Fic rec

[layne67]

One of the darker fics that I've read in a while. So much so that I had to take a breather somewhere in the middle, find myself a fluffy, comforting fic to read, before I could continue.

Title : The Pyrrhic Tongue, The Eyes Undone.
Author : sanyin.
Summary : "Put your brother on a leash if you want to keep him." Samuel goes to war.

Sam gets Dean back from hell, but at a price. The Dean that comes back is not the same Dean as before. This Dean is completely broken, crazed, a shell of his old self. And Sam would do anything to make his brother whole again.

A fascinating, albeit disturbing read.

And it’s then that Sam sees what Dean has hidden with his silence, the scarred wreckage of his tongue, just a stump in the raw insides of his mouth, like fire had licked up the sides, not real flame. Dean snaps his jaw shut at Sam’s look, turns away, another angry look. But it’s a Dean look, like when he used to shy away from Sam’s ministrations after a bad hunt, away from Sam’s accusing words when Dad left them in the lurch.

He turns back, almost shy, and the sound is a terrible thing. Malformed, barely understandable, warped by flame and hurt and years below. Sam.

Comments

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Can I just blow your mind and tell you that I read this one? I couldn't resist a "Dean back from hell" story and that aspect of it really was terrifically done. Do you want to hear my impression of the Wincest stuff or should I just shut my mouth now?

Uh-oh :)

[layne67.livejournal.com]

*tightens seatbelt*

*braces self*

Go.

Re: Uh-oh :)

[oselle.livejournal.com]

It's not bad it's just...this was a really good example of why I don't read Wincest. They're just such brothers to me that once sex comes into the story (especially when it's as um...colorfully depicted as it was here) it hits me out of left field and it actually takes away from the story, rather than adding to it. This was such a powerful story as it was that I don't know why sex was necessary, why it was important for their relationship to be sexual. If I'd read a version of the story without the Wincest, it wouldn't have lost an ounce of its potency and, for me, would somehow have been even more affecting.

That's all just my two cents, of course.

Re: Uh-oh :)

[layne67.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. I love my smuts ( and there are brilliant ones out there which are totally believable ) but really, some of my favourite wincests are when they're just, you know, implied and non-graphic. And like you said, some work better when they're not wincest at all. Old Country (http://intimations.org/fanfic/supernatural/Old%20Country.html) is e perfect example. I thought it was a genfic at first ( and an awesome one at that, do give it a try ), so the sex came as a bit of a surprise to me.

There is this one author who wrote two versions of one of her fics, the slash and the non-slash one for her no-wincest-please fans. I sometimes wish that more authors would do that so that readers who are squicked by wincest won't be missing out on some of the awesomest fics around!

Re: Uh-oh :)

[oselle.livejournal.com]

It really was a great story -- I loved the post-apocalyptic feeling of it, of a world literally going to hell. Her depictions of Dean were just gut-wrenching. That scene between Sam and Gordon was...horrifying. But that particular scene is also why the Wincest really didn't work for me, because there was that very clear implication of sexual torment down in hell and then...he and Sam are screwing. Like, maybe that could've waited, Sammy? But other than that, I thought it was great. Thanks for the rec!

Way, way WAY back in my hobbitsmut writing days, I used to write two versions of some stories. The board I was on didn't allow NC-17 fics, so I'd do the PG version for the board and an NC-17 version for my friends. Whenever I went back and read those stories, I usually found that the PG versions were leaner, had better flow, read better. They weren't brought to a grinding (no pun intended) halt by a sudden, explicit page of PORN!

[montmorency.livejournal.com]

Dark indeed. But awesome. Dean is different, but he's coming back to himself, the snap of humor in his gaze again.

[layne67.livejournal.com]

the snap of humor in his gaze again.

That was the part when I thought that there would be some hope left for Dean. I really thought that it was going to be a bad ending, and there were times when I wasn't sure that Dean was human at all!

[montmorency.livejournal.com]

I was worried, too. But the humor in the gaze made me know it would be okay. Dean may be a little different, a little diffident now, staying in Sam's shadow, but they're going to be okay. Phew. Because otherwise... DARK.

[layne67.livejournal.com]

HA! But we're hors for dark and angsty and broken Dean, aren't we?

I think it was the word "leash" in the author's summary that drew me to that fic omg :D

[i-o-r-h-a-e-l.livejournal.com]

I read this this morning! *bounces*

And I just browsed the Dean-Sam Archive. Whee!

[layne67.livejournal.com]

Was that the Dean Samp-slash archive? You've never been there before? Hee, but you were the one who gave me the link to that site when I first came to this fandom!

That fic is very dark, isn't it? Poor Dean, he was almost like an ... animal there.

And hee, Oselle read it!!!

[i-o-r-h-a-e-l.livejournal.com]

I've been there before, of course, but I just went there again today. :D