newsletter #49 (Feb 2015)

[harrigan.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the spn_littlebro newsletter #49 for Feb 2015!





No new episodes until March 18th, when Supernatural is moving to Wednesdays on the CW. But not to worry, we've found some fantastic fanworks to help you pass the time. (Fortunately, we've really lucked out with the spn_reversebang this year! Take a look!)

Fevered Ramblings:

Who's Hurting Sam or Jared Lately?

• ayane42 kicks things off with The Shortest Distance by compo67. Summary: The year is 1935 and the Great Plains are hurting. Beaten down, dirt and dust-laden, the people of these Plains live in a constant haze. Jared is twenty years old and struggling to keep his adoptive family alive and cared for. When his husband Cole died, much of the faith in this land died with him, though they have stayed, because they belong here. Cole’s cousin arrives from Montana two years too late, seeking to uproot his kin and change their lives. With nature against man and man against nature, no one remains the same. "Wow!! I can't say enough about how good this story is!!" ayane42 says. "It has stuck with me for days! The author really pulls you in to this time period with all the detail and I just really felt how hopeless Jared feels during this time! It's an amazing story!!" Features angst, suicide, death of children, death of cattle, implied non-con, natural distaster. At over 27K, fans with eReaders will be happy to know it's downloadable in several formats!


• A second J2AU from the same spn_reversebang challenge is Rags and Riches by ElenyasBlood. Summary: Jared knows everything about living a tough life on the streets of NYC. He's used to a growling stomach, doesn't need a bath everyday, and as long as he has his dog Harley at his side, no ground too hard to sleep on. The work can be hard and the nights long during winter in the city, but even though his pockets are always empty, Jared never actually feels robbed of anything. He lives his life under the stars, until one day, something unforeseen happens that will turn his whole life around, involving a rich, young businessman named Jensen Ackles and a car accident in the middle of the night. "This is a deliciously angst-filled story!!" ayane42 raves. "I just really felt for Jared, his struggles with being homeless and his interaction with Jensen. A really great story!" Another downloadable winner (this one over 47K) on AO3. See our art rec below, too!


• madebyme_x echoes the fic rec above, and has an SPN gen rec to add: The Kingdom of Rust by sw0rdy. Summary: Twenty-two years ago, the Croatoan virus decimated the population. John Winchester lost his wife, but was spared along with his two boys. He packed them into his car with whatever belongings they could quickly grab and they ran. There was nowhere to go to, of course, so they never stopped running. // When their father goes missing, Sam and Dean Winchester set off across post-apocalyptic America to find him. Sam wants to connect with other survivors, but Dean - mute since the virus destroyed his family as a child - finds it difficult to be around others and wants them to work alone. Some situations, however, can't be dealt with alone... "I was gripped by this fic, and how the author wove and twisted canon into this post apocalyptic world," our guest reccer says. "I adored all tension and drama that was created with all the detailed h/c and DIY medical interventions." Check out the art rec for this gem, below!


• From the recent Sam Winchester Big Bang, we have Inaction Inertia by idiotbrothers. Summary: What might have been different about Sam's life if he'd been born with the ability to see demons' true faces, on top of the other unfavorable hands that fate dealt him? This story touches on the mental distress that canon events could have caused Sam, while adding another layer to the malaise of Sam's struggles over the seasons."This was fantastic!!" ayane42 loved this 5K "look at Sam's life if he could see a demon's true face. All the way through season 10--just a fantastic story!!"

Featured Fic Recs:

• If you enjoyed seeing Sam and young!Dean together in this season's episode 10.12 About a Boy, then harrigan says you'll be over the moon reading the 11K gen fic We Mortals Be by debbiel66. Summary: Angry fairies cast Sam and Dean into a deadly forest where they come face to face with what it really means to be brothers. "It's double your pleasure," our reccer says, "with 2009!Sam-n-Dean confronted by 1993!Sam-n-Dean, with some fantastic h/c. I like when hurting boys sometimes whine and complain and aren’t always completely stoic about their pain. debbiel66 strikes the perfect balance here, e.g. complaining when it might actually lead to some pain relief, or when it will reassure the other that you're feeling good enough to be a pain-in-the-ass, but being stoic when it will lessen the burden on your brother... Self-sacrifice is one of my favorite story characteristics, but this fic is so much more! Like learning from themselves – things the Winchester brothers knew when they were raising each other that they’ve lost somehow, and now young Dean and young Sam give them what they need to find their way back together. The way home."


• K-Hanna-Korossy is one of our go-to authors when we need a hurt!Sam fix. Case in point: the 8K Martyr for the Cause. Summary: Until he met the Winchesters, he hadn't known what family could be like. ash48 says, "This author is so good at celebrating the brother dynamic whilst giving us some solid hurt/comfort. I'm a sucker for Sam being used as leverage to make Dean do something. Sam's utter belief in Dean makes this story something special."


• Another great choice when you need a hurt!Sam fix, and would love to sink into a 45K classic, ash48 says, is The Line by Ridley-C-James. "This is one of my all time favourite hurt!Sam stories. Interestingly, this author is better known for hurting Dean, but in this story Sam is initially on the receiving end (extreme pain--poisoning, drugged) of the villain's nasty plans. There's some wonderful h/c and protective Dean." Summary: Some lines are never meant to be crossed, but once they are, the edges tend to get blurred, making each journey over them, seemingly easier…and deceivingly less wrong.

Other Media:

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


• art: Two of the spn_reversebang stories had amazing hurt!Sam and hurt!Jared art, madebyme_x is delighted to point out. First up, The Kingdom of Rust art post by becc_j. "This is a beautiful art set, featuring hurt!Sam as well as a blood transfusion scene with Dean. The artist has perfectly captured the bond between the brothers, as well as the desolate feel of the post-apocalyptic world. As always with becc_j's art, the lines are so neat and expressive and I love how she draws Sam's hair! Stunning work that you need to check out!"


• art: We also have Rags and Riches art post by quickreaver. This is "a gorgeous art set," madebyme_x tells us, "featuring injured and unconscious Jared! The art is crammed with so many delicious details including Jared's flowing and hippie hair, the cheeky dimple, and ragamuffin clothes. I love how the artist coloured the final images with highlighted blushes on knuckles, freckled shoulders and cheeks etc. Simply stunning, and you need to check it out."


• music videos: Don't forget to let us know at our visual theme post if you've found a new music video to wallow in. Want to savor the ones rec'd previously? Look here for our music vid recs on delicious.


• podfic: Got a favorite hurt!Sam or hurt!Jared podfic? Let us know! To sample the ones rec'd previously, check out our archives on delicious here.


• eBooks, etc.: now located with the fic, above, where applicable

What else?

It's another year already - and another opportunity to be a guest-reccer here at spn_littlebro. Have you discovered some hurt!Sam or hurt!Jared fic (or other media) gems that we don't know about? Comment here or PM ash48 to see how you can contribute some recs to an upcoming newsletter! (Thanks, madebyme_x, for helping out this month!)

Comments

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Did you guys see the sammybigbang? Lots of Sammy goodness over there to catch up on - shameless self promotion aside you need to check out the art chomaisky did for my fic. It's fabulous. http://sammybigbang.livejournal.com/13123.html

http://sammybigbang.livejournal.com/

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hey hun!

We absolutely did see the Sammy Big Bang! There's a rec above from the challenge and we've been promoting it for the last few months :) So excited to see Sam get his own BB! :)

I have been trying to catch up on the fics and art - your fic is on the top of my list!! I remember seeing it and getting all excited to read it. Then, as usual, life happened and I haven't got to it yet. But thank you so much for the link. And Chomaisky's work is always SO wonderful. :))

thanks hun. I'm so far behind on everything. Now we have a mini hiatus I'm hoping to catch up. xxxx

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Ah sorry, I thought maybe then you called it the Sam Winchester one, that this was another one I'd missed! But seriously - chomaisky outdid herself with this set, it's far too classy for my story! LOL

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh maybe I'm confused. I'm thinking about the sammybigbang. That's the one yeah?

I know it ran on Tumblr and LJ (and many were posted to A03).

I'm looking forward to reading your fic! <3

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yep that's the one. I know I've been around on LJ since 2010, but I keep finding communities I never knew existed so I'm never surprised to find something new! LOL Got to say, I'm drowning in fic at the moment - and just discovered an author I'd never read before who is awesome and so I now want to read her entire back catalogue. Someone please invent a way of managing time that actually stretches it to fit what you have to do, please?

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

Thanks again for the rec, gang! I'm really jazzed to read The Line. I wish it were on AO3, though, to download it to my Kindle. This is the crappiest thing about FF.net. Boo.

[becc-j.livejournal.com]

wait, you can download fics from A03 to your kindle?! *hyperventilates* Do I need to sign up to do this?

[sw0rdy.livejournal.com]

It's easy - on AO3 choose to download them from the button in the top right-hand corner (I usually do it as a MOBI file but PDF works too) then send it as an attachment to your free kindle email address. Voila! I know I need to put my Big Bang fics on AO3 so they're downloadable. It's just one of the many things I never seem to get round to!

[becc-j.livejournal.com]

great, thank you for explaining! I recently got an iphone, didn't have a smart phone at all before that, and I'm slowly catching up on the goodies that are possible, and recently got kindle.

[sw0rdy.livejournal.com]

Aww, I love my Kindle (he's called Jeremy). :)

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

Yes! It's really easy but you can't go right from AO3 to Kindle. You need to download it to your computer first (I usually download PDFs), then send the fic to the email Kindle gave you when you made your account. (It's probably the email addy you used to sign in, but instead of "yahoo.com" or such, it's "kindle.com". Just put convert in the subject line, attach the fic to the email, then hit send!

Also, if you have an iPad, you can use certain apps to download right from AO3 to the iPad and read it easily there. I use iBooks. Love it!

[becc-j.livejournal.com]

Excellent thanks! I have iBooks on my iphone as well, so I might try that first.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I loathe FF.net with a passion for it's pretentiousness in preventing copy and pasting. It's frigging FANFICTION folks, by its very nature, the IPR is compromised. AO3 has the right idea - flipping fabulous.

[becc-j.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the rec! going to check out the other goodies you've mentioned as well.

[sw0rdy.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the rec!

*points to becc_j* I'm especially glad you recced Becc's artwork for it :)

[becc-j.livejournal.com]

awww, *blush*

[kazluvsbooks.livejournal.com]

Yay!! I am pretty much going to read all these rec's!!!

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

\o/ Fabulous newsletter! Thank you for the invitation to guest rec, I'd recommend anyone that's thinking about doing it, to just do it - it's a lot of fun, and a great excuse to do loads of hurt!Sam/hurt!Jared reading!

[debbiel66.livejournal.com]

Hey, I was just looking for some hurt!Sam and saw the rec for my story - thanks so much! :)

[harrigan.livejournal.com]

I couldn't help thinking about your story when I wanted that ep! Now you've put me in the mood to indulge in both--yet again!