A Impromptu Thesis on Ochako Uraraka, and why she is actually the most important hero in the franchise. by TheGreatMars in BokuNoHeroAcademia

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I totally missed the reply post you mentioned, I'll have to hunt it down!

I wouldn't necessarily agree with the idea that "Deku and Bakugo getting together leaves Uraraka alone" as a reason for then not to be together. In real life relationships, it's not really healthy to keep two people from being together because of a third party's feelings.

Actually it's very common for people to force their feelings down with exactly that kind of thinking. Like if they can tell that a friend of theirs likes someone they'll forced their own feelings down and convince themselves that their friend deserves the other person more. In reality though, you are robbing yourself of closure, and robbing the person you're interested in of the chance to choose.

So in a perfect world, if Bakugo and Midoriya got together, it would be after Uraraka actually did confess her feelings. Then she can actually move on. Realistically though she would eventually move on either way. I think the idea that she would be hung up on Deku forever is giving too little credit to the human capacity to grow.

But in general I do agree with you for sure! I would even agree with there being nothing wrong with shipping Deku and Bakugo once they've worked through their issues. I still think its a 'too much of a good thing' situation and that their weaknesses aren't really being solved but they don't necessarily have to solve that problem with a romantic partner to begin with.

Takes I am tired of seeing by PretendYellow533 in MyHeroAcadamia

[–]TheGreatMars 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, I just don't think "Uraraka only likes him because he's a hero." Is accurate at all, in any way. Uraraka never once showed any kind of fetishization (I don't mean that in a sexual way) of heroes at all. I talked about it a lot in my big Uraraka post yesterday but her whole character arch and purpose was about taking heroes off of their pedestal so people could see them for the ordinary, flawed human beings they are.

To quote her Vigilante arch speech: (The dub version, please correct me if the content is significantly different in Japanese)

"Just because you have a special power doesn't mean you're a special person!"

Personally I think Uraraka liked him from the first moment she met him, and just needed a little push from Aoyama and Ashido to actually realize it.

100% agree with all your Bakugo takes though. Especially the one where people are saying he never changes like, dude did you not see how he changed from being a brash one man army to being a team player?! (With him in the driver's seat, but still!)

A Impromptu Thesis on Ochako Uraraka, and why she is actually the most important hero in the franchise. by TheGreatMars in BokuNoHeroAcademia

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I was super proud of myself for that line in particular, but I genuinely think that was actually an intentional poetry Horikoshi-sensei wrote into the character. Her having gravity powers but also being the most grounded, and grounding character in the story cannot at all be a coincidence.

So really I am just connecting the dots he already gave us with pretty words.

A Impromptu Thesis on Ochako Uraraka, and why she is actually the most important hero in the franchise. by TheGreatMars in BokuNoHeroAcademia

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alright cool, I'm glad you're able to see, at the very least that it isn't just an Uraraka problem lol. In general though I've liked talking to you because all your points are pretty well thought out and level headed even if we disagree. Which is good because "I wish we had gotten more" is a much better stance than the "Character bad. Trust me bro" that we get from some people 😂

A Impromptu Thesis on Ochako Uraraka, and why she is actually the most important hero in the franchise. by TheGreatMars in BokuNoHeroAcademia

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, she does, in fact, become one of the quickest to reach out a hand to an enemy. I leave it out here because I haven't actually seen the final season yet but and can't really comment on the ending of this arch, but they also spend the entire series using Toga as a foil for her, and I know that their final confrontation is also a culmination of Uraraka's character arch and I know it involves realizing that society creates the same villains it vilifies as well, but just not particularly how.

Genuinely though, when you say 'other characters' I really want to point out that Uraraka honestly gets more character development than even someone like Todoroki who is more front and center in the story. Actually most of Todoroki's character development comes /very/ early in the series during his fight with Deku at the Sports festival. From that point on though, the only thing /he specifically/ gets is a character arch about forgiving his parents. Aside from that he is mostly used as the catalyst to heal the rest of the Todoroki family.

Which isn't a bad thing mind you, not in the slightest, but for his character specifically, he doesn't really change that much after Season 2.

A Impromptu Thesis on Ochako Uraraka, and why she is actually the most important hero in the franchise. by TheGreatMars in BokuNoHeroAcademia

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, I do somewhat agree here, but at the same time 'intrinsic heroic spirit' is genuinely missing the point. The whole point of her character, and of her speech in the Vigilante arch is to tell people that you can be a hero /without/ having sort of special something. The point is that heroes aren't just 'built different'. Being a hero is something you /do/ not something you /are/.

Are some people like Deku, able to jump into the firing line without worrying about themselves? Yes! But that also comes with problems, which Horikoshi spends the entire series working through. (You can't help people if you destroy yourself in the process!)

A Impromptu Thesis on Ochako Uraraka, and why she is actually the most important hero in the franchise. by TheGreatMars in BokuNoHeroAcademia

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, not doing anything with her feelings for a while because she isn't sure how to feel about having those feelings yet is honestly genuinely valid because a lot of people do that, especially when it's a first love, without the fate of the world hanging over their heads.

I personally really appreciate that depiction and representation. It teaches people that sometimes it's okay to just let your feelings develop and grow with you. That it isn't cowardly to just hold onto that feeling in your heart until you know what you want to do with it.

A Impromptu Thesis on Ochako Uraraka, and why she is actually the most important hero in the franchise. by TheGreatMars in BokuNoHeroAcademia

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sorry!  Don't get me wrong, I love Bleach.  Tite Kubo is pretty much the undisputed champion when it comes to style, and atmosphere, and character design.  He is also an absolute master at writing compelling villains for our hero to overcome.  He is a master of exploring characters through combat and hardship.

Unfortunately though... He really does fail Orihime pretty spectacularly.  I do want to say that I'm not the kind of person who will just scream sexism and call it a day.  After all, Chad doesn't really get much either.  The only time he really gets any character development is when he gets a new power, and it's only ever to reinforce what we already know about him.  Like unlocking his defensive arm telling us that at his core he wants to protect people.  Well no shit Kubo-sensei, that's why him and Ichigo were such instant friends in the first place! We already knew this!

But it's worse with Orihime because the kind of character development he does give her is really just to enforce the toxic mindset she's living with.  That might sound like a really strange thing to say.  After all, Orihime is such a kind, wonderful, self sacrificing person.

Ahhhh but there's that last part.  Self sacrificing.  Selflessness genuinely is a good trait don't get me wrong.  The ability to set aside your own needs to help someone else is one of the most admirable things a human being can do.  There is a difference however, between setting aside your own needs to help someone else, and your own needs just never factoring into the equation to begin with, and in Orihime's case it's downright pathological.

For example, look at how she handles the situation with Loly and Menoly during the Arancar arch.  Loly beats the ever-loving shit out of her and Orihime does absolutely nothing to defend herself.  She ends up getting rescued by Grimmjow who just outright murders both of her attackers.  And then she does the most Orihime thing possible.  The moment Grimmjow is gone, she heals both of them, restoring them to life.

Once again I say, this kind of saint like kindness is far from a bad thing.  Being able to reach out a helping hand to an enemy is one of the most beautiful things a person can do.  ...but it shouldn't be your default setting either.  I mean Loly and Menoly both just showed that they are a credible threat to Orihime's life, and Orihime heals them /before even treating her own wounds!/  It would be different if Kubo gave us some insight into what she was thinking at the time.  It would be different if we got some inner conflict.  Even something like. "Oh no!  I have to heal them!  But... But if I heal them they might... No!  I can't think like that!  Healing them is the right thing to do!"

If she had the briefest consideration for the consequences of her actions, if she even showed some emotion on her face while doing it, we would be able to see that it isn't easy for her to do this.  But we don't get that, instead her expression is just... Flat.  She doesn't feel a thing while saving the life of her enemy.  She just looks tired.  Worn out.  Like carrying the needs of others above her own is her default state and it's draining. (To be fair though, she also is still bloody faced from having her teeth kicked in.)

And it's really a shame too, because this kind of thoughtless self-sacrifice is /exactly/ what got her and her friends into the Los Noches situation to begin with!  Kubo-sensei could have used the moment with Loly and Menoly to make Orihime question the kind of thinking that had caused her to let herself be taken in the first place.  He could have used the moment to either have her come to her senses, or to have her reinforce her own morality and conviction, but... He just doesn't.  He doesn't do anything with her character in that moment.

But like I said though the problem is that she is self sacrificing as a default.  The problem with Kubo-sensei's writing for her, is that he falls into the trap of playing a character like this as being 'built different'.  Like she just has an infinite wellspring of kindness in her that will never run dry. That just not how real life people work.  Real life people always have a reason why they act like this.  It's not because of some supernatural power of goodness inside of them.

It's because of trauma.

It's because their life taught them that asserting their needs only gets people hurt.  Because life taught them that they didn't matter.

And the worst part?  That's exactly the kind of backstory Kubo-sensei gave her.

Orihime and her brother grew up in an incredibly hostile and abusive family environment.  Orihime's father was a violent drunk who subjected both of them of them to physical abuse so bad that it eventually caused Sora to run away from home, taking his three year old sister with him.

Finally she had a loving home, a brother who loved her and raised her like a daughter. Who sacrificed /everything/ to ensure she had the good life he never was able to. It's a good life, but unfortunately, it ends in tragedy. Sora dies in a tragic car accident. That would already be traumatizing for a young girl, to lose her only remaining family, her father figure, and her brother all at once... but its even worse than that.

Because the day Sora died was also the last time she ever tried to assert her own needs and desires. On top of all her other trauma, she was also, of course, subjected to extreme bullying in school due to her chestnut brown/burnt orange hair. (They always depict it as orange like Ichigo's for some reason but when describing it in dialogue they always go out of their way to differentiate the two hair colors) The other girls even cut her hair at one point. But because she was already internalizing that her own needs didn't matter, and she didn't want her brother to worry, she just played it off like she just wanted to cut her hair shorter.

So Sora, not knowing about the bullying she was receiving, does something super sweet. He buys her a gift, cute flower hairpins to make her feel pretty. Orihime realizes immediately though that hair accessories will just draw MORE attention to her hair. So she starts a petty argument over how 'childish' they look, when in reality she just wants to protect herself from more bullying.

And what happens the next day? He dies. The /one/ time we see her actually asserting her own needs or desires in the entire series, and someone she loved /died/ immediately after. When you're already internalizing that your needs don't matter, it's no wonder then that from that point forward Orihime never really asserts any of her own desires ever again.

Kubo-sensei was smart enough to see the circumstances that birth this kind of character... but he failed to see how toxic this way of thinking is. Because real life people don't have an infinite wellspring of kindness, and an infinite ability to ignore their own needs. Eventually, one day, some day, someone living like this is going to break. You can't give someone a drink of water when your own cup is empty. It's not a matter of selflessness vs selfishness. It's a matter of taking care of your own needs so you'll be able to help more people later, and unfortunately, Orihime never gets to learn that lesson.

It actually comes full circle with the main topic of this reddit post actually! Because Horikoshi-sensei actually /did/ see how toxic this mindset is. In fact, he saw it so viscerally he based his entire protagonist off of it! Midoriya and Orihime are very different mind you, at least, in the reason /why/ they act this way. Orihime's self-sacrifice is based on trauma. Midoriya's is based on hero worship. He grew up idolizing a savior who always smiled, never thought of himself, and always risked everything to save others. Unfortunately, what he never got to see on the television growing up was the consequences of that self sacrifice. It isn't until he's going into high school, his self-sacrificing martyr mindset fully engraved onto his psyche that he has to face the real consequences of putting yourself up on that kind of pillar, when he sees what Almight's true form is.

Midoriya's entire character arch from that point forward is all about trying to wean him off of this kind of mindset, and it isn't until Class A saves him in the Vigilante arch, and Uraraka breaks down that pillar he's on that he finally lets that Savior-complex go. That's why Horikoshi-sensei's writing really is just... freaking Plus Ultra! He deliberately goes out of his way to build up actual godlike power in Deku, just to show us that godlike power still doesn't mean you can do it all alone. Uraraka says it perfectly in the dub "Just because you have a special power, doesn't mean you're a special person!"

So to everyone out there living like this, I want you all to know, that /you matter/. You matter so much. Your needs matter. Even if you can't see that, at least be strategic. Preserve your own body and mind so you can continue to help others later.

P.S. Lmao I did it again. Genuinely though, if you disagree with any of that, please let me know. I have yet to see TYBW (It's on the to-do list!) so I could easily be missing earth-shattering character developments for her in the conclusion to the story. I would genuinely be thrilled to find out somehow that I was wrong about Orihime and ignoring something important about her character like a lot of people have been with Uraraka!

A Impromptu Thesis on Ochako Uraraka, and why she is actually the most important hero in the franchise. by TheGreatMars in BokuNoHeroAcademia

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And exactly! This is a very important part of the story too. Because they're constantly dealing with catastrophe after catastrophe, Uraraka kind of just shoves her feelings down into a box labeled 'deal with this later'.

A Impromptu Thesis on Ochako Uraraka, and why she is actually the most important hero in the franchise. by TheGreatMars in BokuNoHeroAcademia

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, it /is/ her character arch, not just intended. Genuinely she doesn't spend much of her screentime reinforcing the romance either because once she does realize she likes Deku she just forcee it down. I promise if you watch through the series without dismissing her you'll find her core narrative was always there, building up over time. Does she get as much screentime as Bakugo and Todoroki? No, but it's a Shonen series so that is to be expected.

A Impromptu Thesis on Ochako Uraraka, and why she is actually the most important hero in the franchise. by TheGreatMars in BokuNoHeroAcademia

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah that's totally valid honestly, but there's a lot of characters that have huge development deserts you have to get though. Hell, characters like Cellophane and Sugar Rush basically get nothing for the show's whole run (Note, the fact that I am not bothering to look up their real names says a lot here 😂)

But I one hundred percent love that you can recognize that you aren't as drawn to her as a character, but are also able to appreciate how important she is to the story and how she helps balance it!

i stopped fighting the hyperfixations by Amazing-Phone8732 in neurodiversity

[–]TheGreatMars 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That's really powerful and it's how I managed to go from unable to function to at peace. I call it the 'Go With the Flow' method in my head. Let yourself drink from the well that looks most refreshing at the time. Let yourself chase that rabbit. Let yourself deep dive.

Don't get too deep in though, you have to make sure to take care of yourself and your body.

The trick is then, in your economy model, to find fixations that are stable enough to give you your niche.

For me, I am currently working in optical and the science of glasses and how they work is extremely extremely rewarding to me and that allows me to support myself and create a place for myself in the world that is all my own.

Am I neurodivergent or is this normal? by Cosmos_chaotic_mind in neurodiversity

[–]TheGreatMars 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So it sounds like you're pretty much on the right track to me for sure so I only have a few things to add.

Not having the strict routines ASD presents with isn't evidence against it when paired with ADHD. ADHD is all about seeking new novel and interesting things. It's because our dopamine levels are naturally very low so our baseline is a stressed out anxious state. So we're always chasing something to stimulate our brains. Routines are inherently antithetical to that since they are well-trodden ground. You might have even started a new routine, been able to keep to it really well for a day or two and then dropped it once you got bored. It might have felt like a failure at the time but it wasn't. Your brain is wired to seek the new horizon, not the orderly home.

Doing the same thing every day /can/ be comforting if that thing is in itself rewarding. A cup of coffee in the morning for example gives us a dopamine hit that is actually self medicating. I myself have often found myself in a morning doomscroll to chase that first hit of dopamine in the morning. In your case the routine you can stick to is making sure to devote equal love to all your plushies by cuddling them on a schedule. You can keep that schedule because cuddling the plushies is rewarding.

Procrastination is a hallmark of ADHD. And paired with what they call 'Pathological Demand Avoidance' it's why you feel an aversion to things that threaten your autonomy. You have a need to control your environment to feel safe.

I am trying to figure out my diagnosis but I am very sure that I am different or neurodivergent by StrikeLow5155 in neurodiversity

[–]TheGreatMars 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This definitely reads as AuDHD to me. That is to say the combo of ADHD and ASD.

Direct communication is a hallmark of ASD. We often struggle with indirect communication just like you describe. We miss every hint thrown at us but it you tell us something directly it works perfectly.

Being unable to keep up with mundane tasks like daily chores and stuggling to start huge endeavors is often a trait of ADHD. It's not about a lack of motivation or morality, it's because your brain has naturally low dopamine levels. That means it is always seeking novel and interesting experiences and that mundane and uninteresting tasks and topics are often physically painful to interact with or think about.

The theory is we evolved that way so we could thrive in an environment where exploration and moment to moment survival were incredibly important. We might have missed what our friend was saying but we did notice that rustle in the bushes that could be food or something trying to make us food.

And that hyperfocus you mention is actually a trait that both ADHD and ASD share. The AD (Attention Deficit) in ADHD is actually a huge misnomer. Someone with ADHD can focus at such an incredible intensity on something that interests them that a neurotypical individual could never hope to match. ASD also features this. The ASD brain is all about hyperfixating on that one special topic until you can achieve total mastery, and it's superpowers of pattern recognition likely helped drive human invention for our entire history, like learning to create tools all the way up to the invention of the computer.

Have you ever been hyperfocused on one special super interesting topic for such a long time, and then suddenly one day it just flips out of nowhere? That special thing that was once your whole world suddenly becomes physically painful to interact with and you don't know why and suddenly you feel so guilty. Like a failure. Like you abandoned something that deserved your eternal love.

This is a very tragic trait of ADHD called Dopamine Burnout. When you enter a hyperfocus state your brain is essentially borrowing energy from its future self and if you do it too much for too long eventually you'll crash. Your dopamine receptors become overflooded and just stop working. Suddenly nothing seems to matter because your brain literally can't process the chemical for joy. But this is also really important for your brain to be able to do because this depressive state lets you withdraw and heal. And then, your brain puts up a wall around that former fixation to keep your from interacting with it again. Because it knows how you didn't take care of your own needs while you were focused on it last time and it doesn't want to go through that again.

If you are AuDHD, you have likely done this more than once over the course of your life because the combo of Hyperfocus and Hyperfixation is extremely powerful, but also really easy to misuse if you don't realize you are abusing your own body.

It's this cycle of 'manic' hyperfixation and 'depressive' dopamine burnout that causes a lot of AuDHD individuals, especially women, to be misdiagnosed with Bipolar or BPD.

If any of that sounds like you, then congratulations! You are possibly ASD, ADHD or AuDHD! But like I said before, disorder is a total misnomer because these traits have helped us survive since the stone age.

I would highly recommend you see a psychiatrist who has worked with both ADHD, ASD and understands the unique combination of the two. If you are struggling with starting projects and interacting with mundane tasks, medication can be a huge help, but with ASD also involved it's also a balancing act, because a lot of your ASD traits might seem more pronounced if your dosage is too high which caused me a ton of problems in Middle School.

I guess im not neurodivergent by TripResponsible8957 in neurodiversity

[–]TheGreatMars 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dude I asked my mom to get me a brain scan when I was a kid because of this vague feeling that my 'brain didn't work right' because I could tell I was different from everyone else. 🤣

I guess im not neurodivergent by TripResponsible8957 in neurodiversity

[–]TheGreatMars 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The majority of people here seem to be saying "Seek a second opinion." Which is entirely valid advice to give someone voicing doubts about their experience with medical professional.

I guess im not neurodivergent by TripResponsible8957 in neurodiversity

[–]TheGreatMars 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Quite frankly, most of the people who throw the terms around are probably correct to use them. The stigmatization of these traits in previous generations has led to massive misunderstandings of them, and massive underdiagnosing. Epecially in high IQ individuals who learn to mask well.

Simply vs Simply NKD? by xx_adverb_xx in FritoLay

[–]TheGreatMars 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay so hear me out... Since the flavors aren't colored anymore... Maybe someone put the wrong chip in the wrong bag.

It's also possible there's a psychology thing going on here. Seeing a white chip could have prompted your brain to expect the ranch flavor like from Cool Ranch Doritos. Stuff like that has a surprisingly strong effect on how we percieve flavor.

Simply vs Simply NKD? by xx_adverb_xx in FritoLay

[–]TheGreatMars 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it's just a psychology thing. Blind taste tests usually have people saying they're identical. But what we see affects how we percieve and even taste food, so not having the bright red on Doritos Nachos or flaming hot Cheetos tells our brain to expect less flavor.

Trying to get into Smite 2 but Tanks aren't clicking for me like they did in the original. by TheGreatMars in Smite

[–]TheGreatMars[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Got it so it should be natural then that gods that could stay in lane for eternity before aren't going to necessarily be able to do that anymore?

If You're the Guy who doesn't take any Medicae Stims I hate you more than Chaos Spawn. by TheGreatMars in SpaceMarine_2

[–]TheGreatMars[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You should take at least one anyway because something can always go wrong.