#bite sized meta

[thesorcerersshadow]

merlin’s first instinct, after JUST watching a man get executed for magic, is still to help gaius & catch him with his magic—again! on instinct! it’s so obvious he doesn’t even think about it! and so many people attribute this (often jokingly, but still) to stupidity or carelessness. but i wish we could speak more to the fact that compassion is merlin’s first instinct, at his core—and it may get dulled over time & he may become more cynical, but it’s never entirely gone, either.

[fumifooms]

I don’t like minimizing the importance and gravity of Laios and Toshiro’s fight into just being a childish squabble, even if to a degree it is framed that way, because to both of them it has a lot of personal significance and emotional weight and runs very deep to their characters… The fight isn’t nothing it’s a LOT, they made up but it’s not something easy to express and to get over for either of them which makes it all the more meaningful! I’m on both sides but there very much are sides, there’s no "they’re both having a ball, Toshiro and Laios hand in hand yay" side to the fight, that comes after

The fight with Toshiro WAS very scary to Laios, almost existentially so, but it’s moreso the "I thought I’d made a friend!!" bit and my god. My god actually

Like it’s not "just" about oh his friend liking him less than he thought, THAT IS SO MUCH. It’s a bond he thought he had being a lie it’s all the time and moments spent together either being a lie from his perspective or marred now looking back. It’s not only being upset at Toshiro for lying but upset at himself that he’s so easy to fool, it’s being upset that there’s something so wrong with you that you can’t even tell if your "close buddy" even actually likes you or not, it’s like. Holding my head. He can’t trust his own vision of events that happened do you see. There’s always this film of distrust that it could be a lie that should be there when he interacts with people there’s always this sense of cloak and dagger to expect backstabs out of nowhere because you CAN’T see it coming you CAN’T you CAN’T there’s something about you which makes it impossible so you CAN’T-

He’s so scared of not being able to read people. He knows it’s a weak spot he has, he’s always known. All of these bits are centered around social expectations and betrayals, the assumption that he doesn’t belong either in society or with other humans.

And Laios’ level of awareness is actually sort of complex to analyze, but it’s there, there’s how out of him and Falin he was the one sensitive to the ~aura of hatred~ he felt from the townspeople, there’s of course his nightmares whispering to him about the mocking looks, and how yeah actually he realizes that his gold stripper coworker was taking advantage of him. There’s of course the Winged Lion speech about his trauma and how he fundamentally mistrusts/dislikes humans to some deep seated degree, this distrust that he still keeps under control always. There’s how pre-canon he often wanted to suggest eating monsters but never worked up the courage to bring it up with the others. There’s how he gets across as stoic when he isn’t being enthusiastic…… We don’t know how aware and wary he is exactly in the moment but we do know he has some anxiety around social stuff, and looking back he does notice and aughh augh, the sense you have to hide yourself to not get hurt and be on your guard and shit and.

When you don’t know what to look out for and when to look out for it, the general ‘common sense’ of not always trusting people or noticing when someone’s messing with you becomes hypervigilance in social settings

"Man they really know what you hate huh". Being socially unaware literally plagues him, he knows, he knows it so well.

It’s so quick that it’s almost hard to digest how literal and blatant Laios summoning his monster to crush all the people who’ve hurt him is. His literal go-to coping mechanism for comfort in his literal monster-induced emotionally intense nightmares, saving him by taking away the upsetting element (the humans)

"Monsters are his coping fantasy, where they can whisk him away from humanity, all the hurt it’s caused him and its arbitrary rules" with the subtlety of a brick. Monsters are his comfort safe zone "because they kill humans" yes but no it’s because he pits them as the guardians against humans who to him are in the role of the agressors. To him they represent freedom from the shackles of what it means to be part of humanity, a fundamentally social species

[tealvenetianmask]

I've been noticing four kinds of takes on Stolas and privilege:

The correct one: Stolas has privilege because of the status he has in society. He can walk right into a club that's always booked way in advance without a reservation. He's never had to worry about money or his physical safety and doesn't know what that's like. He can get a one on one meeting with the King of Lust and ask for a rare and powerful item to give to his man. He was raised to take his privilege for granted. This does not mean he hasn't suffered or hasn't been made to feel small or weak by other people. It also does not mean that Blitz can't hurt him. He ALSO LACKS PRIVILEGE as a queer neurodivergent man forced to conform to a traditional role. These things are not contradictory. I repeat. Both can be true, and THEY ARE. That's what intersectionality is. He's a good person, and he's gradually becoming more aware of his own privilege, starting with his relationship with Blitz.

Well meaning/maybe a bit uninformed: Stolas can't have privilege because he's a victim of domestic and familial abuse.

Shit: Stolas has privilege and isn't aware of it, and that means he's a bad person.

Even shitter, like, are we even watching the same show? Stolas is maliciously using his privilege to abuse Blitz.

[jesncin]

Sorry to bother but Constantine was called anti-Asian slurs? When did that happen?

(In ref to this post: https://www.tumblr.com/jesncin/760203443590905856/not-to-throw-shade-but-it-is-a-tiny-thing-i-feel?source=share)

In og Vertigo Hellblazer like I said! Issue #5 specifically. cw for anti-Asian slur below.

Every content warning ever for this issue (war crimes, SA, slurs, etc.) so proceed with caution. I personally needed a break from reading after this one since it hit too close to home.

To word it delicately, I get the point of this story. That war is designed to dehumanize the enemy, and in this story the twist is this traumatized man recreating the same atrocities he did abroad at home on his own people. The fundamental problem for me is that having to compare The Other (Vietnamese people in this case) to white people in order to humanize them is an inherently flawed premise. You shouldn't have to sell empathy based on "well what if it were you" to care about someone different than you. It's a story designed with white people and readership in mind, essentially.

[inaconstantstateofchange]

Realmslore of the Day: Sharran Hairpieces

The haters have begged me not to put this information out into the world, but I'm dead inside and need to feel something, so I'm choosing chaos today.

A [Sharran] priest’s hair is sometimes natural, and sometimes a wig of the braided hair of many others, enspelled so the tresses can carry daggers, small lanterns, and other items of like size and weight, as well as catch and cling to things. These enchanted wigs are not strong enough to hold the wearer’s body weight, but they could, for example curl around a branch while maintaining hold of a lit lamp, so the cleric can part company with the wig and do something in the lamplight.¹

I'm not saying this is what's going on with Shadowheart's plait? But I'm not... not saying it.

¹ Ed Greenwood Presents: Elminster's Forgotten Realms. 2012. p. 162.

[spyridonya]

Once upon a time, not very long ago in terms of the planes, Raphael once fully supported his father during a coup under Baron Molikroth. Baron Molikroth was a sadistic pit fiend in appearance, gluttonous and obscene, who began a rebellion under Mephistopheles' nose. When sorting through the dead Archfiend's bastards, Raphael was defiant, refusing to join against his father's killer despite the tides of change. Many of his siblings found favor under Molikroth, but Raphael honored his oath.

In the decade that followed, those who served Baron Molikroth were killed by Molikroth's own hand. The coup and persona of the baron was planned by Mephistopheles who posed at Molikroth to find who was loyal and who was not. Raphael survived the purge than many of his siblings did not. Unlike his siblings, Raphael recognized exactly what was going on with the baron. It wasn't a sense of loyalty but knowing his father remarkably well.

He is his father's son, after all.

And then Daddy Mephistopheles went and started the Reckoning.

[hekateinhell]

The Three Moods of Armand vis-à-vis Lestat's fledglings:

"I will fuck you up, I don't care if you're Lestat's baby... haven't you heard what I do to his children?"

"I will fuck you up, I don't care if you're Lestat's baby... haven't you heard what I do to his children?"

"I will fuck you up, I don't care if because you're Lestat's baby... haven't you heard what I do to his children?"

[chuckwon]

[taps mic]

is there still an interest level in spnwin meta anywhere

just curious

[covenantscribe]

Prejudgement: Jacob Anderson – Face of 'Woke' & 'Unnecessary'

Summary and disclosure:

This will be a series formatted post on the topic of Interview with the Vampire AMC and the reactions of Fandom before the airing of Season One. Following the conversations around the choices of casting and concentrating on the issues on some public takes.

This post will be used for reference in future posts on this blog. This post discusses racism. This post contains mature language.

Part One | Understanding: Permission, Author & Fandom

As a person who has been passively taking in fanwork for the majority of my life and not knowing it, I could not understand how it feels to be part of an hyper-active fandom. Nor did I understand how one feels to be in it.

The fandoms I have been a part of that I can compare to Interview with the Vampire is: Hannibal (HBO), Teen Wolf and Shadow Hunters.

By the time I came into the fandom it was already "dead" – meaning that the show had aired and 'finished' airing and not much discourse was around it. So what did I do to be considered part of this fandom and passively interacting?

Well I created pins, created Moodboards and watched some edits on YouTube and TikTok (when it became famous during 2020). And for a few of the fandoms I read Fanfics. Completed ones mainly mind you.

So imagine how unprepared I was going into Interview with the vampire fandom. Of course there was excitement. I was going to be one of those people that would see a Tumblr post on Pinterest and be able to say:

Who wouldn't be excited? I was there when Cord of Communion by weathermood was written which is crazy to say now that I think about. One of the most loved and well known Interview with the vampire Fics. I was there when the Helen of Troy meme started. It was absolutely insane. I felt like someone who had invested in Bitcoin and feeding off its success.

But I was not part of the fandom who came from the original text. And I - as someone who held themselves in high regard to come from those who read the books before the movies came into existence - put them in high regard.

This did not last as I realised that those who I put on high regard did not in fact want me - a black person - in the fandom. Or at least that is how I felt. Just as I felt when Ariel was casted black. I was quickly losing interest in the fandom I so desperately wanted to be in.

Let's start from the beginning:

On May 13, 2020 AMC announced that it entered an agreement to acquire Anne Rice's major literary works. It further continued to state in the article that Anne Rice herself was excited for her works to be represented so wholly and that she was more than satisfied with the deal. Anne Rice's son was also announced to be supportive and working alongside Rolin Jones.

It's acknowledged how big the franchise is with a large number of fans behind the works. This is said, paraphrased obviously, by Rolin Jones himself.

And I mean the guy is right. Damn is he right. Anne Rice works, especially The Vampire Chronicles in my experience, has a huge fan base. The Vampire Chronicles has, to this current date I'm writing in have over 3000 works on AO3. Has a different forum of Reddit from just the authors name to the works themselves.

And let's not forget those on Tumblr from tags to people dedicated to the series and the author.

Rolin Jones was making an adaptation of Anne Rice's works. Had permission to do so. Now before we go on let's look at the definition of Adaptation:

a film, book, play, etc. that has been made from another film, book, play, etc.: From Cambridge Dictionary.

A more descriptive meaning:

I am a firm believer that this would have changed and avoided many harmful idealogies and actions in the fandom. But I digress.

A fandom is described as to a community of people who are passionate about something, whether it’s a film, a band, a television show, a book, or a sports team. (x)

A fandom is important because it provides opportunities to connect with other like-minded individuals. It also serves a purpose of allowing easy discovery from an interest into another range of interest. More importantly: Fandom can shape and influence decisions of the media and how they interact with the show. Along with the creative decision of the creator.

The fandom of Interview with the vampire was already established from The Vampire Chronicles. People had a predispositioned idea on what to expect. The fandom in this time were, to no surprise, predominantly white fans. Not to say that no POC existed within this fandom that they were not the majority.

At the time of the announcement it did not make many waves to the unsuspecting people in the outside world. But the Fandom took note of this. [Obviously] Conversations and interviews were watched and re-watched of Anne Rice throughout the years and comments were made. This was about 4 to 3 years ago.

The casting was not released. No one really knew what was planned for these shows and when they would be aired. At this time I was still in my Hannibal obsession and the only thing about Interview with the vampire was from a meme with a white man saying: Not gay enough. On my Pinterest board.

So I cannot speak about my experience during this time in the fandom [though I do encourage people who were around this time to share your experiences with me if you want I'm curious how it was for different people] but the general consensus was trepidation and excitement.

I can understand this because not only did the fandom go around feeling like drug dealers in threat of getting busted by the police when writing and publishing Fanfic at the time but also Fanart and even Comics were made because of the love these people had for The Vampire Chronicles.

The fandom had an already made up idea on what this would mean for them. One of these ideas was definitely NOT a Black, Creole, 4b haired and green eyed vampire. Almost completely different from white, raven-chin length hair and green eyed Louis. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

At this time I can only imagine how the fandom was feeling about the adaptation because as much I can do further research and deep dive into digital foot print I do not have that kind of time in my hands at this point in my life.

Anne Rice works, I will say again, were celebrated and she was held in high regard by supernatural-loving fans. She was – and still – seen as the Mother of Modern Vampires and the depiction in media. She has influenced many well known and famous Vampire media such as Twilight and True Blood.

So I'm left with only imagining how it somewhat felt like for people looking forward to Disney live actions and the Teen Wolf movie. [The fandom was large in size but apparently not large enough to be a few hours of Google search away to be able to find out about the discourse around this point in time.]

But AMC worked fast (kudos to them honestly) and the next year around August of 2021. They came out with the main casting and...

Jacob Anderson was announced as our [cherished and loved] Louis du Lac of today.

This made waves in the fandom and lit the seat of the loyal fans to write about the current happenings in their fandom to all media platforms. Tumblr, Reddit, YouTube, Twitter X, etc.

As much as there were hesitant joy over it and encouragement over the happenings there was also...a lot of upset over the fans.

Shortly after this announcement Anne Rice died in December of 2021 [RIP🕊️]. She and her son had been working closely on the adaptation with Rolin Jones. Anne was survived by her son who stayed in the process of the production. This will ultimately be both significant and insignificant in the grand scheme of things regarding the fandom's reaction to everything before the airing of the Pilot episode of Interview with the Vampire AMC.

At this time I was also still absent from the fandom. Or rather I should say I was being introduced to the Pilot episode through one fated AMC TikTok promotion edit.

I was not online as much and thus wasn't affected as much during that time. Unknowing of the discourse around the Casting and the upcoming trailers brewing. I simply just saved the TikTok in my favourites and promised to watch it for later.

Though I can understand and sympathise at a certain point with the upset over the casting choices because as a book reader I can understand we do kinda gatekeep shit. But only up to a certain point because I get over it fast.

I understand what an adaptation is and what it means. It will mostly never mean a direct copy and paste of the book.

The cards had been shuffled and handed out and the game was about to begin. Word got around and before the airing of the Pilot episode of what would be the one of the most influencial piece of media to me, the people's feelings were simmering and were ready to burst.

How the audience reacted would forever determine what the Fandom looks now and how people interpret the characters. Unfortunately, in the long run, this transformation was not positive. But some, to this day would disagree.

Part Two | Reactions: Anger, Joy & Racism → Coming Soon

Part [1/?]

[ceaselessims]

i think that sometimes it's okay if a show that starts out as one thing, but as time goes on it morphs and finds its footing in another thing.

i've been seeing a lot of people say that the helluva boss mission shorts are "what the show should have stayed as" but imma be real, i don't think the show would have nearly as much traction if it did stay that way.

you can even see it in the show itself, the first 3 episodes (and the pilot) follow this Murder of The Week formula (Mrs Mayberry v Martha, Stolas hiring blitz as "security," and killing as many people as they can in spring break), but by the harvest moon festival, you can feel that the team behind it want to go more in depth into hell's politics and societial structure (more importantly: this is stuff that they can't/don't have time to explore in Hazbin Hotel)

to me, season one is kind of laying the ground work for how Blitz feels about each of the people in his life (bc vivzie has said the show is about blitz's relationships and how hell operates), and season 2 is mostly about him reconciling with learning to romantically love someone/let someone in, learning to trust.

I understand if people prefer the episodic style, but for me, i like that they went in the other direction. I like the swinging tone and drama and romance, bc tbf i think the relationship drama is really only going to be the focus of /this season/ And (i might be wrong!) i think s3 will be about his relationship with Loona.

ANYWAY! i loved monsterfucker super fan more than *slurs* penguins and im eating every single bit of content up

edit to add a little more bc i'm seeing it a LOT:

i'm seeing more and more of this criticism rn and i think it's worth mentioning that the show simply doesn't have time/money to be both a murder of the week AND have a long form meta plot. they have found their groove in the meta plot about how hell's society functions and blitz's personal relationships.

this isn't a serialized cartoon under a major studio that can pump out an episode every week and afford to have long form "filler" episodes like most popular animated shows. it's a little engine that could chugging along making the best art and tell the best story it can.

"go back to what the show used to be!" girl idk if you watched the show but the IMP hit episodes (with an exception to Murder Family, my beloved) are like THE weakest,,,. no hate to you if you like them but you're wishing for more stuff like CHERUB and Unhappy Campers,,,,

point is: the hits really REALLY fit with the short form stuff bc the team has to condense it into a bite sized bit, which is why they're now a whole separate thing!!

cool if that's all you want the show to be, but if it didn't expand we wouldn't have episodes like Oops or Ozzie's.

[primnroses]

— An insight about summons: Katsuyu, the slug of the Shikkotsu Forest

The information presented in this post has been checked and revised. My aim is not to hate or to discredit any of the characters mentioned. Please read about me for further information.

This post will contain evidence in picture format directly from the manga Naruto (1999 - 2014) created by Masashi Kishimoto and published by Shueisha in 1999. I will also use information from the official databooks of Naruto.

This informative post will analyze the concept of animal summons in the world of Naruto and highlight Katsuyu’s unique abilities throughout the series providing evidence. This meta will also mention other animal summons from the Three-Way Deadlock. I will not use information present in the novels because there is none.

This meta is crossposted in AO3.

I give my permission to use or share this thread with informative purposes as long as you credit me.

I do not support the anime or the work of Studio Pierrot in regards to Naruto because I consider it over exaggerated and beyond biased. Furthermore, these fillers include some actions that these characters are unable to do in the canon according to official sources and they also generate unnecessary debate.

Please, take this into consideration.

Katsuyu, also known as Katsuyu of the Shikkotsu Forest, is a giant slug from the Shikkotsu Forest, a secret and legendary place from the Three Unexplored Sage Regions (仙人三大秘境, Sennin Sandai Hikyō). 

The Three Sage Unexplored Regions according to the Fourth databook.

She is the personal summon of the Fifth Hokage Tsunade, and later, her disciple Sakura Haruno; both women are probably the only people in the world that have been able to summon the slug.

Katsuyu possesses one of the most unique qualities and abilities among animal summons, most of which are still a mystery within the series. 

— WHAT IS A SUMMON AND ANIMAL SUMMONS?

A summon is the ability to invoke objects, weapons, people or animals. This action is carried out through a Summoning Technique (口寄せの術­, Kuchiyose no Jutsu), a special hand seal based jutsu to transport any element to the user’s location for a limited amount of time. 

A Summoning Technique is classified as a space-time ninjutsu and a C-Rank (chūnin level) difficulty jutsu. 

Summoning Technique according to the First databook.

Usually, in order to summon objects or weapons, users apply scrolls or special sealing techniques to contain the desired material. This is the case of Tenten, for example; she uses scrolls to seal multiple kunai, shuriken and any weapon of her choice, granting her the title of “Master of space-time ninjutsu”.

However, for animals and living creatures, this is different.

An animal summon is a technique that adds to the ninja’s ninjutsu repertoire, as a shinobi can take advantage of the animal’s abilities for battle or other purposes.

Before any animal can be summoned, the animal and the user must sign a contract with the species or the specific creature using their blood. In order to summon said animal, the user applies some of their blood, normally by biting their fingers, and channels their chakra to their hands thus invoking a sealing pattern that transports their summon to that same location. The amount of chakra used to summon the creatures determines the size and number of summons. 

The summoning contract of the Toads of Mount Myōboku, Naruto chapter 92.

In the case of the Three Unexplored Sage Regions, the summoning contracts vary. 

Naruto Uzumaki Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze sealed a contract with the toads of Mount Myōboku using their own blood, so when they perform a Summoning Technique, any available toad can offer their services to them. 

Orochimaru has his contract with the snakes of the Ryūchi Cave tattooed on his arms. The methods his disciple Sasuke Uchiha uses to summon snakes from the same location is unknown. 

Tsunade and Sakura Haruno do not have a physical contract, or at least it has never been revealed. However, by reading the manga, the contract with the Shikkotsu Forest might be through their Strength of a Hundred Seal, as it is only possible to summon Katsuyu if the summoner possesses this seal.

It is unknown if there is a blood contract involved, but it is likely that there is since the method of summoning is blood like his companions. 

Orochimaru's contract Naruto chapters 165 and 344.

— KATSUYU AND HER ABILITIES, WHAT MAKES HER SPECIAL?

Katsuyu is a very intriguing and interesting animal and the only one whose past has never been explored.

Summon’s habitats and the Three Unexplored Sage Regions are home to a single species of animals. 

The Ryūchi Cave is home to snakes such as the White Snake, Manda or Aoda, and Mount Myōboku is home to toads like Gamakichi, Gamamaru or Gamabunta.

But, unlike those, Katsuyu is the only organism living in the Shikkotsu Forest. She does not have any other slug companions. 

Following the same scheme as the rest of summons, Katsuyu resembles a real slug. 

She is white or ivory in color, with three turquoise stripes running on her head and sides that start on her head and end in her tail. 

One special feature about her appearance is that her true size has never been seen. Using one summoner, Katsuyu is bigger than the Hokage Residence, and using two summoners, Katsuyu is the size of the roots of the God Tree, which is just one tenth of her real size according to Tsunade. 

Katsuyu's size summoned by one person or two, Naruto chapters 422 and 650.

Her size changes depending on the amount of chakra used to summon her. She can appear as a small slug used to gather intel or help in supplementary tasks, or she can appear as a giant creature using one or two summoners. 

Small Katsuyu summoned to assist Headquarters Naruto chapter 561.

Her age is a true mystery. It is known that toads and snakes live many years and have descendants, such as Gamabunta and Gamakichi’s father and son relationship, or Aoda having great grandchildren; or certain summons retiring when they reach an age while their companions or children replace them. 

The Three Unexplored Sage Regions are legendary places known for many generations. 

Katsuyu, on the other hand, is the only inhabitant of the Shikkotsu Forest. She does not have descendants or companions in her home habitat. Her age or her true origins are a mystery. The first shinobi to discover her existence or previous masters before Sakura Haruno and Tsunade are also unknown.

The first and most important thing to point out is that Katsuyu can only be summoned by users of the Strength of a Hundred Seal. This seal is an extremely difficult jutsu to learn and achieve, so there have only been two summoners in history.

The reason for this is that Katsuyu is such an enormous animal that it requires an immense amount of chakra to summon, and that chakra is stored inside the seal. 

Tsunade and her disciple Sakura Haruno are the only beings able to summon Katsuyu Naruto chapter 650.

The primary skill Katsuyu has is the ability to divide herself in many fragments, hundreds or thousands of them in fact. This technique is called Slug Great Division (蛞蝓大分裂­, Katsuyu Daibunretsu) and it can be used for supplementary purposes, as well for battle. 

In a fight, thanks to her rapid ability to transform her body and divide herself, she can separate herself to nullify attacks by avoiding any strike at incredible speeds. She can do this as many times as she wants without exhaustion. Each of these fragments are also quite fast, able to throw themselves in front of people to shield them from danger.

Manda trapping Katsuyu but she escapes Naruto chapter 170 and Second databook.

She also has the ability to spit a sticky and elastic acid, a jutsu called Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid able to melt stones and vaporize everything it touches (probably senjutsu although never truly revealed). It is also very difficult to dodge due to its unpredictable nature. 

Slug acid, Naruto chapter 170 and Second databook.

Unlike Shadow Clones or other regular clones that are independent from each other and are not interconnected, what Katsuyu does is divide her own body in equal parts, so she is in as many places as she wants at once. She is one entity divided into many other independent and interconnected parts while remaining one single body. Each of her divisions behaves like their own person, so she can complete different tasks while also knowing what her other parts are doing in other places.

Being the summon of medical ninjas, Sakura Haruno and Tsunade take advantage of Katsuyu’s ability to divide herself in order to channel their healing chakra and treat as many people as necessary. 

With a technique called Immense Network Healing (蛞蝓・網療治夥­, Katsuyu: Mōryōjika), Katsuyu collects chakra from the Strength of a Hundred Seal to transform it into healing chakra and treat the injured. 

Using the Great Division and Immense Network Healing in tandem, Katsuyu has the ability to heal and protect everyone she makes contact with. Healing any kind of injury or absorbing people inside her in order to shield them from attacks or sudden explosions is her specialty. Her body is able to resist explosions and even Kurama's corrosive chakra.

Katsuyu divides her body and heals the Alliance Naruto chapter 634 and Fourth databook.

In fact, Katsuyu's power is not only limited to healing wounds, but regeneration too. One of her most impressive feats is the ability to maintain a patient in suspended animation, keeping them alive for as long as she possesses chakra from the seal in order to ensure their survival. 

Katsuyu was able to keep Tsunade alive despite having her body bisected, which on normal circumstances, would mean instant death. However, the slug's regenerative abilities allowed Tsunade to remain alive until she obtained a chakra boost from a third party. This fact is known as Tsunade does not really present the unique Uzumaki Clan ability to keep themselves alive for as long as possible.

Katsuyu kept Tsunade alive despite having her body cut in half, an impressive feat Naruto chapter 635.

This jutsu also acts as a sensing technique due to Katsuyu being connected to the chakra of the injured in order to heal them and her master. Katsuyu is able to relay Kakashi Hatake and Chōza Akimichi’s conditions to Tsunade through their connection, as the slug is connected to the Strength of a Hundred Seal; as well as being able to tell Sakura that Kurama’s chakra was still connected to the Allied Shinobi Forces.

Katsuyu can transmit the chakra levels and the condition of everyone she is in contact with Naruto chapter 427.

This way, Katsuyu was able to protect Konoha’s citizens from Pain’s Shinra Tensei and even survive Kurama’s toxic chakra. 

Able to be in many places at once, her ability to cover infinite distances while her parts remain interconnected allows her to fulfill communication and intel gathering roles. Being in many places and her clones being part of the same body, Katsuyu relays information to one person or multiple people, something she could do by attaching herself to someone’s shoulder and speaking. 

It was Katsuyu the one giving Naruto Uzumaki information about Pain and also told him that Nagato had revived Konoha citizens through the clones that stayed in the village, kept every villager informed about the situation and followed evacuation protocols when Naruto transformed into six tails, and told Tsunade everything that was happening in the battlefield thanks to having another body summoned by Sakura on the other side of the country, and vice versa.

Sakura instructing Katsuyu to evacuate the area through the multiple clones Naruto chapter 438.

This communication ability can cover immense ground at once because the communication is instant. It works similar to regular telepathy, but instead of hearing the other person's voice in their head, people are talking to Katsuyu, and Katsuyu in turn is actually talking to herself through her clones.

Katsuyu's clones on different parts of the Land of Lightning tell Tsunade and Sakura the events that have taken place on both ends Naruto chapters 635 and 647.

An animal summon can only perform at the top of their abilities for a limited amount of time, what is known as the summoning time limit. 

It is unknown exactly how long the invocation lasts, or whether it varies between animals. A summon will help its master before the jutsu runs out or the summon has exhausted its power. 

Gamakichi mentions the summoning time limit Naruto chapter 642.

However, for Katsuyu, this is not the case. 

The slug can be summoned for unlimited periods of time and several times a day, as seen when Katsuyu spent the Fourth Shinobi World War by Tsunade’s side in the Headquarters, primarily helping Shikaku Nara and participating in the planification of the troops, and later with the Five Kage against Madara and Sakura with the Allied Shinobi Forces.

This could be explained by the symbiotic bond Sakura and Tsunade share with Katsuyu through the Strength of a Hundred Seal. 

The seal stores unimaginable quantities of chakra inside, which are used by Katsuyu to perform healing on people. As long as Katsuyu has been transmitted every drop of chakra in the seal, she will continue her work, as seen when Tsunade gave the slug all the chakra inside her Byakugou to the point it disappeared but Katsuyu physically remained in Konoha until her services were no longer needed.

Tsunade's Byakugou disappears but Katsuyu still serves her purpose as a summon to evacuate Naruto chapter 430.

Still, like any other summon, Katsuyu can be exhausted from battle and disappear. When the Ten Tails absorbed the chakra of every shinobi in the battlefield as the Kurama Chakra Cloak, every Katsuyu fragment attached to them was also absorbed and vanished, but the main body remained intact protecting Sakura Haruno form the tree. 

Katsuyu's clones disappeared absorbed by the God Tree Naruto chapter 647.

— THE PERFECT SUMMON?

Katsuyu is very different from the rest of summons. 

From the immeasurable amount of chakra it requires to summon her, to her multiple multitasking and supplementary abilities and her mysterious origins, Katsuyu might be the perfect summon and the strongest animal summon of Naruto and Boruto.

Her ability to divide herself in thousands of fragments, a body and chemical composition resistant to blasts that can reshape her own state, no summoning time limit, outstanding healing and regeneration factor, the unlimited wide range communication she offers, acidic attacks, useful to gather intel by herself and turn small enough to offer battle assistant, and a sensory connection with her master and other people she is attached to. 

Katsuyu is the ultimate creature.

Without a doubt, the most essential ally in desperate times. A valuable help in case a village is being attacked by powerful enemies that threaten to destroy everything around them, Katsuyu is the only weapon able to protect thousands of people from any attack and offer assistance while in contact with her master and everyone she is with.

Thanks to her, every Konoha villager that had not been killed by the Pain Paths previously could survive the Shinra Tensei explosion that destroyed Konoha, which later allowed the surviving shinobi to handle evacuations, as well as allow Naruto to obtain intel about Pain and Nagato or be told that Konoha's villagers were revived.

Katsuyu is an unrivalled intel summon Naruto chapters 431 and 449.

She was also the main link of communication between the Headquarters and the two different fronts of the war, Five Kage and Allied Shinobi Forces, and the reason why the Five Kage survived the fight despite their fatal injuries.

Lastly, it was also Katsuyu who protected the Allied Shinobi Forces against the roots of the God Tree, saving a large portion of the shinobi from death, and later offered a healing area for their future fight against the Kanzeon Lotus King.

— CURRENT WHEREABOUTS.

Ever since the death of Madara Uchiha, Katsuyu has not been summoned again.

With no threats to the destruction of Konoha or the need to establish connections between battlefields, Katsuyu was not summoned in the Blank Period. 

In Boruto, Katsuyu’s debut is strictly linked to Sakura’s appearances: if Sakura does not appear, neither does the slug. This is something that is hard to fathom considering that the village has been exposed to explosions, invasions and multiple deceased shinobi ever since the start that could be prevented by Katsuyu like previous times.

Katsuyu appeared in the anime arc “Kawaki and Himawari in the Academy” where the students had to put on a play about the Sannin and Kawaki dressed as Katsuyu.

Kawaki representing Katsuyu in Boruto episode 267.

-

[thesorcerersshadow]

never over the fact that when merlin couldn’t convince gwen to come back home to camelot, he sent her to ealdor - to his childhood home, to safety, to his mother - instead.

[fumifooms]

Marcille has a very hard time conceptualizing a point where love can’t conquer all, right. She’s optimistic and if there’s a will there’s a way etc etc etc. Notably when Marcille speculated about Chil’s wife, she centered around the theory that his wife wanted to "test" him by leaving, that she didn’t feel loved and left to see if he’d chase after her. She believes that his wife would be ecstatic to see him again and reaching out would make them reconcile and happily get back together, no problem.

Chilchuck and his wife have been separated for 4 years. When Falin left the academy she and Marcille were separated for 4 years.

Marcille has to believe Chil’s wife is waiting for him, that she hasn’t moved on, that she wants to be found.

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

I don't think Kate Bishop could beat Bruce Wayne, but I don't think she could not beat Bruce Wayne, you know?

So the Young Avengers and the West Coast Avengers wind up in Gotham because of some universe-ending bullshit, they've been settled for a month or so when Batman and Co. come knocking because No Metas in Gotham.

And Kate is SO Done. No metas? You're going to kick out half of this group of INTERDIMENSIONAL REFUGEES, by the way, because of some arbitrary rule YOU made???? Ok ok ok cool. Well then she's going to beat your ass Mr. Bat-man.

And look. This is low stakes/no stakes for Bruce. He mostly just wants to see what they'll do, wants to try and get a read on their abilities. Some of them might want to move to other cities, he might be willing to facilitate that. For Kate this is VERY high stakes. She's 100% serious. No weapons, just hand to hand? That work for you Bat-man?

Meanwhile one of the older batboys is like, look. Please chill. You're not going to win in a fight against him, we can figure something out--

"I said I would beat his ass. I didn't say I'd win. You can beat someone's ass without winning," Kate says while removing an improbable number of weapons from her person. Tim is in love. Steph is in love. Tommy is taking bets. Jason is trying to figure out who to ask about her ring size because he's going to propose. Bruce has already called Alfred about the adoption papers. Clint is like "must be a Tuesday."

Bruce cracks two of her ribs and she breaks his nose. Kate flips him over her shoulder at some point. Bruce throws her through a wall. Billy helps Jason pick an engagement ring. The batkids are all cheering for Kate. Damian texts Jon who texts Connor who texts Clark that Ma Kent is going to need to start setting like five extra places at family dinners. Clark texts his mother "are you interested in giving Bruce a run for his money with adoption? So far we've got two daughters for you and two new sons. Might be more." America is absolutely going to lift Clark over her head btw. She never wanted an older brother but she's got one now. Clint and Dick pick each others pockets and somehow wind up trading circus stories. They are now ride or die.

Kate gets Bruce in a chokehold. Bruce lands a solid kidney punch. Bruce gets Kate pinned. Kate bites him. Bruce is getting the adoption papers expedited, no he doesn't care that she's a grown ass woman. That's his child now. Damian steals Lucky while they're all distracted. This is why no one visits Gotham

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dan Rather at Steady:

The morning after the election, I was talking with a friend who said something that made me pause: “The American people aren’t buying what the Dems are selling.” At the time I acknowledged the notion but filed it away for closer inspection, once the shock wore off.  Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party were selling hope and freedom, upholding the rule of law, saving democracy. What’s not to buy? With the benefit of lots of discussion, reading, watching, and thinking over the past 17 days, it became apparent that that analysis is incomplete.  It isn’t that the American people didn’t buy what Harris was selling; they didn’t know what she was selling. The increasingly powerful right-wing media championed her opponent’s message while distorting hers. And millions of Americans bought it. 

As The New Republic editor Michael Tomasky wrote, “It wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t inflation, or anything else. It was how people perceive those things, which points to one overpowering answer.” The right-wing media now controls the agenda.   For those of us who grew up on a steady diet of truth-telling, it’s gut-wrenching to see this mega misinformation machine grow into a multi-headed monster.   Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a shock. Gallup says trust in the media is at an all-time low. The most trusted news source according to YouGov is … The Weather Channel. Couple that with exit polls showing people who consume a lot of news from traditional sources voted overwhelmingly for Harris. 

If you only read The New York Times or watch CNN or so-called legacy networks such as CBS News, you might be surprised to learn there is a vast right-wing media ecosystem that goes well beyond Fox News. Founded in 1996, Fox is the granddaddy of the far-right media but has since been joined by Newsmax and One America News Network. This media universe also includes Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns hundreds of radio and TV stations — reaching 40% of the viewing public — and newspapers, including the recently purchased Baltimore Sun; iHeartMedia, which dominates right-wing talk radio and podcasting; Trinity and Bott Radio, two massive Christian broadcasting networks; social media platforms like Trump’s own Truth Social and X, owned by Trump bestie Elon Musk; and a multitude of hugely popular far-right podcasts.  Collectively, these various and varied media outlets have been feeding growing audiences a constant diet of disinformation for years. They have been fighting and winning an information war Democrats didn’t seem to know existed. The 2024 election may have been the inflection point when the right-wing media’s influence finally eclipsed the mainstream media. That is a major reason a convicted felon won with just under 50% of the popular vote.

The landscape is changing at light speed. Today, traditional media is not where most people get their news. Not so long ago you had to pick up a morning newspaper or turn on a television at a specific time to get news. Now “news” is available 24-7, from hundreds of sources, in tiny bite-sized portions, often without the benefit of context or even fact-checking. Right-wing outlets peddling half truths have learned how to navigate and thus dominate this new landscape. It is important to note that this battle is being waged between right-leaning media and mainstream media. The combatants are not two ideologues. One group is pushing a hard-right agenda, and the other is striving to report and expose the truth. The social media landscape mirrors this reality. On the right, you have Truth Social and X. On the left, not much. In reaction to the misinformation rampant on its sites during the 2020 election, Meta-owned platforms like Facebook and Instagram removed most political content.

An excellent read from longtime CBS News journalist Dan Rather on how right-wing media propaganda being fed to millions of Americans without any real fact-checking of lies is what led to Donald Trump become a Presidential candidate in the first place, let alone win twice.

[dragonroar87]

ok hear me out: AU where all the smash fighters not explicitly killed in the World of Light opening cutscene somehow survive and have to take on their post-apocalyptic world together

a comprehensive list on which smash fighters died in Galeem's initial attack:

the "not seen killed but there IS a body" tier is for characters who we don't see vaporized by galeem's light but are clearly visible in the scene with all the puppet fighters. I tried my best but that scene is REALLY dark with the only visible light being the glowing eyes so if you can point to a puppet fighter and say "that's X, you can tell because of their Y" I'll take them off the survivor tier

making this tierlist made me realize how few characters we see actually killed. not shulk? not fox? not THE MARIO BROTHERS??? (obviously mario is the one who we see puppeted but we never see his actual death and that surprised me)

and if we count the DLC fighters and Kirby that's a total of 52 survivors of Galeem's attack and that's a lot so to make it more bite-sized i split them up into groups like how you see people group up in zombie movies. they're also grouped by theme!

Have some lore for them, too! Beware my severe bias towards a few groups.

"The Survivor" - Kirby! Survived Galeem's initial attack by temporarily warping to a different dimension.

"The Littles" - Bowser Jr, the Ice Climbers, Little Mac, Pichu, Olimar and Alph, Ness, Lucas, Isabelle, and Meta Knight. These fighters are all children or physically small in some way. They all attempted to use the rocks and mountain faces as cover against the initial attack, but lost their footing and fell off the cliff as Galeem's rays destroyed it. Little Mac caught Pichu and tried to shield her with his own body as they fell.

Olimar and Alph were saved by their Winged Pikmin, Meta Knight saved himself with his wings, Isabelle caught herself with the balloons from her Up Special, and Bowser Jr. used the propeller of his Koopa Clown Car. Olimar and Alph caught Popo and Nana, Lucas grabbed Bowser Jr. with Rope Snake, Meta Knight caught Ness, and Isabelle caught Mac (and Pichu by extension).

By the time they had reached the bottom of the valley, Galeem was so distracted with trying to annihilate Kirby that he didn't notice that The Littles were still alive. They survived the universe-consuming blast by hiding out in a cave, since that blast seemingly did not affect the terrain.

"The Nobles" - Peach, Daisy, Chrom, King Dedede, Ganondorf, Corrin, King K. Rool, Lucina, Roy, and Marth. These fighters are all royalty or have noble blood flowing through their veins.

"The Perserverers" - Cloud, Ike, Ken, Simon, Richter, Ryu, Robin, Luigi, the Miis, Wario, and Shulk. Okay I'll be honest there's no theme with this one. I originally wanted Incineroar in this group and the theme to be they all had jobs that had to do with kicking people's asses but then there was Luigi and Wario and all the other guys and I just threw the theme out the window lol.

"The Non-Humans" - Incineroar, Wolf, Dark Samus, Yoshi, R.O.B, Pac-Man, Ridley, Donkey Kong, and Mr. Game & Watch. These fighters are all non-human. Game & Watch and Pac-Man survived by simply being too Flat but I'm unsure how the others would have escaped.

"The Newcomers" - Piranha Plant, Joker, Hero, Banjo and Kazooie, Terry, Byleth, Min-Min, Steve, Sephiroth, Pyra and Mythra, Kazuya, and Sora. These fighters are the DLC characters. Survived Galeem's initial attack by virtue of being in a different dimension when it happened. Pulled through time and space to the World of Light, they band together to find a way back to their home dimensions (although for some, this team-up happened very begrudgingly).

I don't know much about some of these franchises, so I'm welcome to suggestions to help me develop this AU! Seriously I am on my hands and knees BEGGING for suggestions because so far the only group that is developed is The Littles 😭