I can certainly see Sam being an athlete in another story

Thing is? I've never seen it in AU. I'm not picking on this story, I'm picking on the lack of variety in the genre. Sam, whose canon points to successful team athlete, rarely on a team (I can only think of that Depression baseball AU). Dean, with no such indicator, usually so.

Baseball doesn't have a captain or a quarterback or a team lead, does it? I think of Dean as an established leader, so it's easier for me to see him as team captain or equivalent than just another guy following someone else's lead (unless John is coach).

Ah, ehab. Thunderhappens is blualbino. So confusing. Whiskers. I liked it, but you have so much good reading ahead of you!

Because at twelve, he's most likely going to be in sixth grade, i.e. elementary school, and elementary schools don't have competitive sports.

Whatever it was, he got a trophy for more than participation. I come from a sports hungry country, so we're playing for blood by 12, so I lack the correct cultural cues.

The pitcher is generally the most important player on the team, but it's not the same as being quarterback or team captain, no.

I think my point is (and I do have one, sort of!) that if you have a high school AU where Dean and Sam are in school together, Sam is always going to be too young to be a real *star* athlete. Unless you're some sort of prodigy, that's just never going to be a ninth grader, not only because they're squirmy little freshmen and people want seniors to have the glory, but because they *are* young and simply not as coordinated or experienced as they will be as juniors and seniors.

I'd love to see an AU with Sam running track. For no reason other than I could them imagine those legs eating up pavement, and a nice sweaty T-shirt clinging to his chest ...

Whatever it was, he got a trophy for more than participation.

But he wouldn't, I swear! Not to beat a dead horse, but kids don't get individual trophies at that age (because god forbid anyone's feelings should be hurt). If your team wins, everyone gets a trophy, but that's it. At least, in my experience with the boys playing sports.

Thunderhappens is blualbino.

Sorry for the confusion, I do remember the blualbino talk but didn't make the connection when reading the fic.

I'm a crappy lj user. I have an account but I haven't used it much or at all since the early years of bsg when I made icons obsessively.

Nowadays, I rely on links here. My navigation at finding things on my own is shaky at best.

Sam is always going to be too young to be a real *star* athlete

I'd be happy to see him just be athletic. He's always the bookworm to Dean's jock, and I think it's lazy. Much like Dean being a mechanic, but rarely an engineer.

But he wouldn't, I swear!

He also wouldn't get a full ride to Stanford, because apparently they don't give them (and/or they don't give them for law). But it's too late. Canon made him a division champion, so he is one.

If your team wins, everyone gets a trophy, but that's it.

Well, that's what I'm assuming happened-his team was division champion, so he got a trophy. That's more than participation, that's winning.

That's more than participation, that's winning.

Oh, I see what you mean.

I didn't know they didn't give full rides to Stanford. Stingy of them. Harvard does, I think.

Much like Dean being a mechanic, but rarely an engineer.

I agree. I think the high school thing is hard, though -- I don't see Dean being painted as a scholar*, and the other kind of popularity is going to come from him being a total bad boy, which is also too lazy.

I actually wouldn't mind an AU where Dean is more like Cas in the one we were discussing -- not a stoner, necessarily, but more of a loner. A little mysterious, a little edgy, a kid who always surprises his teachers with how smart how he is given his attitude and his bad boy appearance.

• edited to clarify: a scholar as in National Honor Society, earnest geek, acadeca, etc.

A little mysterious, a little edgy, a kid who always surprises his teachers with how smart how he is given his attitude and his bad boy appearance.

This I think I've seen happen more often in canon stories. D/C AUs seem to paint him as pretty mainstream. I'd love to see him be a gang member (with the requisite heart of gold, natch) or something like that--surely there are other paths to popularity that don't involve sports or GPA?

I have a depressing feeling I'm going to be actually making notes on AU premises this weekend. Why do I care?

Now, D/C does a fair amount of HS and college AUs. Well, AUs in general--dude, the romcom count is crazy. Are there a lot of HS AUs out there that are gen or het?

No idea about gen, and I don't think I've seen a lot of gen. There are a crazy amount of HS or college AUs in J2 fic, for sure.

Now you've got me thinking about which AU premises I could myself writing. As if I needed to even consider that.