estirose | Quick fic stuff

I have some stuff I want to post up to DW (and I need to post a new fic part for a Drive fic I've got on AO3, but that'll have to wait. In the meantime, here are two things for your reading pleasure:

"Delicate Appendages" was my 2009 NaNoWriMo fic, and it's now on AO3 under "Original Work". It's about halfway posted, but the story itself is complete. I did submit it a few years ago to Amazon's aspiring author contest, but I'm glad it didn't get far past the first stage, because it was inspired by a line in the novelization of the first episode of "War of the Worlds" (TV). It makes reference to the War of the Worlds invasion, which turned out much different (the warlike aliens died out really fast, and not due to the reason in the series/movies/radio play).

Here are the warnings I put on the fic: "Description of a near-rape in the first part; discussion of sex and sexual organs, human and not. Some of the characters speak horrendously bad English, and Erin is nowhere as clued about some parts of human sexuality and gender identity as she thinks." It's locked on the archive, though rated Teen/Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings.

The second fic, "It Is Impossible" is a Kamen Rider Ghost fic posted on

fan_flashworks (and by comm rules, exclusive there for the next few days). Basically, a look at what would have happened if Akari had a hold of the Eyecon when the bad guys came calling, and ended up in Takeru's position. I love female-character-becomes-Rider fics because the writers are so bad at having main female Riders in their series.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

reka

I haven't read Delicate Appendages in quite some time! :D

Akari as Ghost would be really interesting. Takeru would be a great sidekick, especially if retained the ability to see ghosts.

From:

estirose

I should get the rest of Delicate Appendages posted soon. I spent part of last night fixing all my typos in the copy that I had.

As for Ghost!Akari, she's still denying she's dead, and everybody else at the temple is trying to convince her otherwise. Takeru's trying his best to keep her from dissecting her own soul and that she shouldn't go to hospital. Nobody's thought of asking her to check her pulse, since she doesn't have one. Right now, she's clinging onto her denials. That being said, she's willing to fight the monsters, just she doesn't believe that she died from their attack. (I'm apparently slightly off from canon, because she doesn't believe in monsters, but I think she'd still be willing to fight them.)

And now Shinnosuke!muse is trying to sit her down for Takeru's sake and talk to her about being a Rider and such and help her realize she's dead.

From:

reka

I think she'd be more inclined to believe in monsters if she could see them. It would be empirical proof of something.

Maybe Takeru has to pull the memento of his dad card or something. Or keep it from her whenever she's not fighting, although that might be risky. Or maybe trying to take it apart would hurt her too much to continue. Or maybe since the Eyecons seem to be more containers than the souls themselves, maybe it would just disturb her ability to interact with the physical world.

Shinnosuke is always a good choice for explaining the responsibilities of being a Rider.

From:

estirose

Yeah, she's willing to concede that the monsters are real. Fortunately for the rest of the world, when she tried to dissect the Eyecon, It made her insubstantial. Which frustrated her, because she couldn't touch anything.At least for a few minutes, anyway. Thankfully, she's irritated enough that she stays in the physical world most of the time, and even she can't deny that she is losing phase with the material world.

I can imagine SHinnosuke visiting (ignotinh yhr lsst episode or so of Drive regarding Takeru's appearance) regsrding the cut bicycle and listening to Takeru before sitting Akari down about her new responsibilities.

From:

reka

I admit that I haven't quite finished Drive (I tend to drop things when I get really stressed, which never helps), but that sounds very plausible to me!

Yeah, since it is unlikely that she can take apart an Eyecon without tools, going insubstantial would make it difficult. And if Takeru or Onari were there at the time, they would flip.

From:

estirose

They'd definitely flip. Of course, I realized that Akari would have no reason to tell the about the eyecon or anything else. Depends on whether she phases out in their presence. Or fades in, given they found her body.

From:

reka

Yeah, that would be interesting! I'm also interested what her fighting style would be like.

Hmm. The eyecon is from Takeru's dad, so she'd probably need to tell him something. I could see her giving it up to him, possibly, which might not end well.

From:

estirose

I'm terrible with fighting styles, but I would imagine different from Takeru's.

As for Takeru, she'd probably give it back to him (it is his, after all, and she's probably hallucinating things) until he was attacked. And then maybe he'd pester her until she explained the whole thing. And then she'd have Takeru and Onari trying to help her out and her doing some fading and... well, she'd have to revise her beliefs quite a bit, I think.

From:

reka

I assume she doesn't have the training Takeru has, for a few reasons.

I think Akari would also need Takeru to help with the seal-drawing and such. I think she could still look for a scientific explanation while fighting them-- it's not that science specifically says ghosts don't exist, but more that it's not something we can scientifically investigate. As Ghost, Akari might be able to do that. I don't know what her end goal for that kind of investigation would be, though.

From:

estirose

Yes, she definitely would have different training. And I could see her being frustrated that she couldn't have anyone replicate her fading in and out or anything else she's experiencing, like ghosts.

---

"Akari?" Takeru was looking at her - or around her, which made her sigh. She'd lost concentration again and faded out of the physical world, apparently. It would have been fascinating to do experiments on, if someone else was able to replicate that.

She pulled herself together, forcing her body back to the physical world. The Atashi Eyecon was sitting at the desk. She'd tried to take it apart when Takeru and Onari weren't in the room - they'd panic, for sure - but it had only caused a shock, followed by her being phased out for about half an hour. The old man had explained, when she had stomped through Takeru's supposedly-secret area, that she'd hurt her soul, and so it had to heal.

The fact that she was dead and that her actual soul was in something resembling an eyeball was a little bit hard to take. Takeru had convinced her to try to take her own pulse, and she had to admit after some trying that she indeed didn't have one. Which meant that the old man had to be telling at least some sort of truth. Which meant that she also listened to him and stopped trying to take apart her own Eyecon.

Takeru had set up a futon at one corner of the room, but she doubted she wanted to sleep there, even if Takeru and Onari didn't have problems with her living at the shrine. Just because she was one of the undead didn't mean she couldn't haunt her own apartment.

"I'm here," she said, remembering to reply after a moment.

"I'm sure I can help you form seals." He fiddled with the hand guard he always wore as a necklace. "Then we can get the other fourteen Eyecons you need to come back to life!"

She wasn't completely sure that it would happen, but she kept quiet, for him. Because he didn't need to give up hope, even if she would be gone in less than half a year. She liked him, she didn't want him to worry, even if he would.

Edited Date: 2015-10-14 01:29 pm (UTC)

From:

reka

Poor Akari. She really doesn't know how to proceed, since this is all a huge shock to her. I think it's the same in canon, too, but there she has the option to continue on with her life as normal.

Takeru and Onari would definitely be the most optimistic ones about this. As in canon, I'm sure Onari would be tripping over himself to help, too. I hope he'd figure out quickly that rubbing it in that the supernatural exists would be cruel when she's Ghost.

From:

estirose

Onari might make the mistake at first, but then realize that it is cruel. He'd insist she train with Takeru. Takeru, in the meantime, spends a lot of time trying to talk to the old man (he can see the old man and the ghosts if he holds the Eyecon). Akari insists on staying at her apartment, and Onari's fretting that she might get attacked.

From:

reka

Yeah, Onari's too excitable of a guy not to make a rash mistake like that at least once. And absolutely the training thing-- I can see him also trying to get her to train with him. And failing, since they don't really seem to have a relationship that would accommodate it. Poor Takeru, trying to do what he can without having the resources to do so.

(I have realized that the well-meaning controlling streak may be why I instantly liked Onari, whoops.)

From:

estirose

Yeah, Akari's having moments of wondering if it's all worth it, though she doesn't say anything. She just trains because she knows she has to. A lot of this is over her head, but she knows she has to keep safe.

(I have realized that I like both Taiga and Heart because they cluelessly mean well.)

(Oh, and my muses are depressing.)

---

"Takeru," Akari said patiently, though she wanted to rage at him, "I have a job. I need to pay for my apartment, even if I don't need to eat." True, she was dead, and she was going to have to fight these monsters period, but she had her own place, far enough away from the temple to give her some peace. Onari would drive her insane if she had to live with him. Takeru too, probably, no matter how much she liked him.

"Yes, but... you only have 96 days left! You have to find the Eyecons. You have to concentrate on that, not work."

She sometimes wished that he realized that she probably wasn't going to find the Eyecons she needed to come back to life. The only reason she was training with Takeru was because she needed to know how to fight and because she wanted his memories of her to be good.

Akari suddenly wondered if moving in wasn't a bad idea, after all. Yes, she'd have both Takeru and Onari on her case about finding Eyecons, but boxing everything up and giving up her apartment would make things easier when the time came.

Giving a sigh, she looked at Takeru. "You're right. I'm just still not used to this."

The smile was almost worth it. "We'll do everything to support you. You can train every day and we'll all search for the spirits needed for the Eyecons."

She wouldn't refuse to seal the spirits into Eyecons, she knew. Even if she didn't think she'd complete her task in time, seeing what had happened with some ordinary objects had convinced her that letting evil monsters use heroes as monsters wasn't a good thing.

Maybe she'd start on a paper while she was at it. After all, she wouldn't be alive to live as a laughingstock. If she could prove that ghosts existed, if someone could replicate it, then this whole thing might be worth it.

From:

reka

(Yes, I have a huge thing for characters in positions of authority who are clueless too. Misguided charisma is amazing.)

Poor, poor Akari. I can completely understand not believing that she'll be able to manage it-- after all, there are probably tons of spirits and ghosts wandering around, and she's got to find specific ones. And she's probably not as willing to listen to the old guy hermit as Takeru is about how to find them. Giving up her apartment now makes a tragic amount of sense. The bit about working on a paper, though, is pretty hopeful-- even though she believes she'll be gone, she wants to leave behind something important.

From:

estirose

Yes, she'll write her paper as well as work on trying to be Ghost. She's trying hard, despite her unbelief.

--

Onari was going to drive her crazy, for sure.

Akari had given in and moved to the secret room - which wasn't all that secret, thank you very much. Nor was it uninhabited, since the old man from the waterfall and the small thing with the bedsheet - okay, Yurusen, she supposed she should call the being by a name - liked to hang about and annoy her. Especially when she was making notes on her new abilities and trying to get good answers out of them. If somebody needed to replicate her experiments, they needed as much information as possible.

But she didn't need to sleep, so it wasn't the end of the world to just stay there and read. Her belongings were boxed up in one corner of the room, except for the furniture, which was arrayed about.

It was when Onari was up that was most annoying. Sure, she'd spar with Takeru all that Takeru wanted, and Takeru was a lot better at deciphering the old man than she was. But Onari was always nagging her about finding Eyecons, which wasn't easy. She and Takeru had managed to form an Eyecon out of his hand guard, and there was the Eyecon formed out of that light bulb, but Akari still wasn't sure how to get the rest of them.

Her day started as early as Onari got up. She was expected to come to breakfast even if she couldn't eat, just so that they could discuss what was going on that day. Mostly training, unless Onari's sign drew in someone that had a connection to something that could make an Eyecon. Which there hadn't been any yet.

Somehow, hiding in ghost form was better than having to deal with Onari. She really didn't want to strangle the monk, since Takeru liked him and she didn't want to hurt Takeru.

Of course, Takeru sadfaced whenever she disappeared on him, and he was awfully fond of picking up one of the new Eyecons so he could see her as a ghost. She dreaded the day where Onari figured out he could use them too.

Shaking her head, she glared at her paper. What more could she do?

From:

reka

I hope Takeru points out that, even as a ghost, she needs to watch her mental health and not keep avoiding people. Onari can be annoying, but at least the sign might help her stay involved in the outside world.

From:

estirose

He does, and she realizes that. (And Takeru sadfacing at her doesn't hurt.) The good news is that she's starting to pick up Eyecons... and realizing what that means for her future. (Which includes moving back out of the temple once everything's done.)

From:

reka

Yeah. With so little canon so far, it's difficult to figure out where a canon AU would go. I'm glad that finding more eyecons would help. There are a few other scientific-minded great people to find I think, which I'm sure she'll enjoy.