Rec-cember Day 9: Supernatural RPF
I’ve never been a huge fan of Supernatural the show, I watched the first four seasons with my husband but that was his pick. I also don’t like RPF as a general rule. The less I know about the lives of the actors whose work I like, the better, as far as I’m concerned. No shade to those who enjoy RPF, it’s a me thing. However, I love RPF AUS. They’re basically original fiction with faces I can easily picture in my mind, you know? And a lot more tropetastic than most published romance.
That’s why, over the years, I’ve enjoyed a few selected stories from the Supernatural RPF fandom, mostly J2 (Jensen/Jared for the uninitiated) but not only.
A Kept Boy by poisontaster. 200K words. This is a massive, massive novel; it doesn’t get more AU than this. It’s set in an alternate version of present day America where slavery is a thing. It’s Jensen/ Jeffery Dean Morgan but the full list of characters is as long as my arm. I don’t even know all of the actors, and frankly I don’t care. I took them as OCs. It contains very disturbing themes, of course, consent is problematic to say the least, but the world-building and the character arcs are carefully thought out and it never delves into pain porn, imo. I must say that it contains the best depiction of therapy in fiction I’ve ever come across. Seriously, Jensen’s therapy sessions and his emotional growth are the highlight of the story for me. Thankfully, it exists also in podfic form, by superstitiousme.
If AKB is too dark for you, let’s go to the other end of the spectrum: Starstruck, by FayJay. This is a J2 movie based on Notting Hill. It’s hilarious and definitely lighter but it still hits all the emotional beats to be a super-satisfying rom-com. Better than the original, imo. The excellent FayJay, who by now you should all know is an amazing performer too, recorded the podfic of her own story and it’s as brilliant as you might expect it to be.
Do I Seem Bulletproof to You? by fleshflutter. 96K words. This is a classic in the J2 pairing and a great example of hooker!fic, a time-honoured trope. The author left fandom and the fic is a bit hard to find, but I linked to a place where you can download it in different formats. I’ve only ever listened to the wonderful podfic by cath, unsurprisingly.
Screw You, We’re From Texas by @makeit-takeit. 75K. This is the only story among these recs where the R in the acronym RPF plays a substantial role. Basically it’s an AU of Jared and Jensen’s lives if they’d never made it as actors but stayed in Texas and had ‘normal’ lives. To me, the great sense of place is one of the strengths of the fic. The scope of the fic and sheer amount of growth the two characters experience are astounding.
The Pitt
I’m not a big fan of AUs for this fandom because the medical setting is integral to my enjoyment of the show, but when the authors are talented and get the characters, I’ll read anything…so after the best sports AU, let me give you a historical one. tightly knotted to a similar string by @queenofattolia. 12k words. Mel/Frank. Victorian governess AU, as in Mel is Frank’s children governess in England. I was sceptical going in…but @queenofattolia totally won me over. This was lovely.
