When you have two male characters kiss as a JOKE it is in no way progressive or helpful. It is not the audiences fault for interpreting homosexual subtext when something like that is given on a silver platter. Brother relationships can be done right and interpreted as such but that is NOT the way Kishimoto wrote it. He intentionally baited his queer audience from the very beginning. Queer people may see themselves in SNS. You do not have the authority to tell them they're wrong.
wait wait wait, so sasuke and naruto kissing as a joke “is in no way progressive” (duh, it was a joke, it wasn’t meant to be anything more) but “something like that is given on a silver platter”? i thought you just said the joke kiss was unhelpful. because yeah, it wasn’t meant to be anything more than a joke…….it is not gay subtext served on a silver platter. yes, it is the audience’s fault for taking it as more than a joke.Kishimoto DID write their bond as brotherly though. you can’t go around telling people that that’s wrong and not expect retaliation. the notion that Kishimoto had this queer-baiting agenda is one of the silliest things i’ve heard out of this fandom, honestly. you think that Kishimoto, a conservative middle-aged Japanese man writing a manga about friendship and brotherhood for teenage boys—one that largely avoids the subject of romance, as stated many times by the man himself—intentionally baited the queer audience via sasuke and naruto’s relationship, which by the way, was literally based off of his relationship with his twin brother……….? oookay, whatever you say. i’m sorry, but the only people he intentionally baited were NaruSaku fans with the Shippuden red herrings. your desire for gay representation has made you see things that simply aren’t there. i’m not trying to be mean, i’m just being honest. this is exactly my point. no one wants to be insensitive to the people who want representation, and i’m not saying it’s wrong for LGBT people (or anyone) to relate to SNS at all, but do you really think people are going to be chill with you going around indignantly saying things like Kishi intentionally baited the queer fandom, that there’s all this irrefutable gay subtext, etc.? it’s just preposterous. ship all you want, relate all you want, but don’t expect people to buy into these ridiculous claims about queer-baiting and subtext that have no actual proof. it’s a shitty thing to do. your shipping isn’t activism.
