Writing From the Inside

Not By Half by Estrella30.

Slash.

Found something good here. Dean thinks about all the women he’s loved over the years, or cared for, or just had sex with. How each one means less and less to him as time goes by. Each section starts out with a phrase like:

“When Dean was sixteen he met Suzanne.”

The section goes on to talk about Suzanne, or whoever she is this time. Then the last section starts:

“When Dean was twenty-six he found Sam.” Then it continues on with how they met up again and how the sex starts. What I like about this story is how Dean realizes he was wandering without finding, and how it’s only ever been Sam for him. Unlikely yes, but nicely done.   

Lead Us Not Into Temptation by joyfulgirl41

Slash.

Oh. I don’t want to admit it, I really don’t, but when I finished this one, a shiver ran up my spine. You know, like in the stories? Like fingers. Like a mouse had run up me. Ficlets should not have the power to do this, they really shouldn’t. It’s a story about temptation and the point when temptation becomes a choice you cannot deny. Kudos to this writer, I thought I was too jaded for a reaction like that.

In the Stillness by Amiss.

Slash.

Short, too short. It makes me sigh. Why are all these stories so short? Still, this one is nice, with another little nugget here. Dean as caregiver, giving to Sam who is lonely. Sam cannot resist because he is so lonely, misses Jess so.

It’s basically summed up by this:

“He tried to stop this the first time, and the second, but when he’s honest he knows that he didn’t try very hard, really, because Dean’s warm and he loves him and Sam’s always so fucking cold lately.”

Poor Sammy.

Landmarks by estrella30.

Slash.

Not a real story, more of a ficlet, but containing a gem of an idea, that of memory as geography. Some people know dates and names, but Dean tells his story by where he’s been and what he did there. Whereas Sam knows Route 40 in Tulsa, or wherever. The way people remember things isn’t good or bad, per se, but it does say something about them. I liked this idea here, had done a paper on it for Linguistics, about people’s ways of telling direction, or marking events. I once, way back, as a delivery gal, worked with this guy who told directions by Dairy Queens. Go up through Ft. Collins, he’d say, and take a right at the Dairy Queen. Or, go two miles past the Dairy Queen right outside of town, then go left. This is what started me off on my linguistics journey. He didn’t realize he was doing it and seemed quite shocked when I pointed it out to him. (Turns out he was chowing down on Blizzards at every stop.) So I kept it going, giving my directions by the various McDonalds. It was the summer of the 99 cent Big Mac, and being a Big Mac fan (back then) I did a lot of stopping myself. It was a great summer, which is probably why I liked this ficlet!

We Were Like Family Once by dodger-winslow.

Gen

Oh jeeze. Oh jeeze. Oh jeeze. A REAL story. With words and everything. Just kills me. A plot. Solid structure. Single POV. Structure. Good. Well written. Well plotted. John. John Winchester and Bill Harvelle. John’s side of the story as to just how Bill got killed and why. Why his boys never met Ellen till years later. Totally believable, reads like cannon. Like an Ep. A really long ep. The thing clocks in at nearly 30,000 words and while some of it slumps in the middle (some of the converations are really long) what I loved was the realism and care that the writer has with John’s character. And those of his sons, seen through John’s eyes. The conversations he has with them and why. How he sees them. It all rings so true.

In my mind this is how it happened until Kripke tells me different.

Turn the Page by gilascave.

Gen.

What an odd little story. Some of it I liked, some of it I didn’t. Never understand why so many writers insist on giving Dean kids scattered all over the place, like his daddy never taught him how to be careful. What was great in this story was how Sam was. He was a great character here, honest and pissed off and kicking Dean awake so that Dean can do his share in making the motel room safe. Just what Dean would do to him. That was it. Such a weird little story. Not badly written, just weird.

Outside by the Blue, Blue Moon by vaingirlfic.

Slash.

Lo, I have found one of the stories I was looking for. A terrific read, and an amazing job making a fairy tale come to life. Only I’m not sure which fairy tale, it just reads like its based on one. Sam is captured by this demon who insists that Sam stay with him. If Sam does not do so willingly for a month, the demon will kill Dean and Dad. Sam watches his brother and father through the window and agrees. A spell has been cast. Sam must stay for a month, he can never tell anyone, and the horrible horrible spell that has been cast over him can only be broken by someone who loves him. So.

Brilliant. My favorite part is where Dean (natch) is the one who figures it out, not just the spell but how to break it. He relaxes against Sam and says, “I can fix that.” You know. Just like the guy in the movie Holes who grows those terrific onions. “I can fix that.” Well, mabye that’s not exactly what he says, it’s somethnig more along the lines of, “Heck, that’s easy.” There’s a lot of love there between brothers, and I just want to go soak in a whole tubfull of it.

The Beekeeper’s Daughter; Leaving Louisiana in Broad Daylight;
Vicarious Atonement
Lemon

Gallis Blue Trees

Oh, god, I have to stop. Everything I read of traveller’s just kills me. It’s bright and articulate and spot on. The descriptions are marvelous, rich, and strong. This is the kind of writer who makes me want to grab her and say, show me, oh master. Read everything, try to swallow your envy, and imagine what it must be like to have words like this spilling out of your fingers. Then try and figure out how she does it. Sheesh.

I Could Be Happy the Rest of My Life by traveller.

Het.

Yeah. Catch me reading a Het story, but this one I found on my “other” rec list, the one I stumbled across and am hoping to get through by the time Amalthia’s list comes back up again. Page down, and just when I needed it most! So anyway, this story. Not a story, but a series of scenes. I am of the opinion that a series of scenes is a lazy way to go, and maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. I’ve always preferred a story where the writer shows her seat work and I get to go through all that to get to the payoff. I think maybe stories like these are called drabbles or ficlets, and usually, you know, no. Too short to get into for me. But, if the story is not marked with how many words, then I’m on my own and in I go.

This story is a series of scenes about Dean visiting this woman some place down south. He has sex with her, barely knows her name, but these visits fill him up, make him whole, give him some rest. Sam never knows why they are going down south, and either must be waiting in the car or the hotel, I don’t know. He never asks questions. In the end, Dean decides to be honest with Sam and introduces him to the woman. Pretty simple, yes.

The story/drabble/ficlet has some beautiful language.  And, at the same time, the writer seems to understand the pressure that Dean is under. Here’s an example:

“Dean keeps picking up his phone and putting it down, wanting to dial but not sure of whether or not he should. The trees are green and the temperature is high and Sam is dozing with the window halfway down. He wonders if he should be taking Sam there, if he’ll have to offer explanations where he’s never done before.

He wonders if he should’ve been telling the truth all along.”

I think the important thing here is what this says about the character of Dean. Of how he gets what he needs, never by asking or by taking, but by finding out what’s there and what’s being offered and making that enough. For Dean, this little spot in the south is home, a home in addition to Sam, in spite of Sam. For all the stories about how the brothers are so intertwined, it was nice to see one where there is an independance in Dean. More by this writer please.

In Jerusalem Next Year and St. Peter’s Bones by peripheralsight.

Slash.

 Hard to discuss when I’m pumped fill of turkey and stuffing, but rather than face a midnight turkey sandwhich, I plowed my way through a discovered rec list, and found this gem. Meets all the criteria, except for the fact that the boys have a pre-existing relationship, except in this case, it’s just teenage fooling around, and the boys don’t consider it. Much. What drew me into these stories (more companion peices than sequential stories) was the insight into the characters, and the lack of maudlin-ness, if that’s a word. What does that mean? Well, it means that the story rings true, characters do things they regret, or say things they wish they hadn’t, but they don’t wring their hands and sob over it. The thing they did or said that they regret comes back to them from time to time, and they let it, let themselves feel bad, and then they move on, but they don’t forget.

Story includes one of my favorite ideas, that of how on earth Sam told Dad he was going away to college.  And then Dean’s reaction to it. Some nice on the road stuff, which always rubs me the RIGHT way, with lines like this:

“This was one of Dean’s favorite times, when the only real certainty in front of them was the nebulous lull of a destination. The Impala ate up the heat-shimmer infinity of the highway and purred under his hands, wrapping him and Sam in a private universe of fast food and AC/DC that never felt like limbo and no one else could touch.”

Cause in my mind, that’s how road trips are for me. The destination. The isolation. The road. Music. Landscapes passing by. On the road. Perfect.

The story, however, is mostly about Sam and Dean coming together, literally and figuratively, before Sam left, after he left, and after Jess died. It was nice to come to this good style of writing after about 10 dull stories in which the sex doesn’t mean anything, and the characters seemed off, and I was bored silly. This was GOOD. Want more from this writer.