fairyd123

So I've got myself a de.ici.ous account here. I'm still going to post my recs on here but the tagging system on there will allow me to sort all my recs by reference to author, pairing categories such as comedy horror etc. It will mean that everyone will be able to find the stories they want to read much easier.

Meanwhile run don't walk to read janissa11's amazing Red Beans and Rice. It's a gen Dean centric story which shows just how Dean is the glue that keeps the Winchester family together. Perfect Dean characterisation. Just heartbreaking.

One Shot by trolllogicfics

Gen

Very clever post Devil's Trap story which has Sam and Dean haunting the Impala. I genuinely did not see the twist coming. Highly original.

Keep Me From Drowning Again by poisontaster

Gen

Five ways Dean could have drowned. Gorgeous Dean character study and number 5 just kills me.

Straight up with a Twist by keepaofthecheez

Sam/Dean

Sam, Dean, tequila and scorching hot sex. What more could a girl want?

On What Wings by groaty

Sam/Dean

I have a serious kink for wing fic I will confess but this story is about more than just Dean wth big white wings. Beautiful story with lovely characterisation.

A frequent complaint in the Supernatural fandom is that Wincest dominates proceedings and that there are no gen stories for those who prefer the brothers relationship to be strictly platonic. However, there are some amazing gen stories as the stories featured below illustrate:

Crossing the Line by eighth_horizon

Sam and Dean investigate a malevolent spirit which is drowning children. Brilliantly characterised, atmospheric story with the slightest hint of Groundhog Day flavouring the plot.

A Stand Up Man by alethialia

Sweet natured story which depicts Sam reluctantly moving on with his life after Jess's death. Lovely character study of Sam and featuring some pitch perfect laugh out loud Sam/Dean banter.

Double Dutch by traveller

Stylish, highly evocative story which has Sam and Dean searching for the demon in New York. The language used is sheer poetry - the words don't so much flow as dance across the page and the use of an unreliable narrator is an interesting framing device. Vivid.

Law of Diminishing Returns by witchofthedogs

Absolute gorgeous look at the months of the year and their significance to the Winchesters. Melancholy in tone this is a story which lingers long after you've finished reading. "January" in particular is superb - a beautiful drabble as we see John's grief from Dean's point of view.

Family Comes First by ethrosdemon

Slight Sam/OFC

Supposedly crackfic this story (which is both moving and funny in turn) features Dean as a father. Dean's son Jack is adorable, Sam and Dean's interactions as they get to grips with the role reversal of Sam hunting and Dean earning an honest wage are funny and believable and it features an original love interest that I can completely get behind. It's incredibly rare to find an OFC who is not a Mary Sue but this story manages it brilliantly.

Morgantown by ignipes

Lengthy plot based story in which Sam and Dean battle necromancers. The story explores Sam's growing telekinisis and features another well drawn OFC.

Also by the same author is Never Summer an atmospheric haunted house story in which Sam is asked by an old college friend to investigate the mysterious suicide of her sister in a remote Colorado hotel.

The Company You Keep by maygra

Sam is taken by a ghost when he and Dean investigate a routine haunting. Powerful story with melancholy undertones. The depth of the Sam and Dean relationship as showcased in this story brings a lump to the throat.

City Limit Line by whereupon

Short,powerful intensely visual story.

Don't Pay the Ferryman by maygra

Novella length story which looks at the shadowy figures that track Sam and Dean's lives. Fast paced with spot on characterisation and an ending that made me cry this story really can't be recommended highly enough.

All of the post Devil's Trap stories have been amazing and for the most part have been so desperately sad that they have just ripped my heart out. With a couple of exceptions the majority of the stories are death fics.

All But Risen by eighth_horizon

Gen

Amazing, beatiful story which has Sam speaking his mind to an unconscious John and a comatose Dean. I love Sam trying to get Dean to wake up by threatening to read him chick fic - The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood! Wonderfully written and impressively close to the spoilers that have just been released for the season 2 premiere In My Time of Dying

Don't Look Back by eloise_bright

Gen

Oh dear god this just floored me! Barely 700 words long and packs a brutal emotional punch. Incredibly clever little fic.

Broken Puppets by pixel_0

Gen

Set in the immediate aftermath of the crash with a physically and emotionally decimated Dean left screaming for his mother to the soundtrack of a woman weeping. Haunting.

On a Steel Horse by trollprincess

Gen

Sam and Dean are gone and John must continue his war against the demon alone. Clever and disquieting - a bleak scenario that works powerfully well.

Crash and Five Days by maygra

Gen

The demon steals Sam from the wreckage of the Impala and Dean must fight to get him back. Beautifullly written and featuring a genuinely scary version of the demon.

The Ice is Thin by poisontaster and mona1347

Sam/Dean

This story breaks my heart into a million, trillion tiny pieces. Sam and Dean are pale imitations of their former selves in this story and it really hurts to imagine them like that. To see the ever cocky effusive Dean reduced to a virtually mute man who panics if his brother is out of his line of sight for more than a few minutes is agonising to behold. Beautiful and desperately sad.

There are also sequels : Underneath My Lucid Skin Until I Can See Again and Where My Heart Lies All by poisontaster

Prayers to Summon the Destroying Angel and The Sky Will Fall, We Will Rise by esorlehcar

Sam/Dean

Desperately sad look at Sam and Dean trying to pick up the shattered pieces of their life after their father's death.

And Feel What Its Like to Be New

Sam/Dean

Wonderful Dean centric fic as he finds him counting the days until he can feel safe and whole again.

Thirty Two Flavours by trollprincess

Gen

Beautifully written series of cleverly connected drabbles showcasing key moments in Dean's life

Deo Volente by eighth_horizon

Gen

Sweet story which has a teenage Dean beseeching God to help keep Sam safe when a hunt goes wrong

Parts of Speech by mona1347

Gen

Beautifully written, extremely angsty look at Dean's state of mind immediately after Sam leaves for Stanford. Packs a hell of an emotional punch.

If Belief Was Enough by eighth_horizon

Gen

Sequel to And Fools Shine On which has a vulnerable Dean unable to prevent himself from spilling his innermost thoughts to Sam. Plot based and with exquisite Sam/Dean characterisation this is one of the very best stories out there in there in the Supernatural fandom.

Beneath the Silence by halfshellvenus

Gen

Angtsy look at Dean and his relationship with Sam. Dean's eternal protectiveness, coupled with his firm belief that Sam could walk out on him at any moment is heartbreaking.

A Penny for the Old Guy by ignipes

Slight Dean/OFC

Bitter sweet story looking at Dean on his birthday over the years.

Tiny A's all in a Row by jwynn

Gen

Really wonderful story which the author describes as a love letter to Dean. Sweet and powerful and without a doubt my favourite Dean centric story

Ain't Scared of Lightening by jwynn

Gen

Extremely funny and adorably sweet tale. Sam and Dean arguing over the respective fighting prowess of Luke Skywalker and Neo is hilarious.

The Rules Remain a Mystery by joyfulgirl41

Sam/Dean

Dean as a virgin. Possibly the most brilliant story concept ever. Packed with some truly hilarious lines virgin Dean is extraordinarily sweet and loveable.

The Boy Who Fell by flipmontigirl

Sam/Dean

Gorgeous look at Dean and the loves of his life.

Of Bastard Saints by nilchance and beanside

Gen, Dean/OMC, hints of Dean/Demon

Novel length story published in a serial format of short, fast paced chapters the thrill of anticipation lead to this story being wildly overpraised for its first ten chapters until the inevitable backlash occurred when readers realised that there was no immediate end in sight (the story is 36 chapters long - it's hard to maintain your audience's interest through 36 updates).Viewed objectively in the cold light of day the story is neither as brilliant as early buzz suggested or as weak as the naysayers would have you believe.

The plot is simple. Set post Devil's Trap Dean (deeply paranoid following a bad reaction to sedatives) awakens alone and suffering from amnesia. Believing that the police are after him he runs but the demon and his minions are close on his heels. Meanwhile, Sam and a badly injured John are told that Dean died in the accident.

What works? Dean's characterisation. As much as I love Supernatural one thing that has always annoyed me is that we are frequently told what crack soldiers the Winchester boys are but in truth the show rarely portrays them as competent much less a force to be reckoned with. Not this Dean. This Dean is capable, organised and very lethal. You never once question that this Dean is a very dangerous man. His internal battle as the demon sinks his hooks into him and Dean allows his bottled up rage free reign is utterly compelling. I love Dean in this story. He's beaten down, stripped of much of who he is and hunted down by the forces of hell until there is no refuge for him not even in his own mind. However, he still won't quit, won't give up because he wants so desperately to keep his family safe. Dean is completly raw in this story and the sequence where he contemplates suicide is haunting.

John's characterisation - John is a difficult character to get a handle on.JDM is an engaging actor but the writers approach to the character has been inconsistent. He can't be bothered to phone his dying son in Faith and yet he's doling out bear hugs in Shadow. John's characterisation is very strong in this story. He's couragous and loyal, a man who clearly loves his children. But at the same time John is a very flawed, very real figure. You may not always like him in this story but you do understand him.

The Original Characters - It's incredibly difficult to write original characters without producing armies of Mary and Harry Sues. The OC's in this story are wonderfully realised. Andrew is fascinating and your appreciation for how richly this character has been drawn improves dramatically with a second reading. And the inhabitants of the Viking bar? Hilarious. The depiction of the demon (Belial) also deserves special mention. He's seductive, chilling and deeply disturbing as he attacks Dean through his dreams.

The epilogue - It's a little out of left field and reminds me of the novel Good Omens but nonetheless it's clever and did have me eagerly anticipating a sequel.

However, there is plenty about the story that doesn't work.

Dean is possibly the least curious amnesiac ever. He makes no attempt to ascertain his identity instead having it handed to him by a chance encounter with Bobby. Considering how quickly the amnesia arc becomes an irrelevance to the plot I wish the authors had ditched it entirely. Cannon provided the authors with a perfect excuse to keep Dean moving even when he realises his father is alive. All they needed to do was show Dean typing his name into Google - discovering that he is a serial killer and you have the perfect reason to keep Dean eternally moving.

Dean's belief that Sam is dead (a belief sustained for 20+ chapters) based on nothing more than the demon's say so when he could call either his father or Bobby or hell look up Sam's obit in the paper is contrived and tear your hair out frustrating. The fact that the plot arc is resolved by a visit from Mary's spirit really doesn't help.

The story isn't always entirely logical. Dean believes he is wanted by the police and so in order to remain inconspicuous he dyes his hair....bright blue? Who the hell did he learn the concept of low profile from? Sydney Bristow?

The Sam and John chapters (especially early on) bring the fast pace set by the Dean chapters to a grinding halt. They're overlong and filled with clunky exposition. I would have preferred to read the piece purely from Dean's pov with Sam and John only putting in an experience when they get to Lawrence. Ditching the Sam/John chapters would have ratcheted up the pace as we would experience Dean's trials with him with no switching pov's to grant respite.

I really wasn't fond of Sam's characterisation in this story. He's fine in the last 6 chapters but for the proceeding 30 chapters Sam is very "off" to me. He just doesn't grab me as Sam and I rarely hear Padalecki's voice when I read Sam's lines. Also, the revelation that Sam cruelly cut Dean out of his life at Stanford because he was ashamed of his brother is a very significant obstacle to me liking this Sam.

The resolution to the demon plot line left me bewildered. Can you say deus ex machina? I was speechless that after such a long and compelling build up the demon was vanquished not by the Winchester boys but by external (and poorly characterised) forces. The resolution seriously strains the credibility of the piece and as a reader I found it deeply unsatisfying. I wanted a huge final battle. I wanted Dean to overcome the hooks that the demon had sunk into him and vanquish the evil bastard.Instead the plotline is resolved in a blink of an eye ending with a real whimper than a bang. Massively disappointing.

Overall OBS is a solid, entertaining and sometimes compelling story in need of a ruthless editor to capitalise on its moments of brilliance and to trim the deadwood and the more credibility straining sequences.

Backfire by maygra

Sam/Dean

Adorable, angsty and hot story which follows Sam and Dean on a lazy morning. Very sweet.

This is the Way the World Ends by storydivagirl

Gen

The apocalypse Winchester style. Sweet and sad and you just know that if the boys had a chance they would go down fighting.

What Comes Around by spastic_visions

Gen

Very imaginative Dark Angel cross over which has Alec having been cloned from Dean. I'm not a fan of cross overs but Sam slips into the world of Max and the Manticore mutants surpisingly well. Engaging and just a little creepy.

The Sky Will Fall, We Will Rise by esorlehcar

Sam/Dean Post Devil's Trap

Companion piece to Prayers to Summon the Destroying Angel this story covers Sam waking in the wrecked Impala in the immediate aftermath of the accident and Dean's painful recovery from his injuries. Beautifully written and almost unbearably sad this is another wonderful addition to the series that started with Guardians of a Rare Thing. Not the easiest read (the description of John's death is almost brutal in its simplicity and the depiction of Dean as a hallowed out shell makes me weep for him) but definitely worth your time.

The sun is coming up, and the sky is painted in bold streaks of red and gold. Dad's dead and Dean might be, moving hurts and so does breathing, but the world is always beautiful. Sam's pretty sure there's a joke in there somewhere.

They'll be Peace When You are Done by lyra_wing

Gen

Simple but highly effective story which considers the potential fates of Sam and Dean. The notion of Dean being "cursed" with a long life is disquieting and the sequence where he hands his father sheafs of identical fortunes is surprisingly chilling.


Fields Where Valour Led by marinarusalka

Gen slight John/Mary

Sweet look at Dean's childhood and John and Mary's relationship as John teaches Dean the meaning of Memorial Day. The sequence of John looking after a chicken pox afflicted Dean is adorable.


And Feel What Its Like To Be New by flipmontigirl

Sam/Dean Post Devil's Trap

Beautiful, sad and Dean centric as he counts the days until he can feel safe and whole again. Dear god all these post Devil's Trap death fics are going to kill me!

Until I Can See Again by poisontaster

Sam/Dean Post Devil's Trap

Sequel to the superb The Ice is Thin and Underneath My Lucid Skin.Sam and Dean travel to stay with Missouri so that Sam can learn to control his gift. This is the sort of story that just makes you want to cuddle Dean and never let him go. Still barely healing from his father's death his enforced separation from Sam as a result of Missouri's meddling just devastates him and leaves him in pieces. I didn't much mind Missouri in the show but I absolutely hate her in this story for her cruelty to Dean (although you can certainly understand her viewpoint) and Sam standing up to her ranks as one of my favourite Sam moments in fanfic ever. A very strong story. There's plenty of mileage left in this scenario so I'm hoping that we'll get some more chapters in this series.

RPS

You may have noticed the total lack of RPS recs on my journal. This is because generally speaking I'm not really down with the concept of RPS. Reading about the saucy continuing adventures of Sam and Dean is one thing but reading stories about the actual actors always makes me feel deeply uncomfortable. But every now and then a story will tempt me to do the dark side and this is one of them:

Decile by babyofthegroup

Jensen/JDM

Damn the JDM voice in this is just amazing. Guh! Unbelievably sexy story.


So I've been trawling through The Lawrence Awards nominees to see if there are any gems I've missed. The list of nominated stories is huge, encompassing a great deal of stories from that repository of dreck fanfiction.net and I think its fair to say that the quality of the stories does tend to vary wildly in each category from the sublime to the strictly average. I understand that the list is going to be whittled down in a further ballot to a short list of 3 -5 nominees per category. Once that happens you should have a pretty definitive list of the best of Supernatural fanfiction but at the moment the list is far too big to wholeheartedly recommend everything on there. Still there are one or two stories which I can't believe I missed the first time around:

Soul Searching by brynwulf

Sam/Dean

Alternate Universe story in which psychic healing has resulted in a generation of soulless children being born. Born souless they have no other option but to drain the life energy of others earning them the nickname "hoovers". In this timeline Mary was one of the psychic healers who is eventually killed by the hoovers (or as they like to call themselves golem) causing John, Dean and Sam to go on the run. The author meticulously creates a very believable, very violent world in which humanity is under constant threat from the Golem and where idealists like poor sweet naive Sam get trampled underfoot. The villains are highly original and chilling, Sam/John and Dean's relationship is strongly realised and the eventual Wincest is belivable and well handled. If I have one complaint it is that whilst the author creates this wonderfully believable world there is almost too much exposition. There is an awful lot of scene setting before we finally get to Sam and Dean and then the ending when it comes is surprisingly abrupt. If the story is the first in a planned series then the wealth of exposition will be worth it but if not I think the story would benefit from being pared down a tad.

The Boy Who Fell by flipmontigirl

Sam/Dean

Gorgeous, sweet look at Dean and the times in his life that he's been in love. Really wonderful.

Supernatural

Candles and Cake by ignipes

Gen

Wistful, bittersweet look at Sammy on the eve of his birthday as he re-evaulates the things that really matter in life.

Prayers to Summon the Destroying Angel by esorlehcar

Sam/Dean


Set in the aftermath of Devil's Trap this piece is utterly heartbreaking as Sam and Dean come to terms with the death of their father. The passage starting Dad's in a box on the table actually had me in tears.

The Flow of Darkness by halfshellvenus

Sam/Dean

Sweet, sensual plot based first time story.

Dark Angel

The absence of Supernatural from my TV screens has had me turning to Dark Angel for my Jensen fix. It requires a stiff drink or two to fully enjoy it - Alba can't act, Weatherley is a gaping black hole where charisma should be, the dialogue (especially the forced "Bip bip bip." Gotta Blaze" slang the characters use) just makes me cry and there's a frakkin dogboy but hell a dark haired Jensen as a happy go lucky sociopath is totally worth it.

So I've started looking at Dark Angel fan fiction. The very thought of a Logan/Alec pairing makes me shudder so any recs will be strictly het. I understand that Valjean seems to be universally acknowledged as the Dark Angel author to read but I believe you have to e-mail her to get access to her NC-17 stories and frankly I like my porn to be more freely available than that. So here are two decent helpings of Max/Alec - both are in their way cliche fics (and neither are anything like the standard of the stories we see in the Supernatural fandom) but they're both good fun.

Pick Me by Worrie

Max/Alec

Max goes into heat and needs Alec to protect her. One thing leads to another......

Any show that features a storyline in which its female lead goes into heat is just inviting bad fanfiction. This is very much the cliche fic you would expect but it is decently written and the Max/Alec characterisation is strong and hey the smut is pretty smoking too!

Out of the Future by Vee107

Max/Alec

Max's future daughter returns from the future to prevent Manticore killing Max. Yes I know future daughters and Terminator 2 all in one package stop rolling your eyes! Despite the slight silliness of the subject matter this is an extremely fun romp. Might want to skim read the bits about Logan/Asha though!

Finally just a reminder to vote in The Lawrence Awards. I believe the initial round of nominations for stories closes soon.

If you listen very closely no matter where in the world you might be you can probably hear me screaming about now. My operating system decided to become corrupted last week and I had to get someone round to fix it. Unfortunately fixing it meant wiping my harddrive and losing everything on there - including two finished recaps of Salvation and Devil's Trap. Arrgh! Ah well these things are meant to try us. Also lost all my Jensen and Jared pics - thank heavens for Supernatural Media!

Anyway here are a few new recs:

Untitled by whereupon

Sam/Dean

Short, sensual snippet of the boys in the dead of night.

Thunder echoes in Sam's bones and Dean's hands encircle his wrists; they fit together, lit with warmth, and the rain turns to hail, to ice.

Parts of Speech by mona1347

Gen

Utterly brilliant, angsty look at Dean's state of mind after Sam goes to college. One of the best stories I've read in a long time.

Fog by traveller

Sam/Dean

Beautifully written, spooky, evocative story which has a spirit drawing Sam away from Dean in the midst of a fog.

Crossing the Line by eighth_horizon

Gen

Sam and Dean investigate a malevolent spirit which is drowning children. Plot driven and with pitch perfect Dean and Sam characterisations.

Supernatural

A collection of post Devil's Trap stories. Given the nature of the ending all bar maygra's are death fics. Sob!

There Will be Blood by sacrilicious

Gen

When Sam is near, Dean can feel him, an awareness etched into his skin, his breath, woven into the worn threads that make him Dean. There is a black
void now, and the threads, frayed and hastily knotted together over the years, have snapped. He doesn't need to hear the words. He knows

On a Steel Horseby trollprincess

Gen

Sam and Dean are gone and John is left to fight alone. As distressing as that concept is this is actually one of the more hopeful of the fics recommended. You sense that John could fight on without his boys but that if he had been the one to go they would have been lost without him. You end the story with the feeling that the boys are far more of a threat to the demon dead than they ever were alive. Powerful.

When you salt and burn a body, its spirit goes away without fail. Hard and fast rule, that one is.

John wonders if he forgot to tell that to his boys
when he gets in the truck to leave Bobby's place and Sam and Dean are sitting in
the cab arguing over the music on the radio.


Crash by maygra

Gen

Dean must rescue Sam after the Demon takes him after the crash. Beautifully written and featuring a deeply chilling depiction of the Demon it leaves you with the sinking feeling that for Sam and Dean the nightmare will never be over - they'll be hunted till their dying day.

The demon chuckles "True. I can find Sam, Dean. I can find your father. I can find you. You've all got my mark on you now. But you did save me from
being shot by your brother. That's a favor I won't forget soon. I always pay my debts. I'll save you for last."

Broken Puppets by pixel_o

Gen

This one just killed me dead. Its's Sam and Dean in the immediate aftermath of the crash. The depiction of a physically and mentally broken Dean screaming for his mother had me in tears. Haunting.

Sam pulls himself closer to Dean, like he did when he was a child, and when he only saw death in his history books and not in his brother's eyes. They no
longer have a father, and their mother is gone. Sam wonders if they can still be sons if both their parents are dead.

The Ice is Thin by mona1347 and poisontaster

And this one broke my heart into a thousand pieces. The boys are just so broken in this fic - they're nothing more than wraiths, pale imitations of themselves. The depiction of Dean breaking down in Sam's arms in the dead of night is very powerful.

All he has is Dean. Broken, still breaking, Dean. Silent Dean.


Except in the dark. Except with Sam.

Dean speaks.