Wolflord by tryfanstone
J2 AU
Jared is the Warleader of the clans. One of the northern clans delivers a giant dire wolf as their yearly tribute, a breed that has not been seen in their territory for generations.
Again? Srsly. Again. tryfanstone managed to put out *another* great fic! I love the world-building in this one. The Norse mythology and the essence of an ancient, fierce people are beautifully showcased here.

I'm off to readAn Occurrence of Dragons next. I'm sure it will be another fantastic story!

Oh dear fucking lord, tryfanstone has done it AGAIN. Recently I gushed about two (excellent) stories. Now, I am here to once again to the same thing - because this is (pun COMPLETELY intended) FUCKING AWESOME.

The Ackles Clause is a delightfully charming J2 AU love story. It features awkward, yet endearing (and hot) Jared along with gruff, mysterious (and sexy as hell) Jensen. They meet at work. Of course, Jensen is standoffish and fighting his attraction to Jared hard. And Jared is falling for Jensen just as hard.
And the best part? They're shooting porn! Without the angst and drama and stuff that usually make porn au's painful and sad. Just with the boyish flirting, and 'I really like my job', and a great cast of characters. But also - porn!

*dreamysigh* tryfanstone is made of awesomesauce with a huge dollop of WIN.

Hey guys,

As I left in a comment a second ago, I am not at my best right now. (Sleep? Where are you my friend??) But, I have a few things I want to make sure I share my squee-age over before I (attempt) to go to bed...


Sin-eater and Casting Bread by tryfanstone
J2 AU, NC-17
Jensen gets kicked out of the insular fundamentalist community he was raised in, with nothing but the shirt on his back and the unshakable belief that he is now going to hell. He's wandering, bewildered and almost mute with shyness on the streets of the some bleak southwestern town when Jared finds him and takes him in.
There is something so fragile and tender about this disjointed little story. Sin-Eater, and even more so in Casting Bread, is just so full of unexplored need. They make me bite my lip and try not to whimper at the guileless yearning.


Standing on the Edge of Nothing by tryfanstone
Art by mementis
SPN AU, NC-17
San Francisco, 1924. Five years after the worst day of his life, Sam Winchester's still hustling for a living, still searching for his missing brother, and on the track of a story so big it might just break him.
With a perfect heavy atmosphere and great visuals combined in a rather unique plot, this makes for a very interesting read.


You Can Trust Me Not to Think by _mournthewicked
J2 AU, NC-17
Jensen has a bit of a jealousy problem and Jared is a bit of a flirt. Jensen tries to give him a taste of his own medicine and quickly finds out that Jared has a possessive streak of his own.
I had simply forgotten how very delicious _mournthewicked's fics can be. Jealousy and sex - dude, just YUM.


In the Beached margin of the Sea by rivers_bend
SPN, NC-17
Sam and Dean black out on a hunt, and when they wake up, Dean's having visions and Sam can't get new, strange feelings out of his head. When John finds out about the side effects, he'll do anything to get rid of the "curse". But Sam and Dean don't want to go back to the way things were before.
I know I've read this before, but it was still just as good the second time around. Maybe even better because it reminds me of how solid and loyal these boys must have been to each other growing up. Sometimes I think it is easy to forget in the current seasons (with the focus off of them as a unit and with both of them so very damaged) the love that must have been forged between the two of them to prompt Dean to make that deal and to push Sam to be so very overwhelmed by his brother's sacrifice. This story ... feels like remembering a better Sam and Dean.


On the Wings of War by alchemyalice
SPN, R
The four Horsemen are not just people with fancy rings. They aren’t even demons with fancy rings. They are another species entirely, a force unto themselves, and Lucifer is kidding himself if he thinks that they are at his beck and call. They are separate. They are neutral. Dean Winchester is not built like them.

Wow. I'm glad I read this. It felt deep and heavy. Like a good, solid book that you dive into night after night. Plot-heavy, with interesting characters and great visuals. Nicely done. Not as 'shippy as I usually like things, but the touches are there. The emotion is there.

As a lot of you work in libraries or schools, I'm sure many of you are familiar with Nancy Pearl and have probably read this article. I find her concept, The Rule of Four, very interesting and probably the best advice I've ever had to help me find a good book to read.

I also think this can apply to fanfiction. So I am wondering, oh dear fandom, what draws you to a good fic. Is it the story, characters, setting, or language?

Now, obviously, there is some draw to all of us for the characters, but I don't think it is as strong of one as we might think. I mean, sure, the guys always look like Jared/Sam and Jensen/Dean, but I've read plenty of good stories where the physical form is the only connection between canon and the fandom piece.

I think for me personally it is mostly 'story'. I think. Although I find myself drawn to great characters and interesting settings. I find it hard to pin down. The only thing I am sure of is that it isn't Language. The language can be beautiful, but if the story is boring and I don't like the characters then I'll click back in two seconds flat.
Maybe y'all can help me figure it out?

Let's take Dictionary for a Dead Language by britomart_is.
I, like most of fandom, adored this.

Why? Is it that Dean is written in such a fascinating way i can't stop reading? Sure. Is it that the bleak work they are in has captured my imagination completely? ..maybe? Is it I know that surely this can't be the life Dean will live and I read every new paragraph to see how things develop. Somewhat.

For this story I would say that characterization is vitally important.

But then what about the QB 'Verse by rhythmsextion? Which I continue to flail and squee about. Yes, the characters are well written and interesting, but I am massively in love with the story and setting of this 'verse. I bite my nails scrolling down for every new paragraph. I want to be *there*, on the gridiron. .. er. well, watching it. LOL, those boys would crush me dead in half a second!

So I am wondering if Ms. Pearl's theories are correct, but maybe they fluctuate depending up on the reader's mood? Or perhaps I am liking the same things in not just these two stories, but in all stories and I just don't recognize it. I don't know, do you?

What do y'all think?

New York Eyes, Texas Thighs by wutendeskind
Art by fromcainwthlove
J2 AU, NC-17
New York Giants quarterback Jensen Ackles is finally where he wants to be: cleared to play by his doctors after coming off a season-long neck injury and just weeks away from reuniting with his team on the practice field at minicamp. A trip to Texas for his sister's wedding is the only thing standing between him and that first, electric pre-snap moment.

I'm kind of mad at myself. I wrote the rec out for this fic this morning but then lost it before I could post. So now I have to think of what I said so you'll know how fabulous this fic is! There simply aren't enough good sports AUs out there. I love ones like this that really get into the sport, where the author has taken the time to really show the characters in the world of sports. It is so hard for athletes to be honest about their sexuality and I love it when a story shows how that struggle really works. Also, the news posts before the chapters were spot-on and entertaining. Good read!

Enough of its Glory Remains by balefully
SPN, NC-17
Every war has casualties, and Sam and Dean are nothing if not warriors. Scarred both mentally and physically, they find themselves settling into civilian life in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia among the charming townspeople, local history, and peaceful mountain views. Sam finds work at an auto shop and Dean stumbles into a job at the occult bookstore on Main Street with a familiar grimmoire in the window. Things are deceptively quiet as they patch each other up and come to terms with domesticity, the only contact with their old life a quest to rebuild Bobby's library -- until a case crosses their path, the kind they thought they were done with forever. They find themselves once again fighting a vengeful spirit as well as their deeper feelings for each other. Only one is a battle they can win.

So very very beautiful. Did you guys read this? Oh man, you need to right now.

Like the most perfect curtain fic for Sam and Dean *ever*. A little bittersweet, a little awkward, and so very full of love and sacrifice that your heart will ache and clinch and melt. Dean is subdued, his fight is gone and now he can just be - with Sam. And Sam is broken and tired. How can a person not be with all that he has experienced?

These things are what make it possible for Sam and Dean to settle down and stop hunting. There is no other way they would.

Many times I read a curtainfic and like it because it shows the boys of old finding a happily ever after- and I like them. But this isn't an older Sam and Dean that is reminiscent of the early season boys with a cute and crotchety flirtation thrown in. This is a post season 6 or 7. This is Dean with those extra crows feet around his eyes and the slight slump of his shoulders from loss and pain (oh, how his baby broke my heart). This is a Sam that sees all the horror of the last 7 years and is a little lost because of it.

It *hurts* to stop reading this. 

EDIT: Oh man! How did I leave off the art post? The art by salty_catfish is so very lovely.

Monster by foolsdance
Art by counteragent
SPN, Gen, PG-13
Following the disastrous events in Colorado, Sam and Dean encounter a new problem. An unknown creature changes Sam into his twelve year old self. Going from bad to worse, they are caught by the FBI, who believe Sam has been kidnapped by Dean as a replacement for his missing brother. It's up to Sam to break Dean out of custody, not easy when you're suddenly a pint sized foster kid.
Wow, lil' Sammy is a badass. I really liked this. And, ya' know, I'm not usually a gen reader so for me to like it there had to be enough genuine emotion between the boys for me to get that distinct Winchester connection. And I did, it was totally there. Simple plot, but I can see this as an episode.


Rattling Your Locks by cherie_morte
J2, AU, NC-17
Born into slavery, Jared has been trained and used as a pleasure slave ever since he was a teenager. Rare and coveted because of his Alpha status, Jared has always sold to the richest and often cruelest of masters. His new master, the young but ruthless CEO of TradeMark Entertainment, Jensen Ackles, seems no different.
I love how fandom can take things like 'slave!fic' and 'alpha/omega knotting' and turn them into sweet romantic schmoop. Srsly, that just makes me smile.


Love in a Hopeless Place by raeschae
J2, AU, PG-13
What Jared expects to find at Chad's extremely cliche bachelor party is some secondhand embarrassment, followed by a raging hangover the morning after. What he's not expecting is Jensen.
Holy shit. This is sizzling sexy hot. But WHERE IS THE REST OF IT?!? I must have more of this now. *melts*

I have not read kerfuffling's big bang fic In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Zombie Spirit, but having just read mishaphappens rec I am heading that way right now - even if I might be late to work. I *have* to check this thing out.

Thank you mishaphappens - I'll tell my boss it's your fault I'm late!

UPDATE: Ok, yes, this was a 100% the right thing to do because this fucking awesome. If I had any criticism of the mpreg incestuous butt baby in the middle of the Leviathan created zombie apocalypse fic it would be that it ended way too soon and I want to read timestamps!

So: In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Zombie Spirit by kerfuffling
SPN, NC-17
There are three things you should know about Sam right now: he's still crazy, he's one of the only survivors in a Leviathan made zombie apocalypse, and, oh yeah, he's pregnant with an incest parasite-baby-thing.
Awesomesauce - read mishaphappens rec to find out why.

Um, ok. So people have been telling me that I should read The Fetters of Fenrir series by leonidaslion for pretty much forever. You know how every one raves about a story, but for some reason it just doesn't appeal to you? Like, you know it will be good, but you just don't want to click on it. Yeah, that was me. But then I finally broke down and clicked on it last night. And yes, it was pretty good. I liked the Fenrir and later stuff a lot more than the original Beserker stuff though, but I think that is because of my John issues.

So, I guess I'm posting to say I finally joined the rest of the 6 gazillion of you in fandom that have read this and I'm pretty happy with the whole thing.

And after having watched umpteen episodes of True Blood and Spartacus, I kinda feel like this should be a cable series. Think the J's would go for that? (hush, let me dream for a minute)

Um, *just* in case you're one of the very tiny percentage of readers that haven't read the fic:
SPN, AU-ish, NC-17
How far would you go to reclaim the other half of your soul?

Pick Up Your Crazy Heart (And Give It One More Try) by akintay
Art by kros_21
J2, NC-17
Supernatural is easily the best thing that ever happened to Jensen - he's finally the lead on a TV show, plays a badass demon hunter every day, and works with Jared. Over time, their friendship grows, enough so that they spend most of their free time together and Jensen becomes unofficial co-parent to Jared's dogs. It works out perfectly, until things get complicated after a random hook-up that leaves Jensen confused and their friendship cracked.

Yeah, that's how it went... ok, maybe just in my secret heart of hearts, but still. I enjoyed this. Friendship and love, this is how you do it.


The Little Things by kasmodia
SPN, NC-17
What makes Dean Winchester the cocky, promiscuous and utterly adorable bastard that he is? Sam thinks he knows his big brother better than himself, until he accidentally lays Dean’s most closely guarded secret bare. The discovery not only forces him to deal with a whole new bunch of unexpected issues, but rekindles feelings buried long ago.
OMG, I think I've just discovered I have a new fic kink (No, Dean, not fetish - kink!). Sexy and unique, but also just a really good grasp on the characters and a nice solid pacing. It has a great build-up and the follow through fucking rocked!
Oh, what kink you might ask? lol, read the warnings.


Fumbling in the Dark: Love Advice For the Romantically Impaired by leonidaslion
SPN, NC-17
True Love really is blind...
*gulp*
I can't even breath. Perfect perfectness. Wow wow wow. How in the hell did I miss this one? It looks like everyone in the world knew how amazing this story was and I was missing out.