What Remains -- Master Post
Title: What Remains
Author: Merrin/walkawayslowly
Pairings/Characters: Dean/Sam, Bobby, OMC/OFC (bear with me, people)
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 39,500
The short summary: This is the one where Dean loses his memory and himself, and Sam has to find both.
The back-of-the-book-summary: In Jefferson, Texas a man ends a generations-old curse and saves all the town's children, but completely loses his memory in the process. When it's discovered that he's a wanted criminal, the town comes together to conceal him out of gratitude for what he's done for them, giving him an apartment, a job and a whole new life. It takes seven months for Sam to find Dean, and when he finally does, he has to adapt to being around a man who has no idea that he used to be Sam's brother.
Disclaimer: If I owned them, it would be a different kind of show and would have to run on cable.
Artist Credit: yuanhua is my artist, you can feedback her fabulous artwork here.
Podfic: recorded by waiting4rain42, you can download it here. Btdubs, I am super excited about this.
part one || part two || part three || part four
Also on AO3 || website
|| download links for your e-reader of choice ||
Notes: Okay. So I started writing this story and set it post season three before there were matching tattoos on their chests. And SADLY, I did not feel inclined to go back in and change a bunch of dialogue and the entire ending of the story to accommodate the tattoos. So I didn't. You'll just have to go with me on that one. I got JOSSED. OOPS. In case you're wondering, Nelson in my head is Max Greenfield, Deputy Leo of Veronica Mars fame. Picture reference:
I feel like I went way over my head with the sports references and I had an overwhelming desire to actually make them sound like they knew what they were talking about, so thanks also to. uh. wikipedia for the information it offered, like when the baseball pre-season games start and what that's called. To The Official Site of Major League Baseball when I couldn't think of any baseball teams beyond the Texas Rangers, Yankees, and the Red Sox. To NFL.com for sharing the information that Caleb Haney is from Texas and now plays for the Chicago Bears. To Aaron Sorkin for writing dialogue about the "battle" in baseball. (Because AHAHAHA, like I know anything about it. There are bats? And bases? People run around?) Thanks to my little brother for not asking too many awkward questions when I wanted to know the names of several classic muscle cars (because Chevy Impala is pretty much all I've got).
The title of the story came to me in a flash of brilliance I thought was purely my own, except it turns out it's also the title of a BOOK that I have SEEN IN STORES by JFK Jr's cousin's wife. Or some connection like that. Whatever, I still like it.
HUGE BIG SLOPPY THANKS TO:
nemoinis: Nemo's been telling me about this story pretty much since she had to explain to me which was Dean and which was Sam. So. First, this story would not even EXIST without her. One of her favorite things to do, I SWEAR, is talk and talk and talk and TALK about a story until I finally say "OMG enough talking, let me write it!" to which she invariably replies "okay!" Only, she said okay back when I was writing Demons and hi, it's been a year since then. Thanks for being patient, sugar lump. Also thanks for reading its various incarnations and for being an awesome cheerleader, for percolating ideas during the arduous PROCESS, for being more excited about the schmoopy ending than even I was. Also for editing and stuff. YOU ARE THE WIND BENEATH MY WINGS, etc with the sappy stuff. This was supposed to be four paragraphs long, possibly in the form of haiku. So. Uh.
For once and for all
You complete me, my dear
I elaborate
The sun can't fathom
My deep devotion to you
Pontification
causeways: The most awesome girl in the history of girls, the other half of my brain (who knew I'd been missing it for so long?) If the genesis of this story is Nemo's the writing of it is Kelly's (and also Nemo's but mostly Kelly's), who (IN HER WORDS) loves this story more than cavemen love cooked meat, who sent me pictures of steak as incentive to write more when she pestered me for more story, who had definite ideas about exactly how schmoopy everything was allowed to get and probably has a good idea of how schmoopy I would actually have made everything if left entirely to my own devices. You can blame thank her. She endured more than a person should have to endure with me pestering her through out this process. (I'M AN ARGUER. SORRY.) I COULD NOT HAVE WRITTEN THIS WITHOUT HER. She also edited when everything was said and done so thank you, baby cakes, for that. <333333 x 1 billion!!
incredulity: Who, though not actually a writer and therefore not someone necessarily to whom I can go "how do I make this sound less like a pile of poo?" but without whom I could not live, lets me read it to her in bits as I write it and cries and laughs in all the appropriate places. Thank you for existing.
And to yuanhua, my fantastic artist, who went above and beyond doing art for particular scenes and made an AWESOME book cover. It's my first time collaborating art/story with someone and you made it a fantastic experience. :D