Tag: rant

Would the Jinchuriki have Legendaries on their sides, do you think? Or would that be for … hm. I dunno. I feel like Gelel, at least, would be represented by a Legendary. And Minato and Sarutobi summoning Death Itself should definitely be a legendary power… hm/

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The bijuu are most likely OP/mutant/ancient “normal” Pokemon–like Kurama is a Ninetails that has lived for centuries even before Mito sealed it into herself and Isobu is a Glalie that is always Mega Evolved?–whereas the gods would be the Legendaries. Or, rather, the Legendaries would be the gods.

I mean, I sort of went into it in the rambling self-reblogs about Xerneas and Yveltal both awakening after their canonical thousand year sleep–which would have been misconstrued/reasoned away given the length of time that has passed and also the fact that Yveltal literally consumes/destroys all living things that encounters it while Xerneas kind of looks around and goes, “I’ll make a forest now,” and peaces out.

I’m not saying Xerneas is Gelel or Yveltal is Jashin (although their roles/abilities do correspond pretty well) but it’s… hrm…

Maybe I’ve been saying it wrong. It’s still the Pokemon world, but it’s Naruto culture/society.

So I guess Gelel doesn’t exist? … shit, did I just write myself in a corner?

I mean, I was going to have Diancie be the Legendary equivalent for Gelel (in the sense that it’s a Legendary Pokemon in a shrine with a heavy gem theme), but I guess the Gelel Empire could have still existed while Diancie takes the place of the Gelel “god” phenomenon?

And so Jashin WOULD be replaced by Yveltal? Which means instead of Jashinists it would be… Yveltalists… or Team Y?

Um. Please enjoy this link to a cool post about the Legendary Pokemon and their roles in the universe/world?

And here’s a POSSIBLE list of which Pokemon the bijuu are. And I know not all of the IRL creatures quite match up, but I’m going more for type/feel/visuals:

Shukaku – Sandslash

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Matatabi – Liepard

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Isobu – Glalie

Son Goku – Infernape

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Kokuou – … RAPIDASH?

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Saiken – Goodra

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Choumei – Vivillon

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Gyuuki – Tauros

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Kurama – Ninetails

… I had no idea this was going to be so difficult. Clearly I do not know the bijuu very well…

Also, given that Lunala is the only Ghost type Legendary… does that mean it’s the Shinigami equivalent? Also… doesn’t THAT just make Shikako’s ANBU codename all the more badass and bizarrely relevant 😀

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~

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okay so i was thinking about the Point of No Return, and the suggestion that yoshino just didnt have twins in that one, and i just can’t help but rebel from that idea. because for them that would mean that the reailty they’re changing isn’t really ‘theirs’ it’s a mostly-similar-but-still-different one. (which they would know for certain if it was somethign that happened before they arrived) So i was thinking about it, trying it make a scenrio where it really is just linear time travel.

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(2/6) and i liked that option where they come back to interfere with the kyuubi attack. so they show up and sakura sees to kushina, who is not doing that great but will live through the night. meanwhile sai helps to harry tobi, which can either go the way of him still escaping or the Surprise Extras provide enough of a momentary distraction that minato gets enough of an upper hand to knock him out. (and seal his chakra, beacuse it would be foolish not to)

(3/6) i was thinking that maybe the future they came from didn’t get as far as the four war stuff. what actaully happpened was that danzo took over somehow and things got really really bad really fast. so what happens is that in the first few years sakura and sai help to thoroughly deal with everything danzo realated. meanwhile tiny!shikako calms down from her panic about being in naruto because it obviously not naruto-naruto since the fourth is still around.

(4/6) and then once the uprooting has been preety much finished (as much as they can, the rest will take time) sai indulging in a bit of sentimentality (which is encouraged for him now, they’re working on it) and when he comes across the nara in, idk the market, he hangs around and talks to, air? sakura?, saying things that are perfect innocuous and have absolutly no secret meaning whatsoever no sire(about how they took down danzo and things are better now, or they will be, or theyll never get

(5/6) the chance to be bad) and tiny!shikako cant stop herself from turning around and staring right at him, wide eyed.

(6/6) then maybe some stuff happens, shikako has people who safe to tell all the things /she/ knows to and they work on doing what they can to fix that stuff. and shikako gets to grow up without this huge terrifying pressure on her. they’re still shinobi, bad things still happen (like gelel, because this needs to be a constant- maybe nobody could find it until they had a shikako guide towards the music?) but the big bads have either been (mostly) dealt with or are works in progress (akatsuki -nagato-)

Yeah, I think I prefer it being a linear time travel instead of a diagonal time and dimension travel because then there wouldn’t really be any point for them to go back in time and make changes (it would just be them running away). It does seem weird for them to end up in a world without Shikako–because then at that point it would be like… why is (non)existence of the Jounin Commander’s daughter so important? If everything else is the same then why not this?

I don’t think Sai and Sakura would be so careless as to talk about the uprooting of Danzo out in the open–or, rather, their role in it given I doubt the uprooting of Danzo could be so completely hidden–especially if there’s the possibility that Danzo has contingencies in place to avenge himself, but I do think a tiny!Shikako would make the obvious connection of older!Sai and older!Sakura existing and the changes in her knowledge.

She would have to be the one to approach them because as far as they know, she’s perfectly normal Shikako and not Shikako-who-knows-a-version-of-the-future (which is normal Shikako). Although I think, given how cautious she is in the earlier chapters of canon DoS, she wouldn’t do so just yet.

I think after the Danzo Uprooting, Sai and Sakura would be on a destroy oppression kick and would be after the Hyuuga clan next–or, at least, stopping the Cloud kidnapping Hinata thing so that Hiashi and Hizashi can deal with their issues and get on that themselves–which is maybe when Shikako first learns about the existence of older!Sai and older!Sakura tangentially through her father but she’s not entirely sure yet.

(older!Sakura, being a loyal Team Anko member, does work on helping out her teammates much sooner as well, while Sai gets to be the proud guardian of two dozen would-have-been-ROOT-agents including his “brother” Shin)

She definitely does not make contact until after Academy, though. Whether that’s because A) there’s a sudden increase in new students because the would-have-been-ROOT-agents have been added to the school as a new class and one of them is tiny!Sai who Shikako knows DEFINITELY wasn’t here before in her memories or B) the Uchiha massacre never happens because not only has the uprooting already happened but also Kushina and Mikoto have always been best friends and it’s hard to alienate an entire clan for the murder of the Yondaime Hokage and his wife if both of them are still alive and also close friends with that clan.

What I’m saying is, Shikako probably doesn’t approach them until maybe RIGHT before she needs their help (and maybe even then, not really) so it’s a lot of older!Sai and older!Sakura trying to chase her down and help her, damn it, we’re the adults, you’re the child, we’re supposed to help you. Stop running towards that obviously dangerous situation, small child, why do you have exploding tags?!

I quite like the idea of Sai becoming an Academy teacher (they’ll need another one, after all, with the influx of would-have-been-ROOT-agents students) and then Sakura becoming a jounin sensei–but not for her younger!self because she’s already made it so that Team Anko is a thing from the beginning–but maybe for younger!Sai and… uh… other people. Ami would be a perfect match, I think–or, at least, my headcanon version of Ami.

… I think I’ve gotten off track… but I really appreciate reading your thoughts about Point of No Return, wildtabbykat, so thanks! 😀

~

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Hello! I’m prompting for DoS!Canon. The score is Ludovico Einauldi’s Primavera. The other score is the 23 minute Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack. Thank you! Hope you have fun writing this!

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

So given these two songs/soundtracks are very, hm, traditionally instrumental (and, also, the fact that I’ve been reading a lot of Hikaru no Go fic lately), I’m getting a distinctly Tobirama Senju’s ghost–whether literally or figuratively–through Shikako’s life?

And also, you mentioned in our messages the idea of arch-nemesis soulmarks and how, in DoS, Shikako’s arch-nemesis would be Danzo and I kind of…

Let me try to articulate this properly.

The idea of legacies and rivals that aren’t necessarily pre-determined by fate, but marked by fate. So there’s the grander “Will of Fire” being an actual, physical mark on someone–an intangible optimism and determination passed from Hashirama to Hiruzen to Naruto–versus the more intimate mark of Dan on Tsunade to make the Medic Corps, to train Shizune, and be the kind of Hokage that he might have been.

But it’s not always what people expect.

For example, Danzo had Tobirama’s mark and thought that meant he would be Sandaime–literal inheritor/successor of the Nidaime–which is what drove is megalomaniacal desperation for the hat. Maybe instead it was supposed to be Danzo supporting Hiruzen the same way Tobirama supported his brother (the way Hiruzen actually though was happening), or maybe it was his destruction of the Uchiha clan (which a younger, more war-minded Tobirama had wanted once upon a time).

So the possibility that someone else might have the same mark isn’t necessarily a bad thing–after all, people have different goals in life perhaps different goals went to different inheritors–but it’s not very common and much less so a legacy mark from someone who died long before you were born.

Shikako having Tobirama Senju’s legacy mark is, of course, very unusual. And yet. Consider what she’s done so far: she’s a fuinjutsu master in the making, a community leader of sorts, she wields his legendary sword, she’s brokered peace with the Uchiha (sort of, in the sense that she’s prevented Sasuke from defecting) and is slated to rebuild the KMP, she’ll definitely support the next few Hokages in a way that Tobirama would have wanted (the way Danzo should have), so it’s not completely out of left field.

Obviously most everything else is the same except some people have legacy marks connecting them to people who have passed away. For example, most clan heirs are born with the mark of their clan just because that’s how it works–a continuation of the clan leadership all through the generations (which helps in the rare occasions when clan heads don’t have children because then the elders can just look for the child with the clan symbol on it and know that they’re going to be the next clan head). But not all legacy marks are there from birth: some people probably have multiple legacy marks and it’s not unusual for them to develop more as they grow.

I don’t know how the clash should go.

Danzo doesn’t immediately see her as a threat, but there must be a point where he starts to.

Unless the marks are hidden? I mean, I don’t think there’s any actual taboo surrounding legacy marks (why would there be? it’s not something private, necessarily, nor is it something to be ashamed of) but tactically it might be dangerous to so outrightly have certain legacy marks–killing the person with the Will of Fire mark would pretty easily cut the ideal line of Hokage succession.

And anyway, I enjoy the idea that Tobirama’s legacy mark is very understated. Like… given that Tobirama’s fanon summons are snow leopards, maybe it’s a few leopard spot on the forehead. It kind of just looks like bruises, really, easily hidden by bangs or headbands or BANDAGES (-_-).

So maybe it’s just that unless it’s something very obvious or very personal, people don’t necessarily know who the legacy marks are from. And unless the mark is very obviously a a symbol or a picture or a word maybe no one even knows it is a legacy mark.

Danzo knows what his is, of course, Tobirama was his sensei. But as far as Shikako and her family are concerned she just has an awkwardly placed birthmark. It’s hard to report legacy marks if they’re so ambiguous, so Danzo just doesn’t hear about the Jounin Commander’s daughter also having Tobirama Senju’s legacy mark. (And probably Danzo has been hiding his for so long that no one except people of an age with him remember what it looks like anyway).

And maybe there’s a hint of self-fulfilling prophecy in this as well.

People can share legacy marks without any conflicts–but it’s not until one party MAKES it a rivalry that it becomes one. Maybe fate decided that Danzo wasn’t properly fulfilling Tobirama’s legacy (or only fulfilling the most twisted versions of it) and so it gave Shikako the same legacy mark to correct that. If Danzo had just done it properly, there would be no need for that. Or if he had bowed out and accepted that he was already fulfilling it, then there would be no clash.

Sorry, I’m not sure if I’m conveying the idea fully or if I’m just going around in circles.

So, well, except for a few weird birthmarks on her forehead, Shikako’s life in this strange world would pretty much be the same as canon DoS. Her legacy mark wouldn’t become relevant until Danzo makes it so and given we haven’t yet seen a in person Shikako vs Danzo interaction (only his Big Brother-esque monitoring of her research on the Uchiha post-Tsukuyomi and, of course, his attempted kidnapping after the Land of Hot Springs) it could still be easily slotted into a canon plotline.

There’s just something about the Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack in particular that makes me think it would be a good battle not between different ideologies but rival executions of the same ideology. That one ideology–in this case, Tobirama Senju’s–can be so twisted in one direction but still technically be the same as the original.

~

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Actually, could I prompt you for something in the Gravity Falls universe, by any chance? I discovered that show this summer and I am so. thirsty. for new fic.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Gravity Falls is an amazing show, definitely, but I kind of wonder if maybe it’s too amazing–is such a thing makes sense. Like it’s very comprehensively satisfying–there’s not many loose ends or critical points that I want to change. Kind of like Leverage (which I adore) it’s a perfectly compact blend of world-building and characters that I’m not sure what, if anything, I could do with it. As much as I love Leverage I hardly ever read any fic for it because the show is so much more satisfying.

At most, maaaybe future fic, but even then it’s kind of… or maybe past fic about either one of the Grunkles’ adventures? Hm…

Having considered it, I suppose my question to you would be if you’d want GF universe fic or GF character fic which are very different things indeed.

I mean, canonically, Ford DID travel through endless dimensions–though the “main world” is itself already absolutely fascinating and with a multitude of (im)possibilities, and surely Gravity Falls can’t be the ONLY hot spot of bizarre supernatural activity.

Then again, a huge part of what makes the show so great is the characters and the idea of this family–both blood and found–of misfits loving and supporting each other while also still having conflicts is something that can easily crossover to any AU.

Which is a fairly popular idea given the number of AUs floating around–with fantastic artwork attached!–I think my favorite is the Fullmetal Alchemist crossover/fusion by @mistrel-fox

I don’t really have any fic recs for GF either, so… ¯_(ツ)_/¯

(Also, Ask Box Advent Calendar is on!)

I love my Misdreavus (in Sun), and I wasn’t expecting to–I’d never used them before, but I caught one and ran with it, and … she’s so sweet and giggly and a POWERHOUSE in battles. And I was wondering if there are any ghost types of plot-ish significance in your DoS!Pokémon AU?

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Misdreavus are absolutely adorable!

Young Shikako in the Arm in Arm ‘verse is searching for Ghost type Pokemon–perhaps in order to understand her existence–but instead finds her Growlithe in the Haunted Mansion… after that, she kind of lets the idea go. Until she gets a Sableye and whatever the Gelel equivalent incident happens.

Then again, just because Sableye is her only Ghost type, doesn’t mean she doesn’t encounter others before or after then (she just doesn’t catch them). Such as whatever the Land of Birds, Kisuke Maboroshi, and chameleon castle incident equivalents are. Probably Sasuke’s Cubone turns into an Alolan Marowak (Fire and Ghost type instead of classic Ground type seems more Sasuke’s style).

Although… if Sakako were in this ‘verse you know she’d have an all/majority Ghost type team. And I actually quite like the idea of Misdreavus/Mismagius being one of her older team members. Hm, let’s see… Sakako’s Pokemon line up would most likely be:

Rowlet/Dartrix/Decidueye – Grass and Ghost

as a compromise between the Uchiha Talonflame and the Nara Sawsbuck? After all, Itachi probably decimated the Uchiha’s original Talonflame flock so the Uchiha 2.0′s clan Pokemon would be something different

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Misdreavus/Mismagius – Ghost

Misdreavus came to Sakako very early on in her childhood with no preamble or anything. They make each other happy and no one had the heart to separate them (although, why would they?) They’ve been together ever since

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Snorunt/Froslass – Ice and Ghost

Snorunt was actually a gift from Sakako’s Mum, from her research trip to Land of Snow to explore some old ruins. Honestly had no idea it would end up a Ghost type.

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Honedge – Steel and Ghost

Sakako isn’t yet a master swordswoman, but she’ll get there eventually.

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Litwick – Ghost and Fire

Actually a preference she gets from the Nara side of the family. Shikamaru isn’t the only clan member to have one of this species–Kasuga has a Chandelure.

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Duskull – Ghost

Her most recent Pokemon. It’s not the reason why she has The Reaper as a nickname, but this little guy floating at her shoulder certainly doesn’t hurt matters. And also, “A glare from its single scarlet eye makes even burly grown-ups freeze in utter fear.” ~Sharingan~

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Sakako’s Ghost team! 😀

(I was considering her having a Phantump–but that didn’t really match her too well and she already has a Grass type–and she doesn’t need to have one in order to encounter a lot of them. A sad amount of them, really.

Where her parents were constantly spotted with Absol, she’s probably frequently seen with wild Phantumps.)

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A/N: Ask Box Advent Calendar is on!

I’ve just discovered your DOS Pokémon team ideas (10/10 by the way) and I was wondering if you had any ideas for team 8?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Just got home from traveling, anon, so I appreciate this ask as a quick post for today. Also, thank you! I’m oddly proud of the DoS Pokemon ‘verse even if it’s mostly ranting and brainstorms.

Team Eight I have some ideas for, but not as concrete as Team Seven or Team Ten (given the “screen time” for those two teams are way more than the others) so the following are pretty quick and less specific than those ones… [[will maybe add more detailed reasoning later?]]

Hinata:

Kirlia (to become a Gardevoir–the Hyuuga clan Pokemon are Ralts and are generally trained towards becoming Gallade)

Whismur

Buneary

Litleo

Audino

Togepi

–

Shino:

Ninjask (and Shedinja)

Pinsir

Volbeat

Kricketune

Scyther

Heracross

–

Kiba:

Lycanroc (as Akamaru, particularly Midnight Form as the equivalent of when he eats soldier pills)
… but after that I don’t really know since I gave Kakashi the all dog team… I guess if I could break down Kiba and Akamaru’s attacks/abilities into Pokemon equivalents? 

I know the DoS forums has a lot of “DoS meets canon by switching places” (they’re super fun to read), but I’m really curious to see the switch happens and they end up in an AU where Shikako tries her best to avoid ever being close to the plot. Yes, she’s still a Nara, but maybe she goes to a regular school, skips a few grades, and ended up in some boarding school for high school early? And then the DoS cast tried to meet up with her and ruins everything, woops.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

This kinda harkens to this fake fic summary in which Shikako simultaneously lives four distinct lives and only her choices are what make them different. So in All You Have to Do (Is Stay), there is a reality which is DoS(ish), one which is her getting overly involved from the beginning (probably ending up with her on a very stressful genin team with Kabuto), one which she takes a half step back and doesn’t want to mess with canon so she gets a team with “extras” (Team Medic!AU!AU), and one in which she goes AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE and joins the Fire Temple monks.

Monk!Shikako is maybe most like what you’re describing, I think. Except in your version, instead of Shikako knowing about the different AUs (because she lives them all) they are all discrete realities and it’s other people who travel across and find her. Which would be pretty appealing as a story, anon.

I feel like, though, that even if she tries to avoid the plot it still finds her somehow. Like, I mean, at the Fire Temple, maybe she and Sora (who is basically a Naruto-Sasuke fusion) become reluctant friends and together they do extracurricular training in trying to control his pseudo-jinchuuriki status, which may or may not help out when Akatsuki comes around? I don’t know.

And I’m also not sure much attachment Fire Temple monks are allowed to have. They’re obviously not the “enlightenment comes from total isolation” but I’m also not sure if, for example, by joining the temple Shikako had to forfeit her Nara status. Most likely she did have to forfeit any claim to heiress (and maybe some cruel and politically inclined rumors suspect that Shikaku deliberately sent his chakra hypersensitive child to the temple so that would be the case) but perhaps she does get to keep some attachment to her family. Even then, she’s probably not the first Nara to join the temple (maybe full time, yes, but Chiriku didn’t seem at all confused by her request for the month-long sabbatical).

What I’m saying is, I wonder if she’s allowed to visit Konoha and accidentally get involved with the plot despite her efforts. Like… since Chiriku used to be part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja–even though that particular organization did not end well–maybe he’s training Shikako to be his successor?

And so she is tasked with “lower risk” guard duty of the Fire Daimyo’s family members–I mean, the Fire Lady canonically hires Konoha genin to catch Tora frequently enough that everyone hates it–or brought along as Chiriku’s apprentice to protect the royal retinue during the Konoha Chuunin Exams. And look how that ended up.

So… um.

This probably isn’t what you wanted, anon, is it?

The Adventure Zone Balance Arc Major Arcana (2017-09-27)

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A/N: When I was younger, I actually made a deck of tarot cards for myself (major arcana and the royalty of the suits only) and did readings for other people during one particularly lucrative Halloween dance.

I have not entirely grown out of that obsession–I almost made an angry rant about the DA:I tarot and how they didn’t match the right artwork/characters with the correct cards, but alas, I got halfway through and my anger couldn’t sustain itself–this is done with far more love and much less frustrated cursing.

For the most part I tried to keep it semi chronological (as the listeners experience it, that is) but certain characters matched certain cards too well for me to adhere to that strictly though I am up for suggestions of alternate designations if anyone is interested.

For some cards (the ones that aren’t actually people) the characters I listed would be more who I’d put on the artwork, were I to draw, and not necessarily the embodiment of the idea.

—

(0 and 22) The Fool – Tres Horny Boys
(1) The Magician – Angus McDonald
(2) The High Priestess – Lucretia
(3) The Empress – Istus
(4) The Emperor – Pan
(5) The Hierophant – Johann and Voidfish
(6) The Lovers – Carey and Killian
(7) The Chariot – Sloane and Hurley
(8) Strength – NO-3113
(9) The Hermit – Lucas Miller
(10) Wheel of Fortune – Garfield the Deals Warlock and Leon the Artificer
(11) Justice – [Faceless Red Robe?]
(12) The Hanged Man – Cam
(13) Death – Kravitz
(14) Temperance – [Roswell and June?]
(15) The Devil – John + The Hunger
(16) The Tower – [Edward and Lydia?]
(17) The Star – Davenport
(18) The Moon – Barry Bluejeans
(19) The Sun – Lup
(20) Judgement – Joaquin Terrero
(21) The World – Julia Burnsides

I’m actually expecting DOS!Sakura entering ANBU in the future. She’s very versatile ninja with high combat and medical skills. Except her Super-Strength technique might be too high-profile? I was wondering what you think about ANBU!DOS!Sakura.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I have always loved the idea of ANBU!Sakura (in canon, that is) for much the same reasons that you’ve listed above, but also as a sort of… Hokage training? Or leadership training, rather (because, while my heart of hearts will always love the idea of Hokage!Sakura, there’s no way that she’d take the role from Naruto until he willingly gives it up–realizing that it’s not what will make him happy–or if he is unable to).

In DoS though, her career trajectory isn’t the same, especially since her starting point is different, so I’m not sure if ANBU would be the best/desirable path for her. Or at least not anytime soon. (Which is not to say that she wouldn’t be nominated for ANBU, but I don’t think she would accept it in the near future)

Her overall goal in life–as stated in DoS–is to prove herself as a capable kunoichi, such that she will one day have a symbol on the back of her clothes much the same way clan kids carry their clan symbols. Hers is the empty circle waiting to be filled. In canon it’s a little different–her goal is more… emotional, I guess, in that she wants to be a capable kunoichi to prove that she can stand alongside her two teammates.

Since she wasn’t put on a jounin led team in DoS–more specifically, the Team Seven that would, on their first C-rank, free a small country from the grips of an evil despot–and instead started in the Medic Corps, her main obstacle is that, to put it crudely, name brand recognition.

In DoS she starts as a medic and trains toward field readiness, whereas in canon she started as a field nin and directed her path towards medicine. She’s at least a year or more behind on field experience and spreading her name as a kunoichi who can, frankly, survive a lot of weird shit–Shikako got that instead (compounded, seeing as how I’m pretty sure Sakura never literally died at any point). As of Chapter 137, which is pre-Mist Chuunin Exams, DoS!Sakura hasn’t had any international exposure that canon!Sakura got by being on Team Seven.

She has to build her reputation more slowly, but because of that she can do so steadily and more carefully.

ANBU kind of defeats that purpose. Don’t get me wrong. It would–even just the training/audition–greatly aid her in getting field capable (ninja boot camp, level up in just two weeks!) but it would all be anonymous.

And how would she explain her sudden jump in ability? Either that or she’d have to already be capable enough that the ANBU training isn’t out of place, and by that point she’d probably have enough field missions under her belt (as either Tsunade’s second apprentice or as part of Team Anko?) that she wouldn’t need it as much.

Sasuke and Shikako want the anonymity: they’re at a point where their reputation exceeds their skills (or, rather, the risk of having such large reputations exceed their skills) so ANBU lets them use said skills without being hindered by their faces and names.

Sakura isn’t at that point yet. And given she’s not technically a Lucky Seven, that may never happen. Her reputation will probably match her ability throughout her career without any weird imbalances or spikes.

Of course, there are other reasons why people join ANBU, but I don’t really think they much apply to Sakura in either iteration.

As for the super-strength technique, if she were to join ANBU, she’d train herself against using it while wearing the mask (the same way Shikako trained herself against using shadow jutsu and other, easily recognizable techniques). I’d say her pink hair would be the most obvious thing, but I suppose in ~anime world~ pink isn’t explicitly weird? Harder to hide than regular brown and switching between braid and bun, but hand wave that.

I hope I’m not raining on your parade, anon. As I’ve said before, ANBU!Sakura is a wonderful image and I can only ever dream of being a fraction as badass.

Ode to 11010201 -> Heritage Script Brainstorming, 1/? (2017-08-16)

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I need to stream of conscious type this thing, because I’ve decided what I want to do for my first attempt at a full length script, but I don’t want to commit it to a word document just yet until I have it managed better in my brain. I used to do these kinds of things on my livejournal, but seeing as how the base of it is mostly on here, I figured for tagging/research purposes it’d be nice to put it here.

Also, missed posts are no good so…

Ode to 11010201 is a thinly veiled reference to my life, or what might have been my life in a world with magic. I am R and Zim is a nephew that I don’t have because if he were to have existed then he would already be five years old.

And so, the thing is, the idea of them being magical. Of them sharing magic, of using the term “gemini” to describe people who shared magic is very… American of me. Like, how America likes to tout about democracy (which isn’t really) and borrow Greek terms to make things sound more sophisticated or classical, when in fact, I imagine, that in a world of magic actual Greek witches would not use the Western Zodiac as a classification system.

They’d probably use Greek Mythology–like, earth witches in America would be Taurus witches, but in Greece they’d be called followers of Demeter or something like that. And it struck me that I know more about Greek Mythology and the Western Zodiac/astrology than I do about Filipino mythology and deities.

Which. Well. The series of invasions/conquering/imperializing/colonizing/occupation definitely didn’t help with that. The Philippines is caught in a struggle between Christianity and Islam, never mind that at their core both religions worship the same god. The same monotheistic, omnipotent, omnipresent god.

But that’s not what this is about.

Since Ode to 11010201 is based on me, I might as well flavor it even more with myself and make R Filipino-American, and Zim mixed. And the idea to contrast that with a Filipino immigrant who knows the ways of magic as their ancestors would have known it… and is still trapped in the American labeling: the Premier Taurus witch, who I had only vaguely considered being Faye Lin nee Peridot in the Court and Council ficlet…

Which. Well, seeing as how she blames Doctor Kaiza for the disappearance of her sister, Leanne, kind of gave an interesting parallel to R’s own search for her sister which I hadn’t really considered more fully until recently.

So the idea for the play that I have is more set in the Ot1 Redux ‘verse, with the main cast being Kaiza, Zim, R, and Faye–the latter two being called by their respective Council positions, Gemini and Taurus.

It starts much as the first Redux ficlet did, with Kaiza announcing to Zim that the Premier Gemini Witch would be coming to town.

Except it’s a much bigger deal because even if Zim doesn’t know much about magic–he’s the only witch in the region, even Kaiza, technically isn’t a witch, though she’s lived long enough to pick up some tricks and such–he knows that usually council luminaries only show up when something has gone wrong.

They don’t govern, they don’t dictate. They only mete out judgement when magical crimes have been committed.

And so, thinking that it’s a professional reason why she’s coming, Zim (and Kaiza, a little bit) are scared. And R, Gemini, that is, makes a good show of it. She’s only here searching for a particular witch. One who’s been shielding herself for almost two decades, who she has been trying to track down for nearly as long.

Which, obviously, construes to Zim as a criminal searching thing.

Except as time passes, more and more details are dropped, and it’s revealed that R/Gemini is not here in a professional capacity but a personal one. The witch she is looking for is her sister, who has only recently begun using her half of their shared magic. And she knows she’s here, she can feel it, but for some reason the scrying spells aren’t working (because she’s not scrying for the right things, or because Zim is in the same room as her when she’s scrying) and it’s been weeks.

She’s not allowed to renege on her duties for so long.

Because the role of luminary is just that, a duty. Not a privilege. It goes to the strongest witch of each category not because they want it, but because they’re the only ones with the ability to enforce punishments and tie together a new and chaotic society.

Btw, dunno if I wrote this already, but the idea is that magic had existed before, but went dormant for a very long time, and only awoke in the last century. More specifically, when Faye Peridot was a teenager. More specifically, when Leanne Peridot’s abilities went from cool party trick to bending the laws of physics. The Council was an attempt to bring peace at the sudden resurgence of magic.

I mean, I don’t know if I want the Counterclockwise backstory to be so specifically translated into the script–whereas this script will be as close to Ot1 as I can get–but the Peridot family were supposed to be descended from dryads and in pre-Spain Philippines, diwata were the main spirits invoked for good fortune, health, crops etc and they live in trees and if that isn’t some kind of sign that, hey, maybe they’re a family of Filipino immigrants then I don’t know what… I may have to tweak their background somewhat, though.

I mean, Peridot isn’t exactly a Filipino last name, now is it?

It could be something that got Americanized, though. Pamulaklakin means “to make bloom” which would fit and is long enough where someone could have just gotten tired and said. Slap some other P word on it. Or one of those families who did get renamed when the Spanish came, and Peridot in Spanish is just Peridoto so…

I’ll figure it out.

Sorry, I did say it’d be a stream of consciousness… honestly if anyone’s made it this far, I’m very surprised, this is mostly just rambling for my future self.

Uh, anyway. So:

KAIZA
ZIM
GEMINI ®
TAURUS (FAYE)

Act One would be Kaiza and Zim reacting to Gemini’s arrival. And the slow discovery of magic and family and the history of the world. It would end with Taurus’s arrival (a sort of bigger villain in the way of television shows, I suppose) who demands that Gemini come back and resume her duties.

Act Two would be a little more fraught. A lot of backstory for why exactly Gemini has no idea where her sister is until now. Taurus’ dislike of Kaiza. Possibly a red herring about how maybe Kaiza is eating them to power her immortality (which is, in her opinion, not something to be desired and thus absolute nonsense)…

Act Three would be the reveal about what happened to Taurus’ sister?

… or, wait, no… hm…

My sister says (ironically, the one that corresponds to the one R is looking for) that there’s no urgency to it.

Like. Why now? Why this story at this time with these people?

– Zim has only recently found out he has magic.

– As the closest thing to a witch in his area, Kaiza has stepped him to loosely teach what magic she knows to him.

– Gemini, feeling the other half of her magic being used for the first time in nearly two decades, takes leave from her duties as a luminary of The Council and goes across country to find her sister (who had sealed off her half of the magic two decades ago after some kind of fall out?** NEED TO CLARIFY)

… but still. Why now?

– Because there was a case before The Council which had been too harsh, which her words hadn’t been able to spare a witch who had made a small mistake, and so she seized this opportunity. She is the newest and youngest member of The Council, but only by default (Gemini witches are rare). Surely they would want to the complete set.

and then… ugh, shit.

I’ll continue in another part, maybe…