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sub_dividedSeries: Mushishi
Wordcount: 100
Written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
brainbreaker who requested Ginko at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
drabble_trade (exchange #1).
It was a fisherman's village perched precariously between a mountain and a high cliff. A storm last year had blown one house over the edge; it caught on the rocks a hundred feet below, battered but miraculously whole. Mist hung over everything in the summer and in colder months, it snowed. In fact most did not stay through the winter but tied what they could to their backs, lashed down the rest, and walked over the mountain to wait out the bad weather in another town.
It was in this second town that Ginko found himself the bearer of unwanted news.
"Those bruises, that your daughter cannot explain," he said. "I am sorry, but no mushi caused them."
***
Series: Naruto
Wordcount: 100
Written forreality_is who requested Shikamaru/Temari at drabble_trade (exchange #2).
No sooner had he stepped outside than the door closed firmly behind him.
Thump.
The inevitable muffled but apologetic voice said: "Sorry, son."
Shikamaru sighed. "Dad, let me in."
"Can't. Your mother says the noise is giving her a headache."
Thump thump.
"You should talk to her. I think she’s trying to tell you something."
Shikamaru didn't doubt it, but- "Why do I have to do something about it?"
Thump thump THWACK.
Kunai littered the yard, their handles proudly upright like a hundred middle fingers. The one stuck halfway through the door vibrated.
"Son," his father said. "Are you stupid?"
***
Series: Yukikaze
Wordcount: 536
Written fortongari who requested Rei/Plane at drabble_trade (Exchange #2).
There are times when overthinking is not productive -- on Fairy it is frequently also unhealthy -- but Jack's job requires that he ask the uncomfortable questions which the majority of the staff -- out preference and, most likely, instinct -- avoids. He has a trick, which is to think through the problem just far enough that the answer is useful, though not so far that he steps over the brink.
For example: SAF has so far managed to survive by incorporating enemy AI into friendly units. What are the implications? Considered from a tactical angle, this is a useful question. Bring in ethics and it rapidly becomes a mess. Or: Why is it JAM knows more about us than we know about it/them? Only an idiot would overlook the possibility of infiltration, but spend too long obsessing over it, and everyone becomes the enemy.
How can JAM appear suddenly in the middle of friendly airspace, no warning but laser fire? Jack did some acid in college -- stopped after he saw a good friend put away for it -- and he often thinks, privately, that hallucinogens have nothing on this place.
Fortunately Jack has a very good head on his shoulders. He estimates himself saner than 90% of the air force; certainly he's saner than anyone spending time in the air. He chooses to apply himself intelligently; that doesn't mean he's afraid to ask questions just because he knows he won't like the answers.
An example of the kind of question he doesn't like to consider (but does anyway): If Rei is in love with Yukikaze, and Yukikaze is at heart learning A.I., does that mean that Rei is in love with himself?
There'd been an attempt, a few months back, to impose some kind of rotation on the Sylvie pilots, a kind of partner-swap, guys flying other guys' planes. Jack joked about swingers but no one laughed. Instead he had to listen to an overly serious comp tech explain the Brass' main concern, which was that the A.I. might be getting too attached to the pilots. If true, this would represent a huge liability, because if the pilot died or went insane, Brass couldn't afford to throw away the programming and start over from scratch. Jack listened with a sinking feeling, wondering how he'd explain it to Rei.
Rei predictably refused to fly any other plane, but surprised Jack by allowing one of the other guys to handle Yukikaze. Jack concluded that behind Rei's remarkable calm was the conviction that Yukikaze wouldn't accept another pilot -- but as it turned out, Yukikaze had no such qualms. She extended the interloper the exact same courtesy, precision, and disinterest she accorded Rei. In the end it was the other guy who complained, saying he couldn't fly a plane whose interface was so abrupt and uncommunicative.
Then the casualty rate picked up again and suddenly the Brass had more important things to do than devise cruel schemes of separation. Rei and Yukikaze were reunited, happily he assumes, although he doesn't personally believe in the happiness of airplanes.
Still, what can you do? There's a war on.
***
The first two haven't changed, but I edited the third one a little.
Wordcount: 100
Written for
brainbreaker who requested Ginko at drabble_trade (exchange #1). It was a fisherman's village perched precariously between a mountain and a high cliff. A storm last year had blown one house over the edge; it caught on the rocks a hundred feet below, battered but miraculously whole. Mist hung over everything in the summer and in colder months, it snowed. In fact most did not stay through the winter but tied what they could to their backs, lashed down the rest, and walked over the mountain to wait out the bad weather in another town.
It was in this second town that Ginko found himself the bearer of unwanted news.
"Those bruises, that your daughter cannot explain," he said. "I am sorry, but no mushi caused them."
***
Series: Naruto
Wordcount: 100
Written for
reality_is who requested Shikamaru/Temari at drabble_trade (exchange #2). No sooner had he stepped outside than the door closed firmly behind him.
Thump.
The inevitable muffled but apologetic voice said: "Sorry, son."
Shikamaru sighed. "Dad, let me in."
"Can't. Your mother says the noise is giving her a headache."
Thump thump.
"You should talk to her. I think she’s trying to tell you something."
Shikamaru didn't doubt it, but- "Why do I have to do something about it?"
Thump thump THWACK.
Kunai littered the yard, their handles proudly upright like a hundred middle fingers. The one stuck halfway through the door vibrated.
"Son," his father said. "Are you stupid?"
***
Series: Yukikaze
Wordcount: 536
Written for
tongari who requested Rei/Plane at drabble_trade (Exchange #2). There are times when overthinking is not productive -- on Fairy it is frequently also unhealthy -- but Jack's job requires that he ask the uncomfortable questions which the majority of the staff -- out preference and, most likely, instinct -- avoids. He has a trick, which is to think through the problem just far enough that the answer is useful, though not so far that he steps over the brink.
For example: SAF has so far managed to survive by incorporating enemy AI into friendly units. What are the implications? Considered from a tactical angle, this is a useful question. Bring in ethics and it rapidly becomes a mess. Or: Why is it JAM knows more about us than we know about it/them? Only an idiot would overlook the possibility of infiltration, but spend too long obsessing over it, and everyone becomes the enemy.
How can JAM appear suddenly in the middle of friendly airspace, no warning but laser fire? Jack did some acid in college -- stopped after he saw a good friend put away for it -- and he often thinks, privately, that hallucinogens have nothing on this place.
Fortunately Jack has a very good head on his shoulders. He estimates himself saner than 90% of the air force; certainly he's saner than anyone spending time in the air. He chooses to apply himself intelligently; that doesn't mean he's afraid to ask questions just because he knows he won't like the answers.
An example of the kind of question he doesn't like to consider (but does anyway): If Rei is in love with Yukikaze, and Yukikaze is at heart learning A.I., does that mean that Rei is in love with himself?
There'd been an attempt, a few months back, to impose some kind of rotation on the Sylvie pilots, a kind of partner-swap, guys flying other guys' planes. Jack joked about swingers but no one laughed. Instead he had to listen to an overly serious comp tech explain the Brass' main concern, which was that the A.I. might be getting too attached to the pilots. If true, this would represent a huge liability, because if the pilot died or went insane, Brass couldn't afford to throw away the programming and start over from scratch. Jack listened with a sinking feeling, wondering how he'd explain it to Rei.
Rei predictably refused to fly any other plane, but surprised Jack by allowing one of the other guys to handle Yukikaze. Jack concluded that behind Rei's remarkable calm was the conviction that Yukikaze wouldn't accept another pilot -- but as it turned out, Yukikaze had no such qualms. She extended the interloper the exact same courtesy, precision, and disinterest she accorded Rei. In the end it was the other guy who complained, saying he couldn't fly a plane whose interface was so abrupt and uncommunicative.
Then the casualty rate picked up again and suddenly the Brass had more important things to do than devise cruel schemes of separation. Rei and Yukikaze were reunited, happily he assumes, although he doesn't personally believe in the happiness of airplanes.
Still, what can you do? There's a war on.
***
The first two haven't changed, but I edited the third one a little.