#is ara aware of this? no. she has minimal self awareness. BUT I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS INFORMATION ON THE DAILY

[luckydxy]

"Uh oh :) does someone have Mommy / Daddy issues? :))"

#;;ooc #;;shitposting #;;tbd #this is a note to myself to meta about how much i hate ara's parents & how they deserve to suffer for all they've done to her 👍 #& what sucks is how ara focuses most of her rage on lijsbeth when garett completely abandoned her w/ her sociopath mother 💖💕💝 #they both failed her from the very beginning!! #& WHAT SUCKS EVEN MORE IS THAT THIS BITCH HAS HAD THREE WHOLE STEPDAD'S & ONLY THE ONE WAS 'OKAYISH' #the man lijsbeth tells everyone is ara's bio dad was her 2nd stepfather who lijsbeth burned to death before setting the house itself aflame #& that dude was a stuffy mage who was oblivious to anything but his work & didn't bond w/ ara very well at all because of his work #& if you want more layers to the onion he's a figure that inadvertently triggered ara's fixation on haskill in a strange fucked up way #is ara aware of this? no. she has minimal self awareness. BUT I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS INFORMATION ON THE DAILY #ara : idk why but it's very comforting when you loosely tolerate me & obsess over your work . dunno why tho. #IDK ARA...... MAYBE YOU GOT .... FUCKING UNRESOLVED ATTACHMENT ISSUES .. IDK . JUST A GUESS. JUST A HUNCH.

[peepingtoad]

Toad Sages:  Lore, Paths & Ranks

{source}

Lore  (this is my own iteration based on the legend of Takiyasha-hime) 

The father of Takiyasha-hime, previously known as Satsuki, led a rebellion against the Emperor due to the lavish lifestyle of the court during a period of poverty. He was declared a traitor, along with his family, but when the time came for them to be executed his two children escaped. From here, the tale has two variants: 

Variant I: The two children Satsuki and Yoshikado, while exploring the mountain where they lived in a nearby shrine, met a wizard named Nikushisen, who gave them a scroll of frog magic. Satsuki mastered the contents of the scroll, becoming Takiyasha-hime, while her brother supported her. Together, they overthrew the corrupt emperor and ushered in a new order in accordance with their father’s dream.

Variant II: Satsuki, through a series of rituals, summoned an ara-mitama--a spirit centred on the cruel, violent and warlike aspects of the soul--who granted her the knowledge of onmyōdō (the five elements, yin and yang, a mixture of natural science and occultism concerned with divination). The spirit told her to adopt the name Takiyasha-hime. She called on soldiers who still believed in her father’s cause, and raised an army of yōkai to continue the rebellion against the empire—including a gashadokuro, a gigantic skeleton as tall as a castle. Takiyasha-hime rode into battle on top of a giant toad, but in the end, despite her magic, she was defeated just as her father was. Her short rebellion was snuffed out just as his was.

It is rumoured that Takiyasha-hime was the first ever Toad Sage, but the story is now so obscure that it is split into these variants. A more likely case is that there is truth in both variants.

Paths

To the toads of Myōbokuzan, this legend and its variants represent the many forks in the road one encounters--in terms of Jiraiya, the first major fork occurs the very day Gamamaru tells him the prophecy. Immediately, the potential of Jiraiya’s student to be either a saviour or destroyer warns of two vastly different paths, depending on what Jiraiya’s choices are. All throughout his life, we can see that there were many choices presented to him. The way he trained his students and the teachings he passed on, his decision to spare and train the Ame orphans, his decision to leave their side and return to Konoha, his decision to leave Konoha once more and pursue his own goals, to return and be Naruto’s mentor... and ultimately, his choices in the fight with Nagato/Pein himself.

One path is justice—the necessary removal of the corrupt, bringing about a better world. The other is vengeance—starting wars, enacting widespread cruelty because of past transgressions. A classic case good and evil, light and dark... on the surface. 

Jiraiya wasn’t aware of this, because his very nature compelled him to err towards justice via a more peaceful route, but there was always a choice present when he was given the prophecy. At any time, he could easily have chosen to mould a student into a harbinger of war that would have changed the world through destruction. He could equally have chosen to do nothing at all, to entrust nobody with his teaching, which makes the prophecy even less set in stone than one would think. Of course, it turned out that through his own choices, along with a series of external factors, one of his students did become something like the prophecy’s vision of the destroyer regardless of Jiraiya’s intentions. but his choices then of course resulted in the rise of the prophecy child that aligned more with his hopes: Naruto.

Unknown to Jiraiya, this would later have an effect on how his Sage Mode developed after his revival—and even less known was the fact his return from the dead, in itself, would impact the way it further manifested. In the end, the greyness of morality is what colours the Sage’s journey, with light and dark ever present. 

(More details to come on what this means for Jiraiya!)

Ranks

Yoshikado (Toad Summoner/Apprentice)

Named after the brother of Satsuki, who supported her, but did not master frog magic. This is what Jiraiya and Naruto would have been to the toads when they first signed the contract scroll—able to summon toads, and perhaps able to utilise a minimal degree of senjutsu/practice the discipline of moulding nature chakra into sage chakra, but not enter Sage Mode in any degree. 

Note: The many stone toads that litter the grounds of Myōbokuzan, reminders of past students who failed to balance nature chakra with their own, are all referred to as ‘Yoshikado’ by the toads. One will often hear a toad saying things like ‘someone knocked Yoshikado over again’, and it’ll only be obvious which statue they’re referring to once you take a look. Because they’re all Yoshikado.

Satsuki Sage Mode (Incomplete)

This is based on Takiyasha-hime’s original name, Satsuki. This is the partially-transformed Sage Mode that Jiraiya exhibited in the battle with Nagato—something that, like Satsuki, represents the fact that he spent a portion of his life uncertain in his path, despite always pursuing it in a meandering way. Jiraiya’s Satsuki Sage Mode is also referred to as Honoured Sage Mode.

Nikushisen Sage Mode (Complete; Path I)

This name is based on the wizard that gifted Satsuki the scroll of frog magic; the master and guide, this is the Sage Mode that Naruto and Minato both exhibit(ed), and which Jiraiya belatedly went on to achieve within a year of his resurrection. This Sage Mode, as we see with Naruto and Minato, greatly boosts the physical and elemental power of the Sage.

Aramitama Sage Mode (Complete; Path II)

This name is based on the malevolent spirit that Satsuki summoned in the second variant of the tale, and was another ‘guide’ figure of sorts. This is the Sage Mode that Jiraiya would have unlocked, had his life steered with more certainty on a path of vengeance and violence, and has some slightly more sinister/occult themed abilities associated with it along with the typical power boost.

Note: May be explored further in AUs where he defects or becomes corrupted.

Takiyasha Sage Mode (Perfect; sometimes lovingly referred to OOC as ‘God Tier’)

This name is based on the witch and master of frog magic that Satsuki became, and is called the same regardless of one’s prior Complete Sage Mode. This is because Takiyasha-hime was Takiyasha-hime in the end; regardless of her choices her path was absolute, and the same applies to the enlightened Sage who achieves this esteemed level. This is a deeply personal culmination of the life’s experiences and choices, and will open up to the Sage a host of abilities that are associated with both ‘Paths’. Requires profound knowing of one’s self in all facets to unlock.

Note: Once Takiyasha Sage Mode is unlocked, the Sage is welcomed as an honorary child/clansman of the Toads, taking on the clan name ‘Ogata’. More to come on this!

#hmmmm i think i'm happy with this for now? #and will go into the features of Jiraiya's own personal 'takiyasha sage mode' in another post some time #of course much credit goes to shikkotsunin/asaraltu #because lots of this has come from discussions about both mada and saku too! #{memoirs(headcanons)} #{the sage path | senjutsu/toads/myōbokuzan}