catlarks | Rec Lists

During SASO, I kept a careful list of fills that I wanted to hold onto, and spent a lot of time organizing them thematically to rec during that bonus round. In the end, I didn't write out reviews for most of my lists and therefore didn't post them to the round, but I'm choosing to unlock this post in case anyone would like to make use of my organization and follow the links.

KinIma Recs

As kinima is the crying rarepair of my heart, I couldn't not make a rec list for wonderful kinima contributions to SASO. These are those fics.

-PTSD Recovery also feat. Midousuji by

uwu_anon :: I thought it would be wise to read this at three am. Don't be me. Make sure you're ready. This fic packs an incredible amount of emotion and understanding into an incredibly small space, seriously examining the emotional repercussions of Midousuji's treatment of Imaizumi through the lens that is Kinjou's viewpoint. It is everything I have ever wanted out of kinima — careful support, sympathy, love — and I want everyone who remotely cares about either of these characters to read it.

-College Cohabiting by

swiftling :: Kite has a beautiful way with language. Her prose is perfectly crisp and incredibly precise in a way that makes everything she writes a joy to read. It's also the perfect framing for this story — quiet moments between Imaizumi and Kinjou after Imaizumi has graduated from Sohoku, and has come to live with Kinjou while attending Yonan University. It's quiet, understated, calming, and a really rewarding read for how it captures that particular mood.

-Anixety Coping by

elucidatedlucy :: What I like best about this fic is how well it captures Imaizumi's irrational feelings of paranoia. It's another story addressing how Imaizumi deals with their own brain after Midousuji's emotional manipulation, and it conveys the claustrophobic feeling inside their head uncannily well. The prose itself feels uncomfortable, before sliding into a rhythm that's easier to inhabit while still retaining some of that claustrophobic feeling, during the portion where Imaizumi and Kinjou have their back and forth. Very interesting execution, very nice comfort toward the end.

Pokemon Recs

There were some really great pokemon AUs done this SASO, and as a lover of pokemon, I'm happy to recommend all the ones I found for yowapeda.

-KinTadoMaki Pokeathlon AU by

miyukitty :: Miyu writes some really snappy prose, of which this is a prime example. Kinjou and Tadokoro are portrayed perfectly in how expansive their personalities are, and the competition between them — because what is the pokeathlon if not a competition, and what's tadokin if it's not competitive? — is believably fierce. Makishima features as both viewpoint character and perfect counterpoint to Kinjou and Tadokoro's energy. If you love pokemon, read this for the attention to detail in portraying the universe. If you don't love pokemon, read it anyway for the love put into the characterization.

-ShinIma Team Rocket AU by

elucidatedlucy :: In Chess' trademark style, this is a tense story, fraught with Imaizumi and Shinkai's shared need to withhold, to feel each other out. Shinkai is a Rocket executive. Imaizumi is a new recruit. What's interesting is the way Midousuji is brought in as a commonality between them, and what's rewarding for me is the socio-political dance that goes on as they get to know each other.

-ImaNaruSaka Pokemon Breeders AU by

bisharp :: If you want a feel-good pick-me-up, read this fic. It perfectly captures the excitement of their biking against their friends, for the challenge of a race and for the goal of hatching their eggs. The little details are cute — about which pokemon they have, about Naruko challenging Onoda to climb Mt. Chimney despite always losing — and it's just a very cute little fic overall.

-ImaNaruSaka Pokemon Breeding Art by

kiriska :: And to wrap up this list, an art rec! Kiri's art for me always captures mood and motion really well, and this is a great example of that. It's bright and cheerful and with this sense of friendly competition, while also paying loving attention to the details. (Naruko's Pigeotto bike! Of course Imaizumi's is from Silph Co! Each of their pokemon to warm their eggs!) Very cute, very recommended.

MidoTaka Recs

-Pharmacy Ghost AU by

chiharu

-Pacific Rim AU by

araakita

-Breakup Fic by

hurristat

KinTadoMaki Recs

-Crime AU by

blueminuet

-Villains AU by

kuramochi

-Talent Show by

krankran

Tadokoro Recs

-Tadokoro/Arakita by

doxian

-Tadokoro & Onoda works at Best Buy by

blueminuet

-Tadokoro/Toudou Before the Bake-Off by

luckycricket33

Teshima Recs

-Teshima & Onoda by

kiriska

-Teshima & Kinjou by

luckycricket33

-Teshima/Naruko by

luckycricket33

-Teshima/Imaizumi by

dynamite

Imaizumi Recs

-Miki & Imaizumi/Onoda Robot AU by

blueminuet

-Arakita/Imaizumi FFTA AU by

miyukitty

-Midousuji & Imaizumi Night Terror AU by

nobetterpicture

Miki Recs

-Kinjou/Miki Illustration by

luckycricket33

-Kinjou & Miki on the Inter-High Team by

underscored

-Miki & Machimiya by

elucidatedlucy

Makishima Recs

-Makishima/Arakita Space AU by

kiriska

-Makishima/Kinjou by

elucidatedlucy

-Makishima/Imaizumi by

krankran

Hikaru no Go Recs

-Akira/Hikaru by

psiten

-Sai is Reincarnated by

psiten

-Sai and Touya Meijin by

psiten

=== Also remixed into this lovely art by

winterstuck which is equally highly recommended.

-And This Delightful Bonus: Akira/Hikaru, in Space! by

winterstuck :: As with the previous Hikaru no Go piece (and all of Winterstuck's art, in my opinion), the color palette choice is lovely. Winterstuck does a lot of nice limited palette stuff, coupled with perfect expressions and posture from the characters. Both of these are lovely.

Eyeshield 21 Recs

-Hiruma & Musashi by

controlcircus

-Hiruma & Musashi Fight Club AU by

daichiis

-Agon & Unsui Art by

winterstuck

-Hiruma & Agon Art by

winterstuck

-Hiruma & Rui by

winterstuck

=== And As a Bonus: Kinjou is Agon and Unsui's Fusion Child by

winterstuck

TadoMaki Recs

-Party Fluff by

blueminuet

-Hotel Encounter by

blueminuet

-Tech Support by

blueminuet

NozoEli Recs

-The Tower by

swiftling

-Oracle and Queen by

oikawas

-Monsoon by

swiftling

Poetry Recs

-Arakita/Kinjou (yowapeda) by