Dear Papa

Talk to me. You know you want to.

For some reason the iframe code is being stripped when I upload the page, so for now, if you can't see the submission form you can access it <a href="..cgi-bin/papaform.cgi">here</a>.

This website is for entertainment purposes only. Please be aware that I have no counseling or psychiatric training and am therefore not qualified to give sound advice in most topics. I will still sometimes respond to such things, but please don't take me as the ultimate source of knowledge. I generally do not accept questions that are overly offensive or speculative outside of canon. I reserve the right not to post questions that I do not believe I can adequately answer.

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Dear Papa,
I was wondering out of all the occupations in the modern world which do you think would fit your personality?

Sincerely,
A Job Hunter

Dear Job Hunter,
I'd be President of Earth. And if that wasn't a real job, then I'd make it one.

Dear Papa,
Has something happened to Sesshoumaru to make him the way he is today? Or is that just his disposition to begin with?

Sincerely,
Komainu

Dear Komainu,
Given that "today" Sesshoumaru would have been about 800 years old and is long since dead, I would say that something did happen to make him that way, yes.

Dear Papa,
It's been bothering me for a while, but why is it that you look so normal in your canine form, so not on crack, be it in puppy or adult, but Sesshomaru looks like a crack puppy with rabies in his canine form?
Is it his mother's genes? Because i seriously doubt that you could create something so... cracky, when you yourself dont look cracky.
Please elaborate that for me~
Quote of the day: Most people dont know that playing dead is not only useful for tricking bears, but for important meetings as well.
Sincerely,
Confused Decepticon

Dear Confused,
I didn't understand most of that, but I think you just called my first son a crack baby. Which means I'm going to need to employ a new technique I just learned.
*inhale*
FUS RO WOOF

Dear Papa,
Hey, i really do enjoy reading your memories, i especially like the art you've created to go along with them, obviously i wish i could draw that well. but i'd like to admire your memory drawings in one place, if you know what i mean. i was just hoping you could put them in a special place in your gallery so it would be easier to look at them.
Thanks for reading
Sincerely,
Truth

Dear Truth,
Unfortunately, the images in the individual Memoirs chapters are all formatted for the page they're on, and I don't have any "clean" copies of any of them, so if I cataloged the individual images anywhere, they'd still all have the page backgrounds attached to them and would still be the same size. Plus, some of the images can "spoil" the contents of the chapter, so I'd rather they not be cataloged out of context.

Dear Papa,

Hi, I'm Natalia, but i go by Nat... So i just wanted to say thank you, for putting out chapters when you can They brighten my day when i get home and back to life... What life i have left anyways... See, i have a cancer, Leukemia, and reading helps me cope. Especial with the treatments...
Regardless, i do have a question... Have you ever felt so down in the dumps that you dont know how to go on, or why to strive to keep on living?

~Hope to see a reply soon, with much love, Natalia.
Sincerely,
Natalia Wulfborne

Dear Natalia,
I'm glad I can help you get through a difficult time in your life. There have been quite a few instances where I felt at the end of my rope. But here's the thing. When you get into those times, you need to think about all the things in the world that only you can do. They don't have to be huge things, either. Maybe you have a friend that only you can make laugh a certain way. Maybe there's a recipe that only tastes right when you make it. Maybe someone left some trash on the ground and it bugs you, and you're the only one who seems to care about it. Maybe there's something you want to be able to do but you can't yet. Well, then you've gotta keep going so that you can do it someday!

Dear Papa,
on your previous site, InuGoya, there was a link to an audio where InuYasha calls Sesshoumaru, "Sesshou-nii-chan!" And you hear people laughing in the background, and after a while, Sesshoumaru says something akin to "What did you just say... little brother..."
Do you still have that audio file? I'd very much would like to download it and show it to my friends/make a video of it. Sincerely,
z55177 (Nicole)

Dear Nicole,
Oh, yes! That was from a radio interview dealing with the third movie, I believe, and they did a segment of "Things my character would never say". And of course, Inuyasha would never call Sesshoumaru "Sesshou-nii-chan", right?

Dear Papa,
Besides your fangs and Sango's weapon, I curious that why attacks names got translated in English when almost every anime nowdays keep their Japanese attacks names.
Sincerely,
Random Geek

Dear Geek,
Because "Inuyasha" was translated right on the cusp of anime becoming more mainstream, and in those earlier translations, the English adaptation made more of an attempt to localize the series by removing Japanese terms and replacing them with English substitutions. Because of the length of the series, it ended up running alongside much more recent shows that had more faithful translations, but for the sake of continuity, they couldn't change the names they were already using. Which is a shame, because it also meant they had to maintain all the mispronunciations consistently and we were forever stuck with "Kuh-GO-may" (it's "KA-go-me"), "Ki-ki-yo" (it's "Ki-kyo"), "Ship-o" (it's "Shee-po") and "Se-SHO-muh-roo" (it's "Se-sho-MA-ru"). Apparently "Meidou Zangetsuha" remained untranslated in the English dub of Kanketsu-hen, but heaven knows when we'll ever be seeing that.

Dear Inu - Papa,

I'm not sure if you're gonna be getting my letter due to an excessive fan mail supply.. But I just wanted to say that you're so cool, wise, and epicly hot >.< I have a question though:

What are your thoughts on having grandchildren? Seeing as you could easily monitor Sesshoumaru - Sama and InuYasha - Sama from where you are?
Sincerely,
Kokonoe<3InuPapa

Dear Kokonoe,
I have no problems with grandchildren, though I have my reservations about Inuyasha's virility, being a "mule" and all. And given that Sesshoumaru would probably never be able to get excited enough about another person to ever get it up, I'm content with his little ward.
Also, in response to your other letter you sent a day after this one, I do not get to these letters very frequently, so please do not spam my inbox with incessant "Have you replied yet?" queries. I get to them when I get to them, and you need to be patient, and don't take offense if I don't feel I have an adequate enough response to your question to merit posting it.

Dear Papa,
one more thing about the third movie - can Tessaiga hurt/kill humans?
I know it can protect them from harm (through InuYasha) and that the humans wielding it can't get it to transform and fight with it, but it will still protect them with barriers (Kagome being protected from becoming melted by Sesshoumaru, and a "door" barrier against the demon spiders when InuYasha first turned human).
Plus, don't your enemies need to have that wind vortex aura thingy you need to be able to see when yours collides with theirs, otherwise you can't blast them with the Wind Scar?
In that case, can you explain to me how come you were able to blast away all those human soldiers with the Wind Scar when you were trying to save Izayoi?
Sincerely,
z55177 (Nicole)

Dear Nicole,
Because the third movie was written as an original story by the anime production staff rather than Takahashi, and therefore they tend to throw continuity out the window. Like how Inuyasha needed his enemy's youki in order to perform Kaze no Kizu in the first movie, then at the end performed Bakuryuuha despite the prerequisite for that attack being the ability to perform Kaze no Kizu at will. Then there was Tenseiga being able to cut through corpses, even though its actual ability is to cut through spirits. It can't harm anything physical, even if it's not alive.
However, Tessaiga can ostensibly be used against humans, since Inuyasha used it against the Shichinintai, however the Shichinintai were zombies so even that might not have counted. The requirement is that it is used in defense of someone, but it doesn't matter who the opponent is.

Dear Papa,
thank you for answering those questions for me.
I'd like to bug with you with one more thing - I've been re-watching InuYasha recently, and there's just one thing about Miroku that bugs me - since his life is so short because of the Kazaana - he's living a high-life to enjoy whatever of it is left, all those parties, and stealing and cheating people to be able to afford the wild ride and all - I can understand that. But what I can't understand is that he's implying to have slept with so many women, and tries to get with them frequently (all the groping and innuendos he gives), but when he actually gets the chance to do so, he backs out, sometimes for no reason at all.
Could it be that all those jokes about him being a virgin who's desperate for/scared of sex be true?
Sincerely,
z55177 (Nicole)

Dear Nicole,
There is the possibility that he's looking for a legitimate heir to carry on his fight, therefore he tests the water with every woman he finds, but he still has standards. Then again, there was the story with Shima where she implied that he'd slept with her (a lie in order to ward off the youkai trying to kidnap her), but Miroku went along with it because he'd been with so many women he couldn't remember if it was true or not.

Dear Papa,

What do you, your sons, and their friends think about the Chinese live-action adaptation of Inuyasha?
Sincerely,
Night Owl

Dear Night Owl,
If you're referring to "The Holy Pearl", it seems more like an original series loosely inspired by Inuyasha than an actual adaptation. Only the most general of its premesis and cast archetypes are the same. As I don't understand Chinese, I haven't actually seen it, but it does make me wonder why the characters are dubbed over by different voices than the actors who play them.

Dear Papa,
What is your biggest regret? Even the great Papa makes mistakes (which shows us all it's okay to make them as well xD), but what is one that you sincerely wish hadn't happened?
Thanks~!
Sincerely,
Flame

Dear Flame,
What use is a regret? It won't change the past or undo what's been done. A regret should only last long enough to spur you to action to correct a mistake or ensure something of the sort doesn't happen again, at which point a regret has fulfilled its only use and there is no longer any need to hold onto it. Those who insist on maintaining regrets find more comfort in complaining about a problem than actually doing anything to fix it.

Dear Papa, if your a half-Youkai and Inuyasha's mom is human wouldn't that make Inuyasha a quarter youkai, if so why is he a hanyou, and may I have a hug none of my friends are talking to me and I feel a little depressed, thank you for listening take whatever you want. *holds an open bag with all sorts of dog treats and toys*
Sincerely,
One Confused Cookie

Dear Cookie,
Ah, haven't done the hugs in a while. *huug* As for me, while I'm... "technically" a half-youkai, I'm for all intents and purposes a full youkai. It's complicated. This will get explained in more detail later in the story.

Dear Papa,
In most Inuyasha fanfictions, when there's a youkai/hanyou and human pairing instead of having normal weddings, they "mate", and state that it increases the human's life span to match said youkai/hanyou. Now I know this is purely fan-made, but I want to know what your thoughts about it are. I looked through your "Dear Papa" posts and didn't see anyone ask this already, if so, then apologies.

P.S. I made the Melon Pan off your Cooking Papa, and they turned out delicious, thanks for the recipe!
Sincerely,
Gigi

Dear Gigi,
While I despise the term "mating" in general when referring to sentient characters, this is also completely nonsensical. If it were true, Izayoi, Shiori's mother, and Jinenji's mother should have gained some kind of lifespan increase, but Jinenji's mother in particular obviously aged. If anything, it seems like a human/youkai pairing instantly kills the youkai parent, if I, Tsukuyoumaru, and Jinenji-papa are any indication (though maybe Jinenji-papa was just deadbeat, they never said he died).

Dear Papa, My luck with men is horrible. That guy I told you about before turned out to be a creepy stalker who harassed my family. We never dated mind you but still. He's gone from my life though. No not creepy guys like me. I don't know what I should do. What's your advise?
Sincerely,
Cheyenne

Dear Cheyenne,
I'm not really a good person to ask about this. I lived for centuries and only managed to land two girlfriends. Only one of whom never tried to kill me.

Dear Papa, I know I could just ask you my questions when I see you in the chat...but I kinda felt like spamming your inbox ^-^ <3
You know what I noticed when watching my Inuyasha movies with my sister? Well one that we give the snarkiest commentaries but, in the third movie when Takemaru is brought back to life (sorta) by Sounga and he recives Sesshomaru's arm...WHY THE HECK HASN'T THAT THING DECOMPOSED BY NOW?! O_O I mean it's been like what? A year in anime time? Several months at least, that boy's arm should NOT look like Inuyasha just hacked the arm off of a doll and left it on your skull...YOU decomposed but not Sesshomaru's arm? The Inuyasha Movie animators have baffled my poor brain again.

Love you lots
Sincerely,
Saki (the Epic)

Dear Epic Saki,
What I want to know is why his arm suddenly transformed into a human arm after becoming detached. His canine form is his true form, thus the state of least energy, so it seems like his arm should remain in its natural form once the body no longer has control over it. It would be one thing to have Takemaru wandering around with a decomposed arm hanging off him, it would be quite another to see him dragging around a giant dog paw five times his size.

Dear Papa, I know demons can live for thousands of years, but what about half-demons?
The third movie seems to imply InuYasha was 150 years old (plus 50 - sealed to the tree)
I'm just wondering - since InuYasha and Kagome got married, how long are they going to live for together... Is it true that priestesses have extended lives? You know, since they're all magical and pure and shizzle, do they live longer than an average human?
Because otherwise, Sango, Miroku, and Kagome are going to die of old human age, and InuYasha will still be young and alone with Shippo and San/Mir's kids...
It's really depressing thinking of Kagome getting old and wrinkly while InuYasha doesn't age one bit...

Sincerely,
z55177 (Nicole)

Dear Nicole,
A youkai's expectation for a significantly longer life than a human does put an impediment on potential relationships. This is a bad example, but that still doesn't prevent people from keeping pets, even knowing that they will far outlive them. You just enjoy the time you have together. As for Inuyasha's age, the third movie also gave Tenseiga the ability to cut through physical dead bodies (rather than spirits) and even an offensive attack, so... I would take anything it says with a grain of salt.

Dear Papa,
My family raises and trains dogs and we have eight dogs living with us as pets. There is one in particular, a collie named Kale. Kale has always been 'mine' if you will. He follows me everywhere, even now as I write to you he is asleep at my feet. He will even wait for me during my shower, which used to weird me out but I have gotten over it. So this made me wonder, did you ever have a stalker, canine or otherwise before you died? Sincerely,
Alice . M

Dear Alice,
Oh, I had all sorts of stalkers. Mostly the type who just really, really wanted me to die.

Dear Papa,

I have wondered inquirously so, does it actualy matter if your a dog demon and you have a son born first? What if you have a daughter first instead of a boy? Could a female be heir instead of a male? As the first born female of my pack, i was wondering.
Sincerely,
Mercedes Wolfcry

Dear Mercedes Wolfcry,
Heir of what? My swords? I really don't care if my kids are male or female. I was more of a loner, so if "dog demon society" existed, I wasn't a part of it so wasn't familiar with their arbitrary rules.

Dear Papa,
oh great and glorius one, since you are a Koma-inu, is Sesshomaru's mother a koma-inu also or is shedifferent type of dog demon?
Sincerely,
Jun'ai

Dear Jun'ai,
I'm only half koma-inu, actually, and half youkai. Sesshoumaru's mother is full youkai, which makes Sesshoumaru three-quarters youkai and one-quarter koma-inu. He's still purely dog, but the "divine" part of him allows him to maintain a resistence to holy spells that would vaporize pure youkai, such as the barrier on Mt. Hakurei.

Dear Papa,
I have always wondered what happened to all the youkai, cause in Kagome's time they are nonexistant but the ones that are sealed. i personally think there might have been a really big war or something and they ended up killing each other?
Sincerely,
a Violet among roses

Dear undercover violet,
Youkai are spawned by war and disease. Once humanity became modernized enough to not kill themselves with every little thing, youkai lost their hold on the world and faded away.

Dear Papa,
oh graciously(sp?) knowledgable one why did you name inuyasha, inuyasha?
Sincerely,
pineapple soup

Dear pineapple soup,
To mess with people. I mean, I was GOING to tell Izayoi, "Psh, okay, seriously, I was just kidding about the 'Inuyasha' thing," but I kind of died before I could. So, word of advice: Say everything while assuming you'll never have the chance to take it back.

Dear Papa,
how old are you in the memoirs?
Sincerely,
Lolipop~

Dear Lolipop,
Depends on what part you're talking about. I'm 7 in chapters 1-7, 8 in chapters 8-26, 9 in chapters 26-53, 13 in chapters 54-79, and 14 in chapters 80 to current.

Dear Inu no Baka,
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU ARE IN?????!!!! I thought you were loyal, till you go off with a human. But anyways on a side note, would you like a milkbone and a rubber ball?
Sincerely,
Sesshomaru's Mother.

Dear Dear,
My, feeling a bit... bipolar today, aren't we?

Dear Papa,
have you ever done anything with Sesshomaru when he was little, like go fishing, camping, you know father-son stuff or did he just stay in his room alot.
Sincerely,
Rumi

Dear Rumi,
We'd go cow-tipping, does that count? Except then we'd eat the cows.

Dear Papa,
How does it feel to be (nearly) always portrayed as a man-whore in fanfiction?
I bet it's really a pain in your..tail:)
Here's a belly rub for your trouble!
Sincerely,
Sputnic

Dear Russian Satellite,
I know what you mean. Especially me being so horny as to come back to life soley to shag my kid's girlfriend. If I was as easy a lay as fanfiction makes me out to be, you'd think I'd end up with more than two kids. Maybe I should get my sperm count checked...

Dear Papa,
Did u ever have a wandering eye? Like when u were out did u stare at women? Who was the hottest woman u ever saw?
Sincerely,
woman

Dear woman,
ur mom

Dear Papa,

I've heard you reference other fandoms, such as Pokemon, so... what exactly are you into? Do you loaf around and play video games whenever it suits your fancy, or watch TV?
Sincerely,
nerd alert

Dear nerd alert,
I'm not into other series as much as I used to be. I'm familiar with a lot of other fandoms, but I wouldn't consider myself "into" them. The only series I'm following at the moment is Kyoukai no Rinne, Takahashi's new manga. I don't watch TV at all. I do play some video games, though not on a regular basis. I did finally dust off my old Final Fantasy IV SNES cartridge and beat it for the first time ever, despite it being 20 years old.

Dear Papa,

I have a question about your fluff-thingy (tail?)
Alright, you have stated that it's your tail, but from the third movie, it looked more like a fluffy cape than a tail. And why does it look like it has two ends, like it's a two-tail like Kirara's? Just curious.
And about Sesshoumaru's fluff... Why is it called 'mokomoko' and why does it seem to gradually get bigger and more...alive and fluffy as the manga progressed?

Here, have a belly rub!*gives the cheesy smile*

Sincerely,
A no-longer-exasperated-but-rather-happy Oneechan

Dear Oneechan,
Think of it this way. When a youkai transforms into a human, analagous body parts transform. Paws become hands and feet and whatnot, and all the basic parts remain, just in a different shape. Problems arise when a youkai has parts that have no human analog, like a tail or a big tuft of fur. So what do you do with it? Some youkai try to "mush" it in somewhere or change it into something else. In my and Sesshoumaru's case, we just don't bother to transform it. I make my extra fur into a cape-like extension because it looks badass.

Dear Papa,
I've scanned many sites across the net and a lot of stories I find say that you were more of a "wandering king". Is that true? And if so, did you not wander around your territory as much when Izayoi was pregnant?
Sincerely,
Ailian

Dear Ailian,
I never really considered myself a "ruler" of any sort. I was the "Dog General", after all, not the "Dog King". I was merely left with a large army of youkai under my control and had to take responsibility for it so they didn't go rogue and wipe out the countryside. Because of that, I did end up having to travel around a lot, yeah. Even when Izayoi was in the picture, I didn't really have the luxury of being able to stay in one spot for very long.

Dear Papa,

In one of your other comments you mention that if you had lived during Inuyasha life he probably would have just been taken hostage. Was Sesshomaru ever taken hostage? Since he was alive when you were, and such.
Sincerely,
Crazy 2.0

Dear Crazy upgraged,
I wouldn't call it so much "taken hostage" as "going along with an enemy until he got fed up with it and made it quite clear he was leaving". Sesshoumaru was never the type who needed rescuing, even as a child.

Dear Papa,
I have a problem. I met a boy I really like and he likes me. But we're different religions. I'm Christian and he's Buddhist. A lot of my family except my mom and sister r conservative so they have a strick "Christian's only"policy. I like him a lot but I also love my family. I'm worried that if I did start a relationship with him they'll hate me. What do I do?
Sincerely,
Cheyenne

Dear Cheyenne,
Ah, the old "we'll love you as long as you turn out the way we want" schtick. They may be your family, but in the end they're not in charge of what you do with your life. If you think they're wrong, you shouldn't have to conform to their ideals just to appease them while leaving yourself miserable. If you two really like each other, then what other people think doesn't matter. If they really love you they'll support you in whatever fulfills you.

Dear Papa,

A few questions if you don't mind....

First, there seems to be a disagreement on Kagome's eye color. I was almost positive that they were brown and yet I see multiple fan works and hear that her eyes are of the deepest blue? How can two things so different be interchanged? Second, would you agree in the belief that your sons and Sesshomaru's mother are now the only living inu-youkai left (since you died and all)? I don't remember the manga saying otherwise, but then I'm not a scholar on the subject. Lastly, I love Memoirs.

Just felt the need the add that.

Here's a coupon to a free treat at Doggies-R-Us for your troubles. Hope mapquest gives you away there from the cloud place with flying skeletal birds.

Much love Inu-papa
Sincerely,
Yasha's Sis

Dear Yasha's (Adopted?) Sis,
Both are correct, actually. Kagome's eyes are brown in the anime, but blue-grey in the manga. So it just depends on which version the person is referencing.
My family was hardly the last of the dog youkai, we were simply the only ones who ever showed up in the series. It's not like we have yearly doggy pow-wows or something and keep tabs on each other, the others simply never bothered to show up for the story.

Dear Papa, Why has the violence and nudity toned down greatly over the years? Did soccer moms complained? Sincerely, Mirror Universe Byakuya

Dear ayukayB,
Nah, Takahashi just got older and people tend to get more conservative as they age. The Kagura boobage was the last nudity we saw in Takahashi manga. Though I wouldn't say the violence has toned down, the manga had that bone-collecting youkai ripping people's skeletons out of their still-living bodies through their mouths. But I think the violence mostly toned down because it got to the end of the series and without any side quests there were no more redshirts to blow away. Her current series, Kyoukai no Rinne, is actually extremely sanitary so far, with nary a peek at much of any skin and no blood aside from a few incidences for comic effect. It's clean humor, which I appreciate. It's also squishy.

Dear Papa,
Since you are japanese,is it hard to learn other languages?Liek..going from lines and dots and such things to mouch simpler letters?Was jsut wondering =]
Sincerely,
*wants to learn japanese*

Dear wanter of learning,
Lines and dots? You mean like Morse code? Learning grammar is the hard part of a language. Vocabulary is nothing but memorization. And I have to say that English is way harder to learn than Japanese because it's so irregular. Japanese is nice and consistent most of the time. It's friggin' phonetic, how awesome is that? English has words like "tough" and "through" and "cough" and "ought" which all contain the same pattern of four letters but they're pronounced differently in each word. Seriously, it's like spelling doesn't even matter in English, you people just throw together a random jumble of letters and decide "this is going to be pronounced like this today". And don't get me started on your conjugation. Good > Better > Best? Give > Gave > Given? Child > Children? lolwut? Why can't you people be like sensible languages like Japanese and have your grammar rules actually be "rules" and apply to everything instead of just the words you feel like?

Dear Papa,
it's me, Nicole again.
I've been reading/watching more InuYasha now, and what surprises me is how Kohaku's all about killing himself to "atone for his sins" and even when he regains his memory, he's still squeamish about being with Sango.
Now, I know killing one's friends and family must be devastating, but doesn't he know he's been controlled by Naraku? Who "made" him kill his family?
I wonder if Kohaku knows that (and thinks he could have somehow prevented it/controlled it, which I doubt) yet takes all the blame on himself, or if Naraku just mindscrewed him into thinking he did it out of his own volition.
It just pisses me off when some of the enemies tease Kohaku about killing his family which gets him upset, he should get mad about it and tell them to screw off: "I was being mind controlled by Naraku at that time, damnit!"
Sincerely,
Nicole (z55177)

Dear Nicole,
Even if he wasn't aware of it, he still did it. I have some experience in doing terrible things while being completely unaware of it, and let me tell you, it isn't something that you can just excuse yourself of even if you know there was nothing you could do about it. The blood is still on your hands. If you do something seemingly innocuous that nevertheless ends up hurting a lot of people, you can't just excuse yourself of fault simply because you "didn't mean to". It doesn't matter whether we meant it or not, what matters is the actual outcome, and we have to face it like it or not. Kohaku got a bit obsessive over it, sure, but I don't think he was wrong for taking responsibility.

Dear Papa,
Have u ever been slapped across the face, hit, kicked, got biten by or anything of that sort by a woman? If so did u deserve it?
Sincerely,
Huge fan

Dear Huge fan,
Let's see, yes, yes, yes, yes, and much more. I've also been stabbed, bludgeoned, crushed, cut, punched... mostly all from the same person. Ah, that was a fun relationship. I probably did deserve it, though.

Dear Papa,
has Sesshoumaru ever seen InuYasha in his human form? If he did, how did he react to it? (and if he didn't, how would he react?)

I was just thinking that because I remember how surprised and "curious" Sesshoumaru got when he saw InuYasha turn into his demonic berserk mode and tried "testing" it out to see what InuYasha could do in that state.
Sincerely,
Nicole (z55177)

Dear Nicole,
He has, actually, but the anime skipped it because it happened during the Mouryoumaru arc of Kanketsu-hen where 10 volumes of manga got crammed into 10 episodes, so a crapton of stuff ended up on the cutting board, Sesshoumaru's encounter with human Inuyasha being one of them. Check manga volume 37 for the story. Sesshoumaru didn't seem particularly surprised, and actually his reaction indicated that he was already well aware of Inuyasha's habit of turning human, since he made the quip, "Don't show yourself around me when you look like that."

Dear Papa,

the funny thing is i came to you for advice awhile ago on how to make a guy roll over for you.... worked til now... more help please... you males are just so stupidly irritating it's aggrivating. please help.
Sincerely,
shewolf with issues

Dear shewolf,
Er... which part of my advice did you take? For an honest answer, I can't help you. Contrary to what Cosmo magazine might say, there is no ubiquitous way to please a man. We're all individuals and have individual preferences, so you can't just assume without actually knowing the person first. And if a guy's worth it, I'm sure he'd appreciate someone trying to get to know his personal tastes rather than trying to please him based on a stereotype.

Dear Papa,

How do you stay so fluffy (and clean) after all those messy battles with cat, dragon and moth demons?
Sincerely,
L

Dear L,
L'Oreal. Because I'm worth it.

Dear Papa, What happened at parties in ur era? I was wondering. They can't be like the ones in our era since that stuff wasn't around yet. I'm not talking about orgies or anything. Like non-civilized parties. Unless all non-civilized parties were orgies. I was just curious. Did they have any attempts of methods of birth control back then? Sincerely, Random

Dear Random,
"Pull it out" I think was the most common birth control method of the time. Either that or the Falcon Punch. With parties, though, um... I can't really say I ever did much in the way of "partying". I attended a few formal occasions where sake was served and people sat around and talked. But as for crazed debauchery... I only had the misfortune to witness it on several occasions but never participated myself. Drunken barfights span the ages.

Dear Papa,

Alright, so here's the deal. While on a forum, I found an thread entitled "Rin." Curious, I clicked it. Low and behold I find a large, intense, conversation about pairings. Of course the Sesshomaru/Rin pairing was prominent. Now, I see the pairing as strictly platonic, but I began getting curious. Sesshomaru doesn't seem like he'd be the type of guy to adopt someone. So I guess my question is this: what do you think he sees her as? A daughter? Sister? Friend? Or just something he needs to protect?

Also, at the very end of the manga, when Naraku was finally defeated, he mentioned that the jewel didn't grant his wish for Kikyo's love, or something like that. Throughout the serious, he's been an all around bad guy. The whole thing about his wish to be with Kikyo and his lamenting on how he's unable to go where she is, was that supposed to cause sympathy for him? Or what was the point of that bit of information? In your opinion, of course.
Sincerely,
Crazy

Dear Crazy,
Well, it's definitely not as weird as the Inu-papa/Rin pairing I'm starting to see brought up lately (at least in my search referrals). Personally, I consider the Sesshoumaru/Rin relationship to be a platonic familial sort of thing. You generally don't grow out of how you initially view someone. A normal person does not have the desire to sleep with his or her children just because they grow up hot.
With Naraku... eh, I don't really know what was going on with him. I guess his views on Kikyou were a sort of "If I can't have you no one can" sort of thing. Though that doesn't explain why he was obsessed with amassing so much power. Or why, after killing Kikyou, life went on as normal. To me it just seemed like he was evil for the sake of being evil and Takahashi simply tried to shoehorn a motive in at the last minute. In the end, that just makes him weaker, I think. The world needs more Kefka-like villains, who are evil simply because they find the suffering of others amusing. Attempting to insert a tragic element to it after all he's done just makes him seem like he's been throwing a tantrum the whole time.

Dear Papa,

Alright, two weeks ago my sister came crying up to me screaming about how something had killed and eaten our cat, leaving a bloody corpse in our yard. Now I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was HER dog that did it, so I made up a lame excuse of "Um... It's alright, some other animal probably did it. It could have been the evil demon dog next door!" Little did I know she BELIEVED me and since she is like 10 years old and knows the anime Inuyasha, she started believing that Sesshoumaru did it. (his dog form gave her nightmares)

I'm at a loss as to what to do now, she's under the impression that either you, or one of your two sons killed the cat. WHAT DO I DO?! She even asked GOOGLE whether you killed the cat or not. Yeah, not the brightest bulb in the pack...

(P.S. Just so I can verify the fact that you AREN'T the killer to my sis, please: if you would be so kind, enlighten me on the diet of a daiyoukai)

Sigh, a box of milkbones and a hug for your troubles.

Sincerely,
A very exasperated Oneechan

Dear Oneechan,
... What the hell, why are you making such a joke of this? You're telling me that a dog that is out for blood is currently in the posession of a ten year-old girl, and the biggest worry on your mind is that she thinks I'm mean? She'll be upset when she learns that her dog killed the cat, yeah, but not as upset as she'd be if that dog tears her arm off. And don't make excuses about, "Oh, he'd never hurt her", because that is bullcrap. A dog is not particular about what it attacks, if it can get worked up enough to KILL a cat, it can get worked up enough to violently attack a lot of things. This isn't about not having the heart to tell her what the dog did, this is about not wanting to face the implications of it. That dog either needs some serious training at best, or to be put down at worst, but one thing that is absolutely necessary is to get that dog away from children right away.

Dear Papa,
What was your biggest turn on in a woman? I was curious. Something besides her body plz. Anything about a girl's personality that attracted you to all your "in life" relationships. Who r u with now?
Sincerely,
Your Name

Dear My Name,
Intelligence, definitely. I mean, I don't need her to be a rocket scientist, but I prefer someone who I can have some semblance of an intellectual conversation with without her going "lol i have no idea what ur talking about, omg isnt Robert so hawt?" And on that same note, functional literacy is also an imperative. I can't very well have an intellectual conversation with someone if she is incapable of constructing readable sentences. Beyond that... similar interests, non-smoker, likes to cuddle... but with standards like that, it's no wonder that I've found myself so alone all this time.

Dear Papa, I was watching the fourth Inuyasha movie ,'Fire on the Mystic Island' ,and at one point two demons that claimed they served under you come up to Sesshomaru and ask for his asistance in defeating the four war gods, saying it was your final wish. Did you really want to defeate the four war gods? If so could you tell me why? Or was this something the directors came up with to give Sesshomaru an excuse to be in the movie?
thank you for your time! =3
Sincerely,
Saki

Dear Saki,
I seemed to have a whole laundry list of crap that I left as a "final wish" for my kids to clean up after. 90% of it was anime-original, though, and you hit the nail on the head, it's just the only motivation the anime writers can think of to get Sesshoumaru to do anything. From fighting Menoumaru to the Hyounekozoku to Takemaru to the Shitoushin, every single one is just, "Hm, we need to bring Sesshoumaru into this somehow... eh, let's just have them be yet another guy his dad fought yet failed to defeat." With my anime track record, it's amazing I still ended up with the title of "most powerful" anything. So, yeah, Seiten and Kujaku were just in it as a (shallow) catalyst to get Sesshoumaru into the movie somehow, and provide Kyoura and Juura with a fan and a cannon. And just for the record, Ryuukossei and Shishinki are the only two canon characters I fought and failed to defeat, and I never explicitly left any instructions for my kids to inherit the fight for me.

Dear Papa,

I'm just a smidge curious, how do you feel now that your sons are *tolerating* each other now, and Sesshoumaru has surpassed you in power and got his own sword, the Bakusaiga. Are you really,really, really proud of them? Just curious.
Sincerely,
BooBoo-chan

Dear BooBoo-chan,
Surpass me? Peh, Toutousai just told them that to make them feel accomplished. I mean, I guess he "surpassed" me in that, yeah, I never got a Bakusaiga, so he's got that on me. But I wouldn't consider "doing some random thing that your dad never did" as "surpassing". 'Course I'm proud of them and glad that they're tentatively getting along, but let's make it clear that I will always be top dog.

Dear Papa,

What happened to your web camera? I can't find it anywhere now.
Sincerely,
Miss Seeing You

Dear Miss Me,
You mean... the one linked to immediately above this post, or is there another webcam that's been secretly videoing me that I've been unaware of until now?

(Dear Patches365)
This doesn't really matter, but your comment on the "Death of a Legend" pic (which was undeniably AWESOME!!!) said that Inu-Papa died in the fight with Ryuukotsusei, but i think i remember them saying that he was FATALLY WOUNDED in the battle. it didn't really say when EXACTLY he died.

i love InuYasha anime! XDDDDD

(ps u probably won't ever hear from me on devART cuz i'm not a member of anything except Gmail '-_-
Sincerely,
Cattychan09

Dear Cattychan,
This is one of those things that people are thinking way too hard about due to the anime deciding to run in a completely different direction with the ambiguous wording. The line translates to, "The wound he received from Ryuukossei was how your father was killed." Yes, the wording implies my death was not instantaneous, but that was meant to cover for the fact that I sealed Ryuukossei before dying rather than being killed outright. However, the anime decided that if I could do that, I was still hale and healthy enough to go run off on a host of other errands before finally kicking the bucket.

Dear Papa, there is a girl i like, but i am not sure if she likes me what should i do.
Sincerely,
World of manga

Dear world of manga,
... Ask? You may feel dumb, but at least you'll know for sure and won't keep worrying about it.

Dear Papa,
How did u feel when u met ur first fan girl?
Sincerely,
Fan girl

Dear Fan girl,
... Violated?

Dear Papa,
Judging by the fact that you've got two children, by two different women, it would appear you have been at least a bit lucky in love compared to those of us who, you know, have never so much as been on a date before... Any advice applicable to guys for whom the descriptor 'puppydog' is only applicable to personality?
Sincerely,
Shy Guy

Dear Shy Guy,
On the contrary, I think it's more telling that I lived for 500 years and only ever got laid twice, meaning it took me on average 250 years to score a woman. So I'm probably not the best person to go to for advice. In general, though, if you don't look like you can take care of yourself, a woman isn't going to be interested. The cardinal rule in attracting a mate, though, is maintaining proper hygeine. Because if you don't take any time on yourself, she won't think you'll take any time on her.

Dear Inu-papa-sama,
This is totally unrelated to Inuyasha, but I just want to know. Okay, maybe it does because of fanfiction, but that's beside the point. x[
What is it about female characters that makes them so susceptible to Mary-Sue-ism? :( The ladies written in your memoirs seem fine, but why is it so hard to write good female characters?
Sincerely,
Keira

Dear Keira,
Oh, I could write entire essays about the Mary-Sue phenomenon. I think it would make a great psychological study, actually, delving into what motivates people to write such things. But, since no study has been done that I've ever found, I'll have to go off personal opinion.
First off, Mary-Sues tend to be a hallmark of a young writer. Someone who's just getting her feet wet when it comes to inventing new characters, and the only "character type" she really knows is herself. Therefore her character tends to be a carbon copy of her, or a projection of what she wishes she was. Since these writings tend to start when the author is about 13 or so, it's during a time in her life when she desperately wants to be accepted. Therefore, in her fantasy world, all the "good" characters absolutely adore her and anyone who doesn't is immediately branded "evil". It's a projection sort of thing, which is why the author always feels personally threatenend when people don't like her character.
And this demand for acceptance is really what defines a Mary-Sue rather than her superpowers or tragic past or amazing good looks. A character who has a tragic past or super powers or amazing good looks is not automatically a Mary-Sue, so long as the rest of the cast reacts to her in a believable manner. What really defines a Mary-Sue is the gap in how the author WANTS her character to be regarded versus how her character is ACTUALLY regarded by her audience.

Dear Papa, is that your youngest pup's haori your wearing on the webcam or is it just stylish pyjamas?

Is it made out of fire rat as well? They are endangered animals/demons you know!
Did you kill it by yourself? We wouldn't want you to get arrested for it! Or did you buy it off ebay or something?
How much such a fire rat kimono costs anyways???

And are you drinking a tea, coffee or hot chocolate? Or is it a liquid ramen, perhaps???

^_~
Sincerely,
Mistress of Pinky Fluff

Dear Pinky Fluff,
Actually, it's just my red undershirt that I wear under my usual white and blue clothing. It's not made out of anything special. And I'm actually just drinking water and that's the only cup I have around.

Dear Papa,

I enjoy reading your memoirs very much. They are really well done, and my question is: How often do you update the chapters? And just how many do you intend to have? Thanks.
Sincerely,
Lark

Dear Lark,
I try to update it approximately weekly, but it depends heavily on my personal schedule, given that it usually takes me 6-8 hours to plot out, write up, and illustrate a chapter, and between work and other real-life necessities, sometimes it's hard to find that much personal time. I have no set goal as to how long it's going to be, but at the rate it's going, probably at least a hundred chapters.

Dear Papa,
I was wondering if there had ever been an actual dog in the manga or anime... Not a transformed dog youkai; just a regular dog.

I enjoy your column and am beyond excited about Kanketsu-hen.
Eagerly awaiting Bakusaiga,
Sincerely,
Pliny

Dear Pliny,
Actually, no, there are no regular dogs in the Inuyasha manga canon. In one of the movies (the second, I think?), Kagome walks by a pet store and commands all the dogs there to sit, but that is the only place a normal dog ever appears. The closest thing to a normal dog in canon was a yama-inu that appeared briefly while posessed by the Hitoukon in the first episode of Kanketsu-hen.

Dear Papa,
What is your opinion on the ever increasing popularity of Naraku/Sesshoumaru pairings? Also, in accordance with Izayoi, do you know if she ever displayed any sign of spiritual power/houriki? In the manga, as the un-mother (or whatever you'd like to call the thing), she appeared to have holy powers when she teleported Inuyasha and Kagome away, or was that just the creature?

Here, have a magical box full of hugs.
Sincerely,
Mokomokosama

Dear Mokomokosama,
No, Izayoi didn't have any special powers in life. Inuyasha didn't appear perplexed at all by her double's powers, but that's because he was under her spell. She also didn't have super flexy arms and the ability to suck people into her chest. At least... she never demonstrated such techniques with me, even though in some circumstances that might've been kinda kinky... but I digress.

Dear Papa,

I am a bit curious about two things.

1: I believe that you and Sesshoumaru, being dog-demons, can speak to regular dogs, but can Inuyasha? I mean, he can't transform into a giant fluffy dog like you and Sesshoumaru, but he inheirited the dog ears and canine olfaction, so would he be able to communicate with dogs? Just curious.

2: This may have been asked before, but how do you think Inuyasha would have been different if you never died and he grew up with a loving father and a...not so loving brother who would be forced to tolerate him. What do you think would have happened?

(Here's a pork-bone and a belly rub for your trouble.)
Sincerely,
Alexandra

Dear Alexandra,
I'll have to call you on the faulty premise in question 1. Sesshoumaru and I, in fact, do not speak to regular dogs. Granted, no regular dogs ever appear in the series, therefore no one gets the chance to try to communicate with one, but since nothing has been stated one way or another, I really don't think it should be taken as a given. The answer to any assumed abilities should always be "no" unless explicitly shown otherwise.
And if I hadn't died, Inuyasha would have merely been used as a hostage by my enemies in order to sway my hand, so all things considered, he probably ended up better off than if I had remained alive. At least with me gone, those who opposed me had no real reason to take note of him anymore.

Dear Papa,
You know how ur son, sesshomara has been rather grumpy well i have come up with a conclusion on THAT.....He had a sword up his butt the whole time! what do you think it was heehe

P.S. Its really cold up were i am and i know no fire youkai, and the snow is getting on my nerves mind calling one and sending it up here!! THANKS!!!
Sincerely,
Hanabusa (petals of a flower)

Dear Hanabusa,
Well, not up his butt per se, but he definitely had a sword stuck somewhere and finally got it pulled out after 518 chapters/184 episodes.
And I don't have the power to send a youkai to do your bidding. Why don't you do what I do and grow an extra layer of fur?

Dear Papa,
Happy New Years!!!! In honor of it, will you please tell us how New Years is celebrated in Japan?

*hugs pillow and settles down to listen*
Sincerely,
Elora

Dear Elora,
New Year's is probably the biggest holiday in Japan, and its celebration pretty much parallels how Americans traditionally celebrate Christmas. Most businesses are closed, families get together, and everyone mails out cards to their family and friends. Though instead of a church service, it's customary to make temple and shrine visits on New Years. And instead of cookies, you make mochi.

Dear Papa,
i am having a situation, so i'm just trying to get into a mans head. What really gets a man to roll over? I've tried everything, but i figure that you might be some help.
Sincerely,
a werewolf with a problem

Dear Werewolf,
When it comes to subduing men, you've got the classic two options: Kick it or lick it.

Dear Papa,
How old were you when you died?
Also how old was Sesshomaru?
Thanks for taking your time to read this
Sincerely,
Sutaa

Dear Sutaa,
There really is no canon or even anime-original guesses as to how old I was or how old Sesshoumaru is (though the third movie implies Inuyasha is 200 years old, which is rather unlikely). I tend to think of myself as a lot younger than some sources put me, but that's just me trying not to feel so old. ... In fact, now that I look at the (Japanese) manga, I'm not even finding any explicit mention that I was particularly ancient. When I was first introduced, the extent of my description was "a bake-inu who prowled the West" and "a powerful, imposing daiyoukai with particularly delicious blood". Granted, when it comes to youkai, power and age tend to go hand-in-hand, but Naraku was only 50 years old and still kicked pretty much everyone's asses.
This is all just a roundabout way of saying "I have no idea".

Dear Papa,
This may sound odd, but my dogs(There are 4 of them, they are all husky) Have issues with the Toy poodle were house sitting but the the shepherd/retriever that we are training, which got me wondering, was there any sort of demon you had an unconscious(or maybe even conscious) disliking for? Cheers,
Sincerely,
Sophia

Dear Sophia,
Unfortunately, I was a bit on the naiively trusting side in life, so I never had an immediate dislike of anyone. Well, at least not simply due to what they were. There were quite a few people I immediately disliked because they were assholes, though.

Dear Papa,

It recently occurred to me that your younger son, being a hybrid, may be in the company of other hybrids such as ligers and mules, who because of their hybrid genetics are not fertile. However, given the presence of magic, the good old "A Wizard Did It" magical facilitation argument is available, so I thought I would seek your opinion. You think Inuyasha could have kids? Have a cow, for your time.
Sincerely,
Zyoshu

Dear Zyoshu,
How 'bout I don't have a cow, man? ... How in the world did that idiom originate, anyway? It makes absolutely no sense. Anyway, Inuyasha's genetics are in the realm of "let's not think too hard about this". I mean, take his human form. In terms of his hair color, we can assume that his youkai genes dominated his human genes and therefore forced his hair follicles to produce youkai pigmentation, which would be white. For the sake of argument, let's also assume that there is a "white" pigmentation cell, when in real life, white coloring is simply a lack of pigmentation. However, when Inuyasha turns human, his hair instantly turns black. Even if you figure his youkai pigmentation cells just vanish into thin air, where did the human pigmentation come from all of a sudden? In order for that to work, all his youkai hair would have to fall out, and his now-dominant human hair color gene would have to take over and immediately cause his hair follicles to produce human-colored hair instead. It's not like his human hair color is just "hiding underneath" his youkai hair color. It's not a bleach job. His cells would have to physically discard all his youkai cells and immediately re-make them as human. In a matter of seconds.
Long story short, if his body can pull THAT off, then having kids should be a roll in the hay.

Dear Papa,

So, I just watched the episode where Sesshomaru's mother appears. Now, she was cold in the manga, but she seemed more so in the anime.

Which got me thinking, did/does Sesshomaru's mother care about him? It's obvious that you love your children, but she seems like she could care less about Sesshomaru. Was she like that when he was a child?

Sincerely,
BloomBud

Dear BloomBud,
Well, she definitely cares about him, given that she offered him a way out of Hell (which he refused) and even brought Rin back to life because he seemed upset that she died. She just has a weird way of showing her affection, which Sesshoumaru seems to have inherited. At least she was more level-headed than I was.

Dear Papa,

Hey Papa just caught up on your memoirs and I'm still grinning at how you contiue to give explainations for why your weapons act a certain way and why you are the way that you are (if that makes any sense). Still a big fan of you and reall wish you were given more space in the manga. I mean what do you have in total? Its like 4 pages about you in the entire series. An injustice surely. Anyway, are you going to begin fast forwarding through the content in Memoirs? I feel like you answered this before and if so apologies. An on a side note do you like snow? Random but its snowing up here and its really beautiful and my dog loves it. Hehe sorry I'll leave you now. Here's a hug for your troubles

Lots of love for you and the family
Sincerely,
Bria

Dear Bria,
I'm telling you, with 500+ chapters and a lot of seemingly contradictory information along with downright undeveloped plotlines, it's been a pain in the butt to try to tie everything together in a believable sense. And unfortunately, I'm not as much of a "write whatever and pretend it makes sense" writer as Takahashi is, so I'm limited to explanations that follow as many physical laws and are as intuitive as possible. I do intend to pick up the pace quite a bit as it progresses, as there are 500 years to get through despite the fact that 50 chapters only covered a year and a half.
And snow is fun only until it gets on the roads.

Dear Papa,
Demons seems to like eating humans(not a sexual remark) so did u ever feel dat urge. Liek when u first Izayoi did u wanna eat her?(Totally a nonsexual question so get ur mind out of the gutter)What did Izayoi's family think of ur guys relationship and how did they feel when they found out u knocked her up?What were ur thoughts when u first met her? I've always been curious
Sincerely,
Cheyenne(again)

Dear Cheyenne,
It is true that the most basic food for youkai is human blood, but the higher a youkai gets, the less need he has for it. Sort of how the older a human gets, the less he has to rely on his mother's milk. Though I personally have no conscious desire for human blood, if I lose myself to my basest instincts, I unfortunately can and have eaten humans. This is why I forcibly gave myself an intolorance to human blood to minimize the damage I could do should I ever lose myself to my wild side.
Izayoi's family... wasn't really alive enough to care about our relationship.

Dear Papa,
Hiya. How are you doing? Here's a steak for your trouble. I'd offer a hug, but I'm sick and you probably wouldn't enjoy being sneezed on.
I have 2 questions:
Were you still with/married to/whatever Sesshoumaru's mother when you, uhm.. let me put it this way. Did you actually cheat on Sesshoumaru's mother (or were led astray, or whatever) with Izayoi?

2. If you had known Inuyasha was going to be mod-happy with Tessaiga, would you have let Sesshoumaru keep the Meidou Zangetzuha? It seems to me like that was sort of a last ditch thing, in case Inuyasha couldn't use the Kaze no Kizu and/or the Bakaryuuha (if his nose wasn't strong enough or whatever). Of course, I could be wrong, but Sesshoumaru was nearly killed because he lost the Meidou Zangetzuha, and he was very upset over it (Daddy-doesn't-love-me sort of thing) and I find it hard to believe that you would wish that on your son.
Sincerely,
Melian Alcarimë

Dear Melian,
Aha, so YOU'RE the one who gave me this cold I've been suffering through for the past two weeks. *snifffff* Shame on you.
As for my status with Sesshoumaru's mother upon Inuyasha's conception... um... Well, let's just say she thought it was a little weird and it was kind of awkward for me to explain everything, but in the end she was okay with it. I think. I swear I just...! ... I was lonely.
And Tessaiga has WAY TOO MUCH BLING. Seriously, Bakuryuuha I can understand, but then he has to trick the damn thing out with diamonds and scales and old man power and fire and youkai butts and hell. Sesshoumaru doesn't need all that crap, and he needed to be taught not to need all that crap. "Tricking out your sword will ruin you, son, leave the little brother with all my excess baggage and go do your own thing."

Dear Papa,
Exactly how old r u? In human years not demon years? I'm just curious. Did u ahve lots of relationships in ur life? Have u had ur heart broken a lot? Who was ur first love?
Sincerely,
Cheyenne

Dear Cheyenne,
How old am I? How old would you like me to be? I lived in Heian Era Japan, which was over a thousand years ago. After that much time passes, you stop counting the years.
Relationships, huh... You qualified the statement with "in life", so to that, I can honestly say, no, I didn't have very many relationships during that period of time. Seems like it was only after I died that all the fangirls started throwing themselves at me...