whining whining fic recs whining

Unfortunately, when I am surrounded by people who are so much better than I at the things I do (which isn't much, when you think about it), I do not feel the urge to better myself to meet their high standards. No, that would be the proactive, sensible, useful thing to do. Instead, I wibble over how much I suck, and then I sulk unproductively for a while. *le sigh*

My self esteem isn't that bad, of course, and it's ridiculous for me to be upset over the quality of my fanfic (far more appropriate to be upset over the quality of my originals, in all their poorly plotted, archetypal glory). But there are always those several authors who never fail to hit that resonant chord in their writing, that thing that leaves a hollow space in your chest when you read it, aching and empty and right. And then I look at my own writing, and ask myself, "What have I done here that is new or insightful? What will my readers gain by reading this?" And when I can't come up with an answer, I sulk.

Anyway. Here are a few of the things I've been reading lately. Most of 'em don't actually accomplish that resonant feeling of rightness, but I likes 'em anyway. For those of you wondering, the subtitle to this entry is actually "In which I embarass myself by admitting to actually having read some of these things." Most are humor or drama; not so much angst, because I haven't been in the mood for it lately.

Ignorance is Bliss by fujisti stytghi. Kisame/Itachi; Itachi has lost his memory and Naruto likes him better this way. (I suck at summarizing things, haha.) The premise is a little odd, but it's a neat idea, and well executed. It's written from Itachi's perspective, so the backstory is very understated, and I like that.

Limits by Marmalade Cat. Kisame/Itachi; shut up, I like the pairing. Sometimes Itachi is kind of...batshit crazy. But Kisame is okay with being the sane one; someone's got to do it, after all. Okay, I'll admit it, mostly I just like this because the idea of Itachi hiding under a rock fills me with outrageous joy. But don't worry! It's in character hiding under a rock. Sort of. (I'm such a sucker for Akatsuki shennanigans.)

Weapons Check by dilemmalicious. Naruto/Sasuke; after another afternoon of training, the boys decide to see who carries more weapons. You know, just another little extension of their rivalry. *snork* Very few authors take into account that these characters are highly trained, well armed ninja, not just a bunch of hormonal teenagers; this one does. Someone recced this story on naruto_yaoi and completely spoiled the punchline of the first chapter, but you should read it anyway, because it's awesome, and one of the most hilariously in character pieces of fic I've ever read. After the first chapter, it degenerates into chakra-tastic ninja sex with a bit of sap thrown in, but the characters stay more or less in character. Anyway, it's delicious, go read.

Self Reliance, and the unrelated to it but related to each other Teddy and Of Sandwiches and Security Blankets by Imbrium Iridium. "Self Reliance" is Naru/Sasu mpreg with sexy no jutsu abuse, and yes, I really do feel incredibly guilty for reading it- but how often do you get to see Sasuke get pregnant? It's always Naruto, and I hate that. In this case, I can forgive the incredibly sappy and wibbly Sasuke because of hormonal imbalance, and because the Naruto is absolutely kick ass and mostly spot on. This fic wins points for being well written, for keeping people mostly in character despite the situation (well, aside from Sasuke, but he starts out in character), and for hitting all of my buttons in regards to humor and sap. There's a scene involving Itachi and a bookstore, and it still cracks me up.

"Teddy" and "Of Sandwiches and Security Blankets" are part of a series of Ino/Shikamaru/Chouji ot3 fics; "Teddy" rambles a little, but so few people write Team 10, and even fewer people write Chouji in a positive light, and nobody writes Team 10 threesomes, so the slightly rambly quality of the narrative is completely inconsequential. It's a fairly thoughtful, insightful, and lovely piece of writing, if slightly angsty. "Sandwiches" is even angstier and focuses on Shikamaru and his place in the relationship, and how he copes with tragedy. There's going to be a third part to the series, and it's apparently going to tie in with "Self Reliance," which, if you've read this far and have decided that I'm not totally on crack for reccing these and have given them a try, will excite you, dear reader, as much as it excites me.

(by this time, she was gasping for air)
The Way of Things by SolipsisticFury. Introspective-y Naruto/Sasuke cursed seal smut. (Because the real reason I love Naruto so much is because it hits all of my kinks- the number three, tattoos, sharp objects, canon gender bending, porn, masks, eyeballs (okay, so it created that one, but shh), mythology abuse, demons...I could go on, but I'm sure I'd get distracted.)

My next rec post will be of non-Naruto fic. No, for serious. Because I do read other things, I swear.

In the meantime, I'm going to resist the urge to write up song calls for every song on my new Nickel Creek CD, because yes, they really are just that shiny.