February 28th (just barely!): The Park Bench Anthology, Vol. I
As a reader of (a lot) of Dean/Cas fanfic, I thought I would try to compile a very small selection of some of my favorite fics into some kind of anthology. Using my experience with book publishing and (rudimentary) layout and design, I've created what I hope is just the first volume of The Park Bench Anthology -- a title that I think is meaningful to Dean and Castiel fans of every flavor. : )
Links to PDFs:
CORRECTED Anthology Cover (in booklet form) (single pages)
"525,600 Minutes" by oatmeal_queen (in booklet form) (single pages)
"All Saints Trilogy" by oselle (in booklet form) (single pages)
"At the End of the World" by moodymuse19 (in booklet form) (single pages)
"Because Dean Winchester Keeps His Promises" by strangeandcharm (in booklet form) (single pages)
"Comes a Rattle and a Hum" by someblazingstar (in booklet form) (single pages)
"In the Secret Places of the Stairs" by thevinegarworks (in booklet form) (single pages)
"Not All the Way Through" by tracy_loo_who (in booklet form) (single pages)
"Pomegranate Seeds" by elaeazeph (in booklet form) (single pages)
"Respect" by darksilvercat (in booklet form) (single pages)
Note on Story Selection:
This anthology is by no means exhaustive or even partially representative of all the amazing fics that have been written for this corner of fandom since Castiel made his grand, sweeping entrance in September 2008. I've selected a mere NINE fics for this volume, all some of my favorites that I've read, but I've left off dozens more authors and fics that I equally adore. Think of this anthology as one small slice of my favorite fics, which is one small slice of all the great fics written for Dean/Cas, which is just one (not so small) slice of the overall Supernatural fandom . . .
Acknowledgments:
I want to thank the nine authors who graciously gave me permission to reprint their fics here: oatmeal_queen , darksilvercat , oselle , moodymuse19 , someblazingstar , elaeazeph , strangeandcharm , thevinegarworks , and tracy_loo_who . Special thanks to the cover artist, seasaltpepper , for letting me use her lovely image of Dean and Cas, the Impala, and a starry night. What more could you want in a cover image? : )
Please note that I have not included the usual fic headers in the anthology (in an effort to make it look as "real" as possible), so be sure to view the individual author or story pages for full list of warnings, pairings, summaries, and authors' notes. Links to individual stories are listed on the inside back cover of the anthology.
Technical Details (for BOOKLET PDFs):
Okay, so here's how this thing works. First of all, each page is formatted to print to 8.5 x 11, with two "book" pages per sheet. Everything is set up to print double-sided (yay for saving trees!). And only the cover is in color, the rest is all black & white.
Each 8.5. x 11 sheet, printed double sided, will therefore contain FOUR pages of the "book". If you print/copy the PDF double sided in exactly the order the PDF is created, you will have a perfect little booklet that when folded in half, reads in perfect order -- just like a chapter in a real book. (If you have trouble with this process, or putting the pages together once they print, refer to this diagram for help.) You will want to test-print a couple of (double sided) pages to make sure that you've got the right orientation for your double sided printing. A good story to try this with is "Pomegranate Seeds" -- the shortest story in the bunch, with just 5 pages of text.
The stories/chapters are paginated individually, unlike how a real anthology would be set up. I did this partially to give the reader flexibility in what/when you want to print, and also to make it easier to, say, carry a story on a plane or subway with just your cover around it and your selected story (or stories) inside. Now, there be porn in these stories, for sure, but with a nice respectable cover, your coworker/mother/lover will never know that you're reading about good old fashioned human-on-angel, male-on-male smexing. However, I am not liable if you are busted for reading/printing angel!porn. : )
Happy reading, all! And thank you again to the many, many amazing authors in this fandom. You guys rock!
- elvisglasses
(a.k.a. Park Bench Press)
UPDATE! I am in the process of remaking PDFs for all of these files that do NOT have the complicated layout for booklet printing (in case you just want to read a typeset version of a story on the screen but not print it out). I hope to post those tonight or tomorrow at the latest.
UPDATE2: Single-paged PDF files have been loaded for each story and the cover. Hope that helps people who just want to read it on the screen or on an e-reader. The BOOKLET files (instructions behind the cut) have also been updated. Hopefully these options will let everyone who wants to enjoy the Park Bench Anthology. If you have any other questions/requests/problems, just leave a comment here and I'll try to address them as best I can.
Links to PDFs:
CORRECTED Anthology Cover (in booklet form) (single pages)
"525,600 Minutes" by oatmeal_queen (in booklet form) (single pages)
"All Saints Trilogy" by oselle (in booklet form) (single pages)
"At the End of the World" by moodymuse19 (in booklet form) (single pages)
"Because Dean Winchester Keeps His Promises" by strangeandcharm (in booklet form) (single pages)
"Comes a Rattle and a Hum" by someblazingstar (in booklet form) (single pages)
"In the Secret Places of the Stairs" by thevinegarworks (in booklet form) (single pages)
"Not All the Way Through" by tracy_loo_who (in booklet form) (single pages)
"Pomegranate Seeds" by elaeazeph (in booklet form) (single pages)
"Respect" by darksilvercat (in booklet form) (single pages)
Note on Story Selection:
This anthology is by no means exhaustive or even partially representative of all the amazing fics that have been written for this corner of fandom since Castiel made his grand, sweeping entrance in September 2008. I've selected a mere NINE fics for this volume, all some of my favorites that I've read, but I've left off dozens more authors and fics that I equally adore. Think of this anthology as one small slice of my favorite fics, which is one small slice of all the great fics written for Dean/Cas, which is just one (not so small) slice of the overall Supernatural fandom . . .
Acknowledgments:
I want to thank the nine authors who graciously gave me permission to reprint their fics here: oatmeal_queen , darksilvercat , oselle , moodymuse19 , someblazingstar , elaeazeph , strangeandcharm , thevinegarworks , and tracy_loo_who . Special thanks to the cover artist, seasaltpepper , for letting me use her lovely image of Dean and Cas, the Impala, and a starry night. What more could you want in a cover image? : )
Please note that I have not included the usual fic headers in the anthology (in an effort to make it look as "real" as possible), so be sure to view the individual author or story pages for full list of warnings, pairings, summaries, and authors' notes. Links to individual stories are listed on the inside back cover of the anthology.
Technical Details (for BOOKLET PDFs):
Okay, so here's how this thing works. First of all, each page is formatted to print to 8.5 x 11, with two "book" pages per sheet. Everything is set up to print double-sided (yay for saving trees!). And only the cover is in color, the rest is all black & white.
Each 8.5. x 11 sheet, printed double sided, will therefore contain FOUR pages of the "book". If you print/copy the PDF double sided in exactly the order the PDF is created, you will have a perfect little booklet that when folded in half, reads in perfect order -- just like a chapter in a real book. (If you have trouble with this process, or putting the pages together once they print, refer to this diagram for help.) You will want to test-print a couple of (double sided) pages to make sure that you've got the right orientation for your double sided printing. A good story to try this with is "Pomegranate Seeds" -- the shortest story in the bunch, with just 5 pages of text.
The stories/chapters are paginated individually, unlike how a real anthology would be set up. I did this partially to give the reader flexibility in what/when you want to print, and also to make it easier to, say, carry a story on a plane or subway with just your cover around it and your selected story (or stories) inside. Now, there be porn in these stories, for sure, but with a nice respectable cover, your coworker/mother/lover will never know that you're reading about good old fashioned human-on-angel, male-on-male smexing. However, I am not liable if you are busted for reading/printing angel!porn. : )
Happy reading, all! And thank you again to the many, many amazing authors in this fandom. You guys rock!
- elvisglasses
(a.k.a. Park Bench Press)
UPDATE! I am in the process of remaking PDFs for all of these files that do NOT have the complicated layout for booklet printing (in case you just want to read a typeset version of a story on the screen but not print it out). I hope to post those tonight or tomorrow at the latest.
UPDATE2: Single-paged PDF files have been loaded for each story and the cover. Hope that helps people who just want to read it on the screen or on an e-reader. The BOOKLET files (instructions behind the cut) have also been updated. Hopefully these options will let everyone who wants to enjoy the Park Bench Anthology. If you have any other questions/requests/problems, just leave a comment here and I'll try to address them as best I can.