and if you believe that what's done is done
I was the designated reccer for Supernatural this month on crack_van. Like most recs lists, crack_van is hit or miss for most people, and especially so in SPN, where so many of the reccers disappeared without making a full complement of recs for their month. I tried to make up for that by reccing a full 12 stories, plus 1 crossover and 1 vid. And I'd have recced more if the rules allowed it. *g*
all of these have appeared on unfitforsociety, where my recs live, but these are somewhat more expanded (and they all include excerpts) from those recs. I just wanted to have them all in one place for my own reference, as I'm sure I'll sign up again to rec soon, and I don't want to repeat myself.
Hopefully you'll find something you haven't already read, and something you like, amongst these 13 stories (and one vid). If you do, you should let the author(s) know. And as always, I am interested in knowing if the recs work for you. Now that the notes field in delicious is longer, I may start writing recs that consist of more than one sentence again. *g*
anyway, here are the recs:
Mockingbird by hiyacynth
The story is AU after "What Is and What Should Never Be," i.e., "All Hell Breaks Loose" never happened, so things with the psykids etc. play out differently, and as "Mockingbird" begins, Sam and Dean are still recovering from what it cost to defeat the yellow-eyed demon. Sam starts having visions of fire again, but he's been hollowed out by his experiences with the YED, and Dean's just barely holding the two of them together when they arrive in a small town in Oregon, trying to figure out what's triggering Sam's abilities now that the YED is gone.
Sam gets involved with one of women who works at the motel they're holing up at, and in my personal favorite part of the story, Dean develops a wonderful friendship with the woman's three-year-old daughter.
An excerpt: "What'd you dream about?" Dean tipped his head side to side, cracking his neck, as Sam sat on the room's single chair and sipped his drink. God, this was a crap motel to beat all crap motels. Slimy shower, itchy sheets, no kitchenette, no coffee maker. And though a small part of Dean was glad to see Sam doing something as normal as going out for coffee, he hated Sam wandering off on his own. And he didn't like that in the three weeks since Sam had first left him sleeping in a motel room, Sam had never once brought him back a cup of coffee.
"Nursery fire," Sam said as off handedly as if the dream had been about talking dogs.
Dean felt leftover crusts of sleep tearing free from the corners of his eyes as they widened. His mouth dropped open to ask a question, but he didn't know which one. He closed his mouth and opened it again, and finally the question stumbled out. "Any-anybody we know?"
Sam shook his head. "A baby. Girl, I think. The dad was putting her in pink PJs." Sam tilted his head, possibly interested. "Could be a boy in hand-me-downs, though. There was an older kid, too. Definitely a girl." He waved his hand vaguely, measuring out a height somewhere between knee and hip height. "She was crying, but the guy wasn't paying attention."
"And then?" Dean prompted, though he was pretty sure he knew what was coming.
"The usual. Fire. Charred corpse on the ceiling. Screaming kid. Some blood."
"Huh," Dean said. His mouth was dry, but his stomach was twitching nervously and his T-shirt was suddenly sticking to the cold dampness in his armpits.
It's a magnificent story -- long, tightly plotted, well paced, seriously engrossing, heartbreakingly true to both Sam and Dean and their mythos, and full of wonderful original characters I came to really care about and want to see more of. There's the formation of a family of choice for Sam and Dean, and a really smart use of To Kill a Mockingbird, both literally and thematically.
Obviously, I really enjoyed it (that's kind of an understatement, if you couldn't tell), and I think you would, too. So, you know, carve out some time and give it a whirl. Make sure to leave a comment if you enjoy it, too.
~*~
Homing by sophiap
Homing is an absolutely stunning story that fills in Ellen's back story using a layered narrative detailing her childhood, her marriage to Bill, and her life raising Jo after Bill's death. Beautiful, vivid writing full of truth, palpable emotion, and insightful characterization.
An excerpt: As stories go, Ellen would say it was nothing special; nearly everyone who passed through the Roadhouse could play some variation on that particular tune.
A werewolf savaged Diana's son, and when she was drunk enough she might let slip that she was the one who wound up putting a silver bullet in her baby's heart. Gordon's sister was taken by vampires. Roger had the rotten luck to go digging in the wrong place. John's wife was slashed open and burned to a crisp by a demon. Linda Jean made a stupid deal and has been looking for a way out of it ever since. Ash's best friend got himself possessed and damn near killed Ash before getting killed himself.
At least, these are the stories she's actually heard. There's probably a bit more to the tales than people let on, but that's just the way of it.
She suspects the real stories are hidden in the way Gordon used to sit hunched over at his bar stool, glaring angrily at something no one else could see. There are probably dozens of stories in the tarot cards Diana deals over and over and over again as she tries to find an ending she can live with. She thought she heard a hint of one in the way John snapped his phone shut after barking orders to one of his boys like he was their commanding officer and not their father. She can read a hell of a lot into the way Ash stays lost in his research or lost in beer and television, never growing up, never moving on from college and the moment his life got turned upside-down.
Her story is tucked away and all but lost in the way she's been at the Roadhouse for two decades and change, rarely going far and only occasionally hunting, but always, always looking at the maps the hunters bring in to plot their next hunt, tracing the best routes to Denver, Seattle, New York, Chicago.
It's a story she doesn't think about much, not unless the wind is coming down from the north, moving through in crashing pulses through grass, through trees. She'll jerk awake, then, convinced she can hear the ocean just outside her window.
I cannot recommend this story highly enough. Set aside some time, because you won't be able to stop reading once you've started, and make sure to leave the author feedback when you're done.
***
Tchaikovsky's Another One Bites The Dust by uschickens
John ends up in hell, and so does Azazel, and what better torment for them than to be stuck in hell together? Torment for them, maybe, but in the hands of uschickens, it's COMEDY GOLD for the rest of us. This story is utterly hilarious and awesome. When I say it is laugh out loud funny, I mean that literally. This is fall-off-the-bed, wake-up-the-dog funny.
An excerpt: The Demon was smart, no question. Hell, for that matter, so was John. They both got what they wanted (John dead, Dean alive, Sam and Dean still out there doing their thing, everything holding in a fixed stalemate), only giving up inches to their adversaries when they gain the same in return. So no question, they are two highly skilled, crafty, wicked smart (emphasis on the wicked) individuals. ("People" would not be the right word to use here.)
Therefore, it was only fitting that the only mistake either one of them made was the exact same one.
"This is all your fault," John growled from the settee, coffee cup balanced on the flowered upholstery back so he could properly shield his hand of cards from his opponent.
"You know, there's a reason why they call this place 'Hell,'" the Demon said wearily. "I just didn't think I would be the one punished in this situation." It sipped its tea. "Go fish."
The argument was an old one, even now, and John had really only started it out of habit and boredom. And to hide the fact that he really, really needed that seven of clubs.
If that isn't enough, let me say one more thing. You guys, there are crafts. John Winchester. And Azazel. Crafting. If that is not a recipe for hilarity, I don't know what is.
Read, laugh, and leave a comment for the author when you're done laughing. (It might take a while.)
***
i just got out when i did to prove the exit route was clear by minervacat
This is a story about the random-but-not-really stuff that Dean keeps in the glove compartment of the Impala. I really like stories that catalogue the stuff the Winchesters carry and what it means to them, and I really love Dean's relationship with his car (I admit to being somewhat OTP about Dean/Impala), and this story merges those two things beautifully, with sharp, spare prose and spot-on character voices.
An excerpt: It was the first summer Sam was gone, and Dean had resigned himself to the fact that he was doomed to spend the rest of his life trapped in moving vehicles with pissed-off relatives. Dad complained about Dean's driving, and the way Dean was keeping the car up, and the radio stations Dean listened to.
When Dad had found the pack of cigarettes, he'd crumbled the paper and cellophane under his fist, and glared at Dean.
Dean said, "Hey, they were here when I moved in."
Dad grunted.
"You quit when Sammy got old enough to notice what you were doing," Dean said, because he was cranky, because Dad was cranky, because there were sore spots he knew he could push. It was what Sam had always done. "But I could have picked up the habit any time."
"You were stealing my beer when you were 10," Dad muttered. "Wouldn't have put it past you."
"Well, I didn't," Dean snapped.
"You were always going to do what you wanted," Dad said, and Dean flinches, because it's Sam who left. Dean drank and chased girls but he stayed put. "Nothing I could have done as a parent to change that. Sammy, he was impressionable. He got ideas."
Using the items in the glove compartment, minervacat gives us clear snapshots of the Winchester family dynamics over the years, and Dean's place in them. She also captures the heartbreak, loss, and enduring strength of his character.
If you enjoy the story, don't forget to tell the author.
***
Hiding in Plain Sight by joosetta
Sam goes missing and Dean tries desperately to find him, but he keeps finding this strange girl instead. Or maybe she keeps finding him. He's not quite sure. There's something familiar about her, but he can't quite put his finger on it, and she seems alternately tense and amused by the situation.
I think we all know where this is going long before Dean figures it out, but it is part of a spell, and the girl is hot, so I don't think we can blame him too much.
An excerpt: "Listen," Dean began, rubbing at the back of his head. "I don't know why you're following me. And I don't care. If you get in my way then I can deal with you, but if you're cruising for some kind of hook up, or even just a ride, you're looking in the wrong place."
Dean almost appreciated the irony of the situation. He was turning away a pretty chick, one who definitely wasn't wearing a bra. But all he could even begin to think about was Sam. Sam who was gone. Sam who might be dead. Sam who got visions and nightmares, who needed protecting.
The girl stared at Dean for a long time, long enough for the keys in his hand to get sweaty and for the flush of anger in him to subside.
"I," she paused, then stood, slowly unfolding her long legs. For the first time, Dean really appreciated the view. "You look like you need a drink," she said eventually. "I'm going to go to the bar and get one now. Join me, if you want."
It didn't sound like she was coming on to him, and that was probably what made Dean follow her.
This is a really interesting take on genderswap, and how it ties in with identity, and how Dean knows but he doesn't know he knows, and Sam can't tell him. Because usually in these sorts of stories, they both know what's going on, but this one does a really good job of highlighting Dean's feelings of attraction when he doesn't consciously know who he's dealing with. And also, Dean/girl!Sam never fails to be hot like burning.
I liked this story a lot - I've read it more times than I can count, and I always enjoy it - and if this is the sort of thing you like, then you probably will, too. If you do, please don't forget to tell the author.
***
I Got Me a Nice Little Place in the Stars by luzdeestrellas
This is 25K words of brotherly banter and emoporn, of Sam learning how awesome Dean is, and how much he loves him (and how much Dean loves him, and is willing to do for him). It's AU, but not by much - it could have gone down like this - and the long, slow unfolding of their slide into a sexual relationship, of Sam realizing what he wants and getting Dean to give it to him, really works for me here. Plus, it's funny and hot and made me all achy in the chestal area.
An excerpt: "You little fucker," Dean said, sticking his head under the trickle of water the pump by the stables provided. For a second, Sam thought he was actually going to drink it, like maybe defeat at Sam's hands had made him vaguely suicidal, but he flicked his dripping fingers at Sam, instead. "Only people of low moral character cheat, Sam."
Sam laughed. "And winners. Don't forget that." Dean smelled of sweat and fresh air when Sam went to him and dropped a hand to skim over his damp head. "Buck up, champ. Without the losers in this world, there would be no winners. You're like bacteria, in a way. Sort of unpleasant, but useful in small amounts."
Dean threw an arm over Sam's shoulders, tucked him into his side for just a second, his head butting Sam's chin almost hard enough to hurt. "You're a fucking disgrace to the noble name of Winchester, is what you are," Dean said.
"I'm the embodiment of the noble Winchester name. I think they might have named the rifle in the hope that one day I'd come along." His voice was even, but he couldn't stop talking. He felt scorched through all down his side where Dean touched him, happiness and something else turning his blood molten in his veins. He rubbed his face in Dean's hair, breathing him in, before he pushed him away. "Seriously, extra cheese. I'm going to see to the horses, and when I come in, it better be ready."
Dean put one sweaty armpit right up against Sam's face, before walking away, muttering, "I hope none of those horses accidentally kick you in the head."
In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I should mention that I betaed this story, but all beta bias aside, you should totally read it. And don't forget to leave feedback if you enjoy it.
***
Harvester of Eyes by gwendolyngrace
Oh, man, I love crossovers - they're one of my favorite things about fandom - so it was really hard to choose just one to rec today. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it.
This is a fantastic pre-series casefile that takes one of the scariest characters in the Sandman universe - the nightmare serial killer the Corinthian - and sets him loose inside the world of Supernatural. Sam and Dean fall through one of the soft places of the world to land in the Dreaming, and John, terrified for his missing boys, picks up the Corinthian's trail.
"Harvester of Eyes" is tightly plotted, suspenseful, and makes excellent use of the way the Sandman mythos fits in with the SPN cosmology. (It helps that Eric Kripke is a self-professed Gaiman fanboy.)
An excerpt: It had started again. As he looked over the pages of newsprint, sussing out a pattern to all the madness, John Winchester stared in disbelief. After four years amid sworn statements that the bastard was gone for good…another pair of victims had shown up. Boys, the elder of whom couldn't be older than sixteen: Bound, stripped, multiply lacerated, and eyeless.
And only minutes away from their current squat in Colorado Springs.
John dialed the phone before he had time to think about it. When the gruff voice on the other end picked up, he said without preamble: "Caleb, ever hear of a sumbitch called the Corinthian?"
There was a pause. "Corinthian's just a man, John," Caleb said sadly. "A monster, certainly, but nothing unusual about that."
"Not so sure," John said. "Remember about five years ago? That mess down around Dodge County, Georgia?"
"The serial killer convention?" Caleb's voice was full of disgust and disbelief.
"Yeah. All reports said that something otherworldly showed up, took that monster away."
"Something sure happened there - none of the people anyone tracked into that place has ever killed anyone again," Caleb conceded.
"Exactly my point, Caleb.... There's an article in today's Pueblo Chieftain. I think the Corinthian is back."
You don't need to know anything about Sandman to enjoy the story, but if you do, it's even better. And don't forget to let the author know if you enjoy it!
***
Like the Sea by caelumi
One of my absolute favorite things in Supernatural fandom is the genre known as Winsister, i.e., AUs in which one of the boys (usually Sam) was actually born (and raised) a girl.
This is a vividly beautiful, achy, hot story in which Dean visits his sister Sam at Stanford, has mad hot sex with her, and then leaves, because it doesn't really change anything, even though he's not doing so well without her.
A brief excerpt, since it is a short story: If she was an ocean, he was her beach. Sam's highs had always bolstered him and drowned him. Her lows left him exposed and raw. Since she’d been gone he'd been that way, stretched too thin and always waiting for the next tide to cover him.
Dean was tired of waiting. He was tired of losing himself on the miles of dry, hard asphalt. He had lips that were split from the sun and fingernails lined with the dirt of the dead. He was sick of the stability of land.
Seriously, I know girl!Sam stories are a niche market, but if it's the kind of thing you like, then I think you'll like this story. It's hot and beautifully written and captures all the aching need and love between Sam and Dean in a really short space. And did I mention the hot?
If you do read and enjoy it, please let the author know.
***
Plant Your Flag on a Fault Line by tripoli8
This is a hilarious and heartbreaking story in which Dean, post-Jus in Bello, attempts to build a new identify for Sam, one that he can use safely once Dean is gone. The humor just makes the heartbreak sting that much more, and it's all the kind of stuff you can easily imagine Dean doing and saying.
An excerpt: "I'm going to keep Sam," Sam tells him.
"Okay," Dean says.
"You should keep Dean."
Dean rolls his eyes. Like he was planning to spend the next two months reminding himself to answer to Chet on a daily basis. Of course he's fucking keeping Dean.
Going through the trunk this morning to make sure the cops hadn't fucked anything up, he actually found an ID as Dean Allen Shaw, which is so old he doesn't even remember making it. All of Dean Allen Shaw's credit cards have expired and the picture on his driver's license looks like a twelve year old girl, but at least nobody is trying to kill him. Dean's trying to set him up with a life insurance policy, just something so Sam won't have to worry for a while, but he's never tried anything like that before and he won't know how it's going till they can check their Austin PO box in another couple of weeks.
"We should keep the same last name, too, just in case," Sam says, and pokes through a wad of cards in the glove compartment. "How about--"
"Yeah, whatever, fine," Dean says, mostly because he's in a shitty mood and they haven't slept since before they got arrested, and this doesn't need to happen right now. He reaches over to steal a bite of Sam's cheeseburger, and Sam bats his hand away. "Wait, what? No. What's it matter what we call ourselves? If they run our prints we're screwed anyway." With the right help and a lot of cash Sam can probably get their prints changed in the big databases, but not soon enough to make any difference for Dean. Right now, it makes more sense to use the time and money on building up a good, credible alias that Sam can use for the rest of his life if he wants, and not getting busted for grave desecration in Assgiggle, IA till America's Most Wanted is back out of reruns.
An alias to last Dean the rest of his life will run them six bucks and a trip to Kinko's, but they can do that when they get to Bobby's.
Dean's voice is spot-on, and the details tripoli8 uses are what make this story so powerful - the background Dean makes up for Sam, as well as the sorting through of the stuff they've accumulated over the years - the reality of their lives versus the story Dean is concocting. And the ending is like an unexpected punch to the gut. Highly recommended, especially if you like stories that leave you all achy in the chestal area. If you do enjoy it, please let the author know.
***
the quaint tragedies we invent by winter_baby
You should read it because it's a short, sharp, brutal (AU) story about Sam after Dean is gone, one that gets at the heart of the truth of his life.
An excerpt: There is always a girl to save. Or a girl who dies. Or a girl who died. Every town Sam passes through, they all say the same thing, with their eyes full of tears, or their eyes that'll never open again, or their eyes rotted away by time and maggots - help me.
Help me.
Dean's eyes, they never say anything.
This is a beautifully written look at the darkness inside Sam, and how Dean's absence sharpens it, and changes him.
If you read and enjoy it, please let the author know.
***
I Dunno Third Base by vee_fic
This is another amazing story that came out of this year's spn_summergen challenge. It lays bare the hearts and needs and fears of all three Winchesters, and does so with the kind of razor sharpness that cuts deep and true.
When John hits his head and comes up with amnesia, Sam likes this new version of his father, and Dean just wants things to go back to what passes for normal in their family. Dean tries to keep things together the only way he knows how, and John wonders what kind of father he is, and what kind he'd like to be.
An excerpt: Here are two boys: both in jeans, a-straddle an aging railroad tie at the edge of the woods. They are of a height at the shoulder, peering together at a bug as it crawls over the rough surface between them. It is a beetle, small and iridescent, trundling over the open fissures in the wood grain with little clicks of its insect-feet against the blackened wood. The boys hold their open hands in the sunlight over the beetle's back, to deprive themselves of the shine and then bring it back again.
Their hands are not the same size. The larger hand is long, bony, strange on a narrow childish wrist, hovering over the smaller hand's stubby fingers and dimpled knuckles in the sun. Dean Winchester is fourteen and small, with that hollow starveling look of his body still gathering itself for adolescent growth; but Sam is only nine, and a strapping, pudgy nine at that. It is a constant source of friction between them that they might be mistaken by the casual viewer for fraternal twins. Dean has become territorial, lately, about the laundry, and sorts out his own clothes from his brother's with a fury that Sam does not understand. Sam has always worn hand-me-downs. He doesn't see the shame in being caught wearing his brother's shirts.
Heartbreaking and evocative, full of palpable detail and emotion, with a really fantastic use of an omniscient narrator, and a clear-eyed understanding of the kinds of desperate cruelties people are willing to commit against the ones they love. Highly recommended. And if you enjoy it, please let the author know.
***
Beach Blanket Poltergeist by hansbekhart
Set late in season one, this is a fabulous, tense, creepy, emotionally true, and just plain gripping story about Sam and Dean coming to Santa Cruz on what they think is a routine hunt (if it's not just a serial killer, and therefore, not their job) and getting in way over their heads.
An excerpt: "Where are we?" Dean grumbles, starting to life and rubbing a hand over his face.
"Los Gatos," Sam replies. "About a half an hour outside of Santa Cruz," he adds when Dean gives him a dark look. He says it the way the natives do, blurring it together into one word, unconsciously: Sannacruz. He tosses Dean the newspaper without looking at him, most of his attention saved for his soda. He watches it fizz rather than watch Dean unfold the paper and scan the front page.
"Apple Rivers -- seriously? -- 20 years old, found murdered in Mission Plaza last night. No witnesses, no leads. Body was slashed, mutilated and partially dismembered." He glances over at Sam. "That makes five bodies in two weeks, all women, all murdered in the same little courtyard thing outside of Holy Cross Church. The town thinks it has another serial killer. Not exactly a rare occurrence for the area."
"Yeah," Sam says. "But they don't know what we do."
They had been tipped off when the second death had hit the papers with the only lead that the case had so far: a tiny bit of wire that had broken off in the girl's eye socket. Hand-forged, rusted so badly that it was little more than dust, more than a hundred years old. The name of the town had sparked some connection in Dean's brain that sent him leafing through Dad's journal to find a page with POGONIP scrawled across the top in dark letters.
"You sure this isn't just some serial killer?" Dean had griped, even though the link had been made in Dad's journal, normally Dean's bible. "It's not like they haven't had a million of them in Santa Cruz." They had come anyway, regardless of Dean's inexplicable need to hustle them as far away from California as possible. He wouldn't shut up about how much he hated California until Sam asked him why.
Wonderful characterization, with both Sam and Dean still working to fit back together again after Sam's years at Stanford, and going through rough patches that come along with that, though their love for each other is never in doubt, even when they're fighting; plus a strong, sure, evocative sense of place, with Santa Cruz itself a major character in the story. Well worth reading.
If you enjoy the story, please let the author know.
***
We Could Be Heroes by missyjack
This is a smart, layered look at the way stories get told, and how important they are to people, about how truth becomes legend, and men become heroes. Two particular men, in this instance: Sam and Dean Winchester.
Once, while battling an ancient Native American curse, which caused insects to kill people, the Winchesters made the sun come up five hours early in order to defeat it. This legend is known as The Bee Story.
Hilariously meta, yet full of heart, this story features a perfect and brilliant sprinkling of pop culture references and clever use of documentary evidence; it's well worth reading. If you enjoy it, please let the author know.
***
And the vid rec: Bricks by Luminosity
First of all, the music is a mashup between Metallica and Aretha Franklin, so how could it NOT be awesome? Secondly, this is a fantastic look at why the Winchesters do what they do, and the combination of "Enter Sandman" and "A Deeper Love" couldn't be more perfect lyrically and thematically: They get up out of bed and put on their clothes 'cause they've got bills to pay. ♥
***
That was fun. *g*
***
all of these have appeared on unfitforsociety, where my recs live, but these are somewhat more expanded (and they all include excerpts) from those recs. I just wanted to have them all in one place for my own reference, as I'm sure I'll sign up again to rec soon, and I don't want to repeat myself.
Hopefully you'll find something you haven't already read, and something you like, amongst these 13 stories (and one vid). If you do, you should let the author(s) know. And as always, I am interested in knowing if the recs work for you. Now that the notes field in delicious is longer, I may start writing recs that consist of more than one sentence again. *g*
anyway, here are the recs:
Mockingbird by hiyacynth
The story is AU after "What Is and What Should Never Be," i.e., "All Hell Breaks Loose" never happened, so things with the psykids etc. play out differently, and as "Mockingbird" begins, Sam and Dean are still recovering from what it cost to defeat the yellow-eyed demon. Sam starts having visions of fire again, but he's been hollowed out by his experiences with the YED, and Dean's just barely holding the two of them together when they arrive in a small town in Oregon, trying to figure out what's triggering Sam's abilities now that the YED is gone.
Sam gets involved with one of women who works at the motel they're holing up at, and in my personal favorite part of the story, Dean develops a wonderful friendship with the woman's three-year-old daughter.
An excerpt: "What'd you dream about?" Dean tipped his head side to side, cracking his neck, as Sam sat on the room's single chair and sipped his drink. God, this was a crap motel to beat all crap motels. Slimy shower, itchy sheets, no kitchenette, no coffee maker. And though a small part of Dean was glad to see Sam doing something as normal as going out for coffee, he hated Sam wandering off on his own. And he didn't like that in the three weeks since Sam had first left him sleeping in a motel room, Sam had never once brought him back a cup of coffee.
"Nursery fire," Sam said as off handedly as if the dream had been about talking dogs.
Dean felt leftover crusts of sleep tearing free from the corners of his eyes as they widened. His mouth dropped open to ask a question, but he didn't know which one. He closed his mouth and opened it again, and finally the question stumbled out. "Any-anybody we know?"
Sam shook his head. "A baby. Girl, I think. The dad was putting her in pink PJs." Sam tilted his head, possibly interested. "Could be a boy in hand-me-downs, though. There was an older kid, too. Definitely a girl." He waved his hand vaguely, measuring out a height somewhere between knee and hip height. "She was crying, but the guy wasn't paying attention."
"And then?" Dean prompted, though he was pretty sure he knew what was coming.
"The usual. Fire. Charred corpse on the ceiling. Screaming kid. Some blood."
"Huh," Dean said. His mouth was dry, but his stomach was twitching nervously and his T-shirt was suddenly sticking to the cold dampness in his armpits.
It's a magnificent story -- long, tightly plotted, well paced, seriously engrossing, heartbreakingly true to both Sam and Dean and their mythos, and full of wonderful original characters I came to really care about and want to see more of. There's the formation of a family of choice for Sam and Dean, and a really smart use of To Kill a Mockingbird, both literally and thematically.
Obviously, I really enjoyed it (that's kind of an understatement, if you couldn't tell), and I think you would, too. So, you know, carve out some time and give it a whirl. Make sure to leave a comment if you enjoy it, too.
~*~
Homing by sophiap
Homing is an absolutely stunning story that fills in Ellen's back story using a layered narrative detailing her childhood, her marriage to Bill, and her life raising Jo after Bill's death. Beautiful, vivid writing full of truth, palpable emotion, and insightful characterization.
An excerpt: As stories go, Ellen would say it was nothing special; nearly everyone who passed through the Roadhouse could play some variation on that particular tune.
A werewolf savaged Diana's son, and when she was drunk enough she might let slip that she was the one who wound up putting a silver bullet in her baby's heart. Gordon's sister was taken by vampires. Roger had the rotten luck to go digging in the wrong place. John's wife was slashed open and burned to a crisp by a demon. Linda Jean made a stupid deal and has been looking for a way out of it ever since. Ash's best friend got himself possessed and damn near killed Ash before getting killed himself.
At least, these are the stories she's actually heard. There's probably a bit more to the tales than people let on, but that's just the way of it.
She suspects the real stories are hidden in the way Gordon used to sit hunched over at his bar stool, glaring angrily at something no one else could see. There are probably dozens of stories in the tarot cards Diana deals over and over and over again as she tries to find an ending she can live with. She thought she heard a hint of one in the way John snapped his phone shut after barking orders to one of his boys like he was their commanding officer and not their father. She can read a hell of a lot into the way Ash stays lost in his research or lost in beer and television, never growing up, never moving on from college and the moment his life got turned upside-down.
Her story is tucked away and all but lost in the way she's been at the Roadhouse for two decades and change, rarely going far and only occasionally hunting, but always, always looking at the maps the hunters bring in to plot their next hunt, tracing the best routes to Denver, Seattle, New York, Chicago.
It's a story she doesn't think about much, not unless the wind is coming down from the north, moving through in crashing pulses through grass, through trees. She'll jerk awake, then, convinced she can hear the ocean just outside her window.
I cannot recommend this story highly enough. Set aside some time, because you won't be able to stop reading once you've started, and make sure to leave the author feedback when you're done.
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Tchaikovsky's Another One Bites The Dust by uschickens
John ends up in hell, and so does Azazel, and what better torment for them than to be stuck in hell together? Torment for them, maybe, but in the hands of uschickens, it's COMEDY GOLD for the rest of us. This story is utterly hilarious and awesome. When I say it is laugh out loud funny, I mean that literally. This is fall-off-the-bed, wake-up-the-dog funny.
An excerpt: The Demon was smart, no question. Hell, for that matter, so was John. They both got what they wanted (John dead, Dean alive, Sam and Dean still out there doing their thing, everything holding in a fixed stalemate), only giving up inches to their adversaries when they gain the same in return. So no question, they are two highly skilled, crafty, wicked smart (emphasis on the wicked) individuals. ("People" would not be the right word to use here.)
Therefore, it was only fitting that the only mistake either one of them made was the exact same one.
"This is all your fault," John growled from the settee, coffee cup balanced on the flowered upholstery back so he could properly shield his hand of cards from his opponent.
"You know, there's a reason why they call this place 'Hell,'" the Demon said wearily. "I just didn't think I would be the one punished in this situation." It sipped its tea. "Go fish."
The argument was an old one, even now, and John had really only started it out of habit and boredom. And to hide the fact that he really, really needed that seven of clubs.
If that isn't enough, let me say one more thing. You guys, there are crafts. John Winchester. And Azazel. Crafting. If that is not a recipe for hilarity, I don't know what is.
Read, laugh, and leave a comment for the author when you're done laughing. (It might take a while.)
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i just got out when i did to prove the exit route was clear by minervacat
This is a story about the random-but-not-really stuff that Dean keeps in the glove compartment of the Impala. I really like stories that catalogue the stuff the Winchesters carry and what it means to them, and I really love Dean's relationship with his car (I admit to being somewhat OTP about Dean/Impala), and this story merges those two things beautifully, with sharp, spare prose and spot-on character voices.
An excerpt: It was the first summer Sam was gone, and Dean had resigned himself to the fact that he was doomed to spend the rest of his life trapped in moving vehicles with pissed-off relatives. Dad complained about Dean's driving, and the way Dean was keeping the car up, and the radio stations Dean listened to.
When Dad had found the pack of cigarettes, he'd crumbled the paper and cellophane under his fist, and glared at Dean.
Dean said, "Hey, they were here when I moved in."
Dad grunted.
"You quit when Sammy got old enough to notice what you were doing," Dean said, because he was cranky, because Dad was cranky, because there were sore spots he knew he could push. It was what Sam had always done. "But I could have picked up the habit any time."
"You were stealing my beer when you were 10," Dad muttered. "Wouldn't have put it past you."
"Well, I didn't," Dean snapped.
"You were always going to do what you wanted," Dad said, and Dean flinches, because it's Sam who left. Dean drank and chased girls but he stayed put. "Nothing I could have done as a parent to change that. Sammy, he was impressionable. He got ideas."
Using the items in the glove compartment, minervacat gives us clear snapshots of the Winchester family dynamics over the years, and Dean's place in them. She also captures the heartbreak, loss, and enduring strength of his character.
If you enjoy the story, don't forget to tell the author.
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Hiding in Plain Sight by joosetta
Sam goes missing and Dean tries desperately to find him, but he keeps finding this strange girl instead. Or maybe she keeps finding him. He's not quite sure. There's something familiar about her, but he can't quite put his finger on it, and she seems alternately tense and amused by the situation.
I think we all know where this is going long before Dean figures it out, but it is part of a spell, and the girl is hot, so I don't think we can blame him too much.
An excerpt: "Listen," Dean began, rubbing at the back of his head. "I don't know why you're following me. And I don't care. If you get in my way then I can deal with you, but if you're cruising for some kind of hook up, or even just a ride, you're looking in the wrong place."
Dean almost appreciated the irony of the situation. He was turning away a pretty chick, one who definitely wasn't wearing a bra. But all he could even begin to think about was Sam. Sam who was gone. Sam who might be dead. Sam who got visions and nightmares, who needed protecting.
The girl stared at Dean for a long time, long enough for the keys in his hand to get sweaty and for the flush of anger in him to subside.
"I," she paused, then stood, slowly unfolding her long legs. For the first time, Dean really appreciated the view. "You look like you need a drink," she said eventually. "I'm going to go to the bar and get one now. Join me, if you want."
It didn't sound like she was coming on to him, and that was probably what made Dean follow her.
This is a really interesting take on genderswap, and how it ties in with identity, and how Dean knows but he doesn't know he knows, and Sam can't tell him. Because usually in these sorts of stories, they both know what's going on, but this one does a really good job of highlighting Dean's feelings of attraction when he doesn't consciously know who he's dealing with. And also, Dean/girl!Sam never fails to be hot like burning.
I liked this story a lot - I've read it more times than I can count, and I always enjoy it - and if this is the sort of thing you like, then you probably will, too. If you do, please don't forget to tell the author.
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I Got Me a Nice Little Place in the Stars by luzdeestrellas
This is 25K words of brotherly banter and emoporn, of Sam learning how awesome Dean is, and how much he loves him (and how much Dean loves him, and is willing to do for him). It's AU, but not by much - it could have gone down like this - and the long, slow unfolding of their slide into a sexual relationship, of Sam realizing what he wants and getting Dean to give it to him, really works for me here. Plus, it's funny and hot and made me all achy in the chestal area.
An excerpt: "You little fucker," Dean said, sticking his head under the trickle of water the pump by the stables provided. For a second, Sam thought he was actually going to drink it, like maybe defeat at Sam's hands had made him vaguely suicidal, but he flicked his dripping fingers at Sam, instead. "Only people of low moral character cheat, Sam."
Sam laughed. "And winners. Don't forget that." Dean smelled of sweat and fresh air when Sam went to him and dropped a hand to skim over his damp head. "Buck up, champ. Without the losers in this world, there would be no winners. You're like bacteria, in a way. Sort of unpleasant, but useful in small amounts."
Dean threw an arm over Sam's shoulders, tucked him into his side for just a second, his head butting Sam's chin almost hard enough to hurt. "You're a fucking disgrace to the noble name of Winchester, is what you are," Dean said.
"I'm the embodiment of the noble Winchester name. I think they might have named the rifle in the hope that one day I'd come along." His voice was even, but he couldn't stop talking. He felt scorched through all down his side where Dean touched him, happiness and something else turning his blood molten in his veins. He rubbed his face in Dean's hair, breathing him in, before he pushed him away. "Seriously, extra cheese. I'm going to see to the horses, and when I come in, it better be ready."
Dean put one sweaty armpit right up against Sam's face, before walking away, muttering, "I hope none of those horses accidentally kick you in the head."
In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I should mention that I betaed this story, but all beta bias aside, you should totally read it. And don't forget to leave feedback if you enjoy it.
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Harvester of Eyes by gwendolyngrace
Oh, man, I love crossovers - they're one of my favorite things about fandom - so it was really hard to choose just one to rec today. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it.
This is a fantastic pre-series casefile that takes one of the scariest characters in the Sandman universe - the nightmare serial killer the Corinthian - and sets him loose inside the world of Supernatural. Sam and Dean fall through one of the soft places of the world to land in the Dreaming, and John, terrified for his missing boys, picks up the Corinthian's trail.
"Harvester of Eyes" is tightly plotted, suspenseful, and makes excellent use of the way the Sandman mythos fits in with the SPN cosmology. (It helps that Eric Kripke is a self-professed Gaiman fanboy.)
An excerpt: It had started again. As he looked over the pages of newsprint, sussing out a pattern to all the madness, John Winchester stared in disbelief. After four years amid sworn statements that the bastard was gone for good…another pair of victims had shown up. Boys, the elder of whom couldn't be older than sixteen: Bound, stripped, multiply lacerated, and eyeless.
And only minutes away from their current squat in Colorado Springs.
John dialed the phone before he had time to think about it. When the gruff voice on the other end picked up, he said without preamble: "Caleb, ever hear of a sumbitch called the Corinthian?"
There was a pause. "Corinthian's just a man, John," Caleb said sadly. "A monster, certainly, but nothing unusual about that."
"Not so sure," John said. "Remember about five years ago? That mess down around Dodge County, Georgia?"
"The serial killer convention?" Caleb's voice was full of disgust and disbelief.
"Yeah. All reports said that something otherworldly showed up, took that monster away."
"Something sure happened there - none of the people anyone tracked into that place has ever killed anyone again," Caleb conceded.
"Exactly my point, Caleb.... There's an article in today's Pueblo Chieftain. I think the Corinthian is back."
You don't need to know anything about Sandman to enjoy the story, but if you do, it's even better. And don't forget to let the author know if you enjoy it!
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Like the Sea by caelumi
One of my absolute favorite things in Supernatural fandom is the genre known as Winsister, i.e., AUs in which one of the boys (usually Sam) was actually born (and raised) a girl.
This is a vividly beautiful, achy, hot story in which Dean visits his sister Sam at Stanford, has mad hot sex with her, and then leaves, because it doesn't really change anything, even though he's not doing so well without her.
A brief excerpt, since it is a short story: If she was an ocean, he was her beach. Sam's highs had always bolstered him and drowned him. Her lows left him exposed and raw. Since she’d been gone he'd been that way, stretched too thin and always waiting for the next tide to cover him.
Dean was tired of waiting. He was tired of losing himself on the miles of dry, hard asphalt. He had lips that were split from the sun and fingernails lined with the dirt of the dead. He was sick of the stability of land.
Seriously, I know girl!Sam stories are a niche market, but if it's the kind of thing you like, then I think you'll like this story. It's hot and beautifully written and captures all the aching need and love between Sam and Dean in a really short space. And did I mention the hot?
If you do read and enjoy it, please let the author know.
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Plant Your Flag on a Fault Line by tripoli8
This is a hilarious and heartbreaking story in which Dean, post-Jus in Bello, attempts to build a new identify for Sam, one that he can use safely once Dean is gone. The humor just makes the heartbreak sting that much more, and it's all the kind of stuff you can easily imagine Dean doing and saying.
An excerpt: "I'm going to keep Sam," Sam tells him.
"Okay," Dean says.
"You should keep Dean."
Dean rolls his eyes. Like he was planning to spend the next two months reminding himself to answer to Chet on a daily basis. Of course he's fucking keeping Dean.
Going through the trunk this morning to make sure the cops hadn't fucked anything up, he actually found an ID as Dean Allen Shaw, which is so old he doesn't even remember making it. All of Dean Allen Shaw's credit cards have expired and the picture on his driver's license looks like a twelve year old girl, but at least nobody is trying to kill him. Dean's trying to set him up with a life insurance policy, just something so Sam won't have to worry for a while, but he's never tried anything like that before and he won't know how it's going till they can check their Austin PO box in another couple of weeks.
"We should keep the same last name, too, just in case," Sam says, and pokes through a wad of cards in the glove compartment. "How about--"
"Yeah, whatever, fine," Dean says, mostly because he's in a shitty mood and they haven't slept since before they got arrested, and this doesn't need to happen right now. He reaches over to steal a bite of Sam's cheeseburger, and Sam bats his hand away. "Wait, what? No. What's it matter what we call ourselves? If they run our prints we're screwed anyway." With the right help and a lot of cash Sam can probably get their prints changed in the big databases, but not soon enough to make any difference for Dean. Right now, it makes more sense to use the time and money on building up a good, credible alias that Sam can use for the rest of his life if he wants, and not getting busted for grave desecration in Assgiggle, IA till America's Most Wanted is back out of reruns.
An alias to last Dean the rest of his life will run them six bucks and a trip to Kinko's, but they can do that when they get to Bobby's.
Dean's voice is spot-on, and the details tripoli8 uses are what make this story so powerful - the background Dean makes up for Sam, as well as the sorting through of the stuff they've accumulated over the years - the reality of their lives versus the story Dean is concocting. And the ending is like an unexpected punch to the gut. Highly recommended, especially if you like stories that leave you all achy in the chestal area. If you do enjoy it, please let the author know.
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the quaint tragedies we invent by winter_baby
You should read it because it's a short, sharp, brutal (AU) story about Sam after Dean is gone, one that gets at the heart of the truth of his life.
An excerpt: There is always a girl to save. Or a girl who dies. Or a girl who died. Every town Sam passes through, they all say the same thing, with their eyes full of tears, or their eyes that'll never open again, or their eyes rotted away by time and maggots - help me.
Help me.
Dean's eyes, they never say anything.
This is a beautifully written look at the darkness inside Sam, and how Dean's absence sharpens it, and changes him.
If you read and enjoy it, please let the author know.
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I Dunno Third Base by vee_fic
This is another amazing story that came out of this year's spn_summergen challenge. It lays bare the hearts and needs and fears of all three Winchesters, and does so with the kind of razor sharpness that cuts deep and true.
When John hits his head and comes up with amnesia, Sam likes this new version of his father, and Dean just wants things to go back to what passes for normal in their family. Dean tries to keep things together the only way he knows how, and John wonders what kind of father he is, and what kind he'd like to be.
An excerpt: Here are two boys: both in jeans, a-straddle an aging railroad tie at the edge of the woods. They are of a height at the shoulder, peering together at a bug as it crawls over the rough surface between them. It is a beetle, small and iridescent, trundling over the open fissures in the wood grain with little clicks of its insect-feet against the blackened wood. The boys hold their open hands in the sunlight over the beetle's back, to deprive themselves of the shine and then bring it back again.
Their hands are not the same size. The larger hand is long, bony, strange on a narrow childish wrist, hovering over the smaller hand's stubby fingers and dimpled knuckles in the sun. Dean Winchester is fourteen and small, with that hollow starveling look of his body still gathering itself for adolescent growth; but Sam is only nine, and a strapping, pudgy nine at that. It is a constant source of friction between them that they might be mistaken by the casual viewer for fraternal twins. Dean has become territorial, lately, about the laundry, and sorts out his own clothes from his brother's with a fury that Sam does not understand. Sam has always worn hand-me-downs. He doesn't see the shame in being caught wearing his brother's shirts.
Heartbreaking and evocative, full of palpable detail and emotion, with a really fantastic use of an omniscient narrator, and a clear-eyed understanding of the kinds of desperate cruelties people are willing to commit against the ones they love. Highly recommended. And if you enjoy it, please let the author know.
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Beach Blanket Poltergeist by hansbekhart
Set late in season one, this is a fabulous, tense, creepy, emotionally true, and just plain gripping story about Sam and Dean coming to Santa Cruz on what they think is a routine hunt (if it's not just a serial killer, and therefore, not their job) and getting in way over their heads.
An excerpt: "Where are we?" Dean grumbles, starting to life and rubbing a hand over his face.
"Los Gatos," Sam replies. "About a half an hour outside of Santa Cruz," he adds when Dean gives him a dark look. He says it the way the natives do, blurring it together into one word, unconsciously: Sannacruz. He tosses Dean the newspaper without looking at him, most of his attention saved for his soda. He watches it fizz rather than watch Dean unfold the paper and scan the front page.
"Apple Rivers -- seriously? -- 20 years old, found murdered in Mission Plaza last night. No witnesses, no leads. Body was slashed, mutilated and partially dismembered." He glances over at Sam. "That makes five bodies in two weeks, all women, all murdered in the same little courtyard thing outside of Holy Cross Church. The town thinks it has another serial killer. Not exactly a rare occurrence for the area."
"Yeah," Sam says. "But they don't know what we do."
They had been tipped off when the second death had hit the papers with the only lead that the case had so far: a tiny bit of wire that had broken off in the girl's eye socket. Hand-forged, rusted so badly that it was little more than dust, more than a hundred years old. The name of the town had sparked some connection in Dean's brain that sent him leafing through Dad's journal to find a page with POGONIP scrawled across the top in dark letters.
"You sure this isn't just some serial killer?" Dean had griped, even though the link had been made in Dad's journal, normally Dean's bible. "It's not like they haven't had a million of them in Santa Cruz." They had come anyway, regardless of Dean's inexplicable need to hustle them as far away from California as possible. He wouldn't shut up about how much he hated California until Sam asked him why.
Wonderful characterization, with both Sam and Dean still working to fit back together again after Sam's years at Stanford, and going through rough patches that come along with that, though their love for each other is never in doubt, even when they're fighting; plus a strong, sure, evocative sense of place, with Santa Cruz itself a major character in the story. Well worth reading.
If you enjoy the story, please let the author know.
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We Could Be Heroes by missyjack
This is a smart, layered look at the way stories get told, and how important they are to people, about how truth becomes legend, and men become heroes. Two particular men, in this instance: Sam and Dean Winchester.
Once, while battling an ancient Native American curse, which caused insects to kill people, the Winchesters made the sun come up five hours early in order to defeat it. This legend is known as The Bee Story.
Hilariously meta, yet full of heart, this story features a perfect and brilliant sprinkling of pop culture references and clever use of documentary evidence; it's well worth reading. If you enjoy it, please let the author know.
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And the vid rec: Bricks by Luminosity
First of all, the music is a mashup between Metallica and Aretha Franklin, so how could it NOT be awesome? Secondly, this is a fantastic look at why the Winchesters do what they do, and the combination of "Enter Sandman" and "A Deeper Love" couldn't be more perfect lyrically and thematically: They get up out of bed and put on their clothes 'cause they've got bills to pay. ♥
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That was fun. *g*
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