Song Remains the Same

Opening Notes / Story Info

Song Remains the Same: Opening Notes
(Last Updated in February 2022)

Welcome and thanks for stopping by! I'm your author River, and if you're like me, you like to know what you're getting into at the beginning of a fanfic (especially one that clocks in at two million words plus), so here's some introductory info:

Song Remains the Same begins at the end of season three and stays close to canon (at first, anyway!) while including my AU addition of Alex Winchester who was recently and inexplicably cured of a lifelong condition of mutism.

A lot of new readers are curious about the pacing of the romance. The slow build starts as soon as Cas and Alex meet a few chapters in, and once you get to Chapter 20, you'll be a happy camper :-)! Many of my readers have reported that the feels in this story are lethal, so strap in if you love angst and pain because it's about to get intense up in here. The Cas/Alex ship is everything from painful to fluffy to sappy to angsty to dark depending on what part of the story you're in. Basically, if you love a slow burn and an epic soul-shattering romance paired with character study, you're in the right place.

In addition to romance, SRS features a lot of family moments and character development — and FYI, both Sam and Dean eventually get original love interests too. You can expect more and more alternate storylines and original material especially as the story progresses to Season 7 and onward. Please be aware that the ending of this fic is completely AU from the show.

Readers, I hope you enjoy the story that follows. Please read and feel free to review/PM/email me; I love hearing from you (and yes, I still check + respond to reviews and messages whenever possible!). This story has been an absolute labor of love to write and I've put my heart and soul into it. Thank you dearly for your support!

Finally, I invite you to check out winchesteralex dot tumblr dot com where you can see pictures of Alex as I envision her plus manips, videos, questions & answers, Calex shipping mania, and lots more. The Tumblr blog does contain major spoilers for the story and the show, so please be forewarned. Cheers & happy reading! #SPNSRS

STORY DETAILS:

Rating: Rated M for violence, language, drug use, sexual scenes, and some dark subject material. Trigger warnings are on chapters with especially sensitive content.

Disclaimer: Supernatural and all characters from the show do not belong to me. This story is for fun only, no profits are being made... only tears.

Spoilers/Warnings: Spoilers for seasons 1-10ish. The story begins in 3x15 but does include flashbacks to previous seasons.

What to expect: family drama - overprotective Dean - twins with grudges - Alex working to overcome a complicated and painful past - Castiel learning how to deal with emotions and feelings - epic romance between Cas and Alex with many ups and downs throughout the seasons - plenty of steamy scenes - some dark subject matter here and there - very LONG chapters as the story progresses (to my ADD/dyslexic readers, you have my apologies).

Pairings: Castiel/Alex Winchester, Dean/OFC, Sam/OFC, slight Kevin/OMC + a few other very small side ships.

Story Tags (for the reader who wants to know even more about what's ahead! Warning, spoilers follow): Alternate Universe, Alternate Ending, Plot Twists, Winchester Sister, Sam's Twin, Overprotective Dean Winchester, Black Sheep Sam, Abusive/Gray John Winchester, Protective Castiel, Winchester Family Drama, Fallen Castiel, Human!Castiel, Guilty Castiel, BAMF Castiel, Het, Slash, Forbidden Love, Loss of Virginity, Uncensored Sex Scenes, Family Feels, Angst, Fluff, Pregnancy, Non-Con, Violence Typical of Fandom, Original Female Characters, Original Male Characters, Secret Marriage, Original Episodes, Angel and Bible Lore, Angel/Human Relationship, Drug Use, Miscarriage, Depression, Suicide, Prescription Drug Abuse, Strong Language.

A STATEMENT ABOUT TRIGGERS: This story is overall not a safe space. Read at your own risk. As a reminder, I do include trigger warnings on chapters with especially sensitive content matter, but please know that this story is intended for adults and if you're sensitive about any of the above tags, please be careful!