#&& I've got demon blood in me [Sam]

[pentacentric]

dean always wanted a nice family portrait

for @wincestwednesdays

for both the prompts: "demon" and "treat"

.....

i totally forgot to post this yesterday and it was a little rushed

still, this would have been so much less boring than what we got from the whole demon dean arc.

[stanfordprepped]

[[Okay. Everybody gather round. It's Jared gets high-key emotional about Sam hours. Just me ranting about this man. But I have never discovered a character quite like Sam Winchester. One that I have formed such an attachment to that I will literally cry over. But Sam? God, I love Sam so so damn much. He goes through so much loss, and he still find hopes. He still believes in angels [before the whole discovery that they are real]. He sacrifices so much. Over and over and over again. He goes to hell, he loses his soul, is called such horrible things... Blood freak, junkie, monster. The list goes on and on. He was haunted by memories of the cage, of hell, and he still finds some way to function. The man never even talks about it and DAMN IT HE DESERVES TO TALK ABOUT IT AND HEAL. NOT CARRY ALL OF THAT WEIGHT. And yet he still finds a way to be kind. He still throws his life on the line for all those he loves. Throwing himself into Lucifer's cage with Lucifer and Michael, while knowing full well what that will do? And then being ready to throw his life down again for the god trials to give everyone another chance at life? And YET HE STILL THINKS HE'S SOME KIND OF BAD GUY? SOME KIND OF ABOMINATION? THAT HE ISN'T PURE? And he's been thinking this since CHILDHOOD. Since before he even knew about the demon blood in his body. He's still soft enough to try and save all those he loves. He's soft enough to refer to Mary as "Momma" instead of "Mom". I have so many feelings about this man that I cannot put into words. I just need you to know I love him. And I am so so honored to write him. I also know there's a lot of controversy about Jared in the fandom but honestly? I am thankful for Jared being the one to play Sam because I couldn't imagine anyone else making me feel to the level I feel for him. That said, I'll end my sickening little soft rant here.]]

TLDR: I love Sam Winchester.

[weidli]

oh so 1x22 really is exactly calculated to make me specifically go fucking feral huh

[ananke-xiii]

cas practising (en/forced) exo-/endo-cannibalism will always be important to me.

[doctorbitchcrxft]

Dead Man's Blood | Supernatural Series Rewrite | Dean Winchester x Reader

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Warnings: canon violence, canon gore, daddy issues, mentions of parental death

Word Count: 5022

A/N: Cannot believe we're at the penultimate episode of my version of the first season Supernatural!! Crazy!! Thank you guys so much for the love and support; I truly appreciate it.

When season 2 starts, the taglist will be closed! If you'd like to join and haven't already, please let me know!

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You and the Winchester boys sat at a table in a diner searching for possible cases to take on. You sat at your laptop on the side of the table with Sam and Dean to your right and left. 

Dean looked through a newspaper and folded it up in frustration. “Well, not a decent lead in all of Nebraska. What’ve you got, Sammy?”

“I've been scanning Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota... here. A woman in Iowa fell ten thousand feet from an airplane and survived,” Sam responded.

“Sounds more like ‘that's Incredible’ than, uh, 'Twilight Zone'.”

“Yeah, I agree,” you said.

“Hey you know we could just keep heading east. New York. Upstate. We could drop by and see Sarah again. Huh? Cool chick, man, smokin'.” Dean whistled lowly. “You two seemed pretty friendly. What do you say?”

“Yeah, I don’t know, maybe someday. But in the meantime we got a lot of work to do Dean, and you know that,” Sam stated.

“Yeah, alright. How ‘bout you, (Y/N)?”

“Uh, man in Colorado, local man named Daniel Elkins was found mauled in his home,” you said, continuing to scan the web page before you.

“Elkins? I know that name,” Dean said.

You shrugged as Sam said, “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

Dean muttered the man’s name over and over.

“Sounds like the police don't know what to think. At first they said it was some sort of bear attack, now, they've found some signs of robbery,” you continued.

Dean took out his father’s journal and began to flick through it. “There, check it out.” He turned the book around to you and Sam and pointed at a contact reading “D. Elkins” with the man’s phone number next to it.

“You think it's the same Elkins?” Sam questioned.

“It's a Colorado area code.”

“Alright, Colorado it is. Let’s go, kids,” you said. 

***

You and the boys made your way to the remote cabin of Daniel Elkins and picked the lock to his home. You cringed at the sight of your messy surroundings once inside. Books were everywhere, mad scribblings on stray pages covered the floor, and the furniture seemed to not have been dusted in years.

“Looks like the maid didn't come today,” Dean remarked.

You crouched down at the entrance of the home and fingered something on the floor. “Hey, got some salt over here.”

“You mean protection against demon salt, or 'oops I spilled the popcorn' salt?” Dean asked.

You gave him a dirty look. “Clearly a ring. Elkins was a player?”

“Definitely,” Dean responded. 

You rose to go stand beside the brothers and look over the journal they were flicking through.

“That looks a hell of a lot like Dad's,” said Sam as he flipped through the pages.

“Yep, except this dates back to the '60s,” Dean added.

You led the brothers into another room and took in the shattered skylights. You moved your flashlight around the room and took in the fact that somehow, this room was messier than the other ones.

“Whatever attacked him, it looks like there was more than one,” Sam said, referencing the damage to the skylights. It seemed there were two separate entry points through them.

“Looks like he put up a hell of a fight, too,” the older brother added. He crouched down to the floor.

“You got something?” you asked, crouching beside him.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Some scratches on the floor.”

“Death throes maybe?” Sam suggested.

Dean grabbed a page from a notebook on top of the desk beside you and placed it over the spot on the ground. He rubbed a pencil over the top to create an outline. “Or maybe a message.” He peeled up the paper that now had a lot of blood on the back and showed you and Sam the rubbings of the characters. “Look familiar?”

“Three letters, six digits. The location and combination of a post office box. It's a mail drop,” you said.

Dean looked to his brother. “Just the way Dad does it.”

***

You and the boys found a letter in the mailbox labeled with the numbers and letters from the floor’s message. You leaned over the back seat of the car and read off the letters on the envelope.

“ ‘J.W.’ Gotta be John Winchester, right?” you said.

“I don't know. Should we open it?” Dean turned his head to you.

A knock on Dean’s window came before any of you could say another word. You reared back and grabbed your gun from your belt, pointing it at the sound.

“Dad?” Dean breathed out.

You breathed out sharply as John opened the door and slid into the seat next to you. “I almost shot you, dude.”

He chuckled at you.

“Dad, what are you doing here? Are you alright?” Sam asked, turning to face him.

John’s gravelly voice seemed even more tired and worn than the last time you’d seen him. “Yeah, I'm okay. I read the news about Daniel; I got here as fast as I could. I saw you three at his place.”

“Why didn't you come in, Dad?”

“You know why. Because I had to make sure you weren't followed. By anyone or anything. Nice job of covering your tracks, by the way.”

Dean looked a little proud. “Yeah, well, we learned from the best.”

“Wait, you came all the way out here for this Elkins guy?” Sam questioned.

John nodded. “He was— He was a good man. Taught me a hell of a lot about hunting.”

“Well, you never mentioned him to us.”

“We had a— we had kind of a falling out. I hadn't seen him in years.” He gestured to the envelope. “I should look at that.” He opened it. “ 'If you're reading this, I'm already dead'... that son of a bitch.”

“What is it?” his eldest son asked.

“He had it the whole time.”

Sam looked at him confused. “Dad, what?”

“When you searched the place, did you— did you see a gun? An antique, a Colt revolver, did you see it?”

You shook your head. “I saw an old case, but it was empty.”

John sighed. “They have it.”

“You mean, whatever killed Elkins?” Dean asked.

John started to get out of the car. “We gotta pick up the trail.”

“Wait, you want us to come with you?” Sam scoffed.

“If Elkins was telling the truth, we gotta find this gun,” John rushed out.

“The gun? Why?”

“Because it's important, that's why.”

‘He’s even more of a hardass than Dean.’

“Dad, we don't even know what these things are yet,” the younger son protested.

“They were what Daniel Elkins killed best: Vampires.”

Your heart nearly dropped at the mention of those creatures.

“I thought they were extinct. I thought Elkins and others had wiped them out. I was wrong,” John said. 

“Damn right,” you jumped in, not realizing the sudden venom lacing your words.

The three men stared back at you, and you shrank awkwardly.

John continued to explain. “Most vampire lore is crap. A cross won't repel them, sunlight won't kill them, and neither will a stake to the heart. But the bloodlust, that part's true. They need fresh human blood to survive. They were once people, so you won't know it's a vampire until it's too late.”

Anxiety clawed at your throat. You hadn’t faced any vampires since the death of your family.

***

You and the Winchesters found a decently priced motel to stay in to get your bearings before you went after the vampires. You watched Sam and Dean sleeping peacefully on their beds, but you were unable to get a wink. You and John sat on opposite sides of the table in the room listening to the police scanner.

You admired Dean’s relaxed features. You rarely saw him this at-ease. You wished you could be sleeping beside him, but your own mind was keeping you awake. The eldest Winchester looked over at you and whispered over the hum of the police scanner. “How’ve they been?” he asked.

You sighed. “They’re alright, I think. Been driving themselves crazy looking for you, though.”

He chuckled softly. “I figured they were.” He paused for a minute. 

“They need you more than they need me,” you said. “You should stay with ‘em. I’ll be hitting the road in a little while, I think.”

“Don’t,” he said. “They’ll need you when this is all over.”

“What? You’re not gonna stay?” You turned your head to John.

“I don’t think so,” he shook his head. 

You were disgusted at him. “Look, no disrespect, but that’s crap.”

He seemed caught off-guard. “And why’s that?” he challenged.

“Sam’s a mess. You walked out on Dean. Your boys deserve their father," you whispered harshly.

“Don’t act like you know me,” he hissed. “Dean’s a grown man. He’ll get over it. Sam, too. I’m not abandoning them; it’s just not safe.”

“Just call a spade a spade, John. Abandonment ‘for their safety’ is still abandonment,” you argued. 

“You don’t think I wanna be with my kids—?"

“No, I don’t actually,” you cut him off.

Before he could continue to argue with you, something on the police scanner caught your attention.

“Unit 22 let me confirm. Mile marker 41, abandoned car. You need a workup?” the static voice said.

“Copy that. Possible 207. Better get forensics out here,” another voice said.

“Sam, Dean, let's go,” John slapped their feet as he stood, his voice still gravelly from his anger with you.

“Mm-hmm,” Dean muttered, though still asleep.

Sam sat up and Dean rubbed his eyes.

“There’s a call on the scanner,” you said.

“(Y/N), did you get any sleep?” the older brother slurred sleepily.

“That’s not important right now,” you told him. “C’mon.”

“What happened?” Sam asked.

“A couple called 911,; found a body in the street. Cops got there and everyone was missing. It's the vampires,” John explained.

“How do you know?”

“Just follow me, okay?” John said, leaving the room. 

You turned to Sam who was putting his jacket on. “It’s how they hunt. They lay in the middle of the road and wait for somebody to pull over. By the time they get up close and personal, it’s too late. Then they leave.”

Dean sat up, still half-asleep. “You gonna be okay?” he asked you.

“I’m fine,” you responded. You could tell he didn’t believe you, but you left him behind without waiting for an argument.

***

John was talking to the cops while you and the brothers stood back by the Impala under the cover of the trees. He refused to look at you after your argument, and you refused to speak to him. You wouldn’t engage with a man who walked out on his children and put Dean through so much.

“I don't see why we couldn't have gone over with him,” the brunet sighed sulkily.

“Oh, don't tell me it's already starting.” Dean rolled his eyes.

“What's starting?” Sam asked.

John walked up before either of you could answer.

“What have you got?” Dean asked his dad.

“It was them, alright. Looks like they're heading west. We'll have to double back to get around that detour,” John explained.

“How can you be so sure?” Sam challenged.

“Sam—” Dean tried.

“I just wanna know we're going in the right direction,” Sam told him sharply.

“We are,” John responded.

You stood back next to Dean, trying not to get involved in the fight.

“How do you know?”

John handed something to his oldest son. “I found this.”

“It's a vampire fang.”

“Not a fang, teeth. They’ve got a second set that comes out when they attack,” you explained, looking over Dean’s shoulder at the tooth.

“Any more questions?” John challenged Sam.

Sam looked away and stayed silent. 

“Alright, let's get out of here, we're losing daylight,” John said. Everything he said was said with authority. “Hey, Dean, why don't you touch up your car before you get rust? I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it,” he gruffly spat at his son before heading to his truck.

You angrily stared after the man before looking over at Dean, who grimaced and got into the passenger’s seat.

Sam drove, keeping a close follow on John’s truck. You rested your chin on Dean’s shoulder, looking over the excerpt he was reading about vampires in your journal. He read aloud to you and Sam. “ ‘Vampires nest in groups of eight to ten. Smaller packs are sent to hunt for food. Victims are taken to the nest where the pack keeps them alive, bleeding them for days or weeks.’ I wonder if that's what happened to that 911 couple.”

Sam grumbled, “That's probably what Dad's thinking. Course, it would be nice if he just told us what he thinks.”

“So it is starting,” Dean sighed.

“What?”

“Sam, we've been looking for Dad all year. Now we're not with him for more than a couple of hours and there's static already?” 

Sam huffed. “No. Look, I'm happy he's okay, alright? And I'm happy that we're all working together again.” 

“Well, good,” Dean said. 

The younger brother was unable to help himself. “It's just the way he treats us, like we're children.”

“Oh, God.” You sat back in the seat, doing your best to ignore the fight between the brothers.

“He barks orders at us Dean, he expects us to follow 'em without question. He keeps us on some crap need-to-know deal,” Sam argued.

“He does what he does for a reason.”

“What reason?”

“Our job! There's no time to argue, there's no margin for error, alright? That's just the way the old man runs things.”

“Yeah, well, maybe that worked when we were kids but not anymore, all right. Not after everything you and I have been through, Dean. I mean, are you telling me you're cool with just falling into line and letting him run the whole show?” Sam looked over at his brother angrily.

Dean gave Sam a long look before strongly responding, “If that's what it takes.”

Sam shook his head and returned his eyes to the road.

A few minutes later, Dean was on the phone with his dad. “Yeah, Dad. Alright, got it.” He hung up. “Pull off at the next exit.”

Sam’s frustrated tone was back. “Why?”

“ ‘Cause Dad thinks we've got the vampire's trail,” Dean said matter-of-factly.

“How,” Sam somehow sounded angrier.

“I don't know. He didn't say,” Dean responded.

Sam gunned the engine, and pulled in front of his dad’s truck before slamming the breaks.

“What are you doing, Sam?” you asked.

Sam got out of the car without answering you.

“Oh, crap. Here we go.” Dean followed his brother out of the car. “Sam!”

You just watched from the back seat, deciding not to get between the family’s brawl.

You watched in the driver’s side rear view mirror as John and Sam got in each other’s faces. Dean was trying to pull the two apart, and you could make out some of what they were screaming at each other about.

Sam approached the car again before spinning back around at his father. You often got in fights like that with your own father but more about his treatment of you and your brother. You knew better than to argue his orders.

“You were just pissed off that you couldn't control me anymore!” Sam yelled loudly enough for you to hear.

Dean then shoved the two apart, forcing Sam back to the car. Sam got back in the driver’s seat, still enraged.

“Sam, do you want me to—”

“No,” he snapped at you.

“Oh-kay, then.”

***

You and the brothers sat in the trees watching the beat-up barn the vampires called home. Dean stood beside you and cursed, “Son of a bitch. So they're really not afraid of the sun?” as he watched the vampires climb into a car, shielding their faces with their hands.

“Nope,” you said. “Direct sunlight just stings like a badass sunburn.”

“The only way to kill 'em is by beheading. And yeah, they sleep during the day— doesn't mean they won't wake up,” John added.

“So I guess walking right in's not our best option,” Dean said.

“Actually, that's the plan,” John grinned.

You and the brothers flipped open the trunk of the Impala and began grabbing machetes. John did the same with his truck, but his was outfitted with a fancy, automatic, hidden compartment.

“Here, (Y/N).” Dean handed you a rusty machete.

You caught sight of the giant blade their dad was holding. “Whoa, why don’t you have any like that?”

Dean snorted and turned his head. “Wow.”

John paused, closing his trunk. “So, you boys really wanna know about this Colt?”

“Yes, sir,” said Sam.

“It's just a story, a legend really. Well, I thought it was. Never really believed it until I read Daniel's letter,” John began. “Back in 1835, when Halley's comet was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo, they say Samuel Colt made a gun. A special gun. He made it for a hunter, a man like us only on horseback. Story goes he made thirteen bullets, and this hunter used the gun a half dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. And somehow, Daniel got his hands on it. They say... They say this gun can kill anything.”

“Kill anything, like, supernatural anything?” Dean breathed.

“Like the demon,” Sam connected.

“Yeah, the demon. Ever since I picked up its trail I've been looking for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun, and we may have it.”

“Wait, and you couldn’t tell your kids that why?” you snarled.

“(Y/N)—” Dean scolded, but you couldn’t help yourself.

John just looked at his eldest son. “What exactly made you keep her around for so long?”

“Both of you, stop it,” Dean said. "Let’s get these fuckers while we have the chance.”

You backed off, tension dissolving a little at Dean’s words. You looked between the boys and their father. Their faces conveyed complex emotions you couldn’t quite read.

Silently, you and Dean flanked one end of the barn while Sam took the other with his father.

You and Dean jumped through a barn window and walked around their hammocks carefully. Dean accidentally kicked an empty bottle on the ground, and you froze. You made a worried face and looked over to Dean, who froze as well.

The vampire next to Dean stirred, but didn’t wake up. You and Dean continued on until you found a woman tied up against a pole. You weren’t sure if she was sleeping or unconscious. 

“Dean,” you whispered, crouching beside the woman. He came over to you as you began to untie her. You heard a noise behind you, and Dean went over to investigate.

“There’s more,” he said, grabbing something to break the locks on the metal cages a distance away from you.

The woman you were untying began to stir, and you did your best to assure her you were here to help.

The woman awoke and let out an unearthly roar. 

“Dean!” you called, shooting up.

“Kids, run!” John called to you after hearing your voice. You and Dean sprinted out of the building, yelling for Sam as you did so. The vampires chased you, but you used the daylight to your advantage. You broke back through the trees and returned to the cars.

“Dad?! Sam!” Dean called. The two then came back up the slope. 

“They won't follow. They'll wait till tonight. Once a vampire has your scent, it's for life,” John said.

“Well, what the hell do we do now?” Dean questioned.

“You gotta find the nearest funeral home, that's what.”

You knew where John was going with this. You smiled at the boys who seemed confused. “C’mon, Dean,” you said, patting his shoulder. You turned to the Impala, and Sam and his father got in the latter’s truck.

Dean cruised down the road to the funeral home you had found and were planning to break into. 

“What the hell was that earlier?” Dean asked frustratedly as soon as the car doors were shut.

“What?”

“With my dad, (Y/N), why would you say something like that?!”

"Look, we got in a fight while you and Sam were sleeping. I just don’t like how he treats you guys,” you admitted.

“Well, thanks, but don’t. Sam’s enough for me right now as it is,” he responded.

A few moments passed, and you looked down at your hands. “I’m sorry,” you said quietly.

Dean sighed. “It’s okay.” He snorted after a moment. “Not many people would stand up to my dad like that.”

You smiled, eyes still on your hands folded in your lap. “He reminds me a lot of my dad. John and Sam fight exactly how my dad and I did. Steven always had to break us apart.”

“I just don’t understand why Sam can’t leave the old man alone,” Dean told you. “I mean, we spent so fucking long looking for ‘im, and as soon as we find him, he’s pickin’ fights.”

You nodded in understanding. “I get why he’s upset, but I agree that it’s the wrong place and wrong time right now. I mean, despite the fact that I picked a fight with him. Again, mistake on my part.” 

“Agreed.”

You let a moment of silence pass before you spoke again. “Dee?”

“Hm.”

“Now that we’ve found your dad, do you still want me here?”

He turned his head toward you. “Of course, I do. You’re not gettin’ rid of us that easy.”

You grinned. “Good. After a year of all this, you guys have become my new normal. I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to being alone again.”

Dean smirked and turned back to the road, pulling into the parking lot of the funeral home. 

After a few lies and a bit of breaking and entering, you and Dean were headed back to the motel with dead man’s blood in hand.

“What does that stuff do exactly?” Dean asked you as he drove.

“It’s kinda like vampire food poisoning. Pretty useful stuff,” you explained.

“How’ve you been with this whole thing?” he asked.

“What, the vampires?”

Dean nodded.

“Winchester, are you goin’ soft on me? Since when do you care to get into the touchy-feely?” you joked.

He rolled his eyes in response. “Answer the damn question, (Y/N).”

You sighed, dropping your plucky attitude. “I’m okay, I think. I just— I haven’t hunted any vamps since my parents died. Any time I sniffed any out, I ran the other way. It’s kind of ironic that the one thing I fucking hate hunting has the one thing we need to kill this demon.”

Dean chuckled. “Yeah, well, y’know… Just…” 

“There’s my boy. Having trouble with moments of sincerity once more,” you gibed but became serious once more as he rolled his eyes. “I know. If I need anything, I’ll let you know.”

***

You were surprised to find John and Sam laughing when you reentered their motel room.

“Whew. Man, some heavy security to protect a bunch of dead guys,” Dean said.

“Get it?” John asked.

You reached into Dean’s jacket pocket and pulled out a paper bag with a bottle full of blood inside it. You handed it over to the eldest Winchester.

“You know what to do,” he said.

***

You hated watching that creature feel Dean up and kiss him, but you knew you needed to let it happen for the sake of getting the Colt from the vampires. You’d already nearly beheaded her when she backhanded him.

Another vampire appeared behind the woman holding Dean in the air by his face, and that was when you made your move. You used a crossbow to shoot both of the vampires straight between their ribs, and the girl holding Dean dropped him.

“Dammit,” she cursed as you approached the group from the trees. “It barely even stings.”

“Give it time, babe,” you told her. “That arrow’s soaked in dead man’s blood. Should be giving you a nasty tummy ache any second.” You pouted at her mockingly as she began to waver and lose consciousness.

“Load her up,” John ordered you and his sons. “I'll take care of this one.” Moments later, you heard a slashing noise and blood splattering coming from behind you as you finished loading the girl into Dean’s trunk.

***

You met John in a clearing in the woods where you and Sam were setting up a campfire. Dean tied the unconscious vampiress to a tree, and you circled her, fuming.

“Easy, tiger,” Dean told you. “Don’t kill her just yet.”

“I’m tryin’ not to,” you responded, gripping the handle of your machete tightly.

He chuckled at you and turned to his dad.

“Toss this on the fire. Saffron, skunk's cabbage, and trillium. It'll block our scent and hers until we're ready,” John commanded.

“Stuff stinks!” Dean coughed.

“That's the idea. Dust your clothes with the ashes, and you stand a chance of not being detected,” his father replied.

“You sure they'll come after her?” Sam asked his dad.

“Vampires mate for life,” you broke in. “She means more to the leader than the gun.”

“But the blood sickness is going to wear off soon, so you don't have a lot of time,” John added.

“A half hour oughta do it,” shrugged Sam.

“And then I want you out of the area as fast as you can,” John stated.

The boys began to protest.

“Well, Dad, you can't take care of them all yourself,” Dean said.

“I'll have her,” John replied, referencing the passed-out vampire. “And the Colt.”

“But after. We're gonna meet up, right? Use the gun together. Right?” Sam looked at his father expectantly. There was a long pause before Sam spoke again. “You're leaving again, aren't you. You still wanna go after the demon alone." Hes scoffed mockingly. "You know, I don't get you. You can't treat us like this.”

“Like what?”

“Like children.”

“You are my children. I'm trying to keep you safe.”

Dean spoke up much to your surprise. “Dad, all due respect, but, uh, that's a bunch of crap.”

“Excuse me?” the older man scoffed.

“You know what Sammy and I have been hunting. Hell, you sent us on a few hunting trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe,” Dean argued.

“It's not the same thing, Dean.”

“Then what is it? Why do you want us out of the big fight?”

“This demon? It's a bad son of a bitch. I can't make the same moves if I'm worried about keeping you alive,” John responded.

“You mean you can't be as reckless.”

“Look, I don't expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. Your mother's death… it almost killed me. I can't watch my children die too. I won't,” John admitted.

“What happens if you die? Dad, what happens if you die, and we could’ve done something about it?" He let his words hang in the air for a moment. "You know, I've been thinking. I think maybe Sammy's right about this one. We should do this together,” Dean stated.

Sam nodded as his brother continued. “We're stronger as a family, Dad. We just are. You know it.”

John’s walls went back up. “We're running out of time. You do your job, and you get out of the area. That's an order.”

Dean looked down at the ground, and you watched him carefully as he tried to suppress his rising emotions. 

***

After you and the boys freed the people that had been locked up in the vampires’ barn, you went to find John and the members of the nest. You found them just in time because John had been knocked on his ass by the vampire you’d kidnapped.

You and the brothers hurried out of the trees and began shooting vampires with a crossbow. You moved toward the leader with your machete, but he backhanded you and held you in a headlock with his arm around your throat. 

You struggled against him as he addressed Dean, who was holding a machete of his own. “Don't! I'll break her neck. Put the blade down.”

Dean hesitated.

Luther tightened his hold on your neck, causing you to struggle more. “It’d be a real shame for her to die.” He dug his nose in your hair and sniffed deeply. “She’s pretty. I’d love having her around. Drop it!”

Dean did as told, and his jaw clenched in fury. 

“You people. Why can't you leave us alone? We have as much right to live as you do,” the leader said.

“I don’t think so,” came John’s voice from behind you. The vampire spun you and himself around to face John, who shot the vampire in the middle of his forehead. He dropped you to the floor, and Dean rushed to your side.

You turned and watched a sigil appear on the man’s forehead where he’d been shot as his girlfriend screamed in agony. “Luther!”

The vampire slumped to the ground, dead. The vampiress started toward John, but was pulled away by her friend to get to their car. They took off, wheels screaming and leaving you in the dust.

***

You sat in the brothers’ motel room, having finished packing long before they had as usual. John entered the room and addressed his sons. “So, boys.”

They stopped packing and turned to face him. “Yes, sir.”

“You ignored a direct order back there,” he said crossly.

“Yes, sir.” Sam hung his head low.

Dean argued, “Yeah, but we saved your ass.”

John held his son’s challenging stare, and you swallowed nervously.

“You're right,” John admitted much to your surprise.

“I am?”

If it weren’t for the situation, you would’ve laughed at Dean’s adorably clueless face.

“It scares the hell out of me. You two are all I've got. But I guess we are stronger as a family. So… we go after this damn thing. Together.”

You smiled as the two boys said in unison, “Yes, sir.”

Series Rewrite Taglist: @polireader @brightlilith @atcamillanorrman @jrizzelle @insomnia-bookworm @procrastination20 @mrs-liebgott @djs8891 @tiggytaylor @staple-your-mouth @iloveshawn @jesstherebel @rach5ive @strawberrykiwisdogog @bruhidkjustwannaread @mxltifxnd0m @sunshine-on-marz @big-ol-boat @mgchaser @capncrankle @davina-clairee @chervbs @simpingdeadcharacters @nesnejwritings @stillhere197 @stephshaww @tearsforhan @take-it-on-the-run @iloveyou2mia @maxinehufflepuffprincess @ohgeehowdigethere @here-for-the-extravaganza @seninjakitey @berarenado @s0urw00lf @princessleahorgana @quarterhorse19 @rei0812 @isla-finke-blog @silverdoragon @karacaroldanvers @gayandfairycore @examishbookwyrm @more-espresso-less-depresso-og @mysticmyth @favoritefandoms27 @star-yawnznn @real-sharena-h @fandomloverrr @metalmonki @onlyangel-444 @yu-winchester @benniwiththefanni @daisychaingirl @skys-writings @immagods @metalblindbitch @missmieux @yoongi-holland

hi there lovebugs!! quite a few tags were broken :( if i've misspelled your tag, please let me know! make sure you have my blog notifs on so you don't miss an update!!

[according2thelore]

hi! Been seeing some of ur es/ls fics here and do you have a master linkcfor all of r writing? I really want to find the very dirst one and read from there and get with ur wonderful lore/plot!

hi!

consider this the official ES/LS verse masterlist! i will try to be diligent about updating it, but apologies if i miss anything!

(for those that are new [ hi! :) ], ES = early seasons, LS = late seasons, this is a time travel AU that i've been working on where early seasons (ES) sam and dean end up at the bunker with late seasons (LS) sam and dean)

first official one!

age gap

ES thirsting over LS brothers

finding out LS!Bros are together

making references

talking about john winchester

ES!Dean noticing LS!Sam's "pockmarks"

ES!Sam jealousy (ficlet)

ES!Dean not knowing how to help LS!Sam

discussing ES!Sam and ES!Dean

ES!Sam's thoughts on their life

making references (ficlet)

ES!Dean yearning (ficlet)

the steak one (ficlet)

sam runs away

meeting their friends

taking the spark plugs out of cars

first hunt (ficlet)

foursome (ficlet)

LS!Boys set up ES!Boys (ficlet)

ES!Dean wants to dote

ES!Sam feeling like the last choice

mommy ES Dean vs LS Dean

ES!sam gets injured (ficlet)

showing off sexually for ES!Sam

ES!Sam insecurity

ES!Dean/LS!Sam kissing and resulting drama (ficlet)

how are LS!Sam&Dean similar to John

LS!Boys set up confession with ES!Sam (ficlet)

not stealing firsts

first LS!Sam jealousy

proposing a foursome (ficlet)

unsympathetic LS!Sam

sequel to LS!Boys set up confession

ES!Boys dealing with LS!Boys' conflict

ES!Sam notices the no samulet on LS!Dean

ES!Sam finds The Voicemail (ficlet)

@/whoopsitswincest and i chatting about the verse

LS!Sam jealousy Pt. 2 (ficlet)

ES!Dean being adoring of LS!Sam and LS!Sam is a mess about it (ficlet)

ES!Sam calling LS!Sam "pathetic" (ficlet)

ES!Boys are together, but LS!Boys are not

LS!Sam has a nightmare (ficlet)

deans getting protective over both sams negative feelings about each other (ficlet)

ES!Dean & LS!Sam "come talk to me when ES!YouTwo find it out" (ficlet)

ES!&LS!Brothers & apologies

omegaverse bonus!

a little text break bc tumblr won't let me make this one contiguous list for some reason?

ES!Sam asks LS!Dean what ES!Dean likes in bed (ficlet)

cas brings up the demon blood to ES!Sam

ES!Dean makes LS!Sam laugh and LS!Dean does not take it well (ficlet)

anon writes in about LS!Boys date night/dancing

ES!Sam&LS!Sam talk about dean's habits and ES!Dean&LS!Dean talk about sam's habits (ficlet)

[ongoing]

i don't have a hard-and-fast masterlist, but i collect the things i write under the tag #lizzy writes (linked here), and that includes things like things i've written in the tags or as additions to other posts!

thank you so much for asking!!! :) i hope you have fun scrolling through the (frankly embarrassing) amount of fic i've got loaded up for this verse!

-lizzy <3

[theepitomeofamess]

ok ok it's theory time bc i'm rewatching mismag 1 as a coping mechanism so potential spoilers ahoy & forgive me if it's rambly i've also had a sedative

the serpent in the storm. the one without a name and only shown as an illumination in the Tome of Nimble Working. is that what was possessing evan? like is it the amalgamation of the "demons" that were haunting him, or even just The Main Guy? i'm not sure if this creature has anything to do with the breaking of magic, I just started thinking about this today at work, but hear me out.

in Class Conflict, the manifestation of the thing haunting Evan when it emerged to protect him was the blood cobra, and the barb that Tallulah hit Evan with after potions class was that all she heard was "hissing noises." so we know that snakes are something evil & monstrous in wizard culture (as much as they were in HP) but not because they're the mascot of the "evil house" Aqarbus. so where did the serpent symbolism come from?

later, in Family on Six when Evan makes the agreement to lean on the demons to save K, the "permanent change" that Brennan describes is that out of the shadow across evan's face "just goes black and is leaking black oil and water." aabira's description of the illumination of this creature was "a mix between a snake and an oil-soaked bird of prey." oil-soaked.

this is kinda what got me thinking in the first place, because what are the things you think of when you think of Evan Kelmp? Bird Facts and Gas Station Parking Lots. this absolutely feels like something Aabria would pull to make Brennan eat the lore he created.

it's also the type of shit she would do because of K's attempts to find any sort of books about what these "demons" might be during the exorcism, only to be met with "you think you're going to find me in a book?" maybe not named. not studied. no anatomical drawings or any sort of understanding as to what it is. but yeah. they'll find it in a book.

i do think that maybe this bird snake entity has been tied to Evan since before his birth---aabria's description in the latest S2 ep: "you feel yourself and the inside of you is empty, and something that was always meant to be poured in is beginning to pour itself back in" tells me that Evan was born to be a vessel for something. now, the demons at the exorcism said that Evan was promised to them. promised by whom? promised by what? maybe by the thing that knew it was going to be held within Evan, and knew that if he were to grow up with a dark enough childhood, if he were to be haunted enough, he might become the Dark One.

now, we don't really know the mythology of the Dark One. we don't know what sort of prophecy was told about it. going off of the general trope of the thing, we've gotta assume that it's something along the lines of "this person will unleash a great terror/darkness/evil upon the world." this likely was supposed to happen as a result of evan's torment like a psychotic break, or maybe as a defense mechanism in a life-or-death situation. either way, this creature and the magic that it represents would have wanted to be released, maybe still using Evan as a vessel and working through him to maintain its unknown, mythological status. this thing isn't Tad, it can't and won't be lulled to sleep.

could this creature have been accidentally released as a result of sam's exorcism? probably, it had to have been a thing or else it wouldn't be on the orery.(besides, this ancient monstrosity would never have anticipated Sam Black). could it be that it was released after K killed Evan? possibly, idk how often gm's rearrange lore behind the scenes to better fit what's happened in the story they're playing through.

whatever the case, I do think that it's not insignificant that Evan only started getting inklings of this sort of repossession leaking in after the events on Seeganpelater. the place where he saw the creature through the serpent's watch (a scene that in illustration implies that, maybe, the serpent could see them, too). the place where he snapped his wand. the place where he killed Boudicca. where we saw him be a magic murderer, where we saw him truly tap into the darkness he's been assigned his whole life. somewhere on cannibal Island, there was a moment of reconnection, and it helps that the very next places they went to were the islands that 1) stressed Evan out beyond belief, and 2) worked with amplification. it was able to strengthen its bond either the minute they landed, or as soon as Evan leaned into his strengths to scratch the tree with his shadow.

maybe this creature is what broke the well of magic. maybe it created the storm and destroyed Gowpenny. maybe this is a version of the Dark One prophecy coming true, breaking the rules of magic to the point that the entire system is broken and the world can never be what it used to. maybe it's not involved in anything and is just reveling in the chaos. I don't know. maybe all of these are coincidences between seasons. fun to think about, though!

[lght-roastcoffee]

⋆ ˚｡⋆ Never ⋆ ˚｡⋆

prompt: "I'm not leaving you."┆Tuna-Tober ⊹ Day 4

pairing: Sam Winchester x fem!Reader

wordcount: 1.1K

warnings: mentions of blood, spn-level violence, established relationship

author's note: First, I imagined season 4 Sam after it's revealed he's been drinking demon blood for this. Second, this is a day late. Unfortunately, I got a little sick yesterday and every time I sat down to work on this, I got a little dizzy. But it's out now! I'll just finish the challenge a day later than I had planned, but I am still planning on doing all 10 prompts I've set for myself.

˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ 𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 ˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹ 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢-𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘴 ˖ ᡣ𐭩 ⊹

Sam’s screams penetrate the walls of Bobby’s house, setting everyone on edge. Tears gather in my eyes for what feels like the umpteenth time since Dean closed the bunker door behind him. He and Bobby sit up stairs, deciding on their next move while I sit in the basement on a worn out dining chair. 

After everything that happened with Castiel and Jimmy Novak, no one expected a darker secret to linger. But when I turned from the demon who had vomited its black smoke from its vessel to see Sam-my Sam-with blood smeared across his mouth, everything around me vanished. The look in his eyes after everything calmed down and Sam met my eyes was haunting. The anger residing in his hazel eyes was a stark difference to the gentleness I usually saw, and it scared me.

Dean snuck away as Sam and I cleaned up the mess and the bodies, making sure all evidence had been scrubbed clean from the scene. The silence between us is unusual. Usually, we’d laugh and joke, despite the morbid circumstances. But after the look in his eyes, I don’t know what to think anymore. 

I knew that after Dean’s death, things weren’t quite the same. Sam took off, leaving me at Bobby’s, and never answered my calls. I knew he was still hunting, and doing a great job, from what I heard. So I stayed with Bobby as I helped him around the junkyard and assisted with some hunts now and then. So when Dean came stumbling across the threshold, very much alive, all I could think about was Sam and if he did something to bring him back. 

Dean and Bobby went off to find him while I stayed back, not quite ready to face him after he up and left. And after Dean confronted the angel who raised him from Hell and we learned of the impending apocalypse, I could tell Sam wasn’t the same man anymore. But who would be, after his brother, the person who raised him, died gruesomely right in front of him?

So I kept myself occupied, helping Bobby in his research on the seals and trying not to get too close to Sam. But he wormed his way back in, apologizing for leaving like he did and for holding back the truth of his escapades during that time. He promised he wouldn’t use his abilities anymore and that was that. 

Sam started trying to get back in my good graces. He started by arriving with coffee any time he saw me, then I’d notice new books stacked on the nightstand of my room in Bobby’s house, until he started inviting me out on more and more hunts with Dean, and I’d join. It all came to a head after a close call with a werewolf we were tracking and I laid in his arms, bleeding out and confessing, before Cas showed up and healed me, thanks to Dean’s prayers. We were good again, but I could tell that something was still eating at him. Well, I guess I know why now. 

“You okay, kid?”

I look up, feeling the tears falling freely against my cheeks as Dean stops in front of me. He sets a glass of water next to me on a rickety table. 

“Is this really necessary?” I managed to say. “Does he really need to be locked up like some- some animal?”

Over the course of the days we’ve kept Sam locked up, my anger has slowly been gathering. Whether it’s directed towards me, for not doing more to help the man screaming and pleading for help, or towards Dean and Bobby who were so prepared with trapping Sam and leading me away before I could ruin anything. But they’ve kept them in there, listening to his unnatural torture and continuing on like it’s nothing, no food or water because there’s a high chance he’ll get out is we open the door. This “detox” is destroying Sam and it seems I’m the only one who can see it. 

Dean sighs, pats me on the shoulder, and makes his way back upstairs. I sit there, the sounds of Sam’s cries lulling me into a restless sleep after not doing so for days. I only wake to the sound of rushed and heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. I see Bobby, then Dean, their faces a mix of worry and horror as they rush to the bunker door. That’s when I recognize the deafening silence. 

I rush over with them, Dean throwing the heavy iron door open and I see Sam on the ground seizing. I rush to his side, going to kneel down to keep him stable. Before I could do so, however, his body rose into the air and started slamming against the iron walls. I realize I’m screaming as Dean and Bobby push past me to get to Sam and restrain him to the cot. After everything settled down, Dean tried to drag me out of the room, but after landing a hard punch to his face and a knee to his groin, they gave me some space. Dean sat outside the door, listening for any trouble after getting some ice. 

I sat at Sam’s side, combing my fingers through his hair and humming softly. After a while, he groans, trying to reach up with his hand, but the handcuffs stop him. I sigh, tears forming once again at the torture the man I love is going through. He tries again and jerks awake frantically scanning his surroundings.

“Hey, Hey!” I push against his chest, hoping to calm him down even just a little bit.

“Y/N?” Sam relaxes slightly, confusion swimming across his features. “What happened?”

“You gave us a scare,” I answer, reaching up to smooth his bangs out of his face. “You started flying across the room. Bobby and Dean saw no choice but to restrain you.”

He lays his head back, eyes squeezing shut. “I’m sorry.”

I shake my head before cupping his face, hazel eyes opening to stare back at me in anguish, giving him a slight smile in return. “Hey, I- I understand, Sam. Just don’t do that again, okay?” 

“I- I don’t know if I can stop myself.” Tears form at his lash line, threatening to spill over. “I don’t know if I can stop myself from being the monster everyone thinks I am.”

“We’ll figure something out,” I say softly. “Just like we always do, right?”

The look he gives me, all watery and intense, makes me realize he’s terrified of my reaction. 

“You won’t leave me?” He whispers, voice shaking. I lean over him, face hovering over him. 

“I’m not leaving you,” I whisper. “Not ever.”

I press a soft kiss to his lips, tasting the salt from our joined tears. I pull away before resting my forehead against his.

“Never.”

[skunkox]

Sam Rambles

Imagine listening the the same Sam audio 10 in a month. Probably more. Imagine still getting butterflies when he's on Darlin's case.

Like sir. How can you be so stern, yet so gentle at the same time. I ain't used to that shit. Please do it again.

The amount of times I've been at work and just froze in place, having a whole software malfunction up stairs. It's embarrassing.

IM WEAK FOR THIS MAN.

Sam is somethin else bro. Like there is something truly grounding about his character.

You can't have daddy issues if you don't claim a dad, right?

Fuck.

Just know I need more Sam in my life.

Also, him calling Darlin baby in the recent BA. To think this entire time he'd be actually craving Darlin's blood but couldn't bring himself to bite. Even after Darlin asked for it. Man was fighting some demons.

I wish him happiness.

Side note but when Darlin is comfortable with someone, they let go of all restraints. Walking back into the room, nude? Mr. Collins got some restraint on him. I LOVE THSES 2The lack of serious judgment towards each other is amazing.

I'm done for tonight. Sleep calm me

[zmediaoutlet]

Survey results time.

At time of downloading the data we got just over 300 responses, which is not bad for a survey that was long and complicated to take! I'm sure my shamelessness helped. Being a survey for a specific crowd, we also didn't get anyone (as far as I could tell) taking the survey in bad faith, which is a legit surprise. Special shout-out to the several people who, when asked to write literally anything to say they understood what was going on, wrote "literally anything"; additional shout-out to the person who wrote "penus and hole" (sic). You get it, anonymous person.

I'm going to share the top results for the questions here, but I'll also include the raw data as a sheet at the end in case anyone wants to actually go through it with a fine-tooth comb. This is not a survey where cute pie charts or graphs would be useful or readable, so get ready for some sweet-ass numbers:

Story Genre

Unsurprisingly, our leaderboard for most favorite story genre in the 'Anytime!' category is as follows:

Hurt/comfort (153 votes)

Angst (142 votes)

PWP (139 votes)

We just like the guys to get the shit beaten out of them, angstily, and then they can feel better by jerking off about it. The ideal evening.

The big loser in genre, with 34 buds flat out saying "not for me", was Dark!fic. That said, Dark!fic also got 112 votes (third highest) for "has to be JUST right," so we can probably take from there that while as a group we don't hate dark content, we have pretty strict definitions for a) what counts as dark, and b) what kind of dark we're willing to take.

Gencest/gen was arguably the most 'eh, idk?' of the genres, with respectable showings in every category from Anytime to No; most people don't hate it, but people aren't really seeking it out either. It's definitely There.

Story Setting

The winner of most 'Anytime!' votes for story setting is close to my heart; the podium is:

Bunker era (142 votes)

Canon-close, codas, etc (129 votes)

Pre-series/weechesters (126 votes)

It feels good to know that canon is on our side. This may help explain why various alternate universe settings didn't do so hot with the respondents -- the least fave according to this survey is an age!swap AU, followed by a raised apart!AU. Writers who are making Sam the big brother who lives in Cleveland while baby Dean lives in Seattle, you keep living your truth, but readers are rearing back.

That being said, while Canon Divergence isn't an overall winner, it has a full 149 votes in the 'Dig it' category; so, while we may generally prefer canon, we're willing to be led on a garden path away from it. We just want canon to be within shouting distance, at least.

Canonical Character Variants

Here's where the survey gets more complex. I've always been interested in how and why people are fandoming about things, and simple 'yes/no' surveys rarely dig into that meat. The point of the superego/ego/id separation is to really interrogate -- hey, do you like to read about (for example) soulless!Sam because you find it interesting on a high-minded level, or because your heart-strings are getting tugged even if you think it's kinda dumb, or just because it makes you so hornt-up you can't think straight? All are valid, and all are possible simultaneously, but it's interesting to prod at to see how the interest is working. You might also just be like, eh, it's fine, or GOD, STOP, and that's fine too. So, with all that said:

Superego winners:

demon powers!Sam (202 votes)

soulless!Sam (177 votes)

blood addict!Sam (160 votes)

Y'all like to really brain about how Sam is fucked up. I get it.

Ego winners:

Trials of Hell!Sam (186 votes)

blood addict!Sam (180 votes)

demon powers!Sam (161 votes)

Still all Sam, and no surprise that his saintly pale sleeplessness is winning the heartstrings battle.

Id winners:

demon!Dean (205 votes)

demon powers!Sam (175 votes)

blood addict!Sam (165 votes)

Again, no surprise: fandom girlies (gn) love their bad boys, lol. Soulless snuck in at #4 here with 163, presumably because working out still wearing a belt was juuuust dorky enough to kick him off the podium; #5 was Smith & Wesson at 162, probably because if they'd been left in that AU for ten more minutes they would have been fucking over the top of Dean Smith's desk. Glad we're all on the same page, there.

The nopes here were an interesting mix. In the full-on No Thank You category we had Michael!Dean and Gadreel!Sam (with 52 and 53 votes respectively) -- it would be interesting to know if that was due to dread of the storyline specifically, or just how No Bad Wrong it felt to have it happening. These two also led the 'meh' category, although they were joined on the podium of bad by Endverse!Dean (128 Meh votes), which frankly shocked me. Y'all aren't into his thigh holster? C'mon now. Sure, he murders his friends without compunction, but -- thigh holster!

Story Tropes

These ones were fascinatingly all over the place, which is exactly why I wanted to do this. Going to just run down the S/E/I podiums real quick, then 'Hard sell', then No --

Superego winners:

Outsider!POV (211)

Someone Finds Out (191)

Mental health issues (190)

Ego winners:

Mutual pining (252)

First time (242) AND Sick/injured (242)

First time in a long time (235)

Id winners:

Jealousy/possessiveness (224)

First time (218)

First time in a long time (180)

Now, part of what's interesting about these is how they fall off in other categories. Outsider POV wins handily at Superego with 211, but then drops all the way down to 92 votes at Id -- which isn't nothing, but clearly it's preferred to have a heckin' think about how other people view the incest relationship, rather than thinking it's just So Hot that people might. Similarly, while people do think it's so so hot for one brother or the other (or both!) to be possessive at 224 votes, when it comes to the superego that drops right down to 134 votes, presumably as the brain wakes up and goes RED FLAG!

Entering the land of no thank you, we shall have two anti-podiums:

Real hard sell:

Infidelity (127)

magic/powers!Dean (125)

Unrequited/no relationship upgrade (110) AND "Carver Edlund" fandom

This is a much more mixed bag. Infidelity and Unrequited are no surprise here, because it Feels Bad, Man; magic!Dean also not really a surprise, given that most of our respondents prefer being closer to canon, and Dean is very much our mundane buddy in the show as presented. (A delightful buddy, but a distinctly nonmagical one.) Carver Edlund fandom makes me laugh mostly because it's such a bananas thing to exist in the show. Sam and Dean reading big bang fics about each other? Collectively we just... don't know what to do with that. Weird.

Squick/No/Maybe one exception:

Permanent character death (140)

Infidelity (108)

Eating disorders (102)

Again, no surprise in the anti-winners of 1 or 2 here, but number 3 surprised me, personally. ED fic used to be a pretty big wedge of common tropes that people would seek out. Perhaps it's gotten less popular over the years? Or perhaps just that the people who like it REALLY like it and so chat about it out loud, while those who don't quietly bury it in sand, lo as a cat does with their leavings.

Most extreme delta in 'general interest' (whether that be S,E, or I) to 'ehh' (whether that be Hard Sell or Squick) is first time. Y'all loooove your first time.

Sexy Tropes, Vol. 1

This is where I really wanted to know if people could pull apart their interests between brain and heart and guts. Hopefully people were honest, as requested. Some of them we know are slight liar answers, because the hits on AO3 tell a story that can't be refuted -- nevertheless, here's what people were willing to admit to.

Bulletproof kink/will read any version:

Bedsharing (158)

Incest kink (139)

Size kink (133)

your friendly neighborhood survey creator is jumping up and down going 'wooo' that size kink made the podium. also I hope everyone understood that incest kink meant, like, indulging in the incest of it all via 'oh you're so totes my brother and i want to suck your dingle for that reason specifically', but I realize that could've been clearer.

Easy sell/you don't have to work hard for me to enjoy:

shameless bottom!Dean stuff (151)

switching (147)

voyeurism (138)

the first one here genuinely surprises me considering what I see getting written most often; is this a case of just not being in the right venn diagrams, or the 'easy sell' just not matching up with what people are being sold? Curiouser and curiouser.

Medium sell/not my fave, but I can see how it appeals:

bad/awkward sex (120)

phone sex (114)

in [drug/alcohol] veritas (110)

edging into awkward town in a few ways here: we don't love these, but we can see how it'd be fun. or not fun, in the case of bad sex.

Hard sell/this is unbelievable or uninteresting so you have to work hard to get me to enjoy it:

always-another-gender!AU (84)

multiple Sams or Deans (73)

genderswap (magic) (72)

so, in general, we prefer to keep the penises around and intact, but just one Sam penis and one Dean penis, please. Here, I'm interested that the volume is much lower than in the top category: maxing out at 84 hard sells compared to 158 bulletproof options means that we're willing to give more of these tropes a chance, even if they're not our faves. How accepting we are!

Squick/no/maybe one exception:

always-another-gender!AU (83)

A/B/O elements (65)

multiple Sams or Deans (51)

strong overlap with the hard sell; and, keeping in mind that people were able to choose multiple options, it's possible that some of those were identical votes. Again, please keep the penises straightforward and only two at a time. A/B/O is interesting here, especially given what we know of how well it does on AO3; while it's a big squick for a lot of people, it also has decently high votes in bulletproof/easy, averaging 82 votes. Mixed bag!

Sexy Tropes Vol. 2, Electric Boogaloo

Bulletproof kink/will read any version:

Possessive/claiming sex (129)

Marking (hickeys/bruising) (116)

Hair pulling (103)

Let's glance back up at the Id winners in the story tropes above, hmm quietly to ourselves, and move on.

Easy sell/you don't have to work hard for me to enjoy:

Marking (hickeys/bruising) (135)

Hair pulling (130)

Possessive/claiming sex (121)

Well, that's boring. So let's expand so as not to be repetitive:

4. Dub-con (116) 5. Dom/sub (113) AND Underage (113) 6. Knifeplay (107)

There we go. Pretty easy to put all of those into one fic, too.

Medium sell/not my fave, but I can see how it appeals:

Blindfolds (128)

Painplay (116)

Shibari/rope play (112)

We're starting to lose interest as accessories come into play. Interesting to compare D/s and its relative success against painplay -- so, tell him what to do, but don't hit him while you're doing it. Fair enough.

Hard sell/this is unbelievable or uninteresting so you have to work hard to get me to enjoy it:

Fucking machines (94)

Vore (80)

Mommy!kink (77)

Entertaining mix here, haha. General feasibility may be rearing its head here. (Also, for my own entertainment: daddy!kink got 67 Hard Sell votes. People generally prefer to keep it as horizontal incest, not vertical incest.)

Squick/no/maybe one exception:

Feederism (164)

Vore (161)

Extreme underage (157)

No surprises here, although some fans of the nibbly variety of wincest may be disappointed by vore's poor placement. Note also that 'extreme' is in the eye of the beholder; we'll leave aside value judgments, as we have for the whole survey, and note that people are not indulging in a version of underage they find to be personally past the line, or at least are not admitting to that.

At a glance, the closest matchup between bulletproof for some and a squick to others is bloodplay, with just 1 vote separating the two categories: 44 bulletproof, 43 squick. Next time someone tries to tell you that 'everyone' likes or doesn't like something, please take it with an entire shaker full of salt.

Dynamic & Position Preferences

I tried to encourage people not to think too hard about this one and just answer on instinct. Who knows if that worked. But here are some overview takes:

Toppy/dominant: Sam takes the lead here, with 69% of respondents being in the 'Love it!' category. Nice. (217 votes)

Dom Dean earned a respectable 52% of 'Love it!' votes (163).

However, I was also interested to check out the inverse --

subby!Sam: 44 'Very no thank' votes (13%) subby!Dean: 27 'Very no thank' votes (8%)

It's interesting to leap way back up and compare that against 'shameless bottom!Dean stuff' doing so well in the rated E categories. Makes you ponder.

Actual sex position: Frequently switching takes the win here, with 61% of the vote (194 votes). Sam always topping edges out if people must choose, with 144 votes; Dean always topping is our lowest choice, with 112.

Service!topping: this is a fairly niche fic type, but it does still exist -- I guess in a world of bottoms someone's got to actually get up and do something, and it is hilariously an almost perfectly even split:

service!top Sam: 50.17% (151 votes) service!top Dean: 51.50% (155 votes)

A healthy percentage of people said they didn't care about these questions either way, and more power to them. However, they were wildly outvoted by those who did.

Multishipping Time

Our final categories are when other people get their grubby hands on Sam or Dean, either canonically(ish) or in our fandom activities.

Canonical relationships for Sam

Jess wins, quelle surprise. :) 161 people Dug It and who can blame them.

Amelia LOSES, shocking no one: 112 people said Fuck That.

Eileen was definitely a mixed bag; her results, in order, were: Meh: 92; Fuck that: 76; Worse than meh: 66; Dug it: 44.

Canonical(ish) relationships for Dean

Note here: it was too unbalanced if we only went with people Dean officially dated. However, the show leaned hard into a few unrequited male relationships for him, which we included here, and no one sent me hate about it so I guess that was fine.

Benny wins the Love It! category with 129 votes, barely edging out Cassie at 122. Benny is best boy, so that fits.

Cas loses with a full 99 Fuck That votes, which is probably what we'd expect from a wincest survey. That said, he also got 93 Dug It votes, so it's a pretty balanced showing.

Poor Lisa sits firmly at Meh with 148 votes. It's not that we hate you, Lisa; we just don't really know what to do with you. Which is pretty much how the relationship went in the show.

Shipping Sam like FedEx

We returned to the S/E/I model for shipping as we did for tropes, because it means something very different to go 'oh sure, I can see how that would be interesting' vs saying 'I want them to fuck rawnasty and I don't care why they're doing it.' Apologies if I left out your favorite side-ship but, shit, there's only so much time in the day.

So, we return to the podiums:

Superego:

Ruby (132)

Rowena (121)

Cas (102)

Ego:

Rowena (121)

Cas (106)

Ruby (90)

Id:

Ruby (125)

John (121)

Rowena (118)

So that was going on sedately until Dad came in like a hammer. Fascinating. On the other hand:

No:

Lisa (234)

Donna (222)

Claire (219)

Interesting to me that these three are ladies that Sam theoretically could have got up in but people are not into it, regardless. This is slightly different to Dean's 'no' category -- spoilers for three inches of screen space!

Dean, Shipped by UPS

Superego:

John (129)

Benny (115)

Lisa (99)

Ego:

Benny (134)

John (116)

Lisa (102)

Id:

John (147)

Benny (128)

Crowley (114)

Well. That tells a slightly different story, ahem. Enjoy the various tropes that will be applied, Dean! And then we get:

No:

Amelia (245)

Kevin (223)

Gabriel (217)

Comparing to the Sam 'no' above -- these three are slightly more 'traditional' Sam ships, though the wincest shippers are nevertheless not into them for Sam, either. Dean literally never spoke to or saw Amelia on screen, so it'd be a determined shipper who'd make that happen. Not undoable, though!

Conclusion

Syke: there isn't one to be made. This really shows how diverse the taste is in the wincest community, or at least in the wincest community that a) happened to see this survey over the last five days and b) bothered to take it. This particular group leans slightly toward e.g. toppy Sam, or slightly toward switching, but when you look at raw numbers what you see is that at least one person LOVES every single one of these things, and at least one person fucking HATES every single one of these things, and so -- so what? Write what you want. If you see a niche of something that you love where you feel like not enough people are writing or reading, try to fill it. If you're worried "no one" will like it, well -- you're wrong. Someone will. It just needs to get seen by the right people.

That's where fandom comes in, to spread the love even if something isn't bulletproof for us -- reblogging a post to say, 'hey, my mutual made this thing, look at it!' What a joy it'd be if someone saw it and loved it to absolute shattering bits, and then found their little bulletproof community, and happiness was made. What's the point, if we're not making each other happy.

Thanks for participating if you did, and reading all this if you did. Here's a link to a google sheet (read only) with all the tables of raw data if you're interested. I'll post some of the more entertaining fill-in answers later.

s&d shipping survey results: November 1, 2023 - Google Sheets

[apocalypseornaw]

I Want You

Dean makes it back from Hell and sees the changes between you and Sam so he decides to help push you two back together

Part 2 to Bad Idea

If only it was as simple as saying goodbye to a Winchester. The day after you'd left Sam you ended up going west to help out some hunters Bobby knew and trusted in Washington state. You needed a change of scenery.

About two months had passed when one night your phone ringing woke you up from a dead sleep. You rolled over, grabbing for your phone where it was charging on the nightstand "Hello?" You vaguely registered the fact that you hadn't checked the caller id and probably should've used one of your aliases when you answered but fuck sleep had idled your brain a little.

The voice that hit your ears made you think for a second you were still asleep and just dreaming "Hey sweetheart" "Dean?"

----------

You drove through the night to make it to Bobby's. The moment you stepped out of your mustang the front door opened and a very much alive Dean came walking out onto the porch. You approached hesitantly, friend or not the thought lingered of every monster this could be just wearing Dean's face.

Bobby appeared behind him in the doorway "Do ya need the silver and holy water test?:" you met Dean's eyes and shook your head slowly. Just the way he watched you was familiar "This is Dean" you grinned and when he opened his arms for a hug you dove into them. "Good to see ya too" he spoke into your hair.

When you pulled back you touched his stomach gingerly "I'm good" he promised then cut his eyes back at Bobby before saying "He told me you and Sam haven't spoke for months?"

You met Bobby's gaze and fought the urge to squirm, he'd been the closest thing you had to a father and you hated lying to him about anything. "Yeah" you couldn't tell Dean about Ruby or the blood. You sleeping with Sam was on the lowest side of the list of things you'd be hiding from Dean.

He nodded "Can you help me run him down?" Christ when had you gotten so close to these two? You couldn't very well tell Dean no. He meant too much to you and even this long later the memory of his stomach torns to shreds made your heart ache "Of course"

You were exhausted down to your very soul. Months had passed since Dean got back topside. Months full of fights, rather against Demons and angels or the many fights you'd gotten dragged into that was Sam and Dean fighting.

At least Ruby was dead. That was the silver lining in the chaos. Sam and Dean were working to rebuild some of the trust and you were simply struggling to keep your head above water. The love you had for the boys and Bobby meant you were dragged into every small altercation not to mention Sam had noticeably not even attempted to mention what had happened.

You were asleep curled up on the couch in Bobby's living room. You'd found a moment to catch your breath and planned to use it to your advantage. You needed to get back on the road, hunts were plentiful but dammit Bobby's was safe and comfortable.

----------

"So why are you and Y/N avoiding being alone?" Dean had noticed it multiple times but when he'd asked you once you'd pushed it off on simply being because of Ruby and the demon blood. It felt like more than that. Something had changed between the two of you and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Sam shrugged, looking out the window. "A lot happened when you were gone" Dean raised an eyebrow "More than you've already told me?" Sam rubbed a hand across his face "You know how I've felt about her. Since a year or two after Jess died"

"And?" Dean pushed knowing for you and Sam alike someone had to out stubborn both of you and he was the perfect person for the job. "And she came and found me after you died, after me and Bobby went our separate ways for a while" "and what? You two fought or something?" Sam scoffed "or something"

Dean knew that tone. "Son of bitch....you slept with her" Sam nodded "and let her leave then continued messing with Ruby and lost up any chance I ever had with her" "Has she said that?" The moment Dean asked it Sam looked sideways at him "No...but" Dean cut him off "Why not and I know I sound like a hypocrite here but why not try talking to her? Worse case scenario she tells you that you did lose any chance"

Sam shrugged "I don't know. I don't want to push her any further away from me"

Mornings at Bobby's were always the closest to calm you could find, most mornings anyways. This particular morning you'd woken up to the fed line ringing so you'd jumped up to answer it.

You'd just hung up from confirming one of David's aliases when Bobby walked into the room with two coffee mugs in his hand "Got that covered?" He asked nodding towards the phone as he held one of the mugs out to you.

"Yeah just some local fuzz wanting to clear David. From the sound of it he's working a wendigo case" he nodded, watching as you took a sip of your coffee. "Something up?" You questioned but he shook his head "Made it to your liking?" You nodded but the question threw you off because Bobby had long since known how you take your coffee.

"Well I know you and Sam ain't exactly seen eye to eye in a while so I figured I'd let you know that him and Dean are headed this way" You groaned slightly "So if I shower really quick and hit the road?" He knew the unasked question "You were never here"

"You really are awesome Bobby!" You told him with a smile as you grabbed your bag and ran up the stairs carefully to avoid spilling your coffee in pursuit of a shower.

You were at your trunk, loading your duffle bag when that familiar rumble hit your ears and you cursed under your breath "Damn I shouldn't have tried to blow dry my damn hair"

You glanced over your shoulder to see the impala pulling to a stop not far from where you stood. You plastered a smile onto your face when the driver's door swung open first "Hey Dean!" You greeted trying to determine rather you should close your trunk or not.

He motioned to your mustang "You heading out?" You shrugged "Yeah. I found a couple cases" he looked towards Sam then back at you "I'm gonna head in, talk to Bobby but if you can wait an extra minute or two we could roll out with you or you could take Sam with you and I could catch up?"

Yeah you weren't taking Sam to head out on cases you'd just made up "I'll wait for ya and text Garth in the meantime to double check that no other hunters are closer to those cases than we would be" "In that case you kids play nice, I'll be back"

----------

Sam watched your eyes track Dean up the stairs but the moment he opened his mouth in an attempt to talk you were suddenly very interested in doing an inventory of your trunk.

"Y/N" the moment he spoke your name he saw your shoulders tense. "Yeah Sam? What's up?" You asked turning to glance over at him and he felt his stomach flip at the mere indifference you seemed to now have towards him.

"I'm sorry" his voice was low but he knew you heard him. "You have nothing to apologize for. You've done your twelve steps on the addiction Sam. We all agreed to move forward" "I'm sorry for not coming to find you" your shoulders tensed even further "Still not something to apologize for, you want what you want"

----------

You were trying not to show emotion, busying yourself with checking salt rounds, holy water and other supplies that Bobby had plenty of should you need to restock.

"I want you" the words fell from Sam's lips as if he believed them to be the clearest of truths and you couldn't take it anymore. You slammed the trunk down then spun to face him "You have one hell of a way of showing people you want them then. You fucked me, told me goodbye and went right back to Ruby. I was called when you and Dean chose different sides over that bitch. She's been dead for weeks Sam, weeks and I haven't gotten so much as a call or text from you. Anything that's come up Dean has called me. You're not fucking anyone and you're sober. You haven't made a move to talk to me before this particular moment in time. It's pretty obvious to anyone that I'm not actually something you wanted. You just needed a fix that night and couldn't get blood out of your demon so you settled for sex out of me"

You saw the look pass through his eyes and knew you'd hit a nerve. Those damn puppy eyes of his were almost enough to make you falter but the memory of his lips on your body and how much that night had been prominent in your mind and your heart helped you to stay steady.

"It's ok Sam. I'm not mad at you. I still love you as a matter of fact. I will fight for you and for Dean but I know what happened did because of what you were going through"

----------

"Y/N.." he took a step towards you but you cut him off by holding a hand up "Please, I'll let you talk but you've got to give me some breathing room here Sam"

He nodded "When I woke up that next morning you were already gone. Did I want to chase you? Yeah, Of course. Did I know i was already too far gone to not drag you down with me? Yeah. It's not a damn excuse but I couldn't risk you getting involved with everything anymore than you would already be just from caring about us"

"I can take care of my damn self Sam. I didn't need you coddling me then or now" you interrupted despite your promise to let him talk. He took a step towards you and you let him, keeping the cool metal of your car at your back "I know that. I know you don't need me protecting you. I know you can handle damn near anything that gets thrown your way. I've always loved that about you but I couldn't lose anyone else I loved. Dean was gone, Bobby and I weren't talking. I had to make sure you went back to Bobby because that's where you were safest"

There was barely two feet between the two of you by that point, you hadn't realized Sam had moved closer with every word. You crossed your arms across your chest in an attempt to keep yourself from crossing the space that was left.

----------

Sam looked from you to where your phone was hanging heavily in the pocket of your jacket "I'm guessing those cases were fake considering you've yet to text Garth?" You shrugged "Was the best excuse I could come up with on the spot. Dean has a habit of seeing through my bullshit"

He had to laugh at that considering Dean had in fact seen through both of yours bullshit was the entire reason he had this chance to make a plea. "I wanted to come after you, I know too little too late but I did. I know you may not care but I didn't sleep with Ruby after that. Blood yes, sex no"

You were purposely keeping your eyes glued behind him, focusing on the impala "Ok" damn you were stubborn as hell. Normally he'd mark that as one of your good qualities and as a hunter it was but now? He wished that stubbornness would falter just a little.

"You've been who I've wanted. For a while now you've been the only one I really wanted. You sought me out, I never expected to see you that night then when you kissed me first? I saw a sliver of myself that I thought I'd buried with Dean. The way you let me touch you, the marks I carried for over a week from your nails. It all reminded me of who I really am, where I really belong. I want you in whatever way you'll have me. Rather it be a friend or rather it be more because I love you"

When you finally let your eyes drift back towards him he saw the uncertainty in your eyes "I know you love me Sam. I love you too and Dean" he shook his head "I don't mean I love you like that. I mean that if it's the last thing I do if you'll just give me one more chance, give us a chance I could be the man you deserved. I could make you happy. If you just tell me what you want here?"

----------

You stood there in shock, staring at Sam. He loved you? With every moment that passed filled with your silence you saw his face fall "If you don't want me that's not gonna change the fact that you'll always be one of the most important people in the world to me. I hope you'll at least be my friend again"

You took a deep breath "You asked what I want?" He nodded so you pushed away from your car, taking a step towards him and smiled slightly when he didn't move "I want to see Bobby retire and not die bloody. I want to see Dean have a home outside of baby here. I want to put down every evil son of a bitch I can and save however many people I can. I want one day to know that hunters are back to the basics of simple vampires or hauntings. More than anything what I want in this moment is for you to kiss me like you mean everything you just said because god dammit Sam Winchester I love you too"

He closed the space between you in a breath and was crashing his lips against yours. You sighed into the kiss and the next thing you knew he was picking you up and walking back to your trunk. He sat you down gently, never breaking away from your lips. You pulled him closer deepening the kiss.

When the need for air drove you apart he moved to your neck, kissing the spots he knew would pull a moan from your lips. One of your hands slipped under his shirt, fingernails grazing his toned stomach. A throat being cleared made you both snatch apart like you'd been shot at.

Dean was standing on the top step shaking his head "Well damn I said play nice not play house" you laughed as Sam laid his head over against your chest, his laughter shaking you both. "I'd say go to hell Dean but it spit you back out once already"

He laughed "Good point. Hows about I give you two the key to the motel room I got two towns over and I'll crash here with Bobby?" Sam raised his head to look at his older brother who simply grinned "I know, I'm awesome. Now grab the key and go spend some time with Y/N"

@dragjunkie23

[ghoastixx]

hi! I saw you wanted supernatural requests so I was wondering if you could do Sam with an Angel! Reader? Like he finds them on a hunt and brings them back to a motel and they eventually fall in love or something? Please and thank you!

Sam Winchester x GN Angel!Reader

Notes: I absolutely adore this prompt!! I love angel imagery and 'religious' themes in media, especially in horror content. This is so cute to me?? I love it???

Synopsis above

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castiel was Dean Winchester's angel.. but you? You were Sam's.

Well... Sam hadn't known about you, and there were a few times where Castiel sensed you near and almost blew your cover. You hadn't even meant to get caught by Sam when you did.. but it was such a close call..

Sam had been on a solo hunt, a witch.. But it had gone wrong, a demon had showed and had him good.. so you may or may not have threw the door open and put your vessel in danger. You meant to get out as quickly as you came but it was too late. Sam had questions.

"Ruby..?" Ruby.. yes the demon. She had been staying away from Sam since you had started keeping a closer eye on him.

"No. I am no demon." Sam wiped some blood from his mouth, confused.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Y/n and I am an angel of the Lord,"

So, of course, in usual hunter fashion, he took you to his car and tried out every single trick in the book to harm you. When none of it worked, he sat you in the passenger seat of the rental he was using, and called dean.

"Hello?"

"Dean, is Castiel there?"

"Yeah, Sammy what's up?"

"I need you to ask him if he knows of another angel who goes by Y/n.."

"Have you got yourself an angel too now, Sammy? What, I can never be the special one?"

"Dean just ask him! This is serious."

"Fine.. Fine-" Then another voice was on the phone.

"Hello Sam," You couldn't' help but smile a bit. Castiel.

"Cas I need-" Cas cut him off,

"Dean told me that Y/n was there, is that true?"

"Well- yeah, you know-"

"Y/n, you're the one I've been sensing, yes?" Sam handed you the phone. You looked at it, not knowing what to do. You talked at it.

"Castiel? Yes. It's me. Your voice.. it's in a box-"

"Yes, its fascinating, isn't it? Sam will bring you to us tomorrow, I have a lot of questions."

"O-okay-" You handed the phone back to Sam who hung up.

"So.. How long have you been watching me?"

"A while. Since Dean's return from hell."

"Why reach out now?"

"I didn't wish to do it. You were in danger."

"Why have you been watching me?"

"You think Dean was the only one who deserved to be protected? My job is to watch over you."

"Like a guardian angel?"

"No I'm a soldier."

"Well yes- I mean-" He paused. "Why don't we go back to my motel room and talk more there."

You were mostly quiet. Your eyes seemed harsh, like how castiel's used to be.

Sam unlocked the room and went in to sit on the bed. You walked in but stayed standing. He then bombarded you with questions.

But, that was months ago. Now you were staying in the bunker when you could alongside Castiel and the Winchester brothers. You and Castiel seemed to have an unspoken understanding of each other though. He kept his watch on Dean and you kept your eye on Sam. But lately it had seen like Sam was keeping his eyes on you more and more. Dean had given you some advice, saying to "Go get 'em feathers,"

"Sam?" You wandered into his room, he was sitting on his bed with a book. He was researching for the next hunt.

"yes?" he put it to the side to look at you, which made your vessel feel warm.

"Dean told me I needed to talk to you." Sam smiled,

"Oh yeah? What did he put you up to."

"No, I asked him some questions. He suggested I talk to you about it. Whenever I see you.. my vessel.. my stomach gets all warm and fuzzy and my face feels hot.."

He smiled, "Are you trying to tell me you like me?"

"yes."

"Good. I like you too, angel."

"Good." you said like it was normal. "Now.. what do humans usually do-"

"Do you want to research with me?" he asked, softly.

"Yes.. I'd like that."

[purpleheartskies]

Robby is the underdog - Part 7

In s6e5, the leitmotif for Daniel's kk1 win against Johnny was used for Robby's captaincy win against Miguel.

(Watch with sound. Credit to another Robby fan who pointed this out to me and created this video.)

"A leitmotif is a repeating melodic phrase in music that is used to represent a character, setting, emotion, or theme. The intentional use of music as a means of communicating character, tone, or theme is a leitmotif." "The leitmotif has proven particularly effective in film scores as a means of creating continuity, heightening the drama and building an emotional connection between characters and the audience.

The fact that the leitmotif for Daniel's (first) win against his bully in kk1 is used for Robby's (first) win against his bully blatantly indicates that Robby is the underdog and Karate Kid of this story. This is more evidence that Robby is the Daniel in this kk story and Miguel is the Johnny.

It's important to note that when Miguel won the s1 avt final against Robby, no leitmotif was played when he won the match and was handed the trophy. Right before his win, an ominous motif was played, indicating that the win wasn't good. After he's handed the trophy and asked to speak, the shot slowly zoom's in on Johnny and starts playing his leitmotif in Cobra Kai (called Father and Son), because his focus was on Robby and his loss. This "win" for Johnny was a major loss in their relationship. In the s4 avt final, a triumphant motif was used for Eli's win, while a more melancholy one was used for Tory's win / Sam's loss.

No kid who has won a trophy so far had gotten the kk1 leitmotif for Daniel's win until Robby did in s6e5.

During the tournament in s1e10, Daniel approached Robby in the locker room and spoke to him about the "need" to find balance:

Robby: "I just wanted to get back at him [Johnny]." Daniel: "I know. But you're never going to find balance that way. You can't let that bad blood change who you are. I'm not saying you need to like the guy. I know I never will, but he... he is your father. And believe me, you're lucky to have one. You just gotta try to remember, he's... he's not a monster. He's just a guy with a lot of demons. Mr. Miyagi always told me there's no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher. And your dad had the worst teacher there ever was. It sent him down a wrong path. But you don't have to go down that path. Do you understand? You don't have to ever become him. Trust me. You let go of all that anger, and I guarantee you, no matter what happens tonight, you go home feeling great."

In kk1 tournament, during his conversation with Miyagi in the locker room, Daniel talked about his need to find balance.

Daniel: "Can you fix my leg with that thing you do?" Miyagi: "No need fight anymore. You proved a point." Daniel: "What? That I can take a beating? Every time I see those guys, they'll know they got the best of me. I'll never have balance that way, not with them, not with Ali... ...not with me."

Both Daniel and Robby are injured in these scene because a Cobra Kai had injured each of them during their semi-final fight and got disqualified for it. Both Daniel and Robby were then automatically given the semi-final win and were supposed to fight their bully, the main Cobra, in the final. (In my Robby is the underdog - Part 1.5 post, I go over some more of parallels between s1 Robby and kk1 Daniel in their respective avts and that Miguel had already been set up as the bully and Robby as the underdog going into the tournament.)

Both of their mentors had also told them that they didn't have to continue the tournament but both of them insisted that they wanted to. Daniel said what I've quoted above. Robby said, "Yes, I do. I'm going to have to face him sooner or later. Might as well be today."

Miyagi's original lesson to Daniel about balance was this:

"Better learn balance. Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, better pack up, go home. Understand?"

In s6e5, Robby was losing the match, until he found balance when Tory arrived.

During the tournament in kk1, when Daniel was fighting to win a spot in the semis, Miyagi told Daniel: "Remember your defense. Points coming. Concentrate. Focus power. Remember balance. Make good fight."

During Robby's final match in the s1 avt, Daniel told Robby, "Breathe. Focus. Find your balance."

In his captaincy match, Robby was fighting offensively until he found balance, then he switched to mainly defense and won.

Interestingly, in the s4 avt, Daniel had at first told Eli something similar to what Miyagi had told Daniel in the kk1 tournament: "Concentrate, defense, focus, power. You find your balance, and those points will come."

However, after Eli told Daniel that Robby knows Miyagi-do better and Robby had scored one point on Eli, Daniel told Eli to fight using Cobra Kai and to put Robby on defense. This means that Robby was relying more on Miyagi-Do to fight, while Eli was relying more on Cobra Kai and won the tournament primarily using Cobra Kai teachings, despite representing Miyagi-Do. Eli didn't rely on having balance to win. He won by channeling his anger into fighting. It wasn't a real/pure Miyagi-Do victory.

Daniel had given up on Miyagi's teachings pretty quickly in order to secure the win in the s4 avt. Robby in turn still believes in and follows those teachings. In fact, his balance was off during his match with Eli because Robby had adopted "no mercy" while fighting Kenny and that had affected Robby greatly especially when he saw Kenny and had the realization that Cobra Kai wasn't helping him with his need to find balance.

In his captaincy match, he still relied on those Miyagi-Do lessons and teachings about balance. After he was able to find balance, he won the captaincy match primarily using Miyagi-Do. His win secured him the spot as the male captain, representative, and potential champion for Miyagi-Do in the final tournament in the series. His win was also celebrated using the OG Karate Kid leitmotif for winning by finding balance.

The overall theme of the series is about finding balance not just in karate, but in life as well.

“You remember lesson about balance? Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life. Whole life have a balance. Everything be better. Understand?”

In my post Robby is the protagonist, I describe the role the protagonist plays in the story. One signifier of the protagonist is that the theme of the story is told primarily through their story:

The protagonist in a story is the character who offers the most conflict in situations, has the longest emotional journey, and has a primal goal to root for. Their transformation shapes the story's theme. Their choices and motivations affect the direction of the story. They're at the center of the conflict and their decisions push the plot forward. In a story with multiple characters with journeys, there is ultimately one character who is the primary driver of the overall story and their story tells the theme of the overall story. The other characters' can be protagonists in their own journeys but these become subplots of varying levels of importance. The protagonist is the character whose fate matters most. They have the highest stakes and the greatest obstacles.

Everything about the above statement is captured by Robby's story in s6e5:

He offered conflict by resisting Miguel trying to gaslight him about his greater need to win.

His issues with balance have been ongoing since s1, "the longest emotional journey":

"You may know the moves, but none of that matters unless you have balance.... I didn't mean balancing your body. I mean balancing your life. Look, Robby. I know it's hard growing up without a dad, believe me. Mine died when I was young, so I know. But when those bad feelings all weigh you down, you gotta... you gotta search inside for the good stuff, you know, and just... Because then you can find some balance in your life. Understand. It's not easy, but you'll do it."

He has primal goals to root for. He has to find balance in life. He also doesn't believe in his future but has to make a future for himself by knowing who he is and believing in himself and his future:

"Well, you are the tree, Robby. You've got strong roots. You know who you are, right? So now all you've gotta do is visualize what you want your future to look like, and then you make it happen." He also needs to find balance.

Robby's the only character that actively tries to grow and find balance, the theme of the story. Finding balance is emphasized for his story specifically, though other character's stories touch on the theme to different extents.

Robby's choices and motivations really do affect the plot. For example, Robby could have given into Miguel's claim that he deserves the win more, but Robby didn't. Robby stood up for himself and his future for the first time since he stopped doing so in s5e5. Robby didn't back down after that.

At the end of s6e5, although others in Miyagi-Do care about Tory, Robby is the one most connected to Tory and is the most affected by her rejoining Cobra Kai. That is, he is still most central in his connections to both sides in the dojo war.

Robby's fate has been set up to matter most. Robby issues with balance will greatly affect his ability to fight and lead. He has the highest stakes and the greatest obstacles during this tournament. (Though, Sam is also a captain, she won the spot by default, isn't an underdog the story, and balance is mentioned but is not a focus in her story and doesn't affect her karate.) Interestingly, even most Miguel fans are wondering about what will happen to Robby, though they viciously want him to get injured so that Miguel can take over and win.

Robby's story in Cobra Kai, like Daniel's in kk1, is about finding balance. Daniel's issues with balance in kk1 were centered around his issues with Johnny bullying him, how that made Daniel feel, and the trauma it caused. Robby's issues with balance are also centered around his issues with Johnny's behavior towards him, how it makes him feel, and the trauma it causes him. This parallel of kk1 Daniel's issues with balance being about Johnny and Robby's issues with balance being about Johnny is an interesting one.

The stark contrast in their stories is that Daniel had the support of his loved ones including his mentor in his kk1 match, whereas Robby doesn't have the support of his loved ones and his mentor. Johnny, Sam, and Daniel specifically have been on Miguel's side for some time. They all were on Miguel's side during the captaincy match. (Daniel did seem concerned about Miguel after this loss and not that enthused by Robby's win.) Everyone siding with his bully plays a significant role in Robby's issues with balance. Johnny, especially, choosing Miguel over Robby while neglecting and abusing Robby has played the biggest role in Robby's traumas and issues with balance. Tory was his only support during the captaincy match. However, going into the ST, Tory is no longer on/by his side too. Robby is indeed all alone going into this tournament.

Overall, this story is told from the pov of the bullies, Johnny and Miguel, who are unreliable narrators. Right now, all the "good guy" characters have been on the sides of Robby's bullies. They each frame themselves as the good guy. In s6e2, Robby explicitly called out Miguel for framing Robby as the bad guy. Overall, there is so much evidence throughout the story that Robby is the protagonist, underdog, and Karate Kid narratively and thematically in this story.

(This post is part of my Robby is the underdog post series and is also titled "Finding balance - Part 4".)

[hexedwinchester]

Supernatural S02E22 All Hell Breaks Loose Part 2

hmmm.. so Dean drinks straight outta the bottle, is angry and refuses to accept Sam's death. The look on Bobby's face translates to: I've seen this with John after Mary died. Don't you follow his footsteps.

I've seen a lot of posts that interpret Dean's monologue to Sam's dead body as creepy or cringey but to be honest it seems very normal. People tend to have eulogies during funerals but see with Sam and Dean, they don't have big families or friends to gather around for these things. It's always been just Sam and Dean, not even much of Bobby. So Dean talking to Sam's dead body is just that: a eulogy

It always bothered me why John or Dean didn't get ten years like the way demon deals go. Because they needed a righteous man to shed blood in Hell to break the first seal. Now assuming John spent at least ten months (so a century in Hell's time) in Hell and he didn't break. So the demon who made the deal gave Dean only a year. Now remember, Sam also tries to make a deal after Dean dies in S3 but not one demon is ready to do that. This bothered me too but of course later we find out he is supposed to be Lucifer's vessel. Ain't no way any demon is dumb enough to make that deal. Interestingly, this demon is also reluctant to make this deal with Dean. She says "she could be in a lot of trouble for this." Maybe she heard whispers about Dean being Michael's vessel? Not sure about this, it's just my speculation.

the horror on Bobby's face seeing Sam up and around. Bobby itching to give Dean a earful. Go Bobby! Knock some sense into that idjit

now see, I already didn't like Jake because he killed an unarmed Sam, stabbing him in the back like a coward but the fact that he decided to follow YED's end of the world plan for money? Really, Jake? So low? Imagine this guy being Lucifer's vessel.. the world would collapse instantly!!

Morals thrown outside the window but Sam emptying that entire clip in Jake was so satisfying!!

Interesting that demons can't resurrect people without a deal. Sounds like YED wanted Sam alive. Again for obvious reasons (I don't remember though if YED knows about Sam being Lucifer's vessel)

That shot at YED is so cinematic!! I still feel Sam should have gotten to end him. He killed Mary and Jess and John. But well!

We got work to do!

[scoobydoodean]

I've suggested before that Sam's sense of empathy toward Dean's experience in hell ebbs and flows with the amount of demon blood Sam has consumed, but I also think there's something to be said for 4.11 "Family Remains" and 4.12 "Criss Angel Is A Douchebag" (where Sam starts drinking demon blood again) being back to back.

In 4.11, Dean tells Sam in shame that he liked torturing souls.

DEAN You know, I felt for those sons of bitches back there. Lifelong torture turns you into something like that. SAM You were in hell, Dean. Look, maybe you did what you did there, but you're not them. They were barely human. DEAN Yeah, you're right. I wasn't like them. I was worse. They were animals, Sam, defending territory. Me? I did it for the sheer pleasure. SAM What? DEAN I enjoyed it, Sam. They took me off the rack, and I tortured souls, and I liked it. All those years, all that pain. Finally getting to deal some out yourself. I didn't care who they put in front of me. Because that pain I felt, it just slipped away.

In the following episode, Ruby tells Sam he should just admit that he likes drinking demon blood:

RUBY Cut the head off the snake. You're the only one who can stop her, Sam. So step up and kill the little bitch. SAM Oh, I'm game, believe me. It's not the psychic thing I got a problem with. RUBY Yeah, I know what you got a problem with, but tough. It's the only way. SAM No. RUBY You know, this would all be so much easier if you'd just admit to yourself that you like it. That feeling that it gives you.

We know Ruby isn't just lying, because we can see Sam likes the power the blood gives him in the episodes like 4.15, 4.16, 4.20. He tells us outright in 5.02. Sam has moral reservations about drinking demon blood also, but part of crushing those reservations is refusing to admit that he likes the power the demon blood gives him. He has to tell himself he's just doing what he has to do. The truth though is that from the very beginning though (flashbacks in 4.09), Sam's chief motivation has been, in the face of all that pain, finally getting to deal some out himself.

RUBY I can't bring Dean back. But I can get you something else that you want. SAM And, uh... what's that? RUBY Lilith. SAM You want me to use my psychic whatever. RUBY Look, I know that it spooks you -- SAM Skip the speech. I'm ready. Let's go. RUBY Slow down there, cowboy. SAM Just tell me what I have to do.

Sam ends up rejecting Dean's experience so thoroughly because Dean acknowledged something dark inside himself that Sam can't and won't acknowledge within his own experience—that he likes what he's doing even though he knows it's wrong.

[future-dregs]

Kinktober Day 12 - Fear

Written for @spnkinkevents

Wincest ♡ Demon!Dean ♡ Dubious Consent ♡ Branding ♡ Knifeplay ♡ Mild Blood Drinking ♡ Face/Skull Fucking ♡ Word Count : 2,190

A little late, but here we are!

On Your Back, Under Me

Sam wakes up when he hears the door open, a muffled shick on the edge of his unsettled sleep.

He bolts up. But he's too slow and it doesn't matter anyway because a weight like a thrown anvil hits him and he topples back. Knees dig into his chest, heavy boots knocking his ribs, shoving the air out him with a huff.

His wrists get bound and tied to the bedposts, pulling painfully downward towards the floor.

He feels a flash of panic, the beginning of fear, his ears ringing while he struggles to take a deep breath, but its not nearly as strong as it normally would be, given the circumstances.

Because he knows who's got him pinned.

He'd recognize his brother's hands anywhere.

"Dean?"

A light clicks on, and glittering black eyes smile down at him.

"Hiya, Sammy."

Saliva floods Sam's mouth, trying to wash out the bile that rises in his throat. Oh.

"What? No hug? Sammy, I'm hurt."

" What are you doing?" He tests the ropes, they dont give an inch. He can't pull any slack out of them at all. His legs aren't bound, but Dean is holding them still, hands heavy on his shins, pressing and leaning. Its painful.

Dean grins.

"Well, Sam. I've been talking with people. Crowley, specifically. And we got on to the subject of you."

He walks the fingers of one hand up Sam's leg, to the zip of his fly. Runs his nail down the teeth of it.

"He told me about alllll the people who've been in your head."

True fear lances through Sam them, like holding an electric line, keeping time with the pulse in his ears.

"And?" As he if doesn't know. There's only one thing it could possibly be.

The big secret of Sam's life. Bigger than anything and everything that Sam has ever kept from him, or Dean has ever found out.

He waits for Dean's eyes to change, whatever is going to happen, he wants Dean to watch him through his summer's green, instead of these flat black panes from hell.

They don't.

Dean leans up, breath on his neck.

"You love me. You want me. You're always think about my mouth and my body."

He noses at Sam's throat, nuzzling at his pulse, which is thudding a frantic beat. The tenderness is at odds with the rest of the situation.

"And...what else? Finish the sentence Sammy."

Sam's voice is shaking. It matches the rest of him.

"And I always... I-I always have."

Dean pulls back.

"Bingo. See Sam?" He pats him on the cheek. "You know very well why I'm here. I've come to get my piece."

He tucks Sam's hair behind his ear, and when he pulls away, without meaning to, without wanting to, Sam follows his touch.

As much as the restraints will allow.

It seems absurd, and Sam will laugh at himself later. This isn't even HIS Dean! Not really. Not enough.

But...

But he still wants to be touched by him.

" Dean."

"Did you-" His hand flashes under the mattress, pulling out the knife Sam had remembered to store there, for all the good it had done him, before falling asleep, boots on and fully dressed atop the bed. "- course you did."

He examines it with a low whistle, making a show of rewrapping his hand around the haft.

"Lookit that big bastard."

He flips it around, holding it suggestively against his hip.

"Y'ever get on your knees and ride this thing?"

Laughs when Sam blanches then reddens, picturing it. "I'm just fucking with you."

He leans over Sam, hand on his hip. "Y'gunna kick me?"

Sam shakes his head.

"That's right. You're not."

Dean cuts through Sam's shirt, opening it like a vest, the razor point of his knife skimming him from his belly to the base of his throat. A thick red line rises after, beading with dark blood.

"I could gut you like a fish right here right now-"

He flattens his tongue against Sam and drags up in a solid, unbroken sweep, lapping up and swallowing the blood.

"- and you'd let me."

Sam can't help it, he groans, and his cock jumps.

Dean stabs the knife through the mattress, oh so close to Sam's crotch, nudging against the swell of his dick.

He opens Sam's jeans, hooking his fingers under the waistband and his boxers to pull them down. Sam lifts his hips for him, making it easier, wanting it faster, the touch of his brother. Even if it had to be like this.

His cock lies against his hip, hard and blushing red.

Dean looks proud. Smug, even.

"Baby brother's a whore for me. But then again, we both knew that."

His hand delves underneath Sam, pressing at his hole, rubbing rough and insistent.

"Tell me "no", Sam. Tell me you dont want it." He presses further, still not entering Sam, but it's more than just a suggestion. "You can't, can you?"

Sam licks his lips. Swallows.

"Not without lying."

"Smartass."

Dean's hand leaves him. Pulls the knife, presses it into the base of Sam's navel. "You'd even beg me to do it, wouldn't you?"

The muscles in Sam's stomach quiver. He wants him to stop. He wants him to keeping going. Shove in the knife until it pins him in place. He wants Dean to fuck him or finger him or cut a million little holes into him. Just so long as he keeps on touching him.

" Yes."

Dean presses harder, puncturing the soft skin.

Sam moans. Its painful, and ecstatic, and he's afraid Dean really will have him ask to stabbed, or killed.

Because he's right.

Sam would do it.

Blood wells in the divot around the knife, and Dean watches as it spills over into Sam's bellybutton. He bends to drink from it like a goblet, and when he rises, his jeans are messy with Sam's precome.

"But I won't have you to do that. Tonight."

He leaves, and comes back with a metal bucket, a rod sticking out from it.

He sets it beside the bed, and Sam can smell the heat coming off it, the acrid scent as the bottom of it burns through threadbare motel carpet.

"You're gonna burn me?"

Dean laughs. And oh, how Sam hates it. Because it sounds almost right.

"Ah Sammy. Sammy, Sammy. No, no. I'm gonna brand you."

He lifts the iron out of the bucket, the end glowing red and whitehot.

"You're mine, after all. And I'm gonna put it right here."

His fingers dig into Sam's tattoo, as if he wants to skip all the formalities and simply rip it out and be done with it.

"And then do you know what I can do?" His fingers twist and Sam jerks up, rising to meet the pain. "I can get in you. Be all up in your brain matter and soul juice."

He cocks his head, regards Sam. "You know he wants that more than anything? He just wants the two of you to wear the same broken meatsuit like a home. He gets jealous whenever something else gets to possess you."

He grins, and plunges the brand down onto his chest.

"All day long up in here it's just Sammy, Sammy, Sammy. It's what he would so, honestly, if he could. Possess you. And thanks to me, now he can."

Sam screams, writhing in his bonds as the metal sears his skin, burning deep into the muscle.

"No, please. Don't!"

Seeing Dean's body fall to the floor, hollowed out and lifeless, the idea of that is terrifying. Far more than the thought of what would come after, the thing that used to be Dean trying to curl up around his bones, talking to him in a dead man's voice.

"Stop!"

Dean laughs. "Too late." But his tattoo is unharmed, not a scorch to be seen. The burn is placed lower.

"But I wouldn't, Sammy." Dean's eyes glitter. "Even if you nearly came cause you thought I had."

His free hand wraps around Sam's cock and pulls upward, agonizingly tight and slow while he grinds the brand further in, the hoop of metal encircling his nipple.

"I think you want me to do it. And that all this protesting is just for show. I think you want me inside you, in every way that counts."

Sam's mouth falls open, trying to breathe through the pain, and Dean's hand drops the brand and flashes out, grabbing his jaw, wrenching it wider. There's a pop, and Sam flinches, hoping it's not dislocated.

Dean spits into his mouth.

Sam swallows before he can be told, before he can even think about it, it's purely instinctual, reactive.

"Sonuvabitch. "

Sam's not sure if Dean can surprised in his current state, but it sure sounds like he is.

He grabs Sam's head with both hands, fingers digging in behind his ears. "Oh Sam. You'd better be ready."

He jams his cock in Sam's mouth, down his throat, and skull fucks him. Jerking Sam's head violently up and down on his cock.

Sam chokes and gags. He tries to get a rhythm going, but the awkward angle of his head, suspended agonizing inches above the bed, plus the force with which Dean is thrusting into him, makes it impossible. The only thing he can do is try to open his throat, and take it.

The sounds coming from them are animalistic and depraved, the soundtrack to every down and dirty porno Sam's ever seen.

He'd thought Dean would be more of a talker, but he's not.

There's only Dean's grunting breathes, punched out of him with every thrust. The fleshy slap of his balls against Sam's face and throat. And the sounds that Sam's making himself. Wet gags that he tries his best to exaggerate, loving the sound of it, desperate whines and moans he let's loose whenever Dean gives him a moments breath, begging for the taste of his cock.

"Swallow that." The only warning Sam gets before Dean comes, grinding tight against his face, hard enough to split his lip, set Sam's nose to bleeding, holding his head so tightly Sam wonders if he's thinking about breaking his neck, if that's what's getting him off.

But Sam does it, and greedily. Eagerly. Would've done without being told. He wonders if Dean will taste any different than he does now, once Sam is able to heal him.

Once he catches his breath he starts to babble, words running into and over themselves as he tries to get them out.

"Dean, come back with me! We can purify you, heal you, bring you back to yourself. And then we can-" He wants to say 'be together', but it dies halfway out and he starts over.

"I've been looking for you, trying so hard to find you, and you're here, you came to me."

He knows it's no use, but he strains again at the ropes, wanting so badly to be able to touch Dean. To reach out and take his hand, squeeze it hard to show his sincerity, his commitment.

"Come home."

Dean steps away from him, and Sam's heart sinks.

"I like it this way, Sam. I don't want to change. To give up this confidence, this power? This STRENGTH?"

"But you can't-"

"Oh really? Just like you didn't like it when you had your powers? I'm everything I always should've been. There's nothing about who I used to be that I want anymore."

That hurts. And Sam knows he shows it.

"Not even me? Not even now, after you know?"

For a second, a second, not even perhaps, there's a flicker of something else in Dean's eyes, before the black shutters it out, darker than ever.

He cuts Sam's left arm free, tosses the knife onto his belly.

"Don't follow me, Sammy. Otherwise I'll really hurt you..and we won't have so much fun. You're a good fuck, Sam. But if I see you again. I'll kill ya."

He leaves the motel room, bucket swinging at his side. He doesn't bother to close the door.

Sam is still hard, cock jutting into his stomach, and he jerks himself off before cutting his other hand free. The burned flesh weeps plasma with every yank of his arm, and the wound on his belly reopens, so the bed is in a horrific state by the time he manages to frantically rip an orgasm out of himself.

Blood and cum streak the sheets. The brand has burned its way into the mattress. The heavy stench of lust and flesh hangs in the air, seeping with the fear sweat out of his pores.

A cool wind sweeps into the room, turning his sweat drenching skin clammy, chilling him.

He shivers. Can't stop trembling actually, even when he digs his nails into his thighs, forces himself to count his breaths.

He's going to follow him, it's DEAN, of course he is. Why he even bothered to try to dissuade him Sam doesn't know.

He just.

He needs a minute.

[Ao3 link]