Who the heck do I think I am?

Title: Trost und Freude (Comfort and Joy) (Chapter 7/16)
Author: gwendolyngrace
Recipient: celtic_cookie
Request terms: Sam and Dean of course, and I love John: Lots of John! A Pre-series Christmas Story! Familial bonding, maybe a holiday-themed hunt?
Summary: Saginaw, Michigan, 1990: Going holiday shopping may hold more hazards than just the insane crowds and parents hell-bent on the buying the latest toy. John goes undercover to look into a series of accidents at the local mall. Meanwhile, Dean and Sam respond to Christmas-season festivities at school with unexpected results.
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen
Wordcount (this chapter): about 4,240
Spoilers: All three seasons through 3x08, may or may not be Origins-compliant
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended, not mine, just my fantasy.
Author’s Notes: As you may have guessed from the definitive /16 up there, the rough draft is complete and it’s just a matter of typing in the last two chapters, cleaning it up, and getting it to (and back from) the betas. Speaking of which, etakyma gets the nod for this chapter. Sorry it took so long, but she is the bestest beta anyone could have and I had to wait for her. She won’t let me post anything too embarrassing.

From the Top


Then

( Now: Dean assured him he’d be fine alone, and since he hadn’t lost his breakfast like his last three meals, John acquiesced and rushed to make his Macy’s shift at 9:00. )

Continue to Chapter 8

Title: Trost und Freude (Comfort and Joy) (Chapter 5/at least 15)
Author: gwendolyngrace
Recipient: celtic_cookie
Request terms: Sam and Dean of course, and I love John: Lots of John! A Pre-series Christmas Story! Familial bonding, maybe a holiday-themed hunt?
Summary: Saginaw, Michigan, 1990: Going holiday shopping may hold more hazards than just the insane crowds and parents hell-bent on the buying the latest toy. John goes undercover to look into a series of accidents at the local mall. Meanwhile, Dean and Sam respond to Christmas-season festivities at school with unexpected results.
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen
Wordcount (this chapter): about 3,885
Spoilers: All three seasons through 3x08, may or may not be Origins-compliant
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended, not mine, just my fantasy.
Author’s Notes: So obviously, this will not be completely posted by January 31. But I’ll keep going until it’s done, if y’all will keep reading! Many thanks to etakyma the most insightful beta, who after leaving me hanging for so long on the last chapter, got forced to read 5 and 6 this weekend while I had her in my evil clutches…. And thus the continuity between this chapter and chapter 6 is much better than it was when it was just me. So you get them both at once! And even though there's more Sam in this chapter, and more Dean in the next one, we'll just dedicate them both to our birthday boy, 29 years young today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAN!

From the Top

Then

( Now: It took a little finessing to convince Gina Tupelo, office manager for the Holiday Happenings regional office, that he was not hunting around on behalf of a lawsuit. )


Continue to Chapter 6

Title: Trost und Freude (Comfort and Joy) (Chapter 3/?)
Author: gwendolyngrace
Recipient: celtic_cookie
Request terms: Sam and Dean of course, and I love John: Lots of John! A Pre-series Christmas Story! Familial bonding, maybe a holiday-themed hunt?
Summary: Saginaw, Michigan, 1990: Going holiday shopping may hold more hazards than just the insane crowds and parents hell-bent on the buying the latest toy. John goes undercover to look into a series of accidents at the local mall. Meanwhile, Dean and Sam respond to Christmas-season festivities at school with unexpected results.
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen
Wordcount (this chapter): about 4,770
Spoilers: All three seasons through 3x08, may or may not be Origins-compliant
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended, not mine, just my fantasy.
Author’s Notes: I'm thinking this will probably wind up being about 12-14 chapters altogether. Thanks as always to etakyma, beta extraordinaire.

Then

( Now: Dean sulked through the rest of the morning. )

Continue to Chapter 4

Title: Men of Good Fortune
Author: gwendolyngrace
Rating: G
Genre: Gen
Characters: John, Dean
Summary: John reflects on how Dean came to be a living Hoover. Set pre-series, while Sam is at Stanford, with a flashback to wee!Dean.
Wordcount: 554
Author's Notes: The idea for this came to me while I was waiting in an airport recently and had to get dinner there. Wrote it longhand on the plane that evening, and decided it needed no larger context, which is odd, because usually my stuff is longer. However, this is just a little scene out of their lives. Thanks as always to betas relli86 and my own beloved etakyma who pointed out the things that needed clarification. For those of you who can't read my mind.
Disclaimer: Words = Mine. Characters = Theirs.

( Watching Dean attack his plate, it was hard to believe he had started out a picky eater. )