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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 4 months

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The "Luffy's fruit is a Zoan" reveal/retcon was extremely controversial when 1044 was first released; do you think Oda did a good job foreshadowing it?

yes!! it addresses a lot of idle questions i had about luffy's powers for quite some time (while also raising a ton more, of course, but that's the nature of one piece).

(all of my thoughts here and on gear 5 in general owe some credit to @grainjew, who has been my main discussion partner on this topic)

luffy's fruit has always been, from what we've seen, kind of weird for a paramecia? obviously since the categorization of 'paramecia' is sort of a grab bag and a lot less well-defined than logias or zoans, that's kind of a hard claim to make, but generally speaking, most of the paramecia users we see throughout the series do not have their powers always on. (the strongest counter-example i could think of to this trend is brook, and even that is one i think you can argue.) luffy's power is way more passive, in the sense that he doesn't have to activate it- it's just there, always. even seastone and seawater do not make luffy not rubber, they just sap his energy and stop him from stretching himself, as we see as early as arlong park.

that is weird! what we see of most other paramecias is that they have to use their powers intentionally, even when those powers do involve transforming their body in some way, like with mr. 1 or alvida. there's a whole plot in dressrosa about knocking a specific paramecia user unconscious so she'll lose her grip on her power and it'll disappear. luffy will stretch when he is asleep, when he is underwater, and without knowing he's doing it. he's always rubber.

so luffy is weird for a paramecia, though not completely unprecedented. his power has always seemed to me to be... almost logia adjacent, in the sense that he's made from a specific material and all his powers are based on being that material, but that doesn't quite track either. aside from the fact that the thing he's composed of is tangible and, again, he can't turn it off, he clearly has access to a greater level of complexity in his transformations than logias do (whose devil fruit powers seem to be basically a binary system).

which actually leads me to compare him to chopper, who is the zoan we know the best, and who, conveniently, also ate a version of the hito hito no mi.

i think the way luffy and chopper interact with their powers is actually very similar. much like luffy, chopper was fundamentally altered by his consumption of a devil fruit in a way he cannot return from. he can still look like a normal reindeer, but he can never actually be one, because the most important trait his devil fruit gave him was human sentience. and he would still have that if you put him in seastone, he just wouldn't be able to transform. similarly, luffy had his body fundamentally altered by his fruit in a manner he does not seem to be capable of even temporarily reversing. he can't make himself not rubber any more than chopper can return himself to being a normal reindeer.

like chopper, luffy's power progression has been based around finding new ways to transform his body and force it into new and more powerful forms. his gears are roughly comparable to chopper's points. that is zoan stuff! chopper is the main other person we see interact with his fruit in that specific way. so, yeah, i actually do think it does make sense for luffy's power to have actually always been a zoan. at the very least, it makes more sense than him being a paramecia, to me.

however, having said that, i also don't think it's as straightforward as luffy just being a zoan instead of a paramecia. we see that the awakening of his fruit definitely has both paramecia and zoan qualities, since he's transforming both himself and the environment around him, as well as other people. (the wiki puts this down to him being a mythical zoan but i just don't think that's true. kaidou is also a mythical zoan and he is completely baffled by what he's seeing.)

i made a bunch of jokes in discord about luffy being devil fruit nonbinary while i was reading this chapter- there's three genders and you have to pick one, and you can't just go switching it up, etc- and i do think that what luffy's fruit indicates is that the sorting system of devil fruits itself is imperfect. outliers do exist that don't fit cleanly between the lines- which we already knew! just look at katakuri.

#i have a lot more thoughts on the thematic resonance and plot significance of g5 #which i WILL get to also. but thats outside the scope of this ask #jonny answers #one piece #not japanese #luffy #gear 5 #opmeta #character meta

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syn0vial · 8 months

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man, i continue to be blown away by the thought put into astarion's romance, even in seemingly throwaway scenes.

i just did zethino's test of love with him at the circus of the last days and there's such a stark difference between what wins you approval with him and what wins approval with the other companions.

for those who haven't played this bit, zethino's test of love involves a dryad, zethino, testing how well you know your romantic interest by asking you personal questions about their inner lives—their hopes, their fears, their likes, and dislikes. for most of your companions, this is very straightforward: when you answer a question about them correctly, you win approval points with them. when you say something untrue or insulting, you lose approval points , bc they realize that you're trolling or that you don't know them as well as they'd hoped.

unless you're romancing astarion. in which case, you have to do almost the complete opposite to win his approval.

the other characters want you to prove you know them by answering correctly. astarion wants you to prove you know him by lying—or, at least, refusing to pick the most accurate answer.

case in point: astarion does not like it if you tell the truth about his hopes and fears. like, really doesn't like it. answering honestly about his greatest fear, in particular (his fear of being enslaved again), causes you to lose a whole 4 approval points, twice as much as you lose with the other companions for outright insulting them. you can lose another one before that for answering honestly that his greatest desire is freedom. in both cases, he'll acknowledge that you're right—and then express dismay that you'd disclose that kind of information to a stranger. hell, you can figure out from the very first question that he's not comfortable taking this test with you at all; when the dryad asks what makes astarion happy, you lose approval if you say he's happy to take this test with you now.

so if astarion doesn't want you to pick the most accurate answers for him and honestly doesn't really seem to want to take this test with you at all, which answers can you pick to win approval with him?

well, whichever ones are funniest, of course! you don't win points with him for picking the deepest, truest answers, but the silly, flippant ones that make him laugh. what's astarion's greatest desire? well, me, of course! what's his greatest fear? breaking a nail, obviously. he's delighted by your refusal to take the test seriously and actually approves more of funny, light-hearted answers than badass, flattering ones.

i just think the whole sequence is such a fun and interesting exploration of his character and your relationship with him, all in a silly little side-activity where it would've been easy to just give all the characters the same win-conditions. little details like this are really the game's brightest moments, imo!

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #astarion meta #i also absolutely love that astarion likes your silly answers about him more than the badass ones #like astarion WILL like it if you answer that he's a fearless assassin out for revenge #but he'll like it even more if you say he's a lovestruck fop afraid of breaking a nail #i just find that delightful

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theminecraftbee · 5 months

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task: answer the following question. do you believe in curses? respond as completely with relevant information as possible.

Grian: Well, that's a lie. This isn't a task. I know it's not a task, I set the things up! Not sure why we're getting a question as pointless as this one, but sure, mysterious scroll, I'll answer. There's no such thing as curses, unless you're Timmy, in which case it's funny, yeah? Besides, I didn't actually kill Etho. Even if that did count, self-fulfilling prophecies aren't the same thing as curses, and I know which one I fall under.

Joel: Do I believe in bloody curses what kind of question is that? Do I really get hearts just for answering this? This feels like a prank or something... well, whatever. There are no such thing as curses, except the Boogeyman curse, which I sort of had today, but it wasn't actually the same at all. A lot of the bloodlust, sure, but a lot more... Etho had to be the one to do it, huh? And it's not the same. Not comforting. That's a stupid thing to say actually. Take it out of wherever you're putting this. Cut it out of the recording. Comforting. Please. As if it were ever... Yeah, I'm done actually. Don't have a good answer. Go away.

Scott: What, other than Jimmy? Bless that man, he may not have died first, but he sure tried his best. Sure, I'll believe Jimmy is cursed. I mean, mostly he's just kind of stupid. Lovingly so. I mean, despite him being stupid, I put up with him, right? That seems like a complete answer to this question. Jimmy's an omen but we put up with him anyway. That's all.

Mumbo: NO RESPONSE GIVEN.

Pearl: Oh, I mean, I'm probably cursed. That's what everyone liked to say at one point. I think... I mean, I think this time I have good friends, which is nice. They don't think I'm cursed. And it's not like I--I mean, it's surprisingly fun, acting cursed! And I am just acting. Acting scary, blowing up dance floors, all of that. And I don't really have to this time, so... Maybe I'm not cursed? And since it's acting, it's not real? This is a weird question.

Etho: Oh, man, that's a question. Um, do I have to answer? Because I feel like if I say no, that's really just asking for it, but if I say yes, I have to explain myself. Uh, I think I'm abstaining, unless the zombie thing from earlier counts. That was scary and I hated it. Curses are scary and I hate them in general, but apparently I'm good at them, if you ask everyone else. Um, it's not the only thing I find scary that apparently I'm good at.

Scar: Why, of course I believe in curses! Look at poor, poor... Timbert? Timmy? Jim? Gosh, sorry, I'm very tired right now. That's more proof of curses, by the way! That I'm tired. I've been tired straight since the desert, let me tell you what. And that, my friends, is a curse like no other. What a terrible beast, loneliness is. Wish me luck breaking it, because it's not happening this season!

Cleo: Oh, you mean the thing people like to blame instead of their own actions? Nah. My soulbond was kind of a curse, I guess, but even that's at least half just... bad people. Bad relationships. Good ones, too. We're all just doing what you can, you know? No script, no curses, no characters, just... Oh, I hope everything turns out tomorrow. Sorry, that's unrelated. It's just nicer to hope than to preemptively blame things on curses that don't exist.

Impulse: Well, I mean, I didn't until you just asked me that, but now I feel like I should. Wouldn't that be nice? Being cursed instead of just sort of unlovable? Sorry, no, that's mean to Gem. I shouldn't say that about Gem, she's been good this season. Super, super cursed, mind you, in the like, game mechanic sense? But she's been good, no backstabbing or inability to get love involved. Um, and I guess that's not fair to Bdubs, kind of, except it also totally is and I haven't forgiven him. So I guess if they ask I said I believed in curses, and that's why my life keeps circling clocks? Don't put any of that other stuff down, I'm trying to work on that.

Lizzie: NO RESPONSE GIVEN.

Gem: I was just cursed for a task, but that probably isn't what you're asking about, right? I'm new, so I don't know! A task is a concrete thing to believe in, like bloodshed or victory or fun and games. You don't have to believe in those to know they're real, either! They just are, whether you like it or not. I understand that much!

Tango: Gah, don't talk to me about... Deep breaths. Look, I don't care if it's a curse, or if it's just me being really bad, or what, I'm not going out pointlessly this time. Jimmy managed not to die first, I can manage to not go out to a stray arrow or my own bomb or a misstep this time, right? Is that so much to ask?

Skizz: Huh? Curses? I mean, I don't think so, and to be totally honest I think it's kind of mean the way people sometimes rag on people about them. Everyone's got so many good things about them! Why do people like to focus on the unfortunate luck, huh?

Bdubs: Hah! Curses! Let me tell you about curses. When I see curses, I eat them for breakfast. I don't got curses, I've got better things to do! I've got my buddies with the Mounders, and I've got-well, I'd say keeping Etho safe, but he's being weird at me again this season. Not that it matters. It never matters. Etho and I, we're... The point is, that doesn't matter anyway, because I have the Mounders, and they're the ones who matter here. And because I'm a strong, independent Bdubs, who doesn't need anyone but my bow and my perfect, flawless fighting prowess! Sorry, what was the question? I've been thinking so much lately that it's just sort of made everything else pop out of my head, so it's hard to keep track. I'm sure I answered it flawlessly, though.

Martyn: Of course there are curses. That's half the fun for you lot, isn't it? Putting your little curses on us and watching us rail against them. Bet you think it's real cute to ask us what we think of the things, too. "Oh, what do you think of curses," like we have any control over them. Please. If I had any control over curses, Jimmy--or, well, no, I guess that one was technically broken, wasn't it? Sure doesn't feel like it. Point is, curses are bad, and they're definitely real, and I hate you for them, got it?

BigB: Look, man, if you're trying to get me to write my character out for you, just say so! I won't tell anyone. We can come up with a hole thing about holes and red tasks and the Backrooms together! It'll be fun! After all, you probably don't know what kind of curse to say I have, right? Haha, just kidding. I have no idea what I'm talking about. Luckily, neither does anyone else, so I think that evens out between the lot of us.

Jimmy: NO RESPONSE GIVEN.

#secret life smp #a bee fic #not tagging everyone in this because it's. everyone #anyway i have wanted to write this for like TWO WEEKS so i figured that now's as good a time as any #anyway this is probably as thinly disguised as my character meta gets #we talk a LOT in this fandom about curses #we talk about whether we like them as fanon we talk about whether we dislike them we talk about who has them we talk about why #we talk about if they're here or broken or anything else #so i'd like to think the characters have an opinion on curses too after how much talking about them we've been doing #...at least the characters around to tell us their opinions do.#(anyway for all I claim this is thinly disguised character meta it IS actually of note that this isn’t actually about if they believe)#(but instead about how they’d respond if they were asked)#(hence why half of them don’t even answer the right question)#(this is why I’m not good at character meta btw)

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boylikeanangel · 10 months

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"and I would like to spend" is painful enough as it is but what absolutely tears me up about crowley's confession is that when he's thinking about how to say it he keeps looking up. as if he's seeking strength from someone. as if he's asking Her to give him the right words that will make aziraphale stay. like he's begging anyone that's still listening to not fucking do this to him

#and he KNOWS it's futile he knows hes not getting an answer.#i get it. you're testing me. but you shouldnt test me to destruction. etc etc #good omens #good omens spoilers #meta tag

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thebibliosphere · 4 months

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Not to be an unbearable plot tease, but I'm editing/rewriting a chapter from Hunger Pangs book 2, and while I adore all of my characters equally, Vlad and Ursula getting to know each other properly might actually be some of my favorite moments.

His realization that he can pester Ursula to tell him more about random historical events as they actually happened, not how they are portrayed in history books, is so, so sweet. He's like an excited labrador who just found a dinosaur bone.

Ursula's very much not used to this kind of attention.

She's used to people only being interested in her power. And here's a werewolf who couldn't give less of a fuck about exploiting her magic for his own gain, and a vampire who wants to ask her what textile production was like circa the fall of the Ecrecian Empire.

#hunger pangs series #hunger pangs meta #I like that I can still make myself smile with this #it means I'm probably doing something right #Vlad is me in this instance #if you gave me access to a time machine #I'd make a complete nuisance of myself wanting to learn the answer to every random historical query that has ever crossed my mind

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huskymaine · 2 years

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Recently you make many Kakashi teacher moments post but you said that you will not say that Kakashi is the best teacher? Then why do you make those posts and who is the best teacher for you?

Thanks for the ask, Anon!

You are correct, for me Kakashi is not the “best teacher” or “ideal master” like Kishimoto apparently saw him. But I am not disagreeing or opposing Kishimoto’s opinion tho, after all the standard of “the best” or “ideal” is different from person to person. Kishimoto already made it clear what is his ideal standard for a master (laid back and never yell) and pretty sure that many people have different standard for a teacher. I made those posts not to convince people that he’s the best Sensei, and of course I’ll not argue if by their own standard someone stated that Kakashi is the worst Sensei for them.

I made this post and this post because I saw so many claims that say Kakashi is lazy and apathetic, completely overlook the efforts and care Kakashi did toward his students and even Konoha 11. I even see posts that say Kakashi doesn’t care or support his students dreams, and apparently being distant when his students had problems. I was like, are you talking about Kakashi? “Concerned about his students’ dreams in the middle of a war and minutes after getting his eye ripped” Kakashi? “Never let his students touch the ground when they collapses” Kakashi?“

Anyone can freely say that Kakashi is the worst Sensei for them, but if they cite the reason that was plain untrue, I as Kakashi stan feel itched to correct them.

There are some things that I want to make clear before we divulge into my rant analysis about Jounin senseis :

1. For me, favoritism is not a bad act that should be condemned. Favoritism can be disheartening for the party that didn’t get favored, but humans are bound to like one person than another for many reason or even sometimes none at all. You can’t force a person to favor or not favor someone. Private and personal feeling like that can’t be forced, only can be enforced or discouraged. As long as favoritism doesn’t instigate mistreatment to other party that doesn’t get favored, I’ll not call it abandonment let alone abuse.

2. Jounin sensei’s responsibilities are to guide the genins on the mission, gave them pointer to make themselves stronger, and protect the genins’ well-being in dire situation. There’s no mention anywhere that Jounin sensei’s job are to teach their genins jutsu let alone become their secondary parent figure. So I’ll not measure them with how many jutsu they taught or how “dad/mom” they are toward their students.

3. NO JOUNIN SENSEI ARE BAD SENSEI. I indeed will talk about Kakashi, Asuma, Gai, and Kurenai as Jounin sensei with their pros and cons, but in the end of the day they all fulfilled all of their responsibilities to save and guide their students on their ninja path. If there’s someone in Naruto whom I call as bad sensei, it’s Orochimaru because as his student Anko was clearly being abused, abandoned, and traumatized by him, and he taught Sasuke things not for Sasuke’s sake, but for his own sake to use the boy’s body later.

With that being said, who is the best Sensei for me?

My answer is Asuma.

I know, I know, he got the easiest squad among them all, a team that was designed to work together since birth. But, if we can credit the massive development that Kakashi made on his peaceful Hokage reign, we also can credit Asuma for keeping the pace and maintaining Team 10 as the tight-knitted group with the best teamwork I’ve ever seen among any other squad.

The reason why for me Asuma is the best sensei is because unlike Kishimoto who has “calmness and patience (never yell), but hot-blooded when necessary” as his standard for ideal teacher, my standard of ideal Jounin sensei with their role as a leader of the team is “devotion to the team”. And Asuma as the leader of Team 10 is wholly devoted with all his heart exceptionally, yet equally, to the Ino-Shika-Cho squad.

Probably the most blatant example for that trait is Asuma’s interaction with Team 10 after he got Edo-Tensei-ed.

This is his first dialogue as Edo Tensei (other than randomly asking about the situation).

And this is his last words as Edo Tensei :

Can you see something special from it?

Personally I can. Because since he was reanimated and given additional time, Asuma was absolutely valid and justified to think like this :

Mind you, just like Minato, he died before he has enough time to hold his child. It’s not like he expected to meet baby Mirai in the war, but just like Zabuza asking about Naruto’s well-being, he can ask Shikamaru or others about his child. He can get excited to know about his baby’s condition, which is a normal behavior for “new dad” like him.

But Asuma is not a new dad, apparently haha. The moment he met Ino-Shika-Cho as Edo Tensei in the war, he observed their growth, pushed them to fight him better, reassured them, and finally gave his last proud smile to the squad. He was completely focused and devoted on Team 10′s well-being and growth. This is when I know that Asuma’s devotion to Team 10 is at the same degree as his devotion to his kid and wife. He prioritized Ino-Shika-Cho at the same level as he prioritized his blood kid and his family.

For example, he has no problem with letting his students like Ino know about his personal life, apart from little bit embarrassment.

He gave Chouji, someone who doesn’t have motivation to become stronger, the encouragement he needs, a.k.a food promise.

Yeah, pitting Chouji to Gaara is definitely a bad idea, but in Asuma’s defense at that time he doesn’t know how dangerous Gaara is. Also I am absolutely certain that Asuma will jump forward if Chouji is in danger, since in the end he even died for him. The reason why he didn’t jump to protect Hinata is because Hinata is not his top priority, Hinata is not his responsibility, he didn’t devote himself to her, so her dangerous situation didn’t trigger his knee-jerk reaction.

Asuma also not a selfish Sensei who demands winning from his student. He expressed no disappointment when Chouji lost, and even still treated him for steaks.

The same steaks that he kowtowed himself to.

Shikamaru’s case is obvious. Introduced him to shogi, telling him his “King” philosophy, trusting his child to him...

And for cherry on the top, Asuma has Team 10 in his mind on his last moment before his death, and practically died for their sake. Truly, Asuma is a very devoted and dedicated Sensei for Team 10.

He’s still not perfect tho. Based on my personal moral and preference, I had to give him a minus point for this :

Remember folks, don’t smoke in front of kids! Or better, don’t smoke at all!

Kakashi

Kakashi is....weird case. Unlike Asuma, Kakashi was given the most difficult squad, combination of the most unhinged kids with minus to zero synchronization with each other, especially before Bell Test. Also, unlike Ino-Shika-Cho, Team 7 member′s role are not a packet, but MCs a.k.a audience’s way of projection with massive individual focus toward themselves. That’s why if the audience projected themselves on any of Team 7 members, connected their point of view with their character’s feeling, they will feel a period when Kakashi didn’t focus on either of Team 7 characters that they choose. And we all are self-absorbed by nature, so no one likes to feel “second-numbered” by other people, regardless of situation.

For example, this is one of the most common Kakashi favoritism comment I found :

Now my question is, if Kakashi picked Naruto, who is apparently birthed by his mentor and secondary father figure (Minato was never portrayed as Kakashi’s secondary father figure btw and he doesn’t have to) over Sasuke, who is targeted by Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Gaara plus under Curse mark that require full monitoring, isn’t that the true definition of favoritism? By logic, Sasuke’s condition is the most acute and critical, yet Kakashi was supposed to pick a kid whom he supposed to favor by personal feeling?

Yet, when you project yourself into Naruto, you will feel that as “favoritism”. Simply because he was not favored.

I find many, maaannnyyyy comments like that one above with different characters either Naruto, Sakura, or Sasuke, to the point that I think “Kakashi is a painfully fair teacher” is an unpopular opinion of mine. “Poor Naruto Kakashi ignored him”, “Poor Sakura Kakashi disregard her”, “Poor Sasuke Kakashi’s bias to Sasuke didn’t benefit him at all, Kakashi chose Naruto in the end”, most of those Kakashi favoritism critic are stemmed to “Why Kakashi doesn’t always favor my favorite character (my self-projection character)?”.

Make no mistake, I am not bashing self-projection. We as audiences of storytelling media are supposed to integrate ourselves to the story via projection, and Naruto’s MCs a.k.a Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are created specifically for that. I project myself to Kakashi’s POV and sometimes Naruto, Obito, or Sasuke on their respective scenes.

So in my perspective, I see that Kakashi’s situation demands him to pay more attention to Sasuke. I see that Kakashi is one of people who praised Sakura the most and vouched her to Tsunade, and I see that in Sasuke’s case Kakashi has his own morality standard yet still cared for Sasuke’s well-being and dream even in the war.

Yet for people who has tunnel vision for their fave, those acts are all for naught. The minutes when Kakashi’s action doesn’t benefit either of the MCs’ cause in any way, he was deemed “unfair”, “favoritism”, “bad teacher”. The most frustrating part?

It’s valid if people say that Kakashi didn’t do enough for Naruto/Sakura/Sasuke. Because the ideal situation is “adult should never let their kids struggled” although for MCs struggling is supposed to happen as part of their journey. There’s a say “it takes a village to raise a child” while in Naruto universe case “it takes children to raise a village” haha 😅😅

It’s just, when I put myself on Kakashi’s shoes, and integrated Kakashi’s mindset in my perspective, about the situation and such, I was like, “Oh God. Having children is fucking terrifying”. Because while kid MCs like Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto are perfectly fine to think only about themselves and their problem, adult character like Kakashi are obliged to constantly thinking about kids in his responsibility. Obliged to see the situation in his hand. So when I put all Kakashi’s so-called favoritism scene in this post, seeing how he runs ragged and bend backward to keep them all in one piece, looking for their physical and emotional state, readied himself to catch them in every situation, weighed his option and minding his every steps....

And THAT’S. STILL. NOT. ENOUGH. Probably will never enough.

Brrr, responsibility of children is truly terrifying... Now I know why Kishimoto almost never gave us Kakashi’s POV about his personal feeling except about Obito. Adult character like him has designated roles as MCs tireless supporter, cheerleader, voice of reason, and occasionally power benchmark for new villains. Projecting on a character that’s designed to serve other character is exhausting, yet somehow (in a masochist way) that’s exactly why I relate to Kakashi the most when I re-watched Naruto in my twenties haha.

Anyway, I am getting sidetracked, back to Kakashi’s rating as Jounin-sensei. Generally, I saw him as truly hardworking Sensei that has fulfilled his responsibilities and more despite the odds are stacked against him. But still, I rate him below Asuma.

The reason is because, why, why the hell he still looks after other kids? He has hellfire incarnate of a team, why he still jumps forward when other kids are in danger? He spent almost all his time with Team 7, why he puts them in the same priority level as other kids that are not his responsibility at all?

For example, on Neji vs Hinata scene. Gai stopped Neji because Neji is his student, Kurenai stopped Neji because Hinata is her student, Hayate stopped Neji because he is the match’s proctor, those all are their knee-jerk actions based on their respective jobs, therefore their priorities. Asuma didn’t jump, because Hinata is not his responsibility, not his priority. Simple as that. But why the hell Kakashi jumped too, with the same stopping-gesture move that he would use to Naruto and Sasuke later? If we follow Neji’s words that Kakashi is Main family branch supporter (which he’s not, I already speak about it in this post), why he felt remorseful on Neji’s sacrifice to Hinata, portraying Neji as his comrade whom he failed to protect?

Also on Team 10′s case. Just one chapter before he spoke up about how he enjoyed teaching Naruto. Yet he left Naruto on Yamato’s hand and accompanied Team 10 on their high-risk pursue, keep an eye on their well-being.

Add the scene when Kakashi asked about other genins conditions after VOTE 1 while Naruto was rendered weak on his back and Sasuke’s track was completely removed by the rain.

Add the scene when Kakashi tucked Kiba, Sai, and Lee’s gently from the middle of the road while Sakura’s life is in danger and every seconds are detrimental to save her.

In fact, let’s add all the scenes in this post that he did instead of cuddling Naruto, teaching Sakura jutsu, or angsting about Sasuke.

Last cherry on the top, Kakashi’s ultimate life sacrifice on Pain arc that baffled the audience (including me) not only because how sudden it is, but also how absurd that (supposedly) last act of him :

Kakashi is Team 7′s sensei. Kakashi said that he will protect them with his life. No one will expect that promise extended for Chouji too of all people. Kakashi legit died for real to save Chouji, instead, although Chouji is not Kakashi’s responsibility at all.

Plus, when Kakashi died, I halfway expected him to have a monologue about Team 7 like Asuma. Instead, we have this :

When that scene appeared on my scene, I suddenly realized. Ah, even though Kakashi is Team 7′s sensei, he cares for all future generations and they’re equal in Kakashi’s eyes. He put other Konoha 12 on the same level of priority as Team 7 kids that are in his responsibility

While I think that was an admirable trait of him, I sometimes want to shake him like “dude, you already got your hand full, why the hell do you still care for kids that are not his direct responsibility?” But we can’t simply force someone to not care, and if Kakashi prioritizes Konoha 12 in the same level as his kids in Team 7, then so be it. It’s just, you big-hearted man, do you have to be concerned about all the kids’s well-being on the same level and willing to protected them all with your life? Aren’t you tired, Kakashi? I as an audience are already tired on seeing your life...

The cause Kakashi’s clusterfuck life is 80% his bad luck and 20% he sabotaged himself.

Gai

Gai favored Lee, physically and emotionally. That is obvious. Lee is practically his prized kid, and Gai gushed at everything Lee does.

Look how proud he is when Lee quickly caught Tenten that was being thrown forcefully by Temari.

And when Lee was being mocked, Gai took his side and practically taunted Sand Siblings to not make light of Lee.

When Lee stopped Naruto from attacking Neji, Gai gave Lee his most shining thumbs-up.

Of course his suicide pact with Lee if his surgery was failed, plus “Ever since he met Lee, raise him into a great ninja” is Gai’s literal “path of effort”, path that he chose to pour all of his effort to.

Gai dragged his tired body to the hospital, mind filled with worry over Lee’s surgery status.

Gai also opened 8 gates for the “new fresh leaves” a.k.a new generation. At that, scene, he put emphasis on Lee to watch him “smiling”.

When Gai said “I will become nourishment for the new fresh leaves” the panel focused on Lee, representing Gai’s feeling that has Lee in his mind.

Even Minato confirmed it.

Lee also apparently already knows all along that Gai eventually will do his suicide move on the right time.

Gai also told him about Gates number 8 techniques that Gai probably knows from watching his dad’s last moment.

And I am like 80% sure that Gai told Lee about all his dad’s sacrifice and heroic actions, plus Gai’s own feeling about it. The reason is because Lee made a bold declaration like this, that mirrored Gai and Dai’s situation in the past.

So yes, Gai is Lee’s father in everything but blood (although I wonder if Gai and Lee are distinctly related somewhere. Those bushy brows should be a genetic).

I am not saying that Gai ignored Neji and Tenten. Gai still fulfilled his Sensei responsibility to Neji and Tenten, like he restrained Neji when he almost killed Hinata and consulted with Neji beforehand about his Main family problem.

Tenten also shown in training together with Gai and Lee.

I mean, yeah Tenten is not shown doing any training, but since Tenten’s happy face is definitely not shown dejected or neglected so I assume that Gai and Tenten already had a spar before his session with Lee.

When Neji, Tenten, and Lee got trapped by Kisame’s bubble, Gai worried for all three of them and got angry at their behalf.

So yeah, Gai cares for all his kids, but of course Lee is his utmost priority. He likes Lee the most, he devoted himself on Lee’s well-being, and he relates to Lee in a very personal way. Gai and Lee also are so in vibe to the point that other people simply can’t enter, not even in Tenten’s Tsukuyomi dream.

Kurenai

This is uh....

Tragic.

Whenever I think about Kurenai as character, I get barged by intense disappointment. Not because Kurenai is a bad or nasty character, but because I can see Kishi’s blatant sexism on Kurenai’s character. Honestly I want to make a long ass rant of how Kurenai character somehow fulfilled almost every sexist woman trope, but that would be on other post so now I’ll just talk about how Kurenai’s gender writing done her dirty on her role as Jonin Sensei.

Kurenai was shown the first time as Team 8 Sensei that consist of Hinata, Shino, and Kiba. Honestly she’s shown as decent and supportive sensei for them.

She was confident at Kiba’s ability, then acknowledging Naruto’s strength after he beat Kiba.

She looked after and noticed Hinata’s growth,

Even supported Hinata on her romantic pursue.

She stopped Neji’s lethal attack on Hinata, got anxious when seeing Hinata getting severely harmed and glared at Neji with anger (and perhaps little hostility).

She also got relieved when Shino won the match.

(If I miss other Shino-Kurenai interaction please tell me, because truth be told, I speed-read Shino’s fight on Chuunin exam. No hate for Shino, it’s just... Shino’s insects creep me out and trigger my trypophobia. On other fights Shino’s bugs look like big black blob and I had no problem with that, but on Chuunin Exam the bugs are.... so detailed.)

Sadly, those scenes were the first and last time we ever saw Kurenai as a Sensei.

This is Kurenai’s first appearance in Shippuden, with her having a bad omen about Asuma, her husband.

Although Team 8 are already shown before, they never had any appearance with Kurenai on Shippuden .Then when Team 8 was recruited for a mission with Team Kakashi :

Seriously, where’s Kurenai? Why there’s no panel of her having any input of even just wished them luck or even basic awareness that her squad are having a mission with other Jounin Sensei? Is she even still a Jounin sensei, or shinobi in Shippuden?

Yet the next panel where she appeared in Shippuden after Asuma’s funeral is :

Sigh...

Look, I am not saying that it’s wrong for her to settle down after marriage and having a kid, instead of continuing her job. And indeed Asuma said that genin team will be disbanded after the genins became chuunin (and all Team 8 are already chuunin by Shippuden). Maybe I am being too salty here, but my woman-biased mind keeps asking, why only Kurenai that seems completely detached from her former Genin squad? When other Jounin Senseis had glorious scenes of them protected their kids with their bodies and even willingly die for their kids, why there’s no scene of Kurenai protecting her students solo with her life? Why Kurenai’s role as Sensei is getting massively shafted in Shippuden and turned into Asuma’s wife, Asuma’s baby-carrier, and lastly Mirai’s mom?

My society is a very pro-natalist so I kinda bit heated about this topic, but yeah for me story-wise Kurenai is very underwhelming as Sensei and that’s why I can’t rate her. so, my opinion about the other Jounin Sensei a.k.a Asuma, Kakashi, and Gai are :

Asuma is a Sensei who is devoted toward all the kids that are in his responsibility a.k.a Team 10, thus making him an excellent Jounin sensei of Team 10. Modern life comparison, he’s like a teacher who loves children in only his class equally.

Kakashi is a Sensei who is devoted toward all the kids, thus making him an excellent senior ninja for all junior ninjas and a decent Jounin Sensei for Team 7. Modern life comparison, he’s like a teacher who somehow managed to love all children in the school equally.

Gai is a Sensei who is devoted toward a student who has the same vibe as him, thus making him an excellent master for Lee and a decent Jounin Sensei for Team Gai. Modern life comparison, he’s like a teacher who loves a student who is similar to him the most.

Looking at those scenario, I think Asuma is the best teacher for me and I want to be in his team the most.

Tl : dr = Again, that was based on my personal standard of Jounin sensei/teacher. Feel free to apply your own standard and make your own rating based on it. Discussion is welcomed, but I don’t tolerate bashing to Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai. As I said, you can’t force a person to favor or not favor someone, none of them are bad teachers, and they have fulfilled their responsibilities as Jounin Sensei and more.

#hatake kakashi #sarutobi asuma #maito gai #yuhi kurenai #wait let me weigh my option more #is free yakiniku every weeks worth for inhaling smokes everyday?#Team 10 is my ideal team though #a very pleasant and tight-knitted group #Kakashi I am so sorry but since I saw your life #I told myself that I don't want to be in your place #with Kakashi as caretaker 'middle child syndrome' are bound to happen #although I hope that you can voice your reason better #but rationalizing with kids is not an easy task too hmmm #also sorry Gai I can't vibe with you at all haha #but still you guys did your best #tempted to rate Konohamaru #as Jounin sensei to the new Team 7 #but Boruto manga art is....detestable for me #meta answer

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onii-onahole · 1 month

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Overkill (Bita)

#(Tensei Saki de) Meta Hatsugen wo Shitara Kouryaku Taishou no Ouji ga Hyouhen Shimashita #And the answer to that is just outside of that frame is where it would go to 🥲 She will never walk again~

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tinystepsforward · 3 months

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What do you think the chances are that Mud Pit is gonna be ousted by the people who need Automattic to have good will in the eyes of the community to actually get anything out of this site and wattpad

I know it’s probably low but the fact that he’s acting like a poorer Elon Musk is making my skin crawl and making me hope that a second lawsuit hits the company

ok here's the thing. he is meant to be on sabbatical. automattic gives employees a three-month paid sabbatical every 5 years, so that they can have a break from the product they work on and come back rested and with a new perspective.

matt has never taken one before now. he spent the entire leadup to his sabbatical posting increasingly wild shit in public channels at the company (like the chess thing, or trying to get people to buy a friend's product, or the entire fracas with taking over the wordpress.org twitter account. wordpress.org is an independent non-profit that he is not the ceo of).

i mention this because people were hoping (including me) that he really would actually log off, have a chill time (or, idk, whatever kind of time CEOs who go off the grid bc they got flooded in at burning man like to have), and let the interim CEO get a chance to do a better job. that would help the board make a decision based on data.

he was very clearly spiraling before he even left, and then within the first few days of Company Sanctioned Log Off Time he's pulled multiple Classic Matt things on multiple parts of the company before showing up here. this whole thing is so deeply unfunny but it also is a bit of a tom and jerry or looney tunes bit, where i can only imagine HR or Legal is chasing him around the various accounts/platforms with a comically large inflatable baseball bat and he's just evading them.

he can't do that in person, but he still gets a lot of leeway generally. at the last division meetup (irl meeting for employees, flown from all over the world) he showed up twitchy and exhausted and hyped in a way that was very familiar to me from flatmates who used to steal and snort my adhd medication, then proceeded to drink so much over the course of an evening answering questions from his employees that he had to be firmly babysat off the stage and walked back into the lobby of the hotel to sober up.

i made eye contact with him that night, before he dropped his head back into his hands. two people relatively high up in the company were sitting with him, silently watching him as he struggled to sober up. it wasn't the first drunk shenanigan of his i witnessed at one of these, and this is purely opinion but i have to assume that his current behavior is the result of suddenly having time on his hands to have the world's longest bender and post through it.

back to your question: i do not know if what he's done is enough to get the board to remove him. i wish it didn't have to come to this to hope that they will. but we'll find out.

#idk what wattpad has to do with this?#tony muses #tony answers #tumblr meta

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mysterycitrus · 7 months

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Clearly you’ve got a lot of opinions abt the characterisations of the batfam in fandom /pos

Can you elaborate on your interpretation for all of them? /gen

it’s called caring too much — and it’s incurable! wrt my personal interpretation, that's a long and complicated answer, so ill just focus on the internal character of the waynes (specifically bruce and his five canonical kids).

bruce wayne is a control freak, we know this. his parents were killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he has literally never ever been able to truly process it. the degree to which he is controlling - firing robins, survelling his allies without their consent, compiling personal information from others, disregarding others feelings in favour of his own - is all about trying to achieve the best possible outcome. everything he does is justified, because if he's in control then he can stop bad things from happening. it is all in favour of the greater good. it's the logic of an eight year old who's just lost everything and hasn't grown up.

if bruce's trauma manifests control then dick's manifests personal perfectionism. he holds himself to such an absurd standard because he's a flier - when you're catching someone on the trapeze you quite literally have to be there, always, ready to take their hand. if you don't, they fall. if there's no net, if dick isn't the net, then they die. he’s always swinging back out and in again, waiting for the next person to slip through his fingers. he does not fear falling, only what will happen when he hits the ground. he’s a born performer made to be an atlas, carrying an unbearable weight that anchors him to the earth.

jason after death is a tragedy of his own creation, and dc's worst crime is trying to justify the terrible decisions he makes. jason isn’t right, because what he wants is not about protecting other kids from his fate or being a better batman. he wants to be personally vindicated, even though he knows it's impossible. jason rejected himself, bruce, everything, in order to transform into a weapon to enact violence. deep down he's so angry, so hurt, that he'll go after other children - tim, damian, mia - and still decry bruce in the same breath. killing the joker, killing bruce, killing dick, killing every robin before or since won't take him back to who he was before. you cannot go back. you can never go back.

cass sees everything. she can't unsee it, she can't ignore it, nothing in the body can be truly hidden from her, but like bruce that doesn't mean she's always right. she killed a man and witnessed his death, and thus will never take another life. she is all knowing, but she was not born knowing herself. she's jason in reverse — she turns from steel to flesh and bone. she will do whatever it takes to be good. she has made herself real.

tim chose this life in the most literal sense of the word, and then kept choosing it. it’s his duty, it’s his honour, it has hollowed him out and left nothing behind. his tethers to the world snap one by one — janet and jack and darla and dana and steph and kon — and suddenly it’s much harder to extricate himself from the black. robin, dick grayson, is his guiding north star, but his north star is only human. he knows he is capable, he knows this is his choice, and he knows he has long since lost the chance to unchoose.

damian is raised in the shadow of the bat. he is born of blood. he knew death before he knew his father. he is a child. he is ancient. he is a killer. he only wants to do good. he loves his mother. his father is gone before he learns to love damian. damian loves someone else who wears the bat but does not carry wayne name. everything he knows about himself is questioned — robin is given to him, and suddenly he can decide his own fate, make his own family. he wants to be the best, but he doesn’t know what he wants that to mean anymore. he wants the chance to find out.

#sorry this got long! not sure if i actually answered ur question lol #batfam #dick grayson #bruce wayne #jason todd #tim drake #cassandra cain #damian wayne #nightwing #batgirl #batman #dc comics #the ask and the answer #dc meta #ig?

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lgbtlunaverse · 4 months

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It seems the dash has been talking about the Lan Xichen - Nie Huaisang post-canon dynamics and it's gotten me thinking about how discussion around post-canon Lan Xichen's absolutely horrendous mental state often center around the question of "who is Lan Xichen angry at and who does he feel guilty about" which, at its worst, seperates into 2 camps where according to one side he feels guilty about not protecting jgy and hates the Nies and, on the other side he has completely flipped on jgy and despises him now while being filled with regret towards both nmj and nhs.

And I dislike both of these takes not just because it often feels like people projecting their own Blorbo opinions onto Lan Xichen which is never a fun time but also because that central question is flawed to begin with. It treats anger and guilt like opposing emotions that can't coexist or, if they do, have to compete until one wins and cancels the other out.

And that's not how that... works.

To be clear, the reason why Lan Xichen is so supremely fucked up at the end of the story is that he believes on some level he fucked over everyone in this situation. And, even more importantly, that even with hindsight he can't actually think of what he should have done instead. Every attempt to do better by one seems to involve fucking over the others even more because these people were in conflict with each other and choosing one would mean standing against another

And none of this would actually stop him from feeling angry at any of them. It's not "who is he angry at and who does he feel guilty about" it's: "he is angry at everyone and feels an immediate and bone deep guilt for daring to think badly of them."

Speaking from personal experience here, but feeling like you're not allowed to be angry at someone because you wronged them really doesn't stop the feeling, it just maks you feel like shit for feeling it. And this is all worsened by the fact that what he's in seclusion for is, at the end of the day, a moral question of what he, Lan Xichen, did wrong and every single emotion serves as further proof of the ways he's failed them.

Is he angry at Jin Guangyao, for killing his oldest friend, using Lan xichen's trust in him to do it, and then lying to him about it and countless other things for a decade when Lan Xichen thought of him as the person he trusted the most in the entire world? Yeah. That's a thing people get angry about! Except Jin Guangyao also saved his life and protected and helped him more times than he can count and never ever hurt him and can Lan Xichen say the same? No. He had to clean A-Yao's blood off Shouyue, he has to be haunted by the fact that if he just hadn't listened to Huaisang- hadn't been just like everyone else, in the end, and believed a lie about Jin Guangyao just to think the worst of him- then Jin Guangyao might still be alive.

Is he angry at Huaisang? For orchestrating the death of his best friend? For making him do it? For knowing what the real cause behind Nie Mingjue's death was and never telling him until he found out in the absolute worst way? Absolutely. But didn't Huaisang hide it from him for a reason? Wasn't it his clan's techniques and his personal faith in Jin Guangyao that cost Huaisang his brother? How dare he demand that Huaisang let him in on the secret of his brother's murderer when Lan Xichen is here wondering about how he should have protected that murderer better!

And I do even think he's angry at Nie Mingjue, sometimes I think it's pretty normal to be angry at your friend for kicking your other friend down the stairs and threatening to kill him, even when you know his mind is being poisoned. And years later the last thing he ever saw of Nie Mingjue was Nie Mingjue's thoughtless corpse coming to kill him before Jin Guangyao pushed him away and then proceeded to graphocally snap Jin Guangyao's neck in front of him. And if what he wants to do is protect Jin Guangyao, shouldn't he be mad at Mingjue? Didn't this whole mess start because Jin Guangyao was afraid Nie Mingjue was going to kill him?

Except holy shit, can you imagine? Lan Xichen feels like he personally has Nie Mingjue's blood on his hands. Your oldest friend is killed in front of you and you happily believe it's an accident for 11 years and now you think you have the right to be mad at him? You watched him get worse as he was being poisoned and attributed it to his illness and not to the techniques stolen from your library with the token you give his murderer. Does he think Nie Mingjue knew who he was in that moment and wanted to kill him? That he blamed Lan Xichen for his death? (For the record, I don't. I don't agree with most of what Lan Xichen thinks about himself, but I've been in a self-blame spiral and I know how it feels)

But what was he supposed to do then? Choose Mingjue's side and let A-Yao die? That's also unacceptable. But so is letting Jin Guangyao get away with it. Every single outcome is unacceptable. And really, if Jin Guangyao felt like he had to kill Nie Mingjue to save himself, when it was Lan Xichen who was supposed to keep the peace between them, isn't that another mark of his failure? That he couldn't protect Jin Guangyao well enough that he felt he had to do something so horrible?

But that's not an answer! He's supposed to know what he should have done different, and all he can come up with is "what you were already doing, but without failing this time" He can't pick a side because that means betrayal, but he's already tried not picking a side and it ended like this! There is no right answer, which can only leave him with the idea that he was simply doomed to hurt the people he loved from the start. No wonder the guy looks like shit when we see him post-canon. They put him in a real life trolley problem and gave him the lever as a souvenir.

#mdzs #mdzs meta #lan xichen #nie huaisang #jin guangyao #meng yao #nie mingjue #personally i LOVE high stakes ethical dilemma tragedies where there's not a clear right or wrong #and i can enjoy them without picking a side because it's fiction to me and i can admire the complex web of love hurt and betrayal from afar #but this is lan xichen's actual life. he HAS to have an answer to this question in a way I don't #but there isn't one

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