It's been ages since I've had a real update here, hasn't it? I humbly offer a rough draft of a poem, written tonight as I enjoyed a piece of pie.
----
Fork Country
My people don't hold much truck with spoons.
Spoons have their places, namely stirring coffee in the cup
assuming it's not consumed black.
This is fork country:
For all that the places are set with spoons,
They go back, unused, to the silverware drawer at the end of the meal.
Meat and potatoes and bread and butter
Grace the plates across the table.
Green beans or swiss chard, stewed in the second-largest kettle
Served in a separate dish, for those who like it that way.
A butter knife and three-tined fork are all you'll ever need.
Save your fork for later:
Dessert is mincemeat pie from this year's deer,
God be thanked.
Square pie: done in a baking pan with two-inch-high sides
Still boiling hot and smelling great clear out the dooryard.
There's no call for serrated knives in this house:
All straight-edged blades, pick your choice
Razor sharp in the knife block
Just come back from sharpening in Uncle Phil's basement shop.
Grampy and Grammy and Momma and I each eat a slice,
Served on the thin blade of the cutting knife,
Placed on saucers by Grammy's own two hands.
The crust is the best crust anyone could make,
The filling's pretty darn good, not bad at all, considering
the apples and oranges and raisins were all free.
Grampy eats his with his favorite paring knife
Blade worn to a crescent curving out the bone handle.
He cuts the crust into bites and forks them up.
Grammy pinches stray crumbs with her fingers,
sliding them onto her fork and into her mouth.
Momma eyes the dish-- she'd like a sliver or a whole piece more.
And I think about spoons. I don't need one, but I want one.
But this is fork country,
And I'd be a fool to ask.
----
I know, I know. It's still pretty rough and needs trimming. Nonetheless, I'm fairly pleased with it so far. (Yes, the pie I ate tonight was indeed my grandmother's mincemeat. ^_^ The crust was store-bought, but it still tastes pretty good.)
I've been watching old episodes of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations lately, and it made me wonder: if he were to visit my state, what would we show him, as far as local cuisine goes? Frankly, I don't know of any restaurants that really cover the sort of food my family cooks and eats, and I consider us to be true locals. (I know, I'm being prejudiced about out-of-staters.) I mean, what does my state have? We have a lot of mediocre chain restaurants, a lot of fast food joints, and some half-assed attempts at "fine dining." There are lots of American Chinese restaurants (not to be confused with the Chinese food one would actually find in China.) Honestly? My two favorite restaurants are independently owned pancake houses.
Anyway, I must away!
~Later
19 February 2010
11 February 2010
Updates and Odds and Ends
Here's the deal. I've temporarily down-ranked the Entropy index. I'm doing this partly because I don't want any crossover traffic to be getting confused about what's what with Entropy. I'm going through and revising things in order to post them elsewhere, and I don't want people to think that what they've read of it here is the be-all-end-all. It's not. The story is constantly evolving, changing, growing. Some changes are minor, but there are going to be some big revisions, too. I'm working hard to better mesh the older and newer material. It's hard to keep such a sprawling body of work consistent. So anyway, that's why the Entropy index is currently moved down a bit. It can still be found in the tags under "Entropy chapter index."
That aside, I have been working on new chapters for it in addition to polishing the old ones. At this very moment, I have three chapter thirteens. Or wait. No. I have four chapter thirteens and a general sketchy outline of what chapter thirteen is supposed to cover. Working from that outline has produced three chapter thirteens in addition to the fourth, original thirteen. Obviously, once they're all nice and ready for posting, they will no longer be 13a, 13b, and 13c. They'll be thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen...and depending on how the original thirteen looks after all that new stuff, there'll be a sixteen, too. (And all of that will trigger the domino effect, considering I already have a chapter 14, 15, and 16.) I swear, every time I turn around Entropy gets bigger. Maybe I should have called it Inertia. (I'm joking. ^_^)
Besides Entropy, I've recently done up a one-shot, also Naruto and also Kakashi/Sasuke-centric. I'm still on the fence about posting it here, because it definitely requires some sort of adult content warning. Is it possible to be graphic and tasteful at the same time? I definitely shot for intimate and delicate (versus raunchy and porntastic) but I didn't really skimp on the details...In fact, I sort of wallowed in the details.
I have a few other bits and pieces from various fandoms floating around, but nothing is too serious at this point. I've been consumed by the big projects recently.
As for non-fandom things...I haven't done too much. I drafted a poem recently but haven't touched it since. Really, I have two poems on the back burner. I also have been picking at a fiction piece, but I've been derelict in pushing forward with it. That particular one is tricky: I've written some for it before and it was quite serious. Doing bits for it now, I find myself dipping into the humorous and almost farcical. It's tough to balance the different moods and styles, and I'm not convinced I'm doing it successfully. I suspect it's going to be one of those stories where the different styles interrupt the main story every so often. (I consider the serious parts to be the real meat of this story.)
I've had a real yen for discussions of writing craft lately. I've been re-reading pieces of writing manuals and style guides. I've been reading about reading too, and have just encountered a rather interesting-looking book on the subject, entitled "The Crafty Reader." Part of the premise of it seems to be about reading as a multi-faceted discipline. the thing that grabbed me about it was that A. the dust jacket promised a good discussion on the craft and tools of critical reading, and B. it kind of promised to debunk and demean the New Critical theory. (I despise New Critical.)
Still, my search for shop-talk isn't turning up a lot of results. I want discussion, not a "Thou shalt write this way and this way only" sort of thing, of which so many books on writing are. I suppose I'd do better looking for essays on writing, really, but it's kind of the same problem there, with the added distinction that a lot of the "good" essays are either by or about authors I don't read, and the works they may discuss are, for lack of a better term, dated. If I wanted to delve more into the socio-historical aspects of writing craft, I would...but I don't. I think part of the problem is that I can't clearly define what I want; I am only able to look through and say that this or that is what I don't want.
Ugh. This was a singularly unproductive post, wasn't it?
~Later
That aside, I have been working on new chapters for it in addition to polishing the old ones. At this very moment, I have three chapter thirteens. Or wait. No. I have four chapter thirteens and a general sketchy outline of what chapter thirteen is supposed to cover. Working from that outline has produced three chapter thirteens in addition to the fourth, original thirteen. Obviously, once they're all nice and ready for posting, they will no longer be 13a, 13b, and 13c. They'll be thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen...and depending on how the original thirteen looks after all that new stuff, there'll be a sixteen, too. (And all of that will trigger the domino effect, considering I already have a chapter 14, 15, and 16.) I swear, every time I turn around Entropy gets bigger. Maybe I should have called it Inertia. (I'm joking. ^_^)
Besides Entropy, I've recently done up a one-shot, also Naruto and also Kakashi/Sasuke-centric. I'm still on the fence about posting it here, because it definitely requires some sort of adult content warning. Is it possible to be graphic and tasteful at the same time? I definitely shot for intimate and delicate (versus raunchy and porntastic) but I didn't really skimp on the details...In fact, I sort of wallowed in the details.
I have a few other bits and pieces from various fandoms floating around, but nothing is too serious at this point. I've been consumed by the big projects recently.
As for non-fandom things...I haven't done too much. I drafted a poem recently but haven't touched it since. Really, I have two poems on the back burner. I also have been picking at a fiction piece, but I've been derelict in pushing forward with it. That particular one is tricky: I've written some for it before and it was quite serious. Doing bits for it now, I find myself dipping into the humorous and almost farcical. It's tough to balance the different moods and styles, and I'm not convinced I'm doing it successfully. I suspect it's going to be one of those stories where the different styles interrupt the main story every so often. (I consider the serious parts to be the real meat of this story.)
I've had a real yen for discussions of writing craft lately. I've been re-reading pieces of writing manuals and style guides. I've been reading about reading too, and have just encountered a rather interesting-looking book on the subject, entitled "The Crafty Reader." Part of the premise of it seems to be about reading as a multi-faceted discipline. the thing that grabbed me about it was that A. the dust jacket promised a good discussion on the craft and tools of critical reading, and B. it kind of promised to debunk and demean the New Critical theory. (I despise New Critical.)
Still, my search for shop-talk isn't turning up a lot of results. I want discussion, not a "Thou shalt write this way and this way only" sort of thing, of which so many books on writing are. I suppose I'd do better looking for essays on writing, really, but it's kind of the same problem there, with the added distinction that a lot of the "good" essays are either by or about authors I don't read, and the works they may discuss are, for lack of a better term, dated. If I wanted to delve more into the socio-historical aspects of writing craft, I would...but I don't. I think part of the problem is that I can't clearly define what I want; I am only able to look through and say that this or that is what I don't want.
Ugh. This was a singularly unproductive post, wasn't it?
~Later
06 February 2010
Clearing up Confusion
I have been really busy over the past few days. Really, really busy...like working eight or nine hours every day writing and editing. What is it I am working toward? I suppose I'm preparing to transfer my fanfics (what few there are) over to a designated account (with another host) just for fanfics. I'm looking at a timeline of a few weeks to complete this process.
As I prepare for the move, I'm going through the chapters of Entropy posted here. I'm giving them an extra edit and polish before posting over at the new spot. This means that what is posted here for Entropy is growing increasingly obsolete. Should I bother posting the newest versions of chapters here?
I have not yet decided if I'm going to remove the fanfics from here entirely or not. I am somewhat concerned with someone out there somewhere accusing me of plagarism, despite my carefulness to keep everything I do linked together through various means. Perhaps I will make a redirect index to replace the current chapter index?
Of course, this also brings up the question of new Entropy chapters. I have two more that currently have no internet home. Should I continue posting here and then there? Or should I only post over there? I don't want to exclude anyone...
Ah, administration. How I loathe you.
In addition to the fanfics, I've been grinding away at some original fiction. Also, I woke up this morning and did a rough draft of a poem. I was up ridiculously early today and managed to start off on a good writing foot (though I did have a nap this morning as well, after a few hours of working.) I did something like ten or eleven hours' worth of writing stuff today. If only I were this productive every day! Also, I wish I wouldn't feel so wiped from doing all that work.
I have not been doing well on the daily freewrite and weekly book review goals I set myself. If I even get a freewrite in, it always ends up being something I don't want to share...which is frustrating because part of doing the dailies is to share! As for the book reviews, again, it's a matter of not feeling that what I've read is fit for public consumption. I mean honestly. I read no less than two books a week, and sometimes upwards of one book a day. There's no excuse!
Argh. My brain is fried and I have the attention span of a cracked-out hamster.
~Later
As I prepare for the move, I'm going through the chapters of Entropy posted here. I'm giving them an extra edit and polish before posting over at the new spot. This means that what is posted here for Entropy is growing increasingly obsolete. Should I bother posting the newest versions of chapters here?
I have not yet decided if I'm going to remove the fanfics from here entirely or not. I am somewhat concerned with someone out there somewhere accusing me of plagarism, despite my carefulness to keep everything I do linked together through various means. Perhaps I will make a redirect index to replace the current chapter index?
Of course, this also brings up the question of new Entropy chapters. I have two more that currently have no internet home. Should I continue posting here and then there? Or should I only post over there? I don't want to exclude anyone...
Ah, administration. How I loathe you.
In addition to the fanfics, I've been grinding away at some original fiction. Also, I woke up this morning and did a rough draft of a poem. I was up ridiculously early today and managed to start off on a good writing foot (though I did have a nap this morning as well, after a few hours of working.) I did something like ten or eleven hours' worth of writing stuff today. If only I were this productive every day! Also, I wish I wouldn't feel so wiped from doing all that work.
I have not been doing well on the daily freewrite and weekly book review goals I set myself. If I even get a freewrite in, it always ends up being something I don't want to share...which is frustrating because part of doing the dailies is to share! As for the book reviews, again, it's a matter of not feeling that what I've read is fit for public consumption. I mean honestly. I read no less than two books a week, and sometimes upwards of one book a day. There's no excuse!
Argh. My brain is fried and I have the attention span of a cracked-out hamster.
~Later
05 February 2010
New and Improved Chapter 1!
Holy moley. A whole year? Really? I've finally come back around to fixing the flagrantly bad chapter one of the dread fic Entropy.
Reccomended reading before going forward: The Prologue
Enjoy!
Chapter 1
---
Kakashi waited outside the Hokage's office. He knew exactly why he was here, but that didn't stop his stomach from churning unpleasantly. He had doubts and misgivings about all this. Could he really accomplish what the Hokage had set him to do? He forced his body to relax, made his hands hold onto the paperwork securely but without crumpling it. As he did with most quiet moments these days, Kakashi ruminated.
It was an unspoken rule not to mention the fact that Sasuke was crazy. True, he’d never been right in the entire time team seven had known him, but he had become decidedly worse after receiving Orochimaru's tutelage. Killing his brother had been the last straw.
But, while the ninja of the village were careful not to say anything in front of Naruto or Sakura, they had no such compunctions about Kakashi. Kakashi wondered why this didn’t apply to him. Perhaps because he had been an instructor and not a classmate? Maybe everyone thought Sasuke and he had not been close, despite months of group training and months of one-on-one and that middle-of-the-night intervention that had so miserably failed. Kakashi sighed.
He knew he shouldn’t blame himself entirely. After all, he had had a few months to try and affect the patterns of years’ worth of obsession in a particularly stubborn and willful not-quite teenager. Even then Sasuke had looked like he was only just stopping himself from imploding with hate and anger and despair. He’d been so feral the night Kakashi had tried to intervene, so violent and cruel.
Kakashi smoothed the papers in his hands. He corrected himself. No. Not cruel. But unthinking and uncaring beneath the widespread branches of the tree. If he’d had wings then, no doubt he would have flown off on the wild winds that had stripped the leaves off twigs and frothed the water of the river into great sprays.
Kakashi had failed him, no matter that Sasuke was as flat and dead as the moon. He hashed and rehashed the events, thinking that there could have been some way he could have done more. Kakashi's heart twisted deep in his chest. He felt responsibility for everything Sasuke had done after that, could see the lack of his influence so clearly in all the bad, wrong, and downright nonsensical events that followed Sasuke's defection.
This was why, now, years after Sasuke’s return to Konoha, Kakashi had agreed to take him on again. Sasuke’s homecoming had been no easy thing. Admittedly, he had come back to the village of his own will. It was pure bad luck that he had come to destroy it, but it was the thought that counted, right? He cared enough about it to want it wiped off the face of the planet, at least.
It had been obvious to Kakashi then--and was still plain to him now--that Sasuke had come completely unscrewed. It showed in his commanding, too. He had been too focused on destroying the village and not enough on things like defense…or basic tactics. He hadn’t seemed to care if his people got taken down, as long as he had more time to cause as much destruction as he could. Sasuke had been bent on personally taking out each and every house, building, or wall of mortared stone.
Kakashi remembered that a good third of the village had been flattened by enormous battling summons, and most of what remained had been scorched by Sasuke’s hard-won Amaterasu. The academy was reduced to rubble. Many good ninja had died, not the least of whom was Tsunade. To be more accurate, she didn’t actually die during the battle but rather some days afterward from chakra exhaustion from both the fighting and the healing afterward. Tsunade had spent her last hours dictating village business from her bed. One of her final orders as Hokage was to send Naruto out as a diplomatic envoy.
So, while Sasuke had spent the first few weeks after the destruction of Konoha with Ibiki at the ANBU headquarters, Naruto had been fulfilling Tsunade's request. Kakashi scratched his head, trying to remember. Naruto had spent a year--or was it two?--as a diplomat, first to Suna and then on an as-needed basis to less friendly countries. Although he lacked a certain polish, he was exceptionally good with people. It also didn’t hurt that he had, by then, subsumed all the Kyuubi’s power and could (though he never did) flatten a country with that massive chakra reserve.
During Sasuke's debriefing and Naruto's diplomatic dispatch, a secondary ninja council had taken over as a temporary measure while the village rebuilt and took stock and tried to decide who would be Hokage next. Shizune had taken the lead on it for a time, before declaring that the hospital needed her more. Ibiki was second choice, but he declined before they could officially elect him. He much preferred the shadows to the limelight. Danzou had stepped in to fill the void, which lead to Sasuke's transfer from the ANBU holding cells to the Konoha prison.
There had been months of infighting and backstabbing and dirty politics, to all of which Kakashi had been privy. Finally, the remaining jounin and ANBU who were not loyal to Danzou banded together and kicked him out of office through surprisingly democratic methods. Those same ninja had then stepped up to the responsibility in a rotational fashion. Kakashi had begged off of council duty: he knew he wasn't suited for such a tedious and thankless job, but he had couched it in terms of being more useful in the field taking missions. Thankfully, the majority had agreed with him.
When Naruto had come back from diplomatic deployment, he did some time on the council rotation. He consolidated power, won over councilors and heads of clans, and proved himself to be politically astute. Then he had taken another turn. And another. Finally, the provisional government agreed that he should become Hokage. The regular council insisted that he have advisors who were, quote, “not biased towards him in such a manner as to cause undue favor of his ideas.” This meant that Kakashi wasn’t allowed anywhere near him. (Not that Kakashi wasn't already flat-out with critical and difficult missions.) Naruto's council-appointed advisors were Ebisu, Ibiki, Shizune, and Anko. Naruto agreed that the advisors would assist him with village matters large and small, for a probationary period of six months. If he didn’t manage to run the village into the ground in that time, the council would consider allowing him complete autonomy after that.
Ibiki and Anko had bailed on him after a week. Apparently, for the first time in his life, Naruto proved in a very big and public way that he was more than competent. Shizune gave up dogging him after a month. Ebisu stuck it out the longest, but this was more for the sake of looking good in front of the council than any real desire to assist or police Naruto. By the time Ebisu quit, Naruto had firmly cemented himself in village politics and no one said anything when he announced, with great aplomb, that Ebisu would be returning to his former duties.
As soon as Naruto had officially accepted the mantle of Hokage, he got to work cleaning up the village. He had made public works one of his priorities. He wanted everyone to have a home and he wanted all the buildings and infrastructure repaired, rebuilt, or replaced. The last thing that went back up was the Academy. Once everything was rebuilt, Naruto had set his sights on the prison. It rankled him that not only did Konoha have a prison in the first place, but his former best friend was there…had been there, actually, for nearly five years. Whoops. Naruto asked Ibiki to look into it, and Ibiki did. Yes, Sasuke was still there. No, he didn’t plan on escaping. No, he wasn’t going to destroy the village anymore. Yes, yes, he was still terribly crazy. Dangerously so. Although Ibiki used the terms “unstable” and “likely to harm himself.” Sasuke wasn’t doing notably worse in prison, but he wasn’t getting better.
So Naruto, still as surprising as ever, had come up with a plan. The plan still gave Kakashi a warm feeling of pride that this young man had once been his student. Naruto had made many diplomatic overtures and promises and called in favors, and in return the prisoners were sent off to various other countries as menial hard laborers. They’d be fairly treated: properly clothed and fed, but supervised and, most importantly, they wouldn’t be in prison any more. For those prisoners who were ninja, Naruto consulted with Shizune and Sakura and the knowledge of the Kyuubi. He found ways to block their chakra. It was a hard decision to make, but Naruto couldn’t just let the prisoners loose, even in the supervised work environments, to start causing trouble again. If the former prisoners were ever rehabilitated, the blocks could, in theory, be removed.
As soon as the prisoners were taken care of, Naruto gleefully had had the prison demolished. He had vowed that he would find solutions other than incarceration for future offenders. But all this progress still left the problem of what to do with Sasuke. Naruto had been convinced that, given more time, Sasuke could recover into some semblance of normalcy. So, briefly, Sasuke had gone into the hospital. It didn’t help anything and. In fact, Sasuke had gotten a bit worse. More isolated. More withdrawn. More likely to burst out in a fit of anger.
And so Kakashi had volunteered to watch over Sasuke. Or, more accurately, Kakashi was volunteered by the Hokage. Naruto had given it a lot of thought and decided that Kakashi had a better chance than anyone else. Better chance of what he didn’t say. Survival, probably, though success was also implied. It had been made an official mission, paperwork and all. Kakashi would be taking charge of Sasuke tomorrow, which was why he was waiting to see the Hokage now. He had looked over and completed his half of the paperwork. He just needed to turn it in.
Kakashi wondered now if he should have visited Sasuke during either his prison or hospital stays. He had been busy, yes, but being busy was an excellent excuse to not do it. He hadn't always wanted to see Sasuke, for one. He didn't want to see the changes the years had wrought, didn't want to connect the genin he'd trained to whoever Sasuke had become. Of course he had doubts about this mission. But, Kakashi reminded himself, he had to do this. He would do this. He may not like it, but he could endure it.
He took a deep breath and steeled himself as the door to the Hokage's office swung open.
"Come in."
The Hokage's voice drifted into the hall.
Kakashi rose from his seat. It was unavoidable. He couldn't escape this duty now, no matter how he felt about it. He double-checked his paperwork, took another breath, and stepped into the open doorway.
---
I think it is entirely less choppy than before. I also hope that it now reads a bit less like the boring exposition it used to be. (Okay, so it's still exposition. I just hope it's more readable now!) I probably still didn't do enough to make it less boring, but I think I made real, genuine improvements. (For comparison's sake, here's the original chapter one. I'm not removing it from the site, but I will be redoing the index so new readers get the improved version.)
Anyway, I must away! Onward and upward to better and different things!
~Later
Reccomended reading before going forward: The Prologue
Enjoy!
Chapter 1
---
Kakashi waited outside the Hokage's office. He knew exactly why he was here, but that didn't stop his stomach from churning unpleasantly. He had doubts and misgivings about all this. Could he really accomplish what the Hokage had set him to do? He forced his body to relax, made his hands hold onto the paperwork securely but without crumpling it. As he did with most quiet moments these days, Kakashi ruminated.
It was an unspoken rule not to mention the fact that Sasuke was crazy. True, he’d never been right in the entire time team seven had known him, but he had become decidedly worse after receiving Orochimaru's tutelage. Killing his brother had been the last straw.
But, while the ninja of the village were careful not to say anything in front of Naruto or Sakura, they had no such compunctions about Kakashi. Kakashi wondered why this didn’t apply to him. Perhaps because he had been an instructor and not a classmate? Maybe everyone thought Sasuke and he had not been close, despite months of group training and months of one-on-one and that middle-of-the-night intervention that had so miserably failed. Kakashi sighed.
He knew he shouldn’t blame himself entirely. After all, he had had a few months to try and affect the patterns of years’ worth of obsession in a particularly stubborn and willful not-quite teenager. Even then Sasuke had looked like he was only just stopping himself from imploding with hate and anger and despair. He’d been so feral the night Kakashi had tried to intervene, so violent and cruel.
Kakashi smoothed the papers in his hands. He corrected himself. No. Not cruel. But unthinking and uncaring beneath the widespread branches of the tree. If he’d had wings then, no doubt he would have flown off on the wild winds that had stripped the leaves off twigs and frothed the water of the river into great sprays.
Kakashi had failed him, no matter that Sasuke was as flat and dead as the moon. He hashed and rehashed the events, thinking that there could have been some way he could have done more. Kakashi's heart twisted deep in his chest. He felt responsibility for everything Sasuke had done after that, could see the lack of his influence so clearly in all the bad, wrong, and downright nonsensical events that followed Sasuke's defection.
This was why, now, years after Sasuke’s return to Konoha, Kakashi had agreed to take him on again. Sasuke’s homecoming had been no easy thing. Admittedly, he had come back to the village of his own will. It was pure bad luck that he had come to destroy it, but it was the thought that counted, right? He cared enough about it to want it wiped off the face of the planet, at least.
It had been obvious to Kakashi then--and was still plain to him now--that Sasuke had come completely unscrewed. It showed in his commanding, too. He had been too focused on destroying the village and not enough on things like defense…or basic tactics. He hadn’t seemed to care if his people got taken down, as long as he had more time to cause as much destruction as he could. Sasuke had been bent on personally taking out each and every house, building, or wall of mortared stone.
Kakashi remembered that a good third of the village had been flattened by enormous battling summons, and most of what remained had been scorched by Sasuke’s hard-won Amaterasu. The academy was reduced to rubble. Many good ninja had died, not the least of whom was Tsunade. To be more accurate, she didn’t actually die during the battle but rather some days afterward from chakra exhaustion from both the fighting and the healing afterward. Tsunade had spent her last hours dictating village business from her bed. One of her final orders as Hokage was to send Naruto out as a diplomatic envoy.
So, while Sasuke had spent the first few weeks after the destruction of Konoha with Ibiki at the ANBU headquarters, Naruto had been fulfilling Tsunade's request. Kakashi scratched his head, trying to remember. Naruto had spent a year--or was it two?--as a diplomat, first to Suna and then on an as-needed basis to less friendly countries. Although he lacked a certain polish, he was exceptionally good with people. It also didn’t hurt that he had, by then, subsumed all the Kyuubi’s power and could (though he never did) flatten a country with that massive chakra reserve.
During Sasuke's debriefing and Naruto's diplomatic dispatch, a secondary ninja council had taken over as a temporary measure while the village rebuilt and took stock and tried to decide who would be Hokage next. Shizune had taken the lead on it for a time, before declaring that the hospital needed her more. Ibiki was second choice, but he declined before they could officially elect him. He much preferred the shadows to the limelight. Danzou had stepped in to fill the void, which lead to Sasuke's transfer from the ANBU holding cells to the Konoha prison.
There had been months of infighting and backstabbing and dirty politics, to all of which Kakashi had been privy. Finally, the remaining jounin and ANBU who were not loyal to Danzou banded together and kicked him out of office through surprisingly democratic methods. Those same ninja had then stepped up to the responsibility in a rotational fashion. Kakashi had begged off of council duty: he knew he wasn't suited for such a tedious and thankless job, but he had couched it in terms of being more useful in the field taking missions. Thankfully, the majority had agreed with him.
When Naruto had come back from diplomatic deployment, he did some time on the council rotation. He consolidated power, won over councilors and heads of clans, and proved himself to be politically astute. Then he had taken another turn. And another. Finally, the provisional government agreed that he should become Hokage. The regular council insisted that he have advisors who were, quote, “not biased towards him in such a manner as to cause undue favor of his ideas.” This meant that Kakashi wasn’t allowed anywhere near him. (Not that Kakashi wasn't already flat-out with critical and difficult missions.) Naruto's council-appointed advisors were Ebisu, Ibiki, Shizune, and Anko. Naruto agreed that the advisors would assist him with village matters large and small, for a probationary period of six months. If he didn’t manage to run the village into the ground in that time, the council would consider allowing him complete autonomy after that.
Ibiki and Anko had bailed on him after a week. Apparently, for the first time in his life, Naruto proved in a very big and public way that he was more than competent. Shizune gave up dogging him after a month. Ebisu stuck it out the longest, but this was more for the sake of looking good in front of the council than any real desire to assist or police Naruto. By the time Ebisu quit, Naruto had firmly cemented himself in village politics and no one said anything when he announced, with great aplomb, that Ebisu would be returning to his former duties.
As soon as Naruto had officially accepted the mantle of Hokage, he got to work cleaning up the village. He had made public works one of his priorities. He wanted everyone to have a home and he wanted all the buildings and infrastructure repaired, rebuilt, or replaced. The last thing that went back up was the Academy. Once everything was rebuilt, Naruto had set his sights on the prison. It rankled him that not only did Konoha have a prison in the first place, but his former best friend was there…had been there, actually, for nearly five years. Whoops. Naruto asked Ibiki to look into it, and Ibiki did. Yes, Sasuke was still there. No, he didn’t plan on escaping. No, he wasn’t going to destroy the village anymore. Yes, yes, he was still terribly crazy. Dangerously so. Although Ibiki used the terms “unstable” and “likely to harm himself.” Sasuke wasn’t doing notably worse in prison, but he wasn’t getting better.
So Naruto, still as surprising as ever, had come up with a plan. The plan still gave Kakashi a warm feeling of pride that this young man had once been his student. Naruto had made many diplomatic overtures and promises and called in favors, and in return the prisoners were sent off to various other countries as menial hard laborers. They’d be fairly treated: properly clothed and fed, but supervised and, most importantly, they wouldn’t be in prison any more. For those prisoners who were ninja, Naruto consulted with Shizune and Sakura and the knowledge of the Kyuubi. He found ways to block their chakra. It was a hard decision to make, but Naruto couldn’t just let the prisoners loose, even in the supervised work environments, to start causing trouble again. If the former prisoners were ever rehabilitated, the blocks could, in theory, be removed.
As soon as the prisoners were taken care of, Naruto gleefully had had the prison demolished. He had vowed that he would find solutions other than incarceration for future offenders. But all this progress still left the problem of what to do with Sasuke. Naruto had been convinced that, given more time, Sasuke could recover into some semblance of normalcy. So, briefly, Sasuke had gone into the hospital. It didn’t help anything and. In fact, Sasuke had gotten a bit worse. More isolated. More withdrawn. More likely to burst out in a fit of anger.
And so Kakashi had volunteered to watch over Sasuke. Or, more accurately, Kakashi was volunteered by the Hokage. Naruto had given it a lot of thought and decided that Kakashi had a better chance than anyone else. Better chance of what he didn’t say. Survival, probably, though success was also implied. It had been made an official mission, paperwork and all. Kakashi would be taking charge of Sasuke tomorrow, which was why he was waiting to see the Hokage now. He had looked over and completed his half of the paperwork. He just needed to turn it in.
Kakashi wondered now if he should have visited Sasuke during either his prison or hospital stays. He had been busy, yes, but being busy was an excellent excuse to not do it. He hadn't always wanted to see Sasuke, for one. He didn't want to see the changes the years had wrought, didn't want to connect the genin he'd trained to whoever Sasuke had become. Of course he had doubts about this mission. But, Kakashi reminded himself, he had to do this. He would do this. He may not like it, but he could endure it.
He took a deep breath and steeled himself as the door to the Hokage's office swung open.
"Come in."
The Hokage's voice drifted into the hall.
Kakashi rose from his seat. It was unavoidable. He couldn't escape this duty now, no matter how he felt about it. He double-checked his paperwork, took another breath, and stepped into the open doorway.
---
I think it is entirely less choppy than before. I also hope that it now reads a bit less like the boring exposition it used to be. (Okay, so it's still exposition. I just hope it's more readable now!) I probably still didn't do enough to make it less boring, but I think I made real, genuine improvements. (For comparison's sake, here's the original chapter one. I'm not removing it from the site, but I will be redoing the index so new readers get the improved version.)
Anyway, I must away! Onward and upward to better and different things!
~Later
Take that, crappy exposition!
I have re-worked chapter one of the dread fic Entropy! I'm going to take a break before I give it a quick look over, but I'm fairly pleased at how I was able to streamline it and make it slightly less boringly expositional.
Expect it to be posted later this evening.
~Later
Expect it to be posted later this evening.
~Later
03 February 2010
In the wind...
Remember when I said, back whenever it was, that I was going to have to write all-new material for chapter thirteen of Entropy? And remember how I said more recently that that chapter was going to be a boring montage-ish chapter? Well, I've made a fool of myself. I have a chapter thirteen now, and it is not a montage. It also covers a fraction of what I was intending to cover, which means I need to do even more new writing to catch up between twelve and the chapters that lay in the story's future (which I have already written and will need to rewrite.)
Speaking of rewrites, I've done a quick re-read of Entropy as posted here. I've found some parts of chapter one that I will be tending to in the next couple days. I can finally say that distancing myself from the story has helped me find the problems. I now see better what needs to be improved and removed in order for chapter one to fit in smoothly between the prologue and chapter two. Lesson learned: try to avoid writing prologues after laying out chapters of stuff that come after! I think I can properly streamline chapter one now. It's such a relief! (Especially knowing I had some serious, very obvious errors in there.)
In other news, I've officially taken up with an online fanfic community. This is exciting, mostly because it affords me the opportunity to expand my readership rather dramatically (and yet, so easily!) I'm just getting used to the setup over there as far as posting goes, and it also amazes me how satisfying it is to watch the number of hits my story has crawl higher. (I put up one quick story over there just to acclimate myself to the controls and process and all. I'm going to take my time with the rest of what I want to put up.)
Conversely, this may mean a gradual increase in visits over here, as I've listed this as my website...not that I'm expecting much of anything.
One thing is for sure, though. I'm going to try my best not to sit around waiting for warm fuzzies and hits to come my way. I'm going to try to keep busy writing! If I just keep my head down and work, I may eventually get somewhere. With that in mind, I'll probably post something here in the near future. Fingers crossed!
~Later
Speaking of rewrites, I've done a quick re-read of Entropy as posted here. I've found some parts of chapter one that I will be tending to in the next couple days. I can finally say that distancing myself from the story has helped me find the problems. I now see better what needs to be improved and removed in order for chapter one to fit in smoothly between the prologue and chapter two. Lesson learned: try to avoid writing prologues after laying out chapters of stuff that come after! I think I can properly streamline chapter one now. It's such a relief! (Especially knowing I had some serious, very obvious errors in there.)
In other news, I've officially taken up with an online fanfic community. This is exciting, mostly because it affords me the opportunity to expand my readership rather dramatically (and yet, so easily!) I'm just getting used to the setup over there as far as posting goes, and it also amazes me how satisfying it is to watch the number of hits my story has crawl higher. (I put up one quick story over there just to acclimate myself to the controls and process and all. I'm going to take my time with the rest of what I want to put up.)
Conversely, this may mean a gradual increase in visits over here, as I've listed this as my website...not that I'm expecting much of anything.
One thing is for sure, though. I'm going to try my best not to sit around waiting for warm fuzzies and hits to come my way. I'm going to try to keep busy writing! If I just keep my head down and work, I may eventually get somewhere. With that in mind, I'll probably post something here in the near future. Fingers crossed!
~Later
01 February 2010
Feline Stewardship?
I am consumed with these sorts of thoughts lately...
---
The cat bashes his tail against my shins. He is convinced this will make me feed him treats. He fluffs his tail up, whips it back and forth, and thwacks it insistently on my legs. If he were a tom, he’d probably spray with excitement as I finally reach for the pouch of treats. As it is, he looks ridiculous with his tail vibrating and snaking. He marches in place on my feet.
Fifteen pounds of feline fury crouches over the food dish. He tracks the fall of the treats. His pupils are blown wide. He meows. Only two treats are forthcoming, and two is more than enough, but, of course, he does not feel the same.
Ah well. This is why I am in charge: I have the thumbs it requires to open the cabinet with the treats and to open the Ziploc package itself.
----
Not much of a freewrite. But it wasn't the only thing I worked on today, writing-wise. Maybe tomorrow will feel more profitable. Profitable? Profit-full, perhaps? Whatever the word is, I want to feel rich with writing, for the first time in months.
On a vaguely related note, I was reading bits of "A Cookbook for Poor Poets And Others"--a cookbook about frugal cooking, among other things-- recently, and I suddenly realized that the title might not mean what I had always thought it meant. I always thought it meant poets who were bad at poetry, but I now understand it also means/could mean poets who have no money. I supposed you could be a poor poet who is poor, as well...which would definitely explain your using that cookbook!
Still, I like the idea of a poet writing exceptionally bad verse. (Not that I would seriously want to read it. "Bad" poetry is painful to read.) I suppose my child's brain--my mother has had that cookbook probably longer than I have been alive--latched onto the idea that being bad at poetry meant you had to compensate for or automatically be good at some other area (like cooking.) But, sadly, poetry and cooking are not a linked skill set, inversely proportionate or otherwise.
...I feel rather silly that my post-freewrite ramblings are at least equal to if not greater than my actual freewrite.
~later
---
The cat bashes his tail against my shins. He is convinced this will make me feed him treats. He fluffs his tail up, whips it back and forth, and thwacks it insistently on my legs. If he were a tom, he’d probably spray with excitement as I finally reach for the pouch of treats. As it is, he looks ridiculous with his tail vibrating and snaking. He marches in place on my feet.
Fifteen pounds of feline fury crouches over the food dish. He tracks the fall of the treats. His pupils are blown wide. He meows. Only two treats are forthcoming, and two is more than enough, but, of course, he does not feel the same.
Ah well. This is why I am in charge: I have the thumbs it requires to open the cabinet with the treats and to open the Ziploc package itself.
----
Not much of a freewrite. But it wasn't the only thing I worked on today, writing-wise. Maybe tomorrow will feel more profitable. Profitable? Profit-full, perhaps? Whatever the word is, I want to feel rich with writing, for the first time in months.
On a vaguely related note, I was reading bits of "A Cookbook for Poor Poets And Others"--a cookbook about frugal cooking, among other things-- recently, and I suddenly realized that the title might not mean what I had always thought it meant. I always thought it meant poets who were bad at poetry, but I now understand it also means/could mean poets who have no money. I supposed you could be a poor poet who is poor, as well...which would definitely explain your using that cookbook!
Still, I like the idea of a poet writing exceptionally bad verse. (Not that I would seriously want to read it. "Bad" poetry is painful to read.) I suppose my child's brain--my mother has had that cookbook probably longer than I have been alive--latched onto the idea that being bad at poetry meant you had to compensate for or automatically be good at some other area (like cooking.) But, sadly, poetry and cooking are not a linked skill set, inversely proportionate or otherwise.
...I feel rather silly that my post-freewrite ramblings are at least equal to if not greater than my actual freewrite.
~later
Story Index
It was suggested to me by a friend attempting to catch up on the fanfic o' doom that I ought to make a story index. Considering that roughly one post in five on here is a chapter, I agree. It's a pain in the butt to sift through the other things.
Therefore! I give to you the snazzy chapter index, seen below.
I shall endeavor to keep it current as I put up new material.
Important Editing Note:
As I am working to transfer my fanfiction to a separate space, I am re-editing Entropy, chapter by chapter. Some of the chapters here are old versions. I will be posting the new versions once my editing is complete, but this will not be happening for some time.
Entropy Index (a.k.a. the Fanfic O' Doom)
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
There we go. All nice and neat. Theoretically, it will now be the foremost post for forever and a day, but just in case it moves around, it can always be found in the tag cloud under "entropy chapter index."
Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All rights remain with its original creator, Masashi Kishimoto. I make no profit from writing these stories.
Therefore! I give to you the snazzy chapter index, seen below.
I shall endeavor to keep it current as I put up new material.
Important Editing Note:
As I am working to transfer my fanfiction to a separate space, I am re-editing Entropy, chapter by chapter. Some of the chapters here are old versions. I will be posting the new versions once my editing is complete, but this will not be happening for some time.
Entropy Index (a.k.a. the Fanfic O' Doom)
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
There we go. All nice and neat. Theoretically, it will now be the foremost post for forever and a day, but just in case it moves around, it can always be found in the tag cloud under "entropy chapter index."
Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All rights remain with its original creator, Masashi Kishimoto. I make no profit from writing these stories.
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