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citrusjavaToday I'm reccing fic I would have written off based on the header - and am glad I didn't. A lot of this is "Dean/Cas recs for Dean/Sam shippers", if you will.
If On a Winter’s Night a Fangirl
What I loved about it: I adore meta fandom fic things. This one is funny and silly, just - fun. Becky, Chuck, slash, rps, inside jokes, fandom.
The reading is so much fun - the reader and a friend delighting in the fic and occasionally not being able to help laughing - it works well for me with this sort of fic, particularly since it's meta on meta on meta, it's only fitting that the readers be present in it in a more "official" way. Also, it's just fun - being read to by someone who loves what they read, and you can tell they're having fun too, sharing the jokes.
Header: Dean/Cas
Thoughts:in a way, it's a story about fandom (via Becky and other forces) switching from Wincest to Destiel. I would have maybe had a problem with that, but I was too busy laughing. Also, it made me realize another bit of how Destiel (used to be?) marginalized. They never got canon validation like that.
Wouldn't have read cause: there's Dean/Cas in there.
Absolution
Some of the things I loved about it: This fic is midseason 4, in a very good way. The characters and their relationships, the world, the vibe. A lot of it is about Sam and Dean's relationship, how they deal with the way they started to drift apart, Sam drinking demon blood in order to make amends, Dean defining himself by Sam, being ok vs. being honest with each other and everything that's going on around them. It looks at these things in a way I appreciated - I didn't feel it put anybody on a pedestal, and still it was compassionate. It's casefic, or rather - case arc fic, this could have been a third or so of season 4, and it's interesting. Castiel plays an important role in this, and is interesting in himself and what he goes through, without taking from the rest.
Why I would have ruled it out: Dean/Cas, Sam/Pamela. I really don't go for those, but the fic didn't depend on them, they weren't the center of things, and they worked.
Start Quoting Shakespeare And We're Done
What I liked about it: Librarians, brothers being cute together, banter, Dean working on cars, Dean being fed, Sam being fed chocolate, things being simple and happy after all.
Thoughts: This is just cute shmoop, not too sappy, just mostly cute rom-com. Don't usually like rom-coms, usually I find them more disturbing on a social/personal level than some of the things considered angst. This fic had only a little of that, and was cute and fun.
Why I would have ruled it out: rom-com, AU, Dean/Cas, Sam/Gab.
Apocrypha, or: How Chuck Learned to Stop Worrying and Love His Red Pen
Liked about it: Chuck, funny, interesting, good season 4/5 characterization and vibe, outsider POV on the "war headquarters at Bobby's" scenario, writing and show meta.
Wouldn't have tried it cause: Dean/Cas, outsider pov.
In short, I'm running out of good Sam/Dean (and Sam/Cas!) non-triggery podfic.
If On a Winter’s Night a Fangirl
What I loved about it: I adore meta fandom fic things. This one is funny and silly, just - fun. Becky, Chuck, slash, rps, inside jokes, fandom.
The reading is so much fun - the reader and a friend delighting in the fic and occasionally not being able to help laughing - it works well for me with this sort of fic, particularly since it's meta on meta on meta, it's only fitting that the readers be present in it in a more "official" way. Also, it's just fun - being read to by someone who loves what they read, and you can tell they're having fun too, sharing the jokes.
Header: Dean/Cas
Thoughts:
Wouldn't have read cause: there's Dean/Cas in there.
Absolution
Some of the things I loved about it: This fic is midseason 4, in a very good way. The characters and their relationships, the world, the vibe. A lot of it is about Sam and Dean's relationship, how they deal with the way they started to drift apart, Sam drinking demon blood in order to make amends, Dean defining himself by Sam, being ok vs. being honest with each other and everything that's going on around them. It looks at these things in a way I appreciated - I didn't feel it put anybody on a pedestal, and still it was compassionate. It's casefic, or rather - case arc fic, this could have been a third or so of season 4, and it's interesting. Castiel plays an important role in this, and is interesting in himself and what he goes through, without taking from the rest.
Why I would have ruled it out: Dean/Cas, Sam/Pamela. I really don't go for those, but the fic didn't depend on them, they weren't the center of things, and they worked.
Start Quoting Shakespeare And We're Done
What I liked about it: Librarians, brothers being cute together, banter, Dean working on cars, Dean being fed, Sam being fed chocolate, things being simple and happy after all.
Thoughts: This is just cute shmoop, not too sappy, just mostly cute rom-com. Don't usually like rom-coms, usually I find them more disturbing on a social/personal level than some of the things considered angst. This fic had only a little of that, and was cute and fun.
Why I would have ruled it out: rom-com, AU, Dean/Cas, Sam/Gab.
Apocrypha, or: How Chuck Learned to Stop Worrying and Love His Red Pen
Liked about it: Chuck, funny, interesting, good season 4/5 characterization and vibe, outsider POV on the "war headquarters at Bobby's" scenario, writing and show meta.
Wouldn't have tried it cause: Dean/Cas, outsider pov.
In short, I'm running out of good Sam/Dean (and Sam/Cas!) non-triggery podfic.
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Date: 2013-12-01 03:09 pm (UTC)I just need to say: ME TOO.
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Date: 2013-12-01 03:57 pm (UTC)*fist bumps*
Thing is that I totally am the person to enjoy that - escapist comfort please! But then i find myself worried and triggered and the same sort of feeling erased and "screw you"ed I feel with most things on TV etc.
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Date: 2013-12-01 04:15 pm (UTC)Yes. I think my biggest issue with rom-coms is pretty much the same issue I have with fairy tales (ignoring all the other obvious issues with fairy tales for a moment): This is the love story everyone should wish for, screw you if you wish for something else and/or opposite to it (like respect and friendship and understanding and having things in common with the person you spend your life with).
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Date: 2013-12-01 03:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-01 04:22 pm (UTC)Thanks! That's how I got into Sam/Cas - through reading
Normally when I enjoy Dean/Cas podfics they tend to be AUs
If you happen to know why and feel like telling me, I'd love to hear. I'm still trying to understand those.
Maybe I'll try some of these! Especially Absolution b/c it's so long and read by exmanhater and she's such a great reader.
Oh! She is great! I forgot to mention, in all the "trying to explain how this is both a Sam & Dean and a Dean/Cas fic and there's room for it all"! Anyway, if you're gonna listen to one, that's the one I'd rec.
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Date: 2013-12-01 06:09 pm (UTC)I’m such a huge Sam/Dean shipper. And usually when I try to listen to canon-based Dean/Cas stories, I just can’t ~feel the ship. Something feels missing, and that thing is Sam. Or Dean’s incredible devotion to him, and vice versa. I just usually can’t set aside my canon Sam/Dean feels to enjoy any Dean/Cas ones. (It doesn’t help that Sam and Dean are forever my favorites, and any interest in Cas as a character could never match the passion I feel about Sam and Dean!)
But anyway, AU settings. AU Dean/Cas stories feel more like general RPF fic than anything else. And yeah, admittedly a big part of me is sitting there wishing the story would just be real J2 instead of Dean/Cas. But even still! I’m more able to accept Sam being easily written off (or paired off) in generic AUs where there’s no hunting and the case can be made that Sam and Dean don’t share such a codependent bond. (But of course, as I try to explain this, my mind if full of What Is and What Should Never Be and shouting with wincest feels. So.)
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Date: 2013-12-01 07:34 pm (UTC)Oh, this reasoning I totally connect to. I really identify with what you're saying. I 've never had an OTP in the sense of *one* true pairing, but Sam and Dean come very close to that. Almost always would rather be reading them, and the way I feel about characters in the stories, and the stories themselves - there is really no contest. I was thinking, when I listened to the above fics, that "here is where people who ship this would probably melt"... Not that I was trying not to go with the love story, I just wasn't that moved. I cared, out of fondness for the characters and sympathy - it's an interesting story - but with Sam and Dean it's absolutely different... the sex scenes too - I often just get bored if I'm not emotionally involved with the characters and invested in the relationship.
And I agree regarding a non-hunting life. To me, part of Dean is loving Sam. Fic in which Sam is written off are just missing a very important part of Dean's life, to say the least. That's one o the reasons Absolution worked for me, it seriously did not do that. Same for Balder12's fic. It's also the reason - one of the reasons - I can't choose a favorite Winchester. They go together... I love them through each other's eyes, among other things, so if I love Sam best through Deans love for him, it's as much about Dean as it is about Sam, and same is the other way around.
How do you feel about Sam/Dean/Cas? I really love it when they're not monogamous, though there aren't a whole lot of good, relationship-based fics about that, that I've found.
And may I ask - why AUs at all, then?
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Date: 2013-12-01 09:01 pm (UTC)I was thinking, when I listened to the above fics, that "here is where people who ship this would probably melt"... Not that I was trying not to go with the love story, I just wasn't that moved. I cared, out of fondness for the characters and sympathy - it's an interesting story - but with Sam and Dean it's absolutely different... the sex scenes too - I often just get bored if I'm not emotionally involved with the characters and invested in the relationship.
YES! This. Absolutely. That’s how I feel, too.
I love them through each other's eyes, among other things, so if I love Sam best through Deans love for him, it's as much about Dean as it is about Sam, and same is the other way around.
I want to draw hearts all around this. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
I guess I’m pretty ambivalent about Sam/Dean/Cas! I don’t seek it out and the few stories that I’m trying to recollect as I type this are very vague in my mind. Honesty, I bet I’d feel like Cas was extraneous to Sam and Dean’s big ol’ epic love. /o/ Do you have any recs you think are extra super awesome?
And may I ask - why AUs at all, then?
You mean, why try Dean/Cas AUs even though it’s not my ~favorite pairing? Pretty much the only way I consume them is through podfic; I can only think of one Dean/Cas AU I read on my own that I actually planned to read and quite liked. But with podfics—I always want to give podfics a shot! When readers I like read Dean/Cas AUs, I want to give them a shot! I know I’ll like the reader and there’s a decent chance I’ll enjoy the story, too (even though, like you were saying, my listening experience will definitely have moments of “here is where people who ship this would probably melt”). Dude, I’ve watched movies and TV shows just so I could try enjoying the resulting podfic.
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Date: 2013-12-02 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 07:23 am (UTC)The Dean/Cas AU in question is this one, and I really appreciated the way the author wrote about Dean and his bisexuality and his struggles to come out. That's totally what made it appealing! (Come to think of it, there was another Dean/Cas fic that dealt with Dean being bisexual that I appreciated; think it was a short podfic, can't remember.)
Re: the shows I've watched to listen to podfic. Specifically, a TV show I watched (and ended up adoring in all its 90s-delightfulness) is Due South. I was surprised by how much I ended up liking it! :> Other things I've enjoyed less. I tried to watch Merlin but had to quit after an episode or two; I hated The Social Network because it's full of Mean People Doing Mean Things; the Star Trek movie didn't do a lot for me. But Due South was 10000% delightful.
Hm, there should be podfic about making podfic and about the podfic community/experience.
LOL there totally should. For example, I drool at the prospect of a J2 AU wherein they are both podficcers. >:} How delightful of a concept is that?!
(Although if you actually wanted recorded podfic meta, podficcers have totally done that before. (I can think of an example as recent as a few days ago. XD) And afaik
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Date: 2013-12-02 05:36 pm (UTC)I like the challenge, too. Like - I loved the researchy way The Incestuous Courtship by Fleshflutter started (I'm sure you know that one. It's too fantastic to rec) :)
I'm curious in what way he discovers his sexuality (though - < soapbox >, feel free to just skip). I love fic that deals with discovering one's wants/needs/loves etc, but I'm not a fan of a lot of the "discovering I'm gay" stories. I prefer ambiguity to that. I enjoyed The Devil Really Does Wear Prada, the way Sam was gay in it was fine to me, since he was Sam. But sometimes it's just all about the narrative we all learned - coming out, "it's OK to be gay", even as far as announcing your marriage to your normative sweetheart at a family barbecue and adopting children while you work as a lawyer and an architect and have a female best friend who's so emotionally disturbed and would totally do you if you weren't gay. "This is the only way to live, and only people who do this deserve any rights. It gets better if you're normative-white-thin-gorgeous-middle class-cisgender-sexual-able-monogamous". People write that less for bi, but it also exists. And I just read it and think of the guys at the LGBT center who wouldn't allow us to use one of their rooms for a youth bi and pan group because "no one really needs that". One of the things I love about SPN is its complicated relationship with being normative. < / rant >
Aww, Due South! I watched a few episodes, it was really cute! And a friend kinds pulled me into a group of fans of the show, though I didn't know it well - fun!
I tried to watch Merlin but had to quit after an episode or two; I hated The Social Network because it's full of Mean People Doing Mean Things
THIS. Exactly.
I drool at the prospect of a J2 AU wherein they are both podficcers. >:} How delightful of a concept is that?!
YES, PLEASE!
Or Sam and Dean, or J2, listening to podfic... "Dude, she nailed your fake-butch tone". "Always said you sounded like a girl, Sammy". And the whole - listening to sex scenes as you wait in line or do the laundry. Can it be transferred to a tape for the Impala? What'd Dean think of the music people choose? "That girl sounded like she was honestly turned on. Do you think they fake it, like in porn?" - "She just liked the thought of me naked. Can't blame her". - "She wasn't thinking about you naked, she was being you naked, that's not the same thing". -"Why, I like the thought of me naked". Hrm.
Thanks for the recs! I should get more into the podfic community <3
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Date: 2013-12-03 04:57 am (UTC)OH. MY. GOD. SAM AND DEAN LISTENING TO PODFIC AND SNARKING ABOUT IT, OH MY GOD THAT IS SO PERFECT, WHY DOES IT NOT EXISTTTTTT. *___________________________*
"Dude, she nailed your fake-butch tone". "Always said you sounded like a girl, Sammy".
"That girl sounded like she was honestly turned on. Do you think they fake it, like in porn?"
PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT
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Date: 2013-12-03 08:37 pm (UTC)THANK YOU!
<3
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Date: 2013-12-22 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-23 12:50 am (UTC)