What are you reading?

[Anastasia]

From Fake Dreams has updated.

I'm impressed a post arc-climax chapter had so much crazy shit happening.

Spoiler: ShowHide

I just hope the Grail war lives up to all the buildup and is sufficiently different to make it a good challenge.

Anyway, I thought Merem fell a little flat. Nothing in particular, just his overall speaking style didn't quite do anything for me. Still, his offer surprised me, but it really shouldn't. Right now I think Shiro is becoming the number 1 hot property to get a hold of. The Church, the Dead Apostles and the Mages all have reasons to be quite interested in Shiro, not to mention individual schemers like Zouken. I suspect this Grail war is going to turn into a clusterfuck of impressive proportions, at the very least. There may very well be more factions involved; I could see a Dead Apostle becoming a Master now, or the Mages trying to butt in even more, not to mention Shiro's various friends doing the same.

[thepanda]

For me it was the

Spoiler: ShowHide

 part about Sakura's situation. It makes so much sense and yet I didn't see it coming thanks to the one-two punch from the mages and apostles early in the chapter. That was well executed.

[Anastasia]

For me it was the

Spoiler: ShowHide

 part about Sakura's situation. It makes so much sense and yet I didn't see it coming thanks to the one-two punch from the mages and apostles early in the chapter. That was well executed.

[spoiler]It really was. It's nice to see Zouken making moves and compensating for Shiro being stronger and having advance knowledge of what he's doing. That was really well done, you're right.

[Dracos]

hum, I should read more of that.

Today there was a new chapter of "And Not Motivation".   I mean Suddenly, Ninjas.  I'm rude about it because while there was some fun scenes, everyone was entirely too cocky and it was hard to see Ninja over tremendous posturing.  Yes, competent Konoha is a fun concept, but this konoha should not be similarly on the same wheels plotwise.  Really?  Orocohimaru's plot still occurred?  Even though there are dozens to hundreds more ninjas as one of the great disasters of the past didn't happen?  Naruto still struggled to pass that exam even though...

Spoiler: ShowHide

hey he had both summoning techniques and the Flying Thunder Jutsu or whatever?  Really?  Basically, while individual scenes often are fun, the whole together doesn't stitch together well.  And the surprise off-color lines don't help that.  "BITCHES STAY QUIET", memorable, but does it really make the scene what it should be?  Crotch punches to beat Sound 4?  Tenten kinda defecting to sound(whatthe-heck?)

  Hinata's fight taking a few seconds and being off camera was disappointing.  Why go through inventing a pretty awesome remake of Hinata's character if you're just going to off-screen her most the time?

Basically, I both approve of the cocky, let's make Konoha cool and at the same time am getting sick of where it puts the work at times.  I think it is the same stylism that bleeds into his other works that sometimes kind of makes them less than they should be. 

Advertised:
Suddenly, Ninja Konoha Kicks ass, Keeps Secrets, Takes Names.
I expected:
Epic Badass Ninja.
I got:
Yo, Yo, Yo, BITCHES SIT DOWN, KONOHA REPRESENT!  RAP-OFF OF LEGEND!

[Yuthirin]

hum, I should read more of that.

Today there was a new chapter of "And Not Motivation".   I mean Suddenly, Ninjas.  I'm rude about it because while there was some fun scenes, everyone was entirely too cocky and it was hard to see Ninja over tremendous posturing.  Yes, competent Konoha is a fun concept, but this konoha should not be similarly on the same wheels plotwise.  Really?  Orocohimaru's plot still occurred?  Even though there are dozens to hundreds more ninjas as one of the great disasters of the past didn't happen?  Naruto still struggled to pass that exam even though...

Spoiler: ShowHide

hey he had both summoning techniques and the Flying Thunder Jutsu or whatever?  Really?  Basically, while individual scenes often are fun, the whole together doesn't stitch together well.  And the surprise off-color lines don't help that.  "BITCHES STAY QUIET", memorable, but does it really make the scene what it should be?  Crotch punches to beat Sound 4?  Tenten kinda defecting to sound(whatthe-heck?)

  Hinata's fight taking a few seconds and being off camera was disappointing.  Why go through inventing a pretty awesome remake of Hinata's character if you're just going to off-screen her most the time?

Basically, I both approve of the cocky, let's make Konoha cool and at the same time am getting sick of where it puts the work at times.  I think it is the same stylism that bleeds into his other works that sometimes kind of makes them less than they should be. 

Advertised:
Suddenly, Ninja Konoha Kicks ass, Keeps Secrets, Takes Names.
I expected:
Epic Badass Ninja.
I got:
Yo, Yo, Yo, BITCHES SIT DOWN, KONOHA REPRESENT!  RAP-OFF OF LEGEND!

* Yuthirin deletes notification e-mail from FF.Net.

Thanks for the warning Drac!

[Jason_Miao]

I expected:
Epic Badass Ninja.

It's Sage of Toads.  Why were you expecting this?

I got:
Yo, Yo, Yo, BITCHES SIT DOWN, KONOHA REPRESENT!  RAP-OFF OF LEGEND!

...and not that?


If you're looking for "competent badass ninja" due to either talent or motivation (no, not THAT motivation), Hurricane Suite and Patriot's Dawn by http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1598723/The_Pro are two.  Although, I'll point out that in both stories, Naruto acts nothing like Naruto.

[Dracos]

I don't remember Hurricane Suite, but I remember going after Patriot's Dawn, and really disliking it.  I remember him not being a patriot much at all in it, but more just an overpowered asshole.  That's unfair of me perhaps, but I just didn't really like the person Naruto was in it.  Uncooperative, self-centered, and just with a focus that didn't seem patriotic at all.  I got annoyed with it after a bit and ignored the rest of the author's works afterwards.

And yeah, I know, expecting more of Sage of Toads is...wrong?  Unfair?

He can do it, and at some points shows it, so I don't see any reason why hoping he'd not go crazy about it is that far wrong.  Just because he always goes ahead and throws fourth wall breaking stuff in is no reason not to still be disappointed with it happening.

Anyhow, I begrudge that with Time Braid finished, not a single epic hero Naruto fic has posted a chapter this year.   Basically, feels like the best active fic in the fandom is Daybreak.  Probably a side effect really of the manga being far off into wackyland, but just disappointing in general.

[thepanda]

Hurricane Suite doesn't even manage to make its Naruto Shaped Object Naruto shaped. Way too not-Naruto and the first chapter reads like a thinly disguised author rant.

[Jason_Miao]

I don't remember Hurricane Suite, but I remember going after Patriot's Dawn, and really disliking it.  I remember him not being a patriot much at all in it, but more just an overpowered asshole.  That's unfair of me perhaps, but I just didn't really like the person Naruto was in it.  Uncooperative, self-centered, and just with a focus that didn't seem patriotic at all.  I got annoyed with it after a bit and ignored the rest of the author's works afterwards.

Yeah, pretty much.  I didn't know if you wanted badass ninja story (which they are), or a Naruto story (which they aren't) with badass ninjas, so mentioned them anyway.

Patriot's Dawn does do a pretty good "first line" scene, and I'm wondering if I could use something similar.  Otherwise, what you said.

And yeah, I know, expecting more of Sage of Toads is...wrong?  Unfair?

He can do it, and at some points shows it, so I don't see any reason why hoping he'd not go crazy about it is that far wrong.  Just because he always goes ahead and throws fourth wall breaking stuff in is no reason not to still be disappointed with it happening.

I completely understand how disappointing it is to repeatedly see a skilled writer get so close to doing something new and interesting, and then decide they'd rather not.

I've just stopped expecting more from those writers.  I mean, hey, it's fanfiction, no one is dying over it, no one is getting paid, so if the writer just wants to have fun by screwing around and throwing in whatever they want, no matter if it fucks up the stronger aspects of their story, then fair enough.

Anyhow, I begrudge that with Time Braid finished, not a single epic hero Naruto fic has posted a chapter this year.   Basically, feels like the best active fic in the fandom is Daybreak.  Probably a side effect really of the manga being far off into wackyland, but just disappointing in general.

<Insert standard "Why won't anyone write this fic" response here> :p

Hurricane Suite doesn't even manage to make its Naruto Shaped Object Naruto shaped. Way too not-Naruto and the first chapter reads like a thinly disguised author rant.

That's completely Naruto-shaped.    He mentioned ramen once, at some point in time.

[thepanda]

Team Tensai

Warning, the first few chapters are really rough. The author does manage to mitigate a lot of the darker stuff from the beginning of the story with pov changes later that explain what 'really' happened.

[Dracos]

Links are good?

[Jason_Miao]

Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5561415/1/Team_Tensai

Read that sometime in the last two months.  The fic could really use a denouement.  Also, the first few chapters has that irritating "under-eight-year-old can't properly form syllables" schtick.

[thepanda]

Links are good?

No Link Man has struck again! Mwahahahah!

[Dracos]

Man, you act like that and Ganon is totally going to get in your face and rip off your arms and nobody is gonna be there to stop him.

[thepanda]

Only in the Link to the Past timeline. The other two timelines he totally gets owned. =P