seaemberthesecond

[seaemberthesecond]

Thoughts that pop into my mind before bed. And a possible hot take. 🤷🏽‍♀️

So, a lot of people say that Kakashi was this brainwashed little lap dog of Konoha because of his unrelenting loyalty. And that’s why they don’t like him. Fair enough - you don’t have to like him.

But was he a lap dog, tho? I’m sure someone has mentioned it before, and I’m not the first, but his passive aggressive white-haired behind protested the establishment from the day Obito died.

I know it’s like, huh?!

From a cultural perspective, Kishimoto is from Japan. A country which is known for its structure and adherence to norms, especially punctuality. He created Kakashi, who from the day Obito met The Rock, said I’m going to be late for EVERYTHING! Not just minutes late, but HOURS late. He intentionally created him to be outside the norm.

Meh, I know, ok, ok, so Konoha isn’t necessarily Japan and they may do things differently. Let’s let that slide. People are born with pink, white, and blue hair there and they’re currently fighting aliens and cyborgs. So really can’t compare. Cool. But even in this fictional world his lateness was an outlier and considered rude.

Okay, but hello, Kakashi is also in the military. Ain’t no military in the world, fictional or real, gonna put up with blatant disrespect for time. I’m from a military family and there’s an old military saying that goes, “early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.” You just don’t.

Kakashi really doesn’t care. Hello? He was late to the Third, who happened to be his commanding officer, elder, and village leader’s, funeral. The ultimate disrespect. Why was he late? Because he was paying homage to his friends and father who were all dead in the name of the village who couldn’t care less about them. Kakashi blatantly disrespects and disregards everything the village stands for ALL THE TIME and that scene was the epitome. And he does it not so subtly. From being late to everything to reading erotica in public (*faints and clutches pearls*) to failing all previous kids in the academy that were sent to him, which is him saying he plays by his own rules not Konoha’s.

I think people forget how high ranking Kakashi is (literally only the jonin commander, the elders, and Hokage outrank him). In the war, he’d be the equivalent of a general. Put his actions into the perspective of his rank and you really will see how he spat in their faces.

They could have demoted him, stripped him of his rank. Kicked him out of the forces. Reprimanded him in other ways. Etc…but the reality was they couldn’t. He was their cash cow. With the Sannin gone, he was bringing in the most money for the village, so they had no choice but to let him do as he pleased and he knew that. So for as many people who say he was Konoha’s lap dog, Konoha was his.

But, wait, he could have left. Right?? Nope. Why’d the little punk stay and be loyal to a village that destroyed his life? Why? Because. He was anchored to that forsaken village by guilt. If he can’t leave those graves to show up on time for a funeral or to train his squad or go on a mission, then lawd knows he’s not leaving those graves permanently to go rogue. Even if they’re dead, his family and friends are there. As are his living ones. Even at his lowest, he wouldn’t/couldn’t leave them behind. Something…something… blah blah blah about being scum. So, he internally, as in within the confines of the village, and subtly went rogue on a daily with passive aggression, resistance, and defiance.

[seaemberthesecond]

the empty queen, part iii

barry lyndon (1975) / star wars meets the eras of feminism by valerie estelle frankel / the star wars archives: episodes i-iii by paul duncan / kate elizabeth russell / episode i journal: queen amidala by jude watson / louise glück / mitski

[seaemberthesecond]

That post that's like "stop writing characters who talk like they're trying to get a good grade in therapy" really blew the door wide open for me about how common it's become for a character's emotional intelligence to not be taken into consideration when writing conflict. I remember the first time I went to therapy I had such a hard time even identifying what I was feeling, let alone had the language to explain it to someone else. Of course there are plenty of people who've never been to therapy a day in their life who are in tune to their emotions. But even they would have some trouble expressing themselves sometimes. You have to take into account there are plenty of people who are uncomfortable expressing themselves and people who think they're not allowed to feel certain ways. It also makes for more interesting conflict to have characters with different levels of understanding.

[seaemberthesecond]

[seaemberthesecond]

NOT EVERYTHING FEELS LIKE SOMETHING ELSE

[seaemberthesecond]

I Was Into Weird Shit When I was Only 6 Years Old

[seaemberthesecond]

declan csa parallels haven't left me since I made the connection

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about this, because honestly same.

This is one of those things that I won't even say is a headcanon because it's not. It's a reading of the text, plain and simple. The evidence is all there.

Violation of autonomy, familial harm, and secrets are all big themes in tdt. The central problematic of the Lynch family is that the secrets in the underbelly tear them apart and prevent the brothers from connecting to each other in real and meaningful ways. They're deliberately denied the language and vocabulary to articulate their experiences out of fear of the family's secrets being exposed, leaving them unable to communicate with each other.

And in the middle of all of this, we have Declan.

Declan who, unbeknownst to his brothers, is experiencing a radically different childhood riddled with danger and violence and is forced to keep it a secret by his parents for the 'good of the family.' Declan who resents Ronan and Matthew for getting the idyllic childhood he's been deprived of, thus creating rifts in their relationship. Rifts that are further exacerbated because of the secrets he's forced to keep – he can't talk to them about what's actually happening in his life, he can't share anything real with them, so he constructs a fake persona to hide behind, even at home. But his brothers pick up on his artifice and withdraw from him, leaving him even more isolated.

This is…such a painfully obvious allegory for sexual abuse that I'm kind of dumbfounded by the fact that more people don't talk about it.

Both Ronan and Matthew recognize that Declan is treated differently by their parents, but they deliberately don't examine this too deeply because doing so would require that they acknowledge that something sinister lurked in the margins of their childhood and that's just not something they want to face. Declan's grief isn't as clear-cut as Ronan and Matthew's, because he's grappling with the very real harm his parents did to him, but he's demonized for his "sceptical and imperfect love" for Niall and Aurora. His attempts at getting Ronan to see that their parents weren't who he thought they were are met with hostility and scorn (and in Matthew's case, hesitant incredulity). Because again, Ronan doesn't want to hear it. He's actively standing there with his hands over his ears chanting lalalalalala. I mean in CDTH, we can see how very discomfited he gets when faced with Declan at the fairy market because it forces him to re-evaluate his own childhood in light of all this new information about his brother's secret life that was taking place right under his nose. And he does not want to do that.

I mean does that not drive you insane?? The subtext is THERE. Everything about how the Lynch Brothers' dynamic is set up allows for the reading that Declan has suffered some kind of sexual abuse at the hands of one/both of their parents.

And this is purely at a thematic level. It gets crazier when you consider Declan displays many of the characteristics and behaviours of sexual assault survivors.

"It wasn’t that he hadn’t gone on dates or hooked up, that unlovely euphemism for what was sometimes a perfectly nice time. It was that he didn’t get too close. Intimacy was allowed as long as it revealed nothing truthful." (ch 69, cdth)

His issues with intimacy

His 'hypersexuality'

“So he’s a man-whore. It’s not your problem,” Gansey said. (ch 4, trb)

His troubled relationship with physical touch

(He never initiates anything physical with Jordan, it's always her making the first move; his discomfort with Aurora's hug in the Dauntless Declan scene; his discomfort with Feniall's hug in CDTH; he avoids touching his brothers even and is surprised whenever Matthew reaches out to him.)

His disassociation from his own emotions

Declan Lynch had a complicated relationship with his family. It wasn’t that he hated them. Hate was such a slick, neat, simple emotion. Declan envied people who felt proper hate. (ch 10, MI)

So even if you choose to believe Declan wasn't assaulted by Niall or Aurora, there is still enough evidence in the text itself to suggest he's suffered from some kind of sexual violence during his childhood. Fairy Markets aren't exactly child-friendly places (the woman getting strangled in one of the rooms in CDTH anyone?) and it's not really a stretch to assume Declan had to put up with some fucky shit as a uhh* checks notes* 10-year-old in the uhhhh *checks notes again* black market for the rich and powerful.

And then there's the declan-adam-hennessy and the declan-adam-mor triangles which exist independent of whether you consider Declan a victim of sexual violence but certainly get reinforced if you subscribe to it. But I won't get into that.

All this to say, CSA survivor Declan you will always be real to me.

[seaemberthesecond]

A shattered memory

[seaemberthesecond]

darth vader // hamlet's ghost

[seaemberthesecond]

“A lot of people object to the fact that there’s a man in [the suit] at all. But the film is about human frailties; it’s not about monsters.”

—George Lucas, on Vader’s redemption

[seaemberthesecond]

[seaemberthesecond]

Role reversal AU: Tsunade's successor

(and Sakura as Orochimaru's student)

[seaemberthesecond]

Hatake Kakashi [Naruto] by TsuyaNoUchi

https://tsuyanouchi.etsy.com

[seaemberthesecond]

the most annoying people are people who don't understand storytelling. they be like "oooo how convenient that this thing happened to the main character in the very beginning". yeah no shit. that's why the story begins here

[seaemberthesecond]

Screaming crying throwing up thinking about how all the beautiful and strange and fantastical animals Ronan dreams up flock to Declan, Disney Princess style. How the floating lights in trk want to go home with Declan. How Ronan dreamt up Chainsaw, the truest and most tender part of his soul, after the Nino's fight in trc. Thinking about how much Matthew loves Declan despite being created to be his replacement, to be Ronan's better-loved and better-loving brother.

Thinking about how even after all the years, all the time and effort and energy Ronan put into hating Declan, he is betrayed by his own creations. No matter what he does, his dreams can't help but love Declan, because Ronan can't help but love his brother.

[seaemberthesecond]

the siblings ever

[seaemberthesecond]

theyre literally having this conversation in the middle of a 5 kage summit