#this time travel fic is my little sandbox now

[camtankerous]

I love trying to make sense of the naruto timeline its like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle using pieces from seven different boxes

[mixelation]

i was like "i should towards finishing my fics on ao3" and then i opened google docs and wrote some other nonsense instead

anyway here's the minato-and-naruto quasi time travel thing i keep threatening to write

The problem with Hiraishin accidents was that they tended to be… strange. Most jutsu accidents ended with an explosion or a blade slipping or something like that. Hiraishin accidents ended with you standing in random places, sometimes with random pieces of clothing missing. 

Minato was a little surprised to end up in a park, but not immediately worried. He was still in Konoha, and all of his clothes were in place. The interesting part was that when he tried his experiment, it had been 2 PM at the height of summer. Now it was dark and markedly cold. 

He was in a park near the outskirts of the village. Hokage monument loomed in the distance. 

Minato blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the dark. This end of the park had a playground for children. It had several street lamps, but half of them were out. He was currently standing next to a slide, which was covered in graffiti. These details seemed odd to him, as he’d been an advocate for Konoha’s park maintenance. Konoha sinking all their funding and manpower into the Third Shinobi War meant Minato had grown up playing on rusty and half-broken equipment, and he’d promised his unborn son that he’d have nicer places to play. 

Minato was never going to get to be a father, and he saw this as all the more reason to support infrastructure changes to improve the village for families that did have children. He owed it to baby Naruto. 

Ah, well. This park was pretty far out. Maybe it was somehow getting missed. Minato mentally filed the problem away to address after he’d figured out if he’d… blacked out for a while, or whatever had just happened. 

There was one other presence in the whole park. A little kid was playing in a sandbox. Minato wondered where the kids’ parents were, this late at night. 

Minato approached the kid, making sure to make enough noise to be noticed. The kid froze in the middle of making some sort of… sand pile… and looked up at Minato with suspicious eyes. 

“What?” the kid demanded. He had light colored hair sticking out from under a knit hat. He scowled at Minato very seriously, which was adorably hilarious on such a young face. “What do you want?”

He must not recognize me, Minato decided, amused. It was dark, and the kid was pretty young. 

Minato squatted at the edge of the sandbox. There were random patches of grass in the sand. The kid puffed himself up, his scowl still in place. 

“Hey, kid,” Minato said. “I need some help. Can you answer some questions for me?”

“What questions?” the kid asked. “I’m allowed to be here, you know!”

Minato felt his stomach tighten slightly at the wording. It was so close to how Kushina used to talk, and this kid was about the age Naruto would be… 

Get a grip, Namikaze, Minato thought. This type of distraction was probably why he’d screwed up the Hiraishin to begin with. He needed to focus. Lots of people probably happened to speak like Kushina. 

“Actually, the park is closed after dark,” Minato said gently, and the kid looked scandalized. It was very cute. Minato winked. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. Afterall, I’m here after closing too, aren’t I?”

The kid relaxed into a pout. He eyed Minato up and down, and Minato tried to look as friendly and unthreatening as possible. 

“You’re a ninja!” the kid finally said, visibly brightening. “You have a hitai-ate!”

He pointed. Minato grinned. 

“Sure am,” he agreed. 

“Then why do you need help from me?” the kid asked, eyes wide. 

At this point, it would have indeed been faster and more efficient to just teleport back to his office and ask an adult questions. But this kid was very cute, and Minato liked talking to the youth of Konoha. 

“I had a jutsu accident,” Minato said, very seriously. The kid’s eyes basically bulged out of his head. Adorable. “I’m afraid to tell any other ninja, in case they make fun of me. But you won’t make fun of me, will you?”

The kid got so excited he actually ended up on his feet, waving his arms intensely. Sand flew everywhere. 

“No way!” the kid yelled. “Everyone makes mistakes, you know! That’s what the old man says whenever I mess up, and I mess up a lot, you know. I don’t like when people make fun of me! So I won’t make fun of you, and if the other ninja make fun of you, I’ll beat them up for you!”

“Whoa, whoa!” Minato said, putting his hands up. This kid was enthusiastic. “That’s very nice of you, but you don’t need to beat anyone up for me, promise. Why don’t you hear my questions first?”

The kid took a deep breath. 

“Okay,” he said. 

“Do you know what time it is?” Minato asked. The kid shook his head. “Well, do you know what time you left your house?”

“I dunno,” the kid said. “But I didn’t come here from my house. I came from the Academy, you know! I’m training real hard to be a ninja too!”

The kid rambled for a bit, and Minato frowned as he listened to the story. The kid had had detention after class, after some prank he’d pulled on his teacher, and then he’d come immediately over to the park. He said he liked coming at night when the park was empty, because other children often wouldn’t let him play with the “good” equipment. 

“Usually I have to wait until after dinner,” the kid was saying. “But in winter it gets dark real early, you know!”

The kid did know the date. 

“Can you tell me… the year?” Minato said slowly. 

The kid told him.

If the kid was right, Minato had gone back in time five months. So that was… a new way for the Hiraishin to be messed up. What a terrifying discovery. 

When Minato, lost in thought, didn’t ask follow up questions, the kid was unperturbed. He continued to ramble about his ninja training. 

At least, if Minato really was back in time, it was only five months. If he couldn’t figure out how to undo it, he could just lay low those five months until his past self also winked out of time, and just step right back into his life. Unless that wasn’t how time travel worked…? Tobirama had written some theories on time travel and seemed to think it didn’t work that cleanly… 

“...and then I’m going to be Hokage!” the kid cried, pumping a fist in the air. 

Minato grinned, despite the situation. This kid was a riot. How had he not noticed him before? 

“I’m sure you will be,” Minato told him, reaching forward to place a hand on the kid’s hat, like he would to ruffle hair. “Thank you for helping me.”

Minato stood. He wanted to go to his office as soon as possible to get to work verifying he had time traveled, and maybe consult Tobirama’s old writings, but he also couldn’t just leave this kid alone. He’d drop him off at his home as quickly as possible, he decided. He’d love to see this kid’s reaction to realizing who he was. Or to getting to see his famous Hiraishin. 

“Hey, kid,” Minato said. “My name is Namikaze Minato. What’s yours?”

The kid didn't seem to recognize the name at all. But he beamed up at Minato, showing all his teeth. 

“This means we’re friends now, right?” the kid said. “I’m Uzumaki Naruto!”

The kid continued to ramble about how cool it was to have a ninja for a friend, but Minato couldn’t hear him. 

He couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t breathe. 

Was this a joke? A sick prank by a villager? Or attack, even? A cruel, evil genjutsu, maybe? 

Minato suddenly wanted to flee, or maybe he wanted to fight, or to disappear forever. He had no name for this emotion, but he did push out his senses, tapping into his Hiraishin network. It lit up in his mind, scattered across the village. 

It was wrong. There were fewer markers than there should be. And… one extra one. 

Minato's gaze turned back to the kid in front of him. The kid had one of his markers in him, burning brightly at his stomach. 

“Hey, hey,” the kid said, taking Minato’s hand and tugging. “Are you alright, mister?”

Minato tried to dispel a genjutsu. Nothing happened. The kid was still staring up at him with blue eyes the exact shape of Kushina’s. 

“Na… naruto,” Minato said, the word feeling too intimate to be spoken out loud. The kid just blinked curiously up at him. “I… I need to take you home. Where are your parents?”

“Oh,” Naruto said. “Don’t worry about that! I don’t have any, so I can stay out as late as I want, you know.”

Minato stared at him. 

He sat on the edge of the sandbox. 

He stared at the kid some more. 

“Are you okay?” the kid asked, dubious. 

“Do you know who the Hokage is, Naruto?” Minato asked weakly. 

“Oh, yeah!” Naruto said. “Old man Third!”

“It’s not the Fourth?” Minato asked weakly. 

Naruto shook his head vigorously. “Nope! ‘Cause he’s dead.”

Minato did not have Tobirama’s theories on time travel memorized, but he had read through them. One theory was that true time travel wasn’t possible. Time was just infinite probabilities, constantly diverging with every decision anyone ever made, and one couldn’t go back in time because time simply wasn’t linear like that. 

But one could hop into a different probability. A different timeline, where things played out just slightly differently.

Minato also knew there was no way to fake a Hiraishin marker. His past self in this timeline made one and put it in this boy, the same way he’d wanted to do for baby Naruto when he realized the baby had to become the Kyuubi’s next container, before everything collapsed into Minato’s first and greatest failure as a father. 

Minato put his head between his knees and concentrated on breathing. 

“Whoa, mister!” Naruto cried and helpfully patted his back. “Are you sure you’re a ninja? You don’t seem very tough.”

Minato laughed weakly, staring at the dark grass from between his knees. “You said you wouldn’t make fun of me.”

“Yeah, well…” Naruto stuttered out. 

Naruto. 

Minato sat up and looked at his son. It was too dark to see every detail of Nruto’s face, but now that Minato knew to look, he looked just like Kushina. He even had the unusually chubby cheeks Kushina had hated as a kid. 

He wanted to hug him, to kiss his cheeks and beg for forgiveness. 

He also knew that would probably freak the poor kid out. 

“Sorry, Naruto,” he said finally. “I have… I have more questions. Can we go inside somewhere?”

Naruto squinted at him. 

“Are you some kind of loser ninja?” he asked. “You’re crying.”

Minato laughed. He was crying. How embarrassing.

[stormblessed95]

How to search some specific genre fics on ao3 ? Like do we put the genre on Google or should put that on ao3 and we'll get? I mean idk exactly what are the things we should use to describe or find specific genre fics on ao3, idk how it works sorry, so if you can just tell me how to search that wil be helpful..

I'm okay with doing a quick little AO3 tags lesson! I'm on mobile for now though, so that's what you are getting.

So idk if there are better ways, but I normally start with the fandom (unless you are searching more specifically off the bat, but I like browsing and seeing what catches my eye.) So for this example, let's say the MDZS fandom is what we are searching in as that's the fandom sandbox that has been the subject of my hyper fixation for a while now! So either find while already in AO3 or just type "x fandom AO3" into Google too, that would work just fine lol. Than once in the fandom tag, click "filters"

Once in filters, you'll see a bunch of options, the ones you probably want to use first for "genre" type stuff is the relationships, other tags and sort by. Those are the ones I use most anyway

Under relationships click the pairing you want to read about (if you are searching under BTS, you'd click "Jeon Jungkook/Park Jimin" if you want Jikook fics) and then you could also type in under other tags which type of story you are looking for. And then I always sort by kudos to get the highest rated fics at the top....

So let's do wangxian as my pairing....

Then I can figure out what type of vibe of story I might want.... Like if I wanted an AU, it would give suggestions as I type too....

Or a fix it....

Or time travel....

Plus the additional tags gives some of the most popular tags in the fandom we are under currently that get used.... You can check off any of those....

You can also check the other filters to narrow things down further, like if you want completed fics only. The type of relationship (m/m, m/f, f/f, etc), the rating (explicit to general), you can also check off if you want to exclude anything. So if you really don't want to read about a certain tag or relationship, exclude it and any fics with that in it won't show up in your search.

So if I just said I want a Wangxian fic that's in a modern university setting... I can put that into the filters, sort by kudos.... And it'll just give me pages of fics I can scroll through till I find a description/summary that appeals to me lol

(and in case anyone was wondering, the first two fics are hilarious and adorable and I plan to read ride a socialist now lol)

If this was NOT helpful, tell me and I'll try to do better. Lmao or if you need help finding something specific let me know and I'll do my best!

Thanks for asking!

[mogwaei]

Chapter 169: Stars in Perspective  

Pairings: Solas/OFC, M!Lavellan/Dorian Pavus, F!Lavellan/secret companion

Fic summary: Agent of Fen’Harel defects to search for an alternative solution and–oh no. An Inquisitor who is Not Well. His sister who likes to complicate things. Time travel with consequences. Sandbox lore/worldbuilding. Friends, rivals, lovers, and endless explanations. It’s a kitchen sink.

Chapter 1 for new readers

Preview below:

~~

The whole thing left Dhrui somewhat frustrated. Where had they gotten, exactly? They were now down a warder. She walked over to the corner where Yin and the others had set up an incubation hutch for the dragon eggs. Would the others even consider what their blood could do for them? Maybe it wasn’t useful for the warders, but against a powerful Somniari like Solas? It might give them an edge if it came to fighting him.

The thought made her ill and she felt Onhara’s presence ‘swill’ within her, creating an awful vertigo.

"Are you all right?"

Dhrui blinked and looked over. Maordrid was standing beside her. "I’m fine. The explosion took me off guard. I…I'll meet you both in the library."

She received a sceptical brow raise. "Be well."

Dhrui moved past her but strained her ears as she departed, listening for Tahiel to start whispering to Maordrid, but the waterfalls masked their words.

Outside, she headed for the rotunda, knocking the door open with a bang that startled the tall elf at his desk.

"Was that necessary?"

"I was going to pester you anyway," she said with a bratty smile in her tone, circling his desk. Solas leaned back into his seat holding a cup of tea. She climbed onto the surface and crouched on the balls of her feet. He shook his head and sipped.

"I have not seen you for a few days. It's been stressful."

Dhrui snickered. "Monsieur! Are you missing me? "

He smirked, setting the cup on its saucer. "No. It comes from the growing anticipation of finding salt in my tea or a laughing hex in my room again."

She chortled at the air, gripping her ankles as she rolled back. "I can't believe you drank it. I was certain you'd seen me. We even made eye contact!"

He was now giving his cup a distrusting glare. "Is there something you need? I'm rather busy, if not."

She hesitated, mirth trickling away. Did she want him to know? He would wonder why she'd done it. "Will you look at me?"

He raised a brow, closing a book before raising his unwavering gaze to hers. His lips pursed. "Yes?"

She waited. The brow climbed higher. There was purple in his eyes. Pride demons were often purple. Interesting. "What—hm. Do you see anything?"

The faintly-arch expression dropped and the wolf's sharp eyes peered back at her. "Are you going to get me in the face with snow now?"

He didn't see. She sat back a little. "No, really look. I'm serious, stop it!" Hopping off the desk, she rounded the table and beckoned for him while heading toward the door to the battlements. Behind, Solas groaned quietly and got to his feet, loping after her without any awareness of her urgency.

Outside, she waited for him before shutting the door and glowering. He shivered a little and waved a hand, casting a simple warmth barrier that, admittedly, was rather nice.

"I need your help," she said, rubbing an elbow while looking beyond the bridge. "I probably shouldn't have done it with how…high strung everyone has been lately, but I…the opportunity came and–"

Solas' brow furrowed sharply. "What did you do this time."

~~

DAff taglist: @warpedlegacy @rakshadow @rosella-writes @effelants @bluewren @breninarthur @ar-lath-ma-cully @dreadfutures @ir0n-angel @inquisimer @crackinglamb @theluckywizard @nirikeehan @exalted-dawn-drabbles @melisusthewee @blarrghe

[courtana]

The fact you even mentioned in the original post that if they can’t play the game, they should at least watch play throughs and those people still got up on the “not everyone can play games!”

Oh my gosh. They need to Grow up. They’re the reasons I can’t find decent fanfiction for half my favorite series (looking specifically at Halo because of that cursed tv show). They’re the reason so many characters are missing characterized until they’re not even same the character.

It’s frustrating and I’m glad someone else is saying it. I’m glad I’m not alone

OH MY GOD. I'm so glad someone mentioned how hard it is to find good Halo fanfics that don't follow the tv series' timeline lol. I would write one myself but, even though I love Halo, there's so much lore I still don't fully have a 100% grasp of, and I'd feel like a fraud writing a fic for it.

Like I get people can't play games. I couldn't play MWII when it came out because I was literally traveling for months with only my Nintendo Switch and was stuck replaying the Assassin's Creed Ezio Trilogy and Animal Crossing on it when MWII came out, lmaooo. But that doesn't mean you can't play it now or even just go watch the playthroughs on YT.

For real, they're responsible for so much false and incorrect characterizations, it's insane. From the "Gaz loves juice and playing video games, like a 14 yr old in a grown man's body uwu" to the "Price is actually an octogenarian peepaw who can't hear and doesn't know what an iPhone is" and the "Ghost is a dark and obsessive dickhead who probably tortures small animals in his free time because he's so edgy" characterizations. It's like, why are you massacring my favorite characters like this. Oh right, because they're just your little toys to play with in a sandbox with no regard for the story and context they belong to. And you've never felt the emotions of having to play as them and/or watch them die or suffer in the campaigns. Like, these people outright said to me they don't care about canon. Just, wow...

And I think one of those idiots was like "We're just interested in the story!" but bitch how are you gonna consume/understand the story without actually touching the game? From 1-minute TikToks?? They're actually so embarrassing with how bad their cognitive dissonance is.

[streetlights-was-taken]

revisited this fic idea more than a year later. I'm still not committing to it, buuuut I kinda want to play around with choicescript and, well, I already have a sample CYOA text written from last year

I tweaked the code a bit so that the game looks a little more genshin-like. the pictures are just the banner versions of the namecards, which are available in the genshin fanwiki.

anyway. I don't think I explained the concept of the story in this blog yet! there are two main ideas:

you play as an unnamed wind wisp observer whose responsibility is to witness and preserve venti's story, just as venti preserves teyvat's history. from time to time, venti asks advice from the winds. but he loses "divinity" the more he gains "agency" so there's a greater chance he won't listen to the wind's advice if his divinity stat is low. the endings are tied to the divinity stat, since it determines if venti ends up as a bard, archon, or god

the other main idea is that venti summons the twins to teyvat when he makes a wish upon the stars. this is one of the first route selections. choosing "hero" means lumine is the traveler; choosing "savior" means she's the abyss princess. (I found out that choicescript has darkmode, so I enabled it if the player chooses the savior route)

going deeper into it, the divinity stat is somewhat misleading. I remember this talk about how games can be about the things you don't explicitly mechanize. this is somewhat similar. technically, what I wanted to really measure for the different routes and endings is a memory stat, since venti is really an archivist if you think about it. that's his main role so far in the game. he has perfect memory when his divinity stat is high, but his memory becomes "faulty" the more he loses divinity. so this is where the "god" and "bard" endings come in.

well, that's the initial idea. in truth, I simplified everything to one stat because I thought I would try this with AO3's limited way of making CYOA fics. I had a workskin set up and everything! you can see how the CYOA works in my sandbox fic. but obviously, I abandoned the idea since it's very high effort.

I'm trying out choicescript because someone mentioned the pilot script I wrote in the past for fun. I actually forgot that I shared it with them lol. anyway, we talked about writing and I mentioned to them that in the past, I was interested in learning how to write a CYOA game. and I guess from there, I remembered how much I played text games. I'm just exploring and trying it out.

I could have tried twine instead. but I feel that twine has too many bells and whistles that would distract me from actually writing. I have zero art skills too, so something minimalistic fits my skillset more, I think.

ANYWAYYY idk if I'll write this fic, but this definitely opened up some possibilities. but I'll have to rethink the mechanics because now I don't need to be tied down to just one stat. I have the power of javascript! I can do whatever I want now!!

also maybe it's just my meds are finally working because I cobbled this together in two nights. it's really not that hard to get into! but I also code for a living so that definitely helps.

[merlyn-bane]

Fic Writer 20 Questions

Thanks for the tag, @frostbitebakery !!🥰🥰🥰

1.) How many works do you have on ao3

35, but that also includes some of pyro's that I'm listed as co on because I helped with so much of the plotting out and behind the scenes stuff

2.) What's your ao3 word count?

336,631

3.) What fandoms do you write for?

Right now primarily Star Wars bc that's where my brainrot is, but I've been known to play around in a few other sandboxes. There are a few Star Trek fics on my AO3 as well, and there's a multifandom xreader sideblog floating around somewhere that I am not going to tag because I consider it a Different Era and not reflective of the work I'm doing now. Even though I'm STILL getting notes on a Wolverine smut fic I posted all the way back in 2018.

4.) What are your top five fics by kudos?

Foelu

SubObi Week Day Five

SubObi Week Day One

SubObi Week Day Four

SubObi Week Day Six

(Foelu is leading by A Margin in basically everything but hits now, it's insane)

5.) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! And I'm usually pretty good at it. Sometimes I'm really not sure what to say and sometimes I get kind of overwhelmed so not always, but I do try. I'm super behind on Foelu atm bc you all continue to just blow me away with the support on that one, but I promise I'm planning to sit down and try to get caught up soon.

6.) What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Angsty endings aren't super my thing, to be honest. Most of the things I've actually finished have happy endings, just because that's my personal preference. Most of my angst is in the middle, and I'd say probably the angstiest fic I have (at least right now) is Traveling Song. Ari has...been through it. It used to be a whole lot worse before the first rewrite happened though.

7.) What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Idk, maybe the Obi-Wan Omegaverse series I did for SubObi Week?

8.) Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet, here's to hoping that doesn't change anytime soon.

9.) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Oh, yes. All sorts of it 😈😈

10.) Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Crossovers have never super been my thing, so no, not really.

11.) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that know of, again, hoping it stays that way.

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet, I think, but I have had one or two podfic'ed!

13.) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I'm listed as a co-author on @pyromanicdaydreamer 's The Moments In Between since I helped with so much of the development for it (what can I say, I'm an ideas guy if I'm anything), but I've never really co-written anything, as far as the actual words and stuff.

14.) What's your all time favorite ship?

I'm mentally ill about Codywan in a way I've never really been before or since, to be honest. They're my special little guys. Also, though, Octavious and Jedidiah from Night At The Museum, Obviously.

15.) What's a WIP you'd like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Oh, so many.

16.) What are your writing strengths?

I think the most consistent feedback I've gotten is that my character work and humor are good, which does just make me feel real nice because characterization is something I worry about.

17.) What are your writing weaknesses?

I am a total slave to the muse, my WIP graveyard is sprawling. I do think I could stand to be a little more descriptive at times, and I'm never going to claim that an English teacher wouldn't cry at some of my grammar. I'm a lot more concerned with how things sound than if they're technically correct.

18.) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

It's one of those things that's dependent on the characters, but when appropriate I do think it can add more depth. It also just makes sense for some characters--for example, you can be on either side of the clones-being-Mandalorian debate, but picking up another language from the trainers that the Kaminoans and likely their future generals don't know could only be in their best interest strategically.

19.) First fandom you wrote for?

Marvel I think. Pyro and I wrote a bunch of OC stuff in the 2012 era, and I think one of my very first ones was a Thor x OC that might even still be on ff.net.

20.) Favorite fic you've ever written?

Oh fuck. Uh. C'mon, man, this is like asking me to choose a favorite child. Shit. Um. I don't know if it's my favorite, but They Told Me I Couldn't Bag A Jedi was a lot of fucking fun to work on.

I think I'm gonna tag @ferretrade @goddammitjim @shootingstarpilot @bluemaskedkarma @brigittttoo

[bacidipesca]

my au headcanons

Essentially, this is the universe in my head whenever I write for Mareach. Some details may differ from story to story and I’ll probably forget quite a few, but largely this is how I imagine the world works/the backstory informing my characters’ decisions. Behind a cut because this got so, so long out of literally nowhere.

I want to just say first au takes some inspiration out of @elitadream ‘s ideas but hopefully with enough distinction to make it unique.

The specific details I’ve borrowed or plan to thus far from elitadream: Mario being Peach’s guard in an official capacity, the chain chomp incident*, and staying in the castle/Toad’s quarters/workshop. (I was also planning on using their art as partial inspiration for their first meeting for my own AU as well but if they don’t want me to, I will do my best to come up with an alternative.)

*kind of, I explain that later.

I have a timeline in my head of several (like 5+) different encounters with Bowser plus other enemies sprinkled in, a distinct cast of toad ocs I’ve been building, I have a backstory for why Mario has super strength (Luigi has his own distinct power also), I’m pulling inspiration from the new Mario movie for my backstories for Peach and Daisy, I’m planning on possibly involving time travel in the future. I’m hoping that the differences will make themselves clearer as I go on here. If there’s anything here that I haven’t correctly given credit on, or that needs to be removed because the person who inspired it isn’t comfortable, let me know.

If you see anything as a part of this au that you would like to use or borrow for your own fic or art or au, go for it! I would love to see the result, so feel free to tag me, but also feel free not to. While some of my ideas are unique I think a lot of them just ‘make sense’ for the sandbox we’re all playing in.

- Mario and Luigi were born in Brooklyn to a really insular Italian-American community (their grandparents were the ones who came over from Italy) where they spent most of their time in their own neighborhood speaking Italian with family members and friends, which is what gives them their slight but noticeable Italian accents when speaking English.

- If you got them around someone like Pauline or another Brooklyner, though, you might hear them start to pick up on some of those vocal tics because it’s also ingrained in them from growing up in that area.

- Also this is where my (possible, eventual) time travel nonsense comes in—Baby Mario and Baby Luigi go on an adventure that ends with them getting Firebrand and Thunderhand powers, but it’s because of Kamek and his interference after already having met the brothers as adults who fell into the Mushroom Kingdom. So, as of everything I’m currently writing, Mario and Luigi have no recollection of that adventure because it technically hasn’t happened for them yet.

- But because time is so very rarely linear, or even circular, the Firebrand and Thunderhand powers are kind of hardwired into them now. They just discover having them at the same time they would have gotten them (and eventually will get them, because time travel) as babies.

- Does that make sense? No? Okay good, we’re all on the same page then.

- This is why it’s eventually maybe a possibility and not a hard and fast thing. Just accept that Mario and Luigi were born in Brooklyn with mystical powers.

- Accept it.

- Anyway—

- Firebrand powers! This is why Mario has super strength. He also has extra endurability, can withstand and collect heat/fire in his body, or generate it at a cost of energy to himself. Mario’s fire can be controlled much, much more precisely than he lets on, allowing him to even write or draw with it (hence the brand part of it). Because his powers are linked to Luigi’s, Mario’s fire does not burn him. Mario is very warm to the touch and doesn’t get cold very easily, and can even get a little overheated if he layers up too much and doesn’t let off any additional heat.

- Thunderhand powers! Luigi has super speed and extra stamina, can withstand and collect electricity in his body same as Mario, and generate it the same way as well. He can also produce thunderclap-like screams, but usually under high stress rather than on command. Mario can’t be shocked by Luigi’s electricity. Luigi’s constant fidgeting and his jumpiness can be partially attributed to his need to let off excess energy, and he has a tendency to give people a little static shock when he touches them. He wears gloves to try to mitigate it but it doesn’t help much.

- Luigi can jump higher than Mario.

- They are fraternal twins, and where Mario is right-handed, Luigi is left-handed. Their powers are stronger coming from their dominant hands.

- Peach and Daisy are from the same place but not necessarily related. They were both displaced by a war that caused them to be, essentially, sent out as a last hope for survival into the unknown. They were discovered by the people in their kingdoms and raised by the people in authority.

- I haven’t decided yet if I want either of the princesses to have powers of their own. If I did, I would like to give a healing/soothing ability to Peach like I’ve seen some others ( @drones-of-innocence , @elitadream ) do.

- What brought Peach (and the others) to the Mushroom Kingdom is what is called a warp event. There are large, naturally occurring pipes in this universe that occasionally spit out things and people from other worlds. The Toads have studied them for centuries and eventually managed to reverse engineer all of their modern pipe technology from that knowledge. No one can say for sure what causes them but they can be predicted from the Mushroom Kingdom’s end, at least, as they’re usually heralded by thunderstorms gathering around the natural pipe in distinct formations.

- Peach was raised by Toadsworth (and a relative of Toadette called Toadanne, who eventually retired and was replaced by Toadette), at first just with the intent to look after her, but then with the intent to put her on the throne when she showed incredible intelligence and empathy from a young age. She has a constant drive to prove that her people made the right choice to make her their princess, and will do or sacrifice anything of herself to keep them safe and happy.

- Peach is capable of defending herself, but if she can avoid collateral damage she will always take the more peaceful option. Even if that means going quietly when she’d much rather be screaming.

- I’m borrowing heavily from the new movie with this, but I want Mario and Luigi to be small-time plumbers from Brooklyn who used to work for Spike’s wrecking crew. After Luigi hurt his knees in a work accident (don’t @ me over that one, it’s a popular headcanon), they split off to do their own thing, but in the end they stumbled into a pipe that took them to the Mushroom Kingdom

- It was the stormy season when they first came through so there wasn’t a team to greet them like there was when Peach arrived—instead they were discovered by Toad

- Now, the thing with Toad is I know that there’s like. So many ways to depict him, and there’s so many versions, and are they all the same guy or different guys or what

- But I loved the depiction of Toad in the movie as kind of a mix of Chef Toad and Captain Toad with a little dash of unhinged and undyingly supportive, so I’m adopting that into my personal headcanon and saying that the Toad that finds the brothers is also slightly unhinged but the best friend you’ll ever meet. He immediately pledges himself to helping the brothers out and helps them find their way through the mushroom forest to Toad Town.

- I think the Mushroom Kingdom kind of anticipates things like this to happen now and then, or at least they have systems in place to help people who have been displaced like this, so the boys are set up with a place to stay almost immediately and promised an audience with the princess so she can help with their dilemma—it’s not known to the average Mushroom Kingdom citizen that natural warp pipes are inactive outside of events and it’s impossible to predict when the next event will be or if the boys will have an opportunity to use it.

- They do end up having a really lovely permanent house in Toad Town with two bedrooms, one of which they share (FIGHT me it was so cute they still shared in the movie), and the other of which is a workspace/crash pad for Toad.

- Which means to me that Mario is invited to crash with Toad at the castle when he’s been given guest quarters there and he can’t sleep because his bed is too big.

- Mario doesn’t know what Toad actually does for work, or if he does work, except he has a space at the castle and he always seems to be tinkering with something when Mario comes to visit him there.

- (I don’t know what Toad does either.)

- Mario and Peach fall in love at first sight, but not at the same time.

- Peach is fascinated by seeing other humans (there are others in this world aside from Daisy, but they’re rare, usually nomadic/adventuring types, and Peach doesn’t get to leave the kingdom much) at first, but then quickly grows fond of the brothers once she gets to talk to them and even though she knows she shouldn’t, she takes a personal interest in helping them get established in the kingdom.

- Afterwards is not my own official canon, that’s more explicitly set in elitadream’s AU because of the Bowser portrayal (we’ll get to my Bowser don’t worry), tho to be fair I don’t know that it’s official to their canon either because the original art was also a what-if scenario

- I would love to call First Rescue canon to me but it borrows super heavily from the original fanart so we can just say Mario displayed his super strength in an effort to save the princess’s life. She had invited him up to the castle to check on him and his brother, to see what could be done about helping them find work or projects they might enjoy

- (In my head the Mushroom Kingdom is like kind of utopian and people dont always NEED to work and can be provided for by the community if they’re unable or they have Something Going On)

- But then he saved her and she was like ‘I need a way to make sure I see him as often as possible’ and asking him to be her guard was just the most natural thing

- Mario declines at first, mostly because he’s worried he won’t actually be qualified but also because he doesn’t want to be given special treatment over his brother, who he says is just as good as him

- (And he is!!!!!)

- Peach is more than happy to employ them both, especially when Mario explains that he and Luigi are plumbers in their own world. All of the castle’s defenses run on pipe technology, after all! Luigi heads hands-on teams that work around Toad Town to fix security issues, and Mario is made captain of the princess’s royal guard.

- Now here I want to pause and address the boys having the Firebrand and Thunderhand powers again, because it kind of affects their work, and also how power-ups work in this world.

- (Yes, I have plans for power-ups!! Get excited!!)

- The boys never revealed to anyone outside of one another that they had these powers. They discovered and developed them late enough that they managed to keep them hidden from their parents, though they surely always suspected something was different about their sons. The boys were savvy enough from growing up in Brooklyn to know not to tell about those gifts unless they had to, for their own good, because they were just too different from anything else on Earth.

- It was different when they got to the Mushroom Kingdom, though. They saw folks whizzing through pipes, turtles that talked, flowers that made people spit ice out of their hands. Though they were still wary, it was enough for Mario to let down his guard and save the princess.

- They still plan on holding some powers close to their chest, just for the sake of surprising potential threats

- I was planning on hopefully doing some training/research scenes with the toad guards, or at least doing some more in-depth headcanons at some point, because I believe power-ups work differently for the twins than they do for other people

- Power-ups are either naturally occurring, like mushrooms or flowers, or hand-made, like lucky bells. Different kingdoms in the land export different power-ups and they’re a big part of a kingdom’s trade.

- The Mushroom Kingdom specializes in mushrooms, obviously, and shares a border with one of the kingdoms of Sarasaland that spills fire flowers into their territory.

- On the opposite side of Sarasaland (which is saying a lot, it’s a big empire) is the Ice Kingdom, which exports ice flowers.

- Lucky bells and tanuki leaves and other power-ups that provide a suit/costume change are either handmade or altered by the kingdom that exports them to provide that costume. They are rarer than other power ups for this reason. It is a kingdom of furries, you get to decide who lives there and who rules it, have fun.

- It bothered me that super mushrooms in the movie only gave Mario like 2 feet of height and then the minis made him almost microscopic so when Mario has a super mushroom he gets to be Big. No, I haven’t decided how big that is yet.

- This is just something for me personally, don’t @ me.

- Oh shit right I promised I would talk about Bowser, let’s talk about Bowser

- I want to say on a scale from like Heinz Doofenshmirtz at 0% to Thanos at 100%, my Bowser is probably at like a 39%?

- Which is to say: he is capable, he is strong, he is dastardly, and he’s motivated by wanting to expand and legitimize his territory rather than feelings for Peach; by the same token, he’s not the brightest villain, he relies a lot on brute strength, he heavily underestimates his opponents, and he’s also being manipulated by people around him.

- His people follow him out of genuine loyalty, not fear. He’s very much a king of misfit toys, but they take their righteous anger a step too far in many cases and that’s where the problems with the Koopa Kingdom lie.

- If he killed someone by accident he would be really messed up about it.

- Tbh if he killed someone on purpose he’d still be a bit messed up about it

- At first he was targeting the Mushroom Kingdom for land and power, but after a few encounters with Mario his beef became very, very personal and now he’s pretty much out to ‘destroy’ Mario—everyone assumes that means he wants to torture him, kill him, rip him to pieces, but to be honest even Bowser doesn’t know what he would actually do if he got his hands on him

- Possibly maybe there will be a bigger bad to fight someday and that’s why I don’t want to commit to Bowser fully wanting to murder this plumber in particular

- (Look maybe someday they can race gokarts together okay?)

- This is why I say, again, that Afterwards is not canon to this au, I was using a Bowser who’s a little harsher than mine for it.

I thiiiiiink that’s all I really planned to say here? I’m hoping I didn’t forget anything, but I guess I can always make another post later. If anyone has any questions, my ask box is always open. I’d always love love love to talk about my ideas or the Mario characters 🩷

I’m writing a fic right now about Peach being sick and Mario coming to take care of her (shock and awe, something not inspired by someone else’s fanart??), let’s see if I finish it or give in to the urge to post this to tumblr first. ✌️

Oh shit I did manage to finish the fic!! That’s cool, you should read it if you liked this post. :O

(I’m afraid to put links on this rn in case tumblr nixes it from showing up in tags lol, I’ll add some later 🩷)

[p-artsypants]

P-Artsypants Fic Masterpost!

This information is always available on my blog. 

Find most, if not more, of these fics on:

Fanfiction.net | Archive of Our Own | Wattpad

(~AU’s, *Finished, ❤️Author’s Favorites)

Kingdom Hearts

~❤️Rage Awakened AO3 | FF.net- Ten years ago, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus lost their fellow apprentice, Sora, in Deep Jungle. Now, they are to return with two new students, Riku and Kairi, to lock the heart of the world. All the while, something watches from the trees. Feral!Sora AU

My Kingdom for a Heart AO3 | FF.Net - The curse of being one of the Princesses of heart, is that there’s always someone out to get you. As Xemnas looked failure in the face, he reached out in a last ditch effort and destroyed Kairi’s heart. Now her friends must travel the worlds again. Sora, to find a way to recover Kairi’s heart, and Riku, to make amends to those he has wronged. All the while, the darkness grows. [Unfinished, on permanent hiatus]

Miraculous Ladybug

One Shots

*❤️Amalgam- When an young man is rejected for being ‘incompatible’ he turns into the akuma ‘Amalgam’ able to fuse two people together. And later Adrien and Marinette would debate if it was lucky or unlucky that they got hit. (Also Available in Russian)

*Sing We All Noel- After receiving the worst Christmas present ever from his father, Chat Noir finds himself out on the streets with nowhere to go on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, Ladybug finds him and brings him home.

*Speechless- In a world where everyone has a soulmark, the first words their soulmate will say to them, Marinette is born without one. But Adrien Agreste has two. Curious, considering he’s mute.

*❤️Tunnels of Love- The night started out with an accidental kiss from Adrien Agreste, and ended with her bleeding in the Catacombs of Paris. Ladybug, the wielder of the miraculous of good luck. Yeah right. (Some blood)

*The Reveal That Wasn’t- First Parts My ending to kittybug’s Tumblr Prompt

*What A Mess We’re In- Ladybug has a lot on her mind, and when Chat Noir bugs her enough, she tells him she’s going to confess to her Crush, Adrien Agreste. Chat’s reaction is not what she’s expecting.

*Oblivi-oh no! - A retelling of Oblivio, except Ladybug is the only one to lose her memory. How will Chat deal?

*Bad Day (3 chapters) - Marinette was Ladybug! This was Adrien’s luckiest day ever! Except it wasn’t, because all his good luck was used up in one go. Turns out this might be the worst day of his life.

*One Win, So Many Losses- Marinette was forced to break up with Adrien. It had been a low blow from Gabriel, to be sure. But she was Ladybug. She’d find a solution…right? An alternate ending to Chat Blanc, where Adrien doesn’t Cataclysm the akuma.

*❤️Five Minutes- Gabriel has had enough of all these girls fighting over Adrien. He decides it’s high time Adrien picks one, and arranges the perfect opportunity for him to do so. Each candidate has five minutes to present why they’d be a good girlfriend. Marinette decides to take this opportunity to shoot her shot.

~*Panache- Every eligible maiden was invited to the Prince’s ball. That included Marinette, scullery maid in her own household. But her stepsisters destroyed her dress, and she can’t go to the ball in rags. Or can she? (Cinderella!AU)

*Perfect, No Matter What-In which Gabriel sets the bar even lower for himself, a reveal happens because of pain medication, and the new guardian actually goes to Chloé for advice.

*Crushed- Stuck under a collapsed building together, Chat Noir and Marinette have a heart to heart.

*Lovelace- Convinced that he's unlovable, Adrien is quickly thrown for a loop when Marinette confesses her love for him out of the blue. An akumatization and reveal later, he changes his mind about being unlovable.

Long Fics

*❤️Longest Night- (FF.net | Ao3) - The day started out sucky to begin with. Her crush ousted to the class and Adrien. Lila taking pride in exacting her revenge. But by the time patrol was over, a young man was dead, and Ladybug’s identity was at risk. Lila was the least of her concerns. Good thing Adrien was taking it all like a champ. (Rated M for scenes of torture)

*❤️Nine Lives- (FF.net) When Adrien Agreste is scheduled to go to a Military School in Germany, Chat Noir must make a critical decision. Does he give up his Miraculous? Or does he give up his life as Adrien? I’ll save you the trouble of guessing, he gives up being Adrien.

*Tender Words- When Marinette finally gets the guts to confess her feelings for Adrien, some things go so wrong, and other things go so right.

*Integrity- Overwhelmed with her responsibilities, guilt, and drama, Marinette has an emotional breakdown in front of everyone, and even hands over her earrings in a moment of weakness. Only for a few seconds, but the damage was done. Adrien’s pretty quick on the uptake like that.

~Much Obliged- Everyone deals with grief differently. Some take to drinking, others devote themselves to charity. Adrien Agreste? Well, he became a cowboy. Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a witch, one of very few in the world. She knows what it’s like to be doubted, and assumed delusional. Maybe that’s why they got along so well. Or maybe it’s just because they both like big hats. AU where everything is the same, except instead of superheroes, Adrien is a Cowboy and Marinette is a witch. (Unfinished) (Based on a AU by @bugaboo-n-bananoir)

*I’ll Handle This- “I’ll solve all your problems,” Plagg had said. “You just have to agree to it.” A fixed relationship with his father, Lila to stop bothering him, and Ladybug to fall in love with him? Who wouldn’t agree to that? Except Plagg was the God of Destruction and Chaos and had a more…hands-on approach. Adrien just wants his body back. (Body swap fic)

The Ghost of Smokey Joe- Adrien Agreste was acting bizarre. Stilted body language, plastic smile, and he seemed to have forgotten how close they were. Before she can get the truth out of him, Marinette finds herself as the sole heir to the Gabriel brand and the mansion, following the murder-suicide of both Adrien and Gabriel Agreste. The mystery continues as Tikki explains that Adrien was Chat Noir...but if Adrien is six feet under, why is Chat Noir still running around?

How To Train Your Dragon

One Shots

The Vikings Have Their Tea (FF.Net | AO3)

Arranged Marriage- Takes place at the beginning of HTTYD

❤️Breathe- Survival of the fittest

~Childhood Friends- At the Sandbox

❤️Easy Fix- In which Hiccup has a bad day

~Fashion Designer- Astrid needs a fill in

❤️Frozen- In Which Astrid takes a Dip and things get frisky (Rated M)

❤️Headache- In Which Hiccup hits his head….really hard

❤️Heir- In Which Hiccup is Picked (Longer version by FateCharms)

Illness- In Which Stoick is a dad

~Illusionist- Trick gone wrong

~In the Walls- In which there’s a poop ghost

~Knocking On The Wrong Door (2) - A chance encounter

❤️Messages- Astrid is Frustrated with Hiccup’s obliviousness

~To Mirkwood- Hiccup is not a dwarf

~Monster Falls- Hiccup and Astrid take a dip

❤️Mute- In which there’s a quiet stranger

~Music Video (ImgHS)- He didn’t expect it

❤️Operation: Lovebirds- In Which the gang makes a plan, and Hiccup gets Drunk

~Over- Too many nightmares

~Partners in Crime- A normal day at work

~Pirate- Astrid is the greatest treasure

~Prince- He doesn’t want to be a broken King

❤️Sorting Things Out- In Which Astrid gets her ducks in a row

~The Dragon and The Dame- Beauty and the Beast Au

The Pit- In Which Hiccup is rescued

Hide and Seek- Part 1

Lost and Found- Part 2

Long fics:

*❤️Infernal Responsibility- Being the son of the chief takes brains, courage, and a lot of patience. But at his father’s the request for marriage, Hiccup decides he has had enough. When he seeks out a life of ease, he runs into more than what he bargained for.

*❤️Roses and Lilies- “Astrid, you and I both know you’re much tougher than I am. You’re more brave, and a better fighter…but just for a little while…could we pretend that I’m the one protecting you?” “Oh gods yes!” (Also Available in Spanish!)

*~What the Water Gave Me- The sea is a wild and dangerous thing, something that cannot be foretold or predicted. Hiccup discovered this many years ago, in human naiveté. Yet, what was meant as a sacrifice became a new life, one like no one could comprehend. He now finds himself once more in the unknowing hands of those that sentenced him to death. He only prays things will be different this time. Merman!AU

*Parasite- Soulsnatcher Dragons are rare but deadly. But, As Hiccup finds out, it’s the eggs you have to watch out for.

*~320 State Street- Gobber’s Goods. A Hardware Store that was rumored to have everything you needed. She thought she only needed a job. Turns out, she needed a lot more than that. (A Modern AU no one asked for)

*~❤️The North Tower- When Finn Hofferson died, Astrid inherited his castle in Wales…and a whole lot more. Something sinister lurks in the North Tower.

*~❤️Boy Toy- AO3 - At the age of 21, Princess Astrid lawfully has to pick a husband. But when the perfect groom is nowhere to be found, she requests the toymaker to create one for her. It’s safe to say that everyone in the kingdom is a little concerned. (Pinocchio!AU I guess?)

No, You Go First- AO3 - The Chief of Berk was a headstrong viking, stubborn and full of pride, and willing to do whatever it takes to keep his village safe. But for a moment, he puts that aside, and listens to his son. In which Hiccup convinces his dad not to make him go through Dragon Training, and the subsequent changes that follow.

*In Due Time- AO3 - As another illness sweeps through Berk, Gothi needs another ingredient for her medicine…one that doesn’t exist anymore. Fortunately, she kept that old spell book around for such an occasion. Big Hiccup is sent to five years into the past, and his younger self sent to take his place in the future. But it’s only a few days, what could go wrong?

Trollhunters: Tales from Arcadia

❤️Arcadia or Bust- In Which Arcadia welcomes back it’s underground citizens.

Teen Titans

Oneshots:

~Big Brother- Don’t turn out the light (Horror)

Dear Jason- Bruce Writes a letter

Just Drawing- Bruce thinks about Robin

The Prisoner- Starfire is Guilty

Of Mustard and Three Foot Purple Tongues- A collection of Oneshots and Drabbles

Long Fics (*Finished):

*~❤️Carol of the Bells- High in the dark Bell Tower of Notre Dame, there lives a mysterious bell ringer. Legend tells of the angel who fell from the sky, and the curse she bares. There are few who know her true identity though; her master, the priest, and the acrobat that performs on the streets below. Based loosely on ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ RobxStar and slight BBxRae

*No Escape- Three years ago, Starfire escaped an Alien race called the Gordanians, to arrive on Earth. They’re back, and ready to put Starfire back where she belongs, behind reinforced Titanium bars. Robin’s not about to let her go…if only he hadn’t got captured first. How does it feel to be the alien, Robin?

*Now you Know My Pain- When the new Villain, Gender Bender, comes to down, the Titans find themselves in an odd situation. They’ve been turned into the opposite gender against their will! Now in order to change back, they must learn to understand the gender they’ve turned into. Rated T for obvious reasons. A great read if you’ve ever wondered why girls or guys do [blank].

*Paint it Black- Robin disappeared three months ago. Now, Jump City’s crime rate is mysteriously being taken care of by a normal, albeit strange, teenage boy who goes by the name Black. As the Titans befriend this lunatic, they begin to see a relation between him and their missing leader. Will they be able to find Robin, or will Black turn them all insane as himself? Actually, contains NO OC.

*Saving Grace- “When I’m done with you, you won’t be able to walk upright or speak coherent sentences and all you’ll see is my mask and my voice repeating in your head…Weak. Richard Grayson, I am not tough, I am everything that you fear.” Happy Ending! Smudge of RobStar. NO Slash!

Other Fandoms

Final Fantasy XV

❤️Requiem for Pitioss-“O King. The god’s have heard your cries. Know that we weep with you. The Oracle’s calling has not yet been fulfilled. But…Lunafreya as you know her cannot return the way she was.” Noctis looked up, hopeful. “But she can return!” Canon divergence from Chapter 9. Happy ending. Some spoilers.

Final Fantasy X

I Do…I Guess? - “I would…like to ask you something.” “Shoot.” “Well…if it’s not too much…I’d like to ask you…to marry me.” Knowing what’s to come during her pilgrimage, Yuna asks Tidus to marry her, strictly for convenience and having an official next of kin, of course. Starts after Luca and how this decision would affect the rest of the story.

Beauty and the Beast

*❤️Behold the Beast- A Oneshot alternate ending to the Animated Film

Cinderella

*❤️Midnight- “When the clock strikes twelve, the spell will be broken,” the fairy godmother had warned. A retelling of the story, when Cinderella doesn’t escape the ball in time. Oneshot

*So This is Love- What if Jaq and Gus hadn’t made it in time to help Cinderella? A new twist on the ending of the classic Fairytale, and what lies beyond the story. She still gets her happy ending and her Prince, and her step family gets their just deserts.

Sleeping Beauty

*❤️A Love Song Back To Me- Maleficent saw the loophole that stared her in the face. Prince Phillip would break the curse in time, for sure. After all, he was betrothed to Aurora. So in an effort for her evil plan to stay in action, Maleficent takes care of the young prince herself. Phillip never imagined having to live off the land like the birds above. Alternate twist on the classic Disney tale.

Escaflowne

Down Feathers- Hitomi’s depressed. She’s been away from Van too long, he comes back to visit her…but what if something went wrong with the transfer? (Not finished. Never will be finished. Mwahaha) Circa 2012

*Angel’s Wounds- Fanelia’s been victorious in their most recent battle with Basrum. Unfortunately, someone is wounded and just seeks solace in his love that lives so far away. Post Anime.

Momma Look Sharp- With the war between Fanelia and Basrum finally coming to a close, the kingdom is celebrating. The young king, however, is suffering from an experience unlike any he had before. Van finally seeks solace in his wife.

[ranger-kellyn]

11 Favorite Excerpts

In honor if it being the 11 year anniversary of the first fic I ever posted, Platinum Bound, I thought I’d list out 10 of my favorite excerpts from everything I’ve posted so far, 1 from something I haven’t posted yet, and then kind of just. Talk about it~

As always, feel free to talk to me about any of my fics, no matter how old or new~ I’m very vain~<3

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1 - Come With Me - Prologue - 03/02/2015 - Completed

A day that was supposed to be filled with sorrow and mourning had turned out to be very lovely. The cold that had long persisted since November had decided to lighten its icy grip on this one day in particular. It was almost a tragedy in itself that the weather failed to match the mood by pouring a relentless downpour. Rain was fit for a funeral. Not sunshine.

The opening to Come With Me has always had a special place in my heart, and while I know my writing has gotten better since then, I always hold up this opening as like...my premium brand, I suppose.  I love the mood the prologue sets up for Siebold’s side of the story.  Mismatched weather.  His parents having the same death date.  A sense of odd relationship dynamics with them.  Clear indication that there’s going to be a lot of conflict with Jean as shown by Diantha, Siebold’d childhood friend, who has a clear disdain towards him.  CWM may not be my BEST WORK, but it’s probably one of my favorites.  ALSO....come on...the restaurant’s name is Apple of The Earth, which is a direct translation of pomme de terre, which is French for potato.  And like???? i just get a little kick out of it every time

--

2 - It Takes Two - 12/16/2014 - Oneshot

Siebold chuckled.  “A water dark type?  My, my.  You’ve already put yourself at a disadvantage. Cress shook his head.  “Don’t give away your secret ingredient just yet, Siebold.  Leave something to the imagination, please,” he teased.

If there is ONE THING I LOVE it’s writing flirty banter for these two, and this fic if full of it.  My first fic for Cress/Siebold, staking my claim on the pool noodle that is this ship.  I AM the captain of this pool noodle

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3 - Second Chances - Chapter 7 - 06/14/2017 - Ongoing

“It was supposed to be me!” . . . Shaking, she stopped herself in the front hallway.  Looking over the large, glass-famed map, she felt as though she was leaving her own body as she slammed herself against it in a last ditch effort to feel something other than emotional pain.  In an effort to put a physical wound to her emotional one. 

There’s plenty of happier lines from this fic I could choose.  Ch 10 had a section I was considering instead, but I think this emotionally charged section has always stood out for me. I like to generally characterize Cynthia as someone who is in control of her emotions, or at the very least, is very good at compartmentalizing things, but here, she absolutely loses it.  No rationality.  No seeking help.  Just raw pain.  It was supposed to be me. Because it was!  It absolutely was!  In the previous chapter you learn that Diantha had fully intended to propose to her!  But was instead manipulated by her mother and manager into leaving Cynthia.  While Cynthia didn’t know that, we do, and that makes that line so much more painful to me.  I swear.  ONE DAY.  I’ll actually finish this fic.

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4 - Fortune and Fame - Chapter 1 - 03/23/2016 - Completed

“The best part of that outfit would be taking it off.” Her mouth turns into a smile. “I should think so,” she tells you.

Second person POV is a HUGE pain in the ass, but I still love this silly little fic, and I love this silly little moment EVEN MORE.  What can I say.  I love flirty banter. This whole fic was an absolute experiment, and while it certainly could be better, considering 2POV is not something I regularly work with, I’ve never been too upset with it.

--

5 - Stockholm - Chapter 4 - 06/20/2016 - Ongoing

“You’re my mission and my mission alone.  I don’t need outside help,” he tells me. I catch myself about to laugh.  “Figured you would welcome it seeing as whatever you think you’re doing to me clearly isn’t working.” He moves closer, enough for me to feel the warmth of his body, but it’s only when I think he’s looking at my lips do I come to my senses, pulling my legs up to my person, and pushing back up against the wall. “I would say it’s working just fine.”

i like to think of this fic as me playing in a sandbox.  i don’t REALLY know what i’m doing, but i’m having fun, and that’s all that matters. This is a fic I had been thinking about for the longest time.  I abandoned it back in 2016.  I don’t really remember why, but I posted the first update early this year, and I just.  I’ve been loving it since.  I haven’t played in first person in SUCH a long time, it’s just nice to play in the space, and explore a darker emotion I guess.  Game verse Commander Saturn/Dawn is always a weakness of mine

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6 - Shadows of My Heart - Chapter 4 - 02/22/2011 - Completed

Looking at Kellyn, I notice that he has taken his jacket off and is now offering it to me. Shaking my head, I tell him that I can't take it, even though I would love nothing more than to take him up on his offer. He walks closer, smiling as he places his jacket over me. Now, the only thing I hear is the sound of the rain bouncing off of Kellyn's jacket, and the sound my own heartbeat. I'd have to be crazy or dead to not be blushing right now, and obviously my pulse is still going…

if you’ve followed me for a few years, you might think this is a weird pick for me.  i complain about it a lot.  i experience a lot of visceral cringe whenever i reread it (Like i did just now searching for a section i liked) But that’s why I like it.  I love having this visible benchmark of where I’ve come from, and where my ideals have shifted to.  I’ve always written Kellyn as my Ideal Man™© and in this fic he is suCH A “NICE GUY” AND IT’S JUST. SO BAD. I’M SO GLAD I’M NOT WITH THE KIND OF PERSON I USED TO WISH I WAS WITH. This fic is, at best, clumsy.  Younger me was venting a LOT of stuff. Everything I put Rhythmi through in the fic, I was dealing with irl, and NOT handling them well.  I never recommend this for reading, but I list it here because it’s like looking in a time capsule.  

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7 - Washington Blues - Chapter 2 - 04/30/2012 - Abandoned Work

Looking back up at me, the afternoon sun shines on her face.  As if I needed to be reminded that she is very pretty.  “I believe that it is too soon to be giving a definite answer, but,” she pauses to brush some hair behind her ear, “I do believe I am going to like it here.” I nod, liking the answer she has provided.  I put my pink bag over my shoulder, and step down the stairs.  “That’s good to hear.  I do hope you come to love our little band,” I say, putting a little emphasis on “our”.  Hopefully she will start using that term as well.

This fic has been abandoned since 2012, but as I was rereading it just now, I...felt a weird urge to give it a second chance?  Marching band was my EVERYTHING in high school.  It was basically my personality.  It and Homestuck.  If nothing else, I think I might give this fic a redo, because it’s something my younger self would have loved.  I had so many ideas I wanted to explore and I think it would be a fun space to explore. Just reading it I got the most tactile memories of band camp, from the sounds, all the way down to the god awful smells.  One day I’ll give this fic another go, but probably in 3rd person lmao.  Also, it’s kind of funny.  I remember holding this fic up as like.  My Magnum Opus.  I considered chapter 1 to be the BEST thing I had written up to that point. Now? It’s so fucking D RY......and no real person talks like they all do l m a o I love being able to see how far I’ve come. 

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8 - Hindsight - Sometime Feb 2014?  - Oneshot for an old RP group

This question led him to placing both of his hands in his lap.  “I would never describe her as winter.  It’s the season she hates the most.  From what I’ve gathered during our travels together, understandably so,” he answered, not meeting her eyes. 

While this fic is OLD it holds a very special place in my heart.  I had stopped writing for a while.  For about 2 years nothing I wrote ever really panned out, and joining that RP group was literally the best thing I could have done for my creativity.  It was so much fun, and I met some truly incredible people thanks to it.  Literally, everything I’ve written since I attribute to that group.  <3 I may not talk to most of them anymore, but I have some of the best memories of that time, and I just.  Genuinely don’t think I would have HALF of what I have written now if it hadn’t been for their support.  <3

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9 - Ours For The Taking - Chapter 2 - 01/28/2012 - Abandoned Work

Killing is in the nature of almost every Pokémon, but we humans have inhibited that out for the most part. It doesn't take much to trigger the instinct though. A couple kills and then they thirst for blood.

Now i know this looks like a WACK ASS PICK.  It’s been abandoned since 2012.  It’s bad.  It’s gore.  It’s bad.  But that’s exactly why I picked it.  That, and I know it would chap Farla’s ass bc she told me years ago how awful this fic was. The whole reason my writing confidence took a blow.  I can look back and know that this fic wasn’t great, but I hate for my younger self that they were knocked down like that.  You can’t learn the boundaries of your writing until you try to push them.  Maybe I could have turned into a great gore/horror writer if I hadn’t been knocked down?  Who knows?  But because of that negative experience, I now approach all comments I leave on fics with “unconditional positive regard”.  I firmly believe if someone wants con-crit they’ll ask for it, and even then, I’m not someone who is going to offer up that criticism.  That’s not my jam.  I’m just here for a good time.  This fic may be bad, but that’s why I love it.  I love how over the top, 2Edgy4me the two chapters are. 

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10 - Getaway Car - Chapter 5 - 01/01/2019 - Ongoing

Pulling away just enough to make them look at one another, Cynthia looked her over.  She was getting more drunk admissions than she ever thought she would, and she was in no frame of mind to worry about pushing her luck.  “How did that make you feel?” she asked. She let her hand trail down her arm as she spoke.  “Grounded.  Like nothing else in the world mattered except us in that moment.  I wasn’t worried about filming, deadlines, what people might say or think, or– anything, really.  All that mattered was the calm you brought me, and how without meaning to you’ve made me feel like the most important person in the room.”

It’s no secret that Getaway Car is like.  MY BABY.  This is MY FIC.  MY BABY.  I CHERISH THIS FIC FOR SO MANY REASONS. I like venting through characters, and this fic is no exception.  But I loved writing this moment specifically, because it just...I think it encapsulates everything Diantha has been looking for.  She lives a charmed, chaotic life.  Up to that point in the fic, she’s with a man who can’t really be bothered to give her the time of day, but also can’t handle the idea of letting her go.  Without meaning to, without necessarily trying to, Cynthia makes her feel like the most important person in the room.  She grounds her, and someone who lives a star-studded life needs that.  This fic is my baby.  My everything.  It’s probably what I’m known for at this point, and I’m A-OK with that because these two are my everything.  (ALSO, I specifically posted this fic when I did to get Farla to leave me a review, and had a good laugh about it when she did.  My “bat shit crazy” plot device has ended up being my most popular fic~)

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11 - Namtaflu - Chapter _ - Draft from NaNoWriMo 2019

The sound of something rising to the surface of the water attracted everyone’s attention.  Turning their eyes towards the water, one by one, countless Starmie and Staryu began to surface, floating atop the water, their bright gem center’s shining in the moonlight.  “Oh, wow,” Bianca said, holding the Audino closer to herself.  "What are they doing?” Hilbert asked, turning himself so he wasn’t having to strain to look at them.  Cheren shrugged.  “They’ve always done this.” "They’re looking at the stars,” Hilda added.  “It’s what Nona would always tell me.  She said she read it in a book somewhere.  They surface at night to look at the stars, and they’ll even start blinking here soon.”  As she said it, from out in the distance, quick flashes of red began to move along the waves, reminding both her and Cheren of fireflies from further south.  Soon enough, the entire shoreline was filled with the water pokémon blinking away at the stars, almost as if they were communicating with each other, or even something else.  A few Audino continued to sit with them, everyone moved to silence by the display, afraid to make a single noise, not wanting to scare them at all and make them stop.  The display moved in waves, like a heartbeat, ebbing and flowing.  At times they were bright enough to cast a glow onto the shore, and at others it seemed like they had collectively stopped for the night. Once Broadway and Manhattan had decided to retire for the night, the group came to an agreement that it was time they retired for the night as well.  They had stayed up long past sundown, but it had been worth every second.   

I won’t be posting this fic WELL until my three current ongoing fics are completed, but this fic is pretty much everything to me.  I first got the idea for this fic back in 2013, my senior year of high school.  I wrote the first draft my first NaNoWriMo in 2014, and did a second draft of it last year.  This fic has evolved SO MUCH, but this last draft is where I’m REALLY happy with it.  I firmly believe there’s never a “right time” to write a fic, but I also believe this fic absolutely benefited from me not posting it after that first draft.  They’re almost two entirely different stories.  The original had a lot of unhealthy relationship dynamics, and this time, i decided, FUCK THAT, and now it’s a hilda/hilbert/cheren/bianca poly fic ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ I can’t wait for the day when I actually get to share this fic with the world. 

[reverseblackholeofwords]

Oof can we get any more story for the fic with Oliver with that virus????

Red shakes with fury and fear as he watches the feed of Oliver trapped in that room with Google. There was no way he could get Google out without releasing Oliver as well, and now Red can only watch helplessly as his baby brother gleefully tears Google to tiny pieces and casts them about the room like confetti. Black oil spews over Ollie’s face, but he never loses his sweet smile.

That’s when Red calls Anti.

The glitch has been traveling again, and when Google thought they had Ollie under control, they’d agreed not to tell Anti if they didn’t have to. But Red is far beyond thinking that this situation is anywhere near under control. So when Anti shows up, Red doesn’t say a word, there are no words to describe what has happened. He only leads Anti over to the computers and shows him the security footage.

Oliver pouncing on Green and ripping into him, Blue going to check on Oliver and meeting a similar fate. Red’s hands tremble, and he winds a piece of wire through his fingers. “I don’t know what to do…”

Anti grits his teeth. “I’ll handle it.”

“Are you sure?” Red’s hands stop. “Whatever this thing is that’s controlling him, we tried to purge it from his systems, and instead, it grew stronger. What if you can’t root it out?”

“I’m not leaving him in there like that,” Anti snaps and then sighs. “I have to try something. He saved my life more times than I can count, Red.”

He turns to go, but Red reaches out and catches his arm, holding on a little tighter than necessary. “You’re the only brother I have left, Anti. Please, if you start losing, get out and… come back, okay?”

Anti nods and pats Red’s hand where it clings to him. “I’m going to fix this. I promise.” He slips out of Red’s grasp and heads for the quarantine room. This isn’t going to be easy, but this is Ollie. So, he has to at least try.

When Anti slips inside, Ollie is still digging his fingers into Google and singing like a toddler playing in a sandbox. He looks up at Anti, black gore all over his face. “Anti! You came to let me out!”

Anti shakes his head. “No, buddy. I came to make you better.”

Oliver frowns. “I’m okay. Blueberry tried to fix me, but I think there’s something wrong with him.” He looks down at Google’s sparking body, and Anti has to fight to keep from throwing up. “So I’m fixing him.”

As Anti inches closer, he feels his body start to glitch, and then he lurches towards Oliver, trying to catch the android off-guard. But Ollie’s systems are locked tight, and as Anti tries to fight through the outer layer of protection that this virus has created for itself, it begins to attack him.

He can feel it chewing through him, trying to corrupt his code. But it doesn’t matter. “Jokes on you,” Anti growls as he continues fighting against the virus. “I’m just like you.”

Anti digs deeper until he finally breaks through and manages to get into Oliver’s systems. The android is on the verge of a complete shut down. His internal regulators are overheating, his emotions are going haywire, and Anti can hear him screaming, trapped somewhere in his own code as the virus controls his body.

“Ollie!” Anti rushes to the core where Oliver exists in his purest form, curled up like a child hiding from his nightmares. “Ollie, I need your help if we’re going to get you out of this.”

But Oliver is in pieces. “I hurt them, Anti! They’re broken because of me!” He tries to retreat back from Anti, but the virus is waiting to tear the rest of him apart and finish him for good if he gives it the slightest chance.

“No, Ollie, listen to me. We can fix this if you just help me. I need your help.” Anti uses what little control he has to calm Oliver’s emotion simulators. “See? If we work together, we can get rid of this thing.”

Ollie calms down enough to press back against the virus, but it bites back with startling ferocity and Ollie screams, retreating in terror. But Anti is there to back him up. “Don’t let it scare you. It doesn’t belong here, and you can make it leave. Come on, Oliver. Come on!”

Together they fight the virus back and try to isolate it, but just as Anti thinks that they’ve got it beaten, it seizes hold of Oliver again with a flood of fire, going straight for the core. Anti feels it tearing into him, trying to get past him and destroy what’s left of Oliver. He knows he should get out now while he still can, but he can’t leave Ollie to fend for himself.

So, Anti does something stupid.

He grabs the virus and holds it, lets it get inside his code until he can’t tell what’s him and what’s the virus anymore, and he pulls it kicking and screaming out of Oliver with every last ounce of strength that he has. And when he’s sure that Ollie is free of the corruption, Anti disappears, hoping he’ll stay far enough away that whatever is about to happen won’t affect his family.

Because he knows it won’t be good.

[thethistlegirl]

Duct Tape+Birthday Cake

So being me, I decided I couldn’t let Mac’s birthday go by without writing a fic for it...even though Mac would probably argue with me about Mars. So here it is! This one is set the year after Mac and Jack get out of the Army...

“Come on, really? Who doesn’t celebrate birthdays?” Okay, Jack is well aware that his former EOD tech is a weird guy, but this seems strange even for Carl’s Jr.

Last year in March, I was givin’ him grief about hamburger names and bein’ the slowest tech in the Sandbox. Jack didn’t even know it was the kid’s birthday until he happened to notice it on Mac’s medical info the first time he landed himself in the field hospital over a month later. This year, they’re home, and Jack intends to make this a special occasion.

Sure, he just drove all the way from Texas to LA, but some things are worth it. And if the real birthday present he’s carrying around in his pocket turns out to be a legitimate agency, he won’t be making this drive much longer. Now that we’ve got someone to help Momma with the ranch, I can finally keep my promise to the kid that I’d move out there with him when we got back.

Momma offered to bake him a homemade cake, but Jack was afraid it wouldn’t travel well. Okay, I was afraid I’d break all self control and eat it. So now he’s standing in a mom and pop bakery in LA, calling Mac’s roommate (okay, so Jack might have stolen his number from Mac’s contacts when the kid was high as a kite on painkillers in that DC hospital) asking about what kind of cake he should buy. I didn’t wanna get something he hated. Or was allergic to. Jack realizes he doesn’t know if Mac is allergic to anything. I don’t think so?

“He hasn’t celebrated his birthday since he was ten. He always says something about Mars and arbitrary something or other and incorrect calendars.” Jack sighs, or course he does. It’s such a Mac thing to do.

“Okay, but in general, what cake should I get?”

“You can’t go wrong with chocolate.” Bozer laughs. “Mac’s got a secret sweet tooth.”

“Okay. Thanks man. And hey, one more thing, don’t tell him I’m comin’, okay?”

About an hour later, Jack has managed to find Mac’s tucked-away little house. He’s never been here before. Mac came back to the ranch with me to recover. The place isn’t exactly what Jack expected, a Frank Lloyd Wrightish looking thing, but the multiple rain gauges and weathervanes and wind spinners made out of engine parts tell him he’s at the right house.

He walks up and knocks, holding the cake box in one hand and his gift in the other. Bozer answers the door. “Come on in, he’s sitting out on the deck.” Jack figures Mac still probably doesn’t feel much like walking around. A busted femur is no joke. The kid’s gonna feel that for most likely the rest of his life. I feel sorta responsible, too.Jack’s determined to make it up to him.

“Hey, Carl’s Jr.!” He shouts when he walks out onto the deck, and Mac turns around, then stands up and hobbles the last few feet to meet Jack. He looks like he wants to hug him but won’t. He’s weird about being affectionate. So Jack hugs him instead.

“Jack?” Yeah, I figured he didn’t think I was ever comin’ back. Kid’s dad leaving did a number on his ability to trust.

“Hey kiddo, I heard it was someone’s birthday…” Mac glares at Bozer, who holds up his hands and puts on his best innocent face. “Dude, it’s in your file. Anyway, I was being kind of a jerk last year, so I figured I’d make up for it.” He holds out the cake box.

“I don’t really celebrate…wait, is this the kind with the fudge filling inside?” Jack gives Bozer a thumbs up. Mac sets the cake box down on a chair and Bozer comes out with a knife.

Once they’re all settled on the edge of a very nice firepit, eating massive slices of the cake, Jack holds out the other box, this one wrapped (rather sloppily) in wrapping paper Jack found in the back of a closet that had puppies on it. Mac shakes his head, clearly he hasn’t forgotten Jack calling him an overgrown puppy when he trips over his own feet.

“Really, you didn’t need to do this.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to.” Jack is practically vibrating with anticipation. “Come on, open it up!”

“A duct tape wallet?” Mac is actually laughing, even though his leg is clearly starting to ache, the way he’s holding himself.

“Yeah, you saved my life with it enough times, figured we had to commemorate it somehow.” Jack grins. “But that’s not all. Open it up, man.”

Mac does, and pulls out two folded pieces of paper. “Wait, these are applications…”

“For the DXS. It’s a think tank, right here in LA.” Jack winks at Mac, hoping he understands that it’s a lot more than that, since he can’t really say more in front of Bozer. “Couple o’ my buddies said it’s a real good place.”

“You, in a think tank?” Mac asks. Jack shakes his head.

“Stop it, or I’m gonna start calling you Carl’s Jr. again.” Jack grins. “Hey Bozer, go get us a couple o’ pens. We’re gonna fill these out right now.” 

[loftec]

Hi Lofty, I’m a *huge* fan of your work ❤️ I was just wondering what got you into writing and if you ever wanted to write a book one day? I’d love to write more myself. Do you have any tips for getting into your writing headspace? I, like a lot of writers do, tend to put it off - fearing that nothing I write will ever be good enough but once I start it’s the most incredible feeling ❤️📝 I just wish I could sustain it.

Hi friend! I’m so so sorry I haven’t answered sooner, I’m pretty terrible at this tumblr malarky but I really do appreciate you talking to me very much!

I’m not sure what got me into writing… I could say it was all the reading I did, growing up, or the world-building and narrative fantasies I started having as a teenager… but I think what actually got me into writing was fandom, because I never managed to care as much about my own ideas as I do about someone else’s idea, if that makes sense? It reminds me of when I was maybe around seven years old and I made elaborate homes for my Kinder Egg penguin figurines in the sandbox outside my house. I like playing with existing ideas, and build worlds around them. Maybe one day this thing will extend to coming up with something that is all my own idea, but right now I’m just very happy to sit in my sandbox and play.

As for the actual writing. This is the kind of thing that is so tricky, but I think that just wanting to write more is a great first step. If you can find ways of working through and around the things that are keeping you from writing, then it’s that want which will hopefully propel you into actually doing it, too. 

I have a few different tricks, and they don’t all work all the time – I’m often frustrated by myself not “being in the mood” when I actually manage to carve out some time for writing – but here’s a couple of things I do to get in the right headspace:

1) Planning. If I don’t feel like the writing is going to happen, I plan instead. I re-arrange things or reconsider things or tidy up my timelines, I make notes of backstories or themes or anything that comes to mind. I make notes for a whole different idea, so I can come back to it at a later time and not waste a good idea on it being the wrong time. It means I do something, but it doesn’t have the same pressures and anxieties that sometimes come with the actual writing.

2) Making quick notes. I used to be terrible at this, but with just a little bit of practice it has become a significant part of my process. If I’m at work, or traveling, or have a good shower-thought, I quickly write it down as soon as I’m able. I will do a lot of dialogue like this; testing it out while I’m walking somewhere or doing something where I can let my thoughts wander, and then quickly write it down like a script – something I can flesh out and work off once I get the time. This takes away some of that dreadful blank paper effect.

3) Make yourself a pavlovian response trigger… I obsessively make playlists for fic I’m writing, because music helps me to get in the right space. If I aim to write on NTW after I’ve done my laundry on Saturdays, I start listening to my NTW playlist from I wake up and then I bring the dang laptop down to the basement so I can write between loading the machines and folding, if inspiration strikes. The music always gets me thinking of that specific version of the characters, and hopefully that leads me in on the right track.

4) But most of all, I think, be kind to yourself when you can’t write. It’s tough and I’m still not very good at it, but I think it only hurts us in the long run to be angry with ourselves when the creative juices won’t flow. We don’t need that negative reinforcement of something that can be so good.

I hope some of this could give you some ideas for how to get into your headspace! Good luck, and let me know how it goes! ❤️

[kittyanonymity]

Jack of All Trades... 1

...Master of None: Iwa

*UNEDITED, NOT BETA’D, BASIC BITCH VERSION PLEASE BE NICE*

*Notes: So, uh hi there! This is my first foray back into fanfics after many, many years away. I’ve always had problems finishing things, so I stopped when I realized that back in high school. This is the first time I’m publicly posting a Naruto fic since roughly... my sophomore year of high school? So about 9 years I think? Anyway this was an idea I had about if Sakura’s mother was from Uzushio, and then I decided to also make her dad.. from another clan too. They spend a lot of time traveling between the different countries, and Sakura makes LOTS of friends!! And learns lots of stuff from many people!! And she will FIGHT YOU IF YOU ARE MEAN TO OTHERS FOR NO GOOD REASON!!

So, yeah. Enjoy, hopefully! 

ALSO huge shoutout to @the-formerone for allowing me to use the Nobi name for Sakura’s mother!!! You’re the best, and I love everything you write! <3 The ideas for the sound and dancing in Iwa was courtesy of @dimancheetoile! She was fantastic in helping me figure out how to make Iwa stand out from the rest of the countries!

Haruno Sakura is 3 years old, and she is surrounded by stones.

For as long as she can remember, her parents have kept themselves and her sequestered in their little wagon, traveling, and selling their wares. Her father was a skilled potter, and her mother’s beautiful calligraphy strokes brought them a substantial amount of money. For the first time that Sakura knows, they have spent more than 5 days in a place.

The place they’re living for now is brown; but like the tan kind of brown that she doesn’t really like. The golden yellow grass is kind of pretty though, and the bamboo is nice. There is some sound that bounces off the high mountains, but Sakura can’t tell what it is since she’s too far from the source.

Her mother had a tight look in her eyes when she told Sakura they were in Iwagakure. She told Sakura to be very careful of any adults she encountered. She smiled, nodding, because of course! Strangers were bad, bad, bad! That was the first rule of being a big girl!

After saying so, Sakura’s mother allowed her to go to the small playground nearby, keeping her within her line of sight. Sakura was having a good time, threading the longer strands of grass together, and she turned to show her mother; but now, her mother wasn’t alone. A strange man with a big red hat and red samurai armor stood talking to her.

And that was when the first rock flew.

So now, Sakura was surrounded by rocks. Small to medium sized stones lay around the young girl as she lay on the ground in shock. Several little girls sneered down at her, rubbing their feet in her hair, and mocking her; she couldn’t tell what they were saying beyond the static in her ears.

The pain registered in the next second, and Sakura wailed. Moisture ran down her face, and as she reached up to wipe it away, her tiny hands came away red. A terror filled scream left the girl, and her attackers stumbled back at the severity. Her mother was next to her in an instant, the strange red man with her.

He immediately set to rounding the vicious children up, while her mother scooped her up in her arms.

Sakura could not stop wailing, her breaths shaky and uneven, and she soon found herself hiccuping, shaking in her mother’s arms; her small fingers curled tightly in her mother’s long bright red hair.

Haruno Namika left the area swiftly, offering Han a hasty farewell, her daughter cradled in her arms. She needed to get to the wagon. The first aid kit was there. She had privacy.

The red haired woman scaled their wagon quickly as she came to it, pushing the tarp aside, and sealing it once she was inside. Her meeting with Han had been cut short; she’d have to wait for him to find her again. Once upon a time, they had been good friends. But it was nowhere near as important as her daughter.

Namika grit her teeth as she thought about what had happened. She had seen the 3 little girls gathering rocks, but she couldn’t have known what they’d been planning; and all cause her daughter looked so different?? What was wrong with children these days?!

As she wrote out some seals with her right hand, Namika grabbed for the medicine pouch her husband kept nearby, shaking it open as she finally finished her stasis seal. Placing the paper on her daughter’s chest, Namika activated it with a small amount of chakra, and watched as the blood stopped flowing from Sakura’s head wound.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed Sakura had fallen unconscious from the shock of everything, not wanting her to be awake for the cleaning process. Frowning, Namika began cleaning the blood from her daughter’s hair and skin.

Sakura hadn’t experienced any conflict in her short 3 years, not for anything. She’d certainly never been around such violence like what had happened; they hadn’t been robbed by bandits since she’d been born after all (not that any robbery attempts were successful at least). Gods, what was Katsumi going to say? Her husband was a soft, rather silly man, but when his temper showed, it showed. And she certainly couldn’t let him kill children. That was… frowned upon now that the third war had ended. (Though if you asked her, children should have never been on the battlefield in the first place, thank you.)

Namika finished applying the healing salve to Sakura’s head before covering it with gauze. With a quick glance around, Namika placed a stifling seal on the floor of the wagon, muffling her chakra. Once placed she let her hand glow with her minimum amount of chakra, a faint green encasing her hand. With a trained eye, she placed her hand against Sakura’s temple, searching for any internal damage she may have missed. Finding none, Namika let her chakra fizzle out quickly, and then removed the stifling seal.

Physically, Sakura would be fine; but Namika knew. Sakura was as much Uzushio as the rest of her family had been; camaraderie ran in her veins, like her very blood. Acts like this never occurred on Uzushio when Namika was young; and Sakura had never encountered such open hostility towards her for seemingly no reason.

She was worried about what this was going to do to her daughter mentally.

Namika jumped as the flap of the wagon came open, but sighed in relief when her husband’s white hair and green eyes welcomed her. Katsumi was at her side in an instant, hands hovering over their daughter.

“Who?”

Namika placed her hand in his gently, pulling it to her; his other hand held Sakura’s.

“Some little brats at the playground; they’re too young to be maimed.” Her eyes grew misty, and she grit her teeth, “They threw stones at her, because she doesn’t look like them, they said.”

Katsumi’s hand tightened on hers, and Namika took a deep breath, steadying herself. 

“I’m concerned how this is going to affect her mental state, Katsu. Uzushio children aren’t used to such…” Namika’s face screwed up in disgust, “such violence, outside of the battlefield. And Sakura may have never seen Uzushio, but she embodies it as much as any of the others did.”

Katsumi hummed softly in acknowledgment, stroking his daughter’s hand absently.

“I remember the stories you tell, Mika.” His voice was soft in the dim light of the wagon, and finally he turned to look at her. “We will just have to see to her properly. Perhaps get into contact with your old mentor, and see if she has advice.”

Namika nodded, resting her head on Katsumi’s shoulder. Katsumi closed his eyes, before leaning down and kissing the crown of her head, and Namika felt herself blush even now.

“You two are everything to me, Mika, I’m sure you know. So I will do anything that you require of me; even if it means ferrying a message to the princess.”

Namika sighed, feeling a headache form. “Not… not yet. I want to see if she exhibits any symptoms before bringing it to Shishou.” Katsumi smiled slightly to himself before holding his wife tighter.

“As you wish, dear.”

———————————————

The next time Sakura went to the park, her mother stayed very close to her, keeping a sharp eye on anyone who came near her. Sakura loved her mother so much; she was beautiful, and strong, and so kind. Sakura knows in her heart she couldn’t be loved more.

But she wants to try and make friends.

And her wonderful mother keeps scaring everyone!

With a huff, Sakura walks her way to her mother, a sloppy, golden grass bracelet clutched in her little hand.

“Mama if I give you this bracelet will you stop staring at all my maybe friends?”

Namika looked a little shocked at Sakura’s question, and she starts to worry that she did something BAD when the woman starts laughing. Her mother takes the tiny bracelet, before reaching out and ruffling Sakura’s hair. She nods her head to the sandbox.

“Go play squirt.”

Sakura smiles and hugs her mother before dashing away. Something wiggles in her foot, and Sakura drops to the ground, tearing her sandal off and staring at her foot in a very clinical manner. There is nothing there. She shakes her shoe even though she can’t see anything, but nothing falls out.

Sakura frowns to herself, then decides to take her other shoe off so that she doesn’t get sand in them; she walks over to the sandbox, leaving her shoes outside it, before plopping to her knees and beginning to play. She can hear the sounds from the mountains again; it almost sounds like singing. With a small smile, Sakura hums along under her breath.

She’s not sure how long she’s there before he finds her.

“Wow, your hair really is like they say, yeah.”

Sakura whirls around, terrified it’s gonna be those girls all over again; instead, she finds a curious looking blonde boy, who is also turning a furious shade of red. Sakura smiles hesitantly.

“What-what about my hair?”

The boy fidgets with his shirt, blue eyes darting around.

“Uh, just that it was um… new, yeah.” He finally returned his eyes to her, to see the girl looking very confused. “I-I mean, um we don’t really get a lot of-of color here in Iwa, yeah. So you stand out, I guess?”

Eyes wide, Sakura’s hand raises to her head where a small bandage rests from her incident; was that why those girls had done that?? Shaking her head, Sakura smiled at the boy, welcoming and warm.

“Well thank you! You’re much nicer than the others!” Dusting her hands off, Sakura stands and sticks her hand out, “I’m Haruno Sakura! It’s nice to meet ya!”

Seemingly surprised by her enthusiasm, the boy reaches out and grips her by the forearm in a typical Iwa greeting, and he gives her a wide grin in return.

“I’m Deidara, yeah! Nice to meet ya!”

———————————————————

Deidara and Sakura are fast friends, and for the 8 months her family is in Iwa, they’re nigh inseparable. Deidara doesn’t look down on her for being younger, and he appreciates how bright she is. Through Deidara, Sakura learns about Iwa, and its people. He teaches her about the sounds she keeps hearing, and Sakura learns it’s music; she’d encountered people singing in the market early on in their friendship, but she’d had no idea it was so significant. She learns that Iwa was founded by the first Tsuchikage just after Konoha’s founding; they had decided that the other regions of the world couldn’t fall behind Fire Country, and were the first to band together and mimic Konoha. This helped ignite the fierce rivalry between Iwa and Konoha, Deidara said.

“It’s what led to the war, yeah.” Sakura frowned as she paused in the sand box and looked at her friend.

“War, Dei-chan?” Deidara was frowning to himself, continuing to mold his sandcastle, and he nodded.

“Yeah. Konoha and Iwa hate each other or something I guess? The war was over by the time I was born, but my uncles and my grandparents fought in it, yeah.” Sakura hummed in contemplation and returned to her own sand.

“I don’t think I like the sound of war, Dei-chan.”

“Me either, Kura.”

Deidara also teaches her about Iwa’s Bamboo Festival. While Iwa lacked basic vegetation such as bushes and trees, they had an abundance of bamboo. The legend was that just before the founding, the first Tsuchikage had pleaded with the heavens for a sign, something to inspire him for his village; a place where his people would be protected and could flourish. The surrounding mountain ranges were all lacking in any plant life, but a goddess blessed just one range with bamboo shoots, and beautiful golden grass; having heard the First’s pleas, she had 2 pandas lead the man to Iwa’s founding home. So every year at the height of their growth, Iwa decorates the bamboo shoots with beautiful ribbons, and lights, and offer tribute to the goddess who blessed their land. They sing her praises in song, and paint beautiful canvases with her likeness.

Deidara grinned broadly, leaning back to inspect his now nearly finished sand castle.

“It’s pretty much the biggest celebration besides the Gifting, yeah.” Sakura’s brows bunched as she worked to finish her castle.

“What’s the Gifting, Dei-chan??” Deidara laughed, his cheeks pinkening a bit.

“Well, families and friends exchange presents, and have a big dinner together, yeah! But it’s already passed.” Finally he looked at Sakura with a grin.

“I’ll just have to make sure to get you something awesome since you missed it, yeah!” Sakura laughed, a big smile crossing her face.

“Yeah! And I’ll give you something great too!”

Then one day, about 3 months into their friendship, she asks him why she can only play with him in the late afternoon.

Deidara grins real big and puffs out his chest.

“That’s cause I’m in the ninja academy, yeah!”

Sakura’s eyes grew wide in awe, “Wow, really?? Can you do any neat tricks, Dei-chan?”

Deidara flushes a little bit, red coloring his cheeks as he grins, “Yeah, I can do a couple! Watch this, Kura!”

So saying, Deidara puts his hands through the symbols for the academy henge, and Sakura watches, amazed, as his hair changes to black right in front of her. Deidara grins widely as Sakura rushes forward to investigate, turning his hair over in her hand.

“Whoa, Dei-chan, that’s amaze-amazin!” Sakura looks up at him quickly, eyes narrowed, “How’d you do it??” Deidara leaned back a bit, somewhat surprised at the almost… hungry look I’m Sakura’s eyes. He knew Sakura liked learning, but he’d never seen her look like that.

“Well, uh it’s chakra, yeah. Everyone’s got it ya know; yours probably just isn’t unlocked yet.” He grins, and pokes Sakura in the forehead, causing her to stagger back a little. Her face screws up in a pout as she glares at Deidara, and she puffs her cheeks out. “You’re still a baby, Kura~!” So saying, Deidara takes off running with a laugh; Sakura lets out an indignant screech, and follows closely after him.

She’s almost caught up to him when a hand catches the collar of her shirt. Sakura yelps as she is pulled back from the the force of her stopped momentum, and she trips over her feet, landing on her back side. They’ve at least let go and stepped back, which hadn’t happened last time she was accosted. She does not cry this time.

Then Deidara is there, standing to the side of her and snarling at the big kid who grabbed her. There are 2 children; the big one - the boy who grabbed her -  and a girl about the same size as Deidara; who seemed to be yelling at him about something.

“Well I thought she-she was after you! How was I supposed to know?!”

“Because she’s not even 4, Kurotsuchi! What the hell, yeah!”

The big kid tenses as Deidara yells louder, and Sakura sees the girl’s, Kurotsuchi’s eyes shine with something that might be shame before the girl snorts; the look she gives Deidara is disdainful.

“Fine, play with the freak, see if we care! Freaks and failures belong together!”

Deidara flinches back like he’s been burned, and his eyes begin to water, and Sakura has had enough. She feels the wiggle in her feet again as she stands, but this time, it’s working its way up, up, all the way to her head. She feels strong; she’s never felt like this. She feels like she could destroy the world.

“You should apologize to Dei-chan, miss. That wasn’t nice.”

Sakura’s eyes do not leave the girl’s, and she’s not sure what she looks like right now cause Deidara is looking at her in what could be awe - or maybe fear? - and the big kid looks like he’s ready to pull the girl away any second. The girl named Kurotsuchi straightens her shoulders out, and crosses her arms.

“Why should I, pipsqueak? Don’t you know who I am?”

Sakura shakes her head, keeping her eyes locked with Kurotsuchi’s.

“I don’t care who you are; I don’t like you. But I can’t let you make fun of my friend like that. It’s wrong.” Sakura’s eyebrows lowered angrily, “Deidara’s a good friend, and he’s taught me lots of things. You’re just a bully for no good reason,” And recreating the expression she’d seen her mother make several times, Sakura raised her lip in what could only be a sneer, “And people who are mean for no good reason are trash.”

Kurotsuchi stares at her for awhile, eyes wide, but Sakura keeps watching her until the older girl lets out a frustrated sound and stalks off, the big kid following after her. Sakura watches them go until they’re out of sight, then she turns to Deidara.

Her friend has collapsed on his butt and is staring at her with a dopey smile on his face.

“Kura that was really cool, yeah.” Sakura smiles and sits down next to him, smoothing out her shorts.

“Only I can pick on you Dei-Chan,” She casts a glance in the direction the children left, and then looks back at him, “but never like that ok?”

Deidara smiles at her before reaching out and ruffling her hair.

“You got it, yeah. Hey, did you notice?”

“Hm?”

“You totally unlocked your chakra, yeah.”

“EH??!”

———————————————

When Sakura told Namika that she had unlocked her chakra, the woman turned white as a sheet before telling Sakura that she was super proud of her, but they needed to have a very important talk.

Sat in her mother’s lap, Sakura listened intently.

“But mommy, why does the seal go on?”

Namika sighed, stroking her daughter’s hair.

“Because honey, right now we can’t have too much chakra. Do you remember the story of Uzushio?”

Sakura beamed up at her mother, craning her head back to see her. “Yeah! That’s your home, mama!” Namika smiled and hugged her daughter close.

“Well, right now, all of Uzushio is a secret, right? And since I’m from Uzushio, you and your father are too. And we have to stay a secret for a while longer, but if we’re walking around with our massive chakra, people start to catch on to the secret. Ok?”

Namika watched her daughter think it over, before Sakura seemed to come to a conclusion, and looked back at her.

“Ok mama; but not forever, right? And not right now??”

Namika laughs, before tickling her daughter.

“That’s right, my little flower! Not forever, and not right now.”

————————————————-

Sometimes, Deidara can’t make it to the park to play. On these rare days, Namika lets Sakura walk around the market area where their wagon is with some pocket money. The first time this happens, Sakura is… wary, to say the least. Her first day at the playground some girls stoned her, and now she has to be by herself again? She’s only about a month into her friendship with Deidara when she ventures out the first time, and she’s very nervous. The market in Iwa is very active, and Sakura has to mind where she steps quite carefully; but the stalls all have so many amazing things, Sakura’s not sure where to start. While trying to decide what she wanted to buy, a commotion started up a few yards from her. Turning to the sound of cheering, Sakura tilted her head a bit before moving towards the crowd slowly forming. An enthusiastic song had started up among those watching, the clapping and chanting bringing a smile to Sakura’s face as she reached the front of the crowd.

There was a small group of people at the center of the crowd, maybe 3 or 4 of them, and they were… Dancing? Yes, Sakura was pretty sure they were dancing. They definitely weren’t hitting each other with those kicks they were swinging around, or flipping into anyone when they went forward or backward with their momentum. Sakura grinned and looked down at her feet in her thick shoes. It was technically autumn in Iwa right now, but it was only a mild chill despite the mountainous terrain. She was glad that the dancers toes wouldn’t get cold and fall off; but… could she do that? Move like they were?

Sakura grinned, joining in on the chanting and clapping, and bouncing along with the crowd as the dance got faster. It was mesmerizing to watch, and after that first time, Sakura looked forward to her days in the market, hoping to catch another dance. She found in the several times she went after that first day, that many people sang or hummed when they were out, and many people would join in in harmonization. There were rarely any words sang, mostly just pleasing vocalizations; Sakura learned that songs didn’t always need words, they just needed feelings. Whether it was leisure, or happiness, or even sadness, you could make it a song. After that first time, Sakura began humming to herself constantly.

During one such trip to the market, during her fourth month in Iwa, she was fortunate enough to catch another set of dancers as they prepared themselves, stretching out, and removing their shoes. With a bright smile, Sakura immediately headed over to the area to secure a good spot for herself, clutching the practice kunai her mother had let her buy. The dancers, 3 in total this time, were laughing with each other, and Sakura idly noticed that the one woman with sandy hair was missing an arm. Sakura didn’t worry too much though; the lady was clearly ok, smiling and laughing with everyone, so she must be fine with only having one arm, right? The child frowned to herself, thinking; pain wasn’t always physical, her mother had told her, so it was probably wrong to assume this lady had no pain. Nodding, Sakura smiled again, figuring that the woman was probably physically fine, even if she was not otherwise. Sakura hoped she knew how cool she was at least.

The woman was tall, well muscled, with her sandy hair styled in a wild way; Sakura couldn’t wait to see her dance. Bouncing in place, Sakura smiled as more people started to gather, and she was the first to start the clapping this time. The woman’s eyes found her the moment she started, and Sakura flushed when the woman grinned at her. The lady set the dance off with a resounding, ‘whoop’ and a flip, and the clapping and chanting grew in force. Sakura laughed as the woman did several flips in succession, and then her other 2 companions, an ebony haired woman and a tall red haired man, joined in.

Their dance was breathtaking.

Unable to help herself, Sakura lifted her tiny feet from side to side, bouncing as she did, trying to stay in time with the music and clapping. The woman paused to catch her breath, glancing over at the child absently, before grinning to herself as she noticed the girl bouncing; it looked like she wanted to… try the dance herself, actually. With the idea in mind, the wild woman threw herself back into the dance, the wide grin never leaving her face.

After what only felt like a few short moments, the dance slowed to an end, and Sakura couldn’t help but pout as the crowd dispersed; she resigned herself to heading home to her families’ wagon and showing her mother her purchase, and turned to leave.

“Oi, kiddo! Wait a second, pinky!”

With a jolt, Sakura whirled around to find the source of the voice, and was shocked to look up into the dark green eyes of the wild dancing woman. With a flush on her cheeks, Sakura bowed to the woman.

“I-I really loved your dance, miss! It was beautiful!” The woman threw her head back and laughed, her hand perched on her hip.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, kiddo! You looked like you wanted to join in yourself there for awhile, yeah.” Sparkles seemed to form in Sakura’s eyes at the lady’s words, and she clasped her hands together in front of her, bag tucked under arm.

“Oh, that sounds so fun! But…” Sakura frowned to herself, scuffing her shoe against the dirt, “but I don’t know how, miss. I’m not from here, and my family are only merchants; I don’t know the dance.” The woman raised an eyebrow, grin never faltering.

“So? Are you incapable of learning?”

Raising her head in surprise, Sakura stared at her for a moment before she grinned.

“I’m a great learner!” The woman laughed heartily, and ruffled her hair a bit.

“Well, then I’m Kairi. Nice to meet you kiddo.” Sakura smiled, bowing her head.

“Haruno Sakura, miss! It’s nice to meet you!” Kairi laughed again, and nodded towards the market.

“Let’s go find your parents, yeah. Maybe they’ll let me teach you a few things.” Unable to contain herself, Sakura let out a small squeak of excitement, grasping Kairi’s hand.

“They’re this way, Kairi-chan!” So saying, Sakura starts off at a brisk walk back towards the wagon, and makeshift storefront her parents have set up. Kairi keeps pace easily, amused by the tiny pink haired slip of a girl in front of her. Children rarely took an interest in the traditional Iwa dances; it was more of a pastime for shinobi and adults who needed to distract themselves from… other things.

“Kairi, where are you off to?!”

Kairi and Sakura both stop, turning around to the new voice, and though Sakura recognizes the red haired man from the dance, Kairi can’t help but roll her eyes.

“I’m going to talk to the kid’s parents, Roshi. Butt out, yeah. I’ll be back.” Sakura smiled at the man, still clutching Kairi’s hand.

“I liked your dance, sir. It was lovely.” The man named Roshi spared her a glance before looking back at Kairi, seemingly dismissing her. Sakura’s smile fell a bit, and she glanced down at her shoes.

“Just make sure you come back soon so we can split the pot, Kairi; or I’ll take your share.” Having said his piece, Roshi turned around and walked away, back to the ebony haired woman. Kairi snarled after him.

“Like hell you will, yeah! One arm or no, I’ll beat your ass, Roshi, count on it!” A moment later, Kairi gasped, and looked down at Sakura who was staring at her in awe. Kairi offered a hesitant smile. “Sorry kiddo. He’s just… like that, yeah.” Sakura shook her head frantically, hair waving, and gave Kairi a wide grin.

“That’s ok, Kairi-chan! That was awesome! You really told him!” Kairi laughed, throwing her head back, before settling down.

“You’re quite the kid, yeah. Your mother’s probably amazing, huh?” Sakura nodded as they continued walking to the wagon.

“Yep! My mama is the absolute best ever! I think you’re gonna like her a whole lot.” Kairi let loose a couple chuckles but otherwise remained silent while Sakura let go of her hand to ascend the stairs into the wagon.

“Mama! There’s a nice dancing lady named miss Kairi here to talk to you! She wants to teach me how to dance.” Namika paused where she was preparing a scroll for a client, and Sakura frowned when her mother’s free hand began to tremble. Namika quickly placed her brush down, and wiped her hands on a cleaning cloth, pulling a smile to her face; but Sakura had seen her hesitation.

“If you’re too tired, mama, I can ask her to come back?” Namika smiled at Sakura, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

“That’s ok, honey. I’m not tired.” With a huff of exertion, Namika rose to her feet, and Sakura smiled as she headed back outside in front of her mother.

“Kairi-chan, this is my wonderful mother, Haruno Namika!” A broad grin split the young girls lips, but Kairi was staring behind her like she’d seen a ghost.

“Hello… Kairi.”

“Namika? It’s really you?”

Sakura looked between the 2 adults in confusion, the shock on Kairi’s face, compared to the sad look in her mother’s eyes.

“It’s been a long time, Kairi.”

Tears rolled down Kairi’s face, and she stepped forward slowly, passing Sakura and wrapping Namika in a tight hug.

“I thought you’d died, yeah! And you were alive all this time?” Kairi pulled back, running her hands over Namika’s shoulders, and looking her over. Finally she looked her in the eyes. “Why didn’t you come back sooner?” Sakura’s mother smiled, but it was small, and Sakura wanted to cry at how upset her mother looked.

“I couldn’t, Kairi. Not… Not with everything that had happened. You lost your arm because of me. How could I show my face again after that?”

Kairi cupped Namika’s cheeks, forcing her to look her in the eyes.

“Nami, I never held it against you, yeah. If you only had just-”

“Mama, you know her already?” Both women jumped, looking down to Sakura; the girl was confused by the conversation, but was at least glad they knew each other. Namika wiped at the moisture gathered in her eyes, and moved away from Kairi, crouching down to Sakura’s level.

“Sakura, honey, Kairi was… mama’s special person for a long time when I was younger.” Namika smiled, playing with Sakura’s hair, “I loved her like I love your father.” Sakura’s eyes grew wide, and she looked between her mother and Kairi before grinning.

“You can love more than 1 person like that?? That’s awesome, mama!” Namika and Kairi both laughed softly to themselves, before Namika stood back up and turned towards Kairi.

“Would you like to come in for tea, Kai?” Sakura watched as Kairi’s eyes softened at her mother’s invitation, and smiled to herself. Kairi was kind, Sakura knew she had been right.

“Yeah, I think I’d really like that Nami.”

Katsumi came home to 2 women roaring in laughter, and his tiny toddler practicing flips.

Sakura’s dance training with Kairi began the next day.

_____________________________

It is the seventh month of their stay in Iwagakure when Sakura gets her seal. Namika and Katsumi had decided it be best to wait a few months to let Sakura’s chakra coils develop naturally before sealing her chakra.

The seal Namika eventually paints onto Sakura’s skin is her own personal blood based seal; it’s designed to be a chakra suppression matrix, but Namika has tweaked it for her daughter in a way that will allow her natural reserves to grow, while remaining suppressed. It is located down the middle of her back, easily hidden by her clothes.

Namika’s own seal is located on the roof of her mouth, and Katsumi’s is placed on the underside of his left arm. Sakura doesn’t know how long they’ve been there, but she feels almost like a ninja when they tell her that they trust her to know about it.

So the next time she sees Deidara after getting her seal, she nearly tackles him.

“Dei-chan, I’m gonna be a-a ninja!”

Deidara grins widely, and squeezes her with all his 6 year old might.

“You can do it, Kura, yeah!”

The encouragement of her only friend is all the motivation Sakura needs. Her mother gives her a small blue notebook to keep notes in; and then Deidara starts showing her the katas they’ve been learning at his academy. The stances are well balanced, movements meant to help keep you close to the ground; she draws diagrams and basic instructions for all of them, and then seperate ones for the dances she’s learned from Kairi over the last few months. It’s during one such little training period that Sakura asks Deidara why he wants to be a ninja.

“I wanna be the leader of the explosion corps! My mom-Well, my mom, she was the leader but, uh something happened, yeah.” Deidara tried to smile, and rubbed the back of his head, “But mostly, I just want people to respect me, and my art, yeah.”

Sakura broke her stance and wrapped her skinny arms around Deidara’s waist before giving him a big grin.

“People’ll respect you Dei-chan, I just know it! You’ll be great!” Her face turned thoughtful, “but what’s the explosion corps? How come you never told me about your art??”

A little shyly, maybe even a little fearfully, Deidara held his hand up, and Sakura’s eyes widened when the skin parted and a mouth smiled at her. She snatched Deidara’s hand, making the boy jump, as she studied the mouth in his hand. It had teeth, and a tongue and everything!!

“Dei-chan this is amazing!!!”

Deidara stares at her for a second before ducking his head, using his hair to hide his face.

“Thanks, Kura. Would uh… would you maybe want to come to dinner tonight? My mom really wants to meet you, yeah.” The boy is scuffing his shoes in the dust, staring at his feet. Sakura can’t help the grin that spreads over face.

“Of course Dei-chan! I’ll have to ask my mama though!” Deidara looked up at her, something almost like surprise on his face, before he smiled a bit and nodded.

“Yeah, and I’ll go with you to ask!”

She smiled up at him, before grasping his hand, and pulling him towards the sandbox.

“Come on, let’s play!”

_____________________________________

Namika tells Sakura to make sure she is home before 9, and with her approval, she and Deidara race off, with him leading her through the streets. Sakura notes that it’s not actually very far from the park, or market.

“So how have your dance lessons been, Kura? You never talk about them, yeah.” Sakura smiled a bit to herself, playing with the hem of her shirt.

“They’ve been good. My teacher’s really talented.” She purposefully hadn’t spoken to Deidara about Kairi that much. If she was being honest, it was really nice to not have to share the older woman’s attention. Kairi was strong in ways Sakura admired, just like her mother. It was selfish of her, but the idea of selfishness itself was fairly new to her anyway.

Deidara nods as he holds open the front door of a carved stone building.

“That’s good, yeah. You deserve a good teacher.” He lights up as they head up a flight of stairs to the second story of apartments, “Hey! Ya know, my mom dances too, and she’s really good. Maybe she can give you some tips too, yeah!” Sakura smiles and nods enthusiastically.

“Sure! That’d be great, Dei-chan!” They stop in front of a door, and Deidara digs a tiny key out of his pockets; unlocking the door, the 2 children step inside, and begin removing their shoes.

“Mom! I brought Kura-chan for dinner like you wanted, yeah!” Sakura places her shoes in the cubby, a small smile on her face.

“Finally, yeah! I thought I was gonna have to wring your little neck, kid.” Recognizing the voice, Sakura turns around with wide eyes in time to see Kairi walk out of the kitchen and into the front hallway. The woman’s eyes grow wide before she grins. Sakura smiles, and flings herself forward into Kairi’s waiting arms.

“Kairi-chan! You’re Dei-chan’s mama??” Kairi laughs, squeezing Sakura in a hug.

“Well, color me surprised, yeah.” She grins over at Deidara, who seemed smug, “You didn’t tell me your little friend ‘Kura-chan’ was actually Sakura, you stinker.” Deidara grinned cheekily, rubbing the back of his neck.

“But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise, yeah!” Sakura turned to look at Deidara with a grin.

“Dei-chan, you knew your mama was my teacher?” Deidara nodded, crossing his arms behind his head.

“Yup! Mom started talking about a little pink haired kid she was teaching, and well, uh…” His cheeks grew kind of pink as his arms dropped from behind his head, and he rubbed his cheek sheepishly, “There’s only one person with pink hair that I know, yeah.”

Sakura looked between Deidara and Kairi, noticing the similarities between the 2 now that they were in the same room; how could she not have seen it earlier? With a smile, Sakura reached over and grabbed Deidara’s hand, pulling him into the hug that Kairi had her cradled in. Sakura has only felt safer when with her parents, and she knows that she will love these 2 people for the rest of her life.

Dinner is a boisterous affair, with lots of talking and laughter, and Sakura can’t help but think that one day, when she’s a ninja herself, that she wants to gather all of her precious people under one roof for a big dinner like this. She grins secretly into her food while Deidara regales them with a tale of his from the academy.

She never wants this moment to end.

_____________________________________

It is just 3 weeks later, the middle of January, when her mother tells her they have to leave within the next week.

This time, Sakura cries; and that’s how Deidara finds her.

He takes the news about as well as she did, but Deidara valiantly holds off his tears; he’s already learned shinobi don’t cry. Not even when their best friend is leaving.

Sakura holds his hand while she gets control of her breathing, and rubs furiously at her eyes. “I’m-I’m gonna write you all the tah-time, Dei-chan, I promise. I’m gonna need-need your address though…”

Deidara nods, rubbing at his own eyes, before he grabs Sakura’s notebook and flips to an unmarked page. He scrawls his address across the top of the page before he hands it back to her.

“Here, Kura.” A wobbly grin stretched his lips, “But how am I gonna send you stuff, yeah?”

With a gasp, Sakura dug her hand into the pocket of her little pants, and produced a small scrap of paper. Deidara took it, examining it, and finding an address written in an elegant script.

“My mama says that you-you can send things here! My daddy checks it a lot since we don’t have a real house, and it’s the only way to con-con-tact our customers.” She smiled even as more tears slipped down her cheeks, “This way, when I become a really strong ninja, we can still be friends!”

Deidara nodded, stuffing the paper in his own pocket, and wrapping Sakura in a hug.

“I gotta make sure to teach you lots before you go, yeah. Oh! I can help you with the henge!”

Sakura gasped, “You-you think I could do it?”

Deidara nodded, his blonde hair shaking, “Definitely, yeah! I’ve never heard of someone unlocking their chakra so early. You’ve probably got great control, or something, yeah!”

Throwing her fist in the air, Sakura cheered, “If Dei-chan says so, I gotta try! Let’s do it!”

By the time Sakura is leaving, she can change her hair color like Deidara, and her mother is blown away at how well she does it. Deidara comes to see her one last time, right before she leaves, just after his mother has left. Kairi had come to see them off before being called away by the red haired man named Roshi. Sakura couldn’t help but feel sad for Kairi since it was obvious she didn’t want to see them leave.

“Oi, Kura, wait!”

Sakura turns from where she is helping her parents load up their wagon, and smiles as she sees Deidara running up to her. She runs to meet him.

“Dei-chan!”

Deidara bends over at the waist, his breaths coming in short huffs, before he straightens up and grins at her.

“Man, I really need to work on my stamina, yeah! I’m glad you’re still here Kura, I’ve got your gifting present for you!” He digs in his pocket before pulling out 2 objects, and Sakura gasps.

Both objects are white and plain, but Sakura is blown away by what she sees. One of them is a little white pendant of hardened clay with a bird etched into it; the detail is startling. The other one though, is super amazing.

“Dei-chan, I didn’t know you could make your art come to LIFE!” The little clay spider is about the size of the palm of her hand, and Sakura doesn’t flinch when it jumps to her arm and looks at her curiously. She smiles at it, and strokes its little back, noticing that the clay is still damp. “Hi little friend~! You’re really cute.”

Deidara coughs, and clears his throat, and Sakura looks back at him; he’s red again.

“That’s uh, one of the things I can do with my art, yeah. That little guy is gonna be your bodyguard from now on!” He gives her a wide grin, “Since I can’t be there to protect you, this guy will.” For a moment he grows a little serious, “If someone ever tries to hurt you Kura, give the spider a little chakra, throw it at somebody, and say Katsu, yeah. It’s got my chakra in it, so using yours will act as a catalyst.”

Sakura looked at him, a little horrified, “But I don’t wanna throw him at someone Dei-chan! He’s my precious friend!” Deidara laughed a little, and grinned at her again.

“Don’t worry, Kura, that’s what the pendant is for, yeah. As long as you’ve got it, these little guys can find you. If you have to use it, I can always send you another!” He stretched his arm out towards her, and his smile turned a little tight; his eyes were misty. “Until next time, yeah?”

Sakura grasped his forearm in her own for a moment, before pulling him to her in a hug.

“I’ll miss you, Dei-chan. Be great, ok?”

Deidara returned the hug tightly, “I’ll miss you too, ya big baby. Try to do some growing up while you’re gone, yeah?” Sakura laughed into his chest as she pulled away, and looked at him with watery eyes.

“I will, and then I’ll kick your butt, Dei-chan!” Deidara laughed, and ruffled her hair.

“We’ll see about that, yeah! I’ve already got a head start on you, ya know!” They laughed together again, and Sakura’s father walked over, a small smile on his lips.

“Sakura, it’s time to go.” Sakura’s smile fell, and she looked between her father and Deidara, before grasping Deidara’s hands with her own.

“Friends forever, right?” She asked, her voice a little shaky. Deidara nodded, a small smile on his face.

“Definitely, yeah.”

Sakura hugged Deidara one last time before turning and climbing into her family’s wagon.

Katsumi glanced down at the boy his daughter had befriended, and smiled a bit to himself when the boy flushed and looked away.

“You have been good to my daughter, and you have my respect. You will make a fine shinobi one day, Deidara-kun.” With that, Katsumi turned and walked away, leaving Deidara standing there a little shocked. Katsumi boarded the wagon without another word, and Deidara watched as it set off. With a sigh, he turned and began walking away.

“Dei-chan!!”

Deidara turned in an instant to see Sakura waving something out the back of her wagon; a smile was on her face, and before he knew it, Deidara was running to catch up.

“This is for you! Sorry it’s not much! I’ll see you again one day! Bye!” So saying, Sakura released the red and gold ribbon, and Deidara jumped to catch it before the wind could steal it. Holding it in his hand, he looked from the ribbon to the departing wagon; his throat constricted tightly, and he raised his arm in a frantic wave.

“Thanks Kura! Be safe!”

With a smile, Sakura ducked back into her wagon, and Deidara watched as it rode out of the village border and then out of sight.

He did not wipe his tears away.

And he wouldn’t let his friend down.

______________________________________

Her mother says they’re going to Kirigakure next, and Sakura wonders why both of her parents look so tense. Their postures are stiff like rocks, and their eyes are sharp like they’ll cut her; they still smile and laugh with her, but Sakura is pretty sure her parents are… worried.

She doesn’t like it.

“Papa, why do you look like that?”

Her father looks at her in surprise before he laughs softly, his white hair falling back. Katsumi smiles at her, and gestures Sakura closer. She steps up to him, and he lifts her to the bench to sit next to him at the front of the wagon.

“What do you mean, petal?”

Sakura struggles with her words for a moment before deciding that asking straight out is best.

“Mama and you look all stiff. It’s uh, like… like the rocks form Iwa.” She looked up at her father, and seeing his confusion, amends her words, “It’s like you’re scared of the monsters under your bed.” Katsumi chuckles again and ruffles Sakura’s hair. Then he sighs, and pulls Sakura close to his side.

“Well, you know your mother is from Uzushio, yes?” Sakura nods, “Though she is not an Uzumaki, your mother’s family, the Nobi, were very influential in Uzushio. They were one of first clans wiped out when the island was attacked. The nation that led the attack on Uzushio was Kiri. Kiri was also the nation who killed my own clan; though really that was my clasmen’s fault.” Sakura turned to look up at her father with an exasperated look.

“But then why are we going there papa?? I don’t wanna!” Katsumi nodded with a sigh, hugging her close to him.

“Yes, we’re not fond of the idea either. But that’s where we must go so we can continue selling our things, my dear.” A small grin spreads over his face, “Plus, it will do you well to soak up as much knowledge from them as you can. The more knowledge you have, the better off you will be.” Sakura nodded, still not liking the idea of being in this Kiri village, but willing to accept it.

“Papa, will you tell me about your clan? Mama’s told me a lot about hers, but I don’t know much about yours.” Katsumi is silent for a moment, before he sighs and kisses the top of Sakura’s head.

“Once we are at the coast of Fire country, I will tell you; but not today, petal.” Sakura pouted, but she nodded.

It took them a total of 2 weeks travel to reach the coast.

And Sakura learns where her mother used to be called Nobi Namika, her father was once called Kaguya Katsumi.

[featherxquill]

Fics Wot I Wrote in 2018

This is the first time I’ve been able to do this list since 2015, which I am so happy about I can barely even articulate. I missed writing constantly while I wasn’t, but didn’t have sufficient fangirly inspiration to gather the mental energy required to write while also having a full-time job. But this year, The Infinite Bad and its band of idiots hit me in exactly the place I needed to explode with words, even with a tiny, tiny fandom of fic readers. Thank you to those people who consistently read and left kudos, and an even bigger THANK YOU to commenters and those who chatted with me about these characters, because kudos are nice but comments are fuel. Anyway. Here is Wot I Wrote last year:

April 13 - Warriors - Cornelia and Sebastian share a drink in the aftermath of Goose Lake. Gen, PG.

May 9 - Further Investigations of the Tantra (Or: Cornelia Gets her Groove Back) - At the Webster Hotel, Cornelia meets an altogether more genuine American gent. Cornelia/OMC, PG.

May 31 - Respite - A mid-season ficlet. Joy, Cornelia, G.

July 3 - Unravelling - Post Karajah, Joy and Cornelia share a moment. Joy, Cornelia, G.

July 21 - Dreaming the Fox - Cornelia dreams of the fox-faced men and also husbands. Cornelia/Fox Man, Cornelia/Brendel, M.

August 26 - Breathe - Upstairs at the Webster, part 1. Cornelia/OMC, E.

Sept 25 - not just a river in egypt - Blatant denial. Sebastian is old and has a dog. Sebastian, Joy, G.

Dec 15 - Tethers - Upstairs at the Webster, part 2. Cornelia/OMC, E.

And here is the self-indulgent fic meme. Under a Read More to spare you. Apologies to those on mobile.

Longest Story Written: Breathe (8,122) Shortest Story Written: Respite (884)

My favourite story of this year: Tethers. I think it has to be, because when I started thinking about it I had not a single comment on the first part, and decided I could just write it anyway for myself, so I DID.

My best story this year: Further Investigations of the Tantra. I honestly think I did pretty well with the performative Cornelia voice, and I’m super proud of it.

Best received story: TIB is a pretty small fandom, so I think the fact that people actually read and enjoyed Warriors was the most significant. If I’d posted that to silence, I probably wouldn’t have kept writing, so thanks for being interested, peeps.

Most fun story: egypt. It was just a pure fluff ‘bye going to play in my own sandbox’ type fic, after all.

Hardest story to write: Dreaming the Fox took me a while, and we had new, rather significant canon between the start of me writing it and the end, which I then decided I needed to address, so probably that? As usual, though, the hardest ones are still half-complete in my gdocs.

“Holy crap, that’s *wrong*, even for you” story: I don’t think I wrote anything super wrong, but I guess Dreaming probably gets this honour as well? It was certainly the most horror-y, and the vague sense of sexual threat from/attraction to the fox-man was probably the closest I’ve ever come to writing something furry (though it’s probably not tbh, I don’t know anything about what actually makes something furry)

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: Well, not so much shifted, since I made him, but I really came to enjoy Leo the OC (NPC?) while writing ‘Breathe’. I became quite fond of him, and it was also really enjoyable to try and imagine Cornelia through the eyes of someone attracted to her.

Biggest disappointment: Eh, NGL, I wish more people had read and enjoyed the smut fic. It always makes me sad when old people smut gets poor reception. Also, I write good porn, and people should read it.

Biggest surprise: I didn’t post ‘Respite’ to ao3 because I thought it would probably be scuppered the following week, and holy shit, was I right. The episode could not have been further way from ‘Cornelia gets a little bit of comfort from her daughter’, lol endless screaming.

Most unintentionally telling story: I mean, porn is always telling. Shh.

Sexiest story: I think ‘Breathe’ and ‘Tethers’ are probably similar, but I’m going to go with the first, given that it was a little less self-indulgent and also I asked a beta to look at it.

Favourite summary:

 But huge and mighty forms, that do not live    Like living men, moved slowly through the mind    By day, and were a trouble to my dreams.

That’s the summary I posted for Dreaming the Fox. It’s from the ‘stealing the boat’ section of Wordsworth’s Prelude, which was, incidentally, what I was revising with my class the morning that The Brendel Thing happened in canon. I was so overwhelmed that morning that I didn’t know how the hell I was going to pull my brain together enough to teach, but I somehow managed it, and it was only when I got to the end of the poem that I realised how appropriate it was to many of TIB’s themes/repeated imagery, and also how appropriate to the fic I had been working on.

Favourite opening line(s):

‘Warm skin, a heartbeat, fingers toying with her hair: the luxurious decadence of lying naked with a man she’s just made love to. Cornelia Cavendish is having - not an out of body experience, because she’s more in her body than she’s been in years, right inside all the pleasant tingles and aches that come in the aftermath of sex - but an out of self experience.’

I just really like this idea, and it was the perfect way to crawl into Cornelia’s head for this story. I have felt the out-of-self idea myself in the travel moments she goes on to describe, and drawing on it here really helped make her head feel real to me. Hopefully it also worked for the two people who read it.

Favourite lines from anywhere:

‘He’d known she wasn’t wearing a corset by the feel of her, but he is unprepared for the sight of her so undressed, all long limbs and skin. The elegant twist of her hair has become mussed from his attention, and now a long curl of it dangles loose down the back of her neck, right to her shoulder blade.’ - This image was just so visual to me, and really goes with that idea of trying to imagine what Cornelia would look like to someone attracted to her that I mentioned earlier. idk, it makes me happy.

‘There is something potent about him, something primal, something she doesn’t understand but that she recognises with a part of herself that sings from the beginning of time.’ - I don’t know if I feel this because it’s a little bit cliche, or what, but I don’t even care. I really like it.

‘she’s using a cane for balance against the ship’s movement - a device she initially resisted, but seemed to take to when she realised that waving it at people usually resulted in her getting her way’ - this felt like the most Cornelia thing ever to me, and you have no idea how happy it made me when she actually WAS carrying a cane (which she didn’t appear to actually NEED) in the final series. I maintain this as my headcanon for why.

[trippinbongos]

I’m bored, so I did the WIP ask game. cutting it off at 8 because I don’t have the time.

@ anyone who wants to do this im not annoying any writers i follow on here.

rules: tell us the titles of all the WIPs you are currently working on right now and a little about them. then tag five other writers.

1. Becoming Mai (JJK)

The title is cliché, and a work in progress. I don’t even like her character that much, but a fanfic I read got to me so now I’m crying over her. Wonderful. Trans!Mai MtF fic, with all the misogyny and heartbreak I could spare from the Zenin’s. Excerpt:

It starts, as most things do for Mai, with Maki. Of course it does. It starts in a sandbox, not too far from a non-jujutsu sorcerer school, where their mother snuck them out of the house to go to once a week.

2. Pop Quiz (BNHA)

What if Hawks was assigned to infiltrate Yuuei? A fic where Hawks doesn’t even try to trick Nezu and gives in immediately, and ends up as a substitute teacher from hell who could pop into class at any time and make you do first aid on some utterly terrifying injury he got on patrol, or chase you around USJ as a “Tactical Retreat Simulation.” Written in a humorous omniscient third person POV. Excerpt:

When he got the mission, he thought he was screwed. Nedzu would kill him, without hesitation, if he found anything that even suggested ill will against his flock. He knew this, Nedzu knew this, the Commission knew this, everyone knew this. Yet.



3. What I Wouldn’t Give (PJO)

The hanahaki pernico fic I have been slowly working on for almost two years now. Every month I open this and add four hundred words and then leave. I absolutely adore it and it destroys my soul everytime I remember it exists because I’ve been sitting on this for so damn long. Excerpt:

Sitting at a McDonalds with Nico, it felt almost too normal. Nico was under strict doctors orders not to shadow travel, but he was about to do it across the world, again. Percy had protested at first, until he realized that 1. Nico was as stubborn (If not more.) as he is and 2. He couldn’t think up another way of travelling without risking his own pegasus’ life in the process, and as much as Percy admired Reyna- that wasn’t happening.

4. All I Have (Is My Devotion) (BNHA)

Saved as “Babygirl I Can Project Like A Smartboard” in my drafts because I’m funny AND sad. Basically a fic about why Izuku was so obsessed with Katsuki throughout all the bullying, and how his childhood devotion to his best friend now bully is what kept him going. From someone who gets it. I’m totally not traumatized though. Excerpt:

Izuku (whos name used to be Izukun, Dekun, Zuzu-) stuck with Kacchan because it was the only thing he knew how to do.

5. Blinded Eyes (DC/Batfam)

Aka lets see how much I can fuck with Tim Drake. Its just a bunch of rambles about the plot atm, but let me tell you it gets Dark. like darker- or just as dark, as canon. it’ll make you question shit. No excerpts because every sentence is a funny haha and/or packed with plot. If i ever get around to writing this thing its at LEAST 200k words kind of plot.

6. Death Do Us Part (She’s Kind Of A Dick Like That) (Teen Wolf)

Again a pile of rambles, but these are at least somewhat organized. Reaper!Stiles, with a metric fuck ton of worldbuilding because I was in that mood ig. Derek had been cursed so that everyone he loves dies, and it catches the attention of Stiles, who is constantly taking the souls of the dead around him to the After. Cue epic adventure. Excerpt:

Stiles had been in the game, that being Reaper-ing, for almost a thousand years. He'd been born in the eleventh century, to a woman whose name he couldn't remember anymore (all he could remember is the smell of rice and lavender), related closely enough to noble's so that they never worried about hunger. Not that he did now anyways, being undead and all.

7. Moderate To Severe Paranoia (DC/Batfam)

Holy shit. Look at this. Is this…me? Writing a fluff piece? The day has come. No plot in sight! Its a miracle. Basically, Damian has a bad day and Dick senses it with his…dad senses? brother senses? jury’s out. but either way he shows up and they cuddle. pure fluff. excerpt:

Damian hasn't moved for 12 hours. For Jason, Bruce, or Tim, this wouldn't be alarming. A spontaneous bender, a stake out, hundreds of reasons explained that. Damian, however, seemed to have caught that 'Never Stands Still' disease that Dick has had since he could crawl. Despite having grown up in the League, he was always fidgeting in one way or another. Only in threatening ways before, of course, but he still got the zoomies with Titus some days.

8. The Seas Temperance (PJO/MCU)

I grew up on PJO Wattpad. I HAVE to have a Poki fic in the drafts. Ambassador!Percy x Loki.

" I had a bad day. Didn't mean to blow up part of the Northwest USA but really, wasn't my fault. "