I've never been a huge fan of Supernatural the show, I watched the first four seasons with my husband but that was his pick. I also don't like RPF as a general rule. The less I know about the lives of the actors whose work I like, the better, as far as I'm concerned. No shade to those who enjoy RPF, it's a me thing. However, I love RPF AUS. They're basically original fiction with faces I can easily picture in my mind, you know? And a lot more tropetastic than most published romance.

That's why, over the years, I've enjoyed a few selected stories from the Supernatural RPF fandom, mostly J2 (Jensen/Jared for the uninitiated) but not only.

A Kept Boy by poisontaster. 200K words. This is a massive, massive novel; it doesn't get more AU than this. It's set in an alternate version of present day America where slavery is a thing. It's Jensen/ Jeffery Dean Morgan but the full list of characters is as long as my arm. I don't even know all of the actors, and frankly I don't care. I took them as OCs. It contains very disturbing themes, of course, consent is problematic to say the least, but the world-building and the character arcs are carefully thought out and it never delves into pain porn, imo. I must say that it contains the best depiction of therapy in fiction I've ever come across. Seriously, Jensen's therapy sessions and his emotional growth are the highlight of the story for me. Thankfully, it exists also in podfic form, by superstitiousme.

If AKB is too dark for you, let's go to the other end of the spectrum: Starstruck, by pandarus. This is a J2 movie based on Notting Hill. It's hilarious and definitely lighter but it still hits all the emotional beats to be a super-satisfying rom-com. Better than the original, imo. The excellent pandarus, who by now you should all know is an amazing performer too, recorded the podfic of her own story and it's as brilliant as you might expect it to be.

Do I Seem Bulletproof to You? by fleshflutter. 96K words. This is a classic in the J2 pairing and a great example of hooker!fic, a time-honoured trope. The author left fandom and the fic is a bit hard to find, but I linked to a place where you can download it in different formats. I've only ever listened to the wonderful podfic by cath, unsurprisingly.

Screw You, We're From Texas by makeit_takeit. 75K. This is the only story among these recs where the R in the acronym RPF plays a substantial role. Basically it's an AU of Jared and Jensen's lives if they'd never made it as actors but stayed in Texas and had 'normal' lives. To me, the great sense of place is one of the strengths of the fic. The scope of the fic and sheer amount of growth the two characters experience are astounding.

The Pitt

I'm not a big fan of AUs for this fandom because the medical setting is integral to my enjoyment of the show, but when the authors are talented and get the characters, I'll read anything...so after the best sports AU, let me give you a historical one. tightly knotted to a similar string by lirazel. 12k words. Mel/Frank. Victorian governess AU, as in Mel is Frank's children governess in England. I was sceptical going in...but lirazel totally won me over. This was lovely.

Rivers of London is an urban fantasy series written by Ben Aaronovitch (a Doctor Who writer). So far, it includes 9 books and loads of novellas. Set in almost-present-day London (IIRC the first book is set in 2011, the latest in 2018), I've heard it once described as "Harry Potter meets your standard British police procedural", and as back-cover blurb descriptions go it's not bad. It's just so much more than 'magic coppers', though.

The books are written in first-person and our POV character is Peter Grant, a mixed-race police constable and born-and-bred Londoner, with a touch of ADHD and the best British sense of humour. The books work because Peter is so damn likeable. Mind you, the books are also very British, which might be a selling point, if you're me, or put you off. The first seven books conclude a story arc, Aaronovitch knows how to play the long game, and are damn near perfect IMO.

The Rivers of London fandom used to be small but very active, but in recent years some people drifted away from it because they found it a bit uncomfortable to be fans of a series where the police is considered a force of good, I think. And I understand why. I am Italian, from Genova, I wouldn't be able to suspend my disbelief to read about Italian police being good guys (if you don't know what I'm talking about look up what happened during the 2001 G8 in my town). However, I have no problems romanticising bits of another country's police force, when they are represented by the likes of Peter Grant, Sahra Guleed and Thomas Nightingale. I'm afraid I'm not doing a good job of describing how awesome the series, is so I'll leave you with this introductory post by sixthlight, who was the BNF back then.

It's a new day [vid] by pollyrepeat. This awesome fanvid can totally work as a trailer for the series. I'm always so in awe of fans who can make vids for a canon which has no footage to offer as a starting point.

Longhouse by philomytha. This is such a great example of Peter's narration, and a casefile fic, and also a good example of the predictable main ship: Peter/Nightingale.

This(not) be the verse by leupagus. 3.8 K words. "Be honest, sir," I said, scrabbling for the left flipper, "I look like a moron."

"I’ve seen you look moronic before, Peter," Nightingale said, flicking the wheel right and sending us careening down a side street and me thudding against the left-hand door. "This does not even, as you put it, 'crack the top ten.'"

This is my fave of the most recent fics. It's got spoilers for, let's say, a development in Peter's life in the last two books? If you've read the books, you know what I'm talking about. Perfect Peter's voice and great interaction with Nightingale (totally non shippy). There are two podfic versions available! Haven't listened to either yet, but I plan on doing that asap.

I've Found a New Baby by knight-tracer and thefourthhvine. 13.6k. Peter/Nightingale. It's a sort of self-contained casefile of sorts, it can fit pretty much anywhere in canon before the last two books, I think, it's been a while since I listened to it. It's not particularly spoilery, I think. Peter finds a baby on the doorstep of the Folly. It’s an embarrassing cliché, I know, but there was an actual basket, made of what looked to be actual wicker, actually sitting there. It was oval and large and had spaces for handholds on either end; for a minute, I thought it was full of laundry, and my mind spun an image of a ghost laundress. Then the small hand emerged from the basket, waved around for a minute, and smacked down again. Brilliant Peter's voice and even better Nightingale's characterisation. The podfic is excellent!

Saving the big guns for last...As I said, sixthlight was the BNF in the fandom, for a reason. All her works are amazing. I miss her fic like crazy. Anyway, my all-time favourite is this: Wizardry by Consent. 62K words. It's an AU,a canon divergence one, and it's best enjoyed if you know canon to be able to appreciate the amazing worldbuilding and character work the author does when she takes our beloved characters on a new journey, starting from a simple change to the canon: Peter never became the Nightingale apprentice. Fifteen years after a headless body was discovered in Covent Garden, Thomas Nightingale is still the last wizard in Britain, and Peter Grant, newly appointed Commander for Community Engagement in the Metropolitan Police Service, has just learned the truth about the existence of the Folly. He has one or two questions. The podfic by lazulus is [insert superlative adjective of your choice here].

The Pitt

hard odds to beat when you're on all fours by loveism. Mel/Trinity. Femslash at its finest, perfectly in character and so well-written. I love me some Trinity Santos when people know how to write her well, and damn, Mel deserves all the good sex, so...