Recommendation: Two Good 'Fics

[nebroadwe]

Just when I thought s/he had fallen over the Fandom Event Horizon, the incomparable tobu_ishi returns with a small gem. IMO, FMA needs more well-written, silly genfic, so I must recommend "Pointless": a first-person narrative from Al's POV as he mother-hens Ed through an unexpected visit to the infirmary. The character voices are dead-on and the joke beautifully constructed (with bonus points for the comic deployment of accurate period detail). Delightful stuff!

Another recent discovery in the Princess Tutu fandom: voodoobob's post-series piece "And After". With a few notable exceptions, I don't normally enjoy stories that bring Duck back as a human after the dénouement, because they tend not to engage fruitfully with the series's final thematic point (post-series Escaflowne 'fic gives me similar headaches). "And After," however, just slides right past my objections by, first, being quite smoothly written, rejecting sloppy sentiment in favor of poignant detail:

And then, just to make matters worse, one night she begins to itch, her feathers falling out in clumps, and doesn't it just figure that this would be the time she finally begins to molt? Fakir, his arm heavy with weariness, reaches out to console her, but all she can do is peck irritably at his hand and retire to a corner, miserable and picking at her feathers. She falls to a fitful sleep, squirming and itching, and comforts herself with the thought that at least now she'll finally grow that lovely white plumage she's been waiting for.

-- and second, by grasping onto one of the other themes of the anime and using it to justify the plot:

Once upon a time, there was a story. It was a good story, with a knight and princesses and a perfect prince, and it was also a tragic story, with an ending that left everyone in pain. But the characters in the story did not want a tragedy, and refused their fate. And so, against the storyteller's wishes, they lived happily ever after.

And so they do and I can't say, while I'm reading, that I mind a bit.

Share and enjoy!

Comments

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the reccie - I giggled bunches over Ed's Trip to the Doctor. (I remember those needle guns...one of the kids threw up in my first grade class over them.)

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Definitely a generational thing here: I remember needle guns from elementary school, but by the time I hit junior high, they went to the one-stick-under-the-skin method. Frankly, I preferred the needle gun -- one staple and you're out, whereas the needle pinched and took forever to deposit its bead of whatever. And the school nurse never allowed me to bring anyone along for comfort and distraction! Humph. I could've used a seven-foot, armored sibling in those days (for more reasons than just tuberculin tests).

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Yes, I would've appreciated that upon moving to Florida for the remainder of my school years; a 7' armored anything might've kept me out of the clutches of rednecks determined to make me pay for being smart enough to understand what the teachers were actually saying.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear.