My Best of DCBB 2017 List
I did this once before, albeit in a more timely manner. I don't know if I will do this again in the future. I barely continue to read Supernatural fics every now and then, which is a significant change from my past habits.
1. Legacies
Dean Winchester had never known anything else. Growing up as a Man of Letters just as his father and grandfather did before him, Dean was aware from a young age the responsibilities shouldered both by himself and his brother, each destined to one day become the vessels to archangels, and fulfil a prophecy as old as Creation itself. He isn’t happy about it, but then who would be? His father is consumed by the loss of his wife, and Sam is a willing participant in preparations for the oncoming Apocalypse, thrilled by the power of the demon blood that Dean is certain must be corrupting him far deeper than anyone can know. And then there’s the angel. Captured in Maine on the 23rd April 1901, the dazzling and beautiful Castiel influences three generations of Winchesters, and in perhaps unlikely circumstances, alters the path of each of their fates.
2. Just Like Feathers
Hosting the academy for the training of hunters and future Men of Letters, the city of Campbell is no stranger to unnatural phenomena. A winter that drags on well into May, however, is a novelty that nobody knows how to deal with. Dean has seen enough monsters and witches in the recent war to last him a lifetime, but his sense of duty and a strange longing in his chest urge him to take on this case. Dean sets out to find the hidden realm of Frau Holle, the deity who is responsible for making it snow. Travelling to the very fringes of human lands, where the barrier between realms has become thin enough for him to slip through the cracks, Dean finds his way to Holle's Estate to put an end to winter. What he finds however is an empty realm and an angel who dutifully continues the work of making it snow in Holle's absence.
3. Good One's Gonna Be
Castiel Novak receives a rather alarming text message from an unknown number, and what started as a simple misdial quickly turns into the greatest friendship Castiel has ever known. But Dean has many secrets, dangerous truths about the life he lives, and would like to tell Castiel exactly none of them.
4. The Dream's the Thing (Wherein He’ll Catch the Subconscious of Our Dean)
Dean finds himself in a crowded ballroom with only the sense that he needs to choose someone. In between this and other strange visions, Dean remembers that the Apocalypse is over. Sam, Bobby, and Cas are alive but going their separate ways. Dean’s dying. But if his supernatural death flu is the price for the return of his family, why does Dean get better around Cas?
5. Pieces of Dean
When Dean takes the brunt of a spell intended to evict Castiel from his vessel, his mind fractures and it falls to Cas and Sam to put him back together—not knowing how many pieces of Dean there are, or which part will come out next. Will it be the innocent child who remembers that angels are watching over him? The Hell-tortured adult who believes he’s not worthy of rescue? The angry hunter who has been betrayed one too many times? Or the lover who no longer has a reason to hold back?
6. Framed in a Stranger's Speech
Dean, Sam, and Cas have finally found some normalcy – and despite all odds, happiness – when an average hunt leaves a powerful witch gunning for revenge. When the dust clears, there’s a crater in the bunker’s walls and Cas’ vessel is lying empty on the floor. But Jimmy isn’t the only Novak out there. Cas is alive, but he's trapped in Claire and getting weaker by the hour – and all the while the witch moves ever closer to them, intent on finishing the job. Unable to return to his own body, but unwilling to stay in Claire for long, Cas’ time is running out, and Dean is once again faced with the possibility of losing him.
7. Entertaining Strangers
There are angels all over the country. Dean has seen them on street corners, met them in bars, taken them to bed. He never expected to wind up with one sleeping on his couch, but he supposes stranger things have happened.
8. so bitter and so sweet
Dean has known about the family curse ever since it claimed the life of his mother: anyone who dares to love a Winchester is fated to die. When he takes a chance on love and loses his husband Benny, his belief in its power only grows stronger. Two years later, a late-night phone call from his brother Sam sends both of their lives spinning wildly out of control. Then Officer Cas Novak arrives in town, looking into the disappearance of Sam’s girlfriend Ruby, and starts asking questions Sam and Dean can’t answer. Complicating matters even further, Dean feels an immediate, overwhelming connection to the intense, blue-eyed source of their problems. Dealing with all the secrets, the lies, and a brother slowly crumbling under the weight of his guilt doesn’t leave much time for romance, but as Cas gets closer to the truth, he also gets closer to Dean.
So...how about that Season 13 finale? That bit at the end is only something I've been waiting to happen since Season 5...
