Title: Upside Down
Pairing: Kurokawa Hiroyumi/Hosaka Jouichirou
Manga: Boku no Koe
Word count: 1100
Rating: mild NC-17
Notes: For red_day_dawning
Prompt: 'Yumi's first time topping'

( Upside Down )

I was watching Embracing Love Vol 2 on ebay, hoping to place a bid. It sold for AUS$305 - roughly US$240 - $250, I guess. See here.


EEEP! Out of my price range.

Title: Autumn Fire
Pairing: Mochimune/Miyasaka
Word count: 450
Rating: PG
Notes: For geri_chan
Prompt: "Mochimune/Miyasaka! Miyasaka auditioning for Mochimune's film, or maybe Mochi working with Miyasaka in private to help him get a scene right."

( Autumn Fire )

*pokes community* Anyone still out there?

Our sneerless feeder, Snapelike, will be coming back to our fold in a few weeks, so I thought now would be a good time to reaffirm our sense of community and friendship here.

Reply here with anything you'd like to discuss with the community, be it on or off topic. It can be personal, or about your other manga reading/anime viewing, or your other fandom pursuits. We're just looking to get in touch with each other again here.

So, have at it! What's up with you? ♥

love, lore

Title: Cookout, Parts 1-3
Rating: NC-17 overall
Fandom: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)
Pairing: Kikuchi/Onozuka, Iwaki/Katou
Word count: ~6,060 for Part 1, ~7,160 for Part 2, ~6,200 for Part 3
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Sequel to: Unexpected Opportunities, Comeback (Part 1 and Part 2), Forgiveness, Firsts, First Date (Part 1 and Part 2), Going Steady (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6), and Audition (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). The series also includes two side-stories that are outside of the main timeline: Valentine's Day Surprise and Strictly Business.
Summary: Iwaki and Katou invite Onozuka over for a cookout, and Onozuka secretly plans to bring along Kikuchi as his date.

Follow the links to my journal: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

This is somewhat OT, as it doesn't deal directly with Harudaki, but a recent scandal involving a real-life Japanese pop star shed some interesting light on the geinokai (the Japanese entertainment industry) and the pressures that Japanese celebrities face. So I thought it could serve as a reference for Haru fanfics.

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, a member of the extremely popular boy band SMAP, was recently arrested for public indecency--basically, he got very drunk, and somehow wound up naked and "whooping noisily" in a public park.

Title: Dreams
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)
Pairing: Masahiko/Fuyumi
Word count: ~4,000
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Summary: In Book 3, Iwaki's father said that Masahiko "also had dreams of his own that he gave up, for the sake of succeeding the family". One day, Fuyumi discovers what those dreams were, and wants to help him rediscover them.

Author's note: An omiai is a sort of formal matchmaking meeting set up between two potential marriage partners. In Book 3, Iwaki's mother was apparently trying to set him up with one (or several) of these meetings before she died.

Thanks to: snapelike, who helped spawn the plot bunny with this post about the Iwaki family and our musings on what Masahiko's dreams might have been.

Follow the link to my journal...

Title: Professionals
Prompt: #18 - business
Characters: Sawa Nagisa is Nitta's. The inspectors and Kohaku are mine. The American in the second drabble is Sanami Matoh's.
Rating: G
Notes: Two 100-word drabbles. They are prequels to the ficlet I am currently working on for the Embracing Spring fest (caveat: if the plot gets any more out of control, I will table it for later and come up with something simpler and fluffier for the fest). There is in fact a travel advisory currently in effect regarding Roppongi bars.
Summary: There has been an epidemic of drinks being spiked in Roppongi. Some of the patrons are professionally interested in the situation.

( As Assistant Inspector Akatsu led away the perpetrator... )

Title: Audition, Parts 1-3
Rating: NC-17 overall
Fandom: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)
Pairing: Kikuchi/Onozuka
Word count: ~1,700 for Part 1, ~6,090 for Part 2, ~3,915 for Part 3
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Sequel to: Unexpected Opportunities, Comeback (Part 1 and Part 2), Forgiveness, Firsts, First Date (Part 1 and Part 2), and Going Steady (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6). The series also includes two side-stories that are outside of the main timeline: Valentine's Day Surprise and Strictly Business.
Summary: Onozuka and Miyasaka both compete for the role of Kikuchi's lover in his latest movie.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Well, I have good news and I have bad news...The good news is Aurora Publishing, which includes the BL Deux line, is having a sale. The bad news is, they're having the sale because of money problems. However, Deux books have always been of high quality and shipped on-time, so the publisher hasn't completely fallen apart yet. It sounds like they're going to let titles sell out during this sale, so if you've ever been interested in a Deux book, now might be the time to order.

While Deux does not currently publish any Youka Nitta titles, that doesn't mean they won't in the future. In fact, the imprint is known for picking up one-shots of a variety of popular BL mangakas such as Tateno Makoto (Yellow, Hero Heel), Yuuya (Endless Rain), Shiuko Kano (Kiss All the Boys, Yakuza in Love), Koujima Naduki (Our Kingdom), Takanaga Hinako (Little Butterfly), Miyamoto Kano, Lily Hoshino, CJ Michalski, Yamato Nase, Est Em, and Yugi Yamada. So, helping Deux survive serves not only our general BL needs, but our greater hopes for more Youka Nitta in English!

The back catalog is $4 a book ( O_O ) and newer titles and limited preorders are $8, with pretty reasonable shipping. I think you'll need PayPal to make this work, but because you're emailing an actual person for this deal, you might be able to work something else out. Not sure yet, as I only just made my order. ~_^ Happy BL shopping!

love, lore

Title: Fountains of Opportunity
Prompt: #18 - "business"
Pairing: Iwaki/Katou, but mainly an ensemble moment about Asano vs. Katou
Rating: PG
Summary: Connections can only do so much.
Notes: 200 words. Triggered by geri_chan's mention of mermaid flesh as an anti-aging food. Which, in turn, reminded me of chapter 47 ("Soul Position"), when Iwaki claims that stealing Katou's energy is why "I can work without sleep for so long and still keep my skin so smooth" (damn him)...

( You are even more exuberant than usual tonight... )

lore  and I were getting into a discussion about Yoshizumi's age in this post. I started off with this question:

How old is Yoshizumi? I get the impression that he's closer to Katou's age than Iwaki's, but he refers to Iwaki as "kun" rather than "san". Because even though he's younger, he's still Iwaki's senior in acting experience? Because he feels comfortable enough around Iwaki (and Katou) to be casual with them? He seems to be an experienced actor, because he says he acts in period dramas "all the time," which is why he is familiar with Kyoto. But he seems kind of young to be that experienced, so is he older than he looks, or maybe he's been acting since he was a kid?

W00t! I finished my entry for the Embracing Spring Fest--please head on over and check it out. I had a great time writing a pairing I would never have come up with on my own! ^_^

Title: Substitute
Author: geri_chan 
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Asano/Urushizaki; Iwaki/Katou in the background
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Warnings: Voyeurism
Word count: ~7,820
Prompt/Summary: "Asano has never forgotten his semi-crush on Iwaki. When he runs into the young Iwaki-look-alike paparazzi Urushizaki, sparks fly."

Notes: Much thanks to bronze_ribbons , who betaed this fic! ^_^ Any remaining mistakes are mine, not hers.

Follow the link to the story...

It's been quiet here lately. I hope that's because everyone is working on their Embracing Spring fest piece (prompts still open for claiming, submissions due between now and April 15, only 500 words!).

But, I also thought that maybe we've not been talking about the kind of things in which you're interested. So, what's on your Nitta mind lately? What sort of topics would you like to see covered in discussions? And what do you think about having a "free" day where we can talk about any manga or anime here, not just limited to Youka Nitta's works?

I hope we can come out of this with a topic list that everyone can be enthusiastic about. You all are some of my favourite people on IJ, and I love hearing from you, so don't be shy!

love, lore

Title: Strictly Business
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)
Pairing: Kikuchi/Onozuka, Katou/Onozuka (in the fictional movie only)
Characters: Katou, Kikuchi, Onozuka, Mochimune
Word count: ~410
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Prompt: Business
Summary: Katou and Kikuchi clash on the set of Mochimune's latest movie.

Author's note: This can stand on its own if you haven't read the previous fics, but it's sort of a sneak peek at a future sequel in my "Comeback" series, taking place several months after Going Steady Part 6, after Director Kitamura's film is finished, and Kikuchi, Onozuka, and Katou have all signed on to make a movie with Mochimune. I didn't intend to write the series out of order, but the "Business" prompt sparked a plot bunny that was just too good to pass up. See the afterword for spoilery details about the movie if you're interested.

Follow the link to my journal...

This - and next week's - drabble prompt is...

Business

Also posted to LJ, but I'm cross-posting here that I'm looking for a beta for my Embracing Spring fest entry. It's for the prompt "Asano has never forgotten his semi-crush on Iwaki. When he runs into the young Iwaki-look-alike paparazzi Urushizaki, sparks fly," so it's Asano/Urushizaki, with a hint of Iwaki/Katou in the background. The rating is NC-17 (for explicit sex and voyeurism), and it's about 7,825 words long--I got a bit carried away with the length! *smiles sheepishly*

However, I don't need a detailed critique. I've run it through spell-check and proofread it, and my main problem tends to be little typos, like leaving out a "the" or "and" somewhere (or throwing an extra one in), or a misspelling that spell-check doesn't catch, like mistakenly typing "their" instead of "there". (My brain seems to do a sort of mental shorthand where it skips over the mistakes because it knows how the story is supposed to go.)

So basically a quick check for typos and grammatical errors, though you are certainly free to give feedback on the story itself if you wish. I reserve the right to decide whether or not to implement any story changes, but I will be grateful for whatever help or feedback you choose to give. I know it's a lot to read, but the fest posting deadline isn't till April 15th, so if you get it back to me by early April, to give me a little time to revise if necessary, that should be fine. You can leave a comment here or email me at gerichan@gmail.com.

ETA 3/6/09: Thank you, Bronze Ribbons for volunteering! ^_^

In the afterword to First Date, Part 6, I mentioned that Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" reminded me of Kikuchi's situation, and that I was going to add it to my Haru Playlist. lore suggested that I share it when I had a CD's worth, so here it is. If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to add them in the comments!

Two important topics:

1. Which dog breeds are Katou and Miyasaka? That was what geri_chan and I discussed today. Therefore... a poll! Which dog breeds do you associate with the Haru characters?

2. I am currently writing BA about Ezra Pound, Imagists and kanji as medium for poetry, and when I found this pic, it hit me... Is it just me or is Mochi-kun really the reincarnation of Ezra Pound (who was actually very interested in China and Japan, hence the mixing of kanji and Modernist poetry)?

( Ezra and his little brother Mochi-kun... )

Now for the poll...

( Totally unserious poll about dog breeds and famous English poets... )

Title: Masks, Removed
Pairings: Iwaki/Katou, Director Mochimune/Miyasaka
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 5,500
Warnings: Exhibitionism, voyeurism, bdsm.
Notes: Sequel to Katou's Gift.This is a (late) gift for elingu, who requested a sequel to that particular fic. I hope your mood is better now, elingu ♥. This is betaed by the incorrigible blpaintchart.
Summary: Director Mochimune has developed a habit: he likes watching his main actor in intimate situations, something that seems to be accepted by said actor's lover. But things don't always turn out the way Mochimune wants them...

( Masks, Removed )

I was planning to eventually introduce Kikuchi's family in my Kikuchi/Onozuka series, and I was trying to decide whether his younger brother was in a relationship or single, and then I thought that it might be fun to have him start dating someone from the showbiz world, either an actress or someone who works behind the scenes, maybe for one of the talent agencies. (I'd also like to see Kaneko get a little romance, either with a man or a woman, but I was leaning towards a woman, to avoid "everyone is gay" syndrome.) But while trying to come up with potential candidates, I realized that there aren't really many female characters in the series, and the ones who might be close to the brother's or Kaneko's age are already married.

Naturally, this isn't a big surprise--it's a yaoi title, after all, where the focus is on smexy guys who love (and lust after) each other, and that's the way that I like it. On the other hand, the few women who do appear are interesting characters, and I wish that we could learn a bit more about them...

Thanks to bronze_ribbons' previous rec, I went to check out the Spring Kinkfest LJ comm tags, and found a delightful Haru ficlet:

Title: Reversal
Author: gryvon
Pairing: Iwaki/Katou
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Katou would give Iwaki anything.

I merely prompted it, and I gather that the author is not only anon but journal-less, but there's a cute Iwaki/Katou comment-pornlet over at LJ:springkink called Valentine Sushi by LJ:ibshafer that I think quite a few of you would enjoy.

P.S. Next round of springkink prompting begins in a week or so. It's pan-fandom, you don't have to write to prompt, and prompts aren't linked to the prompter, so yes, I'm poking at y'all to drop a prompt or two their way. (I don't think it'll compete in any way with the Embracing Spring fest, because the rules, regulars, and timeline are different, if that makes sense. Granted, my FAKE WiP from the fall round is still eating my head, but that's me being a bunny-of-doom magnet and very much not the norm.)

I've been meaning to post this for awhile and never got around to it, but I just thought I'd share an interesting tidbit regarding the When a Man Loves a Man manga. I noticed that Iwaki's club is called the "Rusty Nail" and it immediately made me think of the song "Rusty Nail" by the rock band X-Japan, since I'm a big fan of the group. They were hugely popular in their heyday, so it seems very likely that the club is named after the song.

Finally finished the fic!

Title: Going Steady, Parts 5 and 6 (Epilogue)
Rating: NC-17 overall
Fandom: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)
Pairing: Kikuchi/Onozuka
Word count: ~8,055 for Part 5, ~2,045 for Part 6
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Sequel to: Unexpected Opportunities, Comeback (Part 1 and Part 2), Forgiveness, Firsts, and First Date (Part 1 and Part 2).
Summary: Kikuchi and Onozuka finally consummate their relationship.

Follow the links to my journal: Part 5, Part 6

Here's a little Valentine's gift for the comm, slightly belated!

Title: Valentine's Day Surprise
Rating: R
Fandom: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)
Pairing: Iwaki/Katou
Characters: Iwaki, Katou, Miyasaka, Onozuka, Shimizu
Word count: ~2,060
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Prequel to: Comeback (Part 1 and Part 2)
Summary: Katou decides to make homemade chocolate for Iwaki on Valentine's Day.

Author's note: This is set in my Kikuchi/Onozuka series, which I've collected together under the tag "comeback series," named after the first fic in the series. I set the story in this series because I wanted to use the history I invented for Onozuka, of him belonging to a family of famous confectioners. However, it takes place prior to Onozuka and Kikuchi's first meeting in Part 2 of "Comeback".
Follow the link to my journal...

The prompt for the next two weeks is...

Changes

A reminder... Do go and find yourself a prompt for the Embracing Spring fest! 500 words minimum before 1st May. You can do eeet! (And I am looking at you, Elf, Chart and Minhha! No pressure, of course... ;0))

And a poll...

Poll #3189 Name
Open to: Friends, results viewable to: All

Should youka_nitta change name to nitta_youka so we have the same name as our tiny comm @ LJ?

The prompts are up @ LJ...

(This way to claim...)

Okay, it does look this is going to run 5 chapters, because Kikuchi and Onozuka were a little more long-winded than I had planned. ^_^

Title: Going Steady, Part 4
Rating: NC-17 overall
Fandom: Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)
Pairing: Kikuchi/Onozuka
Word count: ~3,175
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Sequel to: Unexpected Opportunities, Comeback (Part 1 and Part 2), Forgiveness, Firsts, and First Date (Part 1 and Part 2).
Summary: Onozuka and Kikuchi resume their postponed date, but has Kikuchi really forgiven Onozuka?

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Follow the link to my journal for Part 4...