VraieEsprit Last Updated 22.12.16
Current Music: Christmas music
Currently Watching: Random movies.
Currently Playing: 遥かなる時空の中で6
Currently Reading: 源平盛衰記

((Bio pic is "Nozomi", of "Dying Tree" fame - picture by Nadou, character copyright to me!!))

Hi, my name is VraieEsprit, Vraie for short, and I'm a fanfic writer from the UK. Thus far I've written stories for Bleach, Tenchi Muyou, Fushigi Yuugi and a few odd scraps for Saiyuuki. I'm a PhD student studying pre-modern Japan - the proper old warrior stuff.

Frequently PMed Questions

Can I translate Meifu/your story x into another language?
No. I appreciate the request and I am very flattered by it, but these characters are quite dear to me and I don't want them to be reinterpreted in another way outside of my control. Bleach is Kubo's copyright, but all the ideas and characters I created belong to me, and I'm protective of them, so thank you for your kind request, but please understand my reasons for saying no.

Can I write fanfiction about your characters?
I really genuinely don't believe this is going here, either, because they're just OCs, but I have been asked. The same answer applies as above.

Do you speak Japanese?
Yes, Modern and old Japanese. I didn't, though, when I wrote my Tenchi stories, which is why the use of Japanese in some of them is a bit cringey. I wrote them a long time ago now.

Can you translate character names/abilities into Japanese for me?
I can't believe I have to put this on here, but I have had a few really rude people send me harassing and demanding PMs expecting me to translate character names and abilities for them. I used to do this for friends on a Bleach forum now defunct, and I obviously create the names and the abilities/swords/etc for all of my own characters. I am quite busy, however, and I would appreciate if people could understand that I don't really have time to construct names and abilities for other people these days.

Do you Beta or proofread other people's fanfiction?
No. I wish I could, but I don't have time. I have had discussions with people before about fanfiction ideas and also ways in which to develop characters, but those discussions are always informal. It would not be fair for me to try and commit to something I genuinely have no time to do. I basically have my hands full with my own work which, judging by the typos that I sometimes find it in, I really need to learn to beta better anyway...

Do you take requests for fic?
See above. No time. Also, my brain works in a stupid way. It only writes about what it wants to write about, and which characters, and when. That's really not helpful for story commissioning ideas.

Do you respond to reviews and PMs?
Yes. Every one that I can, if I can, and if I don't, it's usually because I've become swamped with my work. Reviews are really important to me because they tell me about my story and whether or not it's worth finishing. I am serious about my writing and I welcome genuinely constructive criticism. Of course, I love it when someone else who is a fan of the same characters as I am get in touch to share their love. It also shows that people understand the level of energy, love and effort put into writing when they bother to review it, rather than just reading it and moving on. I like to know what people like and what they don't. Writing also becomes much easier when you feel there's a fan conspiracy in the works!

Please note that the following does not constitute 'constructive criticism'
- messages stating why you hate the characters I have chosen to write about
- messages that are just general flaming or rude
- messages telling me to read your fanfiction (I don't mind people asking or discussing, but ordering is a bit much!)

Please also note that I am British. I therefore use British spellings. I do make typos sometimes and other times my brain goes absent and completely misses an error - but I get way too many people telling me to correct British spellings to American ones...

My fanfiction topics:

The Tenchi Fic Arc: (Dark Heart - Operation Eradicate, plus...)

My Tenchi fic is based on the Universe series, but it largely AU in the sense that elements from other continuities have been wound into the plot to make them all one big world. My Tenchi arc kinda happened - mostly because I'm of the opinion that most OVA concepts fit fine into the TU framework xD. It kinda became something bigger than I imagined though, and spawned a whole bunch of stories.

Dark Heart (part 1 and 2)
Dying Tree (part 1 and 2)
Hawk of Jurai (part 1, 2 and 3)
The Dead Sea
Demon's Exile (part 1 and 2)
Kindred
Tainted Spirit (part 1, 2 and 3)
Eagle's Prayer (part 1 and 2)
Operation Eradicate (part 1 and 2)

The "After The Rain" stories also fit into this continuity of mine, but are prequels, set back before Ryoko is born. They are essentially Washu and Kagato prequels (no, not Washu x Kagato! I promise! Too too scary!), and chronicle Washu's relationship with Mikamo as well as Kagato's desire for power.

Autumn of Life is separate, although the events chronicled in it MIGHT easily have happened in my other continuity (and I think at one point in Dead Sea Nagi does refer to events from Autumn of Life ever so briefly). It's meant as a "missing episode" filler, to slot between No Need For Ryoko and the end of the series - basically, what happened to Ryoko while Tenchi was fighting Kagato, and what happened between Tenchi's victory and that meeting beneath the sakura.

I haven't written Tenchi in a long time, but I still have a lot of special thought for that series. And also the people who supported my Tenchiverse. Some of them were quite quite mad. But quite quite lovely, too.

Fushigi Yuugi: Shichikon Den & Sankagetsu Den

These two stories are about the original seishi. ShichikonDen happens at the end of the manga continuity and includes the characters and so on from the novels Sanbouden (because I like Anzu with Tasuki). It is about Chichiri and Tasuki trying to establish a normal post Seishi life but also about the four dead seishi who want to be reborn but aren't finding it easy. There's no Miaka or Tamahome in this fic. Sorry about that - sometimes you just need a break from the "Miaka...Tamahome..." of it all.

SankagetsuDen fills the three months that Miaka was in her own world after going to Taiitsukun the first time. It also chronicles what Tasuki and the others were doing leading up to meeting Miaka, as well as Nakago. Again, Miaka is not in this story, though Tamahome obviously is.

Fushigi Yuugi: The Shinzahou Chronicles

I always feel sorry for Kutou, so this story happened. It's the story of Hikari, Miaka's daughter (yes, I know, it's meant to be a son. But Hikari is always gonna be a girl to me. And being a girl...means she can enter the ShijinTenchisho. It isn't a typical Miko story, though it crosses all four lands and involves brushes with all four Gods. The idea? To finally save the Kutou Yui abandoned, and bring peace to the final kingdom.

Fushigi Yuugi: Hakuinden
Hakuinden is the story of Byakko's legend, both past and future. It's the one legend that Watase Yuu hasn't fully covered yet, but it is not simply Suzuno's story but another story as well. Part one, Rekishi, is long since finished. I've just done uploading the extraneous chapters on my flashdisk, so Kage stands at something like 17, 18 chapters now. I dunno if I will get to finish it - the next chapter is almost complete and my plan is for three or four more on top of that to complete Kage, so I will try and so something with it if I can. I dunno if anyone is actually reading it, but you know, I hate leaving stories incomplete...

Bleach:

Rain Dragon was the first Bleach story I ever wrote. It's name comes from the meaning of Uryuu's kanji, and I wrote it a long time ago, back before the concept of Quincy were ruined forever in my mind by the Final Arc. Needless to say, it's about Uryuu. But it was through this story that I discovered my genuine adoration for Juu and Shun. Rain Dragon is the only full story I have written set in the actual Bleach canon timeline. I generally dislike writing in this timeline. Most everything else I have written belongs to somewhere in the Bleach Ancient Past.

2000 years before canon:
Meifu's Gate: Prequel, Second Manuscript, Third Chronicle, Fourth Maki and Graduation Omake

Meifu tells the story of Juushirou and Shunsui, from the time of their birth through to the end of their education at Yamamoto Genryuusai's Spirit Academy. Coming from polar opposite positions in Seireitei society, they not only have to navigate new friendships and ulterior motives, but a strict education and the occasional life-threatening conspiracy coming out of one or other of Seireitei's Great Noble Clans. Meifu is the world of the dead in Japanese, and so Meifu's Gate implies Juu and Shun on the brink of becoming Shinigami.

The support I received for Meifu - and still receive - has blown my mind and made me so proud and happy. I want to thank everyone who came on the Meifu journey with me. Because of all of you, and your support, it was a much more magical journey than I ever imagined. When I set out, I thought it would be one story, but the support and encouragement helped it find a life of its own.

Sukuse

Sukuse saw Juushirou and Shunsui in the early days of their captaincy. It's 25 years since they graduated, taking control of their squads, and Seireitei is under threat once more. A war is on the horizon, and when healers are murdered in the Spiritless Zone in Rukongai, everyone is on high alert. But it's the murder of a Vice Captain that tells the Gotei that their nemesis is once more emerging from the shadows, intent on one final showdown to bring their whole world to its knees.

Tenka Ransei

Tenka Ransei is a bit of an experiment on my part. The Bleach manga has ended now, removing all my creative shackles where certain characters are concerned. I don't know whether anyone is still interested in reading Bleach, but I felt that I wanted to do this, if nothing else to return dignity to a character much maligned but, here at least, much loved. Call it my little bit of rebellion in Juushirou's name.

It's a story of past, of death and life, and perhaps a little different from the stories that came before it. At present it's about 24 chapters long. If people like it and read it and support it, then I'll do my best to keep it going!

2-300 years before canon:
Mirror, Flower, Water, Moon: Sousuke's Story

As the title suggests, this is a prequel about the kind of background Aizen may have come from. I have no real clue why I was inspired to write it, just that I was. And so I did. I guess he's kind of like that O.o. He's sort of creepy though. Some of the things alluded to in this story do carry Meifu resonance...especially in terms of Sukuse, actually ;)

Marigold

This is a story of Rose, Lisa and Sousuke at the Academy, along with Kuchiki Soujun and a bunch of others. I have always had particular ideas of Rose, his spirit power, his ancestry and other things. I had those ideas for him - the slightly dark, sinister edge - long before it appeared in the manga. I also have a fascination for Sousuke and his developing spirit power, and so this came about. Marigold went on hiatus after events in the manga, but I haven't given up on it. It remains on hiatus for now, depending on what happens with Tenka Ransei. I still have a whole, twisted, dark little tale to write about these guys, but it depends if people are still interested in reading Bleach!

Almost canon: Artistic Licence

So after manga chapter 494, I had the urge to write about Rose and Kira. How they may have met. What kind of interaction they had. All the things that Kubo hasn't given us and possibly (probably) never will. I love Rose and Kira both as characters, and Rose especially has far too little attention. This isn't a slashy fic - it's about two characters making adjustments, dealing with the past and facing up to the future. I leave it open as I have moments when I want to add to it, and even maybe explore a little bit of Rose's Real World past. Yep, even this one has past in it ;). It's not a proper 'story' as such, but it does take place mostly in the actual Bleach canon.

Oneshots

I have a bunch of these for Bleach. Some connect to Meifu, one to Rain Dragon, some are just random character musings.
I also have a couple of short fics for Saiyuuki which are essentially also oneshots. This isn't something I do a lot of, but sometimes an idea just has to sneak out.

--Updates-

December 2016

Tenka Ransei has appeared!

Disclaimer:
The story worlds I have dabbled into belong to their creators, and any canon characters are also property of those esteemed individuals. Without those people, these stories could not exist, and I am eternally grateful to them for that fact. Each story I write contains a disclaimer to that effect.
The ideas, plots, and original stupid stuff I stick in those characters heads are mine. The original characters are also mine, and their follies and adventures too. Anything that is my creation is also my copyright; please do not replicate them. Thank you.

Thought (s) for the month:

Ganbatte, atashi!