Thanks, anon! š Iām a huge mess when talking in person, but written word is a lot easier for meāeasy to rearrange things to convey ideas better when I have time to process what Iām thinking and turn that into words. Also, metaphors arenāt as effective when spoken aloud, I find, or at least they tend to sound awfully cheesy when I voice them instead of writing them.Ā
Tag: anonymous
Okay so, you may not like Boruto, (and honestly, I can’t disagree with you) but you have to admit that Himawari is pretty great. Such a cutie. A dangerous cutie
Boruto isā¦ I have yet to find his positive traits, is the best way I can put it. With nearly every other next gen character I can find some aspect of them that I like or understand or sympathize with at least a little bit, but Boruto is basically likeā¦ self-absorbed privileged upper class cishet white guy who feels entitled to everything but doesnāt understand responsibility or respect?Ā
Likeā¦ even at the end of his story arc he doesnāt really understand how much of a tool he was being? He CHEATED multiple times in an exam witnessed by foreign delegates and against someone who is supposed to be his best friend and yet weāre supposed to root for him? Iām justā¦ wtf.
If he were presented as that douchebag character who learns how much of an asshat heās been and eventually becomes a better person through ~friendship~ and such then, sure, that would have been great. Fantastic even. I love Jeffrey Wingerās character development in Community from manipulative scumbag to reluctant group leader. I understand, at the very least, why Shawn Spencer from Psych is the way he is and himĀ lying about being a psychic is how he can help people and his character development is great, too.
But thereās none of that for Boruto as far as I can see, and thatās really what he needs, I think. Kishimoto just slapped a hero label on him without backing it up and thereās nothing at all that supports that.Ā Heās just been presented poorly, is allāno surpriseāand heās still new enough to me that I havenāt been able to crack his code. But itās running in the back of my mind so I can do more Walking Around installments with next gen Team Seven, so hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.
As for HimawariāI donāt know much about her either, but what I do know is that basically, yeah, sheās fantastic. š
Well, we all know that Shikako is uninterested in romance but I think it’s worth considering Surprisingly!Smooth!Shikamaru? After all, Shikaku stealth romanced Yoshino pretty fiercely, according to the sidestories, and Shikamaru was the only one of the rookies to actually be shown *dating* in canon. (As far as I remember, anyway.) Uh, so prompting for contrast!twins in which Shikako is totally oblivious and Shikamaru is the master of the (lazy) date.
Hahahaha, I actually think Shikako comes off as a lot more charming/smooth to those who didnāt grow up with her (ie Team Ten and Sakura) but she doesnāt actually do it on purpose/know what to do with it. So Shikako accidentally-flirting-with-people-and-not-knowing/intending-to-follow-up is how I headcanon her properly in DoS, while Shikamaru is way suave in all aspects of dating in comparison.
Itās definitely a cool idea, but Iām not sure how Iād implement it. Like, does Shikako finally get asked out and she has no idea what to do so she turns to her brother for help and sheās over here planning it out like some kind of battle while heās just likeā¦ no, Kako, thatās not how it works. Or is it Shikamaruās POV of the trail of admirers his sister leaves behindāand possibly having to carefully screen through his own dates to make sure not to go out with someone who once had a crush on his sister because that would be weird?
But Iāll put it on the list, anon, and hopefully something will come to me. š
In DOS, the night of the festival: Tenten: The stars look beautiful tonight. Shikamaru: Yeah. You know what else is beautiful? Tenten: *blushes* What? Shikamaru: Shikako. (When she’s in Konoha and NOT DYING AND NO GUYS ARE APPROACHING HER EVEN WHEN SHES IN THAT KIMONO. He’s done his job well)
Oh, no! Did Shikamaru spend most of their date making sure Shikako wasnāt getting hit on (literally or figuratively)?
No, heās not that baā
ā¦ wellā¦
TenTen knew what she was signing up for, surely?
Different person: I keep coming back to Sakako being called “The Conjurer,” since, to her enemies, it would seem like she’s conjuring vengeful spirits and letting them attack her foes.
I think I have a different understanding of what the word conjurer means because for me it means something more like conjuring as in creating things or like stage magic where they pull a rabbit out of a hat. Conjurer in Japanese is either Kijutsushi (å„č”åø«) or Majutsushi (éč”åø«) which is kind of like conjurer as I understand itāmagician/juggler/illusionist or mage in a high fantasy thing.
I think maybe āSummonerā is more what youāre going forānot the Kuchiyose of summoning animals in Naruto, but more like the summoning of spirits like in Final Fantasy. That is Shoukanshi (å¬å士) or Shoukansha (å¬åč ) which maybe might work better in terms of accuracy? Also the shi (士)Ā of Shoukanshi is warrior which is kinda cool.
Ah, I donāt really watch many horror movies, so I only vaguely know that movie exists.Ā No worries, anon! Conjurer does sound pretty damn badass, even if itās not quite the thing we want. š
Different person: I keep coming back to Sakako being called “The Conjurer,” since, to her enemies, it would seem like she’s conjuring vengeful spirits and letting them attack her foes.
I think I have a different understanding of what the word conjurer means because for me it means something more like conjuring as in creating things or like stage magic where they pull a rabbit out of a hat. Conjurer in Japanese is either Kijutsushi (å„č”åø«) or Majutsushi (éč”åø«) which is kind of like conjurer as I understand itāmagician/juggler/illusionist or mage in a high fantasy thing.
I think maybe āSummonerā is more what youāre going forānot the Kuchiyose of summoning animals in Naruto, but more like the summoning of spirits like in Final Fantasy. That is Shoukanshi (å¬å士) or Shoukansha (å¬åč ) which maybe might work better in terms of accuracy? Also the shi (士)Ā of Shoukanshi is warrior which is kinda cool.
Hope I don’t throw you off your Sakako or DnD vibe or anything, but: Tokyo GhoulxDoS! In any way you want. I was specifically thinking of ghouls being actual lurkers in the DoS world That’d be an interesting mission, with a high chance of death.
I donāt know if youāre the same anon, but I checked these asks at the same time and they kind of fused together into a cool idea soā¦ hereās a brainstorm:
I donāt really know much about Tokyo Ghoul except for the basics and what I could glean of the wiki page, but I kind of feel like the mass Edo Tensei would have some repercussions that could very easily be ghouls/half-ghouls existing alongside living humans and eating them for power etc. etc.
If anything, this seems like a pretty good premise world for next generation to live in.
Because, if you think about it, Narutoās generation basically created world peace amongst the Elemental Nations soā¦ why do shinobi still exist? Like, sure, civilians still want them to assassinate their enemies/kill off bandits/protect them from wildlife/do their chores etc. etc. But, you know, a good amount of the reason behind the Hidden Villages is a sort of cold war/collect more power thing, so maybe now instead of other villages theyāre raised to hunt down ghouls and other creepy undead creatures that are the fallout of the mass Edo Tensei.
Which, I mean, Sakakoās ability to see ghosts would be helpful somehow? Like she can see un-enhanced ghosts easily, and while ghouls look like normal humans to other people they look a little off to Sakako. Likeā¦ theyāre double layered or glowing weirdly or something that she can immediately spot if a person is a ghoul or a human.
It definitely ups the stakes for shinobi since ghouls are canonically faster/stronger/etc than humans so even the chakra-enhanced shinobi are maybe about on equal footing as ghouls (unless theyāre like Lee in which case, no, heās definitely faster than a ghoul). And maybe ghouls do prefer to eat shinobiāmaybe chakra gives them more power/sustains them longer or something?
As for the title thingā¦ Iām not very keen on Sakako inheriting her motherās title as opposed to making one for herself, but when I tried to find a badass name for Sakako that was as punny as Shikabane for Shikako the only thing even slightly cool I could find was Sakarau (éćć) which means to go against/oppose/defy and thatās not as on the nose as Shikabane-hime.
The ābig badsā in next gen appear to be ~aliens~ via the Otsutsuki clan whichā¦ okayā¦ and Shin Uchiha. Which is very next gen Team Seven problems considering the Otsutsuki clan seam to have a strong connection to the Hyuuga clan and Shin Uchiha was one of Orochimaruās experiments with the Sharingan and that accounts for all three members of the next gen Team Seven.
But, again, thatās all inherited big bads from their parents whichā¦ I dunno, I kinda want them to have their own enemies/obstacles to defeat? So maybe thereās also a big bad who is gathering up ghouls or somehow responsible for producing more or SOMETHING so that this generation can have something to fight that isnāt just āsins of the fatherā because I do not support the parental complexes all of canon next gen seem to have, apparently.
Anon(s?) those are pretty cool ideas and I think Iāll incorporate it as a DoS next gen headcanon so Iāll make a Walking Around āverse note to myself to write something about how becoming an expert ghoul hunter gives Sakako a badass name? Or makes people have awful flashbacks to the carnage that her mother inflicted against zombies during the Fourth World War?
Something cool, hopefully. š
love all your dos stories! who do you think is the hardest character to write? I know you find kakashi pretty hard… anyone who’s harder to write than him?
Thanks, anon! ( Ė Ā³Ė)ā„
The hardest character for me to write besides Kakashi? Hmā¦ of the characters Iāve actually written, I presume you meanā¦
Surprisingly? Naruto is pretty difficult for me to write. Itās why Quest for the Queen gave me so much trouble (and why I was so surprised to actually finish it). If he were easier for me to write, Iād probably have him way more involved in Down Every Road or, I mean, if I could form a proper headcanon for a Team Seven OT3 Iād probably have a series for that.
Itās hard to get into his headspace. I admire him as a character, but as a person I just canāt relate at all. Shikako and Sasuke I can easily understandāpart of what I love about DoS (and the reason why I went on to do the podfic) is that I empathize with Shikako so much. Sasuke isā¦ wellā¦ his motivations and reactions adhere to an internal logic that, while not my own, is still realistic.
I have no idea whatās up with Naruto. Heās basically the direct opposite of myselfāhe forgives easily (instead of holding grudges forever and a day like myself), heās excited about life (somehow without also being curious about the world), heās generous and loving and he empathizes with everyone but itās not tactful or sensitive: he doesnāt understand the consequences of his or other peopleās actions. He doesnāt understand that there are some lines that should never be crossed.
And I know some of that is because most Shounen Protagonists are walking talking cliches of HEART and OPTIMISM, but itās just soā¦ I just canāt do it for some reason.
Likeā¦ this is also a part of the reason why Iām reluctant to write Boruto yet. Because my brain already canāt really wrap my head around Naruto, and then a Naruto who ends up with Hinata (Iām not ship bashing, I just honestly donāt understand they had so few interactions? Itās not even like Harry and Ginny where people were discontent with the epilogue definitively making them end up together, Iām like honestly baffled. Itād be like if Harry ended up withā¦ erā¦ which Creevey brother survived? Likeā¦ the fraction of āscreen timeā Hinata got in which she actually interacts with Naruto is probably the same as the Creevey brothers with Harry.)
And then thereās the fact that Iām like 90% sure that the Naruto in next gen canon has depression despite having achieved world peace and his childhood dream. And Iām not saying people canāt be depressed even though they are successful in life. But it justā¦ itās a very tricky thing to maneuver even though I myself also suffer from depression. There is this huge gap between teenage Naruto and adult Naruto that I canāt quite understand, and given that I already canāt grasp teenaged Narutoās thought process itās basically impossible for me to jump to adult Naruto and Boruto as his son from there.
Ermā¦ sorry about thatāhope it didnāt sound too much like complaining. Uh, but I can still occasionally catch on some points when it comes to Naruto (itās more miss than hit, unfortunately) whereas Kakashi is meant to be opaque and itās likeā¦ I canāt crack open his mystery. Thatās who he is. Heās a carefully crafted construct of heartbreak and coping mechanisms and I just cannot do that to him.
I can get his external voice (like what heād say to other characters), which is why itās super fun to have Team Seven react to the occasional cameo, but his internal voice is just ??????
I also sometimes have trouble with Gaaraā¦ and also Temari. But thatās mostly because in comparison, Kankurou is waaaaaaay easier and my brain is just likeāif youāre going to write about one of the sand siblings, why not Kankurou? Heās great.
And Iām usually like: sure, brain, youāre the boss. Letās totally give Kankurou more lines than Gaara in the ShikakoxGaara series, that makes total sense.
OMYGOSH THOSE WERE SO GOOD! TOO GOOD! You got everything more than perfect, I can’t think of anything if want to change!
( Ė Ā³Ė)ā„
Oh gosh, Iām so glad you think so, anon. I was worried I went a little too far or not far enough or all of my feels made it seem good to me while I was writing but didnāt translate to readers. This one, more than some of my others, was definitely a labor of love.
OH my god, thank you for all that you do. You don’t know how much I appreciate fic writers. I really enjoy reading all you writing and your thoughts and rambles. Thank you for sharing with us. It’s not just about DoS, you’re a super awesome person all around. I love ya, and I hope you get lots of writer luck & inspiration (and tons of coffee). xxxx
I like to think Iād write regardless, but knowing there are people out there who read my stuffĀ and enjoy themāeven the brainstorms and rants that arenāt proper ficsāmakes it so much more fun, even when it leads to never ending circles of feelsā¦ actually, maybe especiallyĀ when it leads to never ending circles of feels?
Itās tiring and sometimes frustrating, but Iāve yet to regret it and I hope I never will.Ā Iām still growing as a writer and I like to think that all my readers and their feedback are helping me along: letting me know whatās working or what didnāt and pointing me in directions for new ideas that I never would have thought of on my own.Ā
So, thanks, anon! I appreciate it.Ā Iām more a tea person than a coffee person, but I get your drift and thank you for the good vibes ( Ė Ā³Ė)ā„
edit: unless you mean ko-fi coffee, then yes, thank you
JackSGreyson Says 