Pretty Poison

SPN fanfic I’ve read this week:

Filthy Mind by rivkat (Slash/Wincest, Sam/Dean, other pairings)

A plot-driven story, very dark and sexy. Dean is being visited by spirits every night; spirits that want only one thing from him: sex. None of the usual protections seem able to keep them out. It’s definitely non-con, though Dean seems determined to deny that. Sam’s increasingly desperate attempts to find out what’s happening, together with a revelation I found truly disturbing in its implications make this an outstanding read. But be warned: I’m not kidding when I say it’s dark stuff.

By the time Sam got back the motel, he was more relaxed. He read a little of a rare demonology book Bobby had sent him. And when the door opened to let Dean in, he didn’t start yelling at Dean first thing for exposing him to Dean’s own supernatural groupie.

Instead, he slapped the book closed and stood up, advancing on Dean. “Why did you let me think it was a dream? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Dean smirked at him. “I didn’t know there’d be a repeat engagement. Don’t worry, this time I told her I’m not exactly a keeper.”

“If you’ve picked up a ghost stalker—”

Dean shook his head. “I got it covered,” he said, with all the easy confidence that used to make Sam feel perfectly safe no matter what was happening. “I spent the morning doing the basic ghost-cleaning rituals, and—” he pulled his collar down so that Sam could see he was wearing a new charm just under his amulet. “Ghost repellent. Tells a spirit that you’re satisfied, that there’s no debt left between you and it.”

Also, the fics for spn_summergen are being posted now - two fics a day so far and most of them are really great. All are posted anonymously and most are relatively short fics so great for a dip-in read. Quick links to my favourites so far:

and hell followed with him - Sam finds himself in an alternate universe where he was never born.

Thank You For My Life, Dad - John died instead of Bill Harvelle and the boys are raised at the Roadhouse. Mostly in Pastor Jim’s POV, which is why I like it. It’s unusual

I Dunno Third Base - John has amnesia. Sam is thrilled. Dean, not so much.

Hell (And Binky) Follows With Him - SPN/Discworld crossover. No seriously. Any summary would spoil it.

In All The Pauses - This is the fic written for me and I love it. Stanford-era, John and Dean on a hunt, and you can really feel the Sam-shaped hole in their lives.

The Links That Bind - Not for the faint-hearted; an AU of BUABS in which demon!Sam gets real nasty.

Crossposted from my blog at Devil's Trap. You can comment here or on the blog.

At the end of the Pilot, Sam chose to rejoin his brother (and by implication, John) in the life of a hunter. These men are his family; given what Sam has lost, it ought to be comforting. But I think the big theme for Sam in this episode is not his bond with his family, but his solitude.

Crossposted from my blog at Devil's Trap. You can comment here or on the blog.

For my last post on the pilot, here’s some of my favourite fan fiction based on the pilot episode.

A Life Less Ordinary by marinarusalka (Gen, John-centric)

A look at how John coped with life after Mary’s death; the story begins shortly after the fire and ends with Sam at Stanford. This is the John Winchester I love: tough-as-nails but only on the outside, protective, a man who adores his kids but doesn’t know how to show it, and above all a man whose life was shattered by loss, doing the best he can in a world gone mad.

By the time Sam is six and Dean is ten, John’s got the practical aspect of their life pretty well figured out. He’s become an expert in exorcisms, homemade explosives, French toast, and fourth-grade math. He knows how to time their frequent moves in a way that minimizes the impact on Dean’s school performance. He knows twenty-three protection charms against werewolves and eleven ways to kill a vampire. He knows exactly how long the boys can be left alone, and how to find a reliable baby-sitter for times when a hunting trip is likely to run longer than that. What he doesn’t know is how to keep himself from falling apart when he actually has time to think.

( Four more recs under the cut )

Crossposted from my blog at Devil's Trap. You can comment here or on the blog.

There is a mystery surrounding Sam Winchester from the very beginning.

When we first see him as a baby, he is the centre of his family – a new baby always is. Everyone else is gathered in Sam’s nursery to put him to bed. The nursery is a testament to how important Sam is to his family: the sheer number of cuddly toys, for a baby still too young to play with them, the depth of affection with which each of the others wish the baby good-night, even the baseball-themed mobile above the crib shout aloud that the baby is very much loved.

With the baby left alone for the night, we see the mobile above the crib begin to move, apparently all on its own. Is this the first sign of a supernatural presence? Or is baby Sammy somehow making the mobile move? Perhaps it’s only the wind.

Even taking the pilot alone, with none of the revelations we’ve seen since, there is little doubt that Mary’s death centres around Sam. There’s the mysterious figure beside the crib, whom she at first mistakes for John. Mary dies on the ceiling, directly above the crib; indeed, when John first bursts into the nursery it looks as if baby Sammy is quite entertained by the sight. Blood drips from Mary’s wound to fall right beside Sam’s head; only John’s hand prevents the second drip of blood from touching the baby. And then there’s the fire which so-quickly filled the nursery. It seems certain that, had John not been present, Sam would have died with his mother.

Crossposted from my blog at Devil's Trap. You can comment here or on the blog.

SPN fanfic I’ve read this week:

The Crow on the Cradle by kroki_refur (Gen, AU)

A long story, effectively an AU of the whole of SPN season one, though it focusses most vividly on the first few episodes. The simple premise is that Sam disappears in the middle of the night, a month before Jessica would have died. But that simple premise leads into an incredibly complex story. Jessica is wonderfully written, a far more rounded and real character than she ever was in canon and her point of view of Dean and John spot-on. They aren’t the good-guys to her: they’re scary guys keeping secrets from her. Normally I wouldn’t touch a long story written in present tense, but here it works: the Jess-pov sections are in present tense, the Dean-pov sections are in past tense and the transitions are so smooth I barely noticed once I got used to it.

“You never gave the police the phone,” she says. “That’s evidence. That could help them find Sam. They stopped fucking looking for him.”

Dean glances back at John, but John doesn’t move. “They were never going to find him,” he says.

“You don’t know that,” she says, and people are looking now, but she doesn’t care, because this bastard is standing there coolly telling her that his son, her Sam, is gone forever, and acting like he couldn’t give a shit. “No wonder he never talked about you,” she hisses, and Dean flinches. “He never wanted you here. I don’t want you here.”

Silence Cast to Night Skies by tahirire (Gen)

A fantastic John-POV story set shortly after Sam left for Stanford. What I love most about this story is the way John is thinking of all the mistakes Dean could make on the hunt, but it’s John who makes the mistakes, not Dean. Great characterisation of both men, and the tension and angst between them as they struggle to rebuild their family without Sam makes this story one that fits well into the gap in canon.

John knows he can’t handle losing Dean, too. Its bad enough how quiet Dean has become, he doesn’t want to see his own emptiness reflected in Dean’s hungry eyes. John shakes his head in wonder. Dean was always the noise, the constant chatter of his life. Sam was always the quiet one.

Funny how once the quiet one is gone you’ve never heard the silence so loud.

Scared by scoob2222 (Het, Jo/Ash)

Jo/Ash smut and an interesting take on why Jo left the Roadhouse after No Exit. (Shame it wasn’t spell-checked, but it’s worth a read just for the pairing.)

He presses her back against the bar and his mouth lowers to her ear, “I’m not afraid of any little boy with delusions of grandeur. And I wouldn’t be so proud of yourself, sweetheart, especially since he sent you back home without even a casual fuck. How does it feel knowigng that ass fucks anything that moves and he won’t fuck you?”

The Very Moment I’m Aware I’m Alive by free_pirate (Gen)

Dean is having nightmares - set between AHBL1 and AHBL2. Short, dark, and a realistic insight into Dean’s psyche right before he made that deadly deal.

He doesn’t know how long he kneels there on the muddy ground. The absence of the rise and fall of Sam’s breathing against him is a gaping hole, and Dean feels like he’s betraying Sam. Because Dean is still here, as much as he doesn’t, at this moment, want to be, and he’s still breathing when Sam isn’t.

In Desperate Times by buffyaddict13 and riverbella (Slash - non-Wincest)

The story pairs each of the Winchester men: Sam, Dean and John with a male stranger. Three short, unrelated vignettes that examine the reasons why each man made a difficult choice.

Once, when Sam was little, he thought there was a monster in his closet. He spent the night in that dark, enclosed space with a gun and his fear. The closet smelled like moth balls and dust and sweat. The motel room smells like dust and sweat and cigarette smoke. As Sam shuts the door behind him, he lets his body follow the man toward the sagging bed, but he sends his mind into a small black box.

He tells himself it’s the last time he’ll have to go into the dark.

Meatloaf by ficwriter1966 (Gen)

You know what’s really cool? When an author doesn’t feel the need to remind the reader of stuff that, as fans, we already know. Like in this short coda to Dream A Little Dream Of Me, something is bothering Dean. The brothers talk about it. We know that what they’re discussing isn’t what’s really troubling Dean but the author doesn’t try to beat us over the head with it. We just know. The result is a really nice insight into the way the brothers keep their secrets from each other, the cracks in their relationship just barely visible.

Sam peers across the table at his brother, sighs, rubs at his eyes with the flats of his fingers. Dean smiles at him, goofy and good-humored and entirely Dean, and for a moment that makes Sam feel even worse. It ends when Sam realizes Dean’s hiding something. Something that happened in the dream world.

.

Crossposted from my blog at Devil's Trap. You can comment here or on the blog.

SPN fanfic I’ve read this week:

Woman Inflammable by vee_fic (Gen, Crossover)

A crossover with the Terminator ‘verse, this is a character study of John Winchester after Mary’s death but before he became a hard-ass hunter, struggling to cope with his two young sons. He runs into a young Sarah Connor in an LA motel, and for the space of a night their two worlds clash badly.

He jerked awake. As John opened his eyes he registered the noise: gunshots, many of them, nearby, full automatic. He jackknifed off the bed and crouched on the floor. Drawer banging out, .45 in hand, cool under his grip. He crawled toward the door and set his back to it and realized he was in his socks and then realized he had no idea where the children were.

Winchester Family Barbecues by mari4212 (Gen)

An older fic I ran across on del.icio.us - five vignettes describing five barbecues in John’s life. I loved the way this story shows John’s evolution from a teenager to husband to hunter in short, but evocative scenes.

Dean’s three years old and loves getting into everything he isn’t supposed to. It makes John laugh, especially when Mary gets this exasperated look on her face or makes a comment along the lines of “he’s your kid, you do something about it”.

A Snowball’s Chance by dreamlittleyo (Slash/Wincest, Humour)

I am not a fan of crack!fic, but the author’s summary simply compelled me to click on this link. So I’ll simply let her summary speak for itself: “Sam rules Hell. It’s a stressful job. Fortunately he’s got this brother who’s… remarkably resourceful. Silliness and sex ensue, and maybe that’s exactly what Sam needs.”

It’s the little stuff that drives him nuts. The bickering between his lieutenants, all of them anxious to be his favorite. It’s when Famine whines to him that Pestilence stole the last pudding cup that Sam decides he’s finally had enough.

The Ashen Apple of These Days by embroiderama (Gen)

Another story I found on del.icio.us, this is a bleak look at what the world might be like for Sam with Dean in Hell. There’s a lot of death and darkness and a nasty twist in the tale. My kind of fic

Sam wondered if solo hunting had been like this for Dean or Dad–days sometimes spent without speaking to another human being, months without using the name his mother gave him. He would have stopped hunting if he could see any other future for himself.

Trade by stephanometra (Het Sam/Bella)

Found this via a rec on LJ; it’s a smokin’ hot PWP written before the series canon revealed all about Bella. Consequently it doesn’t quite fit with the canon, but that doesn’t matter. Very true to character with Bella making Sam an offer that’s just a little too good to be true. My favourite part, though, is the nod to the crossroads demon: it’s a really creepy moment that gives the rest of the exchange a quite different meaning:

“Deal,” Sam says, turning to face her. He hands her the flask with the cash, and leaves his hand extended, so they can shake on it.

She pockets the cash, takes his hand, and says, “I think we can do better than that.” Then she wraps her other hand around the back of his neck, rises to her tiptoes, and kisses him.

All Talk and Andante by nephthys101 (Slash, Teenage Dean/Bobby)

A couple of very short pieces; they’re one story, really. It’s an interesting look at a young version of the horndog!Dean of canon. The characterisation of Bobby is a bit weaker but I can imagine a scene like this happening between them.

Dean doesn’t look innocent anymore. Bobby can see the dark circles surrounding Dean’s hollow, pained eyes. At fifteen, Dean looks hard and wizened. By attitude alone even Bobby wouldn’t card him at a bar. The kid had some weight to him, not physical weight, but the kind that’s paved with blood, hunting, and death. Dean has a hunter’s smile, sweet and dangerous.

I’ve Got The Night On My Side by sarah_p (Gen)

This one just breaks my heart. It takes that Bon Jovi singalong scene from No Rest For The Wicked and shows, in flashbacks to their childhood and Sam’s college days, why Dean picked that particular song and what the song means to the brothers. Though the story ends on a hopeful note it made me want to hug Sam hard…because I know what’s coming for him.

“A condition means I’m older and I get to make the rules,” Dean explained. “So condition number one: you can only sing where I tell you to.”

“So I can learn the easy parts, and you get the hard parts?” Sam perked up, excited at figuring out Dean’s thought process.

“Well, yeah. And because the part about being a cowboy is mine. It’s too cool for you.”

This Is Not A Love Song by sylvanwitch (Slash/Wincest, Darkfic)

I almost didn’t include this story because it’s a very dark view of the relationship between the Winchester brothers. That said, it’s very powerfully written (and in a style that’s quite unusual in this fandom) and the ending is a real punch in the gut. If you like a dark ending, you’ll like this story.

And there’s this moment, right here. Watch for it.

See the muscle ticking in Sam’s jaw, the way he’s breathing fast, like he’s just run a marathon pursued by a pack of creatures both carnivorous and quick?

See the scrim of doubt scroll through his eyes? He doesn’t want to do this. He’s not sure. And Dean could stop him with the right words.

But Dean isn’t paying attention.

Stranglehold by majorbrat (Slash/Wincest, casefic)

It’s Wincest, but this story has something of the tone of an episode. Dean has been cursed and Sam has to figure out how to break the curse before Dean loses his mind. I like the concept, and the way you’re never quite sure what’s real and what isn’t for Dean.

“Demon’s can’t cross over those kind of symbols, man. And the salt…”

Flinging himself down onto the other double bed, Dean let out a huff of air. “It had an explanation for it, something about curses and blood…”

Sam jumped off the other bed and grabbed for his laptop. “You didn’t feel the need to tell me that like, oh… fifteen minutes ago?”

“You were too busy trying to convince me I was crazy.”

Things Fall Apart by musesfool (Threesome Sam/Dean/Jo)

I’m not a fan of present-tense narrative, but I do enjoy the author’s sparse prose. It has the feel of a tale told over a lot of whiskey, a long time after the event. This is a dark take on Sam saving Dean from Hell, taking the broken version of Sam from Mystery Spot to its logical and unpleasant conclusion. Jo is harder than we saw her in canon, jaded and still trying to help in this world without any real hope. Even the sex is dark, unsatisfying for the participants, not always wholly consensual. What can I say? I love darkfic.

Dean’s been gone eight weeks, and except for her and Bobby, no other hunter will have anything to do with Sam and his crazy quest to bring his brother back from hell.

Jo likes having a goal, even one as impossible as this.

Sam does it, though, kills enough demons to make hell take notice, and when he kills Lilith, hell spits Dean Winchester back out. It’s a hot July night in Kansas, heat lightning splitting the clouds and the roar of thunder shaking the earth.

Crossposted from my blog at Devil's Trap. You can comment here or on the blog.