#character: jiraiya

[bizawa-art]

“Now my job is to help the next generation and set a good example for them. And, for that, I’ll gladly lay down my life, and I’ll be smiling the whole time.”

[gesturesweirdly]

teammates :)

[devildomresidentt]

𝐌𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨…

(Naruto cast Edition)

Featuring - Kakashi, Kisame, Gaara, Juugo, Yamato, Obito, Might Guy, Asuma, Itachi, Iruka, Jiraiya, Konoha 12 males, & Anyone else you see fit <3

Rating - Lovey-Dovey Cutesy-Wutesy Fluff

Song Choice - My Girlfriend (TV Girl)

Men who love you unconditionally as if it's a second nature to them. They lived the majority of their life with the idea that they're undeserving of the love they see on display in public, but you changed that for them. You mean the world to them and they'll do anything in their power to make sure you never feel the way they felt before they met you, your smile is worth more than any amount of Ryo in the world to them. (Kakashi, Choji, Kisame, Gaara, Juugo, + Anyone you see fit)

Men who will remember every single detail and aspect of you and your life. They'll easily be able to list your likes and dislikes perfectly without a single detail missed, some may even say they know you better than you know yourself. They just cant help it, seeing you happy and content means everything to them and being the cause of those feelings are a huge bonus to them. (Shikamaru, Shino, Neji, Rock Lee, Yamato, Obito, Might Guy, Asuma, + Anyone you see fit)

Men who are adorably romantic in their own unique way. Although they aren't the lovey-dovey romantic type, they still show you just how much they absolutely adore you, even if the world doesn't see it. Instead of expensive dinner dates, they prefer spending time chatting about the future you see having with each other while helping you prepare dinner. They appreciate the time they spend with you above anything, even if it's something as simple as tagging along with you while you run errands or the extra 2-5 minutes you two spend with your limbs intertwined with each others before the alarm goes off. (Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Kiba, Itachi, Iruka, Jiraiya + Anyone you see fit)

[dyaz-stories]

i'm actually going to be so upset if we don't see anyone mourning gojo

like so far we haven't seen anyone care? we haven't seen anyone be even a little sad or grateful for his death. what do you mean he wrote them letters and nobara went 'yuck' and megumi said 'let's get this over with' i'm losing my fucking mind

like if a character that's this important disappears from your story you can't just. sweep it under the rug. like when jiraiya and ace die we saw everyone grieving their loss because they mattered to people.

doesn't gojo deserve that too?

[woodsie]

Shadow Yosuke’s Symbolism

I recently got a friend to play Persona 4 and we were talking about the symbolism of each of the character’s shadow selves, when we came to the realisation that neither of us really knew what Yosuke’s was meant to represent.

Chie’s represented her relationship with Yukiko. Yukiko’s her desire for freedom but lack of action in taking it. Yosuke has… a ninja frog…?

So I’ve done some digging.

Official Statements

The first thing I did was look at the official concept art sheet for shadow Yosuke. This primarily detailed that as the first of the shadows, they wanted it to be very obvious that their shadow’s and persona’s were the same thing.

This is done quite well and tells players subtly that they are the same without being obvious.

Jiraiya does look a lot like shadow Yosuke. The main body’s colour is inverted from black (evil) to white (good), the frogs eyes are added to Jiraiya’s head and the frog’s mouth becomes a chest piece, with the frog’s skin pattern carried over to the cuffs of Jiraiya’s clothes.

Jiraiya is easily the most similar persona to shadow. Important for early game. This idea is also helped by Tomoe looking very similar to shadow Chie, and allows the idea of persona’s and shadow’s being the same to be cemented into the players minds before they meet shadow Yukiko who is visually very different to Konohana-Sakuya.

Jiraiya In Folklore

My next step was to look for any symbolism between Yosuke and the story of Jiraiya himself. Granted, as a white woman™️ my knowledge of Japanese folklore is limited but I will summarise my findings and compare them to Yosuke’s story directly.

[Sorry for the weird formatting, I’m working around the 10 image post limit]

Both stories open with a character from an influential background and moving to a new area.

Jiraiya’s stance as a robber could be in reference to the fact that Junes is taking business away from local businesses and their families.

Saki could be taking the place of the woman in the house. Regardless of if she actually likes him, she is kind to him when others are not. This is something Yosuke admires greatly but it still doesn’t prevent Junes from ruining the Konishi’s business.

His shadow self is then a reference to the old man/magic frog. It recognises him from who he is, and although the shadow is hostile its intention is to teach Yosuke about the parts of himself he is trying to hide so he can reconcile with those feelings. This is what allows him to gain his persona, or in other words “teaching him magic”

Gaining his persona is what helps set Yosuke’s resolve and desire to avenge Saki and the others who have suffered due to the killer. He shows a distinct intelligence and is often the one to piece together vital information. Without him insisting they investigate Saki’s murder, the Investigation Team might not have ever existed. In that sense you could consider him a hero.

A good portion of his social link is devoted to him coming to terms with his situation, both around the murders and his place within Inaba. He frequently talks about feelings of loneliness and a desire to be valued, and he finds comfort in having his persona and being able to do something about what’s going on, it gives him some control over his life which he lost by coming to Inaba in the first place. Overtime though he does come to love Inaba as a whole and recognises that it’s the people around you that really make a place special. He’s not alone anymore and he’s far happier for it.

Other Potential Inspirations

In my attempts at seeing what others online think about potential symbolism for Yosuke’s shadow, I found that most people also did not understand what his shadow was meant to represent. However, I did come across a few older threads of people sharing possible ideas.

One of which was of a Chinese story about a frog in a well. The story related to narrow mindedness and limited perspective as the frog is unaware of life beyond the well and is amazed by it when told what it has to offer. This could be a potential reference to his dismissal of country life and him growing to love the town.

[princeofuchiha]

I think the scene with Itachi and Kisame escaping Jiraiya has so much untapped humor to it.

Like. I know I know it super wasn't a thing but I find it so funny to imagine Itachi and Jiraiya knowing each other via work. Considering one of them low key specializes in stealth/spy work and one of them runs a spy network.

The image of Itachi trying to do his job and his boss just waltzing in to go What Do You Think You're Doing, That's Not Very Protocol Of You is so funny to me. Itachi just immediately dropping Naruto and going on his way like My Bad, Actually, Disregard That

Itachi getting jumpscared by his boss while out on contract 4K /hj

[every-jiraiya]

[stressed-sock]

”trying to crush them would be fun too”

wild thing to say, my guy - bro said he was joking but I’m squinting at him /silly

anywho drawing a lil bit of naruto fanart cause I rewatched some of it 👍

[kriscox]

bath

[orochiposting]

The Mouse of the Leaf, Naomi Senju & Her Summon — Tesso, The Rat King 🐁

Summoning Justu ᝰ.ᐟ

art credit - @ vivi_citrus on insta

Similar to Kakashi’s Ninja Hounds or the Toads of Mount Myōboku, there exist a species of ninja rats led by the fearsome and tactful Rat King, Tesso. Whom Naomi befriended and formed a contract with in her mid twenties. She continued a strong bond with both Tesso and the rest of the smaller ninja mice. Often summoning droves of them to swarm her enemies, small individual ones for recon or stealth missions, among hundreds of other uses throughout her life until Boruto. Naomi is quite bold and arrogant regarding her summoning animal and how powerful they are — just like her father, Jiraiya, with his toads. And at the same time, the kunoichi carries the elegance from her mother, Tsunade.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

a huuuuge thank you to @ vivi_citrus for this gorgeous commission of Naomi in Boruto showing off Tesso ! I’ve been wanting to get him drawn up and introduce him along with my oc summoning species for a while! And I absolutely love how the posing reminds me of Jiraiya ! Like father, like daughter ! <3

[thesauce8]

people who hate sakura but love karin are the biggest hypocrites out there 💀 karins constantly disrespecting sasukes boundaries and being an overall creep but sakuras the one labeled a stalker

[benomvv]

wanna grab a handful his hair n just HUG IT

[starlightmeissa]

I really liked the new chapter of Fluffy Clouds! It showed up on a Monday of what's going to be a very stink week at work (they are restructuring my job to oblivion) so it was a great distraction and I've read it three times. I think the thing I like best is the difference between how Seiko thinks of herself and how others do when we get their POV. Like, Jiraiya has all the official files talking about 'prodigy' and 'leadership' and Seiko is all "welp. Gonna lose my legs so I better save up)

i'm glad i've given you something fun to do during a bad week! i really hope that the restructuring isn't too awful.

seiko is absolutely a flawed pov, mostly in reference to how she thinks of herself. not that it's super negative, she tends to be right about the level of her capabilities, but she is so much more. normal and pragmatic about everything compared to everyone else.

none of what she is doing is about being a good leader or being prodigal to her. she doesn't care about that. great leaders and prodigies die all the time, and if they're lucky they just lose a hand or something. she doesn't perceive herself as being more special than anyone else, other than having a much higher than average intellect and being reincarnated. which she is wrong about! she's extremely fatalistic, which comes out as being very reasonable in a world as violent as naruto.

jiraiya in contrast looks at her and sees orochimaru, which im glad people have pointed out in the comments! orochimaru, a once in a generation genius. orochimaru, the third hokage's favorite and a brat that's been just ahead of jiraiya his whole life. jiraiya is also flawed in his perception of seiko, because it's heavily tinted by his own experiences. he's only really known one genius who was seiko's age, so that's the first guy he thinks of. he's trying to fit kushina, minato, and seiko into a more understandable mold.

all this being said, these two are gonna have a fun dynamic for sure.

TY FOR SENDING AN ASK! i really love talking ab this fic its the furthest ive ever gotten with planning out one, and im excited that so many other people like it!

[kingunderthemontain1994]

[sol-iscus]

I’ve started watching jujutsu kaisen for the first time and I’m on season 1 (haven’t read the manga) but I’m very much in love with Nanami

I also love nobara and her slightly unhinged behavior, she’s so real lmao

Please don’t let my heart be broken at the end of this show

PLEASE

[tired-reader-writer]

“She is a lantern-holder on the water, a task for the apprentice miko, but the kannushi allowed her this, and none protested this allowance. [...] The kannushi recites a prayer aloud, and the miko trace the rhythm of the ripples of the water's surface as she does. Upon the kannushi's face, the mask of the Shinigami. Upon the miko's faces, the masks of the ayakashi that serve him, of the countless and many Uzu-no-Mikoto. They flicker to life in moonlight, glow like ghosts upon the darkened sea. The kami they represent are neither gentle nor serene.”

The shrine of the sea in Uzushiogakure, formerly known as Uzunoshima.

—Foxes, Pillars, and Sea-salt Rust: Chapter 1

-

There are other descriptions of this shrine in the chapter, of course, but they're so specific it's honestly hard to find photographs that fit them, and yes the kannushi and miko are all Uzumaki, they're supposed to be red-haired, but good luck finding any photographs of miko with red hair, LOL.

The shrine (and what it represents) is very important to our protagonist, Hoshiori, and will be quite the part of her character further down the line.

If you haven't seen my fic announcement post, Foxes, Pillars, and Sea-salt Rust is about Hoshiori, the younger granddaughter of Hashirama and Mito born in Uzunoshima (Uzushiogakure), offering to take Kushina's role as a jinchuuriki. The prologue, or rather chapter 1 here, serves to set the context for that decision to come. The chapter, and the fic as a whole, will cover a lot of worldbuilding and political dynamics of the Elemental Nations.