Writing From the Inside

Untitled by unintended muse.

Gen.

Families are a wonderful thing. This story, sweet as can be, shows us the Winchesters actually going to one of Sam’s soccer games, and THEN to Chuck E. Cheese’s afterwards. Can you imainge such a thing? I can’t. But it was especially gratifying to see them expressing love and not just arguing all the time. To watch Sam win at that dumb rifle game. I’ll bet he got tons of tickets, just tons.

Fault Lines by jewels 667 and Emptying the Bowl by angstslashhope.

Slash.

These two are a pair of stories, the second of which is a remix of the first. Near as I can figure it, a remix takes the first story and gives it a spin. The second story could be a retelling of the first from a different point of view, or it could be a continuation of the story, or whatever. Like SPN makes a writer want to write, a good story will make another writer want to keep that story going. Near as I can figure.

In this case, the first writer creates a Dean-character story, marked by fine writing like:

“Plates shift with the click of the door latch and Sam’s affect is defined by his absence, like a fissure opened up beneath Dean’s feet; he’s been tumbling downward ever since. ”
 

What works in this story is the almost abstract description, where there are fragments of ideas against other fragments, and all of it assembles itself together to paint a picture of a very lonely Dean. The remix takes this idea and spins it. They’re lovely.

“Dean likes the baser things in life. His body’s never quite fit him right, like his skin’s a tectonic jigsaw, constantly shifting and threatening to crack open. Sam’s mouth soothes and stills. Binds the edges together, like the scratch marks down Dean’s back are seams, like Sam’s saliva is blood.”
 

Unaplogetic by fig jam.

Slash.

I must be getting somewhere with all these fics, cause I came across another fic I’d read some time back and remembered liking. The plot is straightforward, Dean and Sam on the road, they stop at a truck stop that is actually a nest of succubi waiting for weary travellers. Dean is bitten, and the rest of the story follows suit. Succubi bites make you want to have sex, apparently, and Sam is struggling between trying to fight Dean off, or just giving in, becuase one of these choices is going to hurt less than the other.

This thought makes me shake my head. What kind of life do these boys lead if choices are judged based on how much they will NOT hurt you, rather than on how good they might be for you?

Some memorable lines, including:

“The people who said that you could never go home again hadn’t grown up with Sam. Sam went home with every cheap hotel room that reeked of sulfur, gun oil, scotch. Sam went home every time he picked up a gun and was struck by the memory of his father’s hands steadying his own, bracing him for the kick of the rifle that would leave bruises. Sam went home every time he turned on the television and was left with muted infomercials or the steady pattern of a network gone off the air. That had been his nightlight; the shadow of his father sitting by the door, watching, armed, had been his comfort.

Sam used to wonder why his father never slept. He knew now. ”

and

“Dad would’ve turned around. Then again, Dad would been at the bottom of a bottle by now. Dean didn’t have the luxury of alcohol-fueled reason. One of them needed to be clearheaded.” 

and

“Sam had been out of the business for four years. He wasn’t used to fighting anymore. He hadn’t slept.

Dean hadn’t. Dean was. Dean had.”

Factum Amoris by Lenore.

Slash.

I read this one a while back, when I had just started reading fanfic for SPN, to see if I could see what it was all about. At the time, I hadn’t liked the story, thought the premise of an enchanted sod house that trapped kids to sacrifice them for the harvest was a bit stretching it. Then, after reading many, many fics, I realized the theme of “we have to do it to save you/me/each other” was quite common. To shorten that title, I’ll call it the sex to save theme. Not badly done here, and their reactions after seem sane in that they realize that it’s not quite right what they’re doing.

Written on the Body by Traveller.

Gen.

Found another one by traveller. A character study of Dean that’s not a story, but contains some nice ideas. One is the last birthday party he remembers, from when he was four. Such a sad little memory, and he’s got nothing else. No other birthday parties. Then he starts marking birthdays in other ways, like by getting a tatoo. And the argument he has with his Dad over Sam almost getting a tatoo was pretty good too.

You can read my review of the Supernatural episode “Faith” at pinkraygun.com. Thank you!

An excerpt:

“Sam is lovely in this scene, really. I think I owe the wardrobe and makeup guy a kiss. Sam is in tattered blue jeans and that rough-edged sweater over a t-shirt, looking young and alone. He’s chewing on his nails, his hair doesn’t look like he’s washed it in days. His face looks like it’s hot and his eyes are glossy like he’s been crying not long since and might give in to it again, but he won’t, cause he’s gotta help Dean. Oh, Sam. Poor Sam. Never have I seen this boy so downhearted. It’s not a case that can be solved, or an object that can be destroyed to save the day. No, his brother is dying, and Sam is desperate.”

Pictures…(Click on the links to display beautiful, full-size pics. Click on thumbnails for smaller but still beautiful pics.)

Sam wants Dean to be well

Beatiful Dean

Sam and Dean watch faith healer

The Boy Who Fell by flipmontigirl.

Slash.

I think this is more a ficlet than anything, but it had me going, sucked me right in and made me love it. I’m going to stop for the night with this image in my head:

“Dean told him about Sammy, who wouldn’t talk, wouldn’t listen and never backed down.”

Plus One by the highwaywoman.

Slash.

I didn’t know you could fuck the hissy out of someone. This gave me a GOOD laugh.

Vocabulary by innie_darling.

Gen.

Help me. Oh, I want to write as well as this and think up brilliant ideas like this. Sam has an assignment from a teacher who wants him to complete the sentence that starts “I am….” Sam spends days agonizing over this, with choices like I am sixteen, or I am ignored, or I am weary. It ends with him realizing I am protected, and he knows it. There is love in the Winchester family, though it doesn’t often surface. This one makes me sigh. I love this story.

Undertow by whereupon.

Slash.

I am a lucky girl. This is one of those stories that had this LINE in it that I couldn’t banish from my mind, but there was no way I could plow back through all the stories I had already read to find it. No, it’s not the eyelash one, but it’s the other one. The first story were I ever read a phrase that described kissing like this:

“Sam leans up; Dean’s mouth brushes against his, just for a second, tongue flicking across Sam’s lips and a surprised noise in his throat.

Dean turns his head, steps back. He opens his mouth further, like he’s going to say something, and then closes it, turns away.”

I think I have, perhaps, found the perfect slash story. Clocking in at over 30,000 words, sex is the medium, not the message.