Am on somewhat of a RWBY binge, so, will post a longer update in a week or two in the RWBY thread. That said, have finished Soulbound and it was quite excellent. Loved it. Probably the best fic of its kind, with soulbounds and whatnot.

What puts this apart is that it isn't "One True Love" or "Soul-Mates" or anything like that, but rather, it is more comparable to being "Drift Compatible" from Pacific Rim. It's a process that is possible with more than a few people and one is not limited or drawn to one specific person.

 

I PM'ed the author and he/she confirmed they won't be doing a sequel based on Vol. 2

 

I was going to post this in the For Review board, but thought that was a bit premature.
The Metropolitan Man by alexanderwales - M - Superman
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10360716/1/The-Metropolitan-Man

An alternate take on Superman's debut in Metropolis way back in the 1930s, predominantly from the viewpoint of a more cautious and sane Lex Luthor. Delves into the ethics of being a living god, and how society would react to one's arrival. Justice is done to the portrayal of each character, especially Luthor. The plot kept me guessing, and the climax hit me like a punch to the gut. I heartily recommend it.

 

If He Had Just Stayed

 

Are we supposed to magically know what this is?

 

Sorry. I forgot.

It's a GOTG fic based on Peter Quill's family's reactions after he was abducted.

 

Its writing is average at best, nothing memorable. I noticed many obvious grammar mistakes. For the plot itself, it's boring and drawn out too much, especially the meeting. The dramatics of it all made me cringe.

 

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10692227/1/Dovahsenil

The fic is by Leo Septem, who is pretty notable for writing quite a few Familiar of Zero stories. This is, likewise, also a FOZ story crossed with Elder Scrolls. It's a pretty generic character X gets summoned by Louise. Though, I find the execution and writing of this story to be pretty enjoyable.

 

Mass Effect

Good writing, good characterizations, and a rather interesting plot. It features a Shepard torn from the Reaper War and thrust into the fight against Saren. Shepard is a badass in any fight in this fic, but it also delves into the emotional turmoil caused by her situation. Not only does she have to deal with living ghosts, but with futilely attempting to convince a Council that is even less likely to trust her than before. And with her knowing what's to come, the stakes are high.

This story is the only Mass Effect Time Travel fic I've enjoyed besides Hiring the Right Ones, which is in the WBA. Paradigm does start a little slow, but I really enjoyed it once it got going.

 

Naruto: Orange Version [Naruto/The Gamer]
By: Heosphoros

This one is mine. It's hosted on Space Battles and since there isn't an actual summary there I might as well write something resembling one now. In short; Naruto uses a diferent jutsu after stealing the Scroll of Seals and accidentaly trades the Kyuubi for something of equal value, the ability to live life as if he was a game character.

It's almost 20k words long so far and it's being quite action heavy (maybe even too much). My grammar isn't the greatest, but it's improving. I think. If any of you is interested I could start posting my updates at the WbA section, I could certainly use the help.

 

I'm only on chapter 8 of 13, but it's much better than I expected. I've never really been into comics and Superman has always been the most boring for me--being invincible takes a lot of the tension out of a story--but damn, this fic is actually really good. The characters all feel real, he takes the original setting and looks at the effects he would have on 1930s America realistically (but not in a gritty way), and I was hooked from early on. I admit part of the reason I like the story is seeing Lex Luthor be a magnificent bastard, and how he deals with this new unknown superpower dropped in his city. I'd say it's not too premature to put it up in For Review.

EDIT: Just finished it. Wow. Definitely For Review-worthy.

 

It's actually finished. So there isn't a reason not to put it up in For Review.
I also quite liked it. I can really understand Lex here. I still think he's evil, but I get where he's coming from.
It was also a well done portrayal of Louis Lane, especially that she's creeped out by Superman's fixation on her. Although she pales a bit against the contrast of Lex' and Superman's visions

I especially liked that the story was showing Lex being intelligent. It told you a lot of what he was doing and why he was doing it.

His Terminator story is also quite clever, although it's hard to follow and understand what they are doing at times. You can see how he improved in the meantime.

 

Interesting premise with poor execution, Primarily since you started with in the forest with the scroll. I found myself skimming often and skipping paragraphs. Part of the reason why the forest is so interesting in the original manga is you see the start of change in Naruto from prankster to hero. When you have nothing to compare it to (even though it's a fanfic and the reader will probably come in with a working knowledge of Naruto) it loses a lot of luster and becomes bland.
On the pluses I like that their was a price for the ability but it seems that the only thing he'll be losing is the demon powers and still appear as a demon. So not much.
2/5

 

A Demon Lord's Hero by Fahad09

First off a Fate/Stay Night and Highschool DxD crossover. This story takes some liberties with both universes but it primarily takes place in the DxD universe. I actually really like the changes that have been made to the DxD universe like each devil picking their own personal sin that they have to indulge in from time to time. I would say the only downside is that about half the published chapters are just information chapters, which the authors says they're doing to evoke the stat pages from Fate/Stay.

Fate: ZeroNight by C.O.Y.L

This one is just a straight Fate/Stay Night story that has a UBW Shirou taken twelve years into the past (two years before Fate/Zero) where he is chosen as a master in the Fourth War. This story has some interesting ideas but at the moment it's still in the set up stags and the first major arc in the story hasn't concluded yet, and we're not even close to the Fourth War starting. This author also has a Fate/Stay Night and Infinite Stratos crossover that was just started. It's also decent but it's still in the setup stages as well.

 

I quite like A Demon Lord's Hero, it's not quite as good as A Demon Among Devils but it's still the best FSN/DXD crossover I've found. I've also read FZN, I thought it was pretty good. It has a fairly interesting premise and the execution isn't bad. Only problem I have is some of the dialogue feels very awkward at times.

 

I enjoyed it so far. Sakura seems unusually useful for the genin test though. How'd her becoming a competent sensor over the course of a few hours happen? 3.5/5 so far.

 

Yeah, I tried to make Sakura more useful. In between canon and the multitude of fics that makes her even worse (especially the bashing ones), I just wanted to make her less pathetic. The chakra sensing was something I felt I could add without being too game changing. My excuse for her rapid grown was that she had a decent amount of natural talent for it (maybe as an extension of her excellent chakra control), but she never had the sheer need to level up the skill.

 

A huge guilty pleasure with numerous flaws, most glaring the writing quality, but even with them it's the DxD story I'm most looking forward to. The latest chapter worries me, but I really hope I'm just being paranoid.

 

Anyone know of any Gurren Laggan fics? The shit on FF.Net is pretty bare...