newsletter # 9

[harrigan.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the spn_littlebro newsletter #9 for October 2011!


What a fantastic new season this is turning out to be, right?! Every week we can hardly wait for the next installment - but we have to do something to make passing the time bearable. So have some fic! (Or art. Or podfic. Or eBooks. Or music videos. Or more fic!)

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?

• Let's start off with the fantastic episode 7.03 comment fic meme hosted by ratherastory. vail_kagami says, "It has produced plenty of awesome stories by a lot of awesome authors, and even more awesome prompts that are still open. A good portion of those prompts and fills aim to hurt Sam, so the meme is a good place to go to for everyone reading this newsletter." We agree wholeheartedly!


• In fact, one of those bookmark-worthy prompt fills, reports ash48, is the latest story by debbiel66: Getting a Life. The summary says: Sam takes one too many hits to the head… Compared to what they’ve been through, what costs they’ve already paid, this is chump change. They will have to give up hunting, give up the life. It is every bit as simple and staggering as that. There are seizures, permanent injury, and of course, h/c! ash48 says she recs this 5K fic because, "not only because the writing is fabulous, but because the observations are so spot on. It's bittersweet with hurt!Sam (yay, it addresses all those bumps on the head Sam has been receiving) and determined and awesome big bro!Dean. I adore this fic. It'll have you smiling one minute and wiping a small tear away the next."


• Hope everyone has discovered all the fun fics from an author new to our fandom: shangrilada! harrigan says, "She doesn't have one story I'd single out over the others - check them all out at her LJ! They are mostly short, h/c gems - fills for the aforementioned 7.03 fic meme, and lots of Sam with asthma! Welcome to our fandom, shangrilada! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!"


• cherry916 has a new WIP by sammygirl1963 on ff.net to squee about this month: Crawling from the Wreckage. It's SPN gen: A hunt for a weather demon leads to disastrous results for the Winchester family. There's a car wreck, head injury, and cherry916 says, "This is a lovely little WIP from the fabulous sammygirl1963. She always mixes a good case fic with some sort of medical crisis where they have to stay in the hospital. And Sam is usually the target *g* but what I love the most about all her stories is she incorporates not only Bobby but hunters like Caleb and Joshua which makes the hurt/comfort more awesome in my opinion."


• She has a completed fic from ff.net to share, too: Trigger Finger by Phx. It's a missing scene from 7.01 and 7.02, in which Dean is still working on the Impala; Cas is still God; Bobby still wears a hat… and Sam is still halfway sane. cherry916 says, "She ties all the elements of Sam's fears, the hinting of his tragic time in the pit and how Dean wants nothing more than for Sam to be alright. Sam is so heartbreaking in this fic with how he has to deal with shit on a regular basis and I love her portrayal of Dean as well."


• vail_kagami is a big fan of minviendha and says, "Actually, she's hurting Sam (never Jared, sorry RPF fans!) pretty constantly, and she deserves a special mention for being one of the most awesome authors around. Her stories are incredibly well-written, in-character and she never shies away from dark themes or from going through with all the heartbreak a situation can offer. In fact, a lot of her fics don't have a happy ending - one of them being her newest one (at the moment of me typing this): Who's Afraid of the Sun, a brilliant and disturbing look at Sam's insanity in the face of his memories from Hell, and the fact that Dean's a little too good at torture."


• worldwide_spn is still taking sign-ups thru the end of October, and would love to see more hurt!Sam fics come out of this challenge!

Featured Fic Recs:

• harrigan just finished an amazing fic from the 2011 spn_gen_bigbang challenge: Riding Shotgun, written by bythedamned and illustrated by kalliel. The summary reads: "Sam doesn’t know how he can say his brother is dead when there’s still someone on this earth who looks at him like that." For the Winchesters, death is never the end. So yes, there is a warning that this is a deathfic, but I hope it's not too spoilerish to say that Dean is gone... but he's not gone gone. After all, he still has a little brother who gets hurt hunting and needs him. This is an ingenious exploration of what might happen if one of the boys survives the other, funny and tear-jerking, and oh-so satisfying! It's 32K (also available in PDF format), and the art is breathtaking! Go enjoy, and then leave them some love!


• cherry916 has a J2 (non-AU) to recommend: Human Shield by zenamydog. About 7K, rated R for violence, the author summarizes it as While driving back to Vancouver from LA, Jensen and Jared are carjacked, but the situation takes an even deadlier turn when the escaped convict decides to take the two actors hostage. cherry916 likes it because "I love, love, LOVE NON-AU's but most importantly gen ones. This is a beautiful little fic of the boys having to face real life situations and you get a great look at their friendship, even if it is somewhat pre-slash the story is predominantly gen."

Other Media:

• art: Check out Safest Place to Hide art by vicious_sock for the 2011 spn_j2_bigbang fic of the same name by bree_black. The story is Sam/Dean/Castiel, but the art is worksafe and cherry916 says, "it's a very promising Wincestial relationship fic about helping Sam deal with getting his soul again." There is a lovely piece of art showing Sam being cared for by Dean and Cas.


• music videos: "Guh. Just watch." That's what ash48 says about Haust by secretlytodream aka Loki: "Come on, Sam. Don't you know what's real?" Dean, 7x02. ash48 adds, "GUH! Hurt!Sam out the wahzoo. Amazing, engaging and intense vidding. Really brings to life what going on in Sam's head at the moment."


• audiobook/podfic: harrigan says that Unthinkable by glassshoe is a fic written almost 4 years ago by a writer no longer active in SPN, so many of us may never have found this gem. While it deals with Sam's reaction to having been possessed by Meg in 3.16 Born Under a Bad Sign, it's just as compelling now, with Sam dealing with a similar fear of loss of self. Here's are the mp3 and m4b links to Unthinkable, read by the always reliable twasadark. After a week of riding shotgun inside his own body, Sam needs to know that he’s the one at the wheel.


• eBooks, etc.: Besides Riding Shotgun, described above in Featured Fic recs, harrigan has another PDF to share. She says, "samdean_otp had some hurt!Sam treasures for us this year! One I recommend is Consider the Hairpin Turn by cherie_morte. It's NC17, SPN slash, and available in PDF! The summary reads: AU of 6x22: Sam's wall has shattered and the memories in his mind have splintered. When the Sam who remembers Hell tells him to go find Jess and be happy, Sam knows he can't stay while Dean needs him. But when the Sam from Hell says that Dean is already there looking for him, Sam leaves his memories of the pit behind to find him. What he finds is a life he doesn't remember: a house that he shares with his brother (and has for years), a law career he thought he'd left behind at Stanford, and a relationship with Dean he never dreamed he could have. Life is almost too good to be true, at least until Sam begins to hear his brother's voice calling to him, begging him to wake up. harrigan says "cherie_morte is one of those rare gifted writers that make me willing to consider wincest. This fic is a prize for hurt!Sam girls who love to wallow in his PTSD. And the art by sagetan is a perfect complement, too!"

What Else? You may have noticed the recent FAIL at delicious. According to their status blog, they're making progress. You can still search by tags - the trick is knowing what tags are available to you, since the tag bundles aren't working yet. Stay tuned!
Tips for Using spn_littlebro: Meanwhile, while delicious is still under the weather, you may want to just try looking for any fics by your favorite hurt!Sam or hurt!Jared writer. We have a new theme Author to help! If there's a writer you like who writes lots of hurt!Sam or hurt!Jared, you can let everyone know by filling out the template there! And if you want to see who is being rec'd by someone else, just take a look at (or track) the comments to that post!

Comments

[debbiel66.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the rec and for the new stories to read! I've just been longing for some new h/c lately, and I always look forward to these newsletters. &hearts

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Pleasure hun! Glad you like the newsletter. Everyone (especially harrigan) does a great job of putting it all together.

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

Lovely! I'm so pleased I joined this comm! Some of these I've stumbled across, some I haven't. Thank you! I'm off to explore...

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Yay.. we're glad you like. :) Have fun.

[chloe-amethyst.livejournal.com]

My thanks to everyone who contributes to putting this newsletter together. It's always a gem!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

We're so glad you like it. :)

Hee... I've just been sitting here reading your icon. Great. :)

[link-woman.livejournal.com]

I adore these newsletters! Thank you so much for taking the time to do them :)

[cherry916.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

[shangrilada.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the welcome!! You guys are fantastic.

[cherry916.livejournal.com]

You're welcome hun and welcome to the hurt!Sam fandom!

[shangrilada.livejournal.com]

amazing to be here.