#also dean giving the credit to john for something he did? how many times has he done that?

[batcavescolony]

S3 E8 Supernatural

This is a Christmas Episode! I'd be great if it wasn't April but here we go!

The flash backs to the Christmas they had as kids? When Sam first figured out what John actually does? Then Sam gave Dean the present he got for John then Dean wore it for for ever? Guys I'm crying. And then in the future Dean wants one more Christmas and Sam gives it to him! AHHHH

[leverage-commentary]

Leverage Season 2, Episode 15, The Maltese Falcon Job, Audio Commentary Transcript

Dean: Hi I'm Dean Devlin, Executive Producer and Director of this episode.

John: I'm John Rogers, Executive producer and Writer.

Chris: I'm Chris Downey, Executive Producer, and this is the Maltese Falcon Job. Part two of our season two finale.

John: And this is a lot of fun, this was- this was born of an episode we never wrote. Just- we really wanted to just put them on their pins.

Chris: Right.

John: Just really knock them on their ass and so- were you handheld there? Handheld whenever there's a problem, right?

Dean: Well this is actually a 360 steadicam. And what we're trying to do is let- their entire world is spinning out of control, so we just wanted this just to keep spinning around. They don't know where they're gonna land.

John: This is a fast, hard reset. The second- the second half of the season finale last year, we kinda eased into it, we reset the locations.

Dean: Here we throw you right into it.

Chris: Right.

John: Yeah, you best be paying attention and you really see when, you know- they're the uber team. You know, you really need to put them onto the wall, and the FBI and Interpol in this situation, they're utterly lost. And Interpol, it was interesting, it was something we were saying last- cause it was Mark Sheppard credit in the last episode. We were looking for a villain, and the problem is we kept coming up with this recurring, separate villain. We’re like, ‘We've never met this person before, we don't care. The person you really want it to be is Sterling! But he's an investigator.’

Chris: ‘He's an insurance investigator, what does that have to do with insurance? We have to find a way to make this about insurance?’

John: Oh man, we killed ourselves.

Dean: Do you remember what you said John? The night-?

Chris: It was between you two, right?

John: It was us. I Skyped you at like 11 o’clock at night, you had come back from scouting-

Dean: And we were talking, and the idea came up, ‘What if we just made him interpol?’ Do you remember what you said?

John: No.

Dean: You said, ‘We are either coming up with the best idea we’ve ever come up with, or we’re both reall,y really tired right now.’

[Laughter]

Chris: And it was.

John: It was great.

Chris: As soon as I heard it, I said, ‘That’s a great idea.’ Because we needed to give him a wider mandate.

John: Yes, if we're gonna keep them as a recurring bad guy-

Chris: Great idea.

John: And what was great is, we already shot the episode that he was in before, so we had to go back and reshoot that ending.

Dean: Here's my favorite Tara bit, of her whole arc.

John: Oh, that's right.

Dean: And this man was actually our local assistant.

[Laughter]

Chris: That was AJ.

John: Yes. And a fine actor by the way.

Dean: He did a great job.

Chris: Oh look at this shot, look at this.

John: Look at just the look he's doing. Just a good 1960s Zero Mostel take there. Yeah, ‘Oops.’

[Laughter]

Chris: Mrs. Robinson.

Dean: Comedy frame.

John: Comedy frame. We got like nine takes of Christian reacting to that by the way.

Dean: And my favorite is they both originally put their heads back, and then only Christian’s head came back out again, but we didn't have time for that. 

Chris: Oh I love that.

John: We can't break for comedy too much here, cause you've got the momentum going. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: And you're like, you have to keep resetting - they are in trouble. This, by the way, great hack taught to us by Apollo Robbins.

Chris: Yes.

John: Our thief consultant took us through how you can get access to the hotel computer system through the back of your television.

Chris: Yes.

John: This is a real thing. Please don’t-

Dean: Please don't try this at home.

Chris: Please don’t try this.

John: Don't try this at home, but most hotels have internet enabled televisions now, and that allows you a backdoor into the- 

Chris: It's a good example, too, of our team is so good at what they do, that we always try and look for ways to take away all their tools and find a clever way they have to use whatever's around them to-

John: Yeah

Chris: -you know, get their information.

John: Yeah, and that's again, constrained in time, constrained in space.

Dean: And that little porno name here, we had to get clearance on. 

John: I know. We came up with so many pornos that were real. That we came up with the most ridiculous porno name, ‘Nope that's a real one, that’s a real one.’ What did we land with, Indie Panties Day?

[Laughter]

John: Yeah, there's also- I wonder if we got it on the DVD, a really creepy, awkward beat after they’ve watched the porno that Aldis and Beth did, just very. 

Chris: That's a nice little viral video.

John: Yeah we’ll have to find that. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: Oh, and a beautiful three way pass, by the way. That was a tough shot, you know, in a crowded-

Dean: And it's a callback from the Zanzibar Job. 

John: Yes.

Dean: Where they did a similar three way.

John: Yeah. 

Dean: And I love this local actor.

John: Oh man, he's fantastic.

Dean: Harold rocked it.

John: ‘Yes, it was delicious.’ Yeah no, Eliot's impatience. This, by the way- getting a hotel key without your ID, I was a little fuzzy on whether it would work or not. I had written it, and I was like ‘Ah, am I kinda cheating?’ So I went to a hotel and did it. 

[Laughter]

John: Two days before we actually did this.

Chris: You did?

John: Yes. I won't tell you what hotel because they shouldn't have done it, but I got a hotel room key that way.

Chris: That's great.

John: Yeah. It's amazing what you can do if you have no fear of prosecution.

[Laughter]

John: ‘Oh, I'm doing a television show.’ And this was tough. We had to split them up, we had to figure out what the geography was- oh he hates Sterling so much.

[Laughter]

John: And Mark Sheppard just teeing off, just- 

Dean: Mark is delicious in this part, man. 

John: Yes.

Dean: I'm telling you, I could just watch him play this guy all day long.

John: Yeah, and what's great is Richard Kind, kind of, really kind of justifying, really doing the evil speech of evil, ‘He's a good mayor.’

Chris: Yeah.

John: And he was the one who came up with, ‘I’m good for Bellbridge.’

Chris: ‘I was good for Bellbridge.’

John:  ‘I'm- no matter what I did, I did my job, you know.’

Chris: I like, too, that we have Nate and the mayor both- 

John: Both drinking.

Chris: Both drinking.

Dean: Yeah.

John: I think that was on the day we came up with that, where Nate would get the booze from. 

Dean: Right.

John: Same place. I think we were just- cause this is the same hotel room. That was the fun of this episode, it was figuring out all the identical space- the fact that all hotel rooms are identical.

Chris: Right.

John: And that we suddenly realized, ‘Wait that means we can shoot in one and just redress.’ This is a long ass speech, this was a tough day.

Dean: And again done in a one-er.

John: Yes.

Dean: So the degree of difficulty for poor Mark was very, very high, but he knocked it out again.

John: He's really abused in television. Cause I will tell you right now, a lot of show runners will be like, ‘I have two and a half of impossible bullshit, get me Mark Sheppard in here.’

Dean: Right.

Chris: He's- I think he went from here, he was- he did the- I guess that three part CSI-

John: Yeah.

Chris: Where they had all the CSIs in one link and he was the bad guy in that, and he works.

John: He's a great- he really in that British actor tradition, yeah. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: And this- this bio of this arms dealer is pretty much just a bio of an arms dealer we took. I'm not gonna tell you who, because it was Chris’s idea and if you're angry, you should take your vengeance on him and his family.

[Laughter]

John: And not me, I am a big fan of arms dealers.

Chris: Paul Blackthorne, great- what is he-?

John: Well he had done Dresden Files, I knew him from that. 

Chris: Dresden Files.

John: But he's, you know, nailed the accent, and he's also really tall, he's got a physically imposing presence. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: And Tim’s tall, and it's really hard sometimes, to find the villains that can kind of, you know. And this was a great scene, and really one of the few times that the team lays into Nate. And I like, by the way, Nate’s getting more and more rumpled. Everyone else is kind of pulling it together, and he's just getting rougher and rougher looking.

Chris: Didn’t we have some weather here?

Dean: On the outtakes reel that's actually on this DVD, you'll see some funny outtakes from this scene.

Chris: With the weather right?

Dean: With the weather and Tim’s hair.

[Laughter]

Chris: Oh wow.

John: Oh right, even Chris is having a problem here and he's in a ponytail. Yeah the wind- the whole day we were shooting this we had thunderstorms coming through. 

Dean: Right.

John: So we were literally, ‘It's sunny. Go, go, go!’ And running down and getting the exteriors, yeah. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: Yeah we banged this out fast, man.

Dean: And yet they really nailed it. Again, when our actors dig in, they find gold.

John: And this was a big moment, this was- this is something I think that people sometimes ask, ‘Why does Eliot do this?’ Eliot has made himself a promise, this is his job, he will keep them safe.

Chris: Right.

Dean: And Nate realizes-

John: That's all he has.

Dean: Nate realizes for the first time he's actually let his team down.

John: Yeah.

Dean: And now he feels like he has to make it up to them.

John: Well, you know, when Parker does it. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: I mean that's the thing, Parker never gives- expresses- she’ll tease, she’ll express sarcasm, but disappointment- you know, ‘Be the person we came back for.’ She's referencing the season opener.

Dean: Right.

John: And that's the problem, is addiction- he's allowed himself to be- he's no longer the guy who used to chase them.

[Silence]

John: That's me drinking my Guinness, don't mind me.

[Laughter]

John: Oh god. What would I do without booze? 

Dean: So now we come back to the hotel.

John: Was that on mic? Alright.

[Laughter]

John: So we’re back on the hotel. 

Dean: And again, our clue from the previous episode of the Maltese Falcon.

Chris: Really key to watch these two back to back folks.

Dean: Oh, now this is-

Chris: I mean, maybe get a sandwich, but don't do much more than that.

Dean: This, I think, is one of my favorite bullet time shots that we've ever done. 

John: This was not as- not quite as insane as- and America thanks you for Beth in the French maid outfit.

Chris: The french maid.

Dean: It’s after this gag.

John: Yeah. Not quite as insane as the- by the way, this moment is based on a comedy club in Winnipeg, when- where the comics would go perform, it was a contest amongst them to see how long they could go without leaving the hotel room, and without letting the maids in.

[Laughter]

Chris: Cause there was no-

John: There was nothing to do. 

Chris: Nothing to do.

John: So it was like, ‘I went 40- I went 72 hours; the maids left the towels at the door.’

Dean: Great passing out scene.

Chris: Oh there we go.

John: That man is passed out. And that looks like my bed in every stand up club I ever went at.

Dean: This was the bullet- this was a very complicated bullet time shot.

John: Is this as bad or worse than the pilot, where you did four different directions?

Dean: No, it's not as bad as the pilot, but the timing of it is hard because of the extras and the switching of directions.

John: Yeah. So we start with one-

Dean: And we were using a different steadicam artist who had never done this before. 

John: Oh, that’s right.

Dean: So we had to teach Norbert how to do it while we were doing it.

Chris: Oh, that's right. 

Dean: It was very tough.

Chris: Cause our camera guy had a-

Dean: It was the one day Gary Camp was actually sick.

John: Yeah.

Chris: His tooth exploded or something.

John: Yeah, and he still showed up for work, by the way. 

Chris: He did.

John: With a face that looked like somebody had worked him over with a bat.

Dean: Now originally you had a much more complicated gag to stall, and then you came up with this gag, and we were on the floor laughing.

Chris: Yeah, this is funny.

John: You said, you were like, ‘I can't shoot that gag, all I have is the elevator’ I was like ‘Alright, well we’ll do this.’ And it's funny cause it was really a throwaway, and then the more we talked about it, the funnier it got.

Dean: Yeah.

John: As you realize it's just comedy beat, after comedy beat, after comedy beat. Also: Mark Sheppard.

Dean: Yeah.

Chris: Mark Sheppard does the- he takes you through the- 

John: The fives stages of death and dying.

Chris: The array of reactions.

Dean: This is-

Chris: Puts on a [unintelligible].

John: And by the way- same elevator, we’re just changing the floor number on every shot.

Dean: And the plants.

John: And the plants.

[Laughter]

John: So yes. And we- but we did run Tim up the stairs a lot that day.

Chris: We did.

Dean: I'll tell you this may be my- the funniest gag we've ever done.

John: Just cause both actors- oh this- just the seething.

Dean: The rage.

John: And both actors kind of really digging in on it.

[Laughter]

Chris: Oh.

John: And then... 

Chris: Just kidding this right on his reel, this is all the different, kind of, reaction to it.

John: And I like, he's almost too tired to keep doing it. And up.

Dean: But what sells the whole gag for me is this last one. Because at this point now they've done everything they can, and they just don't care anymore.

[Laughter]

John: They're just. 

Dean: They're done.

John: They’re done, they’re just exhausted. And now- now Nate can give up. Yeah, he's bought them enough time to do what they need to do. And also this was a nice beat, cause Mark made a point of it, it's like if he just had one more second he would've figured it out.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: Right.

John: You know you can never- Sterling- you always have to play fair with him. 

Dean: Right.

John: You know he's always this close to figuring it out. These guys were great as the vaguely resentful FBI agents. 

Dean: Exactly.

John: Because he's very insulting. And a timing joke. Mark carries a lot in this episode.

Chris: Door- door closed, there you go, door closes, door opens.

Dean: Mark had his work cut out for him this episode.

John: Door opens. ‘Hey, Bob.’ Yeah, these two had a lot of fun. There’s about 900 different takes of this. And oh this was tricky, because when we got up there, we were shooting on the top floor, but that meant we couldn't double the corridor.

Dean: That’s right.

John: Because we had the skylights.

Chris: Oh, hm.

Dean: So we had to find other corridors. 

John: Yeah, and sometimes people were sleeping, sorry about that.

Dean: This is a very simple bullet time shot, but a very effective one, I think.

John: Yeah, the big reveal.

Dean: Just the, ‘viola.’

John: And you're out.

Chris: How did they do that?

John: A lot of fun. And a wink, which would distract any normal human. And this is- I'm trying to remember where we came up with this bit. Oh the carts were brutal, trying to find the cart we could put a dude in.

Chris: Oh yeah.

Dean: But this bit here is a call back to the episode with the kids-

John: Yes. Yeah That's right- where Hardison and- 

Dean: Cannot rappel.

Chris: That’s just great.

John: Rappelling just does not fit well, he's just not left as- and by the way, it really- real risk of Aldis Hodge strangling there. Sorry about that, Aldis. 

[Laughter]

John: And he's figured it out. Yeah and that was a lot of fun. Nashua, New Hampshire, near where my sister lives, by the way.

Chris: Right that's where they're sending it.

John: That's actually where they are sending it- they're sending that trunk to my sister’s front lawn. What little I can do. And this is- what's fun is that we- the camera work is very energized, the game's afoot, and the second half- it’s interesting, the two previous seasons, the two episodes both had their own internal structure. This really just plays as a movie because all the set up is the first half.

Chris: Yes.

John: This entire episode is the rock that's been pushed down the hill, and we’re just chasing it.

Chris: And everything is paying off.

John: Yeah. And again, drawn from my experience in standup years, all the hotel rooms look alike. If you were to wake me up in any random hotel room, I woke up and my trash was there, I'd assume that that was my room.

Chris: Sure. I mean as any business traveller can tell you, they'll wake up and not know what city they're in.

John: And Richard Kind, by the way- poor Richard Kind spent a week in that bathrobe. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: On docks, on oil tankers, in hotel rooms.

Chris: Yeah, it’s true.

John: That was- he formed a very unhealthy relationship with that bathrobe.

Dean: And had to be in the bathrobe the whole time.

John: Yeah. This is my favorite bit- they're just the type of people who cut up people in tubs, that's their job.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: But this little look of Eliot's right there tells you everything.

Chris: ‘Alright, I'm gonna cut her up.’

John: ‘Alright, this is my day.’ Aldis’s character Mr. Joshua, of course, named after the Gary Busey character from- 

Chris: Lethal Weapon.

John: Lethal Weapon. If we need a killer's name, why not-?

Dean: Go to the best.

John: Why not reference the best? Bunch of different versions of this. And I love them playing good cop, bad cop. But it was interesting, we had a version of this speech- and I will give this up to you as director, that explained everything. And you really looked at it and said, ‘Alright, here's the actual three things we need for this to make sense.’ Cause as the writer you never know, but you come at it from a storyteller like, ‘Here are the points the audience needs to be emotionally engaged to move forward.’

Dean: And it was a tough call, because Richard did such an amazing job with this speech. 

John: Yes.

Dean: You almost didn't want to lose anything. But, you know, we have time that we have to come in at the end of the show, and we needed to lose some time, so we really boiled it down.

Chris: Oh was this something that came out in editing? Or in-?

John: Yeah.

Chris: Oh it did, I didn't even notice.

John: You didn't notice, exactly. 

Chris: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

John: The speech was about twice as long. Because really there's a whole mini scene between Richard and Tim there. 

Dean: Right.

John: And it really was- you know, you got it, he's bargaining for his life. That’s all you need to know.

Dean: And Richard is so knocking it out, you're actually learning a lot more with even less.

John: Yeah. His relationship through his attitude. No, there are times- even a writer would admit-

Dean: And that's all real sweat, by the way, no sweat bottle came in there; he earned each drop.

John: Boom. I like Aldis’ vague resentment at not being allowed to punch the guy.

Chris: Yeah.

John: Because again, everyone has their niche. And also the great expression Beth chooses there. ‘Eh, I've been in the tub waiting while you beat up a mayor. I'm out now.’

[Laughter]

John: ‘What are we doing next?’

Chris: Yeah, completely blank affect.

John: Yeah, exactly.

Dean: Day at the office.

John: Yeah.

Dean: But the subtle look of feeling like she's on a sinking ship. 

John: Yeah.

Dean: That we get out of Tara at the end of this scene, is really very great for setting up the turn.

John: And even- It's interesting, to watch Chris choose- Aldis is having basically Hardison question dad, while Eliot is instead watching the interplay between the two of them to see how Nate treats Hardison. 

Dean: Right.

John: Knowing that's the better indicator of what the relationship is. He does a similar thing in 207, actually, between he and Sophie- between Gina, with the bomb scene. 

Dean: Right, right. 

John: Yeah.

Dean: And then here we drop our red herring. Has Tara jumped the shark?

John: For a minute or half we considered doing it. For a minute and a half, what would- the problem was, it's Jeri Ryan, and you like her and you're hanging out with her and working with her and it was like, ‘Nah, I don't want the- I like the character.’

Chris: Well it sets up the- the act where it all pays off is one of my favorite acts we’ve done.

John: It’s one of my favorite bits ever. This, by the way, it seems like it's just an act break, it's horrible. Sterling has used his- the fact he used to be best friends with Nate Ford, to know that he is going to use his child’s- dead child's art to trap him.

Chris: Yeah.

John: This is a moment that was kind of thrown away, and the two actors, I saw them actually talking about it on set and they really dug in on it.

Chris: Yeah.

John: It's like, that is a horrible moment. You know, because he knows he won't leave town without that, and Sterling is the only man on earth who knows he won't leave town without that. 

Chris: Right.

John: Yeah. And it's one of the few times we’re behind the desk there.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Yeah. It's a weird place to shoot; it's just got that picture behind it, it's just trough to frame

Dean: But we wanted to get there and we found a place. Now this scene is unusual in that we've gone now to our handheld, which we do when our characters are either in physical or emotional jeopardy. But unlike other scenes, we went musicless here.

John: Yes.

Dean: Because the performances were so strong and so right on-

Chris: Oh that’s great.

Dean: -we didn't want to tell the audience what to feel. Just- we just wanted them to feel it.

John: Also in the tradition, that's the same glass.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Nate and- 

Chris: Oh that's the same glass from- from Nate in-

Dean: Season 1.

Chris: Season 1. That’s great.

John: Nate and Sterling have one glass they pass back and forth between each other depending on who’s winning.

Chris: That's great.

Dean: Right.

John: And the fact he's brought it to give it to him is sort of a signature of the deal they're falling into. And again, by the way, the idea that you would protect a witness that might’ve killed a cop. When you do the research? Oh man. This was kind of the Whitey Bulger thing in costic.

Chris: Well I mean, you know, we- it gave us a chance to explore- it was a whole different episode from the point of view of the FBI. 

John: Yeah.

Chris: About the compromises that people make when they get confidential, you know- 

John: Informants.

Chris: Cooperating witnesses, of looking the other way of other things they're doing. All they are focused on is their case.

John: That mayor is giving them 20 good busts.

Chris: Yeah, yeah.

John: They're not going to follow rumors. Also Mark Sheppard is a- man, this is a great scene. There's two versions of this scene. This is the one we used, the one I like. One where he's angry and superior, and one where he's genuinely hurt that Nate Ford had become this man. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: That he's genuinely hurt he has to offer him this deal. And this is the take we used. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: Which was an oddly vulnerable moment for that character. He doesn't want to be here, he doesn't want to be giving him this offer. Wow, this is all close up, too, which we almost never do.

Dean: Yeah. But this is- there's a lot of things that we did in this two part season finale that we don't normally do, that were out of the box, but necessary, it was very interesting.

John: Yeah, and this is him telling him this is his last chance. No, and- I always wonder- I gotta- I need to ask Tim when does- cause I know Tim in his head knows when Nate makes the decision what he's gonna do. Is it here or is it after the phone call? Is it after the phone call?

Dean: I think it's after the phone call.

John: Yeah. But there's alot going on.

Dean: But the twist here was cause Nate always is two steps ahead. Until he said, ‘And my team,’ and the guy- and he says, ‘No, just you.’ And there's a look on his face and it's one- it’s again, a rare vulnerable moment for Nate where he didn’t see that one coming. 

John: Yeah. And loses his hand and it's like, you know.

Dean: Again, getting to shoot at the actual docks was fantastic.

John: Except we can't shoot past her right shoulder, cause there was a navy ship there that we started to shoot, and the nice gentlemen came over and told us not to put that on camera, please.

Dean: That’s right.

Chris: Oh really?

John: Yeah.

Chris: Wow.

John: Yeah.

Dean: And briny despair may be my favorite Parker line.

John: Briny despair, old clowns.

Chris: Old clown shoes.

John: Briny despair. And again, there's a mini arc here, and the actresses are very good friends, and they're really found it, of their developing physical friendship and, like, just the fact that she can be- Parker’s physical character, and so the fact she’ll walk in pace with Tara is a big deal.

Dean: And now we've brought back Sophie.

John: There you go.

Dean: First time we haven't seen her on a monitor this season.

John: Exactly.

Chris: And here's the payoff from the scene in-

Dean: 207.

Chris: Well part one also, this-

Dean: But we set up really at the- 

Chris: We did, you're right.

Dean: At the- The Two Live Crew Job that she was going off to find herself. 

John: Yeah.

Chris: Right.

Dean: And then in the next episode, when he tried to bring her back, she says, ‘Do you want me back for the team, or for you?’ 

Chris: Right, right.

Dean: And now he calls that back and says, ‘Not for the team, for me.’

Chris: Right, right.

Dean: ‘I need you back.’

John: It was also subtle, but we've shown her in conveyance in a lot of the other shots when she's away, so you won't be tipped off by the fact that she's in a conveyance. That she's in transport.

Chris: That she's in a helicopter.

John: She's in transit, she’s in a helicopter. We've shown her in cars, she’s done the cell phone in different locations. 

Chris: Yeah, yeah, that’s true.

John: So hopefully you were not like ‘Oh, why are we seeing her in a different context?’ 

Chris: Right.

John: We've seen her in this context before. Now this was- man, this was a great day, this was just- we cleared the set and Tim just parked his ass on the floor. 

Dean: We did three takes, but this is actually his first take. He so nailed it on the first take.

John: Oh, really?

Dean: That the others were really just for safety. But he just came in there, ready to do this part.

John: Yeah. And this is- you know.

Dean: And then the tragedy that she didn't hear any of it. 

John: Yeah.

Chris: It's one of the great things about cell phones. Is that- from a dramatic standpoint- I mean they help you bring characters together, but you can also use them to- 

Dean: Separate them.

Chris: To separate them.

John: Never in 1940s comedy is or 1940s movie is like, ���Pennsylvania 927: Oh the killer is-!’ ‘Oh I lost him.’

Chris: ‘The line went dead!’

John: ‘The line went dead!’ ‘No sir, the line’s not dead, I'll reconnect you right away.’ Thank you operator.’

Dean: But his feeling of betrayal at losing the connection.

John: Yeah.

Dean: Really again, is a wonderful red herring where we feel like, ‘Oh my god, he's really gonna sell this team out.’

John: Yeah.

Chris: Yeah.

John: Or at the very least you have no idea what the hell he's gonna do. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: You know, he is drunk, he is pissed off. No he-

Chris: And he's been put- he's been backed in a corner.

John: And you know, which-

Dean: But even the way he said here, ‘I have a plan that will fix everyone.’ It’s like, woah.

John: And having the picture that Sam drew. It's interesting that it's essentially a codependent relationship, but it's a functioning one that they have.

Dean: And here, again, is a strange bit of blocking that we had never done before, where Nate has isolated himself on the stairway. 

John: Yes.

Chris: Well that helps sell everything, too, doesn't it? Separated from them.

John: Well he's not in front of them, he's behind them. He's separated from them, exactly. Fun bit of blocking, too, actually. It's- we’ll use it again, I'm sure.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Cause that's a nice angle. And yes and then everyone- and then her coming around to pull focus. No, it's for a static shot, it's really interesting. But this is one of the few times we don't tell you the plan.

Dean: Right.

John: You know, it's one of the few times we transition. Usually we-

Chris: We did that in part two of season one, also.

John: Yeah, yeah. It’s- we’re usually an open mystery. 

Chris: Yes.

John: At least- and this was one of the few times that you're not- you have no idea- because the rules for the show usually are, you know what's gonna happen and the fun is seeing it go wrong and how they're gonna recover. This one it's like, you’re just gonna have to trust us.

Chris: Who invented the ‘And this is what we're gonna do’ was that Aristophones? The first one.

John: That was Aristophanes.

Chris: ‘Alright everyone, gather around. Grab your togas; let’s go.’

Dean: Now once again we've got the teams separated in different locations, each with different objectives.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: And that's a little bit of a callback to the pilot episode, when she did the burn gag.

Chris: That's true.

John: Yes, the burn scam. Yeah, wow was this a tough shot.

Dean: That's a little bit of scale, huh guys?

Chris: Wow. 

Dean: How about that?

Chris: They let us- now was that digital or do we- let us paint on the ship?

Dean: We digitally put the name on the ship.

Chris: We did, ok.

John: Well, we did paint some of it .

Dean: We did paint some of it. You’ll see a sign later that we actually painted.

John: That was a lot of fun, just trying to figure out like, the whole break into the FBI office. And what's the easiest way? 

Dean: Short fight, but one of my favorites. 

John: Yeah, just brutal. This is a tough- this was a tough day. Chris did all of these fights in one day, straight through, and ran back and forth between the dialogue scenes.

Dean: This really should've been two days of shooting, that we did in one day.

John: He did like a 20 hour day here.

Dean: This was an insane day.

Chris: Oof.

Dean: But we only had use of this ship for two days, so we had to get it all in.

John: Yeah. He's got the samurai ponytail rocking there, that's how you can tell there's gonna be some fighting. And we have money, and we would like to arrange a meeting. ‘I'm a man with a briefcase full of money, I would like to meet your boss.’ It’s a great, classic trope.

Chris: I like this act, this is my favorite act.

John: I also like- I gave them this running bit where he's counting guys with guns.

Chris: Yeah, I remember that from- you came up with that last season.

John: Season one, and we never found a place for it.

Chris: That's a great shot, too.

John: Yeah, that's a great shot. That and- actually on the boat, that's the way you get between decks. This is actually one of my favorite Parker bits, just talking- coming up with the speech about what it's like to die in an air vent. Because the fact that she's always in air vents, is worth addressing, you know.

Dean: And it shows you the way her mind thinks.

John: Yes, exactly. ‘Scratching on the metal.’ She's kinda turned on, I'm not sure where this is going. 

[Laughter]

Dean: Yeah, that’s fair.

Chris: It's the tongue, the darting tongue and she shakes out of it.

John: Let’s go and we’re off.

Dean: She loves the danger.

Chris: We didn't get wet that down folks, that was actual Portland rain.

John: Yes, Beth Riesgraf and Jeri Ryan were on a rooftop, on a skyscraper, with a thunderstorm during most of this day.

Dean: Not dangerous at all.

John: Not dangerous, ignore the lighting, kids. Man, what were we thinking?

Dean: And he pulled out the Scottish accent out of nowhere, which was fantastic.

John: I know, I know. Which was a lot of fun. Because the idea is the mayor has gotten in over his head, and he's dealing with the same sort of businesses that- power drill was the nastiest thing I could think of.

Chris: And that's quite a nasty bit on it, too.

John: Yes, exactly. Well that’s- you know, I mean, if you're gonna mess up somebody's knees, that's the bit you're gonna use yeah. ‘Still counting.’ Oh yeah, then we just reset- it was really tricky because it was so complicated, we had to reset their goal at the beginning of every act. 

Dean: Right.

John: What do they need to get? Yeah. And again, it's like, do these guys really meet in broad daylight to look at their goods? Yes! Yes they do!

Chris: Yeah.

John: And usually-

Dean: And here's where we set up the phone does voice dialing, which is crucial to our final act.

John: Thank you 21st century. Because we enjoyed tying up Richard Kind and we’ll leave it at that.

Chris: Yeah, I'm sure the fact that GPS is in every phone is gonna be our best friend and possibly our worst enemy this coming season. 

John: No, it's a big deal. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: A phone that's on is a phone that can be tracked.

Chris: Yup.

John: Exactly. And yes and Richard, by the way, finding the desperation. ‘They cut her up in a bathtub!’ 

John: Like the murder wasnt the worst thing in the world, but the fact that somehow it was so undignified? Yeah. Nice scream. And that was, by the way, great little comedy beat, just like, ‘Well to be fair, he did most of the cutting.’ 

Chris: Yeah.

John: The two of them- we don't usually have Eliot and Nate doing comedy together, but when they do it's a pure relationship, it's a nice rhythm.

Dean: And if you look closely, there in the distance, we've set up Sophie is actually with the buyers.

John: Yes.

Dean: But you wouldn't notice that unless you watched it again.

Chris: Oh, that's great.

John: And now they've broken in, they've come down through the air vent, she did not enjoy the experience in any way shape or form. Oh man, this was a tough day. That's like-

Chris: Hot? Cold? What was the temperature? Do you remember?

John: Brutal, brutal hot. Cold at night. Hot at- you know what? There's never-

Dean: Back and forth.

John: It's never comfy on an oil tanker deck.

Chris: No- I’m trying- yeah I'm trying to imagine-

Dean: And there again, there’s Sophie in the distance.

Chris: There she is, that's great.

John: Sophie in the distance. And this is a real fusebox we tacked into. Sorry.

Dean: In city hall?

John: In city hall. 

[Laughter]

John: This was actually a fun thing is, this year we shifted to Hardison not using a signature laptop, but using the minis. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: Because our hacker consultant, Kevin Mitteny told us that's what they're using. They're using $300 computers and throwing them away if they're gonna get busted. And running stuff off the thumb drives.

Dean: And this was the- in the actual cargo hold of the oil tanker, so this was very confined space to shoot in. It looked great, but it was very difficult to light and move the camera around and because the top of the stairs- that was the only stairs that was the only way in and out of that room. So all the lights, all the cameras all had to go up and down stairs- there was no other way in or out.

John: And remind you, Gina’s in this scene later. Gina at, like, 17 months pregnant.

[Laughter]

John: Came down those stairs like a fricken trooper, man. We were just- we were more scared than she was. She was like going down them, and we were like, ‘Ahhh, oh god.’

Chris: Just kind of like [unintelligible] step.

John: It’s an oil tanker! And she’s in like fashion boots, and a kicky top, you know.

Chris: Wow.

John: This was- you know what’s weird? This speech doesn’t advance the plot in any way, shape, or form. This speech is just him selling his character to buy time, and yet it’s really interesting. 

Dean: Yeah this-

John: Tim’s digging in on the character here. It's his evil speech of evil, you know.

Dean: Right

John: And he never gets to give one.

Chris: Yeah, it's interesting when we can do that. We've done that a few times, the- 

John: Glengarry, Glen death.

Chris: Sophie also- also as the Indian pharmaceutical rep gave an evil speech of evil.

John: Yes.

Dean: And this you wrote in the script as the Bourne fade. 

John: Yes.

Dean: Which I thought was the perfect description.

John: It's a perfect- it’s a good shorthand. He's there, and then he’s not there.

Chris: It's great.

John: By the way, Chris has just stepped three feet to the right into a tool locker.

[Laughter]

Dean: Right.

John: There's no actual exit there. And- was there a reason for the 360? Just to keep it- just to be interesting? Because I don't think it was-

Chris: And how hard was that within that space?

Dean: Really hard. But we felt that it was a great way to, again, the world has changed. We thought one thing was going on here, but now we've spun it by-

Chris: And that's steadicam.

Dean: That's all steadicam. Gary Camp.

John: It's weird, because it's also, kind of, Nate Ford buying into his persona there. That's one of the times you really see him.

Dean: And Jackie ‘The Joke Man’ Martling.

John: Who came in and did a great job for us!

Dean: You know what's funny, is that I thought he was just gonna be a comic that you had to teach how to act. But you know what? He really came in with the character, he committed to it, he wasn't just trying to be jokey. I mean, he really knocked it out.

John: He totally gives us serious takes-

Chris: He’s totally convincing as the evidence locker guy.

John: Slightly more convincing than Jeri Ryan in insanely hot pants as the FBI agent. 

[Laughter]

John: I gotta with Jackie here on the verisimilitude scale. Although we did put Jackie in those pants, that didn't work out for us as much. But no, he's great and the kind of vaguely resentful- you can totally see him doing this character on a- 

Dean: And yet he gave us a great exit line here.

John: ‘Oh no, who wants to talk to the evidence guy?’ 

[Laughter]

John: And that was, by the way, that was him, that was not in the script.

Chris: That’s true.

Dean: And not overselling it either.

John: No, no, it was really nice. You could see him playing that role on a cop show.

Dean: Totally.

John: Absolutely. Nate Ford, international man of mystery and arms dealer.

Chris: Peacoat really working well on the boat.

[Laughter]

John: Yeah, nice. It's very much-

Chris: That was a coat waiting for a set.

John: Yeah. Well it's interesting cause- 

Dean: Oh and there's Sophie in the background.

Chris: There’s Sophie!

John: And some people in the first screening kind of caught her, but- 

Chris: Now she's there buying guns? Who’s-?

[Laughter]

John: Well she's- she is buying guns, you know. 

Chris: For her library?

[Laughter]

Dean: Library needs guns, too.

John: Libraries need guns, too. I like to think- I like to think that she is a Swiss buyer.

Chris: No, I mean, it’s a well armed library.

John: She's a Swiss buyer, she’s-

Dean: And here's a nice little turn.

John: Nice swing around. Shot that day on the boat to reveal that they talked. And then over again. Wow, and we all shot this in a real container.

Dean: In a real containter.

Chris: It was for real? Oh, wow.

Dean: Yeah. Now back on the roof, and this is my favorite Parker bit we've ever done. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: Yeah it's tough. There's a lot of good ones, but. 

Dean: But.

John: But we never expected Beth to do this.

Chris: This turn here is great.

Dean: This is the first time since the pilot that we brought back how lethal she can actually be.

John: There's a bit in Stork Job, but boom. Oh yeah and she locked in on Jeris throat on that, too. 

Chris: Yeah.

John: And Jeri goes over the edge. 

Chris: Over the edge. 

John: She's wired, but that's Jeri Ryan hanging over the edge. And it was-

Chris: And again, it was raining and windy. 

John: Raining. Yeah no, they were both fearless up there. 

John: They had a good time up there. They really wound up working well together. And now it's all gone to hell.

Dean: But it's a real callback to that pilot line of, ‘Going to my angry place.’

John: Yeah. This is just- because what's happened is- and just for writing thing, Parker has let her into the family. The only people who are human beings are members of the family. Once Jeri’s betrayed them, she’s moved outside the family, and is an object.

Chris: Well, also to betray the family is-

John: Real ship captain.

Dean: Real ship-

Chris: Oh wow, that's great.

John: You were saying? To betray...

Chris: To betray the family is even worse.

Dean: This is a great hit right here.

Chris: Oh!

Dean: Bam! Man.

John: Yeah- man shooting- that's as wide as that space is, guys. 

Dean: Yeah.

John: That was brutal to be down there.

Dean: And these are two guys from the beginning of the previous episode. So again, if you haven't watched them back to back, you might not realize these are the two guys who shot Bonanno.

Chris: Yeah.

John: Yeah, so you know we've linked up, physically, the bad guys.

Dean: Now that one actually- we put that one actually up there.

John: Yeah, that's a real sign. And this is my favorite, this is one of my favorite character reveals ever, and it's because she's doing one of my favorite characters ever. Gina’s doing Annie Croy here.

Chris: Annie Croy.

Dean: Which, again, ties back to the beginning of the season.

John: Yeah it's almost like we think this through. Yeah and- I'm sorry we're all gonna be quiet here because we all love this.

Dean: ‘Bye now.’

John: ‘Bye now.’

[Laughter]

John: That's fucked up, man. I'm sorry, I'm gonna swear on DVD and say that is fucked up.

Dean: That ‘bye now’ is. 

Chris: The ‘bye now’ throwaway.

Dean: Oh boy, ruthless. And then my second favorite reveal of a character all year.

Chris: Oh.

John: Yeah. No, that's fantastic. And the way Tim sells this like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ No, even writing that character reveal I wasn't sure it would work, and even when we shot it I'm like, ‘Yeah, this works.’ Gina- you've been so waiting to be- hear her voice.

Dean: She is so talented.

John: We've also really lined it up like there’s no out here. We- usually the audience- a smart audience member will see a backdoor we put. There is no backdoor, she's the backdoor. 

Chris: Yeah this was a tricky bit of scripting too, right? I mean we had a ship, and we needed to disable it. I mean, what was- right?

John: It was a lot of wandering around on the ship going, ‘Alright, how does this work exactly?’

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: And even though Tim is out of focus here, you get everything right there.

John: ‘The hell’s going on?’ And she doesn't break character, no.

Dean: Cause she is the ultimate grifter.

John: Yeah, no she does a great- and OK, shoot this guy in the face when I'm off the-’ She's impatient and that's actually kind of a nice thing. And now this.

Dean: Terrific little fight scene shot by Marc Roskin.

John: Yes, at some ungodly hour of the morning. And this is where we pay off the numbers. We've been waiting two years to do this.

Dean: And again, in the actual ship.

John: Yeah, there's a lot of stuff to hurt yourself on. 

Dean: And this gun going off was not easy.

John: Yeah.

Chris: Oof. 

John: Yeah, we're spilling brass all over the inside of the ship. The- this is a brutal fight sequence, all these stunties did- you know, they're banging off metal all over the place.

Dean: In this kind of space, it is so hard to do this safely, these guys were champs. And Christian- I’m telling you, he's amazing in these things.

John: No double.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: Refuses to get a double.

John: Refused to get a double. There you go, and down, he counts. By the way, we’re not exhibiting superhuman strength here. This is how you break flexicuffs.

Chris: Oh wow, that's a little hulk moment.

John: Yeah, the only thing keeping- if you- if- that's why they flexicuff you behind your back. The only thing keeping you in flexicuffs in front of you is the belief that you should be in flexicuffs. Little survival tip.

Chris: Oh wow.

John: And this is also a favorite bit, because it was really written as a kind of expositional, but Beth found this really weird rhythm near the end of it.

Dean: Oh boy.

John: This is shot with the XD right?

Dean: Yeah.

John: This is all shot with a Prosumer-level camera. 

Dean: She just finds this little bit of evil.

John: ‘Oh, I actually thought you were going to throw me off.’ Yeah, exactly.

Dean: Just this little fake laugh here, just so great. I think it's actually in the two shot, because it has to be in the comedy frame.

John: Yeah the- also the- it's interesting that the- the idea that it's fair enough that they would indeed-

Dean: Here it is.

John: Here it is, coming up. ‘I thought you were actually going to throw me off the roof’. And there she is. The look before hand, the ‘Oh, that's right, this is how humans are supposed to react.’

[Laughter]

John: ‘Eh, I was totally going to throw you off that roof.’ 

Chris: Yeah, that’s great.

John: But the whole understanding that yes we probably- that's actually a favorite line and Jeri really nailed it, which is ‘You would have forgiven him.’ They're all enablers, they're all in this weird broken family, and you know, it's both their strength and their weakness. Also, again, by the way, director thing, I had a whole explanation of how Hardison disarmed the ship, and we had no time to shoot it and you were like, ‘Giant wrench!’

Chris: Giant wrench!

John: You know what he's done.

Chris: When you see a giant wrench, you see that he messed something up.

John: He is a monkey wrencher. You know! It's a term.

Dean: In the comedy frame. so-

John: And by the way, ‘Took you long enough,’ is a recurring theme for the entire back half of the season.

Dean: Right there.

Chris: Oh that's right.

Dean: And she walks by. ‘Huh?’

[Laughter]

Dean: Love it.

John: And then a beautiful over the shoulder. Oh that's a hero shot right there. No, it really is- it’s interesting because it was very scary, because you know, you didn't know how long Gina would be with us going into the season and everything.

Chris: Oh, this is great.

John: And the entire act depends on Sophie being the best grifter on earth.

Chris: Even him-

Dean: And it's just fun to see them all back together again, because we've been starved from it.

Chris: Him being like places where he doesn't know he was all throughout this episode.

John: Yeah, it's a nice running gag actually. And zero. And by the way, it was Chris who caught the count. Chris came up to me and was like, ‘If that's the last guy I'm gonna-’ I was like, ‘Oh, good catch at 2am, nicely done.’ ‘Took you long enough,’ again.

Dean: And this sets up the handcuff bit at the end.

John: Yeah, that was tricky.

Chris: Right he has the handcuffs.

John: Oh god, yeah. Boy this was really easy to keep track of.

[Laughter]

Dean: And both of them really delivered- you know, this is a very short scene that needs a lot of emotions. Because it wraps up really where they are and where they're going next season, and they just did it with looks and with subtext. And it was just terrific.

John: You poor bastard. And also, by the way, what I love about this is, this is the happy ending to most television shows, this moment right here. We then fuck it up.

Dean: Right, exactly.

John: Yeah. They really care for each other, they are really good friends.

Dean: And they're there for each other.

John: And they're there for each other, and he's a broken bastard. And what's great is he walks out of there without really knowing what the rest of the plan is.

Dean: My favorite Richard Kind line right here, ‘I don't know.’

John: ‘I don't know.’

[Laughter]

Chris: That's very Richard Kind. That’s Mad About You, Spin City Richard Kind right there.

John: Yeah, it really is. And by the way, yeah, only two ways out of this. That seems like a design flaw to me. Because that front window is a 40 foot drop onto the deck of the ship; you can't get out through that front window. 

Chris: Oh wow.

John: Yeah if you lock these doors, they ain’t going anywhere. Yeah, and a nice run and gun there, and there's also a little mini scene we blew off there with Paul sort of turning on Richard. Hero moment, hero- the team together.

Dean: By the way, those are some digital effects to remove the pregnant belly.

John: Nice, nicely done.

Chris: Oh really, wow.

Dean: Yes.

Chris: I say it a lot.

John: And nice hug.

Dean: And also just on a small note, we couldn't afford two helicopters. Because we had a helicopter in the scene, and we also needed a helicopter that could shoot the scene. So we used the same helicopter for both and then just digitally erased the camera that was mounted on the end of the helicopter.

Chris: Wait wait, so in other words when you're up there with them you're also shooting- the cameras below it?

Dean: So in other words- yeah, so when you see the helicopter arrive later, there was actually a camera attached to it.

John: A giant camera rig on it, like the size of a VW bug on the bottom of it.

Dean: But we erased it.

Chris: Oh that's amazing.

John: Yeah. Yeah and Sophie’s thought of everything. There's a way out, you hear sirens, it's all coming together. 

Dean: And it's fun to see them back together again.

Chris: And again, not that we do this typically. But this was, in a sense, this scene was kind of conceived of first, this scene and him on the deck. 

Dean: Right.

John: That's right.

Chris: That we were leading up to.

John: The original version of the script is, it opens with him bleeding out on the deck and you have no idea where he is.

Chris: But I'm saying even in the beginning of the season.

John: Oh yeah.

Chris: This scene was kind of where the show was going. How we were gonna get there was the question.

John: You don’t- everyone has their different ways. Before we shot a frame of season two, I knew it ended with Nate Ford saying, ‘I'm a thief.’

Chris: Right. But even- but even on a- also on the deck of a ship remember- I remember that.

John: Yeah, on the deck of a ship.

Dean: Now I think this ending is one of the bigger endings we’ve ever done, and it's really the most emotional ending I've ever done.

John: Really? I dunno you and I-

Dean: More than I was expecting it to be.

John: You and I disagree, because we all have our favorite stuff, but yeah, it-

Chris: It’s certainly a huge hero moment.

John: It's a huge hero moment, and they're all making great choices. Eliot really wants to just tear through these guys, and Nate’s not gonna let him.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Yeah. 

Dean: He's being a good dad for once.

John: Yeah. He’s- and by the way, again, this is not the right choice, he shouldn't have lied to them, he shouldn't have had a plan he didn't tell them, he shouldn’t- he's a control freak. Even in his moment of sacrifice, he's a selfish, alcoholic bastard.

[Laughter]

Dean: That's right.

John: I just wished to make sure nobody makes sure nobody thinks he's being super heroic here. He doesn't really change that much. 

Chris: That’s true.

John: No, and this was fun, we had all different kinds of versions of lockers and found out that yeah, that's how they keep a lot of evidence.

Dean: That’s crazy.

John: That was fun though too, also, you only had two rows of those evidence lockers, so you staggred them to shoot through them to make it look-

Dean: To make it seem like they went on forever.

Chris: Yeah where was that? Where-?

John: That was on set that was- remember the small soundstage we had?

Chris: Oh, ok.

Dean: It was actually a reworking of the set at the end of 207 at the airport. 

John: Yes. It was the airport, but we just moved it over to the other stage. And I also love the idea again- Nate and Sterling are playing a game that just nobody else gets to be a part of. This is just- this is just nine moves ahead guys. 

Dean: Right.

John: There's another version of the show where Katie O'Grady chases Eliot, Parker, and Hardison for an entire season, yeah, but in this version. ‘I can feel you thinking’ he knows him, he knows him that well. He knows the counter move- no, they really dug in here. And by the way, it's 110 degrees on that deck, Tim’s in a peacoat handcuffed to a rail. He's working his ass off here. 

Dean: With the turtleneck.

John: With the turtleneck, yeah. Oh and just the sheer rage Katie O'Grady is radiating there. 

Chris: Now what time- what day- part of the shooting day was this? Did you make-?

John: This was morning.

Chris: This was, like, first thing?

Dean: Yeah, this was the first shot.

Chris: Is that a challenge to do the most emotional thing first?

Dean: It is, and especially because when we started shooting it we were in cloud cover and then halfway through the scene the sun came out. And so then trying to make that all work was really difficult. 

Dean: This, I thought, was surprisingly more emotional than I anticipated when we were there.

John: Well it was weird because when we were there, we couldn't quite get the staging, and they seemed like they were standing really far away. ‘Cause the deck was bigger than we thought.

Dean: Right.

John: And no- well this is the shot because by shooting this way, you get intimate, it feels like they're right on top of them. The other reverse kind of shows you the space.

Chris: I think it also parallels from season one, also-

John: Yeah it does, it does.

Chris: The scene where they’re standing around, really nicely.

Dean: But they're all disappointed in him, which is great. He sacrificing for them, but that's not what they want.

John: No. And he lied to them. And he's- you’re an idiot, I mean, that's really what Eliot’s thinking right there.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: Yeah.

John: Like, ‘You know what? If you just talk to us.; I really never realized how [unintelligible] this episode is. 

Chris: It is.

John: It’s a big hero sacrifice, but it’s- you know he really broke the family. Again.

Chris: Yeah.

Dean: And Gina just nails this scene. I mean, we waited for this kiss for two seasons.

John: Yeah.

Dean: And it comes out, and she's crushed by it. It’s great.

John: Yeah. And again, and- you know this is a big hero moment in his head and she calls him on it. Because she- and this is what's interesting, Sophie Deveraux is a more advanced human being than Nate Ford is at this point. She went away, she took her space-

Chris: Right.

John: You know. 

Dean: And she lets him have it.

John: In the same way he let her have it at the end of season one, she's letting him have it at the end of season two. I love that look, by the way, that Eliot- Chris and Mark really set up the fact that they can't stand each other, really well.

Chris: And here, you know, the relationship between these two kicks in also. 

John: Yeah.

Chris: Between Nate and Sterling.

John: Yeah, the fact that he held it together- and they don't know, by the way. 

Chris: Right.

John: They have no idea when they're leaving.

Dean: That little look with Christian is just great.

John: And there's a camera mount on that helicopter.

Dean: That's been erased.

Chris: That's great.

John: ‘Who the hell is this guy?’ That- this is- you’re right, we wrote the ending first.

Chris: Yeah, I remember, this was-

Dean: He goes, ‘I don’t know.’

John: I remember this was the first thing ever.

Dean: This was the end of the arc. ‘I'm a thief.’

John: ‘And I'm a thief.’ I mean this is a callback to him saying I'm not a thief for two years. 

Dean: Right.

John: Wow. Thank god this is the last episode of the show.

Chris: And we’re not listening- and we can't hear it here in the commentary, but Joe Le Duca did- the orchestration for this is absolutely fantastic.

Dean: It's actually the first time he went and got a real orchestra. 

John: Yeah.

Dean: Went to Salt Lake City and recorded with a real orchestra, and I mean the scale of this is outstanding.

John: It's giant. 35- I think we had close to half a- 50 FBI agents here. And just cars, helicopters, and this is a big- this is a big hero moment, man. This is a film ending, you know.

Dean: Yeah, it really is.

John: This is it. I love his choice here, it's like, ‘And if I die, I'm totally cool with that.’

Chris: Oh here we go.

John: And he's bleeding out, can you see?

Dean: See the blood on the ground.

John: The blood- he's bleeding out. There's no guarantee Nate Ford will make it.

[Laughter]

Chris: Wow.

John: Which was fun actually shooting this, ‘cause Tim really loved this. And two days before we finished shooting, he turned to me and went, ‘Wait am I dead?’

[Laughter]

Chris: Oh that’s something.

Dean: Stay tuned for season three and you'll find out.

John: I know. No kidding, you'll find out.

Dean: Thank you again for hanging in there with us and listening to this commentary.

John: We had a great time and we really appreciate you guys watching the show.

Chris: And thanks again for watching season two; we can't wait to bring you season three.

John: And thank you, Portland.

Dean: Yes.

John: Big thank you, Portland.

[tweedlydumbtweedlydoo]

Damon Salvatore x reader

Requested by anon/Summary: You get jealous of how much time he spends with Elena so whenever she’s around you get really clingy and affectionate to show that he’s taken. 

A/N: Anon-- hope you like it!! xx 

Tag list is at the end. Let me know if you want to be added xx

OBX Tag list

Criminal Minds Tag list

The Vampire Diaires/The Originals Tag list

Supernatural Tag list

All of my works Tag list

**MASTERLIST**

Requests: {OPEN} CLOSED

I am currently taking requests for:

The Vampire Diaries/The Originals

Elijah Mikaelson

Damon Salvatore

Criminal Minds:

Spencer Reid

Derek Morgan

Supernatural (I’m only up to season 2, so please don’t request something with spoilers)**

Sam Winchester

Dean Winchester

Outer Banks (Netflix):

John B Routledge

JJ Maybank

Rafe Cameron

********************************************************************************************NOT MY GIF, CREDIT TO OWNERS

You were fixing your makeup when Damon walked into the room, “Hey, you need to take a shower cause I’m almost ready to go.” You smile. The two of you were having date night. It was the one night this week you didn’t have to work and the two of you could use a night to yourself. 

“Sorry, I have to go.” He’s grabbing his phone and keys from the bedside table. 

You turn around in the chair, “Wait, what? Why?” 

“I’ll be back before our reservation. I promise.” He walks over and leans down to kiss you, but you pull back. 

“Damon, this is our date night. The only night I have off.” You frown, “What could be more important than that?” That’s when it dawned on you; Elena Gilbert.

 He can tell it’s registered with you, “I’m sorry, I have to go. She needs me and you know Stefan is in ripper mode. I promise I’ll be back before the reservation.” 

You sigh before nodding, “Fine. Whatever.” 

He presses a kiss on your forehead before walking out the door, “I love you!” 

“I love you too,” You mutter, turning back to the mirror. You knew he wouldn’t make it back in time. You grab your makeup remover wipes and begin taking off the makeup. 

~ 

You’d fallen asleep by the time he made it back from Elena’s. He pressed a soft kiss to your head before slipping in bed next to you. The next morning when you woke up, he wasn’t in bed. Sighing you got out of bed and brushed your teeth before making your way downstairs. You could hear laughing and what sounded like someone cooking. Throwing your hair into a ponytail you walk into the kitchen to find Damon making breakfast and across from him at the island was… Elena. Of course.

 “Good morning..” 

Both of them look up and smile, “Good morning, coffee is on the counter.” Damon motions behind him with the spatula. 

“Elena.” You mumble, walking by her. 

“Damon’s making pancakes.” She says, sipping her coffee.

 You nod, “I can see that.” You walk over to the counter and pour yourself a cup of coffee, “I didn’t know you were here.” 

“I brought her back with me last night. Just didn’t think it was safe with her being there without Jeremy.” Damon says, flipping a pancake.

 You turn around and lean against the counter, taking a sip of your coffee, humming in response. You can see she’s watching Damon, who is of course shirtless, make the pancakes. 

She smiles, “Damon was sweet enough to bring me back last night. I was having a rough night.” 

You give her a forced smile, “Yeah he’s sweet isn’t he?” You set your coffee down and wrap your arm around Damon, leaning up to kiss him on the lips, slipping your tongue along his lower lip. You knew what it did to him. “good morning handsome..” You smile into the kiss.

 He sets the spatula down and wraps his arm around your waist, pulling you close, “Good morning to you too.” He smirks, leaning down to kiss you again. 

“Bring me breakfast upstairs?” You ask, grabbing a strawberry and taking a bite of it, winking at him before slipping out of the kitchen and back upstairs, making sure to sway your hips as you leave. You needed to make sure Elena knew Damon was taken, which is why when Damon came upstairs to give you breakfast, you didn’t stay quiet. You made sure she knew Damon was happily taken.  

~

The next evening at the Grill you were serving behind the bar when you spotted Damon walking in. He was looking around the bar and you thought he was looking for you. You smiled and went to raise your hand so he’d know you were behind the bar tonight but his eyes met someone else at the back. Your eyes followed his and there was Elena, Caroline and Bonnie. 

He made his way over and you watched as Elena gave him a hug and then he sat down next to her. You frowned and decided you’d bring him his favorite; bourbon. You walked over with the glass and bottle, “Hey.” 

He glanced up at you, then back at the girls. “Hey.. So-” 

“Do you want a glass?” You ask, setting the glass down and beginning to pour the drink. 

“No i’m fine.” 

“Okay.. well do you want something else?” Your hand goes to his shoulder, but he pushes you off. 

“jesus y/n, stop being so clingy!” He turns to you in his seat, motioning to the girls, “We’re trying to have a conversation.” 

You gulp back tears and nod, “Sorry.” You whisper, taking the glass and bottle before heading to the bar then making your way to the back room where you took a few moments to yourself. also known as crying your eyes out. 

~ 

You didn’t go straight home after your shift, but instead found yourself sitting at the bar, throwing back drinks. Your phone buzzes next to you. 5 missed calls from Damon and 4 text messages. And you were the one being clingy? 

You switched your phone off and threw back another drink, setting it down, “Hit me.” 

“Are you sure? You haven’t ate anything today..” Matt says from behind the bar. 

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ve had a shitty day.” You slide the drink to him. You could already feel the room spinning. Maybe you shouldn’t have drank them so quickly. 

Matt started pouring you another. “Don’t pour her another.” Damon was at your side. 

Matt stops and looks between the two of you. “I mean it Donovan. She’s cut off. How many has she had?” He can tell you’re swaying in your seat. 

“I’m not sure.” Matt says, “I only just got here. She’s been here since the end of her shift.” 

“Alright, come on princess.” He starts to help you off the stool but you push his hands away. 

“You mean you pulled yourself away from Elena Gilbert long enough to come check on your girlfriend?” You slur, “Apparently i’m clingy.” You say looking at Matt. “For wanting to be around my boyfriend. That makes me clingy.” 

Damon sighs and rolls his eyes, “You know I didn’t mean that. Now stop, let’s get you home.” He starts at you again. 

“I can get up myself!” You slowly try to get down off the stool, stumbling a little. 

“Okay, let’s go.” He reaches down and picks you up bridal style, “Thanks for calling Donovan.” 

Matt nods, “No problem.” 

You poke at Damon’s face, “you’re really handsome. I can see why Elena would want you. And I mean she could totally steal you out from under me. She’s prettier.” 

Damon rolls his eyes as he carries you to the car, “She would not steal me out from under you. And she isn’t prettier.” He gently sets you down, keeping one arm wrapped around your waist to hold you up as he opens the door. 

“She is though! and she’s always around you. You’re always around her.” He helps you inside and buckles you up, “I bet you two are fucking.” 

“You’re drunk, y/n. Nothing is going on with me and Elena.” He shuts the door and by the time he’s rounded the car, you’ve already passed out. 

~ 

The next morning you wake with a headache and the sun shining through the curtains. Groaning you roll over on your side. 

“Good morning.” 

You jump a little, opening your eyes to see Damon laying beside you. “Jesus, Damon, I din’t know you were here.” 

He nods, “Today is all about me and you.” He sits up and grabs the water and tylenol from his bedside table, handing it to you, “No elena, no stefan drama. Just me and you.” 

You slowly sit up and take the tylenol, “What’s got you wanting to spend the day with me?” 

“You were right I have been spending a lot of time with Elena. I shouldn’t have gotten angry with you yesterday for bringing me something to drink.” He puts the water back on the table, “It was a dick move.” 

You sit back against the headboard, looking at him, “Just me and you today?” 

He nods, holding his arm up so you can cuddle into his chest, “Just me and you.” 

Tag list: @beth-winchester21​

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. CVI

It was a love story from the very beginning.

Cas vs AUCas

Hi there! Okay I wanted to finish season 13 in one meta but the last episode has a lot of juice inside so I decided to give it one exclusive meta hehehe.

I will talk here about Cas and his alter ego in the AU world, assign to it a little of daddy issues.

Let's start this...

"Luke, I am your father."

Lucifer finding Jack and trying to convince him about his origins and trying to drag him more and more to connect with him and his hidden intentions, are a reflection for the incoming issue with Chuck and humanity.

So, as always, Lucifer will try to use the manipulative speech with his son by throwing statementa that could be seen as morally accurate.

LUCIFER: Your name is Jack.

JACK: And yours is Lucifer.

DEAN (stalking over in anger) No. No, no. No. You don’t talk to him. (pointing at Lucifer) And you, don’t listen to him. (pointing at Jack)

LUCIFER: (sounding reasonable) Um, don’t you think that’s his choice?

And everyone in the room would say 'he's right' Because that's how Lucifer uses manipulation. He can sound reasonable. And that's the danger of leaving him at his please.

Look at this twist of semantics...

LUCIFER I mean, the point is...humans are not perfect. They’re hardwired to fall. And when they do, they need a fall guy.

CAS (to Jack) That’s a vast oversimplification.

LUCIFER (annoyed) Okay, so true or false, Cas -- um, for almost, like, ever, I’ve been locked away in a Cage?

CAS Yes.

LUCIFER True! It’s true. So how did I do all this evil for all these centuries, I wonder?

As I said, Luci's speech is dangerously logical. Letting Lucifer freely speak, is more dangerous that fight him in a physical battle.

But we know Dean, Cas and Sam won't fall for it.

Remember this is a B-L (Bruckleming) episode, so we will have here a failed attempt of redemption arc for Lucifer. I know Leming was pushing for it, but it wasn't a welcomed idea between writers so... That's why you had Luci crying his tears in front of Gabe, as if he was regretting something, he didn't. Because he is Lucifer. So, goodbye to that idea.

Good performance from Mark Pellegrino tho.

Mary punching Lucifer in the face, closing a circle from 12x23 when she confesses she always dreamt with punching the devil in the face. She did it in that episode but I think this punch was way better satisfying for her.

Jumping to another little take for a foreshadow...

BOBBY Just got news about Charlie and Ketch. Goin’ after the execution squad went sideways. They’re the ones who got ambushed.

This is the cliffhanger or twist of the story we will have in 14x09, when AUMichael posseses Dean again.

Cas vs Cas

Settling the continuity of character development, we had a very visual way to show how much Castiel had grown throughout the seasons.

Before this encounter, we had Castiel coming back to soldier mode, as Dean requested him with the 'whatever it takes' speech.

This time is Dean himself the one asking Cas to use torture over a person, just like he did with Donnie. The only good thing in this scene is Dean and Castiel communicating without talking.

Gif set credit @becauseofthebowties

This preamble was needed to lead us to the AUCas vs Cas scene. In which AUCastiel represented what the Empty was for Castiel at the beginning of this season. AUCas was, certainly, a Castiel that never met Dean Winchester in this reality. Taking that as our base in this discussion, AUCastiel never fell, and he followed Heaven's order blindly, symbolically represented with a Nazi suit.

We could infer Castiel could be like him if Dean had never born and Apocalypse was successful.

But let's check AUCas dialogues...

AW-CASTIEL I haven’t seen many like you. But... But you have to understand that everyone has a breaking point. A...point of pain. Particular, primitive fear, maybe. But it’s a nerve so...raw that your will -- grit, they cease to be factors. And then all your little secrets, they flow from your mind, to mine...until your mind no longer exists.

This speech AUCastiel says to AUCharlie, just like Castiel reading Donnie's mind or torturing that young man, are all foreshadows for what will happen with AUMichael trying to decipher Dean's deepest thoughts and secrets. "What do you want?" Which will be the topic in season 14.

And now, CAS vs CAS...

AW-CASTIEL More than one of us. Fascinating.

CAS (looking at his double) I’ve gotten used to it.

Two Castiels, like the Empty and Cas, or like AUMichael and Dean inside of Dean,'s mind.

AW-CASTIEL You align yourself with the h-humans.

Humans were considered as garbage between these angels in this AU, so, the sole idea of looking at himself in our Castiel been allies with humans it's disgusting.

Gif credit @inacatastrophicmind

CAS I vastly prefer them to angels.

This is a lesson Castiel had learned after meeting Dean and realizing Angels were wrong

AW-CASTIEL Don’t think that you are better than me. Well, we are the same.

This is very interesting, because AUCastiel maybe also has that idea of rebellion inside of him, as he saw it fulfilled in Castiel.

CAS Yes. We are.

The confirmation here is infering Castiel recognizes what kind of angel he was, what kind of angel he could be if he had never met Dean, and at the same time, he is killing that part of him, and accepting who he is now. This will have it's continuity in season 14, and it's conclusion in 15x18, always linked to that dark side he defeats, symbolically represented by the Empty, and the last word said by Jack, his son, bringing him back to life.

Miscellaneous: DESTIEL INTIMACY:

Gif set credit @inacatastrophicmind

This tiny scene here is very important. Castiel approached Dean without talking and opens Dean's backpack to take off the handcuffs. And Dean just let him. There's no sign of surprise in Dean's face, he just let Castiel to sink his hand in his backpack showing us the amount of intimacy between these two characters. The trust and the long term relationship. This is something only a person that is very very close to you is allowed to do. And is so romantic and really meaningful. Is foreshadowing too 14x03 when Dean asks Castiel to get inside his head. Because he trust his angel with his life.

To Conclude:

This episode was a preamble to daddy issues in season 14 (Chuck and John) and it also showed an interesting interact between AUCas and Castiel, textually representing his growth of character.

Hope you like this meta, see you in the next one.

Tagging @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weird-dorky-little-d @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @authorsararayne @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @isthisdestiel @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@destielle @spnsmile @shippsblog @robot-feels @superlock-in-the-tardis @superduckbatrebel @2musiclover2 @madronasky @anon-non2 @cea1996 @lisafu02 @asphodelesauvage @destiels-canonahhhhhhhhhh

If you wanna be added or removed from this list just let me know.

If you wanna read the previous metas from this season here you have the links:

Vol. XCIII, XCIV, XCV, XCVI, XCVII, XCVIII,CXIX, C, CI, CII, CIII, CIV, CV.

Buenos Aires, April 4 2:01 PM 2021

[my-sherlock221b]

Supernatural Rewatch Ramblings: Wendigo

Wendigo

The long line of the MoTW series in Supernatural starts off with the Woman in White which is fairly well- known legend/ myth in most countries.  Then we get this one next which claims origin from the Native American mythology.

Here is a review of the Wendigo episode with thoughts from me and @soulmates-for-real​

I have always wondered why they were not so inclusive or better at being inclusive as a show. Yes, they did have many women and people of colour in important and strong roles, both positive and negative (though they could have done so much better!). But they steered clear from some of the huge mythology lores like that from Native Americans, Hindu, Latin American cultures. This may have been a wise political strategy to avoid conflict and so they stuck to the Judeo- Christian core but still managed a rather radical take on it!

Spoiler alert:

*God was the final villain?! Who would have guessed? And that the angels were dicks, relentlessly, and demons were in fact ex-humans.*

So back to Wendigo.

What a monster the Wendigo is!! In later seasons when we got only angels and demons and some vampires etc the other monsters were monsters in and of themselves. Like they were born that way—needing to eat human pituitary glands or whatever.

But Woman in White and Wendigo, and even Dead in the Water, or the Shapeshifter --the monster was created by circumstances. Betrayal and infidelity leading to murder suicides, extreme starvation leading to cannibalism and eternal hunger.

Far more terrifying than someone who is born a ghoul perhaps.

So here we are in Wendigo, at the forest/camp site with these fake, charming, rather useless camp rangers who carry M&Ms (nice touch and throwback to E.T. !), don’t wear shorts ( which anyway seems like a weird thing to wear when there is grass and stuff—why would you want to expose your legs?!), can’t see bear traps ( Seriously Dean?! ).

Sam is still restless and bristling at Jess’s death, as well as angry at Dad. All those years of separation do not seem to have given him any peace in his relationship with his father. Now to add massive insult to his already injured sense of self—he has lost his girlfriend in exactly the same way as his father lost his wife—making them even more identical.

So he is cranky and unwilling to give in to any of Dean’s suggestions. He denies his own nightmares, refuses good advice and food and is generally misanthropic. While Dean on the other hand seems to be enjoying this like a happy jolly road trip. The monster is almost like a secondary priority now.

What is most important, (and this becomes even more obvious in a re-watch post finale)—what is THE most important thing is that Sammy is riding shotgun, is in front of his eyes and safe.

Miserable and bitchy but safe.

That allows Dean to dial back a bit and bring into focus what has always been, for him, the really important part of their lives—saving people. This is always more important to him that hunting things. So, when he finds out about someone’s brother being lost and the coordinates match what his dad has left, well there is no choice really.

They have to find a way to save him.

If they find Dad there, well, good, but that is suddenly not a priority for him at all. He turned up at Sam’s doorstep, and as we know from the finale, waited there for HOURS since he was unsure of his welcome, then broke in at 3 am or something like an idiot….but anyway…..all that was because Dad had been away on a hunting trip and hadn’t been home in a few days…blah blah blah.

The first contact Dean makes with Sam who left home to go to college is to recruit him to help find Dad—the same guy who told Sam that if he went away to stay away.

And then suddenly now that Sam is with him, finding Dad is like meh. If we find him somewhere by the wayside while you and I hunt monsters Sammy, then yeah sure, great.

If not…well….we have stuff to do you and I…saving people, hunting things. The family business. 

And John Winchester….well, what can I possibly say about him without taking up pages in ranting?! Why did he ditch the first monster? Why was he in SUCH a hurry to leave that he left his journal behind??

My theory of course is that he had to run away from the Woman in White since he had been unfaithful to Mary ( yes yes I know it had been YEARS at that point, but hello, this man made his life a crusade for revenge and sacrificed his kids’ lives also to that darkness, so…yes, being with Adam’s mother was an infidelity and you can’t change my mind on that !).

So naturally John was afraid he would be killed.

But still….he left coordinates for the next hunt in the journal and just ran off?!

The other question is what the hell is happening in motels across USA? Guys like these can just check- in on fake credit cards, leave a room full of satanic and serial killer-y documents, sometimes dead bodies, lots of salt at the door and windows, and just disappear without checking out….

Though the police do seem quite alert and swift in action in the Pilot compared to some of the laidback and clueless ones we see later.

What is most interesting is to see the character of season 1 Dean emerge.

He sass, he boss, he flirt, he lie, he charm, he fight, he save.

In fact, the very first time I saw Supernatural, it seemed that Dean occupied so much of the narrative space that I barely noticed Sam except as a foil to and a brother to Dean.

Now in the re-watch what is fascinating in retrospect is to watch Sam slide into ‘the life’ without a hiccup. He reads the journal, he figures out it’s a wendigo, he gets the civilians to cooperate, he also fights and saves.

And that look he gives Dean in the car?

Well, those who missed the signs in Pilot and didn’t ship Wincest from day one, surely started doing it then!

https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/supernatural-rewatch-s01e02-wendigo/

This is also the first episode that gives a clear parallel to the Sam and Dean relationship through the B plot. When Haley says she MUST go to find her brother –Dean nods in instant understanding while Sam is pissed off at having to ‘babysit.’

We see this in many more episodes in the future, and what is fascinating is to see Sam gain insights into his brother with every such parallel. To recognize what being the big brother has meant to Dean and how much he has done and given and even suffered for that. We will discuss this in more detail in the next episode review! ( Dead in the Water)

The chemistry and ease, almost a fluid sense of flow between the two actors is unmistakable in this episode. Even as Sam is really being a bitch and Dean is being a jerk, there is a definite undercurrent of something holding them together. It may be all about revenge for Jess’s death and finding Dad for Sam, but he will still stick with Dean and want to protect him as fiercely as Dean wants to protect Sam.

.

Sheila O’Malley has given a detailed explanation for the acting styles of Jared and Jensen and what she said about Jared is spot on and brilliant. He does what she calls active listening.

It is amazing how once you realize that you notice it all the time.

The reason why Dean can manage such perfect comedic timing or non- verbal communication is because Sam is always ALWAYS tuned into him. Listening, watching, reacting, observing.

Once again, for those of you interested in the meta and more erudite and informed reviews that this one 😊 do read what Sheila O’Malley has written.

Here are some excerpts which will entice you!

“David Nutter, who directed the pilot, also directed episode 2, and there’s a new DP here, the phenomenally talented Serge Ladouceur, who is still shooting the show. If the DP for the pilot, Aaron Schneider, helped establish the dark mood and horror-movie feel of the series, then Ladouceur just helped deepen and strengthen that continuum. The look of the show has changed, by Season 9. I would say that it has a more glamorous look now, more colorful, while certainly still very dramatic (even melodramatic). Supernatural is (and has been) one of the best looking shows on television.”

“The ranger comes in to talk to them, and they pose as environmental studies majors at the university in Boulder. Sam says they are “working on a paper”, clearly improvising, and you can watch the glorious schtick of Jensen Ackles as he adjusts to the new information of who he is supposed to be pretending to be. God is in the details, people, and it’s the detailed scene work of both Ackles and Padalecki that keeps this show going. David Nutter referred to Jensen Ackles once as a “meticulous actor” in terms of his preparation for every scene, no matter how small, and it pays off. He knows what the fuck he is doing. So does Padalecki. I couldn’t give two shits about the demons. It’s that DYNAMIC that is so entertaining and watch-able.”

 .

And here are some thoughts on the episode from @soulmates-for-real, my partner in crime for the rewatch 😊

Except the fact that Sam is quite secretive about his nightmares but his body language is quite open and his expressions easy to read. On the contrary, I saw Dean posturing a lot with other people, pouting, flirting, making eyes...trying to be all nonchalant. But when it comes to Sam we see a different Dean - the more antsy and angsty Sam gets, the more intensely Dean reacts to him and you can see Dean's concern shining through. Leading to Sam coming to some kind of resolution and giving Dean 'that look' at the end! 

[bellasweetwriting]

Fix His Broken Heart

Jess Mariano x f.reader

(not my gif)

masterlist

request: Hiii, i want a jess fic🥺 theres not enough jess mariano fics here, how about after rory goes to visit him at truncheon he meets the reader and she helps him move on from rory and he falls in love with reader. 💞💞

requested by: @beautiful-thinking

note: I’m a big literati shipper so this was hard but also fun to write I really love this

warnings: movie references, drinking, gilmore girls s2,s3 and s6 spoilers, some fancy vocabulary, Logan hate

word count: 1,7k

reading time: 7 min

And he saw her walk away to his arms. She found comfort in another guy. She moved one.

He hated himself for realizing that after all these years of knowing this person, still, it isn't enough. He and Rory evolved separately, they don't have the same goals or the same resources. As much as they try, it seemed like destiny didn't want their paths to cross one another.

He realized that he lost her as soon as she walked out of that door. She was gone. What now?

He'll probably see her again at Luke and Lorelai's wedding; hell, he'll even see Logan there also. The way he despited that guy. He cheated on her, and still, there she was, madly in love with him.

Logan is better than him in Rory's eyes, and he couldn't do anything to change that. He was a forgotten part of her story, an item locked inside a box that she opens when she feels lost. She probably doesn' think of him anymore like she used to.

But he thinks of her at least once a day. When he walks through the bookstore and notices the new edition of Dawn Powell's My Home Is Far Away, or when his friends bring coffee and offer to him, reminding him of her slight coffee addiction. Who's he kidding? There's nothing "slight" about Rory Gilmore's coffee addiction, it's concerning.

Any little thing reminded him of her and the fact that now he's sure she doesn't think of him anymore... saddens him.

Everyone was celebrating the success of the event that day, while Jess drowned his sorrows in a cold beer, also glancing over the girls that walked past him.

"I should warn you that if you are planning to Kurt Cobain on my bar, don't." That expression provoked an immediate reaction on Jess's face. "Not a fan of dark humor?"

"Not when it comes from the mouth of a stranger, not," he replied, making the girl chuckle. "Do you always attend your costumers like that, Rick Blaine?" Asked Jess naming the main character of Casablanca, who happened to owned a bar/restaurant in the 1940s.

"Rick Blaine? Don't tell me you are one of those guys who listen to The Clash on repeat and think they are better than the rest of the world because they know references from black and white movies and have read at least one book by Bukowski in the last three months." Jess drank from his beer, making the girl opened her mouth widely. "Oh, God, you are! A living Danielle Steel novel main character drinking alone in my bar." He laughed.

"I used to be that guy," Jess corrected her. "I've changed."

"A girl?"

"A breakup with a girl, to be fairer. I work at a little bookstore called Truncheon. We are all independent writers, and to give you some credit, some of us do look like Danielle Steel's characters. Not that I have read anything by her, though."

Jess wasn't like that. He didn't tell people he doesn't know about himself or his personal life, but for some reason, probably the effects of the alcohol in that beer were making him loosen up a bit with this complete stranger. Yeah, a significant event has happened in his life. The girl he thought he was going to be with forever decided to be with someone else rather than him, and he hasn't thought of anyone else romantically. He's so used to being alone, so used to not having anyone to actually talk to, that, maybe, liberating his internal thoughts and regrets with someone he isn't going to see again is probably for the best.

Not a therapist or a friend, just, someone external who isn't going to dig dipper in his subconscious to understand his situation and actions or someone who is involved in the story; someone who just―listens.

"You read one, you read them all." She commented. "Independent writers, huh? Have you published anything I have written?"

"Probably not," he said with that typical modesty he has earned through the pass of the years. "I just have one book out, is a self-published, so..." She nodded. "I actually did a little road trip, trying to make independent bookstores like mine to put them in the store. Probably, by the end of the month, I'll have twenty bucks and a sticker that says: «keep trying, champ.»"

"How poetic," the barista murmured, and both chuckle.

"Do you have a copy of your book?" She asked, and he nodded, giving it to her. "The Subsect, by Jess Mariano. Truncheon Books," she read before turning it around and reading the back cover. "«A self-published, prominent and dark-humored coming of age short novel following the unique life of J., a seventeen-year-old with no place to call home.» That's dark. How much for it?"

"Twenty bucks and a sticker," she chuckled, "or, a free beer."

"Sounds like a fair deal, Jess Mariano." He smiled at the mention of his name. "I'm Y/N."

"Nice to meet you, Y/N." She placed the book inside her apron with a tiny smile. "So you work here."

"Oh, you said that because of the apron and the fact that I'm behind the counter? No, I'm just a big fan of... college bars in Philadelphia." The sarcasm in Y/N's voice made Jess grin. "My brother owns the place. He lets me live upstairs while I go to college, and I pay rent by working here. The books you see behind me are mine. I study on my break."

"What are you studying?"

"English. I want to be a screenplay writer." He sighed before shaking his head. "What?"

"A film writer? Why?"

"I love films. I love watching them, reviewing them, analyzing them. I want to write masterpieces. What's wrong with that? At least I'm not writing coming of age short novels."

"It's not a coming of age novel, that's just the hideous synopsis that my poet friends come up with for the book. It's actually a lot deeper than that."

"The only way of finding that out is reading it, right?"

"Right."

Both looked at each other for a few seconds before she asked for his glass to refill that free beer she offered him.

"How about... if I come tomorrow, take you out, and you buy me that beer? How about that?" Y/N chuckle before agreeing.  He didn't believe it actually worked. He had tried to ask girls out in the last two years, but they've always said that they weren't interested. But there was something different and intriguing about Y/N that had caught the young writer's attention. "At what time do you finish class?"

"Pick me up at eight here, I'll wait."

"Cool."

"Cool."

...............................................................................................................................

He was nervous.

A date. Jess has never even been on one before. Not even with Rory. He never took Rory on a date like a dinner or a movie before they started going out. He used to tease her, and she fell for him, God knows why.

He took Rory on dates when they were dating, although if you count the car ride as a date. No, it wasn't a date. She was Dean's girlfriend at the time, and he crashed her car.

Why did she even like him? He crashed her car for God's sake. If he was Rory, he would have hated himself.

He hated himself already.

It wasn't like in books. Girls are complicated, and the male writers he is so used to reading about usually don't talk about dates and how to get a girl; the girl is already in love with the main character.

She did mention Danielle Steel. Did she read that kind of dramas, like Nicholas Sparks and John Green, where the characters just die in each other's arms like a shoddy Shakespeare tragedy imitation? Did she like that? He didn't know how to be a "romance" kind of guy. He still used the "bully her because you like her" technique, and maybe that's the only part of him that hasn't changed with the years.

He still didn't know how to communicate and express himself. He still wasn't used to talking about his emotions or being in a healthy relationship where there's no such thing as privacy. He wasn't born to assist to cotillions and balls, wear tuxes like James Bond and use fancy words gentleman-like, such as "Farewell," "Luxury," "Eloquent," and "Hope you had a marvelous evening, thanks for joining us in our humble and splendid gathering."

But that was Rory's world. Probably Logan used words like that without even knowing the meaning of them.

He quickly noticed that thinking about his ex-girlfriend before a date wasn't a good sign.

Maybe he should stand her up? No, that is an old Jess move. He is a changed man, he doesn't treat girls like that anymore. He is better, he is more mature, he wants to achieve something, actually becoming a better and selfless person who thinks about the consequences before acting. He wasn't going to stand Y/N up.

By a quarter past eight, he was standing on the bar's entrance, making eye contact with the barista from the previous day. Y/N smiled at him before saying goodbye to the guy next to her, grabbing her purse and walking towards Jess.

"Thought you wouldn't show up, Romeo."

"Can't believe you took me for a coward."

"In my defense, I saw you drinking your problems away yesterday." He nodded before putting her coat on her shoulders for her, making Y/N smile. "What a gentleman."

"There are so many things you don't know about me. You would surprise yourself."

"Oh, let me guess: you've never been on a date before."

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Well, because we are walking instead of driving."

"I have a dark past with cars and girls. You wouldn't want me to be behind the wheel while you are inside the car after you hear it, believe me."

"Good to know." Both laughed as they walked under the streetlights of Philadelphia. "I've never been on a date either," she admitted, taking him by surprise, but not as much to make a comment about it.

Jess has never felt more comfortable. Next to her, he felt like he was free of judgments. Starting a new story, blank page, blank notebook. He felt safe, and he hasn't felt safe in another person's arms in such a long time.

This was good for him. To finally... move on.

And who better than her to fix his broken heart.

[canonicallysoulmates]

Supernatural 15.16

What can I say? No, seriously, what can I say this was such a disappointment I just wanna salt it, burn it and forget it. 

This is not what I wanted nor what we were told we were gonna get, the promo’s and the way it was promoted made it seem like this was gonna be a heavy brothers centered episode and we were gonna get to see flashbacks of Sam and Dean hunting solo together, without their dad, for the first time. It wasn’t.

This episode is snake oil. It was advertised in all the right ways to make us buy into it but it has no real substance or value.  

The plot is simple: Sam and Dean have to investigate the death of an old, sort of friend they made in one of the motel’s they stayed at back when they were little and haven’t spoken to in over 20 years. And let’s talk about this real quick because at the beginning Sam and Dean don’t know they’re going to investigate their friends’ death they think they’re going to the funeral cause the victim’s sister, who was also a sort of friend of theirs back in the day, invited them to the funeral to guarantee that they would go which is so stupid, people miss funerals all the time especially when they’re the funerals of people who they only knew for a week over 20 years ago and didn’t keep in contact. So, the stupid starts early in this episode. 

Back to the plot, the thing that Sam and Dean are hunting is something they had hunted and thought killed years ago back when they were the wee!chesters, and by “they” I mean….Dean and the girlie. I’m sorry you thought, we were gonna see young!Sam and Dean actually hunt together? No. 

The four of them sort of work together to figure out where the thing might be hiding and Dean’s all ‘I’m handling this on my own’ and Sam’s like ‘I’m going with you’ and Dean’s like ‘no’ and the girls like ‘then i’m going with you’ and Dean’s all ‘no’ and so he goes off on his own but the girl follows him so it’s the girl and him hunting this thing down while Sam is stuck back in the motel on babysitting duty of the girls little brother which I’m sure the writer is patting herself on the back for because at the beginning in the first flashback Dean was all ‘I used to babysit you when I was your age’ so now Sam is stuck babysitting...get it? Get it? I think it’s supposed to be clever…...excuse me a minute

*clears throat* where was I? Oh yes, so anyways after some investigating and Dean finding a bunch of children’s corpses they arrive at the hotel in time to see the thing they’re hunting attacking Sam and the other kid and Dean’s all ‘Sam get out of the way’ and stabs the thing which makes it turn to dust so they think it’s dead which we all know it ain’t but let’s talk for a minute about the fact that Dean just walked to see a monster attacking his baby brother AND HE DOESN’T EVEN RUSH TO CHECK ON HIM WHEN THE THING IS DEAD!!!! Also, this thing was hunting kids that were around Sam’s age but Dean doesn’t seem to give a fuck. 

So what was the thing Sam and Dean were hunting oh so many years ago when they did shit re-search even though we know that they knew how important research was but this writer doesn’t know how to write this characters in present time why would she be able to write young! them? Baba Yaga! But they still don’t know that they’ll find that out later in the episode, in like a 5min scene that really does not do this figure justice but neither does the rest of this episode as this writer doesn’t really care and treats Baby Yaga more like a traditional vengeful spirit. 

For real though, it is a shame that this writer doesn’t care enough because Baba Yaga is a folklore figure with so much history they could have really done something interesting and scary; such a famous folklore figure and she was treated like a footnote. 

But that’s what young!Sam and Dean were up to what about our Sam and Dean? Well, after they find out the truth that they’re there to investigate and not attend a funeral that happened a week before they go check what’s up at the motel since that’s where everything happened years ago and the dude died, Dean is feeling guilty af for so many reasons including that he had yet to tell Sam Jack was gonna die, at first Dean doesn’t believe it’s the same thing they had hunted but then he’s like ‘okay maybe it’s not as dead as I thought’ and leaves Sam and the girlie to do research while he has a scene with Billie where she tells him the end is coming and while that’s happening Sam finds out it’s the Baba Yaga and the girl gets attacked and then Dean returns and he and Sam go their separate ways to find her because of course the do and Dean gets attacked but Sam arrives and then they properly kill the monster. 

Anyways, it all ends with their “friend” telling Dean for like the 20th time that he has changed and then they have a hug which gives us our final flashback where after him and the young girlie say goodbye to each other him and Sam are waiting for John to pick them up and Dean’s all ‘I don’t know about this college thing but we make a good team’ which would be great if we had actually seen them work as a team.

With the thing dead Sam and Dean make their way back home and Dean tells Sam the truth about Jack dying. We’ll come back to this scene. 

And that’s the episode in a nutshell. It’s bad. It’s unforgivably bad. This is the mediocre, poor man’s version of Something Wicked. 

It’s got no soul, with the exception of one scene it’s got no emotion. It stays at the surface level, we don’t truly get to see young!Sam and Dean work together, we don’t really get to see their dynamic with each other, we don’t learn anything new about them, Dean clearly didn’t like Sam thinking about college but it wasn’t really explored he was just an ass to Sam about it and then was all ‘we make a good team’ but like I said we didn’t truly get to see them be a team so it just falls flat, there weren’t really any proper scenes between the young brothers, Baba Yaga is not explored she’s more a footnote, we also don’t get to see adult Sam and Dean hunt together. 

You compare it to other flashback episodes like Something Wicked, A Very Supernatural Christmas, Just My imagination to name a few, and you can’t. You can’t really compare it cause those episodes were well written and actually explored Sam and Dean’s emotions and their relationship. This episode is the worst flashback episode we have ever gotten and I wish it didn’t exist. 

I wanna talk about the young!Sam and Dean actors real quick cause no shade to them but I didn’t like them one bit not just because of the way they were written but also because they don’t really embody Sam and Dean’s personalities in the way that their predecessors have, I look at them I don’t see Sam and Dean. Also, their acting? Not the best. 

So, all around this is a failure as far as young!Sam and Dean.

There was one scene in this whole entire episode that had any sort of emotion: the final scene with Sam and Dean in the car where Dean tells Sam everything and about Jack dying and Sam is pissed off and they get into a fight. That’s the only scene where Sam and Dean got closest to acting and sounding like themselves and the only one that was worth something and I give full credit to Jared and Jensen for that because their acting in that moment was standing ovation worthy, they honestly almost made me cry. I think if this epi had been better written and emotions actually explored it would have managed to make me cry. 

I don’t like that the epi finished with the boys fighting, even less that the one proper scene we got between them was a fight but it was the best scene of the episode and it should be watched if for no other reason than to see Jared and Jensen put on an amazing performance, 

But that scene alone is not enough to save this episode. 

The writer of this epi once recommended that you could put the first 2 seasons of this show on as background noise and maybe if she hadn’t done that and actually paid attention to the foundation of the show that paid her bills she wouldn’t have given us the mediocre version of Something Wicked or would have learned how to artfully weave the main plot of a season into a stand alone episode like Phantom Traveler did instead of sticking in a scene right in the middle for some exposition. As it is, you can use her episode as background noise. 

Here’s the thing, you can make the argument that it’s not as bad as it could have been or as what we have gotten, or that we should expect the episodes to be bad because it’s all we’ve gotten, or that we should just be happy with what we get and listen you feel how you wanna feel about this episode and/or tell yourself what you need to make yourself feel better but that don’t work with me. I’m not going to thank the writers for taking a smaller shit on this show than they did last time, and expecting the episodes to suck doesn’t mean we don’t deserve better and that we shouldn’t be upset. 

And I am upset. I am angry. I am sad. I am bitter. I am disappointed. 

You know what stings most about this episode? What makes it cut differently than all the other shitty, insulting, disappointing episodes that have come before it? That this is the last time we’re going to see young!Sam and Dean. This was the last ever flashback episode. A badly written episode with barely any proper interaction between the young brothers, is the last time we’ll see young! Sam and Dean. 

I so badly wish I could recommend this episode but the truth is that I can't. What I can recommend, and I highly do, is looking up the final scene and enjoying that beautifully acted, painful, brother moment. And then if you still want to watch young!Sam and Dean, just re-watch Something Wicked. 

In conclusion,

[gingerest-ale]

YOUR PUNK AU ART has me on the floor. Absolutely spectacular!!!!! If you want to elaborate on your artistic choices I for one would LOVE to hear it <3

THANK UUUU!!!!!!!! also again i want to give credit to thee lovely castielsweedgarden (tumblr won’t let me tag them) for the original concept, the original post is here and their tag for alt!natural posts is here all their content is SO DAMN GOOD please check it out

OK ARTISTIC CHOICES. So for some background I’m a costume designer so I actually spent a lot of time doing research for these outfits and also I pay way to much attention to detail so get ready for an infodump because im a nerd.

DEAN

ok so my headcanon for the jacket (and if u read the og post this will make more sense hgafkgsjk) is that Dean stole it from John the night he and Sam ran away and he starts to modify it and make it his own and put patches on it that would piss off John and thats why he keeps wearing it because he took this thing his dad loved and made it his own and that is the ultimate “fuck you” to John.

Dean keeps his hair in a really short crew cut because i really enjoy Dean teasing Sam about their hair being long

Sam and Dean dye their hair in motel bathrooms and Dean changes colour every other month meanwhile Sam just dyes their hair black because “i dont want to damage my hair with bleach Dean”

I had a lot of fun with the patches and most are pretty self explanatory BUT i want to draw attention to: 

the handprint patch on Dean’s shoulder right above where the actual handprint is

the patch that says “i love my non binary child” is the first patch that goes on the jacket because Dean wants to support Sam and it is thee ultimate patch that would piss John off

The bee patch was a gift from Cas <3

Deans shirt is ripped from hunting but he likes the aesthetic of it 

The chain around his neck is silver or iron or some other useful ghosthunting metal

also the tattoo on Dean’s hand is inspired by this one fic its so good please read it

Dean wears a bunch of jewelry and you can’t see it but he also has a bunch of tattoos

SAM

Sam wears platform boots and it makes them like 7 feet tall but its ok its what they deserve

I said this in the tags but ill say it again: Sam got the spiked choker because they were tired of getting strangled by monsters all the time and honestly i think a lot of canon!Sam’s problems could be solved if he just wore a spiked choker

Anytime Dean teases Sam about their fashion choices Sam always tells him thats its for practical reasons. The rosary? Its for making holy water in a pinch. The ripped fishnets? they’ll just get ripped anyways. The platform boots? its too intimidate monsters. The spiked choker? Its self defence Dean come on, it’s a purely tactical decision, no aesthetic reason at all.

Sam modified the sweater themself. Spent the long hours in the car embroidering an exorcism onto a cropped sweater (it didn’t use to be cropped, but a werewolf clawed into the bottom part of it and well. here we are) in pink thread and sewing some black lace onto the hem.

why yes, Sam’s skirt does have a blood splatter on it!! you would think this would get Sam some suspicious looks, but their aesthetic is so Like That that people assume its just painted on in an attempt to be edgy. People who assume this are wrong.

Sam likes wearing revealing clothing because it lets other people see how insanely strong and muscled they are and alt!Sam loves being absolutely intimidating to people.

Like. Imagine. This seven foot tall giant shows up, wearing all black and spikes and you can see their insanely muscular thighs under the fishnets and oh god why do they have so many scars you Do Not Want To Mess With Them.

to be clear I think alt!Sam is just as much a sweetheart as canon!Sam is but they dont try to make themself look smaller

CAS

The shirt Cas is wearing says “BOB the man, the myth, the legend” and it is very much based on a shirt my lovely gf has.

The reason cas is dressed Like That is because he woke Jimmy up in the middle of the night and the tshirt and sweatpants and the socks are Jimmy’s pyjamas and of course he had to grab his coat and put on his crocs shoes before leaving the house to get possessed by an angel, he’s a sensible man!!!

ok so i need to talk about the crocs because some people seem unhappy about them. Castiel does not care about human fashion standards. He does not care about how he is perceived by others. Crocs are sturdy, comfortable, practical shoes to him and thats all that matters, why are you laughing Dean? They’re waterproof!

I honestly don’t know why i drew Cas with hoop earrings it just felt right but my current headcanon is because he say Beyoncé wearing some or something.

ok trench coat doodles time!!!!! there are many of them and i wont go into all of them but here are a few noteworthy ones

the one on the top right is based off a lil doodle one of writers did for a fan I think??? I can’t remember someone please link the post ;;

dean just doodles lil bees and hearts all over the place because they make Cas happy

theres a badly drawn Leviathan on there. in case you were wondering what that is

so many games of tic tac toe were played on the trench coat. Sam always takes the circles. Sam always wins.

the big heart on the bottom right contains a doodle of the poodle Dean found hot on that one terrible episode. I’m not sorry. 

I did draw an airplane with gun arms. it’s an inside joke i have with my gf. No i will not elaborate. I think that Dean drew that on there because he thought the idea was funny.

bottom left corner has cool sun wearing sunglasses because we are all kindergarteners 

the SW and DW drawn on the coat are because they put their initials on the places they call home. 

Thank u for your ask my apologies for writing ten million words about it please enjoy

[hippychick006]

Paleyfest 2006: Supernatural Panel

So I’ve watched about half the panel so far and am taking a break because my airpods have ran out of charge as I keep pausing to make notes. It was a natural break anyway as the first part of the panel was a hosted session and the next part is a questions from the audience.

So many memories and a couple of things I’d forgotten but been smiling for the last couple of hours as I watch, pause and pull the notes together.  Definitely worth a revisit to remember falling in love with this show and these guys.

Here’s my notes so far which I’ll tidy up and reissue all in a single post when I’ve finished watching tomorrow (timings are based on the video link) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6YHq20XmNE

Placing under a cut as longish post:

Supernatural was named in the Top 5 of new series by Entertainment Weekly

Aww. Kim Manners ☹  Miss his influence so much on the later seasons

2:20:  Jensen followed by Jared are announced to the panel. Jared arrives and doesn’t quite know where he’s supposed to go. Oh Jared.

Robert Singer looks so young! Wworking with J2 for so long has definitely aged him. 😊

3:35: Erik says as far as he’s aware, this panel is the first gathering of Supernatural fans

3:40: Erik tells the story of them filming in Stanley Park the night before the panel and they get a call about a man near their filming with a handgun, set gets shut down, J2 held away, police etc. called in and 2 hours later they find out it’s one of their own guys from Special Effects team.

They showed Scarecrow episode at the panel – great choice!

7:15: Jensen is reintroduced to the panel. The host can barely get through Jensen’s previous roles because of the fans. Jensen says something at 8.10 “Over to you, Jared.” I think, not 100% sure, but he definitely shouts something to Jared (who has still to be introduced).

8:11: Jared is reintroduced to the panel. The host is still having the same trouble getting through Jared’s roles as he did with Jensens. A guy shouts, “I love you.” Same random audience member, same

8:55: J2 slap hands as Jared sits down beside Jensen at the panel.

13:40: Erik’s been talking about the concept of the show and the care the brothers have for each other. Cut to Jared who is currently pouring Jensen some water.  Aww

15:00: They auditioned “everyone in town” so J2 did really, really well getting these roles.  They flew Jensen down from Vancouver and Jared’s complaining he had to drive. They thought they had found their Sam in Jensen.

15:45: Jensen and Jared trying to dodge the question by passing it to each other, Jared: What’s the exact question?

Immediately following this Jared’s talking about getting the role from his perspective and his little baby!Jared Texan accent is just…

17:05: Jared, talking about his mom being an English teacher who teaches mythology and legends:  “…the taught teachings of Joseph Campbell”  Jensen: “Didn’t rub off that she was an English teacher” Oh boys! Stop bullying Jared, he worked till 4.30am before flying down to the panel!

17:45: Jared’s still talking, Jensen starts snoring. I can’t… Jared shakes him to wake him up.

18:20: Jared and Kripke are trying to clarify something (who was in the room when Jared auditioned) but Singer is in the way and they keep going front and back trying to make eye contact

19:24: we get to what Jensen’s experience of the audition process was. Jensen: Pretty much the same. Jared (immediately): zzzzzzz (resting his head on Jensen’s shoulder).  Jensen goes on to talk about liaising with Nutter who wanted to bring him in and reading the script (for Sam). Jensen reading the script: “What about Dean? I like Dean.  He’s funny” He studied for Sam (and Dean a little bit just in case) and went into the audition, said he felt good about it and got a call later from Erik: “There’s this guy, Jared Pada, Pada Something… that they’re really liking for one of the brothers” So Jensen looks him up on line and he’s like…

Jared: He thought I was hot.

Jensen: This guy’s smoking hot, I can’t play his brother!

Jared throws his head back and does that clapping thing he does.  

21:10: host is asking by the time they performed together, they actually had the parts? Jensen: No, we didn’t have it officially. Jared (a bit surprised): Didn’t we? (looks at Erik). Erik says they were the only actors they brought into the Network audition (as you have to have the formality of the network signing off).

Jared says auditioning for the network is usually a terrifying process in front of around 5 people with a few others auditioning but when they turned up, it was only the two of them. Jensen: Just you and me pal. And it was the first time they’d met.

22:00: Jensen: “...And we’ve hated each other ever since.” He reaches for his water, Jared: “I poisoned your water so…” Jensen looks at water and drinks anyway

22:15: Kim Manners gets asked how he became involved. Kim: “I read for Sam…” Miss this man so much!

23:00: Erik says he doesn’t know what they would do without Kim up there [Vancouver] Kim: I know what you’d do, you’d get another guy! Panel: There is no other guy. Not true...  Jared: “There is no other guy… named Kim.”  Kim looks like he’s scheduling Jared in for a 4am pick up on his next episode.

23:40: Jared and Jensen talk about Kim and when he directed for the first time – Dead In the Water – they’d asked who he was and all David Nutter told them was they would love Kim, which they did and they contacted everyone from Day 1 saying he was incredible. Jared’s memory during this is pretty amazing in terms of episodes and directors etc.  All the love for Kim and completely deserved!

24:20: Jared gets so expressive he sends his mic flying. Is this the very first Jared v microphones?! I think it might just be. Jared: 0, Microphones: 1

Jensen offers his own mic then Jared asks Singer for his also then finishes speaking by just holding his own mic, saying they begged and pleaded them to give Kim a job. Jared: because he was hungry… and he kept trying to bite my arm… and I was really worried.”

24:45: They were asked what is so incredible about Kim. Jensen: “Jared and I…” Wait, I need a moment here. Jared and I… sobs.  He says they just responded well to him and his style of directing.

25:15: Bugs is mentioned by Jensen, Kim puts imaginary gun to his mouth. He really hated that episode and pleaded with Kripke not to do it.   Jensen goes on to tell the bees story, 65,000 bees in a room, crew with full gear on. “Okay Jensen and Jared, hop on in…” Jared: “And don’t swat them because it makes them angry!”  Jensen credits Kim saying that if J2 didn’t have bee suits on then he wasn’t going to either.

I should point out that J2 are mirroring throughout this segment in terms of their body language.

26:45: John (Shiban I think) is talking about how he got involved and what drew him in, and he said 2 things: the premise, he can see 5 years of suffering for these guys. Jensen throws his head back dramatically. The second thing is casting and chemistry and chemistry is something you can’t manufacture and these guys have it… 27:20 Jared and Jensen look at each other hearing this and Jared leans in for a kiss.  Jensen shakes his head and points to the audience.  Jared: worth a try.  Oh boys. Jared will go on to try (and fail) to get a public kiss several times and will eventually give up and admit he doesn’t kiss Jensen... in public.

27:35: Bob [Singer] is asked what about you? Bob: Can I just watch them? (indicating Jensen and Jared). Same Bob tbh

27:55: Bob has to stop talking because J2 are doing something and we can’t see what they are doing but everyone is laughing. Bob throws his hands up and says “This is what it’s like to direct them!” I think from memory, Jared might be pouring water for Jensen and he keeps pouring and overspills and Jensen stops him.  I might need to check my DVD as I think it’s got a different angle than this youtube video that I’m using or possibly this point comes later in the video.   

Bob’s is a very interesting segment where he talks about how he and Kripke complement one another and I think this helps understand why Drabbernatural has gone off the rails as Singer (character focused) needs someone like Kripke (plot focused) to balance him out (and vice versa tbh) whereas Drabb is too much like Singer and can’t keep a handle on the plot. Anyway, interesting to watch from perspective of 14 years later and the mess that Drabbernatural is in terms of plot. This segment ends at 31:00 where Bob and Erik hug – after complimenting each other.

33:09: Kripke and John are talking about mythology v MOTW and at this point Erik is saying they have a mythology plan for season 2 and season 3 (if they are picked up). Jared looks confused at Jensen and they both turn to John. Jensen: When do we get to see this?

34:35: Erik Kripke (when asked if he knows where the story ends): He does, but you don’t know if you’re going to get cancelled or go 37 years like Gunsmoke.   Kim: The boys are in Walkers. Jensen (I think, old man voice): Sam!

 Oh, how they would be shocked to learn they went for 15 seasons in total

It was a good watch, highly recommend, particularly if you’ve been flagging with Drabbernatural and all the negativity over the summer.  

I’ll be back tomorrow with the rest of it.

[naitiaclo960writings]

Day 14 - Fun & Games

The evening was already well advanced when Dean decided to turn off his computer and take a break from his essay. That last year at engineering degree was starting to give him a hard time and, frankly, he was looking forward to graduating and being hired somewhere. Hopefully, he would find a job in the same city and not have to look for another apartment.

It’s been 3 years since he shared a place with his best friend Castiel and things suited him perfectly like they were. Castiel had already been in the active life for two years, working as a heritage officer at the Kansas City Museum, but sharing the rent of their apartment was a relief for everyone. Moreover, they had now settled into a comfortable routine that gave rhythm to their lives in the most pleasant way. Most often, they would invite friends on Friday nights and spend an evening together over a beer. Saturday was reserved for a video game night where Castiel often ended up winning and bequeathing his dishes tour of the week to Dean. Sunday night was a mix of movies and popcorn while Tuesday was a board game night. On Wednesdays, finally, they always ordered from the Japanese caterer on the corner of the street and zapped between Netflix and YouTube until they were too tired to put away their plates and left them on the coffee table in the living room.

Dean stretched out at his desk before he got up. He quietly shut off his laptop and put down the glasses he used for work on top, massaging the back of his neck gently. When he turned off the light from his desk, his room was plunged into darkness and, as if to confirm the late hour, his belly began to grumble softly.

"Okay…" He sighed while putting a hand on his belly. It was time for him to return to the real world.

Outside, he heard Castiel moving a few pots and he smiled softly. He could always count on his friend to cook for them when he was too immersed in his own classes to care, and truly, Castiel was not such a bad cook as he claimed. Dean walked blindly to his door and opened it to a good smell of melted cheese. Growling with envy and a tenfold appetite, he approached the kitchen to find his roommate tidying up some kitchen utensils, the oven gently purring behind him. Dean leaned against the central island with a relaxed smile.

"What’s up, chief?" Dean asked, raising his voice in the hope of surprising Castiel.

The latter did not even jump, probably having heard him arrive without showing it. He put away the spatula he had in his hand before responding to Dean with a smile on his face.

"Four cheeses Mac’n’Cheese!" Castiel proudly announced, turning to him.

"Wow." Dean said, raising his eyebrows, truly surprised. "And what did I do to deserve one of my favorite comfort foods tonight?"

Castiel smiled even more and shrugged, returning to his storage. He took the time to rinse a knife before answering.

"You hardly left your room in the afternoon, I thought you might need a pick-me-up."

And it was as simple as that. It has now been 7 years since Dean and Castiel met, they had found each other at school and had not really left each other since. As a result, Castiel was obviously able to read Dean like an open book and the opposite was also true. They were confidants for each other, brothers almost, pillars on which to lean when everything went too fast around them. Dean and Castiel had actually painted the town red in high school before going to enter together into the terrifying life of a student or, for Castiel, an active worker. Above all, they had always been there for each other. Dean had been more than present during the divorce of Castiel’s parents and the ensuing family debacle, he had even taken his friend out of a very bad drug past for which Castiel would be forever grateful. Castiel, meanwhile, had supported Dean when Mary Winchester had lost her battle against a disease and John spent about most of his time at the bar, drowning his grief while his sons remained helpless at home. Dean no longer counted the number of times Castiel had welcomed him and Sam into his home simply to give them a break from everything else.

Such events bound destinies for a long time when they were lived like this. However, although Dean cherished his friendship with Castiel more than anything, he had to face reality about a year earlier. Dean was not particularly known for his long introspections, but he was obliged to admit after several months of living together that his friendship with Castiel had perhaps turned into a more concrete and disabling feeling in his situation.

Okay, maybe he had a thing for Castiel. A little bit. Okay, good time! He wasn’t even sure it was mutual, so he certainly wasn’t going to waste 7 years of friendship on a simple… feeling? For God’s sake, he had spent whole evenings struggling with this very question, thinking about it again and again until he got migraines, and he had finally come to the conclusion that if he did not have absolute confirmation of the reciprocity of his feelings, then he wouldn’t try anything. It may have been giving up without a fight, but whatever he had was too valuable to make decisions lightly. It was not even certain that Castiel liked men! Well, yes, perhaps, his friend qualified himself as"pansexual". What Dean always said to him was that it was just "being a fucking care bear, but more complicated, just to piss me off."

Anyway, after months of internal debate, Dean always found himself in the middle of that kitchen, with a best friend and roommate he loved a little more every day, but to which he had to continue pretending to maintain the ideal routine in which they had settled. Dean smiled tenderly at Castiel, who had now finished tidying up the kitchen and, realizing that he might have been staring at him for a little too long now, he sighed and went to the couch to choose their program.

They ate in a good mood in front of a horror film so lame that Dean was seized with a hysterical laugher in the middle and nearly choked on a macaroni. For dessert, Dean got up and came back with two ice creams — vanilla for him and a much more sophisticated taste for Castiel like wild mango or whatever — to finish their meal. Surprisingly, Dean was not particularly tired despite his long day of work and considering the energy that Castiel still had in front of the film, neither was his friend. When the credits began to scroll on the screen, Dean sighed.

"What time do you start tomorrow?" He asked in an innocent tone.

Castiel stretched out on the couch before falling back heavily into it.

"At 11:00, I’m closing." He said, grimacing. "But I won’t be spitting on some extra sleep, really."

Dean let out a contemplative "mmh" before turning to his friend.

"Does that mean you’re up for continuing the night a little longer? I’m starting late tomorrow too, and I admit that I’d like to enjoy the last few hours of the weekend without thinking about my damn essay." Dean pouted.

At these words, Castiel laughs softly and Dean already knew his answer by the expression of his face alone.

"What do you propose?" Castiel asked, raising a defiant eyebrow.

Dean took a short moment to think before his gaze landed on the drawer in which all their board games rested. Immediately, his brain set out to lead him towards an idea that would gradually stretch a malicious smile on his face. Of course, he had long established that he could not reveal his feelings to Castiel, but that did not mean that he could not take advantage of them here and there when the opportunity presented itself.

"A card game?" Dean suggested, turning an angelic face to Castiel again. "Do you know how to play poker?"

Castiel frowned and tilted his head slightly to the side, as was always the case when a situation confused him somehow.

"Uh… I can’t say I do, no. It always seemed rather complicated to me when I saw you playing that during parties." Castiel replied slowly, his blue and curious eyes fixed on Dean.

"It’s pretty simple once you understand the basics!" Dean assured, already bending over to open the drawer with his plan still in mind. "I can teach you if you want, it’ll save you from getting ripped off by Gabriel the next time we play."

As he hoped, these words seemed to unlock something in Castiel’s mind, for his friend straightened himself up with new interest before nodding.

"Okay, but only on one condition." He said, raising his eyebrows. "We don’t bet money. I already have to pay Charlie back because of our last night together."

Dean laughs softly at the mention of that stupid bet that Castiel had royally lost while he was reinstalling himself on the couch with the card game in hand.

"Okay, okay. That’s fine with me. But we still need to spice things up or poker is a lot less fun." He pretended to think for a moment under Castiel’s innocent gaze before resuming. "For lack of something better... we can consider a strip poker?"

As these words left his mouth, Dean felt his heart speed up in his chest. Of course, he had already seen Castiel half-naked many times before, and although he had always appreciated what he saw there, he had to admit that this context would be otherwise amusing. Nevertheless, Castiel remained forbidden and inexpressive so long before him that Dean quickly lost his smile.

"I mean, no… Of course not, I was joking. What-"

"Strip poker works for me." Castiel cut off.

His friend had answered so confidently that Dean was caught off guard for a moment before he could recover. Castiel agreed with his idea, really?

"But it’s quite uneven." Castiel replied, pouting. "You already know the rules, I’ll be naked in less than ten minutes."

That’s the idea, Dean thought. But as he still had compassion for Castiel, he looked around before he got up.

"Mix the cards, I’ll come back." He said to Castiel.

Quickly, he arrived in the kitchen and began searching in the cupboard just below the central island.

"Do we have any bottles left from Friday?" Dean asked as his eyes swept over the contents of the closet.

"I think Benny left a bottle of sherry, yes." Castiel replied from the living room.

Dean sighed and rolled his eyes. Sherry, seriously… Did Benny think he was a modern-day pirate or something?

"It’s an insult to call Sherry alcohol when you’re under 40, but… fine." Dean said while grabbing the said bottle before heading out in search of tumblers.

"It’s more of a set of brandy-cut wines, actually, but you did you know that-"

"Cas." Dean sighed again as he returned to the salon with his findings.

He did not need to look in the direction of Castiel to know that he had rolled his eyes heavily. Dean reinstalled himself in the sofa and placed the sherry bottle and the tumblers on the coffee table. He began his explanation while serving the first cup.

"Well, the rules are simple. If you lose a turn in poker, you take off one piece of clothing and the last one naked wins." He grabbed another tumbler. "However... Since I am an extremely nice and magnanimous teacher, we will have three jokers each." Dean pointed to the liquor bottle. "Therefore, if you lose a match, you have the right to choose to drink a shot bottom up rather than take off clothes. We’ll have three jokers each for the whole night. Is that all right, Mr. Know-it-all?"

Castiel did not pay attention to the comment and watched Dean pour the last shot with special attention. He seemed to be much more focused than he wanted to appear until then, and Dean restrained a smile. Castiel had always been a competitor.

"If the three jokers are only usable for the whole evening, then three is not enough." Castiel protested. "I really don’t know anything about it! Allow us at least five? Please?" He added with a more than pronounced pleading expression that came straight to Dean’s heart.

He rolled his eyes before taking out four new cups.

"Yeah, yeah, if you want. Five jokers each then, but don’t expect that to save you from not exposing those gorgeous leopard panties that I gave you for Thanksgiving last year." Dean replied with a mocking smile.

Castiel pushed him with his foot from the other end of the couch and kept his mouth shut on the fact that he, at least, was not knowingly buying Scooby-Doo underwear. Nevertheless, he let go of the remark and straightened himself up on the couch as Dean began to deal the cards. Judging by the smile on Dean’s face, he was more than confident.

* * *

Turns out Castiel was either a damn good liar or he had a freaking knack for poker. Dean continued to bitch in his corner while he was already in his underwear and socks on the couch, his five empty sherry glasses on the coffee table while three on Castiel’s side were still full. Not to mention the fact that Castiel was still perfectly dressed and even sprawled out among the blankets in a casual attitude that only offended Dean more.

He himself was curled up and kept staring at his cards with a sullen expression, alcohol already making him spin his head to make matters worse.

"You’re sulking." Castiel unnecessarily remarked as he was knocking down other cards on their improvised playground.

"I’m not- Damn it, seriously!" Dean suddenly exclaimed in a raging gesture as Castiel won that round again." Dude, I don’t have any more clothes to take anything off!"

Castiel raised an almost cruel eyebrow.

"You still have your socks. Why didn’t you take them off first anyway?" He asked, tilting his head one more time to the side.

Dean simply groaned as an answer and placed his card game with ill-humor on the armrest of the couch. The truth was that he had always been a little chilly in their apartment, whatever the temperature indicated by the thermometer, but he preferred to stand naked in front of Castiel ten times than to admit it in person. Eventually, he began to pull on his left sock reluctantly before letting the poor piece of cloth fall to the ground. If he got sick because of that damn game he started himself, he’d never play poker again.

By attending to his friend’s obvious bad faith, Castiel had to restrain a smile. Eventually, poker was quite instinctive according to him and he even enjoyed playing it now.

"We do one last game before we go to sleep?" Castiel asked, putting the cards together and mixing them again.

Dean sighed loudly.

"What, so I can go back to my room barefoot and bare-bottomed?" Dean grumbled.

Castiel rolled his eyes and began dealing the cards in silence, ignoring Dean’s bad loser attitude and his naked and shivering body before him for a moment. He briefly thought about an alternative before biting his inner cheek with apprehension considering to the direction in which his thoughts were going. Maybe these two sherry cups finally got to his brain... Castiel had never held his liquor very well. However, he was the first to be surprised — and mortified — by the forbidden words that came out of his mouth:

"I have another idea. For the last match, I’ll give you an extra joker." Castiel began, feeling a knot in his stomach as to the turn the events would soon take.

"Mmh?" Dean replied with a questioning look, his curiosity obviously bringing him a new interest.

"If I beat you again on this game…" He handed Dean a few cards, face down. "You will have the right to refuse to take your clothes off. But in that case, you will have to trust me and let me… challenge you? 

Dean raised an eyebrow before turning completely to Castiel, sitting cross-legged on the couch. He remained silent for a moment before taking a deep breath and finally grabbing the cards that Castiel handed him.

"… Will I regret it again?" Dean asked seriously.

Castiel swallowed. He had no good answer to this question. Was he himself certain of what he was doing? Not at all. But he needed Dean to play tonight, because right now, he felt brave.

"No." He lied.

Dean seemed to gauge him for a moment before finally nodding. Thus, another game engaged in a silence filled with concentration. Both of them knew there was a real stake in this game even though Dean was advancing blindly this time. No matter the outcome of the game, he already knew that he would choose Castiel’s challenge, just because he was a player and possessed a curiosity far too strong for his own good. Moreover, this redness that he had thought had subtly appeared on Castiel’s face when he had imposed his condition did not cease to come to torture his mind. He needed to know.

Of course, as if it had been bound to happen, Dean would put his cards down on the couch just to see his chances of winning be wiped out by Castiel a few seconds later. His shoulders dropped heavily, the adrenaline of the game diminishing to give way to defeat. He did not say a word, hardly surprised though, and looked up at Castiel who offered him a compassionate smile. Dean sighed and clasped his hands before him, shrugging.

"Okay Doc Holliday, you got me cowboy…" Dean pouted. "Okay… Joker. What should I do?"

Castiel suddenly seemed nervous in front of him, which did not help Dean relax. He frowned slightly, uncertain, while Castiel laid all the cards on the table.

"I.... I need you to close your eyes. It has to be a surprise or I.... Anyway. Close your eyes please." Castiel stuttered in front of him.

Dean watched him for a moment without saying anything before finally taking a discreet breath and closing his eyes. As soon as the living room disappeared around him, Castiel’s beautiful face faded behind his eyelids as he tried to ignore his crazy heart beating in his chest. The atmosphere had suddenly become special in their apartment, and this since Castiel had brought up the challenge. Dean’s instincts were yelling at him that this was the ultimate time to trust his friend, because something important was going to happen. He could not explain it more than that, he knew it, that’s all.

Dean remained as calm as possible as he tried to listen to what was going on around him. In the first place, only Castiel’s quick breathing made itself heard while Dean remained straight in his place, gently squeezing his hands against each other to control the nerves that he felt rising in him. After a few seconds, he heard movement in front of him and felt the couch rise a little, as if his friend had just changed position. Suddenly, he felt this same rapid breath close to his face and frowned gently, confused. When he could endure it no longer, Dean opened his mouth slightly to ask the question that he was dying to ask before his lips were covered by warm, wet others. Sweet and yet trembling.

Dean opened wide, astonished eyes, in shock as his heart missed another beat. Immediately, he fell upon Castiel’s face, gently close to his own, and swallowed a surprised exclamation which had gone up his throat. The kiss was not really one while Castiel quickly stepped back with nervousness to look into Dean’s eyes, their faces still close and frozen in the moment. Dean looked at Castiel who was looking back at him and everything was crumbling around them in a silence filled with electricity and unspoken confusion. Dean felt like dying and being reborn at the same time, silently in that body that suddenly seemed so narrow to him.

"You…?" Dean whispered, even if he never managed to finish his sentence.

Castiel feverishly licked his lower lip before shaking his head imperceptibly, the face so devastated by the fear of rejection at the moment that Dean felt like he had fallen into his worst nightmare. He could not bear such an expression on Castiel’s face, Cas who had kissed him, Cas who was afraid of his reaction, Cas who cared for him right now. Castiel who loved him.

In a surge of combativeness and surely relief, Dean filled the space between their mouths again and slipped one of his hands to the back of Castiel’s neck to keep him close, preventing him from escaping this time. Once the surprise has passed for Castiel, Dean could almost see his whole body lighten up and melt into their shared kiss. This simple contact seemed to open so many doors that they were too blind to see before that Dean almost had his head spinning. Did Cas have at least as much desire as he had for him the whole time? He tightened his grip around his roommate’s body, he needed to hold on to something so he wouldn’t fall right away.

But he fell anyway when Castiel gently pushed him onto the sofa so that he lay down under him. Later that night he fell again into this large bed in Castiel's room, his lips unable to leave the body of the other as if he desired to make every inch of him feel loved. He fell and fell and fell all night long, tumbling down into the most exquisite and liberating of the falls as a smile split their two faces in the frenzy of the moment. Dean kept falling, but he didn’t do it alone, clinging to the one thing he had never hoped for in recent years and that he could finally touch with his fingers now.

Finally, he was unable to remain angry with Castiel for having beaten him at poker, just as he was unable to detach himself from him that night. As the sun’s rays filtered through the closed shutters of Castiel’s room, Dean gently caressed his lover’s face in the hollow of the pillow with a new, fascinated tenderness. He barely waited until Castiel opened his eyes to steal another kiss before whispering against his lips.

"Hey… I have no fucking idea what happened to my remaining sock yesterday."

When Castiel let out a hoarse chuckle before drawing him closer to himself, Dean promised to do everything to hear this sound every morning now. They were going to need more games night from now on…

* * * @winchester-reload​

Yep, I’m late haha, sorry! It took me a while to write this one but no worries, I’ll post day 15 and day 16 today too. I’m really proud of this OS, don’t hesitate to come and talk about it with me in the comments!

You can find the whole series on Ao3

Tag list /!\ PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU WANT TO BE ADD TO (or removed from) THE TAG LIST so you won’t miss any updates.

@misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @styggtroll @thanks-tacos @petrichoravellichor @iamcharliebradburylevelperfect @ladywaywarddsc @hellfire37 @destiel-221b-sabriel @aloha-cowgirl @destielhoneybee @dysfunctional-destiel @ozonecologne @doofcas @castielrisingabove @zoerayne2426 @tibbinswrites @vicmc624 @thegirlofstarlight @berrieseveryday @staycejo1 @certaindeanwinchesterforcastiel @bab-spnfamily @lo-mindpalace

[hoboal87]

Elastic Heart Chapter One

Elastic Heart Chapter One

Characters: Y/N Y/L/N, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, John Winchester, OFCs

Pairing(s): None

Summary: Y/N Y/L/N sees a familiar set of eyes in the crowd, and remembers the first time she saw them and how they changed her life.

Word Count: 4300+

Warnings: Show level violence, cursing, pre-Stanford era Winchesters

Notes: Series will be mostly canon compliant, taking place during season 8/9. Also, for purposes of this fic Sam was born in '84 instead of '83.

Please give a comment or reblog and let me know what you think!

Elastic Heart Masterlist

Chapter One - Senior Year

“Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N”

I don’t hear my name being called, I’m in my own world, looking out into the crowd for a set of familiar eyes. I spot them three rows back and smile. It’s been too long since I’ve seen them, and I miss the days where I would see those eyes nearly every day.

Life as a nursing student consists of going to class, lab work, interning at a hospital, and occasionally sleeping. I’ve spent the past two years doing nothing but that. I’ve always been one to do things early, but this was the one thing that, for once, I was on par with my peers. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. From the first time I saw those eyes, they altered my life, sending me down a path that I never planned to be on. Taking longer than we had thought, but eventually, I got back on track.

Finish school and get my fresh start. That had been my goal for the past two years. Move on, with or without those eyes in my life. I wanted them, but I knew that logically, it couldn’t happen. Our lives were too different, especially now. I lost my chance of having them with me always; now, I could only cherish the holidays and long weekends that allowed us to be together.

“Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N,” the announcer’s voice contains a bit of urgency this time, drawing my attention. I step across the stage, shaking my supervisor’s hand, and receive my metaphorical diploma. I look back out into the audience and connect with those eyes again, wide and filled with joy. I take my seat and think back to the first time I saw them and how they changed my life forever.

Fall, 2002

This was it, the first day of my senior year. This is the year I will prove to everyone that I am no longer a kid. This is the year, mom and dad will see that I can act like an adult and make ‘good choices’ but, I’m determined to have just a little fun.

For the last two years, mom and dad have insisted that I take extra courses and go to summer school to ensure I graduate not only with good grades but early. I’ll graduate in the spring and be off to college in the fall. All I really want is to wait, take a year or two, experience life outside of my parents’ house.

I make the point to do as many high school activities as I can. Activities that they discouraged me from doing for the last two years; choir, volleyball, anything that will get me out of the house but still considered a school activity. I joined the decorating committee, wanting to participate in homecoming as much as possible. I know as long as I do nothing life-altering, I’m gonna be free in May.

“Be mindful of your grades, Y/N,” dad said, reading over all the consent forms, “if they slip, you will need to cut these extracurricular activities.”

“They won’t slip, dad.” I roll my eyes. “It’s my last year, let me have a bit of fun, please?”

“Your average drops below an A, and I’m pulling you out of each one of these clubs, understood?”

“Yes, sir.” I mull over telling him the other part of my plan. “I was… thinking about getting a job.” I look down, not wanting to make eye contact. “Something part-time?”

“I don’t think that’s the best idea, Y/N,” mom enters the room, “You’re going to be so busy already, tell her Rob.”

“Your mother has a point, and if they accept you to all these clubs, when will you even have time?”

“I may not even end up in the choir or the volleyball team,” I argue, “and if I don’t I’ll have a free period every day, I can talk to the counselor about making it my last class and—it’s my Senior Year, please, don’t you guys think I deserve a little more credit than this? I should get to experience a little bit of independence, don’t you think? I’m gonna be away at college in a year, I’m probably gonna have some on-campus job, I need to learn how to balance between the two.” I catch my breath, hoping that they will agree.

“Fine,” dad sighs heavily, “the same deal goes. Your grades slip, no more working. Am I making myself clear?”

“Yes!” I throw my arms around him, “Thank you!”

“Maybe you could get a job at the clinic,” mom chimes in, “get some experience in the field?”

“I don’t think anyone wants a sixteen-year-old working at the clinic, Sarah. Maybe at the drugstore, though?”

“Yeah,” I sit on the couch, “maybe.”

I discreetly start looking at apartments that could be for rent after graduation. I look on the outskirts of town and find a garage apartment that a very sweet older lady agrees to rent to me if it is still unoccupied over the summer. Finding a job gets put on the back burner as the school year moves into full swing. It turns out I can’t sing, and I suck at volleyball, but the coach offers me the position of manager, allowing me to still participate with the team at pep rallies and travel with them on away games. As the season comes to a close, and with Thanksgiving break around the corner, I decide it’s time to actively look for a job.

The trouble is finding someone willing to hire a 16-year-old high school student with no experience. I try some local retail stores, but I know that mom and dad will never go for the hours they want me to work. I walk into Joe’s Burgers, my favorite place to get some dinner and continue looking through the classifieds.

“Hey, Y/N/N,” I look over and wave to the man behind the counter.

“Hey, Dan, can I get a Bacon—"

“Your usual?” he cuts me off, smiling.

“Yes, please,” I look down sheepishly, handing him the exact amount of money without being told the total.

“Whatcha got there?” he nods towards the paper that’s now on the counter as he hands me my receipt.

“Oh, I’m just looking for a job,” I tuck the paper under my arms. “Need to earn some money so I can get outta this town after graduation.”

“What’s wrong with the town,” his face grows serious, “I’ve lived here my whole life.”

“Shit—I mean, n-nothing. Fuck."

“Y/N/N!” Dan bursts into laughter, “I’m just messing with you! You think you’re the first person who hates living here? We’re a small-ass town in the middle of nowhere.”

“You’re such a jerk,” I say, relieved, “I’ll be in my spot, okay?” He tries to contain his laughter as I walk away, making my way to my usual table. I flip through the pages, seeing nothing that would really work for me.

“You know Joe has been talking about hiring another cashier,” Dan says, bringing my food over, “and you’re practically here all the time anyway, you may as well make some money while you’re at it. You want me to talk to him?”

“Really? Do you think he’d hire me? I can’t stay late on week-nights because of school, mom and dad would kill me.”

“Yeah, we need someone to work the register, Jana can’t do it all herself. Whaddya think?”

“Oh, my god Dan, that would be amazing!” I get up and throw my arms around him to give him a hug. I watch as Dan walks to the back of the restaurant, after a few minutes he returns, giving me the thumbs-up. Before I leave, he gives me paperwork to fill out and a uniform, telling me to return the next day for training.

For three days, I train, working with Jana on the register. She is a few years older than me, with absolutely no filter. She always has me hunched over, laughing at something she has said or done. The lunches are busier than usual with the break. On Friday, she decides it’s time to leave me on my own, ‘best way to learn,’ she quips.

I’ve never been a social butterfly, and the thought of having to deal with customers on my own genuinely terrifies me for a few moments. After giving myself a small pep talk, I turn around to see three large men waiting for me.

The shortest of the three looks at me, and leans over the counter, “I’m here, what are your other two wishes?” he asks, flashing me a wink.

“I’m sorry?” I can’t believe this guy is serious.

“My brother and I were wondering,” he gestures to the tallest of the three, “if it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

“W-what?” I feel the heat pooling in my cheeks.

“Dean, knock it off, we’re here to work.” the older man behind him smacks him upside his head, and I have to stifle my laughter. He offers a sympathetic smile toward me.

“Did your mother drop you on your head when you were a baby?” I shot back; it was the only thing I could think of, albeit an awful comeback.

“It’s okay, just blink if you want me,” I stare straight into those green eyes for a solid 10 seconds before turning away.

“Dean, leave the girl alone, how old are you doll?” he asks, turning to me.

“Sixteen,” I say, watching as he rolls his eyes at the other two.

“See, are you trying to go to jail, son?” he says, looking at me apologetically “I’m sorry my sons are two walking hormones.”

“I didn’t even say anything!” the tall one huffs. Green-eyes shrugs and rubs the back of his head.

“Don’t even Sam, I heard you when we walked in.” Their dad grabs them by the shirts and drags them both to stand in front of me. I couldn’t believe my eyes, this man grabbing his two grown sons like they were pre-teens, “Now apologize to…” he looks at my name tag, “… Y/N.”

“Sorry, sweetheart, didn’t mean to offend you,” Green-eyes says insincerely.

“That’s fine, it’s part of the job, learning to deal with frat boys who love to mess with townies,” I smile back curtly.

“What the fu—” green-eyes is clearly trying to contain his anger, but his dad chuckles at the remark, and his brother can hardly control himself.

“Yeah, frat boy, don’t mess with the townie,” the younger one laughs, pushing his shaggy brown hair away from his face, revealing gleaming hazel eyes flecked with hints of green and blue surrounded by dark full lashes.

“Listen, Y/N,” green-eyes looks at my name tag again, “we ain’t no frat boys, in fact, we’re here becau—”

“All right, Dean, that’s enough.” His dad gives him a stern look that is clearly a silent conversation. “Since we’re off to such a wonderful start, let’s start over, yeah?”

I nod politely. These guys are clearly passing through and will be gone in a matter of hours or days, but Joe wants us to make all people, even the ones we’ll probably never see again, feel welcome.

“I’m John, you already know Dean,” he reaches his hand out towards the tall one, “and this is Sam. We’re actually looking into the recent animal-related deaths,” he says, producing a Fish and Wildlife Badge. I study it for a moment before handing it back. “We’re interviewing some of the local business owners and residents in the area of the attacks. Have you heard or seen anything usual, smelled anything weird, anything that comes to mind?”

“Oh.” I look at the three men; here I was being a bitch to the people trying to help. “Um, I just started working here a few days ago, animal attacks?” I look back up to John, who nods. “The only animals around here are coyotes, but even they’re pretty rare. I haven’t heard anything, but I keep to myself. Joe might know something, he’s the owner and knows everything about everyone.” I offer a smile.

“Is Joe in today?” John asks. His grey eyes hold so much pain as he looks at me.

“Um… yeah. He may have a few minutes now that we’ve slowed down. I can see if he can come talk to you?”

“That’d be great, thanks, Y/N.”

“Please, Y/N/N,” I say, blushing, covering my nametag, “No one really calls me Y/N.”

“Y/N/N,” he repeats, “I’d really like to speak with Joe if it’s not a problem.”

“Yeah, shit. Let me go get him,” I say, walking towards the back. “Hey Jana, I’m gonna go get Joe. Watch the register?”

“I got it,” she hollers back.

“Dude! She’s 16!” I hear who I assume is Sam whispering loudly. “Shut up! How was I supposed to know that?!”

“Dean, she’s obviously not 18. Stick to girls your own age,” John responds. “Sammy—.”

I can no longer hear the men as I reach the door to Joe’s office. Jana and Dan had both told me that his door usually stayed open, today it was not only closed, but it was locked as well. I knock, waiting for him to answer. He looks a little frazzled when he opens the door, but smiles at me, “Hey, Y/N/N, what’s up?”

“There’s a guy from Fish and Wildlife; he’s looking into the recent animal attacks? He’s asking about strange occurrences or something? I don’t know, but I know you pay attention to that kind of stuff, so he wants to talk to you.”

“I—shit, yeah, let him know I’ll be out in a few minutes,” he straightens his shirt and closes the door behind him.

I nod and head back to the front of the building. I watch as the boys and their father seem to be in deep discussion. Turning away when I realize Dean has caught me staring. I gather their food, and as I walk towards their table, I can hear that for some reason, I am the current topic of discussion, specifically, my age.

“Actually, I’ll be 17 in a month,” I quip, dropping their food, unsure of why I am engaging with this odd group of men.

“Huh?” Dean looks at me curiously.

“Well, for some reason the two of you are overly concerned with my age, I’ll be 17 next month.”

“Still illegal, Dean,” Sam smirks.

“Yeah, but right up your alley, Sammy,” Dean winks at him.

“Boys, stop treating this girl like she’s a piece of meat,” their father doesn’t even look up from his plate.

I can’t help myself, I’m usually not this brazen, but something about these outsiders coming in, I have to say it, “Well, here in the Great State of Texas the age of consent is 17, it’s not technically illegal,” and before I can stop myself I wink at Dean.

“Oh, Y/N, you are killing me here,” he says, bringing his hand to his chest. “Unfortunately, I’m gonna have to pass, but Sammy here,” Dean grabs Sam by the shoulders, “may be able to help you out.”

Sam blushes furiously; it’s actually adorable. I can feel the heat coming up in my own cheeks, and know if I stay any longer, they will see it very clearly.

“Joe’ll be out in a few minutes,” I say, turning to go back to the register. I walk away, adding a little sway in my hips as I know the younger men are watching. “Lemme know if there’s anything else I can get you,” I shoot another wink, this time in Sam’s direction.

“Thanks, Y/N/N.” John’s baritone voice carries through the restaurant.

I watch Joe take a seat with the three men, the younger boys listening and observing their father very carefully. I watch John grab something—a fork?— out of his pocket and discreetly place it in front of Joe. Why would he do such a thing? Joe and the men continue to speak for 10 minutes until the dinner rush starts, and Joe excuses himself.

The three men finish their burgers and leave the restaurant; concern etched on their faces as they have a heated conversation.

Throughout the dinner rush, I notice that Sam is stationed outside of the building. It looks as though he’s watching somebody. But every time I look up, his position has changed. After it grows dark, I can no longer see him outside; I realize I shouldn’t let him occupy my mind. Jana and I work furiously until a few hours later when we finally close.

“First day on your own,” Jana says, letting her hair down and hopping onto the counter. “You did good Y/N/N, only a couple mistakes.”

“Thanks, it’s not always gonna be like that, right?” I say, sighing, mimicking her actions with my own hair.

“Nah, I mean, the Friday and Saturdays will be, but unless it’s a school break, the nights are not usually too crazy,” she reassures me.

“Thank God,” I laugh, “what about the customers? Did you see those guys earlier? The ones talking to Joe?” I ask, hoping that she doesn’t pick up on the fact that I am blushing at the mention of the men.

“Oh, you mean the green-eyed one who was clearly hitting on you?” She smirks at me, “With the older guy and the really tall guy?”

“Yeah… you have an excellent memory…” I laugh, “he was so cheesy. ‘Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?’” I mock him. “I mean, he can’t think girls really fall for that? Even the tall one knew it was a bad line.” I blushed a little, thinking about them.

“Oh my god, you like him, green-eyes.” She gasps, “You wanna jump his bones,” she sang mockingly at me, “you love him!”

“Shut up,” I threw my apron at her playfully, “I do not want to jump his bones. Besides, I’m jailbait. He’s at least 21 or so.” Jana raises her eyebrow at me. “He basically told me he couldn’t.”

“So… you’re saying you would if he was younger?” she giggles.

“Jana! No! He’s not my type. He’s way too cocky—he probably thinks he’s God’s Gift to Women,” I mock him again.

“What about the tall one? He was gorgeous,” she offers, “And the dad? He’s hot, like I will so call him Daddy. Let him just—."

“That’s way too much information, Jana. Anyway, if green-eyes is too old, how on earth is the dad not even more wrong?”

“That’s what makes it so hot… like, the wrongness of it…” she says mock fanning herself. “Okay, so clearly, the giant is the one you’re gonna have to do. You can just climb on top—" she says, moving her whole body onto the counter, “and take him for a ride.”

“Jesus, Jana.” I try to suppress my embarrassed laughter. But I blush furiously at the thought of Sam, especially with the image that Jana just planted in my head. I cover my face with my hands as I try to compose myself.

“Oh my god, you are so red!” Jana laughs, “It’s the giant! He’s the one you lo-ove!”

“I don’t even know him! They’re just passing through. You know the type, no one actually moves here. Not for real, at least. They’ll be gone in a week.”

“Y/N/N, that’s why it’s perfect. Hook up, get all that pent-up frustration out of your system, and then you’ll go your separate ways,” she offers. “Wham-bam-thank you-ma’am.”

“I’m really not into that one-night stand stuff,” I say, “I mean, what’s the point?”

“Come on, Y/N/N, that’s the point. Sometimes you just need a release. It’s not like you’re gonna fall in love with some guy you just met and hook-up with once. I mean, you’ve hooked up with guys before, right?”

I shrug my shoulders.

“Oh, my God. Y/N/N, you’re not a virgin, are you?” she whispers so that Dan and Joe won’t hear. I nod, I didn’t have a problem with my own virginity, but other people did. I know I have plenty of time. And with how busy mom and dad keep me, I have no time for boys. “Oh, okay, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I know. Besides, mom and dad don’t even like the thought of me dating; they’d make the guy ask for permission. It’s not that I would ever have time for it anyway. Either way, it’ll happen whenever it happens, and it will probably not be great the first time,” I laugh, trying to break the serious look on Jana’s face. “I have very low expectations, especially if he’s never done anything either. Most boys my age don’t know what they’re doing anyway.”

“Not to be all romantic or whatever, but you know it doesn’t have to be like that. Your first time doesn’t have to suck. It can be really nice if you get the right person.”

“I figure it will either be awesome or okay,” I laugh, “hope it’s awesome, but it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Okay, I’m gonna have one more mom moment with you, and then we can leave, okay?” she grows slightly serious, and I nod my head. “Bring condoms.” I choke out a laugh. “I’m serious. Don’t count on the guy to do it. And don’t trust the ‘pull-out’ method. Dudes always think they can time it right, and half the time…” she makes a gesture I don’t quite understand, I look at her confused. “Inside. Or at least not all the way out. And I’m sure getting pregnant isn’t a part of your grand plan.” She smiles softly. “If you ever need someone to talk about this stuff with, you can come to me, okay?”

“Thank you, if and when the day ever comes, I’ll be sure to tell you.” She raises her eyebrow. “I swear. Don’t count on it being anytime soon, though.”

Jana finishes counting the tips, and I count the register. We grab our bags, say goodbye to Dan, who’s still closing down, and Joe, who’s in the office looking at receipts.

Jana and I live about a block away from each other, and close enough to the restaurant that neither of us bothered driving. Every week it’s getting colder, and I know by the first week of December it will be too cold to walk home at night. But until then, Jana and I walk together, her house off of the main road that leads to mine.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you all the way home?” Jana asks as we reach her street.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Then you’ll have to walk back by yourself.”

“Yeah, but I’m prepared.” She pulls mace and a small knife that’s attached to her keychain out. “If someone or something tries to get me, stab stab.”

“Jesus, Jana,” I laugh out of shock. “No, I’ll be fine, how about tomorrow before work I get me one of those and then I’ll be prepared as well.”

“Fine, but call me when you get home,” she jots a number down and waves goodbye, “I’m serious Y/N/N, call me. If you don’t, I will call your parents.”

“I will,” I yell, turning back to head home.

I feel that I’m being followed. Paranoid, I know. I swear I can hear footsteps behind me, but every time I turn around, there’s nothing there. Freaking Jana, this is her fault. I’ve never had issues walking home at night before, but now I’m hearing things that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t put “I’m prepared,” in my head, now feeling like a taunt. I’m less than 5 minutes away from my house; what could possibly happen?

I hear a growling, something inhuman; it grows louder as I try to will myself to move faster. I turn the corner, and that’s when it happens, someone, something, jumps out of nowhere and starts running towards me. I try to run, but my legs won’t move, “fuck.”

I hear yelling, but I still can’t move, the creature is getting closer to me, and I get a good look at it. Claws, it has fucking claws. Its eyes are yellow, and its teeth are huge. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was a werewolf. But werewolves don’t exist. This must be the creature that John was looking for.

‘It’s some kind of rare species of bear,’ I tell myself, ‘a bear.’

It’s only about a foot away from me; it looks like something out of a horror movie. It’s on its hind legs, unnatural noises leave its body, and before I can even move, it's swiping at me. All I can do is close my eyes and pray it doesn't kill me. A loud bang forces my eyes open, I stand there, still unable to move. I look up to see a set of familiar eyes before me, ones I hadn’t expected to see ever again. Sam.

Chapter 2

[laufire]

Supernatural s1

my dash: decries Supernatural every five posts.

me: time to watch it seriously for the first time in my life.

-First thing first: it’s an amazingly well-crafted season of tv. I’m a character-focused watcher, not a plot-focused one; I never connected emotionally to the Winchesters (still haven’t and likely never will, as interesting I might find them as character constructs), so I feared I’d be bored and would want to skip scenes. Nuh huh. I was many things, but none of them were bored xDD. Each episode was a lesson in good pacing and the entire season another in proper build-up. There are one or two or a few dozen tv-writers I would like to show it to, ngl.

-Another thing it excelled at was in its portrayal in abusive family dynamics. The way Dean went mellow and so unlike himself when John gave an order (and what a SHOCK it is in the later episodes when he finally stands up to him!!). How Sam said HE would apologize to his father when they saw each other again, or how he made apologies for his father because “it could have been worse” (at least John didn’t beat them up, like it happened to that poor kid!). John showing Sam more “““respect””” (as far as he’s able at least) simply because Sam already proved he’s capable of leaving him; the way John controls the information he gives them and when and how and how much and how small they feel when they reunite with him. Dean knowing his father had been possessed by a demon because it wasn’t reprimanding him and belittling him. Dean’s psychic shapeshifter (?) expressing his resentment towards Sam for getting to escape. Dean’s quickness to resort to violence when Sam says something that makes him angry, or how he tries to severe ties between Sam and his college friends, or how he guilt trips him when Sam says he plans on returning to his studies, or how he minimizes Sam’s experiences with John or how Sam criticizes Dean’s compliance... (I don’t think Dean’s being consciously manipulative. I think it’s intuitive. Which is far, far scarier. He’s the Elena Gilbert of Supernatural and a walking red flag for controlling behavior). How it’s paired with ~honeymoon periods. The way they use the families around them to highlight their issues. It’s... chilling and terrifying and I can’t look away. I won’t get into the shit John pulls in 2x01 because that’s for the s2 POV, but oh my god I’m so happy he’s dead.

I wasn’t all that sure of how self-aware the creators were about this trend (especially because of how centralized and validated Dean’s POV is in his conflicts with Sam IMO. OTOH... characters like Dean and actors like Ackles are the type to take over a show by charisma alone tbf. The way he swoops in in the pilot and starts disrupting everything, including Sam’s relationship, reminding me of both Angel in BTVS and Chuck in Gossip Girl, Doylist-wise. This comparison is going to make sense to like three people I talk with regularly xDD). At least on early seasons, since certain spoilers about the later ones make me think it grew over time. I’m still unsure but I think they are a little self-aware because of this quote:

Eric Kripke said of Buffy: “I loved ‘Hush’ and ‘Once More, With Feeling,’ but overall, Buffy really taught me about effectively using metaphor in genre. For Buffy, it was ‘high school is hell (literally),’ and Joss Whedon did such a masterful job of grounding his horror and fantasy concepts in this notion, and ultimately telling allegories about high school, which turned what could’ve been B-Movie material into an all-time classic. I used that same philosophy on my run of Supernatural, with the mantra ‘family is hell (literally),’ and always grounded my horror episodes around the notion of families, to the show’s benefit. So thanks, Joss Whedon. I owe you a beer. (Credit: The WB)

everyone wants to be Buffy lol.

-My absolute favourite thing was how competent the Winchesters are (I’m even reluctantly including John here. That bastard). They’re sneaky with local authorities, crafty about fake IDs, credit scams, research abilities, DIY supernatural detectors xDD... I loved the lack of an audience proxy, the fact that the story throws you into the deep end with people that already know their shit. And that the other side is competent too, like when Meg & YED’s plan to trap John relied on the Winchester being competent; on Sam immediately going into the defensive because, what are the chances of finding that cute weird girl a second time, miles away?; on John suspecting it was a trap and only revealing himself after Meg appears to be dead... Another scene that I loved in that sense, from 2x01 (I watched until 2x03, I wanted to see Sterling K. Brown’s first appearance lol) was how upon discovering Reapers are shapeshifters, Dean immediately knew that cute ghost he’d befriended was the one after him. I get the feeling this aspect will get lost in future season and it’s a pity, tbh.

-Related to that, some of my favourite moments: Sam straight up bribing a guy to get into the morgue when Dean’s arguments are failing (with Dean’s money!); Dean’s plan of “well, if this guy is haunting the house and there’s no other way to kill him, we burn the house. No house no haunting”; Dean telling that kid to fake appendicitis to get his parents out of the house; John blessing the tank of water knowing he’s walking into a trap with demons... I dig this stuff.

-I get whiplash sometimes, with the show making a point of (very briefly) telling you racism, homophobia or pro-life attitudes are Bad(TM) and the brothers are Against them (the Racist Truck episode, the one where a woman used a Reaper to exchange “virtuous” lives for those of sinners...), when the rest of the show is err... what it is lol. Dean is toxic masculinity’s poster boy (I was so disgusted by how he acted with Jess omfg), in s2 we don’t get the monsters’ perspective on hunters until we’ve conveniently met our first black one (I love the episode AND the character but it’s fucking true)...

-I need to make a note of paying attention to the writers credits/Bts stuff because I find this show’s progression fascinating on a metatextual level. The only problem is that audience reaction seems to have played a big role (which is a problem on one or two different levels imo xD), and tracking that down is sliiiiightly more difficult lol. Oh well (I don’t even think I want to see too much of this fandom, even to satisfy my curiosity. Some of the glimpses I’ve caught of it are disturbing to the extreme).

-The detail about dead people’s blood being toxic to vampires is SO COOL OMG. I’m tempted to steal it xD

Some random stuff:

-The monsters of the week were some legit creepy stuff.

-I love that Meg has her own hellhounds. Is that still a thing when she returns?

-Dean: you and dad are reckless and I’m going to have to be the one that buries you. / Me, with the power of foresight: 👀

-Also Dean: sometimes it scares me how good I am at killing. / Me: it scares the shit out of me how good you are at killing, too, fam.

-I get the impression Sam loses his demonic-in-origin powers later on, right? What a waste, I love those.

-I’m pretty sure at one point it’s implied John used Dean to honeytrap monsters (when he sends him as a trap for the lady vampire that stole the Colt) and I really don’t know what to do with this information.

-Cassie was GORGEOUS and even make Dean likeable for me while they lasted xDD. But given this show’s track record I’m considering the lack of more appearances a blessing.

-So many guest stars. Everyone’s been on SPN. Especially if they were on the Buffyverse first (I totally get the impulse of casting Buffy actor after Buffy actor lmfao).

-Funny how Luther Hargreeves is exactly who a lot of fans think Dean was (Dean is far, far colder imo), and yet one is constantly called pathetic and evil and the other woobified. Very Funny Indeed *coughs* (funnier still that the character I often see Dean compared to is Wynonna Earp when the parallels are kids-pool deep at best and offensive at worst. Dean is not a Wynonna. Again, Dean is an Elena Gilbert xDD).

-The two paranormal investigators were dumb as rocks, but their motto was “What Would Buffy Do” so I like them (if they ever change that to What Would the Winchesters Do or something like that I’m going to be furious lmao).

-When I want to ~chill I dress about exactly like Dean (minus the flannel I’ve seen in later seasons, you can’t pay me to wear flannel). Like, I think I have a couple of shirts that look exactly like ones of his. I don’t know how I feel about this xDD

-IDK how I’ll feel about Bobby later on (I get the impression every long-term character on this show has their hateful phases xD), but in his introduction he said the last time he saw John he threatened to shoot him (“he causes that reaction in people”), so he’s so far the most relatable character around lol.

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. XCIV

It was a love story from the very beginning.

And you are not here... (Part. II)

(13x02/13x03)

Hello dears! We are here again, witnessing Dean's mourning for Castiel, and we are suckers for that.

I will try to convey in this meta two episodes, so let's see what happens!

The rejection

At the beginning of the episode, we had Sam and Dean talking about Jack. Dean keeps rejecting the kid because he put on him the weight of loosing Castiel.

They find a motel, and Dean plays the tv, and there's Scooby, and for a brief moment we saw him smiling. Then Dean gives Jack the Bible, and the kid opens it in the Book of Song of Solomon, which is from the Old Testament, and it talks plenty about a two lovers that try to find a way to be together. So the poems describe their passionate and beautiful love for each other, their sadness and their difficulties. Is narrated romantically poetic of that time.

This is very meaningful because the book could be symbolizing Castiel and Dean, trying to be reunited. And the kid is the one who will help to do that. Two lovers that were separated by death but also, who had lived a lot of difficulties together.

Also this quote from Asmodeus:

ASMODEUS: The pain, the, uh, the total humiliation… it forged an eternal bond between us.

Is just a little taste of a dark parallel to Destiel. Is a dark, toxic bond, forged by pain and humiliation, all the opposite of Destiel bond. And we are witnessing this quote because is in the next episode the one Jack will wake up CAS through Dean's mourning. The power of their bond forged by love. The lovers will be finally reunited again.

This scene is when Jack shows Dean is his role model... But also, let's check out the colors...

Go f credit @deansplushy

The room is blue (Castiel) and the kid is imitating Dean, Dean knows it and looks very done with it.

But the whole room is painted in Blue, as if Castiel were in Jack and Dean's mind the whole time.

Then, this foreshadow...

DONATELLO: Sam? Dean? Is God with you?

Donnie was certainly sensing the new God, but also these words...

DONATELLO: (...) So… a few days ago, I’m online, checking out condos in Boca, and I am knocked off my feet by this weird wave of power. Not exactly like God’s. More like… something new, something fresh. I was drawn to it. It’s here.

Something new, something fresh, that's a good description for a new God that just had bey born. Donnie knew it the whole way long.

After this they decided to brought Jack to tattooed the sigil... And this very symbolic dialogue happened between Jack and Dean:

JACK It hurt.

Gif set credit @demondetox

This is the description of grief. So, if Dean was trying to give himself a message and to push the kid into that idea, Jack took it well. He knows he has to endure it. Even if Jack is talking about physical pain, or emotional pain, it fits perfectly with the lesson is floating around loosing Castiel.

Another discussion about Jack happens and this time Dean explodes into hurtful words, and Jack flies away.

The scene in which Sam is talking with him is very beautiful, but also, the colors caught my attention again...

Gif credit @deansplushy

Again, the color blue behind Sam and Jack, is another reminder of Cas. We also have the green (Dean) behind Sam, and Sam is talking about him. Is a very nice played scene, because Dean is to Sam what Cas is to Jack here "a father" but the good one. And Sam trying to explain why Dean acts like this...

SAM: Dean doesn’t hate you. It… Look, sometimes the wires in Dean’s head get crossed and—and he gets frustrated, and then he mixes frustration with anger, and—and fear.

JACK: Why would he be afraid?

SAM: Because Dean feels like it’s his job to protect everyone. And right now, we need to protect you. But we may also need to protect people from you.

JACK: Maybe I’m not worth all this.

SAM: Your mom thought you were. So did Cas. So do I.

Sam is mentioning one of Dean's inner issues: THE BIG PROTECTOR, as a raised first born, and as a obedient soldier, Dean is trying to fulfill the order his father gave him the night their house were burning and Mary died. John Winchester gave Sam to Dean, and asked him to take care of him, so, the GUILT HERITAGE as I spoke so many times, is playing rudely in Dean right now. He wants to fulfill that mission, because his father asked him to. This is the toxicity in Dean's personality. In harmony with the quote that is said in this same episode: the sons that try to please their fathers.

The Anger and the Patience

When the episode starts, we are immerse into a psychic house, in the window we can see an eye, as a representation of psychic but also, the eye in the triangle represents God. And we all know Chuck is about to come in season 14.

We can distinguish too a book: 'The knowledge of ourselves" in Dede's house. Is an interesting reference to what I about to come: the whole season 14 will be a self-knowledge path Dean will take based on his experience of being faced with himself in the possesion. As I described in my metas, the experience of the possesion is similar to being in Purgatory for Dean: all his human necesites will be gone, and the purity in his heart will be exposed: What do you want?

When Dede is in front of the spectrum, she can see his true form, just like we will see through Anael's eyes, AUMichael's true form.

Let's jump onto Jack's scene watching a video Kelly left him. The mother's message is very pivotal in Jack's life.

KELLY: Hi Jack, it’s uh… I’m your mom. I guess I should tell you, um, I always wanted to be a mom. I’d play with dolls. I was that kind of girl and daydream about my baby.

Kelly is certifying here he wanted to have Jack, Jack was loved. Not rejected, but loved. Kelly says I WANTED TO BE YOUR MOM.

KELLY: Jack, don’t let anyone tell you who you’re supposed to be. Because who you’re supposed to be isn’t fate, it isn’t me, it isn’t your father. You are who you choose to be. And I know you’re going to okay. You are going to be amazing. You have an angel watching over you.

'It isn't me (not human) it isn't your father (not an angel)' is the perfect description of Jack, because he is gonna be the New God. And the last quote is a recall of Mary saying the same to Dean, when she was pregnant. And, emotionally linked to episode 15x18, in which Case says 'I got you' to Jack and then to Dean.

Dean keeps rejecting Jack, calling him a monster, is a blatant self punishment facing the huge guilt he carries in his heart after losing Castiel.

An important scene happens between Missouri and Dean. She, as a psychic, can sense Dean's mourning and depression.

MISSOURI: Oh honey, I’m sorry for your losses.

Dean looks surprised to these words, all the pain he was trying to hide, mostly in front of Jody and her, it shows.

Another self reflection in the mirror of the spectrum foreshadowing Dean staring at the mirror, possesed by Michael.

The conversation between Sam and Jack shows how Jack feels himself as a monster, also he has GUILT, we are witnessing here the GUILT HERITAGE from Dean to Jack, just like John did with him.

Also, Sam see himself in Jack, through his experience with the darkness in the past.

A parallel with Kelly's messages is reflected on Missouri goodbye words to her granddaughter Patience in the cemetery.

MISSOURI: I promise, no matter what happens, no matter where I go, I will always look out for you. You hear?

The words are different but the feelings are the same. Mostly because Sam was reading a book about how to help gifted kids, and this episode talks about two gifted kids: Jack and Patience. The two of them trying to control their powers. But Jack is encouraged to do that and Patience is not allowed to do it by his father.

A little bit interesting point we have in the spectrum WRAITH feeding by psychic's brain, is a continuity with AUMichael living inside of Dean.

When everything ends, Dean has some words with Patience that caught Jody's attention...

PATIENCE: I talked to my dad. He thinks I should put it away. Dad says we should just get back to normal. Maybe he’s right.

DEAN: He is. This life, hunting, monsters, there’s no joy in it. There’s nothing but pain, horror and death. So if you get a chance at normal, you take it.

Dean speaks directly from his broken heart, he had just lost CAS, so he lost everything. There's not meaning in keep living for him. He had seen the death that being a hunter brings. So, he had changed. Everything is sadness, grey and dark for Dean. There's no hopes, no light.

But Jody will speak again, just like Kelly did with Jack, using similar words for Patience:

JODY: Patience, wait. I may be out of line here but you don’t have to listen to him. To either of them if it’s not what you really want.

Not me, not him, Patience need to find herself, just like Jack. Just like the book prayed at the beginning of the episode.

Okay, we are going to focus now in theast scene, so so important!

When Sam sees Dean is back, they started talking about Jack again...

SAM: How was it? Uh, Jody told me about Missouri.

DEAN: Yeah, just another day at the office. How’s the kid? He go dark side yet?

Dean talks about Missouri here with apathy, emotionlessly. This is part of his depression. Then, Sam confronts him.

SAM: No, Dean. He’s messed up because of you. Dean, you said you’d kill him.

DEAN: It wasn’t exactly like that.

SAM: Then how exactly was it?

DEAN: I told him the truth. See, you think you can use this freak but I know how this ends and it ends bad.

SAM: I didn’t.

DEAN: What?

SAM: I didn’t ‘end bad’. When I was the freak, when I was drinking demon blood.

Sam sees himself in Jack in the good way, with hopes, but Dean sees himself in Jack as something that needs to be killed...

DEAN: Come on man, that’s totally different.

SAM: Was it? Because you could’ve put a bullet in me. Dad told you to put a bullet in me, but you didn’t! You saved me! So help me save him!

DEAN: You deserved to be saved, he doesn’t!

SAM: Yes he does, Dean, of course he does!

I will stop here, Dean reflecting himself in Jack is blatant here: HE DOESN'T DESERVE TO BE SAVED. Is the self knowledge of his inner GUILT and MONSTER. Dean sees himself as a monster that doesn't deserve to be saved.

DEAN: Look, I know you think that you can use him as some sort of an interdimensional can-opener and that’s fine, but don’t act like you care about him! Because you only care about what he can do for you! So if you want to pretend, that’s fine! But me? I can hardly look at the kid! Because when I do all I see is everybody we’ve lost!

(Gif credit @foxthefanboi )

Here, my mind went immediately at the scene from previous episode, because Jack behaves so like CAS, and Dean can see it. The pain in Dean's face is getting louder and louder, his eyes, the way he is talking, with cathartic anger will reach the high point when he starts mention the most important person he lost in his life... Castiel. All his pain and anger are because Castiel is gone.

SAM: Mom chose to take that shot at Lucifer. That is not on Jack!

But is not about mom...

DEAN: And what about Cas?

SAM: What about Cas?

Now, the pain and the anger are released in front of his brother. And Sam just confirms and faces it in silence.

DEAN: He manipulated him, he made him promises, said, ‘paradise on earth’ and Cas bought it and you know what that got him? It got him dead! Now you might be able to forget about that, but I can’t!

(gif set credit @shirtlesssammy )

Sam is silent, he takes every drop of anger and pain from his brother, the very cause of Dean's grief is revealed to him. Dean is mourning Castiel. Dean can't forget CAS is dead. Dean can't forgive Jack, himself , for that. That's why. That's the truth. That's why Sam keeps silent.

But the kid is listening...

The grief and the longing is so huge, Jack is able to reach Castiel in the Empty through it. Just like Amara reached Dean through Castiel.

(Gif set credit @shirtlesssammy)

To Conclude:

These two episode showed us how Dean reflects himself in Jack.The guilt and the pain, together with the anger is so huge in Dean's heart, he can't barely hide it.

Sam is the one keeping the flag up for hopes, but Dean had lost everything.

The profound bond is important again now, because is the way Jack reacher CAS in the Empty and wake him up.

Hope you like this meta, see you in the next one!

Tagging @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weird-dorky-little-d @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @authorsararayne @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @isthisdestiel @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@destielle @spnsmile @shippsblog @robot-feels @superlock-in-the-tardis @superduckbatrebel @2musiclover2 @madronasky @anon-non2 @cea1996 @lisafu02 @asphodelesauvage @destiels-canonahhhhhhhhhh

If you want to be added or removed from this list, just let me know.

If you wanna read my previous meta from season 13 go to this link.

Buenos Aires, December 27th 2020, 12:45 PM

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

THAT’S RIGHT BITCH! It’s October and I am still watching and inexplicably blogging about Supernatural - a dinosaur of a television show that’s been on the air longer than most children I know have been alive. 

I know I’m An Old because I don’t think kids these days understand the struggle it was watching television before streaming. We had to wait for episodes. Hell, I don’t think kids these days even really have to wait for seasons. I mean, Voltron premiered on Netflix in 2016, capped off their seasons at 13 episodes a piece and, oh yeah - aired seasons 5 - 8  all in 2018. Was I mad about that? No of course not. Do I also say phrases like “kids these days? Yes, so who even knows if what I think is relevant anymore. 

Alright, so speaking of seasons, last time I looked at pilots and pilot seasons and how the streaming era is changing everything we know about starting a TV show. But once you’ve got your pilot down, now what? 

Not this kind of pilot. Also, based on the prerequisites for demon possession, we’re all agreed this co-pilot’s like, an alcoholic, right?

There’s a rule in TV (sort of) that the first six episodes (some might argue the first season entirely) should be a kind of rehash of the pilot. The pilot sets up your premise and once you’ve got your pilot down, your job as a TV writer is to re-establish that premise over and over again. You’re building your world, you’re writing it’s rules. You’re setting up a template, a formula for how your episodes are gonna play out. This helps your audience get to know the characters, get familiar with your world, get comfortable spending time with them. Essentially, you’re getting your audience to trust the show that they’re going to be tuning in to for at least the next 20-some-odd episodes. 

I’d also argue that this is important so that later, you can break that format later. I’m not saying you should break the trust your audience puts in you, and that’s probably a real fine line of distinction. But if you break your rules right, it can hit the audience with a big emotional sucker punch. Or, it can stand out as a real breakout, tentpole of an episode - I’m thinking specifically about Ghostfacers! In season 3, or Once More, With Feeling, from Buffy. Those episodes work, really work, because they deviate from the formula, but they only work because we know the formula so well.  And these aren’t big changes to the way episodes are done, they’re just shifted ever so slightly that they felt new again.. 

So what is the premise of the first four episodes Supernatural? What’s the formula they set up for the rest of the series? 

Brothers. I said it in my last post, I’ll say it again, Sam and Dean/Jensen Ackles and Jared Jared Padalecki are what makes this show. Full stop. I think we could have gotten 5 seasons out of a show starring two other dudes. I do not think this show could have gotten 15 seasons with two other dudes. So from the pilot through Phantom Traveler, we learn that Sam and Dean have a sh*tty home life - their mother was killed by some mysterious evil thing and their father raised them to be little demon-hunting child soldiers while they look for the killer. Oh yeah, and Sam’s girlfriend died the exact same way which we will never forget because Sam’s gonna have a dream about it almost every episode from here on out. We set up the tension between the brothers - that Sam got to go to college while Dean stayed with their dad like a good boi. We learn that everybody hates each other probably because they are deeply and unhealthily codependent love each other so damn much. 

Next we get the basic rundown of the season arc: 

Dad’s on a hunting trip and he hasn’t been home in a few days. The Winchester brothers are looking for him and by extension, looking for answers as to what killed their mom/Sam’s girlfriend. We also get the basic rundown of every episode: dad is a mysterious and elusive sonuvuabitch, so every episode they go about, say it with me now:

“The family business.” I would also accept “Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can,” but why can’t I find a gif for it?!? 

Backtracking on this but you know what else gets hecking established with the Winchesters? Sam is the cute one with the people skills and the puppy dog face, so you’d naturally assume that he’s the soft one. No. Not the case. Dean is the Sofffft Boi. The SOFTest boi. Dean wants Sam to talk about his feelings, Dean wants Sam to not keep things bottled up, Dean is the one who desperately wants to keep a hold of his family and also is just deeply broken and traumatized on the inside and oh no, I told myself I wouldn’t do this but I did it anyway. Sorry not sorry. This watch, I’m really picking up on the fact that Dean is, weirdly, the Mom Friend in this first season. Like, he’s basically a Trailer-Trash-Teen-Pregnancy Mom who’ll give you spaghettios five nights a week and a shot of whiskey so you’ll quit yer bitchin’ and go to sleep faster, but he’s the Mom nonetheless. Later in this season and in other seasons, I think you even see him do his dumb-baby-best filling in as the Mom when John went off the deep end. Anyway, I have a lot of feelings and we don’t have time to unpack all of that so I’ll just move on.

RUDE.

Next we set up our Supernatural Bag of Holding - what’s in it? What are the mystical artifacts they use to kill those evil sons of bitches? First up is The Car. Damn, I am not a cars girl, but that 67 Chevy, it does things to me. 

This car has some weird pavlovian trigger for me, it’s not NATURAL. 

The journal. 

John Winchester, you journal the way I imagine a psycho killer journals and I would just really appreciate it if you could be ANY MORE ORGANIZED THAN THIS.

The Trunk Full of Weapons - I love that in these first few episodes (and possibly the rest of the series???) they give this HELLA conspicuous look every time they open the trunk full of weapons. It’s hilarious EVERY TIME.

No, you’re not being obvious at ALL, guys.

The Fake ID’s - from credit cards to impersonating feds, these boys are not afraid to break the law to save some lives and I feel like that’s...that’s the theme of the show maybe? They’re here to save people and they’ll do what they have to to do that? In a world that clearly establishes a dark vs. light/good vs. evil dichotomy, the Winchester make it their job to live in a world of grey? Basically? 

Next on the checklist for this first season of Supernatural - it’s spoopy. *Spoop mileage may vary.* I said it last time, but I’ll say it again: this first season aired at 9:00pm at night. That means it’s primetime stuff for the 18 - 25 year old crowd, but they don’t want to risk some 13 year old watching it and getting too scared before bed. 9:00pm is X Files time slots, Fringe time slots. 9:00pm says you’re gonna get something a little more gruesome and gory and shocking than at 8pm. 8pm is for Friends. Vampire Diaries aired at 8pm its first season. 9pm is for the real adult content (but not too adult because the audience is still mostly children). 

SPOOP!

But yeah, let’s look at the real horror vibe that you get off of these first four episodes. We talked about La Llorona from the first episode - this is a legit ghost that they fight. The kids at the end that literally drag their mom to hell? Pretty spooky stuff. The Wendigo in episode 2 is a literal monster of the week and so for me personally, it’s not that scary, but it is a cannibal monster that eats human flesh. Dead in the Water has vibes from both Jaws and Friday the 13th. Everything from the lighting to the sound design let’s you know this is a horror show, or as horror as you can get on network television. Listen to the scenes just before somebody dies and you get a nice creepy “Come play with me” whisper coming out of the water. I’m a little spooked just thinking about it now. Yes I know I’m a chicken, and I’m OK WITH THAT. And if we go past my season 1 disc 1 into episode 5, Bloody Mary is STILL terrifying and I STILL watched that episode with half my face covered. That’s where I am these days. It’s 2020 and the world is a nightmare but imagining Bloody Mary creepin’ out in my mirror does not need to be a part of it. 

SHE F*CKIN CLIMBS OUT OF THE MIRROR GUYS! I DIDN’T KNOW SHE COULD DO THAT!!!

Then we get Phantom Traveler and our very first case of black-eyed-demonic possession. Watching this episode now, it’s like watching someone’s home movie of their first steps as a baby. They’ve never even done an exorcism before guys! They have to read the exorcism rite out of the journal! It’s so cute!!! Let’s not think too hard about how they got that full sized bottle of holy water past TSA in a post-9/11 world. And try to ignore how poorly these special effects have aged - the smoke from the demon possession?? OMG! THIS EFFECT! I’m pretty sure I could make that effect with my first ever graphic design software on my, like, 2009 mac book pro. So cute and soooo good! I’m gonna leave that CG plane alone, they’re doing their best. 

SO cute and SOOO good!

You want to know what my favorite established staple of Supernatural season 1 is? The extras. LOOKIT these guys - 

Wendigo you have Cory Monteith who later goes on to star in Glee. 

You have Alden Ehrenreich, Debatable Han Solo, doing a lot of face work with very little dialogue. 

You have Gina Holden who is in SO. MANY. Spooky-type things! My personal favs are Blood Ties and Harper’s Island, but she’s in Fringe, she’s in the SAW franchise, she’s in the Final Destination franchise, she was in some deleted scenes on an episode of Teen Wolf! I LOVE seeing Gina Holden, anywhere she pops up. 

And speaking of Harper’s Island, you’ve also got Callum Keith Rennie who played John Wakefield in Harper’s Island, a show that was A+ Great and I highly recommend if you like Agatha Christie and/or murder mysteries. 

Honestly, Rennie looks like he’s about to murder a bitch in this episode of Supernatural, it is not a stretch to believe he’s a psycho killer.

Dead in the Water you’ve got Amy Acker, a regular in Joss Whedon and Whedon-adjacent type shows.

Good LORD, this wardrobe was SO 2000′s WB and it PAINED me.

And finally in Phantom Traveler, you have Jaime Ray Newman who also shows up in a lot of the shows that I like to watch. She was in Eureka, she was in Midnight Texas, both kind of terrible shows that I love because they are terrible, but she was ALSO in Bates Motel and Veronica Mars, which are generally considered to be more quality, so there’s that. 

This still implies that they actually LIT scenes, which is a SURPRISE TO ME. 

Point is, seeing these actors in Supernatural back in the early 2000’s felt like I was seeing the start of their careers. That may or may not have been the case, but as a viewer it was exciting to see them pop up again in other things.

So what about TV now? Do we still use those first 6 (sometimes more) episodes to re-establish the premise? Well, it certainly hasn’t gone away. Look at any network show that still produces 22 - 24 episodes a season and you’ll still see that the pilot season just keeps re-iterating the premise established in the pilot episode, specifically in anything that’s procedural - that’s you’re monster/problem-of-the-week shows. Think sitcoms like Brooklyn 99 or Superstore or dramedies like Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. The reason being that these shows play in the traditional model of television - on a network, once a week. They are not releasing episodes all at one time or relying on their audiences to stream a whole season in one sitting. These are shows that still assume that someone out there is going to tune in or stumble across their show one night while they’re surfing channels (lol) and need to be told, no matter what episode they’ve just turned on, what the premise of the show is. They need to be formulaic so that people can pick it up anywhere at any time.

But what about shows that don’t follow this traditional model? I mentioned in my last post that seasons are getting shorter and shorter, so when you’re writing a show that only has (8) episodes instead of 22, how much time do you really want to spend establishing the premise? Because of these short seasons, you’re also dealing with shows that are more serialized and less procedural than their predecessors - meaning, you’re dealing with a show that focuses on a season long story (think Game of Thrones or Stranger Things where each episode is an important chapter that you can’t skip) vs. a procedural (think the shows I mentioned above or any cop drama really) where each episode is it’s own contained story, neatly wrapped up at the end. These are shows where you can skip an episode and still know where you are in the show no matter where you start or stop watching. Supernatural is a little bit of both - procedural with their monsters of the week AND serialized with a season long arc. We’ll talk more on that in a later post. 

Not only are we getting shorter seasons, but we’re also dealing with shows that are not released over long periods of time. A few streaming channels, like Disney+ and HBO Max, make a deliberate point to slow-drip their seasons, but most streaming channels will release entire seasons in one shot. You don’t need to worry about your audience missing an episode because they have 24/7 access to all the episodes all at once. And for the most part, they’re designed to be binged. They start at full speed and they don’t slow down to keep driving you to the finale. 

Do I think the procedural is ever going to go away? No. As much talk as there is about dropping the cop drama from TV all together, I think audiences still love a good mystery series. And you can’t just think of procedurals as cop dramas either - a procedural also covers most if not all sitcoms. New Girl, Letterkenny, Parks and Rec, Superstore - these all have a premise that doesn't change from week to week. They may make tiny shifts away from what they set up in the pilot, but by and large, you know what you’re getting into any time you turn on an episode. I think we as an audience still like that kind of familiarity. We may be seeing a bigger swing towards more serialized content, but that doesn't mean that the procedural is dead and gone. 

So that’s what we’ve got for Supernatural - two dudes, driving around in a car full of spears and hand guns, killing bad guys. Some day, they may even find that father that’s missing. What could possibly go wrong? A lot. Stay tuned. 

[samclownchester]

Supernatural Rewatch 1x11

Scarecrow

(Next Episode | Masterlist | Previous Episode) 

(Not spoiler free I’ve seen up to 15x13)

Ok, so in this episode we see that the anger and frustration Sam was feeling in the last episode didn’t simply get swept away. First we have the phone call from John, the first time we actually see the boys interacting with their father. It’s obvious that Sam is emotional about it, but when John tells him that they need to stop looking for him, his anger overpowers everything else. His dad is, once again, expecting him to obey and ask no questions.

Then we see Dean: DEAN’S FRICKING WHOLE DEMEANOR CHANGES! He goes from “concerned son who wants to hear his dad’s voice” to “good little soldier” in 2 seconds flat and it BREAKS MY HEART.  Dean may love his dad, but they don’t talk to each other like people. They talk to each other like drill sergeant and soldier.

Later, in the car (Sam is driving, which does not happen often):

DEAN: He’s given us an order.

SAM: I don’t care. We don’t always have to do what he says.

DEAN: Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives, it’s important.

SAM: Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand. But I’m talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge.

DEAN: Alright, look, I know how you feel.

SAM: Do you? How old were you when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel?

DEAN: Dad said it wasn’t safe. For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something that we don’t, so if he says to stay away, we stay away.

SAM: I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it’s like you don’t even question him.

DEAN: Yeah, it’s called being a good son! (SAM, angry, gets out of the car. DEAN also gets out and watches SAM unloading things from the trunk.) You’re a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. Don’t care what anybody thinks.

SAM: That’s what you really think?

DEAN: Yes, it is.

SAM: Well, then this selfish bastard is going to California.

 *Cue that vine of the girl saying “Jokes on you, the Jonas Brothers ( Winchesters) can’t break up they’re brothers” *

 There’s a lot of things happening in this conversation. Sam is frustrated because he feels like their agency, their free will, isn’t being respected. Dean argues that what their dad is asking them to do is important, which Sam recognizes. It’s not that Sam doesn’t want to save people and hunt things, it’s that he wants to do it on his own terms, he wants to be treated as an equal. Dean continues to find reasons to trust what their dad says, it’s not safe, he knows something we don’t. He thinks questioning their dad would make him a bad son and he interprets Sam’s desire for free will as being selfish and not caring what anybody thinks.

I honestly feel like we learn more about Dean in this scene than we do about Sam. It also provides an interesting backdrop with which to analyze future relationships Dean makes, epescially when he meets Castiel, another “good little soldier” who needs to overcome his “blind faith” and learn to question orders.

 Then we meet MEG! Ok, no offense to the actress who plays Meg later but no one will every replace this pixie cut cutie. It broke my heart when I was first watching and I found out she was a demon, I LOVE her.

 SAM: Uh, so where you headed?

MEG: No offense, but no way I’m telling you.

SAM: Why not?

MEG: You could be some kind of freak

(Meg, you totally already know about Sam and his powers and connection to demons, you are doing that on purpose and it’s not nice)

 Ok, then we have the scene where Dean tries to talk to the people, get them out of town early and save them from the scarecrow god thing. There’s that moment when Dean offers to fix their car for them and the girl says “I think we’d rather have a mechanic do it” and that hit different remembering that if Dean wasn’t a hunter, mechanic is one of the job possibilities on his list. He looked kinda hurt by that. Then he says:

Dean: You know, my brother could give you this puppy dog look, and you’d just buy right into it.

Which, first of all, weird thing to say Dean, not helping your case at all. But also, I like how they’re pointing out here how Sam and Dean have different strengths. Sam is much better with people, and we’ve seen it subtly over the past few episodes, Dean usually makes people feel kind of uncomfortable and confused, then Sam will step in with his sincere voice and puppy dog eyes and the people usually feel a lot more open to talking. (And then they make fun of this in 15x10, as if this was another one of the perks Chuck gave them. This, along with picking locks, I refuse to credit 100% to Chuck, maybe he helped but Sam is good at making people feel safe. )

 Then you’ve got this phone call:

DEAN: Sam. You were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life.

SAM: Are you serious?

DEAN: You’ve always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I—anyway….I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy.

Dean can’t even say that he wishes he could stand up to their dad the way Sam does. He can’t even finish that sentence. We also learn that Sam has always been outspoken against their dad, it’s not a recent development. I have a feeling, and I might be wrong, but I have a feeling that John tolerated more outspokenness from Sam than he did from Dean. Dean’s reaction to John giving him orders is … the reaction of someone who is used to being punished for disobeying. Sam, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have many qualms about talking back to their dad and questioning him to his face.

 Please, give Dean some therapy. He really friggin needs it. 

Later this conversation:

MEG: But I don’t understand. You’re running back to your brother? The guy you ran away from? Why, because he won’t pick up his phone? Sam—come with me to California.

SAM: I can’t. I’m sorry.

MEG: Why not?

SAM: He’s my family.

And the band is back together! (It is a running theme in this show that the only way their problems ever get resolved/addressed is when somebody is suddenly in trouble. Then all hard feelings are forgotten because they have to save each other. Definitely not healthy but it makes for great drama)

 Meg says “Yes father”??? What am I forgetting about Meg? Isn’t she calling Azazel? Is Azazel her father?

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Fallen Idols: Part Two

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 2,129

Warnings: typical supernatural violence, language, angst, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated. I really want to hear what you guys think about this one!

Feedback is the glue that holds my writing together.

Tags at the bottom

“Did you just give him all that research to do so he wouldn’t be out in the world?” you asked Dean as you finished your glass of beer from the bar you two were at.

“He needs it.”

“Dean, do you fully trust him? If not, you have to tell him. I may not have been serious about braiding Sam’s hair and mud masks, but I was serious about talking about our feelings. It doesn’t have to be a girl sesh, but it is healing to do so.”

“That’s more your thing than mine,” he shrugged.

“You know, I’m kind of scared about Amara and what Zachariah showed us,” you sighed.

“Me too,” he whispered, but you heard him.

“I just don’t want to end up that way. I saw the look in my own eyes, and I didn’t recognize me. It was all her, and that scares the shit out of me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were having dreams about her?”

“I guess I didn’t want you to worry. She talks to me wherever she is, and she says that I need to trust her because she needs me and I am going to need her. She tells me that she isn’t bad, but what I saw… that wasn’t good. It’s the complete opposite of everything she’s telling me that she is.”

“We’ll deal with her when it comes down to it. Who knows, that could be years in the future.” Before you had a chance to come up with a reply, Dean’s phone rang. He answered it with a curt, “Hello” before putting whoever it was on speakerphone.

“Took me a while, but I traced all the car's previous owners,” Sam said on the other line.

“Any of 'em die bloody?” you wondered.

“Nope. In fact—” someone nearby breaks a triangle of pool balls which was loud enough for Sam to hear it. “Are you two in a bar?”

“No, I—I'm—we’re in a restaurant,” Dean stuttered, and you put your hand over your mouth to silence your giggle.

“Here’s your beer,” the bartender said when she brought out Dean’s refill.

“That happens to have a bar,” the older brother said to the younger one.

“I've been working my ass off here.”

“Hey, world's smallest violin, pal, I spent the afternoon up Christine's skirt. I needed a drink,” Dean sighed.

“Actually, you didn't.”

“What does that mean?” you asked.

“The car's first owner was a cardiologist in Philadelphia; drove it 'til he died in nineteen-seventy-two. That Porsche is not, nor has it ever been, James Dean's car. It's a fake Little Bastard.”

“Then what killed the guy?”

“Good question,” Sam sighed.

“I want you to use a, a fine-tooth comb. The evidence is here, we just gotta find it,” Rick instructed one of the crime scent unit gentlemen who just nodded and left to do his job. 

There had been another murder taken place at someone’s home. GSW to the head, but no bullet, gunpowder, or gun so it was definitely up your alley.

“Heard you got another weird one,” you commented to the Sheriff as he pushed past you to exit the room.

“Uh, well, it's a little strange on the surface, I admit, but, uh... you know, once you—you look at the facts…”

“William Hill died from a gunshot wound to the head. No gun, no gunpowder, no bullet,” you pointed it out to the nervous man.

“Nope. Nothing strange about that,” Dean shrugged.

“Well there's gotta be a reasonable explanation. There always is.”

“Well what's your reasonable explanation?”

“Professional killer,” the Sheriff whispered cautiously. “CIA, NSA, one of them trained assassins, like in Michael Clayton. You're welcome to look around, but—but these guys don't leave fingerprints.”

“Mind if we talk with the witness?” you asked.

“Be my guest. She's not making any sense! And she's not making any sense in Spanish either.”

“Right,” Dean nodded slowly before you took the lead and led the brothers outside where a police officer was talking to the housekeeper for William. 

Pulling out your badge, you flashed it to the officer who just nodded and left the woman alone.

“Consuela Alvarez?” you asked.

“Yes?”

“FBI. Now, uh, you said you saw something in the professor's house. Right? Something in the window?” you asked as you took the officer’s place on the bench next to the woman.

“Estaba sacando la basura. Imiré por la ventana y vi al hombre que mató al Señor Hill!” she exclaimed. 

Looking at Sam, you knew he used to take Freshman Spanish, so he was the only one who could talk to her right now since you and Dean didn’t know a lick of English. Getting up, you let Sam take your spot so he could talk to her.

“Uh, Señora Alvarez. Cálmese, por favor. Uh—Uh, díganos lo que vio?” Sam asked as he tried to remember what he learned. 

He asked her to tell him what she saw and to calm down since she was a fucking mess.

“Era alto. Muy alto. Y llevaba el abrigo negro largo y tenía bigotes,” she sighed.

“Okay, uh, a tall man, very tall. With a long black coat and a beard,” Sam translated.

“Y un sombrero,” Consuela added.

“Dude was wearing a sombrero?” Dean asked.

“Uh, a hat, not a—a—”

“No, no, no, un sombrero alto,” the woman corrected.

“A tall hat?”

“Oh, like a top hat!”

“Un sombrero alto. Muy alto!” she gasped as she demonstrated just how tall this hat was.

“What, you mean like a stovepipe hat?” you asked. “Like Abraham Lincoln.”

“Sí,” the woman sobbed. “El Presidente Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln kill Mister Hill!”

“Excuse me?” you asked, not believing your ears.

“S-so I go home now?” she asked.

“Uh, sí. Gracias,” Sam smiled as the woman left.

“Abraham Lincoln? The 16th president? The dead president?” you gawked.

“Looks like it,” Sam sighed.

Back at the motel room, research needed to be done because clearly, something was going on here that was worse than you originally thought. Sam did some research on the newest victim, William, while you and Dean went over the video that Jim recorded of Cal’s death to see if there was something that happened to be missed. Dean played the video frame by frame until you spotted something red in the reflection of the car.

“Wait, go back,” you instructed.

“You find something?” Sam asked. 

Dean went back a few frames until the figure in red was locked onto the screen. Dean picked up the laptop before turning it around and showing his brother what was discovered.

“It's a freeze-frame from Jim Grossman's video. Are we crazy, or does that look like James Dean?”

“That looks like James Dean,” Sam confirmed. 

Dean placed the laptop back in front of him with a sigh.

“So, we got Abraham Lincoln, and James Dean?” you asked. “Famous ghosts?”

“Maybe.”

“Well that's just silly.”

“No, actually, there is a ton of lore on famous ghosts. More than the, you know, not-famous kinds. I'm actually surprised we haven't run into one before.”

“Yeah, but now we got two of 'em? Two extremely pissed-off ghosts?”

“Who are apparently ganking their fans,” Sam said as he looked at his laptop screen.

“What do you mean?” you asked.

“Professor Hill was a Civil War nut. He dug Lincoln.”

“And Cal must've been a James Dean freak. He spent seventeen years of his life tracking down the guy's car,” Dean added.

“So, you're saying we've got two super-famous, super-pissed-off ghosts killing their... super-fans?” you asked in disbelief.

“That's what it looks like.”

“Okay, but what the hell are they doing here?” you wondered. “Ghosts usually haunt the places they live. I mean, I get Abraham Lincoln at the White House and James Dean at a race track, but... what the hell are they doing in Canton?”

“That’s what we need to find out.”

“You. That’s what you need to find out,” Dean said as he got up. 

Closing the laptop, you got up before heading to the bathroom. Sam just rolled his eyes before getting to work. He worked hard to try and find the right kind of information while you went to the bathroom and Dean watched from the sink with a soda in hand.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Sam groaned.

“What?” Dean asked as he walked over to Sam to see what was going on. “You gotta be kidding me.”

“What is it?” you asked as you exited the bathroom. Walking over to the brothers, you saw a website for a wax museum not that far from here. “You got to kidding me.”

Walking into the wax museum, you looked at the very many and very life-like figures which were everywhere. Abraham Lincoln was staring at you as you passed him which gave you a chilly shudder of uncertainty. John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon were also on display as well as some other famous individuals.

“Dude, he's short,” Dean commented. Looking over to where he was, you just chuckled at his comment made towards Gandhi.

“Hey. Gandhi was a great man,” Sam defended him.

“Yeah, for a Smurf,” Dean scoffed just as the director of the museum came rushing down the stairs.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, this is our busiest time of the year,” he chuckled. Looking around the place, there wasn’t a soul left in sight.

“This is busy?” you asked.

“Well, not right now, but it's early.”

“It's four-thirty,” you coughed.

“So, what can I do for you?”

“Uh, well, we are writing a piece for Travel Magazine,” Sam took over.

“Yeah, on how, uh, totally non-sucky wax museums are.”

“That's fantastic. A little press, just what we need.”

“Great. Well we're interested in a few of your exhibits, specifically Abraham Lincoln and, uh, James Dean.”

“Two of our most popular displays.”

“They bring in a lot of visitors?” you wondered.

“Yeah, we have our regulars.”

“I don't suppose that, uh, William Hill and Cal Hawkins were regulars, were they?” Dean asked.

“As a matter of fact, they were. Yeah, I heard what happened to them. It's tragic, just tragic. Oh—you—that's not gonna be in the article, is it?” the owner panicked a little inside.

“No, of course not. You know, I gotta tell you, that Lincoln is so lifelike, I mean, you can just imagine him moving around. You ever see anything like that?” Dean chuckled.

“Uh, no,” the owner frowned.

“Well, um, is there anything you could think of that would make your museum... unusual? You know, for the article?” you inquired.

“Well, I'll say. There isn't another place like us, not anywhere. For one, that's Honest Abe's real hat,” he said as he pointed to the wax figure.

“Almost like his remains,” Dean said to his brother which the owner caught.

“Uh, I guess.”

“You wouldn't happen to have any of James Dean's personal effects, would you?” you asked.

“Ooh, yeah. Got his keychain. We got a bunch of stuff, uh, Gandhi's bifocals, FDR's iron lung. This,” he indicated to his leather jacket with a huge smile.

“Who did that belong to?”

“The Fonz. Seasons two through four!” the owner grinned with a double thumbs-up. “But this is nothing. I've been working on a new collection of figures. Stuff that'll really wow the kids. Computer games, cell phones, sexting; They're just fads. I'm gonna make wax museums hip again.”

“Well, thank you for your time,” you said politely before leaving the awkward man and the creepy-as-hell museum. You’d come back tonight when the coast was clear to get rid of the keychain and the hat.

“Yeah, Abraham Lincoln and James Dean, can you believe that?... Why so kill-crazy? Ah, maybe the apocalypse has got 'em all hot and bothered. Yeah, well, we all know whose fault that is… Well I'm sorry, but it's true,” Dean spoke to your dad over the phone. Looking up from your phone, you saw Sam by the door, and you cleared your throat loudly which caused Dean to spin around quickly. “I'll call you later. Bye.”

“What's going on?” Sam asked.

“Did you get the trunk packed up?”

“Yeah, trunk's packed. Who was on the phone?”

“My dad.”

“And?”

“Nothing,” Dean shook his head.

“So, we're just gonna pretend I didn't hear what I just heard?”

“Pretend or don't pretend. Whatever floats your boat.”

“This was supposed to be a fresh start, Dean,” Sam sighed.

“Well, this is about as fresh as it gets,” Dean said as he picked up his jacket. “Now are we going or not?”

“Sorry, Sam,” you whispered before following Dean out the door. Sam watched with a frown, sighed, but then followed nonetheless.

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