it's actually also SATOKO's ten year anniversary this year too but i forgot until it'd already passed on june 15th, whoops! maybe i'll draw smth extra for it later XD
but more importantly thank you all SO much for reading, supporting, and enjoying my fic for a WHOLE ENTIRE DECADE!! THAT'S CRAZY!!! i can't believe how far we've come
SATOKO truly, sincerely, forealsies has such a special place in my heart. it's a reflection of how i've grown over ten years and in a lot of ways acts as a journal in terms of how it records the way my perspectives change over time
the fact that there's thousands of you out there who enjoy it will always be mindblowing, once again thank you all so much!!!!
one of my favourite scenes, i can't help but read satoko's monologue out loud every time it's so good XD
i'm SO pleased with how this turned out, drawing comics is always so intimidating until i start and then i'm like wait a second, i'm a genius and i'm brilliant and i'm so good at this LOL it also serves as a solid warmup for drawing satoko a bunch, which is something i haven't done in like... over three years :'D
it's also my first time drawing t10!! they're so fucking cute n funny ; v ;
my original thumbnails were also hilarious so i'll include them here:
i think it's also really fun to show how a comic comes together! way easier to show art process vs writing process too LOL
hello! first of all thank you for gifting us with your writing <3 idc how long it takes youre doing it well and youre doing it for free. fuck the haters. secondly, youve probably gotten this question before but i was reading your recent commentary post and the drop down menu for different drafts of the same piece looks SO useful, what program do you use to write ? thanks again for your effort+dedication, i hope you have a great day !
hi!! thank you so much!!! yea honestly 99.99999% of the time i just ignore, block, and delete those kinds of comments but i was feeling juuust spicy enough that one time to actually address it lmao
i use onenote! i keep searching for and trying alternatives bc microsoft as a company is Not Good but nothing i've tried matches the drop down menus unforch :')
this chapter was so fucking hard to get right it broke the record of the amount of iterations it took to figure it out, i mean just compare the amount of tabs i have for previous chapters:
it gets longer as the chapters get more complex, Day 22 took three years to figure out for a reason and truly not for a lack of effort LOL
and then there's the latest chapter:
l m a o
you'll notice way at the bottom it says "R9 POV ver." and "Shino's Vibe." i joked like two years ago on this blog that it takes me a long time to write because i insist on challenging myself with bullshit like writing in shino's POV, and that's still true
when i first came back to working on this chapter in january i was still trying to make the R9 POV work. i even did actually start locking in shino's tone and my interpretation of his character and his quirks and whatnot
(fun fact #1: originally this chapter was going to be about what the other genin teams were up to and i was gonna leave y'all on double cliffhanger without resolving the previous one LOL)
but then writing in R9's POV was really killing the pacing and i was having a hard time getting back into the momentum of battle, so ultimately i was like nvm, if i'm gonna change POVs that can come later, rn we gotta keep with satoko
because THEN i came up with the countdown idea, and very early on in this new "satoko POV" version of the chapter i came up with the ending, and then that was a MUCH better segue into the next part of the Forest of Death that i have planned :D
(fun fact #2: i came up with the idea of orochimaru stabbing satoko way back in the year twenty-fucking-twenty lmfao that's FIVE YEARS i've been waiting for this!! FIVE!!!!!! it was so brutal and nasty and visceral i really heavily debated if i was gonna go through with it. there was even a version of things where i toned it down by just making it a genjutsu but then i was like nah, if i'm gonna write a turning point it's gonna be a fucking turning point lmao no copping out here folks!!! also i love and miss oro as a genuinely horrifying and scary antagonist u v u)
and that's just like, the logistical set up of the chapter!! i finished the first draft on january 28th and then spent a WHOLE MONTH editing it purely because there was SO much fine-tuning that went into characterization that resulted in all the iterations of the chapter shown above
shikamaru was unexpectedly the hardest to pin down this chapter bc i was really torn between his laidback strategist side (ex. in his battle vs temari) vs his "i come from the stealth shadow assassination clan and you just hurt someone i love" side (ex. killing hidan)
there were several versions of the scene where he stops sasuke in which he was channelling the latter much more:
i was torn between "t10 came here ready to risk their lives" and "t10 came in to do a rescue mission and now sasuke's trying to get them all killed"
the first vibe results in a more sardonic shikamaru who's resigned to being a good shinobi against his will, like we see during Konoha Crush when he stays behind and is willing to sacrifice himself to stall the sound nin. the second one makes shikamaru mad lmao
and since we've already met T10 in the ink stick chapter, it wouldn't necessarily have been bad to see angry shikamaru, but i felt it would've been jarring to get the full other extreme of his emotions right out the gate. it also would've been jumping the gun development-wise bc if i kept the angry shikamaru, asuma didn't even have to die for us to get there which i think would cheapen the emotions we see in canon and also leave me with limited options on where to go with him in my own story XD
which isn't to say the rest of T10 weren't also thinkers to varying degrees. i had a better hang of ino overall:
and for chouji, i thought a lot about how much of a coward he was going to be compared to canon, in what contexts he'd be brave, etc. in general my struggle was balancing competence vs canon because a lot of the incompetence in canon i chalk up to kishi's lack of foresight, but otoh there were a lot of aspects that could still make sense:
tl;dr i did a lot of thinking and changing my mind and writing multiple versions of one scene to figure out what combination of feelings and emotions and dialogue options worked best. at one point i genuinely considered doing a text adventure because that's what my drafts were shaping out to be on their own LOL
i like the way i described the process to Away in chat:
bc that's really what it was! it was pushing characters in different directions to see what outcome it would lead to, and it was VERY challenging but VERY rewarding and i'm glad you're all vibing with it too
so anyway this post has been sitting in my drafts ever since i posted the chapter bc trying to organize my thought process into anything even remotely coherent was a task in and of itself
if i find the time and energy to gather more thoughts then i'll certainly keep sharing them XD
hello new readers, no amount of rude or passive aggressive or even well-intentioned comments on my fic whose ultimate purpose is to get me to update faster will get me to update faster
in fact it's much more likely to annoy me into updating slower
most importantly i do not control the rate at which SATOKO gets written, the last update took nearly 2 years and before that it took 3 years so like understand nobody has control over this not even me lmfao
oh boy oh boy oh boy!! shit's getting REAL in this one folks!!
We watched in horrified silence as Orochimaru emerged from the shell of his own skin, wet and sticky, and locked eyes on his prey. Then, with a manic grin, he sprinted straight at us.
Chouji was frozen still. Sakura grabbed Sasuke. I braced.
Ino stepped forward.
"Shintenshin!"
Orochimaru went slack, and the smile that would haunt my nightmares was replaced by something arguably worse - lips twitching, eyes rolling, jaw cracking. Ino was fighting to stay in control.
For just that alone, I wished the Yamanaka were a different kind of genius.
"C-Can't hold… for l-long…!" creaked Orochimaru's voice.
Yep. Nightmare.
"Shortest distance to the barrier is south!" Shikamaru declared, clutching Ino tight in his arms.
"Sakura, conceal us!" Sasuke ordered.
"Right!"
There was no arguing this time. Sakura cast her genjutsu and we ran.
AVAILABLE ON AO3 [[HERE]]. Thanks for your support!!
i got sick with a really bad flu that turned bacterial so i had to go on antibiotics which really sucked but the good news is it apparently unlocked my third eye and sixth gate bc while i was bedridden i went absolutely fucking insane on @awaylaughing and psychic-beamed 3k+ words of world, character, and lore building for SATOKO directly in her face for a week straight and have since properly started drafting the next chapter
i'm not making any promises about when the next update will be because i'm also working full-time atm and now that i'm done being sick i need to go back to prioritizing that, but it felt worth mentioning that this has been a truly phenomenal week of SATOKO for me lmao
this is also why i don't like when ppl ask if this fic is on hiatus or if it's dead, and why i've stopped making claims about when the next chapter will come out. it took me a long time to realize that the only time i'll write the fic is when the stars align and never when i try to force it lmao
like SATOKO truly is my lifelong passion project. it brings me immense joy to write and create it and what i've posted is just the barest tip of the iceberg. but in terms of actually writing it, the inspiration/headspace/writing solutions/etc. come and go on a whim, i truly have no fucking control over it
SATOKO is like the moon and i'm its only werewolf, i come out to write only when it's full but the cycle is anywhere between a month to 3 years XD
i got sick with a really bad flu that turned bacterial so i had to go on antibiotics which really sucked but the good news is it apparently unlocked my third eye and sixth gate bc while i was bedridden i went absolutely fucking insane on @awaylaughing and psychic-beamed 3k+ words of world, character, and lore building for SATOKO directly in her face for a week straight and have since properly started drafting the next chapter
i'm not making any promises about when the next update will be because i'm also working full-time atm and now that i'm done being sick i need to go back to prioritizing that, but it felt worth mentioning that this has been a truly phenomenal week of SATOKO for me lmao
the "i couldn't move/think/breathe" part that was first written in ch27 was originally about Orochimaru almost biting sasuke. it still was gonna be that all the way up until a day or two before i finished writing the chapter when i realized it works way better if oro was attacking satoko instead.
there was a small logic issue where i couldnt see why oro would keep messing around with these kids if it was clear sasuke didn't have the sharingan yet, so having oro attack satoko in an attempt to make sasuke awaken it was the perfect solution, and a fun subversion of expectations even for myself!
i'm just glad i was able to bring that ch27 teaser back full circle. after 3 years and several chapters, i was worried things would change too much for me to incorporate it and i'd have to quietly retcon it or smth e v e;;
idk if i could commit to smth so far in advance again, i have a history of changing entire plotlines in the middle of chapters and arcs so it's great that it worked out this time lmao
IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!! and Boy Howdy is satoko feeling fresh
After countless hours, days, weeks of training, this was nothing.
I formed the signs in a flash - tiger-boar-ox-dog-snake - and replaced myself with the burning snake corpse.
My surroundings changed in a heartbeat.
Behind, the sound of inflamed water crashing into the snake. In front, Orochimaru's piercing gaze, unblinking.
It must have been the adrenaline, or maybe being subjected to Orochimaru's foreboding genjutsu actually broke me and I've already lost my mind, because a rush of pure thrill coursed through my veins when I caught a glimmer of shock in his eyes and punched him square in the jaw.
I was expecting the battle to be painful, exhausting, terrifying—
But I wasn't expecting it to be fun.
AVAILABLE ON AO3 [[HERE]]. If you enjoy my work and would like to leave a tip, you can do so on my (new) ko-fi.
a new volume cover to celebrate the return of my naruto SI fic, SATOKO! i've been drawing a LOT the past 2+ years so i'm excited to share my improvement with everyone :D
SATOKO Volume 3
Chapter 21: Springtime of Youth: Electric Boogaloo
Chapter 22: Ignite! The Sparks of Youth!
Chapter 23: Embrace the Spirit of Youth!
Chapter 24: The Burning Passion of Youth!
Chapter 25: Our Erupting Flames of Youth!
Chapter 26: Behold! Our Overflowing Youth!!!
Chapter 27: 21/2 Days
Chapter 28: Rookie Genin Attempts to Make Gourmet Inkstick
Chapter 29: Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.
Chapter 30: Three of a Kind
it only took almost three whole years but FINALLY i was able to figure all my shit out and write it from beginning to end!! thank you everyone for your unending patience and continued love for SATOKO while i took my sweet fuck time getting it to the place where i wanted it to be!!
it just needs to be beta-read, and then after that you can expect some extra bonuses to celebrate the long-awaited return of the chuunin exams!!!!
