"Dean had become dad's clone and Sammy's shadow. He was John's wife and Sam's mother. He became the one-man band, the entertainment center and general source of distraction and levity.

Everything that he was had been defined by the two strong-willed men that surrounded him. Son. Brother. He was a comedian when they were unhappy, referee when they were fighting. He molded himself against the rock and the hard place to survive, and what came out was, John realized, a young man who would both live and die for him and Sam, but seemed to want nothing for himself. His one selfishness was that he was deathly afraid of being left alone. As if he was nothing without everybody else."

Sorry to take such a long quote from you but this is the best description of Dean (particularly in the first seasons) that I've ever heard or read. I've always known this to be the case but seeing it written out like this just explains so much and feels like a revelation. Thank you for writing and sharing this heart-wrenching story, it was such a pleasure to read.

This is literally amazing! I absolutely love your writing style and how much thought you put into everything. It really shows and makes your writing that much more desirable. And instead of make your own “Sam’s” and “Dean’s” you decided to take the time to study and understand them and really make your work special by keeping it connon in a wonderful way that you could almost say is different than the connon. I admire your work greatly, I’ve never had the talent or technique for it like you do! I’m excited to read through the rest of your work! :D

Wow. That was soooo good. Everyone seemed very in character. I love the dilemma they are faced with, something that was touched on but not nearly in this much depth in the actual episode. How far they are willing to go to save Dean, and how he pits Sam and their father against each other to save them both. The ending perfect but so sad.

Looking forward to reading more of your stories soon.

Heartbreaking story that had me crying messily yet somehow left me smiling slightly too.. Thanks Sasha £££

Oh man, this fic made me cry. (Not an easy feat, as I thrive off of angst and character death.) The line when Dean died, about how he looked to be sleeping peacefully and you wouldn't want to wake him up from that... It's just so sad, and so true. The Winchesters just keep fighting and fighting death, even though it's not so bad. If Dean hadn't sold his soul to resurrect Sam, they would have been spared so much heartache over the next ten(plus) years and Sam would have been safe and happy in Heaven (at least until the archangels resurrected him to be Lucifer's vessel, but that's another story entirely). Same with Dean if he actually had died in "Faith."
Anyway, I really enjoyed the fic. I love a good character death fic (because I'm a masochist like that, I guess), so I was really looking forward to you killing off Dean, but then John came along and it was starting to look like he would go through with the demon deal (which would make sense, since it would kill him just a few episodes before he died in canon anyway) so I was a bit miffed, but then you came through in the end after all. I shouldn't have doubted, lol.
Oh, the only thing that bothered me was the abundance of parenthetical marks noting the quotes taken from the show. They kind of distracted me from the actual content, breaking the flow and feeling of the story. I kind of get why you had to have them in there, but I also feel like a note saying "Any recognizable quotes are from the show" would have served almost as well. Though, to be completely contradictory, I did like being able to see exactly which quotes came from which episodes. Sorry, I know that's not helpful.
Otherwise, excellent, excellent job! I truly enjoyed it. Keep up the great work.

-Word

Amazing story. Loved that you had everyone's pov in it. Just wish it had Bobby too.

You made me bawl like a baby. You "let" Dean, the heart and soul of SPN die. I should be cursing and ranting, but you dId both so adeptly, not to mention eloquently that I'm powerless to do anything other than write this review so you know how completely you shatter my heart. I was so devastated when I finished that I had to come here so I could read all the other tear-filled comments. Misery loves company.

All kidding aside, beautifully done

This fic...I got so absorbed in it I forgot about the character death warning and well...Dean is my favorite.

Lovely story! very touching and definitely explores a side of the Winchesters that is not often looked at.

This was a beautiful fic that made me cry! Love the idea of Dean and Mary teaming up to look after the left over Winchesters.

This fanfiction is so tragically beautiful and yet compelling as it really demonstrates just how willing the Winchesters are to give up everything personally for the sake of protecting one another. Faith is one of my favourite episodes and I did always wonder what might have happened if John had showed up.
As you mentioned in the afterword, the canon version of Faith couldn't have possibly occurred had John visited and the result is that Dean uses his father and brother's stubbornness to achieve his duty; keeping the family together.
Anyway, thanks for the great read and keep writing.

I'm perhaps too late for my review to be considered by you but just so I can let you know, that story was beautiful. Usually I don't write reviews but after reading it I thought I should at least say something and pardon me for not coming up with a better adjective but you've only yourself to blame because your story has dumbfounded me.
Especially the last part was extraordinary. You've set a very high bar and I'm disappointed now because after this no story will be good enough.
P.S. Please write more. Its a pleasure to be reading such well-written stories.

Oh my god! I don't remember I've ever cried this much after a fic. Thanks, thanks so much for this story.

This was truly beautiful! I loved the idea of doing this from all three Winchester POVs. Your writing and character depiction was excellent - I got a sense of all three of them without you explicitly saying what they were feeling; very much in tune with the characters themselves. And reading this almost 5 years ago it was written and watching all the changes the show has gone through still doesn't take away from the fic's innate poignancy, which is saying something. Remarkable work!

Mirrordance, there no words to describe the depth of emotion you wrenched from my heart. Your writing is flawless, fluid, beautiful. The way you write dialogue is better than most fics and novels I've have read. The inner thoughts of each of the characters was heartbreaking.

I don't know how you do it but you need to keep doing and if you could just bottle a little of your talent and mail to me I would be forever grateful.

Fantastic, epic, beyond awesome.

Thank you

This was so sad, seeing Dean actually die. For good. Part of me felt relief, like his he was finally allowed peace, rather than going on to the literal Hell of the rest of his life. I think John and Sam would make a damn good hunting team and will probably find the yellow-eyed demon in hard-core, stubbornly efficient style.

On another note, you're writing is always so enjoyable. You have such a way with these boys. I especially love how you portray John. I used to have kind of a hate on for him, but now it's more of a love-hate-respect kind of feeling, like you've helped me understand his motivations more. Thank you for writing this! And if you have any other stories out there that you're afraid to post...just do it. I'm sure it'll be great. )