Sky on Fire: Walk Through Shadow -- Chapter 06

[skylar_inari]

Title: Walk Through Shadow
Chapter: Self-Realization
Author/Artist: Killaurey
Word Count: 8,143
Summary: Sidestory to Slow Burn. [Shikamaru centric] While Ino is off in Kumogakure for the Chuunin Exams, Shikamaru's nightmares worsen and his control over his shadow unravels. Getting it together again means facing his worst enemy-himself

Comments

[hungrytiger11]

I wrote on your Saku/Kaka story that it was a different style than your others but in some senses, that's not really true, is it? You do use dreams in your stories a lot and you manage to make then both surreal and yet very realistic (like dreams one could really have). This. though not a real dream, does show off your dream-strength well. I liked the introductio of Odd-Chouji as well and am interested in what Odd-Shikamaru (Shadow!Shikamaru? Dream!shikamaru?) has to say in this next chapter.

[skylar_inari]

Hahaha. I can't deny that I'm fond of using dreams in a lot of ways--I find them interesting and in dreams, some things become more malleable while others remain hard facts to the characters and seeing what changes and what doesn't when they're out of the 'real' world is something I enjoy.

I'm glad you think the dreams are realistic, though! I try hard to make them... make sense, within the boundaries of a dream. (If that makes sense, it might not, it's really early in the morning for me...)

<3 Odd-Chouji was fun--I like writing Chouji in general because he's so soothing compared to Ino or Shikamaru, and then Odd-Chouji, like Odd-Ino, are more... reflections of how Shikamaru sees them, for all that Shikamaru doesn't know how they relate to the real Ino and Chouji and isn't sure he wants to know. Which, really, is a theme for Shikamaru. If he'd wanted to know everything, from the start, he'd have had far less problems.

As for what the other Shikamaru has to say... <3 I hope it'll prove interesting!

/rambles

[ishime]

Hi!
I've been reading this story for a while but I'm a laaazy-ass lurker and I just got myself motivated enough to leave you a review. Because. Well. It's a really cool fic.
I haven't read Slow Burn before this so I don't really know the context but still, I love Sadako and the temple - especially the passage about how it was given to the Nara clan forever, because yay! clan history. I really loved the dreams and Odd-Ino, too, and Shikamaru interacting with her and Sadako. The way he forgets things, forgets to ask questions, looses sight of where he is, it all gives this feeling of a place from old tales - places where people always get lost.
*/ramble*
I'm sorry I don't have something relevant to say about this chapter. I'm still surprised by how surprising and unsurprising the end was - I mean, facing oneself is a really common theme in dream training worlds, and yet I didn't exactly expect it

[skylar_inari]

Hi hi! Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm glad you're really enjoying the fic! \o/

<3 It was surprising and not, I suppose, definitely, Shikamaru facing himself at the end of this chapter. I'm super glad it's interesting to you, though.

Thanks so much for pointing out the typos you noticed! I'll fix those... probably tomorrow, since I'm heading to bed right away. ^^; Oops? But I'll fix them right away and thank you so much for telling me about them! I appreciate it! And thanks for telling me that I'm switching tenses at times--I am a native in English and I muck those up all the time! I'll do what I can to fix that, though it might take a little longer than the typos to work through. <3

Thank you for telling me both about how much you enjoy my fic and how much I have to fix to make it even better! <3 <3 <3

[rushin_doll]

Finally got around to reading this (it's been a busy few weeks

[skylar_inari]

Busy is definitely catching, hahaha.

The reveal at the end was definitely meant to be more of an 'oh, right, duh' sort of thing than 'OMIGOD RLY'. I mean, the summary for the entire story pretty much gives away that this was going to happen from the start, so there wasn't much point in writing it as a huge shock. Not to him, not to the people who read it, if that makes sense? Because it's something that Shikamaru had to have known from the beginning but hadn't really known, which is a theme all throughout this story. Shikamaru spends so much time knowing so much that he doesn't know as much about himself and his own reactions as he'd like.

I should... edit... the last chapter, yes. >.>

*has it written; has just been lazy*

[rushin_doll]

And then I had a super-crazy weekend!

So, yeah, all that stuff you said.

NOW GET TO WORK ON THAT NEXT CHAPTER!

Tired hugs,
Ana