Holy cow. This is just stunning, again. I've so often wondered about what happened next after Sparta, so I'm so glad you continued it.
Poor Sam. OMG, how I can feel his angst and fear, and frustration-- and oh, what an affecting moment it was when he was finally obviously afraid of John, and John finally saw it (when changing the bandage). I read that as Sam's real feelings toward his dad coming out, because for once he was so addled by the meds and the blow to the head that he couldn't put on the brave front. Because Sam is afraid his dad *would* hurt him, because, well, he *has*. That was my favorite part of this whole thing, because it was so hurty. It made me cringe and my chest tighten and my eyes tear up. Oh Sam, begging his Dad not to hurt him. And John, finally *seeing* and backing up, for a change. At least for a moment.
OMG, all the angst in this was just palpable. The stitching-up scene, oh, my chest ached. And Sam's reaction after he was cut, you pegged that so well, how someone reacts when they're kind of in shock, pointing out something superfluous like Sam did, saying over and over that he broke the window. Spot on.
And poor Dean. OMG, he's so powerless, in this. He's so completely stuck in the middle between his bratty little 13-year-old of a brother, and his militant unreasonable dad. And yet, he's still a teenager himself, given to impatience with his brother at times, and so very internalizing his dad's disapproval. The guilt he had to have felt when Sam got hurt, and then having to hold him still for the stitches, when the last of the anesthetic had been used for him. The poor kid. And he still hasn't gotten to play with his crossbow.
And John. In this one, I could actually feel a little more sympathy for John, and see in the cracks how he really did care about his boys, and how bad shit just keeps happening to them all, John included. But man, I still want him to answer for the beatings, somehow. To show some sense that he *gets it*, that he went too far. That Sam still has welts and is still hurting. I want this John to see Sam's fear and frustration, and Dean's guilt and browbeaten obedience, and see that *he* put them there. And to atone for that, at least a little. Maybe at the end of summer.
Oh, just brilliant, lovesrain. Thank you so much for this. Wonderful and atmospheric, and I so get Sam's fear of the silence and darkness between the lightning and the thunder, and I was so touched that after everything, he didn't want his Dad to get lost to that. Bravo, darling.
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Poor Sam. OMG, how I can feel his angst and fear, and frustration-- and oh, what an affecting moment it was when he was finally obviously afraid of John, and John finally saw it (when changing the bandage). I read that as Sam's real feelings toward his dad coming out, because for once he was so addled by the meds and the blow to the head that he couldn't put on the brave front. Because Sam is afraid his dad *would* hurt him, because, well, he *has*. That was my favorite part of this whole thing, because it was so hurty. It made me cringe and my chest tighten and my eyes tear up. Oh Sam, begging his Dad not to hurt him. And John, finally *seeing* and backing up, for a change. At least for a moment.
OMG, all the angst in this was just palpable. The stitching-up scene, oh, my chest ached. And Sam's reaction after he was cut, you pegged that so well, how someone reacts when they're kind of in shock, pointing out something superfluous like Sam did, saying over and over that he broke the window. Spot on.
And poor Dean. OMG, he's so powerless, in this. He's so completely stuck in the middle between his bratty little 13-year-old of a brother, and his militant unreasonable dad. And yet, he's still a teenager himself, given to impatience with his brother at times, and so very internalizing his dad's disapproval. The guilt he had to have felt when Sam got hurt, and then having to hold him still for the stitches, when the last of the anesthetic had been used for him. The poor kid. And he still hasn't gotten to play with his crossbow.
And John. In this one, I could actually feel a little more sympathy for John, and see in the cracks how he really did care about his boys, and how bad shit just keeps happening to them all, John included. But man, I still want him to answer for the beatings, somehow. To show some sense that he *gets it*, that he went too far. That Sam still has welts and is still hurting. I want this John to see Sam's fear and frustration, and Dean's guilt and browbeaten obedience, and see that *he* put them there. And to atone for that, at least a little. Maybe at the end of summer.
Oh, just brilliant, lovesrain. Thank you so much for this. Wonderful and atmospheric, and I so get Sam's fear of the silence and darkness between the lightning and the thunder, and I was so touched that after everything, he didn't want his Dad to get lost to that. Bravo, darling.