Who the heck do I think I am?

Title: Trost und Freude (Comfort and Joy) (Chapter 6/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 4,060
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: It’s a twofer special, in honor of Dean’s 29th Birthday! Thanks as always to etakyma for the perceptive and helpful beta.

From the Top


Then

( Now: After leaving Sam to his homework before dinner, John took Dean’s temperature again. )

Continue to Chapter 7

Title: Trost und Freude (Comfort and Joy) (Chapter 4/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 3,080
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: Written for the spn_thur_nights exchange. OMG, this was the chapter I thought I’d never get posted! Sorry about the delay—my betas and I all had attacks of LIFE over the past week or so. But here ’tis. Five and possibly six should be up later this week.


Then

( Now: John drove through snow flurries back to the apartment, exhausted, and let himself in quietly. )


Continue to Chapter 5

Title: Trost und Freude (Comfort and Joy) (Chapter 2/at least 8)
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 4,215
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 luck would have it, 1990’s Thanksgiving and Christmas fell on the same dates – and days of the week – as this year’s. Helpful! This fic started as a small casefile and it’s grown like whoa, so look for additional chapters between now and the January 31 deadline. Thanks to etakyma who took time from her busy Christmas schedule to beta.

THEN

( Now: The next morning, John stumbled to the kitchen to set up his coffee. )


Continue to Chapter 3

Title:Sometimes a Day Goes By
Author: Gwendolyn Grace (gwendolyngrace)
Genre: Gen, Wee!Chesters (angst)
Rating: PG
Summary: Mt. Pleasant, TX, April, 1988: Dean had told Sam that Dad had issued a gag order about Mom. No questions, no discussion: the topic of Mom was completely off-limits Because Dad Said So. But as with so much that Dean told Sam about their family, it was a lie.
Characters: Wee!Sam (age 4 going on 5), Wee!Dean (age 9)
Author’s Notes: Without contradicting either canon (AHBLII, AVSC) or Origins Issue 1, I’m trying to wrap my brain around how and when Sam learned anything about Mary. I don’t accept that Dean never ever talked about it, more that he invoked the “no talking about Mom” rule for a variety of reasons. Here’s my take on an instance when Sam broke through Dean’s barriers to get him to reveal a few tidbits about their mother. The title is from the Kander & Ebb song of the same name. Thanks of course to the invaluable betas, relli86, heidi8, and my beloved etakyma, who always make sure I'm not going to fall flat on my face.
Disclaimer: Not really mine, but damn if I can’t stop myself from writing and writing and writing….
Wordcount: 2,440


( Dean had told Sam that Dad had issued a gag order about Mom. No questions, no discussion: the topic of Mom was completely off-limits Because Dad Said So. But as with so much that Dean told Sam about their family, it was a lie. )

Show is over. Apart from Thursday night (opening night), we were sold out each performance. Yay.

I had a costume failure each performance. Boo.

I got rear-ended on the way to the first performance, too! But not too seriously. It was raining, I was at a light, her brakes locked and she slammed me. Her car was FAR more damaged than mine. My trunk will open and close, though it sticks something fierce now. And she tore the shit out of my "Nimbus" sticker, but since I'll probably only be hanging on to the car for another 6 months or so? Not sure about replacing it / putting in a claim / getting anything fixed.

For the last performance, the props people inexplicably struck costumes that were meant to stay on the stage through intermission. Argh. This led to a moment where I lost my concentration and jumped ahead one line (dummy!) and then I got flustered and blundered into both the tripod (which was holding a device we shall not name) and Lois in quick succession in the dark. I also left my "dance bag" downstairs for the end of the show, but that's less critical.

However. Overall the show was very successful. I believe we made money. People liked it a lot. Yay.

Lo, I am a zombie, however. Thank heavens Thanksgiving is this week and I can a. sleep and b. clean.

Sunday morning I had breakfast with the lovely and awesome kitsune13 over in Back Bay and we talked about HP, SPN, and theatre. And fangirled Henry Jenkins, cause Yo.

All this activity does not mean I neglected fic. Two pieces are off with the betas: "The Big 1-0" - Dean has a little trouble getting Sam a 10th birthday present - and "Five Times...Dean Didn't Get There in the Impala" - a fic that needed a one-sentence tweak to bring into canon compliance thanks to Thursday's SQUEETASTIC episode.

I've decided to participate in the fic exchange over at spn_thur_nights, but I fear I left a rather vague entry. I really need to do a "Master List" post one of these days.

And I posted Monday Meta about Sam's speech in "Fresh Blood" because damn. It gave us great information to play with.

I've also decided I need to learn how to cap for a new mood theme. I really want to post a special mood theme for the wee_chesters community. Any suggestions on how to start this process? Remember I'm a Luddite.

Oh, and I'll be using the hiatus to re-view all seven episodes and update the contact matrix for this season. Heh.

And there will be more fic coming. In addition to the two above, I've got on tap:

BUMP IN THE NIGHT - Dean and Sam learn that there are things to worry about besides ghosts, demons, and witches.

FIVE STATES, FIVE DAYS - "Remember that road trip I went on about eight or nine years ago? While you and Dad were finishing up that banshee thing in Florida?"

FIVE TIMES...DEAN DIDN'T DO WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF HIM - Um...self-explanatory?

THE DATING GAME - Sam discovers that girls are unpredictable.

RESCUE ME - A party doesn't pan out as advertised, and Sam calls Dean to pick him up

EVERY, EVERY MINUTE - Sam tries out for the school play

TEAM SPORTS - Dean and Sam have very different reactions to their gym coaches' attempts to draft them.

UNTITLED - A short scene that arrived full-blown in my head the morning after I'd watched "Fresh Blood": Sam at 4 and Dean at 8, domesticity. At the moment it's just the dialogue I jotted down at 8 in the morning, but has potential to be a little more fleshed out.

There may be another SPN fic in there that I can't think of at the moment (the large folder is at home).

And a non-SPN fic, but I have to finish my short story for the second Bad-Ass Faeries Anthology. Danielle also sent me one to review for consideration.

Now I must eat breakfast lunch before going into three hours of meetings this afternoon. Oy.

Title: Leapin’ Lizards (3/4)
Author: Gwendolyn Grace (gwendolyngrace)
Rating: PG
Characters: Sam Winchester (age 8), Dean Winchester (age 12), Dr. Sam Beckett, Adm. Al Calavicci, OFC.
Pairings: None
Genre: Gen (Quantum Leap / Supernatural Crossover)
Wordcount: 18,560 give or take
Summary: Happy Birthday, ficwriter1966! This is set sometime within the first year or so of Project Quantum Leap (because the first season of QL is the only one I have on DVD currently!). The Leap Date is July 8, 1991. Dr. Sam Beckett Leaps in to save a life, which is not unusual…what’s unusual is that he’s saving it from an angry spirit.
Author’s Notes: About a month after venturing hardcore into the SPN fandom, I got to reading some fics by ficwriter1966. I have tremendous respect for her interpretations, and shortly after beginning to comment on and friending her journal, she answered some questions about writing for TV and being a published author. She revealed that she wrote two of the Quantum Leap tie-in novels. And thus this idea was spawned. I feel a little like I’m putting my head in the lion’s mouth—only because she knows the QL-verse much better than I! I’ve spent the last few months surfing QL sites, trying to jumpstart my memories of the show, and borrowing my mother’s Season 1 DVD set (Season One feels way short!). At the time I thought it would be easy to get this written before her birthday; boy, did I underestimate the rate of plot bunny attack in this fandom! Also other commitments, getting into a show…etc. But here it is, and it’s dedicated to Carol.
Crossover Note: As with most of my crossovers, if you are minimally familiar with either fandom, you will be able to enjoy the fic without needing too much knowledge of the other fandom used herein.
Researcher’s Note: The July 11 eclipse, Minnewaukan, Devil’s Lake, the reservation, the drainage project, and the National Guard training facility are all real. The MotW is not. I don’t speak Lakota; I cobbled together some vocabulary found online to create the name of the creature.
Disclaimer: Quantum Leap was created by Don Bellisario and is owned by NBC TV. Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke and is owned by WB / CWTV. I was created by a rare act of silliness on my parents’ part and am (entirely) owned by my obsessions.

Chapter Two

( Leapin' Lizards, Chapter Three )

Go on to Chapter Four

Title: Leapin’ Lizards (1/4)
Author: Gwendolyn Grace (gwendolyngrace)
Rating: PG
Characters: Sam Winchester (age 8), Dean Winchester (age 12), Dr. Sam Beckett, Adm. Al Calavicci, OFC.
Pairings: None
Genre: Gen (Quantum Leap / Supernatural Crossover)
Wordcount: 18,560 give or take
Summary: Happy Birthday, ficwriter1966! This is set sometime within the first year or so of Project Quantum Leap (because the first season of QL is the only one I have on DVD currently!). The Leap Date is July 8, 1991. Dr. Sam Beckett Leaps in to save a life, which is not unusual…what’s unusual is that he’s saving it from an angry spirit.
Author’s Notes: About a month after venturing hardcore into the SPN fandom, I got to reading some fics by ficwriter1966. I have tremendous respect for her interpretations, and shortly after beginning to comment on and friending her journal, she answered some questions about writing for TV and being a published author. She revealed that she wrote two of the Quantum Leap tie-in novels. And thus this idea was spawned. I feel a little like I’m putting my head in the lion’s mouth—only because she knows the QL-verse much better than I! I’ve spent the last few months surfing QL sites, trying to jumpstart my memories of the show, and borrowing my mother’s Season 1 DVD set (Season One feels way short!). At the time I thought it would be easy to get this written before her birthday; boy, did I underestimate the rate of plot bunny attack in this fandom! Also other commitments, getting into a show…etc. But here it is, and it’s dedicated to Carol.
Crossover Note: As with most of my crossovers, if you are minimally familiar with either fandom, you will be able to enjoy the fic without needing too much knowledge of the other fandom used herein.
Researcher’s Note: The July 11 eclipse, Minnewaukan, Devil’s Lake, the reservation, the drainage project, and the National Guard training facility are all real. The MotW is not. I don’t speak Lakota; I cobbled together some vocabulary found online to create the name of the creature.
Disclaimer: Quantum Leap was created by Don Bellisario and is owned by NBC TV. Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke and is owned by WB / CWTV. I was created by a rare act of silliness on my parents’ part and am (entirely) owned by my obsessions.

( Leapin' Lizards, Chapter One )

Go on to Chapter Two