"Conversations over a Gun Box and a Roadmap"

[blueiris08]

Rating: PG
Category: Gen
Characters: John, Dean, guest appearance by Sam.
Word Count: 6000
Spoilers: “Dead Man’s Blood”
Summary: “Maybe if John had confronted it right then, things would have gone differently. But he couldn’t ask without tipping his hand.”
Further author’s notes: For the record, I sketched out the plot and some of the dialogue for this

Comments

[eloise_bright]

Wow.

That as incredible. I'm not sure I agree with your portrayal of John here, but it's so convincing. I loved Dean with a passion. At first I was a little annoyed that he was so much the good obedient soldier, but then when you revealed that he was playing John for info on the plan - that was masterful.

I had my mouth open for the rest of the story. John's realization that Dean was no longer his to command, but his own man.

Very well done.

[blueiris08]

Thanks to you and the people below for the comments. May I ask what you didn’t like? The bit I had the most trouble with was taking John’s bait plan all the way to the “X marks the spot” level; I had a couple alternatives plotted out, but this worked the best, story-wise. There could have been more John-development, but I wanted the story to basically be 50% John, 50% Dean (or maybe 45/45 John/Dean, 10% Sam), and more John meant less Dean. Which would have fit completely into the tone of the piece, really, but wasn’t quite what I wanted to do with this one.

That was rambling, not defensiveness. ;-) I was just curious, because John can be tricky to get a hold on.

[eloise_bright]

I didn't dislike any part of the story - you sold me on the bait plan completely. *g* I just don't think that canon John would have used Sam in such a way.

That is just my personal opinion, and a testament to your narrative skill that you convinced me that this could have happened. I think you sold the concept really well.

John in the show is rather inconsistent. I'm not sure if it's the writing or JDM's protrayal, but he can sometimes seem very soft, and at other times incredibly demanding. We see his effect on both boys throughout the season, especially on Dean in Devil's Trap. He recognizes that Dad is possessed because John says he's proud of him. There's a lot of hero worship going on too, so it's hard to get to the bottom of Dean's feelings for his dad.

But I think you did a great job of convincing us that John would use Sam as bait for the demon.

[blueiris08]

I didn't dislike any part of the story

Yep, I should have phrased it as “had doubts about” or “what didn’t click,” or something along those lines. I don’t see the bait thing either. ;-)

The germ of the idea for this story was him shooting the vampire. I’m all, “Dude! Antique! Head!” John didn’t even consider that it might not work. Which may have been fine, because it would have killed Sam no matter what, but then John didn’t even glance at him. Dean was worried about whether Sam was okay, and he’s used to seeing him get choked. John just stood there with that creepy, obsessive satisfaction on his face

[andromakhe001]

I really like this story. Good characterizations. I could have seen something like that happening with a little tweaking.

[kimit]

Loved this.

[wilwarin1]

Wow, wonderful work!

John sure found out that Dean no longer is the kid he left behind to go after the demon alone, but a man to be reckened with.

I love your Dean!

Neat

[cawthorne]

A bit AU, but I like it anyway :) Nice to see Dean make a break, even though I doubt he ever will until, say, Season 6 or so! :D

Dean, all grown up. Yay!