It was all the fault of a stupid, pink panda bear...
SanaKiri from Real Red by WIR
It's Christmas Eve but I feel Christmas came early to me, as this year's edition of santa_smex brought not one but TWO SanaKiri fics. I had expected the usual Rikkai pairings: SanaYuki, YanaYuki, YanaInui and Platinum pair, which I can't really digest, so I was beyond myself with glee when these were posted. I tend to believe that nothing can beat the InuKai and MomoKai when they are present in this kind of exchanges but, for the second time in three years, I have been proven wrong.
Sanada x Kirihara is one of my favorite overall pairings but it is so difficult to find that I almost felt they were a present to me. Not only because of the pairing, but because of the quality of the stories and the scenarios depicted on each. Although I am no Rikkai fan at all, I could still appreciate both perspectives on the team as a whole and enjoy the presence of every team member and their team dynamics.
The two preciousssss SanaKiri stories are:
1. raison d'être: This intrinsically canon-based fic gave me back hope on the whole exchange when I was already considering giving up on it, as by the time it was posted every story until that day had been based on a futureverse, which I am so reluctant and generally displeased to read. That is why, SanaKiri notreally aside, reading about Rikkai still in Jr. High until the National's showdown and from Kirihara's perspective was such a delicious experience. If you are a Rikkai fan, and even if you are just Rikkai-curious, you should give it a chance. There is NOTHING explicit to squick you if you are worried about the pairing being that young.
One silly tiny little thing that bothered me, although I didn't want to bother the author with my analities, was how Kirihara called Sanada "Sanada-senpai" instead of "fukubuchou". I checked the manga and the guides but couldn't find any helpful panel. I was lazy to check the anime, and I wondered if I was too influenced by doujinshi ("Sanada-fukubuchou! Okaerinasaaai!"). But in the following story Kirihara called him fukubuchou and somehow I felt at peace with myself.
2. Straight to Number One: I read it last night in bed, so my enthusiasm is fresh and I am still too impressed to write a coherent praise for this piece of fanfic art, but it left me with a broad smile and that kind of satiated, happy and fluffy feeling that makes me stay in love for a day or two. I don't know about you, but I love it when a story in any format does that to me. The disclaimer threatened with futurverse, and so it is: the reunion-after-so-many-years plotline, but just so very skillfully linked to the canon timeline with well-chosen flashbacks, that made me throw all my prejudices to the wind. Rikkai is lovable, even as their victory-driven selves. And in just 14 pages (according to my printer) there are so many colorful details and background characters and good lines that I am going to finish reading it a second time before leaving a comment to the author, as I'd like to offer more than a couple of lines of brainless drooling which is all I am capable of at the moment. And this story deserves more readers!!
I am aware that depending on who the authors turn out to be they might not see this post, but nevertheless I'd like to express my most heartfelt THANK YOU to both of them for choosing this pairing and for doing such a good job on their assignments! Regardless of what they might think of their own work themselves, to me these are two re-readable gems that I intend to keep printed in my Folder-of-PoTficJOY.
On the other hand, I know everybody has their tastes and the above reccs might not be your cup of tea. It seems the nostalgic me keeps favoring old formulas over character-diluted, far-stretched originality, thus so far I can't help reccing this InuKai and this good old MomoKai and the funny AtobeMizuki. Also, prillalar posted santa_smex round-ups and pimping for other pairings here and here. Take a look to see if there's anything you'd like to read these holidays!
To those of you not interested in PoT, sorry for the regular spam, Christmas edition. ^^''
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYBODY!! ♥
(Versión española)
Las parrafadas anteriores se resumen en un mar de babas que salpica sobre dos fics SanaKiri que han posteado en la comunidad de intercambios anónimos navideños de fics de PoT en inglés, santa_smex. Como es una pareja que me fascina y es tan difícil de encontrar, y por si fuera poco las historias me han parecido tan buenas, huelga decir que estoy EN-TU-SIAS-MA-DA. Si sois fans del Rikkai o al menos os gustan esos dos personajes os recomiendo ambos de veras. Tratan al equipo de forma humana, mostrando una perspectiva de cómo llevaron las dos sucesivas derrotas frente a Seigaku, en un caso, y cómo siguieron adelante en el futuro, en el otro. Y Sanada es ÉL, todo él, malhumorado y anticuado y con esa debilidad incontenible por Kirihara. Aaaaah. Soy feliz.
Aunque PoT os importe un bledo y estéis hasta los cojoncísimos de mi spam (¡perdón!), espero que todos vosotros lo podáis ser también a vuestro modo estas Fiestas.
¡¡FELIZ NAVIDAD A TODOS!! ♥