SPN: Ghost in the Machine by ghostwriter056
Title: The Ghost in the Machine
Author: ghostwriter056
Artist: reapertownusa
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing/Characters: John/Dean, Bobby/Eleanor, Sam/Castiel
Rating: NC17
Warnings: Occasional graphic slash, temporary canon character death, consensual incest, mentioned underage, slight violence, plays fast and loose with Lovecraftian mythos, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON 6 FINALE
Word Count: 25,107
Summary: Castiel, now believing himself to be God, seeks to gain Sam and Dean's allegiance. Bringing John Winchester back from the dead is just the beginning. Bobby is reunited Eleanor as they try to get to the bottom of what killed H.P. Lovecraft's dinner party guests and what's making Cas think he's God before it's too late for them or for Cas.
Link to masterpost: http://scifibigbang.livejournal.com/57140.html
Download report: Five posts on LJ. PDFs with and without art available on Mediafire. AO3.
I admit, I was a bit disappointed. ghostwriter056 is not the best writer ever, but I've enjoyed a lot of her stories exactly because of the OOC OTT schmoopy John/Dean. But when she tried to mix that relationship in alongside a Sam/Cas romance *and* a Lovecraftian casefic, none of the three things ended up meshing well with the others. It was kind of like getting a familiar chocolate sundae with experimental spicy tuna sushi layered in; two things I like, and would enjoy separately, but which didn't work mixed together. There were also a lot of SPaG errors and not-so-great plot execution.
[Further discussion with SPOILERS for Ghost in the Machine by Ghostwriter05]
Honestly, I think any of the three plotlines would, in itself, have made a good story. The Old Gods storyline, where Castiel was taken over and manipulated into opening Purgatory, with Eleanor as guest co-star Old God, was really interesting. I didn't find the in-story romance between her and Bobby anywhere near as clever or engaging as the hints we got in the show, but that was a minor quibble. I thought Cas's motives were very well-done, and I also felt that he stayed in-character for the casefic parts.
The Sam/Cas romance was likewise something I could get behind, if it were in a completely different story. It was sweet and schmoopy and awkward but *clashed horribly* with the other stuff going on around them. It didn't even really work as a "let's grab some romance as the world turns dark and terrible around us!" It was just completely out of tone. It was also awkward because the author had to do some characterization contortions to make Sam do certain things with Cas that Dean would normally do, simply because Sam was supposed to be Cas's Romantic Interest and therefore needed, dramatically speaking, to be with Cas. Unfortunately, that happened to the detriment of Dean's relationship with Cas, namely that Dean came across as being a lot more uncaring towards Cas than I think the author intended.
Lastly, the John/Dean plot is, obviously, one that I have read and enjoyed from this author before, but in this story I honestly think it could have been left as just a backstory thing. There's very little tension between John and Dean, and almost no tension between them and the other characters once they find out. Even Sam's outrage is limited to a couple of paragraphs. Their relationship is established as being solid and ongoing, and has practically no bearing on the story at all. Like the Sam/Cas, story, it really clashes in tone with the plot, and Dean's OOC-ness as John's "baby boy" and "sweetheart" just doesn't work here.
More about the John/Dean relationship, for those who might want more detail. Although the relationship between John and Dean is matter-of-fact, there's more daddy-kink that you might expect even from a father/son pairing. Also, to clear up any confusion about when they first had sex: Dean was seventeen when they first had sex, but they didn't begin a steady relationship until after Sam left for Stanford.
Bottom line: This won't be joining several of the author's other stories in my Schmoopy Daddy-Kink Incest Re-reads For a Rainy Day pile.
This review was originally posted to the spnanonhaven Fiction Discuss post
Author: ghostwriter056
Artist: reapertownusa
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing/Characters: John/Dean, Bobby/Eleanor, Sam/Castiel
Rating: NC17
Warnings: Occasional graphic slash, temporary canon character death, consensual incest, mentioned underage, slight violence, plays fast and loose with Lovecraftian mythos, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON 6 FINALE
Word Count: 25,107
Summary: Castiel, now believing himself to be God, seeks to gain Sam and Dean's allegiance. Bringing John Winchester back from the dead is just the beginning. Bobby is reunited Eleanor as they try to get to the bottom of what killed H.P. Lovecraft's dinner party guests and what's making Cas think he's God before it's too late for them or for Cas.
Link to masterpost: http://scifibigbang.livejournal.com/57140.html
Download report: Five posts on LJ. PDFs with and without art available on Mediafire. AO3.
I admit, I was a bit disappointed. ghostwriter056 is not the best writer ever, but I've enjoyed a lot of her stories exactly because of the OOC OTT schmoopy John/Dean. But when she tried to mix that relationship in alongside a Sam/Cas romance *and* a Lovecraftian casefic, none of the three things ended up meshing well with the others. It was kind of like getting a familiar chocolate sundae with experimental spicy tuna sushi layered in; two things I like, and would enjoy separately, but which didn't work mixed together. There were also a lot of SPaG errors and not-so-great plot execution.
[Further discussion with SPOILERS for Ghost in the Machine by Ghostwriter05]
Honestly, I think any of the three plotlines would, in itself, have made a good story. The Old Gods storyline, where Castiel was taken over and manipulated into opening Purgatory, with Eleanor as guest co-star Old God, was really interesting. I didn't find the in-story romance between her and Bobby anywhere near as clever or engaging as the hints we got in the show, but that was a minor quibble. I thought Cas's motives were very well-done, and I also felt that he stayed in-character for the casefic parts.
The Sam/Cas romance was likewise something I could get behind, if it were in a completely different story. It was sweet and schmoopy and awkward but *clashed horribly* with the other stuff going on around them. It didn't even really work as a "let's grab some romance as the world turns dark and terrible around us!" It was just completely out of tone. It was also awkward because the author had to do some characterization contortions to make Sam do certain things with Cas that Dean would normally do, simply because Sam was supposed to be Cas's Romantic Interest and therefore needed, dramatically speaking, to be with Cas. Unfortunately, that happened to the detriment of Dean's relationship with Cas, namely that Dean came across as being a lot more uncaring towards Cas than I think the author intended.
Lastly, the John/Dean plot is, obviously, one that I have read and enjoyed from this author before, but in this story I honestly think it could have been left as just a backstory thing. There's very little tension between John and Dean, and almost no tension between them and the other characters once they find out. Even Sam's outrage is limited to a couple of paragraphs. Their relationship is established as being solid and ongoing, and has practically no bearing on the story at all. Like the Sam/Cas, story, it really clashes in tone with the plot, and Dean's OOC-ness as John's "baby boy" and "sweetheart" just doesn't work here.
More about the John/Dean relationship, for those who might want more detail. Although the relationship between John and Dean is matter-of-fact, there's more daddy-kink that you might expect even from a father/son pairing. Also, to clear up any confusion about when they first had sex: Dean was seventeen when they first had sex, but they didn't begin a steady relationship until after Sam left for Stanford.
Bottom line: This won't be joining several of the author's other stories in my Schmoopy Daddy-Kink Incest Re-reads For a Rainy Day pile.
This review was originally posted to the spnanonhaven Fiction Discuss post