Daring To Be Different...

Title: Touch
Fandom: Original
Pairing: An established M/F relationship, but more emotional than physical.
Rating: I'm going to go ahead and give this one an R for really dark themes and some pretty graphic blood and the like.
Warnings: PLEASE NOTE - there are very dark themes and suicide in this piece. Please don't read it if those things are triggers for you.
A/N: Interestingly, I actually started this piece a long time ago, but never finished - NaNo gave me just the incentive I needed. And I'm not going to lie - I really, really, really like this piece. It broke my heart while I wrote it, and it breaks my heart over and over again every time I read it to edit it. I can only hope it does the same for you.

( You know, you never give much thought to those old, tired sayings everyone tosses around. )

As always, comments and criticisms are more than welcome.

I balked a little at posting this one - it draws really heavily on people I know IRL, and it...may not portray them in the most flattering light. And they'll know who they are, too. So...I'm just hoping no one who provided the inspiration for these characters will take offense at the way they are portrayed - because that was the point of all this, really. To show humans being human, in the best and the worst ways.

Title: Choices
Fandom: Original Fiction
Pairing: M/F, although nothing really explicit. Just an established relationship.
Rating: I'm going to go with R, for some dark themes.
Warnings: There is some triggering material in this - mentions of suicide.
A/N: The second in the series of shorts I wrote as my attempt at NaNoWriMo last year. I thought I'd attempt a short story collection that centered around the theme of "unconventional horror" - stories that eschew the standard tropes of horror. So in these stories, there are no heroes, people make the wrong choices sometimes, and nothing is ever really what it seems. Rather than idealize horror, I thought I'd try to write it as I imagined people would actually live it - doing the best they could. /copy-pasta from last post.

Again, I'm posting these in what is essentially reverse comfort order - so I like this a little better than the last one (I think the writing flows better and the storyline is stronger), but I'm still not entirely comfortable with it. It's clunky at points and the ending could use some sprucing up, but here it is, nonetheless.

( She sits, and tries not to think about the decision she has to make. )

Please don't hesitate to offer up anything you might have to say about this. I could certainly use the feedback.

Okay, so - this probably needs a little backstory. I currently RP Kurama over at guysandolls, and he's gotten involved in a relationship with Shoshanna Dreyfus, of Inglorious Basterds fame. A few weeks ago, a meme went around about characters and their children, and an idea was born.

Both Shoshanna's player and I agreed that they would have 2 children, one boy and one girl. The girl is totally a daddy's girl, spoiled rotten by Kurama. She's got a good handle on her powers, and she's learning to fight from her father, and to heal from her father's friends. The boy takes after his mom - stubborn and proud. He's not so good with his powers, so he trains with Yusuke and Kuwabara, turning out more of a brawler than anything else, and fiercely protective of his sister.

Shoshanna's player wrote a little snippet of fic with the kids being rather young, christening them Ilana and Shiro, so I thought I'd try my hand at them once they were older - already training and coming into themselves. This is the result.

( Kurama supposes he should probably be used to it - maybe even expecting it, by now - but when Yusuke pokes his head in the front door and looks around furtively, Kurama can't stop the eyebrow that arches toward his hairline or the mildly scolding sound that escapes his mouth. )

That's right - I'm extending my annual invitation for Christmas fic!

Now, I know I didn't...exactly finish last year, but I swear I'll do better this time! I just got caught up in some canon review for one of the requests (read: my local library has everything EXCEPT the third book in a seven-book series, which happened to be the one I needed), and lost track of time.

Anyway - same rules as last year: no current limit on how many requests any one person can make, just leave me a prompt, a pairing, a rating...anything, basically. As much or as little as you want to specify.

Fandoms you're probably safe enough requesting from:

Yu Yu Hakusho
Fullmetal Alchemist
Ouran High School Host Club
Maximum Ride
Good Omens
Most of anything written by Stephen King
A Song of Ice and Fire
Kingdom Hearts
Okami

I'm also not opposed to doing some research to fill prompts, so if there's something else you'd like to see, go ahead and ask! The worst that can happen is that I'll ask you to pick something else.

For examples of my previous Christmas fic, check out my memories! All my stories are archived there.

Request away!

Title: The Way Things Stay The Same
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Pairing: None - although there may be light hints of both Yusuke/Kurama and Kurama/Kuwabara.
Rating: PG-13, for some language, a little dark imagery, and a kiss.
A/N: A sort of sequel to "The Way Things Change". I don't know that reading that one is entirely necessary for understanding this fic: all you really need to know is that the Apocalypse has happened, and it's a lot wetter than anyone really expected. Oh, and also - Yusuke's dead.

( It's become routine for them. )

This is entirely un-betaed, and I'm not even entirely sure how I feel about it, so comments and criticisms are very welcome.

Title: That Strange and Subtle Magic of Birthdays
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Pairing: Yusuke/Kurama
Rating: PG-13, for a brief allusion to a sexual relationship.
A/N: Finally, the last part in a story that ran away with me. Inspired by a number of sources, most notably the short story "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye".

( Yusuke! )

And with that, it's done. It's been a crazy experience, but definitely a rewarding one. Thanks to everyone who stuck with it, and I hope I've managed to give you what you were looking for.

As always, comments and criticisms are extremely welcomed.

Disney Princess Meme!

Cinderella:

One of your parents is dead
You are expected to do a lot of chores
You love to dress up
You love animals
You are waiting patiently for your Prince Charming
Your mom is really strict
You have sisters who seem kind of jealous of you
You’re afraid to speak your mind sometimes
You have left your shoes at a friend’s house before
You have blonde hair

TOTAL: 3

Belle:

You’ve kissed someone your friends didn’t like
You’ve been lost in the forest
You love to read
You are not shy at all, and not afraid to speak your mind
One of your family members is a bit weird
You have done volunteer work
You have a wild imagination
You love to take care of people in need
You’ve rejected at least one person when they’ve asked you out

TOTAL: 5

Jasmine:

You are very clever (modest, too)
You’ve been with someone way different from you
You’re unique and different from everyone else
You’d never marry someone just because they were rich
You have set a lot of goals for yourself
You don’t have a lot of friends
You’re independent
You are wealthy
Your parents try to control your life

TOTAL: 5

Ariel:

Your parents expect a lot from you
You really try to follow the rules, but it’s hard for you
You’re a bit of a trouble maker
You’re the youngest in your family or in the last 2
You have a lot of sisters (3 or more)
You collect something
You have/had long hair
You have/had a pet fish
You’re extremely curious
You believe everything people tell you/you’re a bit gullible

TOTAL: 6

Snow White:

You know that you’re beautiful
Sometimes it seems like your mom is jealous of you
You’ve almost been killed
You have at least seven good friends
You’ve had food poisoning
You have/had short hair
You get along with almost everyone
All of your friends are different
You love to have a good time
You’re happier when you’re out of the house than in

TOTAL: 5

Mulan:

You can be a tomboy sometimes.
People wish you could be a bit more girly
You’ve pretended to be someone you’re not
You’ve had a physical fight with someone
You have/had considered running away from home
Your parents try to plan your life out
A lot of your friends are boys
You sometimes find yourself in bad situations
You love your family so much that you’d do anything to protect them

TOTAL: 7

Aurora:

You live/have lived with someone other than your parents
You almost died at a very young age
You are gentle, loving, and/or thoughtful
You have a decent singing voice
You like to sleep in late on the weekends
You spend most of your time outside
You’re adopted
Pink is one of your favorite colors

TOTAL: 3

Pocahontas:
You love to walk around big cities
You are more spiritual than religious
You’ve been in an interracial relationship
One of your family members is dead
Your parents are very protective of you
Someone you know has been in war
You love nature
You have/had black hair
You would love to move somewhere exotic and beautiful
You’re very adventurous

TOTAL: 5

Princess I am the most like: Mulan

Princess I am the least like: Cinderella/Aurora

Also - there will be a real-life update at some point, if only because I just had the sweetest Spring Break ever.

Find myself with a little time, so I figured I'd make a real-life update - I don't do these very often, and I figure I should maybe endeavor to for the people who are actually here 'cause they like me and not just because I write.

( That being said, if you're just here because I write, you can feel free to skip this entry. Nothing fandom-related to be had. )

So, that's life for me at the moment. I guess I'll try to do these more often - though I guess that's contingent on anyone really caring to read them?

Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho/Ouran High School Host Club
Pairing: Gen-fic
Rating: PG-13
A/N: Written for frudence, who requested a fic set in the universe of the RP Edensphere. Characters are "born" into the world from cocoon-like structures, with almost no memories of their former selves.

( He wakes from his dream to find that he is suspended in some kind of fluid - viscous and thick - but manages not to panic. )

Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Pairing: Kurama/Kuwabara
Rating: R
A/N: A sort of...cheating collaboration of two challenges? renegaderaine asked for a Kurama fic dealing with the conflict between his human and demon personas, and Kubuntu asked for a Kurama/Kuwabara fic with Youko Kurama. This...sort of fits both challenges, so I hope you'll both like it.

( He wonders what he's doing, sometimes. )