The Road of Souls and Yugioh The College Years by Yuugi Motoh (PG-13)

Fandom: Yugioh
Pairings/Characters: Tea/Yami/Yugi, Jou/Mai
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 10,700 for "The Road of Souls" and 73,000 for "Yugioh The College Years"
Author: Yuugi Motoh
Website: Yuugi Motoh on Ff.net
Summary: How do you live when your soul is divided? And what do you do when you find the missing half?
Why: I'm reccing these together not only because they're from the same alternate universe, but also because I think that if you enjoy one, you'll enjoy the other. The first, "The Road of Souls," sets up the main concept of the universe. Then "The College Years" continues with that idea.

Sometimes, you read fanfiction to see something that never ever would have happened in the source material. However, sometimes, you read fanfiction to reestablish a connection with the things that originally made you love the series. These two stories fall into the latter category. So, if you desperately miss the Yugioh anime (specifically the dub), and really want to read something that has the same kind of feel as that, this is absolutely the story for you. Even though it's an AU, it's still very much in the vein of the anime, without actually retelling the anime. All the characters are wonderfully in character, there's a well-paced plot, and there's even some romance for good measure. What else could you want?

The Road of Souls
Yugioh the College Years: The Different Story

Yuusuke and the Yakuza by nightwalker3 (PG)

Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho
Pairings/Characters: Kuwabara, Yuusuke
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 3,200
Author: nightwalker3
Website: Chaos Central
Summary: For once they were in trouble and it wasn't Yuusuke's fault. Well, not exactly.
Why: nightwalker3 does an amazing job with the relationship between Kuwabara and Yuusuke, writing them with just the right combination of snark and unwilling friendship. You'll be seeing more recs from her in the future, but for now I'm starting with this one because it absolutely cracked me up. I could so see Yuusuke and Kuwabara not only acting like this, but also getting into this kind of situation in the first place. And the ending? Is just too perfect.

Yuusuke and the Yakuza by nightwalker3

Casey vs. The Dorks by Northlight (PG-13)

Fandom: Chuck
Pairings/Characters: Casey, Chuck, Morgan, the Nerd Herd
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 2,100
Author: anenko
Website: anenko's writing journal
Summary: "I think that we really bonded."
Why: Really brilliant Casey characterization. Northlight also does a wonderful job of keeping that zany quality that the various Buy More employees have. This really reads like it could have been taken from the show.

Casey vs. The Dorks by Northlight