Epic Thoughts

Problem with tagging

One of the best things about archive of our own is it’s tags, it really helps sort through the frankly ridiculous number of stories on the sight for the content you’re actually looking for, mostly. The problem, of course is that some writers seem to add them all over the place even when they don’t actually apply to the story. Like, why would you tag a relationship for a fic where the two characters don’t even actually appear? It’s really frustrating if that’s the pairing you’re looking for but the tag is used where they aren’t even really the content.

Also, there is absolutely a thing as too many tags, some people could really benefit from a little more restraint.

Naruto AU

So, I have this idea for an epic Naruto sequel that I absolutely don't have the ability to actually write. But I was thinking of the politics of the Naruto world and what the actual fallout of the Fourth Shinobi War would be like.

So, the thing is, the politics are an absolute mess, apparently the countries are ruled by the Daimyo, but I don't understand how that could possibly work when all of the military power is centered on the Hidden Villages with the Kage as their overall dictators. The Shinobi Wars were conducted between the villages, there's no mention of the countries themselves actually being involved. Having your entire military act on a mercenary basis from a virtually independent city-state within your country just...cannot possibly work. The Daimyo has to have their own forces, but they're clearly not enough to be fully relied on considering how much power the Hidden Villages seem to have.

The way I see it, during the Warring Clans era, the Daimyo were properly in charge with their own Samurai soldiers and everything while the respective shinobi clans ruled over their own territory and acted as basically feudal lords with mercenary services being offered so long as they didn't go against the Daimyo. The time period was pretty awful for the clans, but the government was solid. Then the Hidden Villages started popping up, which complicated things.

We really didn't get all that much information on how the villages in the other countries ended up happening, but the story of Konoha is pretty clear. The formation of Konoha was probably permitted by the Daimyo because with the clans moving to the village, their respective territories were left basically to be returned to the ruling power, since they weren't there to govern it, the Daimyo could do what they wanted, and start handing it out to new nobles for connections and power. Plus, they no longer had to be careful in picking out which clans they went to for missions and keeping in mind their respective relations, not becoming overly reliant on one and snubbing another, they were all together.

The other villages were almost certainly formed as a reaction to Konoha, maybe for some the villages were the clans themselves coming together like in Fire while with others, maybe the Daimyo themselves formed them out of fear that the Fire Daimyo was consolidating military power with the clans forming a truly fearful army without them fighting each other anymore. Whatever you want to say happened, it led to the Great Hidden Villages forming and the rise to power of the Kage.

This is when things started backfiring on the Daimyo, because suddenly you had these giant, super powerful armies of all their shinobi clans giving their loyalty to a single leader...who isn't them. This led to a century of a very precarious balance of power between the nominal ruler in the Daimyo and the military power of the Kage. Things were largely kept in line due to the Shinobi Wars and the continued reliance on mercenary work on the part of the shinobi. I know that Zetsu is considered to blame for all the blood and violence, or whatever, but I would say that it worked in the Daimyo's favor to have the Shinobi fighting each other, it used to be the squabbling of the clans, but now it was the larger scale wars between the Hidden Villages. Which brings me to my story idea.

The Fourth Shinobi War led to a definite peace between the villages and the creation of a Shinobi Alliance as well as a movement towards ending the shinobi era as it was, especially the child solider aspect. There is no way the Daimyo would have been happy about that; things would have either had to fall apart or the governance of the countries would have to change.

So, the story idea is that the Daimyo start strengthening their samurai armies, who they've allowed to weaken through their reliance on the shinobi, with the intention of making the hidden villages fall in line beneath their command. Maybe the Daimyo of the Great Nations even joined together against their own shinobi. However, you want to play it out, there is a war brewing between the hidden villages and their Daimyo for the power of the country. Now, the Kage are not particularly interested in ruling their entire nations, well, most of them aren’t, Kakashi certainly isn’t, but they are not about the let their way of life be destroyed by selfish, paranoid Daimyo either.

Suna is especially in favor of ousting their Daimyo, relations in Wind have been particularly bad for a while now. The entire Suna invasion is a result of them losing missions from their Daimyo to outside sources, making them desperate. Kiri is probably in favor of making Terumi Mei in charge of everything too after all she did to end the era of the Bloody Mist, no thanks to their own Daimyo. In any case, the main story is a big epic about the shinobi trying to change things in a huge way and the Daimyo trying to stop it, leading to the confrontation that at the end of it means the Kage are going to have to take charge of their actual countries.

The story would follow the conflict, the end of the power of the Daimyo, the rise of the Kage to actual monarchs and the massive societal changes where they end the mercenary work of the shinobi and turn them into genuine military and the like. It would really be a huge undertaking of a story to bounce around the varied politics of the Five Great Nations and the fallout from the other, smaller countries.

There is something kind of hilarious about Kakashi, who doesn’t even want to be the Hokage, having to become the ruler of the entire Land of Fire. I don’t have the understanding of politics, Japanese history, or the world of Naruto to even begin to write something like this, I also don’t have the patience to write actual stories and make sure the characterization of everybody actually works. I just think it’d be a fascinating idea.

I have a few various headcanons that if I could write something like this I would want to include. For one, the Hatake clan isn't actually gone, they're a nomadic clan that acts in packs, every now and again a group will break off and settle down somewhere, which is what happened in Konoha, leading to Kakashi being the last of that group. The greater Hatake come around every few years to try and convince Kakashi to leave a village that has done very little for him, to no avail, then this conflict starts and a new pack breaking off happens, with them deciding to throw their weight behind Kakashi, acting as personal guards since they don't actually trust Konoha.

Of course, the ANBU and jounin corps are all completely loyal to Kakashi, but the Hatake don't know that. I think that would lead to some fun conflict since both parties want what's best for Kakashi, as a fellow Hatake or as their Hokage, but they have different ideas on what that means.

I have another idea where Kakashi and Shizune get married, solely in this context because I think she would make a fantastic Wife and Lady for the Land of Fire. I don't know, I just think she and Kakashi would work really well as a power couple when it comes to the role of Hokage and the politics involved. I normally think Kakashi works best with Yamato/Tenzo, but he would probably hate that kind of role. This kind of story would also really let Hinata shine, I think, with her training as the Hyuuga princess, she and Naruto make their own kind of power couple with international politics.

My thoughts are kind of scattered. Kishimoto created this really interesting world with all sorts of potential that really didn’t get fully explored. That’s why fanfic is so much fun.

Fandom Complaint

I really hate the Marvel Superfamily trope for a number of reasons, mostly centering on the infantilization of Peter Parker and the erasure of his actual family in favor of Steve and Tony which makes me sick, I actually like that pairing but just give them their own kid, Peter’s characters is so OOC in all those stories anyway, just go all the way and make an actual OC.

But whatever, right now the thing that pisses me off the most about Marvel Superfamily is that they’ve stolen the term “Superfamily” from Superman and his actual family. How am I supposed to look up content about Chris, Conner, Jon, Kara and various related family members if Superfamily isn’t about the actual Superman Family?

Maxie-kitty

A Silly Thought

The Guardians during Descendants. Pitch would have been locked up on the Isle of the Lost just like the other villains but since he is a literal alien, the barrier doesn’t work quite right with him. The Guardians take advantage of that. Sandy and Pitch bond to share their magic, creating a loophole in the barrier that allows spirits and only spirits to pass through and use their magic. So Sandy can still send his good dreams to all the kids of the isle and Pitch can still monitor the nightmares of the world, fear has its place after all. Likewise, Tooth can still collect her teeth, North can deliver his presents at the Winter Solstice and Bunny can bring his sweets at the Spring Equinox. Though it’s Jack that really does the most, he personally sees to winter on the Isle, making it the one time of the year that everyone calms down, even the worst of the villains hold back, like an atmosphere of joy that works agains the isle’s natural bleakness. Winter is the favorite season for all the children of the Isle of the Lost.

The Problem with KakaObi

Okay look, Kakashi is my favorite character and my fandom bicycle, I ship him with everybody, including Obito sometimes. My problem is that so many kakaobi writers have him, like, secretly in love with him from back when they were teammates and have him pining after his memory for the next 20 years or whatever. And I get it, watching the man you love die for you and then come back from the dead is just full of melodrama. But at oldest Kakashi was, like, 13 when Obito died, I usually view him as 10 or 11. I don’t care what kind of a genius he is, pre-teens are not having an intense melodramatic love going on, they just aren’t. And having an adult Kakashi pine after a child Obito is just gross, it’s gross in canon with Obito and Rin too. I don’t mind kakaobi, not my favorite pairing, but it’s better than kakairu (god I hate that pairing) I just wish people would write them falling in love as proper adults. This is probably why the only way I can read them is in AUs where Obito came back to Konoha. They just don’t work with the canon setting without some real work too many don’t put in. Whatever, people can write whatever they want, I just need to be more careful with my tag search.

Alright, that’s it, just wanted to get the thought out there while it was on my mind.

Sandman Fic

I’m getting pretty annoyed with the trope in fic that Morpheus is out of touch with the modern day. I get that he talks pretty formally and is an ancient being, but he’s also the personification of every living thing’s collective unconsciousness. He’s going to know all the same everyday stuff of any modern person that’s in their unconscious mind. The fact that he was trapped for a century, or 80 years depending, wouldn’t change that. Especially if you consider the comic canon that he’s Dream for the universe, not just Earth. Just because he missed humanity’s jump in tech doesn’t mean any of it is new to him. There are probably plenty of alien planets with similar and more advanced technology he would have known before he was imprisoned in the first place. I just don’t like that idea and I see it way too often.

The Odyssey

I’ve been seeing this trend in modern takes of the Odyssey that want to focus on Penelope where they have it as her not really knowing her husband. Like, they have Penelope and Odysseus getting married and him having to go off to Troy after only, like, a year in or something. I love the idea of focusing on Penelope but I hate this particular take. In some tellings, Odysseus and Penelope were married for 8 years before he left and Homer made a point of describing them as being like-minded. I’ve always thought Penelope was supposed to really understand her husband and his mind because she works the same way. I just would like there to be some basis for the reunion we get between them in the original poem, that’s not a couple who doesn’t know each other.

OUAT Fic Premise

So I’ve never really liked how OUAT integrated most of the Peter Pan mythos. Killian Jones is my favorite character but he doesn’t really match the Hook from the novel. Stuff like their version of the Pan, Frankenstein and Oz characters bother me because unlike the other fairy tale characters, they come from a single definite source. The Frankenstein stuff is hopeless and there’s already one fanfic author who made Whale actually work for me as Victor and whose characterization I use for my headcannons. So here’s my thought for Killian (which completely ignores all of the stuff about Wendy and her brothers that they added, it doesn’t add much to the plot anyway).

Killian is not the Hook from the Peter Pan book and neither is the Pan that the gang fights in Neverland. The book all happened mostly as written but at some point Wendy returns to Neverland after that adventure and something g happens. Maybe during one of spring cleaning trips? I don’t know, whatever the case Wendy ends up in the world of the Enchanted Forest along with the crew of James Hook. James himself is, of course, dead, in the stomach of the crocodile. Wendy, as Red-Handed Jill, takes over as captain and she leads the crew for a while in their new world. Everyone in the crew is unfamiliar with this world as they all come from the same world as Wendy. Neverland was supposed to be connected to an alternate version of Earth, a slightly more magical one than the Land Without Magic where folk lore and the like are real and stories like Peter Pan and Alice and Wonderland and Mary Poppins can take place. Maybe King Arthur’s Avalon was real in this world and stuff like the Trojan War and the Odyssey actually happened (I’m also ignoring season 5 here). The details of Wendy’s home world are not important, I just think those additions are neat.

Anyway, Wendy sails as captain for some time before disbanding the crew. During this time, she falls in love with one of her crew members, an Irishman named David Jones, Davvy for short. The two end up having two boys together, Killian and Liam. At some point Davvy, who took up as captain with some of the crew members who wanted to keep sailing, ends up cursed with the Flying Dutchman because the name is just too convenient for that to have never come up. Wendy goes ashore and raises her boys, helped by Mr. Smee who managed to have his own son at some point. Killian and Liam are raised on stories of England, and on Peter Pan and Neverland. Which is why when Killian ends up losing his hand to his own crocodiles he takes up the moniker of his childhood stories.

Meanwhile, whatever happened that led to Wendy and the pirates being sent to the Enchanted Forest also led to Neverland being opened up to it and being infected by its foreign magic, weakening Peter. Some timey-wimey stuff happens and children from this new world star dreaming of Neverland. One of these kids is a boy named Malcom who would one day manage to find his way there in person. Malcom takes out Peter and takes over as Pan. He’s who the gang fight in Neverland and Rumpelstiltskin sacrifices himself to kill, permanently because he doesn’t need to come back and cause problems.

OUAT mostly stays the same through to the end of season 3A, after that so what you will. I just like picturing Killian surprising Emma with knowledge of the Land Without Magic that doesn’t make sense based off of what he learned from his mom.

Anyway, that’s mostly my idea for a premise for a canon-divergent fic that I think would be neat.