I'm glad to have this chapter online. I'm also very glad I gave in to my inner editor and took the additional time to smooth things out. I'd take even longer if needed. Editing is not supposed to be a one-time thing- you can always improve your writing.
Anyway, I think chapter 12 is one of those love-it or hate-it chapters.
You either love it, or you just hate it. I wouldn't be surprised if it actually induces people to stop reading the story.
So on to the A/Ns
OMGWTF, where is Harry’s kick-ass-ness?
First of all, my character’s name is Harry Potter, not Gary Stu. He’s not going to be able to fight a very experienced missing-nin and win, especially when other ninja and ninja-monks would be hard pressed to survive against the same missing-nin.
On a related note, I have to say the pacifist in me was not very helpful when it came to writing the whole 'fight' scene (if it can be called that).
I was tempted to detail some gore for the shock factor and to emphasise that fighting is not a joke, but people would have just concentrated on that for all the wrong reasons. And I didn't want to increase my rating level for the story.
Nothing changed from canon!
Really? Actually there were changes, subtle ones. And anyway, I never promised to follow any specific routes for the story.
Canon is Naruto's story. AtO's Harry has his own story that will be flavoured with canon. Take that how you will- just know that my plans will show up slowly, there are hints of it already but it'll all come together later (way later at my update rate).
Why is Harry so useless during the questioning?
Most people never really remember important events and tend to muddle up details after they survived a traumatic event. The Hokage knew the risks of asking Harry for information like this, even so, she didn’t have a choice in the matter.
Even so, I think Harry's information was ridiculously detailed.
Hedwig?
I completely had fun with her character in this chapter but I think Hedwig can pull of regal-ness rather well if given the chance. Oh Naruto, you naïve impressionable boy.
Sai?
He's the sort of person who grows on you with all his awkwardness. I really wanted to capture that because he's really trying to be a better friend.
Also info about Momen Tofu being his favourite dish was taken from the Naruto-wikia.
Ron?
Sleep-deprived friends always say the most amusing things. I should know, I've disturbed enough friends at the dead of night just for the hilarious pieces of friend-logic they spout.
Also when you've been friends with someone for 5 years or more, you tend to pick up nuances in the behaviour- like when they're hiding things, or sick, etc. Even someone as dense as Ron would be well-versed in Harry-speak.
Incense, shrine, photos?
I wanted to emphasize how Harry is in a foreign place and isn’t all knowing about the culture.
I also realised that Naruto has never had a chance to burn incense for his ancestors- if they do that in the Naruto-verse- and loved the idea of him wanting to do that all on his own.
Also I am mixing Buddhist, Shinto and maybe even some Taoist aspects here, because Naruto-verse seems to mix things.
Chakra and magic?
Well this chapter just has the second piece of the puzzle (previous chapters have various hints). I’m hoping to make things clearer in chapter 13/the future. Bear with me until then.
Chapter 13!
Not coming soon. All I will say is- even though it'll introduce one of my fav characters- I’m not going to start working on it for a while. There are some other things I want to finish (not just fanfics) before I can even contemplate starting chapter 13.
Hopefully that answers just about anything you would have asked me.
I'll be putting up all sorts of omakes later- I'll be spacing them out, no multiple blog posts.
Polar
P.S. Is it me or is AtO's word-count getting ridiculously large and intimidating?
P.P.S. Yay! I'm free to work on my KHR crossover- can you tell just how excited I am about that story? After that I want to finish my BleachXNaruto story... it's a matter of pride to me, I really want to finish the half-written things I pushed aside in favour of AtO or life.
P.P.P.S. Also, er... Go Canucks, Go! I've been sucked in to the NHL hype even though I prefer football/soccer. Either way lots of games to watch these days.
So glad to see the chapter up- I thought I was going to die from the deprivation *dramatic swoon* I've reread it five times already- I loved all the character portrayals, I thought the fight was well done (if possibly lacking in some description at certain points) Why would you think it'd induce anyone to stop reading?
ReplyDeleteHarry's fight was excellent, by the way. I didn't feel like Harry was weak at all, I think you got his character down perfectly. It was interesting to hear about his powers from Kakuzu's view, especially with the way you had some of the spells work while others just bounced off.I'm also still loving your Harry Naruto interactions <3 I could probably squee about that quite a bit more, but I won't XDYour chapters have become very long, but more in the YAY way than the intimidating one. I'm glad you'll be posting omakes until the next chapter, otherwise I'd probably half-die of deprivation again x)Anyway, thank you for the hard work!
Funnily enough it wasn't the fight scene that required a lot of editing. That part was actually easy.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's only me who gets intimidated by that large word count- i can't imagine how large it's going to be when I finish the story eventually.
As for why I think people might stop reading- hmm, it's more in reference to people who expected Harry to be totally kick-ass out of the blue and just save tons of people... stuff like that. It's interesting to see people's different reactions to the same thing.
Also, you re-read it five times? Too much free time on your hands? You could be updating your stories with all that time =P
I thought that this chapter was very realistic with the battle and the questioning afterwards. I wouldn't think that he'd be able to tell much useful information, because he's really not trained to be able to do so. Not like the ninja/shinobi are. I also thought that what he remembered and his reaction to the dango was realistic.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for that KHR/HP crossover! I hope that you can put it up soon.
Thanks a bunch for posting it today. It was the last day of my vacation in San Jose and this was a nice little addition to the end of a fun trip.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Harry being less-than-god-like during a fight is anything to get upset about. Talent in DADA class aside, he's still pretty much your average teenager - just one who has more experience with life or death fights than most his age. Recall if you will the end of book 5: once he realized Sirius was not actually in danger (and started THINKING LOGICALLY, but I won't go into that. Safe to say I don't think that was one of Harry's smarter decisions), his next immediate course of action was NOT to fight the Death Eaters, even though he had back-up in the form of Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville. It was to realize that a bunch of students were not going to beat a group of experienced murderes. His next decision? To get the frick outta there and focus on SURVIVAL, not victory.
So yeah, the fight scene worked for me. I probably would have been more unhappy if he had gone God mode and actually beaten the two S-rank ninja that easily slaughtered about two hundred warrior monks.
About taking time to work on your one shot, I don't mind. So long as chapter 13 doesn't take the 5 months that this one did, I won't nag. Omakes make everything bearable.
ATO's word count is not intimidating. A story with a lot of words is a sign of one of two things. The first is that someone has way too much time on their hands and needs a job. The second is that someone has way too much time on their hands and chooses to use it to give others something fun to do. You're the second.
Have a fun time with your other works.
Glad to know the fight worked for people, since I didn't spend as much time editing that part, I'd feared that I hadn't put in enough effort for it...but well, i think it got the main point across- Harry isn't a ninja but being a wizard doesn't automatically make him useless.
ReplyDeleteI honestly cannot promise that chapter 13 won't take as long or longer than 5 months. Life is going to get busier for me and fanfiction is just a hobby.
But I'm glad that people are supportive of me writing and concentrating my free time on other things.
I'm glad that people get what I was trying to portray with all those scenes and actions after the battle. I was iffy about the questioning since it's almost like rehashing the battle again- thought people would think it was a waste of time to read through again- but I felt it needed to be in there to show how Harry's isn't able to cope with the horror of what he witnessed.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to wait for the KHR manga to elaborate on a few points with new chapters before I complete my crossover. They seem to be going in an interesting direction that's bound to give a lot more background information... until then I still have other one-shots to complete- so I'll be busy either way.
Wow, you are a great writer. I love your story because you always seem to stay in character. I hate those stories where the main character suddenly becomes very powerful or suddenly evil. Though, I hate MPREG stories and the ones where the characters are suddenly in love even more. And there is a special place in hell for authors who change the gender of a character in attempt to avoid labeling their story as a yaoi. If you are interested I have compiled a short list of my favorite stories here: www.fanfiction.net/~randoru
ReplyDeleteSorry, I rambled. This was well worth waiting all of those months for! I know that you won't be updating soon but I hope that there will be a new one by September or so. And yes, I do look forward to your posts! I practically check everyday. A devoted fan, I am. :)
Update by September? I don't know. I can't really promise anything right now. i guess it'll happen when it happens.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yeah Mpreg is not my cup of tea either. Pregnancy, is not a magical love potion- the hormones make people cranky, irritable, semi anti-social and quite far from the all consuming love that people seem to imagine. I've seen my pregnant sis-in-law through most of those moods by now.
More than any of that I think Mpreg makes women seem insignificant and unnecessary. Not something I appreciate on any level.
Even so, I don't think writing any kinds of stories entitles anyone to a 'special place in hell'. Figures of speech (and I sincerely hope that was just a figure of speech) like that seem just a little bit much, don't you think?