Tag: brainstorm

Foundation Of Yesterday Shikako/Gaara

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I’m getting definite “future people!POV looking back at the past” vibes and whether that means canon future people looking back at Gaara and Shikako’s relationship as distorted through time and drama (as with Winter in the Fields) or a historical!AU via epistolary and archaeological narration or some kind of “summoned and reunited in the future by heroes in desperate need of help” is a little uncertain.

Well… although I’m always somewhat reluctant to reuse ideas… this would be a pretty good title for that reverse Stories of Ancient Gods, aka the one where DoS is the ancient past of FFVII (instead of the other way around) and Shikako is a strangely proactive and human Summon while the bijuu/jinchuuriki are the WEAPONs.

And given Gaara and Shukaku are the Ichibi, it makes sense for them to be the first WEAPON that AVALANCHE (+Shikako) encounter.

Sort of this idea where Shikako and the bijuu/jinchuuriki are the failsafe to stop Kaguya/Jenova and were dormant for millennia until AVALANCHE awaken them.

So while Cloud and Company’s quest is to stop Sephiroth and save Midgar, Shikako (and Gaara’s) quest is to defeat Kaguya/Jenova once and for all. They’re in a strange world surrounded by strangers, trying to find and awaken the people they do actually know.

Obviously this fic would start with a member of AVALANCHE happening upon the strange Summon Materia that is Shikako’s Gelel stone. Whether or not it’s one of the team’s family heirloom or just something they stumble upon during their travels, I’m not sure…

I had considered it being Cloud’s family heirloom–in that, Shikako’s Gelel stone was entrusted to Naruto’s descendants–but given that Naruto is already one of the WEAPONs and will make his own, independent cameo that seemed unfair… even though appearance and the village pariah and naming convention parallels so nicely. Meh, that’s what Unto The Climate is for)

And then I felt sad because even though your prompt asks for Shikako/Gaara only, to have Naruto and Shikako appear and not Sasuke gave me feels. Team Seven must be complete!

So then, what, is it Sasuke’s descendants who have Shikako’s Gelel stone? Or does the Sharingan somehow enable Sasuke to manifest millennia into the future also?

If we go with the former, I was thinking maybe Shikako’s Gelel stone is just one of the many materia that Yuffie has without knowing what, exactly, it is. After all, it’s not the normal color for Summon Materia and she probably doesn’t use all of the materia she ends up getting. Alternatively, Sasuke has become Chaos?

He (accidentally) combined the Sharingan and the Curse Seal in such a way as to achieve (unwanted) immortality that Orochimaru could have only dreamed of, but the mortal mind is not meant to experience such a long period of time. The jinchuuriki are fine because they were mostly asleep while their bijuu are themselves walking forces of nature. Shikako was dormant in her Gelel stone. But Chaos/Sasuke didn’t have that cover. So he’s a little… crazy. Poor Vincent.

Although, Vincent being the only one to survive being imbued with Chaos because he was the only genetic descendant of Sasuke is pretty good? For an arguable definition of good.

Actually, yeah, I like that Sasuke-as-Chaos idea with Vincent-as-Sasuke’s-descendant. Perhaps Yuffie is just a descendant of one of Shikako’s brother’s? So as to keep the Gelel stone within the family even if they weren’t entirely sure what it would do.

… yeah, I like that better.

So with that foundation in mind, and through the lens of Shikako/Gaara, it would be Shikako and AVALANCHE (and Gaara and Chaos/Sasuke through Vincent) traveling around the world to stop Sephiroth, find the other WEAPONs/jinchuuriki/bijuu, and defeat Kaguya/Jenova ~forever~

And meanwhile there’s a lot of AVALANCHE!POV of these ancient beings and their bizarre conversations and behaviors.

Did Shikako and Gaara have A Thing before being turned into dormant last defenses for the planet but they hadn’t quite resolved their issues so now they’re tiptoeing around each other and AVALANCHE are just like… wtf. Even Ancients and WEAPONs have romantic drama?

~I don’t knoooooooooow, anon~

Re dating in FttLP: ALSO consider the hilarity of Tsume teasing Shikako about Kiba making a good boyfriend and Shikamaru hearing. (Though I do think that as they age they would be able to shield their thoughts when they want to be separate, otherwise it would be functionally no different to a hive mind situation. Also, not all missions would need a twin at home for updated orders, so if nothing was going on, twins could still get assigned the same missions, surely).

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Yeah, they can’t be hive mind otherwise that’d be no fun. I quite like the idea that even though the twins both “hear” the same thing, they react differently. So Tsume telling Shikako that Kiba would make a good boyfriend would cause confusion in ever-oblivious Shikako, whereas Shikamaru would hold a heretofore unseen grudge against Kiba for a while.

I suppose for the short term “find the ferret” mission, both twins being sent would make sense–they can cover a larger area faster and with instantaneous communication–and would be a good first command mission for new chuunin!Shikamaru and Naruto (although, given the bond, would that have pushed Shikako’s almost promotion due to strategizing into an actual promotion?) So that covers the Gelel arc.

But I don’t see why they would both be assigned to the longer-term semi-diplomatic mission to Land of Moon… Or, rather, that they would both be assigned, but only one of them would physically go while the other stays behind to act as Intel handler.

Shikaku with Leafeon and Yoshino with Umbreon, tho. ‘Cause Leafeon requires a stone (costs money), but Umbreon only requires friendship and the night. And … well, what if the eeveelutions they ended up with only clicked after they met each other?

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OOOooooOOOOoooOOh!! (☆▽☆)

I like this idea very much, anon.

TWO Eeveelutions in the family watching over the Nara kids and being cuddle partners. And while neither of the twins ended up with an Eeveelution themselves, maybe Kinokawa has one (OR TWO?)

I just found your pokemon au and it’s so cool! can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier! for eeveelutions, (bc everyone’s gotta have one, y’know? lol) I was thinking of a leafeon for kako because gelel = nature? maybe the gelel stone acts sorta like the leaf stone that leafeons need to evolve and so she gets a leafeon after the gelel incident!

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😀 Thanks!

The Eeveelutions also have a place in my heart (there was once I time I was considering doing a series of embroideries for them before… well… embroidery is very time intensive and I’m still not yet done with my second project) and IRL I would probably be a crazy cat lady but with Eeveelutions if it were possible, but alas…

Seeing as how there isn’t a Rock-type Eeveelution (yet…) I agree that Leafeon would be the most suited for Shikako or maybe just the Nara clan in general? What with the colour scheme and the medical expertise and forests and such. Frankly the only person who is better suited to Leafeon would probably be Tenzo/Yamato…

But while I agree that Leafeon is the best suited Eeveelution for Shikako, I don’t think Shikako would have an Eeveelution in my particular PokemonxDoS ‘verse.  I’m fairly satisfied with my choices for her team.

Although, now that I consider it some more, you want to know what would be hella cute? Shikaku having a Leafeon. Like. This battle experienced yet still adorable leaf fox/cat thing just following the twins around while they’re children. It’s there when they first learn to walk (“little cat foot” anyone?), lazes about in the sun beside them while they nap, an ever present guardian until they’re strong and old enough to be on their own (or, at least, until they have Pokemon of their own).

Ino-Shika-Cho Dad Edition all having Eeveelutions would be the CUTEST thing, I think: Leafeon for Shikaku, Espeon for Inoichi, and I’m thinking either classic Eevee or Sylveon for Chouza. I mean, I don’t know who their jounin sensei was, but I feel like whoever they were gave each of them and Eevee after their graduation so their respective Eeveelutions have been with them for a long time.

“Fear to Tread”. the archangel Aoba one?

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ANON, I GET THIS REFERENCE! 😀

So the full quote is “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” and it’s basically what it says on the tin–rash people attempt things that wise/more experienced people avoid. But if we take it literally (in the sense that post Land of Hot Springs!Aoba is now god in the making!Shikako’s first archangel) then this would be an Aoba afterlife shenanigans fic.

Or maybe not shenanigans. Maybe something honestly frightening for Archangel!Aoba to do. And, like, what would scare an archangel who has already died?

I have two very different answers to this.

The first is “the god that killed him,” AKA Jashin who HATES Shikako for denying him entry into the world and drowning it in pain and despair and thus hates Aoba by proximity. And this version of the fic would be some actual feels of Aoba overcoming this fear for the sake of being Shikako’s celestial ambassador/advocate and making sure they don’t smite her while she’s mortal.

The second is Ibiki.

And, well, that is funny. But at the same time could lead him to coming to terms with being dead. Peeking in on the world of the living and being sad at no longer being able to return, but also knowing that he has a purpose now and there is no going back now. Although, if he does make contact with Kisuke and get him to be Shikako’s second archangel that would be a method to get messages across…

But both of those ideas are important to the brainstorm, not really separate spinoffs. Frankly, anon, the archangel Aoba brainstorm doesn’t have a title so “Fear to Tread” would be good for the entire idea as a whole…

Sorry, I don’t really know what else to do with this. I mean, I have more ideas about the archangel!Aoba ‘verse than what was the original post, but most of that I passed along to @captainlibrarynerdstuff so I don’t know what they might or might not want to use…

“This I How I Let It Go” – Shikako anything, maybe her previous life/Gelel experience

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For some reason, anon, I feel like this title should have some parentheses like… “This Is How I Let It Go (I Don’t)” or “This Is How I Let It Go (i learned it from you)” or “This Is How I Let It Go (I’m Always Angry)”…

But I guess what’s inside the parentheses depends on what direction I go with this.

This isn’t a reference is it, anon? Because if you were around for the last fake fic title event, you’ll know that I almost NEVER catch on until after I’ve posted so…

Hm… I don’t know if it’s because Gardens!verse is so fresh in my mind, but I think this would be a canon divergence in which Gelel didn’t disperse and revive the Dead Wastes but instead stayed with Shikako. Or perhaps did both?

But instead of the easy partnership that is Gardens!verse Shikako-and-Gelel, it’s a struggle of a mortal trying to contain a god that is multitudes without giving anything away to any interested parties.

It’s not all bad–Gelel is more than happy to walk her through the book and chatter about fuinjutsu and see the world beyond the Dead Wastes through her eyes–but it’s more of a constant negotiation than a simple clicking together of puzzle pieces. It’s probably most similar to a benign, cooperative relationship between jinchuuriki and bijuu.

I feel like the logical conclusion to this fic would be during the Land of Hot Springs in which Gelel would make a sacrifice play to fend off Jashin. So no exploded country, but no more internal god. It’s a very short-lived partnership and if I were the kind of writer who could pull it off, it would be poignant and heart-wrenching.

I mean, Gelel would also save Aoba–because hello, godly powers of life itself–which is a silver lining. But except for the canon Gelel/Shikako stone and her shadow state there’s nothing left of it.

… this one would probably be the “this is how i let it go (i learned it from you)” variation.

Hm… let’s see, what else would be in this verse?

Gelel stumbles into the jinchuuriki-bijuu space accidentally, dazing all of them with their godly presence. Gelel is basically that cool teenager in comparison to the moody preteens that are the bijuu.

Gelel is delighted to learn more about Shikako’s first life because–as a celestial being several millennia old–there’s not much in this world that they don’t understand/know of. But the real world? That’s absolutely novel.

Shikako glows green slightly whenever she and Gelel get angry.

Um… what else?

Just for fun: “Reforged”. Pairings optional. Tetsuki is reborn in the LoK era, years after her execution.

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This is definitely an Iron Will!AU (or, maybe, I’ll steal the title Reforged as the actual run of Iron Will like how Trailblazers used to be named something else, because this title is SO AMAZING) and because of that I kind of want to do a lot of different reborn!AUs.

Like… in one she’s born to Fire Nation parents which is… okay? She’s okay. Definitely. Hell, she worked alongside the Fire Lord (Zuko, that is) she can handle a pair of normal civilians that just happen to be Fire Nation.

Her parents don’t understand why she shivers in their presence, constantly, even in the summer heat. Why she flinches away from too much red fabric and glances longingly, but not too often, at their kitchen knives.

It’s not entirely fear, though. A lot of it is guilt.

She’s about eight when she stops trying and failing to pretend to be normal and tries to get a meeting with retired Fire Lord Zuko.

Needless to say, the royal guards do not find this child’s requests particularly compelling.

Eventually, though, some guard takes pity on her–or gets fed up–and passes on her bizarre message: Tetsuki wants Jet’s hook-swords back.

And it eventually ends up with Tetsuki as Iroh II’s equally (if not MORE) reckless subordinate in the United Forces (she hates the uniform with a passion).

Every so often, she’ll send a letter watering down her adventures to her parents who–while they still don’t quite understand her–are very proud and love her.

Then there would be her being born to Air parents which means… Tenzin?

Hrm… that’s rather too close, isn’t it? Maybe Bumi, but considering he’s also part of the United Forces that’d be running a little close to the previous, wouldn’t it? Then again, that’s just a small similarity. Perhaps she is biologically Bumi’s daughter but raised by a single mother.

Also, I should clarify, Tetsuki isn’t a bender in any of these–even after the Harmonic Convergence.

And so the story is about Tetsuki as a lost link in the chain that is Aang and Katara’s descendants because Bumi had a ~casual encounter~ several years ago. I’m not sure if Bumi knows about her existence, but she definitely knows about his.

Unsure where I’m going with this particular version of Reforged, but that’s the only thing I can think of for Air.

Water would be… well I have two very different ideas for this. One is the more dramatic and difficult to pull off daughter-and-secret-shame-of-Tarrlok. Secret shame because she isn’t a bender, that is. Because that puts a really weird twist on the “his brother was pretending to be a nonbender but his daughter is actually a nonbender and he created/passed a lot of discriminatory laws against nonbenders”

Like all politicians, Tarrlok is a giant hypocrite.

The second is less dramatic but not entirely devoid of it, because in this Tetsuki would be Tahno’s nonbender sister. Who is largely unimpressed by his arrogance and, later, his lack of arrogance due to his lack of bending.

In either, her name would still be Tetsuki but instead of Iron Will it’d be Hand of the Moon.

And lastly Earth… again.

I guess if I went with the dramatic Tarrlok-daughter for Water I could do a similar thing as the Tahno’s sister except instead use his teammate Ming. And, well, he does have black hair and gray eyes. LIKE TETSUKI.

I’ll be honest, I stopped watching LoK before Kuvira appeared, so while I know of some of the other Earth bending characters later in the series, I don’t know them enough to feel like I’d want to put Tetsuki in their vicinity.

I suppose I could do another sort of dramatic Earth equivalent of the Water ones and have her be the daughter of a Metalbending Police officer. But instead of an evil one, maybe just a highly stressed one–like Saikhan?

“There’s Nothing in this World (I wouldn’t do)” — I’m feeling very sympathetic to Shikako’s depressed collapse on the couch after her fight with Shikamaru in front of Sasuke, right now. It’s the Depression. Although I’m not particularly picky in terms of ‘verse, I’m hoping you’d have something that fits that sort of theme? ((the title is a reference to Avicii’s “Hey Brother”))

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I don’t know if it’s my brain enjoying making connections, me having so many different AUs, or me being lazy, but I’m getting a sort of Dreaming of S(hade) vibe from the post. But, like, specifically the situation, not the ‘verse.

So, to be clear, it’d be about a Shikako who, while in a desperate battle, tries to use the night itself as a shadow (being the opposite side of the planet as the sun) and disperses herself into the void. Like with going into the black but on such a massive scale that, for the most part, very few people expect her to be able to come back.

Shikamaru is one of those people.

Shikamaru will damn well make sure she comes back even if he has to fight a hundred gods to do this.

So instead of letting her recover slowly in Suna, as in Dreaming of S(hade), Shikamaru goes on a quest to find a cure for her. Or, well, I guess they’re not exactly incompatible? He could make sure she’s settled in Suna before going off on his quest.

Which turns the dynamic around. Because we know they’re protective of each other, and we know Shikamaru would throw down with anyone that looked at her the wrong way, but Shikamaru is very… sedentary. He’s very earthbound and dedicated to the clan, the village. Shikako isn’t the crowned heir–she learns some things, yes, but she’s not the one who had to say the oath–so she has the luxury to travel as she does and follow her own pursuits.

So what if it’s Shikamaru who has to travel? What if he’s the one who has to put his intellect to work not in logistics and leadership as he’s been trained, but in sleuthing and translating and cobbling together snippets of a long ago technique that might just be able to help his sister?

Or, consider, it doesn’t even need to be specifically a B-side to Dreaming of S(hade) it could be a canon divergence fic. Post Land of Hot Springs, Shikako in all but a coma, lost to the world. Her family’s greatest fears come to pass–she doesn’t wake up, doesn’t snap out of it. Nothing Kasuga can think of works, the Sharingan (Sasuke’s and Kakashi’s both) can’t get through her defenses, whatever buzz word Sai used to get her out of the hospital doesn’t work (or, rather, Danzo doesn’t try to kidnap her so Sai doesn’t sneak in and smuggle her out of the hospital), and so she’s just lost.

Now–during the war, with their father on the front lines and Shikamaru needed at home as acting head–nothing can be done. But afterwards? Well. When Shikaku gets back, he’d be hard pressed to keep his heir in Konoha. And, in part, would he want to? He knows tradition would say to keep his heir safe–make sure the succession is unbroken–but when has he ever adhered to tradition?

So it is sort of a coming of age story for Shikamaru as he travels to find a cure for his sister and figures out who he is outside of Nara, outside of Konoha.

Which is, frankly bizarre to read now that I’ve typed it. Because… like… who even IS Shikamaru outside of Nara and Konoha?

The reason why I did bring up Dreaming of S(hade) first, instead of doing the post Land of Hot Springs!canon divergence, was because if Shikako is dispersed into the night (as the literal shadow of the world) then there could be some scenes from Shikako’s POV? Or he sort of interacts with her at night? Something that isn’t so turtled into herself that no one can reach.

I suppose it’s not so much about depression as you’d asked for, anon…

‘The Land of Snow Job’ DoS/Leverage cross. Since the Snow arc seems twisty enough to be a Leverage plot anyway, with the movie and the princess and stealing a country. XD

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That’s true, anon. I mean, I don’t know if just “The Land of Snow Job” as a title matches the others but as an idea, the plot of the Snow arc would translate pretty easily into the Fia(M)C ‘verse.

And while I know it’s a full movie in canon, I don’t know if I’d want it to be a “finale episode” equivalent here because it’s not as relevant? Like… this feels very much more a focus on Kakashi’s change than Snow country itself.

Probably this one would be called something like… “Best Served Cold” or something like that? And it’d focus more on how a younger Kakashi tried to con the Kazahana corporation but failed because it was undergoing a literal hostile takeover and instead he ended up having to call in favors to find a home for the Kazahana would-have-been heiress.

And, like, considering Yukie/Koyuki is an actress that could be leaned into as a stronger bond between Kakashi and her. Sure he never trained her to become a grifter–he tried to find her a normal home, but the closest thing to normal he knew was a non-criminal theater troupe? or a B-movie special effects studio?–but she never fell for his “consultant” job cover.

So when news comes out that Kazahana Corp. is going public in a weeks–meaning Dotou could potentially gain billions by selling a company he stole–she goes to the crew for help.

Dotou can’t make money off the company if the crew steal it first.

And, like, obviously the theater troupe/B-movie special effects studio are highly involved in the unmasking of Dotou’s crimes, etc. etc.

Um… probably the reason why Dotou did a hostile take over of Kazahan Corp was because he wanted to kill a specific solar tech project which would have put his oil investments in danger? And of course he buried the files and blueprints as best as he could, but no one ever knew that Sousetsu had actually built a prototype–which is what the crew eventually find…

Yeah. There’s not much to say for this one since, as you said, it’s close enough to a Leverage plot anyway.

Um… I hope you don’t mind if I go with “Best Served Cold” instead of “The Land of Snow Job,” anon, even though the whole ask box event is about me making summaries off your suggested titles instead of the other way around?

Best Served Cold

Over a decade is a long time to pretend being someone else, but it’s just about right for getting revenge.

Fake fic title: ” Point of No Return ” ( inspired by the Starset song ), Team 7 ( including Sai and Sakura too )

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I don’t want to do another Friendship is a (Mutual) Con ‘verse, because I’ve done a lot for this ask box event and there’s also another post in that ‘verse on the way. Not that I don’t love that ‘verse, but I’d like to explore others.

… or come up with new ones?!

So I know you mentioned Sai and Sakura so that I wouldn’t exclude them, but I thought about it and I like the idea of a ‘verse about the two of them specifically.

Like a post-bad-guys-win/comeback/time travel!AU except instead of Shikako going back in time, it’s Sai and Sakura. Or, alternatively, a dimension travel!AU more in line with this anon’s original ask…

But so as not to just recycle previous posts, let’s go in depth into this Sai and Sakura Save The World.

It’s pretty interesting because Sai has shown up early in DoS and yet he and Sakura haven’t met yet (as far as I know?) and their relationship would be inherently different from their canon relationship because while we consider Sakura as part of Team Seven still, in universe, nobody except Shikako would think that.

I mean, Project Miracle–she did help save Kakashi’s life–but she is firmly Team Anko now so…

Why would Team Seven send Sai, a ROOT trained spy, and Sakura, an elite combat medic taught by Tsunade, back in time instead of the three walking forces of nature that is the “core” Team Seven or even Kakashi (or Tenzo!) who have years more experience/information?

Maybe BECAUSE they’re a ROOT trained spy and elite combat medic taught by Tsunade.

So then we have to consider when and where such a pairing would be more effective than the other possible combinations…

The night of Naruto’s birth would be the most recent, I think (the Uchiha Massacre is already too late, they have to show up before then to be effective and stop the underlying political tensions and machinations). Sakura would be there to heal Kushina and Minato on the night of, and the both of them would be able to advise them in, primarily, getting rid of Danzo much earlier on and preparing for future catastrophes.

Reverse chronologically, the other possibilities are during the Third Shinobi World War, specifically when Team Minato are in danger, and maybe whenever Sakumo’s failed mission but at that point the information would be spread so thin and the repercussions so difficult to track that it’s unlikely.

And, anyway, I quite like the idea of Sai and Sakura hanging out with Kushin and Minato and seeing all of their friends as babies. It gives them a tangible reason to keep going because, frankly, by changing the timeline they no longer have a home to go back to.

And just the idea of irreversible time travel makes the title very ironic and sad and lovely 😀

To make it more sad, I wonder if the baby!Sai and Sakura die when time traveler!Sai and Sakura appear–like, the universe self edits and there can only be one of each, and obviously the babies don’t have as strong existences as these badass teenagers. And, also, there’s an excuse. Now I’m morbidly curious as to how many babies might have died due to Kyuubi chakra in the air.

Additionally, I wonder whether or not, because there are time travelers and the universe doesn’t need an SIOC to correct problems (not in a the-universe-is-sentient kind of way but in a balance-the-scales kind of way), Shikako’s existence is the same. Maybe there is a Shikako Nara but no SQ soul attached. Or maybe, even though they went back in time to help, their actions meant the Kyuubi was out longer and thus the baby that would have been Shikako (and Sai and Sakura) died from bijuu chakra exposure.

… I don’t think I want to go that far, though. Maybe no SQ soul at most, but no dead!Shikako, only because I think that’d be such a major blow to the time traveling team so early on that they wouldn’t want to make any other changes for fear of killing any more of their friends. And the whole “replacing their younger selves in the time stream” thing is already pretty bleak, for Sakura especially, since she actually grew up with her parents.

Anyway, I just quite liked the idea of Sai and Sakura time traveling together to save the world by saving Team Seven before they even know it. And also, Sai dismantling ROOT over a decade early and saving Shin.

And the possibility of Sai and Sakura getting swarmed by baby versions of Konoha Twelve is just too cute to pass up.