Entry tags:

arc: brand new endings, fandom: ookiku furikabutte, type: reference

[Reference] Brand New Endings

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Carl Bard

From a single springkink challenge a universe was born. Since then, helped along by spam, porn, crazy chats and pretty art, it has grown into what promises to be a tentacular monster, jumping back and forth from the high school years to much, much later.

This post is here to help the helpless. That is, make it easier to figure out what happens when. (Also, store my inane ramblings where they won't bother my flist.) So, confused reader, welcome. I hope you enjoy your stay. ♥

Timeline (+ indicates unpolished draft or WiP, read at your own risk :3)

+ Control's the talent - Abe's baseball issues started long before Haruna even entered the picture.

Cake, Sympathy, Heart Cartography - Izumi's hot, sticky, irritated - and, for reasons he can't quite fathom, being nice. [Written with yukitsu, only available from the Pitch a Rainbow anthology.]

Something Borrowed - Izumi knows it's safer to watch the one he likes from afar... assuming he isn't being watched back. [PG-13, Izumi/Mizutani + art by synatri + guest comic by rainy_takako]

+ Wonder [Part 1, currently filter-locked] - No-one gets born a sex god. [NC-17, Izumi/Mizutani]

+ Not so random threesome - After the fall, someone has to pick up the pieces. [R, Izumi/Abe/Mizutani]

Something Yet to Learn - You can't move on just by willing it - but you can enjoy the attempt. [NC-17, Abe/Izumi + art by kiwimangoodness]
Home, Not to Stay - Mizutani always comes back, Izumi always takes him in, and neither knows exactly why. [NC-17, Izumi/Mizutani + art by explodinguterus]
Crashing Through Paper-Thin Walls - To Mizutani, Izumi's place is like poison. [PG-13, Izumi/Mizutani]

Been Here Once Before - Mihashi's stubbornness doesn't only apply to baseball. [PG-13, Abe, Tajima, Mihashi]
The Road Ahead - Following through with a life-changing decision is a lot of work. [PG-13, Abe]

First Step - Abe, Mihashi, Izumi/Mizutani

Second Step - Abe, Shun, Tajima

+ The Sweetest Thing You Did (You Did With Great Resignation) - Reasonable flat, happy friends, steady boyfriend - Izumi's life was sorted out. And then there was the pet shop. [PG-13, Izumi/Mizutani, Abe] written with yukitsu

+ Marvelous (title subject to change) - There comes a point at which even Tajima might have to fight for something.[currently PG, Hanai, Tajima] A note: At this stage, this is the last fragment of the entire series. The boys are around 23/24, and quite a lot of things have happened. I wasn't going to write it out for a good long while, but kiwimangoodness was being demanding, and the story is coming out as a series of drabbles. As such, a lot of things are going unstated and it probably doesn't make sense if you don't have complementary information (which is usually dealt out in random chats) on what the hell happened to them since... highschool. For the sake of referencing everything, however:
i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii, viii, ix, x, xi, xii, xiii, xiv and further

[BNE tag: IJ - LJ mirror]



Ramblings (May Contain Nuts Spoilers)
♣ Been There Once Before: Such is the way of crazy universes: it started with a single idea. This time, the underlying thought was that Abe needs Mihashi as much as Mihashi needs Abe. Only, Mihashi is growing out of it, whereas Abe isn't. Pushed to an extreme, when the inevitable separation happened, what would become of Abe?

A mess, as it turned out. But bits and pieces of the backstory I wanted to have (if not tell) all grew lives of their own, making them impossible to write into a fic that had a deadline coming up on it.


♣ The threesome: At the time I started Been There Once Before, Abe had cut contact with everyone except Hamada. This, because I'd built a story of doom and drama around Hamada's lost year and according to it, he would have been the most suited to keep Abe from a downward spiral of stupidity angst and self-destruction. At this point, yukitsu asked for Izumi/Abe/Mizutani. kiwimangoodness provided (OMG NIPPLES), and I was lost. The best way I found to justify it was if they ambushed him while in his destructive phase. Hence Hamada's influence diminished, and the unlikely friendship between Abe and Izumi started.

Later, yukitsu mentioned that the mystery of Hamada's past had been at least partially solved in canon, in a way that had nothing to do with mine. [ETA: rainy_takako has confessed to providing mistaken information about Hamada, so there seems to be no actual info about his past, and the ANGST AND DRAMA scenario might have worked. If only I remembered what it was. >_>] That part of the story was completely trashed (making the snippet as it is now slightly AU), though Hamada remained a part of Abe's life, mostly through Izumi.


♣ Abe and Izumi (aka, the universe's Greek chorus): To be honest, I didn't expect this at all. It started with the threesome, got continued with the idea of Abe meeting up with Izumi (&Co) for drinks every now and then, and then most of the exposition happened in my head (and in chats with yukitsu) as conversations between them over beer. It was at that point, I think, that they became the backbone of this universe - rather than Abe's mistakes in dealing with Mihashi.

Their undemanding relationship was already set in my mind when explodinguterus posted scans of a doujinshi that featured vampire!Abe coming on to Izumi (mostly for blood) over at the #oofuri irc channel. One thing led to another, I promised porn; it fit into the relationship a lot better than I expected.

What will happen of their friendship once they're both happier in love? That one has yet to go to the judges...


♣ Actually, I realized later that the above part isn't quite true re: completely unexpected. There's another fic (still in the 'vague outline' stage) where Abe works himself up over Mihashi, to the concern of his teammates. After many shenanigans, Izumi takes it upon himself to give him a little 'bitch, please' comfort speech. So I suppose, deep down, I really believe they have a snarkbuddy kind of chemistry?


♣ 54: Except in a few exceptional cases, I try to stick to canon as much as possible. Alternate Universes (by my own definition, as there are many of those out there) are not my thing, so canon plausibility is a big factor for me. And the thing with writing a future fic (although I do have a whole mess of things planned for the high school timeline) on an ongoing canon is: you get jossed. I didn't expect that of a sports manga, but here it is... one chapter, and suddenly Shun's speech to his team becomes void (haha, went to Koushien in their first years), the story of slow decay I'd planned needs to be rethought entirely, as well as the reasons for Nishiura's ongoing fame in Saitama, years later. It's not impossible, of couse. Tweaking and adjusting is part of the game, after all. It wouldn't be fun otherwise.

Still, now that the Summer Tournament is over for Nishiura we have no idea what happens next, and regarding this fic, I have to say... 'I await what follows with dread'.


♣ Crashing Through Paper-Thin Walls: For something so short, this gave me no end of trouble. I'd been getting a few sad comments about Izumi's plight, and I suddenly decided to write Mizutani's side, because I'm a sucker for miscommunication plots and... yeah. At that point, I knew what I wanted to say, and the first few lines came out in second person. So far so good. I was confident in my ability to handle second person for a short piece (and if I couldn't, well, at least it would be short?). Except then, it occurred to me that Mizutani's motivations weren't coming through at all, and he sounded like a vapid airhead. And there were other things I wanted to say: how he broke a date from Izumi's landline phone while Izumi was sleeping, and it didn't affect him because he and the girl didn't click. How his mother has superpowers of figuring out that he's made up with Izumi - except she doesn't seem to know what 'making up' entails. By what strange reasoning Mizutani decided that, ironically, he's pretty much a gay guy's woman (it made sense in my head, okay). And a few other things that would have made the fic three times as long... which I really couldn't handle in second person. And I didn't want to rewrite because the few parts that worked were ones I really liked, so...

I thought it was going to be an easy ficlet, written-edited-posted in two days, but after over a week of struggling to put things together properly, I gave up. I trimmed to the one complete scene I had, made a few corrections for inner coherence, and posted it with hatred in my heart. I did want to tell the story, after all. Still, it's a disappointment; but at least I learned that Mizutani is a lot more difficult to handle than I thought - or maybe I don't have a good enough hold on his motivation yet?


♣ The Izumi and Mizutani show: yes, I confess, for a pair that wasn't originally supposed to be in I've developped quite a fondness for them, and they seem to be taking all the spotlight; mostly because all the fics involving other characters would be a lot longer, whereas with them I can get away with mini relationship snippet. And porn. But in case anyone is wondering, I'm also slaving on the Abe backstory and the immediate sequel to Been There Once Before. Soon, soon. Someday.


♣ As of May 3rd, my progress spreadsheet (yes, I have a spreadsheet. my brain, it forgets things) tells me I've written about 20,000 words in this universe (most of them posted), and a rough estimate of 130,000 to go. Canon will have their grandchildren playing pro baseball by the time I'm done ohgods.



Layouts
I'm the type of writer who doesn't map things out first. Layouts for the story, yes. Floor plans, not so much. I usually only figure out as much as I need to make things go on, which usually isn't that much. But as artists spoiled me with pictures, it became necessary to figure out what their respective living spaces looked like. Hence, hours spent spamming the #oofuri channel with yukitsu and kiwimangoodness, trying to match three things: my descriptions in already posted fic, the existing art, and the basic premise that the architects for these places weren't drunk idiots.

At this stage, we have this:
Abe's studio, first designed by kiwimangoodness, edited by yukitsu, finalized by me~ (yup, a group effort)
Izumi's flat, by kiwimangoodness



Co-conspirators

JAB was first to donate art to this retardery. I spent the next day in a state of manic glee that made me pass for a moron in the eyes of the world. It was totally worth it. ^3^b (And yes, the Izumi-Abe BFF icon I use for this 'verse is from that fanart. :3)
LMC is another generous artist, who, rare occurrence, managed to make me blush with porn. At work. Again, more than worth it. X3
Their oofuri art can be found there:


More guest art/comics were provided by Eli (genius mastermind behind the Oofuri Art Meme) and Taka, to whom I am eternally grateful.

Yukeh also comes up a lot in the ramblings above, and for good reason, as she's been my sounding board for a lot of the stuff here. ♥ Enabler, yo. Also dragged me into oofuri kicking and screaming.

More generally, all the kind folk at the irc #oofuri channel, who put up with my endless plot blathering. <3


Music
Music plays a big part in my inspiration to write (and occasionally, in the direction the writing goes). Little by little, with the occasionally hilarious participation of some readers, playlists get made. So, following each pair's plotline:

Izumi&Abe - The kind of friend who won't miss an occasion to bitch at you (but will take your calls at 4am)

Matchbox 20 - Bent (If I fall along the way/Pick me up and dust me off)

Téléphone - Oublie Ca (Tu sais ce que ça fait/Et puis tu le refais)

Regina Spektor - On the Radio (This is how it works/You're young until you're not/You love until you don't/You try until you can't)

Something Happens - Momentary Thing (It's at the point of breaking down/Cause there's nothing left to say/I think you waste your sweetness/I think the whole thing blew away)

Maria Mena - This Bottle of Wine - As the night moves slow you/Look more and more like someone I could/Love tonight without the fuss

Savage Garden - This Side of Me (For just this one time, one time/Let this fantasy become real/Because I am not afraid to let you see this side of me)



Tajima/Hanai - Trying hard isn't always enough.

Téléphone - Ca, c'est vraiment toi (Quelque chose en toi/ne tourne pas rond/Un je ne sais quoi/qui me laisse con)

Muse - Time is Running Out (You're something beautiful/A contradiction/I wanna play the game/I want the friction) vs. Deep Blue Something - Breakfast at Tiffany's (You'll say we have nothing in common/No common ground to start from/And we're falling apart)

The Thrills - The Curse of Comfort (How the curse of comfort/Has plagued your artistic life/I hope love just gets in the way)

The Notwist - Pick Up The Phone (We've been here before/When life is a loop/You're in a room without a door/Pick up the phone - and answer me at last)

Nine Days - Marvelous (Do seasons changing stir old feelings/And in conversation/Does my name still come up?)

The Faders - No Sleep Tonight (I'll just make this a little more obvious/'cuz I get what I want and I want you to get with me) vs. Céline Dion - It's All Coming Back to Me Now (If you want me like this/And if you need me like that/It was dead long ago/But it's all coming back to me now)

Muse - Sunburn (I'll feel a guilty conscience grow/She burns like the sun, and I can't look away/She'll burn our horizons, make no mistake)

REM - Wanderlust (Looks like I pulled a fast one/Looks like I went to town/Looks like the world revolves around me/Looks like it's falling down)

Sara Bareilles - Gravity (You're neither friend nor foe/Though I can't seem to let you go/The one thing that I still know/Is that you're keeping me down)

Mike Doughty - I Hear the Bells (You snooze, you lose/Well I have snost and lost/I'm pushing through/I'll disregard the cost/I hear the bells/So fascinating and/I'll slug it out/I'm sick of waiting)

Carbon Leaf - Life Less Ordinary (Well I hate to be a bother/But it's you and there's no other, I do believe/You can call me naive but/I know me very well/at least as far as I can tell/And I know what I need)


Izumi/Mizutani - Breaking up and making up : variations on a theme

Adrienne Pierce - Downside of Love (Why suffer when you feel like this?/Side effects, don't you worry/No time, what's the hurry/You're just a swallow away from bliss)

Melissa Ferrick - Drive (Whatever you want/I'll give it to you/I'll give it to you slowly/'till you're just begging me to hold you)

The Raconteurs - Steady, As She Goes (When you have completed what you thought you had to do/And your blood's depleted to the point of stable glue/Then you'll get along)

Incubus - I Miss You (I see your picture/I smell your skin on the empty pillow next to mine/You have only been gone ten days/But already I'm wasting away)

Poe - Amazed (I can't seem to say what I'm doing here/My tongue is all twisted around the air/I'm looking for words that were so well rehearsed/But I can't find them anywhere) vs Republica - Drop Dead Gorgeous (When I look at you you're forgiven/You're forgiven/I know my ex boyfriend lies/Oh he does it every time/It's just his permanent disguise/Yeah yeah but he's drop dead gorgeous)

K's Choice - All (I know you don't belong in this room/But you're here now/So what can I do)

Adrienne Pierce - Reaching For Me (We dance like the shadows we turn and twist but we don't touch/I can't take it/The closer you are the less I see, when it's all too much/I know you won't be/Reaching for me)

Tryo - Serre-moi (Je ne donne pas long feu/A nos tragédies à nos adieux
Reviens-moi (reviens-moi)/Tu partiras mieux comme ça)

Matchbox 20 - Stop (All the times I've given in/You fit me like a second skin)

The Fray - Unsaid (We're both pretty sure/Neither one can tell/We seem difficult/What we got is hard as hell) vs. Genesis - That's All (Why does it always seem to be/Me looking at you, you looking at me/It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all)

K's Choice - 20,000 S. (20,000 seconds since you left and I'm still counting/20,000 reasons to get up, get something done/But I'm still waiting)

Kristen Barry - Ordinary Life (But in this life, I'll give it time/Cause it's always swimming up from behind/It'll be alright, it will be fine/Cause it's nothing more than ordinary life)



Suggestions? Songs? Threats of mauling and dismemberment for what I'm putting Higuchi's fantastic canon through? Feel free to drop a comment~