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Would you agree that it's Jinu's fault that Mira and Zoey raised their weapons at Rumi? There's def lots of things to consider there and initially I'm like, yes and no? Because technically it was Jinu's plan that led to MiZo finding out about Rumi's patterns and demon side in the worst way possible. But then again, no, because blaming others for your own decision or reaction is rubbing me the wrong way. They're big girls, they can think for themselves

No, I'm with you, anon. It's absolutely true that Jinu holds responsibility for putting Rumi, Mira, and Zoey in that position in the first place--but what Mira and Zoey do once they're in that situation is entirely their own choice. They could have chosen to hear Rumi out, to give her the benefit of the doubt, to recognize that she was panicking and help her calm down enough to explain instead of cutting her off before she could really formulate what she wanted to say. Jinu didn't, like, hold them at gunpoint and force them to react badly.

Like, did Jinu make the situation look bad? Yes, and that is on him. I don't mean to downplay how he betrayed Rumi. But, bluntly, he was playing on fractures that were already present within the girls' friendship. He was playing on the distrust that Mira and Zoey already had for both demons and for Rumi at this point. We can't act like Jinu somehow magically made Mira and Zoey distrust Rumi, or hate demons. They already did--Jinu just put them in a situation that brought those problems to the surface. And then they made a choice of how to handle those problems. And that's on them.

It frustrates me, honestly, the amount that certain fans will go out of their way to make everything Jinu's fault and nothing Mira and Zoey's fault. I'm not even saying this as a Jinu fan (although you know I am), but as a Mira and Zoey fan, as well: why the hell do so many people want to gloss over the girls' complexity? Mira and Zoey have real flaws that negatively impact the way they treat Rumi. And that, to me, is way more interesting and raw and real-feeling than if they're just these perfect passive background characters that have things Happen to them. I've said it before, but it's a common criticism of Mira and Zoey (even outside of the fandom, in mainstream conversations about kpdh) that they're not very fleshed-out compared to Rumi or Jinu. And I think the reason why it can feel that way is because Mira and Zoey tend to be reacting to plot events more than acting to create events in the plot. Mira confronting Rumi in her room is one notable exception, which helped to give her character a lot more presence and depth, but overall Mira still is a much less active character than Rumi and Jinu are... which is a problem.

So with all that in mind, I simply don't get the appeal of making Mira and Zoey even more passive. They chose to raise their weapons against Rumi, they didn't have to make that choice, and that is interesting. It is an interesting point to their characters. It gives them complexity. These are characters who care a lot about doing the right thing, and they try so hard to do the right thing that they end up doing the wrong thing in this scene because they've been taught that it's right. And that's interesting!!