#story: heart of glass

[shinobinvku]

For @kagami--uchiha | Kagami: 

“That was... very kind of you. Thank you.”

A warm smile painted across pale lips, still holding the lemonade he had fetched after he saw Chitose getting dizzy and quite wonky on her feet. Just because they had been sent out on an ANBU-mission, didn't mean that he wasn't allowed to take care of his teammate.  Not only did they depend on each other for survival but also.. is she a comrade and as such he does care about her wellbeing. "No really, for me it is only natural to help you when you are in need." And this absolutely came from a place of selflessness and not as for many, a place of expecting something in return.

"We can delay travelling onto the next day if it helps you.. Is there maybe something else I can go get that will help your system back up?" With purpose he looked through his travel scrolls, curls bouncing as he tilted his head to the side for a moment. "All I have got with me is specialized herbs to use for boosters... Food-pills.. I think you might have more of the medical things.." Of course, Kagami was packed with things that an ANBU who is sent for assassinations needs, mostly stealth weapons and poisons he can lace his senbon with.

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐏 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐊𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐈'𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃, not for the reason that one would suspect the Uchiha of ulterior motives, but because the other ANBU are standing close by, watching their movements. Tension hangs in the air. She’s a rookie ANBU medic assigned to this team, and more specifically, a new addition to Konohagakure who has yet to understand the inner workings of her surroundings in this strange, new country. The last thing Chitose needs is to catch the wrong side of her peers and superiors on the first day of the mission, though it seems that being a foreigner with a difficult background doesn’t help her case regardless. 

However, it doesn’t appear to phase Uchiha Kagami in the slightest. She accepts his offering with a nod of appreciation. 

❝ You’re...Uchiha Kagami, right? Thank you for the refreshment,  ❞ Chitose murmurs, lowering her gaze out of respect and takes a small sip. It’s good lemonade. Freshly squeezed most likely. 

Kagami goes on to ask Chitose if they need to delay their travel until she’s able to continue at 100%, which surprises the Ryuketsu. She had grown accustom to adhering the commands of her superiors during basic training, and had come to expect she would go without tending to her needs for long periods of time. In fact, the way he carries on feels awfully similar to that of a mother hen tending to chicks. It’s oddly endearing?

Then again, it could also be that she’s a vital part of their team as their only medical-nin. Either way, Chitose is stunned by the Uchiha’s kindness. 

   ❝ Excuse me, I’m confused. Are you...the captain of this team, Uchiha-san? ❞ It’s the only thing that does make logical sense for all this doting he’s doing. That has to be it.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hi! I hope this is okay but I would love to hear more of ur thoughts about the Yunmeng siblings because they are important to me and your tummy hurt comic hasn't left my brain as just,,, such good immediate characterization! ^^ Thanks!

I have too many thoughts on the Yunmeng siblings to fit into a succinct post, but I can offer you a Jiang Yanli addendum to the tummy hurt alignment.

[disneyboot]

[moe-broey]

GOD I would HATE to be stuck at a family dinner with them 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I would NOT fucking survive, the vibes alone would do 1000 points poison damage to me 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Also JUST. JUST.

THE VIBES. ARE RANCID. SHARENA DARLING YOU DESERVE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS (ALFPNSE TOO BUT DEAR LORD. Sharena LITERALLY was just told to Don't Speak Unless Spoken To RANCID. RANCID FUCKING FAMILY)

[comsumedsoul]

People think Sirius was brave enough to stand against his family's ideals. But I think it's that he wanted to be brave enough to stand against the "pureblood" beliefs. His courage was much more likely a response to his experiences, not some innate gryffindor bravery and recklessness.

It's like him being a rebel as a response to his abuse, him breaking the rules of the society he was brought up in, him being a troublemaker instead of a good heir like his parents wanted, it's more the want to be not like them, not so much as inherent bravery. Not to say that's not bravery, that is not the implication here. But people like to either diminish him as this glorified "good" character or make him utterly rash and irresponsible, and make that his entire personality, both of which are entirely opposite to what he is. Many just hate him as this "dark" character with deeds not worthy enough for redemption. Either him being so "good" it excuses all his faults or him being so fucked up it's not worth it to give him a chance.

The fact is he was reckless, and sometimes his actions come off as careless and at other times he makes us uncomfortable. But his flaws shadow his complex personality to such a degree that people forget he's also this brilliant person, someone expected to reach great heights, someone who suffered grave injustice, imprisoned for something he never did. The fact is that he still blamed himself. He lost his best friend, his real family, his soulmate, everything that actually gave him the will to fight on, everything which inspired him to be brave, and then be labelled as a traitor, a traitor to someone he loved the most, a betrayal from someone he trusted with his life, someone he would've given his life for, that stung worse than the imprisonment itself. He already lost the fight in him, couldn't even grieve because that's just how fast everything went wrong.

He's not a "nice" guy, instead has a morally grey outlook on life, because life screwed him over and over. He's selfless to the point it's selfish. He loves in a way that scars. His recklessness is a response mechanism, which will hurt others at times and I'm not excusing his actions either. The man spent 12 years in azkaban yet he was still sane enough to break out from there, which is a seemingly impossible task, the first person to do so. When he got the slightest hint that Harry might be in danger, that along with his burning desire for vengeance, was an incentive enough to awaken the fight in him, he then does the impossible, evidence of his brilliance and sheer determination and will, but also of his recklessness because he probably doesn't care about his life and later on doesn't consider the implications of his actions when he runs headfast into danger to protect Harry. He doesn't stop to think how that would affect Harry because Harry's safety takes priority for him, his utter lack of self worth easing him into the process. But there are moments where he's just this man trying to be a good godfather to his godson, trying to be brave enough to be there for Harry, brave enough to try to live for him. Whether or not he wanted it to end at one point is completely up to interpretation, but I feel he tried to be there for Harry, wanted to be brave even when suffocating in the home he did everything to leave behind, his remaining memories haunting him in every step and reminding him of everything he lost. In a position like that, it'd be very easy to fall into despair and just lose hope, I wouldn't fault him if he did. He's furthest from being perfect, and that's what makes him so human, all his trauma, his flaws, his bad decisions, his hurtful actions. His story is one of the most tragic in canon, but canon reduces him to this reckless hot tempered side character, the black sheep of the Black family yet unable to delve into what truly separates him from them.

This ALSO brings the point that Sirius "wanted" to not be like his family and by extension a Slytherin, similar to how Harry didn't "want" to be a Slytherin, tho Harry had at least canonically a more black and white outlook on life, but justified at the time, because at the mere age of 11, he learnt the evil wizard who killed his parents, the reason he was at the dursleys, the reason why he never had a good life, and probably never will, was in Slytherin, along with the dark arts and pureblood stigma associated with that house. Even though they all are just children, the encounter with Malfoy further solidified that anti-slytherin ideal. Although canon was crazy to make a single house the collective evil when it really is so much more (no one ever accused the TERF of being a good writer).

The way these characters (Sirius and Harry) are raised are also very similar. So gryffindor seems to value the want to be brave more than often, which might make sense as a trait actually favoured in a member of the house (as we see in Neville too), thus making some of these members kinda reckless to be perceived as more brave. Because that's what it is, the want to be brave.

[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.

[andreai04]

This was why she enjoyed baking. A good dessert could make her feel like she’d created joy at the tips of her fingers. Suddenly, the people around the table were no longer strangers. They were friends and confidantes, and she was sharing with them her magic.

[iconicbuck]

Oliver's Season 7 hair!!!!!!!

[dawdlecentric]

Man, this doujin isn't fucking around

Meanwhile, Seikuri in the background...

Doujin: Flashbackers by Totobe

[emayuku]

Cinderello

>.< this is one of my childhood favorite anime Goku XD episode titled Shinderero no Monogatari. if i remember this anime was created by the year 2008, and i'm still a 18 years old by that time. i first watched this anime when i was 18 or 19 years old.

@maxtaylor-dinoking

@hidheim 

@sinnohanvulpix

@di-diwata

@danieesketches

@startropicz

@robineer

@zponds

@primroselegends

@the-witchs-cafe

@blacktrenchcoat

@kubomayu

@veganmondos

@dinosaur-queen2007

@reneg661

@shmel5

@rulersofthetriassic

@shadow-the-king-of-dinosaur-blog

@d-team

@rexxraptor-blog1

@lil-dinosaur-princess-blog

@foolscap2122

@ludoviccapel

@cinderello-blog 

[random-bookquotes]

Funny how the heart gets bruised when someone tells you you’re not what he wants—even when you already know he’s not what you want either.

Anne Bishop, The Lady in Glass and Other Stories

[kellystar321]

my mrd ocs Gossamer (rat) and Glass (heart), aka "Sad Rat Dead"

"Gossamer is dead… right? Glass, their heart that's falling apart, isn't so sure, because even though the despondent rat has given up and gone ghostly, their heart is still beating. While Gossamer has accepted their death, Glass doesn't want to give up the ghost just yet. They urge Gossamer out of their cage to find a way to regain corporeality, and together they learn what it takes to want to keep living."

"C'mon, Gossamer! Don't you at least have a final wish for your last day?" "I don't know... I don't think I do..." "Well then... let's live long enough to find one, okay?"

[emryslikefrombbcmerlin]

Endings are inevitable my love. Even the Gods are mortal in the face of cessation.

- EmrysLore

[s4pphic-sh3nan1gans]

do you want to know how much the jance pictures affected me?

I am currently writing a song about it (or attempting to, at least) and I just- ajshakshak I can't do this anymore, the chokehold they have on me is INSANE.

that said, there is absolutely no better inspiration than something that makes you feel so many things at 3am. no matter what it is, it just hits different and I'm... I'm not okay 😭😭😭

[elektra616-ar]

Sobhita Dhulipala

[ploridafanthers]

there's one article of clothing i distinctly remember being jealous of back in high school. i saw it in passing, it was an Ataris hoodie and the back of it was printed with the lyrics to the bridge of "So Long, Astoria"