And This, Your Living Kiss
And This, Your Living Kiss by opal_bullets
Rating: T
Word Count: 57,000
Summary: Only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet Jack Allen is just Kansas mechanic Dean Winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. Not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen.Until, that is, a string of coincidences leads Dean to auditing a poetry course with one Dr. Castiel Novak. The professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia's foremost expert on the poetry of Jack Allen.
Here’s is a very captivating story about poet Dean. The fic touches upon some of the major milestones on the road to become a poet - Dean’s teenage years and discovery of poetry, his actual poems (!), his empty and bitter years after the first success, and finally, his return to creative writing. The main plot itself doesn’t stray too far from familiar beats of your usual destiel AU - deadbeat drunkard widower John, caring family friends the Singers, Dean working hard to give some sense of a normal life to Sam while failing at school himself, Dean’s friendship with Charlie. And yet, by adding Dean's budding interest in poetry which is supported by his teacher Missouri, the story gains uniquely emotional vibe.
Destiel fics with a focus on the art and craft of poetry (or writing in general) are few and far between; even less so with Dean as the creator. I believe this is one of the reasons why this fic shines so brightly. Dean is just so fascinating here! That being said, as much as I enjoyed flashbacks to Dean’s teenage years and his warm relationship with Sam, Eileen and their adopted son Jack in present days, my favorite parts were all the meetings between English Literature professor Castiel Novak and his auditing student, Dean Winchester. The college class debates about different poetry styles were a joy to read, and also very educational, I must say. After one particularly heavy class discussion, Dean finally confronts his complex feelings about his dead father. With a help of serious introspection, soul baring talk with Sam and some whiskey, the brothers finally arrive at the well needed closure. Just what Dean and Sam deserve in order to rebuild their lives. For Dean, his new life just may include a certain blue eyed professor. Them's the breaks!
A DeanCas Pinefest 2019 fic
Fanworks inspired by this fanfic at destielfanworks
If you enjoyed the fic, please drop by the archive (AO3) and let the author know with your comments and/or kudos! And if you found our recs useful, let us know by Liking and/or Reblogging our posts! <3
Suggested further reading (links go to our reviews)
The Complete Works of Emmanuel Allen by violue - read it for reverse scenario - Cas is Dean’s favorite novelist, and Dean has no idea.
Play It All Night Long by janie_tangerine - Dean and Cas discuss Bob Dylan’s song and grow closer together
ask about smart Dean and fics that quote literary works, and our writer!dean tag
see this post about latest changes in our fic review format. And sorry if formatting is wonky, we blame tumblr!
