Ask the Author: ratherastory
So, um, hi!
I'm ratherastory, and I'm… not entirely sure what I'm doing. Bear with me, yes?
First off, thank you so much to lazy_daze for inviting me! It's an incredible honour to be up here with so many of the authors whose work turns me into a gibbering mess when I read it. (Uh, I mean that in a good way, obviously!)
So, uh, I'm not sure what to say about myself. SPN is actually my first fandom. I know, right? Talk about diving in the deep end. I knew about fandom before, of course-many of my friends have been in various fandoms for years-but never felt inclined to join one or to write fanfic. I've been writing since I was able to hold a pencil, and wrote a lot of original fiction on my own between the ages of 18 and 30, which is when I discovered SPN (right in the middle of S5) and decided that I needed to write about Sam and Dean the way I needed air. Ever since then I've been gleefully sliding down that slippery slope like it's a Slip-n-Slide covered in olive oil. God, that was a terrible simile. Are you sure I should be here? Oh well, too late to turn back now. At least I didn't mix my metaph… damn it.
Moving on!
So, I guess if I were known for anything in fandom, it would be for gen fic, and h/c. Yeah, I am aaaaallll about the whump. Sam, Dean, Cas, whoever, I am apparently happiest when they're bleeding, broken, or not breathing. This has led me to suspect that I may, in fact, be a terrible person. Oh well, I regret nothing. You can insert the usual comments about h/c being a great vehicle for emotional intimacy between characters who otherwise repress their feelings, etc., right here. I do love it very, very much, especially when there is cuddling/bed-sharing involved.
I do also write slash, though I haven't included any of that in the list below. I figure it's not what I do the most, so I may as well leave it out. Mostly I ship all the things. I have written some J2 (gen and one long-ass big bang), some Sam/Dean, some Dean/Cas, and a fair bit of Sam/Cas. Oh, and het, too. I wear my multishipper hat with pride. :)
So, here are some fics that I hope are representative of what I write, generally speaking.
Fusion: This is actually a whole, giant 'verse. I blame it on roque_clasique, because she gave a teeny-tiny prompt, and the prompt became a bunny, and then the bunny met another bunny, and suddenly there were 30 instalments of this thing. It's a h/c curtain!fic extravaganza, with post-Hell!Sam and limping!Dean settling down and trying to make their lives work without hunting, in a small town populated with my beloved OCs. It was written post-Swan-Song, and was my attempt to fix things the only way I apparently know how: by breaking the boys. Yeah, I got nothin'.
The Bird That Feels the Light: This was my 2010 Dean/Cas Big Bang, the only one I ever finished . Privately I think of it as "The Adventures of Cas and wee!Dean," because that's what it is. I think it was one of the few gen offerings that year, and it seems to have been reasonably popular at the time with people who like that sort of thing. It was a beast to write, but I have a real soft spot for it. I love de-aging as a trope, and I love exploring all the different facets of Castiel, and this seemed like a good way to do that. I also got spoiled with spectacular art by daggomus_prime for it, which only makes everything a thousand times better.
The Blood of the Wicked: This was last year's summergen, which again seems to have worked out well. I occasionally write AUs, because what I love doing is taking canon, tweaking one or two things about it, and still making it recognizably SPN. This is FAR more AU than I usually make things, but I loved playing with all the characters we know and love and just asking "What if?"
The Empty Vessel: I have some very specific head canon about how angels and vessels work. I wrote this as a pinch-hit for Novakfest, and had a fantastic time digging around in Claire and Cas' heads.
Who Toils Most to Go On: Who loves herself a good redemption story? ratherastory does! Oh, yes. This is one of the few stories I have with Gabriel in it, and the only one in which he's a main character. This is the story in which I forged my own head canon about Purgatory (and I have been thoroughly kripked and am still mildly butthurt over it) and gave Gabriel his second chance. I rather like it, and the art I received for it is gorgeous.
I'll Close Your Eyes So You Can't See: A more recent fic, probably more indicative of how my writing is these days. It's a story about Reaper!Dean, which is more about Dean coming to terms with all the death and violence in his own life, about learning acceptance and what is truly important to him. IDK, I just wanted to write Reaper!Dean after someone put the idea in my head.
Okay, I'm going to stop now. I am writing less these days, but there was a period of about 18 months in which I was ridiculously prolific, and so I could probably go on at length. In fact, I can witter on about my writing and my stories and my "process" for days if you let me.
So, uh, have at it! Questions? Comments? Issues?
I'm ratherastory, and I'm… not entirely sure what I'm doing. Bear with me, yes?
First off, thank you so much to lazy_daze for inviting me! It's an incredible honour to be up here with so many of the authors whose work turns me into a gibbering mess when I read it. (Uh, I mean that in a good way, obviously!)
So, uh, I'm not sure what to say about myself. SPN is actually my first fandom. I know, right? Talk about diving in the deep end. I knew about fandom before, of course-many of my friends have been in various fandoms for years-but never felt inclined to join one or to write fanfic. I've been writing since I was able to hold a pencil, and wrote a lot of original fiction on my own between the ages of 18 and 30, which is when I discovered SPN (right in the middle of S5) and decided that I needed to write about Sam and Dean the way I needed air. Ever since then I've been gleefully sliding down that slippery slope like it's a Slip-n-Slide covered in olive oil. God, that was a terrible simile. Are you sure I should be here? Oh well, too late to turn back now. At least I didn't mix my metaph… damn it.
Moving on!
So, I guess if I were known for anything in fandom, it would be for gen fic, and h/c. Yeah, I am aaaaallll about the whump. Sam, Dean, Cas, whoever, I am apparently happiest when they're bleeding, broken, or not breathing. This has led me to suspect that I may, in fact, be a terrible person. Oh well, I regret nothing. You can insert the usual comments about h/c being a great vehicle for emotional intimacy between characters who otherwise repress their feelings, etc., right here. I do love it very, very much, especially when there is cuddling/bed-sharing involved.
I do also write slash, though I haven't included any of that in the list below. I figure it's not what I do the most, so I may as well leave it out. Mostly I ship all the things. I have written some J2 (gen and one long-ass big bang), some Sam/Dean, some Dean/Cas, and a fair bit of Sam/Cas. Oh, and het, too. I wear my multishipper hat with pride. :)
So, here are some fics that I hope are representative of what I write, generally speaking.
Fusion: This is actually a whole, giant 'verse. I blame it on roque_clasique, because she gave a teeny-tiny prompt, and the prompt became a bunny, and then the bunny met another bunny, and suddenly there were 30 instalments of this thing. It's a h/c curtain!fic extravaganza, with post-Hell!Sam and limping!Dean settling down and trying to make their lives work without hunting, in a small town populated with my beloved OCs. It was written post-Swan-Song, and was my attempt to fix things the only way I apparently know how: by breaking the boys. Yeah, I got nothin'.
The Bird That Feels the Light: This was my 2010 Dean/Cas Big Bang, the only one I ever finished . Privately I think of it as "The Adventures of Cas and wee!Dean," because that's what it is. I think it was one of the few gen offerings that year, and it seems to have been reasonably popular at the time with people who like that sort of thing. It was a beast to write, but I have a real soft spot for it. I love de-aging as a trope, and I love exploring all the different facets of Castiel, and this seemed like a good way to do that. I also got spoiled with spectacular art by daggomus_prime for it, which only makes everything a thousand times better.
The Blood of the Wicked: This was last year's summergen, which again seems to have worked out well. I occasionally write AUs, because what I love doing is taking canon, tweaking one or two things about it, and still making it recognizably SPN. This is FAR more AU than I usually make things, but I loved playing with all the characters we know and love and just asking "What if?"
The Empty Vessel: I have some very specific head canon about how angels and vessels work. I wrote this as a pinch-hit for Novakfest, and had a fantastic time digging around in Claire and Cas' heads.
Who Toils Most to Go On: Who loves herself a good redemption story? ratherastory does! Oh, yes. This is one of the few stories I have with Gabriel in it, and the only one in which he's a main character. This is the story in which I forged my own head canon about Purgatory (and I have been thoroughly kripked and am still mildly butthurt over it) and gave Gabriel his second chance. I rather like it, and the art I received for it is gorgeous.
I'll Close Your Eyes So You Can't See: A more recent fic, probably more indicative of how my writing is these days. It's a story about Reaper!Dean, which is more about Dean coming to terms with all the death and violence in his own life, about learning acceptance and what is truly important to him. IDK, I just wanted to write Reaper!Dean after someone put the idea in my head.
Okay, I'm going to stop now. I am writing less these days, but there was a period of about 18 months in which I was ridiculously prolific, and so I could probably go on at length. In fact, I can witter on about my writing and my stories and my "process" for days if you let me.
So, uh, have at it! Questions? Comments? Issues?