Big Bang Recs - Week 1 (June 8-12)
This year, I thought I would do weekly rec lists of spn_j2_bigbang fics! Some will be fics I also rec at crack_impala (so the comments might be similar); some, for any number of reasons, will not be. All will be fics from the last week of posting that I have read in their entirety. I don't plan or promise to be unbiased. :P
I debated on this, but out of respect to the authors' wishes and for my own convenience, I've decided to mark pairings only as they appear in headers. If you are mad about surprise pairings, blame them, not me!
So yes. First post! And I'm already late, of course. TOO MANY GOOD FICS. We will see if I can keep this up through the whole challenge. :P
Sam/Dean
Entangled Alliances by rei_c (pre-Sam/Dean, R, 22.5k)
In a world where Hunters and Witches have formed an alliance to protect humans from Rogues, Dean Winchester is a Master Hunter. The last of a long line of Hunters, Dean is on the trail of Azazel, one of the most powerful Rogues that has ever existed. Knowing that he can't Hunt the Rogue alone, Dean visits the city of Nouvelle Orleans and the High Witch who holds it. She offers him her heir, Samuel, and the two leave. In their search for Azazel, they find secrets buried beneath secrets and a stunning revelation that could change the entire world.
The world she's woven here is amazing, full of magic and intrigue, and even though elements of it are so far from canon, it feels like a distorted mirror of it at the same time. The characters are nuanced and complex; I love how the secrets surrounding them build on each other until they reach a crescendo at the end. It's marked pre-slash, but there was much less of the "pre" than I generally expect from that label, and the UST crackling between the boys is delicious.
Stranger Than Fiction by thenyxie (NC-17, 50.5k)
Set immediately post-The Monster at the End of This Book. Dean can't stop wondering why people would write gay porn about him and Sam. Research takes him to interesting places; re-reading novels for subtext, visiting message boards, and a really freaky place called LiveJournal. What he discovers is a sick fascination with fanfiction, more about gay sex than he ever wanted to know, and an even deeper obsession with understanding why people write this stuff. Meanwhile, they're hunting a mysterious monster that takes the form of a person's truest love to kill them slowly, the lines between fanfiction and reality are starting to break down, and they still have to stop Lilith and save the world.
This is hilarious, scorchingly hot, and a love letter to our fandom all at once. I have a THING for meta-crack, which is why I loved the episode this came out of, and I love even more the ways in which she expands on that and brings the boys into our daily internet lives while ALSO developing the mytharc and bringing the season to a fantastic alternate conclusion. Dean is outstanding in this, as is Castiel.
The incestuous courtship of the antichrist's bride by fleshflutter (NC-17, 48k)
Sam is trying to become the Antichrist in order to save the world. He has a small army of angels and demons, he has an adoring cult, he has a work of prophecy by Jack Kerouac, and he has Dean. Things are going pretty well until he accidentally signs Dean up as his Beloved Consort, a role that requires sex with the Antichrist on an altar. And that's when things stop going pretty well. Also, the soundtrack to the Apocalypse sucks.
I don't usually read Antichrist!Sam, but I LOVED this fic. It's clever and funny, and the character development is superb, particularly with regard to Sam and Dean's relationship and Sam coming into his power. I also love the world she's built here--there's a real sense of place throughout the whole fic, and the balance of crack and magic realism is perfect.
Gen
I've Seen the Future, Brother (It Is Murder) by kroki_refur (PG-13, 37.5k)
At the end of the world, Dean meets a man who offers him a chance to go back and make it all right. All he has to do is figure out exactly where it went wrong. Simple, right?
Yeah, right.
I really love how she plays with time and age in this, especially in the descriptions of Dean and his quest to save Sam. The whole fic has this underlying current of mystery and dread, and I found myself waiting on pins and needles to see how things would play out each time Dean was sent back. The emotional payoff at the end is extremely satisfying, even though the ending itself is a bit open-ended.
RPS
A Falling Summer by enoughoflove (Jared/Chad, NC-17, 25k)
Chad and Jared have been best friends, attached at the hip, for ten years. Everything changes the night of their junior prom when they make a stupid, drunken mistake. They leave a few days later to spend the summer at Jared's grandparents' farm, just like every year, but everything's changed and there's no going back. This is a high school AU, but mostly it's a story about best friends falling in love.
I love how gritty and down-to-earth this is. This isn't a pairing I read, but the summary made me want to try this one, and it's so fumbling and raw and oddly tender that I just wanted to fold the boys up and put them in my pocket for safekeeping. The sensory details are amazing, and I also love how the boys communicate while leaving so much unsaid.
Apocalypse: Cancelled by jeyhawk (Jared/Jensen, NC-17, 28k)
July 7, 2008 at 2 a.m. in the morning a comet will hit Earth, destroying all human life. Humanity gets 54 hours to prepare and chaos ensues. A chance encounter has straight architect Jared Padalecki saving the life of deeply closeted movie star Jensen Ackles. The unlikely couple cling to each other during what they think will be their last days on earth, but what happens to the relationship they built when the world doesn't end after all?
I really like the things she has to say about sexual orientation--it's not easy for either of them to come to terms with what they want, and their time together doesn't magically change who they are as people or make everything instantly better. The character growth is excellent, especially in the ways she shows Jared changing after the averted apocalypse. The major part family plays in this is also really meaningful in the way this story develops.
Just So You Know (Beautiful Soul) by lostt1 (Jared/Jensen, PG-13, 23.9k)
Jensen has been in love with Jared for years. The problem: Jared is his best friend's little brother. The solution: Jensen moves to California and writes songs for popular pop artists. Every song is about Jared. But what happens when Jensen finds himself living with Jared after six years apart? Will the balance he's found fall apart or will he finally get the one thing he's always wanted?
This is a fic that takes a premise with the potential to be cracky and turns it into something with real meaning and depth behind it. The boys are delightfully oblivious about each other, but they have so much history together that there's very much a sense of inevitability when it comes to their relationship. The music theme also worked for me, particularly the way it developed to mirror the boys and Jensen's emotional state.
My Name Is Trouble by chash (Jared/Jensen, Jared/OMC, Jensen/Mike, Jared/Danneel; NC-17; 22k)
Six years after Supernatural ends, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki find themselves in completely separate lives after a falling out. It's possible neither of them has ever really recovered from the other. But an unexpected turn in Jensen's life brings them back together to sort themselves out again.
I love that these boys are so emotionally fucked up, and I love that it takes time and work for them to fix each other. They broke my heart several times over while still making me want to root for them. Another thing I liked was the use of non-J2 POV in some of the sections; outsider POV is one of my favorite things ever, and she definitely made it work.
Say You're Mine by belyste (Jared/Jensen, NC-17, 56.6k)
It takes his two best friends getting engaged to make Jared realize what's missing in his own life, but once he figures it out, he's a man on a mission: find true love or die trying. He's not asking for much - the perfect soul mate to spend blissful eternity with - so when a chance meeting drops Jensen into his life (and his lap), it seems like fate.But either Jensen missed that memo or fate seems to have other ideas, because nothing works out the way Jared planned. Based loosely on S1 of How I Met Your Mother, but you don't need to have seen that to know what's going on.
I've seen about half an episode of HIMYM ever, but this fic is ADORABLE. The character development is stellar, and I love all the mixups and missed chances surrounding Jared and Jensen's epic love. This is another fic that does non-J2 POV sections well and uses the other characters for more than just background filler.
She's A Handsome Woman by hkath (Jared/Jensen, R, 30.2k)
Jensen Ackles is a talented actor with a reputation for being difficult. When his friend Danneel is passed over for a role on a soap opera, he cross-dresses, auditions for the part - and gets it. As Jennifer Albee, he's got to deal with a jackass director and ridiculous plotlines, not to mention his blossoming friendship with actor Jared Padalecki, a single dad with a few surprises of his own. Basically a J2 retelling of Tootsie.
This fic is really interesting in the way it develops; some of this might be down to me not having seen the movie, but it takes twists I wasn't expecting, and the characters don't always fit the "typical" characterizations we tend to see in this fandom. The author has fascinating things to say about gender and sexual identity that come through in this fic, some of them very subtly, and I liked seeing how playing a woman in his daily life changes Jensen, only again, not necessarily in the expected ways. LOVE the tension between Jared and Jensen as well.
Talking Points by winterlive (Jared/Jensen, NC-17, 24.4k)
Texas state senator Jensen Ackles (D-16) is a dyed-in-the-wool idealist, a squeaky-clean boy scout, and a notorious press-dodger. His star is on the rise, and it's worth a career to get the scoop on him. The L.A. Times' star reporter Jared Padalecki might just make it to the Washington Post before his 30th birthday, if he can get the story - he'll have to go undercover and join Jensen's team. But it isn't long before the lie starts to feel like a betrayal, and Jared never expected to like his subject as much as he does.
I'm a born and bred Texan, so I loved her pretty much spot-on take on Texas politics and the media. The plot development in this is excellent; I especially like how she handles the boys' sexual identity crises and the way their relationship plays out. I also like how most of the roles aren't filled with CW RPSers--it's refreshing, for one, and it really adds to the realism of this 'verse.
We Flow Together (Once and Forever) by balefully (Jared/Jensen, NC-17, 35.3k)
As a child, Jensen Ackles was saved from drowning by a mysterious boy who appeared from the depths off the coast of Cape Cod. Now a grown man, Jensen is an actor in New York City, living off a trust fund from his parents, and convinced he's incapable of true love. One fateful night finds him back in Cape Cod after a raucous party gone wrong, fighting for his life as he sinks beneath the waves. Yet again, he's saved from a watery grave-this time by a naked man, seemingly mute and more beautiful than anyone Jensen's ever seen. The stranger decides to call himself Jared, and as he and Jensen spend time together, learning each other body and soul, Jensen finds that his own capacity for love is as boundless as the ocean.
Jensen's world comes crashing down around him when he discovers the origin of Jared's strange naiveté and lack of inhibitions-he's a mermaid, fins and all. After Jared is abducted by researchers who subject him to cruel tests, Jensen must make a crucial decision: will he risk everything to finally find true love-with a fish-or will Jared be the one that got away?
I've never seen Splash, the movie this is based on, but I loved the idea of a Little Mermaid-esque J2, and this didn't disappoint. The detailed physical descriptions blew me away, as did the extremely hot sex scenes. I was also interested in the mermaid mythology she used--the unique way Jared's character develops as he learns about the world is really fascinating.
I debated on this, but out of respect to the authors' wishes and for my own convenience, I've decided to mark pairings only as they appear in headers. If you are mad about surprise pairings, blame them, not me!
So yes. First post! And I'm already late, of course. TOO MANY GOOD FICS. We will see if I can keep this up through the whole challenge. :P
Sam/Dean
Entangled Alliances by rei_c (pre-Sam/Dean, R, 22.5k)
In a world where Hunters and Witches have formed an alliance to protect humans from Rogues, Dean Winchester is a Master Hunter. The last of a long line of Hunters, Dean is on the trail of Azazel, one of the most powerful Rogues that has ever existed. Knowing that he can't Hunt the Rogue alone, Dean visits the city of Nouvelle Orleans and the High Witch who holds it. She offers him her heir, Samuel, and the two leave. In their search for Azazel, they find secrets buried beneath secrets and a stunning revelation that could change the entire world.
The world she's woven here is amazing, full of magic and intrigue, and even though elements of it are so far from canon, it feels like a distorted mirror of it at the same time. The characters are nuanced and complex; I love how the secrets surrounding them build on each other until they reach a crescendo at the end. It's marked pre-slash, but there was much less of the "pre" than I generally expect from that label, and the UST crackling between the boys is delicious.
Stranger Than Fiction by thenyxie (NC-17, 50.5k)
Set immediately post-The Monster at the End of This Book. Dean can't stop wondering why people would write gay porn about him and Sam. Research takes him to interesting places; re-reading novels for subtext, visiting message boards, and a really freaky place called LiveJournal. What he discovers is a sick fascination with fanfiction, more about gay sex than he ever wanted to know, and an even deeper obsession with understanding why people write this stuff. Meanwhile, they're hunting a mysterious monster that takes the form of a person's truest love to kill them slowly, the lines between fanfiction and reality are starting to break down, and they still have to stop Lilith and save the world.
This is hilarious, scorchingly hot, and a love letter to our fandom all at once. I have a THING for meta-crack, which is why I loved the episode this came out of, and I love even more the ways in which she expands on that and brings the boys into our daily internet lives while ALSO developing the mytharc and bringing the season to a fantastic alternate conclusion. Dean is outstanding in this, as is Castiel.
The incestuous courtship of the antichrist's bride by fleshflutter (NC-17, 48k)
Sam is trying to become the Antichrist in order to save the world. He has a small army of angels and demons, he has an adoring cult, he has a work of prophecy by Jack Kerouac, and he has Dean. Things are going pretty well until he accidentally signs Dean up as his Beloved Consort, a role that requires sex with the Antichrist on an altar. And that's when things stop going pretty well. Also, the soundtrack to the Apocalypse sucks.
I don't usually read Antichrist!Sam, but I LOVED this fic. It's clever and funny, and the character development is superb, particularly with regard to Sam and Dean's relationship and Sam coming into his power. I also love the world she's built here--there's a real sense of place throughout the whole fic, and the balance of crack and magic realism is perfect.
Gen
I've Seen the Future, Brother (It Is Murder) by kroki_refur (PG-13, 37.5k)
At the end of the world, Dean meets a man who offers him a chance to go back and make it all right. All he has to do is figure out exactly where it went wrong. Simple, right?
Yeah, right.
I really love how she plays with time and age in this, especially in the descriptions of Dean and his quest to save Sam. The whole fic has this underlying current of mystery and dread, and I found myself waiting on pins and needles to see how things would play out each time Dean was sent back. The emotional payoff at the end is extremely satisfying, even though the ending itself is a bit open-ended.
RPS
A Falling Summer by enoughoflove (Jared/Chad, NC-17, 25k)
Chad and Jared have been best friends, attached at the hip, for ten years. Everything changes the night of their junior prom when they make a stupid, drunken mistake. They leave a few days later to spend the summer at Jared's grandparents' farm, just like every year, but everything's changed and there's no going back. This is a high school AU, but mostly it's a story about best friends falling in love.
I love how gritty and down-to-earth this is. This isn't a pairing I read, but the summary made me want to try this one, and it's so fumbling and raw and oddly tender that I just wanted to fold the boys up and put them in my pocket for safekeeping. The sensory details are amazing, and I also love how the boys communicate while leaving so much unsaid.
Apocalypse: Cancelled by jeyhawk (Jared/Jensen, NC-17, 28k)
July 7, 2008 at 2 a.m. in the morning a comet will hit Earth, destroying all human life. Humanity gets 54 hours to prepare and chaos ensues. A chance encounter has straight architect Jared Padalecki saving the life of deeply closeted movie star Jensen Ackles. The unlikely couple cling to each other during what they think will be their last days on earth, but what happens to the relationship they built when the world doesn't end after all?
I really like the things she has to say about sexual orientation--it's not easy for either of them to come to terms with what they want, and their time together doesn't magically change who they are as people or make everything instantly better. The character growth is excellent, especially in the ways she shows Jared changing after the averted apocalypse. The major part family plays in this is also really meaningful in the way this story develops.
Just So You Know (Beautiful Soul) by lostt1 (Jared/Jensen, PG-13, 23.9k)
Jensen has been in love with Jared for years. The problem: Jared is his best friend's little brother. The solution: Jensen moves to California and writes songs for popular pop artists. Every song is about Jared. But what happens when Jensen finds himself living with Jared after six years apart? Will the balance he's found fall apart or will he finally get the one thing he's always wanted?
This is a fic that takes a premise with the potential to be cracky and turns it into something with real meaning and depth behind it. The boys are delightfully oblivious about each other, but they have so much history together that there's very much a sense of inevitability when it comes to their relationship. The music theme also worked for me, particularly the way it developed to mirror the boys and Jensen's emotional state.
My Name Is Trouble by chash (Jared/Jensen, Jared/OMC, Jensen/Mike, Jared/Danneel; NC-17; 22k)
Six years after Supernatural ends, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki find themselves in completely separate lives after a falling out. It's possible neither of them has ever really recovered from the other. But an unexpected turn in Jensen's life brings them back together to sort themselves out again.
I love that these boys are so emotionally fucked up, and I love that it takes time and work for them to fix each other. They broke my heart several times over while still making me want to root for them. Another thing I liked was the use of non-J2 POV in some of the sections; outsider POV is one of my favorite things ever, and she definitely made it work.
Say You're Mine by belyste (Jared/Jensen, NC-17, 56.6k)
It takes his two best friends getting engaged to make Jared realize what's missing in his own life, but once he figures it out, he's a man on a mission: find true love or die trying. He's not asking for much - the perfect soul mate to spend blissful eternity with - so when a chance meeting drops Jensen into his life (and his lap), it seems like fate.But either Jensen missed that memo or fate seems to have other ideas, because nothing works out the way Jared planned. Based loosely on S1 of How I Met Your Mother, but you don't need to have seen that to know what's going on.
I've seen about half an episode of HIMYM ever, but this fic is ADORABLE. The character development is stellar, and I love all the mixups and missed chances surrounding Jared and Jensen's epic love. This is another fic that does non-J2 POV sections well and uses the other characters for more than just background filler.
She's A Handsome Woman by hkath (Jared/Jensen, R, 30.2k)
Jensen Ackles is a talented actor with a reputation for being difficult. When his friend Danneel is passed over for a role on a soap opera, he cross-dresses, auditions for the part - and gets it. As Jennifer Albee, he's got to deal with a jackass director and ridiculous plotlines, not to mention his blossoming friendship with actor Jared Padalecki, a single dad with a few surprises of his own. Basically a J2 retelling of Tootsie.
This fic is really interesting in the way it develops; some of this might be down to me not having seen the movie, but it takes twists I wasn't expecting, and the characters don't always fit the "typical" characterizations we tend to see in this fandom. The author has fascinating things to say about gender and sexual identity that come through in this fic, some of them very subtly, and I liked seeing how playing a woman in his daily life changes Jensen, only again, not necessarily in the expected ways. LOVE the tension between Jared and Jensen as well.
Talking Points by winterlive (Jared/Jensen, NC-17, 24.4k)
Texas state senator Jensen Ackles (D-16) is a dyed-in-the-wool idealist, a squeaky-clean boy scout, and a notorious press-dodger. His star is on the rise, and it's worth a career to get the scoop on him. The L.A. Times' star reporter Jared Padalecki might just make it to the Washington Post before his 30th birthday, if he can get the story - he'll have to go undercover and join Jensen's team. But it isn't long before the lie starts to feel like a betrayal, and Jared never expected to like his subject as much as he does.
I'm a born and bred Texan, so I loved her pretty much spot-on take on Texas politics and the media. The plot development in this is excellent; I especially like how she handles the boys' sexual identity crises and the way their relationship plays out. I also like how most of the roles aren't filled with CW RPSers--it's refreshing, for one, and it really adds to the realism of this 'verse.
We Flow Together (Once and Forever) by balefully (Jared/Jensen, NC-17, 35.3k)
As a child, Jensen Ackles was saved from drowning by a mysterious boy who appeared from the depths off the coast of Cape Cod. Now a grown man, Jensen is an actor in New York City, living off a trust fund from his parents, and convinced he's incapable of true love. One fateful night finds him back in Cape Cod after a raucous party gone wrong, fighting for his life as he sinks beneath the waves. Yet again, he's saved from a watery grave-this time by a naked man, seemingly mute and more beautiful than anyone Jensen's ever seen. The stranger decides to call himself Jared, and as he and Jensen spend time together, learning each other body and soul, Jensen finds that his own capacity for love is as boundless as the ocean.
Jensen's world comes crashing down around him when he discovers the origin of Jared's strange naiveté and lack of inhibitions-he's a mermaid, fins and all. After Jared is abducted by researchers who subject him to cruel tests, Jensen must make a crucial decision: will he risk everything to finally find true love-with a fish-or will Jared be the one that got away?
I've never seen Splash, the movie this is based on, but I loved the idea of a Little Mermaid-esque J2, and this didn't disappoint. The detailed physical descriptions blew me away, as did the extremely hot sex scenes. I was also interested in the mermaid mythology she used--the unique way Jared's character develops as he learns about the world is really fascinating.