Book Club #12 chat post - For You As Yet
Welcome, readers, to June's Book Club!
This month we're looking at For You As Yet by elanorelle, a 19,00 word story that deals with Sam/Dean in the context of a 'normal family' AU - where, in their normal little world, they know nothing of demons or supernatural creatures, just their own apparently 'normal' troubles.
I love this kind of AU and think it opens up some fantastic discussion, both in terms of this fic in particular and in general context of this kind and other AUs.
Characterisations - the Sam and Dean we see in canon are very obviously and explicitly affected and shaped by the experiences both in their past and what we've seen in the show itself from the beginning. This kind of AU therefore will have, in a way, a very different Sam and Dean - yet of course there may be certain traits that are ingrained, that are Sam-and-Dean separate from their life experiences we know of in canon. How do you think this fic dealt with their characterisations? Did it take traits that you see as working within their ingrained characters/these experiences? Do you see 'our' Sam and Dean being like this in these circumstances? What particular traits in general with Sam and Dean do you see as being nature vs nurture?
Incest is a very different animal in some ways in this fic to other Sam/Dean fics. Many other incest fics (though not all) handwave the incest as 'our lives are so messed up anyway', or' you're the only thing I have left anyway', or similar, a way of 'defusing' the social taboo of incest. Here there's no excuse just by virtue of their surrounding 'normality'; the incest is comparatively a lot more 'fucked up'. How did that work for you in this fic? What are your thoughts on how it was handled?
SPN AUs both re: this one and in general - how do people feel about canon AUs? Are there any elements you feel 'necessary' to transpose into an AU setting? Is it more limited than, say, RPF AUs? Are there no 'necessary' elements and it just depends on the ability of the writer to tie it in to the characters we know? Again, this might even tie in to the characters' experiences in the AU!
Any other reactions you had to this fic, opinions or thoughts you have about any aspect of it - let us know!! And remember the rules, and keep it polite, and about the fic.
This month we're looking at For You As Yet by elanorelle, a 19,00 word story that deals with Sam/Dean in the context of a 'normal family' AU - where, in their normal little world, they know nothing of demons or supernatural creatures, just their own apparently 'normal' troubles.
I love this kind of AU and think it opens up some fantastic discussion, both in terms of this fic in particular and in general context of this kind and other AUs.
Characterisations - the Sam and Dean we see in canon are very obviously and explicitly affected and shaped by the experiences both in their past and what we've seen in the show itself from the beginning. This kind of AU therefore will have, in a way, a very different Sam and Dean - yet of course there may be certain traits that are ingrained, that are Sam-and-Dean separate from their life experiences we know of in canon. How do you think this fic dealt with their characterisations? Did it take traits that you see as working within their ingrained characters/these experiences? Do you see 'our' Sam and Dean being like this in these circumstances? What particular traits in general with Sam and Dean do you see as being nature vs nurture?
Incest is a very different animal in some ways in this fic to other Sam/Dean fics. Many other incest fics (though not all) handwave the incest as 'our lives are so messed up anyway', or' you're the only thing I have left anyway', or similar, a way of 'defusing' the social taboo of incest. Here there's no excuse just by virtue of their surrounding 'normality'; the incest is comparatively a lot more 'fucked up'. How did that work for you in this fic? What are your thoughts on how it was handled?
SPN AUs both re: this one and in general - how do people feel about canon AUs? Are there any elements you feel 'necessary' to transpose into an AU setting? Is it more limited than, say, RPF AUs? Are there no 'necessary' elements and it just depends on the ability of the writer to tie it in to the characters we know? Again, this might even tie in to the characters' experiences in the AU!
Any other reactions you had to this fic, opinions or thoughts you have about any aspect of it - let us know!! And remember the rules, and keep it polite, and about the fic.