carry on my wayward son

[aria]

A text exchange:

polarisnorth: Apple cider and bacardi is surprisingly tasty.
aria: Dean Winchester crying is surprisingly tasty.

I am in second season! Unsurprisingly, Winchesters shut up in small spaces having feelings at each other is like catnip to me; the happy faceclutching of emotional investment set in around when John was possessed. And I have actually lost count of how many times today I've said "Oh Dean!" to my screen.

(For those of you who warned me that this show is going to crush my soul, I am duly warned! Right now I am treating it as a flash-in-the-pan fandom tour a la my affair with Smallville, which is probably accurate as far as my frustration by the end is likely to go, and also in that Sam totally stole Clark Kent's hair.)

Comments

[rusty_halo]

OMG Dean crying is like fangirl crack. That scene in "Devil's Trap" is what hooked me on the show--I spent my entire vacation wanting to leave the beach so I could go home and get more of the woobie!porn.

Another good thing about this fandom: there is so much fic. Of every variety, every pairing, every possible kink, and more being written constantly. My standards are fairly picky and I've been in fandom for 1.5 years and I still haven't run out of stuff to read. (Alas my recs are on delicious which is totally screwed up now.)

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the end of season two (it's soooo good).

[aria]

Finished season two, WAILING WITH JOY, Sam and Dean's epic codependency is like THE BEST CRACK.

Yeah, I -- am starting to desperately want fic, and I know there is tons and that lots of it is delightful, but especially with delicious borked the way it is, I am paralysed as to where to start.

[polarisnorth]

I can link you to a lot of genfic vaguely circa s1 and 2, and a lot of Dean/Cas and Sam/Gabriel once you hit s4 and 5? I've got just about everything backed up on diigo now and I can link you to the tags or compile a list for you.

[aria]

...Having just watched Mystery Spot, the idea of Sam/Gabriel basically makes me break into hysterical unhappy giggles. HOW FUCKED UP WOULD THAT PAIRING BE.

Also I am totally up for gen and all the boys/angels of questionable moral character, but as I said, just watched Mystery Spot, right now am frantically reading all the "And then Sam and Dean were OKAY for a little while" fic because I NEED IT LIKE AIR. Fff this would be much easier if I did not find myself MASSIVELY OVERINVESTED in their crazy codependent love.

[polarisnorth]

Fuck I miss nested tags.

Sam/Gabriel is not the most healthy of ships, although there is potential for improvement later.

Here are a few gen recs:
credo ut intelligam
Dean and language before and after Sam.

A Stand-Up Man
"Just so you know, there are some things I won't do for you." (They are actually mostly okay in this? Set early s1)

Dust in the Wind
They are the gods of the open road and the hunt, of classic rock and stupid luck, of truck stops and greasy diners, of dollar beers and pool halls. (American Gods crossover. Of WIN.)

[rusty_halo]

Hmmm, what kind of fic recs do you prefer? Here's a few of my favorites:

Gen:

* "Red" by big_pink is one of the best stories in the fandom. Novel-length gen, fabulous Dean characterization, great at capturing the relationship between the brothers and the screwed-up family dynamic. She's an excellent writer and, bonus, always works in just the right amount of Dean-focused h/c.

"Red" has several sequels/related stories, all of which are excellent.

* Everything by pdragon76, especially "Blind Spot" and "The Long Narrow Rope." She's heavy on the Dean!whump, and I really love the way she writes the family dynamic, and the dark sense of humor and sharp quality of the writing. (If you're into podfic, twasadark has read excellent versions of these.)

* We Walk The Same Line by poisontaster. Gen h/c, great writing, technically an adventure story but really all about the codependency between the boys.

Sam/Dean:

* Everything by candle_beck--one of my particular favorites is For Keeps For Good Forever. All her SPN fic is Sam/Dean, and she is one of those writers where your mind is just blown by how incredibly talented she is. She also reads her own podfics and has an amazing voice/intonation that is perfect for the stories.

* Treadmill by tabaqui - I was hesitant about the Wincest but this is one of the stories that was just AU enough to get me hooked (they're still brothers in but, but didn't grow up together--I don't usually read AUs but this one off from canon in a believable way).

* The Incestuous Courtship of the Antichrist's Bride by fleshflutter is hilarious and awesome, and the podfic version by pandarus is the best podfic I've ever heard. Fleshflutter is an excellent writer if you're looking for Sam/Dean slash--she writes super hot porn, usually darker and with more angst than in the rec above.

Dean/Cas

If you end up wanting Dean/Cas, pandarus is a good place to start--she's written quite a few good ones. Oh, and Suck It Up by strangeandcharm was one that I really enjoyed. I have a harder time finding Dean/Cas that I like (even though I like Cas better than Sam) because it's usually more focused on Cas, and I want my stories to be all about Dean regardless of who he's paired with. ;)

[rusty_halo]

Oh, and since I noticed you wrote genderswap (yay that you're writing fic so soon!) I have to rec "Not Time's Fool" by pandarus. Usually not something I'd read, but I ended up enjoying the story immensely--the Dean characterization is fabulous and I thought she dealt with the gender issues really interestingly and effectively.

[aria]

THANK YOU THANK YOU, this gives me a proper place to start! Right now I mostly want to roll around in the Sam/Dean, cos I haven't properly reached Cas yet, but I suspect that I am in the ALL FIC ABOUT DEAN camp, so this should certainly do well for a while. :D