Yeah, the number of fics that die right about when they're getting to the actually intersting bit because the author's grown bored of writing thousands of words of tedious growing up is astronomical; start your fic from the bit you want to tell, not from the beginning of everything.
I've said before that I suspect a lot of the childhood stuff in SI fics is because writers feel they need to 'justify' their SI being skilled/powerful/etc. enough to join in on the bits they actually want to write. They don't! Just have your character be cool from the start, and you can backfill the 'why' as and when it's necessary, the way you would with every character. Often you never need to backfill the 'why'!
Every time I think the fic is a little too silly, one of the jokes lands hard enough to make me reconsider. On balance, though, I think the yandere Gardevoir was the tipping point. Hard pass.
Sunny expected nothing more in her life but quiet living. She did not expect a blonde moon man to fall from the heavens and land at her door. Little did she know that the reverberations of his fall would reach even to the moon.
The United Kingdom found a gateway within a stone circle in Dartmoor to a new world. A new world unwise to Albion's old tricks. A new world full of land, resources, and wealth that was sitting there for the taking. It's so very hard to not fall back into old habits.
As Britain tries to collectively control the worst of their impulses, the elites of Westeros and Essos will have to figure out a way to weather the oncoming shitshow with a new powerful player on the block.
This is a tonal mismatch with my tastes. This kinda feels like it's going for a Yes, Minister style, emphasizing the incompetence and selfish bickering of his Majesty's government. And that's before you consider that the portal opens up because, by word of God, the universe can't comprehend the Brits making a minimally sane and rational political decision.
I think I prefer my crossovers a bit more serious. Oh, and did I mention it can't keep its tense consistent?
For those who don't know, Virtuous Sons is a Chinese cultivation novel except it's Greek. I was going to read it back in the day - right as the early chapters were deleted for the Amazon deal. RIP.
Thankfully, Hemitheos follows not the main characters of Virtuous Sons, but Jason, one of the Heroic-tier side character cultivators as he meets a Percy Jackson suitably tweaked to fit in. The xianxia-jargon is a bit dense, but if you know the basics it's not hard to follow, and the short bits we get are dripping with fascinating worldbuilding. It's equally interesting to see Jason's thoughts on Percy, who as a Heroic-tier cultivator from an age that produces far stronger heroes than the current time of Virtuous Sons, is a walking 800-lb gorilla even if even Jason doesn't seem to quite realize it yet.
This is one I'd love to see come back. You're on the list!
Pyrrha Nikos isn't exactly a regular student at Anticassia, but that's ok. She's respected, her position at the school is secure, and her future is promising.
Weiss Rembran, the second scion, is dissatisfied. For her entire life, she's been sidelined and used as a pawn. So, when the arrival of a Mercurian mobile suit causes chaos, she leaps into the driver's seat for the first time in her life, determined to forge a better future.
In a vibrant world of anthropomorphic animals and epic adventures, "Diablo Gato's Tale" follows the young and feisty Mink kitten, Puss, as he navigates the bustling Mokomo Dukedom atop the colossal elephant, Zunesha. Inspired by legendary figures like Duke Inuarashi and Master Nekomamushi, Puss dreams of becoming a formidable warrior himself.
This is a brilliant concept. Puss fits in perfectly in the One Piece world as a Mink, and I'd love to see him on adventures. The problem, it's only just a concept. The story gets as far as his introduction to the wider world before dying.
Dramatic irony is a cornerstone of Youjo Senki and most of its fanworks. The characters have imperfect knowledge and come to incorrect conclusions, leaving the audience on tenterhooks, waiting to see how this will pay off. The difference with Aces High is that normally the dramatic irony is social, of Tanya misunderstanding the people around her and people misreading Tanya. Here, instead, Tanya is in her social element, so instead the dramatic irony is centered around the upcoming nuclear apocalypse. We all know it's coming. Tanya has no idea.
This evokes strong tension, especially thanks to her prior conversation with Being X. From that, we can infer Tanya is supposed to survive the nuclear holocaust - but how? There are several avenues this fic could take on that front and we the readers have no idea what avenue will be taken.
Virtuous Sons is quite good. I wanted to go reread it but then discovered, like you did, that they got pulled due to Amazon nonsense. I haven't seen it update so I don't know if it's just dead or they are publishing straight to Amazon now. There's been another story or two that has done the same thing for me, though thankfully I didn't catch them early and only got the teaser chapter. So I never got invested. Not sure how I feel about it TBH. Obviously they need to comply with Amazon's Terms and Conditions but posting here or on SB first knowing that you will later remove they story, denying it to future readers and forcing current readers to pay for what was once free, really feels like it violates the boards' social contract if that makes any sense. I'm not sure there's a practical solution that the boards' could take but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Hmm. Maybe I unwatched the thread, I don't remember. Anyways the thread is still there but you can't actually read the whole story. As parts got published the posts were edited to remove the content. So the thread and threadmarks are still there but there's no actual content.
Hmm. Maybe I unwatched the thread, I don't remember. Anyways the thread is still there but you can't actually read the whole story. As parts got published the posts were edited to remove the content. So the thread and threadmarks are still there but there's no actual content.
Virtuous Sons is quite good. I wanted to go reread it but then discovered, like you did, that they got pulled due to Amazon nonsense. I haven't seen it update so I don't know if it's just dead or they are publishing straight to Amazon now. There's been another story or two that has done the same thing for me, though thankfully I didn't catch them early and only got the teaser chapter. So I never got invested. Not sure how I feel about it TBH. Obviously they need to comply with Amazon's Terms and Conditions but posting here or on SB first knowing that you will later remove they story, denying it to future readers and forcing current readers to pay for what was once free, really feels like it violates the boards' social contract if that makes any sense. I'm not sure there's a practical solution that the boards' could take but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
And here I go diving into a new fandom again. Yay.
Blue Archive is the latest waifu gacha sensation in a long line of waifu gacha sensations. TBH most of what I know of it comes from this fic: you play as Sensei, a newcomer to the academy city of Kivotos, which is full to the brim of cute bulletproof girls with guns that solve their interpersonal problems mostly by shooting them. Various problems exist that need fixing, and it seems the best way to do it is to have you take control of the girls and direct them in battle.
It's important for you to know that I went in blind, because like a lot of stories of this type - i.e. a full retelling with a new character - it hinges on how well it conveys the original property to the reader. Six, after all, knows as little as I did going in, and has to have it all explained to him. I am happy to report that I was not left bereft at any point in this fic. UnknownSixth is a deft hand at explaining the whys and wherefores of Kivotos without getting too overly expository about it, and in crafting clear voices for all the characters. I may not be able to picture these girls in my head, but for the most part enough is conveyed that I can tell "Okay, this is this one, and that one, and etc."
On a related note, I have designated Aru as "Kivotos' ultimate girlfailure". My Discord buddies who play the game have informed me that she has competition for the title but that my impression is otherwise correct.
As for Six himself, well, I can definitely say he feels like came from the Wasteland. He can be hard, even cruel, but he has his principles and he sticks to them like they're made of adamantium. There's all these little behaviors and subtle nuances that make him feel like a person, one forged from the environment he came from. And while he's a badass he doesn't take over action sequences and leave the girls nothing to do, which I imagine is a common failing of Blue Archive crossovers.
That said, Six's voicing is not up to the standards of the rest of the cast, particularly when the story shifts to first person. I'm a big proponent of authors using first person to go a little nuts. Make it a conversation, a real internal monologue. Have fun with reactions. Be sarcastic with observations. Give a running commentary on ongoing conversations. As first-person narration goes, this fic tends toward bland, and it's a real pity. Also a real pity: Six's muted reactions to living in a place that's not a blighted wasteland. I've praised a couple previous Fallout crossovers for their characters' profoundly emotional reactions to a non-Wasteland setting, whether Littlepip literally touching grass for the first time in her life or Courier in the Goblin Slayer universe just finding joy in everything healthy and tasty. Six gets a few moments of that wonder, but not many, and I feel it's a real missed opportunity.
Also on the debit side, I think the fic is better outside of its action scenes when the cast is just bouncing off of each other. I laughed out loud at multiple points, no louder than when, early on in the Abydos arc, Six calls Yuuka just to call her a tsundere, fresh off of having learned what that word means. That's not to say the action scenes are bad, I had a very strong reaction to the pic showing a power-armored Six amongst the Abydos girls ready to go kick some robot ass, but the action sequences drag a fair bit.
Overall, though, I don't think I could have asked for a better entry point into this fandom. You're on the list.
Ahh yes, Blue Archive, a great setting with such a weak and cringe protag even by Gacha standards that everyone's rushing to insert everything else in Sensei's place.
've praised a couple previous Fallout crossovers for their characters' profoundly emotional reactions to a non-Wasteland setting, whether Littlepip literally touching grass for the first time in her life or Courier in the Goblin Slayer universe just finding joy in everything healthy and tasty.
Ahh yes, Blue Archive, a great setting with such a weak and cringe protag even by Gacha standards that everyone's rushing to insert everything else in Sensei's place.
Oh, what fics were these? "post-apocalypse person reacts to non-wasteland" sounds interesting, I'm curious to see how it's done well.
Shishiro Botan didn't know how she ended up in Kivotos, but somehow she became a teacher. Now she just had to get used to the fact that every single one of her students carries a firearm with them wherever they go.
After discovering a strange artifact in the abandoned Abydos Desert, the girls of the Foreclosure Task Force mistakenly activate it, sending themselves to a new and alien reality, one where humanity is in the brink as an Alien Armada bears down upon her worlds and death looms ever so close to them. Their hope for survival now rests on their own skill, a little luck... And the Halos
I'm going to be lumping all three of these together, because quite honestly I had the same reaction to all three. The first reaction was, of course, intrigue, as all of them had something that caught my eye. The last fic gets points for being a crossover that's not a sensei replacement, which I'd guessed was a common plot even before General_Urist confirmed it for me. The other two are just interesting crossovers - you know how much I'm hard up for Hololive fanfic, with Botan being an excellent fit for the world of Blue Archive, and John Wick also fitting right in.
The problem is, all three of them suck, and in the same way. Namely, the writing capability is just not there to cash in the interesting premises. Streaks of White and A Man Like Him don't do enough setup, and don't have enough connective tissue - we're thrown right into the battle for the Schale tower with no time for the characters to wake up and realize what's going on. I understand, to a degree, the desire to skip over awakening, especially after all my rants about stories starting in the same place, but that genuinely is a good time to establish your new Sensei as a character. See A Courier for Kivotos, which did bother with a scene like that and is all the better for it.
As for the Halo crossover... well, when you keep mixing up the names you're not endearing me to the story, quite the opposite.
If I knew anything about Blue Archive as a story I'd be reworking that Botan story into something actually good. Hell, I'm still mighty tempted as is.
Even for its short length this fic feels incomplete. It refuses to dwell very long on any of the story concepts it starts with, and that leads to a sparse, choppy narrative.
I went back and forth on this for a bit, but you're not on the list.
of course, the funny thing is that *any* attempt to write BA is inherently a Sensei Replacement (unless you're literally just writing a straight novelization with no breaks from the canon story). It's a story where 'Sensei' is supposed to be you. That's been stated by producers before. Obviously, the limitations of the genre/game mean that isn't really true, but it's still the intent. Ergo, if you write BA anything, it'll become your take on what 'Sensei' actually is. Even if it isn't a crossover.
Dani is intended to *mostly* just be 'our take on what Sensei is'. Some quirks to her backstory aside
Because, ultimately, that's what it means to write BA. Any Sensei is going to be your Sensei. Even if it isn't outright crossover shenanigans. Probably what attracts a lot of people to the story in the first place.
I think the John Wick one is very undercooked. Could have had more time on the oven.
It has pieces, but Wick rarely speaks, his interactions are there and it's not particularly engaging to see him do stuff. Because it's written text and the author don't have a handle on the whole business of Action Scenes.
of course, the funny thing is that *any* attempt to write BA is inherently a Sensei Replacement (unless you're literally just writing a straight novelization with no breaks from the canon story). It's a story where 'Sensei' is supposed to be you. That's been stated by producers before. Obviously, the limitations of the genre/game mean that isn't really true, but it's still the intent. Ergo, if you write BA anything, it'll become your take on what 'Sensei' actually is. Even if it isn't a crossover.
Dani is intended to *mostly* just be 'our take on what Sensei is'. Some quirks to her backstory aside
Because, ultimately, that's what it means to write BA. Any Sensei is going to be your Sensei. Even if it isn't outright crossover shenanigans. Probably what attracts a lot of people to the story in the first place.
I feel like you could write a BA story without involving Sensei that isn't a straight novelization (a PS68 story that's just the A-Team with girlfailures immediately comes to mind), but the hook of these modern gacha game stories is the naked self-insert, so that's what people default to.
It reminds me of ZnT, where there was very little fic focusing directly on the funky politics or the influence of real world tech that got Isekai'd over because it was easier/more popular/whatever to just put [thing you like] in Saito's place and run with it.
In general, I feel deep boredom towards self-inserts and audience ciphers; I want to see unique characters when reading, not myself in a mirror.
E: Not to just dunk on self-inserts, I feel the same boredom with putting X in a straight retelling of a story, whether X is a new person or a new power. "Give me the same, but different" is a common sentiment, but I want different to be a different take on the work, not a different hat on the same fucking story I've already read.
Reality shattered like broken glass. The firmament that separated the real world from the eldritch beyond had broken. Two timelines had collided in the center of the street—an incongruous synthesis of two different chains of events. A building collapsed, and it did not. An explosion devastated the surroundings, and it did not. Screaming faces and laughs of joy overlapped each other as if viewed through a kaleidoscopic prism.
The crowd looked on in horror and awe. Who was responsible for tearing apart the fabric of reality?
Izuku groaned. Great, another merge conflict, he thought. What a pain.
I like that the frustrations of not being able to figure out his Quirk most of his childhood create a Midoriya close to his canon self but still different. Canon Midoriya felt like something was wrong with him. git gud Midoriya got angry at his stupid, backward-ass Quirk. Internal versus external blame.
I like how everyone is just a giant ball of Imposter Syndrome. Seriously, every perspective we see has the kids be a bundle of nerves convinced everyone else is some amazing hero already.
I like Izuku making a different set of friends due to the changed situation.
This fic is often absolutely hilarious. The extensive use of Verbal Backspaces in the "hero names" scene is a major highlight.
And man, when the fic wants to put on its drama hat and take the itself 100% seriously it tends to knock it out of the park. A standout example is when Hagakure, who has One for All in this fic, desperately uses the Quirk in the Battle Trial to beat Izuku, and wrecks both herself and her confidence so badly that she consents to Izuku resetting her, even when he warns her that it could count as killing her in the "transporter paradox" fashion. It's heartwrenching, and unfortunately it makes perfect sense.
But man. That's nothing compared to the twist in the penultimate chapter. Spoiler warnings are now in effect:
It doesn't take long for a reader to realize git gud is an AU of some kind, and one that goes a fair bit beyond just Izuku having a Quirk. That sort of divergence AU can get away with stuff like the classes being shuffled around, but All Might being able to hero 24/7? Loud Cloud/Oboro Shirakumo being alive? The complete lack of a USJ attack, and in fact, any presence of the League of Villains around? By the end of USJ you know something fucky is going on.
Even considering that, though, the twist in the penultimate chapter blew me out of my socks: the timeline the fic is set in is the golden ending that results from a past Izuku, desperate to fix things in the middle of something akin to the manga's final arc, resets everything back to when Izuku was four, with one change: All for One no longer exists.
And everything clicks into place.
Also, points for originality in actually showing off the lessons that were supposed to be held at USJ. No one does that.
Despite that, there's some sort of disquiet holding me back from completely recommending the fic. Certainly, the fic has some modest problems. The git jargon is damn near impenetrable. Aizawa is even more of a dick than usual in this. I think the biggest issue is that it's not clear where this is going. For better or for worse, the core League of Villains plot gives most MHA fics forward momentum, a plot skeleton they can hang their fic on. git gud... doesn't. And it doesn't really have anything else to replace it with. No external conflict isn't a dealbreaker in the story, but up to the last couple of chapters there isn't really any internal conflict, either.
Ultimately, I feel like the story ending where it is, with Izuku's conceptions of himself as a hero crystallized, is probably for the best, because these chapters mostly work as a character arc for Izuku.
