Named by McLachlan (R)

[laceymcbain.livejournal.com]

That brings us to the end of the month. It's been an honour and a privilege to do the recs for Supernatural this month. Anyone can volunteer, so if you've got a set of stories you've been itching to recommend to all and sundrie, be sure to sign up. It's a blast!

Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: Dean/Castiel
Length: ~ 95000 words
Author on LJ: mclachlan ; mclachland (Writing Journal)
Author Website: Fic Master Post on LJ
Why this must be read: This is one of the offerings from the 2010 spn_j2_bigbang and at 95,000 words it's a huge undertaking. What this epic offers is an alternative version of events from 4.22 onward, with an intriguing plotline, and one of the best Dean voices you'll ever read. All of our favourite characters are there: Sam, Bobby, Chuck, Gabriel, and a host of original characters who are well-fleshed out as individuals.

The story starts with the death of Jesus, and an eerie funeral at Resolute Bay (in Northern Canada!), and that's only the beginning as the boys and Cas try to figure out who murdered Jesus, and who gains in a war between Heaven and Hell. It centers around the same themes that Season 4 gave us - what does it mean to be an angel or a god, who's giving orders in heaven, what place does humanity have when angels and demons go to war? Through it all you have Dean's wonderful down-to-Earth snark and Cas's still-a-little-oblivious faith in justice and the Righteous Man.

Named captures the best of what the television series has to offer and gives us that much more with the intimacy developing between Dean and Castiel. It's a long read, but definitely worth it, and don't be surprised if it ends up on your re-reading list as well.



"Barachiel," Castiel says, completely without inflection, chin tilting in the most respectable of nods. Got to hand it to the guy. He's pulled Dean out of Hell, disobeyed Heaven's orders by thinking for himself for a change, kicked Zachariah's smarmy ass in the green room, and is currently staring his own death in the face. And what does he do? He's nice to his would-be executioner. It's like some store of bad-ass no one's ever tapped. Sure, Chuck Norris and Dean Winchester can both kick your ass, but Castiel? Castiel will do it with manners.

"I am glad I got to you first," Barachiel says, gaunt jaw working around a mouth full of strangely perfect, white teeth.

"I must admit, I am surprised they sent you. Forgive my impertinence, Barachiel, but the Seven have never involved themselves in our matters." Castiel's eyes dart from Chuck to the door to Chuck again, obviously saying get the fuck out of here while I distract her with politeness. Bad. Ass.

Barachiel tilts her head. Must be an angel thing. "Would you have preferred Zachariah?"

"No," Castiel says, chastised, voice drawn low and almost soft.

The dark head tilts even more and Chuck waits to hear something crack. It looks like the angel doesn't know the limitations of the human form, because they're approaching Exorcist levels of creepy now. "Where is your Righteous Man?"

Lips pinched tightly, Castiel lowers his chin and gives her a dark stare, dark enough that even Chuck has to take a step back, because damn, Cas. If they survive this, he's starting the Castiel Facts. Fact One: If you mention Dean Winchester in a negative way, Castiel will start a second apocalypse. Okay, it's not a good one, but once they catch on the internet will do the rest of the work for him. Like, Fact Two: Killing Castiel won't make him dead, just incredibly angry. Fact Three: Castiel can eat beer with chopsticks.

Yeah, totally not focusing on the matter at hand. It's completely understandable -- what normal, sane person could? Sometimes this whole thing is just too big.

Read the story and feedback the author: Named - Master Post (with links to all sections, artwork, and downloadable PDF file)

Comments

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

This looks very interesting! I do love long, plotty stories.

Quick question though. The author states there is a section written in Spanish and to hover the mouse over for a translation. Do you know how the downloadable .pdf handles that? I don't want to skim ahead to find out because I really hate spoilers. Also, I load all my fic on my eReader to take where ever, so a hovering mouse won't be possible.

Thanks in advance and thanks for the great month of reviews! I'm a lurker most of the time so I haven't said anything yet.

spanish

[laceymcbain.livejournal.com]

That's a very good question. I had a look at the PDF file, which has the dialogue in Spanish, but I can't see where there's a translation. You might want to send a quick email or comment to the author and see if he/she has the translations available on a separate file. (If you're not comfortable doing that just drop me an email at my LJ and I'd be happy to.) It would be a shame to not be able to read the story for what's one relatively small portion in about Chapter 8, I think.

Glad you're enjoying the reviews! Thanks.

Re: spanish

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the lightning quick response! I'll try to get in touch with the author via comments.

Re: spanish

[laceymcbain.livejournal.com]

Not a problem - it sounds like the author's going to try to fix that for you. I hope it works - it's really a good story to dive into and spend a while.

Re: spanish

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

That's great! I never did get a chance to drop the author a line, just too busy this weekend. I figured I probably wasn't the only one who reads their fanfic on readers of some sort. They really are great for that. I used to have boxes and binders full of printed copies.

Thanks for your help.