back to list

Character Deep Dive: Robin Sinclair

Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 2, 2024
likes!




Today’s character deep dive is on Robin Sinclair, the main catalyst of everything taking place in the supernatural comedy drama that is Blessed Days by Inky Moondrop!

Blessed Days is the story of a young woman that unexpectedly becomes a mom and must handle raising a child- that’s the main core of who Robin is, or at least, who she begins as. There are a lot of supernatural things that happen to her once her baby Grace comes into the world. That happens when the daddy is a demon, I guess!

Some basic considerations before the analysis:

Things spiral out of any measure of typical events people handle that analyzing that part of the story would be impossible- and it would be a spoiler! To give an idea of things that happen to Robin, her daughter, and her friends, there are different dimensions, murders, genocides, ritualistic sacrificial murders, spiritual possessions, and the entire world’s existence hanging in the balance while she’s also required to make parenting choices about Grace and later about her son Dylan- how he comes about is also something …out of this world.

For that purpose, I had to think long and hard about how to tackle Robin’s deep dive in a manner that is meaningful, and which permeates the entire saga of 1200+ pages of her story (what an amazing accomplishment for InkyMoondrop!) without this essay being way too long for a DD newspost or being irrelevant by chapter 6 or something.

So here’s what I will be doing:

I will be classifying all the supernatural things that happen as either “trauma” when they are traumatic (such as when she gets possessed and her body used by someone else) or “quirks” when they are of a nature of routine that Robin gets used to (such as Grace eating colors or levitating).

My whole approach to what makes Robin Sinclair herself will be focused on core behavioral traits and experiences more than the extraordinary things that happen to her after Grace’s birth- but I think what the deep dive will yield is why she handles these extraordinary things the way she does. And in that way, I think the deep dive will be able to cover the entire massive work that is Blessed Days.
So without any more ado, let’s get to it!


Basic Character Design

Robin Sinclair is a young adult holding down a clerical job. She is pretty- with long lush black hair and large blue eyes. She lives alone in her own flat and has a circle of friends she occasionally goes out with. However, partying seems to be rare- the one that “starts it all” was the first invitation she got in years. When she goes out to party she’s looking to have fun, get high, and generally do things that disrupt what, by her own description, is an otherwise mundane routine.



Robin’s friends are supportive of her, without that meaning they don’t call out her behaviors if they feel they’re wrong or immature or crossing some kind of line.



Robin also has her parents, who are supportive in their own way. Her mother is a devout Christian while her dad seems a lot more relaxed in the religion department. Her dad is protective and her mom might be acerbic but her behavior implies she’s not going to withdraw support when the chips are down. Both of them seem to be eager to help their daughter once she becomes pregnant.



When Robin’s extraordinarily …ceremonial one night stand leaves her pregnant, she decides to keep the baby. In fact, she doesn’t once consider aborting, even though she is anxious about it and there are a lot of people who would support her in such a decision.

The reason she decides to keep the baby is because it’s a miracle: Robin never thought being pregnant was possible because she had been medically diagnosed to be infertile.

When later it is revealed that the baby, Grace, is half-demon, she is still determined to raise her right and help her be a good person rather than give in to evil. She says as much to her dad, who…well, is on board!




Robin’s Psych Scan

When she was little, Robin had been the target of bullying, apparently due to her parents being very religiously strict. She had no friends and her mother had to explain to her that the world is cruel to people, “especially those who walk with an open heart”.

Bullying is a detrimental experience to go through, not only when a person is a child. The impact of bullying follows a survivor all the way to adulthood . Its effects can take many forms, from having trouble to keep a job to having trouble being social, to earning significantly less than those who haven’t experienced bullying, to generally having a low level of satisfaction with one’s life, self-esteem, and more.



All of these we see in Robin: though she has a circle of quite supportive friends, she seems to be more of a loner than not. The fact that she doesn’t get invited to parties implies that she’s not popular with people that do not self-isolate. Her friends are probably socially isolating as well.

She has problems with her income and generally feels like she’s less worthy than others. There’s a line she says to her father “I can’t even have a normal baby” when she talks about Grace’s powers and supernatural nature. That kind of self-deprecating talk indicates that she has low self-esteem. All of these elements are directly linked to a childhood of being singled out as “other” and being bullied for her upbringing. I wouldn’t be surprised if part of why Robin is an atheist while her parents are theists (at least her mom) is a desire to distance herself from the element that singled her out for bullying when she was young.

This is where her smoking of marijuana comes in as well. While she is a regular user (she has to tell her dealer she won’t be buying from him anymore once she becomes pregnant) it doesn’t seem that she has the symptoms of substance abuse disorder.

Recreational use of marijuana has been documented to be done for relief of anxiety, stress, and even PTSD. It is so popular for such use because it offers a numbing sensation that dulls the stress. However, like in all cases where you just shut the door to a burning room, the actual cause for the anxiety or PTSD or stress may flare up after the drug effects recede.

For Robin, to me it is clear that she uses marijuana as a way to make social interaction easier for herself, since it will lower any anxiety or stress stemming from that and lower her inhibitions- pretty much how she handles the one night stand:




And then, she’s miraculously pregnant! Though she felt she was “barren” she is suddenly with child!

This is a tremendously important event just by itself in a woman’s life. But let’s take a moment to consider the impact of being infertile can have on a woman’s mental health. Society still carries abusive elements of perception that can (obviously falsely) consider that infertile women aren’t ‘complete’ or ‘functioning’ since they can’t produce children. It’s no surprise then that infertile women experience higher levels of anxiety and depression than fertile women. Couple that with issues of self-esteem and self-worth, and it’s clear that Robin is dealing with a lot of burden that undermines how she sees herself and her own value (she doesn’t value herself at all).


But then she is suddenly pregnant!

Becoming pregnant immediately boosts herself in her own eyes. She immediately acquires value and, taking this as the miracle it is, she keeps the baby. Being a mother is generally valued more by society than being a child-free woman. So Robin becoming a mom means that she immediately feels as more worthwhile.

She gives up her marijuana habit virtually cold turkey- and of course that is because she cares for her baby. However, it is easier to do because she doesn’t need the numbing effect of the drug as much anymore.

Once the baby arrives, she goes through the adjustment pains of being a new parent, including the extra elements of being a new parent to a superpowered baby, but she takes it all in stride. She does get help from her friends and her parents, so she has a good network to fall back on. She also gets help from her workplace (though later it becomes clear why that is) in terms of financial help.




There’s more to being a mom than just the social upgrade and the rallying of her friends and parents that occurs- she has a daughter, and that daughter loves her unconditionally, as all children do (this may change as the child grows up into adulthood, but it’s beyond the point for this analysis). She has a person to raise who depends on her, but at the same time offers pure acceptance and love. That doesn’t make raising the child any easier, but it does give a huge emotional boost to anyone who is open to receive it, and Robin is.


Having to care for Grace makes Robin more (overtly) responsible. It also is interesting to see how she parents: she is very sincere and candid with her child, even when talking about things that are tough to handle for anyone, not just children.



She is building a healthy bond of trust with her daughter, which is setting up Grace for success. Research shows that parental lying is related to children having trust issues with their parents, higher risk of anxiety, depression, and problems with social adjustment.

But Robin is avoiding it all by simply being candid and truthful with her daughter from day 1. This behavioral pattern doesn’t change when Robin and her daughter are tossed into all the terrible, fantastical, or terrifying events that take place as the secret of Grace’s conception begins to unravel. Which is why, despite all the trials and tribulations, both of them develop enough resilience to see them through to the other side.


2D vs 3D

Robin works well as a character in a sitcom-y comedy drama as well as a nuanced character that has a true background that affects her present. She is great as the fodder for different types of comedy, from slapstick to witty remarks to ‘bloopers in parenthood’ style humor. She is just as great as someone struggling with self-worth, purpose, and direction in her life, seeking to be good rather than bad for those around her.


Environmental Cues

Robin is directly connected to her own past experiences and her current environment. She acts and reacts by being informed of her previous learning history, and driven by her need to be a net positive in her world.

She is a product of her environment as much as of her own choices of how to react and interpret these cues. She is remarkably well designed and as she is forced to careen through all the terrors and existential horrors of what goes on around her, her personality as developed from her background and from the strength she draws from being a mom and what that means for her, she can credibly overcome.
Well done Inky for such an interesting character as Robin Sinclair!


Don’t forget you can now advertise on DrunkDuck for just $2 in whichever ad spot you like! The money goes straight into running the site. Want to know more? Click this link here! Or, if you want to help us keep the lights on you can sponsor us on Patreon. Every bit helps us!

Special thanks to our patrons!!














Justnopoint - Banes - RMccool - Abt_Nihil - Gunwallace - PaulEberhardt - Emma_Clare - FunctionCreep - SinJinsoku - Smkinoshita - jerrie - Chickfighter - Andreas_Helixfinger - Tantz_Aerine - Genejoke - Davey Do - Gullas - Roma - NanoCritters - Teh Andeh - Peipei - Digital_Genesis - Hushicho - Palouka - cheeko - Paneltastic - L.C.Stein - dpat57 - Bravo1102 - The Jagged - LoliGen - OrcGirl - Miss Judged - Fallopiancrusader - arborcides - ChipperChartreuse - Mogtrost - InkyMoondrop - Jgib99 - Hirokari - Orgivemedeath Ind - Mks Monsters - GregJ - HawkandFloAdventures - Soushiyo - JohnCelestri- Tottycomics - Casscade - Salexander - Willed - Sketchydrawer - Niccea









comment

anonymous?

J_Scarbrough at 8:57AM, Nov. 4, 2024

This has got to be the deepest character deep dive I've read yet, but then agaion, there's so much about Robin Sinclair to dive through and dissect!

Andreas_Helixfinger at 7:54AM, Nov. 3, 2024

A great analysis as always. Good work Tantz! And aplauds to Inky for working such a grand scale story to the finnish line. I hope to do the same with my own stories... some day... in a distant future^^

PaulEberhardt at 12:17PM, Nov. 2, 2024

Congrats to Inky, and congrats to Tantz for this very interesting analysis.

Tantz_Aerine at 11:45AM, Nov. 2, 2024

Glad you liked it Inky! Congratulations on completing this massive story!

InkyMoondrop at 9:09AM, Nov. 2, 2024

This was wonderful to read, thank you so much! A great analysis and you even managed to do it without spoiling it. I'll probably quote it. :D


Forgot Password
©2011 WOWIO, Inc. All Rights Reserved Mastodon