redbrunja | Drive-By Update

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.

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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).

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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think series which end everything with various characters pairing off (Digimon, Harry Potter) tend to, well... have shitty endings that don't ring true. And given the way Naruto is already written, I could unfortunately see this happening.

I totally agree with this. I have hope, but yeah, Kishimoto is not know for his amazing writing skillz.

I do actually think a woman pursuing/achieving her interests should be empowering/encouraged by the narrative, even if those interests are romantic in nature. I don't like the message that, oh, she should just put her sexual desires aside because LOL NARUTO'S SEXUAL DESIRES 4 SASUKE MATTAR SOOO MUCH MOAR

You have a good point about this. I'm more concerned with the narrative emphasis that there will be if BOTH Sasuke/Sakura AND Hinata/Naruto happen, you know? Because honestly, those girls did not have the healthiest behavior with regards to love-affairs, imho. And if BOTH happen, I think it will read as encouraging what can be looked at in some lights as very stalker-y behavior. I'm cool with one happening (say, Hinata/Naruto, because I have so many other, personal ymmv problems with Sasuke/Sakura) and then Sakura either getting together with Sai (leave me to my delusion) or the beloved Rory ending (Gilmore Girls reference, it's when the female says no to the relationship that will limit her and says yes to the whole wide world waiting for her).

And there's also the whole "It's okay if a guy treats you like crap and/or completely ignores you because if you endure that for long enough he'll finally return your feelings" thing that goes along with SasuSaku and NaruHina being the endgame ships.

That too.

I mean.... I don't want to get into which pairings I like because I'm trying to talk about more general theme and prediction and WHAT IS ACTUALLY WRITTEN IN THE MANGA but Sasuke and Sakura... kinda of had a really screwy relationship when they were kids, to the point that I can't look at future fic/prediction for them and NOT see Sakura muzzling herself a bit and Sasuke not realizing what he has.

With NaruHina, I'm personally not a major shipper or anything, but I'd argue maybe he's just never really looked at her in that light? To my mind, that's not the same as rejecting someone. I think your eyes can open to a person if you realize they are a romantic option. Maybe this is just me over-relating to my own life, but I've had several instances where I didn't really consider someone in *that* way, then the light-bulb kind of went off all at once, only to find out they reciprocated. Of course, it's not as though this happens in every instance.

I agree with that actually, which is one reason I wouldn't mind it happening.

I totally know what you mean about ymmv with SasuSaku. Like, I know SasuSaku shippers who explain why they like it, so I can see the appeal of the idea of Sasuke ultimately coming around and Sakura . . . I don't know. Changing because of what she went through and growing and then the ship ultimately overcoming everything, but there are elements of the way that the two were portrayed that I just, gah, can't quite get past.

Specifically, I don't like the fact that the narrative would sometimes seem to mock/degrade Sakura for her interest in Sasuke, or imply it was weak and that she needed to get over it (I think I saw someone saying in an interview that Kishi had even intended this to be a character flaw/weakness of Sakura's), but then also treat it as something serious and sad. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. I get that a pairing can transcend how the narrative handles it, but that still really bothers me.

Plus, it would seem that the implication is strongly that Sakura is not as interested anymore, though it's hard to be certain.

Now, Naruto/Hinata, I agree with you about. I'm not personally a huge, huge shipper, but Hinata's desires don't seem as . . . scorned, by the narrative? They do seem to be treated as positive, as

cherryfruit said, and I get the sense that Kishimoto has a certain kind of fondness for Hinata. Although she's not been developed much, her arc has been very sympathetic. I guess, while I have a hard time supporting any main pairing becoming canon due to the wankfest it'd cause, a certain part of me does want NaruHina to become canon, just because it'd be such a validation of Hinata's feelings, and honestly, Naruto simply hasn't really considered Hinata, as of yet. If he looked in her direction, well, who knows?

Plus, it would seem that the implication is strongly that Sakura is not as interested anymore, though it's hard to be certain.

This is a large reason why I really, really don't want them to get together. Because she and Naruto are in the exact same place with Sasuke, and I love how she was all 'I'll save Sasuke for you!' and... I just feel like putting them in a relationship would cause that to be lose. I want the manga to end with Team 7 bffs, not romantic, you know?

I guess, while I have a hard time supporting any main pairing becoming canon due to the wankfest it'd cause, a certain part of me does want NaruHina to become canon, just because it'd be such a validation of Hinata's feelings, and honestly, Naruto simply hasn't really considered Hinata, as of yet. If he looked in her direction, well, who knows?

That's one of the reason's I'm fond of Hinata/Naruto (besides the fact that Hinata deserves whatever she wants - which is a bad reason - and it not involving Sasuke -slightly better reasoning) is that Naruto is oblivious that I think it would take something very big to get him to think about ANYONE in a romantic way. So, if he came back from chatting with Pain and was like, 'yo, baby,' I wouldn't have any complaints.

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