[ Full Metal Alchemist, Prince of Tennis, One Piece ]
Notes/Babbling: Yet again not as much as I would have liked to have read, but I at least got my TezuFuji fix. (I just need a TezuAto fix now, because almost no one writes it very well, there are, like, four people who do and I need more. ;___; ) And, goddammit, I think I'm cranky because I'm in that incubation stage. Not as bad as last time, but still just... uncomfortable. Fuck. */whine* Also, shuurin needs to finish her smut. Now. *nods*
Series:
Full Metal Alchemist - 2 Fanfics
Prince of Tennis - 7 Fanfics
One Piece - 1 Fanfic
- Full Metal Panic - Air Feeds Fire by Emily Ravenwood - *lets out a long, slow breath after reading this* This is what I needed from FMA right now, this is what will help ease that gnawing craving I'd been having ever since falling for the series. This story is about a moment that has to eventually come in Edward's future and the way it was handled was a lot of what I ask for from this idea. The writing was lovely, the characterizations sharp and clever, just how I see these characters, and the sex wonderful (if oddly short ^_~)(which was really my main crit with this story, it felt like another scene was needed to build them up to this, because I don't think either would by the type for a one night stand, not really). I was especially pleased with both Roy and Ed because they could both so easily become cliche, but they weren't here, Edward was still himself, yet stripped believably of so much of his frustration with Roy. And darling, darling Roy, caring in his own way, but not a secretly schmoopy character, the hints of his own darker side lovely. I needed this and I'm so glad to have it. (RoyxEd, graphic content.)
- Full Metal Alchemist - All That Is Not Forgotten by X-parrot - There're a few lines early on in the story that read: He doesn't eat, or breathe, not anymore. He knows that sugar is twelve parts carbon to eleven parts water, and he knows too that once he liked candy. But he can't remember now what 'sweet' was, how it spread over his tongue and made him smile. And this story... hurts so much and is a beautiful example of the kind of angst and hurt FMA offers. The imagery X-parrot uses are brilliant for their tangibleness, things that are so simple in so many ways, but so out of Al's reach now. And after reading this, once again, I'm so impressed by X-parrot's writing, the atmosphere she captures through Al's musings and dream-states and the random swirl of his thoughts... all of it is so reminiscent of the... natural hurt of the series. It doesn't feel forced or like the author is cackling over her writing and going, "CRY, readers, CRY! AHAHAHAHA!!" but a much more genuine process. ....that probably made sense to no one but me. ^_~ (No warnings/pairings.)
- Prince of Tennis - Getting What You Want by Fyre Chylde - *giggles* This was so cute! It was really sweet the way Tezuka and Fuji interacted, Fuji trying to wrangle a kiss out of Tezuka, who sidestepped him just as easily, and then.... *sparkles* What won me over, really, is the sweetness of it, that while they weren't out of character, they were still darling in a way, making me coo in fangirl bliss. Plus, the imagery was just too, too darling. *LOVES* (Some light TezukaFuji.)
- Prince of Tennis - False Beginnings by anek - You know, I know I had a few slight nits to pick at with this story while I was reading, but after getting all the way through to the end... I haven't the foggiest idea what they were now. I realize that this story is not going to be for everyone, but the feeling that it invoked in me was absolutely perfect and what I was looking for tonight. I found the characterization to be lovely, very much in line with how I see the characters, the writing smooth and clean, the little touches of the Japanese culture just perfect. Little things made this such a treat--Fuji and Ryoma's purposely vague relationship, Fuji's teasing nature, Ryoma's snarking, Tezuka's stoicism, god, I was flying high after reading this. I admit, the premise is a bit far-fetched, but you're not reading for the plot, you're reading for the characterizations, which are what made me sparkle, obviously. (And, to my mind are far, far more important.) Lately, my attention for longer fics has waned, I've often wandered off to check my mail or sort a few files in the middle of reading, coming back after a few moments, but this one, I read all ~70k of it straight through; I love it when a fic engrosses me enough to do that. *____* I was satisfied by this fic. *hums~* (TezukaFuji, some past/barely-there MomoRyo hints.)
- Prince of Tennis - Pyrite by Aishuu - Part of the reason this story is so bittersweet is because I can potentially see it happening--I will admit that I'm not particularily fond of the way the GP's relationship went here, but that's because I'm a screaming, dippy fangirl and don't want anything but happy, fluffy kitties and bunnies. ^_~ That said, Aishuu's woven angst into the GP that can actually fit with the characters, the way you can see seeds slowly being sown for the future, it's not just randomly shoving angst into them, it's genuinely putting a crack in the foundation. As much as that hurts, it's written in a lovely way and hurts because it's done so well. (Some slight OishiEiji, but more of a gen thing.)
- Prince of Tennis - Game by Aishuu - It's hard to explain what I go through when I read a story like this, it's just... there's a lot of good Prince of Tennis fanfiction out there and I adore it madly. As you can see by the number of TeniPuri recs here, obviously, I've found a lot of stuff I liked. But Aishuu's writing always has something special that makes me so very glad she's in a fandom I love so very much... her stories are full of plot. Her stories are the kind that have everything--from beautiful characterization, character insights woven into the writing, a gorgeous amount of details, beautiful writing, and a plot that is not secondary to the story.
Even if the story is AU after Genius 203 (this story was started long before that was released), it's something I could just see happening, Kikumaru's friendliness was infections and he was bouncy and innocent without being a five year old. Oishi was sweet and gentle, but still a recognizable human being, rather than just a walking "mother" cliche. Fuji was... wah, I loved Fuji in this so much because Aishuu somehow managed to capture the way his aura would change from one smile to the next. And Tezuka was gorgeous, especially Oishi's view of him and their friendship and the way Oishi didn't want to let that go. Everything combined together into a gorgeous whole and just... I ramble over this story because this is what I consider to be the "meat and potatoes" of the fanfiction banquet. Chocolate mousse or Ceasar salad or ice cream covered pie are wonderful things, but I crave a good prime steak and potatoes sometimes, too, I'd get sick without them. ^_~ ....okay, yes, weirdest fic metaphor ever. ^_~ (Oishi/Kikumaru, with a dash of Tezuka/Fuji.)
- Prince of Tennis - A League Beyond by RubyD - There are so few Sakuno stories out there that I truly love, because so few capture her this well. Di-chan has written a story that shows (rather than tells) just how distant Sakuno sometimes feels from the others around her in the tennis club, brilliantly using various examples to show how hard she tries but never seems to be able to quite reach. Di-chan has a gift for underappreciated/underused characters like this and writing a story that's so perfectly in character that it makes my teeth hurt. It's not even just a good fic or good writing or a cute little fic about what one might wish for with Sakuno. It's something that can slide so easily into canon, it's so... accurate. I love this story so, so much. (No warnings/pairings.)
- Prince of Tennis - Deep Snow by yukuro - In the TeniPuri fandom, sometimes it feels like an uphill battle to find stories I like, so many of the ones that look promising from skimming turn out to have some bit of characterization that ruins the entire thing for me or to find out it wasn't what I was hoping it would be. (You can tell I'm grouchy from this today. ^_~) But yukuro is one of those authors that, while her writing could use a little polishing, honestly makes me happy to read her stories. They're cute and fun and I honest to god just feel light after reading one of her stories. And this one is no expection, it's cute and sweet and I can see so many glimmers of character insight here that I readily agree with even if we don't agree 100% on some of the other character reactions. There are also some wonderfully funny jokes, the author has a great sense of humor. (Okay, a few don't work as well as they could, but I STILL giggle at Ryuuzaki-sensei's reaction to being caught under the mistletoe with one of the regulars. XD XD) And oh. My. God. The MomoRyo. Was. So. Frickin'. Cute. All in all, when I was done with the first three chapters of this, I had far more positive things to say than negative (including that it looks to be nicely long and I always love that) and I found that I wanted more. That's all I ask for from a fic. ^_~ (TezukaFuji, OishiEiji, MomoRyoma, InuiKaidoh.)
- Prince of Tennis - From Afar by Tezuka Buchou - I was intrigued by this story, given the odd pairing, but I worried that it would be... errr, well, crappy, to be honest. But reading the opening scene, I literally clapped my hands together in delight at the CUTE. Oh, I don't care if it's batshit or odd, I LOVE this fic! XD XD XD Especially because, Holy Christ, not only was it in character, not only was it well-written and let me picture everything, it was clever! The writing was lovely, posessing the delicate quality needed to make this pairing work the way it did, along with a deft hand for weaving in the little details we've been given in 10.5 and 20.5. The characterization for both of them really rang true for me (even if I do have to suspend a little tiny bit of disbelief that Tezuka's feelings would be quite that strong at the end) and I could JUST SEE this. I really can't express the delight of how much I love, love, love this story. I want more. *pouts* (AHAHAHAHA, NOT TELLING. I will warn that it's very, very unusual, though.)
- One Piece - Refraction by Calico Kat - Refraction, n. 1. the change of direction of a ray of light, sound, or heat, or the like, in passing obliquely from one medium to another in which its speed is different is how this story starts out and I adore this quote at the beginning because, once you understand the concept of the story (four different drabbles with different Zoro pairings), it's lovely. This was a lovely piece to showcase the relationship between Zoro and four different people, showing why and how each of them work, beautiful writing and wonderful character insight woven into each and every one. OP fic like this needs to be treasured. ^_~ (Het and shounen ai.)
Series:
Full Metal Alchemist - 2 Fanfics
Prince of Tennis - 7 Fanfics
One Piece - 1 Fanfic
- Full Metal Panic - Air Feeds Fire by Emily Ravenwood - *lets out a long, slow breath after reading this* This is what I needed from FMA right now, this is what will help ease that gnawing craving I'd been having ever since falling for the series. This story is about a moment that has to eventually come in Edward's future and the way it was handled was a lot of what I ask for from this idea. The writing was lovely, the characterizations sharp and clever, just how I see these characters, and the sex wonderful (if oddly short ^_~)(which was really my main crit with this story, it felt like another scene was needed to build them up to this, because I don't think either would by the type for a one night stand, not really). I was especially pleased with both Roy and Ed because they could both so easily become cliche, but they weren't here, Edward was still himself, yet stripped believably of so much of his frustration with Roy. And darling, darling Roy, caring in his own way, but not a secretly schmoopy character, the hints of his own darker side lovely. I needed this and I'm so glad to have it. (RoyxEd, graphic content.)
- Full Metal Alchemist - All That Is Not Forgotten by X-parrot - There're a few lines early on in the story that read: He doesn't eat, or breathe, not anymore. He knows that sugar is twelve parts carbon to eleven parts water, and he knows too that once he liked candy. But he can't remember now what 'sweet' was, how it spread over his tongue and made him smile. And this story... hurts so much and is a beautiful example of the kind of angst and hurt FMA offers. The imagery X-parrot uses are brilliant for their tangibleness, things that are so simple in so many ways, but so out of Al's reach now. And after reading this, once again, I'm so impressed by X-parrot's writing, the atmosphere she captures through Al's musings and dream-states and the random swirl of his thoughts... all of it is so reminiscent of the... natural hurt of the series. It doesn't feel forced or like the author is cackling over her writing and going, "CRY, readers, CRY! AHAHAHAHA!!" but a much more genuine process. ....that probably made sense to no one but me. ^_~ (No warnings/pairings.)
- Prince of Tennis - Getting What You Want by Fyre Chylde - *giggles* This was so cute! It was really sweet the way Tezuka and Fuji interacted, Fuji trying to wrangle a kiss out of Tezuka, who sidestepped him just as easily, and then.... *sparkles* What won me over, really, is the sweetness of it, that while they weren't out of character, they were still darling in a way, making me coo in fangirl bliss. Plus, the imagery was just too, too darling. *LOVES* (Some light TezukaFuji.)
- Prince of Tennis - False Beginnings by anek - You know, I know I had a few slight nits to pick at with this story while I was reading, but after getting all the way through to the end... I haven't the foggiest idea what they were now. I realize that this story is not going to be for everyone, but the feeling that it invoked in me was absolutely perfect and what I was looking for tonight. I found the characterization to be lovely, very much in line with how I see the characters, the writing smooth and clean, the little touches of the Japanese culture just perfect. Little things made this such a treat--Fuji and Ryoma's purposely vague relationship, Fuji's teasing nature, Ryoma's snarking, Tezuka's stoicism, god, I was flying high after reading this. I admit, the premise is a bit far-fetched, but you're not reading for the plot, you're reading for the characterizations, which are what made me sparkle, obviously. (And, to my mind are far, far more important.) Lately, my attention for longer fics has waned, I've often wandered off to check my mail or sort a few files in the middle of reading, coming back after a few moments, but this one, I read all ~70k of it straight through; I love it when a fic engrosses me enough to do that. *____* I was satisfied by this fic. *hums~* (TezukaFuji, some past/barely-there MomoRyo hints.)
- Prince of Tennis - Pyrite by Aishuu - Part of the reason this story is so bittersweet is because I can potentially see it happening--I will admit that I'm not particularily fond of the way the GP's relationship went here, but that's because I'm a screaming, dippy fangirl and don't want anything but happy, fluffy kitties and bunnies. ^_~ That said, Aishuu's woven angst into the GP that can actually fit with the characters, the way you can see seeds slowly being sown for the future, it's not just randomly shoving angst into them, it's genuinely putting a crack in the foundation. As much as that hurts, it's written in a lovely way and hurts because it's done so well. (Some slight OishiEiji, but more of a gen thing.)
- Prince of Tennis - Game by Aishuu - It's hard to explain what I go through when I read a story like this, it's just... there's a lot of good Prince of Tennis fanfiction out there and I adore it madly. As you can see by the number of TeniPuri recs here, obviously, I've found a lot of stuff I liked. But Aishuu's writing always has something special that makes me so very glad she's in a fandom I love so very much... her stories are full of plot. Her stories are the kind that have everything--from beautiful characterization, character insights woven into the writing, a gorgeous amount of details, beautiful writing, and a plot that is not secondary to the story.
Even if the story is AU after Genius 203 (this story was started long before that was released), it's something I could just see happening, Kikumaru's friendliness was infections and he was bouncy and innocent without being a five year old. Oishi was sweet and gentle, but still a recognizable human being, rather than just a walking "mother" cliche. Fuji was... wah, I loved Fuji in this so much because Aishuu somehow managed to capture the way his aura would change from one smile to the next. And Tezuka was gorgeous, especially Oishi's view of him and their friendship and the way Oishi didn't want to let that go. Everything combined together into a gorgeous whole and just... I ramble over this story because this is what I consider to be the "meat and potatoes" of the fanfiction banquet. Chocolate mousse or Ceasar salad or ice cream covered pie are wonderful things, but I crave a good prime steak and potatoes sometimes, too, I'd get sick without them. ^_~ ....okay, yes, weirdest fic metaphor ever. ^_~ (Oishi/Kikumaru, with a dash of Tezuka/Fuji.)
- Prince of Tennis - A League Beyond by RubyD - There are so few Sakuno stories out there that I truly love, because so few capture her this well. Di-chan has written a story that shows (rather than tells) just how distant Sakuno sometimes feels from the others around her in the tennis club, brilliantly using various examples to show how hard she tries but never seems to be able to quite reach. Di-chan has a gift for underappreciated/underused characters like this and writing a story that's so perfectly in character that it makes my teeth hurt. It's not even just a good fic or good writing or a cute little fic about what one might wish for with Sakuno. It's something that can slide so easily into canon, it's so... accurate. I love this story so, so much. (No warnings/pairings.)
- Prince of Tennis - Deep Snow by yukuro - In the TeniPuri fandom, sometimes it feels like an uphill battle to find stories I like, so many of the ones that look promising from skimming turn out to have some bit of characterization that ruins the entire thing for me or to find out it wasn't what I was hoping it would be. (You can tell I'm grouchy from this today. ^_~) But yukuro is one of those authors that, while her writing could use a little polishing, honestly makes me happy to read her stories. They're cute and fun and I honest to god just feel light after reading one of her stories. And this one is no expection, it's cute and sweet and I can see so many glimmers of character insight here that I readily agree with even if we don't agree 100% on some of the other character reactions. There are also some wonderfully funny jokes, the author has a great sense of humor. (Okay, a few don't work as well as they could, but I STILL giggle at Ryuuzaki-sensei's reaction to being caught under the mistletoe with one of the regulars. XD XD) And oh. My. God. The MomoRyo. Was. So. Frickin'. Cute. All in all, when I was done with the first three chapters of this, I had far more positive things to say than negative (including that it looks to be nicely long and I always love that) and I found that I wanted more. That's all I ask for from a fic. ^_~ (TezukaFuji, OishiEiji, MomoRyoma, InuiKaidoh.)
- Prince of Tennis - From Afar by Tezuka Buchou - I was intrigued by this story, given the odd pairing, but I worried that it would be... errr, well, crappy, to be honest. But reading the opening scene, I literally clapped my hands together in delight at the CUTE. Oh, I don't care if it's batshit or odd, I LOVE this fic! XD XD XD Especially because, Holy Christ, not only was it in character, not only was it well-written and let me picture everything, it was clever! The writing was lovely, posessing the delicate quality needed to make this pairing work the way it did, along with a deft hand for weaving in the little details we've been given in 10.5 and 20.5. The characterization for both of them really rang true for me (even if I do have to suspend a little tiny bit of disbelief that Tezuka's feelings would be quite that strong at the end) and I could JUST SEE this. I really can't express the delight of how much I love, love, love this story. I want more. *pouts* (AHAHAHAHA, NOT TELLING. I will warn that it's very, very unusual, though.)
- One Piece - Refraction by Calico Kat - Refraction, n. 1. the change of direction of a ray of light, sound, or heat, or the like, in passing obliquely from one medium to another in which its speed is different is how this story starts out and I adore this quote at the beginning because, once you understand the concept of the story (four different drabbles with different Zoro pairings), it's lovely. This was a lovely piece to showcase the relationship between Zoro and four different people, showing why and how each of them work, beautiful writing and wonderful character insight woven into each and every one. OP fic like this needs to be treasured. ^_~ (Het and shounen ai.)