#2023 dean/cas pinefest

[deancaspinefest]

the long hill home

Author: starlingcas | Artist: sidewinder Posting on Tuesday March 21

Standing in a world of abominations, after twelve years of being on the precipice of something, Dean looks Castiel in the eye with a mix of anxiety and hope, and says, “I love you.” It should be simple. It isn’t. Castiel knew his deal with the Empty meant he would have to reject happiness. He just didn’t know he would even get the chance at it. ~ Or, under the threat of the Empty’s deal, Castiel is forced to reject Dean’s confession. It’s downhill from there.

Keep reading for a sneak preview!

Finally, Dean drops his weapons in a pile at Castiel’s feet, where he’s perched on a fallen log near the water. Dean kicks off his socks and boots at the riverside and walks to the edge. “So what did you mean by that?” Dean cups water from the river. He splashes his face and scrubs it clean of dirt and grime and blood. “You’ll have to be more specific than that.” “When you said if you were human, things would have been different.” Dean takes a few steps into the water, without looking back at him, shivering as the water dances at his feet. The lines of his body are rigid, anxious. “Considering everything,” Castiel says slowly, mind whirling at how to navigate the conversation without triggering the Empty to drag him away and leave Dean alone and defenseless, “if I were human, I would have most likely returned your affections.” He hesitates. “What do you mean by everything?” Dean asks. He shucks off his jacket and tosses it beside his growing pile of clothes. He kneels in the water, his jeans darkening as they soak up the river. Dean’s hands dip into the river. The glint of the muddled sun curves around the flesh of Dean’s palm as his hands rise up and break the surface of the water. Droplets of blood and dirt fall into the river and get washed away; only Dean remains. “Our history,” Castiel replies, never looking away. “We’ve been through much together over the past twelve years.” Dean leans forward and submerges his forearms into the water. He scrubs and scrubs and scrubs despite there being nothing left to wash away. “You were human for a bit. When Metatron took your grace.” He doesn’t ask the question but it’s there. “I don’t know,” Castiel lies again. “I didn’t have a lot of time to figure it out.” In the banks of the river, Dean doesn’t move from his spot but he trembles, shoulders curled inwards, staring out to the other side. There was a time when Castiel truly didn’t know what he was feeling; he didn’t have the name for it and refused to look at it any closer than what he had to, afraid that his motives weren’t as selfless as he thought. He can’t deny that sometimes he misses those days, he misses the ignorance, the simplicity. And now—staring directly at everything he’s done, seeing all the harm while knowing what exactly he was doing—having the words for it is unbearable. Longing rolls off of Dean in waves. And there’s nothing he can do. 

 [continue reading on Ao3 on Tuesday March 21]

[galakitty]

won’t you stay with me, my darling, when the war starts in my heart? | Art Masterpost

Link to Fic

Written by @hisbrokenrainbowwings | AO3

Illustrated by @galakitty

This fic is so sweet and very heartfelt, and it was tough trying to pick which scenes to illustrate because there were so many possibilities! I ultimately decided after reading (and rereading) the story that I wanted to portray some key steps along the path of Cas and Dean’s relationship.

I wanted to capture the sweet shyness of their meeting at the beginning of the story, and the moment I read the tag Dragon!Cas, I KNEW I had to draw him. My author’s mention that Cas had iridescent scales created an interesting challenge for me, and the fantasy setting she created allowed me to have fun and run with my ideas.

I’m so very pleased with how these pieces turned out, and I absolutely loved this fic to bits! There are a lot of beautiful scenes I didn’t draw, but I hope I was able to depict even a fraction of my adoration in these works. Hisbrokenrainbowwings has been a delight to collaborate with, and I appreciate her wonderful work!

[nioellarts]

It’s finally @deancaspinefest posting time! :D

I had the pleasure of working with the amazing Hectatess this time around and had lots of fun creating the art to go with their beautiful story. Go check it out here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45547300/chapters/114608326

And check under the cut for more art ^.^

[deancodedcastielenby]

My first Pine Fest posts today! I got to work with @butterflyslinky on their Fic "Everything's Fine". Check it out below!

Link to the fic!

[alexiescherryslurpy]

Art post for Pinefest

I loved working on the art for this fic , it’s an amazing read by mittensmorgul

Story on ao3 here

Art on ao3 here

@mittensmorgul

[ladyknightskye]

LOOK AT THE PRETTY ART.

LOOK AT IT.

I am so happy with all of it, I really am!

[Pinefest2023] Art for Hunter's Throne

link to fic | Author's AO3 page | Author's Tumblr

Here are my art pieces for my author @ladyknightskye's fic 💕

- First meet -

Dean in a laced brocade wedding dress! What else can I ask for!! Drawing Dean's face with makeup was so very difficult for me (hell I cannot even do makeup on faces in real life let alone Dean's pretty too-difficult-to-draw face) but at least I got the brocade feeling hopefully :D

- Trueform -

I wanted to draw Cas in true form for so long but never had the courage/inspiration to do it. Thanks the fic for giving me the chance! Had so much fun drawing Cas' eyes, skin, scales, and claws 🤣 Also I drew six wings for the first time! And Dean is all powered up :D

- To my author, fellow artists, and mods -

I want to say thank you to Skye. She always gave me positive feedback and helpful detailed information, encouraging me through the scenes I had never drawn before. Please go reading the fic it was so much fun!

Also, thank you to all my amazing fellow artists! I saw so much talent and got very helpful advice and heartwarming encouragement in the channel, I am so happy to be in the same event with you!

And to all mods, you are amazing! I couldn't believe my eyes when the promo materials were released - each fic had header pics handpicked regarding the fic theme and content, and even two versions for Tumblr and Twitter! Thank you for being super friendly, responsive, and helpful, and thank you for all your time and effort you put into this lovely event!

(I will say these again in my other post :D)

[mittensmorgul]

2023 in Mittens Fic

It's once again time for the annual accounting of things I have written! I think this year's total fic count, at 4, is my lowest ever, but I still managed more words than my two lowest years (peak pandemic, i loathe you still).

For reference, past year end summaries can be found here:

2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | the closest thing I have to a 2015 wrap up post is the lil bit of text at the bottom of 2016′s post… even though my two most popular fics were from 2015 lololol

So I guess my main writing goal for 2024, since I know I will never surpass my 2015 totals, is to just do better than I did in 2023. Here's to more fic!

I managed a Pinefest fic, a fic I started for DCBB but didn't finish by the draft deadline and posted on my own, an annual destielversary fic, and an annual holiday fic. I think that's the bare minimum of what I try to aim for in a year, so even if I'm personally disappointed I didn't get anything else written in addition to that bare minimum, I'm glad I was at least able to hit that goal. Across this year's four posted fics, there's a total of 110,875 words.

Also, again slightly cheating, but since I've mentioned it for the past two years, I'm still making the @spngeorg podcast! In case the millions of words of meta I've written over the years aren't enough, and you want to hear me yell out loud about the show, you can start from the beginning on Spotify or wherever you enjoy podcasts! Or if that sounds daunting, since I just uploaded Episode 138, 7.12 Time After Time, which makes the backlog a lot to catch up on honestly, you're also welcome to just jump in now. Everyone please come yell with me! I swear, if you do start from the beginning, that I get dramatically better at this whole thing as we go on... at least, I think I have. If nothing else, episodes are far more manageably shorter now that I've developed a system. Only took 2 1/2 years, but here we are... :'D

With that business out of the way, let's break down those numbers! Presented in the order they posted:

Dear Western Red Cedar #2409 (63,433 words rated M) Written for @deancaspinefest with gorgeous art by @alexiescherryslurpy, and inspired by this tumblr post that had been plaguing my imagination for several years. It's a two person love triangle with Forest Ranger and secret bestselling author Dean and small town librarian Cas. Heck I want to go reread it just thinking about it now... this is a happy place fic for me.

one working part (40,051 words, rated E) I started this for DCBB, but failed to make the draft deadline, then finished it before posting began anyway... another canon finale fix-it fic, but this one is heavily It's A Wonderful Life flavored and based on a conversation I had with @greywrenn last year. This story picks up at the beginning of 15.19, and then slowly veers more and more from canon, running alongside canon and making rude hand gestures at canon along the way, because they all deserved to have nicer things than canon gave them.

all the time in the world (1,289 words, rated T) This is my annual Destielversary story, short and sweet. It's set immediately after the events of One Working Part, but you don't have to have read that to enjoy this one. Just know Cas is back with Dean, and they've got the rest of their lives stretched out in front of them.

Christmas, Present (6,102 words, rated T) My annual holiday fluff fic, this time set in an AU, since most of my past holiday fic has been canon universe. A Dean/Cas college AU, with Matchmaker Charlie who just wants her friends to be happy already!

And that's my year in fic (unless I manage to post something else in the next 33 hours or so, and lol no that ain't happening...)! As per usual, I've already written more than half of this year's word total for the 2024 Pinefest, which will post in March... or april... heck when is my posting date even... it's coming soon anyway! But it's all written! :'D

Once again, I've still got so many more stories I want to write. Even the To Be Written list has grown again. My idea list long ago surpassed SABLE status, and yet now there's even more on it...

It's five pages, and two thousand words longer than it was last year. this just gets worse every year :'D

But that means I'll never run out of things to write, and that's always something to celebrate!

Thanks again to everyone who’s read, kudos’ed, commented, reblogged, liked, rec’ed, and enjoyed anything I’ve written in the last year. I love you all. <3 See you in 2024!

[wigglebox]

On Wayward Tracks

Pinefest 2023 | Written by @follows-the-bees | Illustrated by @wigglebox

Rated: Explicit | Word Count: 86,216 | Major Tags [full list at link]: Western AU, Action & Adventure, Lovers to Friends to Lovers, Selective Mute Dean, PTSD, Bisexual Dean, Bisexual Castiel, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Light Dom/Sub, Explicit Sex, Canon-typical violence, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Pinging, Dean POV, Castiel POV, Happy Ending

Summary

The year is 1882, and Dean and Sam Winchester were taken in by Bobby Singer almost two decades prior, living and working on Singer Ranch in Lawrence, Kansas.

While visiting his brother Gabriel, who opened a brothel in the area, Castiel Novak runs into a handsome stranger. During the four visits, they usually spend one night together, and that's that. But, on Cas' most recent visit, Dean shows him the real life of a ranch hand.

Dean shows him the ins and outs of his day-to-day life while Cas decides on his future away from the family business, Novak Railways Co., and his other brothers, Michael and Lucifer.

As Bobby's ranch faces threats from the railroad company, trying to force him off the land to make way for a new rail line, Cas uncovers discrepancies in his family's intentions and accountant books.

The connection between the families is soon uncovered, and they are thrown together as they work to discover the depths of the mysterious corruption.

At the same time, Dean and Cas have to work through their own mysteries regarding each other and how life moving forward would look for them.

Full story on AO3

Artist's note:

I absolutely fell in love with this story because it held my attention with a plot while also making me root for these two knuckleheads. I love western AUs, but I am also rather picky when it comes to depictions of the American West when it comes to this time.

I'm actually picky when it comes to fics in general!

But I loved this from the moment I read the first page, and I purposefully held off on reading any updates while @follows-the-bees was editing purely so I could have the joy of reading it again "for the first time."

If you're into action-packed westerns with a cute love story with real stakes, I recommend this story 100%! I'm sure you'll enjoy it from start to finish! <3

[abi-cosmos]

Abi’s weekly Destiel fanfic retreat!

Fic Recs!

Happy Monday everyone! 

I have a confession, while I love writing fics, I’m terrible at finding time to read them. Which means I’m super late to the party for so many big name Destiel fics, and there’s still a couple I haven’t read. 

But there is no better feeling than finding a new fic!! It is amazing, and the talent this fandom has is outta this world. 

As this is our first time at the retreat, I’m starting small with several of my bookmarks, and some that I’ve talked about irl after a drink too many. Oops. 

Somebody Up There Likes Me - bumblebea: Explicit. 17579 words. Castiel is temporarily turned female, and Dean deals with a lot of internalised homophobia. I was a little unsure about Castiel in a female body, but this works. Trust me. 

The Way We Were - Background_Foxe. Explicit. 29642 words.  Fake dating...with a helping of amnesia! 

Stupid with a Flare Gun - remmyme. Explicit. 3912 words. Set in s05e03, this is porn. It’s entirely porn. 

The Mechanics of the Universe - n_nami. Explicit. 116863 words.  Space Husbands AU. This is Dean and Cas in space, you don’t even have to like science fiction to enjoy their relationship in this, if you love enemies to lovers and mutual pining, then you’re good.

This Ain’t the Three Amigos - DoctorProfessorSong. Explicit. 4109 words. PWP that totally happened in the show*. *should have.

The Trouble With Blue Eyes - FriendofCarlotta. Explicit. 14902 words. 1950s Detective AU. I was already bias because the artist for this fic did the art for my Pinefest 2023 fic and she’s incredible, but this is just a beautiful melding of fic and art. It’s noir and atmospheric, but Dean and Cas are every bit the idiots we love.

and finally, for the big name fic I have to mention:

The Dean Winchester Beat Sheet - saltyfeathers. Explicit. 144488 words. I’d put off reading this for years, mostly because I didn’t think I was interested in college AUs, but I was desperately looking for a long fic last week and decided it was time. I’m pretty disappointed in myself, because it’s friggin’ amazing. If anyone else is still on the fence about it, you won’t regret it.

That’s it for now, but I’ll be pulling out some more recs next week. 

Don’t forget to hydrate, be kind to yourself, and put your yoga mats back on the shelf when you’re done. 

Namaste 🙏 

[thevioletcaptain]

Dean and Castiel on the Throne of Hell.

Created for Fall A Little Further by fanboi214 as part of the 2023 Dean/Cas Pinefest. Other art for this fic can be found here and here, and the main masterpost can be found here.

[deancaspinefest]

carving deep blue ripples

Author: dothraki_shieldmaiden | Artist: kingdumbass Posting on Monday March 20

With his little brother at Stanford and his father searching out leads, Dean Winchester is left to hunt alone. It's fun, except in the ways that it really blows. Things start to turn around when he meets Castiel Novak, another hunter. Castiel is aloof and maybe a little too sarcastic, but he's good backup (and pretty easy on the eyes. Not that Dean's looking or anything). After a few hunts, Dean is willing to make his and Castiel's partnership permanent (and he's not exactly averse to adding another component to their partnership either. After all, he's caught Castiel looking at him just as many times as Castiel's caught him looking). But Castiel is hiding a secret, and it's so explosive that it threatens to not only tear them apart, but also tear apart everything Dean believes in. 

Keep reading for a sneak preview!

“Yeah, well…” Dean looks around at the carnage. When Castiel turns to follow his gaze, bits of dried blood flake away from his skin. “Nice work,” Dean finally says. Resentment clings so heavily to his voice that it sounds like it physically pains him to give the compliment. “I would’ve been toast if you hadn’t come along.” His assessment of the situation is correct, but Castiel feigns modesty. “I just helped.” Dean’s narrowed eyes scream suspicion, but, apart from avoiding hubris, Castiel doesn’t want to call too much attention to himself. He doesn’t want Dean wondering just how he was able to so easily take out an entire nest of vampires. That would lead to several awkward questions and Castiel having to make several difficult decisions that he would rather avoid. “I’m Dean Winchester,” Dean finally says, after a short pause. He raises his eyebrows, waiting for Castiel’s response. Castiel casts through his mind, now gone infuriatingly blank. Humans have surnames; why can’t he think of any of them? Thousands of names run through Castiel’s mind (Smith? Is anyone unironically named Smith in this century?), but he finally lands on the name of a man he met several years ago. Shy, mid-western boy looking to break out of his shell. In a twist of coincidence, his physical appearance was fairly close to Castiel’s, which convinces him. “Castiel Novak,” he says. The name almost feels right. “Well,” Dean says, tucking his hands in his pockets and looking around the warehouse, “what should we do about this?” Castiel looks at Dean, one eyebrow creeping up his forehead. Is Dean actually asking his opinion? It’s then that Castiel realizes what Dean wants. He feels stupid that he didn’t before. The clothes should have been a dead giveaway. Dean and Castiel are dressed almost identically. Castiel's leather jacket is the only real difference between them. And Castiel would have to be blind to miss the light in Dean’s eyes when he saw the machete in Castiel’s hand. The full width and breadth of Dean’s desires might be a mystery, but Castiel knows at least one thing Dean wants. He wants a partner.

 [continue reading on Ao3 on Monday March 20]

[girlinthemirrorbluenight-library]

Check out my art for Pinefest 2023 to accompany the incredible fic Depth of Field by @tessetc. This fic is at the same time heartbreaking and heartwarming, taking you through Dean and Cas's incredible love story that reaches through time. This was a super interesting pick for me because about 5 years ago I participated in my very first big bang (for a different fandom) and the fic was also a time travel story that leads the main character to make some very difficult choices, so five years and I think more than 10 big bangs later, it felt a bit like coming full circle. This is also my first fest featuring all digital art! Make sure to read under the cut to see the unedited versions of the "photos."

click for higher quality

Dean, a professional photographer, is taking photos at the Fourth of July parade when he spots an old man with striking blue eyes across the street. Dean follows him, but before they can speak, the man falls down and dies with his hand in Dean’s. Dean feels responsible, and seeks to learn more about the old man, retired doctor Castiel Novak. Dean discovers that Castiel once owned Dean’s house, and comes to find an old camera amongst his things. When he takes his own portrait, it sends him hurtling back fifty years to 1962 where he meets a young, handsome, Cas. They can’t help falling for each other. But Dean can’t stay in 1962. His connection with his brother, Sam, pulls him back to 2012. Determined to see Cas, he uses the camera to return, but each time he travels to the past, it takes a greater toll on his body. Eventually, in order to stay with the man he loves, he has to make a heartbreaking choice.

[Image ID: Banner with the title "DEPTH OF FIELD" in a red, retro style font. Underneath are two blocks of text that say "Story by TessEtc" and "Art by girlinthemirrorbluenight." To the left of the text is a cutout image of a Pentax camera. The background is a cream color with yellow, red, and teal stripes. /.End ID]

[Image ID: Digital drawing of two vintage photographs on a brown background. The photograph on the left features Dean Winchester drinking out of an orange mug covering most of his face. His hair is messy and he is draped in a blue blanket. The background is a vintage 60s-style vertical striped wallpaper in shades of yellow and orange. The photograph on the right features Castiel in a white t-shirt with a green floral towel draped over his shoulder. He is holding a spatula and looking over his shoulder at the camera. He is standing in a 1960s kitchen with the same orange and yellow wallpaper as the other picture. /.End ID]

[Image ID: Digital drawing of a vintage photograph of Dean and Castiel. Dean is sitting up on a bed leaning over to kiss Castiel on the cheek. He is wearing a white t-shirt and looks pale and thin. Castiel is standing next to the bed wearing a blue button up shirt and black pants and half-smiling at the camera. The room they are in is painted green with brown wooden flooring. The bedsheets and pillows aare also in different shades of green with a wooden headboard. In the background is a small bookshelf mounted to the wall and a potted houseplant. Dean is holding up a sign that says "Dean W B 1979, Castiel N B 1930, March 17 1963 IN LOVE." /.End ID]

Here are the two unedited versions of the photographs. I added filters to the colors and contrast of each image, giving them a more washed out, yellow look, then added a soft noise filter to give the drawings that vintage photo quality.

[ao3feed-destiel-02]

West

West https://ift.tt/57AzIyV by Desirae When Dean’s grief is loud enough to wake him in The Empty, the entity casts Castiel out, but not without a price. He comes to in a barn in Pontiac, Illinois, with no memory of who or what he is. With nothing but an initial on the back of a photograph, and his heart’s instinct telling him to head west, Castiel begins a journey of self-discovery. Meanwhile, Dean is a broken shell. Rather than live under his brother and Eileen's pitying and concerned gaze, Dean decided it was time to move out of the bunker. With Jody’s help, Dean moves into a small lake house just outside of Sioux Falls, where he can mourn in peace and in his own time. Dean is determined to be better for Cas, even if it’s too little too late. Little does Dean know that it is never too late, as the Cas in Dean’s dreams is doing everything he can, to find his way back home. Words: 27955, Chapters: 12/12, Language: English Fandoms: Supernatural (TV 2005) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Castiel, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Eileen Leahy, Jody Mills, Donna Hanscum, Claire Novak, Kaia Nieves, Jack Kline Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Donna Hanscum & Jody Mills, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak, Claire Novak & Dean Winchester Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Post-Canon Fix-It, Temporary Amnesia, Grieving Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester Whump, Alcohol as a Coping Mechanism, Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Sex, cabin by the lake fic, Cas made a mixtape too, Thanksgiving, Reunions, Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester, it just worked out this way, Don't Like Don't Read, Dean/Cas Pinefest 2023 (Supernatural) via AO3 works tagged 'Castiel/Dean Winchester' https://ift.tt/aKWu9kR March 17, 2023 at 10:32PM

[tessetc]

2022

I’m a little behind but I wanted to do a bit of a summary of my year in fandom. In 2022 I published six fanfics. Three of them were inspired by fics by Misslilylashes, as I needed to punish her for repeatedly traumatizing me with her agonizing yet amazing writing. 

My longest work of the year was Signal Transfer, which was my submission for the DCRB. I think it turned out really fantastic, and I am super proud of it. It had 14 universes and spanned 40 years, and it had a blue Impala in it.  I am also really proud of oxygen, in which I summarized all of canon Destiel in 1500 words before fixing it, as well as Clemency, in which I gave Cas an epic speech and a lightning sword.  My MPC server has seven members, and I fucking love every single one of them. Although none of them are on tumblr wtf

I am looking forward to 2023, and I have hopefully got some good things coming. I will have a fic posting for the Dean/Cas Pinefest in February (stay tuned) and I have Lots Of Good Intentions regarding some of my WiPs. I would love to finish Wings of Clouded Sulphur, Pucking Around, and Out of Your Mouth and Under My Skin. (please jack don’t ever let me give anything such a long title ever again omfg) I intend to finish at least one of these before starting anything else. (although oneshots are a constant threat) Anyway, that’s all for me. I was gonna put links to all the fics here but I am lazy AF and it’s late so I’m just gonna drop a link to my Ao3 instead and you can dig around in the mess of works if you like.  Happy Belated New Year!!

[alexiescherryslurpy]

Pinefest art for the amazing story by prosopopeya and marbleflan

You can find it here

Art on ao3 here

[hisbrokenrainbowwings]

I am very honored to have had galakitty bring my fic to life for this year's Pinefest!!

won’t you stay with me, my darling, when the war starts in my heart? | Art Masterpost

Link to Fic

Written by @hisbrokenrainbowwings | AO3

Illustrated by @galakitty

This fic is so sweet and very heartfelt, and it was tough trying to pick which scenes to illustrate because there were so many possibilities! I ultimately decided after reading (and rereading) the story that I wanted to portray some key steps along the path of Cas and Dean’s relationship.

I wanted to capture the sweet shyness of their meeting at the beginning of the story, and the moment I read the tag Dragon!Cas, I KNEW I had to draw him. My author’s mention that Cas had iridescent scales created an interesting challenge for me, and the fantasy setting she created allowed me to have fun and run with my ideas.

I’m so very pleased with how these pieces turned out, and I absolutely loved this fic to bits! There are a lot of beautiful scenes I didn’t draw, but I hope I was able to depict even a fraction of my adoration in these works. Hisbrokenrainbowwings has been a delight to collaborate with, and I appreciate her wonderful work!