Instinct & Taste by Kelleigh (NC-17)
Title: Instinct & Taste
Fandom: Supernatural RPF
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Categories: Drama, food, slash
Length: Epic (45,000 words)
Warnings: Some sex. Shocking, I know.
Author Website:
Kelleigh (girlfromcarolina)
Summary:
As a young chef trying to break into the sizzling hot world of Charleston cuisine, Jensen Ackles spent more time in the kitchen than he did sleeping, eating, or socializing; he was absolutely dedicated to his craft and to the mentor who’d given him a chance. When all of that work paid off in a big way, Jensen was thrilled, but from the moment he accepted his dream job, other aspects of his life began to sour, quickly.
Now, shouldered with the extra burdens of caring for his brother’s house and keeping his job safe from a brown-nosing new sous chef, Jensen tries everything, up to and including therapy, to keep his life from boiling over. It’s not until he hires college senior Jared Padalecki that things start to turn around, and Jensen learns that if he can stand the heat, fate might cook up something even better.
Review:
This is the story I was going to rec a few weeks ago before I got distracted with humour. Written for the 2012 SPN Big Bang, it is a much angstier Jensen-centric piece, but it attracted me early on because I'm something of a foodie and this story does a very good job of projecting the chaos and pressure of a Michelin-grade kitchen.
In many ways, the summary is as misleading as book blurbs get. Most of the action doesn't happen the way it implies, and in any case practically all the events it touches on happen within the first few hundred words. What we have in reality is a study of someone who loves creating gastronomic delights, but who has to do so in an increasingly poisonous atmosphere. Most of the thrust of the story is everybody else trying to get Jensen to realise that he hasn't actually enjoyed his work in a long time.
Tangled around that, we have a slow-burn romance between Jensen and Jared, the student who is his dog-sitter, gardener, house-keeper and one of the few people he can just relax around. This is a very slow-paced and confusing affair, mostly because we only see it from Jensen's blinkered viewpoint. It's not the usual coming-out issues, since both men know perfectly well that the other is gay, but it isn't until Jarod actually explains why he has been keeping his distance that we the readers can see everything tie back together.
I could go on about this detail or that, the use of real people vs original characters, but I'd be here all night and I'm already eating into my beauty sleep. Just believe me that this is a damn good story with credible characters, and go and read it yourself.
Instinct & Taste
Fandom: Supernatural RPF
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Categories: Drama, food, slash
Length: Epic (45,000 words)
Warnings: Some sex. Shocking, I know.
Author Website:
Kelleigh (girlfromcarolina)
Summary:
As a young chef trying to break into the sizzling hot world of Charleston cuisine, Jensen Ackles spent more time in the kitchen than he did sleeping, eating, or socializing; he was absolutely dedicated to his craft and to the mentor who’d given him a chance. When all of that work paid off in a big way, Jensen was thrilled, but from the moment he accepted his dream job, other aspects of his life began to sour, quickly.
Now, shouldered with the extra burdens of caring for his brother’s house and keeping his job safe from a brown-nosing new sous chef, Jensen tries everything, up to and including therapy, to keep his life from boiling over. It’s not until he hires college senior Jared Padalecki that things start to turn around, and Jensen learns that if he can stand the heat, fate might cook up something even better.
Review:
This is the story I was going to rec a few weeks ago before I got distracted with humour. Written for the 2012 SPN Big Bang, it is a much angstier Jensen-centric piece, but it attracted me early on because I'm something of a foodie and this story does a very good job of projecting the chaos and pressure of a Michelin-grade kitchen.
In many ways, the summary is as misleading as book blurbs get. Most of the action doesn't happen the way it implies, and in any case practically all the events it touches on happen within the first few hundred words. What we have in reality is a study of someone who loves creating gastronomic delights, but who has to do so in an increasingly poisonous atmosphere. Most of the thrust of the story is everybody else trying to get Jensen to realise that he hasn't actually enjoyed his work in a long time.
Tangled around that, we have a slow-burn romance between Jensen and Jared, the student who is his dog-sitter, gardener, house-keeper and one of the few people he can just relax around. This is a very slow-paced and confusing affair, mostly because we only see it from Jensen's blinkered viewpoint. It's not the usual coming-out issues, since both men know perfectly well that the other is gay, but it isn't until Jarod actually explains why he has been keeping his distance that we the readers can see everything tie back together.
I could go on about this detail or that, the use of real people vs original characters, but I'd be here all night and I'm already eating into my beauty sleep. Just believe me that this is a damn good story with credible characters, and go and read it yourself.
Instinct & Taste