#he's got that 'emotionally distant until it counts' vibe

[herosplatling-replica]

so i ended up deciding here was a good spot to start talking more about my art! directors cut commentary under the cut

this art piece was admittedly a lot of fun. i think i finished this in a haze in about an hour and a half, tops? i can't remember. i do remember though that i wanted the parallels to be so clear to people that didn't even know about this game, though.

i, personally, fucking hate edega. he's a capitalistic misogynistic bastard that's blatantly ignoring the law to do whatever the fuck he wants. but, he's a supremely compelling character. i don't LIKE him, but he intrigues me. he's a very complex guy and i feel like we barely know anything about him - hell, we barely found out he has a cat last winter bc of official art.

Inny on the other hand is pretty much a direct foil to edega. they're optimistic, nervous, emotional, and wanting to do nothing more than to help people. edega is seen and comes across as this emotionally distant, closed off, and direct person. inny's the new face, and edega's the boss.

however, i feel like there's more to it than just that. like, both The Intern in game canonically we don't know what they look like. we don't know what edega's face looks like. we don't even know how The Intern in game is moving around, just that they don't seem to have legs and are "just a finger." it feels like, to me, that it's something that's sort of indicative of how the workers at middlesea are treated.

everyone's got some sort of thing hiding their face. ada and ian their glasses, janitor his mask. we don't even see the nurse (though granted this may be purely bc jyi sim voiced both the nurse and ada in the mandarin chinese stuff) but we know that she's there and doing practically every job under the sun. i think that the parallel of never really getting the full picture is present here

a big motif i have with inny is the hands. inny's hands are how they communicate, how they talk to the people around them, since they don't have a voice. since the beginning the imagery of "helping hands" had always been stuck to me, and it had just been something i wanted to carry onto inny even when i was visualizing their design for the first time.

from the start they've always had this hand imagery following them around, and it's honestly one of my favorite things to draw with them. at one point im gonna have an art piece with the patient hands grabbing onto inny's monitor but that's a tall task that needs at least two adderalls. but regardless!

inny's hand outstretched to edega's - it's i suppose an effort to make contact. to communicate. they know there must be a reason for edega to be doing all of this stuff, and it really shows in 5-2N, but they can't find out until he tells them. edega's got this sort of vibe about him that he can only count on himself, and nobody else can really help him out with things. to me, inny would see that, see how he closes himself off, and just feel conflicted about it. they'd want to do something. but it's not always that simple.

it's never simple - edega's hand is clenched tightly closed. closing himself off. distancing himself. inny is crossing the barrier between them, reaching out, and edega's sort of retreating. behind the clipboard, behind the duties of head doctor. there's a lot to be said about that sort of thing.

we don't see him doing anything ourselves, but 5-2N having the medical notes darting all over the screen, handling the medications, the recommended stretches and exercises, it at least shows that he knows what he's doing. the problem is how he's going about it.

edega's a wall, and inny's an open book. it's a very clashing dynamic, and if inny were to have the voice to express it, they would have so goddamn much to say to him. mostly "are you okay" being at the top of the list.

cause yeah, edega's an asshole. but edega's the most the team has at the moment, and edega's only focus is perfecting the rhythm defibrillator to handle everything when it was meant for a single purpose, as mentioned in 5-2N's tutorial. it was meant only for correcting irregular heart rhythms. it's not supposed to be a magic fix-all

i just have a lot of thoughts about Edega. i study him under a microscope because he fascinates me but i also need to push him down some stairs

narrative foils

[sweetcantae]

also yoongi is the dad don’t @ me

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Rating Dads in Naruto

Fugaku: 3/10. The emotionally distant father we all know. Did not cry when Itachi murdered everyone in their clan, did cry when Itachi got a girlfriend. Told Sasuke he was proud of him one time (but only when Itachi was busy). 

Hiruzen: 1/10. Loved Asuma, probably. We can guess. Put his other kid AND child-in-law in the Murder Corps, even though they had a baby. Not especially clear if his other child is even alive or dead??? It’s hard to be more emotionally absent than Fugaku but Hiruzen spent almost no quality time with any relative other than Konohamaru, whom he literally named Village Boy. Simultaneously everyone’s father and no one’s father. He should probably get 0 for his orphan policies but he gets 1 bc that’s a government thing not a parenting action. Had a couple of parental moments with Iruka, at least.

Shibi: 7/10, came to rescue his son in Part I. Tried to keep both Shino and Torune away from Danzo in the anime. Has solid dad vibes. -3 simply because filling your child with beetles like they’re a maraca frightens me.

Hiashi: -6/10. Cannot think of a single reason why anyone would want Hiashi as a father. Outright awful to both of his daughters, but especially Hinata. Withheld Neji’s last parental message from his father until he publicly aired their clan mess out in front of everyone. I guess he didn’t put a caged bird seal on Hanabi but if that’s your metric for success the bar is so low it’s subterranean. 

Hizashi: 5/10, wanted a better life for his son than he had. Died for Hiashi though, which is a mistake on anyone’s part. Probably should’ve given Neji that letter himself.

Choza: 8/10, spends a lot of quality time with his son, protected him, taught him jutsu, reassured him he would find love. Shamed Choji a bit for having bad ninja instincts, but to be fair, at the time, he did. The -2 is mostly for early Naruto when he is in the anti-Naruto mobs. Not a good example for the kids.

Shikaku: 6/10, kind of emotionally distant and only shows his love through board games, but there in his own awkward way when it counts. I would not throw him out at Dad-Mart. 

Inoichi: 22/10, I love his ponytail and his definition of “optimistic love” is Sakura and Ino’s relationship. Also taught his daughter a lot, but the ponytail and wlw rights are enough for me to justify my rating.

Rasa: -10/10. You know why.

Dai: 9/10. Amazing dad. Remained a genin, the safest ninja career. Instilled values of love, perseverance, positivity and self-expression in Gai. Literally died for his son. Incredible 80s energy. -1 for teaching a baby a self-destruct jutsu.

Sakumo: 7/10, maybe should’ve tried some ninja therapy, bc his death was super traumatic for Kakashi. But seemingly had a good handle on the single dad thing when Kakashi was a young boy, encouraged Kakashi to become friends with Gai, and literally waited in Ninja Purgatory for like 20 years just so he and Kakashi could have emotional closure. Get you a dad as dedicated as that. Definition of “here for a good time, not a long time.” I also like his ponytail.

Minato: 4/10, one for each minute that he was a dad. Really good at speeches and hugs but he put Giant Weapon Pet in his newborn and then was gonna avoid single parenting via death seal even before he was impaled. Bruh. I forgive him for 38% of it because he’s handsome.

Old Dads R Us (Butsuma, Tajima, Hagoromo): -12/10, they all have stanky dad energy. Butsuma and Tajima try to use their kids as spies and make them fight to the death. Hagoromo describes his kids as genius and a dunce, and then leads them to fight through multiple cycles of rebirth. I know it was like, the Ninja Middle Ages or whatever, but they could each write a book on cultivating dysfunctional family dynamics.

Kizashi: 10/10, has a questionable hairstyle and even more questionable jokes. Barely canonical, but still a better influence in Sakura’s life than almost any other biological dad on this list. Is Sasuke’s father-in-law, which is the funniest fucking dynamic I can think of. I can think of no reason to knock points off. We stan.

Iruka: 10,000/10, the reason Naruto knows what love is, and therefore why the entire Ninja world knows what love is. Spends quality time, teaches Naruto values, tries to protect him, and literally acts as his father in the wedding. Doesn’t need genetic relation to radiate Incredible Dad Energy. I love him.