(Prev anon) Oh no I agree that the whole kidnapping him, stripping him naked while unconscious, and putting the soul band on him without his consent thing was completely fucked up and arguably worse than "cheating" in a relationship he was forced/coerced into, and I agree that he often reacts without thinking. But my idea was that he at least should have stopped at some point while feeling Sky's emotions. However, looking back at the panels, it seems as if she was asleep or something and only found out the morning after (and I just forgot).
Still, I think he had ample time to start thinking about it after the initial decision to sleep with Zora. Personally, I think he would have ended the night early out of guilt (how early I'm not sure) but I might be biased from disliking the whole storyline (and Slott) (and the amount of misconceptions it spawned)
That issue is honestly such a mess. Like, I always think there's an issue between Lyja leaving and Johnny sleeping with Zora but no, it's like, immediately after, which is part of why I think he wasn't thinking at all. I also think there's an element to it too in Sky taking off right after Lyja did and Johnny being left alone. And then it immediately cuts to Johnny in bed with Zora, post-coitus. Like, I get what you're saying about him having ample time to think about it and ending the night early, but I think they may have literally just jumped into bed without any preamble.
"And I offered you a hope-you-feel-better hug. A friendly gesture." "Which I took. And then I took you."
They have got to get her another blond-haired pretty boy from the decadent West as a chew toy. Central European women go crazy for a blond-haired pretty boy from the decadent West.
But also, the feelings thing is like -- see, my problem here goes back to the execution again, because I only remembered that was even a thing when I was skimming these issues before the first ask for a refresh. I feel it's much harder to pull off Magic Soulbonding Mechanics in an established canon that didn't previously lean into them, but I actually love stupid soulbonding stuff in fiction like, so much. In fanfiction, too. One of the elements I really like is that kind of messy feelings sharing, especially with new soulmate bonds -- whose feelings are these? Do they bleed into each other? Can you trust 100% what you're feeling yourself without your soulmate's influence? That's the good stuff and I think Dan kind of sets that up but then refuses to actaully write it. Like, if Johnny could sense Sky's feelings well, why would Lyja have been able to disguise herself as Sky and fool him earlier in that issue? And unfortunately a lot of the answers here are "it's just not that well written." I agree that it comes down to lazy writing and Dan Slott just not trying very hard. It's frustrating.
