Yu Yu Hakusho/Fanfic Recs

Proof that there is 10% worth dying for and being revived by Spirit World.

Listed here are fanfictions that have been recommended by Tropers for the Yu Yu Hakusho canon, all of which must be signed to remain on the page. Please use the template when recommending.

You may also add comments about recommendations already listed, but please don't converse/argue here. Save that for the discussion page.

Authors and Websites
Shadow Jaganshi's fics. She has since stopped writing, but the stories are still there.
 * Recommended by Elkian.

Blossomwitch's fanfictions (Particularly "Define Mercy" and Balm of Gilead.)
 * Recommended by Serene Shadow
 * Blossomwitch is an amazing writer, and her fics are usually entertaining and worth a read, especially the two mentioned above. She has awesome characterization, and keeps with canon in most cases. There's a bit of slash at times, depending on the fic. All in all it's good work, and worth reading.

Windswift's fanfictions (Particularly Kiss and Secret and Strange.)
 * Recommended by Sekahyyh
 * Windswift is the queen of poignant, brilliant little oneshots. She seems to work well with minute snapshots - she literally has hundreds of them posted, very few of them surpassing a thousand words. Windswift, however, despite her lack of long fics, is my personal head-canon. She's hopped her way through every character and pairing in the show, touching them all lightly with the softest, most compassionate eye, and then moving on. It takes an hour or more to get through all of her drabblish fics, but it's a very enjoyable, thought-provoking hour, and she really does have something interesting to say about everyone. Windswift has never written a fic that wasn't for the whole family, but her ideas and style are very adult. Tropers who try her out are in for a wonderful time.

Creepstakes's fanfictions (Particularly Kitsunetsuki and The Silk of Benzaiten.)
 * Recommended by Sekahyyh
 * Creepstakes is easily the best erotica writer in the fandom. She always has an incredible blend of interesting, entertaining, and arousing in her fanfiction, and almost never sacrifices her plots. Her take on the characters and her ability to amuse a reader and continue to amuse them are a gift. Her plots are addictive and always leave me gasping for breath, and she's not afraid of writing rare pairings and new ideas. The majority of her work is male-slash, and explicit male-slash at that - she's delved into sadomasochism, guro, and many other not-nice things, so tropers not looking for darker, libido-driven fics should give her a miss, and even those who don't should remember to heed all her warnings. Still, Creepstakes earns her place as one of the best writers in fandom.

Sans Enigma's Yuu Yuu Hakusho Fanfiction Archive (Particularly Silent and Still and Kurama's Mouth.)
 * Recommended by Sekahyyh
 * This website hasn't been updated since 2001, nine years ago. Still, it's the last bastion of the late and greats, Lulu White Tenshi, Sahari, etc., people who have long since left this fandom. I can't think of a single fanfiction on this site that didn't blow me away, and Silent and Still, my personal favorite fanfic of all time, is housed here. The pairings are mostly Yusuke/Kurama, with some deviations, but they're all proof that people were active and amazing in this fandom long before my time. I mean it when I say that Sans Enigma is always worth a visit, even if you've been there a hundred times. The day it goes down, I'll cry. (Silent and Still has an off-site sequel by a different author, should anyone be interested, called Overcoming Chaos.)

Sekahyyh's fanfictions. (Especially Counting Crows, Hell or High Water, and Silk & Sable)
 * Recommended by Hyrusekki
 * Sekahyyh is tremendously talented and her fics are original, sweeping, and epic. From the level of detail to the vocabulary to the characterization to the research, you can feel the weight of her writing and her stories read less like fanfiction and more like published works. Although her main focus is Karasu/Kurama, she appreciates some of the more forgotten characters in fanfiction, like Toguro, Genkai, and Mukuro, giving them layers and depth. Her erotica is unique and real, her non-con is gruesome and disturbing (such as in Counting Crows), and she not only writes yaoi, but het and yuri as well. Sometimes I walk away from her works shaken, lost in thought, or insanely jealous. She's amazing.

KowaretaTsubasa's fanfictions ( especially Judgment, Fully Exposed, and Little Wishes)
 * Recommended by Sir Psycho Sexy
 * Kowareta Tsubasa is a brilliant writer who has a very intellectual spin on the Yu Yu Hakusho characters. No matter who it is she writes, she can manage to make them sound like the most amazing and mesmerizing characters in the world. I would recommend her to anyone who is getting sick of all of the Transplanted Character Fic in Yu Yu Hakusho fandom, as her writing ability will make you fall in love with the characters all over again. Her scope ranges from the main four to Sensui and Itsuki to the Three Kings (particularly Mukuro) to Toguro and Genkai- and she makes it look effortless to keep them all in character. Highly recommended.

ThothMoon's fanfictions (especially Graduation, Cockroach, and Will You Accept the Charges?)
 * Recommended by Sir Psycho Sexy
 * Thoth Moon is another writer who can add great intellectual depth to the Yu Yu Hakusho universe- not to mention she actually shows her work whenever she has to go beyond YYH canon to find something relevant to her fics. Her NC-17 rated stories are very playful while remaining true to the characters and making the reader think, as well as retaining the requisite Togashi-level Gorn where it is appropriate. In this troper's opinion, Cockroach in particular stands out because it is the most comprehensive Deconstruction of Mister Seahorse that he has read in any fandom- but the other fics are excellent as well. A must-read.

Graphospasm's fanfiction
 * Recommended by Lurking Beneath
 * Now, seeing the sheer amount of OC-centric stories in this writer's profile is enough to throw even some of the least judgmental readers off. Don't let this fool you, though- Graphospasm is one of those few fanfic writers who know how to do OCs right. Her original characters are easy to relate to, believable and entertaining. Her fics are fun without feeling too bubbly, and they all have plots worth getting into. Some of the early chapters of her fanfiction (such as Future Talk) are slightly off-putting in their... typicality, but Graphospasm has grown as a writer and her stories have grown with her. The canon characters don't take the back seat, Kuwabara is treated like a great person and nobody is OOC. Fics this troper would particularly recommend are "Fakes & Fiends", "Future Talk," "School Daze" and "Touched."

Koko-chan and the Blue Spanch
 * Recommended by Shareth
 * These two have collaboratively produced the funniest series of Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction this troper has ever read. There are a few minor spelling errors, and people twitchy about male/male relations had best give "Grandfather of Fire", the seventh in the series a miss (the Hiei/Kurama is present in most of the others, but not in center focus), but this crackverse is well worth dealing with those minimal flaws. This troper clearly remembers both her and her brother reading it as young teens and not only not being permanently scarred by the experience, but laughing so hard our faces hurt. Great stuff... and the later crossover of the Quinverse with Weiss Kreuz is just as gut-bustingly funny.

General Fics
''Stories focused on the family and the friendly relationships of the cast. Plot-focused stories or light day-in-the-life stories. Pretty much anything that isn't focused on romance.''

Changing Death by borderline_mary
 * Recommended by Serene Shadow
 * Synopsis: Six months after the Dark Tournament, Kurama goes on an important mission that is kept secret from the rest of the team. The results of this are catastrophic, and things may never quite be the same for anyone.

"Future Talk" by Graphospasm
 * Recommended by Willowleaf
 * Synopsis: Dying didn't spell the end for me. It gave me a chance to save a world, and a new shot at life. Only, to get that shot, I had to give up my everything. To save the people I've come to love in this new world, what must I give in exchange?

The Best Defense by JoIsBishMyoga (and its sequel, A Good Offense. Also, Sidefics.)
 * Recommended by Sekahyyh
 * Synopsis: The Best Defense is a Yu Yu Hakusho/Harry Potter crossover of epic proportions, noticeable for its twisting of a trite stereotype (the Tantei going to Hogwarts to help out in the fight against Voldemort) into something truly enjoyable that is somehow more than the sum of its parts.

In Vice Versa by Hungry Sano
 * Recommended by Sir Psycho Sexy
 * Synopsis: What if Keiko had died instead of Yusuke, and Keiko and Shizuru had become Spirit Detectives instead of Yusuke and Kuwabara? A wonderful look into What Might Have Been. (Incomplete- up to nine chapters)

Of Snowballs Cell Phones and Homicide by Final Arc
 * Recommended by Anonymous Apathy
 * Synopsis: "In their own words, Yusuke and Kurama desperately attempt to explain why they tried to kill Yukina." - FF.net summary

Sleight of Hand by Le'letha
 * Recommended by Hot Headed Astronomer
 * Synopsis: Crossover with Star Trek: The Next Generation. While moving refugees and hunting down a dangerous ship with lethal cargo, two unexpected guests come to help them on their quest. Their names? Hiei and Kurama.

Shipping Fics
Stories focused on the romantic relationships between the cast.

The Impalpable Ash by spicedcheese (formerly The Unconventional Lady).
 * Recommended by Sekahyyh
 * Pairing: Kurama/Shizuru (het).
 * Synopsis: It's really an incredible fic that's almost hard to define - it's not so much about Kurama and Shizuru's relationship, but more the science fiction elements of the plot. It's very erudite, and transcends normal romance. Post-series.

Red and Black by Adi88.
 * Recommended by Sekahyyh
 * Pairing: Karasu/Kurama (male-slash).
 * Synopsis: A crossover with Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which takes place mostly in dreamscape. Karasu is haunting Kurama's dreams, and Kurama takes matters into his own hands.

Leashed by Penguin-sama.
 * Recommended by Sekahyyh
 * Pairing: Yomi/Kurama (male-slash).
 * Synopsis: Kurama, the great strategist, chafed under Yomi's rule in canon. Leashed is a behind-the-scenes look at Yomi and Kurama's relationship, done in an intriguing, almost aggressively non-stereotypical way. It could fit comfortably in the Three Kings Saga without hurting anything, post-Yomi's summons, pre-Shura.

Immortal by Fawx.
 * Recommended by Sekahyyh
 * Pairing: Kuronue/Kurama (male-slash).
 * Synopsis: Set post-series, this fic is about bad guys, good guys, and the return of Kuronue. Kurama feels ill with premonitions, and a series of events leads him back to his ex-partner Kuronue. It's a very clean story that always reminds me, despite artistic license and liberties taken, of Yu Yu Hakusho canon.

Vice and Virtue by Sekahyyh
 * Recommended by Sir Psycho Sexy
 * Pairing: Sakyo/Shizuru (het).
 * Synopsis: Sekahyyh says it best herself: "In Dante’s hell, the circle of fraud was guarded by a dragon, hypocrisy, with the face of a man and the body of a monster."