#// either or both (or all the above)

[ladystoneboobs]

catelyn

lysa

cersei

alannys

dany

gilly

i call this collection 5 highborn westerosi mothers worrying about and missing their sons + 1 wildling mother losing her son to a guy who never knew his own mother, a motherless son continuing the line of motherless boys and boyless mothers

[teamsasukes]

Was Itachi's forehead poke to Sasuke a sign of distancing himself and not wanting Sasuke to get involved, rather than just a mere sign of affection? I saw a few people talk about that and how it's weird that Sasuke does that to his family considering the original meaning.

yes, you've got an accurate handle on the original meaning of the Forehead Poke. fundamentally it is an expression of distance that itachi wields at times when he cannot be with sasuke. and it seems to be a throughline of his childhood: sasuke asks itachi to do something as mundane as train together but itachi continually refuses on account of his duties as a shinobi.

it is not a gesture devoid of love -- it's not as though itachi ever delights in dismissing sasuke (on the contrary, he is always regretful). but there's a cruelty in the uncertainty of it all: the most direct translation is "maybe next time", so itachi fails to provide even an assurance that they can, like, hang out next week or something. this chasm between them is then widened by itachi promising, on the night of the massacre, that he might allow a final battle between them if sasuke ever proves competent enough to bother fighting, leaving sasuke in protracted pursuit of the looming specter of his older brother.

this distance is really only bridged (barely) in their final scene when itachi lays bare the truth of his motives, his regrets (which are lacking, to put it mildly, but for sasuke this is nonetheless momentous), and his unconditional pride in and love for his little brother. the Forehead Poke is notably absent here because textually, the enforced distance wrt sasuke is framed as itachi's greatest wrong. (seriously, itachi says something to the effect of: i shouldn't have done All That because maybe you, my 7-year-old brother, could have brought change to our clan... thereby reducing inconvenience for konoha, of course. the paucity of virtue in massacring the uchiha doesn't really register for him even during this reconciliation, and it's deliberate... because the author doesn't see it as much of an issue either!)

anyway, it might seem odd for sasuke to repeat this gesture with sakura in chapter 699, then, particularly because it seems to be invoked in a manner identical to itachi in his neglect. kind of an odd way to signify a happy ending for these characters, right...?

well, it works for me solely because it is not identical! and naruto's english dub is my worst enemy. i would grab a couple of manga panel screenshots in the original japanese to prove it, but it's easier for me to just plug these scenes from the anime. here is an itachi Forehead Poke (0:51) and here is sakura seeing sasuke off at the konoha gate (0:33). there's a subtle but meaningful distinction in the phrasing: "mata kondo da" vs. "mata kondo na". which, in effect, alter the meaning from "maybe next time" to:

(there's an excellent tumblr post from years ago which performs a substantive analysis of the japanese in both contexts, but eludes me now. pls send if any of you have a link to it!)

so personally i adore its inclusion in chapter 699 specifically. it obviously carries a great deal of weight for sasuke and it's meaningful he chooses to express it to sakura specifically despite leaving the entire team behind -- in lots of ways, and more than any other character, i think for sasuke, sakura is the anti-itachi. (that would require another post to elucidate.) so not only is it an expression of regret at unintended distance, but, more crucially, it's a promise of return. i think it's incredibly sweet that sasuke can repurpose the gesture from something soul-rending to something hopeful.

(also deserving of another post lol but this scene also achieves a neat and, crucially, subversive callback to sakura's foundational insecurities... it's like poetry it rhymes)

all that said, i understand why it reads as something different once we are then given the context of chapter 700 and gaiden... i dislike both of these installments, primarily for the implication that distance becomes a love language, so to speak, between sasuke and sakura/sarada. these relationships are ruled by distance and sasuke accepts it. it's disappointing! his journey to learn about more of the world in chapter 699 jibed with the character's arc until that point. this does not.

my unpopular take is i think this has just about nothing to do with sakura or the sasusaku relationship and everything to do with authorial outlook on sasuke's actions in part 2. and for the record, i maintain that these crimes ultimately amount to very little -- violence and death are occupational hazards if one is a shinobi. konoha is also foregrounded by a cold calculus on the worth of human lives; i'm sure sasuke's indispensable role in saving the world outweighs the killing of a few samurai. i just think kishimoto needs sasuke to atone, somehow, forever, via endless service to the village. and he also cannot sensibly write a kakashi- or naruto-headed government that would impose any meaningful punishment, so sasuke is relegated to a state of permanent rootlessness in some dumbass quest. it's a sacrifice on his part, but contrived for a number of reasons, chief among them being that the sasuke we came to know in the original series would literally never internalize konoha's ideals in this manner. so even though the Forehead Poke in gaiden and boruto retains the elements of promise and anticipation of eventual reconciliation, it feels kind of... lame and weightless. there is a superficial signal at growth but materially, for the parties on the receiving end of the Forehead Poke, very little seems to change.

frankly, i think we are meant to view sasuke's love as noble (and sasuke himself as penitent, suggested by the ascetic quality of his life). sasuke is still doing things differently than itachi, insufficient though it may be: he is honest about the reason for his travels, he does not rush to dismiss sarada when she needs emotional support, his motives are selfless rather than selfish (sasuke guards against the threat of the otsutsuki; itachi... wanted sasuke to kill him, in no small part as a desperate ploy to end his own suffering, notwithstanding the subsequent damage that would be inflicted on his thoroughly traumatized little brother). gaiden is surprisingly candid about the distance as a source of distress for sarada, sakura, and even sasuke, but by the end everyone understands why it must be as it is. the state above all! (you'll notice even itachi's apology to sasuke held this precept intact... there is a reason the series closes with sasuke accepting his old hitai-ate.) it is admittedly vexing, considering the totality of evidence here, to see sasuke's nomadic status in boruto pinned on how much he hates his dumb bitch wife and not, you know. the shockingly bad politics underpinning the narrative.

i appreciate the attempts of sasuke enjoyers to explain his distance as natural aversion to konoha, but this isn't canonically backed by any interiority (which seems to be absent in boruto-era team 7 at large) and moreover it requires miscommunication between sasuke and sakura (or even naruto) so great as to be unbelievable. i've accepted that post-pt2 sasuke is an unfortunate victim of kishomoto's nationalist views. his weird takes on how a man like sasuke would behave in a loving relationship and likely desire for a continued revenue stream don't help either. yes i will weep forever...

TLDR: i think the Forehead Poke fits in chapter 699 precisely because it diverges from itachi's. i resent its recurrence suggesting distance from loved ones is an inevitable condition of sasuke's life to which he's stoically acquiescent.

[torchstelechos]

You know I think it's kind of funny how much LBH and SQQ mirror each other, like do you guys think about how to everyone around them in canon LBH knows everything about SQQ down to a single birthmark but SQQ doesn't seem to know anything about LBH? Despite everything they've gone through, SQQ seems to be playing catch up in their own relationship while LBH was already getting their wedding ready? But for us, the viewers, we know that SQQ knows everything about who LBH was suppose to be while LBH knows nothing about SQQ's own past and what he was suppose to be? SQQ knows everything that doesn't involve himself, while LBH knows everything that does involves himself. It's so funny to me how that must look to outsiders versus themselves <3

[dykedvonte]

A crazy thing about Mouthwashing is that Pony Express lost communication with one of its freighters for months and didn’t send anyone to check.

A genuinely reputable company, or at the very least a decent one, would have sent someone, something out to check after about two weeks of silence. Two months is when the crew start questioning if they are even being looked for which implies they were already expecting it to take a while cause P.E just doesn’t care.

They don’t care about who they hire. They don’t care about the conditions they place their crew in or how safe the safety measures actually are. They just don’t care, made rules and regulations so they can care less and succeed in getting away with it with how little those ideas are discussed.

[jazzy-a]

I would find it hilarious if Angel's advances towards Alastor backfire on him at some point.

Instead of making Al a "Daddy", he just becomes a "Dad." And with that comes all the implications where this man is just a needless embarrassment to him.

Angel Dust: After all, I'm one of the hottest, most desirable, GORGEOUS actors in-!

Alastor: Weren't you born right after that dreadfully hilarious little boat accident?

Vaggie: Boat accident? Are you talking about... the Titanic!??

Angel Dust, fuming: You shut your f*cking face or so help me I'll tie your tubes, Radio-head! See how good you talk then!

Alastor, delighted: My! Was that a radio pun, dear? Tell me, did you have a cathedral or tombstone in your time?

Angel Dust: SHUT UP!

Alastor: Poor thing. Probably can't remember in his old age.

Angel Dust: AKJ**!#BFS@3!1JBLQW!*!!!!

[viktorarcanedeservesbetter]

I'll have to find the post that touched on this later but it made me think; the whole Glorious Evolution thing + battle probably didn't do much to really connect the cities because, if we assume the council tries to just blow over all the events (especially since Caitlyn is no longer on it) then it's again, a Zaun vs Piltover conflict.

Because:

Everything was "fine" down in the fissures where Viktor/The Herald was healing and keeping peace. The only people who really knew the awful effects are either "dead"/missing (Viktor, Jayce, Jinx) leaving the country (Mel) or have other things to worry about (Caitlyn, Ekko, Vi). Correcting the narrative is likely not on the list of things to do.

Then, the "Man of Progress" came, killed the guy healing everyone, and that's where everything went wrong. Things, to most people's perspective, only got bad after that event. Their Herald only became "evil" after a Piltover man shot him.

Then they get roped into this battle against Noxus (lead by the mother of one of the council members, no less) and lose a lot of their people. Then the two main "leaders" of each side dies/disappears (if you can say Viktor was really leading anyone or just doing it all by himself).

So now its like another versus: Did Jayce Talis save the day, or did he ruin a good thing and almost doom the universe and have to clean his mess up? Piltover would clearly take Jayce's side, and most of Zaun would take Viktor's, because they have no reason to believe (and it's rightful they don't believe) a thing anyone from Piltover tells them.

Like: to the Zaunites, Jayce Talis came and shot up a seemingly peaceful guy healing everyone, and only then did that guy descend into madness. There's no way any of them are believing anything otherwise, because the two people who know the whole truth are gone (Viktor and Jayce). (Ya know, unless Jayce told that small meeting room everything, which makes the tale to tell even wilder)

[bumblingbabooshka]

[Tuvok & Janeway: Control, Distance, Duty & Connection.] Sources: St Voyager Transcripts / Mitski 'First Love Late Spring' / Disco Elysium

[dadvans]

sometimes even if a kink itself does little to nothing for me, I want to read it exclusively because it fits and would be right for the characters and the canon and seeing characters experience rapturous joy at the end of the day is what I find hotter than anything, and that is why I am asking why the FUCK is there no bootblacking fic in 9-1-1 fandom when evan buckley would happily get on his knees to service until he could see his reflection in his boyfriend’s workboots

[fisheito]

A while back you made a post talking about yakumo and his sensitivity to temperature and I haven't stopped thinking about it. imagine when winter comes around and yakumo becomes progressively sluggish, usually staying in the kitchen and not leaving for hours, always making something near the stove to feel a little warmth from the flames or from a little taste of the things he's making (soup probably), or him picking up the habit of bundling himself up and staying in the library to read and nap. maybe when it starts getting even colder he barely leaves his room because its too uncomfortably cold for him, and if he does he's probably looking for eiden to help him warm up, but if eidens not around he gets antsy and looks for somebody else in the mansion, but he's too shy to ask and looks at whoever with his wet eyes so they know he's cold and wants a cuddle

*inhales deeply* ah yes. you understand. you envision it all so clearly. rightly so. gEt in the wAy, everybody, snake burrito walking the halls very very slowly!!!!!!! (i was about to say get OUT of the way but that would probably make yakumo colder so why not do him a favour and collide with him on your way to another room)

[airenyah]

I get you about the hetero vibes of JD. Like there are CPs who act like they have been married for years and I am inclined to believe that and there are CPs who are just happy their job is to flirt with their homies and they lean into it. The latter is JD to me. Like no matter how much they would flirt, I won't believe they are actually together. I can belive they are best friends, even soulmates but not a couple

yep, exactly! i mean, JD also act like they've been married for years in a way, but as i mentioned in my other reply, it just feels like more of an inside joke and feels much more platonic than romantic

and they most definitely have fun flirting with each other. i think it's as entertaining for them as it is for us. especially for joong. i think it's a well known fact that no matter how insane you think you are about JD, you can be sure that joong is more insane about JD than you are. and i fully support him in that <3

[dailykugisaki]

Day 332 | id in alt

More special than Gojo? Always, duh.

[cultivating-wildflowers]

.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

I don't know if it's the fresh blanket of snow on everything or the beginning of the new year that's just making me wax philosophical on this sleepy Saturday or whatever, but keeping on with the theme of how comforting it is that Taylor's music is so relatable and resonant for such a wide spectrum of emotions and experiences, I think one of the things I'm increasingly grateful for is how well she captures these moments writing in a "IYKYK" kind of way. Up until recent years she was rarely explicit about them, but even in her metaphor and poetry she perfectly encapsulates these experiences.

There have been so many lyrics that I've heard and on first listen I've thought, I feel this in my bones because I've lived it, and I'm so grateful that she has written something that speaks to it. And it's why I have so, so much empathy for her and am so happy she finds her own comfort in her writing as a way to get through them.

[vaguely-concerned]

when out and about with bellara, harding and taash, lucanis and rye between them create SUCH an air of safe warm older brotherly energy for everyone with their mission dialogue lines. don't worry they're here they'll watch out for you no one's gonna mess with you while we're here we promise we've got you. and then they get together with davrin and it's chaos gremlin time 24/7. the wonders of chemistry

[theheirofthesharingan]

The easiest ways I lose respect for someone when I hear them say:

I'm a dog person and I hate cats.

Frodo sucks and sam is the 'true hero' and 'Tolkien said sam was the' true hero' and 'Frodo wouldn't have made it without Sam so Sam is the' true hero' of LotR.

I love Sasuke but I hate itachi.

I love Itachi but I hate Sasuke.

I hate both Itachi and Sasuke.

[rxttenfish]

i absolutely cannot let myself get started on another fic until im at least onto chapter 5 of caecilian but the temptation to write something of aaravi taking miranda monster hunting and describing the entire EVERYTHING there is real