Pandora 's Box by ratherastory. rated R, Jensen/Jared, 97k. Summary: The Avatar fusion fic in which recently-paralyzed Marine Jensen Ackles goes to the distant moon of Pandora, meets the love of his life Jared, and discovers everything that's truly important to him.
ao3.org/works/222196
my thoughts: I barely remember the plot of this movie I saw once in 2008 when it came out, so reading this was absolutely tremendous, especially because it was just mildly familiar, with really just the incredible visuals from the film my most distinct memories, all padding the fantastic writing and nuanced romance that Avatar truly failed to convey. I think there was an empowering alteration in the plot where it turned out to be Jared (or the girl Navi in the movie) who is encouraged to embrace prophecy and his role that the film didn't have and I ADORED the way it went down in this story. It wasn't predictable, and the sign Jared interpreted was a sign to find a love who believed in him. The world-building was shocking, bc I'd already seen the movie and I hadn't been completely sold on the world of Pandora but holy shit, I am now. The narrative structure can be just so much more effective in describing soul-deep peace and unity versus visual storytelling. Ratherastory was an artist, or perhaps a translator to a reader like me, sharing exactly how magical this universe was in a way I could better understand (she made it so I could see!) This fic 's also in my movie fusions reclist .

Deja Vu by Zara_Zee. Rated NC-17, Jensen/Jared, 47k. Summary: Dean Winchester has a pretty sweet life. He works in construction; he married his long-time girlfriend, Carmen, straight out of high school; and he 's almost paid off a basic apartment in the Middle District. He may never have left his home district, let alone his home planet, but he 's happy… more-or-less.So why does he keep dreaming about the red wastelands of Mars? Why does he know more about the Martian Resistance than he has any right to? And who do the long, long legs and decidedly male butt that have him waking up achingly hard every morning belong to? Maybe Dean just needs a holiday? He couldn 't afford a real one, of course, but maybe he could go to Déjà Vu and get the memories of a holiday implanted; get Mars out of his system.Of course, that 's when the trouble really starts.
ao3.org/works/4452290
my thoughts: This was so great. Yay suspicious forced amnesia ! So easy to read (meaning great world-building while moving the plot along) and the anticipation for Jensen to meet Jared was brilliance. Discovering why Jensen was brainwashed was so compelling and exciting too. Added to my movie fusions reclist as well bc it's based off Total Recall (1990).

Chasing Darkness by ashtraythief (AO3). NC-17, Jared/Jensen, 86k. Summary: Discharged from the military after the war and unable to find a regular job, Jensen and Dani end up on JD 's mining planet Wora. It 's one of the most hostile environments in the Old Galaxy, but the pay is astronomical. The job sounds easy enough: protect the miners. While battling the demons of his past, Jensen meets Jared, a beautiful, sought after companion, who is isolated by his own secrets. Jared had come to Wora, dragged by Chad, with the need to make some serious money. It doesn 't take Jensen long to figure out Jared 's secret and he has to decide how much he 's willing to risk to protect him.
ao3.org/works/4293093
my thoughts: This was such an amazing action-packed adventurous sci-fi romp! I had so much fun reading this fic. Totally riveting, a brilliant romance, fantastic supporting characters and OCs, stellar world-building. Go read this fic if you wanna just be happy and you love J2 and fiction like Firefly (but like... better).

Aletheo's Gemini Chronicles (AO3). Rated R, Jensen/Jared, 203k words. Summary: In the three-thousand years after Terra, humanity flourished in a Golden Age of prosperity and happiness. Until the silicates. With no means to communicate, no method for diplomacy, mankind fought back against the onslaught with all they had, but they were slowly losing the war. On the brink of extinction, man's greatest hope lies with two young men whose extraordinary abilities have shockingly and violently awoken.
ao3.org/series/24097
my thoughts: This was a pretty fascinating read. Stellar world-building and taking an odd turn a little bit re: Jensen and Jared kinda taking the Spice Girls ' song "2 Become 1" too literally but… I liked it! And they don 't actually become one body/person (I 've read that fic, lol). It 's just they lead us into a ‘singularity ' concept in conjunction with their godlike powers. It 's good though. Just read it. You 'll get sucked into their singularity haha. This is also included in my deified!sam & dean reclist

Veterans of the Psychic Wars by Kalireynn (sami) and Kellwyntar (velithya). Rated R, Jensen/Jared, 45k words. Summary: When the invasion came, no-one was ready. Humanity faltered. We died by the thousands, then by the millions. Nations fell before them before the survivors could begin to hold them back.The battles raged across the world, and communications became difficult, and then impossible. South America was gone. Before contact with Europe and Asia was lost, they were struggling, but surviving. In North America, the line held at last, a curve that stretched from Oregon to Louisiana. To the south, a battle-ravaged wasteland. To the north, the survivors and the refugees huddled beneath the shields of the Protected Zone, safe by the work of shield Psions who could form the only barrier that worked.Along the front, soldiers waged war at terrible cost against an enemy that was truly inhuman. The tides of war turned on the work of battlefront Psions and their Guardians, elite warriors who could change the course of a battle with their skill and power.At the most desperate moment in humanity's history, two men would face the battle: Jared Padalecki, a Psion whose power could only lead him to self-destruction alone in the face of the horrors of war, and Jensen Ackles, a Guardian fractured by his past.
ao3.org/series/964845
my thoughts: This was one of the coolest space stories I 've ever read. This story has drama action adventure in spades and all so expertly written, so many cool plots and scenes tracking these characters through their training and eventually their experiences in ‘battle. ' Tremendous longfic!

An Intergalactic Manhunt for a Mass Murderer by fogsrollingin. Rated PG, Jensen/Jared, 4k words. Summary: Jared remembered Jeff's words as they'd prepped in the van. "Know that there is a slight chance the Independents might have figured out we were watching and arranged this. They might be out there right now planning an extraction."Everybody stopped and looked up at him."Don 't let them," Jeff ordered.
ao3.org/works/16902285
my thoughts on me: Self-reccies! I would categorize this fic as a fun romp, just dipping my toes into this trope I love so much and seeing what I could do with it. Lots of people were into it so I think/hope I did good! 😊

The World Where Yesternight You Died by tabaqui. Rated R, Jensen/Jared, 124k. Summary: In the year 2294, Jensen is an elite soldier - an ArchANGEL, known and feared through the 'verse. Jared is an indentured 'employee' of the Company, indebted for his life and his continuing health and happiness.They are both living with secrets that will cause their lives to intersect, and put them both on the path to exposing one of the biggest cover-ups in the 'verse.Part one is a bit of backstory.
ao3.org/works/1782286
my thoughts: this fic was so epic I just don't know where to start. The scifi space worldbuilding was insane & legitimately more fleshed out than the scifi published fiction I've read lately (I loved the alien species tabaqui described). The villainous Company and the manner in which they experiment on & control their indentured laborers & soldiers was conniving & clever & pure amazing dystopic villains (I appreciated how tabaqui didn 't feature an evil human, just a mass conspiracy of people). Jared and Jensen's backstories were intense & heart-wrenching before they even meet. The collective psychic elements between humans was visceral and evocative. And honestly just when I thought tabaqui was done with the jaw-droppingly expansive scope of story they'd created, they 'd bust it wide open and unfold greater heights I hadn't even considered. This fic blew my mind. Just w o w. Hands down one of the best fics I 've read this summer (2020) for sure.

The Citadel Codex by paleogymnast. Rated Explicit/NC-17, Jared/Jensen, 24k words. Summary: 1,500 years ago, the founders of Citadel—a peculiar binary planet—set out to establish a new colony far from the reaches of the galactic powers, the Central Empire and the Republic. Their colony would redefine life as we know it. 15 years ago, the rival galactic powers waged an all-out war on Citadel in search of her secrets. Citadel was lost and with it the sum total of her knowledge, research, history, and discoveries… or was it? Rumors persist that Citadel 's knowledge was scattered to the Cosmos, hidden, but not lost, if only one lock and one key can be found. As the rival superpowers compete to find the secrets of Citadel, a man alone who will search to reclaim his history. But as Imperial and Republic spies threaten to expose his secret and destroy the promise of Citadel once and for all, who the mysterious Jared whose side is he on?
ao3.org/works/15324573
my thoughts: the sci-fi world building in this was fantastic, the suspense with what was at stake was intense, and the way J2 get together was so interesting and then so sweet & sexy. I LOVED how their bond ended up being so relevant for the happy ending. Ugh, so good.

One for the books by ashtraythief. Explicit, Jared/Jensen, 71k. Summary: Jared loved his job as ambassador to the Space Council. He especially loved to sample local customs. // As ambassador for the Galactic Council, Jared is on a visit to assess the remote planet Cariax as a potential trade partner, where he encounters outlaw Jensen. Despite their differences—Jared an optimistic scholar and Jensen a disillusioned thief and smuggler—their connection is instantaneous. Only nothing is as it seems—and when Jared ends up on the outlaws ' base, he witnesses a revolution in the making, Jensen smack in the middle of it.
As Jared navigates his new life among the outlaws, he must decide whether to remain an impartial observer or get involved—especially when it comes to his complicated, growing relationship with Jensen.
https://archiveofourown.org/series/2434594
My thoughts: omg this was such fantastic story. The galactic scope, the mounting excitement of a revolution, the incredible worlds-build, the slow burn sweetness between Jensen and Jared which, admittedly it doesn 't seem like a slow burn at first, but it very much is. I loved Jared 's uncertainty with Jensen despite all the times the author had me melting over Jensen squeezing or touching or hugging Jared in this. I was so happy with this story 😆