rec search #1: Dean-focused hurt/comfort fic challenge recs
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Dean-focused h/c fic challenge recs
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This is the rec-list for all the fics that have come out of hoodie_time's first Dean-focused hurt/comfort fic challenge so far, as chosen in this post by members of the comm. Thank-you to reccers and authors alike!
The full masterlist for this challenge is here if you want to check it out, and chock full of awesome!
And if you have any other similarly themed recs, (or self-recs), please leave them in the comments to this post so that others can check them out.
by contrast with the love by calamitycrow
Author's notes/summary: Prompt - "Dean has a seizure. Any age, any time, any cause." 5000 words. PG-13. Dean, Sam, John, gen.
Reccer's notes: This story has the most fantastic twist! What an original and cool idea, and calamitycrow’s writing is just masterful. I’m especially in awe of her John!voice, which shows all sides of his character.
Tags: epilepsy, seizure
Not in the Next Life by callistosh65
Author's notes/summary: The prompter wanted Sam/Dean, Dean with flu, high fever, and lots of bed sharing and snuggling to get him through it. Me being me I set it post-WIAWSNB just to give the poor guy issues as well as flu. 8,500 words. Light R, Sam/Dean.
Reccer's notes: The best written snuggling!fic I’ve read in a long time. This was sweet and adorable, but not overly so. A completely delightful read.
Tags: bed sharing, cold, cough, delirium, ep: "WIAWSNB", fever, flu, hugs/cuddling
Pursuit by hansons_angel * This fic was recced twice!
Author's notes/summary: Prompt - "Dean has hay fever. And on top of the hay fever, he's got two broken thumbs (or sprained wrists or whatever hand-area-injury you want to go with)..." Warnings: Shooting and gutting of a deer if that's offensive to you. 8000-some words in three parts. Mild S4 spoilers. PG-13, for language. Sam, Dean, gen.
Reccer #1’s notes: Poor snotty Dean, with hay-fever and burned hands! Such misery and still he manages to use his brain and make sure nothing eats his brother.
Reccer #2’s notes: It was my prompt so I'm biased, but shh! Awesome baddie, smokin' hot sick Dean, and lots of fretting!frustrated!trying-to-help-and-constantly-getting-foiled!Sam.
Tags: allergy, burns, fever, hay fever, infection (wounds), post-hell issues
Toxic by innocentculprit (aka jojosimco)
Author's notes/summary: Sam and Bobby stand guard against an attack while a very sick Dean doesn’t help one little bit. Written for the prompt - "Sam and Dean. Bobby can be in there too. Dean gets poisoned. He tries to hide it at first but the symptoms are getting worse. Brownie points for feverish Dean, forehead feel and thermometer action." 7,066 words. PG-13 for language. Sam, Dean, Bobby, gen.
Reccer's notes: Delirious!Dean is a million shades of awesome here, funny and heartbreaking in turn. And the case itself is very suspenseful, very creepy.
Tags: fever, poisoning
Black White Red by mad_server
Author's notes/summary: Something's after Dean. Sick!Dean, gallant!Sam. 3000 words. PG-13. Dean, Sam, OCs, gen.
Reccer's notes: This is an incredibly NEAT casefile. I don’t want to give away too much about it, but I've always had a thing for fairytales, and I love the way the fairytale is woven into this one. And of course I love protective!Sam looking after poor, sick, adorable Dean.
Tags: cold, cough, curse/spell, dizziness/vertigo, drugged, fainting/collapse, headache, hungover, nausea, pretty!dean, sneezing, asphyxiation
My Life's Come Off its Tracks by mimblexwimble * This fic was recced three times!
Author's notes/summary: Dean tells her, things are going fine, yeah he got into a fight and no, he doesn’t want to talk about it. He’s getting better and better at this sign language thing. He looks at her brightly. Big smile. Opens his swollen eye as wide as it can go. Prompt - "Dean never starts talking again after the fire that kills Mary. He can have other psychological problems from that trauma, but I really want to see how that effects his relationship with John and Sam." I wasn't able to follow the prompt entirely, but this is still a fic about Dean losing the ability to speak. 28,600 words. Pre-series AU. PG-13. Dean, Sam, John, gen.
Reccer #1’s notes: It is very, very hard to get young kids right. Not only does this author get it right, but Sam's viewpoint gives this story an immediacy that is very rare in fanfic.
Reccer #2’s notes: I don't usually go in for weechester but this blew me away. Bang-on characterizations, fascinating wee!Sam POV, and there were parts that made my brain explode of cute.
Reccer #3's notes: I’ve read very few stories that write the Winchesters this young, and get them so right. This is never too cutesy, never overdone. It’s perfect.
Tags: childhood illness, mutism
The Dark Waters Call by moonshayde
Author's notes/summary: While hunting an encantado, Dean falls under its spell. Now he must rely on Sam to help navigate through his bizarre hallucinations and delusions to avoid the dark call that threatens to consume him. Spoilers: Through I Believe the Children Are Our Future. 9,800 words. PG-13, gen.
Reccer’s notes: Fantastic piece about Dean literally loosing his mind and going bat-shit crazy. Great character voices and Bobby had to wheel to the rescue. Because apparently, BOTH Winchesters lost the ability to read... Funny and angsty and a little sweet. Season 5.
Tags: hallucinations, mental illness, supernatural illness
Lament in Winter by paleogymnast
Author's notes/summary: Prompt - "After having been really, really sick or badly injured (like really life-threatening), Dean is still very weak and needs help with a lot of things. Freaked out!and massively worried!John who actually takes care of Dean would be awesome..." 7,265 words. R for language, fairly graphic violence and medical discussions . Pre-series gen.
Reccer’s notes: Dean's hurt on a hunt, and this fic is the fall out. Realistic and beautiful characterizations of the Winchesters (pre-series.)
Tags: broken bone/fracture, internal injury
Timeō Angelōs et Dōna Ferentīs by paleogymnast
Author's notes/summary: Prompt - "Dean's rehymenated body doesn't have all the immunities his old body had built up and he gets sick over and over again..." Spoilers: Everything up through 5.04 ("The End") is fair game; goes AU after that. 14,271 words. R for language, and possibly disturbing medical imagery. Sam, Dean, gen.
Reccer’s notes: This is a subject that they glossed over on the show, but one I’ve always wondered about, and paleogymnant really does it justice. This is very emotionally (and medically!) believable.
Tags: immune deficiency
Searchlights by pkwench
Author's notes/summary: AU in which Dean suffers an asthma attack while waiting for his older brother Sam to rescue him. Written for prompt 54 by anon: "Sam/Dean. I would like to see younger!Dean and older!Sam, but Sam still has his powers, and Dean has none. Sam is always on the lookout for people who could be a threat to Dean after a previous incident that left Dean traumatized and silent. Bonus points for morallyambiguous!Sam." 4,817 words. R for gore. Sam, Dean, can be seen as either gen or light slash.
Reccer's notes: This is the first time Dean has worked for me as the younger brother in fic. The dynamics have changed, but they’re still unmistakably themselves. This was excellently written.
Tags: asthma, mutism
Devil's Trap by ratherastory
Author's notes/summary: Prompt - "...basically I'd just like to see the Dean/Alastair relationship explored. Dean knew Alastair for longer than he's known SAM - what does that do to a person? Does Dean have a touch of Stockholm Syndrome? Does he miss the pain, since it was all he knew for so long? If you go the sexual abuse route, how does that effect someone as sexually active as Dean? How would it would affect him if he had the threat of his old torturer gunning for him constantly hanging over his head along with everything else? Etc, etc." 3,770 words. Spoilers: All aired episodes, right up to 5.14. Minor spoilers for 5.13, and pretty major ones for 5.14. Warnings: Blood and gore and bad language. Umm... lots of gore. And torture. Oh, and implied dub-con. Gen.
Reccer's notes: This is a beautifully drawn look at Dean’s relationship with Alistair, which I find infinitely interesting. Not to mention his relationship with Sam! A bit darker than a lot of the fics that came out of this challenge, or the rest of ratherastory’s (also extremely engaging) fics, but well worth a read. Or two, or three.
Tags: ep: "On the Head of a Pin", post-hell issues, ptsd, self-harm, stockholm syndrome
The Kissing Curve by wave_obscura
Author's notes/summary: A couple of locals stumble upon Sam and Dean, who are flu-ravaged, delirious and trying to hunt a ghost. Fever, cough, sneezing, and nonsensical banter ensue. Also, Sam on crutches. 10,000 words. PG. This fic is 100% gen. That said, there is a quick and TOTALLY meaningless and unromantic Dean/OC kiss. H/C, sick!dean, sick!sam, hurt!sam, OCs, language.
Reccer's notes: I’m not someone who generally goes for fics written from an OCs POV, but I’m so glad I did in this case. The OCs are incredibly well-drawn, and we get a lot of insights into Sam and Dean through their eyes. I love how protective the boys are of each other here too.
Tags: broken bone/fracture, cough, delirium, fainting/collapse, fever, flu, pain, pneumonia, sneezing
Never Come Back by zatnikatel * This fic was recced twice!
Author's notes/summary: In the immediate aftermath of their close encounter with Alastair, the brothers chase a demon whose victims all have one thing in common... Part three of a hurt!Dean 'verse set post-"The Benders" that begins here, but can be read as a standalone. This part is set in season 4, immediately after "On the Head of a Pin." 80,051 words. R. Dean Sam, Bobby, Kathleen Hudak [The Benders,] gen.
Reccer #1's notes: This fic features one of the best descriptions of season 4 era Sam and Dean's relationship in all its complexities that I've ever come across. It doesn't pull any punches in allowing you to see the character's flaws as well as their good qualities, and I appreciate that. And it's phenomenally written, besides!
This is part of a series, by the way, but personally I think it can be read as a standalone without much confusion.
Reccer #2's notes: zatnikatel's Never Come Back is the best season 4-based story I have read, period. Plotting phenomenal, characterization right on the nail (and it's warts and all when it comes to showing just how damaged the brotherly bond was), and sparkling dialogue as always. I've been wanting to read a season 4 story that tells it like it was for along time and for me, this is it.
Tags: ep: "On the Head of a Pin", nightmares, post-hell issues, PTSD, substance abuse
Of Cracked Ice and Bodice Rippers by zoemathemata
Author's notes/summary: Prompt - "Dean, while hunting something with Sam/Castiel, gets thrown and lands on thin ice. The ice cracks. Dean falls through, and gets rescued... The ever popular cliched snuggling ensues." 7200ish words. Season 5. PG-13 (boy on boy kiss.) Mild slash, Dean/Cas.
Reccer’s notes: This is the first Dean/Castiel fic I ever read, and I have boundless love for it. This is some high-class hypothermic cuddling right here.
It's really, really light slash, so I'd rec it to the gen-only people as well.
Tags: Dean wearing Sam’s hoodie, hugs/cuddling, hypothermia
Rec contributers for this post include: calamitycrow, marlowe78, mad_server, winchester66, various anons, and myself, maypoles. You guys rock my socks!
➽ This post was compiled by maypoles and is posted under this account for organizational purposes.