Flicker From View
is a novella-length (and still ongoing) Rurouni Kenshin fanfiction written by Nagia. Its basic premise is a Peggy Sue fic, in which Shinomori Aoshi is transported from the middle of the manga-only Jinchuu Arc to the night Megumi escaped. Aoshi, still convinced it's a dream and all too aware of how the story goes, changes his own history in the very first chapter. The story itself follows the consequences of his decisions, both good and bad.
Provides Examples Of:
- Adaptational Badass: Downplayed. Aoshi re-enters the Takeda arc as strong as he'd been in the Gein fight (because he'd already gone through it), and Misao undergoes Training from Hell from Okon.
- Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed. Aoshi's a lot more benevolent and moral throughout the story than he had been at these points in canon, but it's because he's coming from closer to the end of his character arc to fix things that went wrong earlier.
- Arc Welding: Nagia welds the Takeda Arc to the Shishio Arc by having Takeda be one of Shishio's weapons' suppliers.
- Artistic License – History: Nagia's Kyoto fudges dates by a LOT. Everything she writes about, from fashions to the train station to the electric lights, did appear in Kyoto during the early Meiji era, but not all of it was present (or absent) in 1878. The most glaring of this is the train station Misao and Aoshi break into: according to Misao, the station's construction is complete as of 1878, but they're still waiting on track to be laid. In reality, Kyoto Station opened in Februrary of 1877 and had been operational since.
- Continuity Nod: All over the place. The fic plays around in a timeline populated by minor characters, so knowing Aoshi's and Misao's arcs really, really well can only help the reader. The biggest nod is to Shingetsu Village; in canon, Misao and Saitou met here, and Misao helped motivate Eiji to survive. In this timeline, Saitou and Kenshin liberated the village on their own — it's referenced first, obliquely, when Misao mentions that the Kyoto train station is completed, but there's been a delay laying down track near some remote village that isn't even on any maps.
- Does Not Like Men: Implied about Okon. She comes by it honestly, since she spent years of her life as a kunoichi and may have specialized in the honey trap.
- Foreshadowing: Plenty. The line that stands out is: So who is (Takeda) going to sell (his guns) to? If the answer is Shishio Makoto, Aoshi is just going to have to stab the greedy little coward. Turns out Aoshi was right; it remains to be seen if Aoshi is going to stab him.
- In Medias Res: Aoshi is transported from sometime after Gein set everything on fire, but before Saitou and the police arrived… to the night Megumi escapes Kanryuu for the last time.
- Kansai Regional Accent: It's strongly implied that most of the lifelong Oniwabanshu (the Aoi-ya cell & Hannya, Beshimi, and Hyottoko) natively speak with Kansai accents, and it's a big deal when Misao switches from her Kyoto dialect to Hannya's Kansai dialect.
- Knife Nut: Beshimi and Misao. Especially Beshimi; he's kind of a sharp-things-kleptomaniac. At one point, he steals a dinner knife without even remembering that he has it.
- Peggy Sue: The premise of the fic is that Aoshi somehow falls asleep right after the Gein fight and wakes up in Takeda's mansion. How this happened hasn't been explained, and Aoshi seems uncertain whether he was Dreaming of Things to Come or whether he's been reincarnated.
- Played for Drama: Cross between this and Reality Ensues. Almost everything is treated seriously, including the story's very premise (trying to make sure this timeline goes the way Aoshi wants it to causes him massive amounts of mental stress).
- Protectorate: Misao wants Aoshi to view Kyoto this way. Whether she's convinced him is anybody's guess.
- Take a Level in Badass: Aoshi took several of them, canonically, before the story even started.
- Those Two Guys: Hyottoko and Beshimi, who are stated to be closest and are usually seen together. Also Kuro and Shiro, who work together in the Aoi-ya's kitchen and generally get treated as a unit.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Played straight with Hyottoko and Beshimi, who are apparently best friends/roommates who yell at each other a lot, make convoluted bets, and possibly share prostitutes. (Aoshi doesn't want to know, but he's glad they're alive.) Also played straight with Sano and Shikijou, who seem to really like and respect each other (but also want to punch each other a lot).
