04 May 2014 @ 08:25 am
J2: Socially maladjusted, awkward, shy, mean, or just plain weird  
I'm looking for J2 stories in which one -- or both -- of the boy is in some way weird, personality wise. Can be AU or not. Like the title says, could be socially maladjusted, socially awkward, mentally ill, an antisocial jerk, etc etc. Think -- oh I dunno, movies that come to mind quickly are American Beauty, Donnie Darko, Choke, whatever... weird characters doing weird things.

I've already looked at every fic under J2 Rec's mental illness and creepers tags (link here and here) and while a few have been good that's not exactly what I'm looking for. The mental illness fics are often of the boys being so ill that they're homeless or institutionalized--what I'm looking for boys that are fine enough to function, just socially weird. The kinds of fics that DID fit my craving from that list were stuff like The Puzzle That is Me. As for the creepers list, I thought it was exactly what I was looking for but it's actually just stalking-related fic specifically, which isn't exactly on the mark, though some good stuff there too. I know there are various shy-boys recs I can find and I'm still working through those, feel free to share your own, but again not exactly on the mark.

A perfect example of the kind of fic I'm looking for is Write Me a Way into Your Life. There, Jared is socially awkward as hell and a little bit of a creepy stalker, and Jensen is taciturn and stoic and anti-social. But like, they're both ok with it and each other, if that makes sense.

I'm pretty good at knowing what I'll like by skimming the fics first, so feel free to dump recs and recs lists at me en masse.
 
 
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[identity profile] aradatm.livejournal.com on May 4th, 2014 06:39 pm (UTC)
I recognize The Puzzle That is Me as belonging to [livejournal.com profile] felisblanco and I'm going to assume if you read that piece from her, you must have also read The Doors of Time (http://felisblanco.livejournal.com/1090487.html), her masterpiece in my opinion. But for some reason, you hadn't, I think it might fit into the 'socially awkward' category.

This one has an antisocial Jensen in it and j2 meet in extremely unusual circumstances. I'm not sure you like these types of stories but I found it entertaining and different.
Reanimated (https://archiveofourown.org/works/151617)
summary: In which Jared manages real estate in Heaven and Jensen works as Hell’s attorney in Death Trials. Extreme ambiguity and a distinct lack of beer push Jared to accept a different kind of job in a hotter, more southern locale. The boys meet. Hi-jinks and grocery-stealing in Hell ensue. Featuring saints on book tours, love on trial, after-life bureaucracy, and sin. Surprisingly not as cracktastic as it sounds.

This is also in a weird setting. Talking Through a Different Face (https://archiveofourown.org/works/229144)
summary: When single dad Jared Padalecki is recruited under desperate circumstances to become the “normal” face of a house full of misfits (including a vampire, a voodoo priestess, a man who has modified his body to look like a jungle cat, and an all-too-naked Misha Collins) he unwittingly enters a world where magic exists. He thinks his greatest problem is figuring out his surprising attraction to Jensen “Totally Not a Warlock” Ackles, but when his suddenly super-powered six-year-old daughter goes missing, he needs to learn to trust his newfound family to get her back before anyone else is harmed.

antisocial!Jensen Monster (http://redrum669.livejournal.com/7862.html) by [livejournal.com profile] redrum669
summary: Jensen lives a reclusive life and acts like a jerk for a reason. Jared sees his chance in uncovering it when tutor sessions born of desperation give him the opportunity to talk to Jensen in private. When he falls for Jensen, though, secrets of the past don't seem all that important anymore. That is until life-altering news have Jared wondering if there's more to the proverbial skeleton in Jensen's closet than he ever thought.

awkward!Jared Disaster. (This is a Good One.) (http://aisalynn.livejournal.com/120738.html) [livejournal.com profile] aisalynn
summary: Jared, a college drop-out, unlucky in love and a self-professed "loser" finds himself at the end of his rope. His boyfriend, Misha, has ditched him at the last moment, right before the family Christmas dinner Jared'd planned to bring him to, and thanks to an untimely phone call from his mother, Jared's family thinks Misha is still coming.

A series of uncomfortable moments later--including awkward phone calls to his exes, a terrible trip to the mall with is best friend where they were escorted out by security, and a run in with a schizophrenic who thought Jared was trying to take him into a secret government lab--and Jared has Jensen--an angry, former lawyer who's dedicated his life to charity work--handcuffed in his car, blackmailed and forced into pretending to be Jared's boyfriend. As the holiday stretches on and the charade he's involved in becomes less and less a lie, Jared is only sure of one thing: he should stop listening to Chad.
[identity profile] aradatm.livejournal.com on May 4th, 2014 06:40 pm (UTC)
weird/feral!Jensen Beholder (http://sandymg.livejournal.com/37314.html?format=light&page=2) by [livejournal.com profile] sandymg
summary: Jared was passionate about the work he did with the animal shelter. Between that and living with Sandy, life was satisfactory. Until the cold night that the filthy, homeless man hidden in an oversized hoodie was dumped at the shelter and Jared couldn't just turn him out. Even if the man roared and called himself 'Beast.' Because under the hood, Jared was sure he caught a glimpse of a prince in those green eyes.

antisocial!Jensen Sound Perception (http://rocketslash.livejournal.com/?skip=10) by [livejournal.com profile] rocketslash
summary: Jared’s life has never been complicated. He flies by the seat of his pants and makes the best of whatever he gets. Jensen lives a reclusive and controlled life. Not by choice, but borne out of necessity. When their worlds collide, it isn’t pretty but somehow they make it work. When Jensen’s past catches up with him, nothing is certain anymore. With the odds stacked against them, can they find their way back to one another or did they even know who each other really was to begin with?

this is more weird!misha, closed off/antisocial!jared, and weird circumstances. Drifting Through Doorways (http://archiveofourown.org/works/850488/chapters/1625888)
summary: One year ago, Jared lost his husband in an act of senseless violence. Stricken with grief, Jared has withdrawn from society and become reclusive, his only human interaction coming from his foster brother Chad, his florist friend Misha, and the occasional grocery store cashier – that is, when Chad can convince him to leave his apartment. If that wasn’t bad enough, now he’s being haunted by the ghost of his deceased husband, and Misha is the only one who seems to believe him – even if Misha's theories and superstitions make him a little, well, eccentric. Jensen, on the other hand, is finally free of his own unhealthy relationship. Too bad being one half of the couple known as Jen-Jen drove him completely bat-shit crazy. And he is, if the disembodied voice that only he can hear and strange dreams are any indication. After all, Jensen is ninety-nine percent sure he’s not a ghost (despite what the voice claims), and he’s never been married to anyone named Jared, either. This is a story about unlikely connections, second chances at love, and giving in and letting yourself be just a little bit crazy.

I had to split it off because of the word count limit. =(

Anyways I hope there are a few recs you'll enjoy here.

Edit: Here's another.
Jensen and Jared are both kind of mean and stuck up here. Bratty Little Bastards: Autumn (http://archiveofourown.org/works/914322/chapters/1772560)
summary: Jensen Ackles hates coming in second. Jared Padalecki can’t stand being overlooked. So when the same guy makes them look like chumps by taking over the varsity lacrosse team and ranking first in the junior class at the private, elite Eldridge Academy, overachieving computer genius Jensen and popular athlete Jared decide to put aside their differences. Kind of.

Talk Hard (http://sandymg.livejournal.com/31061.html) by [livejournal.com profile] sandymg
verse summary: Jared is a struggling grad student working a phone sex line to get by. Jensen is a recluse genius doing top-secret decryption for the Defense Department. Sometimes it's not about the words, but the silence between them.

Edited 2014-05-04 07:07 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] evna.livejournal.com on May 5th, 2014 01:59 am (UTC)
I've read half your recs before but haven't heard of the other half, so I'm very excited, and I'll hop right on that! I have actually NOT read the Doors of Time, shame on me, but I have meant to forever and ever. If you've got any more recs on this theme or just a general recs list of your own floating around somewhere, I'd love a link.
[identity profile] aradatm.livejournal.com on May 5th, 2014 05:06 am (UTC)
I really should put the links to the recs more permanently on my livejournal or make a delicious account.
Yes I believe I remembered a few more along this line.

Slow is Smooth (and Smooth is Steady) (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?abd28ov5j94737m) by [livejournal.com profile] splashpink has bodyguard!Jensen who acts kinda a jerk/antisocial.

Stained Glass Masquerade (http://www.mediafire.com/view/p1gw9d71x8epgb6/Stained_Glass_Masquerade_and_timestamp_by_splashpink.pdf) also by [livejournal.com profile] splashpink
Basically it's a Dollhouse AU, with Jensen as a 'doll' and Jared as his 'handler'.

Jensen is very indifferent about his job here and Jared tries to understand him. Do I seem Bulletproof to you? (http://fleshflutter.livejournal.com/43577.html) by [livejournal.com profile] fleshflutter
summary: When he can't find any acting work, Jared takes a job as driver and bodyguard to Jensen, who is an extremely expensive prostitute with a bad habit of attracting crazy people.

Half Truths and Lies (http://rocketslash.livejournal.com/21359.html) by [livejournal.com profile] rocketslash
summary: A bitter and distrustful former television journalist, forced out of a job that he loved and defined him is in search of some sort of revenge by writing his memoirs. His agent sets him up with a co author who is a former democratic speech writer and once rising PR star that disappeared from politics without explanation almost two years ago. Both men have secrets; both have reasons not to trust, but writing a book together means they have to learn to get past the anger and hurt and find a way to work together. It's not easy. It's not pretty. And sometimes it's just flat out dangerous. Bit by bit cracks start to appear in the walls they've built to protect themselves and they're shocked to discover the growing feelings they have for each other. When the secrets start to be unearthed and threaten to damage one or both of them, they have to find something deep within themselves to love before they can begin to love and protect someone else.

Counting the Steps to the Door of Your Heart (http://annella.livejournal.com/1061203.html) by [livejournal.com profile] annella
summary: Jensen's life isn't perfect, but he's happy enough. He has friends (well, one friend and one roommate), a prospective career (if he can pass this stupid, stupid test which requires him to be able to talk to people), a sex life of sorts (with guys who are total jerkfaces and think Jensen is a dork, which is actually true), and a life-size Dalek costume with a voice modulator which lets him EXTERMINATE things (like the toaster). Then, out of nowhere, he also has Jared (gorgeous, wonderful, socially retarded, and already taken), and his life turns upside down in the blink of an eye. For the first time, Jensen has found what he wants, but how is he going to get it?

Short one shot with shy!Jensen They Say I'm a Dreamer (https://archiveofourown.org/works/470065)
summary: In which Jensen's kind of a shy tool and his coworkers are totally sick of him failing to talk to the hot guy in the elevator.

Your Princess Is in Another Castle (https://archiveofourown.org/works/682253)
summary: It's not easy being a video game Bad Guy. Luckily, Jared is awesome and everyone likes him anyway. Now all he has to do is convince the attractive, antisocial Good Guy from the arcade's newest First Person Shooter that being a Bad Guy isn't a bad thing. And that they should totally date.

Those two above recs were from cleflink (https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleflink/pseuds/cleflink).

Manufacture a Miracle (https://archiveofourown.org/works/298188)
summary: Jensen and Jared are fic writers who take their rivalry very seriously--well, as seriously as a show about a zombie apocalypse can get. But when they imprint-at-first-sight while at a fandom convention, Jensen has to battle horny TV stars, physical exhaustion, and the loss of his favorite shoe to convince his brain what his body already knows--that Jared is his soulmate.

Also if you haven't already checked out the SPN Big Bang (http://spn-j2-bigbang.livejournal.com/) list, you should do that! They organize it by RPS/SPN fics and slash and they give out the summaries.

Edited 2014-05-05 05:13 am (UTC)
[identity profile] onlythefireborn.livejournal.com on May 5th, 2014 12:07 pm (UTC)
It's a little disconcerting to realize how close your taste and mine in fanfic seem to be! If you post a Recs list, I would absolutely be interested in seeing it! Thanks so much for sharing all these, several of which I haven't read.
[identity profile] aradatm.livejournal.com on May 5th, 2014 03:58 pm (UTC)
Oh well I'm really glad you enjoy the recs I have up here. =)