Hi,
First found this fic a year ago, and just reread it. Even better now! I love this.
Sam's despair and exhaustion and hope.
Dean lost in his own mind.
"Sam, shining in the dark, his moth of a brother circling"
"He's hunting"
The whole idea of revenants, and things older than latin and crucifixes, but not older than reverence or love, (or salt!)
Dean being thrown out of his own psyche, but refusing to go
Sam refusing to let him go while there is still hope
"adjuration", and two halves of a single soul
"Sam is sad eyes and insight but he is the hardcase here, the true killer of the two underneath." Amen!
Dean's seams are all unlaced for awhile-great phrase, and concept!
Beautifully done, thank you for the lyrical and deep look at our boys. Going to go try some of your other fics now.

You seeped this story with such a quiet sense of desperation and despair that I was ... stunned. And then still - with the laughter and poignant moments, it all just congealed into a marvelous, wonderous experience.

You write amazing Sam and Dean interaction. Amazing!

Off to read more. Hurrah!

This is an awesome story, superbly written and pushing beyond the average images to something deeper. I loved it!

Enjoyed it! Thanks!

Thanks so much for this story. It was just perfection! I'm a long time lurker who is finally getting up the courage to post. When I see such quality writing as this it does me off a little, as I know I will never achieve this high standard, but equally it's an inspiration as well. It was a beautiful piece of writing and I congratulate you on it.

This story was absolutely, amazingly, awesomely incredible. So exquisitely written! Beautiful gems in each chapter, the whole a diamond.
-"brothers made of interlocking pieces"
-Sam as a lighthouse, and Dean a klaxon for the blind
-"This, Sam knows, is what it feels like to lose it."
-"...Dean was the world."
-"...what's it got him? Fucking nature trail to hell."
-"He makes sure his back is turned because he can always trust Sam with his back..."
-"Bunking with Sam in earlier years had been like getting up close and personal with an octopus."
-And in Chapter 6, two paragraphs of such beauty--with Sam "the true killer of the two underneath" and the next one about flash and embers. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

This was a work of art.

I particularly like that Sam and Dean together make a closed circuit. Good one, thanks.

"You mean wanting to run crazy away from you and the car screaming 'free at last, free at last'?" Dean says. "No. Nobody in here but me." Haha love it.

The whole story was so beautifully written and wonderfully poetic in parts.

A stunning read.

Cheers,
Tails

you wrote,

::Sam screaming as an adult kicks both brainstem and gut into gear and ups the ante, because children scream at the drop of a hat and adults only scream when they've reached the end of their ability to cope.::

i was eating my lunch in my car and listening to this. and you made me cry.

so sad.

and such beauty.

this story kicks my ass so hard i may not ever be able to sit again.

the description, sam's fragile hope, the looming fear, is perfect.

you have me on the edge of my seat and i, personally, love the present tense. it drags you in and doesn't let go.

i love this with all of my heart as well as the still-beating hearts i have pulled from several co-workers.

okay, maybe there are no still-beating hearts but my own, but you get the drift.

your writing is exceptional and brilliant and makes everything i have ever written bow it's head in shame.

i cannot wait to finish this.

Wonderful story, great job!!

That was so many kinds of awesome! Amazing plot, spot on characterisations and so much emotion. Fantastic stuff!

I can't wait to read the follow-ups!

GN

This was an amazing story, and I especially love the last line.

"Shotgun, blah blah, cakehole," Dean finally mumbles. "Wiseass."

ROFL!

Sammy. Anything can happen. You know stuff is out here that can turn us. Don't let me go on into the dark. Promise me you won't let me run loose in the dark.

A very Dean thing to say because it not only protects Dean from the idea that he'll be possessed and no one will stop him, but it protects Sam from (if not all) then a little bit of the guilt that would come from having to pull the trigger.
I really liked the detail of the demon not flinching from the name of god "in any language."
Very cool.