which contains hints about "Guardian" and some general thoughts on writing

[edenfalling]

Wrote about 500 words for NaNo -- yay fight scenes with bandits, and Totally-in-Denial!Talin.

Then I spent a couple hours laying groundwork for "The Guardian in Spite of Herself." Dude, that story is going to be so much fun to write. It's also going to take a lot of research and coordination (the characters are in different places on different missions, which are all somewhat interrelated) but if I can pull it off... whoo. I am taking shameless advantage of the Uchiha massacre and the early years of Akatsuki (they had to build the organization up somehow), and also gleefully mucking around with theories of how exactly the canon backstory fits together and how I can change it with a tweak here or there.

As for canon characters... I'm tossing Kurenai into the story, because I like her. I also really like genjutsu as a concept and she and Yukiko provide very different approaches to illusions. Kurenai is combat-oriented; Yukiko is very much not. There is a woman -- Suzume, I think? -- who does clerical work of some sort in Konoha. If anyone knows about her, please tell me details. Also, any details on Ibiki and Ebisu would be greatly appreciated, as well as the exact date for the founding of Hidden Sound. And maps. If anyone has a good map of the continent, I'd be very grateful.

(I'm going to research myself, of course, but my research consists mostly of rereading the manga to get a sense of the characters in action. If you have access to other sources of character information, please tell me. I reserve the right to blatantly contradict stuff I don't like, but I'd like to know exactly what I'm contradicting.)

Kakashi, Iruka, and Naga will be returning, as well as some new original characters, most notably Fuuma Seichi, a Leaf jounin who specializes in quiet deaths. This contrasts with Kakashi, who seems to have specialized in messier, more public deaths -- it's the difference between a blatant show of power and intimidation and the quiet chill that runs up the back of your neck because someone might be watching you, right behind you, and you'd never be able to tell... *rubs hands gleefully*

Oh, this is going to be such fun! World-building, character development, desperate searches running out of time, little kids getting into the middle of terrible situations, revenge, redemption, information and disinformation, misdirection, the way things do and don't connect... Yeah, it's going to be fun. Heck, I may even experiment with cliffhangers. :-)

I've been looking back over my stories and I haven't used cliffhangers, with the single exception of Naga's backstory. I meant to use one between the announcement of Yukiko and Akaro's fight and the actual scene in the arena, but the pacing didn't work out that way. It's a technique I'm interested in mastering. "Guardian" will also be a way for me to practice split storylines and multiple POV voices, and an experiment in tying multiple plot strands together so they -- hopefully! -- arrive at a conclusion more or less at once. I'm doing that on a lesser scale in my NaNo novel (only two POV characters, though there are many, many plot threads) and it's a definite stretch for me as a writer, something I've only really been learning to do for a year or so.

You have to keep trying new things. What's the point if you don't?

Comments

[alliancesjr.livejournal.com]

(Made my way here from Fanfic.net, big fan of the writing *nodnod*)

There is a woman -- Suzume, I think? -- who does clerical work of some sort in Konoha. If anyone knows about her, please tell me details.

There's a Shizune, but she's Tsunade's friend/aide/confidante. Not sure if that's the same person you're talking about, but I don't recall any other similar-type person.

[valles-uf.livejournal.com]

Shizune is, as far as I've been able to figure out, Sakura's predecessor under Tsunade's instruction. (And, also, incidentally, likely an Unryuu, since Tonton is almost certainly Akamaru's porcine counterpart and we never see anything of the sort in Tsunade's flashbacks) 'Special Assistant to the Godaime' you might say, or just note her down as Tsunade's Girl Friday.

Suzume is the name I've heard attached to the annoying woman with the afro and the thick glasses who was assigned to fill the younger kunoichi's heads with all that flower nonsense.

Why, -no-, I don't approve of their being taught flower arrangement, why do you ask?

Ja, -n

[edenfalling]

Hmm. Was she in the manga, or is she anime-only? I only recall her from fics, but then, there are a number of apparently 'named' characters (Genma, Raidou, etc.) about whom I know diddly-squat, who apparently have fanfiction written about them.

As for flower-arrangement, well, that depends on why they were taught. It could be useful for undercover spying/assassination missions, since kunoichi might often have to imitate geisha or highborn women in order to get close to their targets, but I wouldn't think the girls would need more than a basic proficiency for that. If, however, they were taught because all girls need to know it regardless of how irrelevant it may be to their chosen professions, then yeah, that's irritating.

[valles-uf.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Was she in the manga, or is she anime-only?

If anything, she's -manga- only. I know she showed up in the manga sequence where we were flashing back to Ino and Sakura's early relationship (during their fight in the prelims, I think), but I don't recall seeing her in the anime version.

For the flower thing, I think that the infiltration thing is indeed the reason given for it - but frankly, that's bullshit. Who spends more time alone with the secret documents, after all: the lord's concubine, or the maid who has to dust the room? Who has a better line on the palace gossip chain? Who has a better chance to poison a given cup of tea, the Geisha serving the stuff in plain sight or the cook who gets everything ready beforehand?

In this case, I don't think that what's being -said- by the characters and what's being -assumed- by them are in any way similar - and even if they were, the harm the altered emphasis does to the girls' overall effectiveness and mindset (Ino and Sakura, 'nuf said) is more than that single skill set could possibly be worth.

Ja, -n

[deralte.livejournal.com]

Suzume's in both the manga and anime as the teacher of the flower arrangement class.

I usually check up my naruto info on wikipedia of all places, since people tend to update there rather quickly. It's not complete, but it's the best place to get info on the characters, outside the data books. Naruto geography (and map) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto_geography#Hidden_Villages), Naruto characters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characters_of_Naruto)

[edenfalling]

Thank you! That map is irritatingly hard to read (the numbered countries do not have a corresponding legend and the colors make the ninja symbols illegible, *grrr*) but useful. I am definitely going to play fast and loose with some of the village/country characteristics -- for one thing, I violently dislike using 'elemental' systems more than I absolutely have to -- but it's good to have a sense of what is where.

Hmm. Perhaps I should go back to "Apartment Manager" and insert a comment somwhere that the three Mist-nin are playful in part because their village tests are much harsher than 'international' standards, even after the fight-to-the-death graduation exams were abolished. So in a way, they simply can't take the chuunin exam all that seriously. *knocks self upside the head for not remembering Zabuza's backstory beforehand*

I shall have to fit some monstrous animals and ridiculously oversized weapons in "Guardian," just to remind everyone that this is the Naruto world. *smiles angelically*

[deralte.livejournal.com]

I tend to just be very general with my Naruto geography. It's not like Kishimoto isn't *g* What I like is that even though Naruto is set in Fire Country and they do prominently use fire techniques, they also use a hell of a lot of other techniques (*cough*because fire never seems to work*cough*) and obviously used to use other techniques a lot more - witness the first two hokages and their specialities of growing trees and water/ice respectively (which is both funny and appropriate for a village set in fire country).

In one of the stories I wrote recently, I pointed out that the Mist nin not only have a harsher system, but that they're considered old fashioned by ninja standards, which was a fun point to make, even if it was a throwaway comment in a humour fic.

Whenever writing Naruto fight scenes, there's always a point where you just have to say, "screw realism" and throw in some giant bunnies and bloodline limits;)

[deralte.livejournal.com]

I was making icons, and I discovered I have another map of Naruto world that might be useful to you, even if it sort of contradicts the other ones (Oops...)

Of course, I can't get it to upload, so I'll just link you to where I found it in the first place - fifth picture down (http://www.naruto-world.com/narutoanimebook.php).

[edenfalling]

No, not Shizune. I know who Shizune is, and there's no reason for her to get involved in my storyline at present. *sigh*