well, after a little break, we picked up our naruto rewatch again with the beginning of season 10 (it’s so good.  SO GOOD), and since all i want to do is sit here and talk about how good it is, i figured i’d try to do that while simultaneously catching up on some overdue fandom correspondence.

when i was watching last night, i kept thinking back to a conversation i’d been having with @professor-of-naruto after they sent me an ask about how naruto started off as an ensemble show and then became solely “the naruto show,” and i STILL owe them a full response about that, but i’m going to consider this post my attempt to talk a little about it, because season 10 is simultaneously one of the best examples of “ensemble show” that naruto ever pulls off AND the scene of one of the most frustrating crimes of “the naruto show” that it ever commits (in my opinion; your mileage may vary).  

but before it reaches that frustrating point - season 10 is unbelievably well-constructed!  EVERYBODY is doing something important and relevant to their character arcs, and the plot is moving fast, and the world is expanding in fascinating ways:

this is all i mean when i say that naruto is at its best when it’s an ensemble show.  all of this happens in just the first six episodes, but every single character who appears has something important going on in their own story.  everything that they do connects to something else, and every move they make affects the plot.  every time someone appears on screen, you care about what’s happening with them - because something IS happening with them!  everything is intertwined, and all of it matters.  this season is woven together so well - it’s hard to stop watching.  

that isn’t always the case later, though.  after naruto appears on the scene of the sasuke/team 7 confrontation (aka the point where the show attempts to make a “naruto is and has always been Everything” retcon that i will never forgive them for), the story starts leaning harder into the “naruto is the only one who can save sasuke and oh yeah do everything else too” message, which is eternally frustrating to me, because the original message of the story was always “teamwork is more important than anything.  all of us are necessary to succeed.”  itachi literally chides naruto, “you can’t do everything on your own.  never forget your friends,” but then the show keeps creating situations where only naruto can Do the Thing and the other characters’ sole purposes are to sit back and monologue about how amazing he is.  

i understand that this is a silly thing to complain about when the story is in fact titled “naruto,” but i do still feel frustrated about it sometimes, because i think an approach like this makes for a weaker story.  there ARE ways to tell a naruto-centric story and have it be incredible - eg, the pain arc is all-naruto, all the time, and i have zero complaints about it, because everything naruto is able to do in that arc makes sense and is completely appropriate for who he is and what his strengths are.  he should be able to use sage mode and toad summons - those are powerful inheritances from his own teaching lineage that he worked incredibly hard to master.  he should be able to resist the nine-tails transformation - he has help from his own father’s spirit, as well as a lifetime of experience living as a jinchuuriki.  and - crucially - he should be able to save the day in the end, not because he’s a super skilled ninja with godlike powers, but because he’s able to compassionately connect with nagato on a personal level and lead him back to the light.  

that is naruto’s true power.  it’s not about him being the strongest fighter, or the smartest strategist, or the most skilled shinobi in history.  his special ability is precisely what kakashi called a “remarkable gift” in season one: “[naruto] doesn’t need much time, or many words, to make friends with everyone he meets.”

that’s why i think the pain arc is an example of “naruto-centric” done right, and that’s why i love how war arc!naruto is able to befriend kurama/the other tailed beasts and use the nine-tails’ power.  those things are so, so appropriate for who he is and where his strengths lie.  but there are other points in the story where naruto is showcased for things that don’t make as much sense or haven’t been earned (as an isolated example, the six-paths magical powers stuff was too much for me) or where he’s highlighted at other characters’ expenses (what happens to all those amazing intertwining arcs of season 10 by the time we hit the end of the story?  why do so many of them falter or disappear?)

it’s not enough to make me dislike the back half of the show - i love it right up until the last episode, my frustration with the ending notwithstanding.  but i do think the shift in focus from “ensemble show” to “one-man band” becomes a bit more dramatic after S10, and the overall story after that point is much weaker than it could have been (even though i still think that a lot of what it achieves is amazing).

first of all, no worries about ‘owing’ me a response, not at all! Please just do whatever you want /feel like at all times!! I am happy to wait until the end of time, that’s totally ok! 🧡 but ty for sharing your thoughts as you go, i love reading your posts, and i’m happy you’re picking up the rewatch again in such a great spot!

i’m hoping to avoid getting long-winded here, and please don’t feel you have to respond to this at all if time, but just wanted to say:

OKAY i’m SORRY i got so longwinded, and after i lied and said i wouldn’t, too. but thank you for the play by play in your original post! I always love the things you choose to talk about, and the way you are able to talk about them 😊.

Hello again!  Don’t mind me over here catching up on my tumblr correspondence and agreeing with you on everything -

Omui - I LOVEEEE him!  I loved all of the newly introduced Cloud characters, honestly (with the possible exception of the blonde woman on Omui’s team [Samui?], and that was just because she didn’t really have much personality other than, like, ”Hey, here’s a blonde lady with Cleavage!”  But Omui, Karui, Killer Bee, the Raikage, Darui - I loved all of those characters and became invested in them very quickly, which is a testament to how well their introduction was handled and how naturally they fit into the developing story.

the “bootlicker” thing - lmao, this is so real.  Sometimes I miss the days when I was totally ignorant of the fandom while I was watching and reading for the first time, because I didn’t have to be aware that this was a thing.  Now that I’ve stopped hiding from spoilers and have occasionally been exposed to this kind of bizarre take, I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without typing up a vent post about how frustrating it is XD  But it’s the kind of thing where ultimately I’m just like “look, whatever these people are taking away from their reading/viewing is so disconnected from the actual text that there isn’t any point getting worked up over it.” (And then I do get worked up about it, but just.  Privately.  Or to my sister when we can’t hold it in anymore and start complaining about the worst takes we’ve ever seen XD)

It’s like - I just kind of sigh and scroll past whenever I see posts that are like “Sasuke should have burned Konoha to the ground,” especially when people feel that Konoha NOT being burned to the ground (and the fact that the other “bootlicker” characters still choose to call it home) is reason to be disappointed with the story that was told.  I think there are things we can reasonably critique the story for not doing (like not addressing the Uchiha massacre in the conclusion) because excluding something like that is deeply inconsistent with the rest of the story and with the themes that have been built up since day one.  But criticizing it for something like “Konoha should have been destroyed and Sasuke shouldn’t have come back and the shinobi world should have been abolished” is just complaining that an author who chose to write a particular book should have chosen to write a completely different book instead.  Naruto doesn’t ever mislead us - it’s very good about setting audience expectations and making it clear what this story is going to be about from the beginning.  We KNOW it’s going to be about Sasuke finding his way home, no matter how long it takes.  There is never any doubt in our minds, even at the very beginning of things, that eventually he’s going to return to his friends and be brought back into a community, because that’s what we’re prepared for in the first few episodes.  The Bell Test sets the tone and the foundational themes for the rest of the story, which are that that a) taking care of your friends is more important than following the rules, and b) teamwork makes the dream work.  Any Naruto conclusion that ended with Team 7 not reuniting would have been just as inconsistent with the previously established story as an ending where we never talk about the Uchiha massacre again.

And again, of course, there are legitimate reasons to be dissatisfied with the ending we got - I’ve written plenty about that myself - but I don’t think the fact that the story couldn’t stick its landing in the last few episodes invalidates or changes what it has always been about or what kind of people the characters have always been.  Yes, there are elements of the conclusion that need to be tweaked to make the ending fully cohesive with what we were led to expect, but those elements are not things like “abolish the entire concept of shinobi/blow up the Leaf Village.”  Obviously viewers/readers are allowed to want whatever they want, but when things like that are offered up as an earnest critique of the story, I can’t take it seriously.  Expecting every character on the show to overthrow the government (and calling them “bootlickers” when they don’t, despite the fact that they canonically and repeatedly resist authority or break the law in many other ways) isn’t something I think we can reasonably critique the story for.  We’re told to expect certain societal changes towards the end of things, yes - and I do think there are places where the story fulfills this promise well (the alliances/friendship-building between previously warring nations, the tailed beasts being liberated and respected) and other places where it should have done better (the Uchiha massacre...that desperately needed to be dealt with more clearly) - but complaints that the shinobi world wasn’t totally disassembled or that characters didn’t defect from the Leaf and form their own version of the Akatsuki just aren’t things I can engage with as serious critiques of canon.  They might be fun for people to play with in AUs, but they’re not outcomes that fit naturally within the context of the story as it’s always been presented us.

tl;dr - I block on sight whenever I see the words “bootlicker” and “kakashi” in reblogs of my posts...people are entitled to their own (wrong) opinions, but I am not obligated to read about them 😆

“you ought to know that bonds can be powerful curses too” - YESSS.  The way this ties into the whole “is it worth it to love people when loving people just means you get hurt” question, which characters like Sasuke and young!Kakashi answer by refusing to form bonds in the first place, but which ultimately is debunked as a viable life philosophy because guess what, being alone hurts even more than dealing with loss...

“winning over Kurama was the peak of Naruto’s development” - agreed.   This scene is one of my top Naruto moments, when Kurama tries to convince Naruto that saving Sasuke from hatred is impossible and Naruto just responds by saying that he’s going to save Kurama, too - I loved it SO much.  Talk no Jutsu is not a cop-out; it’s the foundation of who Naruto is!  It’s his gift!  It’s why we love him so much!  And that’s why I prefer to see him in scenarios where his ability to make enemies into friends is what enables him to succeed, as opposed to him having All The Superpowers and All The Skills.  I like my Naruto to be someone who’s not necessarily the best fighter or the smartest tactician, but whose empathy and connection and compassion compensate for his weaknesses and allow him to achieve things that people who are objectively more skilled in the ninja arts (eg, Sasuke) have trouble with.  That’s one of the core messages of the show, isn’t it - Naruto succeeds because he builds a broad network of friends/family/comrades who support him and lend him strength when he stumbles; Sasuke “fails” at virtually everything he attempts because he does precisely the opposite.  Where Naruto’s success is the result of a massive communal effort, Sasuke’s struggles are the result of him cutting off his connections with anyone who tries to help him.

re: danzo - I’d say more about this, but we haven’t rewatched the Sasuke + Danzo fight yet (it’s up next) so I’ll hold off for now.  I will say that the other day I was listening to a piece of Naruto music on Youtube and happened to catch a glimpse of a commenter talking about Danzo who said something like “what a great death, he recognized his mistakes and atoned for them” which was so funny to me because 1) the only “mistake” Danzo thinks he made was in underestimating Sasuke’s ability to kill him, and 2) this man has never atoned for anything in his life (which is part of what makes him such a great character!  When he says that Sasuke is “laying waste to the Uchiha clan’s sacrifice,” he really believes it!)

it really didn’t help that Sasuke walked off into the sunset at the end of the series, rather than getting properly reintegrated into his team and wider society - Oh yeah, I hear that.  I think my biggest issue with that whole thing was what was left out prior to this happening.  I love the idea of Sasuke going on a solo personal journey; it makes sense to me and feels like a natural progression for him.  But I think it’s hard to jump straight from the end of the war to him leaving again without first showing some semblance of him coming home (and giving us at least a hint that the major personal and political issues driving him are in the process of being addressed).  Like - I believe he would leave (TEMPORARILY - I’m not touching the whole Boruto-era “Sasuke never came home” nonsense), but I’m 100% in agreement that his departure at the end of Shippuden happened too fast.  So much was left out or skipped over in the conclusion, to the point where it’s hard to enjoy the scenes we were given, because we’re too busy being like “BUT WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE?”  Sasuke just didn’t really get a resolution at the end, which was very frustrating and also a huge surprise - I really wasn’t expecting things to go like that.

Hiya again, @travelling-through-worlds​ !  Don’t mind me, I’m just starting a new thread here to continue our conversation from here, since our old one was getting so long - I didn’t want my reblog to totally swallow your dashboard! :)

yessss, I totally agree!  

re: which college I went to - I’ll refrain from naming the exact one, just because I try not to put info that would narrow down my offline identity too closely on a public blog, heh, but I did my bachelors and masters degrees at schools in the Northeast USA.  I do agree with you that the English courses in your area sound a little different than the ones here - often “English” as a college course of study here refers to English literature, as opposed to English language, so you wouldn’t see the phonetics and pronunciation work you mentioned.  You will still probably have the occasional text or class that just doesn’t spark any interest in you; there’s always bound to be something out there we don’t connect with, even if the work might still have some kind of literary merit.  I remember I took one course during my degree (I think it was on post-modernist American Lit and related texts, or something like that) and I hated it.  We were doing Hunter Thompson, Brett Easton Ellis, Tom Wolfe, etc, and I just despised everything we read.  That’s rare for me; I can usually find something to appreciate in most of the “school” books I’ve worked with, but I remember reading I Am Charlotte Simmons and Less Than Zero and wanting to just dump them in a lake. 

Oh, I love Merlin SOOOOO much!  One of my absolute favorite universes of all time (and one of my favorite fandoms, too - I met so many awesome people there!)  I can’t believe it took me so long to start watching it (but then again, I’ve always been really slow about picking up TV shows X) ).  Probably my other biggest past fandoms (besides Merlin and Naruto) have been Teen Wolf and Star Wars, though there are a number of other series/universes that I love but don’t post as much about (Lord of the Rings, DC Comics, House MD, Star Trek, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gilmore Girls, etc).  As far as books go, it’s hard to choose - a couple of my favorites are Crusader by Edward Bloor, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, as well as the Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce and the Animorphs series (childhood favorite) by K. A. Applegate.

I used to, yes!  My masters degree is in education, and I used to be a public school teacher.  Nowadays I work in children’s services at a public library, though.  (I loved many parts of teaching, and the school I worked at was wonderful, but work-life balance became really difficult after a few years, so switching to a less intense work environment ended up being the right decision for me.

Ooh, yes, this is exactly why I think tonal languages are so cool!!!  I have a music background, so I just think it’s so amazing to have languages that utilize pitch changes like that.  (And it’s SUPER cool that you’re able to pick certain words up in the original Naruto dialogue due to occasional similarities between the languages - there are some shared words like that between Arabic and Spanish, too, which it was always fun to see students pick up on!) 

Somehow I didn’t get a notification of this :(

Oh gosh that sounds like an awful course😂 I hope you still managed to get something useful out of it!

I think that the thing with the English courses over here is that, as you described, they treat it more like the study of a foreign language and culture than a language and literature study.

I’ve been thinking this week, and I think I might actually try and apply to study English abroad in a few years, maybe after I’m done with the undergrad :) The university I want to try and apply to has really low admission rates though, but I figured, why not give it another try.

Do you think you should have read a decent amount of classics and literature from different eras to make be a good candidate for a literature study? Because while I’m really interested in the subject and enjoy analysing works of fiction, I haven’t actually read that many literary works when I think about it.

also, that aside *adds all of your favourites to my to-read list* I actually watched Avatar the Last Airbender for the first time during the lockdown! (besides the occasional episode I’d seen as a child on TV). And I’ve been wanting to pick up Pride and Prejudice :D

Oh and I saw that you wrote this really impressive fic for Merlin (which I’ll definitely look at when I’ve watched the series). Are you thinking about writing anything for the Naruto universe in the future?

(re teaching: Being a teacher sounds really nice especially when you have a good working environment, but I can imagine that it’s a job that can get really stressful as well.)

I have a music background too! :D 

That’s so cool! I never knew that there were similarities between those two languages.

(Oh, which reminds me: a few days ago I was looking at some kanji (Chinese characters that are commonly used in Japanese) and I found that the character for white (which I usually see pronounced as ‘shiro’) can also be read as ‘haku’! Which immediately made me think of Haku, and how his name already gives away something about his character (which I never noticed). Thought you might find that interesting :) )

re: reading classics - hmm, I guess I don’t have a super helpful answer to this question, partially just because the definition of “classics” is very subjective.  It’s certainly not a bad idea to read things that are outside your normal wheelhouse (like - I tend to read a lot of children’s and young adult literature nowadays, because I work in the children’s room of a library and I need to be able to advise young people who come in looking for suggestions, but while doing a literature degree, you’re likely to read many more things that aren’t as easy to “connect” with as contemporary children’s/YA lit, and there’s no way to really know if you’ll enjoy working with those kinds of books academically unless you try it.)  I guess maybe the best way to get a feel for if literature courses are something that will really interest you is to try and take a couple classes in a non-degree setting - like, if your university lets you take any electives or something like that?  Or sometimes universities here have Continuing Education programs where you can take a class or two even if you’re not enrolled at that particular school - I don’t know if there’s an equivalent where you are, but that was another thing I thought of.

You watched Avatar!  That’s awesome - it’s such a great show; definitely one of my favorites.

Oh, so cool!  What instruments do you play?  (Or maybe voice?)

re: fic - aha, yeah, I did write a long-ish Merlin fic.  It may not be particularly interesting to you even after finishing the show - it takes place prior to the show’s timeline and focuses on Merlin and a character from his background who doesn’t get much screentime in the actual series - but I had the inspiration, so there it is XD 

And as far as Naruto goes, I hope I can write fic for it!  I want to get a little bit further in my rewatch before I tackle my planned projects headfirst, but I do have stuff I want to make (*knocks on wood, crosses fingers that I don’t jinx my follow-through ability*).

re literature: (sorry for the late reply again!) Hi! Thanks for the suggestion. That sounds like a good idea and a good way to try it out without having to immediately commit to a second degree :D My own uni doesn’t offer English electives, but I’ll look around for similar programs elsewhere.

I play the piano! (And I have taken a few singing lessons too in the past which I really enjoyed, so that’s something I want to pick up again too :) ) How about you? 

re: fic I still think it’s really cool that you managed to work out that idea! (I think it’s pretty darn hard to plot and work out something that’s novel-length. I’ve only done short stories so far myself XD).

(re tags: 

I’m not very good at reading Chinese characters so I’m not that well versed in Kanji, but I do think it’s fun to notice things here and there :D

And I do love all the cultural elements and little details that Kishimoto adds into the story and the character designs! I’m sure there a bunch I didn’t recognise, too, but when I do notice certain things, which are sometimes things I recognise from Chinese culture (since it spread across East Asia a long time ago there’s often some similar elements here and there) I do get pretty excited :) 

Oh and side note: What are some young adult novels you really liked? :D

Re: instruments - French horn!  I used to play pit percussion, too (in marching band), along with voice, but the horn was my main instrument.

For young adult novels - hmmm, let’s see!  Two of my favorite books are Crusader by Edward Bloor and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, so those two for sure (fyi, Speak in particular does deal with some pretty heavy subject matter - not in a very graphic way, but just as a fair warning).  

I also love anything by Tamora Pierce.  She writes fantasy series featuring female protagonists, and my favorite series of hers is the Protector of the Small quartet. 

I also recently read the Lockwood and Co. series by Jonathan Stroud (paranormal adventure set in an alternate version of London starring a group of teenage ghost hunters) and I really loved it.

This one is not YA, but I’ll mention it because I just read it and I adored it - my friend recently recommended to me the Jinx trilogy by Sage Blackwood, and it was fantastic.  It’s middle grade fantasy rather than YA, but it’s one of those books that I think appeals across age groups (ie, I’m an adult, but I didn’t ever feel like the book was too “young” for me to enjoy.)

I’m sort of 50/50 on this next one, but I read Scythe by Neal Shusterman recently, and I definitely recommend it on the basis of worldbuilding alone - the premise of this alternate future society is SO fascinating and compelling that it got me to read the entire book even though I wasn’t interested in either of the two main characters, which is something I normally can’t do.  (I wasn’t super compelled by the two protagonists or their relationship - it didn’t feel like it developed enough or that they really spent much time together at all - but others may not have that feeling about it, so I’d still recommend it.)  

Hiya again, @travelling-through-worlds​ !  Don’t mind me, I’m just starting a new thread here to continue our conversation from here, since our old one was getting so long - I didn’t want my reblog to totally swallow your dashboard! :)

yessss, I totally agree!  

re: which college I went to - I’ll refrain from naming the exact one, just because I try not to put info that would narrow down my offline identity too closely on a public blog, heh, but I did my bachelors and masters degrees at schools in the Northeast USA.  I do agree with you that the English courses in your area sound a little different than the ones here - often “English” as a college course of study here refers to English literature, as opposed to English language, so you wouldn’t see the phonetics and pronunciation work you mentioned.  You will still probably have the occasional text or class that just doesn’t spark any interest in you; there’s always bound to be something out there we don’t connect with, even if the work might still have some kind of literary merit.  I remember I took one course during my degree (I think it was on post-modernist American Lit and related texts, or something like that) and I hated it.  We were doing Hunter Thompson, Brett Easton Ellis, Tom Wolfe, etc, and I just despised everything we read.  That’s rare for me; I can usually find something to appreciate in most of the “school” books I’ve worked with, but I remember reading I Am Charlotte Simmons and Less Than Zero and wanting to just dump them in a lake. 

Oh, I love Merlin SOOOOO much!  One of my absolute favorite universes of all time (and one of my favorite fandoms, too - I met so many awesome people there!)  I can’t believe it took me so long to start watching it (but then again, I’ve always been really slow about picking up TV shows X) ).  Probably my other biggest past fandoms (besides Merlin and Naruto) have been Teen Wolf and Star Wars, though there are a number of other series/universes that I love but don’t post as much about (Lord of the Rings, DC Comics, House MD, Star Trek, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gilmore Girls, etc).  As far as books go, it’s hard to choose - a couple of my favorites are Crusader by Edward Bloor, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, as well as the Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce and the Animorphs series (childhood favorite) by K. A. Applegate.

I used to, yes!  My masters degree is in education, and I used to be a public school teacher.  Nowadays I work in children’s services at a public library, though.  (I loved many parts of teaching, and the school I worked at was wonderful, but work-life balance became really difficult after a few years, so switching to a less intense work environment ended up being the right decision for me.

Ooh, yes, this is exactly why I think tonal languages are so cool!!!  I have a music background, so I just think it’s so amazing to have languages that utilize pitch changes like that.  (And it’s SUPER cool that you’re able to pick certain words up in the original Naruto dialogue due to occasional similarities between the languages - there are some shared words like that between Arabic and Spanish, too, which it was always fun to see students pick up on!) 

Somehow I didn’t get a notification of this :(

Oh gosh that sounds like an awful course😂 I hope you still managed to get something useful out of it!

I think that the thing with the English courses over here is that, as you described, they treat it more like the study of a foreign language and culture than a language and literature study.

I’ve been thinking this week, and I think I might actually try and apply to study English abroad in a few years, maybe after I’m done with the undergrad :) The university I want to try and apply to has really low admission rates though, but I figured, why not give it another try.

Do you think you should have read a decent amount of classics and literature from different eras to make be a good candidate for a literature study? Because while I’m really interested in the subject and enjoy analysing works of fiction, I haven’t actually read that many literary works when I think about it.

also, that aside *adds all of your favourites to my to-read list* I actually watched Avatar the Last Airbender for the first time during the lockdown! (besides the occasional episode I’d seen as a child on TV). And I’ve been wanting to pick up Pride and Prejudice :D

Oh and I saw that you wrote this really impressive fic for Merlin (which I’ll definitely look at when I’ve watched the series). Are you thinking about writing anything for the Naruto universe in the future?

(re teaching: Being a teacher sounds really nice especially when you have a good working environment, but I can imagine that it’s a job that can get really stressful as well.)

I have a music background too! :D 

That’s so cool! I never knew that there were similarities between those two languages.

(Oh, which reminds me: a few days ago I was looking at some kanji (Chinese characters that are commonly used in Japanese) and I found that the character for white (which I usually see pronounced as ‘shiro’) can also be read as ‘haku’! Which immediately made me think of Haku, and how his name already gives away something about his character (which I never noticed). Thought you might find that interesting :) )

re: reading classics - hmm, I guess I don’t have a super helpful answer to this question, partially just because the definition of “classics” is very subjective.  It’s certainly not a bad idea to read things that are outside your normal wheelhouse (like - I tend to read a lot of children’s and young adult literature nowadays, because I work in the children’s room of a library and I need to be able to advise young people who come in looking for suggestions, but while doing a literature degree, you’re likely to read many more things that aren’t as easy to “connect” with as contemporary children’s/YA lit, and there’s no way to really know if you’ll enjoy working with those kinds of books academically unless you try it.)  I guess maybe the best way to get a feel for if literature courses are something that will really interest you is to try and take a couple classes in a non-degree setting - like, if your university lets you take any electives or something like that?  Or sometimes universities here have Continuing Education programs where you can take a class or two even if you’re not enrolled at that particular school - I don’t know if there’s an equivalent where you are, but that was another thing I thought of.

You watched Avatar!  That’s awesome - it’s such a great show; definitely one of my favorites.

Oh, so cool!  What instruments do you play?  (Or maybe voice?)

re: fic - aha, yeah, I did write a long-ish Merlin fic.  It may not be particularly interesting to you even after finishing the show - it takes place prior to the show’s timeline and focuses on Merlin and a character from his background who doesn’t get much screentime in the actual series - but I had the inspiration, so there it is XD 

And as far as Naruto goes, I hope I can write fic for it!  I want to get a little bit further in my rewatch before I tackle my planned projects headfirst, but I do have stuff I want to make (*knocks on wood, crosses fingers that I don’t jinx my follow-through ability*).

re: 18 - omg somehow i missed it when you posted the original ask meme but DON’T WORRY I GOT THIS COVERED

@panharmonium I’m gleefully reading this post right now. I couldn’t have put it better myself!

This just made me realise the impact it would have if it ever came to that and Kakashi had to take him down (which I know won’t happen, but still). While watching that arc, most of the others in Konoha (Shikamaru, Kiba and the rest) seemed to have switched to the mindset of ‘Sasuke has turned into a rogue ninja, so we have to take him down or even kill him. That’s just the way it is. Which isn’t wrong necessarily, but if Kakashi had to do that, it would go against everything that he teaches and essentially against his whole character- as Kakashi, as the teacher who does everything to protect his kids, as the person who promised Sasuke he would protect him. Damn.

also, I forgot about that! Sasuke’s development is super fascinating and I might send in something about that later.

I think I might do that too for now. While it’s tempting to venture into the fandom, I guess it’s also nice to not have to deal with the less fun aspects of it :) And yes, of course everyone is entitled to their own likes and dislikes. But I’m just going to stick to my likes :)

Is English your first language? Because you articulate your thoughts so well :) (It’s not my first language, and I still aim to improve at that.)

I actually really wanted to study English Literature. It was my first choice, but things didn’t really work out and I went to med school instead, which is also my area of interest, and I hope to see it through (but part of me still considers doing an english degree some day XD I’m not sure whether I’d want to apply for a second degree some time in the future or if I’m just happy with sticking to reading and writing hobby though.). One of my main motivations for studying English right now is that I’m hoping that it will improve my ability to analyse texts and stories (I’m always super impressed when I see people doing character analyses of stories that I love and draw parallels between elements of the story and articulate their thoughts in such an eloquent way^^) , and because I think it would help me become better at writing compelling stories myself. I’m not sure if a degree (and going through all the exams) is necessary to acquire these skills though. What was your experience with the degree?

And it’s really cool that you also know Spanish and Arabic. How did you start learning Arabic? It seems like quite an intimidating language to learn.

I speak Dutch, Chinese and some German myself (and while I told myself I would probably keep it at that because it’s enough to maintain, I found that I love diving into new languages :) )

Ohh, I didn’t know it worked like that with replies. Thanks, will do that :)

And take your time! I will probably be off tumblr for a bit myself :)

💯💯💯 YOU GET IT.  Not gonna say anything else about this for now, just that I wholeheartedly appreciate everything you said here! 

English is my first language, yes (and thank you)!  And I’m sure people have told you this, but - your English is AMAZING!  Reading your posts, I legitimately would not have been able to tell that it was an acquired language for you.  You express yourself with such ease and fluency!

“Dutch, Chinese, and some German” (and English) - WOWWW, that is so cool!  Is Dutch or Chinese your first language?  (Or both, if you grew up bilingual?)

My experience with the degree was positive, but I do agree with you that I don’t think you necessarily need to do an actual degree in order to work on the skills you mentioned.  The degree itself was a great opportunity to explore a variety of literary genres and time periods that I wouldn’t normally read for simple enjoyment, and I do think it was particularly useful training for doing close readings of a text/using textual support to craft an argument/interpretation, but the latter are things that we all do on some level every time we read/watch/experience a story and discuss it, so they’re things that can be practiced outside of an academic setting.  Reading a lot, writing for fun, and absorbing stories of all kinds (tv shows, movies, video games, etc), are what I’ve personally found to be most helpful in terms of learning how to analyze other people’s stories (and write one’s own). 😊

I started in college!  I had an incredible teacher my first year, who became a mentor figure for my four years of school and afterwards (we ended working in the same field after I graduated).  She was a complete inspiration for me and did so much to encourage my studies - she helped connect me to summer-study opportunities in college and, later, after I’d graduated, to a fellowship that let me study in Egypt.  

I can definitely see how Arabic looks like an intimidating language to learn (I feel the same way about Chinese - I’ve never studied a tonal language before, and I’ve always wondered what it would be like!), but once you get started, I found the learning process similar to other languages I’ve worked with.  There are some ways in which it’s easier than English - Arabic is phonetically consistent, which makes it much easier than English is in terms of spelling/reading - and there are some ways in which it’s more complicated - Arabic has a more complex case system than English, and the differences between spoken Arabic and written Arabic are much more dramatic than the differences between written and spoken English - but of course every language is going to have its challenges. =)

@panharmonium​

That sounds like so much fun!! I wish I was sisters with you guys XD

And somehow watching the first part of Part 2 and seeing all the characters grown up felt so nostalgic! Even though I had only started the show like two months ago back then.

Yes!!! I haven’t interacted that much with the fandom yet, but I occasionally also see/hear takes like the ones you mentioned. And it’s confusing/off-putting at times when I’m still experiencing it for the first time myself and trying to form my own thoughts. 

And that’s also why I love your blog so much!!!

I couldn’t find the words for it, but this. This is it. This is how I see him and how I saw him even before we learned about his past.

And it’s why I love him so much.

and nuances like this :’) <3

Honestly I feel like your takes are the closest to what I think the writer’s  intentions were for his character, that I’ve read so far.

YES!! someone who also sees the humorous/playful side of Kakashi!

*chefs kiss* 

Oh, I hadn’t looked at it that way yet, but I suppose you’re right! (from what I’ve seen so far). (I’d heard about some things and seen some fan takes about Kakashi’s past that I was a bit taken aback by, which made me wonder what exactly I didn’t know yet and if there were going to be any reveals that would change my impression, but on second thought those takes I saw might not be accurate at all haha.) So far it’s indeed been building up bit by bit on/adding depth to the character that we were introduced to in part 1. Glad to hear that that stays consistent :)

ohhh, that explains it haha.

I totally get that. I’m quite new to fandom as a whole myself, as I haven’t really actively participated in other fandoms before, so I was super excited to find out that this fandom was still active and was totally unaware of the negative sides of it at first XD 

I’m also not that big on shipping either, especially when there is nothing in the text that hints at a ship, or if the characters don’t really have chemistry together. (Or if two characters have a really beautiful platonic friendship/bond that is beautiful as is, and people go “now make them kiss!”. I feel like that often doesn’t add anything, or maybe even takes away from it sometimes. But to each their own of course, just not really my thing.) But I don’t mind it when it’s in the text and if I think it works. 

that honestly sounds wonderful. I watched the first few seasons without that much outside input. (Though there was so much stuff that I wanted to talk about and not knowing much about how to use tumblr I ended up writing out my thoughts in a little notebook XD. I also had one friend who was into the show a couple of years ago who told me to feel free to spam her with updates on how far I was.) But then the social media algorithms figured out I was watching the show and started recommending stuff to me :( (and I was also tempted to look at some fanart ocasionally). And I stumbled across some of the fanon stuff and some weird things on tumblr too. If I could go back I would probably do the same thing you did. Also wish I’d come across your blog sooner!^^

(About some stuff I saw on tumblr. This was quite a while ago (and sorry if it’s weird to mention), but I found out that some voice actors did ASMR audios, and my curiosity got the better of me, so I looked up if Kakashi’s voice actor had done any and I found one on here, but it turned out to be an extremely explicit NSFW audio that the voice actor did, which was not what I’d expected, and hearing that was honestly so upsetting. (I mentioned it to my mom, but I don’t really think she understood why it was so upsetting.) Not even necessarily the fact that it was NSFW (don’t really have anything against that in itself necessarily, save for perhaps feeling somewhat uncomfortable sometimes), but more because here it was completely not what I was expecting and because it’s a character that I love, and I felt like it was so not like the character. And I know that what the voice actors do outside the series have nothing to do with the characters at all… but it took me a bit to get over that one :( Kind of wish I could’ve talked to another fan about it. (And when I see that audio pop up (like it did on another social media platform a month or two ago) it still makes me feel really uncomfortable.) )

-

I KNOWW!!!! And I wasn’t even looking for any Naruto related content or anything remotely close to that when I saw it!! T_T . I think I would’ve reacted the same, because it’s one of those things that I would have never seen coming (but looking back you’d see all the hints and stuff). If only I had a time turner.. (would go back and risk messing up the timeline to unsee that one. And a few other ones.) :’)

But I think it’s still going to be really cool to see how it unfolds exactly :)

I can’t wait to see that one!

And the Kakashi and Gai footrace episode was amazing! (as well as episode 101 about Kakashi’s mask from part 1. I was surprised to find out that that one was considered filler too!). Some of the were indeed rather silly and some arcs were quite long, but there were moments that I enjoyed as well. Probably wouldn’t watch them all if I were to rewatch though. And oh, are you planning on posting your thoughts and insights on here again when you’re rewatching in the future? :D

Thanks for the movie reviews. I was planning on watching Road to Ninja :)

And ahhh that figurine looks so precious!! I love it!

My catkashi (:p) just arrived and is sitting on my desk for motivation. 

And I also saw these mini ones!! The tiny obito…<3 Really tempted to get them, but also the pain of them not being here anymore T_T (especially small team Kakashi). Don’t know if I want to do that to myself lol.

edit: was just reading your reply again, and was thinking again about how accurate your interpretation of him is and how I also 100% agree with you hahaha. And was also wondering about this:

“Kakashi carries a lot of grief in his heart, and he does have hang-ups related to being deeply ashamed (whether justifiably so or not) of who he used to be”

Is this referring to who he was before Kannabi?

I also came across a little snippet from the databook (or fanbook) that I thought was interesting, but I’ll get back to you about that :) I have no idea if Kishimoto wrote the databooks and fanbooks himself, and I wonder if those are considered canon.

I just wanted to pull this out and comment on it, because I had a similar experience about halfway through Shippuden.  I didn’t see the fan takes myself, but I did have an occasion where a couple different people came into my ask box and were like “why do you think people say kakashi is a bad teacher,” and I, not having seen anything like that, was like “.....people are saying that?????”  It was truly the WEIRDEST take to hear about.  But this was definitely a situation where there wasn’t some kind of reveal later on in the show that would change my impression; it was just that the take was not (in my opinion) accurate.  So I wouldn’t worry too much - you haven’t seen the later arcs, so it’s true that there are things about Kakashi’s past that you don’t know about yet, but I personally never found that any of them changed my initial impression of who Kakashi was.  His character has always remained very consistent for me, so I think it’s likely that the fan takes you’re seeing are just one of those situations where you would look at someone saying something and go, “...did we even watch the same show?” X)

Ohh, YOU GET IT.  You and I are on exactly the same page here.  It can be hard to find people who are on this wavelength in fandom spaces - I’m very glad our paths have crossed!

Oh my gosh, I love this! <333

Re: voice actor stuff - yikes!  I totally get why that would have been a little disconcerting.  I mostly try to avoid learning stuff about voice actors or regular actors in things I like, so I’ve luckily never been exposed to anything like that yet - although one funny thing that did happen is that my sister and I are re-watching Gilmore Girls right now, and we realized on our most recent watch that both Temari and Sasuke’s voice actors (from the dub, which is what we watched) have bit parts in different episodes XD

Oh, yes, it will be!  Don’t worry, the experience isn’t ruined just by knowing the twist - there’s SO MUCH that happens after that point and it’s going to be an awesome viewing experience whether you knew about that one thing in advance or not. :D

Ohhhh, 101 is AMAZING.  And I only recently learned that it isn’t filler - it was a special manga chapter published with one of the data books!  (But again, I don’t put much stock in whether something is “canon” or “filler” - if it’s good, it’s canon enough for me XD)

Most likely, haha.  I always end up having too much to say, and I’m sure I’ll notice all kinds of things that I didn’t see the first time around. X)

I REALLY WANT THE TINY TEAM MINATO CATS AHHHHH THEY ARE SO CUTE

Yes, primarily, though I also think Kakashi carries a lot of shame about later periods in his life as well (not that I’m saying he SHOULD, or that he deserves to feel that way.  But he’s always very hard on himself, whether he deserves it or not, as we know).  I won’t get into this more quite yet, though, because I think it relates mostly to stuff you haven’t watched yet. :)

my personal fandom curse to bear is the resentment i feel when i’m looking for fan material about a character in their own tag and discover that a bunch of what’s in there is just them being reduced to playing Cardboard Cut-Out Ship Cheerleader for a fan-invented romance that is a) not based on an existing relationship and b) frustratingly popular

…I was JUST thinking a couple days ago about making a grumbling post (untagged of course) about how aggravating it is to be browsing through the ‘Hatake Kakashi & Yamato | Tenzou’ ao3 tag - which is not all that prolific to begin with - and find that like 90% of it is either Iruka/Kakashi or Yamato/Iruka shipfic with barely any interaction between Kakashi and Yamato in the first place! On the one hand, I’m immensely glad I have someone else who understands this pain, but on the other hand, duuude get out of my brain! XD

@dreamersscape​ the fact that you knew exactly what characters i was talking about... XD

[@dreamersscape​ I started a new thread because our old post was getting so long - link to the previous post is here, just to keep this conversation coherent!]

“raw love and affection” > That’s it exactly.  The perfect descriptor.  Untempered, unqualified, unconditional, unrestrained - Naruto’s love is just like his jutsu, a giant explosion that you can’t dodge or block, and the wielder is shouting and running straight at you the whole time he throws it right at your face XD  You just can’t escape him.  He’s gonna love you no matter who you are or what you’ve done or how fast you run away from him, which poor Sasuke has been figuring out for years (to his everlasting irritation, I’m sure).  Kakashi needs people like that – like Gai, actually, who’s a little bit similar in the sense that he’s determined to be Kakashi’s friend no matter how much Kakashi resists.  And I do love the fact that Naruto and Kakashi will be able to connect about Naruto’s parents now that the secret is out – it wasn’t possible before, and they’ve all been running a million miles an hour since Naruto found out, but eventually, once things calm down, it will such a good thing for both of them to complete that circuit.  That’s the way things are supposed to be – the connections between generations are supposed to be maintained and strengthened by the people left behind, like Iruka says in the early days of the show -   

It’s so good that Naruto and Kakashi are soon going to be in a space where they will be able to re-forge the links that were disrupted by a malicious system that wasn’t serving either of them.

Oh, don’t worry.  I was already expecting it to be the tiniest crumb they could possibly give us.  But even crumbs will make me very happy, for these two! XD

THAT.  Yamato getting captured taking care of Kakashi’s kids would have been complicated enough to navigate enough on its own, but the fact that the person who orchestrated all of it was Obito makes it a truly labyrinthine mess.  The number of layers of guilt that Kakashi feels - not all of them rational or accurate, obviously, but in his mind they’re real - given all those things, of course he’s uncertain that Yamato would want his help.  Kakashi’s internal blame calculator right now is like -

GUILTY [was weak.  wanted companionship too much.  let you share my burdens.] GUILTY [took advantage of your loyalty] GUILTY [put you in harm’s way] GUILTY [abandoned you to die] GUILTY [created the person who hurt you (by being the reason obito ‘died,’ by failing to save rin)] GUILTY [still love the person who hurt you] GUILTY [still grieving for the person who hurt you]

It’s complicated enough just handling the “i put you in this position and then didn’t even come to save you” level of things, but adding in the “my personal hero/most sacred, precious source of inspiration is the one who did this to you” level makes it practically impossible to manage, especially when Kakashi is actively experiencing (natural and out of his control) feelings of grief for the person who caused Yamato’s entire ordeal.  Kakashi doesn’t condone or excuse anything Obito did - he fully understands that Obito caused unforgivable harm to untold numbers of people (himself included) - but he still feels things for him, and he can’t do anything about that, and even if he’s accepted that fact on a private level, I still don’t think he’s entirely comfortable feeling those things in the context of Yamato’s situation.  

It’s like what you said about him “wanting to be very careful not to ‘force’ his company on Yamato” - I think he feels like Yamato has every right to reassess or step back from their relationship, given everything that’s happened.  Kakashi may recognize on some level that he can’t control his own feelings about the Obito situation, but he also doesn’t think Yamato should have to be understanding of that.  Kakashi has never considered himself an appropriate recipient of anyone’s respect or devotion to begin with (“you should find someone more suitable”/“then drop the ‘senpai’”), but with Yamato, especially, I think Kakashi feels now that he’s lost whatever scrap of credibility/worthiness he ever had of being looked up to, and he would be very careful not to put Yamato in a position where Yamato feels pressure to accommodate or defer to Kakashi for any reason, whether it be because of the difference in their ranks or the potential lingering feelings of gratitude/debt that Yamato might still associate with the things Kakashi has done for him in the past.  (But of course, like you said, Yamato would probably interpret this as “reticence,” or deliberate distancing, and obviously that would heighten his pre-existing anxieties, which would just complicate things further.)

THIS.  I totally agree with you - I can definitely see Yamato getting frustrated at being (unintentionally) put into a box by Kakashi, because even though Kakashi absolutely does not mean it this way, the fact of the matter is that Kakashi taking on all of the responsibility/guilt/blame about this situation disregards the active choices and sacrifices Yamato made.  It’s almost…disrespectful.  Dismissive of Yamato’s agency.  And of course we as the audience know that it isn’t intended that way at all - Kakashi respects Yamato more than anyone in the world, and his reaction comes from a very real place where he legitimately feels that he’s been taking advantage of unearned/undeserved loyalty and devotion - but I absolutely can see Yamato getting snappy about being treated like what happened to him was the result of something Kakashi “made” him do, like all the work he’s been doing for the last year was just him following orders and not something he also had a personal stake in. 

The whole point of Yamato escaping the Foundation (and even the ANBU) was that he wouldn’t have to be anybody’s lapdog anymore.  It wasn’t about him trading one master for another.  He doesn’t follow Kakashi because he’s obligated to do so; he does it because he believes Kakashi is worthy of being followed.  It’s not that Yamato doesn’t feel a debt of gratitude to Kakashi; he does, and he probably always will, but Yamato also believes in the same mission as Kakashi, cares about the same children, wants to protect the same future.  Maybe, when he accepted that first substitute assignment from Tsunade, he did so in the spirit or following orders or doing Kakashi a favor, but at this point, Yamato is just as invested in the struggle as everyone else.  He cares about the kids just as much, and he’s just as committed to saving the world.  He ended up getting captured because he was willing to give his life for the cause, and he deserves to have that decision honored as the true sacrifice it is, instead of having it minimized as an artificial choice that he was compelled or deceived into making.  

I think, deep down, it’s hard for Kakashi to conceive of the idea that someone would choose to follow him for valid reasons.  He feels like everyone who loves and respects him does so because they’re laboring under a false impression of his goodness.  But for Yamato, hearing this is essentially tantamount to being told that he’s still someone else’s thrall.  Like he isn’t making his own informed decisions about who to follow or who to serve, like he’s still being led around by the nose by someone who can make him do anything they want, like someone else (however benevolent) still has him under their thumb.  I’m sure he knows Kakashi doesn’t mean it that way, but I also can imagine, in a moment of upset, that he would react poorly to being portrayed like that - at the implication, however unintentional, that he isn’t truly free.  

It’s like you said - Yamato doesn’t want Kakashi to keep thinking of him as a prisoner who needs to be rescued.  He doesn’t want to be limited to being a tool in someone else’s hands (especially not a tool for Kakashi’s continued self-flagellation), and he doesn’t want his friendship with Kakashi to be limited to what it was back when Yamato was an enslaved child.  He needs Kakashi to give him credit for his own decisions, which means he needs Kakashi to let go of the guilt and absorb the message ‘i have not been coerced into caring about you!’  Tenzo, in his capacity as Kakashi’s comrade, has never been confused about what kind of person Kakashi is.  He hasn’t been taken advantage of or manipulated into doing something he didn’t want to do.  He has never been a tool for Kakashi to use; he has always been Kakashi’s willing partner.  His loyalty to Kakashi is not unquestioning obedience or obligatory repayment of a debt; it’s justified respect, genuine admiration, and more-than-earned affection.  All Yamato did during the war was take the same risks that Kakashi himself has taken on Yamato’s behalf countless times, and if Kakashi can’t accept the fact that Yamato took those risks willingly - if Tenzo can only be “Tenzo, Kakashi’s charge” instead of “Tenzo, a true equal” - then maybe it’s time to leave that old identity behind entirely.

I do think they’ll eventually figure this all out and it will be okay.  But I 100% understand why we might see Yamato chafing at being addressed in a certain way prior to all these knots being untangled.

Ohh, this…I’m… 😭😭😭

I was reminded of the word “boundless” the other day, and I think it’s quite pertinent as a descriptor for Naruto’s love. :D

OH. I forgot about this quote. 😍🥺

Yeah, it’s such a complicated, intricate situation Yamato and Kakashi will have to navigate. For Kakashi, he thinks he’s undeserving of having a friend like Tenzo (or of having anyone’s regard, as you said) and probably thinks he’s the last person Yamato wants around right now (or maybe ever if he’s smart), and yet wouldn’t it be worse to “abandon” him further by not being there when he needs it? And he’s acutely aware of how much he cares about Yamato and that just makes him more guilty, how selfish can he be when Yamato would probably be so much happier and better off not having Kakashi dragging him down– (He was making so much progress with his estimation of hiw own self-worth, and he’ll still get back to building on that, but this will most likely derail things for a bit.)

And then with Yamato, it should be great because he’s lived his dream, literally! But now he’ll be afraid that it was only a pipe dream, that he was the only one who would wish for it. How can he ask that of anyone, especially after he let everyone down by allowing himself to be captured and that led to so many losses among his allies. He desperately doesn’t want to be alone anymore, but Kakashi’s probably right to distance himself from ‘someone like [him]’.

They want the world for each other, but each think they aren’t the right person to be a part of that. 😭

Exactly. I’m so glad you get me, Pan!

I just had a very hurtful thought about this of which I am very sorry for in advance. How awful would it be for Kakashi, who’s keeping all his feelings about Obito locked deep down inside and doing all he can not to let on anything to Yamato, if while Yamato’s getting filled in, Naruto jumps in like, “Yeah, but Obito changed! And he really helped us out in the end, right Kakashi-sensei?” etc., etc., before Naruto knows what Yamato went through partially by Obito’s hands? Hopefully Naruto and Yamato have different debriefings, or Naruto’s busy having his arm examined during Yamato’s 'cause YIKES.

Uh-huh. 😢

Yep. 😢

(I feel so mean, thinking it’s very likely they’ll have so many “knots” to pick apart, but none of this is contrived miscommunication; it’s things that they’re textually struggling with!)

THIS!!!

*AGGRESSIVE BOBBLEHEAD NODDING*

So this is a little silly, but all I’m picturing now is:

Kakashi: I’m sorry, I won’t call you that anymore if that’s what you want. I know I’ve been a pretty terrible teammate, you’ve had to put up with more than you should’ve–

Yamato (mortified to have yelled at Kakashi): No no no, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it like that! It’s an honor to have had you as my captain, in comparison I’m just a pale imitation–

Kakashi: Whoa, whoa, whoa, what did you just say about yourself? C'mon, Yamato, I know you’re not dumb enough to really believe–

Yamato: No, YOU’RE dumb! Just let someone care about you for once in your life, will you?!

Kakashi: …………………………………………………….wha???

Yamato: I gotta go. *melts into the nearest wall*

—

Kakashi: –and then he just left! I thought it’d just upset him more if I went after him, but I’m not sure how I hurt him in the first place. I was trying to cheer him up. What am I missing here, Gai?

Gai: Absolutely nothing, my dear rival! I am as lost as you are! *gives a hearty thumbs-up* But I do have the perfect solution to help a friend in need. Two words: Dumpling. Shop.

Kakashi: Ah… hm. (his shoulders slump.) I think you may be right. It’s come to this. (determined and not-at-all reluctant or careless:) He’s more than worth it.

—

[Yamato walking along aimlessly, wool-gathering.]

Kakashi (dropping out of nowhere from a tree): Hey, do you wanna go get dumplings with me? It doesn’t have to be dumplings… (I really rather it not be honestly…)

(I’ve never actually seen Frozen as it happens, can you tell?)

So yeah, that was really rough even for a lighthearted sketch of a conversation, but I can imagine them talking past each other similarly, just with better, more in-character dialogue. And really, having it affirmed that the other one wants their company, wants to spend time with them, wants them around–that would help! And then they can untangle their misunderstandings and misplaced guilt over a nice meal. Win-win!

I like that we keep reiterating this, but like, confidently! I truly have zero doubt they’ll work it out and come out stronger and closer than ever, because they’re too important to each other to not put in the work. They love each other and they’re gonna show the other person they are lovable too. :) :) :) (Awkwardly worded, but I bet you know what I mean.) Perhaps that’s why my brain so eagerly goes looking for the angstiest parts of this situation, 'cause it’s reassured that it’ll be okay in the long run. (And also because it craves that sweet sweet emotional hurt/comfort mineral. 😂)

I am SO relieved you understood what I was trying to convey! Also, the bolded bit? The other thing he doesn’t know is how much Kakashi didn’t want it to end either!

I’m sorry. We can cry together? I will be.

YES.  I had to pull this word out to highlight it, because this is EXACTLY how I think Kakashi views this entire situation.  He was “selfish” for keeping Yamato around past the point where he “should” have - Hashirama’s necklace was destroyed during the Pain arc, and Yamato himself says that without it, his ability to suppress the Nine-Tails isn’t anything to write home about, but Kakashi keeps him on as co-captain anyway, and I think Kakashi looks back on this as a selfish decision, one he made not out of necessity but out of personal desire, or weakness, because he WANTED Yamato there, he wanted somebody to share his burdens, he LIKED having Yamato beside him (too much, he thinks; it was too much of a comfort to him; he wanted it too badly) - and so he didn’t dismiss Yamato from his service when he “should” have.  He didn’t want Yamato to leave, and that was selfish, and it ultimately led to Yamato getting hurt.

Yeah, I can’t stop thinking about how Controlled!Yamato was literally holding off the ENTIRE SHINOBI ARMY at once.  The combined forces of the whole Alliance and six Kage at the same time (granted, five of the Kage were very drained after their fight with Madara, but STILL).  That’s.  Mind-blowing.  Makes you think about what Yamato could really do, and what he chooses not to do, every day.  This is what it would be like if he’d ever agreed to be the weapon he was designed to be, but instead he protects children and rebuilds homes that have been destroyed and repairs damage that Naruto did to a random inn they stayed at one time and catches falling baby birds in a new nest that he made for them.  The idea of him waking up and seeing the absolute devastation that he’s wrought on this landscape, the realization that despite how hard he fought to be more than what his original captors wanted him for, someone still managed to use him like the weapon he was intended to be…that’s very upsetting.  ;_;

LMAOO THIS IS SO IN-CHARACTER; I LOVE IT 💯💯💯

lolllll at Kakashi going to Gai for interpersonal advice; this is SO believable, as is Gai having no actual clue what the problem might be but providing his tried and true catch-all solution XD XD XD

“i’d really rather it not be honestly” I HEARD THIS IN KAKASHI’S VOICE; ahaha thank you so much for this; I love it

re: Yamato losing his cool - you’re so right, Yamato *would* be mortified if he ever lost his temper with Kakashi…partially because he didn’t actually mean to do it, or want to do it, obviously, but also partially because the whole “obeying/respecting your superiors” programming is still so deeply ingrained in him…what a nightmare for him!  

Kakashi, on the other hand, would be delighted (once the conflict has been resolved and the need for concern has passed)…he’s been unsuccessfully trying to get Yamato to stop calling him “senpai” for years; he certainly never expected Yamato to forget they’re in an hierarchical relationship altogether and straight-up shout at him.  

Now I’m imagining Kakashi and his gentle teasing turning this into the MOST annoying meme for Yamato, once things are better and they both know it’s something they can laugh about…like, every time they’re out and about and they encounter even the tiniest piece of insignificant public conflict, no matter how minor, Kakashi nods solemnly like he’s deep in thought and goes “You know what this reminds me of?  That time you yelled at me.”

(Kakashi is always 100% serious and straight-faced about it, no matter what they’re looking at, even as the situations get progressively more ridiculous - )

bbq shop owner: *reading someone the riot act (*cough*lee*cough*) for intoxicated destruction of property* kakashi: hmmm.  this is just like that time you yelled at me.

sakura: *pummeling naruto (and sai) for being intentionally (and unintentionally) Rude* kakashi: you know what this reminds me of? yamato: *hands full of brawling kids* nO kakashi: that time you yelled at me.

ninja cat: *lightly swats at pakkun* kakashi: *shaking his head* wow.  that was just like that time you yelled at me.

kakashi: *texts yamato that famous wildlife photo of the mice fighting in a subway station* kakashi’s caption: #that time you yelled at me

yamato, fed up: senpai PLEASE kakashi: what are you gonna do?  yell at me? kids, eager: YELL AT HIM, CAPTAIN

@dreamersscape​ forgive me, I’m putting my reply to your Shikamaru arc question in an actual post; it got too long to go in the actual replies section!

Keep reading

Oh, no worries! It’s never a bad thing when you have a lot to say. I loooove diving into your detailed breakdowns! But don’t ever feel like you have to answer me if I’m curious about something you don’t really care about or have much to say about.

Don’t worry, I didn’t feel any pressure to get over my disappointment too fast or anything like that :)  Venting at you about the finale was exactly what I needed to push me over the hump; it always cures me when I can articulate in writing the reasons why something didn’t work for me.  Once I get to sit down and do my analysis on something, I always feel better, so thank you for letting me write not one, but TWO posts at you…it was a lifesaver and allowed me to feel WAY better.

in-progress (and incoherent) naruto thoughts: waterfall of tears no jutsu edition

kakashi spending an entire day and expending a ridiculous amount of effort and chakra just so his kids can HAVE FUN.  him secretly playing with his kiddos and all their little twelve year-old friends just so they can enjoy themselves, with them none the wiser that he’s doing any of it - him spending the day entertaining children and letting kids be kids Just Because.  just because he wants to.  just because it makes him happy to make them happy.

obito ripping multiple universes open searching for the last surviving member of the family he destroyed, the last surviving member of his own family.

sakura and sasuke seeing each other through that portal.  sakura calling for him, him running to her, the portal shrinking, him catching her before she falls down.

sasuke looking up to see kakashi leaping in front of him to take a projectile meant for him, to die shielding him, just like kakashi promised him he would, all those years ago [i’ll protect you with my life]

i was so stubborn.  and so often…ill at ease.  but you always came to my rescue.

obito sparing kakashi while sacrificing himself.  you stay here a little while longer.  it’s too soon for you to die.  don’t be so quick to follow us.

who do you want to save this time?  kakashi.

I REALLY LOVE YOU GUYS

I was torn whether I should make my own post with my reactions to these episodes so I wouldn’t accidentally push my feelings onto you where maybe our takes or our interest in focusing on specific moments differs, but judging from this post that danger is minimal (😆) and this feels like the most appropriate place to spill all my emotions, so HERE WE GO.

I, too, love to pieces how much effort Kakashi intentionally puts into providing his little genin with fun, silly activities during their rare downtime–something he never had the opportunity for when he was their age. And when he possibly did at a much younger age, like that game of kick the can, he appeared much too focused on accomplishing the “goal” of ‘saving his friends’ to really be freely enjoying himself and having fun (as touching as his serious declarations were to hear). And to add onto what you were saying in your other response:

It’s as you say; he would never ask anything of his students and he does all of it without any expectation to get anything back out of it himself, but it’s true that we never see him as happy as he is when goofing off with his kids. Seeing their smiles, hearing their laughter, and observing the development of their teamwork and bonds, it brings him so much joy! It’s not why he’s doing it, and I admire and relate to him all the more for that, but it makes me indescribably happy and gets me all choked up to see how good this is for him too. ;‿;

And like, his eye-smiles already filled my heart to bursting with love, but how am I supposed to cope now knowing this is the full picture of those?

HE SHOULD ALWAYS BE SO HAPPY.

(Add those gifs to the 'it’s like looking at the sun’ category.)

I loved how Hinata said “Plan A…has…failed.” Bless your heart, my girl. That was the most darling thing ever. <3

And Gai, who’s notorious for being unable to remember people’s faces he’s met, coming so close to recognizing Kakashi! And Kakashi’s nervousness when it looked like he was about to be discovered! I don’t like seeing him uncomfortable, but it was still pretty cute. :) (Curious that he’s fine with his face being seen as long as it’s not connected to being known as his face.)

Now that you’ve met Sukea, you should check out this fanart and Feel Things. ;)

I’m glad that–among other things–they’ve consistently kept Naruto’s unpredictability as one of his greatest strengths. :D

They let Sakura be instrumental in saving the world!!! I mean, this doesn’t erase all the other times they’ve dropped the ball with her certainly, but letting her rescue Sasuke with Obito was a wonderful moment for them and of course was essential in them being able to seal Kaguya later. And Sakura reminds both Kakashi and Obito of Rin. :) :) :) And they could’ve done a better job of integrating Sakura into the final clash with Kaguya, but it still counts as a team victory and I will take it.

I just about died laughing when the first thing Naruto said to Sasuke upon their return was, “Sasuke, have you properly thanked Sakura and Obito?!” Sasuke is pretty much the ONLY person Naruto could possibly chide over their lack of manners and yet be right on the money about it, and he’s not about to pass up the opportunity. 🤣🤣🤣 BUT YEAH, SASUKE, DIDJA?

And now you know why I possess NOT A SINGLE IOTA of composure when it comes to Rin holding Kakashi’s and Obito’s hands. Holding hands as a concept is ruined for me now. It is a Team Minato thing forevermore, and I will never be okay again.

“Why save someone useless like me?!” KAKASHI I GET IT I DO THINGS ARE A LOT RIGHT NOW AND YOU’RE IN A LOT OF PAIN AND FEEL HELPLESS BUT YOU ARE TESTING ME.

Okay, so not to take away from Obito’s earlier words encouraging Kakashi not to rush after him in death and that he wants Kakashi to live - that’s really important and something Kakashi desperately needed to hear! But, well, um… wouldn’t it have been better to actually say out loud what you thought about “As someone who will support the next generation, it’s too soon for you to die” instead of just urging Kakashi to focus on the enemy?? I know, we all want Kakashi to want to live for himself as well as for how he can help others! it’s just, can we not let him get away with calling himself useless when you’re literally thinking about how much Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto need him going forward??? Just a thought, buddy?

He’s crumbling to ash from the inside out, Emily, cut him some slack! He’s gonna make up for it in five minutes! It’s gonna be okay!

IS IT THOUGH?

Hahahahaha remember how I mentioned I was losing my mind at the mere notion of Kakashi and Obito not be together when Obito died? Well, that was nothing compared to the deepest throes of agony I was in when Obito was cracking apart and he only talked to Naruto with Kakashi standing right there. Obviously they fixed this in the next episode, and it’s not that I didn’t want that moment between Naruto and Obito; it was thematically poignant! And I like the parallels between Obito and Naruto! But there was absolutely no way I could appreciate that sequence with Kakashi hurting so keenly that his legs couldn’t even hold his weight AND THEY DIDN’T SAY A WORD TO EACH OTHER! My brother was genuinely worried about me, I was in such a state. 😅 I’ve never yelled so much at a TV in my life!

Heh, they definitely were effective in making black zetsu utterly detestable, huh? I have to say you’re much more vermin-esque, my guy.

“Because the sixth hokage should be you, Kakashi.” Obito speaking for us all!!!!! 🥺🥰

It makes sense that Kaguya would be most mindful and leery of Sasuke and Naruto since they had the seals and so they were the priority for neutralizing; but how awesome is it that in doing so, she left herself open for Kakashi and Sakura to contain and hinder her enough that the boys had time to grab her! :D:D:D:D:D

Probably you’re already of aware of this, but apparently “I really love you guys” lines up a bit smoother in the original because instead of Kakashi telling the kids his first impression of them is “You’re a bunch of idiots”, in the Japanese he says his impression is “Well, I hate you.” Either way though, it really can’t be overstated how moving that sentiment is coming from Kakashi, can it? It knocked the wind right out of me in the best way. And the way they paired this emotional cathartic expression from Kakashi with the fighting plot resolution…! If I think about that line too much it always feels like my brain is going to melt.

Also, I must admit that “I really love you guys” was echoing over and over in my head the other day when we were talking about Kakashi finally “allowing” himself to love his people and this new something-akin-to-peace-of-mind he has when he’s interacting with Sasuke. 😁 This is such a breakthrough for him!

YOU AND ME BOTH.

PAN. Pan Pan Pan! Imagine this new level of tenderness, verbally (internally) acknowledging the affection he feels, and open showing of love and fondness Kakashi’s unlocked - except, still, when he’s speaking of himself - directed at Yamato!!! IT’S WHAT YAMATO DESERVES. WE NEED TO SEE IT.

(The teasing that’s present in Kakashi’s and Tenzo’s dynamic is GREAT don’t get me wrong; that should stay. BUT JUST IMAGINE KAKASHI AT THE VERY LEAST REALIZING ALL OVER AGAIN HOW MUCH YAMATO MEANS TO HIM. NOT THAT HE HADN’T REALIZED BEFORE, BUT WITH THIS NEW MINDSET HE HAS, HOW, I DON’T KNOW, PALPABLE IT IS? HOW MORE OPEN HE KINDA IS TO IT? Am I getting too far ahead of myself here, Pan? Feel free to rein me in if I’m being too sentimental. The internal angst is still coming for both of them, I’m well aware! And I don’t mean Kakashi is suddenly going to do a 180 from the reserved, self-contained person he’s always been when interacting with others. But the next time they hopefully see each other…)

THIS.  Teaching them changed his life - saved it, maybe.  And this is such a masterfully executed arc throughout - from way back when Minato puts Kakashi in charge of Kushina and the baby, because maybe looking after “new life” will help him feel better - it doesn’t work out back then, obviously, but Minato’s idea wasn’t wrong!  He was on the right track!  And Kakashi is so - well, I suppose it’s unusual for anyone to call him “lucky,” but I think he’d agree with me in this case - he’s so lucky, or...blessed, in that even after Minato dies, he has other people who are looking out for him and being concerned enough about him to eventually go to the authorities and tell them, "Take Kakashi out of the ANBU.  He doesn’t belong there.  Give him children to teach.”   And like - now I’m thinking about how Gai and Asuma and Kurenai start to doubt whether they should’ve even gotten involved, after two years go by without any clear results (“I don’t know.  Maybe we three never should have interfered in the first place.  We all thought that if he were away from the ANBU and instead were in charge of young would-be shinobi, things would hold more promise for him, but...”)  And they WERE right, and it did work exactly the way they hoped it would; it just took much longer than they expected, because healing from the kind of life Kakashi’s had is going to be a painstakingly slow process.

I get very emotional about the fact that Kakashi’s time with Team 7 is partially the result of his classmates’ intervention, because what we’re really seeing here is a subtle illustration of the show’s thematic focus on building a new, better world/rectifying the mistakes of the past (even though I don’t think the characters involved consciously realize it).  Multiple people at multiple points in Kakashi’s life step in to try and help him before he self-destructs, and maybe it doesn’t always work out the way they expect it to, and maybe they don’t see results right away, and maybe they think their small gestures were worthless, but that’s not the case.  Look at where Kakashi is now, at how far he’s come.  Their simple efforts made a HUGE difference, years later, and the reason this hits so powerfully is because interventions like that did not happen for Kakashi’s father.  Nobody from the older generation stepped in when Sakumo was the one sinking.  They turned their backs on him.  They’re the ones who pushed him overboard in the first place.  But when Kakashi looks like he might be getting swept away by that same current, people from his own generation step in to throw him a line, even if it means “overstepping” the bounds of their authority.  They go to the hokage and say “are you going to just let this happen” (which is the right question to ask, because that’s exactly what he did, last time). 

Maybe it’s not my place to say this, but...it MUST be said.  We’ve lost too many friends already.  The fact that we see this group of childhood war veterans, who lost so many friends growing up, banding together to be like “NOT ONE MORE” - in a complete departure from the behavior their forebears, who, instead of chasing a comrade in order to save him from an early death, chased him right into the grave - that’s HUGELY powerful.  Kakashi has people who fight for his survival even when he can’t see the value in his own life, which is a gift his father wasn’t lucky enough to receive.  The village wanted Kakashi’s father to drown in his shame, and that’s exactly what ended up happening.  But Kakashi survives, and while obviously we have to credit a lot of that to the strength of his spirit, he also had help, which is such a perfect illustration of everything he’s always taught his students - that we don’t ever accomplish things on our own; we work together as a team; we “care for and support our fellows” above all else; we never abandon a friend.  Kakashi owes his transformative time with Team 7 at least partially to the intervention of people who advocated for him when he couldn’t advocate for himself, who stepped in before he could let himself die, and, considering whose child he is, this is one of those things that is SO thematically appropriate and meaningful that it just puts me on the floor.  

Ahaha yes!!!  My sister and I laughed so hard every time she was onscreen, like, we could not beLIEVE when she ran up to Kakashi gasping “I THINK - A WOMAN - DROWNED OVER THERE”; it was SO funny, because it’s so unlike Hinata to be getting involved in this level of tomfoolery.  And outright lying to a teacher???!  Like, you just know she did it because Naruto begged her, and the whole thing was so adorable.

Yes, we were laughing during this part, too. XD “Curious that he’s fine with his face being seen as long as it’s not connected to being known as his face” - oof, yes, so many Thoughts about this whole thing...the face, the mask, the headband...it was so interesting watching this episode, because honestly, in the moments where we saw his face, I felt almost - intrusive!  Like - I had the urge to look away.  And I felt more comfortable once it was back on.  Even though it is lovely to see his smile in full...I felt like I was spying on him!  I might have felt differently if we were seeing him willingly take the mask off in front of someone else, but as it was, we were just kind of peeping in through the tv while he thought he was by himself - I felt like I was invading his privacy.

(Like, I remember, in the episode where Kakashi almost becomes the hokage, how taken aback he is when the sculptor is like “take your mask off so we can make a mold of your face,” and you can just see Kakashi suddenly remembering that taking office means the village is going to stick a giant carving of him up on the cliff for everyone to stare at - for someone who doesn’t want that kind of attention to begin with, and who certainly does not want his naked face on display 24/7, I just think that would be a special kind of personal hell XD  I hope they let him leave the mask on whenever his face eventually does have to go up there.)

I’ll take it, too, absolutely.  

That whole sequence of Sakura and Obito searching for Sasuke is one of my favorites of all time.  I loved how they put Sakura and Obito back together for another brief arc, after their first scene in the kamui timespace when he asks her to destroy his eye, and she hesitates, even though he’s her enemy.  I loved the way Sasuke is completely lost, completely alone - and then, in the vast emptiness of the desert, he hears Sakura calling his name.  I loved the way he booked it in her direction, so fast, so reflexive.  I loved the fact that he’s seeing all his people still following him into the abyss, still doing the impossible to rescue him, no matter how many times he rejects them or runs away.  I loved how the show lets Obito save each of the kids once - Naruto from the tailed beast separation, Sakura from Madara, and Sasuke from Kaguya - because even though Obito says his “gift” to Kakashi is the sharingan, the most important gift Obito could ever give Kakashi is the lives of his children.

OMG I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THIS.  MY SISTER AND I WERE HOWLING LAUGHING.  This was the most in-character exchange of all time; it was just - aMAZING.  Cheering for Naruto at this moment; you tell him, kid!

(Honestly, I got the same vibe later, when Kakashi produces the Susano’o (ON HIS FIRST TRY AND WITHOUT EVER LEARNING HOW) and Sasuke’s like “that’s impossible” and Naruto says something like “no it’s not!  It’s Kakashi Sensei; they don’t call him the Copy Ninja for nothing!”  And also - “It’s even more awesome than yours, Sasuke” lmaooo like I just adore Naruto admiring his other teammates and scolding Sasuke to appreciate them better XD XD XD

Also, what about when Naruto launched himself at Kaguya saying “As someone who once wanted to be hokage...Obito is.....NOTHING BUT AWESOME TO ME!!!!!!!”  That surprised a huge, affectionate laugh out of us too, not in the sense that it was funny, per se, but because it was so....Naruto.  He forgives so fast, and then goes so hard for the people he considers to be his friends, even people who were his enemies not five minutes ago <33333333

He’s testing us all lmao.  Kakashi.  Sir.  Go at your own pace, but also please know that you’re killing us.

Ohhh this.  Yeah, definitely.  It didn’t upset me in the moment, luckily (mostly because things were moving so fast that by the time it occurred to me to get worked up about it, Obito was coming right back for Kakashi in the chakra world), but it definitely was something that crossed my mind and made me experience a little wince, and if the next episode hadn’t gone the way it did, I definitely would have been suffering the same way as you.  I’m not sure why I wasn’t more bothered with it in the immediate moment - it seems like the kind of thing that is guaranteed to make me lose my mind - but either I had some kind of subconscious suspicion that we weren’t quite done, or I was just still reeling from the emotional impact of ‘don’t you rush to follow us.’  And I guess...there’s also something...oddly in-character about Kakashi allowing, or even...expecting this very personal moment to end up being about someone who isn’t him, even though this is his friend and his crucible and the conclusion of almost twenty long years of his life.  The grief is his.  But he is so devoid of ego or expectations...he doesn’t make things about him, even when they ARE about him.  Even when the pain of it all literally sends him to his knees.

(^^^ do NOT talk to me about that detail.  when i saw kakashi drop to his knees like that...that was.  too much.  that was a fantastic, brilliant choice in terms of characterization, but wow.  This is the only time I can think of that Kakashi has reacted to something by being so utterly overcome like that, in a situation where a) they’re in the middle of a crisis that needs management, and b) he’s in front of the kids.  Never in his life have we ever seen him so exposed.)

I was 99.9999999% certain this was where the narrative was leading us, but BOY was it satisfying to hear it explicitly stated. :D :D :D

YEAH!!!!!  Like - remember when we were having this conversation >>

#i don't know how to explain all the thoughts i'm having about the decision-state that i think kakashi has entered  #i feel like he's broken through some kind of wall  #of shame or guilt or *something*  #some kind of release of responsibility  #and he's just like  #hit this almost zen place of 'i know who i am and i know what i believe and i've made my decision and if it kills me it kills me'  #'so be it'#he's committed to a path now and it might end up with him dead but it still feels more Right than the one he was on before  #and it's not just with sasuke either; it's about the way he's taking care of obito -  #i don't know how to explain it.  it's just a feeling  #i dunno.  i'll have to finish the show to really flesh out whether this is anything more than a fleeting impression that will change later

How wild is it that we were talking about this vague “vibe” or “feeling” of release/freedom we were picking up from Kakashi before I’d even gotten to this episode?????  They managed to subtly communicate the change that had come over him without saying a thing about it, and now I know that I wasn’t imagining things or interpreting his behavior in a weird way, I was just picking up on the subtle signs he was showing before we finally got to his big cathartic moment. <33333333

as if i need to be prompted.  as if i do not think about this every blessed day of my Life

YOU ARE NOT.

I have been thinking about them a Lot in this arc.  A lot, a lot, a lot.  Even though Yamato’s not remotely involved in what’s going on right now, and even though literally nobody on Team 7 knows he’s even with them on the battlefield...I mean, they have NO IDEA he’s even here.  As far as they know, he’s either dead - executed after giving up whatever intel the enemy must have extracted from him - or still being held captive somewhere, as a prisoner or one of Kabuto’s experiments.  But even though he’s not right in the thick of things, and even though his own teammates don’t know that he’s nearby, somehow my mind keeps drifting to him.  Partially because I am just still so WORRIED about him, and partially because I keep thinking about After.  And I know I shouldn’t be thinking about After, because I have absolutely zero proof that any or all of them even survive to that point!  (Though I think it would be beyond ill-conceived for any of them not to, but that’s how I felt [still feel] about Neji, too, so.)  

But I can’t help it.  I want to see the After.  Or, I mean, I don’t actually expect to “see” much of it; the show’s too close to being over; I just want the story to end with the characters in a position where I can think about it or wonder about it on my own and have my thoughts be the slightest bit plausible.  I’m happy to do the imagination work myself - I think about these two all the time anyway.  And I know we were already kinda having a conversation about them a while back, so I won’t get into it all again, but there is So Much they need to sort through, and, especially now that we’ve seen Kakashi arrive at this new internal place, like you said, I just REALLY want to have the space to explore that, and to let THEM explore that, because they’ve never been able to live in the world and feel like they deserved it or were even capable of enjoying anything it had to offer, and I am compelled to the point of distraction by the question of what happens when you give people like them the chance to actually be in the moment and have time, to exist and see a future for themselves and feel things and have experiences beyond “fight” or “die” - because I’m not sure they’ll know what to do with themselves at first, and I want to see them figure it out.  (In my head, I mean.  The show isn’t going to take us that far, and I don’t expect it to, or believe that it should.  I just want it to end in a place where the things I might imagine are possible.)

DITTO TIMES 100000000; talking to you about this show has been and will continue to be one of my favorite things to do, and the depth of our conversations has taken my viewing experience to a completely new level.  I’m eternally grateful! <333

In Which I Attempt to Wreak Havoc Upon Panharmonium's Heart. Or Something.

Because I am an awesome friend, clearly, and possibly making people sad/verklempt is definitely an excellent way to (belatedly 😔 but I did start before the 15th!) celebrate Kakashi's birthday, right? ;)

I will admit up front that this is nowhere near as deftly structured and compiled as your Kakashi fanmix, @panharmonium, but that is precisely why I'm not even going to try to organize all these songs into individual playlists. Yet. Plus, I have a tendency to over-explain so this way I can better expound on why certain songs remind me of certain characters. Sorry that I sorta went a little... overboard?

Everything--except a few that aren't available on spotify, I'll link to them directly--can be listened to HERE.

Keep reading

WOWWWWWW

This is such a glut of riches; thank you so much for putting this together!  The amount of time and effort this must have taken...I feel so lucky to be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor!

What I ended up doing was this: I listened to a few tracks on my own first, without looking at your notes, and then I paused to go read your thoughts on those tracks (I did a few chunks at a time, over a couple of days), which was a really fun method for me, because it meant I could see how many times we ended up thinking literally the same thing, which was (surprise, surprise) virtually all of the time! 

I’m putting some responses under the cut here - I loved this entire playlist, so I’ve just pulled out a sampling of songs to respond to based on where I felt like I had something relevant to say beyond “YES YES 100% AGREE A MILLION THUMBS UP,” which was my blanket reaction to everything you picked XD  

@panharmonium - this post is partly serious ponderings and partly just me having some lighthearted fun, so apologies once again in advance if the tone is all over the place, but you mentioned in our conversation that you feel "less settled" about how Yamato feels about/views romance and how it relates to him personally, and - big surprise! - once more I'm in the same boat as you. You might not be as interested in discussing this or might not have much to say about it since we're not given as much "evidence" in comparison to Kakashi, and if so that's totally okay, but I got to thinking about it idly and then I got sucked in and went back and referenced some relevant episodes and now my brain is Intrigued, haha!

Of course, what I said before about my 'default' being essentially "just about all characters are a-spec until distinctly substantiated not to be" holds true in Yamato's case as well, but at least with Kakashi we've seen on a few occasions how he behaves when someone shows romantic interest in him; we get a pretty good sense where his head is at in those circumstances. There hasn't really been a similar situation with Yamato, he's much more of a 'blank slate' in that regard. He went from being an experiment in a giant test tube, to being a member of a covert organization where he had no name of his own, no past or future, no life beyond his assigned missions, and then spends the rest of his life up until very recently in the slightly-less-secluded-but-still-covert sister branch of the previous organization where he now has a bit more personal experience with things like friendship, but his life is still mostly spent doing things like assassinating people, gathering secret intel, spywork, etc. I can't really imagine Danzo sitting down all the orphaned or otherwise 'stray' kids that grew up in the Foundation to discuss "the birds and the bees" with them. 😂 So my assumption is most of them had to make do with picking up what they could from any of their older peers on the topics of sex education and dating advice? Since Danzo was apparently still considering recruiting Kakashi when he was around 19-20 (and after he ordered him to be killed a few years before that, the nerve!), it appears that not all Foundation ANBU grew up there/had some scraps of personal lives outside Foundation headquarters? But obviously I would guess very little romance/dating if any was tolerated under Danzo's watch.

So then, cue me picturing 14-year-old!Tenzo asking Kakashi stuff like, "Hey, senpai? How do you know if you have a crush on someone?" and Kakashi just replies, "Beats me, kid." and pats him on the shoulder.

What if--and this is a very silly idea, forgive me--what if Kakashi first picked up an icha icha novel as a way to, like, find examples to more easily explain romantic matters to Tenzo, who can then figure out for himself how he feels about it all? And then Kakashi, who we saw was already a bookworm as a kid, gets drawn into the plots because they're light and frivolous and the opposite of the dark, unpleasant, life-or-death lifestyle of the ANBU.

What REALLY got my mind going down a rabbit hole was when I remembered how Yamato reacted to Sakura trying to convince Naruto she loved him now instead of Sasuke. Going back and watching that scene again, Yamato has one of the stronger shocked reactions/expressions when Sakura makes her declaration, and once the surprise wears off a little, he's still very taken aback and there's even some consternation when he questions, "What is going on?!?" and Kakashi has to physically hold him back from intervening. Yamato is continuously caught off guard by all the revelations made by Sakura and then Sai, with a marked difference in how he accepts the news that Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro deliver to them immediately afterwards. And then, he doesn't even get to be there to witness the confrontation with Sasuke and everything that happens and is said there! He only hears the abridged version. So it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if right before Yamato leaves with Naruto on their "secret S-rank mission", he quietly takes Kakashi aside and asks, "Are... are the kids gonna be alright? Sakura just tried to kill the person she loves. And I'm still a bit ticked off he ditched me again, but Naruto did just had a panic attack so bad that he fell unconscious from it! I tried to get him to eat some porridge, but he didn't have any appetite and he said he was having nightmares about Sasuke. And now he apparently seems okay with fighting Sasuke again, even if it means they both die? What do I do if we run out of ideas for ways for Naruto to train or other things to do stuck on a boat for weeks and Naruto gets so bored he starts thinking about stuff and he ends up upset again because the girl he likes lied to him and agrees with everyone else that Sasuke needs to be treated like an enemy? I'm not trained for this, senpai!" And Kakashi is reminded again of how much he regrets trying to reassure Sakura everything would be okay after Naruto's and Sasuke's first fight on top of the hospital, and all he can say is, "Well, if it's any consolation, you can't do any worse than me at comforting crying, heartbroken subordinates." And that's the last thing they talk about the last time they saw each other? They're both doing all they can to help and protect these kids but they both feel so inadequate on a number of levels and it makes me so sad! So then I try to put a humorous spin on it... 🙃

Anyway, I'm not trying to portray Yamato as this poor innocent baby when it comes to how romance works, but it struck me that he probably hasn't had much opportunity to experience much in the romantic realm, and then he's thrust head-first into substituting for his personal hero and not only is that first mission a disaster, but he's now surrounded by a bunch of pining, angsty teenagers! Maybe it's a good thing he might've not heard that the reason why Naruto completely lost control of the Nine Tails during Pain's attack and he wasn't there to stop him from transforming, was because Hinata confessed her love to Naruto and then was very nearly killed in front of him?

some general responses to you under the cut here, before I inevitably go on a long tangent about our favorite plant person 🌱🌳🍃