Aden... Aden had an ugly childhood. It taught him how to fight and survive, taught him how to run and hide and cut ties. Taught him that he wasn't born right. It didn't teach him much else. So Aden ran.
Aden grew up. Discovered the world, and crossed an ocean. Made his life his own. Soul-deep pain notwithstanding, he fought to be happy. Aden made do.
Until the aliens invaded his neighborhood.
What to do when you have a rifle in hand, and are damn good with it?
What to do when the rifle isn't enough, when the only way to save a girl and her mother from death, is to die himself?
Aden makes his choice, and is rewarded beyond his wildest dreams. Or perhaps...exactly to his wildest dreams.
Ladies and Gentlemen! Follow Aden as he alters his DNA with the power of Vanguard science to become what, and who, he wishes to be. Accompany Tinea as she greets the world and promptly explores new places, voluntarily or not. Watch as she meets new people; one in particular, one in terrible need of cuddles.
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This work is set in the universe of RavensDagger's Stray Cat Strut, but it ISN'T necessary to read that first. I stay close to the canon, and develop my own characters.
Tinea and Leah was submitted by myself to compete in the April '23 SCS Fanfiction Contest. It took second place, a single vote behind the winner!
Though TnL started out as a fanfiction, it has since evolved to be something larger, something that could stand on its own, and it will only continue to grow.
Thank you for reading. :)
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What to expect:
- gratuitous violence against unthinking aliens
- get points, buy gear
- cybernetic upgrades
- organic augmentations
- a perhaps more serious approach to transforming male -> female
- maturity from both female leads
- girls' love, from the soft and cuddly, to the (clearly marked) steamy and kinky explicit
- many, many chapters
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Release schedule: 2x per week; Thursday, Sunday
Chapter length: 2k+
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The cover art was drawn for me by Jero. I do own the rights to it, including commercial.
I'm writing this review as in taking a break from the story. Overall the plot, intrigue and characters would easily keep me in to the end. This however is mellowed out by a writing style when it comes to conversations that feel almost solipsistic. More like they are parts of one individual relaying information than having any organic flow to them. Sadly I'm not myself skilled enough to point out what makes me feel this way other than the rough vibes I get from reading and how it slightly exhausts me, so sorry to the author for not providing better critique.
In the end I will take a break from reading this for now but will aim to come back with a fresher brain. The plot itself has me intrigued and I want to see were it goes, it has just been a bit to exhausting a read so far.
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I like this fanfic especially the earlier chapters where the protagonist is customizing themself. This fanfic puts more focus on the in-between combat portions, different from the SCS series it's based on. What I mean by that is they spend more time setting up ambushes, shopping for items, scouting, talking, flirting, and teasing than they do actually fighting.
That being said my biggest problem with this novel stems from the foundation of the relationship between Tinea and Leah. After Tinea discovers Leah, the relationship between the pair goes from savior/savee to a honeymoon phase within an hour. The pair really latch onto one another because of trauma, Tinea because of her past and Leah because of her present. They latch on HARD too. So hard in fact that the author could *almost* justify a soft yandere tag, especially when Tinea says things like "I'd die for her" after only knowing Leah for a couple hours. Anyway, I'm not really sure if what the pair has is love or dependence. It all just happens so quickly. There's basically no buildup at all.
There's also some oddities in the AI's personality/ behavior that I don't really remember in SCS. They seem more detached from their Vanguard's and humanity in general in this novel, yet they also say things a 3rd party probably wouldn't. Like at one point Tynea refers to something as a "failure of humanity, " which doesn't seem like something a 3rd party alien AI with knowledge of thousands of diverse alien cultures would say casually.
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Fantastic "Stray Cat Strut" Fan-fiction/Spin-off. Tinea and Leah are great characters with an interesting backstory.
I really like the focus on biological enhancements instead of cybernetic ones.
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It's quite good. It has the fantasy conclusion of mtf transgenderism, while telling a compelling plot line of earth being under attack from an alien species threatening overall human existence. The romance feels believable, cute, and enjoyable. So far, consistently great writing with zero to little grammar issues.
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Action focused, with some humanity sprinkled in. Later. As always it is interesting to see someone enter an other writers world. Hmm this is a half review, ill come back and up this as 5 stars latter with how this story feels to me, you see with Action stories I often don't trust the writer to make the jump when not in that arc of action to express those every day moments that springboard the reader, tied by those moments to care about going into the next mission or whatever. I often wait to see if they can make it to the other side with the change up. But im hooked and interested these two goobers.
the reason I give 4 stars is because 1) there is a lot of heavy self refection at one or two points which, as someone who dose that themselves, im well aware just how much analytical jargon turns people away. And 2) the writing window dressing could be better, just small things like 'why are they so good at x' being reassured in the readers mind missing, and that is nothing!! I feel guilty saying this now because there only going to get better at this I feel.
please give it a read. And leave the writter nice messages as you go along!
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