#and since this is my supernatural i'm making dean even more insane about sam

[keen-eye]

MY supernatural is about transfem sam and butch lesbian dean

john needed a right hand man, a soldier, not a daughter. so dean had to be tough. she kept her hair short, she was one of the guys. she copied whatever john said and did so that she would be taken seriously around the other hunters, so that john would respect her. dean never felt like her authority as #2 in the household was threatened by sam getting older because sweet, sensitive sammy was always just like a little sister to her.

and so it wasn't much of a surprise to dean or john when sam transitioned while away at college, when she was finally free to wear makeup and the clothes she wanted. she had been going by "samantha" but when she reunited with dean it was back to "sam" and "sammy". that was just typical dean, but sam had figured out who she was, with a lot of support from jess. and even though sam was dragged back into the world of hunting she was determined to hold onto it. because sam had felt different as long as she could remember, like there was something wrong about her. and finally getting to be her true self helped, but she could only pretend so much that she didn't still feel a darkness inside her.

[doctorbitchcrxft]

The Benders | Supernatural Series Rewrite | Dean Winchester x Reader

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader (Eventual)

Warnings: people are crazy, canon violence, canon gore

Word Count: 2370

A/N: I'm scheduling two of these today since this one's so short!! The Benders episode makes me really uncomfortable, tbh, so I kinda sped through it... lol

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You and the boys sniffed out a case in Hibbing, Minnesota. A child had watched a neighbor get dragged under his car. When you spoke to the young boy, his mother didn’t seem to believe him at all. You decided to head to a bar to collect your thoughts and grab a beer. 

You and Dean played darts while Sam explained to you that his dad had earmarked this area due to the insane number of disappearances in this area. In the midst of his explanation, you realized you needed to change your tampon and hadn’t brought any into the bar with you.

“Dean, keys?” you asked.

He tossed them at you. "Why, you stealin' my car?"

“Gotta go get some girl stuff,” you responded.

“Gross. Don’t wanna know.” You knew he was kidding by the smirk on his face.

You scoffed. “It’s not gross, it’s natural! Asshole.” You shoved his shoulder playfully and headed out of the bar. On your way out, you heard a noise and stopped. You turned over your shoulder to the other cars lining the gravel parking lot, feeling uneasy. You pushed through it, deciding that it wouldn’t take you longer than two seconds to get back inside after you’d grabbed your products. 

You turned at another sound, hurrying over to the Impala. You reached into the trunk and grabbed what you needed. Before you could even turn back around, you were lying on the gravel out cold.

***

The next thing you knew, you jerked up in a metal cage covered with hay at the bottom. Your hair felt a mess, and the back of your head was tender from your fall. You looked to your left and noticed the guy you’d originally come to investigate the disappearance of asleep in the cage next to you. You scrambled to your feet, trying to kick the cage door open. Nothing was working.

Stirring in the cage next to you caught your attention. “You’re alive! You okay?” you asked.

Mr. Jenkins groaned. “Does it look like I’m doin’ okay?”

You stretched your neck. “Touché. Where are we?’

“I don’t know. The country, I think. Smells like the country,” the man responded.

“You’re Alvin Jenkins, aren’t you?”

He nodded.

“I was lookin’ for you,” you told him.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you nodded.

“Well, no offense, but this is a piss-poor rescue.”

You kept up your plucky attitude in spite of the sinking feeling in your stomach. “Well, my friends are out there right now, too. They’re lookin’ for us. So—”

“So, they’re not gonna find us. We’re in the middle of nowhere.” He nodded at the door of the building you were in. “Waiting for them to come back and do god-knows-what to us.”

“What are they? Have you seen them?” you asked.

He looked at you confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Whatever’s got us, what’d they look like?”

“See for yourself,” he said.

At that moment, the door opened and two men wearing black hats and coats walked in. One walked over to Alvin’s cage and kicked the side of it. Alvin moved back into the corner, yelling at them not to touch him as they entered the cage. Instead of doing anything to him, they just left a plate of food on the floor and left.

“I’ll be damned,” you said more to yourself than your fellow kidnappee. “They’re just people.”

Alvin looked at you like you were stupid. “Yeah. What’d you expect?”

You paused a moment. “How often do they feed you?”

“Once a day. And they use that thing over there to open the cage.” The man pointed at a panel on a post a few feet away.

“And that’s the only time you see ‘em?”

He shrugged. “So far. But I’m waitin’.”

“Waitin’ for what?”

“Ned Beatty time.”

“That's fucking gross, dude.”

“What do you think they want, then?”

You began trying to climb the walls of your cage to grab a long metal wire stretching from the top of the pole next to you to the ground. You got hold of it and began pulling down the wire. “Depends on who they are.”

“They’re a bunch of psycho hillbilly rednecks, if you ask me. Lookin’ for love in all the wrong places.”

You continued to pull on the wire, doing your best to hold yourself up, and it gradually began to detach from the pole.

***

Hours had gone by. You were still trying to pull the wire off; climbing back up and continuously slipping down the cage’s metal bars.

“Why don’t you give it up, sweetheart, there’s no way out,” Alvin told you.

“Don’t call me that!” You used your anger and frustration to finally tear the wire down. A piece of metal fell with it. “It’s a bracket.”

Alvin scoffed. “Well, thank God, a bracket. Now we’ve got ‘em, huh?” 

His cage suddenly swung open on its own. He scrambled out of it. “Maybe you knocked somethin’ loose.”

Your heart rate began to pick up. “I think you should get back in there, Jenkins. This isn’t right.”

“Don’t you wanna get out of here?” 

“Of course, I do. But that was too easy.” Your mind was going a million miles per minute.

“Look, I’m gonna get out of here, and I’m gonna send help, okay, don’t worry,” he assured you, turning for the door.

“I’m serious, dude! This might be a trap!”

“Bye, sweetheart.” He pushed the door open and left. 

“Jenkins!” you called. “Alvin! Dude! Come back!”

Moments later, Alvin’s former cage slammed shut. 

You shivered on the floor, hugging your knees to your chest in the center of the cage. You began to count the minutes going by. You counted all the way up to twenty minutes before you heard a distant scream from a voice that sounded a lot like Alvin.

Not even an hour later, another woman was dragged unconscious into another cage next to you. You watched her carefully until she woke up.

“You alright?” you asked her once she’d gotten a glimpse of her surroundings.

She turned her head to you. “Are you (Y/N) (Y/L/N)?”

You furrowed your eyebrows at her. “Yeah…?”

“Your friends are looking for you.”

You laughed, relieved. “Thank god. Where are they?

“I, uh, I cuffed ‘em to my car,” the woman explained.

You sighed. 

Moments later, the door of the barn burst open. You couldn’t see who the figures were, but you backed up into the corner of your cage. Finally, Dean’s face came into view.

“(Y/N)?” 

You scrambled to your feet and grabbed onto the bars in front of him. “Dean!”

“Are you hurt?” Sam asked, looking you over.

You shook your head.

“Damn, it’s good to see you," Dean breathed out.

You smiled at him and ignored the way your heart fluttered in your chest.

“How did you get out of the cuffs?” the woman in the other cage asked.

The older brother turned toward her. “Oh, I know a trick or two. Alright. These locks look like they’re gonna be a bitch.” 

“Try that box over there,” you suggested, pointing to the control panel.

“Have you seen ‘em?”

“Yeah, dude, they’re just people.”

“And they jumped you? Must be gettin’ a little rusty there, sweetheart.” 

“Shut up, asshole.”

Sam walked over to the control panel and started trying different buttons. “What do they want?” 

You shrugged. “I don’t know. They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“Well, that’s the point. You know, with our usual playmates, there’s rules, there’s patterns. But with people, they’re just crazy,” Dean responded. He was still sizing up your cage, occasionally looking to the door to see if they’d been followed.

“See anything else out there?” you asked.

“Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back. Plates from all over, so I’m thinkin’ when they take someone, they take their car, too.”

“Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?” the woman in the other cage asked.

“Yeah, actually, I did.”

She seemed sad.

“Your brother’s?” Sam asked her, looking upset when she nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“Let’s get you guys out of here, then we’ll take care of those bastards,” Dean jumped back in. “This thing takes a key. Key?”

You shook your head, and the brothers set off to find it.

“Guys?”

They turned back to you. 

“Be careful.”

Dean nodded and left with Sam.

***

You abandoned your jacket and looked over to the woman in the cage next to you. “You hurt? Your face is all scratched.”

She shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”

“I’m (Y/N), by the way.”

“Kathleen.”

“I’d shake your hand, but, uh—”

She laughed at your joke. 

“How’d you meet the guys?” you questioned after a moment’s silence.

“They came runnin’ up into my station. The pretty boy nicked an ID off another cop and was raving about some girl he needed to find. That was kinda my first hint that he wasn’t really a cop.”

Your stomach did a somersault. “He seemed worried about me?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“Huh.” A silence settled over the two of you before you spoke again. “You said you had a brother?”

Kathleen nodded. “Riley. Disappeared about ten years ago. I’ve been looking for him ever since.”

“I’m sorry,” you told her.

She didn’t answer. The two of you sat in silence again for quite some time until the door reopened. You could tell it wasn’t the two brothers, though. This man was wearing a hat and a puffer vest and inserted the key into the panel.

‘Fuck,’ you thought and grabbed at the bracket that had fallen to the ground. The door to your cage unlocked and you backed up against the far wall.

The man in the cap opened the door and aimed his gun straight at you. You threw the bracket at his gun, knocking it off-kilter, and used that opportunity to lunge at the man. You tackled him to the floor and began fighting with him for his gun. Shots rang out three times as he attempted to shoot you in the midst of the struggle.

“You son of a bitch, let go!” you screamed. You twisted your body to where your foot was on his throat and leveraged yourself that way. You pushed your foot in one direction and pulled the gun in the other, finally managing to get the gun away from him. You hit him with the but of the shotgun thrice in the head, knocking him out cold. You tried to fire the gun at him, but it didn’t work

“Fuck.”

You quickly took the key from the man on the floor and unlocked Kathleen’s cage. She helped you drag the unconscious man into the cage and relock him inside. You then smashed the control panel with the gun to disable it and keep the man locked inside. 

You heard footsteps approaching the barn and ducked behind a bale of hay. You hadn’t been able to see where Kathleen had gone, and held your breath when you heard the door open.

“Lee!”

‘Oh, that was his name.’

“Where are ya? Lee!” A rough voice called again. “Damn it, Jared, get the lights!” 

The barn stayed dark despite the switch you could hear being flipped.

“They must have blown the fuse,” a second male voice said.

You could hear the men running in separate directions; one clambering up the ladder and the other going in the opposite direction of your hiding place. You suddenly heard Kathleen grunting and fighting one of the men before hearing a gun cock.

“Hey!” you called, jumping up from your hiding spot. You ducked quickly when the man fighting Kathleen turned to shoot you. A voice behind you groaned in pain after you’d ducked and you ran over to Kathleen and the man she was fighting. You jumped on his back and began strangling him in the crook of your elbow. Kathleen wrestled the gun away from him while he fumbled through fighting you. 

“(Y/N), drop!” Kathleen told you, and you listened just before she hit the man with the but of the shotgun. He collapsed to the ground and the two of you turned your attention to the older man on the floor behind you. 

You dragged the man over to Kathleen’s cage and locked him inside. Out of breath from lugging his heavy body, you turned back to Kathleen who was aiming her gun at the older man on the ground.

“I’ll watch this one. You go ahead.” 

You stared at her, motionless.

“Go ahead,” she urged you.

You sprinted out of the barn, trying to make sense of your surroundings. You found nothing but trees, dirt, and old cars. “Motherfucker.” You then heard a snapping twig coming from the woods before you.

“Hey!” you yelled. “Come out, motherfucker!”

“Whoa, whoa, (Y/N), calm down,” Dean told you, appearing with Sam from behind you.

You breathed a sigh of relief. “Dean!” You threw yourself into his arms and squeezed tightly. He hesitated for a moment, but hugged you back strongly. You reveled in the feeling of his touch before forcing yourself to break away. You turned to Sam and hugged him, thanking the boys for coming to find you.

A gunshot sounded before Kathleen emerged from the barn. “Where’s the girl?”

“Locked her in a closet,” Dean chuckled. “What about the dad?”

“Shot. Trying to escape.” She looked uncomfortable, but you took her word for it.

Later after you’d said your goodbyes to Kathleen, the three of you were walking back to the police station to get the car.

Sam walked a little in front of you and Dean.

“Never do that again,” the older brother told you.

“Do what?”

Dean muttered, “Go missin’ like that.”

“Aw, look at you.” You playfully pinched his cheek. “You were worried about me.”

“All I’m sayin’ is, you vanish like that again, I’m not lookin’ for ya,” he grumbled.

You rolled your eyes. “Sure, you won’t.”

“I’m not.”

You giggled. “So, you got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl, huh?”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Just sayin’, gettin’ rusty there, sweetheart.”

“Shut up.”

Series Rewrite Taglist: @polireader @brightlilith @atcamillanorrman @jrizzelle @insomnia-bookworm @procrastination20 @mrs-liebgott @djs8891 @tiggytaylor @staple-your-mouth @iloveshawn @jesstherebel @rach5ive @strawberrykiwisdogog @bruhidkjustwannaread @mxltifxnd0m @sunshine-on-marz @big-ol-boat @mgchaser @capncrankle @davina-clairee @chervbs @simpingdeadcharacters @nesnejwritings @stillhere197 @stephshaww @tearsforhan @take-it-on-the-run @iloveyou2mia @maxinehufflepuffprincess @ohgeehowdigethere @here-for-the-extravaganza @seninjakitey @berarenado @s0urw00lf @princessleahorgana @quarterhorse19 @rei0812 @isla-finke-blog @silverdoragon @karacaroldanvers @gayandfairycore @examishbookwyrm

[galvanizedfriend]

what are your top ten favorite klaroline fics?

Hello, nonnie! I see your asks have made the rounds. Really nice to see lots of rec lists circulating!

I had to give this a thought. It's very hard to come up with just 10. I could easily do a part II. 😂 But without further ado, and in no particular order, 10 of my favorite KC fics:

. The Parisian Deal by Borzoi

I honestly vary between The Parisian Deal and Paradise Lost as my favorite Borzoi fics. It depends. I think I'm in my Parisian Deal era, though. I've recced this a few times over the last few months, whenever someone's asked me for my favorites or humanity-less Caroline fics. For me, this is the best one that comes to mind. Borzoi's fics are all brilliant. I love their writing style to bits. It reads like a novel, it draws in and it grips you by the throat until the very end. This one features Klaus being called to the rescue by a desperate Salvatore clan when Caroline turns off her humanity and fucks off to Europe. Unlike her friends, Klaus doesn't threaten her, doesn't try to force her to feel; instead, he offers her a deal. And it's perfect. I love this story with my whole heart, I can't even tell you.

. In the Backseat by Lila2

After leaving Hayley as a wolf in the Bayou and earning the hatred of his entire family, Klaus shows up with baby Hope on Caroline's doorstop. He has no idea what to do with a baby, is too proud to apologize and is in desperate search of some validation, which invariably leads her back to her (just like in 5x11). Caroline is torn between being mad at him for having a baby with freaking Hayley, and also the fact that she loves kids and there's a part of her that resents him precisely because he gets to have them, when she never will. In her own way, Caroline puts him in his place and convinces him to make amends and go home, take Hope back to her mother - but only if she comes with him on the road trip. And boy, is it worth it. 🥰 It's a fic that has the baby as a catalyst for everything, at the center of everyone's woes in different ways, but it's not about the baby, in case you're a baby fic hater. And the writing is just chef's kiss.

. the birth and death of the day by @little-miss-sunny-daisy

For a good while there, this fic was my entire fandom personality. Whenever anyone gave me a second of their time, I'd preach about the birth and death of the day. I was obsessed. Kelly is a brilliant writer, so, so, so talented. I am not kidding when I saw I wish I could write like her. And the greatest proof of that is how this fic was everything to me, in spite of not being at all my cup of tea on the tin. I don't like Supernatural, I never watched more than two episodes, and the Klaroline bit here kind of takes on a secondary role to the end of the of the world. But it's such an intense and brilliant character study on Caroline that it had my whole heart from the start. Her relationship with her BROTHERS Dean and Sam is so heartfelt, and it exposes so much of who Caroline really is as a character. The plot is INSANE and AMAZING and HUGE and it's so incredible how it ties in so seamlessly with the Mystic Falls shenanigans. And then there is Klaus! When I saw secondary, I don't mean irrelevant. I just mean there's more to the story than just their relationship. But it is still brilliantly developed. Honestly, just writing about it brings me back memories. I love it so much.

. Quiet Light by @definedareasofuncertainty

I am biased when it comes to Luiza's fics because I'm a fangirl and I have been one since day one, before we even became friends. But in the years (years 🥲 we have been here so long, friend) we have known each other, her writing has only gotten better and better. It's atmospheric and understated and it has this mindfulness about it that I can't really explain. It really feels like being in the characters' stream of thinking, you get instantly pulled into it. It evokes emotions without it ever having to be minutely described, and I think that's such an incredible talent. I wish I could write like this! And Quite Light not only brings all of those things forward, but it also brings COMPLEXITIES and MORAL QUARRELLS and it was also WRITTEN FOR ME. 😌✨ Luiza thought she was getting revenge on me by torturing Elijah, but LITTLE DID SHE KNOW I actually loved it. I went into this thinking it would be just a rom-com style story (which I love), but it's so much more. By the end I was crying real tears. 🥲 It becomes such a beautiful story about the relationship between Klaus and Elijah. Honestly brilliant.

. light years by @definedareasofuncertainty

Honestly, this fic has a very specific target audience, and that target audience is ME. I'm not even exaggerating; this is one my favorite pieces of fic ever written in the KC fandom. The way a Klarolijah fic speaks to me can be so personal. 🥺 I love the Klarolijah dynamic. I really do. But it takes a very specific balance for me to feel it. It can very easily go from me loving it, to me wanting to throttle someone. And this! THIS!! This is absolutely it. 🥲 And it's just about my favorite thing ever. This is actually three mini drabbles combined into one. Each of them is written through a different POV - Klaus', Elijah's and Caroline's. And the combination of all three, the way they tell the same story through different eyes, is just !!!!!!!!! Honestly, I don't have words. This has ✨Yokan my beloved✨ written all over it and I feel it very much. Luiza has a ridiculous talent for writing things on the spot. She got prompted to write an Elijah piece, and then a Caroline piece, and then a Klaus one, and she wrote them all in like 30 minutes on one of her mini drabbles challenge, and OH MY FUCKING GOD. I hate her for how good she is. 😭 (I don't, I love her, but I also v much envy her talent).

. this is a harvest by @highgaarden

I spent a solid few minutes here thinking about which of Hannah's fics I wanted to list, because she has this huge catalogue and I've basically read all of them and have gushed over almost every single one over the years. But even though there are others that could easily be in my top 10, I always end of going back to This is a Harvest. I remember when I first read it, I closed the tab at the end and was just… Done. Not in a 'I can't stand this story/ship/fandom anymore', but in a 'this is the fic to end all fics' kind of way. And it's not so much about the style or the writing, which are both stunning, but the way the story is told. It's a canon divergence that spans over years and I felt it in my heart that this was where the story could've gone. The choices they could've made. The way Caroline's story could and should have ended. And I was satisfied. I started writing and reading KC fanfiction after TO was over because I was so indignant about the way the show ended, so unhappy that I needed to give it my own spin, and read other folks doing the same, and when I read this story I felt like I had achieved that. This is it, I can put this to rest.

Obviously, I was way too deep by then that I couldn't really abandon the fandom (even though, just between us here, I kind of wish I could), but for a whole week or two, I was at peace. This fic gave me peace. That's it.

. Into the Woods by @jinxedwood

"But Yokan, how would you like to see Klaus' part in Legacies play out?" Like this. Exactly like this. This story accepts the finale we were dealt in The Originals, and then makes something absolutely amazing with it. I love the premise, I love the mythology involved, I love how unique this take is, and I love how even though it's poignant and bittersweet, it still packs up everything about Kc that made me love this ship so much. Caroline has been in Europe for years trying to find a way to help her daughters with their Gemini situation, and then she ends up stumbling across something else entirely. While she thought the thing she most wanted to see on a brief stint on the Other Side would be Gemini witches, her heart betrays her by taking her to who she really misses the most.

. it takes a while to settle down by theviolonist

This story is so old school it was written before Steroline. It's about Tyler. But we all know who Caroline ends up marrying, so in my heart, this is really what happens before Caroline marries Stefan. And honestly, it works just as well. This story is a punch to your stomach, but it is PERFECTION in 8k words. It's hot, it's bittersweet, it's SO in character. Caroline's denial, telling herself that Klaus is there to see her because he still ones revenge on Tyler, when it becomes very obvious, very fast, as it always does on the show, that it's never about Tyler, it's all about her. UGH. Honestly, brilliant. (third fic on this list with a The National reference on the title, I SENSE A PATTERN).

. As One Wishes to Live by @lalainajanes

I had never in my life read a genie!AU, and simply could not wrap my mind around anything of the sort that wouldn't be extreme crack!fic. Imagine my surprise upon reading this story. It's bittersweet in the best possible way. At the same time it's endearing and adorable (and so very IC) to watch Caroline fumbling for a fair and non-insane way to handle Klaus, the genie Katherine accidentally gifted her with (and who just happens to look incredibly alluring), it's so very poignant to read Klaus' POV. He's Klaus in the way that he's suspicious and dismissive and kind of snobbish, really, but he's resigned to his fate. This is a Klaus who has been broken by years of enslavement as this prop who's there exclusively to serve others. Every time he mentions one of his past masters, you just get that stab - and so does Caroline. Laine is one of the most prolific and talented KC writers ever, and I have read and enjoyed so, so many of her fics, but this definitely has a special place in my heart.

. Psychedelic Kicks by @notalittlebutalottie

This is an ensemble story that has Klaroline at heart, but that gives every other character a moment to shine. And shine they do! Everyone gets their own side stories, and absolutely loved following every single one of them. Lottie made me care for characters I hate in canon, like Katherine and Kol. Even Stefan and Elena had my heart here. This fic is a journey, full of ups and downs, and it has such a satisfying end. It's also incredibly original in its setting and tone, which I think it's one of Lottie's greatest talents. It's very are for historical fics to be set in the 60s, and not only did Lottie choose this very particular time, but she also did such a remarkable job incorporating the decades' aspects into the story. Not just the fashion, and the music, and Woodstocky vibes, but the social and political unrest as well. This is a story with LAYERS, my friends, and it's incredible. I could totally see this being a TV show or a movie tbh. It's that good.

[vendettasfanfictioning]

You ever think about how gargantuan Supernatural is that there are AUs and widespread inside jokes about episodes? That there are enough people here to find something special in some episodes to build mini communities?

Even from a non-heller perspective; if I said oh 1x13 was batshit insane but it added so much depth to the sweet old romantic side of Dean that he desperately denies existing—more than a handful of people would know that I'm talking about Route 666. The batshit insanity of the racist truck ghost murderer, not outweighing the fact that Dean loved Cassie so much, he told her the big family secret, the no. 1 rule John Winchester has drilled since they were children, and ended up splitting with her anyways.

4x17 and 5x04 in particular took up the fandom by a storm for a while, because Supernatural created AUs within the actual text all for the sake of filling in the most important arc (at the time): the Michael vs Lucifer, Heaven vs Hell Apocalypse. I still sometimes remember It's a Terrible Life's reference to Dean and Sam being Smith and Wesson and feel absolutely sick to my stomach. And The End? That's one of my comfort watches right there. The fact that these two episodes alone gave us such a different characterization of the cast and brought a new setting to mind is absolutely mind boggling, and since there's just so many fans here means those tropes and side quests still live.

Does all this make sense? idk like I get that the show doesn't have the best reputation (as it should, honestly, I wouldn't wish this curse upon my worst enemy) but there's something so beautiful about being alive and within a community that really lives and breathes, y'know? I find it all such a touching aspect to humanity.

[dothwrites]

PEACE OF MIND! PEACE OF MIND! (aka best episode ever)

cas really is an awkward dad coming to talk to his kid. and it's not going well. though he is more supportive of jack's snake than dean, which good for him (coming from someone who is DEEPLY uncomfortable around snakes) i forgot how worried everyone already was about jack's soul. i remembered dean and the ridiculous cake test but i didn't remember cas being this concerned

dean and cas having a conversation about jack and sam is really like cas is dean's second husband and sam is his stepson while jack is his and dean's child. if you get where i'm going. like, sam is DEAN'S kid, but jack is THEIR child. so they're having a conversation about their respective children, and they've cast themselves in roles of concerned parents

i can only assume that dean forced cas to watch all of the scanners movies since metatron would never lower himself to watch those movies. (this pleases me GREATLY) cas' saturday evening post line! there's something about cas drifting through the bunker late at night after everyone has gone to bed and looking through old magazines to soothe himself that is both incredibly soft, incredibly hilarious and incredibly poignant. he LOVES humanity! he's looking at an idealized version of the human condition in order to soothe himself. the rest of his loved ones are asleep and cas remains awake to watch over them but he still needs comfort, so he looks at old magazines. (i'm going to stop now but just know that this thought LIVES IN MY HEAD)

cas' "delicious" is wonderful here. he's such a wonderful dick. HIS HEAD EXPLODED. LIKE A RIPE MELON ON THE SUN. i love cas and i would die for him and he is the only character ever.

the irony of this woman saying "MORALS" to a degenerate homosexual angel of THEE lord... layers upon layers upon layers! and then cas mimicking the "shape and heft". he knows from personal experience. because he is a homosexual.

dean's cake test is so ridiculous. HE is so ridiculous. and his immediate REGRET after calling snakes "cool". the look of a man who just saw his whole damn life flash before his eyes. (it is established that dean does not care for snakes and finds them frightening. how much of this is because of a natural aversion and how much of this is because THEE indiana jones ALSO finds snakes off putting and scary?) RIDICULOUS MAN! RIDICULOUS MAN TESTING HIS KID WITH CAKE.

cas' consistent irritation with people is something that can be so personal, honestly. "the very tall man" laughing because misha looks so short next to jarpad but misha is actually pretty normal sized/tall

whoever the woman is who plays the wife, give her an emmy. she has FANTASTIC comedic timing. this whole scene is pure comedic gold. i remember laughing to the point of tears the first time i saw it. stop forcing jarpad to be a dramatic action hero. let him either be the villain or let him act in comedies! this is where he THRIVES! don't make him be a gritty action hero! he is not receiving enrichment in that environment!

i love when cas allows himself to be a terrifying badass. so much of the time he's masking his true nature for the comfort of the humans around him, but sometimes he just lets himself go and when he does, it's TERRIFYING!

we love a fight where cas is FINALLY allowed to be a badass. we LOVE IT. finally some good fucking food if you ever wanted to know why sastiel can never be a thing (sastiel fans i love and respect you) just look at this scene compared with the prisoner scene. sam and cas' scene is longer but my GOD is it lacking in the sexual tension and pathos of the prisoner scene. jarpad just does not have chemistry with men and that is okay because he is a heterosexual and they're necessary for the environment too!

"GOD HAS A BEARD" supernatural is A Show™

the implications that cas called dean to gossip about sam's cardigan and his faux marriage. insane. they're just chatting. because they're husbands. and they're married.

love that very ominous shot of cas lurking over jack's shoulder as he watches him kill the snake. it's very dramatic.

[aikoiya]

How would Ancient Vlad and Valerie feel about each other (since Vlad didn’t give Valerie her stuff)?… How does JACK honestly feel about Vlad (since he’s more open-minded than Maddie)?… How would the Fenton Parents + Valerie Grey both feel about Vlad’s Tragic Backstory? 💀🔥⚡

I feel like Vlad would just see Valerie as another bad human who might eventually need to be put down due to her very obvious anti-ecto sentiments. He's wrong, but that's how he'd see it.

As for Valerie, she'd see Plasmius as just another ghost that needs to be taken down.

She likely wouldn't ever learn about his backstory, unless she joined Team Phantom, which she'd only really consider doing after D-Stabilize & then only after learning about Danny's identity.

As for Vlad & Jack, I feel like Vlad would initially be put off by Jack's boisterous personality, but much like what I suspect happened in canon, in college, he'd begin to warm up on him. Now, he sees him as that sort of insufferable, but looked upon fondly, friend that always manages to pull you into trouble.

Like, knowing that Jack accepts Danny & is showing genuine attempts at bettering his understanding of ghosts, I see Vlad softening up on him.

Because, in my Legacy 1 post, I believe that I mention that Jack is from a long line of supernatural hunters (his branch of the family being mostly focused on ghosts & a few other undead creatures) & was sort of the black sheep of the family. Being that he just wasn't very good at the Latin or the research or the apotropaic magics involved. (The reason being that he just couldn't wrap his head around the mechanics of how magic works due to being more mechanically-minded. So, he turned to trying to be a hunter through the means that he understood most, science & engineering! However, as a result, he really only works with the ecto-ghosts, a.k.a. Hereafter Ghosts, that we see in the show & has mostly moved away from Earthbound Spirits & the like!) And he had only ever done Salt & Burns with non-ecto ghosts, having never met any that weren't aggressive due to going vengeful. As that was the entire reason why they needed to be Salted & Burned to begin with.

As such, he'd just never met any of the ones like what Sam & Dean met in Supernatural that simply needed to realize they were dead or needed to finish business or just needed to come to terms & accept their own death before peacefully moving on. If he had, he would've started out with a much less antagonistic idea of them, but then again, he probably wouldn't have married Maddie.

Despite this, he actually has a lot of supernatural-based knowledge & facts on Earthbound Spirits, though he'd mostly begun to disregard it all as brouhaha & superstition (which is a very bad idea). As such, he'd always known that such ghosts were out there, including Tutelaries & Psychopomps & other theoretically good-aligned ghosts & spirits, but knowing something on an intellectual level is very different from knowing it personally through lived experience. Some things just don't become real to you until you have proof.

Because I see Jack as having never truly hated ghosts entirely, so much as actually being fascinated by them & how they work. And, in fact, I think that Jack would see Danny, Vlad, & the Danny clones as the coolest ghosts yet as he'd never even heard of something like them. Like, sure, a few in the more supernatural-based ghost-hunting community might know about liminality, but an actual, honest-to-God Half-Ghost? (If that's the actual, correct term?) That's just! Insane to Jack!

He'd be absolutely fascinated.

Not in the scary-scary dissection or vivisection or vidisection (new word I'm trying to get coined within the fandom) way, but in the giant, dorky nerd way that's super energetic & harmless & kinda adorable.

And, you know that Jack would do whatever he could to make inventions that would help Danny as much as possible. Though, he's still not very good at field work, his talents lying more in-line with inventing.

Which, a quick side-note, I see Danny as being a genius of engineering in a similar way to how Jack is. Meaning that you just don't expect either of them to be legitimately smart & knowledgeable on things due to their personalities. Jack, because he's a bumbler (& also has ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalcula, & dysgraphia, which just further exacerbates the image) & Danny, because he almost seems to try to be as average as possible (& has ADHD, dyscalcula, & maybe dyslexia).

But the fact of the matter is that Danny was missing class, not turning in homework, getting Fs, & losing sleep to protect Amity for ghosts, yet despite that, he repeatedly called himself a C Average Student.

The only reason that I can see for him to not be a flat F Student or even just a D Student is if he was normally an A+ Student.

And, I tend to see Danny's primary focus being on astrophysics & aerospace engineering, but also having a lot of high-level knowledge in regular engineering, ecto-engineering, & ectophysics just due to osmosis & helping his parents in the lab.

And much like his dad, Danny has a natural talent for guerilla science, to the point of redneck engineering. As the marine motto goes "if it looks stupid, but works, then it ain't stupid."

Sorry, went on a bit of a tangent, there.

In case you can't tell, DP is something of a mini-hyperfixation for me.

Anyway, I think that Jack would try to be friends with Vlad despite Danny likely having told him by now that Vlad had been planning to kill both Jack & Maddie because he thinks, like, 95% of humans are evil. Jack will pipe up that he doesn't want to kill him now, though, right? Which, Danny confirms. Then Jack goes on about how that just means they have to prove to him that Maddie & every other human on Earth is worth a second chance. He knows Maddie has a lot of good in her, she can just be stubborn & set in her ways. Then he leans in conspiratorially & says "It's the Alabama kid in her, I swear." He then goes on to say that, just like Vlad, Maddie's had some seriously messed up things happen to her because of ghosts, but as a little girl & then later as an adult. So, she's just sort of ingrained those beliefs into herself.

They've just gotta prove them both wrong!

Now, he doesn't become the Vlad hyperfanboy we see in the show as they don't have that college past & weren't best friends before. He will eventually, but only after years of being Vlad's friend.

Here, he's enthusiastic & supportive, if a little overbearing.

And, unlike in canon, where Vlad calls Jack a buffoon maliciously, here he'd start out calling him that in disinterest, then frustration, before beginning to do so in mild annoyance edged with almost brotherly affection.

I also think that Jack & Frostbite would very quickly become very good friends! They just vibe, dude.

Though, perhaps, instead of Pariah Dark only coming at the finale, how about he shows up twice. The first time in Reign Storm, then again for the finale. That way, we can have Frostbite too.

Because I love Frostbite. :3

Honestly, Jack would become somber at the news & would understand why Vlad had reacted in such a way. It was wrong, but Jack could understand.

For Maddie, she'd very much not like Vlad at any point in the show as he was always slimy, conniving, & sarcastic towards her & Jack. Even being such towards Jazz, only really showing any hint of friendliness towards Danny. Though, he eventually begins to treat Jazz better after the events of Ultimate Enemy where she reveals that she new Danny was a Halfa & accepted him.

He then begins to treat Jack with beleaguered, but amiable difference somewhere in late Season 2 to early Season 3. Leaving only her to be the object of his negativity. Though, once she accepts Danny, it'll mostly turn into suspicious distate. Which, since she doesn't know he's Plasmius, she won't understand what his beef with her is.

And, much like Valerie, she'd just see Plasmius as more ectoplasmic scum & might continue to do so for a good while even after finally accepting that Danny is Danny & that just having ectoplasm in him doesn't make him any less her son.

I'm not sure that knowing his backstory would change her views on him much as she seems very stubborn & absolutist in her thinking. It isn't that she can't understand, it's that they don't have the same attachment to each other that she & Danny had, so it'd take more to get her to empathize with him. Like, she thinks what happened was awful, but it doesn't excuse trying to commit literal genocide.

Completely missing the hypocrisy inherent in her own logic.

DP Ask AU Masterlist

[scoobydoodean]

#so very good but it makes me think about ...#why does sam insist so much that dean thinks he's a freak?#honestly i think it's because dean insists that sam's not. and that doesn't help because. yes sam is.#sam knows there's something wrong with him. he has been dealing with feelings of impurity and not being born right since he was a little bo#and it's actually so invalidating for sam every time that dean is like 'there's nothing wrong with you! you're a freak but i'm a freak too. #yes dean's intention is good and pure. he wants to make sam feel better about who and what he is. he wants to make sam feel good about sam#but the thing is. he's actually reinforcing sam's issues#because by denying that sam is dangerous or that his psychic powers are scary or that he's some dark dangerous thing or monster#he's communicating to sam that those things are bad and sam can't be those things. but sam knows he is. he always has.#and it just encourages sam to hide from dean. to hide the demon blood drinking. to hide fraternizing with ruby. #and i love it because it's just so well written#dean is trying to be a good brother. he insists that sam is pure and nice and good. you're not the big bad wolf. you're my little baby bro#always going on about how good and nice and gentle sam is. but sam knows that he's not. all he's doing is making sam feel worse#because sam will never be the good person that dean tells him he is. because sam will never live up to dean's expectations#and sam is always going to feel like he lets his big brother down. disappoints him. #BUT IT ISN'T DEAN'S FAULT EITHER. he was raised from boyhood to think monsters are evil bad awful. and he loves sammy#so sammy can't be a monster. he can't be dangerous. he can't have teeth. that's how dean's brain rationalizes it#man i'm so insane about this i'm so feral about it#everything about the early seasons and Kripke era was so good#because dean had to learn how to love sam more than he was taught to hate to monsters. and in the end. that love definitely won#because fate was unavoidable sam was going to become lucifer's vessel one way or another. but just by loving sam. even as he was. even then#staying with him. that's all it took

Okay so. I do agree that part of Sam chafes at Dean insisting he's not scared about the demons plans, and it ultimately leads Sam not trust Dean to tell him the truth. But I don't agree with a lot of the rest.

Regarding Dean saying "I'm a freak too", this is in 1.06, before Dean knows that Sam has visions. It establishes that the word "freak" has no tie to Sam's powers for Dean. Dean doesn't know about them yet and won't until 1.09. When he calls them both freaks, he's referring to how difficult it is to connect with people and not end up alone when you're privy to the details of the supernatural world and were raised in their life. He's letting Sam know that even though Sam never felt known at Stanford, Dean is right there with him and knows him and they share a common story and so Sam isn't alone.

The thing about Sam's powers is that Dean doesn't think they make Sam bad... and he's right. He isn't lying or being dishonest. He's just correct. Nothing about Sam's powers in of themselves make Sam bad. What would make Sam bad is if he used those powers to do evil—which is what Azazel wants Sam to do. But being fed demon blood, in of itself, does not make Sam evil. It simply doesn't. There is no avenue by which the act of being fed blood as a baby actually makes you a bad person or a monster.

Popular fanon loves to frame Dean as this guy with a black and white "supernatural powers/creatures bad; human good" framework, thus "deep down", he thinks Sam is this horrible monster because he has powers, but he just "gives him a pass" because he knows him and that's his brother. However, this is completely divorced from the reality of what we actually see from Dean in the show. Dean believes what people do makes them evil—not what they are. We see this first in how he reacts to humans who kill others for their own pleasure or clout. He sees them as monsters (even worse than supernatural creatures—ex: 1.12, 1.15) and then starting from 2.03 and then continuing with Andy in 2.05 and beyond, we establish that Dean doesn't believe supernatural connections and powers make people evil. It's deliberately using ones abilities to hurt innocent people that makes someone a monster (also see: Jesse, Bobby John, Kate, Emma, Benny).

What Dean is scared of isn't Sam's powers but what they mean—what Yellow Eyes might have planned—what he might try and make Sam do. And this is made pretty clear in 1.14. First, when Dean draws a hard line between Sam and Max because Max is a murderer and Sam isn't—not because of any distinction between their abilities. Second, through Sam's whole argument being that Max wasn't a bad person, but that the circumstances of his life were such that he snapped and his actions would be reasonable for anyone who suffered the way he did. Dean accepts that premise—that a person can be driven to evil by the circumstances of their life—but says basically, "Unlike Max, you aren't alone. I'm here and I'm going to help protect you from any circumstances that might direct you down this unknown path you're scared you might be driven to stumble down by some unknown sequences of events/evil forces."

Sam (for the most part) also understands that this is Dean's view, and Sam in turns is 1) comforted by that, 2) rejects it, believing his fate is inescapable and nothing Dean or Bobby or he himself could do can prevent his inevitable destiny, 3) feels offended that Dean thinks he needs help or needs protecting because it makes him feel coddled and babied and weak.

It isn't that Dean believes that Sam is incapable of doing something horrible because he's some pure sinless little baby, but that Sam's inner nature is not evil just because someone fed him some blood when he was a baby. And Dean does not believe in destiny. People make their own choices, and with the help of community—family—many pitfalls and dangerous paths that could ultimately end with Sam "going darkside" can be backed out of safely or entirely avoided, so that whatever demons might have planned to "make" Sam do... they can't force Sam to do their bidding.

Sam may believe in part that his nature makes him evil, but he's actually wrong, and I actually think his beliefs about that come from childhood neglect—not a subconscious ability to sense that a demon fed him blood as a baby. Sam is a person with a tendency to see his nature (something inescapable) as something that makes him evil rather than his own choices, and this is actually part of how he's lead down the path to consuming demon blood—because he convinces himself that his nature is already evil and there's nothing he can do about the fact that he is tainted. His actions don't matter because he was never pure or clean—he might as well direct that evil nature toward a "good" goal. This is Sam's view, but his view is not representative of the reality of what makes people good or evil. Actions and the reasons behind them are what matters. Sam often conflates the two, which forms the basis of a lot of Sam and Dean's conflicts. And I don't think there's anything about saying "Please don't fall for this demon's blatantly obvious attempts to manipulate you" that's actually difficult to live up to.

And is "Dean looking at Sam like he's some kind of sideshow freak" in the room with us now? | 3.16, 1.06, 1.14, 2.05, 2.10, 2.11, 2.14

[avelera]

Why "Our Flag Means Death" Should Teach Media Creators to Stop Queerbaiting the Fans that Made them Rich

If Our Flag Means Death continues to match and even exceed "Ted Lasso" levels of sleeper-hit/word of mouth popularity, it'll confirm a theory I've had for a long time that Hollywood has vastly underestimated how many of their A-List hit movies and stars rose to mainstream popuarity because of fandom and queer culture.

Like, look, obviously I'm super biased as someone who has been in fandom since I was a pre-teen, but I've strongly believed for some time that shows and actors who really get pushed over the edge from "popular" to "super-duper mega-hit that no one saw coming bonkers fame" often owe their rise to the high-octane energy that comes with fandom and queer people shipping two of the main characters in a same-sex relationship. Some examples:

Xena - As an early example (though honestly, you could put X-Files here as a straight version of the same phenomenon) would we even be hearing about this show today if not for the Xena/Gabrielle shippers? I mean, I'm sure the show was good for some value of 90s episodic action show "good", but I'd be willing to put a significant amount of money down that queer kids suddenly realizing something about themselves and going absolutely apeshit over those two gave it popularity and longevity other similar shows in its genre did not enjoy.

Supernatural - I mean, need I say more? Urban fantasy/horror shows are a dime a dozen-plus it's literally one of dozens of procedural shows with arguably the only unique quality in the first season being it's a couple hot guys with a muscle car. But add the early Sam/Dean shippers and the later frothing fandom around the Destiel will they/won't they shipping and you have a season count and popularity that dwarfs other similar shows in its class.

BBC Sherlock - literally catapulted Martin Freeman and the now ubiquitous, Oscar-nominated Hollywood darling Benedict Cumberbatch from near-obscurity to absolutely dizzying levels of fame. After that show, A-List directors like Peter Jackson had to wait their turn to get these guys into their movies. Sure, S1 Sherlock was fresh and cool in ways that should be appreciated but I don't think I'm being a totally biased fangirl to say what fueled the word-of-mouth insanity over the show was fans hoping John and Sherlock would end up together, especially given early buzz and interviews with the creators that intimated that they were more open to the idea than many past reimaginers of Sherlock Holmes.

"But Avelera," you might say, "Didn't these shows queerbait the shit out of their audiences? Didn't they basically drop breadcrumbs through their episodes and interviews teasing queer people with the possibility of these couples going canon and then openly laugh at them when they got their hopes up?"

Yeah! And that's what actually makes me a little insane about all this! For the longest time it felt like shows like BBC Sherlock and Supernatural in particular were aware of the fact that some percentage of the fandom driving their shows into popularity and their actors into worldwide recognition did so because of slash shipping, but for some fucking baffling reason they decided that the straight cis male audience was the one they couldn't risk alienating! Now, sure, I know straight cis men who were fans of Sherlock and Supernatural but let me tell you, those guys weren't watching that show 100x in a row! They weren't signing petitions for more seasons or evangelizing it to everyone they met. They watched the show, liked it well enough, and moved on. Plenty of shows appeal to just those guys and get canceled after a couple seasons, and yet they're still treated as some kind of gold standard for the audience to chase.

So it was kind of insanely infuriating to have these creators openly laugh at the slash fans that, it was my suspicion, weren't just a portion of their fanbase but actually driving the engagement. And where I get especially insane is my conviction that these creators just didn't have the data at their disposal to really understand that the people they were mocking weren't an audience they could risk throwing away. They were still so entrenched in the idea of keeping the mainstream happy and the idea that the mainstream preferred shallow straight relationships over the main shipped pair getting together that they treated their core base as the aberrant fringe and the aberrant fringe who really wouldn't even notice if they got canceled as if it was the core base.

Because who the fuck was watching Supernatural after however goddamn many seasons except insane shipper fans holding out a shred of hope that once the mainstream lost interest they might get more than scraps off the table? Who was clamoring for multiple seasons of Sherlock on the promise that they might see some fulfillment? Who still remembers Xena fondly and not just as some silly mindless 90s show? It's the queer/fandom fans, I truly believe this even if it might just be me seeing everything through the lens of being in that subculture.

There is no more talk about making BBC Sherlock after the final spitting in the face of the queer fans that the last season did, the fans burnt out on getting strung along. Even shows that are more queer-friendly but still resist onscreen confirmation (Good Omens you are on thin fucking ice but I'll give you S2 to stop dancing around the issue trying to appease all your perceived audiences) are seeing frustration directed towards them. Queer/fandom audiences are exhausted with being laughed at and jerked around and treated like the minority audience when they are in fact what drive these shows to worldwide recognition. They're not a bellwether or jumping on the wagon, they are the core audience.

And I think, if Our Flag Means Death continues to triumph in popularity, it will finally provide some quantification for exactly how much queer and fandom audiences really can be the difference between a show that's just one of many in its genre as far as audience engagement goes and shows that suddenly shoot into the stratosphere through word of mouth popularity. Sure, there will still be non-fandom, non-queer mega-hits that do very well too on sheer strength of quality and freshness (for example, Ted Lasso), but as an audience to aim to please instead of the one you just aim to string along so you can have your cake and eat it too, I hope OFMD serves as some kind of awakening.

[raspberryjellybrains]

alex is a tumblrina and has been here since 2010 and made magnus watch supernatural with her. we know this. here is how I think it would go:

1. both hate it. not that kind of love-hate relationship that everyone with any semblance of critical thinking skills has for the show. I mean hate. they love to hate it but hate it they do.

2. Alex is a dean-coded casgirl. I literally don't make the rules okay. magnus is a cas-coded samgirl. I think this one is pretty self explanatory.

3. magnus hates Dean with a real and virulent passion. he is sitting there all of season 2 like "bite him sammy kill him!" and cheers everytime dean dies.

4. Alex hates Dean but sometimes its like. "hear me out-" "no." "listen if you think about it-" "wow! good thing I won't be thinking about it." "no because he was kind of right-"

5. it's the dean-coded in him 😔

6. they ruthlessly eviscerate how inconsistent and disrespectful the shows lore is

7. they get to the episode in s5 where a bunch of pagan gods try to eat sam and dean and laugh their asses off

9. "ODIN'S A GRANDPA????" "OH MY GOD LOOK AT ZEUS- LET ME CALL ANNABETH HOLY SHIT-!" "magnus what is it?" "LOOK UP SUPERNATURAL ON NETFLIX GO TO SEASON 5 WATCH THE EPISODE WITH PAGAN GODS YOU'LL THANK ME LATER" "*wheezing*"

10. they are both shamelessly down bad for sam. they want the man with badonkadonks to win every fight without fail.

11. Cas is Alex's poor little meow meow but Magnus just sees him commit war crimes and goes "he's just like me fr :0"

12. they buy matching gaudy merchandise from shady back channels and threaten each other for months with the naked sam and dean bedsheets on amazon

13. it activates magnus' remaining braincell and he does so much critical analysis it's not even funny. maybe I'm projecting maybe I'm not who knows not you!

14. Alex just goes hee hee hoo hoo pretty white guys covered in blood bc if she thinks about it more than that she gets really upset. which does spark a couple nasty fights.

15. at the end of the day they enjoy hating it together and both go insane about it at the same time in mostly compatible ways that makes the whole ordeal intolerable to everyone else.

[remythologise]

Hello! I found your blog via you amazingly summarizing all that's going on with the spn drama. Due to my schedules, rl stuff, some of the arcs that didn't vibe with me, my availability to find a place to watch...the rollercoaster I was used to with this fandom was more me binging it in a weekend to going months to over a year without watching it. I still haven't watched the last season(but with a fandom this big it's pretty impossible not be spoiled so I more or less know what happened) BUT oh great one I ask of thee for more information if you have it...other than being busy and whatnot, I'm not really one to keep up with the actors as well. So could you also maybe do a summary of all the stans? I'im seeing terms I haven't seen before. Who is Kelios(sp?)? Hellions?? probably messed it up but like...I guess what are the name of each legion? Who do they have alliance towards? What was their desires? Que paso?!?!?!?

Hi there! 'Some of the arcs that didn't vibe with me' me emotionally quitting Supernatural in Season 7 after they killed Castiel 😂 Anyway I totally get it, I went through the same culture shock mid-last year when I got back into SPN and tried to find where fandom was at! There's really a LOT of lore and content after 15 years though so I'll just do the broad brushstrokes based on my impressions and personal stereotypes PLEASE remember this is oversimplifying groups and individuals to tendencies and I'm very biased! Also important that there are sub-factions within sub-factions - again, I'm simplifying here!

I've also linked to the 'Super-wiki' in terms of some definitions because the Super-wiki has pages for them where the Fandom-wiki does not. Great introduction actually - only in the Supernatural fandom. There are two Supernatural wikis. One, through curation and twitter activity, supports BiBro/Wincest factions and does not support Destiel users. One is more neutral or Destiel-friendly (I don't know that the Fandom wiki has a personality/social media presence per se). You cannot make this up. There is a factional war... within use of fandom wikis.

Destiel faction

People who primarily ship Dean/Cas, love Castiel and (often, although not always) Jack, and the 'found family' of Supernatural as well as the brothers, and like the post s3 seasons too. Hated 15.19 and 15.20 for killing Dean and ignoring the other characters/narrative arc of the show. Nicknamed 'Destihellers' by the Wincest faction as a derogatory term, 'reclaimed' and shortened as 'Hellers', a nickname they use affectionately to describe each other. See more info on nicknames here.

Sometimes also ship ‘Cockles’ (the ship between Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles) although generally speaking they're more respectful of the wives of the actors than J2 shippers, who are notoriously responsible for... a vast series of insane-fan misdemeanours. Historically most were also good at keeping RPF to themselves and not harassing celebrities with it directly, although recently, particularly with younger twitter fans, that has not been the case.

Sub-factions:

The ‘Desticule’ or ‘Destiel tumblr’ - general grouping of Destiel-shipping tumblr users around 20-30 years old, usually LGBT+, most who came back to the show post-15.18 after leaving it for various reasons including getting sick of the queerbaiting. Funniest bitches alive etc. and responsible for the best text posts you’ve ever seen. Can also start stupid discourse and in-group drama when they’re bored.

'POLOL' - People of Lots of Letters, a discord group (of tumblr and twitter users) that ran on the assumption Andrew Dabb was playing a hugely intricate game of 3D chess to do with gnostic symbolism among other things, and would make Destiel canon. Have since had their own factional sub-wars and fallen apart a bit. Some of their meta was and is good and interesting! Some of it was wildly off the mark. Now generally insist that Dabb/the writers were all pushing for Destiel canon and the network is entirely to blame.

Twitter fans (TikTok edition) - younger fans around 18 and younger who (FOR REASONS BEYOND ME) started watching the show around 2018-2020. Definition of 'stans'. Tend to be very loud and aggressive on twitter when Events Happen, which like. I do get, because they've grown up in a completely different media environment and this kind of Dinosaur Politicking around LGBT+ issues is beyond them. Fancam central. Anyway stream #CASTIEL for clear skin!

Twitter fans (AO3 edition) - older fans around 30+ who kept going with the show but either don't have a large tumblr presence or just prefer twitter. A lot of fic writers, GISH-ers, and BNFs in this group. Some of them are very cool and reasonable in their opinions, some of them act like the younger stans. Some of them too accepting of what happened wrt 15.19-20 in my opinion, because, in contrast to the younger twitter stans, they grew up expecting Destiel to NEVER be canon or respected. 'Can't believe we got this far' etc.

Multiship faction

Multishippers or shippers of things not as large as the two main behemoths . Sub-factions based on shipping, e.g. Megstiel and Sastiel. I don't think these groups are very large though, and seem to have very little influence in the Discourse.

Wincest faction

LARGE overlap with the 'BiBro' faction and their opinions, which I'll get to. Ship Sam and Dean romantically. Often pretend to be BiBros on places like twitter and reddit in order for outside groups to take their opinions more seriously. 'Wincesties' etc. are derogatory nicknames given by the Destiel faction.

Sub-factions:

Multiship fans - ship Sam and Dean but respect Castiel/the 'found family'. Politically overlap with the faction of multishippers, I think. I don't have a lot of insight on this group of people honestly, but I know they exist.

Bronlies - the typical BiBro and 'Wincest' shippers most people think of, twitter user 'Kelios' is one of the would-be ringleaders of this faction - typically tend to be older white midwestern women. Historically have been pretty nasty on twitter (leading to Robert Berens, writer who made Destiel canon, occasionally subtweeting Kelios). Also tend to ship 'J2' - and take it very seriously as a legitimate thing that is really real. This is called 'tinhatting'.

BiBro faction

People who think the show should JUST be about the brothers, love Supernatural s1-3 and everything after it should have been just like Supernatural s1-3. Hate Castiel, Jack, and the 'found family'. Largely loved 15.20. Go to literally any comments section on any Supernatural article and You Will Find Them complaining about how the show should just be about the Brothers. Tend to be older, straighter, and more conservative/Republican (and male) fans. (I am aware that the definition of 'BiBro' used to refer to people who just liked the brothers but there's no definitional difference now in the discourse.) The Wincest and BiBro faction are generally much more wealthy than the Destiel faction (they being younger and more diverse/queer/left-leaning in general) and would be the biggest revenue generators at conventions etc.

Sub-factions:

Reddit bros - literally anyone who visits r/supernatural. Well, that's not fair - there are people who post reasonable opinions on there, but it's pretty rare and they get downvoted a lot. Like to talk about 'toxic Destiel fans' 'ruining the show' and how Dean is a straight man who is straight and could never possibly be gay. Might even think the confession was platonic despite all evidence to the contrary. I'm Not Homophobic I Have Gay Friends, But No Gays on MY Show!

Old Guard - group of older fans who overlap strongly with the Wincest faction, but might not necessarily ship Wincest.

GA faction

'General Audience' - These are the group of audience members that aren't 'online' so to speak; most watch the show on TV as a Casual Viewing Experience (are therefore also sometimes referred to as 'casuals'. Mostly their opinions tend towards BiBros, but they have a vast range of baffling views thanks to being Not Online and usually Not caring about Supernatural that much or thinking that deeply about it.

Sub-factions:

People who simply watch Supernatural on TV and then don't think about it very much after that.

I said they weren't 'online' but that's not entirely true; I'd probably classify people on Supernatural Facebook Groups as GA, along with friends of friends who post statuses about how 15.20 was a neat finale that wrapped up the series.

Conclusion

Supernatural is famously the show that appeals to both Republicans and Democrats, literally All Orientations, so there's a WIDE range of factions. However, most warring online boils down to Destiel vs. Wincest/BiBro - the war that started in Season 4 and has simply never ended. In terms of the 'actors' and their stans, in general, Wincest/BiBro fans love Jared, like Jensen, and dislike Misha. Destiel fans love Misha, like Jensen, and dislike Jared. Of course as with everything, there are variations and this is just a generalisation. But that's the summary of it, from my perspective!

This didn't even get into Sam girls, Dean girls and Cas girls. God. Anyway.

Hope that answered your question, anon!

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 123: 6x15, 9x14

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

February 25, 2022

6x15: The French Mistake

Written by: Ben Edlund

Directed by: Charles Beeson

Original air date: February 25, 2011

Plot Synopsis:

To protect Sam and Dean from a surprise attack from Raphael, Balthazar sends them both into an alternate universe where their lives are a TV show called Supernatural.

Features:

Thee Jared and Jensen, the prediction of the J2 Fallout, Misha’s tweeting, the death of Kripke and Singer, Raphael’s new vessel.

My Thoughts:

The thing about this episode is that it walks a razor’s edge between hysterically funny and so cringey that I can’t watch it. I have a very low tolerance for secondhand embarrassment and the acting scene makes me want to die.

I like the show poking fun at itself, especially with the editing conversation and Robert Singer and Kripke being there. Misha is very funny and weirdly reminds of Casifer in that I can see him playing someone playing Cas. It’s a really fine distinction but it’s really fun to watch.

The set decoration of Jared’s house is absolutely fucking insane but I’m not willing to look up his house to see if it’s similarly garish. Why do you have those portraits of yourself everywhere, Jared? There is so much about this episode that I truly don’t even know where to begin. Insane that it predicted the J2 Fallout.

I know it’s not likely that I would do any better in the situation but so much of this episode is me watching horrified between my fingers and whispering “you are so stupid” over and over again.

Where is Virgil supposed to be buying these guns? You made a big deal about filming being in Canada, we don’t have any stores like that. Are we supposed to believe that he crossed the border, bought a gun, and crossed back without any issues all in one day? Also, there aren’t maple leafs on our caution tape.

Outside of the weird universe-traveling stuff (speaking of which, had a lot more panache in season 6 than it does later), I really love Balthazar. I’ve forgotten a lot about him because it’s been so long since I’ve seen this season but he really is fun. I like how much he uses his wings, it’s one of the most fun things about the angels and it isn’t used nearly enough. I like that he refers to Cas as being “deep underground” when in retrospect we know that he’s making deals with Crowley in Hell. The end of this episode is one of the first overtly suspicious things that Cas does in season 6, where Dean outright asks him what’s actually going on and he doesn’t give an answer.

The whole concept of this episode in retrospect is kind of delicious torture from Chuck. I wish they had more of an existential crisis about it, because it’s showing them directly that they are in someone else’s story. I wish they questioned whether or not the writers of the show were prophets and how it all worked.

I truly don’t know how to rate this one but it made me feel a lot of Something.

Notable Lines:

“Oh, crap! I'm a painted whore!

“Wow. I must be the star of this thing.”

“Ooh, "priority."what's in it?” “I bought part of a dead person.”

“What kind of douchebag names a character after himself?”

“The scary man killed the attractive crying man, and then he started to pray.”

“If I lose against Raphael, we all lose. Everything.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 9.4

IMdB Rating: 9.6

9x14: Captives

Written by: Robert Berens

Directed by: Jerry Wanek

Original air date: February 25, 2014

Plot Synopsis:

Kevin's spirit returns to ask Sam and Dean to find his mother. Castiel is taken to Bartholomew.

Features:

A haunted Bunker, Kevin stuck in the veil, the fate of Linda Tran, Crowley’s intern, Cas’ kill count, Cas’ rag tag army of misfit toys.

My Thoughts:

This is a better episode than I was expecting it to be. I haven’t seen most of season 9 since it first aired, so the only thing I remembered about this episode was the cold open (which is admittedly great).

Bartholomew is like Cole in that whenever I’m not actively looking at him onscreen I forget he exists and even when I am looking at him I often can’t remember what his whole deal is. I liked watching Cas kill him because I was extremely bored of his whole deal. Cas was really the only interesting thing about the angel plot in this episode and that might just be because I love Cas. Doing civil war in heaven so close to the civil war in season 6, which is much more fleshed out even with the short amount of screen time it got, was a mistake in my opinion. I would have preferred to spend more time seeing how angels were adapting to life on earth. We learn later ho rare it was for angels to walk the earth pre-season 6, so I wish more angels were experiencing their first vessels and their first brush with humanity. I want to know how many of them really do learn to feel and care when they’re outside of heaven.

This episode does a tiny little bit to soothe my absolute rage whenever I think about Kevin’s death. I see what Berens was trying to do in cleaning up the absolute disaster of a mess Buckleming made of his plotline. I would have liked to see ghost Kevin some more so that he could have an actual character arc that ended on his terms rather than coming back long enough to tell the brothers to stop feeling guilty (when they should) and go back to being codependent (when they shouldn’t). I did think the reunion between him and Linda was genuinely touching.

Notable Lines:

“That's your third unanswered voicemail. You ever think maybe he's just not that into you?”

“You've been flying solo for so long, you've forgotten that's what angels do. We follow orders.”

“Angels fighting angels has to stop somewhere. Might as well stop with me.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 7.8

IMdB Rating: 8.1

In Conclusion: More than anything I want to get completely stoned and watch The French Mistake.

<< Previous Day  |  Next Day >>

[kingspadille]

Reasons to read my Supernatural Fanfic (even If you don't like Supernatural)

- Mental illness; none of the main cast is neurotypical. Sam for example has CPTSD. The others are hinted at, from ADHD to autism. Hours of research was put into making sure the symptoms are correct (as well as being an autistic man with ADHD)

- good writing for Women; I know how to write a badass for a woman since I was born one! None of the woman in this fic are seen as anything but human, just as the men are. Though sexism is touched upon it's not a focus. (No offense Supernatural, but y'all sometimes don't know whatcha doin' with woman hah hah!)

- Gender; the main character is a symbolism of Jesus and is transgender. He is open about this! I also have a handful of other trans, non-binary, and gender fluid characters. I am trans myself, so writing for them was so much fun

- The Judas to my 'Jesus' is a corrupted doctor that was loosely based off Norman Bates, he's got a shadow that's incredible powerful and uses a golf club as a weapon.

- Weapons; most of the main cast have normal household objects for weapons. The main character has a baseball bat with iron nails, another uses a wrench, etc etc guns are used occasionally but they're not the focus.

- The internet; Let's be honest, the internet is a big thing! The main two characters have to make a Twitter in an attempt to dismiss whatever videos, pictures and clips people get of them/the paranormal as well as trying to help people however they're able. That is, until it becomes too much.

- The Supernatural; all the monsters, people and creatures of the Supernatural are beefed up heavily. A darkness is eating away the planet and making everything incredibly powerful. Now the paranormal can grow wings, tails, claws, etc in the overworld making it harder and harder to fight them.

- The angels; all the angels sport real names from all sorts of different texts. They are real angels, they do not appear in the original show! I made sure of that. The main character is Chamuel, for example, who's the archangel of love and war. This being said, the darkness also makes the angels more powerful. Giving them huge wings, letting them use their grace as though it's a superpower. Only downside? The darkness weakens their ability to heal, teleport, etc the longer they stay on Earth.

- the demons; just like the angels the demons are more powerful. Horns, claws, tails, they use them all to their advantage. The demons also misgender/dead name the main character as a way to break him down and steal his soul.

-Dean x Cas; though Dean is dead he returns (though he's still dead) and is "married" in a sense to Castiel. This is insanely important to the plot. He watched Abel (his AFAB son) through the "water of life" and is incredibly frustrated with his inability to help.

-LGBTQ+ ; Abel, the main, is transgender. Chamuel is gay. The rest of the cast are also LGBT in some ways, ace, pan, bi, etc etc these are only touched upon if mentioned as well. I want to stress that its very natural

- Research; I've put hours and hours into this, from learning everything I can about demons, angels, etc etc, to talking with people from different cultures I made sure things are as accurate and appropriate as possible.

- POC; I try to keep the cast diverse and make sure that culture isn't ignored. Again, hours went into these characters!

- Main characters are very gay for each other

- artwork: I've been drawing the characters, scenes and covers for everything!

- Cryptids; they in it! Why they're not in the show is puzzling but they're definitely in this. From ones we all know (Jersey devil for example) to more unknown one's (Ozark Howler) I love them and had to include them!

- IM A GOOD WRITER; this isn't to toot my own horn or say anyone is a bad writer but I'm a good writer, I keep things interesting! Im also very open to critism, comments, questions and concerns.

-please read my fanfic I'm insanely proud of it and all I've done for it! People commenting on it makes my entire day!

There's plenty more!

Please consider making my entire life by reading and reacting to my fic. It's my life!

Can be found here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13829833/1/Supernatural-Dark-Rapture

[supertransural]

Beyond the Mat, sort of meta?

Ok so for some personal context, I’ve been rewatching all of Supernatural and i have the firm intention to keep the show on repeat on my computer/tv until i’ve fully binged it 15 times (never fear, I am already perfectly aware of how bad a decision this is). I wrote this post with a frantic need to get all the thoughts out, but it happened to be 3am at the time, and I realized I had to make gifs and upload them which was obviously too much work for a sleep deprived brain. I put it off until the next day, but ended up procrastinating and now it's been sitting in my drafts for 3 months and I thought hey this is a good time to finish it up (it could be argued that i'm polishing up this thing at 5am and this doesn't seem to be an issue for my will to get this done this time around, although I am heavily caffeinated so maybe that has something to do with it, go figure).

Anyways that’s besides the point. At the time I had just gotten to 11x15, Beyond the Mat. I’ve seen people write a lot about how parallels between Sam and Dean’s love lives/interests are part of the subtext about Dean’s bisexuality. I’ve also read people's works about how Gunner is pretty obviously one of Dean’s youth celebrity crushes. But (and I might just be a bit blind or haven’t looked hard enough) I haven’t seen a lot about the parallel between Sam/Rio and Dean/Gunner.

So let's get down to business, shall we?

The scene I will be focusing on starts out with Dean utterly star struck, sort of mumbling awkwardly his reasoning for coming up to Gunner (x) (x). Interestingly enough, Sam does the exact same thing with Rio (x) (x), while Dean is in the other corner clasping Gunner's hand for way too long and way too tight, and giving him the “i’ve loved you ever since i met you” look (x) (x).

Now since Sam’s crush is strictly heterosexual and we all know Sam’s interest in women, he outright says it to Rio (this is, after all, the CW) (x) (x). Dean on the other hand doesn’t verbalize it in so many words (the CW), but cmon... That fluster when Gunner winks at him later on?? (x) (let's not forget the little leg pat (x) that is probably still etched in Dean's memory amongst the 20 best things that ever happened to him, behind the previously-mentioned-wink and the Cartwright Twins) Or his reaction to Gunner patting his arm, "ok ok don't panic, it's not like your childhood crush just touched you oh wait". And Literally His Unwavering Smile The Whole Way Through. Jacting choices, people, Jacting choices (x).

Sam saves himself by steering the conversation towards a type of "where are they now?" interview, and Rio follows his not-so-subtle attempt, with a heavily implied tint of nostalgia for the good old days (x). Dean pulls a very similar stunt, mentioning something about his and Gunner's past (x) (x). Rio and Gunner's faces in those clips resemble each other quite a great deal: the emotion is the same, regret.

I really love that parallel because it’s really just “in your face”. You see Dean getting all flustered, at that point you could still say “hey i love [insert celebrity] and i don’t have a crush on them, but i’d probably still react that way around them”. (First of all, if I were you, I'd go on a journey of soul searching because hello, it’s ok to have crushes on celebrities you wish you didn’t, we’ve all been 12 and we’ve all seen Twilight and we’re all ashamed, and second of all, would you really and I mean really react that same way?) But then, enters Sam and his old crush, from the same field, basically the same time period, the same place and roughly the same "community". And it’s an unapologetic crush, not just a “hhhahaha i loved your uh.... your work.... as a uh kid haha.....”. Nonono. He says it, he tells her that he “used” (i’m not sure it’s completely gone, just like Dean) to have a crush on her. And then boom, parallel.

The way the two interact with both “celebrities” isn’t that different, if anything, Sam is less awkward around Rio than Dean is with Gunner. I’m betting the reason why is that since Sam’s crush is a woman, he has 1: talked about it openly before with his family (a poster of your crush on your wall is a good way to do that) and 2: talked to other crushes like her before. Dean, for obvious reasons, has not. Not a man, maybe some girlfriends, but he was never open (specifically not to John) about a potential crush he had on the big wrestler man in the ring, because he’s supposed to be this manly manly ladies man. He’s much more awkward because he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to talk to his crushes that might have been men, so the entire ordeal is wayyy more foreign to him. And he was also just a fan, so the whole “oh my god oh my god” of the crush is added to the already existing “oh my god oh my god” of his inner (and outer let's not kid ourselves) fanboy self.

Dean’s reaction is incidentally very similar to the one he has in the Fat Spa in 9x13, The Purge, with the character called Larry, Maritza’s husband. Dean’s awkward, goes too far, slightly flustered, and he’s pretty clearly not thrown off because of Maritza in that interview room, his gaze is mostly going from Sam to Larry then back to Sam. He lightly brushes over Maritza but barely looks at her (x) (x).

I’d also like to point out that when Gunner enters the stage, there’s a hint at a bi flag created by the light show, blink and you'll miss it (x). But then again that could just be the fact that those lights look pretty together and I'm completely insane. I’m not going to push that one too far, but since Gunner winks at Dean after that, which as I said before, makes Dean look adorably happy and flustered..... Take that as you will.

There's a thousand other scenes relevant to Dean being very blatantly bi-coded in Beyond the Mat (seriously, it's almost as obvious as the siren episode) but I really just wanted to focus on the parallel this time. I might go even more in depth on that episode (or do it bit by bit) if I ever find the will to make more gifs and string intelligible words together to create coherent sentences, and give off the impression of a sane mind. Might even throw in some The Purge meta for fun. Yes my definition of fun is quite warped.

[lifeisdabubbles-undersalmondean]

La Pomme ~ Chapter Eight

Pairing: Sam x OC (eventual Dean x OC and Dean x Castiel. And I mean eventual.)

Series summary: George is a casual French-Mistake-universe Supernatural fan living in no-COVID 2020, who's life is upended when she's suddenly launched between realities, two years into the boys' past (S13E22). What begins as an insane, immersive fan experience turns into more when Jack goes missing and George offers up her AU information to help track him down. Soon it's discovered that she and Sam may actually have history. But that's impossible, right?

Word Count: 3,900

Warnings: {smut, fluff, angst, show level violence, swearing, mentions of suicide} ***Detailed warnings will be tagged for specific chapters.

A/N: Following the events of my prequel Paradise and second story From My Eyes Off. Reading those first gives context but isn’t necessary to start this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Collapsing into one of the comfier library chairs set between some stacks, George took a sip of the small glass of whiskey she figured she'd earned. She'd just scolded a fucking demon from hell. What was she thinking?! It had been pretty cool, but pissing off an evil, powerful being was maybe not the smartest. She could have gotten herself killed!

It had been unavoidable though; upon realizing that Demon Tim must have been the reason they suspected her of being involved in Jack's disappearance, she had been furious. Not only was it not true, it was insulting, humiliating, and just plain rude. It was also simply a bad plan. So, she took it upon herself to enlighten him and to correct his offensive insinuations. Hopefully, it wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass.

Her focus shifted then to Jack. Reflecting over her time there, there were things she remembered having happened on the show. The refugees in the bunker, AU Michael attacking, Jack losing his powers, Lucifer dude being just a regular human dude now; all of it was familiar, even when it terrified her (see: AU Michael attack). But, when they told her Jack was missing, she was thrown off at first. It wasn't something she remembered seeing on the show. Then again, she'd only just finished binging from season 10 to the end of 13 a couple weeks ago and hadn't started 14 yet. So, maybe she was past the point of being able to tell when things were part of their prescribed timeline or not? Therefore, even if Jack had been kidnapped on the show, she wouldn't have any info for them, right?

The problem was, the more she thought about it the more she began to believe she had seen something about this storyline. Jack being missing, the three of them going to save him-

Was it Ryan telling you about some episode where they rescued Jack in the redwoods? They had filmed it on location at some tourist spot you went to as a kid all the time and she thought you'd think it was cool… where was that?

She couldn't remember, and it frustrated her. She was also worried that she was making this all up just to be helpful.

Taking another sip, she allowed her thoughts to wander between episode scenes like an internal microfiche as she tried to nail down her recollection, No, I can definitely picture all four of them in the woods and fighting. Someone had kidnapped Jack, wanting his powers for something… was it the angels?

"Well, that was interesting," Dean stated, startling her out of her thoughts. The three of them were walking into the library a surprisingly short while after she left them with Tim.

Looking up at them, she set the glass down on a nearby shelf and stood up. Dean didn't elaborate further while he poured his own glass. The expressions each one wore were indiscernible and she grew nervous.

"Oh?" George raised a brow and looked between them, "Did he talk? Because you know, I've actually been sitting here thinking about this whole situation and something about Jack going missing is very familiar. Now, unfortunately, I am a few seasons behind, and-""

Dean took a sip, looking at her with curious amusement, and interrupted, "I was talking about you."

George looked surprised and then grimaced, "No, no. I'm not interesting, not at all. I'm the exact opposite of interesting. I'm-I'm… I'm…"

"Uninteresting?" Castiel offered helpfully as she struggled to find the words. Sam and Dean rolled their eyes in unison.

"Right! Thank you, Castiel. I'm highly uninteresting." She gulped a bit and wrung her hands as the three of them kept watching her. In the silence, she nervously looked in Castiels direction and blurted quickly, "I'm also George! Hi! Really nice to meet you! Big fan!"

"Nice to meet you," Castiel smiled awkwardly and nodded a greeting, looking at the other two with a confused expression, "...fan of what?"

"Right, positively boring," Sam interjected sarcastically before he could stop himself. He definitely thought she was interesting. First she's just a beautiful woman, then she's a beautiful woman he may or may not have had a life altering dream about ten years ago, and now she was a beautiful woman from an alternate reality where his life was a prime time television show… who he may or may not have had a life altering dream about ten years ago. 'Uninteresting' was definitely not an adjective he'd use for her.

Dean snorted, "Yea, boring is the last word I would use to describe that scene earlier. You caused Tim to sing like a canary, by the way."

Her jaw dropped in disbelief, "Say what?"

"I almost say we hire her to be our monster torture hypeman," He joked, looking at Sam with a raised eyebrow.

Sam ignored him and addressed Geroge's question, "After you left, Tim-"

"Cleetus," Dean interjected sarcastically.

"Cleetus… well, he sort of... started crying? He said he'd tell us everything we wanted to know if we promised to keep you away from him." Sam looked strangely apologetic and she let a few nervous chuckles escape, unsure whether to believe what they were saying.

"We think you hurt his feelings," Castiel explained further. "Which fortunately seemed to motivate him to talk, so thank you."

"I guess his demon mommy didn't teach him about sticks and stones," Dean cracked, taking another swig.

"Huh. OK. Neat!" George didn't know what to say; she was confused and strangely proud of herself. But she didn't want them to think she wasn't chill, so she shrugged nonchalantly, "You're welcome, I guess. Anyway, as I was saying, I'm not caught up to the current season of my timeline but I think I remember this whole Jack-gone-missing thing a little bit. I want to say you all track him down somewhere in… Oregon? Washington? I'm getting a Northwest-ish feeling." She began unconsciously pacing around the room, gesturing energetically with her hands. "I can picture a battle taking place in the woods...Jack being in danger, you all being in danger, too...some fighting...maybe someone losing the fight? Or getting really hurt," She glanced worriedly at Castiel. He'd be the only actor they'd axe of the three of them, so it stood to reason he'd be the most likely to die if she was right.

Dean and Sam shared a look before Dean asked, "Fine, I'll bite. Do you know a city? A time-frame? Who we're fighting? Anything specific?"

George paused and then slumped a bit in defeat, "No. I've only really watched up through, like, literally now. Other than random things I've heard or seen in passing, I don't know anything that's happened since ya'll got back from the apocalypse world. Been purposefully trying to avoid spoilers, too, which is a decision I now regret, obviously."

"OK, well look, sweetheart, it's OK," Dean began, in an embarrassingly condescending, douchey tone, "We don't expect you to help us. I mean, we're grateful about the assist with Cleetus, obviously but this-" Dean vaguely motioned in her direction and she raised an offended eyebrow, "-was obviously just a weird magical mess that Rowena left for us to clean up yet again. So, you just sit back and relax, and once we find Jack we'll figure out how to get you back home in a jiff, OK?" He winked and finger gunned at her, adding, "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." In his way, Dean was trying to convey to her a sense of ease and comfort that they would take care of things. But, unsurprisingly, he came off incredibly dismissive and patronizing. Her cheeks flushed an angry red; she'd had it up to here with him by now.

Sam and Castiel exchanged nervous glances at the look on her face and Sam tried to stop it before the inevitable happened, "Uh, Dean, mayb-"

Cutting him off, George slowly walked toward Dean, eyes blazing, "Listen sweet cheeks." She had a polite smile on her face as she tried her hardest to muster up the same condescending, silky, sweet Dean-tone, "I'm sympathetic to the fact that you can't help but be an insufferably arrogant ass most of the time-that's just how you were written," for a split second she saw Dean's cool-guy-smug-face falter and she relished it. She could tell she landed a blow, even if it was a small one, "but maybe you could do us all a favor and try to ignore your cro-magnon dated natural urges and attempt to be open minded for once in your life? Just try to consider the fact that, like it or not, I might not be a total useless red-shirt? That maybe I-once again the lone female in the entire world according to Supernatural-might actually be useful? Hmm? Might actually have useful-albeit vague-information for you? Or would taking your lead from a woman be too threatening to you overbearing, uber-macho, 'we-get-it-you're-totally-straight' masculinity?"

Dean's head jerked back in offense, "Now, wait a minute! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," She mocked him in a deep, goofy tone, high-fiving herself internally. Nailed it! She'd always hated how damn smug his character was. Yes, fine, he was hot and charming and smart as fuck and right at least like 75% of the time, but he didn't have to be so fucking arrogant about it all the time. She preferred a man with some humility.

Sam was smirking at the look on Dean's face and muttered teasingly, "How does it feel, Cleetus?"

"Except, you actually don't." Cas interjected begrudgingly, as he thoroughly enjoyed watching Dean get verbally bitch-slapped. In fact, he could watch it all day, but they needed to focus on Jack.

"Scuse me?" She said, maintaining her sweet tone while staring daggers at Dean. "Don't what?"

"Have useful information for us," the angel said begrudgingly matter-of-fact.

"Er," Sam interjected seeing the look on her face, "Uh, well, it's just according to Tim-Cleetus-whatever, Jack is being held captive inside an old church in a small ghost town outside Butte."

Dean slapped his hands over his mouth in mock surprise and then, taking a few steps toward George, he mimed a balloon being popped by an impractically large needle. He had an impossibly large grin spread across his face.

"She still has a point, Dean," Sam sighed in an annoyed, if not slightly embarrassed, tone at his brother's display.

Cas nodded in agreement, "Yes, you were incredibly condescending and unfriendly in your attempt at being friendly earlier. Even though she's wrong about Jack, she's right about your inability to relinquish control-to anyone, though, not specifically women."

"You all suck." Dean said flatly.

George ignored him and shook her head. She was more and more sure about her information by the second; despite her doubts she could feel she was right. "Listen, I'm telling you, Jack is not in some bullshit church in Montana. He's…" She struggled to remember. "Erg, somewhere rainy and wooded!"

"Rainy and wooded, you say?" She cringed angrily at the sound of Dean's voice. "That's really great, very helpful. Say, maybe we should look up your little murder buddy-OwnsHisOwnAxe69, was it?-and ask if he's got Jack stashed in the Marin Headlands?" Dean's voice dripped with sarcasm.

George shook her head at him and closed her eyes tight in an effort to block out his negativity. Walking slowly away from him and into the map room, she started talking to herself, in a pointedly loud voice. Her focus bounced between episodes from the show and conversations with her friend, Ryan, a Supernatural Encyclopedia. She was hoping she could piece together something useful.

"OK, hang on, Jack is born, gets sucked into Apocalypse World, comes back, has his grace stolen but he's safely with you guys, he's happy, he's great-albeit, moody and not the best at video games. Then he disappears and you can't find him, yadda yadda."

While she rambled, her mind's eye began conjuring images of what she assumed were scenes from the episode she was trying to think of. While helpful, it was also disconcerting since she'd never actually seen it. She thought perhaps she'd seen clips on youtube while watching bloopers? She never could stay away from them, even if she hadn't seen the episode yet; they were just too funny. Maybe her overactive imagination was just creating scenes around what little knowledge she did have, "...and there's an epic-potentially deadly-fight scene at the end of one of the last episodes of the season. An episode that was, oh so noteworthily filmed on location iiiiinnn…" She tried to demand that her memories behave for her but it was challenging, considering she shouldn't have any memories of having watched the damn thing at all. "...where? Fuck me!" She snarled, chasing desperately after her murky visions as they swirled too abstractly for her to discern.

In a sudden moment of unusual clarity she could see the words displayed behind her eyelids. '...False Klamath? Where the fuck… why does that sound familiar? She flashed to the location in her memories and saw big wooden statues towering outside the scenic little tourist trap

Her eyes popped open with a gasp, "Johnny Appleseed!"

"Johnny Appleseed?" Dean teased, mock exasperatedly, "We're trying to find JACK."

"The Johnny Appleseed statue at The Trees of Enigma! Just outside False Klamath, Oregon!" She slammed both her hands down on the table in front of her in uncontrollably jubilant victory. "HA! Take THAT!" She jumped up excitedly and punched her fist in the air. "I did it! I remembered!"

"Sam, can you translate any of this?" Dean asked, annoyed.

"On the show," She started smugly, before Sam could say anything, "the battle that you two get into when you find Jack, takes place at a tourist spot called The Trees of Enigma. The episode was filmed on location at said tourist spot, in-say it with me now-False Klamath, Oregon. Oregon, Dean. A place that is known for being both rainy and wooded." Her finger was placed on the map table in the general area of Oregon, "that's where you'll find Jack. I'm sure of it." Her adrenaline was pumping and she was so stoked. It felt really good to be useful; like she was part of the show!

"Yea, that's great, sounds fun," Dean started dismissively, though toned down a bit, "but we're not risking Jack's life to follow your hunch."

"Excuse me. Why is my so-called hunch less believable than a demon's word? Especially a demon named Cleetus. Rude," George looked particularly offended now.

"Tim gave us real, solid intel and we've never had a problem when we've relied on our trusted resources in the past," He answered confidently. George's head jerked toward him like she hadn't heard correctly and she gave Sam and Castiel some crazy eyebrows.

"Sorry, you understand that I do watch the show, right?" She asked rhetorically, with a doubtful expression. When he rolled his eyes, she let out a frustrated huff. "Dean, think about this! He's a demon! He lies! Look, I know you have no reason in the world to trust me but you've got to; just think about it. Even IF it is demons that have Jack, don't you think it's possible that the prisoner demon you're threatening to torture might give you a false lead? Especially if he's naive enough to think he'll be able to escape and doesn't want to get in trouble with his bosses? C'mon, this is not-the-sharpest-tack-Tim we're talking about!"

Sam and Castiel had agreeably expressions but Dean's was stubbornly disagreeable, though she could tell he knew she was right. The thought of them going to Montana gave her a dreadful, suffocating feeling, like death.

So, she tried one more tactic and held her hands up in prayer, "Dean please, I don't know what and I don't know how I know, but I know in my gut that if you go to Montana, something terrible will happen. And Jack's not there, I promise you." She dropped all the bullshit and gave him her best seriously-just-listen-to-me face but Dean still wasn't budging.

"Christ, I knew you were stubborn but this is ridiculous, ugh. OK, fine!" She threw her hands up and turned on her heel, heading toward the dungeon.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sam asked quickly.

"Obviously I didn't hurt his feelings badly enough the first time, so I'm going to go have another chat with Cleetus and get him to admit that he's a liar, liar, pant-"

"Er-you... can't do that," Sam cut her off apologetically.

"Sam, he's handcuffed to a chair. I appreciate the concern but-"

"He means you really can't," Dean added. George looked toward him annoyed and Dean continued, "After he gave us everything we needed we pretty much, chk," he finished, slicing a finger across his throat in demonstration. When she looked like she wanted to strangle him, he shrugged and offered, "RIP Cleetus."

George rolled her eyes in exasperation, "But he was lying! Don't you confirm the information before you cut off the source?! Oh my god, why am I even asking? You're the Winchesters, of course you don't." The three of men looked between each other guiltily and she placed her hand on her hip, "What if that was just an act and Tim saw an opportunity. Feeding you some bullshit so that you couldn't actually find Jack? Or, maybe Tim has nothing to do with Jack at all, and sending you to Montana is just a good old fashioned ambush?!" She paused for a moment and gave a surprised, appreciative nod, "Hmm, maybe I underestimated ole' Cleetus a bit. Could have been smarter than I thought."

"She does have a point, Dean. The chances that he was lying are incredibly high," Cas conceded slightly, giving Dean a questioning look. "We have no proof that his lead is any better than hers. Demon's lie."

"Damnit, alright, fine," Dean said, sighing angrily. "Sam and I will go to Oregon to look for Jack; Cas, check out Butte-carefully, strictly recon, do not engage-and call us if you find any trace of him." He shot a quick warning look at George. "We'll turn around and come right to you. Sound like a plan? Great, let's go."

"Wait, no! Don't send him to Butte! Didn't you hear me? If it's an ambush, he'll get his ass kicked!"

"Hey." Cas looked hurt and George softened her face at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry Castiel. You're a total badass when the plot calls for it, otherwise, getting beat up is just kind of your MO." Ignoring the confused look on the angel's face, She turned back to Dean, "and besides you need Castiel in Oregon, Dean. I've seen it!"

"Oh? I thought you hadn't 'seen this episode yet'?" Dean said sarcastically.

"I-I… Well, OK, I haven't, but I've seen the three of you and Jack all together for this fight. Just trust me, you need him there. What if Jack is hurt when you find him? Cas can heal him, right?" She made a questioning face to Castiel; at the moment she couldn't remember the extent of his powers on the show and he was always losing one or another for whatever reason, anyway. But if she was right, she figured that even if Dean wouldn't trust her gut, he might trust that having a healing angel on their journey would be a benefit. "Is that a power you have? I feel like I've seen you do that."

"She's right, Dean. I can heal him if we find him injured," Cas offered her helpfully and she shot him a grateful expression, actually looking him in the eyes for the first time, albeit fleetingly.

"Have you seen Jack get hurt?" Sam asked her, trying to help, too. He remained a neutral party at this point, but if he was honest with himself, he believed her. Maybe a little too much, which is why he was trying to stay impartial. If he was being blinded by his confusing memories and the undeniable-yet-currently-being-denied feelings he was developing for her and ended up wrong, Jack could be killed.

"Uh… I mean, no… not definitively, but it's pretty standard for the show. You're all constantly getting hurt during fights and when it's close to a season finale the danger factor is skyhigh for anyone who isn't you two…" After motioning to the brothers, she trailed off, afraid that this reasoning was going to hurt her more than help her.

Sam gave her a long, contemplative look before finally offering, "I can have a small team go check out Butte. Maybe Garth can join? Last time I talked to him he was near there."

Dean's teeth and fists were clenched as he took a deep, exaggerated breath, "Fine. We'll send a group to Butte and call Garth from the road-No arguments!" He held up his hand to her as she opened her mouth to speak. "The three of us are going to Oregon, just as you demand, but I'm not leaving anything to chance on some alien's hunch. Garth can handle himself."

She made an indignant face at him-she wasn't an alien, she was from an alternate reality! Get it right. But, while she was afraid of someone getting hurt in the obvious trap that had been set for them in Montana, the thought of Garth going instead didn't give her the same full-body fear shudder. So, she figured she'd take what she could get and not push the issue further. Besides, she knew Dean wasn't going to be happy about her next move and she had to pick her battles.

[dramas-vs-novels]

Hello. You said before that you wrote a supernatural fanfic that you lost? I was just wondering if you could say what it was about (if you want to, I don't want to be a bother)? I read some of your other fics and while I don't understand a lot because I'm not in those fandoms I feel like you would have a better end of Supernatural than whatever that was we just got (If you've heard about that). Sorry for long ask, thank you if you answer or if you don't!

Oh, I’ve heard about it, LMAO! 

I used to be deep in the SPN fandom on tumblr. Went to a con, met Jared, Jensen, Misha, Jim (got a photo with all 4 of them!), Kim, Rachel, Richard, Matt, and even met Genevieve in passing! Oh, and the guy who played Dick the Leviathan. I totally blank on his name. I think I bailed around season... 8 or 9? 

Kind of rage-quit after they killed off Kevin. At that point they’d just done too much of that crap in a single season and it was pretty obvious they’d lost any semblance of care for the writing, so I bailed.

I’m fine talking about the plot of my fic. When I’d had time to process the shock of losing more than 200 pages of writing *sobs* I posted a summary of how it was supposed to go for my readers. When I do that it’s my way of saying “I quit forever”.

I’ll put the main answer below the cut, since it’ll probably end up being long. My fic was in the form of an entire season of SPN, one 45-47 page chapter per “episode”, so it’s a bit to summarize...

The story took place at some indeterminate point after Season 6. It was written to be independent of the Leviathan Storyline, but really could fit in just about anywhere. I think I’d used details from the season where Sam Carter from SG1/SGA was an evil angel lady, but also it was heavily anchored in Seasons 1-6.

It started with mass destruction in this one town. In the middle of the crater something ragged and uncontrolled and evil appeared. Seriously- destruction was the core of it all. Pure, raw, uncontained power lashing out at everything.

And then the creature at the center of the swarm starts to walk away, leaving a path of destruction behind it.

After a chapter or two of monster-of-the-week type stuff, Sam and Dean started hearing whispers of this thing. Like it was circling them. Through Cas they find out that Heaven is on edge- something has escaped from the deepest, darkest corners of Heaven’s Prison (Dean makes a comment about how hell is supposed to be heaven’s prison, but Cas explains that there are some things too horrible to be sent to hell, away from the watchful guard of angels).

My favorite chapter of anything I’ve ever written opened with people shopping in a store in some small town, kind of a boutique store, and there is a sudden violent quake, everything goes pitch black, then kind of orange. They hear strange noises and long story short Hell is basically growing unstable, collapsing on itself, and this store just randomly fell into Hell. With all the dicking around on the surface with the apocalypse and Leviathans and whatever the fuck else, reality is essentially collapsing in on itself. Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and the mortal world are all colliding.

Sam and Dean are trying to figure out why this store just kind of vanished (the authorities say sinkhole but it’s basically a crater where this thing once stood) when Sam collapses.

Dean gets him to the hospital and is suddenly dizzy. He turns and finds himself trapped in his own mind, where the thing circling them appears. It needs something from Hell, Dean needs to save the humans, and neither can complete their goal without the other.

The woman (it is all in black and appears to have no face, but speaks with a female voice) has ripped a piece of Sam’s soul away. He is trapped in horrific agony and the woman will leave him there forever if Dean doesn’t help her.

She manages to open a path between this world and hell and Dean goes back to hell with her.

When they return (somewhat victorious but it’s very gory and a lot of people died), Dean has no idea what it is she’s taken. But also where there was once swirling black mist under the hood of her cloak, there is a face rotted, ripped, and destroyed.

Adventures, Adventures, Adventures

The boys cross paths with the woman again. She’s stronger now and her face is looking more human-esque. Castiel is also extremely agitated as he learns about this woman and all he’ll tell Dean is that he needs to kill her on sight. Castiel gives Dean one of the angelic blades for protection (Cas was with them for a lot of the story but I can’t remember what I had him doing). 

Dean comes across this thing again, it is standing over Sam as he screams and writhes and so he stabs it with the angelic blade- the thing that should kill anything.

It doesn’t do shit.

Adventure, drama and whatnot later (around what would be episode 19) the story comes out in fits and bursts:

Once upon a time, in the 1600s, Zachariah decided to make an apocalyptic safety net. He manipulated events to bring together a Campbell and Winchester line (implied Sam and Dean are descended from siblings of these two). The couple had two children- Elizabeth (older) and Matthew (younger).

Two powerful demon hunting families were outcasts in their village. They were forced to live far from the main settlement, and one day the villagers went all witch-hunt-ie and burned the parents alive. Elizabeth and Matthew (only a small child) were left alone.

One winter, as Matthew was dying and Elizabeth- barely alive herself- was hunting in the forest, she came across a young native American man. It was love at first sight. She collapses and he follows her tracks to carry her back to her hovel. When she comes to he’s built a fire, prepared some food (Elizabeth was a shit hunter, couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn from 3 feet away), and has also given Matthew some herbs that help break his fever.

Elizabeth and the young man (I can’t remember what name i gave him) fell deeper in love over that winter. But right when she starts to think things are getting better, the villagers are incensed. They attack, and make Elizabeth watch as they burn Matthew and her love. At this point Matthew is like 6, so, you know, truamatic.

Elizabeth is deemed a feeble-minded woman and kind of thrown aside. That night she goes on a rampage and murders a lot of the villagers in their beds before they catch her and hang her.

But that wasn’t the end of Elizabeth Winchester’s story. It was the beginning.

Elizabeth was a safety net for the apocalypse. Her soul should have gone to Hell for what she did, but instead Zachariah dragged her up into Heaven’s Prison. There, Zachariah tortured Elizabeth for 400 years (which is idk in heaven-time, there is a whole segment of the fandom who analyzes the time in heaven/hell vs on earth).

She became, essentially, a demon made by Heaven itself. They were trying to get her to say ‘yes’ to Michael. That way, if Dean proved to be a turd (spoiler alert: the biggest turd), heaven could resurrect Elizabeth and Michael has a backup. One of the main tortures Zachariah employed was literally strapping angelic grace to her. Demons on Earth are burned up when they catch a glimpse of Grace, but in Heaven she couldn’t even die, so it both drove her overwhelmingly insane and also made her incredibly powerful.

After Zachariah’s death she was forgotten, and left in her cage with that grace burning her soul for years.

Bobby, Jo, Ellen, etc. canonically wander through heaven at-will, evading angels when needed. They were the ones who found their way into the prison and brought her out, but too quickly lost control of her and she returned to the world of the living herself.

A demon with the grace of an archangel.

Bobby, Jo, Ellen, etc. made a pact with her- they let her go, she enters the Cage and destroys both Lucifer AND Michael.

What appeared to be Elizabeth torturing Sam (it kinda was- she’s half demon remember) was also a sort of act of kindness. Sam’s soul was still lashed to The Cage. It was covered in the markings of that place, and when he died it would suck his soul back in. Elizabeth was removing those marks- essentially skinning Sam’s soul and applying those pieces to herself to give her access to the Cage. Taking Dean with her to Hell was also so she could get something that would help her in the Cage.

As they are preparing for her to rip apart the rest of the marks on Sam’s soul (which may kill him), Heaven is trying to intervene to stop her (because Team Michael and they want the apocalypse back on track). They send an archangel to stop her--

The young man she’d fallen in love with back when she was human.

It turns out the man was an angel all along- he played her and arranged his own horrible end (and that of her brother) to push her over the edge. They needed a pure soul with a bit of demonic power to maybe give Elizabeth an edge as a vessel for Michael.

She rips the grace out of the angel. Zachariah’s torture- constantly strapping her to a grace and ripping it away taught her how. It is the most agonizing and horrific end to an angel possible, her act of vengeance.

Eventually Elizabeth would make it to Hell, rip Michael’s grace from Adam, and the Cage would seal behind her after she sent Adam back up. There was going to be a sequel (second season) in which Elizabeth returns.

Her relationship with Sam and Dean in “season 1″ was very contentious and kind of frenemy-esque (think Meg at times). “Season 2″ was going to be more about her just not knowing what to do now. She can’t trust heaven or hell, so she kind of ends up lost and following the Winchesters on their hunts without them noticing her at first or being able to speak to her (like she only shows up sometimes and then vanishes again).

“Season 2″ wasn’t really planned out, but by the end of it they’d have found out Chuck was God. As a sort of apology/ way to get them to stop constantly resurrecting people in the goddamn show/ reward Elizabeth’s soul was “healed” of it’s demonic edge, the Grace would fully anchor (making her an archangel), and she would be given a new realm of death to rule over- one for hunters or supernatural creatures who had been resurrected or in some way used by Heaven or Hell to spend their afterlife at peace.

No chance of resurrection, no matter the spell, and no interference even by other archangels. The hunters dicking around with the paths through heaven would be sent there too (for their protection, the angels in heaven were starting to hunt them in return).

I feel like I’m missing details, I somewhat repress my memories of this fic because losing it was that traumatic, but yeah. That was the general thrust of it.

[awed-frog]

Hi! I've just read your meta masterlist written for someone who wanted to convince their friends that deancas is real. First of all - thank you, what a treat to have it all in one place. The best Matrix red pill of them all. Second of all - "the entire S8, which was basically a demented Jane Eyre AU" - could you elaborate on that? I'm mighty interested.

Hi! Thanks for that - uhm - it’s missing a lot of stuff, though. I’m sure there are better masterposts out there, and I actually looked for them, but all I could find was fanfiction stuff.

As for the Jane Eyre thing - I should say I’m a fan of the Brontë sisters, so it wasn’t supposed to be an insult or anything, but it’s hard to deny that those kind of novels (particularly Wuthering Heights) are over the top and überdramatic and there’s almost an unhealthy focus on love and falling in love and what happens if you lose that and how your life can never be complete without that one person who means everything, and if that person is your foaming-at-the-mouth insane half-brother, so be it. And the thing is, Supernatural seasons often hinge around powerful and borderline soap-operish themes (the whole ‘almost orphans desperately looking for their father while killing things’ was very Dickens, in a way - if Dickens had been high on opium and cocaine and stuff, that is), but S8 really went above and beyond. I mean, even without the big love story for the fucking ages supporting the entire narrative arc, it was full of OMG and oh no! moments - 

Sam is all alone in the world and may have found love but oh no! his brother’s back from the dead and super pissed and oh no! the woman he probably loves is actually not a widow and OMG what next?

Hunter Dean found himself a new best friend but oh no! he’s a vampire drawn to human blood but OMG he’s promised to abstain forever and fight his own instincts every day for eternity but oh no! what happens if he can’t?

There is a way to banish all demons from the Earth but oh no! it’s a magic spell that requires a human sacrifice and oh no! Sam actually wants to do that and is it guilt or depression or martyrdom or OMG is he simply that heroic??!?

- so much Gothic extravaganza, the list could go on and on. But, as I said, at the heart of it all are Dean and Cas, and what’s going on with them is so sappy and romantic even Charlotte Brontê would have edited some stuff out.

Like, I don’t even know where to start. 

At the beginning of the season, Dean is precipitated in a world of darkness and monsters. He fights his way out for an entire year, and during that time he prays to Cas every night - Dean, who normally doesn’t pray at all. We know he’s tortured and desperate, because part of him believes Cas is dead (because Cas always comes when Dean calls, right?) and all of him knows it’s his own fault, because he forced Cas to fight even if Cas wasn’t in his right mind and Jesus, ALL the regrets and ALL the guilt. Then he finally finds Cas, who first refuses his manly and chaste affection and then pushes Dean to safety and chooses to die in that hellhole. This is so incredibly traumatic that Dean erases that entire memory as he makes his way into the real world (and, remember, we’re talking about Dean ‘I remember what was done to me in Hell’ Winchester here - I guess losing Cas was more painful than that?), which is just as lonely and brutal and hostile as the one he left behind (cue all the drama about Sam and Benny and Crowley killing everyone he can get his hands on). As he fights on, Dean starts to see Cas’ ghost everywhere, which is, like, standard behaviour for a Romantic hero or heroine but also legit what happens to you when your brain suffers such a heavy loss it can’t cope (if you’re not reading this alone at night, I recommend you check out this article about Japanese cab drivers picking up ghost passengers after the tsunami, and this BBC radio program explaining why it happens). This is obviously distressing for Dean, but then, as he’s fast approaching his breaking point, Cas actually shows up in person - he cannot explain how he found Dean, since Dean still has the anti-angel tattoo on his ribs, but wait - we know Cas can sense longing, right? so that’s why and if that isn’t the most tragic, romantic thing you’ve ever heard, get out. But there’s worse to come. Before that, though, we’re treated to a brief comedic interlude featuring the sappiest love trope ever - ‘all grown up’ - as Cas retires to the bathroom (and why) to clean up and reappears all handsome and clean-shaven, causing Dean an erection and much embarrassment.

(I still can’t believe that is a thing that actually happened, by the way.) 

Next, of course, there’s the whole ‘Cas has been trained and programmed to kill Dean against his will and beats him up in a darkened crypt and nothing can happen now everyone is doomed doomed doomed but wait I NEED YOU and BAM, suddenly the mind control is gone and even someone with the whole of Heaven’s power behind her can’t come between Cas and Dean and Cas will never hurt Dean and what the fuck is even happening?’ episode, which, again, how was that an actual thing? Sometimes I think we were all high during that season and we had a collective hallucination or something. And next there is all the ‘You didn’t trust me? You didn’t trust me, I almost died to get you out, I would have died, I did not leave you’ drama as Dean finally remembers what happened (he doesn’t, by the way: Cas heals his brain, and those memories come back), and meanwhile in the background there’s more over the top and dramatic stuff going down - Sam being weird and volunteering to die and Benny also volunteering to die and Dean can’t save anyone and can’t do anything and now BAM, turns out Cas is also dying, or leaving forever, anyway, and there was so much unsaid stuff between them I remember fainting and melting into my couch during various episodes and thank God for smelling salts. And after all this torture and torment and ALL the love and ALL the pain, the very last episode was the worst of the worst - Dean must basically say goodbye to the only people he cares about and would do anything to spare, because both of them are dying, and it’s a sort of Sophie’s choice too because Cas is gone and Dean doesn’t have time to focus on that because SAMMY and at the end we’re left with him half supporting his brother’s weight as they look up at a sky full of falling angels (and is Cas one of them or did they kill him already and aaaaargh).

So, look - I’m even leaving out stuff, and it’s still almost unbearably sugary and tragic - it’s not like they haven’t had other weird moments between them, but this season alone is more romantic than, say, the entirety of Jane the Virgin, who’s supposed to be about romance, or even Grey’s fucking Anatomy, where, sure, you get those random episodes where a train explodes and people are stuck all over the city and you can’t save all of them and surprise! you’re probably dying yourself BUT you also get some time to breathe in between and episodes where almost no one’s fighting and people are having sex and how come they never sleep, seriously? And what I just can’t believe is that we’re the only ones to have both sides here - Dean still doesn’t know about the thousand Deans Cas was forced to kill, or about those convoluted reasons Metatron had for cutting out Cas’ Grace, specifically, and Cas doesn’t understand how close Dean came to tell him those three stupid words which would have solved and changed everything, and he doesn’t get why Dean was hurt by his choice to remain in Purgatory, and how much, and he must ignore or disregard, by now, those random spikes in Dean’s arousals, because he assumes that’s what humans do or whatever and he probably never realized he should have hugged Dean back that time on the river bank, and what it meant to Dean that he didn’t. See? Tragedy and misunderstanding and Dean being an actual Gothic heroine and Cas being all Rochester-y about things (early Rochester, I mean, the one who was determined to be a martyr and could not believe someone as smart as Jane would ever find his old ass interesting in any way).

I know we always say it, but that’s honestly how I feel all the time - I don’t know what the hell they’re thinking here, because you cannot write a story like this, you cannot insert all these tropes and bend and twist and narrative so stuff will only work with the foundation of a Great Love, and not see it. You physically cannot, especially if you’re a trained screenwriter and this is literally your job. So they do see it, and what? I don’t mind the UST and the pain and the slow-burn (much), but I still wish they would make it clear that this is indeed where they’re going, because they can’t keep writing this shit and pretending they aren’t. It’s - if someone had written S8 as a Destiel - canon divergent after S7 fic on AO3, I’m not sure I would have read it. So gay that it’s almost OOC, I would have thought, and there’s not even the comfort of some smut - it’s all angst, all the way, and come on - even this show is not that gay.

Except it is, isn’t it?

Lucky us.