Drive-By Update

[redbrunja]

It is clearly the final month of school; I'm stressed, my to-do list needs two sticky notes to get everything on it, etc.

So if I haven't replied to your comment, it's probably because you wrote something that will take me more than two seconds to respond to; don't worry, I'll respond. Just... not right away.

~~~

Secondly, the latest fandom_secrets post was so incredibly wank-tastic and troll worthy, that it deserves it's own WTF commentary. I'm not going to go into details, except that I have something brief to say about the Sasuke/Sakura/Hinata/Naruto (not in the fun orgy way) secret, since people on my flist are already talking about it:

1.) Sasuke/Sakura and Hinata/Naruto ARE NOT correlated variables: one can happen without the other.

2.) Stepping back from the details of the pairings themselves (since I think everyon already knows my opinion on that), wouldn't it be incredibly problematic if they both happened? Doesn't that send a horrible message to both girls and boys about how girls should just endlessly pursue the object of their desire? And boys should just go 'oh, okay' regardless of who THEY want to be with, because those girls spend so much energy on them? It takes (or it SHOULD) two to tango and neither Sasuke nor Naruto has shown that they are romantically interested in Sakura and Hinata, respectively. Which leads me to point three:

3.) Kishimoto is not writing a romantic adventure manga. Arguing about which pairing will be canon at this time is pointless because Kishimoto has not given us ANYTHING CLOSE to a clear canon signal about what relationships will end up being canon (one-sided crush does not equal 'will be canon'). This is not Avatar: we don't know how Team 7's romantic lives will work out and it's actually somewhat probable with Kishimoto's emphasis on nakama that we WILL NOT get a bunch of pairings in the epilogue (please god).

~~~

Thirdly, I watched Star Trek on Sunday and it was the most awesome movie I have seen since Iron Man. Longer post to follow... sooner or later.

Comments

[sowell.livejournal.com]

Sakura/Sasuke and Hinata/Naruto aren't necessarily correlated values, but given Kishi's love for neat endings...I honestly think it's likely that if one happens, the other will as well. Sadly. But I really hope there are no pairings at the end, seriously. I'll have to take a vacation from the internet due to shipping insanity if Kishimoto pairs them off.

And yeah...I'm with you on #2. I hate the idea of both these girls getting rewarded at the end with the affection of guys who have mistreated/ignored them throughout the series. Not what I consider a romantic ending. And it's not because I hate Naruto and Sasuke, but because I hate that particular ideal - that the way to true love is being loyal to your significant other no matter what happens/how they treat you. Nice thought, but...not so much. Especially if it's only the girls who get their romantic happiness that way. I would especially hate it if the couples are shoved together in a Harry Potter style epilogue without showing WHY or HOW it came to be.

Sakura ending up with Naruto is, in my opinion, slightly less crazy-making, but not much. I don't want him to have, like, 'earned' her by becoming the STRONGEST NINJA EVER, and I'm afraid Kishi will frame it that way if it happens. And then that leaves Hinata alone and unhappy and ripe for Neji to swoop in and that's no good either.

NAKAMA, Kishi. GO NAKAMA.

PS - I started watching Avatar, and it's really, really addictive.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

but given Kishi's love for neat endings...I honestly think it's likely that if one happens, the other will as well. Sadly

This is true. I have to admit, one of the reasons I could handle Sakura/Naruto is that there have been hints she could think/thinks about him in that way, and it would totally cock!block Sasuke/Sakura.

I hate the idea of both these girls getting rewarded at the end with the affection of guys who have mistreated/ignored them throughout the series. Not what I consider a romantic ending. And it's not because I hate Naruto and Sasuke, but because I hate that particular ideal - that the way to true love is being loyal to your significant other no matter what happens/how they treat you. Nice thought, but...not so much. Especially if it's only the girls who get their romantic happiness that way.

Exactly! It comes across as giving such a gendered, negative message: just suck it up and don't take no for an answer and sooner or later you'll get rewarded. It's not quite that simple for Hinata/Naruto, given that Naruto has never seemed to REALIZE that Hinata likes him, and treated her nicely regardless, but Sasuke and Sakura? Not so much.

And then that leaves Hinata alone and unhappy and ripe for Neji to swoop in and that's no good either.


...wait a minute. Does this mean that if I asked really, really nicely there would be a possibility that I could get some Neji/Hinata written by the amazing sowell?

Also, Avatar IS addicting. And so unbelievable good.

[sowell.livejournal.com]

I would LOVE to write some Neji/Hinata, but it seems a little daunting. The Hyuugas are hard nuts to crack, I think.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

They are. Especially when you're writing two of them. I think it's easier when one of the people ISN'T speaking in three different kinds of subtext, you know?