[FIC] dear_tiger: The Witch Is Dead
[ Random: Sam/Dean ]
Title: The Witch Is Dead
Writer: dear_tiger
Alternate links: On AO3
Status of work: Complete
Characters and/or pairings: Sam/Dean
Rating: R
Warnings, kinks & contents: [Click to read]Violence, horror, gore, love spell (in its dub-con nature)
Length: ~30k
Summary: In 1988, three witches in Montana are growing a monster in their garden, and Sam is holiday snack. When Dean and John show up to get him, one witch is killed, and Dean gets a love curse that he keeps secret. As teenagers, Sam and Dean are living in a dying industrial town in Pennsylvania, where they come across a crooked old creature that takes an unusual interest in Dean. As adults, Sam and Dean return to Montana for a hunt and run into the two surviving witches who have been unsuccessfully trying to grow their monster. Dean, still carrying the love spell from the dead witch, is looking like perfect plant feed.
Reccer's notes: Written for spn_j2_bigbang, this is the story of three witches and their entanglement with the Winchesters at three points in time: once when Sam and Dean are children, once (by proxy) when they're teens, and a last, final time, when they're in their twenties.
My favorite thing about TWID is most definitely the language: it's rich, nuanced and atmospheric, and detailed without getting bogged down by any of the details. It drew me right in, and did not let go until I'd finished reading. It's my favorite because it's what I noticed first and what I savoured the most, but it's not the only thing I enjoyed. The OCs - especially the witches, but not only - are fascinating. They each have their own personality, and the way they exude 'family' and 'comfort' despite the horror of their actions and their very nature puts them in direct contrast with the Winchesters and their own less-than-humane aspects.
In a way, TWID is an outsider POV fic, because it focuses on Sam and Dean's experience with the witches and their creations rather than Sam and Dean themselves. The Winchesters' effects on the witches are explored and cast back on the brothers in a loop that feeds itself until it can't help but get resolved.
Also, check out the art by gold_bluepoint. I found it a perfect fit for the story.
[Short excerpt]"Where’s our dad?" Sam said.
It was Sarah who answered. "What, baby needs his daddy? I turned him into a moose. A big, fucking stupid moose." She stood up with Clem’s help, keeping her weight off the injured foot. Ferns had shot out of her chest at some point, and now their coiled green tendrils were bursting her shirt open, exposing a white lace bra. "He’s out there now, trying to figure out how to work a shotgun with hooves. In a minute, Clementine will go and cut his big stupid heart out and leave the rest of him for the animals."
"I will, I will," Clem said. "You sit down, Sarah."
Sarah batted her hands away. She hopped over to the cage, where she grabbed Betty’s shoulder for support. She leaned down, until she was looking into Dean’s eyes, completely ignoring Sam. She had gone very pale, almost as pale as the dead Clementine. "I want to give you a little gift, for the year leaving and the year coming."
"What do you want to give him anything for?" Betty said. "We’re just gonna eat them both."
Sarah shrugged, straightening up while Betty held her by the waist. "Well, you know, just in case. You’re my smart one." She turned to look at Betty with so much pride and smacked a passionate kiss on her cheek. "What if you’re right, and they do, somehow, grow up and come back to us? This has certainly been an unpleasant evening."
"They won’t grow up," said Clem. "Betty was wrong."
"My Black Betty is never wrong. So there, a gift for the New Year, for a boy who fucked up my foot. What shall we give him?"
"Gangrene," Betty suggested.
"Love," said Clementine. "It’s so much worse than gangrene."