#If we weren't written in the stars fate should never have set us on a collision course.

[funsize-cenobites]

[elizabethrobertajones]

Did Bobo really create the Wayward Sisters? If so, why weren't Jack and especially Cas included in that episode? That's my biggest issue with that pilot honestly, I mean, the fact that the show abandoned Claire and Cas' bond after season 10 and gave that storyline to Salmondean. Her bond with Cas is more interesting because of their connection to the Novaks. I also think that Claire and Jack would've made a more engaging dynamic and spin off together, I think they're strong characters & actors

Hi there!

Bobo isn’t the “creator” of Wayward so much as it can even have one, as it was a very organic idea, which even involved a healthy amount of fandom input. The original campaign in season 10 was for Wayward Daughters, and the idea picked up so much steam the altered title for, I guess, a mix of copyright and thematic relevance was the Sisters one. I’d say 10x08 was the real genesis of it as something that could be really solid. Once Kim and Briana were put together the chemistry and star power they could have had together was really meteoric as far as our small SPN world was concerned. Phil Sgriccia directed 9x13 and wrote 10x08 and was more of the parent of Wayward than any specific writer in that sense. Jody and Claire were pretty much common property of the show by that point. Claire was really introduced again in relation to plotlines and questions about Cas and less to do with them really going out of their way to re-launch her. I think they’d have been much cornier about it from the start and while YA protagonist diary writing her way through the end of Wayward Sisters was cute, it’s the sort of cutesy that really has to be earned. If she STARTED that way, like maybe me and 3 friends would be stanning her and everyone else would be revolted :P

(I am a YA fantasy novel author, but I do think everyone should make room in their hearts for this level of cheese)

In any case, Bobo just threw his hat into an already crowded ring with Alex, but obviously loving the characters and having his own personal wayward child to contribute did help elevate him to the prospective showrunner seat, but also all the other writers who’d written these characters except Dabb had left at that point. If Bobo was going to shepherd them through to their new show, he’d be the legacy writer, even though he was a new baby writer in the season Donna was introduced... Attrition aside, he did genuinely write them very well, loved their stories and was great with writing Jody when he could get her, so he would also have been a good choice even if all the others were left still... 

But anyway. Season 10′s subplot for Cas was about Claire and learning some stuff about himself along the way, but she was used very much for his personal development and for Dean as well, being a mini Dean herself in a season where he had lost a lot of his sense of self. It’s a total accident of scheduling but Angel Heart (10x20) being the last episode before 10x22 is a nice touch in that regard. And while Cas tried really hard with Claire and awoke his inner Dad side so that he’d be more prepared for fatherhood next time, it was pretty insurmountable between them to have anything more than a bittersweet relationship where the best he could do was make up with her and see her somewhere safe. The fact of him looking like her actual dead father is horrendous the more you think about it and while she managed to see him for who he was instead of a horrible monster, that’s more than enough trauma to inflict on an already traumatised girl for the sake of helping Cas’s manpain and tidying up the sticky question of Jimmy and Cas’s right to the vessel. 

Angel Heart very specifically ends with TFW mailing Claire to Jody because they know she’s already good with Alex in a genuine way and can handle these sort of issues and has done it before. And also because she can be a guardian who will not constantly remind Claire that her father is dead but something is walking around wearing a perfect reconstruction of his face. Carver era did a few things here and there with bodily autonomy and the problem of angel and demon vessels, but it was also really hit and miss. They’d get random waves of feeling guilty about it but then by necessity go back to stabbing angels in their still-living vessels an episode later. Claire was a way to address at the very least that whatever Cas was being put through was only a punishment on Cas and not on Jimmy as well, which is probably why we got such sappy Heaven scenes. We NEEDED to be shown he was in Heaven and largely okay with what was going on so that the show could justify using Cas at all as a character without breaking the code of ethics they tried to make their own characters adhere to. Aside from that it also gave Cas a side plot for when he wasn’t needed in the main plot, and any emotional connection to anything that wasn’t Sam and Dean.

Anyway 10x20 caused this huge fandom high which was followed by one of the lowest lows of the fandom immediately after, and both centred on female characters (in fact, now we know, 2 lesbians even! Though I’d wonder if, The Gay Agenda aside, Bobo spite-wrote that specifically because of the roots of Wayward) and I think that galvanised the whole movement of fans and hopefully some self-reflection in the show. They DID start making an effort in season 11, which shows some of the early signs of better inclusion but also backtracking or edging nervously away from the more intense Carver era stuff. Not just because Dean didn’t have the Mark any more but in general it was like someone had opened a window and let in some fresh air... Even before Carver bailed somewhere around the midseason to go do a different show and Dabb started to step up. 

All this to say that the Wayward stuff was always about the female characters and making up for the past sins of the show. It’s even a riff on the “wayward son” line which obviously centres around male protagonists and their journey. Claire stumbled into being a part of it in the lucky way of being in the right place and time, but the journey had already started even in the season 10 momentum with earlier work and it was that which suddenly made the prospect that Jody had two young women living with her now seem like a starter for the next generation of the show as it was a mirrored format to season 1 in a way, if you took Alex and Claire as the new Sam and Dean. It was exciting but people flipped out after Angel Heart because stuff had been bubbling since season 9 and earlier in season 10, so this was just pouring more candy into an already visibly full bowl of potential tasty gems. It made a possibility seem real that hadn’t before because we already had Kim bitterly complaining that the CW refused to hear the case for a Jody spin off because she was too old. The next best thing was a Jody spin off where she was the Gandalf to some CW age appropriate characters.

(the CW is and always has been garbage)

Anyway in season 13 Jack was introduced as a Claire 2.0 but as a male character with staying power for that reason, but he was filling the space she left for Cas. He couldn’t be a father to her and neither really wanted that set up anyway. But thematically it had created the possibility of Dadstiel and the space he had in his heart for that. Since the show was in its waning years they would be looking for endgame and handing Cas an easy win with a son he could unconditionally love who would love him back unconditionally absolutely filled that gap. It was a non SamnDean thing that Cas could have for himself outside of whatever happened with them. Not sure the memo came back that he was supposed to have mORE than that but oh well it’s not real if you don’t watch it :))) But yeah Jack was always going to be linked to Cas’s endgame, he wasn’t a free-floating character such as Jody who could go where she wanted and do as she pleased. He was main story relevant from start to finish and tied inexorably to another main character’s fate. Because the show wouldn’t do that with its female characters they could be bundled into spin offs but in practical terms Jack was both never what the Wayward as envisioned by fans or writers was about, nor would he have been free to go. 

Since it would have been about centering the stories of people overlooked by the main story, Claire a case in point that she had her life ruined in season 4 and it was a footnote until season ten, and then metaphorically more the concept of having queer and non-white characters in the mix of main characters, it would have represented a future of the story where the main show was unable to tread. Probably because of the CW. Also inherent biases in the writers. Bad cocktail. Jack is both too white and too male to fit the brief to ever leave SPN, and not only that but he is so as a precise mirror to the main white male characters, being passably any one of their sons if you squint, and meant to be instantly instinctively read as such... he was one of the safest bets of representing the show as the network wanted to imagine its target demographic.

So I really don’t think that Jack has any place being in a spin off of the show unless you want more of the same. They tried to give us something different and the CW didn’t like it because it wasn’t more of the same. Ironically a Jack spin off, with or without Claire, would have more chance of being greenlit and more chance of success. But the spin off they put their heart behind was Wayward Sisters as it was. And I think it was absolutely correct that never mind leaving Jack out of it after his work was done in the lead up episode to help set the table, but honestly they could have cut all the middle scenes of Sam and Dean wandering in the woods and gained precious seconds with the girls and still had a functioning story with those guys. It was like some cowardly missive was sent that the show couldn’t actually go more than 10 minutes without showing a flesh and blood Winchester or the whole thing would spontaneously sizzle out of syndication and the money tree would wither on the spot. And in the mean time, we could have been having Banter with the girls. Or Claire and Kaia holding hands some more. The good stuff :P 

[apollos-son]

✎ . . . ❝Sail Away,❞

Rating ; 15+

Pairing ; eventual poly ot8 ateez

Genre ; adventure, fluff, heavy angst, fantasy

Tags ; ateez pirate au, violence, blood, magic, mythical creatures, au of the past

A/N ; some events in this series will be based loosely on events that have occurred in ateez mvs that go along with ateez's story. I say loosely because I'm not reciting what happened in the mvs, I'm taking some of the events and twisting them in an interesting (I hope) way. There are tags that will be added later on, and in specific chapters there will also definitely be trigger warnings, however if there does happen to be anything triggering in chapters that I have mistakenly not labelled with a trigger warning - please let me know so I can add a warning.

Summary ; Kim Hongjoong is a hero reborn, brought back from a war he inevitably died in to defeat the darkness that once left his home, his family and the rest of the world in ruin. It's up to him and his companions to prevail over the most challenging of evils. Will they be able to do it? Or will everything crumble to pieces?

I know this is unlikely but I do ask that you do not copy my work under any circumstances. Do not repost, translate or use my work without permission. Thanks :)

-> The origin chapters

<- previous chapter • next chapter ->

Chapter 1 ⇢ ❝The World Left In Ruin.❞

It was a disaster. Everything that could've gone wrong.. it went wrong. They thought that this would be an easy battle. They thought they would emerge victorious. The preparations, the plans. It all meant nothing now.

There were too many dead bodies to count. Some were scattered individually, showing a soldier who danced alone, on their own paths. Others were in groups, clusters, showing soldiers who were afraid of this beast. Deeply afraid. Rightly so, she thought as she gazed over them. A battle had been lost. Not just a battle, the war had been lost.

。

She wiped the dirt off of her face as she collapsed to her knees. This was the temple, the place where she watched over the humans. Those old walls that had cracks etched in from years gone by, the overgrown plants that were evergreen. Beautiful. Sitting here now, with these eight bodies, the bodies of the heroes, she finally realised something. Destiny realised that it wasn't over yet. This world and that which remains within it was not yet doomed. Her fingers clenched around the cloth cloak that draped over her small body. Yes, she was weak and yes, using the last of her power would prevent her returning to Earth but it was the only way. Her eyes met the cold, dead ones of Kim Hongjoong and she heaved a long, defeated sigh.

Her only hope. Their only hope.

。

[three years later]

Soft brown eyes slowly flutter open, a sense of dreariness and haziness flooding over his body. Everything ached. It felt like hell. His limbs hurt, his head hurt. It took him a while to really see over his surroundings. Where... Where was he? The place was huge, ancient and yet it had a sense of charm that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He wipes his eyes with the palms of his little hands and he tries to stand up. He couldn't remember a thing. Why he was here, what happened before this point, he couldn't even remember his name.

Clumsily, he made his way over to a little pool of water that sat in one of the four corners of the room. He gazed down into the liquid and saw a faded reflection of a pretty boy staring back at him. Blue, fluffy hair, clear skin and beautiful brown eyes. His hands made contact with the cold stone that sealed the water off from the rest of the temple. A voice called something from the distance. Calling out the name of someone.. "Hongjoong"

Reluctantly, he followed that voice, down one of the corridors that the temple had. He observed the walls, every little crack and every little dent. That voice grew louder "Hongjoong, Kim Hongjoong," it sang, as though the name were a sweet melody. "who is that?" he thought "who is this person? Who is Kim Hongjoong?"

The corridor came to an end abruptly. His eyes widened at the sight before him. There were pillars towering over him and gaps between each of them. The fresh smell of air and salt wafted through as he finally got a look at the outside. It was beautiful, but.... it was also nothing but water. Water that stretched as far as the eye could see. No matter which way he looked at the openings,, no land was in sight.

Then, a piercing light came from the centre of the room, causing the boy to shield his eyes away hastily. A mosaic that was stretched across the floor in the centre also lit up. "Kim Hongjoong," the same voice chimed. "Kim Hongjoong, you must hear my call," it repeated.

"Kim... Hongjoong?" The boy replied croakily "I don't know anybody by that name," he said. The voice paused "who are you?" it asked. The boy's brows furrowed and he spoke unsurely "I have no clue,, I just woke up here, I don't remember anything,"

That was the big question, who was he? The light in the room seemed to only glow brighter at his response. "fallen hero,,," it insisted "you are our only hope... the fate of the world rests in your hands,"

Stubbornly, the boy shook his head "m-me? A fallen hero?? But I have no recollection of my past, how can that be?" he asked In desperation. His white button down flowed in the slow breeze and his tongue ran smoothly across his cold lips. The aching that overcame his body had subsided, but only by a short amount.

His eyes drooped closed, his head hurting still yet the pain blossoming through it seemed to slowly but surely fade with every inhale and exhale. His arms extended from each side outwards, taking in the wind and the sun from the outside. Embracing it. Nothing hurt anymore. He was truly alive. It was a feeling like no other. To feel every part of his body again. To feel like himself again. But, who was he? The person standing here, inhaling the vast ocean's salty scent was not the hero the voice called out for. So why did he follow? Questions without answers. Questions that needed answers.

He felt his eyes flicker open again, and the light was gone. Like it was never there. In its place, however, fluttered a golden butterfly. A small creature that held innocence and beauty within its being. The little butterfly perched upon the boy's finger when he reached out to touch it. Its perfect glistening glow was captivating. Warm brown eyes inspect the little insect carefully as it's pretty wings twitched. "what's a small thing like you doing in a place like this?" The boy asked in a soft tone, obviously not expecting an answer.

Wait.. Was it just him or was the butterfly twinkling more than a butterfly should..? Then, before his very eyes, the butterfly seemed to fade away; almost as if it was melting. Now nothing but sparkling dust remained on his fingers. As he rose his hand up to inspect the glittering powder, his hand was set ablaze. With a small gasp, he shook his hand vigorously but the flames merely danced around his fingertips, burning with passion.

。

This new power that surged through his body, he couldn't quite understand what it was. He had spent a while experimenting with it, creating flames, creating plant life, creating light and, perhaps less excitingly and more concerningly, destroying certain things that he touched. It seemed that he had the power of creation and destruction at his fingertips, yet he couldn't quite use it at his will. That was evident by the amount of flowers blooming around him and the amount of plants hugging at his feet. How curious.

The sun's bright light soon fell as the boy experimented continuously with this strange oddity now available to him. It was entertaining, sure, but he felt lonely. The moon's silver luminescence shined down on him as he sat between one of the gaps of the sturdy pillars in the room that was open to the ocean. It was too dark to see a thing elsewhere so it left the small boy to gaze up at the stars.

He still had no idea who he was or how he got here. "Kim Hongjoong" was the only person he knew of but,, he wasn't certain if he was Kim Hongjoong for sure. For now then... Until he gets a solid answer, he'll call himself "Hong"

Hong kicked his legs out a little bit and shivered lightly. His thin clothes weren't really shielding him from the night's cool air. He glamced at his left hand and pressed his lips together, until a flame shortly blazed over his palm. The warmth of the flame soothed him, as his eyelids grew heavy, calling for him to enter a slumber.

Slowly, Hong lowered himself until he was flat on his back, his hands up in the air so he could watch the red and orange embers flare at his fingers. Something then came to mind, what was he to do in this place? Eventually, he'd starve to death, correct? So... He had to figure out how to escape, there must be land somewhere else. For that moment, though, he let himself fall into a slumber. He let those thoughts and those worries drift away for now.

。

Startled, Hong awoke with a start. Something had hit his face. And it was more prominent then a bug or a drop of rain. He sat up and stretched his arms out above him and looked around. To his left, a small scroll of paper sat. That must've been what hit him.

His small hands twitched as he reached for the crisp piece of paper. It was rolled up precisely and wrapped in a red ribbon. Maybe,, just maybe, this could explain to him what was going on. He hastily unravelled the paper and scanned it. His look of hope quickly faded into something that resembled confusion. Words were etched into the paper elegantly, though most of it appeared in a language Hong couldn't quite recognise. Only one part stood out to him. The name. "Park Seonghwa," he whispered. His index finger traced the name in the italic handwriting and sighed. Two names, without meaning.

He stared at the writing for a while, trying to decipher what it was saying. But he could never get past the first sentence, which was clearly written in Korean. "We were written in the stars, by Destiny herself,"

His mind seemed restless, but the sun had not even come up yet. He was using the small light source that the moon gave off. His eyes lifted to stare at the many stars. "written in the stars... what does that mean?" he asked himself solemnly. A small crackle of fire came to his attention and he looked down again only to realise that he was burning the aged paper. "No!-" he squeaked in desperation but before he could do anything, the paper had burnt to a crisp.

Not long after though a figure appeared beside him. A gasp left his lips in shock and he moved himself back, away from the figure that was laying unconscious on the floor. Did,, did he do that? Surely not, that couldn't be possible. He looked over the figure for a moment, his eyes twinkling with curiosity. "Park... Seonghwa?" he queried quietly.

When the figure's eyes opened abruptly to reveal a pretty blue, Hong gasped again. He had the urge to reach out and touch the person's face, but restrained himself from doing so. "who.. are you?" The figure, that upon closer inspection seemed to resemble a man also, asked with a sense of weariness in his voice.

"I.. don't really know,"

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Lil taglist:

@atiny-piratequeen @ningnings-plushies @btsheadquarters7 @catboy-dia

[gigil-bot]

11.15.18 I finally have some time to jot my thoughts down.. I finally have a breather now that the election is over. And what an election this was.

But before I begin, I want to give a shoutout to xxx.You inspire me. I might not speak to you, and I might not like you. But I am inspired by you. By your passion, by your resilience, by your ability to make others feel special, by your ability to build community. By your ability to give yourself to your work and your art.

But what you also remind me is that there are shitty people out there.. who work really hard.. people who will use and walk over others.. manipulate them without empathy or remorse.. people who will make another's life a living hell and justify it.. people who can bring others behind their evil ideologies for one reason or another... and knowing these people exist gives me reason to not delay. To work harder. To push myself to my limits because that's where growth occurs, and not only that, it's because I know that if I am not working as hard as the opposition, my team will lose and many people will continue to suffer..

Now I know this is not a matter of us versus them because in the grand scheme of things, we are all one, we are all connected. But at the individual and community levels, people are affected. And in the grand scheme of things all of us are impacted by actions and inactions. Each of us is a node in a larger network. Each of us matters. And every decision one node makes affects the rest of us. I want to create a net positive with the life of my node to uplift all the nodes around me.. and evetually in the entire network.. I want to create a net positive outcome in the lives of whoever my actions can affect.. in whatever way I can as long as I remain ethical and values-driven.

Fidelity, justice, autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, integrity -- this is my creed, the creed of all helping professionals.

For the past couple of months, I have been growing.. sometimes in the hot scorching sun, but growing nonetheless. And now, more than ever, do I feel prepared to make a difference. To apply my knowledge and values and put it into practice.. compassion, empathy and a willingness to do good. I have done so much and have learned so much in the past couple of months, I feel like a different person. I feel equipped with the tools, experience, and knowledge to do more and to be more..

And we've are seeing the results of my and others' collective action. We are growing in numbers- the people called to mobilize and improve the lives of the members of their communities and bring hope for the future..

We took back the house... and more and more, women are rising up and empowering one another to do the same. I am grateful to be a part of this movement, this culture shift, where women are no longer victims, no longer survivors, but fucking badass warriors who have seen shit and have been through some shit but still show up every single day to battle their demons and take care of business.

I love where I am. Now don't get me wrong, like I said, growth is not always easy.. I didn't want to wake up today. There was a period of time where I didn't want to continue because I had been through the fire.. been chewed out, so stressed out I felt my body on fire and electricity surged through my veins.. but we breathe and push through.. when everyone was telling me it's not worth it, I should quit, I should give up, I kept going, and I will keep going.. because I believe in what I am doing. I believe that what I am doing is making a difference. It already has.. In have gotten to see.. first-hand the spark, and now it's a slow burn until we see the culmination of our work come to life, but as we grow and empower more women, things can only get better. Gender parity 2020!

And finally, I have to end with my gratitude.. I know I am exactly where I was meant to be. I have so much to be grateful for. 3 years ago, 5 years ago, I was wishing for something like this and through a series of events, here I am. I am so supported and so loved by God, The Universe, Source, and I know NOTHING can take that away from me.

I wanted to make a difference.. in my journal about 2 or 3 years ago, I wrote, "I want to gain the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to become an effective community leader, a positive role model, and to make a positive impact on my community and the world through my work in government, social services, an agency, etc. I want to enact positive, sustainable change for future gens."

And this was before my internship experience with an agency that serves children of abuse, this was before my work with the women's center, before my experiences with my women's leadership network, and before I even knew the org that I am working with now.. existed..

As Steve Jobs stated, "You can never connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking back." My dots weren't just dots. My dots were stars, and my life has been a constellation. My fate was written in the stars, and I am so grateful for my life.. and everything I had been through because I am here today. Doing the work that needs to be done to empower the people who are going to lead our future.

And finally finally, I could not been here without my fellowship funders and the people who believed in me and gave me a chance-- Rosalina, Millie, Sara, Dr. E, Dr. V, National-- Dr. Cuillado, Tsihai, Marta, Arianna, Dr. Stout and all the women and people who have been here for me since day 1: my grandma, Brandon, Nathan, my brother

And the people who supported me along the way: Auntie Helen and Uncle Bing, Heidi, my supervisor at ASI-- so many many people

Above all, is God, obv, but right below is my boyfriend who is unwavering in his loyalty, who shows me love and support through his actions, and inspires me to be myself and be okay with who I am.. he is slowly breaking me out of my shell.. the shell I created as an abused and neglected child. A child who went through the trauma of separation from their primary caregiver as a 1 year old.. and then again as a 3 year old.. S/O to my Child Abuse, Psych, and HUSR classes for teaching me about my traumas and helping me learn to heal from them. It was a huge light bulb moment to learn abiut why Inal the way Inam because of what happened to me in my formative years. I have attachment issues because baby me thought I was abandoned at 1.. and then baby me was taken away again at 3. The formative years create those templates for relationships.. then physically and emotionally abused and neglected.. Boy what a template. He's showing me that not everyone will scream or get angry at me at the drop of a hat.. that people can be kind and considerate of one another.. that collaboration happens everywhere and not just in a team or classroom setting.. it happens in a family.. in a household. I grew up in a completely different environment where I was in survival mode all the time.. every kid for themselves.. and I lived in so much fear and anxiety.. every. single. day. But I didn't know that's what I was experiencing.. living in this household with my boyfriend.. is a stark contrast to what I grew up in.. and I am learning what normal can be.. and it's nice. It's safe. And he feels like home.