#dddippinsauce

(To see the Countdown announcement, and the current listing of my favorite Pinecest fanfics, click here.)

Number 2 - Be Okay (Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6) by @dddippinsauce

This multi-chapter fic is the complete package. It has everything, literally everything I want in a long-form Pinecest story!

First, there is required reading that should be completed before diving into this fic. Sauce calls the encompassing plot the “Protectionverse”, starting with her wonderful first work “Protection”, followed by “Dipper and Mabel’s Guide to Becoming a Travelling Paranormal-Hunter”. These stories set the stage for an epic cross-country road trip of the supernatural.

Dipper and Mabel are in their early 20′s in this AU. Dipper is plagued by crippling attacks of anxiety that only Mabel can help him through, and Mabel depends on Dipper’s loving attention to keep her grounded. Throughout these difficulties, the twins have become somewhat practiced in the paranormal arts. They set out on their trek as a way to use their skills, all the while keeping one another safe.

Sauce’s writing is a joy to read. She produces beautiful depictions of the physical world. And she does so well at making us experience the thoughts of her characters. Dipper and Mabel’s inner feelings of turmoil and empathy are perfectly revealed to us.

This premise and storytelling skill results in a fantastic tale of danger, intrigue, and love. The twins learn of and deal with new discoveries of the events that have so damaged Dipper. They experience amazingly well-described moments of supernatural terror. And the portrayal of the twins’ relationship is astoundingly beautiful! Never before have you seen two people who simply must be together than in this awesome story.

(Click here for my intro and up-to-date summary of authors I’ve shown appreciation for.)

@dddippinsauce and @mickber

I'm combining these two into one post primarily because neither has a particularly broad offering of fics to read, so there's less to absorb from them. But what they have produced is so significant, there's just no way I could dismiss either one.

Both of these ladies came to my attention last fall. In both cases, I read their first Pinecest story they'd ever published. And in both cases, I was shocked by this fact. Damn it, they were both so good!

Starting with “Protection”, Sauce produced a tremendously moving story of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, and of the depths of the love that Dipper and Mabel share. When I can be affected by a story that hard, I know that the author has a lot of talent. She “gets” how to convey complex emotion so well. Even though I cannot relate to this kind of pain from any personal experience, I think I now have an inkling.

Sauce has followed up with the start of a multi-chapter sequel in the same AU, and another unrelated drabble, both of which show us she is just as capable of lightening things up a bit. That's what's nice about a catalog of work: we get to see the full ability of a writer.

With Mick, though, there is only one fic to judge her work by. But man, is it a doosy!

“Even at our swiftest speed …” is a different take on Dipper’s battles with PTSD, and it produced in me some of the most horrific, terrible feels I've ever had the immense pleasure to have experienced. Mick's portrayal of Dipper's awful situation was so wonderfully done, it hurts when I think about it. And it was told in a unique writing style (second-person POV, Tarantino-esque time jumps in the narrative) that accentuated the intense discomfort I felt while reading it. This is an angst masterpiece. God damn!

I know that both of these wonderful authors want to write more Pinecest in the future. For this, I hope I speak for everyone I know on Tumblr when I say, “Thank goodness!” Both of you are a credit to this fandom. Thank you.

Sauce’s List of Stories: DDDIPPINSAUCE FICS (link may not work on mobile apps)

E-o-F’s Favorite Story: Protection