Stolen from roque_clasique

[ratherastory]

I haven't done a meme in a while, and maybe this will inspire me to write again:

Pick one of my fics, and I'll give you a detail that didn't make it into the fic. Background canon, deleted scenes, or a look into the future. My choice, but if you have a specific question you can ask it in your request.

Comments

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

I don't think Dean was in that particular level of Hell, no, because it's not part of Alastair's MO. Alastair doesn't like to passively inflict damage, he likes to turn it into an art form. Forcing someone to hurt themselves is an entirely different kind of torture than what Alastair did and taught to Dean.

I do think Dean knew all about all the various levels of Hell and what they did, though. Like you said, it's easy to forget about Dean's tour of Hell, because the show kind of stopped paying attention to it after Season 4, but the truth is he did spend forty years down there, and it will have left its mark on him, same as Sam. Just because their experiences were different doesn't mean Dean didn't suffer horribly. Hell is Hell, no two ways about it.

I also think that in at least one way, Dean's experience was worse than Sam's, because he is convinced to this day that stepping off the rack was a choice, and that he's truly responsible for everything he did while he was in Hell. As far as I'm concerned that's not the case. I mean, there haven't been all those studies on Stockholm Syndrome for nothing, but that doesn't mean Dean won't keep beating himself up about it.

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

I didn't think he was either because - like you mention, it's not part of Alastair's MO, but I was just wondering how it worked into your headcanon for FUSION. But it's obvious that Dean at least knows about the various levels as well as how those scars got there. And I still think Dean maybe tortured a few souls on the rack that had the same markings as Sam (which would totally contribute to the heaving-his-guts-out thing...).

I'm so thrilled you give Dean's 40 years credit - many authors I see now kind of just deal with the whole Sam-was-in-Hell-and-it-sucked-worse-than-Dean while sort of forgetting that Dean was there too. I agree with you - that Dean's experience was vastly different - it'd be like comparing apples and oranges when it comes to comparing the guys' tours in Hell - but it doesn't mean Dean didn't suffer and went through Hell either. Hell is Hell, no two ways about it.

I didn't even think about that. And I don't see it as Stockholm Syndrome either... rather I saw it as Hell very deliberately breaking Dean to the point where Dean just couldn't take it anymore. Granted, he might think it was a choice, but honestly it's not a choice he freely chose... it was one he was forced into and it was the only way out. And being Dean, he'll beat himself up for eternity over it...

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

rather I saw it as Hell very deliberately breaking Dean to the point where Dean just couldn't take it anymore.

That's actually an aspect of Stockholm Syndrome. Identifying and joining the ranks of your tormentors is a human psychological response to a life-threatening situation. It goes both ways, too, in those situations: the captor also forms an emotional bond with the captive. It's an emotional survival mechanism, forces the two parties to become close, because they see each other as human and valuable.

(Okay, stepping off soapbox now.)

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

Huh. Learn something new every day.

Thank you for the education! :)