Fic Review: Misguided Manipulation
Jan. 10th, 2011 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dracoqueen22It's time for me to inflate my ego and talk about another one of my finished works. Not to mention give you, my readers, a chance to ask some unanswered questions you might have had about said piece of work.
Plus, I just like talking about myself. *laughs* It tends to get the muses going.
Today, in the round, it's another fanfiction. Today, in the round, it's Bleach. Today I have chosen Misguided Manipulation because it happens to be the fic I'm in the process of rereading at the moment.
So. This fic. The skinny. It's Stark/Ichigo. It's six parts. And it was a request from my wonderful Bleach beta and most often co-writer![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
azardarkstar who I can never say no to. Like ever. In fact, you can blame Buyer's Remorse on her, too. But that's a different story.
Summary: Sent to the Living World on Aizen's orders to recruit Ichigo to his cause, Stark finds himself led astray by the orange-headed teen. What a surprise.
Rating: M
Warnings: boysmut, language, some spoilers, slight OOC, pre-Hueco Mundo arc
One reason it's so different from my usual fare is that I wrote this fic entirely from Stark's POV. No one else's. Not even Ichigo's. I don't do that often. Usually, I write from Ichigo's POV because he's easiest, but here, I decided that it was all going to be from Stark's POV. Since it was his slow change that was most important. Plus, I wanted Ichigo's motivations to remain as mysterious to the reader as they were for Stark. Sort of a double whammy.
Also, I wrote Misguided Manipulation before Tite Kubo let us know that Stark was the first Espada and where the placement of his tattoo was. So I'm pretty pleased with myself that I guessed all that correctly. Score another one for me. (Another one, you ask? I also correctly guessed that he'd kill Ulquiorra and attack Ishida -- see The Beautiful Lie).
There's a lot about this fic I'm particularly proud of. The first chapter kind of starts off slow and stuttering as I get used to Stark's character, but as the story progresses, I really get into rhythm. I write a scene between Stark and Urahara that's just mmm, perfect in my mind. I love the way they play off each other. Which is probably why I ended up writing that Stark/Urahara drabble some time back...
Also, this fic gives us Aggressive!Ichigo. I love a sexy, aggressive Ichigo and I don't write that enough. He's not our usual blushing boy. Oh no. Here he knows what he wants and he goes after it. Poor Stark is just along for the ride, not that he minds one bit.
Anyway, back on topic, the basic premise behind this fic is that Aizen sends Stark to find Ichigo and persuade Ichigo to join their side willingly. He'd love to have all that power on his side, plus it would really destroy some of the Shinigami's motivation. Only, things don't go as planned. Instead of convincing Ichigo to join Aizen, somehow, Ichigo manages to sway Stark to join his side instead. Curiouser and curiouser. Guess that's the scowling, Kurosaki charm. Seriously, that kid manages to make anyone his best friend.
Cliches abound in this fic, too, but I couldn't pass them up. This story had a serious taste of romance, which no matter what you do, is going to have one of those cliches. It's impossible. Still, I tried to keep them entertaining. And I had such fun writing Stark.
I left an opening for a sequel but I don't know if I'll ever get around to writing it or even have the inspiration. I'd wanted to write a Grimmjow/Yoruichi fic (with background Stark/Ichigo) but it's on a very lengthy to-do list. I wouldn't count on it. Alas. It was to be such a good fic, too.
You can read Misguided Manipulation on Fanfiction.net or on my homesite. Unfortunately, it's not on livejournal because it's an older fic and I've WAY too much ficcage to load it all on here. I'm lazy. *grins*
Plus, I just like talking about myself. *laughs* It tends to get the muses going.
Today, in the round, it's another fanfiction. Today, in the round, it's Bleach. Today I have chosen Misguided Manipulation because it happens to be the fic I'm in the process of rereading at the moment.
So. This fic. The skinny. It's Stark/Ichigo. It's six parts. And it was a request from my wonderful Bleach beta and most often co-writer
azardarkstar who I can never say no to. Like ever. In fact, you can blame Buyer's Remorse on her, too. But that's a different story. Summary: Sent to the Living World on Aizen's orders to recruit Ichigo to his cause, Stark finds himself led astray by the orange-headed teen. What a surprise.
Rating: M
Warnings: boysmut, language, some spoilers, slight OOC, pre-Hueco Mundo arc
One reason it's so different from my usual fare is that I wrote this fic entirely from Stark's POV. No one else's. Not even Ichigo's. I don't do that often. Usually, I write from Ichigo's POV because he's easiest, but here, I decided that it was all going to be from Stark's POV. Since it was his slow change that was most important. Plus, I wanted Ichigo's motivations to remain as mysterious to the reader as they were for Stark. Sort of a double whammy.
Also, I wrote Misguided Manipulation before Tite Kubo let us know that Stark was the first Espada and where the placement of his tattoo was. So I'm pretty pleased with myself that I guessed all that correctly. Score another one for me. (Another one, you ask? I also correctly guessed that he'd kill Ulquiorra and attack Ishida -- see The Beautiful Lie).
There's a lot about this fic I'm particularly proud of. The first chapter kind of starts off slow and stuttering as I get used to Stark's character, but as the story progresses, I really get into rhythm. I write a scene between Stark and Urahara that's just mmm, perfect in my mind. I love the way they play off each other. Which is probably why I ended up writing that Stark/Urahara drabble some time back...
Also, this fic gives us Aggressive!Ichigo. I love a sexy, aggressive Ichigo and I don't write that enough. He's not our usual blushing boy. Oh no. Here he knows what he wants and he goes after it. Poor Stark is just along for the ride, not that he minds one bit.
Anyway, back on topic, the basic premise behind this fic is that Aizen sends Stark to find Ichigo and persuade Ichigo to join their side willingly. He'd love to have all that power on his side, plus it would really destroy some of the Shinigami's motivation. Only, things don't go as planned. Instead of convincing Ichigo to join Aizen, somehow, Ichigo manages to sway Stark to join his side instead. Curiouser and curiouser. Guess that's the scowling, Kurosaki charm. Seriously, that kid manages to make anyone his best friend.
Cliches abound in this fic, too, but I couldn't pass them up. This story had a serious taste of romance, which no matter what you do, is going to have one of those cliches. It's impossible. Still, I tried to keep them entertaining. And I had such fun writing Stark.
I left an opening for a sequel but I don't know if I'll ever get around to writing it or even have the inspiration. I'd wanted to write a Grimmjow/Yoruichi fic (with background Stark/Ichigo) but it's on a very lengthy to-do list. I wouldn't count on it. Alas. It was to be such a good fic, too.
You can read Misguided Manipulation on Fanfiction.net or on my homesite. Unfortunately, it's not on livejournal because it's an older fic and I've WAY too much ficcage to load it all on here. I'm lazy. *grins*
