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Recommendations time!

First up, Naruto fandom! I do hope you've all read hakanamu's Tight Spot. If you haven't, then why not? It is made of time-travelling, well-done minor- and original-character AWESOME! And Naruto as Itachi. ^^

You've read it? Ah, good. Have you seen The Last Uchiha around and not clicked on it? If so, why not? It follows Sakura taking care of Sasuke's orphaned son in a Konoha that hates him for his father. Seems to be abandoned, but pretty damn good nonetheless.

One more Naruto fic -- TheLetterB's excellent Brothers. Friendly fluffiness between Itachi and Sasuke. What they'd quite probably be like in a peaceful universe, complete with Sasuke's candy-shopkeeper love interest. ^^;; A bit of ItaSaku, complete with Sasuke looking at his brother oddly for hanging out with his teammate. This is a fic that will make you happy.

For Harry Potter: RustyRed's Ectomancer is one of my favourites. Harry reacts believably to things, but you'll probably like him a lot more than you do canon!Harry. He's clever, resourceful, and a bit weirded out by what's going on. What really surprised and pleased me about this fic were the OCs, whom I really want to see again, despite the fact that they appeared for perhaps a chapter. Now that's character development.

Aha! A recommendation for one of the tinier fandoms out there, From Eroica With Love. Major Decisions is a truly wonderful fic. The non-titular, secondary main character is -- gasp! -- a girl. Who is made of awesome. She reminds me very much of Nina/Anna from Monster, actually.

BIG NEWS: Someone wrote fic for Initial D! Good fic! In this year! Isn't that amazing? :D It's here. NC-17-rated slash, but even if you don't like that sort of thing it's kind of amazing that someone's writing something considering the nonexistence of Initial D fandom in general.

esmenet: Little!Anthy with swords (whut.)
I just read Out of Aeons, and it has not made me so much <i>frightened</i> as <i>righteously pissed off</i>.

Spoilery rant under the cut )Also, a little Utena vignette. Spoilers for when Nanami finds out something and then Touga tells Akio something. If you haven't watched that far (watched, not read), really don't click. And if you clicked on the above cut and want to make a comment or something, page down and don't look. The spoilers may only be for the Nanami arc, but they're very important ones.

Nanami vignette ) 
esmenet: Little!Anthy with swords (Default)
Despite the title, it's a fairly cheerful story thus far. It's really one of the more brilliant Naruto fics I've read. The basic premise is that Itachi finds Sakura crying in the woods when he's leaving the village, and (on a whim) takes her with him. Sakura turns out very kickass, but also extremely human. She can't defeat enemies simply by waving her hand at them; she gets injured both physically and mentally. (Although she *can* beat Kisame. Heh.) The fight with Kimimaro, for instance; while she does win, she is badly hurt, and slightly shaken by the realization that he's a lot like her.

In Chapter Two, Sakura is introduced to Deidara, and picks him out of all the Akatsuki to share a room with (since she is unable to share one with her Itachi-sensei-sama). Of course, this is because she first assumed Deidara was female. (Close enough ;) )

I love the Sakura/Deidara dynamic in this story. Best friends, teacher and student, possible romantic interest... The best of it, though, is the balance with Itachi. Itachi is her teacher, her leader, her strength — the person she looks up to the most. But Deidara — apart from anything else, Deidara is there.

Sasori is her older brother figure. Teacher and friend; as he is Deidara's partner, she spends more time with him than Itachi. Both explosives and poisons are some of her favourite fighting techniques since she arrived.

There are many, many wonderful things about this fic. But there is one line that stays in my mind, and pops up unexpectedly — you know, like a door-to-door insurance salesmen. But it feels more like a line from Shakespeare than an annoying guy in a suit. Deidara was there; she couldn’t hear him, but his lips kept saying come back, come back, come back… That 'come back, come back, come back...' is definitely one of the more haunting things I have ever read, almost as much as 'Break, heart, I prithee break.' You can practically hear the wishing, longing, fading voice it would be read in. Beautiful.

Link: The Tortured
esmenet: Little!Anthy with swords (Default)
Fujiwara by Catwho

Be careful what you wish for! Hikaru is knocked back in time to the Heian court when he is called to avenge Sai. NON-ROMANCE. Complete! Typos fixed 3-24-05

Rating: T

--

EDIT: Yeah, I sound like a total fangirl here. Oh well — I can always fix it later. Meanwhile, go read the fic.

Although it is less than seventeen thousand words long, this is one of the most beautiful things in the world. Imagine a perfectly cut crystal wineglass tumbling through the perfect sky to smash into a thousand pieces on a smooth, sun-warmed flat stone. It has a terrible, beautiful clarity, and I always wish it was longer. Hikaru's reactions and emotions are perhaps the best written I have ever seen them.

If a Hikaru no Go movie is ever made, let it be a perfectly executed screenplay of this.

Everyone will probably be disbelieving of this next phrase; but I believe this is possibly the best thing you will ever read that is written in modern English.

...And so, if you are a Hikaru no Go fan and do not go read (or, perhaps, re-read) this story at once, I shall virtually bash your skull in with a virtual rock for being an uncultured and blind fool.

The author has also written another (seemingly abandoned) HikaGo fic called 'Hikaru no DDR'. Sai is a dance instructor from the seventies whose soul is imprisoned inside an old disco ball. One phrase: "The Feet of God."

The author herself has recently written another Hikaru no Go fic, which I have not yet read, but plan to soon.

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