#i feel like i haven't interacted with fictional media in months

[some-things-about-life]

i desperately want to read fanfiction but I'm not hyperixated on any media atm this is so sad

[aldritch-ao3]

Hello!! We’ve really been enjoying your fic and wanted to ask a few things, and ramble :p

1. Were there any works (be it original fiction or fanfics) that inspired Playback? Because the SI ‘genre’ (don’t have a better word for it haha) is very broad and well tread and we find your exploration of it very interesting.

2. We were actually somewhat wary of the idea of Freeze Frame for half a second but the way you’re able to utilize it in the narrative is very interesting and well thought out, it balances out well with the characters. But to get to the point: How did the balance out the technique with the story so well?

Uhh… now other stuff :3

SI-ya is a very enjoyable character! Don’t know why but we read him as a very flat affected midwestern guy, with the type of accent you’d hear from Michigan/Indiana.

Thank you for sharing your story and stay safe during Milton!

aaah what a sweet ask ! i'll endeavour to answer it all as best as i can, i love answering these sorts of meta questions they're a real treat for me !!! also its late and im up for my unstoppable editing a chapter at 3am grind so this may not be super coherent and its way too long sorryyyy

1. in regards to other fics - i'm admittedly more a 'time travel fix-it' guy than a SI-genre guy! they so rarely ever click with me in a way i enjoy, and im always sad when the SI isnt like, a fleshed out OC with their own history and whatnot. the only one i can think of that i really enjoyed was cleaning crew ! but i found the JJK fandom played around with them in really fun ways to me (even if i haven't had a ton of time to read a lot).

the tag on playback that denotes it came to me in a dream isn't a joke - i stayed up till like 5am reading all of a gentler world in one sitting, and had the most vibrant dream ive had in months, which the base plot of later became playback.

said dream will one day be written out when it isn't a major spoiler. lmao.

but @ the oc-focus bit, it may be more apt to say i draw off of other time-travel media in how the narrative interacts with the character - a study of resonance and a shot in the dark are some different-fandom favourites of mine that probably influenced me in some way shape or form, and pokemon mystery dungeon: explorers of sky shaped my brain in a way i will never recover from.

2. when it comes to balance, a part of it is very centered in like ... approach, for me. SIya is by nature a thoughtful character who approaches things methodically, and while i started with a very faint idea for freeze frame i let the drawbacks of it come to me as i fleshed him out - drawbacks that would be actual drawbacks catered to the character, and ones he may eventually be able to use to his own benefit. he's the type of smart guy who could probably find some use in its increased resistance and lack of air circulation, but he's also the type of guy to be constantly exhausted because he pushes himself to his limits constantly. he feels responsible for the whole world, and i wanted freeze frame as an ability to both enable and worsen that feeling. the character himself is also a counter to it - he's not the sort to use it wildly or irresponsibly in the way others might. its balanced with the story because it IS the story! SIya the oc and SIya the character themes are inseparable from freeze frame and the story is built for that.

3. midwestern SIya is so funny. everyone ive talked to pictures him with an entirely different accent but all agree he sounds super flat and like. average. its hysterical to me. real bland energy that transcends language. average generic guy voice

i'm really glad people enjoy it so much! i really wasnt at all expecting this much feedback and it's super motivating. it's been nice to have something to focus on aside from the upcoming storm ;w; with any luck, everything will be fine and i'll come back swinging with like 8 new chapters

[shepherds-of-haven]

hii! i'm a new author working on my first if, and i'm really not doing great tbh. shepards of haven is (my current hyperfixation) sosososososo good and so expansive and just generally the best thing ever and i'm aware that you've been writing this story for years and that's probably why it's so amazing but i'm not having a fun time over here and i was wondering if you have any tips for worldbuilding or if you could share like a general overview of your process? thank you so much :))

Hi there, I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling great about your project at the moment! I think my #writing advice tag could be helpful to you, since that's where I stick all the posts and answers about writing tips and worldbuilding advice from this blog, as well as my @strangevoyages blog, which is exclusively focused on my authorial career and writing-related tips and tricks, so it might be easier to parse through for advice! This post I wrote last year, in particular, could be helpful for worldbuilding, as well! (As well as this post for my general tips for beginning writers of interactive fiction!)

On top of all that, though, I think the best piece of advice I can add on for you is to be patient with yourself! As you mentioned, I've been working on Shepherds for over 20 years now: it was basically the first story I ever wrote, and I still haven't published it in a complete form yet. My first novel, We Have Always Been Here, also took about four years to complete, and in that amount of time, I burned it completely to the ground and started it over from scratch FIVE TO EIGHT TIMES before I got so sick of looking at it I just had to submit it. And I thought I would start my second novel directly after that, starting a few months after WHABH's completion in 2019. It's been four years since then and I'm still figuring out the world and characters of that second novel, to the point that I've also started and completely scrapped the story three or four times... I didn't even settle on the main cast or their names until earlier this year, so that's like 3 years where I didn't even know their names, let alone how their world worked. 🥹 And in the last four years, I've still only gotten as far as about ten chapters on this series, and my most current draft is only at four! (And I'm about to scrap some of that and start over again... 🥹)

At some point, you finally iron things out and the story details settle and actually click, and then you might be off to the races--but you've got to give yourself the time, patience, and understanding to actually get there first! I know that things can feel frustrating when it feels like you've run up against a wall or you just aren't feeling inspired, but letting things simmer for a while just allows the flavors of your story to complexify and deepen. You're creating a whole new world in your head, so give yourself a break! It takes time. Like a good soup, sometimes you have to let it sit on the stove for a bit and bubble away without poking at it impatiently and wishing it would hurry up or dumping ingredients in it to make it cook faster. In the meantime, consuming media that inspires you or that you genuinely love and enjoy--without turning it into the work and chore of "research"--might uncork or illuminate something you didn't even know was brewing. That's what I most often do when I'm feeling uninspired! I just leave everything where it is, meander away, watch or read or play something that intrigues me, and that often naturally sparks inspiration when I'm not thinking too hard about it. A watched p(l)ot never boils, so to speak!

I hope that (and my other posts linked above) help you in some way. Good luck with your writing and again, try not to be too hard on yourself! You're not alone, every writer feels this way: it's just a part of the process, but one that we can mitigate by giving ourselves time and patience. :) And thank you for the kind words about Shepherds, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

[entropy-sea-system]

I think the reason I see a little less potential for any mh gen 3 ships w the guy characters is bc they're just.. not given much screen time?? like. Clankie (neither of them are guys and both characters get enough screen time on their own) is probably the ship that makes most sense in canon even if other ships also do?? Like. that tends to be why the ships I think have more build up happen to be nblw or wlw???

I think Like. Gil had literally hardly any screentime without Lagoona even if they both seem into each other and communicate with each other. And I haven't even shipped any mlm ships yet bc .. the guy characters hardly interact w each other as much as they do w the nonbinary and girl characters.

Clawd had more screentime than him, but I think he and Draculaura haven't had much interaction outside of like two episodes, and I feel the show focuses mostly on him being from Beheme and being Clawdeen's brother most of the time. I've heard other ppl say in concepts he was supposed to be an inventor and I feel that his canon characterisation isn't as fully fledged as it could have been.

I do still ship Dracugoona but. tbh I don't think they had as many moments after witch hitch to be honest. But I do ship it.

Clankie feels like the ship with the most moments. They seem consistently interested in each other and even if recent episodes don't have many moments the finale is literally mainly about Clankie so. It feels like I don't have to detail this one because everyone knows how canon has hinted at it basically.

I like Lagoona x Gil, and their interactions are cute but I think maybe we could use more screen time for Gil to actually like, know something about him other than a couple of hobbies he has. I don't think a ship has to be slow burn to make sense because romance just works differently for different ppl even irl!! Its not unrealistic for ppl irl to date without knowing each other for like months or years lol... so Idk why thats unrealistic in a fictional show anyway. I think similarly about Clawdulaura but the episode with the dancing and the one where the talismans go missing did make me ship them.

For most of the characters I don't really like easily ship them if theres no hints in canon but yeah. Like Im not in a rush to ship every character with someone, and Im arospec allosexual, and hc some of them as arospec and/or maybe just not wanting to date at the moment. I should also probably add that Im friendship repulsed and familial repulsed (atertiary also) so I'm not very invested in the friendships and family in the show. I think I mainly prefer to analyse the events and characters on their own and sometimes ships.

In the movies, after the second movie, I kind of ship Toralei and Clawdeen and feel they had a bit more chemistry at the end than whatever was going on with Clawdeuce.

I don't really care for claiming characters "are better as friends" or shipping them platonically or queerplatonically bc that repulses me and Im already just p much ignoring the stuff in the show that repulses me lol. (Also I know I could just.. not watch the show then, but its extremely hard to find media without friendship as a plato-repulsed aplatonic, and I like cartoons.) I'm more in the fandom for the world building and the events of the show, and characters, and a bit for shipping but the shipping wasn't really there until I saw the potential of Clankie tbh.

[groggydog]

Groggy's Favorite Games of 2022

Every year I keep a list of video games I played, and go over my top five regardless of the year they were released. But this year, I'd instead like to try honing in on my top three for the 2022 release year.

This is good, because it features a couple of interactive-fiction-esque games, but also because I only just started Elden Ring and I otherwise mostly just played so-so games this year. But let's go!

#1: Neon White

I've seen a lot of whinging about Neon White's dialogue, but to me this game represented a really fun late-90s, early 00s tone that was complemented by some of the most challenging, fast-paced, and satisfying gameplay I touched all year.

And you know what's wild? I did this game on Switch. And it still absolutely kicked ass.

#2: Citizen Sleeper

Citizen Sleeper is not a long game, but it is a fantastic one. Following the story of a person who wakes up with a near-fatal lack of memory on a massive station, you're forced to make difficult choices, fend off existential threats, and find a way to make a meager living.

The way the game transforms from a survival game into one more focused on story is a real treat, and makes every single storyline feel earned. I felt really satisfied with my first ending (which involved the Greenway) but played through every single one I could. And even the failures felt like satisfying endings.

This game was especially a great lesson in building solid IF games, and anyone who makes those would be well served by playing through Citizen Sleeper.

#3: NORCO

NORCO surprised the hell out of me. It is a beautifully rendered point-and-click game (and the first one I played on my Steam Deck) set in the real town of NORCO, LA in the near future. It is believable while also being absolutely wild in its storytelling, and had a beautifully affecting ending.

The mechanics of the mind map were an appreciated way to link the game's disparate bits together (and reminded my not a little of Outer Wilds), and the characters were super well-formed and well-written.

This is one of those sleeper games I still haven't seen a lot in other media discussions, but I can't recommend it enough.

Honorable Mentions from 2022:

Chocobo GP, which I took to Summer Games Done Quick and which is a shockingly fun game

Strange of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, which was more enjoyable than it had any right to be

Lunistice, which is a beautiful PSX-era platformer that is short and crisp

Marvel Snap, which has dominated my phone's battery for months

Honorable Mentions from not 2022:

This was the year of Metroidvanias for me: Hollow Knight and Ori 2 were two of my favorite games (and both might be top 5 all time for me), but games like Timespinner and Momodora 4 were fantastic. I also finally played through Castlevania SOTN and Super Metroid for the first time

Final Fantasy X-2, which is silly and quite enjoyable even if it doesn't hit the emotional highs of its predecessor

Final Fantasy 9, which I did an emotional playthrough of just a month ago

Thanks for reading, and happy new year! I'm excited to share more updates for The Familiar soon.

[libraryleopard]

top 5 pieces of vampire media!

Oho thank you for indulging me, don't mind if I do. I half-drafted this and then forgot about it for a while, but here we go!

So if you haven't noticed, I periodically go through a vampire phase every fall but it's somewhat haphazard because I've never watched some well-known pieces of vampire media like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Blade, or Castlevania. Also, this list might be entirely different in six months when I've read/watched more vampire media if this phase continues! So, with that caveat:

Bonuses: "The House of Aunts" by Zen Cho (amazing short story about Malaysian vampires), the opening sequence of The Hunger where vampires are killing people to "Bela Lugosi's Dead," The Accursed Vampire by Madeline McGrane (cute middle grade graphic novel about a kid vampire).

5. House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson. I read this recently and it fulfilled me need for fucked-up gothic lesbian vampires PERFECTLY. Very atmospheric and claustrophobic and intense and the central relationship between the protagonist and the vampire countess she serves is just *chef’s kiss* in its spiral of lust and obsession. 

4. The Lost Boys (1987). This movie is a cinematic masterpiece do NOT @ me. Top-notch soundtrack, amazing vampire deaths, more 80s fashion than you can shake a stick at, a vampire motorcycle gang…what else do you need?

3. A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson. It’s deliciously gothic! It’s queer! It’s an emotionally intense exploration of abuse and survival! It’s epistolary! Great novella.

3. What We Do in the Shadows (TV show). I do enjoy tragic, gothic vampires for the most part, but I also really enjoy vampire comedy. I watch this with my mom and sister when we’re all home together at the same time and it routinely makes us laugh until we cry. (I’m not caught up on the most recent season, though.) 

2. AMC's Interview With the Vampire. I mean this one is pretty obvious if you have at all glanced in my blog's direction the last few weeks? I’m unfamiliar with the novel or the movie, but this TV show has kind of devoured my brain. I love unreliable narrators! I love tragic father-daughter relationships! I love gothic horror! I love historical fiction set during the Jazz Age! I love the performances of the three main actors! I

1. The vampire ARG that I played during fall 2020. Okay, listen, this one is probably a surprise because I don't think I've ever mentioned it on this blog, but this is what got me into vampires! It was a really elaborate ARG (alternate reality game, like an interactive puzzle game your act out where there are characters played by real people you interact with). I played through my college during the depths of the pandemic, conducted largely through Zoom and Discord (and a few socially distanced outdoor meetings), but this is what really opened my eyes to what I enjoy about vampires. Prior to that, I feel like my main experience of vampire media had been…uh…watching half of Twilight, which did not awaken a vampiric fervor in my heart. But the vampires in this ARG appealed to me a lot because 1) there was really more of an exploration of the moral quandary of being a vampire than I’d encountered before and 2) there were dramatic romances between vampires instead of star-crossed human-vampire romances. Because the world-building was constructed as part of a game, there were different factions of vampires you could align yourself with that had different attitudes towards what it meant to live forever and to feed on people, plus all the characters were essentially part of a giant, dysfunctional polycule in which everyone had dated at some point and there were two exes-who-still-had-feelings-for-each-other on rival factions. It was also fall 2020 and the world felt apocalyptically bad, so everyone got incredibly invested in the lore, characters, and puzzles of this game to a degree that I don’t think can ever be matched. Anyway, that’s basically the root of my annual vampire phase. 

[e1ectrostatic]

30 Day Fictionkind Challenge Day 18

Q: Does fictionkinity connect to neurodivergence for you?

A: Again, not inherently, but to me, yes.

Just to preface: I'll be talking not only about neurodivergence, but I'll also take the chance to talk a bit about mental illness and the psychological aspects of my fictionkinity in general.

And obligatory disclaimer: Again, treat this more like a diary entry rather than an encyclopedia entry. It's just me rambling about my own experiences and thoughts.

First of all, I'm neurodivergent in this life (obviously SHFJHVSDJA otherwise I would've answered no), and my fictotypes all exhibit many traits and behaviors that this society would classify as evidence of neurodivergence. I think having "unorthodox", sometimes debilitating and sometimes advantageous ways of looking at things, accomplishing tasks, and interacting with others is just a part of me. This way of cognitive function labelled as "neurodivergence" (being purposefully broad for privacy reasons) has followed me time and time again to the point I believe it's here to stay. Despite my troubles, I'm glad for it.

Beyond that though, I do think there's some psychological basis for my fictionkinity. I honestly think I just came with alterhumanity factory installed in this life lmao, thanks to the way my brain is wired. My connection to fiction and my interests in general were always "different" from neurotypical peers. I'm happy to embrace it.

So, using my past experiences as a reference, I wouldn't be surprised if my being fictionkin was just another one of many things affected by my neurodivergence. I mean, my brain is the main organ that allows me to experience this world, so I believe it influences every aspect of my life, at least somewhat.

For one, I've always liked to take an "immersive" approach to fiction. Sometimes it was out of escapism, sometimes it helps analysis, sometimes it's just for fun. I often "insert" myself into fictional worlds when picking them apart, especially when I really like the media. This way of thinking helps me discover (or disprove) kintypes, noemata, and memories. It also makes me feel more in tune with my already-confirmed kintypes.

For two, obsessive research and introspection are my best friends. All I want is knowledge. If I'm interested in something, I'll study it. I'll study random things for fun. If something gets me thinking or questioning, I'll dwell on it for months if not years. It feels really nice in particular to know more about myself and how I work. This way of thinking has also helped me realize I'm fictionkin as well as learn & discover more about my fictotypes.

Not that I'm saying neurotypical people don't have these experiences, nor am I saying if you engage with fiction and/or your interests in this way, you're automatically neurodivergent. It's just that I already know I'm neurodivergent, so I know these traits of mine (and others I haven't mentioned) are a product of it.

But, if I can get off topic, even though I feel my fictionkinity has some psychological basis, I still tire of the narrative that genuinely identifying as a fictional character or entity is inherently harmful and/or borne from mental illness. It's not psychological for everyone. In my specific case, I don't believe my fictionkinity is a product of mental illness. Perhaps it may influence it in some ways, but that's nothing new; mental illness influences many if not most aspects of my life. Either way, I'm not hurting myself or anyone else, I'm literally just existing. In fact, accepting myself and expressing myself has enriched my life and noticeably improved my mental health, so what's the issue?

And frankly, people really need to be more accepting of those who do consider their fictionkinity/alterhumanity to be borne from or influenced by mental illness. Just because you think the way someone functions is "weird" doesn't automatically mean it's harmful or warrants your "help". Be respectful and treat them how they wish to be treated. Know their boundaries and follow them. Like you do with literally anyone else.

Alright, that's the end of my getting off topic.

But yeah, to sum it up, my fictionkinity is not caused (at least not completely) by neurodivergence or psychological factors in general. Like I said in response to yesterday's prompt, there are metaphysical factors at play too, plus I like to think of myself as something outside of the dichotomy entirely. I don't even know where the psychological explanations end and the metaphysical explanations begin, or if it's all just one big melting pot.

I do know though that at the very least, my neurodivergence was likely a big help in the process of discovering I'm fictionkin, and goes hand in hand with my alterhumanity in general. How my brain is wired has also equipped me with unique ways to engage with fiction and identity as a whole. That's enough for me to feel like there's at least some connection between my fictionkinity and my neurodivergence.

This was a nice prompt. The psychological and metaphysical aspects of alterhumanity are interesting to me in general, so I enjoyed taking some time to think about my experience. I'm filing away some extra thoughts to elaborate on in future writings if I so choose.

[hostsofunusannus]

Hello and Welcome to the Hosts of Unus Annus!

Have you always wondered which of your favorite characters could have hosted Unus Annus? If so this poll is for you! If you haven't, then maybe that question has inspired you to think about it!

Rules for the Poll:

1. Make sure to submit a pair of characters (meaning two characters together)

2. Characters should be from the same media/interact in canon as the whole point of the poll is for characters with a good dynamic with each other

3. Please no real people, stick to just fictional characters. This is due to the fact that Unus Annus was run by two real life people and I don't want a lot of youtubers being sent in for the reason that "they are youtubers therefore they could run a youtube channel" (If you have any questions about certain characters and are unsure about what they would qualify as, please feel free to ask me!)

4. It is required that you fill out the second question as that is the whole point of the poll! You need to convince people (and me I guess) why your characters would be perfect to host Unus Annus if they had to (However, I understand that sometimes it can be hard to come up with good propaganda/reasoning. If you're really struggling feel free to just type something small and let me know if you would like me to try to add more to it. The only issue would be if I'm not familiar with the characters and while I may be in a lot of fandoms I do not know every character, so to be on the safer side try to come with something or ask other people you know in the fandom for help with writing it)

5. You can submit multiple pairs of characters! Just make sure you submit it in a different form and not the same form! (Also don't submit the same characters over and over again)

6. Please include the fandom that your characters are from! This is so if I'm not familiar with the characters I can look them up and be able to use the correct tags later!

If you have any questions feel free to send me an ask or message me on my main blog @cryptidoftheshadows

I will probably keep the poll open for a month at first and see how many submissions I get before deciding if I am going to keep it open any longer.

Memento Mori Friends

Form Link

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

Prominence [WCh. 2.23]

Social Media AU ; Idol AU ; Added Unit AU CW/TW: Language Genre: Comedy, Romance Pairing: NCT x Idol!Reader, Seonghwa x Reader, Yangyang x Reader; ft. ATEEZ Y/N Pronouns: Female (She/Her) Word Count: 3.8K

(23/80) [First] | [Previous] | [Next] [NCT Masterlist] | [Other Groups Masterlist] | [Prominence S1 Masterlist] | [Prominence S2 Masterlist]

Notes: OOOP this was a lot longer than I intended so I broke it up into two hehe ENJOY AHHHHHH Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.

Feedback is greatly appreciated!! Thank you for reading!

"Alright, here's the game plan," Yangyang shuts his door behind him and the two boys inside looked at each other. Mark adjusted his beanie and Renjun turned his phone off.

"Game plan?" Renjun asks. "Better be a good one if you woke us up both this early to do tell us about it," he says.

"It is important. Plus, Mark had to wake up soon anyway, we're on our way to Music Core."

"Yup, Echoes promotions," Mark yawns. "What's up, Yangyang?"

"Okay, hear me out. It's been two months now."

"Oh god, I know what this is," Renjun rolls his eyes. "No, don't do it, Yangyang."

"You haven't even heard my plan yet..."

"I don't need to. Two months is too soon."

"Wait, I haven't actually slept in two months, two months is too soon for what?" Mark asks.

"Get with the program, Mark, Yangyang's going to ask (Y/N) out again."

"Oh, yeah, no, don't do that," Mark nods his head.

"You guys didn't even hear my plan yet..." Yangyang pouts. "Plus, I'm not going to ask her out."

"... Oh?" Renjun crosses his arms.

"She's going to ask me out," Yangyang says with a satisfied smile. Mark and Renjun broke into laughter and Yangyang's smile wavers. "What?"

"You really, wait, hold on, let me catch my breath," Renjun says between laughs. "You really think she'd ask you out?" Renjun clutches his side and Mark wipes a tear from his eye.

"Yangyang... buddy," Mark shakes his head with a wide smile. "No, you and I both know (Y/N) better than we know ourselves, she already turned you down. And she didn't just turn you down, she brother-zoned you."

"... That's right, isn't it," Yangyang rolls his eyes and sits down on his bed, bouncing slightly from the force. Renjun swivels on his chair with an unsurprised and, quite frankly, disappointed look on his face. "I just... I don't know what to do. I keep trying to get over her but nothing's working! I've even," Yangyang gags, "I tried to imagine taking her out on a," he gags again, "a date."

"Dude, if you can't even say it right now I think that's sign that you've gotten over her," Mark says.

"But, like... oh shit," Yangyang covers his ears and Renjun starts laughing again.

"Oh, man, you're red," Renjun gasps. He looks over at Mark. "He's a lost cause. This is the worst kind of crush. The ones you can't rationalize are the hardest to get over," he shakes his head.

"Just out of curiosity, what was the date?" Mark not so subtly takes his phone out, notes app clear on the screen, but Yangyang chooses not to bring it up.

"I took her to an arcade."

"That's fanfiction material, dude," Mark clicks his tongue, typing it into an apparent list he had.

"I know!" Yangyang shouts. "And she beat my ass at skee ball..."

“In your own fantasy?!”

“Yes!”

"I feel like (Y/N) would be oddly good at skee ball," Renjun hums. "From my limited knowledge of her."

"Oh, that's right! You and (Y/N) don't talk too often, huh?" Mark asks.

"No, everything I know about her is from either Yangyang or Jeno, and recently Jaemin," Renjun hums.

“Jaemin?” Yangyang scours his brain, trying to remember when the two of you interacted longer than a ‘hello,’ but no memories resurfaced.

Actually, come to think about it, during Let’s Play Ball recording he was in between you and Yangyang for recording, maybe you exchanged numbers then. Huh, there's two people he never expected to talk.

"It’s a pretty recent development. You know they text a lot."

"They do?" Mark and Yangyang both ask.

"Yeah, Jaemin's not too good of a conversationalist and, from what I know, (Y/N) is when it comes down to it. Texting is their compromise," Renjun shrugs. "Either way, back to the point of Yangyang waking us up at this god-awful hour, let me tell you this right now, if you even think about trying to go through with this, she will never forgive you."

"Yeah, you're right, I don't know what I was thinking," Yangyang pouts. He walks over to his window, watching the sunrise. "If this relationship was not meant to be, then give me a sign!" He says in an exaggerated manner. There's a knock at the door.

"Bro... what if this is your sign?" Mark gasps.

"Uh... come in," Yangyang says. Kun opens it and spots the group.

"Oh... am I interrupting something?" Kun asks.

"Nope," Renjun shakes his head.

"Oh, well, Yangyang, start packing. Once NCThree promotions end, you and I are going back to China," Kun smiles and nods. Yangyang felt his heart drop, probably as low as Mark’s jaw, and Renjun fought back another laugh.

"Are you... are you serious right now?" Yangyang asks, brows furrowing. Kun reads the room.

"Yes... we have to start recording for our next mini-album," he says. "You should... you should make sure you finish things here in Korea before we leave."

"When do NCThree promos end again?" He asks Mark.

"March 22nd..." he answers.

"Well, shit, that's one hell of a sign," Yangyang shrugs. Kun looks around the room and sighs.

"Yangyang," Kun leans against the door frame. "You'd better come clean to her. She broke up with Seonghwa because he kept a huge secret from her, imagine what she'd do to you."

"How did you..."

"The walls are thin and Ten's been asking for updates," Kun rolls his eyes. "Honestly, if you can't tell her anything, I'll do it for you, alright? I'm tired of seeing you beat yourself up about it," Kun rubs his tired eyes.

“No! Don’t tell her! I’ll handle it,” Yangyang shakes his head. Renjun yawns.

"Kun's right, Yangyang, just come clean to her that you're pathetic ass hasn't gotten over her yet."

"Hey!" Mark shouts. "Being in love is hard. Maybe having that distance will solve things, you know?" Mark shifts in his spot on the floor.

"But..." Yangyang trails.

"What now?" Kun and Renjun both exasperate.

"What if she replaces me?" Despite the sheer ridiculousness of the statement, the fear was clear. Since NCThree first got together more than a year ago, it came as no surprise that the trio were conjoined at their hips, save for when Mark had to run off with the other units, but aside from that the friendship was obvious. It was something all three of them treasured so much.

Or, maybe Yangyang was just overthinking it all. Surely all friends spent the nights in each other's rooms scrolling through Twitter until they had headaches, drinking themselves to sunrise, and having gigabytes upon gigabytes of ridiculous videos that would probably ruin their idol images forever. Yeah, that's totally a friend thing. You know what else has gotta be a friend thing? Stealing each other's things. Yup, he should probably return your band tees soon if he’s going back to China. The only thing that would change is that instead of seeing you in person he'd be talking to you through a screen, right? That shouldn't change anything, he knows that. So what's with this heavy feeling in this heart anyway?

"Yangyang, you good man?" Mark asks. "You're spacing out," Mark asks.

"Relax, Yangyang, I don't think anyone could replace you if they tried," Kun chuckles quietly.

"Maybe Haechan," Mark and Renjun both say aloud.

"Don't tell him that!" Kun scolds them. "Why are you so worried anyway? You and (Y/N) are best friends, you'll both be fine," Kun reassures him. There's a loud knock at the door. "That's probably her." Kun leaves, probably making his way to the front door.

"Yeah, we should probably head out again soon," Mark looks at the time. "Ah, she's gonna know we're hiding something from her," Mark ruffles the back of his hair with his hand and yawns.

"Uh... if she probes we'll just tell her that we're planning her birthday," Yangyang shrugs.

"With Renjun? No offense."

"None taken."

"Uh... yes...?"

"You don't even have to tell her, she'll figure it out herself," Renjun groans. "Alright, I'll wait in here until you both leave, yeah? I'll play with the cats or something."

"Yeah, sounds like a plan," Yangyang's shoulders slumped. "Wait, no, you're right! What the hell? What am I so worried about anyway?! Why would I get replaced? What? That's crazy!"

"Huh? Who's replacing who now?" You ask.

"I'm afraid (Y/N)'s going to replace me after I head back to China," Yangyang explains.

"Why would I replace you?" You ask. "Wait! You're going back to China?!" You dropped your phone, your eyes widening in shock. Yangyang holds his breath, Renjun sighs behind him, and Mark chuckles.

"I'm going back to China!"

"You're leaving me and Mark?!"

"Not willingly!"

"Wow, you guys are going to promote again. Good for you guys!" You clapped his shoulder. "Kun let me in, we have to head out now, we need to be on set before seven," you jut your thumb over your shoulder. You leaned over to look behind him. "Hey, Renjun."

"Hi, (Y/N)," he nods in your direction.

"What's with the party?" You ask. Yangyang swallows harshly.

"We're... uh..." he hesitates.

"You guys planning my surprise birthday or something?" You joked.

"Definitely not!" Mark speaks up, laughing nervously and tossing a paper crumpled into a ball at Yangyang's head. The latter catches it and opens the paper.

'JUST TELL HER ALREADY.' He crumples the paper again and tosses it in the waste bin.

"Alright, let's head out," Yangyang changes the subject, rushing out of his room first.

"Just so you guys know, I like chocolate cake," you said before following Yangyang out.

"She's not actually buying that, is she?" Renjun asks once you're out of earshot.

"I hope she is, otherwise this could get messy," Mark stands up. "Catch you later," he rushes after you.

~

[Huh, you always had a feeling those two had some tension together but you didn't think that they actually had feelings for each other.] You knew Saeron and Jihyun had some of a history together in that they trained together, but to hear that they're actually dating? Part of you felt so happy for them that you could jump for joy, but another part seemed to hold you down. Particularly because of what Saeron had sent to the chat. Did you really make them feel awkward? Maybe you did overreact a little to the breakup, chasing Yangyang and Mark out of your room and handing Mars over to Johnny for a while. Yeah, maybe locking yourself in your room and only leaving to eat or shower wasn't the best idea either. Why were you acting so much like a child anyway? It was just a breakup, not like your life ended or anything. Surely, there would be more. You didn't even act this way when you and Daniel broke up, you both said your goodbyes and that was it.

So why did your breakup with Seonghwa hurt so much? You could barely fathom it yourself.

You put your phone down when you felt someone tap your shoulder.

"What's up?" You ask.

"Can we talk, (Y/N)?" Yangyang asks, headphones now hanging loosely around his neck. His brows furrowed and his expression settled on concern, you felt worry grow in your chest.

"If this is about me replacing you, you don't have to worry. Actually, I'm kind of annoyed that you even thought that I would replace you in the first place," you said to him. "You're my best friend, literally, you're the first person I think of when I just want to talk or even if I need any help with everything," you shrugged. "You really think us being, what, two thousand miles away is going to change that?" You asked.

"I mean... no, but that's not what I wanted to talk about. I rationalized that earlier," he shakes his head.

"Tell you what, as long as you pick up my calls we'll be peachy."

"You hate calling people."

"Exactly. What did you need to talk to me about then?" You smiled softly. The van, meanwhile, pulls into Music Core's parking lot.

"Uh... I'll tell you later, on our way back, actually," he says. "We should probably focus."

"Agreed," you nodded. “Mark? Marky,” you poked Mark’s cheek and he stirred quietly. “Hey, bud, we’re here, wake up,” you kept your voice hushed as you shook his shoulder. "Poor guy, he needs a break," you sighed. Mark opened his eyes and yawned.

"That was fast... felt like I just blinked."

"Yeah, man, you knocked out," you said. The door next to you slid open and your manager pokes his head in.

"Ready to go? This and one more music show to film and we start actual promos, we're nearly done."

"This, Music Bank, and The Show, we're almost there," you told yourself, words of encouragement, really.

"Oh my gosh! You're here!" Jungwoo's voice was sing-song when he spotted the trio. "Come, follow me!" He waved everyone into the building.

"Morning, Jungwoo," you waved at him as you passed.

"Hello, (Y/N), wow, look at you, you're glowing," he compliments you.

"Thanks, Jungwoo, I slept for, like, an hour last night," you chuckled tiredly.

"I can tell, Mark's a dead man walking."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it," Jungwoo shakes his head. "I arranged for all of your favorites for breakfast, you all need to eat well to have a good day," he says, practically hopping behind the group.

"Oh, thanks, man, you didn't have to," Yangyang says.

"I didn't, but I wanted to!" Jungwoo gasps and hits Yangyang's shoulder lightly. "Oh, over here! This is my co-host, Minho!" Jungwoo introduces him to you.

"Hello," he waves shyly. Jungwoo nudges him harshly.

"He's a huge fan of ANiMA," he not-so-quietly whispers. Minho's eyes widen with embarrassment and he clears his throat.

"I, I mean... I guess I really like your music," he says, eyes averting away from you.

"That's sweet, I listen to a few Stray Kids tracks too," you told him, trying to get him to relax a little. His shoulders were so tense you were sure if Jungwoo nudged him again he'd fall over. Sensing this, Jungwoo, instead, wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"You do...?" He asks.

"I'm personally a fan of Levanter," you nodded. Minho's face relaxes and soon he looks more animated.

"Wow! That's an old one, I'm surprised," he says.

"I've been listening for a while, I guess," you continue walking down the hall as Jungwoo coaxed the group forward. After a short walk, Jungwoo stops everyone.

“And here we are! For my favorite NCT U unit,” Jungwoo chuckles and opens the door that had your names on it. “Good luck on your stage, I’ll see you when the interview starts!”

“See you,” he waited for you to walk in before closing the door behind you.

The group walked into the dressing room, door shutting behind them, and the stylists were running around the room. Everyone muttering how the room didn't open until recently and that they had to work a little faster to meet deadlines and something about makeup going missing?

“Everything okay?” Mark asks.

“Yeah, it’s all good,” Jia wheeled the breakfast cart over. "Eat up while we do hair, not too fast or you'll be sick," she says. True to Jungwoo's words, it was everyone's favorites. Jia gestured for the three to sit down and, once they were, everyone got to work.

“How’s your day going, Jia?” You asked her, breakfast in hand.

“Oh, it’s great! Aside from the fact that we're incredibly behind schedule and the staff accidentally set us up in another group's room, but we'll manage. Thank you for asking,” she smiles, but soon after she clicks her tongue. “Where’s Kyungjae?” She looks around.

“Over here, Miss!” He raises his voice instead of his hands, which were struggling to carry the makeup caboodle. “Sorry, this is a lot heavier than I thought,” he groans.

“Oh, let me help with that,” you hopped off of your chair, placed your food down, and you walked over to him. You easily lifted the caboodle, which was actually heavy but you’d been Jeno’s reluctant gym partner for the past few weeks, and placed it next to Mina.

“Thanks, (Y/N), you really are amazing,” he says. You spotted Kyungjae’s dejected face and just smiled. Mark, meanwhile, cleared his throat suspiciously loud and Yangyang started humming ’Miracle’ in an equally loud manner.

“What the…” you just shook your head. “Don’t worry about it, Kyungjae. Yangyang needs a lot of makeup so it makes sense that his is heavier,” you teased him without even looking at Yangyang and the latter just snickered.

“Says the woman with a literal luggage for her makeup,” Yangyang snarks back. You, with no energy to come up with another quip, just repeated his sentence in a mocking voice. As you sat back down, you didn’t miss the confident smirk on his face, but you opted to let him off easy this morning. Kyungjae took his spot between you and the mirror again, leaning slightly against the table as he brought the cart closer to him.

“Oh? Even after styling her once you're still volunteering for the princess of NCThree?” Jia chuckles. “She’s not easy to style, this one,” she jokes.

“Well, I think I didn’t do too bad a job last time,” Kyungjae crosses his ankles and pulls the bottle of foundation from the cart. “Plus, (Y/N) doesn’t need much work, just a few touch-ups here and there and she’s the brightest one on the stage,” he mumbles. You feel your face heat up and, maybe you were imagining things, but there was a ghost of a smile on Kyungjae’s lips.

“Aw, you flatter me too much,” you muttered.

"Take your time eating, like I said, we'll just do quick spot checks and you'll be ready," he says.

"Thanks," you nodded, eating slightly faster to not stress everyone out.

Meanwhile, on both sides of you, Mark and Yangyang had their heads turned to you and soon their glances moved to each other. Quickly, their respective stylists turned their heads back toward their mirrors.

“I have to use the bathroom!” Mark yelled it quickly and Hana, his main stylist, rose her hands quickly from the surprise of it all.

“Well… you don’t need to announce it, Mark,” Jia laughs. “Go ahead.”

“I’ll go with him!” Yangyang practically shoots from his seat and Mina recoils her hand from the burning hair iron. “You know… buddy system, and I have to go too,” he nods.

“Why didn’t you two go earlier?” Jia crosses her arms and Yangyang gasps.

“What? Why are you getting mad now that both of us need to go?” He frowns. You rolled your eyes and he glared at you as if to tell you that you shouldn’t question it. You narrowed your gaze, but nodded anyway.

“Because now it’s just poor planning,” she shook her head. “Alright then, both of you go, I’m sure you’ve all been here enough to know where they-”

“Okay, thanks! We won’t take long!” In an instant, Mark and Yangyang rushed out. You folded the now empty bag in your hands and placed it under your legs, opting to throw it away on your way out.

“Anyway,” Jia picks up the flat iron again and starts on your hair. “How are you, (Y/N)?”

“I’m alright, finally got a meetup time,” you spoke quietly. Jia was one of your closest confidants, she seemed to know a lot about you and you liked to think you knew a lot about her. She often gave you advice from a different perspective that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. “This weekend,” you said.

You, of course, were referring to your university friends. You had to apologize to them directly, you shouldn't have faulted them for something Juliet did and, according to Daniel, Carson's been meaning to make it up to you too.

“I see, you’re going alone?” Jia asks.

“I might bring Yeseul with me.”

“That’s good, it’s smart to go with one of the girls,” she says, Kyungjae looks between you both, nervously playing with the bottle of foundation in his hands. You looked up at him and he sucks in a breath, he must have realized that he was staring.

“Oh, don’t worry, Kyungjae, I’m not going on a date or anything,” you teased him and your smile only widened when his face grew red.

“I… no, wait, I’m sorry, uh… that was very unprofessional of me to make an assumption,” he stutters. You just shook your head, maintaining your smile to calm him down.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it, I can see Jia glaring at you from the mirror, but if we’re going to be working together I want us to be comfortable,” you reassured him. Jia just laughs behind you.

“There you go again, (Y/N), you’re such a people person now, it’s crazy to think about it.”

“Well, I tend to be more talkative around friends,” you hummed and leaned forward, Kyungjae shaking the nerves from his head and getting back to work.

"How about that other problem of yours?" She asks. You move your eyes to face her, as Kyungjae's hand was holding your face to fix your foundation.

"We... I unblocked him a couple of days ago," you answered. Kyungjae moves your head to the side, starting your contour.

"Oh?"

"Well, I don't hate him, and maybe I overreacted a little..."

"A little?"

"Okay, I overreacted a lot," you would've grimaced if not for the lipgloss wand that found itself against your bottom lip.

"Oh, so on good terms?" She asks.

"Somewhat, we agreed to talk properly, is all," you answered once Kyungjae finished.

"That's good, you're both adults, talk it out, when's he coming back?"

"I'm not sure, actually, I kind of left it up to him. Told him to call me back, you know? He wasn't exactly sober when he called," you rolled your eyes, quickly closing them when Kyungjae pulled out the eye shadow palette.

"Hm, leaving the ball in his court again?" Jia sighs.

"Sorry?" You didn't know what she meant by that tone of voice.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," she finished your hair and Kyungjae leaned back. Jia moved in front of you. "Not bad, newbie," she compliments Kyungjae's work. "It's like you've been practicing on her specifically, have you two been meeting up without me knowing?" She teases.

"What? No! Oh, um... no," Kyungjae answers, quickly regaining his composure. "Although, now that I think about it, would it be a bad thing if I asked you out to coffee sometime?" He asks you. You blinked once.

Did he just ask you out?

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[mansplainmanipulatemalewife]

Okay doing this for realises now I'm gonna try to be pretty specific bc it's more fun that way so this might get long

Also I should probably include some content warnings I guess so like... internalised ablism and homophobia, blood, injury and infection, flies and maggots - its all fictional and largely either brief mentions or my own fairly stylised artwork, but just in case you have been warned

Anyway:

1. Music my beloved <3 it makes me feel a lot of things but I think the album that makes me feel most happy would have to be the murderdoll's women and children last idk how to embed an mp3 on tunglr help

HATE that it makes me do it via spotify that does NOT make me happy I have a perfectly good mp3 right here but either way enjoy the song <3

2. Hang out with the besties <3 one of my best friends irl is coming over on Sunday and we're having a special interests day where I rewatch the main hatchetfield trilogy with her × × × (I still haven't seen npmd oops) and I get to force her to watch Ghosts and its going to be so fun :3

3. D&D - I can talk so much about blorbo from my games I've had so many characters over the years but these three are my current ones:

The world's first redneck dwarf. Kudn is a stubborn old man who has just enough internalised homophobia not to notice that he has in fact been gay married for about 150 years. He's technically a Bard but built in a way that apparently confuses my group because his playstyle is so counterintuitive to how bards traditionally work even without all the flavour-text being reskinned.

Red's costume has gone through a couple of redesigns since I drew this but it's still my favourite drawing of her. She's an eldritch knight fighter but behaves more like a traditional ranger. She has a falcon familiar named kevin who fucking hates her and is the funniest character ever. She's just started multiclassing (illegally) into warlock after reading the necronomicon in-game.

I only have sketches of Loralai but she's a cutesy goth swarmkeeper and has a symbiotic relationship with a swarm of flies, after their maggots were used to treat her necrosis. She's extremely bubbly and friendly, but also feels very self-conscious about her scarring, so she tends to keep the mask on around people she doesn't trust.

Red and Loralai are both from in-person games so they both have minis too :3 featuring Red's updated armour design

4. My volunteering :3 I do shifts at a drop in we make everyone tea and coffee and hot food and I get to sit and chat with people about what's going on with their lives. It's really interesting and also helps with my weird guilt complex.

5. The blorbos gotta include the blorbos this is my fandom blog after all - I never actually get round to writing anything god I still need to edit that ghosts fic oops but like if you talk to me on any given day I typically have at least one new fic idea to pitch.

I kind of forgot about it but for a while there was a game where y'all can give me any pairing or interaction, the more random and unlikely and ridiculous the better (provided its media I actually, like, know about and am familiar with) and I have to create the outline for a cohesive, well-characterised, entirely serious fic. I believe it was called "bad fic ideas with void" I should bring that one back it was fun.

Anyway yeah I have so many blorbos from so many random bits of media and while I might complain near-constantly about fannon (mostly in dms sorry @gooopy ily) I am so hype to talk about all of them all the time even if I forget they exist for a couple of months in between

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers ⭐️

Wow this is just like therapy <3

[juliesiege]

Congrats! You win a prize for being the first person to interact with this blog that I honestly did completely forget about. (neutral, not-sarcastic statement. just surprised that...anyone found anything i posted honestly lol)

Feel free to disregard anything I write here. Ultimately, I don't really care about all this. I don't want to argue anything, and I understand, fundamentally, that, from a brief glance at your bio, we're going to view SPN through different and irreconcilably conflicting lenses, and therefore reaching consensus is not something that is likely to be done over a very silly tumblr post. I have no interest in changing your mind, and you cannot change mine.

With that out of the way, the point of my post, if I understand my own writing correctly, because I wrote all of this a VERY long time ago in my life-events chronology, was not a watsonian analysis. It was strictly a doylist one. Little disclaimer, but I usually analyze media through a doylist lens. Watsonian analysis I usually save for transformative reconfiguration. So my post is: Fandom finds this thing objectionable (It is in itself a scene that I don't actually really care about) -> this thing sticks in my craw and is a weird bump in my mental concept for Siege's SPN writing -> I ramble to myself to reconcile it on my SPN writer sideblog with 0 followers that none of my SPN friends even care about.

This is a post about the Kripke era writer room. This is not a post about SPN's relationship with portraying women, entitlement, sexual assault/coercion, OR how popular conceptions of consent have changed from when the episodes you've mentioned and other episodes containing similar questionable content were written and now.

Now this last one is a little tricky to discuss, so let me be explicitly clear, I'm not dismissing nor do I take lightly any kind of sexual assault. Any forms sexual assault are bad, horrible even, regardless of time period, but that doesn't mean that we as a society haven't seen shifts and growth both in conversation and American legislation surrounding this topic, and that because a work of fiction is produced earlier in the timeline, certain things might have been seen as more acceptable while they might stir up more (justified) outrage now.

Now, I'm not going to analyze sexual consent and Dean and Sam through a serious watsonian lens now. It's been too long since I've watched Supernatural, and while I haven't moved on from the fandom, I haven't had a serious watsonsian-framed discussion in like, at least 4 months, so I'm not equipped and it's not a discussion I really find enjoyment in having, especially with someone I know won't see eye-to-eye, and I'm here to have fun.

So have a doylist one instead!

What I will say is that I think A) the early writer's room didn't think too deeply about these things, and were, on some level, a product of their time, B) the original concept for Dean was just a really sleazy dude who was supposed to play second-fiddle to Sam, Kripke's self-insert, and you're not going to write and film your pilot episode with that framing in mind without having that contaminate a lot of episodes surrounding that, and C) yeah I really wish SPN didn't have these things in them. Of the two of them, Dean and Sam, Dean is shown to be more sexually active with strangers, which means that Dean is going to be the one who's going to take on the characterization of how the writers think man who's hooks up with a lot of women acts.

A thing that I like to note for my own sake is that these behaviors diminish over SPN's runtime. And when they do come up again, it can usually be attributed to certain writers. To discuss some of your examples. Slice Girls, which I think is the latest aired off the top of my head, was written by Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner. They are, in my opinion, some of the worst writers to ever grace SPN's writer's room. They consistently have issues portraying race, sexual consent, both at the same time, and more! After School Special is written by David Loughlin and Andrew Dabb, and they BOTH have issues portraying race and sexual consent and both at the same time (and more!). Now David Loughlin eventually left SPN but Dabb stayed and went on to showrun SPN S12-15, which have some of the most abhorrent Dean characterization (and it wasn't just Dean but Dabb seemed to have a certain affinity for really drinking the "Dean is a shallow sleaze that thinks only for himself" kool-aid. There's a post out there that said that Dabb thinks Dean is his high school bully that like it could have some roots in truth.) I've ever seen and the episodes and arcs aren't even all that interesting or fun to boot. Now, Are You There God... is written by Sera Gamble, and discussing her characterization of Dean and her tendencies as a writer are MUCH more complex, so I shall simply leave this here and say that she's often pretty edgy because this post is already long enough.

Now you could probably go and snag examples from all over the Kripke era of Dean performing these behaviors, if you really wanted to, though please don't put in the work lol. But. I've already talked about my thoughts on the portrayals of such things in early season Supernatural in all this...somewhere.

Anyway, I hope you didn't actually read all of this. My long-winded, inconcise rambling is part of the reason that this is the first time this blog has seen the light of another person's day, and ultimately what I've written here is just a continuation of those bad habits. I'm going to go turn off reblogs on this now, like I probably would've done if the feature was available to begin with, because I'd really rather this didn't spread beyond this. If you feel particularly inclined to reply, the replies should still be open, but I think I've said all I can particularly think to say.

now's the time i guess. I'll probably RB this with more thoughts later but rn I'm trying to fall asleep and i think this will fix me. basically.

In 4.07 It's the Great Pumpkin Sam Winchester, Dean acts in some way that could be interpreted as interest toward a high schooler (at oldest 18, while Dean is probably 29 which. Oof) (it's been a while since I watched the exact scene but I remember thinking that it could potentially be interpreted otherwise, though that might be my Dean apologist/understander brain speaking. He's performing half-hearted interest. Maybe. Idk. I don't make the decisions, I just come up with the possible answers. Take this entire parenthetical with a grain of salt lol). Anyway here's the superwiki transcript.

(Now without watching it, my parenthetical still stands. From this I can't discern shit about Dean's intentions. Dean licks his lips constantly. He licks his lips before having a thought. Sam also has a history of taking a lot of what Dean does in the context of women in bad faith. Note also that Sam himself is the first person to vocalize it and the framing of a potentially underage girl as jailbait is in itself a potential yikes. But that's not what I'm here to discuss.)

I'm here to discuss. Is Julie Siege responsible for this. Idk, man (gn, I'm Californian). I don't know her. If there's any metanarrative lore associated with this episode, it hasn't come my way yet so. Without further ado. Possible explanations.

Julie Siege wrote this because she thought it was interesting and non-offensive.

Julie Siege wrote this because she thought it was in character for them and no other reason.

Julie Siege wrote this because she was writing to the style of the boys club she was working in. Remember that the Supernatural writers room was a very macho environment, especially S4-5.

Julie Siege wrote this as a way of trying to gain acceptance in that space. See above.

Julie Siege didn't write this. Kripke era scripts were highly collaborative and a single writer would rarely be responsible for the entire script [my source is the 4.03 commentary track. See the superwiki page for a link to a transcript for that]

Modifiers on the above: She didn't write it, 1) but she liked it, 2) but she didn't care, 3) and she didn't like it but kept quiet bc boys club, or 4) and she didn't like it and argued against it but was shot down. Oh and 5) It was added in after the script was out of her hands entirely.

Julie Siege didn't write this. It was ad libbed in or it came into creation on the day of filming some other way (directorial choice? idk how these things work)

All of this specifically to say. At the end of the day you really just don't know if a writer is responsible for small moments or certain lines, particularly in the Kripke era. I have other thoughts about the probability of such things in the other eras but that's a post for another time.

So like. Yeah. It's hard to attribute certain specific items or "crimes" to certain writers unless you definitely know for sure and with confirmation (or unless there are observable patterns that heavily suggest it) that it was something that they wrote or endorsed. In the Kripke era.

There's a S1 or S2 extra (i think it was for 1.03 dead in the water) where i think it was Sera Gamble who says. People will come up to you about an episode you wrote and be like, oh i really liked this line! But most of the time it was a line that someone else wrote. Which is basically the tl;dr for this post.

So yeah tl;dr: the inner workings of television writing are more complex than one might initially assume, so don't assume anything. (Insert my prior disclaimers here.)