Holy fish! It's not a meme!

[splinteredstar]

I live, and I am not - despite the season - a zombie. Surprise!

I have been busy, dealing with being overwhelmed, dealing with panic attacks, and working on a million different things. None of which are actually ready to post, though several are close. *is editing that Anderson analysis thing, and the Pride/Wrath thing* And I'm feeling much better than I have been lately.

I do, however, have fic.

Sort of.

You see - and I'm sure this happens to all writers - I get random bits of fic and can never do anything with them. Ideas for a beginning or  an end, bits of prose that don't match up into anything that makes sense; things like that. They get shoved into a folder on the loyal flash drive for me to look at and occasionally poke at. Since I don't have anything finished and I want to post something other than a meme, y'all get to see two of them.

And in honor of nenya85 posting the final chapter of her awesome AU fic, The Newly Revised Book of the Dead, these are both about Yuugiou's Seto Kaiba. (As always, comments and crit are welcomed.)




First of all, the very start of a crossover fic that has been rolling around in my head for...oh, probably years now. I've never been able to do anything definate with it except for this beginning. However, the beginning amuses me, so here it is.

This never-written fic has a very simple premise. It is called, "Let's shove Seto Kaiba and Professor Severus Snape into each other as much as concievably possible and watch the explosions."

I do that to these two a lot.

But right. Fic.

(start)

Seto Kaiba did not believe in magic. It was the stuff of fairy tales, children's dreams and fool's fantasies. He was too smart for it, and too practical.

Mind you, that didn't stop it from invading his life at every opportunity. Yes, from the first Shadow Game with the Spirit of the Puzzle on, his life was full of magic. And no amount of fighting, complaining, and out-right ignoring could get the damn stuff to go away.

That didn't mean he had to accept it.

Thankfully for his sanity and everyone else's well-being, most of the magic stayed around Yuugi and his friends, whom Kaiba avoided if at all possible. If he was itching for a duel (and just that! he growled at anyone snickering, including his own mind) he would seek out the Spirit of the Puzzle, but other than that he stayed well away from them. He somehow kept running into them anyway, but that only solidified his belief that, yes, there was a god of fate, and he was a complete asshole who needed to get punched.

But for the most part, things worked out. So Seto Kaiba was more than annoyed when magic came into his life in a very obvious and insistent way, in the form of a man that would NOT be ignored and would NOT go away.  

It started on a Friday afternoon.


()

It was late in the afternoon, but that didn't mean that Kaiba was slowing down. The regular work and sleep schedules meant nothing to him, and he would be busy working for another four hours at least. After all, sleep was just a few hours that he could spend outwitting and outbuilding the competition. He knew he was better than them, but it never hurt to be sure. Besides, he was almost done with the schematics for his next prototype, and he was so close to figuring out the last issue...

There was a reason Mokuba had suggested that he just spend all his time in the development lab and leave the all the business negotiations to Mokuba. There were also reasons why Mokuba couldn't yet, but maybe later. He was better at negotiations, after all.

There was a buzz, and he looked up from his schematics to see his office doors opening. Ah, yes, he did have one last appointment today. Some foreign group, wanting to hire his assistance on an unspecified project. He needed more details, but they were insistent and he didn't have any outstanding contracts out. If it was a useless project he would just have them tossed out

(end).




Now, another fic that I have drafted out completely (huzzah for one-shots, I suppose) but I cannot fix to the point of being satisfied with it. One of my favorite scenes in the manga is when Seto awakens from his coma, and I've always wanted to write a story based around that scene. This is my attempt. I think it fails, but I don't know how to fix it, so here it is.

 

(start)

Seto Kaiba was sitting inside of his mind, slowly putting the pieces of himself back together. He has assembled the pieces before, put them together again and again, but he wouldn't stop reforming it. Not until it was perfect.

He always had Mokuba at the center, though. That wouldn't ever change. Mokuba had been at the center at first, but Seto - foolish Seto - had pushed him to the side, pushed him out to the edge, until he was on the outside, just another piece to be tossed aside.

Seto would never let that happen again.

But other than that, he still had work to do. His soul wasn't perfect yet. He had to be perfect, strong and unbeatable but not so obsessed that he forgot his brother again. He couldn't, wouldn't let that happen.

But he had time to make it perfect. All the time in the world, though he didn't want to keep Mokuba waiting too long...But he wouldn't, would he? It didn't feel like he had been in this odd, in-between place in his mind for very long....Not that there was any way to tell.

He felt comfortable, calm in this odd place, but after all, if he couldn't be content inside his own mind then where could he be content?

But he wasn't content, not quite. There was something off, something _not right_ around him, but he wasn't sure what it was. Something was missing, gone. But he just shrugged it off for the time being. He was having too much fun reassembling himself.

Eventually, though the feeling was too strong to ignore. He stirred, and began to pay attention to things other than the mass of himself that he was working on. He had never truly looked around him, but now that he did he saw that he hadn't missed much. Just fields of darkness lit only by the shimmering pieces of his heart.

He wasn't sure why they glowed. He had coated them and infused them with so much darkness he thought that's all they were.

Maybe they were lighting themselves in order to help him see them. Hmm. Maybe.

…Something was missing. He was sure of it now, a piece of his heart that wasn't there. He wasn't sure how he was sure - it felt like his awareness of the surrounding world was slowly slipping back, but why he didn't know.

He reached for the piece of his heart that glowed brightest, that shined like a dragon's scale in sunlight, his brother, and immediately figured out what was wrong. The piece was here, tucked away in his heart where he would never let go, but the person to whom that piece was connected was gone. That piece served as a connection, a cable between Mokuba and Seto, and the cable was taught, the other side far away and hurting.

Mokuba was gone, not from his heart, but from his physical surroundings. And he was in danger. Seto didn't know how he knew, but he did.

NO!

That couldn't happen. That wasn't an option. Not again. That...No!

He was frozen for a moment. What should he do? He wanted to go, leave now and save Mokuba from whatever was hurting him. But then he looked down at the shimmering pieces of himself, still unfinished. If he stopped now, then he would still be in pieces and he might go back to the way he was. And that wasn't an option either.

He sat there, conflicted for a moment. He didn't want to go back, or be so broken apart that he couldn't do anything, or put it back together wrong and become who he was before, but every moment he worked was one that Mokuba was god -since when did he believe in god? - knows where going through god knows what.

He reached out to the other side of the connection, trying to figure out what was going on. It took him awhile, but he eventually found the other end, far far away. Mokuba was there, captured and frantic. And there was...What's this?

Pulsing not ten feet from Mokuba were Seto's cards, his weapons and hobbies and saviors. His cards shouldn't be there, just like Mokuba shouldn't be there, but they were and that wasn't right. Someone had taken his cards and was using them.

So those bastards would take not just his heart, but his soul as well?

Anger pulsed through Seto. His spirit surged - he wasn't sure how he was doing any of this, but it worked so that didn't matter, he could figure it out later - past Mokuba, into the cards.

Beneath his soul's feet, deep somewhere inside him and almost unnoticed, the pieces of his heart started to reform on their own, piece by piece slipping themselves into the perfect spot. But there were more important things to deal with right now.

Seto opened his body's eyes, and for a moment he saw not his grounds or his compound or Mokuba, but the stern face of Not-Yuugi from across a dueling table. Something wasn't right - those powerful violet eyes were shut in defeat and Seto hadn't caused it. That shouldn't happen - Yuugi shouldn't lose to anyone, anyone but him. His whole spirit rebelled, screaming out, "No!"

Yuugi couldn't lose. Not like this. He felt himself loosen, dissolve, destroying himself to keep Yuugi from losing to someone other than him - he didn't know why that would work but it would. Because if Yuugi lost he would die - Seto wasn't sure where he got that idea, but he knew it was true - and Seto wanted to duel him again! Yuugi stared at him, and neither spoke.

His body stood, and took a step. For one moment, he was staring Yuugi in the eye, with no words or thoughts or anything but knowledge of the other's presence and an answering knowledge of his. He whispered,

"Yuugi..."

Then the illusion was lost and he snapped back to reality, to himself. He was staring out the window on his compound, wearing his too-tight pajamas and his muscles feeling too weak. There was no duel, no dragon - how did he know about the dragon? - and no Yuugi. All of that had been a dream, to be sure, but it didn't matter. There was just knowledge and realization and anger. 

There was something he needed to do, a crucial thing to recover. Once he was done with that, then he could finish fixing himself, but until then what he had done already would have to do.

Mokuba was in danger, and Seto would never stand for that again. Not while he could fight.

(end)

All righty. Now, back to editing essay and fic...


Splintered Star

Comments

[nenya85.livejournal.com]

Ack! I’m sooooo sorry for taking this long, but I wanted to sound intelligent. Also as soon as I finished Book, I got snowed under at work, and am just now popping my head up ^^;;;;;;;;

I like the grumpy tone in the beginning of the first one. I like how disgruntled Kaiba is by the thought of magic (and the prideshipper in me loved Kaiba growling to himself that a duel was ALL he was itching for regarding Yami no Yugi.) And the idea of Kaiba punching out the god of fate was funny – I wish it could happen literally!

The one paragraph I think you could expand on was the one beginning: “There was a reason Mokuba had suggested…” I’m assuming it’s because he loves it and is better at in than anyone, but it would be interesting to hear Mokuba’s reasoning as filtered by Kaiba. Also it took me a couple of reads to realize the “He” in “He was better” referred to Kaiba and NOT Mokuba.

I really liked the ending – mainly because it seems like a beginning (lol) Am I right in assuming his appointment is with Snape or some other Hogwarts representative? I have to admit the idea of Kaiba at Hogwarts having to deal with magic on a daily basis is irresistible. Not to mention I really want to see his face when someone calls him a “Muggle.” Even if he has no clue what it means, the silliness of the name would have to get to him. And now that I think about it, given his anger that he and Mokuba are not stray dogs from the gutter, I really, really wouldn’t want to be anywhere in range if someone calls him a mudblood. Probably a good thing they don’t teach killing curses at Hogwarts….


I thought the second one was really interesting. That’s one of my favorite moments – when Kaiba wakes up. It’s really sniffle provoking to think of him doing so to find Kaiba gone.

I liked the almost contemplative tone of the beginning. It reminds me of how when you see the image of his younger self putting the puzzle back, he’s smiling. And I also liked the way you mixed in a sense of how his perfectionism is really driven by desperation, especially in the paragraph that begins, “But other than that, he still had work to do…”

I really liked it from “So those bastards would take not just his heart, but his soul as well…”

First because I love the description of Mokuba and his deck as his heart and soul. In a bit of a tangent – in his duel with Pegasus, Kaiba makes it quite clear which is the more important.

Also the story really builds from there and gets more intense and powerful until the end. I liked how there was a sense of things building and leading up to his determination to return – even if it means leaving his soul unfinished – because without Mokuba, nothing, not even his soul matters. And, really, without Mokuba, his soul is incomplete.

I think you’re being hard on yourself about what you have here. If you’re looking for suggestions on what you can look at, I think maybe the part from “He reached for the piece of his heart… to “So those bastards…” I think you have all the right thoughts there but it feels a little low energy. The moment when he realizes Mokuba is missing, must have been an incredibly intense one. It ties into his almost killing Mokuba in the first place, his feelings of failure for not being a better protector, and his fear about losing him. Also Kaiba hates indecision and here he is torn about what to do. I might stay with and explore that more.

Anyway thanks for posting this! One of the things that’s always gotten me is how Kaiba chooses to leave with his soul incomplete, then goes on to duel and try to rescue his brother when he is so badly damaged himself. Hhmmmnnnn I guess it was business as usual…

[starsplinter.livejournal.com]

*laughs* It's okay. It's not like I can't sympathize with being overwhelmed or something.

Yes, the tone in that start is one of the main things that amuses me so much. It's just so hilarious and haruphy. I wish I was better at that tone... (And the prideshippy amusement is the only reason that line exists. It makes me snicker.) Kaiba does deserve the chance to deck a god of fate, imo, though I'm not sure which one.

Hmm...Yeah, I think you're right on that. *rephrases* I'll need to work on it still, a bit. Thanks for pointing that out.

Yeah, that is just the start of it. (I actually added a couple more paragraphs last night after thinking about it. Might add them on later.) The people coming are actually Dumbledore and Snape, and so far Kaiba is Not Impressed. (Dumbledore's bright purple suit doesn't exactly help, admittedly.) It's interesting, a bit - in my head Kaiba is almost proud of being a Muggle. He has no love of the wizarding lifestyle and thinks most of the people in the world are complete idiots. He's *glad* he's not a Wizard, and tends to mutter insults to the lifestyle when the opportunity presents itself. (For instance - "So you raised a kid from birth to be a superhero in order to defeat a guy with a lisp and a gang." "Yes, basically." "And what the hell was wrong with just shooting him? He doesn't wear a bullet proff vest, does he?") I doubt being personally called a mudblood would bother him - god knows the man's been called worse. Now, if someone called *Mokuba* a mudblood....

It's one of my favorite scenes too. Hell, I love that entire duel. (Watching Yami get all righteously pissed off for Seto makes my prideshipping heart squee.)

I'm glad you like the fic! It's odd, but I'm sure you understand - I don't even know what's wrong but it feels like it's messed up - or even that it's not where it should be. That being said, I think you actually pegged it. There's not enough energy in that scene, and that bugs me. It needs to feel like a punch to the gut when he realizes that Mokuba is gone, and it doesn't. I don't know how to fix it, yet, but now I know what it is. Thank you. *bows*


You're welcome! If I ever get anything more to these fics, I will post them as well.


And a random note on the VR thing that occured to me on my way to work. (Where I'm at now. Shhhh.) In a lot of your fics, Kaiba is facinated and in love with Yami, but it's not easy to regard him as an equal and a kin. Us fans recognize them as the same - two different shapes forged of the same metal - but Kaiba doesn't. Yami is, to him, an alien thing, something enticing but inexplicable. Whereas Yami no Bakura might be a bit easier for him to recognize, something a little more familiar to him, once Kaiba really looks at him. It's getting Kaiba to see Yami no Bakura that might be the issue - because if Yami no Bakura is good at anything it's deflecting attention. But....Wait. Idea. How does this VR thing work? Does it show Kaiba's demons or the demons of everyone in it? Because the flames of Kura Erna might be the things that will kickstart Kaiba's understanding of Yami no Bakura.


Anyway, seeya! I will be on tomorrow, and won't have to run away for work.


S