Current mood:

sore

[ Bleach, One Piece, Gravitation, Naruto ]
Notes/Babbling: *sigh* You know you're Weekly JUMP's bitch when you find yourself almost exclusvively reading fic based on its series (Gravitation seems to be the one consisten exception... and maybe CLAMP stuff) and then you find yourself picking up Gintama and D.Gray-Man. WTF. ~___~

Also, small post today, but I still felt like posting.
Series:
    Bleach - 2 Fanfics
    One Piece - 1 Fanfic
    Gravitation - 2 Fanfics
    Naruto - 2 Fanfics



- Bleach - Sisterly Duty by Celeste - Rukia was convinced high school boys in the human world all had some genetic retardation when it came to what should be a relatively simple issue. It is in stories like this that my love for Rukia know no bounds. Celeste did a fantastic job of her, keeping that sense of not quite understanding human world cultures, but not so badly that it was over the line, it was much more like the series itself. So no-nonsense, so straight-forward, and absolutely she will follow through with any threat she makes. She doesn't like it when boys are stupid and make her worry and the bit about what she thought might have been wrong with Ichigo? Priceless. Plus, god, her scenes with Ishida were hysterical, just absolutely brilliant in the way she was always a step ahead of him. So much love for this fic. ♥ (Some Ichigo/Ishida.)

- Bleach - A Different Kind of Foreplay by Triste - For Ishida, arguing with Ichigo is as natural as breathing. Ichigo is the only person who seems to be able to bring this reaction out of him, and he can't stand it. Usually, Ishida manages to be proper, polite and collected, but there's something about Ichigo that makes him forget all about appearances. This story is a good example of what attracts me to the Ishida/Ichigo pairing, because... I could have seen it as gen (and still often do), but it's stories like this that keep the dynamic so wonderfully well when taking it into romantic territory, that keep the characters the same, that they're still them, they still have that fighting and snarling and aggrivating each other relationship that makes them so much fun to watch. Plus, Triste's writing for them is lovely; it's both clever and hot, evoking the characters easily, so that I don't even have to try to imagine them, I can just hear the characters already. You can feel the attraction between the characters, it never feels forced to me... and that's a lot of what has won me over. Plus, a very hot blow-job is always a welcome thing. <3 (Ishida/Ichigo, NC-17.)

- One Piece - Bound & Determined (chapter 3-end) by X-parrot - So, I read the first two chapters of this previously, but I kinda slacked on the whole One Piece series until recently, when I went to tempt Jenn-san into the series and, of course, immediately had to sit down with the rest of this story because I love X-parrot's take on these two characters so very much. And what you get with this story is beautiful h/c (hurt/comfort) fic, the likes of which I so very, very rarely see these days without romance attached, much less with the intensity of this story. The author captures the feel of both One Piece and of these characters, of the way they snarl and fight with each other, the way they constantly insult each other, but there's the underlying thread of being crewmates that never wavers. They'll yell and fight and insult each other until they knock each other senseless, but they will also never turn on the other, which never even has to be said, the thought never crosses your mind while reading. I love that.

But it's also the genuine quality/cleverness of the insults and snarking that makes this story such a treat to read, the way the author never loses who these characters are, not even in the most dire of circumstances. When things are bad, when they're wounded and it does look like there's any way out of this, they are still Zoro and Sanji. When they're done, when they're okay, even then, they're still Zoro and Sanji, never softening their personalities or attitudes. Yet, at the same time, after events like this, there's always some small difference, some small connection, some small hint of maybe something if you want to read into it. Meaning, this story isn't slash, but if you're so-minded, you could squint and find hints of maybe something under the surface.

Even aside from that or the fact that these are two of my favorite characters (Though, really, how can a person choose? I love all of the Strawhats.), this story is just so well-written--the prose is fantastic, the dialogue is crisp yet still so in character, the ouchies of the h/c are effective and exactly the kind that these characters would get into. It's not just a random cookie-cutter ouchies scene, this was, again, Zoro and Sanji. I just... yeah, flailing with the OP love over here. (No warnings/pairings, it's not romance, but I'm putting this in the Zoro/Sanji section anyway.)

- Gravitation - Water to Whet the Appetite by ralphiere - Mmm, for all that there's a lot of Gravi smut out there, there's not really a lot of Gravi smut out there. So, to find a story with nicely written sex in it, that is very much Yuki and Shuuichi, it's always a lovely thing. I adore all the little touches--right from the start, Shuuichi's apprehension at finding an unmoving Yuki with the water in the tub overflowing to the way he's a little angry about being the one to clean it up (as unfair as that was, it made me sparkly a little because it was just so them) to the way Yuki is slow and gentle/teasing with Shuuichi in bed. It was very nice smut and I really liked the use of this theme. <3 (Yuki/Shuuichi, NC-17.)

- Gravitation - The Off Track by Aoi Umi - [ part 09 - part 10 - part 11 ]</a> - I'll grant that I didn't care for these chapters quite as much as I cared for some of the earlier ones (these feel a little more... *waves hand* forced, I guess?), but it's still a fun and very readable story about Yuki and Shuuichi travelling in America, I have no problem getting caught up in the story and can easily read 50k+ worth without getting up once during the sitting. The author still does well with Eiri's cranky attitude being balanced with something almost approaching nice with Shuuichi, that he's trying with the brat, but it's never really fluffy or sappy. There are lots of little moments or touches (Eiri and Shuuichi in the pancake house or the bizarre figure outside of their window... which cracked me up more than it should have XD) that make the fic very worth reading and... well, the end of chapter 11 was really nice. Plus, I totally hope they go camping, that could be great fun. XD (Yuki/Shuuichi.)

- Naruto - Metaphors for a Rainy Day by Pirate Burn - As always, I tend to bitch a lot about the lack of KakaIru out there, that there never seems to be much from authors who actually read the entire series, who get the sense of depth of the series down. Much as I love the silliness, sometimes I want something with a little bit of a bite, too. And what I adored about this story is that there was a sense about Kakashi that really worked for me, the tone being almost weary, but not quite exactly that, the way he looks at all of the people even when they don't know he's there, the way he sees all these 'different' people inside the people they are around others, the way he looks at Iruka who never seems to reveal anything else even when there shouldn't be anyone else around, the way he finally finds him... all of it was wonderfully subtle and having that... it's not quite vague (Shut UP, I can too abuse the italics and run-on sentences if I want!), but it's... almost elusive. In the way it should be. It was like watching them through a rainy, misty fog, I think. And that hit me absolutely right this morning, so that I'm back to being all *hanya~~n* over this pairing. Plus, ooh, the imagery in this one! Very... Naruto-like, I guess. Or so it felt to me. <3 (Kakashi/Iruka.)

- Naruto - Fair Play by Pirate Burn - And then you've got the more playful fic, where Iruka suddenly has to deal with everyone being really nice to him and it takes him half a day to figure out why and it's just *so freaking fun*. I adored it because the author is really talented, the prose gliding by very smoothly, the pacing really solid, the way it flowed from one scene to the next very natural. But it was also that there was a sense of subtlty even amongst the obvious, that the concept of the fic (ie, why everyone was suddenly all over Iruka) wasn't hammered into our heads too badly so that the concept felt stretched and forced. Instead, it was lighter and had just enough little touches all over (Iruka's way of describing Kakashi towards the end, the way Kakashi was acting like a sulking six-year-old--which should have been a cliche description, but it worked--the way Kakashi menaced everyone without barely having to say a word <3) that I absolutely fell in love. Many ♥ for this one. (Kakashi/Iruka.)