Tag: rant

Cross-Post: Idea for a Believable “Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons” Crossover (Part One)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

original here. dated 2013-01-25.

[A/N: When I first wrote this, I don’t think I had actually seen Rise of the Guardians but thankfully my take on it wasn’t too far off. Also, before Frozen so… while I wouldn’t necessarily go adding in the Arendelle sisters, they could easily make cameos. Actually, if I were to do this brainstorm/outline again I’d probably have Jack’s part involve the plot or characters of Frozen.

Also, also, before How To train Your Dragon 2, obviously.

Also, also, also, I actually prefer “How to Train Your Brave Tangled Guardians” to “Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons” but the latter was the more common way to refer to them… also “The Big Four?”]

~

[[“Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons” is the apparent name of the crossover featuring Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians, Merida from Pixar’s Brave, Rapunzel from Disney’s Tangled, and Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon. I’m still trying to wrap my head around how a crossover could be feasible/believable without being too out there for any of the characters or any of their canon worlds, so that’s what is happening here.]]

Part One: Mechanics of Chronology and Geography

First off, we need to fuse all four of their universes together. Luckily this is pretty easy because all of them have magic (or dragons which implies magic), which we can use to hand-wave many issues away. One of the main issues being the four different historical/chronological contexts. I’ve seen different posts on tumblr which basically state that Merida is in 9th-10th century Scotland Highlands, Hiccup is 10th-11th century Scandinavia (possibly Iceland), Jack is 16th-18th century North America, and Rapunzel is 15th-18th century central/southern Europe.

Oookay, so that’s anywhere from a seven to nine century difference. But magic can be used to hand-wave the history discrepancies; for example, Tangled’s Kingdom of Corona is estimated 15th-18th century because of the architecture/how advanced it’s technology is–well, maybe its success came from the wide-scale acceptance and celebration of magic (let’s say, specifically sun magic). Maybe the Puritan movement likewise happened earlier because of this cultural acceptance of magic (or rather, in resistance to this acceptance), thereby Jack’s family settling in North America happening a few centuries earlier.

Additionally, Brave is estimated to be the earliest because this was Scotland pre-British/Christian influence but we can argue in this mashed up universe that the Highlanders’ respect, if not outright acceptance of magic, maintained Scottish autonomy for much longer than it did in our universe. As for the Vikings, well, we know what their opinions are on dragons but we don’t know how they feel culturally about magic or if they have any magical/mystical interactions beyond large fire-breathing reptiles.

The argument for moving the How to Train Your Dragon timeline is tenuous at best because of it’s degree separation from magic (magic has more chronological/cultural influence and hand-wavy ability than dragons, even if dragons do imply the existence of magic) but maybe the presence of dragons similarly lengthened the Viking society beyond our own universe’s history. 

All in all, let’s meet in the middle and say 12th century. However the point is that, in a universe with dragons, semi-sentient celestial bodies and will-o’-the-wisps, and magic, cultures and societies would evolve at different rates than they do in our universe so The Four could exist at the same moment in time without necessitating time travel.

–

Another issue is geography. Though luckily this one is not as much of a universe-building problem as it is mechanics/logistics which may actually contribute to this crossover’s mysterious/mystical plot.

We know from Brave that the Scottish Highlanders have defended their homes from Vikings before, it probably isn’t meant to be the same generation or tribe of Vikings as in How to Train Your Dragon but let’s say they are. And anyway, Gobber’s Scottish accent (via Craig Ferguson) and position as blacksmith (and general subservience) could imply he’s a fosterling (aka hereditary thrall, as in his parent(s) may have been taken as thralls/slaves from one of the raids and while his position isn’t as demeaning as a first generation thrall’s he still isn’t of the noble warrior caste). Also, he looks remarkably like the MacGuffins in colouring and stature. Anyway! The point is that Merida and Hiccup could interact without any major changes to their cultural/societal narratives.

Jack and Rapunzel, on the other hand, require more of a stretch. Jack is in a completely different continent while Rapunzel is stuck in a tower–I’m assuming the crossover happens instead of the events of Tangled [[because a) we want to keep the magical hair and b) we don’t want to complicate The Four’s dynamic with the addition of Eugene, especially not with the addition of Eugene as a husband]]. But Jack can fly. I don’t know if he flies long distances in Rise of the Guardians, but since he’s a moon-winter zombie-ghost, flying across the Atlantic Ocean is probably not outside his abilities. But why would Jack fly that far? We could just brush it off and say he’s just wandering around the world for the sake of wandering, but here is an opportunity to merge geographical logistics with plot. For what reason would Jack fly to Europe? To meet Rapunzel.

Let me explain this answer: Jack is a lonely moon-winter zombie-ghost. In Rise of the Guardians canon, Jack is alone for roughly three hundred years and our new timeline implies a further five hundred years of isolation. Regardless of which you choose, that’s a ridiculously long time to be alone. Even if this is the universe where magic is undeniably real, and thus people would be more likely to believe/see him, Jack is from the anti-magic Puritan society. Even if they could see him, they damn magic as satanic worshipping and would probably think he’s a demon or the anti-Christ or whatever.

Anyway, Jack had to have wondered if there were others like him, so a girl who was born through sun magic? That sounds similar enough to justify a four thousand mile flight. (Maybe he hears about it from another group of settlers who travelled through/originated from Corona or the Puritan settlement uses Rapunzel’s disappearance as proof of magic’s inherent evil or the Man in the Moon decides to be nice and not vague or something else).

So there’s Jack going on a quest to meet Rapunzel in the Kingdom of Corona meanwhile, the Viking raids on Scotland theoretically puts Merida and Hiccup in the same place if on different sides of battle. Let’s resolve that matter before we move on to combining all four of them.

As previously stated, lines from Brave and How to Train Your Dragon’s… Gobber proves Highlander-Viking interaction in the form of raids. If the crossover happens after the events of How to Train Your Dragon and depending on which way the mysterious/mystical plot wants to go, we get to choose how the consolidation of Vikings and dragons affects the raids on Scotland: do the Vikings, making peace with one of their long-time enemies, decide to make peace with another long-time enemy OR do the Vikings, having turned one long-time enemy into an ally, become more efficient at battling their other long-time enemy OR something else entirely?

And–even if the crossover happens before the events of HtTYD–because Merida and Hiccup’s interactions are based on their nations’ interactions, what does that mean for them as firstborn children of their respective chief/king? This means politics: possible arranged marriage to broker peace between their two warring nations OR kidnap/hostage situation until demands are met OR something else entirely?

That’s a lot of things to consider and while it may make things more complicated and difficult, it can also lead to a more interesting and engaging plot. Yes, we could just sidestep the issue of the Viking raids entirely by having Merida or Hiccup (or both of them) running away from home but I honestly don’t think we should–firstly, because that removes some of the feasibility of the crossover and we should embrace whatever in canon makes the crossover easier.

Secondly, unless it’s one of them running away from a kidnapping/hostage situation, it’d be out of character for either of them to do that: when Merida wanted to escape being a (literal) trophy wife she didn’t do it by running away, she took (albeit poorly thought out) action to change her fate; further, even though Hiccup was the pariah of his village he still tried to do his best to contribute (in an unorthodox manner).

Thirdly, there will still be that political animosity between the two cultures according to the dialogue from Brave so even if one ran away from home they wouldn’t run towards a long-time enemy (especially considering their status as princess/chief’s son) so for them to meet, both of them would have to leave home and randomly bump into each other.

It’s just more statistically sound for Merida and Hiccup to be in the same place, either Scotland or Iceland, because of politics so Jack and Rapunzel can go there as opposed to three different paths crossing in the middle of nowhere. I mean, you can do that if you want to because stories are never statistically sound anyway, but this whole endeavour was to make the crossover more feasible.

The point is, regardless of what we choose to do with the Viking raids on Scotland, we should end up with Merida and Hiccup interacting with each other because of politics either in Scotland or Iceland (or both, maybe they travel back and forth to visit each other) while Jack, essentially, finds and gives Rapunzel a lift out of her tower in Corona. We’ve successfully made four individual narratives into two, now we’ve just got to squash them together into one massive crossover. Huzzah!

[[That’s more plot than mechanics, though, so I’m going to put that in Part Two… oh god, I can’t believe there are multiple parts, this is taking over my brain]].

Cross-Post: Untitled (Mon 15 Oct)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

original here. dated 2012-10-16.

~

During the night I woke up three times cold, paranoid, and heart pumping with adrenaline. Each time I lay back down to sleep I decided whether or not I wanted to continue this nightmare, for surely that’s what it was. From a narrative stance, it was one of my more entertaining dreams, but experiencing it in real time was one of the worst. I kept going, because I wanted to know the ending. I kept going, because I wanted to know the beginning.

I had committed a heinous crime. I’m quite sure it involved multiple accounts of murder, for there had been flashes of gore and blood and limbs all around what looked like a police station. There were also two missing people–a police officer and his son–the public was unsure if they were alive or dead. And so was I.

In my dream, I had woken up with a head injury, amnesia, and my picture being shown on all major news channels as a dangerous fugitive. I had no idea what I had done or why I had done it. All I knew was that I was being chased, and I couldn’t be caught. It was dark, my coat covered in blood, and I didn’t know where I was or where I was going.

The dream featured a number of people from my real life, faces I had merely seen in passing and family and friends. It was interesting to see who fell on which side–the side to help me escape or the side that would turn me over to the authorities with my memories still lost.

One of my sisters, I was surprised and almost betrayed to see, was on the side of the law–hunting me down with a pair of what were her old teammates. While they had been viciously and sadistically enjoying the chase (we had never gotten along in high school), my sister seemed almost sorry for what she was doing. It wasn’t her fault: firstly, she was a bounty hunter, it was her job. But more importantly, she was my sister, if I had really become the remorseless kidnapping and murdering monster that I appeared, it was her duty to bring me in herself. She almost caught me.

I woke up; heart racing, somehow cold while still being strangled by my blankets. The white noise my roommate played, once irritating, now calmed me. I was not running for my life, lost. I wanted to know what happened next.

My childhood best friend somehow managed to find me and help, despite how disoriented and afraid and mistrusting I was. She rescued me from the metaphorical hounds at my heels, running alongside me despite the danger it must have put her in. She couldn’t fill me in much, only that I had called earlier, before I had lost my memory, asking for a favor. “Anything,” she recalled to me, “I said you could ask for anything.” But the situation looked terrible. “Anything,” she repeated.

The me that called her, that remembered, had instructed her to bring me to an inn called The Sleeping Swan. My childhood best friend had enlisted the help of her father–physically frail and elderly, but still quite the hellion–as a hilariously effective getaway driver, pushing the blue minivan to it’s limits as I changed out of bloodstained clothing in the back. The police was still on my trail, make no doubt about it, but this ridiculous minivan was a fragile bubble of relief.

Soon enough we were skidding to a stop outside of the inn. That was as far as my childhood best friend and her father went. Because that was as far as I would let them go. Thanking them again, so much; please be safe. They parroted the words back, though just as concerned if in a different way. I wondered, briefly, where my current best friend was; if she would appear at some point in this madness. We said our goodbyes, because we knew we would never see each other again.

The Sleeping Swan was simultaneously a trap and not. The phone call had been monitored, and a pair of federal agents were lying in wait for me to arrive. One of them, who I now recognize from one of my classes, was desperate for my arrest–he needed to prove himself, needed the glory from being the hero to stop the villain that I had been portrayed as. The other, based off a friend living on the floor above me, was actually there to help. Me, that is.

The common area was crowded–I must have been pulling images from movies; the rowdiness of a medieval tavern, but the design of a fairly nice hotel lobby–but I was still able to find her. Her outfit I remember clearly, because it’s one I’ve actually seen her wear: a no-nonsense black skirt suit with an electric blue, cheetah patterned scarf. She sat pristinely on a white sofa, I went to sit across from her.

She couldn’t speak for long, she told me, “My partner’s waiting for a signal, and I can’t stall forever. I have some things to give you, some details I couldn’t print out, but I’ve emailed them to a dummy account. The details are here,” She handed me a hastily scribbled card and an envelope, “The others have made it safely to the meeting point, they’re so grateful. I am, too. You’re very brave for doing this on your own, hang in there, you can do it.”

I wanted to ask her, because she seemed to know, what I had done. Why did she think was brave or even vaguely good when everyone was being told otherwise? Who were the others? But before I could, her partner stormed in and shot me with his gun.

I jolted upright, gasping, my limbs flailing out in defence. I punched the wall, my knuckles still hurt. I have read somewhere that when your sleeping pulse drops too low, your brain thinks it’s dying and so shocks you awake. I was so paranoid, so afraid, I was still feeling the effects of being hunted. I needed to know what happened next.

I was lucky he wasn’t a particularly good shot, though it still burned as it grazed my side. The other people scattered, as did the agent across from me–she couldn’t help me if she were caught or shot. I’ve always been pretty good at weaving through crowds, a trait that served me well in the dreamworld. He was larger and so couldn’t follow easily, but he was still in front of the exit, so I had to go further in. I spotted a door hidden under the stairwell everyone else was going up–so I went down.

For some reason, I knew that The Sleeping Swan was run by a pair of brothers. Their mother was the owner, a lonely and somewhat senile old lady who lived in the basement. Which is where I went. She was very nice, looked like the ladies I see everyday on my walk to school; she was willing to loan me some bandages to wrap my wounds and her sons’ clothing. She let me borrow her dinosaur of a computer, which thankfully had internet even though it must have been the slowest connection in the world.

It was so slow. Agonizingly slow. The agent chasing me had already cleared the upper levels, and I heard him questioning the brothers–it was obvious where he was headed next. It was nerve-wracking, waiting for the information I so desperately needed to load on the screen. His steps were noisy on the wooden stairs, too close! The email finally came through; luckily the message was short, but it was still the key to the papers inside the envelope I was sure. That’s when the agent came crashing through the door.

I panicked. He shot in my direction, not only missing me entirely but also hitting the old computer tower. Still panicking, I threw a quick thanks and sorry to the owner and crawled through the window at the top of the room through a lovely bed of flowers. I just barely fit; the agent wouldn’t be able to follow my route, but I still had to keep moving.

I walked for the longest time. Walked is probably the wrong word. I scurried and ducked and hid and sidled until the sun was up. Then I kept going until I got hungry. I figured a fast food restaurant would be safest, they wouldn’t pay attention to customers’ faces especially this early in the morning. I ordered a quick breakfast meal and took a seat away from the windows; multitasking by going through the envelope and eating. Some cash, a bus ticket, a map, a photo.

The photo felt familiar, a man and a boy. I wondered where I had seen it before when the news on the tiny television mounted on the wall showed the same photo in my hand. They were the missing police officer and his son. It was a story about me. It was then that I learned what I was being accused of, the footage showed the graphic and terrible remains of a police station. They had yet to identify all of the remains, they were not too sure how many victims there were. It was a bloodbath.

I didn’t understand how I could have done that. I’m squeamish and pacifistic and rather weak, to be honest. Logistically, I shouldn’t have been able to go up against what seemed like multiple trained police officers and rend them limb from limb on my own. Perhaps that was it. There were others, accomplices to my murder-spree, or perhaps I was the accomplice to their murder-spree. And what of the missing officer and his son? Why would I be given their photo, and where were they?

The employees of the fast food restaurant were starting to murmur, looking at me, at the phone. It was time to leave. Quickly, but unhurriedly. Wouldn’t want to be obvious. As I made my way down the street as subtly as I could, I noticed a hair salon. I heard sirens in the air–decision made. Five hundred, I offered, for a quick shave and a wig and discretion. They complied.

I wasn’t that far from the marked out point on the map–at the edge of the next town over, presumably the bus station for the ticket. But between there and my current location, was an empty stretch of road; pedestrians were unusual, and it was heavily monitored to prevent speeding. How would I get there without the authorities seeing me?

The answer was: I didn’t. Hesitating confusedly on a sidewalk was apparently some kind of signal for a group of armed robbers to hold me hostage in their getaway pickup truck. Forced to get into the truck’s bed, I simultaneously praised and cursed my luck–praised because, on the one hand, I was being brought to my destination. On the other hand, it was at gunpoint. In this nightmare, guns and I had an odd relationship, different from the one I have with guns in the real world. I apparently was raised being taught gun safety and care, could shoot a handgun or a rifle with ease and accuracy since my teen years, but was nonetheless scared witless of them. Just something about the look of them freaked me out and I–those were not real guns. I was being held up at fake gunpoint!

Well, in that case. I kicked a foot out towards the robber in the back with me, catching him in the ribs. Startled he dropped his fake rifle. Even if it was fake, in that I couldn’t shoot anything with it, it could still be used as a weapon. Grabbing the prop by the muzzle, I swung it at the closest of my captors who, for some reason, responded by jumping out of the truck. While we were still moving. The driver, startled, swerved and braked kicking up a cloud of dust, while the passenger turned to deal with me. I jabbed him in the face with the end of the rifle, intending to break his nose, but only succeeding in pushing his head back.

I could see the bus station not that far away, surprisingly large for a small town. I could probably run to it, if the police prioritized the robbers over the mass-murderer. Unlikely. The passenger, who I identified as a grown up version of one of my elementary school bullies, opened his door to step out. A plan forming quickly in my mind, I swung as hard as I could to knock him out; cathartic and practical. Grabbing his handgun, his very real handgun, I jumped into the cab of the truck holding the driver at gunpoint. All of this, from hostage to hostage-taker took less than two minutes. I demanded him to drive, if he knew what was good for him and his friends. He could backtrack to pick them up, if he was fast enough he might even beat the police on his trail.

“You’re crazy,” he screamed, perhaps finally recognizing me from the news or panicking at being on the other side of a gun, but obeying nonetheless. The sirens were drawing closer, the authorities no longer hesitating upon seeing two of their now-unarmed-robbers lying prone on the ground.

As we neared the bus station, I could see two police cruisers standing guard–probably the only available perimeter. Okay, plan change necessary. The driver kept going, possibly fear overruling his logic, and we were about to crash into the cruisers. I pulled the trigger, in reflex he stepped on the brake, and we skidded to a halt less than a foot in front of the shaking cops. The smoking hole in the upholstery and the gun placed strategically next to the driver would have to be enough, shoddy as it was. I opened the truck door, falling to the ground, asphalt biting into my hands. Quickly getting to my feet, I ran. Straight into the nearest cop.

I woke up again. Muscles tense, afraid but determined. There was no way I was going to just leave it there.

Strands of hair from the wig obscured my face, making me look frenzied, fearful. Excellent. “Please, he has a gun, I’m so scared,” I sobbed, laying it on thick. If I had misjudged, if they were suspicious, if they recognized me, then I had literally put myself into their hands.

Fortunately, though, they believed me. The one I had run into ushering me to sit in the back of his cruiser as his colleagues bravely, but unnecessarily, made their way around the truck with their guns at the ready. “I’m sorry, could I. Do you have any water?” He reassured me and made his way to the trunk. I just needed him preoccupied so I could make the five hundred yard dash to the bus station, he was old, embarrassingly pot-bellied–the spitting image of my former landlord–I easily outran him.

The bus station was crowded enough that I could easily hide myself amongst other people. I hid behind a fake tree, disposing of the wig, and my shirt (thankfully wearing an undershirt), and donning a pair of sunglasses poking out of someone’s bag. The bus tickets I was given specified a platform but not a time. Making my way to platform seven, I cautiously approached the driver, unsure what I would say about my flawed ticket.

An announcement went on the PA system overhead, “Attention please, do not be alarmed, we are looking for a woman…” I didn’t hear the rest of it, I froze staring at the bus driver because there was no way I could get out of this. Instead, she just smiled and gestured for me to come on board. Pressing a hand to my shoulder, she guided me up the steps, following after me. There were only seven of us on board, including the bus driver, but she started up the engine and pulled out of the station calmly and unhindered. Soon enough, we made our way out of the small town and on the open road.

I still didn’t know if I was safe or not. I curled up in my seat, cheek pressed against the window. I was so sick of this, so tired. I couldn’t keep this up.

“Are you okay?” The seat next to me creaking with someone’s weight.

“I don’t know where this bus is going,” I said. I don’t know what I’m doing, I thought.

“Does it matter? We can go wherever we want, now. Do whatever we want.”

That was a weird answer, I looked over to see a familiar teenager–the police officer’s son! “The news says you’re missing!”

“Yeah, and it also says you’re a crazy mass-murderer who somehow single-handedly tore apart fourteen people without any weapons. I know you’re pretty badass, but we helped too. I mean, thanks for taking the heat, we were worried you weren’t going to make it… are you okay?” He repeated because I was crying and now the other passengers were gathering. And I knew them, I finally knew what was happening. Because these were my friends, in my dream, the ones who I had committed some a heinous crime with and for. I spotted my current best friend, my last roommate, the barista from my local cafe, my economics professor, the bus driver now recognizable as a family friend. All of them disguised as strangers on a bus.

“Dad, come here! You’re being ungrateful,” the teenager yelled towards the man seated in the corner; the missing police officer. I turned to look as well, and someone grabbed my chin keeping my head still. Fingers tracing the sore spot on my head that I had been pushing against the cool glass, “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” And I still don’t.

Cross-Post: Red brainstorm

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

original here. dated 2012-03-20

~

Every other day, after helping Mother out with the tavern, Rose Red hitches a ride on the Woodcutter’s cart to Grandmother’s house in the forest. This is because Rose is Grandmother’s apprentice–Grandmother being the kingdom’s old court magician. Twenty years ago when the then-prince (now King) of the kingdom rescued and married Snow White, her distaste for magic caused Grandmother to be removed from the prestigious position. This stigma against magic permeated throughout the kingdom such that Rose is a pariah in the town, however she knows that magic is her only chance to make something of her life. Most of her duties, however, are simple things like finding ingredients for various potions and charms.

On one such outing, Rose encounters Wolf in trap. Feeling particularly adventurous, she tries to free and heal Wolf; she succeeds (even if it does take multiple attempts). In return, Wolf steals her cloak (a sensible dark green) and runs away. When she returns to town before sundown, Mother scolds her for losing yet another cloak and makes her wear her childhood red cloak; hence the nickname “Little Red Riding Hood.”

Rose sees Wolf more often, he becomes friendlier and even begins to help her with her chores. Wolf undoubtedly becomes her best friend, as sad as that is, such that she begins to go to the forest every day now. As noticed by the friendly Woodcutter (who is in love with Mother, but does honestly care about Rose). She takes care to keep Wolf a secret from him.

Soon, though, a newcomer arrives: Huntsman. Rose, Grandmother, and Woodcutter do not trust him (though that may be only because Mother is charmed). Unsurprisingly, Huntsman is after Wolf. Because he’s staying in the rooms above the tavern, Rose hears his plans before they occur and goes into the forest to protect Wolf. Then the Hunt.

Rose and Wolf are able to evade Huntsman for the day, though he is undoubtedly getting closer. Then sundown. Rose has never been in the forest at night before. She has never seen Wolf at night before. That’s because Wolf is in fact the Prince! Not too long ago Prince was cursed during some important event (perhaps coronation or first battle/hunt). He was meant to be hidden away in the castle, however he was let loose. Snow White, as queen, has offered a reward for those who can find the Prince-Wolf, however Huntsman doesn’t understand that he needs to bring Prince-Wolf alive.

Just before dawn, Huntsman finds the two of them. Before he can harm either of them, however, Woodcutter, who had been tracking them down at the behest of Mother, arrives to stop him. Soon follow Snow White and Grandmother. Prince-Wolf is cured so that he is now just Prince. Woodcutter gets the reward (which he splits with Mother for the upkeep of the tavern). Grandmother is offered the reinstated position of court magician but refuses, saying she always hated the politics. Prince proposes to Rose.

And she says she has to think about it. Because, really, even though he’s known her for a while and fallen in love, she’s only known that he was a human for one night. One night spent in paranoid hiding. So yeah, she’s got to think about it. She stays in town and continues to learn from Grandmother, Prince visits every month and everyone treats Rose better, but she says she needs time to think about it every time. On the day Prince is going to go visit again, Rose arrives at the castle to apply for the position of court magician.

~

The sequel of Red, with a title more imaginative than Red II, would be about Rose adjusting to court life. The other courtiers are prejudice against her, due to her magic, her commoner status, and the fact that Prince obviously favors her over his peers. The sequel would mostly be about Rose proving herself worthy of the position of court magician: she perseveres despite the others’ expectations (and breaks a curse that has been plaguing the kingdom for years?). There are also smaller issues she settles since Rose does represent the reintroduction of magic (including negotiating with the faeries about a recent noble birth and a possible faery godparent?). She not-so-ironically finds allies with the dwarves, The Seven being the queen’s now ignored advisors, the next generation of dwarves being subsequently disrespected.

There are moments of Prince’s and Rose’s relationship progressing–the Prince often seeking her out despite both of their busy schedules. There is conflict, however, because even though his love for Rose is steadily becoming more requited that is inversely related to how everyone else views her and they both know it is unlikely anything will come of it (his marriage will be political not romantic). She does make some friends and even if they are servants their influence in court helps Rose immensely.

Cross-Post: One Can Only Hope So Much…

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

original here. dated 2012-02-29.

[A/N: This was after teasers for Elementary had come out, but before the season premier. So… not canon-compliant. And the author’s notes below are from 2012–I don’t agree with all of it now, but I thought it would add some perspective on my thought process]

~

[[… Before One Must Start To Act. 

So I’m writing this CBS!Elementary fanfiction before it actually comes out. To be honest, as I’m a BBC!Sherlock fan and this is a preemptive “I hope Elementary doesn’t suck, but I’m not really placing my hopes all that high” fanfiction. From what I’ve heard, in particular regarding CBS’ remake of John Watson as Joan Watson, I guess I kind of understand–because this is America, and they’ve seen all the shipping of Johnlock and goddamn America’s homophobia sometimes– not that I particularly like the idea. But then again, how many of us BBC!Sherlock fans haven’t read a genderbent fanfiction, am I right? So… it’s not that John is now Joan that bugs me. I also rather like Lucy Liu, and I like that they’re not restricting themselves to a Caucasian actress so that’s cool. What pisses me off about their remake of John to Joan is that Joan isn’t an army doctor. And… I don’t get why that is. So… this is me… trying to fix that?]]

Joan was a good girl. She got good grades. She held a small position in student council. She played clarinet, even if she didn’t really like it, because she was told that music was important to be a well-rounded person. She played softball because she liked it, but she didn’t pursue it as much as she wanted because she was told that academics were more important. She didn’t get into fights at school. She had a healthy, if modest, number of healthy, if modest, friendships. She was quiet and obedient and did everything that was expected of her.

Joan was a good girl. She graduated from high school, top of her class. She applied to colleges with good pre-med programs, and was accepted. She spent another four years getting good grades. She didn’t party and get drunk every night. She did not experiment with drugs. (She may have joined a few poker tournaments that may have had actual monetary stakes, but it was not that big a deal. She made nearly as much as she lost, anyway.) She did volunteer work at a nearby animal shelter and vaguely considered switching to veterinary medicine, but decided to stick with humans.

Joan was a good girl. She received her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude (pre-med was a very difficult track), then went on to med school. She spent another eight years getting good grades and learning what it meant to be a good doctor. She did not crash and burn like some of her peers, nor did she (ironically) depend on drugs like others. She was in charge of a study group of equally responsible med students, and did not get drunk that often.

Joan was a good girl even in med school. Unlike a large majority of the other good girls, the other quiet and obedient girls, she did not go into pediatrics or oncology or neurology. She was particularly good at surgery. She was especially good at trauma surgery.

Joan’s parents were proud of her. She was their favorite child by default because, as far as they were concerned, she had not done anything wrong. (Not like her sister who became pregnant and only just barely graduated from high school. Not like her brother who was caught selling weed and was still living at home, constantly damaging the family cars.) She was quiet and obedient and did (almost) everything that was expected of her.

Joan was a good girl. She wanted to become a good woman. She joined the army. (She was still her parents’ favorite child by default, but they did not approve.)

Joan was a good soldier. She did everything her commanding officers told her. She completed every task given to her. She did not punch every moron who made a Mulan joke in the face. (Though really, that one was hard.) She went through fire arms training and discovered she was a also a good shot (a fucking fantastic shot), but she stuck with her medical training because that was good that was important (sometimes winning the war isn’t about beating the other side, but making sure your side survives). She saved some lives, and lost others (and killed others) but she was still a good medic. Joan was a good soldier because she was a good woman.

Then she got shot. (She thought she died)

Then she survived. Then she got shipped back home. (She thought she would have rather died.)

But Joan was nothing if not a good woman. And that made her a good soldier even if that made her not a good girl anymore.  She could handle living in her parents’ home again, in that bedroom that used to be hers when she was a good girl, listening to her parents say I told you so’s and asking when she would find a husband, putting up with her sister’s visits and condescension about her family and her house and her perfect suburban lifestyle, dealing with her brother’s inappropriate jokes and his wrong assumptions about how the military worked (his stupid video games kept her up at night and sometimes she just wanted to take her old softball bat and go into his room and just start wrecking things until that ache in her chest just went away, jesus christ she was already 40 what was she doing with her life, she needed to get out of there, she’d do anything).

“Yes, can I speak to Dr Stamford? Tell him it’s Joan Watson… Hey Mike, about that job opening–no, I know I said my shoulder would make surgery difficult. But I’ve been doing physical therapy. Ha, yeah, I know–as if I weren’t a doctor, right? But listen, they actually said I’m making surprising progress. I should be at one hundred percent by next month. Oh, really? Two weeks? I can do that. Thanks, Mike, you’re a life saver.”

Looking at the medical records that clearly document the severity of her nerve damage, Joan doesn’t feel like a good woman anymore.

[[Basically the idea is that Joan falsified her records regarding her recovery so that she could get that job as a surgeon. It wasn’t until she lost a patient and they sued did people discover her fraud. As I understand it, that’s the premise CBS is trying to pull off (instead of giving Joan her rightful place as an injured army doctor). In a way, CBS!Elementary kind of has to be about both Joan and Sherlock failing then trying to redeem themselves.

Because, think about it, what would make Sherlock Holmes leave London? He fucking loves London. The only way he would leave London would be if he were exiled or if he felt like he didn’t deserve London. So that means he failed big time. And, you know, is punishing himself by going to New York. In turn, Joan has to be just as desperate and have failed to match.

The thing about BBC!Sherlock is that, though I love both Sherlock and John, they’re perfect. They are characters more than they are people. And that makes sense for BBC!Sherlock. But for any Sherlock Holmes to be outside of London, he has to somehow no longer be a Sherlock Holmes. Elementary’s Sherlock has to be a flawed Sherlock–and not only in the way that Sherlock Holmes as a character is flawed– but as a Sherlock Holmes.]]

Cross-Post: Assassin!Katara brainstorm

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

original here. dated 2012-02-01 

[A/N: Please note that this was before The Legend of Korra so… yeah]

~

Partly has to do with how much I would totally LOVE being a waterbender/bloodbender/healer like Katara and how she is kind of the most important character of Avatar The Last Airbender even if she doesn’t have the super awesome legacy like Aang and Zuko seem to. So I guess there’s three ways this assassin Katara could come about:

1) Simply by continuing the series. We know Aang and Zuko are all about being publicly good and whatnot, but there are always darker sides to politics and such that the two of them seem to be unable or unwilling to deal with. Enter their better halves Mai and Katara. A lot of this would be Mai and Katara learning how to get along and learning things from each other, both of them being the shadow/hidden power behind the thrones. Toph apparently goes back to Ba Sing Se to teach metalbending to the eventual police force, Mai’s closest friends are crazy prisoners or all the way at Kiyoshi Island with new friends of her own, so Katara and Mai would drift together. But because of their mutual awesomeness and distrust of each other, their friendship wouldn’t just click because Mai has to learn to not just obey orders and Katara needs to find a purpose beyond being ‘team mom’. So they’re both trying to find themselves and along the way they become besties. It’s probably somewhat darker than just two girls becoming women and friends–because lets face it, the series has put teenagers in charge of the entire world and they can’t really trust the older generation. So it’s a bit like, as Aang and Zuko travel around showing people that the war is finally over and whatevers, Katara and Mai also travel with them and get shit done.

2) A Katara raised by Fire Nation and being a pirate. She’s an assassin pirate. Something along the lines of her being kidnapped by the Sea Ravens maybe, because the Sea Raven’s mission to the South Pole was kind of weird to begin with. First off, how did they even know there was a waterbender in the Southern Tribe? There was only like… 50 people max in the village and who would tell? Unless they thought that Hama (and that’s what leads to universe 3) had gone back to the Southern Tribe, but that was AGES ago. Also, Katara was only maybe 4 years old, she wouldn’t have been much of a threat. I’m assuming that the Sea Raven captain only killed Katara and Sokka’s mom because if she HAD been the waterbender then she would have been a major threat. Also, they only go into the village to kill one person? They had the manpower to do some serious damage if the simply wanted to remove the threat. My guess, which is what this universe would be based off of, is that they wanted the waterbender as either a type of tool or a research subject or because they thought maybe the Avatar was somewhere in the water tribes and they couldn’t easily get to the North Pole. Seeing that Katara was only 4, the Sea Ravens would kidnap her instead. Maybe incapacitating or killing her mom, but Katara would be raised by Fire Nation as a super badass waterbender. While I doubt she would have interacted with the fire nobles, I’d like to think that Katara and Azula have some kind of rivalry in this universe. Maybe Katara turns on the Sea Ravens and becomes a mercenary, gets temporarily mentored by Jin. (She maybe stays a while in the fishing village on the river and becomes The Painted Lady during her identity crisis)

3) Hama escapes from prison and goes back home to the South Pole. She changes a lot of the South Pole’s history. Helps rebuild it, protect it, etc. But she’s far more cutthroat than Kanna prefers and so there’s this tension between the two of them as the eldest and thus most influential members of the tribe. It doesn’t help matters when Katara is revealed to be a waterbender and starts taking lessons from Hama who teaches her everything she knows. I’m thinking that in Hama’s travels back to the South Pole she meets the swamp benders and gets some ideas about multiple water tribes. Not just those stuck at the poles. At some point I would like for Katara and Hama to go to the North Pole and be all your misogynistic tendencies are stupid to Pakku. This one is more scheming than badass Katara. In this universe, it’s not just Fire versus Earth with Air being extinct and Water being very close to that, It’s Fire versus Earth with Water on the rise to being it’s own contender in the fight. And there are some repercussions beyond that–obviously, Earth Kingdom wouldn’t like Water Tribes taking official Earth Kingdom land, even if it is swamplands. And Fire Nation would definitely hate their natural enemies of Water gaining power.

TL;DR:
1) Katara and Mai become the badass power behind Aang and Zuko’s “thrones.” They do what’s necessary to help rebuild the war-torn world and protect their partners have become. They become friends while changing from girls into women.
2) The Sea Ravens kidnap Katara instead of (or along with) killing her mother. Katara is raised to be mercenary and mistrusting; possibly turning on them when she’s old enough, having a rivalry with the Fire Nation nobles or a mentorship from Jin.
3) After escaping from prison, Hama increases the power of the Water Tribes–restoring the South Pole, riling the North Pole, and establishing the swamplands as Water territory. Neither Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom are happy. Katara is her heir apparent.

Cross-Post: Haggled (main story brainstorm)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

original here. dated 2011-11-20.

~

Haggled has all the hallmarks of a traditional fairytale, but I’m fairly sure it doesn’t actually exist and it will be told in a grittier, factual way. It starts, much like other fairytales, with the royal couple having difficulties producing an heir; this, unlike other fairytales however, results in marriage and more importantly political troubles and the situation becomes dire. It’s implied that the king had successfully impregnated a servant girl, which proved that the issue was not with the king (figures), which puts further pressure on the queen. Furthermore, her brother, the prince of the neighboring kingdom of which her marriage sealed the alliance, tells her that there are signs of war and that their home kingdom will need time to prepare and to accept him as acting king (since their father has not yet died but is sickly and old). In order to save her marriage and most importantly her kingdom(s), she goes to the mysterious witch and makes a deal.

The witch will agree to give the queen a child, if the queen agrees to concede her control of the throne to the witch. She asks for time to decide and intelligently weighs the pros and cons while consulting with her brother: she takes the deal because ten months will be sufficient enough time to prepare her native kingdom, her brother has promised to accept her and her child back into the fold, she figures she doesn’t actually have any significant control over the throne, the royal magician (though unable to help her conceive) is a powerful battle magician etc. etc. So the queen becomes pregnant, war is averted, and all is well for a while.

The queen gives birth to a son and everything is amazing because now they have a male heir and won’t have to go through the madness of infertility again. The witch sends reminders of their deal or requests a meeting with the queen or whatever, which goes unanswered, though the queen tells the royal magician to be on guard and etc. The day of the prince’s official ceremonial debut-thing with all the neighboring dignitaries and important people the witch crashes the party, because defenses are lowered and stuff, to disclose the secret of the deal and to vow the fulfillment of it. Defenses are raised, everyone’s on guard, etc.

Everyone is expecting this huge theatrical attack or widespread curse, but the night passes and it seems like nothing happens. In the morning, however, it is discovered that in the prince’s crib is another identical child, with a note from the witch to take care of the children she gave them. Basically, one of them is the real prince, the other is a golem or something but it is impossible to tell them apart. There isn’t really anything to do but to raise both of them and hope with time they can tell the difference.

Time passes, the twins grow up, and it’s noticeable that one is the… better twin… but there’s still no way to tell which one would be under the witch’s control. The not-as-competenet twin turns out to have magic, which he keeps a secret since a) that might imply he is the golem, b) magicians have been mistrusted/discriminated against since the debut, c) he’s never had anything for himself, etc. etc. But soon he’s not able to hide his magic, though luckily he only reveals it to his only close, loyal friend. They come up with the idea to travel to the old court magician in order to learn how to control his magic. The journey makes him more independent and stronger, they meet new people along the way, and it turns out that by traveling, the prince is actually learning how to control his magic on his own.

Meanwhile back at the castle, the royal family assume that the missing son was kidnapped by the witch and in which case it is also assumed that the competent twin is the golem. I’m not too sure if the queen wants to keep that idea to herself to protect the kingdom and her not-son, and etc. or if they just straight up imprison him? But anyway, they send out search parties to find their other son, which the traveling party misinterprets as hunting the incompetent twin because they think he’s the golem. The competent twin is plagued by visits and visions of the witch who is trying to exert her influence on him because the other twin is protected by his own magic. The magic twin doesn’t fully experience her oppressive visits, he is able to see what his brother is being put through, because even if they are different they are twins and brothers and friends! We still have no idea which is the golem, and I think I’d like to keep that a mystery.

At some point, the magic twin meets the old court magician who at first refuses to teach him. Soon after, it is the twin left behind is sentenced to death because the idea that he is the golem has spread and people want action done. The magic twin decides to go back to save his brother, which… I’m not sure how that’ll work out? I guess his plan is to show up and wing it… His party follows because they are loyal and etc. The old magician doesn’t, but he does tell the magic twin that as the golem’s power source, killing the witch will also kill the golem.

The magic twin goes to save his brother, the witch appears because it’s the climax and there’s a magic battle… I don’t know how this ends to be honest. I guess the happiest ending would be that the protagonists are able to kill the witch but the golem, the competent twin in this case, gets his power from the magic twin so no one has to die since the threat is gone. There’s the option where the competent twin sacrifices himself (or goes crazy and commits murder suicide) to help his brother defeat the witch, where the competent twin is the golem but is able to overcome the witch’s influence to do the right thing. There’s also the possibility that neither of them are golems but that one or both the actual children of the witch. I mostly wanted the idea of an evil witch getting her revenge not by obvious killing attempts and curses but by causing suspicion and things to taint already strained relationships and politics.

Growing Strong (Burning Bright), HPxKHR crossover/fusion brainstorm (2015-03-24)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

As previously mentioned in my A Year With The Moon brainstorm, here, I’ve been wanting to do a proper outline on another idea. Namely, the HPxKHR crossover/fusion. I had stated that it would be about, or partially due to, Rowan(/Bromley/Branton) Evans, aka brother to Petunia and Lily Evans, aka uncle to Harry Potter. And a mafioso. And it would feature the Ministry Six plus surprise Hogwarts student as the newest batch of Flame users in organized crime.

The idea was that there was a third Evans sibling, because mystical things ought to happen in threes and it makes the lifestyles of the Evans sisters more interesting if–instead of a dichotomy, it were more of a branching (like the Peverell brothers). Lily is still the only magic user, but that doesn’t preclude Evans brother from using Flames. In fact, it would explain Harry’s “power he knows not” is literally the power is from the Evans side of the family.

Anyway, Evans brother–leaning toward Branton or Rowan, the former sounding more like a “normal” name, but the latter having cool connotations–is older than Lily, definitely. Not sure if I want him to be older or younger than Petunia… though going by the whole birth-order psychology, it would make sense for her to be the middle child. I could throw in twins for the hell of it, but… meh. So the eldest Evans child, instead of escaping Cokeworth by status jumping (like Petunia) or joining a magical society (like Lily), escaped via crime. Eventually going into organized crime… somehow. Obviously I’ll need to do some research on organized in the United Kingdom and figure out how to make it more KHR flavored, though obviously the British Firms are far less flamboyant and showy than the Italian Famiglia.

I don’t think Evans brother is the head of a British firm, but he may be something decently high up. Probably due to the fact that he may be one of the few British criminals to have unlocked his Flame. Regardless, he is tasked with finding more Flame users either to supplement the firm’s standing in the international crime community or because there may be a specific need for a full set of Flame users in reaction to the crazy shit going on in KHR canon.

He’s going to look close to home, since it might just be genetic and perhaps all the weird magic stuff Lily did was actually Flames. But Lily disappeared more than a decade ago, married to some uppity magic ponce, so it’s easier to track down his other sister. Except, lo and behold, Lily’s son also lives with Petunia. That makes things easy. Obviously Petunia isn’t going to let her precious Diddy-kins join a firm, for all that Dudley is the one in an actual gang, but she could care less what happens to her nephew. And if it gets her older brother off her back then so be it. She knows that he’s in organized crime, but he’s impeccably dressed and rich and willing to play it off as legitimate employment in front of her husband. He just needs to borrow their mutual vagrant of a nephew for some manual labor, aka Flame training.

I should mention here that this would probably go down in the summer, between Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire. Well… actually. Hm… the main reason I want to do this is because Harry is a representative for a “fourth school” which Evans uncle can use to his benefit to recruit more magic/Flame using kids. But it’s only until he gets to Hogwarts that he realizes that magic and Flames are different. And it parallel’s Tsuna’s situation with Reborn, in that Reborn appears when Tsuna is 13/14.

Anyway, because Flames aren’t magic, Evans uncle has to figure out which kids actually do have Flames. Obviously the (future) Ministry Six have Flames, but I need one more. Probably more students have Flames, but I really just want Evans uncle to focus on a core set (enough to match those Italian Famiglias) because he’s not actually here to make a school he’s here to recruit weapons for his firm. Since he’s got his hooks into Harry due to the family thing, he’s going to build his set around him. Which obviously means that Harry is the Sky. From there I have various headcanons for Flames and for who should be the Seventh (or if some of the Ministry Six should even have Flames… hm…)

Definitely: Hermione – Storm (or Mist), Luna – Mist (or Rain)
Probably: Neville – Sun (or Rain), Ron – Lightning, Ginny – Cloud (or Storm or Sun)
Maybe: Draco, Susan, Hannah, Blaise, Cho, Cedric, Fred, George, Lee (actually, I’d prefer Lee over the twins…)
I don’t necessarily want blood status to equal Flames or not. Some purebloods are probably unfairly gifted with Flames, but since it’s not magic they just don’t use it.

Anyway, it basically shakes out to–at first they’re really pretty shrewd and outright in using each other. A sort of “I need a student and you want to get out of the Dursley’s house. This way we both win.” Then with the addition of more students it’s like, “I need to recruit more people and you apparently need help with this tournament.” And it then develops into, “I’m going to help you kill that sob that killed my sister, that way you don’t have any more obligations and you will join the firm.” Finally, eventually turns into, “The blood wards will work on me too. We’ll live together. And if you happen to have a giant pet dog that can double as an magic adult recruit for my firm then fine.” I’m not saying he revolutionizes organized crime, but his firm definitely gets perks of having a direct line to the magic world. And it gives them an unexpected additional edge against the Famiglia.

If I were to write it… it’d probably only be Fourth year, in depth, and maybe some smattering of later years to show the changes to the war. And an epilogue in which the Vongola Tenth Generation meet the… ugh, I don’t know what to call them. The Phoenix Guard? … the Flame users of the British firms.

Some tidbits/character interactions:

Kingsley Shacklebolt hates Evans uncle’s guts. HATES. It’s fantastic. Because he’s very obviously a criminal but Shacklebolt has no jurisdiction 😀 Tonks, on the other hand, probably outwardly hates him too because Aurors stick together, but inwardly thinks he’s really cool. He’s closer to being a secret agent than she’ll ever be.

Severus Snape doesn’t necessarily hate Evans uncle, but he does feel discomfited. Because it reminds him of being a child in Cokeworth. And while Petunia was overtly jealous/spiteful of Lily and Severus’ magic, Evans uncle was pretty nice in the rare occasions when he was around. He was probably Severus’ first positive male role model (which is hilarious all things considered), and while that faded with Severus’ realization (or at least perceived realization) sometimes the past his hard to shake. It probably doesn’t help that the last time they saw each other, Severus and Lily were still friends (so, like, two decades ago) and Severus wants to cling to that notion.

Sirius and Remus are ambivalent toward him for differing reasons: Sirius doesn’t really mind the crime part, enjoys the “training Harry to be kickass” part, but he’s jealous of the whole “I’m a reliable uncle and can actually follow up on my promises. (The secret is to not make sappy ridiculous ones).” Remus, on the other hand, is bothered by the crime part a little. Especially with how easily (at least it seems so to Remus) he is recruiting everyone including students. He’s fascinated by the Flame training (and maybe even has Flames himself? And thus is an eager student) but reluctant to join the firm  in exchange. While he’s not jealous of the whole “reliable uncle” thing, he doesn’t appreciate his shortcomings being aired in public–he’s poor, he doesn’t fit in either the Muggle or magical world, he couldn’t even meet Harry until he was a teacher, but in Evans uncle is rich (from crime), he seems to be slotting into the magical world easily for a Muggle, in less than a year Evans uncle has already done blah blah blah.

What I’m really unsure about is how Dumbledore feels. I don’t actually want Evans uncle to just storm in there and fix everything. It takes him a while. There are obstacles in this journey both emotional and physical and political and whatever. So he has to be VERY careful in the beginning not to piss off Dumbledore. Maybe at first, Evans uncle implies that Flames are magic but that he didn’t have much more than a squib did and probably didn’t register as a muggleborn until after he had a near death experience (Dying Will) which allowed him to access the internal energy.

I have some less coherent brainstorming for a HPxKHR idea on my lj here but nothing specific to this Evans uncle idea.

I’m not against Evans uncle actually being an Evans aunt, but I did brainstorm this with an uncle specifically in mind.

edit: now titled Growing Strong (Burning Bright)

Untitled HufflepuffOC brainstorm (2015-03-21)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I want to write a story. And I’m not even sure if it’s a self-insert or not, but I want to write a story about an OC Hufflepuff boy Cedric’s age. And he’s sarcastic and funny and a little crude. “We’re Hufflepuffs, man, loyalty and all that utter shite. You’re stuck with me forever,” and he’s Cedric’s best friend because he’s the only one who won’t put up with his stupid–I’m a nice person and so perfect and my father’s heir–thing. And during the Triwizard tournament (is Cedric sixth year or seventh year then?) he’s pretty much the only Hufflepuff not to think Harry Potter is a glory-seeking hound. I mean, he’s a little annoyed that Gryffindor’s trying to usurp Hufflepuff again, but he doesn’t think it’s Harry’s fault. And plus, he’s just a kid, a kid who has had all sorts of terrible shit happen to him. It’s not his fault.

OC Hufflepuff is probably a muggleborn, or a half-blood, regardless of if he’s a self-insert or not. I use “self-insert” perhaps a little incorrectly, but “someone from our world” is a rather wordy. So he has a lot in common with both of the muggle-raised Hermione and Harry. Which helps when his standing up for Harry temporarily puts him on the outs not only with his best friend but with the rest of Hufflepuff. And at first they’re a little suspicious of him too, but, well. The more the merrier. And he maybe sort of falls for Hermione. Like, when Cedric and he finally reconcile it’s something he bemoans. Which Cedric doesn’t really get, because, “She’s a fourth year, mate. It’s a bit weird.” And he goes, “Bugger off, Diggory, she could probably be the youngest Minister of Magic if she wanted and since I don’t have a certain someone’s pretty boy looks I have to make sure I’m worthy to be her trophy husband in some other way… Maybe I should learn how to bake.”

Except maybe Cedric does get it because, “I can’t like him. He’s a fourth year. And a boy.” Oh, be still my inner CedricxHarry shipper heart. And OC’s just like, “The only thing wrong about it is that I’m pretty sure you’ve only said like… ten words to him. You should probably fix that.”

And if it is a self-insert, well. Muggleborn, that way OC can’t know for sure what’s happening until he turns eleven. And so let’s say Cedric is only two years older, well OC isn’t amazing, doesn’t have any special powers, only has moderate magical abilities and no protagonist luck like the Golden Trio seem to do. He doesn’t want to change the world, really. He just wants to make sure his best friend lives. Because Hufflepuff loyalty and all that shite, his best friend isn’t going to be casualty number one in a war.

I guess it’s just something that struck me as particularly feasible? Because for the first eleven years of OC’s life he probably just thinks he’s been regularly reincarnated… back in time. Because JK Rowling didn’t publish the first book until 1997 which is, you know, basically completely after the events of the books. So OC doesn’t think it’s weird that they don’t exist… uuuntil he gets a certain letter.  And, because of that–because he wasn’t expecting to be in the HP series, he didn’t make plans to change the world. So… I guess as an overarching issue, OC has given up on making the world a better place even before he tries?

If I do actually want to get him involved in the main plot outside of the GoF mess, though, I guess he takes Divination and cheats with his book-knowledge, but then Dumbledore takes notice and is like “Finally, a reliable seer.”

I dunno what else, though.

[EDIT: I’ve written a prequel! Also, this is titled Running Backwards]

Uzu no Kuni brainstorm (2015-03-17)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Headcanon brainstoming on Uzu no Kuni, aka Land of Whirlpools, aka home of Uzushiogakure.

I like to imagine that Uzu no Kuni is a series of islands with the largest one being the one where the village is. Additionally, I like to consider there being volcanos, because many island nations in the real world are made out of volcanic activity. It would explain Terumi Mei’s lava-jutsu, since Mizu no Kuni is also a series of (far larger) islands. Also, that due to the naturally bright hair color of the Uzumaki, at least, that maybe the islands are tropical and the people also sort of evolved to be colorful like the rest of the surrounding flora/fauna.

Obviously, the Uzumaki were a significant clan both in the village and in the country. But I think there was more to it–doesn’t there have to be? To that end, maybe the other islands of Uzu no Kuni are much smaller than the main one and maybe they keep them hidden behind seals. Perhaps each clan was in charge of a different island, with the Uzumaki island being the largest and most influential, it would become both the capitol and the ninja center–unlike the other nations in which the capitol for civilians and the shinobi hidden villages were separate, in Uzu they were one in the same. Whereas most other countries (or perhaps, not, we do only hear the origin story of Konoha) were clans banding together as martial alliances… I’m thinking that Uzushio was formed more as a university of sorts. A metropolis where all of the different clans could interact.

Which leaves an opening for what the other islands are doing and who they are controlled by. I’ll be honest, mostly this is a way to fit in cameos from other media:
edit: The seven islands of Uzushio are named things like destiny and amity and prosperity, but for the most part they are called by the names of the ruling clan. 
Unmei Island = Destiny Island = Kingdom Hearts, anyone?
Hamaguri Island = Clam Island = Katekyo Hitman Reborn
etc. etc.

Mostly because the reason why the other nations went after Uzushio wasn’t just because they were allied with Konoha but because they were too powerful. And while the Uzumaki longevity/chakra weapons/sealing is interesting, strictly put… longevity isn’t so much a threat, really. Chakra weapons didn’t seem like a bloodlimit per se, and sealing can be taught. So there must have been other things that made Uzushio a threat. Say, a clan of people whose fire actually can melt Mizu’s Yuki clan’s Hyoton? A clan whose swords can change and do jutsu in contrast to Mizu’s Seven Swordsmen? I DON’T KNOW. The possibilities are endless.

~

A/N: Just some short headcanon brainstorming for Uzushio. BECAUSE THEY DESERVE BETTER.

Harry Potter x Narnia crossover/fusion brainstorm (2015-03-14)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

As previously mentioned here in my “A Year With The Moon brainstorm,” I had two more ideas which I wanted to develop but was having difficulty with and I’m hoping that by typing it out I’ll be able to get something flowing.

The first one, which I described as “Just Harry: An HPxNarnia crossover/fusion featuring Harry the Just, Hermione the Magnificent, Ronald the Valiant, and Neville the Gentle,” is unsurprisingly inspired by Harry’s quoted desire to be “just Harry” [instead of the Boy-Who-Lived] and the dialogue from the Prince Caspian movie in which Edmund obliquely refers to himself as the Just King. Then obviously there’s the the fact that Gryffindor is a lion on a red rampart.

I’m not sure if I want to just have the four year-mates or also include Ginny and Luna from the Ministry Six. In which case, I would have to create two new title traits… but then it would be weird that those two have original title traits and not the others. And the whole point was that Harry was the Just. So… Maybe it’s something that happens during First Year?

So, perhaps… instead of straight up petrifying Neville, they actually convince him to help. And with a fourth person running the Philosopher’s Stone gauntlet the results are far different. Maybe there’s a bit of fusion with Chamber of Secrets in that when standing up against Voldemort, Fawkes brings the Sorting Hat (and the Gryffindor Sword) plus shattered Mirror of Erised… equals travel to Narnia?

Or maybe more simple. When all four of them look into the the mirror at the same time, they see Narnia and it becomes a portal.

But after that… I don’t know what a plot would be? Four undertrained magicians in Narnia fill the four thrones of Cair Paravel (or they come after the Pevensie siblings and prevent the first Caspian from taking over Narnia?) And then at some point they return to Hogwarts as children, after having actually fought wars and ruled a nation… and Voldemort is utterly screwed.

~

A/N: I swear to god, one day I will get to the final idea of HPxKHR. But that day is not today, apparently.