The Precision of The Fall - notes

[snarklyboojum]

NOTES:

Yes, I’m having a love affair with the comma. It is both passionate and consensual, I assure you.

The whole thing was inspired by this post on tumblr. Turns out wasting spending so much time there does pay off.

The Campbell Brothers circus actually exists, or existed.

So do ligers, in a captive setting. I have nothing against the big cats personally but I thought Dean would, given his previous experiences with animals. I know animals in circuses are a hot topic but I didn’t want to get into the issues of that. They are simply a substitute for demons here (if that wasn’t made obvious in the fic, I apologize). I always thought the manager of Mary’s old circus was Yellow Eyes and the leader of the circus in Detroit where Dean played as Hershey went by the name “Al". But that’s me making a lot more backstory in my head than ever got down on paper. For instance, did you know Bobby was a clown before he moved to Carver Circadia? Hmm? Wouldn’t you like to know the story behind that one.

Speaking of Hershey, here's a visual reference for you. Though for Dean I'm thinking something more along these lines. (Sometimes a performer doing an act like this was transgender or merely playing a part. Picture teenage Dean with a mustache on one side and lipstick on the other. I actually wrote a flashback scene but it didn't make the final cut.)

Here’s the Winchester’s Airstream trailer. In the rough draft I called it the Silver Twinkie. Click the pic for a cool gallery with images from the original interior.

This is what Jo does in the circus, now that her Mom lets her. Again, backstory.

A little note about the side characters/pairings: This fic is from Dean's point of view at a very specific part of his life. He is very opinionated and often has his head up his ass about things that he's not directly involved in. This is (hopefully) reflected in the story, which means we actually see very little of people outside Dean's little world. I wish I could have explored the others better, but I didn't think it'd fit. That, and I ran out of time. I may return to dabble in this universe, but right now I just don't know.

The final act Dean performs was made famous by The Gibsons in the 1930’s and may actually be way too advanced for him. All the other acts are of my own creation.

People are still touring on the Wall of Death across the country, many of them on original Indians. Go check ‘em out. Oh, and a bit of kismet that never got mentioned in the fic: people used to ride with lions in the sidecar. Legit.

Gird your loins, ladies: Jensen Ackles really does know how to throw knives. (Go to about 1:10 in this video.) *fans herself*

I’ve completely immersed myself in circus lore for this fic. I even contemplated taking clown lessons for about five minutes (a friend gives them for free) before I realized I did enough of that at work as it is. If you’d like to learn more there are a lot of good books and websites available, but the two most influencing things for me were The Greatest Show on Earth (Cecil B. DeMille’s best picture winner in 1952 starring Charlton Heston and a practically uncredited Jimmy Stewart) and the PBS documentary Circus (available to watch online).

Also, apparently the guy down the alley from me owns an elephant and sells cotton candy at the circus during the summer. We talked for awhile and I think we’d be great friends if he wasn’t so effin’ creepy.

Thanks for reading everyone. I hope you enjoyed yourselves!

Comments

[liptonrm.livejournal.com]

What a fantastic story! I enjoyed every part of it! Just from reading it I could tell that you put a lot of thought and work into it; not only is the circus environment rich and realistic but the way you've fit the characters into that world while allowing them to remain true to themselves is, seriously, A-plus work.

I loved it, pure and simple. Thanks so much for writing it.

[behindblue-eyes.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for reading it!