Title: The Professor's Wife
Fandom: xxxHolic
Pairing: Doumeki/Watanuki
Categories: Romance, Future, Spirits, Supernatural, Hurt/Comfort
Length: Epic (56,217)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: foolish_m0rtal
Author Website: AO3 | Tumblr

Author's Summary:
The students all said that Professor Doumeki had a wife who made him lunches and impeccably pressed his shirts. Watanuki found this hilarious. For the wtfholic fest prompt: "The only people who can see Watanuki are customers with wishes."

Review:
Having read gezana's rec earlier this week, I was suddenly reminded of one of my absolute favorite fics in the xxxHolic fandom. Then I felt this overwhelming need to both reread and rec it because it's just that good.

The Professor's Wife is beautifully done. The prose is pristine and so neatly woven together it's a joy to read. Watanuki and Doumeki are both completely in character, except they've grown up through the years together and you can really see them evolving in such ways. The premise is an interesting one: imagine that after Yuuko has gone away that Watanuki has inherited the store and is waiting for her to come back. Except that nobody can see him beyond people with wishes and others with strong spiritual power. How do you live like that? Cut off from everyone and everything, unable to even stay in your apartment because the landlord thinks you've run off. But then there's Doumeki who's like a rock and the steady progression is mesmerizing.

You have a strong character in Watanuki who is willing to give up what is essentially his future just for Yuuko. Then you have an equally strong character in Doumeki, who isn't willing to let Watanuki go it alone, who is always supporting him and always pulling him back from anything that'd be too much. They have a wonderful relationship, and the fic shows how they grow and evolve together, how they fit together, how they get together, and how they live together.

It's just so good.

I must have read this fic about five times already, and I've loved it every time. It's a story you find yourself going back to time and time again because the plot and the characters are amazing. It's pretty much perfect and was a blast to read from start to finish.

The Professor's Wife

Your usual Tuesday reccer has gone rogue and is posting on a Wednesday night! Sorry for the change of schedule -- life is a little more hectic than usual.

Title: Miles Away
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Derek/Stiles
Categories: First time, future fic, romance
Length: Medium (12,509)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website:  AO3

Summary: Maybe it should have felt like a bad thing, realizing that his pack wasn’t actually his anymore. He didn’t really want to admit that the day he looked around and saw Scott taking care of everyone, Derek breathed easily for the first time since he’d met Kate Argent.

Review: "Miles Away" explores one possible best-case scenario for Derek that the show itself hinted at, that he might be happier packing his bags and saying goodbye to Beacon Hills altogether. After a brief road trip, Derek ends up in Seattle, prompted (in part) by Stiles, who reveals that his mother went to the University of Washington before she met the sheriff. Derek finally learns how to heal in Seattle, with a little help from graduate-level calculus, the sea, and Stiles.

I live in Seattle and have loved it all of my life, and Sori did an amazing job of capturing the essence of the city, how it's this paradoxical mix of fast-paced urban life and slow revelation, with a constant sense of renewal from the ocean breezes. I loved re-learning the city through Derek's eyes, accompanying him as the wounds from Beacon Hills began to heal. What I love the most about this story is the sense of quiet hope in it, as Derek begins to envision a life on his own terms. I also loved watching his relationship with Stiles develop, one text message at a time. I'm a sucker for slow-build first-time stories, even more so when they involve healing, and this story fits the bill perfectly on both levels.

Miles Away