[ Amatsuki, Bleach, OP, ToA, ToD, Vesperia ]
SHARING TIME:
More really pretty Odin Sphere icons. *__*
AND ONTO THE RECS:
Bleach - 3 Fanfics
One Piece - 1 Doujinshi
Amatsuki - 1 Fanart
Tales of Vesperia - 7 Fanart
Tales of Vesperia/Tales of the Abyss - 2 Fanart
Tales of Vesperia/Tales of Destiny - 1 Fanart
2008 GOAL: 1139/1602
Bleach: in the eye by incandescens - I know this is short (and I've been recommending a lot of short fics lately) but--! I like this author! And Byakuya/Rukia! I couldn't resist. :< And it's a lovely little fic that says all it needs to, getting into Byakuya's head and his thoughts on and feelings towards Rukia. There's a really lovely calm quality to the writing, yet a depth of emotion underneath that calm surface, which suits Byakuya very well. *__* (Sort of Byakuya/Rukia.)
Bleach: Reverie by p_sky - I was just looking for one more Bleach fic to finish off my recs for the day, grabbing the first link that caught my attention, I had no idea what I was going to click onto, but luck was with me today because this was... well, I'm not quite sure how to describe it. It's an AU, which I don't normally read, but it also feels connected to canon and Ichigo/Orihime is one of the few Bleach pairings I'll read AUs for because of Orihime's "Five lives, one love" line, which is the attitude I started with when I began to read this piece. But rather quickly into the fic, I got sucked into it, finishing the fic before I hardly even knew I'd begun, because the author has a lovely, smooth, clean writing style and she does a fantastic job with the characterization. It's actually sort of an intriguing piece, I think it could stand on its own if it needs to, but I'd also love to see more of it, whichever the author chooses to do. (I'm... sort of torn about it, actually. I really like the ending of this piece. But I'm intrigued at the possible connection to canon, too.) It was a really lovely read and I'm so glad to have clicked on it today. ♥ (Ichigo/Orihime.)
Bleach: Of Myths and Princesses by p_sky - You know who I really love? (Not that it's any surprise, but. XD) I love Orihime a lot and this short little fic that gets into her head while she's in Hueco Mundo is really lovely. I adore the way the author weaves the idea of fairy tales and her own issues of self-doubt/self-worth and how this maybe isn't a fairy tale and what Orihime can/cannot do for her friends all together in the way her thoughts go round here. I loved the whole thing, as much for an Orihime piece as an IchiHime piece. <3 (Ichigo/Orihime.)
One Piece Doujinshi (scanslated) - The Pirate Ship Noah - [Note: This post is locked, but the comm should be freely joinable.] It wasn't until I got a few pages into this one that I noticed that it was by Yamato who, asd;lfkjasl;kjs, I fucking love so hard. I was a little wary of the doujinshi because the summary was that Zoro and Sanji get sucked into another world and I thought, eh, One Piece AU? But it's sort of not really that. It's more like an adventure along the lines of what the original manga might do... you know, if it was going to go for ZoSan. What really makes it, though, isn't just that the concept is totally OP-ish, it's that the art is so reminiscent of canon and the characterization is fantastic and the writing is spot on and all the little touches, the difference in attitude that Zoro and Sanji have because of their backgrounds (a;sldkfjalkjs awesome use of brief, almost single-panel flashbacks to show where each of them were coming from) and Usopp sort of being the mediator between them, explaining both sides, just. a s;dflkjasljk YES. AWESOME. And it's about 75 pages long, too, and only the first volume of, like, five, so I expect it to be one of the most epic OP doujinshi, like, ever. TOTALLY AN AWESOME READ OMG. (Zoro/Sanji.)
- Amatsuki - Horia [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - So, somehow, looking for Vesperia fanart lands me on an Amatsuki site. Not a very big one, not quite a dozen illustrations at the time of this rec, but still some of the prettiest art I've seen for the series yet. And, honestly, it only took me two clicks into the gallery to fall for the site--the first one of Toki was cute and had a lot of potential. But then one of Toki, Kon, and Kuchiha together? In a pose that was very reminscent of the manga and all three of them are totally cute? Yes plz. The site isn't perfect, there are some illustrations that didn't do much for me, but with such a small fandom, this is a rare treat to find. (No warnings/pairings.)
- Tales of Vesperia - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - What's this? Another Vesperia site that I really like? And it hasn't been two months since the last time? M-maybe Vesperia is finally getting a fandom, though, I'm not sure I quite dare hope just yet. Anyway, this is a lovely site, right from the first couple of illustrations I clicked onto, I really liked this one. They're vivid and glowing colors, the kind of thing I'm weak to, and Yuri and Flynn were totally cute--especially when the artist draws them as little kidlets. There's a surprising amount of art on the site and the lineart is that kind that's sharp and clean, then uses pretty colors to win me over even further, some of the blues are really kind of stunning at times. Just. A very nice site. (Flynn/Yuri.)
- Tales of Vesperia - Kevin [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - And another! Vesperia fandom might not actually be so bad! Looking at the game, I suspect I would ship Yuri/Estelle, but... all this pretty Yuri/Flynn art is kind of winning me over, especially when they're both in knights clothes and looking so beautifully drawn and detailed. Not everything on the site is perfect, but when the artist really wants to, she can draw a very nice, clean, smoothly detailed piece of art. I do wish there'd been a little more art here, but... well, when I poked around more, there were illustrations of Yuri with bunny ears and even some adorable little sprites. And, well. I'm weak. XD (Flynn/Yuri, maybe a little other.)
- Tales of Vesperia - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - This site does start out kind of rough, I'll grant. But I saw potential and, well, I really wanted some Yuri/Estelle art after the last couple of sites, so I kept going with the site. And, about halfway through, you could start to see the artist's work improving, her lines got tighter and more detailed, to the point that looking at some of her b&w sketches, you could see how pretty her art really was. Actually, in some ways, I almost preferred the b&w sketches, they had a quiet loveliness to them, while the anime-cel-style coloring was still a little shakey. But. There's a lot of art here and the artist has progressed nicely over the course of the site, to where I was really eager to click on each new link and it made for a very satisfying site, even aside from wanting the pairing here. And her Estelle is totally cute, oh, man. (Mostly gen, some Yuri/Estelle.)
- Tales of Vesperia - Mr.Postman [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I feel like I recognize this site's layout, but I haven't done that many Vesperia site recs, so I'm going to assume I've been here before, but there wasn't enough art to properly rec. But this time there's just enough of it and I was kind of instantly in love with the first illustration I saw, the one of Yuri and Estelle with their hands tied together, a strawberry on a fork between them. It was pretty and nicely detailed and I am so totally weak to that shoujo kind of thing. XD I'm not quite as fond of the comics, they're a bit more on the simple side, despite that you can see the clean, solid work of the artist in them. It's just. The Tales games are usually meant to have color in them, imo. XD The color ones, the group illustrations or the stand-alone stuff, though, makes the site very worthwhile, even aside from the pairing. *__* (Some Yuri/Estelle, some gen.)
- Tales of Vesperia - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I was only intending to sort of skim this site, there didn't look to be a whole lot of art here and I wanted to focus on bigger sites. But I figured I'd at least collect a little for my own personal collection and... about four links into the gallery section, I was kind of making a lot of *__* faces because the artist got kind of really quite good. There's still not a lot of art here, but it's really solid, good-looking stuff that nails an anime or CG styling and some of the images are surprisingly detailed. I don't want to say they look like promotional art, because it's obviously still fanart, but... with a little time and diligence, I think this artist could get there. Maybe someday. At any rate, it's worth a quick whirl through, imo. And browsing the Symphonia art (which I am going to play someday, I swear), you can see it even more strongly, some of those Kratos illustrations are fantastic. (Various pairings/implications of pairings.)
- Tales of Vesperia - Strecke [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - Granted, the art on this site is rough, but what the artist does to make up for that is that there's kind of a surprising amount of detail packed into the images anyway. The current first illustration is one of Yuri and Estelle sitting on a tree branch over a lake and it's just... so soft and cute and just what I was kind of craving without even knowing it that I totally had to cave. There's a decent amount of art to be found here (for a fandom this small, so I'd say maybe around 20+ images or so) and it's really the coloring that makes them. Worth a look if you like the pairing, I think. (Yuri/Estelle.)
- Tales of Vesperia - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - This is one of those sites where I was supposed to be in bed ten minutes ago, but I just couldn't stop clicking on this site. The illustrations range from solidly good to surprisingly sort of almost official looking in some ways. ....I realize that sounded really half-assed, but I was genuinely pleased and a little impressed with the art in places. It's not always perfect, but occasionally it's really solid. Or at least has the potential to be. Whatever, I'm tired and not thinking straight. But I enjoyed this site a lot, there's a slightly older Estelle that's gorgeous and the log art is fun, which is all I ask. As for the Abyss art, I was ready to skip that section (since I was in a Vesperial mood and it was mostly log art anyway), but I started clicking randomly and a;sldkfjaslkj there's a solid variety of all the main characters and there's an Asch/Natalia image in the main illustrations section and a;sldkfjas I am weak. (No real warnings/pairings that I'd mention for either.)
- Tales of Vesperia/Tales of the Abyss - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I actually came here looking for Vesperia art (since I was on a kick for it this morning) but wound up staying for the Abyss art, as well! Though, in general, I think the Vesperia art is a little stronger, but that's just because it's newer and the Abyss art is still really cute and surprisingly diverse for all the different characters it covered. The artist is really good with these soft, pale colors that combine with clean lines and just a hint of chibi to them, which all combines and looks really pretty sometimes. Plus! Omg! A Vespersia high school AU with character profiles! SO ADORABLE. There's a decent amount of art here, the recent comics are really cute/pretty, and the artist clearly has fun with her work. That made the site a delight to go through. (Maybe a little Yuri/Estelle, but mostly gen, I'd say. Some Luke/Tear for ToA, some gen.)
- Tales of Vesperia/Tales of the Abyss - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - And I'm back to Yuri and Flynn. But I certainly can't resist when the artist has such a soft, pretty style that I'm weak to--none of the illustrations have very solid coloring, but it works because the pastel colors are lovely and she's got a solid grip on the characters. I'm also weak to art of Yuri and Flynn as kidlets or the way Flynn looks almost sunlit, even in the more angsty illustrations. I dunno, the artist just made this one work for me somehow. Also. You know. Makeouts and stuff. :D The same (except maybe minus the makeouts) applies to the Abyss art--lots of bright, airy colorings and a bunch of added chibis. I dunno if I would have stuck around on this site if it didn't have the Vesperia art that I'm hungry for, but it was a really interesting, fun site for the Abyss as long as I was taking the time to go through the site. ....e-even if there was Van/Luke there. (Flynn/Yuri for Verspia, mostly gen for Abyss, but some Van/Luke.)
- Tales of Vesperia/Tales of Destiny - Poreporerikka [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I hit this site almost by accident, I was just sort of randomly tooling around and happened to stumble over one I liked well enough to recommend. It's not going to be for everyone and it is a bit of a small site, I suspect it'll mostly only appeal to those who already like the idea of Yuri/Estelle, but. I've been in the mood for them this morning and this artist did some really pretty sketches, there's a lot of soft, flowy lines to them, especially with Estelle, who does well with the shoujo style. Also, I totally caved at the single page doujin/comic of Yuri licking Estelle's bruised/cut finger and it was just. ad;slfkjal;skj way to hit me hard, site! Well played, you win this round. The ToD art reminds me of much the same, except even more solid and detailed and how it looks like it would make some really good doujinshi. I enjoyed this site a lot. <3 (Yuri/Estelle for ToV, mostly gen for ToD.)
More really pretty Odin Sphere icons. *__*
AND ONTO THE RECS:
Bleach - 3 Fanfics
One Piece - 1 Doujinshi
Amatsuki - 1 Fanart
Tales of Vesperia - 7 Fanart
Tales of Vesperia/Tales of the Abyss - 2 Fanart
Tales of Vesperia/Tales of Destiny - 1 Fanart
2008 GOAL: 1139/1602
Bleach: in the eye by incandescens - I know this is short (and I've been recommending a lot of short fics lately) but--! I like this author! And Byakuya/Rukia! I couldn't resist. :< And it's a lovely little fic that says all it needs to, getting into Byakuya's head and his thoughts on and feelings towards Rukia. There's a really lovely calm quality to the writing, yet a depth of emotion underneath that calm surface, which suits Byakuya very well. *__* (Sort of Byakuya/Rukia.)
Bleach: Reverie by p_sky - I was just looking for one more Bleach fic to finish off my recs for the day, grabbing the first link that caught my attention, I had no idea what I was going to click onto, but luck was with me today because this was... well, I'm not quite sure how to describe it. It's an AU, which I don't normally read, but it also feels connected to canon and Ichigo/Orihime is one of the few Bleach pairings I'll read AUs for because of Orihime's "Five lives, one love" line, which is the attitude I started with when I began to read this piece. But rather quickly into the fic, I got sucked into it, finishing the fic before I hardly even knew I'd begun, because the author has a lovely, smooth, clean writing style and she does a fantastic job with the characterization. It's actually sort of an intriguing piece, I think it could stand on its own if it needs to, but I'd also love to see more of it, whichever the author chooses to do. (I'm... sort of torn about it, actually. I really like the ending of this piece. But I'm intrigued at the possible connection to canon, too.) It was a really lovely read and I'm so glad to have clicked on it today. ♥ (Ichigo/Orihime.)
Bleach: Of Myths and Princesses by p_sky - You know who I really love? (Not that it's any surprise, but. XD) I love Orihime a lot and this short little fic that gets into her head while she's in Hueco Mundo is really lovely. I adore the way the author weaves the idea of fairy tales and her own issues of self-doubt/self-worth and how this maybe isn't a fairy tale and what Orihime can/cannot do for her friends all together in the way her thoughts go round here. I loved the whole thing, as much for an Orihime piece as an IchiHime piece. <3 (Ichigo/Orihime.)
One Piece Doujinshi (scanslated) - The Pirate Ship Noah - [Note: This post is locked, but the comm should be freely joinable.] It wasn't until I got a few pages into this one that I noticed that it was by Yamato who, asd;lfkjasl;kjs, I fucking love so hard. I was a little wary of the doujinshi because the summary was that Zoro and Sanji get sucked into another world and I thought, eh, One Piece AU? But it's sort of not really that. It's more like an adventure along the lines of what the original manga might do... you know, if it was going to go for ZoSan. What really makes it, though, isn't just that the concept is totally OP-ish, it's that the art is so reminiscent of canon and the characterization is fantastic and the writing is spot on and all the little touches, the difference in attitude that Zoro and Sanji have because of their backgrounds (a;sldkfjalkjs awesome use of brief, almost single-panel flashbacks to show where each of them were coming from) and Usopp sort of being the mediator between them, explaining both sides, just. a s;dflkjasljk YES. AWESOME. And it's about 75 pages long, too, and only the first volume of, like, five, so I expect it to be one of the most epic OP doujinshi, like, ever. TOTALLY AN AWESOME READ OMG. (Zoro/Sanji.)
- Amatsuki - Horia [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - So, somehow, looking for Vesperia fanart lands me on an Amatsuki site. Not a very big one, not quite a dozen illustrations at the time of this rec, but still some of the prettiest art I've seen for the series yet. And, honestly, it only took me two clicks into the gallery to fall for the site--the first one of Toki was cute and had a lot of potential. But then one of Toki, Kon, and Kuchiha together? In a pose that was very reminscent of the manga and all three of them are totally cute? Yes plz. The site isn't perfect, there are some illustrations that didn't do much for me, but with such a small fandom, this is a rare treat to find. (No warnings/pairings.)
- Tales of Vesperia - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - What's this? Another Vesperia site that I really like? And it hasn't been two months since the last time? M-maybe Vesperia is finally getting a fandom, though, I'm not sure I quite dare hope just yet. Anyway, this is a lovely site, right from the first couple of illustrations I clicked onto, I really liked this one. They're vivid and glowing colors, the kind of thing I'm weak to, and Yuri and Flynn were totally cute--especially when the artist draws them as little kidlets. There's a surprising amount of art on the site and the lineart is that kind that's sharp and clean, then uses pretty colors to win me over even further, some of the blues are really kind of stunning at times. Just. A very nice site. (Flynn/Yuri.)
- Tales of Vesperia - Kevin [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - And another! Vesperia fandom might not actually be so bad! Looking at the game, I suspect I would ship Yuri/Estelle, but... all this pretty Yuri/Flynn art is kind of winning me over, especially when they're both in knights clothes and looking so beautifully drawn and detailed. Not everything on the site is perfect, but when the artist really wants to, she can draw a very nice, clean, smoothly detailed piece of art. I do wish there'd been a little more art here, but... well, when I poked around more, there were illustrations of Yuri with bunny ears and even some adorable little sprites. And, well. I'm weak. XD (Flynn/Yuri, maybe a little other.)
- Tales of Vesperia - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - This site does start out kind of rough, I'll grant. But I saw potential and, well, I really wanted some Yuri/Estelle art after the last couple of sites, so I kept going with the site. And, about halfway through, you could start to see the artist's work improving, her lines got tighter and more detailed, to the point that looking at some of her b&w sketches, you could see how pretty her art really was. Actually, in some ways, I almost preferred the b&w sketches, they had a quiet loveliness to them, while the anime-cel-style coloring was still a little shakey. But. There's a lot of art here and the artist has progressed nicely over the course of the site, to where I was really eager to click on each new link and it made for a very satisfying site, even aside from wanting the pairing here. And her Estelle is totally cute, oh, man. (Mostly gen, some Yuri/Estelle.)
- Tales of Vesperia - Mr.Postman [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I feel like I recognize this site's layout, but I haven't done that many Vesperia site recs, so I'm going to assume I've been here before, but there wasn't enough art to properly rec. But this time there's just enough of it and I was kind of instantly in love with the first illustration I saw, the one of Yuri and Estelle with their hands tied together, a strawberry on a fork between them. It was pretty and nicely detailed and I am so totally weak to that shoujo kind of thing. XD I'm not quite as fond of the comics, they're a bit more on the simple side, despite that you can see the clean, solid work of the artist in them. It's just. The Tales games are usually meant to have color in them, imo. XD The color ones, the group illustrations or the stand-alone stuff, though, makes the site very worthwhile, even aside from the pairing. *__* (Some Yuri/Estelle, some gen.)
- Tales of Vesperia - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I was only intending to sort of skim this site, there didn't look to be a whole lot of art here and I wanted to focus on bigger sites. But I figured I'd at least collect a little for my own personal collection and... about four links into the gallery section, I was kind of making a lot of *__* faces because the artist got kind of really quite good. There's still not a lot of art here, but it's really solid, good-looking stuff that nails an anime or CG styling and some of the images are surprisingly detailed. I don't want to say they look like promotional art, because it's obviously still fanart, but... with a little time and diligence, I think this artist could get there. Maybe someday. At any rate, it's worth a quick whirl through, imo. And browsing the Symphonia art (which I am going to play someday, I swear), you can see it even more strongly, some of those Kratos illustrations are fantastic. (Various pairings/implications of pairings.)
- Tales of Vesperia - Strecke [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - Granted, the art on this site is rough, but what the artist does to make up for that is that there's kind of a surprising amount of detail packed into the images anyway. The current first illustration is one of Yuri and Estelle sitting on a tree branch over a lake and it's just... so soft and cute and just what I was kind of craving without even knowing it that I totally had to cave. There's a decent amount of art to be found here (for a fandom this small, so I'd say maybe around 20+ images or so) and it's really the coloring that makes them. Worth a look if you like the pairing, I think. (Yuri/Estelle.)
- Tales of Vesperia - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - This is one of those sites where I was supposed to be in bed ten minutes ago, but I just couldn't stop clicking on this site. The illustrations range from solidly good to surprisingly sort of almost official looking in some ways. ....I realize that sounded really half-assed, but I was genuinely pleased and a little impressed with the art in places. It's not always perfect, but occasionally it's really solid. Or at least has the potential to be. Whatever, I'm tired and not thinking straight. But I enjoyed this site a lot, there's a slightly older Estelle that's gorgeous and the log art is fun, which is all I ask. As for the Abyss art, I was ready to skip that section (since I was in a Vesperial mood and it was mostly log art anyway), but I started clicking randomly and a;sldkfjaslkj there's a solid variety of all the main characters and there's an Asch/Natalia image in the main illustrations section and a;sldkfjas I am weak. (No real warnings/pairings that I'd mention for either.)
- Tales of Vesperia/Tales of the Abyss - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I actually came here looking for Vesperia art (since I was on a kick for it this morning) but wound up staying for the Abyss art, as well! Though, in general, I think the Vesperia art is a little stronger, but that's just because it's newer and the Abyss art is still really cute and surprisingly diverse for all the different characters it covered. The artist is really good with these soft, pale colors that combine with clean lines and just a hint of chibi to them, which all combines and looks really pretty sometimes. Plus! Omg! A Vespersia high school AU with character profiles! SO ADORABLE. There's a decent amount of art here, the recent comics are really cute/pretty, and the artist clearly has fun with her work. That made the site a delight to go through. (Maybe a little Yuri/Estelle, but mostly gen, I'd say. Some Luke/Tear for ToA, some gen.)
- Tales of Vesperia/Tales of the Abyss - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - And I'm back to Yuri and Flynn. But I certainly can't resist when the artist has such a soft, pretty style that I'm weak to--none of the illustrations have very solid coloring, but it works because the pastel colors are lovely and she's got a solid grip on the characters. I'm also weak to art of Yuri and Flynn as kidlets or the way Flynn looks almost sunlit, even in the more angsty illustrations. I dunno, the artist just made this one work for me somehow. Also. You know. Makeouts and stuff. :D The same (except maybe minus the makeouts) applies to the Abyss art--lots of bright, airy colorings and a bunch of added chibis. I dunno if I would have stuck around on this site if it didn't have the Vesperia art that I'm hungry for, but it was a really interesting, fun site for the Abyss as long as I was taking the time to go through the site. ....e-even if there was Van/Luke there. (Flynn/Yuri for Verspia, mostly gen for Abyss, but some Van/Luke.)
- Tales of Vesperia/Tales of Destiny - Poreporerikka [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I hit this site almost by accident, I was just sort of randomly tooling around and happened to stumble over one I liked well enough to recommend. It's not going to be for everyone and it is a bit of a small site, I suspect it'll mostly only appeal to those who already like the idea of Yuri/Estelle, but. I've been in the mood for them this morning and this artist did some really pretty sketches, there's a lot of soft, flowy lines to them, especially with Estelle, who does well with the shoujo style. Also, I totally caved at the single page doujin/comic of Yuri licking Estelle's bruised/cut finger and it was just. ad;slfkjal;skj way to hit me hard, site! Well played, you win this round. The ToD art reminds me of much the same, except even more solid and detailed and how it looks like it would make some really good doujinshi. I enjoyed this site a lot. <3 (Yuri/Estelle for ToV, mostly gen for ToD.)