100 Fics That I Love #002

I wasn't sure whether to go with another slash fic or a general fic next, but I decided I want to talk about a Jensen/Jared fic that I love.

It's called But We'll Always Have Our Vending Machines
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Summary: AU. Jensen is the new math teacher at Stimson High. On his first day, he meets Jared Padalecki, an English teacher with a killer smile and a little too much time on his hands. Jared is pretty much perfect except for one thing: Jensen has no idea if they’re flirting or just friends.

It's a J2 AU with teacher!Jensen and teacher!Jared that takes place when Jensen starts teaching at a new school.


Okay, I haven't read many of cherie_morte's fics. But I always get excited when I see her post something new. And that's thanks to this fic.

Some things I like about it specifically:

- The characters. That's probably a really good thing to like about a story, lol. But I do. I love how the author writes Jared and Jensen and Colin and everyone in this fic. I'm not one for the J's being "in character" in fanfiction because I don't know them personally and even if a fic is non-AU, it's still fiction. They're characters in a story and their personalities can be whatever the author wants them to be. I just happen to love the characters that cherie_morte molded them into for this story. I'm not usually one for Jensen's POV (I'm a Jared!girl at heart and will always be), but his internal monologue through this story makes him so relatable and I just fell in love with him. Jared is adorable and goofy and just the perfect boyfriend. Even his dogs are perfect.

- The dialogue. I just went through and read this fic again before finishing up this post and it's a good thing because I would have forgotten to put this. But the banter between Jensen and Jared (and Jared and Colin, Gen, everyone) is hilarious and even heartwarming in some parts. They play off of each other so well and I tip my imaginary hat to the author because dialogue kicks my ass each and every time I try to write my own. All the respect to the writers out there who pull it off so well.

- The dividers. Not the actual dividers, since then this would have to be "100 Pieces of Fanart That I Love", though I do love the art for this story as well. But I like how the author shows the passing of time between scenes with a marker for what month it is. Since it's a fic that's based on teachers in a high school, I think that was a really clever way to write the story.

- Spoiler for the fic: One scene in particular that puts this story above others for me is a scene after Jensen walks Jared's dogs. Jared's reaction melts me into a puddle of goo. It's ridiculous, but it's true.

- This is another selfish one. Because the fic itself is bottom!Jensen. I'm a bottom!Jared girl. Have been for years. But a lot of that has to do with the personality of his character. I can't read a fic where Jared is aggressive and toppy and a jerk, which is unfortunately what I associate top!Jared with. But in this fic, Jared is adorable. He's goofy and he's ridiculous and he's good to Jensen. He isn't overly aggressive and the dynamic between them is equal. So even though this is a top!Jared, bottom!Jensen story, that doesn't dampen my love for it at all (hell, this fic is in my top 5 fave J2 fanfictions).

I'm not doing these posts in any particular order. That would take so much planning which I'm just not cut out for with all the other planning I need to be doing for my class and for fics I'm writing. But this fic is, as I said above, in my top 5 favorite Jensen/Jared fics. I read it when I'm feeling down and need a pick-me-up. So, yeah. This is a fic that I love.