The Society’s Pet Daughter Chapter 98 Discussion

Update: I've managed to catch up to the ever so latest chapter of 98 (at the time of writing this).

As usual, TLDR will be right at the bottom.

My new opinions and add-ons will be added to each part with a big, blaring "UPDATE" to make it easier as well as remove and change facts now that newer information has been dropped.

UPDATE: Let me rephrase my statement now, this novel ABSOLUTELY deserves the 5 star rating. Anything else I would consider to be a crime and I will stand on this hill and the only reason I only have it at four is because I can't change it.

To make it simpler, I'm going to list my expectations regarding 3 categories which are character, world-building and lastly, plot.

TRIGGER WARNING, THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WILL CONTAIN MENTIONS OF s*xual ab*se AS WELL AS r*pe. VIEW AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

Side Note : No one here, and I mean, NO one in this novel is the "good" guy in any way, especially the MC.

With that being said, let's begin our first topic,

Topic 1, character development and characterization.

The MC

In majority of the novels that I read with similar premises with GB, the authors simply uses said GB as a justification for the Yuri and or, a way to appeal to more people but that's not the case in this one. Instead, the author uses GB for a more deeper and convoluted purpose; Gb serves as a way to portray the feeling of dysphoria one would naturally feel in a body that is not their own/foreign to an extent. This is something I rarely see in novels like this, let alone being expanded to allow a more profound understanding of the MC so massive props to the author for being able to pull that off, even though I didn't expect such detail.

Keep that in the back of your mind as we'll get back to it but for now, let's get to the nitty gritty, the MC's personality and how she reacts in her situation.

For a character written in fiction, she thinks and acts... Surprisingly human. Which if I'm going to be honest, I did not expect at all. There's a fine line between making a character feel too unrealistic and making them feel too blank. The author did a phenomenal job portraying what it feels to be... A living, breathing human with flaws.

Spoiler

Needing months to process an unfamiliar situation with no guidance or help from others, craving love and affection you were denied as a child, guilt gnawing at your very fiber of being because at face value... You're an outsider. An imposter. A fraud. The very feeling of detachment the MC feels in this world and... Who they are fundamentally. This is why I put an emphasis on how the author managed the GB aspect. A disconnect from this world written in full form within a feeling of discontentment with your current body/self is an amazing example on how to use GB as a way of growth rather than a poor excuse.

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Spoiler

The author made an extra effort to add the little things which is why the MC... No, why Tina feels so alive. She feels relatable, she feels vulnerable, and she feels strong. Even when being a psychopath, her condition has more of an impact/relevance in how she interacts regarding the people in her life while having a valid justification as to how she became the person she is today rather than a convenient plot device to excuse/justify her actions.

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Spoiler

She's selfish and a manipulator undeniably so, whether or not on purpose. But at the same time, you can't blame her for the situation she's forced within and all. For the very sake of survival, people will and have turned to drastic measures just to survive, the MC is no different. She acts the way she is, not because of her being a psychopath but far from it, she acts the way she is with little regard for others not only to survive but also the way she views them. She still thinks of them as characters in a video game rather than someone with their own autonomy. I say this because until now, she is still making comparisons of them in real life and to their persona in fiction. Why regard them as real when you know you're stuck in a videogame?

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She just simply uses the skills in her arsenal to an extreme degree. An actor has got to act their part in a play but now, there's an issue. What happens when you're so used to acting... So used to putting on a mask... So used to being someone you're not... Who are you now? Can you look in a mirror, stare into your own reflection and confidently say... That's you? In the end, you can only blame yourself but how can you? You can't blame someone if you don't know who they are in the first place?

This is what I was expecting to be faced with, the exact question I predicted to stumble upon and my god, the author DELIVERED. I don't want to be a parrot but I just have to say, my jaw is DROPPED. I won't say much about the other characters but expect something similar in quality. :3

Spoiler

Hot take, but I don't believe the MC has the makings of a villainess because at most, she's just an emotionally stunted and lonely child despite being 20 in her past life, not some incredible and elaborate puppet master. She is the way she is due to her circumstance. A girl resulted from a cruel and unfair world.

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Update: My hot take was indeed correct (which I will continue to take pride in, despite having no competition), backed by what happens in further chapters. I won't exactly spoil since that'll ruin the surprise but there will be more info on this in plot.

Anyways, enough of my rambling, time for the next topic,

Second topic, world-building.

The world itself

For something set near the medieval times, it truly shows that you're either high above or rock bottom; Try to climb the hierarchy or stay pitiful below and suffer for something that is out of your control, suffer for just existing. This is most notable because the MC tries to survive, keyword is SURVIVE, not live. The reality back in the MC's past life and the reality she is currently in are both cruel and so unlivable for the unfortunate. This is why one would root for the MC's so desperately to succeed despite knowing how it'll end in futility.

The world isn't necessarily charitable nor favors the MC in any way, I'd even go as far as to say that the world itself is sabotaging her intentionally by forcing her in a situation where she, herself, had to give up her own personality, her own wants/needs, her own autonomy, every aspect of her for people who only view her as an object to feel superior.

Even then, the world isn't solely there to give MC her demise, even those who are as unfortunate as her, get the same treatment so no matter who you are, as long as the world doesn't favor you, you will continue to sacrifice a part of yourself.

Update: Spoiler

The expansion of the world more or so than it already had blossoms during the arrival of the saintess and I was quite pleasantly surprised. For a novel that seemed to not have much of a fantasy aspect up to this point other than... You know, transmigration to a game world, so to be introduced to mana up until now felt somewhat... Rushed? Though I'd understand it for the buildup in regards to the saintess's arrival. Despite this, it wasn't bad in the slightest. The introduction of mana manages to also foreshadow the biggest plot twist the novel has thrown at us by a landslide which even I was caught out of the blue and I could see why they held off introducing mana up until then so that the world may be able to focus on what's currently happening now, rather than suddenly dropping a massive lore piece that doesn't have any relevance now until later chapters.

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Now, for the last and final topic,

The plot itself

UPDATE: Great, amazing, absolutely wonderful. I could quite literally drop a thesaurus amount of compliments. The author finally decided to end the one side plot that was iffy, managing to contradict my previous statement of it being felt brushed off.

UPDATE: The basic premise of the novel is what I've been echoing in the first and second topic, to survive but now, with the latest addition, it was something more, more sinister.

THIS IS WHERE THE TRIGGER WARNING STARTS, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Update: I will keep my previous statement regarding the villainess who does not deserve to be named with little to no change, why? It'll be important to compare to my current standing on the topic as well as give a bit of insight into how one would naturally feel to the events that took place.

SIDE NOTE: THE NEXT THREE SPOILERS ARE OLD OPINIONS AND DOES NOT ENTIRELY REFLECT MY FEELINGS ON THE MATTER.

Spoiler

The MC basically has to be a 'pet' for people who are high socially who in turn serves as protection and income hence, the name of the novel, Society's pet daughter. The reason being is because she became a side character whose background is a fallen noble who is heavily in debt. I don't have that much of a problem with this as the pacing is amazing, the author making the sequence of events as coherent and fluid but... Here's a thing, there's a character that is the one of MC's main source of protection as well as influence. That character was a villainess in a game whom the author characterized as sadistically pe*verted.

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Spoiler

Due to the MC needing said influence, they became the main source of conflict, reason being... In exchange of being allies, the villainess sexually ab*sed the MC and personally, it felt as if it was being downplayed despite it having a huge role in the later chapters. I won't fault the author for adding such scenes because it's more or so draws a parallel of how powerless the MC is against people of authority, having to bow down sacrifice dignity in the face of their unwavering status, but I do believe they could have handled it with more nuance because when scenes of obvious s*xual ab*se occurs, it feels like a one off thing as the MC herself not showing any signs of trauma and or major reaction long after the ab*se had been done despite the author showing that it happens often.

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Spoiler

Things like this leave a scar, even if you're a psychopath, even if you're a sociopath, even if you are affected by anything really, occurrences like this will feel violating, even more or so her job being a "pet". Why? Despite both of them involving physical touch, the level of intensity is different.

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UPDATE: Spoiler

Whenever you see a character like this, it begs one to wonder why add such characters in the first place? Is it simply the need to add an obligatory rapist character or something more? Obviously, it's the latter.

You see, at first, wouldn't you act the same way as I described before? To feel ashamed, humiliated, terrified and so much more emotions that words could never encapsulate the true feeling of despair and yet, the MC moves on, like the puppet she conditioned to be. You feel a disconnect because up till now, you connected to her, don't you? Even by a little. Maybe you have connected to the MC by the way she acts inside her 'home', inside the battleground known as society, or maybe that one singular time she opened up and cried (Keep this in mind). If you've been observant up to this point, you'd notice the devil in the details. Disassociation. We've seen it countless times before, iterated by the MC herself, she sees this as nothing but a game. Something like r*pe would feel so much more visceral than... Whatever this is but what happens if you simply slap the thought of, "all of this is simply a game that I can quit soon enough." Maybe this is what I've missed. Everything has a reason after all. Though, you may be asking, what's the goal of pointing this out? It's to give awareness for the small rift the author has created that will soon be bath in blood, not of others but your own, well, the MC's blood that is.

During the later arcs, we're introduced to someone... Or maybe, something that has been guiding along the MC throughout their journey in this "game.", the only one who the MC themselves have noted as to love them fully. Your first thought would be the best friend, right? After all, who else could have loved the MC? Certainly not her previous mother.

Did I forgot to mention that the MC is an unreliable narrator? Silly Me.

Continuing off here, the MC finally meets the saintess. I won't go into detail since that'll spoil the fun but it is important to note the repeated iteration of justification the MC has in the sole excuse of, "It'll be fine. She's just a character in a game. She's too kind to pay revenge, right?" Right. Though, does it matter? The MC is about to reach the ending of her story anyways.

Now, everything that happened in the story has been building up to this. Her feelings of unbelonging to a world made of fiction, she can finally leave. Sadly, there's no happy ending to her story, her actions have consequences after all.

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UPDATE: As much as I would have loved to talk more about what happened, I 100% recommend reading the story if you got hooked enough to be invested after the snippets I've introduced. Do remember that there was a time where the MC had opened her heart up to someone she could have seen as more than a fictional character, if only, maybe things could have turned out different.

"She thought as she curled on the cold, hard floor of a basement. Her eyes blank for in its reflection lies humiliation that could never undone. Her body, one that should have been filled with scars, lies fair in its wake. Needs that one human would have had to satisfy no longer plagues her. Her mind, who should have been filled with solace in her final breath, simply lies broken as she continues to live."

"I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream."

- Harlan Ellison

This will make a lot more sense, I promise.

TLDR : One of the best dark and psychological novels I've ever read. If you're a fan of this genre as well as have the stomach to handle such a series, definitely give it a read and have your stomach be dropped once you reached the end like I have.