What are you reading?

[Anastasia]

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8311464/1/FateFamiliar

On one hand this is an interesting premise for a story.  On the other the author has some bad writing habits, attempts to bite of waaaay more than he can chew and the entire thing relies on the extremely weak premise of 'reality altering DEM is fucking around'. Now it's a character that's known in series (Zelretch), but it's still weak as hell. Still, I like the basic premise. I really do. Dropping various versions of the Fate cast into FoZ years before the story starts is good. The problem is that it skips right past that with a big dose of handwaving. Sigh.

[Jason_Miao]

Still, I like the basic premise. I really do. Dropping various versions of the Fate cast into FoZ years before the story starts is good. The problem is that it skips right past that with a big dose of handwaving. Sigh.

If I had a penny for every story I could have liked if the "writer" had actually bothered to write the 80% of the chapter that he instead summarized, I'd probably have already been killed and looted by copper thieves.

[Dracos]

Copper! *loots the Miao*

[Ebiris]

Been reading Empire's Son recently, it's a Star Wars AU where Luke got put with the Organas on Alderaan while Leia got to grow up on Tatooine with Owen and Beru. Things take an unfortunate turn when Luke's greater Force presence gives him away to the Emperor during a state function at age seven, leading to the Organas being murdered and Luke forced into a life of horrifying abuse at the Emperor. And just to show what a caring cool guy he is, Palpatine doctors medical records to make it seem like Luke is the son of Obi Wan Kenobi rather than Anakin Skywalker, leading Darth Vader into hating the poor kid and joining in the abuse with gusto. Hearing about what happened to the Organas and fearing the worst, Kenobi promptly takes Leia and flees into the Rebel Alliance, training her as a Jedi.

The story really starts off when both Luke and Leia are in their teens, Luke now serving the Emperor as a Sith with what can only be attributed to Stockholm Syndrome while Leia's a confident Rebel operative and Jedi, while the Death Star nears completion. It's fantastically written, taking the Star Wars story in its own direction with some things happening almost the same with different actors while other changes lead to radically different outcomes, while the characters are all well written with the writer taking the time to get into everyone's heads so you can see exactly what makes them tick. From Palpatine's scheming evil and bitter jealousy to Han's Imperial everyman earnestly sticking to his morals when dumped into the thick of all that's rotten with the Empire as Luke's adjutant, you might not sympathise with every character, but you get a real sense for knowing them.

Also while I'm plugging this, check out the same writer's Son of Son trilogy which I plugged way way back in the thread. In case you missed it, it's just as awesome.

[Kt3]

If I had a penny for every story I could have liked if the "writer" had actually bothered to write the 80% of the chapter that he instead summarized, I'd probably have already been killed and looted by copper thieves.

Then again, if I had a penny every time an author wrote out every banal going-on that happened during the course of a day instead of constraining themselves to only writing about the things that are important to plot, character or atmosphere, I'd sink the Midwest.

I seem to run into far more of pointless meandering in stories than the over-summarizing you're describing.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7502509/1/Cross_and_Thorn_a_Tale_of_the_Demon_Castle

Castlevania 1 fanfic. It's superbly written but challenging to get through. It's really as much a religious journey as the actual game, so a casual reader may be dissuaded. I really can't recommend it enough, as the flavor is absolutely outstanding.

Oh my.  My my my.

I used to know that guy, nigh on 10 years ago.  Along with his wife, who goes by the handle "Red Draco".  I trawled on her website forums for a number of years, religiously reading her stories as they were coming out.

It's been so long.  I'm starting to miss them now.  :(

[Anastasia]

Oh my.  My my my.

I used to know that guy, nigh on 10 years ago.  Along with his wife, who goes by the handle "Red Draco".  I trawled on her website forums for a number of years, religiously reading her stories as they were coming out.

It's been so long.  I'm starting to miss them now.  :(

How's the rest of his work? I took a hack at his Megaman 2 fic, but got bombarded under 100k or so words of setup for the actual plot.

As for stories?

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8326543/1/Subtle_Variations

Looks to be an enjoyable enough SM/Ranma fanon romp so far. It's too early on to say much more, though a younger Ranma is an interesting twist.  Anyhow, the first sentence should tell you if it's to your tastes. The Senshi haven't shown up and they may not have even activated yet, so that particular angle hasn't started.

[Jason_Miao]

If I had a penny for every story I could have liked if the "writer" had actually bothered to write the 80% of the chapter that he instead summarized, I'd probably have already been killed and looted by copper thieves.

Then again, if I had a penny every time an author wrote out every banal going-on that happened during the course of a day instead of constraining themselves to only writing about the things that are important to plot, character or atmosphere, I'd sink the Midwest.

I seem to run into far more of pointless meandering in stories than the over-summarizing you're describing.

Sure, there's more of it, because someone can overwrite almost any scene. 

Skipping scenes, or even large arcs altogether can happen fewer times, but systemically destroys the entire story.

e.g, how many fics like this do you bother to continue reading?

Scene 1:
Akane: TSUN!  TSUN!  TSUNTSUNTSUN!!  TSUN!!!
Ranma: Screw you all, I'm running away to be adopted by cats.
Ukyou: Ranma, I love you forever, in a manner which depends on your personality and therefore isn't shallow and disturbing.  Really.  Akane, you suck.
Akane: TSUN!!!

Scene 2:
Narrator: Ten years later, skipping all character development...
Akane: TSUNTSUN!  TSUN!  TSUN~TSUN!!
RSE: I am back from being adopted by cats-nyan, I am awesome with either no or trivially stupid defects, and am still not marrying Akane.
Ukyou: Let me tell you, at various points, of how Ranma had some random character development that isn't a hackjob explanation as to why RSE is actually Ranma even though he has almost no points in common with Ranma.
Akane: TSUNTSUN!!!
RSE: I bash you!
Akane; TSU-!! *dies*
RSE/Ukyou: Yay, we've won.  Now the world can be at peace.

[Kt3]

Oh, I'm not disagreeing that it's bad.

I'm just saying I find the opposite more common.

On that note, I read that snippet you wrote and enjoyed it, mostly because I heard Akane's voice as a pokemon the entire time.  Charmander, to be specific.

@Anastasia
I couldn't particularly tell you about his writing expertise.  He's a rather nice guy, but I mostly read Red's stuff, which was humor pretty much through and through.

@Everyone
Okay so I've been thumbing through this Mass Effect 2 fic, and I've been enjoying it rather mightily so far.  Only on Chapter 7 but it's been rather rock solid, very good chapter lengths, and not just mindless canon rehash/filler that seems to propagate other Mass Effect fics.  It's also shown a couple of other scenes that fit in with the universe that's been revealed so far very well, but he/she may just be integrating stuff from other sources of canon (I've only played the game, haven't read any comics/novelizations/side stuff/etc).

Basic premise: When Shepard was resurrected, his body got FUBAR'd.  So Shepard is now walking around in a YMIR mech instead.
Mass Effect: Iron Rebirth by Mashadar

Garrus raised a taloned hand in a gesture of denial, "You sure about this Shepard, I've got all the charm I need, but you definitely need the practice if you're going to want a shot at the ladies." He shrugged non-committally, but the flare of his mandibles were filled with mirth and the human beside him dispensed with subtlety, barking a coarse laugh at the joke. Afraid, confused, befuddled and worn out, Rana's brain tried to process everything that was happening, but it was too much to focus and she carelessly stammered out the only coherent thought she could make-

"Shepard? But he's dead!"

- before she could strangle it. Machine and turian turned back towards her, their weapons still facing in her direction, but no longer directly pointed at her with the deadly readiness they had a moment before. With a hiss of servos, the war machine bent down towards her, armoured feet scraping against rusted bulkhead as it mimicked a poor equivalent of a kneeling posture. Even then, it towered over her, the red glow of it's sensor lights eerily unchanging as she heard the faint click of of its optics focusing and refocusing.

"I GOT BETTER" there was a faint pause as the sensor pod bobbed and whirred on it's mechanical neck, almost as if it were cocking it's head to the side in a way she was certain was mechanically impossible, "PARTIALLY."

[Jason_Miao]

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8326543/1/Subtle_Variations

Looks to be an enjoyable enough SM/Ranma fanon romp so far. It's too early on to say much more, though a younger Ranma is an interesting twist.  Anyhow, the first sentence should tell you if it's to your tastes. The Senshi haven't shown up and they may not have even activated yet, so that particular angle hasn't started.

12-yr old Ranma could be an interesting premise.  Hope there is, rather than just some convenient way to attach him to the SM cast.    It has the "Nodoka-Swordmaster" fannon bit to it, which I personally find annoying, but must people don't really have a problem when reading that.

[Dracos]

It seems a pretty standard first fanfic.

They're rewinded back to 12, but otherwise don't seem like they're intended to be any different.  Shaping elements of their personality haven't happened yet or were compressed.

Nodoka is falling over herself with conclusions that there simply isn't enough time to reach.  I tuned out early chapter 3 before it really got going.

Not saying a younger Ranma escaping to Nodoka, friend of Ami's mom and daughter of Rei's grandpa couldn't be used as a solid start-point, but this doesn't seem like it's got anything but caricature entities in it.

[Kt3]

I'm mostly waiting on how the Usagi and Ranma meeting work out before deciding on this fic, in my case.

[Anastasia]

12-yr old Ranma could be an interesting premise.  Hope there is, rather than just some convenient way to attach him to the SM cast.    It has the "Nodoka-Swordmaster" fannon bit to it, which I personally find annoying, but must people don't really have a problem when reading that.

I don't want to act like I'm defending this fic. That said, I'm okay with that bit of fanon in this case. Ranma's gotten away from Genma early, so someone to keep his training up is fine. Especially if the author avoids the weak Senshi trap and has Ranma needing it to keep up with the girls. That may be way overestimating the author.

[Jason_Miao]

That said, I'm okay with that bit of fanon in this case. Ranma's gotten away from Genma early, so someone to keep his training up is fine.

Eh.  Everyone is okay with that fanon.  It has completely surpassed the original character; there were people who had been writing Ranma fics for years who refused to believe me when I'd mentioned that Nodoka was actually pretty incompetent with a sword.

Especially if the author avoids the weak Senshi trap and has Ranma needing it to keep up with the girls.

I wonder if anyone has done it the other way around.  e.g Ranma, seeking to reach the next level of martial arts, finds an Oracle and asks for the most powerful person who'd be willing to train him.  By virtue of holding the crystal, that most powerful person on Earth is Usagi.  So Ranma seeks Usagi as his master, in order to learn her ways...

It probably wouldn't last long - more like a few vignettes akin to DFR's Tuxedo Ranma stories (Then again, the last time I said I could probably write out a story in an hour, was about seven years ago.  And I'm still writing it.)

[Anastasia]

That sounds more like a spam story inspiration than anything else, but it did make me smile.

[Dracos]

Ditz Bunny Fu?  The Martial Art You Never Expected?

Yeah, spam.  But a smile bringing spam.