SamMessiah's Anti-Christmas, for fannishliss!

[quickreaver]

title: Hard Way Home
author: quickreaver
recipient: fannishliss
word-count: ~5,000
characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, a smidge of Castiel, and a couple of cameos ;)
genre: Gen(cest)
warnings: Season Nine, major character death (a necessary evil!), suicidal ideation, angst a'plenty
story/art summary: Divergent from 9.10: Sam, Dean and Castiel drive off together

Comments

[monicawoe]

Ooh yay! Delicious ending (love what you did there), delicious art! Sam's eyes <3

You already know I love this, but yeah-- the bits with Dean feeling Sam die, and Sam's reintroduction at the bar are the best. Great tribute! The boy king is pleased.

[quickreaver]

And you were the best beta EVAH. Your suggestions, every last one of them, were spot-on and exactly what I needed!

Thanks for everything, Moni. I can never say it enough. :D

[madebyme_x]

Deliciously dark and creepy!

I loved how Dean physically felt the moment Sam died, that made my chest ache. I also adored all the creepy imagery with the blood-red rain and the eerie ghost town. Very atmospheric.

And you brought back Adam and Meg - what a neat little twist to the tale!

The ending was just perfect, with Dean's eyes as black as the Impala. Needless to say the bonus art was stunning; Sam's eyes are just wonderful and so otherworldly and I love Dean's scruff and Sam's longer hair!

Thanks so much for sharing! Take care :)

[quickreaver]

Thanks for taking the time to read and leave a wonderful comment! Sammessiah isn't everyone's cuppa tea. ;)

[madebyme_x]

Oh, I always enjoy a dark and stormy cuppa!

[fannishliss]

I really loved this story -- thanks so much

[quickreaver]

I feared it was a little more of a 'downer' than you usually like, but I couldn't help it! I fell into angsty!Dean and I couldn't dig my way out! (I totally blame Season Nine, dagnabbit.) I wanted Dean to have cognizance of what he did, but still stay obsessively committed to his life calling. I'm so glad you gave it a chance, regardless!

There was a secondary idea, based on another one of your prompts, that would've been more light-hearted but there again...whoops, I went and slipped on a pile of angst and just stayed there.

I was raised in Huntington! WVa is near and dear to my heart but I confess I share some of Dean's irritation with the place. I stuck to the verrrrry rural areas, for flavor. ;)

Thanks, Liss!

[callistosh65]

Dark and deep and utterly gorgeous..just loved this and felt totally swept along and in.

[quickreaver]

I'm so glad you read! Thanks for the awesome comment. :D

[septembers_coda]

WOW, HOLY CRAP. This is a fic that, for many reasons, I normally wouldn't read: the death!fic aspect, the horror, the "cest" after the gen, are all things that usually function as "keep away" signs for me, but it was you, and the summary was enticing, and then the language was irresistible... and then I was lost. WOW, what a sad, intense knot of pain this created inside me... and yet? It made me question the nature of a happy ending, even the rightness of the battle the Winchesters are fighting. DAMN, this went to a deep, dark place I didn't know existed, and I loved it. Just... great job, and way to twist the knife with that ending. GAH.

[quickreaver]

\0/! This is SUPER high praise!

I know this kind of fic isn't for everyone, so I thank you bunches for tackling it. I was esp. afraid I was too hard on Dean, and that Deanward leaning fans would find it overly bashy, but to me, this feels like a feasible thought process for him. The Mark of Cain hadn't been applied yet, and I kinda let Dean feel the guilt we all know he's carrying. So...

Anywho, thank ya again! *smish*

[amberdreams]

I don't know how you would see this in any way as Dean bashy...

[quickreaver]

I thought I was pretty hard on the poor sweetie! And since I can have Sam goggles on sometimes, I wasn't confident in my bias or UNbias, if you get me. :) And because mangst is one of my fave things ever, for both boys, well, you just can't be sure how things will be received, right?

Anywho, it's done now! FINALLY.