TM Fanfics Index: Recommendations & Discussion. Updates never

[Imperial]

Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/221339 (bonus - story with commentary: http://misheard.livejournal.com/58974.html)
Title: Victorious Forfeit
Author: MiniNephtys
Synopsis: Rin reads about the Second Grail War, which is strangely applicable to her own situation.
Contents: Archer/Rin, Romance/Comedy, Slice of Life, Unreliable Narrator (potential canon/fact errors)
Review: I'm not even big on Rin and Archer as a couple, but this story makes it fun through the lens of Rin reading up about an unreliable former Master's account of the Second Holy Grail War.

It's the little things that do it for me -- past Grail Wars, the educated guesses at Servants past, the use of devices like an unreliable narrator and a frame story, the Odd Couple-esque combination of Beauvais and his Archer -- even if the parallelism of Archer and Rin and the lady Master and Adonis is supposed to be the meat of the story. That said, the author catches Rin and Archer's banter in a bottle quite nicely, and I chuckled at the little touches like Beauvais casually mentioning how early the Einzberns washed out of the war.

There's only so much I can say before I talk in circles, and that's because it's so straightforward. It's a nice, simple little tale about Rin and Archer's dynamic juxtaposed with a Master-Servant love story of the past. The past being the best predictor of the future, etc.

Sure, it raises my hackles a bit with the notion that someone actually won the Grail (mitigated a bit by Rin pointing out Beauvais could be making the whole thing up), and the notion of a Master falling so madly and completely in love with her Sevant seems like a stronger link to Sola and Diarmuid than Rin and Archer. But that would make the whole thing darker than it really needs to be. There's also the simple fact that Rin would probably have more luck looking into her family's own history that going to some outsider's account for Grail stratagems, but that's nitpicking.

All in all, it's a fun little thought exercise in something unlikely that has been and could be again only in a Grail War.

[solopy567]

Gonna have to give Fate/Black Reflection a -1.

My reason is that while the premise is good, it completely and utterly downplaya the power of Servants and heroic spirits in general.
If we look at it from a Bleachverse point of view, heroic spirits are souls who were so great they didn't even go to Soul Society where they would remain until they reincarnated. They are extraordinary souls who did such great deeds the world saw fit to give them a special place to be.
That leads me to the conclusion that heroic spirits surpass Shinigami in pretty much every way. Only the strongest and oldest like Yamamoto or Yhwach could even try to match them.
Yet in this fic, Ichigo is able to breeze through a fight with Berserker, and Archer even struggles against Ishida of all people.
All in all the premise is great and the story is well written, but this glorification of Bleach powers and the downplaying of Servants is jarring. Not to mention the plot takes forever to pick up.

[eddyak]

Gonna have to give Fate/Black Reflection a -1.

My reason is that while the premise is good, it completely and utterly downplaya the power of Servants and heroic spirits in general.
If we look at it from a Bleachverse point of view, heroic spirits are souls who were so great they didn't even go to Soul Society where they would remain until they reincarnated. They are extraordinary souls who did such great deeds the world saw fit to give them a special place to be.
That leads me to the conclusion that heroic spirits surpass Shinigami in pretty much every way. Only the strongest and oldest like Yamamoto or Yhwach could even try to match them.
Yet in this fic, Ichigo is able to breeze through a fight with Berserker, and Archer even struggles against Ishida of all people.
All in all the premise is great and the story is well written, but this glorification of Bleach powers and the downplaying of Servants is jarring. Not to mention the plot takes forever to pick up.

Ehhhh. Shounen powerlevels-wise, in Bleach, literally everything captain-level and up stomps 99% of Servants without breaking a sweat.

[Bloble]

I think power levels of all things are probably the dumbest reason to de-rec something, but since I'm probably the only one on BL that likes Black/Reflection, I can only protest in vain.

;_;

[John At Dawn]

I like it. But I do think Ichigo was having too easy a time of it. That and the idiocy required for the two teams of good guys to fight each other.

[Bloble]

I like it. But I do think Ichigo was having too easy a time of it. That and the idiocy required for the two teams of good guys to fight each other.

Ichigo vs Berserker was pure affinity. Ichigo excels against insane opponents that rely on strength over skill (read: Zaraki). He struggled against Lancer later on, and Lancer was holding back the whole time.

As for the whole "let them fight" thing, I have absolutely no problem with it. Expecting people to always get along and work together is dumb, and their respective moralities and methods of operation wouldn't be very conducive to a team up in the first place. Shirou refused an alliance with the guy that's basically his best friend; he's not gonna team up with a complete stranger that showed up out of nowhere and is yelling ridiculous bullshit that makes no sense.

[John At Dawn]

ridiculous bullshit that makes no sense.

"Hey, why do you want the Grail? No? Just going to try and kill me? Well fuck you too."

How does that not make sense?

[eddyak]

but since I'm probably the only one on BL that likes Black/Reflection

nope

Well, I don't hate it. Haven't read it in more than a year, though, so I can't really say I liked it all that much either.

[Megas]

I don't hate it because I haven't read it

[Kyte]

I actually kinda like it except for the terminal case of stupidity most characters are saddled with. Neither Shirou nor Ichigo have ever been cagey about their motivations, why the fuck did they start now.

[Elf]

+1 to Victorious Forfeit

Man, I remember reading that on Livejournal when it was first written.

[ZidanReign]

Same on Black/Reflection.

Considering it hasn't been updated for a fucking long while and its last update was one chapter in 2013.

I was waiting for the day Ichigo and Shirou finally squared off, but lol nope

[Flere821]

I think power levels of all things are probably the dumbest reason to de-rec something, but since I'm probably the only one on BL that likes Black/Reflection, I can only protest in vain.

;_;

Wasn't I the guy that first recced it here to begin with? *shrug* then again it's not like I have much of a presence on BL... ^.^;

More seriously, I'd admit FB/R isn't the best Nasu fic out there (that title probably goes to MIaL or something IRUN/Arashi writes) but it's not a bad read if you don't look too closely to power levels. Or care very deeply about Bleach worldbuilding.

[Kyte]

Eh, even the powerlevels and setting stuff is ok. Hell, even the characterizations are p okay. The killer is the sheer dumbness shoved down their throats to force conflict.

And Rider, who's a walking conflict ball with tits.

[Fafnir]

And Rider, who's a walking conflict ball with tits.

But the tits, man! The tits.

[mAc Chaos]

so rider as usual

[Fafnir]

so rider as usual

yes

[mAc Chaos]

"i must solve this problem by making it worse"

everything riders ever done ever

[SINIB]

I once read a fic where she was super competent and logical. It was weird.

[Lycodrake]

I once read a fic where she was super competent and logical. It was weird.

Sounds like a SpaceBattles thing.