Meta and Author's Notes on my fic "Saving Sam"

[brightly_lit]

So, my latest fic, “Saving Sam.” (There are spoilers for the fic in this here post, so if you’re planning on reading it, you’ll probably want to read it first. It's pretty short. Then again, I saw a million spoilers for S8 before I actually saw it, and somehow it didn’t spoil much of anything!) I’ve been having the hardest time writing fic

Comments

[indiachick]

*I am kind of off-kilter and very thrown and somehow DEEPLY affected by this interpretation, especially fresh from the S9 episode that is going to TOTALLY blow you away from the view point of this meta, because, damn lady, SHIT HAPPENS.*

I don't even think I can say anything coherent. Dean is a shadow of Sam, chasing this ever-more-mythical, smarter, stronger, taller, nicer, deeper, BETTER (in Dean’s view) ‘brother’ who slips from his grasp over and over, his psyche would want to give him some small consolations ...This kind of hurts my soul, really, and somehow I started thinking of Sam, how he is the archetypal 'hero' in the arc who is not only set up to have that arc by external forces most of the time but also comes a little short somehow of actually coming through the trials unscathed and heroic. The basic foundation of the show, I think, is in this that Sam is the one that pulls away from the strange and the supernatural, Sam is the one that tries to be his own person and build up his own life, Sam is the one who constantly

[brightly_lit]

ARRGHHHH, GIRL, I could trade comments on this post with you about all this stuff forever

[cuddyclothes]

I occasionally think about meta arcs, but mostly I think along writers' lines: story construction, continuity, etc. I found Jared's "Girl On Guy" podcast amazing. To hear him talk as himself (and slightly drunk), being so open about the show, was affirming to me in terms of canon, etc. Jared said he and Jensen have a voice for the shit they get, using an example of a glass being in one shot and then they forget the glass was on the table in the next take. He put on a high, squeaky voice: "Dear Supernatural, there was no glass on the table and I'm never watching the show again." He also talked freely about the intention being to go through Kripke's arc and stop. But then the show was picked up, and everyone was gobsmacked about what to do next. Jared admitted that he was very uncomfortable during Seasons 6 and 7, and 8 had felt like they were getting their feet back under them. (This is ALL PARAPHRASING, for those nit-pickers out there.) He also talked about how there are times when it's fun and times when it is just a routine

[brightly_lit]

I am eager to hear that podcast--in large part because it does sound like he's unusually candid (and yet still adorable)! (Plus, I love Aisha Tyler--I've got her latest memoir on my dresser as I write.)

I loved that post of missyjack's, too--and how Glass and Thompson ship themselves with each other! I've lately heard more about what the writers (particularly Carver) say that reassured me that they had a plan, but I had to come to it in my own way before I could find my way back into the heart of the show, which I'm happy to say getting all this off my chest seems to have accomplished! I too hate the nitpicking I sometimes see, but yet I also understand it now, because when you're this passionate about something, sometimes it's the only way to work through something you have doubts about. I just hope the creators cleave to their vision and don't listen too closely to the complaining and naysaying (including mine), because it's the only way to make the show good.

SHIRTLESS CAS ... *drool* Yes, the SPN gods smiled on us tonight.

[reggie11]

I ADORE your interpretation of where you think this is going and I would be excited as hell if it actually turned out this way. I know many fans would be disappointed if we were to find out that it was a case of MPD or schizophrenia but damn it would explain everything beautifully. Even now, coming up toward the end of season 9, this still fits. Dean is getting darker by the day and Sam, even though he is still there for Dean whenever it counts, is pulling away from him. It's like one part of a dual mind that is desperately hanging on and will stop at nothing to achieve it, while the other is breaking away/ready to die off. But if it does turn out that way, which personality will win out? Would we have a final merging where the person finds out it wasn't real, or would one personality win out over the other and 'kill off' the other leaving that person as either Sam OR Dean with a totally cracked psyche locked forever in a loony bin? You have to remember, in the bible, Cain kills Abel so he can go to heaven. Will 'Dean' kill 'Sam' in

[brightly_lit]

You have no idea how hard this comment made me grin!!

YES, fandom would flip out (more than it usually does, even ;-) ), but

damn it would explain everything beautifully.

YES. I would find it deeply satisfying, personally.

while the other is breaking away/ready to die off.

YES. I feel like if a person were trapped in an inescapable cycle like that, one part of it probably WOULD want to die just to bring it to an end, like Sam does, while some other part of itself (Dean, who indeed explicitly represents 'on the side of staying alive' in 9.01!) would be holding on harder than ever to life.

And WOW, I love your idea of one of them finally having to kill the other off!! Down to an epic battle between Sam (the better hunter, in Bobby's opinion, but softer hearted) and Dean (more ruthless, but who would do anything for Sam), how would it go?? That would be FASCINATING. (Now I want the fic!! I'll blame you if I write this thing! :-D)

... Should we share custody, then? ;->

[reggie11]

PS: I've recced both the fic and this meta on my Delicious as a must read xx

[brightly_lit]

:-D Aww, thank you! <3