Why I don't give Wee!Chester fic a chance

[superbadgirl]

Sometimes I do read SPN fic. I go in stages - I won't read at all, and then one day all I'll do is read. Then I'm back to not reading again. One thing I can't get into is

First of all, I really hate the term Wee!Chester. Really, I do. It annoys me. Maybe because when I think wee, I think of the definition that doesn't mean small.

Mostly, though, I can't even give most fic exploring the Winchesters' early years a chance because far, far too many authors villify John. I cannot tell you the number of stories I've tested out and had to back away from because John was turned into an abusive son of a bitch. I don't just mean the issues of neglect were a hot fic topic - that, I can understand. It happened. John made those mistakes. I'm not even talking John from Sam's fairly skewed point of view (I could see him thinking everything John said was denigrating to him). I'm talking out-and-out abuse.

Example: Sam falls down and skins his knee, and John rips into him, belittles him, and intimidates him. Dean, meanwhile, stands around. (Seriously?)

Example: Sam or Dean is on deathbed. Multiple phone calls to John get no response. (Uhm, yeah, I know people are extrapolating this from Faith, when Sam calls John and gets no reply. I get it, I do, but I guess I warp fanon into the fact John keeps constant tabs on his boys, though they don't know where he is. He had to stay away to protect them. That was his thinking, not that he was a cold, callous bastard who didn't care his son was dying.)

It's really a shame, because though I'm not into kidfic in any way, shape or form, this particular fandom has an abundance of possibilities to explore. Dean and Sam's formative years had to have been traumatic, and yet something about it also bonded them together and kept them as decent people. Sure, Sam took off for a couple years (can't blame him for that, though even in my limited experience I've seen people unforgiving on that topic too), but I never took that to mean he didn't love his family. He just hated what they did.

And, sure, John was probably a tough taskmaster most of the time, but he had to do something right to have his sons not end up being sociopaths. (See: Nightmare) I know people think the only thing that saved Dean and Sam was each other, but...that's a very romantic (literary) notion. I think John screwed both of his kids up and didn't necessarily show them love the way they each needed; he was too screwed up himself. But that love was there. He was not a demon. (Well, you know, except that one time.) I think by the end of S1, both Dean and Sam were starting to realize their individual perspective was not the only one.

Anyway, I'm rambling without coherency. John seems to be very black and white in fandom. I tend to see the guy as all kinds of grey. Seeing him turned into a bigger villian than a MotW in fanfiction is not my cuppa. In fact, it makes me angry.

Comments

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

This is why I can't read this subgenre of fanfic. I find it really villifies John and one of the things I love about John is that he is so complex and layered. He is faulty. They all are faulty, but his faults really show because of the pov of the boys.

It didn't even bother me in Faith that Sam couldn't reach John. I felt that spoke to his obsession. Sometimes he egts so wrapped up in hunting and trying to find what killed Mary that he will miss calls or not show up on Christmas. Or a softer interpretation could be he was stuck in a jam and couldn't get back in time.

But I hate the villifying. I hate it. I just can't get into wee!chester fic because I'm afraid it's there.

(Incidentally, it's one of the main reasons I'm writing a fic with John in it. I love the gray area and I want to show him as loving, but screwed up. He's interesting that way!)

[superbadgirl]

I'm like a goldfish or something. I always forget how it's likely going to go when I attempt a fic set pre-series until I get there, and then I get angry all over again.

The inability to see anything but black or white is dangerous anyway, but to apply that to John Winchester is absolutely crazy to me. Like you said, he's far more complex than that. He's like how Missouri described their childhood home: true evil walked the halls of John Winchester and left wounds which could only fester.

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

Yep, in my pre-series fic I attempted a more gray-like John, as well.

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

I understand what you're saying, definitely. John wasn't a perfect father, but he did love his sons and wanted what's best for them. Villifying is bad.

I actually haven't come across too many abusive!John fics, and I've been reading a bunch of pre-series stuff lately. Maybe I am going to right place? I've read some really, really interesting, complex ones.

Would you like a couple of recs? I promise, no abuse, though maybe some mild neglect or misunderstandings.

[superbadgirl]

Sure, but I should warn you there's an author (I think BNF) out there I can't get behind even though she does John justice. She breaks other fic peeves of mine - the fic that will not die. ;)

It's just that there are so many more interesting routes to take with John other than the "he was an abusive tyrant" one.

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

Hee! Does this person have the initials D and W?

Here are some that I loved:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4495547/1/The_Least_I_Can_Do (I love this story's John so very, very much.)

http://community.livejournal.com/spn_summergen/21193.html (Heartbreaking, the things they want and the things they can't have. Gorgeous style, too.)

http://kimonkey7.livejournal.com/176872.html (More young Dean than Sam and John, but they're there, too.)

http://community.livejournal.com/spn_summergen/33500.html (John is AWESOME in this one, especially in the last section.)

http://community.livejournal.com/spn_summergen/36528.html (John isn't in this one, but young Dean and Sam are beautiful.)

[superbadgirl]

Hee! Does this person have the initials D and W?

You know it's bad when the vaguest of references is transparent like this. LOL. Me: OMG, forward motion. Please.

Thanks for the recs! I'm on a downswing on fic reading (deadlines, must to meet deadlines), but I'll check them out when I need a break.

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

I came across this person pretty early in my SPN explorations. Some good stuff, but yeah, I don't like the rambly, interminable internal monologues. Sometimes I skim.

These stories are good. They will keep for when you need them, and age like fine, expensive wine.

[superbadgirl]

Some good stuff, but yeah, I don't like the rambly, interminable internal monologues.

I'm guilty of some navel-gazing myself, but there's a limit to that kind of thing. It can detract from an otherwise interesting story premise.

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have my bits of angstful contemplation myself, the kind of stuff that would never fly in profic because it just goes on too long and slows down the story. (That's why we have fanfic!) But when you get to say, five hundred words? Time to get back to the plot, methinks.

Or less.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check these out too at some point. I need to get a few things done first.

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

You are in for a treat. :)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I am obviously not in touch much with the reading aspect of fandom because I don't even know any BNFs in SPN.

[seanchaidh.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's the problem right there, nailed on the head.

[superbadgirl]

I wonder sometimes if its the writer/viewer's inability to see past the solid characteristics the guys had at the start of the series. Sam was super anti-John, so a Sam fan who doesn't grow with the character will always treat John like a pariah. Dean was super pro-John, so a Dean fan who doesn't grow with the character...yadda.

I'm not talking huge sects of fans, I hope, but it's gotta exist out there.

[meg-tdj.livejournal.com]

I haven't read much SPN fanfic, mainly because I'm interested mostly in Sam fic and that usually means limp!Sam (a term that DRIVES ME BONZO AND MAKES ME WANT TO SICK EVIL!KICKBUTT!SAM ON THEIR BEHINDS), but in every last one of the pre-show fics I've read, John was an alcoholic who ran away and got drunk when his boys were in trouble/hurt/dying/whatever. Which, IMO, is absolutely ridiculous. But hey, it makes for some great cuddle time between Sam and Dean as they try to soldier on and survive all by themselves... *rolls eyes*

[superbadgirl]

I think there's plenty of room to hurt Sam and make him strong.

John was an alcoholic who ran away and got drunk when his boys were in trouble/hurt/dying/whatever. Which, IMO, is absolutely ridiculous. But hey, it makes for some great cuddle time between Sam and Dean as they try to soldier on and survive all by themselves... *rolls eyes*

I just threw up a little in my mouth.