lucathia

yuletide fics are up! They've been up! (Except I've been sleeping! XD;; Well, not that long, but sleep and other things meant I didn't get around to reading until now).

I received three fantastic gifts! Thank you so much. ♥

Think Before You... (1197 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Legend of the Sun Knight, 1/2 Wangzi | 1/2 Prince
Summary: Sun should know better than to poke around Pink's house.
My mind automatically filled in the last word of the title as "Think Before You Leap". XD; This is a super fun crossover between 1/2 Prince and Legend of Sun Knight. Sun's voice is so spot on! And the little details are to die for. :D Again, this is so, so fun.

A Strange Life (1347 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: NG Life
Summary: Loleus wakes up from a bad dream.
KL;ASDJF;ADJFLA;SK NG LIFE FIC. NG Life fic is like, super rare. And then, fic focused on Loleus is even rarer since he's not even a "main" character and not even alive as we only ever see him through flashbacks. This fic makes me love Loleus even more than before (I did not think that was possible) and left me feeling wistful but content at the same time.

The Continuing Record (5970 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Double Arts
Summary: The record continues.
So, I stated in my Yuletide letter how I would looooove longfic. This fic is deliciously long, filled with little snippets of Elraine and Kiri's journey to headquarters, as well as what happens after they reach headquarters. All I could ever want in a continuation of Double Arts! The fic brings in a great cast, giving the spotlight to Fallan and Sui at parts too. It really felt like I was reading a continuation of the series. :D

*bites fingers about her own fics* Now I wish even more that I've written more, because anonymous fics and general squeeing is so much fun. :) I might attempt to write a bit more (later....?) which might mean whatever I come up with... will end up in the NYR collection. I don't think I'll make Madness in time. XD Or maybe I should just read and review. There is so much to read, and I've only gotten around to my own gifts so far. :)

Shoujo manga talk! Or, what I'm currently reading.

Ame Nochi Hare / Clear Up After Rain

Five high school boys caught in a spring storm end up changing into girls whenever it rains. This is one of my more favorite genderbenders.



I love the art style (Hazuki~!), and you can easily tell the difference between their boy forms and their girl forms. What's charming about this series is that it focuses on subtle differences between life as a boy and life as a girl, and the characters take notice on how others behave differently around them depending on their current identity. Even though the genderbending is a large part of the story, it's not all about their trials at living a double life. I feel the genderbending part is what serves as a bond that brings them together and allows us to learn more about each of them and their background. I look forward to reading more! :)

( more spoilerish thoughts )

Akatsuki no Yona

The sheltered princess ends up having to flee from all that she knows and goes on a journey to find new companions to fight by her side.



Since NG Life, I've been a fan of Kusanagi Mizuho. I like her stories, especially since romance usually isn't the main point of her stories. Akatsuki no Yona starts out pretty typical, with a girl pining after her love and doing nothing but that, but Yona didn't disappoint me. I was waiting for her to grow stronger! So far the story hasn't been amazing, but I find it enjoyable, and how can I not like a story when they're going around gathering four legendary dragons? XD;

( some more spoilerish thoughts )

Kampfer got me thinking of gender bender series I actually enjoy. I'm a huge fan of shoujo gender bender series because I just adore when characters keep secrets or have a secret identity. This secret identity thing extends to non crossdressing situations too, such as Lelouch as Zero and Kaitou as Kaitou Kid and all that. My biggest complaint for most shoujo gender bender series is that the secret generally comes out too quickly, though for manga, it makes sense that the secret is out quickly when you're trying to grab everyone's attention with the first few chapters. If it's not a secret identity thing, I generally...don't like the series even if it's gender bender unless it has something to do with power relationships. Most gender bender I enjoy seem to be manga only instead of anime. Which is sad, because I really want a gender bender series animated so I can hear a seiyuu attempt voices as both a guy and a girl.


(I can't find the corresponding scanlation of this panel, so this will have to do...basically says the school council president = the female idol)
A lot of mangaka seem to like combining crossdressing with the idol world. I'm guilty of doing that too (I've been writing an AU fic with such a situation). I was ecstatic when I came upon Charming Junkie where the idol Umi is crossdressing. He looks hot as a guy and cute as a girl. I like his character design. The series is reasonably long and manages to flesh out the characters more by the end of the series. Naka, the main female protagonist, has a scary face like Sawako. It's interesting seeing her overcome that. Naka and Umi are very adorable together. People who liked Never Give Up will most likely enjoy this one, since Umi ends up wanting to crossdress in order to protect his job with Naka.

( gender bender in showbiz )

( gender bender with guys dressing up as girls )

( gender bender with girls dressing up as guys )

( gender bender with mistaken gender )

( other gender bender, such as transformations, reincarnation, body-swapping, etc )

( gender bender but not the focus )