#maoam

Heheh. Yeah, it's pretty clear whatever camaraderie or comradeship Sasuke felt for Sakura in part one was over when she confessed to him in such a self absorbed manner when he is leaving Konoha.

He says - I knew it, you would never change.

What this means is that he tried to get along with her in hopes that she would change and improve as a result. Given how she was with him, and ignorant, self important things she said to him in the beginning of the manga. We know Sasuke is a character who is very upfront about confronting people in very clear terms. It's not in his character to be evasive or to dilly dally. So when he saw that it was all just Sakura's facade, he tells her so.

Sakura starts that interaction in a balanced way but then, when she sees it's not having an effect on Sasuke and he is still about to leave, she reverts back to her original self absorbed persona. Because why would Sasuke stay for her? He had already told her during the chuunin exams that his objectives had nothing to do with her. It's his fight, his burden to bear and we also know that Sakura is delusional enough to think she is important enough for him when she is not. This is underscored even more acutely in part two, especially in kage arc. She overestimates her importance to both Sasuke and Naruto and then is proven wrong in the most humiliating of ways. Lol.

Whatever good grace was left in their relationship burned to ashes when she wailed like an immature girl and asked him to take her with him. So all her caterwauling about 'revenge won't bring you happiness blah blah' takes a dive, her concern for his safety takes a dive and what we are left with is her addiction to Sasuke, irrespective of Sasuke's own wishes, and Sasuke is obviously smart enough to see that. Which is why he immediately clocks it. That she was still the same person as she was in the beginning of the manga. Still annoying. Still full of artifice and selfishness. Who can't think beyond her own personal needs. She should learn that the world doesn't revolve around her.

This is why it was so easy for him to break his bonds with her. Just like it was with Kakashi. He was never really attached to them in the first place. And whatever there was, wasn't strong enough to make him struggle to break. While it was different with Naruto. Obviously. It led to vote one after all.

In the reunion, he clearly says he has broken his bonds with Konoha and team seven. But he knows he is lying. So does Naruto. He broke his bonds with the rest, not Naruto. Which is why Naruto gets real triggered.

Like of course, this is all very straight up and easy to understand. All one has to do is follow the story. Pay attention to what they are reading and seeing. It's straight as an arrow. The characters say everything themselves.

Sakura says to Sasuke- You never say anything to me, you don't tell me anything. Not even a word, it's like you hate me.

Sasuke says to Naruto - It's not insignificant. You became my closest friend.

Naruto says to Sasuke - You and Iruka became my family.

Sakura says to Naruto - Naruto, I couldn't stop Sasuke. You are the only one who can bring him back, only you.

Naruto says to Sasuke (when Sasuke tells Sai he has broken all his bonds) - Why.....why...THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL ME THAT DAY?? HUH??

Sasuke says to himself- Emotional bond makes one weak.

Like none of this is difficult to understand.

Fans need to understand that character development and narrative development exist. 😑 Characters change when their circumstances change or events happen that affect them. Nothing happens in a vacuum. There's a start, middle and end. There's always a certain trajectory to the story. Ups and downs are part of the story.

Recently I’ve been creating more studies that relate to the pollution side of my project. I’ve continued to use large brands (Haribo, Maoam and Vimto) because this means the work I produce will be more relevant to society because they’re popular, and will hopefully encourage people to change their ways- big brands that use plastics in their packaging, like those above, need to switch to more environmentally friendly alternatives. Though the packaging is indeed recyclable (which is excellent), many people still neglect this and litter, which will most likely find its way into the ocean. So, in a way, these studies aren’t completely blaming the brands for pollution, though they definitely play a part in it, they’re also blaming the people who litter, forcing them to confront their actions and the consequences of them. The vibrant colours in each of the studies create an artificial feel to them, which is exactly what I wanted. These artificial colours will contrast to the natural colours of the sea creatures in the combined collages of creatures and rubbish. So far I’ve really enjoyed doing these studies, especially using coloured pencils; it is now probably my favourite medium with graphite pencils.

a drawing of mao and mariam for @robinzentara! pink and blue are my favourite colours actually so i may have over-done it a bit, but i hope you like this anyway. (i’d also be very interested in hearing if you have any headcanons of these two)

My Feb Scrawlrbox was my 2nd late one this year, and I had to contact the manufacturers of one of the pends just to find out how to get it working ‘cos it was so faffy, but I did enjoy the fluidity of the brushmarker pro pens.