Proof that the remaining 10% are worth dying for and being revived by the Spirit World.
These are recommendations made by tropers for YuYu Hakusho fanfics, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic of your own to the list, but remember to use the template found here.
You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.
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Authors and Websites
- Recommended by: Elkian
- Comments: She has since stopped writing, but the stories are still there.
Add Review- Recommended by: Serene Shadow, Pastykake
- Notes: Particularly Define Mercy and Balm of Gilead.
- Comments: 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 some slash at times, depending on the fic. All in all it's good work, and worth reading.
- Recommended by: Sekahyyh
- Notes: Particularly Kiss and Secret and Strange.
- Comments: 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.
- Recommended by: Sekahyyh
- Notes: Particularly Kitsunetsuki and The Silk of Benzaiten.
- Comments: 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 Fanfiction Archive
- Recommended by: Sekahyyh
- Notes: Particularly Silent and Still and Kurama's Mouth.
- Comments: This website hasn't been updated since 2001. 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.)
- Recommended by: Hyrusekki
- Notes: Particularly Lost, only to be found within Kurama and The Collection.
- Comments: BlueUtopiah likes to explore the darker edges of the yu yu hakusho universe in her fics - where the demons are demons, the characters don't always fall in love, and the endings aren't necessarily happy. Her stories are well-characterized, well exectued, and she doesn't hesitate to shock as she carries you along for the ride. I enjoy reading and re-reading her fics because she has a terrific grasp on the canon and I still find new things on every re-read. If you're a yu yu hakusho fan at all, this author is a must.
- Recommended by: Hyrusekki
- Notes: Particularly Counting Crows, Hell or High Water, and Silk & Sable.
- Comments: Sekah 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.
- Recommended by ?, Pastykake
- Notes: Particularly Judgment, Fully Exposed, and Little Wishes.
- Comments: KowaretaTsubasa 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.
- Recommended by ?
- Notes: Particularly Graduation, Cockroach, and Will You Accept the Charges?.
- Comments: 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.
- Recommended: by Lurking Beneath, Pastykake
- Notes: Particularly Fakes & Fiends, Future Talk, School Daze, and Touched.
- Comments: 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.
- Recommended by: Shareth
- Comments: These two have collaboratively produced the funniest series of YuYu 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.
- Recommended by: Picture Frame, Pastykake
- Notes: Particularly Yang and Kurama's Story: Healer.
- Comments: Reyka covers the whole fandom from the main characters to the Six Fighters, to Sensui's squad. If you want it you can find it. The ideas and scenarios are quite original, bordering on bizarre. Most are some form of character stud and many are one-shots but there are some longer stories as well. Unexpected, which crosses the bizarre line twice, and The Porch, are two of the best.
- Recommended by: Ford 1114
- Comments: The author of this franchise has made the stories so well-written that makes the crossover blend in well to one universe. These will make readers interested to see many instances of action, character interaction, and drama.
- Recommended by: Pastykake
- Notes: Particularly Jail Break, The Godking, and Yuusuke and the Yakuza.
- Comments: The author has a good amount of both humor and serious fics, and is great at both. The characterization and speech patterns is wonderfully done (especially Yusuke and Genkai) and the banter is witty and natural-sounding. About half of the YYH stories involve some light mention of slash, but even for those who are squeamish about that it's light enough and the stories are good enough that they're still worth a read.
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, Pastykake
- Status: Dead
- 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, Pastykake
- Status: Complete
- 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?
- Notes: Has a sequel, Speak.
Of Snowballs, Cell Phones, and Homicide by FinalArc
- Recommended by: Anonymous Apathy, Dame-Amaryllis
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: In their own words, Yusuke and Kurama desperately attempt to explain why they tried to kill Yukina.
She Says It's Not a Love Song (But It Totally Is) by kahn
- Recommended by: lettergirlmj
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Yukina put her fork down and said, "I need a job."
- Pairing: Yukina/Shizuru
- Comments: The absolute perfect Yukina story in the entire fandom. Hands down.
In Vice Versa by HungrySano
- Recommended by: Sir Psycho Sexy
- Status: Dead
- Synopsis: What if Keiko had died instead of Yusuke, and Keiko and Shizuru had become Spirit Detectives instead of Yusuke and Kuwabara?
- Comments: A wonderful look into What Could Have Been.
Lucky Child by Star Charter
- Recommended by: Dame-Amaryllis
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: When a Yu Yu Hakusho fan dies and is reincarnated in Keiko's body, she's faced with a difficult decision: stay true to her former self, or follow the script. Not-Quite-Keiko must choose between sacrificing her identity to honor the anime or forging a destiny of her own making—but can she afford to be herself when one wrong move could rewrite history? SI!Keiko.
- Notes: Has a companion collection, Children of Misfortune, as well as a side-story crossover with Inuyasha, Daughters of Destiny.
- Alternate links: Lucky Child, Children of Misfortune, Daughters of Destiny.
- Alternate links: Lucky Child
Shipping Fics
Stories focused on the romantic relationships between the cast.
The Impalpable Ash by walked-into-the-sky
- Recommended by: Sekahyyh
- Status: Dead
- Synopsis: You can sit beside me at the end of the world.
- Comments: 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.
- Pairing: Kurama/Shizuru
Leashed by Penguin-sama
- Recommended by: Sekahyyh
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Yomi’s voice was warmly calm, controlled, almost soothing. Peace in the voice of a once trusted friend should never be so terrifying.
- Pairing: Yomi/Kurama
- Comments: 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
- Status: Dead
- Synopsis: The road to humanity is far more difficult than one can imagine.
- Pairing: Kuronue/Kurama
- Comments: 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 Sekah
- Recommended by: ?
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: 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.
- Pairing: Sakyo/Shizuru
The Kurama Whom Kurama Never Knew by Mikageshi
- Recommended by: Minamayo Grey
- Status: Dormant
- Synopsis: Kurama does not faze her at all. "So you have a thumb as green as your eyes. Big deal." But he can't say the same about her. Meet Yusuke's least favorite customer. Kaitou's new nemesis. The Sniper's first love. But just who was—is—she to Kurama? He cracks his most intimate case yet.
- Pairing: Kurama/OC
- Comments: Read it guys. Continuity Beast story right here. Action, mystery, awesomeness and epicness. Everything you'd want in a story, an OC and a Kurama x OC love story all together. You will not regret reading it. Rather, you'd regret not reading it. —Minamayo Grey
Forget-Me-Nots by honeydewed
- Recommended by: Revival_Zero
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Kurama didn't know the dream flower pollen merely gave Maya the opportunity to fall in love all over again.
- Pairing: Kurama/Maya
- Comments: Dealing with an incredibly rare ship set two years before canon events, this fic is truly a hidden gem, this troper had clicked on it without many expectations, only curiosity over this ship, and was instantly enchanted by how the author interprets Kurama's feelings for Maya, and it even explores how Kurama's adjustment to the human world went, his relationship with his mother among other things; the author also manages to make Maya herself pretty likeable as a girl with both a love for the supernatural and budding supernatural abbilities; who manages to be both right and wrong assumptions over Kurama and keeps his interest after he erases her memory of him.
Nana by Ne Quittez Pas
- Recommended by: Revival_Zero
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: The longer I lay on the table, the more certain I was that I was going to die... And I did. Again, and again, and again. Unfortunately, Doctor Ichigaki didn't let it stick. Very eventual Kuramax OC. Now rewritten.
- Pairing: Kurama/OC
- Comments: It's very well-written fic, (M rating is due to the gruesome experience the OC goes at the beginning of the story, so it's not for the faint of heart), as the synopsis says the romance part takes a back seat for most of the plot, instead taking care of fleshing out the OC before anything like that is even hinted, but the few interactions happening between the pairing are gold, even the early ones where OC actually thinks Kurama is scary and off-putting rather than attractive. The one warning I can think of, is that the OC of the fic is that one plot of "Yusuke's long lost relative etc. etc" which some people may find tiring or overused and it was even the reason this troper avoided the fic for so long, but I promise it's not put right there on your face nor it reminds you of it every paragraph or anything.
Crossovers
Sleight of Hand by Le'letha
- Recommended by: Hot Headed Astronomer
- Crossover with: Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: 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.
The Best Defense by JoIsBishMyoga
- Recommended by: Sekahyyh, Pastykake
- Crossover with: Harry Potter
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: In the wake of Cedric Diggory's death, after another Dark Tournament in Japan, Koenma discovers problems in the Wizarding World. Who to send but his team, undercover and under false pretenses? New magic and new companionships, as the Reikai Tantei are set loose on Hogwarts.
- Notes: Has a sequel, A Good Offense, as well as a collection of side-stories, The Best Defense Sidefics.
- Alternate link here.
- Alternate link here
- Comments: 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.
Red and Black by Adi88
- Recommended by: Sekahyyh
- Crossover with: The Sandman
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Karasu is haunting Kurama's dreams, and Kurama takes matters into his own hands.
- Pairing: Karasu/Kurama
Doubt the Stars Are Fire by TrisakAminawn
- Recommended by: darkemyst
- Crossover with: Natsume's Book of Friends
- Status: Dormant (slow updates)
- Synopsis: Something has come to Natsume's town. Something huge. Something terrible. Something too powerful to exist in the human world. No one has seen it. But every spirit in the forest knows it's there. Meanwhile, Natsume's new gym teacher is a jerk...
- Notes: Alternate link here.
- Comments: This clever bit of fiction does not require prior knowledge of either manga/anime for comprehension while having a clear grasp of the characters and presenting them to give the reader a quick understanding of their natures, prior knowledge of Yu Yu Hakusho is a plus as it makes Natsume's reactions to his new substitute teacher far more entertaining.
spark my wings, fan my flames by Siderea
- Recommended by: X59
- Crossover with: My Hero Academia
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Midoriya Izuku has always wanted to be a hero. Not to be number one, not to be the strongest, but to protect everyone. And he will.
- Comments: Though primarily focused on the protagonist of My Hero Academia Yusuke, Hiei, and Yukina serve as mentors for the spirit detective in training.
somewhere I have never traveled by Adrieunor
- Recommended by: Dame-Amaryllis
- Crossover with: Inuyasha
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: A modest shrine sequestered in the concrete sprawl of buildings and houses holds more than relics of the past. A living legend without a way back plays counsel to members of a rag-tag team, both desperate just to have someone listen. A story of tentative alliances and trust told in pieces and stolen moments.
- Notes: Alternate link.
Friends are the Family You Choose by Mad Moth Madame and Kat 1132
- Recommended by: Okibruez
- Crossover with: The Princeof Tennis
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Yusuke Urameshi was having a normal day, until he ended up at a tennis tournament by mistake. The brat playing doesn't make the sport seem half bad, kinda like a fight. And Yusuke likes fights. Wherein Yusuke Urameshi and Ryoma Echizen meet, and become friends? Or at least as close as either one of them gets.
- Comments: A series of One-shots that starts with Yusuke pre Yu-Yu-Hakusho witnessing Ryoma's match at the start of Prince of Tennis and details how their interactions as they become friends change both their lives (and Yusuke's brief stint being dead, too.) It's the crossover you never knew you needed, because it's surprising how much sense a friendship between the two actually makes.
