#Very curious to see what everyone's thought process here is👀

[jadore-f1]

Hard Launched | LN4 | chapter 1

Synopsis ♡ A series of coincidences lead the world to thinking that you’re dating Lando Norris.

Genre ♡ SMAU, Lando x Fem!reader, enemies to lovers, fluff, angst, may be slightly suggestive in future chapters

Notes ♡ MDNI (no smut but I am a +18 blog), my first smau! i’m having so much fun with this lol so i hope you guys enjoy! 🫶🏾

Face Claim ♡ Kianna Naomi (any other pics are for outfits and general vibes) all credit to pintrest for photos

y/nuser

(one minute video and one picture)

15k 💬 600 ⤵️ 343

y/nuser: @/Kwnway @/Kehlani Y’all did your big one with Worst Behavior i’m obsessed! So you know I had to make a lil combo for it 😘 Watch the full video on YouTube and get a behind the scenes look at my creative process!

bestieuser: oh you ate this upppp omg teach me

↳ y/nuser: I gotchu pookie one on one lessons coming up 🫦

↳ bestieuser: 🧍🏾‍♀️see here you go with that freaky stuff

↳ y/nuser: my bad 😭😭😭

nicolekirkland: 🔥🔥🔥 as always, can’t wait to collab again!

↳ y/nuser: 🫶🏾🫶🏾 yes we need to get back in the studio together asap

user1: ur so talented!

user2: @/user3 are you seeing what i’m seeing?

↳ user3: i’m peeping for sure…

↳ y/nuser: ???

user4: loving the dance but the shoes!! i need immediately

↳ y/nuser: thank you lovely, they’re from Aldo you can use the code linked in my bio for money off ✨✨

user3: @/user2 i can’t find anything showing they know each other

↳ user2: idk it feels targeted like the lyrics plus she’s wearing his jersey in her yt video 🤷‍♀️

user5: she’s not his usual type at all i think you guys are reaching

user6: ew what is she even doing

user7: LMAO bitches do anything for attention

user8: 🙄🙄typical slut just trying to use Lando for clout he would never go for her

↳ y/nuser: Not to fucking much???? who are you even talking about

Maxfewtrell: 👀

Meanwhile…

New Stories Posted!

Lando Posted on his story!

🏁F1gossip has posted a new article!

New WAG on the rise?

LANDO NORRIS & INFLUENCER SPARK ROMANCE RUMORS AFTER NIGHTCLUB SIGHTING

Lando Norris, McLaren’s golden boy is fueling the rumor mill once again. But this time it’s his off-track moves that have everyone buzzing. The 25 year old driver was spotted at an exclusive London nightclub over the weekend, but it’s who he was seen with that has fans putting on their detective hats. None other than Y/N L/N, a 24 year old dancer originally from the United States.

Eyewitnesses say the pair arrived separately and weren’t really seen close together BUT maybe they’re just good at keeping it low-key in the public eye.

The speculation started when Y/N posted a dance cover to a song fans felt was heavily targeted towards their beloved driver. With lyrics like

“Keep drivin’ one hand on the wheel and one inside it Speed into your crib to get me riding”.

The post was soon followed by a youtube video where she can be seen wearing his iconic papaya merch. {link to video}

I mean come on girl, it doesn’t get more obvious than that!

Naturally, social media went into overdrive.

“Why is Lando always at these clubs? Who’s that with him??” wrote one curious fan.
“Okay but if Lando and Y/N are a thing… I’m not surviving this season,” tweeted another.

To add fuel to the fire, followers noticed Y/N and Lando both posted very similar Stories the next day, coincidence? F1 Twitter thinks not.

So, are Lando and Y/N just friends who party, or is there a new power couple on the horizon? Only time and perhaps a cheeky soft launch — will tell.

But for now, we’ll be keeping our eyes on the grid... and the guest lists.

Okay sooo thoughts? 👀 no direct interaction between our main couple but trust! it’s coming soon 🙂‍↔️i have so many ideas i just gotta make them make sense you know. gotta figure out how to turn the enemies to lovers because shes sick of him at the moment 😭(deservedly so tbh) Anyways Thanks for reading!! love ya 🫶🏾🫶🏾

[olderthannetfic]

hiii i know you're just a person and not a library but if you happen to have them on hand, i'd greatly thank you for some resources on how social justice topics first entered fandom pre-tumblr-2010s, especially in the 90s or earlier is the period i'm interested in, if fans were very eager on being "politically correct" and went out of their way to find related academic texts or if they sort of had to be "kicked in the butt" to do research by people who were already involved in social justice irl, and also if there was pushback against social justice entering fandom & what the arguments were (i know the japanese had the yaoi ronso, i wonder if there is some clearly traceable event like that for the western fandom, or just some insight into the decades-long process it was and how the arguments have changed overtime, eg. yesterday i stumbled across a forum discussion about how a certain character using misogynistic language is "just how working class people talk", & it's so interesting bc that's a kind of argument which seems to have fallen out of circulation completely, so that got me wondering on what other shifts there could have been👀)

--

I mean... "fans" is pretty broad. But if you want to know about m/m fans in Western fandom, that's a lot more answerable.

Ye olde slash fandom did have plenty of discussion around queerness. There's a certain style that's much more common in older fic where one of them is really struggling with homophobia and doesn't like the idea of being into men and so does something or other awful to create drama in the fic, and even then, some fans would be like "Then he's an undatable jerk!"

The further back you go in that kind of fandom, the more everyone is a mega-nerd and quite possibly an academic. There are certainly things that are openly talked about today that people were clueless about then (trans issues, for example), but you have to do a lot more kicking now to get someone to read an academic article on average.

I really cannot express how much more default-intellectual this hobby was in the 90s and before.

Here's an example of the sort of thing people were coming up with:

Here's a bunch of early 00s meta:

Here's a fanlore article with a smattering of the many long discussions about Why Slash:

Here's a starting point on some rapey stuff in Pros fandom that people had meta thoughts about:

And a common practice of writing fic to debunk/respond to other people's fic that used to be so overt there was a term for it:

You could also just go through the history of Escapade, the oldest slash con that's still running in 2023, and see what the panel topics were:

--

I'm not sure "social justice" is quite the way to look at this. If you're curious about m/m shippers and misogynist language or treatment of internalized homophobia in fic, that will be covered quite well by things like the above. Plenty of individual fanfic people were involved in AIDS activism because that was everywhere back then. But race stuff? Other kinds of social justice? I don't remember those coming up much.

And of course fans were not eager to be "politically correct". Being involved in slash fandom in the 80s was seen as being a pervert and a purveyor of underground pornography. These were rebels, not pearl-clutching line-toers.

They might have been eager to be pro-gay, but they sure as fuck didn't express it in those namby-pamby terms.

[devilsrecreation]

pt 3!!!

ah yes of course scar infamous for, oh idk, kILLING HIS BROTHER, is completely okay and sees zero problem with asking someone else to do the same (albeit for sister but you get the idea). “I can’t kill my sibling!” “uh, I did? 🤨 ain’t nothing hard about it 😒” like scar not everyone has your major inferiority complex and ego issues okay I’m sorry to tell you the truth my dude 😔

curious. will he actually do it? like I don’t think ucheshi actually dies but I’m very curious as to what led kiburi to finally decide to go along with this. I’m sure it took a lot of willpower but I’m very curious as to what kind of mental battle you made kiburi go through for this /gen.

(+ some bits I missed earlier)

THANK YOU! FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT!!! I’ve said this before in one of my liveblogs but scar we’ve been over this in 1994 don’t you think it’s time to find something else to amuse yourself with old man 😔

👀👀 whose her mate?? /genq.

aaand now that I’m done with all the screenshots, WORDS TIME!! nikki this was genuinely such an interesting read. I am beyond AMAZED at how you manage to capture the essence of the show so so well. if someone told me this was an episode that actually happened I would 100% believe it. your ability to create something that fits so seamlessly well into canon is amazing. I have a tendency to go for ideas that wouldn’t generally fit into canon (cough. see: my self harming bunga hc) so I’m always so amazed when someone manages to create ideas like this while making it fit into canon. and you do it so WELL!!! I’m in awe. and I am also in awe of your story ideas for these characters!!! I’ve always loved minor characters myself but you take it to a whole new level!! (I mean that as a compliment btw /gen). this fic was such an awesome read and I can’t wait to read more of your works, whether oc-related or not <3. thank you for letting me word vomit btw ;w; I couldn’t help myself haha!

1. That’s the parallel between Scar and Kiburi! Unlike Scar, Kiburi still loves and cares about his sister. As mad as he is for her choosing Makuu’s float over him, he would never dream of killing her

2. I love your thought on the second one cuz it’s what I was aiming for! I wanted to make Kiburi’s thought process vague enough for anyone reading it to wonder whether or not he still has good in him

Good news though, he DOES actually spare his sister by leading her away from the final fight and then urging her to leave the Outlands for good. Here’s the thing about Scar’s plan, he said to GET RID OF her, not KILL her. Yeah, “get rid of”=kill in his mind, but Kiburi finds that as a way to cheat the system cuz he never outright said “kill her”. I’m not gonna write it, but it shows Kiburi has a sliver of goodness in him :)

3. I don’t blame you for forgetting cuz you just had a bunch of exams, but her mate is Makuu! Even wrote a whole timeline of their relationship in my hc cuz I have so many thoughts on them hfhfhf. Even more of a reason why Kiburi hates him

AAAAAAAAAAA YOU’RE SO SWEET!!!! This fic took me longer than I thought cuz I wanna keep everyone as in-character as possible but I’m sooooooo glad you like it! It was SO fun to write and I’m definitely planning to write more when I can. I’m currently re-writing a scene from the Savannah Summit episode with a new AU of mine! (it’s an au where Nduli is the crocodile leader instead of Makuu)

[polyamorousmood]

I'm open minded about polyamory for other people and even curious about it myself but I feel can't date non-monogamously in my town because

My dad is poly so I'm (perhaps irrationally) worried I'm gonna like accidentally end up in a polycule with my own dad

I haven't had my sexual debut yet and I feel like coming to the table with a lot of sexual experience under your belt is kind of a prerequisite for being accepted in the community unless you're explicitly looking for sexless relationships which I'm very much not, I want to have sex I just haven't yet

Relating to #2. Given my lack of experience I doubt I'll be very good in bed at least at first and I worry that whoever that happens with will be making negative comparisons about me in their head vs other partners of theirs who can do more for them

I'm not 100% sure what this is asking, since there's not a question in here🤨, but I'll take it as a general "what are your thoughts on this situation"-type thing.👍okay co

Tell your dad hi from this blog, that's cool. And! no worries about whether your dad will be chill with the poly stuff or not! so that's nice. I suppose the relationship could get into weird territory, but honestly, most people date mostly their own age, and there's, like, AT LEAST a 15 year age gap between you and your dad (and like probably more but idk your dad's life👀), so it doesn't seem likely, but you can always make it clear you'd want to know at least the identities of the whole polycule if its something you're worried about. That's a totally reasonable standard to hold 🤷‍♀️no biggie.

Idk if its because of your dad's relationship or because of the internet or where exactly you got the idea polyamory is inherently hyper-sexual, but... poly relationships can largely function like mono relationships. Now, people are still worried about the big "virginity" thing in mono relationships, too, don't get me wrong. But frankly? That's all bullshit. In whatever relationship. By and large, people aren't going to be weird about it (and if they're the type of person to be weird about it, probably not a great first experience anyway! So just move on!). In all likelihood, here's how the subject should go. You meet someone 🤝, you go on a date 💐or two🎥. Someone asks what the other person wants from the relationship💗?🍆?, for your piece, you bring up that you're new to the sex stuff but you're looking forward to it (just like you did in this ask) and if you can, provide a rough timeframe (you wanna jump right in? you wanna give it a few more dates? do you wanna try "smaller" things before you jump to Losing Your Virginity™️and whatever that means for you and your orientation?) and then if that person has any reservations they mention it and you guys figure it out. The same conversation in a poly relationship probably includes to what level the rest of the polycule is involved and stuff, but otherwise the process should be about the same whether you're dating a mono or a poly person. If you're "joining a polycule" as in "dating one is dating everyone" (which isn't all of them) then you might have to have this conversation a few times or in some sort of group? But its going to be hard to get into a "dating one is dating everyone" situation without actively trying to, and if you're just "open" to it, I see no reason to try for that lol

Bruh. Listen, babygirl, I get that urge, but your performance matters less if they can be sexually satisfied by someone else. That gives you the ability to completely fuck it up the first couple times without worrying that this person is just stuck in sexual frustration! You're free! 🕊️ Plus, a poly person has more considerations with scheduling time with you than your standard mono person (partner doesn't want them out of the house too much, or no free bed to do stuff in, etc), so things kind of can't move super fast a lot of the time. But also, as someone who is in the game. I'm 🔫shooting completely straight with you by saying there is A LOT more to sex than someone being "technically good" at it. There's affection and mood and kinks and preferences and spit viscosity and-- and most importantly you get something different out of it with everyone. Poly people especially aren't looking for the same thing every time. Sex is really, really, really personalized, and you can't escape that. You won't be able to do everything exactly like that person's other partner(s). But the other partner(s) also won't be able to do things exactly like you. And what you learn that's good for that partner, someone else is going to hate. Send an ask off-anon if you want specifics (promise not to look at your profile, just don't want to give everyone free smut😜😏) but I promise you even the things "everyone likes" has a significant following of people who would just as soon never have that happen to them. Being good at sex is not so much learning specific things and applying them to everyone as it is learning what your partner likes and applying it to them specifically. I prommy. I literally cannot emphasize enough that having had a lot of sex does not make you better at it with a new person. There have been actual studies according to a community college professor I had. ALL you need to worry about at first is communicating what you're comfortable with trying, and making sure your partner's cool. That's it. Everything else will work itself out I SWEAR🙋

If all this is that big a deal just... don't date a poly person. Like you just don't gotta. Easy fix. We're happy to have you if you're here, but its not for everyone and that's fine. Even if you want it eventually, you can semi-casually date mono for awhile first. This is all fine. Quit yo stressin'.

[strawberrystepmom]

hi kendy beloved! i know very little about astrology, but i do know my placements are virgo sun, taurus moon, and gemini rising 👀 i’d love to know your thoughts queen 💕

hi jay!! <333

looking at this big three, i appreciate that there is a lot of practicality here. double earth signs can be tricky to deal with as a holder depending on what is surrounding them because they're very firm in their judgements which can lead to inflexibility. i don't believe that's the case for you at all of course but taurus and virgo especially can sometimes feed off of one another and convince each other that every decision the holder makes is correct without question, especially in either configuration of sun/moon.

virgo sun women are some of my favorite people as i've mentioned several times because i appreciate the lens that you view the world through. you see things for what they are. you're fixers, you know how to make things better just instinctively. and when i say great home makers i don't mean that in the traditional sense, i mean it in the way that they are really great at creating comfortable space for others. intuitive and kind although there are times where the directness that comes with the placement rubs people the wrong way which is frankly their issue and not yours. not everyone wants to be told about themselves which is fine but like...that's how life is.

taurus moon is a good placement for taurus because it gives you a lot of self confidence in your decision making. you're also likely a person who thoroughly considers the feelings of others before making a decision, taurus tends to really dig in and think hard about what they're doing, and ultimately you go with yourself. you will always be on your own side when it comes to decision making and emotional processing which is good. self doubt is the mind killer. taurus will protect you.

gemini rising is interesting and i can see it in you! gemini comes of as intelligent, great conversationalists, curious people who want to understand how everything in the world works. a little hard to pin down in the way that all air signs are but there's no harm in making yourself difficult to attain.

[walking-fnaf-encyclopedia]

That's so real- our fictives tend to influence that stuff for me too, like my danganronpa AU having influences from my Junko and Makoto (villain and hero of danganronpa) headmates, but I think Sophie (from The Walten Files which is what TWF is) is the only one who's rlly made an AU of her own.

In my swap AU, basically, the order and circumstances surrounding each death are switched, and the killer is... kind of different as well. My current thought process is that William murdered Sammy- he hadn't intended to kill him, but he more or less beat him until he died from a traumatic injury- but he didn't kill any of the other kids. Instead, Henry, desperate to bring his son back, killed all the missing children. Elizabeth was still killed by Baby, but this incident was caused by the well meaning but unaware older brother Cassidy (crying child) leaving her alone in just the wrong moment and panicking and protecting himself instead of her. He later gets springlocked in Spring Bonnie. Spring Bonnie and Fredbear were actually from a totally different sister location. Michael was kind of an. extra murder on top of everything else just to take everything away from William but idk who he'd possess. Puppet maybe? Its weird creepy design feels up his alley.

The band in this AU is fronted by Baby. Freddy is a more or less scrapped character barely used for shows if at all, and as such, Susie is stuck in the back most of the time. Chica, Bonnie and Foxy make up the rest of the band, and Gabriel takes over Chica where Jeremy is Foxy and Fritz is Bonnie.)

All of this.. disaster leaves Charlie alive, and Charlie was actually childhood friends with several of those kids, including Elizabeth. She has genuinely no idea what happened to all of her friends, and has carried that with her, hoping that one day she might be able to track down Elizabeth and figure out if she's actually still alive. Which she is not, and Baby, angry at Charlie for her father's actions, really.. rubs this in. On the other hand, Cassidy is being manipulated with his own fear into being on Henry's side.

This is one of my less developed AUs (my two main aus have a RIDICULOUS amount of lore) but here it is :D

ohhhh the walten files. ive never seen it shortened to that and havent watched anything related to it in a while so i didnt pick up on it lol

ohhh william killing sammy and then henry killing everyone else - thats good, love that!!

CASSIDY CRYING CHILD CASSIDY CRYING CHILD (<-has a cassidy crying child fictive)

the puppet being possessed by a character thats so drastly different from the original puppet is fascinating! and mike as a murdered has me curious 👀

poor susie, but baby getting to be the face of the band is cute! does her design - or the others’ designs - change to make them mesh better with each other? shed look kinda out of place with the og’s, hell even with the toys.

charlie being alive, and seemingly taking a similar role to og mike is neat!! and cassidy being manipulated UGH i love casskdy crying child it feels very. underexplored?? i feel like i never see it. i love evan crying child and his bestie cassidy but you can pry lonely cassidy crying child who blames their dad for their death more than they do michael out of my cold dead hands

LOVE this au!!! thanks for sharing!!! if there are any yall want to talk about in detail - or any of my aus you want to ask about in detail - go ahead! sorry that this answer took longer, lol

also HAPPY FNAF MOVIE BIRTHDAY!!!! hope you guys get to go see it if you want!!!

[dolliedarlin]

hello hello hello!

how are you doing? happy wednesday! i told myself i was gonna try to message as much as i can when i’m free so here i am :)

how has school been? are exams done? how did you do? have you been able to keep up with projects/ homework? i’m sure you have, i have so much faith in you and i believe you are always doing things to the best of your ability :)

where i live right now is under a huge snowstorm and they think we may get up to 23 inches of snow. it’s a little scary but they cancelled school and other things so i’m trying to see it as time to work on homework and do some things i haven’t had time to do in a while. i’ve finished all of my homework but one english assignment, but i’m feeling a little burnt out so i’ve decided to call it a night.

the last few days have been kind of interesting lately, especially in the romance department (👀). i have a science class and have caught a cute guy looking at me a few times and i’m curious to see if that shall turn into a friendship. i’ve also been working towards getting over feelings for someone else for the last few months. it is difficult to do when they’re still technically in your life, but you never received closure over what happened. i’m hoping that things are going well for them, and i’ve decided it’s time to move on and be happier myself as well. it was a more difficult decision than i’m willing to admit, but i just want everyone to get the chance to be happy.

i’ve been working towards building up my own confidence and i’ve been working on a journey of self love lately. it has been a lot more difficult than i thought it would be as i had to do a lot of inner work and processing over situations and things. i am a lot happier than i was, but it is still a difficult journey for me to travel on. nonetheless, i will keep pushing to be the best version of me i can be :)

i hope you’ve been doing well lately and i look forward to hearing from you once more.

lots of love,

liv <3

liv, my love! hello again!

you're so sweet, thank you for always messaging me, i always love seeing you in my inbox -^7^-

i've been doing alright, thank you! my exams are over for the previous semester/teaching block, which i believe i did okay on, i'm just glad it's finally over. but now i'm in the new semester and have an additional module on imaging with a portfolio to hand in for. it's daunting but is more fun than i originally thought, despite the extra work. all i need to do is just stay on top of the content so that i don't get overwhelmed when the time comes to hand in my portfolio for it

i can't believe you think so highly of me, that warms my heart, thank you so much! i think the same of you too! you're always so hardworking and kind and considerate and all the good everyone should be made of! i hope only good things come to you <3

good job on seeing the silver lining in things and making the most out of a bad situation, i'm so proud of you for doing so much! well done, dollface! i hope you got a good night's rest after all that hard work -^7^-

oooo~ romance you say?~ i hope that blossoms into something more for you soon, but not too quickly ;) and just in time for valentines day too~ oh la laaa~ ;)))

my god, can you be any more perfect of a person? you're so selfless and kind, i hope you know that all the people who know you are so incredibly blessed to have such a beautiful person in their life. not everything is about finding that special someone but i really hope that you get that fairy tale happy ending bc you're literally a modern day disney princess <333

im so so happy for you, oh my goodness, not everyone is brave enough or has the endurance for such an arduous endeavour but i applaud you for braving it out and taking those steps to take better care of yourself and yourself up to your true potential! it's a hard journey but it's certainly a very rewarding one. you're very inspiring, you're pushing me to take that step myself! lets see what i can do from this burst of inspiration you've given me!

i can't wait to hear back from you too, hopefully things keep looking up for you, dollface!

all my love,

dollie x

[wikiangela]

finally watching ls 3x17

spoilers!

and from the very beginning I'm getting emotional 😢

(damn, Gina Torres is so gorgeous 😩😍 and the guy playing Julius is cute af 😍)

whaaat is happening between Tommy and Julius 👀 there's definitely some tension 👀 (I kinda assumed the kiss wasn't a one time thing because why else have it lol but I'm curious)

omg Marjan and Nancy clearing out the trash 😂 (also, Nancy's "I deserve that" lmao that was so funny) - damn I could never - I gag when I throw out my own trash lmao this shit would be a nightmare 😂

fucking hell, thank God for Mateo - that was way too stressful 😂

I love the Ryders 😂 lmao Judd "multi-phase process" huh? and if that whole thing means we're gonna see more Wyatt, I can't wait 😍

aaah Nancy and Mateo??! I suspected that something might happen since that scene a few episodes ago but like, already?? why haven't we seen more?? not fair 🙄😂 loving it tho ❤️

oooh, I see where this is going... Mateo is gonna be insecure about Nancy being taller dude.... get your shit together 😂 (btw Nancy's so freaking hot wow 🔥)

Wyatt is freaking adorable (and it's lowkey relatable, I also don't know how to talk to people and keep eye contact)

Carlos!! I get just as excited when I see him as Mateo, except not forced to run away form a conversation 😂😂😂 but yaaay, Carlos!!!😍

aw the gang hanging out - I feel like we haven't seen that in a fucking while 😂

I mean, good for Nancy tbh, like, if you really don't wanna say anything yet, just tell her?? he assured her that he did want to, and then panicked each time it was brought up like, dude.

Julius has a nice voice 😍 and something will happen between him and Tommy, right? it has to lol, there's too much tension 😂

OMG I knew it!!! "I'm crazy too" 😲😍 I ship it tbh 😍

"hulk smash" 😂 god I love him

go Owen!!! 😍 loved that!!

honestly I expected that Wyatt's gonna be dressed up and everyone else will be all casual - I've seen enough movies and shows to know what to expect from a tech company - but it's still hilarious 😂 but also poor baby, I can feel his embarrassment and nerves 😂

oh yeah, the gang's gonna make Nance and Mateo get it together and talk!

"not position"... why 😂😂😂

aw Mateo's so sweet, here I thought he was insecure and really he just didn't want Nancy to get laughed at, he's so cute 😍😭

how do they not get what "coffee" means 😂 (I mean I do only because I've seen Luke Cage so who am I to talk 😂😂)

so Julius is leaving?? noooo

motherfucking hell what the fuck was that ending 😱😱😱😱

I just saw the promo, thank fuck Judd's fine (or at least alive) but I hope Owen is okay as well, I actually enjoyed him this season 😳

I just forgot everything that happened this episode, because that ending 🤯 I knew something bad was gonna happen when the security guard talked to the guy about a gas leak but that the whole building was gonna go down??? jesus fuck 🤯🤯🤯

that was insane lmao I really can't want for the next one hahah

[dreamersscape]

re: Kimimaro - oh, yes, my sister and I definitely did remember that!  It’s true, there have been VERY small references to Kaguya, occasionally - I just find it surprising that they didn’t do a more thorough build-up.

Dang, you are so good at remembering at all these seemingly extraneous details! Here is where I admit to having lost track of Obito's chances of survival being super slim to nonexistent because he had cast Rinne Rebirth. I knew during this stretch of episodes that things were really not looking good, but I had totally forgotten that Black Zetsu was holding it off from happening. I think maybe I was guessing that since he had been the ten tails jinchῡriki for a bit, those rules applied to him now they had been removed, although the show hadn't specified that back then from what I can recall? 😅

I’ll be honest, there's only one Narratively Wrong/Thematically Inappropriate thing the show can do at this point that will upset me enough that I stop enjoying myself

👀

(I probably already know, but since the last handful of episodes you watch appeared to hit the right notes with you, now I'm curious!)

[um that reaction gif you used for the itachi scene made me laugh so hard fyi]

It made you laugh because it was so apropos, right? It's just I don't tend to think of that gif as too humorous... 😆 But then again, I know what's happening in that moment in the show it's from, so.

Yes, Shisui is so interesting!  I like him a lot and it's so interesting to see him and Itachi interacting at that young age - we're so used to Itachi being this incredibly old soul who's an expert at everything, but it's so different seeing him as a little genin who's still learning things and being guided by someone else.  I loved all their scenes together - that bit where Itachi twists his ankle and he’s like "you're making a big deal out of nuthin’!" is SO cute (and simultaneously so bizarre; it's just SO WEIRD seeing itachi be a kid)

This is LEGIT.

and I love how open and just...unselfconsciously affectionate Shisui is about talking to him (like, there are multiple times when Shisui says things like "It makes me happy that I'm able to teach you something; I'm happy spending time with someone I'm comfortable around," and that's just such a nice vibe.

YES. 😍 My fondness for 'unselfconsciously affectionate' characters--love that phrasing!--is definitely showing. But I love so much how he just sees Itachi and immediately is like, "That one! That's my new little brother.🥰" (And Sasuke took that very personally lol. You're fine and all, Shisui, but Itachi can only have one brother!)

^...yet another life destroyed by Danzo, of course.  For real, can you imagine looking at this kid and being like "I'm going to rip his eye out of his head"??  What a monster.

*hackles raise, growling*

Don't remind me!

Thoughts on Fugaku - Fugaku is like the new Minato for me, heh.

NO WAY I was thinking about him in the same terms! *high-fives*

But yeah, I can respect and understand the majority of his decisions and viewpoints, but then every so often something he does or says throws me for a loop and I think "Uh... okay." Like, I know you want to prepare Itachi to lead the Uchiha as quickly as possible and he is quite precocious, but was it really a good idea to bring a four-year-old to an active battlefield??? I mean, it doesn't surprise me that this may have seemed like a fine idea in this culture, and yet...

I did really love the scene where Fugaku is grumbling (not without cause) to Itachi about how the Uchiha are being isolated and shunned by the rest of the village but they're just going to keep struggling to regain their power someday and Itachi's only paying attention to how everyone is happy to see his dad and he says "I'm proud to be able to walk alongside you, Father." and Fugaku doesn't know how to process such a guileless and loving statement from his son so he says "That's enough flattery for now... but do you want your favorite treat?" That scene was PRECIOUS!

I was really surprised that they put that little moment in there - I've thought a LOT about what Kakashi's adjustment process must have been like after coming home with Obito's sharingan, and I've specifically wondered about how Kakashi was viewed by the Uchiha, and whether he had any contact with them in the immediate aftermath, just in the sense of like - who taught him to use his sharingan?  Who taught him all the "lore," for lack of a better word - all the accumulated cultural knowledge about this very clan-specific jutsu that's been passed down within Uchiha families but not to outsiders?  Did Kakashi have to research and figure it out on his own?  Or did he have to do private instruction with someone from the Uchiha clan?  How would people from the Uchiha clan have felt about providing a service like that to an outsider?  Would they even have agreed to do it?  Was Kakashi like...an intra-clan debate for these people (as the previously referenced scene with Fugaku appears to indicate)?

I've thought about this topic/time period a lot too! And it occurred to me... could Fugaku and Sasuke's family have been Kakashi's "in"? Obviously we see what Fugaku thinks and says in this scene, but also, we know that Kushina and Mikoto (Sasuke's mom) seemed to be fairly close friends. Or on rather friendly terms at the very least. How cool would it be if Kakashi had been introduced to Mikoto/Fugaku through Kushina and gotten his sharingan "crash course" through them, got to interact with tiny!Itachi, etc. Oh man, now I want an AU where Minato and Kushina survive the Nine Tails, Minato captures Obito and they talk some sense into him (or they're just able to thwart Madara's machinations somehow and Rin survives too and Obito comes back with them, yeah that's better) and Kushina and Mikoto raise Naruto and Sasuke to be practically siblings and Kakashi, Obito, and Rin are older brother/sister figures for them AND Itachi & Shisui just like it should've been and and and Danzo trips and falls off a cliff idk and dies and Minato disbands the foundation and adopts Tenzo too and because Minato's still alive Jiraiya sticks around and he eventually tracks down Tsunade and tells her about this kid who can use wood style Minato discovered and Tsunade comes back to oversee Tenzo's training in that with her grandfather's journals or something and then becomes both Rin's and Sakura's mentor and everyone lives happily ever after as one colossal family!!!

Sorry, I got a little carried away. XD

so I went to check, and in the original Japanese he actually just says “Kakashi,” which is honestly much more in line with what I would expect from him at this point

Aww, dangit! I should've thought to check the subbed version myself. Now I went and got my hopes up! /O\ Maybe someday though...

in-progress naruto thoughts: volcanic edition

in other words: i’m watching again!

it’s been awhile since I did one of these, but we’re back in it now and this time we’re going all the way to the end, so!

spoiler disclaimer as always: i literally have like 40 episodes of this 750-episode show left to go, and i’ve still managed to stay miraculously unspoiled for everything, so at this point, i’m just asking that people don’t comment on this post (unless you’re @dreamersscape, in which case you can go for it, because i trust you XD).  for everyone else, i’d like to finish my watch on my own, and then we can talk about this show all day once i’m done!  thank you! :D

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