This November Life by dontyouwaitup.

Slash.

Huge, long story that reads like an ep. Something Kripke would dream, where each action has a horrible consequence. Where the brothers are brothers, no matter what. Mostly fits the criteria, giving it a pass, and while it may seem like I only read good fiction and then recommend everything I read, that’s only because I go by Amalthia’s rec list, which cuts down on the amount of reading I have to do to get to the good stuff.

In this story, our heros are on the road. Story begins right after AHBL ends, and the plot follows the last year of the boys together. Dean spends his time eating extra onions and being a pain in the ass (a beautiful pain) and Sam spends his time in libraries, wearing himself out, researching. Trying to find a way. To. Stop. The. Deal. Typical stuff, right?

A lot of “that last year” fic has the same elements and it makes sense that they do. Given the premise of the show, certain elements are in play and for fanfic to deny or ignore them would put the story in the realm of AU. Which for some reason this story is, and it isn’t. It isn’t because it follows reasonably from what has been established, and it is because it goes, by natural consequence, where Kripke and Co hasn’t already been.

It’s how the writer does this that make it special. First, like I said, story reads like an ep. There’s rising action, drama, followed by downtime in motels, or gas stations or those terrific diners. Nights spent in motels, giggling at horror movies and eating ribs and drinking too much. Just like they used to. The monster of the week is mostly off screen (as it should be) except when it relates to what happens between the brothers, for example, when Dean finds out that Sam is doing more than researching in libraries, he is, in fact, tapping in on his inner demon. Predictably, the story ends well, the forever after looks pretty sweet, and I’ll have to say, the rescue bit (the exorcism scene) was a bit rushed. Ah well. The pacing of the rest of the story was solid and fine. I would be rushing myself with a story this long.

And the slash in this story is mostly URST, which I thought was restrained on the part of the writer, but, in this case, in this rare case, I wanted MORE. Wanted to see it happen, to see the hearts and flowers. Isn’t that odd? Mostly I find the sex scenes overly done and moving briskly to gay porn, which is NOT criteria for me. The two kisses in this story are very satisfying, romantic in the right way, and simply felt right. Hope writer decides to do a little, um, followup. She probably won’t and the story can definately stand on its own. So why am I whining for the scene that I usually skim over? Silly me.

Brilliant turns of phrases and ideas captured here. Like:

“Sam’s been crying. Tucked up here in the darkest, emptiest corner of the library, he’s been crying, surrounded by books that Dean is pretty sure all say the same thing: yes, Sam Winchester, your brother is dead meat and no, you can’t do anything about it.”

Man, that just grabbed my heart, because, if Kripke takes it that far, I can see it happening just like this.

The story also makes statements, like this one:

“Sam jogs to catch up with him and gets an arm around Dean’s elbow. “This isn’t your year,” he says before he can stop himself. He spins Dean around and draws himself up close, crowds in.

“What?”

Sam leans forward, ducks his head so that his hair is falling against Dean’s forehead. “This year,” Sam repeats, “is not yours. Okay? It’s mine; it’s my year. And I’m sick of you fucking trying to throw it away.”

Yeah, Sam. You’re right. I love Sam.

 As to the slash part, as I said restrained. Very very restrained. Nice and realistic, too, which is rare, I’ve found. The bump I talk about? Doesn’t even show up. There’s lots of touching and nudging and looks and hair stroking, but it’s in the guise, realistically so, of what siblings do anyway.  Some families are like that, they hug and pet and nudge and poke, and hug some more. It stands in for the spoken words of affection that they can barely get their mouths, let alone their minds around. So, like them, like my family, Sam and Dean are touchers, hug, touch, poke, nudge. That’s a lot of love without a word being spoken. So it gets down to that moment where we’re gonna hit that bump, where it’s gonna go all slashy on my, and there’s no bump. Wow. Sam puts his hand on Dean’s stomach, and waits, and then Dean nods. Closing those darling eyelashes against those darling freckles. Oh man. Now THAT’s hot.

One small issue, and that’s only because I take a lot of roadtrips (esp this year) in my car. I love, love, love to drive. I’ve gone to a lot of the places mentioned in this story, and seeing as everything else was so detailed here, I missed what I was kinda expecting and that was for the places they went to to be different. To feel different, to sound different, different weather, for the car to drive differently on its way to Grand Junction than it would to Tulsa. For the air to feel more moist in Georgia than it does in South Dakota. But each place felt the same here.

Can’t expect every one to have been to all those places, cause I haven’t, and if someone hasn’t travelled then they won’t know how a place really smells. But with an imagination that this writer has, in fine working order, I missed some of the texture I thought should be there. So, note to self, air moisture content can make a difference in the atmosphere of the place. I’m gonna read everything else this writer has written, cause I know I’m in for a fine time.