First puns, now pop, what's next?!

[blubird_pie]

 Title: Good Boys Gone Bad
Summary: John realizes that he raised his boys a little differently than he’d meant to.
Word count: 1,400
Rated: pg-13 (Language)
Notes: Set S1; Mild spoilers for “Faith,” and “In My Time of Dying,” if you squint
Genre: Gen, angst
Characters: John, Dean, mention of Sam
Beta: Graciously read over by haruslex , who improved both rough

Comments

[sandymg]

Nice little character study. John just fascinates the heck out of me. I wish we had a full year of him on the show.

I found myself re-reading this line of yours:
Sam would keep Dean human, Dean would keep Sam safe.
--- Fascinating.

Dean, of course, says they 'keep each other human' and Dean, of course, always tries to keep Sam safe. But. Not sure either are true any more. I think they both need to rebuild their humanity. And then maybe share it back with each other. And 'safe' is an illusion. And maybe no longer the point.

[blubird_pie]

Oh many, I wish Sir had stuck around too. Re:humanity vs safety: It really interests me because at first it was much more Dean needing to be reigned in, and then that morphed a bit when Sam got his visions. Now they're back to Sam's powers (and rage?) threatening his humanity, but Dean too has a vaguely sociopathic streak (exhibited in "the End.") It's great how there are no clear dichotomies in SPN, but I think you're right that, as Dean says, they keep each other human now and safe...isn't so much something they can have.

Anyways, thanks so much for the comment and I love your icon!

[tifaching]

"So far from normal he didn’t even miss it." Deep down, or maybe not so deep down, I think he does miss it now, when it's almost too late to have it. But back then? Maybe. Loved John's refusal to believe anything could happen to Dean that he couldn't handle. Denial is a wonderful thing if you are John Winchester and the demon is going in the opposite direction from your terminally injured son.

[blubird_pie]

Yeah, post "Swap Meat" it seems pretty clear that Dean does want normal- Ironically a year or so after Sam's given up on it. *sigh* But I do think at 17 Dean probably had himself well convinced that he didn't want anything but the hunt. Of course, this is also just John's POV, and Dean would have tried hard to hide any doubts he did have from Sir.

Thanks for the comment, and I agree about John and his delusions. Denial is part of the Winchesters' genetic make-up, right along with being absurdly good looking ;)

[melanth0]

ohhh, John. I love getting a sympathetic look into his head; he's such a versatile character that way, I never know who'll write him as a protective parent, who'll write him as an asshole, who'll write him as neither...
There are some really sad moments in this. Particularly, for me, the consideration of the boys' whereabouts versus the demon's.
Now I'm melancholy, and it's your fault.
Lovely little piece.

[blubird_pie]

He is, isn't he? I think it has to do with having v. little screen time, but lost and lots of ripple effects on the main characters and plot. Thanks for the comment, though I'm sorry to bring you down! Next piece will be bunnies, sunshine and...oh. Wait, my bad. It's gonna be angst and man-pain as far as the eye can see. :D

(but seriously, I do have a sense of humor and someday I'll write a fic that actually shows that.)

[crushinator67]

I loved this! The attention to detail was fantastic:

"John gives the message another listen, while he calculates whereabouts his boys are. Sam sure doesn’t give him any helpful information, not even about what they were hunting."

I always thought it was interesting that Sam never gives their location. On one level I understand that is one of those mundane things that the writers may have just forgotten about in order to focus on the emotional issues, on the other I like to think the scant information was an attempt by Sam to force John to call him back.

At any rate, I enjoyed John's trip down memory lane and his stout refusal to believe Dean is actually dying. Nicely done!

[blubird_pie]

Thanks! It's always super flattering when someone has a particular part they enjoyed.

As for Sam being cagey, I wonder (as I do with most things SPN) if it was expedient writing or a subtle character point- In a way, Sam not giving John any info functions as a power play on Sam's part; he's the one who's gonna save his brother, and Dad can give emotional support but he can't get in on the hunt because Sam's got all the cards and he's not sharing. Then again, your idea about trying to make John respond is really plausible too. So many ways to interpret even the little stuff! I love Show!! And comments, so thanks again for yours ;)

[lexhibition]

You already know how much I like this! :D I really love what you've done with the ending, it's stark and foreboding while still letting them have this moment of fortune.

And it's a really nice study of John, looking at him sympathetically while not excusing him from any of the mistakes he makes. Just the way it should be!

[blubird_pie]

Aww, thank you! It's sort of sad how near-death experiences are what the Winchesters get on a good day, but c'est la vie. I'm still all aflutter that you like my character studies, since that's the majority of what I write- thanks again for the ego boost of telling me I do it well ;)