Shiplympic fic list round 2

[farla]

SEQUENTIAL
ART: Untitled (Gamzee♥Karkat)

A comic that tells a story! And does quite a good job of it, with nice art as well. As was a common issue last time, though, the relationship portrayed, while a strong one, doesn't seem like matespritship. It does an okay job with the prompt, but it's not really expanding on canon or throwing it in a new light when it's one of the major theories of how things will go down.

FIC/ART:
Deja Vu (John♥Vriska)

I found this intriguing. Neither of the expies are too close to the characters, but they manage to hit the same points and do it within the differing framework of the culture, and it does match up with the claim in canon that things get repeated. Both scenes are things that are never alluded to in canon but fit in rather well, so it does a good job promptwise. Weirdly, I feel like actual John's characterization is the weakest here - troll notJohn seems closer to what I'd expect.

FIC/ART:
Accidentally Conciliatory (John♦Vriska)

This is adorable and Karkat is hilarious and also this is adorable. It also succeeds in avoiding my usual reason for disliking the ship, which is I like Vriska high strung. I'm unsure how well it fits the prompt, though, being not only future fic but future fic with a character that's canonically dead.

SEQUENTIAL
ART: Prosti (Aradia♥Sollux)

Nicely drawn and tells the story well. My main issue would be that this is another one that doesn't feel like an expansion of canon. Also, I may be misremembering but wasn't the idea that Sollux didn't know she was
dead?

FIC/ART:
TEAM: ENGAGE CO-OP (Kanaya♦Karkat)

Ambitious, but light on the story. Also, not really a moirallegiance.

FST:
Your Fraudulent Smile (Terezi♥Vriska)

...it's, uh, music?

FIC/ART:
Equius: Speak to Friend/Enemy Every Day (Equius♥Gamzee)

Quite IC and a good idea for how they first met and why they stayed in contact. Also, Equius is just funny.

SEQUENTIAL
ART: A rose (and a dave) by any other name (Bro♥Mom)

This is weird. The premise doesn't make much canonical sense, and I'm not convinced Mom is particularly IC either. The explanation for Rose's name is great, but not a good prompt fit. This feels like it might have started off as an idea for the first round. Plus, there's no real connection between the two.

FIC/ART:
From the Heart (Karkat♥Sollux)

This is a decent fic, it just bumps awkwardly against canon constantly.

FIC:
Years in the Future (Slick♠Snowman)

I'm surprised this is the first time I've seen an actual fic of this, since I know there's been speculation on it since the update showing Snowman getting her powers. Fits canon, IC, Slick being miserable and hateful, all the good things.

FIC:
Years, and Countless Ages (Alchemiter)
Disciple♦Darkleer

Hm. I find this a bit dubious - as nice as it is to interpret things like this, canonically he's sitting around moaning about it, so I can't see where the no regrets part fits in. It's also a story where the pairing doesn't actually show up so much as the aftereffects of it.

FIC/ART:
Waiting for God Tier (John♥Karkat)

Quite detailed, and a clever idea with even more clever execution. Not, though, especially focused on the relationship, and the canon speculation was minimal. Also, I just thought the characterization was lacking, though the narration was incredible.

FIC/ART:
Epochs Unblemished (Kanaya♥Rose)

A future fic that does build on canon, and quite cleverly. Some very nice worldbuilding.

FIC/FST:
the wave2 and ii (Feferi♥Sollux)

This is...odd, and doesn't seem much concerned with canon compliance. It forgets entirely about the memo where Sollux is first hit by the glub. And I'm not quite sure why the empress had to be so Feferi-like, when that too doesn't seem to fit much. I feel like it's a valid interpretation, potentially, but it really shouldn't be a side issue in another story.

FIC/ART/FST:
Poor Unfortunate Souls // Filth and Squalor (Mindfang♥Summoner)

The comic section works, but then the text elaboration doesn't really elaborate. I don't think I've really seen much examination at all of why the summoner ends up killing her - this one hints at it, but doesn't really explain either, which isn't enough.

FIC:
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN (Bro♥Dave)

This doesn't seem especially sexual. It's about their relationship, I just don't see where the incest is. There's even a incest label on this, so it's definitely supposed to be. Somehow that's more unsettling than actual incest.

FIC/ART:
Sweet Dreams (Jade♥Karkat)

Cute, fits into canon quite well. My only real quibble is that it's another future scene instead of a real missing scene.

FIC/ART:
Next, In a Foreign Land (Karkat♥Terezi)

Lovely, and impressively canon compliant without overly relying on stuff we already know. Also, this gets bonus points for having Terezi
complaining about Vriska without it seeming the least bit bashy.

SEQUENTIAL
ART: 8itt3rsw33t (Terezi♠Vriska)

This feels somewhat phoned in. (Also, I think the picture of the two players was supposed to be pre-breakup, in which case she shouldn't have her robotic arm. And it doesn't much make sense in the timeline, and it doesn't quite feel like how blackrom is supposed to go (they just seem regular hateful).

FIC/FLASH:
[S]==> Dave & Jade: Capture frogs (Dave♥Jade)

A bit lackluster as well. Fits into canon well enough, but doesn't really go anywhere and doesn't say anything we haven't assumed. The bit of the frog almost escaping because Dave is busy staring at Jade is lovely, though.

FIC:
You Were a Kindness (Gamzee♥Tavros)

A weird one. This feels like it goes a bit too far in the other direction - it's a very different interpretation of canon that manages not to violate anything, but it doesn't finish explaining how we get from here to sopor!Gamzee. (I'm also uncertain how much stuff is his view vs authorial, but that's not really important.)

SEQUENTIAL
ART: Finding the same thing (Dave♥Karkat)

This is an interesting one, but it doesn't really manage to show a relationship, as it ends at Dave and Karkat's meeting, and just
similarity doesn't seem like enough to cement them as ♥ when Karkat hates all versions of himself enough to think he's his own kismesis.

FIC/ART:
No Longer Alone (Jade♥Kanaya)

This one strikes me as clever (not enough people take advantage of how the trolls can see the kids' whole lives) but of dubious canonity - it requires Jade to have pesterchum by six, and also that she forgets this particularly positive interaction, since later on she's refusing to talk to any of the trolls. Both are possible, just sort of weak points.

ART:
no other motherfucker (Dave♠Gamzee)

Kind of phoned in. The picture isn't clear without the accompanying explanation, and the monument seems generic, understated and generally not at all how Gamzee would handle it.

FIGURINES:
Our Dream Bubble (Aradia♥Equius)

Quite ambitious, but not really doing the best job with the prompt. The amount of detail (and effort) is impressive, though.

FANADVENTURE:
Dave: Explore (Dave♦Terezi)

Also very, very ambitious, and does fit into canon. It just doesn't exactly go anywhere. It also isn't really convincing me the
relationship is ♦.

FIC:
Don't Mess with Me (Mindfang♠Redglare)

...songfic.
This is just written generally amateurishly. And the fic itself says the relationship is one-sided.

SEQUENTIAL
ART: Step One, Get Her a Wwhale (Eridan♥Feferi)

This doesn't quite make sense. Eridan is flushed for her, so for their first meeting he kills a shark that just happens to jump out of the water to try to rescue her, and she offers a relationship (presumably pale) because she likes his lusus-killing skills. But that really doesn't seem like it's how moirails work, so her side of this come off as terribly forced.

VID:
Love Bunny (John♥Rose♥Dave♥Jade)

A mix of exactly-as-it-happened canon followed up with some extremely unlikely future events.

FIC:
Seeking by Moonlight (Ectobiology)

Interesting, but seems too AU for the little time spent there - presumably, the side parts are happening on pre-Scratch Alternia, but instead of developing that a lot of the fic is set in the current timeline, so it feels like it's just flashes of random AU.

SEQUENTIAL
ART: Kitten Kisses (Nepeta♥Terezi)

Cute but I'm not seeing how it makes sense. The kids seem to all live well apart from each other.

FIC:
Dreamers and the Waking Dead (Dave♠Karkat)

This doesn't make much sense with what we know of canon. Also, for a scene that involves Karkat and Terezi beaten to death followed by Dave having to make it come about, it's odd how Terezi isn't at all a factor.

FIC/ART:
Tavros: Take a Detour (Dave♥Tavros)

This is another one that has other characters talking up the relationship, but it works reasonably well given it's Nepeta. I'm not really convinced by the characterization, though, and a lot of it seems like it's more suited for last round's prompt.

SEQUENTIAL
ART: "Of all the dreambubbles in the furthest ring..."
(Dave♥Rose)

This one is just too short and incomplete.

FIC/ART:
A Chance Encounter (Eridan♠Vriska)

The premise makes sense, but the details of the art don't. The lusus is worthlessly tiny and the trap doesn't make much sense given it seems designed to catch a troll which Eridan isn't interested in. And this seems more the making of a matespritship than a kismesisstude - sure, it starts off antagonistic, but then they realize they have nothing to fight over.

FIC:
Trial Run (Jade♥Rose)

This fits the prompt pretty well, but doesn't sell the pairing much - it's just assuming they already are, and most of the story is spent establishing the situation and avoiding confessing.

FIC:
Thoughts of a Doomed Timeline (John♥Rose)

Rose meeting with John after he's mortally injured by a denizen. Maybe I'm just picky, but it just doesn't seem to fit that well into canon, especially when doomed timeline Rose doesn't want Dave to reset.

FIC/ART:
The Arbiter's Choice (Dave♥Terezi)

This one I found rather odd(and the 413 typing quirk is really irritating to read in lower case). It's really close to a OC fic with canon references at many points, though it does have a lot of good moments.

FIC:
Eridan Ampora's Helmsman (Eridan♠Sollux)

Creepy. This one is barely giving lip service to canon compliance, though - it's got a rushed explanation for how they end up in what amounts to your standard a no-sgrub AU, with no explanation for how the rest of the group would let this happen. Also, this isn't really how kismesis should work.

FIC/VID:
Losing it all on my own (Eridan♥Karkat)
The video gets everything across quite well (I'm not sure what to think of the ears, but they sure are expressive). The fic doesn't seem to be really connected except in general setting, more like a different take on the same concept, and doesn't seem to fit that well into canon.

FIC/ART:
memory lane (Dave♥John)
A clever one that does a good job showing their past relationship and fits well into canon.

FIC:
Storytelling (Equius♦Nepeta)
This just feels amateurish. I've never been fond of just-so stories, and definitely not ones that present it straight.

So. A few of the teams have vanished this round, and I'm not sure if others disbanded after submitting. So far, we've gone from six Eridan pairings down to four. Eridan♥Nepeta and Eridan♥Sollux is gone (Eridan♠Sollux remains.) Kanaya♥Vriska is also out, as is Her Imperious Condescension♠Sufferer.

Which brings me to my next realization: wow, Eridan had six pairings? And is still holding on to four of them?

Aradia:2
Tavros:2
Sollux:5, now 4
Karkat:9
Nepeta:3, now 2
Kanaya: 4, now 3
Terezi:6
Vriska:6, now 5
Equius:3
Gamzee:4
Eridan:6, now 4
Feferi:2
John:6
Dave:12(!)
Rose:5
Jade:5

(Also Bro:2, Mindfang:2, Redglare:1, Summoner:1, Condesc:1 now 0, Sufferer:ditto.)

...So, further analysis on this track should probably wait for the end of the shiplympics.

Only two of the hetfics were female POV again, though there were another three sharing POV. I'm interested to see what R3 will bring..

Of our winners, 3 slash (but 2 of the top three), 7 het, no femslash this round. Again all ♥ except two ♦. Not sure what it means, but points don't seem to have been spread around as much this round.

Comments

[farla.livejournal.com]

I know it's her costume, but I was under the impression her character incorporated those things because it was a transparent self-insert. The picture also had her wearing her glasses with her damaged eye covered.