timepiececlock

Well, there's still Sasuke and Madara, at least.

autoschismatic wrote a thoughtful and thorough analysis of why so many fans think that the Naruto manga marginalizes and sidelines its female characters, and why that is a problem that should be discussed, not ignored. Many people have replied, including myself, and there's an active debate going on about the issues discussed.

I only occasionally make my feelings on these topics known in my LJ, because I mostly squee about fandom and shipping, and politics are, at best, a distant third. I'm more likely to discuss those issues in reply to someone else's post than my own. But, just for full disclosure, I'd like to make a general reply to the people on that thread and to fans of manga and anime in general--and fictional in general, on both sides of the Pacific---about why I feel these issues matter as talking points in fandom and IRL.


For the ones who say that padding extra development into the lone female character is overdoing it just to make her PC for the feminists:

I don't think that feminism requires people to change their stories to make female characters more PC by "stretching" them to the detriment of the plot around them. I want stories written from the start by an author who recognizes that women are people too, and live in that world, and matter to that world. It shouldn't have to BE a stretch at all. Women aren't added to anything--we're already here.

Let me say that again:

We are already here.


For the ones who are content with shonen manga as is, or Hollywood movies as is, or comics or TV as is, feel it's already good enough, and by including a few women are doing all they really need to do:

I think it's great that you love how Naruto handles gender in the workplace, and that you love the series as it is. I love this series, too, and I don't want to take away someone else's love. But I can't be as satisfied as you are. Because--I'm not satisfied. Almost isn't enough. And yeah, my voice here won't change the story, won't make anything better. But we've got to "complain", we've got to scream it from the mountaintops or the messageboards every. single. time.

Or nothing will change. Because:

I AM NOT SATISFIED. I AM NOT TOTALLY HAPPY. WE DESERVE BETTER.

ALL OF US, READERS AND WRITERS AND ARTISTS, CAN BE BETTER.

WE CAN BE BETTER AT GENDER BALANCE. WE CAN BE BETTER AT RACIAL BALANCE.


And I will never, ever, stop complaining until I get what I want. You can't shame me into silence, because I am not ashamed to call out the problem when and where I see it. This, dear world, dear internet, is what I demand. Me: one person. And us: oh, so many more.

We are here.

Art that amused me recently:

A Series of Unfortunate Events , non-fandom, just silly fun.

I forgive you Zuko, Avatar:TLA, spoilers for 3x16, hilarious Katara expressions.

Inside The Doctor's Brain... , Doctor Who, Ten.


Cuddlllllllllle, Avatar:TLA, Katara/Zuko, one of the prettiest ATLA fanarts I've seen.

Naruto 431: Team Gai's Homeward Bound, parody, Naruto manga spoilers and its Chapter 434 sequel.

Naruto 435 crack , Naruto manga spoilers.

Sometimes when I see a fanfiction with a particular title or summary, I instantly envision the story in my mind: how I'd write it, what it would be about, the character arcs and the subtle themes and everything fun in between. Often when I actually read the fic I'm disappointed because it's not the idealized version in my brain, or it's totally different, or it's bad, or it's pretty good but I just wish they'd tweak one thing or the other. It's a bit like seeing fic prompts.

Sometimes I browse The Pit or LJ comms and just imagine what the story would be, and don't read the actual fic at all. I got an instant vibe from this Naruto fic, for example:

The Ronin and the Queen
Summary: Hatake Kakashi had entered through that door many times in his long gone past. It was the same door he quietly left through six years before. It was the same door where he made his peace with all his choices and walked away. kakasaku.


I haven't read the fic and haven't the slightest idea what it's about. But I'll tell you what the fic in my head is about.

In my head, the title "The Ronin and the Queen" is about a love story set fifteen years in Konoha's future. Haruno Sakura reigns as the Hokage, a position she's held with steel and courage for four years without the interruption of war or recession. She's thirty-one, not a girl by any standards, and she's the first kage the Haruno family has ever produced. People whisper that she learned at the right arm of Tsunade, that the legendary Nine Tails was her first lover, that she's going to be the Hokage for decades because her skill at medical jutsu is so advanced she simply can't be killed.

It is a bit of exaggeration, sure, but the Hokage appreciates theater and understands the value of a vaulted reputation. She's in the height of her power, her village is still healing fifteen years after The Decimation, and she's speculating on ways to improve the music culture of Konoha, because she likes music, dammit, and she feels very strongly that it could be a therapeutic tool for disillusioned and emotionally withdrawn shinobi. She's considering forcing all of the current ANBU members to take up an instrument, and if one or two of them are so overcome by the joy of music that they gain a new respect for human life then she'd rather not have them on her assassination squad anyway.

But her days of prosperity and peace can't last forever, because a civil war is brewing in Grass Country that threatens to destabilize the balance of power between all the nations within a thousand mile radius. Her village is short on warriors but strong in knowledge and skill, tools they will need to survive the first world war their land has ever faced. And that means she needs to summon the ninja who has been on sabbatical in that corner of the world for four years. A man who requested a leave of absence the very day she took office, for reasons he refused to explain and she declined to demand. What had taken place in the last four years of Copy Nin Kakashi's life was a mystery to Sakura, but war was coming and it was time to call her soldiers home.

She just doesn't expect that he'll arrive on her doorstep with his entire forgotten clan--all two hundred and thirty-two of them. And their children. And their weapons. And their pets and screaming babies and wholly new methods for killing people.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," he says. "I brought you a souvenir."

"Who are they?"

"Eh, just people I met along the way. The Hatake clan and some of our cousins."

"This looks like half the shinobi of the Hidden Creek Village."

"Hmmm, it does, doesn't it? Funny coincidence. You should send a messenger and see if they woke up missing anything this morning."

Has anyone else been reading Silvershine's Kakashi/Sakura House of Crows? Because I just read the update this morning and, gah, IT'S ALL GOING CRAZY!

Seriously, there's like the Naruto canon, which is the manga, and then there's the other canon, which for me is everything Silvershine's ever written. And now Things Are Going Badly and all sorts of Secrets Come Out and I am fighting hard not to believe in the first fanfic that's ever come close to making me even doubt for a moment Kakashi's loyalty. But he has to be loyal! He's KAKASHI!

Anyway, up, that's a fic flail right there. It makes me feel obligated/inspired to write more of my own Naruto fanfic.

Wow. I did not see that coming. Kind of makes the Nine Tails look like small potatoes, huh?

Catching up on the manga:

( some questions and thoughts )

"I'm the most special."

BWAHAHAHAA. Yes, Peter. Enjoy your Sasuke moment. Where's my Squishsuke icon when I need it...

And the frustrating thing is... Peter is really more like Kakashi than like Sasuke. He's the copy ninja of Heroes. Especially since the "steal any technique" part of the Uchiha mystique has been more or less abandoned in the Naruto manga in favor of the "magic psycho-delusion eyes" thing.

But, without the brains. Peter Petrelli is like Kakashi---but the stupid Kakashi. Anything you can do he can do better, except think for himself. He's a more reactionary character than Uzumaki Naruto, and Naruto's pretty freaking reactionary.