Halfway Home
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Halfway Home |
| Author(s): | Ren (lemmealone) |
| Date(s): | 27 June 2007[1] |
| Length: | ~24,000 words; 4 parts |
| Genre: | RPS AU |
| Fandom: | J2 |
| External Links: | Halfway Home at the author's fic community on LiveJournal; Story notes and credits Podfic read by chemm80 at the Audiofic Archive |
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Halfway Home is a J2 story written by lemmealone for the 2007 Supernatural and J-Squared Big Bang challenge. It was illustrated by gray_light (aka grayscaled) and a_fallen_sister.
It is an AU where Jared and Jensen meet in a psychiatric hospital. The story is often recced as an example of mental disorders in fanworks.
Author's summary: "Jared has lost his wife and Jensen has lost his mind. In the end they're both okay, as long as they keep driving."
Fanart
gray_light and a_fallen_sister created fanart for the story as part of the Supernatural and J-Squared Big Bang.
a_fallen_sister created a bookcover and two story illustrations, one NSFW. They were made with "an assortment of filters, digital hand painting, and photo manipulation."[2]
"The roadside scene" by a_fallen_sister
"The hotel scene" by a_fallen_sister (NSFW)
gray_light also created cover art for the story:
Fanfic cover by gray_light
Podfic
chemm80 recorded a podfic of the story, posted to the Amplificathon community and the Audiofic Archive in June 2010. cybel created the podbook, using cover art by a_fallen_sister.[3] The podfic is 02:15:22 in length.
Prequel Ficlets
- Halfway Home Timestamp (Jared, two weeks earlier) — It was always a vague relief to be home again, locking the door and sinking down onto the floor in front of the couch, watching the wall and the tiny carpet fibres.
- Halfway Home Timestamp (Jensen, six months earlier) — Something always pulled him south, though, like pressing on a bruise. The closer he got to Texas the more it hurt, and he never managed to get past Oklahoma, but he just kept going back over and over until he couldn't take it anymore; fled north or east or west until one day he woke up with one foot on the Canadian border and started the trek south all over again.
Reception
Feedback
The original posting of the story at the author's LiveJournal is now friendslocked.[4] It was reposted at her fic community in 2009, but the original comments are now lost. The repost has 56 comments as of 2020.
Oh this was lovely and heartbreaking and hopeful at once. Great use of the secondary characters, and terrific build up to Jensen's story which was as horrific as his behavior indicated. This worked for me as a wonderful a/u on one level and an engaging original piece on another-again, terrific job.
Damn, I can't remember if I left a comment the first time I read this, but it's a work of art. You really bring across Jared's fuzzy, despondant POV, that gradually improves and relapses, until finally he's laughing at the country music cliche of it all, and finally out on the road with Jensen. Their relationship is utterly believable too, with the slightly awkward progression. It was a lot of fun to watch the two of them, newly sprung from the psych ward, running around in the world. All that and hot sexin' too. :-)
Recs
I really loved this story. It's incredibly well-written, and a really sensitive look at the insanity in our lives, and how easy it is to go off the deep end. Jensen especially broke my heart, but seeing these two boys start to find their way home was just so perfectly satisfying... even if it made me tear up a little.
AU, beautiful, disconcerting, sad and hopeful. An incredibly touching story. Yes, it's anther one of those that got recced all over the place when it was new and shiny. And I'm reccing it again because while it might not be new anymore, it's still shiny and doesn't deserve to be forgotten.
The story is told in POV Jared. And yet, it’s written very clever that you get the complexity of Jensen’s mind… what happened to him, why he is the way he is. And let me tell you, your heart will ache for him. Also, the support the boys give each other is tremendous and it’s just beautiful to read and feel with them.
The Js meet in a mental hospital. Very atmospheric with great secondary characters. Not written in a sentimental way. Very well done.
References
- ^ lemmealone in spn_j2_bigbang at LiveJournal. Halfway Home (RPS AU, J2, NC-17), posted 27 June 2007.
- ^ a_fallen_sister at LiveJournal. SPN Artwork: For the Big Bang Challenge, NC-17 (Jared/Jensen), posted 27 June 2007.
- ^ amplificathon at LiveJournal. Podfic: Halfway Home by Lemmealone, posted by chemm80 on 28 June 2010, and SPN RPF (J2) Podbook: Halfway Home by lemmealone, performed by chemm80, posted by cybel on 28 June 2010.
- ^ http://lemmealone.livejournal.com/381752.html, accessed 12 December 2020.