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i’m not an itachi hater btw this tweet just really spoke to me

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list of characters that had an overall good time during war arc:

-madara

-tenten

-that's it i'm pretty sure

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Tobirama in the new official art looks so salty he can create an entire sea XD

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i don’t understand people who love a problematic character but get angry when people mention the evil things that character did. like, that’s your man! he’s proud he did all that, support his hobbies!

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A redraw of this from over a year ago, but with the composition I originally wanted to draw

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being a fan of naruto in this day and age is like….it’s just you and your thirty page thesis on konoha’s corrupt military system

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Fanfiction writers be like:

"here's the immensely time consuming 100K word novel-length passion project I'm working on between my real life job and family! It eats up hundreds of hours of my one and only life, causes me emotional harm, and I gain basically nothing from it! Also I put it on the internet for free so anyone can read if they want. Hope you love it!" :)

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🦉

My partner critiques my fics in memes, I felt this on a very personal level.

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Or this, too. This also works

I just love putting music to my writing

I mean let’s say spoiler alert but also not really. Anyway at this point in my (and Madara’s) spiritual path this is the vibe I want for the ending of Only Shot at Honour. 3:55 onward is basically Madara and Kinza holding hands frolicking in a field of wildflowers

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I mean let’s say spoiler alert but also not really. Anyway at this point in my (and Madara’s) spiritual path this is the vibe I want for the ending of Only Shot at Honour. 3:55 onward is basically Madara and Kinza holding hands frolicking in a field of wildflowers

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to understand naruto you must first understand that it is actually about sasuke

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i love putting the character in situations that leave them in low places, strip them to their cores, and make them re-examine everything. very enriching for me and them

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Hashirama’s bisexual struggle

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Masterpost of everything OSAH related:

Character Study of OSAH!Uchiha Madara (Tumblr)

The fractured relationship between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama in Only Shot at Honour (Tumblr)

Character study fic of Uzumaki Kinza: Maiden, Mother, Blade (AO3)

Character study fic of Uzumaki Kouki: Kingmaker (AO3)

Relationships: Uchiha Madara/Original Female Character(s), Uchiha Madara/Original Uzumaki Character(s), Senju Hashirama/Uzumaki Mito 

Characters: Uchiha Madara, Original Characters, Uchiha Hikaku, Senju Tobirama, Senju Hashirama, Uzumaki Clan Characters (Naruto), Uzumaki Mito, Kakuzu (Naruto) 

Additional Tags: Uchiha Madara-centric, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Development, Character Study, Angst, Political, Slow Burn, Unreliable Narrator, Morally Ambiguous Character, Madara’s Ideology,  Romantic Tension, Enemies to reluctant allies, Power Dynamics, Author is lying to you with Madara’s voice, Kakashi voice: look underneath the underneath 

Summary:

A blade, slipping between his shoulder blades to pierce his heart.

No. That wasn’t right. The memory twisted, and the world and him with it.

A blade, slipping between his shoulder blades to -

No.

A blade -

No, he refused.

Izanagi.

Madara survives the battle at the Valley of the End and vanishes, only to resurface in a dying civilian village. Forced into anonymity and caught by circumstance between the great shinobi powers, he’s forced to bide his time, play the game, and remind the world that Uchiha Madara had never been gone - only waiting.

[OC-heavy in the beginning, canon characters appear after the end of the first arc.]

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Relationships: Uchiha Madara/Original Female Character(s), Uchiha Madara/Original Uzumaki Character(s), Senju Hashirama/Uzumaki Mito 

Characters: Uchiha Madara, Original Characters, Uchiha Hikaku, Senju Tobirama, Senju Hashirama, Uzumaki Clan Characters (Naruto), Uzumaki Mito, Kakuzu (Naruto) 

Additional Tags: Uchiha Madara-centric, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Development, Character Study, Angst, Political, Slow Burn, Unreliable Narrator, Morally Ambiguous Character, Madara’s Ideology,  Romantic Tension, Enemies to reluctant allies, Power Dynamics, Author is lying to you with Madara’s voice, Kakashi voice: look underneath the underneath 

Summary:

A blade, slipping between his shoulder blades to pierce his heart.

No. That wasn’t right. The memory twisted, and the world and him with it.

A blade, slipping between his shoulder blades to -

No.

A blade -

No, he refused.

Izanagi.

Madara survives the battle at the Valley of the End and vanishes, only to resurface in a dying civilian village. Forced into anonymity and caught by circumstance between the great shinobi powers, he's forced to bide his time, play the game, and remind the world that Uchiha Madara had never been gone - only waiting.

[OC-heavy in the beginning, canon characters appear after the end of the first arc.]

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Guys I wanna write more breakdowns like this. If you're interested in any character in particular let me know. I have demons to run from and OSAH is the perfect solution to my problems

The fractured relationship between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, as depicted in Only Shot at Honour

Welcome class to the second thread from a series where I break down the themes I'm most feral about from my Madara-centric, post-Izanagi, Founders Era WIP. Today we'll talk about Madara and Hashirama.

Spoilers ahoy up til Chapter 19 of OSAH. As with the last post, this might be enjoyable to read even if you've not read OSAH before, since it touches upon the canonical relationship between Madara and Hashirama. TLDR two bros chilling in a hot tub five feet apart cuz they're not gay

Let's go.

In OSAH, the relationship between Madara and Hashirama is something that hasn't yet had a chance to evolve. It's showcased through memories, dialogue with third parties, and throwaway narration, but at the core of it, OSAH approaches the two of them as ideological twins, separated by trauma and war.

In Chapter 11, Uzumaki Kouki describes the two of them as such:

" (...) whatever Hashirama is made of, you are much the same. Two sides of the same coin. Two equals.”

So there's a symmetry to Madara and Hashirama, but it's more than just narrative foil. It's two men made myth. They dreamed the same dream once, and yet by the time OSAH begins, the execution of that dream has broken them both: Hashirama's legacy is peace through mutual trust, while Madara's is peace through overwhelming force.

And in OSAH, they begin adopting each other's failures even though they haven't encountered each other since the Valley of the End. In this sense, in Chapter 17, Uchiha Hikaku says:

“He loved you so fucking much, [...] that he doesn’t see he’s making the same mistakes you did. The bijuu, spread across the nations. Mutually assured destruction.”

Even apart, Hashirama cannot stop looking for Madara in the world, and what Hikaku makes clear is that grief has made the Hokage blind, much in the same way it did to Madara.

The central conflict between Madara and Hashirama is that they both believe they were betrayed by the other.

In Chapter 19, Madara dreams of the battle at the Valley of the End, where he says this to Hashirama:

"Our friendship died when you compromised our peace."

But in Chapter 12, Hashirama confesses this to Hikaku:

"I can't remember what he looked like when he died [...] I just see him as he was."

Madara mourns the future Hashirama gave away. But Hashirama mourns the Madara he remembers - not the one who he fought at the Valley of the End, but the one who sat beside him by the river. That longing becomes unbearable in Madara's dream from Chapter 19, because the memory of their final battle ends with:

"I'll never forget you, old friend."

This line comes right before Hashirama plunges his blade into Madara's heart, from behind. It's not hatred that fuels Hashirama - it's grim determination to protect a once shared dream. And the fact that Madara's subconscious chooses to recall that line in his nightmare shows that's what's buried deep - loss, not rage.

Hikaku serves as an invaluable lens through which OSAH depicts the extent of the damage. His dialogue with Hashirama in Chapter 12 is steeped in melancholy:

“Sometimes I dream of him,” Hashirama admitted quietly. “Like he’s still here. Like we’re still connected.”

Though Hashirama in this scene is trying to connect with Hikaku, Hikaku doesn't let him. Instead, he draws a line:

"No. It was too late for him. There was nothing you could've done."

Where others would vilify Madara, Hikaku grieves him - the man, not the myth he ended up as. But his bitterness remains sharp. To Madara, Hikaku was just one of the many who betrayed him. To Hikaku, Madara's betrayal came first. In Chapter 17, this is what Hikaku tells Madara:

“I tried to hold it all together, in your absence. You were supposed to lead us. You were supposed to be the one to do it, to make the hard choices, to live for the Clan!”

In this, Hikaku and Madara become reflections of the conflict between Madara and Hashirama, caught in the same web of duty and disillusionment. And just like Hashirama, Hikaku still loves him. Madara's thoughts in Chapter 18 acknowledge that:

“Thank you,” Hikaku said softly. “I - thank you.”  Emphatic. Caring.  His cousin still loved him.  Madara sniffed and looked up to the stars. Then, he turned, for one last time.  “Take care of the Clan,” he told Hikaku, burdening him with the same duty Tajima had once bestowed upon Madara. “Don’t let them take advantage of you.”

And Madara loves him too, even though neither of them say it.

In conclusion -

Madara and Hashirama's portrayal in OSAH refuses to let the past settle. Their story is unfinished, even in death. Their conflicts and ideals bleed into others - into Hikaku, into Kouki, and into Uzumaki Kinza - and Madara's struggle becomes one of resisting inevitability. But he can never quite escape it.

Hashirama believed in peace. Madara, in control. In the end, they both chose sacrifice. The only difference was who they were willing to sacrifice - and for what.

So as regards Madara's village in OSAH: if he builds something better than Konoha in Mizu-sho-mura, it won't be in spite of Hashirama, it will be because of him. Because in all the ways that matter, Madara never stopped loving Hashirama, and by the time they will finally get to see each other again, there will maybe, just maybe, be enough of a steady ground to reconcile.

probably not though

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Chapter 25: The Cost of Rule of Only Shot at Honour

Summary: Madara takes responsibility.

In which there's a funeral and a reckoning. And Madara gets away with nothing.