La Belle Dame Sans Merci

ep2: :’) the only version of shkl@nce i tolerate

i think that kishimoto is certainly capable of writing women (and to pretend otherwise feels like i'm giving him a get out of jail free card or something), but the issue is that he gives them so little narrative attention that it feels like he doesn't? like sakura, hinata and tsunade in particular are probably who i'd pinpoint as "the best written" female naruto characters in terms of having a clear character arc, but so much of their development - particularly sakura, but this is definitely applicable to the other two - occurs throughout the background of the story that it doesn't feel like it's happening, or is given the attention it deserves.

like, all three of them have certain moments that definitely trigger their growth to occur - sakura in the forest of death, hinata's fight with neji, and the search for tsunade arc in general for tsunade - and they all have significant moments that showcase this growth - sakura's fights with ino and sasori, hinata's attempt to fight pain knowing that she'll lose, and the closing of the search for tsunade arc where she overcomes her fear and decides to become hokage. but because either the context required for these moments to hit as hard as they do or the smaller showcases of their character development - or both - are so subtly placed throughout the background of the story that you kind of have to search for them. to give more examples yet again, it requires the audience to realise that sakura and ino's rivalry was never really just over sasuke, and to acknowledge her insecurities and desperate need to fit in with the others in order to understand her motivations and why her decisions in the forest of death are important. if she was a male character, we would have had gratuitous flashbacks placed in every goddamn chapter reminding the audience of these motivations which would really hammer it in, but because she isn't, it the context behind her decisions and growth is left to fade into the background.

this post has just been me rambling so i hope that it makes some semblance of sense but i don't know how else to word this lmao

#175

SouHaru Week | Day One: Firsts & Childhood

the first time sousuke beats haru in a race, he plops his head on haru’s lap. haru just hopes sousuke doesn’t grumble about his bony knees.

i like drawing meryls for my mental health tbh

stryfewood week day 2: hold

Milly + Meryl

epic sci-fi Xehanort (this is the heartless factory in kh2 hollow bastion)

Important ideas to consider when creating characters who are black and indigenous people of color. (x)