Survey Results: Civil Affairs Spin Off! Who’s Next!?
So, Surveymonkey sent me a 3 month anniversary email regarding my Spin-Off survey and that kind of hinted that it was time to take it down. Whoops! Sorry, Surveymonkey!
Just thought I’d share the results! So for those of you who don’t know, the survey consisted of a general question about what type of fanfiction readers wanted to see next;
After that, I provided summaries of 4 potential Civil Affairs Spin-Offs and ask that my readers give them a star rating with ‘5 Stars’ being ‘Loved It’ and ‘1 Star’ being ‘Not Diggin’ It...’
SUBMISSION # 1: PRIORITIES
“Each generation of The Uchiha clan has only ever had two primary goals; survive and find a way to exterminate The Senju. After all, the Senju clan is the only real threat to the Uchiha...or at least that's what Madara always thought. Madara Uchiha has discovered a more pressing threat from within his clan - in the form of his own father. Madara faces the harsh reality that in order to protect his clan he must overthrow his father and seize leadership. While the Council of Elders supports him, they also recognize Madara's most glaring flaw; he's a military tactician, not a politician. This time, Madara needs to try and get his way with finesse...not the force he's used to.
Lady Fuyumi Tetsuhimi, the eldest daughter of a Lord from the Land of Iron, has an enviable social prowess and a keen mind eager for political games. Intrigued by the unrest within the Uchiha clan, Fuyumi agrees to be Madara's bride and help win him the position of clan head. When she accepts the clan's request for her hand in marriage she agrees to live for the Uchiha Clan from that day forward. And she meant it.
The story follows the two as they navigate the realities of an arranged marriage where both individuals prioritize the needs of the many over each other...or even themselves. One must have priorities.
The story begins in the Warring Clans era and continues until after Konoha's founding, chronicling Madara's marriage and the power-struggles within the clan during that time. As it takes place in the Civil Affairs Narutoverse, there's plenty of world building.”
SUBMISSION # 2: YOU CATCH MORE FLIES WITH HONEY
“Tobirama Senju was determined to be a bachelor for life. The clan’s Council of Elders and his father tried to persuade him into marriage more times then he could count but he couldn’t be bought. With a wife came children…which was something he really didn’t want. He had no right bringing children into a world where they wouldn’t be likely to live past their eighth birthday. So, he remained happily unmarried and planned to do so until his dying day.
He might have succeeded, if his soft-hearted brother hadn’t been determined to bring the Hanabachiro clan back from the precipice of destruction. Lord Hanabachiro came to The Senju clan begging for protection with little to offer other then a marriage to his daughter – and Tobirama was the only unmarried Senju man available. Not pleased with the deal but unable to deny his brother’s request, Tobirama Senju married Mitsuka Hanabachiro.
Mitsuka wasn’t very bright and was extraordinarily pure-hearted. This combination made her naïve which from the beginning gave her no-nonsense husband nothing but grief. When she wasn’t irritating him she was getting into trouble. And when she wasn’t doing that…she was slowly melting the wall of ice he’d put up around his heart. Which in truth just irritated him more until one day he woke up and it didn’t. If Mitsuka was honey, then Tobirama was vinegar and you know what they say; you catch more flies with honey.
This story begins during the Warring Clans era and continues until Tobirama’s death, chronicling his life with his wife and exploring just how two people can ‘grow’ to love one another. It’s not going to entirely be romance as it does take place in the Civil Affairs Narutoverse and it will have a great deal of world building.”
SUBMISSION # 3: BULL IN A CHINA SHOP
“Azami Ito had never had big dreams, at least none so grand as moving to a big village and making money as a successful business owner. Her father did but she didn’t. She was more then content to live her life blissfully single, in her childhood home, consumed by her art. Her blown glass art, specifically. In her house she had always been the patient and steadfast one, unlikely to bend and less likely to break.
Her father was a naïve moron who was incapable of seeing the evil in the world and as a result, was swindled out of all his money and land. He then promptly died. This left Azami destitute apart from a ‘promised’ piece of property in Kumogakure that she was pretty sure didn’t exist. Still, with nothing else to her name and nowhere to go, she made the move to the hidden village to see this ‘promised property’.
To her surprise the building really does exist. To her displeasure, it’s a dilapidated heap of wood. She makes the courageous decision to stay and fix up the building to be a shop where she intends to sell her glass wares and with some elbow grease, she begins to make some progress. She even begins to make a name for herself.
Then the eldest son of the Raikage comes literally smashing through the roof and out the front door, leaving nothing but shards of glass in his wake. Azami’s life is about to take a strange twist that even she didn’t expect - she was about to fall in love.
Nothing about A says subtle: he’s a bull in a china shop (in more ways then one). Which means she’s in for a difficult courtship, considering A can’t come within 300 feet of her shop without causing major property damage.
Once again takes place in the Civil Affairs Narutoverse although obviously this one is in Kumogakure. Plenty of world-building with a bit more of a rom-com feel to it then the others. Since the Kumogakure hierarchy of Raikage seems to pass from father to son, there will be a lot of expanding on a ‘monarchy’ of sorts and all the political drama that entails. If you’ve read Civil Affairs, you’ll probably be able to notice some cultural differences that I plan to incorporate between Kumo and Konoha.”
SUBMISSION # 4: ANGST ISN’T GOOD FOR THE SOUL
“Hisano Takano, barely able to hurt a fly, was too gentle to be a ninja but that was okay since her fiery brother was always there to protect her.
Despite not being a ninja, Hisano does have the same chakra sensing abilities as her brother and her late father. Through these abilities she has discovered something very important; your mood is affected by your chakra, and your chakra is affected by the chakra of others. Even more fascinating, when certain stones or crystals are charged with chakra they can alter and even correct these ‘chakra imbalances’.
While her brother is wandering the path of the shinobi, Hisano dedicates herself to studying ancient documents that refer the very phenomenon she’s been witnessing. With their wisdom Hisano goes into business and becomes Sunagakure’s first, and only, crystal healer. At first, most of the village doesn’t believe in her methods and she’s treated like a joke.
That changes when a desperate Temari no Subaku, eldest child of the late Lord Kazekage, knocks on her door with a request for help that she could never refuse. Even if it means having to spend a few days investigating the chakra of the village’s notorious demon-container.
This one takes place in the Civil Affairs narutoverse and is really going to be about doing some world building with Sunagakure. It’s going to span from just after the chunin exams in the television series to Shippuden and is going to bring more depth to just what exactly Gaara did for the village. I feel like Sunagakure’s likely shattered political scene and nearly non-existent economy needs to have some attention brought to it. Also, it gives me a chance to build a refreshing GaaraxOC because TO ME, while it was realistic, the Boruto series did Gaara an injustice by leaving him without a romantic partner.”
Next, I asked if those taking the survey could order the results based on their preference of the order they would like to see the spin-offs published (#1 being published 1st to #4 being published last). The more times a story was ranked #1, the more points it got.
As you can see, the winner was: ANGST ISN’T GOOD FOR THE SOUL
Our Runner-Up was: BULL IN A CHINA SHOP
Since seeing these results I have begun serious work on finalizing the outlines of these stories and have made substantial progress in writing them. My plan is to have one or both ready for publishing by the time I complete Civil Affairs.
Stay tuned and thanks for participating!!!
