[ KwG, House, Tenipuri, JLA/Batman, XTB, Alias, Yamimatsu ]
Notes/Babbling: Well, I'm feeling marginally less like a fevered idiot slacker with no attention span right now. Marginally.
Series:
Koko wa Greenwood - 1 Fanfic
House - 1 Fanfic
Prince of Tennis - 1 Fanfic
Justice League/Batman - 5 Fanfics
X/Tokyo Babylon - 4 Fanfics
Alias - 1 Fanfic
Yami no Matsuei - 1 Fanfic
- Koko wa Greenwood - Taking Care by Serilda - Staring at the bunny currently dangling by the ribbon around it neck like a miniature hangman's noose, Mitsuru found that he was at a loss for words. On the one hand, there was the wholly disturbing and not at all flattering Shinobu-comparing-him-to-a-stuffed-animal thing, but on the other hand... Greenwood fic! Eeee! Serilda does good Greenwood fic and I just... spin and shimmer and have the urge to reread all my favorite Greenwood fics all over again. This one was adorable (which really shouldn't be possible with Shinobu and yet I buy it here, because... I could just see this >D), just a hint of evilness/their usual teasing relationship (clever, clever, evil Shinobu ♥), and then some snuggling that I could actually see, and some lovely writing. LOVED this. (Shinobu/Mitsuru.)
- House - Coffee by Aurelia Priscus - Oh, god, this was just too, too hysterical. House routinely stealing coffee out of the oncology department's cabinents because it's the only decent stuff in the whole place, Wilson's moral dillemma about having a cup for himself or not, the Wiston Churchill/Beach Boys references, domestic!Wilson, the utter perfection of the conversation between Wilson and House that was just SPOT ON, Chase's scheme (oh, god, how I laughed and laughed at that), even Cuddy's attempt to reign them in at the end... all of it was so much better than I can get across in a single rec. Something that could have so easily just been lifted directly out of or into the series itself. (No warnings/pairings.)
- Prince of Tennis - After by kyuuseijyutsu - I admit, I wavered a little in the middle of this story, but by the end... I was definitely onboard with the WAFFy Tezuka/Fuji fic, especially since the sweet afterglow stuff gave me pleasant pre-Afterglow images. (....shut up! >E) I'm not sure I could say why I was won over (perhaps, other than that I wanted to be, of course), except maybe that Fuji gently teasing Tezuka was really kind of sweet/adorable. Good for a WAFFy feeling, since, dammit, I LIKE THAT SOMETIMES. ♥ (Tezuka/Fuji, PG-15 rating?)
- JL:TAS - Iron to Iron by SelDear - Wow, this is another story that just did not feel as long as it actually was, because I was so drawn into the story and entranced with the beautiful writing. There were lots of little touches I loved to the story, especially the fine hints of Bruce and Diana's relationship, but the real, real joy of this story was the brilliant interaction between Diana and Shayera. It so utterly captured who these two women were, where they were in their lives post-"Wake the Dead", how they had been raised, and what they meant to each other. It was breath-taking to see Diana struggling with potentially forgiving Shayera, to see Shayera struggling with whether she had earned forgiveness or not, to see them as the warriors that they are, brilliantly mixed with the women that they are. I love, love, loved that it wasn't all about the Grrrl Power, it was simply who these characters were and it never wavered from that. Gorgeous story, gorgeous characterization, gorgeous fight scenes, and gorgeous writing. I'm star-struck. (References to canon pairings, but not the point.)
- JL:TAS - Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by SelDear - There was a chasm of difference between affection and desire, and another chasm between knowing what she wanted from him and being able to let him give it to her. Wow. I am going to go totally fangirl over this story, so you, uh, may want to take a few steps back. This is Bruce/Diana smut like I didn't even think there was a chance of getting--so vividly in character and beautifully written that it took my breath away to see the sharpness of these character portrayals. Such gorgeous sex that started off as insanely hot kissing and UST before progressing into sex that wasn't just tepid romance novel style psuedo-pr0n, it wasn't flowery and bad euphasims, it was genuinely hot sex. The author's language was brilliant, not shying away from more graphic terms, but not being over the line or crude about them. And never ONCE was this not Bruce and Diana, never ONCE was this not about their issues, all the complicated tangles that that entails. Gotham's demands on Bruce, his own sense of control, Diana's innocence/inexperience, yet lack of naivete, the sense of being vulnerable to a man, yet still being her confident self, yet nothing was ever forced between them. I felt the attraction, I felt the emotions here, everything was brilliantly natural and detailed and just... it could have been plotless porn, but the sheer character insight made it so, so much more than that. This is why I love the pairing, this is why I am so solidly a fan of these two. Plus, holy hell, the smut. *___* ....hey, I said it was going to be fangirly. Hmph. (Bruce/Diana, NC-17 content.)
- JLA - Dreaming True by SelDear - Normally, I tend to avoid Elseworlds fics quite stringently, they're just not my thing. But I'd fallen head-over-heels for the author's writing style, so I had to give this one a chance, especially since it wasn't too terribly long. It was shockingly good, capturing the sense of the characters, keeping true to who they are and what kind of people they are and their relationships with each other, while still putting them in a sort of medieval setting that worked. Again, the characterizations and writing are so sharp and clear, Batman's (and I'm just going to call him Batman for the sake of clarity) feelings for Diana and his friendship with Superman (again, for clarity's sake) were just so... there and intense, not feeling forced at all, instead I believed every inch of this story. The slight hint of mythology (or perhaps fantasy?) with the discussion of dreams was tied very well into the story, the minor roles of characters like "Alford", the insights into the characters (the differences between Superman and Batman, how they each handle being responsible for people), all of it was just... wow. Excellent fic. (Batman/Wonder Woman, background Superman/Wonder Woman.)
- JL:TAS - Drabbles by SelDear - Again, normally, I don't often read an aspect a story has (this time, an original character, the daughter of two canon characters), but because I love the author's writing so much, I decided to go ahead and give this one a shot. It also helps that the chapters are all short little ficlets... actually, I really wanted more, the author's writing is strong enough to carry me past the OC angle (it helps that the focus isn't really so much on her as it is about discovering pieces of the history that brought them to this point) and the latest one left off in a REALLY interesting point. ....okay, this isn't really saying why anyone should read, so I'll just say that instead: GO READ. Intriguing execution of a concept that could have been really bad, but is instead something very much worth reading. (Background Bruce/Diana.)
- JLA - When Arrogance Met Adorability by DC Luder - This was an interesting follow-up to The Obsidian Age storyline--while I'm not entirely with the author on the characterization and the writing has a hint of stiffness to it, what I did like is that it played well with the effects of what had happened to them in that time. The first half of the story really does a good job of showing just how badly their deaths affected them all, it gets across the power of what they went through, why the League changed so much after that. It dovetails nicely with the second half, which is Bruce and Diana dealing with their growing feelings and attraction to each other... and I have to admit, my inner fangirl was smiling over the flirting and the dealing with the issues between them. Nice little fic that I quite enjoyed. :D (Bruce/Diana.)
- X - Liquidating The Assets by Fahye - You know. I took one look at the author's notes of this story and almost turned the car right around and went home, but then I figured... oh, what the hell, I'll read until I'm creeped out, then run away like the demons of hell themselves were on my tail. I mean, Crossdressing Prostitute Seishirou fic couldn't possibly be something I'd read all the way through. And yet... the Officially Creeped Out point never came. Instead there were lots of I Shouldn't Laugh At This, I Shouldn't Laugh At This, I Shouldn't Laugh At Thi--BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *Cracks Up* points, something about the smoothness of the writing, that Seishirou was just doing one giant mind-fuck and enjoying the hell out of it, the interaction with Subaru that was fucking perfect, a great sense of comedic timing (Yuuto's reactions constantly made me laugh, too), and that when I finished the entire fic, I just had to put my head down and laugh. I feel like I shouldn't have, but, dammit, this is the ONLY fic where this could EVER work. And thus I recommend it, despite Crossdressing Prostitute Seishirou. (Some Seishirou/Subaru.)
- X - Progression by EAG - Despite the shortness of this story, it certainly packs a hell of a punch. The picture it paints... in some ways, I dread that it could happen, in others I almost wish it would happen, because it'd be brilliantly horrible. EAG really does the idea well in this ficlet, the faint echoes of Seishirou, the way Subaru is different, the way everything hurts that CLAMP-y sort of way. Not a happy fic, but one that still got to me. (Some light Seishirou/Subaru, but it's not entirely about that.)
- X - A Shopping Excursion by Xyn - GOOD. I NEEDED SOME X FLUFF. But more than fluff, it was the warm kind of fluff that made me smile and feel all fuzzy on the inside. Yet, it also made me giggle over the humor in all the right places (Seishirou insulting Subaru's sense of fashion was great) and the ending made me coo. One of those stories that I need every so often, amidst all the angst and death and blood and pain and trauma, because IT MAKES ME FEEL BETTER, DAMMIT. *clutches the WAFF and runs off* (Seishirou/Subaru.)
- X - Sepia Architecture by Xyn - But the past seemed to haunt him constantly, memories touching and warping every aspect of life. His history couldn’t touch him here in the attic however; it was already filled with someone else's memories, encased away in ragged boxes. Oh. This was beautiful. One of those stories that took my breath away by the end because it was just so... everything I wanted. Brilliant characterization, moments that had Seishirou and Subaru something like being at peace, but believable and genuinely clever, moments that ripped my heart out because they couldn't stay there forever, because these characters have such tragic lives, and an ending that left me knocked on my ass at the sheer perfection of Seishirou's characterization and the climax that the story built to. It's not easy to find stories that have quiet moments of intimacy with Seishirou and Subaru, much less ones that slide beautifully in between the pages of canon, that make me feel something like warm, that capture the magic of this pairing, yet still stay so perfectly in tune with what CLAMP wanted for them. Each scene in this story was a lovely illustration of the relationship between these characters, each time Seishirou would visit Subaru in the attic, there was a new memory, there was a new piece of them left behind, each having its own meaning or point, each building towards the climax of the story... and when that hit, I was left star-struck by how much I was in love with this story. *fangirls some more* (Seishirou/Subaru.)
- Alias - Hard-Boiled vs. Sunny-Side-Up by Yahtzee - [Note: Spoilers for 4x01 and 4x02] Neither Marshall nor Sark are my favorite Alias characters, but there was something tempting about the idea of a conversation (over eggs!) between the two that caught at my attention and made me at least try the beginning of the story. I was immediately zipped into the story by the sharp, sharp dialogue and Sark POV, both of which were just pitch-perfect to the point that I didn't even have to try to hear the characters' voices. They just popped immediately to mind, complete with facial expressions from the actors. Also? Hilarious. So, so funny. Yet, funny while still being brilliantly in character, the kind that isn't parody, but instead... I could have seen this in the show itself, right down to the way Sark managed to wriggle information out of the conversation, even without giving away that he knew a thing and yet was still having to have a conversation with Marshall to get it. Oh, how I loved Marshall in this. ♥ (No warnings/pairings outside of canon hints.)
- Yami no Matsuei - How to change the atmosphere of your chess club in five easy steps by weirdquark - Five drabbles based around the concept of Tatsumi and Watari playing strip chess--which could have sent me running for the hills (Tatsumi? Strip chess? Of his own volition?) and yet was so subtly written, the quiet UST between him and Watari, the smooth, clean writing, the little details of fingers on chess pieces or bits of clothing being stripped away... it was lovely and the way the author chose to start each drabble with the same line REALLY worked for me. Totally gave me my Tatari fix this morning. *hums happily* (Light Tatsumi/Watari.)
Series:
Koko wa Greenwood - 1 Fanfic
House - 1 Fanfic
Prince of Tennis - 1 Fanfic
Justice League/Batman - 5 Fanfics
X/Tokyo Babylon - 4 Fanfics
Alias - 1 Fanfic
Yami no Matsuei - 1 Fanfic
- Koko wa Greenwood - Taking Care by Serilda - Staring at the bunny currently dangling by the ribbon around it neck like a miniature hangman's noose, Mitsuru found that he was at a loss for words. On the one hand, there was the wholly disturbing and not at all flattering Shinobu-comparing-him-to-a-stuffed-animal thing, but on the other hand... Greenwood fic! Eeee! Serilda does good Greenwood fic and I just... spin and shimmer and have the urge to reread all my favorite Greenwood fics all over again. This one was adorable (which really shouldn't be possible with Shinobu and yet I buy it here, because... I could just see this >D), just a hint of evilness/their usual teasing relationship (clever, clever, evil Shinobu ♥), and then some snuggling that I could actually see, and some lovely writing. LOVED this. (Shinobu/Mitsuru.)
- House - Coffee by Aurelia Priscus - Oh, god, this was just too, too hysterical. House routinely stealing coffee out of the oncology department's cabinents because it's the only decent stuff in the whole place, Wilson's moral dillemma about having a cup for himself or not, the Wiston Churchill/Beach Boys references, domestic!Wilson, the utter perfection of the conversation between Wilson and House that was just SPOT ON, Chase's scheme (oh, god, how I laughed and laughed at that), even Cuddy's attempt to reign them in at the end... all of it was so much better than I can get across in a single rec. Something that could have so easily just been lifted directly out of or into the series itself. (No warnings/pairings.)
- Prince of Tennis - After by kyuuseijyutsu - I admit, I wavered a little in the middle of this story, but by the end... I was definitely onboard with the WAFFy Tezuka/Fuji fic, especially since the sweet afterglow stuff gave me pleasant pre-Afterglow images. (....shut up! >E) I'm not sure I could say why I was won over (perhaps, other than that I wanted to be, of course), except maybe that Fuji gently teasing Tezuka was really kind of sweet/adorable. Good for a WAFFy feeling, since, dammit, I LIKE THAT SOMETIMES. ♥ (Tezuka/Fuji, PG-15 rating?)
- JL:TAS - Iron to Iron by SelDear - Wow, this is another story that just did not feel as long as it actually was, because I was so drawn into the story and entranced with the beautiful writing. There were lots of little touches I loved to the story, especially the fine hints of Bruce and Diana's relationship, but the real, real joy of this story was the brilliant interaction between Diana and Shayera. It so utterly captured who these two women were, where they were in their lives post-"Wake the Dead", how they had been raised, and what they meant to each other. It was breath-taking to see Diana struggling with potentially forgiving Shayera, to see Shayera struggling with whether she had earned forgiveness or not, to see them as the warriors that they are, brilliantly mixed with the women that they are. I love, love, loved that it wasn't all about the Grrrl Power, it was simply who these characters were and it never wavered from that. Gorgeous story, gorgeous characterization, gorgeous fight scenes, and gorgeous writing. I'm star-struck. (References to canon pairings, but not the point.)
- JL:TAS - Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by SelDear - There was a chasm of difference between affection and desire, and another chasm between knowing what she wanted from him and being able to let him give it to her. Wow. I am going to go totally fangirl over this story, so you, uh, may want to take a few steps back. This is Bruce/Diana smut like I didn't even think there was a chance of getting--so vividly in character and beautifully written that it took my breath away to see the sharpness of these character portrayals. Such gorgeous sex that started off as insanely hot kissing and UST before progressing into sex that wasn't just tepid romance novel style psuedo-pr0n, it wasn't flowery and bad euphasims, it was genuinely hot sex. The author's language was brilliant, not shying away from more graphic terms, but not being over the line or crude about them. And never ONCE was this not Bruce and Diana, never ONCE was this not about their issues, all the complicated tangles that that entails. Gotham's demands on Bruce, his own sense of control, Diana's innocence/inexperience, yet lack of naivete, the sense of being vulnerable to a man, yet still being her confident self, yet nothing was ever forced between them. I felt the attraction, I felt the emotions here, everything was brilliantly natural and detailed and just... it could have been plotless porn, but the sheer character insight made it so, so much more than that. This is why I love the pairing, this is why I am so solidly a fan of these two. Plus, holy hell, the smut. *___* ....hey, I said it was going to be fangirly. Hmph. (Bruce/Diana, NC-17 content.)
- JLA - Dreaming True by SelDear - Normally, I tend to avoid Elseworlds fics quite stringently, they're just not my thing. But I'd fallen head-over-heels for the author's writing style, so I had to give this one a chance, especially since it wasn't too terribly long. It was shockingly good, capturing the sense of the characters, keeping true to who they are and what kind of people they are and their relationships with each other, while still putting them in a sort of medieval setting that worked. Again, the characterizations and writing are so sharp and clear, Batman's (and I'm just going to call him Batman for the sake of clarity) feelings for Diana and his friendship with Superman (again, for clarity's sake) were just so... there and intense, not feeling forced at all, instead I believed every inch of this story. The slight hint of mythology (or perhaps fantasy?) with the discussion of dreams was tied very well into the story, the minor roles of characters like "Alford", the insights into the characters (the differences between Superman and Batman, how they each handle being responsible for people), all of it was just... wow. Excellent fic. (Batman/Wonder Woman, background Superman/Wonder Woman.)
- JL:TAS - Drabbles by SelDear - Again, normally, I don't often read an aspect a story has (this time, an original character, the daughter of two canon characters), but because I love the author's writing so much, I decided to go ahead and give this one a shot. It also helps that the chapters are all short little ficlets... actually, I really wanted more, the author's writing is strong enough to carry me past the OC angle (it helps that the focus isn't really so much on her as it is about discovering pieces of the history that brought them to this point) and the latest one left off in a REALLY interesting point. ....okay, this isn't really saying why anyone should read, so I'll just say that instead: GO READ. Intriguing execution of a concept that could have been really bad, but is instead something very much worth reading. (Background Bruce/Diana.)
- JLA - When Arrogance Met Adorability by DC Luder - This was an interesting follow-up to The Obsidian Age storyline--while I'm not entirely with the author on the characterization and the writing has a hint of stiffness to it, what I did like is that it played well with the effects of what had happened to them in that time. The first half of the story really does a good job of showing just how badly their deaths affected them all, it gets across the power of what they went through, why the League changed so much after that. It dovetails nicely with the second half, which is Bruce and Diana dealing with their growing feelings and attraction to each other... and I have to admit, my inner fangirl was smiling over the flirting and the dealing with the issues between them. Nice little fic that I quite enjoyed. :D (Bruce/Diana.)
- X - Liquidating The Assets by Fahye - You know. I took one look at the author's notes of this story and almost turned the car right around and went home, but then I figured... oh, what the hell, I'll read until I'm creeped out, then run away like the demons of hell themselves were on my tail. I mean, Crossdressing Prostitute Seishirou fic couldn't possibly be something I'd read all the way through. And yet... the Officially Creeped Out point never came. Instead there were lots of I Shouldn't Laugh At This, I Shouldn't Laugh At This, I Shouldn't Laugh At Thi--BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *Cracks Up* points, something about the smoothness of the writing, that Seishirou was just doing one giant mind-fuck and enjoying the hell out of it, the interaction with Subaru that was fucking perfect, a great sense of comedic timing (Yuuto's reactions constantly made me laugh, too), and that when I finished the entire fic, I just had to put my head down and laugh. I feel like I shouldn't have, but, dammit, this is the ONLY fic where this could EVER work. And thus I recommend it, despite Crossdressing Prostitute Seishirou. (Some Seishirou/Subaru.)
- X - Progression by EAG - Despite the shortness of this story, it certainly packs a hell of a punch. The picture it paints... in some ways, I dread that it could happen, in others I almost wish it would happen, because it'd be brilliantly horrible. EAG really does the idea well in this ficlet, the faint echoes of Seishirou, the way Subaru is different, the way everything hurts that CLAMP-y sort of way. Not a happy fic, but one that still got to me. (Some light Seishirou/Subaru, but it's not entirely about that.)
- X - A Shopping Excursion by Xyn - GOOD. I NEEDED SOME X FLUFF. But more than fluff, it was the warm kind of fluff that made me smile and feel all fuzzy on the inside. Yet, it also made me giggle over the humor in all the right places (Seishirou insulting Subaru's sense of fashion was great) and the ending made me coo. One of those stories that I need every so often, amidst all the angst and death and blood and pain and trauma, because IT MAKES ME FEEL BETTER, DAMMIT. *clutches the WAFF and runs off* (Seishirou/Subaru.)
- X - Sepia Architecture by Xyn - But the past seemed to haunt him constantly, memories touching and warping every aspect of life. His history couldn’t touch him here in the attic however; it was already filled with someone else's memories, encased away in ragged boxes. Oh. This was beautiful. One of those stories that took my breath away by the end because it was just so... everything I wanted. Brilliant characterization, moments that had Seishirou and Subaru something like being at peace, but believable and genuinely clever, moments that ripped my heart out because they couldn't stay there forever, because these characters have such tragic lives, and an ending that left me knocked on my ass at the sheer perfection of Seishirou's characterization and the climax that the story built to. It's not easy to find stories that have quiet moments of intimacy with Seishirou and Subaru, much less ones that slide beautifully in between the pages of canon, that make me feel something like warm, that capture the magic of this pairing, yet still stay so perfectly in tune with what CLAMP wanted for them. Each scene in this story was a lovely illustration of the relationship between these characters, each time Seishirou would visit Subaru in the attic, there was a new memory, there was a new piece of them left behind, each having its own meaning or point, each building towards the climax of the story... and when that hit, I was left star-struck by how much I was in love with this story. *fangirls some more* (Seishirou/Subaru.)
- Alias - Hard-Boiled vs. Sunny-Side-Up by Yahtzee - [Note: Spoilers for 4x01 and 4x02] Neither Marshall nor Sark are my favorite Alias characters, but there was something tempting about the idea of a conversation (over eggs!) between the two that caught at my attention and made me at least try the beginning of the story. I was immediately zipped into the story by the sharp, sharp dialogue and Sark POV, both of which were just pitch-perfect to the point that I didn't even have to try to hear the characters' voices. They just popped immediately to mind, complete with facial expressions from the actors. Also? Hilarious. So, so funny. Yet, funny while still being brilliantly in character, the kind that isn't parody, but instead... I could have seen this in the show itself, right down to the way Sark managed to wriggle information out of the conversation, even without giving away that he knew a thing and yet was still having to have a conversation with Marshall to get it. Oh, how I loved Marshall in this. ♥ (No warnings/pairings outside of canon hints.)
- Yami no Matsuei - How to change the atmosphere of your chess club in five easy steps by weirdquark - Five drabbles based around the concept of Tatsumi and Watari playing strip chess--which could have sent me running for the hills (Tatsumi? Strip chess? Of his own volition?) and yet was so subtly written, the quiet UST between him and Watari, the smooth, clean writing, the little details of fingers on chess pieces or bits of clothing being stripped away... it was lovely and the way the author chose to start each drabble with the same line REALLY worked for me. Totally gave me my Tatari fix this morning. *hums happily* (Light Tatsumi/Watari.)