Gem placements here.
I don’t think gem placement is indicated by… well, I guess it depends on what you mean by nature of the gem. Do you mean gem type? Because if so, then no, since it’s canon that, for example, Rubies who are all the same type may have their gems on different parts of their bodies.
Or do you mean like… their personalities?
Oh thank god. I always worry that my fics are too short? Or that I’m not conveying enough of what’s in my head?
Like, I love short fic too, but some of my absolute favorites are long fic and I will go back and reread them because of their encompassing imagery and swooping emotionalism and I’m just like: I cannot do that. I do not have the attention span for it.
And it always feels like when I try to do it it comes off as pedantic or overly descriptive? Like… yes, we know this person has this color hair, don’t do that.
In my heart, I want to one day write a super long in depth epic, but in my head I know I enjoy writing short slices of life where the feelings are subtly intertwined with, like, the way people take their tea.
I forget which fic I pulled this headcanon from, or if it just kind of bubbled up as collective fanon thing, but I always imagined that Naruto was sending stuff back to Konoha either via toads or regular slow civilian mail. But, like, months off Small things–like a postcard or something from one country when they’re already two countries over, or sent along with a merchant caravan that will end up in Konoha eventually.
Naruto didn’t grow up with a lot of bonds, remember, so he wouldn’t really know the culture of gift giving and letter writing so much. A lot of his friendships are in the moment, in person–not that he no longer considers them friends when they’re long distance, but it’s not something I imagine him being so conscious of as to send gifts?
I mean, then again, this is all minutiae that Kishi never bothered with, but who is in Konoha that he’d want to send stuff back to in canon? Sakura and maybe Iruka and Tsunade? Possibly Kakashi, though what besides snippets of Jiraiya’s books would he want?
Contrast, of course, with DoS where Shikako did actively cultivate stronger bonds amongst her friends. Deliberately made post-mission team dinners a tradition, and fostered a sense of shared stuff amongst her team.
And I do think Tsunade and Jiraiya keep each other appraised of the respective situations to some extent–now, whether Jiraiya feels like sharing that is up to him.
Oh, I hadn’t thought of it that way.
I kind of figured it was “reverse” seasonal affective disorder (or a reaction to everyone else recovering from their seasonal affective disorders and me being a dick and getting irritated at their rising spirits), but breaking everything down like that is pretty smart.
I was so exhausted from the day before yesterday that I literally slept for fourteen hours and didn’t find it weird to just spend the rest of the day in bed, and I feel so much better. I think it’s because, as you said, I could control everything–keep the lights to my level, the sound to my level, and there’s less dust and pollen or whatever in the air because I’m indoors instead of out on deliveries. And, also, no other people, so…
Oooh… see, I always figured that the “basic” implant–the equivalent of ID card–was somewhere in the trapezius muscle anyway, so the curse seal being a virus that corrupts cybernetics would cause even that most basic implant to overheat and be painful. And it can’t be taken out because it’s not a physical thing–it’s in all of the victim’s tech.
… is the collar bone snapping functional or there for a reason? Is that what the curse seal does in canon?! Dang, I missed that detail.
I think it’s probably a virus that can corrupt cybernetics or the connection between organic and normal implants. I mean, why mess with success, right? It’s basically what the curse seal does in canon.
Although I don’t think Orochimaru would feature much in this AU, given that Remember To Sleep is a Shikako and Naruto centric story and, this is weird to say, but I think Orochimaru would be more successful in this AU than he was in the shinobi world.
As a character/person, his motivation was to become immortal so that he could reunite with his parents when they reincarnate. So creating the strongest body via experimenting on bloodlines and such all ties back to that. Him being discovered and run out of Konoha is because he violated the village’s philosophy/culture–I’m not saying he would have been accepted in any other of the big five villages (Cloud does want more bloodlines, and Mist at that time wasn’t exactly smiles and cupcakes) but that’s more a problem of a politics? Basically what I’m saying is that the circumstances were unfavorable for Orochimaru’s personality and goals.
In a world of AI and robotics and cybernetics, he doesn’t need to push as hard to achieve his goals. Yes, he probably does unethical experimentation, but it’s not as comparatively extreme in this ‘verse, it’s a situation better suited for him.
Also, he’s not going after Sasuke in particular since he’s not the last Uchiha in this ‘verse anymore so… he wouldn’t have that same relationship to the Lucky Sevens. Maybe instead it would lean against the Minato v Orochimaru rivalry for Hokage sort of thing–not, necessarily, that there is a Hokage role that they both competed for, but that they were both working in the same field (advanced AIs/androids) and they were constantly one-upping each other.
Maybe Orochimaru is the morally sketchy figure who knows some piece of information otherwise lost to the world, but won’t tell them unless they do him a favor?
Hm, see the thing is, there’s a difference between me wanting to see an idea be continued/written (by someone else) versus me wanting to continue/write an idea versus wanting to develop the idea some more via asks…
So I went through the giant list of the ask box fake fic titles event posts (under the cut) and split them into the three different categories and this is going to be a long rambling post, anon. But I’m really happy you asked it because I did kind of want to do an overview of the event because that was A LOT of stories and ‘verses that got generated over the past six weeks.
Also, I kind of want to see reader feedback about what stories and ‘verses everyone liked best. Anyway, here’s “writer’s choice” for now:
A) Would like to see someone else continue:
Miracle
Colorblind
close your eyes (breathe in your ruin)
Monster Smiles (blood in my teeth) **
All You Have To Do (Is Stay) **
the dark side of the moon
For Miracle and the dark side of the moon it’s more that I would like to see the directions that JJ1293 and the others go with for the pre!Kako ‘verse and where the other writers (including @donapoetrypassion) who already have ROOT!Shikako fics go with theirs. I like the ideas, but I more like what others can do with them.
Colorblind I’m pretty sure has to exist somewhere–the HP fandom is too big and too prolific for it not to–but if it doesn’t (because it is, admittedly, the “B-sides” of what would be the main story revolving around Slytherin!Harry) it’s still an idea I think someone else can do a lot better than I can.
close your eyes (breathe in your ruin) is almost entirely Kakashi’s POV which I’ve previously disclosed as being THE MOST DIFFICULT for me so… would love to read it, but cannot, for the life of me, write it.
** Monster Smiles (blood in my teeth) and All You Have To Do (Is Stay) are both in “would like to see someone else continue” and “would like to continue myself” because I think, in a perfect world, these would be pretty fantastic collaborative fics. Well, MS(bimt) would just be a collection of different authors focussing on different characters and less actual collaboration. But AYHTD(IS) would be active collaboration. And maybe different realities are different authors, but getting those to mesh together would require active collaboration.
—
B) Would like to continue myself (in a world where I were good at following up on fic ideas and didn’t have commitment issues or writer’s block/anxiety)
Rust and Parallel
Desperate Endeavors
In The Absence of Heroes
Freedom’s Just Another Word
Monster Smiles (blood in my teeth) **
Call On Your Angels
All You Have To Do (Is Stay) **
B2) Would like to develop idea / world build more via asks
Tamed
Strong In The Real Way
Trapped In The Lightbulb Fixation
Remember To Sleep
Rust and Parallel are both in my Iron Will ‘verse anyway so… I ought to develop that series properly. Straight up, I think I just need to marathon the series and just do it. JUST DO IT! But…
Desperate Endeavors I’m a little bit worried will be too similar to Lies Beyond The Morning and also has Kakashi. But I think so long as I don’t go into Kakashi POV overly much and frame it less as a mind trip and more of a run/escape mind heist it should be okay?
In The Absence of Heroes I know is probably one of the less popular posts from this event, but I’m inordinately fond of it? Probably because I love the Lost Kids way more than I like the Descendants movie, and the idea of putting them in a setting where they can grow into themselves properly is just so appealing to me. Also, the idea of Old Ben Kenobi having this herd of moody teenagers and NOT HAVING THEM FALL VICTIM TO CREEPY ASS PALPATINE is just so nice. A little bit redemption for everyone?
Freedom’s Just Another Word, I swear to god, is my favorite post and I can’t believed I messed up the posting for it so that it didn’t come out when people were expecting. Please, go check it out if you haven’t seen it. I can only dream of being witty and imaginative enough to make the FJAW that I see in my mind’s eye… ah, dang, does this title have JAW in it?! That’s hilarious. Though I’m worried that because Mist is so unknown that it’s too open a sandbox for me to play with. I work better with distinct frames, I think.
Call On Your Angels I just really like Atlantis The Lost Empire and “assemble the crew” movies.
Tamed, Strong In The Real Way, Trapped In The Lightbulb Fixation, and Remember To Sleep are very expansive AU fusions so most of those respective posts have been more about world building than a plot outline. I’ve already gotten a lot of asks which has helped me figure out both the world and the plots a little, but I don’t think I know enough yet to say whether or not I’d want to continue these four stories.
Anyway, if you’ve gotten this far–I’m impressed! How did everyone else like this event? Which stories and ‘verses were your favorite? Would anyone be interested in doing this event again in the future?
1) Miracle
2) When The Dawn Is Still Dark
3) Colorblind
4) Rust
5) Above the Abyss
6) /I Am Your Lionheart
7) Nevertheless, She Persisted
8) And Way Down We Go
9) Babysitting
10) Desperate Endeavors
11) /Blitzkrieg
12) Tamed
13) Seven Deadly Sins
14) Paint With All The Colours Of The Wind
15) /What You Thrive For
16) Spin Me A Song (In The Shadows Of Death)
17) In The Absence Of Heroes
18) close your eyes (breathe in your ruin)
19) //JASHIN AND SHIKAKO’S GODHOOD
20) /I’m Here
21) Parallel
22) the song remains the same
23) Strong In The Real Way
24) Freedom’s Just Another Word
25) Insuperable
26) blood and earth (not theory and chalk)
27) //we were the kings and queens of promise
28) Monster Smiles (blood in my teeth)
29) Bridge Over Troubled Water
30) Call On Your Angels
31) The Bustle In A House
32) The Homework
33) All You Have To Do (Is Stay)
34) An (Almost) Relaxing Day
35) Pro Patria Mori
36) find me where the wild things are
37) the dark side of the moon
38) Trapped In The Lightbulb Fixation
39) Remember To Sleep
40) Delicacy In Layers
41) when the fire’s at my feet again
42) We Built This City
The ones with / or // are not really brainstorms so much as rants dancing around the fake fic title.
Hahaha, basically 🙂 You know if this were to be actually written, Sai’s POV would be the funniest to read.
“And then Ino-senpai went across the street to borrow extra pens, even though we already have many pens in different colors. It took Ino-senpai twenty seven minutes to return, which is highly inefficient, and she did not even have a pen with her.”
… hrm, I don’t know if I have Sai’s voice down.
I know, right? Like, it’s a very small step away from canon which are my favorite kind of AUs.
I’m not sure how much Sai would want to be involved in putting seals on people (given his own childhood trauma) but I do think he would flourish fabulously in the flower shop as Ino’s assistant (that frequently has to step up to the register because Ino has gone across the street to hang out with Shikako).
Oh no! Anon don’t cry!
… hahaha jk, Shikako’s so stressed out I’m crying, too T_T
I personally don’t have a flower shop!AU (although that’d basically be an “almost like canon but kinder” “childhood friends to lovers” “flower shop and tattoo parlor”!AU revolving around Ino and Shikako) but I totally get what you’re saying. A lot of AUs are just like–just let Shikako rest for a while. Let her biggest worries be something like an exam paper instead of LIFE OR DEATH END OF THE WORLD, PLEEEEEEEAAAAAAAASE!
I sometimes pop over to the recursive thread, but not frequently enough to have a strong idea of what doesn’t exist. @book14reader‘s Index Page is pretty thorough, though, so I recommend checking it out, maybe there is one?
(Stay strong, anon, we’re in for a bumpy emotional ride I think)
JackSGreyson Says 