Well, now I'm rereading my Gravitation manga, and I'm remembering that I genuinely enjoy this series. At least I did. I like the anime, and the manga was fine until volume 10, but after that, it just got to be too much for me. It's not that I mind weirdness, but that specific weirdness felt rather over the top and just plain dumb. Not to mention that I really dislike Rage. She just rubs me the wrong way. On the other hand, I love Yoshiki. (Of course I do. This surprises no one.)

Can anybody out there recommend some good fics wih Yoshiki in them? And with Yoshiki written as "she" rather than "he." Most trans characters in anime have gender identities that are open to debate, and can be convincingly written either way, but Yoshiki is pretty clearly transsexual. She has breasts that may not be real as in "she was born with them," but she isn't stuffing her bra either. I'm very frustrated by the lack of fic for her.

Yep, Ryuichi's (from the anime/manga Gravitation) birthday is today. To celebrate, I thought I'd recommend some good Ryuichi fanfiction. There's less here than I'd like, simply because I don't spend much time in the Gravitation fandom, but I'll share what I have.

I recommend X-Parrot's stuff, especially What You Wish For, its sequel Shining, and The Price of Fame, which is actually Shuichi centered, but Ryuichi is there and he's cool.

Another fantastic piece is On the Outside by Kirachu. This is another one where Ryuichi is not the central character, but he's there, and it's just a really great story. It's sadly unfinished, though, and I don't think it's ever going to be continued. Sadness.

Some people may be reading this and worrying that I've left out the best Ryuichi focused fic there is, but fear not! I haven't forgotten about Pianissimo Butterfly by angrybee. If you're a Gravitation fan, and you haven't read this, well, what are you waiting for? Go do it now. The rest of this post can wait. People should also check out White Rabbit, another angrybee story. I think I can identify with Ryuichi in that story.

So, that's all that I have. Anyone else want to recommend some quality Ryuichi fics, fanart, or AMVs?

Ok, so, I'm reading angrybee's journal and she has a post in which she describes getting a dumb review. In the course of the conversation this link comes up. It's basically classic fanfiction drama. Someone writes a bad story get a bad, but constructive review, and this sets up a whole battle involving a defensive author, her juvenile supporters, cruel, nasty flamers, and intelligent people trying to back up the peron who first posted the constructive criticism. None of it surprised me, until I saw this interesting comment:

If you shred somebody for writing Gravi, you're in danger of making them HATE Gravi, HATE writing, and lose all sympathy for gay people and the problems gay people have, IF this is how they're treated by persons SYMPATHETIC to gays, for God's sake. As someone who loves Gravitation, I think that's a major crime.

Oookay, I'm quite sure where to begin. Let's start with the fact that Gravitation is not about gay rights. I like the show, I truly do, but I don't delude myself into thinking it's any more than fangirl fantasy. If you are truly interested in learning about queer politics, I can recommend some excellent books and movies, however I wouldn't look to Gravitation.

The weirdest part of this comment has to be the assumption that receiving one bad review will lead them to hate gays. I mean... What? Isn't that a bit extreme? Methinks you're taking this a bit too seriously.

The whole thing is just... weird.