Castiel/Sam Winchester

Pairing
Pairing:	Castiel/Sam Winchester
Alternative name(s):	Sastiel, Sassy, Samstiel
Gender category:	Slash
Fandom:	Supernatural
Canonical?:	No
Prevalence:	Common
Archives:
Other:
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Castiel/Sam, also known as Sastiel or Sassy, is the slash pairing of Castiel and Sam Winchester in Supernatural fandom.

Fandom

Statistics

• In February 2019, Castiel/Sam Winchester was the 8th most popular Supernatural pairing on Archive of Our Own

Common Tropes in Fanworks

• Exclusion of Dean: many fics find a way to exclude Dean from the narrative, thus forcing Sam and Cas to be closer to each other, the reasons for Dean's absence can vary, from something as mild as Dean going out for an evening, to as harsh as Dean dying
• Human Castiel: Castiel was never an angel, or is somehow turned into a human being, or during one of the periods in canon where Castiel lost his grace and was human. In fics where Cas has lost his grace there is often a focus on Sam helping Cas adapt to human life, this is also sometimes the catalyst for a romantic relationship, because Cas is fully feeling human emotions for the first time and he realizes that his feelings for Sam run deeper than friendship
• Mundane AU: Sam is not a hunter and Castiel is not an angel, and they meet under more conventional circumstances
• High School AU: similar to the Mundane AU, only them as teenagers
• Hurt/Comfort: usually with Sam being the recipient of the trauma and Castiel offering the comfort, but sometimes reversed
• Antagonists to Lovers: although not technically antagonists their early canon relationship is often seen as indifferent, or contentious, especially on Castiel's part, so early fic focused on this dynamic, and sometimes has an "enemies to friends to lovers" vibe, or is enemyslash-ish
• Robo!Sam: although rare, there are some fanworks focused on the interaction between Souless Sam and Cas, these tend to be dark in nature, because of Robo!Sam's lack of morality and his casual use of others
• Netflix: in episode 11x04 Sam tells Cas, who is recovering from an injury, to go in his room and watch Netflix to relax, this comment lead to the creation of fanon that after this Sam and Cas often hung out in Sam's room and watched television together, sometimes leading to "Netflix and chill"
• Pets: because canonically Sam likes dogs, and Cas mentioned once that he would like a cat, it is not uncommon to find fanworks that portray him being pet owners or animal lovers, especially in fanart
• Asexual Cas: characterizing Cas as asexual is common in the overall fandom, in Sam/Cas fanworks Sam is almost always portrayed as accepting of Cas' asexuality
• Threesome or Poly: the most popular character to include being Dean (Wincestiel), but there is also some threesome fic featuring Gabriel (Sastriel) or Meg

Challenges

• (A Very) Sastiel & Mishalecki Fic/Art Meme!
• Sassy Secret Santa
• Sastiel Big Bang
• Sastiel Love Week
• Sastiel Secret Santa Gift Exchange
• Sassy Minibang

Fanworks

Fan Art

• sastiel - hot cocoa by biotic-archangel
• Sastiel Hug by Slashtastic
• A Little Help Here by le-shae
• Hold on tight by Meinarch
• This's the part where you hug back by MonsterSLUT
• Here for You by muffinpoodle
• SPN S6.3 fanfic Sastiel : Evil-Sam night work 3 by noji1203
• Sastiel - Hugs by Threshie
• Heal me by THEsquiddybum
• My Tall Friend, Sam comic by nursethalia

Fanfiction

• Plant Pathologists vs. Zombie Lawyers by Annie D (scaramouche)
• I'd Marry Your Cat Just to Get in the Family by wanttobeatree
• A Quantum of Solace by Celesma

Fan Vids

• try by LovedSammy
• Rewrite the Stars by Mαrcelα11

Rec Lists

• Sastiel Recs, ^{Archived version} by Fanfic Thematic

Doujinshi

• godsend

Art Gallery

• 

  Art by sammycolt24 for the fic On and On and On, created for the Sassy Minibang

• 

  Art by stefy_coool for There's Nothing in the Dream Dictionary About This, created for the 2015 Sastiel Big Bang

• 

  Manip by nonexistenz for the fic Even If the Skies Get Rough, created for the 2016 Sastiel Big Bang

Ship Manifestos and Meta

• Sam/Castiel: It might be crack. Or it might just be the little underdog ship that could., ^{Archived version} by 13chapters (March 2010)
• Why do I ship Sassy?, ^{Archived version} by spn-stuck (February 2011)
• You guys have no idea how much it hurts my heart that people see Sam/Cas as this fluffy crackship that has no basis in canon and can’t be emotional and can’t be dark and can’t be sexual. (Untitled), ^{Archived version} by luciferious (January 2012)
• “There is potential here for a dynamic that is gut-wrenchingly beautiful and intense and wonderful…” (Untitled), ^{Archived version} by leviathiel, illmetbymoonlight (January 2012)
• “Look at your life, look at your choices" ~*~ a Sassy manifesto, ^{Archived version} by tawghasa (February 2012)
• A few reasons why Cas and Sam are more alike than any two people on this show…, ^{Archived version} by boazpriestly (circa March 2012)
• I guess this is like, why I ship Sam/Castiel, in one post, ^{Archived version} by wordsinhailed (May 2012)
• see this is a thing where i get my ‘star crossed lovers’ feels…, ^{Archived version} by poxybastard, rrrowr (May 2012)
• compilation of canon scenes (plus commentary), ^{Archived version} by doeraymisha (October 2012)
• Why Do You Ship Sam/Castiel?, ^{Archived version} by luciferious (December 2012)
• meta about cas intentionally breaking sam’s wall in s6 (untitled), ^{Archived version} by luciferious (December 2012)
• Sassy makes so much sense to me, like, to the point where I don’t understand how some people don’t see it, ^{Archived version} by whats-opera-doc (February 2013)
• …and people are still so shocked by the fact that people ship sastiel (untitled), ^{Archived version} by doeraymisha (June 2013)
• untitled commentary on Sastiel, Castiel’s sexuality and Sam’s sexuality, ^{Archived version} by wefellasangels (July 2014)
• Why Sastiel?, ^{Archived version} by infinitysgrace (February 2019)
• untitled thoughts on cas + sam’s bond, ^{Archived version} by tesseractheart (October 2019)
• How anyone can insist that there’s no subtext between Sam and Castiel after 14x15 is beyond me, ^{Archived version} by theladyofsupernatural, themegalosaurus (December 2019)
• Sastiel in S4-S5, ^{Archived version} by seethekraken (December 2019)
• I find it fascinating how much of the Sam & Castiel relationship involves Castiel poking around in Sam’s body (Untitled), ^{Archived version} by teamfreewillbettertogether (December 2019)
• The Smart Choice vs The Heart Choice (Untitled), ^{Archived version} by theangelofawinchester (January 2020)

Archives and Links

• Castiel/Sam Winchester tag at Archive of Our Own
• Castiel + Sam at FanFiction.net
• The Good Ship Sastiel a collection at FanFiction.net
• Tumblr Tags: Sastiel, samcas

LiveJournal

• Sam/Castiel (inactive)
• sassy_otp (inactive)