#but what it came down to it none of the dean clones could ever be as raw and real because dean says ''i need you'' and it's the truth

[clairenatural]

thinking about goodbye stranger again. thinking about all the times that heaven tried to break cas open and forcibly remove his love for dean winchester only for it to fail every time not just because cas loves him in a way that can't be undone but also because heaven never accounted for dean loving him back

[misteria247]

The meeting room was crowded with gods and goddesses of all sorts, their voices booming over one another as they fought to speak to one another. Among them sat the Trickster God himself Loki, who watched them all with a hint of annoyance as he sucked on a sucker. The meeting had been a last minute idea and every god and goddess was to attend it, leaving the poor trickster stuck with his less than friendly acquaintances. Sitting next to him was the Goddess of destruction, Kali. The young woman was glaring at her fellow immortals, looking ready to snap at them should they not get the meeting started. With only a moment to spare the meeting had finally been called to order, the room falling silent.

"I know that this meeting has been called together on short notice but I've been informed by a.....contact of mine of a situation that has occurred."

The God known as Odin spoke, his voice loud and demanding the uttermost attention. The Trickster bit back the urge to sigh while Kali scoffed a bit.

"Well pray tell what is the situation Odin? I have places to be and offerings to collect."

Another God spoke out irritated by the abrupt summons. Odin shot the god a look and was about to retort when the doors to the meeting room burst open, a fierce wind accompanying it. The room went into a dead silence as a familiar figure strolled into the room. The Trickster stiffened as his golden hues landed on the figure and he couldn't help but bite back the curse that wanted to come out. There among the immortals was none other than Death. Loki swallowed hard and the other gods and goddesses began to whisper in slight panic or fear.

"What's he doing here?"

"Has he come to slaughter us all??"

"How could Odin involve him?!?"

Voices echoed in the room. Death paid no attention to them, instead calmly making his way to Odin's side to take the stage. Death's blank stare flickered over to Loki and narrowed, his eyes holding a knowing look in them. The Trickster shivered slightly.

'He knows....oh dear Father he knows.'

The thought whispered in his mind making him sweat. To his relief the reaper didn't say anything about him but rather looked away to stare at the rest of the room.

"The situation he was addressing is one of uttermost importance. One that should it not be fixed will be disastrous to us all."

Death said his voice a raspy rattle. The room seemed to be holding its breath waiting for the reaper to continue.

"The Goddess Life has been taken from her post.....by a Winchester."

Death finished. The room erupted into chaos within moments, the voices now even louder than they were previously. The Trickster sat in his seat stunned and feeling sick to his stomach. He knew who Life was, he knew about her role from the moment of her creation. He knew about the Winchesters and what they were to bring in the future. The thought of Life being with a Winchester......

'We're so screwed.'

He thought as he realized just how bad this could get should Life continue to remain running around with one of the starters of the apocalypse.

"So what does this have to do with us??"

Kali asked knocking Loki from his thoughts to pay more attention to what was happening.

"I'm asking for your assistance. Bring me the Goddess Life, and you shall be spared from my scythe."

Death stated simply, not bothering to sugarcoat what would happen should they refuse to help him. The gods and goddesses went quiet as the threat hung in the air. After a beat of silence Odin finally spoke up.

"We will help retrieve her."

He said his voice grave and slightly rocky. At this point Loki had heard enough and with a flick of his hand he replaced himself with a clone and disappeared from the meeting. Once out of sight he snapped out his wings, the golden feathers glistening slightly before taking off into the night. He had to get to Life and the Winchester first before his fellow immortals got to them first.

'Father help me this is going to be a pain in the ass.'

~~~~~

Sam Winchester looked over towards the passenger seat an amused smile on his face while he drove through the countryside. His partner Olidia was singing to the radio, her window rolled down as she took in the fresh air. The sun shore brightly, adding a nice touch to the peaceful atmosphere in the car. The duo were heading towards a new destination, the open road stretched out in front of them.

'I've got that old time Rock and Roll~!'

Olidia sang her heart out bringing a small chuckle out of Sam. It was amusing to the witch to see the Goddess have fun. Ever since the two of them were forced to run from hunters and other creatures Olidia had been trying to experience everything she'd never got to when she'd been living in her forest. One of those experiences had been listening to music from different time periods and she'd taken quite a liking to them. The young man watched as his friend enjoyed herself, a fondness warming him. Seeing the young woman having a great time made him happy. Feeling his eyes on her Olidia flickered her dark brown eyes towards him and gave him a bright smile.

"What's up?"

She asked her voice chipper. Sam quickly shook his head a slight blush coming onto his cheeks from embarrassment at having been caught staring.

"Nothing just got lost in thought."

He responded with a smile. Olidia just gave a small nod of understanding before going back to singing her song. The hunter took a moment to spare one last look at her, noting the way the sun made her long curls glow auburn, and the freckles that decorated her pale cheeks. Her outfit which had once consisted of outdated togas and plants weaved into her hair was now nothing more but a plain t-shirt and a pair of well worn jeans and cowboy boots. Yet even with the simple new look he couldn't deny that she was beautiful. And seeing her being so bubbly and cheery made him want to protect her. Olidia was his family at this point just like Dean was and the witch would be damned if he allowed anything to happen to her and her chipper smile.

'I'll keep you safe Oli. That's a promise, even if it kills me you'll be safe.'

He'd keep her safe, just as she'd done for him. She was his family after all, and he loved her just as much as she loved him. As Sam's eyes flickered back to the road he failed to notice that Olidia looked back at him, taking him in. The goddess noticed how messy his long brown hair was from the wind and the way the sun made his eyes light up in their hazel glory. Sam looked like the perfect picture of happiness and it made her heart soar in joy. Just like Sam, seeing the hunter looking at peace made Olidia just as happy if not even more so. It wasn't often that the witch was so at peace. Between trying to get John off of their trail and the hunts he still went on with her assistance, the young man had barely anytime to truly relax and enjoy the world around him. Which was why Olidia had made it her personal mission to give Sam as many happy moments as he'd given her.

From the moment Olidia had met the kind hearted Winchester, he'd made her happy. Sam had opened up a doorway to a whole new world of possibilities that she never dreamed of having. All of her life she'd known nothing but her forest and Death who came to visit occasionally. She never knew anything else other than the sheltered life she'd lived. Up until she'd met Sam and started to teach him in the ways of nature and magic, Olidia had never realized how truly alone she'd felt. The isolation of being in her home, the longing to be apart of the world that she helped keep alive. It was unbearable, the emotions she'd buried for so long coming back to the surface. Then Sam appeared, in all of his awkward tall glory. A man who just like her felt isolated and longed for something more than what he had. For the first time in her long life Olidia felt like she belonged somewhere. No longer was she the only one who didn't belong, but rather she'd found her place and it was at the side of Sam Winchester.

'I wonder if you truly realize how much you changed my life. How much you made my long existence finally feel like it's worth it.'

She thought quietly as she turned her gaze back outside to watch the world pass her by. Olidia would do anything to help Sam and keep him happy. He was her best friend and her family. Smiling softly to herself she began to sing to the next song, only this time Sam's voice joined hers making her small smile bloom.

'I'll do everything I can to keep that smile on your face Sam. I'll have your back and keep you safe just as you've done for me, I swear it.'

With that promise locked away into her heart as well as the promise locked away in Sam's own, the two continued onwards towards their destination, unaware of the plans that was in store for them.

*I honestly don't even know. Okay so I've grown to really like this concept and I've been dying to do some writing practice because I've got literally things mentally planned out somewhat for my two Azul x Reader series and my two Malleus x Reader series however I've been having trouble figuring out how to make it make sense if you catch my drift. So I decided to just go with this and get some practice in so I can actually get my brain cell to cooperate with me shdhdhfhh. Anyways y'all probably know who the lovely gentleman in the beginning was lmfao. Anyways if any y'all read this I hope you enjoyed it!*

[the-entertaining-spacemans-club]

Insulting Romance

A/N: Let’s kick this blog revival off with a holiday appropriate shitfic eh? It’s an old one from the depths of my google doc hell, and it’s involving a mixed up ship mess from a very old dead multi-fandom roleplay forum.  Characters involved: Dean (SPN Canon), Sam (SPN Canon), Maebh (SPN OC), Deadpool (Marvel Canon), Fives (Star Wars Canon), SD-630 (Star Wars OC). Warnings: none, there’s mild threats of bodily harm and sexual jokes but nothing actually happens.

“Hey, you ready to go yet? Sam is freaking out being alone with Maebh.” His voice echoed up the stairs with mild annoyance etching his words.

“I don't get it, isn't this weird earth holiday all about couples? Shouldn't he not want you there? Why am I being dragged along?” Her questions barely preceded her down the stairs as she asked them in rapid succession.

“It is, it’s a dumb ‘earth holiday’ but Sam likes her and I'm just in it for the free lunch and to keep him from being… Well, Sammy.” Shrugging he leaned against the lobby wall and occupied himself with his obsolete car keys oblivious to being watched from the stairwell.

“Doesn't explain why I'm going… I don't want to be stuck in some pink plastered café surrounded by grotesque displays of adoration and happy couples.” She made a fake puking sound as she came into view to emphasize her point.

“You jealous? That's cute coming from little miss ‘let me introduce your face to my fist’. C’mon, we’ll cash in on a free lunch, make fun of all the happy couples, and then go drown our loneliness at the bar. It’ll be fun.” Alerted by the proximity of her voice he looked up in time to provide a lop sided convincing grin before ducking to avoid the boot thrown at his face.

“I'm not jealous!” Closing the distance between them she grabbed her boot and stepped back to sit on the steps to put it back on. “I just like to keep my food in my stomach where it belongs. Republic Clones and Jedi are bad enough on their own, Republic Clones and Jedi in love, out in public, on a romantic holiday? Throw me to a sarlacc please.” She couldn’t have rolled her eyes any harder as she let her thoughts stray to the blonde Jedi that had stepped in and shoved her out of the picture with a certain clone captain that she had since been avoiding.

“Uh huh… Either way, let’s go, I'm starving.” With that he opened the door and stepped out of the apartment complex into the sunny streets of the island's main town.

“Still never answered me. Don't you have any other friends you could drag along to this torture?” Catching up to him she nudged him playfully.

“None that are single, and I'm sure Jett would just love if I invited Teal along.” Rolling his eyes and dragging out Jett’s name unfavorably he continued, “Which leaves Maebh, who’s already there, and, oh look, you. So can you lighten up just a little and have fun for a change? Or are you programmed to not have fun?” 

“I'm a stormtrooper not a droid, I am perfectly capable of having fun.” With an almost growl like reply she nearly shoved him into a wall as they walked.

“Right, prove it then short stack.” Stopping at a door covered in hearts he grinned and opened it to a cacophony of slow soulful music, giggling chatter, and a familiar red masked mercenary singing along to Frank Sinatra’s The Way You Look Tonight. 

“Damn, Wade outdid himself this time…” Ignoring the jab at her height, or lack there of standing next to the 6’ giant beside her, she scanned the crowded diner until she spotted the date they were crashing. “Look, there’s Sam and Maebh, so glad they took the corner booth, no one has to see me here with you on this puke worthy holiday.” 

“See you with me? I’m the embarrassing one? Didn’t you wreck your chances with a certain clone by being the embarrassing one?” Swaggering along beside her he nodded and grinned at each person that looked up at the pair of them with expressions of confusion or shock. 

“I did not! He was a pushover and that saber wielding witch used her damn dirty jedi mind tricks on him I know it.” She hissed as she slid into the booth seat opposite Sam and Maebh before narrowing her eyes at him for additional confirmation that he was being an idiot in her opinion. “You really know how to treat a lady don’t you?”

“A lady? Where?” He slid into the booth seat and immediately doubled over to rub his shin under the table. “Dude, ow.” His previous grin was replaced by a look of shocked indignation as he glared at his brother sitting across from, ignoring the muffled chuckling coming from both women at the table.

“That's not a very clever pick up line, no wonder you're single.” The blonde managed between her stifled laughs.

“I'm single. You're single. Coincidence? I think not.” he leaned over closer to her smiling broadly with a wink.

“Ok, if you are going to start that right now, you two are going to have to find your own table.” Sam coughed drawing their attention back to the collective group.

“Hey, you asked me to be here, I wasn't going to suffer alone. Besides, I figured maybe you could tell me, you ever danced with her?” His usual cocky grin secured in place as he asked.

“No… Why?” Sam, as well as Maebh and SD, stared at him with mixed looks of confusion and worry.

“I just figured someone that’s hot as hell, had to have danced with the devil a time or two.” The trio of groans were accompanied by howling laughter from the next table over, garnering their attention to see who was listening in on their conversation.

“Oi, Fives, unless you want to eat blaster bolts and leave your date with the check, act like this entire table doesn’t exist. Got it?” SD glared between Sam and Maebh at the clone trooper sitting behind them.

“Don't be like that SD, I'm sure your date wouldn't enjoy you taking time away from him to kick my ass today. I think it’s kinda sweet you found someone to share this earth holiday with.” Fives smiled while draping his arm over his own dates shoulder smirking back at her.

“My date?!” the rest of his words fell on deaf ears as her eye twitched in aggravation. “Move your ass Dean, I'm going to make him eat those words.” 

“Ouch, shot down by the droid captain herself. Knew you didn't have a heart SD.” With a wink he turned back to his table and continued to focus on his date.

“I really hope you got health insurance Fives, cause you're going to need an entire hospital to help you when I'm done with you!” Trying to physically push Dean out of the way she was determined to at the very least punch the clone in the face a few times if not outright stab him.

“Hey, if you were a droid, at least you'd be a HOT-obot. Can I just call you Optimus Fine?” Wiggling his eyebrows in a jesting manner he tried to defuse the situation before SD really did get up to start a fight with Fives.

“Wow Dean, and I thought we would be the ‘gross cute couple’ present. That was just, wow man.” Sam shook his head as Deadpool sauntered over with a tray of drinks in hand to take their order.

“So what can I get the barbershop quartet of murder and mayhem today?” Setting down the tray, he handed a beer to Dean, a glass of water to Sam, and a soda to either SD and Maebh. Tucking the now empty tray under his arm he smoothed out his apron. It was a baby pink thing with red hearts printed across that worked better than Dean's latest pick up line as both women at the table started laughing, even Sam and Dean couldn't help but chuckle.

“We all know you don't do menus, so what's the special today?” Maebh asked after composing herself.

“I'm glad you asked! Today we've got every assortment of pasta you could imagine, I highly recommend the spaghetti to share,” even with his hood on, his eyebrows raising suggestively did not go unnoticed, “as well as all the usual dishes. I focused more on the desserts than the entrees. Sundaes, giant brownies, cheesecakes, basically anything you can imagine is being whipped up!” 

“I don't know what ‘the usual dishes’ are… I'm assuming Earth food?” SD asked with one brow quirked displaying her obvious confusion at everything being said.

“Do you have Alfredo in that ‘every assortment’ of pastas? Been awhile since I had a good Alfredo. You'd probably like it SD, it’s just noodles and sauce.” Maebh gave her order and offered her suggestion to SD.

“Actually that sounds pretty good, make that two please.” Sam chimed in before Deadpool had a chance to answer. Without bothering to verbally confirm their order, he pulled a notepad from his apron pocket and jotted down before looking at Dean and SD.

“I don't even know what pasta is in the first place…”

“You wouldn't like Alfredo, it’s basically vegetarian. You’ll want something with red sauce, more meat.” Dean interjected knowing that someone with a love for carnage like the captain sitting beside him would not be a fan of anything even remotely vegetarian. 

“So the spaghetti to share for the killer couple, got it!” Deadpool didn't give them time to reject his choice for them before he skirted away from their table shouting towards the kitchen “I NEED TWO GREENS PEACE PLATES AND ONE LADY AND THE TRAMP!” 

“Oh hell, he better bring that out on separate plates I swear.” Dean sighed as he took a drink of his beer, grateful the mercenary always magically knew what everyone wanted to drink at least.

“Don't count on it.” Sam chuckled from his side of the table.

“While we're waiting, I got another question for you.” The second the words were out of Dean's mouth Maebh hung her head knowing no good was going to come from his statement.

“Uh, what?” Already not looking forward to whatever stupid thing he was about to say.

“Is that a mirror in your pocket?” With one brow raised and his shit eating grin back in place he waited for her answer.

“No?” Looking down at her pants oblivious to the punch line she wondered why he would have asked that.

“Because I can practically see myself in them.” His other brow raised as he mimicked Deadpool earlier suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

“You'd have better luck seducing her blaster man!” Fives chimed in between laughs.

“Both of you can shut your mouths right now!” She hissed as it dawned on her what he said. “I only came along because you sounded so pathetic and desperate when you asked. This isn't a date, we are not involved romantically or casually, cut it out Dean.” 

“Oh come on, lighten up!” Playfully nudging her shoulder trying to get her out of the sour mood she was in he added, “I just like to stay on top of things. Want to be one of them?” 

“You're going to get stabbed-” Sam started up before Maebh interjected.

“Or shot.”

“Yes, or shot, and ruin the day for everyone here. I'm sorry he's like this SD. He's never had a woman actually say yes to spending Valentine's Day with him and it's clearly gotten to his head.” Sam explained trying to justify his brother's behavior and lower the tension. 

“How sad, makes sense though.” She didn't elaborate and even looked out the window when she caught the confused look on Dean's face.

“How the hell?” He asked looking from SD to Sam and Maebh completely bewildered.

“Because on a scale from one to ten, you're a one, and I'm the nine you need.” A slight smirk crept across her face as she refrained from looking back at him in a poor attempt to keep from laughing. Maebh cracked up though at her retaliation and in turn she couldn't help but start laughing as well.

“Oh! The stormtrooper thinks she's got jokes! That's pretty cute coming from someone who must've sat in a pile of sugar.” He almost started laughing when she scooted over in the seat to see if he was being serious or not. “Because you've got a pretty sweet ass.” 

“Tell me something I didn't know Darth Obvious.” With an amused snort she picked up her soda before noticing Deadpool coming back towards them with a tray of food. “Oh good, at least if your mouth is full you can't make anymore dumb jokes.”

“I got something that could fill your mouth.” He muttered quietly as he watched her start choking on her drink. 

“What the kark!” Having nearly snorted out her drink through her nose she had to take a moment to get her breath back as Deadpool set out their plates.

“Alfredo for you, Alfredo for you, and please wait until you're back at your own place before you start choking on things that are hard to swallow SD, my other patrons don't need to see that.” Setting down their large shared plate of spaghetti he made a quick exit away from their table to go check on other lunch dates before SD could retaliate amidst the rest of their table laughing heartily. 

Still coughing on her drink she could only glare at him as he walked off before she could reply or at least throw a knife at him. She knew it wouldn't have done any real damage to him, but it would have made her feel better that even he had gotten a jab in at her expense. 

“Hey, calm down, you'll want to save your energy for tonight after all.” Dean grinned as Sam and Maebh groaned. 

“Can you at least keep it clean so I can keep my food down?” Sam pleaded as he took a bite of his food and mumbled about how good it was, to which Maebh mumbled back around a bite herself. 

“I make no promises, it's hard to keep it clean when you've got a health hazard sitting next to you.” 

“Hey Dean?” The almost innocent nature of her question was concerning all on its own.

“Yeah?” Watching her nervously he had a nagging thought in the back of his mind to get out of the way but he stayed sitting anyways.

“You dropped something.” Looking past him at the floor beside their booth she kept up the casual tone and calm façade.

“What?” Following her gaze he didn't see anything and became confused. “No I didn't?”

“Yeah, you did…” taking advantage of him leaning towards the floor, she shoved him out of the seat before adding “your standards.” While he flailed futility to try and keep himself from falling, she took a bite of the weird mess of food sitting before her and grinned. “At least your taste in food isn't terrible.”

“You just called yourself low standard, you know that right?” He asked as he got back into his seat.

“I never said mine were great either.” She muttered as they continued to eat their meals with minimal conversation. 

When their plates were mostly empty, and after a short battle for the last meatball, Deadpool came back around with drink refills. “And what can I get you all to satisfy your sweet tooth? Brownies? Ice cream? Both? Cake? Pie? -”

Almost simultaneously SD and Dean's faces lit up at the mention of pie as they perked up and asked “Pie?” Gaining them a chuckle from Sam and Maebh who both knew Dean loved pie more than any other food except maybe burgers. Looking from Deadpool to one another skeptically they spoke up at the same time again.

“You actually know what pie is?!”

“Pie is an Earth food?!”

“If I hadn't already met God, I'd think he was real now. A woman after my own heart.” He wiped away a fake tear as Deadpool took the moment to throw a handful of candy hearts in the air above them bringing both out of their shock to glare up at him in annoyance as the hard candies pelted them mercilessly. 

“What the kark Deadpool! What are these things?” SD hissed as she picked one up and saw that it had words on it. “Cutie Pie? Is this some kind of joke?” 

“The only joke here is that you might have actually found someone SD.” Fives piped up after being silent for too long. “Ouch! Those things hurt!” He ducked down before she could throw another one at the back of his head.

“So I think it's obvious they want pie, but can we get a Sunday please?” Maebh interjected before SD and Fives started up again.

“Of course! All the toppings?” He asked, looking at Sam and Maebh ignoring SD and Dean shaking candy hearts out of their shirts.

“Yeah? Sam?” She asked not sure if he had any allergies she should be considerate of.

“Anything you want, I'm not a big dessert person anyways.” Seeing the slightly dejected look at his words he quickly added “I'll still have a few bites though.” 

“HEY SLADE I NEED A BANANA BOAT AND A COUPLE SLICES OF YOUR GRANDMA'S BLUE RIBBON!” He shouted as he started down the row of booths to take other dessert orders and shower more unknowing patrons with hard sugary treats.

“Seriously though, what are these things?” SD asked the rest of the table as she picked a few more up to read them. Pulling a disgusted face at one that read 'soul mates’ before flicking it away from her.

“They're candy with silly messages printed on them,” Maebh answered as she picked a few up to read as well. “Though there's some X-rated ones mixed in… not surprising coming from Deadpool though.” 

“Hey, SD…” Dean held out a heart that clearly Deadpool had somehow managed to make and mix into the regular cutesy ones that read ‘nice ass’. 

With a grin she picked through the ones on the table and held one up in reply 'eat me’. Of course she had meant it in a 'go fuck yourself’ kind if way not knowing it was intentionally one of the dirty ones mixed in.

“If you insist, we'll need that pie to go though.” Leaning closer to her he held out another ‘lets bang!’.

“I may not have a heart, but know a few other ways to get blood pumping.” She grinned as she spoke up enough for Fives to hear. The resounding sputtering of a drink was all the response she needed to start laughing her ass off. For additional effect, added for Sam and Maebh's benefit, while pushing Dean out of the booth she tacked on a “Sorry to have to bail on you guys early, but I can think of better places to enjoy a slice of pie among other things.”

“Wait, seriously?” Stunned by what was going on he didn't really have the mental capacity to object or question her as she flagged down Deadpool and dragged him along. 

“What just happened?” Maebh asked Sam, equally confused.

“Dean just met his match is what just happened.” He chuckled as he leaned back into the booth seat to relax.

[thewriterwithnoplan]

Hell and Back (Part 1.5)

Summary: Y/N Winchester is an enigma wrapped in a riddle. The half-sibling of the famed brothers and she was there through it all. Until now. After Jack’s birth she made a deal with Batman himself. His money for her expertise. She can pay for a real school and some online classes for her and Jack. All she has to do is enlighten the Team about her world. Easy peasy, right? Pairing: Supernatural x Reader x Young Justice Word Count: 1359 Warnings: None.

A/N: This is not an official pat two, I will be doing one of those at a later date. This is just a small side piece set in the same crossover as the Part 1.

"So what do we have today?"

Wally bounced into the kitchen where Y/N was midway through buttering a piece of toast. She sent him a look that might have been confusion or annoyance, maybe both. She'd been here for nearing four months now, instructing them on how to properly sift through the lore and how to accurately guess what was real. So far they'd only been on three ordinary hunts, a ghost in the north, a pair of werewolves in the harbour and a small nest of four vampires. Not that Y/N had told them how small those hunts really were.

They'd all been quite proud of themselves after they got over the fact that these were not humans they were killing. Wally had actually vomited the first time they beheaded a vampire, and Robin had followed suit when they'd dug up a grave to get rid of a ghost. Y/N hadn't played a very large part in the actual hunt, she was simply instructing them. How were they supposed to learn if she did everything for them?

So they had zero idea what a real hunter in action looked like. So it wasn't entirely Wally's fault for getting a big head. But boy was it annoying as all hell, and Y/N had actually been to hell. The team was just a bit, overconfident. They seemed to think that needing a large team to take on four vampires was normal. Y/N hadn't been able to bring herself to tell them that her and the rest of Team Free Will had taken on larger group of bigger, badder monsters, alone. In fact, some of them seemed to think she wasn't in the actual fighting part of the business.

"What do you mean?" Y/N asked the redhead, biting into the piece of toast and furrowing her eyebrows.

"Well, what are we going to hunt now?" He sat on the island in the centre of the kitchen and grinned. "Ghost? Vampire? Werewolf? Maybe you'll finally let us take on a demon?" He wriggled his eyebrows giving her a nod as if to say; Come on, what have we got?

Y/N all but choked on her food. She paused to cough for a good minute, Wally frowned clapping a hand on her back in an attempt to help. She finally heaved a breath into her lungs and gave a dry chuckle, "You want to take on a demon?"

"Well yeah, that's the plan right?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "Work our way up the big leagues?"

"No," She brushed the crumbs from her hands and began wiping down the benchtop. She glanced over her shoulder at him, "I'm here to teach you what to do if something arises, I'm not teaching you to go looking for trouble. You are not hunters."

"Not hunters?" Wally scoffed, pushing off the counter. He leant over, looking into the adjacent common room where the team lounged. "Get in here guys, come listen to this!"

They shuffled in Artemis leant against the counter, "What's going on?"

"Apparently we're not real hunters," Wally waved his hands angrily. "Little miss lore book says only real hunters get to hunt Demons."

Y/N simmered as they began yelling. Indignant shouts of; We can hunt just as well as you or we're hunters too! What did they know? These immature little superheroes, with their dumb masks and stupid alias'. They couldn't take out one nest together, no way could they take a demon or god forbid an angel. And who knows what else they'd get caught up in? They could die, or get captured by Lucifer while he's topside.

"How would you know? All you do is sit there and read your stupid lore books!" Now that was the last straw.

"Do you have a family?" She hissed at them, louder and angrier then she'd ever gotten in their presence. "Friends? Well, do you?"

They nodded carefully, confused. Some of them glanced at one another as if thinking; I guess, but what's that got to do with anything. Y/N boiled within, they knew nothing. She almost screamed and cried in frustration. This is exactly what she got for coming to help them.

"Well if you want to hunt then, no, you don't." It was a cold, restrained whisper. "Because when you hunt, when you join this lifestyle... You either die or live long enough to watch everyone get killed around you."

They fell silent, dead silent. Contemplating exactly what she meant. Connor looked over the group, Y/N knew about his situation - The Clone. She supposed family would mean these guys. For a few of them, it was each other, and if not family then close friends. Partners in crime. But Y/N was still beyond angry.

"My mother, Mary and father, John died to a demon. My father figure, Bobby was killed by something called a Leviathan. My mother figure, Ellen and her daughter, Joe, killed by hellhounds." She heaved a shuddering breath and continued, "My boyfriend, Kevin was killed by an angel possessing my brother. My best friend Charlie, some psycho Frankensteins. My half brother, Adam to the archangel Michael. My brotherly figure, Castiel, six times over. My older brother, Sam, eight times. I don't even know how much, my eldest brother Dean, has died!"

"Turns out I have a knack for dying too!" She spread her arms to the roof and gave a dry laugh. "I sold my soul to bring my brothers back to life when I was 5, hellhounds collected on that a year later. Spent forty years being tortured in hell with Dean. Released Lucifer at age 8, got dragged into his magical cage when we shoved him back in. Sam and I spent a hundred and twenty years in there being tortured by the Devil. Demon dragged my brother and I out only to forget our souls - was soulless for a year. Our angel friend Castiel decided he wanted to be god so he ripped open the monster afterworld and set free the Leviathans. They killed him but don't worry he came back, we threw the monsters back into purgatory but whoops got trapped there for a year. Broke out just to find another crazed angel wanting to be god, Metatron. The angels fell we tried and failed to close the gates of hell. Beat Metatron but a prince of hell from the past came through a portal and we had to find a way to kill him. That meant finding Cain, the first murder, Dean and I took the Mark of Cain so we could use his magic knife. Killed the Prince of Hell, but the marks drove us half insane. Metatron killed Dean and me, we became demons. Don't worry Sam cured us after we went on murder sprees. Got the mark of Cain off but that frees Amara, god's sister from her cage. So Castiel let Lucifer possess him to help us. God came back from vacation, he and Amara made up and floated away in a big light. Amara brought back our mother. Hitler came back, killed him. Lucifer possessed the president, impregnated his lady friend and sent the secret service after us. Got us landed in prison at Site 94, escaped. These crazy British people tortured us, then asked to become friends so we killed them all. More Princes of hell came out to look after Lucifer's unborn son, that child - Jack - killed them through Castiel. Crowley - king of hell and family friend - killed the other Prince. Then Jack was born, ripped open a portal to another universe. Lucifer killed Castiel and Crowley, Jack's mother died during the birth, then our mother pushed Lucifer through the portal - it shut. We adopted Jack, he brought Castiel back to life, Micheal is trying to come from an Alternate Reality to take over the world. Not to mention that he wants to wear Dean or I like an expensive suit."

"So that is why you aren't ever going to be real hunters," Y/N hissed. "Because I won't let anyone else go through that."

[dgcatanisiri]

So, consider this the counterpoint to the thing I said the other day about the generation gap effect with BioWare writers and queer portrayals.

I understand wanting to reach out and offer lifelines to the kid in the closet too afraid to come out - I fully recognize the dangers of coming out at the wrong place, at the wrong time, all of that.

And while we could argue about how we are seeing more acceptance at younger ages (because in certain areas there is, but I openly acknowledge that it is not a universal thing - progress on this is at best uneven depending on the environment), that’s not what I’m focusing on. My issue is that I do not feel media has provided enough in the way of queer heroes, in characters who EXIST, who are queer and yet it’s not the sum total of their being.

Like, I look to media, the characters who I look up to, who inspire me, who I want to be like, who I see my story in... Off the top of my head, NONE of them come to mind as being explicitly queer, with the exception of characters like these video game protagonists whose sexualities are variable by the player’s choice. In terms of the characters on the screen who I watch develop, see their story unfold... I still don’t get the hero I need.

Taking just a small selection of the characters who I do that with, Dean Winchester, Steve Rogers, Anakin Skywalker (y’know, AOTC/Clone Wars era, not Darth Vader), Scott McCall, James T. Kirk, staying in the BioWare wheelhouse, Cullen (who, take your issues with the character’s history, I feel empowered seeing this character overcome addiction, overcome his issues of self-worth, overcome his trauma)... Now, we can analyze and subtext the hell out of these characters to justify calling them queer ANYWAY, and while I’m not going to put money down on it, it’s still a statistically non-zero chance that Dean comes out before the end of the final season, or some future multiverse portrayal of Steve Rogers gets to have a boyfriend, but... Even if some variant of a character is shown, now or in the future, or a last second reveal happens, that doesn’t change the amount of time that the character has only been portrayed as straight, the fact that there would be plenty of pushback of “giving in to the SJW bullshit agenda,” the cultural consciousness that will linger of that character.

My heroes are not queer. I always have to do that little extra translation for their stories to me. To me, the mere existence of a gay character existing on screen and being unapologetically gay... Okay, that’s a thing. But it doesn’t help me. 

Because the thing is that these “unapologetically gay” characters are often only seeing struggles relating to their sexualities. That’s the only reason they get to have things happen - “how does this impact the gay person, because they’re gay?” If these stories were happening with a straight character, they would need a massive rewrite because the stories they get feature the character’s gayness so prominently. 

And just... You know, between that and my lack of connection to the stories they do get, because I go through things that are 100% separate from my sexuality - I’ve been a caregiver, watching people I love wither and die in front of me, I have chronic illnesses, I’ve struggled with school, and, even when certain elements are exacerbated by my sexuality, such as the difficulties of finding a relationship, that doesn’t make it the sole source of my drama and angst. 

That’s why Dorian’s story just bugs me, it reduces him to a prop for heterosexual development - he already had the revelation that his father’s love came with unacceptable strings, for reasons I have beaten into the ground (and will again but not here because this is long enough as is), there is nothing to be gained by “reconciling” him with his father, none of his other character flaws (slavery apology chief among them) are focused on...

That’s why Gil’s story just bugs me, again, he is reduced to a prop for a heterosexual character, because we learn practically nothing about him as a person, just see him approach the concept of fatherhood with all the passion of a math equation. His writing cares more about getting to the conclusion of “gay dads, such progressive!” that it forgets to establish Gil as an individual. 

Steve Cortez is the best on this that BioWare’s had to offer, but even then... Who is he beyond his dead husband? What are his interests, what kind of person is he without that anchor? We get glimmers in the Citadel DLC, but in the base game, not a conversation goes by without him bringing up his status as a widower. 

When I get “representation” of gay people, of queerness, it is to this day NOT with characters who I relate to, who go through the things that I do.

I’m not saying that the closeted kid doesn’t need a life preserver. What I’m saying is that I do too, even if I have been better able to tread water to this point. We look to our media to empower us. I don’t feel empowered by ANY of my media, not on this front. Sure, I may have heroes I look up to or model myself after, but... I still only ever see them getting a “happily ever after” with women. My representation doesn’t represent me. 

And when BioWare writers say things like “we’re concerned about the closeted kid who needs to know it’s okay” when people complain about something like Dorian’s story, yeah, I can’t argue that fact on its own. But it ignores the fact that I know plenty of people who are fully out of the closet and yet still don’t have someone who represents their lives and experiences on screen. We need to see our stories, be given a shot at our happy ending too.

I’m not saying that the stories that have been told are unimportant or anything like that. But... Just because I’ve managed to keep my head above water doesn’t mean I’m not drowning too, and it’s like no one is bothering to offer me a life preserver.

[aion-rsa]

Warrior Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Not for a Drink, a F*ck, or a G*damn Prayer

https://ift.tt/3oHovmb

This Warrior review contains spoilers.

Warrior Season 2 Episode 5

The episode opens with Li Yong (Joe Taslim) doing some shirtless Kung Fu but the scene is too short to determine what style he is doing. Perhaps it’s something just made up for Warrior. Taslim’s background is in in Judo, not Kung Fu, but that doesn’t matter. He looks great doing whatever he’s doing and it’s a promising opening for this episode.

The previous two episodes lacked enough Kung Fu to satisfy dedicated Bruce Lee fans. Fortunately, this episode makes up for that and then some. It’s the strongest episode in Season 2 so far, both dramatically and choreographically.

It’s a rough one for Penny (Joanna Vanderham) as her world collapses. As she inspects the devastation of Mercer Steel after Leary’s (Dean Jagger) terrorist bombing, she asks Jacob (Kenneth Fok) “What is that terrible smell?” It’s a line that betrays naivete about opium. Opium is derived from poppy seed pod sap and it has a distinctive floral smell like fine perfume. Warrior can be forgiven for the oversight because its exceedingly rare to find opium on the streets anymore. Nowadays, it’s much more profitable to synthesize it into pharmaceutical opiates or heroin. 

Nevertheless, Penny’s comment allows Jacob to reveal that the offensive odor is opium, exposing Ah Sahm’s (Andrew Koji) deception. The betrayal cuts deep and later, when Ah Sahm comes to survey the damage for himself, Penny threatens to scream, knowing full well that it would be the end of Ah Sahm because of racial profiling. Their relationship has soured tragically since their affair in Season 1. Later, the Mayor (Christian McKay) inspects the damage too. He’s lawyered up and lets Penny know that late delivery negates the Cable Car contract. Penny begs the Mayor, but he says he’ll be happy to see her at home.

In more opium developments, Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) stumbles into SFPD looking awful after his first puffs of opium, just as O’Hara (Kieran Bew) and the force prepare to take revenge on the Fung Hai for the raid on his home. O’Hara orders Lee to be straight for the raid that night. Meanwhile, Flannagan (David Butler) pays a visit to Leary, implying that he knows Leary is behind the bombings. He tells him to stop but Leary stands his ground, reversing blame to the politicians who drove his people to such desperate measures. 

Warrior Wine and Women

Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) visits Nellie’s (Miranda Raison) Sonoma winery (a journey which would take days to get to from Chinatown without the Bay bridges, none of which were erected at the time when Warrior is set). Nevertheless, it’s a pleasant break from the oppressive ghetto sets of Warrior’s Chinatown. Seeing the beautiful refuge that Nellie has built, Ah Toy gets misty, remembering her grandmother growing tomatoes.

This, like the bridges, is historically awkward because tomatoes are a New World crop. They came into China a little over a century ago. Warrior is set around a century and a half ago, so while it is possible that Ah Toy’s grandmother farmed tomatoes in China at that time, it’s unlikely. Nellie finds Ah Toy who escaped to the cask room. She gives her a taste of her wine, makes her move and they start snogging. Wait…what? It’s a great ‘didn’t see that one coming’ moment for Warrior, exactly the sort of soap operatic twist that makes for good TV. Where this might lead is anyone’s guess. 

The Raid Redemption

Chao’s (Hoon Lee) plan to set up Zing (Dustin Nguyen) and the Fung Hai comes to pass and it’s a delicious bit of ultraviolence. With the SFPD waiting for his signal outside, Chao delivers Zing’s blades as promised, with two of Chao’s delivery men being Long Zii in disguise. One is Li Yong. Zing gets suspicious when Chao refuses to be overpaid, and his men restrain Chao and force him to drink mare’s milk. Meanwhile, the Long Zii men kill some Fung Hai so Li Yong can plant Ah Toy’s sword. But the bodies are discovered, and the gig is up. Unleash the mayhem. Li Yong starts methodically taking out Fung Hai men on a staircase. All bloody hell breaks loose with lots of stabbing through the head and a brutal eye gouge.

Read more

TV

Warrior, Snake Eyes, and What’s Next for Andrew Koji

By Gene Ching

Chao, who has been suffering a beating at the hands of the Fung Hai, has something up his sleeve. It’s the James West style Wild Wild West sleeve derringer mechanism he showed off way back in Episode 4 “The White Mountain” Why the Fung Hai didn’t feel those when they were holding down Chao’s arms is anyone’s guess but it delivers a great kill line when Chao reveals that he has not just one, but two, one up each sleeve. The gunshots signal the cops and they come charging in, guns blazing. The Fung Hai attempt to beat them back with long knives and arrows, but they’re no match for O’Hara’s shotgun, Lee’s revolver, and the rest of the SFPD’s firepower. 

Then it happens – the fight that martial arts fans have been eagerly awaiting – Li Yong versus Zing.

Nguyen and Taslim are the two most prominent martial arts stars on the show. Nguyen had made it as an actor long before he showed off his martial talent. Ironically, his first martial role was in a Levi’s commercial where he spoofed Bruce Lee. Since then, he starred in some groundbreaking Vietnamese martial arts films like The Rebel and Once Upon a Time in Vietnam (which he also wrote and directed) as well as Justin Lin’s hilarious Finishing the Game where he played an actor aspiring to replace Bruce Lee and finish Game of Death.

Taslim exploded into the martial arts movie genre with The Raid: Redemption and has delivered another great fight film in The Night Comes for Us. He’ll be starring in the upcoming reboot of Mortal Kombat. But despite Nguyen’s previous experience as a Bruce Lee clone, it’s Taslim who does the Chinese boxing shuffle in a nod to the Little Dragon in their match up.

And the duel is worth the wait.

Nguyen and Taslim know how to sell punches and they create a vicious showdown the likes of which is seldom seen on TV. Props must be given to the Second Unit director Brett Chan and his team for choreographing a dynamic and satisfying fight between these two titans of the martial arts. This is one of the best fight scenes that Warrior has delivered so far. There’s also a nice call back to Episode 3 when Li Yong drops the line “Be thankful for your pain. It means you’re still alive.”

O’Hara shoots Zing in the shoulder to disarm him as he wields Ah Toy’s sword. He covertly plants a murder victim’s watch, arousing some suspicion from Lee. But the trap is sprung. Zing is busted the bloody sword in his red hand. Chao’s plan seems to have worked. Later Chao takes his daughter Hannah (Selena Teles-Fernandes) from her prostitute mom and delivers her to Nellie. His near-death experience at the hands of the Fung Hai made him rethink his life. He realizes that his daughter looks white enough to have a chance. Nellie promises to find her a good home.

Back at the Hop Wei, Young Jun is freaking out about the lost opium and Ah Sahm is desperately looking for some way to replenish their supply. Hong pledges his allegiance to them both after cleverly discerning what the issue is through some observation and deduction. The three drink over it in a promising union for future episodes. Ah Sahm goes to Ah Toy for a loan and reveals his plans for the future of the Hop Wei. Ah Toy rejects him and tells him not to meddle anymore. 

The episode ends back in the Barbary Coast Fight Pit where Ah Sahm is beating down a dreadlocked fighter in dramatic slow motion during the rain. It’s an homage shot to The Grandmaster which opened with a slow-motion rain fight that so many shows have emulated since. After the fight, Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) shows up and tries to reconcile with Ah Sahm. She’s still upset about catching Li Yong patching himself up after fighting Zing and realizing that he moved without her consent. However, Ah Sahm is still angry about when Mai Ling ordered his death, so he promises to destroy everything his sister has done. She leaves in tears.

And to think, the whole reason Ah Sahm came to America was to find his sister. Ah Sahm and Mai Ling have the worse sibling rivalry ever.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

After Mai Ling leaves, Vega (Maria-Elena Laas) wonders if she’s Ah Sahm’s lover. Ah Sahm brushes her off but then remembers her offer for a bigger fight purse in some international fight arena. Could this be the solution to redeem the lost opium? It’s a promise of more ultraviolence in an upcoming episode. We can only hope.

The post Warrior Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Not for a Drink, a F*ck, or a G*damn Prayer appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3kIzc5u