#'forget Horobi' kinda attitude that hit when they showed up both in the show and in discussion

[firebirdsdaughter]

Things that bother me…

… I need to vent a little bc I feel really ill now, but, random salt:

I find it a little ‘hm’ that all the ‘good’ henshin items were weapons for humans and all the ‘bad’ henshin items were the ones about empowering HumaGear. Like, the RaidRiser got treated as ‘misguided’ eventually, but the ZetsumeRisers were treated as ‘evil’ through and through. The ForceRisers were depicted negatively, none of mbjr used them while ‘good’ it was a ‘big deal’ when Aruto used one in the movie. The SlashRiser seems to have been made for humans initially/was to ‘repurpose’ Jin (bc I refuse to accept that Yotagaki did not see him as a tool, not w/ his ‘kill the abuse victim’ bs). Giving humans weapons to destroy ‘unruly’ HumaGear was depicted as ‘good’ while HumaGear gaining the power to fight was depicted as ‘evil’ or at least needing to be ‘repurposed.’ Literally an issue that could have been resolved by giving Izu a Driver, but I correctly guessed they were never going to do that. As much as I have complicated feelings about Izu, missed opportunity.

Another large thing that bothers me about Naki getting a wolf Key is that literally no one else got the same animal. They literally only got that Key so that they could give it to Fuwa later. Putting aside my other opinions about how that was written (aka that I don’t think that relationship had anywhere near enough development for any of that), it’s really glaring. Gai gives Yua a different Key to use w/ the RaidRiser to ‘clearly establish’ her connection to ZAIA, but it’s not another beetle Key. Jin was heavily connected to Horobi, was labeled as his son before he transformed, but they didn’t give him another scorpion Key or even an arachnid Key. No one else got the same animal. Like… They couldn’t even be bothered to just use a different canine? Yua used the Jackal Key! That would have been fine. Additionally, this was the Ark giving it to them, who hates humans. Why the fuck would the Ark give them a Key matching that of a human? Like, the fact that this is the only case of two characters having the same animal is just… Just really comes across as Naki not being their own person or character, that they were just a plot device wedged in for Fuwa. Which he didn’t need? At least not like that? Like… The implications just bother me? They still could have done them lending him the Key if it wasn’t a wolf? Like… Esp w/ all his insistence that he’s the wolf guy… It’s… Really uncomfortable implications for me. It’s not cute. It’s part of why I was really expecting the writing to make them his new ‘assistant’ and put them basically in the exact same place they were before. Like, yes, I’m personally a bit sour on that relationship bc it got shoehorned in in place of my favourite relationship, I’m still mad about the writers just dropping Horobi and Fuwa completely outside of Okada (bless him) changing a line. I would have still whined about my fave relationship going out of focus, but even the slightest follow up… But the point is, branding Naki w/ a wolf Key just… Feels like the nail on the coffin of them having no point other than giving it to Fuwa later. Like… The fact that literally no one else in the show, no matter their close relationships, ever has the exact same animal… There were other extinct animals they could have used that could still result in a similar suit. The sea mink. A bear. I would still have preferred snake bc that was Nakayama’s suggestion and I think they are absolutely right. But the fact is, it’s just really… It stands out that Naki’s just ‘an extension’ of Fuwa. Rather than giving them a wolf Key, maybe… Actually make them and Fuwa acknowledge each other when they’re not onscreen? That would have gone a lot further for me than just handing them a wolf Key to ‘establish’ their connection. You shouldn’t need to give two characters the same motif to prove their ‘connected.’ Literally no other connected characters in the show have the exact same animal. Gai wanted to be Aruto, basically, but he didn’t make another grasshopper Key. He did make another insect Key, sure, but they didn’t do that, they gave Naki the exact same animal. Like I said, even just a different extinct canine. The Japanese otter. There’s a little creature known as a flying fox that humans made extinct. Owls. It didn’t need to be a wolf. And the fact that no one else got the same animal, even when they were literal family, makes it really ridiculous to me.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Ngl lie, but it really rubs me the wrong way when people say that Horobi is a killer because he may or may not have a hand in Izu's death. Meanwhile, Aruto killed Jin twice and everybody still calls him a soft boy who can't do anything wrong. We get it show, humans are good and can do no bad and even when they do it's okay they'll get forgiven eventually because they were jealous or had a bad childhood or whatever. Just look at Gai and tell me this show isn't one big hypocrite mess.

I’m pretty sure those people see it as being Jin’s ‘fault’ both times, tbh.

Even though Aruto knew Izu was fine, had the fire power advantage, and had just established Jin didn’t know what was going on. But no, obviously, he had no other options./s

This, like… It’s not tragic to me, bc Izu could easily have gotten out of the way. We’ve seen her zip around faster than a car, cause sparks to appear when she slides. It doesn’t feel sad it just feels stupid. Why would she just stand there and let herself be shot? She could have moved even after he let go of the trigger. She wasn’t scared or anything like she’s been a few times before. That was clearly a conscious, deliberate choice. And I’m supposed to feel like it’s all Horobi’s fault? That’s why I feel like we do have to equate Jin’s death, bc him taking a hit for Horobi is essentially the same as Izu standing still and deliberately being hit. And then there’s the fact that Fuwa and Yua (I absolutely adore Fuwa, but he fucked up) absolutely escalated the situation when it should have made more sense for Yua at least to listen to Izu.

And Amatsu… You know, I haven’t seen him recently. He seems to have completely vanished from the series after… What was it, some episode in the thirties. Really quite odd.

But seriously, to me, they literally switched the 'cores’ of Horobi and Gai’s plots? Not that I want Horobi behaving like how this impost Amatsu is now, but, like… Horobi should be the one getting the sympathy for having the tragic past, should be the one whose working on something to stop Gai¡Ark instead of… This…

I’m sorry, I’m really worn out this week and I’m not sure if I’m articulating correctly, but yes, it is very frustrating how Horobi is being called a monster bc of a thing that could have been easily prevented (esp by the target herself), while, you know, Gai caused all of this and literally was knowingly responsible for Daybreak, has caused numerous deaths, tried to cause more, tried to kill people, all knowingly and deliberately, while Horobi was literally mind controlled and mind raped for twelve years. If you presented their basic plots to someone w/ no other context, I feel like they’d assume that Horobi would get the dramatic ‘reaching out’ and redemption arc, while Gai would be the one… Doing… Whatever this is supposed to be. Horobi is literally mentally and emotionally unstable right now, he’s been under intense mind control and had his emotions forcibly repressed his whole life, he literally doesn’t know how to handle them at all. It’s hard to see how him having a breakdown and lashing out and Izu grabbing the idiot ball and not moving, and then his mental state still not being addressed, being ‘worse’ than Gai knowingly doing all that shit? Like, I understand Aruto being in universe upset about Izu (though again, going Ark is just… Weird), but the attitude of the writing, in a way, and the reaction, at least amongst a number of the Western fandom… Sorry, but just bc HumaGear look human does not mean their minds work the same way. I’ve rambled about it before, but it’s literally the whole ‘don’t just suddenly approach a wounded animal’ thing. Like, Aruto going irrational after the incident makes some sense, but really there were a plethora of things other people could have done leading up to it that would have easily prevented the situation.

Just… Really sends an interesting message when you’ve got the guy literally responsible for everything getting away scot free and treated like one of the gang while one of his victims is painted as the ‘irredeemable bad guy’ for not being able to deal w/ the hell he was put through and lashing out bc of it. Like… In a way, Horobi’s behaviour is relatively/kinda realistic for someone (esp an AI)b that went through what he went through… But the reaction to it and the tone of the writing is very… Not Great. Like, I really think they should have made Aruto’s reaction much more unreasonable? Like, really leaned on him just assuming Horobi did it/maybe on him looking for an excuse bc Horobi continued defying his ideal of HumaGear as perfect angels who are blindly adoring of humans. Horobi def strikes me as the type who wouldn’t bother trying to defend himself bc he’d believe that a human would assume the worst about him no matter what, or that Aruto immediately assuming that he did it shatters any thought he might have had bc he figures Aruto was already set to assume the worst about him. Or something. This still feels like they’re trying to give the human an ‘out’ make him ‘not so bad.’ But Horobi didn’t go gunning for Izu or anything, in fact he tried to get away from her, and she kept pursuing him. He also didn’t fire on her right away until she kept pressing him. He didn’t plot to kill Izu, he didn’t stand there and be like ‘I’m gonna kill her to hurt Hiden’ or whatever, he was panicked and upset and terrified and he snapped. And she just stood there.

Anyone remember that time Yua almost killed Izu? Like. Deliberately, they were deliberately targeting Izu. Izu didn’t go seek them out, this was a deliberate act. And Izu was clearly frightened and confused and upset. Like she tried to run away. And honestly there her forgetting her speed makes some sense bc she didn’t want to leave Aruto and she was scared, yaddyada. But. Like. Yua was gonna do it. The only reason it didn’t happen was Gai said the wrong thing and Fuwa snapped out of it. But Yua was going to kill Izu. And she was going to do it bc she wasn’t in a great mental place and was in denial about her situation.

… Hey… Wait… Sounds a little familiar.

But here’s another thing. A human should be able to know better. Horobi literally can’t. The Ark has been his life for twelve years, her cruelty and her hatred. She trained him to respond w/ extremes and violence. Horobi literally cannot have the emotional reasoning and control of a human adult, he only just got them, and he’s been trained to reject them his whole life.

I’d love to think we’ll get something next week where someone points out to Aruto or just to people in general just what kind of state Horobi is in, but I doubt it. The intention seems to be to make him out as responsible for everything.

Meanwhile I now have the headache of the century (not bc of this Ask, I think it’s delayed from work), so I will leave this here.