Jump to content

Close

Merchant Of Blue Death

Member Since 16 Jul 2017
Offline Last Active Aug 08 2019 09:39 PM

#974012 NaruSaku In Boruto

Posted by Merchant Of Blue Death on 08 August 2019 - 01:15 AM

I tried to read the first volume or Boruto and I put it back on the shelf at Barnes and Noble. TO me it was a huge betrayal of both Naruto and Sakura. Even with Ch700 you could see how bad Hinata was for Naruto. Instead of putting her foot down when Naruto began working all hours as Hokage she just let him do what he wanted to do. Had it been Sakura that was married to him what do you think her reaction would've been the first time he sent a shadow clone to a family function, even a small one like a school holiday? If the new trend is to tease readers and viewers of Boruto with saccharin scenes of our favorite characters sharing a moment here and there as well as depicting each of them showing some form of regret in not giving themselves a chance then it's a flawed strategy in regaining the same people they alienated in the first place.

 

Personally I could care less about the canon francise's because of how badly Naruto and Sakura's marriages turned out. Seriously, Naruto is a kitten of a father that can't even personally attend his own child's birthday but sends a clone in his place. Sasuke is even worse staying out of the village for months and years at a time to the point his only child views his best friend as her father because Naruto was the only male that was constantly in her life. 

 

The more I hear of the original story being revised and changed to line up with the final movie of Naruto and the canon couples the more I lose interest. I still have my manga from 12 years ago that still have Naruto proclaiming his love for Sakura as in a romantic way and not the same as he loves ramen. A few years ago a young lady named Emma Watson asked the author JK Rowling about her choices for who ended up with who at the end of her series of books. Rowling admitted that the marriage of Hermione and Ron was a big mistake that made absolutely no literary sense at all, a selfish bit of indulgence. The flipside of that is Kishimoto and SP doing all they can to remove Kishimoto's earlier comments about Naruto and Sakura as well as changing the manga volumes to line up with the official ending and continuation series. Is anyone holding their breath waiting for him to admit that he screwed up the story and screwed the fans?

 

Since that's never going to happen I say bring on the affair and divorce fan fiction stories. At least in our stories Sakura actually loves the real Naruto and not the perfect, can't do any wrong phantasm that Hinata is in love with. In my opinion she's worse than any of Sasuke's fan club. While they all try to give him things to celebrate his birthday and Christmas, not once while they were in the academy or afterwards did she ever do the same for Naruto. If she had really loved him she would've actually given him something without fear. she would've stood up for him when Sakura or Ino insulted or hit him. She never did anything but watch from the shadows because she was shy, more like afraid of what others would think  of her. At one time I was one of those that wanted Naruto to fall for her because of the anime. When I began reading the manga my viewpoint changed and what I saw of her made me realize how shallow she was. Where she was fainting at his touch or stuttering as he looked at her Sakura was beginning to see how much potential Naruto actually had. She was ready to raise her hand in the first exam not because she was scared for her safety but scared that Naruto would fail the test and lose any chance of being Hokage. As it's been pointed out in this topic, Sakura and Naruto grew closer over time but Sakura began believing that he would be Hokage and would do everything she could to help him reach that goal and dream. Hinata never did much to get close to Naruto and there was never enough to win his affection let alone his attention as a possible lover. 

 

If there is a manipulative reason for SP's new trend continues I say bring out the affair and divorce stories. Better yet, let's have more stories like "Love Can Be Different" where Naruto and Sakura rediscover their feelings for each other after the deaths of their spouses.  




#969301 Tip Of The Spear-Rewrite

Posted by Merchant Of Blue Death on 15 November 2018 - 09:18 PM

So, I've been thinking about doing this even before I got that one PM and after a review popped up pointing out an unfinished sentence that I can't remember how it was finished I have begun rewriting the story. 

 

For those that haven't read it let me give you a run down. It's an AU where Naruto and Sakura are mistreated and beaten by the villagers. Naruto, for being the jinchuriki and Sakura for being his friend and companion. As he nears death Kurama releases himself and starts healing the two children, kills the attackers and once the Third arrives uses a memory transfer jutsu and shows Hiruzen just what has been going on under his nose. After telling Hiruzen and Kakashi a thing or two Kurama then announces that he will raise and train Naruto to be the hero Minato wanted him to be while Naruto will train Sakura to be strong enough to be a worthy mate and wife. 

 

As he takes the kids away to live in our world so they can grow strong without the influence of the prejudices of the shinobi culture and world in general. Before he goes, however, Kurama informs the two shinobi that Naruto and Sakura will be told everything, his titles, heritage, position as the next Hokage as his father had ordered and, the marriage contract between him and Sakura. They are then shown being discovered as survivors of the Great Western Quake and Tsunami in Japan, Growing up in the US as wards of the Hagaromo clan which are all fox hanyo, human or human-hanyo hybrids. After they finish school both teens join the US Navy (I'm a retired Sailor so that's why  :cool:) with Naruto being a SEAL and Sakura training to be first a Corpsman (medic) and then a rescue swimmer. They're sent back to their world and are de-aged by jutsu (yeah, cheesy I know but it's the only way to have them accepted by their peers and village as a whole not to mention keep just how smart and powerful they actually are. 

 

As soon as they are deemed ready Kurama takes them back to Konoha where they notice changes in how they are treated and how the village seems to have changed. Once they are situated Hiruzen places them in the academy with limited Hokage duties as a means to train him for the job. 

 

After that, the main story begins as Sakura and Naruto make changes and friends. The rest will ruin the story but if you've read it you know what happens next. For those that don't the most obvious and significant change is that Naruto and Sakura will introduce firearms and other technology into the shinobi world. They will also be making logical changes in how the graduation exams are handled, the genin teams' makeup and begin their own lives as a married couple. 

 

Now, if you've read this far you know the story and how it starts. I want to change that part the most, it was pointed out to me that the beatings Naruto suffered from on a daily basis were a product of fandom and not canon. Point taken, in the rewrite, Naruto and Sakura won't be suffering overt mistreatment and neglect on a daily basis but, they will have at least one beating as a catalyst for Kurama's actions. That said, the lead up to that event is what I'm working on at the moment and that's where I need some help. 

 

Following Minato and Kushina's deaths, Hiruzen is trying to stack the deck in Naruto's favor and to do that he needs trusted people. Using the one picture of Minato's teammates under Jiraiya and speculation that the person on the end is Teuchi Ichiraku so that's one person. The other one in the middle is an unknown and there is some talk that it's Sasuke's father Fugaku but going on the normal team makeup I'm thinking it's a young lady. If so I need a name and a reason she's not active and is being recalled to duty to watch over Naruto. If nothing else I just need a name the rest I can work out. 

 

I hate to ask things like this but I'm at a blank and all that I could find on the web is that the teammates were just ninja fodder that was killed in the third war. I call BS on that as I doubt Jiraiya would neglect his students like Kakashi would in the future. While most of the story will stay the same I am pulling things that for one reason or another just didn't work out or made no impact one way or another. The biggest that I will reveal is that Sakura's parents won't throw her to the streets as I had originally written but she is on her own with Naruto after he's locked out of the orphanage. 

 

Other things changed are going to be inconsistencies that I developed as the story progressed. Most of those were because I basically forgot what I had done in earlier chapters such as Neji and Hinata being closer as the beginning and Neji reverting to his canon self near the middle. Things I am keeping are Danzo and Orochimaru as the main villains, I mean, they were both wasted in canon after the Akatsuki came into play. That's another thing, Akatsuki, they won't be a factor as a whole because they don't exist as a group but, individuals will make themselves known in one way or another. 

 

Anyway, that's what I have to say as to why Tip Of The Spear is going through a rewrite. I hope those that like the story will continue their support and read the new one when I start posting it after the first of the year. Now, I have to steel myself to make that announcement on FFN. I know it's not fair to my readers but it's also not fair to them to continue to deliver a subpar product. At least I'm doing this for the right reasons, I remember one story that was into 39 chapters and the author stopped and stated he was redoing it with Naruto and Hinata as the pairing and Sakura was hooked up with Gaara. His rewrite was not met with joy and only got into the 3rd chapter before it was abandoned. 

 

Naruto and Sakura will always be my main pairing in any story I write unless I want to do something dark but Sakura will always be in Naruto's life.  :narusaku:




#969034 Writers, back up your stuff on FF.net...maybe....

Posted by Merchant Of Blue Death on 25 October 2018 - 12:58 AM

Personally, I write my stories with Open Office save them to the proper story folder on my PC as well as to my laptop and several flash drives. My final editing is done online on the FFN site. I can understand if you've changed PS or lost your original; files that one would have to take the above steps to preserve one's work but a chapter's lifetime in the FFN's doc manager is only 90 days. That's the reason I began maintaining story folders on my machines in the first place. 

 

For some people, like myself, a purge can be a blessing. It would erase anything that I felt was subpar and a reason to rewrite a missing story to a higher standard. I have found that no matter how close I look my stories are still full of simple mistakes. Anyway, back up your work often an keep them in a safe location, It would be a shame to lose favorite stories because of something beyond our control as we've lost too much in the purges a few years ago as well as writers removing their work for whatever reason.  




#968879 NS Post War-Fic - Heal Me

Posted by Merchant Of Blue Death on 16 October 2018 - 05:21 PM

I read this a few days ago and I admit, it was different but enjoyable. I can see these two running towards each other in a situation such as the one in the story. My only complaint is that I wish the chapters were longer. 




#968878 Naruto As A Father

Posted by Merchant Of Blue Death on 16 October 2018 - 05:17 PM

I'm looking for stories where Naruto returns to the village after either his trip with Jiraiya or on an extended mission with a child or two in tow or when he returns to find that he and Sakura have a child together. There is one like that on FFN that was posted this year but I'm looking for older stories, preferably before the time we found out who his parents were. 

 

As a person that raised one daughter as a single father those stories strike a chord with me which is why I enjoy them so if anyone can hook me up with some old gems, I'd appreciate it. 




#943437 How Do You Get Past Writer's Block?

Posted by Merchant Of Blue Death on 20 July 2017 - 06:59 PM

Personally I go back and read the oldest fan fictions I can find. It doesn't have to be related to what I'm writing. Just the 'innocence' of the story, when we knew so little and nothing of the betrayal that would be pulled at the end of the series, is enough to get things going again. For me it's that "I can do better than that" desire after reading a story that was started for a few chapters and then died. I also listen to my music collection and that at times seems to work as well.

 

What I learned that doesn't work is starting another story. This makes the block that much larger for me, it;s also led to the stopping and demise of "A Boy And His Fox" as well as the slow down of an Evagelion story that was started before my current Naruto/Sakura project. The more stories you start the more pressure the the readers start putting on you to finish what had begun as a way of breaking a writer's block. Just clear your desk, mentally and physically, and step away for a couple of days. I don't know your writing schedule and your word per chapter goal but don't touch and and don't think of your project for a couple of days.

 

Come back after your break and listen to your music and I found the farther from the the tone of your story the better, I personally listen to Ren Fair singing groups like Merry Wives Of Windsor and the Poxy Boggards to get my mind somewhere far from Konoha or where ever and dive into the FFN library. If I'm lucky my mind starts stringing ideas on the framework I've built for the chapter.

 

I know it's a little weird sounding but as you know with my works, the further from canon you stray the harder it is to write chapters because at some point you're working without a safety net, and since I shoot for a minimum of 8-10,000 words a chapter I need all things I can find to help. With me the stranger the better. 




#943197 I'm Here, What's To Eat?

Posted by Merchant Of Blue Death on 17 July 2017 - 01:14 AM

Well, I'm the Merchant Of Blue Death and I ship primarily Naruto and Sakura. I've an account on FF.Net under the same name and have a few stories with this pair. The latest and most well received story there is a little tale called Tip Of The Spear. I'll be the first to admit that it's not for everyone but it's different form whats being written now. In fact I've gone to the earliest days of fan fiction when not that much was known, such as Naruto's father was given the Name Arashi and Orochimaru was the big bad wolf at the door.

 

I'm older than the average person that ships or even writes fan fiction for an anime like this but it's what I like to do. I'm an anime fan that can remember Speed Racer shown the first time in the US in glorious black and white. Over the years my interest in anime and manga grew, at first to p**s off my friends that were die hard Marvel and DC fans and later because good stories began to filter over to America from Japan in the early 80's. My all time favorites are Akira, Full Metal Panic, Evangelion and of course Naruto, not the anime so much as the manga, RahXephon, and Gunslinger Girl are some of the many that I enjoy and still watch from time to time. One day I'll get around to writing for some of those as well.

 

Favorite pairings in Naruto are of course Lady Sakura and Lord Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru, Tenten and Lee as well as most canon pairs with the exceptions of N/H and S/S. Really what were they smoking when chapter 700 came out? Well one consolation is that we can give Naruto and Sakura the happy ending they worked so hard for.

 

About myself, I'm old but my mind is still young, I blame that on the fact that I spent twenty years in the US Navy and as I got older my co-workers, Shipmates really, stayed the same age, between 17 and 21. being around these folks kept my mind, my music and cultural tastes young. I've some college and am a few credits short of a BS in psychology but since I'm happy with my life I see no reason to go back to school. After reading what some of today's college students have passed off as a good story I'm afraid I'd tear apart the first English teacher I came across. My education is as I said some college but most is based on courses I took in the Navy to further my career. In elementary through High School I was a poor student, in fact I was not at the bottom but the bottom of most of my classes. Having said that, the standards were still high enough for me to still write a sentence without embarrassing myself using the wrong word because two or three words in our language sound alike.

 

With my writing, it's not a work of art and I will never claim it to be. It is, however, the best I can do and I can create a whole new world adventure and romance for my favorite characters. It's chance to make things right for star crossed couples. Naruto and Sakura of course but anyone that's fans of Evangelion know Asuka and Shinji were cheated out of their happy end as well. I think the reason I started writing for Naruto was because of how fifteen years of emotional and chronological investment with his story was tossed out the window for reasons even they, the creators, can't explain. 

 

I try to set the characters in an AU, the same to some extent but different to a degree. I also try to tip the hat to earlier works when I can as well as liberally lacing each chapter with Easter eggs. One thing I try to do is keep Naruto true to himself, no matter how mature he gets or seems, he still has his, as Sakura would say, idiot moments. The Naruto and Sakura I write are based off of their post Wave arc personalities. Their at that point in canon to where they have a bond of trust and Sakura is starting to see Naruto as more than an annoying idiot that seems bent on ruining her attempts at being with Sasuke. In my stories she's usually already with him either by choice or by a marriage contract, the difference from canon is that she's actually happy that she's to be Naruto's wife. Their love is a strong one that can be tested and can come close to breaking but it's able to withstand anything in their way. 

 

Sasuke on the other hand is a funny one to write for. To tell the truth, I hate him and his whole clan. Between his obsession with power and that clans power coming from the theft of other's hard work, I can't find a thing I like about any of them. That said, I can't just bash him at every turn either. Naruto wouldn't be happy with me if I treated his best friend and brother like that. So, I turn to older stories that had him as a loyal and trusted companion, teammate and brother. Sure, they have their moments but their as close as blood. I base their relationship on the one my best friend and I have. We've known each other since the summer before we started fourth grade, we've been friends ever since 1968, that's almost fifty years so I can see Naruto and Sasuke having a friendship that lasts as long or longer. While not self insertion you'll find pieces of me and those I know in each and everyone I write. 

 

Having said all that, I know it's long but I'm old, sue me, I hope to make friends here and share some fo the things I've not even posted on FFN.

So, who has food?