#I just don't like when people disrespect others for their take when nothing contradict it

[fantomette22]

(For Bloodborne)

10, 16, and 18?? 💀

I answered 10 here ! As for the rest it is quite long so putting it under there. Hope you ready 😅

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Hm... wait I need to remember all the things I don't appreciate... and try not to make ennemies 😓 (it's really not my goal it's just personal preference mostly. Seriously depending how things are explained and presented there's lot a thing I can actually enjoy! While I would dislike when it's just throw and spam without context.)

Hm well you know as for characterisations when it's reduced to like 2 traits or extreme good / extreme bad it's hm... yeah. I mean I know I ain't a good exemple but I barely share dark headcanons 😓 but they do exist hehe.

Of course absolutely don't mind and love silly shenanigans (when you're hanging with your friends and having fun it's not always very serious) and also more dark and matures ideas. When people share it doesn't mean it's all they think to the characters! Gotta take the all picture!

But it does bother me when people believe in almost caricatural interprets like it's canon and talk down on others with different views. Somehow like they are the worst thing...like wtf.

Also well typical extreme talk about Gehrman, Maria and mostly Laurence I suppose (maybe a bit Lulu aka the holy blade but it bother me a bit less because people are generally not spamming to or being annoying as much as the others. Oh Micolash too). When people reduced them to just 2 things or an extreme. I feel it really doesn't fit with the infos within the game. I'm not a fan at all. They are all morally grey and humans. They are not clearly all black or all white. they are morally gray, they are humans!

In more details now. Well for Gehrman you know my stance already. Clearly yeah he had some issues in his life and did bad things but clearly I don't think he was a misogynistic asshole and all the stuff. Like it just don't make sense to me. I don't even wanna vent about it today XD

As for Maria well. Look I don't have a problem with the headcanon of her being a butch lesbian. I mean it's even one of my AU actually. (to put it really really simply. Bc I like having several interprets disconnect to each other in their own settings). It can be very interesting in an overall big story I think. The problem I have is when it's apparently her only unique traits and if you think or headcanon otherwise for any reasons you are apparently the worst shit to exist and getting block. Being labelled as sexist, homophobic etc. Well idk but that kind of reaction kinda tell me who the real -phobic one is 😕 really that is sad like wow who hurt you people?! to have this much anger to people just trying to have fun. Thankfully it's clearly just a minority of people who are agressive like this. And I hope they will grow, gain maturity and realise there's really no need to be that mean about such a thing. But it's been a while saw smt like this so I prefer to put this behind me there's hope.

As for Laurence I'm not really a fan of him being the ultimate bitch devil (or angel but nobody has that take almost. That would be a change. the tragic vicar who only had good intention but accidentally fucked up and try his best until the end😔 I mean I don't agree with that either but that's a change). I mean by this, that I think he did both. Good and bad things. That he had honorable intentions at first but overcome by a bit of ego and pride he fucked up really bad. And then realised his mistake but it was too late to correct it... his theme inspire great strength but who end in tragedy and pity. So overall tragic these too. Him being depicted as just a smug unlikable bitch is something I have a hard time with. I mean yes I like to imagine him being a smug bitch too at times for sure! it's fun but not like all the time and making it his entire personality. If that make sense. I don't see how he could be an important religious figure, doctor and having so much support by just being a manipulative ass all the time. Especially if he start from ground 0.

And hm... i have nothing again it and people so that we're clear but hm EXCEPT in certains very specific context* I am not personally a fan of Laurence being drawn with horns on his head. It just isn't my cup of tea. I'm not sure to understand what's the interest don't make sense to have Laurence looking normally human + just horns but it's just me.

*EXCEPT WHEN : symbolism and symbolic art (no prob I like those actually. Horns + when he's burning in human form for exemple onlooking like religious symbolism) ; "decoration" like lil detached horns, like you would put flowers or sparkles or little emoji next to a portrait of a characters ; before he transformed but with other signs of beasthood (actually him human with horns can be nice but I prefer when it's like mini horns not full cleric beast ones + idk a giant arm with claws and fur growing, eyes looking weird, teeth growing, his hair being longer and messy etc).

Now last I will stop after...

I think a whole fic or interprets on a really dark and realistic Bloodborne universe like our world can be super interesting! But I don't enjoy when people seem to think Bloodborne is 100% our 19th century with just a couple of eldritch things in it? Ok it's closer to us compared to medieval fantasy like DS or elden ring. But I feel it's fantasy too. if we had a map I won't be surprise if that's not Europe or a map that existed in real life. Lot of things don't fit to be actual victorian era. It's just inspire by it : invention and technology aren't on the same lvl. Either they are missing important inventions or are too advanced. (Molotovs appeared during spain war and were named like this during WWII) people don't seem to have 10 children working in factories or mines as well. Women are doctors, academic, hunters etc No steam machine or electric bulb but who knows. I could make an entire things... Looking at all the real life inspirations for the game is great! Create a very realistic story is very cool! But I would personally be more on the side that's it's more of a victorian fantasy. Like Sekiro can't be in our world or how Dark souls is a medieval fantasy as well and isn't medieval age accurate.

Oh boi i forgot about victorian london. Jokes are fine but bloodborne is more inspired on Prague and eastern europe i feel. You and Katy developed it more anyway

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

Ok I don't know how to answer this so have a list (of ideas in my head I need to share /write one day lmao) :

Maria backstory (no seriously I want stories on her childhood, her family, what happened, how she felt toward them. Conflicted? Good terms but separate ways? Actually work for them for a while? Disowned? I wanna know! If she's actually close to Annalise ? More important in royal family that we know? Or really a random noble related to them?) Is her pyromancer real?! why she dislike blood blades?

How she got her Rakuyo

How she met Gehrman? her training? WHAT HAPPEN I NEED TO KNOW uxkcblkDOLFMBOEAMl: (sorry XD) work for Laurence & co too

Important lore Charcacters backstory before this whole mess (Laurence, Gehrman, Ludwig, Willem etc yeah basically everyone lol I won't do the entire list XD but how did they meet each other what bound them what happen.)

Stories how the healing church + blood transfusion actually came to be?

Byrgenwerth era (yeah sorry I love it XD)

So yeah overall timeline before the hunter arrive (help)

Cainhurst, Annalise, vilebloods, potential KING of Cainhurst

So yeah Logarius too

Loran, Isz and pthumerians lore??

Dores and Gatekeeper my beloved

Caryll (yeah just Caryll)

Izzy and bestial hunters. How the bestial rune was forbidden, why Laurence had it etc

Ok is everyone except 5 persons gonna ignore the fact freaking Gehrman can make more than just weapons?! well wood stuff are oblivious but how did bro can make such refined clothes hello?!?!

Religion practise how it works in Yharnam, how citizens and clerics actually practise it.

What's their history, their legend, how the geopolitic within the country is and others XD (it's more a critic about the game in itself than fandom really) In truth I'm a bit sad we know lot of countries and regions within Dark Souls but almost none with Bloodborne! Like many people are from foreign countries and we have 0 names compared to the dozens in DS. we just have like vaguely Yamamura asiatic country, Eileen's one, Valtr's city, Loran and Isz. As for Gascoigne Gilbert Brador and all the others we don't know anything. In Dark Souls we have names and we know where people came from : Catarina, Astora, Forossa, Mirrah, Carim, Vinheim, Lordran etc)

Event being seen by random citizens or young characters growing up could be interesting!

I mean many characters again

I might stop here or it will never be over sorry... I'm not even sure it's really slept one but I wish we have more. There's just so many possibilities and things that can be created!

[geekgirles]

Aurora's Claim: a Chapter 3 Analysis

Okay, so I read the chapter and, as expected, I'm fuming. However, it does give me the perfect chance to mention how, no matter what the Osamodas said, it still doesn't contradict my thoughts on Armand and Aurora's relationship and her lack of agency outside her father's thrall. Thoughts I discussed in length here.

On the contrary, I'd say it actually proves my suspicions right. So let's dive in, shall we? (Spoilers for the chapter under the cut).

First of all, I still don't trust a word that leaves Aurora's mouth, so I refuse to believe Armand knew about the pregnancy and told her to flee until we get more tangible evidence. After all, what good would it have done? If the Sadida and Eliatrope fell, the rest of the world would follow soon. And even if he did, I maintain that he didn't want her to rule his kingdom alone, because he still told Amalia it was up to her to take up the mantle.

(I finally got to take that screenshot)

But see? Not once did Armand mention Aurora or tell Amalia to please help her rule or anything like that. He didn't even take advantage of those precious few seconds he had left to let his sister in on such major news, to tell her she was gonna be an aunt. Nothing. He instead makes it pretty clear his sister is the Sadidas' next queen, not his wife. Which I'm convinced is because he knew all along his in-laws couldn't be trusted.

See, not even after these frames did Armand mention Aurora's supposed state or what it would mean for the kingdom. Not even then did he think she should ascend to the throne if he wasn't there by her side. Armand never wanted Aurora to rule on her own, child or no child.

Again, because he most likely suspected what the Osamodas would try as soon as they got the chance. Their people might have been joined by marriage, but they were never allies.

Which is something that is immediately proven as soon as Aurora reveals she's pregnant. Her family has no intention of honouring Sadida traditions. They don't even mention the very real possibility that the child might end up being an Osamodas and, therefore, unfit to rule the tree people inhabiting the World of Twelve, in which case I'd say her claim on the throne would be void.

No, as soon as they arrive and drop the bomb, Aurora makes it clear she has no intention of allowing Amalia anywhere near power. Just like she makes it clear she is nothing but her father's pawn, seeing as in no point in time she intends to part from him, even if she were to ascend to the throne.

And the Osamodas intentions of controlling Sadida politics become crytal clear from that point forward. Because Aurora never tries to include Amalia in any of this, despite her being the last Sheran Sharm and, thefore, having received training on how to rule (as seen in season 2 when she was busy with her duties and kept sending Yugo and Ad to help) or sharing the strongest connection to the Tree of Life. You know, the very same thing Aurora and her child would be in charge of guarding with their lives should she become queen? With that in mind, it would only make sense to keep Amalia close in order to help her rule.

But what does Aurora do instead?

She insists her father will help her until the baby is born, and from that point onwards, he will still be around to raise the kid. In other words, that child has been doomed to become the Osamodas King's puppet even before they're even born! They intend to raise the next Sadida ruler to have their people's best interests in mind, not the Sadidas'.

And where does Amalia fit in all this?

She doesn't, because Aurora's very last line about how Amalia should do what she does best and travel the world could not be any more of an abvious way to tell her she doesn't want her anywhere near the kingdom, where she could get in the way of her family's scheming.

Before I finish this rant, I feel morally obligated to point out the sheer disrespect everyone seems to feel for Amalia. Yes, she's always been very free-spirited and spent long periods of time away, but if it weren't for her, her people and the World of Twelve would have died three times over (not counting the Nécromes attack because that was during the only time she remained in her kingdom).

Amalia's adventures have allowed her to grow and mature in ways no other ruler has had to go through. It's thanks to her and her friends that her kingdom and the rest of the world are still standing. And no one knows of the sacrifices required to save the world like she does.

She couldn't be there when her father died because she was saving the world from Oropo, for fuck's sake!

But sure, the Osamodas can keep calling her selfish and spoiled. After all, it takes one to know one. Because let's not forget how Aurora being pregnant or not is still no excuse for her father not sending help, meaning they're still very much a bunch of cowards and traitors insteads of the martyrs they're trying to present themselves as.

Literally the only way I can ever see myself coming to like Aurora is if she actually matured and developed beyond being her father's pawn and turned against him, realising Amalia is indeed the rightful ruler.

Until then, I'm going to be cheering for Amalia to wipe the floor with her.

@cocogum @vinillain @onyichii I hope you don't mind another analysis on the same topic.

[orenji-iro-no-sora]

Thoughts on TGCF Vol 3

Vol 1 | Vol 2| Vol 3| Vol 4| Vol 5| Vol 6| Vol 7| Vol 8

*Spoilers*

Arc 2: Heart as gentle as a flower

I didn't talk much about the second arc in the last post because most of everything happened in the third volume and I wanted to keep it all together.

To me, this arc was the hardest to read up till now. I was wishing for it all to end which was a sentiment that took over Xie Lian as well as his confidence in what it means to do the right thing waned with the progression of Xianle-Yongan conflict. While in the beginning, he believed wholeheartedly that saving someone, doing something was still better than nothing at all, by the end of it, it was clear that much of his suffering had been futile.

It truly was a hopeless conflict, I reflected a lot on what could be done, what really is the right thing to do and in the end there were no answers. In the face of destiny, there's not much anyone can do and as the state preceptor said: when humans ascend, they're still humans. Gods are still humans, they don't know better and they can't save anyone. Only people believed that Xie Lian should be invincible. He wasn't and could never be.

I applaud MXTX for her depiction of the events as something genuinely unstoppable with so many factors that it becomes paralysing to take any decisions. Having kindness and compassion for all means that making 'necessary' sacrifices is unacceptable as there's nothing, no act in this world that's wholly beneficial, it'll harm someone or something. There's no pure goodness.

Xie Lian did his best though, all his decisions were deliberate, rooted in his virtue, kindness and his desire to save people. He walked the walk, it just didn't make any difference. He was too young to have faced it all and by the end of it, the exhaustion and the inadequacy of his powers caught up to him.

Death isn't something that is deserved/undeserved, it's not punishment that the innocents must be protected from. It simply is and that I think is the most important lesson here.

Qi Rong and the Human Face Disease

Qi Rong was a nuisance from the start. He really brings out the worst in Xie Lian (sibling effect). Out of everyone, he believed too much in Xie Lian's indestructibility and it's not shocking that he ended up hating him so, commissioning those disrespectful statues, inciting the populace to blame him for it all, burning his mother's corpse and possessing Guzi's father. Hua Cheng's hate for him makes complete sense. Xie Lian feeding him his deathly congee was hilarious though.

I didn't realise the severity of Human Face Disease when it was first mentioned in Vol 1. But arc 2 really presented it as one of the creepiest fictional diseases I've ever read. It's the most horrific manifestation of unjust death and I'm just glad it's not a real life thing.

Mu Qing, Feng Xin and The Three Tumors

Seeing the relationship the Xianle trio shared with each other, I finally understood the awkwardness in their interactions during the first volume. While Feng Xin is fairly easy to understand (loyal, faithful, straightforward), I think Mu Qing is one of the most interesting characters. He's insecure but decisive, he respects Xie Lian but also envies him. To him, the end justifies the means which is in complete contradiction to Xie Lian who wants justice at all levels. There are so many complicated emotions between them and the way they go about it is entertaining to read. I hope they can clear out the misunderstanding as we progress further in the story.

The interactions between the Heavenly Officials, especially the Three Tumors, were unexpectedly funny. Every official is multi-dimensional and has a unique personality. It really offered the much needed light-heartedness after the misery of the second arc. I also really like the Wind Master. He's friendly, even when he messes up in shielding Xie Lian from others (poor guy has bad timings). I am looking forward to how they'll deal with the Reverend.

Side note- Ming Yi focused only on the feast is so me lol.

Hua Cheng's unwavering devotion, first kiss, Ruoye vs eming

I didn't expect them to have met so many times. They really were connected throughout their lives. Out of everyone, I think he was the only one who reciprocated Xie Lian's kindness and consideration.

In my heart, you are god! You are the only god, the one true god! Do you hear me?!”

He fulfilled his promise of building the most extravagant temple for Xie Lian and celebrating him with plays and three thousand lanterns. (XL is the light of his life after all). They're so cute and they finally kissed!! Underwater too!! It was still weird though. Just as weird as Xie Lian's heat from the Land of the Tenders. I don't know what I think about it all except for it reminded me of the awkwardness of Mo Dao Zu Shi.

Another cute thing was Ruoye showing off in front of Eming as he cut vegetables for Xie Lian's poisonous soup (?). Them competing against each other and puffing out when Xie Lian praised them was the highlight for me.

[mistressoftherant-blog]

Stop Babying Mikey 2k23

This is partially a follow on from my post about how 12 Mikey isn't abused by his brothers, but I want to focus in on how much people across the tmnt fandom (I've seen fics in nearly every verse that do this), completely and utterly baby Mikey, and how it doesn't make sense.

For a start, in every verse but Rise (and possibly 87), it is implied or outright stated that the boys are all the same age. Especially 12 which starts on their joint 15th birthday. I feel like a lot of fans who get into the franchise via Rise decide that they can't all be the same age, and therefore decide to make Donnie and Raph a year younger than Leo, and then Mikey a year younger than that, or an even more weird age gap.

I see this a lot in human aus especially, as if people seem to forget that quadruplets are a very real thing.

It seems to me that people just want an excuse to baby Mikey, and so they decide to make him even younger, even when this directly contradicts canon.

Even in Rise, Mikey is only 1 year younger than the twins.

So why do people treat him like he's far younger than the others? It's especially irking in the Rise fandom when there is a whole episode dedicated to Mikey being fed up of being babied by his siblings (mostly Raph), though a few of the other Mikey's also get annoyed when treated as a baby.

Sure, for the most part, Mikey's are far more childish than their siblings, and tend to act far less responsibly.

But they aren't innocent, precious, angels who radiate positive energy, know nothing of the world or, horror of horrors, about sex, who can do no wrong.

They can be naive about a lot of things, and their brothers definitely try to protect them from the worst of aspects of their lives when possible, but some people take this to the absolute extreme in the most ridiculous ways.

I've seen so many fics about 12 in which Mikey knows nothing about sex, despite the fact that he canonically makes a sex joke (not that kind of sub) within the show. He's also a teenage boy, and despite their social isolation for most of their lives, they have access to enough books, shows, comics, and the Internet in some series, that it is incredibly unrealistic that they wouldnt have even the vaguest ideas around sex.

Or when fics have all the brother swearing, but they won't let Mikey say any bad words, ever.

There is also a pervading idea that 'Mikey gets punished all the time by his brothers for no reason, how could they be so cruel, he's only trying to help', despite the fact that Mikey spends so much of the shows (mainly 12 and 03) deliberately ignoring any boundaries his siblings set in place.

In 12, he constantly antagonises or stresses out both Raph and Donnie (he even riles up April's dad during the Krang invasion, and pokes fun at numerous other characters), and yet they are the ones seen as bad guys for when they inevitably lash out at him.

He also openly plays around with chemicals that are rare and/or expensive, not to mention dangerous, during times of crisis, and yet Donnie is seen as the bad guy for yelling at him or not wanting him in his lab. Purely for his own entertainment, Mikey risks the lives of himself, his brothers, his friends, and everyone that Donnie is trying to save via retromuatgen, multiple times. This also shows an incredible level of disrespect to all of the work that Donnie puts into his experiments and machines.

And don't even get me started on the 12 Croaking episode. Oh sure, Mikey completely destroys the place multiple times, even though it doesnt belong to him, and then decides to run away rather than helping to clean up his mistake purely because he actually got called out for his actions, but then somehow everyone else is in the wrong for being frustrated with him?

I think part of this mentality in the fandom is because, like I said in my previous post, Mikey is hardly ever punished by the narrative. In 12, his mistakes get him a cool new pet, he is somehow able to cure Donnie in Creeping Doom by basically pure luck and is then praised for this (as if it wanst his fault in the first place that Donnie almost permanently lost his mind!!), and then later on when he plays with mutagen during the invasion, he somehow manages to stabilise it, and Donnie gets told off by Splinter for being mad at him messing around with the dangerous solution that he has been working hard over and neglecting his health to complete for months.

Even in 03 Mikey is rarely punished by the narrative, and he also pesters Raph just as mich as 12 Mikey does.

In an ep in Fast Forward, even though he tries to cut in line for a new game, and is only interested in stopping a bunch of dangerous thieves so that he can get a copy, (behaviour which, in a kid's cartoon especially, should not be rewarded), he is still given a copy of the game at the end of the episode.

And then, one of the instances that really ticks me off, is when Raph gets powers via the superhero Cape in in that Back to the Sewers ep. Mikey spends the entire episode throwing a tantrum, to the point where he almost gets both himself and Raph killed, almost let's the bad guy win because he is too busy trying to physically wrestle the Cape away from his brother whilst they are being actively attacked by a dangerous enemy, almost lets said enemy get his hands on the cape and its powers, and then damages the Cape by trying to snatch it from Raph, only for him be allowed to use the Cape later on, giving him the chance to experience superpowers like he dreamed of.

Surely it would have been much more narratiely satisfying for Mikey to have taken a step back at some point in the episode and realised that Raph deserved to be a superhero using the cape's powers, and then maybe have him step in to support Raph, proving that he could still be a hero, even without powers? If they had handled it that way, it would have been far less annoying if Mikey was allowed to use the Cape at the end of the episode as a reward for doing the right thing. Instead, he spends and entire episode whining and pouting like an entitled brat, before almost getting himself and Raph (who had been using the Cape's powers to help save people), and then is still rewarded by getting a chance to use the powers anyway??

It's endlessly frustrating when other characters within these shows receive far more severe narrative consequences for either similar, or far less selfish actions than Mikey's.

I think this happens slightly less in Rise, but the fandom baby Mikey even harder. I genuinely don't think people grasp how small the age difference is between the twins and Mikey. I see comics of the twins walking around and talking in full sentences and looking to be around 5 years of age, but Mikey is a tiny baby swaddled up, unable to do anything at all. The age gap is not that large, he is not that far behind them developmentally.

My sister is just about 2 years older than me, and for most of our childhood people who didn't know us would mistake us for twins. There is no way that Mikey (again, only a year younger than the twins), would be so far behind the twins developmentally.

By the time they're toddling, he should at the very least be crawling.

To conclude yet another TMNT rant, I am just so sick of people completely and utterly infantilising the Mikeys. I see story upon story of Mikey being oh so sweet and innocent, unable to cope with seeing his siblings hurt in anyway (I have legit seen stories in which on of his brothers is severely hurt either physically or emotionally, and yet far more attention is given to Mikey who will be having an absolute breakdown, leaving the injured party to pretty much bleed out in the background whilst Mikey is coddled), or who could never say a bad word about anyone (even though he insults or winds his brothers up on the daily), acting as a therapist for the team (he does do this to some degree, particularly in Rise, but he is also just as likely to capitalise on someone's fears as he is to do anything about them).

It's also really annoying to have people act as if the Mikeys are far younger than their siblings when they are the same age, except for Rise, but even then the age gap is basically negligible.

He isn't a poor little uwu bean that gets unfairly picked on by his brothers. He's a little menace that is hardly ever punished for his actions.

[sneezemonster15]

A lot of adults women behave like incels but less violent and more manipulative. They usually love the cringe romance movies where the main girl is average looking and not like the other girls and manage to make the badboy soft. Generally they hate hot girls bc they are jealous (see the way Skr stans talk abt Ino and feel victorious bc they "won" against her, the hot girl). Those women are full of insecurities, thats why Skr is so relatable.

The way Skr tries to not think about the fact Sske dont wanna spend time with her is the same way some irl women ignore that their husbands are cheating, and if they cant ignore it they will attack the other women but they will NEVER leave the guy. All their self worth is based on having a bf/husband.

Then there are some lesbian/bi women who stan her as an act of feminism. She is a female character who got what she wanted so its a win apparently. Fortunatly those ppl are minority bc as a queer woman and feminist, it is very embarrassing to read those takes. I'm all for uplifting women and for them to get everything they desire but not at the expense of non sexist men. Plus, Skr dont even look so happy at the end of the day. So is it really a win for her and women?

Yeah that makes sense. But it's sad isn't it? Because even trying to have a dialogue with them isn't helpful. There's no point having it if they aren't ready to be receptive to it.

Sakura really sees no contradiction between what she says and what she does.

And yet...

Lol. Till only two days ago, she was found styling her hair in the middle of chuunin exams, all skinned knees and having suffered minor injuries, while her team mates were working. She let her hair grow in the first place because she thought Sasuke liked it. Lol.

What impression can it possibly give to the reader? Kishi had to stress on it too, with another character this time.

Why would Kishi stress so much on Sakura and her obsession with her hair, just to make her say something totally hypocritical five chapters down? Lol. Kishi is very clever about writing his characters act according to the character traits given to them. Like for example, the panel below, Kakashi acts according to his character (where he has a blindspot for Sakura's negative shades) thinks Sakura is not the type to brag when she is actually exactly the type to brag.

Lol, Sakura's whole personality is about being obsessive for Sasuke which in turn makes her violently jealous of Naruto and Ino. She beats Naruto up regularly for no apparent reason and harasses Ino, even though that girl did nothing but try to help her. And she brags, it's the only thing she does properly. Lol.

And yet, she is always bragging, showing off. From start to end.

And I am positive I am missing some panels here lol. She is always looking for external validation. She revels in it. While external validation itself is not a bad thing, since humans need some amount of external validation to measure their abilities, and Naruto does it too, but for him, it's rooted in his quest for acknowledgement and acceptance, so he could make friends and not be ostracized from community. Sakura does it because of her ego. While Naruto has his principles rooted in his belief systems, his emotions and his dream that egg him on to do better, Sakura finds her motivation in the desire to show off and impress people, mostly Sasuke.

She disrespects Ino, Tsunade, and she fights Kaguya while she says this?

Girl, why are you so embarrassing? If you wanna attack her, just do it. Why even mention her being a woman? She wasn't mocking you, she barely even noticed you. You aren't worthy enough for her to notice.

Lol. And things she says about being a woman are just so cringe lol.

No one underestimates her because she is a girl, in fact Kakashi coddles her because she is a girl. She is underestimated because despite training, she is just weak and unskilled, as compared to her cohorts. And if she is skillful, we don't see it in the same proportion measured against the way she talks about herself. Tsunade never had to sing about her being a woman and yet people are bloody scared of her strength. Temari never had to mention it, neither did Kushina. Chiyo certainly briefly talks about how women always get the short end of the stick in their male driven society, but she not only belongs to a much older generation that has seen a hell lot, she is a master puppeteer and a superior warrior in her own right, she has earned it.

It would have been fine if only Sakura had actually consistently kept her word, proven herself through actions and not just empty words. Because when she doesn't, it reduces the value of those words. I don't know if she really meant it when she said women were fickle. Who? Tsunade? Kushina? Chiyo? Temari? Nope, they didn't give any such impression.

She constantly condescends to Naruto despite him having proved himself to be skillful, strong, the one who wins team seven several battles while she stands in a corner shaking and sweating. Thing is, she realises she makes mistakes. She acknowledges Naruto's strength as well, but she doesn't do anything to change. The whole point of a realization is to work on it and correct your behaviour. She is condescending towards Naruto till the end. Konohamaru takes her down a peg when she is being disparaging towards him and Naruto when they are doing the oiroke jutsu contest. She even hits Konohamaru, and he gets pissed off. So he makes a reverse oiroke jutsu just to show her true face, and that face has a streak of blood trickling down her nose lol. But when Naruto uses it against Kaguya, she again condescends to him. Narusakus are kinda embarrassing tbh, Sakura doesn't get Naruto. She thinks she does but she doesn't. She thinks she gets Sasuke but she obviously doesn't. And yet, she makes her 'strategies' in kage arc around her knowledge of Naruto and fake confesses to him. Naruto rejects her. Lol. She goes to Sasuke and tries to kill him (with a kunai...) by tricking him, only to be attacked, twice. Even when she drugs her cohorts before going to Sasuke, they clock her real plan. Lol.

She overestimates herself, even though it's clear that if she only thought things through, she would be much more successful. She is really blind to her own shortcomings even though she tries but remains unsuccessful, which is even sadder.

She does know Sasuke doesn't wanna spend time with her, she also gets a sense that she will always be much lesser than Naruto in Sasuke's eyes, she knows but she doesn't care. Even if it means long term misery for everyone involved.

Yes, I am sure some women find her character relatable. But relatable doesn't mean everything. I relate to Sasuke and I am very wary of establishing emotional connections but I know it's not something ideal or healthy. Connection is what people thrive on. If I ever started to relate with Sakura, I would really be compelled to take a hard look at myself. Lol.

[nikethestatue]

It turn out that eriel are now delusional because we base our ship on interviews or what sjm wears😅I mean come on we always bring canon text as a evidence they are always trying to make us look dumb or something. I usually ignore them but I am starting to get really mad . Is taking everything i have to dont comment on their videos that show up in fyp. Is the disrespect honestly we have show evidence since day one and now we are being drag because of a shirt that clearly represents elain

It's just fear. And worry. Deep down, everyone, no matter how anti, realises that Elain is next, and that it will likely be Elriel. So, if you sit in an echo chamber, and hear other say 'oh of course it is, sweetie' then it's easier, but then, you enter the real world and all your fantasies are melting like an ice castle. So you lash out. You start calling people 'delulu' and you start saying that Elriels have been here since 2017 and 'nothing's happened'. You start contradicting yourself, because you don't know which way to lurch--is it that nothing's happened? or do you go with 'it's only lust'? or is the option of 'Elain will be evil and will betray everyone' a better one? Because it's real hard to say that 'nothing's happened to Elriel since 2017' when the author is all 'offer and permission' and 'he needed her coming on his tongue'. Because....that's definitely something.

Listen, having been in the fandom for a while, I've seen it all--Moriel, Emeriel, Gwynriel, Azris, Tamlain, Byrceriel, and on and on and on.

Like you said, we have canon. Nothing that anyone's said has ever come to pass. I am not too worried. I am not on IG throwing fits over a sweatshirt. I am not desperately repeating 'but Bambi is the hind' hoping that 2 + 2 = 4 and not 7, because Bambi being the hind is a freakin STRETCH. 'Bambi is a breadcrumb to the hind!!!' What breadcrumb? We already know that Lidia is the hind.

Don't get angry. Get even. We haven't been wrong yet, about much of anything, so it's all good.

[nattikay]

Kaltxì!! i'm just here to say how much i adore your art & your content!!! it brings me so much joy to see you draw the sully family, they're just so cute :") especially the newest art of jake, neytiri, neteyam and kiri - it's just so nice to see them happy together like this <33 your ocs are amazing too, btw!

this question is kinda random but i'm still going to ask, do you have any sully family headcanons (or na'vi headcanons in general)? i'm just curious, my brainrot is way too strong i can't stop thinking about them fsjdjdh

have a nice day! :] Eywa ngahu!

Aww, thank you!

Headcanons? hmmm.....I don't think I have many at the moment, but perhaps a few:

A silly one is that Balto is Lo'ak's favorite movie no I do not take constructive criticism. How did he watch the movie, dunno, the kids seem to hang around the scientists often enough, perhaps Norm introduced them to a few cartoons one day idk

The whole family is of course bilingual but stick mostly to Na'vi by default. On that note, none of the Metkayina know any English at all; everything we hear from them is translated from Na'vi for the audience.

I know it's a fairly popular headcanon in the fandom right now that Kiri is autistic; as for me I'm a little on the fence about it. On the one hand I highly doubt that she was intentionally written to be autistic. On the other, though, as an autistic person myself who also grew up as the awkward weird kid (a tearful "why am I different?" to Grace's spirit hit kinda hard)....I can definitely understand where the theory's coming from. I know people who dislike this headcanon say that just because an autistic person relates to a character it doesn't mean that character is autistic, and yes I absolutely agree with that--I relate for many reasons to many characters that I don't view as autistic--but I can see where people are getting those vibes with Kiri and can sympathize with wanting to view her that way. So.....maybe? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Speaking of Kiri, based on what we've seen in the movie and until we get further evidence to contradict it, my theory on her origins is that she has no biological father--she's a genetic clone of Grace's avatar somehow spurred into existence by Eywa. How, exactly, we don't know, but given what we know thus far it seems to be the most likely possibility imo.

...on that note, though, can we please stop calling her "space Jesus"? I get why people draw the comparison, apparent immaculate conception and divine abilities and whatnot, but unless her purpose on Pandora is secretly somehow to sacrifice her life to atone for the Na'vi's sins (which I very much doubt is the case), the connection doesn't quite work, and feels a tad disrespectful. ^^;

Lastly, I don't think Jake became a "military dad" until after the RDA returned. I hesitate to even call this one a "headcanon" so much as simple analysis given what we saw in the opening montage, where he is shown to be very warm and playful with his kids. The military side only emerged out of necessity when suddenly the family was at very real risk of one wrong move getting them killed in the reignited war. (also there's nothing wrong with Neteyam and Lo'ak calling him "sir". Like, if Jake was strictly enforcing that they only ever call him "sir" at all times then yeah I would agree, that's kinda cold and harsh, but he doesn't, they call him "Dad" most of the time; an occasional respectful "sir" when they are in trouble is nowhere near the big issue some of y'all are treating it as).

[delusionaid]

headcanon: ayato - the inner self VS the persona (& dating)

I recently had a real life encounter (a situation with a rather uncomfortable person) that made me think of this concept that I headcanon to apply to Ayato in big letters. The concept of being someone you have to be in a situation, because nobody else is there to be that person for you.

Just because you're good at something and can do it doesn't mean that it is what you want to do, or that it is who you really are (a). Ayato can read people and situations, create elaborate plans and come up with diplomatic ploys or schemes. He can lie, he can manipulate situations to reach a desired outcome. He can be confident and strong, he can tolerate disrespect, humiliation, lack of trust. He can keep a straight face or even smile while he's hurting on the inside to be the pillar of the Kamisato family and to make sure nothing bad reaches Ayaka. He can appear as someone who is never fazed by anything, never scared, always two steps ahead.

But that doesn't mean that's who he wanted to be, who he is at his core, or who he'd be if he had a real choice in it. (In a way, he had a choice; he could have let the family name die and lived a very different life, but he made this choice.)

In the same vein just because you want to be a certain way, doesn't mean you can easily remove the persona you wear most of the time because you have to (b), that stands in contradiction to who you feel you are in your heart.

That's how I see Ayato around people he's close to. He has to carry the weight of his family all the time; there's nobody to fall back on if he fails, it's him. No parents, no family elder, no one to guide him or fix the mistakes he makes. (So there can't be mistakes.) He's had to be that since their parents died and that meant not only being competent, efficient and incredibly aware of everything potentially relevant, it also meant presenting as strong and not easily intimidated. Even if, especially in the beginning, he was. There were many who first pitied and then strongly doubted the young Kamisato boy when he first took over his father's duties, but he persisted and convinced them of his abilities by not only succeeding in his tasks but also carrying them out with the utmost confidence.

Ayato has presented himself as confident in his actions for so long that it's like a second skin he wears and sometimes forgets to take off because it's become so natural. Some of it has actually grown to be his second skin, because by now he does know what he is capable of and doesn't have to pretend he trusts in the outcome of his plans because he knows they will very likely succeed. Ayato is confident in himself and the things he can do - but the pressure on his shoulders has never diminished. He just learned to live with the pain it causes to walk upright in spite of it with elegance.

I don't see him as on the verge of breaking any given moment but deep down he's exhausted. Being the one others have to be able to rely on at all times, is exhausting. What he'd need is someone who's both an equal and a little something more, someone who, to use Samwise's words for a second, can't carry his weight for him, but can carry him. The two closest people to him are Ayaka and Thoma, but as much as he loves Ayaka, he cannot rely on her in this way. As head of the family and her older brother, he wants her to be able to keep her innocence and peaceful nature as long as she can - forever if you ask him - so placing his burdens on her is not an option. Thoma, however, is actually easier to lean on, which is why this relationship is so important (whether you ship it or write it as a friendship is irrelevant to this, imo). He trusts Thoma with his and his sister's life, with their secrets and their safety. Thoma is part of their household (and a friend) and Ayato thus still has some responsibility for him - but Thoma is still in a unique position of being a help to Ayato because he's not family. He's also, despite everything, a foreigner. Admitting "weakness" to him, in its own way, is easier for multiple reasons.

At present (default verse), Thoma is the only person Ayato opens up to in a way that reveals true concerns, fears or sorrows he has. He's the only person Ayato trusts enough in all directions to not feel the need to put up any kind of facade to create the impression everything is fine when it isn't. It would be hard to reach the place Thoma holds in Ayato's life, but in a verse in which he doesn't e.g. end up with Thoma romantically as well, I think the only other person who could be that for him, would be his partner. (If he finds one.)

But that also means his partner ideally would have to be a certain kind of person. Someone he doesn't have to be strong for, someone he doesn't have to guide or protect. Someone he can admit to that sometimes he can't eat all day or sleep all night because the fate of many things hang on a single decision he has to make and the uncertainty of that won't shake their entire world. Or how tired he is deep down from being on top of the game at all times and how often he wonders when the day will come when he no longer is.

That said-- here is where (b) would come back into play. Like I said, it would be hard to reach that importance in his life, but even if he was with someone and it would become evident after a while that they're a good match, he wouldn't easily show this side of him. It's hard to get through to that because for the longest time he'll wear his Commissioner mask and show even his lover the confident, strong and smart person that he is. It's so much easier to slip into that and stay there than to reveal what's underneath.

But if he could reach that level of trust and comfort and safety? He would be a lot softer than you'd guess if you just met him a few times.

(*This is also why he could engage in casual encounters if he felt the itch, but they never turn into more and they never fulfill him in the way a true relationship with someone he loves could. He has a guard up that stays up even when his clothes are off. UNLESS you are that someone he can.. rely on.)

[a-student-out-of-time]

Honestly kinda disagree with you on a few points. The first is that just because you don't think the quality of work was acceptable doesn't mean it's a true blanket statement, because that stuff is subjective. The second is that even if the work is publicly available, it doesn't mean the creator has to do jack shit for the audience considering the work itself is completely free. This isn't a case of a genuine level of quality being expected for a product because nobody's spending money on SDRA2.

//If you're focusing very strictly on the money aspect, you're kinda missing my point. This isn't about money, this is about disrespecting your audience and derailing your own story.

//First of all, I've talked at length about why Chapter 3 is bad not just because it derails the twins' characters, but because it's objectively badly-written. It doesn't do anything to service the narrative, it doesn't advance the characters, it doesn't do anything but point and go "Hey, isn't Kanade wacko?"

//Say what you will about the quality on its own, but you can't seriously tell me that wasting 1/6th of your own plot on a completely irrelevant and self-indulgent side-story is a good idea. Especially when that side-story is the longest out of the entire game.

//Almost nothing in Chapter 3 is relevant to the ongoing plot about the Voids, and the bits that are can be learned later on. There was no real reason for things like Iroha being revealed as a Void to happen beyond dramatic irony, but when she doesn't even really do anything in service of the plot or grow as a character, I must ask what the point is.

//The only thing of note that happens is, as I said, Hibiki and Kanade's characters being derailed. Hibiki had a great arc in Chapter 2 and was one of the highlights of that chapter, but then she basically becomes a background extra in Chapter 3 who does nothing but cry and then die for a crime she had no conscious role in. Her death isn't tragic or poignant, it's cheap and emotionally manipulative.

//Kanade goes from a shy girl with a dark streak to a serial killer with a ridiculous body count not because it serves the story or has any bearing on the greater plot, but because LINUJ thought Korekiyo was cool and wanted to do his own spin on V3 Chapter 3. That's it. She turns out to be this manipulative murderer with a body count of over 60 people- which would make her one of the most prolific of all time- and none of it has any meaning.

//There were absolutely ways one could integrate the existing elements of Chapter 3 into the story, where maybe Kanade exposes Nikei as a Void like my friend Mod Poi has suggested. As it stands, however, it doesn't service the plot in any way. The characters barely even seen phased by it come Chapter 4.

//And thanks to wasting a chapter on the irrelevant, that means much of the room for exposition had to be shoved further and further down the line. This is why I think Chapter 6 became a mess of one infodump after another, because there was no room to put it anywhere else.

//The real kick in the teeth for me, however, is that in a character Q&A, LINUJ straight up confirmed that Hibiki- had she survived and gotten away from Kanade- would've eventually recovered from the trauma. If we want to take the creator at his word, this demolishes any notion that Hibiki wouldn't have been a good survivor.

//Kanade, meanwhile, has no qualities or interests beyond her obsession with her sister and just being smart. Without Hibiki, she would've offed herself.

//So essentially, one of them could've had an interesting arc had she survived and the other has no character beyond just being an evil obsessive freak. He deliberately chose to write them like this. And yes, the Q&A has some contradictions, like how he said Emma would've forgiven Kokoro in the afterlife, even though he said she wouldn't have in Emma's character sheet, but this just adds to my point.

//I'm not saying you can never be self-indulgent as a small creator or that you need a flowchart for your entire story. I'm just saying, if you've got a fangan or any story in mind, there are some things you really need to plan out and have nailed down ahead of time, otherwise it's going to end up cluttered, disorganized and full of plot threads that don't matter. Discovery writing doesn't really work when you have a story that needs a definitive outline and conclusion to work.

//Hell, I'm a small creator and my work is free, and I never want people to feel like I should never be criticized because of that. I admit I've made some bad writing choices in the past, but I'm trying to build off of that and make something better. It's a lot of discovery writing, sure, but there's just as much planning behind the scenes for the arcs I have in mind. The relevant points have been decided on ahead of time.

//As a creator, regardless of whether or not you're making money off of a project, if you make it publicly available, that doesn't make you immune to criticism. It also doesn't mean you're free to disrespect your audience and basically tell them they were stupid for ever wanting to get invested in the characters. Even if that's not the language used, it's what's implied with statements like "Oh yeah, she would've grown as a person if she survived."

//Yes, there is such a thing as fan entitlement, but that entitlement and basic criticism are not the same thing. Creators can be just as entitled and self-absorbed, and saying that any creator doesn't have to "do jack shit for the audience" just because it's free? No, you really do. You have to show them basic respect.

//I'm simply speaking as a creator myself and a fan, and on both levels, Chapter 3 fails hard for me. You can explain to me why it ended up the way it did, but that's not going to magically make anything about it better.

[sapphiredragonprincess]

LWJ shows maturity in allowing choices he doesn't agree with instead of enforcing his own views like at Cloud Recesses -> ???.. LWJ didn’t enforce ANYTHING on WWX at Cloud Recesses (or ever). WWX was a guest there who showed nothing but disrespect to the place that’s essentially LWJ’s home and were pushing his boundaries relentlessly (in cql he even got him drunk and later whipped for it). But I guess, this fandom sees LWJ as some kind of freak that needs to be taught how to human by any means the protagonist deems necessary 💁‍♀️ idk why y’all like to vilify LWJ that much. I swear, it doesn’t make JC any better

Hello, Nonny! First of all, thank you! I write in tags without the expectation of anyone seeing them, let alone think anything about them. And you didn't just read, but came to talk to me about them! That makes me happy!

Second, and getting into the matter at hand here, you're right! LWJ absolutely had the right to punish WWX at Cloud Recesses! WWX was being a horrible guest, an absolute asshole! And LWJ delivered what he thought was appropriate punishment, nothing wrong there. But anon, nonny, the issue in discussion (which isn't really a discussion since I'm not trying to argue with anyone, but you know what I mean) when I mentioned that in my tags is not whether LWJ was right or wrong when he did what he did. It's the fact that he made WWX take punishment, which is the literal meaning of enforcing his (Gusu Lan's) rules. That's an objective fact, not a matter of morality. I agree that LWJ did nothing wrong by doing so, it would have been against his precepts not to. Gold star to LWJ for not caving to peer pressure and let people get away with what they want just because they're young masters of other sects! ⭐

With that point made clear, just like I said in my tags, it is a show of how mature LWJ is to understand that outside Cloud Recesses he does not have the authority to demand WWX does what he wants him to do. It's a good thing about LWJ! An important part of his character that people, including me, love about him! Nonny, I mean it sincerely, I don't understand where we are disagreeing here and why you mention LWJ needing to be taught how to be human, much less by any means possible. This is part of how human LWJ is. Other parts of LWJ being extremely human are his pettiness, his stubbornness, his adoption of LSZ, his evolution from the first life to the second. LWJ doesn't need to be changed by other people. He does change, but that's on him as a person, because people are ever-growing, always evolving, so 30-somthing!LWJ cannot, and therefore isn't, the same as teen!LWJ or even 20-something!LWJ. People, including WWX, can be catalysts of that change, but it's always on LWJ to do the work of growing up, of choosing what growing up means to him personally.

Regarding my opinion of LWJ, anon, I won't lie to you, he's far from my favorite character, that's JC and then JL, with everyone else following very far behind (sorry LXC, NHS, I do adore you, I promise). Still, I don't hate LWJ nor feel the need to vilify him, because he's far from a villain, quite the contrary, actually. I think he's an interesting character, one with plenty of virtues and also many flaws. Also, one that frustrates me to no end. Not because who he was at the beginning, I loved teen LWJ! I also loved post-war LWJ, who was as out of ideas on what to do as everyone else. Plus, as I stated in the tags you mentioned, he's mature enough to recognize what he cannot do! I love that about him! No need for anyone to change that about him, please, do not touch that part of him. I dislike where his character arc took him after the time skip, because I understand, sort of, how and why it happened, but it contradicts my own personal views of the world. That's my own issue, though, so really, it's immaterial to any analysis of his character outside a personal opinion. (You can argue the point that personal opinions always color character analyses, I won't say it's entirely wrong, but I try to believe I'm not so shallow as to not recognize when that's happening, which is why I try not to talk about post time skip LWJ in any detail.)

Oh yeah, regarding your mention of JC in the ask, I'm sorry to say I don't understand what the point of it was, so I don't know how to address it. My apologies, anon, if I let you down by that, I'm always okay for more questions or plain conversation in my inbox, so feel free to explain what you meant by sending another ask, hopefully I'll be able to attend to you better with more input.

Well, that got long and pretty repetitive on some parts, my bad. I'm a rambler by nature, so it's hard trying to keep myself concise, but I did finish and am posting it today and not after a week of retouching this answer, so that's a win. That's all, so bye-bye, nonny, I hope I managed to answer whatever question you had when you send this ask! Bunny hugs for you (only if you want them, of course)!

[kyrodo]

I hate misrepresentation. I hate it when people disrespect another's identity. Whether it's what they say, how they wish to express or identify themselves, whatever. Even if it's an enemy, you don't do that. In the same argument I understand that one of the first things people do when they don't agree with someone or don't like someone, is these little betrayals. Going for words versus what people meant. Picking apart context instead of respecting what people mean to express. Avoiding respect, avoiding taking people seriously, avoiding meaningful responses towards the person they do not wish to acknowledge. People avoid standing on the same level with the people they dislike, even when the ideals they fight for contradict the very behavior they engage in.

Because hate takes priority over one's ideals, over one's morals, over maintaining any level of integrity or tact. All that matters is any little way to offend or dismiss the enemy in front of them. All that matters is hate and any little way to make that known to the enemy.

People that are willing to make that sacrifice just to get back at someone, I will never be able to get along with. I will never want to be friends with.

You showed me that sometimes it doesn't matter how agreeable you are, how well you can process what people mean to say, how cohesive you are, how willing someone is to relent when spoken to with the right channels. There are people that can and will shit all over them regardless. Because hate is the end of understanding. Hate is the end of respect, of common sense, of even common decency. It is the willingness to destroy someone even when the reasons do not line up. Because you've stopped listening, you've stopped caring, and the facts of the matter cease to matter.

How many times did I say I would've left and kept to myself. I lurked and lurked sure, and I would have trouble hiding it, but given time I would have been gone, I would have moved on. It would be one thing if I had kept at it for years. It was months. Rhyme, justifiable reasons, probable cause, all of that is completely lost on you. And that's what gets me the most. You didn't want the conflict to end, you wanted someone to hate. You wasted no effort making sure I couldn't leave.

I would point out all the most random things to try to keep things from ending as an act of desperation wishing there was still hope that things would go well between us. And quickly devolve into dis journals when things didn't pan out the way I'd hoped. But I never came after you. The one who crossed that line was you. The who was setting all these romantic flags, and lying to my face the instant we share any actual words with each other was you. I was angry, sad, scared of what might happen if we got together, miserable, and I wasted no effort showing that. But every time I tried to trust you, you showed me that I couldn't. I deleted my entire social media history out of misery, as an act of self-destruction and instead you took it as me trying to hide shit from you. But you knew long before we shared our first words my actions initially had nothing to do with you. And you kept attacking me from all the wrong angles. Take everything in the most negative way possible just to feed your friends a target.

Who did I fall in love with? It was the idea of you. An idea that was clearly misplaced. I don't know what I saw in you, but I was so incredibly wrong about you. Someone like you should never have been able to leave a stain on my heart. I know I was self-destructive, cause normally I would never want someone like you.

Normally I value myself too much. I value myself enough to be angry whenever my mom says I sound or look sick even when there's no actual visual indication that I am. I value myself enough to no move back home whenever she pushes me to. I value myself enough get pissed off when people mistreat me like you do. I value myself enough to be afraid to join the military and die. I value myself enough that I give a shit when people are being mean to me. I'm not like Lupy who constantly berates himself over every little thing. I value myself enough that instead of doing anything against myself physically I'll push those thoughts onto the internet. There are so many layers I'd have to get through before I would actually start to hurt myself for real.

Because I care. No matter how hard I try not to I care. No matter how hard I try to relieve myself of the last lines of hope I can't remove that last bit of me who sees the future and wonders what it contains for me. And that is what sets me apart from other people who get depressed. Even when I thought all the good times of my life had come and gone and I would never have friends again, I stayed.

You never seem to know what to say. At least I already had someone who does.

[nanjokei]

oh god a project moon tier meta post, how bad was it

shockingly pretentious post going "i love how the characters don't have extreme speech patterns" then doesn't elaborate but only states facts at you with no bearing on WHY they like this, and describes the following, parenthesis is my own commentary when needed:

the character who uses -dono for everyone doesn't go full ninja (he uses -dono and gozaru because he's a geek. it's not rocket science)

the cult leader.....speaks like a cult leader (wow)

the protagonist is very polite but still has no issues cussing people out (yes... because he's kind of a detached bitch for many reasons.. i don't think this is rocket science either)

the annoying guy who does things to annoy the protagonist is annoying and speaks in a frivolous way but not too much because he's cunning and is faking it (no shit sherlock...)

now its pretty catty of me to describe the post to you like this especially considering anyone who takes one look at my blog will realize exactly what tag i was visiting and if OP stumbles across this— maybe just block me or something, but i also found it a little amusing there was a lot of highlighting of how they read the text on their own or whatever. (who cares. you are not special. i will go on as usual)

i personally read the fan tl for the main game (cc subs, so i can see the jp dialogue underneath, so im still aware of how ppl talk in the original text) because im lazy and there's too many hawd wowds fow widdle old me, read parts of the dlc (beginning and end, read the fan tl in the middle) on my own and then the subsequent game in the series, so i can weigh in on the labored upon "speech patterns" in their post— it is utterly mundane. i don't think anything special about the way most of the characters speak for the most part— the dialogue has very strong character voice present (something to lament about the existing fan translation.. i mean no disrespect bc they do fine for the bulk of it but the tone is so Neutral). and had i made that post, i would use literally any other set of characters. not exaggerating at all. at the end of the day it is just a fandom meta post and nothing serious, but this "stating objective facts without elaborating and acting smart for it" brand of meta post TRULY gets under my skin. you asked me about "projmoon fan tier" in particular so you must know exactly what i mean for it to pique your interest.

my entire point here is "WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY THIS" and "WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS GOOD". none of which the post communicates. it just feels like posturing for the sake of it. if they said "i like the dialogue like that" or "i think the character voice is strong" (as i said on my own just now) it'd be FINE. but the fact that i just had objective facts spit up at me with no thoroughline to the thesis of the post. and like, i don't think i'm very smart. i guarantee i may have said something dumb in this ask or contradicted myself and i acknowledge i am being PETTY. however... it really is an issue i have with "analysis" on here. also, this series has a strong presence of projmoon fans so like.

thank you for letting me rant about this a bit btw nonnie

[ihopesocomic]

You don't have to answer this, but what are your thoughts on bi/pan lesbians? asking because the recent question you got about shipping lesbians with men reminded me of someone trying you argue that it's okay to ship a lesbian with a man if you hc them as a bi/pan lesbian because "you're not erasing the fact that they're a lesbian", and that just never made sense to me

tw: lesbiphobia, lesbophobia, biphobia, panphobia, transphobia

There's a reason it never made sense to you, its cuz the label doesnt make sense LOL "Bi/pan lesbian" is inherently lesbiphobic/biphobic/transphobic

1) Lesbians by definition have no attraction to men. Implying we can means that the ongoing struggle, of being told we “just haven’t found the right guy” or whatever lesbian-specific discrimination you can imagine that infantalizes our sexuality, means absolutely nothing. It also disregards the compulsory heterosexuality lesbians often experience. It supports (cis straight) men’s beliefs that they "have a chance" when that’s obviously not the case. Men have a snowball’s chance in Satan’s buttcheeks of being with a lesbian romantically or otherwise, and we like them to remember that. Not validated by some made-up label.

2) The deep-rooted bi/panphobia of the label. Like besides the implication that a bi person has ”finally picked a side”. There is no reason for any person who is attracted to men to be ashamed of their m-spec label and to adopt a label that is very specific in its lack of attraction to an entire group of people. Bi/pan people are attracted to men. Lesbians are not. Those things cannot exist in the same label because they directly contradict each other. And I do not think it’s because they don’t know that. I don’t believe anyone is really that foolish. I can’t imagine any reason to have this label other than being ashamed of being attracted to men. There’s this weird slew of people who think lesbians are “more woke” in their lack of attraction to men, or bi/pan people are somehow "better" if they're in a same-gender relationship, and that’s just plain untrue. Even having a preference or whatever doesn't erase your attraction. There is no reason to not proudly express your sexuality. So therefore there’s no reason to take my label for yourself just because you simply can’t use perfectly good already existing labels.

3) And I’ve seen this on a smaller scale, but some people have used this label because they are bi/pan or lesbian, who are dating someone or are attracted to someone who is trans and still on the gender binary or they’re treating nonbinary as a “third gender” (which I’ve stated before is too broad a label to categorize like that). I don’t want to get into speculation of specifics as to why they feel this way, but for whatever transphobic reason you can imagine, they don’t want to let go of the lesbian label, even tho nonbinary people are nonbinary, trans women are women, and trans men are men. And if you are attracted to trans men then you cannot be a lesbian. To say otherwise is transphobic and disrespects their gender. (Like its in the word, it’s not that fucking difficult to comprehend.)

I hope this helps validate your concerns. I’m not gonna suggest telling people off if they don’t respond to reason, I’m just simply making everyone aware about why this label is harmful. Awareness is all I care about. I could really care less about changing minds of people who are being willingly ignorant. - Cat

[ackerpreach]

This ending .... I can name 500 reasons and I will name them right now, because I don’t think I’m the only one who is upset with how things turned out. (Also, A positive message for all of you at the end)

MAJOR LEAKS SPOILERS/ READ WITH CAUTION

Update: after reading more theories from fellow RM bloggers, and sleeping over it one day, this entire chapter might be an april fools... Don't fully lose hope yet beautiful people. It's me just giving a review on a possible fake April fools chapter

After following this franchise since 2013, so nearly a DECADE. this ending is a pure disserve to the entire fandom. I feel like Yams has rushed it just for the sake of being done with the entire manga. So many things are left open, characters and their developemt are reverted back all the way to chapter 1 or are left even worse than that...

Mikasa’s worthless character development/ Aaronmika’s horrible toxic codependent relationship 

Oh honey... Let’s start with how horrible Isayama has treated her. We were all rooting for her, because we all felt like she was so misunderstood. She had a horrible childhood and imprinted on a guy who treated her like trash 99 percent of the story. And then, slowly but surely, she starts to realize she has to stop obsessing over him in the uprising arc with the help of a real man who treats her like a queen, more importantly, he treats her like a real human being. This man sees her for her abilities and that she has the power to be self dependent. She learned parts of herself, that she was able to work together with him like no one else could.  She learned parts of herself she was unable to do so if she kept obsessing about Aaron. All this love, care, mutual understanding and RESPECT these two shared. 

but...NAH FUCK THAT, right Yams?? Throw all this development away, all this bonding. Let’s make the main female lead even more yandere than she already was in the first season. Let her make out with his decapacitated head (like dude, this is also pure disrespect to Aaron’s dead body btw) and let her obsess even more about the guy who has treated her no better than a piece of toilet cloth 99 percent of the time. The guy who was never really appreciative in front of her for saving his ass billions of times, who always pushed her away, who yells at her and snaps at her whenever he can instead of reasoning and talking calmly with her in mature way. (EVEN PARODY YOUTUBE CHANNELS WHO DONT SHIP ANYTHING MAKE IT A TROPE WHERE AARON TELLS MIKASA HE HATES HER GUTS WHENEVER HE CAN) 

Then after all that, suddenly Yams tries to last minute persuade us Aaron’s always been head over heels for her???  He should have build their relationship better which he hasn’t even tried to do so... He must be thinking his fans are stupid for eating this from his hands.    

Like seriously??? What is this??? 

Isayama is just fully contradicting himself. It’s like someone tipped him off with a buttload of money for him to write Aaron like this to satisfy shipping needs and to cash in those extra money’s from it. Even if he tried to cater to Erem*ika, this is not how you write a loving and caring couple which people will root for. 

This next two panels just freaking infuriates me to the core of my soul. I can’t even describe how dissapointed I am with Mikasa. 

Why is she clutching that head so obsessively like that?  Why is she walking and turning her back away from her comrades? After everything they have done for her, after all they’ve been through?! After everything Armin has done? Standing up for Mikasa, beating up Aaron for hurting her. I feel like even Jean, Connie and Sasha have cared more for her in a healthy way.  Sure, Aaron cares for her romantically too apparently (What a twist Yams :)), but has he aided her to becoming a mentally healthier individual? Has he aided in her mental stability? The answer is a big fat NO!  All I see between these two after today’s raw Chapter’s are too Yandere obsessed individuals who have no clue on how to maintain a healthy relationship. 

Love should only go as far as the heart can endure and it seems like her character is not willing to be aware of that. Even Armin was able to let go of Aaron in those latest panels. Why does her entire character resolve around this guy??? I really do not understand. Her Ackerbond and her age is not an excuse for her to throw her life away like this. 

Shonen’s disgusting portrayal of women 

I’ve seen this countless of times in the many years I’ve watched anime. SasuS*ku from Naruto, Ichih*me from Bleach, Shinji and that oranged hair girl from Neon Evangelion.. Why do these women get decreased to simpletons with one single goal? And that is to obsess over a bland male lead who either treats them like trash or doesn’t notice them up until the last last chapter (LITERALLY WHAT YAMS HAS DONE). Some go even as far as the male leading wanting the kill the female love interest and yet the female lead is still in love with them???. It’s disgusting for him to write the MAIN female character this way. 

It’s dissapointing we believed in Isayama doing Mikasa’s character right. That she’s finally being able to let go of her codependency and to live for herself maybe live in Hizuru and find more about her roots???, but every single time she shows some improvement, it’s burried deep in the ground again by the Author. It almost seems like a lowkey kink of some of the male Mangaka’s to write about a girl obsessing over them no matter what. I see this so many times to the point that I truly stand behind it that some of them might have this fantasy. 

I wished he didn’t portray her last panels like this. Everyone else is living their lives while Mikasa is still grieving about him. I’m not saying she’s not allowed to grieve and everyone takes it at their own pace, but cmon... Show her living her life too. This is too much. Her being next to his grave and grieving him as her last panels just shoves it in our faces that YET AGAIN, BEING OBSESSED WITH AARON IS ALL HER CHARACTER STANDS FOR. 

I truly despise how Isayama handles her grieving, kissing his decapacitated head, carrying it around like some handbag, and her last panels being thissss.

The world leaving Paradis alone miraciously after all that??? 

It’s so weird and out of place with so many political feuds and disagreements between the world and Paradis, the entire Rumbling happening and we can see Mikasa just chilling outside in Paradis with no one bothering them. You can see the rings of the walls in the picture below.  I don’t know the exact reason behind as the manga is still in Korean, but from what I see, the story went the route of: throwing a happy ending without enough proper reason and  it was all fixed just like that in a snap! It doesn’t fit the entire narrative of attack on titan for things to be so peacful out of nowhere. When it comes to the narrative, how things work in that world, how hard it is to achieve peace, everything made somewhat sense up until chapter 138. 139 seems so so out of place...  It’s like I’m reading a chapter from a totally different manga. 

Aaron Yoghurt got defeated so easily/ Aaron’s character assassination

The build up on the first part of the rumbling was great, those kids carrying coins. You could feel humanity’s fear and Aaron’s hatred in those pages. As if he truly had a goal and he has turned away completely from his comrades and his closest friends with no return. The world seemed truly doomed, but he  got defeated just like that. He was in the nape all this time (because screw the warhammer power of hiding yourself elsewhere in his ginormous titan body). There is no master plan as we all expected, and in the end he just acts all yandere in the paths with Armin and that’s it... They massacared his entire character as well. Many fan theories created a better ending with his character. Him being reincarnated as Historia’s baby would be so much better. For him to still keep on seeking and to strive for power. It has always been his motive. It’s his personality from the start until chapter 138. Even if things are okay, to keep on going and to seek that adventure, but then.. He’s so weak and directionless suddenly.. It’s so weird... This is not Aaron at all???

Using Aaron for him this entire post, because I don’t want others to invade our tags... :)))

Historia’s baby 

The only panel we got from Historia’s child was this. Just a normal kid, normal life... Why did Isayama put so much effort in highlighting Historia’s pregnancy if it was nothing too spectacular anyway? It seemed he had major plans for this kid and for their development too??? It’s again, big plans, big developments, big relationship dynamic, but all  got thrown out of the window... 

Don’t read the next sentence if you are a minor :’) 

It’s like almost ejaculating, but stopping right before it and repeating that every single Arc.

My energy when writing about this chapter is the same as Nostalgia Critic and his hatred for atla the live action

In Conclusion...

I know us fans should not be deciding on how this story should end, because this is Isayama’s story after all, but I truly wished for him to wrap up things much more rounded. There are so many unanswered questions... Again, I think for the sake of being done with this manga, he rushed all of it. He’s become a millionaire from this story and now his pockets are jammed full, I guess he doesn’t need to put in any effort anymore, right? Perhaps a controversial opinion, but I really wished he cared for his fans a little bit more with this last chapter by giving some answers that make sense at least. It’s his fans who gave him this platform and the opportunity to tell his story and for him to at least give in a bit of effort especially in the last chapter is the least he can do. Rivamika being canon or not, he truly rushed it without thinking much about the entire story line. He expanded it so much, he didn’t know how to bind it all together.

Even after all this, I’ll still ship them in the headcanon type of way. I do give credit to Isayama for giving us a template for such a beautiful dynamic between Levi and Mikasa. He decides to waste it, but that doesn’t mean we have to.  I want to thank all the people with amazing writing skills, the ones who give us beautiful art like @carmenlee @phit chan @vialesana​ and many more. I want to remind all of you that we can create something beautiful of our own and we don’t neccesarily need canon lore for that. The art I’ve seen, the fanfictions I’ve read have touched me deeper than Isayama ever could at times.The Mikasa in our mind is appreciate of Levi, is mature, classy and has a strong will for herself. They spend their remaining days together peacefully. Keep writing, keep drawing, stay creative. 

I love you all so so much, I’ve only been publicly active since March, but thank you Rivamika fandom for giving me so much joy as a lurker these past 7 years <3

[itsclydebitches]

so ironwood was confirmed to be dead by Miles in a $42 cameo session, where the person who bought it had asked for "comforting words to soothe our anguished souls" bc she was an ironwood fan and wanted a pick-me-up after that devastating finale. miles' response was to essentially mock his fans (it really sounded like that, especially since he ended with "thank you jimmy, may you rest in pieces, crushed beneath the weight of the kingdom you tried so hard to hold up above your head."

apparently the VA, jason rose, confirmed it in DMs w the same fan who sent in the cameo ask. so like, quite apart from how rude and disrespectful it was of miles to make a mockery of james in a cameo where he'd been specifically asked for comforting words regarding the character, ngl but i think that if you have to confirm a MAJOR CHARACTER is dead outside of canon bc you failed to actually show it on screen.....you've failed as a writer. and also that kind of thing shouldn't be confirmed in an expensive and exclusive interview lmao like how hard would it have been to just talk about good aspects to james' character instead of calling him a dickbag and saying 'don't do a genocide, guys!!'

it reeks of unprofessionalism and also it just makes everything surrounding ironwood's character arc even worse since apparently 'his fate was sealed' from the moment he was introduced to the show.

Me, who received the first Moderna shot yesterday (🎉 🎉 🎉 ): Ugh I feel too crappy to answer asks today

Me, upon hearing this news: You know, I have suddenly found an untapped source of energy

Okay, all joking aside, I watched the vid and it’s definitely a lot. I don’t have any information about the request itself except for what Miles mentions in the recording, so I can’t speak to what the fan may have been looking for outside of that, but some highlights include: 

“This is for the filth in my degenerate discord server” - Yeah, that’s how a lot of us (fans) talk about ourselves. It sounds like someone who really enjoys Ironwood and makes joking, self-deprecating comments about their love of a character. That’s familiar to me and speaks to the expectation that they hoped for something other than what they got. At least, if I’d sent in a request like that I wouldn’t be happy with the vid, but that’s obviously my own perspective and not this fan’s. I’d be very curious to know their own thoughts though... 

“Sometimes a character we like doesn’t make it, does something we don’t agree with... or both!” - That is indeed how characters work! The real question is whether their death/actions make sense within the story, which is not addressed here. Many fans who enjoyed Ironwood don’t have a problem with him dying or turning into a villain  — I’ve been honest about my acceptance of either/both, regardless of personal preference, provided it was written well  — and that was always the issue. Not what happened to Ironwood, but how it happened. 

“James Ironwood’s fate was sealed the moment his character was conceived many years ago.” - Personally, I don’t believe this. RT makes a lot of grand, sweeping statements about what’s been planned “for years” or “since the beginning” and too often we’re faced with writing that directly contradicts that. Though it’s unlikely we’ll ever know the truth, neither option paints the writing team in a good light. Either they’re straight up lying about what’s been planned (or twisting tossed out possibilities into assurances after the fact. For example, someone once suggested Ironwood might become a villain somehow at some point and now that’s presented as, ‘We’ve deliberately been working towards this specific ending for years’), or they’re being truthful and just... can’t write what they want to write. It doesn’t sound good when a writer says, ‘I’ve planned this the whole time’ and a good chunk of the fandom responds, ‘Then why couldn’t we see that planning this whole time?’ 

“When James was introduced we intentionally made him look like kind of a big dickbag, but then we realized that dickbag had a heart and was also half metal, and that was pretty cool!” - I don’t even know what to make of this. I’ve deconstructed his introduction before, but to summarize here, he’s presented as no more of a “dickbag” than Ozpin who may not be doing enough to protect the people, Winter who allowed herself to get taunted into a fight on campus, or Qrow who deliberately started that fight while drunk. Glynda is the only one who is arguably innocent here. The implication seems to be that obviously Ironwood became a villain because “we intentionally made him look like kind of a big dickbag” but then... does that mean Qrow will become a villain too someday?? 

The comments about them realizing he had a heart and was half metal just speak to that lack of planning. No, you obviously didn’t plan this downfall from the start if you “realized” something as basic as him caring for others partway through writing him and then allowed that care to drive his character for so long that the decent into villainy read as OOC, rather than inevitable. You obviously weren’t writing him with a backstory that influenced his character  — of which his semblance is a major part  — if you “realized” he was half-metal... whenever that happened. The fact that we never saw that backstory, or the semblance on screen, or returned to his half-metal nature outside of a ‘That’s coding for evilness’ theme again speaks to the fact that either a) none of this was actually planned or b) the execution is seriously lacking here. 

“Let us all take a moment to thank General James Ironwood for his service to the Kingdom of Atlas, but... at the end of the day, don’t do a genocide [laughs]” - I’m having trouble articulating why I dislike this. I’m really too tired to be unpacking this right now (lol), but it has something to do with  — as you say, anon  — that mocking tone. Something else to do with the surge of purity culture in recent years. The tone feels like it’s tied up in an unsaid, ‘You like the character who tried to commit genocide?’ accusation when, you know, he’s a fictional character. People can like characters who do bad things. More significantly, he’s a fictional character Miles wrote. There’s something particularly distasteful about writers who feel like they’re laughing at fans for liking something when they created the thing with the intent that we would like it. And many did. So they gave attention, time, money, passion, etc. to the work and then when that part of the work finished, the creator appears to make light of that investment? Idk, I’m speaking about more than just this one line  — the tone of the vid as a whole, really — but it feels much less like “You enjoy Ironwood! 😄” and more “You enjoy Ironwood...  😬” Like yeah, fans enjoyed the character that you wanted them to enjoy who you wrote to have a heart and then suddenly commit genocide instead. There’s definitely nothing complicated in all that. 

“Thank you, Jimmy. May you rest in pieces crushed beneath the weight of the kingdom you tried so hard to hold above your head. Amen.” - All of the above x2 with the added issue that this was never shown on screen. Miles presents Ironwood’s arc like this seven year long plan when in fact they couldn’t even manage the basic move of telling the audience what happened to the character in his final hour. The fact that a fan had to pay to find out whether Ironwood is dead is not a gold star for the writing. 

Every time the RWBY crew speaks about the story in supplementary material the canon itself gets worse. Hyping Clover/Qrow on social media pushes the canon closer to queerbaiting. We’re way closer to that with them hyping Blake/Yang. Long ago comments about Ozpin’s cane suddenly make Volume 8 a retcon. A Q&A about Ironwood’s semblance makes his arc a thousand times more confusing about how we’re supposed to read his character  — to name just a few. Now this. When a friend first told me this info had dropped I thought, “Thank god. He’s not coming back then. I don’t want them writing Ironwood’s character anymore,” but really... can we believe anything the crew says? “Crushed beneath the weight of his kingdom” doesn’t mean Ironwood won’t show up in Volume 9 if it’s a spirit world type adventure. It doesn’t mean he won’t show up three years from now with even more metal in his body and a, “We said he was crushed, not that he was dead ;)” explanation. Hell, it doesn’t even mean he won’t show up with no explanation at all because, as established, what’s said in supplementary works and what happens on screen are two entirely separate things. Iffy as the vid may come across to those who did like Ironwood, I was initially happy that it at least gave us some closure... but now I’m not even sure about that. 

[hello-that-happened]

How She-Ra, Wrong Hordak, and I Deconverted in Six Steps

Alright y'all, it's time for my fourth essay exploring how She-Ra and the Princess of Power (SPOP) used Christian themes and parallels to provide a humanist message.

My first post named 9 major messages of SPOP that contradict Christian fundamentalism.

My second gave the historical context of how our generation and Noelle's are growing up to overthrow Christian fundamentalism after it became such a powerful enemy in the U.S.

My third discussed the parallel between Horde Prime’s rage at Hordak’s self-naming and the Christian idea that everyone is an instrument of God’s will.

Now I want to discuss how Adora's and Wrong Hordak's journeys defections from the Horde parallel my story, and potentially others', of leaving Christianity. Adora and Wrong Hordak experience many of the same stages in his journey out of the Horde as many ex-Christians experience leaving Christianity.

My own experience leaving Christianity was a journey into atheism, so I will interpret Adora's and Wrong Hordak's stories through that lens. Plenty of people who left toxic/conservative Christianity behind still believe in God, in heaven, and/or in the value of Christian communities. I do not want to minimize or dismiss their experiences, and I welcome progressive Christians as allies in the fight for LGBT+ rights and social justice generally. But when I watched Adora and Wrong Hordak leave their belief in The Horde behind, I saw myself leaving Christianity behind. I want to tell my story through/alongside theirs. I hope some of you can relate, but it is okay if you cannot, regardless of your religious beliefs or lack thereof.

Deconversion in Fast-Forward

Adora, Wrong Hordak, and I escaped from the organizations that raised us and its worldview in six somewhat-distinct stages:

Multiple major characters' arcs in She-Ra begin with rethinking their loyalty to The Horde. Wrong Hordak and Adora both lose their faith in The Horde after a lifetime of indoctrination into its ideals and goals. Their journey away from The Horde mirrors many young Americans' away from Christianity, with at least one notable exception: time. Deconversion takes multiple years for most ex-Christians, but only takes a few days for Adora and Wrong Hordak. Their de-conversion basically represents a speed run of most ex-Christians'.

Full Breakdown of Each Stage

(tw: mention of depression and suicidal ideation)

Adora takes delight in pretending to beat up an imaginary princess in the show's first scene, and later calls princesses "violent instigators who don't even know how to control their powers." She believes in the ideals of The Horde, and feels excited to rise through the ranks to become Force Captain. Obedience to Horde authorities comes fairly naturally to her, and she even chides Catra for being "disrespectful."

Wrong Hordak consistently repeats his loyalty to Horde Prime throughout his first episode and beyond. Even while being attacked by his fellow clones, Wrong Hordak affirms that "We serve Horde Prime's will." Unprompted in the next episode he happily announces, "I believe in Horde Prime!"

I felt proud, as a kid in Sunday School, that I could answer more questions about the Bible than any of the other kids. My church's youth group was the most enjoyable part of my middle school years especially because I got to hang out with the guy I only recently realized I'd had a huge gay crush on. I started viewing "feeling happy" and "feeling the presence of God" as identical. I wrote in my 2011 "Faith Statement" for my church's Confirmation that "I fell in love with God," and that "I thank God that I was born into a good Christian family and was raised to honor God."

Adora is kidnapped by the Horde's enemies and taken away from her home, separated from all of the voices reassuring her that The Horde is a good organization with a just mission. Shadow Weaver is not around to give her orders or map out her future anymore, leaving her alone with her enemies and her thoughts.

Wrong Hordak's connection to the hive-mind he knew for all of his life is severed. "I am…alone?" he asks in shock, then breaks down and cries, "I am alone!" For someone who grew up living in the same mind as his entire communal "family," suddenly losing that connection to everyone he knew would be traumatizingly shocking. The best equivalent I can think of in human experience is being suddenly ripped away from your family and community and then never seeing them again.

I kept conflating happiness with my faith in God for years, even after my crush moving away drove me into suicidal ideation for a couple weeks in 2011. My mental health recovered for a year before settling into a long-term depression in 2012. Because I conflated happiness with the presence of God, my depression felt like something had taken away the presence of God.

Adora defends the organization that raised her by quoting her highest authority: "Hordak says we're doing what's best for Etheria. We're trying to make things better. More orderly." Glimmer argues against Adora's worldview by showing her (1) that princesses are just people instead of dangerous violent monsters, and (2) what The Horde has done: first the ruins of a village destroyed by The Horde, and then that the village of Thaymor which she was told to attack was peaceful, innocent, and happy.

Wrong Hordak grabs Entrapta by the hair for the crime of "trespassing," and enjoys saying, "Prime shall hear of this, and his punishment shall be merciless." But once Bow’s arrow disconnects him from the Horde’s hivemind, he is simultaneously stranded away from the people who constantly reinforced his belief in Horde Prime’s goodness and stuck with a group of people opposing Prime. For a long time, Wrong Hordak simply pretends that the Best Friend Squad™ serve Horde Prime just like everyone else he ever knew. Every line of his dialogue in “Taking Control” is a quick, snappy motto he took from Horde propaganda, like “I believe…in Horde Prime” and “True nourishment comes from the favor of Horde Prime.” [see footnote 1]

I was well aware, growing up in a progressive suburb, that plenty of my high school friends were nonreligious. After my depression sunk in, I found myself arguing about religion with a brilliant but very smug British friend who consistently refuted my arguments in ways I could not dispute. Searching for arguments to support my pre-existing beliefs, I started reading Christian apologetics, but found nothing my friends could not easily refute. [see footnote 2]

Adora sees the ruins of the site of a Horde attack while with Glimmer and Bow, and at first rejects what Glimmer tells her about what she sees to preserve her worldview: "This doesn't make any sense. The Horde would never do something like this…You don't know them like I do." But when she sees The Horde attack Thaymor, the belief system painstakingly constructed by The Horde and drilled into her over 15 (or so) years comes crashing down. At first she can rationalize away her experiences to preserve her beliefs, but when the evidence of her own senses becomes overwhelming she cannot resolve the cognitive dissonance between her belief in The Horde's goodness and her direct experience of The Horde attacking the innocent town of Thaymor. Her worldview cannot explain what she experienced.

Wrong Hordak keeps his belief in Horde Prime's all-powerful nature for a long time after joining the Best Friend Squad. However, when until the Best Friend Squad catches him in a contradiction. He tells them what he was told: that Krytis does not exist. As soon as they start questioning the contradiction he was fed, he becomes extremely uncomfortable. He maintains his denial of Krytis' existence even after they land on the planet, until he can no longer deny the evidence that Horde Prime is not all-powerful.

I grew up, like many of you, on the Internet. My depression began during the heyday of the online atheist movement—and by “heyday,” I mean “seemingly inescapable presence,” especially on YouTube where I hung out. I kept running into comments asking questions that I could not answer: Why does Christianity seem to promote belief based on internal feelings instead of observable evidence? Why would an all-loving god send anyone to hell forever? Why did I believe claims from Christian doctrine and doubt claims from every other religion? Why has Christianity seemed to cling to the past instead of embracing a progressive future? The questions overwhelmed me. I found myself terrified of my own growing doubts. Eventually, my belief was based entirely on two emotions: nostalgia for past happy experiences I associated with Christianity, and a fear of losing the vague hope those experiences gave me.

The first time that Bow and Glimmer met Adora, they immediately labeled her “Horde soldier!,” and the label stuck through the first three episodes. Adora has always identified herself primarily as a soldier serving The Horde, echoing the messages she has heard for her whole life: “Shadow Weaver said it didn't matter who I was before, that—that I was nothing before Hordak took me in.” The language of “I was nothing” reflects cult dynamics where a group tries to retain someone permanently by making them think of themself as nothing more than their worshipful loyalty to the group. Similarly, it is a common Christian belief that “without Jesus we are nothing.”

After realizing that Horde Prime fes him lies, Wrong Hordak collapsed into a sobbing mess. “Who am I if not an exalted brother of Prime?,” he bawled, still thinking that the only legitimate kind of identity is one based on fully devoted worship of an all-powerful authority. Per Entrapta, “It seem[ed] that Wrong Hordak has begun to question the meaning of life.” She later described Wrong Hordak’s breakdown as an “existential crisis,” which happens “when individuals question whether their lives have meaning, purpose, or value, and are negatively impacted by the contemplation.” Without an all-powerful father figure to value him, Wrong Hordak thought, who would?

I identified myself fundamentally as a Christian for my entire childhood and teen years. I found joy, purpose, and a sense of self in my religion. Leaving my religion behind felt like burning the bridge to who I was behind me. When I de-converted from Christianity, I felt like I was standing at the brink of a void. I thought that without finding goodness in God, I might find no goodness at all. [see footnote 3]

When Wrong Hordak finishes (digitally, but also emotionally) processing the Krytis data logs of Horde Prime leaving in defeat, he explicitly renounces his old loyalties and declares his opposition to the organization and beliefs that he used to believe in with all his heart: "Brothers! Horde Prime lied to us. He is a false ruler. We must rise up against him, and free the universe from his unjust reign!"

After Adora betrays the Horde at the Battle of Thaymor, she pledges her loyalty to Bright Moon in her battle against the Horde: "I’ve seen for myself the atrocities the Horde has committed against the people of Etheria, and I’m ready to fight to stop them. If you give me the chance, I know I can help the Rebellion turn the tide of the war."

I didn't have an explicit declaration statement like Wrong Hordak or Adora. However, on 5/5/15 I arranged a meeting with my very friendly and understanding youth pastor as a last-ditch effort to save my faith. I hoped that he would crush my worrying doubts. Instead, actually encouraged me to become agnostic and to look into non-Christian beliefs on the subject of religion. Rather than feeling terrified of what I might find and wishing that someone could indoctrinate me into my old belief system, I started on a path to discover the truth wherever it might lead me.

Footnotes for Context

Christian fundamentalists’ similarly simplistic snappy phrases have been labeled by ex-Christians as “thought-terminating clichés… brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases” where “Simple labels are attached to something you like or dislike, and they are the start and finish of all thought on the subject.” Such black-and-white “totalistic” thinking is common in Christian fundamentalism, especially how it labels complex political topics as somehow being merely a cover for “spiritual warfare” between the totally good/Godly side and the totally evil/demonic side.

Specifically, I started reading an “Intelligent Design” propaganda apologetics book by Lee Strobel called The Case For A Creator. A self-proclaimed former atheist, Strobel wrote his The Case For series using my same research strategy: Only do research using sources that already agree with you. Whereas Strobel exclusively talked to other Christian apologists, though, I at least tried talking to atheists. Anyway, I walked into school one day with a confident smile and a copy of Strobel’s book and sat down with some friends. One of them, another brilliant atheist but with a far subtler and humbler personality, noticed it and his face immediately sunk into the expression of someone exhausted by the topic as he braced himself for my bullshit. When I confidently asserted a creationist talking point trying to dismiss the findings of some old experiment, he not only knew the experiment but immediately dismantled my talking point. I had no reply. What struck me most was not just his swift rebuttal, but his weary tone: My arguments were not only bad, but so bad that he was genuinely tired of them.

Around the same time, I became obsessed with the character of Kefka from Final Fantasy 6. To me, Kefka represented what I feared most about leaving Christianity behind — that I would lose any sense of meaning, purpose, or morality in my life. ("Life… Dreams… Hope…Where do they come from? And where are they headed? Such meaningless things!") Edgy, I know, but in my mind that kind of absurdism seemed to be an inevitable result of abandoning my religious beliefs. Fortunately, I came to understand that there is plenty of meaning, purpose, beauty, and goodness outside of the particular religion that I happened to be born into.