Well, miles better than the other fic of Nanoha x HP I know off where its basically "Author bashes the ever loving fuck out of HP by showing how kewl and great Nanoha is" and "how so much better of a teacher nanoha is compared to HP teachers"
Big Fish, Tiny Pond by BukkakeNoJutsureviews
In the aftermath of Pein's attack on Konoha, Naruto is given a task vital to his village's safety. His mission: Beat the chuunin exam in Kirigakure like a rented mule. Like it owed him money. Like he wanted revenge.
Naruto - Rated: T - English - Adventure/Humor - Chapters: 1 - Words: 4,814 - Reviews: 210 - Favs: 1,149 - Follows: 1,251 - Published: Nov 2, 2012 - Naruto U., Karui
Oh, come on! That was so good! I wanted to see more! So, yeah, strong premise and all that, but the first chapter goes above and beyond by playing its comedy roots to the fucking hilt. Every good combat-oriented comedy like this needs a sitcom-style archnemesis, and this lone chapter gleefully sets one up: a talented but arrogant as fuck Kumo genin who in his introduction reveals himself to be a colossal jackass we readers would gleefully love to see taken down a peg. Cue Naruto taking him down all the pegs with a series of gratuitously hilarious insults, and firmly cementing said Kumo genin as his archnemesis for the duration.
Oh, and Naruto's supposed to be discreet about his abilities until the third round. Whoops!
Verdict: Those insults alone are worth the price of admission. Keeping!
The Fourth King by SSHieireviews
The Fourth Grail War originally had but three Kings. Matou Kariya summons a fourth, but it isn't one anyone could have ever expected.
Fate/stay night - Rated: T - English - Humor - Chapters: 10 - Words: 13,899 - Reviews: 279 - Favs: 630 - Follows: 544 - Updated: Dec 7, 2012 - Published: Nov 2, 2012 - Kariya M.
Impressions before reading:
"There's a reason why they call him... the King of the Monsters."
Review:
It's Godzilla, in case you couldn't guess.
This fic is ridiculous, impossible, and tramples a lot of Nasu lore. It gleefully butchers characterization for the sake cool or funny things happen. I also give zero fucks, because sometimes you just need some cathartic curbstomping1, and most of the butchering comes from characterizing Tokiomi similarly to what "The Importance of Proper Commmunication" does. And that fic was hilarious.
Oh, and there's also some sort of longer-term plot emerging, but that doesn't go anywhere before the fic dies.
Verdict: Ah well. The initial chapters are still great.
Warrior Class by Ozzallosreviews
He hadn't asked for the fight with Ryoga. He hadn't asked for the fight with Herb. Or Kumon Ryu. Or even Saffron. He hadn't asked for this one either, but she would damn sure finish it no matter what the cost. Warhammer40k/Ranma!chan
Crossover - Ranma & Warhammer - Rated: K+ - English - Adventure/Sci-Fi - Chapters: 8 - Words: 28,795 - Reviews: 179 - Favs: 435 - Follows: 435 - Updated: Jun 20, 2013 - Published: Nov 4, 2012 - Ranma
Impressions before reading:
It's an Ozzallos Ranma fic, except with less genderbending and more Orks. *glances at summary again* Well. Maybe not less genderbending.
Review:
Ah, the Eight Deadly Words: I don't care what happens to these people. This is one of Ozzallos' fics that I'm not sorry to see dead. For me, the tonal clash is simply too high. It's not that it's dark and grim - The Dark Lords Strike Back is still one of my favorite Ranma fics, after all - but I really don't think a hardcore war story is a good fit for Ranma 1/2.
Verdict:
The Blade of the Emperor by sayain673reviews
"...the foes of the Imperium shall perish by the holy blades that he wields - unlimited in his armory-, sundering the alien, the heretic and the daemon alike. He is to be my champion, a paragon to all he commands and those who look upon him. He shall be the first of his kind: The Blades of the Emperor, a Lost Founding of my sons now returned to me. His name...is Shirou Emiya."
Crossover - Warhammer & Fate/stay night - Rated: M - English - Adventure/Sci-Fi - Chapters: 4 - Words: 28,397 - Reviews: 277 - Favs: 739 - Follows: 798 - Updated: Jun 21, 2013 - Published: Nov 8, 2012 - Space Marines, Shirō E.
Impressions before reading:
It's a familiar scene: standard premise, decent but unspectacular execution, one really good fight scene that lets me rationalize keeping it.
Review:
Oh, hey, it's those eight words again! Yeah, I really don't give a fuck about anyone involved here. I look at the banter and relationships and can only come to the conclusion that the author really shouldn't have started this story where he did. Add in some odd turns of phrase and my verdict is obvious.
Verdict:
Stories in a New World by Iced Fairyreviews
Some short stories occurring after the "A New World" series. This time, a story about gods, and the world outside of Japan.
Touhou Project - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 3 - Words: 13,846 - Reviews: 8 - Favs: 17 - Follows: 19 - Updated: Feb 17, 2014 - Published: Nov 13, 2012
Impressions before reading:
A few vignettes set in the "New World" series dealing with the aftermath of the Lunarian assault. Includes some very good mythological worldbuilding.
Review:
And by "a few" I mean three, each touching on a different metaphysical aspect of the New World. The first is about a new Mystia Lorelei, a shrike youkai born from the first Mystia's legend. It includes some interesting talk on the mechanics of that sort of thing, including the fact that youkai born from legends can accidentally destroy themselves if reality doesn't match legend. The second is about Remilia, and that one's all about Remilia finally moving past the deaths of Sakuya and Meiling that sent her into her torpor in the first place.
But it's the third that I love and keep coming back to. It is Utsuho and Kanako, Gensokyo's goddesses, consuming the gods of old Mexico, and becoming them. It's a really interesting look into how gods work here, and that last bit of myth at the end...
Verdict: Oh, yeah. Keeping.
Witches Ball by Iced Fairyreviews
Marisa finally succeed in one of her oldest research projects, forcing the three most active magicians in Gensoukyo to reevaluate their place in the world. With the help of a small devil and a few other faces.
Touhou Project - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 3 - Words: 11,523 - Reviews: 20 - Favs: 60 - Follows: 37 - Updated: Dec 10, 2012 - Published: Nov 16, 2012 - Complete
Impressions before reading:
In which a great many pissing matches are had.
Review:
Oh, man, I completely mixed up which one of Iced Fairy's fics this is. Okay, so, the pissing match between the Alice/Patchouli/Marisa coven and a bunch of other Witch covens happens in a later fic. This one concerns itself with how Marisa turned into a youkai magician in the first place, not to mention how the coven was set up. And the way Marisa went youkai is just so her.
Otherwise, pretty standard Iced Fairy stuff, which means it's pretty good.
Verdict: Keep.
Stargazing by xMad.Hatterx007reviews
In Valhalla, it is considered good maners to watch the Goddess release a Puella Magi, but everyone watches as she brings the oldest of the Magical Girls, Akemi Homura, home.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica/魔法少女まどか★マギカ - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 1 - Words: 4,216 - Reviews: 59 - Favs: 511 - Follows: 91 - Published: Nov 21, 2012 - Homura A., Madoka K. - Complete
Impressions before reading:
Finally, we get a fic about Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The surprise anime hit of 2011, Madoka Magica was a bit of a shock to the system for longtime magical girl fans. Yes, magical girl stories could get quite dark - Sailor Moon killed off the cast every season and Lyrical Nanoha's first season had a surprisingly graphic depiction of child abuse - but Madoka Magica had and has a certain... grim, hopeless quality to it. Not helped by the fact that the first three episodes are setup to what was at the time a legitimately shocking twist. Most anime have a third episode. Madoka Magica has an Episode Three.
Naturally, Madoka Magica immediately began getting fanfiction. And these run the gamut from standard fix-fics to light and fluffy romance/slice of life to high-concept science fiction2 to some seriously weird stuff. It definitely got the attention of the SV/SB crowd, especially the questers. Expect some of the bigger names to pop up in this.
But for now, a little post-canon oneshot.
Review:
Aww, that was sweet. I'd warn about spoilers for the ending of the series, but that's a "Luke I am your father"-level twist at this point. But yeah, it's a neat little post-canon snapshot. And knowing what happens in the series proper, it's nice to see Homura reach her eternal rest.
Just... don't think about the timing involved here. Timey-Wimey Ball is in full effect here.
Verdict: Yeah, keep.
Also? It's Zouken. If anyone deserves to get flash-fried by Godzilla it's him.
Tales from a New World I honestly considered IcedFairy's weakest work with the only outright BAD story* they ever wrote and it's the Okuu and Kanako fic. The entire Identity Death of both of them is bullshit. The Remila story is aggressively meh and of the group only the Mystia II story is worth a damn as it brings closure to Mystia
*the one shots which were MOTK Wriying challenges have a bunch of stinkers in there but when restricted by rules of writing contest your're kinda stuck often with having to force works into a genre usually not used by the author and it shows (like the cyberpunk contest entry feels like it's got a MASSIVE hole in it, and combined with no real build up due to limits of time limits of the contest the story is a mess.). But that might be my strong dislike of cyberpunk as a whole noticing these flaws more than usual.
Yeah, the first chapter really is a good preview of the things to come. I basically fell in love with the setting with it alone, but I can see how it's not for everyone.
I like it when a fanfic does a good job at characterization, I like it when a fanfic avoids bashing and explores the character.
Bashing degrades the quality of the work as the author puts 0 effort in proper nuanced characterization and more onto 1D caricatures to bash over in his hate and rage.
I am always glad to see a decent Touhou fic and the way you talk about New World and the other stuff from Iced Fairy makes it sound really good.
Sadly my headcanon (and Touhou is 80% headcanon) doesn't match his to a jarring degree. I takes about all of the potential enjoyment right out of it.
I know, sarcasm and text and all, but I tried to make it clear that I was joking in the wording.
You won't find someone who hates bashing more than me. I basically stopped even looking at Potter fics because 99% of them bash someone because actually nuanced characters are hard.
But it's the third that I love and keep coming back to. It is Utsuho and Kanako, Gensokyo's goddesses, consuming the gods of old Mexico, and becoming them. It's a really interesting look into how gods work here, and that last bit of myth at the end...
Read it. Haven't read what preceded this part, but that was wonderfully done.
On To The Stars I have to say I get why some might not like it. To preface what comes next, do note that I quite like To The Stars. It skips around merrily between perspectives (and times), breaking up the narrative with a multi-chapter info-dump* on at least one occasion (and the interludes vary between intriguing and a dull everything goes perfectly** for the good guys).
*Mami watches a movie, runs for two chapters and probably 30k words. While a novel approach to an info-dump, the part where it is a short novel on its own and it is completely tell not show, counts rather heavily against it. Second time through there is more context for why it exists, but it is plonked down at the third and fourth chapter, completely derailing the narrative.
**The heroes win and it is wonderful, is the theme of at least one interlude and generally a large part of the 'in the past' segments, and without the struggle shown in the narrative, getting the payoff feels just a bit off to my narrative senses.
By: Moczo
Rin does not get sick often. And when she does, she does not take it well, much to the dismay of her beset-upon Archer. But still... there really should be a LIMIT to just how badly a little cold should be taken. Written for Elf. Hi, Elf!
Rated: Fiction T - English - Humor - Archer, Rin T. - Words: 7,171 - Reviews: 55 - Favs: 392 - Follows: 111 - Published: Nov 28, 2012 - Status: Complete - id: 8746660
Impressions before reading:
Considering how badly Rin takes mornings, and the previous offerings of Moczo, this oughtta be good.
Review:
Good lord, Rin. I know you're a 17-year-old girl just getting the first cold in your life, but come on. Does that really merit making soup out of the remains of the Holy Grail - you know, the completely corrupted nigh-omnipotent wish-granting device? Or setting everyone's blood on fire just to get at the viruses? Honestly, I'm with Archer, why do all your ideas suck rancid donkey dick?
So, yes. Funny. Very funny. If you'll excuse me, I'll be laughing my head off.
By: Transcendent Oddity
Living your life once is tough. Living it twice is a nightmare - but hey, at least this time someone turned on the help menu.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Adventure/Humor - Naruto U. - Chapters: 30 - Words: 79,273 - Reviews: 1,643 - Favs: 4,070 - Follows: 4,488 - Updated: Sep 8, 2014 - Published: Dec 11, 2012 - id: 8785327
Impressions before reading:
Yup, another Naruto gamefic. Though this one looks to be more of a conventional Peggy Sue setup.
Review:
*sighs*
Let's see. Can put video game interfaces in proper context. Is a straight Peggy Sue rather than a timeloop setup. Is specifically a Peggy Sue of a 174-year-old Hokage Super!Naruto. Many vomited headcanons.
I've seen where this goes, and I want no fucking part of it.
By: Captain Space
When planet Vegeta is destroyed, the saiyan child Kakarot is sent to planet Yardrat instead of Earth. Meanwhile, King Cold assigns the Ginyu Force a mission-take out Frieza! Co-author project between me and NinjaGin87. (Cancelled due to personal issues in his life. Thanks for understanding.)
Rated: Fiction T - English - Sci-Fi/Fantasy - King Cold, Ginyu Force - Chapters: 4 - Words: 17,983 - Reviews: 60 - Favs: 87 - Follows: 93 - Updated: Oct 20, 2013 - Published: Dec 15, 2012 - Status: Complete - id: 8797412
Impressions before reading:
I bounced off of Break Through the Limit early, and this isn't that much newer. I have a feeling this will end quickly.
Review:
I'll say this: this is so far much better than Break Through The Limit. Much fewer grammatical errors, and the whole setup feels far smoother and more natural. So with neither of those problems, the actual story is able to grab me, and grab me hard.
The best part of the fic, as it is written, is the Ginyu Force. In canon, they were sadly kind of a bunch of throwaway villains. Despite this, they're hilarious, over-the-top, have distinct personalities, and really feel like they would've been better as Freeza's starter minions than Zarbon and Dodoria. Here, their internal dynamics and motivations are expanded some. I especially like Ginyu's internal musings on the benefits of passion in subordinates.
Not that the Saiyan side of things is bad. Not nearly as interesting - we either know these guys from canon or the fic is trodding well-trodden ground with regards to Raditz and Nappa - but I can't help but compare this to the Universe specials from Dragon Ball Multiverse and I have to appreciate Kakkarot not being completely coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs here.
Yeah, the first chapter really is a good preview of the things to come. I basically fell in love with the setting with it alone, but I can see how it's not for everyone.
Hmmm... I wonder. "Dropped on first half of chapter 1" was my experience too... then one day I decided "since I have nothing good to read anyway may as well give a try..." and suddenly found myself on chapter 25.
I've only really read one good one of those, for a given value of good. The SI gamer ends up ignoring it mostly after a certain point because they are so focused on actually living a life and starting a family instead of gaming their life away.
God damn I hate those stories! What makes Naruto or anyone else interesting characters is who they are in canon, not some older, duller, more patronizing and more powerful version.
Hmmm... I wonder. "Dropped on first half of chapter 1" was my experience too... then one day I decided "since I have nothing good to read anyway may as well give a try..." and suddenly found myself on chapter 25.
Actually something similar happened to me. A year after encountering in I got so bored I thought 'might as well try it'. The same happened with Madoka Magica and now both are my favorite series.
Drifting by AlphaDelta1001reviews
Naruto is many things; troublesome, wild, unpredictable, adventurous, untamable, unique. But there's a benefit to being wild and unpredictable; no one has the faintest idea what you're going to do next. NarutoHarem
Naruto - Rated: M - English - Adventure/Romance - Chapters: 52 - Words: 1,101,134 - Reviews: 6194 - Favs: 8,554 - Follows: 7,693 - Updated: Feb 16 - Published: Dec 25, 2012 - Naruto U.
Impressions before reading:
Oh god. Oh god. What am I looking at here. What the fuck is that wordcount. What the fuck am I about to read?
*looks at Harem tag*
Review:
Well, that was painful. Normally, I'd give this the three-chapter treatment, but one, the chapters in this fic are fucking massive1, and two, this fic desperately needs a beta, bad. The spelling is fine, the grammar is fine, it's more advanced things the chapter fails at.
There is a bad case of Lavender Unicorn Syndrome, and not just any kind of Lavender Unicorn Syndrome. The kind where instead of basic descriptors like, say, "lavender unicorn", it uses much longer, more rambly descriptions. Blargh. The narration is passive and several times hiccups from past to present tense and then back again. And above all, the descriptions are just flat bad. They're so poorly constructed that despite reading the words I often have to go back and reread sentences repeatedly to figure out what happened. Combine it all, and my eyes threatened to glaze over repeatedly during the first chapter.
Which is a pity, because story-wise I'd be perfectly happy to keep going. I didn't see any real fanon, and while the story is clearly going for some flavor of Super!Naruto, and probably Indy!Naruto2, at the very least it's got a unique and halfway plausible unicorn to enable it. I can also see hints of the harem stuff, too, though. Still, from a narrative perspective I'd be willing to keep going if it was constructed well.
Alas, it is not constructed well, and since I don't remember anything of the fic there's no later event I can skip to or grit my teeth and grind to get to. Pity.
Verdict:
A per-chapter average of nearly 20,000 words.
If you don't recognize this tag, consider yourself lucky. The Indy tag is for protagonists "who don't take nuffin from no one!". Translation: sufficiently unsociable and distrustful of authority to make Skitter go "Yeah, okay, that's a bit much".
Well, the Indy aspect never really comes to happen and as much as it gives the idea of super naruto... he actually dies (briefly) right before the 3 year time skip.
Honestly, I wish Alphadelta would get a decent beta reader given all the issues you pointed out so he could rework some aspects (and the super long chapters to trim some of the fat)
I consider of the fic, thus far the international chunin exams as both its best and strongest point. Sure Naruto wins in the end, but the road to there isn't "and then Naruto curbstomped everything in his path", the author does takes pains to not hand everything to naruto in a silver plate.
His victory against one of the OC Kirigakure Kunoichi was back then one of those fights that kept me at the edge of my seat because alpha did a good job at portraying a (back then) nigh invulnerable juggernaut who wouldn't go down, wouldn't get exhausted or hurt by anything thrown at her. This set up a good scenario where the fight vs Naruto was pretty intense since the readers didn't knew what kind of power this OC had.
I actually read almost all of it, back when my standards were a bit lower.
As Duncan above me says, the Indy!protag actually never comes to be, and I don't remember this Naruto becoming an unlikeable bastard. He does get a harem, though it's actually more tastefully done than most (still not that great, though). I guess one of the benefits of massive chapters is that you suddenly can give everyone enough screen time to develop.
That said, there were two highlights of the fic: the Chuunin exams and the climax of that business with Shino. The former has already been explain d by Duncan above. The latter is just because I like grand-scale fights scenes, and the rather purpley prose didn't get in the way of younger me's enjoyment of the Mōryō fight, which (iirc) involves Naruto teaming up with a couple members of the Akatsuki to take him out.
Yeah. For me, one of the highlights was when Naruto fought a Kumogakure OC who could turn into lightning - basically Enel from One Piece.
He covered himself in wind and went Luffy on him. It was a pretty awesome (and even) fight. I remember enjoying the story when I first read it (and it was much better than it has any right to be), but I've never been able to get past the first few chapters on a reread.
By: FireflySummer
While imprisoned aboard the Hellicarrier, an unexpected visitor calls on Loki. Much to the god's surprise, he's got a few tricks up his sleeves, including a startling amount of insight into Loki's character. Rated T for safety. Cover Lineart drawn by me. Coloring by Pai-Draws on Deviantart.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Edward E., Loki - Chapters: 3 - Words: 5,641 - Reviews: 78 - Favs: 579 - Follows: 187 - Updated: Jan 11, 2013 - Published: Dec 30, 2012 - Status: Complete - id: 8855907
Impressions before reading:
Okay... how much navel-gazing are we going to get here? Because I have strict limits on that sort of thing.
Review:
I don't know how to feel about this. On the one hand, this is actually a very good story. The construction is flawless, it makes excellent use of Ed's experience in Fullmetal Alchemist, serves as a damn good character study for Loki, and actually tries to make a point about family and sacrifice, and actually does a decent job of it. The first is rare in fanfiction; the second is damn near nonexistent.
My qualms mostly come from the fact that the crossover itself gets no damn setup at all. There's not even an excuse to get Ed into the MCU to have him talk to Loki. Look, I'm not expecting a novella as an intro, but fuck, there has to be more setup than this!
Verdict: But in all other ways it's excellent, so it stays.
By: Lord Mist
There are infinitely many Servants that could have been summoned, after all. A series of oneshots. [AU]
Rated: Fiction T - English - Adventure/Humor - Chapters: 32 - Words: 68,370 - Reviews: 2,129 - Favs: 1,616 - Follows: 1,532 - Updated: Apr 3 - Published: Jan 2, 2013 - id: 8865268
Impressions before reading: The Crossover Servant-Summon drabble fic. And yes, that's a really narrow category, but just look at the Fav/Follow counts.
Review:
Most of the drabbles here are pretty aggressively meh, and they tend towards formula once you've read about ten of them, a formula that's usually "summoned Servant chumps some canon Servant". I burned out around #25. That said, enough of them were actually interesting that I think I'll keep it, and the slow update schedule really works here.
Verdict: Stays, barely.
And with that, we finally exit 2012 and enter 2013! Progress!
