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Discussion - Johnny Smith's Character
DISCUSSION POST
Topic: Johnny Smith's Role in SHWC and an analysis as Johnny Smith as a character.
So, um. I honestly don’t know why I’m doing this. But Johnny swims around in my mind a lot and I’ve been spending insane amounts of time trying to pin down what attracts me to him as a character as well as trying to coherently sum up what he is to the story and to the other characters. It’s probably going to get long and maybe boring - I can guarantee it’ll be rambly with me emphasizing things that might make you go ‘so what?’. THAT’S JUST HOW I ROLL.
So, here we go:
WE ARE THE CARTOON HEROES
Basically, Johnny is at the center of the story. Not completely, obviously, because SHWC focuses on a lot of different characters and situations going on, but it is pretty obvious that the heart of the story (for now, maybe it’ll change but I honestly hope not) is JRO’s tale. From their relationship there are lead-ins to so many different other characters and storylines and they seem to have destiny kind of riding on their shoulders. And it makes sense. They represent the three major opposing forces inside of Strangetown right now - the aliens, the military and death (or life!).
But the strangest part of all is that they’ve managed to come together and have formed this super tight bond that’s basically proven to be near unbreakable. Despite those backgrounds and the hatred surrounding all of the older generation they’ve managed to stay together, completing one another.
And at the heart of JRO is Johnny. Not always, of course, but he’s the original uniting force that drove Phi and Ripp together and is the one that has the most power to change their relationship at any given moment. This is illustrated most painfully in Chapter 25 when Phi asks him, quite seriously, what he wants to do, and also at the very end of the chapter when he makes the decision to pull Ripp into bed with him and Phi. It’s there in the way Phi and Ripp are cautious not to be too affectionate around Johnny, because they don’t want to upset him. And it’s there in the way that the both of them need Johnny.
THE KIDS FINALLY GET IT
Honestly, Johnny didn’t really interest me for a very long time. I believe Phi and Tank had my heart at the very beginning and Ripp always tugged at me of course, but was kind of a train wreck and Johnny… well he’s not the most sympathetic character, y’know? It sucks that he has to choose between love and family, but I mean… he had a good childhood, he’s good at most everything he does and KNOWS it, and he really does have something of a stick up his ass. So yeah, I didn’t pay him much attention besides thinking that he really ought to just explain to Phi the whole Jayne situation.
But then he did something that basically cemented as my favorite SHWC forever and ever no matter what terrible things he might do in the future.
Johnny chose Phi and Ripp.
Even after everything that happens to him that night and despite how easy it would have been to turn his back on the both of them when he found them in bed together. And even though he could have told Phi that he wanted her to be his and only his. Despite the fact that Ripp is fucking up again and again and it would be so easy to hate them and do the ‘right’ thing (at least by his family and the alien’s standards). He doesn’t.
He chooses them. Ripp and Phi. Them and only them. It’s selfish. And stupid. And worst of all is that he is choosing the future that is most likely to come crumbling down.
But that’s the life he chooses.
And that’s why I love him.
TIME TO LEAVE
So I’m sure a lot of people disagree with his decision and even find it hard to believe, but I think it was brilliant.
If he’d given them up - if he’d left them to one another and took the alien’s deal - he wouldn’t be my favorite character. It was that decision of choosing love first that makes me adore him.
And that’s why, even if he now accepts the alien’s proposal, he’ll still remain my favorite - because he chose them first and loves them best. He loves them more than his family, more than his race. They are his home.
But… I do think Johnny’s going to leave them. And I think it’s going to be the hardest thing Ripp and Phi will ever have to face.
However, like I said - he isn’t going to want to and every fiber of his being is going to want to fight it. Or, maybe some part will want it as a way of maybe avenging/honoring his father, but the greater part of him is going to hate it. He says it himself, he’s already grown love - and it’s there with Ripp and Phi. He loves them more than anything and to leave them will be ripping out a large part of who Johnny is.
But I don’t doubt he’ll go. Sooner or later, something’s gotta give.
FLY AWAY
Johnny leaving is going to really hurt Phi and Ripp for many reasons that will be separate for each, but ultimately it will still be the same pain at heart. They’re losing different things, but in the end they're both losing Johnny.
Phi’s losing her very first love. Maybe even her true love. She’s losing the man that she’s spent years building a relationship with. If he’s gone she’ll lose Johnny with Ripp, which is something that both exasperates her and makes her happiest. There’s also a strength in Johnny that’ll be gone - he was her light. When the heaviness of both her world and Ripp’s got to be too much, there was always Johnny to comfort them and give them his smile. Who’s going to light up the darkness now?
I love Johnny/Phi. I really, really do but Ophelia’s need for Johnny and vice versa is the most subtle. You can feel that it’s there, but I don’t know if we’ve ever seen Johnny support Ophelia emotionally, or if he does it’s usually after Ripp has already calmed her down.
But Ripp’s need for Johnny is so much more tangible. It’s there in everything he does. He’s constantly seeking Johnny’s approval and trying to show Johnny that he’s worthwhile (even if he himself isn’t sure that he really is). I think Johnny’s come to be a lot of different things to him - his best friend, his brother, his father (yeah, I think he seeks approval from Johnny as a way to make up for the affection he never got from his dad), I’m not sure about now, but certainly when Johnny leaves there will also be that connection to his mother. They also skirt this edge that seems almost like lovers, lots of soft touching and closeness and lots of confessions of love for one another. There’s also an underlying push and pull to their relationship - it’s volatile, while also being completely tender. Once again, Chapter 25 is the greatest example of this - when Johnny confronts Ripp about sleeping with Phi, what starts as a fight soon turns into an emotionally charged hug, which then turns back into a fight that’s charged with something more than just anger. There’s love there too. Hatred and love.
If Johnny goes, Ripp is finally going to have to grow up. He’ll be the one that will have to take care of Phi and try to fill Johnny’s shoes. He has to carry on his friend/brother/lover’s legacy. And that’s A LOT for Ripp who is only just beginning to get even just the barest handle on monogamy.
Mostly, without Johnny, they won’t laugh or love the same. There’ll be a Johnny sized hole that neither Ripp or Phi will ever be able to fill.
But don’t worry! He’ll be back! (OH GOD HE’D BETTER COME BACK D: )
SO MUCH I DON’T KNOW
I don’t know what’s going to happen to Johnny. I don’t know what the alien’s proposal was. I don’t know if leaving means that he’s just going to marry Jayne and stay separate from Phi and Ripp or if it means he’s really going to leave. I like the latter, just because it seems like there’s more hope in that and because I don’t particularly like Jayne.
I don’t even know if he’ll be leaving the plot line or not. It’s just… I don’t know.
But I’m worried for him.
And I hope that, maybe one day, he’ll find his way back to Ripp and Ophelia.
He’ll find his way home.
a/n: I've been debating about actually posting this. I actually always feel really awkward about posting art/fiction for Strange's story, because like... she's real, a tangible person that I can have e-conversations with and that's a little frightening on some level. I worry about stepping on toes, especially lately because people have been commenting more here. Not that it takes away from her story, but like... I'm worried that it's going to seem like I'm trying to take the story from her or that maybe I'm pushing too hard for things I want (like Johnny/Ripp stuff). And like, that's really NOT my intention at all when I draw stuff for SHWC. I don't want the story to turn out the exact way I think it should and I don't want her to push characters to places they wouldn't otherwise go to please a fan or fans or anything like that.
And now I feel stupid, because I sound sort of bigheaded - as if my opinion and constant chatter is affecting the plot and the characters. Urgh, I don't THINK I'm swaying the plot, but I mean, I also don't want to add that pressure, y'know? Um.... yeah.
So today I wrote up a sizeable chunk of text about Johnny and why I love him and what he means to Ripp and Phi respectively. And like, this is MY interpretation of him. It may not be the correct one! Parts of it may be close to the real Johnny, but others might be off the mark! And you can agree/disagree with me if you want or just ignore this whole thing all together (probably the best option XD).
REMEMBER - this is all fan speculation! I have no more knowledge of the trio's future than anyone else! This is just me laying out some thoughts and whether or not they're anywhere near the truth is yet to be seen!
So then - JOHNNY!
Topic: Johnny Smith's Role in SHWC and an analysis as Johnny Smith as a character.
So, um. I honestly don’t know why I’m doing this. But Johnny swims around in my mind a lot and I’ve been spending insane amounts of time trying to pin down what attracts me to him as a character as well as trying to coherently sum up what he is to the story and to the other characters. It’s probably going to get long and maybe boring - I can guarantee it’ll be rambly with me emphasizing things that might make you go ‘so what?’. THAT’S JUST HOW I ROLL.
So, here we go:
WE ARE THE CARTOON HEROES
Basically, Johnny is at the center of the story. Not completely, obviously, because SHWC focuses on a lot of different characters and situations going on, but it is pretty obvious that the heart of the story (for now, maybe it’ll change but I honestly hope not) is JRO’s tale. From their relationship there are lead-ins to so many different other characters and storylines and they seem to have destiny kind of riding on their shoulders. And it makes sense. They represent the three major opposing forces inside of Strangetown right now - the aliens, the military and death (or life!).
But the strangest part of all is that they’ve managed to come together and have formed this super tight bond that’s basically proven to be near unbreakable. Despite those backgrounds and the hatred surrounding all of the older generation they’ve managed to stay together, completing one another.
And at the heart of JRO is Johnny. Not always, of course, but he’s the original uniting force that drove Phi and Ripp together and is the one that has the most power to change their relationship at any given moment. This is illustrated most painfully in Chapter 25 when Phi asks him, quite seriously, what he wants to do, and also at the very end of the chapter when he makes the decision to pull Ripp into bed with him and Phi. It’s there in the way Phi and Ripp are cautious not to be too affectionate around Johnny, because they don’t want to upset him. And it’s there in the way that the both of them need Johnny.
THE KIDS FINALLY GET IT
Honestly, Johnny didn’t really interest me for a very long time. I believe Phi and Tank had my heart at the very beginning and Ripp always tugged at me of course, but was kind of a train wreck and Johnny… well he’s not the most sympathetic character, y’know? It sucks that he has to choose between love and family, but I mean… he had a good childhood, he’s good at most everything he does and KNOWS it, and he really does have something of a stick up his ass. So yeah, I didn’t pay him much attention besides thinking that he really ought to just explain to Phi the whole Jayne situation.
But then he did something that basically cemented as my favorite SHWC forever and ever no matter what terrible things he might do in the future.
Johnny chose Phi and Ripp.
Even after everything that happens to him that night and despite how easy it would have been to turn his back on the both of them when he found them in bed together. And even though he could have told Phi that he wanted her to be his and only his. Despite the fact that Ripp is fucking up again and again and it would be so easy to hate them and do the ‘right’ thing (at least by his family and the alien’s standards). He doesn’t.
He chooses them. Ripp and Phi. Them and only them. It’s selfish. And stupid. And worst of all is that he is choosing the future that is most likely to come crumbling down.
But that’s the life he chooses.
And that’s why I love him.
TIME TO LEAVE
So I’m sure a lot of people disagree with his decision and even find it hard to believe, but I think it was brilliant.
If he’d given them up - if he’d left them to one another and took the alien’s deal - he wouldn’t be my favorite character. It was that decision of choosing love first that makes me adore him.
And that’s why, even if he now accepts the alien’s proposal, he’ll still remain my favorite - because he chose them first and loves them best. He loves them more than his family, more than his race. They are his home.
But… I do think Johnny’s going to leave them. And I think it’s going to be the hardest thing Ripp and Phi will ever have to face.
However, like I said - he isn’t going to want to and every fiber of his being is going to want to fight it. Or, maybe some part will want it as a way of maybe avenging/honoring his father, but the greater part of him is going to hate it. He says it himself, he’s already grown love - and it’s there with Ripp and Phi. He loves them more than anything and to leave them will be ripping out a large part of who Johnny is.
But I don’t doubt he’ll go. Sooner or later, something’s gotta give.
FLY AWAY
Johnny leaving is going to really hurt Phi and Ripp for many reasons that will be separate for each, but ultimately it will still be the same pain at heart. They’re losing different things, but in the end they're both losing Johnny.
Phi’s losing her very first love. Maybe even her true love. She’s losing the man that she’s spent years building a relationship with. If he’s gone she’ll lose Johnny with Ripp, which is something that both exasperates her and makes her happiest. There’s also a strength in Johnny that’ll be gone - he was her light. When the heaviness of both her world and Ripp’s got to be too much, there was always Johnny to comfort them and give them his smile. Who’s going to light up the darkness now?
I love Johnny/Phi. I really, really do but Ophelia’s need for Johnny and vice versa is the most subtle. You can feel that it’s there, but I don’t know if we’ve ever seen Johnny support Ophelia emotionally, or if he does it’s usually after Ripp has already calmed her down.
But Ripp’s need for Johnny is so much more tangible. It’s there in everything he does. He’s constantly seeking Johnny’s approval and trying to show Johnny that he’s worthwhile (even if he himself isn’t sure that he really is). I think Johnny’s come to be a lot of different things to him - his best friend, his brother, his father (yeah, I think he seeks approval from Johnny as a way to make up for the affection he never got from his dad), I’m not sure about now, but certainly when Johnny leaves there will also be that connection to his mother. They also skirt this edge that seems almost like lovers, lots of soft touching and closeness and lots of confessions of love for one another. There’s also an underlying push and pull to their relationship - it’s volatile, while also being completely tender. Once again, Chapter 25 is the greatest example of this - when Johnny confronts Ripp about sleeping with Phi, what starts as a fight soon turns into an emotionally charged hug, which then turns back into a fight that’s charged with something more than just anger. There’s love there too. Hatred and love.
If Johnny goes, Ripp is finally going to have to grow up. He’ll be the one that will have to take care of Phi and try to fill Johnny’s shoes. He has to carry on his friend/brother/lover’s legacy. And that’s A LOT for Ripp who is only just beginning to get even just the barest handle on monogamy.
Mostly, without Johnny, they won’t laugh or love the same. There’ll be a Johnny sized hole that neither Ripp or Phi will ever be able to fill.
But don’t worry! He’ll be back! (OH GOD HE’D BETTER COME BACK D: )
SO MUCH I DON’T KNOW
I don’t know what’s going to happen to Johnny. I don’t know what the alien’s proposal was. I don’t know if leaving means that he’s just going to marry Jayne and stay separate from Phi and Ripp or if it means he’s really going to leave. I like the latter, just because it seems like there’s more hope in that and because I don’t particularly like Jayne.
I don’t even know if he’ll be leaving the plot line or not. It’s just… I don’t know.
But I’m worried for him.
And I hope that, maybe one day, he’ll find his way back to Ripp and Ophelia.
He’ll find his way home.
a/n: I've been debating about actually posting this. I actually always feel really awkward about posting art/fiction for Strange's story, because like... she's real, a tangible person that I can have e-conversations with and that's a little frightening on some level. I worry about stepping on toes, especially lately because people have been commenting more here. Not that it takes away from her story, but like... I'm worried that it's going to seem like I'm trying to take the story from her or that maybe I'm pushing too hard for things I want (like Johnny/Ripp stuff). And like, that's really NOT my intention at all when I draw stuff for SHWC. I don't want the story to turn out the exact way I think it should and I don't want her to push characters to places they wouldn't otherwise go to please a fan or fans or anything like that.
And now I feel stupid, because I sound sort of bigheaded - as if my opinion and constant chatter is affecting the plot and the characters. Urgh, I don't THINK I'm swaying the plot, but I mean, I also don't want to add that pressure, y'know? Um.... yeah.
So today I wrote up a sizeable chunk of text about Johnny and why I love him and what he means to Ripp and Phi respectively. And like, this is MY interpretation of him. It may not be the correct one! Parts of it may be close to the real Johnny, but others might be off the mark! And you can agree/disagree with me if you want or just ignore this whole thing all together (probably the best option XD).
REMEMBER - this is all fan speculation! I have no more knowledge of the trio's future than anyone else! This is just me laying out some thoughts and whether or not they're anywhere near the truth is yet to be seen!
So then - JOHNNY!