God, I was going to wait to review until I had finished reading all of the drabbles, but Brought Him Back totally ruined that plan. I love it. I love it with a fiery passion like woah. I adore how Jiraiya wonders why Orochimaru never broke his fall - the way he was so sure Tsunade would come for him. His dialogue is stunning. "They. Are. Better. Than. Us." He hates Orochimaru the most in this only if he ruined the fairy-tale ending, and that is such a Jiraiya characteristic. I read a wonderful Jiraiya fic that says something about his books - "always have sex and a happy ending. It's a requirement. ...all writers are liars." The mention of the tale of a man with a nothing face...it is all brilliant. Lovely work.
By the way, I'm getting sucked in by your Shino drabbles. I applaud. I also blame you if I start writing a spate of Shino fics. Also, in the drabble in which Neji slaughters the clan? Fantastic last line.
Now, allow me to finish reading your work.
Author's response
Hah! Take that BellaxSirius goodness! Corruption into Shino-fic! If I had known that you might like to write Shino I would have requested a Shino-fic. Hug your ignored characters today!
The last line of Fate was actually the one that inspired me to write the thing in the first place. I was thinking: "Ita-pants is a completely insane psychopath. I wonder who could really relate. Tra la la. Blood and slaughter. Oh! Neji-chan!"
Heh, you also caught one of the allusions that I tossed into /Brought Him Back/. It's funny, but I started thinking about the song "Nowhere Man" by the Beatles while I was writing, and that's where the lines about 'the nothing man who would be king' came from. Other than the Beatles, I think Shelley contributed the most to BHB.
Oh, I think I've read that fic. I know there's a similar one at least on my favorites list. /Dreams to Ashes/, give it a read if you have time. I know it's not the same fic. The 'all writers are liars' line is sticking in my mind.
Personally, I like that Jiraiya still has some confidence in Oro-chan, despite all evidence to the contrary. Oro ruins things just by existing, without conscious effort on his part. It's an anomaly of personal magnetism. But because I'm a bit of a fluffy optimist, I'd like to think that Orochimaru would break Jiraiya's fall, just once, if he could. If only to plunge the knife in a little deeper.
As for Tsunade, I love her and such, but she would not be able to come on time in my universe. And she probably has such subconscious confidence in Jiraiya and Orochimaru that she wouldn't imagine a world where they actually ended up killing one another. Feh to ever-lasting friendship, I say.
So, thanks for the reveiw. I'm so glad I managed to knock your socks off with BHB. I wrote it as an escape from a Oro-thinks-about-Jiraiya fic that is even longer. They'll complement each other in the end, I think.