Title: Ours is a Reciprocal Gravitation Orbit (NC-17)
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Categories: AU, coming out, high school and college, psychic connection
Length: Epic (71,100 words)
Warnings: Homophobia

Author on LJ: viridescence
Author Website: Kaleidoscope Heart

Author's Summary:
Jared and Jensen are in love, have been for most of their lives. There is just one tiny little problem: Jensen is imaginary, and they can only be together in Jared's dreams. How can Jared ever find true love in the real world when his heart belongs to a figment of his imagination?

Review:
This story, written for the 2010 Supernatural/J2 Big Bang, is an excellent example of what I really like about the genre. As an AU I have no issues with it involving characters bearing the names of real people, so I can just sit an enjoy the original story and watch the film in my head.

It is a very original story as well, told with a light touch and a careful doling out of clues as to what's going on. Until the whole story resolves, you are never left with quite enough to be sure that you've guessed right, and even then there are elements that are simply not explained.

Quite apart from that we get to follow Jared through high school and into college, which is a journey all in itself. Jared doesn't have the easiest time coming out at school, though it's made much easier by Chad being utterly awesome. Seriously, this Chad is the best straight friend a gay boy could ask for, not hesitating for a moment to face down the sports teams when they first start to be threatening. Successfully too, since he doesn't scruple to hit them where it hurts.

There are three sequels, fairly epic in length themselves, taking us past college and into real life. Two of them revolve around meeting the parents, with two very differently charged atmospheres bent around by the central weirdness of the story, while the third is a fascinating glimpse into what makes some people react so negatively. Despite throwing in the homophobia warning above, I would heartily recommend reading that one at least (A Fork In The Road) purely to help get some understanding of how reasonable people can be unreasonable.

Ours is a Reciprocal Gravitation Orbit
Candied Yams and Sticky Conversations
A Fork in the Road
The Space Between Your Heart and Mine