Oops! I meant to post this to anti_recs my recs lj, but while I'm at it: hello y'all! spn_j2_bigbang has really helped spark my fannish flames as it were and I'm hoping to make my way back to being more active on lj :D I have an insane backlog of recs to catch up on, most of these stories are relatively new, but some may be older. I'll hopefully be posting more regularly soon.

A Warning for a Promise by dontyouwaitup. Supernatural: Sam/Dean, 16,897 words, NC-17. A spooky ghost story, with a strong Dean voice and a lot of atmosphere.

Rubber Ducky (You're the One) by impertinence. Supernatural: Sam/Dean, 21,000 words, NC-17. This is a fun, lighthearted story which would probably be best categorized as crackfic since the central plot point is Dean turning into a rubber duck.

Swear by All Flowers by sweetestdrain. Supernatural: Sam/Dean, 37,000 words, NC-17. Another Big Bang fic, this one is a long, haunting, kick ass story which desperately needs to be turned into an episode. I'm fiercely in love with authors who make use of the billions of myths and fairy tales we have woven into the tapestry of human history, and this one if a great example of why I love them so much. The Russian fairy tale of Baba Yaga has stuck with me since I was a little kid reading books on world fairy tales and it was lovely to read a story that does her creepy mythology justice. At 37,000+ words this is a nice long story but the pacing is so quick and lively that I read it in no time.

Exact Change by dontyouwaitup. Supernatural: Sam/Dean, 31,580 words, NC-17. This story kicked my ass in such a good way. Sam and Dean are spot on and wonderfully angsty. This is set after the events in San Francisco (read: Madison the werewolf) and it's just chock full of atmosphere.

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Spark by pandoraiam. CW RPS: Jared/Jensen, 24,343 words, NC-17. Written for spn_j2_bigbang, this story is a gorgeously written AU in which Dean Collins is a foster kid turned firefighter in Chicago and Sam is a mysterious guy with a world of secrets. pandoraiam is my absolute favorite favorite discovery from the big bang so far, girl's got serious talent: this story is well plotted, characterized, and so, so satisfying. This is a really imaginative look at who the boys might be if their paths had changed and the internal logic of the story was really tight (a serious kink of mine.)

The Truth About Heaven by destina. CW RPS: Jared/Jensen, 20,550 words, NC-17. Written for spn_j2_bigbang, this story is set as Supernatrual comes to the end of a five year run. I had some issues with the characterization in this story but overall found it to be entertaining and engaging, with some great details that really serve to flesh out the surrounding universe of the story.

Last Stop: Chicagoland by phaballa. CW RPS: Jared/Jensen, 27, 043 words, NC-17. I cannot possible love this story any more than I do. It's long, sweet without ever tipping the scales towards saccharine, and it has lodged itself firmly in my hear ever since I read it two weeks ago. After Supernatural ends Jared and Jensen move to Chicago and have daughters. It's a gorgeous story that just oozes with life and is populated with a million enchanting side characters. This is the kind of universe building I find so rarely, the kind where even though the story feels full and complete, I could still read hundreds of thousands more words and never feel full.

Monogatari by winterlive. CW RPS: Jared/Jensen, 77,788 words, NC-17. It took me a while to get into this story, and it took me a while longer to really appreciate it. As long as it is, I would have appreciated a more fleshed out picture of the universe this is set in. It's and AU in the truest sense: the world in which this is set is a completely new reality in which, as best as I can piece together, fuedal Japan became the largest of the world Empires and modernization flowed similarly to our world in terms of tech, but remained culturally and politically similar to ancient Japan. The world building was inventive and interesting, and I love the idea of Jensen and Jared being samurai, but I'm still not sure that this story really sold me on it, I almost would have preferred this to be a Sam/Dean story than a Jensen/Jared story, if only because I had such a hard time buying Jensen the prodigy samurai initially.

There moves a thread that has no end by keepaofthecheez. CW RPS: Jared/Jensen, 20,209 words, NC-17. I have some issues with the way keepaofthecheez writes Jensen and Jared, I usually end up feeling like they're both a little shallow (in both the not quite fully fleshed out sense and the behavioral sense) My issues however, have never stopped me from enjoying her stories, and this is no difference. The set up for this story is a Groundhog's Day scenario in which Jensen keeps repeating the same day over and over again. It's a classic theme and this is a nice take on it.

And the Rest, As They Say, Is History by raina_at. CW RPS: Jared/Jensen, 18,019 words, NC-17. As evidenced by lots of previous recs, I am a complete sucker for good AUs. I especially love them in rps fandoms. In this one, Jensen is a struggling actor and Jared is one of young hollywood's elite. They meet when Jensen takes a job as Jared's dog sitter.

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Where We Ought to Be by wojelah. Stargate Atlantis: McKay/Sheppard, 27,932 words, NC-17. Set post-Sunday this fic is long, slow, heartbreaking and beautiful. wojelah has some great insights into the characters, and the entire story has a great flow to it. Lately, it's been taking a lot to pull me into a story and this one did it effortlessly.

Accidentally in Love by shetiger. Stargate Atlantis: McKay/Sheppard, 17,016 words, NC-17. This is one of those it could have been a cliché if it hadn't been handled so well stories (aka my favorite type of story ever.) It starts out with Rodney and John pretending to be a couple while on a mission but is so much more (primarily because the entire offworld mission part of the story is only the first couple scenes and definitely isn't the central plot point.) The rest of the story is a lovely buildup to a fantastic climax involving some accidental dates and very tentative moves towards romance. Just what I look for in a first time story.

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Not Us by paian. Stargate SG-1: Jack/Daniel, 12,600 words, NC-17. paian is one of my absolute favorite Jack/Daniel writers; her characters are mature, wholly dimensional, believable entities whose feelings and thoughts I can empathize with and care about, in short she achieves what so many people can't quite reach: real stories about real people who I really care for. This story is no different. It's set after Fragile Balance and centers around both the clone!Jack and the regular Jack and Daniel. It's lovely, plotty, and satisfyingly long.

Five Ways Daniel Improves Atlantis by findo. Stargate SG-1/Atlantis: Jack/Daniel, Sheppard/McKay, 1,357 words, PG. This is a short, lovely set of vignettes which beautifully illustrate a future I would love to see happen in the Atlantis universe. This story definitely falls outside of my norm (long, plotty, R/NC-17) but it's an absolute jewel.