[ Samurai Champloo, GO, Brimstone/Dogma, DH, MoB, DCU/JLA/Batman, Bleach, CCS ]

[tomomichi]

Notes/Babbling: More Yuletide recs (that much closer to finishing, whoo) and more comic recs. It's been a year and a half since I last read any DC, you'd think there'd be more to find, hmph.
Series:
    Samurai Champloo - 1 Fanfic
    Good Omens - 2 Fanfics
    Brimstone/Dogma - 1 Fanfic
    Desperate Housewives - 1 Fanfic
    Mirage of Blaze - 1 Fanfic
    DCU/JLA/Batman/etc. - 5 Fanfics
    Bleach - 1 Fanfic
    Cardcaptor Sakura - 1 Fanfic



- Samurai Champloo - Pursuit of Happiness by Halrloprillalar - Yeee! Samurai Champloo fic that keeps those... I don't know that I quite want to call them harsh edges, but those... well, it's not a nice series, but it's not a horrible series, either, and Fuu is just... she's so sweet when she thinks Jin looks sad and is trying all sorts of ways to cheer him up, but they all fail spectacularily. Full of those little moments and lines that just capture the series so fantastically, right down to the very end, great dynamics between the three of them, and a feeling like this could have come straight out of an episode. (No real pairings/warnings.)

- Good Omens - A Precise and Accurate History of Monday, Eleven Years Later by Giddy Geek - I was a little wary of this story, considering the size of it (90k!), but once I sat down to start reading... it did not feel that long, it felt like it had just zipped by, the writing so clean, smooth, and polished that it just pulled me right in and I didn't even notice until it let go of me however many pages later. The characterization is pitch-perfect, so many of those little details and moments (Crowley embarassing the hell out of poor Aziraphale [or even just threatening to] in the quiet little neighborhood was the stuff of brilliance, I'm convinced. And, ooh, Adam's role in this was FANTASTIC and the COOKIES! <3<3<3), full of beautiful characterization, but also so sharp and funny, and yet still managing to tell a story with something akin to an actual plot? That this story wove all those things I could have asked for together like this, then wrapped it all up in pretty writing? LOVE. I like to think this is how the story progressed. (Crowley/Aziraphale.)

- Good Omens - The Probability of Ducks by graycastle - "What I mean to say," Aziraphale continued, "is that ducks don't need to have always existed in order to give the impression that they have always existed. That is the genius of ducks." A simple little story that I don't think I could begin to describe even if I tried. I'm not sure why, it just... the words don't quite seem to want to come. But, lovely and poignant (if I'm not overusing that word these days) interaction between Crowley and Aziraphale. And, of course, ducks. (No real pairings/warnings, but if you squint....)

- Brimstone/Dogma - Divine Comedy by tigerlady - ....granted, I was a little hesitant at reading a Dogma/Brimstone crossover, because... well, crossovers are often awkward, but, holy crap, this one was GENIUS and just utterly NAILED the style of both. It melded both series' takes on god/heaven/devil/hell/religion far, far more seamlessly than I would have thought and, yet, didn't make a big deal out of it, just went straight for the fantastic narration by Brimstone's Zeke Stone and the FANTASTIC way the story unfolded. Just... damn, I could see this and the writing was fabulous and, god, that's a brilliant opening paragraph: So a demon, an angel, and a muse walk into a bar. Or more specifically, a little strip club in the middle of Nowhere, Indiana. Throw in Satan and you've got the makings of a beautiful joke on yours truly. Of course that's par for the course when it comes to my second tour here on Earth. So, so, SO MUCH LOVE for this. ♥ Oh, and the scene with Zeke, Metatron, and the Devil in the strip club? Totally worth reading the fic for that. (No warnings/pairings that I'd count.)

- Desperate Housewives - The Progressive by boundbyspells - I know, I know. Desperate Housewives fic seems so... I don't know. Superfluous, maybe. Unncessary might be better, or perhaps just an ill fit. And yet... and yet, I couldn't help reading this fic and marvelling at what a terrific story it is. The little moments, the lovely writing, the character insight... the entire concept of the fic (a progressive dinner, that moves from house to house so that the workload is lighter on each person) just fits so damned well with the series and makes the most of the concept to work in all those little character moments. The conversation between Lynnette and Rex at the climax of the fic is one of those that I can so easily see coming together with the canon of the series. It's pitch-perfect and fantastically insightful and just so... right for this series. Gah. I know! Desperate Housewives fic! Good Desperate Housewives fic! What is the world coming to? (No real warnings/pairings.)

- Mirage of Blaze - Tonight by Puffy Joe - I liked this story for the sense of tension and the feeling of... something's coming, that something's building to a head and will break soon, that was rather like what I remember of the series. There's also some very nice imagery here that lends well to the tension of the fic and does indeed manage to be something like sensual. Whyyyy is there not more Mirage of Blaze fic out there? ^_~ (A little Naoe/Takaya?)

- DCU/JLA - In Darkest Light by Meljean Brook - I remember reading the first half of this story many, many moons ago and... admittedly, the writing could use a little polishing, but, at the same time, it's one of those stories that helped further my love of the Bruce/Diana pairing because it came along at just the right time and I think it well deserves to be one of the classics. The characterization and thought put into the story is top-notch and really well-done, there's an actual progression to the relationship, woven around their actions and cases/fights/etc., that goes beyond just romantic machinations as well as merging details from both characters' histories. While I grant that I felt the characterization was a little easy (or perhaps I should say "light" or "too fast", bordering on a little too... *waves hand* fanfic-y-type-romance-angst) at times, I also think that this author has a very solid grasp of the characters and clearly loves them both, making them both fully realized, vivid characters. Diana's background was very well spread-out in this story, the details of her mythology backgrounds mixing very well with Batman's world, with one of his rogue's gallery.

There's also an actual story here and, yes, it's used to further the relationship between the characters, but it's still interesting for its own sake. The author doesn't forget that Diana is a warrior and a peace maker. She doesn't forget that Bruce's emotions are a complicated thing or forget that he does have other important people in his life--some of my favorite scenes in this story were of Dick and Babs interacting or that fabulous conversation between Dick and Donna where it wasn't all about How Much History We've Shared, but that sense of history was still there while they worried over the people they cared about. And I love when an author can present a feeling of that she adores both characters, rather than clearly favoring one and short-changing the other.

This story is rather long (being over 70,000 words) and may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for me... it was one of those stories that helped me dive into this pairing, really sink my teeth into the characters and their interaction to see if this pairing would work for them/me. It also dealt with all the issues it needed to deal with, the author didn't just want to just pluck them out of their worlds and throw them together in a void, she brought both worlds together and that helped me along tremendously. I think, at the end of the day, this story worked for me because there were so many of those little moments woven into the story that made it come alive for me (I still remember little things about Diana's modified bat-costume or the aforementioned conversation between Dick and Donna or Diana's confrontation with Eris that I liked so much or Batman and Wonder Woman fighting side by side in battle) and made it a pleasure to read. (Bruce/Diana, R-ish content.)

- DCU/JL:TAS - The Fuzzy End of the Lollipop by Merlin Missy and Constance Eilonwy - Amanda pointed this one out to me awhile back and I mentally ear-marked it for reading because Constance Eilonwy did some of the most FANTASTIC B:TAS fic I ever read and I'd heard good things about Merlin Missy, so I was curious about their take on JL:TAS. Then I got a little lazy/wary because genderswaps rarely, rarely do anything for me, no matter how well they're written, but, but, but! Don't let that scare you off this fic if it's not normally your thing, either, because this fic did exactly what it needed to do with it, with the rammifications of being put into a body that's not your own, not even your own gender, but without being preachy about it. Each person struggles differently, each person has to find a way to deal with this for the three months they'll be trapped this way, and, god, they're all just brilliant. The sheer amount of perfect writing, pacing, and characterization just made my teeth ache, because the authors clearly had a tremendous knack for getting to the heart of what's best (and most interesting) about these characters... ....which is a roundabout way of saying that they just nailed JL:TAS' style when it was at its best, possibly even better.

I love that it took its time with the premise, but didn't linger, either. Each scene was perfectly paced, each chapter gave screen time to a different Leaguer, each showing how they dealt with things, even how relationships within the League were affected by this (even as much as I hate the Green Lantern/Hawkgirl relationship, even I had to grant that it was fantastically done here) and, good god, some of the scenes just... I came dangerously close to squee'ing over them. (Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I squee'd madly at Bruce going home and his family helping to retrain him or when Clark still found a way to interact with Lois in some of the most gorgeous scenes for them or Diana's attempts to deal with being male now or John's less-than-perfect handling that his girlfriend is now his boyfriend.) I love that it didn't pull its punches on dealing with gender issues, but didn't wallow in them, either, it just... it had a story to tell, told it, and made one hell of a fantastic ride. I'm just sorry that they haven't written more. (Anything that was in JL:TAS canon will be here.)

- DCU/Batman - The Next Best Thing to Normal by Merlin Missy - Okay. Normally, I'm not that crazy about RotJ-related fics, simply because I have great, big issues about the whole BB timeline, but... wow, this was just too lovely a story not to absolutely love. The writing is gorgeous, the details fantastic, the characterization wonderful, but even more than that... I loved the sense of... it's hard to explain without making it seem more cliche than it was, because the author tackled a story using the various Bat-verse females with an incredibly deft hand. Each scene was a beautiful way to show the impact of one of the women's role in the central character's life, but even more than that, it also... it showed so much insight into each of the characters. When Harley would take care of her kid, when Ivy would help him out sometimes intead, when Selina would come over, when Batgirl would help out, and so on. Each of these women was different, but there was a coherent theme and was fantastic for all that it wasn't screaming, "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar." It just... was a good story, with wonderful interaction, and just... *flails* okay, I'm totally sucking at this, just go read it! (Maybe a little f/f, but could also be gen.)

- DCU/Batman - Christmas in Bludhaven by Smitty - Sure, sure, it's not Christmas anymore, but I hadn't finished reading the relevant issues until around the time of Christmas and thus didn't read it until recently. (Note: There will be spoilers for Identity Crisis, War Games, and maybe a little current Robin and Batgirl issues.) And I love that Smitty is still around and writing fic because she writes such fantastic characterization that isn't just sharp or clever (though, it's that, too), but that it... it reminds me why I love these characters so much. Her writing touches the cores of these characters that makes me never, ever want to leave them because they're so good. As for the writing/story itself... it's, of course, lovely, but it's the... quiet hurt (without being melodramatic about it) that the characters go through, all the little moments that build towards something bigger, this is what the Bat-family should be. Dick, Tim, and Cass (and Kon a little) in Bludhaven and just... all these moments that are startlingly sharp and heart-tugging. ....I gush, yes, shut up. (No warnings/pairings, I wouldn't say?)

- DCU/Nightwing - One of Those Days by Batgrrl - How, how, how did I miss this story? How have I never read this one before? It's just... you know how sometimes there are stories that just HIT exactly what you're looking for, even if you didn't really know that you were craving it quite as badly as you actually were? That's what this story was--I didn't know quite how badly I was pining for some Nightwing fic (much as I love the Batman/Wonder Woman or JL:TAS fic, Nightwing is and always has been my darling) until I read this story, which has utterly hilarious moments and utterly, heart-tuggingly perfect moments. Dick and Tim's interaction was just... holy shit, I had to stop for a minute and just delight in the way they were such twerps to each other (Dick using Babs' voice software to call Tim was honest-to-god funny enough to have me laughing so hard that I couldn't read for half a minute and the conversation in Dick's apartment the morning after he sleeps off the flu? BRILLIANCE. I flail in my gleeing over the classic Bat-boys interaction.), but then you've got Bruce tossed in occasionally (and, wow, did I glee over his role in this, too--such the worried parent, but in such a Batman way about it, eeeeeee!) and the beautiful, beautiful Dick/Babs interaction that just... *happy sigh* this is what I want. I could read this kind of fic forever. Plus, poor Dick. He really does have some of the worst luck just about ever. Though, really, if he weren't so entertaining about it, authors wouldn't inflict it on him. ^_~ Note: This story is unfinished and I mention this because it's one of those that's good enough (and developed a plot about halfway through that's actually really interesting!) that I'm sad it probably won't ever be finished. (Some Dick/Babs-ish hints, but no actual smoochies.)

- Bleach - Curveballs by Harukami - Ahhhh. Haru's Bleachfic. Such a lovely thing, because she can capture the crack of the series, but still do the characters damn fine justice. Her Chizuru is just the bestest Chizuru EVAH and Tatsuki and Chizuru fighting and snarking and then baseball and Orihime's batshit fantasy and Chizuru's rampant groping and oh, god, the COMEDIC TIMING is just so pitch-perfect and the baseball and the absolutely perfect ending line that is just *so* Bleach. God, I can't stop grinning every time I read one of her Bleach fics. (Chizuru/Tatsuki.)

- Cardcaptor Sakura - Playing Your Cards Right by Aishuu - How I missed this fic the first time around, I'll never know, but I'm glad Aishuu reposted it to her comm because it brought it to my attention and I got a chance to read it and just... HEE. It's one of those stories that's cute, sparkling, and funny, but done in such a way that it matches the original series' sense of humor so perfectly well. Like, I could have seen this stuck somewhere in the series, that's how adorably it was done. ♥ (No warnings/pairings.)

Comments

Re: I'm not here. Really.

[beckerbell.livejournal.com]

My guess, judging by how she didn't post anything beyond the one story on FFNET, that she probably hasn't written anything else, but it couldn't hurt to ask. Plus, I'm determined to drag you back into comicfic with me. ^_~

Re: I'm not here. Really.

[joyeuxnoel.livejournal.com]

Comic fic... I remember that from whence I came... nah, not really. The last stuff I read was Smitty's Christmas drabbles.

Re: I'm not here. Really.

[beckerbell.livejournal.com]

But whyyyyyyyy? The fic has to be better than the comics, if you can find the right authors. Whyyyyyyy nooooooot? >D

Re: I'm not here. Really.

[joyeuxnoel.livejournal.com]

o_O Clearly you need to adjust your keyboard settings to fix that scary refresh rate. =P