Question for my SPN AU

[moonshayde]

Flisty! Input?

Okay, we know that Sam is more independent than Dean. In my "Sam goes to an AU," he figures things out fairly quickly. My question, why would Sam seek out alt!Dean? Wouldn't he just try to do everything on his own and not get anyone involved?

I'm sure there is a simple and reasonable answer for this but my mind is stuck completely. AU takes place in S4, if it helps, and Sam IS Sam. Not an alt!Sam.

Comments

[paper-tzipporah.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent question, given the conversation from the last episode. IDK. Maybe it's that the AU is just different enough in ways that cound but are hard to figure out that Sam, uh, wants help making sure he doesn't get totally screwed over by something he couldn't have possibly seen coming?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Ideas change and grow as they move from plot bunnies to actually stories and this is a HUGE problem for me. I can't start it until I figure out why Sam would seek out Dean when he has a ton of resources at his disposal.

In my AU Dean is pretty normal. I can't see him as offering anything useful to Sam. Argh.

*kicks AU*

[paper-tzipporah.livejournal.com]

Well, what was your concept for Sam being in the AU in the first place? Maybe Dean himself could be the link, even though he's otherwise normal. Or Sam needs Dean's blood, or something else morbid and creepifying.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Yesterday I was like no way! But now I am reconsidering. *ponders*

[jessm78.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good question. Um... when you say Sam would seek out alt!Dean, do you mean as soon as he figures out it's an AU, or would it be later when he's trying to figure out how to get out of this AU situation, or put right something that went wrong?

I think it might help if you know when in S4 you're setting it. Would it be near the beginning? If so, the fact that Dean was gone and then newly risen from Hell would still be affecting Sam to a great extent, and he'd want to see how his brother was faring in this AU. Like he somehow feels a need to be with Dean, no matter which "Dean" he is. Eh, I guess that doesn't really make sense, huh?

Maybe the conditions in the AU are such that Sam actually thinks that Dean can give him some info or help in some way? Like in the above comment, he wants to be forewarned so he doesn't get screwed over and thinks Dean can back him up somehow ... 'cause of that brotherly bond thing or whatever.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure. This whole thing has become way more ambitious than I had originally envisioned it. My ideas sort of do that LOL

My brain keeps wanting to set it recently. I'm defaulting to after S&V but I suppose it could be an episode or two before that. It would have been cool if it could have been early S4 but it wouldn't work plotwise that way.

If I go at this point, then I can't see Sam doing more than just checking to see if he's okay and then going about his business. If Dean is just some regular guy, how can he be useful? That is where I am getting stuck.

[jessm78.livejournal.com]

LOL, they just blossom and take on a life of their on, huh? I get that sometimes...

Ah, okay. That gives me a little more background, then. I'm not sure if this would work, but if you have Sam check to see if he's okay and then going about his business, maybe you could have Dean seek Sam out for some reason? Like he's noticed something weird about a coworker, or friend, or anything like that? Or maybe he stumbles upon some weird object somehow. Even if he doesn't seek Sam out but tells him in a phone call or something. Then that has Sam wondering and decides to get more involved with Dean. So I guess in a way Dean becomes useful "by accident."

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

See, that is another greta idea. I love that premise but I can't use it for this story *pouts*

What I have is that Sam seeks out Dean - finds out he's okay. Then I need Sam to have Dean drive out to where he is since they are in different cities. Why would Sam do that?

Once Dean is there, I am okay. I have everything planned out. It's that one hurdle.

[flynn-boyant.livejournal.com]

You could play it as a bittersweet parallel to Dean's attitude early in the series. Yeah, he can do it alone....but he doesn't want to.

Also, can season four Sam really stand to lose Dean in any way, shape or form? Even with it being an AU (and he's aware it is), he may still need the confirmation that Dean is just, well, THERE. Even if it's different, even if they feel almost like strangers. Which could play nicely into how their overall relationship has changed--particularly in season four.

I'm just throwing stuff out. This may not work at all with how you've set up the story but it's what came to mind.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

That's a nice parallel and a very good point. I do want to work that in somehow. I just have to mentally work out why in the world Sam would seek Dean out and want to meet him when Sam really has all the resources he needs to work alone.

[flynn-boyant.livejournal.com]

Maybe he seeks out Dean just to seek out Dean. Wants to know what he's like in the AU, how his life is...is he happy? That sort of thing and then the partnership just sort of naturally happens over the course of their interaction. I guess I'm saying maybe he wouldn't seek out Dean's HELP but he would seek out Dean.

I mean if I entered another reality I think I would try to find people I knew and loved from my own reality. Personally, I think it would be hard to make yourself avoid contact with them.

Again, just brainstorming. :)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

All very good points.

I know he tries to ditch Dean later which by then he doesn't have much choice. And he does try to reach Dean and is successful in that. Initially keeping Dean around? That is where I am gettign stuck.I every thing else all sorted out now, though, so that is good LOL

[annj-g80.livejournal.com]

As independent as Sam is, he never ignores a helping hand when one is offered.

Before he starts going off to a hunt he wants to cover all the ground and speak with everyone involved. Maybe he remembers a similar case Dean had stumbled upon earlier and he just wants to ask some questions. Practical thinking so to say... Or something like that *shoulder shrug*

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

That's definitely Sam. He's very research oriented. It's just the way I've envisioned this so far, Sam has quite a bit of resources at his disposal. I am not sure why he would need Dean in the first place.

*thinks*

[twasadark.livejournal.com]

Maybe Sam is worried that something is going to happen to Dean? Like, he's been threatened?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'm not sure I can use that, but it's something I'm going to consider if the plot keeps changing, as they always tend to do. :)

[whisper99.livejournal.com]

For me, Sam and Dean have this co-dependence thing going on...and the farther into the seasons you go, the worse it gets. Seems to me that if Sam is scared or unsure, he'll always look for Dean.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I agree about the codependence issues, though I've actually seen this season with them sort of scaling back a bit. That said, Sam always does check to make sure Dean is okay in some way or form. Hmm.

[brihana25.livejournal.com]

Hm... my first question is "where in S4?"

In the first two or three episodes - yeah, he'd go find him in a heartbeat, just to make sure he was *there* and real and alive.

In the last few, especially after S&V? I don't think he'd look for him at all, unless it was in the hopes that alt!Dean would be more "understanding" about his powers than real!Dean is.

But even with that, I can see him feeling wrong inside, that something's missing. And of course, since the universe has decreed that these two absolutely cannot live without each other, they'd end up finding each other anyway.

[superbadgirl]

Wow. You're, like, totally caught up? I am impressed.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I know. I had the same reaction.

[brihana25.livejournal.com]

Um... yeah. I started watching late last Wednesday night, right? At like 10:00 at night on the 11th.

I watched S&V Monday.

And I didn't skip any. And I watched some of them twice.

I also didn't sleep for two days straight.

*is ashamed*

[superbadgirl]

LOL! When you fall, you fall hard.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

*sigh* As much as it breaks my heart, I am leaning toward it being in the later half of S4. And given teh resources Sam has in this AU, I just can't see him bringing Dean into this unless he has a very very good reason to. Dean is pretty much normal. He wouldn't be very useful to Sam.

[superbadgirl]

Maybe there's something he can't do on his own, something he thinks alt!Dean will be able to? Or at least help him with?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Maybe. I just don't know what that something could be. Dean is pretty useless in this AU as far as I'm concerned. Sam has a ton of resources at his disposal and I just can't see him risking alt!Dean unless there was a very very good reason, otherwise he would slow Sam down.

I don't even know why I am entertaining writing this fic. it just seemed different and interesting. But I need to bring Dean into it somehow where it's not stupid LOL

[whisper99.livejournal.com]

Sam would at the very least be curious what became of Dean in this new reality...perhaps he can find that Dean didn't get his happy ending. Or maybe he finds out that whoever sent Sam there would make sure Dean was killed in order to hurt Sam? Or Dean's family would be killed for the same reason?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Oh definitely. I'm going to have him seek him out for sure. I just need to cement a real enough reason for him to keep him around initially.

[superbadgirl]

Maybe it's alt!Dean that somehow manages to stumble into Sam, removing the choice from Sam altogether? So alt!Dean isn't there because Sam wants or needs him to be, he just is.

[brihana25.livejournal.com]

This.

I think this would probably be incredibly believable.

It would make it majorly angsty if alt!Sam were dead, too. Then there'd be no way to make alt!Dean go away.

[superbadgirl]

And it'd be a decent avenue to explore Sam's growing (demon-blood influenced) impatience with his (demon-blood whacked) perception of real!Dean - that he's holding Sam back somehow. How even in this AU he's saddled with someone who will only slow him down.

Have I mentioned the demon-blood? ;)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I really need to work that in somehow. I just don't know how deeply I'll explore it. I'm really too obsessed with canon LOL

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

It would make a good story, wouldn't it? I think that would be a cool AU. The way my plot is set up, I can't go that route, but I do think it would make a very rich story.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

That's a fantastic idea and I wish I could use it. It just doesn't plug my plothole. Grr.

It might sound weird, but I am trying to find a plausible explanation for Sam to not just call Dean to see if he's okay, but have him come out to Boston (where the fic is set) to meet him.

I have everything else worked out. Afterwards, he'll have to deal with alt!Dean getting in his way. I just need a strong enough reason for Sam to tell Dean to drive over without it seeming contrived.

[superbadgirl]

*mumbles something about horse before the apple cart*

Maybe Sam runs into something that makes him think, "Dean would be so good at this..." and though it's a long shot, he tracks down alt!Dean just to see if there's something of his own brother in this AU version? Maybe it has something to do with the amulet he assumes alt!Dean has, too?

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Because he's DEAN...

*hugs*

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

LOL Simple enough, right?

[meg-tdj.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure he would seek out alt!Dean if only to find out if he's alive and okay. Sam might be independent, but he's used to having Dean around and looking to him for his input, even if he doesn't always like it. ;)

Plus, he might wonder at first if the same thing happened to Dean as happened to him. Like in WIAWSNB, the first thing Dean did was call Sam to tell him something weird had happened.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I found it really telling in the magician episode how after Sam spoke to Ruby, he was feeling Dean out to see how Dean would react. Only when he knew for sure - and I'm sure he figured Dean would react that way anyway - did he close off again. He was trying to gauge Dean's reaction before proceeding.

Even in Sex and Violence, he wanted to meet Dean to discuss and Dean shot him down.

So I can see Sam calling Dean and checking in on him. I'm trying to figure out why Sam would ask Dean to come out from Kansas to Boston. (Though, I am not sure that Dean reveals he's out in Kansas, but I think I am imply it. Depends how the dialogue goes down.)

Everything else seems to be fitting into place. But why does Sam want Dean to come meet him?

[meg-tdj.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's the default for both of them to check in with the other when anything happens.

Maybe there's a reason he wants to make sure Dean is safe?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I thought of something that has been staring me in the face since I came up with it yesterday. it's plausible, though I am not sure it warrants a trip cross country.

Real!Dean gets hurt prior to Sam sliding over, I'm pretty sure. (I had to slow them down somehow.)

*ponders*