#but mostly this is like. clan lore?? idk

[allgather]

one liberation begets another: the uchiha & jewish themes of resistance i was thinking a bit today about how historically jewish people have used the celebration of our holidays as a guise to gather in order to hide the fact that they were planning rebellions against their oppressors in the present. and this is interesting to me bc jewish holidays are largely thematically about uprisings by jewish citizen's militias who were able to defeat the large military forces of their oppressors ( best examples are jewish people winning their freedom from slavery in egypt which is what passover is about and the maccabees, which were a very small militia of jewish people who successfully fought to take their temple back from the roman emperor, which is the story of hannukah. these and other holidays commemorate actions jewish ppl took to reclaim their freedom and liberation ).

there is a passage from the passover text, the haggadah, that explains this and gives a historic example that really resonates with me:

A tale is told of five rabbis who were holding a seder in the town of B’nei Brak, and talked about Pesach (passover) until dawn broke, when their students had to interrupt them saying,“Rabbis, it is morning and time to recite the morning prayer.”

This story takes place during the rule of the Roman emperor Hadrian, who ordered that the Temple be moved so he could put a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount. In the year 123 of the Common Era, a guerilla insurgency began, which resulted in a crack-down by the Roman authorities. B’nei Brak was the headquarters of the rebellion against Roman occupation, a rebellion of which one of the Rabbis was a leader. Because of rebel activities, the Roman authorities had forbidden gatherings of Jews, on pain of death. The seder described in this passage was used not only as a chance to discuss the liberation from the story of passover—but also to plan a strategy of resistance against current Roman occupation. The students were standing guard, ready to caution the rabbis to disband at daybreak, lest they be caught.

 This tale may be read as a story of how one liberation begets another.

and i've always been really taken with the phrase "one liberation begets another" when we got to this part in passover because it is the gathering and speaking about a historic liberation that provides the opportunity, the cover under which to plan to fight for a present liberation.

so i was thinking about this in the context of the uchiha ( and whether you view these practices as actually the customs of jewish people or if you understand this more as an allegory to the uchiha as outsiders with their own customs that the people of the leaf are unfamiliar with, and see this all as a sorta allegory or common theme, that is up to you! and i’m happy either way! )

so the uchiha are an ancient clan with practices the rest of the leaf are unfamiliar with, who are viewed as inherently different, as outsiders, who are kept siloed away in their own section of the village. and i can see so clearly how they would use these holidays or cultural practices/festivals that no one really understood as a guise to gather all the adult members of the clan together to talk, without suspicion, about their circumstances in the leaf and to plan their uprising against it. who use the fact that they are viewed as outsiders with a strange set of customs to use those gatherings in order to have non-suspicious meetings to plan their rebellion and insurrection right under the leaf's nose.

and i can see it so clearly, the clan gathered in dining rooms, by the candle light and all the customary table settings of the holidays. from the outside it looks like every other observance. but this time their prayer books are lined with maps of the leaf and surrounding area which they study and mark up together. and perhaps they speak in their own language, one spoken ancestrally by their clan but not shared by the people of the leaf ( and in the case of judaism, perhaps it is hebrew or yiddish ) and it sounds like all the other old prayers they speak in that vaguely sing-song way. but they aren’t, not this time. they are planning, discussing tactics, organizing themselves in a tongue only they are familiar with. using celebrations about rebellion as cover to plan for their own rebellion. one liberation begetting another.

[pinkkittysaw]

perhaps controversial but i enjoy the idea of childless gojo. at least in the terms of biological kids

[driaswrld]

ultraviolence — gojo satoru and geto suguru.

wc : 3k

summary : suguru coming home was supposed to make things better. but, it's as if everything is going wrong again.

part of : the star paradox collection.

notes : pls read this and this first ty!! LORE DUMP 🤭 mostly from sugu n toru's pov dealing with their new life and the twins along with jujutsu society. reader is trying to be the mediator as always and shoko is the best ofc. just the one where everyone has an existential crisis. (part one of two hopefully)

other : I PROMISE YOU'LL GET FLUFF SOON 😭 mentions of alcohol, blood, smoking obvi, idk why i named this ultraviolence lmao (shit hits the fan in the next tsr im js trying to be kind i promise!)

comment to be added to the tsr taglist!

current cassette : pretty when you cry - lana del rey

You come home to a house colder than you left it.

There’s a small comfort in the droplets of water that splatter against the wooden floor when you hang your jacket up, having remembered the way the girls beamed up at you only an hour ago as you walked them to school.

The twins were adamant to hold your hands, Mimiko blushing the whole time and Nanako poking fun at it, promising to hold your hand everyday until they became big girls.

Big girls that would only need you to hold their hand halfway — the same way Suguru only walks you and Satoru halfway to the school before heading back.

But the sliver of a chill that reverberates through your bones doesn’t resemble the comfort of a morning’s soft rain drizzle.

“You can’t just dismiss the issue like this, Satoru!”

“Where’s my own will, huh? Can’t I just do this?”

“This isn’t about you.”

You hear everything for a moment, muffled shouts and grumbles from the bathroom.

“Yeah, you’ve made that pretty clear, haven't you?”

Then you hear nothing at all.

The investigation launched on the ninth day in December.

Suguru had all but been home for a week and then some, settling into the shoddy apartment you and Satoru called home between missions and meetings with Yaga and the higher ups.

It took half a day to move his old things out of the dormitory building, most of what really mattered was already sitting in the hall closet untouched, kept the way Suguru would’ve wanted it.

It was after he rifled through the closet in search of a fresh set of clothes did he realize, he had been mourned.

You and Satoru had mourned him like a mother would a child, like a womb stretched to make space, only to bleed.

His clothes smelled more like the both of you than it did him.

The fourth day, Suguru spent the night hunched over the balcony, smoking a silver blue parliament with Shoko while you and Satoru attended a hearing with the higher ups.

A necessary audience, they defined over the cryptic email.

Shoko described it as a means to an end, Satoru was still the strongest and you were his voice. The meeting was all but a farce to keep you two in check — but Suguru read it clearly for what it was.

A threat.

“He’ll be clan head,” Suguru murmured between plumes of smoke. “They won’t let him turn it down any longer, especially with me around.”

At this, Shoko chuckled, sucking in a sharp breath.

“You think he’ll do it this time?” She asked, somewhere between knowing and not knowing.

The higher ups want Satoru under their thumbs — not that you’d so much as let them come close — that much is evident. But it’s become a lose to win situation.

The guarantee that Suguru and the girls would remain untouched and hidden under the condition that he follows their rules, does it their way, doesn’t ask, doesn’t so much as breathe a word or commit an action using his own strength outside their command—

“Satoru as a lap dog?” Suguru laughs a little.

He just can’t picture it.

What he can picture though is the Six Eyes user backed into a corner, with no other choice but to concede. Then again, Satoru’s never been submissive to authority, no matter the setting.

A beat of silence passes over him and Shoko, and she knows what he’s thinking before he says it, yet she doesn’t caution him otherwise nor does she blame the nicotine.

“He could kill them.” Suguru says, “It wouldn’t take him long.”

The seventh day, Suguru stands in the middle of one of the many engawa corridors of Jujutsu High, dressed like a teenage dropout, teeth sinking into the inside of his cheeks until crimson stains his tongue.

You told him last night while cuddled into his side, Satoru’s head on his chest, “Walk away from it the right way, Suguru.”

And admittedly, he was going to laugh a little, kiss your cheek and maybe lull you back to sleep and ease your worries.

I don’t resent you,

for the path you chose.

As long as you swear,

yours and ours will converge.

“Geto, what is this?”

Suguru looks down at the sealed envelope he passed to Yaga seconds ago, the word resignation printed in bold atop the sealed flaps.

If he intends to kill himself, he should at least do it the way you asked him to.

He owes you that much.

Suguru never thought of himself to have been in a position where he could live past twenty ; he thought he was lucky Satoru even let him live to see the first snow, even if it was from the bittersweet solitude of the bed you three shared.

“I’ll graduate first,” Suguru says, stuffing his hands in his pants pockets.

For the sake of saving face he took a total of ten missions after his sentence was pardoned.

Five to prove he wasn't a liability to the Jujutsu world, two to hover by your side – he hadn't realized post traumatic stress could manifest in the need for more physical attachment – and three to see up close just how much Satoru had on his shoulders now.

To see just how different Satoru had become because of him.

“And then?” Yaga asks it like a cruel joke that only he and Suguru know.

People are talking. People have been talking.

Suguru Geto the defect. Suguru Geto the cancer of the strongest. Suguru Geto the curse. Suguru Geto—

“Maybe I’ll die of old age.”

I pray death finds me

under you two

in our bed.

If not,

kill me yourselves.

There’s meaning in that too.

That same afternoon, brandished with what should be newfound freedom – Suguru Geto. Not the sorcerer, not the curse, not the man – he drinks himself sick until he blacks out on the sofa.

Alcohol is cheap at Shinanoya, it’s been that way since he was sixteen and idle in the summer of ‘06, coaxed by Satoru into printing fake IDs, blacking out on the floor of your dorm room and waking up to throw up, just to blackout again.

Suguru took the train back and passed his stop two times.

Two times he thought of two different outcomes and two different destinations.

First, he’d go back to Jujutsu High and take the resignation back from Yaga before he signed it.

He’d call your cellphone, tell you how he's had a change of heart, whisper into the line : “We should celebrate. Me, you and Satoru.”

But you’d know it was a lie.

He still has twisted dreams of waking up in a gas station bathroom in a pool of blood that isn't his own.

Dreams that don't frighten him at all.

Second, it came to him the moment he considered actually getting off at his stop and going back to the apartment.

He’d let the train take him to Shibuya, stand in the middle of the crossing and scream.

People would look at him weird, others would walk by.

And the first monkey to reach out and offer him help, he’d—

“Suguru?”

He wakes with a startle, eyes bloodshot and half lidded.

“Name—” he opens his mouth, half empty vodka bottle tilted over and soaking the carpet. Satoru comes through the door a moment later, leading the twins to the kitchen to set their half eaten bentos down.

A shiver runs down his spine when he glances at the clock above the mantle. 12:53pm.

“School ended half day,” you say to him. Satoru doesn't so much as glance at Suguru when he steps back in to take the plastic bags of takeout from your hands. “They called but you didn't—”

Suguru's already sitting up, fishing through his pockets for his phone and clicking at the buttons.

Two missed calls from Mimiko and Nanako’s school.

Two missed calls from their homeroom teacher, Ms. Aiko.

Four missed calls from you.

One voicemail from Satoru.

“I'm so— shit,” Suguru sets the bottle of alcohol upright, pressing a palm to the carpet to find it damp.

His skin is hot, he feels like a mess, no doubt he looks like a mess with the way you're already kneeling beside him to screw the bottle shut. “I’m so sorry, I didn't— everything with the letter and then the train got delayed—”

“Suguru.” Satoru speaks for the first time, looks at him for the first time – behind bandaged eyes. “Sober up by tomorrow, yeah?”

Your head flits around to give Satoru a stare, as if to ask if that's all he has to say right now. But Suguru’s fingers enclose around your wrist, it’s okay, I was the one at fault.

“Satoru—”

“Just do this one thing right, please.”

The twins’ school dismissed half day due to heavy snow this early in the month. Suguru, listed as the girls’ primary guardian, gets the calls first.

He doesn't pick up.

Your work line rings next, and it goes to voicemail.

In between exorcising a special grade in Shinjuku, you don't hear it ring.

As the devil would have it made and done, Satoru’s line rings while he's at the school. Loud.

“Gojo-san!” The lady from the admin office knocks on the door twice, and is met with silence. The phone rings again, but this time it's the main line. The office extension.

The one he’s been using since he put in his teaching application.

The phone clatters against the desk in robust vibrations, Limitless almost bending the coily cord to nothingness.

The meeting room of four higher ups and two members of the Gojo clan watch him intently, scrutinizing him, waiting.

Beyond his better judgment, Satoru tells himself it's just you, calling to ask if you should bring back kikufuku or just the udon.

Or it's Suguru, who’s confused and can't find one of his things in the apartment and needs some guidance.

Satoru's not a pious person. But he wishes he’d have prayed the moment the call went to the answer machine.

“Good day, Mr. Gojo! I’m calling regarding the girls. School’s been dismissed half day today on account of the weather but Mr. Geto nor Ms. Name are picking up.”

“I’m hoping this reaches you soon so the girls can have a ride home. Thankyou! Stay warm!”

The eighth day, you wake to the smell of jasmine and hot oil. Four messages from Yaga, one email attached, forwarded to Satoru : Adoption fraud.

“—he hates me.” Suguru mumbles, shirtless and damn near cowering from your gaze, flipping the omelet in the frying pan, two steps away to avoid the oil splatter.

“Don't say that so casually,” you shake your head, shutting the fridge door, setting a carton of milk on the counter. “It's not like you believe that.”

Suguru flips the omelet with one hand on the pan handle, the other flicking the carton open and turning it to his head in a quick gulp.

He doesn't confirm it.

“Suguru—” you smack his arm and take the milk, turning away to rummage through the pantry for the pancake mix.

“I know.”

No, Suguru.

You don't know.

"I try to be patient," Suguru says quietly, shaking his head. "I know we're not sixteen and that this and then are two different things—” He turns the flame down, refusing to look over at you.

“Nobody's asking you to be perfect,” you cut him off, pancake mix forgotten on the counter. “You made a mistake, it happens—”

The higher ups are already breathing down Satoru’s neck about the twins now that they've been found out. It's an uphill battle in the Jujutsu world, your phone won't stop ringing.

Whether it's Yaga proposing damage control to have you and Satoru set apart on missions or another higher up waiting for you to slip up and beg for help, beg to be in their debt.

“I owe you better,” Suguru whispers, more to himself than to you.

He’s never been the type to ask for help or beg for forgiveness or cower at someone's heels. But you saved him — by putting your life on the line and in turn making Satoru cover it up — and he hates himself for it.

I wish

you would've

just let me stay dead.

“Because that's what I deserve? Better?”

Suguru gets the call from Shoko the next day.

December 9, 2007.

A formal investigation is announced into the involvement of [name] [name] in the case of Suguru Geto’s defection and pardon — alleged charge : fabrication of evidence.

Satoru makes his mind up the same day, sends the twins to stay at the dorms with Shoko for the weekend and brings you and Suguru with him to the Gojo estate.

“I can feel your eyes,” you whisper, seated cross legged on the tatami floor, nursing a cup of tea in your cupped palm.

You've never liked the Gojo estate. Not in winter at least, not when it's like this.

Satoru has his back turned to you, fingering the loose cloth of white bandages covering his eyes, almost hesitant. He recalls his mother's words to him from a few hours ago.

You look tired, Satoru. You're never tired.

There’s an unspoken thing residing here between both your energies and it becomes unbearably evident.

“It’s nothing,” he murmurs, slipping the baby blue haori off his shoulders, draping it over the edge of the bed. “Just the cold getting to me 's all.”

Loose and darkened strands of hair lay on the silk sheets where Suguru sat moments ago. Satoru holds his breath.

My lover’s hair is splitting at the ends, tearing apart at the seams just like me.

I pray you don’t notice.

“Is he okay?”

You set the ceramic cup down on the table, turning your head to glance over at Satoru, who despite himself, wears his emotions like a cardigan knit tight between his brows.

“Why won’t you just ask him, ‘toru?”

He thinks he hates you. He hates not being more like you.

With the way you say these things so easily.

Maybe it’s the deep rooted thrum of Suguru’s cursed energy in his veins, or the bitter taste on his tongue when he wakes in the middle of the night just to see if he’s still here—

Maybe it’s that voice in the back of his head, the instinct pounding on the walls of his heart, telling him this is only for a while, it won’t last.

“You can’t lie to me.” Satoru reasons, bending his knees and folding his body next to yours, wrapping and unwrapping the length of cloth around his fingers over and over again. “But he can.”

Or maybe it’s the way he knows even if Suguru lied to him again, said it was okay, said that he’d stay, said that he’d let you and Satoru be selfish for once and keep him here, keep him tethered to this existence he loathes so much—

“Satoru…”

—he’d believe him.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” He sighs, near breathless.

You lift your hands to cup either side of his face, hooking your thumbs under the pale cloth, unraveling and unraveling and unraveling.

How many more layers?

How many more walls?

How many—

“His energy is restless.” Satoru could find other words to describe it, the aura, the shape of Suguru’s soul, his scent, his being, his whole existence. Something only you could understand.

“It’s pouring into me, and I can’t— I pretend I don’t feel it, that I don’t know that he’s…”

Different.

Suguru is different now, he wants to say.

Suguru’s unhappy with me, unhappy with us.

I can’t give him what he needs.

I was too selfish to have asked him to stay. You were too selfish in saving him.

We were too selfish. Do you think he hates me for it? Do you think he wishes he were—

“He loves you.” You tug on the cloth, let it fall and pool in endless strands around his neck. “Isn’t that reason enough?”

Satoru’s eyes are dim, bleaky sapphire and cerulean staring back at you.

Don’t look at them, look at me, look inside me, my eyes are lying, that’s not how I feel—

“He loves you too,” he says it like a confession, a secret. Love can’t be enough, can it?

Love never stopped Suguru from leaving the first two times.

Love never stopped Satoru from waking up so many nights with tears running down his neck, from where you cried for Suguru in your dreams.

Love never stopped Satoru from not being strong enough to bend the world and stretch it to fit Suguru inside.

Why should you love him whom hates the world so?

Satoru lets his head fall into the crook of your neck, body slumped over yours and breath shaky.

Loving Suguru came as easy as breathing if not easier.

He’d spend nights curled in his bed at the dorms, clicking through photos he’d taken of you three, back then, when it wasn’t anything yet but still everything to him.

“Yaga-sensei, please pair me with someone else!”

“Hah!? We not good enough for you anymore, name?”

“Satoru, name, don’t yell so early in the morning…”

And even from the first mission, when Suguru’s hair was shorter and you hadn’t quite figured out how to control your technique.

When Satoru had to save you from plummeting to your death after you sliced a curse open just for grabbing Suguru and yanking him by his hair.

Satoru thinks, maybe, he came into this world loving you two.

Because he loves me more than all the world.

“I’ll protect you,” he whispers into your neck, full of conviction.

He’s never not the strongest, except maybe when he’s here, in these moments. “I’ll protect the both of you.”

Let me do this one thing,

just this once.

Let me be the one

who holds us together.

---------------------------------------

tsr taglist :

@wishmemel @draecys @pearlvalley @cookielovesbook-akie @astral-hydromancy @celestair @/midnightbluehorizons @plaggi @blue-blossomss

[comikadraws]

Was the curse of hatred actually a real thing? or did danzo just demonize the uchiha;s anger? idk, being murderously angry or just angry in general is a reasonable and human response to oppression and genocide.

The "Curse of Hatred" Analysis

An interesting question. The Curse of Hatred looks dumb at first glance but there are also many misconceptions surrounding it.

Since it is such a hot mess to begin with, I will try to focus mostly on the in-universe canon and lore rather than making it even more complicated by bringing in too much real-world logic and criticizing Kishimoto.

There's a bunch of rambling in the tags though.

Kishimoto's Intentions

Whenever we talk about the "Curse of Hatred" the fandom will usually apply terms such as "racism", "bigotry" and "pseudoscience" - particularly in reference to Tobirama.

Again, I don't want to bring too much irl logic into this but I feel like we need to make a clear distinction between intention and interpretation over here. "[insert character] was a racist" and "the Uchiha were justified" is a valid interpretation of the story. But at the same time, I doubt that this was ever intended by Kishimoto.

I have talked about this at length in another post of mine, in which I analyzed Kishimoto's most likely intent and how exactly this information is relevant to us with a look at authorial intent in fiction. But the TL;DR version is that Japan is not exactly very sensitized to themes of racism and the "Curse of Hatred" is never framed as racist propaganda but exposition only. The lore also lines up with Kishimoto's personal views on how grudges are responsible for war (instead of corruption or racism) and the Uchiha's curse might be a metaphor for that.

In other words, the Curse of Hatred is real in canon. Even if it's a massive red flag and deserves to be criticized.

What Is The "Curse of Hatred" Even?

I have to admit, it's been a while since the last time I watched Naruto from start to finish, so I had to use the sources listed by the wiki rather than relying on my own findings and I might be biased. Because of that, I'd prefer everybody to regard my findings as headcanon or interpretation (especially further toward the end) rather than undisputed fact.

As far as I remember, the exact wording "Curse of Hatred" is only ever used by Obito. While not using the same wording, the curse is also referenced by Itachi, Hagoromo, and Tobirama who each have their own understanding of it. Unfortunately, we have no idea where exactly this wording or concept originated and we have no idea what exactly causes the Curse of Hatred that Obito refers to.

Hiruzen, Koharu, Homura, and even Danzo, while potentially influenced by Tobirama's teachings, do not reference the Curse of Hatred at all, at least not in relation to the Uchiha Clan itself.

Now here's the first one of my findings: The Curse of Hatred is supposed to be some sort of involuntary biological or cultural inclination causing Uchihas to become consumed by hatred but it is also something voluntary - a Nindo. While the former could be considered a "curse" in the traditional sense, the latter is definitely not.

For the Nindo, it is supposed to be some sort of antithesis to the Will of Fire. Because of that, it is not limited to the Uchiha but, according to Tobirama and Obito, closely associated. As explained later on in this post, most Uchihas do not follow this Nindo.

Core aspects of the Curse of Hatred as a Nindo:

Valuing a precious few above the many

Directing your hatred at those who took away your precious few

Growing stronger from those feelings of hatred (for the Uchiha, reflected in the form of the Sharingan)

A Biological Inclination?

Now back to Tobirama's theory, due to the narrative framing, we will assume his words to be truthful for the sake of this analysis. However, I will provide links to other people's posts delving into the fantasy racism discussion.

Tobirama is racist and his theories cannot be trusted.

Tobirama is not racist and there is validity to his theories.

I myself do not completely agree with either of these, but they might be interesting reads for you. If you do not agree with either of them, please keep it to yourself and do not bother the original creators.

Tobirama's theory goes as follows:

The Uchiha feel love and hate more strongly than other individuals

The strength of the Sharingan and the Uchihas' hatred are correlated

In a fit of hatred, odds are an Uchiha will commit evil

It is nowhere mentioned that the Uchiha are more likely to feel hate - only that their hatred is worse than the average person's and puts them at risk of being swayed by hateful ideologies.

A Cultural Inclination?

Aside from Tobirama's theory, multiple characters comment on the historical origin behind the Curse of Hatred.

We are talking, of course, about Indra. Obito explains that Indra's values and his hatred (particularly what later became the Nindo of the Curse of Hatred) were passed down to his descendants - the Uchiha clan. Tobirama's exposition implies the same thing.

Tobirama states that there "used to be a thought that [...] the basis of the Uchiha clan's strength was the power of their jutsu". It is very similar to Hagorormo's description of his son.

If this is correct, that would mean that the importance placed on powerful jutsu by the Uchiha Clan does inadvertently promote hatred due to the close correlation between hatred and the Sharingan.

But then again, in the story, it is shown that many Uchiha were not particularly fond of perpetuating hate and it is also implied that to avoid hatred, they sealed their emotions away. My interpretation is that they recognized the pain that hate could cause and then took steps to avoid it.

The Reincarnation Cycle

Sticking with Indra, another explanation that is frequently brought up is Indra's and Ashura's reincarnation cycle, which has also been described as curse-like or haunting and neverending. A fate seemingly set in stone.

There is not much more to say, other than that this theory suggests that Indra's reincarnates are just naturally inclined towards lusting for power.

The True Origin

Now, here's another thing that's constantly being overlooked. Aside from Obito's exposition in chapter 462 on the Curse of Hatred Nindo, Tobirama's exposition in chapter 619 on the Uchiha's tendency to follow said Nindo, and even Hagoromo's exposition on the reincarnation cycle in chapter 670, we get a vital piece of exposition in chapter 681.

Ladies, gentlemen, and anything in between. May I introduce to you...

...the real Curse of Hatred.

Or at the very least what I believe is the real reason why the "Curse of Hatred" exists in the world of Naruto.

From the very beginning, Zetsu approached Indra to take advantage of his hatred and turn it into a tool for his own purposes. He then did that again and again. He focused on the Uchiha in particular - Either because of the previously mentioned reasons (i.e. the Uchiha / incarnates have a tendency to become obsessed with hatred and power) or because the Uchiha were otherwise easy to take advantage of / manipulate (through Hagoromo's stone tablet that was left in the Uchihas' possession, an ill reputation thanks to Indra's / their ancestors' actions, etc).

In order to achieve his goal (awakening a Rinnegan), he had to somehow combine both Indra's and Ashura's power. It is implied that for this purpose, he instigated, perpetuated, and escalated wars and conflicts between Senju and Uchiha by pitting their reincarnates against each other. But unlike the wars he caused, Zetsu went unnoticed by the history books. Basically, he kept haunting the clans like a curse.

And without a doubt, had Zetsu never been there, 99% of the Uchihas' problems would not exist - regardless of what ideals, genes, or history the Uchiha hold. Indra's declaration of war, centuries of conflict, Madara's defection, Obito losing Rin, the Kyubi attack, the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke's defection, the 4th Great Shinobi War. All of these were directly caused by Zetsu or set off by a resulting chain reaction.

You could even think this further. Assuming the Uchiha clan really came across as "cursed", perhaps Tobirama's, Obito's, Hagoromo's and everybody else's explanations were just desperate attempts to make sense of anything. They didn't know that Zetsu was pulling the strings, so perhaps they tried to explain the Uchiha Clan's history in some other way. One that made sense without that missing variable.

What is actually going on here is, of course, uncertain. There are basically no definitive explanations on the matter and right now it looks like all of the above could be true and at the same time none.

[wildstar25]

Many thoughts specifically about miqo'te having their own unique wintertime celebration akin to a festival of lights and/or warmth that would date back to the fifth umbral era (age of endless frost). It could be something that recounts their peoples' great crossing over the ice bridge during a time where days were short and nights were frigid.

The two tribes could celebrate it slightly differently, I think:

Seekers would focus on bringing light into their lives by gathering as a tribe around a big bonfire as the sun goes down. The eldest of the tribe recounts the blessing of fire granted to them by their goddess Azeyma. They mention the torches their ancestors carried along their journey never went out, no matter how strong or cold the winds became over the frozen ocean straight. The light of the flames kept their tribe together in the dark; it let them see the path ahead when the sun went down and was strong enough to be seen by even the slowest trailing members of the migrating tribes. Food is cooked by the flames as children run and play. Of Age Tias endlessly sing over each other, all trying to demonstrate how well they know their clan's traditional songs. The Nuhn keeps the fire going through the night, making sure it doesn't burn out until the light of tomorrow's dawn arrives.

Keepers would focus how the warmth of their family clans kept them alive where most other life perished in the cold. They would hold a large feast on the night of a full moon; stewed game, seasoned preserves, fresh loafs of sesame flour bread, roasted mushrooms and root vegetables would fill their bellies as the night festivities went on. Tokens of love and appreciation would be shared among clan members. As a rare occurrence in keeper life, wandering males would be invited in to partake in the revelry. Prayers would be sung in honour of Menphina, giving thanks bringing love to their lives and for guiding their ancestors together across the horizon. Arms would link together to create circles of dancing miqo'te. Hyms and cheers would carry through the forest for as long as the moon remained high in the sky. Love struck pairings might slink off to deepen their new connections while the remaining family members sleep in groups, sharing each others warmth for the night like those who crossed over into Eorzea so long ago.

Something like that!! Idk this is just off of the top of my head thoughts. Mostly just think that it would make more sense that the Miqo'te tribes and clans have their own cultural practises as they were/are a nomadic people that (in lore) are small in number and tend to keep to themselves. Stories of their people would need to be passed down in one way or another, why not make it a holiday??

[frogletscribe]

I finished the main story of A:FoP last night and I have more thoughts but don't want to spoil anything for anyone who is not there yet so im putting them under the cut again lol. Also a lot of this gets into like general Avatar lore things and not always specifically A:FoP. I just have a lot of thoughts and not a lot of people to talk to about it lmao.

Warning: this is very long, i am apologizing now if you choose to read the whole thing.

Spoilers for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora under the cut

TEYLAN oh my god my boy. He scared me so bad when he showed up again but I'm so glad he had a hand in stopping Mercer. It felt like such a moment of growth for him finaly setting himself free of his abuser. Poor guy feels so guilty about everything that happened, and I'm very nervous about whenever Nor comes back in future DLC stuff because he still doesn't know that Teylan 'betrayed' them. Especially after everything with Alma.

Speaking of Alma, I have somewhat mixed feelings about her story? Obviously the Sarentu have every right to be pissed at her, I am pissed at her, she used them (and honestly is still using them) to ease her own guilt. What bothers me is the "You will never be one of us" rhetoric? Mostly because it makes me think of Jake and the Sully kids (Lo'ak and Kiri specifically) who all are/look more like Avatars rather than Na'vi. It makes me wonder how the Sarentu would react to them? The situations are very different, Jake gave up almost everything that made him human to live as a Na'vi where Alma has stayed human, albeit unhealthily attached to her Avatar form. Jake worked to earn his place with the Na'vi where Alma is trying to take it from this group of children she has been lying to from the very start.

But more than that, her still talking as if she was a part of their family at the end made me so mad. I don't think Nor had a good reaction to her by any means, stabbing her was definitely not good, and it leaves all of the other humans scared of him but like,,, i'm on his side tbh. His anger is justified, he's just not coping with it in healthy ways. Like at least the Sarentu did shut her down, Alma is not a part of their family by the end, but giving her the grace they did at the end i think was more than she deserved. Idk, I am glad that they are able to be the bigger persons (pun not intended lol) and move forward, I'm just not a fan of forgiving a person who was partially responsible for the murder of your entire family?

Back to Nor. He is such an interesting character to have next to Ri'nela and So'lek. His anger is palpable and it has nowhere to go. He refuses to connect to Eywa again because he feels he has been poisoned by TAP and humans as a whole and it colors everything he does. He copes with his pain by ignoring it until it becomes too much and he snaps.

And then there is Ri'nela, who is also clearly hurt by everything that comes to light about the Sarentu and TAP, but she is so much more reserved about it. She has a really lovely audio log about how she feels the need to set her own emotions aside so she can take care of others and their emotions. You can really tell how much pressure she puts on herself to be that emotional stability for others. Still she works through it and at the very least tries to talk with the Protag about it in a much more healthy way than Nor does.

Compare that to So'lek, who is similarly reserved in is emotions to Ri'nela, but less to protect others and more to protect himself. Hopefully we will get a little more insight into his character with the comics coming out, but So'lek is i think very similar to Nor in a lot of ways. His clan was wiped out in the Great War, and he was the only survivor to not assimilate into another clan, and we can assume, i think, that those other survivors were most likely children and other non-warriors, either too old or unable to fight for whatever reason. He is entirely alone by choice, and he is angry, but he keeps it together.

So'lek sees the bigger picture, he knows that the resistance is the one other group that's actually fighting back (Besides Jake and the Omatikaya), even if its entirely a group of humans, who we can assume he is not terribly fond of in general. He makes a point of saying the RDA is what needs to be removed from Pandora, not humans. He knows how to separate his allies instead of generalizing 'all humans bad', something Nor is implied to struggle with at least a little. That is especially clear when So'lek calls Nor out after he stabs Alma. But that still doesn't negate how angry So'lek is and is capable of being. He says it after HQ is attacked, he is trying not to follow Nor and his rage. He knows that if he has that conversation with Nor, it will be very easy for him to let his rage consume him as well.

Given that Nor is pretty much gone from the game after he stabs Alma, I'm hoping that in the upcoming DLC we get to find him? Maybe he is being an angry loner out on the woods or if he has found other missing TAP students? There are 4 mentioned in game, either by name (Ri'nela asks where two of them, Telisi and Yefti, are at the very start of the game, and 2 more are mentioned in TAP School Records, Okni and Yuayt) Of course they could all have died while the main four were in cryosleep, 15 years have passed and if they werent with that group when Alma saved them, theres no telling what exactly has happened to them. I just think it could be cool for them to pop up and join back up with the Sarentu.

On, like, an entirely different note, the joy it gives me that there are multiple nonbinary characters! Ahh!!! I think right now the only ones are Tsu'kiri from the Aranahe and Okul from the Kame'tire, at least that I have found, but the way that they are handled, I really really love. They are both just people! Existing in the world! As a nonbinary person myself i also really appreciate the game using they/them for the protagonist and letting you flavor your character however you want so that you aren't locked into male/female like so many games tend to do.

Getting into less A:FoP specific and more general lore territory: Something else I found really interesting while digging around on the wiki is that Mokasa is not the Olo'eyktan? He is listed as Anufi's chief advisor, which made him a sort of stand in Olo'eyktan while she was exiling herself, but he isn't actually the Olo'eyktan the way Ka'nat and Nesim are for their respective clans. Even on the wiki, the Olo'eyktan for the Kame'tire is labeled as Unknown. At most we get Okul being named ? Tsakarem? Thats at least what I took from it. But it makes me curious about the other clans and their leadership (also just very curious about them in general lol). There are 16 clans that we know of (that are all still canon) but we really have only really in depth explored 6 of them in the whole series so far. (Just counting the movies and A:FoP right now because I do not have access to the comics or I think the like one? other games that is still canon) Idk im interested in more Olo'eyktan/Tsahik dynamics beyond just mated pairs like we have seen. Like the Zeswa sisters is really cool to me, or father/daughter dynamic with Ka'nat and Etuwa. Obviously, Jake, and later Tarsem, are not mated to Mo'at but there was the intention of Neytiri eventually taking over as Tsahik before the Sully's left, which would have continued the married couple leaders dynamic that we have been seeing.

We also know that Olo'eyktan don't always have to be men (See Nesim for the Zeswa and Ikneyi from the Tayrangi clan that we see in the first film), so then are there examples of male Tsahik somewhere? Okul being presumably named Tsakarem as a nonbinary/gender non-conforming character would imply that on some level, but im curious if we will ever see examples of it.

And finally, somebody has got to let me smooch the characters in this game PLEASE.

If you actually read all that kudos to you and thank you for indulging my screaming.

[scatterbrainedbot]

RAT SONS LORE DUMP #1

THE HAMATO FAMILY

okay so im looking at my first few character sheets and theres a little bit of lore/context i want to give just to clarify, specifically about the last generation (of humans) in the Hamato lineage

(long text heavy post ahead!)

so background:

in the 03 version of tmnt The Ancient One (who is not a Hamato) essentially adopts three children: Hamato Yoshi, Yukio Mashimi, Tang Shen (girls dont get surnames i guess??) They seemed to have been explicitly raised as siblings. Still, love triangle trope was hungry ig. Both boys fell in love w Tang Shen and she fell for Yoshi. to which Mashimi said ‘alright bet’ and killed her. i cant even laugh at him for his pathetic Nice Guy “i was nice to you for years and u wont have sex with me???” tantrum cos like. sir, that is ur sister. boy howdy. all of yall need to go meet some other people.

mostly i chalk that whole mess up to the fact that the writing of women in most media in the early 2000s lacking like idk?? any actual characterization?? an ounce of consideration??? not a single braincell?? they were mostly just there to be a means to some plot trope, rather than an actual character in and of themselves — like im amazed april came out as lovely as she did, with her own like life and skills and autonomy (her big sis vibes in 03 are so so nice, and tbh i love her whole character a lot — still lots of misogyny moments in her writing too but im not trying to do an analysis into that rn)

so anywho!!

for the rat sons au, i decided to go ahead and scrap all the incesty undertones (idk, are those undertones? seems p straight up to me?) and completely revamp the origins of The Ancient One, Tang Shen and Yoshi <3 (and Mashimi too ig, but he essentially got cut out entirely. sucks to suck ya entitled lil douche)

Here's the general lowdown

So, the Hamato clan is one of the oldest and well established in all of Japan. The family rose to prominence in the feudal period of Japan’s history, due to their collective skill in the art of ninjutsu, their dedication, stealth, and discretion. Like most ninja, they were assassins available to hire, either for killing or simple sabotage, for politics or personal matters – though no matter the task, a Hamato’s loyalty was always to the head of the Family over their client.

Beyond their reputation as a ninja clan though, the Hamatos also had a reputation for being extremely generous to their community and highly protective of the less fortunate. (think kinda Al Capone vibes, like oh these bitches hella dangerous. but also. will def tip over $100 soooo…) This did lead to occasional conflict of interests during assignments/contracts. Most Hamatos would then seek the advice of the head of the family, and follow their lead, be it to the benefit of their client, or not.

(This also led to several members either abandoning the clan, or being killed by their clients for failed action etc etc)

As time passes and we reach the mid twentieth century or so, there is only one final heir to the Hamato lineage. A young man, named Hamato Sho. Sho spent his youth trying to serve his family and honor their name etc etc etc. But ultimately, this got him caught up in a lot of corrupt powerful nonsense that he eventually walked away from after the death of his friend.

This friend had left behind a young daughter, Tang Shen. Since he knew she had no other family to claim her, Sho took her in, expecting to only be a temporary foster at most. Surprise! this quiet five year old kiddo melted old mans cynical heart to absolute mush. his daughter now bitch.

He only ever adopted the one child, and he adored her sm. and he tried his best to be a good papa. he nurtured her curiosity and engaged in her interests and taught her everything he knew, without ultimatums or concerns about family names. at times he could have probably been considered very lax in his parenting, or far too lenient or undisciplined, but as a kid that grew up suffocated by watching eyes and guiding hands and Destiny capital D, i think that by giving his child room to be her own person and do her own shit (especially in her teenage years) he was in fact showing her a level trust and pride than he never had been given himself. basically he did everything he could to give her the exact opposite childhood he himself had (like rise splints <3)

Because of Sho’s encouragement, Tang Shen grows up to be a very independent soul, whos never met a problem she can jerry-rig, bodily move, or roundhouse kick into being fixed. She also becomes a fucking badass ninja master (and mystic warrior, lol) though mostly all she wants in life is the maintain the quiet little farm her father has started. maybe kiss the cute boy from town who walks her home sometimes (even though he lives the other direction.)

Meanwhile, Yoshi (surname pending) is in fact not a Hamato. Yet, at least. he, however, is that cute boy from town who walks home with Tang Shen most days and has been absolutely smitten with her since like fourth grade lol

(theyre besties for like a decade before they officially start to date. They get together finally after Tang Shens been trying to figure out a good date idea (one that isnt just something they already do) to ask him on for like a month, and Yoshi just leans over and kisses her goodbye super casual one day cos he thought they already had been dating for like. six months. cue her delight and his abject horror (he never wouldve kissed her if he didnt think that was already established as okay. p sure he even like asked her before randomly like, hey is it alright if i kiss u goodbye? and she was like ????? ok??? is this cos of ur european studies class. theyre both very silly) shes gonna tease him so bad about all of this. and tell Sho. Yoshi will never know peace again /affectionate)

Mashimi doesnt make any real appearance in their story i dont think. Like he might be a friend of Yoshi’s in elementary school. probably had a tiny start of a crush on Tang Shen when they were small and tried to take the ‘pull pigtails on the playground’ route of getting her attention. what he got was a kick to the chest and a broken nose. never came near her again after that. (eventually started avoiding Yoshi too since he was with Tang Shen all the time)

All that being said though, im afraid Tang Shen is not fully free of curse of the unwanted suitor. The Hamato name still carries a fair amount of pull, after all, and there are some very dangerous people looking to make some claim to its influence.....

[3gremlins]

i'm certainly not a deep dive lore master or anything (i super appreciate the people who are tho. like that's one of my favorite ways to consume lore, have other people tell me about it <3 ), but i haven't seen anyone else mention about Ghilan'nain and the halla. here's my maybe crackpot theory :) (or maybe not, idk i sort of assumed everyone thought this too but i haven't seen it mentioned in evanuris discussions that i've come across at all) (ill try to cite what sources i remember off the top of my head but i haven't done a full replay in awhile)

since the reveals about Ghilan'nain making monsters out of people (in tevinter nights mostly, i'm not up on the comics), I've always kind of assumed the halla WERE also once people. Like twisted into the beautiful deer and the way the dalish care for them is wrapped up in that, like they vaguely remember that the halla were once their loved ones (the way the dalish worship only partially remembered bits of who the evanuris were). We also learned from Trespasser that the Evanuris were fairly cruel and enslaved their people (and also presumably USED the elves for a variety of unsavory things) .

Also we do get the new versions of the halla in the horrors of hormak story like Ghil was iterating on a previous idea (as all artists do, like okay sure the pretty deer were nice, but what if i added more INSECT? XD)

The way the dalish refer to the halla has always been a little off to me, even for a sacred animal. They're more integrated into the clan- they're not a separate entity to be worshipped or revered. Afaik they don't ever eat or kill halla on purpose* (which does fit with some sacred animals in certain cultures for sure, but it feels more personal with the dalish somehow? most cultures where there's a sacred animal you don't eat, it's because it's special to a particular god).

from inquisition: "The first thing you must understand about the halla is that they are not our servants. They are not our pets. They are our brothers and sisters"

While they are heavily associated with Ghil, they're not really part of her worship, they're kind of separate from it (as far as we've seen). You have halla keepers/herders in dao but they're not really shown in the other 2 games- mostly the whole clan seems to care for them communally).

I believe merrill mentions (in da2 i think?) that without the halla, the dalish are nothing like the clan can't survive without them, they're so integral to their culture. Obviously this is partially how they move around and they're particularly suited to pulling the caravans through deep forests etc, but maybe there's something more to it.

They've also littered lots of bread crumbs of bits of dalish culture that the dalish have pieced together that we now know to be incorrect (or at least not the whole story)- the fenharel statues, the vallaslin, the evanuris themselves, the veil etc.

These are all half-remembered things- they remember that they were important/related to certain gods, but not why or how (as solas mentions in ambient dialogue "the dalish remember fragments of fragments")

there's also the codex entry on ghilan'nain in dai with the story andruil turning her into the first halla and leading Andruil back to the hunter who hurt her (tho she'd previously cursed him so it def feels like there's more to that story than the parable lets on)

"And since that day, the halla have guided the People, and have never led us astray, for they listen to the voice of Ghilan'nain"

i've seen a couple people point to this story as evidence that maybe andruil made the halla instead, tho we know that Ghil was making monsters for Andruil specifically to hunt so I think it could go either way? Maybe it's both.

The evanuris also feel a bit greek god inspired, and Andruil ofc has parallels in Artemis directly. Who was also always turning people into deer and things, so that could support an Andruil making people into halla theory instead. It could even be slightly less nefarious than Ghil making monsters, perhaps Andruil would turn favored subjects into halla as a warped "reward". ( <- i have no evidence for this outside of that one story but it is an interesting thought). Or maybe also to hunt them, could see that being a thing.

This would still explain why the Halla are so attuned to the dalish particularly (and vise versa) and also give some more of that good crunchy HORROR reveals to their interpretations of the past.

Either way, I think there's SOMETHING going on with the halla and I hope we get some more dalish culture reveals with the Veilguard a bit ( even if it's just in supplemental material that comes out with it or like a codex entry).

*halla leather *is* used as a crafting material in dai but this might be separate (gameplay vs lore). in dao, if Elora's halla has to be put down, she only gives you its antlers (which would probably have been shed naturally anyway since they're fairly deer-like). If you attack/accidentally kill the golden one in front of the exalted plains dalish in DAI, i believe they did attack you on sight (but that might also have been a bug, i remember that quest being tricky- like if the wolves or rando bandits attacked & killed the halla, inky still got the blame) ** I'd also love to see Merrill again like all of the events in DAI/DATV would be her jam like I just want to hear her thoughts/have her geek out a bit even when the world is ending (i have limited hope we will tho, since she was written by mary kirby T.T tho she also wrote varric and we still have him around so idk maybe)

[ghostwaffleheimer]

It has occurred to me that I never posted the redraw I did of my old Cove and Quarry refs even though it's been a while since I made them... So here they are because why not (I deleted the original posts apparently idk so no link to those for reference).

So besides the fact that my cats are slightly less ugly and more expressive, the biggest change is that I'm not calling them clans anymore. QC is still sort of connected to the Warriors universe by way of "what if the clans fell apart circa OOTS, the survivors left to create the Quarry Colony, and the 3 plus Hollyleaf ended up becoming the new afterlife." (that's the short version, anyway) Which I guess technically makes this a post-cat-society-apocalypse AU?

Anyway because I am bad at brevity, change log below cut as well as a family tree (I have a version with spoilers but I will not be posting that).

CHANGES:

Mostly a lot of design changes, clarifications on details, and for the tortie/calico characters they got a small reference of their other side because that was something the old sheets were severely lacking since none of them besides Robin are symmetrical. Basic rundown:

Marshflower is a dilute tortie. She looks more like an actual cat that could exist now instead of... well, this.

I decided to go with Robinswoop's second design I came up with. He is also a trans tom.

Honeyshine's name is now Honeysnap, as Cloudkit's warrior name was going to be Cloudshine and I didn't want too much overlap with suffixes.

Brackenkit is also a dilute tortie.

What was once a typo has now become lore for Hallow's name having been changed. That will be addressed as I have a story written for this. Hallowpaw is the lore-heavy character instead of Emberdusk now, really.

Emberdusk and Windsong are both colorpoints, and their parents are to match, though they're not the most realistic I guess. Emberdusk would ideally take more after his mom and be a seal sepia but I specifically wanted him to be dark ginger since he was originally bootleg Wish.com Fireheart.

Turtlestar, Finchpetal, and Applepaw got design changes.

Cricketleap is supposed to be a Havana Brown, having been a housecat, though I'm sure that doesn't come across very well here.

Pebblesplash and his daughter Silverpaw got some adjustments. They (or at least, Silverpaw) also have vitiligo. Cinderkit might as well, though that's not clear yet.

Willowpaw is nonbinary, which I'd always felt like they should be, but never updated any of my notes until I redid all the designs.

Cloudkit! I've been feeling like Cloudkit is the Cove's equivalent of Hallowpaw and I want to do something with them eventually. He's a chimera and goes by he/they.

Here is the family tree without spoilers, though this was made before the redesigns and so has the older versions of the cats on it.

[sassykinzonline]

Going off on a tangent (I’m lowkey obsessed with your blog so now I’m going to yell my thoughts at you)

I get so disappointed at the lack of any lore drops between Naruto’s heritages like obviously the uzamaki’s were exploited and basically had a like genocide (Karin’s backstory had me so fucked) and maybe it’s to show how normal it is in shinobi society to just brush anything under the rug when it comes to genocides and systemic issues which duh but I wish I could’ve seen more nuanced stuff like diaspora between the few survivors of lost clans, how they survived or heck how they try to preserve their culture.

Idk maybe I’m not making any sense but as someone who has like no ties to my origins (AA, especially growing up to ppl denying AA culture and how AA culture gets sold) I wished I saw that kind of relatability in Naruto since he himself is basically separated from his culture and didn’t even know who his parents were I feel like that could lead to some like deeper stuff. I feel like Naruto would try to preserve his cultures and clans (he does in way ig in boruto but I barely seen that anime and that’s a whole other discussion with how clans are treated)

And in a way I guess it’s the most realistic part of Naruto like yea the ppl in charge might give a nod in acknowledgement of how they were bystanders and that the system failed ppl (if they even go as far as to accept that) it’s just to make the ppl they exploit/ed shut up and be happy that they were even seen in the first place (working class, blm, Palestine, Native Americans etc)

But god do I wish Naruto dived into the isolation of the lack of culture or even the lack of your own ppl can have.

first of all thank you for your support and engagement, it gives joy. feel free to yell at me whenever, i have a naruto so im used to it.

this is also something that used to upset me and now just frustrates me. i technically wasnt the last uchiha until after the war, but itachi and i couldnt communicate, madara cut ties with the clan, and just like me obito left the village as a child. one of the worst things about the genocide was this crushing anxiety of "what will become of our history?" i was old enough to have pride in the concept of "uchiha" but too young to have a meaningful understanding of it. and i guess deep down thats what contributed to my steady depersonalization and increasing franticness-- i knew there was really nothing i could do to preserve my clan so at least i needed to preserve their honour (and this was also why i understand itachi's reasons for not sharing the truth).

all this to say, my heart breaks for naruto because he doesnt even know what he doesnt know. and like you said, thats mostly a function of how konoha chose to operate. i still dont understand why they couldnt at least tell naruto about his mom. i dont understand why jiraiya didnt come back to teach him sealing. but i do know why and its because the shinobi system works best if you dont see yourself as an individual first. everything you are and have needs to belong to the state, and if it doesnt, then they will eliminate it. konoha took advantage of the genocide in uzushio to essentially traffic their women and then say there was "friendship" between the two villages...then do nothing to preserve the uzumaki or uzushio history. disgusting.

youre making sense. ive actually thought that naruto's case is similar to children from asia who were trafficked and brought to western countries post-war, completely removed from their culture and often neglected and abused for a culture they couldnt even own. i think the uchiha are a bit similar to african americans given the systematic lack of consideration for contributions to the development of society, the war between respectability/assimilation and self-determination/anti-discrimination, and like you said the commodification and demonization of culture. and i do agree with you about naruto, but i think it also helps him sometimes. for better or for worse hes...simple. he doesnt think too much about things he doesnt know, and that helps him get through his days with less of a load. he does have his bad days, where hes...lost, but if he were any other way he wouldnt be naruto. luckily the boruto versions of us arent real, but even then i think they make sense given what they were trying to accomplish with that show (ie. dumb down everything for the Manly Men who didnt get what was happening the first time).

when i was traveling after the war i did try to do some preliminary investigation into existing uzumaki refugees and diaspora, but it was a bit difficult though due to their history. ive been thinking about putting together an extended campaign and mission for us to reunify the uzumaki, for his birthday. i just need to figure out how best to go about it. keep it a secret between us.

[licoricelump]

Hot take: The lack of Shirai Ryu Ocs could be explained by the fact that the clan has what? FIve members (Hanzo, Harumi, Satoshi, Forrest Fox, Takeda) and NRS decided to kill off 3 of them without delving further into the clan's structure (mkx comic slightly mentioned the rebuilt clan, mind you - not the original one,as a "protective force" or sth,but for about 5 pages in before all of them were slaughtered (again)) and idk, there should be some Shirai Ryu members that are of equal rank to Hanzo, because pls man - don't you have any friends? Colleagues? Clanmates? Who you talk to on a daily basis ?(no not your blueberry bf) Why are you like this? Why are you sitting in the corner ruminating? The edge lord in yellow, what troubles you? Where are your friends. His close relationships are mostly vertical (clan leader - member/ father -son : Takeda/Fox/Satoshi) and only two are horizontal (Harumi/Kuai) and none of those horizontal ties depicts a "clanmate-mentality" to Hanzo. Kuai Liang at least has what? 5 clanmates of different ranks (Bi Han / Smoke, Sektor, Cyrax/Frost) to create tensions/interactions for his character depths - and thus making the entire Lin Kuei gang, not only KL, relatable, and also a good grounding way to make a character believable. Now, Which canon character is also a Shirai Ryu member, of equal rank to Hanzo, that he can socialize with (aside Harumi, who tips more to the romantic aspect and doesn't have that "brother in arm" feel) and through their interactions suggests how their clan works/what its hierarchy is/what is the underlying tension within the organization?/,in short, some grounding work for the fans to have a faint knowledge of how Shirai Ryu works and grows in interest to the clan? No one.

I try to create some Shirai Ryu ocs but damn it's hard because the clan is so vague . We have MK:Mythology focusing solely on the Lin Kuei already, i would dig a game that only focuses on the Shirai Ryu lore - and hell it doesn't have to be all about Hanzo, I just want to know wtf is that clan about to vouch for it.

Maybe I just obsess with clan hierarchy, lore and structures due to my old Warrior Cats obsession day but yeah, just a sliver of my thought about Shirai Ryu and Hanzo

(Ps: English is not my native language so bear with me the jumbled words)

[edai-crplpnk]

Aburame worldbuilding masterpost

Remaking this one cause it was a bit of a mess haha

Character sheets of my 80 Aburame OCs

https://href.li/?https://airtable.com/shretO4bsoxUtiHxz

All sheets contain a summary of the character's history, so reading them makes up for a lot of the lore I made on the clan's history!

The sheets are colour-coded by generation, and ordered in the way they converge towards Shino.

If you want to read Aburame history from the ancestors and down to him, I would suggest reading the sheets in order starting from the last one at the bottom, and working your way up from there.

The 17 first sheets (Shino to Shikie) contain lore that is discussed in my main Aburame fic, so if you want the full surprise, don't read them yet.

Content Warning for canon-typical trauma and violence, and a significant amount of infant death, pregnancy loss and other similar topics.

Breakdown of the family tree

A drawing of two of my OCs, Kurai and Akarui

Headcanon about Youji/Sugaru and his family's history

My Aburame fics

The Smell of the Rain: a long KankuShino fic, set on the Aburame compound, with many dives into the clan's history and traditions, as well as a few of my OCs being present!

No Matter How Much You Yell At Me: a long KankuShino fic, set in Suna and mostly centred around Suna worldbuilding, but with a few scene of Shino talking about his relationship to the hive. (Note: there's also a lot of smut.)

I have other fic projects, mostly centered around Shibi this time, but I am not working on them at the moment so I don't know yet when they're time will come!

[kirisclangen]

Pinned!

This is just where I wanna put all the designs I’ve been making for all the cats I currently have on Clangen! There’s a lot of them so… idk, I reckon I can just queue a few up and set it to post once a day? That seems good.

Once I get through all of the existing cats I have, I think I’ll end up doing semi-regular updates on what happens between them every few moons! Doodle pages, profiles for new cats, etc.

My main is @fantasykiri5, and I mostly make hermitcraft/life series fanart there, so pretty different from anything that’s gonna be here.

I mentioned it in the sub header but the rough format I’m gonna use for this blog is very much inspired by @/warriorsproject and @/cryptidclaw! Go check them both out!

World setup under cut:

There are 5 clans;

Beetleclan,

Tulipclan,

Honeyclan,

Bayclan,

and Vixenclan.

1: The Mountains

2: Abandoned Twoleg Nest (old cabin)

3: The Farm

4: The Maple Hollow (Vixenclan Camp)

5: Tunderpath (mountain road. All other thinderpaths are very scarcely used, like the one up to the farm or to the dock. There not a large risk, but they’re also called thunderpaths by the cats.)

6: The Clearing (Tulipclan Camp)

7: The Small Valley (Honeyclan Camp)

8: Twoleg Place

9: The Lake (meeting place)

10: Southern Twoleg Bridge

11: Northern Twoleg Bridge

12: The Tidepools (Bayclan Camp)

13: Twoleg Nowhere Bridge (fishing dock and small parking lot)

14: The Shipwreck (Beetleclan Camp)

15: Bearclaw Islands

16: Star-Spinner (lighthouse)

17: Lonely Twoleg Nest

Links (will be updated as I go):

Bayclan Lore

Beetleclan Lore

Tulipclan Lore

Honeyclan Lore

Vixenclan Lore

[sea-adhesiveness537]

Emmet is not ok I make myself sob daydreaming the period Emmet was without Ingo

Space-time distortions open up in Hisui due to the rift, bringing with them pokemon and objects from other places and times like we see in canon. This is because whenever a distortion opens, a mirror distortion opens in another space/time. A pokemon/object will go back to its original space/time once the distortion closes, unless it leaves the distortion in landed in. If a pokemon lands in Hisui and leaves the distortion in Hisui, it can no longer return, even through another distortion. It's stuck

Ingo was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught in a mirror distortion that sent him to Hisui. Humans are not supposed to travel in space/time and it disoriented him, causing him to stumblebout of the distortion, trapping him in Hisui (this is the same reason pokemon in the distortions act aggressively). The trip through dimensions humans are not built to travel through also scrambled his head up causing his amnesia

Lady Sneasler ends up finding him passed out in the snow and takes him to the Pearl settlement. She's usually not a people person but for some reason she takes a very strong liking to the strange man who can't speak a word of the Celestica language

Irida has only been leader for 10 months at this point since her father and Sneasler's last warden passed in an avalanche. She's only 15 and is expected to confer with the clan elders for all big decisions but she's kidna tired of them not respecting her as a leader so to prove her agency she goes against their wishes and accepts Ingo into the clan

Once Ingo learns the language and settles in the clan she also gives him the title of warden as he is the only person Sneasler has shown any interest in since her last warden died

(Irida: I'm so stressed but it's not like a new warden for Lady Sneasler is just gonna fall from the sky

Sneasler: Hey Irida look at this weird guy I found that fell from the sky

Irida: Are you fuckin-)

4 years after arriving Ingo meets Akari and quickly bonds with her over their mutual amnesia (difference is Akari's was on purpose from Arceus but they don't know that. Arceus doesn't know nor really care about Ingo's whole situation) and they get to be found family bc I love them

This has ended up very long and about Ingo instead of Emmet so I'm gonna send another ask about Akari and another about Emmet

SU! Cynthia: "You were once Volo, and then you turn into me? Right?"

:0 Idk why, but Dawn/Akari throwing hands with Cynthia years later is SUCH a hilarious mental image XD. Also, I can imagine our Cynthias just talking and being curious about one another xndjddmidjr.

(SU! Cynthia: "So you were once Volo, but then you turned into me? Am I getting it right?"

Your Cynthia: "It's complicated. How did you lose your, er, parts?"

SU! Cynthia: "Oh, it's a very long story, but it's always started with a mouse. :)"

Yours: "Okay...")

Also, I'm glad Emmet turned out mostly okay in the end (from what I'm getting) and reunited with his bro. Because my friend's Emmet just straight up turned into a fusion of Giratina 💀 (the transformation was gradual from what I got from their rambles).

Again, really interesting lore! I do have a question though. What do you do with certain lore bits with the anime if you were to incorporate little snippets of the other lore bits from it? Because some of it can be contradicting or different at times with Ash in the picture.

[haverdoodles]

your one character who just kind of wears a loin cloth. I understand he's like.. autistic coded but seeing like one of the only brown characters being the naked one is just. Odd. And I'm saying this as a texture sensitive autistic Brown man. Ik you likely didn't mean any harmful intent when making this but it just kind of feels off idk. Like seeing your mostly white clan (which is not an issue at all) but then there's like one brown guy with a loin cloth. It has some connotations. I hope you see where I'm coming from.

Hi there!

Thank you for reaching out. I understand completely where you're coming from and I appreciate you bringing this up. This was actually something that I had found myself thinking about as well, and as a result in recent art I started drawing him with more clothing and expanding upon his design (though I don't think I've posted much of that yet). Initially, the reason why he was barely dressed was because I was really proud of his full body vallaslin design and I wanted to show it off! Then it evolved into wanting to have some sort of lore to explain that decision on my part, which became his texture sensitivity. It took awhile to sink in that it might not look good for my brown main character in this story to be barely clothed, in contrast to his white co-stars, so I made sure to change that (and will continue to going forward).

I'm so sorry if I've caused any discomfort. I used to approach my written and visual storytelling in a fairly careless manner, which wasn't very smart of me, but I truly want to do better on that route and I'm going to be more thoughtful going forward - in more ways than one.

Thank you again for bringing this up! I appreciate critiques like these. Please know that you are always welcome to reach out again if you have more questions or concerns (and this applies to everyone else as well).

I hope you have a great day!

[rosykims]

😥 and 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 for Ashara

😥 SAD BUT RELIEVED FACE — is your oc prone to getting stressed out, or is it easy for them to keep their cool?

ashara's funny in that she gets pissed off quite easily over small inconsequential things, but when the going gets tough and she's facing real problems she has pretty remarkable emotional regulation and can keep composed through pretty much anything. she believes in leading by example mostly, and tries to project an aura of strength and unflinching control in order to inspire morale in her people and make them feel.... idk. safer! more secure. like they can depend on her. which they can.

but ofc if some marquis decides to cancel a meeting on her last minute or a shipment of flour has been stolen by scavengers on the road, all that goes out the window and shes in a bad mood for the next 3 hours lol

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 FAMILY WITH MOTHER, FATHER, SON AND DAUGHTER — how many people are in your oc's immediate family? how many people are in your oc's extended family? do they have aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc? who in their family are they closest with? are they close with their birth family, or do they have a found family?

ashara has a pretty wild family tree + history which i talked about a bit in a seperate answer, but long story short she has a LOT of family lore, tho currently the only surviving dhavise descendants are her, her sister mithra, and her nephew samahl

quick namedrops:

mithra is her twin sister, another mage, tho she rejected her abilities because she believes its ultimately more trouble than its worth. she prefers archery and has trained with the clan's hunters since early teens.

she also has a 5 year old son, ie ashara's nephew samahl (hard launch of that name i just decided on the spot lol). he's a very sweet inquisitive boy who ashara absolutely dotes on. mithra struggles with motherhood to the point where it's a frequent source of fights between them, because ashara sees mithra's relationship with her son as a mirror for THEIR relationship with their late mother. aka, bad and neglectful lol. anyways just realized he'll be 17 in datv :( cries and dies

numina dhavise was ashara's aforementioned mother. ashara's father arlan was a free marcher circle apprentice who'd been taken in by the clan after escaping the templars. the two quickly fell in love, conceiving ashara and mithra. arlan disappeared shortly after with no clue as to what happened and numina was never quite herself afterwards. she remained an adept healer for the clan, but ended up alienating herself quite a bit due to frequently resorting to blood magic in the hopes it might help her locate arlan. it never did, though her relationship with her children suffered in the attempt. it culminated in her death after the clan encountered nearby templars who were escorting an enchanter, and numina panicked. her blood magic went wrong for the first time in 13 years and she became a despair abomination, icing out half the camp and inflicting frostbite on several other members of the clan.

lastly, arlan is ashara's absent father lol. she and mithra found out years after numina's death that he had turned himself back into the circle of magi for a few reasons, mainly because he learnt what happens when dalish clans have too many mages and wanted to do right by his family. he'd been forced to complete his harrowing shortly afterwards and failed, becoming tranquil. i like to think when ashara became inquisitor she was able to keep better tabs on him and insure he was safe during the mage/templar conflict and all that followed afterwards.

so yeah. lots to unpack within ashara's family. everything in ashara's character really does come back to her family and the people in it, and although its mostly a sad story she is very much a family oriented person and wants to provide/protect them (she wants to protect everybody, really). if datv doesnt end in tragedy id love to end her story with her having her own little family and ending the cycle of pain which has kind of followed them around for generations.