#or he thinks they're dangerous and wants to have control over them as a “technical parent”)

[mutable-manifestation]

#dpxdc#danny phantom#dc comics#superman#a shit brickhouse of a man who doesn't look like either one of them#accusations of cheating on lex with his arch nemesis superman#vlad is so offended clearly he's lexy's arch nemesis how dare!

Lmao okay but imagine Vlad backslides more because he has to be the nemesis. Like. This is not a slight that can go uncontested.

So like? Vlad backslides. And starts making more clones.

Superman clones. Like "if one Superman is your archnemesis - scoff - let's see how you feel about the source of consist stream of an increasing number of Supermen."

Like? Getting DNA is no biggie for a ghost - just possess the guy mid-flight, pass off some hairs to a duplicate, move on.

And Vlad already has his cloning tech on point. It just takes a bit of rebuilding.

He gets about three Supermen in before the Dannies notice.

He gets so defensive. Like oh, when a woman makes another person it's fine, but when I, Vlad Masters-

And they're just like. *deep breaths* You aged them up taking away years of their lives and also: did you bother to get permission from Superman or did you just steal his DNA?

Vlad: ...

So anyway now Vlad has three Superman sons. They're all fully-grown but like. They all know they aren't the real Clark. And Vlad is...odd? But it's not like he's asking them to do anything they don't want to.

"Prevent Lex Luthor from doing evil stuff" and other various heroics aren't anything they wouldn't be doing anyway.

Also Vlad learned his lesson with his first clone - positive reinforcement only lest they fly straight into the arms of the enemy. So like. He's being nice to them - they all have their own rooms, he got them civilian IDs, he's willing to set them up with jobs of their choice or college, and all he wants is "if Lex Luthor breathes wrong check up and see if he needs to be stopped" which. They'd want to do anyway.

Plus the Dannies all just treat them like their own people, so even the "being a clone" thing is less crisis inducing than it could be. Especially when they learn Dani is a clone and technically so is Dan.

They are... coping. With the names.

in the lineup we got:

Lark - the first clone, kryptonian name (because he mentioned the Kal-El thing at some point & Vlad was like "oh sweet I get to name you again! Love naming things! :D") Kar-El. Yeah. Like Carl.

Chad - the second clone, Clark doesn't have a lot of variations but he wanted a C-name. And of course, the kryptonian name: Char-El (yeah Vlad is not a creative man. Listen he literally tried to copy/paste a son okay. Creativity is not his strong suit. It's not even a suit he has, I think)

Aaaaand the youngest. The babiest of boys: Archie - he wanted another name with "ark" in it but couldn't think of one. So he went *shrug* arch is close enough. Kryptonian name: Ark-El (yeah he jumped at the chance to give him an ark-name when he realized he could make another one. Yes I'm implying he forgot middle names exist. None of the clones have middle names)

Anyway, Vlad is very supportive of their hobbies & such. Not a bad life, all told, save for the whole thing where they miss Ma & Pa and also remember being married and now they very much aren't. Luckily the memories are more "information I have & stuff I observed" than "stuff I experienced" but it's still the majority of their memories for a good while so like. Upsetting.

Anyway with the whole precedent of "Vlad Masters' babies have absurd growth rates" everyone just assumed that they're his actually kids & that he either had triplets or has an ongoing relationship with Superman.

And you know what? That is a free explanation that doesn't involve admitting to cloning so sure, that happened.

Superman knows it did not happen but no one believes him.

Well okay, everyone he knows personally believes him - but the public doesn't.

He's being put in a love triangle with Lex Luthor and Vlad Masters. Some people are calling them OT3. He is climbing the walls. He hates this so so so so so so much.

Lex & Vlad are having public fights about this and Vlad is just. "I don't recall ever agreeing to be exclusive *condescending eyebrow raise* Where I go and what or who I do are frankly none of your business. *insert snooty hmph noise here* Don't you have somewhere to be, like your bi-weekly beatdown from your precious "archnemesis""

And he means it in a "I should be the one who you consider your archnemesis" way, but everyone watching this takes it as "Lex and Vlad both cheated on each other, both with Superman."

You Know How There Are Those AU? Where SUPER Injured Ghosts Need To Retreat To Their Core?

No one seems to be USING that to its fullest potential! For SHENANIGANS! Because! Who?? Could POSSIBLY carry a Halfa's Core safely... but another Halfa?! A FULL ghost would KILL them. A human would be killed! What terribly precarious peril we find ourselves in! Oh nooooooo!

Well, no worry!

As much as Dani fuckin HATES this. That there is her brother. Her Template. Her Clone Daddy and Bestest of Bros. Like HECK she's gonna let him suffer for centuries and possibly DIE. She can take it, Doc! Pop him in! We'll go road tripping and-

What do you MEAN "No"?

Unstable??! Of course she's unstable! But the-.... Oh.

Turns OUT? Dani? Can hitch a ride in DANNY for Emergency Medical Aid... but NOT the other way around. Her body is too loosely held together. He would parasiticly consume her from within. Instead of feeding off her Ecto System like injured ghosts are supposed too, because she's a CLONE? AND an unstable one at that? His Core would just... see her body as free ectoplasm. All of it.

He'd eat her.

Which mean Frostbite can not and WILL NOT allow that.

But he's HURT! That big, off screen, cataclysmic Fight To Save Everybody From *cough cough mumbles* and settle us all in the DC universe, REALLY messed him up! What are we supposed to DO!? He can't STAY like this!!!

Enter-> My FAVORITE DCxDP Trash Ship! Vlad&Lex!!! *horrified screaming from the crowds, someone shouts "oh god, no! Please!"* Ha! There are no gods here, silly billys! Only two terrible, terrible HIGHLY Dramatic, self serving, incredibly damaged, gay peacocks. In Business Suits that cost more then your house is worth.

They're AWFUL~♡

And! Vlad was sent ahead to lay the ground work. Insure there would be no GIWs. Also because no one could stand him and his EXTENSIVE criminal record. But that's besides the point.

But!

You know what he found? A Business Nemesis. Who he routinely dates and/or Dramatically Hate Fu-*coughs* I mean, attempts a Corporate Take Over(tm) off. You know how it is. Business. He ALSO gets to make it no secret he's a "Meta", thanks to the INCOMPETENCE of one Jack Fenton, because that- *seething rant*

Yet? Dispite his STILL burning hatred for Jack? And his finally letting go of Maddie? You know what he STILL wants?

For Danny to be his Son.

*Gets a call from Frostbite*

...............soooooo........ what you're SAYING is..... I can be pregnant with Daniel.

You, Frostbite, need ME, Vladimir Masters, THE ONLY OTHER HALFA, to carry Daniel around inside my body, in what to all appearances resembles a pregnancy, in order to heal him. Because I am an Older And Stronger Halfa Upon Which He Relies.

:)

*instantly begins plotting*

Just? Imagine. Vlad is a FUCKIN LIAR. No one but him would even KNOW what was going on! He just? Rocks up one day, like? *falsely demure* "oh I couldn't POSSIBLY has any scotch, Lex! >:) I'm eating for Two~☆" and just? Deals the MAXIMUM amount of psychic damage he can.

Probably says it at their weekly, public, Veiled Threats Brunch.

It makes front page news. Luthor choked on his eggs. The paparazzi lost their SHIT. Vlad is doing the FULL Celebrity Mom Thing. The classes. The photo shoots. The Gucci sunglasses as he peruses high end strollers. All while HEAVILY suggesting that not only is "The Baby" Lex's.... but that he's going to withhold the child and deny Lex any access.

Danny isn't even aware. He's in a lovely lil medical coma. Dani is trying to find a good spot to plop down Amity. She just know Vlad is being... Vlad. Meh. He can handle it. Dan? He's not even IN the human realm and is not sure he wants to be.

But over in the LEAGUE? Everything's on fuckin FIRE.

Kon is losing his SHIT and Clark is thousand yard staring into the void. Kon's half brother is in the hands of a... Less Then Ideal... Meta that Batman is PRETTY sure is highly suspect. Might be a deliberate weapons experiment. Certainly is a hostage. And the DRAMA.

Lex has never been worse.

He might actually stab his...partner? Vlad. At the hospital. The SECOND the child is born. There are already long term kidnapping plans in the making. He's hiring lawyers. Getting VICIOUS. There have been talks with DEATHSTROKE. By BOTH OF THEM.

Clark wants to cry.

@hypewinter @ailithnight @nerdpoe @hdgnj @the-witchhunter @mutable-manifestation @babbling-babull

[asthedeathoflight]

I do think 70s devils minion adds a whole layer to Daniel and Armand's relationship that we're not really taking into account enough bc while it does kind of technically happen in canon (that they break up and then get back together) we never actually get to SEE them when they're back together and so its not really taken into consideration for their dynamic.

But like Armand is someone who has for his entire life been another person's possession, who has defined himself as a person that people Have instead of Love. And what the Queen of the Damned chapter shows is Daniel Molloy as someone who Armand wanted to possess and who wanted to be possessed by Armand. Armand has never owned anything in his entire 500 year life and so he NEEDS to own Daniel, he needs to have just this ONE THING to himself after all this time. And Daniel for his part is very into being so consumed by another person. For a time, Daniel is exactly what Armand needs. Here is a person who cannot hurt him, who wants to belong to him, who he can finally assert authority over and in doing so assert his own independence. Nobody in Armand's life has ever been truly HIS in the way that Daniel is.

But the longer theyre together the less urgent the need to possess and control is, and the more Armand is able to love Daniel selflessly, the more they come into conflict because Daniel still WANTS that level of obsession. Their breakup in the books is inevitable because their relationship was built on impulses that, while important stages in their growth, over time became unhealthy. Daniel needs to get out of his cycle of addiction and Armand needs to grow past needing to possess people to believing they'll stay of their own free will. So they need to break up.

BUT unlike in the books where Armand's resolve ultimately fails him and he turns Daniel anyways, cementing the both of them into both of their unhealthiest habits, show Armand manages to work through his issues to the next stage of his growth: that he needs to let Daniel go. And he does! He lets Daniel go and he bears the burden of their relationship alone for 50 years so that Daniel could not only have a human life but also develop as a person in a way he never could have if he stayed with Armand. Show Daniel is a different man from 70s/book Daniel. He knows who he is. Even though he's falling back into old patterns now that he's a vampire he's still been through this cycle a few times and hes stronger now than he would have been if he was turned when he was 30.

I think, assuming devils minion did happen in the 70s, the present Daniel/Armand dynamic will be different from what we're expecting because they've finally grown enough as people so that they can come together on equal footing which is really important bc Armand has never been someone's equal in a relationship before! This is new territory for him! So I think their relationship has potential for development of both of them as characters to places they never got to go in the books. Please note that this is NOT me saying they will have a perfectly well adjusted healthy relationship I just think that this is the next step past their old dynamic and probably will be more dangerous for other people than it is for them which is always a win.

[badgalsasuke]

Kishimoto interview with Kobayashi for Mandō Kobayashi broadcasted on Fuji TV Dec. 13th 2014

LINK TO THE INTERVIEW

This is a transcription of (most of) the interview. Please watch the video of the interview that I already linked above the image while reading the transcription because there are times where Kishimoto and Kobayashi are discussing a manga panel or notes from Kishimoto's concept notebook and if you're not seeing it then the transcription won't make sense to you.

Also keep in mind this is a very long interview that lasts 54 minutes in video.

INTRO (0:00-6:32)

Kobayashi: Let's start the mission now. Kishimoto: Excuse me! Hello! Kobayashi: Nice to meet you, my name is Kento Kobayashi Kishimoto: Nice to meet you, I'm Kishimoto Kobayashi: Are you Kishimoto-sensei? Kishimoto: Yes.

Kobayashi: So, we came here from a show called Mandou Kobayashi, but first of all, congratulations on the end of your series. Today, rather than coming here on request, we actually came to surprise you. Is it okay if we ask you a bunch of questions?

Kishimoto: Please feel free to ask me anything. Kobayashi: Thank you for your permission, let's go in. So is this the workplace? Kishimoto: This is the workplace. Kobayashi: Until recently, fierce battles were taking place here too, right? Kishimoto: It's hell. (Kobayashi laughs)

(I don't know what they're saying from 0:53-1:02)

Kobayashi: Isn't this good? This freezer is amazing. Kishimoto: This is a freezer. Kobayashi: Yes. It's a second-hand one, isn't it? Kishimoto: That's right. I got this one that was used at Jump Festa. Kobayashi: Kishimoto-sensei? Kishimoto: Yes. Kobayashi: You really wanted this one? Kishimoto: Yes, well actually, I wanted Goku. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: I wonder where Goku is now?

Kishimoto: Goku is at Oda's house right now (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: You'd have an assistant here? (Kobayashi points to desk) Kishimoto: Yes, that's right. The assistants here had already finished the manuscript, so they packed up and went home.

Kobayashi: I see. Kishimoto: There's nothing here anymore. It feels kind of lonely. Kobayashi: It feels kind of lonely, isn't it? Kishimoto: There's nothing to mess with. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: What's this? The adjustable desk? Kishimoto: Since it's the desk over there, it feels like I'm writing the manuscript here. Kobayashi: As I thought, when you write a color manuscript, you need vitamins, sensei. (Kobayashi grabs bottle of vitamins)

Kishimoto: So that's what it was, huh? I just ate it a moment ago. (Everyone chuckles)

Kobayashi: Hey, the staff didn't set something up like this. Kishimoto: This is different. Kobayashi: Are you trying to imitate us sneakily? Huh?

Kishimoto: I bought it out of my own pocket. I mean, I technically bought it under the company's expenses. (Everybody chuckles)

Kobayashi: You're kidding, right? If only you had told me that, sensei. Oh, but it would be really helpful for inventory control. That kind of thing, really.

Kishimoto: Well, this is… I found some old drama manuscripts, so I've left them here for a while. Kobayashi: Do these things ever get returned to the authors? Kishimoto: Yes, they do. Kobayashi: So, how much is it? 80 pages?

Kishimoto: I don't remember either... Oh Hinata, it's just Hinata. Not a movie script though. (laughs)

Kobayashi: Well, it turned out to be quite a coincidence sensei. (laughs)

Kishimoto: No, no, no. Kobayashi: As expected from a writer who has written such an epic masterpiece, how do you think he was able to digest all that foreshadowing?

Kobayashi: Surely this should be kept in a bank safe or something. Kishimoto: It's just sitting there with kids' clothes on top of it… Kobayashi: That is dangerous. Kishimoto: Some of it might disappear in a little while.

Kobayashi: is it like a movie concept notebook? For sensei's movies, you first sometimes come up with the original idea and the script, right? Kishimoto: Well, a little, but generally the screenwriters let me do this and that. I'm not the kind of guy who nitpicks or complains at all. There are things written there that have nothing to do with Naruto. Kobayashi: Things that have nothing to do with Naruto? For example, what do you mean? Kishimoto: Like stories I'd like to tell Mammone someday. (everybody laughs)

Kobayashi: Someday. Kishimoto: I'd like to do something like that. Kobayashi: It seems like this is the kind of design I thought of when we met. Kishimoto: That's right. Kobayashi: Ok, ok, ok. Kishimoto: It has nothing to do with Naruto at all. Kobayashi: You just write down everything that comes to mind. Kishimoto: Well, I guess I'll write it here, around here. Kobayashi: [The Day] The Earth Stood Still*. (action movie, 2008) Kishimoto: I watch movies around here and think, "If it were me, I would do it this way," and then I write various things down here... what is this, a read-through?

Kobayashi: It's a one-shot… Kishimoto: It's a one-shot… Have you read it? Kobayashi: But it's quite… Can I just say something? Like… Like panel illustrations… Kishimoto: Ah, that's right. Kobayashi: So the course is quickly drawn here, like a panel layout. Kishimoto: I think it's an image of Kaguya… Kobayashi: Kaguya! Kishimoto: being sealed away, and Gai's final special move was supposed to be something like that, but in the end it was just a kick. (Kobayashi laughs)

Kobayashi: Look at this course. At the end, Sasuke and Naruto make a sign of reconciliation. It was already written here. Kishimoto: That's right. I wrote it around here. This is the original draft for Naruto, and it was only the first chapter… Kobayashi: This is the most important part, so to speak, for a young manga artist, the draft. Kishimoto: Before it started serialization. Kobayashi: Do you really have to write this much for a draft? Kishimoto: That's right. When you're starting, rookies need to have a good image and there's a solidarity meeting for that, and in order to pass it they make a good impression by trying their best and doing as much as possible. Kobayashi: That's it. Kishimoto: That's right.

Kobayashi: Isn't that just like the first chapter? Kishimoto: If I don't write it in that much detail, the image won't be conveyed. And I'm not trying to pander to anyone but... Kobayashi: "I'm a guy who can work hard and I want to show that". Kishimoto: Yes, show that.

Kobayashi: But somehow, you can see what Kishimoto-sensei has created, you know? Kishimoto: I quite like hero stories. Kobayashi: There are a lot of hero stories. Kishimoto: I quite like them.

Kobayashi: Toriyama-sensei is definitely someone great from that generation. Kishimoto: That's right. Surprisingly, my generation and everyone else feel like he's a god. Kobayashi: That's true, isn't it? Kishimoto: This is called a "gela/geller" and it means that only the parts related to Naruto are taken from Jump and then checked with this to see which parts of the manuscript need to be corrected before it actually becomes a comic. Kobayashi: Sensei, you change the wording of the book quite a lot, don't you? Kishimoto: Yes, but I guess I change it since the deadline isn't met, just a little bit..

Kobayashi: Were you under a lot of pressure? After all, it was a weekly serialization. Kishimoto: Yes, there were. Like with the Shadow Clone Jutsu… Kobayashi: I was planning to ask about that later but I'll ask here. Kishimoto: Okay, okay. Kobayashi: Our investigation has shown that Sensei may have dugged his own grave. Kishimoto: That's right. I messed up. Kobayashi: Since you already did it in the first chapter, you can't afford to power down from there. Kishimoto: That's right. You're constantly growing so you're getting more powerful, and the number of clones increases. Kobayashi: They just keep increasing, don't they? Kishimoto: I messed up… (Everyone laughs)

END OF INTRO, BEGINNING OF INTERVIEW (6:32-50:07)

Kobayashi: First of all, thank you so much for your hard work on that series. Kishimoto: Thank you very much.

Kobayashi: First of all, I want to ask about this Naruto work. I've made a timeline here, so please take a look at the first part. It starts with the Ninja Academy, then the Team 7 decisive test, the Land of Waves arc where they fight Zabuza and Haku, the Chunin Exams, Konoha's destruction and Gaara, Itachi and Akatsuki appear, the battle of the Legendary Sannin, Sasuke's defection, and a bit of Naruto's past. So, I was curious about where you started when you first thought about creating the Naruto series?

Kishimoto: At first, it was just a normal story about a ramen shop… Kobayashi: That's something you hear a lot about, but is it a joke? Kishimoto: Seriously, I seriously wanted to draw a ramen manga. Kobayashi: You seriously wanted to draw a ramen manga.

Kishimoto: I drew a story about a ramen owner and a boy who comes to eat there, and the ramen soup and noodles would be bland on their own, but when they are combined they become many times more delicious, and I used this as an analogy to life, creating a really spectacular, super-sensational story, but then the first editor in charge at the time said, "You're way off the mark".

Kobayashi: It certainly doesn't feel like it'd fit in Weekly Shonen Jump. Kishimoto: First, it was like, "You don't understand manga", so after that I wrote a story about an elementary school kid picking up some money and going on a detour… Kobayashi: What are you talking about? (everyone laughs)

Kishimoto: I was told that it was off, so I looked into it a bit. Well, I liked Dragon Ball, so I realized halfway through that I should draw something like Dragon Ball. It took quite a while, but I got there (Kobayashi laughs). And the ramen thing, which I thought was kind of lame, turned out to be surprisingly perfect for me, so I couldn't let it go. That's how the name Naruto came about.

Kobayashi: First thing is the Naruto name and that he loves ramen, Ichiraku ramen. Did you originally want to draw something about ninjas? Kishimoto: When I was doing the one-shot it was about monsters, and in that monster story it was originally a fox that turns into a human, and it was a mixed story between human and monster, but that deviated from that. Kobayashi: From the target? Kishimoto: It deviated from the target, and I quickly made it a human, redrawn it, and when I released it, it was approved.

Kobayashi: Indeed, we really did a lot of research, or rather, verification, but it seems like it's completely the opposite of the usual ninja stuff. Kishimoto: That's right. Kobayashi: When you think about it, ninjas are depicted as being very extreme, right? This is the world of the shinobi, or rather, it's about not letting them do that, right? Kishimoto: Yes. Since there have been quite a few up until now, like Sanpei Shirata*... (Mangaka of Ninja Bugeicho, 1959; Sasuke, 1967; etc) Kobayashi: Yes.

Kishimoto: I thought that if I did the same thing, it probably wouldn't stand out, so I did the opposite.

Kobayashi: With blonde hair.

Kishimoto: Blonde hair. Not Japanese, but foreign looking. And rather than dying, how should I put it, they're more about saving than hiding. One time I got a fan letter asking "is this character a ninja?". Kobayashi: Was it a simple question from a child? Kishimoto: A simple question from a child, and then I was like, Ah! it got off track again. (Everyone laughs) Kobayashi: The serialization had already started.

Kishimoto: But there was nothing we could do about it so we just went ahead with the deviation, and my editor at the time said it was fine to go with it, that this little deviation was fine. Kobayashi: Actually, this isn't off. Kishimoto: This isn't off. Kobayashi: That's why manga is so difficult.

Kishimoto: It is difficult. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: Do you remember when the "dattebayo" line and things like that came about? Kishimoto: I was thinking about what a typical Jump manga protagonist would be like, and I thought that if a grandmother were to like a clumsy character, it might be well-received or liked. So, I thought of making him a bit awkward, like someone who can't speak properly or stumbles over his words, and adding a catchphrase like "Dattebayo" to make him endearing... Kobayashi: Slurring his words? Kishimoto: Slurring his words, I say. Kobayashi: You put in characters who were classmates, or people of the same generation, right? Did you think about that in detail? Kishimoto: No, I didn't actually intend for it to be like that, I just wanted the missions to be more detailed.

Kobayashi: I think I'll ask about that later. Kishimoto: Okay.

Kobayashi: There was a mission in Wave Country, right? Kishimoto: The Land of Waves exists, and this time the mission is in a different village where there’s a teacher and three subordinates. Then, some guys from a different team come out, and Kakashi's real identity is that he’s a rival to other teachers... Kobayashi: Kakashi had rivals outside (the village) too? Kishimoto: Yes, I talked with the editor about wanting to do it with that setting, but he said there’s no time to be messing around like that.

Kobayashi: Did he say something like, "There's no time to be dawdling around"? (Kishimoto laughs) Kishimoto: He said to release everything at once and to release characters all at once with others too. But he said, "Let's do it, let's have a tournament." I don't have that kind of strength right now. I'll die if I do that. But then I said I'll do it. I said I'll do it even if it means I die. Kobayashi: That's what the Chunin Selection Exam. Kishimoto: That's how the Chunin Selection Exam came to be. Kobayashi: The result of being rushed Kishimoto: So, I still kind of wish I could have done that (the missions).

Kobayashi: Actually, I wanted to see a few more missions too.

Kishimoto: Right? we decided on the characters on the spot. Even while writing the manuscript, if we didn't have any ideas, it was tough for a newcomer to create dozens of characters all at once...

Kobayashi: Here comes the newcomer.

Kishimoto: So, I asked the editor to design them for me. (Kobayashi laughs) The editor suggested something like an old Jackie Chan movie, and something really strange came up, and that was Gai.

Kobayashi: It was Gai and Lee. I see. But when I was listening to the earlier conversation, I heard that there was a system like this in the Land of the Waves too, of course with an academy, and when I thought about Kakashi's rival appearing, I heard that maybe this Gai version was planned for there.

Kishimoto: That's right. I thought it would be better to have a rival… Kobayashi: It actually wasn't from Konoha. Kishimoto: but I thought there wasn't enough of them, We set it up so that there would be a rival in our village. We thought it would be better to have that kind of setting, so we made it happen within a year. Kobayashi: Right. In other words, the Chunin Exam and the Hidden Leaf battle with Gaara are two different things, but they're all correlated, and yet they keep moving forward.

Kishimoto: During the Chunin Exam selection test, we gained popularity. But even though we were gaining popularity, the editor in charge at the time said that if we just let it end with a regular victory, it would be too ordinary. It wasn't the right time for a tournament. Kobayashi: This is not the time to be dragging your feet. Bang. Kishimoto: They told me, "Come on, this character named Orochimaru is going to come out and wreck everything. He's going to destroy the tournament". I had worked hard to introduce so many characters. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: That's true. Kishimoto: I was having fun wondering who would win and things like that.

Kobayashi: Even for you, were you subtly wondering who the winner would be on social media?

Kishimoto: I was planning on making it Shikamaru.

Kobayashi: Were you planning on making Shikamaru?

Kishimoto: Yes. That's right.

Kobayashi: Shikamaru's fighting style got really good in the Chunin Selection Exam.

Kishimoto: I had decided that only Shikamaru would become a chunin.

Kobayashi: Yes, yes, yes. And that's exactly what happened.

Kishimoto: I just wrote "IQ 200," but I don't have an IQ of 200. (Kobayashi laughs)

Kobayashi: You digged your grave again. Just like with the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It would require someone with an IQ of 200 to write in such a way that they would think about other people with IQ 200, so it's certainly difficult.

Kishimoto: It's not that it's difficult, it's that is just impossible, isn't it? So I struggled with this, I really struggled.

Kobayashi: Let's keep moving the story along. No, in The Land of the Waves arc, we suddenly have the formidable enemy Zabuza.

Kishimoto: I think it would be better to show a strong ninja out of the blue, and then Kakaishi-sensei would get serious about it. I thought it would be easier to show Naruto and the other ninjas from the older generation in a real ninja battle...

Kobayashi: Growing towards that point.

Kishimoto: I thought it would be easy to understand that we were going to continue to do this, so I decided to show that first.

Kobayashi: But if you think about it, the settings that are introduced in the Land of Waves arc and continue up to the final chapter, for example, the Kekkei Genkai and the Sharingan come out one after another here, right? How far did you plan this out? Kishimoto: No. I think it would have been better to just go ahead and bluff it out here. Kobayashi: Were you bluffing from the beginning? Kishimoto: It seems like a bluff, so I didn't think about what would come next at all. Kobayashi: First, you just went ahead and created the framework. Kishimoto: That's right.

Kobayashi: So you're rushing ahead with the serialization while also thinking about it? Kishimoto: Yes, that's right.

Kobayashi: So you suddenly mentioned Sasuke's past, right? Kishimoto: He wanted to kill someone. Kobayashi: That there was someone he wanted to kill. Kishimoto: I was thinking that he'd have an older brother, and that he had done something bad. I had thought about that, but not much else… Kobayashi: It was quite vague… Kishimoto: That part was vague. Kobayashi: So maybe you just said that Itachi was just a bad guy?

Kishimoto: No, by the time Itachi was brought out I had already decided he was a good guy.

Kobayashi: There's circumstances that make Sasuke feel this way.

Kishimoto: At first, the Sharingan was supposed to be able to closely observe and copy the opponent's movements, but it gradually went in a different direction. Kobayashi: It's the first chapter in the history of world entertainment to be themed around eyeballs, and it went up to volume 72. Kishimoto: I never thought that the idea of ​​the eye as a Dojutsu skill would be so useful. (Kobayashi laughs) The Sharingan is mentioned in a very old story called The Tale of the Hero Jiraiya, in which it is revealed that Jiraiya actually has the Sharingan.

Kobayashi: Jiraiya, that one. Kishimoto: The character has it, and it's often seen in kabuki and other performances. However, if Jiraiya were to use it, his character would become too prominent, so we decided to give it to the Uchiha clan instead. Kobayashi: And Kakashi's has them, so it's like he got the eyes because of some kind of grudge or connection. Kishimoto: That's right. Why does he have those eyes when he's not a part of the Uchiha clan? That's what we make into a mystery to keep the story going.

Kobayashi: So, Kakashi's Sharingan comes from the Uchiha clan. I see, so that's what it was, one of the major recoveries, a part of the mission. There are three main characters in this concept, right?

Kishimoto: Rin, Obito, and Kakashi

Kobayashi: The photo of Rin, Obito, and Kakashi came out pretty early, right? Like around the fourth chapter or so.

Kishimoto: I wonder if there are any photos of Kakashi. I'm thinking about this for now. When I get back, I'll have him be Naruto's dad.

Kobayashi: Ah, had it already been decided at this point that he would be Naruto's dad? Kishimoto: It had been decided. Kobayashi: Ah, this had been decided? Kishimoto: It had been decided, at that time. Kobayashi: Ah, is that so? Ah, had it also been decided that Obito would be the Uchiha? Kishimoto: Yes. Kobayashi: It had been firmly decided, really. Kishimoto: That's… Kobayashi: That was about 16 chapters in.

Kishimoto: Yes, that's right. We decided on that part too. Initially, it's not so much that we decided that the Fourth Hokage, Minato, was Naruto's dad, but rather that we thought we had to reveal that Naruto's dad was the Fourth Hokage. So we properly created the Hokage Rock with the Fourth Hokage's face, and originally, it was a dog's face, so the Fourth Hokage had a dog's face. Kobayashi: Dog? Dog as in dog? Kishimoto: Dog as in dog.Dog Dog. Well, there's that character with fangs, Kiba, right? So if there's a human with fangs, then why not have a dog become Hokage too, right? Kobayashi: It was a dog? Kishimoto: It was a dog. Kishimoto: Yahagi-san, editor Yahagi-san. Kobayashi: The person in charge?

Kishimoto: Yes, he told me I was off the mark again when I got there. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: You'd finally managed to fix the misalignment, and now it's off again? Kishimoto: So, I decided to make him the protagonist's father. So it was decided on the first playthrough, sort of speak. Kobayashi: I see. So you were excited about that part beforehand. But, you know, with Kakashi, did you have some kind of premonition that he'd become popular? Kishimoto: Not at all. Kobayashi: Eh, speaking of Kakashi, isn't he the most popular character? Kishimoto: That's right. I had no idea why a guy like that would become so popular.

Kobayashi: Kishimoto-sensei, that's off the mark. (Everyone laughs) Kakashi is so cool, he's gonna be popular. Kishimoto: Why can you only see with one eye? (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: Jiraiya is popular too, isn't he? Kishimoto: Jiraiya was really popular too. Kobayashi: I guess it's just that somewhere, are there any characters who are perverts at heart that become popular? Kishimoto: That's true.

Kobayashi: There's a "make out paradise" between those two. Kishimoto: That's why the characters I thought were cool and would be popular didn't become popular at all. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: Is there anyone else? This guy? Kishimoto: I drew Sai thinking he'd be popular. Kobayashi: Did Sai not become that popular as a character? Kishimoto: No, I also drew a character called Kimimaro thinking he'd be popular, but he pulls out his bones and turns them into swords and he seemed to be a little popular at some point, but the minute he pulled out his backbone he lost popularity.

Kobayashi: Did they have an allergic reaction? Women and such were like, "Wow, this guy is like this." What about Sakura-chan? Kishimoto: I drew Sakura because I thought she was cute. It's not that she's a girl's true nature, but I drew her realistically. Kobayashi: Her inner thoughts came first. Kishimoto: Yes. Kobayashi: Like appearing in a TV show. (Like the confessionals of reality tv show) Kishimoto: I thought she'd be popular with girls, but it seems like they just didn't like her. Kobayashi: Don't like her? Was there a lot of people who disliked Sakura?

Kishimoto: Right. They said that little kids hate her, so we tried a lot of things, but they just backfired. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: They backfired. I'm sorry. It's a painful memory. Kishimoto: It's a painful memory. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: You didn't intend to make them fall in love with her like that, but that's how it is. But you know, we had a little meeting about why only Sakura is like that, and it turns out that the Haruno clan isn't depicted, or rather, it was in the movie, but not in the original work. However, not that far ahead; once the recognition system is established, the parents of each clan and their relatives are depicted, and they participate in battles. So, what's up with the Haruno clan? Why aren't they depicted? She's only one girl from an ordinary family, or rather, a girl without any struggles. Kishimoto: The truth is that Sakura wasn't popular, so even if we expanded on that... (Everyone laughs) Kobayashi: So the truth is because she isn't popular you wouldn't expand on it. Kishimoto: Right. (Everyone laughs harder)

Kobayashi: But once it's out you can't backtrack on it, right? The cover of volume 4, and the cover of chapter 4 already have the details of each summoning. Kishimoto: That's right, in chapter 4. Kobayashi: And wasn't it this? If it's already out here, we can't take it down now, right? Kishimoto: That's right. We have no choice but to keep going, so it was pretty much decided by this point that those three, Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade, would each become a mentor. Kobayashi: It's already being passed down.

Kishimoto: I drew this cover while looking at the faces of Hollywood actresses. Kobayashi: So you were trying to draw what is commonly called a beautiful person? Kishimoto: Yes. I was thinking of drawing a cute girl. I was sketching and so on. Naruto and Sasuke, I can just draw them quickly, but for this character [Sakura], I had to look at reference materials while drawing. Kobayashi: You were very careful about that, weren't you, sensei? Kishimoto: I was extremely careful. Kobayashi: If you could say it like that, you were pushing it. In other words.

Kishimoto: That's right. We were pushing her so hard that it didn't get through to her at all. Only Hinata kept getting more and more popular. I didn't draw Hinata much, and like Sakura, she wasn't doing much either, but her popularity was skyrocketing, so I thought maybe I should make her the heroine. I thought maybe I should make her closer to heroine status. That's why she has a bit of a standout moment at the end.

Kobayashi: I see, it feels like all the characters have been introduced, but the second part was amazing too. First, there was the mission to rescue the Kazekage from the Sand Village, the Tenchi Bridge reconnaissance mission, then the battle between Team 10 and Hidan and Kakuzu, Sasuke's formation of Hebi, Jiraiya vs. Pain, Sasuke vs. Itachi, Hebi becoming Taka, Pain's death, the Five Kage Summit, the Fourth Great Ninja War, Naruto vs. Sasuke, and then the epilogue. So, was there a specific reason for structuring it into two parts?

Kishimoto: That's right, in some parts, Naruto and the others are, well, let's say, weak, right? Kobayashi: That's right. Kishimoto: As expected because they're genins, the Akatsuki, which is like a collective of powerful yet disenfranchised enemies. Kobayashi: Akatsuki. Kishimoto: That's right, they're genin and the Akatsuki are a strong enemy that's like a collection of disenfranchised people but even the jonin can't do anything about them. Kobayashi: It's like even jonin can't catch them.

Kishimoto: So this is bad and for now I cut it and made them grow up all at once. I also wanted to change the clothes and so on, it's hard to draw this weird thing on the left shoulder, it's small, or rather the fluffy thing in around his neck, it hides his face when he lifts his shoulders or makes any movement.

Kobayashi: It was a bit wimpy when he was a kid. When he was a boy, it was wimpy and it got in the way when he was performing action. Even though it's neat like this, it still keeps you warm.

Kishimoto: I thought it doesn't look like a top garment if his neck isn't covered. I also added this headband here so that it flutters a bit and stands out when he performs action.

Kobayashi: Well, as we talked about Akatsuki earlier, Akatsuki was really exciting. As a reader, when all the silhouettes of the characters suddenly appeared, it was just too much. Itachi, Kisame, Pain, Konan, Sasori, Deidara, Hidan, Kakuzu, Tobi, Zetsu. My favorites were Hidan and Kakuzu. Kishimoto: Ah, that's the same for me. Kobayashi: Oh, really? Kishimoto: I like Hidan the best too. Kobayashi: I like Hidan the best too! It's like, this is what dangerous evil is, and I think it would be great if this kind of thing could be applied. I really, really like it. And the fact that two immortals are immortal for different reasons is also really interesting to me.

Kishimoto: That's right. At that time, I actually quite liked how the abilities were portrayed, so things like Hidan stabbing himself with the kunai and the feelings behind it. Kobayashi: This scene is great, he pierces himself and that causes damage to Asuma. Team 10 was great. Sensei previously said it was hard, but from here on it becomes a battle of IQ 200s, right? Kishimoto: With Shikamaru in it, it's a bit tough. Kobayashi: No, but this cigarette scene is really different from previous Naruto, it's a bit of a man's world, a grown man's worldview, you know? Kishimoto: It's surprisingly brutal, with heads chopped off and stuff.

Kobayashi: Yes, there was a scene where his head gets chopped off. Kishimoto: They said that couldn't be done in the anime. Kobayashi: I said that one line, but it made me a bit worried. Is this okay in today's world? Kishimoto: Well first, after being told that it couldn't be done, there was a discussion about changing it because Shikamaru smoking was also a no-go, but the editor said not to worry about it and just go ahead and do it. However, the higher-ups would always check with the editor each time, saying things like, "Isn't this a bit too much? It's a shonen magazine after all." Kobayashi: Would we be able to show this scene now?

Kishimoto: Add this here. Kobayashi: Add this and then cut the left and right sides. Kishimoto: It looks like it's peeking out. (Kobayahi laughs) Kobayashi: It's amazing, isn't it? This head rolls around and suddenly starts talking again. Kishimoto: I tried to hide the cross sections as much as possible. Kobayashi: I see, the cross-section is beautifully concealed. This lighter texture is also quite nice, isn't it? I think many people have asked you about this, but is Hidan still down below?

Kishimoto: Yes, so I think I could have dug him up and have him join the battle if I wanted to, but when it comes out, I still get carried away and have to hide all the cross-sections, so it would be tough. Kobayashi: I couldn't stand it if it became any more troublesome to draw, but Shikamaru's smoke stings my eyes. It was a clean story right up to the point where he just throws it away at the end, and yet the hard-boiled sense is quite rare even for Jump. Kishimoto: That's right. Kobayashi: Did Sensei was always into that kind of world? Kishimoto: Surprisingly, I actually like those kinds of movies and used to watch them a lot, so I ended up doing everything I wanted to do in a shonen magazine, even though it wasn't really appropriate.

Kobayashi: Well, Akatsuki isn't just an organization, it's got all sorts of intertwined intentions, some that even the other people don't know about. Did you give that a lot of thought? Kishimoto: There's places like that. Kobayashi: Around here? Kishimoto: In the real world, companies have started hiring mercenaries to engage in private wars, so I wanted to explore that. Kobayashi: Like a professional group. Kishimoto: I thought that if we introduced a leader who could bring everyone together, it would bring out a sense of charisma. So, I considered developing the character's profile with that in mind. Pain. Kobayashi: That's Pain. When he first appeared, he said he was conquering the world on his back. That scene was difficult, wasn't it?

Kishimoto: It was hard. Kobayashi: It's a scene looking down on the world. Kishimoto: That was hard to draw. Kobayashi: It really seemed like sensei was pushing himself too hard, he drew a lot of scenery seen from above the city. Kishimoto: I draw the rough draft to a certain extent, but my assistants do the inking and stuff, so I leave that to them. Kobayashi: This is another scene looking down at a different city, but did the assistant only do the inking, and the basic drawing is done by you, right? Kishimoto: I did the rough draft.

Kobayashi: Wow, this is amazing. Kishimoto: If it's not like that, the layout and feel of that time can't really be conveyed just by talking about it. Kobayashi: Indeed, the world view of this village is thoroughly filled with such elements. Kishimoto: It was the same with Pain. Kobayashi: This is it, right? The sensei wrote it, what was it called, the handkerchief? Kishimoto: This is that Bobobobobobobobobo manga. (Manga serialized from 2001-2005) Kobayashi: Oh, that's right, now that I think about it, the deadline is a week, right? Kishimoto: Yes, that's right. You only have about three days to draw.

Kobayashi: Three days. You can spare about three days. Since we're talking about illustrations, I would like to ask you a bit about that kind of artwork. You have a unique composition style, don't you? This is a fisheye perspective, right? It's a view of Deidara from above. And again, a fisheye perspective from above. Kishimoto: I quite like fisheye views from above. Kobayashi: "I like fisheye views from above" is like a tongue twister. Kishimoto: I really liked the feeling that the characters were standing on the ground, and Akira was also very precise about that.

Kobayashi: By Otomo-sensei. Kishimoto: I look at various pictures and draw them by changing the depth of the fisheye lens, like Otomo-sensei's fisheye. Kobayashi: Look at this cover of Chouji, the photographer left during the shoot. He said, "Please wait a moment." This is the kind of composition you see in Chihuahua photo books, right? This camera is really only used for skateboarding PVs and Funkiller AVs. Kishimoto: There's no way I would study while watching AV down here. That's not happening. Kobayashi: It's more like a sunview. Kishimoto: That's the image I had in mind…

Kobayashi: Haku, right? Kishimoto: Yes. The "bang" when someone is punched is a common cinematic technique known as double action. For example, when Jackie Chan punches an enemy, the camera slightly pulls back and then zooms in again, making the punch stand out. I wanted to create an image like that in this manga. Kobayashi: We were looking for something like this, showing the same scene from three different angles, and I had a question, in Naruto, even when he uses his signature move, there isn't a name for it at that moment, but his face isn't shown when he lands the move. Is this intentional? Kishimoto: I thought it would be cooler if his face was not shown.

Kobayashi: How is that cool? Kishimoto: If the face isn't in the picture, the attention goes to the body, right? To the back and the body. That way it feels like the body is speaking or expressing itself, but if you show face, the power of the face is so strong that it takes over, or rather, becomes the focal point of the scene. Kobayashi: Rather than talking about the expressions in this scene, you want people to just look at the dynamism and things like that. Kishimoto: That's why I actually have to draw faces in decisive scenes. Kobayashi: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I noticed that a lot, like when the decisive scene doesn't show the face, it's like a deliberate act, right? There were also scenes where the battle progresses from both sides, like in Sasuke vs. Naruto. Kishimoto: This is unique to manga, so it's not shown like a movie on a timeline, and you can look at either side from above and if you just look from above, you can see both at once. This is a manga-like presentation that I came up with, so I thought I'd go with that. It's more about matching or being the same... Kobayashi: Normally you have to read it like this, so now you can read it like this. Kishimoto: That kind of feeling. I tried to keep the details as simple as possible so that it's easy to read. I wanted it to be simple, so I didn't focus too much on the details.

Kobayashi: This is an incredibly complicated panel. Are you even listening? (Kishimoto laughs) Kishimoto: Yes, this area is… Kobayashi: To begin with, we abandoned the interrogation, and now it's a huge mess. So, what is this supposed to be? Kishimoto: I deliberately made it look this cluttered, so that you don't know where to look… Kobayashi: It was a chaotic battle. It was happening at an incredible speed. Kishimoto: I wanted to create something like in movies where the action is so fast that you can't tell what's happening.

Kobayashi: Like directing a production? Kishimoto: That's exactly it. Kobayashi: You were saying you'd put it out this next time but it was difficult to put out. You were trying to make it as simple as possible, so I think it's fine to put out this one. Well, the time is almost up, so I'll have to rush through this. Was the Great Ninja War really difficult? Kishimoto: It was difficult. They said "you will be experiencing wars from now on". By that point, it had been decided to go to war. I was trying to get him to experience war once and then face it, so he couldn't escape, or rather... Kobayashi: Well, I guess it's inevitable. Kishimoto: I thought so.

Kobayashi: It's like everything that has happened so far has come to light in these three wars, right? Kishimoto: There were a lot of things I hadn't been able to do before, but I wanted to tie everything together there, so I did that. So I did a lot of battles between old men, which is unimportant, like Hanzo and Mifune. And I did something that shouldn't be done in a boys' magazine, which was to have those old men clash in the first chapter of the volume. Kobayashi: A boys' magazine that violates morals. Kishimoto: The old man was getting a lot of heat in a boys' magazine.. Kobayashi: An old man's duel. Kishimoto: That's something you'd expect from Torishima-san (Editor in chief of Shonen Jump and editor of Akira Toriyama, author of Dragon Ball) Kobayashi: From Mashirito-san (Anagram of Torishima) Kishimoto: From Mashirito-san. Torishima-san asked me what I was doing and told me to bring out Naruto right away and that I didn't need the old men and I got scolded.

Kobayashi: But, sensei, please listen, is this the fight that the director in charge thought was the best about? Kishimoto: That's right. Kobayashi: Hanzo vs. Mifune. Kishimoto: That's nice to hear. Kobayashi: I think this is great. It's something that people who don't give up on things can achieve. As they fight, they remember things from the past.

Kishimoto: There's a seppuku scene, and I wanted to depict that. I'm gradually becoming an old man, so I feel like I want to depict that kind of seriousness. Kobayashi: How was it? How popular was Mifune in the boy's fantasy genre? Kishimoto: Not at all. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: No, it's cool, but you know, there was a setting where they branched out from samurai and grew up to become ninjas, and then they started fighting like ninjas. Kishimoto: It's not that. Kobayashi: It's not that because it's that samurai are samurai because they persevere. Kishimoto: They don't run away. Kobayashi: It's a well-portrayed scene, but it's a bit too much for shonen. Kishimoto: It was like "old men are fighting, I wish it would end quickly, I wish the main character would appear soon". (Kobayashi laughs)

Kobayashi: My favorite character in that match was the second Mizukage, I think? He kept saying his own weaknesses while fighting, like "Hurry up and defeat me" or "Am I strong?" I really liked this character. Kishimoto: Ah, that's right. Kobayashi: This one is still a bit old-fashioned for me, though. Kishimoto: This character was surprisingly popular. Kobayashi: It was great, wasn't it? He kept talking and revealing his weak points, defeating his opponents one after another, while telling them to defeat him quickly. Kishimoto: I thought it was kind of interesting.

Kobayashi: Edo Tensei was really difficult, wasn't it? Kishimoto: Yes, well, ever since the Pain arc, Naruto has been unable to just defeat, beat, and kill people to settle things. Instead, they end with discussions. It's something you shouldn't really do in a shonen manga, so from then on, when he fights, he considers who he is up against and what kind of person they are. Kobayashi: Like cultivated clones. Kishimoto: Because it was something that fundamentally doesn't exist as a living being, it couldn't be defeated.

Kobayashi: Did you have the fighting puppets decided on exactly what they would be? So that's why Edo Tensei meant that Jiraiya, Hidan who was buried and Konan who was scattered didn't appear, right? Kishimoto: I mean, I didn't want to bring back Jiraiya. Kobayashi: Well, he was a good character and had a good way of dying. Kishimoto: That's right. I couldn't write a better death than that one and in a sense, with Jiraiya dying, Naruto understood Sasuke's feelings about how it feels when someone important to you dies. If he were to come back, it would be a bit difficult to handle that. Also, I wanted to use Madara as a hook, so that's pretty much everything.

Kobayashi: I see, isn't that a bit of a complicated Rinne Tensei no Jutsu? Madara himself is quite complicated as well. Kishimoto: He is resurrected through Rinne Tensei and Edo Tensei, so it's a bit complicated how it works. Kobayashi: The forbidden technique of Edo Tensei, you see, with the element of Orochimaru, this brings out the connection with Kabuto in the battle. Throughout this, there has been a persistent push from Mr. Kishimoto and the main cast, and then there was the incident where Sakura received a love letter. Kishimoto: This is... a mislead story, but why did I put it here? It's because if the anime continues with the war, it will soon catch up with the manga. So, I created a gap here and then moved on to the next part.

Kobayashi: There was some outrageous fortune-telling involved in this love letter incident, wasn't there? Kishimoto: Did you also wonder what I was writing? (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: So, it's called a love letter, huh? I was wondering what I was writing. Wow, I got to hear some good behind-the-scenes stories. When you think about it, there were a lot of casualties, but why did Neji have to die in the war among the well-known characters? Kishimoto: Well, I had decided on Hinata as the heroine, so it was quite some time ago… Kobayashi: Ultimately Kishimoto: So, I wanted elements that would bring Naruto and Hinata closer together. There was a scene during the Pain fight where Hinata came out and said something, but this time, Naruto consciously says he's happy to have Hinata by his side. So, there was that aspect, and that's why Neji, well, let's just say...

Kobayashi: Well, it was the trigger. Kishimoto: Yes, well, it was like he was playing the role of Cupid, so I was a bit nervous about that. And then we basically decided on the name Boruto for their son. Kobayashi: Is that so? Kishimoto: Once we decided on it, Boruto was also known as Neji (they both mean screw), so the idea was to have him take on the name of the uncle who assisted Cupid… Kobayashi: Well, when I saw it, I cried a little. Kishimoto: We decided on Neji. Kobayashi: Is that how it turned out? Kishimoto: So from now on, for example, this might be a bit harsh, but if I were to write a manga about Boruto, then the scenes with Neji would be important.

Kobayashi: Is it okay if I play this now? Is it alright if I go ahead with this?

Kishimoto: it's alright.

Kobayashi: Thank you. Well, this match is really amazing, so let's move on to the final battle, Naruto vs. Sasuke. I haven't been able to hear much about Sasuke until now, though.

Kishimoto: They start off as rivals and then fight at the end as rivals to close it out. Kobayashi: What's that place called? Kishimoto: Valley of the End.

Kobayashi: Valley of the End. It took quite a while to draw out this ending, didn't it? It's been a long time since Sasuke left, hasn't it?

Kishimoto: Yes, it has been quite a long time since Sasuke flew away.

Kobayashi: That one is definitely longer.

Kishimoto: Sasuke was sulking the whole time.

Kobayashi: He's been sulking the whole time, hasn't he?

Kishimoto: While writing, I was like, "Who is this guy?" (Kobayashi laughs)

Kobayashi: Eh, did you hate Sasuke? Kishimoto: No, there were a few parts where I was a bit more annoyed. But I think I understand what Sasuke does… Kobayashi: Well, I understand why Sasuke does what he does. Kishimoto: I wanted people to understand that, so I wrote it with quite a bit of emphasis, but surprisingly, I wasn't capturing Sasuke's character expressions well. I often had to tell my editor, "This isn't right; this doesn't look like Sasuke"... Kobayashi: Isn't this part of the face a little different? Kishimoto: It took a lot of fixing.

Kobayashi: Wow, so you were quite tormented throughout the serialization. Kishimoto: That's right, I was pretty much tormented by Sakura and Sasuke. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: So the journey up to volume 72 was one in which you were tormented by two out of the three main characters. Kishimoto: Yes, it was long and painful. Kobayashi: It was difficult. Kishimoto: And Kakashi is Kakashi, but surprisingly, since he only has one eye, it's difficult to convey expressions, ah. Kobayashi: I see, so his expressions are halved? Kishimoto: That's right, and that's why it was so difficult.

Kobayashi: Isn't this a cycle of hatred? We're talking about breaking the cycle of hatred, but we're actually creating more hatred, aren't we? (Kishimoto laughs)

Kishimoto: Yeah, that's right. So I was thinking about how to do it, and in the end, it really turned into a battle between men. I didn't want to resolve it with ninjutsu or anything like that. I wanted a straightforward fistfight. Gradually running out of strength and continuing to fight is, after all, the spirit of Jump. I thought, "Come on, just pull through," but somehow, it worked out.

Kobayashi: They say both of their right arms are blown off.

Kishimoto: Naruto being right-handed and Sasuke being left-handed, so he loses his left hand. In Ninjutsu, there is a tradition called Ninja Kumite where when two friends fight, they put one hand forward as a sign of reconciliation...

Kobayashi: It was a memorable scene.

Kishimoto: In the end, it seems like reconciliation is impossible or rather they're unable to due to the loss of their hands. I felt that these two didn't want to simply reconcile, nor could they, so it didn't seem like the right fit. The concept of reconciliation was similar to the conflict between Indra and Ashura, who were reincarnated. The hands of Madara and Hashirama overlapping are the representation of the symbolized reconciliation.

Kobayashi: I see. Kishimoto: So, I expressed it this way, with the two of them above, even though they don't have hands but still. Kobayashi: Well, sensei's character continued to suffer, but it's a great final scene. You know, these two really brought it about. Kishimoto: We've finally made it this far. That scene has been something I've wanted to draw for a long time, and it was a scene I hinted at at the end of part one, so I'm really glad to finally be able to draw it. Kobayashi: Yes, it's a relief, the daimyo are safe. This daimyo, when you look at him like this, he looks a bit like me. Kishimoto: The cat, that's the cat I have.

Kobayashi: Did it make an appearance? Is it okay to touch on this bit? I was quite moved by this cheer battle. It was kind of… Kishimoto: More like comrades… Kobayashi: More like comrades… I suppose the two of them are comrades, but I feel like I'm a comrade too. In the video, the three of us were standing. Me, Oda-sensei, and Kishimoto-sensei, the three of us were standing together. (Kishimoto laughs) Kishimoto: Well, let's do that. Kobayashi: So you have some thoughts about it? Kishimoto: I think everyone has their own things going on, you know, it's just like…

Kobayashi: It's clearly written here, isn't it? Friends and rivals. A serialization that we did together for 15 years. Kishimoto: I'm grateful. I feel the same way and I want to convey those feelings to Oda-san. Kobayashi: It's not the first time I've seen something like this, but everyone has a valuable message for sensei. Kishimoto: That surprised me. Kobayashi: You didn't hear about it in the volume? Kishimoto: I wasn't informed about it. Kobayashi: That shows that he was an incredible sensei who left behind some amazing works, and therefore a very precious teacher. Kishimoto: Thank you.

Kobayashi: Well, there have been some announcements, like a new generation project. Kishimoto: Yes. Kobayashi: Do you have any plans like that for your next work? Kishimoto: Yes, you're thinking about what you want your next work to be Kobayashi: Their silhouettes are shown, but there is also a new generation project. Kishimoto: The fact that the children have appeared up to this point means that that's what it means, and that I want to depict them. Kobayashi: Seriously? Kishimoto: Naruto also makes a few appearances, but I think that Orochimaru, who didn't appear in the final episode, and Kabuto and Karin are connected, and once it becomes clear that there's a change of generation, then it'll be over.

Kobayashi: Well, there are things that have been announced, like the new generation project and so on.

Kishimoto: That's right.

Kobayashi: Do you have any plans like that for your next work? Kishimoto: Yes, I'm thinking about what I want to do with my next work. Kobayashi: The silhouette is reflected but it's also a new generation project. Kishimoto: The fact that we've included children up to this point means that that's what I want to depict.

Kobayashi: Seriously?

Kishimoto: Naruto will also make a brief appearance, but I think it will be complete once the connections with characters like Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Karin, who didn't appear in the final episode, clearly show a generational shift.

Kobayashi: Yeah, that's good. I was just thinking about Karin earlier. When I saw Karin's abilities, I honestly thought, "Wow, the teacher must be really stressed," but was that the hardest time for you? (Kishimoto laughs) Kishimoto: It was difficult. (Kobayashi laughs) Kobayashi: I think you had a lot of free time. Kishimoto: That's right. I was really lucky, but that was a really bad thing. Kobayashi: It's work that requires you to sit down, after all. It's a job that you can't do without sitting down. Kishimoto: That was painful. I think it was both the mental and physical aspects that built up a lot of stress.

Kobayashi: It's a sitting job, after all. It's a job that can't be done unless you sit.

Kishimoto: It was painful. Probably both the mental and physical aspects were affecting me, and I was quite stressed.

Kobayashi: Sir, it seems you've acquired some special abilities. In this world, I have high hopes that we might be able to see such things. Do you have any thoughts about getting something entirely new from Kishimoto-sensei in the next world?

Kishimoto: Well, of course, I thought about taking a break, but I just can't seem to settle down. So I called in an assistant and we talked together, and I guess I'll ask him to help me with some work and we talked about it.

Kobayashi: Is that so? So it's like it's actually moving around a bit. Kishimoto: That's right, so I want it to be like this, and like this, and with this setting and the main character is like this. Kobayashi: What's the story about? Kishimoto: That's a total secret.

Kobayashi: Well, right.

Kishimoto: It's a bit of a secret.

Kobayashi: It's a bit of a secret, isn't it? Is it wrong to ask about this sort of thing? For example, will it be in Jump?

Kishimoto: Weekly Jump.

Kobayashi: Weekly Shōnen Jump, etc.?

Kishimoto: Well, I want to, but only if I have the stamina.

Kobayashi: There's also G, you know.

Kishimoto: First, the surgery. (Kobayashi laughs)

Kobayashi: Ah, yes. That's the best. You should definitely be able to find more time than before. First, please take it easy, really. I know there are many things that make it hard to relax. So, let's talk about the highlights of the movie at the end. Please make sure to mention them here.

Kishimoto: I thought it was something I'd never done before, and if I was going to do it anyway, I should try a theme that hadn't been done in the main story or the original work, or something like that, so I thought it would seem new and interesting, and so I embarked on the adventure of trying my hand at a romance.

Kobayashi: It was more like a straightforward romance than an adventure. I got to see it, and actually, there's a work here that was written after the serialization ended. It's a gorgeous two-page one-shot.

Kishimoto: It took a while, so please check out those two pages. Kobayashi: Everyone please watch the movie too.

Kishimoto: I want you to watch this. Looking at this, well, I don't know if I should say it, but there are parts that were lacking in the manga that might still be completed, so I wanted to do it with Hinata.

Kobayashi: Please take a look, everyone. So, is this Naruto 10, which means it's cloe to the new year? Haven't they? Is this coming out next year?

Kishimoto: Yes, I think this will be quite moving next year.

Kobayashi: Will we also be able to see the colored illustrations by sensei?

Kishimoto: Yes, you can see it there. I haven't shown you my old setting materials and such.

Kobayashi: You were hiding it a bit today, huh? Well, I guess that's over there, over there, right?

Kishimoto: No, no, no, that's not the case. I just had a few notes lying around.

Kobayashi: Earlier, during the notebook time, it didn't come out easily.

Kishimoto: No, no, no, it's not good at all.

For some reason, Kishimoto's demonstration and whatever comment he and Kobayashi were making were muted in the video linked, sorry about that.

[mer-acle]

i hold all the power (evil laugh, evil laugh)

Give me...

The big athena hcs

I desire knowledge and inspiration (evil laugh, evil laugh)

Haha

You kinda put me on the spot there. Not bc I don't have big headcanons but bc I'm like how do I phrase this without being like "here's the plot of that fic I wrote" yk? And now I'm unsure what constitutes a big headcanon... so I'm just gonna give you some more random ones and maybe you can help me out with what you were thinking of? (O.O)

For Epic specifically: Her owl form is a dark barn owl, bc they're really pretty and rare and have ginger feathers that match her hair

She dislikes Poseidon so much because he's so much like her father but her perception of him isn't softened by the love she has for Zeus.

Prometheus really saved her after Pallas's death. He kinda filled the void that losing Triton as a paternal figure had left more so than that of Pallas herself, but he took her along for his little creation projects (like the humans whoops) and they really match each other's freak. Yk. Until Zeus takes Prometheus away and definitely forbids Athena from visiting. I will literally murder him one of these days.

Speaking of Zeus taking people away, Athena was STRUGGLING after Pallas. Unsurprisingly, but still. Nobody but Hephaestus knows her from when she was still pretty openly mourning, they're all too young, and he never really asked why, but my girl was so depressed and lonely. She spend IRL HOURS in Quick Thought rewatching that battle and trying to figure out the moment where she went wrong. She knows Zeus intervened, but it doesn't matter to her, it's her spear, it's her kill. He was all like "for a nymph?" when she asked to take Pallas's name. "well, if you think that is a title worthy of your status..." It was her most open rebellion against his wishes for a while.

Her favorite domain is wisdom, but it's followed by crafting, not war. Don't get me wrong, she enjoys a good fight, but if she had to choose and wasn't worried about Zeus's opinion, she would choose crafting over war any day. The reason in my hc is how the domains are assigned, she was basically born with Wisdom, her powers are all about thought, and Zeus later assigned her with warfare which her powers work well with, but weren't technically meant for it. Meanwhile crafting is her "Passion domain" meaning her power in it literally stems from her intense enjoyment for creating. Imagine "What else can I do" from Encanto, but it's her discovering making clothes for the first time. The angst factor of this obviously being "My life has one mission, create the greatest warrior" Why is that her one mission? Is it the crushing weight of who she has to be?

My favorite bigger concept has to be her relationship with truth. In other words, Athena lies and manipulates her way through life, she is smarter than her father but knows he holds the power, so her council is whatever works in the moment, if she knows it's hopeless, she'll tell him what he wants to hear. Life has become a game for her, a game where she sells her soul for approval, bc she's lost those who loved her unconditionally, and can't trust those around her bc they're all trapped in the game with her, she doesn't want to be the favorite, she needs to be the favorite, it's the only way to survive, the only way for some semblance of safety and control, and yes, she gets along with mortals better than gods because they hold no power over her, they can't threaten the position she's worked so hard to achieve. Until Odysseus compromises a part of her that she hadn't thought she still had. Attachment never felt like danger with Pallas, but it does now, because what does it matter if you're more powerful when you respect the other person too much not to honor their wishes, should they tell you to leave them alone? If asked, she will have to leave, and that's terrifying (None of that would be overly conscious before My goodbye but for me, that breakup deep down always will be Athena being scared of her own feelings and trying to stop it before it goes too far and being at least 15 years too late.)

Woah that got dark lol I just wrote the last section and was like 👀fuck I am projecting SO bad. Like... gods I am so not okay. Jokes on me I thought I had headcanons all I have is trauma lmao

Anyways lol

Hope you liked it, and do let me know if you had something else in mind, I'll do my best :3

[janewayintersection]

the amount of people who are like "omg i ditched kaidan for garrus after he was mean to me on horizon!!" baffle me. shit on bioware's writing for making shep work with cerberus all you want, but kaidan calling shep out on this and not joining them is NOT the issue. in fact, him reacting like this is why i love him??

he specifically states he trusts shep, just not cerberus. which is the only rational response in that whole entire goddamn game!! like?? you spend all of me1 stopping cerberus operations. they kill several alliance soldiers and admiral kahoku, try to make a rachni army -- they are WELL known for cloning and ais... miranda even outright states she wanted to plant shep with a control chip. there is literally zero reason for kaidan to believe the shep in front of him isn't some cerberus sleeper agent. or an ai. or indoctrinated. or being manipulated (THIS ONE IS CANON BTW). even if he trusts shepard, he doesn't trust cerberus not to pull any of this. quite frankly, i'm baffled more companions don't have this exact, entirely justified concern.

loyalty is important, but blind loyalty is dangerous.

honestly, the crew in me2 is lucky that the illusive man was so weirdly and uncharacteristically insistent on shepard remaining untouched. things could have gotten very bad otherwise.

being best friends with someone, or more notably, being in love with someone, isn't the end all be all magic potion in this world. being in love with someone doesn't mean you should blindly trust their actions. if my significant other joined a terrorist group, you can bet my ass i wouldn't join them! sorry! if anything, it's healthy that kaidan has his own sense of morals and priorities he follows over shepard. he's his OWN person, love shouldn't be something that makes you suddenly give up who you are and what you believe in.

not to mention kaidan is entirely out of the loop for the whole game. his intel states that cerberus is behind the abductions (the horizon incident is partially a result of cerberus' fiddling btw), and that shep has been alive and never even reached out to anyone. he doesn't have the information we the players have. he doesn't know that the illusive man insisted on no control chip. he doesn't know about the lazarus project or its specifics.

and as for the "cheating" discourse if you romance someone new in me2, i do personally believe shep getting with one of the me2 love interests is cheating on their me1 love interest. to shep, they skipped those two years. they wake up as they did during the me2 prologue. no time has passed. and then they immediately get with someone else after one (1) argument with their love interest over them, may i remind you, joining a terrorist group. even if you don't think it's "technically" cheating, it's at the very least pretty trashy and flakey.

if anything, i'm gonna say it! kaidan is more forgiving than i'd be! the fact that he even sends an email saying he still cares and that they can see what happens after this is all resolved is WAY more than i would have done. the fact that kaidan will find out shep got with someone else, and STILL be willing to give shep a chance is like. man. it's saying a lot. i am just saying.

imagine losing someone. you see them literally die as your ship explodes and they burn up in the nearby planet's atmosphere. you grieve. you put yourself into your work. then suddenly, two years, later. they pop back up again. ALIVE. and with a terrorist group. and basically tell you the equivalent of "just trust me bro" despite the fact that while you trust them, you don't trust the terrorist group. so you're like hey, what the fuck. why are you with a terrorist group. and they're like i'm not with them, we just have common goals. and you're like. i'm gonna say it again. i trust you, not the terrorist group. okay?? i can't join you for this reason. please be careful out there, seriously.

and then they immediately jump into the pants of that one guy you knew back on a mission from two years ago.

what would you do?? would you not feel hurt? betrayed? upset? confused?? i'm sorry, i'm completely on kaidan's side. i'd go as far to say that he's far more understanding than he should be in me2.

me3 is all about regaining that complete and undying trust back, and that cerberus didn't fuck around w shep. or that being with cerberus didn't change them. his "loyalty" quest is just visiting him in the hospital and showing him shepard still cares. that they're still the same. that cerberus truly didn't alter them. that there was more going on. that shepard was forced to work with cerberus out of complete necessity and only did what they thought was right. and i think that's neat!!!!

[tibby-art]

I’m adoring the Hitman AU. Scar and Cub share a braincell and Grian just looks like she wants to go home and sleep.

I’m curious as to what powers ConVex has. Or what their motives are with Grian. (ConVex trying to corrupt her.)

I've been picturing Cub and Scar's vex powers as being able to transform into a vex form (pale blueish skin, white hair/eyes, wings, fangs, claws, the whole nine yards). The forms allow them to move at lightning speed and fly, making them perfect as silent killers in their roles as hitmen. They're super sneaky and fast.

I think the vex work with pacts as well - if you make a pact with a vex, they're unable to go against said pact. That's how they ended up working for the government as hitmen. I imagine that in their past they were very powerful and corrupt criminals at Concorp (standard protocol for convex in an au i'd say). One day the government catches up to them, and they're given a choice: Go to top-security prison for one bajillion years because you're a dangerous vex criminal OR make a pact with the government and work under them, using your powers for good. So, Cub and Scar are technically here by choice, but their choices were limited. They're bound by a fae contract that they must perform their given duties as hitmen - they bend the rules and find loopholes whenever possible, though. Vex are tricky like that. They'll get ordered to take out a dangerous crime boss, but because you didn't technically specify that you wanted that done today, they took the day off to go golfing. They'll get to it tomorrow :J (The government learns the hard way that when you order Cub and Scar to kill someone you must specify to them not to eat the person because that has happened and that will happen again and everything is terrible)

Grian is in a similar situation, but he was given less of a choice. While Cub and Scar made their own pacts with the vex to gain their powers, Grian's watcher powers are something she did not ask for at all. The Watchers are much more mysterious than the Vex, not a lot is known about them and they're considered almost a myth until Grian shows up. This makes her more dangerous and unpredictable, in the government's eyes. Grian isn't allowed to just walk away and go back to being a normal member of society - nobody knows what he's capable of (not even Grian knows) so the government needs to keep a close eye on her. When she's paired up with Cub and Scar for missions, the vex are ordered to keep an eye on Grian, and step in if things get too dangerous. Cub and Scar think this is BS and they almost pity Grian, deep down, since he's essentially in the same spot they're in but worse. When their pact says to keep Grian from getting too dangerous, they interpret it as, "Well, if we help her figure out her powers, she's more in control and that will make everything safer :J"

I don't think Convex is trying to corrupt her - I think the government is the one being manipulative here. Convex sees it. I think they genuinely want to help her grow and discover new abilities and how to use them. They're Convex, though, so they might not be the best role models lol. I think what they're trying to do is help her get more confidence and more control over her powers. Cub is a scientist who is very good at figuring out how Grian's abilities work, what he can and can't do, the limits of said abilities, etc. and Scar has the most creative and insane ideas on how to utilize watcher powers that it sometimes leads to discovering something brand new. I can picture him being like, ":J Hey have you ever tried using your watcher powers to spy on a specific location from like, fifty miles away" and Grian is like "Scar that's ridiculous that's not how it works" and then she tries it and is amazed when that actually does work. Scar's like ":J yeah I made that up I didnt think it would work Can you spy on Disneyland now"

[foressfaction]

My Jack and Toby headcanons (they're bfs)

The scar I usually draw over Toby's nose was actually given to him by Jack. When they first met, Jack only saw Toby as another victim to kill and eat. What else could you expect when a demon see's another random human. They ended up having a pretty bad fight at the very beginning due to Jack's animal instincts. Toby left a nasty scar over Jack's back and Jack left a deep cut from his nails on Toby's face. So now they both still have sorta matching scars from their first encounter. Are they happy memories? No. Sometimes Jack gets angry that Toby doesn't cover it up more. As covering that part of his face would involve either a full face mask or constantly wearing gauze over it, which is what he DOES do often. Jack tries not to be as harsh on the other about it but he doesn't like seeing the scar he put on Toby and remembering how he used to be and that he had hurt someone he cares so dearly about now.

As for ages and other basic information, they are two years apart. Jack is 21 while Toby is 19. Jack has long pointy ears that come from the sides of his head along with a long thin tail that has a poof at the end of it that's the same color as his hair. Jack stands at around 6'8, his animalistic legs giving him a huge height advantage. While Toby stays around 5'6-5'7 when not slouching.

The main reason Jack actually didn't manage to kill Toby was because when going for the goal, Toby's kidneys, he took notice of the operator symbol carved into him. Jack knows way too well to mess with any of that entity's 'proxies.' As last time he attacked one and killed them, The Operator struck Jack hard and left bad mental trauma. Technically…Jack is terrified of that thing, and wants nothing to do with it. Much less be involved in another killing of its proxies.

Jack still occasionally gets monstrous urges to attack and kill Toby even now that they are close. Everyday it's a risk that Toby takes to still stick around Jack. That fact alone makes Jack feel special, that even with his tendencies and urges, Toby remains unafraid of him. This is what makes him get so attached.

As dangerous as it is, following the last statement, Toby does stick around. He doesn't even realize how much that means to Jack. He himself can't understand why the other wouldn't just kill him day one. Toby is severely disaster prone and is not scared of dying, plus he's tried to commit several times himself. Being around Jack during the other's manic episodes is natural to him. Even in times that Jack would attack and try to hurt Toby, he would almost let it happen. It's dangerous how much trust he puts into the demon, but after so long it no longer bothers either of them, as they both know they have more control than the thing that tries to take them over and ruin what little happiness they do have.

What does the Operator think of these two? Well it doesn't really matter. Its only motive is to break its chosen puppet's minds. If it knows one of its 'precious proxies' has found peace of mind and true happiness then it realizes it can no longer manipulate them into thinking that it is the only thing filling that empty hole it impaled into their hearts from the start. Love and friendship being its one true pet peeve its human slaves can experience.

Due to its hatred to the relationship, whenever Toby has a dark moment, the operator gets him away from Jack and then tries to take control. Upon success, Toby would immediately lash out and attack Jack. It's the same situation Jack has with his inner demon, instead that is apart of Jack, while for Toby it's a completely different story. After weeks of this repeating, Jack usually has to restrain Toby, knowing how that thing can be, it would have no problem tearing the boy apart just to get to Jack's mind as well. Jack now knows not to ever truly leave Toby alone by himself with his still healing mind. And Toby knows not to pry or tempt Jack in any way involving food or accidentally angering the demon. These two are bombs waiting to blow up if any little thing goes wrong. And that's really sad.

I feel like Jack would be the tired but supportive dad personality type when it comes to Toby. Motherfucker shows up with 6 different kinds of tree bark and goes on an autism rant about what he knows about each one and how flammable they are while Jack would sit in a crouched position, ears perked in interest. No matter what it is, Jack is always wanting to be a part of it. When NOT angered, Jack is like a big cat. He doesn't understand these silly human emotions Toby experiences and kinda lowkey uses the boy to learn them again. Toby can show a span of different emotions within just an hour. He's such a spaz and a mess but that also helps Jack study and learn these mannerisms so he can be a better friend/boyfriend. So if it takes sitting and listening to Toby go on about something Jack has absolutely no idea about then he will.

Due to not understanding Toby completely, being a different species and all, Jack will occasionally ask personal, weird or just normally creepy questions. Not trying to be either of those things obviously, he doesn't know what to ask or how others feel about things. He's lucky it's Toby he asks these questions because all he does is cackly stupidly at them while Jack just lowers his ears and frowns in confusion. Bro just wants to know things that he will never get to personally experience or know. These questions could range from questions about body fluids, how humans digest, how they do their business, basic stuff. Sometimes Jack lacks a filter of basic modesty though, and asks things that could really catch Toby off guard and embarrass the absolute shit out of him. Technically Jack is an unconscious rizzler.

For a relationship, cheesy things like pet names don't cross either or their minds but they still subconsciously do it. Jack has tiny furs that cover his entire body that makes his skin super soft and well, fuzzy. Especially his hands and elbows. Due to this fact, Toby spat up a stupid nickname that he calls him religiously. That name being 'Fuzzy.' Jack of course doesn't understand that having fur is natural to him, having no recollection of his once human life. Jack would sometimes wonder why Toby didn't have fur, and how the other stays warm even without it. Jack knows he's human, but that still just boggles him. I feel he'd ask "So are all humans skinned at birth?" "WHAT?!-"

Jack has no eyes but can still see, but not how he used to at all. His vision is very dark and almost grainy. At night he sees mostly in infrared and relies on sound and vibrations. Toby is helpful to him for that due to the other's tics. One thing Jack would never understand. As yeah Toby IS human, but not a healthy one at that. The boy has many disorders that make him different than the average person, this confusing Jack even more about him.

Toby's problem of being completely numb has always concerned Jack. He remembered studying nursing and to be a doctor but never why, or when that was. Still occasionally Jack would recall certain things he learned and would be the aid to Toby when the other would hurt himself and not even know it. I feel like if anyone it would be Jack to notice first if the other was seeming off or weak. I feel like Jack had to point out multiple times "You're bleeding-" "am i?"

Jack would keep Toby well bandaged and healing too, somehow knowing how to treat a wound better than Toby who's been doing it ever since he stayed around the forest. Toby is very thankful to have Jack's help but that doesn't mean he would let him help every time. Jack mainly has to beg Toby to let him help, as the other is literally laying in his own blood, denying it as if he knows jack shit about what's happening or where the wound even is due to the lack of pain.

Jack doesn't fully understand how sick Toby really is. He watches the other down pills constantly and doesn't know why. The Slender sickness is a thing in this universe and all of the people who are close to that entity deal with it. Toby is like a puppet to that thing so he has the sickness pretty bad.

I like to think that they were each other's first ever hug after the incidents that happened to them. After Jack hugged Toby that's when he realized that he might actually truly love the boy.

Toby is absolutely obsessed with Jack's tail. I feel he would just sit and hold it when sad and Jack would just let him. Obviously confused on why but he eventually learned to just stop questioning this boy.

Neither of them really have a full grasp on what love actually is, but they show it as if they do. Jack is very lovable when he wants to be and Toby got used to it. Formerly being someone who hated physical touch. Only Jack. Only Jack..

There was actually a time when Toby let Jack literally take one of his kidneys. It was all Toby's choice too, doing it knowing that one, he wouldn't feel it, and two it would help Jack tame his hunger and urges. Letting Jack have one actually made the demon crave eating the other a lot less, knowing he at least got a piece. The healing process was a bitch but both were content about it. Toby was a cackling mess the whole time, seeing Jack's expression shift when Toby was perfectly willing to let the other take an organ he could live with one of. "Are you sure? i don't wanna hurt you" "you want the kidney or not." "....yeah…."

They definitely work together when getting food for Jack. Toby eats normal food and Jack can't, therefore they work together constantly and hunt food for Jack. It's mostly trespassers that enter the forest that get killed first. Toby is usually the distraction while Jack goes for the kill. Toby chops the body up and helps Jack store it.

Jack is very insecure about his face, hence the mask he wears. The way Toby found out what Jack looks like is actually pretty funny. Curiosity gets the best of him and he eventually just ripped the mask off of Jack, seeing that when the other wears it is when Jack is the most hostile. Jack obviously was frozen in embarrassment, scared his face would make Toby fear him but Toby's reaction was nothing more than a shrug. He wasn't scared of Jack or judged him for his face, in fact Toby only held Jack's face in both his hands and just stared at him. They're falling for eachother your honor.

Going along with the mask thing, Toby would definitely wear Jack's mask around just to get a reaction from the other, which would usually be Jack just yanking it back with a cackle.

Jack would totally just put his hand on Toby's head and just rub his hair like a mangy dog. "so soft-" "boy what-"

Au Headcanons

Toby would 100% be a stoner. He'd probably get zooted almost every night and Jack would get highly concerned but never think much of it. At this point he learned a lot about Toby and knows what he's gone through. He knew weed was bad but if it helped Toby then he would be there to support if the other became immobile from how absolutely zooted he'd get.

Toby always tend to fall asleep better when Jack is around. There's times where he literally leaned into the other and just fell asleep right then and there. Jack ends up having to carry him to his room or somewhere with a cushion. This happens with Jack too but he usually wakes up before Toby could tuck him in somewhere. Jack is a rather light sleeper while Toby could sleep through a nuclear war once he actually gets to sleep.

[actual-changeling]

Oh! Oh, listen, question about the Morag thing. The good/bad stuff apart I mean I def agree on that in general. I read the scene a little different. We know they both aren't allowed to intervene, Aziraphale said it himself, but he holds this whole speech how he's going to help Morag and Crowley looks super gloomy and keeps trying to interrupt him but Aziraphale doesn't let him before Crowley tries a little more vehement and says that it's too late so I think neither of them could have brought her back because she was too far gone already by the time they realized how fatal the wounds were. Like they're both visibly saddened by the death. I think Crowley couldn't have done anything without risking probably even a lifetime in the torture dungeon if what he did for Elspeth (Elsbeth? Elsbet? Help) was enough to warrant years of torture even with the plausible deniability that he was high and not responsible for his actions, Aziraphale wanted to do it and would have faced less repercussions from Heaven because he's after all supposed to do the Good Thing.

Neil said they can resurrect doves and ducks and we see them do both but not humans (in the context that Crowley could help that carpet guy because the demons didn't kill him) and I think that line of what they're able to do might be not from the point of death but that they can't help if a person is already too close to death? It doesn't even matter for the plot but I'd really love to hear what everyone thinks abt it

When it comes to their powers and the kind of miracles they can do, I think there are "rules" heaven and hell have settled on, but that does not mean that those are the actual limitations they have.

Their Jimbriel hiding miracle had a strength of ~ 25 Lazarii, and Neil said that most miracles are measured in Centi- and Millilazarii, usually the later. That is one hell of a difference.

0,025 Lazarii vs. 25 Lazarii, the miracle they performed was one thousand times as strong as your regular, daily miracle, and they did that without actually meaning to. We don't know why exactly it was that strong, but now we DO know that they are capable of performing miracles on that scale.

So, technically, either of them could have saved Morag from death, but the existing rules presumably forbid resurrecting random humans—meaning Aziraphale would have gotten in some trouble, though not as much as Crowley would have.

Their powers are a result of self-actualization, which we are shown in season one when Crowley crosses the M25 simply because he imagines that he and the Bentley make it. He wants it to happen, he believes that he can make it happen, so it happens.

Most angels and demons probably have no reason or prompting to even consider doing miracles they have never seen anyone else do/that aren't a regular occurrence. But if they TRIED to do something different, they could! They absolutely could, and that is why control and isolation are such important parts of heaven as an institution.

Because if you do not control the way they think and act, then they will follow their own free will, and once they do that—well, they can do everything, anything, whatever they set their mind to. It's dangerous and a threat to the Metatron's power over heaven, so that's why they have regulations and rules. The Great War probably prompted a lot of rules too.

This inherent self-control over their powers—even though you said it might not matter for the plot—will, in my opinion, definitely play a big role in season three.

[soapskies]

Could I request yandere btas riddler and scarecrow, where they're helping each other to keep the reader all for themselves.

I love your writing so much I just want to eat it

YANDERE BTAS SCARECROW + RIDDLER

MALE READER. ROMANTIC HCS. CW FOR YANDERES TEAMING UP (GONE WRONG)

— sorry if these are a little short!

Spookiest man alive with smartest man alive, what could go wrong? (A lot actually)

Though you knew Scarecrow longer, Riddler would fall for you first, and harder.

They both admire your drive and your determination to accomplish your goals, but for Scarecrow it’s more about the fears that come with such a person…

Perhaps you’re afraid of failing, or proving yourself incompetent? It makes him find you all the more fascinating…

At first they had a bit of a rivalry. Scarecrow wasn’t willing to share, and Riddler wasn’t fond of the spooky fellow all that much. Riddler was especially concerned that Scarecrow would harm you for the sake of his experiments.

They respected each other, but taking their darling away from them? Neither of them are willing to give you up.

Edward is a lot better at hiding his disturbing tendencies, at least from your view, than Scarecrow is. He tries to romance you in the usual way, arranging things so you spend a lot of time with him and delivering (not so secret admirer) gifts to your doorstep.

Sure, Edward’s eliminated a lot of people in his way, but you don’t have to know that! He’s lucid enough to realize playing the long game will be more successful for him

While Edward plays savior, promising to protect you from Jonathan, Scarecrow takes advantage of your fears. He tries to convince you that Riddler is only acting polite for personal gain, that he would have no problem throwing you in one of his traps if you proved incompetent…

What if dear old Eddie pitied you, hmm? Only kept you around to make him feel better about himself? There hasn’t been anyone that Riddler considered an intellectual equal before, besides the Batman, after all. Scarecrow is just telling you how it is.

They may try to kill each other indirectly, but neither succeed. They were both expecting it.

Riddler is more open to working with others, and he sees Scarecrow as a grand opportunity to force you into his clutches.

It’d be a lot easier to control you if you were caught between two rogues.

When they meet, they come to an agreement: Scarecrow will be able to continue his experiments as long as they don’t put you in serious danger, driving you towards the Riddler, while Riddler will handle the technical stuff to ensure you’ll never be able to escape them.

Your relationship with them would be like running between two abusive exes.

Scarecrow’s manipulative, putting ideas into your head about your inadequacy and terrifying you into staying, always some underlying threat laced into his words when he shows you what he’s been working on or asks you to do something for him

While Riddler is very overprotective, constantly has you under surveillance, and caters to your every need, which can feel infantilizing and suffocating.

Even more so when you slowly find this all out, as his layers are pulled back the longer you live with him… it makes you think back to what Scarecrow had told you.

At this point, you’re probably too far gone to be dragged out of it. Edward’s taken care to remove you from any semblance of your old life.

Every time one of them hurts you, you run to the other for comfort, and it’s a never ending cycle.

And Riddler has to admit, it’s fun when you’re under the influence of a bit of fear toxin, and you’re desperate enough to be held and reassured, doing nothing to fight their hands all over you…

[random-dragon-exe]

OK hot take, (probably) but I think that Adrian Graye is actually a powerful witch just like the rest of the covenheads.

I say this because there's a lot of people who think that Adrian is a lot weaker than the rest of the Covenheads because of Gus beating him in Labyrinth Runners.

I will say that granted, his magic is illusions and yeah illusions have no physical aspect to them, but there's two things I'd like to add here:

Even though illusions aren't a physical magic, they're more about deceptive measures and at most psychological in nature.

Adrian finds a way around the lack of the physical aspect by hiding the scouts he has under his illusions to have them interact with people. (So when you think about it, he's quite clever for doing that since he could focus on keeping up the illusion and keeping himself safe)

Technically a third but when you think about it, if Gus can make it look like a witch's powers aren't working, as shown in Through the Looking Glass Ruins:

Then, Adrian could do that too however, with way more ease than Gus as he said it took him a lot of concentration to maintain it.

Of course, since Gus has the ability to force people to see their worst memories, so can Adrian.

If we want to go further with it, Adrian can totally make an entire illusion labyrinth just like Gus too but it'd be more controlled since he's more experienced than Gus.

Yes there's the scene where he asks Gus "how" is he making the labyrinth, but this could just be him being surprised that an illusion that powerful is coming from a 12 year old as younger witches shouldn't be able to make complicated spells. (Gus is an extreme outlier in this)

(Not only that but Gus’s labyrinth was induced by his emotions getting out of hand and was therefore accidental)

Also real fast, I'm pretty sure being forced to see your worst/darkest memories would render anyone in the state that we see Adrian in last. So I don't think it's just "a him" thing.

Moving on and going further with this, Adrian could go full on Mysterio on his enemies asses. Anyone seen Spider-Man: Far From Home?

From tricking the target to using the real (unillusioned) environment against them:

To using psychological horror and using their emotions against them about a beloved person's death:

To faking his own death:

To making it look like someone close to the target is in danger:

To altering the entire perception of the playing field at a massive scale:

The person won't be able to figure out what's an illusion and what's reality until it's too late:

This is also not to mention the other post I have about the extensions of illusion magic and its effects (which I think both Gus and Adrian can do to varying extents based on their experience with illusions).

What I'm getting at is that Adrian is definitely powerful in his own right at illusion magic (and can very well do these things).

It's just that we don't get to see the full potential because of how the writing favored Gus's powers over Adrian's in Labyrinth Runners due to the shortening.

I'm not trying to diminish Gus’s abilities as an illusionist, I'm just saying both of them are powerful in their own ways (Gus having raw power for his age, yet needs to refine and control his powers and Adrian having experience and control with his magic yet his ego gets the best of him and he underestimates his opponents)

Not to mention his vague feedback to the scouts often works against him unknowingly.

Like honestly, if the show wasn't shortened there'd be more time allowed for him to be a more terrifying threat in Labyrinth Runners or other episodes with him.

TLDR: Ya'll are sleeping on what could've been an even more epic version of Labyrinth Runners and Adrian's powers. Like yes, we can still make fun of him being beaten by Gus, but let's just acknowledge that it would've been really cool to see two skilled illusionists fighting 1v1.

[eccentric-nucleus]

the only story in the progression fantasy/litrpg/etc space that i've really enjoyed and kept up with has been super supportive, tho that's with the caveat that the first sixty chapters are basically a self-contained novel that is pretty good, and then the next uh hundred and thirty chapters spend a lot of time defusing a lot of the setup. it's not just the slice-of-life stuff that predominates, it's the part where the story slowly picks away at the setup

like so, this is gonna have spoilers for the first chunk of super supportive. i've already made a post about this before i think but this will be post #2 i guess.

so super supportive introduces the state of the world: it's like 2040, and aliens contacted earth in the 1960s and brought with them all sorts of cool technology, intergalactic communication, and also the system. magic is real and aliens can do it and now with the system some people will get selected to have superpowers and get to go on quests to alien planets and get fabulous quest rewards (further superhero powers!) for doing so! wow everybody wants to be a superhero because it's so cool!

oh yeah so the technical term for the system is 'the interdimensional warriors contract', and earth is tithed to submit people to it. the aliens get to choose who. and if they choose you, you can't refuse. you also can't really refuse a summons. one of the most popular, to the aliens, classes is the one where you're just a personal assistant. classes with actual superpowers also sometimes get summoned away on some quest and are never heard from again. sometimes they get death notifications, months or years later, but sometimes not. you don't get to pick your class either; those get assigned to you, though you can swap classes with somebody else during a brief provisional period after you've been selected but before your superpowers come due. also, humans have no clue how to really use the system; the aliens make a big point of not telling anybody anything about how it's put together or even things like "these skills are good and these other skills suck". part of the 'appeal' stat involves mental changes to make you more sociable and agreeable.

they do pay superheroes for their work. but they can't really say no to a job, or control what they do. one early example of 'tasks superheroes get summoned to do' is 'help evacuate a dangerous research station' 'but only our contracted employees; explicitly do not allow the other staff who have not contracted to our corporation to leave'.

also, a major character early on is: literally an imprisoned slave who's chained to his desk and has a geas over him such that he's not able to do things like 'express preferences'. some alien wizard just dropped him down at the embassy and he's been stuck working there for decades now. i'm sure it's fine.

so as it goes through the early chapters and these things get revealed there's a lot of tension between how everybody in-universe thinks about this ("superheroes cool") and the out-of-universe information, in which it's clear this is something more like indentured labor. there's a lot of ominous weight about the power differential there. this is a world where magic is real, the universe runs on magic, aliens can use magic, but humans can't. and the magical system aliens have put in place on earth is one that is explicitly gamified with pretty tokens and prebuilt skills and nothing even approaching, like, information on how it works.

so that's interesting! and then the first 'book' ends and the main character gets back to earth and it seems like there's a lot of backing-off of those implications. all the aliens we meet are super cool and nice and honorable. despite some gesturing at various factions of aliens, there hasn't really been a lot of followthrough on, like, the alien politics involved or how they're set up. so i'm still reading because i think it definitely still has promise, & it's written in a fairly engaging fashion, but all of this is basically contingent on it actually having a good payoff for all the buildup, & i'm not really sure that the author really cares about that stuff specifically.

[valle-de-sombra-de-muerte]

Homestuck Reread: Act 2, Part 1/3 (p. 249-439)

Read the previous post here.

From this point on, these successive Act breakdowns will be spread across multiple posts. Act 1 is easily the shortest Act at 248 pages, so I was able to fit everything in one post. I think I just barely made it under the image limit. Anyway, let's move right along to Act 2.

I didn't discuss Rose's character in the last post, so I think this is a good time to talk about her. She strikes me as a bit of a "gifted kid" that was always ahead of her peers in terms of academics. She's bookish and more educated than her friends, a fact that she flaunts by utilizing her robust vocabulary and making allusions that go over other peoples' heads.

She must love having a dullard like John as a friend. He's too dumb to cotton onto her pretentious, ridiculous metaphors. She can act like a pseud all she wants and he'd never question it. He just sees big words, assumes she's talking about something far beyond his understanding, and laughs it off. To him, she just comes across as very smart, which is precisely the image of herself she wants to cultivate for others. Having someone like that in her close friend group must give her immense validation.

This GameFAQs guide is a great showcase of her big ego. She uses multiple paragraphs full of unnecessary verbiage to deliver a simple introduction. "My introduction will be sparse" my ass! Imagine trying to scour through this while meteors are crashing down all around you. Even though nobody who reads this is going to survive, she still insists on making a big spectacle of things and flexing her skills as a writer.

And yet, she's so secretive of her private writings, refusing to let the reader even look at them. Her persona of being a highbrow intellectual obsessed with psychoanalysis is all a facade, something she uses to conceal her genuine interests (wizards and fantasy).

I guess what I'm trying to say with all this is that even though Rose comes across as garrulous and self-important, she's still a more fleshed out character than John.

I severely dislike these little walk-around segments. Normally I'm a fan of point-and-click adventure games, but this feels so clunky and not fun to move around in. You explore them the first time and have no inclination to do so ever again. I can't even find any worthwhile dialogue clicking on any of the objects. It's a waste of time. I'm glad there's only one other page like this later on before Hussie switches to the "Alterniabound" design.

Rose exposits this fantastical scenario John has found himself in, as well as the impending danger threatening the rest of the world. All he has to say about it is "wow, ok." I can't deal with this kid, man. He must've been lobotomized shortly after birth or something.

He has more of a reaction to Rose seemingly forgetting his birthday than to any of the other crazy shit currently happening. He doesn't even thank her for helping to save his life. This reread is really making me hate John.

John seems to draw the line at following potentially life-threatening commands. Though I somehow think this has more to do with WV having gained control of the command console at this point in the story. Unlike Rose or the reader, WV has a very rude and authoritative way of typing commands that upsets John. I wonder if he'd have less reservations crossing the catwalk if Rose told him to do it.

Here's the beginning of the "Fedorafreak Saga" where this man is shown to survive the cataclysm brought on by Sburb. It's kind of a fun little diversion, but there's no real payoff to it.

"especially ethnic wedding" is another crazy Rose quote. Also this GameFAQs guide continues to be incredibly word-dense and not at all conducive to helping players succeed in this literal life-or-death scenario. Especially when they're on a time limit.

For narrative purposes, it's just info-dumping all the technicalities of the various Sburb mechanics. It really isn't worth reading, in my opinion. The game mechanics might be one of the least interesting parts of Homestuck to me. I don't want to get bogged down reading about how an alchemiter works.

Besides, we saw all these mechanics in action during Act 1; it's unnecessary to read about all of it again. This sort of thing should be reserved for supplemental material, not as a part of the work itself.

Dave be spittin' bars here. I don't think enough acknowledgement is given to Dave's rhymes. I think they're pretty funny. I'd like to hear someone actually rap them over a beat.

Dave continues to make reference to his and Rose's flirting. John is tired of hearing about it.

needleKind might be a contender for the dumbest kind abstratus since knitting needles aren't even sharp. I wonder if Hussie was even aware of that. Probably not or else he wouldn't have included that "filet a sword fish" line.

All the creature entries in the Grimoire are funny, but this one takes the cake. Every sentence here is gold.

This is a nice passage that I like a lot. It seems to relate to Rose's quest to "play the rain" later on in the story. I'll talk more about it when I reach that part, but it was always a part of the story that I wanted to see come to fruition and it burned me that it never did.

However, reading this passage and noting how it actually does foreshadow Rose's reluctance and ultimate failure to play the rain does help ease the sting a little bit. It is thematically relevant to Rose's character for her to put on this grandiose display of competence only to fumble when put on the spot. She's a kid who's way in over her head, something that applies to many of Homestuck's characters.

Unfortunately, it's capped off with the fourth instance of this dumb misattributed quote gag. The Charles Barkley detail is part of another running gag where all the kids are associated with a black celebrity, Charles Barkley in Rose's case. It's weird and I don't get it.

Dave swoops in from nowhere and interrupts Rose's scene to do his intro. Like Rose, he also disobeys the reader's commands, going so far as to slice apart the text box when the joke name is typed in. (Insufferable Prick... now where have I heard that before?)

(Rose's joke name "Flighty Broad" was also based on a line Dave called her before).

Dave's interest in photography and dead things don't manifest nearly as often as his love of rapping and music. He specifically likes obscure bands because he's a hipster doofus. Funnily enough, I don't see as many people call him a hipster as often as they do to other characters like say, Eridan.

Dave never does bleat like a goat by the comic's end, does he?

Dave, despite outwardly acting like an aloof jackass most of the time, really does care about his friends. I think that's part of the reason he's always been my favorite out of the kids.

I love that Clubs Deuce just flails about uselessly when the Midnight Crew are all beating the shit out of each other.

In Dave and Rose's first pesterlog, Rose immediately suggests Dave might be gay because he's been ignoring her. Unlike John, Dave is able to keep up with Rose's repartee and the results are some of the better written pesterlogs in the whole comic.

I love the chemistry between these two so much. Dave is less cerebral than Rose, but he's just as intelligent. He's able to see past her shit and challenge her instead of being awed by her intellect. She in turn also sees right through his own mask of "irony" and tries to poke holes in it.

Their friendship seems the strongest out of the whole group; Dave even mentions that he knows who's messaging him before he checks the Pesterchum window. In previous conversations with John, he acts as though Rose is a nuisance and that she's always bugging him, but here we see them get along very well.

For Rose's part, Dave isn't some sycophant or a dupe who's swayed by her way with words. He's someone she can respect, someone who can match her mentally, and someone who loves typing out over the top metaphors just as much as she does. It's likely refreshing for her to be around someone like that, which is why she's always pursuing him for conversation.

Ah, I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to further gush about these two as I progress through the story. For now, let's keep moving.

Oh don't worry, she'll hold you to that promise.

Rose responds to Dave's earlier interruption with one of her own and we're back to her perspective again. Even meta-textually, they go back and forth with each other.

For an aspiring psychoanalyst, Rose is quick to dismiss the idea that her mother's behavior is motivated by anything except spite. Rose's mom knows her daughter loves wizards, so she buys all this wizard memorabilia in the hopes it'll make her happy. Rose, refusing to believe her mom feels genuine love toward her, twists these gestures into ones of malice and mockery. Teenagers, am I right?

This is similar to how John's dad displays all that harlequin junk in the house to please his son, even though John can't stand any of it. Parents not understanding their children is a classic theme in Homestuck.

Rose acting utterly deranged in response to her mom's sincere, albeit excessive, displays of affection.

Dave's conversation with Jade is void of all the wit and chemistry present in his talk with Rose. Here he strips himself of his sardonic, crude side because he is a dumb teenage boy fawning over the "nice girl" to get in her good graces.

Jade is just... I don't think I can put off talking about her for much longer. Perhaps in the next post I'll explain my gripes with her character.

I'm not sure what to make of Mom Lalonde's "ironic negligence" where she offers Rose her martini. Is she playing into Rose's idea of her as an incompetent mother, or is she just that drunk right now?

I don't think that Mom is the perfect parent, mind you. She does come across as emotionally distant and constantly intoxicated. To compensate for that, she showers Rose with gifts, which isn't exactly a good substitute for proper parenting, well-intentioned as it may be.

Mom isn't perfect, but she's trying. Rose's insistence that she's some kind of spiteful, passive-aggressive mastermind is pure delusion on her part.

Dave trusts Rose enough to tell her that he doesn't like his brother's puppets as much as he lets on. Very interesting for someone who is so hesitant to drop his mask around others.

Also, Rose reveals that she likes his brother's puppet porn websites.

Oh no! Yeah, really selling that distress, John.

He has a bigger negative reaction to being told to eat some cookies than he does to finding out his father had been kidnapped. If I was in Rose's place, I'd be losing my mind.

In this first third of Act 2, it still suffers from the same PS-esque jokes and video game references. John is still aggravatingly dull and his conflict with WV is unfunny and interrupts the pace.

But the stakes are also getting higher, the plot is progressing, and the cast is expanding with two much stronger characters. Overall, I think this is a step up so far.

Read the next post here.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

And when they're so unnaturally perfect at beating the monstrously powerful nobles, well, is it any wonder that Kamado starts to look at them and question? With every passing noble, with every report of how bizarrely easy the protag defeated them, it looks more and more suspicious. They're supposedly 15, and yet they breeze through fights with some of the most powerful Pokémon in Hisui? That's weird, especially in top of all their other weirdness. It's unnatural. It looks like they're cheating, like they know the secret code to beating these things... or maybe like they're the ones controlling it, so of course nothing ever hits them. He wants the frenzies quelled so he keeps sending them, but he doesn't trust them and when the red sky comes, he knows the protag is capable of dangerous, impossible things. Even when he attempts to apologize, in the back of his mind he feels the hair raising, insidious fear linger. That kid's not right. It probably isn't even a kid. And now he knows it can even control gods.

Oh god, that's horrifying. The idea that whenever they get just a bit too hurt than they think the Galaxy Team will allow, they just give up and let whatever it is kill them. Or if it's from fall damage and they break a leg, they hobble to the nearest aggressive Pokémon, gritting their teeth through the agony because they know it'll all be over soon. That's just. Wow. How messed up is their sense of self-preservation by the time they get to Ingo, if for months they've made the choice to die over things that wouldn't kill them, because until that point they didn't think it affected anyone but them and dying was faster and less painful than waiting to heal? How do you even begin to explain that to the person whose life you're ruining every time you do that?

And even if they did manage to tell him, or warn him, you're right that he's not just going to be okay with them dying over and over, for any reason. I think the only two options at that point are let Ingo help them fight the rest of the nobles and later the frenzied god, or hope that he becomes too dissociated to do much of anything and try to get it over quick. Yeah this kid has maybe permanently fucked him up, but there's no way he's just going to let them keep doing it alone, and if they try to sneak out to do it alone they better hope they get a great run on the first attempt because he's gonna notice the day resetting.

For bonus fridge horror from the protag, if you combine the two time loop ideas, at some point after they get home they learn that it wasn't just Ingo they were taking for a ride over and over, Emmet was getting yanked back too. In Emmet's case, on one hand it's a relief to know that it wasn't because his brother was dying twenty times in a row at multiple points over the past however long, but on the other, it's not a comfort at all to know it was instead a child who was dying that whole time

re: technically-unnecessary deaths, also on my mind: aren't there some things in the main story of pla that could theoretically be avoided, or done better, if you had the power of foresight and the ability to actually effect change? like growlithe's kidnapping, it works out fine in the end, but if the protag doesn't know that, just knows that palina's distraught and these bandits have some unspecified nefarious scheme involving the pup... what's the better way, chasing after them to firespit island and maybe being too late to stop whatever's going to happen... or excusing yourself for a moment, throwing yourself at the nearest alpha, and coming back prepared to stop it ever happening in the first place? or arezu's hiding lilligant's frenzy, trying to do everything herself and getting hurt for it. hell, even before you properly start the noble questline, there's all those people who get mortally wounded and possibly die trying to fight kleavor. if only protag could make it there before they do, that would be so many people saved. and if they're better, if they're faster, they could make it to the mirelands before ursaluna even gets pseudo-frenzied by lilligant. how perfect is good enough? when can they decide to settle for it?

...but of course, the more they use that knowledge, these things they shouldn't be able to know, the more suspicious kamado gets. the more suspicious everyone gets, really. sure, they saved the day and all, but how did they even know the day needed saving? suddenly kamado's claims that they're somehow linked to or causing the rift don't seem nearly so far-fetched, because if they weren't causing it, how could they predict it with such ease? it's a pretty delicate balancing act they've gotta do. not to mention that if it is only the single day they can reset over, there are gonna be some things that they can't go back and fix because it happened too long ago. which with the rest of everything, i feel would just add to their guilt and their determination to make every day count, make it perfect. i can imagine a really fucked up scenario of them essentially arguing/bargaining with ingo to be allowed to die, because no really, this time is important enough. this time i really do need to try again.

and also, how bad would it fuck you up mentally if not only did you have to die over and over and over—but you were also conditioning yourself that pain means death, always. that it doesn't matter if you escape with your life—all that means is you have to finish the job by yourself. would they stop fearing any kind of injury? or do they become incredibly phobic of it? or does it vary depending on the day. or on the scenario. they go into noble fights expecting to die, but are reflexively terrified of banal survey work because worse than dying, what if something breaks their leg but doesn't kill them? they tell ingo they're used to it. never mind that's not always true. it should be. it's only their fault it isn't-

and then if emmet's also experiencing this?? and also has NO explanation as to why?? and at least i imagine with ingo his day-to-day is already repetitive enough that he can sometimes just not look at the date and pretend everything's proceeding normally (not that ingo's situation is actually any better, it just sucks differently and is easier to dissociate your way through.) with emmet there's really no way for him to not be conscious of the fact that he's done fifty goddamn tuesdays in a row. boss emmet has suddenly become really inconsistent about showing up to work, which is very unusual, and everyone figures it's bc of ingo disappearing, but actually it's bc this is July 18th #108 (protag was fighting lilligant and she was really hard) and he has no way of knowing whether there's gonna be a #109 or not, and he's so fucking sick of fixing the same three problems over and over so he is Taking The Day Off. bye. by the way the fault you're running into is with the battery, and you should put two extra people on red line because there's going to be a bigger than anticipated crowd. ok, bye, he's going to chargestone cave to scream now.

[obae-me]

Lmao how long can we keep this Siren!Lucifer AU brainrot going (Forever. It never ends. We’re stuck here forever now. Siren Lucifer is aLL YOU SHALL THINK ABOUT-)

I just had this realization about this AU and it’s getting me man- There’s this sense of dramatic irony all over the story of this AU simply because, if you ask me, MC technically does get hypnotized by Lucifer but not in the way he thinks (or really wants)!!! Like hear me out MC is fully immune to the siren song, that’s just fact, they can’t be controlled through those hypnotic magical ways. BUT ever since that night when they first met Lucifer, heard his song, and saw his beauty they have been coming back again and again just to see him. They know that sirens are dangerous hunters and that they could be putting their life in danger, but despite that they keep coming back cause of their growing connection with Lucifer. Lucifer has basically metaphorically hypnotized MC via their love and care for him. And the dummy doesn’t even realize that!!!!!

Course the “spell” is broken when they get betrayed but STILL (Though I don’t doubt Lucifer is still constantly lingering in their thoughts whenever they visit the ocean)

However will Lucifer realize his wrongdoings and mend his relationship with the human he learned to hold dear to his heart? He must work quickly as danger begins to loom beneath the waters surface…. *dramatic music* (lol)

I've been thinking about siren Lucifer for a long time (and just mermaids/sirens in general my entire life). I'm really tempted to maybe just experiment with this idea on my own time...

I love the thought of him just having that "so be it" attitude at first when MC stops coming around. He doesn't care (is what he tries to tell himself). But the longer they're gone...the more worried he gets... To the point where he starts to wonder if he can somehow leave the water to go find them. All just for closure, surely...

God, this AU, I can't.

[rosalind-hawkins]

For the meme: 5, 17, 21, 40 and 50 for Mumbleshipping?

Yeeeeeeeeeee thank you so much for asking about my boys!

5. What personality trait do they love the most about each other?

Oh, this is a fun one!

Seto loves how sweet and forgiving Ryou is. It makes no sense for him to be this kind or want to see the good in others, especially after everything he's been through, but he does, and Seto marvels at it a little.

Seto loves Duke's fearlessness. He's intimidated by nobody and nothing, ashamed of almost nothing, and he likes how spunky that makes him. Kaiba is pretty intimidating himself, and he kinda likes that one of his boyfriends is completely immune to it. It makes things very entertaining.

Ryou loves and admires Seto's unstoppable, unyielding willpower. This man is relentless, and Ryou can't relate to that, and he's kind of enchanted by it.

Ryou loves Duke's playfulness and positivity. He's not exactly optimistic, but he's a generally positive person, and it's a huge ray of sunshine in Ryou's life. Ryou is a cat just basking in Duke's presence.

Duke loves Ryou's vivid imagination. Sometimes it runs wild, and his eyes sparkle whenever he's deep into his story/character/scenario, and Duke thinks it's precious.

Duke loves Seto's genius brain and his technical prowess, and especially loves watching him do his inventing thing. The tinkering, the tools, Duke relates to it with his own tinkering.

Generally speaking, Duke loves to watch his boys when they're in the zone.

17. What do they have in common?

They all have a game obsession, and it's a different game for all of them. They all have abusive complicated relationships with their fathers. They all have missing mother figures. They all need to let go of their past so that they can truly move forward in a healthy way towards happiness. They all have a deep passionate side, even if it's not usually the forefront of their personalities.

21. Are they interested in having children? Why or why not?

I think Kaiba has a very complicated relationship with children/the idea of children, but he could be talked into it. There's fear of the repeating abuse cycles (and the past, generally), fear of failure, fear of loss. It's Seto's idea to adopt though, once they've all agreed to having kids, and Ryou agrees immediately. Duke is a bit more attached to the idea of "that's a little piece of me" or "that's a little piece of my beloved" running around; he wants that blood tie to his kid in some form; it's just a subconscious thing for him. He gets talked into adoption though.

40. Who tries to distract the other when they’re trying to do something else?

Duke is guilty of doing this on purpose more than anyone else. He can be needy for attention sometimes, that's just how it goes. Ryou is more likely to be distracting by accident, either just from being in the room and making it impossible for Seto to focus on work because he's just too cute bending over the shelves looking for new books, or Duke's finding it impossible to look at anything but Ryou when he's supposed to be paying attention to making dinner.

50. Who would protect who in a dangerous situation?

Kaiba's fear of loss (and inability to process it) makes him the most overprotective man in the universe. When his family is threatened, he pulls everyone into his mansion and shuts down the property with more security than Nanba Prison. He will not let anyone hurt the ones he loves. He was distracted in the past which led to Mokuba coming to harm a few times, and he's learned from his mistakes. This also means he's a little... controlling. In a dangerous situation though, he's the number one protector.

Duke is also pretty protective in his own right. We've seen him come to his friends' defense before (Serenity, Mai, Rebecca, Tristan), if anybody's in trouble he jumps right in. He's physically protective of Ryou, ofc, but he's also protective of Kaiba and Kaiba's reputation, so that manifests in a way that Ryou and Kaiba don't usually get to see. If anybody's hanging around The Black Clown and starts shit-talking Kaiba, Duke steps out from behind the counter or from his office to have words with them.

Which isn't to say that Ryou wouldn't protect them if he was given the chance, but he's very rarely in the position to do so. But Ryou is probably the most protective of Mokuba. (All the boys are protective of Mokuba, though.)

[noobettes-little-box]

yay a spooky block tales review yippee

Chapter Three!!!!!!

as with the other 3, summary and review under the cut thing

don't read incase of spoilers

WARNING:

before we begin, this chapter includes abusive parents, generally depression references, death, multiple hands, multiple eyes, ducks, greed, loneliness, builderman, manipulation, even more eyes, mind control? kinda? i think that's technically what it is, gore? kinda? like just blood veins everywhere, and a kinda exposed heart.

these aren't shown here because i ran out of room

you have been warned i'm trying me best this chapter is a bit disturbing.

Summary:

starts where the last chapter ends you know the deal

go to shedletsky so he can yap

he is shocked that the voices went after anyone at all but hasn't gotten any distress signal from any other sword holders so tells us to go get the ghost walker, in his mansion, that he guards with "normal zombies"

he gives you a train ticket and sends you off

the conductor acts like i'm an important and cool person (which is true i am both those things) and then the chapter starts

after being let on the train you're told to go rest in room 4

seriously what was on that ticket

when you wake up the trains getting robbed

no big deal

after defeating them the conductor tells us to go save the engineer and stuff!! oh no!!

when we get there it turns out red, blue and noobador are also there!!!

turns out, noobador is actually the engineer!!!!!

and red and blue were beating up the bandits!

but then more bandits come, and blue is feeling a little tired

so we fight together!! wow!

red takes most of the credit, gives some to blue, then says i "did okay i guess"

ANYWAYS ABUSIVE PARENTS TIME

these guys suck they're like red and blue if they were stupid dumb idiots who need to be stabbed

also noobador is their uncle

anyways we kill them and then noobador apologizes for the prologue how nice of him

upon arriving in "spooksvile" red and blue thank us

i can now summon children whenever i want yay!

after most of walking we get to telamon's manor

nothing interesting happens except people being sad

you follow a butler into a portal and now there's ghost everywhere

oh hey it's that guy

he asks you to go grab ingredients for him, those being spiders and dust

then he asks for me to get a turkey.... and

well

after fighting the turkey you get the ghost potion!!! i forgot to take a screenshot it lets you avoid damage and go through stuff

kitchen wizard says not to touch the ghost walker because we'll die if we're not pure

then you find the hyper ball!!! it's just there!!! just for the taking!

the hyperball lets you ground pound i forgot to screenshot that too oops

after some walking, there it is! the ghost walker!!! right there!

i think i'm pretty pure and full of whimsy so... lemme just grab it and...

oh

oh hey we found builder man we can go home now

we are now stuck in the dream world and we have to fight our emotions in order to go home

first up is greed!

like the sin

they take stuff and they wants to take various parts of your body to play with and stuff

they have a move that takes away tix if it hits you

fun

they go down pretty easily

next up is solitude!!!

they're always watching... always...

the eyes follow you.. everywhere...

also something's wrong with builderman i guess i dunno that's just what they said but that's probably just so i didn't kill them

after getting solitude builderman says there is only one emotion left clouding our soul

fear

after killing fear, builderman congratulates us! but we can't move. and it's slowly revealed that builderman wasn't real. and it was a disguise for hatred

hatred takes complete control over your mind, leaving you alone, in this dangerous world that makes my eyes hurt

this world having the walls made of other souls that gave into hatred

hatred wants us to join in and give in to the hate

the battle is hard but i have a weapon so it doesn't matter

after leaving the dream world, Terry and Kitchen wizard yell at you. which is fair. though your souls is now completely pure, and you can touch the ghost walker without dying! yayy!!!!

review:

kinda inbetween chapter 1 and 2 honestly. first half is kinda boring, and it's one of the shorter chapters to come out it's only longer than the prologue, which is meant to be short. the interesting parts are way better than chapter 2, and the boring parts are better than chapter 1, but after chapter 2 having an event happen every few rooms, it's kinda hard to not rate this one down a bit. music is fucking awesome though solitude's theme is better than everything else in the game

okay that's the end of the reviews until chapter 4 is out

also i had to rewrite this because tumblr kept saying i had over 30 images in it but i didnt but it wouldn't let me save it anyway