Fanfiction Ramblings.

New year Resolutions

2011-12-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

...at least for fan-fiction writing.

2011 was a productive year for me in terms of writing- both fan-fiction and especially outside of it.

First of all through the sheer amount of writing I've done (including Complicated Detour), my writing style has become very different. I have come to like and appreciate writing completely in the Third Person PoV- AtO is not completely Third Person PoV because I kept spelling out Harry's thoughts- something that's not as abundant in chapter 13 (and I like it that way).

So that'll be a bit jarring to readers- which means editing of old chapters later (which I'm not completely keen about- I tried editing an older chapter and the word count dropped dramatically. It's not bad- it's just extra work.)

Speaking of AtO, this year I broke the 1000 review mark- which is all sorts of awesome. But at the same time rather guilt-inducing sometimes considering my slow writing/updating. For some reason, my guilt makes me work on the ending chapters of AtO- which doesn't make any sense to me what so ever.

I've also met some awesome people through ffnet- who're always eager to discuss all sorts of crazy ideas with me when I just need a good non-serious distraction.

Anyway, my plans for 2012 are:

1-I will edit and finish my incomplete stories. (because they deserve better than being hidden away on my laptop)

2- I will get more than 5 chapters of AtO written this year. (Anything more is great- anything less is just sad.)

3- I will write a fan-fiction story completely in French. (A one-shot/drabble sounds doable)

4- I will review other people's stories more often. (I follow so many awesome stories but I always shy away from reviewing.)

5- I will finish a 100-theme challenge.

And I think that's more than enough for fan-fiction resolutions. Do you guys have any resolutions to do with fanfiction/hobbies?

Polar.

P.S. Happy New Year! I hope you have a wonderful time in the next year filled with prosperity, fun and better things.

Christmas Gift

2011-12-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

“But think about it. No one's ever done it before and he'll be so thrilled...”

“No!” Hermione said immediately.

Harry frowned. “What?.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “You're not buying Naruto a country, no matter how much spare gold you have.”

Harry looked at her incredulously. “I don't have that much gold.” He scratched his ear and cleared his throat. “The most I'd be able to afford with my gold, is a tiny village probably.”

“Harry!”

“What?” Harry looked entirely unapologetic. “He wants to be a leader. If he owns a village, he's automatically a leader.”

Hermione glared at him. “Just for that you'd destroy their economy and make people...”

Ron sighed and grabbed the mirror, making the image screen blur for a few seconds. “Now, now, Hermione, you do realize that Harry is kidding. Aren't you, mate?”

Harry sighed. “Obviously.”

“There, you see. Harry has not gone mad without us.” Ron looked at him. “So what were you really thinking of getting him?”

Harry smothered a grin. “Well, there's this travelling circus...”

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Going to be away from the computer for a few days, so I thought it'd be best to put something up to wish you all (if you celebrate X-mas, that is).

Hope you guys have fun this holiday season- no matter what you end up doing.

Polar

The 'Self-insert' Series: KHR

2011-12-06T01:26:00.001-07:00

This stemmed from a long conversation with a friend (just like all crazy ideas do, I suppose). Somehow we ended up talking about self-inserts and needless to say my brain saw an opportunity.

I actually follow 3 self-insert stories on ffnet (3 different fandoms, none that I write for. I can't even remember how I found them.)- because they're so unique and I admit I'm intrigued at how things will end in those stories. (Don't mock my guilty pleasure.)

Personally, I've never written/considered a self-insert, so I decided to see what I could come up with if I had ever bothered.

Anyway, first up in the series- Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Warnings: Long unedited craziness. More of an nameless OC-insert than a self-insert. Use of Google translate and gorey imagery at the start. Reader discretion is advised.
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The car's tires screeched noisily against pavement and ice but with a horrible grinding, the metal railings gave way. And then the car fell, crashed once, rolled downwards and finally stopped.
Just when she thought the worst was over, everything ignited in a burst of hungry heat that stared out orange and grew darker. She screamed as the dark flames tore in to her body, ripped skin away viciously, somehow pulled at muscles and scrapped against bone.
The flames disappeared, only to be replaced by biting cold that hurt even worse.
She opened her eyes gaping at all the white around her. Snow.
Through the pain, she heard voices. She raised her hand weakly reflexively, hoping to call for help, and screamed at the charred and bloody flesh hanging off stark white bone.
"Sedare la sua!" A rough voice said, "abbiamo bisogno di farla nella vasca."
She fought against the hands that grabbed her. But there was a slight prick against her sensitive skin and she lost control of her movement. Even the pain disappeared. But she could see. And she could hear.
The people around her, so inhuman looking spoke continuously as they moved away from the cold. Their voices, so rough and foreign, continued as they entered a building. It was hard to say if they were male or female- they were just beings in the growing darkness and eerie lights.
She coughed wetly, tasting blood and ash, as more hands tilted her to a standing position and shoved something over her nose and mouth. She raised her hands weakly, hoping to push it off. But the ground beneath her vanished and she fell into a pool of thick liquid that made her close her eyes and give in to unconsciousness.
When her eyes opened again, she found herself on a soft bed. She forced herself to sit up and promptly hunched over in pain, her limbs trembling and twitching uncontrollably.
Something pricked her neck and her body stilled. She straightened, yelped and rushed away from the figure leaning over her with a syringe in it's gloved hand.
"You'll need to inject yourself every other day," a rough voice, coming from the person, said blandly in accented English and pointed to an open case filled with syringes.
She twitched but stayed far from the person whose face was completely bandaged and hidden under a tall black hat. "What?" She frowned as she felt bits on bandage on her own lips.
"The pain will never go away. I won't help next time."
Who'd want your help, she wanted to say. But then she gaped as she really looked at the weird person's outfit.
"So you finally recognize where you are," the person said.
"No!" She turned away from the figure, even as her mind catalogued the unique outfit. White completely bandaged face, tall black hat and a large billowing black coat.
"Denial will get you nowhere. There is no way you cannot know. Every one brought here by the flames, knew when they came here."
"It's impossible." She looked down at her bandaged arms, trying to tell herself that none of this was real. There was no way any of this was real. She clenched her fingers and flinched at the very real pain racing up her arms.
The person in the room didn't offer her any words of comfort even as she remembered the weird liquid tank from before. How had she forgotten than?
"Vindice?" She rasped out as she took another proper look at the person who'd moved away from the bed. Her throat hurt and her heart seemed like it was going to burst.
The bandaged person in front of her nodded and snapped a finger. Distinct dark flames coated his fingers for a few seconds before disappearing in a flash.
"How, this..."
"The flames brought you here," her visitor said, as though it explained everything.
"Why?"
"The Vindice remains one step ahead of the Mafia at all times," the person in front of her said. "How do you think we maintain the advantage? The flames always brings one person who knows."
"Knows?"
"The future."
She had a feeling she was being insulted. But she listened as the person, who she still couldn't categorize as male or female, explained things a little more.
But the little information didn't help her make sense of things. In fact she was still doubting the reality of things, when she was herded into a room filled with Vindice members and a floating infant with a clear pacifier.
"Welcome! As the start of our newest generation, let me be the first to welcome you to your new home," the infant said in English, with a very soft voice. "It means our numbers will grow now."
She stared silently and turned a little to the side, immediately noticing one of the Vindice who wasn't completely bandaged. Shoulder length curly hair flowed underneath the black hat and a single unbandaged eye stared back at her. She frowned as bits from the manga flashed through her mind. Before she could stop herself she said, "Bermuda?"
The man blinked and turned to the infant with an unreadable look. They stared at each other for a few minutes as everyone else in the room stayed eerily alert and silent.
Then the man moved closer to the infant, turned to her and said, "Where does your knowledge of this world begin?"
She stayed silent for a moment, carefully considering what she'd say, remembering their reaction. "I know everything from when the Vongola's Tenth boss gets chosen."
"Enrico?" The man asked.
She shook her head and said, "Tsunayoshi Sawada."
The bandaged people around her whispered, their rough voices a mix of curiosity and confusion.
But the bandaged floating infant in front of her said, "Sawada? The Vongola Primo's lineage..."
She nodded.
One of the bandaged people came forward. "Iemetsu's son was born five years ago."
"Everything I know starts in nine years, then."
The infant in front of her nodded. "That's enough time for you to learn about your new life as one of the Vindice." His clear pacifier glowed ominously. "This may be sudden, but it's for the best."
And then an inky darkness surrounded her.
Before she could so much as scream or even cower away, the blackness condensed and seeped in to her skin just as a heavy ring formed around her index finger. A ring that seemed to mock her attempts at denying everything.
"What is your name?" the infant said all of a sudden.
She flinched and looked up from the ring. She opened her mouth but paused in confusion. What was her name? Hadn't it been...
"How old are you?" the man, Bermuda something, asked.
Again, she drew a blank. And she knew that wasn't how it was supposed to be. She'd known the answer to this just a few minutes ago. She was completely sure about that.
"What are you?" they both asked.
She looked down at the ring, suddenly feeling immensely hateful towards it, and said, "Vindice."
In the three years that followed, she'd come to despise the word and everything it stood for. But she bid her time patiently- learning, watching and listening.
"Come," one of the older generations of the Vindice said. A ring-less member of the Vindice. A grunt, compared to her.
But she still followed him, because now she could tell gender even with all the bandages, down familiar corridors towards a room hidden away deep in the depths of their prison.
She pushed past her escort and opened the door to the nameless Arcobaleno.
The infant stared at the painting on the wall, a colourful abstract piece that stood out against the gloominess of their surroundings starkly. "You will be leaving with a capture team today. Familiarize yourself with how we deal with the Mafioso."
"Yes," she said curtly and turned away from the colourful painting, irritated at the mix of colours that gave her a headache, waiting for the team to come. But she was excited to go out. It had been so long since she'd seen normal human faces, trees and more importantly sunlight.
Unfortunately, her first outing just emphasized her new status as one of the Vindice. As something not quite human any more. Battle hardened Mafia men actually trembled and fell back, without so much as an argument.
Surely if the Mafioso had attacked the Vindice's capture team, she knew the Mafioso would have able to do a lot of damage.
True, her ability to wield the eight flame poorly through her ring made her slightly formidable. But she had no proper fighting skills, because none of the Vindice actually trained in physical combat. And more importantly, the other Vindice accompanying her didn't even have rings.
But the Mafioso just stood there and watched as they, the Vindice, chained the guilty man and dragged him away.
The minute she returned to the drab surroundings of the Vendicare prison, watched them lock the terrified prisoner away and had to take her now daily injections, she examined her knowledge of future events.
The years passed by slowly. Slow enough for her to come up with a tentative idea. A tentative but still very stupid idea, considering where she was.
But she stuck with it.
The minute she saw a capture team bring in a young Mukuro Rokudo, she took a more active role in the prison.
No one minded.
After all, by being the first of as new Vindice generation, it was expected that she do her job and use her knowledge of the next few years to 'police' the Mafia properly. She went out often with various capture teams, but ditched them to keep tabs on current Mafia news till it became an 'acceptable' and known behaviour for her amongst the other Vindice.
When she caught whispers about Reborn, Sawada and Japan, she made her first move. Exactly three weeks later, on the eve of his execution, Mukuro Rokudo became the first person to escape the Vendicare prison after killing several weak wardens and prisoners.
At that time, she had been on another capture mission. Not something she'd planned, but something that worked in her favour.
Three weeks later, she led another capture team and personally chained the defeated Mukuro Rokudo. If she was the slightest bit gentle when transporting him and his two companions, the ring-less Vindice grunts beside her knew better than to comment on it.
A week later, when she's on another capture mission, she ditched the grunts as usual and used her ring and flames. She steeped through the portal she created and ended up in a small bedroom.
With a soft huff, she sent her flames out, knocking out every occupant in the house except for one. Her target woke up with a panicked start and stared directly at her for a second before screaming.
"Vongola Decimo," she said dully. To her surprise she found herself utterly amused, a first since she'd arrived in this world, at the boy's terrified reaction. He turned and stared at the hammock where Reborn the Arcobaleno lay. "He won't wake up," she said in Japanese.
The boy's breathing hitched in obvious panic.
She sighed, wondering if coming here had been a bad idea. "He's not dead. I've just put him in to a deep sleep."
"What…why...." He shook, his fear annoyingly palpable.
"I'm not here to hurt you or take you to the Vendicare prison," she said as she walked around his room, curiously noting everything that seemed familiar. Everything that she'd remembered from the manga back home.
"Then why..."
"I'm here to make a deal with you."
There was a minute of silence before the boy took a deep breath and said in a completely steady voice, "A deal?"
She turned and walked closer to him. When he stood his ground unwaveringly, she felt a tiny bit satisfied that she's decided to do this. She pulled the bandages that covered her eyes and stared at him for a few minutes.
Other than a slight flinch when she'd tugged at the bandages, he only looked at her with curiosity.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi," she said, trying to keep the roughness out of her lowered voice, "I am willing to help you protect anyone you consider famiglia in your lifetime but in return..."
He gulped, losing his momentary control. "In return?"
She lowered her voice even more. "In return, I want you to help me abolish the Vendice."
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Dun, dun, dun!

Seriously though, it's probably a good thing I've never actually written an actual multi-chaptered 'self-insert' story. Character fail, much? Jeez, nameless-insert above is like a Nara-in-hiding.

Polar

It's December!

2011-12-01T17:55:00.001-07:00

Woohoo!

You have no idea how glad I am it's December. Why?

Loads of sweets. And I don't mean plain old chocolate or anything of that sort (nothing wrong with chocolate as it is)... I mean all sorts of sweets that I can't even name but will gladly stuff in my mouth in a fit of December induced happiness.

The sweets are the only thing that make December awesome to me. Because the family always deems December the perfect time to just steal your time whenever they can.

Unfortunately, they've sort of smarted up about my weakness to sweets. I can never say no when they bribe me with sweets... I'm really too weak.

Anyway, all that being said, I'm not slacking on my writing. Since it's December I'll be actively working on chapter 13 (have to work out a few plot kinks/issues I found after reading what I had so far).

And since I haven't completed last month's writing challenge, I'll do that as well (hopefully it''ll be done within the first two weeks of Dec anyway)

You know, a few stories on my alert list that hadn't updated since Jan, actually updated over the past few days. And they were like my 'supah-fav' stories- the kind where you never quite forget what happened in the last chapter no matter how long it takes between updates! So that totally made December even more awesome for me already!

Polar.
P.S. Major spoiler of chapter 13- 'sake'. Take from that what you will- I'm sure you can't imagine what I've done with that. Even if you did, it's not like I'll confirm anything.

Deleted Scene Episode 5

2011-11-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

Warnings: Very un-edited.Takes place some time between chapter 11 and 12.

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Naruto opened the door to the apartment carefully, feeling a little awkward when he entered the large empty apartment. He removed his sandals after a moment of hesitation, slipped the key in to his pocket and moved towards the kitchen.

He paused at the entrance to the kitchen, and looked up at the photographs on the wall. He slid his eyes away immediately, entered the kitchen and moved to the refrigerator.

The cool air from the fridge created goosebumps on his arms but he sighed at the slight relief from the outside heat. But then he gaped as he looked at the inside of the fridge.

Every inch of space was filled with all sorts of boxes.

Naruto recognized boxes from all sorts of restaurants- the barbeque place, the sushi store, some other seafood joint and most importantly the cake store. He immediately reached for one of the cake boxes, but a fluttering piece of paper on a plastic box caught his eye.

He pulled out the box, stared at the bright paper, squinted at it and read out loud, “Fried Omlette, reheat for two minutes, put some more salt before eating. The pepper is in the cabinet above the sink.”

Naruto pulled out another random box from the fridge and found another note affixed to the top. The more he looked, the more he realized that every box in the fridge had instructions for preparing it and eating.

Nii-san's handwriting is horrible. Naruto mused as he pulled another container out and pulled it's paper closer to his face. Then he remembered the bandages. I see! It's because his hands are hurt. Otherwise his handwriting would be super awesome. Definitely way better than mine.

Satisfied with his selection of five different containers, all with food that he was sure his nii-san had actually made, Naruto finally closed the fridge.

As he reheated the food according to the instructions, Naruto's mind filled with an unpleasant thought. Wait, before I came here to talk to him, he was going to give his key to those annoying guys. Izumo and Kotetsu.

He looked down at the home-made food feeling more than a little irritated. He made this for them? Even the notes on top?

Just for that, I won't let them have any. Naruto nodded to himself, content with that plan, as he pulled out a plate and took generous helpings of everything and moved to the dining table.

As he sat down, he caught a glimpse of the photos on the wall. He grinned up and said, “Itadakimasu”

After taking a couple of bites, the lack of noise around him finally made him look back up at the photographs.

“Nii-san's cooking is awesome, obaa-san,” Naruto said, looking at Harii's mother, as he took another bite. “I can't make anything than ramen.”

The photos just smiled back at him.

“Of course, ramen isn't bad. But nii-san's cooking is nice.” Naruto turned away from the picture happily and took another bite. When he swallowed he turned back to the photograph. “I wonder if he got his cooking skills from oji-san or you.”

“Unless...” He looked between both of Harii's parents critically. “Both of you couldn't cook at all.”

Naruto snorted and finished the last of his food. “I'll probably just have to ask him when he comes back.” He placed the dishes in the sink. “All right, time for cake.”

Naruto opened the fridge and grabbed one of the cake boxes. He frowned slightly when he noticed a note on top, but grinned when he finally read it.

For Naruto only.

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I never actually planned on creating a scene like this- I never wrote any such scene for the actual story. In a way this could be considered more of an omake- but I think it came out as more of a deleted scene.

Anyway, the only deleted scene I had planned on putting up before uploading chapter 13 was a multiple PoV one sometime in Dec.

But then Duchessa sent me this picture--->

which I'm pretty sure has mystical powers in it. Not only did I stare at it like a creep every time I could (getting all warm and gooey inside) for a good amount of time, but then the above scene sort of popped up in my head.

I don't know about the rest of you but my favorite part of the picture has to be Hedwig. It's almost like she's supervising those two- making sure they act all brotherly and stuff. ("If you're not nice to him, I'll peck you!")

So thank you once again, Duchessa, for the picture. And thanks to glockgal, the artist that Duchessa commisioned to have this picture drawn, for such an awesome piece of work.

If any of you want to see more of glockgal's artwork- be sure to check out her gallery here and her journal here.

Polar

P.S. Omg, end of November- and I have like 5 more chapters (6,7,11, 12 & 14) that need to be written for my NaNoWriMo challenge. Darn my horrendous all-over-the-place style of writing.

P.P.S. If this deleted scene made you all warm and gooey, then I have irrefutable proof about the picture's powers.

A Feature of Inspiring Fanart.

2011-11-22T14:25:00.002-07:00

Because of my NaNoWriMo project, I've decided to do a feature for art that are centered around the Bleach character 'Grimmjow' - who has been fun to write alongside Team 7 these past few days. All the art here was rather inspirational in some form or the other for my writing up till now and I felt the need to thank them in my own way.

Grimmjow- The Panther King by grindpantera0219

This fanart actually gave me the plot bunny for my story ages ago. I can't quite explain why the picture gave me a plot-bunny for a crossover story, but I'm very glad it did. I would have left a comment on the page, but I don't have a dA account (even though I lurk there all the time). So this is my thanks to the artist for inspiring me with a crazy but fun idea.

Bleach- Why tea only? by Washu-M
Washu-M has a lot of funny comics- a lot of them with Grimmjow in them. Those comics actually made me feel a lot more comfortable about writing silly humour. More than that, the comics made me crack a smile when I got too stressed out. I definitely recommend going through Washu-M's comics for some light-hearted humour when you have some free time.

Bloody Macabre Halloween by blackstorm

As the title suggests, this is a picture of Grimmjow covered in blood. Even though he's covered in blood and looking rather insane- that's perfect because that's just how Grimmjow is- and this picture acted as a good reminder for me.

Of course, I did end up writing a lot of fighting and killing- which I have toned down- too much blood does get repetitive.

Bleach- RePantera by AkiMao

There isn't a lot of art of Grimmjow in his adjhucas form (at least I never saw any). But among the few that are there, this one really stands out to me.

It really has it's own unique mood and somehow manages to convey a different aspect of Grimmjow's attitude- and even a mixture of things, the longer you stare at it.

I'm really finding this year's NaNoWriMo odd, not because it's fanfiction or anything like that. It's just how I seem so much more eager to write the story backwards- i.e) the ending bits first (I have the final scene done!).

I've actually noticed this happening while writing for AtO as well- I write out bits of future chapters and even the epilogue easily but when I have to work on the chapter that needs to be published next I'm find myself not able to concentrate and work on it. But I only took proper notice of it when I was writing this story.

In a way, it's nice for me as a writer- like I know for sure that I know what's happening and how I want to resolve my story. I suppose this would work well if I'm writing a proper fiction novel (but that's not how I wrote last year's NaNoWriMo- then again I never had a proper ending for that story...)

But for fanfiction readers- it's probably very annoying since I can't really upload anything even though I'm writing so much. Future chapters will only make sense if I write out the previous chapters.

Polar.
P.S. When I finally upload all my NaNoWriMo story's chapters online- I'll definitely do a Team 7 fanart feature!

Bad writing habits?

2011-11-09T01:30:00.002-07:00

So I finally put up chapter 2 for my NaNoWriMo project... and you're probably thinking that I'm already slacking behind.

You'd be right and wrong at the same time.

I did try to write chapter 2 after I finished chapter 1. But no matter how hard I tried, I honestly couldn't. Instead I found myself writing chapter 8- which is a transition chapter before we enter Shippuden's storyline, which probably doesn't meant anything to you right now.

I didn't bother about it too much and tried to write chapter 2 after getting chapter 8 out of my system. Again, that didn't work out. I ended up writing snippets/scenes/broken pieces of dialogue for a number of future chapters.

So yeah, my bad habit when writing - is not writing things in order and not being able to write what I'm supposed to. Instead I keep writing things and hoarding them for future chapters.

Does that mean my mind is cluttered or something? How do you fix that sort of thing?

Polar
P.S. Bad habits aside, I'm enjoying writing the bits and pieces for this crack-ish story. Maybe because it feels so light-hearted (plot-wise) and I'm not editing it like crazy?

Day 1 and 2 apparently.

2011-11-02T05:02:00.000-06:00

So it's actually the wee early hours of November 2nd and I've finally put up my first chapter. A bit irritated that I couldn't put it up on the 1st since I did write my 3000 yesterday. Unfortunately I underestimated my need to edit- it took me more than ages to edit things ( mostly because TV distracted me and I feel asleep).

But it's up- and omg did you see? 3000+words in one day, that's such a huge thing for me. Obviously if I edited it seriously, it'd probably be cut down a lot- maybe half the words?

I think the thing that really helped me write so much was "WriteMonkey"- a software that keeps you focused on writing. It blocks out your computer distractions with a dull typewriter-esque screen. My favorite feature is that timer- somehow I felt motivated to write until the timer read zero.

As for the editing, two cups of tea really helped because my writing was seriously horrible. At least now it's only terrible.

Polar

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:27:00.001-06:00

Today has to be one of the most hectic days of the year. Not only do you have to deal with ravenous kids who'd probably kill for candy and idiotic friends who want to horror movie marathons, but it marks the last 'free' day before NaNoWriMo madness begins.

Of course, when I say 'free'- I mean it's the day to finalize your basic plot for your NaNoWriMo story, find and organize your notes (if you have any) and then try-and-fail to convince yourself not to participate in NaNoWriMo.

So what fanfiction story have I decided on? It's a NarutoXBleach crossover that I'm calling "The Complicated Detour to Evolution" (the title might change tomorrow after I write chapter 1)

And you might recognise the plot bunny - since I had listed it on my blog. It's the crazy idea of Grimmjow from Bleach ending up in the Naruto world and somehow sticking to Team 7's lives. A very crack-ish premise especially if you know how Grimmjow is- bloodthirsty, slightly unhinged and callously violent.

You're bound to think, nothing good can come from that situation. And you might be right.

I chose it simply for the fact that nothing like that had been done before (for good reason probably), as far as I know, so I had to think about the plot. I did some of my research (if you call re-reading manga, research) and hammered out a rough outline of what should happen in the story.

The aim is to have a complete story of 15-16 chapters written and edited in a month. That means a new chapter every alternate day and the final chapter on Nov 30th.

I'm not very optimistic with my punctuality as usual, but I'm still hoping for the best.

Polar
P.S. Are you guys keeping up with the Naruto manga? You really have to give Kishimoto credit- he's really good at screwing with your head. Even the fic plot bunnies his recent chapters spawn are just... beyond crazy.

On Chapter 13 and NaNoWriMo

2011-10-20T22:28:00.001-06:00

I have a rough estimate of when I'll be be able to put chapter 13 online- end of December seems rather reasonable mostly because November is NaNoWriMo

I don't feel like doing the whole 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo this year. Instead I want to write a complete fanfiction multi-chapter story from start to finish within one month- each chapter would have to be published everyday/alternate day.

Sounds rather crazy, eh?

But just thinking about it makes me eager to try it out.

My previous NaNoWriMo, I kept whatever I wrote on my laptop itself- I never published it online where people could call me out on what I was writing.

And even though I got 50,000 words in the end- the story (plot) itself was never complete.

So this year instead of concentrating on getting just words out, I want to concentrate on finishing a story regardless of the wordcount.

Why do I want to do this?

Well, if you've read my previous posts- or just the sidebar on here- you might have noticed the large number of cross-over oneshots and stories that are waiting to be completed (sadly now there's a HpxSupernatural story in that list as well).

I keep thinking the stories are done- like my HpxFairy tail one- but when I read it over to put it online, I always end up adding more stuff to it!

It's getting beyond ridiculous. While I am really proud that I wrote so much over the months, I really want to finish those stories.

So if I finish a new story from start to finish in one month- then there's no reason for me to procrastinate on those other one-shots/stories/AtO chapter for more than 3-6 months.

At least that's what I'm hoping for.

Polar
P.S. The HPxSupernatural story... I completely blame "It's All in the Details" by Colleen. It's a time travel story, but somehow the character interactions spawned a plot bunny in my head where my favorite HP trio were the main focus. Re-watching Death's entrance in SPN's season and reading a book on Celtic Mythology really didn't help matters.

P.P.S. There's another deleted scene coming up. Found a blob of text that never got published for chapter 6- so I''ll be re-writing it/adding more to it and putting it on here. It has a title- "Five times Harry unknowingly impresses others in AtO" Can you guess which five times those are?

Requested Drabbles (Final)

2011-10-03T19:01:00.000-06:00

Warnings: Obviously doesn't take part in AtO timeline.Not edited, has the potential for deep and dangerous plot-holes.

10- Harry meets Anko (from mer)

“Ssshe’s at it again, that crazy woman.”

Harry paused and tilted his head to the side. Hissing? A snake? I havn’t seen any snakes since I came to Konoha.

“I wish I’d had more time to sssleep, but nooo, that hag keeps dragging us out for stupid reassonss”

Two different snakes? Harry listened carefully, trying to find the direction the hisses were coming from.

“Did you ssmell the rancid alcohol on her breath?”

Rancid? Since when do snakes sound so intelligent? Unless it's a person … another parseltongue? Harry frowned slightly but stood in his spot when the he noticed the voices coming closer.

“I can't believe she sssummoned usss like thiss again. Last time, I got cut open and we weren't even in a battle...”

There was a loud hiss that didn't get translated but Harry felt it was the equivalent of an agreeing shout.

“Ssshe never even bothered to check if I'd healed properly.”
A bush at his side shifted and two large greyish-green snakes slithered out. They paused abruptly and stared in Harry's direction.
One of the snakes, with a distinctive patch of black on it's head hissed, "Sssince when was there a human here?"
"We must have been too distracted getting away from her." The other snake hissed back.
Harry noticed a long jagged scar on the second snake's body and winced slightly.
"We sshould leave. It doesn't look like he likesss ssnakess."
Harry tilted his head to the side in surprise. They're rather considerate. That's a refreshing change. As they turned to leave he hissed, "Is your wound really all right? It looks unhealed."

The snakes paused and turned to him in tandem.
"Did you hear him?" The first snake hissed softly to the other.
The snake with the jagged scar hissed back equally softly. "Maybe we're caught in a genjutsu trap. I wouldn't put it past her to torture uss like thiss..."
Harry knelt down, concern overriding any sense of caution at the term 'torture' and hissed, "Do you want me to heal that wound for you?"
The scarred snake came closer and flicked it's tongue rapidly. "You're real. And you want to heal me? Aren't we sstill in Konoha?"
Harry frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Little boy, you shouldn't be playing with other people's summons!" A lady's voice rang through the clearing.
Harry turned and found a purple haired woman on a tree branch above him. Her outfit distracted him for a minute but he concentrated on to her eyes as the snakes hisses replayed in his mind as he stood up. "I'm not playing. I was wondering if I should heal the injured one since it's obvious that the human in charge of it couldn't be bothered about it's well-being."
"What do you just sa..."

Harry interrupted her rudely. “Do you even bother to figure out when they usually sleep during the day? Or when they'd be willing to help you so that it doesn't conflict with their lives. Or just even if they've healed from their previous injuries?”
One of the snakes beside him hissed, "He'ss sstanding up for uss. Who iss he?"
"How would I know?" The other hissed back.

The lady snorted and leaned forward with a mocking smile on her face. “What of it, little boy?”

Harry said, “You’re abusing them and treating them like they're nothing more than disposable pawns to you.”
Another hiss from the side. "Oh no! Sshe might attack him... what do we do?"

The smiled vanished abruptly. The lady in front of him narrowed her eyes and suddenly the air became uncomfortably heavy.

Harry stared back defiantly at the ninja, ignoring the cold shudder that ran down his spine and said, "They deserve better if they're willing to fight alongside you."

The lady stared at him for a few more minutes before she turned to the snakes who had been hissing nervously. "You two, go back."
Harry turned to the two snakes.

"Nice human, thank you," the scarred snake hissed. The other nodded and they both vanished in a puff of smoke.
Harry stayed very still as something sharp dug in to the side of his throat.
"And you, stay out of my way. The next time I see you, there will be blood."
There was a rush of air, and the weapon disappeared from his throat. Harry turned around but the lady was already gone.

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A/N: Parseltongue fail! So hard to write all the sss- I didn't know where to add them without making everything sound stupid. Either way, I think the snakes stole the show here, right?
Anko on the other hand, well, maybe I made her a bit crazy here? But that's totally expected, right? After Orochimaru, people tend to go a little off. *cough*Sasuke*cough*

Of course, I don't know actually how Anko treats her snake summons... I just needed a situation for Harry here.

I finished this drabble ages ago but didn't get around to putting it online as usual. Anyway, finally done with those requested drabbles- only took me … 8-ish months? Pft, yes I know- my writing/update speed is very mock worthy.

But the main point is- I finished the requested drabbles- so that's a cause of celebration.

With the amount of writing I do on here, I wonder if I should have opened a Livejournal account instead of using Blogger- the interface there seems a bit more suited to long chunks of text.

Chapter 13- is being written slowly but surely. 4810 words! Obviously, don't rejoice- you should know how things go with me- none of those 4000 words make any sense yet... too many broken scenes that need to be connected properly.

Polar
P.S. Two years since I published AtO online? Wow! It completely slipped my mind cos I was working on other stories.

Alternate Jobs (Omake)

2011-09-19T13:10:00.000-06:00

The two other jobs Harry could have ended up with if his spur of the moment answering had gone another way...

Warnings: These are just what-if scenarios. Not part of AtO's established time-line, so these are full of plot-holes.

1- Gardener
"I didn't actually believe them when they said your snakeroot was still healthy and growing," the woman said as she looked around the room in awe.
Harry smiled politely.
"I'd like to buy all of these plants."
Harry gaped slightly. "Okay?"
"And I think it'd be helpful if you dropped by the greenhouses. Maybe you can find out what's troubling our plants there..."
"I'm not a professional or anything. Everything I know is self-learned," Harry said.
"And yet, you are the only person in Konoha who has managed to keep their stock of snakeroot alive and healthy for use. What's your secret?"
Harry sighed. "I talk to them."
The lady blinked in surprise.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry fiddled with the cuff of his sleeve as he followed the woman through the hospital. "You do remember me telling you I'm not a professional or anything."
The lady nodded. "Yes, I remember. But it's been two weeks since then and our plants here haven't shown any sign of recovery. But your plants are still thriving. Maybe your... unconventional methods have some merit."
Harry stifled a snort at the polite wording. "Don't expect much."
The greenhouse was better than he'd expected. Sure the plants were in various stages of dying, but it wasn't all bad.
"Then I'll leave you to it," the lady said and left.
Harry walked around, paying particular attention to the plants that needed the most help. The things I end up doing to maintain my cover story... Harry patted the soil beneath one of the dying plants. "Don't be like that, I'm sure they'll take better care of you from now on..." Herbivicus.
The colourless spell seeped in to the soil releasing the scent of rain-drenched soil. Harry smiled in accomplishment as the plant rippled slightly and it became a healthy green.

-x-x-x-x-x-

On the roof of the building opposite the greenhouse, a masked man gaped.

2- Fortune teller
Harry stared at the cigarette in the bearded man's mouth and then looked down in to the tea cup in front of him. "Your death will come after your lungs fill up with smoke and ash."
The teenager beside the man snorted softly and rolled his eyes but the man just smiled politely and paid him before leaving.
Harry wanted to scoff at himself too as he pushed the tea cup away. Why is it that the first 'fortune' I gave dealt with death? Maybe I'm drawing too much inspiration from Trewlany.

-x-x-x-x-x-

A week later, the teenager returned wearing black. His face was grim as he emptied his tea cup and passed it towards Harry.
Harry frowned as he recognised the expression on the other boy's face as a mixture of fear and a need for reassurance. He looked down in to the tea cup. "You won't be dying any time soon."
His customer relaxed slightly.
"You'll bury your problems easily."
The boy blinked, looking slightly confused but he paid and left.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry didn't know whether to laugh or cry when the boy came back with new customers two days later.
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So, mid September and I'm back in the normal swing of things. Funny how it's easier to write now than it was in the summer. You'll be happy to know that I now have 3000+ words written for chapter 13- that makes me quite happy actually.

I've also finished my Fairy tailXHp crossover- only it doesn't have a name and proper summary. The old summary just wasn't working for it- understandable since I added so much more to the story since I wrote that summary.

But for the title, I can't think of anything- does that mean that the story isn't as complete as I think it is? Usually after you've written something/ know the plot, doesn't the name just come to you- that's how I name all the chapters for AtO.

Polar

Summer accomplishments!

2011-09-02T18:42:00.000-06:00

Screenshot of my laptop's fanfiction folder

As of September, this is what the fanfiction folder on my computer looks like. Too many things and none of them are ready to be put online- it's frustrating, but at the same time, not really. I'm thrilled that I've written so much random things sporadically.

I've managed to get some good bits of writing done for chapter 13 (lucky number 13, eh?)- not great progress but good progress considering I'm still concentrating on other stuff and generally enjoying my last few days of freedom with lots of anime/drama/movie watching.

I think watching all sorts of things has made dialogue writing flow easier. Then again, I never struggled too much with that part- it was always adding proper descriptions for things where I mess up and struggle (12 chapters later and I'm no better at it).

In terms of reading, most of the stories I have on alert have not been updated in a long time- good to know that my favourite authors as slow as I am (in some cases even slower than I am). I guess everyone is getting busier - that makes me less guilty about not posting anything online.

Polar
P.S. The biggest files in that folder FairytailXHP crossover has 8600+ words, KhrHP crossover has 10,000+words and AtO future scenes has 18,000+ words of snippets.

Art theft

2011-08-19T14:41:00.001-06:00

I've been lurking on DeviantArt for long while now- looking up awesome fanart and getting inspiration from some of the original pictures/art on there. I like dA and I really appreciate the artists on there for their hard work- sometimes their stuff makes me take a pencil and draw.

So obviously when I read something about art-theft and the mistreatment/disrespect of the artists and their work, I'm rather annoyed/angry/lots of other negative emotions. It's disheartening to see people's hard work be taken advantage of so callously.

If you feel inclined to know a bit more about the story, here are some links

1- Massive Copyright Infringement - This is a collection of evidence from the artist Alexiuss who had a lot of work stolen. It's gives you a very clear picture of what has occurred and what Alexiuss plans to do about this whole mess. If you check out his journal you can see other artists who had also compiled proof of the thefts
Side note: I have to say Alexiuss has a wonderful gallery and I wish I had found it sooner and under better circumstances.

2- Stolen art - A collection of other artists work that has been stolen. Ridiculous prices, much? And the re-naming of those pieces- that's even more ridiculous. They were perfectly named by the artists who created them.

3- Article on the Campus Socialite about the culprit. I personally like that the article was edited after they found out about the art-theft.

4- Major thief Hunters- A group on dA that's doing a lot to gather relevant information to help artists.

Polar

Requested Drabbles (Part 6)

2011-08-18T19:49:00.000-06:00

9- Shikaku scene (from… er, the Shikaku fans? Only takes events till/in chapter 11 in to account.)

Shikaku drained his cup of sake and frowned when the alcohol failed to induce any pleasant buzz over his thoughts. He motioned for the waiter to bring another bottle to the table just as Inoichi and Chouza sat down.

“Oi, oi, Shikaku, what’s the rush?” Inoichi said in amusement. “You started drinking without us, even though we're only ten minutes late.”

“And you didn't even order any snacks,” Choza said waved to another waiter. “Is something bothering you?”

“That stupid brat,” Shikaku said and drained another cup, “is going to get himself killed.”

“What did Shikamaru do this time?”

Shikaku just shook his head. “Maybe it's just their generation. Now that I think about it, they're all too... stupidly suicidal.”

Inoichi stared at him. “What the hell happened to you today?”

Choza seemed rather worried. “Did something really happen to Shikamaru?”

Shikaku scoffed. “It's only a matter of time before he ends up doing something stupid. That's how they'll all be especially if a non-ninja their age acts like that...”

Inoichi and Choza shared confused looks.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: This is terribly incomplete. I started it ages ago and re-opened it recently to complete it but I can't remember what I wanted to convey through this scene. Darn my lazy procrastination and bad memory.

Interesting things I've come across

1- Cauterize by Lady Altair [Harry Potter fanfiction]

This story is a bit old and it's been reviewed heavily, but I just came across it recently and I have to say it really deserves all the reviews it's gotten. It's a very realistic look at the aftermath of DH- more specifically all the survivors. Even though it's a short story- it does manage to convey a lot of emotion with few words. Definitely a must-read. Although I do wish there was some mention of Hermione in there...

2- HPXSupernatural (100 theme challenge) by sa_kun

A different take on the whole Master of Death thing. I have to say- I love the universe created in these drabbles. Harry has become an interesting character after his contact with the Hallows and him meeting the cast of SPN in this story was fun to read. No pairings have been stated- so that's a plus for me. Another plus has to be the unique ideas in it.

Polar

P.S. How many of you have registered with Pottermore?

The official start of a chapter

2011-08-08T16:54:00.000-06:00

... for me begins like this. This is something of a tradition that has evolved with every AtO chapter I've written and put online.

What's that picture, you ask?

That's my very incomplete list of things that need to be written for chapter 13. It's the backbone of the chapter- has all the events, characters, hidden plot points and necessary dialogue - that need to be fleshed out in a sensible manner.

Basically it means a lot of typing needs to be done as soon as I complete that list (I'll probably have 3-5 more papers added to that).

It looks really neat right now, but as I start writing, that list will gain more writing stuffed in to any free space (with different inks). Since it's on small paper (these are scrap paper- used A4 papers that I've torn in half.) it can be easily transported everywhere, so I can add/change things if I've got some free time to think it over.

After I've written out my rough draft, this acts as my checklist- then everything that's written gets scratched out.

And when I'm really done with the chapter (i.e- it's ready to be put online) I ... tear the paper in to tiny confetti sized bits as some bizarre form of celebration.

I think the reason I started this paper-list tradition with the hope that it would guilt me to write more often. Obviously that doesn't really work with me- see as how my writing hasn't really become any faster.

But I've realized that I like making lists- a lot. In fact, I probably like the whole list-making more than the actual chapter writing.

Resources
1- Harry Potter Fanon spells- This is a collection of spells that Harry Potter fans have made. Some of them are a bit ridiculous/scary but others are really interesting- just reading some of the descriptions have given me new ideas. So I'm recommending this listing as a place which will inspire you if you write HP fanfiction.

Polar
P.S. Did you try reading the paper?

Progress is good.

2011-07-28T17:57:00.001-06:00

Today I actually feel like I have accomplished a lot in the past few days. I broke down bits of my FairyTailxHP story (with mini-essays) and ended up with a lot of questions that needed answering. The possibility of me finishing this story has gone up considerably.

As for my HpxKHR story- the newest manga chapter pushed me to keep the story on the shelf for a while. For now, I’ll consider it a good decision and leave it for another time.

Anyway, I also did something new. I read some articles that were written to help fiction-writers improve. There are tons of those online, obviously but I never really took the time to read them.

“5 Creative Flaws That Will ExposeYour Lack of Storytelling Experience”

It's geared towards writers who are thinking of publishing and it gives good common-sense advise for fiction writing in general. The points- I'm pretty sure I'm guilty of a lot of those flaws, but at least now I'm a bit more aware.

This article made me re-read AtO's first chapter (It's really small, isn't it?). And suddenly I found myself editing/re-writing the entire chapter (~~which I will put online later~~ it's on FFnet now.).

That in turn pumped me up to start writing a few snippets for chapter 13. (Don't celebrate- you should know by now, how agonizingly slow my writing process is.)

“Writings Tips: Neil Gaiman's 8 GoodWriting Practices”

This list is actually one that encourages you to start writing and keep writing (The first tip is “write”). And I like it just for that. It doesn't make a big deal about grammar or anything like that.

As a writer, are there certain writer's blog/websites you follow to help you improve/motivate you to write more?

Polar

Stupid plot holes.

2011-07-23T17:39:00.000-06:00

They always seem to appear just when you think you've managed to dodge them.

Case in point, my current HP crossover one-shots. Both of them are so close to getting done (actually have been like that for a long while now), but both of them have something missing.

Something is always missing. And no matter how many times I read over what I have, I can't figure out what's missing. I just know something is (but why can't I figure out what is?).

A part of me just wants to leave them be for now and do some writing work on other unrelated things until I figure out what's missing. I usually do this and end up with lots more incomplete writing so I'm not keen on listening to this part.

The part of me that is very insistent that I finish them reminds me of scary school teachers but even so, it's not very effective in making me find the missing parts and finish my stories.

Funnily enough I've managed to resist the evil plot-bunny in me, even though I got introduced to a new game fandom (that allows for tons of crazy ideas, believe me).

I've tried reading other things instead of writing for the past few days. That hasn't helped with the writing but it does keep my frustration at bay for the most part.

So what have you guys been up to during the summer? Found some new fandoms to haunt? Found some awesome stories to read?

Polar

Requested Drabbles (Part 5)

2011-07-14T01:58:00.003-06:00

Warnings: Unedited as usual, silly and not part of AtO's actual story/time-line.

8- Harry gets mistaken for a ninja (from Duchessa)

Yoshida looked around and surveyed the building critically. The windows, the exits, the type of wood used for the wall, everything needed to be studied before he raided the place.

He smirked as two kids ran out of the building. Perfect, I'll use one of them to get in. He jumped forward to the next rooftop carefully, following the brats as they ran down the streets.

Then he caught sight of the village chief talking to a teenager, a little older than him, with messy black hair. Yoshida assessed the teen's appearance critically. He looks like someone living in luxury, such pale skin and those clean clothes.

Yoshida jumped to the ground and watched the teen carefully from a distance. Change of target. He'll definitely have something valuable.

By the time they exited the village and entered the woods, Yoshida had a good understanding of the teen's movements and was confident he'd be able to attack without any problems. He's really asking for trouble by travelling alone. But I'll just knock him unconscious and rob him.

Yoshida grabbed a senbon, aimed carefully and threw. He gaped when the teen ducked forward pretending to wipe his nose as the senbon embedded in the tree where his neck should have been. He's not even looking this way.

Dismissing it as a lucky fluke, Yoshida grabbed another senbon and threw it at another vital area.

The teenager turned and pretended to search for something in his bag effectively dodging again.

No civilian or bandit can dodge my sneak attacks. Only a ninja...Yoshida flinched in realization. But there wasn't any headband. Oh no! A missing-nin? But he's just a little older than me!

His chaotic thoughts distracted him. He missed the small tree root in the ground, lost his footing and banged his head against a tree trunk.

Before unconsciousness grabbed a hold of him, he saw bright green eyes looking in his direction.

x-x-x-x-x

Yoshida sat up with a start. “Where am I?”

A lady patted his shoulder gently. “Ahh, Harii-san found you injured and brought you here. Said you'd fallen.”

Yoshida patted his head warily, not finding any bumps. “I…”

“He healed you, I think. He seemed more worn out than before.” The lady shook her head.

“Healed me, but I…” Yoshida frowned. I attacked him. What kind of person heals their attacker?

“I hope he gets a chance to rest. Poor thing, always travelling.”

Yoshida looked up surprised at the real concern from the woman towards the other teen. Constantly travelling. So he is a missing-nin! But for people to be concerned about him like that... he's different.

The lady turned to him. “How are you feeling?”

“I'm fine.” Yoshida looked away feeling a little embarrassed. No one would bother if they knew I was a common thief.

“We're about to have lunch. Come join us, it looks like you could use a proper meal.”

Yoshida nodded, flushing when the lady smiled at him in a motherly fashion. What have I accomplished as a mediocre thief? I'd rather have be respected as someone useful and dependable.

Yoshida closed his eyes and carefully recalled the missing-nin's appearance. I'll find him and become his student. I'll become someone useful, too.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry walked down the dusty and uneven pathway and sniffed in irritation. What am I allergic to? He sneezed and winced when his ears popped painfully. I can't wait to get back to Konoha and sleep.

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I forgot I had these requested drabbles (there are two more) with me. I'm finding tons of incomplete writing (fanfiction and other stuff) stored in Cds and USBs.

Using an OC perspective for this drabble was hard, since I had to create a complete personality from scratch. At least with Akira I knew what I wanted so it was easier.

Anyway Yoshida is supposed to be a young, smart but incompetent thief- a fun contradiction to think about but not easy to portray. For some reason, now I keep imagining Yoshida acting like Harry (helping random people) as practice to be 'useful/dependable' as he searches for him... poor guy.

Fun distractions
Secrets of the Darkest Arts by flayu [Harry Potter fanart]

The concept behind this picture is really well done- you can really see how Tom Riddle eventually became Voldemort after losing bits of his soul.

I love flayu's art style, the blending and colouring is unique and I imagine if Harry Potter ever became a graphic novel this would be the quality and style of artwork used.

The artist's gallery contains other beautiful pictures and interpretations of HP characters/scenes (some pictures have non-explicit yaoi themes, some nudity, etc, so careful if that bothers you).

Polar

P.S. Aren't drabbles supposed to be small/tiny?

End of June, already?

2011-06-30T15:30:00.004-06:00

So I was happily filling in one of the many blank spots in my KHR crossover. I was even making some good progress- you know, fun dialogue (“No need to be so formal. I mean, you've already puked all over my shoes.”) and crazy ideas but then I got distracted.

And I thought- oh hey, I'll just deal with this nice interesting plot-bunny distraction for a few minutes so that I don't lose the idea.

Yeah right!

One hour later, I’m writing 4000+ words for a completely different one-shot story (HpxFairy Tail Manga out of all things).

Which wasn't too bad.

At that time, I was actually kind of happy to write so much in one go. And then I decided that was enough writing for the day. I'd planned to finish the new-story quickly since it seemed rather easy to write.

And now here I am, one week later, still struggling to end the story. Now instead of completing one of my previous stories, I have another incomplete story on my to-do list along with so many one-shots and drabbles and deleted scenes.

I'm starting to see a troubling pattern.

Either I have a serious commitment issue and I can't seen anything to it's end.

Or I'm slowly turning in to a goldfish.

Polar

P.S. The HPxNaruto section has really grown! It's nice to know people are willing to tackle a crossover story. Of course, most of them do seem to have the obligatory so-and-so ANBU go to the Hogwarts but still...there are unique stories in all that. Now if only I had the time to read through more than just summaries.

P.P.S. I've read over and edited some of the AtO's old chapters. It's amazing how many things felt repeated while other things were just not described enough. There's no new information, just improved language and a slightly decreased word-count. I wonder what'll happen when I edit the remaining chapters.

P.P.P.S. I was contemplating an attempt at the 100 theme challenge for my old "King" story- but I wonder if I'd be able to actually go through with that.

Deleted Scene Episode 4

2011-06-14T20:39:00.001-06:00

Warnings: Very un-edited. Contains only bits and pieces to help you piece together what happened during Harry's many bouts of unconsciousness. Mostly a companion piece to Chapter 12

---------------------

Konoha Gates

“Ah, I’m so glad Kakashi finally took him to train,” Kotetsu said and fanned himself.

Izumo grinned. “He finally got to you?”

“I thought I’d have to hold him back from leaving or something.”

“But it is kind of funny, right?”

“Well, at least Harii would be all embarrassed knowing that Naruto wanted to follow him like a puppy.” Kotetsu chuckled. “We should tell him.”

There was a loud screech from beyond the gates.

Izumo stood and glanced out, his eyes immediately zoning in on a speck of pure white flying towards them. As it came closer Izumo gasped. “That’s Harii’s owl!” He hastily raised his arm where the owl landed holding up one of her legs.

Izumo grabbed the paper tied to the owl’s leg and read it apprehensively.

“Is that blood on her feathers?” Kotetsu said as he came closer to them.

Izumo looked up from the paper and noticed the splotches of red on the back of her wings. He swallowed painfully.

“Izumo, what’s going on?”

“I have to go to the Hokage.” Izumo ran from the gate. “There’s been an attack.”

x-x-x-x-x

The Hokage's fingers clutched the paper tightly and flared her chakra slightly. Two masked ANBU appeared in front of her.

“Get a medical-team and an recovery-team ready to leave in fifteen minutes...”

x-x-x-x-x

Kotetsu stood by the gates watching the white owl fly around in frenzy as two teams assembled by the gate. He turned to a grim-faced Izumo and said, “What about Harii?”

Izumo just stared at the owl quietly as it flew out of the gates, apparently eager to lead the teams out.

x-x-x-x-x

Izumo stretched hoping to stave off another yawn as Kotetsu snored softly by the wall. He rubbed his eyes and looked out, trying to gauge the time. That monk said that Harii was being transported with the medic-team. What's taking them so long? Did something happen?

It was another hour or so of constant worry before the medic-team entered Konoha carrying Harii on a stretcher.

Hospital Room.

Sentoki glanced at the young boy who looked as pale as the white that surrounded him. He turned to the Hokage, “He seems to be doing a lot better already.”

Sentoki searched through his pockets, and pulled out an omamori. With a whispered prayer he placed it around the boy’s neck. May they still look over you and keep you safe from harm.

x-x-x-x-x

Izumo bit his lip as they entered the sterile room. He stood by the end of the bed and winced at the numerous bruises visible on exposed skin. I sent him there. I told him this was a good job…

Kotetsu sat on the chair and smiled. “We would have brought some dango, Harii, but the nurses tend to take away all the nice food.”

Izumo turned away when Kotetsu’s face turned serious.

“Izumo, how long are you going to act all guilty? At least say something to him before we go for that meeting.”

Izumo just shook his head.

x-x-x-x-x

“The Akatsuki, really? Of all the possible missing-nin to run in to, they were the one you ended up meeting?” Shikaku frowned.

“How did you survive? There’s no doubt from all the bruises that there was a direct confrontation.” Shikaku sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I wonder if it’s too early to get a drink.”

x-x-x-x-x

Naruto touched the hand and relaxed a bit when he felt the comforting warmth. It’s not cold. It’s okay.

“Nii-san.” He clutched his cousin’s hands desperately. “Nii-san.”

x-x-x-x-x

On the roof, a raccoon masked man sighed. “Not a high-profile patient, she says. He’s already had more visitors than most patients have in a day. And it's not even noon yet.”

In some dark dingy place within Konoha,

“Danzo-sama, I’ve obtained a copy of the medical file.”

Danzo took the paper and read over it critically. Unconsciously fighting off invasive chakra? Interesting, but Tsunade seems to have kept this file deliberately vague. “They couldn’t remove the glove from his right hand?”

“It couldn’t be cut off, sir. It probably has some sort of seal protection on it.”

“We aren’t familiar with any seals like that.”

“No, Danzo-sama, but he is an Uzumaki.”

Indeed. He must have inherited their seal-making skills. How else could he have survived against the Akatsuki?

“His owl has also transferred his belongings to the Jinchuriki who keeps a clone with it at all times.”

Danzo frowned. “Has anything been found about the owl? Is it from a new summon clan?”

“Nothing yet, Danzo-sama.”

“Resume your duties.”

The masked subordinate vanished from sight leaving Danzo to nurse a growing headache. Where have you been hiding all these years?

----------------------------------

A/N: Danzo's part is rather spoiler-ish right now, but I might change things later so don't get too fixated on it.

Polar

A very Itachi omake

2011-06-09T18:27:00.002-06:00

...meant to commemorate his birthday- nothing more, nothing less.

Warnings: Not part of AtO's timeline- just borrowing that universe. Beware of huge plot-holes since this ignores any established plot, events and countless other things. Let's just consider it super crack-ish, to be safe. Very un-edited.

----------------------

"I think we managed a pretty awesome haul today. Thanks for not bailing out on me otherwise grocery shopping would have been horrid," Harry said as he climbed up his stairs.
Harry turned back slightly, "Actually, you've been unnaturally nice about helping me get groceries. So spill, what's put you in that good and helpful mood?"
Itachi just shrugged.
"Did Kiba's sister finally agree to go out on a date with you?"
Harry chuckled at the happy embarrassment he detected from Itachi's movements as he fished out his keys. After a slight jingle, he pushed open the door and stepped in with Itachi close behind.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" A chorus of voices yelled out loud.
Harry flinched back in surprise and blinked at the numerous faces in his decorated apartment. Streamers, balloons and other colourful items filled every inch of free space. "Birthday? It's not my birthday." After a fairly awkward silence, Harry gasped in surprise and turned to Itachi. "It's your birthday?"
Itachi narrowed his eyes.
Harry winced. "Of course it is, I knew that. I bet you're completely surprised with this..."
"Nii-san, you didn't know?" Naruto came forward and grabbed some of the bags as Harry closed the door. "But you kept him away while we decorated this place."
"I had to buy groceries."
"So you weren't just taking him around to keep him away from here?" Naruto said, "I thought you realized the plan when I asked if you'd be away from here."
Harry shook his head.
"Then why were you taking him around?" Shikamaru asked. "And why'd you bring him here?"
"People tend to lower their prices when he's around. I thought it'd be a waste not to use his skills." Harry shrugged and twitched when everyone stared at him in blatant disbelief. "What? Well, it's not like he knows my birthday."
"July 31st," Itachi said with a scowl and turned away placing the other bags inside.
Harry blinked in surprise. "I stand corrected."
"Nii-san!" Naruto slumped in slight embarrassment.
"What? Itachi doesn't mind, right? Itachi?" Harry turned to his friend."Oh! This was probably another reason you were okay with all the grocery shopping. You were expecting this party?"
Itachi didn't acknowledge him and walked away towards the other side of the room, keeping his back to Harry. Everyone in the apartment shifted uncomfortably.
"So you're not going to talk to me now? Not even going to acknowledge my existence, huh?"
Itachi didn't move.
Harry sighed. "That might be a problem." Harry grabbed the handle of his apartment door. "especially since my gift is so awesome. In fact, it's probably in a league of it's own."
Everyone, including Itachi, stared at Harry in surprise just as a loud crash and panicked screams filled the air.
Harry smiled. "Perfect. I couldn't have timed it any better if I tried." He opened the door and looked up at the large purple-scaled snake that was leaning down towards his door.
Metal clinked behind him but Harry just looked up and waved, "Manda-san, over here."
The snake, Manda, made an odd gurgling sound, opened it's mouth wide and spit out an unconscious human body.
"You owe me. Remember your promise, boy," Manda said, opting to speak like a human.
Harry nodded and hissed back. "A promise is a promise." He leaned down and pulled the unconscious body in to his apartment just as the snake disappeared in an explosion of smoke.
"I really need to exercise more," Harry exclaimed as he finally pulled the body in to the apartment and closed his door. Ignoring the confusion around him, Harry turned to Itachi and stepped aside allowing everyone to get a better glimpse of the body and said, "Happy Birthday!"
Itachi rushed forward. "Sasuke."
Naruto looked at Harry in confused awe. "How...What..."
Sakura stood still with wide eyes while Kakashi dropped his book. Everyone else seemed stuck in various stages of shock.
"After eavesdropping on some tiny snakes here, I learnt that Manda had some problems, of the romantic sort. Some lady-snake he was pining for wanted nothing to do with him," Harry said, "Anyway, long story short, I promised to help, act as a go-between. Since I spoke 'snake', he took my offer sincerely and the rest... well, it's pretty obvious, isn't it?"
Yamato shook his head. "No, it isn't obvious at all. Stop skipping over the important details."
Harry waved off the questions and turned to Itachi. "Well?"
Itachi snorted but his lips twitched upwards.
"I'll take that as a large squeal of joy and a proclamation of me being the best friend ever." Harry turned around. "You know what'll make this moment perfect?"
"A commemorative photo?" Sai said.
"No twitchy ANBU waiting on your roof?" Izumo supplied.
"Background music?" Kotetsu said as he slurped some syrup.
Harry went in to his kitchen. "Cake! lots of cake."

------------------

I have to say, it's rather irritating/amusing/sad (mostly sad) that people seem eager to pair Harry and Itachi together romantically (even in AtO). What ever happened to normal friendship? It's like people see no value in friendship.

Anyway, hope you guys are doing well,
Polar.

P.S. Why, yes, I do believe in the rare and absolutely-no-proof-from-canon ItachiXHana pairing. How nice of you to notice.

Chapter 12 A/N

2011-06-05T02:01:00.002-06:00

I'm glad to have this chapter online. I'm also very glad I gave in to my inner editor and took the additional time to smooth things out. I'd take even longer if needed. Editing is not supposed to be a one-time thing- you can always improve your writing.

Anyway, I think chapter 12 is one of those love-it or hate-it chapters.

You either love it, or you just hate it. I wouldn't be surprised if it actually induces people to stop reading the story.

So on to the A/Ns

OMGWTF, where is Harry’s kick-ass-ness?

First of all, my character’s name is Harry Potter, not Gary Stu. He’s not going to be able to fight a very experienced missing-nin and win, especially when other ninja and ninja-monks would be hard pressed to survive against the same missing-nin.

On a related note, I have to say the pacifist in me was not very helpful when it came to writing the whole 'fight' scene (if it can be called that).

I was tempted to detail some gore for the shock factor and to emphasise that fighting is not a joke, but people would have just concentrated on that for all the wrong reasons. And I didn't want to increase my rating level for the story.

Nothing changed from canon!

Really? Actually there were changes, subtle ones. And anyway, I never promised to follow any specific routes for the story.

Canon is Naruto's story. AtO's Harry has his own story that will be flavoured with canon. Take that how you will- just know that my plans will show up slowly, there are hints of it already but it'll all come together later (way later at my update rate).

Why is Harry so useless during the questioning?

Most people never really remember important events and tend to muddle up details after they survived a traumatic event. The Hokage knew the risks of asking Harry for information like this, even so, she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Even so, I think Harry's information was ridiculously detailed.

Hedwig?

I completely had fun with her character in this chapter but I think Hedwig can pull of regal-ness rather well if given the chance. Oh Naruto, you naïve impressionable boy.

Sai?

He's the sort of person who grows on you with all his awkwardness. I really wanted to capture that because he's really trying to be a better friend.

Also info about Momen Tofu being his favourite dish was taken from the Naruto-wikia.

Ron?

Sleep-deprived friends always say the most amusing things. I should know, I've disturbed enough friends at the dead of night just for the hilarious pieces of friend-logic they spout.

Also when you've been friends with someone for 5 years or more, you tend to pick up nuances in the behaviour- like when they're hiding things, or sick, etc. Even someone as dense as Ron would be well-versed in Harry-speak.

Incense, shrine, photos?

I wanted to emphasize how Harry is in a foreign place and isn’t all knowing about the culture.

I also realised that Naruto has never had a chance to burn incense for his ancestors- if they do that in the Naruto-verse- and loved the idea of him wanting to do that all on his own.

Also I am mixing Buddhist, Shinto and maybe even some Taoist aspects here, because Naruto-verse seems to mix things.

Chakra and magic?

Well this chapter just has the second piece of the puzzle (previous chapters have various hints). I’m hoping to make things clearer in chapter 13/the future. Bear with me until then.

Chapter 13!

Not coming soon. All I will say is- even though it'll introduce one of my fav characters- I’m not going to start working on it for a while. There are some other things I want to finish (not just fanfics) before I can even contemplate starting chapter 13.

Hopefully that answers just about anything you would have asked me.

I'll be putting up all sorts of omakes later- I'll be spacing them out, no multiple blog posts.

Polar

P.S. Is it me or is AtO's word-count getting ridiculously large and intimidating?

P.P.S. Yay! I'm free to work on my KHR crossover- can you tell just how excited I am about that story? After that I want to finish my BleachXNaruto story... it's a matter of pride to me, I really want to finish the half-written things I pushed aside in favour of AtO or life.

P.P.P.S. Also, er... Go Canucks, Go! I've been sucked in to the NHL hype even though I prefer football/soccer. Either way lots of games to watch these days.

Finally!

2011-05-23T10:51:00.001-06:00

Look, a blog post on the Monday of long weekend - you know what that means? I have my laptop. Well I got it home last night, but it was so late I didn't bother coming online otherwise, I'd definitely just be on the internet without sleeping.

Anyway, I've looked through my chapter 12 now- I don't know if it's just not having read the chapter in like a month- but I've decided to re-write/fix two scenes in it.

Wait! Don't attack me, I'm not doing this to torment you guys. I just really want to fix these scenes- it's really important, plot-wise- it won't take more than today to work on.

Thankfully today is a holiday and it's raining, so I'm free to work on those scenes.

Polar.
P.S. Actually maybe reading the chapter after one month is kind of weird. I think at one point, I thought "Did I really write that? Doesn't sound like me."

Optimistic news...

2011-05-17T16:31:00.000-06:00

I'll be able to pick up my fixed laptop this weekend. I'm thrilled beyond belief with the news. I can finally work on things properly and in the safe confines of my house with snacks and loud music.

But you know, not having my laptop has forced me to do other things- reading an actual book instead of e-books. More TV watching- found some interesting new shows- sadly the seasons were all ending so bad timing with those. And finally writing things exclusively on paper again- which is just very dangerous.

Why, you ask?

Have you seen my ffnet profile? I'm a one-shot author who's susceptible to attacks of rabid plot-bunnies. Those one-shots are just the ones I put online, there are tons that never see the light of day but still take up any free time I have.

So anyway, writing on paper... yeah, the plot-bunnies attacked. Viciously. And they emerged victorious- with loads of strange ideas with all the fandoms I know (Most prominent ideas coming from FMA for some reason).

I think I already know what I'll be doing when I get my laptop back- (yay for one-shot attempt craziness). Of course, that's all after I upload chapter 12 (close to a month since I last saw that chapter- hmm, I'll need to check that before uploading).

Polar.
P.S. I had like three other incomplete one-shots on my laptop- I wonder if I'll be able to finish those. I really want to. They're fun ideas.

P.P.S. Also, I can't believe the amount of reviews AtO got, it's so weird- because nothing much is really happening plot wise, yet. Also a bit scary...well, it just is.