We All Fall Down, for indiachick

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Title: We All Fall Down
Author: monicawoe
Recipient: indiachick
Rating: R
Wordcount: ~7,400
Warnings: violence, disturbing imagery, hallucinations
Author's Notes: many thanks to my two lovely betas! To the recipient: thank you for your prompts! They were very interesting. I combined the first two because I loved them both and the result was quite surprising,
Summary:

Comments

[ficwriter1966]

WOW.

When Dean shot ol' Yellow Eyes, I thought, "Well, okay, let's see how they all fare from here on out." I didn't expect that Dean would immediately drop dead! And I *love* it when a story blindsides me like that.

Eerie, sad, bleak - but I can see it all unfolding just as you've described, if that one little thing had changed. Nicely done!

[monicawoe]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.
Writing from John's POV was a first for me, and an intriguing experience, particularly given this scenario. There were definitely occasions during seasons 3 and later where I thought: 'if John had seen any of this...' so actually making him confront the darkest aspects of his sons' destinies immediately came to mind.

[kalliel]

This is totally fascinating; I love alternate timelines that stem from 2x01 so much. The sense of being one--or a few, or more than a few--steps behind everything comes through really strongly in this fic, and adds a sense of urgency that a lot of fic doesn't eer hit. What I like the most about this version is the extreme isolation of it--John, alone, running after an estranged and increasingly strange Sam; the friends Sam and Dean found in the original canon manifesting themselves in John's experience here as none too friendly. It shifts the entire mood and feel to the events that unfold so delicately and insidiously--it's just the right pitch of creepy-lovely. Fantastic work!

[monicawoe]

The sense of being one--or a few, or more than a few--steps behind everything comes through really strongly in this fic,
That was something that I really enjoyed too-the fact that we already saw Sam & Dean's futures unfold, so many of the things that so horrified John were expected in a dreadful sort of way.

The idea of Sam without Dean and John was just particularly intriguing to me, glad you enjoyed the read!

[quickreaver]

Grim! But I love it that way.

I agree with kalliel, John's story unspooling a few scant steps behind Sam gives this fic a tangible sense of frightful urgency. You don't want to know what has happened, yet you can't help but read on.

[monicawoe]

John's story unspooling a few scant steps behind Sam gives this fic a tangible sense of frightful urgency.
Wonderful! That's what I was going for. The whole time I wrote it I thought: 'man does it suck to be John in this scenario!'

Glad you liked it ; )

[amberdreams]

What a cruel hopeless world so fantastically drawn here - I'm gutted and horrified and filled with admiration all at once!

[monicawoe]

Thank you so much!
This was indeed a very depressing set up for the story (and that's saying a lot considering the Winchesters lives as they stand!)

[amberdreams]

Yay this was you! *hugs*

[brightly_lit]

WOOOW. This was fantastic! Beautifully written. Characterization was spot-on all the way through, every single character. And I admit, I love a good all-is-lost story every once in a while. Each twist and turn is so surprising, but makes perfect (if horrifying) sense--a truly apocalyptic feel. Nice work.

[troll_la_la]

This was beautiful but really wrenching. The bit with Jenny and her kids with the Croatoan virus in Lawrence was especially creepy. This could have been John's hell, especially with hallucination!John egging him along. Wonderfully done!

[monicawoe]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the read!

This could have been John's hell, especially with hallucination!John egging him along.
This most definitely felt a bit like John's Hell. It was an exceptionally painful scenario for him, that's for sure.

[monicawoe]

Thank you very much!
This was my first time writing John's POV, so I'm very glad to hear it worked. This was a particularly tragic version of events, it's true!