Tag: ask box advent calendar

I’m a trans woman and I _Can’t_ be out. It’s not safe. So about the only concession I can make is to grow my hair long. And I caught a glimpse of my shadow out of the corner of my eye today, with long hair just curling up at the ends and … I dunno, my heart just about broke from Want. Would you mind accepting a prompt for a world where Shadows Show the Future? Or something like that?

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A/N1: Hey sister, I’m sorry it took so long for me to respond and I’m even more sorry that you are unable to be yourself. But I’m glad that you have reached out, that you have that small comfort to revel in your identity, and I hope that someday soon you will be able to do so completely.

Be strong, be safe, and know that we are here for you. I would love to fill this prompt for you; thank you for bringing it to me.

~

1) Shadows Also Dream: Or, Eerin Nara* is Not a Jedi

There is no Light side, there is no Dark side, there is only the Force.

Eerin breathes, lets the waves of natural chakra wash over him, meditates and centers himself. The sun is only beginning it’s climb into the sky, cold air damp with dew.

This is nothing compared to his Mum’s morning stretches.

Around him he can feel the other students do the same, can feel them harmonize their chakra to each other, to their teacher’s…

… all except for one.

He opens his eyes and meets someone else’s–Ben Organa, Master Luke’s nephew, though that’s not really how he’s supposed to be considered.

Just another student like everyone else.

The sun is still rising, casting long shadows across the ground. His family would consider it strategically ideal.

Ben’s eyes widen in surprise, before he turns away, red creeping along his cheeks. Embarrassment more than anger, but not without the latter.

Eerin closes his eyes–quick so as to avoid Master Luke’s attention, but long enough for what really matters.

A figure in armor, helmet, and cloak. A lightsaber held high over fallen bodies.

There is no Light side, there is no Dark side, there is only the Force. But even then: Eerin doesn’t need to be a user of Light to save lives.

~

2) Counterclockwise (Sundials Don’t Rust): Or, Leanne Peridot Apparently Has More Than One Sister

There are three things about the future Regina knows to be true:

Galileo will never betray her.

Her visions are never wrong.

She will one day kill her father.

That last one has less to do with her abilities and more to do with her determination.

Of course, whose to say how any of that will come to pass.

Perhaps Galileo will never betray her because he will die long before he ever could–their line of work far from safe, and him in the thick of things.

Perhaps her visions are never wrong, but her interpretation of them–lacking context–may very well be.

And perhaps instead of killing her father, he will end up killing her instead. Or perhaps he’ll drink himself to death, or he’ll have a heart attack, or he’ll slip on a wet sidewalk and crack his head open.

She’ll never have that problem, at least. Her eyes are always on the ground, always steps ahead of everyone else just by looking at their shadow.

Until, one day, her father’s shadow changes.

Ah, so she really will kill him one day.

Unless he has another daughter who will beat her to the punch.

~

3) Walking Around (Eyes Wide Open): Or, Sakako Uchiha Does Not See Dead People

In a family of shadow manipulators, it’s easy enough to ignore.

At first.

For the Nara, silhouettes are less about physics and more about discipline and creativity. Despite her name, the Nara genes run strong, and there is no harm in that.

By itself.

But she is still the Uchiha heiress, and whether or not curse of her bloodline is fact or superstition, it still flows through her veins.

The Sharingan. Once it sees something, it can never forget.

But maybe, if she doesn’t understand–if she chooses not to–then it doesn’t matter. Just strange shapes upon the ground instead of messages from beyond.

Mum doesn’t often speak about her younger years–it is in the past, she says, to be learned from but not drag us down–but Sakako understands enough:

Knowledge is both power and responsibility.

Once she takes that step, she can never go back.

~

A/N2: Three different fills! Just trying to get a feel for this ability, because it seems very cool but I don’t know if I fully understand it as a mechanism yet. I might come back to it in the future! 😀

So “Eerin Nara” is the Stars Also Dream equivalent of Kinokawa Nara. Going with the idea that the closest thing SAD!Yoshino had to family was her Jedi Master Bant Eerin, not the Kinokawas who, while very nice, didn’t really understand her.

I have some ideas for what kanji the name Eerin would use, but I’m not sure which is the best. Not that his kanji is important in a writing sense, given I write in English, but I like having that little tidbit of ~flavoring~. Kanji possibilities under the cut for anyone else interested.

Ask Box Advent Calendar is on!

Ee
慧 (wisdom, enlightenment, insight)
影 (shadow, reflection, image, light, trace)
映 (reflect, harmonize, to project, to cast [a shadow])
栄 (glory, prosperity, to shine/glow)

Rin
倫 (ethics, morals)
臨 (to peek through, to examine, to face)
理 (reason, truth, justice)

Ask Box Advent Calendar 2017 Announcement

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I’m just going to transition from ask box event to ask box event, I suppose.

If anyone remembers last year’s event this will be much the same–a free for all Schrödinger’s prompt sort of thing in which I will respond to all asks by filling them as best I can or at the very least explain why I can’t?

Any prompt, any question (personal or headcanon), or even just a single word. You can even “resubmit” some prompts which I’ve let go by the wayside (the list of which I’ll put under the cut, most of it is unsurprisingly DoS stuff) or do one in the format of a different ask box event.

I dunno, ‘tis the season and all that. So head over to that ask box!

Dreaming of S(omething)
– anonymous: SOLAR PUNK?

Down Every Road, 4/?
— anonymous: (Walking Around) Down Every Road aka Shikako and Sasuke planning/dealing with pregnancy. [#: parents-to-be]

Flip To The Last Page, 6/?
@donapoetrypassion: Shikako wanting to meddle with Team 7, Shikamaru wanting things to be the same. She’s an extension of him (right?) so why doesn’t she just follow the path alongside him

Stars Also Dream, 11/?
— book14reader: the other padawans, saving force sensitive children (people preventing massacres)
— Celeste @ ao3: jedi or sith oath?
— donapoetrypassion: Alderaan destruction reaction

Walking Around ‘verse
— anon(s?): Sakako versus ghouls (and her badass ghoul hunter name or thoughts of Shikabane-hime => Reaper?)

Smile At The Stars — Yoshino, Shikaku and their grandchildren

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A/N1: … like a Yoshino&Shikaku!POV of Our Share of the World?

I mean, I guess I could try to come up with a plotty brainstorm of Yoshino&Shikaku with their grandchildren, but this just seems like a collection of five scenes of Y&S with their grandchildren.

Sorry this took so long, but since this isn’t really a fake fic title prompt, I just tried to fill it like a regular prompt. Enjoy!

~

Shikaku is the last to find out about his first grandchild, heading home after work to find his wife and daughter surrounded by piles of storage scrolls.

“This is archaic, Mum,” Shikako says, unsealing a scroll, glancing over the contents, then resealing them again. “Toddler clothes.”

“Oh, set those aside, dear, he’ll need them soon enough,” Yoshino instructs, going through her own set of scrolls–linens, hideous, but an heirloom of the clan head’s line–and putting them away.

“How are you supposed to find anything like this? I can make you a new set of sealing scrolls–or a custom Hammerspace!”

“These work just fine still, Shikako, it’d be a waste to get rid of them–ah! I think this is it.” From Yoshino’s scroll appears a crib, sturdy and steady and capable of withstanding a D-rank jutsu, the same one that carried all three of their children.

That seems like just yesterday, surely it’s not already time to pass it down?

“What’s going on here?”

He can’t possibly be that old already.

His wife and daughter both turn to him before glancing at each other, Yoshino’s expression clearly urging Shikako to explain.

“Well… Dad… um…”

His sons enter the hallway, Kinokawa making silly faces at the baby in Shikamaru’s arms. The red-haired baby in Shikamaru’s arms who reaches out towards Shikako upon spotting her.

He passes the baby over to his sister almost reluctantly and Kinokawa follows, adoringly.

“This is Kareru Uzumaki, he’s my son.” Shikako says, steeling herself unnecessarily; both of Shikaku’s sons take after him.

///

Shikako’s pregnancy is a frustrating, frightening time for all within her vicinity–nothing inspires crankiness and bizarre seals like consecutive nights of sleeplessness. Yoshino remembers being much the same during her own time with the twins, so she is patient.

Still, there comes a point when a mother is done indulging…

… which just so happens to be the same point as when said mother finds her pregnant daughter on the roof of the house in the middle of the night armed with buckets of paint and a brush.

It takes promises of hot cocoa and secrecy to coax her down, safely bundled in a blanket on the sofa, but Yoshino feels much better now that she’s on the ground.

“I’m so tired,” Shikako says, voice cracking with desperation, and so Yoshino tops up her mug.

“You can rest here, sweetheart, you’re safe.” She remembers the paranoia of her daughter’s earlier teen years, perhaps her hormones have kicked it into overdrive.

But Shikako just shakes her head. “I can’t, I can’t,” she repeats, “She needs me, she needs my chakra, I can’t go to sleep. She needs me.”

Yoshino feels a chill go down her spine.

“How does everyone else do this? I’m so tired.”

Pregnancy is supposed to be difficult, yes, but not like that. Not so consciously, actively, impossibly involved.

No more indulging, no more patience.

It takes more than hot cocoa to get Shikako to go to the hospital, but Yoshino knows best.

///

They do not often see their grandchildren from Sand, almost never altogether–that one trip to Wind Country aside, of course–and so it’s a pleasure to have the house full again.

Shikaku enjoys having extra sets of hand to feed the deer–especially ones that still find novelty in the chore, awed at the shy creatures and their forested homes–and Yoshino enjoys having victims to run through her morning stretches.

It’s unfortunate for them, of course, as they are not as flexible as their Konoha siblings and cousin, but they complain far less. Or perhaps are far quieter about it.

Shinki, at least, seems to take it as an opportunity to improve himself–never mind that his almost literal iron spine makes it more difficult–but Araya and Yodo spend more time trying to push each other over while Yoshino looks away.

Not that she isn’t aware of their little competition, but why not let them have their fun?

Shikaku is the one who rescues them and gives them a tour of the village, no better guide than the retired former Jounin Commander after all, before bringing them back to the Nara Clan compound where both their parents await them.

Which is still an odd thought–if anyone had told them that the Kazekage would one day be father to three of their grandchildren, well, the future is an interesting place, indeed.

~

A/N2: … so, um, it’s been a while everyone. Sorry about how long it took. Holidays then being ill and then three days of overtime which caused me to relapse… I’m not fully satisfied with this–much fonder of the original Shikadai’s POV, but hopefully it’s still nice.

Also, since December is approaching and I’ve got a few more prompts in the ask box, instead of sticking with the Ask Box Fake Fic Titles I might as well segue into the Ask Box Advent Calendar so send in those prompts! 😀

Can I ask for Haku/Shikako/Gaara?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

This one is the last of the Ask Box Advent Calendar Event (for 2016), and what an interesting way to end it, anon. 🙂

Let’s see… I guess a Haku/Shikako/Gaara could be done two different ways. A “canon DoS” version and… I have this AU idea but I don’t know if I’ll be able to articulate it well.

So the “canon DoS” version would probably just be me tweaking Dreaming of S(omething). Where Shikako is the ambassador from Konoha and Haku is the ambassador from Kiri, and together they’re two fish out of somewhat literal water.

Fabulously deadly and beautiful fish that Gaara just kind of cannot function around because. Okay. One pretty long-and-dark-haired badass who sees the good in a former weaponized jinchuuriki is just barely manageable, but two? O_O That poor boy.

Gaara is a very competent Kazekage, okay, capable of wrangling the council and proving himself to his people. He’s no longer a thing to be afraid of, but a person that loves his village and who his village loves in turn.

But it’s very obvious that when both of the ambassadors are around that he gets all tongue-tied and flustered and the shy, sweet child that he used to be becomes prevalent due to the extreme crush he has on both Haku and Shikako.

Kankurou has not gone a day without laughing to the point of tears.

Shikako’s mostly oblivious, but I feel like Haku is savvy enough to know what’s going on. I do, however, think he’s enough of a trickster to not react so that someone else will make the first move. He is flattered and interested and amused and quite patient enough to see how the other two parts of this potential triad proceed.

So not too different from Dreaming of S(omething), but there would be a slight shift in the dynamics between Shikako and Gaara to accommodate Haku. (*dreamy sigh* They’d make such a beautiful tableau, wouldn’t they?)

The AU idea that comes to mind is a little…

Basically, spies. Or rather undercover bodyguards? But also spies? Benevolent mercenaries?

I’ll admit, part of it is influenced by the way my family and I binge watched the Netflix series Travelers (which I… tentatively recommend. It has potential, but the series was definitely made with a second season in mind so there isn’t enough to say I love it.) But only very loosely influenced since this AU is minus the main gimmick of the show (the time traveling, body snatching aspects of it), and more about the badass agents being undercover and an ultimate authority telling them to protect a person without questioning the reason why.

And, probably, when that ultimate authority tells them to kill that person instead they rebel.

So Agent Yuki and Agent Nara have both met each other before, and though their respective countries had sent them on missions that were originally at cross-purposes, they got along quite well. This time, thankfully, they are both assigned to protect Wind Country’s Prime Minister’s youngest son while being undercover and it’s kind of just like… I know who you are and you know who I am so let’s just vouch for each other and we’ll protect him together.

And the dynamic is much the same despite the AU setting–Gaara is a blushing, awkward mess around these two beautiful badasses (though he doesn’t know the extent of their badassery) and Shikako is too focussed on the job to realize anyone’s emotions much less her own while Haku sees all and is amused.

Neither Agents Yuki or Nara think to wonder why they were assigned to protect the Wind Country’s Prime Minister’s youngest son until, a couple of months into the mission, they receive counter orders to kill him.

Then there’s some misunderstandings–in which Agents Yuki and Nara fight, thinking the other will follow through on their new orders, only to realize that neither of them want to kill Gaara. And some cover breaking–because there’s no way Shikako can have a subtle fight (and Haku is, for all his soft touch in social matters, an agent on par with her). And some sleuthing–as the trio try to figure out what the hell is going on. And some confessions of feelings because high energy action means emotions are just erupting everywhere.

I have the feeling that Gaara in this world is a primary school teacher. And that Kankurou, while not an Agent, is involved in “The Game” as possibly an analyst or an informant or something like that and is the one who got both Agents Yuki and Nara assigned to protect his brother.

What do you think, anon?

I saw this in an old post on the forums, and I thought it was interesting: Shikako moves out & buys a sorta big house that’s like a psuedo-Team 7 HQ, haha. Seeing as Sasuke and Naruto lived in apartments for much of their lives, it’s a kind upgrade. Maybe they pooled their mission money together. Kakashi crashes from time to time. (Maybe this is post-plot?)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

😀 Thanks for the prompt, anon.

I feel like this would work best if it just kind of happened accidentally. Like…

So with the impending birth of the third Nara child, Shikako moves out of her childhood bedroom. And, see, technically she only moves to the downstairs room, but maybe she doesn’t totally unpack the boxes. Maybe it’s just more like storage and a place to sleep since she’s going on missions and training trips more and more frequently.

And then, as resident mad scientist, she realizes she probably oughtn’t experiment with her more destructive seals in the house with an untrained baby. Also, she loves her new sibling, but baby Nara is not the sleepiest of babies and also a very loud crier.

Thus, she gets a lab/workshop.

Because the Clan Head’s house–while not ostentatious–is pretty much in the center of the Nara Clan compound and not exactly the best place to be experimenting with field seals. And it’s not as if the Nara are unfamiliar with having lab/workshops away from the main part of the compound. Maybe for feels, the lab/workshop is a gift from Shikaku (and it was once her uncle’s, because Ikoma also had a penchant for somewhat destructive experimentation).

And it’s a fairly out of the way lab/workshop–for somewhat obvious reasons–and it’s also kind of big. Not ludicrously so, but it’s medium warehouse size. She doesn’t need much in the way of equipment and such–unlike the other labs which are specialized medicine–so this workshop is mostly empty. She gets a desk, sets up a blast area. Maybe she puts a futon in for those times that she just kinda gets into a groove and doesn’t want to make the trip back home for sleep when she’s just going to come back.

And I don’t know if this is fanon or canon, but doesn’t Naruto live in a really shitty apartment? Probably one that had been subsidized by the Sandaime in his poor attempt to do right by him, except hey guess what? Sandaime is dead now and Tsunade doesn’t know about all the little projects he was doing and Naruto disappears for three years. That apartment? The landlord probably isn’t going to maintain that for Naruto.

So when Naruto comes back from the time skip–no apartment, probably. And it just kind of makes the most sense for him to crash at Shikako’s workshop for a bit? It’s habitable and she’s not always there, really, and there’s more than enough space. Plus, I think he’d prefer to live at the workshop than impose directly on her family.

Maybe Sasuke feels left out. Or maybe there’s some legit renovation going on in the Uchiha district and he needs a place to stay, too. Or maybe they just invite him after a team dinner and it’s an extended sleepover that basically never ends.

Sasuke brings in furniture and such, better appliances and cookware and stuff, but Naruto is the one to make everything homey what with house plants and wall art and such. Shikako looks up one day and realizes her workshop has become an actual home.

Kakashi does show up like the stray cat he is. It’s one of his favorite places to hide from Tsunade-sama (and Sakura, now that she’s basically become Team Seven’s personal physician what with the Sharingan miracle cure and all) and there’s a couple of dog bods in a corner for whichever of his summons want to hang out in the people world.

It’s not really squatting, since the Nara Clan own the workshop and they’re not likely to argue with what the clan head’s daughter is up to especially since she’s producing more and more seals (and no one has to worry about her dying of malnutrition with her team living with her and feeding her).

That witches!verse seems really cool! Maybe some background lore pls?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Sorry this is late, anon, the past week has not been particularly conducive to rest much less writing so…

Background lore for witches!verse… you mean like worldbuilding?

The way I see it, magical communities are kind of like minorities/ethnic groups. Magicians gather together and there are cultural differences but it’s not two separate worlds/governments as it is in the HP series.

To that end, separate magical communities from separate countries would develop differently (but not too far astray) so Temari and Shikako have different styles of magic.

For the most part, though, consider learning magic like how language works. Mostly from parents, yes, but there’s probably some “clubs” or special classes. (So Sakura, as the muggleborn equivalent, does have access to magical education).

While the magical community isn’t separate, it is mostly a secret. Or… it is now. Modern magical communities believe in discretion and protecting themselves, but they don’t isolate themselves completely (as per having an annual deer petting zoo/sleigh rides that even non-magical people can appreciate).

Now for more interesting world building!

The summon realm is a separate plane but it is, simultaneously, overlapping with the real world. Magicians–generally witches, though occasionally a wizard will also have enough magic to do so–can form a bond with specific summon who will help them control/amplify their abilities.

The Nara, as an entrenched clan, have a partnership with the deer. Shikako can make Heijomaru tangible and, with a little more power, he can do the same to the rest of the herd. Conversely, there have been a few years where different members of the clan are assigned to different deer (multiple magicians to one deer if need be) but having someone powerful enough to make Heijomaru tangible is a fairly rare thing.

Temari’s family, on the other hand, are not tied to any one summon line. They’re a big believer in throwing their children in the deep end (even though the swimming analogy doesn’t really apply to desert scions). And Kamatari, being an former warrior summon, found Temari a worthy witch.

Unsurprisingly, Temari is a wind witch–she travels often and wherever the wind may blow–whereas Shikako is more grounded in this AU than canon DoS (being an earth witch). That’s definitely something I’d bank more on in this AU–their opposing elemental leanings and that not-quite conflict between their differing styles and philosophies of magic.

Shikako has so many friends and is so involved with the magical community, whereas Temari is polite but not friendly and while she picks up different kinds of magics often it’s a more self-serving gathering.

But I do think, at heart, Shikako would want to travel too–and I suppose that’s what this AU endgame would be. Shikako’s community acknowledging her desires and releasing her from any obligations, though with some misunderstandings in which Temari is possibly accused of trying to charm her away from home.

… unsure if this answers your question, anon.

Your Shino/Kako brainstorm made me melt, hoooly hecckk <3<33333

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

jacksgreysays:

Melt? I don’t know if I really contributed much to make someone melt, anon, but I suppose I’ll take your word on it.

I think a Shino/Shikako ship would be interesting to read because it would have… ah. Well, this is a benefit to me but I realize it might not be for others, but it basically has the aspects of what I like about DarcyxElizabeth Bennet without the cringing misunderstandings and biases.

Shino, like Darcy, is an eloquent man, intelligent and kind, but not exactly the suavest or most charming person (especially in comparison to his friends). Shikako, like Elizabeth Bennet, is a free-wheeling spirit, loyal to her family (and teammates) and absolutely cutthroat when the occasion calls for it; she’s not necessarily the most graceful in traditional social niceties, but she’s good with people when she wants to be.

So imagine the same meeting of two minds except, instead of in a weird back and forth pining/disgust melodrama it’s founded on mutual respect. 🙂

🙂 Sounds good, anon.

I think Shikako really needs a confidante, too, and part of me thinks that of the Konoha Twelve/Thirteen the most likely one would be Shino. It used to be Ino, but that was before the whole Sasuke Retrieval Arc leading to Orochimaru inside her head thing. (Before Shikako broke her).

You can still see remnants of that possibility–between Ino and Shikako, that is–in the post Land of Moon Arc especially, and the emotional depth of that scene is all the more poignant to me because of that. The almost could have been just T_T I mourn for it.

Shino, I think, would be a different kind of confidante. Not that he’s all robotic logic (as proven with the absolutely adorable relationship he has with his younger sister) but there’s a different foundation for the trust and truth that would be between them. Shikako might have, in a different time, told Ino the truth in a moment of emotional vulnerability. Shikako would tell Shino in a moment of vital strategy.

Most likely? If she ever did go against Danzo and needed a touchstone of sorts. With her family and her teammates and certain other allies, she would want to have some plausible deniability (like with the post Tsukuyomi–researching the names and faces and times of death of the Massacre just to see if she could find the incongruity and use that to bring up the suspicious circumstances). But if push comes to shove and she were to try to act on information that has no outside evidence (that she has access to, anyway) then I think she’d trust Shino with it.

Team Ten and Seven are both too close to home–she broke them or she changed them or she has far too much on them. Team Gai simply isn’t plugged in enough to be a touchstone–Lee’s family is very small, TenTen is an orphan, and Neji is a Branch member… if ever Danzo were to try to poach ROOT candidates it would be from their team. There’d hardly be any resistance. Team Eight’s a little… she and Kiba are essentially having a philosophical debate, and he would (at least initially) react poorly to the “I know a version of the future reveal” much less the “reincarnated from a different world where your lives are a manga.” Hinata is unsealed and against Danzo would be the only proof of why having the Caged Bird Seal has any benefit at all.

Shino’s family (at least his father) has experience with Danzo’s treacherous ways. And maybe Shino doesn’t know everything, but there’s no way that he hasn’t been at least obliquely warned against Danzo.

If it weren’t a strategic nightmare, I’d want to see Shikako, Shino, and Sai go on a mission together out of Fire country. After the per usual Lucky Seven twist, in which Shino notices maybe an exchange between the other two regarding their dancing around the matter of ROOT, or he notices something about Sai only, the three of them go back to Konoha. Shino requests to speak with Shikako about it, and she agrees and in the relative safety of the Aburame family home, she obliquely brings up the idea of ROOT and references Danzo.

A few more meetings and maybe one more strategically-a-nightmare Sensory Squad mission, this is the set up for a canon DoS Shino/Shikako ship.

Your Shino/Kako brainstorm made me melt, hoooly hecckk <3<33333

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Melt? I don’t know if I really contributed much to make someone melt, anon, but I suppose I’ll take your word on it.

I think a Shino/Shikako ship would be interesting to read because it would have… ah. Well, this is a benefit to me but I realize it might not be for others, but it basically has the aspects of what I like about DarcyxElizabeth Bennet without the cringing misunderstandings and biases.

Shino, like Darcy, is an eloquent man, intelligent and kind, but not exactly the suavest or most charming person (especially in comparison to his friends). Shikako, like Elizabeth Bennet, is a free-wheeling spirit, loyal to her family (and teammates) and absolutely cutthroat when the occasion calls for it; she’s not necessarily the most graceful in traditional social niceties, but she’s good with people when she wants to be.

So imagine the same meeting of two minds except, instead of in a weird back and forth pining/disgust melodrama it’s founded on mutual respect. 🙂

The Temari/Shikako stuff was really intriguing! Both the canon based one and the witchcraft AU. I wondered if you had opinions on other rare!pairs? (Unusual pairs? Crack pairs? I dunno what to call them) in DOS. Like… Sakura/Shikako or Shino/Shikako.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Thanks!

From what I understand there’s a difference between rare-pairs and crack pairs. Rare-pairs are arguably believable but less popular ships (so Sakura/Shikako and Shino/Shikako both of them being Shikako’s friends, but not being particularly common, would be rare-pairs) whereas crack pairs are quite random.

Even something where it’s highly unlikely or there’s a significant age difference or “enemies to lovers” could still be considered a rare-pair so long as there’s some kind of foundation for the ship. Toki/Shikako, Aoba/Shikako, Netsui/Shikako are examples of such that I’ve written or mentioned before that I can confidently say would count as rare-pairs.

Crack pairs would be like… I suppose technically Deidara/Shikako is a crack pair seeing as how they’ve not even met each other yet in canon and, on top of that, Shikako knows that he’s part of the Big Bad Organization. So it’s a crack pair in that there’s no believable canonical foundation for it, but it’s fairly popular so even if it weren’t cracky it may be popular enough to not count as rare-pair.

Another crack pair that isn’t villain/Shikako I suppose might be… Tsunade/Shikako? Or… well… no, I suppose technically that might be a rare-pair since they have met and don’t actively hate each other (and I have seen Naruto/Jiraiya fic so the age difference isn’t entirely out of the question for some people).

Ah. If I had pursued a more romantic take on SemiPhenomenal Nearly Cosmic, then Tobirama/Shikako would be a crack pair. Like, I had to create a specific AU for them to even meet much less possibly fall in love and get together.

I guess what makes a crack pair in my opinion is the number/breadth of changes needed to make a ship possible. Whereas rare pairs are the popularity of a ship within the fandom. Crack pairs may be rare pairs, but not all rare pairs are crack pairs.

All that being said, I guess it does depend on which rare-pairs you’d like me to talk about? I’ve already discussed briefly on my opinion of Sakura/Shikako here (although, I’ll admit, that was a long time ago and my fleet of ships is vast and ever-changing) and I think it’s mostly the same as before.

I think it would be interesting to see a Sakura/Shikako ship, especially given how much Shikako has changed Sakura’s life just by simply existing. And it’s a fairly guilt-free change (as opposed to the guilt she feels over Ino and her brother).

This DoS!Sakura is vastly different from canon Sakura because so much of her formative experiences are different. Being a part of Team Seven (and a fractured Team Seven at that) is so integral to canon Sakura’s character that DoS!Sakura MUST be different.

Softer, probably, less jaded and tired. She’s learned different lessons, in less heartbreaking ways, but she’s probably learned more of them from being at a distance. I wonder if, because she is not so focused on her teammates like canon Sakura, that she observes more in other people. Or if, unconfined by the role of Team Seven, she might grow beyond the narrow shape left behind for her and become more than the second coming of Tsunade (though that is certainly not a bad thing).

I think it depends on what happens to Sakura in DoS, on what Silver Queen may want to do with her character. Part of me is fairly sure she’ll be on Team Anko with Yakumo and Isaribi (at the very least for a future Chuunin Exam if not permanently) and given these teammates and teacher, Sakura would be the least… traumatized. No murderous split personality, no horrific childhood of being experimented on. And no doubt Sakura will learn how to support her teammates, how to traverse and converse such interactions–recognize the pitfalls and avoid them, or help her teammates recover when they have been triggered.

There are many ships that I don’t see beginning until after everything in canon has settled–not just because the plot points, but also the age thing–and that holds true for Sakura/Shikako. Which is good because, I think, the more DoS!Sakura grows apart from canon!Sakura, the better a Sakura/Shikako ship would work. Especially on Shikako’s part–further distancing Sakura the person from Sakura the character.

They’d be a very academic couple, that’s for sure, on the forefront of medicine and fuinjutsu (and, frequently, a combination of both). And this current as of yet unnamed arc about Kakashi’s Sharingan will probably be the first of many medical miracles they perform together. I like the idea that Sakura would keep Shikako a little more grounded in Konoha but at the same time, when Shikako does go on research trips, Sakura goes with her and continues Tsunade’s legacy of traveling miracle medic. Minus the wanton drinking/gambling/destruction, of course.

… So I guess it’s a bit like what a Jiraiya/Tsunade ship could have been, had the Sannin not splintered apart and picked up the world’s worst habits and attitude problems. All of their potential with far fewer of their problems. They have problems of their own.

Let’s see, as for a Shino/Shikako ship… that boy would have to make the first move. Shikako is oblivious when it comes to other people’s opinions of her, and given how difficult Shino is to read (almost literally given that most of his face is hidden constantly) there’s no way she’ll figure it out unless he makes it absolutely clear that he is romantically attracted to her and if she were amenable he would be interested in pursuing a relationship with her to see how they socialize together.

And even then it may take her a moment to parse his statement and a few days to consider his proposal (which he gives her because of course Shino is a big believer in taking one’s time to make big decisions).

I don’t really see them getting romantically involved with each other in DoS quite yet–but maybe, given an exciting mission or two, it depends. For example, with Kiba I might be able to see something happening within the fic only because she’s had way more “screen time” with him than with Shino. Otherwise, this would be another ship for a post canon timeline.

I do wonder about the matter of the kikaichu, though. Because… that’s a pretty big aspect of who Shino is and it’s not like Shikako can/will tell him to change, but at the same time it’s been repeatedly mentioned in DoS that Shikako (while she can put a brave face on for the sake of work and not being an asshole) does not like bugs. I don’t even know what a good analogy for this would be… It would be like someone with icthyophobia trying to have a relationship with a marine biologist? I dunno…

If that issue could be resolved, I can see how a Shino/Shikako ship might appeal. His logical way of thinking and innate kindness is something that Shikako would appreciate more than passion and charming words. Mutual respect and, along with that, faith in each other’s abilities and strength.

I think, if they were in a relationship, Shino is one of the few people that Shikako would consider telling at least some part of the truth. Whether she just does a “I know a version of the future” or a full “I’m reincarnated from a world where all of this is fiction” well…

There’s a sense of solidity and steadiness to Shino that Shikako can depend on, whereas Shino could probably benefit from having a bit more chaos in his life.