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Bigbang, day 2
I can't keep doing this everyday--I was SO unproductive at work today!--but here are a few more SPN bigbang story responses, including a couple of actual recommendations. Again, don't click if you don't like criticism mixed with your recs.
I will start with the story I was really looking forward to and loved, loved, loved:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maychorian's Coming Down on a Sunny Day (mainly gen, with some very mild Jimmy/Amelia). First of all, it's maychorian, and I love everything she writes. Secondly, it's a weechester story, and that's probably my favorite genre of SPN stories. Third, it has de-aging, which is probably my favorite weechester premise (in this case, de-aged Castiel). Fourth, it has protective!John, which is my favorite species of John Winchester. Fifth, although this story is original, it shares some premises with another series of maychorian's I like, in which Castiel travels back in time to try to prevent the apocalypse, but inadvertantly causes the death of Jimmy's parents, meaning Jimmy gets raised by John Winchester. And I have a great love for the balance between Jimmy and Castiel in this. I adore Castiel and have read reams of stories about him, but one of my biggest complaints is the injustice Castiel's life on earth causes to Jimmy Novak is rarely addressed--but this story does it magnificently.
Another really good story posted today isessenceofmeanin's One Thing I Don't Believe In (labelled Dean/Castiel, though honestly it's 90% gen). It's an AU in which Dean is given a reward for being the righteous man: he gets to start his life over in a world without demons, monsters, or hunts. But as he grows up, he is haunted by dreams of the apocalypse that happened in his former life. The juxtaposition between Dean's new reality and the life he experiences in dreams is well drawn--especially the way his dreams begin to seem more real than reality. And in some ways the reader, like Dean, wants to embrace the alternate reality--though that would involves some pretty serious consequences.The language was beautiful in this, and it managed to be simultaneously heartbreaking and affirming at the same time. One spoilery quibble behind the white text--highlight to read: My only problem with this story is that in the alternate-verse, we never find out WHY Sam said yes to Lucifer (probably because Dean doesn't know), and it's heavily implied that he just gave up. But despite that I really liked the story.
A Theory of Convergence by_tiana_ (Jared/Jensen) is a J2 AU based on "Say Anything," though I have to confess to being a bad child of the 80s: I've never watched that movie, so I don't know how much it borrows from it. Jensen's a recent college grad who will be on his way to better things at the end of the summer; Jared's family owns a diner, and he's just starting college; they begin dating, but can this be more than a summer fling? Overall, this was a sweet story, though I'm already so spoiled by the fictional glut that my main reaction was "nice, but nothing exceptional."
I had much more mixed reactions to some of the other stories. Echo bymunibunny (Jared/Jensen) was a rather uneven AU in which Jared is a physical therapist living on his own for the first time, and Jensen is a doctor with a tragic past. A big part of the plot involves Jared's conviction that his new apartment is haunted (which gives him an excuse to go visit pretty much the entire CW stable--Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, etc.), and the other part is the secret of Jensen's angst. I enjoyed this well enough when I was reading it, though some of the emotional scenes toward the end seemed kind of contrived to me, though partly that was because I thought the resolution of the supernatural plot was strained.
Much more uneven was Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition bynekomitsu (Dean/Castiel) This story, in which Dean dies during a hunt and is angelified against his will, is trying to be crack fic, and while it does have some genuinely funny bits (like Dean's initial reaction to being angelified, and the angelic task Dean is given), overall I just found much of it out of character (like the reason Dean got killed in the first place, or Sam's behavior after discovering Dean is an angel) or strained (much of the whole angelic plot). There are some nice Dean/Castiel bonding bits, and some fun minor characters (Elijah is pretty awesome), and perhaps people with a different sense of humor than me would enjoy this more, but overall this was definitely not my cup of tea.
I did read a little bit of Please Hold (Our Technicians will be right with you), a J2 AU that seems to be a complete fusion with the pilot of "Chuck," but I couldn't really get into it. If anyone reads it, let me know if it's worth going back to, please.
I will start with the story I was really looking forward to and loved, loved, loved:
maychorian's Coming Down on a Sunny Day (mainly gen, with some very mild Jimmy/Amelia). First of all, it's maychorian, and I love everything she writes. Secondly, it's a weechester story, and that's probably my favorite genre of SPN stories. Third, it has de-aging, which is probably my favorite weechester premise (in this case, de-aged Castiel). Fourth, it has protective!John, which is my favorite species of John Winchester. Fifth, although this story is original, it shares some premises with another series of maychorian's I like, in which Castiel travels back in time to try to prevent the apocalypse, but inadvertantly causes the death of Jimmy's parents, meaning Jimmy gets raised by John Winchester. And I have a great love for the balance between Jimmy and Castiel in this. I adore Castiel and have read reams of stories about him, but one of my biggest complaints is the injustice Castiel's life on earth causes to Jimmy Novak is rarely addressed--but this story does it magnificently.Another really good story posted today is
essenceofmeanin's One Thing I Don't Believe In (labelled Dean/Castiel, though honestly it's 90% gen). It's an AU in which Dean is given a reward for being the righteous man: he gets to start his life over in a world without demons, monsters, or hunts. But as he grows up, he is haunted by dreams of the apocalypse that happened in his former life. The juxtaposition between Dean's new reality and the life he experiences in dreams is well drawn--especially the way his dreams begin to seem more real than reality. And in some ways the reader, like Dean, wants to embrace the alternate reality--though that would involves some pretty serious consequences.The language was beautiful in this, and it managed to be simultaneously heartbreaking and affirming at the same time. One spoilery quibble behind the white text--highlight to read: My only problem with this story is that in the alternate-verse, we never find out WHY Sam said yes to Lucifer (probably because Dean doesn't know), and it's heavily implied that he just gave up. But despite that I really liked the story. A Theory of Convergence by
_tiana_ (Jared/Jensen) is a J2 AU based on "Say Anything," though I have to confess to being a bad child of the 80s: I've never watched that movie, so I don't know how much it borrows from it. Jensen's a recent college grad who will be on his way to better things at the end of the summer; Jared's family owns a diner, and he's just starting college; they begin dating, but can this be more than a summer fling? Overall, this was a sweet story, though I'm already so spoiled by the fictional glut that my main reaction was "nice, but nothing exceptional."I had much more mixed reactions to some of the other stories. Echo by
munibunny (Jared/Jensen) was a rather uneven AU in which Jared is a physical therapist living on his own for the first time, and Jensen is a doctor with a tragic past. A big part of the plot involves Jared's conviction that his new apartment is haunted (which gives him an excuse to go visit pretty much the entire CW stable--Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, etc.), and the other part is the secret of Jensen's angst. I enjoyed this well enough when I was reading it, though some of the emotional scenes toward the end seemed kind of contrived to me, though partly that was because I thought the resolution of the supernatural plot was strained.Much more uneven was Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition by
nekomitsu (Dean/Castiel) This story, in which Dean dies during a hunt and is angelified against his will, is trying to be crack fic, and while it does have some genuinely funny bits (like Dean's initial reaction to being angelified, and the angelic task Dean is given), overall I just found much of it out of character (like the reason Dean got killed in the first place, or Sam's behavior after discovering Dean is an angel) or strained (much of the whole angelic plot). There are some nice Dean/Castiel bonding bits, and some fun minor characters (Elijah is pretty awesome), and perhaps people with a different sense of humor than me would enjoy this more, but overall this was definitely not my cup of tea.I did read a little bit of Please Hold (Our Technicians will be right with you), a J2 AU that seems to be a complete fusion with the pilot of "Chuck," but I couldn't really get into it. If anyone reads it, let me know if it's worth going back to, please.
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I have to agree with you about Please Hold--I really wanted to like it but it's not holding my attention like I wanted it to. I think I've overloaded myself J2-wise--I'll try it again later on when I'm not stuffed with fic.
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And lo and behold, you are mighty.
Thank you, as always.
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