Big Bang fic recs (gen and Dean/Sam)

[hoodietime.livejournal.com]

I haven’t had a chance to read many BBs yet, but today I went on a total reading frenzy and it was glorious. <3 There will be more of these to come as I work my way through the postings, I’m sure, but in the meantime, please feel free to leave your recs (or self-recs!) for BBs that fit the theme of this comm in the comments for others to check out!

Title: Flowers on a Razor Wire
Author: autumn_lilacs and jaimeykay
Art/Artist: here by odysseaia
Tags: fire, phobias/fears, psychological issues
Characters: Dean, Sam, John, OC
Genre/pairing: Gen, pre-series
Rating: R
Word-count: 31,000
Spoilers: Negligable. Pre-series.
Warnings: language & violence, canon and OC character death
Summary: The Winchesters find themselves grounded for several months when John is injured on a hunt, but no matter if they stay or go, a case always seems to find them in the end: a demon is threatening the town's children. 16-year-old Dean joins forces with a local hunter, whose belief in teaching Dean how to be the perfect hunter runs up against Sam's distrust and suspicion—but when Sam becomes the demon's next target, Dean must figure out how to stop it, and decide if he wants to embrace the life his mysterious mentor has laid out for him.
Reccer’s comments: This is an absolutely riveting casefile, which was very exciting for me as I love casefiles, and there are never enough of them. It also has some of the best pre-series characterizations that I’ve read. ALSO, maybe the best twist EVER. Like, seriously. My face was like this: O_O And now I have to read it again. (Not that that will be a hardship, haha.)

This one has a bit of sick!Sam and hurt!John, btw, to go along with adorable, fierce, wee, protective!Sam.

Title: A List of Typos Made by God
Author: cherie_morte @ infatuated_ink
Art/Artist: here by lightthesparks
Tags: amnesia/memory loss, curse/spell
Characters: Sam, Dean, Bobby
Genre/pairing: Sam/Dean, pre-series
Rating: NC-17
Word-count: 44,443
Spoilers: None. Pre-series.
Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content, Off-screen Underage (Sam is 18 throughout, but there are several mentions of a relationship that started when he was 15), Excessive Angst, and Language
Summary: The summer before Sam leaves for Stanford, Dean begins to forget his relationship with Sam. Every morning he remembers less, and Sam is just waiting for the day Dean forgets him completely.
Disclaimer: Another great pre-series fic, this one set the summer before Sam leaves for Stanford. I'm not sure how h/c-y this one is, really - though it's got a touch of it for both brothers, plus amnesiac!Dean. It's just so well-done, wow. The storyline is great and the text itself is beautiful and achy and emotional in this wonderfully low-key, organic kind of way. The characters, their feelings and motivations, read as being so REAL to me. Fabulous fic!

Title: Place at the End
Author: kalliel
Art/Artist: here by barbara_ger
Tags: anxiety/panic attack, depression, injury, insomnia, pain, psychological issues, PTSD?, substance abuse (alcohol), suicidal ideation, war/post-war issues
Characters: Dean, Sam, peripheral OFCs, peripheral John; Lisa, very peripheral Meg
Genre/pairing: Gen, pre-series and post-series (discounting 6x21/22), drama/angst/hurt/comfort
Rating: PG-13
Word-count: 27,600
Spoilers: through s5/6
Warnings: here
Summary: In 1996, you realized one thing: you're either a hunter or you're not. Some bridges can only be crossed once.

Fast forward to 2021. What happens when that frontier starts closing?
Reccer’s comments: Okay, I wrote the last two reviews before I wrote this one, but I must repeat myself on the praise I gave there, and say that this has SUCH fantastic pre-series characterizations as well. It’s a really psychologically interesting read that explores Dean and his issues masterfully - both as a teenager and as an adult. The post series-stuff here is equally fantastic, and features one of my fave fic scenarios, which is the (internal) difficulties there are even after the war is over.

The author did a great job weaving all the threads of this story together, aaand her turns of phrase are quite often stunningly gorgeous. If you like psychologically interesting and/or gorgeous writing, check this one out.

Title: Under my skin
Author: yourkidney
Art/Artist: here by donkigirl
Tags: abandonment issues, anxiety disorder, (specifically, OCD) curse/spell, mental illness, mind-bonding, supernatural trauma
Characters: Dean, Sam
Genre/pairing: Sam/Dean, a tiny bit of Dean/OFC
Rating: NC-17
Word-count: 31k
Spoilers: Set after season 1.
Warnings: descriptions of arithmomanic OCD behavior.
Summary: While on a hunt in North Carolina, Sam and Dean catch a ghost ship's curse. Things go bad, mind-bonded bad. Dean obsesses over the number three and Sam tries to be patient with him. If there's a cure they'll find it, but luck doesn't seem to be on their side this time.
Reccer’s comments: This whole thing was absolutely amazing. There’s a familiar, but wonderfully done trope here, (mind-bonding) that takes them being so tangled up in each other - which is something I love about this pairing - to the next level. But familiar tropes or not, I really think this is a very original fic, and in such a huge fandom, that’s extra-high praise.

As an aside, partly because it's set in the earlier seasons and parly just because, I found this is really warm and happy-making read – I mean, there’s definitely angst, don’t get me wrong – but the way their love for each other bled throughout the text; I just... ♥_♥

BONUS: I just have to rec Like Luggage of Some Departed Traveller by britomart_is too. (NC-17, Sam/Dean, Sam/Jess, Dean/Jess, Sam/Dean/Jess.) There's a smidgen of hurt!very-sick!Dean, so it kind-of, sort of belongs here? Whatever. It's brilliant, anyway! Mmm, apocafic.

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Yay! ;)