Author Appreciation Week Day 1: Kagerou Project

 Hi, everyone, and welcome to my first Author Appreciation Week post.  I’m going to be trying to highlight a few less-known authors and fics here.  Thanks, everyone, for writing cool things–and happy reading to anyone who finds a new fic to read through this post!

 

BlackCats writes character studies even when she’s writing pairing fics, and I love it.  Every character interaction she writes gives you a closer look at how the characters she’s writing think.  Unconscious both incorporates Takane’s narcolepsy as something that actually affects her—the only fic I’ve read that does so—and uses sybolism beautifully.

 

feralphoenix writes a lot more for other fandoms than she does for KagePro, but what she has written is awesome.  She writes the characters in a way that seems effortless but clearly took some effort, because the voices and actions are all pitch-perfect—even characters that are only “on stage” for a few lines seem fully fleshed out.  In this post, I’d like to highlight the less-known of her two fics, briar prince, thrush princess, viper queen, a post-canon fic which features a Hiyori who is both in character and likeable—no mean feat.  

 

fan_nerd (weabootrashking on Tumblr) hasn’t written much for Kagerou Project, but their fic Lullaby For Mon Frére deserves attention.  It warrants a trigger warning for depression and suicide because it deals very directly with Route XX, but it’s also a really unique take on the parallels between the Kisaragi siblings.  They do some subtle things with language to reinforce the comparisons they make that I really love.

 

If you’ve read Kagerou Project fanfiction, you’ve almost certainly read something by [Bad username or site: thatzodiacsky. @ archiveofourown.org]  They have 60 KagePro fics, which would be an accomplishment all by itself—but, the thing is, all the ones I’ve read are good. They’ve written a huge variety of pairings, as well as a bunch of lovely gen/friendship pieces.  They have a touch for subtle character relationships that really helps their work stand out.  One of their lesser-known fics is Hide Away Come Morning, a beautiful little gen fic starring Hibiya and Seto.

 

Another well-known author is heartachequistion.  They’re also pretty prolific and writes mostly KagePro.  They do write a variety of genres, but they shine the most when writing fluffy, in-character pairing fics.  I have left their fics feeling physically warmed by how cute they were—even when all characters involved are still their dysfunctional, vitriolic, weird selves. A lot of that is the dialogue—it’s really natural and well-done.    A personal favorite of mine is Reach for the Stars, which is ShinAya and HaruTaka, but they’ve written for a number of other pairings if that’s not your cup of tea.

 

NoInspirationForMyUsername has also only written one KagePro fic. But 100% Paper Cranes is a pretty spectacular little AU, the kind I’d like to see more of in the fandom.  I love the way the characters interact and the premise itself is really great.  It is a Lost Time Memory AU, though, so proceed with caution if you need to.