[ ARASHI, Avatar, Den-O, Dragonball, FFVII, HOLiC, Layton, Psych, REBORN!, Slayers, Tutu ]
SHARING TIME:
.....omg. I want the moodtheme from this post so bad I can taste it. The icons are gorgeous, too, omg. These are also nice.
AND ONTO THE RECS:
ARASHI - 3 Fanfics
Avatar: The Last Airbender - 2 Fanfics
Kamen Rider Den-O - 2 Fanfics
Princess Tutu - 1 Fanfic
Professor Layton - 2 Fanfics
Psych - 1 Fanfic
xxxHOLiC - 1 Fanfic
Dragonball - 1 Fanart
Final Fantasy VII - 1 Fanart
Katekyou Hitman REBORN! - 3 Fanart
Slayers - 1 Fanart
Professor Layton - 4 Fanart
2008 GOAL: 741/1602
ARASHI/JE: Salutations! by Circe - You know what I love about this? Two things. One, omg, actually good Ohno/Toma fic, which fandom kind of failed to deliver on for the most part, except for Circe. But also because it... says so much about Ohno and about Arashi the way he, uh, gives Toma a hello greeting one morning on the set and the way Toma is just sort of "...." about it while his brain stops working. The porn is also very hot and I love that it's set from Toma's point of view and then, when his brain does start working, the first question out of his mouth is perfect. A++++ omg. (Ohno/Toma, NC-17.)
ARASHI: The Five Habits of Highly Effective Riidaas by waxrose - I love this fic so much because it's all about Ohno and the kind of Leader he is with Arashi and the different ways they interact with him. He's not a traditional sort of Leader and he's perfectly aware of that himself, yet somehow there's no one else that could be the Leader of Arashi. Of course, section three kind of totally broke my heart, especially all the more because it's really kind of plausible and so easy for me to see happening, but even while I was reading it... it was one of those situations where that's how it would go. The writing here is beautiful and subtle and that's what makes it such a brilliant fic and the ending is just... that's everything Arashi is right there. Five scenes, each of them gorgeous and saying so much about Ohno and Arashi. Just. ;___; I love her forever. (Ohno/Arashi.)
ARASHI: untitled drabbles by waxrose - I figured I should probably put this all in one rec because they're not quite long enough to rec separately, though, they are extremely awesome. I was just thinking that I hadn't seen much new Arashi fic posted lately and then waxrose comes along and posts a bunch of little ficlets with various pairings and hilarious or awesome concepts and asl;dkfjaslkjas that last one is seriously my favorite thing just about ever today. BUT. There's also Jun taking care of a sick Sho in that special way Jun has, there's Aiba being incredibly hot at Jun, there's SUPER ADORABLE Ohno/Sho, there's even Nino/Jun that made me ridiculously delighted, and then Sho and Nino in the final one. Each is fantastic because it's clever and just as long as it needs to be and as;ldkfjalkj I love her so much. <3 (....Arashi/Arashi, but there's a fair amount of Sho/Jun, Aiba/Jun, Ohno/Sho, Nino/Jun, and Sho/Nino.)
Avatar: On the Road Again by rilina - [Note: This fic is set post-series and thus may contain spoilers.] A short piece set post-series, about Toph and where she goes and what she does. I like the straight forwardness of it, the way it's easy to imagine that Toph's life goes a lot like this and the cycle of things manages to come around to her again, even if it's a little sad to think she just slips out of their lives like this. But it's also entirely imaginable, Toph being who she is. I liked the ending and it was a really interesting take on the characters. <3 (No warnings/pairings.)
Avatar: untitled by rayemars - [Note: This fic is set post-series, so this fic and this rec contain spoilers for the finale.] This is just a fic snippet, only a little piece of what's meant to be a larger whole, but I found that I really liked it and it works well enough on its own for now. It's set post-series and it's from Mai's point of view, how the change in the Fire Nation isn't quite so easy and is actually really wearing because not everyone is going to be happy about it. I love how... almost blunt the tone of the fic is, combined with all the details that work for a character like Mai, who would make an excellent head of the royal guard. I'd love to see more of where this is going, the worldbuilding post-finale could be so very interesting. (No warnings/pairings so far, but may be Zuko/Mai in the future? Idk.)
Kamen Rider Den-O: Just a Coincidence by Whisper - You know who I love with all my fangirl heart? Yuuto, that's who. Well, and Deneb, too, becasue Deneb is the best mommy Imagin ever and Yuuto is such an adorable spaz with trying to keep his dignity while the universe clearly conspires against him. I love how much he obviously likes Ryoutarou and how much Deneb means to him even though this fic is a non-stop stream of complaints about all of them and every time the fic gets to Deneb's excuse to go stop the train, I start laughing because it's so easy to see. XD (Yuuto/Ryoutarou.)
Kamen Rider Den-O: A Simple Explanation by ellipsesbandit - One of the things about Den-O and shipping Ryoutarou and Yuuto is, of course, the Airi factor and how all of that is supposed to fit together, so this fic... kind of goes along really well with how I felt about the situation, too. That Sakurai-san and Yuuto aren't really the same person anymore, that Sakurai-san disappeared and this Yuuto is this Yuuto, that even the Ryoutarou that he'd previously met isn't the same Ryoutarou anymore. I love that it's Urataros that explains this, I really liked the way the conversation unfolded and Yuuto was so... Yuuto. It's one of those fics that neatly fills that void I'd been feeling with the Den-O fandom, even with as much fic as it's gotten, because this issue kind of needed to be addressed, especially if it had some great character voices and a really solid ending. Plus.
I mean, any fic that opens with these lines has to be gold: Yuuto sat at Nogami's desk in the Deka office, considering exactly what kind of a jerk he was.
He knew he was a jerk. He had met himself on several occassions and each time was struck with a desire to punch himself in the face. Therefore, he figured it a pretty safe assumption that most people (even Nogami who tolerated four Imagin inside his head at all times) at least sometimes wanted to punch him in the face. But that was fine, because usually he didn't care what other people wanted and he had good enough skill and luck to get out of the way. (Yuuto/Ryoutarou.)
Princess Tutu: untitled by rilina - This was a short little fic set post-series, with Fakia and Rue and Rue's daughter and the lovely sense of how... how things are peaceful now and calmer now and their stories have finished and they've moved on, but there's still... that wariness that never goes away for them. It was a short read, but pretty. (No real warnings/pairings.)
Professor Layton: untitled by o8_pursuer_8o - [ part 01 - part 02 - part 03 - part 04 - part 05 - part 06 - part 07 - part 08 ] - [Note: This fic is set post-game, so there will be spoilers for it in this fic and this rec.] So, I've been scouting around a bit for Layton fanfic and curiously poking at things here and there, reading the odd piece now and again. (The idea of a Professor Layton fandom sort of intrigues me almost as much as the potential for wrong scares me. XD) Then I was browsing art posts and one of them linked to this fic and, well, I didn't think I'd want to read a multi-parter right away, I'm usually more intrigued by oneshots when I first get into fandom, but what the hell, I thought. It was supposed to be good. And what I got was a surprisingly engrossing story with an actual plot, like it very much could have been right out of the Professor Layton games and some really charming characterization and a really quaint, adorable setting even. It was really easy to picture the entire fic set in the style of the game, helped along by the straight-on characterizations and the unfolding plot and the sense of fascination with puzzles being at the heart of the game. I also read the whole thing pretty much in one straight shot, despite that I have a horrible attention span for fic these days, because I kept wanting to know what would happen next, because the author's pacing was delightful, because it felt right to the world she was writing in. It's one of those fic ideas where it has to be done just right (Professor Layton being turned into a baby and then it's up to Luke to protect everyone from someone who would do them all harm) but when it is... it's so incredibly satisfying. And that's what this fic was. ♥ Plus. als;dkfjalskj the ending was JUST WHAT I WANTED. And I'll definitely keep reading more Layton fic, but... at the same time, I think I really am satisfied with the fandom now. (No warnings/pairings.)
Professor Layton: One Night by Candyland - I picked this story at random to read and it was one of the very first that I did and it was an interesting take on how Luke came to be in Professor Layton's care. The first game (since the second and third games weren't available in English at the time, obv.) never really explained any of that, so fanfic is free to make up what it likes for now--and the idea that Luke was just sort of dropped on his doorstep one rainy night was intriguing here, I liked the atmosphere that the author set with the writing a lot. (No warnings/pairings.)
Psych: Like Christmas Morning, But With More Sex and Shame (and Shamelessness) by manicjoy - Having read the author's previous Gus/Shawn fic, which sort of primed me (despite that I've always been a little on the fence about these two) for liking them with actual makeouts, I was ready to read something a bit more R-rated, especially if it was going to have the author's amazing Shawn voice. It's brilliantly spot-on and I was practically cracking my way up through the whole fic because I didn't even have to try to picture it in my head and it's just. Shawn and the total lack of gay freakout on his part while Gus is sort of having his brain implode and Shawn is just so very Shawn throughout the whole thing and he's just completely at home in Gus' apartment and I just-- I think I'm converted now. orz (Gus/Shawn, R-rating.)
xxxHOLiC: If at first you don't succeed by rilina - Oh, this was really cute! A short piece about several scenes of Watanuki trying to cook souffles and how things go pretty much as you'd expect them. It's endlessly entertaining to see the various ways in which the Universe and everyone else interrupt Watanuki's previously calm and ordered life and watch how he spazzes over everything. Plus, it's really cute and got this gentle, laid-back, daily life sort of feeling to it that I really liked. <3 (No warnings/pairings.)
- Dragonball - [ English Fanart Site ] - I feel like I've seen several pieces of this artist's work before, but I don't see it on my list of recommended Dragonball art sites, so... maybe just in the bits&pieces section? Anyway, I was actually looking for Professor Layton fanart and somehow wound up looking at Dragonball art and I cannot complain because I totally adore this artist's style. It's very similar to canon-esque at times, but mostly it's just... fun or neat or cool. Like there are occasional Bulma/Chichi illustrations, but there's also adorable Vejiita/Bulma art or some really pretty Goku/Chichi (asd;lfkjasljk the one of them dancing or the wedding one or the flying through the clouds together, oh, my OTP heart still loves them so) or hot sexytimes Kuririn/18 and how often do you see that? I'm also all over the Trunks/Goten art in the gallery and it was just. There was variety and I loved very nearly every single pairing the artist drew, like they knew just how to strike at my fangirl self. XD♥ (Goku/Chichi, a little Vejiita/Bulma, Bulma/Chichi, Trunks/Goten, a little other.)
- Final Fantasy VII - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I've seen this artist's doujinshi before and I love that it's all about Tifa and Aerith and genuinely about them and not just fodder for guys, but obviously a lot of these two together. It's often just barely shoujo ai, it could almost be gen, but not quite, I wouldn't say. And it's such cute stuff! They're so adorable and sweet and soft together, they're so happy and smiling brightly and the site also has the most addicting flash game ever. I've seen the ball games a lot in my time and they're always interesting to play (where you have to keep the ball in the air to "erase" pieces of the picture underneath) but this one had sound effects and extra bonuses and a;lsdfkjaslkj *played so hard*. There's also a couple of images of Utena!Tifa/Aerith. I would have loved it just for that. ♥ (Tifa/Aerith.)
- Katekyou Hitman REBORN! - [ English Fanart Site ] - Possibly I've recommended this artist before? I'm not sure. If I have, there's been a lot of new art since then and it's totally worth a re-rec because, man, this girl does some pretty as hell Dino/Hibari. It's all sharp lines that are softened and then light, sunny colors that create this really gorgeous effect for the two characters, and, wow, is her Dino kind of totally smoking hot and her Hibari is tiny and vicious-looking and there are suits and ties and tattoos and hair and blood and with every single illustration I looked at, I remembered why I ship the hell out of this pairing. Her Mukuro/Hibari isn't bad, either, there's also the occasional gen Hibari piece, gen Dino piece, or a gorgeous Byakuran piece, but mostly you want to go here for the fabulous D18. (Dino/Hibari, some Mukuro/Hibari.)
- Katekyou Hitman REBORN! - PSYCHE JAP ONLINE [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - Some artists just seem to be made for drawing characters like Squalo or the rest of the Varia sometimes. Not that her art probably wouldn't look good on all the REBORN! characters, but the long, sharp lines and slight sketch quality to them really work for the ones that are her obvious favorites. The site is mostly made up of Squalo art, but there's some Xanxus/Squalo and even some Bel/Squalo, which is something I do not see enough fanart for omg, and oh, MAN, are some of the images here hot. *__* Definitely worth a look if you're a Squalo fan, but it's also just some damn good fanart on its own. <3 The older art is more varied--there's a decent amount of Hibari art, which pleased me, naturally--but it's the more current stuff that's the best, imo. (Some Xanxus/Squalo, some Yamamoto/Hibari, some gen.)
- Katekyou Hitman REBORN! - nappy! [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - Oh, well, this site just totally hit below the belt with me. I was prepared to just sort of skim the art here, the Squalo stuff wasn't bad, but a little longer/sharper than I was in the mood for, but then. Gokudera/Tsuna art. Yamamoto/Hibari art. TYL!Lambo/Gokuder art. TYL!Hibari art. All things that I am weak to--whether pairings I like or crack pairings that I don't see often and am intrigued by--and the artist's style kind of started to grow on me with each image. There's even a Ryohei/Hibari image and a Bel/Squalo image and it's like-- all my rarepair fondnesses in one site! I-- I am weak to this artist kind of a lot. *__* I mean, there's an illustration of TYL!Yamamoto/TYL!Squalo/TYL!Bel in amongst all the awesome art. It's like she loves me. (Mostly gen, with some Xanxus/Squalo and a whole lot of random other.)
- Slayers - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - Xellos/Lina isn't really my cup of tea, but I'm generally pretty laid back when it comes to fanart and the art here is really cute! It's very CG-style and it works for the artist nicely--I did find that I enjoyed the artist's single-character illustrations better than her pairing stuff, but I'm not sure if that's my own bias or not. There is also a lot of art here and I'm always a sucker for when a site has a whole bunch of images to win me over with. I think it'd definitely help if you were more open to the pairing or just didn't mind it, but I do think it's a really lovely site and I enjoyed it. The art is really cute and the colors are pretty, which is about all I ask for. Plus! There's art from the movies and novels, even of the Dark Lords! (Xellos/Lina.)
- Professor Layton - [ English Fanart Site ] - So, I was browsing through the Layton fandom and looking for art and fic and just sort of tooling my way around and noticed that there were several LJ posts that had doodle or sketch dumps on them. But there were enough there to just about rationalize making a rec for them and I could already tell that this was going to be one of my favorite things about the fandom. So, since it's my journal/site, I'm totally counting these as a proper rec. Because AHAHAHAHA some of these are AWESOME. I mean! Sailor Moon!Professor Layton! LEGAL OMG WHY SO HOT. LUKE/FLORA HOLY CRAP WOULD I SHIP THAT. There's even some art in the canon style! It's a handful of illustrations that are either funny or just plain awesome to look at and as;ldfkjaslkj oh fandom sometimes I love you again. (One Luke/Flora image, but the rest are pretty gen. And awesome.)
- Professor Layton - [ English Fanart Site ] - I know the artist from another fandom (One Piece fandom, I think?) partially because I recognize her icon, but a little because I recognize the style, despite that the Professor Layton art is an entirely different style--shut up, that made sense to me. Anyway, this post is full of a bunch of adorable sketches that are very close to canon style and has things like Layton in a tuxedo or Luke and Flora having tea or Layton and Luke fencing or Layton and Luke in TWEWY style which was really awesome. Lots of really fun stuff. <3 (No real warnings/pairings.)
- Professor Layton - [ English Fanart Site ] - More adorable sketches, this time including one for the art meme (which was delightfully fun and I love the "you cannot unsee it" bit especially) and several chibi sketches or just adorable concepts or the greatest "you cannot unsee it" image (different from the one in the art meme) that was great, but made even greater by Flora in the corner of it. Just. AHAHAHAHA, oh, man, this is the kind of crack I want out of the Professor Layton fandom. The kind that goes right along with the adorable cuteness of it. <3 (No real warnings/pairings... m-mostly.)
- Professor Layton - [ English Fanart Site ] - There's quite a few doodles on this post, a bunch of random scenes with older Luke and different styles/poses with Luke and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't grow more and more fond of older Luke every time fandom does something with him. The little random cracky doodles as well as "normal" ones, the silly ones that made me smile, but mostly my favorite was asl;dfkjasl the mini-comic with Layton and Luke bringing home groceries. So cute! <3 (No warnings/pairings.)
.....omg. I want the moodtheme from this post so bad I can taste it. The icons are gorgeous, too, omg. These are also nice.
AND ONTO THE RECS:
ARASHI - 3 Fanfics
Avatar: The Last Airbender - 2 Fanfics
Kamen Rider Den-O - 2 Fanfics
Princess Tutu - 1 Fanfic
Professor Layton - 2 Fanfics
Psych - 1 Fanfic
xxxHOLiC - 1 Fanfic
Dragonball - 1 Fanart
Final Fantasy VII - 1 Fanart
Katekyou Hitman REBORN! - 3 Fanart
Slayers - 1 Fanart
Professor Layton - 4 Fanart
2008 GOAL: 741/1602
ARASHI/JE: Salutations! by Circe - You know what I love about this? Two things. One, omg, actually good Ohno/Toma fic, which fandom kind of failed to deliver on for the most part, except for Circe. But also because it... says so much about Ohno and about Arashi the way he, uh, gives Toma a hello greeting one morning on the set and the way Toma is just sort of "...." about it while his brain stops working. The porn is also very hot and I love that it's set from Toma's point of view and then, when his brain does start working, the first question out of his mouth is perfect. A++++ omg. (Ohno/Toma, NC-17.)
ARASHI: The Five Habits of Highly Effective Riidaas by waxrose - I love this fic so much because it's all about Ohno and the kind of Leader he is with Arashi and the different ways they interact with him. He's not a traditional sort of Leader and he's perfectly aware of that himself, yet somehow there's no one else that could be the Leader of Arashi. Of course, section three kind of totally broke my heart, especially all the more because it's really kind of plausible and so easy for me to see happening, but even while I was reading it... it was one of those situations where that's how it would go. The writing here is beautiful and subtle and that's what makes it such a brilliant fic and the ending is just... that's everything Arashi is right there. Five scenes, each of them gorgeous and saying so much about Ohno and Arashi. Just. ;___; I love her forever. (Ohno/Arashi.)
ARASHI: untitled drabbles by waxrose - I figured I should probably put this all in one rec because they're not quite long enough to rec separately, though, they are extremely awesome. I was just thinking that I hadn't seen much new Arashi fic posted lately and then waxrose comes along and posts a bunch of little ficlets with various pairings and hilarious or awesome concepts and asl;dkfjaslkjas that last one is seriously my favorite thing just about ever today. BUT. There's also Jun taking care of a sick Sho in that special way Jun has, there's Aiba being incredibly hot at Jun, there's SUPER ADORABLE Ohno/Sho, there's even Nino/Jun that made me ridiculously delighted, and then Sho and Nino in the final one. Each is fantastic because it's clever and just as long as it needs to be and as;ldkfjalkj I love her so much. <3 (....Arashi/Arashi, but there's a fair amount of Sho/Jun, Aiba/Jun, Ohno/Sho, Nino/Jun, and Sho/Nino.)
Avatar: On the Road Again by rilina - [Note: This fic is set post-series and thus may contain spoilers.] A short piece set post-series, about Toph and where she goes and what she does. I like the straight forwardness of it, the way it's easy to imagine that Toph's life goes a lot like this and the cycle of things manages to come around to her again, even if it's a little sad to think she just slips out of their lives like this. But it's also entirely imaginable, Toph being who she is. I liked the ending and it was a really interesting take on the characters. <3 (No warnings/pairings.)
Avatar: untitled by rayemars - [Note: This fic is set post-series, so this fic and this rec contain spoilers for the finale.] This is just a fic snippet, only a little piece of what's meant to be a larger whole, but I found that I really liked it and it works well enough on its own for now. It's set post-series and it's from Mai's point of view, how the change in the Fire Nation isn't quite so easy and is actually really wearing because not everyone is going to be happy about it. I love how... almost blunt the tone of the fic is, combined with all the details that work for a character like Mai, who would make an excellent head of the royal guard. I'd love to see more of where this is going, the worldbuilding post-finale could be so very interesting. (No warnings/pairings so far, but may be Zuko/Mai in the future? Idk.)
Kamen Rider Den-O: Just a Coincidence by Whisper - You know who I love with all my fangirl heart? Yuuto, that's who. Well, and Deneb, too, becasue Deneb is the best mommy Imagin ever and Yuuto is such an adorable spaz with trying to keep his dignity while the universe clearly conspires against him. I love how much he obviously likes Ryoutarou and how much Deneb means to him even though this fic is a non-stop stream of complaints about all of them and every time the fic gets to Deneb's excuse to go stop the train, I start laughing because it's so easy to see. XD (Yuuto/Ryoutarou.)
Kamen Rider Den-O: A Simple Explanation by ellipsesbandit - One of the things about Den-O and shipping Ryoutarou and Yuuto is, of course, the Airi factor and how all of that is supposed to fit together, so this fic... kind of goes along really well with how I felt about the situation, too. That Sakurai-san and Yuuto aren't really the same person anymore, that Sakurai-san disappeared and this Yuuto is this Yuuto, that even the Ryoutarou that he'd previously met isn't the same Ryoutarou anymore. I love that it's Urataros that explains this, I really liked the way the conversation unfolded and Yuuto was so... Yuuto. It's one of those fics that neatly fills that void I'd been feeling with the Den-O fandom, even with as much fic as it's gotten, because this issue kind of needed to be addressed, especially if it had some great character voices and a really solid ending. Plus.
I mean, any fic that opens with these lines has to be gold: Yuuto sat at Nogami's desk in the Deka office, considering exactly what kind of a jerk he was.
He knew he was a jerk. He had met himself on several occassions and each time was struck with a desire to punch himself in the face. Therefore, he figured it a pretty safe assumption that most people (even Nogami who tolerated four Imagin inside his head at all times) at least sometimes wanted to punch him in the face. But that was fine, because usually he didn't care what other people wanted and he had good enough skill and luck to get out of the way. (Yuuto/Ryoutarou.)
Princess Tutu: untitled by rilina - This was a short little fic set post-series, with Fakia and Rue and Rue's daughter and the lovely sense of how... how things are peaceful now and calmer now and their stories have finished and they've moved on, but there's still... that wariness that never goes away for them. It was a short read, but pretty. (No real warnings/pairings.)
Professor Layton: untitled by o8_pursuer_8o - [ part 01 - part 02 - part 03 - part 04 - part 05 - part 06 - part 07 - part 08 ] - [Note: This fic is set post-game, so there will be spoilers for it in this fic and this rec.] So, I've been scouting around a bit for Layton fanfic and curiously poking at things here and there, reading the odd piece now and again. (The idea of a Professor Layton fandom sort of intrigues me almost as much as the potential for wrong scares me. XD) Then I was browsing art posts and one of them linked to this fic and, well, I didn't think I'd want to read a multi-parter right away, I'm usually more intrigued by oneshots when I first get into fandom, but what the hell, I thought. It was supposed to be good. And what I got was a surprisingly engrossing story with an actual plot, like it very much could have been right out of the Professor Layton games and some really charming characterization and a really quaint, adorable setting even. It was really easy to picture the entire fic set in the style of the game, helped along by the straight-on characterizations and the unfolding plot and the sense of fascination with puzzles being at the heart of the game. I also read the whole thing pretty much in one straight shot, despite that I have a horrible attention span for fic these days, because I kept wanting to know what would happen next, because the author's pacing was delightful, because it felt right to the world she was writing in. It's one of those fic ideas where it has to be done just right (Professor Layton being turned into a baby and then it's up to Luke to protect everyone from someone who would do them all harm) but when it is... it's so incredibly satisfying. And that's what this fic was. ♥ Plus. als;dkfjalskj the ending was JUST WHAT I WANTED. And I'll definitely keep reading more Layton fic, but... at the same time, I think I really am satisfied with the fandom now. (No warnings/pairings.)
Professor Layton: One Night by Candyland - I picked this story at random to read and it was one of the very first that I did and it was an interesting take on how Luke came to be in Professor Layton's care. The first game (since the second and third games weren't available in English at the time, obv.) never really explained any of that, so fanfic is free to make up what it likes for now--and the idea that Luke was just sort of dropped on his doorstep one rainy night was intriguing here, I liked the atmosphere that the author set with the writing a lot. (No warnings/pairings.)
Psych: Like Christmas Morning, But With More Sex and Shame (and Shamelessness) by manicjoy - Having read the author's previous Gus/Shawn fic, which sort of primed me (despite that I've always been a little on the fence about these two) for liking them with actual makeouts, I was ready to read something a bit more R-rated, especially if it was going to have the author's amazing Shawn voice. It's brilliantly spot-on and I was practically cracking my way up through the whole fic because I didn't even have to try to picture it in my head and it's just. Shawn and the total lack of gay freakout on his part while Gus is sort of having his brain implode and Shawn is just so very Shawn throughout the whole thing and he's just completely at home in Gus' apartment and I just-- I think I'm converted now. orz (Gus/Shawn, R-rating.)
xxxHOLiC: If at first you don't succeed by rilina - Oh, this was really cute! A short piece about several scenes of Watanuki trying to cook souffles and how things go pretty much as you'd expect them. It's endlessly entertaining to see the various ways in which the Universe and everyone else interrupt Watanuki's previously calm and ordered life and watch how he spazzes over everything. Plus, it's really cute and got this gentle, laid-back, daily life sort of feeling to it that I really liked. <3 (No warnings/pairings.)
- Dragonball - [ English Fanart Site ] - I feel like I've seen several pieces of this artist's work before, but I don't see it on my list of recommended Dragonball art sites, so... maybe just in the bits&pieces section? Anyway, I was actually looking for Professor Layton fanart and somehow wound up looking at Dragonball art and I cannot complain because I totally adore this artist's style. It's very similar to canon-esque at times, but mostly it's just... fun or neat or cool. Like there are occasional Bulma/Chichi illustrations, but there's also adorable Vejiita/Bulma art or some really pretty Goku/Chichi (asd;lfkjasljk the one of them dancing or the wedding one or the flying through the clouds together, oh, my OTP heart still loves them so) or hot sexytimes Kuririn/18 and how often do you see that? I'm also all over the Trunks/Goten art in the gallery and it was just. There was variety and I loved very nearly every single pairing the artist drew, like they knew just how to strike at my fangirl self. XD♥ (Goku/Chichi, a little Vejiita/Bulma, Bulma/Chichi, Trunks/Goten, a little other.)
- Final Fantasy VII - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I've seen this artist's doujinshi before and I love that it's all about Tifa and Aerith and genuinely about them and not just fodder for guys, but obviously a lot of these two together. It's often just barely shoujo ai, it could almost be gen, but not quite, I wouldn't say. And it's such cute stuff! They're so adorable and sweet and soft together, they're so happy and smiling brightly and the site also has the most addicting flash game ever. I've seen the ball games a lot in my time and they're always interesting to play (where you have to keep the ball in the air to "erase" pieces of the picture underneath) but this one had sound effects and extra bonuses and a;lsdfkjaslkj *played so hard*. There's also a couple of images of Utena!Tifa/Aerith. I would have loved it just for that. ♥ (Tifa/Aerith.)
- Katekyou Hitman REBORN! - [ English Fanart Site ] - Possibly I've recommended this artist before? I'm not sure. If I have, there's been a lot of new art since then and it's totally worth a re-rec because, man, this girl does some pretty as hell Dino/Hibari. It's all sharp lines that are softened and then light, sunny colors that create this really gorgeous effect for the two characters, and, wow, is her Dino kind of totally smoking hot and her Hibari is tiny and vicious-looking and there are suits and ties and tattoos and hair and blood and with every single illustration I looked at, I remembered why I ship the hell out of this pairing. Her Mukuro/Hibari isn't bad, either, there's also the occasional gen Hibari piece, gen Dino piece, or a gorgeous Byakuran piece, but mostly you want to go here for the fabulous D18. (Dino/Hibari, some Mukuro/Hibari.)
- Katekyou Hitman REBORN! - PSYCHE JAP ONLINE [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - Some artists just seem to be made for drawing characters like Squalo or the rest of the Varia sometimes. Not that her art probably wouldn't look good on all the REBORN! characters, but the long, sharp lines and slight sketch quality to them really work for the ones that are her obvious favorites. The site is mostly made up of Squalo art, but there's some Xanxus/Squalo and even some Bel/Squalo, which is something I do not see enough fanart for omg, and oh, MAN, are some of the images here hot. *__* Definitely worth a look if you're a Squalo fan, but it's also just some damn good fanart on its own. <3 The older art is more varied--there's a decent amount of Hibari art, which pleased me, naturally--but it's the more current stuff that's the best, imo. (Some Xanxus/Squalo, some Yamamoto/Hibari, some gen.)
- Katekyou Hitman REBORN! - nappy! [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - Oh, well, this site just totally hit below the belt with me. I was prepared to just sort of skim the art here, the Squalo stuff wasn't bad, but a little longer/sharper than I was in the mood for, but then. Gokudera/Tsuna art. Yamamoto/Hibari art. TYL!Lambo/Gokuder art. TYL!Hibari art. All things that I am weak to--whether pairings I like or crack pairings that I don't see often and am intrigued by--and the artist's style kind of started to grow on me with each image. There's even a Ryohei/Hibari image and a Bel/Squalo image and it's like-- all my rarepair fondnesses in one site! I-- I am weak to this artist kind of a lot. *__* I mean, there's an illustration of TYL!Yamamoto/TYL!Squalo/TYL!Bel in amongst all the awesome art. It's like she loves me. (Mostly gen, with some Xanxus/Squalo and a whole lot of random other.)
- Slayers - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - Xellos/Lina isn't really my cup of tea, but I'm generally pretty laid back when it comes to fanart and the art here is really cute! It's very CG-style and it works for the artist nicely--I did find that I enjoyed the artist's single-character illustrations better than her pairing stuff, but I'm not sure if that's my own bias or not. There is also a lot of art here and I'm always a sucker for when a site has a whole bunch of images to win me over with. I think it'd definitely help if you were more open to the pairing or just didn't mind it, but I do think it's a really lovely site and I enjoyed it. The art is really cute and the colors are pretty, which is about all I ask for. Plus! There's art from the movies and novels, even of the Dark Lords! (Xellos/Lina.)
- Professor Layton - [ English Fanart Site ] - So, I was browsing through the Layton fandom and looking for art and fic and just sort of tooling my way around and noticed that there were several LJ posts that had doodle or sketch dumps on them. But there were enough there to just about rationalize making a rec for them and I could already tell that this was going to be one of my favorite things about the fandom. So, since it's my journal/site, I'm totally counting these as a proper rec. Because AHAHAHAHA some of these are AWESOME. I mean! Sailor Moon!Professor Layton! LEGAL OMG WHY SO HOT. LUKE/FLORA HOLY CRAP WOULD I SHIP THAT. There's even some art in the canon style! It's a handful of illustrations that are either funny or just plain awesome to look at and as;ldfkjaslkj oh fandom sometimes I love you again. (One Luke/Flora image, but the rest are pretty gen. And awesome.)
- Professor Layton - [ English Fanart Site ] - I know the artist from another fandom (One Piece fandom, I think?) partially because I recognize her icon, but a little because I recognize the style, despite that the Professor Layton art is an entirely different style--shut up, that made sense to me. Anyway, this post is full of a bunch of adorable sketches that are very close to canon style and has things like Layton in a tuxedo or Luke and Flora having tea or Layton and Luke fencing or Layton and Luke in TWEWY style which was really awesome. Lots of really fun stuff. <3 (No real warnings/pairings.)
- Professor Layton - [ English Fanart Site ] - More adorable sketches, this time including one for the art meme (which was delightfully fun and I love the "you cannot unsee it" bit especially) and several chibi sketches or just adorable concepts or the greatest "you cannot unsee it" image (different from the one in the art meme) that was great, but made even greater by Flora in the corner of it. Just. AHAHAHAHA, oh, man, this is the kind of crack I want out of the Professor Layton fandom. The kind that goes right along with the adorable cuteness of it. <3 (No real warnings/pairings... m-mostly.)
- Professor Layton - [ English Fanart Site ] - There's quite a few doodles on this post, a bunch of random scenes with older Luke and different styles/poses with Luke and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't grow more and more fond of older Luke every time fandom does something with him. The little random cracky doodles as well as "normal" ones, the silly ones that made me smile, but mostly my favorite was asl;dfkjasl the mini-comic with Layton and Luke bringing home groceries. So cute! <3 (No warnings/pairings.)