#I needed that book to be three times longer and three times gayer

[socialfilter]

I’ve just finished reading le bal des folles and lemme just say, genevieve was so in love with eugenie from the word go it was so obvious

[good-omens-classic]

Hi Good Omens fans, ever since making this blog, and trawling through the archives for old art, I have been thinking again about trends from before the TV-show, and the way people draw Aziraphale and Crowley.  I wanted to make this post addressing it but this is not “discourse” or to start a fight, in fact I would be perfectly content if all I did was make people think critically about what I am about to say and not even interact with this post at all, but I feel like I need to say it.

Talking about any racist undertones to the way people draw our two favorite boys usually makes people dig their heels in pretty fast.  This is not a callout post for any artist in particular, this is not me trying to be overly critical of artists especially since they have more talent and skill than I do, and I’m going to address some common counterpoints that I frankly find unsatisfactory.  Let’s just take a moment to set aside our defensiveness and think objectively about these trends.  It took me a while to unlearn my dismissive attitude about these concerns so maybe I can help others get over that hurdle a little faster.  Now let’s begin.

I’ve been kicking around the Good Omens fandom since maybe 2015 and for art based in book canon, whether it was made before the TV show came out, or because the artist is consciously drawing different, original designs, I’m going to estimate that a decent 75% of all fanart looks like this

Aziraphale is white and blonde and blue-eyed while Crowley is the typical “racially ambiguous” brown skin tone it’s become so popular to draw podcast characters as nowadays.

And the question is why?  With the obvious answer being “it’s racist,” but let’s delve a little deeper than that.

A common thing I hear is that people get appearance headcanons fixed in their mind because the coverart of the book pictures the characters a certain way.  My first point is this only shifts the question to why the illustrators drew them that way, when there aren’t many physical descriptions in the book.  My second point is that while there definitely are cover arts that picture Aziraphale as cherubic, blonde, and white and Crowley as swarthy, dark-skinned, and racially ambiguous...

(side note: why is Crowley’s hand so tiny?  what the hell is going on in this cover?)

It’s much more common for the covers to simplified, stylized, and without any particular unambiguous skin tones

I don’t know about the UK but the most popular version in the United States is the dual black and white matching covers

And while you could make an argument that the shading on Crowley’s face could suggest a darker skintone, it seems obvious to me that lacking any color these are not supposed to suggest any particular race for either of these two, and the contrasting colors are a stylistic choice to emphasize how they are on opposite sides.  If anything, to me it suggests they are both white.

In short I simply do not buy the argument that people are drawing Aziraphale and Crowley this way because that’s how they were represented on the cover art of the book.  If you draw them the way they are on the cover then whatever, I don’t care, but I don’t believe that’s what’s driving this trend.

The second thing people will say is that Good Omens is a work of satire, and it’s based in Christian mythology which has this trend of depicting angels as white, and it is embodying the trope of a “white, cherubic angel” paired with a dark-skinned demon for the explicit purpose of subverting the trope of “white angel is good, dark demon is bad” since Aziraphale is not an unambiguous hero and Crowley is not a villain.  “It’s not actually like that because Crowley isn’t a bad demon, and Aziraphale isn’t actually a perfect angel” is the argument.  This has a certain logic to it and allows some nuance to the topic, but to this I say:

Uncritically reproducing a trope, even in the context of a satire novel, is not enough to subvert it.  Good Omens is not criticising the racist history of the church, and while the book does have some pointed jabs at white British culture (such as Madam Tracy conning gullible Brits with an unbelievably ignorant stereotype of a Native American) it is not being critical of the conception of angels as white and blonde or the literal demonization of non-white people.  That’s just not what the book is about.  So making the angel white and the demon dark-skinned, playing directly into harmful tropes and stereotypes, is not somehow subversive or counter-cultural when doing so doesn’t say anything about anything.

Please consider fully the ramifications of the conception of white and blonde people as innocent and cherubic and dark-skinned people as infernal and mischievous, especially in modern contexts...

Black people are more likely to be viewed as violent, angry, and dangerous.  Priming with a dark-skinned face makes people more likely to mistake a tool for a gun.  Black people are viewed as experiencing pain less intensely by medical professionals.  Black men are viewed as physically larger and more imposing than they actually are.  The subconscious racial bias favoring light skin is so ingrained it’s measurable by objective scientific studies, on top of the anecdotal evidence of things like news stories choosing flattering, “cherubic” pictures of white and blond criminals while using unflattering mugshots for non-white offenders.

This is why I say that if you’re going to invoke the “whites are angelic” trope, you better have a damn good subversion of it to justify it, because this idea causes real harm to real people in the real world.  And Aziraphale being a bit of a bastard despite being an angel, I just don’t see that as sufficient.  I am especially cautious of when it’s my fellow white fans that make this argument, not because I believe they do this out of any sort of malice or hatred of people with dark skin, but because I know first-hand it stems from a dismissiveness rooted in not wanting to think about it for too long because it makes us uncomfortable.  Non-white people do not have the luxury of not thinking about it, because it’s part of their life.

Now the strongest textual evidence people use, in the absence of much real descriptor, is this:

"Many people, meeting Aziraphale for the first time, formed three impressions: that he was English, that he was intelligent, and that he was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide. Two of these were wrong; Heaven is not in England, whatever certain poets may have thought, and angels are sexless unless they really want to make an effort" 

This piece of art has circulated in the fandom for so long I don’t know the original artist and it’s been used for everything from fancovers to perfume.  This is where I found it and it’s one of the first things that come up when you google this quote about Aziraphale.  

Doesn’t it just feel like this is the man that’s describing, some blonde effeminate gay man?  Well guess what, there’s the “blonde as innocence” trope rearing its ugly head again, because the stereotype of gay men and effeminacy as being a white and blonde thing is--ding ding ding you guessed it--racism.  And why would intelligent suggest a white and blonde person, except if the stereotype of a dark-skinned person is less intelligent?

Now the point of “people assume Aziraphale is British” is another sticking point people will often use, claiming that the stereotype of a British person is white and blonde.  I guess this has some merit, since the British empire was one of the biggest forces behind white colonial expansion, and it seems disingenuous to assign “British” as “nonwhite” as soon as we’re being satirical, in the same way I found it distasteful that the TV show made God female when so many of the criticisms of the church are about its misogyny and lose their teeth as soon as God is no longer male.

However consider that 1.4 million Indian people live in the UK.  I heard a man say aloud once that the concept of a black person having a British accent was a little funny, as though Doctor Who doesn’t exist and have black people on it.  And I’m not overly familiar with the social landscape of the UK, but I understand they’re experiencing a xenophobia boom and non-white Brits aren’t considered “really British.”  The stereotype of non-white people not being British only exists because of reinforcement in media.  If you really want to be subversive, drawing Aziraphale as Indian goes way further than drawing him as white IMO.

Now let’s talk about Crowley.  He is almost always drawn with a darker skin tone than Aziraphale, even when they are both white, and while I’ve outlined above how this is problematic on terms of linking light skin with innocence, I think it does have an extra layer.  I think it also has to do with the exotification and fetishization of brown skin and non-white people.

This artist’s tumblr is gone now but their art is still on dA and while it’s definitely beautiful and well-done, I think this is a very good example of what I’m talking about.

Crowley and Aziraphale necessarily contrast each other, so describing Aziraphale as “British” might suggest that Crowley is “foreign-looking.”  I also know *ahem* that the fandom generally thirsts over Crowley to hell and back, so making him a swarthy, tall dark and handsome is not necessarily surprising.

An interesting thing happened when the TV show came out, and everyone started drawing Michael Sheen!Aziraphale and David Tennant!Crowley more and more often:  It’s not ubiquitous, but it does happen that sometimes artists will draw David Tennant’s skin darker than it actually is.  The subconscious urge to see Crowley with dark skin is for some reason that strong for many people.  And I really encourage people doing this to think about why.  Not naming any names but I’ve working with fanartists before for collabs who I had to ask to lighten “bad guy” demon’s skin tones because it looked like they were making the skin darker on purpose to make them look scarier.  This person is a perfectly pleasant person who tries not to be racist!  And we both still fell into it accidentally, and it took me a while to notice and point it out, because the ingrained stigmatization of darker skin is pervasive yet often goes unnoticed.

What is the solution?  I don’t know, and as a white person I’m not really qualified to make that call.  Do we draw them both with the exact same skin tone?  Is it better to make them both white?  Should we make both of them non-white?  Should we only make Aziraphale non-white?  I am consciously aware of the fact that the Good Omens fandom is mostly white people, so most of the art we make is being both made by and consumed by white people, so I don’t feel comfortable saying “draw these characters of color specifically” because that can also veer into fetishization territory very quickly.  This is not specific to good omens but I think we should pay attention to what fans of color say in all fandom spaces and weigh our choices even if they seem insignificant.  And it’s important to realize that fans of color will not be a monolith in their opinion either, and it’s our responsibility to recognize that everyone can be affected by racism and social issues differently, the same way all women are affected by misogyny differently so just because one woman says such as such is misogynistic and another says it’s not.  I’m sure there are non-white fans who think it’s perfectly fine to draw Aziraphale as white and Crowley as ambiguously non-white.  I’m not saying they’re wrong.  And I’m not saying you can’t reblog this kind of art, or that people who make or made it should feel bad about themselves.  But so often this sort of thing goes unaddressed just because people don’t like thinking about it, and well, avoiding hard questions never really goes well I think.

[luci-cunt]

An incomprehensive guide to why you should read T.J Klune’s book Wolfsong

Mostly for my very best friend in the whole wide world: @moonsandstarsaregay <33 and with 100% too many AFtG references i’m sorry

*AHEM*

A plot summary: Ox has been told his whole life he’s slow and gonna get shit for it. He lives in a sleepy little nowhere town in Oregon and is perfectly content never leaving and working in the garage for the rest of his life. His dad sucks, his mom’s a gem, and one day the house that’s (almost) always been empty at the end of the street gets filled by a family that’s just a little on the wrong side of weird–the Bennetts. They all immediately fall in love with Ox because he’s literally the most perfect mc you’ll ever meet, and he learns that not everyone actually sucks he’s just been looking at the wrong people. 

And so what if they’re also a very powerful and well known werewolf pack–I mean WHATTTTTT

There’s monster fighting, drama, adventure, romance(*), adventure, angst (Oh GOD is there angst), badassary, and just so much good shit.

The Main Character:

I could talk just about how Ox is portrayed until the day I DIE. He doesn’t have an arc where he magically becomes ‘normal’ or anything, instead he just surrounds himself with people that treat him better and finds that he doesn’t need to change. He has a heart of gold and does kind things just because he is kind. He’s the definition of a soft giant, and again, the book starts and he’s roughly 10ish (with flashbacks to younger) and it ends with him in his late 20s early 30s so he definitely grows and matures but he doesn’t change because he doesn’t NEED to. 

[More reasons to read + warnings/ disclaimers + a snippet below cut so I don’t bother y’all with a hella long post XD

You should probs read the warnings before you read the book just FYI]

Writing Style: If the style of the Knife of Never Letting Go intrigued you but you couldn’t get past the first chapter then this is the book for you. Ox is a bit simple–In the best way possible–and the book is from his perspective. His thoughts are stated outright and he takes most things people say very literally. This doesn’t change and that’s the best part. I LOVE this about it and I was TERRIFIED that Klune was going to write Ox in this style for only the first couple chapters and then suddenly switch to him being some snarky genius, but he doesn’t!!! Honestly idk how to describe it, you’ve just got to read it. 

If that doesn’t convince you: 

- First of all, werewolves, who doesn’t love em?

- Second of all gays, like, everyone, no one is straight. That one side character who shows up once? Yeah, no, she shows up twice and the second time she has a girlfriend. The main characters? All gay, and if they aren’t gay in this book they will be in the next one. 

- FOUND FAMILY

- It’s basically AFtG but gayer and softer? but not?? 

- Very realistic characters, they make stupid mistakes and people react accordingly

- Kelly and Carter and literally the best things in the world I would fucking murder for both of them and I’m pretty sure Kelly is confirmed by the author to be ace (btw they aren’t twins so you can’t even accuse me of being in love with every blond and kinda tragic set of twins I come across fuck off XD)

- OX STATES VERY BLATANTLY THAT HE IS BISEXUAL

- Very endearing coming out scenes

- Gordo Livingstone is perfect in just about every way and he’s also like if Neil and Seth were combined and grew up to be Wymack. ajsdf;lk just a dumbass gay trying really hard to be a good dad while also vehemently denying it. (Oh and yeah he literally had a boyfriend who he’s currently pissed at so)

- MC is not a genius and that’s not treated like a bad thing

- Please just read it I need more people to scream about it with me

Some warnings:

- it’s werewolves, there’s gore, obsessive use of the word “alpha” and lots of wolf-ish tendencies. Most of it comes across as fucking adorable, but ngl, sometimes it’s just a tad weird. 

- people have v tragic backstories. None of it is worse than AFtG but it’s still very intense, more on the side of gore/ violence/ some torture than heavy non/con but there’s some mentions of that. (More vague allusions/ threats rather than graphic scenes don’t worry)

- *the only thing that really wigged me out about these books is the fact that the main couple have a 6 year age difference. Any way you spin that it’s weird, but I think it was handled as well as you can??? (idk man I’m still wigged out about that even tho they don’t actually DO anything until both of them are in their twenties but STILL)

- it is VERY angsty. I mean, the soft moments are SICKENINGLY soft and there��s some of the best comedy/ cute shit I’ve ever seen but–god the ouch stuff HURTS. If you don’t want to cry over a book I wouldn’t recommend reading this.

In conclusion:

If you wanted LGBT adventure content here it is!!! I mean, if it’s the sex scenes you’re about (or against XD) there’s only really two, one is the epilogue and one is about 2/3rds through the book but from what other people who actually understand sex say it’s NICE XDD also just a very nice character moment? I didn’t read all of it but from what I read it was v nice, they’re wholesome and stupid, I love them. 

I actually really liked the romance? It’s v realistic and got the vibe of “neither of us have good self-confidence but I will DIE proving to you that you’re worth the entire world.” There’s very, very sappy and drawn out declarations of love, it’s adorable, sometimes a little weird (looking at you Joe), but altogether wholesome. There’s also a wee bit of possessiveness but it’s mostly(?) treated as the “uuuuhhhh, that’s not gonna go over well you need to chill” trait it should be.

It’s intense, and the last time I physically could not stop reading and stayed up all night just to finish a book was AFtG so... 

It is quite a bit longer than AFtG tho, like, it took me the same amount of time to read just Wolfsong that I read all three of the AFtG books in. Sometimes it drags a little, especially in the middle, but it’s all worth it. Also if you don’t like drawn out “you will apologize on my terms because you fucked up on yours” kinda things I don’t think this is for you. 

I loved it, the characters are to die for and the villains make my blood boil. I cried, and laughed and sobbed and screamed. 12/10

Here’s a lil bit to give you a taste:

Here’s a link to the Goodreads page if you want more details 

And here’s a link to where you can buy the book ;) 

[harinezumiko]

Long  Pearlnet Discussion Under Cut

ITT: Meta, bitching, and @antipuff letting me have my Opinions and putting up with my mad ramblings. 

Harinezumiko:

(ITT we never finish our goddamn fics)

god, I should relent and reread the Jaspearl Kyou Kara Maou Fake Married fic and finish it

I say knowing I went so far from canon that I would die from it

ROSE WAS STILL PINK DIAMOND THOUGH

GOT THAT SHIT RIGHT /SHOT

 Antipuff:

YOU SURE DID XD

You have amazing precog

 Harinezumiko:

I think I actually had Jasper call Pearl out on being Pink's Pearl because Everyone Knew But Steven in that fic

where's the Pearlnet Sugar woman

I came for the OTP when do I get it

 Antipuff:

You've guessed everything correctly, you deserve the Pearlnet xD

 Harinezumiko:

I. DO.

[Redacted]

Garnet also, by How Writing A Character Arc Works, deserves to a) have the autonomy to decide if she wants sum fuk individually and not just declare that it'd be impeding on Rupphire, b) needs to be demonstrably wrong about her future vision in a way that isn't just for comedy or just to idiot ball a plot point, c) get sum fuk damn son she and Pearl are both hopeless romantics why are they not dating, d) stop being a pillar of the group and actually make good on letting the others in where we get to see it, e) not end the series being Solitary Black [Woman] Who Don't Need No [Man]™

having said this, I would also accept option f) get down to Bismuth ;D

also permafusion needs to stop being the only romantic demonstration of love between Gems

also why did we get "Three's a Crowd" declared twice and then Steven tells Amethyst Bismuth's third wordplay namedrop would be funny and get proven wrong, why are you not giving me my rule of three with Three's A Crowd, where the fuck is the final note

I mean I guess the numbered Lion episodes wasn't 3 either but >_>

 Antipuff:

xDD

But yeah, those are some good points

 Harinezumiko:

also I feel okay with my e) point mainly because [friend] not only agrees, I think they're the one who gave me the formatting, so.

 Antipuff:

*nod nod nod I think that one's the best point!

 Harinezumiko:

I do too! Although I also don't think that the ship should sail solely to subvert the trope. But like... what was the point of Sardonyx arc if they end the series more emotionally distant than they started it?

like, Pearl lying to Garnet [and Ruby and Sapphire] is so distressing that Garnet can't exist over it

and they then make it clear that this is Not Normal and also that finding out Rose was a lying liar is at least as distressing when they drop the Pink Diamond Bomb, when do I get resolution

 Antipuff:

Right??

 Harinezumiko:

like, at least lampshade it outside of the book on fusion where the only page with Garnet as an individual component to the fusion other than Rupphire is the Sardonyx lead-in where Sugar used a line typically describing romantic relationships for it

I would not be #satisfied but like at least have someone say it in the show??

give me someone from the rebellion noticing they're domestic damn you Sugar

 Antipuff:

xD God, right? Don't just tease it!

 Harinezumiko:

right??

like, it wouldn't even be totally unprecedented, we literally have Bismuth and Amethyst who've only seen them at wildly different points in knowing each other

and Bismuth already remarked on Pearl's affectionate behavior being Not What She's Used To like a liar, because give me touch-starved overly-affectionate Pearl who lavishes affection on her friends after battle because she's afraid she won't see them again because she has to go back with Pink and pretend they didn't just fight  Yellow's troupes directly and Pink's not disposable like she is

it would be completely appropriate for her to be like Amethyst wtf they're attached at the hip, I have never seen this, and Amethyst to be like yeah no they were worse, also this is why I visit the barn always, Steven's room is too crowded now that he's got a neck

//shot

 Antipuff:

sgfbhrwbhgwal too crowded

If Bismuth isn't used to it, I wonder at what point they started being touchy-feely with each other?

 Harinezumiko:

Right?

Pearl was pretty handsy with Amethyst in the early-90s because someone had to reign in the feral child, so my assumption without shipping goggles was that they were all more physical before Rose died

and where Amethyst and Pearl clashed utterly on Not Dealing With That Shit and wound up fighting about everything, Pearl overcompensated for losing both the opportunity to cling on Rose and the closeness she'd had with Amethyst by gluing herself to Garnet's arm all the time, and Garnet allowed it because her new Leader Spot prevented her from being outwardly vulnerable

and then the +shipping opinion on my end was that they've been in love the entire time because OTP friends-to-lovers, and Garnet never said anything because Rose Reasons, and was waiting for Pearl to get her head out of the sand

...and also, obviously, in Pearl's case, a side of "oh my god the Gem I was made for is half of a meaty human baby now and everyone from the rebellion is either shattered or corrupted, I can't lose Garnet too" which only gets gayer the longer the series goes on

but I don't think Sardonyx would be who she is if the closeness was just after Rose died

 Antipuff:

No, I don't think she would be either

I don't think they'd been Sardonyx since Rose died tbh

 Harinezumiko:

I think if they had, it would've been to get shit done, but I generally agree

it would've only been short-bursts

but it'd also explain Amethyst's buttmad if she had a snag in her mane deep down that they still formed Sardonyx but she and Pearl couldn't form Opal

 Antipuff:

Yeahhhh that absolutely tracks!

Harinezumiko:

watch, though, Sardonyx only existed post-Rose because Escapism outside of instances where Amethyst's life was at stake, but Amethyst being Amethyst only ever needed Sardonyx Intervention right before poofing

[aviewfromthepanopticon]

Doctor Who Short Trips: 1963

Big Finish’s summary: The Doctor takes Ian and Barbara back to London on 23 November 1963, where the clocks have stopped and the city is silent. Written by: Niall Boyce Directed by: Nicholas Briggs & Ken Bentley Release Date: February 2011 Series: Short Trips Volume II, Story 1 Read by: William Russell

The two most important takeaways of this story for me were:

Barbara Wright had a ~~~~rebellious phase~~~~ where she dated a boy with a flick knife

Barbara’s beloved Aunt Cecilia is a lesbian.

In this short story, the Doctor somehow manages to land the TARDIS just an hour after he kidnapped Ian and Barbara on November 23rd 1963. They are very surprised, but of course also delighted. Unsurprisingly, he messed up the landing, and the TARDIS is no longer maintaining the field that allows time to flow normally following her materialization

The Doctor describes it as a problem with the heartbeat of the TARDIS:

DOCTOR: When the TARDIS lands, it must continue traveling in time at the same speed as its owner. Too slowly and it would vanish into the past. Too quickly and it would hare off into the future. The heartbeat of the TARDIS works to synchronize the ship with its pilot’s timeframe. Now because of a flight mechanical fault, the heartbeat of the TARDIS began to skip. Hah! Become irregular.

When this happens the TARDIS lands at a single static moment, with its crew stuck in said static moment with her. This is to allow repairs to be made without the ship going anywhere.

Which is to say that time appears to be entirely and fully 1000000% frozen, and everyone and everything in London looks like a statue.

There is a lot to be said about this aspect of the story. One is still pretty unfamiliar with his stolen TT Capsule, and is figuring it out as he goes. He never even passed his flight test, and doesn’t yet have centuries of experience under his belt! I also really appreciate the idea that the London Barbara and Ian wish to return to is just a frozen impossibility. Obviously when they finish their travels they return to three full years after they left, but even putting that aside, neither Ian nor Barbara are quite the same people they were when they left. They’ve experienced so much, and and by this point (Vicki is with them so they are than a season into their travels) they really can’t just pick things up from their moment of departure. Instead they are separate from their home time, outside the field keeping the rest of London frozen together. 

Yet even in that state they are together. It is together that Barbara and Ian go off into the city to explore, marveling at the frozen world around them.

As they explore London, Barbara remembers that she has a standing date to have tea with her Aunt Cecilia every year on her birthday, and November 23rd is her aunt’s birthday. She was going to go meet with her after she and Ian were done figuring out what was up with Susan, so her aunt is probably at their meeting place, wondering where Barbara is.

I love the idea that Barbara had someone waiting for her, it really drives home that she and Ian had full lives that the Doctor disrupted when he kidnapped them.

I also just love Aunt Cecilia, I really do.

Aunt Cecilia is in maybe three sentences total during this story, and her immense powerful lesbian energy shines so so bright, it truly is amazing. Seriously it is impossible for this woman to be any gayer than she is, she is at max gay, and I say this as a person committed to living my own life at max gay levels.

Before I get to the wonder that is Barbara’s very very gay Aunt Cecilia, I really do need to point out what we learn about Barbara’s ~~rebel phase~~~, which she mentions as she wanders around London observing the various frozen scenes:

NARRATOR: The man cowered before his attacker. His right hand raised to fend off the blow. The knife his assailant was using was familiar to Barbara. For a brief period in her teens, during what her mother called her “rebellious phase,” she had dated a boy who carried one. It was a flick knife. Its blade was folded in the handle, and released at the touch of a button.

I also want to point out that Barbara is starting to understand the Doctor’s tendency to travel with teen girls, when watching him interact with Vicki. Vicki is of course the very first teen girl the Doctor was not related to that he traveled with, and the third Human he’s been friends with overall:

NARRATOR: The Doctor and Vicki were waiting for [Barbara] [in the console room]. They exchanged a mischievous glance as she came in. It sometimes seemed to her that she saw the spark of a younger man in the Doctor’s eyes, whilst Vicki was the most precocious young lady she’d ever met! Perhaps, in some way, that made them equals?

This story also had wonderful character moments for Ian. Such as a scene of Ian irritating the fuck out of of Vicki by calling her Victoria, and being offended in return whenever she tried telling him that Vicki is her full and proper first name, it isn’t short for anything, and she really hates it when he does that.

Overall, Ian is such a loveable dork in this story, and I can’t with him.

NARRATOR: “This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper,” [Barbara] recited. “What’s that,” said Ian, “poetry?” “T.S.Eliot” “Oh,” Ian replied, “I think I prefer his stuff about the cats.”

And now the truly important part. Every mention of Barbara’s very gay aunt:

NARRATOR: “Wait a minute!” Barbara stood up, abruptly. She lost her grip on the smooth surface of the water. In an instant Ian shot to his feet and put out his arm to steady her. “What is it?” he asked. “The 23rd of November! It’s my aunt Cecilia’s birthday! I was supposed to meet her, I’d forgotten all about it!” “Where?” asked Ian. “Not far away, actually,” she replied. “There’s a Lyons on the Strand she always liked.” “I remember you telling me about her,” said Ian, “maiden aunt, wasn’t she?” Ehhhhh, not quite, thought Barbara… but kept it to herself. “Oh Ian, can we try to find her?” “It may not be a good idea,” said Ian, cautiously. “I want to see her,” said Barbara, “just briefly. Then we’ll go back to the TARDIS and see if the Doctor’s worked out what’s happening.”

NARRATOR: Fortunately the freeze had occurred at the exact moment someone was pushing open the door at the Lyons corner house on the Strand. It was a woman in her mid-twenties, holding the hand of a small child wrapped up in a duffel coat and woolen hat. Barbara and Ian stepped around them and into the interior of the cafe. At the nearest table to the door sat Barbara’s aunt, Cecilia. She was a woman in her late forties, with severely cropped dark hair, wearing a closely cut tweed jacket. She had a novel open in her left hand. Something called “The Price of Salt.”  And with her right, she was raising a teacup to her lips. Her eyes peered over the top of her book. She was looking in the direction of the door, perhaps alerted by the sound of the woman and child coming in. Barbara had the strangest feeling for one moment that Cecilia was actually staring directly at her. That she was about to rise from her seat and deliver one of her usual sardonic remarks. “She was waiting for me!” Barbara whispered to Ian, “just like she did every year. But I never came.” Ian didn’t reply. “Ian,” said Barbara, “what is it?” “Do you realize,” said Ian, “that we don’t have reflections?” Barbara looked up. It was true! She was standing in front of a large panel of silvered glass. She felt suddenly as if her very existence was in question. That at any moment she might dissolve. She walked up close and tapped on it. “Ian! Barbara!” Vicki was leaning through the entrance to the restaurant. She looked flush and breathless. “Come back to the TARDIS! The Doctor’s figured out what’s wrong!”

NARRATOR: In the Lyons corner house on the Strand, a middle aged woman waited for her niece, who was late. Fifteen minutes late, to be precise. But the woman didn’t mind. She was quite absorbed in the book she was reading.

Overall I really enjoyed this short story, and Barbara’s role in it especially. Naturally as a huge lesbian myself I was fascinated by Barbara’s Aunt Cecilia, and would love to know more about the impact she has had on Barbara’s life, and what it meant for Barbara to have such an obviously queer family member in 1963, when homosexuality was very much illegal in Britain. For example, I am pretty sure Barbara spent this story worried about how Ian would react to her Aunt Cecilia. That how he acted upon encountering her was, for Barbara, an important test for him to pass as she finds herself falling for him. I am sure that when Ian was concerned about their lack of shadows, Barbara’s concern before Ian gave voice to the issue was that he might be repulsed by Barbara having and being close to a queer family member. Which is to say that it manages to introduce a whole lot of character background into a pretty short piece.

Generally I find that Big Finish’s Short Trips manage to pack a lot into their half hour to forty minutes of run time, and this story is no exception.

[scarletwelly-boots]

Books Read 2018

I read 20 books in 2018, about 15 fewer books than last year (I work longer hours and have a further commute is my excuse). Technically I’m not even done with one of them, but I have like an hour or two to go of it and it’s an audiobook so it’ll be read faster than I could read it.

This is the third year I have done the Reading Challenge, which lists a number of categories to read books under (there were 40 categories this year, so I got a solid 50%). You can find the challenges I’ve done at least last, this, and next year, on Popsugar. (I don’t remember if I got the 2016 one from the same site). I also took some liberties with the categories and even changed a few to entries from last year’s list.

1. Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton (A book made into a movie you’ve already seen). ‘Kay so. I liked it, of course I did. I like the movie and I’m in love with Ian Malcolm. It was interesting because it provide some context fro scenes in the movie or left out of the movie that I didn’t get when I watched it. It was different from the movie in a lot of spoiler-y ways that I won’t get into. Most of these differences were good with one exception that really upset me. I would recommend to read it anyway.

2. Leah on the Offbeat, by Becky Albertalli (The next book in a series you started). This is the sequel to Simon vs. The Homosapien Agenda and I’m gonna be honest. I LOVED it. Was it better than Simon? No, probably not. But the representation made me really happy. I’m also a fat bisexual and though I’m not always a woman, I was raised AFAB, so it was still really relatable to me. There were some plot holes, because I’m pretty sure Albertalli decided Leah was bi after Simon was published. I thought it was really cute, though, and I definitely recommend it.

3. Weird Ireland, assorted authors (A book involving a mythical creature). A very small, independently published book about paranormal, supernatural, and extra-terrestrial sightings in Ireland. It was okay. I finished it in two hours. I knew everything that was in it, and some of it they even got wrong. Even if you’re crazy-obsessed with Ireland like me, you can skip this one.

4. Wild Irish Women, by Marian Broderick (a book set in a country that fascinates you). This is the kind of history book I like. Each chapter follows the biography of a different person and provides some context about the time period in which they lived. I learned a lot about Irish women I had never heard of, learned more about women I already knew about, and reread what little is known about my hero and historical crush, Grainne Ni Mhaille. One shortcoming of this book was their inclusion and insistent misgendering of Dr. Barry, an Irish physician who made great strides in natal care for women and who at this point is pretty widely believed to have been a transman. As a genderfluid person, this frustrated me so much that about three sentences into his entry I grabbed a red pen and actually corrected the pronoun usage. All the same, I recommend the book if you like women’s or Irish history, or los dos, like myself.

5. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle (a book with a time of day in the title). Hey, it had the word ‘time’; I say that counts! Guys, if you have never read this book, you need to. Even if you watched/sobbed during the movie. Dear god this book is so good. The theoretical physics is confusing, but that’s to be expected (my fifth graders were like ‘wth does this mean’ and I was like ‘you got me; this is why I teach elementary’). But it had some of my favorite themes, and Meg does her job as the oldest sibling, which as an oldest sibling, I respect and expect. (Never bring up the movie The Wind that Shakes the Barley with me; I am very, very firm about my Oldest Sibling Job responsibilities.) Anyway, read this goddamn book please.

6. Heart of the Fae, by Emma Hamm (A book with a villain or antihero). I am a sucker for all things Beauty and the Beast and all things Ireland, so when I saw a recommendation for this independently published Irish retelling of Beauty and the Beast on tumblr, I ordered it immediately. I really loved it. It’s also the first in a series and listen, the only thing better than a Beauty and the Beast retelling is a TRILOGY of a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I started the sequel but I haven’t finished yet. This book is so good. I highly recommend it.

7. The Upside of Unrequited, by Becky Albertalli (A book with alliteration in the title). This was...okay. It’s a companion to Simon vs. the Homosapien Agenda, and it follows Abby’s cousins. In a way, it was gayer than the others, because her cousins have two moms and one of the cousins is gay. But it’s from the POV of the straight one, so not as gay. Plus I really like the characters from the first two, and we didn’t even get very much Abby in this one. You kind of have to read it like its own novel with a couple cameos from Abby. As a standalone, it wasn’t bad, but as a series it was a bit of a letdown.

8. The Once and Future King, by TH White (a book about time travel). Look, Merlin ages opposite to the passage of time, so it counts as time travel. I have been trying to read this book for ten years. I liked most of it. I had a few qualms but given the climate in which it was written it makes sense for the time period (not that that should excuse some of the cringe-worthy parts). The last like fifty pages White waxes poetic on the capitalist system and it’s like, we get it, you’re a white man from the middle of the Cold War, but read a goddamn book. Additionally, at least three men were raped by women with some not-so-subtle victim blaming which pissed me the fuck off. But the overall story, the legend of King Arthur, was good. It’s definitely a cornerstone in the Arthurian saga. I might try to read Le Morte d’Arthur next year and see how it compares.

9. All the King’s Men, by Nora Sakavic (a book with song lyrics in the title). Humpty Dumpty is close enough to a song. This is book three of the All for the Game trilogy, and holy shit you have to read this. It’s the best book in the trilogy. It is a series about a college sports team who play a made up sport called Exy, which is basically a more violent version of lacrosse. I’m not a huge sports fan, but the way she writes Exy matches had me on the edge of my seat. The team is made up of all “at-risk” students, the main character being a kid on the run from his mob boss dad. Trigger warning for the series for violence, sexual assault/rape, abuse, drug use, I may be missing some things. It was so good though.

10. The War I Finally Won, by Kimberley Brubaker Bradley (A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist). This is a really great sequel to another children’s book. See below for the synopsis.

11. The War that Saved My Life, by Kimberley Brubaker Bradley (a book about mental health). Okay, I don’t know why that is the category I put it in, other than the protagonist was told by her mother all her life that she was mentally disabled even though it was just physically. This book and it’s sequel above were AMAZING. It’s about a little girl and her brother in World War II England. The girl has a club foot and spends her life locked away in her abusive mother’s flat in London. She teaches herself to walk, and then she and her brother run away to join the other children being evacuated to the country. They are taken in by a woman who doesn’t want to care for them but in less than a day becomes totally ride-or-die for them (I love that trope). The woman is heavily implied to be gay and is grieving the death of her companion (hence the category above). I loved both books and highly recommend them.

12. Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman (a book by an author of a different ethnicity than you). British isn’t that different of an ethnicity from my pasty ass, but I was hard-pressed to put this wonderful book in a category. Apparently my disaster wife Loki is a dumbass and they just look clever because the other gods are stupider than they are. I loved all the stories but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t just pick this up exclusively because I’m fucking in love with Loki. I do really recommend it though.

13. Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow (a book that is also a stage play or musical). I’ve been meaning to read this for ages. It was really interesting, and a lot of it didn’t make it into the musical since it’s like 600 pages long so I learned a lot. I’m still reading it, and I’ve reached the duel so I’m almost finished. Thank god for audiobooks; if my slow-ass self were reading this, I’d still be on page like 100 and I’ve been reading it for a month. If you liked the musical I recommend you read this.

14. Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee (a book that you borrowed or was given to you as a gift). I had a hard time following this book. Lee went back and forth between the present (Scout in her twenties) and the 15-or-so years in between the end of TKAM and the beginning of GSAW. It wasn’t bad, but given the stories from Scout’s high school years that were really amusing and the most engaging of the whole book, I’d have preferred if the sequel took place during those years. I think this is the proof as to why most classics don’t have sequels. Read it, but don’t expect much.

15. Making Thinking Visible, by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, etc. (a book by two authors). I had to read this for work. Meh.

16. Fence, by CS Pacat (a book about or involving a sport). This is a comic by the same author as The Captive Prince trilogy. I’m behind in issues, but I did really like it. It’s about fencing, which I love, and it’s supposed to be gay eventually. And I’m pretty sure there’s a genderfluid or gnc character which I was super excited about. I recommend it.

17. The Orphelines in the Enchanted Castle, by Natalie Savage Carlson (a childhood classic you’ve never read). Okay, don’t tell my mother, but I don’t remember anything about this book. This year (at twenty-four) was the first time I read this old, old book that I have had since I was six or seven (don’t tell my mom that, either). It was from my mom/the tooth fairy and she loved it as a kid. I guess read it if you can find it and remind me what happened in it?

18. Simon vs. The Homosapien Agenda, by Becky Albertalli (a book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to). Obviously I really loved this book if I also read the sequel and companion books. It was really good, and I definitely cried. If you liked the movie, read the book. It’s different in several ways. I think if you’re thinking in terms of trueness to the book, the movie was maybe not as good, but they’re both good as their own standalone things. But I highly recommend both.

19. Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo (a book that involves a bookstore or library). This book is so good. It was interesting to reread it as an adult when I last read it as a third grader. I think I understood more than I did then and got different things out of it. I think everyone should reread books from their childhood because the books can still impact you, and they’ll probably affect you differently than when you were a child. So if the last time you read this book was as a young child, pick it up again. If you’ve never read it, still read it.

20. Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo (your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 Popsugar reading challenges: the first book in a series you haven’t read before). This was so good. It was a really interesting book with characters I’ve already kind-of met since my DM recycled some names from the book into our campaign. But I’ve come to know Waylan with similar traits but in a different context, so it was fun to be reintroduced to him. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where I was already attached to a character in a different context before reading the book, so that was new. I’m terrible at synopses, so if you want to know what this book is about, Google it I guess. And then read it.

[kbetolks]

01: When did you first start writing?

Around mid-2012 and by accident. Had a super crazy dream that I wrote down in the morning after, and after that it became a fic.

02: What was your favorite book growing up?

Don't really think I had one. I can only name Redações Perigosas II.

03: Are you an avid reader?

Yeah. Not so much for the past years because I also write quite a bunch and can't do both.

04: Have you ever thrown a book across the room?

No. Why would I damage my stuff?

05: Did you take writing courses in school/college?

Nah.

06: Have you read any writing-advice books?

Not books, but I'm always reading articles and stuff.

07: Have you ever been part of a critique group?

Not really? I do critique everything I read.

08: What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?

Can't think of any.

09: What’s the worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?

Rewrite something from the scratch after a rough draft. Are you fucking kidding me?

10: What’s your biggest writer pet-peeve?

Find out I’ve skipped words even after two fucking revisions.

11: What’s your favorite book cover?

Don't really have any.

12: Who is your favorite author?

Don't really have any.

13: What’s your favorite writing quote?

"Stop worrying about editing or finding the perfect word, and just get to the end." — Gennifer Albin

14: What’s your favorite writing blog?

referenceforwriters is a good one.

15: What would you say has inspired you the most?

To write in general? The support I had at the beginning. I wouldn't even have considered it otherwise.

16: How do you feel about movies based on books?

Always watch the film before reading the book to avoid disappointment.

17: Would you like your books to be turned into TV shows, movies, video games, or none?

*giggles*

18: How do you feel about love triangles?

99,99% they're not even triangles! Unless all three are interested in all three, it doesn't really add much. (But in the traditional sense, I don't really like them.)

19: Do you prefer writing on a computer or longhand?

Does anyone write anything by hand these days?

20: What’s your favorite writing program?

Don't really have one? Give me a complete editor and I'm fine.

21: Do you outline?

Depending on the story. Have been doing it a lot more the past years. Probably because I'm writing longer stuff.

22: Do you start with characters or plot?

Plot. For the most part. I mean, I always know who I want to play what.

23: What’s your favorite & least favorite part of making characters?

Making them 3D. The least favourite is searching names.

24: What’s your favorite & least favorite part of plotting?

Getting all the stuff I need there. The leat favourite is certainly that I have to write said plot later.

25: What advice would you give to young writers?

Keep on writing. You can't get better if you don't practise.

26: Which do you enjoy reading the most: physical, ebook, or both?

I mostly read fanfiction these days, so... ebook?

27: Which is your favorite genre to write?

Finishing something.

28: Which do you find hardest: the beginning, the middle, or the end?

The middle, I suppose. You always know where you wanna go and where you come from.

29: Which do you find easiest: writing or editing?

Editing because it's faster.

30: Have you ever written fan-fiction?

Have I written anything else?

31: Have you ever been published?

Nope.

32: How do you feel about friends and close relatives reading your work?

Can we not? Only one IRL has possibly read any of my works.

33: Are you interested in having your work published?

I guess so? It's just complicated when you don't write in your own language.

34: Describe your writing space.

A computer, a chair, music on, and a bottle of water.

35: What’s your favorite time of day for writing?

When the sun is out. I tend to write a LOT of gibberish at night. It's like my brain stops working.

36: Do you listen to music when you write?

Always. Silence is too disturbing.

37: What’s your oldest WIP?

A Flones sequel to ItWS. It's like from the end of 2013? (And here I thought it was the Private Eye Pudd.)

38: What’s your current WIP?

(How nice would be to have ONE WIP.) There's the dating show, the alien, the witness protection, the dequel to DF, and the adaptation ones. All Ziam.

39: What’s the weirdest story idea you’ve ever had?

Probably the one with Zayn clones.

40: Which is your favorite original character, and why?

Probably Aunt Geo or Nan Fletcher. I love to have cheeky old ladies with big hearts around!

41: What do you do when characters don’t follow the outline?

Follow them instead.

42: Do you enjoy making your characters suffer?

Never. Probably why I don't really write angst or anything heavier.

43: Have you ever killed a main character?

*sweats profusely* A few times.

44: What’s the weirdest character concept you’ve ever come up with?

Probably the fanged bird from TA or any of the enemies from DF.

45: What’s your favorite character name?

In general? Not sure I get this one.

46: Describe your perfect writing space.

A computer, nice temperature, snacks and juice, soft music playing.

47: If you could steal one character from another author and make then yours, who would it be and why?

Derek Hale. Because JD honestly didn't deserve him. A great character always tortured and sub-utilised.

48: If you could write the next book of any series, which one would it be, and what would you make the book about?

Bridget Jones, I guess? And I'd need something less straight. Make it gayer.

49: If you could write a collaboration with another author, who would it be and what would you write about?

I don't think I'd be up for that?

50: If you could live in any fictional world, which would it be?

The Pokémon world, maybe?

[margarittet]

Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett’s “Good Omens” and the evidence that Destiel has always been real

I don’t know how many of you are fans of Neil Gaiman, but I’m sure you know how much the general idea for “Supernatural” and its plotlines was inspired by Neil Gaiman’s works. Like, his Lucifer is literally based on David Bowie (so yeah, Lucifer is a glam rockstar deep down); Tessa the Reaper looks a lot like Death from Sandman; Cain is a prominent character there; Abaddon’s look is suspiciously similar to WAR from “Good Omens”, SPN’s Death looks a bit like Famine in the same book - practically the whole Apocalypse in season 4-5 is based on the plot of that book. Sandman starts with a bunch of people summoning Death. And so on, and so on.

So, beware, because I will spoiler the shit out of “Good Omens”, but I would like to show you how I believe they always were very deliberate with Destiel from very early in the show. 

The two main characters in “Good Omens” are demon named Crowley (yes, our Crowley inherited his name) and an angel Aziraphale. They met in the Garden of Eden, where Aziraphale was practically Gadreel, guarding the gate, and Crowley was the snake. Unexpectedly, they became frenemies, and now, six millenia later, they are best friends officially, but most of the time they seem more like a very unusual married couple.

Crowley likes well-taylored leather jackets, wearing shades inside, and to drive his super cool, old black car. Most days he pretends that he is more of a badass than he actually is - demons don’t really respect you if you don’t show them your tough, smooth-talking facade - but mostly he would just like to travel, walk through a park, feed ducks, eat good food, drink wine, and talk for hours, with the angel Aziraphale - instead of doing evil hell business, ever. 

The cool image is everything in hell, but once his angel is in trouble, our demon has no problem running into flaming buildings, screaming his name like a crazy person, and falling apart when his angel seems to demise.

Crowley also listens only to “Best of Queen” while driving, because somehow all his tapes turn into the classic rock album when left in his car for longer than a fortnight (you think Dean has a similar problem, and all of his Taylor Swift tapes turn into AC/DC?) He has a soft spot for pot-plants, a nice apartment downtown, and he generally just wants a quiet life with his angel, far from the heaven or hell business.

DOESN’T HE SOUND LIKE SOMEONE WE KNOW?

Aziraphale is a badass angel when he needs to be, handling flaming swords and such, but on everyday basis he is an old-book lover who owns a little second-hand book shop in London. This beautiful description of him says it all really:

“Many people, meeting Aziraphale for the first time, formed three impressions: that he was English, that he was intelligent, and that he was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide. Two of these were wrong; Heaven is not in England, whatever certain poets may have thought, and angels are sexless unless they really want to make an effort. But he was intelligent. And it was an angelic intelligence which, while not being particularly higher than human intelligence, is much broader and has the advantage of having thousands of years of practice.”

Yeah, except for the English part, this could be Cas. 

Aziraphale is the one who seems more gay in this odd couple, but Crowley definitely seems to be more openly emotional about his angel. When Armaggedon started to unfold, and everything seemed to go to hell (not literally, but almost), it is Crowley who calls Aziraphale a lot, and gets hurt when the angel doesn’t answer, or seems too busy to talk; it is Crowley who eventually loses his angel and tries to find him for several chapters, showing great emotional distress. Again, SOMEONE WE KNOW???

AND THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE BOOK EVERYTHING IN THEIR EMOTIONAL STORYLINE STAYS IN THE SUBTEXT. Neil Gaiman said that it’s up to his readers to decide if the relationship is romantic or not - he only said it probably wasn’t sexual since angels and demons (ex-angels) are sexless. But you know, “unless they really want to make an effort”, so who knows? Anyway, we got a green light from the authors to ship them as husbands, so we do.

This has been, for the longest time, my biggest Destiel anchor in the sea of gaslighting from the cast and crew. Because Eric Kripke is A FAN OF THIS BOOK TO THE POINT THAT HE STOLE SEVERAL STORYLINES FROM IT. And the rest of the writers are too - the Megatron/Metatron joke in season 7 is also from it! And the whole Nephilim storyline.

You are not telling me that when you base your TV show on a book with a subtextual romance between an asexual angel and a guy in a cool, old, black car who pretends to be cooler than he is, and somehow your TV show seems to have a subtextual romance between an asexual angel and a guy in a cool, old, black car who pretends to be cooler than he is, IT’S A FREAKIN’ ACCIDENT! Because you know, accidents don’t happen accidentally.

I am POSITIVE they decided that Destiel was real the moment they realised Misha is not going anywhere, but they put it in the subtext for safety, and because that’s what Kripke saw in his favourite book. And no one will ever tell me it hasn’t been there since as early as the end of season 4. So, yeah.

Tomorrow: “Good Omens” and the Nephillim. Because the new writing crew are also fans of the book.

[nerdylittleshit]

* there might be more than 13 fics on this list

For ages I wanted to make a Destiel Fic Rec List. For my own purposes, but of course for others as well to discover some new fics and for the writers to get the regocnition they deserve. Most of the fics on this list are a bit longer, meaning at least 10.000 words or more. If you look for shorter fics to read you can search through my fanfic tag, where I mostly reblog one-shots. (Also once a year or so I write a fic myself, you can find them here and here)

Alternative Universes

A Beginner’s Guide to Communing with the Dead by suspiciousflashlight/ @huntingthehaggis

Words: 77.159

Maybe it's the little girl whose disappearance turned into a murder, and whose murder turned into a cold case, and who has now apparently decided to move in with him. Maybe it's the unacceptable hole left in his life when his dumb best friend and partner in (the prevention of) crime decided to go and get himself killed. Maybe it's his brother, whose high-profile career and fantastic girlfriend and first-child-on-the-way are steadily leaving Dean in the dust. Pick one. Pick all of them. The why doesn't matter so much as the what, and the what is this: Dean is pretty sure he's going completely, certifiably insane. Sure, he hasn't started wearing all his clothes inside out, and he still showers on a regular basis (anyways, that's not crazy, just a little eccentric); but there's no getting around the fact that he just threw away his life, his career, and his reputation by dragging out his mom's old necromancy book and summoning a Class A Forbidden Entity to his attic. A cranky one, too. With horrendous bed-head.

Hands down, this is my favourite fanfic of all time. Exellent world building with an urban fantasy that takes a lot of the elements from Supernatural and makes it their own. As far as AU fics go this is the story that has Cas most in character. He isn’t human in this fic as well, and the author nailed down how otherwordly and at times scary Cas was when he first entered the show. There is also a lot of angst in this story too and some very dark themes. Though the fic ends happy it is rather bittersweet. One of the most beautiful written stories out there.

An Exercise in ‘Worthless’ by beastofthesky/ @basiacat

Words: 26.547

 "I mean, you’re–” He gestures at Cas, in his neat oxford shirt and nice pants. “–and I’m a high school dropout who tattoos for a living.”

---

Wherein Dean makes a hefty living as a tattoo artist who owns the space next to Gabriel's cafe. Sam attends the local university. When Gabe's cousin comes to live with him while starting grad school at Sam's university, Dean thinks for sure that all his negative karma's coming to bite him in the ass because Cas clearly has a thing for Sam. No one would ever choose him over Sam. That's just logic.

Dean is a tattoo artist firmly believing he will never be good enough for Cas, trying the best friend thing and loving him from a distance. Sounds familiar? There is a lot of pining here, with some angst, but ultimately a happy end.

Asunder by rageprufrock/ @rageprufrock

Words: 23.817

Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Matthew 19:6)

Though this is a Destiel fanfic with lots, LOTS of pining this is also a fic about Sam and Dean. Set in the real world Sam didn’t get addicted to demon blood but real drugs instead. Ruby is still part of the problem and the reason Sam and Dean had a fallout. Except that Ruby is also the one helping Sam getting better and now they get married and Dean is conflicted about attending the wedding at all. He does in the end, invinting Cas, as a friend, except not because he is in love with him for quite some time now. This is a fic that contains some very dark themes (drug use, child abuse, death & loss) but does it in the most beautiful way. A true masterpiece.

It’s Always the End of the World Somewhere by Annie D (scaramouche)/ @no-gorms

Words: 21.126

The status quo is this: Dean is the popular captain of the football team, and Castiel is the off-kilter nobody who doesn't so much as breathe the same air as Dean. Then senior year happens and the status quo is shot to smithereens.

Did someone say highschool-AU? Enter popular Dean and not so popular Cas, who used to be friends, until they weren’t but somehow manage to find their way to each other again. This Cas reminded me a bit of Endverse!Cas, except as a teenager. There are also several timestamps for this fic.

Kerouac and Thursdays by dilangley

Words: 6.356

 "You think God thinks this is a sin?"

 Castiel stared down his entire lifetime's worth of beliefs and denied them. "No."

 "Me neither."

---

They met on September 11, 1959. The beginning was clear, but for Castiel Novak and Dean Winchester, the ending was anything but.

A non-linear look at a love story.

Can I call this retro-fic? Set in the fifties there are many reasons why Dean and Cas aren’t out & proud, with Dean being married one of them. As the summary says this is a non-linear-story. Short, but very poetic.

Not Part of the Plan series by Annie D (scaramouche) / @no-gorms

Words: 317.608 

Castiel's spent most of his adult life keeping his head down and staying out of trouble. This is a deliberate choice on his part, because as a cousin of the King, he'd rather stay unimportant and forgotten. This changes abruptly when King Michael decides that he has a better use for Castiel: he is to be wed to a noble member of the neighboring Republic, as part of an agreement between their two nations.

Castiel knows he has to obey, but that doesn't mean he won't rebel in what small ways he can. Unexpectedly, his actions end up having far-reaching consequences.

In Search of a One Night Stand

Takes Two to Make a Pair

Elephant in the Room Makes Three

Four-Point Landing

Capital Five FM

Six Degrees in Either Direction

And On the Seventh Day...

As you can see this is one of the longest fics on this list. Even though it is an AU there are still a lot of the elements of Supernatural in this story. There is an exellent world-building in this fic, and Dean and Cas’s love story is the catalyst for an even bigger story. This is an arranged wedding fic, that has Cas and Dean coming from two very different backgrounds and the beauty of this fic is how they both come together, how they try to understand where the other is coming from and over time fall in love with each other. The same I fall in love with this fic over and over again.

Out to Drift by beenghosting/ @beenghosting

Words: 20.898

Dean drives a black car with a loud engine. He lies too easily. He keeps a gun in the back of his jeans, and Castiel isn’t sure, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Dean has killed someone before. 

This is a fic that works with so many canon elements that it had me wondering if it isn’t canon adjacent, especially in the beginning when this story was still a one-shot and before the author added some more chapters. Though it turns out it is an AU, it is still pretty close to canon and also rather dark, but ultimately it ends happy. A rather unique read.

So Glad We Made It by Annie D (scaramouche)/ @no-gorms

Words: 16.421

At twelve years old, Dean makes a friend, who becomes his best friend, who will eventually become the love of his life. 

Your classic friends-to-lovers/Dean-and-Cas-through-the-years fic. Dean and Cas are best friends until Dean realizes he is in love with Cas. He doesn’t make a move though because... well because. You know the drill.

The Colour ‘Verse by whelvenwings/ @whelvenwings

Words: 10.746

Dean the Firefighter lives in a world of greys, reds, oranges and yellows. He's a lower-spectrum, and the only way he can get his kick of green or blue is by sharing his colours with strangers in back alleys - until one day Cas crashes into his world, bringing the whole of the glorious upper spectrum with him.

This story is set in a world where most people are only able to see a few select colours, but not all of them. The only way to see other colours is to touch someone who can. Enter Dean and Cas, who realize they can only see the entire rainbow whenever they touch ;)

(I made this fic sound gayer than it already is #noregrets)

The open sky (is mine tonight) by weatheredlaw/ @weatheredlaw

Words: 21.932

Castiel Novak is a wedding planner in San Francisco who doesn’t have the time or the energy for a relationship right now. After an accident introduces him to the charming pediatrician Dean Winchester, he thinks that might change. Unfortunately, Dean is engaged to Castiel’s new favorite client, Anna Milton, and it’s suddenly a game of tug-o-war between what Castiel wants and what Castiel needs — but as he comes to find out, often times those things are exactly the same. 

Yes, this is loosely based on “The Wedding Planer”, but what can I say? I have a soft spot for wedding fics that aren’t about Dean and Cas’s wedding (it’s a niche). Have all the nonsense wedding planing stuff, a Dean who is questioning all of his choices and a Cas stuck in the worst moral dilemma.

The World at Your Feet by casfallsinlove/ @casfallsinlove

Words: 8.207

When he was a kid, Dean Winchester learned to dance in secret. Now he's twenty-six and has arrived at ballet school in New York City on a scholarship. He's homeless, lonely, and spends his days doing the only thing that keeps him sane: dancing.

Castiel is, ostensibly, a librarian. But when his younger sister Anna needs another dancer for the routine she has to choreograph, he finds himself agreeing to fill the role. He expected a few weeks of rehearsals with three ballet school suck-ups. He did not expect Dean Winchester.

What can I say? I love ballet, I love ballet movies, so when I found this Destiel ballet AU I couldn’t resit. This is a very sweet short story. And because Dean and Cas dance together it involves a lot of touching. And a lot UST. Enjoy.

Canon Fics

A turn of the earth by mishcollin/ @mishcollin

Words: 95.274

Dean’s your typical half-orphaned, monster-killing 22-year-old until a trenchcoated stranger crashes into his back windshield one September night, claiming he’s an angel that knows him from the future and that he’s on the run.

Frigging fantastic.

(Or, in which Castiel gets stuck in Dean’s timeline preseries and Dean kind of hates it—until he doesn’t.)

Did you ever wonder how pre-series Dean would have reacted to Cas? Especially a Cas from the future, who remembers all of their past and all the reasons why they can’t be together, but he can’t tell Dean, because this is the first rule of time travelling. On top of that there is also a reason why Cas travelled to Dean’s past in the first place and why he never stays for too long. And it’s not a good one.

This is the perhaps best time-travelling fic I have read. It combines cocky young Dean with a Cas burdened by his past, a lot of pining, a lot of angst, and even though it doesn’t look like it, a happy end. A must read.

Any port in a storm by mishcollin/ @mishcollin

Words: 52.738

The angels have fallen, leaving Castiel graceless and Dean with, well, more of other people’s problems. When a string of couples goes missing on the east coast, Dean and Cas decide to investigate—and find themselves trapped and hunted on a couples’ counseling cruise. Although battling monsters at sea is dangerous enough, sorting through emotional baggage proves to be far more deadly. (And, in which Cas embarks to find his missing grace and Dean is put out. Not necessarily in that order.)

This fic is set after the season 8 finale, with a newly human Cas living in the bunker with Sam and Dean. Some of my fondness for this fic (other than the exellent writing) is that I joined fandom in the hiatus between season 8 and 9 and I remember the exictment about human!Cas and the possibility of him living in the bunker and all the domestic fics it produced. This fic though is more a case fic, including a cruise and fake boyfriends and Dean and Cas forced to talk about all their crap (something I wish the show would force to do them as well). The pace in which their romance develops feels just right, the characterisation is on point, it is pretty much perfect.

Coda Fics by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Deancas codas: season 9

Deancas codas: season 10

Deancas codas: season 11

Deancas codas: season 12

Xylodemon is hands down the master of canon fics and has written a lot of coda fics over the years. I love them all.

Dean (and Cas’) Top 13 Zepp Traxx by pantheon_of_discord/ @pantheonofdiscord

Words: 82.450

Dean eases Baby down the frontage road, trying not to look in the rearview mirror as his home gets smaller and smaller behind him.

He’s done this a hundred times. He’s driven down this road in the soft morning light, heading out to some little town in some distant corner of the country. This is a job like any other.

“It’s not like we’re never coming back,” Cas says from the passenger seat.

---

Dean and Cas and the open road, to the tune of Led Zeppelin. A post-series story in thirteen parts.

Set somewhere after season 12, this fic is a case fic as much as it is a Destiel fanfic, and something I could totally see happening on the show and how I wish the show would end. You get a bit of everything with this fic: case fic, hurt/comfort, smut, and even Sam gets his fair share (and a dog!). This really reads like a season of the actually show, with the only difference that Destiel finally becomes canon. So whatever the future brings this fic already provides the perfect happy ending.

Equinox by luchia/ @luchia13

Words: 12.101

In which Castiel is the weird time-traveling freak who just might be the love of Dean Winchester's life.

A short but well written time-travel-story that works with the established canon. And somehow manages to make Dean and Cas’s love story even more epic.

Face to Face with the Skies by quiddative/ @quiddatively

Words: 42.168

(Set right after 4.22) Castiel was not killed by Raphael on the night of Lucifer’s release. Instead, he’s sent to the year 1996 and encounters the Winchesters. Unable to return to the present, Castiel resigns himself to traveling with them on their hunts across the states.

Meanwhile in the year 2008, Dean has barely gotten used to being back in the land of the living when he gets the biggest shock of his life; the man he fell in love with when he was eighteen has seemingly come back from the grave as well, claiming to be an angel of the Lord. The thing is, he doesn’t have a clue who Dean is.

This is a time-travel fic that works in two-time-lines: 1996 and 2008. As a teenager dean falls in love with Cas, until he disappears, only to come back to him a decade later, revealing himself to be an angel but with no memory of Dean. Next to the actual love story there is also the mystery of who Cas is and how and why he travelled through time.

Good One’s Gonna Be Me by remmyme/ @remmyme

Words: 37132

Castiel Novak receives a rather alarming text message from an unknown number, and what started as a simple misdial quickly turns into the greatest friendship Castiel has ever known. But Dean has many secrets, dangerous truths about the life he lives, and would like to tell Castiel exactly none of them.

A (slightly) AU, (mostly) text fic, S3 fix-it romance (of sorts).

A canon divergent story that tells season 3 from a new perspective, with an author who has a great feeling for their characters and the right amount of angst (as if season 3 wasn’t angst-ridden enough).

Like a Thrift Store Jacket, Still Good But Used by triedunture/ @stuffimgoingtohellfor

Words: 5.656

Dean is a natural bottom, loves to take it up the ass like no one's business. Problem is, he's hung like a horse, or at least big enough he pings every guy's secret size kink. So, Dean ends up topping even though that's not what he wants. Enter Castiel.

A short very smutty story, that satisfies all your bottom!Dean needs. Set in season 4 this Cas is still very other, and this isn’t an epic romance story. But so so hot.

More Than Ever by Sass_Master/ @sass-master-stina

Words: 20.277

Dean’s getting some pancakes together for breakfast when Cas saunters in after a run.

He’s trying to focus on whisking batter, unfairly distracted by Cas a few feet away, breathing heavily and shining with perspiration. Dean’s been painfully aware for a long time that Cas is pretty easy on the eyes, but he’s used to seeing Cas buttoned-up and unflappable, looking straight-laced in a stiff oxford and an unflattering trenchcoat.

Now Cas is sweating, Dean’s borrowed t-shirt clinging to his skin, flushed from exertion and Dean really can’t deal with that in his kitchen right now.

A classic case fic, with lots of UST, until the levee finally breaks. This fic is part of a longer series, though I have only read this first part.

Sweet Home by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Words: 7.209

Dean hates Alabama, and this hunt is turning into a pain in the ass.

Set in season 10 this features some exellent jealous and angry Dean, with a special guest appearence by Hannah. Dean and Cas never talk it out but they sure know how to use their mouths.

The little engine by orange_crushed/ @robotmango

Words: 13.347

"He, uh," Sam says. "He just needs space, I think."

"Of course," Castiel says. His own voice sounds like it is a million miles away. "I understand." It’s an outrageous lie, the kind of thing he is learning that people tell all the time, because they must, to keep afloat. He does not understand. He does not understand at all. He does not actually like the flaxseed bread Sam buys. He is almost never fine.

He pins the postcard on the board in the library and then goes into the bathroom to splash water on his face. He runs the tap and puts his hands over his eyes but he still sees them, sees the handwriting and the smudge where the ink was still wet, where the skin sat across it and drew it over the paper, the last mark, the proof of life, the only touch he’s had in months, this ghostly impression of an absent hand.

 I’m not coming back.

This is set after season 9, with demon!Dean on the run and a desperate Cas trying to find him and to bring him home. It’s a short but rather poetic story, with a different Dean than the one we saw at the beginning of season 10. Though it features some dark themes it is a rather beautiful story.

The Mirror by cloudyjenn

Words: 24.568

When Dean touches a strange mirror, he's whisked away to one alternate reality after another and it doesn't take him long to realize the universe is trying to tell him something.

This is somewhat of a fanfic classic and one of the first stories I ever read. Through a magic mirror Dean is send to different realities, where he meets alternative versions of himself, his brother and Cas. The only thing they all have in common: he is in love with Cas. It’s almost as if the universe wants to send him a message.

The Tunnel of Love by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Words: 21.421

"We might," Cas starts slowly, pausing like he's choosing his words. "We might have to kiss."

Dean just stares at him.

A classic case fic that forces Dean and Cas to make out, brought to you by the master of canon fics. What more is there to say?

The Way Out by awed_frog/ @awed-frog

Words: 67.482

Things are going pretty good, which is why Dean should have seen it coming. Sam and Toni are so in love it’s disgusting, the big monsters are all gone or dead, and Dean and Cas - yeah, okay, so they kissed and now they're kind of together, okay? Shut up.

No, the second Dean had caught himself thinking about food processors and beach holidays, he should have fucking known his happy ending would turn around and kick him in his fucking teeth. And now it has, and they're supposed to get on a damn plane and put on monkey suits and have Christmas dinner at Lord and Lady Bevell's, and Dean just can't - he can't face it, he can't breathe, he can't even see through the injustice of it all, because Cas - Cas -

 Tell me why. I deserve that much, at least.

This is perhaps one of the most fascinating stories I have read. It is told from different perspectives: one set after season 11 with canon Destiel, the other some strange AU that has Dean in Italy with Charlie at his side, meeting a handsame stranger. The mystery is how those stories are conected. And how the author managed to work this in within the esrablished canon.

This story features some of the most heartbreaking scenes I have read. It is sad in the most beautiful way (but don’t worry, there is a happy ending). One of the best stories I ever had the pleasure to read.

This Story has a Happy Ending by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Words: 3.399

The one where Cas tries to fuck the Mark of Cain away.

The summary tells it all. How season 10 should have ended.

Unfinished duet by mishcollin/ @mishcollin

Words: 5.894

Sam watches Dean and Cas over the years and notices a few things. (Or, Dean and Cas unscripted.)

I love Destiel fanfics from an outsider perspective, in this case Sam. Fullfills all your shipper!Sam needs.

Unknown Quantities by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Words: 8.568

No one ever tells Dean anything.

(or: Dean Winchester and the not-relationship crisis of 2014)

I think I have read this story so many times I know it off by heart. Dean and Cas finally end up together, but in true Winchester fashion they don’t talk about it. Come in for the smut, stay for the miscommunication.

We shovel all the ashes out by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

Words: 15043

Dean’s always known things were headed this way. He just figured getting dragged under would be cleaner and easier than jumping in feet-first.

A case fic that is beautiful linked to Dean and Cas’s own love story.