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Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: Post-ARC-01 Expectations
🕑 Added 2022-11-14 14:52:51 +0000 UTCUPDATE [Dec 05, 2022]:, NOW OPEN TO EVERYONE.
First things first, there was supposed to be another Interlude chapter, but I've decided to scrap that as it no longers adds anything meaningful to the story. For those curious: It was supposed to be the first time Hiji bullied Takuma— but I think we are fully aware of Takuma's time in the academy.
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Point No. 1— Setting
Now, those who have read till Chapter-30, we know that Takuma is going to be shipped off to the oh so dreaded Genin Corps.
This post is first and foremost to discuss what are your expectations from the Genin Corps. What is your image of the Genin Corps? I ask you this as Takuma will be spending a considerable time in the Genin Corps, so proper world building must be done for the place to flesh it out.
I have already done some of the primary world building on my end, but your input will help with ideas that my one very limited mind might not have considered— Do you guys want it to be militaristic, or should it be like an adventure guild, or do you think inspirations from CN cultivation novels' outer-circle sect have place here— because I am thinking of taking some aspects from all of these things.
As you might have guessed from my writing style and themes in ARC-01, the Genin Corp will be a tad bit darker— but it won't be overly dark and I'll be keeping a firm grip on the percieved angst; also, the hardship-to-payoff ratio will be better from here on out. All-in-all, Genin Corp won't be your grandparents' home but it also won't be a cancer hospital for children.
Tell me what you expect from the Genin Corp setting?
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Point No. 2— Takuma
I have gotten comments about Takuma not being a likeable character. And I see where people are coming from. But I didn't want to make him a character who's in control of his situation, actions, and emotions all the time. Yes, in the future he will definitely be a character who will be in control of his actions, that will allow him influence the situation around him, but he will still be semi-normal human who will have his baises, flaws, and quirks.
Growth will come through progress that will happen with time and life experience
For this section— I DO NOT want suggestions for his power set, I already have that figured out for the foreseeable future. I want anyone participating to focus on his personality.
Personality traits that you want to see in Takuma. Quirks that make him unique. Things that hinder him. Likeable points that you think he should have. Any fictional (or real) character you think I should draw inspiration from. What is your vision for Takuma?
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Point No. 3— Relationships
As a writer, I have this bad habit of placing my protagonists in a vacuum. What this means is that they don't effect external events and don't get affected by them.
For example, for those who read my HP: A Magical Journey would know that the Cursed Vault plotline that stretched throughout the novel placed Quinn(MC) in isolation. For a majority of his time, he was alone and not interacting with anyone.
That's just bad writing. As a reader, I want my MC interacting with others, influencing the world, and letting the world influence him. Actions should have meaning and past experiences should hold meaning. I want something the MC does effects something far away, and something that happens far away affect on Takuma.
For TOR, I can see this bad habit gripping the story in the form of training. Takuma will end up alone training, away from the plot, just doing his thing. And while training is important, and we will see it— I also want growth from other places. For that, I would like to know Takuma's relationships with others.
Let's keep romantic relationship out for now. He's still too young.
The relationships I want your input is on— Comrades, Friends, Colleagues, Antagonist, etc. Things like Boss-Subordinate dynamics that will show up in the Genin Corp setting. I want him to keep interacting with people who will influence growth, in both good and bad ways. Not just stupid training somewhere alone.
Takuma isn't going to be a cold bastard. He will developements attachements to people, romantic or otherwise. They will influence his actions, even if they don't benefit him (I know people dislike that in OC-Insert novels).
What sort of dynamics do you want to see?
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Point No. 4— Anything Else
What else do you wish to see in the novel? Go ahead, tell me.
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-> You DO NOT have to fit all your points in one comment. Thought of something on the spot, make another comment. I don't care if you end up making ten different comment as long as they address something meaningful.
-> I will reply here on Patreon comments, but if you want to have more of an active back-and-forth with me, Discord is the place to do that. For that, you will have to connect your Discord to your Patreon. Only by doing that, will you gain access to Patreon-Exclusive Discord Chats — which will be the only place I will discuss the points in this post as we don't want spoilers for others.
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Waiting for your response,
FictionOnlyReader
[Nov 14, 2022]
Comments
Louis Kasser
Point 1: Genin Corps vs Jonin Sensei -> Jonin's are grooming future Jonin's their students are high investment already and the village cannot risk them willy nilly. Genin Corps is probably a militaristic meat grinder. You probably get some form of basic training, a path of progression in terms of skills, and then assigned deployments/missions. Point 2: While I dont think Takuma should be some sort of Alpha Male gigachad who laughs in the face of jutsu I would like to see him have a little more confidence. The crying scene just felt so out of place. Maybe its a personal bias on my end, but whenever something emotionally fraught happens I tend to laugh maniacally for a little bit as my form of release. I could be totally wrong here he is facing down a death world. Point 3: I tend to view the Genin Corps like the military. Sure you can be posted with the same one or two guys from boot camp for a short term you will eventually be posted where you are needed the most. It would reinforce the ability of everyone the konoha genin corps to work with everyone else rather than be focused on a set team.
Arthur Ehode
Point 1: definitely militaristic. I even think that, with the number of personnel there must be, having some ranks within would be good as well and a precise hierarchy. Point 2: I like the way he feels more real. Quinn was the epitome of confidence. Sure I wouldn’t like takuma taking everything with fear first then moving past it, but having his highs and lows vis a vis some situations feels realistic. This thing about nerfing for me isn’t true. Even a character can feel realistic and we don’t have to expect him to be the most optimistic about everything like every other shonen heroes. Point 3: somebody talk about buddy system, and I was thinking about teams even if they can be more than 3. Having a fixed team with or under him with time, and adding to that maybe inter clans/village/countries cooperations, or intelligence network spanning multiple areas can add more to the relationships aspect imo. In the military, boot camps and training create links so it could be a mean.
FictionOnlyReader
I usually announce if I'm planning to take an extended break. I usually take a break between arcs/volumes, but since we are still at the start of the story, my mind's still fresh— and I don't need an extended break to plan stuff. If I don't announce it, I'll atmost miss a day or two. Though, there will come a time when I will reduce the release rate to 5ch/week when the plot has progressed to become complex enough for me to take time for planning. It'll happen when I introduce major elements on mystery into the story— which will come later in Takuma's shinobi career. Things will be fun~
Barnacleboy
Tbh the genin corp should be militaristic since its kinda in the name. I imagine them to be the canon fodder thats sent to the front line first. For example the kyubi attack should have hit the genin corp the hardest. I also imagine them being the units sent on to dangerous border patrol missions or base safety missions like village patrol, gate duty, evacuation, and police after the uchiha massacre. I cant see it being like an adventure guild unless you have enough contributions or something like that. I do see them getting time off depending on where there deployed or stationed at though.
I was wondering when the next arc would start?
FictionOnlyReader
I’ll make sure to properly explain the concept of Genin Corps then.
DaoOfAnime
Point 4: I would like to see some romance. Combat, training, and becoming OP is nice and all but it gets bland at times due to the constant repetitive fighting and training. So I would like to see some character interactions and development that will lead to romance.
DaoOfAnime
point 3:I know you said lets keep relationships out. But I would like to see Takuma interact with Hinata. If you think about it, they are in rather similar situations. She has difficulty with her confidence, shown ridicule from her own father due to not being able to follow with the training methods and her timid personality unfit for heiress, not to mention the regular beat down from her training which was more like domestic abuse, kidnapped as a child, etc. You get it, she doesn’t have a fun time as a child. Yet she does have the potential to become strong if someone can properly guide her and she, like takuma, also has fears and mental health issues of her own to overcome. Ngl, these are just excuses cus I like Hinata, but you do you author kun.
DaoOfAnime
Point 2: I like to compare Takuma to Zenitsu from Demon Slayer. Both Takuma and Zenitsu were poor (albeit for different reasons), both were called pathetic and weak, and yet both trained their asses off to become stronger. I hope to see Takuma have some sort of development like Zenitsu did: overcoming his fear and focusing on what he is good at. Zenitsu overcame his fear of demons(and thus his fainting habit) with sheer anger/rage and focused on the first form of the thunder breathing style like his Gramps recommended he do and turned it into his strongest weapon. Zenitsu literally became one of the strongest in canon. Similarly, I hope to see Takuma fully rid himself of his fear of “belonging” and find his talent and refine it to a terrifying degree. His talent seems to be something to do with illusions since he is so good at the clone jutsu and see through genjutsu. So maybe something like a genjutsu master? Dunno where tou want him to head in terms of abilities.
DaoOfAnime
Point 1: Don’t really know what the genin corp even is but I would imagine it to be militaristic since they are shinobi.
Lazerate
I don't really see why should he be in the genin corps. No, I understand that this is because of failures, but I thought that's the place when you fail after genin graduation... And it's like he was good enough in the third attempt. What would be if he didn't manage to pass? He wouldn't have been able to get even to the genin corps? I don't really like this twist. For the genin corps itself, I see it like some military organisation with desperate people who don't reallt wabt something. And ofc there must be bullying. From elders, from some chuunina maybe... I don't like it, but maybe it will make Takuma stronger? Though, now I am still unsure of Takuma... I thought his sensei would be able to somehow change Takuma's destiny and the decision of administration(?). He has some good reports about him, he has a known teacher, why not... Hope Maruboshi won't leave Takuma alone. But I believe he will be next to the only person who helps Takuma.
SleepySnake Zzzz
Personality quirk- I think he should start making plans for broad situations that may or may not ever happen however they should not be detailed plans they should be plans he can fall back on when he doesn’t know what to do and everything is going to fast to think clearly. ex he’s on a mission and he gets ambushed by dozens of other ninja he will be too surprised to do anything and is in shock his mind will automatically follow any plan that he made thats similar to the situation and go with that one I may not be the best move or it could be a great one
Fréderic Van Audenhove
Relationships: bad teams that try to exploit rejects from the academy, a dependable senior that dies early, a loner period for Takuma to build up experience and succes as a shinobi with some friends who work at the mission center or are chunin who encourage takuma to keep going or are impressed by his shinobi skills taught by muraboshi while others at the corp don’t pay attention to them which results in their stagnation
Chase Roush
I wanna see Takuma meet Kabuto in the genin corps. The anxiety from just seeing him around. It would be even better if he was partnered with him in some way. I want Takuma to start using 21st century knowledge a bit more. I also want him to get a rival someone that will push him to get better. When I was watching Naruto as a little kid I felt kishimoto put a lot of effort into friendship and how it could change a person that has always been alone. I want him to have a boss that's gets on his nerves but since the village is militaristic he has to listen to him/her I want the genin corps to be militaristic I wanna see that. The original Naruto it felt more like a guild and it felt weird to me. It's a ninja village ninja are bred for war, why isn't it more like the military, just a question I had.
