#chiwa hate

Yeah i’d be pretty mad too if I was given the false illusion that the girl i had a crush on actually liked me instead of tossing me away into the literal pits of hell like garbage :d

her treatment in the fandom is largely similar to the treatment Gabi got upon her first introduction in aot. the thing is: they are similar, the reasons they get hated on are similar, but only with one of them is it truly important to see the nuances. and, spoilers, but it’s not Chiwa.

as I said ppl have the same reason for hating them: they wronged the main characters. we dislike, or downright hate Chiwa, because she betrayed Rudo and their friendship. ppl hated Gabi, bc she was presented as the enemy of the main cast.

but, of course, there is nuance in their situations, and, ironically, it’s also the same. they are indoctrinated, victims of propaganda. so why is it that I say Gabi hate was forced, but Chiwa’s isn’t?

Gabi is a child soldier, she was force fed propaganda from the state, and doesn’t have a reason to doubt her beliefs even once. on the contrary, her beliefs are only further reinforced upon meeting Eldians they were taught to hate and fight against.

Chiwa belongs to the oppressed class on the Sphere. she has also been fed propaganda her whole life, and not only by the state, but by others like her too. that’s where the similarities end though, because she has a reason to doubt her beliefs. that reason is Rudo. she doesn’t believe in what others say about him, she’s friends with him, she even likes him.

and so Rudo trusts her. he trusts her to see him for who he is, not who he is said to be. he believes she knows him better, and wouldn’t believe the things he is being accused of by the force oppressing their ppl. but she doesn’t. instead, she betrays that trust without hesitance and casts him away. making Rudo come to the realisation, that she is just like the rest of ‘them’.

it is not wrong to see the nuance in Chiwa’s story, it is not wrong to not hate her (won’t say it’s not wrong to like her, ‘cause that’s a little too far). but it is also not wrong to do so. she’s not a positive character in the story, she’s not even a neutral one. she’s not being misunderstood. seeing the nuance with Gabi was imperative to understanding the whole point of aot, I fear Chiwa is just not that relevant.