14th Best Fanfic I've Ever Read-Second Chance by Skullfox

14. Second Chance by Skullfox

Section: Star Fox
Genre: Psych Thriller, Time Travel, Action, Romance
Rating: Older Teen for violence, language, death thematics, sexual references and nudity.
Type: Full Length Story
Status: Twentyfour Chapters In, 150,000 words
Last Updated: May 21, 2011

Starring Characters: Fox McCloud, Krystal, James, Katt, Fara, Falco, Vivy, Cerinian OC Mahlay

Description: After the entirety of the Star Fox crew meets their death, Fox McCloud immediately awakens in his teen years through a force unknown to him. Determined to correct his mistakes of his past life, prevent the deaths of those close to him and find his true love again, whatever it may take. However, he will learn that fate and time is a tricky thing to mess with...

Review: This is perhaps the most recent entry to my list. After a bored afternoon I decided to look through my friends' favorite lists, and found this and started marathoning it through the next week, and I'm almost finished with what is up so far. And truly, it's remarkable.

The idea of time travel isn't a new topic, but the idea of living your life over again is a pretty fresh take, and Skullfox doesn't squander the potential. He creates an enigmatic story of Fox, a forty year old in his teenage body, trying to make sense of his life after he is forced to start most of it over again after his untimely death. His emotions and pain are detailed, but most notably his undying, unshakable determination to fix all that went wrong in his life. The day he wakes up, he saves his mother from certain death from Andross' bomb.

And although it is slow to build up, every moment counts in this story. Fox learns more about the temperamental tapestry that is time and life, and the story creates a literal alternate universe, where things start to change- with him, those he loves, and the course of his life. The story periodically switches to Krystal's home planet, where a force of evil starts to grow in a young male whose mind starts to corrode under the control of a mystical object, and although it's confusing at the time, it starts to all add together in an intense mid-story climax.

-"Fate

The most laughable concept in history, or something we could never hope to understand? The ideas of fate and destiny have been alive since time itself. People will bend to believe that they are drawn into their decisions by the hand of God or some other unseen force…in this most of them simply try to deal, by blaming these forces for their own mistakes. Perhaps fate does exist, and perhaps it does not, but in the end we only have ourselves to blame..."

There are some problems- the story has the tendency to jump through the progression of time almost randomly, making it hard to follow, and there are some confusing points, but the positives outweigh the negatives, especially later in the story as Skullfox's writing skills increase. It's a long read, but well worth it.

15th Best Fanfic I've Ever Read-Wounded by PitFTW

15. Wounded by PitFTW

Section: Super Smash Bros
Genre: War, Angst, Comfort, Alternate Universe
Rating: Teen for violence, language and emotionally painful scenes.
Type: Full Length Story
Status: Four Chapters In
Last Updated: March 5, 2011

Starring Characters: Link, Mario, Zelda, Ike, Pit

Description: The story takes place in a war zone- our favorite Nintendo characters against the alloys. A look mostly outside the battlefield on the effects of war and death on the soldiers of the war.

Review: PitFTW is probably one of the most legendary authors of the Smash Brothers Section. More than 80 different people have favorited her works all over the sites, and her stories usually have a lot of people flocking to them with rave reviews. For good reason- she's an incredible author. All around, her work is solid, intelligent and remarkable.

Wounded sticks with me because of the frank, painful look it takes on war. You don't see many anti-war stories taking place in a war- at least I don't, but she accomplishes it with raw emotions, deft writing, and immersing detail of the psyche of the soldiers and the events. What is probably the most remarkable part is that she does not preach in the story- she lets the events speak for themselves. And it's truly haunting.

"I used to read about how people would look like they were sleeping peacefully when they died.

Today, I learned that in reality, they don't look like they're sleeping.

They just look dead."

Truly not an easy read- a lot of parts are hard to stomach. But if you are brave, your reward will be great. Wounded is the kind of story that leads by example, and you are drawn to follow.

Unfortunately, work has been delayed for four months, but hopefully with some projects nearly out of the way she will resume work on her brilliant fic.