The sad part is that the Divine Comedy was supposed to be a crack fic mixed with lots of political satire, but some people took it too seriously.
CV12Hornet Cleans Out His Fanfiction Favorites List (Beware of Shit Taste)
- Thread starter CV12Hornet
- Start date
The sad part is that the Divine Comedy was supposed to be a crack fic mixed with lots of political satire, but some people took it too seriously.
June 8, 2011
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Yes, this is a while for what's honestly not much content. Expect this to be the norm from now on, now that I've got a full-time job that ends later and has a longer commute than my last full-time job. I will be changing up the reading format a bit, though; if I'm going to take multiple days even for relatively short fics, I'm going to at least drop in more of them.
Anyway, on with the show!
Impressions before reading:Caelum Contortum: Snarled Stories
By: Japanese Teeth
A disturbance in the sky brings unlikely characters together as they try to unravel what is happening. Starts as a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic/Negima: Magister Negi Magi crossover; will include other series later on. Eventually.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Fantasy/Humor - Chapters: 10 - Words: 77,742 - Reviews: 59 - Favs: 44 - Follows: 41 - Updated: May 20, 2012 - Published: Jun 8, 2011 - id: 7063528
Japanese Teeth is one of the few notable Negima authors around. When they jumped into the MLP fandom, something like this was basically inevitable.
Review:
Caelum Contortum is an... odd duck of a crossover. For starters, there's the four series being crossed over. Yes, four. Negima is expected. As I said, Japanese Teeth is a well-known author in that fandom. Puella Magi Madoka Magica is also unsurprising; the show was a smash hit and was producing fanfiction almost immediately after release. My Little Pony? Less so. The show was only just starting to take off at this point. And then there's Chuck. Don't recognize that name? I don't blame you. It was a somewhat popular show on I think NBC in the mid-2000s, a spy show that took considerable delight in lampooning many spy show tropes. I guess Japanese Teeth just likes it.
I was on the fence about this fic for a while. Not much happens, plot-wise, though there are glimmerings of a long-term plot. But as the fic went on, I found myself enjoying the characters bouncing off each other more and more. The crossover actually brings things to the table in this regard, most notably Makie's quick friendship with Homura. My one regret there is that Homura was never given the chance to go full Useless Lesbian.
Verdict: Surprisingly enjoyable. I think I'll keep it.
Impressions before reading:
A one-joke fic you can see coming a mile away once you know what characters are involved.
Review:
Dog familiars. What are you gonna do?
Verdict: One-joke fics are keepers when they execute that one joke well. Like this one does!
June 21 - July 3, 2011
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Impressions before reading:
The only Might Gai shipfic I can think of. Also, a nice look into the daily lives of the loonies known as Konoha ninja.
Review:
Honestly? This starts amusing and then transitions to surprisingly sweet. Erisah Mae manages to pull of the Gai romance surprisingly well, not least by giving it a fair bit of buildup. And that final chapter... oh, that final chapter. It's sweet, and fluffy, and quite nice.
It also functions as a nice Lower Decks episode, i.e. that it shows things that go on behind the scenes in Konoha. Even if it has to use a Civilian Council in the background... *grumble grumble*
Verdict: Overall a nice, fluffy, and surprisingly plausible piece. Keeping.
Impressions before reading:
In which Yugi Mutou gets kidnapped and Atem goes a little nuts trying to find him.
Reviews:
Let me start this off by saying that I'm keeping this. This is a fun, Dresden-esque story that also does a good job with the Yu-Gi-Oh! side, even if it uses anime characters. And most importantly, Atem is a seriousface supernatural heavyweight in Dresdenverse terms, which produces some excellent reactions from the Dresden cast. Makes me want to write that Fate/Zero crossover with him in it...
Also, it's reasonably well-written on the technical side of things.
All of this carries the fic, and I say 'carries' because it has some serious problems. The duel sections are not very well executed, though in fairness it's not easy to make duels exciting in the text format. Hell, the Dresden POV segments are almost universally more interesting than the Yu-Gi-Oh! POV segments. Gratuitous Japanese litters the fic. Oh, and the entire fic hinges on relationships and metaphysics1 that I'm fairly certain are entirely fanon. The latter is too complex to really explain here, but the first is easy: homosexual love between Yugi, Bakura, and Marik, and their respective 'other selves'. Quite aside the fact that it's fanon, one of the pairings is between a person and what's literally the crazy voice in their head, and another is only marginally more healthy a relationship. *sighs*
Verdict: But yeah, keeping anyway.
Impressions before reading:
Oh, great, it's another list fic.
Review:
Well, this is becoming a trend. Or is already a trend. If y'all don't mind, I think I'm just going to straight delete any more list fics I run into, okay?
Verdict:
- Though keeping in mind I've only read the manga and not the anime, things might be different in the latter.
- Location
- Caracas
Yeah, this is what I loathe the fic, it sorta twists itself to do this and the sequel(?) Its filled with bashing iirc.
Less because homosexual relationship, more because with who those are, Yami Bakura is Zorc and has stolen Bakura's body multiple times.
Yami Marik is an abusive voice in his own head so... selfcest?
Atem x Yugi is eeeeeh.
No, the anime doesn't adds anything new, this is one of those rare cases in the YGO community where manga and Anime sorta align sans for an arc and a few details here and there.
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MiskWisk
Hoot
- Location
- Somewhere devoid of wit
- Pronouns
- He
Ah, one I recognise! Pretty much full agreement on the YuGiOh/Dresden cross. It's competently written and does a good job of fusing the two settings.
The pairings are just weird though. And badly written in even discarding the fact that two out of three are abuser/abusee relations. Like, iirc the fic basically concludes with a big makeout session between the three pairings in a really awkward way. I think there is a little stuff after but it's all epilogue stuff.
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*hopes from the corner of the room*
Details about what that would entail?
July 4 - 7, 2011
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Impressions before reading:
Fun sci-fi crossover marred by technical issues.
Review:
This review is... honestly based more on past reads of this story than the one I tried for this one. I didn't get very far this time. There's good stuff in here; how many fanfics try to actually set up an entirely new society, for instance?
But I barely remember anything of the later chapters, and that's down to the technical issues, which have scuppered every reread I've done, including this one. What are the issues? Well, like The Titans and the Lost Boy, it's of the "I keep rewriting sentences and paragraphs in my head". Too often the writing style is just... weird, and a little hard to describe. Rambling? Eh, not quite. The point is, it's not a fun read.
Verdict:
Impressions before reading:
A DezoPenguin fic, so expect tooth-rotting romantic fluff and some good humor.
Review:
Oh, those poor, stupid kidnappers. What was it Girl Genius said, in regards to a situation like this? Ah, yes.
I mean, come on, not even getting the name of the person you're kidnapping? This is how you end up kidnapping a powerful combat mage who's the daughter of two S-class mages, has an S-class mage for a girlfriend, and is friends with another three S-class mages instead of an actual desk jockey.
At least they had the good sense to flee.
Verdict: Not much, but what is there is quite nice. Keeping.
Impressions before reading:
Another entry into the "Kids say the darndest things" comedy folder.
Review:
You might think this fic is about swearing. And you'd be a little right. Swearing is definitely involved.
Ah, I can't explain without explaining the central joke. Just go read it, you won't be disappointed.
Verdict: Funny = keep.
- Location
- USA
Thank you for introducing me to this. I love it.
Astray Spiral
Potential Evil Incarnate
- Location
- C:\Windows\explorer.exe
No, no, it's not funny. It's "makes you laugh until you're wheezing" hilarious.
Truly a keeper.
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Well, I've been bouncing about a "War of Seven Kings" idea for a while. With crossover characters, of course. Atem would be Caster, and would be a main driver of the plot. Very much a heavyweight, to the point of intriguing Gilgamesh.
It's likely to only stay an idea, though.
Oh man its been awhile since theres been an update with 3 fics or so that I've actually read. I mostly agree, I think I'd keep Exodus around just because I really do enjoy the first few chapters of it and it's still just a cool what-if crossover. I totally agree its definitely not the best technically though. Dezo and Molliemon are probably two of my fave authors for those fandoms though, they're consistently interesting and funny.
Soul's Light
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Impressions before reading:
Well, that's an interesting combination. Let me guess, Dresden is going to take Shinji under his wing at some point.
Otherwise, all I remember is Dresden blasting Gaghiel, so this might be something that hinges on how well Rule of Cool carries things.
Review:
Well, my memory's way off. Gaghiel hasn't even appeared yet. Did I seriously favorite two separate Dresden Files/Evangelion crossovers back in the day?
Anyway, Soul's Light is surprisingly good. For one, I don't even mind that the story has so far mostly stuck to the Evangelion's Stations of Canon. The sections from Harry Dresden's perspective keeps things fresh, and we get Shinji Ikari in first person. First person! That's also fresh, and it really, really works. Changer Qordath does a good job with Harry Dresden's voice, but doing a good job with Shinji's, too, is even more impressive. Some of the things he says in his narration, I want to grab him and shake him and hug him and scream "You're wrong!", because it's almost painfully accurate how he's characterized as this poor, neglected kid. I mean, he blames himself for Gendo being his usual rat bastard self towards the poor kid! It's realistic and heartwrenching in equal measures.
The crossover itself also works surprisingly well. Dresden getting steadily sucked into the shady things NERV does in the name of saving the human race is quite relevant to the actual books. Dresdenverse politics, creatures, and characters, beyond Harry himself, remain thoroughly relevant even as the plot shifts to Eva canon. And the fic spends several chapters just getting there, outlining how the world of Evangelion and Dresden Files might be combined, and how Harry's presence affects things in Nerv. I'm less sanguine about so many things from Dresden canon going the same in the background, but, well, it's background and the rest is good enough that I can ignore it.
But really, voicing is this fic's strong suit. I felt like I was actually reading Harry Dresden most of the time, which in turn meant I felt like I was reading an actual Dresden Files novel, except in Evangelion. Considering I love the books, this got me invested and kept me invested.
Verdict: A pleasant surprise that I will be so keeping.
- Location
- The Z-Cave
Yeah, you were thinking of this fic: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6437783/1/Harry-Dresden-Agent-of-NERV
Vyslanté
The self is a prison
- Location
- European Union
He has (for the moment, let's hope) left SV after a... disagreement with some posters, sadly.
deathzealotzero
Mecha Guru
- Location
- Las Vegas, NV
Shrug. The first part was a fun read, but I agree once the timeskip happens and the mentioned new society is formed things go downhill. Though I do admit I actually smirked on how they got rid of Nicolas Kerensky. That is something you don't see everyday.
July 15 - July 17, 2011
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Impressions before reading:
Basically, a fix-fic, but not taking itself too seriously, though this does occasionally cause a problematic lack of detail.
Review:
Honestly, Vulpine would probably be better if it was a serious story. It has that breezy, airy, lampshade-heavy, low-detail feel of Sarah1281's longer works, and it singularly fails to capture my attention. There's no tension in the story; much of the plot developments run far too heavily on author headcanon for my tastes1. And I don't have much hope of things improving as they go along.
Also, it's not funny, which would be the only other way this could be really salvaged.
Verdict:
Impressions before reading:
The interquel in the Dark Lords series. Ranma and company gather an army for the climax of the first season of Sailor Moon.
Review:
The Dark Lords Strike Back is a much tighter and more focused story than The Dark Lords of Nerima. That's not a knock against the latter, mind you; the tight focus is entirely due to the fact that the story is about one bigass battle scene sandwiched between the preparation and consequences of said battle scene. The quality of the fic, then, depends heavily on the quality of the battle scene.
Good news: it's a really good battle. Planning and tactics actually matter. It's not just two forces butting heads like angry bulls. It's not too one-sided in either direction. And most importantly, it's just got tons of great moments. Herb and Soap tag-teaming Beryl and coming this close to killing her; Ryoga's Heroic Sacrifice; Loofah and Konatsu utterly ravaging the Youma spellcasters; and, of course, Ranma wiping out damn near the entire enemy army all by himself with a supercharged Hiryu Korin Dan.
The parts around it are pretty good, too. The opening two chapters are a whirlwind of worldbuilding, introducing multiple all-OC groups of Chinese martial artists, each one feeling at least plausible within an extended Ranma canon. It's also remarkably good at building hype for the actual battle. And the last chapter is devoted entirely to the aftereffects of Usagi resetting things, which basically functions as a shorthand, multicharacter Peggy Sue fic for Ranma canon. So that's fun.
Though YMMV on the effects on Sailor Moon canon - that is to say, damn near none at all.
Verdict: The battle alone was worth it. Keeping.
- The whole "Large chakra reserves = worse control = always overdoing jutsu" comes up. Again.
- Location
- Caracas
This bit is correct tho. Ebisu explains it, people with large chakra reserves tend to have bad control because they have so much chakra that they tend to waste it. Unlike Sakura who has smaller reserves overall and has in turn perfect control because she can't afford to waste chakra.
What seems to happen is that with poor chakra control the jutsu fails if the needed requirements are not met.
So partial fanon, partial fact.
The hotsprings training bit demonstrates this, either Naruto learns proper water walking or he will be getting scalded. This comes again with the Rasengan, it is the top tier jutsu in its specific area and naruto took a goddamn long time to be able to do it without his clones aid otherwise without them he'd fail to perform the jutsu at all.
This also explains why naruto kept failing at making the clones for his graduation test.
EDIT: My info was wrong, so please check the next post I made with the corrections.
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- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Nope. Ebisu says no such thing. He says Naruto has bad control and Sakura good control but he makes no connection to the size of a ninja's reserves.
Indeed, he frames it as percentages of reserves in a way that doesn't even indicate Naruto necessarily has more, nor Sakura less.
He also explicitly lays out that Naruto calls up too much and puts in too little, which is the opposite of the kind of claim you are making in principles.
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- Location
- Caracas
I just quoted the manga, and while you are correct in that my memory is wrong:
Kakshi says he is the one who has the greater stamina (one of the two components of chakra) due to Kurama. He also cites that this is the reason why his control is erratic.
Also in the following pages as it happens, even while sealed Naruto gets the hang of water walking exceedingly quickly, and not only that but this is while his chakra is being actively fucked with due to the five prong seal.
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- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
I mean, you can read it that way I suppose. I always thought it was clear that 'it was the nine tailed fox that's why he had so much stamina, but it was also the nine tailed fox that is why his control is so bad' which is extremely consistent with his control problems of that moment being because he has another seal slapped on.
Relatedly, the fact he gets good so quickly even with the five pronged seal is an excellent example of how the assumption that Naruto is burdened by his own greatness that so, so many fanfics run with is wrong. He didn't need to lose any Chakra to get good in canon, he just needed actual training.
Which is directly contrary to the 'oh woe I have so much Chakra woe is I how terrible for me! Everything is so hard because I am too awesome' that is all too common.
Also also, as you said, the physical energy is one of two components. We are actually explicitly told different ratios of the two are how you do different elements. It stands to reason that a poor balance could cause control problems without large reserves necessarily being in any way a problem.
Grue
滅亡迅雷
- Location
- -
Uh, I don't think this is a Fate quest. Wrong thread?
deathzealotzero
Mecha Guru
- Location
- Las Vegas, NV
Honestly. I look at this story as one of those 'feel-good' stories which I reread when I need a pick-me-up or something like that. It has humor, and it is quite a fun read. That said, I agree with CV12Hornet it just doesn't feel like a good Naruto story. It doesn't any tension at all, as the main characters are stupidly overpowered at about a third through the story. It just gets boring after a while . Shrug. Still a good story to read when you need something to pick you up and wanting to see the Good Guys kicking the crap out of the bad guys Nine Times out Ten. And that is why I will keep this story on my Favorites. Just for that.
The Elements of Harmony and the Savior of Worlds
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Impressions before reading:
Oh, man, I'd forgotten how old this thing is. This was one of the many fics written on Spacebattles when the initial pony mania swept through the Internet, and the author has since expanded the setting to a full-on Hasbroverse.
But this? Just a straight welding of G1 and Friendship is magic canon, as the summary explains. And G1, if you'll recall, involved a young girl named Megan having adventures with ponies...
Review:
Oh, man, you can tell this was a season 1 fic. The first two season of Friendship is Magic, while doing an excellent job introducing the main characters, left a ton of backstory and worldbuilding for later in the show, leaving fanfic authors to fill in the gaps in the early days. This shows both in the choices of city names in the fic, and also being able to actually graft the G1 backstory to Friendship is Magic. At least in those early stages, it doesn't require much finagling. You can also tell this is a S1 fic because of the prominence of certain background ponies. Man, how long has it been since I've actually seen Blues Noteworthy mentioned in a fic?
To explain, background ponies in Friendship is Magic - those crowd-fillers you always see in every show - are randomly generated off of basic body/face templates, the show having been animated in Flash and all. Add in animators that liked to sometimes fiddle with these characters, the occasional line, and one particular animation error1, and the Friendship is Magic fandom became the only one I can think of that has created complex fanon backstories and personalities for freaking background extras. And by complex, I mean "there are multiple fanfics with multiple permutations on the basic traits for some of these ponies".
You'll notice I've barely talked about the fic itself. There's a reason for that: it's terminally dull. The characters feel bland when they really shouldn't be, I found myself skimming through the narration and focusing on the dialogue, and... it's hard to describe. It just, for reasons I can't really pinpoint, wasn't at all an interesting read. Which is a pity, since there'll be a number of other fics in the same setting come the FIMfiction.net part of this project.
Oh, wait, now I remember what the problem is! Or, might be: there's a sense of unreality to everything. It was driven home about midway through, when Spykoran the Old, king of the dragons, arrives in Ponyville. For reasons that are very much not clear in-story, Fluttershy takes offense to the manner of his arrival and then tries The Stare2. Which the old dragon shrugs off, naturally. The whole setup feels forced, and in service mostly just to puff up Spykoran, which IMO isn't really necessary. He's a big honking thousand-year-old dragon.
Verdict:
- This is the famous (or infamous) Derpy Hooves: a gray-coated, blonde-maned pegasus with a bubble Cutie Mark that was shown with walleyes in the background of a major scene in episode 1. Of all the background ponies, she's the most famous, well-liked, and used. It's really quite astounding.
- A bit of fanon with canon support. Fluttershy, in the first two seasons, is really good at staring various creatures into submission, including a cockatrice and a fucking dragon. Explanations for this vary between the mundane and fantastic.