Recs: Blood, almost-gen to NC-17 (spoilers through 4.18)
Will we look back on Season 4 of Supernatural and say it was all about blood?
After reading rivkat 's Sanguine I think we might. The author takes what we know about about Sam's blood-drinking habit and folds it back into the central fraternal dynamic of the show in an hair-raising and utterly plausible way. I've seen a lot of discussion of how much Dean misses and mourns the innocent, trusting (and trustworthy) Sam of earlier seasons, but this brief story, using Sam's POV, gives us disturbing insight into how much Sam might miss the strong, protective Dean he grew up with. Technically g-rated, with no slash, "Sanguine" is a more compelling meditation on fraternal desire than many NC-17 stories.(spoilers through 4.18, but nothing specific).
ETA: and now with a sequel (spoilers to 4.20): iVisceral
It reminded me of two earlier S4 fics I liked a lot that also consider the issues of shared blood and sharing blood:
veronamay 's A Change in the Blood (Sam/Dean, R, 4.04 tag). In the author's words: To all those people wanting another schmoopy 4x04 coda with caring tender Wincest: this is not the fic you're looking for. To everyone else: hi! Have some fucked up porn.
bloodnfire 's In You I Count Stars (general spoilers for S4, nothing specific). Author's rating: PG-13, warning for super slight bloodplay that isn't really bloodplay.
The differences between these two earlier S4 fics and rivkat 's, though, is instructive. Desperate, violent, and bittersweet as it is, sharing blood in those stories consoles and unites Sam and Dean. The more recent story, however, makes you wonder if S4 has now put such consolation out of reach. Sam's blood-driven fantasies push against the limits of Winchester family ties, revealing, once again, their intransigence, and leaving us wondering just how they'll snap.
Not to be melodramatic or anything!
ETA: Here's another blood-sharing fic, a coda for 4.19: whereupon 's Call and Answer (gen, R): "funny how it all comes down to blood in the end." Another story in which blood brings an unexpected kind of unity to the Winchesters--consoling or disturbing, depending on your perspective
After reading rivkat 's Sanguine I think we might. The author takes what we know about about Sam's blood-drinking habit and folds it back into the central fraternal dynamic of the show in an hair-raising and utterly plausible way. I've seen a lot of discussion of how much Dean misses and mourns the innocent, trusting (and trustworthy) Sam of earlier seasons, but this brief story, using Sam's POV, gives us disturbing insight into how much Sam might miss the strong, protective Dean he grew up with. Technically g-rated, with no slash, "Sanguine" is a more compelling meditation on fraternal desire than many NC-17 stories.(spoilers through 4.18, but nothing specific).
ETA: and now with a sequel (spoilers to 4.20): iVisceral
It reminded me of two earlier S4 fics I liked a lot that also consider the issues of shared blood and sharing blood:
veronamay 's A Change in the Blood (Sam/Dean, R, 4.04 tag). In the author's words: To all those people wanting another schmoopy 4x04 coda with caring tender Wincest: this is not the fic you're looking for. To everyone else: hi! Have some fucked up porn.
bloodnfire 's In You I Count Stars (general spoilers for S4, nothing specific). Author's rating: PG-13, warning for super slight bloodplay that isn't really bloodplay.
The differences between these two earlier S4 fics and rivkat 's, though, is instructive. Desperate, violent, and bittersweet as it is, sharing blood in those stories consoles and unites Sam and Dean. The more recent story, however, makes you wonder if S4 has now put such consolation out of reach. Sam's blood-driven fantasies push against the limits of Winchester family ties, revealing, once again, their intransigence, and leaving us wondering just how they'll snap.
Not to be melodramatic or anything!
ETA: Here's another blood-sharing fic, a coda for 4.19: whereupon 's Call and Answer (gen, R): "funny how it all comes down to blood in the end." Another story in which blood brings an unexpected kind of unity to the Winchesters--consoling or disturbing, depending on your perspective