Recommended Reading

Princess Tutu | Rurouni Kenshin | GW | Yami no Matsuei | YYH | Author Recs]

For your reading pleasure, some of the fics Cutter finds interesting, organized by fandom (and in alphabetical order [sweatdrop]). I even tell you why I thought they were interesting. ^_^

These are not fics that have passed some sort of imaginary quality test (though many are very good), nor are they precisely a list of my favorites (though I like many of them very much). These are, like I said, interesting fics I've found in various fandoms. For your convenience, everything's labeled so that if you're not into yaoi, or you're not into het, or whatever, you can avoid what you don't want. Go on; read 'em, comment on 'em, and tell the authors Cutter sent ya. ^_~

Labeling System:

Gen = No sexuality of any kind involved in any important way.
Het = Whatever romance may be involved is male/female.
Yaoi/Slash = Whatever romance may be involved is male/male.
Yuri/Femslash = Whatever romance may be involved is female/female.

Fruits Basket

"Awful", "Asking For It", and "Reasons to be Beautiful"--Lishy the Po's ShigurexKyou trilogy. Notable perhaps primarily because this pairing should not work; should in fact have sent me clicking the Back button on my browser with lightning speed, but nonetheless. . .somehow Lishy makes it sort of plausible. The first and third of the trilogy are lemons; I actually like the second, non-lemon quite a bit. The author is very competent and I love how she refuses to back down on the issue of how complicated it would be for anyone to have any sort of relationship with Kyou. Her website is at http://www.bluealwaysknew.com/. Yaoi.

"Full Course" by merrow. Hatori finds himself house-sitting at Shigure's, and gets to know Tohru a little better in the process. I like it. I am really grooving with the Furuba het, actually. merrow's characterizations are in general good, but I think she surpasses herself in the second chapter of Full Course. Check it out at her site, RandomFandom (click on "fruits basket resources"). Het.

"Just Because" by Meia. This fic is dear to me mostly because Meia realizes that no matter how hot Yuki and Kyou would be together, there is no way in hell they can be excusably written as lovey-dovey together. At least, not without completely changing their personalities. For fangirls seeking lemons, the best we can hope for is them screwing out of sheer pissiness. And Meia makes that point, and fulfills that hope. ^_^ You can read it at her website. Yaoi.

"Somewhere Slightly North of Reality" by Aishuu. It made me smile. Which I consider a thing worthy of praise. (Did you know doctors say you're supposed to laugh six times a day? I read this in a magazine somewhere.) It's particularly interesting for two reasons, one of which is that anyone who's been lost in Japan will be able to relate to at least some of it. No warnings of any kind necessary. Check it out on Aishuu's website. Gen.

"Warmth" by tsumenki (who is also known as dementedchris). This is a great little scene between Kyou and Tohru, guaranteed (just look at the title) to give you warm and fuzzy feelings, but to do so without insulting you or compromising the characters. Which, I think, is rare in fanfic--though perhaps suited particularly well to this series. It can be found at her author page on ff.net. Het.

Fushigi Yuugi

"Shinkiro" by Ryu~Itsutsu is rather amazingly cute and sweet shounen-ai (Tasuki+Nuriko). Now I know you're all thinking "but Cutter's not really a 'cute and sweet' sort of girl. . . ." But I thought the way this author portrayed young Tasuki's thoughts on kissing was entertaining and IC, and I was interested by the idea (atmittedly done by another author or two as well) of Tasuki and Nuriko meeting before the start of the series, and by the way that Ryu~Itsutsu overcame the difficulty of Nuriko's obvious [cough] lack of enthusiastic warmth when Tasuki first appears onscreen. And what's more, if you're going to do cute and sweet, you might as well do it *well*, dammit, and "Shinkiro" does. So there. Yaoi.

"Where the Heart Is" and "Protector" by Kiri. Two Kouji+Tasuki shounen ai pieces that form a two-part story. I can't quite explain what it is about this fic. . .it's just nice. Like hot chocolate in the winter. And dammit, I *like* Tasuki and Kouji together. These are hosted by her author page on ff.net. Yaoi.

Gensoumaden Saiyuuki

"Aware of Emptiness" by Maya. This is a short stream-of-consciousness look into Goku's mind. She's got Goku's voice dead-on, which makes it a pleasure to read. Check it out at her website, and if you like it, give "Dry River" a look, too. Gen.

"Bargaining At the Gate" by Draco. There are moments in this fic that just shine for me, because I can so easily imagine Kenren behaving this way at the reincarnation gate. Check it out at Draco's website. Yaoi.

"A Few Minor Details", also by Maya. Kenren has some explaning to do. This is fun as a character snapshot. You can read it at her website. Het? Gen?

"Honeymoon", by Hth. A Sanzo/Goku fic--written by somebody who not only can spell, but can take an impossible thing and make something out of it. To me, the Sanzo-Goku relationship has always been very compelling. Not in a fangirl way, or a sex-related way, but just in a "wow, this is a really well-done, intense connection between people" way. But as a yaoi pairing, I pretty much considered them impossible. Which, since I'm Cutter and I'm perverse, made me really want to see whether anyone could actually pull it off. And I think Hth probably comes closest. She's a good writer, and you can check her out at her website. Yaoi.

Get Backers

"Blind Spot" by wen. This fic is recommended for flow. It moved smoothly, and in a way that was interesting to me. Read it at her website. Yaoi.

"Candlelight" by X-parrot. I like X-parrot. This fic is so warm and fuzzy that normally I wouldn't be able to take it--except that in the Get Backers universe it's perfectly natural. It just fits so well. This is a one-shot gen fic with no warnings. Read it here if you're feeling the need for an "Aww" and you want to see it done in character. And you know what, as long as you're there, go to her author page and read "A Thousand Thousand Years." Gen.

"Fan Service" by Mullenkamp/Andrea/Ellcrys is one of the best fanfics I've read in a long time. The sheer idea of it is beautiful, and Mullenkamp just has a great grasp of the GB characters and also of the sheer insanity of the fandom and the character designer. I'm just going to quote wholesale what she has to say about the ff.net version: "The characters are not mine. In fact, the official anime artwork is starting to make them not resemble the Ban and Ginji that Aoki and Ayamine created. . .which is why I wrote this story. I like Aoki and Ayamine's Ban and Ginji, darnit. As much as I do like Ban/Ginji, and as much as the fanservicey pics that Animage has been running are in fact quite hot. . .they're sort of creepy. I'm not in the series to see cute guys snuggling, but to see dorky guys acting like. . .dorks. But since it's official artwork, there has to be some explanation as to why the dorks are looking less like dorks and more like they're from a yaoi series lately. This fic was written to explain how this could occur." You can find Mullenkamp's Get Backers fanfiction here. I also liked "Perfect Day" on the same site. (Note: Mullenkamp has done yaoi writing, but this is a gen fic.) Basically gen.

"The Mickey" by X-parrot. Resisting X-parrot is futile. This one does have a small dash of shounen-ai in it, but that's completely unrelated to why I like it. The premise is a time-honored one: one of our heroes finds himself drugged out of his gourd, and says some things he otherwise wouldn't say--in this case, to an increasingly irritated and confused Shido. Recommended for the glimpse we get of the one man Ban has ever really hated. Read it here. Touch of yaoi.

"Written" by Spooks and Clarus. If you want to read a nice long Ban/Ginji fic that's probably shounen-ai but doesn't really have to be seen that way, and you want it to have an actual plot, then this is the fic you want to read. It also gets my recommendation for creativity; Ginji's voice is done here in a way that I haven't seen it done elsewhere in fanfiction. I was left a tiny bit unsatisfied at the ending, but overall this fic was really very solid, and definitely worth a read. ^_^ Check it out here. Gen-ish yaoi.

Gravitation

Much like YYH, Gravitation is in my experience is a fandom which contains decent fanfiction, but the ratio of horrible fanfiction to decent fanfiction is so high that it tends to make one lose hope. Now, that said, there are definitely more read-worthy Gravi fics than the one fic I list here, but I am essentially a slacker, and it is for that reason only that I have failed to list anything else.

"First Line" by Eidolon Tree. If you're wondering why this fic is the single one on the list, all I have to say for myself is this: "First Line" was the first Gravi fic I found engaging enough to read to the last line. An alternate version of the first time Shuuichi and Yuki have sex, it seems workable to me motivation-wise and contains several interesting descriptions. The only caution is that Shuuichi's name is consistently spelled incorrectly, which can be extremely distracting. Until this is fixed, if that kind of thing bothers you (as it does me) my recommended method for reading this fic is copying and pasting it into a word processor and using "Find and Replace" to replace all the "Schuuici"s with "Shuuichi"s. Bonus reason to read "First Line": unlike the manga version of this liason, "First Line" delivers satisfaction without provoking anger. Way to go! ^_^ You can find Eidolon Tree's site at http://www.contrary-perfection.net/. Yaoi.

Harry Potter

(Ok, so this is not actually anime. Someone in an anime fandom tipped me off that there were HP fanfic out there, and I became insanely (perhaps morbidly) curious. I decided to check it out. It did not occur to me until it was way, way too late that at that point "insanely curious" was irreparably changed to just "insane.")

"A Most Disquieting Tea" and its sequels through "Corresponding," by Telanu. Snape+Harry slash (no more graphic than your average PG movie), of all things. Recommended because it belongs to that smallest, rarest, most elite, most desirable catagory of fanfics: those written by writers who know how to write. (Pretty damn cool, no?) Beware: these things are bloody addicting. I've read them about five times. And they can be found through her webpage. --Update: I should add that while this rec still stands, the sequels Telanu has written since that time have not in my opinion lived up to the greatness of this first set. Just as a warning. Slash.

"Most People" by Kick Flaw. I like this fic. It's a character study, and in later chapters it's a slash fic, but I mostly like it because even though I don't think the characters in it are canon, every so often they have that je ne sais quoi that makes you wish they were. You can read it at the author's webpage. Light slash.

"Sooner or Later" by Rube. Draco/Harry slash lime. I picked this one because of some interesting chemistry between the two boys. Unfortunately, right now it's only available at PSA, which requires you to jump through a couple of hoops to get a password before you can read it. A warning: this author has done a rape fic or two. So if you're not into that sort of thing (as I confess I am not), tread the site carefully. "Sooner or Later" is consensual, however. Slash.

"A Type of Revenge" by Myst. Has het, slash, triads, you name it (though, sadly, no lesbians yet). You know, I was completely unprepared to like this fic. In fact, I was pretty well settled into the idea that I was going to hate this fic even as I began to read it. And yet. . .I've continued to read after twelve chapters, because it's fascinating. It has all the things in it that generally push my buttons in bad ways, *but* it also manages to push most of my good buttons, and keep me interested. Several of the characters--one in particular, and one who I think is often done a bad turn by fanfic writers--is whang on, in unpredicted senses. Mentions of rape, but not a rape fic per se (thank God). Read it at schnoogle. Slash, het.

Koko wa (Here is) Greenwood

"Ame ga Amaru (After the Rain)" and "Graduation" by Joppo and Yen are two wonderful NON-YAOI fics about Shinobu and Mitsuru and their frienship over the years ("Graduation" has one line that makes the whole read worth it above and beyond its other good points). They can be found at Anime Asylum. Gen.

"The Best Policy" by Torch definitely deserves to be listed here, because while this fic's style isn't my favorite, she gets the points for thinking up one of the best ways--if not the best way--so far to get Shinobu and Mitsuru together. I think it fits the series. Yaoi.

"Forsythia" by Kiri can be found at her author page on ff.net. I included it here because I thought it said a few interesting things about the way Shinobu's mind might work. While you're there, her fic "To See Your Face" does the same stuff with him (Shinobu), even if it's a bit depressing, so if you liked the first one, chances are you'll be able to appreciate the second as well. Yaoi.

"Interpretation" by X-parrot. Unfortunately, you need to read it through her author page at ff.net, as this fic is not up on her homepage. It's wonderful. Read it. *Now.* Yaoi.

"Letting Go" by Imo-girl is a death fic, and while I'm not really into death fics, if you like them, then you'll love this one. Its characterizations are whang on, and (aside from the fact that someone's dead), it's not too much of a downer. The interactions are perfect. And you can find it at also at Lady Koneko's Library, under the author (surprise!) "Imo-girl." Yaoi.

"Public Spirits" by !Super Cat. Quite frankly, this fic scares the shit out of me. And I can't say that I precisely *enjoyed* it, but it was one of the two best Greenwood fics I've read, and furthermore it was in character. Not to say that this is the *only* way for Mitsuru and Shinobu to be in character (if that were true, I would live a dark, dark life), but I don't think any honest argument can be made against !Super Cat's choices on character grounds. It's just. . .oh, I can't explain it. It hurts, but you should bloody well read it anyway! Go on, go! It can be found at her webpage. Tough call to categorize.

"Tourism" by miskatonic. This fic gets a rec for being something that doesn't happen very often--a Greenwood fic that is actually different from most other Greenwood fics. Plus, it's manga continuity, which warms my little manga-loving heart. The premise: Mitsuru falls into Cherrywood. Read the ff.net version here. Incidental het, implied yuri and yaoi.

Princess Tutu

"Still Life With Duck" by Special K (otherwise known as canis_m). Do not read this fic unless you have seen the entire series. But if you have seen it all, I liked this. There's so little Princess Tutu fanfic out there, and I thought this one had a nice lightness of touch, and there were moments when I felt like she really got inside Fakir's character. A sweet little look Fakir and Duck/Ahiru after the series ends. Gen, I guess.

Rurouni Kenshin

"Paying the Tab" by Alyssa Tay Tanako is fascinating, in that whenever I think "I'm in the mood to reread a nice BDSM RK fic," this is one of the fics I read--despite the fact that it is *not,* technically, a BDSM fic. [sweatdrop] I think it's just that the play of power is so well handled here. It's a great fic, I think it's pretty IC, and it just might turn you on. It's a SaitohxSano lemon, and you can read it at Kenshin's Attic. Yaoi.

Shinkidousenki Gundam Wing

Ok, there are roughly 200,000 billion GW fanfics out there, plus I was heavily involved in this fandom for awhile, so it may take a bit for me to get this section up, simply because of the high volume of stuff to pick from.

Yami no Matsuei

"Clean Kill" by Hth may well be the best YnM fic I've ever read. It's a Hisoka POV taken during the Devil's Trill arc, and it's biting in the horrible way that it should be. The only thing I can really say about this fic is that it stunned me, and that you should read it. Hth's website is here. I guess yaoi? But that's really not the point.

"You Say, I Say" by Shi Lin (Syaoran no Miko). It was one of the first Tsuzuki+Hisoka shounen ai fics in English, and you've probably read it. But it's cute. And it was the first fic in English to have a certain Hisoka description in it--the author admits she took it from a Japanese-language fic and tells you which one--that I think works very well. It's not even *close* to graphic. You can find here. Yaoi.

Yuu Yuu Hakusho

"Coming Together" by Sanalith. Hiei+Kurama shounen ai. It's a two-parter, and while I can't honestly believe Hiei and Kurama getting together this way (at least, not without the influence of some intense Makai liquor), I wanted to include it because I think the song used in part two is really perfect for Hiei in a way that's almost shattering. Yaoi. Part One | Part Two

"A Matter of Taste" by Amparo Bertram. Hiei+Kurama shounen ai. It manages to be cute and in character at the same time, which I call inspired. Nothing graphic, but a beautifully done little scene between the two of them. Find it at her homepage. Yaoi.

Author recs

This is a new section: a woefully incomplete and mostly random list of sites that I will not generally be reccing individual stories from (mostly for silly reasons, like they write for fandoms I don't feel like making a section for), but whose authors are definitely worth taking a look at. Also, if I list them here, I won't forget what their web addresses are.

Alltrees. Mainly FMA, TeniPuri, and Angel Sanctuary. Mostly yaoi.

Firecat. CLAMP fandoms and a few others. Granted I haven't read much of this author outside of Sakura and Snow (a Tokyo Babylon/X-1999 epic), but at 16 chapters and counting, that's still a lot. I find her style over the top on some occasions, but many of her ideas are so daring and brilliant you can't help but madly respect them, and her for being able to execute them. This is crazy, you find yourself thinking, but it just might work. And it does. And the feeling is utterly fantastic. Yaoi, some het and gen.

Petronia. Many fandoms. Various.

rageprufrock. Many fandoms. Yaoi.

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