Title: Tomorrow's Game
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles
Categories/Genres: Time Travel, Angst
Length: 41693
Warnings:

Author/Artist on Sinful Desire: Karfraegh

Summary: Jared's lover is dead. He is recruited to a new secret program to become a protector of time, he can go back but the rules of time say he can't save Jensen. It is enough to break any man ... but what will it do to a man on the edge ... ?

Review:
This stands out in my memory as unique. It's a mixture of quantum leap/terminator that I haven't seen before. What I remember most is the trailer someone made for it. I will add it at the end of this rec and you will see what I mean. It's emotional and scary and inspires a lot of awe for something that is under two minutes. It's extremely clever with how it mixes together different movies to get it's message across.
The fic itself is less scary and more sweet. While Jared experiences pain and struggles with not saving Jensen and creating a paradox, Jensen himself eases a lot of it for Jared without knowing what's going on and ultimately ends up being smarter than Jared gives him credit for. Protecting the ones we love is an extreme weakness of mine and this fic certainly hit home.

Tomorrow's Game Trailer by Di


Tomorrow's Game

Title: Louder than Words
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles
Categories/Genres: Deaf!Character, Angst, Romance
Length: 45,934
Warnings: Cheating, Seizures, Medical condition

Author/Artist Website: Splash Pink

Summary: Jared throws a party for his best friend, looking forward to meeting the girl in his life. Jensen wasn't quite what he was expecting.

Review:
This is quite a brutal story for someone like me who always likes to see the best in people. Everyone in this fic is a piece of work. Even Jensen who is deaf. In a lot of stories people with disabilities are seen of as sweet victims. Yet here Jensen doesn't even consider pulling any punches and is downright cruel at times. It makes you hurt to see how they treat each other but it certainly makes you sit up and respect at the same time.

Yet this also adds to the deliciousness of some moments that are just heartbreakingly funny. My favourite being when Jared falls through Jensen's window drunk. I am also a sucker for stories that treasure someone who clearly doesn't think they deserve it.

This isn't Splash Pink's original website. I miss the days I followed her/his dreamwidth so I hope it's okay to point towards this tribute site someone has set up with all their work.

"He's really deaf?"
"Yep." David almost sounded proud.
"He's kinda…I dunno…pretty. For a guy."
Across the yard, Jensen flipped him the finger.
David grinned and hid a laugh behind his bottle. "And he's real good at lip reading."
"Fuck." Jared sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. He needed a haircut. And a hangover kit.

Louder than words

Title: Who Watches Over Me?
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen, J2
Categories/Genres: Bodyguard AU, Suspense, Porn with Plot, Romance, Hate Sex
Length: 96591
Warnings: None

Author/Artist on LJ: nyxocity
Author/Artist on AO3: AO3 Link

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?

Review:
Nyxocity is the author I would name as the best writer in any fandom as well as the hottest. I admit she ruined me for all other porn with her writing. Known first and foremost for her Homework Verse, her stories are what have kept me from even trying to read 50 Shades of Grey. Because I know in my heart they must be glorified Mills and Boon books in comparison to anything Nyxocity has written. Her stories are so entirely nsfw that they would never be mainstream.

There are many Bodyguard AU's but what makes this one special is the pure hatred Jared and Jensen have for each other at the start. They absolutely loathe the sight of the other and yet it is transfigured into the deepest kind of tension. They irritate each other to the point one of them explodes, usually Jensen, and this end up with them having really good and extemely rough sex. Yet Jensen's past keeps him closed off which sets them off on a rocky trail.

Who Watches Over Me?

Title: Instinct & Taste
Fandom: Supernatural RPF
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Categories: Drama, food, slash
Length: Epic (45,000 words)
Warnings: Some sex. Shocking, I know.

Author Website: Kelleigh (girlfromcarolina)

Summary:
As a young chef trying to break into the sizzling hot world of Charleston cuisine, Jensen Ackles spent more time in the kitchen than he did sleeping, eating, or socializing; he was absolutely dedicated to his craft and to the mentor who’d given him a chance. When all of that work paid off in a big way, Jensen was thrilled, but from the moment he accepted his dream job, other aspects of his life began to sour, quickly.

Now, shouldered with the extra burdens of caring for his brother’s house and keeping his job safe from a brown-nosing new sous chef, Jensen tries everything, up to and including therapy, to keep his life from boiling over. It’s not until he hires college senior Jared Padalecki that things start to turn around, and Jensen learns that if he can stand the heat, fate might cook up something even better.

Review:
This is the story I was going to rec a few weeks ago before I got distracted with humour. Written for the 2012 SPN Big Bang, it is a much angstier Jensen-centric piece, but it attracted me early on because I'm something of a foodie and this story does a very good job of projecting the chaos and pressure of a Michelin-grade kitchen.

In many ways, the summary is as misleading as book blurbs get. Most of the action doesn't happen the way it implies, and in any case practically all the events it touches on happen within the first few hundred words. What we have in reality is a study of someone who loves creating gastronomic delights, but who has to do so in an increasingly poisonous atmosphere. Most of the thrust of the story is everybody else trying to get Jensen to realise that he hasn't actually enjoyed his work in a long time.

Tangled around that, we have a slow-burn romance between Jensen and Jared, the student who is his dog-sitter, gardener, house-keeper and one of the few people he can just relax around. This is a very slow-paced and confusing affair, mostly because we only see it from Jensen's blinkered viewpoint. It's not the usual coming-out issues, since both men know perfectly well that the other is gay, but it isn't until Jarod actually explains why he has been keeping his distance that we the readers can see everything tie back together.

I could go on about this detail or that, the use of real people vs original characters, but I'd be here all night and I'm already eating into my beauty sleep. Just believe me that this is a damn good story with credible characters, and go and read it yourself.

Instinct & Taste

Title: The Wolf in the Woods
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jensen/Jared
Categories: Crack, fantasy AU, werewolves, future mpreg
Length: Medium (6,800 words)
Warnings: Be careful what you're drinking when you read this. Also, some swearing.

Author on AO3 morrezela

Summary:
Jensen is a baker who keeps getting accosted by a wolf with a sweet tooth every time he tries to deliver food to his grandmother’s house.

Review:
This wasn't the story I was going to review. I had another story in mind when I started paging through AO3 looking for the links. As usual I browsed as I went, because that's half the fun, and in the process I came across this one. Snorting hot tea is not recommended.

Yes, it's yet another Little Red Riding Hood parody, and Lord knows there are enough of those in the fandoms I read. This one however is written with such verve and sweeping silliness that I had to rec it. Honestly, it practically recommends itself; the writing is good and solid, consistently mildly absurdist in its humour, and the whole thing makes sense on its own level.

If this is what I get when I go "walking in the woods" of AO3, I really must get out there more!

The Wolf in the Woods

Title: Misspelled
Fandom: Supernatural RPF
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Categories: AU, humour, urban fantasy, magical accident, romance.
Length: Medium (9,000 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: cleflink
Author on AO3: cleflink

Summary:
Jensen's not sure what he did to deserve getting magically bungee-corded to the most inept witch he's ever met, but he's more than willing to start apologizing if it'll get Jared off his back. Pretty literally, in fact.

Review:
I felt like something light and fluffy this week, and J2 fandom provided. This is an entertaining little tale that throws us in at the deep end by starting with a furious Jensen finding himself stuck to his kitchen wall as if gravity had just turned sideways. It turns out that this is because Jared, a co-worker he vaguely recognises, botched a spell. Which, apparently, is nothing new.

This story seems to go in for the iceberg principle of world-building. Setting up a convincing world with functioning, publicly known magic takes a bit of doing, even at this short length, and it's done largely by omission. Things that we done need to know aren't mentioned, and things that we do need are sketched in just enough to let our imaginations fill in the details. We know that Jensen and Jarod work office jobs, for example, and we even see Jensen at work, but the story never bothers to say exactly what their company does.

The same sparseness applies to the supporting cast. Only Misha gets anything like the screen time of Jared and Jensen, and he has the advantage of being a purple cat. Don't ask, just trust me that the characterisation is still great. The others only appear for their brief scenes, but still manage to be well-rounded parts in that time. We don't even get to see Chad, just hear Jared arguing with him on the other end of a phone line.

It's short and it's sweet, and it was a good thing to come across. Go, enjoy it yourselves.

Misspelled

Title: This Hell We've Made
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Categories: AU, superheroes, slash
Length: Epic (68,000 words)
Warnings: Violence, brief mentions of past abuse and self-harm.

Author on LJ: bewaretheides15
Author on AO3: BewareTheIdes15
Author Website: The Sam/Dean Archive author's page.

Summary:
Except for the fact that they were both born with remarkable superhuman abilities, and a seething mutual dislike, Jared and Jensen have nothing in common. Turns out, though, that they may also be the only ones who can save each other from themselves.

Review:
That's a pretty good summary of this X-Men-esque story, to be honest. Jensen is a young delinquent with Wolverine-like levels of self-healing. Naturally enough that means the author has license to do huge amounts of damage to him, since he'll be back up and ready to go in seconds, though this happens less often and less viciously than in some comic books I've read.

Being more cocky than careful, Jensen gets pulled in and recruited by a UN-sponsored secret superteam. Jared, ostensibly a precog, is the team's field leader. It's somewhat unfortunate that being around Jensen makes Jared feel ill, because Jared is actually an empath. Naturally enough that means the author has license to mentally torture him, though again I've seen far worse in print.

The story works through a lengthy investigation/manhunt, but the focus is solidly on the working out of Jensen and Jared's relationships, personal and professional, and the cartload of issues both of them have to deal with. This is the crux of the story; both boys have been mentally scarred by the effects of the powers they have, and it is in dealing with things as they come up that they come to recognise each other has people.

The supporting cast are nicely done, though sometimes a little predictable. Superstrong Tom Welling in particular might as well have been called Clark Kent, but it's not something that matters a great deal. This is the sort of RPS that is far more fantasy film-casting than anything that might be expecting to present real people, after all, and in that context Tom has already been cast as Clark once, so why not do it again? Far better used is Jeff Morgan as the non-powered organiser cum father-figure of the team, who is entirely smart and devious enough to get his "family" to take care of each other.

This is a solid romance disguised as an adventure story. You should enjoy it either way.

This Hell We've Made

Title: The War Prize
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Categories: AU, Science Fiction, hostage, cultural misunderstandings
Length: Epic (66,800 words)
Warnings: Reference to past non-con.

Author on LJ: meri_oddities
Author Website: Meri Oddities, Meri

Summary:
Jared, Monarch of Valdesco, did not want to get married. He especially didn't want a political marriage to someone who was part of the negotiations for peace. There was no way he could deal with a spouse whose culture was completely alien to his own.

Jensen Ackles was appalled to be the War Prize his country offered up as reparations. He sincerely did not want to go from being the High Chief's youngest son to being without status. And mostly, Jensen did not want to live in a country that was so technologically advanced that he had no hope of beginning to understand it.

But, like a lot of things in life, neither one of them was going to get a choice about it.

Review:
A lot of thought went into this story. It's clear from the outset that it is going to be all about the culture shock of moving into a country that's about half a century more advanced than what you're used to. What's less clear is that this cuts both ways; the Valdescans also make assumptions about Amaranth and its people that just aren't true, and some of the misunderstandings run very deep. The explorations of these differences is carefully done, too; as a reader, I didn't notice until quite a long way through the story that I was making the same assumptions as Jared and his people, despite half of it being Jensen's point of view.

The romance side of the story is equally well-handled, and equally stop-start in its progress. Naturally enough the boys start off putting up with what both think is an intolerable situation. For Jared, the whole idea of being handed a hostage he is expected to marry is barbaric; for Jensen, suddenly losing everything and being effectively owned by this stranger is pretty horrifying too. By their own lights they try to behave properly, but of course what's proper to one culture can be completely improper for the other. There are any number of times when Jared tries to do favours for Jensen that Jensen sees as punishments, for example. That they persevere in seeing each other as people is what eventually brings them together properly, and allows them to (heaven forfend!) actually talk about the whole mess.

For a story that has some quietly unpleasant corners, this is a remarkably uplifting read. I thoroughly recommend it.

The War Prize

It almost feels like cheating to take my AU Week recs from Supernatural RPS fandom. Also I missed last week, so here, have two.

Title: The Extraordinary Experiences of an Unusual Sidekick In the City
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Categories: AU, superheroes
Length: Epic (44,000 words)
Warnings: Four-colour comics-level violence

Author on LJ: trulyesoteric
Author Website: trulyesoteric

Author's Summary:
Jared Padalecki, Class Two Superhero, has lived his entire life in his small town. Another disappointing Superboyfriend is the kick that he needs to get out. He arrives in the City, expecting to be overwhelmed, instead it seems that he finds everything that he has always been looking for.

Review:
I love superheroes, and there are some cracking J-squared superhero stories out there. This one has vague echoes of Sky High rather than DC or Marvel with its classification of heroes into different classes, and that's one of the reasons I love it. It's appropriately larger than life, and still not afraid to toss outrageous ideas at the reader at frequent intervals.

It has plenty of outrageous ideas, as well. There's the Superhero Shield of Obliviousness (apparently a domino mask really is enough to keep your identiry an iron-clad secret, even from your boyfriend); there is Misha, and who could not love a telepathic mentor who quacks occasionally; there is a Chad who would be an awesome super if he didn't have the attention span of a ferret; there are powers that could and have destroyed countries; and not one place in the entire story gets a proper name.

OK, so there are a few rough edges in the storytelling, a few places where the short sentence, short paragraph comics-book style gets a bit too short, but it more than makes up for it by making me feel like a kid again. A kid who has just raided his big brother's soft porn collection, granted, but that's just the kind of story this is.

The Extraordinary Experiences of an Unusual Sidekick In the City

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

Two crossovers today... both with a wolf of sorts.

Title: Chaperon Rouge
Fandom: Supernatural RPS, Little Red Riding Hood
Pairing: Jensen/Jeff
Categories: AU, science fiction, fairy tale, crossover
Length: Medium (5,265 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: pigeongirl99
Author Website: Pigeon

Author's Summary: Jensen has a red Hood. Jeff is a Wolf. In Space.

Review:
Pigeon weaves sci-fi with Red Riding Hood so seamlessly it's as though the two were meant to go together. Jensen's flying his battered little Hood class ship with flaking red paint to deliver medicine and supplies. As the story says, "A Hood doesn't have the smooth ride of the fancier crafts, the large gun-bristled Hunters or sleek Wolves with their sinuous lines, stealth-black and wet glossed danger. But they sweep and bob, burst of power from the engines, rumbling sharp before the lull as they dart forward."

Chaperon Rouge has a unique style, rich with imagery and suspense, and Pigeon manages a lot of world building in a few words. It's a dicey, often unforgiving future in which Jensen has scratched out a niche for himself as he flies back and forth through the quiet of space. But along the way to the Forest System he comes across a Wolf, and later when he arrives, things are not as they seem.

I've read this a few times for the writing, plus a Jensen who's making the best of what little he has, and a deep voiced and thrillingly dangerous Jeff. For my taste, the pacing at the end could have been just a little bit slower, but to be fair, good stories tend to leave me wanting more.

Chaperon Rouge (AO3)
On LJ

Two crossovers today... both with a wolf of sorts.

Title: Chaperon Rouge
Fandom: Supernatural RPS, Little Red Riding Hood
Pairing: Jensen/Jeff
Categories: AU, science fiction, fairy tale, crossover
Length: Medium (5,265 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: pigeongirl99
Author Website: Pigeon

Author's Summary: Jensen has a red Hood. Jeff is a Wolf. In Space.

Review:
Pigeon weaves sci-fi with Red Riding Hood so seamlessly it's as though the two were meant to go together. Jensen's flying his battered little Hood class ship with flaking red paint to deliver medicine and supplies. As the story says, "A Hood doesn't have the smooth ride of the fancier crafts, the large gun-bristled Hunters or sleek Wolves with their sinuous lines, stealth-black and wet glossed danger. But they sweep and bob, burst of power from the engines, rumbling sharp before the lull as they dart forward."

Chaperon Rouge has a unique style, rich with imagery and suspense, and Pigeon manages a lot of world building in a few words. It's a dicey, often unforgiving future in which Jensen has scratched out a niche for himself as he flies back and forth through the quiet of space. But along the way to the Forest System he comes across a Wolf, and later when he arrives, things are not as they seem.

I've read this a few times for the writing, plus a Jensen who's making the best of what little he has, and a deep voiced and thrillingly dangerous Jeff. For my taste, the pacing at the end could have been just a little bit slower, but to be fair, good stories tend to leave me wanting more.

Chaperon Rouge (AO3)
On LJ

Two crossovers today... both with a wolf of sorts.

Title: Chaperon Rouge
Fandom: Supernatural RPS, Little Red Riding Hood
Pairing: Jensen/Jeff
Categories: AU, science fiction, fairy tale, crossover
Length: Medium (5,265 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: pigeongirl99
Author Website: Pigeon

Author's Summary: Jensen has a red Hood. Jeff is a Wolf. In Space.

Review:
Pigeon weaves sci-fi with Red Riding Hood so seamlessly it's as though the two were meant to go together. Jensen's flying his battered little Hood class ship with flaking red paint to deliver medicine and supplies. As the story says, "A Hood doesn't have the smooth ride of the fancier crafts, the large gun-bristled Hunters or sleek Wolves with their sinuous lines, stealth-black and wet glossed danger. But they sweep and bob, burst of power from the engines, rumbling sharp before the lull as they dart forward."

Chaperon Rouge has a unique style, rich with imagery and suspense, and Pigeon manages a lot of world building in a few words. It's a dicey, often unforgiving future in which Jensen has scratched out a niche for himself as he flies back and forth through the quiet of space. But along the way to the Forest System he comes across a Wolf, and later when he arrives, things are not as they seem.

I've read this a few times for the writing, plus a Jensen who's making the best of what little he has, and a deep voiced and thrillingly dangerous Jeff. For my taste, the pacing at the end could have been just a little bit slower, but to be fair, good stories tend to leave me wanting more.

Chaperon Rouge (AO3)
On LJ

Title: Monogatari
Fandom: Supernatural RPS / J2
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Categories: AU/AR, Romance
Length: Epic (78.488 words)
Warnings: Xenophobia, prejudice, violence, cultural appropriation
Summary: It's an AU in a parallel universe where Japan kind of took over half the world and the boys are - wait for it - samurai. I can't explain where it came from or what came over me, but suffice it to say that I'm mostly proud of it.

Author on LJ: winterlive
Author Website: Channel Six

Review:
I love Japan and I love samurai. So when winterlive posted this story that not only combines those two preferences but adds the bonus of a really great written J2 pairing, I couldn't help but fall in love with the story.

This universe that was created for Monogatari is a 'what if' Japan not the United States was the most influential country in the world. Every aspect of the life the characters are living is changed by the many (often only minute) differences between European/American culture and Asian culture.

Anyone who likes plotty stories with interesting world building will enjoy taking a look at Monogatari.

Monogatari

Title: Monogatari
Fandom: Supernatural RPS / J2
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Categories: AU/AR, Romance
Length: Epic (78.488 words)
Warnings: Xenophobia, prejudice, violence, cultural appropriation
Summary: It's an AU in a parallel universe where Japan kind of took over half the world and the boys are - wait for it - samurai. I can't explain where it came from or what came over me, but suffice it to say that I'm mostly proud of it.

Author on LJ: winterlive
Author Website: Channel Six

Review:
I love Japan and I love samurai. So when winterlive posted this story that not only combines those two preferences but adds the bonus of a really great written J2 pairing, I couldn't help but fall in love with the story.

This universe that was created for Monogatari is a 'what if' Japan not the United States was the most influential country in the world. Every aspect of the life the characters are living is changed by the many (often only minute) differences between European/American culture and Asian culture.

Anyone who likes plotty stories with interesting world building will enjoy taking a look at Monogatari.

Monogatari

Title: Monogatari
Fandom: Supernatural RPS / J2
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Categories: AU/AR, Romance
Length: Epic (78.488 words)
Warnings: Xenophobia, prejudice, violence, cultural appropriation
Summary: It's an AU in a parallel universe where Japan kind of took over half the world and the boys are - wait for it - samurai. I can't explain where it came from or what came over me, but suffice it to say that I'm mostly proud of it.

Author on LJ: winterlive
Author Website: Channel Six

Review:
I love Japan and I love samurai. So when winterlive posted this story that not only combines those two preferences but adds the bonus of a really great written J2 pairing, I couldn't help but fall in love with the story.

This universe that was created for Monogatari is a 'what if' Japan not the United States was the most influential country in the world. Every aspect of the life the characters are living is changed by the many (often only minute) differences between European/American culture and Asian culture.

Anyone who likes plotty stories with interesting world building will enjoy taking a look at Monogatari.

Monogatari

Title: Monogatari
Fandom: Supernatural RPS / J2
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Categories: AU/AR, Romance
Length: Epic (78.488 words)
Warnings: Xenophobia, prejudice, violence, cultural appropriation
Summary: It's an AU in a parallel universe where Japan kind of took over half the world and the boys are - wait for it - samurai. I can't explain where it came from or what came over me, but suffice it to say that I'm mostly proud of it.

Author on LJ: winterlive
Author Website: Channel Six

Review:
I love Japan and I love samurai. So when winterlive posted this story that not only combines those two preferences but adds the bonus of a really great written J2 pairing, I couldn't help but fall in love with the story.

This universe that was created for Monogatari is a 'what if' Japan not the United States was the most influential country in the world. Every aspect of the life the characters are living is changed by the many (often only minute) differences between European/American culture and Asian culture.

Anyone who likes plotty stories with interesting world building will enjoy taking a look at Monogatari.

Monogatari

Title: Monogatari
Fandom: Supernatural RPS / J2
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Categories: AU/AR, Romance
Length: Epic (78.488 words)
Warnings: Xenophobia, prejudice, violence, cultural appropriation
Summary: It's an AU in a parallel universe where Japan kind of took over half the world and the boys are - wait for it - samurai. I can't explain where it came from or what came over me, but suffice it to say that I'm mostly proud of it.

Author on LJ: winterlive
Author Website: Channel Six

Review:
I love Japan and I love samurai. So when winterlive posted this story that not only combines those two preferences but adds the bonus of a really great written J2 pairing, I couldn't help but fall in love with the story.

This universe that was created for Monogatari is a 'what if' Japan not the United States was the most influential country in the world. Every aspect of the life the characters are living is changed by the many (often only minute) differences between European/American culture and Asian culture.

Anyone who likes plotty stories with interesting world building will enjoy taking a look at Monogatari.

Monogatari

Title: Monogatari
Fandom: Supernatural RPS / J2
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Categories: AU/AR, Romance
Length: Epic (78.488 words)
Warnings: Xenophobia, prejudice, violence, cultural appropriation
Summary: It's an AU in a parallel universe where Japan kind of took over half the world and the boys are - wait for it - samurai. I can't explain where it came from or what came over me, but suffice it to say that I'm mostly proud of it.

Author on LJ: winterlive
Author Website: Channel Six

Review:
I love Japan and I love samurai. So when winterlive posted this story that not only combines those two preferences but adds the bonus of a really great written J2 pairing, I couldn't help but fall in love with the story.

This universe that was created for Monogatari is a 'what if' Japan not the United States was the most influential country in the world. Every aspect of the life the characters are living is changed by the many (often only minute) differences between European/American culture and Asian culture.

Anyone who likes plotty stories with interesting world building will enjoy taking a look at Monogatari.

Monogatari

Title: Tomorrow, when the apricots are ripe
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen (Jared/OMC)
Categories: AU, BDSM, dark, hurt/comfort, slave
Length: Long (~25,000 words)
Warnings: violence, pre-story abuse (possibly sexual), some light dub-con, heavy amounts of bondage, make sure to check out the author’s warnings as this is an unusual subject matter (there is not any actual bestiality)

Author on LJ: tryfanstone
Author Website: jay tryfanstone fiction

Review:
Jared can’t wait to see the new stallion. It’s not every day that Eric gets a new breeder with the credentials this one has. But there are reasons why this stallion was easy to come by as he was. And when Jared first lays eyes on Jensen he can’t help but be shocked by the obvious abuse the animal’s been put through.

This is a truly unusual alternate universe. As far as I can tell, this ‘verse veers off from our history around the Great Depression (although it could begin decades to either side; this is the time in our history that makes the most sense as a possibility, though). In this alternate timeline, people who were in too great of debt sold themselves as ‘horses’ to the court system.

Because of this ‘horse’ parallel the slaves in this ‘verse seem to generally be treated better than most slave fics. They are maintained as well as any animal for show might be maintained—with the single caveat that the vocal chords are burned out before the slave is sold.

The writing in this is superb. I love an author who can write an alternate universe and not make their sole focus the alternate universe. This story is the tale of an unusual relationship developing under unusual circumstances with unusual histories for each of the characters, key word here being relationship. It’s also a story of healing and self-discovery. This could use a little editing, but it may be one of those cases of too many cooks in the kitchen.

Tomorrow, when the apricots are ripe