Some more recs for your reading pleasure. This one is AU heavy, so enjoy the feast if that's what you crave.
First Response to Love by Briston and Whitster_lizzy @whitster-lizzy (Explicit, 98k)
This crack taken seriously rom com is an absolute delight. You will be giggling the entire time at this one.
Cas is stuck in a dead end reporter job at a failing station in the unfortunately or hilariously (depending on your level of middle school humor) named town of Uranus.
When Cas' cat gets stuck in a tree, his panicked call results in the fire department (and half of emergency services) showing up - including his wet-dream-slash-crush Dean Winchester. He recognizes Dean from a charity calendar, and he may be just a smidge obsessed with him. Like owns a bunch of merch with his picture obsessed. But what he doesn’t know is Dean also has a massive crush on Castiel. Like an embarrassing, watch DVR recordings of the man over and over crush. Dean manages to get it together enough to ask Cas to report on a public safety measure and what follows is a very public and adorable courtship that just might save the station.
Expect mutual disaster idiots, lots and lots of humor and a delightful cast of residents. But also this fic has an underlying softness that will have you unable to put it down. Also, a developing friendship between Balthazar, Gabriel and Crowley that is the best thing that has happened to me personally in a long time.
Seriously, it's a delight.
Linden by fleeceframe @tasteslikevelvet (Explicit, 76k)
Look, fleeceframe has this incredible ability to write gorgeous, gentle stories that take apart your heart like a 500 piece puzzle and put it back together. This one is both particularly soft and particularly beautiful.
A fairytale AU, this tells the story of Cas, a shy and lonely honey merchant who falls in love with one of the Swans, local celebrities, who as a result of a curse, turn into swans. There are wings. There is gorgeous worldbuilding. But most importantly, there is just this gorgeous love story between two very lonely men who feel invisible.
They don't just accept each other, they cherish each other. It’s gorgeous.
The Handyman's Special by Carrieosity @carrieosity (Explicit, 51k)
If you want a good laugh, this is the fic for you. I was cracking up the ENTIRE time.
Dean, a professor with minimal construction experience and a shoddy home inspection, buys a fixer upper that's more like a money pit. But he can’t face the "I told you so" from Sam, so he hires a contractor in secret. And then to keep that secret, he lies and says the contractor, Cas, is his boyfriend.
What follows is a disaster-Dean rom com with a lot of heart. The angst never gets too angsty. It's fun and sweet and hilarious.
Too Hot To Hunt by Englandwouldfall (Teen, 19k)
A canon fix-it case fic that reverses the fuck or die trope. Dean and Cas encounter a monster that attacks couples during intimacy. Which means two things: 1. Dean has to reveal to his brother that he and Cas have been an item since he came back, and 2. Dean and Cas may have to use their words instead of hiding behind sexual intimacy. So that’s not awkward at all.
This one is just immensely satisfying, digging into all of the things that make Dean and Cas so bad at communicating. It's soft, awkward, and mildly angsty in the best way.
Jurassicatural by anyrei and queerwerewolf @anyreiart @queerwerewolf @the-real-anywolf (Explicit, 34k)
A delightful mashup of Jurassic Park and SPN, this one is just really fun. Chuck Shurley had created a new theme park for long extinct monsters, but his investors have one requirement before opening: sign-off from experts on the creatures.
Enter the Winchester brothers, a Paleontologist and Paleobotanist, and Dr. Cas Novak, Historian. But life finds a way and so does trouble.
In addition to just being fun, this one features an instant obsession between Destiel that is really fun to watch, a delightfully moody Claire, a sunny Jack and some really fun monsters.
Fata morgana by orange_crushed (Teen, 6.6k)
This is a short read but woof. It really packs a punch. A canon adjacent story in Hell told from the perspective of Bela Talbot, it's the kind of fic that will make you want to munch on the shower door.
There's an angel in Hell and Bela is going to find him. The angel? Cas seeking out Dean, the King of Hell.
This one plays with the lore in an extremely satisfying way. It's justice for Bela, though not in a saccharine sweet way, and also some really lovely Cas stuff.
A Demon Like Him by EllenOfOz @ellen-of-oz (Explicit, 24k)
If you are looking for some fun worldbuilding, this fic has you. Set in a world powered by magic, Dean is on the cusp of graduating and becoming a warlock. It's everything his father has ever wanted…and now he has to admit nothing he actually wants. Dean is determined to fail the final exam - to summon and bind himself to a demon - so that he can finally be free. Unfortunately for Dean, he fails at failing and instead summons an incubus, Castiel.
This one has some gorgeous nods to canon and it's simply a fun, sizzling read. The angst isn't too angsty. Cas is basically a sex God. It’s good, dirty fun. On top of that, Dean and Cas have some absolutely gorgeous soft moments.
Dark Side of the Moon by imogenbynight @thevioletcaptain (Mature, 37k)
An astronaut AU similar in some aspects to the Martian: after Dean's crew is killed in an accident on the moon, he's left alone and traumatized. Cas volunteers to help retrieve him, but can they make it in time and what will they find when they get there?
This one has a nice balance of horror elements, trauma, and humor. It also has just really likeable cast of characters. Even though you know it will all end well, there are some delightfully tense moments and the immediate bond between Cas and Dean is a delight.
See my other fic recs on my new sideblog @riversrecs
The thing is I’m aware that it would make more sense to pronounce destiel like DEE-stiel because it’s a mashup of Dean and Castiel but that sounds fucking stupid so I’m gonna say deh-stiel
Obviously the fic is under the keep reading. I’m not *that* diabolical.
Happy Holidays!
(Image has nothing to do with fic and is related to completely separate fic but I don’t care)
AO3 sat down and swiped tumblr’s iced pumpkin spice boba latte.
“OMFG, today was just…” AO3 took another hefty sip and gazed into the distance with a look of annoyance bordering on awe. “I mean, people are just–”
“Yeah,” tumblr said, retying their shoelaces on the spare third chair. “People are so just. Like, they’ll say one thing and subtext another.”
AO3 blinked and handed the coffee back to tumblr. tumblr took a sip and let AO3’s blood-red (always blood-red) lipstick paint their own.
“People should just say what they mean. I like to know about it all upfront. Like, take your baggage out, cinnamon rolls! Let me see that laundry, you know?” AO3 slumped back in defeat.
“Mm, yeah, but sometimes I like being surprised by the weird.” tumblr swirled the metal enviro-friendly straw, the ice clinked merrily and their cottagecore apron fluttered in the spring-autumn lavender breeze. “But then sometimes it gives me maj plinko.”
AO3 narrowed their glistening orbs. “Maj? Like, major? Is that a new thing? Are you trying a new thing?”
tumblr shrugged, “It could catch on. It might catch. Crabs did.”
“Don’t. It’s, like, trigger warning level.” AO3 sighed, shaking their hair in the sun and rolling the sleeves of the man’s oxford short they were wearing—mostly because it looked good no matter what gender they were.
“Really?” tumblr nibbled their lip with more anxiety than usual. “Like ABO bad? Reylo bad?”
“On a scale of Teen to Explicit? Like, dead dove. I just cannot with maj.” AO3 slinked a tentacle out and snagged a neighbouring table’s croissant taking a delicate bite. They swiped a flake from the corner of their mouth and licked it.
tumblr shifted, tapping an anime nail on the table to the BTS-ITZY-Stray Kids mashup playing in the Destiel coffee shop AU they and AO3 were patronising.
“Mm,” tumblr bouquet’d because hedges weren’t aesthetic enough. “But dead doves have so many poor little meow meows and you know I can’t help myself around that energy.”
AO3 rest their head in a palm and smiled, eyes doing things like dancing and sparkling to indicate affection. “I know. You’re such a blorbo.”
tumblr inhaled. Did AO3 mean that the way tumblr meant that?
While tumblr recovered, AO3 tossed a fry in their mouth. “So, what’s this movie we’re going to see?”
tumblr swallowed. “It’s um, it’s called Goncharov.”
“Cool.” AO3 stood and held out a hand, “Wanna go?”
“Does reblogging a potato bring you luck??” tumblr replied.
And together they walked into the sunset of an Avengers/Harry Potter crossover.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: Supernatural (TV 2005)
Pairing: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel (Supernatural), Meg Masters, Balthazar (Supernatural), Ruby (Supernatural), The Empty | The Shadow (Supernatural)
Additional Tags: Post-Episode: s15e19 Inherit the Earth, Emotionally Repressed Dean Winchester, Castiel is Bad at Feelings (Supernatural), a rescue mission to get Cas from the Empty, partially Inanna's Descent into the Underworld, partially Orpheus, and a little bit about Jimmy Buffett, for my sins
There are seven gates to the Empty, and every one has a price.
Getting out has a price, too.
or: Dean walks in like Inanna, and out like Orpheus.
Castiel’s Love Declaration in 15x18 Despair but with some of Dean’s reactions replaced with 15x09 The Trap prayer.
The two scenes actually mash up pretty well together. And with mollins phenomenal acting in Despair and jackles killing it in The Trap, I wanted to try and bring them together.
Sorry in advance! I just did edit with my phone and I have no skill. Y yo a ti, because ofc Dean loves Cas.