That is the name of a new fanfiction deviation I am posting today. I think this is one of my better stories, but there are two things I want to say about it, one funny, one kind of serious.

First the funny part. This story contains a passing mention of the durian fruit, and its ..er.. distinctive fragrance. My steady readers will know that this is my second reference to the notorious durian fruit. I am pleased to report that in the time since I posted my “A Matter of Taste”, which centered around the malodorous stuff, I have actually tasted the genuine article in the form of a durian smoothie from a Vietnamese restaurant in my area. My daughter recently brought it to me as a surprise ( ! ), and refused to tell me what it was before I tasted it, so I can honestly say I think my initial reaction was objective. The smoothie itself was made of just durian, sugar, and ice, so the only added taste was the sweetness of the sugar. I must admit, it was one of the strangest things I had ever tasted, and my first response was, predictably, “What the fuck is that?” I thought they had taken some obscure entree from the restaurant’s menu and run it through the blender with ice and sugar.

Once my daughter let the smelly cat out of the bag, it made sense; it is a combination of flavors somewhat like strong cheese, garlic and onions (more like shallots, really), and almonds – that’s as close as I can get. I think the smell was partially subdued by the fact that it was freezing cold, but my daughter’s partner, who wasn’t having any of it, still ran away from both of us if we got anywhere near her for the rest of the afternoon. And there were some rather unfortunate after-effects - let’s just say you get to taste the durian more than once when you consume it. All in all, I think I do like the flavor, but I would decidedly not use it in sweet things. My first thought as a chef was that, especially given the creamy texture of the durian fruit’s flesh, it would make a killer dip if blended with a little sour cream or yogurt – it’s definitely better-suited for the savory uses than the sweet, in my book. At any rate, let it be noted that this writer had the courage of her convictions, and tried what she wrote about when given the chance, even in the face of potential gastronomic and olfactory disaster.

Now on to the more serious bit. This is a Saiyuki story (no big surprise there) but this is a SanzoXHakkai story, a pairing one doesn’t see too often. Now, for anyone who has really been paying attention,( and there may be no one with that good a memory, in which case I am ratting myself out unnecessarily, but oh well)… Yes, I did once, not long after I started writing fanfiction in late ‘07, have a journal entry in LiveJournal where I went on and on about how icky and unattractive I thought the pairing of Hakkai and Sanzo was.

As my knowledge of Saiyuki has deepened I have been able to get past the OTP concept and see the interesting possibilities in all kinds of pairings, and even write about several of them. My feeling now is that if we get so dedicated to one pairing that that we refuse to consider any others, we limit what we can learn from and enjoy from the fandom. One of the things that makes Saiyuki so endlessly fascinating, and so perfectly suited for yaoi, is that it does have so many interesting male characters with so many complex interrelationships, and that really does make for lots and lots of believable yaoi situations – and my eternal gratitude goes to Minekura-sensei for giving them all to us.

That's it, and I hope you all enjoy the story!