The Knuckles of Skinnybone Tree
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Knuckles of Skinnybone Tree |
| Author(s): | hansbekhart |
| Date(s): | 2007 |
| Length: | 26,729 words |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Supernatural |
| External Links: | archived at AO3 |
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The Knuckles of Skinnybone Tree by hansbekhart is a Sam/Dean story written for the 2007 Supernatural Big Bang and posted to Livehournal. .
Summary: John Winchester walks the badlands, lost on the Path of the Dead, when he meets two mysterious men: a pair of hunters chasing the same ghost that he is, who tell him that he's wound up more then twenty years in the future. They promise to get him back to his own time - back to his young children - but refuse to tell him anything about themselves. The three men find themselves entangled with the warring spirits of the land, but John is pursued by nightmares and caught up between the two hunters, who are keeping secrets that John doesn't understand.
A limited number of copies of the story were self- printed by the author and given as gifts, with artwork designed by hanskbehart. The copies were perfect bound, 4x7 and the print version was dedicated "To my sister"
Art: clex_monkie89 and moment_of_sen
Reactions/Reviews
Oh, this was lovely. This was such a strange fic, and I mean that in the best way. It took turns I didn't expect, like Dean and John's kiss at the end, but it felt so right. The eldritch horse might be one of my favorite characters? What I mean to say is, it's so easy to do this kind of dreamspace, liminal fic badly, but this was very, very good. I feel like I've read a different take on these characters than I've usually seen, and I really appreciate it. And the ending is just so perfect. Melancholy and sweet, soaked with grief but hopeful, somehow. Like the first rays of dawn after a terrible night. [1]
So rare to get pre-series John POV fics, or SPN fics based in Native American spirit contexts. Toss in some post-Sam-1st-resurrection trauma & sprinkle with repressed Dean wincest angst and then desert-sand-flambé for that perfect gritty-sweat guilt flavor. Caution: Minor surprise twist at end.[2]
This was a mindfuck of a story. So much pain and anger and endless grief. The writing was superb. I'm really glad you shared this. I don't think that sliding to Dean's name there at the end was an oversight. I think at that point he had to know who Dean was, which made it even more amazing and subtle and I think I love you, because you made John likable in a way he's never really been to me before.[3]
When I met Hans, she was working on this piece, and was fed tiny little tastes of the story until finally, finally it was posted. It is painful and perfect and exactly right. The thing that really kills me about this story is that every scene in the entire story seems so absolutely essential and important, not a single action or word is wasted, and it all comes together into this perfect, fabulous piece of writing that will make you want to cry and scream on behalf of all the characters. It blew me away and left me shaken and sore, and is quite frankly one of the best pieces of writing I have ever read. If you only read one of the Big Bang submissions, it should be this one.[4]
The artwork is terrific, it is incredibly heart wrenching and the authors portrayal of John Winchester could not have been any better. Definitely worth the read.[5]
Amazing story, probably the one I’ve struggled with loving so much and subsequently have written more meta on it than is sane.[6]
References
- ^ comment left at The Knuckles of Skinnybone Tree - hansbekhart - Supernatural [Archive of Our Own], Archived version
- ^ "Nov 9, 2021 Tumblr post". Archived from the original on 2022-10-04.
- ^ comment at the Livejournal posting, Archived version
- ^ "Supernatural / CWRPS Recs". Archived from the original on 2022-10-04.
- ^ "Heroes Without A Face A Rec List". Archived from the original on 2022-10-04.
- ^ "May 15, 2013 Tumblr post". Archived from the original on 2022-10-04.