You know what Zoe reminds me of?
Calvin and Hobbes. Read pretty much all of the comics and the books that held 'em, and there is a pretty good similarity between Zoe and Calvin. Both have their own agency, both hate school, both are wildly imaginative, and they take very little regard for other people in their grand scheme of things.
More importantly, a common thought being passed around people on the boards at the moment, is that they both share a lack of empathy towards other people, alongside the fact that neither seem to be able to see things from other people's perspective. The more popular post on the boards talks about just how unlikable Zoe is, that she's a sociopath.
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Calvin likes doing some pretty shitty things, especially to Susie ah childhood love, and it's only really by his parents scolding or forcing, does he ever really feel any guilt about doing so. The only time he acts "nice" as well, are the times when his own sense of agency is fulfilled, like when Susie found hobbes when he was missing, but even then he yoinks all the cookies. Calvin doesn't have a huge ability to self reflect, and when he does, it's very rare.
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Like the time when he locked his babysitter outside the house, and then gorges himself on oreos, until his parents come home and let's her back in. He doesn't feel guilty or bad about it, until he get's scolded by his parents, and forced to apologize. Yes, he's kinda a sociopath, but a lot of it is because he's young, and doesn't think much about consequences until they happen.
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Zoe is largely, in my opinion, the same when it comes to this path of thought. A child who has only her own urgency at mind most of the time, whose allowed a huge leash on using her powers. There is no one to scold her, to reprimand her, to force her to feel guilty about things. Allow that type of behavior to go on for several thousands of years, and you have that mindset pretty locked in.
Now, the second trail of thought being lead around, is that what Calvin is doing is much more akin to being a Trickster, than what Zoe has done. For this, I'd like to separate two trains of thought.
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Calvin is doing what he is able to do with his circumstance. He's just a kid, with a bunch of snow, doors, or water balloons at his disposal, versus adults, kids, and College students forced to take babysitting jobs. Zoe messing with A. Sol may seems like Torture to us, but on her power level, that's the kinda of stuff you'd see as a trick. Getting tied up, and then petted by some small girl, embarrassing maybe, but torture? I don't see it.
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Zoe blowing up the Guard tower and/or guards, not the whole town as clarified in the "I dont know why people hate Zoe" thread, she does not have to be a trickster 100% of the time. She is also a Messenger, and her revealing the World Rune via her destruction of the tower, was just apart of the job that she seems to follow by instinct, or influence, from the Aspect. Calvin has his own agency, Zoe has less of her own, still abiding by some ancient responsibility.
(There's also the bit about the Aspect being the Trickster one, and not Zoe, but enh)
My point being, is that a lot of the things that people are hating on Zoe for, are pretty intrinsic to being young and spirited. Being lazy, not wanting to study, not understanding empathy, they are child-like traits that have only been set in stone by being whisked away from Runeterra. She's remained untaught from the social norms that we were raised by, and likely never scolded by the Aspect within, who likes and enjoys those traits.
Does that make her unlikable? Maybe, but she's honestly just a kid whose never been taught any better. The only difference between her and Calvin is he at least has a higher authority to make him feel guilty about what he has done. Zoe doesnt, so I don't think that makes her a sociopath. It just makes her a child.
