X Never Marks the Spot

New Gintama - waaaaaai~~~! Absolutely as awesome as I expected it to be, if not more, since they went ahead and started with the 2 years later arc!! Which makes sense but I didn't see it coming, and yeah, it's as hysterical as I knew it would be. Especially Shinpachi's scream (gif courtesy of nemissa) which, I won't lie, was what I was most looking forward to seeing animated from this arc (that and Okita, which will come next week - can't wait~!)

In the last week I also went and reread/read the whole Saiyuki manga series (I'd never read the second half of Gaiden or Reload) and oh man, it's such ridiculous, angstastic, at times nonsensical, unabashed emo-porn - and it's still one of my favorite series of all time. Minekura's art (and all her boys) are gorgeous and her characters and stories push so many buttons of mine. Nothing brings the h/c quite like Saiyuki, and their particular flavor of always-at-odds-and-pretending-not-to-care-about-each-other-although-in-truth-we-really-really-do is about as perfectly tuned to my own tastes for that kink as anything I've ever seen.

( Squee!! a bit spoilery )

Wasn't there a Gaiden OAV? Should go hunt that up...(Though I vaguely fear watching the anime, when Hakkai now will sound like Zura ^^;)

(And now I've gone and tracked down a translation of the actual Journey to the West, since it's a little odd that Saiyuki's the only version I'm really familiar with...roughly akin to Men in Tights being one's only knowledge of Robin Hood, or Merlin being your primary experience of Arthurian legend.)

First of all, I have posted Hakkai's epilogue to "Remembering to Breathe", thus finishing the fic, (minus the short sequel story which I might post on ff.net sometime.) My inexpressible gratitude to everyone who's read it, those who came back to it after two years, or those who just discovered it. And extra hugs to rgbrobbie, menuriko, y_sanada, ditch_gospel, cerisier and the usual gang of idiots (<3 you!) for all your support, encouragement, prodding, lovely long reviews, and everything else. Couldn't have done it without you!

Remembering to Breathe
Saiyuki, gen, angst/suspense/drama
Chapters 1-21 [complete] on ff.net | On AO3


And in the category Blast from the Past, I've finally posted one of my old RGB zine novellas at rgbrobbie et al's request. This story is going on eight years old, and not, I feel, as strong as some of my more recent fic, but it was my baby at the time and I'm still fond of it. At over 80,000 words, it's the second longest thing I've written, and probably the purest hurt/comfort (it's a toss-up between this and "Seven Deaths".) Poor, poor Peter. Maybe I'll get around to putting "Brothers in Limbo" back online next. For now, enjoy!

Descent
The Real Ghostbusters
gen, drug-induced hurt/comfort


And now, off to write Lex Luthor...

Once upon a time, many Julys ago, I started writing a Saiyuki fanfic. Three years and three days later, I finished that bitch.

The first draft, anyway. Here's the next chapter - and more will be a-coming shortly, soon as I whip the draft into shape.

[Saiyuki] Remembering to Breathe
Chapter 16: Confront: Violet
Gen; angst/drama/X-parrot's favorite cliches

Not gonna say I hope it was worth the wait, because...damn, it would have to be the next Harry Potter for that. Or the next ep of Supernatural, at least. Especially since it's been so long since I've written Saiyuki, and I'm pretty rusty, and Sanzo's as bitchy to write as ever. But here's to hoping someone remembers it...lemme know what you think!