#the fact that cas was written out of the show's finally

[televisionenjoyer]

Allow me to set the scene: it's 2026. Star Trek 4 (written by steve yockey) is finally out. There's a Shatner cameo as Kirk Prime. Against all odds, this is the movie where Spirk finally becomes canon. This is your dash on release week:

🤠destpirking follow

of course destiel is trending. steve yockey your impact.

🐶tonysopranosmallnaturals follow

ok let me see if i get this straight. In 1967 Theodore Sturgeon writes the Star Trek episode Amok Time, which introduces both the concept of Fuck or Die and of a humanoid species experiencing violent heat into the masses. Battle Angel Alita happens. Dark Angel happens. Jensen Ackles is in it. Supernatural happens. Some fan creates the omegaverse so that Jensen Ackles can experience misogyny. Supernatural keeps happening. Steve Yockey writes some notable Destiel episodes. Cas gay confesses to Dean and goes to superhell. Steve Yockey writes some other gay shit for dead boy detectives idk i havent watched that. Now in 2026 Steve Yockey has the honor to write the Star Trek that finally makes spirk canon and he somehow manages to invent a weird alien society in which there's misogyny for male vulcans also?? are we closing the portal?? is this what full circle looks like?? should we call kendall roy??

🧔jensenanklesofficial follow

ok so i've been watching the shatner interviews he's been doing lately regarding this movie and honestly it's time we cut him some slack. he shows sincere remorse for his previous actions and has shown clear support for the spirk ending and honestly how hard can we blame him for what he said as a guy who was brought up culturally homophobic and hit the prime of his fame in the sixties?? its enough that he's changed his mind at his age. what i'm saying essentially is i think it's time we forgive william shatner.

🐍ouroborosgaysex follow

OK WAS ANYONE GOING TO TELL ME THAT THEY SENT SPOCK TO THE NEXUS ON THE CHINESE RELEASE BECAUSE OF THE CENSORSHIP??? OR WAS I SUPPOSED TO FIND OUT FROM REDDIT??

👀spockstiels follow

say what you want about the admittedly shitty and predictable klingon genocide plot but i think i speak for all of us when i say 'billy shatner cameos as kirk prime to set up spirk in an attempt to redeem himself to the lgbt community' was on NO ONE'S 2026 bingo card

👨🏼startrekgaysex

no it was literally on my bingo card for years. i've made several posts about it in fact.

🌌thenexus follow

i DID NOT just read a post saying we have to forgive william shatner???😭😭😭😭 god i hate tumblr

📼deancasgenesis follow

"this was my nov 5th" shut up NOTHING will ever be like november fifth. you don't understand the impact of destiel.

🌟bisexualjimmykirk follow

you're joking right.

🖖🏼supersimplefeeling follow

congratulations jim kirk on becoming star trek's last first gay character.

[locke-esque-monster]

I feel like we don't talk nearly enough about how interesting "Houses of the Holy" is as a Supernatural episode. Because a lot of it is a template to where the show will be in a couple seasons, when at the time it was written, angels weren't in the show's plans.

And sure, this is the episode that foreshadows Sam pointing at something just behind Dean and confirming it's Michael. And that alone is a delight.

But let's talk about other interesting aspects of the episode:

The origin of Dean's skepticism of faith from all the evil he's seen from the age of 4 on, contrasted with Sam's desire to hold onto faith so he can be saved due to his link to the YED.

Dean and Sam's argument about faith and things you can see and believe in that has a lot in common with the one in 4x2.

Sam desperately wanting angels to fix problems or redeem him. And him being disappointed in the reality of that, a lot like 4x7.

Dean's argument of how he knows nothing is watching over them because all you can count on is evil and chaos is the root of his fight with Cas in 4x2.

Then there's the fact that Sam is judging Dean for his pursuit of pleasure. Despite that, Sam feels he's the one that needs saving. And Dean despite his love of vice, is the stand-in for the angels. He's the avenging angel of this episode, making sure the woman is okay and chasing after the bad buy. And he literally says he's watching over Sam at the end to reassure him when Sam is hurt because this wasn't an angel case. Dean doesn't think there are real angels around, but he's determined to be the angel in someone else's life - whether it be Sam's or someone else's.

And then there's the way the bad guy is killed with a pole at the end, "Final Destination" style. I can't help but wonder, did the angels do that? We spent a whole episode talking about faith. Was this to test the boys and see how they'd react to angels a little before they gear up for Sam's death at season's end? And long term, feel them out before they put their plan into action for the apocalypse? Was Father Gregory something they "helped along" somehow to lure the boys to town? There's a theory Gabriel lured them to scope them out in "Tall Tales" a couple episodes later. Who's to say the angels didn't do the same thing (maybe even inspiring Gabe)? Or perhaps the angels just take advantage of the situation since they were already watching the boys long-term? And moving the pole was as much to protect Dean as it was to see his reaction and if that would sway his lack of faith? Or was an angel (like Cas) watching over Dean and interfered to ensure his safety in the car chase? And maybe even wanted to show off a little?

I don't know. But it sure is fun to contemplate.

[seeminglyranch87]

Taylor & Travis Timeline

October 2024 - Part 3

October 17 - Travis at training

October 18 - Taylor releases a video pre-show with her cat Olivia (x)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

The Eras Tour, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL N1. Rain show & the beginning of the final leg of the Era's Tour. Just 18 shows remain.

Donna, Jason, Kylie, Wyatt & Elliotte Kelce attend the Eras tour.

Juno by Sabrina Carpenter is added to the pre-show playlist - getting spicy Tay ;)

Taylor debuted new Fearless, Reputation, acoustic section & Midnights T-shirt dress costumes. as Taylor said:

''I got a new dress and everything.''

Florence & the Machine joined Taylor to perform Florida during the TTPD set.

Tim McGraw x Timeless (x guitar) & This Is Me Trying x Daylight (x piano)

I just wanted you to know that this is me trying and trying and trying… I wanted you to know this is me trying, I just wanted you to know this is me trying. You gotta step into the daylight and let it go, let it go, let it go. And I just wanted you to know that this is me trying to let it go.. LET IT GO (x)

October 19 - Travis arrives in California ahead of game.

The Eras Tour, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL. Night 2

Taylor wore a new dress for Speak Now, Acoustic section & Midnights

Florence & the Machine guest appeared to perform Florida!!! with Taylor.

Should've Said No x I Did Something Bad* (x guitar) & LOML x White Horse (piano)

*The version where Taylor screams viciously "light me up!"

Your'e the loss of my life... but I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale I'm gonna find someone someday who actually might treat me well

October 20 - Chiefs v SF 49ers, Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA

Chiefs defeat 49ers 28 - 18. The Chiefs remain undefeated 6-0

The Eras Tour, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL Night 3. Rain show.

Chiefs game on screens in the Hard Rock Stadium prior to The Eras Tour starting.

Notable events at the final Miami show:

Taylor notes this is the final rain show for the Era's Tour as all other shows are indoors.

during the Betty speech, Taylor shares that these songs were written from a narrators perspective but “it reflected my own personal experience through these characters”

Florence and the Machine performs Florida!!! with Taylor for the 4th time during the TTPD era.

Taylor wears a new dress for the acoustic section.

Taylor sings "Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me" in celebration of the Chiefs 6th consecutive win today.

Out Of The Woods x All You Had To Do Was Stay (guitar) & Mirrorball x Guilty As Ain (piano)

October 23 - Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? airs new episode with a reference to Taylor (x)

Natasha Leggero “We love Lady Gaga, but we don’t love her as much as any other blonde singers. There are some other blonde singers that we like more than Lady Gaga. Nikki Glaser "Not even close" Travis Kelce “I will have to agree with you on that. I do concur.”

New Heights Ep. 106 posted (x). The Kelce brothers discuss Jason's attendance at The Era's Tour in Miami

Addressing the photo (x)(x 12:50) that bestie Beau Allen posted to X, Jason fights back that he was not asleep but vibing and Travis wishes he was there (he had a game so could not attend).

Travis "we got to talk about it, you took a nap at The Eras Tour?" Jason "I did not take a nap" Travis "what is that all about" Jason "Travis you know I didn't take a nap I did not take a nap" Travis "how are you? This show is absolutely electric it's the greatest show that's ever been on stage and you're over here falling asleep!" Jason "Not only was it the greatest show but um obviously I went to the two London shows this Miami show was incredible and I think part of it's like I don't know if it's back the fact that we're back in the US because I think the London uh crowd was incredible but the rain and, dude it was like on another level I texted you halfway through it" Travis "You did" Jason "Like dude this rain, Tay is killing it, dude when reputation came on and she came out in the new outfit" Travis "was it gold?" Jason "and the rain was coming down and the the place could have [f**] erupted I mean it did like it was the amount of energy was insane, it was so exciting"

Travis "Well I had all the fomo in the world…. I wish i was there." (x) Travis “Shout out to Tay Tay for powering through a few rain shows”

A little lyric battle between Beau Allen and Jason Kelce on X ...

October 24 - Stevie Nicks interview with Rolling Stone

Taylor Nation post in celebration of 18 years of Taylor's music (x)....

LISTEN!!!!! Don't we know it @taylornation

Taylor sings "Everything has changed.... in the blink of a crinkling eye... I'll be eighty-seven you'll be eighty-nine, I'll still look at you like the stars that shine in the sky oh my my my" "dude this girl's in love! She is in LOVE!"

** sound up

Go to previous update -> October 2024 part 2

Go to next update -> TBC

[cringefiend]

Ive been rewatching hunter x hunter lately bc for some reason I’ve been going back to all the fandoms i was in in 2020. I love meruem sm that hasn’t changed in almost 5 years. Fav character ever.

I forgot most of the specific plot points so it was kinda like rewatching it for the first time again. *spoilers and straight corn ahead* his final scene w komugi actually got me so bad. It was so well written and when he kept asking if she was there it took me out. Also the fact that he knelt infront of palm. So good. I saw someone say that Netero died like an ant (for the good of the species) and Meruem died like a human (w/ the person he loves). Idk I just love the ship and his character development sm. The design is fire too. I can’t lie the snot dripping pisses me off tho.

Another thing is that on the most recent rewatch I found that I love Pitou. Last time i and most people still despised them. Theyre just such an interesting character with a cool design. Every time Pitou was on screen it was interesting asf, their nen is fire too.

The Komugi and meruem scene made me tear up a little but what actually ruined my makeup was the scene where Reina comes back and her mom recognizes her even though she’s a literal ant head now. Just so much good writing in this arc I don’t get how ppl hate on it. the soundtrack was so good too. At the beginning of the show (idk if y’all will agree) I found the way the background music was implemented was super clunky and awkward but by the CA arc they clutched up and it was fire. Lmk if y’all agree I’m actually very curious.

pls ignore how my writings a bit more brainead than usual bc im in the middle of finals but i needed to yap

TLDR: Meruem cured my art block

[maliciousmagpie]

Not to be sappy on main but it’s genuinely really nice seeing people having so much love for Supernatural on this site.

Like, I know it’s terribly written, and omg some of the bullshit it pulls but that’s part of its charm, it’s pulled so much goddamn bullshit that I can’t even predict it anymore, which, idk the pattern recognition in my autism loves to predict everything (and it’s right a good chunk of the time too) so the fact it’s managed to break it is damn impressive in my book.

And the characters omg the characters, they’re so messy and so dramatic and they’re all so sad and I love them and it’s so nice to see other people also love them and see similar or even new things in characters I also love!

Idk, it’s just something I feel is missing from my main socials (that being instagram) and unfortunately none of my friends have watched Supernatural (Yet. It’s going to happen.) so I’m sort of missing that connection I suppose. It’s been a real long time for me since I was really this into something, arguably I haven’t been this into a piece of media since FNAF 1 came out, since that was what pushed me to start drawing and making ocs in the first place and now here I am planning a whole 7 season comic (I’m incapable of taking things slowly) just because of this damn show and because of how much I genuinely love Dean and Castiel and because I wanted so much more for them.

It’s unfortunate I feel a bit cringe unironically saying Supernatural is one of my favourite shows now, but it is! What started as just picking a long ass show I had some morbid curiosity about because of one of the characters getting sent to superhell for being gay where I couldn’t even remember the characters name but somehow remember he was played by Misha Collins has now basically become a cornerstone of my journey as an artist and the thing that pushed me to finally start seriously pursuing writing!

Saying all this I haven’t actually finished the show yet, I’m currently on S12 and no doubt I will continue to be angry at the absolute shenanigans this show will pull, but honestly if I’ve stuck around for 12 already, what’s another three?

And when the writers do something I really hate? Well I have my lovely ocs who are totally not based on Dean and Cas and are definitely not just so I can live in the delusion that in some universe destiel is real.

Tldr: I am cringe but I am free, I unironically love destiel and I love looking at posts related to it specifically on tumblr, good shit.

[deanstudies101]

5x10, Abandon All Hope

[mid-season finale]

Critical theory: Sacrifice. Family. Fathers. Inevitability. 

Discussion point/question(s): Cas in holy fire as a genre of images. 

Key quotes: (2x06, Ellen “Joanna Beth, this family has lost enough. I won't lose you too.”); Dean, “Bobby, it’s Dean. We got problems.” Bobby, “It’s okay boy, that’s why I’m here.”; Lucifer, “What a peculiar thing you are.” 

Further reading: 

“Last night on earth” is Dean’s pick up line. And he used it on Cas (@drulalovescas)

Discussion: 

Quite sad innit. 

Not exactly a surprise. They are women. It was a more classy death than most women on the show. Well written. Jo’s dad comes to mind—he died because John used him as bait, and John failed whatever he was trying. They both died as bait. But this was an active choice that they made. Dean was really trying to avoid the reality, didn’t want to face it, couldn’t look at her. He didn’t want to cope with that particular loss. And the fact 'hat it was hell hounds, that he’s well acquainted with and has trauma over. [The thing that always gets me. Ellen stays so that she doesn't have to live after Jo dies. And she still does.] But there was no way she was going to abandon her daughter. That would never happen. And good thing she did stay, because Jo wouldn’t have managed it alone. [Actually, I think Jo died because her mum hugged her. She felt safe to let go, maybe?] Yeah, maybe she would’ve held on otherwise.

It’s sad because it’s pointless death. And like, obviously they’re not going to kill Lucifer halfway through the season, you know that they’re going to fail. Obviously they’re going to fail. [It hurts because they don’t know they’re in the mid-season finale.]

[Mid-season finale moment.][When I came up with the theory, this was the season that I remembered the easiest. It has two parts. I have written a little note to myself that one is more important than the other to me, and it’s not the one you think.] Kai, Cas and Lucifer have a conversation about God. Iga, a theme of sacrifice and failure, but need some time to digest the episode. Kai, yeah, a vibe of pointlessness, it’s so big it’s out of their hands. 

Iga, I think I said a while ago that it would be funny if Lucifer came out and he doesn’t even like the demons. [Possibly. But. You did say. After 4x22; “It would be funny if Lucifer and Cas have a conversation, and Lucifer goes ‘you’re just like me bro.’” And I just put in brackets. [Damn that would be funny.]] Oh damn. Called it. 

[Lucifer, “What a peculiar thing you are.” He's the devil. The devil just looked Cas in the face and said “you’re different.”] He doesn’t fit anywhere but with these weird hunters. [It is tism. But also for me. How world shattering. You’re a rebellious fallen angel, and thee rebellious fallen angel is like, yeah you’re like me, but no you’re not.] But it’s like, there’s that sense when you’re around people that you’re just. Different. There is something different about you. [I think for me it’s like. Cas doesn’t fit on either side. He’s on people's side.]

Iga, “Crowley is the only one with a brain.” Lucifer made demons to prove that humans aint shit. To corrupt them and bring out their worst. Or course he won’t like them. He hates everything they came from. Of course he’s not going to take them to heaven. [I love Crowly.][[What follows are all direct quotes.]] Iga, he’s hot. Kai, yeah he’s hot. Iga, I’d fuck him. [Okay.] Iga, is that not allowed? [[the truth is this is too funny to me. I’m saying nothing.]] Iga, Dean and Crowly fuck, right? [[oh drowley summer of love.]] Iga, Cas, Dean, and Crowly are like, dream threesome, and ideal blunt rotation. I don’t smoke weed. But I’d watch them. Kai, like yes, it would be a great threesome, but Cas and Crowley would both get crazy possessive over Dean. Iga, no, they’d fuck each other. It’d be hate fucking, but they would. 

After this they both apologised for derailing the discussion after a very serious episode where Jo and Ellen died, but they like Crowly. [No no. We’ll circle back.] … Do Cas and Crowly fuck? [We’ll circle back.]

What gets people into hell or into heaven? At least for people who don’t make demon deals. Good Place situation. What’s the point system? We haven’t heard of anyone getting to heaven. Like, what happened to John? He escaped hell. [So. He escaped hell, through the devil’s gate. I think the implication is that he goes to heaven, but it’s unclear. And ? The ghost in Roadkill? Does she go to heaven?] She like looks at the sun and fizzles out. They always talk about peace, like finding peace. [We’ll circle back. But I honestly don’t know how clear they ever make it.] It’s just general questions about the lore. If someone stays behind as a spirit, they’re not in heaven or in hell, but then do shitty things as a spirit? [I don’t know. It’s a good question. I feel like they frame the spirits as evil most of the time, but I don't know? They kinda just… stop existing.] And we know the spirits aren’t evil, they’ve just been here too long, and they don’t really know what they're doing, a lot of times they were victims. 

Sam is no longer the main character. Dean got a goodbye with Jo. Ellen got a goodbye with Jo. Sam didn’t go anywhere near Jo. His only job was getting Dean to realise Jo was dying and to go say bye to her. [And like, I’d sat the two have equal history with her. Obviously Jo was attached to Dean…] And it was a soft crush, a bit of tension both ways, but very innocent, which makes the kiss very sad. [But there was that whole thing with Sam and Jo with the possession episode… equal interaction. Also. The scene with just Sam and Lucifer? Jared’s acting lets it down.] Kai, knowing how Jared was on set, maybe they did write a goodbye with Jo, but he was goofing too much they they didn’t get anything good. [Or maybe it was the bad acting.] He can’t do serious episodes. But by God can he goof. [I wish I was still 16 and didn’t care about bad acting.]

[I loved watching them watch this. Because, it’s so ingrained that like, yeah, there are things the Colt can’t kill, but this is the first time we see that! I don’t remember my reaction to finding out the Colt can’t kill Lucifer. And they were shocked. It was all “That’s not really Lucifer. It’s not the real Colt. Someone fucked with the Colt.” But no, that’s Lucifer, that’s the Colt, it just doesn’t work. It’s so beautiful.]

Who are the five beings? God? Michael, probably for balance? Lucifer and the four horsemen? God, Lucifer, Michael. Maybe Death? Death. [theories on this, with spoilers for seasons 6 onwards; https://www.reddit.com/r/Supernatural/comments/3kp9g9/figured_it_out_5_things_the_colt_cant_kill/ ]

The Colt was clearly made by a hunter who was autistic and hyper fixated on killing demons/hunting etc. So, did God make these beings immune to the Colt before it was created? How do the gun mechanics work? Need to know more about this gun. 

Notes: Iga, 4x22; “It would be funny if Lucifer and Cas have a conversation, and Lucifer goes ‘you’re just like me bro.’” [Damn that would be funny.]

mid-season finale moment under the cut

Lucifer does tell Sam exactly what will happen; Sam will say yes, it will be within six months, and it will happen in Detroit. However, for me, the more important one is

5x10 Ellen’s “I will not leave you here alone.” to 5x22 Dean’s “I’m not gonna let him die alone.” It's about saying 'even if there's nothing I can do to change it, I'm going to be there anyway.' And in the end, that is what changes things

[needlesandnilbogs]

Known Facts About City Spies Book 6 and Beyond

collated at the Avid Reader bookstore event/signing in Davis, CA, on 6/23/24

On future books:

City Spies book 6 is finished and in the proofreading stage. It will probably be released in February 2025, he's allowed to share the title and cover as of this week.

City Spies 6 is called "London Calling" and the cover (which I briefly saw on his phone screen) is predominantly yellow and green

Robert is the protagonist and the Mother/Clementine/Robert/Annie larger plot will be completely resolved in book 6

There will be at least 8 total city spies books, likely 10

Sherlock society 1 is coming out in September

He's going to be on a two book a year release schedule -- February city spies and September Sherlock society

On research/past books/writing

he writes the first draft then goes to the places to research them

he talks to a lot of experts -- for city spies this includes a bookseller's husband who's ex-cia and planned the mission in forbidden city for him, for Sherlock society he got to go on a Miami marine patrol police boat

the city spies books work best with three cities they go to, boat being hostage in the first paragraph of golden gate is based on kid saying plot took ages to get to Big Thing in book 1 so now every book starts with a big thing happening. The middle city is the city of adventure and city alluded to in the title.

He did not get to physically go to Russia or China or Egypt but he did go to Venice after first draft of mission manhattan, went to every location in the book, then used pictures he took there

Washington he got a friend to show him the abandoned spots very unsafely, including embassy row and the empty Iranian embassy which fascinated him

He walked around Iranian embassy and the United Kingdom and Brazil embassies are actually across from it, the security didn't like him taking those pictures as much but it inspired him

If he could choose one song that best represents mission manhattan/city spies: We are family

when he writes a series he's trying to answer a single question and the books are all different variants on the answer. For city spies it's "what is a family"

he puts his life into the books, especially with a parent being missing and trying to find that connection

Middle grade advice: Write from the pain of when you're thirteen

"As a consumer of art we still believe in magic, but there is no magic […] we're faking the magic, it's just sweat. You forget what they're doing is sweat too."

he and his writing friends all feel like imposters. He talks to ppl who've won newberries and still feel like imposters and then they finally have little clicks that say maybe they can do this, like when his publisher said maybe he didn't need blurbs on his books anymore

Research is for accuracy and he hates being wrong and sometimes he hand waves but it gives him inspiration

real life is better than fiction

On Clementine, Mother, their kids:

book 6 resolves all the issues with clemmie and mother and the kids but not all the series's problems

"In the end as I wrote Clementine I wasn't sure how she was going to end up," he "wrestled writing her every time"

"Clementine is a puzzle" kat says, based on a thing a fan said

Good or bad, accidental or not, Clementine is the most interesting character bc you don't know what side she's on

On public libraries and independent bookstores:

About the nypl: "it's the most fascinating thing to me, this library. It's the Vatican of American books."

There aren't easy answers to the problem of cutting funding for libraries, there's a reason independent bookstores and libraries are valuable and it's bc this type of event matters and they have so many services

"Public libraries are one of the greatest things, as far as altruism, our society has ever created"

When it becomes an issue of books being banned it's not good, it's not okay

These are important issues and it's not simple but access to books written by "not just middle aged white guys like me" is really important

what gets lost is book recs and new authors

"the power we have in the exchange of ideas is valuable"

it's stuff that's been sitting there for a while and failed miserably and then gets popular, libraries and independent bookstores are part of that

TikTok is the single largest driving force in youth literature and it may not exist in a year

On the potential City Spies movie:

MGM studios bought the right to city spies film series before they were bought by Amazon

This happened because there's a Guatemalan woman who's the head of development at mgm, and she has twelve year old twin brothers who are reading city spies, she hears the story and says that sounds like a movie, reads the first page and is hooked, reached out and acquired the rights and then he heard nothing for ages

Amazon bought mgm and he thought it was done but they liked city spies, they hired a producer and then writers strike blocked any development but they now have a writer

He's staying out of the writing process, his background in film is making a lot of connections but also means he knows to stay out of it (though if he's asked he'd be enthusiastic to help)

he gets on set one day and gets two tickets to premiere

Movie in theaters not tv show

doesn't really believe it will happen yet because spy school was gonna be a movie then it wasn't

"I would wait to start worrying about following it till later", he doesn't talk about it really even to friends

MGM made an announcement to variety and so everyone found out

He and his wife hope it will happen (cause it's cutting down time till she can retire), she's his health insurance and it's why it seems a lot of writers end up married to teachers and have insurance through them

tagging @fishyupmywishy also

[super-sootica]

I’m still thinking about our discussion yesterday about Chuck basically ignoring Cas, and being stuck in a writing rut, 1000s of versions of Sam or Dean killing the other. 

And what @mittensmorgul Had said about Becky, and the world of fandom:

‘What if Chuck is “written out of the universe” through the power of that collective fanfic, if his creative force holding the universe together is replaced by the entire fandom circling wagons to write OUR ending, the happy ending where Chuck is rendered irrelevant? Where Cas is Essential, where TFW finally gets the peace the show has been promising since s1? Where all the “alternate universes” that spin off are equally satisfying and filled with love?’

Like...that would be a cool ending.

Chuck:  And then they all, died

Fan:  No they didn’t

Chuck:  Cas didn’t matter

Fan:  Don’t be stupid, of course he does

Chuck:  They all went to hell

Fan:  No, they went to the beach

Chuck cares what people think, as seen by his getting Metatron and Becky to help him write.  When he releases his final book, and his fans at large reject it, and write their own endings.  It’s really gonna mess up his head and reality.  If anyone can reject the word and reality of ‘God’.  Then is he in fact God anymore?  He’s said several times that as he is God he is always right and cannot admit fault (to Lucifer, and Dean, and I believe through another angel speak to the brothers).  His little

Huh...a post I started writing but never finished in June 2020

[theurbansombrero97]

As for my Comms. class, I need to look for any seemingly sensationalized news and fact check whether the claim on the news is either factual or exaggerated.

I found one such post while I was scrolling through Instagram. A page I follow called "TheOther98". While this page does post mostly left winged news, it often posts memes and content far left that even some of their followers' base do not agree with. The post in question is two Twitter accounts making 2 different claims on the state of Fast-food chains in a state where the minimum wage is quite high ($20/hr) "Shake Shack to shut 6 California locations, including 5 in LA, after state's $20/hr minimum wage hike" according to the NYPost.

The article: https://nypost.com/2024/08/28/business/shake-shack-to-shut-6-california-locations-after-states-20-minimum-wage-hike/

An individual with the handle JdcMedlock states "California's Minimum wage is so powerful it even compelled Shake Shake (Shack) to close locations in Houston and Ohio." The post from Medlock seems to be sarcastic, claiming that the minimum wage hike does not correlate with multiple closures in other states.

The initial post from the NYPost did give me a knee jerk reaction at the state of California, but then the subsequent post had me question whether or not NYPost is telling the truth. To get a better understanding of the situation, I searched for the original article made by the NYPost to understand what the title might not have covered entirely. First, the article was written by Taylor Herzlich, a Fordham College graduate with a degree in Journalism and English. The other collaborator of the post is Josh Kosman, a long time NYPost Journalist covering Financial and Business news. While reading the article, it claims many other fast-food chains have been pulling out of California as well, though as I read the article further it seems that it is using claims from these other fast-food chains to make the same statement for Shake Shack. For example, "Rubio’s California Grill closed 48 of its nearly 134 locations at the end of May, citing the “rising cost of doing business” in the state for the closures and filed for bankruptcy in June." When it came to Shake Shack making a statement about their closures, they simply stated the decision was based “in part due to changes in the trade area,” and refused to comment on the minimum wage hike in CA. Lastly, in the same article, it shows California’s fast-food industry has added jobs every month this year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. This statistic is not indicative of economic downturn and major fast-food closures.

The final nail in the coffin is James Medlock himself. Researching Medlock, a self-proclaimed social democrat who often discusses about wages and labor. This tells me he has some stake in the game when it comes to economics, despite what political view he carries. Medlock's post states other closing locations, 2 in Houston and 1 in Ohio. Minimum wage in Texas is $7.25/hr while Ohio's minimum wage is $10.45/hr. This information I found has brought me to the conclusion that the title does not at all tell the full story and even the context of the article does not back up what the title indicates. It is simply an exaggerated headline to attract more clicks. It got me!

[ltleflrt]

oh lol, I finished watching HB like last week, but i haven't dipped into fandom yet so i didn't realize this comparison was something being done elsewhere as well! Mostly im rewatching the episodes. Honestly to me, the comparison is a bit superficial and has more in common with earlier/mid-season canon trope buckets and how the characters are written in AU fics, rather than how they are like in later seasons of SPN. (the DeanCas dynamic shifted a lot over 12 yrs imo!)

Most superficial thing - the Stolas-Cas owl /headtilt connection. 🦉😂 But Stolas is also a deeply lonely but repressed and dutiful member of a provileged higher class / 'better' group of beings, where he never quite fit in despite being well-placed. It was a meeting with Blitz that put his entire life into a different trajectory, where he finally started to feel things and question his previous life, and ended up forsaking that old perfect life for associating with a guy from a 'lower' class of beings, that he faces derision from his peers for. He is naive to the ways of the world, but willing to learn, even as he is often quite unintentionally derogatory about imps. (this often happened with early Cas) He also has a strong love for his child and a strong connection to the identity of being a father, even though that journey is rocky. He seems to have grown up alone and yet part of a innumerable nameless horde of siblings with a largely absent father, and it is later revealed that the fascination of Blitz and his doubts and unhappiness actually predates the supposedly "first" meeting when they started associating.

The relationship in the beginning is transactional (though in very different ways for both ships), but slowly and surely evolves beyond that. Stolas, despite being much for powerful in supernatural ways, Blitz's is often the one taking the lead and Stolas let's him. Even as Blitz secretely actually thinks Stolas is completely out-of-his-league and is just putting up with him, because he's the toxic guy who everyone leaves if they have a choice and only puts up with if they have to. Then there's the growing up in a nomadic lifestyle with a not-so-great dad, and dead mom in a fire! Right now you could consider the Barbie Wire and Blitz relationship in the Stanford-era!Sam and Dean zone, but clearly Blitz has very strong feelings about his sibling with whom he was close growing up.

lol I was in the tags 5 minutes after the last episode, looking for fanart to reblog. If you want to dip your toes in, I recommend blocking some tags, because the fandom and ship tags are full of antis who need to go watch a different show because they really hate this one and I don't understand why they're still here? Go touch grass, folks. But at least they're pretty good at tagging their hate. I've blocked "anti stolitz", "stolitz critical", "anti vivziepop", and "vivziepop critical" and that seems to have caught most of it.

Thanks for coming back with an explanation! That's way better than the posts I'd seen about it, and I think you're right about the parallels. I think my mental block on it comes from the fact that I ship them for different reasons.

Dean and Cas are reluctant allies at first who become close friends, and there are things keeping them from moving past that. They're always dealing with world ending events that take priority over their own personal drama, and they both fundamentally misunderstand each other's love languages and think things are one sided. I ship them in a star crossed lovers kinda way.

Blitz and Stolas are interesting to me specifically because it started out as a fucked up bargain where Stolas was using Blitz for kinky sex, and Blitz was Not Into It. The power imbalance and dubcon was HOT. And when I found out that Stolas was married too, I was like aw yeah, this guy's a bag of dicks, and he's shoving them into all of Blitz' holes.

Delicious toxicity mmmm.... And then...AND THEN...it's slowly revealed that they both want something more, and Stolas only made the deal because he thought that was the only way he could get Blitz to come back. And it didn't even occur to Blitz that Stolas could feel anything for him because of their class differences.

In the episode that ends with Blitz going "he can get hurt?" with shock and confusion, omg I about fell off the couch. Because on the surface he's talking about physical injuries, but in subtext he's talking about Stolas getting his feelings hurt too. *chef's kiss* ugh it's so fucking good.

Come to think of it, you could make that another Destiel parallel, since Dean doesn't think Cas is capable of feeling romantic love. Now that you've given me a few points of entry, I'm going to start connecting dots all over the place lol

[scienter]

Skipped from TVD S3 straight to s6 & Holy shit! That was the Renaissance of TVD.I don't think I have enjoyed any season of Vampire Diaries like I did s6 after s2 and in my mind,they both get the top rank in the list of best to worst.Then,I thought why not give season s7 a chance.This was the first time I rewatched this season since it aired back when TVD was on and now I am most certainly questioning my life choices.🥲Honestly,how did we sit through such abysmal writing for 8 months or so?Were we sired?After the first episode,it felt like someone made me shut my eyes with the promise of feeding oysters only to point and scream "I just ejaculated in your mouth! HA! HA!" Anyway,there are a few things,specific to Caroline Forbes, that I picked up along the way:

1.Candice (& real life pregnancy)and Caroline Forbes-surrogacy: Keeping the non-consensual,gross aspect of the otherwise outlandish plot aside,I do believe with right motivation and willingness,writers could have easily worked around CA's pregnancy and given emotionally intimate scenes to SC that would have made their relationship layered and deeper.They simply chose NOT to. In fact, I noticed how they didn't use Candice at all not just in terms of her relation with Stefan but with regards to the whole Al**ick thing.Writers simply didn't create any compelling narrative that could convince anyone that Caroline was at all interested in pursuing anything with Ric that eventually led to an engagement. In fact, their sloppy attempt to sell motherhood and biology by giving two glimpses of Caroline's apparent growing attachment with the kids implied she saw the twins as an obligation in addition to her considering Ric as incapable of handling two newborns, leading her to Dallas, which basically served the bigger purpose:write CA out for her Maternity Leave. Post time jump,they could have easily removed her from this dynamic and put her with Liam or me and that wouldn't have changed nothing.Once again, they chose not to SHOW and simply explained the engagement as a decision of a heartbroken,abandoned woman by TELLING.I wonder what they would have done with her if TVD hadn't been renewed.Crossover to TO for ratings ploy?

2.Flash Forwards: I have nothing to say about this narrative disaster but I do think they changed their initial plans with respect to the FFs because CA did an interview where she said writers told her they were going three years in the future,right before she left for her ML,so that Caroline wouldn't have to be pregnant anymore AFTER candice came back from her leave.Does that mean they were originally going to go only a few months ahead in time but cancellation jitters made them change track?Guess,we will never know.

3.Future-Caroline character assessment : Plot contrivance aside, Caroline role-playing a doting mother and devoted wife-to-be & her happiness in the seemingly new life she built for herself is a metaphor for her being a victim of prolonged violence(physical and psychological).She was incapable of feeling anything anymore.She was in a wild state of depersonalisation and derealisation.She was an absolute victim.She just didn't care.She was putting up a class-act in that creepy arrangement but hey,as long as Caroline's "bold decision"(in JP's book) ensured M.Davis's employment,we are all good.

LMAO. Oh, yeah, I remember the whiplash of watching season 7 after season 6. Season 6 was one of the strongest seasons. Steroline was written well, we finally got Bamon, and Caroline had a touching story arc having to deal with her mother’s death. Season 7 on the other hand is in the running as the worst seasons.

I agree with your assessment of Ric and Caroline's relationship in season 7. It was awful. Having Caroline become the twins' surrogate is one thing – having her become their primary caregiver BECAUSE Caroline didn’t trust Ric to parent the twins himself . . . that wasn’t Caroline being a control freak – RIC ALLOWED CAROLINE TO TAKE OVER HIS DUTIES AS A PARENT BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT TO DO IT HIMSELF*.  There’s a name for this phenomenon: weaponized incompetence*

I don’t buy any defense of Ric’s actions here. Ric needed Caroline’s help! He was overwhelmed and didn’t know what he was doing! (1) Most first-time parents are overwhelmed because they lack experience. Parenting is on-the-job training. (2) Ric could have hired a professional nanny or an au pair to help take care of his kids. You know – paid someone to help take care of his kids. He didn’t. He was a selfish prick who took advantage of Caroline’s selfless and caring nature. He got a live-in nanny for free!

I hate that they turned Caroline – one of the strongest characters on the show – into Ric’s unpaid nanny. Ric and Caroline’s engagement was adding insult to injury.

I was so disappointed by the flash-forwards on TVD because I’d seen it done so well on The West Wing. Not that I was expecting TWW-level writing on TVD, but I did expect some level of competence.

*“Weaponized incompetence, also called strategic incompetence, is when someone knowingly or unknowingly demonstrates an inability to perform or master certain tasks, thereby leading others to take on more work.” [Psychology Today]

[dothwrites]

dean praying to cas will never be something that i don't go absolutely feral over. (alternatively, dean can only voice his forgiveness to cas via prayer. he can never forgive cas to his face. and cas hardly ever hears his forgiveness, so cas is consistently trying to prove himself to dean and prove that he's worthy)

i also love farmer!angel just... getting on the tractor and starting to truck towards dean. considering that tractor probably has max speed of 25 mph, the mental image of that angel just puttering down the road is HILARIOUS

this random truck driver is THEE unsung hero of spn. it's so rare that we see genuinely kind people in this show, and here he is! i love him. i hope that he had a good life.

awwwwww, ezekiel/gadreel. i always thought gadreel got a bad run of things. (though he did kill kevin and that is something that we do NOT condone!)

cas still trying to preach free will to angels... it's so disheartening to see him still trying the same things when it's clear that the angels CAN'T understand it. or just use free will to do WHATEVER they want to do (cas included).

cas really does meet an angel and say "heyyyyyy road trip" and then thirty seconds later say "my repressed love interest called and said he needs me, peace out girl scout". if i were hael i think i would have hit him too

dean not being willing to give up cas! even though he's still mad, even though cas messed up, he's STILL not willing to tell the angels where cas is. cas is family, and there's no way that cas ever gives up on family

there's a lot to say about dean's guilt and culpability about allowing gadreel to possess sam. i do think that dean is in the wrong--sam's decision to say yes is definitely coerced, and sam doesn't know what, exactly, he's agreeing to, but sam DOES agree to follow dean's plan to save his life. but again, that decision is made under duress and without having all the facts, so sam definitely can't consent. dean feels guilty and he SHOULD because he did take some manner of sam's choice away from him. that being said... dean is very much NOT well. sam is his child, and i know of no worthy parent who wouldn't do whatever it took, even lying to their child, to help save their life.

dean's original decision is flawed, but after gadreel is inside sam, it really does become a hostage situation. dean can't tell sam about gadreel without gadreel killing sam, so i have some sympathy for dean in that regard.

this final scene is written for ME specifically. jeremy carver, i am shaking your hand right now because we are united in our thirstiness over misha's body. carver DOES always write the best shirtless misha scenes. the inherent symbolism of a trenchcoat... castiel abandoning the coat which is representative of his wings as a sign that he is abandoning his angelic self and starting to accept his newfound humanity... which includes the pitfalls of having to eat and sleep...

[bustyasianbeautiespod]

Episode 97 Transcript: BUT WE’RE HIS FAMILYYYYYYYYYYY

[intro guitar music]

G: Hello! It's Grey.

C: Hello! It's Crystal.

G: And this is Busty Asian Beauties, a Supernatural commentary podcast where I, someone who’s seen this show many times-

C: And I, someone who only knows the show through social media, discuss every single episode of Supernatural from start to finish. Also, we are both Asian.

G: Both Asian! For today's episode, we'll be discussing Season 5, Episode 15L “Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid,” written by Jeremy Carver, directed by John Showalter.

C: Have we seen this director before?

G: I don't think so. I don't think I've ever heard this name before.

C: Yeah, this is his first one. But he kept directing until Season 15, yeah.

G: He directed "Inherit the Earth." 15.19.

C: How was that? Aw, he directed "Golden Time"!

G: Yeah. 15.19 is the one where Jack says goodbye.

C: Yeah, kills God. Well, they don't kill God. Chuck is just on the ground crying or whatever.

G: I mean, so many things happen in that episode, but primarily, Jack says goodbye. It's kinda- you know, sometimes, I think about the fact that when 15.18 ended-

C: Lucifer calls Dean using Cas's phone?

G: No, no, no. [C: Okay.] Every time someone showed up for the last time in Supernatural in Season 15, they would go on social media and do a little, “Here's what I learned in the set of Supernatural, goodbye to this show that's kind of bad." You know, they would do the whole shebang. But obviously, when Cas died, Misha Collins couldn't do that because people would be-

C: Yeah, because they needed to queerbait.

G: Yeah, people would be like, "Yeah, he's not coming back." And so, like, I did feel kind of horrible about that. Not for Misha Collins. I don't really give a shit. But like, for us, the intentionality behind that is obviously to queerbait. To hold out hope for people. It's just- it's so fucked up! [laughs] It's so fucked up what they did in Season 15 of Supernatural! Well, anyway, yeah, this guy directed “Inherit the Earth,” the episode where Jack says goodbye, and also the guy who plays him goes on Twitter and says, "Bye!" and everyone was like, “See, Cas is gonna come back because [C screams] this guy said bye, and Misha Collins didn’t, meaning that he's gonna show up in the later episode." God! Fuck you, Supernatural!

C: How do we know that the network made that decision? What if Misha Collins made that decision? [G laughs]

G: I think the network- I mean, I don't know, actually. But like, there must be. There must be, like, a conscious thought behind, like, whatever. Also, like, there was this whole, like, idea/controversy/I don't know, something, that was like, "Misha Collins was supposed to show up at the last episode," and what what people were saying was that [laughs] he, like, made his kids watch the final episode, and [C: Yeah.] it would be so fucking funny if he did that for the episode he's not even in, so everyone's like, "Maybe he was supposed to show up."

C: I mean, it's a show that he worked on for like, eleven years or whatever. He could just be emotional about the finale [G: This is true.] independently of his role in it.

G: This is true. But also, like, I feel like the goodbye should have been in 15.18 in a world where that wasn't- you know, they weren't queerbaiting to hell and back.

C: Oh, yeah, I agree that queerbaiting was happening.

G: Yeah. I mean, isn't it so wild that, like, 15.18 already happened. [laughs] Like, Cas is already gay. And they were still queerbaiting, like, [laughs] it's so unreal. Well, anyway. [C: Anyway.]

This episode, what did you think of it? Like, let's start with that.

C: It is like, fine. Like, I think it's like, decently constructed. It's just seeing Karen in a waitress outfit made me want to kill many, many people.

G: I think this episode, it tries to interface with one of the main theses of the show of monsters being automatically bad, and-

C: - And then they said, "They are." [laughs]

G: Yeah, like, the show has tried several times to be like, "But, like, it's not- like, being a monster is blah blah blah, it's complex!" But they always fall short, right? So this is just an episode that follows that, but also, the way they try to both challenge that idea and also follow it is directly linked to the intense misogyny of the show. [laughs] [C: Yeah.] So like, yeah. Supernatural is Supernatural, and this is, I think, an episode so indicative of that. Because sometimes there would be a misogynistic episode, but the show is kind of aware of it. Not in a “Oh, we're aware of it, therefore we're not misogynistic” way. More of like, it's obvious what they're doing, and they must know, and they don't give a shit. This one, I feel like maybe Jeremy Carver didn't even think that this is a misogynistic portrayal.

C: Yeah, I think he was just like, “This is what wives do, right? Okay!”

G: "This is just what women are like," yeah. And I think that's that makes me even angrier. Obviously, both situations are terrible. But this one is like, there's a lack of awareness to it, and that just makes me go like, "You don't even consider this as possibly misogynistic!" Like, how is that a thing? Anyway, I did enjoy the episode, [both laugh] which is truly- I mean, it was fine, and I did enjoy seeing Bobby again. And this is our introduction to Sheriff Jody Mills. [C: Yes.] And she'll be here for 5ever.

C: Yeah. Do you think- part of me thinks maybe Jeremy Carver is aware because he put in a woman who has a gun in the episode too to be like, “Not all women only make pie.” You know what I mean?

G: You think that's true?

C: I think it's possible that Jody is meant to be a counteracting force to Karen. [G laughs]

G: Yeah, as a woman, the only two choices you have for who you should be is a stereotypical 50s housewife or a cop.

C: Yes. Exactly. And that's diversity.

G: Yeah. Let's- oh, what did you know about this episode before?

C: Nothing.

G: Nothing. Really? [C: Yeah.] Like, nothing?

C: No.

G: Why? Really?

C: Yeah.

G: But you know about Karen.

C: I thought- I didn't know she came back.

G: Oh, you only know from what has happened in previous episodes, that Bobby had a wife that he killed, and that was it?

C: Yeah. [G: Okay, well.] And I thought Jody first appeared in Season 9 or something.

G: You know, I also didn't expect Jody to be here. I know she shows up in Season 5, but I thought her first appearance, Bobby and her were already closely affiliated, and I remember this scene between her and Bobby where she's with, like, another cop who doesn't know about hunting, and then, you know, she sends him out so that they can split because Bobby's in suspicion of something, and she sends the guy out to the salvage yard so she can inspect the house, and Bobby is like, "Why did you do that?" And she was like, "Well, so I can be the one to look at the house. I'm sure you're hiding terrible things in here," and he was like, “Well, I'm also hiding bodies in the yard, so what now?” [C laughs] which I thought was incredibly funny, and I thought her first scene.

C: I don't know why so much of it is about Dean being depressed when I don't think that's relevant to this episode at all.

G: The "Then" sequence, yeah? Yeah, there's no- Everything is about like, "I'm tired! Please!" whatever he says last episode.

C: It's just- It's not relevant. Like, I don't see any place this comes up.

G: Yeah. For some reason, I thought that the next episode after that was like, the one where Cas tosses him to the wall.

C: "Point of No Return"?

G: Yeah, that one. It was gonna be "Point of No Return." Obviously, it's not. Oh, another thing that I thought about. This is 5.15. We are so near the end, and like, nothing is happening. I mean, things are happening. But I was just-

C: I just can't believe Death being risen five episodes ago has only just started to be anything.

G: You're right. He was risen five episodes ago. That's crazy.

C: I don't understand, like, the order of these things. I don't think this episode is like, specific to being after “Song Remains the Same” or “My Bloody Valentine” or anything. I don't know why this wasn't moved up.

G: Yeah. Also, like, it is quite fun that now that, you know, death shows up in small town South Dakota, at least they gave a reason, versus, like, all of the other times other important apocalypse figures were just like, "Oh!"

C: "We're just hanging out."

G: Yeah, like, "I'm War, and I'm going to be in this small town. Why not?" [C: Yeah.]

-

G: Okay, so we start the episode with this guy, [C: Corny.] yeah, watching television. It's storming outside. He has a mullet. [C laughs] And then he hears noise outside. He tries to open it, blah blah blah, and eventually, what happens is there's a guy who's like, all muddied up that kills him.

C: Well, we see this guy climb out of his grave first.

G: Yeah, we did. Yeah. So we know, it's the dead rising.

C: Yeah, they're trying to do this like, very annoying thing where the guy who's being killed was watching a nature documentary, and everything that the nature documentarian is saying is supposed to correspond to what's happening in his life. Like, “Oh, the wildebeest is scared now,” or whatever the fuck, and that was not effective horror for me. Like, whatever. Who give a fuck.

G: It's like, so Supernatural. Like that is- If you told me out of context of anything about a scene that plays out like this, I think I can very, very, very efficiently be like, "Yeah, that's a scene from Supernatural." [C: Yeah.] It's so Supernatural! [laughs]

C: I mean, I'm sure thing like this happen in all sorts of corny horror, but Supernatural is the corniest of the horror.

We cut to Sam and Dean, and they're in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and trying to get into contact with Bobby about a case, but he's not picking up. So they're interviewing someone named Digger who lives in the trailer near the guy who got killed.

G: Yeah. And Dean does this whole bit where he's like, “Wait, your name is Digger? Who gave you that name?” And then the guy's like, “Well, I did,” and Dean's like, “No, you can't give yourself a nickname!” What's wrong with him?

C: Transphobia.

G: It literally is transphobia.

G: Also, that's just so annoying. If somebody told you, “Call me this,” are you like- Dean!

C: Yeah. Well, he's transphobic. Digger says, “Who died and made you queen?” which I think is him responding to Dean's transphobia! [laughs] No, it's just some kind of a misogynistic or homophobic joke, but whatever. So.

G: Is it really?

C: I don't know exactly what- I think he's calling Dean fussy or something. [G: Okay.] He's doing something regarding gender. He's saying "queen" because it's demeaning in a way that “Who died and made you king?” isn't. [G: Yeah, okay.] He describes the murder. Yeah, so the the guy covered in mud who killed the other guy, his name is Clay, and he died five years ago. And Digger says that Benny Sutton, the guy he killed, killed Clay initially, so obviously, he would want revenge. In enters Jody. She looks so young in this. I feel like I've only seen her in Season 10 and beyond gifsets, so yeah.

G: I think this is perhaps the only season, or maybe even the only episode, where she has hair this long.

C: That's like, long. Yeah, I think that adds to the youthful look.

G: It is so fun to me, like, later, she is, you know, doting over her son, and there's like, a shot of her from her son's perspective, and she has Mary's hair, but in black. And I was like, "Is this just their like, young mother hair?" [both laugh]

C: Yeah, I think so. She comes in and introduces herself. She's a sheriff, and Sam and Dean say that they're FBI. She's suspicious of all this, and she asks to call their supervisor. So she calls, and Bobby picks up, and she goes, like, “Wait. Is this Bobby Singer?” [laughs] [G: Love that.] And it's very fun. And Bobby's like, "No?" and she's like, "Okay, yeah." So apparently, Bobby's the reputation around town is that he gets a lot of drunk and disorderlies and also mail fraud? What's mail fraud mean in this circumstance?

G: I think mail fraud is kind of close to identity theft, which Bobby does quite do quite a bit. So like, I think it's in association with identity theft. [laughs]

C: Yeah. So several people in Sioux Falls mentioned that Bobby is "the town drunk." [G: Yeah.] But like, it's strange to me, because I feel like in Supernatural, we see them drink, but we never see them drunk. [G: Drunk. Yeah.] And I think, is it just part of the show's general “alcohol is cool” [laughs] thing?

G: That like, we never see them drunk? [C: Yeah.] Yeah, I think so.

C: Yeah. I feel like we never really got the impression that Bobby has ever been a public menace, as Jody puts it, like, because of his drinking, or just because of anything. Also, he's like, in the scrapyard. Like, what could he be doing that other people would notice? But yeah, I don't know.

G: Maybe he goes out.

C: True, he could go out. We never see him go out, though. Like, he's never at the club.

G: So sad!

C: So sad. So she just shuts down their whole questioning people operation. And they're like, "Okay."

G: They're not like, "Okay." They are very visibly uncomfortable in a way that was quite funny. They go to Bobby's house, and Dean makes a whole point about how the house smells like soap and has been cleaned. And he asks if Bobby has been cleaning. Which is like-

C: Bobby's hair is also smoothed back.

G: Yeah. Bobby's hair, slicked back. Also, like, it is very fun that like, you know, they spent the beginning of that previous scene being like, “Oh, Bobby's not answering our phone. He's ignoring-" Like, not ignoring us. They're like, "Maybe he's somewhere, like, where is he? He's not home?" And then, like, you know, Jody calls, and it's so obvious that he's home and ignoring Sam and Dean. That's super fun. Dean asks about why Bobby's hold up here when there's a case five miles down. Bobby's like, "Yeah, well, it's not a case. I checked it out. It's nothing." And, you know, he says that like, "Oh, Digger Wells, he's the town drunk, so you shouldn't believe him. The storms, those are not actually omens. It's just lightning season or whatever." So yeah, Sam and Dean are like, “Well, we should go." And they stop over the cemetery for a bit on Dean's insistence. Like, Sam doesn't want to do this. But Dean's like, "Well, we should just check it out because, you know, maybe Bobby's wrong," and they dig up a grave, and afterwards, they realize that like, there's nothing there. [C: Yep.] And so they visit the guy's house. [C: Yeah, Clay's.] He is there, and he's alive, and also he's like, a human being. Like, he's a person who is very aware of everything and is not like, I don't know, Sam and Dean's idea of what a zombie should be.

C: Yeah, he's a bit pale, but that's it. He's acting like, he's been around on Earth for all the time that he has been.

G: Yeah. I think- what's the previous conception of zombies in Supernatural? Croatoan, right? [C: Yes, I guess that is-] Oh, and also that lady who gets raised and the guy who-

C: Oh, in "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things"?

G: Yeah. I think "Croatoan" then isn't zombies. I don't know. "Croatoan" is zombie in the sense of like, gets infected and then whatever. Like, World War Z movie-type zombie, and this one is rise from the dead. The guy like, they encounter him via breaking into his house. He's telling them, “Yeah, I did kill the guy because he killed me. What am I supposed to do?" [both laugh] which is so fun. But he said, like, "Yeah, but like, let's keep it down. I'll do whatever you like. You can take me to jail." And Dean was like, "We're going to take you to jail?" And he was like, "Yeah, well, what else are you going to do?" which is so true! [C: Yeah.] He's like, "I just don't want to wake up the kids." But then, his wife comes down, and he's like, "Yeah, we're going now. They're gonna take me somewhere, whatever." So they go out, and Clay is like, walking in front of them, and Sam and Dean are behind, and then Dean just straight up pulls out a gun to shoot this guy.

C: Yup. In the middle of the street! [G: In the middle of the street.] Like, right in front of the house where his kids live. [G: Yeah.] Like, have a little class. [laughs]

G: Exactly. And Sam protests a little bit, but like, not that much. [both laugh]

C: He's like, "[whiny] Deaaaan, don't!"

G: Because, like, the way Supernatural frames this is like, Dean is correct, right? Like, this episode ends, and the framing is like, "Dean is correct, [C: Dean was right the whole time.] but he could have been nicer about it. [C laughs] Like, he should have had more of a heart about it." which is so funny. I think that's a hilarious conclusion to this whole thing because like, this entire episode, they are showing us Dean super angry and Sam being like, "Noo, Dean!" But, you know, Sam's protestations are half-hearted. The conclusion was like, Sam's values and Dean's values should meet in the middle [C laughs], except Sam's values are, like, "We shouldn't kill the guy," and Dean's values are like, "We need to kill the guy." [C: Yeah.] and there's no middle ground between dead and alive, [laughs] so like, the guy's just dead anyway. Love that!

C: Yeah. Lovely.

G: Sheriff Jody Mills shows up and saves Clay by telling Sam and Dean to drop their guns, and yeah, Dean's like, "Well, what do you know? The guy you said was dead and couldn't kill someone? This is him." And yeah, Sheriff Jody- I keep on saying "Sheriff Jody Mills," the full fucking name, but like, yeah, Jody's like, "Well, okay, and?" And he's like, "Well, what do you mean 'and'?" And Jody’s like, “Whatever he is or isn't, you don't get to shoot him in the middle of the fucking street.”

C: And she's framed as wrong for this! Later, Sam and Dean in jail are like, "I can't believe she's getting paid off by the zombies." [G laughs] Like, Supernatural's a crazy show. "I can't believe that Sheriff Jody Mills didn't let us shoot a random guy dead in the middle of the street."

G: "I can't believe the police are being funded by Big Zombie!" [both laughing] Crazy. Well,  anyway.

C: And they were right. Like, the police were being funded by Little four-year-old boy Zombie! [G laughs] God! What a horrible show.

G: Anyway, Clay was like, "Wait, you were going to shoot me? I can't believe you were gonna kill me!" [C: "'Cause I'm a tax-"] And he says, “I'm a taxpayer!” So true. [C: Real.] Sam and Dean, who don't pay taxes, need to be taken out back and shot [both laugh] is the conclusion of this scene. [C: Exactly.]

-

C: So they're in jail, and this is where they talk about how Jody is being paid off by Big Zombie. They see Bobby and Jody, chatting it up, seeming friendly in the police station. Bobby has bailed them out. He starts talking to them, and he says that he was aware that the dead started rising over town five days ago. Yeah, Sam goes, “So you knew about this?” and Dean goes, “I think what Sam meant to say is, you lied to us?” [laughs] Like, this whole episode really is Dean's upset that Bobby doesn't love him like a son, and Sam's like, "Bobby's acting just like he loves me like a coworker."

G: No, later on, when he goes, "We're his family!" [laughs] I was like, "What's wrong with this guy?"

C: No, I know! [G: What is wrong-] That is his wife. Like, she's also his family. He thinks they should be more important than his wife, which, I think you're probably on par, but.

G: I mean, I think, for me, the most egregious part, it reveals Dean's hand. It reveals what Dean actually is upset about. Like, he's not upset that like, : I don't know like-

C: Bobby's gonna die.

G: Yeah, he's upset that Bobby's not choosing them! "They're his family! They're like, sons to him," or whatever. My god.

C: Yeah, I mean, that's very Dean. Like, I liked that part. [laughs] You are sick in the head. Congrats.

G: I know, but it is hilarious. [C: It is.] Also, later on, when Dean tells Karen like, "He's like a father to us,” [C laughs] Karen should have said, “Well, I am his wife."

C: [laughing] "He's like a husband to me."

G: "Not only is he like a husband to me, he literally is my husband, so like, I don't know, Dean." [C laughs]

C: Yeah. Well, Dean said no to amatonormativity this episode, and I do applaud him for that. [G laughs] Bobby’s saying, “These zombies aren't like other zombies! Here, I'll show you.” So he takes them to his house. And then, Karen Singer walks out, and when I say she's in a waitress outfit, like, [G: She is.] I mean she's in a waitress outfit. I mean, like, the Supernatural costume designers had a box for outfits for waitresses in diners in Supernatural, instead of getting Karen anything else, like, instead of spending money, they went to the waitress box, and then they took out the first waitress dress and the first waitress apron, and then they put it on her. Like, it's sick.

G: The thing is, there is an idea here of the fact that Karen is the only character wearing bright clothes, and she does look out of place in this very dark house, right? You can do that with literally any other piece of clothing, though. Like-

C: Yeah, just put her in floral prints.

G: Also, this is where Bobby lived previously, also. And also, Bobby has always been a mechanic. Bobby has always lived here and worked in the salvage yard, [laughs] the place where cars go to die. But like, I feel like- and I mean, I don't know. I don't know how to word this without sounding like I'm stereotyping women, but I feel like the fact that she looks like she doesn't belong here isn't right. Like, that shouldn't be how she is portrayed. I don't know, earlier, when Clay was in the house, he looked like he was just in the house. Like, yeah, that's a guy who would be in this house. You know what I mean? [C: Uh-huh.] But like, the fact that Karen looks so out of place. I'm like, "She also lived here!" [C: Right.] She also lived here in the house in the middle of the salvage yard, and this was also her property if, you know, if that's how their relationship was. Like, that was probably also her shop. You know what I mean, right? Like, the fact that they very distinctively make it like, "This is Bobby. And this is a wife. Like, this is just- this is our perception of a wife." Like, she- I don't know.

C: Yeah, and from 1950, too.

G: Yeah. And also like, I suppose it's like, about like, "Oh, what this represents for Bobby is domesticity and life before hunting." [C: Ugh!] And she's not- she's a character! She's not supposed to be a representation of whatever the fuck. [laughs] Like, she's a person in the screen! And I mean, they also do this, obviously, for like, Lisa, so far in the show. In Season 6, I do think they- you know, she becomes like, a character, a person. But like, it's just like, everything that you could be like, "Supernatural could have done this small thing differently!" And it's like, well, if they did this bigger thing differently, and the bigger thing being "being a misogynistic show," [both laugh] then they wouldn't have to even have these small things. You know what I mean? [C: Yeah.] It's just- Supernatural's so wild. Anyway, yeah, she's setting up the dinner table, and like, you know, it's so like, "Oh, you didn't bring- you didn't tell me that you're bringing guests. I'm gonna, you know, serve them food as well." And this is the part that really pissed me the fuck off. She starts serving them, like a waitress. [C: Yeah.] Serving their food, and Dean's like, "Oh, this is really good," and there's a little bit of- there's a gag about like, Sam being like, “Why the fuck are you saying that, Dean?" And Dean being like, "No, well, it really is very good!" But anyway, that funny moment ends with Bobby dismissing her! [C: Yeah!] Hello?

C: Ugh. It's so bad. I just- What kind of marriage dynamic was, like, present before this? Also, like, okay, it's implied that this is her old clothing that Bobby kept, so like, was this like, the world's most extended, like, roleplay? What is this? This just happened for real when you guys were married?

G: Also, later on, we are given an explanation for why she spends the entire time cooking, which is that, when she got back, it's all she wanted to do. It's still like, so messed up! [laughs] Like, Bobby, specifically, being like, "Just leave us for a bit" is like, I hate that so much! Because there is a version of this scene where they have dinner or whatever this is. I mean, it already started. Dean already was doing the, “Oh, this is really good!” and like, digging into his food, and Sam being like, “Dean, shut the fuck up.” Like, that is a funny idea to make a dinner scene about. And then the dinner ends, and then they go their own places or whatever, and Sam and Dean and Bobby talk. Like, that is like, something that they could have done this episode. Instead, they dismiss her from the dinner table. [C: Yeah.] She doesn't even-

C: She cooked all of that!

G: She cooks all of that. There's no plate for her. She's literally just serving these three guys. It's so egregiously bad!

C: Yeah. Yeah, I hate it. And also, if there was a dinner scene, maybe they could have connected with her more. Because the entire tragedy of the episode is “If we murder this woman, Bobby will be sad about it.” But like, what about her? [laughs]

G: Yeah. And I think what they were, again, trying to do is they're trying to reserve the conversation for later. But like, it doesn't even matter, anyway. They could have had that conversation later, because that conversation was specifically about Bobby not being there. So like, I feel like they can have [laughs] a conversation with Bobby there, and this will be a completely different conversation, anyway. And, I don't know. It's just- it's so stupid. What a stupid show. What a stupid episode. [C: Yeah.] Jeremy Carver, you're- I hate this episode.

C: Who wrote "Last Holiday"? Jeremy Adams. Right, that was the "Scoobynatural" person, right? [G: Is it really?] Like, he only wrote “Scoobynatural”- He wrote “Scoobynatural,” “Last Call,” and “Last Holiday.” Alright, well.

G: "Last Call" is- [C: I don't know.] The one with Lee, yeah.

C: Ten years apart, and Supernatural still is a TV show.

G: I think, actually, you know what? I'll defend "Last Holiday." I'll defend Mrs. Butters. I think that's her name.

C: Yeah, no, I think there's more interesting stuff going on with her than with Karen.

G: Definitely. And especially because, like, her concept was like, she was- I forgot what creature she was, but like, she was kept there by the Men of Letters to do that task.

C: An elf or something?

G: I think she's like a- [C: A nymph?] I forgot. But yeah, maybe.

C: Some sort of woodland sprite.

G: Yeah. Like, the point was that like, she was playing that role because of [C: Yeah.] previous misogyny [laughs] that doesn't exist anymore in Season 15 of Supernatural!

C: Yeah. Dean says that Bobby is crazy, and he calls Karen an "American Girl zombie making cupcakes in your kitchen," and Bobby goes, “First of all, that's my wife. So watch it.” Something about that just annoys me incredibly much. Bobby's like, "No, that's like, her for realsies. I did all the tests on her. Like, she is human, and she's back."

G: Yeah. And she was cremated, so it's not like, body rising from the grave.

C: Yeah. Apparently, the last five days, about twenty people rose from the grave. Okay, I think later, I counted how many people attacked Dean and Bobby, like, in the scrapyard, plus all the other zombies we see, and I think it's more than twenty total. So Bobby hasn't been keeping track very well.

G: Yeah. Also, like, it's so irresponsible. Giving this list is so responsible.

C: Yeah, he gives a list of the names of the people to Sam. Like, bro, you just gave them a kill list. [G: Yeah.] And he mentions that Jody's little boy came back.

G: This is like, actually the part of the episode that I did feel something about. The Jodie and her kid. Also, like, later on, when Bobby, like, talks to Karen, I did feel some emotions, but, like, they were all undercut by the fact that Karen's portrayal is so misogynistic. [laughs] [C: Yeah.] Yeah. That's, I think, what I find egregious about this episode as well. I've already said many things that I find egregious, but like, it's a good concept. Like, it's kind of basic. It's like, a basic concept. But there are ways to make it like, good, and there are some times where they touch upon those things, but there's just so much everything else that it's like, "Well. Huh."

C: They also just never mention how many times Sam and Dean have risen each other from the dead also. Like, that seems like it would be relevant.

G: This is true. Yeah. Sam literally was risen from the dead [C: Two episodes ago.], and Dean was literally risen from the dead.

C: Yeah. Bobby says that from the Book of Revelation, this is because death was risen five episodes ago, and he did this, but they don't know why. Dean’s like, "If Death did this, then all of these people are probably zombies, and it's bad, and we have to kill all of them." And then-

G: A demon raised your brother, man.

C: Yeah. [laughs] Well.

G: So like, I don't know. Death- whatever. Like, the whole part of that it's neutral.

C: Yeah, Death should be neutral, yeah, I agree, but not- Supernatural's so weird, because it's like, obsessed with everything being natural, despite the fact that it's called Supernatural, so it's like, "All of these zombies were unnaturally risen from the dead, so automatically, they have to go bad, and they have to be evil, and we have to kill them," blah blah blah, but they hate Death so much.

G: Yeah, and they hate salads, so like, I don't know. [both laughing]

C: For real! Very confusing. But yeah, whatever. The idea of what is natural and what is not doesn't come from any factual basis, it's just employed as a value system in order to kill the things that you don't like. [G: Yeah.] But Bobby suddenly is like, “This is the perfect marriage now, because she doesn't remember when she was possessed by a demon, or when I killed her, and also she hums when she cooks, and I like, loved her for that so much, so you should feel bad for me,” and then they do feel bad for him.

G: I mean, I feel like you mischaracterized that portion of Bobby-

C: I mean, it's meant to be emo. He does say it like, sad.

G: Yeah, it is. But like, the point isn't that like, "I love her for-" It was like, "This was an aspect of my life that I thought I would never have again," [C: Yeah.] and it was like, this benign thing that wasn't even wonderful because she was tone-deaf, but it was my life, and then it was gone, and now I have it again. And why is that so bad? And like, I understand.

C: Yeah. Well, he is not “The Whistler” by Mary Oliver. So maybe if he can be “The Whistler” by Mary Oliver, he can come back and say that to me again. [G: Exactly.] But yeah. It's like, not a bad scene. I think it succeeds at whatever emotional thing it's supposed to do.

G: The thing that they were doing were like, the door is slightly ajar to the kitchen, and while Bobby is doing his speech-

C: [laughing] Yeah, she's humming.

G: - you can see her buzzing around in the back. It's so- [laughs]

C: Supernatural really thinks people can't hear beyond a five-foot radius.

G: Once you pass a door, a threshold of some sorts, even if it's blasted open, you can't hear the other room! You just can't hear it. It's impossible.

C: You can't. There's a scene in Interview with the Vampire, Season 2 Episode 6, where there's literally just a curtain between Louis and Claudia and Armand outside, and they're whispering to each other, and it's like, "He can hear you, you know? Like, he definitely can." [G laughs] It's a curtain! It doesn't even reach the floor!

His point is that like, the dead rise during the Apocalypse, and like, "How do we know that that's automatically bad?" which I think is a fair point. [G: Yeah.] But Dean says, "Well, if you were us, you would kill Karen so hard and so raw." And Bobby's like, “Yeah, I would. But pwease don't! Pweeease? Pwease.”

G: I mean, I think it's like-

C: Who do you think would be coming back? Jess?

G: I mean, probably. Mary? John.

C: Yeah, Mary. [laughs] If it was John, Bobby would have shot without thinking.

G: I think I do find interesting the idea that this happened, and Bobby's first instinct is to hide it from Sam and Dean because he knows them. And, like, the thing is, I don't think Bobby would have- like, when Dean was like, "If this was us, what would you do?" I don't think Bobby would do this.

C: He would. He locked Sam up in 4.21. He would do anything.

G: This is true. The thing about Bobby is you can only think positive about things about him just because we don't see him often. [both laugh] [C: Yeah.] "Bobby wouldn't do that!" Well, that's because we didn't see Bobby in his "doing that" era.

-

G: Sam and Dean are at a diner talking about like, "What the fuck are we gonna do now?" And Dean was like, “I'm not gonna let Bobby- like, I'm not gonna leave Bobby in the house with the bride of Frankenstein," [C laughs] blah blah blah. And Sam's like, "What, you're just going to walk in there and shoot her? Blast her? Blow her skull off, whatever?” [C laughs] And Dean's like, “Well, yeah.”

C: Yeah. Sam's like, “At least use lethal injection, Dean!" Like, that's truly- his position is just like, "Be nice about killing her."

G: Yeah. Sam doesn't argue with this at all. He's just like, "Yeah, well, I'm gonna go to the town.

C: "Nothing I can do about it. Okay."

G: "Sorry, Dean." And yeah, Dean goes for it. He's like, in a salvage yard, [laughs] the place where cars go to die.

C: Where is that from?

G: [laughing] What?

C: Where is that from?

G: No, it's just because "salvage" means "to kill" here, so I'm just like, "This is the place cars go to die." [C: Oh, yeah.] He's like, leaning against a car, just looking at their house. Doesn't even try to be inconspicuous or anything, you know. He's just in there. And then he's shocked when Karen sees him. And Karen does. She shows up beside him. And she's like, "Yeah, go inside. There's a lot of pie. Go eat." And Dean's like, "I don't think Bobby wants me to go inside," and she's like, “Well, it's going to be our own secret then, yeah?” And then yeah, she comes in. They eat pie, and there's so much of it. Like, there's just like, tens, dozens, maybe, of pies in the room, and yeah, Dean's like, "Well, what the fuck is going on?" And she's like, "Well, since I got back, I can't stop baking. I don't know what it is."

C: Do they explain this at any point later?

G: I think what it is is, maybe they realize that it was so weird, that maybe they're being misogynistic. [C: Uh-huh.] And they're like, "Well, if she wanted to do it, [C laughs] then it won't be."

C: But like, it's like, too many pies. Like, I thought that they were gonna go for a thing where it's like, it's not actually them with their memories, it's like, a parody of them that was created in their loved one’s mind, or like, blah blah blah, but like, they don't seem to be going for that. And Jody’s kid seems to be normal. He doesn't seem to be a parody of himself or anything. So is it really just that she wanted to bake pie so much that she made that many of them? Like, that's it?

G: Yeah.

C: Is it supposed to tie into how, like, the zombies get really hungry? But she doesn't eat anything! She just serves them!

G: I was trying to think about this, and I was like, "Is this like a 'She's displacing her trauma from when she died?' or whatever?" [C: Yeah.] Like, is this a way to get away from Bobby? Because, like, you know, their relationship, she's hiding things from him, and he's hiding things from her, so, like, there must be some discomfort there. Maybe she prefers, like, being in the kitchen where she [both laughing] doesn't have to interact with Bobby, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

C: Being in the kitchen, where she, as a woman, belongs? [both laugh]

G: God. And we all know Bobby is not gonna go in there because, you know, he's a man and everything. [C: Yeah.] Well, I don't know. There's no-

C: Remember when the only time we see Bobby cook is when he's grilling sausages? [both laugh] Like a man?

G: God. [C laughing] The politics of food in Supernatural is truly so fascinating. Yeah, but there's absolutely no, like, reason given behind this. This is just something she wants to do, I guess. But yeah, Dean asks, like, "Well, if you're doing all this, how do you sleep?" And she says, "I don't know sleep. Must be the excitement." And Dean's like, "Or being dead." And he's like, doing his like, stony face. You know the one where he's like, "I'm gonna clench my jaw to show that I know what you're up to, and I'm mad at you, and I'm gonna kill you!" [C laughs] Yeah. And she says, "I know you don't trust me, and, like, you're here because you're keeping an eye on Bobby and on me. I know Bobby's not the same mild-mannered scrap dealer I married. You hunt things. I'm a thing. I get it.” I hate that like, whenever they have, like, a "monster," quote-unquote, and then it's just a guy. It's just a person. And then it's like the narrative feels the need for the character itself to like, situate themselves as a monster. Do you get what I mean? Like-

C: Like, they're confirming Sam and Dean's worldview by saying that?

G: Not particularly. More of like, the perspective then becomes like, "I know what I am. I get why you wanna kill me!" [C: Right.] Like, what about a monster that's like, "Why do you want to kill me? Like, shut the fuck up!"

C: I mean, that's what “I'm a taxpayer” was for.

G: [laughs] Oh my god, you're right! I guess it's like, because it's in the same episode, I'm like, "Well, Karen is the one we're supposed to believe, I guess."

C: Yeah, have the dilemma over.

G: I suppose, like, I want, like, an episode where it's just like, a monster, and like, all of them, or like, maybe there's just one of them. It's like, "Well, you shouldn't do that." Like, I don't think you should do that. And then we interact with it, like, meaningfully. I think they do this too with Leonore. I forget her name. I think it's Leonore.

C: Yeah. Yeah, the vampire.

G: Yeah, where she's like, "Yeah, I'm a vampire. And-" blah blah blah. I don't know, like, somebody you want to kill telling you that like, "It's okay that you want to kill me, I get it," it's like, "Why?" [C: Yeah.] Girl, have some self-preservation skills. [both laugh] And Dean says his iconic line. Yeah, "Sam and I, we would never let anything happen to Bobby. He's like a father to us." [C laughing] He should have said, "He's like a father to me and a boss to Sam." [C: Literally.] That would be more accurate. Like, a begrudging coworker to Sam. [C laughs] And yeah, Karen's like, "Well, yeah, and he's very lucky for that. But you're not the only one looking out for him." And then Karen reveals that she actually remembers everything. She remembers, like, being possessed and, like, being killed by Bobby and everything, and that she knows he feels guilty. So Dean asks, "So why don't you tell him?"

C: I don't understand the importance of this. Like, what is the relevance of whether or not she remembers to whether or not she should die?

G: I don't think that's it. I think this is just like, she's saying this to be like, "I'm looking out for Bobby as well." [C: Okay.] So like, I think it's like, a testament of "No, I actually do care about him and love him and etc."

C: Why does Dean want her to tell him that she remembers, though?

G: I don't think he wants to. I think he's just asking why she doesn't want to. [laughs] [C: Okay.] Yeah. And Karen says, "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you've never been in love."

C: What about Cassie?

G: "My job is to bring him peace, not pain."

C: It's so funny! I hate this sentence. I hate it soo much.

G: I do. I also as well. He killed you, man! [both laugh] Have some self-preservation skills.

C: Like, a relationship is about- I think, like, it's not just about making sure the other person has the best possible life, no matter what. It's like, it's a partnership. Like, you're in things together, like, you struggle through things together. There's like, respect and trust, or whatever the fuck. Like, this is such a weird, like [G: No, exactly.] motherly view of what a wife should be.

G: And then, like, you know, Karen being like, "I don't think you've ever been in love." Because when this scene happened, I was like, "I don't think that's how it works! Like, I don't think a marriage should be like this!" [C: Yeah.] And also like, if the issue is that he's guilty, pretending that you don't remember, I don't think that addresses it.

C: Yeah, that doesn't help! You could be like, "Yeah, I remember. And I get it. Like, it's fine. [G: Yeah.] We can move past this. Let's talk about it."

G: I feel like that's going to help with the guilt more. And also the idea that, like, the opposite of- like, the only choice here is peace or pain. [laughs] [C: Yeah.] And it's like, I don't know. I feel like they really did trap us in this mind because, like, Karen goes like, “I'm gonna guess you've never been in love.” [laughing]

C: Yeah, it's like, "Well, if you disagree with me, you've never been in love, and all the times you thought you were, you were lying to yourself."

G: Yeah. Well, maybe I've never been, Karen, but I still think this is kind of a fucked up marriage to have! [C laughs]

C: Just the idea of like, a wife bringing you peace is so irritating, 'cause it's like, it's about becoming, like, a nonpresence. [G: Yeah.] Like, I feel like peace is like, the absence of things. And if you're just around to bring about the absence of things, like- It's just very irritating, combined with the whole like, she cooks, and she doesn't eat, and she gets dismissed from the room stuff.

G: And she cleans. Isn't that so fucked up?

C: Yeah. Like, she isn't your AI house assistant. Like, your AI house assistant can bring you peace. Your wife is like, a person.

G: Yeah. And also, like, I just find it so funny that like, the house smelling like soap was supposed to be foreshadowing [C laughs] that Bobby has a woman in the house now. [C laughs] So funny! The funniest thing-

C: Yeah, you know what? When I first saw the "did you clean?" line, I was like, “Oh my god! Bobby and Jody are fucking, and he cleaned up so that when she came over it, would be nice!" But yeah.

G: My thought process was like, "It smells like soap? Did like, Bobby clean and then not do it well?" [C laughs] [C: Right.] Like, why does it still smell like soap?

-

C: So Sam's been out and about on the town. Earlier, he looked through a window and saw Jodie and her husband, like, cuddled up with their son and reading him a story. Now, he's gone to another house on the list, and someone named Mrs. Jones has been risen from the dead. He goes in, and there's this old woman who's like, really sick and, like, coughing a lot.

G: And there's blood on, like, the threshold of the house. [C: Yeah.] So, like, he already is like, "Oh, there's something wrong here."

C: Yeah. And Sam's very icked out by her and by the entire house, and she keeps gesturing for him to come closer, and he's all like, "Ew, oh, okay." And then when he finally gets close enough, she attacks him and, like, spits all over him and shit, and then he notices that someone else in the house is dead, and it looks like someone, like, ate their torso. And then he shoots Mrs. Jones with a gun, [G: Square in the-] square in the mouth.

G: Into her mouth, right?

C: Yep. So that's Sam. After this, Sam and Dean are back at Bobby's and talking about how, "Well, it looks like the people who rose from the dead do go bad eventually and eat people." Sam and Dean are like, “Bobby, please let us kill your wife. Please, please.” And Bobby pulls out a gun and just rests it on his lap, and he tells them, [G: "Fuck off."] “Well, get out of my house. Fuck off." And Sam goes, “Or what? You'll shoot?” [G: Yeah.] And Bobby says that if his wife turns, then he will handle it his way. So Sam and Dean scram. They talk outside, and Dean's like, "He's crazy!" And Sam goes, “It's his wife, Dean.” And Dean goes, “But we’re his familyyyy!” [both laugh] Which we've already discussed.

G: Truly a funnyass man.

C: Yeah. And Sam's just like, "IDGAF." 'cause he doesn't want to have the “Well, I'm his coworker” discussion with Dean. They decide to split up because Dean's just focused on protecting Bobby from Karen. And Sam says, “Okay, I guess I'll head to town and rescue everyone, then.” And Dean's like, "Yep, go do that." And Dean suggests that he team up with Jodie.

-

G: So Jodie's kid is feverish and sick. He's like, lying on the couch, which, I mean, at the time, I was like, "That's so stupid. Why is he not in his room?" And then I was like, "Does he have a room?" [C: True.] He doesn't sleep, and also, they must have, you know, removed his room after he died, so.

C: Well, repurposed it. I don't think you can remove it.

G: Yeah, no, they demolished it completely. Yeah. And yeah, he's like, "I'm so hungry!" And Jodie is like, "Okay, well, I'm gonna make you something. Stay here." And then in the kitchen, her husband is buzzing around on the phone. He's saying that like, "Oh, the kid's temperature's 111 degrees. I don't know what's happening. Blah blah blah." Jody's like, "Can you give this to him?" the food. And so he does. And as Jodie takes on the call, I don't know. She hears a thud. Is that it? She finds her son, Owen, eating her husband. [C: Slay.] Pretty brutal. So the kid stands up and starts going towards her, and, you know, he's not like the lady from earlier. He's not wildly attacking Jodie. But Sam shows up and takes Jody out and outside. He tries to tell her, “You got to get your shit together. You have to focus because the whole town's in danger. I can go in, take your kid out back and shoot him if you like.” [both laugh] She goes, “Okay.” And then he does. And we do get a shot of Jody’s face as she hears the gunshot.

-

C: Meanwhile, in Bobby's house- so Dean's hanging out outside with his guns, and Bobby's trying to protect Karen by telling her to stay away from the windows 'cause he knows Dean's gonna be trying to kill her. And then she starts collapsing and coughing, and apparently, she has a fever, and she says that she just needs something to eat, and then she'll be fine. So she's in a sickbed, and just talking about being hungry, and Bobby is being, I don't know, doting husband, whatever. She tells him that she can feel herself starting to turn and tells him that he should just shoot her, and Bobby refuses. So Karen says that she remembers being possessed and Bobby killing her, which I guess is her trying to convince him. And Bobby says that he can't do it again. And she also says that when she got risen, there was a very thin, skeleton-like man at the grave who told her to give Bobby a message. [G: Yeah.] And Bobby goes, "Why didn't you tell me?" Yeah.

G: This is the reason why she's telling Bobby now, because like, "You need to hear about this, Bobby." But like, there was a point where I was like, "Is she telling him, 'You killed me already before.'?"

C: "Like, just do it again! It can't be that bad, like, you were able to in the past!"

G: [laughs] Which I thought was so funny. My god.

C: I mean, I did view it as sort of a convincing tactic. I don't know. I think it was the "I didn't tell him because, like, I wanted to bring him peace and ensure the longevity of our marriage, and I think that by telling him, I'm signaling to him that, like, we can't continue living like this because he'll feel so bad the whole time." I think that there is something about how like-

G: Playing into the guilt.

C: "This fact should end our marriage, and that would help him be able to shoot me more." Bobby asks why she didn't tell him about Death before, and she says, "You've seen so much. I just wanted to see you smile!" Huh? Okay.

G: So fucking stupid. Also, the idea of like, "You learning that I lied to you will make you kill me," [laughs] like, "I know you killed me in the past, but I lied about remembering it, so that means you should shoot me, you should be able to kill me." So funny.

C: It's not about anger. I think it's just the like, "Let's stop keeping up the pretense that, like, [G: This is a happy marriage.] things can be back to the way they were before." [G: Yeah.] But yeah, I mean that still shouldn't be enough to kill somebody. But I guess she hopes that it'll be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Bobby asks what the message was, and then we cut to Dean POV, and there's a gunshot, and he runs upstairs, and Karen has been shot to death. And yeah, whatevs. Sorry to this woman.

G: And Dean hears it, and he, like, goes in, and then there's like, the shot where like, you know, he's still holding up the gun, but then Bobby turns around and it focuses on Dean, and he's doing his subtle frowny face. And like, you were gonna shoot her. [laughs] You were gonna shoot her, Dean. So like, I don't know. I'm like, just so annoyed with Dean this episode.

C: He is annoying this episode. [G: Annoyingass.] Yeah, earlier, when Sam and Jody were teaming up or whatever, she's decided that, "Yeah, we do need to keep the town safe and kill all the zombies," and she also mentions that they need to put everybody in jail, because that'll be safe. And since then, they've gathered a group of people to give guns to kill zombies. I would assume this is a small enough town that they know who died five years ago and who didn't, right? Because or else, I just feel like they'd be killing any pale person that's around. This is where Sam says that he's a friend of Bobby's to a resident of Sioux Falls, and he says that Bobby is the town drunk. But yeah, whatever. That's it. So they're all heading out, ready to kill zombies. But I guess none of them get to kill any zombies, because all of them attack Dean and Bobby at the salvage yard for some reason. And then we have a very boring fight scene. And yeah, it honestly feels like a video game, like, the way it's just like, a rush of random zombies, and then they go like, "shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot." Like, okay, whatever.

G: And then, you know, just when Bobby and Dean are fucked, Sam and Jody come in, and they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. Where's the other people?

C: I don't know. In jail? Who knows?

G: Well, anyway, that all ends. Whatever. Who give a shit? [both laugh] And then we go to Jodie, Dean, and Sam in front of a pyre where they have just collected everyone and burned them.

C: Yeah, and like, their family isn't here. This is them- [G: Yeah.] Like, you're telling me nobody cared enough [G: Give a shit.] to be involved in this? You know, what's really annoying is like, Bobby has his special secret pyre for Karen only. [G: Yeah.] Like, you're telling me Jody Mills threw her four-year-old son in the mass grave and then burned him with everybody else, and she didn't give a shit?

G: No, yeah, exactly. Like, Jody's also here.

C: Yeah. Like, there were multiple losses here. But whatever. Whatever.

G: Well, Bobby was, you know, joined by Sam and Dean in his very own special little funeral pyre.

C: Yeah, joined by the two people who were like, "We need to shoot her. Can we please shoot her, Bobby? Let's shoot her, please." the whole time they knew Karen.

G: Yeah. And he goes, like, "Sorry for not shooting her." [both laugh]

C: "Even though I did."

G: He says, "I lost my head back there," and Sam's like, "Bobby, you don't owe us anything." And yeah, Dean is like, "Well, at least you got to spend a couple of days with her, right?" And Bobby says, "Yeah, and it just makes things worse. She was the love of my life. How many times do I gotta kill her?" Well, just the two, Bobby. So it's fine.

C: Yeah. [laughs]

G: And Sam goes, "Are you gonna be okay, Bobby?" And yeah, Bobby's like, "Well, I don't know. But Karen told me something. Death was here because he came for me as, like, a threat because I'm holding you back from saying yes to Lucifer, Sam."

C: [laughing] Like, his manager is somebody that he cares about enough that he's saying no to Lucifer? I doubt it.

G: It's really- Well, anyway. Yeah?

C: No, I mean, Sam and Bobby do care about each other, I guess. Or do they? [G: I guess.] Okay, like, the logic is that Sam doesn't wanna let Bobby down, so that's why he's saying no to Lucifer? Like, I don't know how true that is. Like, it seems like he's just saying no to Lucifer 'cause it'll end the world. That seems pretty bad already.

G: Yeah. I don't know. Well. Yeah, Bobby said, "They were gonna take my life. Or my spirit. Either way, they just wanted me out of the way."

C: [laughs] So dumb. "They wanted to make me so depwessed that you'd be okay saying  yes to Lucifer"? What?

G: Yeah. And Sam says that "You're gonna be alright. Yeah, Bobby?"And then, you know, we get a zoom out to show us that Bobby [both] is not gonna be alright.

C: He is gonna be alright, though.

G: We see him later in the show. He's fine. [C: Yeah.] Ugh. [laughs] Well, this was an episode of Supernatural. [C laughing]

-

C: I feel like we both came into it saying more positive things about it than we came out of it feeling. [G laughs]

G: Okay, so did we like this episode? It was fine, honestly.

C: The experience of watching it was fine, but I think as soon as you like, think about it, like, at all, [G: In any way.] it's the worst thing that's ever happened.

G: Yeah. Best Line/Worst Line?

C: Oh, god! So many worst lines.

G: I mean, I really don't like Bobby dismissing Karen. I think he says, like, "Leave us for a bit" or something.

C: Yeah, yeah. I didn't like the "He's my husband. I'm supposed to bring him peace, not pain" thing. Like, okay. I hope Jeremy Carver never gets married, or divorces if he is.

G: Let's see. Is Jeremy Carver divorced? [C laughs] "Jeremy Carver." Let's see. Okay. He developed the series Being Human, Doom Patrol, Frequency, and then Supernatural showrunner. He's married!

C: They worked on Being Human together.

G: To Anne Frick. Or Anna Frick.So sad. I hope they get divorced. [C laughs]

C: Unless Anna Frick is actually having a good time, in which case, okay, don't get divorced.

G: Yeah, well.

C: Well, best line. I mean, I really do like when Dean goes, like, "[high-pitched] But we're his family!" [laughs] Like, I think that is- That's Dean. That's correct. They got him.

G: That's indicative of who he is. I do like the bit- 'cause, like, earlier in the episode, Bobby goes, "What? You're gonna listen to Digger? He's the town drunk." And I was, like, "Bobby, you're also a drunk. [laughs] Like, what is this?" And then, later on, there's the reveal that, like, he's not actually, like, the town drunk, that's Bobby, and Bobby was just deflecting by calling him that. I thought it was like, a nice, like, gag, I guess. Is it a gag, or like, a callback, whatever that is?

C: Yeah, it's something.

G: Yeah. And Sam, being embarrassed to be caught, like, believing this lie. [C: Yeah.] Spreadsheets. Spread those sheets, baby!

C: Misogyny inherent to the episode.

G: It is so inherent, it's unreal. 4?

C: So... 3? 4?

C: I think I was thinking 4 during the episode. [G: Okay.] Should we do that thing where we go back because we forgot about racism in multiple episodes, somehow, by the end?

G: Yes. Yeah.

C: Okay, so first, in "Swap Meat," Busty Asian Beauties made an appearance, [G: That's a 1.] and we usually just give a racism point whenever it exists. Secondly, in "The Song Remains the Same," like, every time Uriel was on screen, we just went like, "Slay." but like, the actual- like, it was bad. They continued to portray him as this flat character who only desires violence, and it sucks. [G: Yeah.] And I mean, I guess we- we already gave the Uriel points when he died, but I feel like we should still- because this is his last appearance. So should this be [G: No.] more of an overall Uriel thing? Or should it just be-

G: No, it's just, like, an extra thing, I think. Because we did treat that one like Uriel's ending. [C: Right.] This is like, an additional to that. You know, the thing about Uriel is like, I always forget that like, Supernatural intends it differently. Because like, when you and I talk about it, I do think of Uriel as like, "He's so cool! He wants to kill Sam and Dean? That's so fun!"

C: Yeah. Exactly!

G: Like, me too, buddy. This is just the human- this is what everyone desires to do, so it's fine. And then I-

C: We're supposed to be like, "He's the most evil being alive!" [G: Yeah, so.] A 1, just because he was such a small part of the episode, or-

G: I think a 1 or a 2. I think I can argue for a 2.

C: Okay, I'll give it a 2, because I feel like we often undercount racism. Yeah.

G: "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid," sorry. Racism. I don't think there's anything. [C: I don't think so.] I don't remember.

C: We often don't remember, but I'm pretty sure there isn't.

G: Yeah. Homophobia. You said there was a homophobic line which I was like, "That's not."

C: I think "Who died and made you queen?" could be read as homophobic, but I don't care about it enough to argue for a point if you don't feel the need to give it a point.

G: Yeah, I'll give it a 0.

C: Alright. Cool. We did it. IMDb.

G: So, ratings.

C: I have no clue 'cause I had never heard of this episode before. But I do have to guess first. Um... 8.3.

G: Mm. I was already thinking, "Oh, I'm gonna give it a low score," but apparently, that's not low enough. I'm giving an 8.5.

C: Okay.

G: Okay, let's see. Mm! It's an 8.4. We're tied.

C: Oh. Good for us.

G: Okay. Well, what have people been saying? You know, this one points out that like, okay, this one says, "Good emotional episode with a mystery and one of the better action scenes. [C: Hm.] Obviously this a show and i don't mean to drag the obvious point that Bobby having a permanent residence makes zero sense" I don't agree.

C: Why does it make zero sense?

G: I don't agree, because Bobby does occupy a different kind of hunting niche versus Sam and Dean, number one. Number two, Sam and Dean [laughs] always didn't have a home. Like, they always didn't have a place of residence versus Bobby who started up hunting with already a place of residence.

C: Yeah, he'd already paid off his mortgage by the time he started hunting. [G: Yeah!] Like, why would he give that up?

G: He already has a business. Like, come on, dude. And number three, I actually like the idea of Bobby being a presence in his town. I think that's so interesting.

C: Yeah, I think that it's so fun that like, he tried to do his fake FBI thing, and, like, people in his town, were like, "I recognize that."

G: "I know your voice." Yeah. And also like, I like- 'cause, you know, there was a moment where I was like, I forgot that, like, Karen is gonna be back here. I think I only remembered when they were like- after Bobby bailed them out, so they're like, walking down the hall, right? But like, when he was talking to Jodie, I was like, "Oh, like, this is about Jody's kid. He's like, covering up for Jody's kid."

C: Aw, that'd be nice!

G: And I thought, like, in that moment, I was like, "Well, that's nice that he's like, trying to stand up for and be there for his community." Like, that's rather nice. [C: Yeah.] So I completely disagree with this concept that, like, it doesn't make sense. Not only does it make sense, like, it can be a good thing. Like, that's a good concept as well.

C: Mm-hm, yeah. Agreed.

G: Everyone's talking about like, "It's nice because it's emotional." [C: Mm-hm.] Well. Oh! This one points out the "Another horseman? It must be Thursday." line, which I also did enjoy. "It must be Thursday," of course, being a joke over the fact that Supernatural airs on Thursdays.

C: Ah, yeah, that's fun.

G: Yeah. You know, it airs- because it's Thursday night, meaning it's Friday morning for me. So when I was watching Supernatural, like, religiously, and I had school, right? And I would spend the entire morning being like, "Ugh, I can't watch Supernatural in the air right now! I can't watch it!" [C laughs] And then every Friday, we have, like, a two-hour campus break or whatever where nobody has classes, and we're just supposed to do other things, and I did not join a single organization [laughing] when I was in high school, and I spent a lot of those universal breaks, like, I don't know, like looking up what happened that day in Supernatural. What a wonderful time in my life that was also kind of horrible. [C laughs]

C: Yeah, yeah. The Supernatural post that's like, "Remember who was there for you at your lowest," and then it got edited to read, "Remember your lowest."?

G: Literally. So that’s it for this episode of Busty Asian Beauties. Next week, we will be discussing Episode 5- No. Season 5, Episode 16. Do you know?

C: Yeah, it's the "Dark Side of the Moon."

G: Hell yeah! So leave us a rating or a review wherever you get your podcasts.

C: Follow us on social media! We are on Tumblr at bustyasianbeautiespod.tumblr.com. Our official tag is #BABPod, B-A-B-POD. Thanks to everyone who's donated to our Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/bustyasianbeautiespod, which is where our outtakes live, and check out our merch at babpod.redbubble.com.

G: You can email us any feedback, comments, or inquiries at bustyasianbeautiespod@gmail.com. See you guys next time! [both] Bye!

[guitar music]

[jarpadswalker]

Fun fact of these magazine covers....I don't have Twitter, so if anyone wants to educates these idiots plz go ahead.

So, the fact is that Misha wasn't added in the shoot because he is important or he is third lead. He is added only because Misha and his minions bullied the publication. TV guide and Entertainment Weekly originally feature only J2, seeing this Misha got super jealous and he took to Twitter to whine. Hellers and AAs blame Jared for using Twitter to complain and attack when, in reality, it was Misha who used to do that. He siced his fans on to TV Guide and EW by tweeting something like would have liked the invitation but seem am not imp enough (not exact words but sentiments are the say) And lo behold and every turn Minions and Hellers started to bully the publications. Some even went to the TV Guides office. Next year TV and Later EW decided to come with different covers - J2, Jared individual, Jensen Individual, Cas individual and J2M

Guess which covers never got sold out? Answer is - Cas and J2M. There was so much inventory that the TV Guide had to give it for free at Comic Con and other cons. Minions and Hellers also demanded Jensen and Misha cover like that of J2, but no one took that up...TVGuide was already facing loss. Next year, TV guide kept it as limited covers Minions, and Hellers started to hoard the J2M and Cas covers in order to prove to J2 fans that Misha covers are sold out...Hilariously those covers landed on ebay in much cheaper price within a week. Many even took to Twitter to sell the extras ... Hellers are idiots no doubt I that.

Also, it is not just with magazine covers, but Misha tried to do the same with special anniversary episodes. He was super salty when he was written in 100 and 200th episode. He even asked the producers to write him in those episodes, and producers rejected the suggestion, saying it would be brothers centric. Immediately, he took to Twitter, complaining about how he wasn't involved. And lo behold off went hellers like a rabid dogs against the producers demanding they write Cas in the episode. Thankfully, none of them paid any hid to them. Misha also threw tantrums for the finale when he was informed along with the cast and crew, and he wasn't involved in deciding how the series finale would be like. He wasn't involved in the scripting process.

He wasn't invited when spn got their name on the studio, nor did he hot Impala. The fact that hellers and Misha have to throw tantrums to be involved in everything shows that he is nowhere near being the lead. In fact, even Hellers knew it. They just feel that if they scream louder that Misha is a lead, it will become the truth.

Maybe the third lead to you, but he was always listed as recurring after season 7. Then in season 12 he was demoted to guest star. Read the credits people. He was never a lead.

[pray4jensen]

Wait ok what went down in s7 with Jensen and cas being killed off?

hi anon! first of all, i wasn’t in the fandom at that time so i can only relay what i have heard through the years and i may not be giving the most accurate portrayal of how events unfolded. i recommend you google around for news articles/posts written from that time in history.

the gist is that the showrunner at the time, sera gamble, decided to kill castiel off permanently to possibly 1) appease the bros only fans who kept sending in hordes of letters asking that misha be fired and/or 2) because she herself desired to return the show to the format of the earlier seasons (as in, just the brothers, because bobby also permanently died that season—what a shame and clearly a foolish decision since they brought him back pretty much every season afterwards)

what happened as a result of this decision was a very pissed off jensen. jensen obviously didn’t want misha off the show (because when you die permanently, you’re basically fired) and not to mention that jensen had always loved cas as a character so he saw what an essential part of supernatural cas had become. he no doubt fought sera on the decision, and was obviously turned down (always happens sadly, as you can see from the series finale). 

cue then san diego comic con, the summer before s7 was set to premiere. everybody was asking questions about what was going to happen to castiel, as he had literally become god and a major villain in the s6 finale. sera was very evasive, kept telling the audience that they would just have to wait and see because it was a cliffhanger, except literally the entire cast knew that cas was dead in the first episode and he wasn’t coming back. misha had to awkwardly answer questions pretending he still had a job and jensen was furious the entire time, at one point angrily grabbing his water bottle to visibly hold back a slur. when sera finished talking, he even remarked sarcastically that what she had said was “very informative” and it seemed the whole cast was very nervous about jensen’s attitude as he was usually very professional. in fact, his behaviour was very similar to how he appeared at his panel last week when he had to talk about the upcoming series finale, although a lot more deflated (he was clearly tired of fighting the inevitable)

anyway, it ended happily as sera’s decision to kill castiel literally drove the show into near-cancellation so she had to bring misha back and he literally saved the show. seasons 6 and 7 were so appalling as a whole that oftentimes people forget they existed and jared and jensen have at times remarked that they don’t really talk about those years. finally, sera left after s7 and jeremy carver took over as showrunner, beginning to weave in the deancas subtext in an intentional way that would kickstart the true beginning of their romance.

now sera has moved on to bigger and better things. she recently worked on a show called the magicians, where she used her expert knowledge to bury another gay. in fact, she did it so remarkably that the entire cast on the magicians didn’t even know the character had died, thereby depriving the actor of the chance to even properly say goodbye to his castmates or the ability to exit the show in a dignified manner.

[fanfic-corner]

10–50k Destiel Fics

Hello everyone! Here are some novella length fics for your reading enjoyment :D

In Due Time (Dean Winchester is Saved) by caelum_writes (11k)

A 26-year-old Dean is transported to 2021 and confronted with the unfathomable - a future where he is happy, safe, and loved.

Equinox by luchia (12k)

In which Castiel is the weird time-traveling freak who just might be the love of Dean Winchester's life.

let the waters rise. by outpastthemoat (13k)

When Dean thinks about it later, he could almost swear it had been raining the day Castiel left. But the rain came after. Castiel leaves on a day with no clouds, a day with golden sunlight warming Dean throughout. It happens without warning, like lightning striking out of a clear blue sky.

It’s raining when he throws his bags in the Impala and it’s raining when he turns on the interstate and it’s still raining when he hits the state line so he keeps on going. Dean drives and it rains, so he turns on his windshield wipers and watches raindrops sliding down the windshield and flicking away into the gray air, and he just keeps thinking that this can’t be happening. It just can’t.

25¢ pocket guardian angels by hopelessheathen (13k)

Dean walks into his local bank one day and notices that someone has filled the old gumball machine with these tiny, wiggling, sentient angels in individual plastic packaging. Deeply concerned about their air supply and the fact that they're trapped there in the sun, he starts pumping in quarters to rescue them. This is worse than leaving a dog in an overheating car.

Now he's got forty of the little guys running all over his house, and god knows how many others might be trapped and dying all over the city.

Hands, From Which All Things Are Built by MajorEnglishEsquire (14k)

Castiel travels with the angel tablet and without the Winchesters. One day, Dean gets a text from some anonymous number. (They speak in the language of need.)

for which no words exist by MediaWhore (14k)

"Dear Cas who art in my bathtub, give me the strength to be honest about how I feel. For your sake and for mine. Forgive me all the times I wasn’t in the past, all the words I should have said but didn’t. And please stay. Please stay with me when all is said and done. Amen. "

Dean rescues a newly human Cas from the Empty. That's the easy step.

Falling Home by sunshinewinchesters (15k)

The angels have fallen and all Dean knows is that he needs to find Castiel, blizzard and feelings be damned.

Written On Your Skin by noxsoulmate (16k)

When the handprint Cas left on his shoulder flares back to life, Dean knows something is wrong. Moving Heaven and Hell, he’s able to find his best friend – imprisoned and covered in writing. Every meaningful word ever spoken between them is etched into Cas’ skin, fading slowly, one line at a time. A battle against time begins because once the last line vanishes Castiel’s memories will be gone with it. Not only of Dean, but of everything he has ever learned from him about humanity, love, and free will.

love bade me welcome by mmtion (23k)

Cas gives Dean a wooden carving to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. But, despite their friends freaking out about it, it's not like that.

(or; Dean and Cas build a gentle life together, in the wrong order.)

Morning Glory by edgarallanrose (25k)

Dean can no longer hunt, Cas has gone from Warrior of God to beekeeper, and Sam has left home. Taking place two years after the Season 12 finale, Dean and Cas have to learn what it means to be themselves, and who they are meant to be to each other, without the threat of an impending apocalypse hanging over their heads.

Dream House by breathingdestiel (26k)

Castiel Shurley and his best friend Dorothy Baum have decided to move in together. After his aunt assumes they are dating, she offers them money for the house, but only if they apply for a famous reality show ‘Dream House’. Since they could use the money and he doesn’t want to come out to his aunt, Castiel and Dorothy agree to fake date for the show. But things go wrong when Dorothy falls in love with the show’s producer and Castiel starts to develop feelings for one of the hosts.

Dean Winchester is a co-host of ‘Dream House’, along with his brother. Sam, being a realtor, finds a fixer-upper and Dean turns it into a perfect house for their clients. Even though he has what most people only dream about, Dean is incredibly lonely. He had bad experiences with relationships in the past and he doesn’t think he will ever meet anyone who can earn his trust. Until he meets Castiel.

On Drowning by domesticadventures (28k)

The absolute last thing Dean would ever admit, after saving Cas' life, is that it was all thanks to the unhealthy amount of time he spent reading about drowning on Wikipedia.

Not that he's not grateful, but what he really needs is an instruction manual for everything that comes after.

A Hard-Won Peace by patheticfangirl (28k)

“Afterlife” no longer means forgetting what happened during life.

In Heaven, Dean is tormented by peace and freedom until he reunites with an also-struggling Castiel. Together, they work through issues they couldn’t leave behind, hoping to find something resembling happiness.

Three Funerals and a Wedding by Englandwouldfall (29k)

“So, um…basically, it’s this… I need you to marry me. For plot.”

Castiel stares at him.

“What?” Dean asks, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

“I cannot believe gay marriage came to Moondoor before a significant part of America.”

break the skin (to break the barriers) by sobsicles (29k)

Dean is silent for a long, tense moment, then he gruffly says, "It's not for banishing the angels. It's to summon them. So, it doesn't—it's not to get rid of 'em, but to draw 'em in." 

Mitzi can't help but glance up at him at that. His voice is so heavy with so much unexplained pain, and she doesn't understand why, or what angels have to do with it. She knows religion can impact people. She's very aware that it can get complicated, and that it can be a huge source of pain for someone, but Dean sounds grievously wronged, somehow, as if it's a truly personal thing. 

She pushes through, focusing back on her job, clearing her throat before murmuring, "Well, I guess we all want angels to visit us sometimes." 

"Just the one," Dean mumbles. 

"Your guardian angel?" Mitzi asks. 

Dean breathes out, "Something like that. As close to one as an angel will ever get." 

Lucky Winner by natmoose (31k)

Dean wins a trip to Paris. In and of itself, that’s an amazing thing, but the problem is: he isn’t in a relationship with Lisa anymore, and the trip requires a romantic partner. The obvious choice is Cas, his roommate and best friend of 3 years, but coming with that are some very very complicated feelings and things Dean absolutely doesn’t want to deal with.

But Dean isn’t selfish and also really wants to give his overworked best friend a well deserved holiday, so the only and best solution is to take Cas to Paris, romantic theme be damned. What Dean doesn’t know is that their whole trip will be documented by a photographer from the company - so to avoid their vacation being cut short, Dean and Cas will have to convincingly play a couple.

First Gentleman Wanted by youaresunlight (31k)

President of the United States Castiel Novak is popular, charismatic, and knee-deep in campaigning for a second term. He’d be the ideal candidate if it weren’t for the fact that he hasn’t dated once while in political office. With his opponent’s relentless PR team calling him incapable of emotional commitment, Castiel’s staff decides to remedy the situation by finding their boss a fake, picture-perfect boyfriend. And when Dean Winchester enters the scene, he and Cas become America’s new favorite couple, except they’ve got a whole lot of history between them and complicated feelings to resolve.

All The Nights by NorthernSparrow (32k)

A ghost hunt goes wrong, and Dean ends up fighting for his life in an icy river. A certain angel somehow knows he's in trouble and shows up to help, but doesn't have enough power left to warm up Dean. It's just a simple cold night in the woods, but things can go wrong fast at night in the woods, and soon Cas and Dean must each decide what they'll risk to save the other. And they just might end up so exhausted that they accidentally start talking.

although we are faithless by noviembre (32k)

Dean is driving. Driving down a long road with Sam, and his parents are at the end of the road, and his mom made pie, and it's everything he dreamed about when he was a kid. Everything is okay. Everything is fine.

Except it doesn't make sense, and something is missing. Something is broken here --

Dean is driving again.

Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Universe by TheBlackLagoon (37k)

Cas Novak can’t see an escape from the life of hunting. Even with the frequent pleas from Jessica to leave it all behind, where in the world is he supposed to fit in? Dean Winchester can’t see a life beyond pencil-pushing for the Men of Letter’s Midwest branch. Even with the responsibility he holds to upkeep his family name, is it really what he’s meant to do? The two duos meet on what appears to be an easy salt and burn but which quickly spirals out of control.

sir this is a wendy's by noviembre (40k)

Dean is a custodian at a fast food restaurant. Cas is the President of the United States.

Heroes for Ghosts by pantheon_of_discord (42k)

Canon-divergent from 12.08

After Sam and Dean are arrested, Castiel is left alone and scrambling to find them. He knows they’re locked away in a government facility, and he’s still able to hear their prayers, but no matter how he tries Castiel can’t seem to track them. He chases leads and even attempts to hunt on his own, but Mary is AWOL, Crowley refuses to help, and Castiel’s options are running out.

Weeks pass, Castiel’s hope dwindles, and through it all Dean prays, keeping them connected. His voice is comforting, frustrating, and occasionally annoying, but in his solitude Castiel comes to cherish it. But then one day, without warning, Dean stops praying, and Castiel is forced to confront some uncomfortable truths about his feelings.

Keep Your Love Alive by dothraki_shieldmaiden and FriendofCarlotta (42k)

Dean gets to spend eternity sharing beers with Bobby on the Roadhouse porch and riding around in his Baby with Sam. He’s at peace… or he feels like he should be. But a few things nag at him: Where is Cas, and everybody else Dean had been hoping to see in Heaven? Why does he feel like he’s stuck in a loop, reliving the same memories over and over again? And who are the strangers wearing Sam’s and Bobby’s faces?

From Sea to Shining Sea by MsCaptainWinchester (43k)

Dean and Castiel are only a few short months of college from reuniting after five long years on opposite coasts. It doesn’t seem like long, but then a virus breaks out close to Dean, and suddenly all their plans are ruined.

Now there are new plans. Dean is going to do everything he can to cross the country, picking up strays and a reputation for violence along the way. Cas is building a new colony of survivors, determined to stay still long enough for Dean to find him.

But without contact, neither knows if they will ever see the other again. Can Dean survive his cross-country road trip through zombie nation? And if he does, will Castiel still be there to meet him?

psalm 40:2 by unicornpoe (44k)

Dean meets an angel who says he's from the future. It all gets a lot more complicated from there.

This list is getting pretty long so I'll make a second part! Thank you to all the amazing writers who have shared their fics with us, and happy reading!!