#verse: the missing nin

[narumakiii]

@insurged

STRANGERS PRESENCE it certainly did not go unnoticed as shinobis purpleish - red hues are focused 'pon nearby tree. the blonde was sat comfortably on a sizeable piece of debris, legs crossed & breathing calm. ❛ something the matter , 'ttebayo ? do i know you ? ❜ there was no threat, malice or accusations in spoken tone. just simply curiousity. it wasn't everyday that he was approached, let alone so boldly.

[sharkfinx]

@silent-killing-demon​ asked:  [AIM]

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆/𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆. [ ACCEPTING ]

               “O—ho! Good one. Someone scrawny like you, already getting used with their weight like that? That’s something else, neee. ~ ”  It’s true that the circumstances they both became missing nin were drastically different from each other. For Kisame, Zabuza’s dreams were silly. However, since they had became one of the seven swordsman of the mist, Zabuza deserved nothing but his pure respect. Training together as a fellow swordsman without attacking each other was just etiquette.               “Is it true what they say? Does it heals with blood?”

[yuesya]

I’m entranced with the idea of Shiki as a root!agent

In all honesty, Shiki as a Root agent in Naruto-verse would probably end up with her deciding to slaughter her way through the entire organization. I guess we'd go straight into a missing-nin AU from there? Not that Shiki would even consider herself to be a ninja in the first place...

[depressedhatakekakashi]

what do you think about this post? https://www.tumblr.com/irl-saiki-k/757754607555477504/is-anybody-well-versed-in-naruto-enough-to-explain

im pretty sure if kakashi hadn't taught chidori to sasuke, they would've complained about how a neglecting teacher kakashi was

I mean, he really didn’t have a lot of choice.

Against snyone else Sasuke would have been fine, but they’d seen how impenetrable Gaara’s sand shield was. Lee only got through it with sheer speed, which was backed up but him opening the gates

Kakashi had esentially two choices

Teach Sasuke chidori which could cut through the sand shield (as it does)

Or teach Sasuke the gates, which are no less dangerous (as we see. Lee almost died and almost lost his ability to be a shinobi firever.). We can also assume that even thoigh Kakashi is shown to know the first gate, he probably can’t teach Sasuke them

Or at least it would take a lot longer to do so

So he went with the option he could

Increase sasuke’s speed to match chidori, and teach him chidori

Was it too early? Yes, absolutly

But Kakashi really didn’t have a choice. If Sasuke didn’t have something to fight through gaara’s shield, he was guaranteed to be dead. Gaara was not going to hold back and i think a lot of people forget to factor that in

This Gaara wanted to kill his opponents

He went to the hospital specifically to kill lee and was only stopped by gai

Sasuke needed something, and the only options available to him were equally as dangerous for different reasons

So Kakashi went with the one that best fit Sasuke.

As for ‘Sasuke’s goal’ that was never an issue. Kakashi only had an issue with Sasuke’s goal for revenge when he turned his rage on his friends

Kakahi would have had zero issue with sasuke using it against Itachi, though he likely would have disagreed with sasuke trying to fight an S rank missing nin of any kind at his current level

He took issue with Sasuke using it against Naruto, which… fair

You don’t attack your friends with a move you KNOW will kill if it hits them, and that’s what chidori does

[minds-interlinked]

Talk to me about evil missing nin Ino, what would she be like?

[[//Ino would have abandoned the Village sometime around Shippuden. Biding her time, and learning whatever jutsu she deems necessary before making her getaway. (In this verse, Ino would have grown tired of the rules, and high expectations in place. And as distrusting as she'd grown to those around her, would have eventually dug into the Village's history, and found out some things that would make her rethink everything she'd ever grown to believe. Thus cementing her decision to leave.) Overtime, she'd grow to be extremely cold and calculating, and pretty much devoid of attachments. She wouldn't be above using others for personal gain, and betraying said person (in question) once they are no longer of any use to her. Ino's not exclusive to killing. She'll give you a chance to back off, but if not done in a timely manner, she's not above going for the kill.

((The only exception to the attachment rule would be @fuchsiafortified's Sakura, due to plotting (in my previous blog) & the close relationship between our muses. (And the fact that her Sakura was the one who intercepted Ino making her leave, though, ultimately failed to talk her into staying. This is exclusive to her Sakura only.) Ino wouldn't necessarily show her face around Sakura, but if the Haruno were anywhere near her location and was somehow being targeted, she would protect her the best she could. Not necessarily because Sakura needed help, but because it was something Ino's always done since childhood. Protecting her best friend.)) ]]

[bumbling-jester]

Since With Teeth is on your mind, I must ask... How do you feel about The Line Begins To Blur?

hi snowy!!! soo i saw this a bit ago but i wanted to properly listen to the song again first (error: ended up putting it on repeat and now am going slightly insane)

as a song i really like it!! maybe not as impactful or powerful (to me) as a few other songs, BUT i think the song itself fits into the rest of the album really nicely.

i think it carries that same kinda vibe of losing your sense of personality and your sense of direction in life. a lot of the lyrics in it are really interesting also!! the second verse stood out to me a lot. just that kind of sense that you've come so far, you got what you thought you wanted, what do you do need? did you even want this, really? should you stop because you want to or keep going because no one's told you to stop yet?

it's less emotive? to me? but also i do think the song is like a little moment the speaker is kind of reflecting back on his life and where he's at but in a REALLY passive way. the speaker kind of feels like,, all this shit's happened and he's in a really shitty place but it's too late for him. he can't fix it. he'll always be missing that something, but he's come too far in his endeavours to stop there. so i think the music does add to that. the repetitiveness of it all and the passive sense you get.

i tried to think about like. if the song wasn't in the album would anything change or does it really add to everything? and i think it's a nice transitional song from Sunspots to Beside You In Time. the song Sunspot having this sense of "i have to keep going. why would i stop? it's good here. i'm good here." and then The Line Begins To Blur being that resigned realisation that the speaker is NOT good at all, but he's too far gone. and then Beside You In Time being that moment of him disregarding his awareness because he doesn't think he can do anything. but the whole time he's hyper-aware of the fact that he's not doing good at all and he's lost his sense of self and direction.

overall a great song, but i'll say that about almost any nin song LMAOO thank you for asking though snowy <33

[rangers-are-cool-moved]

I am working on others but here's three of Ami's complete AU verses

AU | DOESN'T FOLLOW CANON

Naruto | Part 1

V: Childhood & Genin | Raised in Suna Not trusting the man that her husband was turning into, Jo gained permission (with help from Nara Shikaku) to register her newborn daughter as a resident of the Hidden Sand Village. This meant that Ami is raised by her maternal grandfather to have a more normalised childhood. She grows up with the Sand Siblings and makes a habit of drifting in Gaara's direction, seemingly unconcerned that he could easily kill her.

Gap between Naruto & Shippuden

V: Wandering Medic Despite becoming the only other Chunnin alongside Shikamaru, the Elders of Konoha gave the now lone Firesword two choices: Either join one of the big Clans or hand in her forehead protector and live as a civilian. But with her family now dead and all the Clans being firmly in her corner, Ami swaps her Konoha headband for one with Firesword written in Kanji on it. She leaves the village not as a missing-nin but as a wandering medic with family ties that link her only to Sunagakure.

[dawnedon]

Verse - Naruto

Name: Hikari Yuki Hara

Affinity: Ice Release (kekkei genkai), Water Release, Wind Release

Affiliation: Kirigakure (Village Hidden in the Mist)

Hikari was born in the Mist Village during a time where those with Kekkei Genkai were still looked down upon. Her mother was a traditional dance artist after retiring from a life as a kunoichi, while her father worked as a high ranking hunter-nin, tracking down many of the village's missing-nins and carrying out assassinations.

Their family kept their clan lineage a secret, masquerading with a differing last name to protect themselves. Hikari's mother, Ayako, forbade Hikari from becoming a kunoichi herself, trying to goad her daughter into following her footsteps. Ayako had always kept her ice release under wraps, only utilizing her wind and water releases. Hikari wasn't keen on following Ayako's wishes, however.

When Hikari was only 6, her father was killed in action during an assassination attempt on one of the village's defectors. This only ramped up Ayako's controlling further. Hikari had to practically sneak off as far as enrolling in schooling went.

The training at Kirigakure's Academy was much more brutal and thorough than the other schools seen in other villages. When Hikari touched chakra paper for the first time, it did not damper nor slice in half. It froze solid, and she became an immediate target.

Ayako was livid when she learned of her daughter's antics, though a deal was struck between her and the Mizukage of the village. Hikari happened to be a perfect vessel for harboring a shinigami. In exchange for immunity, Ayako gave Hikari away.

Hikari was still young, no older than 8, but her body was able to withstand the sealing process. They sealed a fearsome shinigami known as Giratina within her, preventing the demon from wrecking further havoc in the world, and thus gaining a new piece of power for their village as well.

They fortunately allowed Hikari to return to the academy, resuming her brutal training. She excelled in ninjutsu, along with kenjutsu - a common, more advanced technique taught in their academy compared to the other academies in the other villages. She refrained from using her ice release around others, taking to doing so in private.

Hikari's relationship with her mother was effectively destroyed after she gave up her daughter. She was infrequently home, avoiding the place as much as possible. Ayako was still furious at her daughter's enrollment in the academy.

For Hikari's age, she became a prodigy at Kirigakure's school. Her ninjutsu skills were leaps ahead of everyone else in her class, as was her kenjutsu and chakra control. The shinigami within her, however, wasn't agreeable to Hikari. It was difficult to control Giratina at times, and one such time Hikari lost control was during the academy's chunin exams.

She lost control over herself and wreaked havoc on her opponent in the finals, bloodying them and nearly beating them to death with raw strength alone. It took several jonin to pull her off her foe, restraining her with seals and a formidable barrier. When Hikari came to, she had no recollection or memory of what took place.

The Yuki clan had always been a cursed clan, after all.

The higherups of Kirigakure were quick to cover up the incident, not wanting to have another graduation similar to what they had seen with Zabuza. Those in the stands were put to sleep with a genjutsu, and had their memories of the incident erased and replaced. The student in question also had their memories changed after their recovery. Instead of memories of Hikari beating them nearly to death, they simply had put a memory into them of being knocked out.

After the exams, Hikari was removed from her squad. They feared she would lose control and hurt them, and so she was forced to do her missions solo. With her prowess, it wasn't a big deal, but she missed the camaraderie of her team.

She wasn't kicked out of Kirigakure, though she was intentionally sent on much more difficult missions - be it the fact she could handle them, or they secretly wanted her to be killed in action was unknown at the time. To their surprise, she handled these missions in stride.

In the span of a few years following the exams, she went from a liability to an important asset of the village. There were a few times on A and S-rank missions where she did lose control, as she had in the past. The village turned a blind eye to this, as no witnesses were ever left, and it didn't happen within the confines of Kirigakure. It wasn't their problem.

When Hikari was just 15, she was granted the rank of jonin. They were wary of letting her have her own squadron, however, and continued to have her carry out missions for the village on her own. The missions only grew tougher, causing her to be away from Kirigakure for longer periods of time. This was still fine by her, as she would readily jump at any chance to be away from her mother. Hikari had only seen her a handful of times since she became a chunin, and she was glad for it.

During her missions, she would visit many different villages and meet many different people. Hikari found she enjoyed traveling, feeling free to do what she wanted more or less. It was only when the Akatsuki began cropping up that she realized there may be a problem. Losing control became a much more dangerous idea, not wanting the information of her harboring a shinigami falling into the wrong hands.

At age 17, Hikari was brought into the ranks of Kirigakure's hunter-nin's. The influx of corruption under the Fourth Mizukage was immense, and the village had numerous defectors. She was tasked with assassinations, hunting down defectors as they were a threat to the village's security and held many secrets about Kirigakure.

As it stands currently years later, Hikari is still part of Kirigakure's hunter-nins. Despite the way the village has treated her, she still has a deep loyalty to Kirigakure. She carries out normal missions too, still forced to work alone. She still grapples to keep Giratina under control and to reach a mutual understanding with the demon.

Other Info:

Hikari wears her headband around her right upper arm.

She wields a sword that she often imbues with wind chakra, making it very sharp and deadly. Though the legendary seven swords of the mist have fallen nearly out of Kirigakure's control due to defectors, Hikari has a goal to find and obtain at least one of them for herself. When she isn't on any missions, she travels still in order to seek out these swords.

With Kirigakure's overall view towards those with kekkei genkai improving, Hikari tends to keep her lineage under wraps when in the village. In other villages, she doesn't keep it much of a secret at all.

She hasn't spoken to her mother in many, many years. Hikari has gotten herself a home in Kirigakure that's very far from where Ayako's home is situated.

[sharkfinx]

❝ Oi Kisame... ❞ Obito leans on the side of the counter that was empty, head resting in his palm wondering if his fellow friend still retained his shitty sense of humor from those days. Hmm... Now was a good time as any. ❝ I tried to catch fog the other day... Missed. ❞ Now he watched for the Shark-nin's reaction from the corner of his eye. // post-war verse sskkssk hehehehe

"Hai hai?" Looking to the side, the fisherman stops briefly his writing in a little notepad. He listen, curious eyes stare directly and quietly to the Uchiha. How can anyone hold fog? Is his head right? It's quite worrisome. "Obito-san, are y.......................—AaaEeehhhhh!!! KekeKEkeKEKkeKkKEKEKEEKEKKkekekekekek!!!! "

He starts to laugh soundly as his shoulders move slightly. "Good one neeee! I mist!! Kekekekekekekkeek. Good one." He give light taps over the counter. What a good joke.

[maudlxne]

Maomao Naruto verse idea. Please note I am a bit rusty on all of Naruto's lore involving shinobi. So this will be tweaked as I go it's just a rough idea.

Maomao doesn't belong to a hidden village like most, despite having the chakra and ability to be a medic ninja. She was born and raised in a brothel ( much like in her primary show ) and her adoptive father's apothecary. From a young age, she was exposed to how to heal people using herbs and medical knowledge versus jutsu. Most men, women, and nonbinary people who have made their homes in the city/town she grew up in are civilians. Her adoptive father, however, is a missing-nin from a currently unknown hidden village. He's also a medical ninjutsu user.

Her biological father, Lakan, however, was a ninja. Who sired her after calling in love with her mother who was a courtesan after stopping to rest while on a mission. Anyways Maomao is immensely skilled in dealing with poison in particular and having poison resistance to the point of nearly being immune. Partly due to her own experiments with poison.

Currently, she still resides with her father and is rather keen to keep it that way. Enjoying learning and experimenting with medicinal herbs as he teaches her on the side medical jutsu. While she prefers to keep her head low and out of sight of ninja and hidden villages they are known for sometimes taking in missing-nin and rouges into their apothecary for treatment. Especially when they have nowhere else to go. Of course, they tend to try and stay away from the more dangerous ones who will attack without any rhyme or reason.

[thesweetestsupervillains]

Gina in the naruto verse is the most flamboyant missing nin

well, missing is debateable

but she claims to be a sannin. Which, well, makes sense. Though she's a cooking ninja.

still, she's not one for hiding. Her acts sorta follow wherever she goes...

[vampiric-bite]

Naruto!verse for Rei

Age: 21-22

Birthday: November 8th

Birthplace: Yugakure, village hidden in hot water

Hair color: white

Eye color: pale blue

Bio: Having no parents, the only family member who raised Rei had been his grandfather. Despite his good upbringing, he was still seen as weird for hanging around Hidan as a child. Maybe he should’ve listened to the villagers and stayed away.

And then years later, things simply shattered. Turns out, his grandfather had been an Anbu, hiding the secret from him. Then came the news of Yugakure turning away from being a military force… and Hidan had slaughtered most of the villagers, his grandfather included. After the attack, and nearly being killed himself, Rei left his home that night in pursuit of Hidan, wanting revenge. Now labeled as a missing-nin, he does his best to keep a low profile..

[avengernomore]

Verse concept: Nine-Tails Sasuke

So, I mentioned a bit earlier about an AU in which the Nine Tails' attack goes very differently...

And that's pretty much the tip of the iceberg.

So, let's go back to when the Nine Tails attacked.

The higher ups suspected the Uchiha afterwards, to the point of putting them all in a compound so they could be watched. Which was basically the spark that ignited the powder keg of their resentment to the village, and pushed them to try to enact a coup.

What if they had much less reason to suspect the Uchiha?

What if the Uchiha had been the first on the scene, knowing that the Sharingan can control the Nine Tails, and while they didn't know 'Madara' was still alive, they suspected one of the few Uchiha missing-nin. Because let's be real, with all the resentment the Uchiha had toward the village, there would be Uchiha missing-nin.

It was tough to overcome the control over the Nine Tails, it was eventually overcome by a group effort, the Nine Tails being brought under Fugaku's control.

However, Fugaku knew that he wouldn't be able to control the Nine Tails for long. And if he let it go, whoever used it to attack Konoha could simply do the same again.

While he did not have as quick and secure a way of sealing it immediately as Minato did, he still decided the best idea was to seal it in someone.

And that someone was Sasuke. Due to Sasuke being a baby, it was more likely that he would be able to grow up and adapt to the Kyuubi inside him, learn to, at best, control it, and at worst, restrain it.

After the attack, the Uchiha were still suspected, but much less, and those who did suspect them didn't have much of a leg to stand on to accuse them, due to the number of their clan they lost while taking control of the Nine Tails. Thus, while they were placed into what became the Uchiha compound in canon, they were only placed there while the village was being rebuilt, and then they were allowed to leave the compound and live elsewhere. Fugaku and Mikoto, however, along with Itachi and Sasuke were made to stay inside the Uchiha compound due to the Nine Tails being inside Sasuke. While they were not happy about this, they accepted it, and Minato and Kushina strengthened the seal, turning it from a temporary one that the Uchiha had done into the Eight Trigrams seal, and giving the key for the seal to Fugaku. He trusted Fugaku would know to keep the seal maintained and to keep it shut. And that Fugaku would know when, if ever, the time was to loosen the seal, to give Sasuke more access to the chakra when he was ready to control it.

The village elders were unhappy about the Nine Tails being sealed inside Sasuke, since the only previous successful jinchuuriki for the Nine Tails had been from the Uzumaki clan. However, they also were not willing to simply kill a child, so they allowed Sasuke to continue as the Nine Tails' jinchuuriki, albeit under careful watch, in case Sasuke couldn't control it.

This does, of course, mean that Naruto wouldn't grow up to be a trouble maker, because Minato was still alive, and while Kushina was severely weakened by the Nine Tails being removed, she too survived. And since the kyuubi was kept MOSTLY secret, Sasuke did know that it had been sealed inside him, and Kushina was given the task of teaching Sasuke to keep control of the kyuubi.

It would also mean the Uchiha Coup would never happen. The Uchiha were able to air their grievances to Minato, and negotiate with him before things went too far. To the point that Fugaku was actually one of the choices for the Fifth Hokage. (I haven't decided if he would win yet, I think there might still be a bit too much distrust around the Uchiha for him to win, but it would be far less than there used to be).

Now then, the main part of this... how would Sasuke be as a jinchuuriki?

...Well, for one thing, he would still have his family around him. I imagine that Itachi would be especially good at calming him down during moments where he comes close to losing control, even during some times when Kushina could not. While Itachi could utilize genjutsu for such an occasion, he did not, unless he felt it was absolutely necessary, not wanting Sasuke to grow resentful of him.

Partly because he knows about it, and partly because he does not have absurd amounts of chakra, Sasuke would likely not be able to keep the kyuubi quite as under wraps as Naruto, but due to being more stable, emotionally, than orphan Naruto, he would at least have a little more control over it when he's well rested. And having Kushina and Itachi to calm him down did actually keep him reasonably safe. This, unfortunately, did mean that he had to have Kushina around him at most times. While she did not attend classes in the Academy with him, thus meaning she would be in the same class as her son, she did at least stay nearby, just in case.

Naruto, of course, was a bit resentful of Sasuke due to all the attention he was getting from Kushina, but he did understand why it was necessary. Naruto was still a feisty, spunky kid, but having his parents around did mean he was not quite as much of a wild child as the canon Naruto.

Sasuke's appearance did change a bit from Canon!Sasuke though. He got the whisker marks on his cheeks, like Naruto had in canon. His hair also grew a little lighter, a little orangey-blonde tint to his dark hair, the tint being the same sort of sake as a fox's fur.

As for Sasuke's personality... it's more like canon!Sasuke than you would think. He is a bit moody and brooding, and has a bit of that 'dark and mysterious' vibe going on because of it. He's still popular with the girls, because he is a handsome kid and the way parents treat him make them think he's a 'bad boy' sort. Sasuke doesn't necessarily appreciate the attention but he doesn't outright hate it, either. Generally though he's a happier kid, similar to how he was in canon before the Uchiha Massacre, just prone to moody moments, because while he does still have his family, he does sometimes feel a bit isolated or tainted due to the Nine Tails inside him. He does have hope though, after all, Kushina had been the previous jinchuuriki, and she was a respected member of the village.

Luckily, it did not have too much of an effect on Sasuke's abilities. Spurred on by a rivalry with his older brother, feeling like he needed to compete with him a little to be worthy of being a Uchiha, and wanting to prove to the rest of the village that he wasn't dangerous, Sasuke attained high marks, as he did in canon. Not the highest in phsyical nor the highest in theory, but the highest combined marks and the highest overall grade.

...That's all I've got so far. I have thought about whether he would be in the same team, because I think Naruto might be a bit more successful in school, when he doesn't feel the need to keep pulling pranks and has someone at home who understands him to help teach him the jutsu he has trouble with.

I am considering him having Kushina as a jonin sensei, though. He might end up being her only student, though, because she would need to keep a close eye on Sasuke without any distractions.

Will this actually be a verse on the blog? ...Maybe. I already have some other verses that do not actually get used at all, so... I dunno if it'd get any real use. But it was something I was thinking about.

Oh, and Jiraiya would still be Naruto's teacher later on, most likely. Sasuke wouldn't deal with his shit, especially the creepy part where he needs to turn into a naked lady to get Jiraiya to actually pay attention to him. So I dunno.

It does also mean that Sasuke wouldn't go to Orochimaru, and that Naruto wouldn't need to leave with Jiraiya to train for 2 years. Jiraiya would likely stay around the village and might teach Sasuke a thing or two after realizing that Sasuke is a skilled ninja and that he could teach him a thing or two. Orochimaru trying to give him the mark and lure him with promises of power wouldn't work, though. The Nine Tails' chakra rejected the mark, removing it from Sasuke's body (and injuring him a fair bit in the process, he was in rough shape for his fight after the second route, but still won) and while Sasuke wanted to become more powerful, it wasn't like he needed to get more powerful quickly in order to kill his brother, since the Uchiha Massacre never came to pass in this verse.

[toomanywols]

Fun lore tidbit is that, while I decided not to ship Hancock with L’yara, I have added him to the list of characters who are a little bit in love with her. Since L’yara was also an orphaned street rat in Ul’dah, I like to think that Hancock sees her as a similar success story to his own and therefore a bit of a kindred spirit (though unfortunately L’yara doesn’t know his background until he actually tells her, post-Mount Rokkon, so she just sees him as another monetarist). 

Plus when the Scions arrive in Kugane, L’yara is certainly the most well-versed in Hingan society and culture, not to mention being a trained shinobi, and Hancock probably views their appreciation/respect for Hingan culture to be another thing they have in common - not knowing that L’yara amassed this knowledge from listening to the Doman man she’s in love with reminisce about his homeland. :’)

For selfish reasons I’m pretending that the rogues and ninjas were stealthy enough in the STB NIN questline that Hancock never saw or heard much of them, so he isn’t aware of L’yara and Oboro’s relationship until she invites him to join their climb up Mount Rokkon... and although they refrain from PDA, as soon as Hancock sees L’yara and Oboro together, he Knows. All the pieces click into place and he realizes he’s misread so many things about L’yara because he was missing this one, final piece of the puzzle.

And maybe it breaks his heart a little, and that’s why he lets himself get vulnerable with L’yara after they’ve cleared all the mononoke from the temple. And when L’yara hears the full story of his background and finally, fully sees him, and she sets her hand on his shoulder and tells him, “All these years, I’ve misjudged you, Hancock. You aren’t all that bad, after all...” 

It only breaks his heart further, because he knows it’s already too late.

[dearmyloveleys]

What I infer is that the reason Wen Nin should be considered Gui-dao, is because in the MDZS verse, there are no clear heavenly realms or demonic realms referred to…

Yes! You would be correct :) MDZS, as with other low level xianxia and wuxia, generally do not touch on the concepts of Heavenly and Demon Realms. These are concepts only relevant to high level xianxia.

What is very fascinating to me is the fact that there is the ‘immortal’ Baosan Shanren… it is not super clear for me if immortality in the MDZS verse is a secular concept of high achievement in cultivation, or is linked to eventual ascension to heavenly realms…

I agree with you on this! I completely think Baoshan Sanren achieved immortality purely through high level cultivation. I would not think that she will enter the Heavenly Realm like how Xie Lian did. She will just live a really long life while doing righteous things and training her disciples, kind of the irl story of Buddha without the mythology of the Journey to the West.

I think it is interesting that other than mentions of ancestral rights and marital, there are no clear mentions of any kind of prayers or rituals dedicated to Gods, even in passing….

Yes, I agree. I think this is a writerly decision made by MXTX, as well as a common choice in many low level xianxia and wuxia stories. The heart of these stories tend to be about intersect conflicts and the ironic, backstabbing nature of these martial sects who should be cultivating righteous ways, rather than a focus on the magical/religious part of ancient Chinese life. As a sidetrack, I would think TGCF also doesn't fit the typical high level xianxia stereotypes. Similar stories don't even deal with the underlying themes of what it means to be a God and their prayers, which is what TGCF covers thoroughly. Other xianxia is superficial: they tend to be about wars between Heavenly gods and Demons, unyielding love between the main couple, personal grudges and revenge.

It kind of feels like that the link between the heavens and earth is severed in the MDZS verse - not just because it’s low fantasy, but because it’s a world that is essentially so lawless and chaotic- there is more order in this world and, morality and justice exist only as characters make them.

This is actually a really good take! I've never thought of it this way. My original thoughts of why there is no mention of heavens and earth are written in the above section haha. I guess those are my original thoughts because I've been watching and reading about Chinese fantasy fiction before ever coming across MXTX's works, so I'm more accustomed to the common tropes. Omg you make me miss literature classes T.T

@trade-of-fairies interesting that you also brought Hua Cheng and someone absorbing so much negative energy that they become demonic… to me, it sounds kinda like Wen Ning. I mean, at the same time, i also can sense that it probably is not the same…? Would you mind thinking aloud at me on this one, please?

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Hello! Long essay ahead. I think it all boils down to the differing character type semantics of TGCF and MDZS as fiction in different genres.

So where does the difference between HC’s transformation into a Ghost/Demon and WN’s transformation into the Ghost General lie?

We need to understand that while there are similarities because both are written from baselines of Chinese fantasy stories, we cannot apply fantasy concepts for TGCF and MDZS interchangeably. Their types of xianxia differs: TGCF is a high level xianxia (Gods, ascension, wars, magic, Demon kings). Think in terms of Western media, sort of like like the Illiad and other Greek Mythology. In C-novel and C-drama realm, think Til The End of the Moon and Three Miles of Peach Blossoms.

MDZS is low level xianxia, with a bit of wuxia mixed into it (differing martial sects, with differing cultivation manuals and gongfu training). There is a larger focus on styles of mortal Dao cultivation and intersect politics. Think Mortal Instruments or even Avatar The Last Airbender (not so good examples because this genre is very unique to Chinese fiction). In C-novel and C-drama realm, think Mysterious Lotus Casebook and Blood of Youth.

Where these two books share similarities is that the in-world characters often separate “good” and “evil” as themes for characters. Anything involving “demons” or “demonic” are viewed as bad. HC = Demon King, bad. WN = Ghost General, bad. As mentioned previously, this is probably where everyone goes wrong and pins modao on WWX, because they are more familiar with mo compared to guidao, which he newly pioneers.

HC is so decisively a Demon/Ghost is because of the nature of his path of becoming one. In TGCF, it’s clearly stated that in order to become a Ghost King, one has to be the surviving ghost in the battle of Tonglu Mountain. This battle was written precisely for Ghosts/Demons only, which is also why it can be more directly inferred that HC is a Demon/Ghost. Also, as TGCF is more of a fantasy story rather than a cultivation sect based story like MDZS, the characters do not have their transformation, whether into Gods or Demons, from explicitly stated “sword path” or “demonic path”. It is never explicitly mentioned that HC is a Demon/Ghost because he “cultivated a demonic cultivation path/manual”, as what characters from MDZS are likely to say. We only know for sure that he is a Demon/Ghost because 1) everyone says he is the last Ghost King 2) He was victorious in the battle of Tonglu Mountain. Most importantly, he holds his own consciousness. This is usually the case for most Demons in a lot of higher level xianxia stories.

Comparatively, Wen Ning was almost always under WWX’s control as a fierce corpse, to reduce or increase his brutality in battle with Chenqing. He is unique because WWX precisely manages to save his consciousness and part of his original personality, compared to other fierce corpses.

Okay, to add on even more confusion (for me as well when I was reading the book), what we know about WN’s change into a fierce corpse is that according to WWX (feel free to correct me here):

1) WN wasn’t completely dead even though he was literally skewered by the Jins

2) The Zhaoyin Flag that they used to stab through him not only severely injured him, but also lured resentment and negative energy into him. WN was already susceptible to such negative forces, and now being so injured, his soul/spiritual consciousness/ghost was waaaaay more gone and likely to turn into a fierce corpse like other dead prisoners/soldiers.

Despite WN being unique and retaining his consciousness as a fierce corpse, he is at the end of the day, a product of WWX’s pioneered guidao as a cultivation manual/style. I doubt there’s a similar concept of guidao used in other novels/dramas to control fierce corpses, which makes WN all the more unique to guidao and MDZS.

When you’re looking at how both HC and WN transformed into “demonic” figures, yes they’re similar. It’s a commonly used character development device in all kinds of fiction; the good character turning dark. But at the end of the day, they’re different because of the nature of how they transformed, the book stating how they transformed, and the two different genres of Chinese fiction that they belong to. Guidao is unique to MDZS and Demons/Ghosts are unique to TGCF. If WN was written in the same genre of TGCF, perhaps we could term him under a product of modao. Semantics, semantics. Hope this helps! 🫡❤️

[rangers-are-cool-moved]

Ami

Her main verses are set in canon, although I haven't seen or read anything about Boruto. Nor do I intend to at the moment. But that doesn't mean I won't RP with muses from that verse. I can cross that bridge when it comes up though.

Most of these verses are still getting worked out, so bear with me on that part please. Mini explanations will happen about each verse. There will take time though.

Personal verses

Main

Naruto | Childhood v

Ami grows up in Konoha but visits Suna regularly. Something that helps when her Genin teammates and teacher are killed by bandits on a C-Rank mission to the Sand Village.

Gap between Naruto & Shippuden v

She doesn't hold any hate for the Hidden Sand, despite losing both her Clan and her home to the Chuunin Exams attack. But pain and wariness is never far from her mind.

Naruto Shippuden | -

- To be sorted

AU

Childhood v | Raised in Suna Not trusting the man that her husband was turning into, Jo gained permission (with help from Nara Shikaku) to register her newborn daughter as a resident of the Hidden Sand Village. This meant that Ami is raised by her maternal grandfather to have a more normalised childhood  She grows up with the Sand Siblings and makes a habit of drifting in Gaara's direction, seemingly unconcerned that he could easily kill her. Not that Tatsuya, the dragon she hosts, would let that happen of course.

Gap between Naruto & Shippuden

V: Wandering Medic Despite becoming the only other Chunnin alongside Shikamaru, the Elders of Konoha gave the now lone Firesword two choices: Either join one of the fourbig Clans or hand in her forehead protector and live as a civilian. But with her family now dead and all the Clans being firmly in her corner, Ami swaps her Konoha headband for one with Firesword written in Kanji on it. She leaves the village not as a missing-nin but as a wandering medic with family ties that link her only to Sunagakure.

AU | different to canon

V: Uchiha Clan Massacre never happened