Jai Nice

OMG, BLACK CANARY IS REAL.
I really don’t have a drabble or brainstorm attached to this. I just wanted to fancast/costume. [Not today’s daily post]
Jai Nice

OMG, BLACK CANARY IS REAL.
I really don’t have a drabble or brainstorm attached to this. I just wanted to fancast/costume. [Not today’s daily post]
They won.
Shikako breathes, body trembling from a lack of chakra, but at least she’s still standing.
Oh, wait, no, there go her knees.
At least she’s still conscious.
Through her wavering vision she can see the pink of Sakura’s hair, bending over the prone bodies of Naruto and Sasuke. They’re beaten and bruised and bloody, but they’re alive. They’re all alive.
And they won.
She breathes.
—
The light from far away stars are years, centuries, millennia old; signals from a past that no longer exist.
—
“Shikako,” someone says, slowly stepping towards her.
She senses it more than she hears–eardrums blown from the percussive waves of explosions–but she recognizes it all the same.
Warmth and calm and safety.
She says nothing, can’t say anything, just focuses on breathing–inhale, exhale–we won, we’re alive, we won, we’re alive.
He doesn’t repeat himself, doesn’t reach out to touch her, doesn’t cradle her into a cocoon of sand. She can’t be seen as weak here. Not here, in front of these strangers made allies. Not now, when victory could so easily edge one way or another into war or peace.
He steps closer and waits and that is enough.
—
The stars are always shining, but it’s only when the sun goes down that they can finally be seen.
—
She breathes and she shakes and slowly, carefully, she stands.
She is not the jinchuuriki of the strongest bijuu. She is not the last wielder of an unstoppable bloodline. She is not the reincarnation of two mythical brothers.
But she is as much of a sage as her teammates. She is the embodiment of shadows. She has refused death time and time again. She was born Shikako Nara but she has always been more than that.
She is a living, breathing, impossibility.
She stands–because they are alive and they have won, but that doesn’t mean it’s over–and she speaks.
—
What is the sun but the nearest and brightest star?
—
(omake)
“That was well said,” Kakashi-sensei says, as she is finally wrangled into a field medic’s tent by a wild-eyed Sakura.
She looks over at him, is so selfishly glad that this specific death is one that she prevented, and shoots him a lop-sided grin, “Yay, chakra exhaustion buddies,” she cheers, tiredly.
“No, not yay!” Sakura scolds, slapping a paralysis tag on Shikako so her chakra doesn’t deplete itself entirely with detrimental shivering. Shikako hates it–despite having had a hand in creating it, or maybe because of that.
“Maa, she’s such a bad influence, don’t you think Sakura-chan?” Kakashi grins back, getting a paralysis tag slapped on him as well for good measure.
“Please, stop talking,” Sakura requests because the tags don’t cover all movements and speaking was deemed a necessary function. But she has mastered Tsunade’s civilly threatening bedside manner, and so both of the conscious members of Team Seven shut up.
For a few moments, anyway.
“Writing your own future, huh?” Kakashi quotes, unable to keep the pride out of his voice.
Shikako blushes–or would blush, if she had enough blood in her body to do so, before smiling shyly at her sensei.
“Do you know what you’ll write in yours?” He asks, and she feels a giggle bubble out of her.
“I can honestly say, I have no idea what the future holds.”
~
A/N: … I’ve been wanting to do this drabble for a long time. I’ve been saving those little italicized snippets for a while, but I’m afraid I haven’t done the idea in my head justice with this
And I know, that ending totally doesn’t match the rest of it–hence, the omake–but it was immediately related to the earlier parts and I didn’t think it should be it’s own separate post.
A couple of very tiny brainstorms, such tiny storms of brains… It’s a feast for zombie ants.
1) HTGAWM x Inception fusion
IIIIIIIIIIII… don’t even know? I’ve just been getting a lot Inception vibes while watching HTGAWM? Like especially the parallels between Cobb with Arthur and and Mal then Annalise with Frank+Bonnie and Sam. And, let’s be real, how much more interesting would Inception have been as a movie if it had been Annalise Keating instead of Dominic Cobb (ugh, all his manpain is like mayo on wonderbread).
Anyway so…
How To Get Away With Inception
It’s not enough to be the first. In this industry? You have to be the best.
And the best is Annalise Keating.
Featuring: Extractor!Annalise, Pointmen!Frank+Bonnie, Forger!Connor, Chemist!Michaela, Architect!Laurel, Jack-of-all-trades?Wes, and Tourist!Asher. (Tbh, I’m iffy on Frank, Laurel, Wes, and Asher’s roles. I do want Wes to not seemingly have a specialty and so the others think he’s just Annalise’s puppy like in canon, but I also want him to be able to do stuff. OH WHAT IF–)
I dunno. I wouldn’t want it to be a one-to-one copy-paste type of fusion/crossover. But there are definitely some parallels between the two that I think it would be absolutely fascinating to explore HTGAWM through an Inception lens.
Like, maybe in a post-Inception world, dream-sharing becomes more legitimate. There are actual firms created in the defense (and intrusion) of minds. It would make sense for it to begin with lawyers–and surely an ex-lawyer would be a better extractor than an ex-architect?
Anyway, it’s a small practice at first, since really all the Keating Four (at the time, Annalise, Sam, Frank, and Bonnie) focus on is defense. But then… something happens with the Lila Stangard job. Something which leaves the mark brain dead, Sam Keating in a coma, and Annalise with a greater grasp of dream sharing than previously thought possible much less attainable.
And so Annalise supposedly stops working–stops helping the rich people of the world build security for their minds. Because now she’s breaking into them instead, extracting has always been more of a lucrative business than securing.
Except then this broke kid comes along and says he may have a way to fix Sam Keating. He’s seen something similar, but not quite. Instead of Lila and Sam, it’s Rudy and Rebecca. And, yes, that broke kid is Wes.
So Tourist!Wes into the mind of Rebecca who may have the key to figuring out how to fix Sam? Ugh, I dunno. Intricate plots are not my wheelhouse.
—
2) HPxDescendants fusion
Because I received this anonymous ask, and it sort of got me thinking on what I would do in my own HPxDescendants crossover. I’m not particularly motivated to do this one–Once Then Always is much higher on my list–but I figured I ought to type it out than let it stagnate in my head. And it’s not that much anyway:
In line with anonymous’ Harry is raised in Auradon… I was actually thinking it might be interesting if instead of taking Carlos’ place, Harry takes Jane’s or, maybe, is raised alongside Jane as her brother. Like… where best to hide a magical baby than with the baby of one of the most magical beings in Auradon.
But I guess the fic would be a lot about how Harry has been doing accidental magic since he was young and how that twists Jane’s self-esteem because her brother has magic but she (supposedly) doesn’t. But, tbh, I don’t care that much about Jane to the point of writing a Jane-centric HP-fusion fic.
And I guess there could be some interesting conflict/drama about how Harry’s eye color is worryingly similar to a certain evil fairy’s. And so maybe the story is about how people think that there is a good and evil fairy born to every generation then–until Harry’s true origin is revealed–the evil fairy is assumed to be Harry (when in fact it is Mal). I dunno.
I’d go about connecting the two world through magic lore, but I don’t know enough/don’t care enough to create one interesting enough to sustain a fusion fic.
—
Like I said. Very messy.
A/N1: @omgcheckplease and it’s fandom are so freaking cute and I just can’t, ugh.
So here are three plot bunnies which I would kind of like to see, but don’t have a fully formed idea nor the ability to do them justice. If anyone would like to adopt them, go for it (and I would totally love to beta/brainstorm with you).
~
1) Untitled “High Fantasy”* AU
In which the son of the Elf King has slain trolls and dragons, but fumbles in the face of a tiny creature known only as a hobbit.
Basically, the Canadians are elves, and the further south you go the shorter the races get. Therefore, Jack and Ransom are Elves; Holster, Shitty, and Nursey are Human; Lardo and Dex are dwarves; and Bitty is a hobbit. I’m unsure whether or not Chowder should be a dwarf or human…
Um, but, basically… I had some very strong Bagginshield feelings even before reading CP and it certainly didn’t get any weaker after. But since one of my guilty pleasures about Jack and Bitty’s relationship is their ludicrous height difference, I figured Jack ought to be an elf instead of a dwarf.
Also, since Jack was canonically an ugly baby/chubby kid/awkward teenager, it’s super hilarious if he’s an elf who are usually characterized by their ethereal beauty.
I don’t really have a plot in mind, though, just the idea of throwing the Haus (+Frogs) into the “high fantasy” setting and letting hilarious cultural misunderstandings get in the way of an elf/hobbit relationship. I love cultural misunderstandings as a romantic comedy trope.
*[“High Fantasy” is pretty much Lord of the Rings without specifically being Tolkien’s world–for example, an entirely, unrelated world with magic and such and a separate set of universal rules. Uh, in contrast there is “low fantasy” which would be Harry Potter–in that there is magic set in the ‘real’ world; so there are extra rules but those are on top of what already exist. Arguably a high fantasy world could be completely underwater and instead of light/visual cues people use telepathy and sonar. Whereas, if there happened to be a story in which a “normal” person met a mermaid who lives at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and uses telepathy and sonar, that would be low fantasy.]
—
2) In Which Bitty Is A Ghost
Or, rather, in which Bitty cannot be heard or seen by anyone alive, nor can he touch anything. How is he supposed to bake during this time of crisis?
Featuring: a disturbing lack of hockey or pies, Jenny and Mandy the sorority Haus ghosts, and Jack Zimmermann’s butt being better at emoting than him.
Never fear, Bitty is not actually dead. He’s just in a coma. And his consciousness is for some reason stuck in the Haus (or wherever Jack is, but Bitty doesn’t want to distract him from his first year in the NHL… even if Jack is the only one to sort of perceive him).
Uh, I just had some world-building details in mind… like, the reason why Jenny and Mandy hang around Ransom so much (besides him being very good looking) is because he kind of gives off an aura which strengthens them. Enough to write in a steamy mirror, anyway.
And the two of them are very helpful with teaching Bitty how to be a ghost. Not so much how to get him to stop being a ghost.
Now, I’m not saying true love’s kiss is the answer, but I don’t know what else it might be.
—
3) Untitled… I don’t even know… Celebrity!CanonDivergence!AU
I have no summary or title for this particular fake fic, just a brainstorm. So here:
It’s a canon divergence AU in which Jack doesn’t step up his wooing of Bitty, because he doesn’t think he can handle the pressure of being the first out NHL player.
So, probably, a few years pass. Bitty also graduates with a major in American Studies / Food Anthropology / something that allows him to essentially do his vlogs professionally.
Now, whether that means he becomes one of those youtube famous vloggers that live off subscriptions and views, or if Food Network Channel picks him up as the next Food Network Star (or if one leads to the other…) would be up to whoever writes this. But, basically, Bitty becomes famous in his own right in the specific niche of vlog/baking. Just like how the Zimmermann name is also famous in the specific niche of hockey.
Aaaand I guess there’s some kind of convention–maybe VidCon maybe the New York City Wine & Food Festival–in which Eric R Bittle, star of Bitty’s Bites, is holding a panel where he bakes and answers questions. One question is “Have you met any other celebrities?” And… well… sure there are the other Food Network stars (he and Duff Goldman have the strangest friendship/rivalry. Shhh, this is an AU in which Ace of Cakes wasn’t cancelled, don’t harsh my vibe) but those are people he works with and he’s pretty humble so he doesn’t consider himself a celebrity. But you know what, he was once teammates/housemates/friends with Jack Zimmermann, NHL star… so Bitty talks about that.
By which I mean, rhapsodizes about his Samwell years the rest of his panel time and no one really has the heart to stop him because he was so obviously enamored by this… hockey guy… that it’s absolutely fascinating to listen to.
And, well, Bitty is openly gay. So when, at the end, he punctuates that he used to have such a huge crush on Jack, well, his fans go wild. And there’s not much overlap between Bitty’s fans and hockey fans, but there is a little. Just enough that people begin speculating about Jack to the point that, eventually, when Jack is doing a post-game interview, expecting some of the normal questions, out of the blue someone asks about Eric Bittle. Jack hasn’t thought about Bitty in YEARS. So he just kind of… contacts Bitty and is like… wanna get coffee sometime?
They slowly fall back in love. While also being very famous people in very different spheres. And Bitty learns that he is allowed to be selfish sometimes. And Jack musters up the courage to come out (because it’s been a few years, his place on the team is secure, he doesn’t want hockey to be the only thing in his life).
Happy Ending, etc. etc. Bitty goes to Jack’s games, Jack probably makes cameos in Bitty’s Bites–mostly just standing around on screen like a giant and chirping at his boyfriend. Super cute stuff. etc. etc.
spinoff of the first idea: all the guys playing one of those role playing games for reasons, with those races as their characters and Bitty and Jack keep trying to do sidequests together, even when they are not allowed or is remotely relevant to the game, and the dice loves Bitty so everybody keeps getting sidetracked by Bitty and Jack going on a visits to their homes to smooth out cultural misunderstandings
Hahahaha! Bitty WOULD be one of those people who always get the perfect roll of the dice or the right card. Lardo would totally be Lady Who Is Also A Knight (™) with Shitty being Willowy Poet (Not)Boyfriend. And I imagine Ransom and Holster’s Hockey Shit powerpoints would be similarly hilarious as D&D Shit powerpoints.
Dex would probably despair at how shoddy Nursey’s character sheet is (you can’t just put all of your points into charisma!), and Chowder would probably attempt to be a shark version of Sir Bearington (™).
You’re welcome! I’m happy I was able to help and, honestly, this was a pretty fun endeavor. Fanfiction is basically a thought exercise–a sort of if this, then what–which I’m always interested in discussing.
Best of luck with your fic!
2/3 But your idea for a dead Carlos contributing to Cruella’s Crazy was really good to, and now I’m not sure what I want to do with that. But for the tournament itself, I’m not sure if i want to stick with Dragon Hall causing mayhem as the 4th school, or play with the timelines and have Carlos taken while in Auradon instead. My reason for no one finding him was the fairy godmothers barrier. So for DH either the goblet ceremony happens coincidentally as Carlos makes his hole in the barrier…
3/3 and Carlos’ only ‘Friend’ is Evie. Or it’s after the book, before the movie and the Goblet completely shatters the barrier and releases all the Villains to grab it’s Champion. On the otherhand Auradon as the 4th school, the villains aren’t released to complete mayhem and destruction, but King Beast still gets to deal with keeping a foreign countries SAVIOR in horrible conditions on the isle of the lost. and Malificent can stay as the end of the Fic big bad.
I’m all for the more disturbing and heart-wrenching option, so feel free to use the dead Carlos idea if you want.
Hm… I mean, if this Carlos is in fact Harry (and there’s no Carlos to hold Harry’s place) then I would think that Dumbledore and co. have been looking for Harry for years now. In which case, you don’t even really have to stick to the Goblet of Fire timeline–unless that tournament is specifically what you want to do. But, hm, I never really thought the Goblet was all that powerful? Like, sure supposedly it compels Harry to compete but that was only stated not actually proven? But, then again, this is not a post about the plot holes of the HP series and so we could take it as fact.
Anyway, at most, I think the Goblet would only be able to compel Harry/Carlos to compete, not shatter the barrier around the Isle (because how would an age barrier be formed around the goblet if that was one of its powers?). So, again, your timing is what matters most–if you do decide to have it when the gang is already in Auradon then I suppose you can also decide whether or not there is an Auradon Prep delegation and who would be on it. Then you would have a mix of villain kids and hero kids if you want.
As for diplomacy, at this point Ben is King not the Beast so he would have to be the one to deal with the political fallout of having the UK’s Chosen One living on the Isle of the Lost. Then again… I mean, they have Azkaban, so it’s not like they’re unfamiliar with the idea of island prisons. And, in comparison to a dementor-ridden 24/7 torture prison, Harry living in Auradon’s equivalent of a ghetto isn’t so bad? Like, actually, considering no one cared about the abuse he suffered under the Dursleys I don’t think people would care all that much of his poor living standards on the Isle.
As for big bads, well, since this is a crossover fic, you may want to consider having the big bads also crossover. That is, have Voldemort involved. Especially since this is GoF year which is when Voldemort returns, it could very well be that the villains take notice of this. I mean, maybe not necessarily work together–because teamwork, boo, but also it’s not like Maleficent has anything against Harry/Carlos in particular.
ACTUALLY maybe even have the big bads turn against each other. Obviously, Maleficent’s main goals are to get free of the barrier and get revenge on Auradon. Voldemort’s is to kill Harry/Carlos. Depending on how you have them act on their motivations you could put them at cross-purposes or have them cooperate. Or even a little of both.
Sorry I can’t really be of more help. I realize some of it is due to an inefficient messaging system which makes discussing a fic difficult, but my main concern is that there are so many plot points you have to juggle that the story collapses under it’s own weight. Because if you do wait for this to happen when the Lost kids are in Auradon already then you have so many factions with contradicting goals. You have the villains, the villain kids, Auradon, the Light side, and then Voldemort. If you do pre-Auradon, then the villain kids are not as separate from the villains, and so the factions are just Isle of the Lost, Light side, Voldemort. Much easier to handle and easier to keep the plot contained.
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I’m still a bit sick, but at least now I can breathe through my nose, so I count that as a win. Thanks for the well wishes!
All of this is very surreal, Ben thinks, as he carefully pokes at the scrambled eggs in the frying pan in front of him. Him, in pajamas, standing in his kitchen cooking a very late breakfast. His ex-girlfriend, perfectly dressed, sitting poised in one of the tall chairs for his dining table across from his current houseguest. An escapee from the Isle of the Lost.
“The season that you took over was my favorite, really,” Carlos says candidly, before smearing a thick layer of jam on his toast and shoving half of it into his mouth.
An escapee from the Isle of the Lost who is somehow better at media runaround than Ben–even though he’s been trained on this since childhood and again as part of Knight lessons.
“I’m not surprised, that season was the most popular even in other countries. A fresh face does wonders for a dying series. Although, I didn’t know you got reception on the Isle,” Audrey preens, delicately sipping at her no-pulp orange juice and leaving a pink lip stain on her glass.
Beneath the table, Dude has settled into a reluctant silence, his Audrey-induced growling abated mostly by Carlos’ gentle and rhythmic foot nudging.
Bemused, Ben turns back to the frying pan.
“We don’t. Well, not really. It’s more like we don’t have TVs on the Isle to receive signal. But I’m pretty good with machines,” Carlos says through a mouthful of food.
In disgust, Audrey looks away, “I suppose you don’t have manners on the Isle, either?” Half-heartedly she adds, “Is that why you left?”
Even Ben knows how much of a reach that was, and he figures the eggs are as good as they’re going to get. He turns off the heat, scrapes them onto two plates, and sits himself at the table as well. One plate goes in front of him, the other in front of Carlos.
“You sure you don’t want any, Audrey?” he asks, mostly sarcastic.
“As if,” She scoffs, “If I remember your cooking correctly, those eggs are probably somehow runny, rubbery, and burnt all at the same time.”
And… well… she’s not wrong. Ben pushes around the mess on his plate.
“They taste okay to me,” Carlos volunteers, after trying a bite. It must not be a lie because he keeps eating them, but Ben can’t help but mirror Audrey’s skeptical expression.
“Really?” Audrey asks, no longer a reporter but a person honestly mystified.
“They smell okay, so it’s already a lot better than the eggs on the Isle,” Carlos says with a shrug.
“Okay as in what?” this time, Ben asks.
“Okay as in not rotten,” Carlos clarifies, “Eggs are kind of a luxury on the Isle–non-spoiled ones, anyway–they are a good source of protein and all that. But they aren’t all that high a priority during barge runs, even if we’ve been getting first pick. And it’s rare to actually find a non-broken, non-spoiled egg so…” he shrugs again, though his shoulders don’t quite come back down after, and focuses on his breakfast.
Ben and Audrey look at him, then at each other, ill at ease. Of course rubbery, burnt eggs would taste okay in comparison to rotting food. Having no TVs is one thing. But not having edible food? Barge runs?
What–
“What was life on the Isle like?” Audrey breathes out, horrified, somehow thumbing guiltily at the condensation beading along her glass of orange juice.
Carlos glances towards Ben for something like reassurance, then faces Audrey, “Is this still off the record?”
Audrey hesitates, and for that second Ben earnestly shoots her a glare, but she rallies herself. All of her emotions–her shock, her pettiness, her concern–tucked away behind pure professionalism. “Do you want it to be?”
Carlos answers.
~
A/N: I swear to god this story! Argh! Literally every chapter I have one thing planned and instead it goes in a completely different direction. I am barely stringing together a sentence when suddenly my brain goes–oh, wait, what if instead of that thing you already plotted out I did this thing instead? WHYYYYYY BRAIN WHYYYYYY.
That being said, because I have no idea what this story is doing I am even more invested in writing this because I AM SO CURIOUS AS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING.
It’s an interesting idea for sure. The Harry Potter series (or at least the British magical world presented in it) is insular enough that many other shows/movies/books aren’t necessarily incompatible. There are some points where I’m wondering what exactly you’re implying–because there are multiple ways to interpret this.
Like, for example, is this a switched identity thing–in which both Carlos and Harry exist but for some reason, Cruella switched her baby for the Potters’ baby? Or is this a story in which Carlos does not exist, but Cruella somehow obtains Harry and then names him Carlos because she would have named any child she raised Carlos? Like… is the Carlos we see in Descendants secretly Harry Potter? And only when the Goblet of Fire calls upon his “real name” does he realize it… And so is there then a “Harry Potter” living and learning in Hogwarts that, due to actually being Carlos de Vil, realizes his entire life has been a lie?
I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not entirely sure what kind of Carlos-is-Harry method you want to use for this story so I can’t really brainstorm more on what you’ve given me…
I suppose I wonder how Cruella got Harry (either instead of, or in exchange for her own son). Like, is she blood related to Lily (and Petunia)? Or did she just see this green-eyed baby and want it for herself–but, why?–or did she have Carlos and try to–OH MY GOD.
Okay. I just thought of something potentially horrific but possibly in character for the Descendants’ version of Cruella de Vil. Like… what if she did have Carlos (canon Carlos, that is) but he died as a baby. For some reason. Either her own neglect or he just wasn’t a very healthy baby. But he dies. And we’ve seen how attached she is to that fake stuffed dog so what if… she just lost her baby. And she sees this abandoned baby just, you know, lying there. And she takes it. Because that means her baby’s not really dead, see, he’s right here.
Um… like I said… I have no idea which route you want to take for that so everything with a grain of salt.
But, okay, after that… I guess then I would have to wonder about the timing of things. Since Goblet of Fire happens in the year right after Harry turns fourteen… wouldn’t this happen before the events of the Descendants movie? In which case, Carlos aka Harry isn’t enrolled in Auradon Prep–he’s a student of Dragon Hall. And if he’s, as in GoF canon, a representative of a fourth school then that means you can bring in other Dragon Hall students to Hogwarts for the tournament. Such as Mal, Evie, Jay, and other of the more magically inclined villain kids.
It would derail the Descendants movie entirely but… it could be interesting to play around with. I mean, as I’ve said before, I haven’t read the book so I don’t know much about non-movie canon for the Descendants world, but if you can make it work that more power to you. And nothing is to stop you from having the events of Descendants (that is, Ben inviting the four Lost kids to Auradon Prep) from still happening after the GoF x Isle of the Lost year.
Some advice: I’d say watch out for spreading yourself too thin, though, and make sure you have a good handle on your character voices. Especially Carlos-Harry. He’s going to be different than either canon!Carlos or canon!Harry, but he has to be similar enough to both that you can still get the feeling of both of them.
And, make sure Cruella’s motivations make sense. In a way, SHE’s the instigator of your fic idea, so even if her reasoning isn’t exactly rational (because emotions aren’t always rational) it should adhere to some kind of internal logic.
It’s definitely an interesting idea, with a lot of intricate plotting to work through, but not entirely undoable. If you have your heart set on it then go for it! 😀
Still sick. Can’t breathe through my nose. So much off-brand NyQuil.