Okay, sorry for sending yet another ask. This isn't really about Semogong as a ship, but I wanted to talk about this. This is based on what I can remember.
In s03, Semo was very defensive over Limo and did have issues with the twins, that is obvious. But he refused to turn against them, or at least against their dad (Doun? Dowoon? How is his name spelled?) even after they talked bad about him. It took those fake videos of Limo to actually turn him against them.
In s04, Ogong was protective of Ondal and had issues with the twins. While he was still taken advantage of, it was pretty different from Semo’s case. It only took a little convincing from Diluk for him to act on his hatred/grudge and send that virus to the tobots.
This may be biased. Of course, I'm not saying Ogong is a vengeful evil person and Semo is a completely innocent angel or anything like that. I just wanted to make this comparison. So, based on that (which is my own personal understanding of their arcs), I think that
Ogong is intelligent, but he's somewhat easily manipulated. All it takes is a little push—a subtle comment here, a small suggestion there—in a certain direction to make him do something he wouldn't normally do that he would probably regret later.
Semo is strong-willed but naive/dumb. The only way to make him do something that conflicts with his priorities would be straight up lying to him and faking evidence against those priorities. He can likely be fooled with faked proof even if they are bad in quality and can be proven fake.
They'd probably be protective of eachother to an extent because Ogong thinks Semo is naive and needs protecting since he can be fooled with arguably badly faked proof, and Semo thinks Ogong is naive since he is easily convinced without any proof.
I would've made this as a post on my own account but I wanted to know your opinion so I typed it as an ask to you. What do you think? Maybe you agree and think this is obvious. Maybe you think I'm completely wrong.
Is this hard to read? My grammar is really bad, and even more so when I'm passionately rambling about something. Sorry for that, hehe.
i always love receiving asks from you, nws :>
i've actually thought a lot about both semo and ogong's tendencies for evil. i came to basically one conclusion: they're both easily blinded by their love and a desire for justice.
compared to hana, duri, and various other tobot pilots, semo and ogong's moral compasses point only towards their loved ones. they cannot think clearly or concisely when their loved ones are involved in the situation (especially family). they both hold little self-preservation (semo can be insulted or talked about behind his back, and he'll still refuse to get angry on his own behalf. ogong was called a dirty liar and a cheat, but only got concerned for the effect this would have on ondal's health). acnee knew this and selected them as targets, because they would be easily manipulated through their desire for justice and love for their family.
however, this also means they will choose their family over justice (although ogong is a bit more neutral about this--he messed up bad in s.15). you can see semo prioritize z's health over sending him out to fight villains in hod s.1. you can see semo throwing himself in harm's way every chance he gets in hod just to protect his friends (in a way, they're his family, too).
ogong is a character of either extremes. he has a lower tolerance than semo for injustice and weakness (see mission trip, quatran arc, s.04). but this also means that in a way, he can be more heroic than semo, who is a bit more of a guardian at heart than a hero. ogong will play from either side, and judges his actions not by their immediate consequences, but the greater good that benefits him more. in s.04, ondal's health > the tobots' mission to protect and serve, and in mother's lullaby, eliminating the evil mole in their team (acnee) > the tobot team's alliance/hana & duri's feelings.
meanwhile, semo is a bit of a wild card. as more of a doer than a thinker, he's more unpredictable and responsive than ogong. like i said, he's a guardian, not a hero. he will protect those he loves, but he doesn't respond to calls for tobot assistance with the same enthusiasm hana and duri showed in s.02. i have a feeling that semo primarily works in the tobot team not because he loves saving civilians, but because all his friends and family are invested in that mission. like you said, semo more believes in the evidence than in the people.
primary breakdown:
dokgo ogong: - motivated by reward (ondal's health, getting ondal back, easier life for him if neong loosens up about being quatran's leader) - thinker before doer - trusts the people more than the evidence - sensitive to injustice and misery - ...but only when it affects him - more hero than guardian - takes time to nudge him out of his comfort zone - he overthinks it sometimes, which leads to a higher percentage of screwups than semo - "this will make me and the people i love happier and safer later" proceeds to screw up
why is ogong like this? well, he had a more well-rounded childhood compared to semo (not saying ogong's childhood was great by any means, though), leading to a more nuanced development of his moral compass. the fact that he was ondal's primary caretaker through his developmental years enforced the misconception that he was responsible for everyone and everything, even though when it comes down to it, he doesn't care much for people's feelings as much as he does for the possible outcomes of those feelings. he has the impression that people are like the code that he writes in his computer--all ticking with different variables, but without feeling. his life has been fairly stable, which makes him more rooted in his comfort zone.
kwon semo: - motivated by loss (limo's kidnapping, losing his father, allegedly because of cha doeun, z's health deteriorating) - doer before thinker - trusts the evidence more than the people - ...sometimes too much - more neutral when it comes to morality, right/wrong, that kind of thing - more guardian than hero - spontaneous, but not impulsive. you cannot predict his reaction to certain situations, but they tend to be correct - "i must drop everything and do this so my loved ones can live and be free at this very moment" proceeds to throw himself in front of a literal murder machine
why is semo like this? semo had an incredibly turbulent childhood by any standard. i'm assuming his home was either not a safe place or did not exist at all until he got adopted by limo. wherever he was before limo, it made him incredibly pessimistic about people and always expecting the worst/assuming they wanted to harm him. he probably also imprinted on limo after years of being unloved, something that made him incredibly protective. he naturally, at heart, wants to protect others, and lashes out when they leave (probably some deep-rooted abandonment issues from his childhood?). based on his character, semo's childhood home/orphanage was probably a place where he had to think spontaneously and consider his immediate survival rather than the future. there's also the more depressing side of the coin, where some people have trouble thinking about the long-term future because they believe they won't make it. for semo, there probably wasn't a life that he could imagine leaving the orphanage/his home. leaving = death or misery (parentless children have it very bad in korea), so semo probably only thought about the present and never grew out of that mindset.
they're both stupid, but in different ways /silly. this is why i think they would be a power couple--they cover each other's weaknesses and compliment each other's strengths.
woah, this was long. don't worry, my grammar gets all weird when i ramble, too!
