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When the Badger Grows Horns is a delightful AU that was written for the Racebending Revenge challenge.
I'm not sure what exactly in the summary or author's notes caught my attention, but I was curious enough to take a peek and wound up reading the entire 25,000 words in one sitting last night. The story is a straightforward enough retelling of John's life from Vietnam, but the AU twist here is that he is a member of the Diné (Navaho) nation. Some of the changes that result are subtle, others are profound, but it all feels very unforced, even when key events are arrived at via different paths than were taken in canon, or a close parallel to canon events is introduced (the tweak regarding Dean's refusal to speak after Mary's death is particularly well done).
The John in this is wonderful, as is Mary, and I love how the most significant changes in this AU were not Big!Canon!Events! but rather shifts in key canon relationships. It's good stuff, and there's part of me that wishes that we'd gotten this 'verse as canon.
I'm not sure what exactly in the summary or author's notes caught my attention, but I was curious enough to take a peek and wound up reading the entire 25,000 words in one sitting last night. The story is a straightforward enough retelling of John's life from Vietnam, but the AU twist here is that he is a member of the Diné (Navaho) nation. Some of the changes that result are subtle, others are profound, but it all feels very unforced, even when key events are arrived at via different paths than were taken in canon, or a close parallel to canon events is introduced (the tweak regarding Dean's refusal to speak after Mary's death is particularly well done).
The John in this is wonderful, as is Mary, and I love how the most significant changes in this AU were not Big!Canon!Events! but rather shifts in key canon relationships. It's good stuff, and there's part of me that wishes that we'd gotten this 'verse as canon.
