Dear authors and artists of this year's J2BB:
. . . I love you all, but you guys are KILLING me. I don't remember another Bang with such consistently awesome fics and gorgeous artworks in it. And darn it, there aren't enough hours in the day to read them all. D:
Have two more fic recs, both of which are rather suspenseful and there's only so much I can say without spoiling story events, so I won't be saying too much other than how much I loved them. ;D
dear_tiger's Tornado Warning (Sam/Dean)
Summary: A failed attempt to restore Sam’s soul leaves roboSam with a demonic infestation. He and Dean set off across the country, searching for a way to reverse the damage. Elsewhere, an amnesiac ex-con lands a job at the Winchester Meat butcher shop, gets harassed by local monsters and falls in love with the sheriff. There are two stories that develop independently, and the connection is a name, and the name is a memory, and memories are hard to come by. But what you gotta remember first and foremost, sonny, is to watch out for the tornado.
This one is a brilliant little psychological puzzle and I am absolutely in awe of how intricately dear_tiger plotted out all the tiny bits, then linked everything together. Think of a well-crafted, expensive analog watch, with all the gears fitting together just . . . so . . . perfectly, then add some downright amazing imagery, and you've got this fic. Um. Wow.
and
delanach's Lingering in Quiet Places. (Dean/Victor Henriksen)
Summary: Sam Winchester was killed on a hunt the day after his fourteenth birthday but he'd made a pact with his brother that it would always be the two of them against the world, so he stuck around. Victor Henriksen has been fascinated with the Winchesters since he first joined the FBI, but when he finally catches up to Dean, nothing can prepare him for what he finds.
I'll admit it, I almost skipped this one because of the first half of that first sentence, but I gave it a shot anyway*, and the author surprised me because this fic is so, so, SO much more than the sum of its summary. Her Sam is glorious. Also, in addition to Victor Henriksen, \o/ the story features many of my favorite SPN characters, and as a happy bonus, there's a whole lot of Dean-Victor interaction, too.
And on the art front, you've gotta check out salty_catfish's terrifyingly beautiful art for "Since I've Been Loving You." (J2) Whoa. *stares*
. . . and I still have a metric crapload of fics left to read. Day, you need more hours!
*Thanks to beelikej's insightful comment re stories versus summaries. ;)