'Supernatural' episodes that delightfully address fanfiction

In season four of "Supernatural," episode 18, also called "The Monster at the End of This Book," has a fun literary premise: Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean's (Jensen Ackles) adventures from the last several years have been turned into a series of novels with a small cult following.

Sam and Dean discover this when a comic book store owner mistakes them for cosplayers larping as the characters. They then buy as many copies as possible and start reading about themselves.

Sam also does online research that introduces them to fanfiction, including "Sam girls" and "Dean girls" and even slash fans who ship Wincest. I sympathize with the disgust when Dean says, "They do know we're brothers, right?"

And the fanfiction references don't stop in that episode. As the series goes on, Chuck Shurley (Rob Benedict) continues to write stories about Sam and Dean's adventures. And with more books comes more fans with even more of the world to explore.

For instance, in season five, episode nine, also titled "The Real Ghostbusters," Sam and Dean are lured to a "Supernatural" convention by their superfan Becky Rosen (Emily Perkins), with a bunch of other people dressed up as them hunting fake ghosts while they have to hunt a real ghost.

Likewise, in season 10, episode five, also known as "Fan Fiction," Sam and Dean investigate strange disappearances at a high school that's putting on a musical performance of the "Supernatural" books, and this leads to the director of the musical telling Dean about Destiel, which is a gay shipping of Dean and Castiel (Misha Collins).

Dean is yet again annoyed by the gay slash fiction while Sam finds the whole thing entertaining.

There are other, more subtle references to fanfiction throughout the series, most notably episode titles such as "Slash Fiction" and "Meta Fiction," which aren't necessarily about fanfiction, but they do play on the idea of it.

The way the show includes and playfully pokes fun at the concept of fanfiction and fan culture as a whole is delightfully entertaining. While I've never been a die-hard fan of the show, I've always had an appreciation for the world building and creativity.

I especially love episodes that hint at things in the real world, such as these fanfiction episodes and "The French Mistake," which brings Sam and Dean into the real world and references things that have happened in their real lives.

I highly recommend all of the episodes listed here, most of which can likely be watched with minimal context thanks to the anthological way most episodes are crafted.