truest0nerisms

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going to ao3 and sorting by internalized homophobia

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Courtney Love talking about the meaning behind her band name, Hole

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new narusasu fic!! Remember this panel? Well I sure do. I 11 thousand words of remember it

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i’m moving

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Chapter 447

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lyric from untouched by the veronicas

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no more... no more.......

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it’s hard to be 12

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Family, Food, and Gaiden

a lot of people have already talked at length about the bento scene in gaiden, but I wanted to do it too, and specifically how it, gaiden, and the rest of the manga posit (through naruto himself and outside observers) what family is, and that by that metric nh aren't a true family. namely, food and protection. long post warning i like to talk.

so first let's set the stage and go back to chapter 3, where it's observed by kakashi that naruto has been drinking expired milk:

chapter 3 is a huge chapter for establishing naruto the character, it's early on enough that any information we're presented about him is going to massively affect our perception of the character, where chapter 1 is the turning point in his life through iruka, this is the one that really sets the status quo; naruto has a rivalry with sasuke and a 'crush' on sakura, and we're shown sasuke understands naruto's loneliness. we're shown naruto lives alone and eats alone and the food he eats is expired. we get three panels at the end of this chapter of outsiders (kakashi and hiruzen) commenting on naruto's home, and two are dedicated to pointing out the milk, which makes it the most memorable detail and more likely to affect the readers understanding of naruto. while it's part of the comedic story of the chapter, it also symbolises his loneliness, his lack of a family.

so next is iruka. before iruka protects him, he offers to buy naruto food. while iruka's bodily protection is a very obvious bonding moment between the two, it's the offer of food that sets the stage for them actually bonding:

naruto also reflects specifically on them eating together, rather than physically saving him, when calling iruka his family at vote1:

this is connected later in chapter 536, where iruka reflects that he thinks of naruto as a brother (which also lightly refutes narutos vote1 misunderstanding of their relationship being fatherly, and that it further refutes the sns 'brothers' thing, but that's besides the point)

specifically, he thinks of himself as unable to protect naruto and that that means he's failing to live up to being family. but bee, an outside observer, recognises that they are family regardless:

and this page ends with naruto eating the letter iruka wrote him, emphasising that it's not just protection that makes a family but food.

so let's go to gaiden and talk more about outsiders. there are five people present in the first part of the bento scene, most importantly boruto, sarada, and shikamaru. boruto is the only one who could be considered a part of the nh dynamic, and he's visibly upset about what he sees in that relationship:

sarada's role in this scene is to tell us explicitly the meaning of the food, boruto's is to show his dissatisfaction with the state of his father's relationships to him and hinata, but shikamaru's is to take over what naruto isn't there to say (his apology), just as bee did above with iruka, and to watch the rest unfold, and we see him every three or so panels, reemphasising that his observation is a critical part of this scene. the big difference is he can't offer any true reassurance, he can't help them, he can only give instructions and relay messages, because unlike iruka and naruto's relationship, this one has no solid foundation

gaiden further emphasises the connection between food and family through cho cho. when we first see her and choji in a scene we understand she knows her father well through her observations on his chip habits (and serves to further show sarada's lack of a father). the chips are not just food but symbolic of cho cho's connection with her father

which is why she offers them to sasuke to make up with sarada, even bringing the same flavours as in the above panels. it may come across simplistic, even naive, but it also evokes the lack of connection between sasuke and sarada

speaking of offering food, let's quickly go back to the bento

speaks for itself really but it also parallels iruka as the first change and moment we, the readers, see of bonding between sasuke and naruto is not training together or the bodily protection of the land of waves, but once again the offer of food. he also goes on to eat lunch together with sarada and cho cho, but won't come home for dinner. also the favourite restaurant tidbit:

so it's not just the offering of food but the sharing of food too, we go back to chapter 152, where naruto observes a father and son sharing an icey pole, and even mentions food waiting at home.

it's another physical symbol of his loneliness, and the association of family, through jiraiya, and then connected again to iruka

furthermore, the minato one shot strengthens this connection by having minato and jiraiya share the same food in the same scenario of training the rasengan (which in turn was created for kushina)

kushina and minato are also associated with food in their relationship to naruto, firstly through his name

but more importantly through their few and last moments with him. the first thing kushina says with her last words is her wish for him to eat well, it's an extension of her wish for him to have connection and family.

and in his goodbye to minato, naruto begins by mirroring this speech, listing off the foods he likes; these moments are bookends so obviously they'd mirror each other but it shows an understanding on naruto's part of the role food plays in his relationships, and a deeper connection by him listing specifically foods he likes, letting his father know actual facts about him (something cho cho knew about her father)

he also assures his father he does now have connections:

so back to gaiden once more. when naruto talks about family he says what's most important is love:

when sarada reflects on her mother after this, she's specifically shown eating, because food is connection and family. this was about her yearning for a relationship to her father, while her mother was the one there for her, providing her food

in contrast, nh have never shared food. hinata's offer of food is delivered through boruto and sarada, not from her own hands, and the entire scenario is subject to criticism from the characters and readers. when naruto receives the food he thinks of sasuke instead, someone he has claimed as family over the course of the series, and who is shown through the series to meet the criteria of love and family as food and protection. ergo, nh are not truly family in the eyes of the narrative.

as an addition, ss do not actually share food either. in chapter 173 he physically rejects sakura's offer of food:

when they do end up 'sharing a meal' in gaiden, they're actually not. beyond the fact they both look miserable, this scene is about appeasing sarada, showing her in a naive contrast to boruto from earlier who accurately understands his parents lack of connection. it's the same as the previous scene where she thinks back on her mother, eating her mothers food and wanting a connection with her father. the table shown only seats two either side, in fact we don't even know that as we can't accurately see how wide it is, we see no place set up for sakura, she's not part of this meal beyond making it. and unlike sarada who is obviously ready to eat by the chopsticks in her hand, sasuke has made no move to touch the food. he is not an active participant in this meal, and therefore in this relationship

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if i was born 500 years ago i would have been speculating that the two dudes who went to get firewood together were fucking

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somebody loves you

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finally done. hope you like it 🖤

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sasuke day 135

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bad timing

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kishimoto loves to draw naruto and sasuke in beautiful complex as fuck outfits so i can fail at recreating them

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Netanyahu decided today to continue the war. This means more children will be killed and many lives will be lost.

And don't forget the difficult humanitarian conditions of hunger and lack of basic resources for life. Let us be understanding and logical and take a serious stand with the oppressed Palestinian people. Let's come together toward justice and humanity. Don't get tired of standing by our side and supporting us financially by donating here and supporting us morally by participating and interacting. From the bottom of my heart, my family and I say thank you to everyone.