#sterek!crossover

Fan art by kickingshoes for this fic

A Heart Is A Heavy Burden by lielabell

Official Summary: In Which Stiles: is accosted by unhappy witches, becomes friends with fire demons, is rescued by darkly handsome wizards, discovers hidden inner depths, is introduced to princes, and finds true love. Though not necessarily in that order. (Or the Howl’s Moving Castle AU fusion fic you never knew you wanted but are delighted to have.) (41,242 words)

My Take: Great - this lovely story overflows with charm.

What a delightful story! And a well-handled crossover.

If you're familiar with "Howl's Moving Castle," you'll know that the book by Diana Wynne Jones and the movie adaptation by Studio Ghibli are both beautiful works; and also that, although they tell the same basic story, they diverge in some important ways.

Lielabell has deftly bridged the gap between both movie and book versions and "Teen Wolf." We are left with a fast-paced, engaging story that puts Stiles into the role of the Witch of the Waste's victim, cursed into a creaky, elderly body. His only hope is the powerful wizard Hale.

Aside from masterfully adapting the original story, the author has managed to keep all of the charm and whimsy of the original version alive in this one, making it a pleasure to read. Most of the Teen Wolf characters fit into the story remarkably well, including Jackson as the Fire Demon and Kate as the Witch of the Waste. (A few others feel a bit more shoehorned in, like Scott, but they detracted nothing from the fun experience of reading.) The pacing of the story was perfect, and its length was perfectly fit to the depth of story being told.

I did feel the romance was under-served. This is a your-mileage-may-vary kind of thing, because the emphasis of the original story is not romance so much as adventure; and if you're looking for the same thing here, you'll find it. But I read this stuff for Sterek, and I didn't buy into their relationship at all. They got together solely because that's what they were supposed to do. At no point did I believe they were really in love; for that matter, I couldn't even begin to tell you why the Derek of this story was interested in Stiles (but then, this is also an issue I personally have with 85% of Sterek fics I read; it's always taken for granted that of course Derek will experience epic love for Stiles).

By the way, if it's not clear, I also highly recommend the original "Howl's Moving Castle" -- both movie and book versions -- if you haven't already experienced them.

I'm sure you'll also agree that the art for this fic is absolutely gorgeous; I think it may be one of my favorite Sterek pieces ever. You can find more curated art from kickingshoes here. Her tumblr is here