[FFML] Re: [fic][Naruto][WAFF] Checkmate

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Andrew Petalik <wolf@magma.ca>

Andrew Petalik wrote:

Stevenav@comcast.net wrote:

Just a few comments

To start with, Shikamaru plays Shogi, not western chess. 
The same message can be carried by using the pieces in Shogi like the Fu

(Fuhyo) which is a pawn, or the Kyo (Kyosha) lance, or the Kei (keima) knight, 
etc.


Shogi and chess have many similarities, but this might be a good opportunity

to introduce the audience to what shogi is.


good sites to learn the absolute basics are
http://www.ricoh.co.jp/SHOGI/rules/erules.html
http://shawnbrown.com/basement/shogi/shogi_rules_1.html

The pieces might even make better analogies. Neji for example is more of a

Lance than anything, He is very direct, moving straight forward all the time. 
Hinata, I'm sure, would feel that she's a Fu, the difference being that in chess 
a pawn can be promoted, while in Shogi, a fu can only become a To (tokin) which, 
while it gains a great deal more power over it's movement, it is not as 
commanding a piece as a queen is in western chess.


Of course, it's just a suggestion.

I will have to disagree with you on one point here. Although, yes, 
Shikamaru does play chess, not shogi (canon), the story's impact would 
not have been as great with Shogi. I wonder if he can play chess as well?

Darn... got that completely wrong. I meant to say that he plays Shogi, 
not chess in the anime. Appologies.

No worries, I got the jist. However, allow me to explain my point.

Hinata has a real problem with her self image. She admires Naruto as a "Proud failure" and wants to be like him.

In other words she has predetermined that she is a "failure" no matter what, but that she'd like to at least be a proud one. She's even said before that she's happy that she could change, even if it was just a little bit. However, it should be noted that she sought the approval of others to validate that she actually did change. I read this to mean that she has so little confidence, that she doesn't even trust her own opinion in the fact that she has changed.

Okay... that's where an analogy could be made by Shikamaru punching holes in her "pawn" image.

"So, what piece do you see yourself as, Hinata?"

Hesitently she looked the board over, and then pointed a hesitant finger at one lonely piece. "This one"

Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow, then blew out a puff of breath in lazy exasperation, "The fu? So you see yourself as a pawn? Why's that?"

Then she could go into how useless she feels, and how the most it can hope for is to improve a little. She could comment on how she would be satisfied if she could just improve a little. (this attitude is backed nicely by canon)

Honestly, Hinata needs to have someone tell her that settling for the "low hanging fruit"... the easily obtained victory... is a poor way to live. And while it might not be immediately obvious, Shikamaru could well speak from experience there.

Consider, Shikamaru is lazy, but his own choice to become a ninja is an interesting one. His family takes care of the deer of Konoha. He could easily have just become a games man... a low ranking piece, but he took a more difficult path of his own choice. Again, he could speak from experience on the subject of just settling for the easy victory.

She needs to see that life isn't bound by rules the way chess is, and that while the lowly Fu can only aspire to gain a little more mobility as a To, she can aspire to become far more.

The know this is just a waffy fic, but part of Hinata's deeper problem is that she's a "settler" she settles for less than she could be.