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poohkeepsee · 3 years

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I was going through my AO3 bookmarks, and I wanted to organize them a little bit. These are my Dean/Cas canon-ish fic recs.

season 5

canticles by 2street2car Words: 10,311 Chapters: 1

“But you know something? If I couldn’t get you laid, at least I gave you a good first date.”feat: footsies at a Ruby Tuesday, stargazing, the recreation of an iconic "Dirty Dancing" scene (no, not that one—the other one), and practicing for When You're With A Girl.

FTBYAM MY BELOVED

post season 6

Someone Who's Feeling For Me by ellispark Words: 45,876 Chapters: 1

Dean sees her for the first time in nearly six years in some no-name town in Idaho, and it's panic at first sight.

Lisa Braeden, the one woman Dean ever actually had a shot at a real life with, back from where he buried her in his mind. And her hand is on Cas's arm like it's no big deal, like it belongs there. Cas, Dean's dorky, sweet, badass, angelic best friend, and he's just standing there next to Lisa and not moving her hand away.

Dean feels the jealousy rising, and it's not directed where he expected it to be. Because it takes this exact moment for Dean to realize he's in love with his best friend. He's in love with his best friend, and Lisa is looking at Cas like he's the best thing since automatic rifles, and Dean is utterly fucked.

post bunker

Sun Can't Set Until Nine by LeverDrift Words: 67,939 Chapters: 16

Cas moves into the bunker as his powers start to fail. Dean doesn’t know if the arrangement is as permanent as he wants it to be. He's also not sure why he keeps dreaming about his friend. All he knows is that he wants Cas to stay. Overall warnings: canon-typical miscommunication & Dean having self-hatred issues.

Life Skills by ilovehowyouletmefall Words: 26,052 Chapters: 3

After Metatron steals Castiel's grace, and Cas comes to live in the bunker, Dean spends a lot of time with him, sharing all of his favourite things. Dean can't help it if sharing things with Cas just makes everything better. Besides, it's Dean's job as Cas' friend to introduce him to the joys of human life. To teach him how to be human. And if one of the experiences they end up sharing is sex with women, well... that's just part of Dean's job as Cas' friend too, right? The desire is triangulated, the rituals are intricate.

Sam Stole My Boyfriend by sobsicles Words: 8,445 Chapters: 1

“Dude, you’ve been staring at me a lot lately, like even enough that Sam noticed. More than usual. So, like, what’s up?” Dean pauses, purses his lips and reconsiders. “What did I do?”

Cas knows that would be a perfect time to confess to Dean what exactly happened and what he was thinking. Maybe, Dean had some insight into the situation or even some kind of comfort to offer. But, the longer that he sat there, he realized that he could not tell Dean absolutely anything. So instead, for the first time, Cas fumbled.

“Um,” Cas mutters and abruptly stands. “Freckles?”

Dean blinked up at him as Cas pivoted and left the room. There was only one remaining option he had and unfortunately, it involved Sam.

Aching in the Absence of You by sobsicles Words: 95,090 Chapters: 10

Brittle and battle-worn, Cas looks at him over coffee one morning and says, "I need to go," and Dean instantly knows that he's not coming back.

He's not really sure how he knows it, but he does. It settles into the pit of his stomach, curling hot and tight like something he instinctively wants to tear out with his bare hands. He takes a breath, and it gets stuck in his throat, hitching there. It hurts, hurts, hurts when he finally exhales.

"Yeah," Dean says, "of course you do," and he nods jerkily as he looks down at his phone. He doesn't say goodbye. He doesn't look up from the screen when Cas gets up and leaves the room. He doesn't finish his coffee, or move for a long time.

By nightfall, Cas is gone.

'Communication' by JustAnotherSamlicker Words: 11,656

The same story told from two perspectives.

Dean bought a house and he and Cas fix it up.

Is Dean moving out? Is Cas moving in?

Should they just talk to each other already? (Yes they should)

Build a Home by domesticadventures Words: 20,102

After they save the world, Dean expects Cas to come back to the bunker with them.

He doesn't

season 10

The Most Important Thing by NorthernSparrow Words: 94,462 Chapters: 14

Jimmy Novak remembers nothing of the last six years. Reunited with his troubled daughter Claire, he's struggling to raise her on his own. The most important thing is to make Claire happy. But why does he keep having these dreams of wings, and of two men in a black car? (Canon-divergent from S10E11, when we first met Claire again and Dean was still struggling with the Mark of Cain. Takes places several months later).

season 12

Heroes for Ghosts by pantheon_of_discord Words: 42,922 Chapters: 7

Canon-divergent from 12.08

After Sam and Dean are arrested, Castiel is left alone and scrambling to find them. He knows they’re locked away in a government facility, and he’s still able to hear their prayers, but no matter how he tries Castiel can’t seem to track them. He chases leads and even attempts to hunt on his own, but Mary is AWOL, Crowley refuses to help, and Castiel’s options are running out.

Weeks pass, Castiel’s hope dwindles, and through it all Dean prays, keeping them connected. His voice is comforting, frustrating, and occasionally annoying, but in his solitude Castiel comes to cherish it. But then one day, without warning, Dean stops praying, and Castiel is forced to confront some uncomfortable truths about his feelings.

season 13

i want to do with you (what spring does with cherry trees) by sobsicles Words: 74,173 Chapters: 8

Dean keeps going back.

When he arrives, it's always to blooming flowers and a windmill in the background, not too far from a brook, the sun painting the plains.

He likes it there. He likes to stand in front of the makeshift urn and check that it's still where he put it, switching out the flowers when they wilt. He likes to listen to the sound of birds chirping, insects singing, the faint sound of water trickling in the distance. He likes to turn his face up and feel the sun on his skin, wondering if Cas would do the same if he were here, somehow knowing that he would.

He likes to talk.

There's never a response, but Dean feels the breeze rustle through his hair and watches the flowers bob when bees come to them and stares as the windmill keeps turning, turning, turning. And he imagines that Cas is replying—the windmill is the tilted head, the bobbing flowers are a gentle smile, the breeze is whatever words Dean wants to hear at the time.

Sometimes, it's almost like he's there.

Trial and Tribulations of Raising a Nephilim by Sickandtiredofyou Words: 14,910 Chapters: 6

Dean has far too much on his plate, losing his mom, his best friend and now being a single parent to a newborn nephilim.

In which Jack is an actual newborn instead of a teenager.

post season 13

dumbassery, denial, doing (the three d's to the destination) by sobsicles Words: 108,427 Chapters: 4

Freedom is just one adjustment after the next.

Cas hums again. "I think you already have. It's been months since everything settled. All that's left to do is...get used to it, and perhaps—" His voice stalls out, uncharacteristically, and his gaze roams Dean's face with intensity. When he speaks next, his tone is a little raw. "Perhaps what one does with peace is...whatever they want."

"What if I don't even know what that is?" Dean grumbles, arching an eyebrow in challenge. "'Cause I know damn well you don't just mean good food and a good bed and time in Baby, not simple wants like that. You mean—ya know, the big things, the wants we didn't get to have before."

"Yes," Cas agrees. "If you're not sure, figure it out."

"Easier said than done."

Reasons to read this:

Dean reads a story that ends like despair and his reaction is FUCK THAT

Cas wears Dean's hoodie

Jack is a toddler

The Jack and Claire sibling energy we deserve

Eileen being awesome and pulling pranks with Dean while Sam thinks she's an angel

Sam knows

YOUR HONOR THEY'RE IN LOVE

First Date by aeli_kindara Words: 8,968 Chapters: 1

“We should go on a date. You and me.”

Castiel wishes he could see Dean’s face. He wishes he had any idea what to say.

“I’m asking you out, Cas.”

Also known as the Dean Winchester makes the first move fic.

season 14

Broken Road by thegeminisage Words: 109,629 Chapters: 7

A 14.13 Lebanon rewrite. When Dean uses a wish-granting pearl to try and kill the archangel Michael before he can escape the cage in Dean's head, they instead wind up with a newly-resurrected John Winchester.

It's been more than a decade since John died, and a lot has changed: Mary is alive, Sam and Dean have what passes for a proper home in the Men of Letters Bunker, and they're living with angels. John doesn't know angels are real, he doesn't know about the fragile new relationship between Dean and Castiel, and most of all, he doesn't know that Dean said yes to Michael, or that Dean's plan to defeat Michael would send him to a fate worse than death.

Now Dean must contend with both his father asking questions he can't answer, and his loved ones learning about the darker truths of his childhood, all while constantly battling the archangel trapped inside him. But Dean coming to terms with his history may be the difference between this being the beginning of a journey—or the end.

post season 15

fools and pilgrims by lagaudiere Words: 31,904 Chapters: 2

Claire shows up at the bunker a day before Dean was planning to leave, with her hair cut short and a fresh tattoo on her left arm under a bandage. Chuck is dead, Jack has given up his godlike powers, and Cas is back from the Empty, which doesn't make it any easier for Dean to talk to him. Suddenly finding himself in a world without monsters, supernatural forces, or any need for hunters, Dean's solution is to go on a road trip. Claire tags along.

Dean-Claire mirror fic post Despair

what's missing is found (our souls can exhale now) by sobsicles Words: 27,403

It's not the first time Claire has ever gone missing. It is, however, the first time Kaia panics about it. Dean's dragged into the mess, but he soon finds that it's the best thing that could have happened to him.

canon(?) au (Hunters and Men of Letters)

Dean Winchester's Secret (Angel) Boyfriend by reluctantabandon, Winter_of_our_Discontent Words: 11,191 Chapters: 1

Dean Winchester isn't exactly a team player. So when he starts mentioning a new Hunting partner, Ellen and Jo Harvelle aren't sure whether they should be worried or relieved.

But they're starting to get the feeling there's something important Dean's not telling them about Cas...

Shot Through The Heart by peanutbutterjelly-pie (Aleakim) Words: 11,191 Chapters: 1

Dean is a hunter.

Castiel is a Man of Letters.

And even though they have to work together on a regular basis, there is not much sympathy between them. Castiel thinks Dean too brash and reckless while Dean in return sees nothing more in the other man than a rude asshole with an obsessive love for books and a truly terrible fashion sense.

But fate clearly has a funny way of throwing those two together over and over again.

And somewhere along the way feelings change into something neither of them would have expected.

#destiel #deancas #fic recs

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caithyra · 4 years

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Don’t think about it...

...Because when you do, the Thieves’ Guild/Nightingale questline just becomes more and more disturbing, and you might just end up feeling sympathy for the guy you have no choice but to kill.

Basically, I am trying to create an abbreviated timeline of Skyrim’s characters’ history just in case I get off my butt and write fanfic, and I ran into this:

Mercer Frey is at most, around 50 years old in 4E 201. I guess this because he lives in the sewers (illnesses flow down with the dung and trash+no sunlight is aging and bad for the health, so if he was older he would probably be sick) and crouches (ages the joints) all his life, yet was spry enough to climb a giant statue and pry jewels that had been in the rock for millennia loose. If he was in his 60s with his lifestyle he likely couldn’t have done that, Skeleton Key or no Skeleton Key (also, not a single gray hair that I could see, so...).

Subtracting 25 years after Gallus’ death, gives us around 25 years old. subtracting at least 3 years of Karliah being a regular Nightingale not on the lamb, because she seems pretty comfortable with the role and the Skyrim locations (and was also the lover of an adult, we get perilously close to underage the further back we push this, and she’d been his “little nightingale” for so long she was obsessed with killing Mercer 25 years later), he would be around 22 years old when she was inducted.

And he was a senior Nightingale, I would guess at least 5 years her senior as a Nightingale.

So when Gallus and Karliah’s mother sold his soul to Nocturnal, he would have been around 17 years old at the oldest. And given how small a margin I’ve given these years, I would guess the more likely age for Mercer’s selling of soul would have been 15 years old.

The thing is, he and Karliah would have been about the same age (as an elf, she looks younger, heck, her grandmother, Barenziah, was pretty spry and popping out her mother at the age of 379, and if Karliah is only as young as Mercer, then Karliah’s mother popped Karliah out when she was around 170+ years old) and as a Breton, he probably matures slower than a regular mannish race without half-elven ancestry (a half-elven Emperor, Cassynder, is remarked upon to have aged “like a Breton” suggesting slower maturity, as he died of ill health and so certainly did not have the lifespan of a Breton).

And on top of it all, the way Karliah’s life plays out in Gallus’ book (Nightingales Vol.2), it seems like her lover and her mother waited until she was an adult before inducting her to give her a better choice, unlike Mercer (who was likely inducted because Karliah’s grandfather died, or because Lorthus, who may or may not have been Karliah’s father, died in Whiterun’s dungeons, and because it needs to be a Trinity and they didn’t think Karliah would have been ready), who was put in the position of selling his soul as a child while pressured by authority figures that it was a great honor.

Not only that, but Frey is not a Breton name. In fact, as a surname, it seems very Nordic, and given that there is no trace of Mercer’s background or parentage and that the highest population of Bretons and Reachmen lives under the thumb of Nords as serfs (and children take the race of the mother) in the Reach and that he picks a second-in-command with a Reach accent...

Yeah, so it seems more like Mercer’s conception may or may not have been consensual. That he somehow ended up in Gallus’ path when he was a very young child (at best, his mother died when he was very young and his father either also died or there was no relationship so he didn’t recognize Mercer, or Gallus kidnapped him), and Mercer grows into his midteens in the guild when the guildmaster and a legendary figure (Nightingale, Karliah’s mother) either convinces him to sell his soul to Nocturnal, or tricks him like Karliah tricked the Dragonborn and Brynjolf.

And then he grows into adulthood and realizes what they’ve done to him (eternal slavery even beyond death, even worse than the Reachmen in the Reach).

Is it really any wonder he “desecrates” Nocturnal’s shrine to live large while he can? Why he kills Gallus when Gallus starts trying to be all moral about it? (Oh, and given the sticky timeline, if Karliah is any younger than Mercer and not the same age or older, her and Gallus’ relationship likely started when she was barely legal after he watched her from her mid-teenage years as her guildmaster and superior; isn’t Gallus a swell, moral guy? Totally a honorable thief!) because he now hates Gallus? Is it any wonder that Karliah is framed when Mercer’s entire life and death has revolved around her and her family/lover?

Notice that for 25 years, he was content taking care of the Thieves’ Guild and only skimming the top of the (dwindling) profits and practically did everything to keep it running (again, I do not believe the Guild fell on hard times because of Mercer, given that their luck is sooo bad that they randomly recruit the Last Dragonborn when it is at its worse. Given how little the other leaders seems to do, it seems more self-inflicted, also given that the Last Dragonborn can fix it all up by doing a bunch of regular quests any thief in the guild, but most especially senior members like Brynjolf, Vex and Delvin, could have done).

Also I would like to point out that Karliah lies or is paranoid when she says that she’s been hunted for 25 years by Mercer’s contacts, given that there is only evidence of him having 3 contacts who would do such a thing, and the Black-Briars knew nothing, the Dark Brotherhood certainly wasn’t wasting their dwindling resources (they were hunted to near extinction 13 years ago and were losing Sanctuaries even before that) on her and the Thieves’ Guild were all surprised she still existed.

Given that Karliah constantly lies about things like this (even Gallus, in his book, contradicts her attributing everything to him, by pointing out that her mother and Mercer were there in the same capacity), she’s likely lying. But then again, Gallus had the gall to lie to my face as a ghost (stating he wasn’t in the Sepulcher when the sealing happened and then stating with certainty what happened during the sealing, even though only Daedric Princes would know enough to make an accurate guess, and even then might be wrong unless they’re Nocturnal herself), so maybe he lied in his book?

But anyway, back to Mercer. So for 25 years he’s been content being guildmaster.

And it is only when Karliah shows up again and escapes his attempt at killing her that he empties the vault and leaves (and again, Karliah was trying to destroy the guild in a more permanent way by angering Maven Black-Briar. At least you can refill an empty vault, you cannot refill the ranks of killed master thieves so easily. Then, when the Dragonborn gives Karliah the option of an in with the guild, she just skates right on in and no one points this out. Either that or her plan was so stupid, she planned, as the known killer of the previous guildmaster, to walk into the guild with the current guildmaster paralyzed over her shoulder waving her boyfriend’s supposed diary in an unreadable language and claim innocence? Also, a thief’s diary that only mentions what she needs us to know but not his great love for his “little nightingale”? Or even just “we danced the horizontal tango yesterday, her mother is angry because she thinks I’m too old for her, fortunately she was killed by mercenaries finding our super secret hideout that only I and Mercer knew about~Time to turn little Karliah into my little nightingale~”).

Like imagine if Karliah moved on from her (creepy) boyfriend and made a life for herself outside Skyrim? The only thing the guild to complain about when it comes to Mercer would be his admin fees (skimming) because no one else have done the accounting for 25 years (looking at you, Bryn and Del, oh and notice how long it took for Gallus to notice? He was guildmaster but did he foist the admin work on Mercer too? On top of selling Mercer’s soul?) and doesn’t want to step up in any capacity to do any of his work (See Guildmaster Dragonborn despite there being three senior leaders left in the Thieves Guild; at the least Companions killed off Kodlak [who dreamed about you] and Skjor and caused a schism on the lycanthropy topic between Aela and the twins before you became the Harbinger who is just a mediator and advisor, and you just arbitrarily becomes the Listener because “Sweet Mother” is a fucking troll who played deadbeat to her “children” for 13 years, and I cannot really justify the Archmage thing, but I can do it much better than the Guildmaster thing).

And there wouldn’t have been any selling of souls to a demonic goddess Karliah calls a “scolding mother” who is more deadbeat than the Night Mother and who, like the Night Mother, keeps you in servitude beyond your death.

But like I said, don’t think about it.

Oh and I’m not the only one who is kind of put off by Karliah’s “specialness” what with being the secret granddaughter of THE Nightingale and Queen Barenziah, and the only Dunmer I can think of without ash-red eyes (even Vivec’s Dunmer half had a red eye, and he was considered as powerful as a god, just to show how all-encompassing Azura’s curse was) and instead have violet eyes, and how everyone praises how smart and skilled she is while everything she does is stupid and failing?

Oh right. I need to stop thinking about this quest-line and the fact that my only choice was killing the child victim of a demonic cult after he grew up and tried to escape for the crime of taking some going-away-money I could replace in five minutes, just to avenge some dude who sells children’s soul into slavery after his girlfriend tricks me into selling mine and... Okay, not thinking about it!

#skyrim #mercer frey #thieves' guild #nightingales #gallus desidenius #barenziah #karliah the liar #nocturnal #rant #gallus is just so bad when you think about the timeline #like he had time to introduce karliah to enthir and they had time to become friends #to the point that enthir doesn't believe she killed his best friend even though that's what everyone's saying #saying that mercer's soul was sold when he was 15 years old is being generous #because the more I look at the timeline #anything between 12-17 seems possible #and that 12 limit only exists because I hope Nocturnal would refuse anyone younger #sympathy for the assigned devil of the narrative #like gallus totally had it coming #okay need to stop thinking about this questline

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noladyme · 3 years

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Skip To My Lou, My Darling - Chapter 3, Too Perfect I

The road so far…

Deadly nightmares. Immortal countesses. Lulu thought she’d seen it all since she’d first met the Winchester brothers. Extreme circumstances pushed her into the arms of the eldest brother, Dean – and she hasn’t been able to stop thinking of him since. Now back to her every day life of bartending and the occasional visit from a certain angel, what will happen when she finally sees Dean again? Is there still a connection – or was it all in their heads?

Our story continues in season 5

Rated M

Tag list (Let me know if you want to be added) @edonaspanca @wonderlandfandomkingdom

8 years ago.

Night shift again. Luckily, it’s a slow one tonight. Only a few guests strewn across the place. “Lulu!”, Ricky calls from the kitchen. “Order’s up for 13”. “13 is Janice’s table”, I answer. “She called in sick again”, he shrugs. Dammit. I know it’s because it’s her boyfriend’s home from college. I walk over to the serving hatch; grabbing a large order of bacon, and a slice of cherry pie. Weird order for dinner, but who am I to judge. I’ll gladly throw back some jalapeño poppers at any time of day.

I walk over to table 13 with the order; placing the two plates in front of a dark-haired man, who’s in a deep conversation on his phone. “… no, Dean. Silver. Iron won’t do anything, I told you… yeah…”. I begin to walk away. “Miss?”. I turn around. The man at the table is looking at me. He’s cute, in an older guy kind of way. Much too old for me, but a girl can dream. “Can you top off my coffee?”, he asks, covering the mic on the phone. I smile, and nod; going to get the freshly brewed pot from the machine behind the counter.

I look down at my uniform, cursing myself that I didn’t chose the one that was just a tiny bit shorter, to show off my legs. As I walk back towards the table, I hear the man continuing his conversation. “Well read up!... Yes. Latin… No, I didn’t call him. If he wants to talk, he has my number… Ok. Call me when it’s finished”. He hangs up, as I pour some fresh coffee into his mug. “Kids, right?”, he mutters with a smile, before looking up and meeting my eyes. “Though, you’re probably a bit young to have any of those yourself”. I blush slightly. “Yeah… not really there yet”.

The man gives me a once over. His gaze isn’t leering, but it is appreciative – and I stifle a smile. “You must have someone out there willing to give you a few little ones”, he says. He takes a sip from his coffee. “You in college?”. “Saving up for it”, I smile. “Leave me a nice tip, and I’ll get there even sooner”. He chuckles. His voice is warm, and his caramel eyes glinting with amusement. “Tell you what. Get me another dollop of cream for the pie, and I’ll make that happen”, he says. I wink at him and walk away.

“Are you flirting with Daddy over there?”, Ricky jeers, as I come over to grab some cream. “Serving my way to the top”, I chuckle. “He seems nice. Nothing else”. “Sure thing, Lulu”, Ricky smiles.

I go back to table 13; and put a large dollop of cream on the man’s pie. “There you go, sir. Enjoy”. “Thanks, Lulu”, he smiles. I wrinkle my brows. “Your name tag”, he grins. “Oh!”, I giggle. “Yeah”.

He has a leather-bound journal in front of him. The page is opened to a picture of a pretty blonde woman. “Your wife?”, I ask. He looks up at me with a slight grimace. “Sorry… Not any of my business”. “No, it’s fine… Yeah. My wife”, he mutters. “She’s pretty”, I say. “Must have made those kids of yours some kind of beautiful”. “They’re not half bad”, he chuckles. “Good boys. Don’t see them too often. Work”. “Oh… too bad. They with your wife?”. He shakes his head. “No… she passed some years ago”. I frown. “Sorry to hear that”, I say quietly. “Me too… thanks for the cream”, he says.

That’s my cue to leave. I flash him a bright smile, and saunter off. “Oh, Lulu?”, the man calls after me. “Yes, sir?”, I ask. “Have you heard about those cattle mutilations, out at that farm?”. I frown. “No more than what was in the news… why?”. He shakes his head. “Never mind… Just… if you do hear anything, could you give me a call?”. I blush again. “I don’t have your number, sir”.

He pulls out a note from his pocket, and scribbles something down on it – then hands it to me. It’s a twenty-dollar bill, with a phone number now written at the bottom. “This is way too much, sir!”, I gasp. “Keep it. As a thanks for friendly conversation. And it’s John”, he smiles.

His phone rings, and he picks it up. “Bobby?... Yeah… I’ll be there”. He hangs it up. “Can you pack this to go?”, he says to me in a rushed tone. I run to grab a to-go box; and quickly pack up his food, handing it to him, as he gathers the papers he’s strewn upon the table. “Here you go, John. Have a nice evening”, I smile.

His tense body language relaxes a bit. “I will. Thanks, Lou”. He hands me another twenty. “Keep the change”. I let out a short laugh. “This is still too much”, I say. He tilts his head. “My youngest is in college. I know it’s expensive… Keep it. And take care”.

He puts on his coat, and leaves the diner.

---

Now…

Hurricanes. Successful nuclear tests in North Korea. Terrorists attacks on convents. Swine flu. The world seemed to be coming to an end – and I was wiping down a bar-counter in Denver. “I’m off”, our newest bartender – Pete – called out to me. “That offer of coffee still stands, Lulu”. I smiled. “Thanks, Pete; but I have plans”, I said. “Grab the trash, would you?”. He nodded, and grabbed two large bags; heading towards the back door. He winked at me; and closed the door behind him. Avoiding the dark spot on the floor we hadn’t been able to remove, after my encounter with Erzsebet; I walked over to the door Pete had gone through, and locked it. I didn’t really have plans; but going on a date with a coworker wasn’t high on my list of wants.

I checked my phone. The only message was a picture of Raul and Chad on their honeymoon. The two men had worked fast after Raul had avoided murder charges 6 months earlier. Once Chad had healed from the surgery to get rid of his little extra asset; he’d dropped down on one knee on a busy night at Buddy’s – and with tearstained cheeks, Raul had accepted his proposal. I’d been the maid of honor to both men – dateless, I might add; as the only man I wanted at my side at a romantic ceremony joining two paramours, was somewhere driving across the states, trying to hunt down monsters and ghosts – or stopping Armageddon; I wasn’t sure at this point.

Dean hadn’t been in touch for months. Not in person, anyway. I understood he was busy, but it hurt not to know where he was – and if he was ok.

Arriving at my small studio apartment that night, I brushed my fingers over the carving on my door – sending a warm thought at the two men who’d saved my life twice. Once inside, I got in my comfiest leggings, socks, tank top and cardigan; and went to read my current book – one about witchcraft and hoodoo. It was the middle of the night; but my sleep schedule as a bartender didn’t exactly make me a day person. I began reading from the part I’d gotten to, and sipping at a mug of cocoa.

There was a knock at the door. I glanced at the wall clock. 3 am. Looking through the peephole, I sighed, and slowly opened the door.

“Hello, Lulu”. “Hi, Castiel”, I said quietly. “Thanks for knocking this time”. The angel smiled gently. “Well, last time you were… undressed”. I moved out of the way, so Castiel could step into my apartment. “Yeah. Literally in the shower as well. I would have offered you a towel, but…”. “You were busy punching my face, and putting a knee to my groin”, the angel said. I chuckled.

Closing the door behind the angel, I went to sit on my couch again. Castiel had been coming around every few weeks – just for a few minutes – apparently to check on me. “So, as you can see, I’m alive”, I muttered. “Are they?”. Cass nodded. “They are working on… something”. “Vague as ever”, I smiled sarcastically. “He has my number. He could just call me”.

Castiel frowned. “I’ve come to take you with me…”, he said. I stood up, and held out my hands to stop him. “Whoa! No… Every time you do your… angel teleportation thing on me, I end up in some random place, without my shoes. And it gives me motion sickness”. “I’ve only done it twice; and one of the times, it saved your life”. I sighed. “Yeah, fine… but still. No thank you”. He stepped towards me. “I’m afraid I must insist”, he said. “Why?”, I frowned.

There was another knock at my door. I stepped over to check the peephole; but Cass held out to stop me. The knocking turned in to a pounding. “That’s why”, he said. “They found you”. My eyes widened. “Who?”, I breathed. “Who found me?”.

Castiel put his hand on my shoulder; and we were standing in front of a lit fireplace. My stomach was churning. “Lulu?”, a voice said. With wide eyes, I turned around, and saw Bobby Singer – seated in a wheelchair – looking at me in wonder. “I got her before they took her. You can take it from here”, Castiel said; and was gone. I looked down. “You forgot my shoes again!”, I snarled.

Bobby smiled at me. “How are you, kid?”, he asked. “Very confused”, I admitted. “Yeah, he does that”, Bobby said. “So, do I get a hug?”.

I grinned, and ran over to embrace the man; who – the last time I’d seen him – was standing. “What happened?”, I asked. Bobby shook his head. “Demon…”, he grunted. I laughed. “Demon…”, I said. Bobby raised a brow at me. “Seriously?”. Bobby gave me a crooked smile. “It’s a whole new world, darlin’”. He patted my arm; not able to reach my cheek from the chair. “I’ll have the guys fill you in when they get back”. I swallowed hard. “They’re here?”, I croaked. “About 30 minutes out. Coffee?”. “Please…”, I said, and followed him to the kitchen, grabbing two mugs from a shelf.

Bobby poured us both a mug of coffee, and I went to sit on a couch in the living room/study/something that looked like a place a fortune teller might set up shop. Bobby rolled over to face me. “How have you been?”, he asked. “I heard about what happened in Denver…”. I pulled up the sleeves of my cardigan, and ran my fingers over the slight scars there. “Turns out my boss was really sorry he hadn’t paid for security, and let a deranged serial killer get at his favorite employee; as he called me”, I grinned. “I think he was just worried I’d sue him. But he paid my doctors bill, and for a plastic surgeon to make the scars less visible”. Bobby winced. “Looks like you went through it”, he said. “I’m happy you’re better”. “Yeah”, I smiled. “No permanent damage, save for the occasional person thinking I cut myself on purpose”.

“Bobby!”, a voice called out – a voice I recognized immediately, and made my heart skip a beat. “In here”, Bobby answered. “We got scotch. Liquor store was out of bourbon”, Sam said, as he stepped into the living room. His eyes widened when he saw me; and he ran over to embrace me – lifting me off my feet in a warm hug. I heard the front door close. “Dude, are you gonna make me carry everything?”, Dean growled, and dropped two plastic bags on the kitchen table. Sam put me down. “Dean”, he muttered. “What?”, Dean grunted; and turned around.

His face went through a range of emotions – before, with three long strides; he stepped over to me. Just as I thought he was about to take me in his arms, he pulled out a knife. “Did you check her?”, he growled. “She came in with Cass”, Bobby said. “Did you check her!”, Dean repeated. Sam sighed, and handed me a flask. “Take a sip”, he said. I frowned – taken aback by the cold reception from the man I’d spent months missing. “What is it?”, I asked; looking at the knife in Deans hand. “Holy water. Just drink it”, Sam muttered.

With a cold look at Dean, I grabbed the flask, and drank the liquid inside. Dean looked at me for a few seconds; and seemingly satisfied I wasn’t going to burn up in flames or melt – or whatever it was he’d expected – he put away the knife. “Lulu…”, he muttered. “Cass brought you?”. “Just a little while ago”, I said quietly. “Thanks for the warm welcome, by the way”. Dean clenched his jaw in anger. “Dammit, he wasn’t supposed to bring you here”, he growled. “Maybe he was sensing how grumpy you’ve been”, Bobby grunted in response.

Dean did look extremely grumpy. And tired. “Sorry, Lou… This isn’t a good time”, he said. I made a scoffing laugh. “Well, just call Castiel. I’m sure he can take me back to my apartment”. “No”, he said. “You can’t go back there right now”. “Why?”, I sneered.

Sam cleared his throat. “Angels… and demons… They’re using the people we care about to get to us”. I shook my head in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”. Dean sighed. “We got wind that they were coming to nab you. I asked Cass to bring you somewhere safe”, he said. “Not here”. I shrugged; trying not to seem hurt about Dean’s standoffishness. “So, what happens now?”, I said. “What happens now, is you stay here”, Bobby said. “Bobby!”, Dean snarled.

Bobby rolled his eyes. “Keep your pants on, Dean”, he sneered. “And I mean literally. At least until we’ve left the room”. He rolled towards us. “You don’t think we’ve noticed how you’ve been missing this girl?”. Dean met my eyes for a second. “It’s not safe”. “It’s never safe, son”, Bobby said. “But this place is warded better than any other I know. As long as Lulu doesn’t leave, she should be fine. And maybe you can get that stick out of your ass, and be able to do the job”. Dean scoffed. “So, now I can’t do the job?”, he grunted. “Not well”, Sam muttered. “You…”, Dean said; pointing at his brother. “Shut up!”.

I sighed and looked at Sam. “You said you brought alcohol?”, I muttered. “Give it”. Dean shook his head. “No”, he said. “No alcohol. Call Rufus. Have him take her”. “I’m really feeling the romance in the room”, Bobby grunted. “I’m beat. Going to bed”. He rolled out the door, and down the hallway. “And I’m going to go… away from here”, Sam said; almost running for the stairs. Dean and I stood for a moment in silence; before I stepped towards the kitchen. “Well, I’m having a drink”, I said.

Suddenly, his hand was on my wrist, and he pulled me towards him – wrapping me in his arms. I couldn’t fight the urge; and embraced him right back. “Are you ok?”, he breathed. “Yeah… just confused”, I muttered. Dean pulled back a bit, and looks me in the eyes. “You’re here… I should have… I don’t know what to say”.

“Try an I’m sorry!”, Bobby called from down the hall.

Dean looked towards the hallway, and frowned. “I’m sorry”, he muttered. “I know that’s probably not the welcome you had expected”. “I don’t know…”, I grunted. “It’s not the first time you pulled a knife on me”. “Yeah… sorry. Again”. I sighed. “Can open a window, and let in some air? This place smells like old farts”. He smiled slightly. “Hex bags. We made some earlier. The smell goes away after a while… How have you been?”, he asked. “Fine… I guess. It took a while to heal properly since… last time”, I said. Dean frowned. “But you’re better. Right?”. I nodded. “I’m… living. Moving on”. “Good”, he said. “That’s… good. That you’re moving on, I mean”.

He cleared his throat, and let go of me. The separation was almost painful. “Thanks for checking in, by the way…”, I said. “Castiel’s been a real hoot”. Dean didn’t meet my eyes. “I should have called”. “Yeah, you should have”, I muttered. “You didn’t call either…”, he said; a slight accusation in his voice. I looked at him in indignation. “You told me you were going out to stop the devil”, I said. “I didn’t figure I should be the one to check in”.

I sat back down on the couch and yawned. “Let me go put away the groceries, and I’ll show you where to sleep afterwards”, he said. “Sounds good”, I said quietly. I pulled my legs up under me, and leant my head against the armrest. The smell of the hex bags had dulled; and I now noticed another scent – one of gunpowder, wood and metal. The hunter smell, I thought to myself. My eyes began drooping, and the last thing I noticed was a soft kiss to my temple, and a blanket being tucked around me.

“Goodnight, Lou”, Dean whispered.

---

The sun hitting my face woke me up. “Mornin’ kid”, Bobby muttered from his table. “Fresh coffee on the pot”. “Thanks”, I rasped. I got off the couch, and stretched. “Where are the guys?”, I asked. “Checking on a lead”, Bobby grunted. “Grab me a cup?”.

I went into the kitchen, and filled two mugs with coffee; bringing one over to the desk. “Demon stuff?”, I asked. Bobby shook his head. “Ghost”, he said. “Yankton…”. I frowned. “Yankton… I’m in South Dakota?”, I asked. “Yeah… you’re about 600 miles from home”, he said. “Well, that’s just great”, I muttered. “And this is your place?”. “Singer Scrap”, he nodded. “Good cover”. A scrapyard owner. I knew it, I smiled to myself.

I looked over the many books and papers strewn about the room. A row of phones were hanging on the wall; each with a sticker on it, letting Bobby know what persona he’d need to take on when he picked up. The was an old cookie-tin filled with different fake id’s – FBI, Wild Life Service, Sheriff’s badges; the list went on.

“You have a pretty bad-ass setup here, Bobby”, I said. “Also 100% illegal I’m guessing”. “This job isn’t exactly easy to do if you follow the rules”, Bobby said. I sighed. “Is there anything I can help with?”, I asked. “What, are you bored?”, Bobby smiled. “Yes”, I nodded. “You can make lunch; it’s almost noon”, he said. “I don’t cook… but I know how to order a pizza”. Bobby frowned. “I’ll call the boys, have them bring something back”. I shrugged.

Bobby narrowed his eyes at me. “Did you… uhm… kiss and make up last night?”, he muttered. I chewed my lip. “Not exactly… He seemed preoccupied”, I said. Bobby chuckled. “That’s Dean for you”, he said. “Always so busy trying to save everyone else, he doesn’t see when his own salvation is staring him right in the face”. “I don’t know if I’m a salvation, exactly”, I said. “I’m a bartender from Denver with a teaching degree”. “Maybe you can teach him some manners”, Bobby grunted and returned to his document. “Grab me that magnifying glass over there”, he said, and pointed towards the coffee table.

I handed him the magnifier, and picked up an amulet that caught my eye. It was almost glowing in the sunlight. “Put that down”, Bobby yelled. I almost jumped, and dropped the chain to the table. “Sorry”, he muttered. “I haven’t been able to break the curse on it yet… and I’m pretty sure you’d be a lot less pretty with an extra nose stuck to your chin”. “It’s cursed?”, I asked. “Maybe you should lock it up somewhere”. “Tried that”, he grunted. “It reappears there every time I do”. I studied the amulet closer. “Hoodoo, right?”, I muttered. Bobby looked at me. “Is it?”, he asked. “I think so… It looks like a sigil I saw once, in a book”, I said. Maybe cover it in goofer dust, and bury it in an old grave…”. I met his incredulous eyes, and blushed. “Or, something else. I don’t know”.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “What do you make of this?”, he asked, and pushed an old newspaper clipping across the table. I read through the text. “Another strange case of a dead body in Yankton this month, when Thomas Clayton was found near Yankton Municipal Cemetary – his neck broken; and his lower body buried into the ground. He leaves behind a wife and two children…”. “Sounds like a myling”, I muttered. Bobby frowned. “How’d you know about those?”, he asked. “I read… a lot”, I replied. He looked at me disbelievingly. “You call studying Scandinavian ghosts leisurely reading?”. “I was almost killed by two supernatural beings”, I shrugged. “Thought I’d study up in case anything happened again”. “Huh…”, Bobby said. “So, you think it’s a myling”. “I’m no pro, so I wouldn’t know for sure”, I said. “But the half-buried thing? And just outside a cemetery… More like he was forced to carry a ghost on his back; but didn’t make it to hallowed ground”. The corner of Bobby’s lip raised in a crooked smile. “But you already knew that”. “Was beginning to come to that theory myself”, he said. “You have some knowledge in that head of yours, kid”. I blushed again.

There was a knock at the door. I looked through the kitchen window. Outside stood a darkhaired policewoman. “It’s the cops”, I muttered. “Crap”, Bobby groaned. “Woman? Looks like she eats nails for breakfast?”. I looked again. “Yup…”. Bobby began rolling away from the view of the windows. “I’m not here”, he said. I shook my head. “Fine, I’ll talk to her”, I said, and walked to the front door, opening it.

“Hello”, I smiled at the woman. She looked mistrustingly at me. “Miss… I’m sheriff Mills. Is Bobby Singer in?”. I shook my head. “He’s out…”. “Out cold?”, she grunted. “Bobby! Roll your ass out here”.

Bobby appeared behind me. “Sheriff…”, he grunted. “What did I do this time?”. The sheriff sighed. “Your neighbors have been reporting strange smells from your house”. “Stranger than usual? This is a scrap yard, sheriff”, I smiled. She narrowed her eyes at me. “And you are?”. I thought fast. “Ann Wilson”, I said brightly; and reached out my hand to shake hers. “My niece”, Bobby said. “She’s staying with me to help out since my accident”. “All right…”, the sheriff said. “If you say so”.

I cleared my throat. “You were saying? About strange smells…”. “Yes”, the sheriff said. “You can’t be polluting the air with methane gas, Bobby. Your neighbors say the smell was so rancid, their eyes watered”. Bobby sighed. “Look, my nearest neighbor is 3 miles away. If any of them have been reporting any smells, it means they’ve been trespassing – and I’d be in my right to shoot them”. The sheriff clenched her jaw. “With what weapon? I don’t believe you have a license”. “I do”, I said. She lifted her brows. “Can I see it?”. I smiled. “I never mentioned a gun, or using one for that matter. So, you don’t need to”. She stifled a smile. Under different circumstances, I might have liked her. “If there’s nothing else, uncle Bobby needs to have his lunch now”.

“All right”, sheriff Mills said. “Just, keep down the stench, all right?”. “Absolutely”, I smiled. “Goodbye, sheriff”. She walked off the porch, and got in her car. I waved as she drove away. I turned to look at Bobby. “That was fun!”, I grinned. “Yeah, a real giggle of a time”, Bobby grunted, and went back into the living room.

One of the phones rang – one labeled CDC. Bobby picked it up. “Fisher here… Yes, he’s one of mine. He in some kind of trouble?... That’s ridiculous, son… No, you listen to me. Let him finish his job… Put him on”. I heard him mutter idjit below his breath. “Garth? You moron. You told them it was a strain of the plague?... Yeah… Give him back to me”. There was a pause. “Officer. Agent Fitzgerald is right. Let him look at the autopsy report… Thank you. Bye”. He hung up. “Stupid son of a bitch”. I chuckled.

Bobby began rolling towards his desk, when another phone rang – the one labeled FBI. I looked at him pleadingly. “Be my guest…”, he grunted. I picked it up.

“Nicks here”, I said. “Yes, hello ma’am. This is detective Alan Jackson from the Yankton PD”, a tired voice said. “I have two men here claiming to be FBI…”. My eyes lit up. “Let me guess. One is a 6’3 puppy, and the other looks like he’d flirt with your daughter right in front of you, and not be ashamed of it?”. “That sounds about right”, the man muttered. “Yeah, those are mine”, I said. “What’s the problem?”. “They want to examine the body of…”. “Thomas Clayton?”, I asked. “Yes…”, the man said. “And what seems to be the problem?”, I asked. “Well they don’t have the right papers to begin with”, he answered. “The FBI rolls into town, asking to oversee a murder-case, and you refuse them?”, I said. “Won’t look good on your yearly report, detective Jackson”. “Ma’am…”, the man began. “Look, I don’t have time for this. Put me on with your captain”. Bobby’s eyes widened, and he shook his head fervently. “Ma’am, I’m sure that won’t be necessary…”, the detective muttered. I scoffed. “No? Well, you’re not being very forthcoming with my men…”. “I’ll let them look, ma’am. Right away”. “Thank you. Please put the pretty one on”, I said. “Your boss wants you”, the man muttered, and I heard the phone change hands. “Hello?”, I heard Deans voice. “Speaker?”, I asked. “No”, he grunted. “Good. Bring back lunch. Bobby’s hungry”, I said. “Yes, ma’am”, Dean grunted, and hung up.

I put the phone back on its hook. “That was even more fun”, I grinned. Bobby chuckled. “You could come in handy, Lulu”, he smiled. “Good job”. “Thanks”, I said. “Bobby… you wouldn’t happen to have some shoes laying around I could use?”.

---

A few hours later Dean and Sam came back from Yankton. Dean looked like a thundercloud.

“What the hell, Bobby?”, he growled. “You have Lulu doing jobs now?”. “Just this one”, he smiled. “And she’s done a fine job, as well”. Dean stepped towards me with and gave me a searing look. “You don’t ever do that again!”, he roared. “Why?”, I frowned. “You could have had us thrown in jail!”, he said. “Horse crap”, I said. “You were fine”.

Sam put down some cardboard boxes on the coffee table. “We brought pizza”, he said. Bobby groaned. “We were in a rush”, Sam muttered. I grabbed a slice, and sat down on the couch; putting my feet on the table. Dean looked at me with hard eyes. “Comfy?”, he grunted. “Very”, I smiled. He cursed below his breath.

“Lulu’s got a theory on the ghost”, Bobby said. Sam looked at me with pleased surprise. “Really?”, he asked. “Tell us”. “A myling”, I said. “An unwanted child, killed by its parents; and buried in non-consecrated ground”. Dean frowned. I handed him a slice of pizza, and he accepted it without thanks. “A mew-what?”, he asked. “Myling”, Bobby said. “Tell ‘em, Lulu”.

I took a bite, and chewed enthusiastically. “It crawls onto people’s backs; wanting them to bring it to consecrated ground to rest”, I said; mouth full. “Usually, the weight of it on the victims back will make him or her sink into the ground before they make it all the way. The ghost will be pissed, and kill them – strangling them or breaking their necks”. “How do you know this stuff?”, Sam smiled. “She reads… a lot…”, Bobby muttered.

Dean looked at Bobby’s desk. “Where’s the cursed amulet?”, he grunted. “Covered it in goofer dust, and buried it out back with my old dog”, Bobby said. “Well, Lulu did”. I smiled, and wiggled my feet – on which I was wearing a pair of old loafers Bobby’s wife had used when she was alive.

“You shouldn’t be meddling with any of this”, Dean growled. I shrugged. “Your pet angel kidnapped me, and brought me 600 miles away; without my shoes or my phone. Might as well keep busy”. “Don’t you need to go to work?”, Dean grunted. “Yeah, like 3 hours ago”, I admitted. “I’m probably fired”. Dean frowned. “And you don’t care?” I looked at him exasperatedly. “Of course I care, Dean. My whole life is in Denver”, I sneered. “But you’re also telling me that angels and demons are out to kill me. Being there right now would just bring people in danger. I’m staying away… To keep them safe”.

Dean raised a brow at me. I realized then that’s what he had been doing. In his own way. “I called Cass. He’s gonna take you somewhere safe”, he said. I frowned. “Bobby said…”. “You’re leaving, Lou”, he said. “That’s final”.

“She can’t…”, Castiel – who’d appeared from nowhere – said. “Cass!”, Dean growled. “Get her out of here!” “There’s no where I can take her”, the angel replied. “You wanted her safe. She is safe here”. “Hardly”, Dean said. “We’re up to our necks on this case, and Ironside over there can’t even get off his porch on his own”. He gestured towards Bobby.

Bobby frowned at him. “Where do you want her to go, son?”, he asked. “Rufus is buried in vamps in Wichita, Martin’s in the psych ward… Ellen and Jo? That’s the only people I’d trust her to be safe enough with; and they’re dead!”. Darkness ghosted Deans face. “Lulu is safest here, Dean”, Sam said.

Dean shook his head, and looked everywhere but at me. “If you didn’t come to take her away, why the hell are you here, Cass?”, he snarled. “To give you this”, Castiel said. He pulled out a knife I recognized as being an angel sword. “We already have one of those”, Sam said. Cas shook his head. “It’s not for you, it’s for her”.

Castiel went to hand me the knife. Dean stepped between us. “Whoa… no, no, no. That’s not happening”. “Excuse me?”, I frowned. He looked at me indignantly. “You’re not gonna be walking around with a heavenly weapon in your purse”, he said.

I put down my pizza, and stood up – fully ready to smack him across the face. “I’m a grown ass woman, Dean. I can make my own decisions”. “Not this one”, he grunted. “You can’t even shoot a gun”. “I can shoot a damn gun; I told you!”. “And fight with an angel sword?”, he asked indignantly.

He took the sword from Castiel. “I’m keeping this. Having two is always handy”. “Dean, Lulu needs to be able to protect herself from my brothers”, Castiel said. “No”, Dean said. I stepped up to him; and looked him square in the face. “Give me my sword, Dean…”, I snarled. “Take it”, he smiled; and held the sword over his head – knowing full well I wouldn’t jump for it like some child. I looked at him with sad eyes. “I really don’t want to do this…”, I muttered. Dean chuckled.

I walked behind him, pretending to give up. “Good call, sweetheart”, he muttered. Quickly setting my foot between his own from behind, my knee between his; I crouched, leant forward, snaked my arm across his torso – and flipped him backward over my thigh – making him land with a bang on his back. “Ow…”, he gasped. “Roller derby”, I growled; and snatched the sword from him. “Thanks, Castiel”, I muttered.

The three men still standing, all looked at me in surprise. Sam bit his lips to stop from laughing. “Not funny, Sam!”, Dean growled from the floor. “Dude, she just railed your ass!”, his brother grinned.

Dean got on his feet, and stretched his back. “Fine!”, he roared. “Take the damn sword… That was cheating, though”. “Might have earnt me a penalty back in the day; but still my favorite move”, I muttered. “You’re just pissed you got beaten by a girl”. “That has nothing to do with it”, he frowned. “Women can fight…”. “I just can’t, is that it?”. He shook his head in indignation. “We’ll talk about this later”, he grunted coldly. “We have a case to get back to”. I smiled. “No, Lou. We have a case. You don’t”. I rolled my eyes. “Roll your eyes all you want, sugar. That’s what’s happening”.

I went into the kitchen, and grabbed a beer from the fridge – opening it, and taking a large sip. Castiel walked over to join me. “I take it you haven’t had intercourse yet”, he muttered. I grimaced at him. “Cass. Stay out of my sex-life. Ok?”. He nodded, looking almost embarrassed. “I just meant – seeing as Dean is still in a bad mood – you must not have…”. “Stop”, I said, and held out a hand at him. “You’ve done plenty of damage as it is”. “I apologize for that. It wasn’t my intention”. I sighed. “I know… you were just trying to help”. I looked up at him. “Look, Cass…”. He was gone.

I couldn’t help but feel bad about how I’d spoken to him. He was a friend – not just to Dean and Sam – but also to me.

---

The three hunters spent the next hours researching mylings; and it seemed Dean had to relent and agree that I had been right.

“So how do we get rid of it”, he grunted. I was seated on a kitchen chair, pretending to read a book on the with trials of Salem. “Salt and burn, like every other spirit”, Sam offered. “Yeah, except we have no idea where the kid is buried”, Dean said. “Bobby? Any ideas?”.

The elder hunter looked towards me. “She knows more about them than any of us…”, he muttered. “Yeah, well; she’s not a hunter”, Dean grunted. “Just, give it a rest, Dean…”, Sam sighed. “Get over yourself, and let Lulu help”. Dean rolled his eyes. “Roll your eyes all you want, sugar…”, I sneered. “Just… help us out here, kid”, Bobby said.

I stood up, and walked over to the desk. “Putting the spirit to rest by salting and burning sound good enough. But you could also just give it what it wants”. Sam narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean? Carry it to the graveyard”. “I don’t think you need to throw yourself into the fire this time, Sam”, I smiled; remembering how he’d almost let himself get killed by the maren, who had been haunting my dreams when we first met. “Find it’s parents…”. “They’re probably dead too…”, Bobby said. I shrugged. “Can’t you, like… summon them?”, I asked.

Dean scoffed, and chuckled. “Great idea; except that’s impossible”. “It’s not…”, Bobby said. “There are ways”. “Of course there are…”, Dean snarled. “Why don’t you three do this job, and I’ll go hit a bar. Don’t seem like you need me here anyway”. “Dean…”, Sam began. “No, really; Sammy. Go ahead. Looks like Lou’s got this one”, Dean said. He grabbed his jacket, and left the house.

“I’ll go talk to him”, Sam muttered. “No, I will”, I said. “This is on me”. Sam nodded, and I went out the front door.

---

#dean winchester fic #dean winchester x oc #dean x oc #dean winchester #supernatural fic #supernatural #sam winchester

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honey-bri-books · 4 years

Text

Afraid of the Dark: SamCasDean

Un-related to any specific point in the series, but presumed to have happened after Cas and Dean have known each other a considerable length of time. SPN/Destiel fan fic. Fluff.

Characters created by Eric Kripke.

****

The Winchesters pull up in the Impala, just outside of an abandoned theater, which is now run-down and barely standing up in its decrepit state. Both Dean and Sam get out of the car and look up at the marquis, skeptically. Several letters are randomly stuck in a corner making up a mesh of black curves and criss-crosses, but just off-center and spelled out by the locals as a lame prank for the non-existent business owners read the “Movie Title” Are You Afraid of the Dark without the question mark, at the end. Dean makes a face.

DEAN: Didn’t know there was a movie that actually made it to the theater. I thought they just did a TV special thing...I remember seeing a commercial for it. You would’ve loved it, Sammy. Clowns and everything!

SAM: I don’t think they ever released a movie or that it played here, Dean. Probably some kids just joking around. Would’ve been smarter if they had thought to put up a warning that the place is haunted.

DEAN: And that the only way out is in a body bag, if you’re dumb enough to go inside...

SAM: Let’s be hopeful. No one’s reported any bodies turning up.

DEAN: Not yet, you mean.

Sam and Dean had been bombarded with messages that morning from other hunters and friends who were “in-the-know” that several disappearances had taken place within the past few months, since the closing of a local theater building, which had struggled to bring in an audience. The owners had just packed up and left, not leaving a note for anyone interested in taking up the building and re-vamping the theater for themselves. No one had even bothered to schedule a demolition of the premises, to open up a new mall or grocery store or apartment complex. It was left to collect dust and debris and according to recent rumors, kids from the local high-school and community college.

Amy, a friend of the Winchesters from a previous case, had claimed she was out for a run when she saw a few kids sneaking in, one of them wearing his boyfriend’s letter-head jacket. She wasn’t in the mood to go in after them and just continued on home, forgetting about them until noticing an article with their pictures highlighted. It read with the heading LOST in giant letters heading the article, and said they hadn’t shown up to school for several days, and that two of them were honor students and very reliable and responsible people. Amy had remembered that it was so cold outside when she was by the theater that she could see her own breath. Combined with so many cases being reported of missing people, all teenagers or young adults, Amy got a gut feeling and called Dean just as Sam was looking up the same story on his laptop.

Now, Dean and Sam open up the trunk of the impala and start to fill their guns with rock salt. Sam picks up a third. The most popular theory among the remaining hunters in the district, was that anyone who entered the building died and that their spirits remained to haunt the building, in the form of ghosts.

SAM: Do you think Cas will need one?

DEAN: I think he keeps one in the truck. Load that one anyway, just in case. Castiel arrives right at that moment, pulling up next to the impala. He gets out of the driver’s side and moves towards the Winchesters, wielding his own weapon, as Dean predicted. Thanks for coming. Usually, you’re too busy to even answer your phone. Castiel starts to protest but Dean slams the trunk down, nearly knocking Sam in the head, and cutting Castiel off.

SAM: Hey!! Careful! Then shaking his head, Please don’t tell me you two are still....

CASTIEL: [Tartly] Have either of you been inside of the building, yet? He sounds defeated and uncaring. He looks at Sam, a bit desperately. Sam just sighs, still upset from the night Castiel left the bunker. He had been in his room trying to read when he heard Dean yelling from the kitchen..

******

DEAN: Never mind about me, it’s YOU who we should be worrying about right now. Why can’t you ever look after yourself, for once!?!? For all of his concern, Sam didn't like the way Dean attempted to get through to Cas about his grace failing him, again. They had come back from a hunt that morning, Dean bleeding and battered, and Dean refused Castiel’s help. He argued that his injuries were minor, and would ignore Cas or walk away to avoid Castiel having to use his powers in order to heal him. Both he and Sam were afraid that if Castiel used them unnecessarily, that it would only be a matter of time before he lay dying before them both.

Their concern was well-founded. But finally, Castiel had had enough. Sam was walking down the hall with an armful of books, when Cas stormed past him and went up to Dean’s bedroom door. Sam didn’t have time to react when Castiel crashed into Dean’s room and crawled on top of him, on his bed. Sam ran to the door to see Dean struggling (pathetically) while Castiel put a hand to Dean’s forehead. With visible effort and strain, Castiel eyes began to glow, and light seemed to fill the room, as Castiel succeeded in healing Dean of his injuries...before passing out on top of him. When Castiel finally woke up, Dean let out a huge sigh of relief. He asked Castiel if he was alright...and then gave him the silent treatment for a week, before finally confronting him in the kitchen.

DEAN: It’s like you don’t even care if you die right in front of me. What were you thinking?!?! What kind of a person could ever do that to someone he cared about?! How would you feel if I cut myself up and bled to death, in order to save you?! Would you want that for me?! Dean had been on the verge of tears. Sam could hear his voice getting hoarse..

CASTIEL: [weakly] Dean, please....I didn’t have a choice...

DEAN: One day you’re gonna have to make a choice, and it’s gonna be the right one, next time. You should have let me die! In fact...you know what....I’m finally done! You don’t wanna give a damn about yourself, then that means I don’t have to either.

CASTIEL: I’m sorry. I wish...Dean, I couldn’t stand to see you hurt like that and not be able to do anything. I wouldn’t ever ...It...I’m not...I...

DEAN: Whatever, just get out. All the time I’ve wasted, wondering if you’re gonna get yourself killed...There’s only so much I can take. You feel like helping out with a case or two, I’ll give you a call, but until then...Good luck to you!

The next morning Sam had gone into Castiel’s room hoping to mediate the situation, but by that time, Castiel was gone.

******

Now, Sam could recognize the same tension between his brother and his friend as they faced each other for the first time in several weeks. Castiel appeared as if he were struggling to just stay standing. Dean can’t help but show concern on his face, looking Cas up and down.

SAM: Cas, are you sure you’re up to this? Are you, I mean...are you getting any better? Dean presses his lips together, not trusting himself to say anything. Castiel still avoids Dean’s gaze and tries to hide the fact that he’s swaying slightly.

CASTIEL: I’m fine. What do you need me to do?

Sam and Dean look at each other, and then they all look at the theater together. Castiel takes a step forward. He furrows his brows and tilts his head slightly.

CASTIEL: Dean, there are people in there.. Sam and Dean look at each other, confused.

DEAN: What do you mean? All of their last fight forgotten, Dean now feels hopeful. The missing teens had never been declared dead. They could still be alive...Castiel shakes his head.

CASTIEL: I’m not sure, but.... I sense we’re not the only living ones in the vicinity. That we’re not alone.. Without saying anything else, Castiel heads towards the theater. Sam and Dean follow after him and they all enter the building together.

Once inside the lobby, the three are enveloped in darkness, save for a glimmer of light coming from the front doors. The three decide to split up and each take a different level of the theater to explore.

*****

Sam finds himself in the basement. He can hear something leaking nearby and hopes to himself that it’s only water. With the little light from his flash light, Sam feels along the walls as he stumbles down the basement stairs. There are extra theater seats and old show posters underneath an old tarp. He thinks he’s alone when he hears someone sneeze behind him. Sam jumps and turns around to see eight different sets of eyes staring back at him. The missing teens are wearing the outfits they disappeared in, now dirty and torn, and with dirt and sweat covering their faces. Some hide behind their friends, not knowing who Sam is. Though pale and hollow-eyed Sam breathes a sigh of relief...They’re alive!

SAM: Hey! It’s okay, I’m here to help...Some of the kids start to relax, and then one of them starts to scream. Sam turns around to see an old man with a gun aimed at him. The girl who screamed starts crying and before Sam can even blink, a woman appears from behind the group of kids and grabs the girl by the hair, dragging her back against her with one hand, a butcher knife in the other....

*****

Castiel made his way down the aisle of the theater and to the stage. He had to use a flashlight now, since he had weakened considerably over the past several months.

Sam and Dean had expressed their concern for his failing grace on many occasions, and Castiel had always lied by saying he was ignorant of the cause. The truth was that an angel’s grace could be manipulated in its strength from Heaven’s Headquarters.

Awhile ago, a group of angels had threatened Castiel, ordering him to stop aiding the Winchesters and to ignore their calls for help. When Castiel refused, they had warned Castiel that his life was on the line and he would eventually drain of his grace and then finally die, if he didn’t change his ways. Castiel had of course ignored the threats, continuing to work and then live with the Winchesters at the bunker, before Dean ordered him to leave...

As Castiel crawls up onto the stage he struggles to make out the wings and the backdrop depicting a forest scene for whatever production last closed at the theater. There is a star drop, as well. Castiel doesn’t notice anything unusual. Just a lot of left over props and lights piled up back stage and old programs, covered in dust. He moves backstage and sees a door that must lead to the dressing rooms. Upon opening it, he finds himself in a darkened hallway. After walking down it for a few minutes Castiel stops. What was that noise? His flashlight had stopped working, so he left it back on the stage. He can’t see anything, but he knows he heard someone curse to his left. Suddenly, there is a sharp noise, like a door is slamming shut. Whatever made the sound, it was close. Without seeing it, Castiel turns and reaches out until he makes contact with a door handle.

Not thinking of the consequences, Castiel turns the handle and enters into the room. A pair of hands lock onto his arms and pulls him inside the room, slamming him against the wall. Castiel drops his gun...

******

Dean directs his flash light back and forth, unimpressed with the lack of bodies, the lack of clues, the lack of anything in this nothing hallway. Just a lot of dust and dark. There are several closed doors, but all of them have been locked up to now. Dean trudges on to the end of the hallway, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to try the last door, and is surprised when it actually opens for him. Yeah right, he thinks. Dean walks inside, out of habit, not really expecting anything interesting....

DEAN: What the hell? The closet is full of weapons. Dean at first thinks that they are props used for the theater, but then gets closer and realizes it’s all real. Guns, machetes, pitch forks, a hatchet, and even rat poison! He sets down his own gun full of rock salt and reaches towards one of the machetes when his light flickers out. Dean curses and backs into the door, slamming it shut and dropping his flash light. He fumbles around on the ground looking for it.. I can’t see anything, it’s so damn dark!

All of a sudden, the door opens. Someone is directly behind Dean, standing above him. Dean reacts quickly, springing to his feet and turning to grab the dark figure by his arms, pulling him into the closet and slamming him against the wall. The person’s breathing is heavy and Dean realizes that he’s pressing himself up against his assailant, who struggles for a moment before stilling, his breath catching in his throat.

Then Dean realizes that he’s not threatened by his attacker, that he doesn't feel as if he’s in danger. The body in front of him is familiar, and...Dean leans his head forward against the other’s and the person pressed against the wall submits, pushing back slightly. Dean’s breathing becomes heavy as his grip tightens on Castiel who tilts his head back, so that Dean can feel the stubble on his chin brush against his lips.

Dean is afraid to say anything. He doesn’t know what he’s thinking, right now. He lowers his mouth onto Castiel’s neck and traces kisses along it. When Castiel lets out a soft cry, Dean takes his face in his hands and kisses him roughly on the mouth. Castiel brings his hands up to Dean’s face and presses his body against him, as the lights to the closet and the hallway turn on. Neither hear Sam calling out to them from the hallway, or notice the sudden burst of light, at first...Their eyes are closed, and their lips are desperate for each other... Sam finds them in a closet full of weapons, in each other’s arms, crumpled in a heap on floor. Dean covering Castiel with kisses as Cas whimpers out “Sorry,..I’m...sorry...:”

*****

The old theater owners, Dale and Margaret Blanche, sit cuffed in the back seat of a police car. Once Old Lady Blanche had attempted to silence the crying girl, Dale had lowered his gun, letting his guard down and thinking they were in control. Sam kicked upwards into Dale’s nuts and retrieved his gun when he dropped it, howling in pain. Margaret had been distracted and another of the teen captives leapt at her ankle, biting as hard as he could. Margaret screamed and let the girl and the butcher knife go.

The other kids leapt into action and helped Sam to overcome and defeat the couple of criminals, weak as they were from being denied adequate food and sleeping quarters. By Sam’s orders, they helped find rope. Some helped in tying their captors up and dragging them both upstairs. Sam gave one of the hostages his cell phone to call the police, while he looked for a way to turn on the lights. Apparently, there was nothing wrong with the lights or the electicity, though they had been turned off since the theater’s closing. When Sam tried turning them all on, he had little to no problem. Apparently, the town had cared so little about the theater at that point, that no one had bothered to cut off electricity through to the building. The Blanches had just not wanted to let on that anyone was living there, and kept them off at all times.

When the theater closed, all had assumed that the couple had left the place for dead, but in fact they had both stayed hidden in the old theater, and lived off of killing cats, rats and all of the above, determined to stay. A nearby pond, spare candles, and other necessities had done the couple fine for resources...until local kids had spread a rumor that the building was haunted and had set off in pairs and groups to explore the place.

Finally, the couple decided to get back at everyone for ignoring their establishment in the first place, by kidnapping and torturing anyone who trespassed, taking away the town’s children in revenge for running their business to the ground. They had stored a closet full of weapons to use as a means to torture their victims and kept rat poison to permanently silence the ones who made too much of a racket.

Now, the surviving kids were split up among sobbing parents, paramedics and police officers, in front of the theater. One boy pulled Sam aside to thank him, for reminding them all of how capable they had always been in getting themselves out of their captors hands, and waking them from their stupor. He said he felt it had been in him to stand up for himself all the while, he just needed to see that if could be done and Sam making the first move is what made it happen.

******

Dean and Castiel sat on a nearby bench, watching the rescue take place. They hadn't said a word (and neither had Sam, thankfully) about what happened back in the closet, all night, though many hours had passed since then. Dean’s face is an unfeeling mask, and Cas is almost afraid to breath. Nothing had to be said to determine Castiel was going back to the bunker that night. Dean would ask Sam to drive Castiel’s truck while Cas rode shot gun to Dean in the impala.

Dean had wondered what he’d do when he saw Cas again, after their fight. He’d wondered if Castiel could forgive him for being such an asshole to him when they finally confronted each other in the kitchen. He worried that Castiel was much weaker than he’d let on earlier, and thought he knew for certain that things weren’t getting any better for the angel. And now...everything was so much worse than Dean could have ever imagined.

The darkness had acted as a veil, had tricked Dean into thinking they were safe, that they were completely alone, and maybe they could both feel happiness, pleasure, for just a moment..but something told him that somehow they had failed each other, back in that closet. To have opened his eyes and seen Castiel, trembling underneath him, surrounded by deadly weapons and blinding, accusing light, to see the tears in Castiel’s eyes... If the lights had stayed off until after they’d let go of each other, Dean wouldn’t have had to see it end...It wasn’t meant to last longer than a moment, but somehow...

CASTIEL: [Sadly] Are you afraid of the Dark.. Dean shakes his head from his thoughts, and looks at Castiel, worried. Castiel is looking up at the theater marquis, not really caring about it, but feeling one of them needed to say something to break the ice. Dean has never seen Castiel look so weak as he did at this moment. He fixes the expression on his face, trying to seem nonchalant.

DEAN: You know, there’s a movie I’ve been trying to get Sammy to watch with me. One of those new revivals. This one, I think, it’s from an old Nickelodeon program or whatever. Funny, right? Castiel nods. It hurts Dean to look at Cas when he’s this weak, this afraid. He’s in so much pain. What can I do to take it away? How can I save him?

A tear escapes from Castiel’s eye and Dean’s heart breaks in two. They were never going to talk about it. And Dean knew Castiel would never let him touch him like that, ever again. Dean wants nothing more than to take Castiel into his arms, and to hold him underneath the stars, to just be close to him in the dark..but instead he puts both hands in his pockets and waits for the police to leave, waits for Sam to signal that they should be heading home. Castiel has his hands deep in the pockets of his trench coat. He leans into the back of the bench and turns his head away from Dean, knowing he can’t hold back his tears any longer.

CASTIEL: Dean..forgive me. I keep hurting you. I can’t stop.. He shuts his eyes, ashamed. Back in the theater, I couldn’t help myself, I couldn’t...stop....I.... Biting his lip, Castiel can’t continue.

Dean knows that if he doesn’t get up and walk away, that his lips would find their way to Castiel’s again. He knew that the next time he put his hands on Castiel that he would never let go.

DEAN: I’ll wait in the car. When you’re ready, join me, and we’ll head on home. Sam is going to drive the truck. Then after a moment.. Don’t think that I’m ever letting you go after tonight. And don’t you dare think about using your powers again, until Sam and I can figure out what’s wrong. I won’t hear of it. I’ll trap you in a ring of holy oil before I let you go and get yourself killed. Hate me for the rest of my life. I don’t care. And don’t take too long, I’m beat... Dean ignores the small cry coming from Castiel and stands up, hesitating for a moment, before heading determinedly back towards the impala. Castiel covers his face with his hands, the darkness enveloping him like a never-ending nightmare...

The End...

#Castiel #Dean #CasDean #DeanCas #Sam #Destiel #Supernatural #Fan Fic #Fluff #Slash #SPN #SPN Fan Fiction #Winchester #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #Are You Afraid of the Dark #Afraid of the Dark

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chaoticneutralwriter · 6 years

Text

Fic Recs/Writers *updated 09/12/2019

THE LIBRARY IS OPEN DARLING....for some actual reading.

A list of fics/writers I’ve come across that got some of that pretty sweet stuff. And also because I’ve read around too much and can’t remember names or fics to save my life. THE UPDATES MAN!

Warning: Some fics (as will be indicated) are +18/rated M for Mature/take me to church kinda deal

@versigny

I’d say almost all of their stuff is worth a read (whoever your bias may be, they got stories on them), but my personal faves are their vampire au series, some +18 stuff there but majority of the stories are oneshots and drabbles

@honeyedhoseok (I think now @tawnytaehyung)

I’m sure everything they wrote is worth a read from what I’ve read thus far but because of that, I can really only recommend the three fics I actually read.

Series: Besitos (ta!Jimin) rated M for recent developments hoho~

Bruh why is this not reality? Why don’t we get really hot TAs to crush on? It would’ve made my school life hella easier and I’d get that perfect attendance. Jimin is your hottie creative writing TA who you can’t help but crush on (but can anyone blame you) and envious to all, he likes you back too. College au shenanigans, teacher/student dynamic, and dorky wingman ta!Taehyung friend.

Oneshot/drabbles (Crossroad demon!Jimin): Crossroads + Hunted + Captured Part One *NEW + Captured Part Two *NEW

I’d sell my soul to satan if he looks like bs&t!Jimin. You basically make a deal with crossroad demon!Jimin and can’t help but actually grow fond of the supposed devious, soul eating creature of hell.

Series: The Black Book (CEO!Hoseok) rated M

My heart can’t take the drama but it’s still a really good read. CEO!Hoseok may be young and rich but he definitely has some questionable methods of relieving stress, one that you’re all too aware of which makes things super awkward cuz you in love with the man. Does CEO!Hoseok eventually change thanks to you or do old habits die hard and just leave you in a world of hurt? Again if it’s Hoseok he can be the biggest jerkface and I’d still be charmed.

@dovechim

Shorts/Drabbles: the ocean (mermaid!Jimin) + drabble

Because goddammit mermaid!Jimin is cute okay??! (and I love me a good supernatural au of any sort) You’re a ballet dancer going to Busan Arts and stumble upon Jimin chillin’ in the water by the beach. You mistake him as fellow peer but hey he shows up to your class anyways (totally rocks the dance thing) but then as time passes, you find that something is quite...fishy about him.

Series: It’s okay, that’s love (splitpersonality!Jimin)

No not the drama. Okay so a shrink is still involved and that’s played by you and you’ve got water polo player!Jimin who has split personality disorder (he’s scary when he’s angry...) as your patient, except he doesn’t know about this ‘other self’ of his. As if feelings aren’t already making things complicated, imagine accidentally finding yourself rooming with him (along with your other favourite boys).

@hobibliophile

Okay so I might’ve read all of their Jimin stuff and yes. All yes (warning: they’re +18 stuff soooo)

The only other fic I’ve read from them is Ambrosia (M) starring Fallen Angel!Hoseok....I like supernatural au fics alright. Fallen angel or not, Hobi is still super sweet and since this is a series, we don’t know what the reason was and MAJOR CLIFFHANGER!

@jimlingss

Series: Beyond Reach (ghost!Hoseok) ft. Reaper!Namjoon and other ghosties

This shit made me nearly cry five times....FIVE TIMES. I say nearly because I don’t like crying so it took literally all my willpower to not (ended up with a runny nose though). ANGST AS SHIT. Has some triggering stuff involving death so be warned. It’s a good read though....BUT SAD AS HELL (at least it’s completed :’))

One Shot: Head Over Heels to Hell (reverse soulmate!AU, Childhood Friends to Enemies to Lovers! Hoseok x reader)

Oh yes, this was a WILD RIDE. Goddamn it’s like you hate the man but then in the end that shit got me emotional for some reason like djgskh good shit good shit (you have gone through multiple different lives meeting Hoseok, all of which he screws you over somehow but in the end of it all... perhaps things could still work out??)

Series: The Deli Diaries (produce! Jimin x Deli worker!you) fluff, slow-burn

Holy shit this is cute af. It’s so mundane (guess that’s a fair warning??) but just reading the way the relationship develops is just....ahh!!! I want my own cute Jimin who pines after my dumbass TAT

Series: Jungle Park (Workplace Romance AU, Lawyer! Hoseok x New HR Manager!Reader) fluff, slow-burn, slice of life, a little angst **NEW

A long series for those of you who love to read chapter fics! Oh my God this was a thrilling ride of emotions! The pacing is amazing, each chapter you’re hooked on wanting to see more development on the history between these two so it’s worth a read! I love how Hoseok is portrayed here; it’s like a piece of how he would be in real life is put into just another scenario (Also hate how reader is like... relatable in a way where I also majored in HR so...WHERE’S THE OFFICE ROMANCE LIFE TRAIN GONNA HIT ME WITH THAT??)

Three Shot: Magic & Mysteries (Familiar/Hybrid!Jimin x Witch! Reader) fluff, a little angsty, comedy, romance **NEW

A three shot series involving what the title says! Magic! It’s a little adventure tale of our reader who’s a witch struggling to find her place in terms of specialty and overcoming some fears and insecurities with the help of sassy (but secretly cares a lot) Jimin who’s a wizard cursed to be a dog (that looks like Chimmy!) It’s cute and pretty wholesome in my opinion :)

Also an honorable mention from them is the Service Series (it’s fluffier dw) and honestly their other fics are definitely worth a read :D

@7cypher

Oneshot: Devil’s Advocate (devil/demon!Jimin)

Ironic how despite being a devil Jimin is still the sweetest being to exist. Devil!Jimin walks into your life abruptly and worms his way into your heart with his devilishly good looks and sweet charms. It’s hella cute, a slightly angsty ‘defining’ moment that actually had me tearing up a bit??? (I’m a sap for sweet, tender affection like the ones that happened in here okay??) but it all ends well :)

@seokkbuns

I’ve read most of their Hoseok and Jimin stuff but I think all of their fics are worth a read!

@boymeetsweevil

Oneshot: Cover You In Constellations (Hoseok x reader fic)

I’ve read this a while ago but keep coming back to it because oh god this was cute, so domestic and so fluffy like this is the kinda shit I would pull if I had a boyfriend like Hoseok like skdjfskgha. I like the way writer portrays Hoseok because it feels so like what I imagine he would react. Hoseok deserves all the love ;_;

@kittentaegu

Series: My Boss, The Vampire (Vamp!Jimin x reader fic)

Two parts are out so far and I’m loving the premise! New office worker with notoriously hot CEO Park Jimin who has a secret to hide (guess what it is). One day, you find out what it is and so now what?? Things get steamy ;D Also, the title of it is so K-dramaesque and I don’t know! I like the charm it adds to it!

@readyplayerhobi **NEW

Honestly all of their fics are worth a read because they flawlessly combine story building with any kind of genre you can think of. Some are smutty, some of fluffy and some are just downright angsty but you just want to read them all regardless!

@yminie **NEW

Series: Nine-One-One (Detective!Jimin x First Responder! Reader) fluff, angst, romance, old flame au, future smut, and other mature themes!

This is thrilling! In both romantic and story aspects! The base story line is that there’s a serial murderer on the loose who’s been stalking reader and Jimin and his team are on the case about it. They’ve both got romantic history with each other and as old feelings resurfaces, so does the situation as things hit a little too close to home. Obviously with serial murderers involved, there is mentions of death, suicide and well...the warnings there!

A03 Fics

*will be pretty rare on this list; am I the only one who finds it super hard to find good fics on there?

Author: kimtrain

I swear they had a tumblr before since that’s the only reason why I remember them and their fics. Thankfully they’re all there still and all of them are 👌👌👌 Mermaid!Hoseok AU and the Hybrid!AU are my faves.

Fic: Warm Blood by ARMY_BRAT

The one instance where my weakness for supernatural AUs + wanting to read something paid off. MC is an ARMY but also a grim reaper so what happens when BTS shows up on her list, destined to die? Well, she says NOT TODAY but that just throws EVERYTHING out of the loop, leaving her to fix it.

Went into it with a grain of salt (ngl description was...ehh) BUT was pleasantly surprised! Digging the writing style which made MC really likeable so far and the AU strongly reminds me of Goblin: The Lonely God but focusing more on the grim reaper side of things which, personally, I was WAY more interested in even with the drama so yay! :D Glad someone took inspiration from it. Still ongoing and fairly new so dsfajdkas

Fic: Three Pints Full by Valkook **NEW

Woah it’s a vampire/supernatural fic! A little on the mature side because there’s well...blood...a little bit of death mentioned...and smut... BUT a really compelling story! Set mainly as a Cop/Detective! Reader who’s been assigned to solving some mysterious deaths/murders happening in the wild parts Montana joined in with appearances by Hunter/Tracker!Yoongi, Partner!Hoseok and Vampire!Jimin, Jungkook and more!

#fic recs #what i do instead of writing my own fics LOLL #now you know why i hardly update #dw i'll try to get back into it!#please feel free to recommend authors or share your fave stories as well :D #bts scenarios #bts drabbles #bts fics #ao3 #ao3 bts fics #fic rec #bts fic rec

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flyonlittlewinchester · 7 years

Text

Easier

Pairing: DeanXReader

Warnings: Angst, minor character death, explicit violence, abusive relationship

A/N: Just a one-shot from my brain. If you’d like a sequel let me know but for now this is a standalone piece.

Summary: Reader comes to the bunker after her boyfriend beats her up.

It was 2am. She opened the door to the bunker trying to be as quiet as possible. She didn’t want to wake the boys. It would be easier to answer their questions in the morning. Easier to lie in the morning. By then the bruises would be a little more faded; easier to cover up.

*buzz buzz*

Baby I’m sorry. Come back I miss you. I’ll take my meds this time I promise.

She was tempted. She wanted to believe him. She knew what kind of person he was capable of being and she thought she could save him. If anyone could change him it would be her. She was tough, she could take it. It’s not like she hadn’t dealt with worse from monsters. He didn’t even hit her that hard really. It was her fault. She shouldn’t have provoked him when she knew he was having a bad day. These thoughts slammed around in her head and she almost turned around and went back when she heard footsteps approaching.

Shit. She thought.

“Y/N?” Sam asked, clearly confused.

She painted on the best smile she could muster up.

“Hey Sammy. Didn’t mean to wake you man. I was just gonna crash here for the night if you don’t mind?” She said her voice unsure and shaking.

“Yeah sure thing, is there a problem?”

“Um no I was just ya know on my way back from a hunt. Simple salt and burn.” She said doing a terrible job of lying.

“Y/N your place is 3 minutes from here. You sure everything’s ok?” Sam asked getting more concerned by the second.

“Yeah just really tired. Goodnight.” She ducked her head as she tried to pass him but he turned the lamp on before she could.

Blood ran down her cheek from her hairline. Her lips were swollen and bruises covered her face and neck. The ones on her neck looked suspiciously like fingers and that wasn’t lost on Sam.

“Y/N, what the hell happened?” Sam was livid now.

“It’s nothing Sammy, just a ghost that got rough.”

“Simple salt and burns don’t leave finger marks on your neck, Y/N” Sam reached up to move her hair away from her face when she flinched. It was a dead giveaway.

“It was that piece of shit Derek, wasn’t it?” Sam said trying to control his voice for fear of scaring her.

She didn’t answer his question which gave him all the answer he needed.

“Dean! Get your ass up we got a job to do!” Sam shouted disappearing down the hallway.

Y/N stepped into the kitchen to try and clean herself up a little. She didn’t want Dean to see her like this. She didn’t want to see him look at her with pity, like she was something fragile. She wanted him to see her as tough and strong and someone worthy of his love. She had always wanted his love but never felt deserving of it. That’s why she always settled for cheap carbon copies that treated her like garbage. Which brings us to Derek. He was tall-ish with lifeless brown hair and eyes that could pass for green in the right lighting but for the most part looked like cloudy swamp water. He had muscles but didn’t really work out so they weren’t defined. Nothing like Dean.

They could pass as similar but there was just something about Dean that could never be replicated. But she wouldn’t ever admit this to herself. She couldn’t. It wasn’t safe. They already risked their lives enough. They didn’t need any more vulnerabilities. Besides, she didn’t deserve Dean anyway.

She cleaned herself up the best she could but the cuts and bruises were still there. She could hear the footsteps coming down the hallway and she left the kitchen to meet the boys.

“He’s a fucking dead man.” She heard Dean snarl before he turned the corner. One look at her and he stopped dead in his tracks. The face he loved marred almost beyond recognition. Her usual air of strength and confidence stripped away. He didn’t recognize the girl in front of him and it broke his heart. It only strengthened his resolve to end the life of the person responsible. Derek. Dean could never stand the guy and couldn’t fathom why Y/N would pick someone like him. She deserved someone strong and patient and- him. She deserved him. No one could protect her like he could. No one would love her like he would. But she didn’t want that and at the end of the day he loved her too much not to respect her decisions. Even if that decision was Derek. But it was time to step up now. He respected her decisions but he wasn’t gonna let his girl be treated like that. Not as long as he lived. Y/N looked down when she met Dean’s eyes. She tried to keep her face turned as much as possible so he wouldn’t see how bad it really was. Dean approached her as slow as possible so she wouldn’t be startled while Sam hung back a little bit, twirling a baseball bat in his hands.

“It’s ok baby girl I just wanna check the cuts.” Dean said, reaching his hand up to turn her face. She locked eyes with him and the tears started to fall.

“It’s my fault Dean. He was having a bad day and I pushed him too far. I deserved it.” She whimpered.

Dean’s eyes flared with anger but he kept his voice calm.

“Listen sweetheart. I don’t ever want to hear you say that again, understand? Nothing you could do is deserving of this.” He said stroking her face with his fingertips. They felt like feathers as she leaned into his touch. He pulled her in and hugged tight, noticing when she winced.

“Where all did he hit you?” Dean asked.

She pointed to her ribs and her stomach.

“Can I see?” She nodded her head and lifted up her shirt exposing fresh bruises alongside ones that were clearly days old.

“He likes to kick.” She responded.

Dean shot a look back at Sam who was barely keeping it together. Y/N was his best friend. His family. And he didn’t take kindly to people messing with his family.

“Go get the car ready, Sammy.” Dean said. Without a word he stalked off to the garage, baseball bat in hand.

“Sam and I will be out for a bit but we’ll be back ok? I promise. Go take a shower and put on those pjs you always steal from me. They’re in the top drawer. Get some rest and when you wake up tomorrow it’ll all be over.” He kissed her on the forehead and walked off in the same direction as his brother. She followed Dean’s orders and finally fell asleep in his bed around 3:30am. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean were busy roughing up Derek. They figured torture before death was fair. They had caught him completely by surprise. He was asleep in his bed without a care in the world only to be woken up by a baseball bat slamming down on his groin.

“Rise and Shine you worthless son of a bitch! We got work to do!” Dean shouted, pointing a gun in his face just in case he tried anything. They tied him up and took turns hitting him with the bat and breaking his bones. They avoided the head. He needed to be awake for this. The best part was the house was in the middle of nowhere so no one would ever hear his screams. After breaking nearly every bone in his body the boys decided they were done.

“I’ll go get the buckets Sam. Go ahead and do the honors.” Dean said leaving the room.

Sam took his knife and made long gashes on Derek’s arms from wrist to elbow. He was already in so much pain he barely felt the knife. Dean came back with two buckets of water, sticking Derek’s hands in each one. His death needed to be slow and painful but it only took a few minutes before he was gone. They left not bothering to dispose of the body. Derek was a hunter with a lot of friends and someone would come looking for him soon. He was a crappy hunter so no one would think twice about him meeting a violent end. Besides, Dean was anxious to get back to Y/N. They had already been gone too long.

They arrived back at the bunker and Sam left to his room without a word. Dean knew how much Sam loved Y/N. Not romantically but more like a little sister and Dean knew it hurt him just as much to see her broken like that. He would need time to cope.

Dean walked into his room and saw Y/N curled up in a ball wearing his sweats and T-shirt that were just a little too big for her. She looked so innocent and peaceful. Her curls sprawled out on the pillow like dancing streams. Dean knew then that he would have to admit sooner or later how he felt about her but for now they both just needed to rest. He changed and crawled into bed next to her. Still half-asleep she rolled over and reached for him laying her head on his chest. He held her all night and that was the best sleep they ever had. And she was right. In the morning, everything would be easier.

#little wing writes 67 #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #dean winchester #dean x reader #spn fanfic #SPN

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Ready to fly your flag?

Pride Month has arrived! While every day is a time to be proud of your identity and orientation, June is that extra special time for boldly celebrating with and for the LGBTQIA community (yes, there are more than lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender in the queer community). June was chosen to honor the Stonewall Riots which happened in 1969. Like other celebratory months, LGBT Pride Month started as a weeklong series of events and expanded into a full month of festivities.

In honor of Pride Month, UCF Library faculty and staff suggested books, movies and music from the UCF collection that represent a wide array of queer authors and characters. Additional events at UCF in June include “UCF Remembers” which is a week-long series of events to commemorate the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in 2016.

Click on the Keep Reading link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the 30 titles by or about people in the LGBTQIA community suggested by UCF Library employees. These, and additional titles, are also on the Featured Bookshelf display on the second (main) floor next to the bank of two elevators.

(A)sexual directed by Angela Tucker Facing a sex obsessed culture, a mountain of stereotypes and misconceptions, and a lack of social or scientific research, asexuals - people who experience no sexual attraction - struggle to claim their identity. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

A Florida Enchantment directed by Sidney Drew A young woman discovers a seed that can make women act like men and men act like women. She decides to take one, then slips one to her maid and another to her fiancé. The fun begins. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services

A Place at the Table: The gay individual in American society by Bruce Bawers At the Lincoln Memorial, on the eve of his inauguration as president, Bill Clinton expressed his hope for a nation in which every American would have "a place at the table." For Bruce Bawer, that vision will become reality only when every gay man and woman becomes a full member of the American family. His book is a passionate plea that we recognize, and celebrate, our common backgrounds and common values - our common humanity. Suggested by Missy Murphey, Research & Information Services

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship -- like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor -- April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world -- everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires -- and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight. Now April has to deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity, and her safety that this new position brings, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us. Suggested by Andrew Hackler, Circulation

Babel-17 by Samuel R Delany Babel-17, winner of the Nebula Award for best novel of the year, is a fascinating tale of a famous poet bent on deciphering a secret language that is the key to the enemy’s deadly force, a task that requires she travel with a splendidly improbable crew to the site of the next attack. For the first time, Babel-17 is published as the author intended with the short novel Empire Star, the tale of Comet Jo, a simple-minded teen thrust into a complex galaxy when he’s entrusted to carry a vital message to a distant world. Spellbinding and smart, both novels are testimony to Delany’s vast and singular talent. Suggested by Mary Lee Gladding, Circulation

Black Wings Beating by Alex London The people of Uztar have long looked to the sky with hope and wonder. Nothing in their world is more revered than the birds of prey and no one more honored than the falconers who call them to their fists. Brysen strives to be a great falconer--while his twin sister, Kylee, rejects her ancient gifts for the sport and wishes to be free of falconry. She's nearly made it out, too, but a war is rolling toward their home in the Six Villages, and no bird or falconer will be safe. Together the twins must journey into the treacherous mountains to trap the Ghost Eagle, the greatest of the Uztari birds and a solitary killer. Brysen goes for the boy he loves and the glory he's long craved, and Kylee to atone for her past and to protect her brother's future. But both are hunted by those who seek one thing: power. Suggested by Mary Lee Gladding, Circulation

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin Giovanni's Room traces one man's struggle with his sexual identity. In a 1950s Paris swarming with expatriates and characterized by dangerous liaisons and hidden violence, an American finds himself confronting secret desires that jeopardize the conventional life he envisions for himself. After meeting and proposing to a young woman, he falls into a lengthy affair with an Italian bartender and is confounded and tortured as he oscillates between the two. Now a classic of gay literature, Baldwin's haunting and controversial second novel is his most sustained treatment of sexuality. Examining the agonizing mystery of love and passion in an intensely imagined yet beautifully restrained narrative, Baldwin creates a moving and complex story of death and desire that is revelatory in its insight. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake Mara and Owen are as close as twins can get, so when Mara’s friend Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to think. Can her brother really be guilty of such a violent act? Torn between her family and her sense of right and wrong, Mara feels lost, and it doesn’t help that things are strained with her ex-girlfriend, Charlie. As Mara, Hannah, and Charlie come together in the aftermath of this terrible crime, Mara must face a trauma from her own past and decide where Charlie fits into her future. With sensitivity and openness, this timely novel confronts the difficult questions surrounding consent, victim blaming, and sexual assault. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it's Lei they're after -- the girl with the golden eyes whose rumored beauty has piqued the king's interest. Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king's consort. There, she does the unthinkable -- she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world's entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley Sixteen-year-old Solomon has agoraphobia. He hasn't left his house in 3 years. Ambitious Lisa is desperate to get into a top-tier psychology program. And so when Lisa learns about Solomon, she decides to befriend him, cure him, and then write about it for her college application. To earn Solomon's trust, she introduces him to her boyfriend Clark, and starts to reveal her own secrets. But what started as an experiment leads to a real friendship, with all three growing close. But when the truth comes out, what erupts could destroy them all. Funny and heartwarming, Highly Illogical Behavior is a fascinating exploration of what makes us tick, and how the connections between us may be the most important things of all. Suggested by Rich Gause, Research & Information Services

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee How to Write an Autobiographical Novel is the author’s manifesto on the entangling of life, literature, and politics, and how the lessons learned from a life spent reading and writing fiction have changed him. In these essays, he grows from student to teacher, reader to writer, and reckons with his identities as a son, a gay man, a Korean American, an artist, an activist, a lover, and a friend. He examines some of the most formative experiences of his life and the nation’s history, including his father’s death, the AIDS crisis, 9/11, the jobs that supported his writing—Tarot-reading, bookselling, cater-waiting for William F. Buckley—the writing of his first novel, Edinburgh, and the election of Donald Trump. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan In Other Lands is the exhilarating new book from beloved and bestselling author Sarah Rees Brennan. It’s a novel about surviving four years in the most unusual of schools, about friendship, falling in love, diplomacy, and finding your own place in the world ― even if it means giving up your phone. Suggested by Katie Burroughs, Administration

Looking for Lorraine: the radiant and radical life of Lorraine Hansberry by Imani Perry Lorraine Hansberry, who died in 1965 at age thirty-four, was, by all accounts, a force of nature. She was also one of the most radical, courageous, and prescient artist-intellectuals of the twentieth century--and one of the least understood. Defined largely by her groundbreaking play A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry has been hidden in plain sight for decades. Little of her manifold contributions, her associations, her other writing, or her transgressive nature is known. A prolific and probing artist, she also committed herself passionately to political activism. Hansberry's unflinching dedication to social justice brought her under FBI surveillance in the midst of McCarthyism, when she was barely in her twenties. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

Make Trouble by John Waters When John Waters delivered his gleefully subversive advice to the graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design in 2015, the speech went viral, in part because it was so brilliantly on point about making a living as a creative person. From an icon of popular culture, here is inspiring advice for artists, graduates, and anyone seeking happiness and success on their own terms. Now we all can enjoy his sly wisdom in a manifesto that reminds us, no matter what field we choose, to embrace chaos, be nosy, and defy outdated critics. Suggested by Seth Dwyer, Circulation

Man Into Woman: an authentic record of a change of sex edited by Niels Hoyer This riveting account of the transformation of the Danish painter Einar Wegener into Lili Elbe is a remarkable journey from man to woman. Einar Wegener was a leading artist in late 1920's Paris. One day his wife Grete asked him to dress as a woman to model for a portrait. It was a shattering event which began a struggle between his public male persona and emergent female self, Lili. Einar was forced into living a double life; enjoying a secret hedonist life as Lili, with Grete and a few trusted friends, whilst suffering in public as Einar, driven to despair and almost to suicide. Doctors, unable to understand his condition, dismissed him as hysterical. Lili eventually forced Einar to face the truth of his being - he was, in fact, a woman. This bizarre situation took an extraordinary turn when it was discovered that his body contained primitive female sex organs. There followed a series of dangerous experimental operations and a confrontation with the conventions of the age until Lili was eventually liberated from Einar - a freedom that carried the ultimate price. Compiled fron Lili's own letters and manuscripts, and those of the people who adored her, Man into Woman is the Genesis of the Gender Revolution. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services

Next Year, For Sure: a novel by Zoey Leigh Peterson In this moving and enormously entertaining debut novel, longtime romantic partners Kathryn and Chris experiment with an open relationship and reconsider everything they thought they knew about love. After nine years together, Kathryn and Chris have the sort of relationship most would envy. They speak in the shorthand they have invented, complete one another's sentences, and help each other through every daily and existential dilemma. When Chris tells Kathryn about his feelings for Emily, a vivacious young woman he sees often at the Laundromat, Kathryn encourages her boyfriend to pursue this other woman--certain that her bond with Chris is strong enough to weather a little side dalliance. As Kathryn and Chris stumble into polyamory, Next Year, For Sure tracks the tumultuous, revelatory, and often very funny year that follows. When Chris's romance with Emily grows beyond what anyone anticipated, both Chris and Kathryn are invited into Emily's communal home, where Kathryn will discover new romantic possibilities of her own. In the confusions, passions, and upheavals of their new lives, both Kathryn and Chris will be forced to reconsider their past and what they thought they knew about love. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers by Lillian Faderman As Lillian Faderman writes, there are "no constants with regard to lesbianism," except that lesbians prefer women. In this groundbreaking book, she reclaims the history of lesbian life in twentieth-century America, tracing the evolution of lesbian identity and subcultures from early networks to more recent diverse lifestyles. She draws from journals, unpublished manuscripts, songs, media accounts, novels, medical literature, pop culture artifacts, and oral histories by lesbians of all ages and backgrounds, uncovering a narrative of uncommon depth and originality. Suggested by Missy Murphey, Research & Information Services

Orlando by Virginia Woolf Orlando, a novel loosely based on the life of Vita Sackville-West, Virginia Woolf's lover and friend, is one of Woolf's most playful and tantalizing works. This edition provides readers with a fully collated and annotated text. A substantial introduction charts the birth of the novel in the romance between Woolf and Sackville-West, and the role it played in the evolution and eventual fading of that romance. Extensive explanatory notes reveal the extent to which the novel is embedded in Woolf's knowledge of Sackville-West, her family history and her writings. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist by Ben Barres As an undergraduate at MIT, Barres experienced discrimination, but it was after transitioning that he realized how differently male and female scientists are treated. He became an advocate for gender equality in science, and later in life responded pointedly to Larry Summers's speculation that women were innately unsuited to be scientists. Privileged white men, Barres writes, “miss the basic point that in the face of negative stereotyping, talented women will not be recognized.” At Stanford, Barres made important discoveries about glia, the most numerous cells in the brain, and he describes some of his work. “The most rewarding part of his job,” however, was mentoring young scientists. That, and his advocacy for women and transgender scientists, ensures his legacy. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara A gritty and gorgeous debut that follows a cast of gay and transgender club kids navigating the Harlem ball scene of the 1980s and ’90s, inspired by the real House of Xtravaganza made famous by the seminal documentary “Paris Is Burning”. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst In the summer of 1983, twenty-year-old Nick Guest moves into an attic room in the Notting Hill home of the Feddens: conservative Member of Parliament Gerald, his wealthy wife Rachel, and their two children, Toby―whom Nick had idolized at Oxford―and Catherine, who is highly critical of her family's assumptions and ambitions. As the boom years of the eighties unfold, Nick, an innocent in the world of politics and money, finds his life altered by the rising fortunes of this glamorous family. His two vividly contrasting love affairs, one with a young black clerk and one with a Lebanese millionaire, dramatize the dangers and rewards of his own private pursuit of beauty, a pursuit as compelling to Nick as the desire for power and riches among his friends. Richly textured, emotionally charged, disarmingly comic, this is a major work by one of our finest writers. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a stunning and provocative literary debut that was named to numerous best of the year lists. When Cameron Post’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they’ll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl. But that relief doesn’t last, and Cam is forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone, and Cam becomes an expert at both. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

The Path to Gay Rights: how activism and coming out changed public opinion by Jeremiah J. Garretson The Path to Gay Rights is the first social science analysis of how and why the LGBTQ movement achieved its most unexpected victory---transforming gay people from a despised group of social deviants into a minority worthy of rights and protections in the eyes of most Americans. The book weaves together a narrative of LGBTQ history with new findings from the field of political psychology to provide an understanding of how social movements affect mass attitudes in the United States and globally. Suggested by Missy Murphey, Research & Information Services

The Polyamorists Next Door: inside multiple-partner relationships and families by Elisabeth Sheff The Polyamorists Next Door introduces polyamorous families, in which people are free to pursue emotional, romantic, and sexual relationships with multiple people at the same time, openly and with support from their partners, sometimes forming multi-partner relationships, or other arrangements that allow for emotional and sexual freedom within the family system. In colorful and moving details, this book explores how polyamorous relationships come to be, grow and change, manage the ins and outs of daily family life, and cope with the challenges they face both within their families and from society at large. Using polyamoristsown words, Dr. Elisabeth Sheff examines polyamorous households and reveals their advantages, disadvantages, and the daily lives of those living in them. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

The Price of Salt by Claire Morgan The Price of Salt is the famous lesbian love story by Patricia Highsmith, written under the pseudonym Claire Morgan. The author became notorious due to the story's latent lesbian content and happy ending, the latter having been unprecedented in homosexual fiction. Highsmith recalled that the novel was inspired by a mysterious woman she happened across in a shop and briefly stalked. Because of the happy ending (or at least an ending with the possibility of happiness) which defied the lesbian pulp formula and because of the unconventional characters that defied stereotypes about homosexuality. The book fell out of print but was re-issued and lives on today as a pioneering work of lesbian romance. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword, and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future -- and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Suggested by Rebecca Hawk, Circulation

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall 'As a man loved a woman, that was how I loved...It was good, good, good...' Stephen is an ideal child of aristocratic parents - a fencer, a horse rider and a keen scholar. Stephen grows to be a war hero, a bestselling writer and a loyal, protective lover. But Stephen is a woman, and her lovers are women. As her ambitions drive her, and society confines her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions. The Well of Loneliness was banned for obscenity when published in 1928. It became an international bestseller, and for decades was the single most famous lesbian novel. It has influenced how love between women is understood, for the twentieth century and beyond. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson From the author of The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley comes an “equal parts sarcastic and profound” novel about a teenage boy who must decide whether or not the world is worth saving. Suggested by Rich Gause, Research & Information Services

We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ Elegant and electric, We Who Are About To... brings us face to face with our basic assumptions about our will to live. While most of the stranded tourists decide to defy the odds and insist on colonizing the planet and creating life, the narrator decides to practice the art of dying. When she is threatened with compulsory reproduction, she defends herself with lethal force. Originally published in 1977, this is one of the most subtle, complex, and exciting science fiction novels ever written about the attempt to survive a hostile alien environment. It is characteristic of Russ’s genius that such a readable novel is also one of her most intellectually intricate. Suggested by Mary Lee Gladding, Circulation

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera Critically acclaimed and bestselling authors Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera combine their talents in this smart, funny, heartfelt collaboration about two very different boys who can’t decide if the universe is pushing them together—or pulling them apart. ARTHUR is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it. BEN thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things. Suggested by Rich Gause, Research & Information Services

#lgbtqia+#lgbtq+ pride #featured bookshelf #ucf library #ucflibrary #booklr #reading suggestions

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