#is this au just a way for me to have fun with the bl lore? yes

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Biweekly Media Roundup

- The Owl House (TV) - Alright so we got the penultimate episode, soon we’ll have no Owl House left. This was a pretty good setup, the most memorable parts being Willows much needed development, Luz’s palismen reveal, the brief snippets of Collector lore, and Eda and Lilith's new looks. The school stuff sorta dragged as I wasn’t super interested in the background cast and their petty survivalist struggle when the Collector as an entity is a lot more intriguing; I do wish we got to see more of their deal though I suppose that’s something to look forward to in the finale. 

- Buddy Daddies (Anime) - Buddy Daddies started off pretty good and has gotten a bit better each episode, with a pretty good sense of humor and some nice characterization moments for Rei. I’m still waiting for Miri to develop a personality beyond ‘Cute child’ (Something like Anya or Yotsuba), but as a vehicle for comedy/wholesomeness she works fine. Anyway, if you’re watching pause to read the daycare moms texts, they’re great. 

- The Way of the House Husband (Anime) - An anime night staple, we’ve caught up with House Husband, which continues to be a great time. While the core joke of “Scary ex yakuza actually does really wholesome mundane things” is more or less the same each time, the execution changes enough to keep the formula working. In general it’s just a pleasant watch, and it’s kind of validating to see normal struggles like weeding your yard or impulse buying expensive food being treated with the same intensity as a shoot-out. It really be like that sometime.

- JJBA: Stone Ocean (Anime) - Welp finished Stone Ocean and. It did certainly end. I’m not really sure how I feel about it, I guess it’s not a bad end per se but it sure left a lot of things unanswered/open to interpretation. I guess Part 7 will elaborate more on the rules of the new world but for the characters in this part I guess we’ll just have to imagine what this Modern Day Nobody Dies Found Family AU is like. Either way my favorite nonbinary mass of plankton FF probably doesn’t exist in this new world either so bummer. Still, this was an interesting season, I did like the concept of gravity reversal and the opportunity to see the main cast outside of the prison setting.  In terms of Jojo Parts overall I’d put it around the same Tier as Part 3, it had a solid cast of main characters, a good antagonist, and some interesting stand match-ups, but could also drag a bit as I zoned out during quite a few of the villain-of-the-week battles, and lacked consistency when it came to the power set rules. 

- The Greatest Estate Developer (Webcomic) - I still have brainrot over these guys, I’m going to cave and read the webnovel any minute I can feel it. 

- Demon Slayer (Anime) - Watched the whole Mugen Train Arc this week, which had some extra content from the movie to allow for more Rengoku time. Again, I don’t have much to say, still really impressed by the final battle and Inosuke is still best boy.

- Love Is War (Anime) - So this is one I’ve had on the backburner for a while, I had heard from basically everyone that it was amazing but had attempted to watch the first few episodes a few times and never got it to stick. To be fair I had known that I should give it longer to impress me, comedies in general usually take at least half a season to endear you to the characters before getting really good, I guess I just had other things I was more interested in. Well, no more, now that my sister is watching it with me we’ve blown right though the first season, and while I still wouldn’t call it a masterpiece I do see where the hype is coming from, the cast is a lot of fun. The ending of the 1st season in particular was super cute, I’m rooting for these idiots. 

- Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies (Video Game) - I had taken a brief break from my quest to complete the whole Ace Attorney franchise after Apollo Justice, but I’m back now with Dual Destinies. For positives so far I like Athena and Blackquill, as well as the Athena/Apollo sibling dynamic. For negatives I kind of wish Phoenix wasn’t as prevalent as he is, we are starting to get too many characters vying for the spotlight and I feel like there’s not enough time for any of them to make a lasting impression, especially poor Athena having to share her spotlight with 2 guys who already had their own games. 

- Persona 5 Royal (Video Game) - Still impressed with how this game writes the core friend group, it’s very pleasant to watch them all interact. Yusuke and Makoto are my faves right now, though battle wise Ann and Ryuji are solid units. I don’t feel like writing much more atm, mostly because I’d rather be playing this game haha.

We also just started Gintama and Ranking of Kings at anime night. I’m theoretically watching Sense 8 and The Last of Us as well, though I’m behind due to prioritizing the others. Finally, I’ve been keeping up with ORV, S-Class, Demon School, and TVDINT as they publish weekly.

Listening to: Persona 5 OST, Little Lion Man by Mumford & Sons, Parachute by Ingris Michaelson, Fear & Delight by The Correspondents, Her Diamonds by Rob Thomas, Melancholic by Junky, There She Goes by The La’s, Waiting For Love by Avicii, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic by The Police, Somebody Loves You by Betty Who, EPIC: The Troy Saga OST

[bluejayblueskies]

Hi, I hope I'm not too late to ask some Weird Writer Questions cause they sound fun! Number 24, 19, 13, and 17 (that last one for whisky would be cool but all your WIPS are lovely so pick whichever you want!) hope you have a nice day Jay!!

weird questions for writers!

(you're absolutely not too late--thank you for messaging! i hope you have a nice day as well 🥰)

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

for prep work, i used to (pre-tma and a little bit into the beginning of writing for tma) jump right into multichapter stories with a vague premise and no clue of the actual plot or ending, but i found it's easier to actually complete multichapter stuff if i have an outline and an idea of where i want the story to go, lol who knew? so my prep work now consists of, at minimum, a rough outline of the entire story arc from beginning to end, but usually a chapter-by-chapter outline of major story beats, approximate scenes, etc.. for whisky, i jumped in with a rough story arc and then made the chapter-by-chapter outline around chapter three when i started to get bogged down in 'what scene should i do next?' details. i usually don't do any prep at all for one-shots, since they're typically 1-2 scenes, but for longer ones i may throw together a quick bullet list of where i want the story to go

and i do not like outlining alkdsgjsag. it's probably my least favorite part of the writing process. (i'm currently for example avoiding fixing my whisky outline, which i need to change the last chapter for slightly due to a piece of lore i added contradicting my current ending.) i think it's because outlining requires the most decision-making about my story and the most critical thinking about, 'okay, what do i actually want to say and when do i want to say it.' i'm always much happier when i have the outline because it's so much better to write with one, but the process of making it? detestable lol.

(more below the cut because i got predictably long-winded with this)

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

this answer got very long, so buckle in and bear with me lol:

i started writing very young (perhaps second or first grade?) partly because my father is a copywriter and thus encouraged it and partly because i read so many books as a child. my elementary school had this anthology that you could submit to starting in third grade, and i remember writing short stories for it (that always ended up being too long--turns out i had chronic 'can't shut up' disease even at the tender age of 8).

getting into middle school, i started to write longer things. it's hard for me to remember exact dates, but i know i finished my first novel-length story around ... 7th grade? it is Extremely Bad by virtue of being written by somebody who had only experienced the world for ~12 years, but it's also probably one of the most out-there things i've ever written in terms of plot so i still give it a solid 5/10. (i can elaborate on it if people are interested! an in-depth discussion of it is just a bit beyond the scope of this particular question lol).

(i also wrote several stories that could best be described as uh. RPF between me & my best friends and their middle school crushes. including a whole entire trilogy with novella-length stories. but we're not going to talk about those XD)

i started and did not finish uhhh probably 20-30 other original stories between the years of 2011 - 2017, most of which are also not very good but that taught me a lot about creating characters, worldbuilding, writing styles and SPAG, and other things that helped me develop as a writer. there are a few that i do genuinely want to pick back up someday, but it's hard to get motivated to write original stuff and is much easier to simply write an AU and stick my blorbos in as characters. i think 2017 is the last time i can really truly say i actively worked on original stuff, since i fell into writing mostly fic after i graduated high school.

i wrote fic in high school too--mostly supernatural, sherlock, and doctor who stuff, because i was very much into superwholock--and most of it is still on my ao3. occasionally, people will jumpscare me by commenting on one of my old spn fics because i genuinely forget that people still might read them lol. i started my fic publishing journey on quotev though, and a little bit on wattpad and ff.net, before moving to ao3 in 2015 and never looking back. my stance on my old writing is that even though i've generally moved on with my life and cringe a bit when i look at it, i did write it once upon a time and liked it then, so i won't take it down and/or disown it. i'm sure in 10 years i'll look back on the stuff i wrote now and cringe too. so it goes.

i took a break from writing for ~ 3 years when i went to college, with the exception of the one (1) voltron fic i wrote that i am still quite proud of. (a multichapter fic i finished without making anything remotely close to an outline! wow!). tma will always be so incredibly dear to me because it reignited my desire to write (like. with a blowtorch. i have written over 610k words since summer 2020 when i started listening to tma, which 12-year-old me would have gone nuts over), and so far, i'm still going strong!

i think i have much better writing habits than i had when i was younger. i try to make an effort to do it every day, even when i'm tired or not really feeling it, even if the words are absolute garbage, even if it's nothing related to my current projects, rather than just riding the tide of motivation. i'm hoping that that means i won't be giving it up anytime soon (i certainly have many more plans for malevolent fics in the future including at least one more involved multichapter fic riffing off episode 20 👀) and i'm also hoping that i can jump back into original stuff with a fresh perspective and new ideas. who knows!

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

the subject matter i have the most difficulty with is, funnily enough, romance arcs. i understand point A (characters meet and become friends) and i understand point B (characters are dating) but the stuff that comes in between??? it's a black box for me alskdjga. something happens there, but i (aro) could not tell you what it is. as such, i always feel like any romance arc i attempt in a multichapter fic has terrible pacing, where the characters are falling in love too quickly, deciding to declare their feelings too abruptly, etc.. i'm struggling with this a lot right now in ten thousand flowers in spring, and i'm glad people are leaving positive comments on the most recent chapter because i feel like the romantic pacing is all over the place but i genuinely do not know how to fix it. whisky doesn't suffer from the same issues for some reason. i think because both arthur and john are arospec, so i'm not technically writing a romance? john is very much in romantic love with arthur, but arthur is not--though as in canon, john is Arthur's Person Who He Cares About So Much. idk, i think their canon relationship is so intricate and complicated that i'm just going *shrug* about the whole thing and not worrying about it.

in terms of what's easy, i have a really easy time with fantasy--and, if that's too broad to be considered subject matter, then specifically the worldbuilding involved with fantasy. so i guess that would be fantastical environments? basically, i like a lot that there's no rules other than the ones that i create for myself, so i can do whatever the hell i want and it's correct because that's just how it is in this world! (see, again, ten thousand flowers in spring). of course, i still do research and think about what i want my world to look like, because going 'that's just how it is!' isn't a replacement for that and i don't want to be a lazy writer, but the flexibility is soooo nice. (i, for example, am not looking forward to researching how gangs actually work for whisky and will thus likely just. make some stuff up and hand-wave it away as being 'yeah that's just how the memphis gangs work, don't worry about it,' though i will also make an effort to learn the general structure of stuff.)

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

hghhh the forbidden whisky lore 👀 there's a lot i can't say for fear of spoilers, but there is some stuff that probably won't make it into the story that isn't spoilery!

John was born on December 26, 1981 and is as of the most current whisky chapter 41 years old

Arthur was born on April 2, 1986 and is of the most current whisky chapter 37 years old

Arthur began touring around 2004 when he was 18 years old (he was recruited straight out of college/sixth form). However, he didn't begin composing professionally until 2005 and likely didn't get major movie gigs until closer to 2008. He was classically trained on the piano from a young age, though never on a university level, and his compositional and performance style has both popular and classical influences.

Arthur was born in the UK, recruited from the UK, and moved to LA as part of his contract. He met Bella in LA (so in this AU, Bella is American), and Faroe was born on November 13, 2006.

John started his pre-club career in 2002 at age 20, and quit that job and purchased the club around September 2016 at age 34.

Arthur wasn't lying in chapter one when he said that he comes to the club because he likes the wallpaper :) and John was not lying in chapter two when he said the club doesn't have wallpaper :) [this bit will make it into the fic, but i wanted to include it here anyway]

i also have a diagram of john's club that i keep forgetting to include in the end notes:

[ID: A sketched diagram of John's club. It is a square building with a front door on the bottom right side and a door to the basement on the upper right side. Along the left from bottom to top are John's office, the kitchen/food storage area, and the bathrooms. The backstage area lines the entire back wall, and in front of it is the stage, with doors on either side to access the backstage, a grand piano on the stage, and curtains separating the stage from the backstage. There are tables scattered across the main floor, and a wall with archway cutouts separates the main floor from the kitchen and John's office. Along the front wall is the bar, with seating in an L shape that leaves hallway space for John to access his office. The seat closest to John's office is labeled 'Arthur's seat.' A coat closet is in the bottom right corner. /End ID]

is this acoustically sound? don't ask me, i haven't finished that class yet alsdkjgsag. john has acoustic panels in the back to adjust the absorption of the room, i've made it canon XD

in terms of history, i genuinely don't remember where i got the idea for whisky from--i think i was just rotating piano player arthur in my mind one day, went 'hey what about famous arthur?', then went 'well what is john doing?', remembered how much i love small music clubs, and the rest is history. the entire second half of this fic (approx. ch. 8 onward) as well as john's backstory was not part of the initial concept at all, and i very much fleshed it out as i went while writing the first ~3 chapters. i think it's all fully fleshed out now though (excepting the little bit from the last chapter that i have to fix) and i am very excited for chapter 9 in particular :3

there is a scene that i really want to write that won't make it into the main story because it a) will only work from arthur's pov, and i want to keep whisky strictly john's pov, and b) because arthur is a smart dude and even though the scene would be very cool, it would 100% clue arthur in on some crucial things too early on. so alas, it will probably remain as an unrelated oneshot should i choose to write it in the future. (though it's also a scene that works better if the audience doesn't know what's going on either,,,,, but that could spoil them for things too soon as well because you all are also smart cookies, so,,,, much to consider)

aaaand for fun, here's an excerpt from the next chapter:

Buy him flowers, Lilly had said. Right, okay—which fucking ones? Does it matter? John feels like it matters, but he doesn’t have the first clue as to why or what the right choice would be. Is it weird to buy somebody flowers when they’re standing right next to you? That feels like something you get beforehand and then bring as a gift. Should he have planned ahead? Why is his heart beating so fucking loud in his ears?

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

alright well now that i’ve got that random bout of “god damn it balance team” out of my system,,,

h2o au lore time

i hit 235 pages the other night!!! this is the longest thing I’ve ever written. I thought my 100 page FFXV H2O AU would take the cake for a while there with 100 pages, but nope. Borderlands.

🥳 a snippet from Junpai-7, long before the events of BL3.

ahaha it’s not mermay anymore u thought u were safe NOPE im full of anxiety and cheese puffs and here to wreak havoc

ive been working on and off these past few nights. it’s been a rough time for... everybody and everything, so i haven’t really had the motivation to write.

but i’ve been playing thru the cartels event while i’ve got time and thinking about the different stones for different magics because obviously these eridium snorting badasses (the sirens, not the cartel) gotta have parallels right?

so obviously eridium is for sirens (and possibly anointed?? im still a little lost on them)

i was thinking for psychics they could have those red eridian crystals that are shown around nekrotefeyo (explaining why Troy has 2 hanging around his neck all the time) and also why his psychic powers are stronger than anyone else in the AU. 

but idk if they have a name other than Eridian Crystal, you know?? should I come up with a name??? because im really bad at that.

also you know how jack’s mind control collar turned lilith’s tattoos that pinkish red?

haha, yeah. maybe it was a mix of eridium purple/red eridian crystals. dunno where jack would’ve got his grubby little hands on eridian crystals, but if they were all the fuck over Nekro powering stuff up, maybe he was able to find ‘em somewhere in an Eridian ruin on Pandora powering, like, a giant fuckoff elevator.

obviously merfolk and werebeasts have the moonstone from TPS (because COME ONNN)

because its literally this game’s eridium and IT’S SO COOL

and as much as i don’t really like the mako mermaids lore additions, you gotta admit the moon rings are pretty dope

like come on

COME ONNNNN

i also like the idea that, well you know how on pandora originally the Vault colorings were these blue-ish white color? I like to imagine that Elpis (moonstone) played a part in stasis-ing the vaults and keeping them from turning the more Eridium/purple color (indicating that they are charging/opening). so elpis/moonstone was actually keeping the Vaults from opening before the 200 year charge period (and obviously sirens can charge vault keys as a catalyst w/ eridium so the fact that the Vaults turn eridium purple, since eridium is so closely linked to sirens, makes sense)

im not sure about fae tho. I want zer0 to have something cool :( I guess they could share with psychics (especially since Zer0′s whole thing is r e d) but I kinda want them to have something unique. like merfolk/werebeasts have that connection to the moon, the transformations, but idk about fae/psychics. it doesn’t sit right with me. 

oooo ooooohhhhhh i know, there’s one more I haven’t thought of. the green. yes. we know it’s canon and not just the bloody harvest event bc of guns love and tentacles. and the wisps/spirits we see in that DLC remind me a lot of will o’ the wisps that fae can be associated with. so sure. say there’s a green... crystal somewhere out there. that, plus its associated with the portals we see often in these events. plus as a dullahan, at least for zer0, that would make a lotta sense given they’re often associated with death. idk about the other fae tho 🤔 i would very much like to see an elaboration on dark maliwan and their research bc obviously there was something going on there. but alas. i have to do everything my damn self.

“I am eternal / death will never capture me / my skills exceed his” also has a much cooler meaning now that we know Zer0 is associated with the death dimension. dope.

also also

“They do not appreciate being watched while on their errands, throwing a basin of blood on those who dare to do so (often a mark that they are among the next to die)”

hehe, death mark. 

[hunterswearingplaid]

Bar Encounters (Dean x Reader)

Summary: The reader, a hunter, runs into Dean while on a case. He asks her out for a round of drinks, but is a little confused and afraid when she shows up limping and wounded.

Pairing: AU!Dean x hunter!Reader

Word count: 2.9K

Warnings: Some swear words

Author’s Note: I really had fun writing this. It was fun writing what it would be like if Dean found out about hunting years after having a completely normal childhood.

“Hey, Bobby. You find anything?” You asked over the phone, pacing in your motel room.

“Yeah. Turns out, it is a Rugaru.” Bobby said on the other end of the line.

“But then, why couldn’t I kill it last night. Isn’t fire supposed to work?” You asked, confused.

“Last night was a full moon. Lore says that the only way to kill the beast on a full moon night is by stabbing them in the heart using a curved wooden stake from a Cyprus tree, bathed in dead man’s blood.” Bobby breathed out, tired from exhaustion.

“Damn it. Where am I going to find that?” You cried.

“Why do you need to, kid? The full moon’s gone, it ain’t coming back for another month. Just torch the mother.” Bobby said.

“Don’t you remember? The thing has been seen only on days of the full moon.”

“How is that even possible? Don’t Rugarus need to feed on human flesh every day?” Bobby asked.

“They can get off on human blood. Don’t know where it has been finding that, but I’m a little too tired to find out, what with the apocalypse and all.” You sat down on the edge of the bed, one leg over the other, toying with the end of your shoelace.

“Fine. Take a few days, sleep, drink, do whatever unemployed people of your age do.” Bobby said.

“Cry?” You joked.

“Yeah, that might help. I’ll handle other cases around the country.”

“Bobby, you’re an old man.”

“Are we the only two hunters in the entire country? There’s Garth, Jody, Annie. You don’t have to worry about it.” Bobby said.

“Great. Thanks Bobby.” You said.

“Don’t mention it, Y/N/N. Now go get some sleep.”

With that, you hung up the call and leaned backwards till your back made contact with the bed, closing your eyes. You hoped for a few hours of peaceful sleep, which overcame you in a few minutes.

Your eyes fluttered open to complete darkness. You rolled out of bed and flipped the light switch, flooding the room with bright white light. You blinked a few times to get used to the brightness.

You checked the time on your watch. 9:47 pm. You were hungry.

Grabbing your phone and your GLOCK 19 pistol, you walked out of your motel room to catch a bite at the local bar.

“Here’s your beer. Your burger will be here shortly.” The handsome bartender said to you, flashing you a warm smile.

“Thanks.” You said, worn out, even though you had just slept for seven hours.

You watched the bartender as he moved around, serving drinks and chatting up customers. Soon, he walked over to you, holding a plate of fries in one hand.

“Hey. Your burger might take a little longer to arrive. Have some fries in the meantime. On the house.” The smile was back again, staying for longer this time.

“Thanks.” You said, a couple of fries already in your mouth.

The guy leaned back on the wall behind him as he watched you wolf down the fries, which were gone within a matter of seconds.

“Whoa. Someone’s hungry.” He called.

You shot him a look to tell him to back off. He held up his hands defensively before he took a step forward and leaned his hands on the bar.

“I’m Dean. Bartender.” He held out a hand.

“I can see that.” You said, keeping your hands folded across your chest.

“Now you take your right hand, put it in mine and shake it. It’s how people introduce themselves to others. Saying their name is also appreciated.” The guy, Dean, sassed.

You shook hands with him, contemplating whether to tell him your real name or some made up one, settling on the latter. “Josephine.”

“So, Jo. First time around here? This is the only bar in town, so we kinda know everyone.” Dean asked.

“Don’t call me Jo.” You said, despite that name not even being yours. “I was just stopping in town for a couple of days. Looks like now, I might stay for more than that.”

Dean looked slightly exasperated with the attitude you were giving him, but he kept himself from saying anything about it. Letting out a sigh, he said, “Well, Josephine, nice to have you around.”

“Yeah.” You said in a clipped voice, wanting to end the conversation then and there. Dean, sensing your coldness towards him, rapped his fingers on the bar a couple of times and walked away.

Sitting there, waiting for your burger to arrive, your mind flitted to the case you were working on. Bobby had said to take a few days off, but it wouldn’t hurt if you could arrange for that wooden stake you had talked about.

So the next time Dean came with your burger, you thanked him for it and then asked, “Dean, is there any way I could find any Cyprus trees around here?” You looked at him sideways, sure that he was going to ask about it.

You weren’t wrong.

“A Cyprus tree? What for?” he asked.

“I need to kill a monster. Carve out a wooden stake from the tree, bathe it in dead man’s blood, and stab the monster through the heart.” You said, completely truthful, giving him a stiff smile.

He looked offended. “Look, I’m trying to be nice. If you don’t want to tell me what you need that stupid tree for, you don’t have to. But you’re stuck in town for some time, and your attitude isn’t helping the situation at all.” He breathed in sharply. “Outskirts of town. Rufus Turner. Find him, he’ll help you out.”

Before you could say anything in response, you heard someone call out your name.

“Hey, Y/N!” You turned around to see that it was an old friend, Ed.

An old nuisance, more like.

“Eddie! Nice to see you, friend!” You said enthusiastically, trying hard not to sound too fake.

“How come you’re in town? Hunting something?” He asked.

You bit your bottom lip when he said that, closing your eyes. You were sure that Dean was catching your conversation.

“Uh, no.” You laughed nervously. “I’m on a road trip. Alone. I’m having some trouble with my car, so I’m staying in town for a few days.”

“Well, I gotta go.” Ed said. “I have to meet Harry for dinner. You stay in touch, alright?”

“Sure. I’ll stay in touch.” You waved him goodbye as you turned around, bracing yourself.

Dean was standing right there, arms crossed across his chest. His eyebrows were furrowed, not doing a very good job of hiding his displeasure. “My shift has ended. I’ll see you around, Josephine.” He turned on his heel and stalked away.

You sat back down on your bar stool. You took a big gulp from your beer, wanting to finish your burger and get out of there as soon as possible.

The next night, you were back at the bar again. You loved the food, and if you were being honest, you kinda felt bad for making Dean feel bad. The people you talked to were so used to your bitterness and sarcasm that you didn’t bother ever toning it down any more.

You found Dean at the bar, looking right at you. He didn’t look very happy. “Hello.” He spat out. “What brings you here, Josephine? It didn’t seem like you really enjoyed my company last night.”

“Well, if you know my real name, you might as well use it, am I right?” You barked a shaky laugh. Shaky? Why was your laugh shaky? “Look, I’m sorry for last night. My life is shit right now, and I just needed a break. I’m just really tired from… work, and I took it out on the first person in front of me. Sorry.”

Dean’s face softened at your words. He sighed softly. “I forgive you, Y/N.”

“Can we start over?” You asked.

“Sure.” He said, holding out his hand like last night. “I’m Dean. Bartender.”

This time, you shook hands with him. “I’m Y/N.”

“You’re not going to tell me what you do?” He asked.

“I do a lot of things. I’m all over the place, really.” You said. You weren’t completely lying, in your defence.

“Okay, Y/N.” Dean chuckled. “My shift ends pretty soon, so I gotta go.” He said, walking away.

You made your next decision within a few seconds. You called out to him and asked, “Drinks, Dean? A round on me.”

He smiled to himself, replying in a shout, “Tomorrow. Same time. Be there!”

You ran a hand through your hair, smiling to yourself.

Third night in a row, you were at the same bar. Except this time, you were limping into the bar. There was a huge gash on your arm, and you had tried your best at cleaning and covering it up, but the wound showed no signs of stopping to bleed. So after changing the bandage around it for the third time, you gave up and walked out of the door, only to find that the wound had bled through that bandage too.

“Oh, fuck.” You mumbled to yourself at the sight. You loosened the flannel tied around your waist, slipping it on, wincing as the cloth scraped against the wound.

“Y/N!” You heard Dean call. You turned your neck to look at him. “Over here!”

You gave him a smile, trying to walk as slowly as you could. Anything you could do to make it look like you weren’t limping, you were trying.

Once you had reached the table at which he was standing, he cocked his head and asked, “Why are you limping? Did you fall?”

“Yeah, I fell. Um…” You thought of what you could tell him to make it sound like you had fallen.

“Man. Down the stairs?” Dean asked.

“Yes, exactly.” You rubbed your palms together, “Beer?”

“Oh, yes! I took the liberty of bringing us a round. Just finished my shift. But you already know that.” Dean smiled at you brightly.

It was fascinating, his smile. It made his eyes crinkle at the corners, and his lips went wide. You smiled back at him. It felt like you had to, the way he was smiling at you. You wanted to.

“Yeah, I already know that. I’ve given you quite a bit of trouble on our earlier encounters.” You said.

“Aw, just one of them!” Dean joked. He looked down at the table, presumably looking at your hands laced around your bottle of beer. His eyes went wide after a couple of seconds. “Why are you bleeding?” He asked, pointing at your arm.

You looked to where he was pointing. Great. Blood. Where the bandage was supposed to be. Through the goddamn flannel.

“Oh, come on, it was my favourite shirt!” You exclaimed.

Dean was looking at you like you had just grown a head. “How are you so unfazed by the fact that your arm is fucking bleeding like that?” He asked loudly. People were starting to look.

You kept your arm on the table. You looked at the people who were looking at the two of you and then at Dean, to tell him silently that people were looking.

He went on, slightly quietly this time. “We need to get you to a hospital!” He grabbed you by the good hand and started walking out.

“Wait, what about the money for the drinks?” You asked.

“My dad owns the bar, now come with me.” He said, still walking fast, pulling you along with him.

He pushed you into his car, being gentle at the same time.  Once he had gotten into the driver’s seat and started the car, he said, “Hey, I understand you’re bleeding and all, but try not to get any blood on my Baby, alright?”

“There’s a baby in the car?!” You asked.

“The car.” Dean said, starting to drive.

“What?” You were confused.

“The car. Her name is Baby.” He said.

You blinked a few times, and sat quietly. You didn’t know what to do. This man whom you didn’t know really well was driving you to the hospital to get your arm patched up. Presumably out of the goodness of his heart, but you were a little on the edge nevertheless.

Minutes later, Dean pulled to the side of the road, pulling the key out. “We’re here.”

You got out of the car and followed him into the hospital. You were silent the entire time he made an entry at the receptionist’s desk and took you into a room to see the doctor. To be frank, you were thinking of an excuse as to why you had such a big cut on your arm. Explaining the healing bullet wound above it was going to be a completely different story.

You heard the sound of the door opening, and a well-built man walked in wearing a doctor’s coat.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Francesco.” He said. “What have we got here?”

Before you could say anything in response, Dean started talking. “She’s got a wound on her arm that’s bleeding, and is showing no signs of stopping.” He walked over to you and held up your arm in his hand, making sure to be gentle as to not hurt you.

‘Let me take a look,“ Dr. Francesco said, bringing a pair of scissors to your arm. He placed it at the hem of your flannel, before you brought your hand to swat the scissors away.

“Whoa, whoa, Mister! What do you think you’re doing?” You snapped.

“You have to let me take a look before I can do anything about it.” He said as-a-matter-of-factly.

“Wait. Let me do it.” You said, getting up from your position in the chair.

“It is not safe for you to - “ Before the doctor had a chace to complete what he was saying, you had expertly shrugged the flannel off of yourself, not hurting the injury any more than before.

Dean was staring at you in awe. The doctor, not so much. “That could have gone horribly wrong.” He said.

“Well, it didn’t.” You smiled. “Now fix my arm.” You held it out for the doctor to see.

The doctor took a look at your arm, and then told you what you already knew. “You need stiches. How did this happen?” He said, turning around to slip on a pair of gloves.

“...I had a fall.” You said, already sure that he was not buying it.

The doctor laughed a little before saying, “Okay, if you say so. Now, this may hurt a little.” He said. You were prepared. Stiches, you had thousands.

You were looking down at the floor, your arm held out, eyes squeezed shut. It was only after Dean was shouting that you looked up.

“What the fuck?!” He was pointing at the doctor, who now had eyes pitch black, and was holding a knife in his arm.

You let out a groan. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

“What is wrong with you!?” Dean was shouting at you, rooted to the spot he had been standing in.

“How did you know I was coming here?” You asked, hands on your hips. “I hadn’t even planned this.” One of your hands was stealthily pulling out the demon-killing knife from your pocket.

“Mr. Crowley has all eyes on you, miss. You’d be surprised how many places we have seen you in.” He sneered.

“Ugh, I don’t wanna know.” You said. In the next instant, you were lunging towards the demon, missing when it swerved to the right.

“Not so easy, Y/L/N.” The demon called out. You were moving towards him once again, one hand pulling a little bag of salt from your pocket, throwing it at Dean.

“Make a circle and get into it,” You told Dean.

The next few minutes were plain torture for Dean as he stood inside the salt circle. Not so much for you, as you ran around the little hospital room, fighting the goddamn thing.

“I’m sorry I let that demon get you.” You said to Dean, who was now sitting at the edge of your bed, clutching his bleeding thigh. You fished out your first aid kit from your bag, sitting down next to Dean.

“Demon.” Dean simply uttered, still in shock.

“Yeah, demon.” You let out a hollow laugh. You pried his hands away from his thigh, “Dean, let me help you.”

He let go of his leg, and was know looking at your first aid kit. “First aid - more like the entire fucking hospital.”

He was right. Your first aid kit was huge. It had everything from surgical tools to medicines of all sorts.

Once Dean was all cleaned up, you softly said to him, “You’re all cleaned up, you can let go of my shoulder now, Dean.”

He did as you told him to, but was still staring at the ground. You got off the bed and crouched in front of him.

“Hey, listen to me. That demon, it is never going to come get you. Nothing is going to get you. Okay? I’m a hunter. It’s my job to keep monsters like that away from people like you.” You were looking into his eyes, and your message was getting across to him.

After getting some water and food into Dean, you told him, “You can sleep here for the night, if you’d like. I’ll drive you home tomorrow.”

Dean, completely disregarding your offer, said, “Tell me about it.”

“About what?” You asked, taking a sip of water.

“About hunting.”

“About hunting? You’re not going to believe me.” You laughed. You were not lying. The things you had seen were enough to scare the living crap out of anybody.

“Try me.”