newsletter # 3

[harrigan.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the spn_littlebro newsletter #3 for early July 2011





Thanks to everyone for our amazing first month here at spn_littlebro. Thanks to your help, we've gotten to know each other with a welcome meme. (Feel free to add to it, if you haven't yet, or check it out for recent comments!). We've had a book giveaway, and our Archive of Hurt is growing by leaps and bounds!

Right now we're in the middle of soliciting recs in the theme of Psychological Trauma! So don't forget to come here! to share your favorite hurt!Jared or hurt!Sam fics that deal with depression, suicide, suicide attempt, anxiety, broken, hallucinations, mental illness, phobia, psychic powers, psychosis, repressed memories, self-harm, nightmares, stress, amnesia, addiction, alcoholism, amputation, breakdown, grief, insanity, delirium, post hell, insomnia, visions, possession etc. As always, ★ hurt!Sam or hurt!Jared ★ fic recs (including your own) are still welcome in any of our themes at any time.

Fevered Ramblings:

Here's a handful of things your spn_littlebro team is raving about right now. (And if you like these as much as we do, don't forget to comment to the person who created it!)

Who's Hurting Sam or Jared Lately?

• cherry916 has her eye on new 2011 spn_j2_bigbang works that are right up our alley! Here are two she recs:
  • Song of the Reaper by jenshih_blue (art by winchesterxgirl). NC17, Jared/Jensen, Jared/Gen and other pairings. cherry916 says "This was a really chilling mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Not to mention just reading the summary will get you intrigued, and then when you read it you're sucked into this awesome mystery that you can't stop reading until you figure it out. Here's a hint - you won't until she's ready for you to." Type of hurt includes suicide attempts, prostitution, coma.
  • There's a Hole in Me, Just About the Size of You by sweet_lyri, art by xloz_91x. It's Jared/Jensen, NC17 and cherry916 calls it "an epic roller-coaster ride! The author uses a very inventive way of self-harm and she amps up depression and miserable to a whole nother level. Not to mention that the art was gorgeous!" Type of hurt includes attempted suicide, depression, homophobia, emotional blackmail.
  
  
• harrigan just discovered a new spn_j2_bigbang that really satisfies her craving for permanent.disability!Sam! It's Treasure by sonofabiscuit77 and simply incredible art by daggomus_prime. This awesome fic is 48K of "2018 and the human race is almost extinct, wiped out by a mutant threat not even the angels saw coming. Sam and Dean live on a military compound, one of the few remaining human communities still fighting for survival. Dean is one of the military leaders, dedicated to wasting as many of the mutants he can, while Sam, permanently injured and confined to the base, is desperately searching for the answer that will save what’s left of humanity, and finally bring both boys the peace they crave." The writing is incredibly vivid and suspenseful and *real*; the relationship (Sam/Dean NC17) is believable even for someone who rarely reads SPN slash; the brothers are smart and brave and if you loved the episode Croatoan you will LOVE this! Also available in PDF format.


• varkelton has found a worthy new entry from the abused_sammy prompt fest currently underway. (And still open for prompts and fills!) The story is Another Sacrifice by the prolific annie46. It's Sam/Dean, NC-17 and the summary is: As part of a ritual sacrifice, Sam must lose his virginity to Dean. However, Dean knows nothing about gay sex, and hurts Sam. He knows what he's doing, but can't stop, because in doing so, the ritual will fail, and one or both of them will die. varkelton says she recs it "because the Abused Sammy prompt fest is awesome and we must all support it, and because this was a very cool take on an old cliche. It's not all roses and puppy dogs at the end, but it's gritty and real and I love that."

Featured Fic Recs:

• cherry916 says one of her favorite SPN gen classics is A Hard Road on ff.net by Sammygirl1963. "She's one of my favorite writers, namely for writing awesome hurt/comfort, and another side of Dean and John we wouldn't normally see. This is a story that accurately shows what John was going through after those first few months."


• dontknowmyname has a short J2 non-AU (PG13 slash) to rec: Confessions by letsgetstarted about an accident on set. "It's a quick, but fantastic read. It's sappy, yet the characterization is true to the boys' personalities. I love how Jensen tries to be funny even though he's obviously falling apart, and an injured Jared can't help turning things into a joke either."


• mlebayre has something to share - SPN Virtual Season: "Last year I worked on a Virtual Season and it's pretty much 22 grand and glorious episodes of hurt Sam. I forget how many writers there were, but I enjoyed all the fics. It is AU at the end of Season 2 and we ALL know how I love S2...lol!"


• varkelton has another one for the 'can't believe you haven't read this yet section'... It's the Outside the Blue, Blue Moon 'verse by vaingirlfic. Summary: 'Sam makes a sacrifice to save his family. The trick is to not let it break him. Extreme issues of consent. Curses. S&M. Underage.' Since it's a 'verse, the link is to her fic masterpost. It's rec'd because "This is probably on my top five stories of all time list. Sammy's sacrifice is heart-breaking, and the author is an incredible writer. I was heartbroken when she stopped writing in SPN fandom. I still go back and reread the whole story from time to time." Features Sam/Dean, Sam/OCs, Sam/Jess. NC17.

Other Media:

• music videos: vail_kagami is excited about Final Hour by hunter_dany. She says: "This vid won the Asylum Europe 2 Video Competition, and while I don't know the other vids that entered the contest, I can say that this one is a deserving victor. It tells the story of how Sam was poisoned by Meg and meets his parents in heaven when at Death's door, despite Dean's best efforts to save him. Great editing and a way of telling the story that's understandable even without knowing it beforehand."


• audiobook/podfic: Since our current theme being pimped is psychological trauma, harrigan has picked out a brand new podfic to announce! Panic by ratherastory has just been recorded by juice817 (runs about 11 mins) here. Fic summary is: "What with detoxes and resoulings, Sam's memories of the panic room can't be good. So it's unfortunate that they are under some supernatural siege at Bobby's and retreating into the panic room and closing the door is the only way to be safe." harrigan says: "This was so visceral. Loved the cadence of Sam trying to fend off panic, and then the drugs tip him over the edge. And simply amazing last line. Plus a little bonus orthopedic trauma FTW! juice817 is one of the most highly regarded podficcers; I ♥ her! Check it out!"


• eBooks, etc.: Does everyone know that fic on Archive Of Our Own can be downloaded to EPUB, MOBI, PDF or HTML? One of the absolute classic SPN gen fics is there - Crossroad Dirt by killabeez. This is over 20K of awesomeness, that goes AU after the season 1 cliffhanger. Sam's still suffering from painful visions, and every one shows him his family dying in the final showdown with the demon. harrigan thinks it's especially poignant to read it again now, after 6 seasons, to see how the show has come full circle in putting family first and anticipating the degrees of self-sacrifice the Winchesters, esp. Sam, are willing to go.


• eBooks, etc: All the spn_j2_bigbang recs listed above in 'Who's Hurting Sam or Jared Lately' are also available as PDF downloads!


• art: cherry916 has found another treasure: What I've Done by living-on-the-moon over at deviantart. "I love this piece so much because it hints at something bad that might have happened in the past or is still happening." The artist summary says: "I've been thinking a lot about little Sam and Dean while rewatching old episodes - about how Dean was after Mary's death, not talking, sleeping inside Sammy's crib, holding him... And I came up with this."

How Are We Doing? Now that we've finished our pimping theme of Injury, we have over 90 fics archived in delicious with that theme. (More Injury recs are always welcome at any time.) Can the current theme - Psychological Trauma - exceed that? Let's give it our best shot!

And if you haven't told your friends yet that we want their recs, too, you're always welcome to use these banners to spread the word: hurt!Sam here and hurt!Jared here!

What Else?

• Given how much we like to see Jared as Sam, and imagine Jared as other characters, too, I hope everyone got to see this lovely recent interview ! The book he mentions would be a great hurt!Jared movie!


• Looking for spn_j2_bigbang fics on AO3? A suggestion comes from morgandawn: "If you are a reader looking for a Big Bang 2011 story (in the Supernatural_and_J2_Big_Bang_2011 collection on AO3), it may be that the author has not yet submitted their story to the collection. If you do find a 2011 Big Bang story on AO3 not in that collection, please help by Bookmarking it and adding this tag: spn_j2_bigbang_2011". This will help get the stories gathered in the collection. Like delicious, AO3 has tags so you can look for fics identified as 'Hurt/Comfort', too!


• Tips for using spn_littlebro: So we can keep the theme rec threads clean, please refrain from replying to comments. If you notice a rec comment has incorrect data/link, it's fine to tell us there, but other replies may be deleted in the interest of de-cluttering, to keep things neat and tidy for folks surfing for recs! ;-> If you need to alert us to a problem, please leave a comment at our Welcome Post. Thanks!