Bro-Bond Challenge Central

Fic challenges focusing on Sam&Dean (TFW 2.0 friendly, light side-shipping permitted. Platonic S&D centered) Rules Prompts Info/Contact Join/Submit

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

‪Submission Date is this Friday!‬

‪Hope we’ve got some good fics this time. If you didn’t do anything for Christmas, feel free to check our year round general prompts and let us know if you have a submission!‬

‪#BBCC #brobondcc ‬

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

Deadline for this year’s Christmas Fics is January 31st.

So nobody has to stress about writing over the holidays.

Hope everyone is doing well!

#BBCC #BroBondCC

[some-people-call-it-tragic]

HAVE A MERRY SUPERNATURAL CHRISTMAS!

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

Prompt Claims are OPEN!

We have a lovely selection of prompts available HERE!

Please read our RULES, then go sign up HERE!

Prompts will stay open between now and through Christmas. Select as many as you like.

Posting starts November 23. 

Both Fic and Art will be accepted!

Fic length minimum is 1,000 words.

Have a question? Ask us!

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

Prompt list has been updated for 2019! 

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

One thing certain “discussions” keep bringing up: our allowance of background ships/pairings.

You know what? They’re BACKGROUND, and in any properly fleshed out world, there are people interacting with and surrounding your main characters, doing their own things, forming friendships, falling in love, living their lives.

Do you expect us to force people to ignore Mary/Bobby? What if during Christmas dinner, Claire is present, and someone mentions Dark Kaia?  What if someone has Dean tease Sam about a waiter/waitress who flirted with him, or vice versa?

The brothers do not live in an empty cosmos where only they exist, and forcing writers/artists to not acknowledge the lives around them is not in the spirit of this challenge. We’re allowing for show-realistic violence and swear words, with a hard PG13 limit. 

And once again, the works are to be PLATONIC BROTHERS CENTRIC. 

If people can’t accept those rules, there are other challenges out there. 

-Mod H

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

Reblogging as a reminder this year: 

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

Cute little Brobond Fic by @nickelkeep to kick off December! (Link below)

https://twitter.com/nickelkeep/status/1202449246533885953?s=21

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21678577

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Heads up! We’ll be posting the full Christmas prompt list soon, with new additions.

Also, deadline will be extended to January this year, so people don’t need to stress over break about the fics. ❤️

-Admin A

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

Plus: We are taking prompt submissions! Let us know what your ideas are, and you’ll have a chance to have your prompt added to our list!

Just comment, dm, reblog or even send us an ask here on our tumblr!

What’s your favorite BroBond content in fanfic or in the show?

-Admin A

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

Cute little Brobond Fic by @nickelkeep to kick off December! (Link below)

https://twitter.com/nickelkeep/status/1202449246533885953?s=21

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21678577

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Heads up! We’ll be posting the full Christmas prompt list soon, with new additions.

Also, deadline will be extended to January this year, so people don’t need to stress over break about the fics. ❤️

-Admin A

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

We are open to prompt Submissions for this year’s Brobond Christmas Challenge! Comment below or DM us if you have any ideas or questions! -Admin C

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

*tiptoes into Tumblr. glances around*

Will y'all kill us if we start posting the #BrobondCC Christmas prompts before Thanksgiving?

[secretsandgreeneyes]

4.10 | Heaven and Hell

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

New Prompt List:

Format:

#, letter:, category (A=assorted), number

#A1: Sam and Dean as kids, staying with Bobby for their first time. Unaccustomed to staying in a real house, with no cars or people moving a few rooms away, & no background noise, Sam is scared. Dean tells him little made-up stories until they both drift off to sleep.

#A2: The first time Dean drove the Impala more than a mile wasn't on a sunny day like it had been for Jack. For Dean, it was panicking, rushing his brother to the hospital because of a case gone wrong, and his Dad in the backseat trying to stop Sam from bleeding out.

#A3: Dean and Sam are used to their life being an unending line of cases, fights, and apocalypses. But what happens when they just sit watching the world move around them as they sit eating in a bustling park?

#A4: Dean had always taken care of Sammy. That was his job. Always his job. Now, despite everything that had happened, it feels like he blinked and his little brother was all grown up, taking charge and leading other hunters and making a place for himself. Looking back on the years that had passed so quickly regardless of the pitfalls and troubles, Dean was proud of him, no matter what.

#A5: Even though he knew that just outside of the training room and down the hall Lucifer had taken up residence in his room, and God was taking a shower in their bathroom Sam couldn’t find it in himself to make a fuss. Dean asks why. Sam answered. It was just another curveball in their crazy life, something they couldn’t control. So Sam chose in that moment to put it out of his mind and simply train with his brother.

#A6: While Dean flirted with the bartender to no end and threw a devil-may-care smile as he hustled his way through the bar occupants, he knew something wasn't right. He could feel it. At the same time, Sam sat at the bar contemplating his plan to leave. He knew this was what he wanted, to go to school and be more than just a hunter. But it felt wrong. And the disconcerting feeling wouldn’t go away.

#A7: White noise filled his ears. Sam stared at the table as Dean bustled in the Bunker’s kitchen. It’s too quiet. No road noise, no passing cars on the highway beyond the walls. Dean’s hand lands on his shoulder as he asked what was wrong. Sam’s heart pounded in his ears he couldn’t answer. It wasn’t Sam’s home. “Home” was some unfamiliar construct, an illusion. They had no home, just the Impala on the road or dingy motels with broken air conditioning and a squeaky door. It was too quiet in the Bunker, and Sam’s heart was too loud for the thundering silence.

#A8: In the Bunker, sitting down for a solitary game of cards, Dean can’t help but remember teaching Sam to play. Hustling cards and the pool tables, those used to be the money makers when dad was gone and the stash he’d left just wasn’t enough to make it through their father’s absence. Sammy had needed to learn the tricks of the trade but Dean wished it hadn't been a necessity in the first place.

#A9:Dad was right, there’s always another monster out there. And since they know about hunting and how to stop monsters, isn’t their duty to help those who don’t? But sometimes all Dean wants is a home and a steady school for him and Sam. Sometimes he wishes he didn’t have to care about those strangers. (Kid-fic, with Dean around 13 years old)

#A10: Weariness seeps into Sam’s bones; they feel heavier than lead, and can barely lift his head. He looks at Dean to see shock written on his brother’s face. It’s over. Michael is dead, and Dean is still alive. They made it. They didn’t lose everything. No mortal injuries. So why can’t Sam get up?

#A11: Dean is sick, trudging through the job despite his symptoms. Three consecutive hunts in the northern states certainly didn't help his cough one bit. Now that they're home, Sam has to resort to drastic measures: The puppy dog eyes & a crap ton of Z-quil.

#A12: After a harrowing case with John and Dean post-Stanford, Sam snaps. One wrong comment from John was all it took for the words to come spilling out, bitter and strained. Sam’s face twisted as Dean ducked into the lobby to grab a room, and he spun around to face John. ”Like hell, we’re all in this together. You’re the one that shut me out for wanting something normal.”

#A13: While on their way to Mirror enterprises in their search for Jack, Sam and Dean have a much-needed talk. With the added effect of no lies being able to be said between them, the truth...it hits hard.

#A14: After the fire, Dean hardly spoke. But when little Sammy started babbling words himself, sitting on the floor at Bobby's, Dean starts to come out of his shell, bit by bit. Sam’s first real word is ”Dee”.

#A15: After Mystery Spot Sam suffers from a heavy dose of anxiety that he’ll wake up to another time loop, or to Dean dead again. The only way he drifts off peacefully for a time is when he can hear Dean's steady breathing, confirming that his older brother is fine.

#A16: Dean finds mini clown statuettes at a thrift store and purchases them. He leaves them in places that he’s sure Sam will eventually see them (behind a well-used book, behind the lamp by his bed) and knows Sam found another one when through the bunker comes “AHH! DEAN!!”

#A17: Dean: *walking into the Bunker library* ”What's up?

Sam: *with his head in his hands* *groans* I’m dead inside.

#A18: Sam shuddered, his breathing shallow as the chill washed over him. Haunted eyes shut tightly as he rubbed his hands together. They had a job to do, and he wasn’t going to let the memory of freezing hellfire keep him from doing it.

#A19: Dean swallowed, chest tight. Laying in front of him in bright white cardstock with colorful writing, was a Mother’s Day card. Sammy, only six, looked up him with shining eyes and a shy grin.

”It’s for you Dee!”

#A20: Sam whispering ”inconceivable” completely out of the blue with a grin on his face after he and Dean leave a crime scene. Dean's face lights up with a smirk as he mimics the following quote, accent and all.

#A21: Sam and Dean were hunters, plain and simple. When Donna calls regarding a serial killer case, Sam and Dean don't pull their punches. They are protectors, first and foremost, and they’d rather be damned than ignore this case, regardless of the human status of their target. Green eyes shone with cold light as Dean advanced on their target, pistol steady. His head tilted like a wolf gazing upon its prey before his expression hardened into a chilling glare.

”What do you think, Sammy? Make this a happy ’accident’ or turn ’em in for the cops?

#A22: While Dean may be the rock geek of the two brothers, Sam harbors a diverse taste in music that Dean doesn't know the full of. After the slaughter in the bunker, Sam retreats to his music and the old tunes that Jessica used to favor so many years ago. Dean notices.

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

Prompts Wanted!

It's been a while since we’ve done this, but we love to hear from y'all!

We are open to ideas for prompts, so hit us up if you’ve got some ideas!

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

Prompt:

Dean is sick, trudging through the job despite his symptoms. Three consecutive hunts in the northern states certainly didn't help his cough one bit.

Now that they're home, Sam has to resort to drastic measures: The puppy dog eyes & a crap ton of Z-quil.

(To submit a fic to our Assorted Fics sub-collection on AO3, click here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/BroBondChallenge_Assorted_Prompts)

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

#BroBondCC #BBCC

[lesbiansitara-moved-deactivated]

I wish that ao3 had an option to filter warnings (and tbh certain authors) out like I will never ever want to read it and just seeing it puts me off so much that often I end up closing my browser because that content upsets me so much lmao

[darcylindbergh]

There is a way to do this but I can’t recall how to do it. it’s something you type into the box for “other filters” or something, I don’t remember. who knows?? It’s not a great option, and I don’t know if you can sort out authors that way, but it’s better than nothing if someone can reblog this with how to do it!

[fordeductions-blog]

Alrighty friends! It takes some specificity, but you can do this. Let me show you how!

So I started with going to the Sherlock (TV) section of Ao3. On the right we find this lovely section! ((I know I’m going over things you already probably know, but I figure this post may go to new Ao3 users, so bear with me.))

Underneath this, I chose sort by Kudos, because that’s a quick way to find most popular fics, for the sake of this demonstration. 

With those filters on, we end up with this being our first two results: 

As you can see, we have Nature and Nurture by earlgreytea68, and The Internet Is Not Just For Porn by cyerus. So what if I am utterly sick of seeing earlgreytea68 on my list? Let’s pretend I’ve read all their fics, or that I just don’t like her, or whatever. I want this author out. I go to this section on the right: 

In “Search within results” I type earlgreytea68 into the bar, with a minus sign in front. This gives me the following page, upon hitting the sort and filter button:

There goes earlgreytea68! But now I’ve decided that Crack is just not my thing, I’m sick of that, too, for heaven’s sake, I want something reasonable in my gay slash fanfiction about detectives that solve crimes about glowing dogs and irish megalomaniacs. Heaven forbid this get ridiculous.

Well, then I add this to my search:

Which gets rid of everything with that tag. My results are now:

Performance in a Leading Role is now my first result!

You can do this as many times as you want; the biggest problem I have is trying to filter out multi-worded tags. For example, “Secret Relationship” is hard to filter. Better to go with authors you dislike or with words like “DubCon”. 

I hope this helps! Also remember that googling site:archiveofourown.org and then adding search terms will mean google searches Ao3 for you, and sometimes that works far better. 

Good luck!

[darcylindbergh]

An excellent in-depth guide! Thank you!!

[eyesofmedusa]

omg changed my whole ao3 rarepair game

[stucky-ficrecs]

An excellent guide to filtering on AO3!

You can filter out phrases by enclosing them in quotes. For example, if ABO and Hydra Trash Party are not your things, try:

-“alpha/beta/omega dynamics” -”hydra trash party”

[possibly-an-obsession]

I have more advice!

Say, you’re in your random fandom- I went with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, since I’ve been reading Iron Man stuff recently. Tony Stark is awesome.

But anyway, you’re on the page, and you see that there are 174,774 works! That is way too many for a casual afternoon’s browsing.

And you see that the first one is Peter Parker/Tony Stark and that is not your jam. It doesn’t work for you, or it squicks you, whatever. Wouldn’t life be easier if you could browse without seeing that pairing (or whatever pairing you don’t like)? You can!

First, click on that pairing tag(You may want to open this in another tab, actually.):

and it’ll take you to the page for that pairing tag. Click this button:

and then look at the address bar! The actual page is unimportant. Copy the numbers located here:

and go back to the original search page! Down on the side, in the same place you can get rid of other tags, type -relationship_ids:”the number you just copied”

Then hit ‘sort and filter’ annnd… magic!

The fics with that pairing are gone! You can also do multiple pairings, get rid of any tags you don’t like, and sort it by date or length or kudos, or whatever.

Enjoy.

[irenkaferalkitty]

I’d just like to add that these sorts of search modifiers ALSO WORK IN GOOGLE AND MOST RESEARCH DATABASES. The more you know.

[ygofanfiction]

good info for my sweet ygo family

[grumpy-old-fandommom]

Jolly good,it came back on my dash again

[prince-ardyn-lucis-caelum]

Surprised people don’t know about this.

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

Bit of a helpful tip for AO3 readers.

[brobondchristmaschallenge]

More Challenges Soon!

‪Heads up, we are working on more challenges, including a BroBond centric Big Bang!‬

‪Y’all haven’t seen the last of us yet. 😉‬

‪So stay tuned!‬

‪-A‬

[dotthings]

I haven’t written much fic the past few years but I’ve written some. There’s a round-up post here if you’re interested. Most of it is Dean/Castiel, but my fic for the @brobondchristmaschallenge which is Sam & Dean is now live. I haven’t written the bro bond since 2013, and I used to write it a lot. I’m going to give credit to SPN season 14 for re-inspiring me. Hope you enjoy.

The Sturdy Kind - PG. Sam & Dean (with background hints of Dean/Castiel, similar to canon) On Christmas Eve, Sam and Dean get separated from Castiel while on a hunt in the Willamette National Forest and an unexpected winter storm hits. Unable to contact a frantic Castiel when the cell phone service goes down, and caught out in the forest as the blizzard rolls in, with a Yeti on the prowl, the Winchesters do what they always do: they find a way.

[incarnateirony]

It’s funny.

I wrote as various members of team free will every day, all day, for years in a giant group and didn’t think about it. But it wasn’t fandom-centric, and was more an interactive group. Writing an actual singular fic for the @brobondchristmaschallenge and actually posting it has given me a serious case of anxiety.

If you want to laugh at my misery, feel free to jump in.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17142764

Mostly Sam & Dean, with frequent touchstoning on all TFW 2.0, a side case of Mobby, a taste of found family, holiday spirit, cases, the road, the bunker, mostly canon-typical deancas but just enough riding that awkward line that it might count as hinted indirect pre-slash. 

Primarily a brothers fic, just without wildly disregarding everybody else around them and from a dualistic point of view while other people resolve other things elsewhere.

Anxiety is wild. Send help