desi percy jackson realism

I mean Reiko did NOT distance herself from the delinquent image. We never see her out of uniform but I absolutely believe she was all about the punk life, going for the full sukeban aesthetic.

So imagine, the day Natsume is finally able to visit a place where Reiko lived and find some of her other things…what if he finds this punk-ish oversized leather jacket deal with like, patches sewn on and all that, that belonged to Reiko and is like “aAAAaaaaaAAAAA!!!” and just rhapsodizes over it until Nyanko sensei gets sick of it and snaps “JUST TRY IT ON ALREADY” 

And he does after some coaxing and it FITS! And he’s at home and the Fujiwaras are interested in seeing what he found at his grandmother’s and he pulls out the coat all shyly and  they see how much he likes it and are like “you know you can wear that if you want to, right?” “REALLY??? I CAN?”

And so he starts wearing it all the time and proudly says “THANKS IT WAS MY GRANDMOTHER’S” every time someone compliments him on it, and Nyanko sensei is like “you know even more yokai are gonna mistake you for her now” and Natsume’s like “I DON’T CARE ALL MY IDENTITY WOES HAVE BEEN CURED BY THIS COOL JACKET”

The, frankly heartbreaking, fact that Reiko called the collection of youkai contracts she got by force as her Book of Friends.

It has been mentioned in the series that Takashi isn’t like her at all, but I honestly believe that that opinion is incorrect. She is in truth very similar to Takashi not just in power and appearance but in personality. She acts as a counterpoint to Takashi, showing us what he would have become if he hadn’t managed to connect with people. Reiko was exactly like her grandson, then loneliness warped her into the bully she is seen as in the beginning of the series.

And further, both Naruto and the narrative rejected the act of running away. It was referred to as an act of cowardice. To someone like Naruto, who wanted to have his capabilities acknowledged, most of all by Sasuke, being told to sit on the sidelines was nearly an insult.

In the battle against Gaara, while Sasuke made it clear that he desired to protect Naruto (uniquely and as a precious comrade), he extended more responsibility to Naruto than he had since after the Haku fight. Which brings me to the next point: the narrative rendered both Naruto and Sasuke as culpable for Sasuke's lack of trust. Sasuke had been more than willing to rely on Naruto earlier but had been "let down" (in a sense) by Naruto's brash recklessness. So part of their relationship arc was Naruto growing and becoming someone Sasuke could rely on, while Sasuke acknowledged Naruto's efforts even more (he'd already believed in Naruto's potential). That's also why Sasuke telling Naruto that he wanted to fight him was so meaningful.

That said, the fight was also laced with a great tragedy. Naruto and Sasuke didn't get to fight as equals. Instead, there was a role reversal where Sasuke was left to watch the back of someone he'd wanted to get stronger alongside. The poetic irony of the situation is that both in this fight and in general, Naruto wouldn't have gotten stronger without Sasuke to begin with. There's so much complexity to unpack.

We finally get the origin of the Book of Friends and it's 100 times sadder than one can imagine. It wasn't born purely out of Reiko's desire to play around like little kid. It was Reiko's response to feeling abandoned and resigning herself to loneliness. When she retreats back to her safe space: being alone.

Now we know why she never called upon or came back to hang out with ayakashi whose names she took. Fear of vulnerability. Fear of abandonment. Acceptance of grief.

When she said: "It doesn't matter who I'm with because a pretty thing is pretty whether you are alone or with someone" 🥹🥹🥹