[ AMV, One Piece, Lost, Gravitation, Harry Potter ]

[tomomichi]

Notes/Babbling: I spent much of yesterday morning and this morning morning ignoring the rest of the world and reading Harry Potter and Gravitation fic instead. In the first day alone, I figure I read about 700k worth. What is wrong with me? I keep getting sucked into series I'd sworn off ages ago; it's getting highly irritating. Find the suddenly grown attention span v. disconcerting. (Seriously? Harry Potter? I read even more than this, but these were all the words my brain would cough up before it threatened to mutiny yet again.)
Series:
    [Music Video] - 1 AMV [Gravitation]
    One Piece - 1 Fanfic
    Lost - 1 Fanfic
    Gravitation - 1 Fanfic
    Harry Potter - 2 Fanfics



- Anime Music Video (Gravitation) - The Acceptance Speech by SarahtheBoring - I... almost don't want to say what this AMV is about, to say just skip the intro and go straight to downloading it, because that's the way I watched it and promptly laughed my ass off and sparkled at the genius of it. Brilliant choice of song and anime to bring together, really beautiful quality, and the lip synching and scene choices were fabulous. There are moments in this AMV that make me laugh every single time I even just think about them. Just... Gravitation and Avenue Q together, brilliant! I laughed so hard. I shall attempt to stop gushing now, lest I spoil any more of it. ^_~ (No warnings.)

- One Piece - And Eat It, Too by X-parrot - I always feel a little better after I've read a really good One Piece fic, especially when it's about Zoro and Sanji and has that sort of... even when they're getting along, it's not like they're exactly nice to each other and when they're not getting along, they're even worse to each other and... every time I think about this fic, I think about what stands out most for me, the way it was resolved, the way their fight was resolved and that just seemed like such a... them thing. Oh, and the practically tangible taste of chocolate cake. I have no idea how X-parrot did that or made it so hot, but... yum. <3 (Zoro/Sanji.)

- Lost - The Incredibly True Adventures of Scott and Steve by Miss Windy - This is quite possibly my favorite Lost fanfic ever--the concept is one that's great, but even more than that it's pulled off with deftness and flair. There are a lot of people on that island and we don't know everyone yet, so what Miss Windy did here was take two of them and set the episodes from their point of view, all the major action happening in the background and focusing in on the utterly hysterical reactions to all the weird shit going on from these two. And it's hilarious, it seemed like every other paragraph had me in stiches because the writing has that style that's just so easy to read, that it just sails right along, but it's also got fantastic comedic timing. A lot of other people weren't so lucky. This one guy survived the crash and then like FIVE MINUTES LATER got sucked into the jet engines, which was totally disgusting. Gah. Talk about shit luck, right? You survive the crash and then you get eaten by the plane anyway. Brilliant fic. I want more of it so very badly. (Not sure there are any warnings/pairings, maybe a little language?)

- Gravitation - The Disasters Brought by Free Time and Neglect by Hatsbox - This fic might not hit the right notes for everyone, but for me... I've long held the believe that, after all the repressing he's done and the way he acts, giving up so much of himself, that eventually Shuuichi was going to have to reach the point of a breakdown, so this fic was utterly amazing for me. The format isn't one I'm used to, there's almost no dialogue, it's just Shuuichi recounting everything that happened, but I didn't find that that affected the narrative much for me, in some ways it may even have worked better. And what a narrative it was--I believed Shuuichi's spiralling out of control here and there were three seperate points where this fic made my throat feel tight and my chest hurt for the characters. (Keep in mind that I'm particularily fond of these characters, so they affect me more strongly than a lot of others, but this fic was still damned good to get me there three times.)

I wish I could put this into better words without giving the whole thing away, because it was a story that I'd been waiting for for a long time, something that dealt with this topic in this way, that could deal with Shuuichi's character evolution and trauma without making me want to roll my eyes at the melodrama of it. The characterization, while it may have seemed OOC at first because I'm used to happy, bouncy Shuuichi, was particularily brilliant, the further and further I got into the fic. Shuuichi's slow maturation in this story, everything that he goes through and tries to realize about himself, everything you can and can't see from his perspective, and the way he was struggling through it all...

Augh, okay, this rec is sucking and the fic deserves better. The way Shuuichi feels and handles those feelings in this story hit all the right buttons for me. One caveat I'll give is that I found the hostility between Shuuichi and Tohma to be a little fanon-ish towards the middle, but as the story progresses, even that comes back to the brilliant characterization and everyone is so human and while, yes, they're messed up, I believed this sort of messed up. I thought this is the way Shuuichi would react under a breakdown/spiral and I was mesmerized by the whole thing. And, god, the Yuki/Shuuichi relationship hurt like hell in this fic, but it had to and just... I culdn't have asked for much beyond exactly what this fic did. Maybe not for everyone, but it was what I had been waiting for years for and it was immensely satisfying. (Yuki/Shuuichi.)

- Harry Potter - Stealing Harry by Sam Vimes - Wow. I'm not even sure where to start with this story. This was a story I hadn't even realized I was looking for until I'd found it, especially after having read "Beyod the Veil" by Helene; this was a perfect story to read immediately after that one because it sort of... I admit, I kind of fell almost completely away from the HP fandom after OotP, because even the Maruader-era stuff seemed so... pointless when I knew what was waiting for the characters. So, it took one fix it fic and one bloody brilliant AU fic to sort of get me over that and give me back a base from which to fall in love with these characters all over again. Now, this fic is long--the first story, "Stealing Harry", alone is over 700k--but no one should let that deter them, because this story has such fantastic writing that I barely even noticed that the chapters were flying by. I'd read over 500k of the story in practically one sitting before I'd even noticed how far along I actually was. ....well, okay, you may want to make sure you have the time for this fic first.

One of the things that kept me coming back to the HP fandom is that I knew somewhere in the fandom there had to be stories like this, ones that grab onto a concept (What if Sirius had been late that night and instead of getting to Peter first, Lucius Malfoy beat him there? What would happen if Sirius were never framed? Never went to Azkaban? Instead, he watches over little Harry, eventually reaching a breaking point over the abuse he suffers at the hands of the Dursleys and yanks him out there. Cue everything going to hell in a handbasket with an actual plot with Big Happenings and everything!) and just runs with it. The writing is fantastic, the characterization is brilliant, the power of the story being told ringing very genuine, and the story is so complete and so satisfying that it felt damn near flawless.

Despite the length, the story never dragged, it was merely complete, that everything that needed to happen was shown and paced just right. The relationships between the characters were built beautifully--you can see why all the characters are so fond of Harry, why they love him so much, and it all rings true. Even Snape's fondness for the curious little boy was wonderfully done, to say nothing of how beautifully done the relationship between Sirius, Remus, and Harry was. And, oh, I swoon with love over the Sirius/Remus relationship here, because it's not just... tossing them into bed together, but neither does it drag itself down in angst. Things happen, things are hard to deal with, nothing is perfect, but they love each other and they find their way to struggle through everything.

Even the minor characters are fantastic--I have such fun watching the "good" members of Sirius' family, especially Andromeda. And Moody is delightful in this story and everyone feels so... well, yes, that "complete" thing again. It was all touched on and explored as much as it needed to be. The writing is lovely, the dialogue clear and sparkling, just brilliant at showing the characters' personalities. And I gush because this now sits with "Beyond the Veil" as one of my favorite HP fics because I couldn't have asked for anything more and because it made me remember why I love these characters so much. ....hence all the gushing. >_> (Sirius/Remus, but it's half-plot, too.)

- Harry Potter - The Uncle by Sam Vimes - Considering all the angst fic there is for HP out there, sometimes it's nice to have something that's just... silly and makes me giggle and brightens my day a little to read. And that's what this fic is--utterly on crack and working just delightfully for that. Delightful. Yes, that's the word to describe it, I think. Plus, you know. Funny. Hysterical, really. I just... I don't even know if I could describe the concept, it's something that simply must be read and giggled over. Fortunately, the parts are short, so it goes really fast and it's just one of those things that's really low-stress and relaxing. (A little Sirius/Remus, but it's not really the point.)

Comments

[patosan.livejournal.com]

I've only read the first chapter of the Gravi fic you recommended and it has been a topic of discussion between bakayaro_onna (who invited the author, unsuccesfully may I add, to post at Gurabite), imayb1 and myself. I've been meaning to finish reading it and your rec has prompted me to do so soon. Thanks for reminding me.

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

I was really surprised by the fic, I'd sort half-given up on anyone ever writing something about it that wasn't rather short or didn't fit with my view of what I was looking for, much less a story that did it really well, but I liked it a lot, I thought it was an interesting take on a fic that I don't often see. (And, hey, I'm glad to have been a reminder, since I'm obviously drooling over the fic so much. ^_~)

[mclachlan.livejournal.com]

::laughs:: I'm actually very surprised that you hadn't read "Stealing Harry" et al before. I was pretty sure that the story was quite popular... I'd gotten quite an earful from Setissima after admitting a while ago that I'd never heard of it.

However, I'm very glad that you've finally discovered the greatness that is Sam Vimes. ::smile::


-- R.C. McLachlan

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

*grin* I may have heard the title, but I had no concept to put with it, because it'd been a long time since I'd done any real wading into the Harry Potter waters. (Meaning not short little oneshots or fanart. I'm guessing it's been about two years...? I know I was sorta waning with the fandom even before OotP came out, which really didn't help my interest when they killed off half the only reason I was in the fandom. >P) So, I'm just sort of stepping back into whatever's grown in the fandom since then; I'm guessing there's going to be a lot I've never heard of and people are going to give me strange looks for going, "Ooh! Shiny!" over. *sheepish grin*

And I'm really glad, too. I'm not kidding when I say that story and "Beyond the Veil" have given me a sort of... it's hard to explain. But, it's like... for awhile, after OotP, everything felt sort of pointless, like all hope had been sucked out of the pairing, because, hey, no matter how cute the Marauders-era stuff I occasionally tried to read was, Sirius was still dead before getting any sort of chance at real life. The cuteness was almost as painful as the angsty, hurty stuff because I knew where it was going, how it would end up. So, having too lengthy stories to remind me, hey, there's still some sort of way to not have everything wind up a miserable mess helped a lot. ....oh, good lord, I'm shutting up now before this gets even more embarassingly long-winded.

[mclachlan.livejournal.com]

^^ ::hugs:: It must be something in the water, because I felt the exact same way. And don't worry about things being long-winded. I like hearing stuff like that.

... and the Sirius/Remus pairing will never die. Because I read "Beyond the Veil" and "Stealing Harry"/"Laocoon's Children" faithfully. ^_~


... And hey, while we're all a-reccing here, I figured I'd lend one of my own. You say you like the Aragorn/Legolas pairing, ne? Welp, Lady Elina wrote an incredible story called Leaves of Gold (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1598463/1/). I have no words to describe the... bittersweetness of this story. Recommended Reading!

[fmontserrat.livejournal.com]

I hope I'm not intruding but I must beg of you to add the following fanfics which I know have a literary value, in one way or another:

1. "Answers" by Little Sharingan (KakaIru)
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1707921/1/

2. "Marks" by Fambrena
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1560996/1/

3. "Cold Hands" by Xiao Yin (SasuNaru)
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1667967/1/

I believe these works need their deserved recognition.

Btw, thanks for your review of "Monochrome Squares". You don't know how much it meant to me.

~fmontserrat

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

You're not intruding at all, I utterly adore when people make recs, especially in the fandoms I read, especially because the Naruto fandom is so difficult to navigate through already, that any and all help is very much appreciated. Thank you! <3 *dives onto fic, especially anything KakaIru*

And you're quite welcome, though, really, I ought to be thanking you for writing it. <3<3<3

[lazzchan.livejournal.com]

:P That was a fantastic vid that you reccomended... holy cow... I was in tears. However did you find something like that? *grins like crazy* Absolutely fabulous.

:)

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

>D I watched that video over and over, it was just... when Shuuichi leaps across the screen with sparkles while the singer sings, "If you were gay~~" I lose it every time. And I think I found it web-hopping? Someone linked to it or I heard a reference on a message board and saved the link or something. Probably journal hopping, though? :D

[lazzchan.livejournal.com]

:) Absolutely great. I think I'm going to save that sucker and watch it every morning... :) when I'm supposed to be working.

And I adore your site. Someone pointed it out to me when I nagged her for good fanfiction because all I seem to find is crap. ^.~ Great job!

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

I especially loved it because I have such love for the Avenue Q songs (that and "The Internet is for Porn" are genius songs). >D

*blushes* Aww, thank you very much! Not that I find much good stuff that people couldn't find on their own, but I appreciate the kind words a lot. ♥

[lazzchan.livejournal.com]

I find little gems every now and then--and I think its funny (not in a bad way) that Ookami is one of your favorite authors for Inuyasha. :) She's one of my personal friends and we tease her all the time for her great writing.

And Avenue Q songs ARE fabulous...I like the one that mentions something about an english degree?

[beckymarie.livejournal.com]

Of course, I also cheat, I tend to stick to smaller fandoms, rather than the great big ones, which are so much more time-consuming to wade through. *grin* I like her writing a lot, yeah, I remember it being very engaging writing, the kind that was smooth and not a chore to wade through. And then add in plot and I was a happy fangirl. <3

I... sort of remember that one, a little bit? I'm not sure now. Oh! And "Schadenfreude" is one of my other favorites. How can you not love a song about other people's pain? ^_~

[lazzchan.livejournal.com]

*grins* She's a blast in person, too. Very much the same style that flows in her writing. :P We teased each other for awhile as being "gods" in Inuyasha fandom. Now I've drifted away and write the most random fics...

*looks at her Saiyuki ones and wrinkles nose* What is it about poking around in Goku's head?

[beckymarie.livejournal.com]

I can definitely understand that. What happened to our attention spans? It used to be that I would focus in on one series and stay with it for years and now... I can barely manage to stick with anything for more than six months, if that. (Maybe Goku's just so loud that you have to listen to him? ^_~)

[lazzchan.livejournal.com]

Hehe...

I just like focusing on all the mess that's probably in his head... like his fear of snow. Being alone--probably the dark. Vague memories. Losing Sanzo. Things like that. Btw... I ONLY see Goku and Sanzo in a father/son brotherly type relationship. Notwithstanding the hero worship Goku has for Sanzo. Cause when he knew Konzen, he was pretty friggin' young...

[beckymarie.livejournal.com]

Now I know I love you. ^_~ Sanzo and Goku's relationship is an interesting thing, because he gives off this aura of being rather simple-minded (and maybe he is), but there's such a complicated relationship with Sanzo, wrapped up in all that fear and hunger and need and, in their own way, trust. And, yeah, Sanzo is the sun in Goku's world, but that doesn't really translate to anything else for me, just that Sanzo's very important to Goku, the one that brought him up (in Gaiden) and the one that brought him out of the darkness in the 'current' timeline. ....wow, I do go on. ~__~

[lazzchan.livejournal.com]

No, no! That's absolutely true and utterly fabulous! And the thing is, he's still such a child. He had to deal with 500 years of neglect, and because of that, he would have withdrawn incredibly. I think that Sanzo is the only one that he really trusts in a way, because part of him recgonizes him for being Konzen, and the other part of him knows him for the person that rescued him and kept him all that time. Sanzo could've gotten rid of him, but he didn't. (Goku probably would've nagged him until the end of time, but still... :) ) I think that he's stil very lonely and unsure of himself and trying to understand a lot of things. When he was in the cave, he knew that nobody wanted him. When he was in the temple, the monks treated him like crap. I think he has a long way to go to recover from a lot of his pain.

[beckymarie.livejournal.com]

Yes! Despite his age, he never really had a chance to grow up in that cave, those 500 years were five hundred years of loneliness and almost nothing, there's no way to grow up when nothing changes around you. And that set him back a lot, so it's not surprising that he still acts like a child, even several years after being out of there. And with Sanzo... he may be sharp and cranky with Goku, but Goku's one of those characters who picks things up without really knowing why--he knows that the monks may have been polite to him, but they looked at him like he was scum. Sanzo may not be nice to him, but Sanzo doesn't hate him, Sanzo trusts him to take care of himself, rather than just not giving a damn about him.

And you're very right--much as Goku would put up a fuss, if Sanzo ever truly hated him or wanted him gone, I don't doubt that Sanzo could make it happen, could find a way to keep Goku from following. Goku might not understand a lot of things, might doubt a lot of things, but he seems to be pretty good at knowing, on a subconscious level, that Sanzo doesn't mind him being around, that Sanzo trusts him, and may even be fond of Goku in his own Sanzo-way. (And, yeah, he still hurts a lot, but... they all do. That's part of the brilliance of their journey, to slowly start to untie those knots of pain they all have. <3)

[lazzchan.livejournal.com]

It's just so painfulfor Goku, I think. Because he knows there was something before the cave, he can't just really remember except for bits and pieces. That he had to have been cared about, and then that was all taken away from him. He's very much a needy person--and when he gets rebuffed or hurt, I think he withdraws anymore. *tries to recall the manga and the anime* I don't think you actually ever see him *crying*. He won't let anyone see him crying. My personal theory is that to him, it doesn't matter, because no one will ever hear you anyway, and no one will care. He probably cried alot when he was first locked away, and when he got no response, he just locked himself away emotionally. A lot of what he does outwardly is probably just a front.

I think he's just emotionally crying out for attention--and some of my other theories are that he eats because it's a sign that he's alive. When he was in the cave, he didn't feel hunger. He makes noise so that people can hear him.

(And I must be getting way too much time on my hands to analyze the characters like this...)

I also think that Nataku is the key to Goku's memories, as well. ^^;

[beckymarie.livejournal.com]

In some ways, I think this journey has been good for Goku on that front, because he has something to focus on now, something that makes those fleeting bits of memory in the past not so painful to no longer have. Because he has friends who care about him now, no matter how rude they are to him. In the temple with the monks, I imagine it was pretty painful, to know that there was something, but that he just couldn't remember it.

*thinks* It seems like there must have been a moment or two when Goku was crying in the anime, trying so hard to hold it back, but it was too much for him, but I may be misremembering. And I don't recall anything like it in the manga, because I think you're right, that he feels like no one will hear him anyway, that no one will care.

Goku's personality is naturally the kind that's very loud and in need of attention, he seemed like that almost from the beginning, even in the Gaiden storyline, but I think you're very right--even back then, a lot of people avoided him or looked down at him, because he wasn't supposed to be. Then 500 years in a cave with no one ANYWHERE that gave a damn about you... yeah, he needs some serious attention after that. I also think that he eats because there's sort of an emotional void in him that he's trying to fill, a sort of emptiness over all that he's either lost or never had over the years.

I really am very curious about what exactly happened and why Nataku is the way he is and why Goku can't remember and I adore the relationship between Goku and Nataku. <3

[lazzchan.livejournal.com]

I swear, I have too much time on my hands and WAY too much fun when I poke into characters minds like this. :3

I am curious too about what happened to Nataku. The only thing I can surmise (and this was in one of the Zero Sum translations) that when Nataku went to attack Goku and turned the sword back on himself, he locked himself into the coma of all the happy times that he and Goku spent (or would have spent) toegether. And it IS so cute... Goku actually had a friend his age, the first person that told him that it was okay that he was the way he was.

:) Speaking of Gaiden storyline--I adore the fact that Konzen gave him his name--but its sad and nice at the same time that the only thing that Goku remembered *was* his name. It was the only thing they left him.

Theory--Seiten Taisai is the one that is the one that remembers--that's why Goku gets flashes of the past when he changes.

I think he really his battling with an emotional void, too. Someone pointed out he's like a little kid in the way he acts because he doesn't know how to act any different. Kids don't know how to really say they're lonely or they're sad--they're loud and obnoxious in many ways.

And of course--one of the main triggers for Goku changing over to his 'real' form is Sanzo--esp. Sanzo getting hurt in front of him. I think it kicks back to seeing Konzen die in front of him. That's why he snaps.

*laughs* we need to discuss this on a chat or something. Your poor journal is getting swamped... ^^'