Sorry for the late rec, guys! This was supposed to go out yesterday, but life had other ideas.

Title: The Boy and the Beast
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Derek/Stiles
Categories: Creature (wolf!Derek), hurt/comfort, AU
Length: Super!Epic (116,686 words)
Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, underage (Stiles is a teenager)

Author on LJ:  dsudis
Author Website:  Dira Sudis

Summary: In which events in Beacon Hills go rather differently from the start, and a Beauty and the Beast (ish) story ensues. (Scott is not a teacup and no one sings about their feelings.)

Review: After writing up my rec for "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" last week, I was shocked to discover that another of my favorite actual wolf!Derek Hale stories had not been recced here yet. Naturally, I had to fix that.

"The Boy and the Beast" starts off much the same way as the show itself, with a body turning up in the woods. But this time, the body belongs to Peter. The sheriff is trying to track down Derek and Laura, who went missing around the same time their uncle died. So naturally, Stiles decides to "help" by searching for the two of them in the woods. In the dark. By himself. It's not really a surprise when Stiles falls through the rotten floorboards of the old Hale house, managing to injure and trap himself at the same time . . . it is a surprise when a wolf turns up to help him.

If you're a fan of hurt/comfort, as I am, this story will leave you more-than-satisfied. dsudis describes Stiles's injury in a way that's almost visceral. We feel his pain and desperation, and his overwhelming relief at Derek's appearance. We also feel the joy he finds in his friendship with Derek. In this universe, Scott has managed both to make it onto the lacrosse team and get a date with Allison without werewolf powers, leaving Stiles a little more alone than he is in canon. With Derek similarly alone and grieving, the two of them naturally gravitate towards each other. Even though Derek spends most of this story as a wolf (for reasons that gradually become clear), that doesn't impede his ability to form a deep friendship with Stiles. dsudis does a masterful job of conveying Derek's emotions and thoughts without dialogue -- in this case, actions really do speak louder than words. The way the story deals with relationships is another of its strengths. While Stiles is thrilled to have found "a secret magical friend in the woods," Derek complicates his life. Trying to keep Derek a secret means lying to his dad and Scott. The friendship between Scott and Stiles is another strength in this story, as is the relationship between Stiles and his dad. This is a more parental sheriff than I've seen in a lot of Teen Wolf stories, but it felt like a realistic interpretation of the character to me.

One part hurt/comfort, one part werewolf mystery, and one part slow-burn romance, "The Boy and the Beast" has a little bit of something for nearly any mood. Even if you're not in the Teen Wolf fandom, I encourage you to give it a try -- this AU doesn't require a lot of canon knowledge. Don't get intimidated by the high word count, either. This story is engaging straight through till the end. And if you're like me, once you reach it, you'll probably turn right back to the beginning and start again!

The Boy and the Beast

Title: Cold Cases
Fandom: xxxHOLIC
Pairing: None
Categories: Outside POV, Gen
Length: Medium (9,416)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: sparklyfanta
Author Website: Dreamwidth | Tumblr

Author's Summary:
N/A (Roughly: A detective is investigating old cases and his lead turns up Watanuki, who is understandably reticent about what had happened.)

Review:
I love a lot of different things in fics, but one of my absolute favorite things (if a bit self-indulgent at times) is an outside character POV (whether minor character or a new one entirely) as they peer into the world of whatever fandom the fic is part of. This fic takes that premise and expands on it beautifully. The fic's POV character is an original character who's a detective investigating various cold cases--among those cold cases are a couple where Watanuki and Doumeki were involved in.

If you're familiar at all with the manga you'll recognize the cases that they're talking about and the circumstances revolving around the people who've died. But now you're seeing it through a fresh pair of eyes--a pair of eyes that isn't part of Watanuki and Doumeki's supernatural world.

You just start feeling rather gleeful and anticipatory about the fact that you, the reader, know what's going on, while the main character doesn't. What's also appreciated is that the POV character isn't treated like an idiot, but rather someone who is actually pretty good at their job (they did turn up Watanuki, after all) who just doesn't have nearly all of the facts.

Then you have Watanuki being so... him and Doumeki shouldering his way into the situation in his rather stoic way. It's so good and it makes me happy. This is just a great fic to read.

Cold Cases