Where the wave of moonlight glosses

Reveals for spn_j2_bigbang went up today! And I'm actually online for once, so here you go! :D

Kaleidoscope

As an empath, Jensen has been alone all his life.

It's only logical. Between being raised in a government facility and interacting with the rest of the world from behind mental walls strong enough to keep out a jumbo jet, Jensen hasn't exactly developed the interpersonal skills most people consider necessary for daily life.

Of course, now that he's created an empathic - and romantic - bond with Jared, alone is the last thing that Jensen would describe himself as. From meeting the parents to having to interact with Jared's friends who definitely don't approve of him, Jensen is finding that having at least a few interpersonal skills would come in handy. He's also quite legitimately concerned that the government is out to get him, judging by all the strongly worded summonses he keeps finding in his mailbox.

All he can say is that he hopes true love is worth all this effort.

Aand if the premise sounds somewhat familiar, it's because this is a loooooong-overdue sequel to my timeless classic, "Learn to Glow for Other's Good". :P It is totes not going to be worth the five year wait, but here it shall be nonetheless. Huzzah!

I had the excellent fortune of being chosen by the lovely pennydrdful, who already has some amazing ideas about how to illustrate this story. Look forward to some fantastic stuff from her! Exciting!

Fic title: Judgment in Reverse
Author name: cleflink
Artist name: ldyghst
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: R
Word count: 30,900
Warnings: Coup-related violence, minor character deaths
A/N: Written for spn_j2_bigbang's 2015 round. The title is a reference to the Judgment Tarot Card.

Summary: In a world governed by order and logic, Jensen is a square peg in a round hole: the only person whose government-mandated prophecies are never right. When he receives a prophecy that he can't fake, however; he finds himself caught up in something that's much bigger than he realized. Something that threatens to rewrite everything he thinks he knows about the world. Something that threatens to topple the very foundations of his society.

Something that just might be magic.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
AO3 | PDF Coming Soon!
Master Art Post

Acknowledgements: Thank you first and foremost to ldyghst, who chose my crazy little story for this challenge and made some absolutely lovely art for it. Despite the terrible first draft she read, ldyghst was able to create a very distinct and stylish feel for her art that complements this story more than I ever could have hoped for. She was also hella patient with me when things weren't finished on time, which I very much appreciate. Please head over to her Art Post and let her know how fabulous her art is!

dugindeep always deserves love, booze and chocolates from me when it comes to her awesomeness at brainstorming and sprinting. This year, I have to give her especial thanks for stepping in as a much-needed zero-hour beta. Don't know what I'd do without you, hon! (Fail miserably, most likely). Any inability to use the English language that still remains is totally my bad.

And finally, hooray for wendy for hosting this challenge year after year! You're awesome!

I hope you all enjoy this story!

Fic title: Dragon Kin
Author name: cleflink
Artist name: washedstone
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 37,000
Warnings: Fantasy violence; childhood grief about being taken away from home; some Jensen whumpage; mentions of mpreg
A/N: Written for spn_j2_bigbang's 2014 round.

Summary: All it takes to turn seven year old Jensen's life upside-down is the accidental theft of a dragon egg and a dragon lord who decides that Jensen must pay for his crime by becoming the only human member of the dragon lords' clan. But at least he makes a lifelong friend in the process.

Twenty years later, Jensen's life is turned upside-down for a second time by an invading clan of harpies and the revelation that there was much more at stake in his adoption by the dragon clan than a simple matter of chance. Now, Jensen is going to find himself questioning the motives and emotions of his lifelong friend as he learns just why the dragon lords took him all those years ago and what it really means to be dragon kin.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five
AO3 | PDF (coming soon!)
Art Master Post

Acknowledgements:
This story is actually a long-awaited AO3 Auction fic for usagimc who probably expected nothing like this to come out of her prompt. It is 12x longer than it was technically supposed to be, though, so it'll be hardly a wonder if I've wandered off script. I sincerely hope it has been worth the wait, my dear!

I had the distinct pleasure of working with washedstone on this challenge and I cannot think of anyone whose work would have been better suited to this story. Not only is her work is gorgeous, detailed and creative, but we also share a love of fantasy (and Jared with horns and wings) that made her art the perfect complement to my silly little dragon adventure. ^_^ Her painting of the Tree *points to banner* may as well have been pulled directly out of my head for how exactly it matches what I was envisioning, and she has been so positive and adaptable when it comes to finding a look for the art that matches the story. Please head over to her Art Post and tell her how beautiful her art is.

dugindeep deserves so much love for helping me brainstorm, joining me in the commiserating about why the hell we think writing is fun, and telling me to fix the ending so that it did justice to the rest of the story. Don't know if I managed it, but it's certainly better now than it was before. Thanks also especially to her and tebtosca for sprinting with me to meet the draft deadline. tebtosca is also the beauty responsible for suggesting harpies as the natural enemy of dragons. Checks out to me.

As always and ever, my bigbang wouldn't be complete without the eagle eyes and thoughtful suggestions of my beta, the lovely oddishly. Any inability to use the English language that still remains is totally my bad.

And finally, hooray for wendy! This challenge is one of the major things that makes SPN/J2 fandom so amazing and it would absolutely not be possible without her enthusiasm, hard work and mad coding skills. :)

I've still got some stuff on the burner right now that I'm definitely working on first, but I haven't got the foggiest idea what to write for Bigbang this year and that's probably something I should be getting on (that's what she said). *cough* And tomorrow is a holiday, which makes this a great time to start brainstorming.

Which is why I need all of you to help me out here.

POLL![Poll #1957033]

MEME!
- Give me a prompt and I'll write you a one-two sentence comment fic!
- This can be related to the genre you pick in the poll or just because you'd like a comment fic. :)
- My hope is that something will spark an idea for a longer story, so give me your best shot!

Even if you have NEVER spoken to me, the fact that you read my stuff means that I would love to hear what you would like to see me write. So, please, comment away! I have also enabled anon commenting for the purposes of this post, if you don't want me to know that you want to talk to me. Er.

EDIT: The lovely akintay has informed me that crossovers are off the table for bigbang, but being inspired by something else is okay. Which is all I ever do anyway, so you can still pick that one if that's your thing. Also, I don't know how to edit polls.

( Meme results if you want to see them )