[ Doctor Who, FFVII, FFXII, Odin Sphere, Tales of the Abyss ]
Notes: I was journalhopping earlier and came across this post and maybe I'm not always perfect (I know I'm not, honestly) but this is so much like my own take on fandom. It's a fantastic read and I wish there were more people like this.
Series:
Doctor Who - 1 Fanfic
Final Fantasy VII - 1 Fanfic
Odin Sphere - 1 Fanfic
Okami - 1 Fanfic
Tales of the Abyss - 1 Fanfic
Final Fantasy XII - 1 Fanart
Odin Sphere - 4 Fanart
Tales of the Abyss - 5 Fanart
- Doctor Who - Timecock Not Supplied by Nos - Having just watched the Who special from last year (oh, shut up, I know) with Donna in it and discovering this great and huge love for her character, this fic came along at just the right moment. And that's what shone about this fic, that Donna had all these amazing lines and little moments that were everything that I loved about her, that were even so pitch perfect in word choice that I could hear her in my head, I could just picture her every expression. The whole story is really fun, but this fic shows why I already love Donna Noble and am eagerly awaiting series four. *pines* (...both het and slash, not quite safe for work, sort of a bit of a free-for-all? Sort of.)
- Final Fantasy VII - Living (Breathing) Like This by green_and_warty - I'm often a little wary of any fics with Aerith and Tifa in them, just because the pairing seems to be so rarely well-done, it's a delicate balance at times, but this fic was really lovely. The language used in it is delicate and beautiful, the words chosen to show the two of them, to contrast them against their pasts and the dirty city of Midgar that they come to live in, all of it is very well done. The fic also has a really good punch at the ending, making it just that much more of a good read. (Aerith/Tifa.)
- Odin Sphere - Foolish Beating Heart by Ethereal Vesper - It's way, way too early for me to be reading Odin Sphere fanfic, but I couldn't quite help myself. I'm so intrigued by the relationship between Oswald and Gwendolyn and this fic was the right one at the right time for me, it's about Gwendolyn's struggle to deal with her feelings, both for her new husband and for the loss of her old life, that uncomfortable, terrible period after she lost so much. I like it, because you can feel how much of a Valkyrie she was here, how tragic her fall was for her, and how something new is beginning for her. I really liked the way this played out, it feeds my intrigue over these two. (Oswald/Gwendolyn.)
- Okami - Catching the Wind by murinae - [Note: There are vague spoilers for the end of the game in this fic.] The idea of Okami fic intrigues me, because it's a game I would desperately like to have a fandom, but I also wonder how one would write about a character that never had any actual speaking lines, despite having such a prominent personality. And this is a lovely piece that starts out reflective, about Amaterasu and Ushiwaka, their natures and then turns into a much more playful piece. Even though it's very short, I really enjoyed this a lot. <3 (No real warnings/pairings.)
- Tales of the Abyss - Deliverance by eldrant - [Note: There are SPOILERS for the game's ending in this fic and in this rec.] I admit, I'm torn about who I would like to see survive the end of the game, Luke or Asch, because I came to like both of them. What I like about this story, besides that it chose Asch despite that I would assume most authors would write about Luke being the one to survive, is that it dealt with Asch feeling that everyone else expected, wanted Luke to be the one to return and Natalia's answer to that. It made this cool little fic even more interesting, especially when added to the adorable Asch/Natalia nature of it. They're so cute and sweet together, he's so obviously weak to her even when he's trying to be gruff and uncaring, and Natalia is everything I liked about her in the game here. <3 (Asch/Natalia.)
- Final Fantasy XII - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I originally came here in search of Odin Sphere fanart and was poking around the oekaki board and the art was interesting enough that I kept going with more and more pages of it. I think it's one of those sites that won me over because there's just so much of the art to be found and for several different series (I found a Rozen Maiden image I liked, too <3) that it sort of accumulated until I had to recommend it. There's not a lot of FFXII art sites that really hit me, but I liked that this artist drew almost all the main characters and seemed to really enjoy them as characters. The style isn't going to be for everyone, it took me awhile to really warm up to it, but... I like it now. It was a solid and really kind of fun site. (No warnings/pairings.)
- Odin Sphere - MARUHAJI [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - It sort of took me a ridiculously long time to find the Odin Sphere art on this site, but it was worth the time it took, I think. The art is very cute and often times very pretty, the artist uses a lot of really strong colors and creates sort of a fairy-tale style tone to her art. This is especially fantastic for her Mercedes art! <3 There's not a ton of art here, but given how rare good Odin Sphere art is, it's one of the better places to start and there's a nice selection of the various characters (if a focus on Mercedes the most, I think) and just a very solid site. (Some implications of canon, but nothing too strong.)
- Odin Sphere - DALLAR [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - There are only about five or six images total on this site for Odin Sphere, but I had to recommend it, because Odin Sphere fanart is so rare and because I loved this artist's work so much. She does the really clean, solid CG type of art, but makes everything so well that they look just gorgeous. She has one of Oswald with Gwendolyn in his arms that looks really kind of professional in the amount of detail and strength of the image. Plus it's just. So, so OTP-inducing. ♥ (A little bit of implications of canon, but nothing too overwhelming.)
- Odin Sphere - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I wasn't sure if I would like a site that seemed to be more about Onyx/Gwendolyn than it was about Oswald/Gwendolyn, but I couldn't resist the beautiful comics the artist had drawn here. They're just really, really gorgeous and detailed and professional-looking and I'm desperate for Odin Sphere fanart. However, in the sketches galleries, there's also a lot of cute Oswald/Gwendolyn art that totally made me even happier with this site. ♥ There's art of the other characters as well sometimes, but those two pairings seem to be her favorites and she does them very well. (Onyx/Gwendolyn, some Oswald/Gwendolyn.)
- Odin Sphere - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - There's not a lot of art on this site, maybe only four or five illustrations (not including the scribbles), but the artist has a really pretty style, all these sharp, long lines that I really love and she draws mostly Oswald/Gwendolyn. Most of her art is b&w, but I think that actually works better for her, you can see the fantastic amount of detail she put into the first image, where Oswald and Gwendolyn are lying in bed together, there's so much to their hair, their clothes, the wrinkles in the sheets and curtains around them. And a couple of pictures later, there's this beautifully shaded image of them hugging and it's just fantastic. There's one color image of Gwendolyn in her Valkyrie outfit and it's gorgeous, too, the vivid blues of her outfit and the background go amazingly well together. So, there's not a lot of art here, but it's so fantastic that I had to recommend this site. ♥ (Oswald/Gwendolyn.)
- Tales of the Abyss - dot.42 [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I tried to pass by this site, there wasn't a whole lot of art that immediately grabbed me, despite it being a perfectly fine site overall. And then I finally got to the oekaki galleries and somewhere along the line... I don't know what it is, maybe I'm just weak to oekaki, despite that I like regular images better. Just. The colors are bright and sparkly! The characters are drawn well! There's a wide variety of art to look at! All things I'm weak to! And it really is a fun, pretty site to go through. ....m-maybe I might have also been influenced by images of my favorite pairings. Possibly. >_> (No real warnings/pairings.)
- Tales of the Abyss - 1or8 [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I took me all of one illustration with this site to fall in love and I knew I had to rec it. The artist's style is that combination of CG and watercolor style that I really like, that somehow the colors often seem to just glow or shine and she does an amazing job with each and every image. Almost all the main characters show up here and each of them are done just as beautifully as the last--there's almost hardly anything for me to point out or talk about with the site, simply because it's just so pretty and there's nothing for me to complain about. I love her Luke and her Ion especially, you can tell she seems very fond of the characters (Luke especially) and it's so easy to make the characters look kind of boring when you've seen as much fanart of them as I have, but this artist... I really did stop and stare at each image for half a minute just to take in the loveliness. (Some Jade/Luke, a lot of gen.)
- Tales of the Abyss - RAXA [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - Like a lot of sites, it took me a bit to really get into the site, but I was eventually won over by the pretty, shiny colors. I especially like the way the characters' hair has this shimmery glow to it (look, I told you I was easy, right?) and their eyes are bright, or there'll be these images that are soft and hazy, just as lovely to look at. Admittedly, I skipped over a few of the images, since they weren't my style, but I felt like... by the end of the site, more than half of the images were ones that I thought were really good. It's worth a tour through. <3 (No real warnings/pairings.)
- Tales of the Abyss - TAM [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - This site seems to alternate between sort of cute and really pretty, which is why I decided to rec this one. There are some images on this site that are just fantastic, the artist really uses her sketch-like lines and CG-style colors to good effect. There's one in particular of Asch and Luke sitting side by side that I really love and it shows how the artist can achieve some really cool stuff sometimes. Plus, her chibis are adorable and her comics are very solid and her Peony is so cute. XD A very fun, delightful site that's worth going through. <3 (Nothing I'm going to warn for.)
- Tales of the Abyss - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - It didn't take me very long to become fond of this site at all, the artist is really good with the anime-style images and bright, solid colors and can draw incredibly smoothly so everything looks really clean and professional. But it's more than that, it's also that the artist tries out just about everything, while maybe Luke/Tear is the most common pair up, you can also find Ion/Anise or Guy/Anise or Asch/Natalia (including a sketch where Guy is putting a blanket over kiddie!Asch and kiddie!Natalia as they sleep against a tree together that is the cutest fucking thing ever ♥) or Luke/Anise or Jade/Natalia or Guy/Luke or Jade/Guy or a bunch of really adorable group pairings. All the art is so happy and upbeat and cute that I just feel great after visiting this site. ♥ (Some Luke/Tear, maybe a little other, but most of this could be entirely gen.)
NEW GOAL: 651/1500
Series:
Doctor Who - 1 Fanfic
Final Fantasy VII - 1 Fanfic
Odin Sphere - 1 Fanfic
Okami - 1 Fanfic
Tales of the Abyss - 1 Fanfic
Final Fantasy XII - 1 Fanart
Odin Sphere - 4 Fanart
Tales of the Abyss - 5 Fanart
- Doctor Who - Timecock Not Supplied by Nos - Having just watched the Who special from last year (oh, shut up, I know) with Donna in it and discovering this great and huge love for her character, this fic came along at just the right moment. And that's what shone about this fic, that Donna had all these amazing lines and little moments that were everything that I loved about her, that were even so pitch perfect in word choice that I could hear her in my head, I could just picture her every expression. The whole story is really fun, but this fic shows why I already love Donna Noble and am eagerly awaiting series four. *pines* (...both het and slash, not quite safe for work, sort of a bit of a free-for-all? Sort of.)
- Final Fantasy VII - Living (Breathing) Like This by green_and_warty - I'm often a little wary of any fics with Aerith and Tifa in them, just because the pairing seems to be so rarely well-done, it's a delicate balance at times, but this fic was really lovely. The language used in it is delicate and beautiful, the words chosen to show the two of them, to contrast them against their pasts and the dirty city of Midgar that they come to live in, all of it is very well done. The fic also has a really good punch at the ending, making it just that much more of a good read. (Aerith/Tifa.)
- Odin Sphere - Foolish Beating Heart by Ethereal Vesper - It's way, way too early for me to be reading Odin Sphere fanfic, but I couldn't quite help myself. I'm so intrigued by the relationship between Oswald and Gwendolyn and this fic was the right one at the right time for me, it's about Gwendolyn's struggle to deal with her feelings, both for her new husband and for the loss of her old life, that uncomfortable, terrible period after she lost so much. I like it, because you can feel how much of a Valkyrie she was here, how tragic her fall was for her, and how something new is beginning for her. I really liked the way this played out, it feeds my intrigue over these two. (Oswald/Gwendolyn.)
- Okami - Catching the Wind by murinae - [Note: There are vague spoilers for the end of the game in this fic.] The idea of Okami fic intrigues me, because it's a game I would desperately like to have a fandom, but I also wonder how one would write about a character that never had any actual speaking lines, despite having such a prominent personality. And this is a lovely piece that starts out reflective, about Amaterasu and Ushiwaka, their natures and then turns into a much more playful piece. Even though it's very short, I really enjoyed this a lot. <3 (No real warnings/pairings.)
- Tales of the Abyss - Deliverance by eldrant - [Note: There are SPOILERS for the game's ending in this fic and in this rec.] I admit, I'm torn about who I would like to see survive the end of the game, Luke or Asch, because I came to like both of them. What I like about this story, besides that it chose Asch despite that I would assume most authors would write about Luke being the one to survive, is that it dealt with Asch feeling that everyone else expected, wanted Luke to be the one to return and Natalia's answer to that. It made this cool little fic even more interesting, especially when added to the adorable Asch/Natalia nature of it. They're so cute and sweet together, he's so obviously weak to her even when he's trying to be gruff and uncaring, and Natalia is everything I liked about her in the game here. <3 (Asch/Natalia.)
- Final Fantasy XII - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I originally came here in search of Odin Sphere fanart and was poking around the oekaki board and the art was interesting enough that I kept going with more and more pages of it. I think it's one of those sites that won me over because there's just so much of the art to be found and for several different series (I found a Rozen Maiden image I liked, too <3) that it sort of accumulated until I had to recommend it. There's not a lot of FFXII art sites that really hit me, but I liked that this artist drew almost all the main characters and seemed to really enjoy them as characters. The style isn't going to be for everyone, it took me awhile to really warm up to it, but... I like it now. It was a solid and really kind of fun site. (No warnings/pairings.)
- Odin Sphere - MARUHAJI [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - It sort of took me a ridiculously long time to find the Odin Sphere art on this site, but it was worth the time it took, I think. The art is very cute and often times very pretty, the artist uses a lot of really strong colors and creates sort of a fairy-tale style tone to her art. This is especially fantastic for her Mercedes art! <3 There's not a ton of art here, but given how rare good Odin Sphere art is, it's one of the better places to start and there's a nice selection of the various characters (if a focus on Mercedes the most, I think) and just a very solid site. (Some implications of canon, but nothing too strong.)
- Odin Sphere - DALLAR [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - There are only about five or six images total on this site for Odin Sphere, but I had to recommend it, because Odin Sphere fanart is so rare and because I loved this artist's work so much. She does the really clean, solid CG type of art, but makes everything so well that they look just gorgeous. She has one of Oswald with Gwendolyn in his arms that looks really kind of professional in the amount of detail and strength of the image. Plus it's just. So, so OTP-inducing. ♥ (A little bit of implications of canon, but nothing too overwhelming.)
- Odin Sphere - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I wasn't sure if I would like a site that seemed to be more about Onyx/Gwendolyn than it was about Oswald/Gwendolyn, but I couldn't resist the beautiful comics the artist had drawn here. They're just really, really gorgeous and detailed and professional-looking and I'm desperate for Odin Sphere fanart. However, in the sketches galleries, there's also a lot of cute Oswald/Gwendolyn art that totally made me even happier with this site. ♥ There's art of the other characters as well sometimes, but those two pairings seem to be her favorites and she does them very well. (Onyx/Gwendolyn, some Oswald/Gwendolyn.)
- Odin Sphere - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - There's not a lot of art on this site, maybe only four or five illustrations (not including the scribbles), but the artist has a really pretty style, all these sharp, long lines that I really love and she draws mostly Oswald/Gwendolyn. Most of her art is b&w, but I think that actually works better for her, you can see the fantastic amount of detail she put into the first image, where Oswald and Gwendolyn are lying in bed together, there's so much to their hair, their clothes, the wrinkles in the sheets and curtains around them. And a couple of pictures later, there's this beautifully shaded image of them hugging and it's just fantastic. There's one color image of Gwendolyn in her Valkyrie outfit and it's gorgeous, too, the vivid blues of her outfit and the background go amazingly well together. So, there's not a lot of art here, but it's so fantastic that I had to recommend this site. ♥ (Oswald/Gwendolyn.)
- Tales of the Abyss - dot.42 [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I tried to pass by this site, there wasn't a whole lot of art that immediately grabbed me, despite it being a perfectly fine site overall. And then I finally got to the oekaki galleries and somewhere along the line... I don't know what it is, maybe I'm just weak to oekaki, despite that I like regular images better. Just. The colors are bright and sparkly! The characters are drawn well! There's a wide variety of art to look at! All things I'm weak to! And it really is a fun, pretty site to go through. ....m-maybe I might have also been influenced by images of my favorite pairings. Possibly. >_> (No real warnings/pairings.)
- Tales of the Abyss - 1or8 [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I took me all of one illustration with this site to fall in love and I knew I had to rec it. The artist's style is that combination of CG and watercolor style that I really like, that somehow the colors often seem to just glow or shine and she does an amazing job with each and every image. Almost all the main characters show up here and each of them are done just as beautifully as the last--there's almost hardly anything for me to point out or talk about with the site, simply because it's just so pretty and there's nothing for me to complain about. I love her Luke and her Ion especially, you can tell she seems very fond of the characters (Luke especially) and it's so easy to make the characters look kind of boring when you've seen as much fanart of them as I have, but this artist... I really did stop and stare at each image for half a minute just to take in the loveliness. (Some Jade/Luke, a lot of gen.)
- Tales of the Abyss - RAXA [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - Like a lot of sites, it took me a bit to really get into the site, but I was eventually won over by the pretty, shiny colors. I especially like the way the characters' hair has this shimmery glow to it (look, I told you I was easy, right?) and their eyes are bright, or there'll be these images that are soft and hazy, just as lovely to look at. Admittedly, I skipped over a few of the images, since they weren't my style, but I felt like... by the end of the site, more than half of the images were ones that I thought were really good. It's worth a tour through. <3 (No real warnings/pairings.)
- Tales of the Abyss - TAM [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - This site seems to alternate between sort of cute and really pretty, which is why I decided to rec this one. There are some images on this site that are just fantastic, the artist really uses her sketch-like lines and CG-style colors to good effect. There's one in particular of Asch and Luke sitting side by side that I really love and it shows how the artist can achieve some really cool stuff sometimes. Plus, her chibis are adorable and her comics are very solid and her Peony is so cute. XD A very fun, delightful site that's worth going through. <3 (Nothing I'm going to warn for.)
- Tales of the Abyss - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - It didn't take me very long to become fond of this site at all, the artist is really good with the anime-style images and bright, solid colors and can draw incredibly smoothly so everything looks really clean and professional. But it's more than that, it's also that the artist tries out just about everything, while maybe Luke/Tear is the most common pair up, you can also find Ion/Anise or Guy/Anise or Asch/Natalia (including a sketch where Guy is putting a blanket over kiddie!Asch and kiddie!Natalia as they sleep against a tree together that is the cutest fucking thing ever ♥) or Luke/Anise or Jade/Natalia or Guy/Luke or Jade/Guy or a bunch of really adorable group pairings. All the art is so happy and upbeat and cute that I just feel great after visiting this site. ♥ (Some Luke/Tear, maybe a little other, but most of this could be entirely gen.)
NEW GOAL: 651/1500