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At any rate, here's my first attempt at talking to myself about the big bangs for spn this year.
I had a system. I looked at the whole list of the spn big bangs, and you can find the masterlist here. I looked at them all. I didn't look at any het stories, because I don't like het. Does that mean there's anything wrong with het? Not it does not, it just means that het stories don't do it for me. I looked at slash stories, but only those with a Sam/Dean pairing, and that's because other pairings don't do it for me. I looked at RPS, but only Jared/Jensen, because that's the only pairing that does it for me. Then I looked at gen, because sometimes gen stories rock my socks off.
So then I looked at the summaries for the above categories of stories. I think that some people write great summaries. Some people, like me, can't write summaries very well; but even if the summary is well written, it doesn't mean the story is going to be any good. So what I had to go on was the elements listed in the summary, and the warnings; anything that pushed my buttons was going to get read.
I rated those stories that had elements I wanted to read on a scale of 1 to 5:
1 - I wouldn't read the story unless someone rec'd the hell out of it.
2 - I might read the story if I run out of things to read.
3 - I probably would read the story.
4 - I will definitely read the story.
5 - I will read the story as soon as I can, like right now.
Here are the stories that got a "to read" score of a 5 based on what I saw in the summary and the warnings, and then after is a little summary of what I thought.
Title: Reanimated
Author: tigbit
Artist: bittersweet_art
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 80,000
Warnings/Spoilers: Everyone’s dead (but fairly alive), references death of two minors, blasphemy, references to extreme child abuse, strong language, and an overabundance of love for food.
Summary: In which Jared manages real estate in Heaven and Jensen works as Hell’s attorney in Death Trials. Extreme ambiguity and a distinct lack of beer push Jared to accept a different kind of job in a hotter, more southern locale. The boys meet. Hi-jinks and grocery-stealing in Hell ensue. Featuring saints on book tours, love on trial, after-life bureaucracy, and sin. Surprisingly not as cracktastic as it sounds.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Why is this a 5 – I actually read this one before I created my list. Amothea forced it upon me and told me I had to read it. It was very good. I don’t normally like cracky or funny fic, and I know lots of people do, but often I’m disappointed. I can’t write funny fic myself, but I know what I like and I know it when I see it. This one had dead people in it too, which always makes me sad, so I don’t usually read death fic. I also didn’t like it that they couldn’t drink beer in heaven, because I’m a firm believer that beer is God’s proof that he loves us and wants us to be happy. Other than that, I thought the depiction of heaven and hell was clever and original. I loved how heaven was kind of lame, and hell was totally confusing, especially the subway systems. This was a really good read, overall that had me laughing out loud.
Title: Who Watches Over Me?
Author: thenyxie
Artist: kingsblkdragon
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 96,700
Warnings/Spoilers: None as such, although there will come a point where you'll have to trust me on this.
Summary: Jensen Ackles is an ex-Navy SEAL turned civilian bodyguard with a mysterious past. Jared Padalecki is a flamboyant Hollywood star known for his action movies who's been receiving death threats. The case sounds like Jensen's idea of a nightmare, and he takes it on against his better judgment. Jared drags him to clubs and parties and award ceremonies without any care for how difficult he's making Jensen's job, and to his complete lack of surprise, they hate each other. But when hate changes into passion, it begins to reveal something deeper between them, and Jensen realizes he's in over his head. Can he still do his job and keep Jared safe? Or will he fall prey to his greatest fear and fail someone... again?
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Why is this a 5 – I love a happy Jared. Plus, thenyxie.
What I thought: I really enjoyed reading this one, I thought the characters were very good, and I enjoyed watching the characters flounder about in their relationship, because confused boys make me happy. I thought the sex was hotty hot, all over the place. My one issue with the sex was that all of it was hotty hot, of the wall banging, lip splitting, shirt ripping variety. I don’t mind that variety, but there was nothing else; every time they got together, they were bashing and banging and ripping…just once I would have liked the contrast of a gentle, tender love scene. I think the writer mentioned that there had been such a time between these two, but I never saw it and I missed it. I think the contrast would have made the story more balanced. But overall I did enjoy reading it.
Title: I'd Gladly Lose Me to Find You
Author: flawedamythyst
Artist: yumezaka
Pairing: Sam/Dean
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 35,942
Summary: Sam takes a vow of silence in order to pull Dean out of Hell, but by the time Dean comes back, Sam's lost more of himself than just his voice.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Why is this a 5 – flawedamythest, yes, and mute Sam!
What I thought: I thought the idea was very clever and well done, I was entirely anxious the whole way through, hoping that Sam wouldn’t mess it up. He’s got five years of perfect silence to complete the spell that will bring Dean back to life. He can’t talk, can’t write, can’t even play charades. This one definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, reading as fast as I could to get to the end where they would KISS. This is a really well done, original piece. What I liked is that the writer stuck to the single pov, which made the story more effective.
Title: Bring Me to Life
Author: alienat
Artist: amysticka
Pairing: Jared/Jensen, Jared/Paul Johansson
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 81,000
Warnings/Spoilers: language, angst, explicit m/m sexual situations, violence, graphic non-con/rape, mentions child abuse, infidelity, minor original character death
Summary: Jared’s a shy young man, whose life has never been easy. His father hates him, his mother drinks her sorrows away and his husband Paul treats him like he is nothing more than a beautiful toy. When his husband has to go away on a business trip to Europe for two months, he sends Jared away to a ranch in the middle of nowhere to keep him under control. There, Jared meets people who show him what love, friendship and loyalty mean for the first time in his life. Can he escape his life and finally find some love and happiness for himself?
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Why is this a 5 – NC, I’m there.
What I thought: I liked the idea, but had a hard time with how passively the story was told. I don’t mean in the passive voice (where you don’t know who the agent is) but passively, where you get language like, “When Jared was small,” or “When Jared met Chad,” without ever really getting into the story. There were so many scenes that were told by “telling” rather than “showing.” Now, I’ve used this technique, telling in a passive way, which I call “running through a scene,” because it allows me to keep the story moving and get some important details in there, without bogging everything down. But in this story, it was used so often and all over the place, it made me feel distant from the story. I couldn’t care about Jared’s plight, because he seemed so passive even in his own narrative.
Title: The Secrets of Copper Country
Author: on-verra
Pairing: Sam/Dean
Warnings/Spoilers: Major dub-con, D/s kink, blatant abuse of classic children's literature. Post-series (so, spoilers for all aired eps thru S5 just to be safe, but goes vaguely AU before the S5 finale).
Summary: On a tip from an old friend, Sam and Dean take on a case in Copper Country, a remote part of northern Michigan. Stuck for the winter in a grand old estate, isolated from the rest of the world until spring comes, they find themselves taken over by a mysterious force that seems to come from a locked garden on the estate grounds, perpetually in bloom - making them confront harsh truths about themselves, and do things they might not otherwise do. Loosely inspired by The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. (If you know the novel well, you may be able to pick up loads of references, but it's not necessary in order to follow the story. *G*)
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Why is this a 5 - It's based on Secret Garden, which is a is a must read! Plus there was dub-con, and I liked the concept.
What I thought: I liked the idea of this, of taking the Secret Garden and making Sam and Dean go there. The descriptions and atmosphere were very much in keeping with the Secret Garden, and I thought the writer did a great job of bringing it all to life. But the one character, whose name begins with a “T” started my British-radar off when she called a flashlight a torch. Well, if she’s British, that’s fine. But then it seemed to me that Sam and Dean were also talking that way. Dean says, “This place is fucking filthy,” where I felt he might have said, “This place is a dump.” And Sam says, “Shut it, Dean,” when I thought he should have said, “Shut up, Dean.” It just felt like their voices weren’t on target.
Then there’s the whole thing where some spell that’s in place causes Sam to want to control Dean, and hey, I’m all for that idea. But the pacing felt off and the whole thing felt suffocated by the very premise of the Secret Garden. Maybe there was too much description and atmosphere, and not enough Sam and Dean. And I especially had a hard time when “T” comes in and starts telling the history of the place, which felt disjointed from the rest of the story, and pushed me out of my suspension of disbelief because I kept wondering, who is telling this story about the history of the house and why is it taking them so long?
Title: Hail Mary
Author: rhythmsextion
Artist: dauntdraws
Pairing: Jared/Jensen, Jensen/OMC
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 116,000
Warnings/Spoilers: Mentions of past infidelity. Football.
Summary: Three years since becoming the first openly gay coach of a Division I collegiate football team, Jensen Ackles is hired by the Dallas Cowboys as their new quarterbacks coach. Though happy to return to his hometown and eager to return to the NFL, Jensen's new position puts him directly in charge of former teammate, Jared Padalecki, with whom Jensen had a somewhat complicated personal relationship ten years before. Jensen also finds his new position comes with a price when the organization makes it clear they intend to use Jensen's sexual orientation to further their own status. When an old high school friend steps back into Jensen's life, the situation becomes increasingly complicated as Jensen struggles to balance his professional life with his private while attempting to control his reawakening feelings for Padalecki.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Why is this a 5 – Sequel to a story I liked very much. I might even go back and read that one again.
What I thought: I don’t like football at ALL, but I read this story all the way through, and I even went back to read the entire verse all the way through, simply because I liked the writing style so much. It was clean, and well paced. The writer obviously has a joy for football, and it shows through the writing, with all the details that were included. I got a little exhausted by all the exercise and ball throwing, but that’s just me. When I see football on TV now, I see Jensen in his coaches jacket and Jared throwing a touchdown pass, or kicking or whatever it is they do. This story left a mark on my brain, it was very effectively told.
Title: Things We Can't Untie
Author: astrangerfate
Artist: awakencordy
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 53,000
Warnings/Spoilers: Slavery, non-con, dub-con, beating, spanking, morally reprehensible characters, perennially angst-ridden characters, more porn than plot, popsicle porn, language.
Summary: Jensen Ackles thinks he's prepared for his new job, training political prisoners as sex slaves for the wealthy elite. But when he meets his first client, a gorgeous, intriguing kid named Jared, his own doubts about his profession begin to catch up with him. Soon, he's developing a disconcerting attachment to Jared, and struggling with the full implications of his career.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Why is this a 5 – The has everything I like.
What I thought: I wanted to go here so very much, I wanted a bdsm type story with Jared in a collar but I couldn’t buy any of it. I couldn’t get why a world run by Sarah Palin would think that the most obvious solution to a juvenile delinquent would be to make him a sex slave. It didn’t seem an effective use of resources. Plus, if Jensen takes three years to complete his training to be a sex slave trainer, it seems a little lame for him to fall for his first client. And also, Jared seemed a little passive; if you’re a sex slave, wouldn’t you be a little nervous? No, Jared takes his collar off, puts it on, he’s cool with giving Jensen a blow job almost right off the bat. It all seemed so normal. And maybe that was the point; I’ve read other stories that normalize bdsm activity, but they all had a sense of anxiety or nerves or begin afraid. I just didn’t feel like these characters felt anything.
There was a scene where Jensen is teaching Jared how to give his future owner a bath. The story belabored the point of how to fill a bath with a few capfulls of bubble bath into hot water; but that’s on the label, and anyone can figure it out. What I wanted more of was how nervous Jared would be trying to deal with someone naked in a tub, how to bathe another person and afterwards rub them with oil and all that other sex slave stuff. The story felt so mundane to me, I couldn’t buy it and so didn’t finish reading it.
*That's all for now. More later.
