Hetalia Fanfic Review: Taken to Extremes by snappleducated

Fanart by Bluupanda

Sometimes the best way to tell a story is to keep things simple. Nothing too fancy, nothing too wordy. But just enough to entice the reader to imagine the rest.

This author did a good job of that in this fanfic.

We open at a starting line of a car race where the Hetalia characters are paticipating. They start their engines, the gun fires, and they're off. Hilarity ensues is the only thing that could describe what happens between here and the finish line.

I've never thought something so minimalist could be so entertaining. snappleducated is one of those writers I've encountered with a distinguishable writing style - fanfic or otherwise. She shows, she doesn't tell. Minimally. And yet, she's able to sell the comedy and drama of a scene with just a select choice of words. Then, she lets our minds do the rest. Well done.

Kudos too to deviantartist Bluupanda for having made the fanart. It was perfect to be paired with the story.

Here's the link to the story:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5091933/1/Taken-to-Extremes
Enjoy XD

Doujin Review: Purple sky, Golden dawN by TEX-MEX

Just never mind Ciel on the cover, she ain't appearing here.

The author says so. 

Sometimes, you'll find some doujins that are worth reading for other than their fap-value. Like, when they got that element of comedy or drama or something else that just overshadows the porn aspect of the plot. Yeah, "porn with a plot", that's a nice way of putting it. A really, really good plot. This doujin is one of them.

The first panel pretty much sums up what the comic is all about...

At a dinner table, no less. 

...and what follows is what will define this doujin's source of entertainment.

    The setting is simple. We're at a dinner table where each of the Fate/hollow Ataraxia female characters are discussing their sex lives with the one guy that they'reliving with. This is the Nasuverse after all, so we can accept the fact the Shirou had cannonically banged almost every girl in the room. Sakura wasn't kidding when she mentioned that Shirou - lucky bastard - is "shared property" among them.

     Each girl takes turns telling how they like to do it with Shirou.

Bazzett, true to what she had said at the start, likes being collared and treated like a dog...

...Caren does femdom...

...and Rin... Apparently, Rin got roped into things when a threesome wasn't enough for Sakura and Rider. 

And Black Saber's have got to be seen to be believed. 

Too bad Ilya doesn't have one, but if this last panel is any indication...

As expected, hilarity ensues. Especially during parts of the conversation where they are comparing notes.


    If any Black Lagoon fan has noticed anything familiar with the artwork, then they're in luck. The artist is none other than Hiroe Rei, the artist and author of said series. Tem-Mex being his penname when he draws doujins.

    There are some extra material in the latter pages of the doujin that makes the connection more obvious. Apparently these are the remains of a crossover doujin between Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime that never got around to be finished. The cover you saw earlier with Ciel and Rin was supposed to be used for this cancelled comic, but was instead used for this one.

    Just look at the expression on Rin's face and tell me that doesn't look like a bored expression you've seen in Black Lagoon before. Or that Shiki sort of resembles Rock with glasses.

    What tipped me off much earlier about this being a Hireo Rei work were the eye shadows. They're really noticeable, especially in some of the close-up panels. The way Hiroe Rei shades the eyes is almost distinctive for him. That, and the femdom scenes.

     Also, some of the character's expressions do seem familiar.

I mean, look: Rin here seems to be taking cues from Revy. 

While Sakura seems to be chanelling Balalaika, of all people. So those reactions are justified. 

     Overall, this doujin is one of the best things I've read in a long time. The sex and ecchi scenes are decent enough on their own, but they might as well take a back seat with the sex comedy that this comic seemed to be aiming for. And besides, you'll be too busy laughing to fap anyway.

     Kudos to Anonygoo and... uh, whoever Anonymous is for editing and translating this, by the way.

Fanfic Review: Local Man Finds His Arcade Turbotastic by Cadavatar

Fanart by *N-Y-C-fan

Fanfic Review: Local Man Finds His Arcade Turbotastic by Cadavatar

     I've grown up as a gamer. Heck, my entire childhood had been spent in front of a TV and game console. So when Wreck-It-Ralph had hit the theaters, I didn't think twice about watching it and torrenting the movie just to watch it again.
     Fanfics of it were expected too. No way something like this could not be fanfic material.
     This particular fic was on top of TVTrope's list of recommended fanfics of the film. In fact, there's a list of over a dozen people encouraging others to read it. Because: It's. That. Good.
     The fic explores and adds a backstory for Stan Litwak, the owner of the arcade where the story took place, giving him more personality and would-be history that doesn't stray too far from the source material. It traced how his arcade had started in the late 70's and how business flourished in the following decades, all the while conforming with the events in the movie. The author was even creative enough to expand on some parts hinted in the film (like, who was this "Nana" person he had mentioned in passing) without betraying the source material. But what really sells this fic was his reaction on finding out that his games and their characters had a life of their own.
     I like the treatment Litwak was given here, and I personally found the guy more relateable. Him being a fellow game-lover and all. That, and how he came to care for the arcade machines and the video game characters that he had 'worked with' all these years mirrors how I treat my own. Because there comes a time in a gamer's playthrough that, when we have invested so much time and effort in the games we play, we start to consider the characters in it as real as friends and family. That whatever story that we had to go through was one big bonding moment beginning to end. That kind of experience sticks with us even after the game over screen.
     That's the feeling this fic gives you after reading. I'm telling you, the same way the other tropers who've read this would tell you: the story's well-written, tru toe its source, and a must-read.

Here's the link:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8677314/1/Local-Man-Finds-His-Arcade-Turbotastic
Read. Enjoy :)

P.S.
     There's an extra story after the main one. Shows how the game characters react to power outages, and how Litwak deals with that problem. It's just as good.

 

FB Post turned Baccano Flash Fiction

FB Post turned Baccano Flash Fiction

     I've recently saw this in Facebook while a friend of mine was checking his account. The moment I saw the pic of Baccano's Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent, I got curious and looked over his shoulder just as he was typing a reply.

         My friend was a well-known ditz among our social circle (his lacking sense of direction his most glaring trait) and had mentioned how weird it would be for him if he starts thinking along the same lines as Isaac and Miria. Then, someone else commented how more disturbing it'd be if it was the other way around.
         He responded with this:

           It was like a fanfic condensed into a short, so-very-in-character conversation between the two. And at the same time was so very much him. It was freakin' hilarious too. He let me post it in this blog when I asked him if I could, but wanted the names removed. Strange guy...