SPN fic - In the Bleak Midwinter - PG13 - Dean & John

[eloise_bright]

It's been a while since I updated. RL has been horribly hectic, and I'm so glad to be off on holiday for a couple of weeks. I've been around on LJ, but not as regularly, so I feel like I've been out of the loop.

I did manage to see A Very Supernatural Christmas, which I adored, and I've been reading the Supernatural Offical Companion avidly. I

Comments

[iamstealthyone]

Nicely done. I like that John makes that little concession at the end. *pets him*

Favorite lines:

The heat is unbearable, stifling; hanging thick as smoke in the still midwinter night.

Good opening line and description. It instantly sets the mood.

Dean rolls over; the damp sheet clinging to his back, sucking against clammy skin.

Good detail.

His wrist itches like a bitch, blood beating in a steady rhythm, the stitched skin trapped too tight under the gauze. He wants to rip off the bandage and scratch at the healing stitches, tear open the raw edges with his fingernails.

This makes my skin itchy. *g*

Three stitches that he should never have needed, if he’d been paying attention. If he’d remembered to watch his back. If he’d remembered he needed to watch his own back.

Oh, Dean. I’m sure it took quite awhile for both John and Dean to adjust to hunting without Sam.

The night air isn’t much cooler than inside, but the light breeze carries with it the faint scent of nicotine and gun oil.

Good details.

“Son.” Dad’s voice

[eloise_bright]

Thank you! This fic grew from watching Dexter. *g* Something I love about that show is the oppressive heat - it feels almost like another character. So I wanted to write a Christmas fic, but have it set in Florida, have Dean suffering from the heat, but also hurt on the hunt.

I have John's POV for this worked out in my head, but I'm not sure I want to write it. He's not coping well with Sam leaving, just like Dean, but he's not willing to sit down and talk about how they're feeling. He bottles it up, and it simmers underneath, and that was why I chose the oppressive heat as a background for the story.

I'm so glad the details worked for you. *g*

[iamstealthyone]

I've not seen "Dexter," though I've heard rave reviews of it.

The heat worked as a great backdrop for both Winchesters' moods. :)

[octavia_b]

Oh Eloise, I LOVE the way you write John. He's canon-John with heart underneath the gruffness and suppressed grief and anger. And he loves his sons.

Thank you so much. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[eloise_bright]

Thank you! I loved reading about how JDM played John, how he realized that there was so much going on underneath the stern, gruff exterior. It's fun to hint at that in fics, without making John too touchy-feely.

So it was really Jeff who inspired me to write this *g*

[dotfic]

Let's see if I can get my internet to work long enough to make a comment...I love this. It's bleak but not despairing, and the John and Dean banter is great. Yet I feel how alone they are without Sam. Really liked the Dean voice in this, the character details you use. Lovely.

[eloise_bright]

Thank you! I'm glad it wasn't too despairing, but yeah, I wanted it to be bleak. It's early in their time without Sammy, and I can imagine the holiday was hard for all of them (Sammy too, even if he doesn't answer his phone).

Also, I've been suffering from horrific writer's block, and this is the first thing I've written in almost five weeks, so I'm glad it rang true for you.

[dotfic]

My muse hasn't been seen in weeks. I think it fled to Mexico.

[embroiderama]

Aw, man, what a lousy Christmas, but I love that Dean's not the only one trying to hold them together. I also love the detail of John's shaking hand while he's outside smoking.

[eloise_bright]

Thanks. I figured the first Christmas without Sam would be hard for both of them. And of course neither of them would actually talk about it.. *g*

[rafikiven]

Very good. I love how you write the relationship between Dean and John.

[eloise_bright]

Thanks. I've been thinking a lot about John recently, in the light of the events of 3.08 - and from what I've read about how JDM played him in S1. He made a lot of mistakes, but I think at the heart of things, he cares deeply for his boys, even though he isn't always able to show it.