kimosumiko

Read years ago, so correct me if any of my information is wrong, but I still remember it was pretty good and that I definitely enjoyed it.

Alpha Falling has a very interesting concept regarding the ABO universe: alphas can be turned into omegas when fucked by another alpha. This is exactly what happens with alphas Jared and Jensen, where Jared decides to get revenge on Jensen by turning him, only to have it backfire when he knots Jensen, thereby tying the two together forever, mating them. Many complications arise after the mating, especially since the transformation also bumps Jensen down in the social hierarchy, and Jared is already in a relationship with Dana, although the two aren't mated. Jared and Dana come to realize that their relationship isn't going to continue to work and the two break up and eventually Jared and Jensen form their own relationship, consensual and with children of their own.

Not the best writing, and if you have problems with (initial) cheating then this story isn't for you. But it's definitely worth a read for the ABO concept it presents, since I don't believe I've seen it used in any other story.

Dropped at 39%.

This started off as a very compelling and interesting read. There is quite a bit of world building involved in this story and the characters are full of personality. I loved a lot about the characters, the banter between them, the way Derr showed the closeness between them and the intricacies in their relationships. It was also nice that before we see Vellem get to Tallideth, before he ever meets his betrothed Prince Perdith, we are able to become acquainted with Vellem and get to know his own character, outside of the relationship. This better shows how his character is changed upon coming to Tallideth and how all the events there shape him.

Vellem is an engineer and a soldier first and foremost, he’s certainly no politician (which makes him much more relatable for me, personally, since I’m also no politician, although I know a bit more than even Vellem here which makes me feel pretty good). So he knows how to navigate a battlefield and how to protect himself and how to use caution when rational is needed over rashness and acting boldly (although sometimes he does allow himself to be ruled by emotion, but don’t we all?). Unfortunately, there really isn’t much action in the first third of the story despite how it makes you think, almost crave for there to be more action, a touch more suspense and intrigue. Vellem himself may not be particularly politically savvy, but he gradually comes to understand all the true implications his betrothal and marriage bring him as a foreigner marrying a prince, even if he is the fifth prince. But although Vellem is still learning and coming into a full understanding of his new position and life, this doesn’t excuse him from some important mistakes, mistakes that as a soldier and with some common sense he could rather easily avoid. I don't have any proof as I haven't gotten far enough to have the theory confirmed, but I suspect that this poor decision making on Vellem's part (sorta combined with someone else, but..) for keeping some guy around and not following through on the proper questioning is something that provides more conflict for the plot and I'm just not happy with that.

There are quite a few editing errors strewn about and some time jumps that could have been improved with at least a few more paragraphs for the transition (ex. the time jump from the journey across the mountains to suddenly arriving in Tallideth and getting off a ship. I can assume nothing important transpired during this time - have to, really - but it would be nice to not have those events simply bypassed beyond a single sentence describing the remainder of the journey as “uneventful past a bit of rain at the start”). And then there's what happens when Vellem gets to Tallideth: some more action that gives the plot more of a push, but very little of Vellem and Perdith's relationship. And while it makes sense that there wouldn't be any romance so soon upon finally meeting and that the two would be rather awkward around each other while they both try to find their footing, it still would have been nice to have a little more of the fledgling romance I'd been looking forward to getting. Unfortunately, due to events

the romance just doesn't happen, at least not by 39%.

I haven’t been in much of a book reading mood lately, veering more toward the side of fanfiction (I guess since with fanfic I already know the characters, or at least the originals the fics are based on, so I don’t have to try and see if I like the new ones I’m reading about), but this one was still difficult to get into after a while. I found myself putting it down for hours at a time, a day, and being fine and almost having to make myself pick it back up, reminding myself that I was currently reading it as part of a challenge and that there were yet more to read after completing this one. But once I did start reading again I would be fine for a while, reading a few chapters and putting it down for a bit again, as you can see by my status updates.
 
In the end I don’t know how to feel about this one. There was a lot I liked and enough I felt put off by that a specific rating doesn’t come automatically to me. This certainly isn’t my favorite my Megan Derr but as I already know her from her stories Deceived of Deceived and Other Tales(back when it was available for free online on her website alongside other stories, but I think it all got taken down?) and Blood in the Water this isn’t a story to put me off reading her again. Actually I think since the two I've already read are both shorts, while this was quite a long novel, that the story length difference also had something to do with my level of enjoyment. So this story is getting 3stars from me but I don’t see that as a bad thing.

An amusing, light and easy read. But, while it is pretty enjoyable, I would've liked there to be a sequel or a second chapter, although that isn't necessary, just something I would personally like, since the author ends the fic with a glimpse of what is to come for Jared and Jensen now that they have been mated.

“We’re doing this, so I figured we should at least know each other’s names. I’m Jensen. And you’re a fucking moron.”

“I’ve been called worse,” Jared said, a smug smirk covering his face. “But the name is Jared.”

“Or fucking moron.”

The Alpha..., The Omega

Uhm....no. Insta-drop, not for me. Why is "The" even capitalized just after a comma?

This story just completely sucked me in, to the point that I am really glad I didn't have much else to do today so I could just spend time reading it, as is necessary because it's - ugh, good. There are moments in this that are really very sad, but how can you have a ST fic involving Tarsus IV and Jim's resulting trauma and not have there be any sad? It's also quite beautiful. And it convinced me I really do need a shelf for bonding stories.

Spock felt almost bad that he could not explain Jim better, but he was aware that every time he attempted to explain he ended up making Jim sound bad. He had tried it in Standard, in English, and in Vulcan, but he could not find the correct words. Could not find the word they could accept—he had a feeling that his mother would be very displeased if he told her Jim was t'hy'la.

I absolutely loved it and can't wait to read more by the author.

Spock had lived all of Jim's trauma second-hand. He had found solace in the eye of the hurricane, taking advantage of the way Jim could keep everything at bay. I know you, he thought. I do not want to know who I am without you.

The writing isn't perfect and there are some typos but it's still great.

Edit: initally didn't add this quote cuz I typed this up just before bed and clearly I shouldn't do that since I come back and remember stuff I've forgotten, but - quote:

Sybok doesn't believe in the concept of t'hy'la, has never experienced it.

Not many do, but Sarek knows how to recognize it, and thinks that Spock is not the one they should be so very concerned about.

He can see the way Jim has angled his body towards Spock, the way he keeps contact, and the way he defers to Spock every time a doctor speaks. More often than not, it is Spock who replies, who knows allergies and medical histories while Jim lays back, tired and resigned and like the child he is. It is abruptly, starkly obvious that Jim Kirk has no one else in the world but Spock.

(show spoiler)

Couldn't get into it, read awkwardly for me and never sparked my interest.

3.5stars

Started reading this sometime last month around Xmas time before my kindle errored out and cut off the story. So this had an intriguing enough premise to come back to and I'm both glad I did and also a little underwhelmed in parts.



And that's about as much as I feel like writing for this story, here's a quote:

“For the last time, I’m not polishing his broomstick.”

“Though it sounded as if you might like to.”

“Wanker.”

Note: noticeable editing errors

4.75stars

I loved this one. It was very nice getting to read this from Spock's perspective as he takes in all that is Jim Kirk, learning his human quirks, and accepting himself and realizing that he has the power to choose for himself, to follow his heart and choose Jim and their bond.

Jim’s so close that Spock can almost hear his heartbeat. Jim’s smell is all over Spock’s room, underneath the stench of sex. Jim yawns again and asks, “So, when I get that ship... will you be my first officer?”

Spock’s only just getting his words back, so he stumbles and says, “I love you.”

The sex is also pretty damn hot and goes into more detail (really it's just more explicit) than some other pon farr fics that only have one scene, so points for that too.

Quarter star taken off for editing errors: spelling, some grammar, occasionally mistaking the 'there vs their vs they're', etc. While noticeable errors this was still an enjoyable read.

Eight paragraphs in and it already made me laugh, so kudos for that.

 

“It’s like your hotness factor got cranked to eleven.”

There was another long silence before Sam replied, carefully enunciating each syllable, “My hotness factor?”

Reading this was hard. On one hand it helps that while reading I've been watching SoA, but with the specific episodes (fuck all of S2 man, geez) it might've actually made reading this fic that much worse. Usually I can get through reading stuff like this because fiction (and not thinking too hard about how very real the situation can be for people) but geez. The point is: this is not an easy read. It's not exactly happy and the beginning is nothing but fucked up. I can't even pull a quote out for a good preview without it feeling too spoilery, so here it is hidden:

"How do you want me?" He seems completely unashamed of his nakedness. Almost unaware, like he's accustomed to it.

(show spoiler)

I think what makes it really hard to read is that in watching SPN this is a scenario (or some variation thereof) I've thought of before, one that an SPN fan pairing the Winchesters (within themselves, outside of ok not completely but really, how do they get away from that without being AU? the supernatural) with darkness in general has at least considered, however momentarily. So this isn't a new concept, far from it. But that doesn't make this one any easier.

It's no secret that leonidaslion is the master of broken!Dean, but Mekina is definitely an author I'll be reading again for more sad and broken Dean.

Dropped at 13%.

So. Shit happened in this book and...yeah. I don't even know. I skipped through most of it. Partially that's because I'm more in the mood for watching TV shows damnit Baba! but mostly I just couldn't get into this story from the very start. Nothing about it pulled me in, not even the sex.

And slam went the first thrust.

I'm disappointed because I've really liked other stories by both these authors (Vaughn = An Oral Fixation*4stars, Three Strikes*4stars, One True Thing*3stars and Boehme = Trouble & the Wallflower*5stars) but the combination just didn't work for me. Oh well, moving on.

Note: not rated because I literally skimmed through everything after the first chapter.

So wow, this was really freaking hot. Also,

Sam shoots Dean a look that shuts him right up. “You let a stranger with my face open you up and fuck you. Fine. I’m not going to do anything about it, and I’m going to let him have your mouth this one time because we owe him. But after that, it’s over. No one else, Dean, do you understand?”

“You’re—dude, what the fuck, are you marking your territory?”

wth? How did PWP end up making me laugh? I swear leonidaslion is the master of SPN fic.

3.5 stars

There has been a lot of hype for this story so I was expecting a bit more out of it. It's certainly good and I understand why people have been liking it so much, but I kept hoping for it to captivate me only to be left wanting.

I. I am at a loss for words. I went into this expecting...no I don't even know what I was expecting. Feels of a sort. Likely a happy sort. This. This is not at all what I was expecting. And it is beautiful.

"Oh, fuck no," he says aloud, startled by the sudden clarity of the recognition. It's a horrible idea on so many levels, Merlin can't even begin to count them, but that doesn't change the fact that the thought of Arthur makes him feel giddy and sick and utterly, soppily in love. He wants to wake up next to Arthur and engage in gross displays of public indecency with him and force him to eat vegetables.

The feels in this one though. I was utterly unprepared for the onslaught of emotion. This is romantic and heartfelt and achingly sad in moments. I tried so hard not to cry and for the most part I held the tears at bay but that is only because the authors must have been feeling generous and kind enough not to dwell on the angst as they easily could have.

Arthur swallows hard and turns his face away from Merlin's, heart threatening to beat right off his chest. The terror of Merlin saying no has been replaced by the terror of him actually saying yes. And Arthur can't remember the last time he fucked someone just because he wanted to. This is uncharted, uncertain. He's used to a set of preordained rules that keep him boxed in and keep everyone else out. But Merlin... Arthur has the unsettling feeling that Merlin could peel off all his layers and put them back on in the right order.

And it's 5am and I'm really not feeling coherent enough to string together intelligible sentences in the hopes of conveying how amazing I feel this story is, how much I love it, everything about it, how much it made me feel. If it wasn't so lateearly, fucking hell the sun is coming up soon I might seriously consider rereading this story immediately. Forever on my 'a thousand hearts' shelf this goes!

3.25 stars

Not quite what I was hoping for, but all around still a good fic.

Often the prose flows rather beautifully (from what little I've read of the fanfiction for this fandom that seems to be a constant) but there are quite a few times where little errors will pop up that disrupt the flow. It happens often enough in this one that it's rather distracting and makes this a bit of an awkward read in parts. Although you could argue that the stop and go moments, especially if it makes you fumble or double back, only adds to the atmosphere of the character's youth and teenage moments of awkwardness. From that perspective, the prose is probably pretty flawless. Still, I found myself nitpicking this just a bit, which made it difficult to get lost in the story as I was hoping to do, as had happened with the previous two 1D fics I've had the pleasure of reading.

Overall this was still enjoyable.

Note: for anyone who cares, Zayn uses the word "babe" a total of 16 times throughout this fic. Does anyone know if Zayn actually says babe that often irl? It's cute and sweet, but close to too much for me.