#wherein i do not then go ''time for their exclusive romantic relationship'' But neither of them are in one already; how helpful

[unproduciblesmackdown]

yeah speaking of the most personal instrument of death / brutal vengeful catharsis gay sex foil confrontation. the musician gets got by lo cocodrilo? respectively, give him a kiss

[otp-armada]

If Jason wanted to convince me that Lxa was the love of Clarke's life, he wouldn't have killed her off, effectively cutting their love story permanently, with 4.5 seasons left of the show. Their arc, starting with their introduction in 2x07 and concluding with L's death in 3x07, is 17 episodes long, accounting for 17% of the entire narrative. If I generously add 3x16 to the count, an episode in which L is already dead in the corporeal world Clarke is trying to return to, it's a whopping, grand total of 18%. An 18% congruous with Clarke's intense connection to Bellamy and vice versa, which even A.lycia confirmed as romantic. Feelings romantic enough to spur the formation of a love triangle. An 18% ignoring Clarke's ultimate choice to go back to her people when L wanted her to stay.

CL is a chapter in the story begun and wrapped up in the first half of the narrative. And that's omitting further illumination on the finer details making CL so problematic for Clarke. Do you expect me to believe it was coincidental for CL to occur at a time when Clarke was spiraling down a dark path, commencing with Finn's death? Who played a hand in forcing Clarke's own hand, with Finn, and TonDC, and Mount Weather? Whose example inspired her to ensnare herself in armor and warpaint to be strong enough to save her people? Whose behavior did she emulate in the pushing away of support from her people? Who gave her a place to continue hiding from Bellamy, her mom, and her friends? A place to be someone other than Clarke Griffin? In lieu of facing her fears like the heroine she is? The purpose of CL wasn't to provide Clarke with a magnificent, fairy tale romance gone tragically wrong. I believe Jason's intent with the relationship aimed to further damage Clarke's psyche after L's death, to solidify the belief that her love is not only deadly to its recipients but renders her too weak to do what must be done for survival.

After 3x16, CL is an often superfluous namedrop or two per season for Clarke to briefly react to before carrying on with the plot. Season 5 aside, most of these references are needless enough to be able to interpret them as attempts at reparations for the L/CL fandom's benefit -and their views- without altering the course of the story. Crazy me for thinking it's not enough to constitute an ongoing love story. Crazy me for not thinking this was on par with interactions between living characters. Crazy me for thinking it doesn't befit a love story for the protagonist.

This sliver of the story is what Jason and the CLs would have us unquestionably believe is the pervasive love story of The 100's seven seasons?

Despite his lie and the constant gaslighting from the pineapple CLs, some of us know how to decipher what a temporary love interest is. Lxa? I think you know where I'm heading with this.

I'll acknowledge my admittedly negative appraisal of CL as someone who recognizes its value to the LGBT+ community and treats it as valid while not caring for L/CL on a narrative level. I felt, when swayed by L's influence, Clarke became the antithesis of what I found admirable about her. I resented Clarke's acquiescence of her power to the commander. I wanted nothing more than to remove the wedge L had driven between Clarke and Bellamy.

Let me try to give L/CL the benefit of the doubt for a minute. I don't hold L as responsible for Clarke's choices, but I recognize the prominent role she played in their upbringing. The push and pull was an intriguing aspect of their dynamic, as was the chance to meet a manifestation of who Clarke might have been if she was all head, no heart. Her fall from grace was arguably necessary for her to be a fully-rounded character, not a Mary Sue. It wouldn't be realistic for the protagonist of a tragic story about a brutal world to be a pure cinnamon roll. When forgiveness is an innate theme with Clarke, it would be my bias at work if I was content with her applying it to everyone but Lxa. Clarke saw enough commonalities between her and L to identify with the latter. When she extended forgiveness to L, I believe it was her way of taking the first step on the path to making peace with herself by proxy. None of this means I wanted them paired up. At best, I made my peace with seeing the relationship through to its eventual end. In time for L's death, ironically. My passivity about them notwithstanding, my conclusions are, however, supported by canon.

If I may submit a Doylist reason for romantic CL? Jason knew he had a massive subfandom itching to see them coupled, thereby boosting ratings and generating media buzz. A Watsonian reason? Without relevance, I think L would have been another Anya to Clarke. Grapple shortly with the unfair taking of a life right as they choose to steer towards unity, melancholy giving way to the inconvenience of the loss of a potential, powerful political ally. Romance ensured her arc with L would have the designated impact on Clarke's character moving forward in the next act.

For a show not about relationships, Jason has routinely used romantic love as a shorthand for character and dynamic development. It's happened with so many hastily strung together pairings. And when it does, everyone and their mother bends over backward to defend the relationship. It's romantic because it just is. Didn't you see the kissing? Romantic.

No, The 100 at its core is not about relationships, romantic and otherwise. But stack the number of fans invested exclusively by the action against those of us appreciating a strong plot but are emotionally attached to the characters and dynamics. Who do we think wins? Jason can cry all he wants over an audience refusing to be dazzled solely by his flashy sci-fi.

Funnily enough, "not about relationships'' is only ever applied to Bellarke. Bellarke, a relationship so consistently significant, it's the central dynamic of the show. The backbone on which the story is predicated. Only with Bellarke does it become super imperative to represent male-female platonic relationships. As if Bellarke is the end all, be all of platonic friendship representation on this show. In every single television show in the history of television shows.

Where was this advocacy when B/echo was foisted upon on us after one scene between them where he didn't outright hate Echo? When one interaction before that, he nearly choked the life out of her. If male-female friendship on TV is so sparse, why didn't B/ravens celebrate the familial relationship between Bellamy and Raven? Isn't the fact that they interpret Clarke as abusive to Bellamy all the more reason to praise his oh-so-healthy friendship with Raven as friendship? They might be the one group of shippers at the least liberty to use this argument against Bellarke, lest they want to hear the cacophony of our fandom's laughter at the sheer hypocrisy of the joke. Instead, they've held on with an iron grip to the one sex scene from practically three lifetimes ago when the characters were distracting themselves from their feelings on OTHER people? They've recalled this as "proof" of romance while silent on (or misconstruing) the 99% of narrative wherein they were platonic and the 100% of the time they were canonically non-romantic.

Bellarke is only non-romantic if you believe love stories are told in the space of time it takes for Characters A & B to make out and screw each other onscreen, a timespan amounting to less than the intermission of a quick bathroom break. If it sounds ridiculous, it's because it is. And yet, some can't wrap their heads around the idea that maybe, just maybe, a well-written love story in its entirety is denoted by more than two insubstantial markers and unreliable qualifiers. B/raven had sex, and the deed didn't fashion them into a romance. Jasper and Maya kissed but didn't have sex. Were they half a romantic relationship? Bellarke is paralleled to romantic couples all the time, but it counts for nothing in the eyes of their rival-ship fandom adversaries. Take ship wars out of it by considering Mackson. Like B/echo, the show informed us that Mackson became a couple post-Praimfaya, offscreen, via a kiss. Does anyone fancy them an epic love story with their whisper of a buildup? Since a kiss is all it takes, as dictated by fandom parameters, we should.

If Characters A & B are ensconced in a romantic storyline, then by definition, their relationship is neither non-romantic nor fanon. "Platonic" rings hollow as a descriptor for feelings canonically not so.

If the rest of the fandom doesn't want to take our word for granted, Bob confirmed Bellarke as romantic. Is he as delusional as we are? Bob is not a shipper, but he knows what he was told to perform and how. Why do the pineapples twist themselves in knots to discredit his word? If they are so assured by Jason's word-of-god affirmation, then what credibility does it bear to have Bellarke validated by someone other than the one in charge? They're so quick to aggressively repudiate any statement less than "CL is everything. Nothing else exists. CL is the only fictional love story in The 100, nay, the WORLD. CL is the single greatest man-made invention since the advent of the wheel."

We've all seen a show with a romantic relationship between the leads at the core of the story. We all know the definition of slowburn. We can pinpoint the tropes used to convey romantic feelings. We know conflict is how stories are told. We know when interferences are meant to separate them. We know when obstacles are overcome, they're stronger for it. We know that's why the hurdles exist. We know those impediments often take the shape of interim, third-party love interests. We know what love triangles are. We know pining and longing.

Jason wasn't revolutionary in his structure of Bellarke. He wasn't sly. Jason modeled them no differently than most other shows do with their main romances. Subtler and slower, sure. Sometimes not subtle at all. There's no subtlety in having Clarke viscerally react to multiple shots of Bellamy with his girlfriend. No subtlety in him prioritizing her life over the others in Sanctum's clutches. In her prioritizing his life above all the other lives she was sure would perish if he opened the bunker door. There is no subtlety in Bellamy poisoning his sister to stave off Clarke's impending execution. In her relinquishing 50 Arkadian lives for him after it killed her to choose only 100 to preserve. In her sending the daughter Clarke was hellbent to protect, into the trenches to save him. In him marching across enemy lines to rescue her. In her surrender to her kidnapper to march to potential death, to prevent Bellamy's immediate one. No subtlety in Josie's callouts. No subtlety in Lxa's successful use of his name to convince Clarke to let a bomb drop on an unsuspecting village. Bet every dollar you have that the list goes on and on.

There are a lot of layers to what this show was. It was a tragedy, with hope for light at the end of the tunnel. It was, first and foremost, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi survival drama. Within this overarch is the story of how the union of Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake saves humanity, ushering in an age of peace. In this regard, their relationship transcended romance. But with the two of them growing exponentially more intimate each season, pulled apart by obstacles only to draw closer once again, theirs was a love story. A romantic opus, the crescendo timed in such a way that the resolution of this storyline -the moment they get together- would align with the resolution of the main plot. Tying Bellarke to the completion of this tale made them more meaningful than any other relationship on this show, not less.

Whereas the trend with every other pair was to chronicle whether they survived this hostile world intact or succumbed to it, Bellarke was a slowburn. A unique appellation for the couples on this show, but not disqualifying them from romantic acknowledgment.

Framing Bellarke in this manner was 100% Jason's choice. If he wanted the audience to treat them as platonic, he should have made it clear within the narrative itself, not through vague, word-of-god dispatches. A mishandled 180-degree swerve at the clutch as a consequence of extra-textual factors doesn't negate the 84% of the story prior. It's just bad writing to not follow through. And Jason's poor, nearsighted decisions ruined a hell of a lot more than a Bellarke endgame.

The problem is, when Bellarke is legitimized, the pineapples are yanked out of their fantasies where they get to pretend the quoted exaggerations above are real. Here I'm embellishing, but some of them have deeply ingrained their identities in CL to the degree where hyperbole is rechristened to incontestable facts. An endorsement for Bellarke is an obtrusive reminder of the not all-encompassing reception of their ship. A lack of positive sentiment is an attack on their OTP, elevated to an attack on their identity. Before long, it ascends to an alleged offense to their right to exist. The perpetrators of this evil against humanity are the enemy, and they must attack in kind, in defense of themselves.

Truthfully, I think it's sad, the connotation of human happiness wholly dependent on the outcome of a fictional liaison already terminated years ago. I'm not unaware of the marginalization of minorities, of the LGBT+ community, in media. I haven't buried my head in the sand to pretend there aren't horrible crimes committed against them. I don't pretend prejudice isn't rampant. When defense and education devolve into hatred and libel for asinine reasons, though, the line has been crossed. You don't get a free pass to hurt someone with your words over a damn ship war. No matter how hard you try to dress it up as righteous social justice, I assure you, you're woefully transparent.

[revolutionary-demosthenes]

(I’m so sorry, I accidentally deleted this ask when I was trying to fix where I put the cut but here’s the image of it because I still had it open in another tab and I’ll just answer like normal. Sorry!!)

This is a great question! There are several reasons why some historians, most notably Gregory Massey, author of John Laurens and the American Revolution tend to paint the Laurens-Hamilton relationship in a more platonic light.

One of the main reasons is that in the 18th century, letters were simply much more romantic and poetic, even to close friends. Phrases and sentiments that now would be read as pretty darn romantic (Like “I love you”) were seen as acceptably platonic back then. So some of the letters between Laurens and Hamilton, particularly Laurens’s, would’ve been seen as acceptable and even normal for very close friends. 

HOWEVER, there is a big problem with this argument of “it was just the language of the time” when it comes to Laurens and Hamilton. 

While some of their correspondence would have been seen as reasonable for friends back then, some would NOT have been. And don’t just take that from me. Take it from John Church Hamilton. If you look at his biography of his father, you will see that much of the April 1779 letter is not included. Here’s a great rule of thumb: if someone from that time period saw it as sexual enough omit from a giant biography, that’s not “just how people wrote back then.”

The second main argument is an understandable one: Laurens had a wife when he met Hamilton, and Hamilton married Eliza while he and Laurens were still in their relationship. Which, if you don’t look closely at the circumstances around the marriages seems like a pretty good argument. 

But let’s take a look at those circumstances, shall we?

John Laurens received a letter from Francis Kinloch (a probable male lover) around early May 1776, which happens to be nearly nine months before John’s child, Frances, was born. So his relations with Martha Manning, John’s eventual wife, could have possibly been to make John feel better about the break-up. 

And it is extremely important to note the social pressure going on. Being openly gay was not an option. So courting Martha (they were friends/possibly courting before the baby,) could easily have been just trying to conform to social standards. 

The marriage was also not about love, really. And John pretty much admitted this in a letter to his uncle. He wrote, “Pity has obliged me to marry.” This was because Martha was pregnant, and having a baby out of wedlock was extremely taboo. (I mean look at Hamilton, he had to deal with that stigma his whole life.)

If John really did love his wife, I also would think that he would have wanted to stay for his daughter’s birth. He left shortly before she was born, and once he was in America, put them pretty much out of his mind. There were plans to bring them to America, but it never worked out. And John seemed pretty content to just have them be in England. “The wife and child left behind in England seemingly occupied little space in John’s thoughts.” says John Laurens and the American Revolution by Gregory Massey.

But what about Hamilton? Didn’t he love Eliza Schuyler?

Yes. But just because Hamilton loved Eliza does not mean he didn’t love Laurens as well. And this is because of the simple fact that gay and straight are not the only sexualities. Hamilton loved a woman. Using this to argue he couldn’t have loved and been in a relationship with a man is both offensive and illogical.

But a more solid argument that historians use is that Hamilton did marry Eliza during his ‘friendship’ with Laurens. Why would he pursue Eliza if he loved Laurens in the same way?

Why, I am delighted you asked!

Firstly, Hamilton was probably polyamorus, meaning that he wanted and had no trouble having relationships with multiple people. In other words, marrying Eliza did not mean that he would stop loving Laurens. He had room in his heart to love both in a romantic/sexual way.

The way Hamilton writes to Laurens about his engagement and marriage is also indicative of his trying to make clear to Laurens that even though he was getting married, he and Laurens could continue to be lovers. He told Laurens, “In spite of Schuyler’s black eyes, I have still a part for the public and another for you.” That Hamilton is stating that his love for his soon-to-be-wife would not interfere with the bond he and Laurens shared seems to be a pretty clear “I’m not going to break up with you because of my wife don’t worry.” He also talks of Eliza in a slightly cold way at first, saying that, “She is a good hearted girl who I am sure will never play the termagant; though not a genius she has good sense enough to be agreeable, and though not a beauty, she has fine black eyes—is rather handsome and has every other requisite of the exterior to make a lover happy. And believe me, I am lover in earnest, though I do not speak of the perfections of my Mistress in the enthusiasm of Chivalry.”

This is in quite a contrast to his gushy letter to Eliza about how “Neither time distance nor any other circumstance can abate that pure that holy that ardent flame which burns in my bosom for the best and sweetest of her sex.”

And then there is the next letter where Hamilton mentions his upcoming marriage.

The threesome letter.

So. Hamilton writes to Laurens on Sep. 16, 1780, “I would invite you after the fall to Albany to be witness to the final consummation. My Mistress is a good girl, and already loves you because I have told her you are a clever fellow and my friend; but mind, she loves you a l’americaine not a la françoise.”

The final consummation refers to the first time having sex after marriage. Hamilton is inviting Laurens to this event. 

Anyway, this again reads to me like Hamilton saying to Laurens that the two relationships, (him and Eliza, and him and Laurens) were not exclusive. Even maybe that he believed they would work together well. 

And then of course there is the truth that having a same-sex relationship in the 18th century was simply a very difficult thing to do. Hamilton and Laurens either had to keep it an absolute secret, or blindly trust that the people who did know would keep it secret. And it would have been emotionally tolling to keep this huge part of their lives a secret. 

And that is all true. But that also doesn’t erase the evidence of their romance.  It was hard to be in a same-sex relationship in the 18th century, but that doesn’t mean Hamilton didn’t write the April 1779 letter. That doesn’t mean Laurens didn’t tell Hamilton about his wife... ever! (Hamilton did find out, though. But not for more than a year.) That doesn’t mean that Hamilton didn’t invite Laurens to “the final consummation.”

Then there’s the problem that queer history just wasn’t written about in older biographies, which are sources usually used by current biographers. So you have to go to the primary sources, like the letters. And once you find the primary sources, you have to do extra analysis, because in the 18th century Hamilton couldn’t have just said, “John Laurens, I love you so much. I love you like I love my wife, and do you remember how awesome the nights we spent in the same bed were?” It was all carefully disguised, under the pretense of “brawdy humor” and “sentimental language.” Plus, letters that may have contained more explicit things are missing/destroyed. Many argue that “it was the language of the time” without considering that it was extremely dangerous to write things unacceptable for the language of the time.

But also there is a sort of double standard that is used. And I’m going to use the example of Angelica Schuyler and Hamilton here. Angelica and Hamilton definitely had a flirtatious relationship, but I find it hard to imagine Angelica seriously going after him, since she and her sister had a close bond. And yet many people accept that they loved each other romantically— emphasized in the musical Hamilton, wherein a lot of time is spent on an errant comma in a letter, and no time is spent on Hamilton bragging about his ‘nose’ in a letter to John Laurens. (I know I defend the musical a lot, but this is something that bugs me.) So the point is, it takes very little evidence to be able to claim “love” for possible straight relationships but takes nearly absolute confirmation for a queer relationship to be considered at all.

There’s also possible homophobia from the writer of the history. This isn’t to say everyone who thinks Hamilton/Laurens were straight is a homophobe, not at all. But if someone has prejudices against LGBTQ+ people, they might just not consider the the relationship could have been romantic... it might not be something they’re tuned into as a valid part of history.

There are others I’m probably forgetting so if anyone wants to add please do. But I think this covers most of the main reasons.

Thank you for the great question, it is always important to look at the other side of the issue! I hope this helped you.

(And no, no one’s asked this before!)

[papika]

disclaimer that i love ronan lynch. i love him! but he has some fucking issues.

and now that that’s out of my system, okay, time for me to break this down.

actually and seriously, the amount of spiralling and obsessing ronan does when the people he loves have other relationships is not healthy? and it’s neither exclusively with the people he is dating, nor is it exclusively with these people developing romantic relationships.

(see: his jealousy issues all throughout trc, wherein he legitimately wants to monopolize gansey’s attention. which is understandable enough, but is not healthy.)

it’s fine to be monogamous. that’s fine! that’s not the issue here!

the issue is that ronan tends to obsess over the thought that his loved ones forming other relationships (whether romantic or not) is going to result in them leaving him, or that he’s not going to get enough attention because this loved one is the single person he is relying on for all of his emotional needs, or that this means they love him less, or that this new relationship is going to take precedence over his already-established relationship.

and none of these things are healthy things to obsess over.

how do i know this? i know this because they’re issues i’ve grappled with, myself, and have spent a lot of time internally working on.

———

so, yeah, the way ronan is spiralling over this is, especially when taking his previous relationships into account, definitely not just that he is being monogamous, but rather is just a recurrence of the same anxieties and attachment issues that have been a notable part of his characterization from the very beginning. it’s a flaw of his! it’s a fucking flaw of mine! and so i do take a bit of a personal issue with treating this as just Ronan Being Healthily Monogamous™︎ when this is very much not the case.

i honestly could get deeper into meta about why he is like this and how he the way he has been cloistered away in the barns without any friends or support is very fucking definitely just aggravating these issues of his, and fuck dude i could even get into why it is bad to be wholly reliant on one person for all of your emotional needs and how ronan’s current reliance on adam is bad for fucking both of them, but this is already long enough. maybe later.

yeah the specifics of this particular ronan spiraling were funny but it’s weird to see so many mocking him for being into monogamy like.. is it absurd that some people are loyal to their significant other and want the same thing in return? is is that ridiculous that someone doesn’t like the idea of the person they’re in love with and who they’re in a long-term relationship with being in love with someone else?

like this didn’t strike me as a “you’re not allowed to have affection for anyone else but me” but as an “i don’t want you to have romantic feelings and share the special intimacy between us with someone else” which.. is normal for someone in love to feel?

yeah this is absurd and ridiculous. thank you for asking

[xfanfics]

Destiel Fic Rec List Part 6

Last Updated in October 2014. Posted in May 2020 for posterity.  Listed in no particular order - the total rec list will have ~250 fics. Header graphic used with permission.

This part of the list contains: 38 fics.

Other Destiel Rec Lists: [1]. [2]. [3]. [4]. [5]. [6]. [7].

Hunting for Faith ❤ by riseofthefallenone E | 270k | AU, reverse!verse, priest cas, angel dean

It starts a few days earlier. Castiel first notices it in the middle of the night when the dreams of fire and screams have kept him awake. He’s kneeling before the altar, praying, when the glass in the windows start to shake, the very air vibrating around him. Castiel is on his feet and reaching for the gun tucked into the back of his pants as the shutters over the windows start to rattle.

Angel!dean will always have a special place in my heart, and as always, I love riseofthefallenone's characterization and writing. Complete with lovely art by pappcave.    

Sporty High School AU by triedunture E | 18k | Hot,  Fluff,  High School AU

Cas is on the high school swim team and Dean Winchester is the super-attractive, too-cool-for-him lacrosse player. They're both practicing late one cold autumn night, and Dean succumbs to exhaustion. It's up to Cas to help him.

Real Slick Dean by trilliath E | 28k | Hot,  AU, a/b/o, fuck or die

There's a new alpha enhancer drug "Rutter" on the streets that gets used at "exclusive parties" for the worst purposes. Detective Castiel Novak and his partner Balthazar work hard to put a stop to it and other sex crimes in their work as Special Victim's top detectives. Ellen Harvelle's Roadhouse is both a bar and a refuge for unmated Omegas. The Roadhouse gives Omegas the opportunity have their heats in peace and, if they so desire, even sell an 'exclusive supply of high-grade slick for the unmated Alpha on the go!'. Castiel is just such an Alpha, career oriented and having no time for casual sex or potential mates. He's a regular customer who only buys donor D347's slick. He's also a family friend and advocate who helps Omegas in need get connected with Ellen. It's all fine until one night after a difficult bust he brings Ellen a new Omega about to have her first heat. What Alpha Castiel doesn't realize is that he's been over-dosed with Rutter during the fight and is about to go into a rut so bad he may die. And if that weren't enough to kill him, the embarrassment he's about to feel will, because he's about to meet donor D347 face to face and neither of them are prepared for what's going to happen.

friendzone by kaiifayce M | 7k

“A date?! Like, with a real, breathing human being?” Dean sputters as wipes his mouth with his sleeve. Cas frowns, eyebrows knitting and his head cocking to the side slightly in his typical manner. “No, Dean, with one of the dissection frogs in the Biology lab,” he deadpans.

The Sentinel Crossover 'Verse by melonbutterfly E | 13k | Hot,  AU, Sentinel/Guide Bonding

Wherein Castiel is a Guide and Dean is a Sentinel.

Dean Doesn't Listen to Eurythmics by Scaramouche E | 2k | Canon!Verse, First Time

Dean and Castiel share a bed. It starts out platonic, and then becomes something else.

Stitches by askance T | 23k | post s7, h/c, Fluff,

Castiel survived Leviathan--but only barely. Vessel mauled and eyes destroyed, Cas is barely clinging to what's left of his grace when Dean finds him naked and alone on the reservoir's edge; in a panic, Dean brings him home to the cabin where he and Sam have been holed up off the grid. What follows is the slow process of the angel's recovery and the unexpected changes that come with his being blind, and in the three months this takes, their little family slowly begins to patch itself back together in forgiveness, love, and darkness.

The Feline Perspective of a Guilty Conscience by almaasi E | 51k | Fluff,  Canon!verse, post s8, cat dean

A few days ago, the angels were cast out of Heaven. Castiel believes it’s all his fault, and now he’s almost out of power, too. But that’s unimportant - Sam is dying, and Dean needs Cas to fix him before it’s too late. Cas’ selfless last efforts to save Sam backfire in the most unexpected way: Dean transforms into a cat. It seems like he’ll be stuck like that, and all Castiel can do is blame himself. The days pass without any clues on how to fix their predicament, and when Sam starts getting sick again, with Dean out for the count, Castiel realises that he’s the only one who can save Sam.

Foxfire Blossom ❤ by almaasi E | 283k | AU, infidelity,Hot,  Angst,  Fluff,

On a narrow lane, right at the edge of San Francisco city, there is a boutique flower shop with a single employee named Dean. The place is Dean’s world; it’s tiny, filled with bright colour and sensational beauty, and it’s the only sanctuary he ever finds amidst the commotion of his new life. Then, there’s Castiel. From the first time he steps into the shop, Castiel can’t help but become deeply enchanted by what’s inside. However, it’s not just the flowers that keep him coming back - with each visit he makes, he grows fonder of the bespectacled florist, learning Dean’s hands and his laughter as Dean shows him how to romance a woman. There is nothing either of them can do to keep from falling in love, despite Castiel’s path already being paved, cemented, and thoroughly set in stone: he is supposed to marry Daphne. It becomes clear that they all have their vices, addictions. Castiel has kept things from Dean... and maybe Dean has a few secrets, too. What with all the lying, cheating, and dauntless emotional vulnerability, they may as well be living in a soap opera.

First reaction: this fic is long. Make sure to space out your reading of it or you will die. I have a soft spot for cuddly/affectionate/softie!dean, and Almaasi delivers perfectly as usual. The infidelity gave me pause, as Cas is cheating on a significant other for a long period of time. I didn't like the ending very much because it seemed out of nowhere/random, but overall, I really liked it.    

This is All Life Really Means ❤  by gedry E | 90k | Fluff,  Angel/Demon AU, sam/gabriel, wing!kink, h/c

The highly arranged marriage between the angels and the demon providences requires some adjusting on the parts of their highly trained security details. Needless to say the members of said details are less than happy about their new arrangements.

Ugh how I love this fic. Gedry is my go to for long fluff, and this fic is perfect for it. Includes hate-to-love, schmoop, and *whispers* tail!kink.

Going Forward ❤ by gedry E | ? | Hot,  Fluff,  Angel AU, wing!kink, h/c

For cloudyjenn who wanted Dean with wings and Cas showing how to use them. Cas agrees to represent the angels as part of a social experiment to help them share a greater understand with the human population. He’s not prepared for who he has to live with for the next thirty days.

I LOVE gedry's AUs. This is filled with lovely wing!kink and pining. Mmmm yes.   

Play It All Night Long ❤ by janie_tangerine E | 43k  | AU

The rom-com-ish one where Dean hosts a late night radio show, Castiel is a regular listener of his who starts calling one day and ends up calling more often than not and Dean finds himself liking it. This, until one day Castiel calls for not exactly petty reasons (just before Dean’s brother Sam is visiting with his girlfriend for spring break) and things get very, very crowdy at his place. He also doesn’t know it’s just the beginning of it. Also features Gabriel, Chuck, Andy, the Roadhouse crew and a huge amount of music quoted. Especially Bob Dylan.

The one where Cas falls for Dean before they ever meet. Sweet.    

Lovingly Crafted and Tenderly Packaged ❤ by janie-tangerine E | 17k  | AU, artist!Cas

wherein Castiel owns a self-run t-shirts printing business for which he also makes custom orders, Dean orders Castiel's shirts online after Sam gets him a customized one and their romance is based on nonexistent boundaries. And where Balthazar owns the sex shop in front of Castiel's store and won't mind his own business.

Such an inventive AU. Meddling!Balthazar who runs a sex-shop and all.    

Inevitable Homoeroticism in Spanish Romantic Heroes by prosopopeya E | 41k | Teacher AU

Dean is a grad student studying for his MA in Spanish literature, and he’s pretty content with his sexuality as it is -- that is, fairly undefined and also secret. His attraction to Castiel, a professor to the undergrads, doesn't seem like a big deal until it becomes a very big deal, and Dean scrambles to keep his head above water.

Start Quoting Shakespere and We're Done by pyrebi T | 15k | Fluff,  AU, Sam/Gabriel

In which Dean has the hots for a librarian named Cas, Cas may or may not have the hots for a mechanic named Dean, and Gabriel joins Sam in the peanut gallery in the hopes that he might just get to do a horizontal tango of his own.

Summer Vacations Suck ❤ by ratherbehere E | 4k | Hot,  Highschool AU, underage, BDSM, sub!dean, pwp, kink

Summer vacations suck, and Cas seems bent on making it awkward for Dean.

This is one of my go to pwp reads. It's just hot okay.    

Have Love, Will Travel by squeemonster E | 94k | AU, writer cas, stripper dean, agoraphobia

Castiel Novak is a reclusive writer with a childhood so tragic it's left him terrified to leave his home—until his overbearing brother, Gabriel, drags him out for a night on the town full of booze and strip clubs, and he encounters Dean Winchester, a mesmerizing and mysterious stripper with secrets of his own. Both men find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other, and soon Dean's private dances for Castiel become much more, as both men confess their troubles and find solace in each other's company. But neither can seem to find the courage to take their relationship further than the intimacy of the club's VIP Room—and just when Dean's own brother gives him the excuse he needs to finally admit his feelings, Dean discovers something that brings it all crumbling down. Will they find a way past their demons and their trust issues, and back to each other?

The Story of You and Me by the_digglerv E | 51k | Fluff,  Post s8, Amnesia

Dean wakes up in bed next to a very human Castiel, and a journal in his own handwriting that tells him it’s two years in the future. The house looks a lot like Bobby’s, and Sam lives there too… He just can’t remember how they got from angels falling in the sky – to comfortable domesticity. While there is much in the journal Dean doesn’t remember, there is much of their story he’s always known. And as he settles into the routine of his new life and relationship with Castiel, it quickly becomes something he doesn’t know how to live without.

Dean Winchester, Straight Shooter ❤ by triedunture E | 15k | Hot,  Pornstar AU

Dean Winchester, star of StraightShooter.com, is a gay-for-pay porn star with a huge following. Cas Novak signs on to do a scene with him, even though he dislikes "straight" porn stars on principle. But Dean is more complicated than he first appears, and after inadvertently learning his secrets, Cas finds himself falling for him.

Ugh yes pornstar!AUs. This one is especially...good.    

Peanut Butter-Pumpkin Wedding Cake by sparseparsley E | 30k | Hot,  AU

Dean is a waiter in a strip club to put his kid brother through school. Castiel is dragged to the club as a part of his sister Anna's bachelorette party. Dean and Cas hit it off, but Dean thinks Cas is the one marrying Anna.

Easy Now, With My Heart ❤ by mcpadalackles E | 49k | Hot,  Teacher AU, Writer Cas

Dean Winchester is a kindergarten teacher. Castiel Milton is a writer slash works-in-a-coffee-shop. He also happens to be the extremely hot one-night stand that Dean never intended to see again other than in his own fantasies (he’s classy like that). But suddenly Cas is everywhere and Dean is convinced that Fate is out to get him. And maybe they do this thing backwards, but that doesn’t have to mean they can’t make it in the end, right?

I love how Dean and Cas decide to take it slow after they've already had sex. Lots of UST.    

Don't Walk On By by Virtualpersonal & Brimstonegoldv E | 60k | Pretty Woman AU, Wing!kink, escort dean,

Dean works several jobs in order to pay for medical care for Sam who has been severely injured. The day he meets Castiel, Dean's luck changes, though it is debatable whether it is for the better or for the worse. Castiel is an angel who has been cut-off from heaven to live with Man for a hundred years. Trying to right a wrong, he accidentally hires Dean as his rent-a-boy and learns a thing or two about being human.

What Falls For Love by bravest E | 51k | AU, reverse!verse

An angel of the lord going by the human name of Dean is told to make contact with his current charge, Castiel, on Heaven's list of prophets-to-be. Castiel is swept up in a war waged by angels and demons, and both the angel playing human and the human playing prophet learn things are never as simple as they seem.

the inexhaustible silence of houses by Askance T | 31k | Angst,  Horror

Almost two years after the world doesn't end, Castiel falls from grace—and loses his voice in the process. It is the impetus for confession and change; before long, he is settling into a loving relationship with Dean, the Winchesters are tired, and hunting for a place to land has taken precedence to hunting anything else. Dean and Castiel fall in love with the strange little house on the end of Swallowtail Drive, and for a little while life is as it should be—sweet, affectionate, and beginning afresh. But more and more Castiel sees and hears things in the house that beg the question of whether or not a place itself can be alive. The walls and rooms seem to shift and grow and breathe, and one night, Dean comes home from a hunt changed in a way that Castiel cannot explain. In the months that follow, their domestic bliss takes turns for the dark and sour, and the confusion of their circumstances will ultimately test everything Castiel knows about the man he loves, and everything he believes to be true.

Roots by AnythingToasted E | 38k | Angst,  Fluff,

After the apocalypse, Dean, Sam and Castiel settle into a gentler life, and Dean starts to make peace with the things that plagued him before 2009. Tentatively, carefully, he starts getting better. But something lives in the woods, in the house; something calls to him in his dreams that crosses the lines between waking and sleep. Whilst trying to reconcile himself with himself, Dean finds himself wondering if the things he’s managed to build are really slipping away, or if the whole thing is just in his head.

Get Inside My Soul by angelivenantium M | 84k | Angst,  Fluff,  Highschool AU, Hipster Cas

There’s something about Castiel that just makes Dean want him. Well, not even want; he needs to have him. He’s not sure if it’s the weird, often oversized sweaters or his thin wrists or that black, messy hair that make him tick, but he’s pretty sure the main thing is his eyes, that, unfortunately, never look at him twice. And Dean is freaking popular, everybody looks at him twice. Dean transferred to this school three years ago and is now a senior, and he’s been secretly ogling Castiel ever since. This distant yearning might have worked in the past years, but now it was just four months until he would graduate and leave this school forever, so he had woken up this morning and decided that fuck it, he wasn’t some 12-yearold girl; if he wanted something he would make sure he got it, even if that something was a rude hipster kid who didn't even notice his existence. End of story.

Let Your Grace Guide You by angel_kink E | 24k | post s5, wing!kink

After Castiel heals Dean at Stull, the hunter finds himself with unexpected abilities. He becomes determined to use his newfound powers, with Castiel’s guidance, to rescue Sam from the cage. In order to ensure that their venture to Hell is successful, they are forced to team up with Crowley, who has his own agenda regarding what’s locked up in the pits of Hell. During the course of their alliance, secrets come out, feelings bubble to the surface, and Dean finds himself once again facing an impossibly dangerous situation in an effort to save his brother.

Player 2 is Ready by AlreadyPainfullyGone E | 25k | Hot,  Highschool AU, Underage, BDSM

AU in which Dean and Cas meet in an online, multiplayer game. Both of them are hiding who they really are - Castiel, ashamed of being so small and yet still a dominant, and Dean, who always gets taken for a top, but who is actually submissive. Little do they know, they live in the same town, they're just at different schools.

Come Carpe Diem, Baby by a_carnal_mink E | 9k | canon!verse, wing!kink, Hot,  

"I am the only being in all Creation who has cradled your soul in my hands. I know you. I know you are complete. Because I know you completely.

300 Things ❤ by cautionzombies E | 76k | College AU

Dean's life at twenty-four makes him feel like he's forty—he works two jobs to help pay bills for his house and put his genius little brother through private school, and has spent six years (on and off, let's be honest) working on his mechanical engineering degree at KU. With so much of his life devoted to his family, Dean has little time in his schedule for class and no time for social interaction. Then, while getting his classes together for the fall, he finds himself in a do-or-die situation: He must take his last literature class now, his spring already filled with those left for his major...except that none of the English classes will fit his schedule. This is how Dean grovels and begs Dr. Castiel Milton to make a special arrangement for him, and Dr. Milton does.

YES. I love their relationship dynamic in this, and it's actually quite relatable and personal for me. Sam is fab.    

The Prank that Filled the Spank Bank ❤ by BookkBaby E | 41k | Hot,  AU, First Time

It starts with a prank war and a chance meeting at the auto shop Dean works at. (Based off of Almaasi's prompt: Castiel records audio pornography. Not professionally, or anything - he writes it and then reads it out, and uploads it free to the world. It’s not Dean’s usual type of porn - at all - but there’s something about Castiel’s gravelly, yet somehow smooth and beautiful voice that keeps him hooked.)

Another Classic. Dean masturbates to Cas's voice, and then when he actually runs into him...well.    

PWP: Pie Without Plot by MajorEnglishEsquire & orange_crushed E | 79k | Post s8, Fluff,

He is in the kitchen with flour on his hands and an apron and there is flour on his forehead and cas leans across the counter and wipes it off with his thumb and dean says "thank you" and cas says "you’re welcome" very seriously and later dean makes apple turnovers and he only ruins them a little and sam realizes it’s not a real hunt like four days into it and he lets dean stay undercover for like a week and a half or longer maybe way longer because he is such a good everything

White Winter Hymnal ❤ by newbluemoon E | 24k | Coffee Shop AU

Christmas AU fic. Writer!Dean walks into a café late at night on Christmas Eve, looking for inspiration for his next novel. Instead he finds librarian!Cas.

I love how evocative this fic is, especially Dean's inner dialogue.    

Waves by wormstaches M | 54k | Angst, College AU, h/c, Hipster Cas

Dean Winchester is the average guy: football, college, kid brother, nice car, girls and beer; his life is black and white, that is until he meets Castiel Collins: pretentious, slutty, sweater-wearing genius, who won't even take the time to look up at him from his obscure novel while he insults him. And then everything is shades of gray and Dean is drowning.

Till Human Voices Wake Us ❤ by saltandbyrne E | 20k | Hot,  AU, tentacles, bottom!dean

In a world of hippogriffs, hydras and flying pygmy elephants, intrepid explorer Dean Winchester was sure he had seen it all. When a monster destroys the only home he's ever known, Dean finds himself falling for his strange rescuer and struggling to face his past.

Tentacle!sex with feelings. My jam, basically.    

Grey ❤ by Valyria E | 65k | Angst,  Hot,  a/b/o

In a world where people don't see in color until they find their true mate, the first thing Dean sees when he pulls himself out of his grave is the blue sky. When Castiel raised him from the Pit, he inadvertently claimed Dean as his mate.

Note: cover art is my work :)

Punch Drunk Love ❤ by highermagic E | 16k | Hot, Highschool AU, Underage

Teenage Human AU. It's a classic boy-likes-straight-boy story. Or possibly boy-likes-not-so-straight-boy story. Castiel can't quite decide. It's a little confusing when your supposedly straight best friend offers to teach you how to kiss.

One of Rowan's more underrated fics. Unbelievably hot.