You make a good point about a lot of fic happening in the generic "now" that reflects the vibe of canon but doesn't really fit into any particular point. In D/C fic I think that's much more often handled by creating an AU. The question of why there are so many AUs in D/C (I haven't seen a single canon fic posted for DCBB, I swear), and hardly any in S/D is interesting in itself, and I don't really have an answer.
And I agree that Sam gets little "official" characterization. The strongest attempt at that was S4, but then the show got bored with it, and canon Sam has been weirdly passive ever since, even when he's dying for our sins (twice!). I really had no interest in the character when I got into fandom. It was fan fic Sam that I eventually started to love--when I write Sam-centric fic it's always ultimately fan fic of other people's fan fic. Just from watching the show I'd never get most of the characterization that goes into fanon Sam.
Dean has gotten more development over the years, but I'm not sure all the development actually forms a coherent whole anymore (Purgatory cures alcoholism? Why not?), which is why he sometimes seems like he's all over the place. That, and I kind of feel like Jensen's been increasingly phoning it in since S7-it's starting to feel like watching David Duchovny in the later seasons of The X-Files. Maybe they should've given him the possession arc--getting to do something new might perk him up.
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And I agree that Sam gets little "official" characterization. The strongest attempt at that was S4, but then the show got bored with it, and canon Sam has been weirdly passive ever since, even when he's dying for our sins (twice!). I really had no interest in the character when I got into fandom. It was fan fic Sam that I eventually started to love--when I write Sam-centric fic it's always ultimately fan fic of other people's fan fic. Just from watching the show I'd never get most of the characterization that goes into fanon Sam.
Dean has gotten more development over the years, but I'm not sure all the development actually forms a coherent whole anymore (Purgatory cures alcoholism? Why not?), which is why he sometimes seems like he's all over the place. That, and I kind of feel like Jensen's been increasingly phoning it in since S7-it's starting to feel like watching David Duchovny in the later seasons of The X-Files. Maybe they should've given him the possession arc--getting to do something new might perk him up.