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cadriona · 4 months ago

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20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @hua-fei-hua! Thanks for the tag lol

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

46 works! ...yall only see 39 because 7 are anon'd aoeighaoieh

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

537,345 so far!

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Predominantly genshin, although I've also poked at trigun, and naruto lol.

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

*squints*

5 times Ningguang saved Beidou and the 1 time Beidou returned the favour, (Genshin), 1447

A Mora for a Myth in a Land filled with Legends (Genshin), 1146 kudos

[anon'd fic] (Naruto), ~630 kudos

Beidou walks off the gangplank (by accident, really) (Genshin), 454 kudos

Yelan: Spymaster, Gambler, Self-proclaimed matchmaker (Genshin), 384 kudos

5. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

I TRY TO!! haven't been able to recently because brain too tired and it's gotten so long that it uh. might be awkward if i randomly responded now, but i try to!! I love talking with readers and seeing what they think of the fic, and also sometimes it gives me an excuse to infodump worldbuilding or character building lmaooo

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Err, either one of two of the four MCD fics i have?? Two of them have ok, sorta hopeful endings, except two are just me waving a knife and cackling in the background aoieghoaiehga

7. what is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'm tempted to say *most* have happy endings?? some take a bit to get there, but most should be happy! if they were to duke it out for happiest tho? i have no idea lol

8. do you get hate on fics?

Not really no! Or at least, none that stuck around in my head lmao

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

*points at a few of the anon'd fics* what kind? uhhh, depends??

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

Yea! I think I only have two up and one's anon'd because it was from way long ago, only had one chap and i don't want to look at it anymore, so i guess the default prize goes to the genshin x atla one where i yeet four liyue ladies into the elemental nations via reincarnation after teyvat gets murked by celestia and watch things go boom ehehehe... gods i need to actually finish writing that one orz

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

i hope not????

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah! I think there were two translated into Russian?

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Lol nope, might be interested tho!

14. what's your all-time favorite ship?

BEIGUANG (they've had me by the throat for like, 3 years at this point)

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My first fic, aka the anon'd naruto one because i also want to rewrite it and orz (yes it was an si-oc and it recently did a little resurgence in my brain so. Ha. feel free to ask about it because i have so may Thoughts but its uh, its been a while and my writing style has completely changed since)

16. what are your writing strengths?

I'd like to say worldbuilding and fun metaphors/analogies! or maybe action scenes? and if i know the character well enough (*cough*beidou*cough*) then maybe characterization

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

I NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO STOP RAMBLING. brain starts yapping and it doesn't stop, and then i don't know what details to cut because everything starts looking important ahhhhhh (so probably pacing??)

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Depends! full dialogue? probably nah, since it sometimes breaks the flow, but a word here or there because it works better and people presumably know what it means? then yea! Might need to do some translations/linking shenanigans in the AN if i ever end up doing that tho

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Naruto LMFAOOO

20. favorite fic you've written?

I'd like to say mora for a myth, because its been a while since ive had that type of productivity and motivation? but honestly im not that sure lol

tagging: @yuniemaki, @lisascumslut78, @fishareglorious, @mireillexy, @bardigrade if yall feel like it, and anyone else that wants to give it a go :D

#tag game #hua-fei-hua #fic asks #...goes i haven't finished a fic in a while huh #ngl im also surprised by how many anon'd fics i have LMAO

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100ducksizedfolignos · 8 months ago

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top 5 mythical creatures/cryptids

i am less a cryptid person than perhaps i ought to be, but i AM obsessed with mythical creatures so thank you extremely for this one. will include media recs for each bc i’m thinkin about it anyways

1. vampires. obvious but true. versatile, sexy, and always. and please excuse me for this one. a bloody good time. they’re even gay! recs: the invitation (movie), what we do in the shadows (movie and tv), the lost boys (movie), interview with the vampire (tv), tanz der vampire (musical)

2. depictions of death. reapers, death gods, etc etc. objectively fascinating as a lens to how cultures/creators view death. are they relentless? are they gentle? are they frightening? can they be bargained with? i love these funky little dudes. recs: hades (game), bill and ted’s bogus journey (movie), anything terry pratchett that involves death (books)

3. faeries. (please god do not mistake me for a sarah j maas fan.) i love that they’re weird and interesting and have their own rules in traditional lore and i love that they’re cute in modern lore. recs: shadowhunters (tv) does a surprisingly good depiction of fae, and a court of fey and flowers (d&d series) isn’t 100% faerie faeries, but it’s fantastic feywild-but-regency stuff (there are gay people in it! go watch it or any dimension 20 series!)

4. dragons. while i was not a massive dragon kid you gotta respect perhaps the objective goats of creaturedom. who among us has not wanted to sit astride a dragon. also httyd was so formative to me i feel i would be betraying hiccup and toothless to leave dragons off. recs: how to train your dragon (movie), dragon rider (cornelia funke book), the dragon prince (tv), nimona (comic/movie)

5. kitsune/kumiho. this is not bc of naruto, my mom blessedly saved me from that show when i was like 7. this is bc of okami, which you should absolutely play if you’re into like. zelda games and such. you play as a wolf who is also a goddess and the art style is beautiful

honorable mentions: dullahans, angels/demons, golems, and specifically shin megami tensei/persona’s depiction of mothman

#thank you nate #asks #ask game

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spiderziege · 2 years ago

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Top-5 favorite characters to draw?

ooh thats an interesting one!

falsesymmetry. drawing her is so much fun idk why

lucky (my own oc). my oc art phases kinda come and go from time to time but she's always been fun

etho. funny enough a few years ago i watched like 5 episodes of naruto and i didnt really get into it BUT ive always wanted to draw kakashi. so now i finally get to do that

maya fey. havent made ace attorney art in a while but maya is great. her colours her outfit her vibe she's awesome

tommys dsmp character. i dont really intend on ever making dsmp art again but. thats my guy i think i could draw him in my sleep

#ask games #tough choices #tango is also up there for sure

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sneaselsawashiro-blog · 7 months ago

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So, I too, have gotten a TON of new insight on the new information historically about people, and I too have basically changed from the prior years this stuff was written.

And again, I truly understand the issue with Xu Shu's character, and it's a shame since he's personally relatable for someone like me. HOWEVER, the true potential in Xu Yuanzhi's character lies in hypothetical stories. This made me really appreciate him a lot more.

Back in DW8 where it has his first story where he like in the novel, defeats the Eight Gates Gold Chains Array utilized by Cao Ren (with the same "gates" as in the Naruto "Eight Gates", used for the general Bagua/Eight Trigrams). He of course underestimates his own potential, and even Zhuge Liang himself has a ton of faith in him. Only from saving him at Red Wall [Chibi] in Shu's story you can unlock the hypothetical routes with him with his strategies being vital at Chengdu, Hanzhong and especially Fan Castle (wtf did KT/Omega Force decide to reverse the flooding scenario in DW8 Fan Castle, stupid writing team). But of course I do admit, yes, his strategy at hypothetical Fan Castle is meh cause it's just a stepladder lol

Then in Wei's story if you convince him to truly join Wei, he shines hard with teaming up with Guo Jia to stop the fire scheme at Red Wall, and even helps with cornering Liu Bei, Liu Zhang and the Nanman at Baidi (White Emperor) Castle in the story's ending.

BUT, DW9's DLC scenario for Xu Shu REALLY made him shine. I understand it's one of the most boring scenarios according to people and that Xun Yoh is basically "the Xu Shu we all wanted", but we have to give credit where its due even if for hypotheticals like Fa Zheng and Lu Su's, they take place in the more exciting near-later-half of the Three Kingdoms story while Guo Jia's is more of a wild route that also involved Xu Shu rebelling.

First off, after speaking his true feelings on wanting to serve Liu Bei and Zhuge Kongming actually understanding Yuanzhi's dilemma, actually hatches a strategy to rescue and move his mother out of Xuchang by causing some chaos that everyone has to tend to via bandit attacks. And without that forged letter bs from Cheng Yu like in the novel, Xu Shu is free to serve Liu Bei as he pleased.

What truly impressed me as I was watching LightyTheNube's playthrough of the said route (where he was no doubt less than pleased and I understand why), is that Xu Shu pulled off the following:

*He by just asking the locals at Xin'ye, discovered Cao Cao's plans to invade Xin'ye from Wan Castle and Xuchang.

**From there, he literally manages to solo raid both an ambush unit AND sabotage a hidden siege weapon unit, single-handedly preventing the events of Bowang Bank and Changban (Long Slope) Bank and Xin'ye was able to rest easy. Even Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were damn impressed.

*From what he did preventing Cao Cao's plans to raid Xin'ye from the north, during negotiations with Liu Biao for more troops since Xin'ye is still not well protected, are met with understanding the inheritance wars between his entire family for Jing Province, are given a proposal to help rescue Huang Zu from Sun Quan's forces at Xiakou (which Zhuge Liang explains to Xu Shu can double as another way to show off Liu Bei's strength to Sun Quan to plan their alliance vs. Cao Cao). And that shit works out despite Cai Mao's chagrin (fuck Cai Mao).

*And when Liu Bei is chased down by Cai Mao's forces via that famed "Hex Mark, Hex Mark, why must you harm me like so?" incident and where he would've met Sima Hui, he does manage to save Liu Bei and co. to escape from Cai Mao's clutches. But Liu Biao dies later on from illness.

*Even though Zhuge Liang plans to have Liu Qi kick the bucket so Liu Bei could take Jing, Xu Shu basically refuses that notion since both he and Liu Bei agree that it would rob Liu Qi and Liu Cong, in spite of Liu Biao's late wishes to want to have Liu Bei govern Jing. Lo and behold, Cai Mao starts shit again (including tricking Huang Zhong and Wei Yan at first) to cause Qi and Cong's camps starting shit with one another by having Liu Cong as a hostage. After that whole bs was resolved, Xu Shu got it to where the two bros realize "maybe Jing isn't meant for us if this kind of crap happened, let's give it to Lord Liu Bei for real instead", and even Zhuge Liang was impressed with that third option Xu Shu came up with.

*Thus, literally Liu Bei got his hands on Jing in a non-Wu-lending-it-to-me way, and also as it prevented the events of Bowang and Long Slope, ALSO prevented the supposedly awesome events at Red Wall [Chibi], but in trade allowed for Liu Bei through a legitimately-earned Jing, to launch a joint assault on Cao Cao at Hefei. But hell, Zhuge Liang is later on revealed to be kidnapped by Cai Mao and Cao Pi at Xiapi during this so Xu Shu has to rescue him (lolz).

*Thus, the alliance was able to defeat Cao Cao and rescue the emperor, and while Xu Shu's ending doesn't look as impressive, with what he achieved so far in that DLC route, it looked he he was going to go even further.

So yeah, pretty damn long input on this, but just studying this hypothetical in DW9 in regards to "well, what the hell can you really do in the early half of the Three Kingdoms story range", it still really impressed me to see what his DW portrayal can pull off.

Honestly, it's a shame his real life version didn't do that much at all. and it's also made clear that DW Zhuge Liang (and by proxy DW Pang Tong even if they never met irl) really show confidence in their friend's abilities.

Dynasty Warriors Character Analysis: Xu Shu

2/28/2023: The last decade has been good for the 3K community. Our most important members have worked hard to translate a wealth of new material, and to correct old mistranslations. We all know more than we once did, and must all be able to change our minds in the face of new information. On top of that, I’m a very different person than I was when I wrote these articles. My opinons have changed. My values have changed. And I like to think I’m a bit wiser now.

All of this is to say that this article may no longer be an accurate representation of my thoughts and opinions. It may contain significant (and embarrassing) factual errors, opinions formed in bad faith, and disingenuous arguments. Even in cases where I am correct about the facts and have reached a fair conclusion, my personal values have changed significantly. Some things that I once found laudable I now detest; some things that I thought foolish, I now admire.

That is particularly true regarding this article.

The article below is a product of an earlier time in my life. I have chosen to leave it in place, unedited, because I believe it is important to be able to trace statement back to its source.

Keep reading

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thestray · 4 years ago

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Movies I watched Feb 8 - Feb 14

So I’m still on a huge kung-fu kick (pun intended) since I was working on a spreadsheet of 100 martial arts movies, which I’ll be posting soon. So all but 2 of the movies I watched this week contained martial arts.

Movies I watched this week behind the cut.

The Prodigal Son

Big fan of Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung and I’ve been meaning to watch this for a long time but just haven’t seen it available anywhere til now, found it on a free streaming channel called TCL on my Roku tv, so I watched it and loved it. My favorite part of this movie is the guy that plays his master Lam Ching-ying, he’s one of those guys that’s ubiquitous in Hong Kong movies but typically in a supporting role. I really thought his performance was really good for what could’ve been (and usually is) a caricature, a lot of the other cares ARE caricatures, intentionally, but Lam Ching-ying plays an effeminate opera troupe leader but he’s nuanced rather than over the top about it. Warning that he is called some homophobic slurs within the movie. Fun movie, great choreography, and a good satisfying story too, will definitely purchase a hard copy of this one.

Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung

Found this while looking for more movies featuring Lam Ching-ying, he plays the bad guy in this, a Japanese swordsman bent on defeating dojo masters to prove he’s the best. Chin Ka-lok plays the hero, Wong Fei Hung, who is a Chinese folk hero that has been played by every major Hong Kong action star; Jackie, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Sammo, Gordon Liu, and so many others. I didn’t know this before but this, Drunken Master, Once Upon a Time in China, Iron Monkey, Rise of the Legend and so many other films are fictionalized stories about Wong Fei Hung in different stages of his life. An interesting thing I’m finding about Chinese culture through film is they treat historical figures really no differently than we treat superheroes. Wong Fei Hung, Ip Man, Huo Yuanjia (portrayed by Jet Li in Fearless among others), and it’s kinda cool and beautiful that after these people have long passed on they have become these epic larger than life characters. Anyway, the movie is cool, has really fun choreography. It kinda ends abruptly, but that’s because it touches on elements of his life that are later explored in other films. Cool movie.

Unlucky Stars

This stars and is directed by Dennis Ruel, on the left, its an independent martial arts film that is on youtube for free, definitely recommend it. The title and the whole film is an homage to 80′s Hong Kong cinema; there’s a “lucky stars” series of films that star Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and others. If you’re bout that life you’ll catch references, if you’re not it’s still a fun little beat em up. It’s not going to blow you away with it’s cinematography, story or acting, but I thought it was really good for a low budget affair of essentially a bunch of stunt performers getting together to make a movie together. Had some good laughs, fights and stunts are great, I hope these guys get an opportunity to keep doing bigger and better stuff.

Undisputed 2

I’ve known about the Undisputed films for a long time and was never too in a rush to watch them, decided to rent the movies on Prime and was not disappointed. When you watch a lot of East Asian action films the choreography in American films, especially straight to video stuff like this, can seem a little slow and boring, but that wasn’t the case with this at all. The fights are fun, the characters are fun, and Scott Adkins kills it. Oh, and by the way Undisputed 1 features Ving Rhames, and I don’t remember else, I saw it eons ago, I don’t think it has any connection to these films other than the concept of fighting in prison.

Undisputed 3

It was such a smart move to turn the franchise’s focus to the villain of the previous film. Boyka has a real Vegeta story arc in these movies, and his super athletic style is just fun to watch. The highlight of this movie to me is when he faces off against a capoeira expert and they’re both just flipping around during the fight. I think this movie is my favorite of the Undisputed series, it has a satisfying end.

Triad Wars

This is a mob movie with Sammo as the boss and Wu-Jing, pictured above as his enforcer. It’s more of a crime movie than an action movie, but the action scenes are crazy, it’s like if you’re watching the Departed than all of a sudden someone starts flipping around and cutting off everybody’s arms. There are some brutal kills in this. I honestly don’t know if I was following the story that well, the weird thing about movies where different crime factions go to war is it’s like... these people are all evil, and we watch them do fucked up shit, and they all have the same motivation; money, so it’s like I’m not really emotionally invested in what happens, I’m just here to enjoy a guy in all white landing on top of car and then proceeding to kill everyone with a sword.

Fighter in the Wind

I had been looking for this movie for a while but forgot what it was called, and it’s hard to search for martial arts movies because what are you going to search “the movie where a guy fights a lot of people”? Anyway I finally found it and it’s a cool movie, another film that’s based on a true historical figure, I don’t know how faithful this movie is but it was enjoyable. This coward who is always being humiliated in fights decides to train himself to become stronger and then challenges every dojo owner in Japan to a fight. It’s a karate movie, so the choreography is not as flash as kung-fu films, and he essentially wins his fights not because he has better technique but because he can take more punishment and hit harder. SIde note: THe lead actor looks so much like Stephen Chow it was distracting.

Judas and the Black Messiah

The hype is real. This was a good ass movie. The performances are all perfect. I knew that Fred Hampton was assassinated, but to see the whole story and how it went down and to get to know him really gave you the full impact of just how fucked up it was on so many levels.

Undisputed 4

Back to Undisputed! Boyka’s back baby! Cool movie, and furthers his character development. I still think I like the previous movie a little better but this was fun too.

Brigsby Bear

Kyle Mooney is the current best member of SNL, he wrote this film and it’s funny and weird and endearing. I guess after watching people fight in prison, the true story of a black radical being assassinated by the government, and countless people dismembered and impaled, I wanted to watch something a little more lighthearted and fun. Kyle Mooney is an awkward manchild who wants to recreate a show he grew up with. I don’t want to say anymore than that, but I enjoyed it.

A Kid From Tibet

Yuen Biao with some Golden Child style mystical action adventure. It’s not mind-blowing in terms of action, but I liked this, it has some precursor to Naruto type stuff in it, doing hand jutsus to initiate powers and stuff like that. My favorite thing about the movie is the main henchwoman played by Nina Li Chi, who I’m not retroactively deciding is one of 80′s crushes. I actually went ahead and bought this on DVD just because it’s such an obscure movie I wanted to have it my physical collection.

Nina Li Chi

That’s all for this week!

#movies #yuen biao #nina li chi #kyle mooney #brigsby bear #undisputed #boyka #scott adkins #dennis ruel

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vesperlionheart · 7 years ago

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Pompeii 37

His hair was getting longer and now he was having to do things with it. Sakura had offered to cut it, but Yamato had said he preferred it longer now that he had the option of growing it out. It felt better to be a little more rugged and a little more wild.

Of course Sakura teased him about turning into a wild bearded man before he reached out to try and smack her, complaining about how ‘she knew he had issues growing facial hair’ or something like that.

“It’s a little messy today. Don’t you want to put it up?” she asked, eyeing it critically.

His hair was lovely in its texture, and it made her envious, but Yamato was still learning how to take care of it.

He reached for his hair and started to pull it up with his hands, combing through with the nails of his fingers before letting it all fall back down. Behind him the radio was on with old songs plucked out on a banjo and old box drum about the fey in the wilds and the heroes who went after them. Sakura recognized the tune.

“I guess it would be nice to have it off my neck a little more,” Yamato muttered.

Sakura pulled a hair tie off her wrist, one that was bright yellow and matched the floral design of her tank top and ballet flats.

Yamato eyed the hair tie before leaning into her. When Sakura didn’t do anything, he but her with his head and grunted, pointing to his hair.

“Big baby,” Sakura muttered.

She reached for his hair and combed through it much like he had earlier, taking care not to scratch him with her longer nails. She checked to make sure she didn’t miss anything before tying it all up in a low ponytail that she ended up folding into a bun.

“There, now you should feel a little cooler when you’re outside. Where have you been, recently? I haven’t seen you about as much these days.”

Yamato shrugged before walking over to a part of the living room and reaching for something behind the couch. Sakura thought it might have been a guitar, but it was the wrong shape for it. It looked handmade apart from the strings she recognized as his last Amazon Prime order-the one he needed her account for.

“I’ve been trying to teach myself how to play.”

“You like to play?”

Yamato sat down and settled the instrument that was too short and too fat to be a guitar over his knee. He didn’t pluck, but he did start to move his hand up and down the neck of it.

“Maybe? I don’t know until I try it out some more. I’ve never had the opportunity to see for myself what sorts of hobbies I should gravitate towards. But, I know I like music, I always have, so this seemed like a safe thing to try.”

Sakura felt her heart swell with warm pride.

“Play something for me?”

He looked up and grinned. There was something that twinkled in his eyes, something meant and reserved solely for her.

“Because it’s you...alright.”

Sakura looked down at the resume on her lap and then back up at Sai. She tried not to, but the sigh slipped out and was noticed.

“I need to make improvements,” Sai said.

“No, I...honey, I don’t think the issue is with this resume. You’ve done a good job crafting it. But I’m a little confused about the choice. You want to work at the grocery store? They have customers...you need to….interact with.”

Sakura hated how her words came out sounding like they were directed at someone far more inexperienced or younger than her.She didn’t want to do that to Sai after he worked so hard to get where he was.

It hadn’t been that long ago that she felt the pressure from others to reform herself and fix her bedside manner. Oddly enough, the way she remained nonplussed and unshaken by patient needs turned out being the thing that made her such a perfect fit for Pompeii. But Sai wasn’t Sakura and Sakura wasn’t Sai.

“Maybe the grocer is not the ideal career opportunity for my unique skills, however, they are short of staff and acquiring the job would be less challenging than others.”

“Still, the customer service aspect seemed to trouble you last time.”

Sai’s expression doesn’t change and Sakura knows he hasn’t taken offense.

“We were out of that size so the only other option was to lose weight. I was trying to be helpful.”

“Babe,” Sakura tossed the paper back to his lap and sagged down in her seat. “What are we going to do with you?”

“Make me cookies?”

Sakura couldn’t hold back a snort or a smile. “My cookies have not been coming out that great, lately.”

“You’re worried about something?”

She rose from her seat and stretched her arms behind her back, lifting her face to the roof of her apartment room and watching the pattern of the plaster flicker from the simulated fire coming out of her television. It had been raining a lot more recently with the onset of the monsoon season and it made her want to cuddle in slippers and blankets in front of a fire. She didn’t have a fire, so she compromised with the next best thing.

“I’m not going to be worried about anything,” Sakura sighed like she was making a decision. “Help me get the ingredients. I needed to bake something for Ino’s party, it might as well be cookies. If they come out terrible we can stop at the grocery to drop off that resume and pick up treats worth eating.”

“I always like eating what you make,” Sai commented in a matter of fact tone that was so painfully Sai it made Sakura warm.

Another far off boom of thunder echoed outside and the pair looked to the window of her balcony where the first few drops were starting to come down. It had been raining almost every other day for the past week or so. More than one person wanted to blame Pein for it, but Sakura heard some of her patients say that cursing the handsome god would only be taken as prayers and payment for rain, so it was better to keep your mouth shut about it all and hope he stays off wherever he is spinning storms out of prayers.

He hadn’t been back in weeks, and the car she returned hadn’t been touched or seen since. She wanted to feel anxious about it, but now that she knew where he was, she didn’t. Even apart, it felt no different.

“Was I invited to this party?” Sai asked her.

Sakura blinked, tearing her eyes away from the rain streaks. Sai had one hand inside the flour jar, grasping for the measuring cup buried at the bottom. Sakura always forgot to take them out.

“Shouldn’t you know that?” Sakura asked before batting his hand away to reach in and remove the cup.

“I am not sure. I received no communication about this event, but Ino mentioned leaving that up to Naruto, so it is possible he forgot about me. He’s been...absent.”

“There’s a bug going around that’s heartier than the common cold. Naruto’s had it off and on the worst out of everyone I know. That’s not a secret or patient confidentiality, by the way. I don’t want you to think that-”

Sai waved her words away. “You were only saying what I already knew. He’s been absent so often at the grocery store, which is why I am applying. He was out all last week, but fine the week before that. He might be there at the party tonight.”

Sakura felt her stomach roll. “I hope he stays home and gets some rest. There’s only so much I can do and it’s frustrating when you reach the end of your usefulness.”

“None of us are useful for everything always. For all of us there is an end of our usefulness. What do we do when we reach that point? What do other do with us when we reach that point? I think about this more than I would like to admit.”

He took the measuring cup out of her hand and used it to count out the number of cups of flour the recipe needed. Sakura let him mix the first few dry ingredients before slumping forward to drape her arms over his shoulders and stop him where he stood. He made an irritated sound, unable to move as freely, but Sakura just hugged tighter.

He complained to her about trying to work and eventually she let go of him to sit back and watch him put the ingredients together. It was a while before he noticed she wasn’t helping, only watching.

“Is it me bringing the treats, or you?”

He handed her a dripping spatula she had to cup to keep her floor from getting dirty with batter. He dragged his index finger through the end of the spatula and then licked it clean before turning back to the work.

He hummed as he worked and ten minutes later the cookies were in the oven and Sai was cleaning his hands and complaining about the texture of cookie batter not being as good as the taste. She didn’t feel the need to comment, but Sakura couldn’t help but laugh, and it’s almost as bad as a comment judging by Sai’s reaction.

The cookies ended in something less than a disaster, pleasing Sakura greatly. Sai declared her baking funk was over and submitted an informal request for lemon bars.

“I’ll make you your lemon bars if you help me with my hair and makeup. You did such an amazing job last time,” Sakura said.

“It’s only because it’s on you. I don’t like working with others.”

Sakura rolleld her eyes and remembered the disaster that was the beauty salon. Ino had never looked closer to murdering someone. At this rate, Sakura was fearful for Sai’s life if he flubbed any more job opportunities. One of them was going to end up in blood or bruises, at the very least.

The party was to watch a livestream of a solar eclipse or something close to that, Sakura wasn’t really sure. Ino seemed ready to host a party for any odd reason and so Sakura didn’t question it when she was invited.

If Sakura considered it, she realized she had been separated from some of her friends a lot more recently. That might have been because she was no longer a hot new commodity, being the ‘new girl in town,’ or it could have been because of something else. Maybe something in the forest. Maybe something less drastic.

Even the Uchiha raven and crows were scarce these days, or if they were around, they were far off watching from a distance. She tried to pretend that didn’t give her anxiety, but it was hard. Sai and Yamato were balms to her soul. She didn’t know what she would do or feel if they hadn’t been there.

Sakura scribbled a note on her nightstand to make a call to the Uchiha and check in on Izuna to see if he needed another treatment. His lungs were coming along great and she missed the visits, to be honest. Just….after Itachi…

Sakura let the pen roll off her nightstand, leaving the note blank.

She changed out of her casual wear and stepped into a pair of dark blue straight leg ankle biters and strap heel sandals. It was a party after all, so she put some care into choosing a dressy top that complemented the curves she had and imagined the curves she didn’t.

She was going through her collection of cheap earrings when Sai let himself in.

“Let me do your hair first,” he said, lightly smacking her hands away from the bangles.

“I want something that hangs.”

“That would be smart since this is an off the shoulder top, good eye.”

Sakura beamed at the praise before her chin was roughly yanked up and her hair was pulled into his fingers. Sakura kept her mouth and eyes shut, already trusting his choices. He tugged at her hair tight and then pinned it back before weaving fingers under the strands and teasing them out. Sakura opened her eyes and looked in the mirror as he finished and smiled at the messy, low bun that had been too artfully crafted to be truly that messy.

He moved in front of her and touched the skin under her eyes before starting to smear cream there. Sakura winced at the cold feel, but let him paint her as he liked. Sai was good with his hands and had an eye for art. It was such a shame he couldn’t find a fit in a field where those traits were valued. His personality was too rough for a beauty salon.

“Sai!” Sakura gasped, eyes flying open.

“Shut them,” he commanded sternly.

Sakura did as she was told but didn’t settle her lips the same way. “I want your resume. I’m going to drop it off somewhere else. Forget about the grocery store.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Trust me.”

He clicked his tongue, but a few seconds later his brushes left her face and she heard him move. When she saw herself in the mirror she knew her suspicions were sure.

She grabbed a clutch and the pair left together. Sakura made Sai stop outside the tattoo parlor and dropped off his resume as well as a few sketches she had of his laying around. Sai stayed outside, staring up at the sign while Sakura put in the good word.

A handful of minutes later she had secured an interview on Thursday 4:30PM.

The whole rest of the way she was smirking like the cat that got the cream.

They were actually meeting it what looked like a renovated firehouse that Shikamaru was living in along with his buddy Choji. The pair split their time there and at the family homes. There were a few families hoping that wasn’t a trend that would catch on with their sons and daughters. Family was a big deal in Pompeii.

A few faces looked up and greeted Sakura with enthusiasm but then slid to Sai and then stiffly back to Sakura.

Ino cut through the crown to kiss the side of Sakura’s face and then tug the plate of cookies out of her hands.

“Come on, let’s get you something to drink, drink.”

Sakura could smell the booze and it was almost like highschool all over again, only this time they were supposed to all be adults. “Ino, it’s one in the afternoon.”

“What? It’s our happy hour.”

Her eyes were too wide and too blue to not be innocent. Sakura felt she couldn’t be surprised anymore by anything Ino said anymore.

“It’s good to see you too, Sai. You’ve been as elusive as ever. Sorry about the job not working out. Still friends?” the blonde cooed.

Sai nodded but seemed at a loss for words, which was okay because Ino just launched herself into the next thing she had planned on saying. In typical Ino fashion, all was forgiven and forgotten.

Something about Gaara doing this, Temari doing that, the Hyuga this, the Uchiha that. Sakura was glad for how much easier it was to keep up with the news and how much more impactful things seemed. These weren't just names anymore. She knew most of these people.

“Where are Shikamaru and Choji, anyway? I should see them and thank them for hosting this party,” Sakura said, looking out into the room where two dozen or so people were gathered to lounge on couch arms and turned round chairs. The television was on showing the eclipse as it happened across the country. Sai took up a spot in front of the television.

“Where do you think the lazy snore hound would be? He’s sleeping on the roof again. He says the monsoon clouds are some of his favorite to watch and that he’ll come back in if it starts to rain again. I think Sasuke went up there, actually. A good bet if you’re looking for that Uchiha is to search for the high places.” Ino shrugged. “It must be a bird thing.”

Sakura accepted the drink put into her hands and sniffed once before sipping at the rim. She looked up when she noticed Ino was waiting patiently for a comment or reaction.

“Is this...cider?” Sakura asked. “I thought the season was still a month or two off.”

“Funny about that, ‘cause it’s imported stuff. We’re bringing a lot of stuff in from the outside because our own stuff is on the down low, but just for a season. It’s great for variety. Sip, sip, I think you’ll like it.”

Sakura did like it and told Ino as much.

Ino moved on, taking a drink over to Gaara and encouraging him with a laugh like a bell to ‘enjoy himself’ a bit more. Moments later she was moving on to someone else, trying her best to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves like a good host would.

Sakura took Ino’s occupied space and sat down next to Gaara. Thankfully he seemed to perk up at the sight of her and not stiffen like he had around Ino.

“You look like you’re having fun,” Sakura lightly tease. “How have you been?”

“Better since seeing you. It’s been a...while?”

Sakura nodded, trying to remember the last time they had seen each other. “Not that long, though? What would you consider a long time?”

“It matters how much I want something, I suppose.” He sniffed at his drink and set it aside with a worried expression. “But it’s not just you. More families have become more busy with the summer season, that’s how it is every year I think. I’ve not seen Naruto in a couple weeks either.”

“Have you been sleeping, lately?” Sakura asked, reaching to brush hair out of his eyes without thinking. She paused only after her hand had made contact, realizing how inappropriate the contact might be since she hadn’t asked permission. “Sorry, bad doctor habit.”

Gaara managed a shy smile and shook his head. “No. Good doctor habit.” He looked up at all the edges of him seemed to melt around her. “It’s nice seeing you again here like this. You look nice.”

“Thanks, but I can’t take credit. I had help with my hair and makeup. I was never good at those things growing up when I was supposed to be learning such things.”

“We all have shortcomings, nothing to be embarrassed of.” He shrugged his shoulders and averted his eyes. “Also, you don’t really need...to be good at something like that. You look pretty no matter what you do.”

Sakura opened her mouth to say something back but the door to the front opened and she hear the conversation that made her head turn along with Gaara.

“Naruto! You made it, brat.”

“Don’t call me a brat, Kiba.”

Naruto and his twin were in the doorway but something was wrong about the way the blonde was standing, hands buried in the pockets of his windbreaker and smile wan. His skin wasn’t healthy with the usual tan, and his eyes seemed agitated.

Menma muttered something Sakura couldn’t hear from the distance, but guessed it to be something chastising based of both boy’s body language. Something like, ‘you really shouldn’t be here, Naruto.’

Sakura couldn’t help but agree when the doctor in her screamed at all the symptoms of an ill person that was pushing himself. Her eyes were wide, soaking all of him in with horror.

As if feeling it, his eyes met hers and the wan smile stretched wide.

“Sakura!” his hands slipped out of his pockets and he made a beeline for her. He looked so happy even if his brother was a vision of worry.

Sakura felt her heart stop when Naruto didn’t even make it halfway across the floor, but staggered and collapsed in a sick, sliding smile, and dizzy eyes.

Several voices shouted at once.

All Sakura could feel was dread.

#Pompeii #Weird Wednesdays

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quantumseahorse · 7 years ago

Text

Fanfics I reread

A Race to Protect- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3286655/1/A-Race-to-Protect An American Dragon Jake Long fanfic. In which Jake gets stuck in Dragon form while injured and pretty much ends up in a vet’s office. It makes me happy to read.

Yuiitsu-Shin- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11074340/1/Yuiitsu-shin A 12 Kingdoms and Fate/Stay crossover. It’s so rare to find 12 Kingdoms fanfics that I actually enjoy. Sadly this hasn’t updated in a long while.

The Death of Ascheriit- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11002761/1/The-Death-of-Ascheriit An Ubel Blatt fanfic set during the years between the Betrayal and the beginning of the manga. It’s great, lots of good characters keeping our poor fey-hybrid company and helping him work through the hard times.

I See the Moon- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8212843/1/I-See-The-Moon Avengers and Harry Potter cross. In an alternative world, removing the Horcrux broke Harry’s mind. So an insane Harry meets an emotionally fragile Bruce and end up traveling together.

Sparked by Magic- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6009055/1/Sparked-by-Magic A Harry Potter and Transformers cross. In which Harry’s accidental magic pretty much becomes something similar to the All Spark.

He Loved by God- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8862685/1/He-Loved-By-God Blue Exorcist and D.Gray-Man. It’s not the most well written but I love the story they were trying to go for. I hope they update eventually.

The Dragon King’s Temple- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7679074/1/The-Dragon-King-s-Temple The most well done Avatar the Last Airbender and Stargate SG-1 fic I’ve ever read. It finds a way to work the two VERY different series together in a way that makes sense within the laws and mythology of their respective series.

Big Human on Campus- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5382984/1/Big-Human-on-Campus Ranma 1/2 and Rosario Vampire. Pretty much a coherently written crack fic. It is amazing and funny and I just have a fun time with it.

The Man in the Long Black Coat- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7282544/1/The-Man-In-The-Long-Black-Coat Good Omens and Supernatural. I distinctly remember one of my friends describing a fanfic she was reading and I blurted out this title of this and she was like ‘YES! That’s the one I was talking about!’ because the Good Omens fandom is small enough that we’ve both read pretty much all the pics there are by this point…

Make it or Break it- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7517289/1/Make-It-or-Break-It Naruto and Harry Potter. Harry gets blasted into Naruto world during the final fight with Voldie. He decides to become a Healer and have a calm, quiet life….well at least he was trying to.

The Poltergeist Report Card- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7994009/1/The-Poltergiest-Report-Card Yu Yu Hakusho and Rosario Vampire. It’s essentially a crack-fic. Also, I’m not sure if the author actually knows what Harry Potter is…considering they seem to think Hermione was a red-head?

Demonic Housing- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3566193/1/Demonic-Housing Harry Potter and Yu Yu Hakusho. In which Hiei is adorable and Dumbledore is like a weird friend/uncle?

A Ralts in the Moonlight- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3925316/1/A-Ralts-in-Moonlight Ranma 1/2 and Pokemon. Ranma turns into a Ralts. I couldn’t click FAVORITE fast enough. Enough said.

A Square Peg in a Round Hole- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3571049/1/A-Square-Peg-in-a-Round-Hole Stargate SG-1 and Highlander. Someone finally decided to address the fact that Jack has a dragged clone of himself running around.

Kyuushutsu- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2195575/1/Kyuushutsu Rurouni Kenshin fic. Set during the war. In which Kenshin runs around killing people and searching for his boss.

Caught in a Ladder- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3525207/1/Caught-In-A-Ladder Hikaru no Go. Pretty twisted. Kidnapping, abuse, torture and all that good stuff.

When Summoning, Please watch the Wording- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3547876/1/When-Summoning-Please-Watch-The-Wording Good Omens and Supernatural. Short but really well done. I just want more Good Omens fanfics.

Make a Wish- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2318355/1/Make-A-Wish Harry Potter crack-fic of epic proportions.

Find the Moon- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1789944/1/Find-the-Moon Full metal Alchemist and Gundam Wing. I’m always amazed when people can make the weirdest crossovers WORK in a believable way.

The Serpent of Lord Voldemort- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/150716/1/The-Serpent-of-Lord-Voldemort In which Harry’s animagus form is a snake, he gets accidentally adopted by Voldemort and just tries to escape before anyone realizes who he is.

Doeskin- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11030096/1/Doeskin Harry Potter and Naruto. Harry dies and is reborn as a Doe. Crack-fic. I never realized I needed this fic in my life until I discovered it.

Ghost in the Machine- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10898688/1/Ghost-in-the-Machine Final Fantasy VII. A Cloud goes back in time-fic but something went wrong.

The SHIELD Agent Rhapsosdos series written by Wayang Silver- https://www.fanfiction.net/u/3890589/Wayang-Silver Final Fantasy VII and Marvel Movie-verse. Just a cool and well written concept with reincarnation and stuff.

The Little Guy- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7284929/1/The-Little-Guy Final Fantasy VII. Cloud goes back in time and becomes a janitor. Somehow still ends up screwing Sephiroph.

The Human Mask- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7731108/1/The-Human-Mask Natsume Yuujin-Cho. You should read Worthy of a Name first, since this is the sequel to that. Basically Natsume becomes a God of Spirits.

#fanfiction

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