent. Frankly, his character may seem exaggerated but I think that's the point. He is snowing some worryingly schizophrenic behaviour. And this is naturally upsetting us readers because we identified ourselves to the character at the beginning of the story. Which is the point of any story - to put us into the shoes of the main character. He reminds me of Walter White of Breaking Bad, which always made me feel very unconfortable - because his character as a anti-hero was extremely well-written. I believe this identification is the reason why some readers will defend John in this comment section even though he has shown gratuitous, unjustified violence multiple times.

2. Second, even though his character is so extreme, his shift of personality is believable and has been coming gradually. The huge trauma he is carrying for the past is making it understandable. After the events at his former high school, he concealed his scar very deeply, came to Weston, and cultivated an ideology based on the book Unordinary. Because of this ideology that is actually a bit idealistic in this deeply inequal world, he put himself in a precarious situation (as a cripple), and frankly a very unsustainable position considering his past and character. Saying "it is Arlo's fault" is actually oversimplying the truth. Considering Arlo's character, his actions make perfect sense to me. And considering John's character, it is perfectly natural that they clashed and that this resulted in John not being able to maintain the precarious balance he has had since coming to Weston. Arlo is very rational. He has seen before (when Remi's brother was the king) how an idealistic ideology based on equality simply cannot work in Weston, so he is adamant about everyone being at his rightful place. He wants to maintain order, but is aware that this order is fragile. He believes that through order, less people is getting hurt. He is the embodiement of responsibility. This philosophy clashes with John who is basically an anarchist. John wants to overthrow the system but has nothing else to offer, which is how many people end up getting hurt. John (the untidy hair one) has shown two repeated characteristics. First, he refuses to be held accountable. He has systematically pushed the blame away from himself, onto other people and mainly Arlo (which is why, if you also say "it is all Arlo's fault", I would tend to believe that John has successfully converted your train of thought to his!). Second, he is putting lots of value into loyalty. Loyalty and betrayal are constant themes in his mouth (especially with the events currently happening with Sera). These two caracteristics are very common in dictators of the real world. I believe Trump has also been showing them repeatedly.

3. Sera. Everybody has high expectations for Sera to save John. Obviously, I also believe that she will be strong enough to offer him a redemption arc, but please give her a break. While John is repeating the same mistakes and refuses to learn and take responsibility, Sera has seen her world shatter twice. First she lost her powers which means her place in this world, and had to face the harsh realities of constant unsecurity. Then her whole belief system (which was John's) crumbled and she now thinks her best friend has always lied to her and is looking down on her. So when I read comments about how she should forgive and support him, frankly they are bordering on sexism. I'd like John to support her instead.

4. This world of unequalities is very interesting. The strong prey on the weak and abuse their power. Resentment is building. Lots of analogies to be made with the real world again here. The point of fiction is to explore real possibilities, even fictions with magic...

5. Anyway, I talked a bit about the ideologies of John and Arlo, I believe the first is unconsistent and unsustainable while the second is more rational but a bit too rigid and conservative. The one ideology that could work to improve this world, in my mind, is Remi's. Have you notice how everyone is getting into meaningless conflicts while ignoring the real threat? Yet Ember has shown multiple times that they were dangerous. Remi with the help of her two friends is one of the few who has not turn a blind eye on this. Because even though she is powerful, she cares about others, she is not egocentric. Most of the others only care about their own interests, which is how a big threat like Ember ends up forgotten (even by the reader). Again, this story offers an analogy to real events, such as how lots of people are totally ignoring climate change.

Well, with this I tried to provide a few elements to show how deep this story actually is. I believe the author has put a lot of thought into this work and has carefully laid out elements in the first chapters that are useful much later for our understanding. Let's be appreciative of this amazing story!