#you see spn trending you know something’s going on

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Creepy crawlies; Jack Kline x reader

*Author’s note*

Okay so this is a cute little drabble/small fic requested to me just recently by an anon who wanted some Jack Kline fluff. Took me two days but I came to this idea in the end so I hope you enjoy it anon as well as the rest of my lovely readers.

Warnings: Fluff, bugs, mentions of SPN episode 1x08 BUGS (that episode STILL gives me the heebie-jeebies). 

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@queen-paladin​

@queensdivas​

@gay-and-ready-to-cry​

_________________________________________________________

It was that time of year, well the first time we ever had to deal with something like this.  And of course Sam and Dean had to bail out on a ‘case’ but I knew my brothers just wanted to get out of doing the one thing that everyone does.

Spring cleaning.

Ever since we found the Bunker and decided to make it our permanent home, this place needed a serious scrub down and clean up. Cobwebs, dust, new bed sheets, incense (mainly for me) to be put up to get rid of the ancient smell.  So every spring, I try to ensure that this bunker doesn’t end up like it was when we first found it.

Of course that means my brothers always try to get out of it (mainly Dean I just think Sam prefers to do the minor cleaning instead of what I have in mind).  And Cass…..well he chooses to go up to heaven every time I say it’s time clean up the bunker. The only person kind enough to help out around here is my beau Jack.

Using my powers, the bookshelf glowed blue and I lifted it up allowing Jack to vacuum underneath it while I brought in a swifer to swipe off each and every book from any dust bunnies.

“I don’t see why my brothers and Cas always try to bail out on Spring cleaning. I’m the one doing the heavy lifting.”

“I’ve noticed a trend that most people don’t enjoy spring cleaning because it’s so boring to do. That unlike normal cleaning, there’s an expectation for things to be so clean, that you’re supposed to see yourself in the floor. Which I don’t get.” Jack told me as he continued his vacuuming.

“I maybe a neat freak but I’m not Danny Tanner level of tidiness. All I want is to make sure we don’t neglect this place and end up in a dust field again. Seriously Jack you cannot begin to understand just how quickly my allergies began to act up when the guys and I first found this place. Bedridden for over a week, and that was before I got these powers.”

“I’m sorry baby. Had I been born yet, I would’ve stayed at your side to take care of you.”

“And that’s why I love you soo much Jackie-bear. You’re too sweet.” After dusting off the last book and once Jack was done vacuuming, he moved out of the way and I set the bookshelf back in it’s place.  I turned and with a snap of my fingers and all the books, notes, files and even Dean’s plates he had left since breakfast all raised up into the air and went to their original places.

“You’re like Mary Poppins.” He said with a smile.

“Well if I am, then that makes you my Burt. Come on, let’s head for the kitchen. Lord knows Dean forgot to do the dishes, again.” He followed behind me and right as we got to the kitchen, there I saw dishes upon dishes stacked in the sink, frying pans still on the oven covered in left over eggs and grease.  “That man never learns.”

“Why does he leave his dishes out like that?”

“Cause he’s lazy. Do you mind stacking the dishwasher while I deal with the grease pans and the oven?”

“Not at all baby.” I pecked his cheek while I walked over and wish a twist of my wrist, the frying pans lifted off the oven while the cleaning supplies came out from the top shelf cabinet on the island counter.  

While the spray bottle filled with Clorox bleach squirted out a few good sprays and the rag did a throughout wipe down, I focused my attention on cleaning the frying pans of the oils and grease from the bacon and sausages Dean had made for breakfast and tossed the leftover egg crumbs into the trash.

“Do you know when the last time Sam took the trash out?” I asked Jack.

“I believe I saw him collect all the trash last night.”

“Well at least he can keep up with the chores. I swear maybe I could use these powers to control Dean and make him scrub all the toilets in this bunker.”

“As funny as that would be to see, I know you’d never use your powers against your brothers.” He said as he dried off one of my good cups with a towel and set it alongside the rack we had for the special dishware.

“Yeah, yeah. But for real, he should at least have the decency to at least rinse off his pans after breakfast. Grease that sits out for too long stains these types of pans, and it’s a hassle to clean up later.”

“I believe you (Y/n).”

“But at least I’m getting it done, otherwise it’d never—” I paused mid-sentence as my body completely froze.  My heart raced and my eyes widened as I stared directly at it. It’s many legs all splayed out making it look like a living dust bunny on pointy legs.

The pots and cleaning supplies fell to the ground with a loud bang and I let out a scream and levitated myself into the air trying to get as far away from the little demon as possible.

“What?! What is it (Y/n)? Are you okay!?”

“Kill it quick!” I yelled at Jack.

“Kill what? Where is it? Is it a demon?”

“Yes now quickly before it gets away!”

“Where is it?”

“Over there!” Jack’s eyes soon glowed and he turned to where I was pointing but as he raised his hand, his eyes went back to normal color as he looked around confused.

“Where did you say it was?”

“What are you blind babe!? I told you over there on top of the oven! Kill it with your powers! Torch it! Torture it I don’t care just get rid of it!” he looked around until he seemed to have found what it was. He walked closer to it and he reached out his finger toward it.

“You mean this? But it looks like a dust bunny or a…..” but quickly it began to move and I let out another scream as I shot myself against the corner of the kitchen.

“Don’t touch it! Those bastards are fast now kill it hurry!”

“What is it exactly?” he asked me.

“A house centipede! Jack I’m not playing anymore please just kill it hurry!” I watched as the demonic centipede stopped crawling and was now just short of reaching a hiding spot behind the fridge.  Jack looked between me and the house centipede and a smile came across his face before he started to laugh.

He was laughing. My own boyfriend was laughing at my own misery!?

“Jack Kline stop laughing!” I demanded.

“I’m sorry. Really I am but…..(Y/n), you have fought against real demons, archangels, werewolves, vampires, even my own grandfather. And you’re terrified of a tiny little thing like him?”

“Tiny? Tiny!? Do you see the legs on that monstrosity!? Now for the last time get rid of it before it touches me!”

“Okay, okay.” He went over to grab a cup as well as paper towel.

“What are you doing?!” I hissed.

“Getting rid of it like you asked.”

“Not like that! You can’t show mercy to those little bastards! Use your powers and kill the son of a bitch!” I hissed quietly.

“But you told me that all living creatures deserve a chance at life, didn’t you?” I groaned.

“Well yes but that doesn’t include bugs, arachnids, snakes, or any other kind of creepy crawlies!” Jack rolled his eyes and successfully captured the house centipede and he left the kitchen with it between the cup and paper towel.

A few minutes later he came back and he told me it was gone.

“You sure?”

“Yes, yes, I even took him away from the bunker before releasing him. Now can you please come down?” I let out a soft whimper but lowered myself back to the ground.  He came over to me and wrapped his arms around me in a hug, allowing me to rest my head on his shoulder.  “I still can’t believe you’re scared of bugs. How did I not know of this?”

“Don’t mock me! Besides you weren’t even there when it happened.” I shuddered remembering that day all too well.

“When what happened?” I took in a shaky breath before telling him.

“A long time ago, long before we knew that angels and God were even real, my brothers and I took a case in some realtor development spot. A neighborhood was being built on sacred Native American grounds. Workers were being picked off one by one, at first we thought it was ghostly activity but it was far worse. The entire place was cursed, and the curse was affecting all the insects in the town. By night fall, a swarm of bees had surrounded the family that was responsible for building the neighborhood over the sacred lands. I—I had never seen so many bees in my life. We had no way of escaping, we were completely trapped and had to last the rest of the night being stung and swarmed by bees. Ever since that day, I even see the shape of an insect and I just go back to that day. A defenseless, frightened child being stung and swarmed by bees and no way of escaping.”

Jack listened intently at every word I had to say.  For months after that day, I had continuous nightmares of what happened. Even dreamt that it was other bugs attacking me from wasps, locusts, even spiders and ants.  Ever since then I’ve been absolutely terrified of any and every bug in the world.

“Wow, I—I had no idea. I’m so sorry that happened to you. And I’m sorry for teasing you about it. I promise I won’t ever bring it up again.”

“Thanks Jackie-babe.”

“Anything I can do to help you?”

“I could go for some ice cream with chocolate syrup and some cuddles on the couch while we watch the Princess Bride.”

“As you wish.” He said quoting the movie before giving me a peck on the nose.  I left the kitchen and brought out the blankets and changed my clothes to my comfy pjs while searching for the movie on one of the many streaming services we got.

When Jack came back with my ice cream, we cuddled up on the couch together, my back resting against his chest with his arms wrapped around my stomach and his head buried into my neck.  I ate the ice cream as the movie began, I even offered a couple of bites to Jack as we lay there and watched my favorite comfort movie.  Forgetting all about the demon-legged creature that traumatized me moments ago.

[eisforeidolon]

You seem to have been in the fandom for quite some time and I was curious has the factions in the fandom always been at odds with each other in regards to the actors and the story of SPN? It just seems like the hellers are trying way to hard to take over this show and it irritates me that they insist on a story moving forward that looks drastically different from what we got from this series. I really hope if there is a continuation of some sort that both Jared and Jensen stick to this story being about these two brothers because I would hate to see that diminished by delusional fans with an agenda to just win and prove themselves right. Misha continues to frustrate me with his pandering and now Jensen is having to try and navigate "gotcha" questions to prove his character is actually bi. It just seems like some fans are not enjoying this show for what it was and now I am in the camp of hoping no reboot happens. Maybe J2 can do something else together. I would enjoy anything at this point to get away from Destiel and crazy shippers.

Someone else may be able to give a more thorough picture with detailed history, because I haven't been here the whole time, just since about season 8 or so. The general impression I've gotten from my own observations and previous discussions on the topic is that it was a cumulative thing, though.

A lot of people are squicked by incest and RPF, which is entirely fair. So there was a certain portion of the audience prior to season four that was desperately looking for something to ship that wasn't either of those things. Then Castiel came along and stuck around for more than just one or two episodes, and they were off. Obviously there was some shipwarring over that. No fandom over a certain size is actually very peaceful and there had already been some back and forth between Samgirls and Deangirls over who was The Worst or The Woobiest in the early seasons. But it started out as just typical shipping stuff at the beginning. You know, writing fanfic, making gifsets, talking up certain scenes, enjoying the shipper teases, coming up with wishful scenarios that could happen. Just shipping something that isn't canon which fandom has been doing basically forever.

Except somewhere along the line, some of those shippers started to take their own fan activity way too seriously. It wasn't just an interesting possibility to read that scene as intimate, the writers totally intended it as intimate, how could they not? That joke? Wasn't really a joke, it was the characters' hidden feelings trying to come out. All those things that could be very, uh, creatively associated with sexuality/a romantic relationship? Were secret signals for the Real Audience aware of the Real Story that had to stay hidden for now for Reasons, but would obviously be Endgame! No one they acknowledged the existence of cared about Sam & Dean & the family business anymore. Except maybe a couple lingering creepy wincest shippers, and ew, nobody likes them! It just kind of built on itself over time. It wasn't as intense when I joined the fandom as it was by the end, because each secret hint they convinced themselves was actually there, each lie and misleading hint Misha told them? Built on itself to where they convinced themselves they had a mountain of evidence rather than a house of cards that was all jokers scribbled on by a five year old.

I don't know exactly why it happened or what any more specific tipping points may have been, although it has been a more general trend for fanon ship shippers to get very demanding of TPTB as those people have become more accessible on SM. Still, I don't know of any faction that are still going nearly four years after their canon ended like hellers are. Is it the conventions? Is it that they were already talking revival as it ended? There are some interesting questions there, but I don't think anyone has really delved deep into all the specifics of the whys and wherefores.

Regardless, I really don't see any universe in which Jared and Jensen agree to a continuation that isn't about Sam & Dean, given everything they've ever said about those characters and their story. I can't even see any kind of additional attempt at a spin-off including D/C. It's just not a canon thing (according to anyone who hasn't been shown to have a hidden agenda). Even Castiel's final scene interpreted as romantic? Is just about Castiel's feelings, not the ship being a thing. Jensen may have decided it's not worth trying to talk people out of their wild interpretations, but that doesn't mean he's actually decided they actually know the show or his character better than he does.

On the other hand, I don't see any continuation that doesn't involve hellers eagerly convincing themselves they're getting secret signals through Dean's eye blinks up until the very last second that the ship will happen ANYMOMENTNOW! And then wailing in bafflement about how they could be so wrong and screaming about homophobia before self-soothing each other that surely it will be canon next time. Surely the Sam & Dean show has to stop being about Sam & Dean sooner or later. It's not like not having a revival is going to stop them, clearly.

I'm not actually against a revival, I'm more ambivalent, but I would actually rather see J2 together in something else given the choice. I don't really need more SPN, especially SPN of the same caliber as the last several seasons, and I think it would be really interesting to see what kind of dynamic they'd have together as entirely different characters.

[spnfanficpond]

Weekly Pond Newsletter

I couldn't think of anything to write here, so decided I would go into the gif search and use whatever the first SPN-related gif popped up, and this is it. Not sure what to say about it except, maybe, lucky cow? 🤣

Old Business:

New Member Spotlight - The post is up! Finally! Click here to go meet our newest members!

Fishing For Treasures - This weekend is FFT weekend over at the @fanficocean! March's theme is CROSSOVER FICS! A crossover is whenever one story includes elements from more than one fandom. Usually, it's bringing characters from one show/movie/whatever into the world from another show/movie/whatever, but sometimes it's reimagining one story with the characters from another. Check out the Ocean this weekend, and then the Pond in two weeks, to read some awesome crossover stories!

Angel Fish Awards - We said we weren't going to postpone the deadline for nominations this month. We were wrong. The new deadline is tonight at midnight, EST! Click here for the submission form!

#TweetFicTues - Here are your prompts from last week:

New Business:

Monthly Prompt - The prompt will be posted in the next day or so!

Manta Rays and Discord chats - This week, two of our admins will be spending some time in our Discord server just to chat with you! Admin MJ will be there on Thursday and Admin Marie will be there on Friday. Keep an eye out for announcement posts with all the details!

Competitive Writing Sprints - Manta Ray Arthur will be hosting a session of competitive writing sprints on Friday in the Discord server! This is a chance to add some words to your WIP(s) and win fabulous prizes.

SPN Rewatch: Fanfic Edition - Our next chat will be next weekend and we will be discussing the last two episodes of season one: 1.21 Salvation and 1.22 Devil's Trap. Announcement posts will go up later this week with all the details!

Poll - Admin Michelle read a couple of articles this past week about fanbinding fan fiction stories. Click here to read one article from atlasobscura.com about the fanbinding trend. Would you be interested in learning how to do these things? We would go out and find people who do typesetting and/or fanbinding to come and talk to us if that interests enough people. This could be like our livechat events of old, or maybe we could do something through zoom (if, you know, someone teaches us how to zoom). Give us your basic yes or no in the poll below, and use reblogs/replies to let us know how you feel about the topic, possible formats, or anything else!

(Divider by @glygriffe!)

That's all for this week! To see all Pond events, and also other SPN-related things like conventions and online concerts, check out our Google calendar! Click here for a static view in Eastern US/Canada time (desktop only, no mobile app access, sadly), and click here to add our calendar to your own Google calendar! We try to keep it as up-to-date as possible. If there's something you want to see on the calendar that's not there (maybe a convention we missed, cast birthdays, or something similar), send us an ASK and let us know!

Hope you have a great week! - From your Admins and Manta Rays, @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, @spencereliotwinchester and @heavenssexiestangel!

[velvethopewrites]

Name 10 Characters from 10 Fandoms that You Love:

Thanks for the tag @moonlightchess 🥰 ! To make it tougher on myself I am going to limit this to tv show characters. *cracks knuckles* Also, this got so long I made a new post, sorry. Let’s see:

Dana Scully, X-Files. One of my first fandoms (and also one of my first girl crushes) I adored the skeptical, scientific redhead right down to her patented leather pumps. She gave as good as she got and I always respected the way Gillian Anderson played her - as a real person, not just some female sidekick, but as a fully formed woman with flaws and strengths and guh. We take it for granted now, but trust me when the X-Files was first on? There was no one else giving us girl boss vibes like Scully. She could hold her own and then some.

Buffy Summers/Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ah yes, the slayer. I could have easily answered this with Willow (and thus cementing my bizarre need to like every redhead ever) but in the end I went with Buffy. She’s the reason I tuned in every Tuesday night, after all, and I always thought her character was just…I don’t want to say perfect, because she’s anything but - she’s flawed, and she screws up, and boy, does she screw up, but god damn the girl TRIES so hard - she fights, she kicks ass, yes, but she also gets her assed kicked and hell, she even dies (twice) and thanks to a once in a life-time performance from Sarah Michelle Gellar, she is one of the most amazing characters to ever be on a tv series, let alone one of the best female ones. Are some of the episodes now problematic? Of course. Does that take away from my enjoyment and love of the character? No. Buffy blazed a trail and those who would poo-poo her importance can’t remember what a dearth of strong women we had back then. It was bleak, people. Bleak.

Castiel/Supernatural. Yes, yes, Supernatural is on this list. Deal with it. I love him, your honor. Why? It’s not because he’s an angel, it’s not because he’s hot (neither of those things actually hurt him though, heh) but there is something about Castiel that calls to me - his awkwardness, his complete misunderstanding of social cues, his over doof-ness. Also his gentleness and his smite-yness. He makes mistakes, he screws up but he tries, so hard. (Do we see a trend here? 🤔) I just know I would not have continued down the SPN rabbit hole if it hadn’t been for his character. Does this make me Dean-coded or Cas-coded? Don’t know, don’t care. Just give me the damn angel. All the time.

Lois Lane/Smallville Now this one might be a tiny cheat, because I was a HUGE Lois Lane fan girl when I was a kid because of the movies. But honestly, as much as I enjoy Margot Kidder’s performance, Erica Durance’s nuanced, enjoyable, kick-ass (Stiletto, anyone?) portrayal of our intrepid news woman makes my heart pitter-pat and my blood pressure go up. She’s such a great character - she has to be, right? I mean, she has to go toe to toe with freaking Superman. Damn straight she’s gotta kick butt in all the ways. I could watch Lois be Lois for 48 minutes straight and not miss a beat.

Rose Tyler/Doctor Who. Okay, so this list is getting long because I talk too much. Sorry. Suffice it to say I fell in love with Doctor Who much like Rose did. They say you never get over your first doctor but I also say you never get over your first companion. She made a crazy alien guy in a blue box more human and more watchable just by shining her own humanity on things. ‘Nuff said.

Veronica Mars/Veronica Mars. She’s a teenage detective. Hell yeah, I love her. Tv Noir is a thing because of our marshmallow. I honestly wish I were as brave as Veronica, which is the best thing to say about a character, when you get down to it.

Jadzia Dax/Deep Space Nine. Nerd alert: I’m a Star Trek girl. Jadzia is a Trill which means she has a Symbiant in her belly that keeps all of her past lives inside her. So, basically, she’s been alive for over 300 years and has had a handful of different hosts, with all of their experiences and memories converging in one person. She’s been male, female, a father, a mother, a husband, a wife, a pilot, a science officer, etc etc you get the picture. She’s fantastic. One of the best characters in any show I have ever watched, hands down.

Molly Hooper/BBC Sherlock. Yeah. I don’t know. I just really like Molly. Maybe I can (over) identify with her crush on the unattainable male lead, I dunno. Yes, Johnlock is a thing. I get it. I read it. I have to admit to reading Sherlolly as well. It’s all about the wish-fulfillment in this one, I have to admit. I also just really enjoy the character growth Motiss gave her (although it went to shit in series 4, what the hell, of course the whole show sucked in series 4)

Data/Star Trek Next Generation. Like Castiel above, Data is awkward, doesn’t understand social clues and is all an around odd duck. But he longs to one day be human and I say, brother, you’re an android, fuck yeah, you go DO that. Told you I was a nerd.

Zoe Washburne/Firefly. I love Zoe. She’s the type of woman that has always intimidated me (while I also secretly long to be her). For one thing, Gina Torres is amazing. And she plays her so perfectly. Some people might see Zoe as the cold soldier - the woman that doesn’t feel-and Torres throws that in your face and plays her like a human fucking being who’s just really good at shooting people, that’s all. God, I love Zoe. When I grow up I want to be just like her.

Wow. I did not mean for this to be a feminist manifesto of all my favorite characters, but there you go. I tag: @late-to-the-fandom @alonelyturtle @readysetjo and @clarkenting

[mysidaesm]

1. Kidnapping, restraints, drugging

2. Here you all go again putting two bad bitches against each other

3. Visual 100%

4. See #2

5. My own OCs (Primrose I'm so sorry bbg)

6. Trying their best but their best isn't good enough

7. Think they're in the right

8. Trying their best but falling apart inside (and outside!) from the stress

9. Whumpee, I am straight up not having a good time. Nevertheless I persist let's go

10. When I was really little I watched the movie where the princess turns into a swan and I remember being really upset that she became human again in the end. Fast forward a decade and I watched Spn and realized "ooooohhhh this is where it's at"

11. Tumblr around 6 mo ago methinks? ADHD time blindness is real don't quote me on that

12. Uhhhh fuck. idk

13. Yes! Sometimes I think I'm a freak/somethings wrong with me. I haven't really overcame that but I have metaphorically body slammed those thoughts and locked them in a basement after drugging them with a syringe while they were walking home on their phone and distracted.

14. The second I see anything to do with feces or urine Im outta there nopenopenopenope

15. Is fem!whump niche? I guess then the answer is yes?? I also like sexual whump for trauma reasons not sure if that's niche though

16. Extracurricular on Netflix (tw for sexual abuse and assault, as well as child abuse), Banana Fish (tw for sexual abuse and assault, as well as child abuse), Shelter on Webtoon (tw for sexual abuse and assault, as well as child abuse. Wait I see a trend here)

17. Scrolling #whump tbhhhh lmfao

18. Kidnapping omfg if anyone knows of a good kdrama with kidnapping in it lemme know

19. @whumpster-dumpster @whump-is-my-drug @simply-whump @whumpetywhump @love-me-a-lotta-whump <3

20. Good <333

Whump Blog Ask Meme

What are your favorite whump tropes?

Do you prefer illness whump or injury whump?

Do you prefer whump in the form of writing or visual media?

Do you prefer physical whump or emotional/psychological whump?

Who is your favorite whumpee?

What are the traits of your ideal whumpee?

What are the traits of your ideal whumper?

What are the traits of your ideal caregiver?

Which archetype do you identify with the most: the whumpee, the whumper, or the caregiver?

When did you first realize you were into whump?

How and when did you discover the whump community?

Why do you love whump?

Have you ever felt insecure because you enjoy whump? How did you overcome that insecurity?

What are your least favorite whump tropes?

Are you interested in any niche whump genres, such as fem!whump or non-human whump?

Do you have any whump media recommendations (whump blogs, books, movies, etc.)?

When was the last time you got the whumperflies?

What whump content are you currently craving?

Who are your favorite whump bloggers? Tag them!

How are you doing today, buddy?

[ashtraythief]

How do you get so much engagement? Not in a jealous sort of way, but more in a curious way of someone who seeks tips/advice on the matter. It seems these days fandom is much more…distant than it once was and it’s a bit discouraging, you know? I can barely get any sort of engagement, either on my socials or my ao3, but to know you have such a devoted fan base (such as me!) it fills me with hope that it’s possible :)

Any tips and/or ideas?

Oh wow, first off, thank you so much for your kind words!

As for engagement, I don't know if I have much wisdom to give there. Spn fandom is definitely getting smaller, has been for years. Even when I got into it ten years ago, it was already past its prime.

Gonna share what little knowledge I have under the cut.

So I am not the right person to ask about socials lol. I have very little engagement on tumblr actually. I know it doesn't look like it right now, but usually I go months without getting asks. And then I guess sometimes whenever I get one, other people see it and remember they can send me asks? And then I just get a bunch, of which I suspect several are from the same people 😅, and then things go quiet again. Usually, most of them are related to the underneath verse, which makes sense since it's an ongoing WIP, and people have questions (that I am very happy to answer, always! Even tho I can't give anything about the ending away 😅). I used to post fic links here, but I got so little engagement I eventually gave up on that. It didn't seem worth the effort of formatting the posts, but I also have no way of knowing how many people just check ao3 and how many click on a link on tumblr.

Twitter is a little different, but it's also gotten more quiet there. The end of the show didn't help and then recent events *cough*prequelgate*cough* accelerated the decline of J2 fandom especially. But I get some interaction with fic posting there, more than on tumblr anyway, so that's where I post new fics. I think it's helpful to screenshot the summary and attach it to the post for more info. Maybe? I've never done a survey on this lol. Definitely don't be shy about retweeting and reposting for timezone purposes and on different days. Some people follow so many accounts they won't see your post otherwise.

As for fic engagement, idk. A good snappy summary, enough tags for people to get interested but no overtagging? But like, I'm a bad standard here, I think. I've been in fandom for over 10 years, I've written almost 200 fics in all kinds of genres, so people know me. I've also participated in gift exchanges, challenges and auction fics, which is also something that gives you exposure. And I was lucky that one of my first big fics was popular. So I guess a reasonable amount of people know me as a J2 author.

Also supporting my theory of being known is that I recently posted a fic in a much more active fandom and I immediately had like four times the engagement I'd usually get for J2 fics, but still much less than the popular fics in that fandom.

And not all of my spn rpf fics get a lot of engagement either. It always depends on subject matter, pairings, trends in fandom etc. If you look at my fic list, you'll see a lot of fics with few kudos for a variety of reasons.

I still write them, even if I know not a lot of people are interested in them, but I still enjoy writing them. And I always think, if there's only one person whom I brought joy with my writing, it's worth it. But I definitely understand that more feedback is also more joy and good for our egos. And I know there are people out there who don't care about that, which is valid, but I think it's also okay to care about it.

Idk if this is helpful. I can try to give more specific advice for fic things if you have more specific questions, maybe off anon if you're comfortable with it?

Otherwise, thanks for your faith in me and sorry that I have so little wisdom to share 😅

[wigglebox]

Let’s talk Mary’s costuming in The Winchesters’ trailer! 

One of the first things I saw pop up specifically was about how Mary looked in this, 1972, in comparison to her 1973 counterpart in SPN prime. 

Neither one is out of place, but their styles do seem pretty different. I’m not going to get into why they decided to style her like this as opposed to in SPN prime, but I will say that Mary never seemed to have her own “style.” She’s had vaguely girly things that’s hit trends in the various times we’ve seen her but she’s never felt like she’s had her own “style.” The most we’ve seen her with a style is after she comes back to life and we see her for three seasons in outfits that more or less mimick Dean and Sam. Jacket, over shirt, under shirt, simple hair, minimal make up. 

But even then, her style felt more like the boys’ style, and not her own. 

Which is why I was so excited to see her costuming in the prequel’s trailer. It felt like they were trying to finally establish her style to us. And with visual storytelling, how you stylize your character just sets the tone and vibe and gives us subtle or not-so-subtle hints at who they are as a character. 

When looking at the line up up there ^ I see someone who’s vaguely girly, though the 1980 Mary in Asa Fox -- girl your hair. Help. Who did this to you. 

But, 1980 flashback Mary in Asa Fox matched 2019 Mary more in my opinion of someone who doesn’t really care about her appearance and is just wearing someting to wear something. And that’s how I feel 1972 Mary’s styling looks like. 

At least in the trailer. Idk what else they’re gonna have her wear. 

From her hair, her jacket, the pin buttons, and the necklaces – some people were confused as to why she looks like she walked out of 1997 than 1972, but to me she’s still 1970s (especially because all aspects of 70s fashion from 1970 to 79 have been revisted in subsequent decades of fashion up to this day). 

Her look is just not conventional, typical, generalized 1970s. To me they personalized her more to tell us her story.

Note, I’m not a certified fashion historian, but I do like fashion from the ‘60s and ‘70s a lot lol. I may get some things wrong, but this is just what I’m thinking. I know there are fans of this show who likely were even walking and talking at this time and may disagree with what i gotta say but whatever I’m gonna go for it anyway lol.

Also a reminder: this is The CW, not some period drama on HBO Max or anything. 

Despite not having expertise in this area, just going off of the numerous vintage fashion video’s I’ve watched on Youtube, there are some things i personally always keep in mind when it comes to studying fashion trends. 

Trends do not exist purely within the boundaries of a decade. The early 70s take with it some late-60s fashion trends, particularly the hippie/boho stuff but other things as well like jewelry and some hairstyles. Every decade bled into each other, and with the rise of fast fashion, trends can change even easier. Now, in 2022, you can’t really even pin down a trend because things just move too fast.

Trends didn’t often quickly permeate more isolated, conservative, or poorer areas of the country. The population of Lawrence in 2020 is estimated at just over 97,000. You can imagine it’s smaller for the early ‘70s. But these places didn’t often have people who played into fashion trends be it too expensive, extravagant, or just not having the resources to buy and invest in trends that would flip in a few years anyway.

Let’s start with Prequel-Mary’s hair. 

Some said it looked too ‘90s or just not 1970s at all. But it is! Long, straight, sometimes messy-looking hair was indeed a trend for women in this time. It may conjure images of hippies for many, but it was also on other women. For me, Mary not having curls means to me that taking the time to curl and stylize her hair, and going in for trendy haircuts, wasn’t her priority. There are plenty of images, spanning multiple countries, of women at this time not doing anything with their hair, leaving it more natural and not having blowouts or curls. Also, since Carlos evoked the name of Janis Joplin, Mary’s hair also reminded me of her. 

Onto Prequel-Mary’s necklaces. 

Another thing that made people say she reminded people of the ‘90s were her chokers, but chokers are hardly a ‘90s thing. Indeed if you look closer at her necklaces [which is harder to do in non-HD lol] you’ll see they seem to be made of wooden or shaped shell beads, which was common at the time and a hold-over from the late ‘60s. They aren’t out of the ordinary at all, especially later in the trailer when we see her sporting one with some kind of pendant on it but still with what looks like natural-material beading.

Prequel-Mary’s leather jacket?

This was a little harder for me because the leather jacket combined with the vintage pin buttons felt very punk when the punk fashion movement is usually hard marked at 1974 and beyond. The prequel takes place two years before that, obviously. But, women wearing fitted leather jackets weren’t uncommon, but usually signaled that she was a “bad girl.” To me, just with the quality of the trailer, it indeed looks like a motorcycle jacket or just something simlar. Women in leather jackets became more popular with the rise of the Mod fashion movement in the 1960s. 

It’s not a current fashion trend for someone of her age to wear that i think in 1972, but I imagine the costumer designers had their reasoning. Between the hair, and the jacket with the pins, they are establishing Mary as someone who isn’t following typical young women trends and societal expections. Basically, she’s living outside the “norm.” She doesn’t have time to look “cute” or fashionable. Who knows, maybe the jacket has some personal meaning to her.

I’m unsure if this is also influenced by her music taste lol. We don’t know enough about this Mary yet. Though, I do want to know what her pin buttons are really realyl bad lol.

Prequel-Mary’s t-shirt/under shirts. 

This isn’t really something anyone complained about, and it’s because there’s nothing to complain. Young women wearing t-shirts and jeans were common throughout the 70s. 

This tank top:

This is 1973 but:

The tanktop isn’t out of place at all. There are multiple variations of different kinds of tanktops and a scoop neck tanktop wouldn’t be out of place I think in 1972. 

Prequel-Mary’s make up

I’m not going to get too into makeup because it’s harder when you don’t have actual fashion historians doing your costuming and make-up – idk if this show does but again it’s The CW, not a high budget period film. But also, being on TV, especially if they’re going to be shooting this with specialized lenses and the like... just in general, you need more make up I think on an actor. 

However if we go off that ^ image above we can make out a peachy kind of blush, pinker lipstick but not overdone, thicker eyebrows, and just some eyeliner with mascara [maybe a little shadow but it’s not intense imo]. 

Given her jacket, her hair, and her apparent t-shirt and tanktop thing going on, I’m willing to bet she also seems to be the kind of person to put the least amount of time into her makeup. Obviously not every woman can be painted with the same brush -- we all decide on our personal style and if we want to care about trends and all of that, and if we want to follow societal norms, but a trend that followed into the 70s, also due to the women’s liberation movement, was a more natural look. 

Compare this Covergirl ad from 1972 to Mary’s look:

It’s not too far off imo. Her lipstick is a little pinker but I don’t think it’s like, out of place. 

Mary’s eyebrows I think are what threw a lot of people off because they are darker and thicker. If you look at fashion magazines at the time you’ll see a lot of pencil-thin eyebrows for the most “trendy” but her thicker eyebrows aren’t out of place. 

To me (as someone with thicker eyebrows lol) it’s going in theme with her minimal make-up, little hair styling, and shunning of young women’s fashion trends at the time. She doesn’t have time or the need to go to a hair salon, get her hair layered and permed or put in those hot rollers. She doesn’t have time to go and get her eyebrows waxed or spend time in front of the mirror to do it herself. 

She feels androgynous in a sense. A little more masculine than our 1973 Mary who wore embroidered cowgirl shirts and sported shorter, more styled hair. 

I’m unsure if they’ll change Mary’s appearance once they hit 1973 in the show. I don’t even know when they want to hit 1973 in the show. 

If anything, what i’m gathering from little comments from jackles he’s made regarding this show, it sounds like it won’t be told in a way we’re expecting so who knows what’s going to happen tbh. 

But regardless, I love this Mary’s styling. I can’t wait to see what else they put her in!

[eisforeidolon]

It really bothers me that people feel like JA is floundering without Jared around to clean up or cover his messes for him. As if Jensen is unable to manage his own career or do things unless Jared is there to help him thorough it like a helpless child. I love Jared and think he is doing great post SPN but to think Jensen is only able to make good decisions if he has Jared involved is ridiculous to me. Jensen is his own person why do ppl feel the need to belittle him like he is not smart.

I mean, I'm guessing by people you mean Jared stans obsessed with the whole idea of competition between the Js. Like the hellers/AAs, neither group is happy with their fave being successful alone, the Other!J has to be actively failing to prove just how inadequate they always were compared to Fave!J. In their heads, Other!J was always just a lesser sidekick who is ridiculous for thinking they could succeed post-SPN without Fave!J to make their projects a success. Everything they've both done since SPN proves this is true!!11!!!

Jensen said a few different times there were various things he'd wanted to do while filming SPN that couldn't be fit around it and still maintain a decent work/home balance, and his approach since SPN ended seems to have largely been to take anything that crosses his radar that sounds cool. Make some albums, voice act Batman, do a western, work with Kripke/be a live action super hero, play a sheriff, do a live action version of a video game character, etc.

Of course, if Jensen is Other!J to you? Well, he can't possibly be doing a bunch of different projects because he wants to. Nope, he's broke and desperate and taking literally anything he's being offered because he has no judgement and is probably secretly having to beg for offers. Putting aside TW, which is a whole tempest in a teacup on its own, but ultimately just a CW-typical YA fantasy drama on a network that no longer wants to be the CW?

When there's really nothing controversial, they go with shit like: The Boys is a terrible show and Jensen was both awful in it and had a blink and you'll miss it role anyway! Actors doing albums is always a pathetic joke, enough said. He only did animated Batman because no one would hire him for the real thing and he's only pretending to like superheroes now after never mentioning it before (lol), and superheroes are a stupid tired trend that is so over.

When there are questionable aspects to something, they're more than happy to bolster any controversy they'd dismiss and/or mock if it were Fave!J: Didn't you hear how Big Sky is misogynist for its first season centering on women being abducted and racist for not making those misogynist abductions Indigenous women because it's filmed in an area where a disproportionate number of abductions have occurred within that population, so it should be about that instead of the novel the show was already being loosely based on?! Obviously there were problems on the set of Baldwin's western, anyone should have known when they were looking for a replacement actor that late something awful was going on and never taken that job (and that's about the least shitty thing said on that one). Why didn't Jensen do in depth research into a game company before agreeing to do a trailer to make sure a random FPS game in a bog standard sci fi setting wasn't controversial? He's just so dumb/careless/desperate and actually a terrible person that he would take such awful, awful projects!

See? See? He's incompetent and literally all of his choices are bad and/or pathetic. This is, of course, COMPELTELY DIFFERENT than hellers/AAs claiming the exact same thing over everything Jared does. Ours are all totes valid complaints, theirs are just bitter stans whining because they refuse to admit they know our fave is better than theirs! Nah, everybody in this bar is ridiculous.

[spnfanficpond]

Weekly Pond Newsletter

This weekend is Fishing for Treasures weekend, and we've been celebrating Ship Fics! (We especially love rare pairs!!) Check out the blog for a ton of non-reader insert fics of all types!

(Could a canon ship be considered a rare pair if few enough people actually ship it? Things that make you go hmmmm....)

Old Business:

The SPNFamily has gone into high gear to try and help our favorite actors get their new shows renewed by the CW or saved by another network/platform. If you want to help, too, there are petitions on change.org, and you can add the hashtags #SaveTheWInchesters, #SaveWalkerIndependence and #RenewGothamKnights to all of your social media posts. Adding the hashtags, even to somewhat unrelated tweets/posts keeps the hashtags trending and helps a future network or platform see that there is a lot of support for the show in question. Since shows can't really be shopped around right now due to the WGA strike, anything we can do to catch the eyes of the guys with the money can help!

The WGA strike is in full gear! Everywhere we look around Twitter, we see more stories of how shit being a TV/movie writer pays, these days. And that's just one of the many issues that the WGA is fighting for on behalf of its members. From the use of AI to replace writers to fighting against things like writer mini-rooms, which pay pennies to writers but get full scripts in return, and not having writers on set to make last-minute changes based on changing conditions in shooting. There are a ton of stories out there giving fantastic examples of why these things are important, so if you haven't read about them, follow some of our SPN writers to learn more about it! (And use the hashtag #WGAStrong when you post your support on social media!)

Last week's #TweetFicTues prompt (via @writerswritecompany) was:

(This one has kind of a Doctor Who crossover vibe with the Vashta Nerada, doesn't it? How would the Winchesters fight those shadow monsters?)

New Business:

Manta Rays in the discord server! At the end of this week, THREE of our Manta Rays will be hanging out in the discord server! @mariekoukie6661, @princessmisery666, and @mrswhozeewhatsis will be in there Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, respectively. Keep an eye out for announcement posts or check out the Pond Google calendar for dates and times in your time zone!

Angel Fish Award nominations! We're more than halfway through the month, which means that the deadline to get your entries into May's raffle is approaching! Remember, every nomination you send in is an entry into the raffle for awesome prizes! Click here for more info about how to participate and get a look at what you could win! (Spoiler: SPN season DVD sets, SPN shirts, writing tools, fic and art commissions, and so much more!)

(Divider by @glygriffe!)

That's all for this week! To see all Pond events, and also other SPN-related things like conventions and online concerts, check out our Google calendar! We try to keep it as up to date as possible. If there's something you want to see on the calendar that's not there (maybe a convention we missed, or cast birthdays, or something similar), send us an ASK and let us know!

Hope you have a great week! - From your Admins and Manta Rays, @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @princessmisery666, @thoughtslikeaminefield, and @katbratsupernaturalwhore!

[clarrisani]

It's just strange how that trend always pops up when Misha or Destiel is trending, that's all. Really strange. You never see the reverse when Jared is trending.

He gets hate. You see it pop up. You just have to go to crazy Wincestie blogs or twitter accounts and you see it.

It's just weird to re-enact a death scene and call it "romantic". It's a death scene! There are plenty of other scenes in SPN that would work. Or make up your own pose for them. I don't know - ask them to hug or something. They'd do it.

Criticism is one thing. Hate is another.

the wincesties are always kind to me. thank you wincesties i love you as much as dean loves sam

[mishasminions]

The Last Time I’ll Write a Long Post About Supernatural (15x18-15x20)

15 YEARS OF WATCHING THIS SHOW. 11 YEARS OF RUNNING A BLOG ABOUT IT. IT’S BEEN QUITE A RIDE.

[15x20 Speculation + evidence at the bottom]

First off, I just wanna come clean and say, after all these years, I still think they should’ve ended at Season 5.

If you’re going to come at me with “Then why’d you stick around to watch it if you didn’t like it?”, your question is immature, and the answer is simple: I just want to know what happens next (I also love the main characters and their actors too). You can watch a show and still think it’s shit.

Call me a clown, but despite all the disappointment and trust issues that this show has given me, I would still look forward to the day where it might just turn itself around and bring back the quality it once had, or realize the potential of each story it was trying to tell, or at the very least, do justice by my favorite ship.

Never happened.

They’ve had a few good episodes here and there. I can’t imagine the SPN Universe without The Man Who Would Be King, The French Mistake, and Scoobynatural. Seasons 6-10 were enjoyable at times. I blocked out most of 7 & 11-15. 

If you’ve been following this blog since its heydays in 2010-2014, you’d know I’d try my best to defend Destiel and this show’s decisions regarding it no matter what.

Because you know what, as a CONCEPT, this show is good. If you take a look at all the worlds its storylines have birthed in fanfiction/fanworks, you’d see how much Supernatural has wasted its own story arcs. The writing got shittier as each season progressed, and they’ve obviously given up in production as well because the quality in the execution has noticeably gone down too, but if you take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture, you’ll see that this show still tries to make sense of itself.

[If you’re still following this post, please bear with me, I know this is long, but I just want you to understand how jaded and pessimistic I am with regards to this show, so maybe you can buy into whatever hopeful thing I’m about to say later on.]

SO LET’S TALK ABOUT DESTIEL

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that they would give us Castiel’s “I love you” speech. To the point where, if I weren’t so desperate for it, I would argue that it was completely out of character for him to word vomit the way he did (but I’m not gonna diss on that right now because I’ll take what I can get).

I’ve valued every meaningful and obscure exchange that Dean and Cas have had in the earlier seasons, and I was willing to accept their relationship as just that--undefined, without any clear boundaries as to what they really are. And I think that was beautiful on its own.

But now, they’ve chosen to define it.

After they’ve driven every possible wedge between Dean and Castiel in seasons 11-15, to try to explain away their feelings as something they offer to a collective.

Dean can’t mourn and pray for JUST Cas, he has to mourn and pray for EVERYBODY--even Crowley, even some chick he just met, because god forbid he cries about just the guy who has given up everything for him--that would be “too homo”.

They’ve even set Cas on a path to abrupt fatherhood just so he can care about something other than Dean. Make it seem as if Dean wasn’t his purpose through and through.

And after all these years of this stupid show trying to deny it, they choose to acknowledge it at the worst possible circumstance, at a time where they’ve been so far apart, that it seems so foreign for them to suddenly come together.

But here we are. And they’ve chosen to tell us.

Chosen to tell us that everything that Castiel has done leading up to his death, he has done it because he was IN LOVE WITH DEAN WINCHESTER.

Chosen to tell us that the ONE THING THAT WOULD MAKE CAS HAPPY IS DEAN WINCHESTER.

Chosen to tell us that BEING WITH DEAN WINCHESTER is something that CAS WANTS BUT KNOWS HE CAN’T HAVE.

And they’ve also chosen to tell us nothing about how Dean feels.

Sure, finding out your angel made a deal, the stipulations of said deal, his newfound happiness philosophy, his long-winded monologue of why he loves you and why you’re worthy of his love, and to top it all off he tells you that being in love with you is enough to make him happy while he subtly hints that he’s always wanted to be WITH you romantically, was a lot to process in the 5 minutes after you’ve just had an existential crisis.

It’s whatever, right? Let’s culminate 11 years worth of tension and feelings in 5 minutes. Let’s waste the entire episode with cringey expository dialogue, and irrelevant sequences. The whole season was a waste anyway.

You know what Supernatural? FUCK YOU FOR THAT. They deserved better. WE deserve better.

And I would love nothing more than to hurl every possible insult your way,

But for the last time, I’m going to HOPE that you’re finally going to try to make it better for the fans that stuck by you all these years.

No more baiting new viewers, no more placating casual viewers, no more excuses. 15 years. Bring it home for the people who have actually been around.

SO HERE’S HOW I THINK 15x20 IS GONNA GO

There’s two ways this series is gonna end. Horribly or Spectacularly.

First let’s all take into consideration what Andrew Dabb says about it:

So, let’s start with

ENDING HORRIBLY

In this scenario, Misha is telling the truth about his last day of filming being 15x18. His “camping trip” during the last few days of filming 15x20, was actually a camping trip. He doesn’t go to Vancouver to shoot.

Jensen wasn’t “being careful” during the zoom interviews that it was just him and Jared quarantining for the shoot, it really was just him and Jared (althought most of these were done pre 15x19) Supernatural isn’t smart enough to do misleading PR, and they’re once again oblivious to the potential of their own story.

Misha hasn’t posted a “Goodbye Castiel” tweet because he’s probably saving it for last episode or he forgot because it was overshadowed by the Destiel trend that night.

So what we get is:

Sam and Dean are on the road again, up against the monster of the week. Only their world no longer has actual Supernatural beings anymore, so the monsters they’re fighting are humans.

Humans end up killing the Winchesters (despite having gone up against literally every powerful being imaginable INCLUDING God himself). Dean and Sam end up in heaven and relive their greatest hits.

Meanwhile, Castiel rots in The Empty because he died after realizing that he was happy and gay. Jack doesn’t bother rescuing him—his surrogate dad, the guy who made this specific deal to spare him—even though it was so easy for him get Cas in and out of The Empty when he had a fraction of the power that he has now.

Dean never speaks of Castiel’s confession because despite all the hints of a profound bond in the earlier seasons, and the fact that Dean has never cared for anyone (who isn’t his actual brother) as immensely as he does Cas, Supernatural just can’t have its main macho character be “suddenly bisexual” because that would hurt the male ego or some shit.

His heaven would probably be living happily ever after with his family. “Family” meaning Mary and John Winchester--two of the shittiest parents ever (but they’re not going to include them in this episode like they were supposed to because of Covid) and Sam.

Sam also gets a dog. As usual.

I wouldn’t put it past Supernatural to do this. After everything they’ve pulled, this would be right up their alley. I actually expect this ending.

Anyway, onto the next possible ending

ENDING SPECTACULARLY

In this scenario, Supernatural tries to stick the landing, and Jensen’s whole “It didn’t sit well with me at first, but then I took a step back after talking to Kripke, and realized that I had to view it from an audience perspective, I am now really excited about it” (DC Con 2019) anecdote about his thoughts on the final episodes, were actually about Dean potentially ending up with Cas. (Which would totally make sense because Jensen at first didn’t see Dean as anything but hetero, but as of late, he has been throwing in Destiel jokes of his own, so he seems to have warmed up to the idea)

Backed with Misha’s tidbit (DLConline 2020) that he and Jensen had conversations about Destiel, and that they wouldn’t have gone through with it if Jensen wasn’t onboard with it, but Jensen didn’t push back at all. (Why would they need to check with Jensen if it was just Cas going all in?)

Robert Berens (writer of 15x18) also wrote the script at the beginning of Season 15, but made Misha privy to the concept a year prior (Season 14), so they went into this season knowing about Destiel going canon.

This one’s a reach, but this scenario also supposes that Misha was lying about his whereabouts during the filming of the final episode, and him saying that 15x18 was his last episode is part of the diversion to avoid taking away from the weight of Castiel’s death.

And that Supernatural is actually self-aware of its own material (similar to how they have wrapped things up in the past—lots of expository dialogue, poor execution, but fulfills the story arc)

Since Season 15 is basically a Meta Season (Chuck/God as a writer, pretentiously calling out how he created the worlds, its characters, and basically invalidating the past 14 seasons), and 15x19 is supposedly the finale for Season 15, written by two of the worst Supernatural writers, Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming (Bob Singer’s wife), then we can assume that 15x19 is where the shitty writers kill themselves--as Chuck, of course.

So we get a badly written episode that produces a bad ending, or as Becky put it, “All action, and no Cas”

So we get the bad writers season ending at 15x19.

And 15x20 is where Sam and Dean write their own stories, and where the cast had a hand in pitching ideas for it.

Dabb has mentioned that 15x20 (Act Two) is a SERIES finale, where they try to resolve the characters’ journeys.

Because as everyone has acknowledged, Supernatural isn’t about the story, it’s about the characters.

So here’s what we can get out of it:

With no more Supernatural beings left to fight, Sam and Dean are in a stalemate. They’ve resigned themselves to fighting to the bitter end, but the “end” has passed, and they’re still standing.

So they try to figure out who they are now, and what they want out of the life they still have.

Sam still wants a normal apple pie life. Before Dean dragged him out of college to go hunting with him, he had a whole life planned out for him. Become a lawyer, settle down with a nice girl, and get a dog. He gave all that up because they had work to do, but now the work is finished, he can finally go back to wanting that for himself again.

Dean finally realizes his self-worth after Cas saves him again. His prayer to Cas in purgatory may have helped him come to terms with his anger, but the whole “you’ve done everything you did for love” speech finally put him in his place, and he learns not to hate himself anymore.

But of course, he cannot fully reconcile with himself if he doesn’t get Cas back, and tell him how he feels.

Because Dean actually wants something for himself this time. Something he knows he can finally have if he can just salvage it.

So maybe this time around, with the help of Jack (off-screen), Dean saves Cas. Grips him tight and raises him from perdition.

They bypass The Empty deal by turning Cas human, and he lives the rest of his days with Dean.

Dean and Cas know they deserve to be saved, and they know that they deserve to be happy.

(Wishful thinking, maybe they kiss a little)

Anyway...

I’m just saying, there’s NO WAY that they’d have Cas go through that whole rushed speech, if they weren’t going to do anything about it later on.

But again, after 10 years of disappointment, I wouldn’t put it past Supernatural to pat themselves on the back and say, “Okay, we sort of gave them what they wanted. We’re good now”

If that’s the case, Supernatural, I’m sorry I wasted my time on you.

Here’s to hoping 🤡

[olderthannetfic]

But that was in another country, and besides, the wench is dead.

LOL.

No, but for real, Wincest was huge at the time. It broke a lot of fans of their hate of RPF because they hated the idea of J2 less than they hated the idea of Sam/Dean. Even our fearless leader has imported her old Wincest to AO3.

SPN fandom was ruled by Wincest. That’s the whole reason TPTB noticed it enough to put jokes in the actual show.

The only reason it’s not obvious now is that Wincest’s home was Livejournal.

LJ fandom scattered and people left fandom entirely or went off to private spaces with friends. Some came to tumblr, but tumblr already had an established community, and LJ refugees did not just take over and make this into LJ 2.0.

That had effects far beyond just SPN. Some fandoms seem small now because they were only ever active on LJ. Some ships seem strangely prominent and others very minor because of who did and did not jump on board AO3 instantly.

I only went to Wincon once, after it had rebranded to be multifandom, but even then, there was a strong vibe of bitter Wincesters from LJ being annoyed at these new Destiel kids on tumblr.

Look, the first SPN con was basically a Wincest con, run by fans, not the official actor cons you get now. That tells you a lot about what the fandom looked like back then. (Yeah, I know it wasn’t officially a Wincest con, but...)

Anyway, tumblr people: if this is your first major fandom platform, you’re going to see this process again over the next few years. AO3 provides more continuity, so parts of it won’t be as obvious, but any ship or trend that was bigger for moodboards and gifsets than for AO3 fic is going to disappear, and the “big” fandoms will mean whatever’s big on twitter or tiktok or something. You’ll refer back to a classic moment in fandom history, and people won’t have heard of it.

[destieldailynews]

Misha Collins Cameo Videos (Top Trending)

March 17, 2021

On Tuesday March 16, supernatural star Misha Collins released his first batch of cameo videos. In combination, these videos caused supernatural to trend once again across platforms. The most popular of the cameo videos are transcribed here with links (we will release another post summarizing the rest of the videos, which are mostly personal greetings.)

Still Beautiful & What Cas is Doing Now 

“Hey heller friends. Bridget wanted me to say hi, and to say [Cas voice] Still beautiful, still Dean Winchester. [regular voice] Shit! My Cas voice is rusty. I don’t know what I, how, Hogwarts house Cas is in. I know that I am a...flugmort. I don’t even know the names of the hogwarts houses, guys, this is not working for me. What do i think Cas is up to now? I think Cas is up there, with his sleeves rolled up, having a massive...ping pong championship in Heaven. There’s ping pong everywhere, that’s all people do now. It’s like, um, It’s like Forrest Gump when he was recuperating. Any words of wisdom to my fans? Stay happy, do your best”

link to video on twitter

Talking about Cas Coming Out (from CTE)

The prompt was: Could you please record yourself as Cas and talk about what his coming out meant to him? 

“I’m not going to speak as Castiel because [chuckle] Warner Brothers has specifically forbidden it. But I will tell you this. As the actor who plays Castiel I can say that the scene in 15x18 when castiel expressed his love for Dean was very important to me, and it felt like a really meaningful, deeply important conclusion to my character’s arc on the show, and I’ve heard a lot of people saying that it meant a lot to them, and that means the world to me. Umm, that's a conversation that i would love to have more of, but, uh thank you [wink] bye!’

link to video on twitter

Ideal Destiel Kiss?

“Hey Jess, I...I was not able to read your story because I just, I just don’t have time right now. I am trying to help a friend who has a very sick kid and it’s kind of taken over my day. But I, I will tell you this.  When I got your request to describe the ideal Destiel kiss, that’s not something I have put enough thought into. But I will tell you this: I am deeply gratified and grateful that Castiel got to have his parting words on the show. That, for me, was so so meaningful and I was so grateful that Cas got to have that ending. I hope you’re well. Sending love, bye!”

link to video on Cameo 

Destiel Reunion Hug

The prompt was: Since we were unable to see Cas rescued from the Empty & in heaven in the finale after his romantic confession to Dean & subsequent death, what would you have liked to have seen for Dean & Cas’ reunion if given the opportunity to decide yourself? 

“I’ll answer this question for you about Dean and Cas and a reunion. I would love to just see the most authentic, loving hug. I could imagine them just, like, grabbing each other and hugging.”

link to video on tumblr 

Cas’s Retirement In Heaven 

“Hey Caryn! I love that you are looking out for Cas’s posthumous well-being in Heaven. Is it posthumous...I guess he’s resurrected, and now he’s rebuilding heaven. I would say this about Cas and what he’s doing in Heaven: I think cas, sadly, will never retired, but I think that also for Cas, doing good work is what he would want to do in his retirement anyway, and I’m sure that he’s doing good work now. I think he’ll never stop. Bye...I hope the same is true of you!”

link to video on Cameo 

Theoretical SPN Revival 

“Hey Alex. I would love to one day get the band back together for a SPN revival of some sort, whether it’s a movie, or a limited run series, or just some little odd casts. Wouldn't it be fun to get together Sam, Dean, Cas, and Alex for a, I mean Jack, for a little, little chit-chat, vocal, audio, podcast? And it would be lovely, one day, to see, to have Dean discuss the impact of Cas’s comments, cause it was never really done. I’m sending you love. Bye!”

link to video on twitter

More Ping Pong

“[Cas voice] Hello Dean. [regular voice] No, no, no. Hello, Kyalin, how are you? I don’t know, I don’t know if you’ve thought about this at all, but I think Cas and Dean are probably playing a lot of ping pong in heaven right now. As you know, they’re ping pong fanatics. I hope that you’re having fun. I hope you’re having fun with your mom, who takes such good care of you. You’re a lucky one [wink] bye!” 

link to video on twitter

Thoughts on how Cas Helped People

“Hey Rich, thanks for your messages. Really gratifying to hear and of course I’m so sorry to hear that you went through such a rough stretch but I’m glad you’re alive, I’m glad these fictional characters helped you, and I...I’m just going to say i'm really happy that Cas got to go out sending a message that authentically loving who you want to love is something that can potentially save the world. That’s a nice message, maybe something to carry with us.”

Personal Congratulations and Poem Reading 

“Hey Fitz. I am wishing you a happy top surgery. What a monumental moment for you, that’s huge. Take care of yourself, rest up, be gentle in your recovery. And now I’m going to read you a paragraph, because I have been instructed to. This is from your friend Brook. [Cas voice] We are the last of all things. Come to me in darkness and daylight and aching. Come to me mourning: proselytizing. [regular voice] I can’t talk like Cas anymore [laugh] oh my goodness. Come to me, Sisyphus, we’ll roll this boulder back down the hill together. If we go fast enough it feels like falling or flying. I really don’t know what just happened to me [laugh] it’s rusty.” 

[italicized sections are quotes from the poem] 

link to video on tumblr

link to original poem and author's tumblr 

Request From MCR-Natural 

 “Hey MRC Natural Discord. I don’t...know what that is. The question is: what member of Team free Will would most likely get a stigmata and what would Castiel’s role be in such said scenario, and the answer is obviously Sam and the rationale is that, oh no, Castiel’s involvement is that he secretly used his angel blade to cause the stigmata, while Sam was sleeping. He numbed him with his magical powers and then secretly gave him a stigmata to help exacerbate his savior complex. Thanks, bye.”

[livebloggingmydescentintomadness]

really struggling to process what happened @ torcon with misha. i don't want to invalidate the emotions or experience for the fan, but at the same time looking at it objectively (and being well versed in misha-isms) i can see how the whole thing was probably one big, truly unfortunate miscommunication where misha matched the energy he was being given in a way the fan wasn't expecting. he should be accountable for the hurt feelings, but i don't think he should be vilified for what happened. (1/2)

i guess my struggle comes from people genuinely calling him homophobic or saying that he's been using destiel+destiel fans for all these years. rationally i know he's been so supportive and appreciate and kind, but emotionally it hurts to see people take all that past history and seemingly throw it away over one bad experience with a fan because i'm certain he's a good guy who just should've approached the situation differently at the time. (sorry for the negativity) (2/2)

i'm sorry anon, but i genuinely don't know what incident you're referring to? idk if i'm just not following enough active spn accounts (or if i only follow ones that don't participate in this kind of wank) or what, but i legit haven't heard a single word about what you're describing.

that said, i agree with you that we need to look at a person's big picture and not write off years of support and kindness because somebody had an awkward or poorly worded encounter. i don't know what he said, but i'm sure he didn't mean any harm, and i think it's pretty silly to accuse him of "using" destiel fans when he was basically the only person on the show supporting us for nearly a decade.

i try not to parasocialize too much, but misha truly seems like a sweet guy, and i'm not going to change my opinion on him because he had a bad day and said something the wrong way. i really hate this trend of jumping to the worst possible conclusions about a person who seems to genuinely try their best.

[dotthings]

Let’s talk about why Dean dancing with a lamp is subtext, but it’s subtext that supports textual arcs. Dean dancing with a lamp is not random. Meta on why Dean dancing with a lamp is part of the build of a textual arc for Dean, thematically, which also connects to his relationship with Cas. This symbolic moment being tacitly about Destiel will only feel like reaching if you ignore context, ignore canon, ignore long arcing, ignore textual material surrounding it. This isn’t just me talking about a ship, this is an important arc for Dean himself emotionally and the way canon’s working, Cas has become the star player in this specific emotional Dean arc about yearning. 

Here are some canon quotes. I could just leave these here and not write another word of meta because the canon wrote it for me. But I’ve added some further commentary to spell out clearly what I’m getting at.

Dean in 8.14 “Trial and Error” by Andrew Dabb:

“You see a light at the end of this ugly-ass tunnel. I don't. But I tell you what I do know – it's that I'm gonna die with a gun in my hand. 'Cause that's what I have waiting for me – that's all I have waiting for me. I want you to get out. I want you to have a life – become a man of Letters, whatever. You, with a wife and kids and – and – and grandkids, living till you're fat and bald and chugging Viagra – that is my perfect ending, and it's the only one that I'm gonna get.”

Dean in 10.16 “Paint it Black” by Eugenie Ross-Lemming and Brad Buckner:

“You know, the life I live, the work I do…I pretty much just figured that that was all there was to me, you know? Tear around and jam the key in the ignition and haul ass until I ran out of gas. I guess I just thought sooner or later, I’d go out the same way that I live – pedal to the metal, and that would be it....Now, um… recent events, uh… make me think I might be closer to that than I really thought. And…I don’t know. I mean, you know, there’s – there’s things, there’s…people, feelings that I-I-I want to experience differently than I have before, or maybe even for the first time.”

Sam and Dean in 11.04 “Baby” by Robbie Thompson:

SAM: Really? You don't . . . Ever want something more? DEAN: I'm sorry, have you met us? We're batting a whopping zero in domestic life, man. Goose eggs. SAM: You don't ever think about something? Not marriage or whatever. But . . . Something? You know, with a hunter? Somebody who understands the life?

Sam and Dean in 13.23 “Let the Good Times Roll” by Andrew Dabb:

DEAN: But on a beach somewhere, you know? Can you imagine? You, me, Cas, toes in the sand, couple of them little umbrella drinks. Matching Hawaiian shirts, obviously. Some hula girls. SAM: You talking about retiring? You? DEAN: If I knew the world was safe? Hell, yeah. And you know why? 'Cause we freaking earned it, man.

Sam and Dean in 15.08 “Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven” by Eugenie Ross-Lemming and Brad Buckner:

DEAN: Look, man, I didn't want to say anything, okay, 'cause I was kind of in in a bad place, and, uh, yeah, I didn't want to jinx it or whatever, but, you know, I tried the family thing, right? SAM: Yeah, me too. And that's not for us. DEAN: No, not really. But I'm just saying if it was to work, Eileen, you know, she gets it. She gets us. She gets the life. She's hot. SAM: Dean. I mean, I'm not even- DEAN: Look, all I'm saying is you- you could do worse, okay? And she could certainly do better. Like, so much better. I'm happy for you, Sammy.

Dean and Garth in 15.10 “The  Heroes’ Journey” written by Andrew Dabb:

DEAN: You know, I gotta say, aside from pincushion in there… this is pretty nice. GARTH: Yeah, better than I ever thought I'd get. I mean, hunting -- I figured I'd be dead before I'm 40. You know, go out young and pretty. But now I've got a great wife, great kids. I guess...sometimes things work out.

Dean in 15.10 “The Heroes’ Journey” by Andrew Dabb:

Dean, wistful, watching through the window as Garth and Bess dance: You know, I always thought I could be a good dancer if I wanted to be.

Ok, let those roll around in your brain for moment. 

Now: CONTEXT. CONTEXT. CONTEXT.

There’s this long running arc about maybe Sam and Dean could each find a significant other, not white picket fence, but...something, with someone already in the life, who gets their life. There’s Dean’s move from despairing and believing the only ending he could have, the only ending any hunter could have, is dying with a gun in hand, to Dean’s enthusiasm for the concept of retirement, Dean’s wistfulness about finding a significant other, for what he thinks he can’t have, and he starts the cycle all over again, if he can’t have it, then he wants Sam to have it, so Dean encourages Sam with Eileen. Saileen, the Dean-blessed, Dean-approved Sam ship. Dean ships it. And that is how the canon is trending, complete with Sam and Eileen kissing goodbye and saying “this is real” and even God himself saying their feelings were real, “that was all you,” even if God manipulated events around them. Which is an overt mirror to Dean and Cas and Dean’s expressly stated doubts about what’s real and what isn’t, and Cas telling Dean “we are.” 

Much the way Sam has been witness to Destiel, and has often pointed out Dean’s Cas feelings. Dean’s got a front row seat to Saileen and approves; Sam’s had a front row seat to Destiel and approves. 

Let’s throw in Robert Berens’ work in The Trap here, since that’s relevant to this specific topic as well, because why did Sam and Dean in the potential future timeline where they’d killed Chuck give up and cave in to their vampire instincts? The world being overwhelmed with monsters...and losing Eileen and losing Cas. It’s right there in the dialogue. I’ll give you the quote and everything:

Sam and Dean in 15.09 “The Trap” by Robert Berens:

SAM: You want to quit? What's happened to you, Dean? Ever since -- DEAN: Ever since what? We lost pretty much everyone we've ever cared about? Ever since the Mark made Cas go crazy? Ever since I had to bury him in a Ma'lak box? Ever since then? Yeah. You know why? 'Cause the monsters -- they're everywhere. Everywhere! What we do -- it's not even Hunting anymore. It's whack-a-mole. We don't even save people. Every friend we've ever had is either dead, or they got wise and they packed it in. SAM: Jody's still fighting, and Bobby -- DEAN: Bobby has a death wish, and you know it. And Jody -- ever since what happened to Donna and the girls, she does, too. And after Eileen... so do you.

“Ever since” Dean had to bury Cas in a Ma’lak box. “After Eileen...so do you.” 

So there’s this canonical long, long thread across multiple authors (and those weren’t even all the quotes, I’m sure people could dig up more) about Dean in particular yearning towards finding a significant other, some contentment, with someone who already is in the hunting life, who gets it, who understands.  

An episode that flat out shows how losing their significant others is the final straw that rips out Sam and Dean’s last will to fight, and they lose themselves, and after they’re turned into vampires, they just...give into the darkness. Where Sam gives up their shot at destroying the big bad because losing everyone they love is too high a cost. Where losing Cas makes Dean lose hope, where losing Eileen sends Sam into a death wish mindset. Sam and Dean don’t just need each other. That’s not canon, it never has been.

And then right after that, along comes meta episode The Heroes’ Journey. Sorry if you don’t like The Heroes’ Journey, but it’s what the canon did, it’s textual, along with everything else I’ve pointed out here, and in among the crackish humor are some real emotional narrative points. 

In The Heroes’ Journey, Dean gets to see Garth’s life. Garth found his significant other, Bess, and she’s another werewolf. Now, Garth’s life resembles the traditional white picket fence idea a lot more than what Team Free Will are headed for. Garth has a big house with a porch, and he’s a dentist. He’s also a werewolf and his wife is a werewolf and his kids are werewolves because Bess is a pureblood werewolf, Garth didn’t exactly leave the life, and he helps Sam and Dean on a case. But nothing’s been indicating to me that anyone in Team Free Will is headed for that kind of settling down, with a house, becoming a dentist. However, the canon has been practically shouting now, as we near final episodes of SPN, to make the point about a desirable outcome--some kind of stability, contentment, and a significant other. Dean gets a front row seat to seeing a hunter can have that. Garth’s a hunter who turned into a werewolf and he can have that. 

When EP’s talk about how they aren’t headed for a white picket fence or driving off into the sunset or settling down, none of that rules out them finding...something...with someone, and some form of stability and contentment.  Nope, I can’t really imagine them in the suburbs becoming dentists. But canon sure is putting up big neon arrows to...something. Think outside the box. This isn’t about the white picket fence. 

And in The Heroes’ Journey, Dean, conked out on the good gas so Garth can fix his teeth, has a trippy dream where he dances with a lamp.

Rewatch the ep. Look at how the dance is choreographed not just the use of light, because that’s a clue too. The whole dance could have been Dean and Garth being dancing bros, but Garth fades off the stage, and Dean dances alone...until he grabs the standing lamp. In a season where Dean and Cas’s relationship is an A-plot, define it how you like, it’s A-plot. Their breakup and their reconciliation, which played like a marital breakup and reconciliation, are tied to major mytharc beats. In a season where a long-running textual theme about Dean’s developing hope for retirement and his wistfulness about “things...people...feelings...” is getting further play. Where Dean and Cas’s relationship continues to be one of the show’s most central ones.

Dean dances with a lamp. While his emotionally fraught, intense close relationship with Cas--A BEING MADE OF LIGHT--has a long-running arc and recently more and more textual level content spelling out the sublimated romantic interest in small words, while there’s an arc about Dean’s yearning for that stability, contentment, a significant other.

CONTEXT. 

We don’t think Destiel’s “going canon” because Dean dances with a lamp, it’s that Dean dancing with a lamp is kinda loud serving as reflection of canon textual arcing. Sometimes subtext adds a layer. Sometimes subtext is directly tied to the surface layers, an echo, a highlighter.

I’ll just be over here, crying because Dean danced with a lamp.

[deep-slept]

You know what's funny?

That I come back with this ship re-energized. Why? well Let me tell you: Personal feelings undercut

Every time, in all my years as a fan, I've seen some posts or things that makes me doubt or that speaks ill of one another, something will come in and WHAMO! new info or pic comes in and that contradicts it.

I was disconnected from the fandom since 2015 after giving up hope on destiel and cockles' romantic friendship.

But let me tell ya somethin';

an*** would say: "He dislikes Misha in real life" - I believed it, can't say Misha was well-mannered sometimes and he did somethings that...weeeren't a good idea but ( after some fan vids and JIB10 )

I was like "seems like it" and I believed those stories.

Then this happens:

I'm...in shock.

Going through that mindset I was like:

(why why why why would he post this???? )

(Wasn't he uncomfortable with him?)

(why are your chest so close together? the hell? who does that?)

I was happy, but still doubtful (maybe misha told him to take the pic)

THEN Then... THIS:

uh...

...Why would you post about your friendship anniversary of ten years with Misha? why not with...J*red? who does that? wasn't J*red your friend first?

THAT post made me very happy but melancholic because I knew at the time that SPN was going to an end this friendship would fade.

Then November 5th 2020...

Twitter expoded, Tumblr exploded! CHAOS

The confession I was waiting all my high school & college years to happen , happened.

I WAS IN DISBELIEF

I wouldn't have EVER thought Jensen led this happen, the cast let this happen, the PRODUCTION!!!

Cas was able to say his piece.

But then again I thought, still skeptical;

"Well, now Jensen can be in peace with all this"

After all has settled down, I was doing my own things (work, hangouts, a bit of gossip from local news) when on June, I stumbled upon a pic on Instagram;

Jensen...what's wrong? coping with shit? what does that mean?

In the comments I see someone asking :

-"hey, you good?"

Someone replies: "J2 breakup"

huh?

Breakup??? that's impossible!

I thought

And what place can I lookup that would have this info on the matter?

Tumblr.

I couldn't believe I had to reactivate my old 2015 account for this but I have to find out what was going on.

And it did not disappoint:

Jensen and Daneel announced with their production studio Chaos Machine a new Supernatural Prequel.

J*red didn't know about it....

Oh dear....

I didn't expect him to react that way...

To be honest I was surprised.(I know some fans can differ)

But my Lord, more CHAOS ensued.

Fans were pissed for various reasons

(Why a story of John [that asshole], Jensen not letting J*red know etc.) J2 fans were sad (understandably) but also LIVID!

They (allegedly) even went to Misha's publisher and said nasty things about him in *checks notes* Retaliation?

the fuck? what did he had to do with any of this?

seeing this while sitting down chowing on some food.

(deep down I was happy an*** got their little bubble bursted into flames)

Well that's it for me.

-I thought.

The next day, SPN is trending on tumblr. Again. And I couldn't believe what I saw:

....

Misha was staying in Jensen's.... apartment?

My world stopped at that moment...

My heart and mind exploded in delight!

The serotonin levels were SKY HIGH!!!

After all these years.....their friendship was real...

I wouldn't believe it.

After this, I searched for all the last details and theories about them. And those started to finally make more sense.

Everything was falling into place.

And I was really happy for them.

Regardless if their friendship is beyond that or not, I'm just glad it exists because thanks to that chemistry and companionship they helped thousands of fans and people in their lives.

And I'm forever living happily in this cockles dumpster.

💙💚