Well, since Bertha doesn't look as if it's gonna knock out our
power, I'll type up the review a day early.  Anyway, I've got 
lots to say here.


"March of the Pigs"
"Juysa's Lyric"
"Wicked Garden"
"Pulp Fanfiction"
"Quentin Tarantino's Ranma 1/2"
"Give Peace a Chance"
"Elseworlds #4: Looking Down the Barrel of a Glomp"

all by Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne


Well, at first I was going to review these one by one, and do them
a little later than planned.  Unfortunately, my mind was changed 
three days ago when I was attacked.  It appeared to be a trunk, 
except I've never seen a trunk with feet before.  Anyway, it
convinced me to review Stefan's stuff right away, and it's hard
to argue with a sentient box.  With teeth.

Anyway, one story is missing.  Ministry of Confusion was reviewed 
earlier by me in a crap attempt to be funny.  Rest assured, it 
will never happen again.

Anyway, Stefan Gagne.  What do you think of?  You think of random
music references, you think of dialogue that would make Quentin 
Tarantino green with envy, and scenarios that may or may not be
responsible for the current trend in sadfics.

But mostly, you think of Ryouga Hibiki.  I can't think of a single
writer who's come as close to Ryouga's head as he has.  Maybe Mark
Latus, but those are Alternate Ryougas, so it doesn't really count.
Ryuga is the standard angry to the point of almost psychosis young
man, and it shows.  Let's begin.

"March of the Pigs". I believe this was the first. (Ranma fanfic,
not fanfic in general.  If I tried to review FWLS, you'd need 
several large buildings to carry it around in.)  Strangely enough,
it didn't grab me as the others did.  Oh, it's really well done,
and Charlotte is excellent.  But I've been trying to figure out what
bothered me exactly.  I think it's Victor, easily one of the most
irritating characters in any fic.  I know he was designed to be, but
then, so was Scrappy Doo.  Anyway, recommended, but the rest are 
even better.  And Trent Reznor was just ripping off Jim Thirlwell
anyway.

"Juysa's Lyric".  Despite what Stefan said about "Ministry", when
you think of dark, this is one of the two you go to.  A truly
90s Douglas Copeland fic, this is the best example of how to introduce
a new character into a story.  He's not a foreigner, he's not
stronger than everyone else, and if he's the author, I don't want to
know about it.  Also has a *really* good characterization of Ukyou,
and the rationalizations she goes through every day.  Highly
recommended.

"Wicked Garden".  Perhaps the most underrated Gagne fanfic.  This is
a truly touching portrayal of Kodachi Kuno, and the psychoses that
threaten to rule her life.  It's hard to describe this one, but this
is the other big "dark" fic in the Gagne oeuvre, so perhaps the
Ukyou torture scene isn't completely OOC.  The ending was especially
sweet.  Very highly recommended.

"Pulp Fanfiction".  Everyone needs one weird playing with time work,
and here it is.  Another Ryouga work, this features very interesting
characterizations of Cologne and Akane, and a recap of MotP.  Perhaps
not as heavy as the others, but very well done.  Recommended.

"Quentin Tarantino's Ranma 1/2".  Fluff.  Very well written, and I
liked the pairings, but still fluff.  Though the pairing of Happosai
and Kodachi still has me shivering.  <shudder>

"Give Peace a Chance".  Ah, I really liked this one.  Another very
good characterization of Ryouga, and his brother and sister are
also done well.  The only problem I have is that Cosmo's vocabulary
gets to be really irritating after a while.  *Really* irritating.
Very highly recommended, anyway.

"Elseworlds #4".  The odd one out in this group, this nevertheless
features my favorite new character, Kaneda Saotome.  I've often
complained about the lack of suitable mates for Ukyou in the Ranmaverse,
well, here's one who fits her perfectly.  Akane seems a little more 
tolerant than expected, but it is an AU.  Ataru is annoying, but he
isn't irritating - that's a hard line to follow.  And, thank God,
Happosai is almost totally absent.


All of Stefan's fanfics have a certain edge.  Yeah, there's that vague
Tarantinoish quality, and I suppose that might be it, but I've come
up with another theory.

Most fanfics are subs, but Stefan's are dubs.

<pause>

I'll explain.  Stefan's fanfics really read like they are produced in
America.  This sounds like a bad thing, but it's not -- it's just a
completely different style than, say, Benares or Kun-chan.  The
references are American, and Cosmo -- well, say no more.  That's really
the best reason I can think of for the different style.  They're dubs.

Anyway, needless to say, Stefan is one of the best writers out there.
If you need me to tell you that, then get yer butt to std.com.

My personal rankings (based on my personal emotions):
1. Wicked Garden
2. Give Peace a Chance
3. Elseworlds #4
4. Juysa's Lyric
5. Pulp Fanfiction
6. March of the Pigs
7. QT's Ranma 1/2

And that, sad to say, is that.  No new works for almost a year.  I'm
dancing on my hands to see if he does anything with Akari.  I'd love
to see an Akari/Ryouga fanfic by Stefan.


Next up:  I'm taking a chance here...All of Mr. The Rutsch's works.
          Well, almost all.

--Sean Gaffney
--"You git!  I thought you were dead!  Git git git!" - Benny, No Future