#if anyone else wants to dig into japanese flower language its called hanakotoba (花言葉) i think

[mokutone]

I came up with another Tenzo HC that I think you'll like. We all know Tenzo likes reading about architecture, but what if he's also really into flowers and their meanings. So like Petunias are supposed to represent anger or being angry at someone. And then what if... Since ANBU just emotionally stunts our poor Shinobi, what if the way he learns to best communicate is by handing people the relevant flowers to express his feelings.

And we all love that HC of him growing flowers, what if the relevant flowers pop up because he associates that feeling with that flower? Like when it's a really really intense feeling, they just start growing.

Also, i know i share my HC with you a lot but i just feel like you always appreciate them <3

its so funny that u mention this bc just a day or two before i recieved it i was writing yamato and felt compelled to have him use a little flower symbolism! I didn't have him growing any flowers tho, just...ominously looming symbolism clinging onto a heavy thought.

i think this can be a really interesting HC to play with, especially when we consider how nebulous "flower language" is—like, for example the red spider lily has, apparently, the meaning of "elope with me" over here in the US, but in japan, the red spider lily is heavily associated with death, lovers separating, etc-you will see it in anime very often, i remember there was one i watched as a kid (hellgirl, i think?) that had them Everywhere and very ominously

and then there's cases where the flower is Supposed to have a meaning, but bc of how its practically used it has a different or even sometimes contradictory meaning,

for example the lily, in christian spaces the white lily is generally supposed to be indicative of innocence—which is probably why its used at so many funerals (symbolizing god washing out the sins after death and making the soul innocent once more, or something) but the fact that its used at so many funerals means that most people i know, when they see a lily, don't think "aw, how sweet..." we tend to go "oh god. the funeral flower." some even can't stand the smell of it

one of my friends gifted me a piece of jasmine incense he had got once for the same reason, that was a Strongly Funereal smell for him, but it was not for me.

then, there's also the individual meanings that flowers hold for people—

this is jewelweed, one of the most important flowers to me personally! it's native to most swampy, moist areas of the USA, it grows very fast, and tall, and spreads really quickly.

when i was a kid, we'd call this stuff "poppers" on account of how when you touch the green, dangling seed-pods, they would pop! like literally, they would explode, launching their seeds everywhere! here's a video of that.

I'm told that in the language of flowers In General, they represent motherly love, but to me, because of how i played with them as a kid, they will always specifically represent childish joy and wonder, as well as a certain amount of resilience due to how quickly and how well they take over an area (say hello to one of the few plants that can take on the invasive garlic mustard!)

this all to say, the associations between meanings and plants could be something that's really fun to play with—some of his meanings could be gathered from books, some of them could be gathered from the cultural knowledge he has access to, and more still could be developed from his own personal experiences with plants.

i'm not sure where i fall on how much yamato would internalize flower language...or i guess even what kind of flowers hed care about? i see him as somebody who tries to be, first and foremost, practical...

flower language is very poetic and mysterious, but there's practicality in mystery too—he's a ninja, after all, (and, ur right, given Anbu he seems to be a fairly repressed ninja at that) using symbols in order to communicate certain feelings could be very practical, if there are things that are difficult to say...

the only thing is that the person receiving the flowers from him would have to also know what they meant, in order for this to be practical...or there'd have to be a shared understanding of things related to the flowers.

anyway! ur right i did appreciate this, ty for sharing it

#yamswers #supervaca #if anyone else wants to dig into japanese flower language its called hanakotoba (花言葉) i think #i feel like because of the necessities of her profession ino would be far better at flower meanings than yamato #on account of the yamanaka flowershop supplying bouquets and etc #theres also the possibility that he associates certain People with flowers rather than feelings #like perhaps yamato sees dandelions and thinks abt naruto—on account of the hardiness and brightness of that little weed #but also the whimsical nature of it—how when it gets old its seeds are carried by the wind (+ naruto being a wind chakra user) #sakura obviously. sakura. i mean... #perhaps morning glory for sai...they can come in interesting colors and have a smooth graceful shape...but more than that they need a lot #of support—a morning glory is a vining flower...theyre Trying to get up high but they need to be able to cling to things #and metaphorically naruto sakura yamato and kakashi (and ino?) would be his trellis sdhgshdgsdg #the thing is i dont think hed be able to pin a flower on kakashi unless they had some specific encounter with flowers which was impactful #enough that that flower would forever be associated with kakashi #and on top of THAT. kakashi's name translates to "field scarecrow'' so surely it should be some kind of produce hes associated with #kakashi catches on to yamato thinking of flowers abt the kids and is like ''ooooh? do *I* have a flower toooo??'' and yamato #pats him on the shoulder and is like. nope. sorry. you're a rice field. #and kakashis like damn ok fuck you too buddy #yamatos like if it makes you feel better i dont think of myself as a flower either #and kakashis like ''well *i* could assign everyone on the team a dog breed theyd get along with the easiest so i win at w/e this game is'' #yamatos like ''ok whats my dog then?'' and kakshis like ''cat. actually'' and yamato points at him and goes ''see! you're just as bad!!'' #and kakashis like ''no see i have an excuse. you wore a cat mask for 10 years. when have you ever seen me in a rice field?''