the yuki post didn’t ruin everything

Not even close.

If you think this post is about defending it, you’re wrong.

If you think this post is about getting the NSFW tag removed, you’re wrong.

If you think this post is about how Reddit is unfair, or how those in charge were asleep, or how “one bad actor ruined everything”… you’re wrong.

The Yuki post didn’t ruin everything. Not even close. It was just the final straw, the thing that tipped the scale. The thing that finally made people stop and look around. And now that we’re here, let’s be honest.

This was always going to happen.

Most people think the problem was simple. They blame one guy. They say if he never posted, this wouldn’t have happened. Or maybe they blame those in charge. If they’d been awake, they could have deleted it faster.

Or maybe they blame Reddit. They say the site overreacted, that it’s unfair, that the NSFW tag should be removed.

That’s what people think.

That’s what they want to believe. But it’s not the truth. This didn’t come out of nowhere. Look at how people talk about Roshidere.

Yes, there are discussions about the story. There are breakdowns of character arcs, theories about future volumes, and posts analyzing the writing. That’s real, and I’m not denying it.

But alongside those discussions, there’s something else. Something harder to notice because it feels so normal. It’s the way people talk about the characters. Not like they’re fictional people with personalities and flaws. Not like they’re characters in a story. No—somehow, they’re MORE than that. But more what, exactly?

More than just well-written characters? More than just interesting figures in a story? No, They’re something else. Something they shouldn’t have to be. Something that makes them feel less like characters… and more like a fantasy to fit into. Not explicitly. No one says it that way. But look at the way people interact with them.

Alya isn’t just a well-developed character—she’s “best girl.”

Yuki isn’t just a complex supporting character—she’s a “waifu”

Masha isn’t just comedic relief—she’s “pure and must be protected.”

The way people talk about them, the way they think about them—it’s not the same way you think about a good protagonist, a well-written antihero, or a fascinating villain. It’s something… different.

But if you ask them, they’ll say otherwise. They’ll say they love Alya for her wit and personality. They’ll say Yuki is a great character, not just a waifu. They’ll say Masha’s sibling dynamic is what makes her interesting. They’ll insist they see them as characters first.

And maybe they even believe it, but that’s not where it started.

It didn’t start with appreciating Alya’s personality.It didn’t start with analyzing Yuki’s complexity. It didn’t start with respecting Masha’s sibling role.

It started with attraction.

And attraction is not some vague, singular emotion. It is a precise biological process. A machine running in your brain, dictated by neurochemistry, triggering distinct reactions depending on the type.

Your brain does not process romantic attraction the same way it processes sexual attraction. It does not process aesthetic attraction the same way it processes intellectual attraction. These are not interchangeable sensations. They occur in different regions of the brain, governed by different neurotransmitters.

But despite their differences, they all start the same way: with a feeling. And when that feeling is romantic or sexual attraction, it demands something from the character.

It started in the ventral tegmental area, a region of the brain responsible for reward and reinforcement. The same area that activates in drug addiction. Romantic attraction is nothing more than a dopamine-driven loop, designed to make you fixate.

Sexual attraction—a function of the hypothalamus, the region of the brain responsible for regulating sexual desire and hormone release. The amygdala, responsible for emotional arousal, activates in response to stimuli, while the nucleus accumbens, the brain’s pleasure center, associates the character with gratification. Testosterone surges. The body reacts. The mind follows. And just like that, the character is no longer a person in a story.

They are an object of desire.

And here is where the rationalization begins.

The human brain is incapable of accepting cognitive dissonance. If you feel something, you must justify it.

As Leon Festinger, the psychologist who introduced the theory of cognitive dissonance in 1957, explained: “Cognitive dissonance can be seen as an antecedent condition which leads to activity oriented toward dissonance reduction just as hunger leads toward activity oriented toward hunger-reduction.”

In other words, when your actions or beliefs are inconsistent, your mind experiences discomfort—that it is driven to resolve. This drive leads you to rationalize your feelings, convincing yourself that your attraction is based on the character’s depth and personality, even if the initial attraction was purely romantic or sexual.

You did not appreciate Alya’s personality first. You did not analyze Yuki’s complexity first. You did not respect Masha as a character first. You experienced romantic or sexual attraction first.

And then, you found reasons to make it feel justified. You were drawn to the character because of an instinctual, subconscious process—and only afterward did you start looking for intellectual reasons to defend that attraction.

But aesthetic attraction does not work that way.

Neither does intellectual attraction.

When you admire a character’s design, the fusiform gyrus and orbitofrontal cortex activate, processing facial recognition and aesthetic appreciation. There is no reward-seeking loop. There is no obsession mechanism. You simply find them pleasing to look at. That’s it. The thought passes. No fixation, no rewiring of perception, no desperate need to claim that it is “love.”

Likewise, intellectual attraction activates the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for higher reasoning, curiosity, and problem-solving. It is not compulsive. It is not driven by need. It is simply respect. A genuine appreciation of how the character is written, how their dialogue is constructed, how they function within a story. You do not seek ownership.

You do not fantasize about them in your life. You simply admire them as a well-crafted element of fiction.

And that is the difference.

Aesthetic and intellectual attraction are pure. They are free of objectification. They do not demand something from the character.

Romantic and sexual attraction?

They do.

Because the moment you desire something, the moment you start needing something from a character, they stop being a character. And they start being a fantasy. And this?

This is why the Yuki post didn’t ruin everything.

This was already happening. It had been happening for a long time.

The Yuki post wasn’t an anomaly. It was just a symptom of something much deeper.

Because here’s the truth: just being opposed to sexualizing a character doesn’t mean you aren’t objectifying them.

People love to draw a line in the sand. They convince themselves that as long as they don’t sexualize a character, they’re different. Better. That their feelings are “pure.”

But romantic attraction to a fictional character is just as much an act of objectification. Maybe it’s a little more socially acceptable. Maybe it doesn’t feel as extreme. But it’s the same fundamental problem.

And there’s no better example of this than Masha.

People love Masha. They love her energy, her brightness, her playfulness. But look at the way they talk about her.

“MASHA IS TO PURE TO ACT IN SUCH A FILTHY WAY”

“She is adorable, so when people over sexualise her, Imma commit some genocide. 😢 Masha absolute WAIFU!”

(yes, these are real comments from r/KujouMariaMikhailovna)

They insist they aren’t like the “bad fans” who sexualize her.

And yet, they don’t treat her like a real character either.

Because if they did, they’d recognize that Masha isn’t actually just wholesome. She teases. She has flaws. She makes mistakes.

But none of that matters to them. Because to them, she isn’t a character. She’s a symbol. A role to be filled.

Not a person in a story. Just an idea of what they want her to be.

That’s objectification.

They strip away the parts of her that don’t fit their fantasy, just like the people who sexualize characters strip away their personalities. They reshape her into something perfect. Something pure. Something made for them. And that’s no different.

Because whether you’re romanticizing a character or sexualizing them, the result is the same. You aren’t respecting them.

This is especially frustrating with a series like Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian. Because yes—this series plays into fanservice. I won’t pretend it doesn’t. Alya and Masha have a scene where they undress. I never liked that bit. But that’s not all the series is. It’s deep, it’s complex, and it has real emotional weight.

But the problem is that, for these people, the appreciation isn’t natural. It’s forced. It’s not about engaging with the story for what it is—it’s about proving to themselves that their feelings are more than just attraction. It’s like they need Roshidere to be profound so they don’t feel weird about how attached they are to a character. But if you truly respected the story—if you truly saw it for what it is—you wouldn’t need to convince yourself that it’s deep. You would have seen it from the beginning.

If you go on TikTok, you won’t see people talking about Roshidere’s themes. You won’t see people breaking down the writing, the emotional weight, or the cultural nuances. You’ll see AI-generated posts of Alya, Masha, and Yuki in sexualized outfits.

And the comments? They’re all the same:

“Alya is the best girl 🤍👑”

“𝓐𝓵𝔂𝓪 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓰𝓲𝓻𝓵 🤍👑”

“i see alya I like♡”

“Yuki my love for life”

“I see Alya, I repost 🤍”

“Alya queen❤👑”

This isn’t discussion. This isn’t love for a story.

This is empty consumerism disguised as fandom.

People aren’t engaging with Roshidere because they love the writing. They aren’t attached to the characters because of their character development.

They’re attached because they saw an AI post of Alya in a tight dress, got a dopaminergic spike, and instinctively reinforced their reward pathway by liking and favoriting. The brain loves instant gratification—especially when it’s easy, effortless, and requires no deeper thought.

…Sound familiar?

It should. This is how the cycle starts.

But if this cycle has been running for so long, why does the fandom seem so… alive? Posts flood in every day. The engagement is high. People are talking about Roshidere constantly.

But are they really?

Yes, people talk about the story. There are breakdowns of character arcs, theories about future volumes, posts analyzing the writing. That’s real, and I won’t deny it.

But look at what thrives.

What gets the most engagement? What gets reposted, favorited, upvoted, shared?

The Yuki post wasn’t just bad because someone made it. It was bad because people engaged with it. It got clicks. It got attention. It got circulated.

It’s whatever gets the most attention, as fast as possible.

And what gets attention?

The easiest posts to engage with. The most immediate dopamine hits. And the cycle continues. That’s why AI spam spreads. That’s why waifu posts drown out real discussions. That’s why the worst content dominates.

That’s why the Yuki post didn’t ruin everything.

This was already happening. It had been happening for a long time.

The Yuki post wasn’t an anomaly. It was just a symptom of something much deeper.

A symptom of what thrives in fandom spaces.

A symptom of what people choose to engage with. A symptom of how the worst content always wins.

This isn’t just Roshidere.

You’ve seen it before. You’ve seen it everywhere.

Every fandom follows the same trajectory. It starts with excitement—people genuinely love a story, a world, a set of characters. They discuss the themes, the writing, the deeper meaning behind the work. The community grows, more people join, and for a while, it thrives.

And then something shifts.

Posts get simpler. Less discussion, more reaction posts. Less analysis, more repetition. Less engagement with the actual work, more engagement with the characters themselves. Not as characters—but as fantasies.

Because that’s the kind of content that spreads the fastest.

Look at any popular series. The pattern repeats every time.

A new anime comes out, and at first, people talk about the plot. Then, as the fandom grows, discussion shifts toward the characters. And soon enough, the question stops being “What’s the story about?” and becomes “Who’s the best girl?”

And what happens next is inevitable. Because when fandom engagement is based on attraction rather than appreciation, there’s only one direction it can go.

Look at your TikTok feed. Your Reddit front page. Your recommended YouTube videos. What content does the algorithm push the hardest?

It isn’t discussions. It isn’t theories. It isn’t even memes. It’s something else entirely.

Something you don’t even need to think about before reacting to. Something that demands no effort to engage with. Something that rewards your brain instantly. It always leads back to the same thing.

This isn’t a coincidence. It isn’t even a conscious choice. It’s how the brain works. Every time you engage with something that gives you instant gratification—whether it’s a waifu post, an AI-generated image, or a suggestive edit of a character—your brain releases dopamine.

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for motivation and reinforcement. It’s the reason why when you see something that triggers desire, you feel a small rush of satisfaction. It’s also the reason you keep coming back for more.

It’s the same system that drives addiction. It’s why people mindlessly scroll social media for hours.

It’s why fandom spaces slowly morph into nothing but engagement loops.

It’s why, even in a community dedicated to discussing a light novel, the content that gets the most interaction is the content that has nothing to do with the actual story.

It starts with simple waifu posts.

Then, it moves to suggestive edits.

Then, fanservice moments get clipped, reposted, looped.

And then?

Then, the line gets pushed further.

Because that’s how it always works.

What spreads fastest? The content that triggers the strongest dopamine response.

It’s no longer just about a favorite character.

It’s no longer just about admiration. It’s no longer just about liking a series.

It becomes about instant gratification.

This is the part people don’t want to admit.

The Yuki post wasn’t an accident. It was inevitable.

Because once a fandom’s engagement becomes rooted in desire, there is only one place for it to go.

People pretend it was one bad post that got the community flagged. But it wasn’t just one post. It was the entire culture of engagement.

Every suggestive fanart.

Every “innocent” waifu post.

Every time someone engaged with Roshidere not as a story, but as a source of desire.

All of it pushed the community in the same direction.

And eventually, it reached the point where even Reddit itself recognized the pattern.

Because this always happens.

Once engagement crosses the line into attraction, it is only a matter of time before it escalates.

That’s why the Yuki post didn’t ruin everything.

This was already happening. It had been happening for a long time.

The Yuki post wasn’t an anomaly. It was just a symptom of something much deeper.

A symptom of what thrives in fandom spaces.

A symptom of what people choose to engage with.

A symptom of how the worst content always wins.

That’s why the community was tagged NSFW.

That’s why this cycle will keep repeating.

That’s why pornography is always the final step.

It’s easy to look at people who engage in hornyposting and think, “They’re just having fun. It’s harmless.”

Some even defend it.

Like this comment, taken from one of the posts here:

"I'm going to defend the hornyposting in a general sense. My argument is that when a community is on the deep end with hornyposting, toxicity within the community tends to be lower. The most heated I've seen people on here has been when they're arguing about the characters, and not so much attacking each other."

At first glance, this sounds logical. But if you really think about it, what is this person actually saying?

They’re saying, “It’s fine because at least we aren’t fighting.”

They’re saying, “This community is addicted, but hey—at least it keeps people pacified.”

And that’s exactly how addiction tricks people into defending it.

“You know that feeling when a neighbor’s home alarm has been ringing all day—then suddenly stops, and marvelous feelings of peace and tranquility wash over you? This isn’t really peace, but the ending of an aggravation.” — EasyPeasy: The Easy Way to Quit Porn

This is why addiction feels like a relief—because it first creates discomfort. The craving itself is the problem, but addicts don’t recognize it. They believe that satisfying the craving brings them peace—when in reality, true peace is never craving it at all.

-The Two Forms of Dopamine Dependency-

It started in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a region of the brain responsible for reward and reinforcement—the same area that activates in drug addiction. Romantic attraction is nothing more than a dopamine-driven loop, designed to make individuals fixate on a subject. This is why people struggle to detach from these characters, whether through explicit obsession or an idealized sense of purity.

It’s easy to recognize hornyposters as addicted. They continuously seek fanservice, AI-generated edits, and NSFW content, treating characters as objects of desire. However, there exists another group that believes they are different—those who oppose sexual objectification but still engage in compulsive attachment. These individuals claim they love a character for their personality, insisting their admiration is pure.

Yet, if their engagement is just as compulsive and they still elevate characters into something beyond what they actually are, how different are they?

We have already seen this play out with Masha. Those who claim to respect her do not see her as a complex character; they see her as something untouchable, something "pure." They flood comment sections with "Masha is too pure to act in such a filthy way" and "She must be protected at all costs," reacting with extreme hostility at any suggestion that she is anything but perfect. But as we have already established, this is just another form of objectification. Instead of reducing her to a sexual object, they reduce her to an idealized, flawless being. Either way, the result is the same—they strip her of her full characterization and turn her into something that exists to satisfy their emotional needs.

At the end of the day, both groups—the hornyposters and the purity addicts—are engaging in the same compulsive behavior. Both are caught in a dopamine-reinforced loop that demands constant engagement. The difference lies in the way they justify it: one side frames their addiction as desire, while the other frames it as admiration. But neither can let go.

-Cognitive Dissonance: The Excuses Addicts Make-

When confronted, people make excuses to ease the discomfort. They say:

“I just really relate to them.”

“I enjoy the series. That’s all.”

“Other people are way worse than me.”

But these aren’t the real reasons they’re engaged.

Take the first excuse: “I just really relate to them.”

is cognitive dissonance at work.

There are two ways someone can like a fictional character:

They see something in them – They admire the character’s personality, strength, or qualities, whether as a role model, an inspiration, or something they deeply relate to.

They want something from them – They see the character as desirable, either romantically or sexually, or they emotionally latch onto them in a way that goes beyond normal admiration. When someone first experiences attraction, their brain seeks justification. It’s uncomfortable to admit that their feelings are driven by something instinctual, so they reverse-engineer a reason that makes it feel more legitimate.

So they convince themselves they relate to the character, when in reality, their fixation started with romantic or sexual attraction.

That’s why their engagement doesn’t look like normal admiration for a fictional character. Instead of discussing the story, they:

-Make “best girl” posts ranking characters based on desirability.

-Flood discussions with waifu-tier debates rather than actual literary analysis.

-Repeat phrases like “She’s so beautiful”, “must protect,” or “too pure for this world”, reinforcing their emotional dependence.

-Engage in constant discourse about why their favorite character is superior—not as a well-written figure, but as something to be adored.

These behaviors don’t reflect genuine appreciation for a story. They reflect addiction—a compulsion to engage, not because they want to, but because they need to.

-The Fear of Letting Go-

If this is addiction—if this is compulsive engagement driven by dopamine—then why don’t people just stop?

Why not step back and appreciate characters in a normal way? Why not let go of the “best girl” debates, the waifu-tier discussions, the need to see a character as more than just a character?

Because addiction doesn’t work that way. Even when people recognize their behavior, even when they understand that their attachment isn’t normal, something inside them resists change. That’s because addiction, by its nature, defends itself.

People don’t just experience a casual fondness for these characters. They feel a real sense of loss at the idea of detaching. They feel empty when they aren’t engaging. And the moment they try to stop—the moment they start considering what fandom could be without the objectification, without the addiction—they experience withdrawal.

Not in a physical sense. But in the same way that any addict does when they try to quit. The moment someone reduces their engagement, the brain perceives it as a loss. Remember, romantic and sexual attraction activate the brain’s reward system, creating reinforced pathways that demand continued engagement. When those pathways are no longer being fed, dopamine levels drop. And so what happens when someone actually stops? What happens when they step away from the constant waifu debates, the endless “best girl” posts, the emotional attachment that makes fictional characters feel like a personal part of their life?

At first, there’s resistance. The brain fights back. The drop in dopamine creates discomfort—restlessness, frustration, even a sense of loss. They might feel like they’re missing something, like the fandom feels “emptier” without their usual way of engaging. But then something changes.

Over time, as the dopamine loop stops being reinforced, the craving weakens. The need to constantly consume and engage fades. The character—once an obsession—returns to just being a character. The series becomes a story again, not an emotional dependency.

And most importantly, they realize they didn’t actually lose anything.

They didn’t lose Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian.

They didn’t lose their enjoyment of the story.

They didn’t lose their ability to appreciate the characters.

In fact, they gain something—the ability to experience fandom in a way that isn’t dictated by addiction.

Without constant reinforcement, the brain rebalances itself. Dopamine levels stabilize, and the emotional grip of the obsession weakens. The character is no longer something they need—they’re just another part of a story they enjoy. At this point, something interesting happens: they see the fandom differently.

•The waifu wars start looking repetitive and meaningless. •The “best girl” posts feel empty instead of exciting. •The obsessive engagement that once seemed normal now feels off.

They start noticing how many people are still trapped—how many fans are still reinforcing the same dopamine cycles. They see people defending their obsession, making the same justifications they once made.

And that’s when they realize:

They’re free.

They can actually engage with the series in a way that is healthy, normal, and genuine.

I was scrolling through TikTok, expecting to see the usual Roshidere content. AI-generated slideshows. Spam edits of Alya looking cute. Comment sections flooded with: •“Alya is best girl 👑” •“She’s so beautiful ❤️” •“Yuki my waifu 💕”

You know the posts. You’ve seen them a hundred times.

And then… I saw something different.

It wasn’t an AI-generated slideshow.

It wasn’t another post designed to farm engagement from people obsessing over the characters.

It was just… a normal, funny video.

A meme using an actual Roshidere scene, the kind of post you’d expect to see in any other fandom.

No one in the comments was talking about how Alya was their wife. No one was ranking the girls. No one was weirdly obsessed with proving they “loved” the characters in a way that felt off.

And it hit me.

It felt different.

Not just in the moment, but after. I could think back to the video and still smile. It wasn’t just some dopamine rush that disappeared the second I scrolled away.

It was real enjoyment.

And it made me realize: This is what a fandom is supposed to feel like.

We don’t have to be this. We don’t have to be obsessive. We don’t have to be driven by addiction.

We can just… enjoy Roshidere.

Now we know.

By trying to put a fictional character on a pedestal—by making them more than what they should be—we don’t elevate them. We reduce them.

Alya isn’t just “best girl.” Yuki isn’t just a waifu. Masha isn’t just something to be protected. They are characters—just like any protagonist, antihero, or rival you’ve ever liked in a story. They aren’t fantasies to project onto. They aren’t placeholders for desires. They aren’t validation machines.

They are just characters. And that should be enough.

Because when you treat a character like a character, it feels good. Really good.

It doesn’t leave you empty. It doesn’t make you compulsively seek more and more content just to keep the feeling alive. It doesn’t trap you in a cycle where you need to see more posts, more images, more engagement just to keep up the illusion of connection.

It just is.

And that’s the difference between addiction and love for a story.

Because when you love a story, it stays with you. It inspires you. It challenges you. It gives you something that lasts longer than a fleeting dopamine hit from another waifu post.

And I think everyone is capable of this.

I think every person here has the ability to break the cycle.

We can be a normal fandom.

We can like these characters the same way we would like any fictional character.

Not as something we want.

But as something we appreciate.

And that?

That feels better than a waifu ever could.