Recs by Jane Elliot

Title: Higher Education by Resonant
Fandom: Breakfast Club
Pairing: John Bender/Brian Johnson
Categories: post-canon, drama, favorite
Length: 15,200 words (story and coda)
Warnings: n/a

Review:
After dropping out of high school, John Bender has a whole lot of growing up to do. Just when he's finally gotten his feet firmly under him, Brian Johnson makes a surprise reappearance in his life.

This is one of my absolute favorite fanfics of all time and has inspired pretty much all of the Bender/Brian fic out there (of which there can never be enough). I'd never even considered the pairing (hell, I'd never even considered the fandom) till I stumbled on this fic and ever since I've been totally hooked. Resonant does a brilliant job of mapping the change from asshole!teenage!Bender to adult!John, using a sparse writing style that never gets bogged down in the incidentals, but which still spends just the right amount of time on all of the really good bits (read: any scene with Brian and John together). Mix in some interesting OCs, the wrapping up of just enough loose ends, and some really smoking hot sex, and you have an absolute must-read fic for anyone who likes good writing and brilliant characterization. Highly recommended.

Higher Education
Bare (coda)