#i remember everyone always denounced it when talking about all 3 lol

[allthingskakashi]

As a fellow Kakashi lover, I’m curious if you feel that Kakashi is pretty misunderstood by a lot of fans? I’ve seen people say that he should’ve defected the village, and that he’s messed up for hiding his trauma. (Which he could’ve been more open about, yes, but I’m not sure that he even knew how to go about discussing it at the time) He could’ve easily left the village, but instead he wanted to change things and make society better by teaching teamwork, and to value everyone’s life by putting yourselves before the mission. He never lost hope for the future of shinobi and knew that it could be better. He definitely could’ve been more open about his past, but he’s always been more of a quiet and reserved kid (even before the trauma lol) Idk, I feel like a lot of people overlook his backstory when talking about him!

Istg every time i meet another person who shares this view i just wanna give em the biggest bear hug and im boutta go OFF

Remember back in their childhood when gai was being bullied by these men one time about his dad and kakashi dropped in and whacked them? He always had the conscience to stand up for what was wrong and be there for his comrades but sakumo's death was so traumatic for him, it forced him to change his own beliefs. He became a machine and he believed that carrying out missions as instructed was his only purpose in life, irrespective of what HE felt

because GOD YES he's so so misunderstood by fans half the time and I've seen so many people throw around the term bootlicker for him just cause he didn't throw away everything and leave the village and and join some criminal cult and like no?? The fact that he stayed only shows his strength of character if anything. He could've easily left if he wanted to, he would've made a very sexy villain too but he chose to be hopeful and he chose to remain good and that shows strength of character because it took him a fkn lot to stay in the right path and continue working for the village that took away his father from him.

And it had nothing to do with him being a bootlicker because kakashi is very much his own person and he has his own morals and ideals and he's not a stickler for rules until he believes in them. Yes he did become awfully rule-abiding after Sakumo's death for a while because he saw what listening to your heart instead of adhering to the rules did to his father. He saw the extent to which a previously respected shinobi was villified that he had to resort to taking his own life

And kakashi was angry at sakumo because he was only a small boy who had just lost his father. He couldn't help resent sakumo bc he kept thinking that if only sakumo had just stuck to the rules, he would've still been there with him. that if only he had just done what the village had asked him to, he wouldn't have lost the only family he had. Those were very valid thoughts for a child whose father had just committed suicide but kakashi did know in his heart that his dad was right and that's why he wanted to teach those very principles to the younger generations later on. That's why he told sakumo when they met in the limbo that he was proud of him. But back then when sakumo had just died, kakashi was a grieving child who was angry and dealing with so much pain inside him that he decided he'd never do what cost his father his life. Because he saw right in front of his eyes what happened if you broke the rules and so he did what his 5 year old mind thought he should. But even then, that was never who he was at heart. He never believed in mindlessly abiding by rules and that's what made him consider obito's words and ultimately go back to save rin. Obito's words did not change him, they only helped him see what was already in his heart.

But when obito said those words to him, it resonated with what he truly believed in inside his heart. So yeah, he's no bootlicker, he was just strong willed enough to not give in to the bad things that happened to him. He didn't make an impulse decision. He didn't want to abandon his village. It was his home and despite everything, he loved his home and he valued the people around him. He didn't want to just leave it all. He wanted to stay instead to make the village better, to pass on sakumo's values to the upcoming generations so that they became good shinobi AND humans. To teach his students the power of love and friendship so that they didn't grow up to become the kind of people that had denounced his father. Kakashi didn't want to take revenge for sakumo's death because his actions were never motivated by hatred, but he ensured that his father didn't die in vain.

Leaving would've been much easier for him too,he may have almost even thought of it on nights that were extremely painful, nights when he was completely engulfed with pain and anger at the horrible unfair world but he would've never done it bc that's not him. He CHOSE to listen to the part of his heart that still saw good. Betraying the village that was his home wasn't an option for him

So yeah the fact that he stayed only shows his strength of character. his determination, his judgement, his will to change the village for the better. He refused to pass students unless they knew the value of teamwork. He was the only one who failed team after team and sent them back to academy bc no matter what, he never would've let students who didn't value their comrades become shinobi. Would a bootlicker do that? He broke into root and freed tenzo; when everyone in the village ostracized naruto and iruka had almost made up his mind to ask hiruzen to assign him another student, KAKASHI was the one who told iruka to approach Naruto with love instead. He always had a mind of his own. When team 10 wanted to get their revenge after Asuma's death, kakashi himself offered to accompany them even tho tsunade wasn't initially very enthusiastic about the idea. Would a bootlicker do that? He sneaked naruto off to meet the 4th raikage bc he understood that it was important to Naruto. Would a bootlicker do that? He always did what he thought was right

He realised his mistakes and he changed for the better. He had to raise himself and yet he managed to stay on the right track and make not just a great shinobi but also a great person of himself. He didn't want to leave his home. that was his very identity, that was his world. He wanted to change it, not abandon it. I'm sorry that is not a bootlicker. Danzo had even tried to recruit him or smth once but he'd had the judgement and sense to turn him down

As for hiding his trauma idk what to say to that i mean you can't dictate how someone deals with trauma?? Sure, his ways weren't ideal but what can you expect? He was only a kid. He lost everyone that was important to him before he was even 15 and it's not like he received any help from anybody to heal and get better. The one time he tried to approach jiraiya, he turned kakashi away saying he was putting everyone off by being sad. Ig after that he just decided to stay quiet and keep it all inside himself. The village treated him as a human weapon and he started to see himself that way too because he really didn't care for his life anymore. He suffered from survivor's guilt and he wished he'd die, he hoped one of these missions would kill him. And he was this way for many years but what matters is that he did slowly let himself open up. It took him a long time but he did. He taught his genin team but he learnt from them too. They grew on him, he loved them and cared for them. Sure they were a handful but he they were his handful and he adored them. He could gather up the courage to finally let gai in too and even be verbal about how much he meant to him. It took a long way for him to get there and it was not easy but he got there and that's what matters

SO YEAH PHEW

im sorry that was so long but i get v riled up when people shit on kakashi about these things like you're missing the point and essence of his character and i will throw hands goddamit

The fandom really does misunderstand and misinterpret kakashi v often and there are many instances where i don't agree w the majority so it's so beautiful to me when i see people who think the same way THANK YOU SM I COMPLETELY AGREE W YOU LY <3

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O 18: Well that sure is a thing that’s going to happen.

Hey, so, Zi-O’s gotten good, you guys.

(lol watched episodes 15 through 17 again to prepare)

(insert cut here)

Woz’s summary this week can be… well, summarized as: “What in the actual heck just happened?!”

Also, I love how he runs into frame. It implies he’s running to his clock room from the scene we left off in last episode.

… have… have we ever seen the hands on that background clock move before this? It just advanced by one minute. It’s always been ticking, right? But it’s never actually been seen to move before, I don’t think. The closeup on the hand clicking forward has to be significant somehow.

2019!Rentaro is in a whole lot of pain from being kicked out of his Another Rider transformation… and I don’t think that’s something that’s really happened before. It could be because RiderWoz’s attack was pretty brutal, or… it could be related to the sequence breaking – if he’s supposed to be Kamen Rider Shinobi in 2022, but was turned into Another Shinobi here in 2019, that’s multiple different variants of ‘out of order’ right there.

You swine. You didn’t even acknowledge Tsukuyomi’s presence. You absolute cur.

Pre-show sponsor segment is… Jets of flame!

(I’m getting a kick out of keeping track of this, okay?)

(happy sounds) Future tech! Future tech! Tsukuyomi gets to use her tablet! ^.^

Geiz doesn’t seem to know what to think of this whole ‘savior’ business. Aww, bud, you don’t actually want to take Sougo out anymore, do you? You’re trying to keep him from becoming Oma Zi-O now, more than the ‘seeing if he will become’ that you were before.

You know what that is? Good character development.

(Now, Tsukuyomi’s turn!)

Geiz rolls his eyes at Sougo’s suggesting that they give the Wozes nicknames, but immediately jumps at the chance to torment BlackWoz.

Wait, our time travelers can’t go to alternate futures, so they can’t get the Shinobi Ridewatch, and thus can’t defeat Another Shinobi… who are technically the same person, which is worrying.

But Schwartz… got the Another Shinobi watch from that alternate future. What is your game, sir? And I do use that moniker loosely.

Heure is on his guard, which is fair – WhiteWoz is incredibly into murder threats.

So yeah, it is the same Rentaro, and sequence breaking abounds.

“!DANGER! CAN NOT GET DOWN” … pft. That is one of the best error messages I’ve seen in a long time.

OH SWEET MORE REALLY WELL DONE ENGLISH. I’ll be transcribing that in here after I finish the episode.

… I have now finished the episode, and come back up to this section to transcribe. Line breaks are as per the Time Mazine display, as are square brackets. Parentheses ( ) are where I can’t make out what the screen says – it gets too pixellated and blocked by the error message at that point.

“From the scientific point of view, the concept of time travel has been pointed out various problems [2]

and in fact it can not be realized with the current scientific power.

The type of time travel is based on the concept of “past-future asymmetry” and “flow

of time”, but “time travel” is drawn variously depending on how to handle these premises. On the other hand, while making (illegible) entertained

authors will draw on issues such as building stories so that viewers do not (test/feel) logical collapses, drawing (as if?) (illegible) have a dream [3]

It is a general thing as a fantasy story [fiction] and many works dealing with time travel have been (produced/denounced) (illegible) both in Japan and abroad.”

... I feel like they definitely sourced this from somewhere, but I can’t be bothered to go look it up.

WhiteWoz is OP and the worst. Ugh. The guy has the definition of a Slasher Smile.

This whole discussion with BlackWoz and Sougo… mm yes more please.

BlackWoz thinks that interacting with the Another Shinobi situation can only get Sougo’s Path To The Throne thrown off course. Of course, we know that Sougo’s not entirely here for the whole Evil Overlord thing as is, but he also doesn’t really have a choice in going – we know that WhiteWoz summoned him with his book.

Sougo thinks that Rentaro could still become a Rider in the future… hold on. What was it he said about Altered!Sento and Ryuuga, way back in episode 2?

Ah, yes. Right after he gave ‘Takumi’ and Ryuuga the blank watches…

“Even if history changes, Sento will choose to become Build, and Ryuuga will choose to become Cross-Z. That’s what I think.”

Hm. Interesting.

(Also I just found out that I’ve got O-T’s 480 versions of Zi-O 2 and 4, instead of the 720s. Whoops. Rectifying that now.)

Back to the Sougo / BlackWoz conversation…

Woz: You know this is probably a trap, right?

Sougo: Yeah, but at least I’m going in knowing that I’m going into a trap.

Woz, once Sougo’s left: Please do not.

I can’t exactly argue with either of their logic on that last bit… but better the trap you know exists, right?

Right?

Sougo’s trying to talk Rentaro down. He knows that Rentaro can do better, he’s seen him do better – although, how he had that dream is concerning, but that’s for a bit later, really.

“Is this really how you wanted to go about helping people? Because it doesn’t look like it is to me. Also, being a king is actually kind of overrated, 1/10, would not recommend except in last-ditch scenarios.”

The Another Shinobi watch is really taking it’s toll on poor Rentaro, isn’t it?

Ooo, clever. Sougo made it look like his sword was knocked out of his hands, but he used his now very empty hands to bar Another Shinobi’s, and thus those claw blades, and then. He just. He headbutts him. Okay.

Hey, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Sougo’s Personal Rider Kick, hasn’t it? Nice to see that again, after seeing Woz’s during the last episode.

Ah. I get it. WhiteWoz couldn’t create the Shinobi Watch unless Shinobi at least has the potential to exist. He can’t jump ahead to things that can’t happen, can he?

Nice limit to find. Still super OP, since he can influence people with that book, but he can’t cut his way straight to the top. He has to find a way to work… ‘adjacent’ to the events that are still unfolding.

The BeyonDriver’s voice is going to drive me up a wall soon.

And yes, as a matter of fact, that ‘driver/drive’ pun was intentional.

Haaahaha, fight the shadow-diving ninja with some shadow-diving of your own… or, well, technically his own, but you know what I mean. And then Another Shinobi joins Woz in his own shadow and that is the first time I’ve seen anyone think of that tactic.

WHY is that the first time I’ve seen anyone think of that tactic to fight that sort of technique?

I mean, it turns out poorly for Another Shinobi, he’s still on the losing end, but it’s clever.

Hey, remember that Build Arc comparison I made a few scenes ago?

Sougo, re: Shinobi: “I’m sure he’ll obtain power to do good, in the future. By his own choice.”

*.* I like when I might have actually spotted things.

HEY, REMEMBER THAT FACTION LIST I MADE LAST WEEK?

Because BlackWoz does.

“Everyone is trying to alter the future of Oma Zi-O except the two of us.”

Hate to break it to you here but, uh, I’m pretty sure you and Sougo aren’t aiming for the same overlord ending. It’s pretty clear that he’s not down with your version of events, has not been for some time, and is overall pretty sick of the whole ‘demon king’ variant you’re pushing.

Geiz isn’t quite into WhiteWoz’s ‘savior’ variant of events, is he? Winning on his own power, yes, I understand that completely… but Geiz doesn’t buy that he’s any sort of savior.

He’s a soldier, after all, and one who went soft at that. One who is becoming friends with his target.

And, yes, I know I say this a lot in these liveblogs, but… it needs to be said again, since they are actively bringing it up now.

History is written by the winners. And nobody has actually won yet.

[musuniverse]

@the-doctors-girlfriend okay, so bear with me cause i’m doing this after tonight’s ep and my thoughts are a jumbled mess, still tryna figure the ep out. here we go!

we got some ragnarsson content! now we can add to our ivar/hvitserk/ubbe theories! there was an interesting ivar/ubbe parallel with hvitserk. he’s on shaky/unstable ground with both brothers, and they both ended up putting a blade to his neck. it seems both ivar/ubbe had violent intent toward hvitserk, but they both ended up withdrawing (and i feel like there was a bit of hesitation on both ends). initially, it felt like the writers were giving hvitserk incentive to betray ivar or that ubbe didn’t kill hvitserk out of love--but ivar didn’t--to paint ubbe as the better brother. it’s hard to tell, though, why ivar didn’t. he might talk of how it was a mistake for hvitserk to come with him (which, when he was like, “i thought you came to me [aka chose me] because you loved me, but that’s not true” i felt bad for him. he hides behind this cold, hard shell, but he’s quite insecure on the inside), but maybe he was waiting for hvitserk to say something and prove him wrong (he did tell heahmund that he didn’t want to be right about how everyone betrays people basically). on the other hand, i took it as a sign that no matter where or who hvitserk is with, he’ll be stuck in the same, unstable position. his life’s at risk no matter where he chooses to remain. he’s basically at the mercy of both his brothers since they both chose to spare his life.

also, i felt bad for ivar when hvitserk cracked a joke about ivar’s chances of fathering children. i don’t know why hvitserk thought he’d be able to get away with it, but maybe he felt he'd earned enough of a place beside ivar to have immunity from his anger/pain. anyway, i quite liked the sequences they had for this ep, with the pre-battle and battle scenes. i interpreted it as reflecting their internal conflicts and what they’re fighting for (love, dreams, memories, family, etc.) as they were fighting. that’s why i found hvitserk’s a bit interesting because he still seems, in some ways, to be stuck in the middle, but the thing he thought of while in battle was the moment he chose to leave ubbe behind, ivar pulling a knife on him, and ivar not thinking he loves him. interestingly, in his vision, he sees ivar standing up with the blade to his neck (which, in reality, they were both sitting down when it happened), so maybe it reflects how he sees their relationship? like, they’re equals in everything now (hvitserk crouching down with ivar when rollo’s forces came in, sitting together, riding ivar’s chariot together, and now standing together)?  it’s interesting to try to figure out what he might’ve been struggling with or what it might say about why he’s fighting for and alongside ivar. for now, though, he’s still team ivar.

OKAY I JUST THOUGHT OF THIS RIGHT BEFORE I POSTED IT. but now that i think about it, after his vision, hvitserk gets up and faces ubbe. there’s something about his facial expression and body language that seemed almost like he was...challenging ubbe? but he didn’t try to defend himself, and the face he made when ubbe stopped short of lobbing his head off made it seem like he was trying to prove something to himself. maybe that, for all ubbe’s talk of “you’re my little brother” and so on, it’s just that: all talk. ubbe’s just as willing as ivar is to put a blade to his neck (and perhaps, they’re both just as willing to spare him), so now he doesn’t need to have regrets about his choice because he would’ve been in the same situation, either way. or maybe he was trying to prove something else to himself and ubbe, but idc at the moment.

okay, sooooo, one episode later and heahmund/lagertha still doesn’t make sense!! what was interesting, though, was when they first kissed, it looked like heahmund reciprocated it pretty eagerly. however, the second time they showed it (with lagertha’s sequence), it seemed like he was less enthused?? like i know i saw her tongue come out, but the dude barely moved or reacted to return it. also, heahmund nods at ivar from across the battlefield (which, i’m like what kind of laser eyesight cause they were hella far apart and to see each other from that distance is...wow), but i couldn’t quite read ivar’s expression--which is to be expected. he doesn’t wanna show all his eggs before they’ve hatched, but i mean, it didn’t look like he nodded back. i swear i saw his nostrils flare or a barely contained snarl or something, so it’s hard to tell if they were and still are in cahoots.

also... I CAN’T BELIEVE HARALD ACTUALLY KILLED HALFDAN!!! that’s all i can say about that lol i’m still a bit shocked that he actually stuck to his word on that. about rollo recognizing hvitserk after, like, ages...i guess blood recognizes blood lol, but looks like we’ll be getting rollo in 5B. okay, and about the (possible) hvitserk naked scene in kattegat...maybe it wasn’t cause he was taken prisoner? i mean, they won the battle, and bjorn assumes they’ll take kattegat soon, so...maybe there’s another reason for that??? like idk he’s havin a good time lol. also, bjorn’s new wife lasted all of 10 mins, like, it’s only been 2-3 eps and she’s already dead. what was her purpose? was it just so the writers had an excuse to bring these people in and secure an alliance for lagertha? and I ACTUALLY FORGOT ABOUT MAGNUS LOL i mean, on one hand, ragnar COULD have denied it to prevent giving ecbert power over him and something to hold over him to force a negotiation--which ragnar wouldn’t be interested in anyway--but maybe he told the truth. who knows? the writers seem to have left that story behind.

i found out hirst doesn’t have any brothers, but he apparently wrote the movies ‘elizabeth’ and ‘elizabeth: the golden age’ and i was like !!!!! those movies are the reason why i always have and always will picture cate blanchett as elizabeth i. like, idc about margot robbie playing her or whoever is playing her on reign. i was just so shocked!!

EDIT: AND ANOTHER THING! i just remembered that ivar referred to his men as “brothers” during his lil hype speech! which i feel like makes sense given his denouncement of brotherhood with ubbe. ubbe didn’t stand with him so =/= brother, but these men--his army--they stand with him, which means his army = his brothers. he knows they’re willing to die for him. i mean, they shielded him from the oncoming arrows, though he already didn’t seem too bothered by them anyway. all i could think was “who needs blood brothers when you have brothers in arms” (which could actually be, like, a whole new type of blood brother lol as in, spills blood for you, whether it’s his own or your enemy’s)