![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Title: Surrender
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Categories: vampire, mind control, AU
Length: Medium [3303 words]
Warnings: dub-con and a hint that Cloud is probably underage
Author on LJ: n/a
Author/Artist/Creator Website: AsreonInfusion'S AO3
Review: This is an AU one-shot and it uses the spooky setting of the original Shinra mansion to great effect to tell a classic vampire story, that - with all the things that happen to poor Cloud in the original game - play on some of the game's themes to great effect. There are nice callbacks to Sephiroth's history as we know it and to the influence that JENOVA allowed him over Cloud in the game, bleeding into the classic power of enthralling a vampire can hold over his victim.
It is a dark, sexy story and with the mind control is definitely not for readers who like clearly negotiated consent. But that goes well with the eerie setting and the overtones of classic horror.
Surrender
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Categories: vampire, mind control, AU
Length: Medium [3303 words]
Warnings: dub-con and a hint that Cloud is probably underage
Author on LJ: n/a
Author/Artist/Creator Website: AsreonInfusion'S AO3
Summary: Cloud is forced to spend the night in the long-abandoned ShinRa mansion, but he's not as alone as he would like to think.
Review: This is an AU one-shot and it uses the spooky setting of the original Shinra mansion to great effect to tell a classic vampire story, that - with all the things that happen to poor Cloud in the original game - play on some of the game's themes to great effect. There are nice callbacks to Sephiroth's history as we know it and to the influence that JENOVA allowed him over Cloud in the game, bleeding into the classic power of enthralling a vampire can hold over his victim.
It is a dark, sexy story and with the mind control is definitely not for readers who like clearly negotiated consent. But that goes well with the eerie setting and the overtones of classic horror.
Surrender
Title: Be Bold, But Not Too Bold
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Vincent Valentine/Tifa Lockhart
Categories: post-canon, romance, first time
Length: Long (~17k)
Warnings: canon appropriate violence
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
memoriamvictus
Author Website: Memoriam's AO3
Review: This is a post-Advent Children, post-Dirge of Cerberus fic focused on Tifa and Vincent. Tifa is still running her bar in Edge and generally juggles life and it’s a very, very chaotic night for her when Vincent drops in for a visit and there is some general bonding over past and present and also a long term crush is revealed and leads to… other things. There is some action and implied misogyny and a bit of a revenge subplot that has more attempted violence, but for the most part this is focused on these two characters sharing a few relatively quiet moments, talking about the past and coming together. (And that part is hot.)
The fic sets Tifa’s current life situation and general badassery up by having her deal with a sleezy client in the first scene. She’s mostly just her own private person running a bar now, even if people know who she is and that she used to be part of Avalanche, but she still can hold herself in a fight. So basically this all starts with a fist brawl. The action is well set up and realistic.
The amazing parts of this story are actually the slow-build, and the characterisation. Through the bonding moments it becomes clear how the shared past affected both their lives and their present, even if they are moving into new territory now. There are wonderful characterisation moments when their affection and their character traits shine through in the way they treat each other and talk to each other, Tifa being frank and sometimes putting her foot in her mouth with her assumptions - and Vincent being his quiet self and trying to hide his feeling and not intrude.
The writing is very beautiful, but it’s really the characterisation in this one that makes it one of my favorites.
Be Bold, But Not Too Bold
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Vincent Valentine/Tifa Lockhart
Categories: post-canon, romance, first time
Length: Long (~17k)
Warnings: canon appropriate violence
Author on LJ:
memoriamvictusAuthor Website: Memoriam's AO3
Review: This is a post-Advent Children, post-Dirge of Cerberus fic focused on Tifa and Vincent. Tifa is still running her bar in Edge and generally juggles life and it’s a very, very chaotic night for her when Vincent drops in for a visit and there is some general bonding over past and present and also a long term crush is revealed and leads to… other things. There is some action and implied misogyny and a bit of a revenge subplot that has more attempted violence, but for the most part this is focused on these two characters sharing a few relatively quiet moments, talking about the past and coming together. (And that part is hot.)
The fic sets Tifa’s current life situation and general badassery up by having her deal with a sleezy client in the first scene. She’s mostly just her own private person running a bar now, even if people know who she is and that she used to be part of Avalanche, but she still can hold herself in a fight. So basically this all starts with a fist brawl. The action is well set up and realistic.
The amazing parts of this story are actually the slow-build, and the characterisation. Through the bonding moments it becomes clear how the shared past affected both their lives and their present, even if they are moving into new territory now. There are wonderful characterisation moments when their affection and their character traits shine through in the way they treat each other and talk to each other, Tifa being frank and sometimes putting her foot in her mouth with her assumptions - and Vincent being his quiet self and trying to hide his feeling and not intrude.
The writing is very beautiful, but it’s really the characterisation in this one that makes it one of my favorites.
Be Bold, But Not Too Bold
Title: Skywalkers
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts/FF7/FF8/Advent Children
Pairing: Leon/Cloud, Sora/Kairi
Genres: AU, Crossover, Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Sci-Fi, Wingfic, Action
Length: Epic
Warnings: Attempted suicide, past non-con, past abuse, past torture, body horror, past major character death
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Lady Karai @ Adult-FanFiction.org
Author's Summary:
Leon was used to living alone and going through the motions of his easy but dull life. Then, one night, a strange blond crashed into his bushes from out of nowhere, and he was drawn into a world no human ever dreamed of.
Review:
Leon, going through the motions as he writes trashy romance novels and mourns the death of Rinoa, his only contact with the outside world his little brother Sora (of KH fame), has his lonely life shaken up by the abrupt entry of Cloud. Damaged physically and mentally, Cloud is a fallen soldier bearing unwanted enhancements in the form of wings and superhuman power, and embroiled in a war he has never wanted any part of. A lot of this fic is about his slow recovery and the equally slow development of his and Leon's relationship. The hurt/comfort is a balm against all the horrors that Cloud has been subjected to - which are all thankfully offscreen, keeping this story from being pure angst despite its dark themes. The other half of the fic is devoted to the action, with Sephiroth and his three clones the antagonists, Clouds former torturers who are eager to claim him back. Leon's protection of Cloud is definitely satisfying, but best of all is that even when Cloud is understandably fragile, his bravery and compassion still shine through, and he fights at Leon's side.
The characters are all either their KH or Advent Children versions. There are some Organisation X cameos and the KH trio of Sora, Kairi and Riku are main characters, but as long as you know those three you hopefully won't be too confused. Leon is pretty much an older and less bratty Squall. Cloud is definitely his angstier Advent Children self, as is Sephiroth.
Skywalkers
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts/FF7/FF8/Advent Children
Pairing: Leon/Cloud, Sora/Kairi
Genres: AU, Crossover, Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Sci-Fi, Wingfic, Action
Length: Epic
Warnings: Attempted suicide, past non-con, past abuse, past torture, body horror, past major character death
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Lady Karai @ Adult-FanFiction.org
Author's Summary:
Leon was used to living alone and going through the motions of his easy but dull life. Then, one night, a strange blond crashed into his bushes from out of nowhere, and he was drawn into a world no human ever dreamed of.
Review:
Leon, going through the motions as he writes trashy romance novels and mourns the death of Rinoa, his only contact with the outside world his little brother Sora (of KH fame), has his lonely life shaken up by the abrupt entry of Cloud. Damaged physically and mentally, Cloud is a fallen soldier bearing unwanted enhancements in the form of wings and superhuman power, and embroiled in a war he has never wanted any part of. A lot of this fic is about his slow recovery and the equally slow development of his and Leon's relationship. The hurt/comfort is a balm against all the horrors that Cloud has been subjected to - which are all thankfully offscreen, keeping this story from being pure angst despite its dark themes. The other half of the fic is devoted to the action, with Sephiroth and his three clones the antagonists, Clouds former torturers who are eager to claim him back. Leon's protection of Cloud is definitely satisfying, but best of all is that even when Cloud is understandably fragile, his bravery and compassion still shine through, and he fights at Leon's side.
The characters are all either their KH or Advent Children versions. There are some Organisation X cameos and the KH trio of Sora, Kairi and Riku are main characters, but as long as you know those three you hopefully won't be too confused. Leon is pretty much an older and less bratty Squall. Cloud is definitely his angstier Advent Children self, as is Sephiroth.
Skywalkers
Title: The Turks' Way
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Gen
Genres: AU, Time travel, Friendship
Length: Long (21,657 words)
Warnings: None
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: LunaStorm @ AO3
Author's Summary:
In which Vincent decides that, if Sephiroth can be manipulated by the stuff in the ShinRa Mansion library, he'll make sure that he's manipulated in the right direction. And really, why stop at Sephiroth alone?
Review:
As much as I like tracking down Cloud time travel fics, there are few that are actually very good, and even less where his schemes go off without a hitch. This does make for some great drama and personal angst, but sometimes you just want to see a badass main character pull off their plans with skill, cunning and a lack of melodrama. One of the few time travel fics that has Vincent as the one who does the travelling, here he is a confident and skilled protagonist who gets shit done. The title gives it away; this is a fic about Vincent using his formidable Turk-learned skills to singlehandedly save all his friends and the world. And yet for all that I didn't feel he was a godlike Gary Stu at all. He's in character throughout the fic, working from the shadows as he orchestrates practical plans befitting his Turk nature. Maybe it's a bit far fetched that his plans go as well as they do, but I found this fic both believable and very enjoyable.
The Turks' Way
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Gen
Genres: AU, Time travel, Friendship
Length: Long (21,657 words)
Warnings: None
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: LunaStorm @ AO3
Author's Summary:
In which Vincent decides that, if Sephiroth can be manipulated by the stuff in the ShinRa Mansion library, he'll make sure that he's manipulated in the right direction. And really, why stop at Sephiroth alone?
Review:
As much as I like tracking down Cloud time travel fics, there are few that are actually very good, and even less where his schemes go off without a hitch. This does make for some great drama and personal angst, but sometimes you just want to see a badass main character pull off their plans with skill, cunning and a lack of melodrama. One of the few time travel fics that has Vincent as the one who does the travelling, here he is a confident and skilled protagonist who gets shit done. The title gives it away; this is a fic about Vincent using his formidable Turk-learned skills to singlehandedly save all his friends and the world. And yet for all that I didn't feel he was a godlike Gary Stu at all. He's in character throughout the fic, working from the shadows as he orchestrates practical plans befitting his Turk nature. Maybe it's a bit far fetched that his plans go as well as they do, but I found this fic both believable and very enjoyable.
The Turks' Way
Title: Company
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Vincent/Cloud
Categories: AU
Length: Epic (41,037)
Warnings: None
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: AO3 | Tumblr
Author's Summary:
Cloud stopped planning a life in ShinRa and ShinRa definitely made no plans for him.
Review:
Cloud is so awesome in this fic it's almost hilarious.
This is a Cloud who never went to join ShinRa, who never tried to become a SOLDIER, and never went to Midgar, period. Here his mother gets sick and he needs to take care of her, so he puts aside all thoughts of leaving and starts doing what he can to make money to pay for her medical bills.
Then there's news that the president, his son, and the department heads have died, and the company is scrambling and nobody is doing anything about it. Tseng finds Cloud and Cloud finds out that, surprise, he was the president's bastard son. Somehow Cloud becomes president and from there everything is glorious.
No, I mean it. Cloud is the best goddamn president to ever be president. He's just so sensible and just rolls along with things and I love it and him and everything that is happening. This is the ultimate fix it fic without having to resort to time travel, and it's hilarious in an understated way. Cloud fixes the company bit by bit. Then he discovers the Lifestream is not a great energy source because it's finite (among other things) and decides, well, let's fix that too.
Cloud saves the planet by being a great company president. It's so, so great.
Company
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Vincent/Cloud
Categories: AU
Length: Epic (41,037)
Warnings: None
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: AO3 | Tumblr
Author's Summary:
Cloud stopped planning a life in ShinRa and ShinRa definitely made no plans for him.
Review:
Cloud is so awesome in this fic it's almost hilarious.
This is a Cloud who never went to join ShinRa, who never tried to become a SOLDIER, and never went to Midgar, period. Here his mother gets sick and he needs to take care of her, so he puts aside all thoughts of leaving and starts doing what he can to make money to pay for her medical bills.
Then there's news that the president, his son, and the department heads have died, and the company is scrambling and nobody is doing anything about it. Tseng finds Cloud and Cloud finds out that, surprise, he was the president's bastard son. Somehow Cloud becomes president and from there everything is glorious.
No, I mean it. Cloud is the best goddamn president to ever be president. He's just so sensible and just rolls along with things and I love it and him and everything that is happening. This is the ultimate fix it fic without having to resort to time travel, and it's hilarious in an understated way. Cloud fixes the company bit by bit. Then he discovers the Lifestream is not a great energy source because it's finite (among other things) and decides, well, let's fix that too.
Cloud saves the planet by being a great company president. It's so, so great.
Company
Title: Eir's Tomorrow
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Sephiroth/Cloud (Main), Zack/Aeris, Elena/Tifa, Angeal/Genesis
Categories: AU, Time Travel, Wingfic (...It's FF7, kind of expected)
Length: Super Epic (162,615)
Warnings: Violence, Torture, PTSD, Minor character death
Author on LJ:jukeboxhound
Author Website: AO3 | Tumblr
Author's Summary:
Cloud is the Planet's greatest weapon, and if he can't fix old wrongs and battles then he may end up being the means by which it all ends (again).
Review:
I adore FF7 fic. I even more adore the entire time traveling trope that the FF7 fandom uses with complete abandon (seriously, you turn around and there's another one! [honestly, I wish there were more so I have more to read]). It is rare, however, that you find a FF7 time travel fic that is long and complete and good. This fills all three of those!
You start off with the planet dying, which is a main staple in a lot of FF7 time travel fics. Then, of course, said planet catapults Cloud back into time. Except a lot of fics where you start off with Cloud as a cadet, you have Cloud as the kind of invisible guy who hangs around Sephiroth as a child. Which is less creepy than I'm making it sound. Um.
But, seriously, Cloud meets Sephiroth as a child due to the planet being all screwy--a Sephiroth who is experimented on, who is treated as a subject, and who has no real positive guidance. Enter Cloud who isn't all mentally there a lot of the time (the planet isn't exactly the benevolent presence it is in a lot of other fics), but who eventually sees Sephiroth as this child with a horrible life and Cloud grows protective.
Then there's another shift. Cloud is taken away, Sephiroth grows up, and things change. Cloud is determined that events won't follow the same path as his last lifetime, but life is both hard and unexpected. Not everything works out, but there are bright spots along the way. Events grow truly epic--it's not about just a handful of people, it's about saving an entire world that hurts just as much as it helps. Everything grows complicated and nothing is easy. Terrible, terrible things happen. And yet there's still people striving to make the best of things.
The author takes the idea of time travel FF7 fic and makes it their own. A lot of the fics can feel the same after a while, but this goes in original and interesting directions. It's long and very plotty--the romance is there, but much later on and it never takes over the storyline. It's just good and such a well worth it read.
Eir's Tomorrow
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Sephiroth/Cloud (Main), Zack/Aeris, Elena/Tifa, Angeal/Genesis
Categories: AU, Time Travel, Wingfic (...It's FF7, kind of expected)
Length: Super Epic (162,615)
Warnings: Violence, Torture, PTSD, Minor character death
Author on LJ:
jukeboxhoundAuthor Website: AO3 | Tumblr
Author's Summary:
Cloud is the Planet's greatest weapon, and if he can't fix old wrongs and battles then he may end up being the means by which it all ends (again).
Review:
I adore FF7 fic. I even more adore the entire time traveling trope that the FF7 fandom uses with complete abandon (seriously, you turn around and there's another one! [honestly, I wish there were more so I have more to read]). It is rare, however, that you find a FF7 time travel fic that is long and complete and good. This fills all three of those!
You start off with the planet dying, which is a main staple in a lot of FF7 time travel fics. Then, of course, said planet catapults Cloud back into time. Except a lot of fics where you start off with Cloud as a cadet, you have Cloud as the kind of invisible guy who hangs around Sephiroth as a child. Which is less creepy than I'm making it sound. Um.
But, seriously, Cloud meets Sephiroth as a child due to the planet being all screwy--a Sephiroth who is experimented on, who is treated as a subject, and who has no real positive guidance. Enter Cloud who isn't all mentally there a lot of the time (the planet isn't exactly the benevolent presence it is in a lot of other fics), but who eventually sees Sephiroth as this child with a horrible life and Cloud grows protective.
Then there's another shift. Cloud is taken away, Sephiroth grows up, and things change. Cloud is determined that events won't follow the same path as his last lifetime, but life is both hard and unexpected. Not everything works out, but there are bright spots along the way. Events grow truly epic--it's not about just a handful of people, it's about saving an entire world that hurts just as much as it helps. Everything grows complicated and nothing is easy. Terrible, terrible things happen. And yet there's still people striving to make the best of things.
The author takes the idea of time travel FF7 fic and makes it their own. A lot of the fics can feel the same after a while, but this goes in original and interesting directions. It's long and very plotty--the romance is there, but much later on and it never takes over the storyline. It's just good and such a well worth it read.
Eir's Tomorrow
Title: Permission to Touch
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Zack/Cloud
Genres: Crossdressing, Romance, Drama
Length: Long (23,090 words)
Warnings: Attempted kidnapping
Author on LJ:miko_no_da
Author Website: Miko @ AO3
Author's Summary:
Thanks to Zack, Cloud has a chance to finally meet his childhood hero, Sephiroth. There's just one tiny hitch...
Review:
Zack, lacking a plus one to a SOLDIER function, convinces Cloud to go with him in drag, with the promise of meeting Sephiroth Cloud's motivation. It's a pretty thin plot, but the crossdressing itself is well written and a fun read. I find that Cloud's characterisation can be iffy, with people using his woobie movie and Crisis Core character and forgetting what a BAMF he is in game. Thankfully, though this fic contains crossdressing it also has BAMF!Cloud - he's no damsel, and is Zack's equal no matter what he's wearing. There is also of course the essential crossdressing sex scene, which is perfectly hot.
This fic does contain one silly trope though, with Aerith apparently perfectly fine with Zack and Cloud hooking up. This is used a lot by authors who I assume love Aerith too much to get her totally out of the picture, when really her and Zack having broken up would more believable to me and get rid of any potential infidelity. She doesn't even appear in the fic so it's not a big deal, but this trope is a bit of a pet peeve for me when it comes to FFVII slash.
Permission to Touch
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Zack/Cloud
Genres: Crossdressing, Romance, Drama
Length: Long (23,090 words)
Warnings: Attempted kidnapping
Author on LJ:
miko_no_daAuthor Website: Miko @ AO3
Author's Summary:
Thanks to Zack, Cloud has a chance to finally meet his childhood hero, Sephiroth. There's just one tiny hitch...
Review:
Zack, lacking a plus one to a SOLDIER function, convinces Cloud to go with him in drag, with the promise of meeting Sephiroth Cloud's motivation. It's a pretty thin plot, but the crossdressing itself is well written and a fun read. I find that Cloud's characterisation can be iffy, with people using his woobie movie and Crisis Core character and forgetting what a BAMF he is in game. Thankfully, though this fic contains crossdressing it also has BAMF!Cloud - he's no damsel, and is Zack's equal no matter what he's wearing. There is also of course the essential crossdressing sex scene, which is perfectly hot.
This fic does contain one silly trope though, with Aerith apparently perfectly fine with Zack and Cloud hooking up. This is used a lot by authors who I assume love Aerith too much to get her totally out of the picture, when really her and Zack having broken up would more believable to me and get rid of any potential infidelity. She doesn't even appear in the fic so it's not a big deal, but this trope is a bit of a pet peeve for me when it comes to FFVII slash.
Permission to Touch
Title: Things You Shouldn't See
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:miko_no_da
Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:
miko_no_da Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Title: Things You Shouldn't See
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:miko_no_da
Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:
miko_no_da Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Title: Things You Shouldn't See
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:miko_no_da
Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:
miko_no_da Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Title: Things You Shouldn't See
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:miko_no_da
Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:
miko_no_da Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Title: Things You Shouldn't See
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:miko_no_da
Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:
miko_no_da Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Title: Things You Shouldn't See
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:miko_no_da
Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairings: Reno/Rude, Reno/Elena, Rufus/Tseng, Rufus/Reno, Elena/Tseng
Categories: romance, pwp of the voyeurism, masturbation, and sex-toy assisted sex kind
Length: Long [18,500 words]
Warnings: n/a; "pwp" says it all
Author on LJ:
miko_no_da Website: Miko no da's Anime Corner
Author's Summary: They say eavesdroppers never hear anything good, but Elena doesn't really mind what she keeps seeing.
Review: This is my belated response to Jane's request for good het fic, several weeks back. I guess I really do read quality het on occasion!
The three "chapters" of Miko no da's story are from Elena's point of view; as the only female Turk in the original games, Elena works hard to be respected as a professional... but that doesn't mean that she's not interested in her hot coworkers, or that she's adverse to having fun herself. I appreciate that Elena, in Miko's hands, gets to show us her kinky side, and that Elena isn't ashamed to have a functioning libido, or to attend to her own needs. (She is briefly embarassed the first time she has sex with a coworker, but it's only because she thinks sex in the office is unprofessional, especially when they know the boss is coming soon. She gets past that fairly quickly.)
I also like that all of the Turks in this story get their moments of focus. Each character is nicely portrayed, and a few, like Reno, steal the show. The Turks may be easygoing enough to swap partners now and then, or to issue their superiors conciliatory blowjobs after aggravating them past the point of endurance (Reno again - it's great to have utterly shameless characters), but by the end of the third "chapter", it's fairly clear who the preferred matchups are. The end pairings seem well-balanced to me, and I'll admit to rooting for them all.
Things You Shouldn't See chapters:
Chance Coincidence Conspiracy
Title: Glass Slipper
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:karose
Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:
karose Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Title: Glass Slipper
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:karose
Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:
karose Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Title: Glass Slipper
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:karose
Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:
karose Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Title: Glass Slipper
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:karose
Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:
karose Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Title: Glass Slipper
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:karose
Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:
karose Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Title: Glass Slipper
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:karose
Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Fandom: Final Fantasy 7
Pairing: Reno/OCs, Reno/Rude
Categories: pre-canon, action, romance, not precisely genderswitch, humor
Length: Long [33,000 words]
Warnings: unheroic protagonists who enjoy, for example, murdering people
Author on LJ:
karose Website: Karose.com
Summary: A fairy tale - that is, if Cinderella were a loudmouth hermaphroditic Turk and Prince Charming his coworker.
Review: I applaud K.A. Rose for many things, the most remarkable being her stubbornly accurate characterization. Ignoring the goofy cast that Advent Children put on the Turks, it is canon that they are a) thugs, and b) good at it, and c) not at all sorry. So a story that features the ShinRa company's hired henchmen (and women, of course) hanging out, being buddies, and oh yeah, killing some rebels? Point me toward that. Plus, it's funny - how did she make literal corporate cutthroats funny? From being awesome, I presume.
Anyway, I digress. This story is excellent not just for adhering to canon characterizations, but for doing so while simultaneously adding a wrinkle to Reno, the redheaded, somewhat-an-asshole Turk. Namely, he is actually a functional hermaphrodite - and he would like you to know that it is not sexy or fun to have both sets of genitalia. Seeing Reno navigate his life, bouncing from unaware co-workers to fully-informed doctors to the people he meets for sex (and no, not lovers, since, as he put it, people who fetishize him aren't the kind of people he'd ever want to meet, except for how normal people won't have sex with him and he does have an overactive libido)... it was an exceptionally interesting take on the character, and a refreshingly honest take on being intersex.
All that, and the fic is also a complex layer of metaphors. The story has wheels within wheels, as Reno watches first a porno and then a play based on Cinderella, and is disgusted with the premise of the glass slipper... but then he and Rude have their own glass-slipper quest, as Rude searches for the one-night stand who he can't remember (I think you can safely guess who it was). All marvelously well done, including the object substituting for the slipper.
Glass Slipper Part 2 Part 3
Title: Thorns
Author: Vathara
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII (plus, blink-and-you'll-miss-it Gargoyles)
Pairing: Gen with a bit of Zack/Aerith
Categories: AU, action/adventure, hurt/comfort, drama, creature/wing
Length: Epic
Warnings: n/a
Website: Urban Legends: the Site
Author’s Summary: What if Aeris found unexpected help before Zack broke out?
Review:
Vathara has a knack for clever stories - ones you have to really read and not just skim through. This take on the Zack-survives genre definitely falls into that category. Vathara does an excellent job fleshing out the details of their escape - the AU elements turn out to be not very intrusive during most of this, allowing Vathara to really expand and build on what we know from canon.
One of the things that really sets this story apart is that a large portion of it focuses on the OCs who comprise Zack and Cloud's pursuers. Not to fear! The characters are interesting without dominating the story and, along with cameos from Tseng and the Turks, are a critical part of the subtle and disquieting atmosphere that goes hand-in-hand with Shinra's behind-the-scenes machinations and inhumanity.
It's a clever story, as I said, with an eye for details and a need to make sense of some very bizarre source material. I have to admit, the discussion of Hox genes in an attempt to explain some of the "science" of the story made the science geek in me giddy with glee.
Thorns
Author: Vathara
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII (plus, blink-and-you'll-miss-it Gargoyles)
Pairing: Gen with a bit of Zack/Aerith
Categories: AU, action/adventure, hurt/comfort, drama, creature/wing
Length: Epic
Warnings: n/a
Website: Urban Legends: the Site
Author’s Summary: What if Aeris found unexpected help before Zack broke out?
Review:
Vathara has a knack for clever stories - ones you have to really read and not just skim through. This take on the Zack-survives genre definitely falls into that category. Vathara does an excellent job fleshing out the details of their escape - the AU elements turn out to be not very intrusive during most of this, allowing Vathara to really expand and build on what we know from canon.
One of the things that really sets this story apart is that a large portion of it focuses on the OCs who comprise Zack and Cloud's pursuers. Not to fear! The characters are interesting without dominating the story and, along with cameos from Tseng and the Turks, are a critical part of the subtle and disquieting atmosphere that goes hand-in-hand with Shinra's behind-the-scenes machinations and inhumanity.
It's a clever story, as I said, with an eye for details and a need to make sense of some very bizarre source material. I have to admit, the discussion of Hox genes in an attempt to explain some of the "science" of the story made the science geek in me giddy with glee.
Thorns
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