Untitled (2018-02-16)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

“The problem is,” begins Zelia, pen in hand and paper before her. She is a study in stillness, musing and wondering. The tableau is only broken by the frantic searching of her apprentice as he races back and forth across the warehouse for the items she told him to retrieve.

Nyx thinks it hilarious. “The problem is?” she prompts.

“The problem is,” Zelia repeats, “Is that he’s terribly powerful, a force unto himself, of course.”

“Of course,” Nyx agrees.

“But he’s also terribly stupid. He has no idea what he’s doing,” Zelia concludes, finally shaping her thoughts and transcribing them. It is less a letter and more a prophecy, glyphs drawn in corners to protect the information until needed.

“Isn’t that how we all started out?” Nyx asks, ever the devil’s advocate.

“Speak for yourself, demon,” Zelia scoffs, no bite in her words, “The Grey Witch is, has been, and will always be quintessential.”

Nyx knows this is not a brag.

—

Find the line.
Find the line that will lead you home.
Find the line that will lead you home, beyond the dangers.
Find the line that will lead you home, beyond the dangers, above the pain.

Find the line and you will have nothing to fear.

—

“Immortality!” Zelia shouts, just one voice amongst an endless amount, “Immortality! That stupid boy!”

On her left is an empty chair, grey of course, on her right sits her teacher whose face is in her hand, shoulders shaking.

For a moment, Zelia is ashamed. Until she realizes her teacher is not crying, she’s laughing–then, Zelia just gets indignant.

“What is so funny?” she asks. How can her teacher laugh in the face of this disaster? Proof that Zelia has chosen poorly, that her apprentice–stupid boy, tampering with high magic without having any clue of the consequences–will end what should be an infinite chain.

The title of Grey Witch cannot be passed down if the holder becomes immortal.

Lifetimes wasted, magic forever devastated, all because she chose an idiot who could not grieve properly.

“Oh my darling Zelia,” her teacher says, “How I have failed you. The Grey Witch is not a line.

It’s a circle.”

~

A/N: I dunno. I have no prompts…

Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

would u ever write fire nation tetsukis interaction with zuko? or maybe the gaang? im so intrested in this verse

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

It’s a fun ‘verse isn’t it, anon? I think I like it better than the “original flavor” 😛

So let’s see… for the first, I’m gonna say yes–and give you a ficlet in a bit–because FN!Tetsuki meeting Zuko has a sort of drama that is entirely different from original Iron Will. But the second I’m going to say… hm… maybe…

It’s partially no mostly because the first meeting Tetsuki would have with the Gaang, regardless of FN version or original version, would be as part of the Freedom Fighters, so not much difference there. And then every subsequent meeting after that–as far as the Gaang are concerned–she’s just one more Fire Nation girl who is trying to kill them. Not much difference than what their brief interactions with Mai and Ty Lee are, then.

But it’s also partially yes because… well… FN!Tetsuki really is a lot more fun than the original flavor Iron Will and so if I ever properly write Iron Will I may just go the FN!Tetsuki route completely. Like with (En)Closure, a lot of the ficlets on here are me throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks, and the fact that Tetsuki being Azula’s bodyguard is so compelling is, frankly, sticking really well.

So maybe on the Gaang, which for all intents and purposes of this ask box event means no. But maybe one day I’ll get to writing Iron Will in a coherent, consistent manner. (HAHAHAHAHA, uh, my poor series, what have they done to deserve me as a writer)

Anyway, here’s that FN!Tetsuki meets Zuko ficlet:

—

The first time you come to court is as Azula’s–friend, follower, servant, plaything, you’re not sure, you don’t much care–you try not to gawk at the sheer opulence like the absolute hoyden you are.

Your origins were humble, for all that your bloodline says otherwise, your early years were spent in forest camps and rough villages with barely enough people to be considered such. Your father worked best on the frontier, amongst people who would never know or care about what kings and lords got up to so long as they could take care of their basic needs.

In another life, you might have been much the same.

But even going from that to your grandparents’ holdings–their mansion only one in comparison  to the utterly tiny buildings in the town around it–is nothing like the adjustments required here.

“You’re making a scene,” Mai sighs, informing but uncaring. Hypocrite. Her family is better off than yours, but they’re nouveau riche–the court is an entirely different sort of splendor than she’s used to as well.

“Who needs ceilings that high?” You respond rather than feel chastened. You’re not the one making a scene, you are insignificant in the trail of Azula as it should be. “How do people even get up there? The servants must, there would be cobwebs otherwise.”

“Who cares what the servants do?” Mai says, a droll sort of thing meant to shame you once more. She is not Azula, her words have no bite.

Ty Lee giggles, “Maybe they stack on top of each other to reach the ceilings.”

You consider the thought, smile at the image, “I doubt it,” you disagree, but temper it with flattery, “I don’t think any servants are as skilled as you are.”

“Obviously,” Mai says–less in agreement to the compliment and more out of disparaging those inferior–but it still makes Ty Lee grin brightly.

“Quiet,” Azula says, not even turning around to address you to your faces. It gets the job done anyway. “I don’t have to remind you to be on your best behavior, do I?”

It is threat more than question, but plausibly deniable permission on top of that.

Then Azula turns around, a small, sideways smile on her lips. “Let’s show the court exactly what we learned at the Academy.”

—

Nothing catches on fire–both surprising and not in a hall full of benders–but Ty Lee does manage to get up to the ceiling by way of hanging banners and three tactless young officers end up with stab wounds.

Only one of them was your fault.

—

Bizarrely enough, you meet the Dragon of the West before the Fire Nation prince. Or perhaps it is not so odd given the way the boy avoids his younger sister.

It is incidental when you meet him, the Dragon of the West, the would-have-been Fire Lord were it not for his lost son.

You wonder, briefly, what it must be like to have a father who would ruin himself at losing you. But, of course, you would have no idea where to begin.

It is as you are wandering the halls–not lost, merely… exploring–that you happen upon each other.

“Your eyes,” says the Dragon of the West, surprised, and you look away quickly, flushing, self-conscious. Your eyes are grey and green and nothing at all like flames.

“Please excuse me, your highness,” you murmur before scuttling away.

You get even more lost before a maid happens upon you and is kind enough to guide you back. As befitting your borrowed status, she does not look you in the eyes.

—

You will never know this, but it was not the color of your eyes that surprised the Dragon of the West but rather their age.

He would have said they were old eyes in a young face.

He would have been right.

—

The first time you meet Zuko it is from two steps behind Azula as is your place. He barely even notices you–which internally you sneer as a lack of situational awareness, but you know has more to do with the way he practically flinches away from his younger sister.

This? This is supposed to be the future Fire Lord?

Pathetic.

Unfortunately, it’s not so much about him as a person as it is him as a symbol–there is no argument that Azula is the better heir, more talented, more compelling, the kind of leader that would bring greatness to the nation. But there will still be traditionalists and opportunists who prefer him over her. Those who cling foolishly to birth order and sex, those who would rather have an easily manipulated Fire Lord.

His mere existence is a threat to Azula’s reign.

—

The second time you meet Zuko, you actually exchange words.

In plain clothes and a houndsnake coiled loosely around your shoulders, you look nothing like a royal attendant.

He recognizes you anyway, if belatedly, apparently not so unobservant as you thought.

“Fire Nation Prince Zuko,” you say to the Freedom Fighters, most of them too thrilled at capturing their prey to pay any attention to his face or yours.

“Let me go,” he says. He struggles with the ropes. Futilely tries to burn them away.

“I wouldn’t bother,” you say, “they’re enforced with wire. You’d only end up burning yourself.”

Jet laughs at the irony and, after a beat, so do the others. He takes over at this point, as is his wont. He still thinks he’s in charge. It’s useful, so she’ll let him. “Listen up, Fire Nation scum,” he starts on his spiel, “we are the children of those you killed, those you oppressed. We’re what happens when–”

“Did Azula put you up to this?” Zuko asks, interrupting Jet, and if there is anything bitter in his tone, resigned and expectant, then it is too mild for you to hear.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you say, because why would you ever give up your cover at his behest, “I’m just an Earth Kingdom orphan trying to strike back against Fire Nation tyranny.”

—

In another life, you wouldn’t be lying at all.

~

A/N: Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

Hola! Me again. :) Would you ever write a story in which you follow a characters development through the storyline only to find out they were the villain of the story the entire time?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Ooh… probably? It really does depend on the character doesn’t it? Well…

I mean, no one thinks of themselves as the villains even though–depending on what they’re doing–the reader will immediately understand that the character is in fact an unreliable narrator and that their actions cannot be in anyway misconstrued as good. So for this concept to work, for the twist to actually be a twist, the readers would have to honestly think that the character is the hero for the majority of the story.

I actually have a reblog post saved in my drafts (only a one line concept written)–this post–for an idea kind of like this. The OP concept is that kids take from “our world” and summoned/pulled into another one full of magic and adventure are then sent back against their will after their purpose is done. And, like, they are back in their original state physically–no scars no missing limbs, but also no muscles no magic–but mentally they’re still traumatized.

And OP continues how, fed up with pretending in “our world,” the hero tries to find their way back to that world of magic and adventure and finally–after hundreds of worlds later–they make it home.

And the one line concept I have to say to this is: what if this is how villains are created?

Because sure the hero makes it back home, can feel their magic restored, is relieved to be back where they’re meant to be.

But this world has changed while the hero was gone. The adventures they went on were decades, maybe centuries ago–legend but intangible–and so while it might be home it’s not the same.

And I wonder if the hero might take it upon themselves to “fix” that.

But they’re playing with an out of date rulebook, the things that were considered evil back then are now better understood or considered okay now. Or maybe when they were the hero, the evil they fought was a monarch and to see that the same royal family still rules is an injustice that needs to be rectified–not knowing that this current ruler is good and kind, etc, thinking the rumors are just propaganda.

It’s very much in line with the “die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

Oh no. I just had an idea. I am worried and horrifically pleased by it: Given the premise of The Many Gardens of Shikabane-hime, and my own outside POV series based on it, I might sort of now want to do a “Shikako appears and wrecks Danzo’s shit and is thus the villain”

(Uh… maybe later? I’ll put it on my to do list)

But I digress.

I think the only thing holding me back from a full yes is that, similar to the problem of the For Better For Worse / Desperate Endeavors mash up, there has to be enough of a prologue for the hero’s actions to seem… heroic and not just self-righteousness and habit.

I mean, this is why it would work in fanfiction. Just take a character who is unquestionably on the good side and then throw them into a situation where they might not be. Digressing again–speaking of fanfiction, I did write this Hail To The Queen which isn’t quite “Shikako turns out to be the villain” but could very well be the beginning of such a story.

… Actually probably the main issue is that in order to have this sort of reveal, I’d have to commit to a story long enough to get near enough to the end for that twist to make sense. Curse my attention and commitment issues! 😡

Sorry I couldn’t do more for this ask, eruditeempress.

~

Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

Would you ever write a fic set in the “(They Call It) Soulless” ‘verse? (Caretaker!Shikako in a universe where most people start getting soulmarks as babies, blanks are either killed as babies or monstrously consume spiritual energy/souls from everyone around (including themselves), and she discovers her younger brother Shikamaru is a blank the night their parents die. She feeds him (eventually, recycles) her own spiritual energy and hides the truth of his condition from everyone, including him.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Whoa! O_O Okay! I… did not know this ‘verse existed… let me go check that out real quick. I mean, I know about Caretaker!Shikako, but not about this particular iteration of it so… wow.

To the index page I go~~

…

Okay dona, I had to do some sleuthing because soulmate/soul mark stuff is no longer on the main index page since it’s become it’s own forum thread, but I thiiiink I’ve found what you’re talking about over on this index post.

Are there only the three installments? If not, uh… then this answer is only based on these three installments:

OH MY GOD. OOOOOOOOHHHHH MYYYYYYY GOOOOOOODDD!!!

DONA! WHAT?!?!!? DONA WHAT?!?!?! DONA WHAT DID YOU MAKE ME READ? WHAT ARE THESE FEELINGS YOU MADE ME FEEL? WHY AM I CRYING?!?! GODDAMNIT, DONA!

The feels! You always know how to get me with them feels, dona.

I’m gonna say yes, because it is an amazing ‘verse, and because I’ve said yes, here is your ficlet:

~

The first time Kako agrees to take a mission that will bring her more than a day away from Konoha (away from Kamaru) she is fourteen years old.

She is fourteen when she meets–and fights and kills–her first (real) Soulless.

The gnawing, gaping hunger claws at her even as she fights, even as she burns away at its empty vessel. It is excruciating, her teammates have fallen, screaming, the agony of their souls being torn out of them, breath into the void. She thinks, for the briefest of moments, that she might finally understand why there is a set procedure for babies without soul marks .

But she immediately bats the betrayal away, shreds it before it can take hold. It is because of Kamaru that she can pull through. The thought of Kamaru, figuratively and literally:

She cannot die out here, not when Kamaru still needs her, not when she hasn’t figured out a cure not yet.

But also the way Kamaru needs her, the manipulation of her own spiritual energy to sustain him, recycling it out and through and back in, that she can withstand what the rest of her squad cannot.

Genma-taicho bursts through the treetops, hoping for the best but expecting the worst and gets something in between.

She is fourteen years old when she earns her first service ribbon for surviving (killing) a Soulless.

It is not her last.

—

Genma keeps a better eye out for Kako Kinokawa after that. Guilt at first, then curiosity, then honest fondness.

Chouza-sensei was friends with her father, which in the convoluted bonds of Konoha teams, makes her something like a cousin.

A better cousin, hopefully, though considering his competition in the Nara clan… it’s not exactly difficult.

—

The second time goes, arguably, both worse and better.

Worse because she makes the mistake of letting it touch her. She screams.

She cares less about the nails tearing across her face and more about the way her life essence is being peeled away in vicious layers.

She kills it. (She has to)

Nobody (else) dies.

—

Gai’s specialty is taijutsu.

He is ineffective against Soulless.

But he was as much a student of Chouza-sensei as Genma, and just because he cannot help Kako in this matter does not mean he cannot help her at all.

—

The third she doesn’t remember so well.

“Severe head trauma,” the medic tells her when she wakes up in Konoha General, that stupidly familiar box with a stupidly familiar service ribbon on the night stand beside her and Kamaru curled up on the visitor’s chair, his hand gripped tight around hers.

“It must have been worse than previously reported,” the medic continues, “It took you much longer to wake up than expected. Your brother visited every day.”

Kako can only remember bits and pieces of the mission, much less the fight with the Soulless.

Spiritual energy contains memories.

The third she remembers mostly as a catalyst: she has to improve her control, it must be perfect–no, beyond perfect–she has to be able to do it unconsciously.

—

Jiraiya returns to the village a few months ahead of schedule.

It’s hard to follow up on rumors of Konoha’s enemies when all everyone wants to talk about is the shinobi from Konoha who specializes in killing Soulless, so he may as well meet her for himself.

Better now than later.

—

For one horrific, heart wrenching second, she thinks the Soulless screeching across her senses from the Forest of Death is Kamaru.

It can’t be, she tries to reason with herself, he can last so much longer now, it’s only been a few days.

A few days of exertion. Of high stress situations and jutsu use. He’d eat through the energy she gave him at a much faster rate.

No! It’s not Kamaru. It’s not. She won’t let it be

She enters the Forest of Death, Anko and ANBU on her trail, but until she locks eyes on the Soulless, she’s sickened, doesn’t know if she’ll be able to go through with it.

It’s not Kamaru. She knew it.

But Kamaru is there, too close for her comfort, frozen the way the other kiddies of Konoha are (she forgets, sometimes, that not everyone has built up the same resistance she has.)

It’s wearing the Oto headband, the soulless husks of its former teammates already collapsed around it.

She doesn’t hesitate.

—

Long ago, Orochimaru was just a little boy, smart and, more importantly, curious about how the world worked.

But then his parents died and instead he turned inward. Surely, there must be a better way to solve the problem of Soulless?

(Does this sound at all familiar?)

—

She feels bad about dragging TenTen into the fifth.

She hopes TenTen’s first service ribbon is her only service ribbon.

No one else should have to go through what Kako has.

—

After Tsunade is sworn in, she gets a breakdown of her forces. For genin and chuunin it’s enough to know them as rough figures per department–she’ll familiarize herself with them as needed, she doesn’t have the time to go further than that–but for those ranked higher than that, she needs to know the individuals and their specialties to effectively utilize them. Thankfully, most shinobi only get up to chuunin, and so the list of tokujou and jounin is not too long.

For the most part, the specialties are to be expected: a few medics, a few genjutsu users, some intel, some sensors.

“What is this?” Tsunade asks, finger tapping next to Kinokawa, Kako. She doesn’t recognize the symbol beside it–it might be a new one, it has been a few decades since she’s had to actually do paperwork.

Her Jounin Commander, a Nara of course, scans where she points. A furrow between his eyebrows appears then disappears, quick as a flash.

“Slayer,” Nara says, because why use a full sentence when a single word is much less troublesome? “Five Soulless,” he elaborates.

Tsunade blinks in surprise. With that context in mind, she takes a closer look. She remembers the tales her grandmother used to tell her as a child.

Not a new symbol, no.

An old one.

—

Konoha deals with the problem of infants-born-Soulless in the traditional, practical manner as it always has.

But there were Soulless before that.

If Kako is successful, there won’t be any after.

~

A/N: I kinda jumped about in places, so it’s not as coherent or cohesive a ficlet as I would like. I had a lot of different ideas tugging at me for this ‘verse and I also wasn’t sure which iteration of Caretaker!Shikako this was (like her teammates, for example, if this Kako would push so hard and graduation early with Itachi or would she hold back since she has to be able to take care of Kamaru?)

Anyway, I hope you liked it 🙂

Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

I’m the one who asked the Haru Kuwabara ask and man, it was really good. I knew surviving was not going to be pretty but still, ouch. My heart. I liked it a lot. It was also cool to learn Haru was originally supposed to be Tetsuki too!

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

😀 Thanks, anon! I love getting asked about my characters and series–don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love writing recursive fic for DoS, but there’s something endearingly intimate about sharing my stuff.

Surviving is the hardest thing to do. But when you survive that means there’s the opportunity for healing. So hopefully things will get better for Haru. (But it is very fun to make my characters sad, so not for a while?)

A lot of my stories start with Tetsuki Kaiza and then morph away into something/someone else depending on what the vibe is. She’s my go-to-gal. But I also love Haru very much. 🙂

Would you ever write about an AU where Haru Kuwabara survives and how things would be for her afterwards?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Yes.

So the reason why this one is an easy answer is because the (En)Closure series as it is now is still me just throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Actually, to be entirely honest, (En)Closure originally started as one of Tetsuki Kaiza’s reincarnated lives–which is why she’s originally slated to die during the Kira vs L disaster, because I am awful to Tetsuki Kaiza and never let her live beyond 25 years old.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the person I wanted for (En)Closure doesn’t work with Tetsuki’s personality. Haru is nosy and loud and greedy, she wants to help because she does believe in humanity as a whole but she is terribly rude and awkward. Whereas Tetsuki tends to be sullen and overly polite and she only gets involved when individual people she loves are in danger.

Vastly different people, as you can see.

As it is right now, I consider the (En)Closure ficlets as prototypes–me trying to figure out what might work, what details I want to include, what thoughts persists but don’t actually fit: Haru’s death is one that is changeable.

I think, beyond the Tetsuki Kaiza curse, the reason why I originally proposed Haru dying was because I wanted to express that even with her medium abilities, she ISN’T a genius. She solves crimes because she has more clues, not because she can make impossible but true deductions off of what little clues exist.

But her not being able to keep up–or her only barely keeping up because of her network of ghosts–can be shown in other ways. And it’s not like Light and L are working completely on their own: they both have their own teams. I guess instead of thinking of it in terms of Haru vs Light vs L, it should be the dead (guided by/via Haru) vs Kira (as created by Light) vs the law (led by L). So it doesn’t matter that Haru as a person cannot keep up with Light and L as people–she is a vessel through which spirits work through, she does not need human intelligence to win/survive.

I do think, however, there may be sacrifices. Maybe she survives because her medium abilities come from being “born dead” (water in her lungs) and because of that she can’t be killed via the Death Note. But no doubt Shinigami have other abilities besides that.

Maybe instead of Sai asking Haru to help him move on he sacrifices himself such that she doesn’t die. Like. She knows she can’t keep up, but she didn’t realize how outclassed she was until then.

And it would kind of lead into why Hikaru doesn’t show up so much–because she did distance herself from him to keep him safe, but also this time there is a concrete reason for why Sai is gone. It’s not Haru, of course, but she won’t tell Hikaru the truth. She has to keep him safe (it’s the last thing Sai asked of her).

During the Hikaru no Go part of (En)Closure–aka her teenage years–she was confident in the knowledge that she was one of the strongest mediums (if not THE strongest) in Japan. But mediums being able to interact and even control spirits doesn’t mean shit against gods. And that’s where the Death Note part of her life–aka, her twenties–starts to shake her faith in herself, forces her to confront the fact that her abilities do not make her invincible.

But there’s something appealing about her surviving despite her lack of genius. And maybe, true, it’s because she wasn’t really the primary target of Kira, but it’s a mark of… skill? luck? composure?… to be someone who has survived Kira.

All that being said, I should probably admit that I never actually finished reading Death Note. O_O Which is why this is a giant rant and not a proper brainstorm. I got up to where L dies and some intro of Near and Melo, but not any farther than that so…

However, I might be able to do some quick and vague “after the danger has passed but now we have to deal with the consequences” feels stuff? Let’s see…

~

Haru kneels beside her parents and tries to focus on being the perfect image of a bereaving granddaughter.

She shuts her eyes, squeezes them tight, lets the phosphenes paint pictures behind her eyelids.

Fuck, what a horrible thought. As if she weren’t honestly grieving. As if she were just up here for looks, out of obligation, maintaining the reputation of a man already dead. Or, worse, to maintain her own reputation.

Her own stupid, useless, overblown reputation.

Gods–and they do exist, she’s seen some–she used to be so proud of that reputation.

And then look where it got her.

She takes a shaky, steeling breath and opens her eyes. Sees the crowd of faces that have come to pay their respects.

This is the first funeral she’s gone to in what seems like an eternity that had absolutely nothing to do with Kuwabara Haru, the professional medium, and instead Kuwabara Haru, the person.

—

She has nightmares sometimes.

After what she’s seen, what she’s had done to her–worse, what she had to do to others–it’s no surprise.

Her cousin Shizuru says it’s a natural reaction, her subconscious mind trying and failing to process the trauma.

Haru is pretty sure it’s punishment.

The worst nightmares are the ones in which everything is exactly the same but above everyone’s heads she sees their names and remaining times in glowing, ominous red.

—

Most of the visitors are, unsurprisingly, from the Go Institute.

Ogata-juudan, of course, who was finally able to rip the Honinbou title from her grandfather away before losing it, almost immediately.

Grandfather had laughed so hard that day, she thought he might have actually hurt himself.

The retired former Touya-Meijin and the current Touya-Meijin, and of course the current Honinbou.

She used to hate knowing so much about the Go world–had considered it an unnecessary distraction from her fate given role. Now she wishes it were still the safe and comfortable haven it used to be.

The Honinbou steps forward to give his condolences:

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Hikaru says, so bland and dry and empty.

She hates this most of all.

—

Sai was the oldest ghost she has ever and, most likely, will ever meet.

In his own way, he was also the most powerful.

He was kind and wise, caring and honest, and probably the best person she could have the honor of considering a friend, dead or alive.

She may not have destroyed him directly, but it’s because of her that his soul will never find peace.

Hikaru doesn’t know the truth.

Hikaru can’t know the truth.

—

Grandfather and Sai and Hikaru.

She misses all of them so much.

~

A/N: Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

Would you ever write that for better for worse/desperate endavours mash up u talked about during the for better for worse brainstorm?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

((For Better For Worse brainstorm post))

Ooh, starting off with the hard ones, anon. Hm, to be honest? The heart says yes. The brain says no. And I think given that it shakes out to a maybe, I should at the very least do a brainstorm.

But here’s why the brain says no, first:

A) Ideally, in order to do a mash up of two fics, the two fics should probably be written before doing said mash up – but, I mean, that’s hand waved away because mostly that’s to get the necessary background/premise across and I suppose so long as someone reads the brainstorm first or I insert it into the mash up fic then I should be okay…

B) It’s Kakashi. DOUBLED.

And, okay, so. I love Kakashi. He is my favorite disaster string bean. And I definitely know that he’s internally always mourning and externally irreverently apathetic, but it’s somehow very difficult for me to capture his voice. I know what a good one sounds like when I read (definitely looking at wafflelate/frolic’s Kakashi voice which is phenomenal!) but I can’t quite seem to grasp it for myself.

I mean, those are the main two, really. I have a few more world-building issues… but those are less concerns and more puzzles that I’d happily sink my mental teeth into for a few minutes/hours (primarily how to structure the Tsukuyomi coherently).

…

Now as for a proper brainstorm for the mash up… hm… I don’t know what else would be in this that I haven’t already at least briefly mentioned in either the original FBFW and Desperate Endeavors brainstorms.

Maybe if I do more of an outline storyboard kind of thing?

First Scene: Kakashi, at the beginning of Tsukuyomi, the canon awful experience of being drawn up and stabbed a whole lot by Itachi. And given that this is Kakashi who is like, the worst at not antagonizing people with how casually dismissive he is, no doubt he’s not going to make a sound even if it’s ~LITERAL TORTURE~. That is, until the Itachis announce that they’re going to do it all over again. And at that point Kakashi probably says something like “I’d rather you not.” Or something to that effect, coughed out in bloody gasps but still dryly unimpressed.

Except it’s not just the one Kakashi that says this. It’s BOTH Kakashis. And so Kakashi, the Kakashi that we’ve been in the POV of, finally  notices that he’s not the only one getting tortured. End scene.

Second Scene: Flashback. Snippets of canon!Kakashi’s life as he Dreams of DoS!Kakashi’s life. And, like, for a good decade or so after the Dreams start they’re pretty much the same (because I’m gonna go off the idea that Dreams only start happening when an Anomaly, aka Shikako, exists to create a difference between worlds. Or, rather, it starts after the Kyuubi event which most people think is the cause but actually it’s the Shrödinger’s Shikako who died due to Kyuubi chakra exposure in one world but survived in the other because of SQ soul) since Kakashi never directly interacts with Shikako until graduation. But he does see differences between how happy Naruto is, or his occasional interactions with Shikaku vary a bit. And I think actually this first flashback “scene” would end after canon!Kakashi wakes up from Dreaming of his assigned team genin being VERY DIFFERENT.

Third Scene: Both Kakashis, now highly aware (and unimpressed) with each other, sort of plan how to escape. In a version of this torture in which they are by themselves, I don’t think they would bother, but I think being with another person (even if that other person is himself) would sort of spur on his “can’t let anyone else see how much I hate myself and think I deserve awful things” (because Gai once told him that that’s maybe not so good to air out in public and if GAI thinks something shouldn’t be screamed to the village en masse then it’s probably something to be suppressed violently). And at first they don’t quite understand what’s happening (but Kakashi is a very smart string bean) and as soon as one of them says something like–Itachi’s not going to be satisfied with just me. He’ll go after my adorable little genin. And canon!Kakashi would say something like, “Sasuke would throw himself headfirst into this situation.” And DoS!Kakashi responds with something like, “Not if Shikako beats him to it.” Boom. That’s the difference between the two of them.

Fourth Scene: Some more flashbacks from canon!Kakashi’s POV of living in canon but Dreaming of DoS and preferring the latter (because… oh canon… you had so much potential). And however someone with a better Kakashi voice would say he would express (or not) his envy at DoS!Kakashi. And he Dreams of how the Chuunin Exams shook out differently in DoS (although, he did Dream of the warning that Orochimaru was there, so in the month of preparing, he did pass along Shikako’s warning and such so the village does fare off better than actual!canon). And I think there’s definitely some canon Kakashi and Sasuke training where they both wake up from Dreaming out in the desert and stoically don’t mention how in their Dreams yesterday Shikako trained with them. Anyway, etc. etc. The morning before Itachi arrives to ruin everything, canon!Kakashi wakes up from a Dream and idly wishes that he could meet Shikako. He is about to get that wish.

Fifth Scene: The Kakashis, both being geniuses (genii?) even better than Itachi (also, these Itachis are weird pre-programmed automatons so they’re especially inferior) do manage to escape. Now they just have to find their adorable students. Canon!Kakashi tries not to passive aggressive too much about HOW DARE DOS!KAKASHI PUT SHIKAKO IN DANGER SHE’S PROBABLY THE BEST THING THAT’S HAPPENED TO HIM IN LITERAL DECADES, but DoS!Kakashi is just like. Hypocritical much? I don’t know. I’d use the word snark, but that seems too friendly for where they’re at right now. And arguing is a little too active. Sniping at each other, maybe? I dunno. But that segues straight into…

Sixth Scene: Shikako, seven years old, running away from an Itachi automaton.

(It’s at this point where I’m not sure if I would switch POVs to see what Shikako did to escape her torture bubble or stick to the canon!Kakashi POV since that’s what the past five scenes have been. But regardless of if it’s show via Shikako’s POV or tell to canon!Kakashi’s POV, it kind of is just that Shikako and Sasuke’s torture bubbles were near each other (since they were intended to be the same thing) and like with the Kakashis Shikako could hear Sasuke. Unfortunately, Sasuke–being the traumatized literal child that he is–couldn’t hear Shikako. So Shikako could “escape” her torture bubble, but when she tried to break Sasuke out of his, the Itachi automaton programmed to torture her wouldn’t let her. So she was tactically retreating to plan a better attack when she stumbled upon the Kakashis.)

Which then segues into…

Seventh Scene: Story time has delayed all of them and now the horde of Itachi automatons have caught up. At first they try to run, but eventually the Kakashis have to fight while tossing Shikako back and forth to each other because she is in the body of her 6/7 year old self and has very short legs. canon!Kakshi has a thought, something about how–even though he was berating his DoS self for not protecting her–now that he’s partially responsible for not getting Shikako killed he is absolutely terrified of fucking up. (Because… Kakashi) And a very powerful thought of “I can’t let her die.”

Eight Scene: Flashback. The day after what would have been the family dinner post Wave mission at the Nara household. canon!Kakashi doesn’t mean to loiter outside the Nara clan compound like the most awkward and sad string bean that he is, but he just Dreamt of the best night of his life. He was actually happy. And that hasn’t happened since… shit. Before Obito died? And the Nara guards (or watchers) vaguely understand because it’s no surprise that everyone in the Nara clan Dreams of what it would be like if the daughter had survived and know that Kakashi would have been her teacher, but they don’t exactly know why today he is loitering. Except Yoshino does. And she comes to the gate and invites Kakashi for tea in such a way that he can’t awkwardly run away from, as is his usual response, and so there’s the two of them. Staring at a camera that doesn’t have a picture of DoS Team Seven. It’s all very sad and very lovely.

Ninth Scene: Haha! Tricked you, I just didn’t want to write an entire fight scene. 😛 Anyway, the Kakashis successfully defeat this batch of Itachi automatons but being paranoid for good reason means they suspect that more are incoming. Shikako is a little nauseated from being thrown around like a hot potato during the fight, but she takes charge because otherwise the two Kakashis would get too caught up in their passive aggressive fight to get anything done. They have to figure out how to save Sasuke from his torture bubble.

… and then I would end it here because open endings are cool… and also it’s at this point that I have no idea what to do next. I mean do they save Sasuke immediately or do they have to outsmart the Itachi automatons because they’re all acting the way the immune system does.

Basically I’m trying to figure out whether or not they should have Sasuke with them while they go around on their information scavenger hunt. Would it be better to for Sasuke to know that Danzo ordered the Uchiha Massacre because they were planning a coup? Or is it something that canon!Kakashi has to decide whether or not to share? (Oh god, Kakashi is going to fuck this decision up real bad no matter what he chooses)

~

A/N: Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

Let’s play Writer’s Would You Ever

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

jacksgreysays:

lockandk3yfiction:

Send me an ask that says “Would you ever write…” and continue the sentence.

I’ll respond with yes or no and give an explanation as to why if I want to.

Another ask box event!

If I respond with yes, I’ll do my best to write a ficlet or, at the very least, a brainstorm.

If I respond with no, I’ll explain why and depending on the ask try to articulate what would need to be different in order to get it to a yes and then maybe write a brainstorm for that modified version.

Let’s do this!

Missed Post (2018-02-10)

Sister’s birthday, helped out with a script, some RPG gaming, very few hours of sleep.

But please do send in those would you evers, I am very excited to answer them! 💜

Let’s play Writer’s Would You Ever

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

lockandk3yfiction:

Send me an ask that says “Would you ever write…” and continue the sentence.

I’ll respond with yes or no and give an explanation as to why if I want to.

Another ask box event!

If I respond with yes, I’ll do my best to write a ficlet or, at the very least, a brainstorm.

If I respond with no, I’ll explain why and depending on the ask try to articulate what would need to be different in order to get it to a yes and then maybe write a brainstorm for that modified version.

Let’s do this!

Legends of Sunshine (2018-02-09)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Three-Sentence Fic: Hibiki and the Kuwabara Clan

~

Her earliest days are spent quietly in the corner of various rooms of the onsen depending on who is available to watch her. Or, at least, anyone who is not too busy with their own duties to keep an occasional eye out for a single child prone to silent daydreaming.

Hibiki grows up as isolated a person can while being a member of a clan nearly one hundred strong.

—

The problem is that the nearest in age to her are either infants–too small and young to provide much in the way of playmates–or away in the village, soon to be genin and functional adults in the eyes of shinobi culture.

Between the one child who will soon be off to the academy anyway and the five babies who require near constant monitoring, it is no surprise which the clan caretaker prioritizes.

Still, it’s a little lonely.

—

Or perhaps the problem is her parents: so successful yet so far away. Her mother, Tamaki, the clan’s representative in the capitol–fierce and graceful, both–her father, Mitsuru, mostly brilliant, sometimes absentminded, but always devoted to his wife.

But if them being in the capitol is what is best for the clan, then of course that is what is best for her.

—

Hibiki is four years old when she chooses Shokupan… or when Shokupan chooses her.

To this day they can’t quite agree.

Regardless, it is the best day of their lives.

—

(The day they meet Suki is a close second, but that is a story for another time)

—

Before she goes to the academy, Hibiki meets her uncle Atsushi just the once.

She is trying to sneak an entire watermelon out of the kitchens for Shokupan, who is far too fat and spoiled already, the shape of it bulging unconvincingly under her shirt.

She is not sure who is more surprised, but she is certain that she’s been caught, wide-eyed and ready to drop her ill gotten gains–but all he does, besides huff a soft, amused laugh, is pat her on the head and continue on his way.

—

The next time they meet is a decade later:

She is a fully fledged genin of Takigakure, contributing in her own way to the Kuwabara clan.

And he is the head of said clan, informing her that she is one of the candidates to become his heir.

—

Hibiki loves her clan–how could she not? They have given her everything, have given her Shokupan, have given her what she needs to become a successful shinobi; one who will be strong enough to see a world she had only ever daydreamed of as that small, lonely child.

Hibiki loves her clan–this is not the problem.

~

A/N: Some three sentence fic about Hibiki and her clan for the Legends of Sunshine RPG.

… I also only now realize that Hibiki and Haru of (En)Closure have the same last name… hm…