feeding your addictions

Title: Those Left Behind
Author: cccpirate
Fandom: Bleach
Character/Pairing: Gotei 13
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers for the Soul Society Arc
Word Count: ~1100
Summary: The fall-out after the break-out

I've read some great fallout fics in this fandom but this one is so heartbreakingly beautiful. I think it was particularly wonderful because it focused less on the war side of the fallout and more on the emotional side which was so important for me to be able to really connect with the characters. The author takes the time to focus on every division in Soul Society and they do it wonderfully. Divisions three, five and nine were especially brilliant in their simplicity, and I think it was great that Division Eleven still managed to come across rough and insane =)

Preview:
Byakuya, on the nights his sister sleeps at home rather than at the division, sits outside of her room when she is asleep. He is gratified to know that now she actually does sleep, rather than rest fitfully, never quite dropping off. When it rains, he has an extra blanket sent to her quarters and a cup of warm milk, and does not mention it in the morning.

Title: An Unsolved Enigma
Author: buraisu
Fandom: Professor Layton
Character/Pairing: Layton, Luke, mentions of Flora [gen]
Rating: PG—13
Warnings: Some sexual innuendo
Word Count: ~1400
Summary: Layton clears the subject of women up for a perplexed Luke

This is such a brilliant fic and the characterisation is amazing, I could totally imagine this conversation taking place, as outrageously funny as it is. Poor Layton has to deal with some questions from Luke regarding the fairer sex and, while he manages to handle the situation pretty well, he probably felt like he was going to faint at some point. XD

If you liked this piece, there’s a sequel which is also awesome (although if you don’t know who legal!Luke is, you probably shouldn’t read it, hilarious as it is).

Preview:
Luke knew that he was clever. Clever, not in that he was a good student – before he'd started following the Professor around, he had a reputation as being rambunctious and loudmouthed – but in that he was good at working things out. He excelled in maths and science and word problems.

So really, it came as a surprise when he wasn't able to apply the same processes to everyday life. There was one problem in particular that flummoxed him every time.

That problem was girls.

Title: Uncommon
Author: rilina_fic
Fandom: Ouran High School Host Club
Character/Pairing: Host club, Ranka, Haruhi-centric [gen]
Rating: PG
Warnings: Through episode 10 of the anime, or volume 4 of the manga
Word Count: ~2100
Summary: 'Commoner coffee' makes a comeback at the host club

This fic sums up the slight love-hate relationship Haruhi has with the Host Club beautifully. It starts off with Haruhi's exasperation for the latest roleplay she's forced to perform, but the tone really softens by the end because you see both the others sincerely try hard to please her and Haruhi's genuine appreciation for it. The characters are all perfect, despite the other members being largely in the background, and Haruhi's realisation that she doesn't have to do everything by herself and, in fact, sometimes it's nice to sit back and let others handle things, is quite heartwarming.

Preview:
"You rushed me here because you wanted me to make instant coffee?" she asks as they sit her down at the table.

Kaoru shakes his head; Hikaru says, "Just the opposite." And Tamaki is saying something as well, at his usual great length, but Haruhi mostly ignores him. Instead she watches the other host club members move through an elaborately staged production. Hikaru measures instant coffee into a clean cup, then passes the cup over to Kaoru, who adds a packet of fake creamer. Honey takes the cup from Kaoru and drops in five sugar cubes; Mori carries it from Honey to Tamaki, removing three of the sugar cubes along the way. Tamaki adds hot water with his usual flair, and, last but not least, Kyouya stirs the contents with a silver spoon--clink, clink, clink--before setting the cup before Haruhi.

She eyes it with some suspicion. Past experiences with the host club have taught her that too many cooks in the kitchen is never a good thing.

Title: Midnight in the Garden
Author: ypaladinofchaos
Fandom: Code Geass
Character/Pairing: Lelouch, C.C., can be taken as Lelouch/C.C.
Rating: PG—13
Warnings: Set just prior to the end of R2, thus, massive spoilers for the end
Word Count: ~1400
Summary: Lelouch readies himself for the beginning of the end.

I don’t think I can say much about this fic without giving away the plot (although I guess those of you who read it will already know what happens anyway). This author captures both characters beautifully, you could really picture a scene like this in the canon which is a testament to how well it’s written. The mood really changes from the beginning to the end, but the fic is pretty heart wrenching as a whole, especially the ending which just pulls at you.

Preview:
C.C. gazed back at him unblinkingly, unwaveringly, silently.

“This was the only way for it to end,” he whispered hoarsely, shutting his eyes tightly.

For a long time, there was only the sound of his heart beating frantically against his chest, his slow, panting breaths.

Lelouch wondered at this, wondered why he’d never realized how amazing it was to be able to feel his own heartbeat, hear his own sighs. Or maybe this was just the panic and anxiety setting in.

Title: Things We Once Had to Hold
Author: darkenedsakura
Fandom: Darker than BLACK
Character/Pairing: Hei/Yin, hints of Hei/Amber
Rating: PG
Warnings: No spoilers. References to episodes 13—14 and 25
Word Count: ~1800
Summary: Nothing you do needs to be for anyone other than you, he says. Maybe one day he’ll take his own advice. Post-series.

To celebrate the announcement that Darker than BLACK is getting a second season, I’m going to rec one of my favourite fics based on the first season. Hei/Yin is probably my OTP in this fandom because Yin, who is usually so blank and expressionless, gets slightly emotional when Hei is involved (does that sound like another one of my OTPs? ^^). I love this fic because you see Yin trying so hard to be more human and Hei trying so hard to help her and to understand her and you realise that it’s probably the reason why she’s so attached to him. I love the author’s style and there are some lines in here that are gorgeous.

Preview:
Then she leaned back, moving away but still facing him. This time, she moved her hands across her own face, the muscles around her mouth twitching in the unsure way that they had done that one night. He watched as she seemed to adjust them with an artist’s touch, smoothing over one line and outlining another, replacing the uncertainty with strokes of something more resolute.

And then her hands slipped back down, with not a flourish but a reveal. Upturned lips raised in something soft and ethereal, with traces of his own ghosts and something lightly shining like moonlight.

All the work that goes into one smile, he thought, but still didn’t look away.

Title: Marbles
Author: scratchmist
Fandom: Howl’s Moving Castle
Character/Pairing: Howl/Sophie, Howl-centric
Rating: PG—13
Warnings: It’s pretty fluffy, I guess =)
Word Count: ~1500
Summary: There are only two things Howl is afraid of. One is a bad hair day. The other is losing his heart.

Howl is a dorkus malorkus. A vain one, but a dork nonetheless. scratchmist captured that side of him perfectly, which makes for some amusing parts in this fic, but you also get his sensitive side with some really beautiful parts. This fic mainly looks at his womanising ways from when he was younger and him reflecting on them now that he’s met Sophie who, hilariously freaks the hell out of him, but I guess it’s mainly because he’s scared of how much he cares about her. You really see his growth even within this one fic with the juxtaposition of the first and last lines, which touch the heart and are funny at the same time.

Preview:
Sometimes it’s hard, being like this. He never really thought it was, until then – twenty-five-year-old-Howl, and now, of all times, he wants his heart back – creeping out of his bed at night to watch her sleeping in the space under the stairs. She’s snoring like a walrus, but she’s got the look of a young girl again. He sees right through her skin (not in that way; at least, not when she can outsnore a mountain giant), past the insecurities and the denial and the latent grumbling and her witchery - it’s all magic underneath.

What did he ever see in the Witch of the Waste? What did he ever see in his reflection?

Here was real beauty.

Title: Like Love in the Movies
Author: ambientlight
Fandom: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Character/Pairing: Haruhi/Kyon
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word Count: ~3400
Summary: In which Kyon's life becomes an indie movie. Sort of.

Anyone who’s read more than a few fics in this fandom knows that great ones are very hard to find, basically because it’s hard to get the characters right. This author had no such problem, Kyon’s voice is totally spot-on and the plotline is totally Haruhi-esque. It’s a little light on the female Brigade members, but that’s okay in this fic because it’s pretty Kyon-centric, sort of with the feel of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, which is totally cool because Kyon is epically awesome. But that's quite enough. Fade to black. Let the credits roll.

Preview:
So it had finally happened: Haruhi had driven me insane. How foolishly optimistic I'd been, thinking that I would emerge from my troubled adolescence with minimal mental scarring and the need for, at most, several years in therapy. The average human psyche just isn't made for dealing with espers and time-travellers and aliens, let alone a girl with the power to warp reality. It was surprising that I'd even lasted so long, I thought, as I reached out for my bag. It was as if I was watching, from very far away, my nerveless fingers stretch tremblingly towards my fallen bag—

Not only was there another narrative voice in my head, but it was speaking in purple prose.

At that point I probably did scream.

Title: Childhood Treasures
Author: devildoll
Fandom: The Chronicles of Narnia
Character/Pairing: Implied Lucy/Tumnus
Rating: PG—13
Warnings: Takes place in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, primarily movie-verse canon
Word Count: ~1100
Summary: She isn't quite sure what they're waiting for, only that the waiting is harder for him than for her.

I honestly love the Lucy/Tumnus relationship. Before you hit me, I don’t necessarily mean in a romantic way, but their dynamic in the series was wonderful. This fic deals with missing moments between when the Pevensies are crowned and when they return to the real world, and also deals with Lucy losing Mr. Tumnus. The author writes the moments so beautifully and so poetically, it kind of break your heart. But, y’know, in a good way. =)

Preview:
She asks him the same things over and over, and remembers for a short time, and that makes it feel real for a while. The memories cling and melt like snowflakes on her mittens, fleeting and fragile and gone before she even knows they're there. She doesn't understand why she wants them so badly, when they make her so sad.

What was it like, when you turned to stone?

It was nothing, until you were there, and I was alive again. It was waiting.

Title: Possibilities
Author: w175n57
Fandom: Samurai Champloo
Character/Pairing: Fuu, Mugen, Jin, Shino [gen]
Rating: PG—13
Warnings: Angst, character death, spoilers for the entire series
Word Count: ~1100
Summary: One point five weeks after the attack, Mugen and Fuu (and Jin) head home.

The Samurai Champloo fandom isn’t huge and great fic like this is hard to find so when you do, you grab it with both hands. The story’s structure is fairly loose and the author finds brilliant ways to say things without really saying them, which works beautifully because it keeps you in suspense for longer (or maybe I was completely oblivious because I didn’t realise what was going until I got halfway through the story =P). Either way, it’s wonderfully written, the characters are all spot on, and it totally makes you wibble.

Preview:
In the middle of the strait, there is a place where Fuu can no longer see the island, but the mainland is perfectly clear. "Where are we going?" she asks. Mugen looks at Fuu strangely - he wonders what hole she pulled "we" out of. "Who cares," he says. ("Preferably somewhere with food," Jin comments.) "I don't have a home," Fuu says, then repeats it. It is official: she has no parents, no journey, no friends. "Same here, but you don't hear me whining," Mugen shoots. They fall into silence. "Edo," Mugen says, voice oddly distant. "The women there were good." ("Hm," Jin says. He thinks Edo will be good.) "Edo," Fuu echoes. "Edo."