Tag: ask box would you ever

Hey there. Would you ever write a story where Shikako has to travel to the Land of HotSprings and see the damage she’s caused and the amount of lives she helped took? cause, ya know, I like when Shikako is in despair lol. I love Shikako but it can be argued, she has done more bad than good, for, uh, existing. However, I won’t change anything about Shikako, flaws and all.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

@hbkmzk says: Hey! Thanks for the response. I’m anything but a writer but I’ll try. I have to admit, I’m curious with the idea of Shikako being a god. Maybe her shadow contained a God of vengeance and after her first shadow-split, the god has slowly been trying to take over her? I choose god of vengeance because since after her first shadow-split her, Shikako has been more vengeful? Example, Shikamaru’s arm incident or the logistic sealing scroll nightmare. That being said, you are correct. I don’t really see her returning to the land of Hot Springs or having a mission at that area. However, what if her shadow controlled by this God of Vengeance flea to The Land of Hot Springs the next time she shadow-split. This will force Shikako to travel to the land of Hot Springs. The god of vengeance probably went to the land of Hot Springs because it wanted to see the damage done to the monk for what they did to Aoba.
I tried, lol. I don’t know how helpful this is. Hopefully it makes sense to you

~

Imagine a bird, young and not yet able to fly, feathers soft and downy.

Imagine this bird is part of a mighty flock, the youngest and smallest and least of its members, but still part of it nonetheless.

Now imagine that flock is decimated–struck down nearly to its entirety–all for that young, flightless, useless baby bird…

… and the one that killed the rest.

In the wild, the baby bird would do its best to avoid that which had orphaned it. Would fear the beating of wings and the sharp cries of fellow birds.

That baby bird would certainly never devote the rest of its life to growing strong enough to kill that which had destroyed its flock.

Vengeance is such a human concept.

~

Shikako dreams.

In the rare moments she allows herself to sleep–mind too frazzled and paranoid and weighed down to do more than quick dozes–she dreams.

She dreams of the void, that which calls to every Nara. She dreams of the forest, her friends and the village. She dreams of the sun, Naruto so far away and the future drawing ever closer.

Sometimes she dreams of gray skies, razed ground, ash swirling on the wind.

She wakes to the taste of blood on her tongue.

~

Gelel is a young god comprised mainly of starlight, human ingenuity, and sacrifice. But even young gods can make their mark on the earth, life springing where once there was only death.

Imagine, then, what an old god might do.

~

I would kill anyone who hurts you, Shikako thinks, even as the silence stretches long and tense, I have killed those who have hurt you.

But that is not what Shikamaru wants to hear from her.

She doesn’t know how else to express her love.

~

The Cult of Jashin is old–older than the villages, older than the Sage of Six Paths, older even than the Empire of Gelel now ancient history, dust under the feet of the Elemental Nations.

But the cult itself is young, barely an eye blink, compared to the entity they revere, for Jashin is timeless. An elder god, ageless and unknowable.

But not undefeatable.

The blast radius where the Land of Hot Springs once was is a perfectly flat circle, there are no objects for the weakly filtered sunlight to cast shadows. And yet, at the center, where not even the bravest of shinobi have dared to tread, a shadow writhes and grows.

~

She couldn’t save Aoba, but at least she could do one thing for him.

~

Naruto is so forgiving. Too forgiving, she thinks sometimes, his ideals too impractical and too impossible.

But somehow he turns his enemies, those who would harm him, into allies–into friends–and so for him revenge is not only unwanted but also unnecessary.

Meanwhile Kakashi’s pain has always been a part of him, but the convoluted tangle of blame leaves no target for her.

Sasuke, though, is an entirely different story:

She interfered with his life not to stop him–she is more than happy to help him seek revenge–she just wants to make sure he does so carefully, correctly, and completely.

~

Nemesis, the inescapable. Goddess of revenge. She who enacts retribution against those guilty of hubris.

~

Vengeance is a very human concept and humans, in the grand scheme of things, are a new presence in the universe.

But gods transcend time.

Chaos and destruction and suffering may be older, but vengeance is more potent, more powerful…

… and she grows stronger with every victory.

~

jacksgreysays:

Yes… maybe? Well…

My immediate thought was to make it related to this ficlet aka, post-canon Kankurou and Shikako hanging out and trying to be less traumatized together.

And like, it would be sort of… Shikako goes to hang out in Sand ostensibly to research the Gelel phenom (and blow up shit in the desert and make a glass canyon) and Kankurou hangs around and is a Theatre Nerd and then when she finally is more at peace with herself, the two of them go back to Konoha and stop by Land of Hot Springs on the way…

Except then I checked the Naruto world map and that makes no geographic sense for Kankurou and Shikako to stop by Land of Hot Springs on their way back from Sand because it is on the opposite side of Land of Fire so…

I mean, I guess they could just be traveling around together for funsies? Like… she’s also been researching other places and Kankurou probably produced an international hit and there’s some pyrotechnics in his show which he might as well have Sparky do anyway…

But that’s kinda… I mean, don’t get me wrong. A lot of my favorite DoS ficlets are the canon-ish semi-compliant chapter responses / future speculation but I think what I just described above is more about Shikako getting closure from the whole shinobi lifestyle as opposed to specifically the Land of Hot Springs (although that is, in its way, the first unstoppable horror).

So I think for something more Land of Hot Springs centric… OH!

So you brought up how Shikako’s existence has done more harm than good in the world and combined with just the whole celestial back and forth of Jashin vs little god that occurred during that arc and also the whole vibe of this asx box event, especially yesterday’s post about mobius stories, I guess what I’m leading into is:

What if Shikako were Jashin?

Or, maybe, not Jashin specifically, but a god of chaos/destruction/suffering. (Although, the thought of little baby Shikako being born with the mark of Jashin on her forehead and it fading as she grows such that she doesn’t know about it, is pretty fun. Because then there’s the cool opportunity of Shikaku RECOGNIZING the symbol when Tsunade brings him in on the situation and it’s kind of this balance in which Shikaku the father and Shikaku the jounin commander are at odds. I mean, of course his father side is going to win–but still. Internal conflict and outside POV for unknowing literal god Shikako is GREAT)

The main problem with Shikako returning to Land of Hot Springs is that I’m pretty certain that everyone with even the slightest inkling of her mission and the aftermath take great pains to ensure that she NEVER HAS TO GO BACK THERE. So either she’s going behind everyone’s back to do so which… hm… canon Shikako would not want to any time soon, but perhaps literal-god-of-chaos-destruction-and-suffering!Shikako feels compelled to do so (either as a Jashin version, to go with that mobius vibe, in which she returns to the beginning and the end or as a non-Jashin version in which the god within her surveys the place of her victory against an older god and also one of her “greatest” acts) or this is, again, a post-canon future fic where people aren’t guarding her against herself as much.

I… would very much like to write this, hbkmzk, but I think I need. Hm… if you’re interested in this ‘verse, please send in a follow up prompt of maybe three or four other outside POVs or maybe a few details you’d like to add to this ‘verse or even a cool title/quote? Or, like, just ask me a few questions about this ‘verse and me coming up with the answers should be able to do the same. It’s like… this fic is almost there but I just need a few more pieces for that final push.

~

Help me out with this ficlet/check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

A/N: Not quite what you want, but hopefully I’ve captured the vibe. Thanks for playing along with me 🙂

Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

Hey there. Would you ever write a story where Shikako has to travel to the Land of HotSprings and see the damage she’s caused and the amount of lives she helped took? cause, ya know, I like when Shikako is in despair lol. I love Shikako but it can be argued, she has done more bad than good, for, uh, existing. However, I won’t change anything about Shikako, flaws and all.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Yes… maybe? Well…

My immediate thought was to make it related to this ficlet aka, post-canon Kankurou and Shikako hanging out and trying to be less traumatized together.

And like, it would be sort of… Shikako goes to hang out in Sand ostensibly to research the Gelel phenom (and blow up shit in the desert and make a glass canyon) and Kankurou hangs around and is a Theatre Nerd and then when she finally is more at peace with herself, the two of them go back to Konoha and stop by Land of Hot Springs on the way…

Except then I checked the Naruto world map and that makes no geographic sense for Kankurou and Shikako to stop by Land of Hot Springs on their way back from Sand because it is on the opposite side of Land of Fire so…

I mean, I guess they could just be traveling around together for funsies? Like… she’s also been researching other places and Kankurou probably produced an international hit and there’s some pyrotechnics in his show which he might as well have Sparky do anyway…

But that’s kinda… I mean, don’t get me wrong. A lot of my favorite DoS ficlets are the canon-ish semi-compliant chapter responses / future speculation but I think what I just described above is more about Shikako getting closure from the whole shinobi lifestyle as opposed to specifically the Land of Hot Springs (although that is, in its way, the first unstoppable horror).

So I think for something more Land of Hot Springs centric… OH!

So you brought up how Shikako’s existence has done more harm than good in the world and combined with just the whole celestial back and forth of Jashin vs little god that occurred during that arc and also the whole vibe of this asx box event, especially yesterday’s post about mobius stories, I guess what I’m leading into is:

What if Shikako were Jashin?

Or, maybe, not Jashin specifically, but a god of chaos/destruction/suffering. (Although, the thought of little baby Shikako being born with the mark of Jashin on her forehead and it fading as she grows such that she doesn’t know about it, is pretty fun. Because then there’s the cool opportunity of Shikaku RECOGNIZING the symbol when Tsunade brings him in on the situation and it’s kind of this balance in which Shikaku the father and Shikaku the jounin commander are at odds. I mean, of course his father side is going to win–but still. Internal conflict and outside POV for unknowing literal god Shikako is GREAT)

The main problem with Shikako returning to Land of Hot Springs is that I’m pretty certain that everyone with even the slightest inkling of her mission and the aftermath take great pains to ensure that she NEVER HAS TO GO BACK THERE. So either she’s going behind everyone’s back to do so which… hm… canon Shikako would not want to any time soon, but perhaps literal-god-of-chaos-destruction-and-suffering!Shikako feels compelled to do so (either as a Jashin version, to go with that mobius vibe, in which she returns to the beginning and the end or as a non-Jashin version in which the god within her surveys the place of her victory against an older god and also one of her “greatest” acts) or this is, again, a post-canon future fic where people aren’t guarding her against herself as much.

I… would very much like to write this, hbkmzk, but I think I need. Hm… if you’re interested in this ‘verse, please send in a follow up prompt of maybe three or four other outside POVs or maybe a few details you’d like to add to this ‘verse or even a cool title/quote? Or, like, just ask me a few questions about this ‘verse and me coming up with the answers should be able to do the same. It’s like… this fic is almost there but I just need a few more pieces for that final push.

~

Help me out with this ficlet/check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

Yeah, I am a different anon. Thanks for the early bday wishes; I love all the detail you go into for the post! I am however also the Homeward Bounders / Gardens anon, which not to be too spoilery or anything but one line in one of your Counterclockwise works reminded me very much of said book. As for eaten asks it is a documented problem that if a user doesn’t use a space after an ellipsis that asks get eaten so I avoid that punctuation altogether.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment
image

Hello to both of you anons!

Mobius+birthday+homeward bounders!anon: thanks for the info! 🙂 I had no idea that ellipsis in asks make it more edible for tumblr! ~Learning new things every day~

I am both A) pleased that you’ve read my Counterclockwise works and B) a little concerned about what happens in Homeward Bounders–even more than what you’ve already mentioned–because I try very hard to make Counterclockwise kind of bleak and ominous so… oh dear.

Time-travel!anon: Hopefully mobius!anon’s tip about punctuation helps as well? I love hearing about–then brainstorming–about time travel shenanigans, so I’d hate to miss out on any cool asks on the topic.

If you are still taking these like 2 days before my birthday in March. Would you ever write a mobius-esque story where it has a circular structure and a twist somewhere that would change the context of it? (For at least the second reread.)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Happy Early Birthday, anon! 🙂

I think what you’re describing is more a style/technique than a plot concept.

The essence of a twist is to make everything up to that point mean something else entirely with the new context and so a second reread would be, inherently, different because the reader is informed of what will happen. So what you’ve described in the second half of your prompt is inherent to having a twist.

The first half, though, is interesting because… hm… a mobius-esque/circular structure does not necessarily require a twist. It CAN be that the mobius-esque/circule structure IS the twist (in that, plot twist, the beginning is the ending the characters are caught in an infinite loop) but that is not MANDATORY.

I think it depends on the… vibe? atmosphere?… that is the beginning/ending. If there mobius nature of the story is something that the readers realize (with, perhaps, dawning horror) then that is a twist. If it’s something the readers already know (and accept peacefully) then it’s not a twist, it’s just how the story is written.

But as I said before, anon, this is more of a style/technique than a plot concept, and while I think it would be cool to write I don’t know if I have the skill or appropriate story that would best suit this kind of structure.

I mean, given the recurring themes of this ask box event (or what few asks got through) this would be some kind of time travel / reincarnation / legacy inherited and passed down through the ages…

[Oh shit. This explains my bizarre choices in fanfiction rereads–lately I’ve been (re)reading Dark Is Rising and Inuyasha fic which are not fandoms I would normally associate with each other, but they do kind of have the above mentioned themes, I suppose.]

I mean, okay, in the twist of dawning horror type of story, the easiest thing I can think of is that the hero goes through their adventure and somehow becomes their own villain. Either time travel or non-chronological reincarnation, the hero decides that they have to preserve the timeline by living the villain’s life and then it turns out that there never was an “original villain,” just the hero fighting themselves over and over.

… but that’s not really something that would compel a person to reread it, would it? It’d be more of a “stunned and horrified, let me chew on the concept” sort of reaction, wouldn’t it?

I mean, having already brought up my current binge-reading of Dark Is Rising fic, I’ve always kind of wanted to write a fic in which Will Stanton, as the last Old One, goes back in time to teach Merlin, as the first Old One, because they are canonically part of a Circle. I had vague thoughts about making it a crossover with BBC Merlin and somehow incorporating canonical “normal childhood friend Will” into it, but then I stopped watching BBC Merlin after season two so…

But using that as an example as well as other!anon’s (or, at least, I think you’re a different anon?) missing “out-of-order student/teacher relationship” concept it’d be a whole I taught you but you were my teacher but I’m teaching you cycle. We are both teacher and student, ad nauseum. But in order to get that draw to reread it’d only be one character’s POV as they are teaching the other character and slowly realizing that their student was their teacher via flashbacks and “my teacher said their teacher once ended a war by pretending a crab was god and that sounded like an exaggeration because I definitely didn’t find any records of that, but desperate times call for desperate measures holy shit I can’t believe that worked.”

So that way it’d be more compelling to reread and see what little hints are sprinkled throughout.

All that being said, anon, maybe one day I’ll write something using this technique, but I don’t think I’m anywhere near that level yet… But thank you for the prompt, and again Happy Birthday! 😀

~

Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

I don’t want to be rude, or seem like I’m rushing you, but based on your reactions, you likely haven’t gotten the ask I sent about how interesting I thought an out-of-order student/teacher relationship would be–do you have any advice on how soon after a sent message I should send another without being rude or pressuring you?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I don’t think I got that one either, anon? I think tumblr has been particularly hungry lately…

The closest thing I got that somewhat matches what you are referring to of out-of-order-student/teacher relationship might be this? But that seemed more like a mere mention than a cohesive idea?

The only other asks that are in my inbox (which I received only today–February 27th) are an anon’s prompt for a mobius story and @hbkmzk’s DoS prompt. Like with most prompts, I’ll try to get to those ASAP, generally my turn around time is within three days at most (unless I’m VERY swamped which, given tumblr is eating all of my asks, is not the case here)

I think maybe the problem here, anon, is that you’re anonymous. If you had an account I would say send me a chat message the day after you send an ask that way I can confirm whether or not I received it. But because you’re anonymous, as far as I know, each ask is a different person entirely and there’s no continuity. Like this ask just now seems a little rude to me because as far as I’m concerned it’s like a random person I never met is bursting out of the crowd and asking why I never responded to them? Whereas for you, I’m the rude one because you said something to me and I just ignored you.

Which is not the case, anon: I answer every ask I get. The problem is I’m apparently NOT GETTING THEM?

I think the best way to deal with this on your end, anon (besides, maybe, getting off anon and using an account?) is that if you’ve sent multiple asks and I answer a later one with no reference whatsoever to the earlier one then that probably means I didn’t get the earlier one. At which point, feel free to send in the earlier one with a disclaimer like “sent this in earlier, but I don’t think you got it, sending it in again, etc. etc.”

The only thing I can do on my end–which is what I have been doing and will continue to try to do, as I think it’s just a really good practice–is to answer every ask as soon as I get them (I may queue them, but my queue is rarely longer than three posts and I always put asks to the top anyway) and answer them in order of when I receive them.

tl;dr: tumblr is apparently eating a lot of my asks. Anon status makes it really hard for me to tell who you are (for obvious reasons) so I can’t figure out a continuity for asks that don’t exist. I answer asks generally within three days and in order of when I receive them. 

So, I sent you an ask about how glad I was to see the time travel “would you ever” brainstorm, but with that last post, now I’m worrying you didn’t receive it? In summary: good, maybe Avatar the Last Airbender for the teacher/student dynamic, but otherwise, I can’t imagine a better fandom for either of the possible offshoots than what you’ve already got.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

IS TUMBLR JUST EATING ALL OF MY ASKS?!?! I swear, anon, if I had gotten that ask I would have responded to it already. I just thought this particular ask box event was unappealing. T_T

I’m glad you liked the time travel “would you ever” brainstorm, anon! Though… I’m a little unsure what you’re referring to about the Avatar the Last Airbender for teacher/student dynamic?

Unless you mean the one in which the time traveller experiences their life out of order from everyone else but their loved ones are always there anyway so it’s okay?

I mean, that would work pretty interestingly with Zuko and Uncle Iroh? (OR MAYBE EVEN LU TEN AND UNCLE IROH?! Maybe Lu Ten never actually died–he just got thrown out of the normal flow of time?)

But yeah, ~time travel~ is always fun stuff 🙂

~

Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

I sent a prompt but I guess tumblr ate it? Would you ever write about Dipper and Mabel Pines in Narnia? Possibly with Wendy and Stan/Soos to round out the four regents thing, if that was an interesting direction?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Yeah, I definitely did not get this one, to-someplace-else. Thanks for resending it 🙂

Hm, let’s see… if I were to do a Gravity Falls x Narnia crossover… I think it would just be the twins. Don’t get me wrong, I love the other characters, but I think for something like a Narnia misadventure just the twins would be best.

Some things I’ve decided:

This is after the events of the series. Maybe a few years? Teen!Twins, who have spent a few more summers after that disastrous-yet-glorious one acting as mediators between the supernatural and the human in Gravity Falls or even spent a some time helping out on the Stan-o-War.

I don’t think they are there to fulfill the four regents prophecy. Not just for numerical reasons, but because I think it’d be more interesting for them to retain what they’ve learned. They’re coming in as the most experienced travelers to Narnia and I think for Narnia/Aslan to bring them there it must be for that reason.

They are not there to rule, they’re there to help. Or, rather, to offer their services–for payment, of course, never mind that they won’t be able to bring stuff back, they are Stanley Pines’ relatives. Like Eustace and Jill, they do not become king and queen. They are there for a specific purpose/quest.

Or maybe quests, plural? I have two different ideas for what this fic might be? So the first is more lighthearted, a series of “case fics” as it were. The Pines Twins show up frequently during the Pevensie’s reign and are dispatched to solve this or that issue around Narnia. Agents of the crowns, basically. Or Knights. So them asking for payment sort of makes sense if they’re going to come back?

The second is a little bleak, a one shot more likely, set after the Pevensies leave and the Telmarines start to invade/conquer Narnia. They’re not there to rule, they’re there to save lives. They have to teach Narnians–who have, before the Telmarines arrived, been used to being full citizens and have forgotten how to hide from an evil ruler–how to survive. Or they help smuggle Narnians to Archenland who haven’t entirely forgotten the alliance with the Pevensies.

I suppose the two aren’t mutually exclusive?

That being said, while it is a cool idea to play around with I don’t know if I’d actually ever write it… mostly because my Descendants x Narnia crossover fic has been a nonstarter and I don’t know how this one would fare any better.

Hm, sorry to-someplace-else… but do send in more if you feel like it! You know I love answering prompts 😀

Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

Would you ever write a time travel fic where nothing needs to be changed? Like … like a domestic AU story, but with time travel, in concept? Nothing to prevent, no horrors to avert, just … life, but with a character that can time travel.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I think I’ve hit a point where every time I get a prompt for a concept I’m always just like: wait a second… have I already… seen this before…

And in this case, yes, sort of here, in which rockstar!Gaara goes back in time after both breakups to the day he and his siblings had their first official gig and the same day he met Shikako.

And, well, explained like that, I suppose it doesn’t match your prompt, anon, because while it’s not a horrible crisis, arguably Gaara starts off maybe wanting to prevent the breakups. But he quickly finds that there’s no big mistake he made…

But it’s still not quite what you want, anon, so I went back to the drawing board.

So… “life, but with a character that can time travel.” And again I stumble because my brain just automatically wants to make certain connections. “A character that can time travel” to me is my original character Leanne Peridot from my series Counterclockwise but then again her life is pretty awful. If anything, for her, the time traveling IS the horribly crisis that she’s trying to prevent.

It’s, again, not what you want, anon, so I went at it for a third time, trying my best to stay away from any preconceived notions, and I think I would say it depends on the mechanic/type of time travel. And I came up with two tentative possible stories based on different time travel mechanic/types.

A) The Accidental Rewrite

It’s, as you said, someone who goes back in time not to prevent anything horrible, but it just… happens. And I think, maybe, the time traveller has no say in it. One day they went to sleep the next day it was three years in the past. And the thing is, they didn’t have a shitty life… I mean, could it have been better? Yes, maybe. But it was a satisfactory life.

Except… was it? Now they’re starting to wonder, were they supposed to do something more with their life? WERE they supposed to prevent some horrible thing from happening and they messed up so badly to the point that they didn’t even KNOW about the thing they were supposed to prevent?

And at this point you have to wonder: is it a loop–which makes the time traveller doubt everything about their life–or, which I much prefer, is it just the once. And life moves on.

Because if it’s a loop then that means the looping becomes the center of the story. How the time traveller games the system and what differences they make between lives, not so much what they make of this new chance at life. So I think if I were to do this kind of mechanic, it would very much be a “it happened once and I still don’t know why, and maybe at first I tried to look into it but otherwise I just figured it was my second chance at the three years,” got a slightly better job, maintained my friends and family relationships better, etc. Maybe met a significant other when before they didn’t have one. The time travel is what causes them to change their life and it is a mystery but it doesn’t become their life.

–
AND
–

B) The Chronic Condition

(That pun though)

Basically, Counterpoise but without ALL THE HORRIBLE THINGS I DO TO MY CHARACTERS. Time traveller slides in and out of different points in time and lives their life out of order from everyone else, but it’s okay because they know people in each era and it’s kind of just like traveling and visiting friends/family except instead of around the world it’s across time.

Maybe at first it is scary. They can’t control it. They don’t know when they’re going or what will happen. But after a while, they grow accustomed to it. They can’t control when they’ll travel, but maybe they can control what era they’ll go to. Or maybe they can sense when they’re about to travel and maybe they can hold it off for a few hours or days just to get ready instead of just getting ripped away from what they’re doing. It becomes easier. Manageable.

And I quite like the idea that a person can always have loved ones even if they don’t see them often or even in the same order. My grandparents meet me for the first time when I am the same age and we are friends, then they meet me as after a few years whereas I am younger. Then they see an old, familiar looking guest at their wedding. Then every so often, I visit them at their house, give gifts to their kids (my parent and aunts/uncles). Then I am born and for all intents and purposes meet them for the first time and they get to witness the stages of my life as I grow up.

Like… who cares if the milestones are out of order so long as the people we care about are there.

–

So I guess what I’m saying is. Yes, anon, I would maybe write a story about time travel without a dramatic purpose.

Story A would work in any series–original fiction or fanfiction–whereas Story B is just me being nicer to Leanne. Which, I mean, I probably should be nicer to her anyway (because if her entire life is suffering, it won’t be as deliciously satisfying whenever I make sad things happen).

Is there a particular series/fandom you wanted to see either iterations in?

~

Check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

Untitled (2018-02-22)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

The doorbell chimes and Jane, closest to the front entrance, calls out, “I’ll get it!”

She can hear Will’s acknowledgement in response over the carols on the radio, the sound of her brothers arguing about the tree and Bran’s amused laughter.

It’s been years since all of them have been together like this; she is so glad they managed to make it work this time.

Jane opens the door, curling away from the gust of cold wind blowing in, instinctively, she draws her cardigan closer though it is only thin cotton and not much protection.

The woman at the door is equally poorly dressed for the weather–not even a scarf!–but unlike Jane, she hardly seems to mind. As if she were immune to the cold, aware but uncaring of the weather.

For a moment they stare at each other.

“Hello?” Jane asks, which seems to shake the woman out of her stupor.

“My apologies,” the woman says, accent flat and abrupt. American, then, how unusual. “Is Will Stanton available?”

Jane blinks before flushing, embarrassed. Of course. This is Will’s place, after all, of course someone ringing the doorbell would be looking for him at his own flat. And then, she flushes harder.

“Please, come in. Yes, he’s–I’ll just go get him, but please, come in. It’s cold out. Sorry, I’ve been terribly rude, I should have invited you in sooner.”

“Thank you,” the woman murmurs, before stepping inside. Jane shuts the door, grateful to bask in the warmth. The woman does not do the same, as if outside and inside were indistinguishable.

“Jane?” says Will, heading their way before she can go fetch him, “Who’s at the–ah,” he cuts himself off upon seeing the woman.

Something about the air changes, and it has nothing to do with the temperature.

“Maybe you should head over to the others,” Will says to Jane without taking his eyes off the woman, “Barney and Simon were one ornament away from a tussle and we both know Bran certainly isn’t going to stop them.”

Jane, confused and a little relieved, just nods and goes.

She looks back though; it almost looks like, instead of just one stranger and her childhood friend, there were two.

///

“My apologies for intruding on the festivities, Old One,” the woman who is not just a woman says to Will. Then she stops Time.

He straightens reflexively, ready for an attack.

None come.

“It must be important,” he responds. Everything about his life as an Old One is important.

The woman nods, “Important, yes, but not urgent.” Then she seems to change, diminish almost, as she adds, sheepishly, “Unfortunately, I have a flight in three hours and have been busy at a conference up until now.”

The Will who is not an Old One understands–academia is not known for excellent time management, either.

The woman reverts to her inhuman demeanor, “It was also harder to find you, earlier, without the other four Light ones.”

Will can feel a glare form on his face, mouth tight, brows furrowing, “They’re human.”

“And yet,” the woman says simply. After a beat, she shrugs. “A warning, though this is not what I am here for. For all that they are human, they… emanate Light. I do not know if you Old Ones still have enemies about, but they will be able to find your friends easily enough if you do not give them better protection.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out a small book which she hands over to him. “A gift, for the holiday, and to foster amity between us.”

He senses power, but nothing Dark, and so he takes it: a book of wards. Nothing like the Book of Gramarye, of course, but useful in its own way.

“The one who opened the door might be able to use it,” the woman suggests as he tucks it away for now.

The idea of putting Jane–or any of his friends–in danger makes him brusque, “What is it that you are here for? You are not of the Dark, nor are you an Old One. What are you?”

This time it is the woman’s turn to furrow her brows, “I was human once, too,” she says, nearly offended. “I don’t know if what I am has a name, but I have been called the Mountain Who Speaks.”

A little bit of destiny rings in the title. Will nods and understands it as truth.

“You are far from your land, Mountain.”

“That is what I am here for,” says the Mountain Who Speaks, “Something will happen in my land years–decades, maybe even centuries–from now.”

Important, but not urgent.

“And you come seeking an alliance,” Will finishes.

“Yes,” agrees the Mountain Who Speaks, “It will not be the grand battle that you had, for in my land there is no Light and Dark, but there will be trouble, and I would appreciate aid in keeping it contained.”

The first part is confusing, but the last is what alarms him, “You foresee it spreading?”

The Mountain’s expression becomes one of unimpressed skepticism, “I Speak,” she says bluntly, “I don’t See.”

It is Will’s turn to be sheepish. “Ah, of course.” Even amongst Old Ones, Sight was not a common power.

After a moment of understanding, the Mountain says, finally, “I will let you return to your party. Again, my apologies for interrupting. This was merely a courtesy call. I will leave you to make your decision, but I hope to speak with you more in the future.”

She unstops Time, the sounds of his friends–safe and happy and completely unaware of the otherworldly, supernatural alliance being brokered in the cramped entryway of Will’s flat.

Will opens the door so she can leave, neither of them flinching at the cold air that hits them. “Safe travels,” he says, not as an Old One but as regular Will Stanton.

“Merry Christmas,” she says back, not as the Mountain Who Speaks, but as the human she once was.

Which reminds him: “What is your name?” he asks belatedly and with no small amount of embarrassment.

The Mountain smiles, “I am Ellen Kaiza.”

~

A/N: As I said, I’ve been reading a lot of Dark is Rising fic, and a lot of them are set at Christmas. So even though it’s February, here’s… this thing.

And I guess sort of a response to this anon’s prompt for more of Doctor Ellen Kaiza’s backstory? I mean, I’m not saying this is canon for her, but given Will Stanton is also a wise, magical immortal being it resonates pretty nicely.

This is after she’s become immortal, and definitely after meeting Leanne, but still fairly early in her immortality. Within the lifetime of what a normal human Ellen Kaiza would live, basically. 

I don’t know where her title came from, but I quite like it. It’s one of her earliest titles. I’m thinking she got it from the werewolf packs, maybe.

(… hrm, should I make a character tag for her? edit: okay, i made one for her “ellen tsukiko kaiza”)

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Would you ever write a story where the conflict is a bureaucratic fuck-up?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Hm… this one is also a little vague, but not as complex as the last one.

But I think it does also depend on what you mean by the conflict being a bureaucratic fuck-up?

Like… hm… for example: I recently read a fic in which a lower ranked SHIELD agent was in charge of trying to “officially” bring Agent Coulson “back to life.” In the sense that, like most large scale government entities, the amount of paperwork and hoop jumping in order to do something is just ludicrous, and so this character had to go to different departments, deal with typos that threw everything off, file things in triplicate, etc. etc. it was a very entertaining read… it was… ah, there it is: Permit A38 by old_chatterhand

In a somewhat similar vein, I also greatly enjoy Restoration by thehoyden which is a xxHoLic fic about Watanuki having to re-enter society after several years of being the Shop Keeper. And I’ve been rereading a lot of Dark is Rising (by Susan Cooper) fic about Will being immortal and all of his friends aging and dying and leaving him alone its all very sad and lovely.

So I guess what I’m saying is, I would maybe do something that’s less a meltdown/crisis of a bureaucratic fuck-up and more of a sleuthing/journey of discovery in which someone finds some oddities in a file and tries to track it down only to discover that the truth is far more bizarre than even that mistaken form could have expressed.

Kind of like this ficlet

Off the top of my head I have two original fiction series that I think this would work for pretty easily:

1) Counterclockwise. Leanne gets arrested by future police for crimes that she hasn’t yet committed–or, possibly, isn’t intending to commit because unsanctioned time travel might in fact be illegal in the future but since she’s the first time traveller and it’s largely against her will does that count as her committing a crime?

Anyways, there’s one officer in particular that is assigned to her case and in trying to apprehend her, he discovers the secret behind her time traveling (that is, the fact that she can’t even control it yet, but also that she’s far more powerful than any time traveller should be) and maybe the secret behind the time traveler police force. Which is–I mean, spoilers?–that Bastian created the entire force specifically to catch Leanne.

AND

2) Kira Val the Psychopomp series. (I might change the character’s name, but that’s just what everything is tagged as for ease of searching). It would be much shorter and thus more doable than the first one. Basically a school administrator or the counselor or someone tries to track down Kira’s records–since she’s new to the Bellview school district, they don’t have it on file like the rest of their students–and at first it’s difficult just because Kira came from a school within Cadmium City but then when the administrator actually gets her original file it says that Kira is dead. Which. She is kind of…

And it would end with she is called in to discuss this–maybe her aunt Nyx comes along as her guardian–and basically this poor administrator realizes that there’s more to the world than what they originally thought. And I just want it to end like this:

“Forget about this and just go home,” you say, a firm but gentle suggestion, “Spend time with your husband.” He won’t have much time left, you don’t add.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” you conclude, getting to your feet, “But… thank you.”

~

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