Drumroll please...
This is not just a fic rec list. This is AAFAA. Ashi's Akame Fic Academy Award.
Been meaning to do this for the longest time, just haven't gotten around to it. I'm pretty sure most of you have read them. So it's not really a fic rec but more like a humble ode to the fics that captivated me in the few years that I've been reading Akame fics.
So without further ado, I present you the winners of the prestigious AAFAA.
I shall start with what interests most (no matter the denial) - Smut.
The winner for the Smut Category is a three-way tie: "It's Hot In the Dressing Room Anyway", "What's Kame's Hands Doing on Jin's Shoulder" and Consumer Electronics Show by miyamiaki.
Can't find the first two and I'm not even sure those are the titles. Why I like 'em is that they're the first Akame smut fics I read. I'm sentimental that way. Truth be told, first slash smut RPF I read. I read the first two and I went, "What the...What? This is happening in the fic world?" And I was awed.
The last I liked because I liked the zipless fuck premise. The non-con kinda' threw me off (not a big fan of non-con) but you know, Jin's a porn star and Kame's a tech geek. They did it in the men's room. That is all that matters.
And anyway, to expect solid plot from smut it is like expecting a good screenplay from porn. Not gonna happen. Not that I watch porn. Really. I don't.
Okay. Next category. Angst.
Oh, yes. I've read angst in the past. Back in the days when I gobble up every Akame fic I encountered in the net and I was reading them everywhere and anywhere from in the toilet to during work conferences. Okay now, the AAFAA for Angst goes to Available Light by shontos_garden.
I heard it was alternately called the acid burn Akame fic probably more than the acid burning incident within the fic it's because the angst really burns and stings. I'm writing this without re-reading so believe me when I say that the most memorable part there for me was the dancing in the club. Loved the seduction amidst the palpable tension. And the sex in the alley. It was really hot not in the perverted sense - okay, maybe that, too - but also because it just felt so goddamn real. Amazing.
Under this is the subcategory of Best Angsty Smex. It goes to Driven also by shontos_garden. Angry Akame smexing inside the bathroom. The angst is so controlled yet simmers just beneath the skin. shontos_garden writes it so beautifully that I wanted to buy a cart-load of misery and wallow in it.
The next category is the Best Akame First Time Sex and it goes to Off the Wire by haikuesque. Kame's drunken thoughts as he weaves through the night after the drunken incident with the taxi driver is as captivating as the very realistic details of how he and Jin went about the sexual act itself is charming. Cannot forget how Jin efficiently strips Kame's pants together with Kame's socks.
Hmmm. How come my unforgettable scenes are those of Akame smexing? Anyway. Let's move on.
The Best Gokusen 2 Fic goes to hangdogs by hilaryscribbles. As one comment says, it is the Gokusen 2 canon. I swear, what was told here are deleted scenes from the drama. Young HayaRyu is precious. The first time Ryu kisses Hayato and they had the "that is gay" dialogue exchange hit me hard. Can't forget it.
The Way of Things by peroxide_fic comes as a close second. I like that that it was written from Tsuchiya's POV and how it's so light and breezy.
Of course, there must be a Best Fluff Fic and it goes to i'm trying not tell you (but i want to) by misao_duo. I read this long before I saw the movie and when I finally did see the movie (cheapskate that I am I had to wait for it to be shown on TV), all I could think of was Jin was been better than Ashton and Kame much much better that Natalie. I was smiling the whole time I was reading the fic. Humongous pink cotton candy, this fic.
On to my favorite genre - humor. I've declared this before and, thus, the Best Goddamn Vampire Akame Fic Ever goes to Akame Twilight Series - Don't U Ever Stop (Sparkling), The V Motion: New Moon and Real Face-Off: Eclipse by astrangerenters.
I swear to god, I laughed out loud reading these fics. I love the parody. It's like Saturday Night Live does Twilight via Akame. Kame as the cold (literally and figuratively) vampire and Jin as the airhead prey/soulmate thrown together with Pi as the surferdudelike werewolf is awesome. I still laugh whenever I re-read them. Wait till you get to the third part when the vampires and the werewolves face off and Lindsay Lohan makes a cameo. Hilarious!
The AAFAA Canon Fic goes to Across A Bridge of Magpies by maayacola. This isn't fiction. It happened. Jin left KAT-TUN in 2010 and then this happened. I tell you, people, this is the reason why Akame fans believe. My comment on this fic says it all. I'm telling you, THIS IS THE CLASSIC AKAME FIC.
And now for the major award. Drumroll please...
Ashi's Akame Fic Academy Award ALL TIME FAVORITE goes to JE Fleet Series by becroberts (find the series here). Completely got me. Hook, line and sinker. Sci-fi Akame. Akame does Star Wars. How can that not be amazing.
The plots are solid, smooth and captivating. A wonderful joy ride of witty banters, intriguing twists and turns and heart-stopping battles. One could read from the first to the last (there are five multi-part fics in this 'verse) and the passing of time (say, 24-hours sans sleep) would have gone unnoticed.
I love that bits and pieces of canon were creatively incorporated because that's what RPF AU should be. Kame's chair fixation in an interrogation scene? Perfect.
What makes it wonderful is the consistency in characterisation. Han Solo!Jin and Kame a wonderful blend of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker (or maybe Princess Leia). Real life, right? And the rest of KAT-TUN as themselves to complete the motley crew of a pirate space ship. Throw in pervy Arashi (and Matsujun as the Emperor or Chief or President whatever), what else can you ask for?
I was/am floored by the attention to details, of the ship and the universe and the battles and all the thingamajigs of outer space. It's fascinating yet it doesn't bog down the story-telling. I so love this fic series that I unashamedly offered to bequeath my worldly possessions to the author should I perish. "Unashamedly" refers to my possessions not the act of offering.
So there. I like them. I love them. If you haven't read, go read. If you love 'em as I did, leave a comment.
♥