[Not So] Pure Imagination

by theroguesgambit

Sterek

"There is a world where whenever someone fantasizes about you, you can physically feel it, but you have no idea who is thinking it about you."

Stiles knows it's wrong, but he's been Fantasizing about Derek and he can't bring himself to stop. Derek doesn't know who's taken an interest in him, but he's enjoying it way more than he probably should.

Words: 33,185

Art by thilia

Genres: Fan Fiction, M M Romance, Shapeshifters, Fantasy, Friends To Lovers, Werewolves, Paranormal

100 pages, ebook

First published November 9, 2014

Reviews

[Dalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There is a world where whenever someone fantasizes about you, you can physically feel it, but you have no idea who is thinking it about you."

Stiles and Derek Fantasize about each other and soon their not real relationship becomes more than just sex. It's a sweet, hot and heartwarming story.

NSFW

[* A Reader Obsessed * · Rating 4 out of 5]

This totally started out as possibly a pwp, but definitely morphed into something surprising and pleasantly so much more.

The set up is canon, but here people can project their fantasies onto others. Let's just say that what begins as something fleeting and one sided, changes both Stiles and Derek as they interact with each other. Stiles has gone too far, he's in too deep, but can't exactly extricate himself from the hole he's dug. Derek doesn't know who he's involved with, but the comfort, the intimacy becomes addictive and necessary. Each long for more, each stymied by insecurity and doubt.

This was quite the sensual, angsty, and emotional read. Again - canon compliant lends towards authenticity. Very good stuff.

[Meep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sterek in a world where people can feel your fantasies of them.

Got to admit I was seeing how horrible that 'power' could be and how people could be terrorised. BUT take it at face value because this is hot and sweet with comforting hugs and feelings woven in. An original idea well realised. And now - gifs! ;)

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was….. AWESOME!!

In this world whenever someone has a Fantasy about someone, the Object feels this Fantasy.

Derek has been the object of several Fantasies for a couple of days now. It is common courtesy to stop Fantasies before they go too far, but this person is not stopping where he would expect.

Derek thinks it is harmless to fantasize about the Dreamer back, since he doesn’t know who he is. But he finds out that the Dreamer feels his Fantasies too. They develop a sort of communication system by fantasizing about each other. It’s like they’re having sex with each other with their minds.

Of course what Derek doesn’t know is that it’s Stiles fantasizing the shit out Derek. Stiles keeps thinking Derek must be aware it’s him, but Derek seems as oblivious as ever…

I REALLY REALLY liked this. This was so incredibly sexy! I loved the fantasies they had about each other. They were scorching!

I would have given this 5 stars, that’s how much I liked, it if it wasn’t for one thing... After all this fantasizing I was eagerly awaiting the real sex between them, but it’s off page!! Why???? :(

Other than that this was an excellent fic!!

[Jennifer☠Pher☠ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a re-read for me. I read it before it was on GR or I read it when it was on GR and it was deleted. I don’t know, I just know I read it before.



I liked it. It’s an interesting if not troublesome concept. A bit confusing too. The facelessness of it all drove me nuts. I can’t wrap my brain around it honestly.

All that time was Derek just seeing from the neck down? Or was he not seeing anything at all. How could he see some but not all? I don’t know. I mean Stiles, yeah, I get it but Derek, not so much. Which leads to…

I’m not sure about how it all was resolved though. I was a little confused by Derek’s intentions. At the end of the day I totally believed him but it took a bit for me to get there. He flipped so easily.

And lastly, what is up with the fade to black when I finally wanted living color?? Because believe me, I know that shit would have been hot as fuck.

But overall, as I already mentioned, an interesting concept but let’s be honest, people would be invading other people’s brains all the freaking time. Yes?

Originally read around 07/10/15 – no rating or review at that time.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Sterek, how I've missed thee!

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this quite awhile ago, before it was on Goodreads and probably need to reread to give it a proper review. Over all this author churns out fairly consistent four star Stereks. TheRoguesGambit's imagination is articulated flawlessly in this, I remember being hesitant about it from the blurb, that the fantasy world would be weird, but it was done so well, it was easy to understand and felt natural. And Stiles' angst - it's been a while, but I still remember Stiles' angst, it vibrated from the pages.

[Maygirl7 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third times the time to mark as read and rate. It's great to see other fanfiction reviews in my feed to make me rediscover stories and give me the chance to add them to my shelves if I never got around to before or weren't on GR before.

[Trix · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 full stars for this!

The title and short summary made it seem like this was going to be a PWP. But oh, how that proved to be a misconception. I couldn't get enough of it and finished it in one sitting.

First of all, you will need to not look too deeply into this set up. So questions like 'but what if a rapist would take advantage of this?' or 'what if someone is unwilling to be the subject of a fantasy even if the one doing the fantasizing is madly in love with them?' I had a couple of such wandering thoughts but got back on track pretty quickly and devoted myself to the story.

The gist of the fiction is that people can fantasize about someone and that certain someone would feel the sensations of that fantasy. Naturally, Stiles, as any normal teenager would, has plenty of those fantasies and they all star Derek. And the main drive behind this story is that Derek is unaware who is the source of these fantasies. Ensue a series of near misses where identities are almost revealed, plenty of titillating fantasies that manage to not tip into full out p0rn descriptions and extensive character development that pulls you in.

I did have one problem along the way. How it was possible for Derek to fantasize about Stiles, not knowing the identity. That was a bit of a head-scratcher. How Derek could get enough details of the person fantasizing about him to project back, but not enough to discover who it was. Still... minor details that in no way detracted from the pleasure of reading this.

I absolutely loved how Stiles was so flustered in the first few scenes when he understood how the fantasies worked and how Derek reacted to them. He tried to be decent about it and stop fantasizing about him. Which is when Derek realised that despite his protestations, he was actually enjoying the 'sessions'. And so, from the few glimpses and impressions he had of the fantasies, he tries to reconnect with his 'admirer'. What a shock it is to Stiles (in fact to everyone around him) to find himself on the other side of the Fantasy. And so they begin a weird communication system and a series of fantasy dates. They open up and really come to care for each other. Only Derek cannot put a face to his Object, cannot link his feelings to the real person, while Stiles struggles to keep the two personas apart. It it heart breaking to see him pine for Derek while at the same time be with him mentally. The pinnacle is when Stiles decides he would be willing to go with the charade if it meant it made Derek happy. In the end, the truth does come out. It is hard for both men to face it, even though Stiles had had the advantage of knowing who he was fantasizing about. It's... it's not easy and both men have to tread lightly to avoid a disaster. But that just makes the ending so much more deserving and leaves the reader with a smile on their face and a happy, warm feeling in the chest. At least it did with me.

[Fifi LaFleur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, this was interesting. Admittedly it got me thinking about all the terrible things to do with the concept, but in the end I took it for what it was and really enjoyed it. I've read it a few times now and then found the podfic.

Clearly I liked it. It's pretty hot, too. Classic clueless Derek who just needs someone to love him.

[BWT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting world building. I liked the idea and most of the execution, including how the fantasy relationship builds, but will admit I was a bit disappointed when they finally get together. The sex is all off page...like wtf?

[Malinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars

This was a pretty good story. This is a Sterek fanfiction story. For those of you that don't know...Sterek fanfic is based off 2 male characters, Stiles and Derek, from the TV show Teen Wolf. In the show they're both heterosexual but some viewers have fantasized about them together in a m/m relationship and thus Sterek was born. This story is loosely based around the TV show around season 2 (I think).

The world in which this story takes place is one where people can feel someone else fantasizing about them. Derek is the Alpha of the pack and Stiles is human. Stiles has a fantasy about Derek and he knows he shouldn't have but he does anyways. Afterwards, Stiles doesn't intend things to continue but when Derek seems to show interest in a shared fantasy, Stiles does continue and Derek is interested but doesn't know who his "dreamer" is. He'd like to know but doesn't any way to find him, so he enjoys the time he has with his dream guy. There's some definite drama as things get worked out but the story does end with a HEA for Derek and Stiles.

This was a pretty enjoyable story. The character representations were pretty good and I liked the way they came together (I was definitely rooting for them to clear the air and work things out). Overall, I found this story to be very enjoyable and I plan to read more by this author.

* note - I listened to the podcast of this story. The narrator did a good job overall but her accent did make me have to think about what I was listening to more closely.

[Adrian Fridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise that works really well in context of the story as long as you don't think too hard on abusive applications.

Stiles and Derek end up in a "relationship" through their shared fantasies, except Derek doesn't know it's Stiles dreaming about him. And by "dreaming" I mean day dreaming. There be shenanigans. Oblivious Derek is oblivious.

I think my only peeve is that once they do have sex in reality, it's fade to black. Like, I really wanted to watch them reconcile how easy certain things are in fantasies compared to real life, but whatever, I'm still happy with what I got. My brain can fill in blanks.

[Tara♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness the level of adorable in this was outrageous. In a world where the object of your fantasies knows what you are imagining but not who is doing the imagining, Stiles and Derek go about making something that should be easy, a lot more difficult and the results are smexy, a little angsty and fabulous! Super cute.

[Irina Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant idea, brilliantly handled.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oooooh, I liked this one. I admit, I passed it over a few times on AO3 because the concept seemed kinda outlandish. I was worried the fantasy projection thing would come off as contrived and poorly thought out, merely a plot device for some porn-y scenes with no effort to integrate it into the world building. And while this was semi-true (there was definitely a heavy helping of smut), the idea that the object of one's sexual fantasy physically feels it was built into the world, with rules of etiquette and a code of morality.

I enjoyed the writing and the angst was at a tolerable level.

[⚣Michaelle⚣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting take on whether fantasizing about someone (without them knowing) is borderline non-con.

[Hc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was longer than I expected. Plus I was kinda thinking it was more porn like.

Pleasantly surprised...Clearly there are some porn like qualities when it comes to fantasies but other than that, building a relationship without knowing who you are building it with. As usual, they are idiots... the idiots they call each other Lol..

[Karen Wellsbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

An AU where if you're fantasised about- you can feel it!

Clueless Derek
Stiles, awkward and longing, fantasising about Derek
Derek, still clueless but loving being the Object

I asked for sweet, and this was - thank you Susan !

[Seregil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This left me with a big smile. The Sterek cuteness is strong in this one. :D

I like the premise as well. It sort of reminded me of the stories where they are born hearing each other's thoughts/music/ feelings or stuff like that.

[Mj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense

[Plumpka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastyczna historia - przeczytałam ją po raz drugi i nadal podoba mi się tak samo.

[Skye Blue ☆*~ﾟლ(´ڡ`ლ)~*☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit, from reading this blurb, I didn't expect it to be much more than a quick porny fluff...but I was wrong.

I really enjoyed this. Yes, it was pretty hot...but it was also sweet. A little frustrating, wishing Derek would hurry up and figure it out. But somehow, with out knowing who was on the other end, Derek still fell in love with his mystery dreamer. There was comfort, not just sex in the fantasies.
Very enjoyable fic.

[Nepreading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Umm. Holy shit.

ALL the buttons, it hits and stomps all over ALL of them.

Insecurity, self-worth issues, crazy feels, Mariana Trench deep passion and oh oh oh the full-body-flush-inducing sex. And then, grapefruktskeden också. I go absolutely batshit wild for the boys torturing themselves.

Now. I'm not blind to the issues of dub con and creep, but, just, I mean, it's Stiles and Derek.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was different from anything I've read before. Cool concept that I might wish were sometimes real.

[Pixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was stupidly romantic. I adored it.

[GrEatE · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was nice

[Airi · Rating 5 out of 5]

2017: 5 stars
2021: 5 stars
2024: 5 stars