#Whaletaur Shaman

[kevin-weezhlewig-dot]

CENTAURWORLD HUMANS PART TWOOOOOO!!! SHAMANS!!

Waterbaby

Judge Jacket, Johnny Teatime, Whaletaur, Tree Shamans

[sketch-shepherd-art]

I'm late to doing the thing but I finally did it

The random recurring background ladybugtaur (who even showed up in Wammawink's backstory) was all I could think of for the red spot

[squirrilous]

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[de-lua-1325]

Tell me how can you see this scene and not go like "They are in love with each other"

Fragile Things (Reprise) from Netflix's Centaurworld.

The episode 8 and the Whaletaur character in it act as a heavy allegory for suicide and suicidal ideation, but thankfully in this setting the result isn't permanent.

You're not alone!

The show is about a hardened war horse that gets separated from her rider and ends up in a strange new dimension. Her goal is to return to her own world and Rider, so they can end the war together, but she needs the help of the colorful, magical, singing and overall very weird centaurs.

Some other songs from the series:

SEASON 1

- Rider's Lullaby

- Welcome to Centaurworld

- Spells for Days

- Hello Rainbow Road

- Fragile Things

- Taurnado

- What If I Forget Your Face

- Frustration Tears

- The Key

- What You Need

- Rider's Lullaby (Reprise)

- The Nowhere King

- My Collection

- I Stealz So I Can Feelz

- The Underground

- And We Do This Everyday

- I Don't Know Him

- Who Is She?

- The Nowhere King (Reprise)

- Welcome to the Bay [tw heavy themes]

- Who Is She? (Reprise) [tw heavy themes]

- The Hero of My Story (Comfortable Doug)

- I've Been Searching For You [SPOILERS!]

- The Nowhere King (Reprise II) [SPOILERS!]

- Nothing Good [SPOILERS!]

- Nowhere King Battle [SPOILERS!]

- Separate Ways [SPOILERS!]

SEASON 2

- Breathe in a Bag

- Becky Apples

- Portal Tummy and Me

- The Best Dad

- Who Was She [SPOILERS!]

- Elk Tour Suite, Part 1 [SPOILERS!]

- Elk Tour Suite, Part 2 [SPOILERS!]

- Once Shattered, Now Whole [SPOILERS!]

- Elk Tour Suite, Part 3 [SPOILERS!]

- Elk Tour Suite, Part 4 [SPOILERS!]

- Elk Tour Suite, Part 5 [SPOILERS!]

- Elk Tour Suite, Part 6 [SPOILERS!]

- General's Battle Song [SPOILERS!]

- Battle Round [SPOILERS!]

- Last Lullaby, Part 1 [SPOILERS]

[fragilethingz]

[florshedworf]

okay HUGE warning for suicide im putting this under a read more actually.

i am OKAYYYY i promise people i am mentally stable i just find this interesting

the most terrifying trope (IN MEDIA IN MEDIA) for a character to get another to well. off themselves. isn’t someone who just says “KYS KYS I HOPE YOU DIE” but instead a seemingly benevolent person leading you closer and closer to “something that could take all the pain away.”

even WORSE is if that character is genuinely well meaning. they genuinely want the best for them but unfortunately they think the best outcome for that situation is . yeah

[comicaurora]

YOU WATCHED CENTAURWORLD?!

YOU USED IT AS AN EXAMPLE IN THE TROPE TALK!!!!

It is my favorite and I require to know your thoughts on it.

It's. Hm

So I think it absolutely accomplished what it set out to do, which means it is a successful work of art. But I think what it was aiming for didn't work for me?

In its efforts to play with centaurworld's ridiculousness versus the gritty nightmare of the "real world", it tonally undercuts almost all of its profound moments and then tries to get profound character moments out of squeeky-toy inflatable cartoon characters. Of the main cast, Horse and Wammawink are basically the only ones who get sufficient development to feel like real characters capable of carrying impactful moments, and the rest of the crew are basically walking punchlines - even speedrunning their respective Tragic Backstories doesn't do much to strengthen them, because in the present of the show they're fundamentally joke characters incapable of emotional subtlety. It kinda feels like if a Looney Tunes episode randomly dropped a flashback to baby Daffy Duck being moses'd into the bullrushes as if that mattered to how he functioned now. Plus, once we start jumping back to the Real World again, it turns out all those characters are also wacky in their own way - lots of very quippy dialogue and self-referential humor. Instead of Horse feeling broadly representative of her world's tone, she feels like the most serious character in the entire show - at least until season 2 where her dialogue starts being 50% fart jokes by volume.

Overall I think I loved what they set up in season 1, but not how they paid it off in season 2. There's the themes they establish in season 1 of how centaurworld has a cartoonifying effect on everyone who comes there, and the way this plays to Horse early on is full on cartoon body horror - a realistic horse slowly and inexorably transforming into a parody of itself. I thought that was a fascinating way to frame it, and it was nightmarish to contemplate! It comes to a really strong head in the Whaletaur Shaman episode when her friends seem to finally realize how much she's been struggling and suffering and how, despite it looking like a big joke to everyone, it's profoundly unfunny to her. But while she gets a nice emotional resolution at the end of that episode, the underlying horror is never addressed again. She still seems unhappy with her new cartoon body, but the transformations are from this point forward framed as uncomplicated positives that everybody thinks are funny.

It's purposefully blending comedy and horror together, but the execution feels like the disparate ingredients are hindering each other's effectiveness. The horror stuff rarely gets sufficient gravity and is just left as Hey Look Horrifying Implications, and the jokes are often undermined by all the seriousness left lying around. It's a flavor combination that doesn't work for me.

And then the stuff with the Deertaur and the Princess is incredibly interesting and profound and tragic, and I don't understand why it's happening in the same show as everything else?

Also, this is a minor nitpick, but the musical numbers were astounding in the first season but seemed to experience some sort of weird categorical downgrade in season 2. All the solid numbers were reprises from season 1.

Centaurworld was doing something very much on purpose, and I just don't think I got what that something was.

[c00kietin]

Whaletaur Shaman!!!! I love her sm sadsfgdfsakdsk

LOOK AT HER!!! And her song is so nice too, her voice is so pretty-

Also the episode is really good as a whole- I won't spoil anything but it's one of my faves hehehhehehe

[tumbleringismycopingmechanism]

(Question comes from this post by @pancake-breakfast . My other answers are linked in my pinned post.)

5. How might an adult utilize a show like Centaurworld to discuss one or more of the following topics with an audience under the age of 12? Be sure to reference specific scenes from the show. Topics: Depression, Suicide, Trauma, Loss, Self-Acceptance, Conflict Avoidance, Conflict-Seeking Behavior, Unhealthy Internalization of External Expectations, Boundaries, Recognizing and Respecting the Struggles Others Have While Still Respecting Yourself

Just a heads-up, some of these points I discuss more deeply than others because with some of them I have barely any personal experience and I doubt I would talk about them with a child without needing to do some serious reading-up on the topic first. (Which I was not quite willing to do for this because these essays are already taking way too long to finish.)

Depression:

I think to explain depression to a child with this show, the best example to use is Horse. She displays a lot of symptoms associated with depression throught the show:

Loss of identity: As the journey in season 1 progresses, Horse increasingly fears that Rider won’t recognize her anymore and then in episode 8 she has reached a point where not even she recognizes herself anymore. She says she doesn’t even know what she is anymore. Similarly, people with depression often don’t know (anymore) who they are/were outside of it. The depression will most likely lead to them stop caring about their hobbies, interests and friends until they’re a ghost of who they used to be.

Goals seem unobtainable: When Horse sings tot he Whaletaur, she says she feels stuck in place. This goes so far that she doesn’t even try to reach her goal of returning to the human world anymore – all that was left to accomplish was getting the final keypiece, which the Whaletaur offers freely, and yet Horse decides to jump into the Whaletaur Shaman instead. Similarly, people with depression think very lowly of their own capabilities and achievements. Often not trying at all feels safer than trying and risking failure. And due to the depression even small tasks can suddenly feel like insurmountable obstacles.

Feels like nobody understands you: In season 1, episode 8 and in season 2, episodes 4/5 Horse expresses that she feels like nobody understands her pain. Depression makes you feel like you’re alone with your problems and that because nobody goes through the exact same things that you do, noone will understand you. It can seem that everyone else deals so much better with life’s problems (which might just be because they mask how shitty they feel). It makes you feel like you’re alone in your suffering despite the fact that an estimated 5% of adults live with depression.

Self-isolation: Because oft he aforementioned point, people with depression tend to self-isolate. They expect that noone understands them or is able to help them, and so they decide not to burden other people with their feelings and isolate themselves, which often makes the depression worse. We see Horse do that in S1E8 when she leaves the herd with Sunfish Merguy and wanders off alone. We see it again in S2E4/5 when she runs off from the Underground alone and then refuses to do teambuilding exercises with the herd and even tells Wammawink to just leave her alone when she tries to cheer her up.

Feels like you deserve nothing good: As already mentioned above, depression often makes you feel like you’re the singular worst person at dealing with things. You feel like everyone else is better equipped to deal with life and you feel like a failure for not living up to how (perceivedly) well others are doing. Therefore, you think you deserve to be miserable and are suspicious of anything good that may happen to you. We see this with Horse thinking she doesn’t deserve to be reunited with Rider because she forgot her face after being seperated for so long.

Hiding true feelings: In season 1 episode 7 Horse sings about herself that „she is strong but she hides her fears inside“. People with depression often feel a need to mask their true feelings, because they’re emberrassed about them, don’t wanna worry people (espacially friends) or fear that they would have to justify their feelings (thanks to sentiments like „you have no reason to be sad“ or „other people have it much worse“). So they pretend that everything is alright even when it isn’t.

Feeling like you need to apologize for being sad: Tieing into the previous point, people with depression often feel like they need to apologize for how they feel, because they have no „real“ reason or because they feel they ruined the other person’s day by „killing the mood“. We see Horse do that at the end of S1E8, where she apologizes for being sad on one of her last days with the herd. Importantly, Wammawink answers to this by validating her feelings and her right to express them.

Easy way out seems like the only option: Lastly, depression often makes one feel like you’re out of options. Due to the aformentioned points, life becomes meaningless and carrying on doesn’t seem worth it anymore. Horse gives into those feelings and lets herself be swallowed by a giant Whaletaur in hopes that the pain will finally stop. (More on that below.)

Suicide:

Horse jumping into the Whaletaur can be seen as a metaphor for suicide. She removes herself from this world and from any chance of ever seeing Rider again without so much as a farewell to her new friends. She has no intentions of ever getting back from that place (just like you wouldn’t be able to come back from the dead when you kill yourself). She does this because she feels she’s out of options and can’t deal with the pain anymore. She has been separated from Rider for so long and has changed so much and on top of that she feels like nobody understands her and that her new friends don’t even care. She has convinced herself that she doesn’t even deserve to see Rider again. She sees no other option, no way to solve her problems. That’s why she jumps.

We then see that this wasn’t true, that she was not out of options and that her new friends did care, but didn’t show it very well. They didn’t understand what she needed to feel better and didn’t see that the things they did were not helping. Horse could have told them so – it is unreasonable to expect them to be mindreaders – but I think it’s also at least a little on them because it’s not as if Horse pretended that she was fine, she was still very visibly upset.

Trauma:

Healing from trauma often comes with not recognizing yourself anymore because you learn to put down the defence/coping mechanisms and don’t remember / know who you are outside of them. We see this in the show with Horse questioning who she is during JTBBC and even what she is in S1E8.

Trauma can fuck with your memory because the brain is trying to spare itself the pain and thus suppresses its memories of it or loses the details. We can (kinda) see that with Horse when she admits to the Whaletaur that she remembers the pain of losing Rider more clearly than her face.

Trauma often affects our actions later in life. An example for this is Wammawink who lost all her loved ones as a child and now as an adult overcompensates and holds onto her found family obsessively.

Not everybody’s trauma is obvious and you shouldn’t assume other people have an unburdened life just because you haven’t seen their trauma. Horse learned through her magic and an incredible invasion of privacy that her friends also have trauma, when she refuses to believe otherwise.

Other’s don’t owe you to share their trauma with you. The show kinda plays it off for laughs but Horse basically forces her friends to share their trauma with her and they are not okay with it.

Loss:

Nothing can replace the people you lost. We see that when Wammawink asks the Treetaurs to give her back her family, but they can’t. And we see that even the herd doesn’t simply undo the loss she had to deal with, as whenever it’s brought up it’s clear that it still hurts her.

It’s unhealthy to keep obsessing over the ones you lost. We see this with Gebbrey who keeps holding onto his lost jacket to the point of living everyday freezing cold instead of trying to find new ways to warm himself. This doesn’t mean you are never allowed tot hink about the people you lost again or that you aren’t allowed to care about your loss, but you shouldn’t allow it to pull you down to the point where it becomes unhealthy for you.

Self-Acceptance:

Self-acceptance often isn’t linear. We can see that with Horse graduatly learning to accept her now talking tail through S1E6, only to go back to hating her entire Centaurworld-like physique in S1E8. By the end of the series she has accepted her new body and is at that point even weirded out by how she used to look.

Self-acceptance takes time. To keep it short: Horse needs the entire series to fully accept herself as she is.

Friends and introspection can help with self-acceptance. When Horse first gets her new tail, we see her get really frustrated about it in the Moletaur jail, to the point where she accidentily hurts her friends‘ feelings. She doesn’t really apologize, just says that the wibbly-wobbly works for them but not for her. Similarly, people irl often complain about feeling/looking fat in front of their fat friends. Now that they have clearly stated that they view being fat as something bad, this would obviously hurt their friends‘ feelings. Very often people then feel compalled to say that it only bothers them when it’s on them, but really they should do some introspection. Why do they dislike it? Do they actually dislike it? What makes it so much worse on themselves than on their friends? Or have they just internalized what society expects of them without ever questioning it?

Self-acceptance can be hard, especially when it comes to the parts that society views as problematic, but the alternative is just going to hurt yourself. We can see that with the Elktaur. He has a hard time accepting that he is a centaur, especially since society views centaurs as lesser. But because he can’t accept himself, he splits himself in two which ultimately doesn’t just hurt him but also those around him.

Being loved by others cannot replace self-acceptance. Winning the Woman’s love did nothing to help the Elktaur with his struggles. It might have actually just made them worse because he felt he needed to hide his „ugly parts“ from her.

Conflict Avoidance:

Sunfish Merguy avoids conflicts or anything else that might disturb his cool, laid-back attitude. He doesn’t wanna hear about other people’s problems, trying to force them to go away with fun rides and games. He ignores their (perceived) suicides, so he can continue to live in blissfull ignorance. He even avoids bringing up that he has a girlfriend just so Wammawink won’t get upset. He might avoid any problems in the short run like this, but in the long run they won’t just go away on their own and he can’t just ignore them forever.

The Woman avoids confronting the Nowhere King and the General. She knows she is in part responsible for what has become of them and for the state of the world(s), she can’t help but feel sorry for the Nowhere King after how he has been treated his whole life and she can’t help but want to forgive the General because she loves him and he (supposedly) loves her. She knows that if she were to confront them, she would have to destroy them both, and she can’t bare it. In the end of the first season she can’t bring herself to do what’s neccessary and even in the series‘ finale she has to be reminded by Horse what needs to be done. But it is only when she faces these things, the General, the Nowhere King and her complex feelings, that they can move on, that the war can finally be ended.

Conflict-Seeking Behaviour:

Ched constantly seeks conflicts with Horse, throwing insults or thinking loudly of ways to get rid of her. When Horse answers to his jabs, it usually escalates and has bad consequences. The best example is in the Beartaur cave where they start a screaming match that wakes the Beartaur and puts them all in danger. When Horse ignores him / is out of earshot, nothing happens (for example during JTBBC). That is not to say one has to tolerate being bullied, but firing back the same way usually doesn’t help matters. What we see does help (a little) is when Horse empathizes with Ched after seeing where his behaviour comes from. Unfortunately, it is unrealistic to expect that this is always a possible option, because irl people can’t just magically find out the other person’s motivations and it’s unlikely they’ll tell them on their own. Maybe with the help of a counselor or if you quietly sit down just the two of you, you can solve it. Though if you’re talking to very young kids, sometimes just purposefully being nice might do something (like bringing candy to class and offer the mean kid to be the first one to take some, or ask if they wanna play with you). The kid should however also be aware that it’s not their responsibility to „fix“ someone with conflict-seeking behaviour.

Unhealthy Internalization of External Expectations:

When Horse gets her first spell she doesn’t pause to think whether she likes it or not but is instead immediatly worried that Rider will think less of her, hurting the herd by implying that being Centaurworld-like is „lesser“ than being human world -like.

Zulius has a mental breakdown over not meeting the Cattaurs‘ beauty standards, despite usually liking the way he looks and the way he is.

Boundaries:

Horse disrespects her friends‘ boundaries when she jumps into their backstories uninvited (S2E5).

Comfortable Doug often disrespects others‘ bounderies when he crawles up underneath them and wipes his sweaty body all over them.

Waterbaby pushes Wammawink’s boundaries when she forces her to lift the lake in S1E3. A healthy pushing of boundaries is often the basic idea behind teaching. Usually the student should give his consent to be pushed though, which Wammawink doesn’t really do.

Recognizing and Respecting the Struggles Others Have While Still Respecting Yourself:

The Whaltaur doesn’t do that, she instead hurts herself (constant crying) in order to (in her understanding) help others with their struggles. Doing that will lead to exhaustion in the long run and as we see might also affect you emotionally. Plus it might blind you to easier / better solutions because you get so used to disrespecting yourself just to make it easier for others that you don’t even stop to think of other ways.

Bonus – Abuse:

The Woman can easily be seen as an abuse survivor. Her husband lied to her from the start, never telling her who he really was. He kept his cruelty hidden away from her. When she finally found out what he did to Elk, she didn’t run away in horror but returned to his side. Even after the final battle she almost lets herself be convinced by his sweet talk, despite his actions speaking to the contrary. Similarly, people in abusive relationships often don’t get to see any of their partner’s toxic behaviour until it’s too late. They already have an emotional connection by the time the abuse starts and will try and find excuses for the changed behaviour. They justify to themselves that it can’t be that bad because the abuser isn’t terrible all the time. He can be kind and sweet and romantic, just like the General with his speech. Similar tot he Woman, abuse victims have to forcefully remind themselves of the bad parts to finally free themselves, which can be really hard when you’re on your own.

The General does not acknowledge his role in the war. When the Woman asks him what he tought would happen after he locked up Elk in a cell for ten years, he just shrugs and puts the entire blame back on his victim. Similarly, after the great battle he says he „know[s] how this looks“ but that it isn’t so bad. He deminishes the deaths of hundreds and attempts to justify himself. Real life abusers will also often shift the blame on their victims, deminish their actions and try to justify themselves. They might also point to other people claiming they’re much worse or say that they shouldn’t be punished because everyone does bad stuff sometimes.

[theoneandonlysun]

I don't know how to explain it but for some reason you remind me of the whaletaur shaman in Centaurworld?? I genuinely have no idea how to convey this but you are just connected in my head. Maybe it has something to do with the song she sings. Idk. Anyway ily bye

I have never seen centaurworld and I just looked up who that is and now im a little eensy weensy bit scared

[str8aura-no-not-that-one]

that was an open invitation, by the way; PLEASE send in any talking/intelligent whale characters you know, i will never be satisfied. Furry, anthro, feral, minor character, major character, i dont care. Book, cartoon, anime, webcomic, fanfic, no judgements here.

Before it comes in, yes, I know Bubbie and I know Whaletaur Shaman.

[kelpiemomma]

Noble Zoroark dichotomy

>honestly a p chill noble. Just wants to help people. Offers them a "haven" as a zoroark.

>drawback to that haven is Noble Zoroark wants to take revenge on those who were wrongfully treated or murdiddlyurdered

>they take over the being w the strong attachment for a time to seek out the one that hurt them while the wronged one resides within their body, resting and being "protected"

>genuinely thinks it's fine. They're helping people. Sure, people are dying, but those people deserved it! They're just protecting people who have been hurt.

>Just like w the Whaletaur Shaman, Noble Zoroark is flawed but they mean well!

[justplainsimon]

Still thinking about the whaletaur shaman from centaurworld

and how the gift she gives to people lucky enough to summon her... is a painless death

[squirrilous]

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[thehyperrequiem]

Cartoon-Creatureworld (Centaurworld parody) cast revamped

“A hardened Maverick Hunter X transported away from battle finds himself in a land that's inhabited by silly, singing cartoon creatures of all shapes and sizes.”

X (Megaman X) as Horse (Normal)

Megaman (Megaman) as Horse (Centaurworld)

Zero (Megaman X) as Rider

Rebecca (Me) as Wammawink

Henry Stickmin (Henry Stickmin) as Glendale

Espresso Cookie (Megaman) as Zulius

Filbo Fiddlepie (Bugsnax) as Durpleton

Gingerbrave (Cookie Run) as Ched

Cutman (Megaman) as Ched (Horse Body)

Razputin and Psychic Seven (Psychonauts) as Themselves/The Herd’s Friends

Milla Vodello (Psychonauts) as Waterbaby

Sasha Nein and Coach Oleander (Psychonauts) as Themselves/Waterbaby’s Friends

Poison Mushroom Cookie (Cookie Run) as The Hyenataur with a purse

Dave Panpa (Henry Stickmin) as Gebbrey

Moonlight Cookie and Sea Fairy Cookie (Cookie Run) as the Treetaur Shamans

Toppat Clan (Henry Stickmin) as Various Moletaurs

Reginald Copperbottom (Henry Stickmin) as Judge Jacket

Right Hand Man (Henry Stickmin) as Comfortable Doug

Mega Mini (Megaman Fully Charged) as Horse’s Talking Tail

Pikmin (Pikmin) as Various Cattaurs

Madeleine Cookie (Megaman) as Splendib

Oilmar (Pikmin) as Johnny Teatime (With Louis as an extra)

Oktavia von Seckondorff (PMMM) as Whaletaur Shaman

Sven Svensson (Henry Stickmin) as Sunfish Merguy

Black Hole (Mario) as The Taurnado

Pitaya Dragon Cookie (Cookie Run) as The Beartaur

Boomer Kuwanger (Megaman X) as Becky Apples

Dio Brando (Jjba Part 3) as Phillip J. Bonecrunch

Giorno Giovannia (Jjba Part 5) as Stabby (Transformed Phillip)

Mesa Police (Henry Stickmin) as Various Prairie-Dogtaurs

The Government (Henry Stickmin) as Various Badgertaurs

Narrow Gauge Engines (Thomas the Tank Engine) as Various Wormtaurs

Constructicons (Transformers) and Various Construction Workers as Various Gophertaurs

Joe Puddy (Poptropica) as Guskin the Gophertaur

Various Cartoon Creatures as Various Centaurs

Ion Cookie Robot (Cookie Run) as Malandrew

Blitzwing (Transformers Animated) as Malangella

Various Robots as Various Horsetaurs

Tender Engines (Thomas and Friends) as Various Coldtaurs

Wizard Cookie (Cookie Run) as Mouthpiece

Strawberry Cookie (Cookie Run) as Crandy

Black Garlic Cookie Cookie (Cookie Run) as Bayden

Ungalo (Jjba Part 6) as Bayden (Super Minotaur)

Various Cookies (Cookie Run) as Various Birdtaurs

Various Enemies as The Minotaurs

Megatron (Transformers) as The Nowhere King

Elder Custard Cookie (Cookie Run) as The General

Wasp (Transformers Animated) as The Elk

Cyborg Cookie (Cookie Run) as The Elktaur

Dr. Aloe Cookie (Cookie Run) as The Mysterious Woman 

[fragilethingz]