#they dont particularly love sasuke

[hellcifrogs]

What would a Kenshi and Team 7 interaction look like. Like, would he be an uncle type cuz of Kakashi. Would he meet Team 7 pre-Shippuden, then meet them again when Sai joined and be like, “Sasuke, you look different.” I need to know.

God if Sasuke hadn't made such a show of leaving the village (with Naruto's loud help) that beautiful interaction could have been possible!

I honestly don't know how they would interact though... Kenshi's genins should graduate sometime between team Gai and the 9 rookies. (They're special little kids a.k.a. we couldn't pick a class for them) so they know of them, but maybe don't know them.

[spvce-oddity]

ive been reading boruto and the whole time i kept thinking "sasuke only having one child is stupid if he wants to revive the clan" so, more uchiha babies!

Sarada and Rio are the only girls, everyone else is a boy (for now. unless i change my mind lmao).

Itachi is the first male born, named, obviously, after Sasuke's brother. He, Ryuuji and Rio are all genin, whereas the younger twins are still at the academy!

[royalarms]

you're not sasuke :/ ⸻ @feudals .

last surviving member of the lucis caelum lineage , he stands before insomnia after his journey of heartache , betrayal , politics , victimhood , and sacrifice . he is home , after all this time , and he will make things right .

❛ it appears we managed to survive , yet again . ❜

[theheirofthesharingan]

Not that I disagree with the point about the strength of Itachi's love at all, but I think people vastly overstate the scope of "Kotoamatsukami" and by doing so they create a plothole that didn't originally exist. The jutsu is meant to be subtle mind control that alters experiences, it's not supposed to override one's entire belief system, autonomy or their personality in the way Edo Tensei can. That's why at the 5KS, people dont even notice it's been used on Mifune until Ao's byakugan picks up its chakra. It's explicitly stated that Kabuto gave the majority of his zombie army their personalities and a certain level of autonomy so they could retain their fight styles without him diminishing their efficiency. It's also shown that strong souls can break free of its influence even though we know Orochimaru uses a much stronger level of control than Kabuto, Hashirama wasnt under his control at all. So the use of Kotoamatsukami was less about "ordering" Itachi to do anything but more about restoring his complete autonomy because it overrides Kabuto's will entirely--as its his own will. It wouldn't have any influence over how Itachi reacts to Sasuke's threats because, particularly now that he's reflected on his behaviour, he could determine that the best way to "protect Konoha" was to apologize to Sasuke. If Kotoamatsukami was that strong, he wouldn't have been able to show Sasuke his memories because Itachi perceived them as threats to Konoha (as shown by his threat towards Danzo before he leaves Konoha). It's also why Danzo's argument that Kotoamatsukami wouldn't work on the clan somewhat resonates with Itachi, because it wouldn't eliminate any future resentment that could or would culminate (as evidenced by Madara's generation initially submitting to Konoha for fear of discord, but slowly growing discontent).

Rather than be about the strength of Itachi's love, I think those scenes are meant to show the true resolution of his character. He initially mocked and sort of tried to bully Naruto into getting him to be more forceful with Sasuke, so we have reason to believe if he hadn't realized he was wrong he would've been much more forceful against Sasuke's threats towards Konoha. Instead, he shows Sasuke empathy and the compassion/contrition he deserves along with trying to soothe the various hurts that Sasuke gained even beyond Itachi's hand (eg. complimenting his strength, reminding him he is loved, etc.)

I agree that kotoamatsukami doesn't suppress someone's actual personality or the whole belief system, however, it does rewire one's brain to follow a certain task/idea it has been programmed to allow to happen. It doesn't turn one into a mindless slave to the idea where everything else is secondary. Which is why Itachi could see where he was wrong, and even saw Kabuto’s plight, a life lived similar to his own. He's capable of feeling empathy, regrets, and guilt, affection, pride, and comradeship with the people he encounters as Edo Tensei. So, yes, there I agree with you.

I will, however, disagree that Danzo's idea of using kotoamatsukami on the clan would be fruitless was because it wasn't that strong of a jutsu. It's in the novel and it was meant to be used on Fugaku only. Fugaku alone changing his stance wouldn't save anything and wouldn't change much because the rest of the clan would still not be on his side. Some radical Uchiha wouldn't agree with Fugaku's changed ideology and his pro-Konoha stance, which is why it wouldn't work. Fugaku could forever stay pro-Konoha, fight against his own clan members, and maybe even kill them, unless an Uchiha, of course, suspected what happened and found some way to reverse it.

Both Hashirama and Madara are built different. They've been equated to the divine powers. They could break free from Edo Tensei, but at the same time Tobirama, who created this very jutsu, couldn't. Neither could Hiruzen and Minato. Itachi isn't anywhere close to these men in power (except for Minato, maybe). So, the part of Itachi that had to be essentially remain under Kabuto’s control and follow his orders, whether he wanted to or not, was overruled by another "order" that wasn't a destructive one.

Itachi's mockery and "bullying" of Naruto happened because he didn't want Naruto to know that he was meeting him because he was concerned about Sasuke. That after his death people would try to reach out and use Sasuke against the village, which would either result in Sasuke being known as a criminal forever, or him dying. Both ways, Sasuke loses either his life or his dignity. And he didn't want kotoamatsukami to work on Sasuke either.

I believe he always knew he was wrong. It's just he believed it was necessary for Sasuke to survive in the ninja world because a weak Uchiha would always be preyed upon. And given the clan's bloodied history, Sasuke would be feared and hated. It could be because he himself never saw a better world for Uchiha. So, if it wasn't fair to other Uchiha, why would it be fair to Sasuke? His realization wasn't that he expected different outcomes from his actions, but that despite the desired results, he failed as a brother to Sasuke. Sasuke might have become strong, invincible, powerful, but he's broken, lonely, and without home and friends because of him. He didn't think Sasuke could have a better life, but he understood he could have not made his life worse. The admission 'I broke you' was necessary and revealing of his true character. He understood it wasn't Konoha or Orochimaru responsible for Sasuke's sufferings as much as he himself was. That guilt affected him immensely in how he interacted with Sasuke.

I believe if, instead of Sasuke, there was someone else threatening to destroy Konoha, he wouldn't have reacted like he did with his brother. Itachi showed his memories after Edo Tensei was undone, which meant anything that connected him to the mortal world was fading along with his consciousness. In the perfect Genjutsu cast by kotoamatsukami, there's only one anomaly and that's his love for Sasuke. I like to believe this is what it was meant to be. That no way what happened, Itachi's love would always be above everything else he felt.

This is how I've always interpretated this whole thing anyway. Thank you for sending this ask because it was lovely answering it.

[lagiacrus]

god i have to get this out somewhere or i'll blow up

musing on the f/f media in fandom drama/yaoi discourse/etc (it is not a particularly Negative post i am just thinking aloud)

i guess in my eyes. i think both sides have very valid points if you extend nuance to them.

like. one of the big argument points i see is

a) if you want more yuri content in fandom, make it yourself!!

i don't disagree with this! like if you need to eat you gotta make your food. but also... i completely understand when people express frustration at the amount (overwhelming) of yaoi content over yuri content (or even het content, which is what gives me the 'hmm!' reaction, will explain further)

like... i dunno! it is really a fuckin' bummer when a media with at least 50% female cast is just kind of turned into a Yaoi Pool, i think that there is a lot of stuff to discuss there in that a lot of people gravitate towards male characters more than female characters. i have experienced this! many people i know have! and that just makes me think like...

is the onus of this to be blamed on the people or the writers for being unable to create female characters that aren't completely pigeonholed into tired tropes and stereotypes?

i think the writer thing is probably the idea i agree with the most. but i do think there is also still like... an internalized disdain for women in general, and we see it even outside of this discourse, we see it in blaming women for being 'gross fujos' etc and only talking about yaoi etc. but that's a cycle isn't it? like. you can't win. if you like yaoi you're labeled a 'gross fujo' without any level of investigation on if said fujo is a queer person, without any concept of the nuance that comes with that shit. but it's also like... damn!! why only men huh!?

i have been a #yaoihead for decades so like... i have Seen this, for years and years, i'm not just some yurihead on the outside looking in or whatever, it is really apparent how much people just do Not like female characters, and it's so like... idk.

so much of it really is like, so much media out there has the weakest fucking girls on the planet in terms of writing, and it's depressing as fuck!!!! it's why i'm hesitant to ever 'blame' content consumers because like. idk. i agree, i hate certain tropes for female characters and unfortunately those tropes are the ones that tend to Sell Copies, so i end up gravitating to the more filled out male characters.

but when i see a media with like really well written girls and such and it's still super overwhelmingly Male Oriented in fandom, it's like... man. it's a bummer, and like. back to 'even het ships are on the wayside', one could easily argue it's because everyone is exhausted with het (rightfully so) being the prevalent media in society. but i also just... idk. I Do Think The Women Aspect May Also Be Part Of It! idk. i'm an agender lesbian, i am the last person to go to bat for het ships, but so much of it stinks of 'kill sakura off for naruto/sasuke to be real' but with new, social justice wording that makes it sound like 'good person' discourse.

i dunno! i dont. my view is just like... i love yaoi and yuri. all is good. but it is very much a bummer looking thru someones catalogue for a game with over 70% female characters and seeing only men and the only characters they only acknowledge are men... not even as a 'there's no content of women!' but in a 'what is so disdainful about women that they cant even get an acknowledgement' way, i guess. i dunno.

at the same time tho do not get me started on the overwhelming new presence of gold star lesbian people in yuri fandoms lol. 'if you like a yaoi ship or ship this CANONLY (IN MY HEAD) LESBIAN WITH A MAN you are an EVIL LESBIPHOBE (EVEN IF YOU'RE A LESBIAN) and should KILL YOURSELF' like yeah okay i guess so lol

i'm not trying to start fights or anything i just really think this whole situation calls for more words than 260 characters on twitter allows and unfortunately it creates so much fighting and aggression when it comes up because no one wants to sit down and actually think about what causes these things to happen. iunno. whatever!

[sasukesun]

Hello!

After binging Naruto I found ur blog and agreed with your interpretation of the characters particularly Sasuke.

I have recently started JJK. I am now up to date with the anime and am considering continuing with the manga. But I saw a spoiler that Gojo dies, but I dont have any context. He’s my favourite character and I don’t feel like committing if he dies.

From what your understanding of the narrative, do you believe he’s dead-dead? Or is this a classic anime ‘dead for a few chapters for the drama then bring them back’ like Kakashi in the Pein Arc?

Thanks!

yes, gojou dies fighting against sukuna. a lot of people are still theorising that he’s gonna come back, and some hints were even good, but i think the timing has passed already and i don’t have faith in gege considering he has this kind of love-hate relationship with gojou. love because he is able to give him cool features and complexity and even an emotional ending with his beloved, but hate because he likes mocking gojou, and i feel like he is relieved gojou isn’t in the manga anymore. if he comes back, i don’t believe it would be silly and meaningless like kakashi in pein arc, gojou would probably have to sacrifice something, jujutsu kaisen just won’t let him get away with it.

[jitters-art]

Drop those team taka head cannons

omg i adore team taka altho i feel i don’t even have the most particularly interesting headcanons for them LOL a lot of them will be design headcanons bc thats what i normally think of as an artist hehee uhm.. i’ll start with suigetsu bc i love suigetsuuuuu

for suigetsu as shown in my drawing of him from today i like the thought of him dying the tips of his hair blue….. the way the anime shades his hair is far too cool to accept it’s shading and not act like those are dyed tips….

[ ID: two screenshots of suigetsu. END ID. ]

like cmonnnnn the blue tips are the coolest thing in the world. it is NOT shading TO ME ☝️☝️☝️☝️ also i didn’t draw this in my recent suigetsu bc i forgot when i was drawing it 😢😢 but i do imagine he has scabs on his lips and around his mouth often from accidentally biting his lip T.T sometimes i bite too hard and draw blood i can only imagine having sharp teeth and doing that T.T also he wears smudged eyeliner. uh this ones maybe kinda obvious but to me he doesn’t have much of a sense of boundaries and doesn’t have much shame in his body so T.T being his roommate would be a constant battle to make sure he walks around the apartment in *some* clothes. like by everything holy just *something*

this one is absolutely not based at all but it’s my brain and i can do to jūgo as i please with it ☝️☝️ and i like to imagine jūgo likes to wear accessories on his head a lot. like hair clips, hats, maybe he starts growing it out a bit more and ties parts of it up. it catches little birdies attentions more too which he enjoys and is a bonus other than it just being cute to me. to me he’s also the friend that carries around a big bag to hold everyones shit in when they get tired of carrying their own stuff. like yeah man just toss it in… it adds nothing i already have anything you could imagine in here anyways. y’know y’know. most of my jūgo headcanons are not based at all ajksjsjss i’m sorry but i also like to imagine he might pick up smth like woodworking/carving maybee knitting/crotchet (but i lean most towards wood carving) to keep himself distracted and occupied. less likely to have episodes and intrusive thoughts for him. obviously doesn’t stop everything but it helps the tiniest but plus it’s fun :) i think if he were to do carvings and stuff he’d give like a few to his friends if it was smth they specifically liked but i think he kinda likes and prefers to just leave them around, to either be lost to time or be found by someone else! i think he has lots of scars on his hands and knuckles— between the wood carving and his rampages i think his hands take quite the damage. and y’all know i like scars so i ignore any jutsu that may deter scar creation so to me he defo gets scars. except suigetsu’s jutsu actually.. i dont think suigetsu gets scars at all.

i like to imagine karin with a bunch of neat kind of earrings. anything fun/funky. also she has one industrial piercing too to me.. sasuke has two of them but karin had one before she knew sasuke did 😭😭 just a coincidence she swears she swearssss. this one would like.. technically be canon anyways in the first half but bc of all the bite marks she has n stuff her skin would be suuuper bumpy… i think she probably doesn’t like people touching her cause strangers/non team taka end up commenting on how gross it is T.T she prolly wears long sleeves as much as she can. which i rlly don’t know much about boruto but i think long sleeves in that one is canon too. i like to work with out of canon clothings so even then if i end up starting a karin fashion board it would have strictly long sleeve outfits in it. also i like to imagine her with some vocal tics. i dont imagine her with tourettes but just a small tic disorder. i think she mostly does like clicking sounds and hums… not any words or anything :) also i feel like her eyesight is just constantly getting worse and worse. i imagine she’s legally blind but still it gets worse. when she’s older like maybe her 50s or 60s she goes blind and just relies on only sensing ppls chakra to know who’s around w/o asking. i mean she heavily relies on that anyways even when she does have eyesight.. i like to just think she uses it a lot instead of straining her eyes when her prescription starts changing.

uhm and for sasuke some more team taka centred headcanons instead of just some hcs in general… i mean i’ll just state the obvious here because soooo many ppl tend to ignore this but. team taka are sasukes best friends…. not the rest of the konoha 12… so jot that one down. i feel like even when they branch off and do their own thing (again idk anything about boruto none of that is canon to me akshjshsjsjs so don’t be like “uhmm well actually 🤓🤓”) they like to keep in contact. even if not often they’ll send messages. i like to think if they’re aware they’re gonna end up being somewhere near-ish the others they’ll all go out of their way to pay a visit. uh also i DONT think this actually happened like it’s not a headcanon of mine but i do think the thought of suigetsu being sasukes first (very short term) bf is a funny thought…. it does not last tho cause anytime they’re tryna talk about sweet things and their thoughts sasuke just talks about naruto T.T again i dont actually headcanon that happening but it is a funny thought to me… uhm also i don’t particularly think there’s a moment in which this would end up happening but i do think that out of all of team taka sasuke trusts jūgo the most to just… have a personal conversation with. like he doesn’t go out of his way to ever talk about personal shit with him, but i think if a situation were to come up in which he had to/felt like he needed to i think jūgo would be the one he’d go to c:

most importantly no matter how much they do argue with each other team taka does all love eachother.. and they certainly stay friends for life. even if they don’t talk much i think they will all always consider them a group of friends that they can just send messages to without the thought of it being strange after it being so long. it doesn’t even have to be some kind of important message either. just a little random message whenever they think of it.

[nebuvoid]

also also as much as people claim kishimotos women writing isnt rooted in misogyny. i think. well. im just sorting my thoughts here honestly i havent reread enough to make a proper post for this yet. but like lets just look at what we got:

sakura - written as annoying girl on purpose. not allowed to grow ever. no backstory, no red thread besides 'fangirl loves sasuke'

tsunade - well written but also despite being middle aged she has to be youthful and hot. arguably the only plot relevant woman and its the one with big bazongas

anko - pushed aside even though she couldve been relevant for sasuke. do we even see her after part1?

konan - somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. or lake i dont remember. yes the akatsuki are all killed but her death feels particularly undignified

kurenai - supposedly incredible at genjutsu yet its only used to belittle her next to itachi. pregnant and never seen again after.. sorry girl youre a mom now no more personality for you. not that there was much to begin with

shizune - tsunades faithful sidekick. nothing bad i can think of rn. has a pig very epic.

hinata - written as annoying girl on purpose 2! has very intriguing backstory that is shoved aside

tenten - who?

tayuya - dies as a one dimensional villain (as do her comrades)

miss orochimaru - pedocoded

karin - written as annoying girl on purpose 3! and like sakura has moments that imply change is possible only to fullstop. though at least karin has a supporting backstory that explains why shes Like That

shiho (thats the one that looks like ino with glasses) - instant crush on shikamaru for no reason

fuu - dead

ayame - ultra side character. she serves ramen. thats it

that sound girl in the forest of death - only serves to humiliate sakura for having long hair. while she has long hair

mito - only known as a jinchuu and hashiramas wife

mikoto - housewife even though she was a skilled ninja. one could argue she choose that out of love but objectively its still sorry girl youre a mom now thats it for you. but she had personality

chiyo - flawed character with story. allowed to be old even! dies

temari - written like a regular character. thumbs up

mei terumi - OHHH IM A GIRL WITH BIG HONKERS AND NOT MARRIED BOOHOO. cheap writing

yugito - dead

ino - her writing is okay..i guess... but often shown as shallow even though it makes no sense because her father is T&A

kushina - id say her writing is mostly on par with tsunade? from memory only though so what do i know. was clearly being setup for the housewife sentence if she didnt die though

rin - only existed for the plot

hanabi - shes. fine? idr

in conclusion: no kishimoto doesnt outright go and say EW ALL GIRLS HAVE COOTIES AND ARE INHERENTLY BENEATH THE MEN but like cmon. almost always sidelining female characters certainly isnt a good look. out of all of these the only ones i would title as 'well written' aka written like actual people would be tsunade, konan, chiyo, temari, kushina. big tits, dead, dead, married into housewife (though i dont really count boruto), dead

👍

[cartoonrival]

@obitoslover this is going to include generalizations and reading into minor behaviors. you don't have to read it this way. i personally think that ignoring the unusual way that naruto conducts himself around the topic of romance is ignoring part of the nuance and interest of his character and his relationships, particularly with sasuke, sakura, and hinata. this is a reading of the story purely AS IT'S WRITTEN, i'm not talking about what kishimoto would've done if he wasn't homophobic or what he meant to do or what he did accidentally, i dont care. im talking about what is in the text. he's not real and i like characters who have an unorthodox relationship with romance.

although naruto is only 12 in some of the examples i'm about to give, suggesting that solely by virtue of being 12 he would be totally unaware of anything regarding sex or romance is unrealistic, especially when comments from his peers imply that they are aware of these things (to the degree that the average 12 year old might be).

his use of sexy jutsu seems more out of thinking its really funny how people react to it than because he has any sexual interest in it himself. a reoccurring point especially in his relationship with jiraiya is that he does not understand sex appeal or why people would read the make-out series. when he's identifying the code on fukasaku's back, he calls the books "boring", which isn't the word most people would use to describe erotica even if it was poorly written. he's generally written as pretty oblivious and uninterested in sex and romance outside of his relationship with sakura. scenes where he expresses actual sexual interest are 1) few and far between 2) feel out of character imo but whatever.

more broadly, his feelings of love towards people seem much less defined by romantic vs platonic in a way that opens the door for me to suggest that he doesn't see much a difference between the two and doesn't find the distinction important. he defines his closeness with people based on shared experiences, and he admitted himself that the reason he has a crush on sakura is because he feels connected to her as someone who also loves sasuke like he does. the ambiguity of his relationship with sasuke, who he never uses romantic language for ("ofc he didnt its because kishimoto is homophobic" i dont care i actually like it this way) and yet with whom he longs for a level of closeness with that is yet unseen by scientists, further builds on this.

most people tend to place relationships into a sort of hierarchy, where if you're not related to someone and you love them past a certain level deemed "platonic", then you are in love with them romantically. but naruto is pretty steadfast that sasuke is his best friend, and i think recognizing the falseness of this romantic-platonic binary is critical to understanding their relationship to the fullest degree.

wrt his relationship with sakura, i think its similarly vague in the sense that he didn't NOT have a crush on her, but i do think that expectations about relationships between boys and girls played a role in how he behaves around her. by shippuden, his crush on her mostly fizzles out to being a joke he makes ("ooohh so does this make it a date?!?") rather than something constantly on his mind whenever he's around her, because their relationship is expanding beyond "she is the only other person who understands what i feel like when i want to be acknowledged by sasuke" and into genuinely friendship territory where they know and love each other and have supported each other through something as harrowing as sasuke's disappearance and the subsequent missions to bring him home. the fact that his initial draw to her was rooted in something so unorthodox and fundamentally unrelated to her as a person feels very important to point out.

his relationship with hinata is more difficult to talk about with concrete drawn evidence, unlike the other two (solely on the grounds of "they've barely even spoken"), but i think i'd be remiss to not discuss it considering she is his "end game" partner. as far as canon goes, there is pretty much nothing to support he thinks of her as anything other than his classmate before some ambiguous and unspecified moment after the war where they start dating and get married.

looking at The Last to fill in some of these gaps isn't necessary but it does give us something to grab onto. it ironically drives home the idea that naruto isn't in love with hinata at all, but has convinced himself that he not only is, but has to be, because he feels aimless with sasuke gone. the movie makes a blatant effort to demonstrate that naruto does not think about romance the way most people do (sakura tells him that loving a person [romantically] isn't the same as loving ramen or sweets, and he responds with confusion).

his general disinterest in hinata throughout the movie and his apparent guilt at "accepting"(?) her feelings could easily be read simply as someone who, regardless of sexuality, is forcing himself into a relationship that he doesn't want to be in, but in light of everything else and the loving sweets comment i think it paints a fuller picture to point out that he is someone who has had difficulty distinguishing these sorts of relationships for his whole life, who thrives in an ambiguous in-between, and who is also clearly falling victim to societal norms in the absence of the person he loves most in the world. it feels like he is painfully learning how it feels to be missing out on some fundamental Thing that everyone except for him seems to know about.

he's bisexual because he likes girls and boys. this messy ambiguity makes defining his sexuality difficult because the two ideas i'm building can sort of be seen as fundamentally at odds but well romance vs friendship vs sexual relationships are made up boxes and none of this is real anyways. he's bi but the way he interacts with people is heavily colored by the way he internally experiences and defines his relationships, which is more aroace.

kakashi i don't really have any support for it. i just think he's aroace primarily but he has sort of bisexual vibes. like he's mostly aroace and just bluntly not interested in those sorts of experiences but sometimes he dabbles in being bisexual

naruto is bi in an aroace way and kakashi is aroace in a bi way. this of course you understand.

[mokutone]

I wonder what shirtless Yamato look like? I love him

hmmm...I'm not sure there would be much of note! I think of him as being generally a sturdy dude and a little bit broad, with well-muscled arms, but not the kind of bulging and shrink-wrapped muscle of a body builder. Like, I don't think you'd see any kind of a visible six pack on this guy

i have not drawn him w/ top surgery scars (bc i like to headcanon that he was allowed blockers + hrt at an appropriate age to prevent significant development of breast tissue. it just makes me happy to imagine him being granted this control over his body when he is inducted into anbu) but i am not opposed to the idea either

what else...well, we know he's got the anbu tattoo on his left arm—and on his left shoulder juncture, he's probably got a nasty scar from where Sasuke speared him through (and then electrocuted him. lmfao)

like, he heals fast, but I don't think that one is going to leave a clean mark!

what else. jeeze i dont know...this isn't a physical thing but a psychological thing, but i don't think Yamato is particularly self conscious about nudity in like. casual and appropriate situations. basically i do not think he would care if his shirt is off. he might henge to cover the anbu mark

[prettyboykatsuki]

Aristotle, this was an older take you mentioned on your blog that I literally completely forgot to ask you about, but I just remembered as I was looking for the ask so here goes: I’d love to hear more about how you link queerness with disagreeing with common fanon characterizations/not being into hard mean dom characterizations because I am queer and fall in the camp of disagreeing with a lot of them and I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’m sorry if this comes off as creepy or out of nowhere, I swear that wasn’t my intention asdfghjkl

i could honest to god write a thesis on this like i think about it so much with a lot of examples in peoples im mutuals with (btw mutuals i may adress u in here if u want me to take u out pls let me know)

cw for fetishization, gender stereotypes, and general discussions of toxic masculinity / gender roles

this is super long because the subject is really nuanced and i could probably go on and on about it. please ask me abt it dsjhfkds

disclaimer! write characters however. this is me just observing stuff. no worries.

in my experience on tumblr and in the general fanfiction writing community - there is a very, very big difference in how specific types of people, specifically queer / openly queer people, interact with characters and characterization on this app. i dont think most people even really notice or know that it happens but it's something i've observed over time.

one of my biggest gripes with fandom and particularly the self-insert community, is how people tend to characterize male characters by divying them up into these two boxes of submissive and dominant.

being brutally honest - i think a lot of the characterizations of many male characters have largely to do with how many of the people in the self-insert community are femme presenting cis women.

and that presentation and gender identity + in addition to sexuality have a lot to do with how men are written in this app. in a way, it's almost a given because if you don't fall into being a cis, femme presenting women, your relationship to things like gender and what role you play in relationships is very very different.

i find this mostly to be in how things how certain characters are written as inherently more submissive vs how certain characters are written as inherently more dominant. i'll use baku but there are several characters i find this to be true.

tanjiro, yuuji, hinata vs inosuke, megumi, and kageyama.

bakugou is a character i get a lot of.. commentary on when i write him to be a submissive person in the relationship and this rlly only happens when i write him in the context of reader-insert. people will openly disagree with the characterization of bakugou that is clingy, submissive, and needy especially when i write it with fem!self-insert

but he's not the only character. any male character that aren't extremely emotional or upbeat get a degree of this treatment. kageyama, sasuke, megumi - i could go on and on.

and i think there in lies the inherent link between how queerness effects your role in a relationship and how that impacts how you see male characters and in what way you see them. how much vulnerability you're willing to write in for them etc.

when you're a queer person - you are very comfortable with the idea that a man can be a vulnerable and submissive kind of person in a relationship because you, yourself, do not have a lot of orthodoxy in your relationships. and your "level" of queerness is especially important because well, if you're a femme presenting bisexual woman who has only ever dated cis men, you've probably got a rather set role in how you perceive men and male characters.

you're probably more likely than a cishet femme woman to be okay with vulnerable and submissive male characters, but it's unlikely that you stray too far from dominant men.

where on the other hand, if you're a masculine cis woman, or a trans man, or a femme presenting lesbian or a masc nonbinary person or really anyone that is openly and outwardly queer - your views of how men can be and how men are a lot more broad almost inherently.

because you yourself do not fit an orthodoxy in relationships. you yourself cannot afford being part of any heteronormativity so your perception of a character is completely.

there's a lot to it - like how people are also comfortable writing someone like deku as submissive but someone like bakugou as dominant.

is it bc maybe you perceive anger and stoicism as dominant masculine traits and you perceive emotion and vulnerability to submissive feminine traits?

just some food for thought about how fandom sometimes accidentally perpetuates heteronormativity.

[verdantmoontruther]

thought i should do one of these to welcome you to my naruto hell

Favorite male character: gai

Favorite female character: tsunade

Second and third favorite male character: shino and sai

Second and third favorite female character: tenten and kurenai

Favorite and second favorite clan: aburame and uzumaki

Favorite kage: gaara

Favorite Hokage: tobirama

Least favorite Hokage: sarutobi hiruzen (kys old fart <3)

Favorite tailed beast: matatabi

Favorite canon couple(s): inosai and naruhina

Favorite almost canon couple(s): sasukarin and leeten

Worst canon couple: sasusaku

Least favorite fanon couple(s): narusaku, sns, sakuino, sasodei, kakuhidan

Favorite yaoi couple(s): kakairu or yamairu

Favorite yuri couple(s): i once saw kurenai x mei and haven’t slept soundly since

Couple(s) that you ship romantically and as friends: kakagai, naruino, sasusai (now hear me out on this one)

Favorite protagonist: tsunade

Favorite antagonist: haku and zabuza

Favorite Akatsuki member: kisame

Favorite Akatsuki couple: sasori and deidara (not romantically, i just like when they argue)

Which character do you think deserves more appreciation: shino, kankuro, fuu, and tenten out of the younger generation (i don’t watch or read boruto). anko, kurenai, and genma from the middle generation. maito dai from the older generation

Which character do you think deserves less appreciation: sakura (annoying and i don’t like her but im too tired to go into that rn), itachi (idc who told him to, mans still killed his entire clan and tortured his younger brother several times), and sasuke (you all appreciate him for the wrong reasons!!!! love him for being a revolutionary, not for rejecting his ideology in the end)

Which character(s) didn’t deserve to die: neji, haku, and zabuza (he should’ve lived to see his country be given stability under mei, he deserved it, argue with the wall)

Who do you ship Naruto with: hinata mostly but a small part of my brain screams ino

Which character do you think looks good with everybody: sasuke

Which character out of Teams 7(don’t forget Sai),8,10, Gai would join the Akatsuki: depends what akatsuki we’re talking about! original akatsuki whose goal was world peace through diplomacy? choji, lee, naruto, kakashi, gai, hinata. the akatsuki the characters actually interact with? neji, asuma, tenten.

Hottest female character: tenten or kurenai

Hottest male character: DON’T FLAME ME FOR THIS BUT KAKUZU LMAOOOO

Would you eat Ramen: yeah

Pro-ending or anti-ending: pro

How would your version of Naruto ending and Boruto play out (don’t be shy, make it VERY LONG, out touch the smallest details):

1. neji would live because hiashi sacrificed himself in place of his children. i dont really have anything further planned for him in my head but rest assured that he is alive.

2. konoha involves itself in inter-clan business and makes it a criminal offense for hyuuga main branch members to torture the side branch members. no new seals are placed.

3. boruto is not named boruto because what a weird fucking name, no thanks!

4. the truth about both the uchiha massacre and the destruction of uzushiogakure and konoha’s roles in them are revealed to the public.

5. the villagers and ordinary shinobi play a more active role in the running of the village and it moves away from bureaucracy and to tobirama’s original vision of a democracy. the hokage is actually elected, rather than proposed by officials to the daimyo and that’s that.

6. academy starts at age 8 or 10 and finishes at a soft 16 - if a student is particularly gifted, the lowest age they can graduate at is 14.

7. we actually get a scene between naruto and karin where they acknowledge and talk about their shared roots.

8. no sasusaku i’m sorry i just really hate it. sorry sarada. i think sasuke should be allowed to stay single.

9. more children!!! more babies!!!!!!! naruto and hinata have about 4, ino and sai have 2, karui and choji have 3. stop the population from dwindling

10. i actually like the fact that hinata and choji are like retired from the shinobi industry, i dont think they actually ever really wanted to be parts of it. but hinata plays an active role in the improvement of hyuuga intra-clan rapports, even if she’s not clan head.

11. i’d have killed off iruka and kiba but that’s just me. not because i hate them (i love iruka to the moon and back) but i think their deaths would’ve been realistic and meaningful (and also hurt a lot - can you imagine naruto’s reaction to iruka’s death, or kiba dying and leaving akamaru? pain)

12. naruto doesn’t become hokage. he’s a jounin-sensei :D

13. the older generation pairs off as well!! my heart goes soft for gai and anko, i think maybe they have a kid together

14. none of the electronic advancement you see in boruto. i want my bitches to continue suffering

15. orochimaru is either in prison or executed. in either case anko, yamato, and the other people they hurt get justice.

16. choza dies alongside shikaku and inoichi (again, not because i don’t like him), even if he isn’t at hq

17. no fucking rabbit goddess jesus fuck that storyline just about took me out lmao

[maoam]

I was reading a fanfic and basically it was portraying Sakura and Hinata as women who would stay married to their husbands even if they know they are cheating and arent in love with them instead of letting them go. Sakura even stopped taking her birth control pills without telling Sasuke. At the end of the day, both women got pregnant and ended trapping both men in a marriage with children. None of them are happy, they got what they wanted but they arent happy because they know they cant make those men happy but they still stay around.

While reading this fic I just kept telling myself "Sad how this is so in character." They wont let those men go even if it hurts themselves. Prime example is Sakura. She isn't happy. She is hurting herself and thats lowkey sad. She isn't the girlboss her stans think she is. As long as she doesnt move on and does something that show she has a bit of dignity and value herself, she is just a pathetic women and I dont even mean it in a insulting way but more in a sad way. Because I know irl women like her and it is sad to witness.

I don't get why NH stans think their ship is so beautiful and how Hinata can't be happy if she doesn't end up with Naruto. They aren't even particularly close friends, let alone anything else. When Naruto thinks about his precious people, It's Iruka and Team 7. He's even more excited seeing Choji than Hinata after timeskip... Meanwhile Hinata thinks about nothing but Naruto whenever she appears. It's ridiculously unbalanced ship that focuses mainly on Hinata's feelings.

Sakura degrading herself to make Sasuke pity her is just pathetic to watch... I don't know why any self-respecting woman would support such portrayal. And SS excuse it by saying Sasuke worried about her not dying in part 1. Like yes, she was his teammate, he didn't want Karin to die either, he risked his life to save her. In the last arc Kishi made it clear Sasuke only cared about Naruto anymore and needed to kill him to cut all connections. But of course they don't care.

[captnjacksparrow]

i dont like sasusaku and not even slightest naruhina, but its weird that you hate sakura as a character and not the creator himself. as much as i hate sakura, i used to love her development but all that went to trash right around the ending. honestly they should've just made narusasu a canon because that made more sense and even sakuino made more sense that some of the hetero pairings 🚮

Apart from the first line of your ask, I somehow disagree with everything, Anon.

Let me tell you why.

First off,

SNS becoming canon by holding hands or kissing or walking towards Sunset.... was never going to happen. So expecting that is kind of extremely childish. I was only unhappy because they wanted to go for this Next Gen shit. That made Kishi to marry off every other characters without any development until Chapter 699.

Second off,

I am immensely happy with what I got. That is NaruSasu became Soulmates. One can't exist without the Other, One complement the Other. Even though they have married those girls and have children, I don't think they will die for their families. And they still love each other more than their own families. Point me one popular Shounen with this kind of Development between 2 male Characters???!!! So, Kishimoto made something extra-ordinary, unusual and I must appreciate him for this from the bottom of my heart. From the way he has written their bond, he really wanted to end with an Open Ending... Like no pairs and trash.

Third off,

What even SakuIno means???? I mean, Sakura was totally going horny over Sasuke's dick and kiss. She was always touching his Body whenever she gets the chance. How can she be paired with a girl??? Same case with Ino. I am not Anti-SakuIno or anything. Probably you ship them for their aesthetics. But both the girls are filtered Heterosexual. They don't have any Lesbian Subtexts like SNS has. Sorry, that is just a crack ship just like SasuHina. They both are friends. That's all.

Fourth off,

Since when did Sakura's character had better development, Anon?? You mean that Sasori fight??? You are calling it as a development, and I am still calling it as a Selfish Obsession on her Sasuke-Kun. Sakura took that fight very seriously only after Sasori mentioned the name of Orochimaru. Sakura thought, if she manage to defeat Sasori, she could get information about Orochimaru which inturn will make it easier for her to retrieve Sasuke. She never fought for Gaara or Naruto, which is what she should've done in the first place. Tell me, how is this called as Development??? Just because she repeatedly punch stuffs???

In part 1, she was a total annoying Asshole and in the end she was even more of an Asshole.

It's not like the Author developed her as some Badass Girl and then dumped her for no reason. She was always written to be hated. At no point, I felt the Author made any conscious effort to make her likeable.

Fifth off,

You are asking me to blame the creator.... And why should I??? If Kishimoto can write amazing women characters like Tsunade, Konan, Kushina.... Why can't he do that for Sakura as well???

Let's take Tsunade

Her body was splitted into Two Halves. It's really gory to look. I think even Danzo had a pretty nice death... I think she is the only character in Narutoverse to have her Torso separated from her Lower Body....

Even then

She still wants to save other people with whom she had no proper connection with!! She was still thinking about saving other Kages rather than saving herself.

Tell me atleast one moment when Sakura thought about putting her life on the line to save other people??? Or tell me at what point point of the story, Sakura remotely displayed her selflessness???

You can't.

If Kishimoto can write someone like Tsunade, why can't he make Sakura, a strong person??

Let me tell you... If I am an Author and if I want to make a character likeable, the very first thing I would do is, to make that character be nicer to the Titular Character. This is an inherent and unwritten rule. That's exactly why Hinata was liked by many people.... It's funny, people really liked her a lot in Part 1 (not realizing her inherent shittiness)... But he decided to potray her in a wrong way starting from Part 2. If only Sakura was nicer towards Naruto, I repeat nicer... not to love him... people would have liked Sakura more. But all she did was behaving extremely horny towards Sasuke but showing Drainage-level care towards Naruto. And do you really think Kishimoto don't know this logic?? At no point, I've seen her being completely genuine towards Naruto. Even when she wanted to feed him Ramen, she only did it because of Naruto's devotion towards Sasuke.

Throughout part 1, she was an asshole... Towards the end of part 1, she was nice because she needs Sasuke's dick.... And in the beginning of Part 2, She totally was using him to retrieve Sasuke... She cared him here and there.. In the middle of Part 2, she shamelessly fake confessed him.... In the end of Part 2, she was begging Sasuke to like her... She didn't care about Naruto or Tsunade, who were about to be killed by Sasuke...

Where is this development you speak of, Anon???

I am Sorry, I still feel like you are a big Sakura fan and want to make an excuse by pushing the blame on the Creator. Because Hinata fans also always do this same thing... Like pushing the blame on Kishimoto for writing her that way. They never once realise that the character they like was piss poor because the author wanted it that way.

By that logic, I must criticize him for making Sasuke take certain decision which I am not OK with, too... Right???

If your favourite character don't behave in certain way like you expected, then there's only one thing to do. Blame the Author.

Sorry, I won't be doing it for any other characters in Naruto series. I accept every characters with the way the author has written.

Sakura is a pathetic character and she was meant to be. It was intentional and deliberate from Kishimoto's side. He wants this character to be hated and that's why he wrote her that way... And I know The reason for why he did it... Which is not the point of this post.

Just ask yourself, this question Anon...

If a secondary character like Ino who was very similar to Sakura, got a good development towards the end... There are so many good woman characters inside the Narutoverse. But still, in the end, why Sakura and Hinata alone was shown to have a negative and ugly development??? What makes Sakura and Hinata different from the other women??? Why particularly these two women???

Just give this question a deep thought and you will find the Answer.

People taking the wrong cue about a Character and blaming the author for the Character's shittiness... I am Sorry, I don't support this logic.

I would really appreciate those Sakura fans who completely accept her shittiness, mistakes, flaws and still able to love her... Without blaming the author. Because I've seen such fans but they are very rare to come across.

[melody-of-lost-souls]

What do you think about Sasuke awakening Amaterasu while thinking about Team 7 during his fight with Killer Bee??

SS claims that he was thinking about Sakura because she was the one who "filled his lonely existence" during his Genin Days😒😒... And in the Manga, it was mentioned, "Back then he wasn't Alone"...

I remember when that episode came out <3 It was a nice heartwarming moment because we were able to see that Sasuke still treasured Team7 somewhere in his heart. It was an interesting moment because it showed that there was still light in Sasuke, lets say.

First, i dont care what databooks say, Databooks are supossed to show and give information about skills, random facts about the characters, and stuff like that. Clarifying that she "filled his lonely existence" has literally no weight on the story because we as watchers and readers never saw a moment that implied that, say a flashback JUST about her, or something he could say to her.

Sakura because she was the one who "filled his lonely existence" during his Genin Days😒😒... And in the Manga, it was mentioned, "Back then he wasn't Alone"..

Literally there is no connection at all between these 2 statements, SS just join the words between alone and filled his lonely existence and automatically thought OH IT'S FOR SAKURA.

In that chapter there is no foreshadowing not insinuation at all that that moment is just about sakura. If it was shown FIRST her picture, or he memory alone, or her words to him, OR SOMETHING JUST ABOUT HER, then yes I could take it as a SS moment. But there is absolutely NOTHING.

The picture he sees IS ABOUT TEAM 7. I truly TRULY want to know why the fuck they think is just about sakura, GOD. Because using that stupid statement of the databook speaks a lot about them, they always use facts out of the proper material which are manga and anime canon, to justify their pity ship, because they well know that in question of showing panels or episodes, they lose like war.

So this picture could be ,by their logic, just also about Kakashi (a weak father figure) or Naruto (best friend most important bond) or yeah Sakura (his teammate) But if I say it's about Naruto, for ex, where is my proof? Because Naruto's existence also filled Sasuke heart way before Sakura stupid confession, and this was set in Vote1 even I don't have to go forward to Vote2.

It's absolutely stupid, and ignorant to say this is just about Sakura because first it is a quick flashback, there is not time to show love moments about Sakura. And this shows how they love fantasizing with things that are pure headcanons, and delusion.

Even we SNS cannot say Sasuke here was thinking about Naruto alone, because it's simple it's a team 7 picture.

Meanwhile is not the same as that one before Vote2 when he particularly scratch Naruto's picture in team 7 photo, interesting.

About the translation, i found 2. It would be question of looking at the raws, but i think the "He remembers he is not alone" is the most accurate one. Since here Sasuke is also having flashbacks of how his Taka mates are sacrificing themselves to save the others. So he remembers he is not alone here as he wasnt alone back then with team 7. - Also I must say that the dynamic of team 7 barely worked because of naruto being there, without Naruto Sasuke wouldnt even remember this people. Naruto gave light and joy to team 7, and sasuke enjoyed that., it was a similar dynamic to his family. Itachi was the light there.-

It's even a disrespect to team taka, that this morons SS say that this moment where Taka was risking their lives and in danger, Sasuke was thinking about Sakura.

The only purpose of this flashback was to show to Sasuke the importance of teammates, team bonds, and working together and the still had bonds with team 7, as a whole.

What it is interesting is that the cover of this short arc, Sasuke vs Hachibi is this picture...

I wonder what SS has to say about this then.

[gummyartblog]

ohh GOD i have brainrot.

yamanaka akizakura: 

akizakura is the flower sakura compared ino to when they were kids. it means a cosmos flower, lit. “autumn cherry blossom”. sakura took ino’s last name, because hers doesn’t mean terribly much to her but she knows ino takes a lot of pride in being a yamanaka. aki is the type of girl that makes you feel comfortable at a party. she can practically sense shy, nervous people, and likes to talk to them and listen to what they have to say. her ability to listen and empathize makes her a natural user of her clan’s mind jutsu. along with that, though, she likes flowers and decorating. her hair is a shiny strawberry blonde.

umino sodako:

“soda” coming from the word “sodateru”, meaning “to teach” or “to raise”, and “ko” being a common female name suffix meaning “small” or “child”. kakashi isn’t terribly attached to his family name, so he was more than willing to let iruka give sodako the surname “umino”. sodako’s a very rowdy, competitive child, and has tons of energy. she loves to talk, especially about her favorite subjects. she’s a big fan of fuuinjutsu, especially ones that blow up. her hair is the same color as iruka’s.

hatake jiyū:

“jiyuu” simply meaning freedom. tenzo has no family name, so he was happy to give jiyuu kakashi’s surname. jiyuu is a near-silent child, with a mysterious smile and quiet laugh. he adores nature and animals, laughing joyously whenever kakashi summons his ninken, and is fascinated by tenzo’s mokuton. he doesn’t have much skill in jutsu, but he isn’t particularly interested in becoming a shinobi, either. he likes listening to aki talk about flowers. his hair is the same color as kakashi’s.

might rai:

“rai” meaning lightning and of course fitting with the dai -> gai naming scheme. if aki is the person who gets you talking, rai is the person who makes you have fun. he’s a brotherly kind of person who takes genuine interest in whatever you have to tell him. he’s more laid back than his might family line, but has all the passion and kindness. he’s a very popular kid at school but manages to make everyone feel special, like they’re his best friend.

kizuna uchiha-uzumaki:

“kizuna” meaning “bond”. naruto knew exactly how much the uchiha name meant to sasuke, so he was willing to give up his name...but not eager to, knowing how he was one of the few uzumaki remaining. sasuke picked upon this and was actually the one to bring up the idea of a hyphenated name. naruto was ecstatic about the idea. kizuna is quiet and keeps to himself, but he’s not unconfident or shy; he simply prefers to observe. kizuna naturally has naruto’s blond hair, but likes to dye it black. he’s a bit self conscious that he’s one of the only remaining uchiha, but doesn’t have the signature black hair or sharingan yet.

DISCLAIMER I DONT ACTUALLY THINK KAKASHI WOULD GO AND FUCK EVERYBODY IN THE VILLAGE im just a multishipper and couldnt pick one to be canon. kakashi can have 3 hands, if he does a henge.