Click here for a list of Gay and Bi male writers of Supernatural fanfiction. As far as I’m able to tell, all these writers are men, and they mostly write Destiel (Dean/Castiel slash). Continue reading for the story of how this list came about.
This project started as a well-intentioned attempt to compile a list gay/bi male authors who write gay-themed Supernatural fanfiction to read, based on the CW’s popular long-running paranormal drama, especially Destiel fanfiction. Unexpectantly, making a list, encountered a lot of resistance, not only from gay men themselves, but particularly from female Destiel fanfiction writers. I seemed to have ran afoul of political correctness and offended many people’s Woke sensibilities. I eventually had to abandon much of my project. Most of the push back came from women.
Since most writers of fanfiction write under pseudonyms, it’s impossible to identify their gender. I was specifically looking for male writers, and so I had to ask readers and writers (mostly women) of Destiel fanfiction if they knew of any gay or bi male writers (who were open about their gender) so I could make a list and go read some of them. That was a big mistake.
Many women accused me of misogyny for wanting to recognize gay/bi male writers separate from women writers. Others accused me of being transphobic for only asking about gay/bi men. Others accused me of trying to out gay/bi men. I didn’t comprehend the level of suspicion in the fanfiction community, so I didn’t know to be on the lookout for it. Many were just offended for me noting that Supernatural fanfiction as a genre of writing that is dominated by women, which it is, but they were upset at me saying so.
[FYI: Scroll to the post script below for a link to my side of the story.]
During the final season of Supernatural, I had been reading fanfiction based on the show, mostly Destiel, that pairs Dean Winchester and the angel Castiel as a gay/bi couple. Most of the fanfiction was written by women, so, as a gay male myself, I started to wonder, what kind of fanfiction were gay and bisexual men writing, and how their stories might be different from what women were writing?
I went into some fanfiction groups on Facebook and asked for nominations of gay/bi writers, and received several suggestions. I tried to ask for permission from each of the writers I could find contact information for, and if they would like to contribute a statement about themselves to accompany their entry on the list. Only two positively responded. Their statements can be read below. Some never responded, some I wasn’t able to contact, and some of the male writers didn’t want to be part of my project. I make an honest attempt to get their approval.
[FYI: I finally got tired of dealing with people’s shit. Click here for the complete “unauthorized” list.]
When I tried to elicit some further feedback, my questions were taken as a form of intolerance and bias. Several gay/bi men did not want to participate, transmen were angry at their perceived exclusion, and many women were offended because of my lack of approaching them according to their proper queer/non-binary identities. In the end, they deemed me bigoted and banned me from their Facebook group.
My criteria for inclusion were:
- The author must be a gay or bisexual male writing Supernatural fanfiction. [I tried to accommodate transmen but that backfired]
- The fanfiction should be gay-themed. I suspect most will be Destiel stories, but other romantic pairings are welcome: Sam/Gabriel, Adam/Michael are good too.
- Their fanfiction can have sexual content, but not sex for the sake of sex. Stories should be romance, adventure, paranormal, thrillers, and so forth.
For each entry, I wanted to include a link to their fanfiction, identify some of their primary interests, and how each author identifies if known.
One of the purposes for compiling this list was to explore how gay/bi men approach their gay-themed fanfiction that is different from the ways in which women write about the same themes. I tried to solicit comments from some of the authors I found contact information for and asked them how their gender and sexuality influence their writing. Only two responded. I have given their responses below.
[FYI: Bob Wess and ADeedWithoutAName were generous with their time and positive in their responses. I hope you will pay particular attention to their stories.]
I was surprised by the resistance of women and the reluctance of gay men to participate in my project. I had hoped to celebrate the fanfiction writing of gay/bi men, but the current restrictions of Woke culture won’t allow it.
This experience led me to a deeper consideration of why women and gay men write gay romance (of which m/m slash fanfiction is an instance). The following are two blogs I wrote on the subject.
- Romancing Destiel: Women Writing Gay Supernatural Fanfiction
- And Cas Loved Dean: Gay Men Writing Supernatural Fanfiction
Gay and Bisexual Male Writers of Supernatural FanFiction
ADeedWithoutAName — Archive of Our Own [Wincest] Notable works: “Home Is Where the Heart Is” (identifies as gay)
“So, the fact I’m a man isn’t something I think much about anymore (in relation to writing Supernatural fanfiction, at least). When I first started writing in this fandom, I was fifteen, and had only previously been in much more male-dominated fandoms; I felt nervous and exotic and was constantly aware of the fact that I was a man writing about gay men when everybody else I knew in the fandom was a woman. The novelty of it wore off quick, but I do think that there’s a certain uniqueness that comes with, you know, being a guy. I’m not sure that I would say being a gay man had as much of an impact on my writing fanfiction as writing fanfiction had on my being a gay man. It was a safe space to explore my sexuality and to figure out what a healthy and realistic same-sex relationship can look like – I didn’t have a lot of real-world experience, and obviously, there hasn’t been a lot of mainstream modeling of M/M relationships in media. Especially healthy ones. Overall, considering fanfiction’s long and storied history of allowing queer spaces and people to flourish outside of conventional media/society, I’m mostly just surprised that there are so few gay/bi/queer men writing gay/bi/queer fanfiction. I feel like, even as toxic as fandom can be, it’s also got a well-deserved reputation as a LGBTQIA+ safe space, and it’s an untapped resource for a lot of people.”
Bob Wess — Archive of Our Own [Canon Compliant, Destiel] Notable works: “Only Human (identifies as bi)
“I love to lose myself in my writing, and Supernatural really provides a source I can explore from every angle. I can take moments or feelings from my own life and sometimes moments with my husband and translate them to these characters so easily. It’s nice to be able to share some of myself in these stories, with Cas and Dean, and relate to the material in a way I maybe wouldn’t be able to otherwise.”
If you would like to read my ongoing attempts at fanfiction you can find my AO3 page here:
C .E. Hammock — Archive of Our Own [Canon Compliant, Destiel] Notable works: (identifies as gay)
[FYI: Bob Wess is one of my favorite Destiel fanfiction writers. I like his stories because he treats Dean and Cas as actual grown men, not silly infatuated boys, and he doesn’t sex up his stories with lots of smut. ADeedWithoutAName is a distinctly different writer, with a particular thematic obsession that you will find either very weird or really amusing.]
One reason often cited by gay/bi men who write fanfiction is that it gives them a safe place to explore their sexuality and feelings of intimacy with other men that they might not have been able to express elsewhere. A place where they can dream about positive loving relationships between men, free from cultural violence and sexual explotation, that are rarely ever depicted in mainstream media.
Two primary motives seem to be a play: Identification and Representation. Of course, we shouldn’t overlook the naughty entertainment of sexuality and erotica that is central to the lives of so many gay and bisexual men. I won’t try to address the motives of gay/bi men in writing their fanfiction, leaving that discussion for a separate post. For now, let’s focus on what these men have to say about themselves in their own stories.
Post Script:
I want to offer my apologies to Bob Wess and Adeedwithoutaname for dragging them into this and wasting their time. I am sorry about that. I do appreciate their positive responses.
I stubbornly held on to this project for way too long. This project has ended in failure and it’s time to abandon it and move on.
I wrote about my experience with women fanfiction writers on another page. I have directly quoted from the women’s comments, but removed all names so they would remain anonymous. I was shocked by this encounter, and I still don’t fully understand the depths of their hostility.
Supernatural FanFiction by Gay and Bi Male Writers. It’s the same title but a different page. This is the “unauthorized” list.
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c. e. hammock 