#there's so much to this story it saddens me the fandom reduces it to shipping only

[h-worksrambles]

It kind of saddens me how much Asgore’s character just gets boiled down to ‘funny divorce man who pines over Toriel’. There’s so much more to his character as far as I’m concerned.

Asgore is quite possibly one of the most tragic characters in the entire game. He’s such a genuinely sweet and compassionate person. He’s a great dad. He loves his people and will do anything to keep them safe and happy. And those positive traits are exactly what lead him to commit himself to do something awful. And it’s painful to see how trapped Asgore feels by his past mistakes, so that showing him there’s another way and that he isn’t as beyond redemption as he thinks he is feels really cathartic. Toby Fox managed to give him so much nuance in such few scenes. And yet, Asgore gets scraps of fan content compared to the other major characters. And when it does, he’s often reduced to a clingy ex.

This is especially irksome when you go back to the game and remember that he’s not…actually very clingy at all. Yes, Asgore still loves Toriel, of course he does. But let’s go back to that scene where they meet again in the Pacifist ending. Asgore is delighted to finally see her again at first. But the second he sees that Toriel is (understandably) still furious with him, he backs off. He takes full responsibility for what happened between them and understands that, even if he misses her, he has no right to demand the relationship that he basically threw away. I feel like people who write Asgore as desperately wanting Toriel to forgive him kind of forget that Asgore can’t even forgive himself for what he’s done. He’s actually painfully self aware of his own flaws to the point of self loathing. He was fully prepared to lose the fight against Frisk and die because he felt he deserved it after all he’d done. And do I need to mention what he potentially does if you spare him on repeat playthroughs?

And I don’t even necessarily say this to tear down the ‘Asgoriel’ ship. Truth be told, I actually like this ship quite a lot. As I’ve already somewhat touched on in my Post Pacifist Headcanons, I actually think there’s a lot of compelling story potential in seeing two people who were deeply in love and happy, wrenched apart by tragedy and poor decisions, unpacking their complicated history and figuring out how to be around each other again. Especially if they both become parental figures to Frisk. With or without the shipping aspect, and regardless of if they actually get back together, that’s a great dramatic hook that can be really interesting if written well. And I have seen it written well. But execution is everything. It’s all too easy to flanderise the two by making Asgore too clingy, Toriel too mean-spirited or just generally downplaying how messy their past is to speed up what should be a long, difficult process. Again, I like this pairing, but not when it’s mishandled in a way that ignores why I liked these characters to begin with. And that’s to say nothing of when Asgore’s supposed clinginess is used to make him the bad guy to ship Toriel with someone else, which…(sigh).

And if this was all purely in fan content, I wouldn’t really care that much. It’s not like I have to read it if I don’t want to. But this is actually my one fear about Deltarune so far. Don’t misunderstand me, Deltarune has been fantastic so far. But the way it’s used Asgore has left a really bad taste in my mouth. So far, he’s been little more than a punching bag who’s situation is comically pathetic. And the way he still chases after Toriel irks me. Now he is doing the clingy ‘Tori take me back!’ routine and I really don’t like it. This doesn’t feel like a character who’s self aware of his mistakes, and takes too much of a burden on himself. This is someone treating his mistakes like they’re fixable, pushing the responsibility for that onto Toriel in a way I don’t believe Asgore would do. It feels like fandom misinterpretation leaking back into canon. I’m still interested in hearing what the history of the Dreemurr family is this time, and how it links back to Dess. I trust Toby Fox’s writing enough to believe this is being done with the intention of building a character arc. But I can’t deny that so far, it feels like an overly mean-spirited and out of character take (though a lot of that is born out of my personal attachment to him).

I’m not even sure what my point was with this. I guess I just wanted to respond to a fandom trend that leaves me with sour taste in my mouth. I don’t really wanna tell people making memes about Asgore being ‘the most divorced man ever’ to stop having fun. Nor do I care to get into shipping debates. I just wish the discussion of this character was a little more nuanced, because I think he’s well written enough to deserve it.

[fangsforthevenom]

being aspec in fandom

there's this thing about being aromantic and growing up so invested in fandom - i was constantly consuming stories about people falling in love or perhaps falling out of it or dying for it but it was all about love, love, love and i couldn't figure out where my place was in that. The closest concept i could really identify with it was my friendships, so i projected onto them, made myself think that i wanted more because i thought that i should want more because what is a person without romantic love?

it didn't help that i was a romantic - i loved love. i saw people who were close on the tv or in fanfiction and thought, now that's love. That's what people need in love, a romantic partner to hold and kiss and touch. but when i looked at my peers, stared at the people who i found aesthetically attractive, i never felt that strange thing my best friends called crushes, then.

it was like i was missing out on something important, something that all the other people got to experience. and i wanted it so badly- i wanted to be like cas and dean or aang and katara or kara and lena. i wanted a connection with someone that held stronger than how friendship was made out to be, where one wrong move and they would leave.

my dad was supportive, but only in the ways that he could comprehend. he didn't understand the concept of nonbinary, and would discuss at length how it was made up, how the labels changed so much that it was ridiculous to try to remain "pc" - and i agree with him on some of his points, but in the end he was resistant to the growth of the queer community in any form. so while he would gladly wave a rainbow flag in "support", he never tried to support the identity that i found myself changing into. so i never told him about not experiencing romantic feelings, because he would tell me that i was being crazy. i took what i could get from him - i mean, how could you change someone who sympathized with jk rowling?

but in any case, i saw the way people wrote their fiction. there was always someone falling in love, and i would root for them, but could never empathize with their connection. and i saw how my father, my only role model reacted and i thought, i'm not normal. so i hid and watched and waited for the off chance that i could experience an connection, that i could look into someone's eyes and realize that i was in love with them but the day never came.

and it never will, but i'm okay with it. it's not some sort of illness for me, not now, because i know that other people are the same. but sometimes, when i go back and read fanfiction, i still get a twinge in my heart and an intrusive thought telling me hat i will never have something like this. i'll never be the one for somebody. and i'm accepting myself, learning how to be okay with it. i might never feel the same way people like to describe love as, but i've got some kickass friends who i can rely on when i need help and can in turn count on me.

i am not complete only when i am in a romantic relationship - not of us are. we are living, breathing people with whole personalities, and we do not need completion in form of another person - and we need to stop thinking that we do, because it's not just harmful to aspec people, it's deeply unhealthy.

i see the way a lot of people interact with fandom nowadays, and it's still kind of saddening that they'll only focus on shipping. sure, it's fine to ship and talk about ships, but it's not even close to all fandom has to offer, and unfortunately, a lot of people both inside and outside fandom will reduce it to wanting two or more characters to get together. fandom is a community, and it's supposed to be inclusive, but it won't be until aspec people and relationships are fully recognized.

[spacegate]

Gaster Blastober 2019 - Week One

Participating in Gaster Blastertober 2019 put on by @gbpack-discord. I will be doing my best to write short ficlets every week. I’ll be adding them to the side stories fic on AO3 eventually. Hope you guys enjoy! Most will be kinda fluffy cause I feel icky and need some smiles <3

Prompt: BAD HABIT

Fandom: Undertale

Warnings: None

Fluff-rating: 60%

-----

Papyrus was asleep, tucked into his race-car bed as his alarm clock slowly ticked down the early morning hours. He’d be up bright and early, like usual for him, but it was a little harder for him to fall asleep that night.

After all, it was his first night in his new house. Such things were always different, unsettling.

It wasn’t like their father didn’t want them home with him, but they weren’t tiny baby bones anymore. Both him and his brother were adults, and needed to strike out on their own and have spaces for themselves. Sans was in college, and he was undergoing outdoor training. It seemed much too big to fit that all into their cozy childhood home. It felt like the right thing to do was to attempt to stand on their own feet and do things like a proper adult.

So, their father had helped the both of them find a new place to live, which was literally two houses down from his. They wanted to be on their own, but not that far away. They had promised to visit often, which placated their father. Plus they’d see him at his bar daily, so it wasn’t like they had gone very far.  They could tell it saddened their father to see them go, but it’s the same pain that every parent must bear once their children are grown and ready to face the world.

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, for either of them.

Papyrus heard a soft shuffle in his bedroom, the noise loud enough to him that he wearily opened his eye sockets to peer into the darkness. He had always had good low light vision and it didn’t take him long to find the source of the noise. 

He sighed.

Of course, it would be his brother.

Sans sat on the floor in his blaster shape, eye sockets forward as he stared at the door, haunches fully planted. He was as still as a statue and positioned directly in front of the door. Nothing would be able to get into the room without running into some serious teeth. Though Sans was much smaller than Papyrus’ beast form, he still packed a serious punch. The shuffling noise was Sans’ claws on the carpet as he subtly shifted to root himself firmly to the floor.

“Brother, what are you doing?” Papyrus turned down the usual volume of his voice to address his brother, doing his best not to startle him. Sans said nothing, and continued to stare at the door. He probably didn’t hear him, not when he got like...this.

“Brother.” Papyrus tried a little firmer, sitting up and pulling his rocket ship patterned covers away from himself. He reached for the lamp on the end table next to his bed and switched it on. Immediately, the room was bathed in warm light and chased away the dark shadows. The sudden change made the elder brother jump with a soft yelp. He whipped his head around, one eye socket black, and the other with a flickering blue/yellow round pupil. He stared for a moment, before he blinked and the usual soft white lights appeared in his sockets again.

Papyrus crossed his arms against his chest, fuzzy pajamas bunching up here and there. “BROTHER, WHY ARE YOU IN MY ROOM?” Now that Sans was lucid and alert, Papyrus switched back to his regular volume.

Sans thought a moment, clicking his fangs in thought.

<“i...was watching...”> His clicks and barks was just as clear as Common to the younger brother.

“YOU WERE STANDING GUARD AGAIN WHEN YOU SHOULD BE SLEEPING FOR YOUR CLASSES TOMORROW.” Papyrus voice took a hard edge to it. Sans’ condition required him to get plenty of rest, and here he was, sitting up all night staring at a door. How long has he been sitting there before the noise awoke him? Any time was too long for Papyrus’ liking.

<“couldn’t sleep.”>

“OF COURSE BROTHER, THIS IS A NEW HOUSE. IT IS STRANGE AND WILL TAKE SOME GETTING USED TO.”

Sans nodded slowly, eye sockets blinking as his body sagged a little. Tension left his bones slowly, reducing his look from a frightening creature of teeth and claws to a tired friendly critter who could use  a hug or two. <“s’ different. yeah”>

“I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WANT TO PROTECT ME, BUT I AM NOT A LITTLE PUP ANYMORE. THERE IS NOTHING THAT THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN’T HANDLE AND I CAN SOUNDLY DEFEAT ANY INTRUDER WHO DARES  INVADE OUR SANCTUM.” It wasn’t quite scolding, but a declaration of fact. Papyrus was an adult. An adult who was skilled at magic and was training to literally rip through rock to find trapped people. He didn’t need protection anymore. “I AM FAR PAST THE DAYS OF YOU NEEDING TO CHECK UNDER THE BED FOR HUMANS.”

Sans sagged a little more until he was outright lying on the floor like a puddle. <“i know bro. i’m sorry...i just...you know...”>

“WITHOUT OUR FATHER YOU FEEL LIKE YOU MUST ASSUME HOUSE PROTECTOR STATUS, YES I KNOW. FATHER HAS TAUGHT BOTH OF US WELL, IT IS TIME YOU SHARED THAT BURDEN. IT IS MY HOUSE AS MUCH AS IT IS YOURS. YOU ARE SLIPPING BACK INTO BAD HABITS, BROTHER.”

Sans was quiet. He couldn’t deny anything being said to him.

Papyrus scooted over in his bed, making a space and patting it with a hand.

“YOU ARE LUCKY THAT I, THE AMAZING PAPYRUS, DO NOT NEED AS MUCH SLEEP AS YOU, AND THUS CAN ASSUME GUARD DUTIES IN YOUR STEAD. YOU SHALL CUDDLE HERE AND BE SAFE UNDER MY CONSTANT UNINTERRUPTED VIGILANCE. YOU WILL SLEEP AND BE RESTED. ”

Sans chuckled softly, and slowly stood. <”can’t argue with the great papyrus, can I?”>

“NO YOU CANNOT! NOW GET UP HERE BEFORE I PICK YOU UP AND MOVE YOU MYSELF.”

Sans climbed up into the bed with a huff. Of course he was wearing the same clothes he wore that day and not pajamas. No matter. As soon as the elder skeleton had his paws steady he was immediately shoved against the now much-larger Papyrus. Papyrus’ beast form was long and wiry, completely different from the short and stocky form of his brother. The best part, though, was that they fit together into a comfortable cuddle pile. It was the same way they slept as children up until they were old enough for separate beds. Even then, during bad nightmares and bouts of anxiety, nothing calmed them down faster than a cuddle. Even the vague upsetting dreams Papyrus had from time to time about steel and snippets of white were dashed away in such piles. Sometimes their father joined, but nowadays they were much too big and would smoosh their poor father.

It didn’t take long for both beasts to settle into the bed, Papyrus pulling the covers over them both with his teeth. Sans sighed, pancaking out as he truly relaxed. Papyrus gave him a soft comforting nuzzle.

<“thanks bro.”>

<“OF COURSE, AS IF YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT SAFETY. REMEMBER WHAT FATHER SAID?”>

<“to howl if in trouble and he’d come reduce anything messin’ with us to ash.”>

<“NOT ONLY WILL THEY FACE THE WRATH OF OUR FATHER, BUT EVERYONE IN SNOWDIN. YOU ARE SAFE, BROTHER. NOBODY IS FOOLISH ENOUGH TO HURT US. EVEN IF IT TAKES OUR WHOLE LIVES, I, THE FOREVER UNFORGETTABLE PAPYRUS, WILL REMEMBER TO REMIND YOU OF SUCH THINGS.”>

Papyrus knew what Sans was afraid of. He knew ever since he was old enough to be sat down and be told why his brother acted the way he does sometimes. Sans rarely talked about their lives before their adoption, but he knew what it was. After all, he had the Undernet and it didn’t take long to find archived newspaper articles about it. His brother sacrificed a lot to protect him.

He understood, which was why he did his best for his big brother. It was time for Sans to be protected.

Sans nuzzled in close and yawned as he got comfortable.

<“you’re the best bro around.”>

“THAT'S RIGHT, NOW SLEEP.”

It wasn’t hard to fall asleep after that, nor the nights after.

[rwbyconversations]

Seeing Red, or: The Assassination of Adam Taurus(’s character) by the Coward Blake Belladonna

Adam Taurus. The RWBY fandom’s preferred punching bag, Adam is often dismissed as an emo turbo edgelord thanks to his design, dialogue and somewhat shaky voice acting from Garrett Hunter. But regardless, thanks to his depiction in the Black Trailer and an impressive showing in Volume 3 that led to a... notable moment in the show’s tonal shift-

Adam managed to earn a fan following, and after a lack of real appearances in Volume 4 outside of the OP and Yang’s nightmare, his fanbase were chomping at the bit to see their favorite abusive bull-headed jerk show up again. Volume 3 and 4 set the stakes for Adam’s comeback, and the inevitable rematch between himself, Blake and Yang. Heck, Yang’s focus song in Volume 4 was essentially all about what Adam’s attack did to her and how she was going to reciprocate the pain she felt on Adam’s skull stupid face. 

Regardless of how you looked at Adam, his rematch was anticipated. People were dreading and looking forward to it in equal measure, you could drown in the amount of fanart imagining the rematch. And then...

Well...

Yeah. 

So Adam’s portrayal at the end of Volume 5 was a bit poorly received. I personally take the most umbrage with “Blake teleporting into his sword strike” and “Adam going down and staying down for a good minute before getting back up from a strike that didn’t even get past his Aura.” But it wasn’t just Adam’s fanbase who were let down by the fight. Among Volume 5′s many, many fight letdowns (I will never not be over the blueballing that was Ruby, Blake and Weiss vs Hazel, Mercury and Emerald), this ranked high on the list since it combined so thoroughly with what can be generously described as a character derailment. Adam went from the cool, composed and utterly vicious juggernaut that crippled half of our protagonist team to... well just look up at those GIFs.

So what happened? Well, that’s what I’m going to try and answer. But first, we have to set the stage.

Adam in Volumes 1 through 3 was generally liked by the fandom. Tauradonna (the ship name for him and Blake) was a moderately appreciated ship at the time, and even among people who didn’t ship it, it provided some good old Angst for Blake in whatever ship people actually wanted her to be in. Adam was appreciated for his cool design (I’m a slut for men in suits), the mystery of his mask and his impressive weapon and fighting style. Coming off Metal Gear Rising, seeing Iadio in practice was a treat. And after Volume 3, Adam was in the “Love to hate” range. His reputation had been established in the fandom as an abusive monster, but one who was a terrifying nightmare to face on the battlefield and on his own, neutralized half of Team RWBY. Were it not for a lucky save by Blake, he’d have taken her scalp home with him. 

What’s especially important about his scene in Volume 3 is that while it establishes Adam as a deranged psychopath, he’s one that doesn’t lose his cool. The one time he raises his voice to Blake, it’s when he denounces her beliefs. “What you thought is impossible!” For the rest of the battle, Adam is chillingly calm, even in the face of defeat. When Blake tricks him with her Semblance, does Adam fly into a rage, start screaming and shooting at them as they run?

No. Adam just frowns and strides away, not even stopping to kill a Grimm that tries to kill him. His composure remains unbroken even as Blake flees away with Yang. He’s so sure in his victory that he turns his back to them and lets them run away, even when he could easily chase them and get the kill.

This is Adam’s last scene in Volume 3. It’s the last we see of him in person until Volume 5. That last shot stuck with the fans, Adam just... walking away, barely affected by what he had done while Yang would fall into the depths of PTSD and Blake would run with her tail between her legs, jumping at her own shadow. Like him or hate him, Adam was nonetheless a terrifying villain, mocked as he was for his edgy voice.

That’s the image that had settled in the eyes of the fandom, and would for nearly eighteen months. An abusive, cold, calculating, vicious, but composed and effective monster. One who wouldn’t even shout as he declared “I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love.” 

So jump cut to late 2017/early 2018. And, uh...

Adam, sweetie, what happened to you? You went from a person who barely frowned as the object of your twisted affections ran away to someone who screamed into your Facetime chats like a low-budget Kylo Ren. The hiatus has been mostly kind to Adam until Volume 5. Sienna says that he is seen as a symbol by many of the younger members of the Fang, Salem approaches him personally and sends an envoy in Hazel so he can gain more power. Two episodes into Volume 5, and Adam has nearly everything he could want except for Blake’s corpse at his feet. 

And yet despite Adam being one of, if not the only characters to come out of the hiatus smelling like roses, he’s been reduced to a child throwing a tantrum when in private. The cold, calculating figure stages a brazen coup in the heart of the White Fang when Sienna won’t play ball. Ideally, Adam shouldn’t be angry. He should be smug. And wouldn’t that make you, the viewer, hate him more than Adam just yelling about the Belladonna name? The one guy to walk out of Beacon better off than when he walked in being inconsolably smug about the events, that would make anyone loathe him. 

But instead, he’s lost it. 

So yeah, let’s stop beating around the bush, Adam’s character does a nearly complete 180 in terms of his depiction personality wise (not to mention fighting wise) and it’s a character shift that doesn’t make much sense in the grand scheme of things. That much is obvious, Adam’s downfall was one of the more criticized moments in Volume 5′s... eh, let’s call them contentious... batch of finale episodes. Adam takes a nosedive in intelligence and falls for the same trick Blake played on him at Beacon with her shadowclone (nevermind that Adam and Blake worked together for years so that trick shouldn’t work once let alone twice)

So why did Adam suffer the cruelest fate of all, in character derailment? Why did he specifically go from his A-game to a joke in just one season?

Well, this is just theorycrafting, and I might make a full post about this one day, but I believe it’s because The Battle of Haven was rushed to fit in Volume 5 due to Miles and Kerry over-reacting to the backlash from Volume 4. 

Adam’s character derailment is actually part of the theory. I believe in the original draft for Volume 5 (which we know got a heavy rewrite close to the end of the production cycle) that the Battle of Haven was never going to be part of the volume, and that instead Volume 5 would focus on getting the pieces set up for the battle over Haven. We’d get moments like JNR meeting Pyrrha’s parents, Yang dealing with being a pariah since people still thought she maimed Mercury, and most importantly, Blake getting over Adam.

Outside of her scene with Sun where she personifies him as wrath, Blake never mentions Adam in Volume 5 while she’s in Menagerie. She never has a scene where she acknowledges that Adam essentially groomed her to be his lover or that he abused her. Think of how powerful it would be to see her not so much getting over Adam, as learning to swallow her fear so she could face him head-on next time they met (also it would give Kali something to do outside of  smashing Lanipator’s face in with a tray). Hell, think of what a great scene it would be between Blake and Ilia where Ilia learns just how depraved Adam truly is.  

But instead, Blake never acknowledges Adam. When they meet in Haven, she’s just over him, because “I have better things to do.” She’s content to just let Adam run away after lightly smacking him upside the head. Villain exit stage left, audience is too busy applauding Miles and Kerry for letting Blake just noclip through an entire character arc like a speedrunner. 

There’s a great post by @y8ay8a about how Adam’s downfall feels cheap because it feels like Miles and Kerry engaging in self-gratification at the cost of the story at large. Adam as a consequence of this rush to write a “Fuck Adam Taurus” moment has been weakened. He’s not a scary threat anymore, he’s not someone whose presence inspires dread like the old Adam was. And I feel like Adam can’t really be saved. Letting Blake beat him so thoroughly, and having Adam leave Haven by running with his tail between his legs has neutered him, and now I feel like the Yang and Adam rematch won’t have the impact, that moment of visceral satisfaction that it would have had Adam not even been at Haven. For the sake of a cheap “hell yeah!” moment that Blake never earned beyond “the plot says so,” Miles and Kerry have made Adam Taurus almost a caricature, a yandere that isn’t even good at being that. And that saddens me, Adam had so much potential as a villain that I don’t really get with the rest of WTCH or even Salem. He had presence, a personal connection with our heroes, and had the strength to back up his claims and be a genuinely scary threat- moreso than Hazel “How many children must die as I crush a child’s skull” Reinart. And now with Volume 5... he has a zipper. Was it worth it, Miles and Kerry? Was it worth ruining Adam’s potential so he could get some zippers like he’s guesting in Kingdom Hearts? 

Could Adam pull himself back from the brink? Maybe, but at this point Volume 5 would remain a black spot on Adam’s track record, one that his fans would never let him live down.

To close this post with an analogy, Blake beating Adam now is like eating candy every day. You get the sugar rush but it becomes predictable after enough time. But if you go a few days without indulging, earn it by hitting the gym and shaving off the pounds, when you finally treat yourself it feels all the better than just having it right there. 

Thank you for reading. 

[toukaisbetterthanyou]

Hi, idk if you follow hikiko/morishoujo's blog but I'm sure you might know her touken fics. however I just read her recent post about her being distant towards the TG fandom and generally speaking it really saddens me how much impact antis and disrespectful fans have on fans who are in fandoms to simply enjoy them. I for myself barely dare to go to the main-tag, chapter tag or ship tag of any fandom I am bc I want to avoid negativity and shit that could ruin my fun experience ...

Mod K:

She was actually one of my favorite writers in the fandom when she was more active!

I can definitely understand how she feels, though. Many times, writers and other content creators in fandom are not respected. We are seen as tools for many of the fandom for their enjoyment. And at times, the pressure to produce content and not disappoint readers can be exhausting. I think this is why it’s important to write for yourself first and foremost. When you write for yourself and you post it, if people like it -- then great, and if not -- then even better. This is why Mod A and I do not take requests. Too many of them come and we can get bogged down. Coming up with headcanons can also be exhausting, which is why there are so many sitting in our askbox unanswered right now.

So, just think a bit about the writers who you are interacting with. They are people, as well. They are not just here for your entertainment. Of course, we love writing, and we love interacting with you guys -- but we’re not here, just to make you guys happy.  That kind of pressure is enough to drive many people away, so I get where Hikiko is coming from completely. Her post on the matter actually rang very true to me with a lot of my own fandom experiences.

So, it also seems that it wasn’t just the antis that drove her away, though -- so don’t just reduce it to that. It was also pressure from her fans and followers to constantly produce content, and also people who expected her work to be what THEY wanted.

Given how some people react to what we’ve written (particularly chapter 6 of OS), I can understand this. At the end of the day, we are writing for ourselves. If you dislike that, then cool -- but you can’t expect an author to write what YOU want to happen. On a bigger scale, you can see this happening in many fandoms. Criticism is always going to happen, but needing a story to go the way that you want it to and then getting so pissy when it doesn’t is relatively newer.

[chattegeorgiana]

I disagree with anon. There's hating a ship, then there's hating the character itself. Even without SS, Sakura was still largely hated across the fanbase for the most shallow of reasons. Some still blame her for Neji's death. I really doubt SS expected Sakura to get shafted to this point; from what I've seen, they are just as angry and sadden by this. At the same time, I'm aware that NH (not all shipper, if they are reading!) really only "supported" SS just to get Sakura out of the way. (1)

Honestly, I never meet Sakura hate so strong from that fandom. I remembered how the majority started acting all haughty with SS after The Last, then outright dropped SS when Gaiden came out. Some were even disappointed that Karin wasn’t outright confirmed the mother and called the manga a waste. For those NH who used to “support” SS, you would think they’ll have some sympathy for their “sister” shippers? (2)

The legit hate for Sakura is honestly so incredulous to me. The only fandom I’ve been in with character hate half as strong was Kingdom Hearts with Kairi. And even then the hate was half as strong, and only within fandom. The hate died down over the years. But Sakura? The fandom, SP, SJ, assistants, editors, hate her to this point? They are absolutely okay with erasing her importance within the manga? Okay with giving Hinata everything they hated in Sakura? The interview with Kishi (3)

comparing Sakura to a secondary character, overall downgrading her importance in the manga made me sad. But the reaction from NH succeed my disappointment in Kishi, and I only felt even more bitterness towards NH and Hinata. (4)

It’s why I can never like Hinata or NH, no matter how much they try and convince me. To be happy that they aren’t force to acknowledge Sakura as a heroine? Was NS that intimidating? Was Sakura that bad? I’m sorry that this small thing turned to a rant, but I felt if Sakura (and Team 7) was in a different fandom than this one. To have hate so strong that even her own creator hates her along with the franchise? To STILL blame her for Neji? I’m just so sad that this is what she is reduced to. (5)

I only wanted better for her, but with this fandom it’s like you have to go above and beyond for her just to get that fandom to like her even a little. On top of that, deal with a franchise that wants nothing to do with her either. Yet they will put Hinata on a pedestal and call her the heroine? The franchise legitimately putting her as a main cast, when she was barely a secondary in Part 2? How did she became relevant and shoved into our face as being better than Sakura? (End)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Granted, that was/is also a factor but it’s the SS that was the fuel to NH by some sort of sick alliance, and then trying to bury every shit Kishi threw at Sakura via Sasuke because of her proximity to Naruto and the possibility of her being with Naruto in the end. But these are old shannenigans.

Granted, Sakura was hated in the fandom because of the most stupid reasons, however when it came down to comparing her with Hinata, if it weren’t for a let’s say very ardent fan of Hinata’s everyone knew and acknowledged the fact that Sakura tops Hinata no matter what. It was basic knowledge 101.

But then Studio Pierrot came and started the stealing. Sakura is a medical ninja? Everyone is a medical ninja.

Sakura has a superior chakra control, even moreso than her powerhouses of teammates? Everyone gets it.

Sakura can tell via her medical ninjutsu where it hurts in the body or it’s a certain problem? Throw that away, make Hinata tell her via her Byakugan because lol Sakura surely must’ve forgotten to do that with only medical ninjutsu via water detection, in order to force down our throats a friendship that never really was there - at most, some respect showed by Sakura to Hinata, never the viceversa. 

Some still blame her for Neji’s death because things were written as such. That was the effect they wanted. While Sakura the medical ninja couldn’t be there when Naruto called for a medic-nin, have Hinata-hime-sama be there and offer him the emotional support he needed (although via Sakura was shown to us what he really needed, but anyway). Sakura was written off at that point to make place for Hinata, all while in the meantime Studio Pierrot via their shitty interventions was already stealing everything from Sakura and giving it to Hinata. SS-ers saw that, they were here with us as well. We were already screaming about the damage control Sakura was taking because of Hinata but most of them didn’t care, as long as it took NaruSaku out of the way…

And dear boy I know I screamed right and left about this because I saw the bullshit they’re trying to pull. I don’t know exactly for how long you’re around the fandom anon, but as I said before, I came from a NH and SS background that went along with NS given the development. And also besides that, what made me distance from NH mostly was their hate for Sakura. I was a NH shipper that happened to like Sakura very much. And so, being accustomed to how these pairings function, I saw the impending shit that was about to come, and screamed about it, but who was going to listen? I was a NaruSaku, to hell with me, despite me saying multiple times that before being a NaruSaku or any other type of shipper, I am a Sakura fan. 

So you see, here it’s a mix of many elements at the middle, and sadly they did have a major contribution to this, sorry to say it. Not all of them, ofc, but…

And it was never a sister ship with them… It was an alliance against NaruSaku. That was the immediate threat to them. Everyone knew that Kishi wouldn’t have the balls to end it with NaruSasu because of the controversy (despite drawing them in also), so the next best thing was NaruSaku - especially given the story’s construction mechanisms - everything was pointing at NaruSaku, no matter how much some still want to deny it. It’s basic storytelling 101 in a piece of literature (more or less).

Hell, they even changed the story triangle. There was one always inside team 7, and now in his newest interview Kishi mentions one that was nonexistent between Naruto, Sakura and Hinata. He literally took all the things that NH were fantasizing about and used them as “logical explanation” when his own story was contradicting him.

And yes, for some stupid reason people hated Sakura because Kishimoto pulled at the heart strings of people with poor orphan Naruto, but God forbid someone points Naruto’s horrible behavior, they must be linched - which Sakura does at the beginning of the story. Naruto was after all a pretty stupid kid that did stupid things. Yes, he had ulterior motives, but does that excuse his behavior? If we cannot excuse the behavior of one, why excuse his, know what I mean? 

And also people aren’t used to look at the broader picture because somehow … reasons. Yes, Sakura told him all those things, but at the same time supported him and his stupid dream with her love for Sasuke and her “horrible” behavior still did much more than Hinata with her love for Naruto.  But then people come with the excuse that she was shy. So we can excuse Hinata of her shyness for NOT helping Naruto when he most needed it, but we cannot excuse Sakura for expressing her pissed self at Naruto whenever he did something stupid DESPITE ACTIVELY doing stuff for him? Hmm, I smell double standards.

And yes, it’s funny how when they take stuff from Sakura and add them to Hinata everyone is okay, because it’s Hinata. This only once more shows the double standards and hipocrisy that lies deep within the collective counsciousness of this very fandom.

And, after all, it’s not the fandom’s fault as much as it is Kishi’s and how he never put his finger on something for certain, out of God knows what reasons… I can only speculate, but some are for certain - he doesn’t have a backbone.

From defending fiercely your heroine to actively replacing her… pfft. Laughable.

If he would’ve had a backbone he would’ve finished the story properly. You know how they say “Stand for what you believe in, even if you stand alone”.

Something he tried pushing with Naruto, too bad he failed miserably.

I wanted better for her too, and actually trusted Kishi he will do better. I created theories about where he’d be going with her, things that eventually come to fruition (her seal, chakra nature and some others), but the thing that disgusted me the most about this was seeing some things that were clearly going to go to Sakura, being used for Hinata, dare I say some ideas I layed down in my theories, being used now, via other means.

At first I thought it’s me being crazy, they couldn’t possibly use that… and then the latest chapter of Boruto comes and they use for him what the NS fandom creates for Shinachiku. 

To answer your question - yes, NaruSaku was that intimidating. That intimidating that they cannot erase 15 years of development, that they now try to steal ideas from the NS fans to burrow us as deep as possible because otherwise we won’t shut up, that bad of an intimidation, that they make it so defiant to NaruSaku fans, so that we’ll eventually shut up and stop being the thorns in their back.

Well, too bad. We’re here and we’re staying. They can steal how much they want. The records showing that we were there with ideas and whatnot long before them it’s here.

For someone who writes about Gods and whatnot, Kishi and his editors should know about the Akashic records. They’re imprinted in the human collective counsciousness, and no matter how much they want to silence and erase Sakura and NaruSaku, they can’t.

And this only pushed me to continue my initial analysis on Sakura’s character. Ohoo, it’s going to be so much fun to demask all the bullshit mechanism behind their actions. SO MUCH FUN!

Anyway, I turned this into a rant and went into deeper stuff myself, I should probably end it here. But yeah, this thing is a mess. A salad, to be more exact. ;)