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.

Pokemon Fanfic Review: The Sound of Falling Rain by DOTMW

Artwork by 清順(春コミむ３９a）

Pokemon Fanfic Review: The Sound of Falling Rain by DOTMW

I was feeling nostalgic one day that I was in the mood for browsing some Ash/Misty fanart. Ever since that ship was indefinitely sunk by canon and no signs of it ever coming back afloat, I had to rely on anything made by the fans just to see those two together. Who wouldn’t? Anyone who had grown up with the classic series way back in the beginning had actually hoped for these two to hit it off. And I’ve slaked my interest with what few doujins, fanart and half-decent fanfics the net has to offer.

I’ve found this little gem just recently. It was listed in the Fanfic Recs portion of TVTropes, recommended by Troper Sagacious Zu (thank you VERY much, by the way), and the story might as well be the best thing ever done for this pairing in a long time.

Set ten years after the start of the series (chronological time finally affecting the cast that they do grow up) and a year after the events of the Diamond & Pearl series of the anime, the cast had moved on with their lives. Gary Oak had taken over his grandpa’s research, May and Drew (along with a character import from the games) travel together participating in coordinator contests around the world, Drew had been doing the same thing on her own and has settled down in Sunsyhore, Brock’s still a Gym Leader, and as is Misty (who, by the way, had upgraded the Cerulean Gym to penultimate boss levels). While Ash…

Ash had been travelling alone the past few years, preparing for the Sinnoh Cup where he has to face Regional Champion Cynthia and that unholy beast of a GARchomp she calls a Pokemon. Only, just an hour or so before the event, he disappears. No warning, no explanation, no clue where he’s gone to or where he is. He just left, walked away. Of course, everyone else in the cast starts worrying because… Well, this is Ash. This is the kid who goes charging into things (under-leveled or not), challenging Legendaries, bringing down criminal organizations, and saving the world every big damn movie. If those things can’t break him down, then what was it that caused him to walk out like that?

And why was it that wound up on Misty’s front porch looking, by all means, broken.

I like how this fic explores not just the romance between a twenty-something Ash and Misty but also how much they and the rest of the cast mean to each other. There’s a kind of dynamic you find in a bunch of people who had traveled and gotten close together adventure after adventure, region after region, that makes it feel like they’ve developed into one big family. Though most of them are done with their adventuring days and have settled down into their own lives, they still care enough for boy and electric mouse who had brought them all together in the first place.

The fic also explores one particular topic that had the fandom theorizing and inspiring fanfics ever since the earlier seasons: Ash. Ketchum’s. Father. I won’t spoil it here, but I will admit that it isn’t the guy’s identity that’s important in this story. It’s more like his influence on the young Ash that’s more drawn on. Just what kind of guy would abandon his wife and kid, and still travels the world on a Pokemon journey? And how hard would that be on the poor kid, living with the knowledge that his dad’s out there and never came back. Plenty of issues there.

And it’s from this kind of drama that this story draws its strength from. Because other than giving us a few laughs and the excuse to have Ash and Misty together, this story explores the importance of finding closure. Disappeared dad suddenly back in your life? Old childhood crush affecting you even after all these years? Not knowing what to do when life had hit you so hard? Yeah, these things definitely need some closure.

This also provides closure for us old-time fans who had grown up pairing these two together, and I’m not kidding – not even exaggerating – that this might as well be the best thing that has ever happened to the Ash/Misty pairing. The kind of treatment we’d never get from a kid’s show. It might not be canon, sure, but hey, this is the reason why fanfics are read. Heck, this is why fanfics are even made.

Here’s the link:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5859927/1/The-Sound-of-Falling-Rain

Enjoy :)