#but anyway his is probably a bird so. bird

[ghostlycod]

okay so i actually have been working on something and it’s turning this post into an actual fic, this is my first one so please enjoy

slasher!ghost x finalgirl!reader

you’re the final girl in the horror movie, and ghost’s the killer that’s been picking off your group one at a time. now it’s just him and you.

part 1

NSFW;MDNI

cw: MAJOR DUBCON/NONCON. don’t read it if you don’t like it, murder, blood, dead bodies, body mutilation (it’s not that bad), violence, ghost trying to kill reader, reader trying to kill ghost back, there will be smut I just couldn’t get to it in this part

They say when you have anxiety that you should count your senses. This is supposed to help you calm down and ground yourself. What’s one thing you can you see? One thing you can hear? One thing you can smell?

Drip, drip.

A single sound. Breathe in and out in time with the smooth splatter of the droplets.

Drip, drip. Breathe in. Drip, drip. Breathe out.

It’s dark in this ramshackle shed you’ve found refuge in. The cloudy night sky bleeding in from the small window does nothing to help illuminate the room. You can hardly make out the details of the source of the slowly dripping fluid, but you know that it’s there. The butchered body of your friend, strung up to the ceiling like swine. Carved up and cut open at the throat.

Drip. Drip. Breathe in.

His corpse reeks of iron and woods and death. You probably don’t smell too great either. The woods you’ve been running in cling to you to, along with the stench of your sweat and your fear. You lay still, cowering beneath a table, because that was the best hiding spot you could come up with in your frenzy.

Drip. Drip. Breathe out.

He’s been bled nearly dry now. His blood runs down his body in a black, faltering stream that ends as it coalesces into a teardrop on the tip of his white shoes, heavy and pregnant before it falls, shooting to the ground like a meteor racing towards earth.

Drip. Drip. Breathe in.

The only world that’s left to hit is yours, and you feel your life is ending with every sickening drop onto the sloppy wooden floorboards.

Drip. Drip. Breathe out.

You are an island now. Alone. No other masses of bodies to cower behind. No other sheep in the flock, no one more injured than you to sacrifice to the wolf.

“I don’t have to run the fastest, I just have to run faster than you.”

That’s what your friend, currently preoccupied with the flood of his bodily fluids onto the floor, had said to you in a moment of desperation. How’d that turn out for him?

He was no hero, and there’s no one left to save you now anyway. The psycho hunting you and your group on your little lakeside cabin getaway had saved you for the last lovely little morsel. So, just you now. You and him.

The silence of the shed snaps when the floorboards creak.

You gasp and immediately regret it.

From your vantage point underneath the flimsy table, you can see dark leather boots in the corner of the room, caked in mud and grass and other things you don’t even want to think about. You watch as those boots softly tread across the floor, making their way closer to you, the leather softly squeaking with the stress of movement.

Drip, drip.

Breathe in, breathe out.

He’s looking for you. Stop breathing so loud.

Drip, drip.

Breathe in, breathe out.

You didn’t even hear him open the door. How long has he been in here?

Drip, drip.

Breathe in, breathe out.

His feet stop only a step away from your pathetic hiding spot, boots squelching as he stands in the pool of blood.

Drip, drip.

Breathe in-

“Birdie…” His voice is as smooth as a fork in the garbage disposal. You feel it reverberate from his body, through the soaked floorboards, all the way down to you as it tingles up your spine.

“I know you’re in ‘ere, bird.”

Run.

[brucewaynehater101]

ok so this Tim's stuck in B's body

He made sure he was alone in a batcave, he knew he was alone. he didn't want to lose it, and yet, here he was. it's been too much. burying his own body. dealing with never seeing, or, at least, interacting with his friends ever again. becoming a father to his siblings, to Damian, which probably was already way too much. so he sat there. alone. going through it, because in the evening there was supposed to be a gala, and he would have to play Brucie, the role he genuinely hated.

He was alone, he didn't account for someone being there.

"Tim," Dick said softly, and it took everything from Tim to not whip around.

"He is dead, you need to accept it," he said, now grateful for Bruce's gruff voice. Hating that it sounds so deep inside of him.

"I've been around Bruce for twenty years," Dick leant on the Batcomputer table. He was in his civilian attire, "Do you really think I wouldn't notice?" there was a soft smile on his lips, and Tim felt, like he wanted to cry. He didn't.

Maybe he should keep a charade. Keep acting like he's Bruce.

"And even if I'm mistaken," he said, looking away towards the entrance to the mansion. "I"m always willing to give you a hand in case everything is too overwhelming after his death."

Tim didn't feel better, he only could go through his actions in panic, thinking what exactly set Dick off, he needed to fix it, to keep pretending he's Bruce, that's the only way.

"So if you can't deal with the whole plate, I'll help you. I'm just from Damian's teacher-parent meeting, by the way," Tim forgot, Bruce forgot, oh gosh, he forgot. "They still have my phone as their first contact," Dick huffed, like it was funny, like it wasn't a failure on Bruce's - Tim's? - part. "And I can go out as a Bat if you don't feel like it."

"You hate it though," Tim said, it wasn't something Bruce would say.

"You hate it more, baby bird," Dick said and pushed himself off the table. "If anything, I'll get ready for today's gala, I'll tell everyone you don't feel well."

Tim wanted to say something, he needed to say something, but when he turned around Dick wasn't there.

That was probably the worst time to get his hallucinations back, wasn't it.

(let's not make it that angsty and just have it as Dick actually came, but Tim dissociated for awhile, and thought Dick disappeared into the thin air)

Here's one(?) of the posts referencing this AU!

This ask focuses on the premise that Bruce and Tim switch bodies, don't tell anyone, and then Bruce dies in Tim's body forever trapping Tim in Bruce's body (while no one else knows).

This is magnificent, my friend. A beautiful addition.

I like making Tim suffer through his problems alone, but you are absolutely correct.

Out of all of the batkids, Dick *would* know Bruce best (unless it's Bruce *about* Dick). It makes perfect sense for him to notice that Bruce isn't acting like Bruce would.

There are reasons he wouldn't notice (he's busy, out of town, distracted, Tim planned for that, or Dick is grieving/spiraling), but it's more likely that Dick would notice than not.

Also, can you imagine the conversations they'd have? The debates? Is it better to let their family members know that *Tim* is inhibiting Bruce's body or to let them grieve Tim instead? Just Dick and Tim constantly fighting about what's best

[Including a very painful remark from Dick about how Tim is turning into Bruce because the younger one refuses to let anyone else know]

Anyways, this could result in Dick supporting Tim and being there for him.

On the other hand, here's some angst ideas instead:

Tim starts hallucinating more to deal with his loss of identity meaning that Dick was just a hallucination (and soon Tim starts seeing both himself and Bruce haunting him)

Dick knows that whoever is wearing his dad's face *isn't* Bruce, but he doesn't realize it's Tim (especially because Tim is "dead" and Bruce is "missing").

When Bruce dies in Tim's body, Bruce's soul returns to his body but Tim stays stuck in there as well :D

When Tim's body dies, Bruce's body starts to slowly deteriorate without Bruce's soul

I think that's enough angst for now :)

[rottenpumpkin13]

Since Sephiroth apparently didn’t really go outside when he wasn’t on missions 💀, I please request Angeal and Genesis take him on a picnic out in a nice sunny field somewhere and actually let him see the scenery and relax and also maybe order Midgar Burger for the food, please please

*uses another soft smile for leverage*

Ah, yes. The three sit down on a plaid picnic blanket in a sunny field. Angeal sets out the Midgar Burger takeout while Genesis pours drinks into wine glasses. The birds are chirping, the grass is swaying, and it's all very peaceful.

Angeal: Isn't it nice to get out of HQ for once? Just relaxing in the sun. No missions, no paperwork, no stress.

Genesis: Truly, this is the kind of setting that inspires poetry. The air is fresh, the earth alive with vitality—

Sephiroth, eating his burger: The grass here harbors a significant population of mites. Their bites can cause severe allergic reactions in some individuals.

Genesis:

Angeal:

Genesis: Anyway. What about this burger, huh? Isn't it nice to eat something other than the mess hall food?

Sephiroth: Mmm. Did you know this franchise uses a preservative that's banned in three continents? In sufficient doses, it can cause hallucinations.

*Genesis and Angeal stop chewing*

Sephiroth: But we should be fine.

Angeal: Anyway, the birds are nice, don't you think? So much better than the sound of the reactor.

Sephiroth: Yes. Those crows over there are likely feeding on a small carcass. Judging by the shape….probably a rabbit.

Genesis: Are you incapable of normal conversation, or do you just choose violence?

Sephiroth: I'm enjoying myself. Isn't this what you wanted?

Angeal: I should've brought Zack instead.

Sephiroth: Zack wouldn't have noticed the mites.

Genesis: NO ONE WANTED TO NOTICE THE MITES, SEPHIROTH.

[saiintvalentiine]

walking into ur asks like i just escaped a natural disaster (parrotx2 video) and asking for kww in farming district angst or hurt/comfort 🙏🙏

ok i dont know why this is where my mind went for this??? i hope its. alright. set right after parrot leaves kww for the capture the flag game.

Word count: 456

“He's the worst,” Ken says, leaning back in his seat. “Is he always like this?”

“Yes,” Wifies says, rubbing his face. He cycles through the motions over and over. “Probably a bit worse than usual but yes.”

“And you like this guy?” Ken scoffs. “I did not drag you ass first out of that bedrock box just for you to have horrible taste in men.”

“I don't even know why you did it in the first place at this point.”

“Okay, wow, no, do not say that,” Ken says, sitting up. “Don't say that.”

Wato sits on the table ahead of Wifies, kicking at his seat lightly. Wifies drops his hands and looks at them, eyes stinging.

“You know that wasn't okay, right?” Wato asks.

“Yeah, sorry, it just kind of came out of my mouth without thinking,” Wifies stands up and tries to shake the malaise off.

“Hey, no, not that,” Wato grabs Wifies's arm. “Parrot.”

“Yeah, he's the worst,” Wifies rolls his eyes. “I know. I get it. I make bad choices.”

Wato and Ken glance at each other.

“Wifies,” Ken stands up too, closing in on his other side. “He's like. . . a walking red flag right now. You tried to defend him and he was a huge bitch about it.”

“I guess nobody did ask me,” but something hard lines those words, thick shelled and old.

“Wifies!” Wato snaps. “What are you saying? Who cares if nobody asked? You're a third of all decisions made here, you're always supposed to be here giving your opinion.”

“And who cares if Parrot didn't ask?” Ken continues. “I want to know anyway.”

“So do I.”

“That's gotta count for something, doesn't it?”

Wifies closes his eyes and breathes. His chest feels spiderwebbed, a hundred small threads spun together into delicate shape.

“It does. I'm sorry.”

“That damn bird,” Ken mutters under his breath.

Wato tugs Wifies over and bumps their turtle shelled head against Wifies's own.

“Unfortunately, he has a point with the whole beating them at their own game thing.”

“Do you actually agree with him, or do you just want his approval?” Ken asks, watching as Wifies tenses up.

“I actually agree.”

“If we win, it'd be really funny to drag the Warriors faces in the mud with our victory,” Wato says, bumping their heads together one more time before leaning back.

“Wato, the fact you know the easy way to my heart is kind of horrible,” Ken says, clearly sold on the idea. “We gotta win though.”

“Of course we're gonna win,” Wifies says, opening his eyes and glancing over at Ken. “We're the best at beating people at their own game.”

“That's my Wifies! Let's get out there and ruin their day.”

[rederiswrites]

The room was warm and the cushions covered in ring velvet. Not a tent, tonight, nor a scrappy inn, but some well-heeled merchant Varric knew through connections he was being vague about. Arden leaned back, stretching luxuriously. 

“So,” he drawled. “You're calling me Rook now, huh?”

Varric looked up from his letter. “Yep. Got commentary?”

“Rook like the chess piece, or Rook like the bird?”

“Little bit of both.”

“So I’m a noisy pest that thinks in straight lines?”

“I was thinking more intelligent, gregarious, and a powerful challenger, but I am trying to write, and you are talking, so you can have it your way if you like.”

Arden snorted. “So you’re the white king, I guess? And Solas the black king? Lace doesn’t fit for queen, she’s more the knight. Lateral movement. Who’s the queen, then, this Charter character?”

Varric snorted in turn. “Don’t push the metaphor, kid.” 

Arden grinned. “Rook,” he repeated, as if he were testing it. He let his head fall back on the cushions, grateful for momentary comforts. There hadn’t been a lot of them lately.

“Probably the Inquisitor,” Varric said into the silence.

Arden rolled up onto an elbow to get a better look at Varric, who was still looking at his work.

“The Inquisitor is a man, though?”

“I really don’t think it matters for the metaphor,” Varric said. “But if you’d met him, you wouldn’t argue anyway.”

“I don’t know, the way some of your stories sound, is the Inquisitor our queen, or Solas’s?”

That got a laugh, as intended.

“Ours,” Varric said. “Probably. Don’t push the metaphor, kid.”

[neverpathia]

I ended up rambling about a Sacrifice the Maiden Swap AU so here it is, I guess.

Think you got a teeny bit confused. This is a Swap AU, which means the Long Quiet is the Maiden to be sacrificed, and the Voices become her Vessels.

So these are all chapter titles for the Maiden. And these titles are for different Maiden versions of the Voices, pretty much. So they're all humanoid female princess-like beings now, though Fey does retain a few avian features like how Witch is still somewhat catlike, while Flight is just...straight up a bird lol.

Meanwhile, yeah we have catbeast Shifty as the slayer.

I'm just gonna use this reblog to blab about what I have going on, but I'm probably going to do nothing with this idea anyway.

You're in the midst of a dungeon. And beneath this dungeon is a chamber. And within this chamber lies a maiden. You're here to slay her.

Now what I've done here by making the 'Princess' a sacrificial maiden instead of a world-ending monarch kinda plays into my favour. Most of the Voices happen to be on the receiving end of cruelty (Hunted, Cheated, Broken etc) with less agency of their own. So I can keep them fundamentally the same, since you don't really think a sacrificial maiden retains much will for herself.

Also, pretty girl Voices. Don't mind if I do.

Where were we?

Yeah, you got it on the nose for why Oppy's the Fey. She's all trickery and deceit and honeyed words and crafted lies. Although...uh...asking for the Mound's firstborn would be a little strange, given how they're an entire giant cat monster thing now.

Well, Captive and Dame haven't exactly been gender-swapped from the base game Princesses, since they're both still girls. A dame is pretty much just a noblewoman, after all. And yeah, you do get them pretty much the same way as Prisoner and Damsel.

Here's where it gets different, though: the Captive/Skeptic is a lot more inquisitive and openly rebellious against her situation. Yeah, she's relatively calm, but she's by no means as stoic as Prisoner and she's quite expressive. She does care about getting out, but she also agrees to stay behind if you tell her to prioritise seeking the truth over her freedom instead. That's how you get one of her Chapter 3s.

Meanwhile, we have the Dame. She starts out with no agency of her own and ends up with a lot of it handed to her. You follow her whims and desires. You resist yourself and your goals for her sake. (And, yeah, there's a Narrator but she does not know he exists.)

So the Dame/Smitten isn't exactly like Damsel, but more like a cross between her and Tower. She really does think pleasing you is the point of her entire existence, but at the same time she feels completely entitled to owning you and making your decisions. Just Smitten being Smitten.

Trial...I don't really know, she's just an Adversary clone for now. Stubborn. I have no idea what to do with him. He's not exactly my favourite voice.

(FYI: The Blade here doesn't exactly symbolise your fear of the Maiden, but rather how much power you acknowledge that you have over her. If you don't bring the blade, you make it clear that you're willing to set aside a bit of your own agency for her sake. If you do, you're admitting that you have the upper hand here.)

(So when you don't bring the blade, the ensuing Maiden is a little more chaotic and quippy. Think of the blade Maiden as the reasonable albeit innocent Voice of the Hero, who clearly feels more reason to restrain herself and negotiate lest she get stabbed. While the no-blade Maiden is more like base game TLQ and his unstable dialogue options.)

YES. VICTIM. OH MY GOD. ALLOW ME TO BLAB ABOUT CHEATED HERE LET'S FUCKING GO.

And well, here's a thing. As I mentioned earlier, the Maiden inherently has less agency and is generally less threatening than the base game Princess. There's something new here.

So after you talk to the Maiden and decide to betray her, instead of "Give up" or "Finish the job", you get to "Have some fun" or "Make this quick". (After you kill her you also always get to pause and check if she's dead, but for the sake of this route let's say you don't hesitate to keep her down.)

If you decide to "Have some fun" drawing out the no-blade Maiden's death, you end up getting the Loom. Who is Paranoid. Let's face it, she now has every reason to be paranoid because this catbeast was nice to you and suddenly they decide to torture you for no reason. (Side note: you can also get Loom/Paranoid if you check for her pulse, and she does pull out a brief heart-lungs-liver-nerves mantra before stabbing you.)

But if you decide to "Have some fun" with the Maiden when you bring the blade at the start, you get the Victim. The Cheated.

She's the Victim because you fully intended to slay her from the beginning. You chose to wield the power in your hands from the very start, despite her innocence. You never spared her a second thought. You displayed that power. You seized every opportunity to wave it in her face. And you ultimately used it against her in the least merciful way possible.

But she still feels Cheated, because there was a moment when you were about to free her for good. But you still chose to betray her. And boy, is she pissed about that.

You came in fully prepared to hear the Loom out, but ultimately, you kill her when Narrator drops the blade down because of the looming stakes. Meanwhile, you just dangled freedom in the Victim's face before making her suffer in the worst possible way.

So yeah, Victim's kind of mad at you. She doesn't even give you a chance to speak when she hears you come down the dungeon stairs before yelling at you to "FUCK OFF!" And meanwhile, you get the Voice of the Slasher (Razor.) He's perfectly content to kill her over and over and over again because he is Razor and just kind of a freak.

Now, the Slasher/Razor is pretty powerful and can just take control of your body willy-nilly. Oh, you didn't bring the blade? Too bad. Your bones carve themselves out of the flesh of your arm. Oh, would you look at that! You're the blade now! The stakes are completely rigged against Victim/Cheated and she knows it. No matter if you try to talk to her or just straight up decide to slay her, Slasher just makes you charge at her and commit homicide.

You get Chapter III: The Roulette Wheel and Chapter IV: The Failed Gambit this way. And a lot of Victim/Cheated's complaining as she gets more and more cut up and pathetic.

But in Chapter 2, you can simply bring the blade and throw it at Victim/Cheated as a token of your goodwill, like in Witch. And in Roulette Wheel, there's still a chance to give up and resist. That brings you to... Let's talk about The Display/Contrarian first.

You get her in pretty much the opposite way you get Victim/Cheated. Don't bring the blade to the chamber, then Sacrifice the Maiden and Make This Quick when the Narrator drops it down. Then when the Maiden falls, don't check for a pulse because otherwise you get Fey/Opportunist who gleefully stabs you.

(To be honest, I'm not completely sure about anything yet so far. Ideas are still in development.)

The Voice of the Conflicting/Stranger is brought about with Display/Contrarian, as you don't exactly know where your allegiances lie. You eventually sided against the Narrator, but also with him before, but against him the first time. What the hell are you even supposed to be? Clearly Conflicting/Stranger doesn't know what he's supposed to be either. Is he even a singular entity?

Meanwhile, we have Display herself. Oh god. Oh no. She's not exactly too pleased that you took her life last time. So, she's going to make it up to you by ruining your day.

She's not very powerful by herself, but what can she do? Laugh it off while passive-aggressively making you the butt of all her jokes. And at the same time, she hopes she's being funny enough for you to warm up to her, make amends, and just take her out of there.

But she kind of does blame herself for trusting you and getting killed in the first place. Or not saying the right things or pleasing you enough for you to trust her. Or doing literally anything she could have done differently, for things to go a different way. And she blames herself for making you kill yourself, landing both of you in this new situation in the first place. She doesn't like being this maiden, being who she is. She hates herself for it.

Contrarian's called the Display for two reasons. One, at some point she literally just slices herself open with a piece of rock from the dungeon's floor, revealing her innards and keeping them open and exposed for you. Why? She thought it would make you squirm and that's funny. Besides, she's already dead anyway. Opening herself up isn't going to hurt her.

But to be honest, she almost wishes you would slay her again if she opens herself up to you like that. Her heart's right there in her open chest cavity. Then she could get what she really deserves. Then it would all just be over.

Two: all the acts she's putting up to make you smile, and squirm, and distract you from the reality of who she really is- it's all just a display for your sake.

So what if you break the one-sided cycle of violence with the Victim/Cheated, or push aside the Display/Contrarian's lighthearted facade and bring her issues to light?

Victim relishes her chance at victory and seizes the opening. She stabs you and you die, only for her to realise that she actually doesn't understand your game at all when you just let her 'win' for no reason.

Display can't stand the facts of her reality anymore. She stabs you and you die, only for her to realise that it can't solve anything either and she's only making it all worse.

Both of them just give up. And this leads to Last Chapter: The Grand Finale.

And it is nothing but grand.

You don't even know where the maiden is. You're just encased in this claustrophobic lump of organic matter. But if you push through this mass of flesh and nerves and wet meat and blood, then you see the true maiden trapped with you. A vulnerable, mangled female form curled into a foetal position.

This 'Grand Finale' is when the maiden begins to believe that there's no point in what they are anymore, and that the only thing they can really do is give up because they've always been hopeless.

And it's a bit like Cage blended with Fury. You can give in with her (because she can't escape it by laughing it off anyway, or because in the end she'll just lose again). Or you can make her realise that she doesn't have to force herself to do something that she can't, or be something that she's not. You could make her learn that she can just be.

So yeah. Here we go. Might be a part 2 or just straight up released in a fic.

so everyone's doing swap AUs and I was like. Why not.

make of this what you will.

[hongtonie]

JAY 🐦‍⬛ RILLA GO!

[wasabi-gumdrop]

Kabru has a secret admirer in the castle!

[wellwatersurprise]

they never really acknowledged it, but i know in my heart he missed his wings.

(inspired by thunderbird by they might be giants)

[dailyloopdeloop]

DAY 7: i miss my wife bonbon

[skeletalheartattack]

have you posted about gelato before :o ?

honestly, every mention ive made of Gelato in the past month or so has just been through the tags of some posts ive reblogged on here, it's only been until now that ive gotten around to showing him off!

this is Gelato, a Flamingo/Secretarybird mix that my friend @meetthehelper put together!

for a while, i've been wanting to figure out a bird fursona for myself, and i wanted one that had a similar silhouette to that of Scratch (i.e. Scratch & Grounder), and the bird that seemed to make the most sense to me was a flamingo. it was Helper's idea to mix him with another bird species, and i really like what she ended up with :)!

[fisheito]

my princess nonsense is being encouraged watch ouyt imabout to be eneaabled

OK WHATF ATHAT'S SO CUTE I HAD TO MAKE IT i know realistically there's little to no chance that rei DOESN'T know how to work heels 🤣 BUT IMAGINE.....ING.... YAKUMO GENTLY GUIDING REI IN HEELS, WEEKS BEFORE THE BIG GALA AND HAVING NONE OF HIS NORMAL FEAR OF PHYSICAL TOUCH BC HIS [TEACHER MODE] IS OVERRIDING HIS INSECURITY

[tehcann]

they r holding hands and being really dumb and gay in the few minutes they have together during a containment breach 🙄

[gutsfics]

FINALLY I DRAW SOMETHING!!!!!!!

some Joseph, both young (around 1980 i'd say, when he was traveling w Stan a few years before the portal incident) and old (~2017, now an art teacher at Westchester High). i like to think the first one is a picture Stan took of him while they were traveling and the second one is his staff photo at WH. the more things change the more they stay the same. i might give em backgrounds and foregrounds to look like that

he's had that jacket since the 70s. real leather will last you.

no glasses alts + the first sketch below

[orcelito]

I've been working on Finally finishing Naruto Shippuden (after being a Naruto fan for nearly 15 years), & I just finished episode 420. And I have some THOUGHTS about the "Naruto is the reincarnation of Ashura" thing. This started as just me rambling for my normal liveblog posting, but I had a LOT of thoughts about this actually, so I am presenting them to u all Now.

So. Naruto meeting the Sage of Six Paths! Cool!!! I'm finally learning about Naruto being the reincarnation of Ashura, which... honestly is not a choice that I like very much. Narratively speaking, I mean. The Point of Naruto's journey was that he was the underdog, the bottom of his class, the orphan that everyone hated and made fun of. Through hard work and perseverance, he managed to drag himself from being a complete social outcast to someone generally really loved and respected. That's compelling!!! It means a lot!!!

But then the show is like. "Oh...actually, he's the son of the fourth hokage. And Also, he's the reincarnation of the son of the literal creator of ninshuu aka the precursor of modern ninjutsu." I mind him being Minato's son less as a narrative choice (for reasons I will get into shortly), but making him Ashura's reincarnation?? I've got Several things that bug me about that.

So First, for him being Minato's son. It's not like that's ever Actually given him any sort of status (since most people don't know), & Minato was also kind of just a random guy?? Just incredibly skilled, enough so to become the 4th hokage. And then there's also Kushina, descended from a very successful and very Feared clan that ended up almost entirely killed bc of that fear. Naruto being an Uzumaki means great power, huge chakra reserves (not even including the extra chakra he gets from Kurama), & some innate skills (that Naruto mostly didn't inherit, but one can play pretend sometimes). BUT ALSO, they were almost entirely killed off. He's a survivor of his clan's genocide that happened well before he was even born, and he doesn't even REALIZE it yet. So even though being Minato's son means he's the son of a very influential person, it doesn't give him the same leverage as being a Senju or Uchiha would. And the clan he Does belong to bc of Kushina does not give him status either, bc they're almost all fuckin Dead. And we know that Minato is a Namikaze, but as for what that actually *means*.... it's basically nonexistent. There is no mention of a Namikaze clan. Minato was just a prodigy in his own right.

SO.... All that is to say that while appending Naruto's orphan story with a "well, Actually, his parents were very powerful and well respected" does discount it a little bit, it's still not Especially unique in terms of what other people in their world may experience (there are other descendants of current and/or former kage + Many other powerful clans running around) OR in the benefits that it gives him (essentially nothing, outside of his physical strength and the inheritance of Kurama himself)(which inheriting Kurama did grant him access to IMMENSE power, but it also was the source of So Much of his suffering growing up, so I think it balances out).

The "reincarnation of Ashura, son of the Sage of Six Paths" thing tho... that one really kinda does. At that point, Naruto is no longer just the orphaned son of two respected shinobi & the current jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi (something special, but not entirely original, given that there are Other jinchuuriki who are descendants of powerful shinobi). He is now something that NO ONE ELSE ALIVE can be. It is saying that He, above Everyone Else, is special in this way. Outside of Sasuke lol, but I'll touch on that in a moment.

It just feels kinda cheap. It's cool I guess, but at this point it feels like we've completely lost the Plucky Orphan who works hard to overcome his circumstances plot. It's saying that he was Always one of a kind, he was Always destined to become Someone Special (or that he was, in fact, special the whole time). It removes the importance of his hard work in the equation. It makes it so that this is no longer something he earned for himself, but rather something that was a Given, since he is, of course, Ashura's reincarnation.

Cheap. It's cheap. And I don't like it.

Then we get into Sasuke being the reincarnation of Indra. Which I haven't gotten to that yet in the show, but I know from seeing it around. I do enjoy the sun and moon aesthetic between Naruto and Sasuke (so SO much, in fact), but. Making Sasuke the reincarnation of the Other son of the Sage of Six Paths is... frustrating? In several ways. There is of course the fact that Naruto and Sasuke have such extremely gay vibes (and Always Have), so making them the reincarnations of brothers so late in the story feels like an insult to anyone who reads their relationship in that way. Which to be fair, we do see Naruto mention at a few points that he thinks of Sasuke like a brother, but it's only a few points + feels like a kind of narrative cop-out. Sasuke himself said he doesn't think of Naruto in that way (though that could also be his self-denial speaking & it could change. Haven't gotten that far yet.), & I think there are much better choices for Naruto's "brother" figure (primarily Iruka, but people like Killer Bee and any of the other konoha 12 would be fitting too). Personally, it feels like Naruto was trying to put a name to his very strong feelings for Sasuke, & since he doesn't realize being gay is an option (since Kishimoto is clearly homophobic & made this ninja society to reflect that), he settled on Brother. But Sasuke is like "what the fuck? No, my only brother is Itachi." Instead, Sasuke has called Naruto his best friend. Which also doesn't fully encompass their relationship, but it's still closer than Brother.

So here we are, Kishimoto saying around 555 episodes into the plot (only 80 more to go) that they're actually the reincarnations of brothers. And not just any brothers. THE sons of the Sage of Six Paths. Incredibly influential, incredibly powerful, two sides of the same coin and very historically significant figures. Sasuke always had the "descended from an elite, yet disgraced clan" thing going for him, so in my opinion it doesn't hold the same kind of insult to his story that it does for Naruto. But it still feels like an insult to THEIR story.

Naruto and Sasuke were just two orphan boys. Their moms were best friends, but they didn't know that. They died when they were too young. But Naruto and Sasuke still gravitated towards one another. Understood each other like no one else. And got on each other's nerves like no one else. But that irritation stemmed from their genuine admiration of each other. They wanted to be able to beat each other. They became Rivals. And it was on their own terms. No one else pushed them together. Outside of them ending up on the same team, their entire relationship was fueled by their recognition of one another, Jealousy of one another, and the simple enjoyment of being around one another. They were the ones to decide the importance of their relationship. Sasuke recognizing Naruto as his closest friend & thus thinking he was the one he had to cut off to achieve power, and Naruto recognizing Sasuke as his first peer that acknowledged him, a precious bond he finally made, and thus someone he had to cling to FIERCELY. That was all them.

But here we are. They're a reincarnated set. The sun and the moon, but Officially. One could say soulmates in a way, in a non-romantic kind of context (considering the first iteration was a pair of brothers). While this is cool from a story standpoint, it really takes some significance away from their relationship to me. It makes it less of something they chose for themselves and more of a given. Pretty much just like Naruto being Ashura's reincarnation cheapens his own story, it cheapens their relationship too.

I dont want a story about two boys who were destined to be important to each other!!!! I want a story about two orphans who just happened to become important to one another thru a series of coincidences and personal choices. In that way, their relationship gains greater gravity bc it's born from their own hearts Alone. It's Naruto moving mountains for the sake of this boy he loves, and it's Sasuke finally coming back around bc of the force of Naruto's dedication. It means so much more than the implication that they were always meant to be a pair. So I really don't like this narrative choice.

[wildtornado-o]

Frequently thinking of how Forthing tried to offer Temeraire some comfort after Laurence's "death" despite how he had been treated by him all the time prior. I think it just says a lot about him as a person idk