newsletter #40 (May 2014)

[harrigan.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the spn_littlebro newsletter #40 for May 2014!




Did everyone survive that episode 9.23 season-ender? Wow! It's a long wait now till the start of season 10 (currently scheduled for October 14, airing on the CW in the US after the new series The Flash). Here's a start on our hiatus efforts to keep you occupied with some intriguing hurt!Sam and hurt!Jared fanworks in the meantime.

And whether you're looking for fics exploring what happens next, fix-it fics, AUs, revisiting past seasons, or maybe some h/c in your RPS, we've probably got recs in our archives to suit, or would love more from you! For help finding something to satisfy your cravings, take a look at our Find a Fic post (which can also help you find other art and visual recs too).

Guest reccer of the month!

Having guest reccers has been fun this year, because we get to share recs from folks who read hurt!Sam (or hurt!Jared) in flavors the mods here don't always explore. Case in point: welcome, de_nugis! "I’ve been in Spn fandom for four years, now," she tells us, "and hurt!Sam was my gateway: my first active participation was in the 2010 Sam’s birthday h/c meme at ohsam. The workings of Sam’s brain are my catnip. I like a good sick or injured Sam as much as the next Samgirl, but the real fascination for me is in the oblique and complicated ways Sam processes trauma, his bizarrely functional modes of breaking down and his broken modes of functioning, his isolation and his relationships, his strong core of selfhood and his many and varied alienations from it. He’s a golden opportunity for fanworks, and I’m grateful to everyone who has taken advantage."

Fevered Ramblings:

Who's Hurting Sam or Jared Lately?

• spnspringfling generated some new fics that qualify for our hurt!Sam archives. For example, harrigan enjoyed Hamburgers for the Injured Soul by shifty_gardener. Summary: Let’s go on a roadtrip to hunt down this zombie, Dean said. It’ll be just like old times - well, like that one time, he said. This is a short gen fic, featuring grumpy Sam in a lot of pain (orthopedic trauma FTW!) and a Cas who uses Calvin and Hobbes as source material on understanding humans.


• Fans who limit their reading to LJ or AO3 might have missed the latest from k_hanna_korossy: Playing Hurt. This is a 7-8K SPN gen episode tag to Adventures in Babysitting, summarized as: He seriously doubts either of them are up for this hunt...but maybe in the end that's not such a bad thing. harrigan says this author is great for classic casefics with h/c, and the newest fic is no exception. Sam's dealing with those hallucinations, the boys are mourning Bobby, and now they have an air elemental to deal with? "I liked seeing the boys on the same page," our reccer admits, "wanting each other to be okay, and risking their lives saving people and hunting things."


• We don't often find a good het fic with hurt!Sam, but ayane42 has come through this month. Check out He Who Fights Monsters by monicawoe and nwspaprtaxis and art by quickreaver. Summary: AU of the summer between Seasons 3 and 4. Dean's dead, dragged down kicking and screaming to Hell. Sam's not dealing well. And Ruby’s got her work cut out for her. This has torture, hell trauma, hallucinations... and ayane42 says, "This is one of those stories that just grabbed me and I became so engrossed in the story, I had to see how it played out. It's a different theory on how Sam would have gotten Dean out of hell and wow, at what a price!! Just an incredible story!!" Note: it's over 50K, and the link is to AO3 so it's downloadable too!


• This month, jessm78 recs this 6K SPN gen story set in season 9: Short Notice by story_monger. Summary: After the witch and Dorothy incident, it should have been pretty clearly spelled out for everyone: don’t mess with artifacts in the bunker. And for the record, Sam hadn’t messed with anything. It had been an accident. Which, granted, didn’t make his situation any better. But it was the principle of the matter. (In which Sam gets shrunk, Dean panics, Castiel handles Winchesters, and Kevin saves the day.) jessm78 says, "I think this is the first miniature!Sam story I've ever read. And I enjoyed it. I love how the author portrays all the physical pain and panic going through Sam. And I love Dean's concern and even guilt when he contributes (inadvertently) to that pain. Cas and Kevin are involved too, and I love the way they all work together. Plus the image of Miniature!Sam I find very cute."


• "I have so much love for Worth Having by the_green_bird," ash48 raves. "The warnings make it sound dark but it's actually a fairy tale. It's a love story with fabulous characters and terrific world building. It features a morally sound, loving and awesome Jensen, and a timid yet strong Jared. There are also some delightful (and not so delightful!) OCs. If you like happily ever after fairy tales then this is a must read. It's 51,000 words and it's wonderful." Check the eReader section below for summary and link on AO3.


• de_nugis says, "This tag for 9.19 isn't big on the comfort, but I like its portrait of the bleak place Sam and Dean's relationship is at at this point in canon. Dean isn't there for Sam, physically or emotionally, but there is still a high-handed, absentee care that shows that their bond is strained and twisted and stretched but not snapped." The story is called (It's My) Blood by Safiyabat and is a 2-3K SPN gen fic. Summary: Sam deals with his blood loss during and after "Alex Annie Alexis Ann."


• de_nugis has another discovery for us: All Good Things by monicawoe. It's a pairing I don't think we've rec'd here before: Sam/Tessa! Under 2K, it's a little spnspringfling entry with no summary. de_nugis calls it "a strange and beautiful fic that gives an extraordinary impression of the expanses of space and time it involves, and of the small spaces of human-though-not-human comfort that can still be carved out of Sam's experience. It has a killer ending, not quite exactly without hope."


• Don't forget to check out the Sam comment!fic extravaganza here! Leave a prompt, fill a prompt, and/or just wallow in the treats created so far!




• Still crave more comment!fic prompting and filling and reading? lauehime is hosting a Winchester festival of h/c here!

Featured Fic Recs:

• Missing early season Sam'n'Dean? Then You Go, I Go by Dawn-N might be just what you need. Summary: An exorcism gone awry leaves one brother clinging quite literally to the other in order to save him from a very long fall. It's gen, under 2K, and cherry916 says "While this is rather short, I think it highlights not only Dawn's brilliant portrayal of the brother's relationship but also how much they were willing to go for one another early on in the seasons. It's a short but sweet read for anyone wanting to see the brothers get back to how they were."


• Looking for some dark hurt!Jared? Try Teaching Him to Trust by morgana07. Summary: Jensen's a rock & roll star looking for a break after some setbacks & an encounter with a crazed fan sends him back home to San Francisco after 10 years away. Jared's a young man hiding inside himself after escaping a childhood of horror. Protecting Jared from a street gang, Jensen forms a bond of protection for the silent, scarred young man that slowly turns to more when Jared's nightmare returns.... Definitely heed the warnings here, folks, but ayane42 says, "Wow, this is one of those stories that is long and twisty and turn-y with lots of well developed characters and great story!! I loved reading this!! Well, except for those darn cliff hangers that kept me up way past when I should have gone to bed, but I just HAD to see what happened next!!!!" It's now complete and over 270K words in length! You'll be glad to know the link is to AO3, where downloads can be taken.


• ayane42's other featured fic this month is an 11K SPN gen pre-series fic: This is Sparta by lovesrain44. Summary: Sam finds out that winning a soccer trophy won’t change his Dad’s mind about how the summer should be spent. Dad wants the boys in training, Dean can’t wait to try out that new crossbow, and Sam, he doesn’t want anything to do with any of it. Trouble ensues. Our reccer says, "lovesrain44 is one of my favorite authors because of the way that she writes about teenage Sammy and all that he goes through with his Dad and his refusal to train. There are 3 more stories in this series that are just as great!"


• Our guest reccer de_nugis has a short Sam/Cas season 9 fic rec to share: chrysalis by duckondebut. Summary: Sam and Castiel find each other, and it isn’t profound, or tragic, or beautiful. They prefer it that way. Sam/Castiel. de_nugis says of this gem: "Set in a now AU earlier season nine, this fic deals with possible aftermath to the Gadreel possession without ever disclosing exactly what has gone down. The story is as much about Sam's need to find new ground and begin to reestablish himself as it is about his physical illness and Castiel's tentative, human attempts to care for him. Castiel's mix of insight and puzzlement captures Sam's innate privacy, his vulnerability, and his resilience."


• Did that put you in the mood for more hurt!Sam with Cas? The Ice Age by balder12 may be right up your alley. This one is gen, under 4K, and summarized as Sam doesn't know what the man in the trench coat wants. All he knows is the man is very insistent, and the ice is getting closer. de_nugis calls it "a wonderfully creepy and mysterious alternate take on Sam's experience of Gadreel. The author packs a lot of Sam into this: the tinge of deathwish, the capacity for denial and compartmentalization, the desire for and alienation from house and home, the abnormal normal, the difficulty making direct contact with his own feelings, the underlying stubborn capacity to save himself and others."

Other Media:

• GIFs, picspams, etc.: Keep your eye on the constantly updated spnlittlebro tumblr for more great hurt!Sam discoveries!


• art: "Doesn't this just give you the warm fuzzies," cherry916 asks. "It's so easy to imagine Sam getting wrapped up in researching at the bunker and falling asleep while doing so, then big brother Dean comes along and covers Sam up." She's talking about the endearing G'night, Sammy by kayaczek.


• art: A Deliberate Life by quickreaver "is beautiful, and quintessential Sam," de_nugis says. "Full disclosure -- it was done for my prompt (at ohsam). I love the way the artist has captured both Sam's troubled loneliness and his seeking for peace." There's a sweet little companion fic, the sun upon the lake is low by stripysockette too!


• music videos: Runnin' by GnevIshtar2 is this month's rec. "This video captures the journey of Sam and Dean (and some Castiel) over the last 9 seasons," ash48 says, "mostly focusing on Season 9. It's great to see such a lot of new footage blended beautifully into older footage. There's quite a lot of hurt!Sam featured because - boy, he's been hurt a lot lately! Skilfully edited and an engaging video."


• podfic: Twenty minutes of Sam/Dean-ish PG13 perfection here! This a podfic of a nice hurt!Sam story The Old Man of Peru by de_nugis that we've rec'd before in text. Now, you can listen to the wonderful story of Sam getting bitten by a bat. He probably doesn't get rabies. He probably isn't a werebat, either., read by the always excellent fantamae. "She doesn't sound like she's reading you a story," harrigan shares. "It sounds like she's right there, telling you a story, with all the personality and myriad inflections you could wish for. The link on her LJ page lets you stream the mp3 so you can go listen, right now!"


• eBooks, etc.: He Who Fights Monsters, rec'd above, is downloadable for your favorite eReader!


• eBooks, etc.:ayane42 points out that the link Teaching Him to Trust, rec'd above, has download options!


• eBooks, etc.: Worth Having by the_green_bird, rec'd above, is available in downloadable formats at AO3 here. Summary: Jared's family has never hidden that they hate him for being an omega. They think it makes him weak and his existence dishonors their family. When they discover that the king's son is looking for a mate they jump at the chance to rid themselves of Jared and increase their social standing. [But] Jared is anything but weak... refuses to allow this to happen and vows to himself that he won't go down without a fight. He's completely unprepared when the king's alpha son Jensen treats him like something precious and is interested in actually getting to know Jared better....

What's New?
If you're willing to be a guest reccer one month, comment here or PM ash48, and we'll work out the details with you offline!

Thanks!

Comments

[tipsy-kitty.livejournal.com]

Happy 40th!!

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

Thank you for yet another newsletter crammed with so many delicious goodies!!