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- Here we go again. You folks know the drill - this is all IMO, so don't
- let it change what you were going to do unless you want it to. Hokay?
The FFML Synopses List RETRO-REVIEW! (ponnnnng...)
====================== | . |
For the week of: November 17, 2000
Reviewer on Duty: Glazius "Gnip Gnop" Falconar
Synopses Reviewed: 18
* * * * *
[Card Captor Sakura]
- - - - -
Title: Sayonara wa Ame no Hi
Series: Card Captor Sakura
Genre: short/WAFF/PWP-darkish
Author: Johann Chua
Email: fuuma@nwave.net
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/fuuma_1999/
Archived At: http://members.nbci.com/fuuma_monou/clampfix5.0/
Date Sent to FFML: 11/13/2000
Archive Number: 15758
Size: 3K
Summary:
Sakura finds a new love as she mourns for Li Shaoran.
- You know, if this were ten times as long, it would work.
- Its current state of effectiveness is left as an exercise to the
- reader.
- Especially when dealing with actual emotion, following the progression
- of emotion is important.
* * * * *
[Evangelion]
- - - - -
Title: Behind the Scenes
Chapter: 01
Series: Evangelion
Genre: Satire
Author: David (OnFire4jc) Perini
Email: onfire_4jc@hotmail.com
Homepage: http://evafiction.animecenter.com, http://lcp.minos.net
Date Sent to FFML: November 15, 2000
Size: 12k
Series Summary:
"What is Evangelion, other than another example of mecha anime? The
director seems to think it is much more, while the cast hold a lesser
love for this project. To me, Eva will always be unique, not just for
what it stands for, but for the experiences we had during filming." -
Bob the Cameraman
Episode Summary:
Welcome to the set of Neon Genesis Evangelion, filmed on Gainax's
largest soundstage and cast with only the best actors and
actresses. At least, that's what our documentary crew thought when
they first arrived...
- I have to wonder how you're going to fill much space at all with
- outtakes and they're-completely-different-in-real-life jokes.
- Outtakes, yes, I can see, but the second one does tend to wear thin,
- unless you've gone to the trouble to develop the actors to the extent
- that the original characters were developed.
- But so far, it's humorous enough.
- - - - -
Title: The Fate of Hearts
Chapter: Chapter 4
Series: Evangelion
Genre: Elsetimes
Author: Joshua Trujillo
Email: gargoyle@glasscity.net
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/1509/foh.html
Date Sent to FFML: November 15, 2000
FFML Archive Number: 15809
Size: 22K
Series Summary:
Evangelion as told through the eyes (ides?) of time...NGE and the
characters and angst therein as told in the Ancient Roman Empire...
Hail Caesar!
Episode Summary:
Caeles isn't sure about his first battle...That is, until he finds a
good enough reason.
And just exactly what did Flustra and Lagena find in his room anyway?
- You do devastation very well. I'm _there_.
- Then again, one burnt-out husk of a village is the same as any other
- burnt-out husk of a village, so there's a bit of experience sitting
- tacitly back in my imagination.
- You manage to let the brain do a lot of scene-setting - whether this is
- just my mood at the moment or a few carefully chosen words on your part
- is still up for debate, but it's nice work.
- And for Caeles's sake, I hope that journal doesn't have any variation
- on "damn, she fine" anywhere...
* * * * *
[Gundam Wing]
- - - - -
Title: Whited Sepulchers
Series: Gundam Wing
Genre: Horror
Author: Lady M
Email: lady_morpheuss@yahoo.com
Date Sent to FFML: 11/17/2000
Size: 21K
Summary:
Is Duo merely suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or is the
threat real?
- Duo? Stress? He kicked ass and laughed about it.
- But seriously.
- Ah, other stress. Is the past canon? It feels like it could fit. Only
- there's something whispering to me that he made up his name, or else
- it was made up for him. Either way the church wouldn't factor in. I
- could just be misplacing, though.
- Sort of a Lovecraftian thing you have going with the narrative. It
- works well enough, and I can see events unfolding even if I don't
- want to. Only problem is, when you got to the payoff, I thought "Sufal
- Mass", which put it in the category of Things Whose Behinds I've Kicked,
- At Least By Proxy, and thus it wasn't as scary as it could have been.
- But that, likely, is just me, and it doesn't take away from the setup
- at all.
* * * * *
[Pokemon]
- - - - -
Title: The Portal
Chapter: 1 - 5
Series: Pokemon
Genre: Dark, Fantasy
Author: Nidoking
Email: Matthew.P.Katinas@Rose-Hulman.Edu
Homepage: www.rose-hulman.edu/~katinamp
Archived At: www.rose-hulman.edu/~katinamp/ThePortal.html
Date Sent to FFML: November 13, 2000
Series Summary:
Ash enters a portal to a world of magic, where he and his friends
become entangled in a dangerous web of evil that threatens to destroy
everything they hold dear.
Episode Summary:
Our tale begins. Ash relates the events important to the story so far,
leading up to his discovery of the portal.
Ash learns more about the world of magic from his
assailant-turned-friend, Dominic.
Ash and Dominic fight their way past a pack of werewolves, only to be
attacked by an evil sorceress who has her heart set on claiming Ash's
Pokebelt.
Ash's return to the Pokemon world is not well met by Misty and Brock,
prompting him to return alone to the world of magic.
Misty and Brock, still doubting Ash's story, follow him through the
portal and quickly receive more than adequate proof of his claims.
- The reflective style here works for me - better still, it lets you
- push through to the other side of the fourth wall without being too
- obvious about it.
- Canon's gnawing on my ear again, so I'll have to appease it by saying
- that official game events have Ash defeating Gary but leaving him
- leadership of the Pokemon league _anyway_, and heading off into the
- wildest parts of the wilderness to train and become MIGHTY! (He's got
- a level 80 or thereabouts Pikachu, in addition to a solid team of five
- in the low seventies.)
- And yes, indicators are that Ash and Misty will eventually hook up at
- the end of the current anime season, though nothing of the sort ever
- happened in the manga. Pity. Manga Ash seems like he'd be a lot better
- suited to take up a heroic fantasy quest.
- Your genres may clash mindsets again - while the difference here was
- small and overlooked in the face of more obvious dangers, sometimes the
- difference between the two should be highlighted, for no other reason
- than because the questions are raised.
- Why, for example, doesn't someone with powerful Pokemon take over a
- town and demand tribute? I know Team Rocket's _trying_ that, but why
- hasn't someone who's actually _competent_ done it? Sorcerors have no
- problems commandeering whatever they want with _their_ power, after all.
* * * * *
[Ranma 1/2]
- - - - -
Title: A Different Viewpoint
Episode: Chapter 14
Series: Ranma/SM
Genre: Continuation/Crossover
Author: Christopher J. Olsen
Email: gamers@prodigy.net
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/1449/
Archived at: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/1449/fanfics.html
Date Sent to FFML: 11-16-00
Archive Number:
Size: 39 KB
Title Summary:
Ranma and Akane finally get married, but this is most definitely not
the end of the story.
- Make sure to keep noting it's the "Curses and Demons" sidestory,
- hokay? Threw me for a bit, there.
Episode Summary:
Happosai is free of his hypnosis, and Akane and Ukyo hatch a half
baked scheme.
- ...eh. It worked better in "The More Things Change", or whatever the
- sequel's up to now. The concern regarding the split Ranma, which seems
- to be the driving force in this chapter, seems a bit... off to me.
- Forced? Melodramatic? I can't pin down a word, exactly, but it seems
- like _here_ and _now_, stripped in the middle of nowhere and hunting for
- _Something_ that may very well kick your ass... something like this
- wouldn't matter. The Ranma cast has forged some incredible temporary
- alliances/truces/what have you in the face of danger - leave the
- resolution of this particular argument for "down time" and get on with
- the plot.
* * * * *
[Ranma 1/2 / Battletech]
- - - - -
Title: Battletech: The Saotome Gambit Part 25
Series: Ranma 1/2 - Battletech
Genre: Fusion
Author: J. Austin Wilde
Email: wildeman@gci-net.com
Homepage: http://www.gci-net.com/users/w/wildeman/
Archived At: http://www.gci-net.com/users/w/wildeman/TSG-25.txt
Date Sent to FFML: 17 November 2000
Size: 108K
Series Summary:
A fusion of Ranma 1/2 and Battletech pitting the Tendo Family of the
Nerima Confederation against the dreaded Furinkan Combine and the the
League of Five Nails. The only chance the Tendos have lies in the
hands of two Dispossessed mechwarriors named Saotome.
Episode Summary:
Ranma has survived the destruction of Phoenix Hawk LAM T-507, and
begins the search for Akane. Meanwhile, Akane is introduced to
Shinnosuke's grandfather, who tells her the history of Ryuugenzawa,
and the nature of the thing that has attacked her. Elsewhere, the crew
of the _Palomino_ is reunited with the castaway crew of the
_Dragonfly,_ and plans are laid to repair the stricken DropShip.
- Whatever happened to Hiroshi and Daisuke?
- Just curious.
- Incredible transliteration of the original Ryuugenzawa story, I must
- say. Same theme, different setting, different players, different menace.
- I like it very much.
* * * * *
[Ranma 1/2 / Sailor Moon]
- - - - -
Title: Ranma Papa!
Chapter: 3
Series: Ranma/Sailor Moon
Genre: Crossover/Alternative
Author: Chas Chas
Email: chaspark@hotmail.com
Archived At: members.nbci.com/phu_lam/
Date Sent to FFML: Nov, 18th, 2000
Series Summary:
Ranma as a father?! Of whom?? Another one of Genma's mistakes comes
back to haunt Ranma... but is it really so bad?
Episode Summary:
10 years later, Ranma, Makoto, and Nodoka moved to Juuban...
- This is where you should have started the story.
- No, seriously. It's _worse_ to set the hook and then jump ten years
- than it is just to _start_ ten years and work on building backwards.
- If you want to continue this, it needs retooling as far as this goes.
* * * * *
[Ranma 1/2 / Spiderman]
- - - - -
Title: Hikaru Gosunkugi: The Amazing Spiderman
Chapter: Nine & Ten
Series: Ranma 1/2 -- The Amazing Spider-Man
Genre: Fusion
Author: Knight Writer
Email: jedediah@tri-countynet.net
Archived At: http://www.sofaspud.org
Date Sent to FFML: 11-15-00
Size: 24K
Series Summary:
You all know what happened when a certain irradiated spider bit Peter
Parker, changing him into the Amazing Spider-Man. But what would
happen if that spider had been in Nerima and bit Hikaru Gosunkugi?
Episode Summary:
After finding the alien symbiote in the mountains, Tatewaki Kuno is
undergoing some radical changes that are not going unnoticed by the
Ranma cast, but are being mis-read. Gosunkugi's spider-sense keeps
blaring that something is about to happen, yet he does nothing about
it.
The symbiote is taking mroe andmore control over Kuno, and changing
him in more ways than one. Kuno attacks and nearly kills Mousse,
leaving him for Shampoo to find. Things are building to a serious
confrontation as the symbiote pushes Kuno closer to madness and
Gosunkugi is about to learn a lesson about power and responsibility.
- Yeah. Kuno's about the only person who could be possessed by a
- symbiote and come out normal. At least initially.
- You have to realize my only source for this is the animated series
- that aired on Fox a while back. Initially, it wasn't so bad, but then...
- well, I'll have to see what it becomes next chapter, no?
- The foreshadowing works pretty well.
- It makes a sort of sense the symbiotes would be able to unleash
- and/or focus dormant ki abilities. Or chi abilities. Or whatever they're
- properly called, I don't know.
- Good Shampoo/Cologne/Mousse dynamic you have going here.
- And the whole idea of Gosunkugi... well, he _is_ pretty close to the
- Peter Parker of his world... so where's his Mary Jane, I wonder?
* * * * *
[Sailor Moon]
- - - - -
Title: Knights of Danu
Chapter: Chapter One
Series: Sailor Moon
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fantasy, Alternate Universe
- A universe so alternate it's _two_ removes away!
Author: Dave Menard
Email: deibu_kun@sympatico.ca
Homepage: http://spghome.tripod.com/
Date Sent to FFML: November 14, 2000
Size: 14kb
Series Summary:
An alternate history of Sailormoon set in Rome-occupied Britain in the
first century A.D.
Episode Summary:
The stage is set as the small Celtic village of East Crown finds
itself visited by a mysterious cat...
- I done dood this once before. You want I should actually talk about
- the new stuff this time? ...wait, you can't hear me. I think I'll do
- it anyway.
- Well.
- The dialogue, or rather dia_lect_, though I can't ding it much for
- accuracy, is no less tough to wrangle through to the end of than last
- time. Perhaps that's just a perspective that views that sort of speech
- as something that would take a lot of concerted effort to pack up and
- cart out the mouth, as opposed to something to banter with.
- Usagi-transplanted's reaction to the talking cat is a bit more delayed
- by the text than I would have liked. You have thought cues, but no
- visual ones. ...and my first reaction to something that lay firmly
- outside the depths of reality wouldn't be to check my food, to be
- honest. Given the nature of any Usagi, it may very well occur to her
- after the fact, but tossing it in right in the middle of the scene just
- seems somewhat off.
- Despite and still, it's a good translocation, if nothing else.
- I know we'll get something besides "nothing else" in the chapters to
- come.
- - - - -
Title: A Woman Scorned
Chapter: prt 2
Series: Sailor Moon
Genre: Cyberpunk, Drama, Alternate Universe
Author: Quicksilver
Email: mbsilvana@yahoo.com
Homepage: http://quicksilverslabyrinth.homestead.com
Archived At: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/6250/fanfics_quicksilver.html
Date Sent to FFML: November 17, 2000
Series Summary:
Esmeraude decides to strike at the heart of her problems- Neo Queen
Serenity. To do so, she goes to pre-First Season Tokyo to attempt to
win the heart of one Chiba Mamoru....
Episode Summary:
Mamoru meets Ezura's roommate, Kai Satoshi, and learns there's brains
behind Ezura's beauty.
- Ah, she has the sense to be subtle. Good. I was afraid the whole dragon
- thing reflected on her own utter impulsiveness.
- As interesting as this is, though, I think you can swing a jumpcut -
- after maybe one or two more Mamoru/Ezura scenes - to when the shoe hits
- the fan, as it were. It's not that the current action is _bad_ - indeed,
- it's anything but, and the minor characters shine for it - but that the
- real meat of the story is going to be how _this_ relationship impinges
- on the later one. At least in _my_ eyes, it is.
- And since this _is_ the anime (is it not?) you're drawing from, I hope
- you'll keep in mind that, while Mamoru is a nice guy, he's often got
- the romantic sentiment of a brick.
- Anyone who wishes can now write Sailor Moon B(rick), though I doubt
- you'll get very far.
* * * * *
[Tenchi Muyou!]
- - - - -
Title: Sketches of Tenchi 8
Chapter: Old Rivals and New Discoveries
Series: Tenchi Muyo!
Genre: Humorous
Author: HKMiller
Email: bert.miller@unisys.com
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/5058
Date Sent to FFML: 15 November 200
Size: 15 Kb
Series Summary:
A series of short, humorous stories following Tenchi's misadventures
towards marriage.
Episode Summary:
We discover just WHY Kiyone became pregnant (well, one reason); old
rivals of Washuu and Tsunami show up; and the rest of the cast learns
a few things about Washuu.
- "Why didn't you _tell_ us you were part of a nigh-omnipotent pan-
- dimensional trinity?"
- ::shrug:: "You never asked."
- For comedy, this initially kept things somewhat "real", or at least
- within what I considered the bounds of probability. It's gotten a
- little more "out there" recently - I hope this isn't a sign you're
- starting to reach.
- I also hope tying everyone to Yosho isn't just going to be an excuse
- to write them out - Yosho could be played for a wonderful Bob Newhart
- style of deadpan comedy. And I shudder to think what may happen when he
- reveals that, along with the appearance of an aged Terran male, he also
- inadvertently adopted a few of the, shall we say, hydraulic setbacks?
- Anyway, keep this up as long as you can, but don't overextend yourself.
- Aside from being one hell of a double entendre, it also makes for a
- less enjoyable reading experience.
* * * * *
[Utena]
- - - - -
Title: Ma Vie et Roses #5
Series: Shoujo Kakumei Utena
Genre: Self-insert/mystery
Author: Scott Johnson & Scott K. Jamison
Email: zagyg@io.com and majks@yahoo.com
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/5990
Date Sent to FFML: 11/17/00
Size: 120k
Series Summary:
What if an otaku woke up in the world of an anime series...but it was
one he'd never seen? Join Skyler Sands as he attempts to figure out
who's who, and what's going on...before it's too late!
Episode Summary:
"Have you heard? Skyler actually takes action in this chapter!"
"Really? But is he really cut out to be an action hero, I wonder?"
"Does it matter, as long as we get our scenes? And there may be
romance in the offing, too!"
- The problem is, of course, that when you try to mess with reality,
- reality turns around and messes with _you_.
- Now I'm wondering if the shadow play this time around is intended to be
- somehow symbolic of Skyler's status - he shouldn't exist, and what he
- tries to save is ultimately inconsequential, compared to the things he
- _can't_ try to save.
- ...you know, come to think of it, the shadow plays so far have actually
- been unusually expressive of what Skyler's been going through. Is that
- deliberate? If so, my congratulations for a marvelously subtle piece of
- work.
- Come to think of it, that's one of the reasons why I like this so much.
- Skyler's out there trying to affect things, but ultimately what he
- _does_ manage to change is very little, compared to what the 'main'
- cast is capable of...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
- So that's this week. College seems light so far, but it's only just
- begun. I'll do my best to get things out on time, or at least close to
- on time.
- --G. Falconar