edenfalling | [Meme] Prompt!fic time again :-)

I had today off work after all, and I am bored. None of my current writing projects are really calling to me, so... please tell me what to write!

The first six people to give me a fanfic prompt (on LJ and/or DW) will get a ficlet of at least 100 words. :-D

-----

Fill List:

1. Last Call for

cherokee1: 2,250 words, Naruto AU. Sakura and Naruto discuss their futures during their last summer as camp counselors. The sociopolitical details of the AU ended up dominating the fic, despite my occasional attempts to remember the camp setting. Oops. :-/

2. Implications, aka Jim Kirk Loves His Crew for

jjhunter: 575 words, Star Trek: AOS. What it says on the tin. (But not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter! :-p )

3. What Is Essential for

askerian: 3,200 words, Naruto AU. Sakura went to summer camp to be with her best friend Ino. Somehow over the next two years, she ended up best friends with two jerks instead. Another installment of the summer-camp-and-politics AU.

4. Narutostuck: The Spider and the Flies for

runespoor: 2,400 words, Homestuck/Naruto fusion. The eastern countries have reached out to the new government of the Land of Space, inviting the village of Hidden Time to send participants to the upcoming chuunin exam in Konoha. Vriska Serket is very interested in whether her country's new leaders will accept, and ropes her teammates into helping her spy on their meeting.

5. After Frost for

hungrytiger11: 4,850 words, Naruto AU. In the shadow of a vote over a bilateral free trade agreement with Thunder Country, Hyuuga Hinata moves on. Warnings for depression, learned helplessness, severely dysfunctional families, and a traumatic backstory involving kidnapping, long-term captivity, and murder. Another installment of the summer-camp-and-politics AU.

6. Trollstuck for

explodingfrogs: WIP, Homestuck AU. Wherein the four beta!kids are and always were trolls on Alternia, Sgrub/Sburb does not exist, and Troll Jade Harley is on a quest to keep her friend Aradia from dying. Things will almost certainly get more complicated, but that's a good place to start. (Collaborative audience participation fic! Come play with me!)

Current Mood: bored
Current Location: ithaca, ny
Crossposts: http://edenfalling.livejournal.com/602009.html

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

From:

jjhunter

Prompt (any fandom): "it was enough to make an alien weep"

From:

edenfalling

*ponders* Okay, I think I can work with that. But first, one question: would you prefer Homestuck, Star Trek: AOS (the 2009 reboot film), or an attempt at a crossover between them?

From:

jjhunter

I don't know Homestuck canon, so Star Trek is preferable.

From:

edenfalling

Jim leaned against the jammed-open doorway of the turbolift and surveyed the post-attack chaos of the bridge with badly hidden pride. Half the computers were useless slag, several of the usual gamma shift crew were still in sickbay getting patched up, and yet the Enterprise remained on course, repairs were already underway, and his people were practically vibrating with efficiency and ingenuity as they went about their work.

It was a beautiful display of the resilience of the human spirit. Or alien spirit, obviously, but Federation Standard, while a marvel of linguistic engineering, was sadly light on phrases that came pre-weighted with emotional context. (Jim made a note to start a discussion with Uhura on that topic at the next command crew dinner. He was fairly sure he could derail it into a list of his failings as a culturally insensitive boor within twenty minutes if he put his mind to it.)

But anyway, his ship was beautiful, his crew were beautiful, victory was beautiful. Despite the lingering stench of fried electronics. Everything was beautiful -- enough to make even a Vulcan weep. Stoically, of course, and on the inside, but Jim was sure Spock had shed a metaphorical tear over the flawless way his subordinates had behaved during the brief spat with the Bird of Prey whose idiot Klingon commander had thought the Federation wouldn't have the strength to maintain a border patrol after Nero's incursion.

"It is reassuring to see the crew dealing so efficiently with the disruption of battle, despite their average youth and inexperience," Spock said from right behind Jim's shoulder, the sneaky, cat-footed bastard.

"By which you mean, 'Congratulations, Captain, on not fucking everything up like the glory hound I have long suspected you to be,'" Jim muttered back out of the corner of his mouth. He hoped he hadn't twitched.

Spock moved a half-step forward to stand at Jim's side. "I said no such thing."

"Yeah, well, I can read an implication as well as the next person," Jim said. Then he bounced slightly on his toes and smiled despite the lingering pain in his shoulder from where a photon torpedo impact had thrown him to the deck. "But just look at them! We have the best ship in the universe, and I'm pretty sure we have the best crew as well. It's enough to bring tears to my eyes. How about you?"

"Tears are maladaptive in a desert," Spock said.

Jim rolled his eyes. "Metaphorically, Spock. Aren't you proud of them? Vulcans are allowed to feel pride, right? You people wouldn't act half so smug otherwise."

"There is no sense taking pride in fulfilling a task well within one's abilities. Such an outcome is merely to be expected," Spock said. "Excuse me. I must help Lt. Marw'wihhln recalibrate the subspace sensors." He favored Jim with a subtle nod and strode through the organized chaos, neatly threading his way between distracted bodies and piles of debris.

Jim felt a helpless grin stretch over his face.

He really could read implications, even if he usually pretended to miss them for his own amusement. Spock had all but said that he agreed this was the best crew in the universe.

"Yeah, totally crying inside," Jim said to himself. Then he turned and began examining the broken turbo-lift. His crew were giving everything they had, and a little more besides. He might as well pitch in and make himself useful too, before Bones inevitably called him down to sickbay and sent him off to bed.

Re: Implications, aka Jim Kirk Loves His Crew

From:

askerian - Date: 2012-03-27 07:04 am (UTC) - Expand

Re: Implications, aka Jim Kirk Loves His Crew

From:

edenfalling - Date: 2012-03-27 07:49 am (UTC) - Expand

Re: Implications, aka Jim Kirk Loves His Crew

From:

askerian - Date: 2012-03-27 07:50 am (UTC) - Expand

Re: Implications, aka Jim Kirk Loves His Crew

From:

edenfalling - Date: 2012-03-27 08:01 am (UTC) - Expand

Re: Implications, aka Jim Kirk Loves His Crew

From:

jjhunter - Date: 2012-03-27 01:15 pm (UTC) - Expand

Re: Implications, aka Jim Kirk Loves His Crew

From:

edenfalling - Date: 2012-03-28 02:40 am (UTC) - Expand

From:

runespoor

Homestuck/AtlA fusion: Vriska&/<3<Terezi in Avatarland (original AtlA, as I haven't yet seen Korra and am trying to remain unspoiled). or Homestuck/Naruto fusion: it's not Sburb/Sgrub, it's the trolls-and-kids' chuunin exam. or Homestuck AU: lowblood Vriska and the Revolution.

From:

edenfalling

I spent half an hour at work this evening making background world-building notes for option two, the Homestuck/Naruto fusion. Just FYI. I have to write Asuka's fic first, but tomorrow I will dive into this idea properly.

...

There are five teams, since Tavros was crippled before he could graduate from the Academy. They run as follows: Dave-Terezi-Karkat (Summoner-sensei), John-Vriska-Gamzee (Jane-sensei), Kanaya-Equius-Nepeta (Dirk-sensei), Jade-Feferi-Aradia (Demoness-sensei), and Rose-Eridan-Sollux (Redglare-sensei). They are from the Village Hidden in Time, in the Land of Space, which lies west of Wind Country, across the great desert. And the rest will wait until I can work it into a proper story. :-D

From:

askerian

... oh god I need this like burning. LIKE BURNING.

Rose-Eridan-Sollux. The world is doomed. Unless she auspisticizes because ick. XD
and oh daveterekat MY BABIES. they're the OT3 team aren't they right right right? :D :D :D :D :D

From:

edenfalling

Rose-Eridan-Sollux. The world is doomed. Unless she auspisticizes because ick. XD

Doom is a significant possibility, yes. But I couldn't resist. *evil grin*

and oh daveterekat MY BABIES. they're the OT3 team aren't they right right right? :D :D :D :D :D

OBVIOUSLY they are the OT3 team! The world simply wouldn't make any sense otherwise. :-D

From:

runespoor

Rose-Eridan-Sollux. The world is doomed.
Significantly similar to my thoughts. The boy who coded the game, the girl who broke the game, and the boy who killed the last hope of the troll race.

I'm thinking Sollux could auspiticize, too. Because it's just that scary a team. XDDD

I'm also pretty damn terrified by the thought of Demoness-sensei and Redglare-sensei. :D

IT LOOKS AWESOME.

Re: too many ideas, just choose your favourite

From:

edenfalling - Date: 2012-03-30 02:55 am (UTC) - Expand

Re: too many ideas, just choose your favourite

From:

runespoor - Date: 2012-03-30 12:42 pm (UTC) - Expand

Re: too many ideas, just choose your favourite

From:

edenfalling - Date: 2012-03-30 04:52 am (UTC) - Expand

From:

cherokee1.livejournal.com

Naruto AU summer camp counselor Naruto and Sakura.
Camp by the lake.
Is that enough, or do you need more of a prompt?
C

From:

edenfalling

No, that's more than enough! Character + basic scenario is a very good starting framework. :-)

From:

edenfalling

I am typing this in comment boxes as fast as I can make it up. Let's see how this works!

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

"Hey, Sakura-chan, looking good!"

Sakura turned slightly in her folding lawnchair at the end of the dock to smile at Naruto. "Hey yourself. Aren't you meant to be supervising arts and crafts this afternoon?"

Her best friend shrugged and dropped down to sit on the dockboards beside her, lounging back on his elbows. "Eh, you know how it goes. Glue fights, glitter and feathers everywhere, and suddenly it's time for the kids to have fun cleaning the showers instead of making tacky picture frames for their 'special memory photos' or whatever. I figured Iruka-sensei didn't need me around reminding him I'm the one who let the fight get started. Much more fun to watch girls in bikinis than get yelled at."

"They're fifteen, you pervert," Sakura said, swatting him affectionately. "We're going into our last year of college. Ogle someone your own age."

Naruto rubbed his damp blond hair with a falsely injured expression. "Well, if you'd wear a two-piece, I wouldn't have to rely on silly fangirls with obnoxious crushes. Take one for the team, Sakura-chan! You used to wear bikinis for Sasuke. Why not wear one for me?"

"Because I'm not a silly fangirl with an obnoxious crush anymore," Sakura said dryly. "Bikinis are useless for real swimming, which is what I might have to do as a lifeguard. Also, I am not an object placed on this earth solely for men to judge on my sex appeal. You don't see me asking you to wear a thong-style Speedo, do you?"

"Aw, but I would for you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said. He rolled sideways into the lake to avoid Sakura's retaliation and surfaced with a brilliant smile, neatly treading water despite his laughter. Water sluiced down his tanned skin and highlighted the faint, pinkish scars on his face and shoulders. Sakura flicked at him with her towel, and fell easily into a mock game of tug-of-war when he seized the far end.

"See, there's the old Sakura! I was starting to wonder if you remembered how to smile. You're way too serious this summer," Naruto said after a minute, tossing his end of the towel back up onto the dock and swimming toward the ladder. "What's eating you?"

Sakura looked down at the towel she was folding in her lap. "Oh, things. I guess it's just hitting me that next year we'll all be out in the real world, like actual adults. Sink or swim. Sasuke will be going to war. You're going to jump headfirst into the shark tank -- don't grin at me like that, it's a totally valid description of politics! And I'm... I'll do something."

Naruto sat cross-legged at her feet and rested his head on the rim of her chair seat between her knees. "You're not going to med school, then? What happened to 'I'm going to be the best doctor ever, and invent new medicines and surgeries, and end up Surgeon General and rearrange all the hospitals so nobody falls through the cracks and also inspire a thousand people to join Tsunade-hime's Red Cross agency while I'm at it!" I mean, yeah, that's a lot for one person, but you can do it! You're awesome like that."

Sakura sighed. "Yes, well. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but considering how many government secrets you know just by breathing, I doubt it matters. I got a recruitment offer from ANBU. I'm thinking of saying yes."

Naruto tipped his head back to stare at her upside-down. "Whoa. Haruno Sakura, secret agent of Fire Country. Super-spy extraordinaire. You know, I can see it."

From:

edenfalling

"Really? Because I can't," Sakura admitted.

Naruto flapped his hands, his shoulders jostling against her shins. "Well, yeah! You're smart, you're sneaky when you need to be, you never give up, you're good at meeting new people and making them like you without having to fight them, you don't look like you're dangerous even though you totally are... Perfect spy."

Sakura hummed noncommittally and scanned the lake, making sure the campers weren't in trouble. The canoe flotilla was busily negotiating today's obstacle course, the diving lesson on the mid-lake platform was proceeding as planned, and the younger kids splashing about in the roped-off area by the artificial beach were noisily engaged in some kind of volleyball-water polo hybrid. Situal normal, everything fine.

"The thing I don't get is why you'd want to join ANBU," Naruto added, looking serious again. "I know you don't like the government much, and you've always been anti-war. You and Sasuke argued about that forever. So why jump into everything you hate?"

Sakura carded her fingers through her friend's messy, water-spiked hair as she tried to formulate her answer. "I don't like fighting and I don't like how the clans dominate the government, but Fire Country is my home and I want to protect our people just as much as you and Sasuke do. I just never figured there was any way for me to do that directly, and also I do honestly like the idea of being a doctor. But if I can help..."

Naruto practically purred under her touch. "Yeah, yeah, if you can help...?"

"Then don't I have an obligation to do whatever I can?"

Naruto caught her hands, stilling her fingers. "Bullshit," he said, abruptly turning to face her. "Nobody's required to do anything. This isn't a police state, no matter what laws that asshole Danzo wants to pass if he ever gets elected."

"Yeah, well maybe I want to do something! Maybe I want to make sure things like what happened to Sasuke never happen to anyone else!" Sakura said. "You know it's not healthy for him to be in the army, but you never said one damn thing to stop him from applying to the Academy. He's going to get himself killed before we're thirty, and even if he lives, I'm afraid he's going to end up like Danzo and too many other retired soldiers. Especially on top of everything else! I mean, you know he's not stable. How could he be? If your family had been killed in a terrorist attack--"

She stopped, swallowed her words.

Naruto watched her silently, his hands gentle around hers.

"I'm sorry. That was horribly insensitive of me. I can't believe I forgot," Sakura said.

She really couldn't believe it -- after all, the footage of Naruto's parents' death was only replayed on every national holiday and every other time television commentors talked about the origins of the current cold war with Water, Thunder, and Earth Countries. It was etched into everyone's memory, a national moment of shame and catharsis. Namikaze Minato, the first commoner elected as prime minister, standing on a platform at a rally, campaigning to rouse public support for the free trade agreement he'd brokered with Wind Country. A grenade arching through the air. The prime minister shouting for people to run, throwing himself on the weapon. His wife turning to shield the infant son in her arms. The explosion. The bloody ruin emerging from the smoke and flames. The fearful wail of an orphaned child.

From:

edenfalling

"You know, my dad wasn't even that popular until after he was dead," Naruto said.

Sakura blinked at the non sequitur.

"Everybody always says stuff like, 'Oh, he was such a brave man,' 'Oh, I bet Fire Country would be so rich and strong if he were still around' 'Oh, he and your mother were such a romantic couple.' All kinds of junk. But you know, he probably would've lost the vote on the trade pact, and people were pissed off that a no-name, no-clan guy married to a foreign shaman somehow got the support of the Senju clan and beat six actual nobles in the elections," Naruto continued. "Nobody ever found the assassins, which means they had support in high places, which means it was our own people who wanted him dead."

Sakura twisted her hands to lace her fingers through Naruto's.

"So yeah, I know what you feel about wanting to tear down the government, and I know what Sasuke feels about wanting revenge on whoever killed his family. But I'm gonna do it right. We already made a start, getting Tsunade-hime to leave the Red Cross and run for prime minister last year, so Danzo couldn't just sweep in and say, 'Hey suckers, military dictatorship time!' I mean, why do you think I'm studying history and psychology and poly-sci? It's not because I like that shit. It's because someday I'm gonna run for office myself, and then we are going to clean this world up."

Sakura bent her head to their joined hands. "The crazy part is that I believe you," she told him. "But you can't do it alone."

"Well, duh. But by then I'll have Sasuke in charge of the army -- assuming he even still cares, the bastard -- and you... well, I thought I'd have you to run the health ministry or something, but if you're gonna be a spy, I guess I'll make you an ambassador or something big and diplomatic instead," Naruto said.

"Or your bodyguard," Sakura said. "We have a terrible record when it comes to prime ministers living to leave office and peacefully retire. I'd rather you not imitate your father that closely."

"Pffft, as if," Naruto said. He leaned against the other side of their joined hands, locking his eyes onto Sakura's. "So hey, if you want to be a spy, that's cool. If you decide not to, that's cool too. It's not like I'm ever going to stop being your best friend -- and Sasuke isn't either, no matter what he tries to tell himself about being Mister Tough and Stoic now that he knows how to shoot a gun. I'll beat him up if he tries."

"I went down to the Academy to visit him this spring, did I tell you?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, only a hundred times," Naruto said, faking annoyance. "You're totally still a silly fangirl with an obnoxious crush. I bet you went swimming and wore a bikini."

"No, we just bathed naked in a hot tub," Sakura said, with as straight a face as she could manage... which wasn't very. Naruto clearly didn't believe her for a second, judging by how quickly he broke into helpless snickers.

"Anyway, he was the same as always -- grumpy and snooty and telling me all my ideas were annoying but he'd go along with them because I was his guest -- but one of his classmates pulled me aside one morning and said now she knew why he'd stuck an icon of the Cherry Blossom Goddess into their communal shrine, but did I know how an Uchiha had ended up as a devotee of the Nine-Tailed Fox when the Fox and the Eternal Flame were supposed to be rivals?"

Naruto blinked and pulled back. "What, seriously?"

"Seriously," Sakura confirmed. "So yeah, maybe he won't answer your letters or your phone calls, but he remembers."

From:

edenfalling

Naruto grinned. "Ha! I'll have to tell the Fox tonight when I give him his sake. That'll piss him off so bad, having an Uchiha as a follower even in name only. Hey, maybe I can send him south and make him fuck around with Sasuke's luck or something."

Sakura kicked his knee with her bare foot. "Don't you dare. Just because you have a big bad nature spirit tied to your family line doesn't give you the right to abuse the connection, any more than you have a right to abuse your father's name or your connections to the Senju."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but it's fun to daydream," Naruto said. "Anyway! The sun's just about hit the trees on the far side of the main complex, which means it's nearly five o'clock. Better whistle the campers in."

Sakura looked down at her wrist, checking the time against Naruto's estimate; he was, as usual, correct within five minutes. "How do you do that?" she asked, and then tuned out his babble about nature and looking underneath the underneath and his godfather's evil wilderness hiking trips. She lifted her whislte from the cord around her neck and blew three long, steady blasts.

Across the lake, the canoers turned and began paddling back to the landing site. The diving class splashed into the water one last time and began swimming for shore. The rugrats' ball game continued at full speed, though.

"Hey! Pack it in!" Sakura shouted. The kids continued to ignore her.

"Were we that annoying at their age?" Naruto wondered. "Do you even remember being that young?"

"You were the most annoying seven-year-old brat I have ever had the misfortune of meeting," Sakura assured him. "Now pretend you're a responsible leader and come help me herd these brats out of the lake. I might even wear a bikini tomorrow if you do."

"What, really?" Naruto said, scrambling to his feet with an eager expression. "Did you bring the green one with the string ties and the mesh patches? Because you totally rocked that outfit. Even Sasuke admitted it when we got back to our cabin. Do you promise you'll wear a bikini if I help out?"

"No," Sakura said, and shoved him the lake.

This might be her last summer at the camp, her last break before the troubles of the real world swallowed her alive. She might as well have some fun while she could. Sakura dove cleanly into the water beside Naruto and struck out toward the roped-off shallows, trusting her friend to follow.

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

End of Story

Edited Date: 2012-03-27 03:39 am (UTC)

From:

askerian

*eees all over the place* ... the politics were AWESOME, I love this in-between AU. So fun. @__@ And I love how canny Naruto is, and his history! Shamaaaaan yay, and Sakura worrying between two futures, and even Sasuke, who was really present even if he wasn't there and D'AWWW his shrine SOCUTE. Naruto and Sakura's friendly bickering was a pretty good frame to show that this isn't the canon Konoha, but I loved that it isn't the USA with Konoha names either.

Page Summary

Expand Cut Tags