SPN Fic: 4 Times ... The Lost Myth of Normal (Gen, Pre-Series)

[dodger_winslow]

Title: Four Times the Winchesters Had to Move (And Once They Didn't): The Lost Myth of Normal
Author: Dodger Winslow
Genre: Gen, Pre-series
Rating: R for language
Disclaimer: I don't own the boys, I'm just stalking them for a while ...

Summary (The Lost Myth of Normal): "I just wanted to stay in one place for awhile. It’s really hard to make

Comments

4 times

[ewanmax]

who am i kidding, i'm not just responding to this, i'm responding to how many times you've just gutted me and made me gasp for breath passed the ache in my chest.
STAY is still probably my all time favorite SPN fic ever, alongside maybe 3 or 4 others of the 10,000 or so i've read in the last 3 1/2 years.

ms. jessup never fails to choke me, and your dean, your sam and your john are just epic.

thank you so much for giving this to all of us.

Re: 4 times

[dodger_winslow]

Thank you so much for such an awesome comment. *hugs*

[pinkphoenix1985]

brilliant! I agree with you on the changes that you did- you made it more suited to your John rather then the one you wrote for the spn_summergen.

I especially love the new #3- Failure is Not an Option!

[dodger_winslow]

There were a lot of places I had to pull back references I wanted to make in the challenge to keep from giving my identity up entirely (although I didn't really try very hard to mask it either). But most of the changes are the result of having some time to sit on the stories for awhile and find their core. In particular, Failure is Not an Option took on some nuances that weren't there in the original when it came to John and Jim's relationship.

[pinkphoenix1985]

that is what made it so much more interesting than the original

myth of normal

[rozzy07]

As I have a bushell times a hundred of your fantastic writing to play catch up with I just had to post my thanks for this brilliant scripted chapter. It near tore my heart to shreds. Sam offering his dad a way out for the reasons for his selfishness was tenderly done, and near shattered John in the telling. Well worth the mascara running and the snotty nose look!

Re: myth of normal

[dodger_winslow]

Thanks so much. Sometimes I worry about letting John really lose his temper with Sammy just because there is always such a strong "John is an abusive dad" contingent out there ready to jump on anything and turn it into John bashing. So there was a part of me that didn't even really want to go here; but yet, in order to be true to who John is, I don't feel like I can always represent him as understanding and patient, etc, etc. His flaws are what make him such an interesting man and loving father. And given the way John and Sam interact, I can't imagine that there weren't MANY times that John had to hold onto his temper with both hands just to keep from snatching the kid bald headed. And in that kind of a relationship, everybody loses their grip once in awhile ...

[pepper180]

You have some kind of talent

[dodger_winslow]

Thanks so much. :D One of the things I most love about John is the fact that I often want to smack him upside the head for what he does, and the way he does it. He is such an interesting and complex and damaged man who is always trying his best. So for me, it would be an irredeemable disservice to him to try and make him out as if he always handles things the right way, or as if he doesn't make the same kind of mistakes that any person makes. We all lose our tempers, and often with our kids. Given John's personality on other things, I can't imagine that he and Sammy didn't go head-to-head MANY times, so for him to have always handled those situations the right way rather than the wrong way is, for me, to dimish the man that he is

[landrews]

I do think your dynamic 'guilt' through line is apparent when these pieces are read straight through like I have- and this parenting error on John's part (letting the boys go on sometimes rather than shutting them down hard) is built into your arc and this particular piece is powerful because you do let it get out of hand as it must do from time to time (I'm a parent, btdt). eta: but it doesn't cross the abusive!John line, which is a win, to me :-)

I wanted to add after reading your response above re:Sam and attaching himself to teams, that that's another John/Sam trait- the military is very much a team effort.

[dodger_winslow]

Thanks so much. I love John in all his tragedy and complexity. He's a fun guy to write.