Somethin' Bout Me

I don't publish with great frequency. The stories here certainly aren't meant to be of professional caliber - this is just a sandbox where I can play around and test things out.

I do love hearing what other people think of my work, though, now more than ever. If you're so inclined, please feel free to review my stories or just drop me a line with your impressions. I'm always looking for ways to improve my craft, so criticism is perfectly welcome. The more feedback I get, the easier it is for me to improve. And in the long run, that's integral to making all my own dreams come true.

Flaming is fine, too, for that matter. But be warned that I might find it necessary to respond in kind.

Completed Stories:

Love and Soba (D. Gray-man) - CRACK Word gets out that Kanda Yuu is still a virgin, and suddenly every member of the Black Order seems determined to show Kanda what he's missing. This story evolved from a night spent with a friend looking up bad pickup lines. Be warned, there are enough bad puns and innuendos here to drown an ox.

The Wager (D. Gray-man) - CRACK More Kanda antics. Cross Marian believes that Kanda has a secret, a secret that Cross is determined to reveal. He makes a wager with Klaud Nine, and he'll stop at nothing to make sure he wins. Running jokes and very bad thoughts abound.

Current Projects:

Dark Horse (Prince of Tennis) - SPORTS In this unreasonably long Tennis no Ohjisama fanfic (I'm planning it at 26 episodes), I follow a team of original characters through the national junior high tennis tournament. They come from Hida Junior High, (pretty close to where I lived in Japan for three years, actually) and the players are actually based on students I know. As you learn in the first episode, they have won the Tokai regional championship and are now hoping to make it all the way to the top and become national champions. You can expect them to meet some of Prince of Tennis's more famous schools along their journey toward that lofty goal. I won't tell you whether they'll win or lose, or how far they'll get, but I will say that I'm excited by the prospect of getting to write tennis matches against some of the best players in the series. And I've been doing my own tennis homework to develop some skills that will let my players actually stand a chance against the killer shots of Takeshi Konomi's aces. I hope you all take a chance to look over this fanfic. (NB: This fanfic is based on the Prince of Tennis manga, and was begun before the national tournament arc in said manga, so I've filled out the brackets personally. They have no relation to the brackets actually appearing in the manga, nor those in the anime. So, technically, with the advancement of the manga, this has become an AU fic.) TEMPORARILY ON HOLD, BUT WILL BE RESUMED

Pull Down the World (Bleach, Gin x Rangiku) - ANGST My editor (who rocks igneously) sometimes bemoans the lack of interesting het fanfics. We've discussed the topic at some length - just why shounen-ai fanfics are so popular and often so much more interesting. Anyway, I agreed to write one for her, a het. More might come later, but on different pairings and different series. I'm by no means a shipper, for anyone. As for the project itself, I don't want to spill too much right away. "Pull Down the World" looks at Gin and Rangiku in a new light, and examines the reasons underlying all Gin's actions. What made him change from the boy that saved Rangiku from starvation? Why did he thrown in with Aizen Sosuke? What purpose does all this serve to him. Spoilers all the way through the present JUMP releases in Japan. I'll give a numerical flag when my story has a fixed point of divergence into AU. It has yet to happen. Kubo Tite and I seem to have very similar ideas about Gin.

The Assignment (D. Gray-man, Lo x Allen) - ROMANCE On August 8th, 2008, I decided that Asia needed some love. (Those of you more familiar with Asian cultures may recognize the reason for that choice of date) Actually, all I wanted to do back then was kick out some decent fanfic poetry - I'd been reading poem fics and getting more than a little frustrated with authors who showed no understanding of rhythm and meter. Somehow, my poem fic has yet to include any poetry and has developed a life of its own. Now this little fic has turned into one of my more popular offerings and one of my most likely updates (because I can crank out a full chapter in a couple hours when I get stalled on my novel). The plot involves three exorcists on assignment at the Asia Branch: Allen Walker, Lenalee Lee, and Chaoji Han. Since Lenalee is finally away from Komui's watchful gaze, Bak Chang wants to make his move. But in order for that to happen, first he needs to make sure Allen Walker stays out of the picture. Enter Lou Fa, unwitting seductress.

Leviathan (Bleach, Ishida x Shirosaki) - HORROR This one is just strange. Don't ask questions. For some reason I decided that I wanted to drive Uryuu insane, H.P. Lovecraft style. I also decided to engage in another stylistic exercise and write this as a first-person narrative, framed as Uryuu's diary. (He's a girl; you know he keeps a diary) Unfortunately, life situations conspired to delay this story soon after it started. It hasn't gotten very far yet. If and when the story continues, the only thing I can say for certain is that it will be very, very weird. And it may not interest anyone but me. ON INDEFINITE HOLD

Oneshot Collections:

Konoha One Shot Theater (Naruto) - HUMOR Short pieces (1000 words) about the secret lives of ninja.

Dramatis Personae (Bleach) - ANGST A direct slap in the face to fanfiction-dot-net. The terms of use say not to publish anything in script format. Well, sometimes script format gives you the ability to tell stories in ways that you normally wouldn't be able to.

The Further Adventures of Kisuke Urahara: Peerless Scientest, Unrivaled Inventor, Rock Star, Pirate King, Genius Shinigami and Captain Extraordinare (Bleach) - CRACK Kisuke has always been one of my favorite characters, and I think his eccentricity is completely undersold in the Bleach manga and anime. He's just weird, and I wanted to give him the chance to show that off. Yes, there's some semblance of continuity to these chapters, but nothing approaching a coherent storyline. This is perhaps the purest exponent of my particularly twisted brand of humor. If you liked the Ben Bernanke Video, you'll probably like TFAoKU:PSUIRSPKGS&CE.

Like Tears in Rain (D. Gray-man) - I find this collection hard to classify. My other collections seem to have themes to them. I guess this is a collection about relationships, not always romantic, between characters. This is perhaps the only fanfiction I've written that I'll actively ask you to read. I consider the writing in this collection to be some of the best I've ever produced, especially Story #7, "Black". But I think it's all good, and it's all worth reading. If you're at all interested in DGM fanfiction, please, read the stories in this collection.

WARNING Oneshots: WARNING

CAVEAT LECTOR: I don't write oneshots often, and when I do it's usually because I need to vent some of my darker emotions. The four oneshots included below are all disturbing in their own ways. One is about rape. One wishes it was about rape. One shows the sadistic dangers of AU. And one is just downright mean.

Tears Won't Fall (Gundam Seed) - From the comments: "I DESPISE Flay. I do. But you actually made me feel sorry for her."

A Spring Morning (Gundam Seed Destiny) - Athrun hates Shinn.

Brothers (Bleach) - Ichimaru Gin never had a little brother.

What it Takes to Survive (Harry Potter) - We are all the product of our choices, however terrible those choices may be.

Anyway, if you like my work, please let me know. If you DON'T like my work, please let me know (and, if possible, tell me what you think I can do better). Any and all comments are appreciated. I'm here because I love these series, but moreover I'm here for the practice. And I'd appreciate any help you people are willing to give me in my quest to become a better writer.

(Oh, and P.S. Lots of thanks to my editor! She fixes all the mistakes I miss when I edit my own stories, and she makes me delete the really stupid things I find myself writing occasionally. o_0)