ekaterin24; The Education of Doumeki Haruka, part one; PG

[nebulia]

Title: The Education of Doumeki Haruka
Author: ekaterin24
Rating: PG to R
Summary: How Haruka became the skilled, wise, and
good-humored dream-ghost he is in Xxxholic canon. (childhood
and teenage years only--there's more in the works if
anyone's interested.

The Prompt
Something with Haruka. We don't have enough stories about him as we should, considering

Comments

[ekaterin24]

Sure you can ship Haruka and Shinobu! I almost did (skinny-dipping episode at a local pond).

[ophelietta]

This was fascinating, and the kind of thing that I'm sad I don't see oftener in fandom. With minor characters like Haruka, there's so much leeway for an author to reverse-engineer a character, and you've taken up the challenge so well. I'm sure that some intense, intense research had to be done in order to write this, but all the period details felt very natural and unforced.

There's just so much inherent thoughtfulness in this piece, so many details that felt "just right", or that intrigued me: the way Buddhism is suffused into their whole way of life, the difficult position of Haruka's father, the fact that only Haruka's grandfather and uncle can see spirits, the presence of the Zashiki Warashi, Uncle Taki losing sight in one eye(!), and on and on. I really wish this had been illustrated, because I would've loved to see an image of Haruka and his grandfather exorcising ghosts - haunting in all senses of the words.

Beautiful stuff. Onto Part Two!

[ekaterin24]

I'm so glad you enjoyed the research aspect--I did a lot of reading on Japanese history and ordinary life during WW11, as well as on Buddhism, and enjoyed that aspect of it! I also love giving Haruka a family and friends.

Haruka and his grandfather with ghosts would make a lovely piece of art. I did have an artist looking at my drafts--I hope she posts a picture or two in the future!

[soonerbee]

Oh man, the details make this fic. I love what you've done for Haruka's past, I love how well you integrated all the little details of WWII - that's such a dodgy time period to fic about, but you pulled it off so well!

My favorite touch: the Spam. Perfect. :D

[pebetogs]

Just want to say what a great blog you got here!

[silent_skies100]

I found this today :D What a jewel! I love the way you write and this is such a beautiful story! Thank you so much for sharing.