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daughterofcain-67 · 11 months

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🅦hαt 🅞ncє 🅦αs 🅜ínє

(Dean Winchester x Reader)

(Part 2) (Part 3)

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: You and Dean have been close for the past couple of years but you have hunting with them for the past few. You notice that he has seemed off when he came back from Purgatory and all you wanted to do was help. After an argument breaks out- you leave for about a year with a secret you can’t afford to tell.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: some spoilers - some may be MAJOR spoilers, read at your own risk (seasons 6-8, I believe: MAY NOT BE ACCURATE), a brief mention of a night of intimacy but no graphic detail. This story does not follow along with any specific episode

Your heart raced with adrenaline from the last hunt you were on with the Winchester brothers. It was a tough one too and it didn't help that you had been worried about Dean the entire time. You had been with the Winchesters for the past three years. However, there was a shift between the two of you ever since he came back from Purgatory.

You noticed that he had become lost in a way - especially since Cass was gone. You knew that Purgatory was almost like a Hell for Dean since he seemed to feel a sort of guilt. But he wouldn't talk to you about it and you couldn't read his mind. You felt like you were drifting apart.

You remembered the night that Dean finally came back. You knew that Sam had moved on and tried to make a life for himself. But you couldn't move on so easily. You knew at the time he had just moved on from Lisa, then the job got busier and busier with the Leviathan. Then the next thing you knew he was in Purgatory for so long and you never got to tell him how you truly felt.

At least, not until the night that he finally came back.

You remembered the way he looked all roughed up after he came back. How handsome he was, but maybe it was just because you were just so glad that he was back. One thing lead to another and you ended up spending a passionate night together and it was a night you could never forget.

Even if at this moment you were trying so hard not to, especially considering the current circumstances you were in personally. For the past several weeks you were carrying Dean's child. You didn't know how to tell him and a part of you knew he couldn't handle it with everything going on.

"Dean, what the hell is going on with you? I know you went through a lot of crap in Purgatory, and I know you must be missing Cass a hell of a lot right now. We all do! But if you can't get your head on straight or at least talk to somebody, you might end up getting yourself killed one day because you can't focus!" You tried your best to explain.

"Don't act like you know how the hell I handle what's in my head, Y/N." He stated with a growl. "You don't know half the shit I've been through. You weren't there when I was in Hell. You weren't there when Lucifer took over Sam's mind. I know what I'm doing so why don't you stay the hell out of it!?"

"I can't stay out of it because I care about you! Sam cares about you! You know if Cass were here, he'd-"

"Don't you dare bring him up. You know, I should have just listened to Sam when you first came onto the scene." He said and rolled his eyes before he poured himself another glass of whisky.

"Listened to Sam? What was it that he said? Dean, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying you're nothing but a liability! You do nothing but get in the way! We should have never brought you on that very first hunt!" His words broke you to pieces. How long had he felt this way towards you? And everything you went through, did all of this mean nothing to him? You had done your best to be there for him and he just thought you were in the way the whole time?

You saw the instant regret on Dean's face after he said what he did but it was too late. You looked away from him and your eyes started to burn with tears that were starting to form

"Y/N, wait, I didn't mean-"

"Forget it, Dean. You want me gone, then I'll leave. I won't be in your way. You want to self destruct, fine. You have Sam to worry about you."

Then you packed your bags and left.

*************************************************

All of that happened about a year ago.

For a year you went through a pregnancy and a birth alone. You didn't have all of the answers. You didn't know how the hell you were supposed to take care of your little girl on your own. But you were doing everything you could by taking it one day at a time. That was all you could really do at this point.

Throughout the pregnancy you were working at a Walgreen's and you were living in a small apartment and trying your best to get by. You were doing well for the most part though. Better than living on the road and hopping from one hotel room to another.

Luckily, tonight you were able to have your day off. So you spent your time with your beloved daughter, Y/C/N. She had Dean's forest-green eyes and your hair color. She was only about three months old but you wanted to protect her from everything that was out there, especially since you knew what dangers were out there. If any demon, angel or monster found out there was a little Winchester- who knew what kind of horror would be after the last piece of Dean you had.

Once you had finished giving your baby girl her bath and gotten her dress on, you noticed some lights flickering in the room. That was instantly a red flag in your mind. Of course you knew all the ins and outs of hunting and keeping your home safe because of your experience with the Winchesters. And there were some occasions when it really was just a blown fuse and there was no sulfur left behind. But you were always cautious, and understandably so.

You held the baby close as you went to your room and you watched as the lights started to flicker again. You took the can of salt on your dresser and used your free hand to open it up and you put it on your windowsills, beneath the door, anywhere to prevent demons from coming in. And even if they did, you had a rug in front of your bedroom door that had a devil's trap beneath it so it wouldn't get to you or your daughter.

Suddenly, you hear your apartment door bust open and you start hearing all kinds of commotion like a fight was happening only for a demonic cry to be heard. You covered Y/C/N's ears and held onto her and you wondered what the hell was happening out there. Soon, though, you started hearing voices.

"I think that's all of them. Let's get back so I can be ready for work at the station by Monday." Was that Jodi? What are was she doing all the way out here.

"We have to see if she's here though. Who knows what can be out there looking for her." That sounded like Castiel. When did he come back? How did he come back!? Your mind was swirling with so many questions.

You slowly got out of the bed and walked over to the door. When you opened it you saw Cass and Jodi look towards your direction and you watched Jodi's eyes light up and a smile showed on her face.

"Y/N! You're safe! It's so good to see you." She said as she walked over and that was when she saw your little bundle of joy in your arms, "And who's this precious thing?"

"Jodi, Cass! It's really good to see you guys! This is Y/C/N. She's mu daughter." You introduced.

"Daughter? When did that happen? Do you have a boyfriend here?" Jodi began to ask and you shook your head at the last question.

"No boyfriend, and I found out about a year ago, and Half Pint here is three months. I've just been here trying to lay low so nothing finds us." You explained and you could feel the angel's gaze. When you glanced over, you knew he could tell what happened. And who knew what Dean told him when he came back. If he even went to Dean that is.

"Does Dean know?" It was an inevitable, and reasonable, question that you knew was bound to come up from Castiel. He knew of your feelings for the older brother, and he knew there seemed to be something unspoken between you two for a while before he went to Purgatory. Other than that, you didn't know if Dean filled him in on anything else.

"I didn't get the chance to tell him. I left after a fight we had. Something about how he shouldn't have let me tag along on the first hunt." You felt a soft hand on your shoulder and knew that it was Jodi.

"Why don't you both come and stay with me? It'll be a lot safer that way and at least you won't be on your own. Plus you wouldn't have to worry so much about monsters coming in without backup." The sheriff said and motioned to the salt on the windowsills.

You thought about it for a few moments and looked down at your daughter who was rubbing her eyes like she was tired. You had to think of what was best for her. You knew she didn't need a mom who was stretched thin with work then having to worry about hunting. It would be great to have the help. No one said that being a single mom was easy.

"Yeah, that would be great, Jodi. I appreciate it." You nodded

So much had been going on since you've left and it was like Sam and Dean couldn't get a rest. After Kevin took a Word of God from Crowley and have him translate the tablets to Sam having to complete certain trials that Dean knew he shouldn't be doing anyway. And that was the current thing on the Winchesters' agenda.

Too much has been going on and Dean was already getting so tired of all of it. There seemed to be no end to it but he knew he had to stay determined through all of it at least for his brother's sake. He's pretty much left behind the idea of retiring from this gig. He tried that once and of course the Apple Pie life fell through for him.

What sucks about it is that Dean didn't have you in his back corner anymore. You weren't there to be his 'new eyes' on a situation or bring some kind of positive to a situation. You weren't there to have little drinking competitions with him, remark on crappy television with him, you weren't there to take his mind off this job he was raised in.

And pushing you away was another item on his never-ending list of regret.

But of course, with all of the things he had on his plate and having to save the world yet again, he couldn't exactly showed just how much he had been thinking about you even if you've never left Dean's mind. And Sam knew it too.

Dean was sitting at one of the tables in the Bunker since that's where he and Sam have been living. He knew if you were here you'd probably make it a little more home-y. Lately he had been focusing on the trials that Sam had to face. He passed the first one but he knew this was going to take a toll on Sam. If he could trade places than he would, but Sam could be just as stubborn as Dean sometimes.

Dean looked over at the bottle of whisky before he picked it up and poured himself another glass before he opened up his laptop to do some research outside of these books. The first trial that Sam completes was bathe in hell hound blood. The next one was saving a soul from Hell. The final was to cure a demon and that would be a whole other ball game when the time came up. One thing at a time. He wasn't sure how his brother was supposed to do the next trial but he knew that Cass said Sam's health would decrease almost at a subatomic level.

While Dean was deep in his thoughts of this trial business, his phone started to ring unexpectedly.

Dean glanced over at his phone and saw Jodi's name and picture show up on his screen. An odd surprise since it's been a while since he had heard from her but he picked up the phone wondering if something was wrong and she needed some kind of help.

"Jodi? What's up?" He asked and took a sip of his whisky before setting the glass down on the table.

"Dean? It's Y/N... we need to talk."

Thank you all for reading!

This is my 1st mini series for Dean Winchester so thank you for taking am interest in reading this! If you liked this little story please feel free to comment or like it! Especially if you’d like to see a second part to this story to see if the reader will tell Dean about their daughter in the midst of what’s going on. 🖤

Tag List:

@chriszgirl92 @wildernessflora

#dean imagine #dean winchester #jensen ackles #supernatural #supernatural imagine #supernatural x reader #dean x reader #dean x you #team free will #spn

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mlobsters · 5 months

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supernatural s13e6 tombstone (w. davy perez)

SAM No. You're – you're dead. CASTIEL Yeah, I was. But then I… annoyed an ancient cosmic being so much that he sent me back.

i mean. that's how i described it too. but laughing that we're seriously gonna say that in this moment without the boys reacting, lol okay!

please not this music, it's making me laugh. papa castiel is home! cue the cheesiest fucking emotional music. you know what it reminds me of? the zelda breath of the wild like... those flashback cut scenes, the memories? mushy ones with zelda haha (plinky piano bits around 19:19 if you're curious)

cas hitting the hug jackpot, 3 unsolicted ones! and the one with jack was sweet

whew and now we get cheesy old west music too.

DEAN Yeah, we've done more on less. Besides Dodge City's kind of, uh, kind of awesome. All right, well… two salty hunters, one half-angel kid, and a dude who just came back from the dead. Again. Team Free Will 2.0. Here we go.

no more suicidal dean apparently, get an unexpected resurrection and cowboy shenanigans and he's happy and fired up

one thing i find endlessly amusing/fascinating is how like, all these years we're gonna have silly little logistical questions like. how they clean their suits, are they doing dry cleaning, are they rolling up their suits in their duffels with everything else, etc etc. but we got to see some ironing not long back and now, dry cleaning bags!

cas's face is cracking me up

JACK He really likes cowboys. CASTIEL Yes. Yes, he does.

also my face at the creative team that decided this was part of dean's schtick. i want to let dean enjoy silly things. but they just push so hard

also they're gonna get one room (albeit a suite) for all 4 of them. jack doesn't sleep much, cas doesn't sleep at all. what are those two gonna do while the humans are sleeping? awkward

SAM You're in a good mood, huh? DEAN Yeah. And? SAM Nothing. No, no, I-I-I just, uh… you've been having a rough go, so it's… it's good to see you smile. DEAN Well, I said I needed a big win. We got Cas back. That's a pretty damn big win. SAM Yeah. Fair enough.

what's up with your attitude there, sam. you don't actually seem very happy. worried he's gonna crash and burn? jealous that it's cas? jealous that cas is taking jack from him? (lol)

little bonding for cas and jack while the humans were sleeping talking about his mom was nice

untitled 1 and 2 our old friends!! last seen i think in one episode in 10x10 and not quite some time before that. if my blog search/index wasn't so fucked i could find more details. song remains the same

set designers let the kitsch explode. those silhouettes

CASTIEL I told you. He's an angry sleeper. Like a bear.

cheesy but i laughed. i, too, wake up in a foul mood and should not be talked to

oh sure dean, you're cringing over cas's line but we've all been very generous in accepting your goofy ass shit like that bolo tie and need to cosplay tombstone to begin with

can truly appreciate the sheer awfulness of that hat cas is wearing out in the sunlight. it's so small, it's so translucent. cheapest of straw hats. (not knockin straw hats! my dad was an avid cowboy hat wearer and had a couple nice straw ones for the summer)

i don't pay too much attention to how time flows on this show, i do know sometimes it can be weeks between episodes, sometimes it's the next day (another thing that irked me on teen wolf was how they spent like... 2+ full seasons in one year to keep the kids in high school). but anyway, i just wonder how much show universe time cas was not off on some whatever, and around to do this stuff hanging out with them. them crammed in sam's room on his uncomfortable bed to watch a movie, like they did with charlie? lol. based on the number of times i've seen it in fic, i gather a bunker room with a tv does become a thing at some point, so maybe it was in there?

.... a shootout in the parking lot of the knockoff wells fargo in broad daylight. what planet are we on right now. so jack can accidentally kill a civilian with his powers, great

CASTIEL Jack, I've killed people who didn't deserve it… my friends– I've killed people I loved. I wish I could tell you that it– that it gets easier, that with time, it hurts less, but that would be a lie because it– it never gets easier. And those moments, they never stop hurting. But that doesn't mean that you should stop fighting. Doesn't mean that just because you made a mistake – and that's what this is, Jack. It's a mistake. That doesn't mean that you can't– can't be better, do better. I believe that. I have to believe that.

so the people he killed that he loved, would that be like. angelic siblings? wonder if the wiki keeps track of who killed whom. he killed a bunch of fake deans in that one episode lol

SAM And we still believe in you, Jack. We, uh– JACK Stop. Just… Please stop.

anyway, point being, wasn't this just an accident?? like when eileen accidentally killed the bmol dude? eileen got a hug and commiseration, they're talking about who they murdered and WE STILL BELIEVE YOU'RE NOT EVIL i would tell them to stop too!

why do they do this with him

JACK No, maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just another monster. DEAN No, you're not. I thought you were. I did. But… Like Sam said, we've all done bad. We all have blood on our hands. So if you're a monster, we're all monsters.

dean gets to have his little personal growth acknowledgement

really added dimension to the terror of thinking he's a monster like sam did, with a bunch of unintended injury and now death wrapped up in it. kind of hard to... care about anything except vaguely because we sitll barely know him but if i sit and think about it, sure

and a whole other thing dealing with kid having a meltdown when they can just teleport away.

oh god just considered now dean might feel extra guilty for telling jack he was a monster and he was gonna kill him, now that jack ran away. that could be the crash and burn :p

#supernatural #spnwatch #spn clip #spn musical score #spn desktop background update #davy perez #jay gruska #spn 13x06 #spn zelda music

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aberfaeth · 2 years

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SHARE d20 THOUGHTS

bea you are so kind to me So kind. ok buckle in babes!

ranking d20 seasons by how compelled i feel to do a full scale rewrite picking apart and rearranging the bones

DISCLAIMER: this list is not in order of how much i like or dislike the seasons. i also recognize that in an improv format, especially comedy-focused, people make decisions that aren’t character or theme driven. none of the cast are Wrong for any of the choices i’m going to critique here. that’s just the name of the game. HOWEVER:

1. a starstruck odyssey

ah the reason i’m making this list. aso has SO MUCH POTENTIAL LIKE THERES SO MUCH GOOD STUFF IN THERE!!!!! i just think it failed to resolve its arcs satisfyingly. @cloudmancy and @grasslandgirl (EDIT: and @lichfucker ) have made GREAT posts on norman takamori which i encourage everyone to read and burn into their brains. but also like. the stuff with barry nyne drives me insane i hated that so much </3. why did prillbus choose him. how did the king of brain slugs get in a zoo exhibit. in the wise words of sav:

AND THE ARC PLAYED SO WELL WITH SID! which, by the way, the warfare whitneys getting remade falls into the same thing of like oh ok. sid dealing with being a keeper of souls didn’t actually matter bc she’s not anymore.

there’s just this aspect of. the random factor was stressed so often and it was so cool and delightful whenever things happened to align and like. the way that it turned out oh norman and skip and barry and marge are all connected to this world ending plot in the end! just felt so against that theme bc it was very clear and obvious where the metahand of narrative was coming in. like it would have been way more engaging and impactful if the wurst really had just randomly stumbled onto saving the galaxy ESPECIALLY bc thats their whole thing! no chosen ones no saviors we are a bunch of idiot mercenaries here by accident!

also loose duke should not have been on the ship they rly beat that one to death early lol

2. misfits and magic

i love mismag with all my heart and soul but that does not mean she is safe from me !!!!! people have beaten to death the centralization of evan in the narrative so i don’t think i have to talk about that but i also think k’s arc could have been a lot smoother. i love the feral princess i think it’s like k taking this thing that’s always been pushed onto them that’s pushed onto them again (aggressive femininity, girlhood) and making it their own but i wish they’d had the time and the space to lean more into that whole thing of like. Taking magic and forming it into what I WANT it to be. Nature AND nurture AND intention bc thats the whole. that’s the season’s whole self determination thing. anyways more jammer more sam!!! would have loved to see more of jammer’s team building i want him to give everyone nicknames i want to see him struggle with his world becoming so much bigger and more complex. and seeing more of sam’s leadership and the way she goes from internet influencer to like irl influence like the scene w her teaching the kids how to mukbang was so good i want more of that. ALSO poly pilot program real

3. a crown of candy

every day i think about the world where we got those four lost episodes. i don’t think it would fix everything but like acoc NEEDS more time towards the end, you can tell something is missing. honestly it’s so perfectly done for the first half and then it just kind of… falls off a tiny bit? there are moments towards the end that are fantastic but i really don’t like how it resolved. i feel like everyone and their mother has talked about liam’s wish and how rough that was (my personal favorite replacement for that choice is for a peppermint tree to grow over the spot where keradin and the pontifex are buried as a representation of the strengthening of magic in candia which might be august’s idea?) but also idk i just feel like cumulous didn’t hit as hard for me. and saccharina is the love of my life literally one of my fave characters ever but her cinnamon arc felt really rushed (which, yes, missing episodes). i just feel like after jet’s death the pacing and themes get so muddy (yes missing episodes yes i know). anyways brennan wishes he had what prince consort calroy doc and sweet religion doc have

4. mice and murder

mice and murder is SOOOO CLOSEEEE but it trips over the finish line. honestly some of it was the dice being fickle but like. there were choices. anyways i said it best when it was airing:

also i wish vicar ian had more to do. he had some killer moments but he didn’t feel as connected as the rest of the group did yknow

5. pirates of leviathan, fantasy high seasons 1 and 2, the seven aka The Spyre Spot

this is the spot in the list where i run out of specific rewrite energy but they’re not quite in the Perfect tier. honestly pirol is so good SO slept on i literally just wish it had better video quality which is no ones fault. also i wish it were longer so they had more time to get their footing! and fantasy high is classic and very good but there are still some things i would change (fabian in the nightmare forest for one! i hate how he isn’t taken seriously, acknowledgement that penelope and dayne blade were also children groomed by an ancient dragon, i think kristen’s arcs are a little clumsily done, etc). the seven is also delightful and hilarious and its themes are done beautifully but i did not think the combat was done well lol. i think brennan got some bad asks and wasn’t hard enough on saying no, and while again there were some really good moments i think it dragged more than combat normally does but that’s #justmysillyopinion

6. the unsleeping city, escape from the bloodkeep

the perfect seasons. i would not change a single thing, they achieve everything they set out to do and they do it beautifully. and hilariously!

7. shriek week, tiny heist

i liked these seasons but i don’t think there’s enough there to really dig in yknow? like i enjoyed my time but i don’t feel compelled to rewatch

8. tuc2 my beloathed

i’m sorry i just don’t care for tuc2 i pretend she doesn’t exist 💔

@catoptrific and @theamazinggrayson also asked about this!!

#dimension 20 #long post #d20 #c.ask #sorry i’m on mobile there’s no readmore option 😭😭😭

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mostlymovieswithmax · 3 years

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Movies I watched in May

Sadly, I kind of skipped writing a post for April. It was a mad month with so much going on: lots of emails sent and lots of stress. I started a new job so I’m getting to grips with that... and even then, I still watched a bunch of movies. But this is about what I watched in May and, yeah… still a bunch. So if you’re looking to get into some other movies - possibly some you’ve thought about watching but didn’t know what they were like, or maybe like the look of something you’ve never heard of - then this may help! So here’s every film I watched from the 1st to the 31st of May 2021 Tenet (2020) - 8/10 This was my third time watching Christopher Nolan’s most Christopher Nolan movie ever and it makes no sense but I still love it. The spectacle of it all is truly like nothing I’ve ever seen. I had also watched it four days prior to this watch also, only this time I had enabled audio description for the visually impaired, thinking it would make it funny… It didn’t.

Nomadland (2020) - 6/10 Chloé Zhao’s new movie got a lot of awards attention. Everyone was hyped for this and when it got put out on Disney+ I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. Seeing these real nomads certainly gave the film an authenticity, along with McDormand’s ever-praisable acting. But generally I found it quite underwhelming and lacking a lot in its pacing. Nomadland surely has its moments of captivating cinematography and enticing commentary on the culture of these people, but it felt like it went on forever without any kind of forward direction or goal. The Prince of Egypt (1998) - 6/10 I reviewed this on my podcast, The Sunday Movie Marathon. For what it is, it’s pretty fun but nowhere near as good as some of the best DreamWorks movies.

Chinatown (1974) - 8/10 What a fantastic and wonderfully unpredictable mystery crime film! I regret to say I’ve not seen many Jack Nicholson performances but he steals the show. Despite Polanski’s infamy, it’d be a lie to claim this wasn’t truly masterful. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) - 8/10 Admittedly I was half asleep as I curled up on the sofa to watch this again on a whim. I watched this with someone who demanded the dubbed version over the subtitled version and while I objected heavily, I knew I’d seen the movie before so it didn’t matter too much. That person also fell asleep about 20 minutes in, so how pointless an argument it was. Howl’s Moving Castle boasts superb animation, the likes of which I’ve only come to expect of Miyazaki. The story is so unique and the colours are absolutely gorgeous. This may not be my favourite from the legendary director but there’s no denying its splendour.

Bāhubali: The Beginning (2015) - 3/10 The next morning I watched some absolute trash. This crazy, over the top Indian movie is hilarious and I could perhaps recommend it if it weren’t so long. That being said, Bāhubali was not a dumpster fire; it has a lot of good-looking visual effects and it’s easy to see the ambition for this epic story, it just doesn’t come together. There’s fun to be had with how the main character is basically the strongest man in the world and yet still comes across as just a lucky dumbass, along with all the dancing that makes no sense but is still entertaining to watch. Seven Samurai (1954) - 10/10 If it wasn’t obvious already, Seven Samurai is a masterpiece. I reviewed this on The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast, so more thoughts can be found there. Red Road (2006) - 6/10 Another recommendation on episode 30 of the podcast. Red Road really captures the authentic British working class experience. Before Sunrise (1995) - 10/10 One of the best romances put to film. The first in Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy is undoubtedly my favourite, despite its counterparts being almost equally as good. It tells the story of a young couple travelling through Europe, who happen to meet on a train and spend the day together. It is gloriously shot on location in Vienna and features some of the most interesting dialogue I’ve ever seen put to film. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

Tokyo Story (1953) - 9/10 This Japanese classic - along with being visually and sonically masterful - is a lot about appreciating the people in your life and taking the time to show them that you love them. It’s about knowing it’s never too late to rekindle old relationships if you truly want to, which is something I’ve been able to relate to in recent years. It broke my heart in two. Tokyo Story will make you want to call your mother. Before Sunset (2004) - 10/10 Almost a decade after Sunrise, Sunset carries a sombre yet relieving feeling. Again, the performances from Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke take me away, evoking nostalgic feelings as they stroll through the contemporary Parisian streets. There is no regret in me for buying the Criterion blu-ray boxset for this trilogy. Before Midnight (2013) - 10/10 Here, Linklater cements this trilogy as one of the best in film history. It’s certainly not the ending I expected, yet it’s an ending I appreciate endlessly. Because it doesn’t really end. Midnight shows the troubling times of a strained relationship; one that has endured so long and despite initially feeling almost dreamlike in how idealistically that first encounter was portrayed, the cracks appear as the film forces you to come to terms with the fact that fairy-tale romances just don’t exist. Relationships require effort and sacrifice and sometimes the ones that truly work are those that endure through all the rough patches to emerge stronger. The Holy Mountain (1973) - 10/10 Jodorowsky’s masterpiece is absolute insanity. I talked more about it on The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - 10/10 Another watch for Grand Budapest because I bought the Criterion blu-ray. As unalterably perfect as ever. Blue Jay (2016) - 6/10 Rather good up to a point. My co-hosts and I did not agree on how good this movie was, which is a discussion you can listen to on my podcast. Shadow and Bone: The Afterparty (2021) - 3/10 For what it’s worth, I really enjoyed the first season of Shadow and Bone, which is why I wanted to see what ‘The Afterparty’ was about. This could have been a lot better and much less annoying if all those terrible comedians weren’t hosting and telling bad jokes. I don’t want to see Fortune Feimster attempt to tell a joke about oiling her body as the cast of the show sit awkwardly in their homes over Zoom. If it had simply been a half hour, 45 minute chat with the cast and crew about how they made the show and their thoughts on it, a lot of embarrassment and time-wasting could have been spared. Wadjda (2012) - 6/10 Another recommendation discussed at length on The Sunday Movie Marathon. Wadjda was pretty interesting from a cultural perspective but largely familiar in terms of story structure.

Freddy Got Fingered (2001) - 2/10 A truly terrible movie with maybe one or two scenes that stop it from being a complete catastrophe. Tom Green tried to create something that almost holds a middle finger to everyone who watches it and to some that could be a fun experience, but to me it just came across as utterly irritating. It’s simply a bunch of scenes threaded together with an incredibly loose plot. He wears the skin of a dead deer, smacks a disabled woman over and over again on the legs to turn her on, and he swings a newborn baby around a hospital room by its umbilical cord (that part was actually pretty funny). I cannot believe I watched this again, although I think I repressed a lot of it since having seen it for the first time around five years ago. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - (2011) I have to say, these movies seem to get better with each instalment. They’re still not very good though. That being said, I’m amazed at how many times I’ve watched each of the Twilight movies at this point. This time around, I watched Breaking Dawn - Part 1 with a YMS commentary track on YouTube and that made the experience a lot more entertaining. Otherwise, this film is super dumb but pretty entertaining. I would recommend watching these movies with friends. Solaris (1972) - 8/10 Andrei Tarkovsky’s grand sci-fi epic about the emotional crises of a crew on the space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris is much as strange and creepy as you might expect from the master Russian auter. I had wanted to watch this for a while so I bought the Criterion blu-ray and it’s just stunning. It’s clear to see the 2001: A Space Odyssey inspiration but Solaris is quite a different beast entirely. Jaws (1975) - 4/10 I really tried to get into this classic movie, but Jaws exhibits basically everything I don’t like about Steven Spielberg’s directing. For sure, the effects are crazily good but the story itself is poorly handled and largely uninteresting. It was just a massive slog to get through.

Darkman (1990) - 6/10 Sam Raimi’s superhero movie is so much fun, albeit massively stupid. Further discussion on Darkman can be found on episode 32 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast. Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995) - 1/10 Abysmal. I forgot the movie as I watched it. This was part of a marathon my friends and I did for episode 32 of our podcast. Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996) - 1/10 Perhaps this trilogy is not so great after all. Only marginally better than Darkman II but still pretty terrible. More thoughts on episode 32 of my podcast. F For Fake (1973) - 8/10 Rewatching this proved to be a worthwhile decision. Albeit slightly boring, there’s no denying how crazy the story of this documentary about art forgers is. The standout however, is the director himself. Orson Welles makes a lot of this film about himself and how hot his girlfriend is and it is hilarious.

The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021) - 4/10 More style over substance, Sony’s new animated adventure wants so much to be in trend with the current internet culture but it simply doesn’t understand what it’s emulating. There’s a nyan cat reference, for crying out loud. For every joke that works, there are about ten more that do not and were it not for the wonderful animation, it simply wouldn’t be getting so much praise. Taxi Driver (1976) - 10/10 The first movie I’ve seen in a cinema since 2020 and damn it was good to be back! I’ve already reviewed Taxi Driver in my March wrap-up but seeing it in the cinema was a real treat. Irreversible (2002) - 8/10 One of the most viscerally horrendous experiences I’ve ever had while watching a movie. I cannot believe a friend of mine gave me the DVD to watch. More thoughts on episode 32 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast. Don’t watch it with the family. The Golden Compass (2007) - 1/10 I had no recollection of this being as bad as it is. The Golden Compass is the definition of a factory mandated movie. Nothing it does on its own is worth any kind of merit. I would say, if you wanted an experience like what this tries to communicate, a better option by far is the BBC series, His Dark Materials. More of my thoughts can be found in the review I wrote on Letterboxd.

Antichrist (2009) - 8/10 Lars von Trier is nothing if not provocative and I can understand why someone would not like Antichrist, but I enjoyed it quite a lot. After watching it, I wrote a slightly disjointed summary of my interpretations of this highly metaphorical movie in the group chat, so fair warning for a bit of spoilers and graphic descriptions: It's like, the patriarchy, man! Oppression! Men are the rational thinkers with big brains and the women just cry and be emotional. So she's seen as crazy when she's smashing his cock and driving a drill through his leg to keep him weighted down. Like, how does he like it, ya know? So then she mutilates herself like she did with him and now they're both wounded, but the animals crowd around her (and the crow that he couldn't kill because it's Mother nature, not Father nature, duh). Then he kills her, even though she could've killed him loads of times but didn't. So it's like "haha big win for the man who was subjected to such horrific torture. Victory!" And then all the women with no faces come out of the woods because it's like a constant cycle. Manchester By The Sea (2016) - 6/10 Great performances in this super sad movie. I can’t say I got too much out of it though. Roar (1981) - 9/10 Watching Roar again was still as terrifying an experience as the first time. If you want to watch something that’s loose on plot with poor acting but with real big cats getting in the way of production and physically attacking people, look no further. This is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen because it’s all basically real. Cannot recommend it enough. Eyes Without A Face (1960) - 8/10 I’m glad I checked this old French movie out again. There’s a lot to marvel at in so many aspects, what with the premise itself - a mad surgeon taking the faces from unsuspecting women and transplanting them onto another - being incredibly unique for the time. Short, sweet and entertaining!

Se7en (1995) - 10/10 The first in a David Fincher marathon we did for The Sunday Movie Marathon, episode 33. Zodiac (2007) - 10/10 Second in the marathon, as it was getting late, we decided to watch half that evening and the last half on the following evening. Zodiac is a brilliant movie and you can hear more of my thoughts on the podcast (though I apologise; my audio is not the best in this episode). Gone Girl (2014) - 10/10 My favourite Fincher movie. More insights into this masterpiece in episode 33 of the podcast. Friends: The Reunion (2021) - 6/10 It was heartwarming to see the old actors for this great show together again. I talked about the Friends reunion film at length in episode 33 of my podcast.

Wolfwalkers (2020) - 10/10 I reviewed this in an earlier post but would like to reiterate just how wonderful Wolfwalkers is. If you get the chance, please see it in the cinema. I couldn’t stop crying from how beautiful it was. Raya and The Last Dragon (2021) - 6/10 After watching Wolfwalkers, I decided I didn’t want to go home. So I had lunch in town and booked a ticket for Disney’s Raya and The Last Dragon. A child was coughing directly behind me the entire time. Again, I reviewed this in an earlier post but generally it was decent but I have so many problems with the execution. The Princess Bride (1987) - 9/10 Clearly I underrated this the last time I watched it. The Princess Bride is warm and hilarious with some delightfully memorable characters. A real classic!

The Invisible Kid (1988) - 1/10 About as good as you’d expect a movie with that name to be, The Invisible Kid was a pick for The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast, the discussion for which you can listen to in episode 34. Babel (2006) - 9/10 The same night that I watched The Invisible Kid, I watched a masterful and dour drama from the director of Birdman and The Revenant. Babel calls back to an earlier movie of Iñárritu’s, called Amores Perros and as I was informed while we watched this for the podcast, it turns out Babel is part of a trilogy alongside the aforementioned film. More thoughts in episode 34 of the podcast. Snake Eyes (1998) - 1/10 After feeling thoroughly emotionally wiped out after Babel, we immediately watched another recommendation for the podcast: Snake Eyes, starring Nicolas Cage. This was a truly underwhelming experience and for more of a breakdown into what makes this movie so bad, you can listen to us talk about it on the podcast.

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lonnieontherun · 2 years

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supernatural discourse asks (snagged from here: source)

1) Is John misunderstood or a villain? Well he’s not a villain. I’ve mostly been 50/50 about him. Not a big fan, but I don’t hate him either. I think he did wrong in how he raised his kids and how he treated them not to mention the writers were so contradicting in their writing of him. So I get why some fans hate him and say he abused Sam and Dean, but I also get why some say he didn’t. So I’m like ?? He was a man put in an inhuman situation.

2) Overall worst season? Huh Season 10 probably. Man was that MOC dragged on for far too long. If they had done it kinda like soulless Sam - half a season instead of a season and a half then maaaybe it’d be better. But what we got was cr*p and didn’t help Dean’s character for me at all. Season 12 and 13 were pretty bad too I don’t even remember them. In fact they were so bad I didn’t bother finishing the show and the last two seasons. It didn’t feel like Supernatural anymore.

Back when I first joined the show right before season 3 aired up to the end of season 7, I hated s4. It’s an interesting plot and storylines and all that, but it was a rough time being a Sam fan. I loved the powers storyline, but yeah it was nasty overall. Never enjoyed the angels being added. First half of season 8 was pretty bad too.

3) Are Sam and Dean good people? I’d say yeah, but obviously good people having done a lot of awful things. But also so much bad has been done to them you can’t really blame them for being messed up?

4) Meg!Sam or Lucifer!Sam? Oh Lucifer Sam no question.

5) Was the treatment of Cas genuinely homophobic? No? He was an angel, genderless.

6) Most compelling dynamic (outside of the brothers)? Sam and Lucifer. Now they went overboard with Lucifer in the later seasons and frankly when he’s not interacting with Sam he’s losing a lot of... well, everything. Not really Mark Pellegrino’s fault, but terrible writing. But I even love Hallucifer. While I agree he was a bit too comedic, some was also very dark humor.

7) Amelia or Lisa? Lisa. While I don’t really care for either one Amelia was basically Lisa 2.0 just unlikable and annoying. I hated that whole storyline even though I agree Sam should be able to want his own normal life. Season 8 could have been handled way differently and connect better with Sam’s mental issues in season 7 rather than pulling that nasty trick on him. I hate it. Lisa was at least - to me - likeable and to a degree quite supportive of Dean and his hunting life for a while. By the time she had enough I couldn’t really blame her? Her storyline just was so boring to me though.

8) How should the afterlife have been “resolved”? Did the fixing of Heaven work? I honestly loved the design of Heaven/afterlife in “The Dark Side of the Moon”. It was beautiful with the magic sky and locations and memories. What little we got of Heaven in the series finale is basically Earth 2.0, but then again we only see oh so little. I don’t really know.

9) Best season finale? Hmm well i’d go with season 6 finale - The Man Who Knew Too Much. Yes it’s a Sam focused episode so of course I’d love that. It was interesting getting to go inside Sam’s mind and set us up for a real good storyline in Season 7 - that they really let us down on :/ Though like most people i’d say Season 5′s Swan Song is a close second along with Season 8′s Sacrefice.

10) What are your thoughts on Dean and Cas’s dynamic/its resolution? I have always found their scenes and interactions so boring from day one. I can’t help it. They were such a snooze fest for me even in season 4 when Cas was still a better, interesting character despite not being a fan of him. Their resolution was simple shipping fanservice and completely did injustice to Cas as a character too (even I say that despite thinking he should have stayed dead in season 7 before his character was completely destroyed).

11) Should the show have ended happily? While I’m 50/50 about the finale I’m fine with it. It was cheesy and I hated that they killed off one brother. After 15 seasons both brothers deserved to live. That being said I did love them for making it a brother focused episode and at least they did reunite in Heaven. So it’s a bittersweet ending, but it should have been a happier one I think with a little less cheese and without that awful cover of Kansas’ song.

12) Favorite season of Sam? It’s between season 2, 5 and 6. Only reason 7 isn’t on here is because they totally failed his mental illness storyline. What we got was good, but not enough and way too easily resolved. The three other mentioned seasons though are my favorite overall. I loved the special children and hated that it was cut short. I loved the Apocalypse storyline despite Sam (again) getting the blame for everything and season 6 oh man soulles Sam my beloved.

13) Leather jacket or Mary’s ring? Lol I don’t even remember Mary’s ring? And I usually don’t like leather jackets, not even Dean’s so neither?

14) Thoughts on: the Harvelles. I loved them. One of the main issues with this show is their need to kill every side character which is just pointless. They could have just left them out for a few seasons instead of killing them. I loved when there were other hunters involved in the storylines - preferably not to be enemies to Sam though lol.

15) Was reviving Mary the right choice? No. Such a true sign of the writers running out of ideas. I didn’t hate Mary, but ew. The whole season for forgettable and cringy.

16) Was Lebanon a good episode? It was so odd? Again I haven’t watched seasons 14 and 15 fully, just selected episodes, this being one of them. I liked it, but it still didn’t feel like Supernatural anymore which is why I stopped watching after s13. But it was a cute episode and I liked it, but it’s not the best.

17) Favorite villain? Lucifer.

18) When did Supernatural start declining in quality? (If it did?) Season 7 I guess? While I enjoyed plenty of episodes following - the last half of season 8 is great and season 11 for the most was good for a while too. But the quality of seasons overall went out the window with s7 I guess. I just had it when they healed Sam’s mental issues so easily. Instead of making it a part of Sam being alone at the start of s8 they just made him so ooc it p*ssed me off.

19) Do people have a responsibility to critique the show they watch? They have the opinion to do so and responsibility to not make up s*it as they go by calling it something it wasn’t just because you’re too deep into a fictional non-canon ship. Critique the fandom is important too though because SPN’s in particular is a sickness.

#long post #unpopular opinion #supernatural

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papermoonloveslucy · 3 years

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REMINISCING

August 14, 1977

By Frank Swertlow, Chicago Daily News

BEVERLY HILLS - During the first years of television, Ed Wynn, the radio and stage comic, was trying to break into television with a half-hour comedy on CBS. (1)

One night, he invited a couple of second echelon performers to make an appearance: a comedienne, known as "Technicolor Tessie" for her blazing red hair, and a song-and-dance man, best remembered for hollering "babalu."

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were the couple, and they, like Wynn, were sampling the waters of the new medium. CBS had asked Miss Ball and her conga-drum pounding husband to develop a comedy show for television. Later, after months of thought and testing their ideas on the vaudeville circuit, the couple came up with "I Love Lucy," the misadventures of Lucy and Ricky Riccardo. (2)

It made its debut on CBS in October 1951. More than a quarter of a century afterwards, "I Love Lucy" easily can vie for the honor of television's most successful show. It was the archtype [sp] domestic comedy, the bumbling husband and his daffy wife. It gave birth to two other Lucy shows, a host of specials and a giant production company, Desilu.

"We spent months thinking about what we should do," Miss Ball recalled. "We didn't want to be the average Hollywood couple. Nobody would think you had any problems if you had a car and swimming pool and a nice house.

"Ultimately, we wanted a show in which people could identify with us. Everybody could understand what it was like to struggle for a buck. I was an ordinary, everyday, middle class housewife. I wore the same dress often. My husband worked and tolerated my mistakes. It was something that everyone could identify with."

With the debut of the TV series, Lucille Ball, the former Goldwyn girl who started her film career in the 1930s, had a new career.

"I never expected the show to go more than a year," said Miss Ball. "I wanted to do the show on film so I could use them as home movies. Who knew about television then? It was a no-no to do TV work. The movie studios were against it."

To Miss Ball, who was not a new face to the public, the impact of her show was incredible. "We went to New York on a trip once and we were unprepared for what happened. People rushed up and wanted to touch you. They knew you, and called you by your first name. I had been in pictures for years, and most of the time I was never identified."

If the movers and shakers of the film industry who gave Miss Ball her start during the 1930s were alive, they would have been shocked. To them, simply and kindly, Lucille Ball was a B-movie queen, one of the many second-line actresses who never attained star billing, but who was an important ingredient to the motion picture industry.

Unlike many performers who labored under the cruel studio system, Miss Ball fondly remembered her early years in Hollywood. "It was nice to be under the umbrella of a studio. You always had a poppa. I loved it. I loved being part of the business. I would have swept floors just to be in it."

Miss Ball, however, did not forget the tactics of the brutal and disgusting lords of movieland. Harry "King" Cohn, the ruler of Columbia Pictures, stood out. "He made the biggest dent in everybody. He was ruthless. He always had to take a devious route." (3)

Miss Ball, who is not exactly a pushover, laughingly recalled the time she outwitted the sly Cohn.

Miss Ball had received an offer to work in a Cecil B. DeMille film, but Cohn refused to loan her to the producer. He was being mean. Then, Cohn decided to drop her contract. To do it, he sent the actress a horrible script something that the trade called a lease breaker. "Oh, everybody was dying to play opposite John Agar and Raymond Burr," she recalled jokingly. "I was going to be a harum [sp] girl." Naturally, Cohn expected her to refuse and it would be the end of her contract. (4)

The savvy Miss Ball decided to do the film and collect her check. When she made this announcement there was an uproar. She coyly told her bosses: "Oh, I want to do the film. It's a wonderful film."

Meanwhile, Miss Ball, who had been trying to get pregnant for years, found out she was going to have a baby. Now, she was in trouble. If Cohn found out, he would break her contract. "I only told my mother and my husband I was pregnant."

Keeping her lips sealed, she went ahead with Cohn's film. "The wardrobe girl kept looking at me in my harum [sp] girl costume and saying, 'What's wrong with you, you are getting so big.' "So, I told her, 'Don't worry, I ate a big meal last night. Just put a little more taffeta on my dress.' Well, I finished the film and I collected my $85,000."

"Then I had to go to Mr. DeMille and tell him I couldn't do his film. I was pregnant. 'What,' he said. And I replied. 'I'm going to have a baby. 'Get rid of it,' he said. And he was serious.' She declined. (5)

While Miss Ball's career as a TV star is secure (she still has a contract with CBS) (6) she is not so certain about the state of the industry. Today, unlike when she started on the air, shows are yanked off the screen within a couple of weeks. This, she said, destroys performers.

"If a show is canceled, the actor takes the blame. He or she suffers for it. They suffer inside. The rejection - they failed. (7)

"I would fail. You can't protect yourself. It's out of your hands. It's always Lucy failed or Rhoda failed or Farrah Sauset Fawcett Sauset, whatever her name is, failed. It's rough." (8)

Even so, Lucille Ball, the red-haired girl from Jamestown, N.Y., would still be on top.

# # #

FOOTNOTES FROM THE FUTURE

(1) Ed Wynn (1886-1966) was a vaudevillian who hosted “The Ed Wynn Show” on television from 1949 to 1950. Lucy and Desi guest-starred on the show.

(2) ‘Riccardo’ is probably a misspelling of ‘Ricardo’, but it was also the way their surname was spelled on “I Love Lucy” in early episodes!

(3) Harry Cohn (1891-1958) was a much-despised executive at Columbia Studios. Lucille Ball once facetiously told Louella Parsons that she liked Harry Cohn too much to ever sign a contract with him. What Lucille meant is that Cohn had a reputation for being difficult. Despite that fact, a casting draught forced her to sign with Columbia in 1949.

(4) Lucille Ball had often complained to Cohn about the quality of the pictures she had been doing at Columbia. At the time The Magic Carpet was made, Ball was only obligated to Columbia for one more film, and Cohn had producer Sam Katzman, who turned out most of Columbia's low-budget "B" pictures, concoct a cheap Arabian Nights fantasy as a punishment to Ball for her constantly challenging him. More salacious writers insist that Cohn’s frustration with Ball was due to the fact that she would not submit to him sexually.

(5) The DeMille film in question was The Greatest Show on Earth, a movie set at the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus. Lucille was set to play the elephant trainer, a role that went to Gloria Graham. It was a film Lucille really wanted to do - but she wanted a baby more. Later in life, Desilu created a TV version of the film. Lucille also guest-starred as the ringmaster on “Circus of the Stars II” in which Lucie Arnaz was featured as.... the elephant trainer!

(6) Lucille Ball had started working at CBS on radio and was considered their premiere star. In 1980, after her television shows had ended, she signed with NBC, a partnership that yielded very little except that Ball was obliged to appear on Bob Hope’s many specials, something she frequently did anyway. Both CBS and NBC declined her final series “Life With Lucy” which producer Aaron Spelling finally convinced ABC to air.

(7) Although this article was written ten years before “Life With Lucy”, Lucille could very well be describing her own devastation when the series was cancelled even before all the initial episodes aired. She was widely criticized and the series often turned up on “worst show” lists.

(8) Rhoda refers to a character on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” that was played by Valerie Harper, a performer that appeared on Broadway with Lucille. In 1974, the character was spun off into its own eponymous sitcom which aired for four seasons.

Farrah Fawcett-Majors was a beautiful blonde actress and poster girl that burst onto the TV scene in the mid-1970s. A year after this interview, she was in the hit series “Charlie’s Angels” entering American iconography for her feathered hair and curvaceous figure the same way Betty Grable had in the 1940s.

#Lucille Ball #Valerie Harper #Harry Cohn #Farrah Fawcett #The Greatest Show on Earth #Life With Lucy #Cecil B. DeMille #The Magic Carpet #Lucie Arnaz #Gloria Graham #Desi Arnaz #Ed Wynn #1977 #Frank Swertlow

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magicrowiswritingstuff · 4 years

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Part 2: “Dead Trickster” – Gabriel x female!reader

Part 1 | Part 2 (you’re here!) | Part 3 | ...

Summary: This is the second part of “Dead Trickster”! So it ties into its story line which now takes place roughly during Season 2/3. The Reader is sure that the trickster couldn’t have been defeated so easily. Even though nobody believes you, you decide to keep an eye out just in case. It seems for a good reason when strange occurrences start to happen around you.

Warning: swear words, violence/fighting mentioned, slight suggestive themes (if any)

Category: general rating

Words: about 4.000

Note: I’m so sorry for not posting anything and my general inactivity. I’m having a very rough time and trouble concentrating on writing. 2020 is an absolute shit year and I feel like I’m constantly having a mental break down for the last couple of days. Fun :) On a brighter note, I finally managed to finish this chapter and the third is already in the works. Let’s pray I can get my shit together.

Note 2: Also! We almost hit 100 Follower ... I really can’t believe this. Thank you all so much for enjoying the little pieces I managed to post. Now I feel even more bad for not being that active ... Should I do something if we hit the milestone? I feel like not many people are activly responding to my writing so I’m asking directly: Is there something you want me to write? Something I can focus on to stop my thoughts? Just let me know ...

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Part 2 “Dead Trickster” – Gabriel x fem!reader

It has been many months now, maybe about half a year, after Dean had killed the trickster in that school and even though you had been so sure about it then, you slowly doubted if he really was still alive. Nothing out of the ordinary happened since then. Maybe he really did die that day. Or he was really good at laying low. You had stopped actively looking for any signs and just concentrated on the current hunts with Sam and Dean because you noticed you would get very grumpy after staying awake nights on end, trying to find any signs that weren’t there.

At the moment you were stuck in some small town in another motel room with Sam and Dean sharing the one next to yours. Apparently, there was a ghost in town that forced people to kill themselves just like the ghost had. You had stayed behind in your room researching the towns history, trying to figure out who the ghost might be while Sam and Dean had drove to the latest killing scene. You weren’t really in the mood to leave the small room so you had volunteered to stay behind. You texted Dean the last bits of information before turning off your laptop, setting it down on the coffee table and walking to the small bathroom. You refreshed your face with cold water, it was too damn warm in this town. You had bought some ice cream -another reason why you stayed behind today, you wanted to eat it without worrying Dean would steal it- and you were more than looking forward to it. But when you opened the small fridge you found nothing but the empty packaging there. Furrowing your brows, you froze. “What the hell” you whispered, grabbed the packaging and threw it in the trash. So much for your ice cream. Had Dean found it after all? But how?

Your phone rang before you could think more about it. You looked at the name on the display. “Perfect timing” you laughed and accepted the call. “Hey, (Y/N). Quick question: Are you sure-“ Dean started but got interrupted by you. “Dean, did you eat my ice cream?” you asked and sat down on the small couch. “What?” Dean sounded genuinely confused. “The ice cream I hid in the motel fridge?” you pressed. “You had ice cream? And you were hiding it from me?!” So, it wasn’t Dean then. “Dean, give me Sam” you demanded, interrupting his playfully offended speech. “Alright, but I’ll remember this, (Y/N). I won’t ever share my fries with you again, this is treason.” You chuckled: “Yeah, yeah. I’ll remind you when I’m stealing them again.”

Then the line went silent for a few seconds before you could hear Sam’s confused voice. “(Y/N), what’s the matter?” “Did you eat my ice cream?” you came straight to the point. “Ehm, no. What ice cream?” Sam also sounded genuine. How could it not be one of them? You paused. How could anyone steal your ice cream when the only time you left your room since you bought them was when you had gone to the bathroom just now? Sweet-tooth … “Never mind” you slowly said and absentmindedly stood up from the small sofa. You rotated around your own axis, inspecting the whole motel room. “Call me if you need me there” you canceled the phone call after that, completely forgetting that Dean had called to ask you a question (but he seemed to have forgotten it too) and put your phone into your pocket. Just when you thought you would never find any prove …

“I know it was you, trickster” you spoke into the empty room, feeling only the slightest bit silly because of it. Tricksters were sweet-tooths and how should have anyone else stole your sweet snack right under your nose when you had been in the room all day. “I knew you weren’t dead” you said, not able to suppress the smirk stretching your lips slightly. You waited a few moments but nothing moved, no one spoke up. But you knew it was the only plausible option. And even if you wouldn’t catch him now, he would show up again. He was a trickster after all and he wanted to play. You just had to wait.

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“So, where exactly is the supposed vampire nest? Not just in the middle of this town, right?” you asked Dean. He had got a phone call from a hunter earlier that day who had told him that a new vampire nest had settled down somewhere here. The older Winchester shook his head. “No, it’s in a barn a few miles from this city” he explained and left the car without another word. You looked at Sam who only shrugged his shoulders and also got up to follow his brother. You sighed, grabbed your backpack and were about to leave the car as well when you felt the ghost of a hand on your shoulder. Flinching you spun around. But there was no one there since you were in the backseat. Furrowing your brows, you hastily jumped out of the car, trying to shake your paranoia off. You were here for a vampire nest and not a ghost hunt. You must still be a little spooked by the last one. You had seen many ghosts in your hunter life but that one had been the most terrifying looking yet. You shook your head, trying to get rid of the images. “Why are we here then? And not searching for the barn?” you asked after you had closed the car door behind you, jogging after Sam and Dean. “I need something to eat” Dean explained. You laughed when you caught up with them. “I should have guessed.”

The three of you walked into the dinner Dean had been eyeing all the time. The establishment was rather full but luckily someone left his seat just when you were standing in the door. They brushed past you which made you look up at them, meeting their golden gaze. You froze, letting the small backpack fall from your hands and to the ground. Your eyes followed the sound and when you looked up … he was gone. You looked around but he was nowhere to be seen and the door leading outside was untouched, still closed and no bell sound signaling that someone had just left. But you hadn’t imagined this. No, it had been him. You were sure. You remembered those eyes. “(Y/N)?” You tore your gaze away from the windows and turned to face Sam who gestured you to sit down beside him. You grabbed your bag and forced your feet to move. “Please tell me you saw him” you begged when you had sat down and suppressed the shivers of your body by tensing up. “Who?” Dean asked, looking up from the menu he had snatched from Sam. “The trickster!” you whisper-shouted. Sam and Dean shared one glance before looking at you again. “I saw him, I swear. He just left!” “I think you’re still spooked by the last hunt. There weren’t any alien sightings for months now, (Y/N)” Dean chuckled, putting the menu back on the table. You threw him an angry glance. “No!” you huffed. “I know what I saw. I told you that he wasn’t dead!” “Order some food and relax, (Y/N)” the older Winchester pushed the menu out of Sam’s reach and over to you. “You’ve been on edge ever since we left that school.” You rolled your eyes, shoving the menu to Sam and put your head on your palm, looking out of the window. You opened your mouth, about to give Dean a piece of your mind when you paused. A wide grin flashed threw a crowd of people, honey colored eyes starring right at you and the only thing you were able to do was to stare right back with your mouth wide open. A few people walked by the window and when they were gone the brown-haired trickster had vanished once more. Pressing your lips into a thin line you moved away from the window, muttering angrily under your breath. “Bullshit.”

“Not so happy to see me? I thought you were keeping an eye out for me.”

You flinched, looking over your left shoulder but the only one near enough who could have said something was the waitress walking to your table. But that hadn’t been her voice, you knew that cheerful tone that had whispered in your ear. When you glanced at Sam and Dean, they seemed unbothered. They hadn’t heard a thing. Oh, so that was how he wanted to play? Making you lose your mind trying to convince Sam and Dean about his presence when they weren’t able to see and hear him. You bit your tongue. “Fuck you” you whispered under your breath. “What?” You turned around to face Sam and waved him off. “Nothing. Just tired.”

The vampire nest had been dealt with the next day. They hadn’t begun turning the people yet, so it was rather easy to get rid of them all. Now you were back on the backseat of Dean’s car with your arms crossed before your chest and looking bored out of the window. The three of you had been on the road for about three days again. “Found anything interesting yet?” you asked Sam and leaned forward, putting your arms on the back of his seat. He slightly turned around in his seat. “Not yet, but you can help me if you want?” You eagerly nodded, anything to keep your mind occupied. You grabbed the newspaper Sam had bought at a gas station and was now handing to you. You leaned back in your seat again.

“What about these three deaths? Only a few days apart and all in the same part of a town” you suggested but Sam shook his head. “Already checked that one. They all died differently. No ghostly activity anywhere near there, no vampire nests or werewolf packs. No witchcraft or anything else” Sam threw the papers he had been reading on the floor and grabbed another newspaper. “Just ordinary deaths.” You sighed and got back to reading. Nothing really caught your attention so you just read an article to not get bored again. You don’t even know what it was really about, only paying half attention to the words on the paper. That was until one sentence suddenly stopped. Wait, hadn’t there been an article on that page? You blinked. The whole side was white. You turned over a page and then another and another. The whole newspaper was white and empty now. Except for one sentence. “Having fun yet?”

Your mouth fell open and you let the papers fall to the ground. You didn’t even notice that you were mumbling something until Sam turned around in his seat to face you with one eyebrow raised in question. “Did you find something?” You looked up from the newspapers whose pages were now covered by that one sentence. Shaking your head, you swallowed hard. “No-o” you cleared your throat. “Nothing unusual.” The younger Winchester only nodded and turned back around. Your eyes wandered almost automatically back to the papers on the car floor.

“Having fun yet? Having fun yet? Having fun yet? Having fun yet? Having fun yet? Havin-“ The words seemed to blur in your mind, hugging your knees to your chest you sticked out your tongue.

“Oh, I’m starting to have fun, sugar.”

You flinched, looking over your shoulder but just like the last time there was no one there. Maybe you shouldn’t have challenged him so openly.

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You weren’t having fun. Not at all.

The next prank he played on you made you shiver only looking back at it. For a good week almost every water bottle you opened would have a surprise for you. The most frequent was salt water but not limited to it.

The first time it happened you opened one and took a big sip (you had been running around all night because of a hunt) you immediately spit everything out, coughing for five minutes, leaving behind a huge mess in the impala. Dean had stepped on the breaks in an instant. With terrified faces, thinking the witch they had just killed had cursed you, they turned around to look at you. “It’s salt water!” you shrieked still coughing and handed Dean the bottle. He looked at it confused but took a sip. His eyes immediately darkened. “It’s regular, old water, (Y/N).” You shook your head in disbelieve and snatched the bottle back, warily taking another small sip. Your eyes widen in horror and confusion. “Tha-that’s not possible” you shook your head. “It was salty only seconds ago, I swear!” But Dean was right, it tasted like regular water again. The older Winchester looked at the water on the backseats and sprinkled on the front window and console before turning his gaze back to you. The death glare Dean had shot you made you shrink down in your seat (he made you thoroughly clean Baby the next day). Furious you looked at the bottle, while Dean sped up again, cursing the trickster under your breath until you saw something strange written on the label. “You’re the salt to my sugar, honey.” You cringed, opened the car window next to you and threw the bottle out while Baby was driving on full speed down the empty highway. You ignored the irritated glances from Sam and Dean.

This prank repeated over and over again though. Sometimes it was salt water, other times it was the most disgusting liquid you didn’t even dare to describe because you didn’t want to think about what might have been in it. Rarely it was normal water. You thought you were going insane because whenever you made the Winchesters try it, the water was completely normal again. You grew more frustrated the more it happened. On top of that the golden-eyed trickster had the audacity to show his face to you on more than one occasion. You could always see only a glint of him whenever you were in a town. Sometimes he even brushed past you but whenever you would turn around, he was already gone. And Sam and Dean were still unable to see him. It annoyed your greatly. You cursed yourself for calling him out for his illusion back in that school. Why hadn’t you just shut your mouth and waited for something to happen in silence? You could have kept an eye out for him without announcing it to him but oh no, you just had to make it obvious.

“Oh, I’m starting to have fun, sugar.”

You groaned. His words still echoing in your mind after weeks of pranks and annoyances. You weren’t having fun. You could barely concentrate on the hunts you were on anymore. Just like the one you were on now. Sam had gone into a library, searching for information about the old alleged haunted house of the city, while Dean and you questioned three teenagers who were the last ones to step a foot into the house. “I swear I saw something take Beth down the stairs!” a blond boy said, looking at his friends for reassurance. A dark-haired girl nodded: “I saw it, too.”

“What exactly did you see? A man?” you asked, still playing your FBI role. “A ghost!” the boy yelped. “A … ghost?” you slowly asked and looked at Dean knowingly. Normally you couldn’t really trust confessions about a ghost-sighting because there was always the change that it was just a shadow or their imagination filling up the gaps but since a girl had vanished two days ago after going into the house with her friends you had to believe them just for her sake. “Yes! Please, you have to believe me” the boy begged. “I saw it drag her down the stairs to the basement but-“ “But when we went down to look for her there was nothing in there” a dark-haired boy interrupted. “The room was empty!” “So, where exactly is that ‘haunted’ house?” Dean asked, sounding unconvinced by their statements. The girl of the group stood up from the bench she was sitting on and pointed down a street branching off from the market place you were at, at the moment. “Down there, the very last house.” You nodded and smiled sympathetically. “Thank you, when you remember anything else just call me, alright?” You handed them your number and then turned to Dean who was already walking back to his car with his phone in his hand, probably calling Sam. You were following him, passing through a crowd of people when you heard the voice again. “They can get your number, so what about me, sugar?”

You spun around to see chestnut-colored hair vanishing around the corner of a house. Without thinking you took one step in that direction but were stopped by a hand on your shoulder. You turned to face Dean. “What are you doing? We have to get to the haunted house.” You freed yourself from Dean’s light grip and nodded. “I just-“ you looked back at the corner the trickster vanished behind. He was probably long gone already. Sighing you turned and walked past Dean and to the car. “Never mind, let’s go. We need to get to the girl.”

You and Dean managed to distract the ghost while Sam dug up its body in the house’s backyard (the ghost was already so old that when the person had died his relatives just buried him there). Or rather, Dean fought against the ghost while you searched for the entrance to a secret room in the basement Sam had read about in the library. If the girl was still alive, she should be in there. However, searching for it in the darkness of the basement -the lights were broken down there and the ghost had flung you around the room and you must have lost your flashlight at some point- was hard. You let out a frustrated growl as you paused and held your head between your hands. “Where is the most plausible place to hid the entrance?”

“Need some help, sugar?”

You jumped away from the voice with a yelp, hitting the shelve to your right with your hip. A pained groan left your lips as you bend over, rubbing the sore spot that would definitely bruise. When you looked up you met the honey-colored eyes of the trickster, illuminated by your flashlight he held in his hand. “What are you doing here?” you asked confused, completely forgetting your frustrations with him. “Giving you a hint” the trickster said and walked past you to the desk that was standing next to the shelve you had hit. Taking a step back you tried to get more distance between you and him. “Why?” In the small light of your flashlight you saw the trickster roll his eyes and mutter something under his breath. “Because Dean is lying unconscious on the floor upstairs, Sam isn’t done playing ‘Where’s the pirate’s treasure?’ with a dead body and the ghost will be here soon to get his next play buddy.” “Who?” you asked, eyeing the trickster suspiciously. The brown-haired man turned around to face you. “You of course, stupid!” Your eyes widen and your cheeks grew hot as you crossed your arms before your chest. Just when you were about to give him a piece of your mind you heard the door to the basement open and the heavy steps of the ghost. “Shit” you mumbled and locked eyes with the trickster. “What now?” The trickster grinned at you and snapped his fingers, making the table move away from the wall and revealing a secret wooden door, barley large enough for you to kneel down and crawl through. There was no one there once again when you turned to look for the trickster, only your flashlight was lying on the floor. But you had no time left to curse him now, so you just grabbed your light and pried the door open, crawling through. On the other side you saw the girl sitting on a chair, her body slumped over on the table in front of her. You rushed to her and took her pulse, begging to not have arrived too late. There it was, faint but present. She was still alive. You let out the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding and heaved the girl from the chair. You had to get her out of here but how? Panicking you looked to the hidden door. The ghost would be here any second and there was no other exit. You looked around, trying to find a sign, a weapon or exit, anything. But the only thing your eyes found in the dim light was the trickster standing next to you. Biting your tongue, you tried to stifle the yelp that would have escaped you other ways. “Need a lift?” Before you could answer he grabbed your arm. And after a few blinks you realized that you were standing on the porch of the haunted house with the girl still in your arms and the trickster next to you. Furrowing your brows, you looked at him questioningly. But when you opened your mouth, he only winked at you and then disappeared. For a few seconds you just stared at the spot he had been standing on before shaking your head. You carried the girl to the car and laid her down on the back seat, taking her pulse once more to be sure that everything was still fine. Then you spun around and ran into the garden, helping Sam with the body.

Half an hour later you were standing in front of the city’s hospital, Sam and Dean beside you. You had burned the ghost and then drove there. The girl was immediately brought in for examinations but you were reassured that she was just very dehydrated and would be fine in a few days, at least physically. Now you stood there, leaning against the wall and just took a long, deep breath. “How did you get out of there with her?” Dean questioned after a while. You looked up at him and Sam, asking yourself if you should tell them the truth. But would they even believe you if you told them that the trickster had helped you? You didn’t even really believe it yourself and you were the only one knowing that he was still alive. “I dragged her up the stairs and laid her down in the car” you lied instead. Maybe you should get at the bottom of this first before you put the trickster back on Dean and Sam’s radar. “You didn’t run into the ghost?” the older brother pressed. You shook your head. “Nope, he must have been busy throwing you around” you joked, hoping it would lead to the questions being dropped. Why were you covering for the trickster? Why were you lying? You didn’t want Sam and Dean to get hurt because of you, you told yourself and nodded to reassure yourself. You had to figure out what his plan for you was before you might bring Sam and Dean in even more danger. You let your eyes wander over the street with a sigh only to catch a glimpse of chestnut-colored hair that disappeared immediately. You gulped and forced a smile on your lips as you shifted your attention back to the two brothers. “Let’s just go and find somewhere to sleep, alright?” You wanted to leave this city as fast as possible.

To be continued: Part 3 is here!

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#supernatural #supernatural gabriel #supernatural gabriel x reader #gabriel x reader #x reader #x reader image #supernatural image #supernatural dean #supernatural sam #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #female reader

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petrichoravellichor · 4 years

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The Dead Man Lives, Carry On

For Day 2 of the Supernatural Deserved Better Creative Challenge (prompt: Dean is bisexual)

Rating: T

Characters: Dean Winchester x 2, Sam Winchester, John Winchester, Jenny

Relationships: Dean Winchester & Dean Winchester (yes, you read that right), background implied Destiel

Summary: It’s one thing to tell yourself you’re bi. It’s a whole other thing to involve time travel. Then again, when has Dean Winchester ever done things the easy way? OR, the one in which a certain side character from season 1 gets dead a whole heck of a lot sooner. You’re welcome.

A/N: This is set near the end of 01x20, “Dead Man’s Blood,” immediately following the scene on the highway in which Dean, Sam, and John kill most of the vampires and a certain, apparently important one, manages to escape. (Well, initially, at least...)

(Read on Ao3)

********************

With the Colt recovered, most of the vamps dispatched, and the remaining two—Jenny and Kate, Dean remembered vaguely—having fled the scene, it was time to head back to the motel and catch some much-needed rest.

Sam left with John, the latter managing only a half-hearted protest as the former installed himself firmly in the driver’s seat of John’s truck and said they could fight about it later, because right now, John most likely had a concussion and was not fit to drive. John scowled, but, apparently realizing his only option was to drag Sam bodily from the vehicle, eventually sighed and stomped around to the passenger side. Dean watched with a bitten-back smirk as the truck’s tail lights faded into the distance, then slid into Baby’s driver seat and started the ignition.

It was rough between those two. It always had been, but they were talking, at least, and hey, that was a start. Food would probably help. Dean remembered a burger joint he’d seen a few miles up the road, and his stomach growled. Yeah, burgers sounded good. He’d swing by and grab them all some food, then double back to the motel. Easy-peasy.

Two minutes later, he was driving down the dark highway, bopping his hands on the steering wheel and singing along to a classic rock song, when all of a sudden, there was a man in the middle of the freaking road.

“SHIT!” Dean slammed on the breaks, heart leaping to his throat as Baby skidded to a halt not ten feet away from the man who, although he’d thrown his arms up in an apparent, instinctual attempt at self-defense, was still standing and thus unharmed.

Dean sank back against the seat, hands still white-knuckled around the steering wheel. Fuck, that had been close: he’d nearly killed the guy. He took a deep breath to steady himself, then undid his seatbelt and jumped out of the car. “Hey man, I’m sorry, I didn’t even...even see…” Dean trailed off, eyes widening as the other man lowered his arms and Dean realized what, or rather, who, he was looking at. “What the fuck?”

It...it was him. Dean. Well, him, Dean plus a decade or so, judging by the crow’s feet around the eyes, but still, him, Dean. Or at least, some kind of other Dean. Standing not ten feet in front of him. Armed with a machete that was dripping blood.

Instinctively, Dean leapt back and drew his gun, pointing it directly at the other Dean’s heart. “Don’t move!”

He half expected the other Dean to attack despite the order, charging forward like some kind of rabid drone, but...no. In fact, the other Dean didn’t look rabid at all; if anything, he looked...mildly annoyed?

Dean cocked his gun. “What are you?”

The other Dean sighed. “Ah, shit.” He closed his eyes and, with the hand not holding the machete, reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Okay, um...this is awkward. Not gonna lie, I was kinda hoping to avoid all this, but hey, so it goes, am I right?” He lowered his hand and flashed a sheepish grin. “So...yeah. Hi. Now then, why don’t you do us both a huge favor and just,” he waved the machete at Baby, “get back in the car, and we can forget you ever saw me.”

Dean snorted. “Yeah, not happening.” He gestured with his gun. “Drop the machete.”

“Dude, come on, I’m not gonna hurt you. Trust me, I have a vested interest in keeping you alive, so—”

BLAM! Dean’s warning shot hit the pavement a few feet away, causing the other him to jump back with a startled expletive. “I said drop it!”

“Fuck, fine, don’t get your freaking panties in a bunch, jeez!” He tossed the machete to the ground. “There. Happy?”

“Gettin’ there.” Keeping his aim steady, Dean crept over and kicked the machete to the side of the road, then turned his full attention back to the other him. “Okay, I’m gonna ask you again. What the hell are you? Some kinda shifter or something?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m you, dumbass.”

Dean scoffed. “Bullshit.”

“No, seriously, I’m actually you. Well, I mean, I was you, and now I’m me, but...yeah, I’m also you. You know.” He gestured irritably. “From the future.”

“From the…? The hell do you mean, from the future? What, like...like time travel or some shit?”

“Yep, pretty much.”

Dean scowled. “There’s no such thing!” he said, at which point the other him burst out laughing. “Hey, hey! Cut the crap, man, this ain’t a joke!”

“Ha, ah, sorry, you’re right, you’re right. Not a joke.” The other Dean held up his hands in a sign of surrender, smirking. “Just...do me-slash-us a favor and remember you said that, okay? Promise it’ll get funnier with time.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure it’ll be freaking hilarious,” Dean snapped. This whole situation was batshit insane, and if he actually let himself believe what the other him was saying, that’d make him certifiable. It...it was a trick, it had to be. Crap like this didn’t just...it wasn’t real, damn it, it couldn’t be! And yet…

And yet he and his brother had literally grown up hunting things that weren’t supposed to be real, damn it, so if there was even the slightest chance this wasn’t all completely crazy, then…

Dean swore loudly and lowered his gun, but only slightly. “Okay,” he said after a minute. He took a breath to steady himself and leveled the other him with a glare. “Let’s say I believe you...me...whatever. If you’re me from the future, what the hell are you doing here?”

The other Dean raised his brows. “Just tyin’ up a loose end.” He gestured at the side of the road, and for the first time, Dean noticed the skid marks disappearing into ruined underbrush. “Go ahead, see for yourself.”

Dean hesitated; then, carefully, he sidestepped over to the edge of the road and peered down into the brush.

Almost immediately, he recognized the getaway car the two surviving vampires, Jenny and Kate, had sped off in. It was about ten feet from the road, the front hood smashed against a giant pine, and through the broken-out back window, Dean could just make out the two now-headless torsos still strapped in the front seat. He turned back to the other him, stunned. “What the...”

“Yeah, you’re welcome.”

Dean chewed his tongue, adjusting his grip on the gun and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. This was...it didn’t make any sense. “What are you?” he asked again, although this time it wasn’t fear but something akin to wonder in his tone. “How did...are you...am I like, my own sort of guardian angel or something?”

The other him let out a low chuckle. “Believe me, man, we ain’t no angel, not by a long shot.” He smiled softly. “But I do have one to get back to. He’s probably gonna wake up soon, and if you think we’re impossible without coffee in the morning, hoo-boy, just you wait.” He shook his head fondly. “Damn boyfriend’d probably sleep till noon if I let him.”

Dean gaped. “You—I—We have a boyfriend?”

“Well, yeah man, we’re bi as fuck.” The other Dean shot him a look. “Oh come on, don’t act like you don’t know. I know for a fact you do, because I knew back when I was you. Just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet is all.”

“Not ready to…?” Dean’s mind was positively reeling. He lowered the gun and took a step forward, desperate for answers. “Dude, what in the hell—”

“And with that, I think it’s time I bid you-slash-me a very fond farewell.” The other Dean gave him a grin and a salute, then looked skyward. “Okay, kid, all set. Take me home.”

And before Dean could ask who the other him was talking to, the other Dean vanished without a trace and left Dean gaping at the empty road, trying and failing to make sense of what had just happened. “He—I—son of a bitch...”

Fuck burgers, he thought as he climbed back into Baby; this called for fucking booze.

#dean winchester #spn #supernatural #spndbcc #bisexual dean winchester #bi dean #spn 15x20 #spn finale fix-it fic #fix-it fic #spn spoilers #background implied destiel #my writing #sorry jenny in this house we fix crappy endings #rip to dabb but i'm different

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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The Loud House Reviews: Schooled!

Season 5, and regular coverage begin! The loud house finally moves into a new year chronologically: Lincoln and Co move up to Middle School but find themselves seperated when LIncoln accidently signs up for the wrong class and ends up with a mean teacher and frienemy chandler, and then ends up commuting to a Canadian school instead. The Canada part is more believable than a middle school not having multiple teachers for multiple subjects frankly but more ranting on that later. Meanwhile in order to get Lori moves on to college only to find every dorm is a comedic set piece, and Lynn Sr and Rita try to get Lily ready for pre school by potty training her. Finally in all this chaos Leni ends up attending pre school. Again still more believable than the single class thing. Ramblings about well guess, how amazing it is the show has lasted this long in this day and age, my thoughts on Lynn Jr being kind a obnoxious. 50% chad and my lessened hatred for rusty. Which again I assure you is more believable than the single class nonsense. Back to School, under the cut.

Welcome readers new and old to regular coverage of The Loud House! Couple of reasons for that. The first is, like amphibia, so I don’t fall behind as I tend to procastinate and let episodes of shows pile up, and i’m tired of it. The second is that I feel we need more Loud House content on this site that’s not loudcest, people shipping sam and lincoln soley to try and get back at the show for having a gay couple, and some weird stuff I can’t quite unwrap because i’m old. And keep in mind I understand 50% chad just fine.. look at him.

So yeah I have a feeling young or old, i’m not the only one scared to go int here and hopefully I can give ya’ll something fun to look forward to or worth sifting through it.

Now i’ve covered the show before.. 4 times in fact, having covered Brave the last dance as a one off way back and having covered ALL THREE SALUNA episodes during pride month. So check those out if you want my previous thoughts on the show as a whole, my faviorite character and her special lady, and me ranting about rusty/.. and we’ll get to him. But i’ve got a lot to talk about, some of it not directly about the episode so pitter pat er let’s get at eer. The first thing I want to talk about is.. how big an occasion the show is. It’s not only at 5 seasons but it recently got renewed for a 6th and still has a movie on the way.. as I hope so does rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles.. please don’t let that movie have been canceled, that show went from okay to leaving me wanting more of my mad dogs... but yeah getting back on track they’ve offically reached...

And that’s.. incredibly rare ESPECIALLY for nick. I mean yes spongebob will never die, and the fairly oddparents died way after it should’ve, but for the most part nick is a giant tire fire of dickheads when it comes to running a network. They have an absolutley ghastly habit of canceling a show as soon as possible, and if they already commissioned season 2 shuttling it to sister network nicktoons to die a quite death. They expect every show to become an overnight sucess, or else and it’s a freaking disgusting practice. And it’s still going: I mean just to bookend it, around the same time loud house started, we got the utter classic Harvey Beaks. The show had a sizeable audiences and what kids I showed it to loved it but because it wasn’t doing spongebob numbers Nick shuttled it to nicktoons then yelled at it’s creator for daring to be upset they you know.. moved his show to their designated graveyard without telling him and ended the show without giving them notice to change the ending. The final episode still WORKS as a final episode, but it wasn’t INTENDED to end on a bittersweet note and I blanme that on nick. The bookend part comes from the fact that about a month before this Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes ended it’s run.. on Nicktoons, with no fanfare and like Harvey fans likely only knowing thanks to scheduling, had it’s final season cut in half so they had to rush the pacing of the final few episodes to wrap up as much as they could, AND the cancelation reason was the always reliably stupid “low toy sales” excuse. The odds of a show surviving on nick, nevermind thriving are very slim and even outside the nightmare factory that is my once beloved childhood network, most animated shows last around 3 seasons. Disney channel usually cuts htem off around 4, and cartoon network around 3 if their that nice, with utter classic OK KO being one of the latest victims of the cancelation bug, and steven unvierse only got a 6th season after essentially being canceled and having to rush the ending, only THEN getting to go back and fill in the cracks with Future and the Movie. And unlike fellow network loved show that’s gone on for a while, Teen Titans Go, the Loud House is still a pretty good show. It has it’s bumps, we’ll talk about some of them here and i’ve talked about em before, especially the “”With the casagrandes mini” which could’ve easily hurt said show but thankfully didn’t. It’s grown, going from being about the one boy among ten girls to being about all 11 kids, AND their parents and making earnest attempts to make once hated characters like Lori and Lola fully fleshed out.. it’s been more 50 50 with lynn, but more on that later. My point is the show’s tried to evolve, to grow out of having a simple status quo and actually let things change and it’s refreshing when a lot of comedy shows refuse to. The show CAN be hit ore miss in quality, but hte misses have become less cruel and the hits have become that much more impactful.

Not only that but the show surivived the seeming impossible of it’s creator being revealed to be a sexual harassing creepy asshole who hopefully gets his dick sanded off for all eternity when he invetibly ends up in hell or whatevers next. Screw him but good on Nick for firing him swiftly, one of the few times in the last few years i could really say that about them and not be sarcastic, and good on the crew for carrying on easily without him.

My point is.. it’s nice to not be attending another show’s funeral. After rise and then venture bros, it’s NICE to have a show surivive and carry on and decide NOT to rest at this stage and stay in it’s comfort zone but shake things up a bit. It’s nice in this stinkhole of a year to have something to celebrate, and yes i’m aware a back to school specail is ill timed, for obvious reasons, but it was likely in production long before covid and I can’t fault the writers for wanting to give kids an escape, nor for doing the quarntine special earlier to help them talk through it. So congrats loud house you earned it. Now that’s out of the way, the not resting thing.. the thing that has me covering the show, and had me exxcited for this episode.. is that they decided to shake things up a lot by moving all the kids up an age and moving Lori up to college. And what makes this work.. is this wasn’t something they just sprung on the audience. it would’ve worked with that after 4 years of the same age and general stuff.. but season 3 started setting it up with Lincoln and Clyde’s middle school visit and Lori’s college interview, both things i’ll likely cover ventually, while Season 4, after the mini series, had most Lori episodes focus on getting her ready for it: From her senior year, to Leni realizing she’d be gone and being panicky over it, to her working to get a car, which she rides off in this episode. The show dedicated one of it’s few arcs, and probably the only non-romantic one outside of Ronnie Anne and Bobby moving to their spinoff, to this.

They were all in on this and there was no turning back, and shaking up the status quo like this is a risk as some viewers fear change and run from it like cowards> Me.. I loved it. I loved the idea of taking Lincoln to a new school, giving him and his friends new stuff to do and new challenges to face, having Lori move away, have Luna learn to drive, have Lisa enter kindergarten, Lily say more etc. And there’s even things I didn’t think of that two upcoming episode synposis suprised me with: birthday episodes, though it’d be best to spread them out but i’m hoping strife of the party isn’t the only one, and the power vacum: Can Leni take over for Lori.. should she? Should Luna or Luaan try instead. Do they even want to? it’s all good questions. It’s a simple but small change that helps change up the show for the better, opens up new avenues while not salting the earth for the old as demonstrated by half of the upcoming episdoes for the next two weeks being ones that could’ve been done at any point in the show.

So yeah my hype was at maxium, helped by the fact I love one hour specials of shows: “Change Your Mind” “Reign Storm”, all three ducktales have done so far with “Let’s Get Dangeorus” likely adding to that list.. it’s usually a great time for shows to go all out, show waht they got and tell deeper stories. So the big question all this has been leading up to: what did loud house, 5 seasons in,k with a clean slate and tone sof potetial do with their premiere? Well let’s take a look shall we? This episode is divided into 4 plots, one of which is really a plot inside a plot but still technically 4, all centered around school starting: Lincoln and Co have their first day of middle school, Lori is moving to college after all that setup, and Lily is finally old enough for daycare. And Lynn Sr is having a slow motion breakdown at first, he gets out of it quickly, because understandably he’s feeling mealcholy about not only having all his kids in school but having his first leave him. Sure he still has a full hosue but it’s still rough having one of the few constants in your life , a chaotic life at that go. So each one focuses on one of them. THe fourht if your curious has Leni accidently end up in Lily’s pre school and is comedy gold. More on that in a minute. This is actually one of the episodes problems as only Lincoln’s plot and Lori’s plot feel like they naturally dovetail, while Lily’s plot feels like an eleven minute episode that was bootstrapped to this one either to get her into daycare faster or to pad it out to an hour along with parts of the Lincoln plot. It’s till not a BAD episode, but it dosen’t feel quite as cohesive as it should, or as big in scope being an hour long, with most of the loud kids outside the four with plots not getting more than a cameo, though Lisa gets to be the best part of LIly’s plot, and Lynn.. we’ll get to her. It’s not great. I do GET why they did this, as trying to focus on ALL of them at once is nigh impossible and it let the stories breathe better, but it still feels weird that none of them have a reaction to lori being gone and frankly I think the stronger story would be to have had lily potty train LAST season, and then focus this on Lori leaving, the family adjusting, and have Lincoln’s middle school woes be the b plot. Now granted we have a full season to rumninate on her absence, and how it effects the others, so it’s not the hugest lost, but i feels like a waste of the extra time to just pile three episodes into one when a half hour could’ve done the same and saved you two half hours for later. It’s not terrible, but it could’ve been better. Now i’m done moping about the special as a whole for a second let’s break down each plot one at a time.

The A-Plot: Lincoln Took off to Canada the Other Dayyyyyyyyy The plot is very simple and the adds and summary sadly telegraphed it.. which didn’t help because it’s very clear from the episode Lincoln getting sent to canada is a wacky twist and not supposed to be in the adds. I mean I can’t blame them it’s in half the episode, but it still would’ve been funnier if they kept it as a suprise. And yes if you didn’t know about this episode LIncoln gets sent to canada which is somehow not too weird for the show. So Lincoln and Co are starting high school. And now’s as good a review as any to TALK about Lincoln’s supporting cast. I did a bit during my review of Brave the Last Dance but feel it’s a good time to talk about them again update opinons and what not. I do feel like they sometimes blend into each other a bit much and shine best when one of them is given the spotlight to play off the others instead of all playing a supporitng role. It’s why I like “Pasture Bedtime” and “brave the last dance” so much: They let the characters breathe while still giving one some extra focus. As for each indivdiually.

Clyde as I said there i’ve come around on: Early on how tolerable he was was a coin flip: he could be an adorable, somewhat awkard, sheltered kid but one eager to help his friend with his various schemes, as he is now only with a love of baking which is even better. But he could ALSO be a creepy little bugger who either had a freaking anime nose bleed and fainted when Lori was around, or tried to break her and Bobby up, Bobby who is not only the nicest character on BOTH shows in general but was extra nice to Clyde despite all this. Granted I think my boy was too dense to realize Clyde was being a one man asshole parade, but still. It dosen’t help that with Savino’s later ousting for doing the same shit but as a grown ass man. Thankfully he has done a complete recovery and the Lori bit was thankfully dropped and with Bobby gone, he couldn’t hurt my baby boy anymore, so they moved on to other parts of him. Plus I love his dad’s not just for the obvious being gay dads but for being good characters in their own right.

Stella is easily my favorite of the group, i’ve gone on about her before and Haley Tju does a wonderful job with her, and she feels a bit more three dimensional than the rest of the non-clyde members of the group. Not fully, but still a bit more than the one trait they get and hopefully like our next one up and clyde, she actually gets to start showing up outside of lincoln’s friend squad team episodes.

Liam is easily my second faviorite. I”m aware he’s not the most complex boy: He’s a farmer, and he knows how to tame animals.. that’s about what he’s used for.. but he’s a sweet enoguh kid he makes it work. And frankly said trait works for him because shockingly, out of all of lincoln’s non clyde friends he’s shown up the MOST in stories not involving Lincoln, and even in one of those lately not involving hte rest of his friends. No really, he popped up in racing hearts in season 3, and Senior Moment and Snoops On Last season. It’s not a TON of episodes overall but compared to the rest of them it’s very noticable and I love it. More please.

Moving on to the ones i’ve bitched about... Zach. Yeah.. my thoughts can best be summed up as this.

I mean.. Lincoln’s friends, even the more cheerful ones are capable of feeling defeat and pesimsim, if you want one to downtalk people you have rusty, and “has a tatoo , likes antqiues and belives in cryptids” aren’t really great quirks. If they did more with them or used them OUTSIDE of his episodes sure, but otherwise .. why is he here other than not wanting to explain his absence? Sure he plays off rusty.. but Stella could easily do his role as that and even then they don’t use him for that enough to really justify being him around. Either have a point with him or quitely write him out.. Star Vs, for all it’s flaws, leanred this as far back as season 2 with alphonso and ferguson, AND when people qutestioned where they are actually brought them back to properly write them off and gave them closure in the episode they gave the rest of the echo creek cast the same. Just pick one. And if you want him to knock rusty down a peg fine, just do so. And now Rusty.. my old nemisis.... and things have changed. Do I still LIKE Rusty? nope. Just.. nope. I don’t. He’s still a skeezy little idiot.. but I realized that unlike LIam he at least has a purpose in the group: He’s the Micheal Kelso. Granted UNLIKE kelso, they don’t go the extra mile and have his friends poke fun at him, but this isn’t that kind of friendship, and with Lynn now around more and Chandler now likely going to be the same, there’s more opprotunites for someone outside the group to rightfully insult the little moron. And if their not going to.. I realized I could. I realized I ENJOY insulting him, taking the piss out of his unjusitfied ego, and just having fun making fun fo the little goober. And more than that.. I realized he DOES have redeeming qualities. He’s a genuinely good friend, he loves his friends dearly and has no trouble showing affection despite his misplaced swagger. I may mock the kid, and I will again.. but he’s not a bad person and will likely grow out of being a dipweasel, just not on screen. I realized having a deep abiding hatred of him just wasn’t good for me when simply mocking him constantly does the trick. There are other, more important things to get pissed about. Rusty isn’t that important. But he is good joke fodder and unlike the show with Zach I refuse to pass up an opportunity.

But yeah now that’s out of the way, the basic setup here infuraties me. It’s for mildly stupid reasons, but ones i’m going to go to bat for: Lincoln dosen’t get into the same class as his friends. As in their still treating this like elementary school and having everyone in the same class for every subject. That.. that’s not how middle school works. that’s not how any of this works. They don’t lump groups of the same kids into one tract of classes, even electives like cooking or forced ones like PE, which thanks to my autisim I was allowed to attend a diffrent kind of PE that wasn’t an utter fucking nightmare. And you may say “Well Jake your a near 30 blobby shell of a man and things change” which is accurate but they haven’t changed that much. Girl Meets World was only 6 years ago. And while they DID have Cory as the only real teacher they USED, he was still shown to be their history teacher and it was lampshaded sometimes how he wasn’t their only class. And yes I know a lot can change in 6 years, the hellscape we’re in proves that, but just simply ASKING my middle schooler nephew if this is still how that works.. and yup it is. Now it could be diffrent by region, but for the most part the conseus seems to be on diffrent teachers for diffrent subjects. And again as Girl Meets World shows, it’s not THAT complicated. Just have one teacher you use for everything or have a home room. Why do this, why. Just why exactly. Why. You barely used actually in school classes for plots anyway and mostly did stuff around the edges like crushes or lunch or dodge ball. Speaking of which where is Girl Jordan. Where IS she? Anyways, my point is this, especailly as a ned’s declassified school surivvial guide on this very network,f fan really annoys me and takes me out of things.. And the thing is they COULD’VE still done this plot just had the gang all adjust, not just lincoln, to not being in the same class togehter. Have them have to do various classes WITHOUT having each other to rely on. You could even have chandler and mr. bohlmer show up. But the way they do this just..d osen’t really make sense and just feels lazy. And if there were good jokes i’d be fine with his but their aren’t. IT’s just a mean teacher and Lincoln being picked on by a moron for the first half while his friends struggle to function without him. It’s just sad and not in the well written, well thought out way. Then we get to “This needs to be an hour” portion of the plot as again the above could’ve EASILY worked for the full hour but because they instead went with this, they had to think of something else... and went with something bonkers that at the very least is entertaining: Lincoln, after convincing his teacher for a transfer, which I did like as he uses his head: He sees his teacher wants something diffrent for lunch and paper airplaners her a cupon for his dad’s restraunt then talks himself into an off campus lunch to talk her into a new class.. and winds up transfered to canada as she well meaningly did so he can’t get out of. And while I thought this was just wacky exageration having him commute.. turns out .. nope. While I don’t know if any school would actually have a student commute to Canada rather than jsut stay there turns out Royal Woods is in michigan and Michigan is across a lake from Ontario.. so yeah.. they did their geography research but not their middle school one. Weird ain’t it? Anywho, I ended up liking this portion... and not just because it has canada gooses, which means i can use this.

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And if you have a problem with Letterkenny you got a problem with me and I suggest you let that one marinate. But yeah we get an ENTIRE number playing into canadian stereotypes and it’s clear this show is rather than using them for a cheap laugh just exagerating things for fun and a slight nudge to canadians, who I clearly love. It feels less like “oh ha ha canada” and more like if the great white north was stretched over 15 minutes but still worked.

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It’s just good fun. And they also again have an entire musical number full of canadian sterotypes and expressing love of this great country which I hope to visit some day.. and possibly live if this country countinues to get worse. It just feels nice and more creative than the first half. It’s still not FANTASTIC, but it works somehow and Ic an’t explain why. Eventually LIncoln tries to get kicked out, fails then plans to blow the hockey game for everyone and calls on his friends to help, sending them all to canada wh ere they get lost in the wilderness. There is a funny bit where Stella’s gps literally freezes over and zach acidently smashes it as well as Rusty’s “Moustache” one pathetic hair because why should his moustache be anything else freezes off. and given even with me being less vitrolic his suffering is my catnip I enjoyed it. We also get a cute sequence of them runing the ice and rusty failing at anything because of course he does, while Liam both tames a moose and slathers them in grease to swim across because of COURSE he does. Of course he does. IT’s just a refreshing jolt of energy after the first half. But we do get a really damn good scene after htey fail.. besides the fact Rusty’s head is frozen, which would be funny even if it wasnt’ happenign to rusty, that just makes it go from chuckle worthy to giant uncomfortable laugh worthy, where Lincoln gives up: They’ll still be firends and he’ll still come visit but it’s best he just adapt to his new life instead of try and fight so hard against it and he’s starting to enjoy canada. It’s a well acted and sad scene that ends with a huge hug from clyde and another bit we’ll get to in a second. But because having LIncoln in canada would be hard to maintain for a few seasons, and because as degrassi shows me the odds of him getting nearly beaten to death, caught in school shooting, stabbed in a parking lot or ending up in a kevin smith film which back then was a treat but now is a coin flip, are very high. Seriously he dosen’t want to end up in moose jaws, he instead gets banned from canada for three years for refusing maple syurp... which is also fucking hilarious just for it’s sheer rediculousness. Who dosen’t love canadian maple syrup? So the ballance is restored, Liam has moose now, and Lincoln actually gets the trailer heat turned down because he asked.. this plot was not very good as I made clear and drags the specail down and it’s in part because there were other joke and character opprotunites iwth ACTUAL middle school and instead it just comes off as another episode of “Smack lincoln around because tha’ts funny right” and wastes good opprotunity. It’s not all terrible, the canada jokes worked becuase they felt like they were in good fun and more a loving jab at canada instead of just using stereotypes for sterotypes sake, and given the loud sisters started as basic character achtypes it fits the shows tone. So canada part good the rest a huge disapointment. Also before we move onto Lori: Lynn.. was utterly terrible this episode. The girl one, obviously. Lynn Sr is usually a delight. Yeahhh while I don’t hate her like some do, I do find her to be REALLY hit and miss: she’s either an enjoyable additon to the episode, an intresting lead.. or an obnoxious nightmare who makes everyone around her suffer and is used for gross out gags.. which if nothing else it’s good their using a girl for it but it dosen’t make it actually funny? And here she’s Hall Monitor and a giant terror to everyone INCLUDING THE PRINCIPAL and it feels like a waste.. other episodes have had her be lincoln’s mentor when it comes to his shift to middle school and when the time comes where that would be utterly useful... she’s instead just a jackass because they coudln’t think of something better to do with her and it’s another disapointment. The B-Plot: Lori Loud and the Infinite Comic Set Pieces This plot was better but likely would’ve worked better in a shorter episode to me if i’m being honest, but it’s grown on me the more i’ve thought about it.. plus it has Bobby!

I haven’t really had a chance to mention it since most Loud Houses i’ve covered are after his exit and he only really shows up in lori episodes and I haven’t covered the Casagrandes yet.. but I love this idiot. He’s sweet, charming, kind, a good boyfriend, a good big brother, and a caring individual. Sure he’s dumb as a box of hammers, but he’s a good kid and post season 1 he and lori have good chemstiry. And he was easily one of hte biggest draws to the spinoff for me which has fleshed him out nicely with his work at the Mercado, showing he is good at something. He’s just a great character and i’m glad to see him back on the mothership, even if he doesn’t do much and at most just keeps coming back to help Lori move at a moment’s notice. But it feels less like her being selfish and more like him being selfless: Sure she’s asking a lot.. but he probably gets that moving away from home and into a strage place is hard for his lady and just wants to help her be happy and settle in. Because he’s the best.

As for why Lori keeps moving part of it is the fact that the dorms at fair way are insane comic set pieces and I am here for it. She starts out at the silent dorm, which just.. no. No on that no. Then moves to the driving range dorm which is exactly what it sounds like and is a hilarious hurricane of balls. “Sigh” Archer if you would.

And the sand trap dorm, which just has a giant bunch of sand in the closets for some reeason.. presumibly to keep darth vader away. And yes I get it’s supposed to mimic a sandtrap but theni t should be all around like the other dorms. It’s goofy, it’s dumb.. and I can’t help but laugh at it and the fact that Fairway apparently is so intense about golf they train students via having them live on certain hazards like this was an anime... and I would totally watch a spinoff about lori that was her undergoing anime golf battles. And I hate golf. Plus put bobby in there.. he can be on two shows. Make it a diffrent world but with dragon ball z golf battles. But eventually Lori comes crying home after breaking down, like any college student living away i’m told.. and that’s where the dovetail I mention comes into play. Lori overhears lincoln’s pep talk and decides to go back and face the exesntial nightmare that is her dorm life, giving her brother a sincre hug and thanking him for uknowingly helping her. It’s a really sweet moment. It’s why her plot works for me.. it has the emotinal weight that feels lacking from the main plot. It’s a bit repetitive, but frankly that’s the show’s bread and butter at this point and i’ts more a case of which repettition works better sometimes. That one moment saves the plot form being unwatchable and Lori moves into the water hazard floor of the dorms, and is finally ready. And while at first I thought the exagerated dorms lowered the punch of things.. it really dosen’t. From what i’ve heard Dorm life isn’t easy, and being away from home is even harder. My mentally anxious self would’ve broken down within days. Their just taking it up twenty notches because loud house. The real issue is lori being homesick, which I do feel could’ve been handled better, but for what hit is it’s okay. Not as good as it couldv’e been but still better than the a-plot. But it’s a nice bit of character stuff: it shows usually in control Lori out of her element and trying to adapt and hopefully we’ll see more of her this season in that context. And more of bobby, may he reign forever. Okay one more.

The C and D plots: Leni and Lily Go to Preschool This one won’t take long, thank god. Lily goes to preschool, the loud parents, after some empty nest.. enjoy having the house to themselves for the first time in years. They actually have TIME with no kids and just the two of them to goof off and, presumibly off screen, boink like rabbits.. granted that’s how they clearly usually do it given they have 11 kids but still. But Lily gets sent home for popping herself, and they have to teach her to go it’s eh aside from a few bits. As I said Lisa is the best part of this as Lynn Sr and Rita yank her out of school, with Lisa responding to Cheryls worries abotu her missing school with a dry “I think i’ll be fine without finger painting”. The resolution, or at least the start of it, is genuinelly clever. Turns out Lily KNOWS how to use the potty, she just dosen’t want to go to school yet, and the Loud Parents.. actually take this well, confronting her with it but gently, understanding she may not want to leave the nest and letting her stay.

Meanwhile Leni ends up in preschool in the shuffle of not having Lori around to guide her one brain cell. Which is honestly hilarious and her outfit for the episode is fucking dope.. I honestly wish she’d wear her hair in a ponytail more often and the jacket is nice. I wish this was her new outfit.. like they could make it green so she’s not stepping on Lola wearing pink, but it’s a nice change of pace. But yeah it’s hilarious, especially since neither she nor the actual professionals notice and it has a nice bit of subtext on tumblr noted: She may be regressing, or simply enjoying little girl school because she misses her big sister and it’s easier than navigating a scary world without her best frined. To dig into it a bit myself we’ve seen in previous episodes that Lori is her rock, who she goes to when she has a problem in her solo episodes, who she relies on. Sure they fight over a closet but they depend on each other. We saw how worried Leni was about loosing her last season, and now she’s lost her and dosen’t know what to do without her. It’ll be intresting to see more of. Or it’s because while she’s a capable young woman she’s also as dumb as a box of hammers like her future brother in law> you make the call. Eventually Leni gets sent back, and bemoans missing all the fun of preschool.. which gets Lily to go as she gets a trampoline, and the nest is finally empty.. also Leni goes back for a few more bounces. Yeah I love this kid. She’s sweet, kind, and hilariously moranic and voiced by LIliana Mumy who along with Carols is easliy part of my stable of voice actors. So yeah the family’s moving on, etc etc, and this review is finally over. Final Thoughts: This episode was okay. It reaks of wasted potetial, but it’s a fine enough one hour, it jsut couldv’e been MORE with such a long run time and the lily and leni bits would’ve fit better in a seperate episode. It’s not TERRIBLE but it’s just an okay start to the season and a waste of good stories and good laughs in places. Still the show’s had worse, it’s just okay overall. Not TERRIBLE but it could’ve been FANTASTIC. Next week Leni deals with the lori power vaccum and Lincoln and Clyde snoop on the neighbors. Until then you can find other loud house reviews on my blog, hit me up iwth an ask for suggetsions or a dm to comission an episode you want to see me cover and until then, GO TEAM VENTURE. Play us out servo

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letterstothemidnightsociety · 4 years

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It may be 2020 and the world is slowly crumbling around us but if global pandemics, a U.S. civil war election, and murder hornets and now rumors of Putin’s resignation(???) aren’t sensational enough, it’s time for Sweeps! And I’m still watching Supernatural to avoid all my problems because, well. That should be obvious.

Cas is all of us.

OH! and there will be no discussion of the events of November 5 because guys, I’m still in season 1 right now, I’m not there yet. But yes, I KNOW.

Ok, so before we talk about Sweeps, let’s take a moment to appreciate that at this point in my Supernatural journey, we’re in the back half of season one, and that’s a real miracle for any tv show to get this far. Or at least, it was at the time, when a show could be ordered for the first 13 episodes and then be on the hook for the rest, or Back 9. Supernatural was lucky in that it had been picked up for the full season after episode 4, so there was probably more time to prep that Back 9 than a Front 13/Back 9 show would have been.

BUT that doesn’t mean the pressure isn’t on! Cuz we’ve hit the mid season, we’ve come back from Christmas break, and now it’s Sweeps!

Friendly reminder that TV’s here to make money folks, and Sweeps Week/Sweeps Month are (were??) vital to a season’s success or failure.

It’s Sweeps!

Alright, we’ll back track even further: TV networks and TV stations - the local centers that actually broadcast the shows in a given market - make money by selling ad time. They set the prices for that time by how many viewers are hypothetically watching at any given hour of the day. That’s where ratings come in, specifically Nielsen ratings. Nielsen Media Research, historically one of the most important media research firms out there, has been collecting audience data since the 30’s. They used to cold call households and to ask what each member of the household were listening to on the radio. When television came onto the scene, Nielsen started also collecting data on who was watching what. Ultimately, they dropped the cold calling in favor of diary keeping. Yes, they would actually send out diaries to a certain number of households in a given market, ask the residents to report every show they watched in a given week, and then four times a year, they’d “sweep” the country, collecting those diaries. These diaries would then impact the rate for ad time in each of those markets. Sweeps weeks happened four times a year - November, February, May, and July. And in fact, Sweeps Week is really more like Sweeps Month since it would take a month to deliver diaries to the households and then collect them again. Now, we can gather that data electronically (that is, faster), but Nielsen still tracks viewers for the whole month.

Actual Nielsen Diary which actually lists that someone actually watched a rerun of Seinfeld on TBS. Actually.

So what does Sweeps mean to the people actually producing television? Basically, it means you have to have some real hot sh*t in November, February, May and July. You’ll know you’re in Sweeps when the news stories suddenly get...wild. You know the ones - Killer Hornets in Your Area! When Hugs Kill! Is Your Government Killing You?? Oh wait, that may just be 2020.

For non-news outlets, Sweeps means saving your big episodes for strategic times of the year. You may notice, dear reader, that Sweeps lines up with some key tentpoles in a traditional television broadcast season. The end of November is usually midseason/winter finale time. Midseason finales are a big deal for many reasons, namely making sure you leave your viewers with a desperate desire to come back after the holiday break, but it’s also a good time for getting those big Sweeps numbers. You may also notice that sweeps # 3 is in May - that’s usually season finale time. February, Sweeps # 2, is right in between and July is just before the doldrums of summer. Honestly, July feels like a weird time to look at ratings, but that’s cuz I was raised on TV and it’s just an unwritten rule that there’s nothing good on in Summer.

Ok, I lied - I’m gonna talk about “Despair”, for just a second, I promise, minor spoilers ahead. This episode aired November 5 2020. That’s the final Sweeps period for 2020. And Sweeps may not mean anything to a show in its final season, specifically in this season, but it pulled out some big stops. Declarations of Love and Major Deaths? Yeah, those are two key staples for Sweeps, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence they weren’t pulling any punches in this episode. I know COVID delayed production, but even if they hadn’t restarted airing the season in October, this episode would have aired during May Sweeps. It’s also a series finale, so Sweeps isn’t the only consideration but it’s gotta be some consideration.

So let’s look at episodes 13 - 16, our February Sweeps Month episodes for season 1. What do we have?

Route 666 - Aired January 31, the beginning of February Sweeps

Here’s an episode that felt incredibly dated, but also incredibly relevant to today. The fact that Cassie has to fight with the mayor to prove that Black people are being specifically targeted felt a little Too Real Roy. They mayor even gets defensive that Cassie implies he might be racist because how can he be racist if he has Black friends? Does he say those words exactly? No. But that’s kind of the vibe you get off that conversation. I mean, I think I spent most of this episode making fun of a Racist Monster Truck that’s out there killing people, but honestly, slap a Confederate flag on that bitch and you’ve got any given rally or protest in America right now. I would almost consider this a Very Special Episode of Supernatural, where our brothers (and by extension us as the audience) learn about racism and the toll it takes on people of color, specifically Black Americans in the South. So there’s that.

But more importantly, for Sweeps week in 2006 anyway, was THE SEX. Not only does this episode comment on race in America, but Dean has a girlfriend and they totally bone. I mean, we’ve spent 12 episodes with just two dudes being dudes. Has there been flirting with random extras? Yes. Has there been any satisfying follow through? No. Because you save that for Sweeps. And it works. According to Wikipedia, “Route 666” had 5.82 million viewers the night it aired in America. The episode the week before, “Faith”, only had 3.86. That is almost 2 million more viewers who turned in to watch Jensen Ackles get tossed onto a bed with his shirt off.

Apparently this scene was a big deal because the network expressly told the producers not to have a lady on top and Supernatural just...did it anyway. Way to go, Supernatural, being progressive in all the right ways. Also, because I HAVE to say it, her name is CAS(sie).

Nightmare - Aired February 7

Next up is The One Where Sam’s ESP Comes Back! And boy was this rough. I mean, it’s nice and dark and also brings the show’s Mythology to the forefront, but it ends hella ambiguous. How Sweeps is it? Well, I imagine that the priests getup was included in the trailer as another Sweeps gimmick.

And I can’t decide if including Beth Broderick, OG Aunt Zelda from Sabrina the Teenage Witch, is a big enough guest star to be a draw?

I can’t not see Aunt Zelda

This episode feels like the show is really digging in to its Horror roots again. There’s some gorey special effects. There’s also a lot of small moments in this episode that I really liked, good acting moments and good character moments. It builds in some conflict between the brothers that never really gets resolved, just sort of deflected and kicked down the road for later. Is this Sweeps material? Maybe? The numbers on this are lower than on the previous episode - only 4.27 million viewers, but it’s also not as eye catching as Dean getting tossed on a bed with his shirt off.

The Benders - Aired February 14

I actually really like this episode, even though I forget this is even in season one. This one’s got a nice reversal of the formula for the show - for the first time we see that the monsters killing people are just...people. Or, as I said in my notes for this one - “they’re hicks! They’re just hicks, guys!” They’re not Supernatural at all. And I LOVE the Cop Buddy that Dean picks up. Jessica Steen as Officer Kathleen is SO A+, I would definitely watch a spinoff show of her life.

Dean, what IS this? What is this conversation?

But there’s not a whole lot of gimmick here, not a whole lot of flash. This is just a solid episode, but not a lot of audience grab. The key to that, I think, is in the air date - February 14. It’s possible they stuck this here because they did not expect a lot of viewers, and in fact, they only had 3.96 million viewers tune in that week. Still a good episode though.

Shadow - Aired February 28

And here’s our final episode for February Sweeps. We’re finally getting back to the main story arc. Not only do we see the return of Meg, our most prominent antagonist so far, but we also get the first reunion with John Winchester! I’d say this is a Sweeps episode that’s geared more towards season-long-fans than first time viewers. There’s a lot that happens - 1) Meg returns and reveals her cards as a Big Bad (Medium Bad?).

Oof. That’s...that’s SOME dialogue, guys.

2) John shows up and tells the boys that he knows what killed their mother (and also Jessica).

Ugh. Can we talk about this scene and how John just like, tosses out a whole bunch of information in the douchiest expo dump I’ve seen in a while?

3) John shows up.

These are moments that viewers who have been following along have been waiting for. There’s weight to the scene where Sam and John talk to each other for the first time in years - you feel the tension, you feel the fight that broke them apart, but you also feel the regret, the fact that both of them wish they could take back that fight even though they meant every word of it. It’s good pay off for the hours we’ve spent watching up til now. Of course, Dean deciding the team needs to split up again at the end feels like a real slap in the face. I’m pretty sure I felt it the first time, but definitely this time - John showing up feels more like a tease to keep us interested than any actual development to the show and it makes me feel like I’ve been tricked as an audience member. It feels like they only had Jeffrey Dean Morgan for, like, one day on set. I didn’t think his turn on Grey’s Anatomy was THAT big of a deal, but maybe it was? Maybe he was super busy? Or maybe the show just be like that. But the numbers are good - 4.22 million, a little up from the previous week. Not Dean Bones numbers, but not bad either.

Here’s the thing about sweeps guys - 15 years later and they’re kind of...irrelevant. TV still makes money on ads, sure, and there are probably more lucrative times of the year than others - Summer is still kind of the doldrums of programming - but even broadcast networks don’t run the same way that they used to. As early as 2014, the networks were doing their best to compete with streaming services and on-demand viewing by offering new content all year round, not just during key months. Broadcast networks might still program around Sweeps but that’s not needed now. And Nielsen ratings have been under scrutiny for years, thanks to TiVo. TiVo, guys, not even online streaming. When an audience is not tied to specific time frames, how do you really measure the true number of viewers? Nielsen’s methods of counting viewers hasn’t exactly kept up with the way we binge and watch when we feel like it. As late as 2018, Nielsen was still relying on paper diaries, despite the fact that they’d been using more accurate and up to date electronic methods since 2005. And again, with year-round programming, it isn’t necessary to focus on a specific times of the year.

In terms of business models, I think it’s also important to remember that when we’re not watching broadcast TV, we don’t mind paying directly for our new means of viewing. That’s how cable works, that’s how streaming works. I’ve been paying for Netflix through multiple price hikes and haven’t blinked an eye. I joined Disney+ early enough that I paid for a three year subscription. My parents are cable TV cord-cutters and they’re perfectly happy with a combination of Hulu+ and Roku.

But a lot of TV still does rely on ad time to make a profit. And for those shows, it’s even more important to use measurement methods that encompass accurate viewership numbers. I don’t see a future where Networks use a cable station model (based on subscription fees) rather than on ad dollars. However, I can see a future where Networks do away with Sweeps. Instead, they’ll just offer up that batsh*t sensational content all year round.

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supernaturallyobsessedchic · 4 years

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Littlest Winchester - Part 2

[this gif makes me laugh]

Part 2 – Typhoid Mary

Summary: Sapphire is sick while her dad and uncle are out on a hunt. She thinks she’s well enough to help find Jack.

Warnings: sick OC reader, puking, tooth rotting fluff.

a/n: Reader/Sapphire: 11 years old; Set during Season: 13

a/n #2: Figured I’d write a fluffy fic for Jen @supernatural-jackles one of my favorite fan fic authors on this platform, and one of a few who have inspired me to write, hopefully this helps put a smile on your face and feel all warm and fuzzy. :3

When she woke up, it was later than usual. But Dean and Sam left a note for her for when she did wake up.

Hey Blue,

Uncle Sammy and I are helping Cas on a case that might involve Jack. If you could look up some stuff on the case that would be much appreciated. Sam left you his laptop in the library.

Call me if you find anything. Love you Princess.

- Dad

She could feel pressure in her head, her nose stuffy and runny, her eyes even itched a bit. They felt watery. And she had a pretty nasty cough. But she felt fine enough to sit and chill out at the computer all day to help her dad on the case.

She made herself a hot chocolate, warming up some milk, tossing in some marshmallows. She went into the library ready to go.

The case was a bust, no sign of Jack. Cas left to see if Heaven could help. Sam and Dean rented out a motel for the night, ready to leave for the bunker in the morning.

Her coughing fits got worse as the day progressed. Her headache got to the point it has made her cry. A constant fill in pressure, her eyes felt like they were gonna explode and if she couldn’t smell a thing. Her stomach decided to add to the torment and not agree with her, period.

Her stomach did a flip after said coughing fit. She leapt from her seat running for the nearest bathroom. Only to make it to the trashcan in the kitchen. Puking whatever contents in her stomach there was. Brushing it aside, she not only brought the trashcan with her, she headed back to the library, sat at Sam’s laptop and got back at it.

Sam had gone to bed early, Dean was looking at cases involving Jack. And then his phone rang. It was Sapphire.

“Hey Blue, found anything?” Dean asked.

“No, nothing.” She said. Her voice sounding rough, and clearly sick.

“You sound awful, you okay?” Dean asked.

“It’s just a cold, I’m fine, I’ll live.” She said.

“Don’t lie to me baby, you know what I said about that?” Dean said knowingly.

She sighed.

“My head feels like it’s gonna split in two, my nose is stuffed up, my throat hurts, and I threw up…twice.” She says.

“Alright.” Dean goes. powering down his laptop. Getting up to wake up Sam. “I’m waking up Sam and we’re leaving, now.” Dean says. “I’ll be home soon.” He adds.

As he nudges Sam’s shoulder harshly, waking him. “What Dean?” He goes, annoyed.

He points to his phone.

“No, Daddy, I’m fine. I made it this long being sick.” She says.

“We’ll hand whatever case to another capable hunter, right now, my daughter is sick. And I’m heading home to help her.” He says. “Now, power down Sam’s laptop, and get to bed.” He tells her.

“Okay daddy.” She says. Sounding tired and exhausted.

“You’ll be better in no time.” He says. Before exchanging I love you’s and hanging up.

“How bad?” Sam asked as he got dressed.

“I won’t know until I take her temp, she says she’s got a headache, stuffy nose and she puked a couple times.” Dean says.

“Sounds like the flu.” Sam goes.

“Maybe.” Dean agrees. “But, let’s get going.” Dean urges. Having already packed his stuff and is loading the impala.

She sat in the library, too tired to even move. She just closed out of the databases that were being used to find Jack, and opened up Google Chrome and began watching Markiplier on YouTube.

Her dad must have been speeding or was not that far from Lebanon, Dean came walking down the halls after dropping his bags off to his room and not seeing Sapphire in her room, he headed to the library. He saw her sitting at the table, on Sam’s laptop, watching a dude playing a video game. His antics making his daughter giggle.

“Hey baby girl.” He says upon entering.

“Hi daddy.” She said. She sounded weak and exhausted.

“I’ll have Sam get this laptop hooked up in your room, but let’s get you to bed.” He says.

He works her into his arms, and he carry’s her effortlessly to her room. She had dozed right off in his arms.

He lays her down gently, so as to not upset her stomach. He moves her heavy blankets to her feet, leaving her in the sheet blanket. He heads to the bathroom grabbing the thermometer. Coaxing her awake enough to get it in her mouth.

After a few minutes Dean pulled it out.

104.

Most fever reducers have doses made for kids 12 and over. Sapphire just turned 11. She’s still a bit young to be taking that kind of medicine. Sam decided to make a run to a nearby Pharmacy, grabbing a kid friendly fever reducer for kids 12 and under.

Dean gave her, her first dose. He grabs one of her chairs in her room, an oversized bean bag chair, and sat next to her bedside, keeping watch over her.

Sapphire slept soundly despite her symptoms. She woke up to her father, sleeping in the bean bag chair, holding her hand.

She still felt sick, but at least she didn’t feel like throwing up.

She wiped her eyes with her free hand. Waking her father.

“Hey Princess, how you feeling?” He asks. Gently brushing her hair from her eyes with his free hand.

“Egh.” She groans.

“Still crappy, huh?” he asks. she nods.

“Well then, we’re taking off today to take care of you.” He says, getting up.

“I’ll have Sam go get us some soup, crackers, meds, the works.” He says. “You just rest up in bed. ‘Kay?” he goes.

“Okay.” She says. How can she argue when she feels this sick?

And Dean goes to the kitchen to tell Sam exactly what he told her, and with that Sam is out buying canned soup, meds, and Dean is disinfecting the bunker.

“Dean, I have news.” Cas says, entering the kitchen.

“It’ll have to wait Cas.” Dean says.

“What are you doing?” Cas says, looking confused.

None of the Winchester brothers ever got sick, and Sapphire hardly ever got sick. But ever since she started up with school after summer break, it just popped up out of nowhere.

“Just disinfecting the bunker so no one catches whatever she’s got, miss Typhoid Mary in there.” Dean jokes, half kiddingly. Pointing to Sapphire’s room.

“It’s just the cold Dean, it’s not all that contagious.” Cas says knowingly. Causing Dean to look unamused at the angel.

“I’m not taking chances Cas, just go on your lead on Jack, I’ll have Sam help you when he can, ‘kay.” Dean says. “But I’m staying here with my girl, making sure she gets better.” Dean says.

Cas nods. “Very well Dean, I’ll call if anything changes.” He says.

“Sounds good Cas.” Dean says.

After cooking the soup, Dean enters her room, seeing her watching YouTube again.

“Why not just ask uncle Sammy to get you a console, and some games and play these yourself?” Dean asked, as he sat her dinner tray near her on her bed.

“These are PC games Dad, I’d need a gaming computer.” She says.

“We’ll get that too.” Dean says.

“Dad, it’s fine. I like watching it. it’s funny seeing him fail.” She says giggling at Mark failing at FNAF Help Wanted VR. “’Sides, I’d be cheating.” She says pointing at the video.

“Yeah, I guess.” Dean says. Just not getting it, how she finds that entertaining.

“Mind if I hang out with and watch?” he asks.

Might as well see what all the fuss is about though. He thought.

“Sure. If you don’t think Typhoid Mary here’s gonna get you sick.” She says, eyeing him. Making him chuckle.

“I was just joking around with Cas.” Dean says, setting in behind her. kissing the top of her head. “I love you baby girl.” He says.

“I love you too daddy.” She says as she dug in her bowl of chicken noodle soup.

Copying and reposting someone else’s content is plagiarism and illegal. This work is property of supernaturallyobsessedchic. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher. An electronic reference link to the original posted work may be provided for purposes of promotion or assistance of publication by the readers discretion, if proper credits are given to the author in the re-post. 01/11/20

Feedback is always appreciated!

And I hope this helped Jen! You’re awesome, and I just hope this helped you feel fluffy warm. <3

#spn fluff #dean x daughter #dean x oc daugter #spn fan fic #supernatural fan fic #spn fan ficiton #supernatural fan fiction #spn #supernatural #dean x reader fan fic #dean x oc daughter fic #dean fluff #you are beautiful #you are one of a kind #smile more

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littlethingwithfeathers · 5 years

Text

Writing Update: 9-2-19

I have returned from DragonCon! Time to start editing and working on new stuff!

***

Publishing next Monday!

Intercalation (HBO’s Chernobyl): A Valery/Boris/Ulana fix-it fic that picks up immediately after the final scene of the show. Ulana and Boris try to re-balance their lives after Valery is viciously ripped away from them, all the while facing reminder after reminder of the people they were before Chernobyl and the people they had become together while they were there.

Excerpt:

July 16, 1987

Standing on the poisoned ground of Chernobyl, Boris and Ulana watch helplessly as the car drives off. Watch with their hearts in their throats and their stomachs in their shoes as the KGB drive away with their comrade in tow. Not "comrade" in the party sense of the word. They'd perverted it. If telling a truth that potentially saved lives was punished like this, they'd perverted it. They perverted everything.

But what else was there to call it? They'd never named the strange shape that had formed around the three of them. Between them. Through them. A year in the crucible of Chernobyl had changed them inexorably. As the accident would change everything for kilometers around it.

And now they were split asunder, just as cruelly as they had been fused together.

"Where are they taking him?" Ulana asks, looking up at Boris with wide, lost eyes. She looks shell-shocked. Horrified. I did this, her face says. I told him to tell the truth at all costs, and now he's going to pay. Just him. It should be me.

She clearly expects to be chastised. Boris knows that look. He's seen it in his subordinates before. And if he's being honest, he is somewhat angry with her in this moment. He does blame her at least in part for what happened, but he doesn't have the heart to lay into her. The fight is gone from him. He'd warned her before and that was enough input from him on the matter. If the look in her dampening eyes was any indication, she would blame herself for this for the rest of her life.

And besides. It was Valery's choice in the end. And it had been Boris who'd made sure he got to make that choice. He was as culpable as she.

***

Other “Friendship is Unnecessary” fics at various stages:

But Most of All Because They Offend Thee: Based off this post. In progress, currently just past the 2k mark. This is a short, upbeat, porny little one-shot of Nat being a shit and teasing Steve. Because honestly… this series needs some levity after what I’ve done in “Stolen Season.” Not sure of an ETA, but soon.

One of Those Things (Prologue): Since I’ve written this beast of a series completely out of order, and thus all my author notes are no doubt VERY confusing, I thought I’d put a short prologue on the front. Just a couple of short scenes to plant some seeds and give an actual starting place to this whole sprawling, intertwining mess, but also to give me a chance to address new readers so my forewords on the rest of the fics don’t seem weird. I’ve got a little more than a thousand words written on it which is probably about a third to half way.

Untitled Pre-War Steve/Bucky and Pre-Avengers Phil/Clint/Natasha: Partially a request from @crazyevildru that I’m toying with. Probably a flashback or a memory. This series really does need more Steve/Bucky, and I feel bad about it. I’m thinking of also adding a prequel/flashback of Clint/Phil/Natasha as well… maybe have the whole thing be a discussion over dinner post-Endgame.

Sweet and Honorable (Title pending): Set post Civil War. Bucky insists on coming with Sam and Natasha to rescue Steve when he gets captured. This is starting to take shape in my head as a sort of work through for some of the issues that get raised in “Echo in my Soul.” Given what we know about the new Black Widow movie, I may hold off on this one for a bit. At least until I can figure out how I’m going to squirm around or ignore the added canon. (can’t wait for that movie BTW)

***

Other works coming soon!

Hymn of Acxiom: Scarlet/Vision. It would be post Endgame, with Wanda helping a newly reconstructed Vision who has no memories and no personality without the Mind Stone to network all the pieces and facets of his personality. This is next on the docket after “Intercalation.” I’ve really only just gotten started. Sketching scenes and playing with theme. Don’t expect anything before November.

Untitled Sarge/Melinda May fic: I know. I KNOW! Don’t give me that look. You’re watching the same show I am and you’re seeing what I’m seeing. This shit writes itself. I’ve been sketching on a few things, and now that the season’s wrapped up I have an idea of what I want to do. I might crowbar in a few days just so that I can have some exploration time… sometime between (SPOILERS) May shooting Sarge and them heading for the Temple.

A Maelstrom Whirls Below: I’m toying with the possibility of a sequel to my Darcy/Eddie/Venom fic “A Room for Rent in the Fourth Estate.” A rough outline is in place, and I’m starting to sketch around on a few scenes. But right now it’s just some ideas and a few zippy one-liners. It’s starting to get some traction though! Likely won’t start work in earnest until after all this Chernobyl and Wanda/Vision stuff is done, but I’m definitely letting it percolate.

Hang By Every Word: The outline for my Stucky fic is still coming along but it will be awhile yet before I start writing on it in earnest. The basic theme (and I’m sure this has been done, but fuck it) is the undoing of Bucky’s conditioning one trigger word at a time. And each trigger word locked down a memory that HYDRA deemed integral to Bucky’s personality. And of course… they all involve Steve. So I have to write things from Steve’s point of view, and all ten memories have to be written from Bucky’s point of view, and they have to tie together into a cohesive narrative. The memories are out of order, but Steve’s timeline isn’t and… It’s a challenge. I’m still largely in the brainstorming phase… writing little snippets here and there. Nothing’s solidly taking form just yet. Again… just letting it percolate.

#writing #writing update #hbo chernobyl #chernobyl

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bee-kathony · 5 years

Photo

Love Like This | Ch. 4 “you’ll be gone from my life”

- Sam & Cait AU

Ch. 1 “silver in the sunlight” | Ch. 2 “you light up my whole heart” | Ch. 3 “nothing else could matter in our life”

Scotland 2015

A lot can happen in the space of a year…

A child can be conceived and born nine months later, a couple can get engaged and married, and distance can grow between hearts that were meant to be bonded for life.

The beginning of 2015 for Sam and Caitriona started out well and went along much like the previous year had. The second half of season one was airing in a few months and towards the end of the May they would start filming season two.

As any couple, they went through ups and downs as they tried to navigate their relationship. Being in the spotlight wasn’t a helpful factor either. But they made it work the best they knew how. They decided to try and be as professional as possible when they were attending work events.

However, sometimes it was hard for them. It seemed to be harder for Sam to control himself around Cait when all he wanted to do was tell the world she was his — to claim her.

He especially felt this way on the night of their mid-season premiere in New York.

The purple dress. That damn purple dress.

It would be Sam’s undoing. The way it curved Caitriona’s body in all the right places, with a small slit at the bottom. And the top, Christ, the top barely covered her breasts. The black lace with thin black lines covering her chest left nothing to the imagination. As if Sam needed an excuse to imagine Cait without any clothes on.

Cait had walked out of the bathroom, her hair and makeup done, in only black panties and one of his white shirts. The mid-season premiere was tonight and they needed to leave in twenty minutes.

“Have you seen my shoes, babe?”

Sam blinked several times, his gaze never leaving Cait’s mile long legs. “Um, no I havena seen them.”

“You havena,” Cait mocked him with a snort. Sam’s accent grew thicker the longer he spent in Scotland and even thicker when he was turned on — all control of his tongue was lost.

Laughing, Sam cast his gaze towards the hotel closet, “They’re over there, Balfe.”

She flashed her teeth at him and walked over to the closet, bending at the waist to pick up her shoes.

“Don’t move,” Sam said quickly from his seat in the corner of the room where he had been waiting for her to finish getting ready.

Cait turned her head, looking back at him over her shoulder. Her arse was in the air and with her legs spread just slightly, he could almost see her pink lips that he knew would be wet for him if he touched her there.

“I’m going to get a crick in my back if I stay in this position,” she laughed and Sam felt his stomach twist at the sound. Screw the premiere, all he wanted was time alone with her, time to just be.

With a mischievous look in his eyes, Sam rose from his chair and came to stand directly behind Cait, moving his hands on either side of her waist. Slowly he pushed up the white shirt until her breasts were exposed and he cupped them gently.

“The things I could do to ye, Cait.”

“Jesus,” she shuddered underneath his touch as his rough hands moved over her breasts, and her nipples stood at attention. “We don’t have time,” she started to stand back up, but he kept his hand on her lower back and pressed himself against her. He was hard and it was all because of her. Sam was wearing a light grey suit and if he wasn’t careful he would end up staining it.

Just as Cait let out a deep moan and Sam slid his hand over her arse, a knock came from the door and they both jumped apart, breath ragged.

“Shit,” Sam cursed under his breath and walked quickly to the bathroom, shutting himself in while Cait answered the door.

Quickly pulling her shirt down, Cait looked through the peep hole before answering, letting her stylist come in.

“Hi love,” she smiled.

“Ready to get all dressed up?” Her stylist walked in with the dress bag and set it down on the bed. Inside was a beautiful long sleeved purple dress and the front was a bit see through — not that Cait minded.

Once she was all zipped up, she took a final look in the mirror and her stylist deemed her practically perfect, leaving for the night.

Caitriona slipped one high heel on at a time and then knocked on the bathroom door.

“Is she gone?” Sam said quietly through the door.

Cait tried to jiggle the handle but he had locked himself in. “Yes, she bloody is. Will you come out now?” She couldn’t help but laugh.

Sam opened the door, a bashful grin on his face that changed to a look of complete desire when his eyes trailed down her body.

“Fuck me,” he muttered and immediately picked up her hand and twirled her around. “When we get back after the premiere…” he lowered his gaze to the front of the dress — the see through bit and bit his bottom lip. “That dress isna stayin’ on verra long, Balfe.”

“Oh is it not?” Cait smirked and before Sam’s hands could pull her against him, she picked up her purse from the front table and opened the door. “We better get this night over with as quick as possible then.”

Groaning, Sam followed after her, shoving his hands deep in his pockets as they met the rest of the group downstairs in the lobby. How was he ever supposed to control himself around her tonight when she looked like that?!

++++++

The night had been fun, more than fun actually, but Cait kept thinking about Sam’s promise. The promise to take off her dress when they got back to the hotel and she blushed as she remembered Sam having a hard time walking on the red carpet tonight.

She knew that when she chose this dress to wear tonight, it would drive him wild. And that was exactly what she wanted.

For the past few months, things had been going great, more than great with Sam. Caitriona had been filming on the movie Money Monster and had just wrapped after they did the paleyfest in LA. That night had been another spectacular evening when Cait couldn’t stop giggling like a schoolgirl with a crush.

She had never felt like this with anyone. Giddy. Bubbly. In love.

The way Sam looked at her, or smiled at her when she caught him staring made every cell in her body come alive in a way she had never experienced.

Now they had just said goodbye to the rest of the cast and were on the way back to their room and Sam was looking at her from across the elevator. Even though they were alone, he stood facing her, his eyes watchful. Caitriona could see his jaw tensing as his eyes flicked over her chest yet again.

Cait couldn’t help but let out a small whimper as she looked down and saw his cock straining against his trousers.

They remained silent as they walked down the hall to their room and Sam still didn’t touch her. All she wanted was his hands on her body, everywhere and nowhere all at once. She wanted his tongue on her… in her, covering her with his mouth in all the right spots that made her tick.

With the final latch of the door, Caitriona turned around to face him in the middle of the room.

“Well?”

Sam smirked, clicking his tongue and then his hands were at his tie, undoing it and pulling it free from around his neck.

“Ye tortured me tonight Cait,” he said and he walked behind her, one hand trailing down her arm, taking it in his large hand. “I could barely think straight with ye lookin’ like ye did.” She shivered as his breath tickled the back of her neck.

“I wanted to take ye right there, I didna ken about all those people,” he whispered in her ear and then took her other hand and she felt what must have been his tie around both of her wrists — fuck, he was tying her up.

“I’m goin’ to have ye beggin’, Cait.” Sam moved her hair off of her neck and placed a soft, wet kiss to her skin, making every hair raise on her body.

She nearly squealed when she suddenly felt his hands at her ankles and then she realized he wanted her to take off her shoes. Stepping out of them, she breathed a sigh of relief and flexed her toes instinctively.

“Sam,” Cait tried to reach for him as he came to stand before her, but his tie on her wrists was strong.

“Och, be patient, Caitriona.” He almost purred with joy he was getting out of this, seeing her struggle with being bound. It wasn’t the first time he had tied her up, but she had been thinking about this moment all night — how long could she wait until she burst into flames?

Sam held her gaze as he took a step back from her and slid out of his jacket, followed by his shoes and trousers. Then he folded them neatly on the chair near the tv and came to stand before her in only his boxers and button down.

“Please kiss me,” she whispered as he took a slow step forward and she let out a sigh of relief as his hand settled on her waist.

“I’m no goin’ to kiss ye until the very end,” he said this with his lips just inches away from hers and as she leaned forward, he pulled back with a deep chuckle.

She stood there, barefoot, hands tied behind her back, still wearing that purple dress and Sam couldn’t decide where to start. Her breathing was coming up short from her arousal and Sam watched her chest heave. Moving his hand slowly up her small waist, he cupped her breast.

The weight of it rested in his hand and he squeezed it firmly, feeling how hard her nipple was through the material. The dress gave anyone who was looking a perfect view of the teacup of her breasts and Sam had been staring at them all night long.

Pushing her so that her legs hit the back of the bed, he kept one arm around her waist and held her up against him.

“Yer all mine, Cait,” he smirked before leaning down and pressing his lips against the thin lace of her dress. It felt rough on his skin, but the soft velvet of the thin strips contrasted nicely and he opened his mouth, flicking his tongue against the hard bud through the material.

“Oh God,” Cait let out a shaky breath and Sam looked up to see her staring down at him with a look almost akin to pain. He knew he was driving her crazy with not being able to touch him back.

Sliding his hand along her back, Sam’s fingers found the zipper and he slid it down inch by inch, listening to the metal sound of the teeth coming apart. As he unzipped it, he continued to suck on her breasts through the dress, taking each in turn.

Needing to taste her properly, he pulled back and then felt his cock harden at the sight of her.

“Jesus, Cait.” Sam ran his fingers around the wet spot he had created with his spit on her dress. “It looks like your tits have leaked.”

She laughed then, her shoulders shaking and looked down at herself. He was right, however foolish he sounded. Caitriona felt her stomach tighten at the thought of one day carrying his child and her laughter died on her lips, her eyes once again meeting his.

“Take this damn dress off of me, Sam.”

His hands were at her wrists, tugging quickly at the material and once it was off she went about shrugging her shoulders and arms out of the sleeves. Finally feeling free, her arms wrapped around Sam’s neck and she fell backwards onto the bed, bringing him down with her.

“One day,” Sam kissed her neck, his fingers at the buttons of his shirt, pulling it off. “Yer belly will be filled with my child, Cait.” He straddled her hips, leaning up to tug the dress from around her arse and cursed when he saw she wasn’t wearing any panties.

Giggling, Cait hooked her thumbs into his boxers and pulled on the material and his cock sprang free, pressing against his belly — that one maddening vein making Cait’s legs go numb.

“And I’ll slide my hand over the curve of your stomach while we make love,” Sam threw the clothes off the bed, then took both her ankles in his hands, spreading her open. His eyes looked at her face for a long while, simply mesmerized at her beauty. How he had won her heart he would never understand.

“How many children?” Caitriona laughed as Sam’s hands tickled behind her knees.

His head lowered to kiss each breast, taking the nipple into his mouth. “As many as possible,” he smirked. Caitriona reached in between their bodies, taking his cock into her hand and rubbing her thumb on the head, feeling his pre-cum. Sam groaned, pressing his face into the crook of her neck and his hips held her down on the bed.

“Please be rough, Sam,” Cait moved his length to her entrance, lining it up and pressed it against her clit. “I can take it… I need it.”

“Fuck, Balfe.” Sam kissed her then, not being able to resist her lips that spoke such things to him and he rolled his hips forward. Pushing as deep as he could, once he felt the back of her walls, he pulled almost all the way out before pushing hard into her.

Caitriona held his body to hers, crying out with every thrust and ache in her body. She had never felt anything like this — this overpowering feeling of love that overtook her body when she was with Sam. He came to her so deeply and from the inside out she was his in every way.

Not caring about her red lipstick, she urgently pressed her lips against his, desperate to taste his tongue on hers. Sam’s hand slid up and down her body, digging into her flesh and she arched her back off the bed, keening with every touch.

“Oh God,” she panted, hooking her arm around his neck.

“Caitriona,” Sam said against her lips, his body possessing her and she felt it. The feeling that no matter what happened with them, they would always find their way to each other. As Sam slid in and out of her agonizingly slowly, she felt how perfectly they fit and gave over to the sensations, calling out his name over and over on her lips.

++++++

Time continued to pass by and as each day ended and a new one began, their love grew stronger. So strong that Sam wanted to do something about it. He wanted to show Cait just how much she meant to him — how much he believed in the future of them.

On one of their rare days off, he drove them both out of the city.

“Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise,” Sam smiled and placed his hand on Cait’s thigh, squeezing gently. He’d been planning this for months and was proud of himself for not spoiling it sooner.

When they arrived at their destination, Cait climbed out of the car, a bit confused as to why they were in an open field.

“Have you brought me here to murder me?” She laughed and looked over at Sam.

“No,” Sam smiled, walking over to her and kissing her. “I’ve brought ye here because this place is the surprise. This land. I bought it.”

“You bought all this land?” Cait asked, smiling as she looked out at the acres of empty land before her. They were standing along a wire fence, enjoying the breeze and the fresh air.

“Aye, I did. One day, I’ll have a house over there,” Sam pointed over to the left where the perfect spot for a house was. “And maybe stables so we can have horses out here,” he added.

“We?” Cait turned her head to look over at Sam.

Scratching his neck, Sam’s ears turned pink, “Well, of course, Cait. I bought this place for us. Did you no’ know that?”

Her cheeks turned red and she buried her face into his chest. “I never thought…”

“You’d have roots anywhere? I ken you’re a bit of a gypsy Cait, but you’re stuck with me.”

She pulled back and looked out at the land again, smiling. “It’s so beautiful, Sam. I can picture it. Our life here one day. When it’s just us and the world doesn’t exist.” Cait then pulled out her phone and took a picture of what would one day be their home — she wanted to remember this moment forever.

“Good idea, Balfe,” Sam grinned and took a nearly identical picture, immediately posting it to Instagram. “We don’t have to build a house now or anything, but the land is ours to do with as we please.”

Wrapping her arms around his waist, Cait leaned against him and took a deep breath. For so long she had moved around from place to place, country to country, never really feeling like she had a proper home. Standing here with Sam, she found it. Her home. In his arms, she was just where she needed to be.

“How about we grab some celebratory macarons on the way back?”

Sam raised his eyebrows, sticking it tongue out between his lips. “Mmm, I like the sound of that. And some celebratory champagne?”

“God yes,” Cait smiled and leaned up to kiss him, her fingers pulling at the hair on the nape of his neck. “Thank you… for this. It’s a lovely surprise.”

“I hope you don’t think it’s too much or too soon?”

She shook her head, “No, it’s just right. It feels right.”

Kissing her again, he lingered for a moment, just breathing in the air, pausing in that moment. Things were never simple for them, but he knew through all the pain and secrets that it was worth it — she was worth it.

As they drove back home, stopping for macarons on the way, neither one of them could have imagined that after that blissful afternoon, heartache was just around the corner.

#samcait #sam x cait #rpf #wrote this months ago #so #here ye go #love like this #LLT #sam heughan #caitriona balfe #outlander fanfic #samcait fanfic #mclairefras #you'll be gone from my life

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diwatang-sirena · 5 years

Text

It's interesting how the premiere episode of GOT Season 8 is painting Daenerys as an unfit Queen.

And seeing how a lot of the general audience is reacting to her actions negatively, it's definitely working.

While I am a Daenerys fan and will always want to defend her, I can't deny that some of her actions in this episode have come off as questionable. But I also cannot completely blame her for it either, as both sides of opposition in her scenes do have some merit to them.

Let's have a look at some of her main scenes shall we?

1. The Meeting with the Northerners

Of course we all expected the Northerners to not be ecstatic about Dany's arrival. Their concern is quite reasonable, especially after the rough times they've been through for the past years.

Sansa also in my opinion has good reason to question Daenerys in terms of practicality, especially with their food supplies. And I definitely can't blame her for being very wary of foreign strangers who is conveniently the daughter of the Mad King, especially after she herself has been passed around like a pawn by the likes of Cersei and Littlefinger. If Jon did not bend the knee to Daenerys during the first few days/weeks he's been in Dragonstone, why would Sansa be more lenient?

Still, I do think that it would've been smarter for Sansa if she took on a sneaky Margaery persona than a Cersei one in this case, perhaps by not really showing her true opinion of Dany in her face until she could really analyze her properly. Even Littlefinger rarely showed his distaste on certain people unless he's really sure of who they are and what he's going to do to them. And her questioning Jon and Dany's leadership in public for the Northerners to see is really not helpful to anyone, especially with the danger that's coming their way.

As for Daenerys, while I also can't blame her for being frustrated, I think she should've acted as the better person by at least assuring the North that she does not demand them to bend the knee, at least not immediately, especially when she herself experienced the threat of the Night King. After all, she did offer her allegiance to Jon completely before she knew that he would bend the knee to her, so it's interesting to see how she reverts back to making her queenship a priority.

Although in hindsight, if she does this instead, then Sansa and the Northerners might be even more suspicious and mistrustful of her since they'd expect that she'd want something in return for her services, so it really isn't a win-win situation for Dany's rep at the moment.

BUT HERE'S THE CATCH : Without Daenerys, her dragons, her dragonglass, and her army, will the North really be able to hold their fort?

Like what Jon said to Mance and Dany to Jon, isn't their survival more important than their pride?

This line applies to both sides of the party, but the reality is, the North needs Dany more than she needs them. So I find it funny how some people want Dany to be killed off when without her, they don't have a fighting chance against the Night King and the White Walkers. The odds of them surviving are already slim enough, why risk scraping that small chance even slimmer? Heck, they wouldn't even have the right weapons for it if it weren't for Dany's approval.

So I want to ask the haters, HOW can they say that Dany is truly evil when she's already brought everyone and everything they need for them to have a better chance at survival? Even after the way they treated her, she still didn't leave the North to fend for themselves the second she received their cold welcome.

Whatever you think of her ego or the lengths she would go through for her quest for power, do not forget that her true motive to be Queen in the first place is to end corruption and to save more people from more suffering. I see people sympathizing with Stannis Baratheon and still saying that he's the one true king despite all the terrible things he's done even before killing Shireen, and yet nobody calls him out as a Mad King.

Sansa questioned Jon on whether or not he bent the knee for the North or because he loved Dany. We all know by now that both assumptions are correct, but having Jon admitting to Sansa that his personal feelings had an effect to his decision would further make her distrust his leadership. In reality though, the love that Jon and Dany share with each other is one of the only reasons why Dany's still around to help save them, so in hindsight, Sansa should've been more grateful for the fact that a romance has bloomed between those two, especially when it means that Jon can help sway Daenerys' decisions for the good as it already had in the past.

2. DANY'S THREAT ABOUT SANSA

There is a scene where Jon and Dany walk around Winterfell and talk about how Sansa seemed to dislike Dany. This particular scene jumps out to people as one of the moments where Dany's "Mad Queen" persona came out where she seemingly implied in front of Jon that Sansa's safety will be compromised if she doesn't respect her before being cut off by the Dothraki. This is also most likely the scene that made the Dany detractors come alive.

It's very interesting that the first thing that comes to the general audience's mind when Dany left off her threat is that she'd burn Sansa with her dragons, as she did with Randyll and Dickon Tarley.

But when you really try to think about it more, is Dany really the type of person who would burn a young girl for defying her at this time, especially when said girl is the sister/cousin of her lover? And would Dany REALLY be that insensitive to make that sort of threat IN FRONT OF JON if her motive was truly as sinister?

Look at Jon's reaction. He doesn't seem affected by Dany's "life-endangering threat", in fact, he sympathizes with her frustration with Sansa. I mean think about it, why would he just stand by and do nothing if he thought that Dany was really threatening Sansa's life?

They may not be perfect, but Daenerys and Jon are not that stupid. Like what Dany said in Season 7 episode 7, she came to save the North, not to conquer it. Dany is there trying to get the Starks and the Northerners' approval, so why would she even think about burning their beloved Lady of Winterfell if it means that that'll not only destroy her relationship with the North but also with Jon?

This episode highlights how easy it is for the audience to judge Dany for her aggressive actions, choosing to see more of her faults and "Mad Queen" tendencies perhaps because of the Targaryen reputation rather than trying to sympathize with her as a person and see why she would feel that way.

Try to think in her shoes; She gave up her conquest for the throne, something she's worked for half of her life, to come save the North with every possible source she's got, has travelled a long way and had not long ago just lost a child to the Night King, and then arrived to Winterfell only to receive a very cold reception from the very people she's willing to save and sacrifice for, especially with the Lady of Winterfell and the other leaders not only questioning her authority in public, but also Jon's, the man she loved, who risked everything to give these people a better chance of surviving.

Why would anyone not feel the slightest bit offended if not only for herself but also for the one you love? Unfortunately, Daenerys Targaryen does not have the patience of Jesus Christ.

Jon himself probably understood that she needed to have someone to vent her irritation to, which is why he didn't retort back when Dany said what she said. Remember the time he tortured that poor dummy in Season 1 Episode 1 during Robert's welcoming feast because he was excluded by Catelyn from being with the Starks?

It's the same thing with Dany, except she uses strong words rather than actions. And Jon understands that. Remember that Dany is not actually an overly-confident person through and through. She has learned to put up an egotistical facade to hide her vulnerability and fear, just recall her conversation with Tyrion before they left for Westeros. Jon had already seen through that side of her when she came to the wall for him which resulted in Viserion's death. At that point, he knows that Daenerys is not the type of person who will just drop everything they've worked for for her ego, not after it cost her one of her children.

So in conclusion, perhaps we should readjust our perspective and remember that not everything people say out of exasperation are meant to be taken literally. Just like how not every little threat Daenerys makes means that she'll burn everyone alive. That's more Cersei's way to be honest.

Next up is the Sam-Dany Confrontation..

((To be continued?..))

#daenerys targaryen #jon snow #game of thrones #got #jonerys #daenerys defense club

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monsters-demons-and-ai-oh-my · 5 years

Text

What We Lost and What We Have: Chapter 2

May 18, 2000, the night Sam learned 3 things.

John had cheated on Mary. Kelly Kline was dead. And his younger half brother Jack was born…

Nearly 17 years later their family never really recovered. But after a panicked phone call from Jack's uncle Castiel, their family will never be the same.

"It's Jack, there's something wrong with Jack..."

AU somewhat inspired by Episode 2x20 - What Is and What Should Never Be, and the season 14 storyline concerning Jack's illness.

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AO3

Previous Chapter

Complete Tumblr Chapter List

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Chapter 2: A history of dumbassery, inadequacy, and definitely not a dog

“Dean are you still there?” Castiel’s voice was tilting away from fear into the realm of frustration and irritation again.

There was a long pregnant pause before Dean responded.

“What?”

He recognized the noises in the background of the call now. A tinny intercom with someone repeating a doctor’s name in a cool casual tone, distant the ringing of phones, a crying baby...the sounds of a busy emergency room.

“Jack he…” Castiel took a shaky breath trying to center himself, “we… we went back to our hotel after… what happened at the cemetery.”

He seemed finally balance himself on the rock that was being annoyed with Dean. Dean was too damn tired to care.

Castiel rambled “Jack said he was tired and had a headache so I gave him some Advil and let him sleep. I thought he was fine, upset…" he jabbed the word at Dean, "still getting over the cold he caught at school but fine…”

“Just please get to the point,” Dean groaned, he vaguely remembered the teenager hacking up a lung in the graveyard earlier that day. “So what? Does the kid have the coughing plague or something?”

Castiel went dead silent.

“We… we went out for a late dinner last night and he…” his voice broke, “Jack collapsed… he had a seizure.”

Dean’s mouth went dry “...Shit.” was all he could think to say.

Dean’s medical knowledge didn’t really go beyond the basic first aid needed for the occasional burns and bruises that came with working around hot engines and moving parts in the auto shop. But years of watching… certain soap opera’s told him that was very bad. Unless...

“Is that… normal for him?” Dean asked lamely, he wasn’t exactly an expert on Jack’s medical history.

By the time Jack came around Dean had already moved out, and he hadn’t been exactly been going out of his way to spend time with the kid in the few years Jack lived with John part-time. He’d only really seen Jack when John couldn’t first a sitter for work.

“Would I CALL you if it was?” Castiel nearly spat voice shaking clearly regressing back into panic mode.

Dean bit back a spiteful, “Then why the fuck did you call!?”

He wasn’t heartless. Even if the two people in question were people he’d pay good money to have not come within the same state as him ever again. A kid in the hospital… it was some rough shit.

When Sam was little he’d broken his arm jumping off the front porch railing of their house trying to be Superman. He remembered his parent's frantic frustrated arguing on the way to the hospital about who was supposed to be keeping an eye on Sam. His mother trying gently to get him to sit still for the x-ray. The sound of Sammy crying.

He settled on the slightly less harsh. “What do you want from me then?”

Castiel gave a long-suffering sigh, the one he inevitable heard whenever he tried to speak to the man, like he was trying to explain physics to an eight-year-old.

“They… they want to run tests, blood, an MRI, I know one thing they’re testing for is meningitis, and if it’s that’s what it is…” He let the sentence hang.

There was another voice in the background of the call. probably a nurse by their soft reassuring tone and Castiel’s uneasy thank you’s. He came back after a moment.

“Listen they're moving Jack to a room if it’s what I said... then the doctor will probably want to see you and your brother or… something. I’ll… I’ll call you later in the morning when he’s settled in, please just… get here alright…?” Castiel sounded as exhausted as Dean felt.

Dean suppressed a yawn, “Yeah… yeah sure just um… how about after the sun comes up this time eh?”

Castiel abruptly hung up and Dean blinked blearily at the phone for a moment before snorting.

"Typical..."

The combination of the liquor, lack of sleep and sheer bizarreness of the conversation were making the whole call feel surreal, like a bang on the roof in the dead of night you weren’t sure whether you imagined it or not.

Maybe whatever was going on with the kid would sort itself out by morning and he wouldn’t have to deal with this…

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Seven-ten the next morning Sam saw the big black muscle car pull up beside his hybrid in the parking lot of Lawrence Memorial. Dean exited the car wearing a pair of dark aviators despite the fact the sun had only just risen.

“Long night?”

Dean pulled off the glasses and shoved them into his jacket pocket shooting Sam a deadly glare, clearly not over what happened the day before.

“Did Saint Castiel tell you anything new?” Dean sighed draining the last of a cup of fast food coffee.

“I still don’t know why you insist on calling him that,” Sam said with a long-suffering sigh.

Dean tilted his head sardonically and tossing the cup in the bin by the door, “Yes... you do.”

“Let me rephrase that.” Sam's voice sharpened, “Maybe just don’t today okay Dean? Maybe for once act like a functioning adult, because this is neither the time nor the place for your bullshit…”

Dean stared at him eyes narrowed for a long moment before his posture relaxed and he shrugged.

“Okay.”

“Okay…” Sam said in mild disbelief.

Dean sighed and scrubbed at his eyes, wincing, “yeah fine, I get it. This shit it’s... crazy.”

There was a long significant pause.

“Castiel said he’d meet us up by the pediatrics ward…” Sam said after a moment studying the hospital entry’s diamond-patterned linoleum.

“Pediatrics?” Dean seemed to wince at the sound of the word.

“Yeah, Dean… Jack’s 16,” Sam muttered, turning to walk inside without another word. He felt like maybe it was time for Dean to stew on that fact for a while.

Things were quiet for the entire ride to the third floor, each Winchester fuming in their separate corner of the elevator.

The door dinged pleasantly before popping open to reveal a pacing Castiel his suit jacket rumpled like he hadn’t taken it off since they met the morning before.

“Thank god finally.” he breathed, “I was beginning to think…” he sighed and shook his head, “never mind I just… the doctor’s need you to answer some questions about... your family...”

Castiel trailed off seeming to lose interest in explaining turning on his heel and walking determinedly down the corridor to the ward entrance, Sam and Dean looked at each other for a moment before Sam shrugged and followed quickly behind.

“Is he… is Jack alright?” Sam asked awkwardly.

“He’s um…” Castiel sighed and paused to punch in a number in the keypad that kept random passersby out of pediatrics ward. “He’s been really out of it since we got here, he’s sleeping now.”

There was an electronic chime and he quickly opened the door, “he’s in the third room on the right…” Castiel muttered.

Something about the statement bothered Sam he quickly caught up with Castiel, “they’re keeping Jack on a normal ward?”

“Hmm?” Castiel blinked back sheepishly.

“It’s just… when you called you said they thought he might have meningitis,” Sam said carefully, “and if he did I doubt the medical staff would let us, let alone Jack himself near any of the other patients.”

Castiel stopped walking again but didn’t look at him, “No they um… he doesn’t have a high enough fever and or stiffness… they don’t think it’s that anymore…”

Sam nodded eyes narrowing slightly in confusion, there was something about that answer that made him uncomfortable.

It seemed Dean didn’t have any trouble putting his finger on what it was, “why didn’t you say that when you called this morning?”

There was an awkward silence inappropriately punctuated by the sound of children giggling in the distance. Castiel still didn’t look at them.

“I mean that was the reason you gave us to come today… right,” Dean’s words were deceptively casual.

Maybe it was his own vague hurt that kept Sam from telling Dean to shut up.

“What? did you think we wouldn’t come if we didn’t think It’d affect us?” Dean said cooly mouth twitching.

Castiel finally turned to look at him eyebrows drawn together in a warning.

“Dean maybe you shouldn’t…” Sam tried before being cut off by a hand, Dean’s eyes didn’t waver unphased by Castiel’s glare.

“Is that really what you think? That if you needed us we’d just let Jack, a kid, suffer? Do you think we’re that petty?”

“I…” Castiel’s eyes darted in the direction of Jack’s room. Through the window, Sam could just spot his blanket covered feet at the end of the bed.

“Do you really think we're that shitty of people!?” Dean’s voice rose.

Castiel’s eyes narrowed and he snapped back to Dean, “Think of you? I don’t think about you at all Winchester. I don’t know you!”

They both stared each other down for a long moment, sizing each other up. For a moment Sam thought they might start a fight right there in front of the wall mural of children of every race and color playing ring around the rosie, complete with a happy Sun.

But the seconds came and went.

“We would have come Castiel…” Sam said quietly.

Castiel finally looked up eyes watering slightly, and Sam could have sworn he saw the man’s hands shake.

“I couldn’t risk that…” he said softly.

The tenseness was broken a moment later by a sing-songy drawl.

“Well looks like the rest of the pissy party parade has arrived, so how about we take this little shindig out of the hall…”

Sam nearly leap a foot in the air, he hadn’t heard the nurse walk up, she stood behind him giving all three of them a smile that radiated the energy of someone who would just as easily disembowel them. With all their racket they probably deserved it.

“I’m sorry…” he glanced down at her name tag, “nurse Masters.”

She tapped her nails against her clipboard and gave him the same thin smile, “alright cupcake,” she tilted her head towards Jack’s room. “Right now there’s a very confused medical student sitting in there trying to figure out how exactly he’s supposed to get a history from RipVanWinkle, I figure he’d have more luck with you three.”

Cas moved first huffing softly quickly hurrying past the nurse seeming to forget the argument the second he was reminded of Jack.

Dean strolled slower behind the man still looking pissed off, leaving Sam alone in the corridor with the nurse who smiled at him expectantly.

“Right, sorry…” Sam unfroze and sheepishly followed.

Sam tried to look anywhere but at Jack when he entered the room, Castiel had automatically taken a seat in a chair on the far side of the boy’s bed his coat and a thin blue hospital blanket thrown across the back of it like he’d been camping there all night.

Dean was leaning against the far wall arms crossed, staring down a terrified-looking Asian kid in a lab coat clutching a clipboard to his chest.

By the time Sam took a seat beside the door and the nurse followed behind him the room was far too crowded for comfort.

In a room full of people he didn’t want to lock eyes with the unconscious kid in the bed suddenly became the least daunting sight.

There was an abrasion on Jack’s brow bone and a long bruise trailing down to his chin, like he’d fallen and hit head something hard on the way down.

Sam wished he felt more.

Jack was a pale stranger of a teenage boy, upsetting but...

Sam wondered if he was walking alone down the hallway and looking into the rooms if he would have even been able to pick Jack out of the other faces in their beds.

Seeing Jack like this made him feel pity and sadness, but seeing the deep-seated fear and worry on Castiel’s face

Jack was supposed to be family

Guilt bloomed in Sam’s chest. The only memory that he could pull up was at will was that Jack liked goldfish when he was two. He tried to look closer at the boy on the bed, pluck at the strings of his heart.

He focused on how Jack’s breathing was a little too fast and shallow, the heart rate on the monitor a little too rapid…

The kid was hooked up to an IV and about six different sensors, some wires trailing down the neck of his hospital gown one clipped onto the middle finger of his left hand. The opposite wrist and hand were strapped in a temporary splint, like his face probably a casualty of the seizure the night before.

The thought made Sam wince.

God this was a joke.

Someone cleared their throat “I uh… hello…” Sam broke out of his self deprecating reverie.

It was the medical student in the lab coat, gripping his clipboard and still nervously eyeing Dean. He yanked his eyes away to focus on Castiel.

“Are these the um… brothers you were talking about?”

Castiel didn’t look up from where he was straightening the blankets over Jack’s chest.

“They’ll be able to give you the information on his father’s side that I couldn’t,” he muttered distractedly.

“Half-brothers,” Dean said cooly from his position by the wall, “and I’m right over here.”

The nurse whistled strolling over to the side of Jack’s bed and picking up his chart.

“If nothing else…” she read, “Jack… will get a healthy dose of machismo today.” She frowned at something on the chart before clipping it back over the end of the bed and stepping closer to the monitor.

“Try not to make the med student piss himself okay? Bringing the janitor in here would put the room capacity over code,” the nurse said squinting at it.

“Is something wrong?” Cas asked her a little alarmed.

She gave him a smile no more sincere than her previous ones, but with worry and attempted comfort in the place of irritation.

“Don’t worry about it daddy dearest, nothing’s... changed.”

The way she said it didn’t seem all that positive when she immediately followed it up by leaving the room at a brisk pace.

They all stared after her awkwardly for a few seconds.

“A-about that history,” the med student said the tone of someone being forced to tell a joke at gunpoint.

Dean was still staring at guy though he looked more puzzled than threatening now. Dean had probably just been hungover in the first place and got the lab coat confused with the white wall when staring into empty space.

“Dude, I’m not going to eat you…”

The med student looked thoroughly unconvinced.

“Fine, you want history right?” Dean pulled one of the plastic chairs across the floor and leaned back against the wall, “ask away Kevin.”

The kid opened his mouth looking confused before glancing down at his name tag and turning red, “Right, um… your father?”

Dean turned to address his answer at Castiel. Castiel didn’t bother looking back.

“Died of a heart attack age 45, don’t know about his dad, grandma lives in Florida looking like she’s live to an ornery 105, anything else? I’m not here to hide anything” Dean shot the last sentence at Castiel before turning back to face Kevin.

The kid jumped.

“Y-yeah… your father’s heart attack, was it related to any pre-existing cardiac or pulmonary disease?”

Dean glanced up at Sam tilting his head befuddled.

“Heart and lung problems…” Sam huffed, “he didn’t have any I know of.”

“Yeah…” Dean looked down twirling his aviators in his hands, “he had high cholesterol, shitty bachelor’s diet and all that you know.”

Sam rolled his eyes and muttered, “yeah because that wasn’t his own choice or anything.”

“Bite me, Sam.” Dean grinned at him leaning back in his chair again.

“If you’re not going to be helpful then leave,” Castiel barked suddenly shooting both brothers a steely look.

The door slid open again and nurse Masters re-entered with her hands full.

"I leave for two minutes and you' start the orgy without me,” she dropped her armload of supplies down on the rolling table at the end of the bed and got to work.

“Listen I can and will use the skills I've gained changing the sheets of three hundred pound men solo to kick your asses out of here so behave…" she warned.

Castiel was quickly distracted hovering over her every movement around Jack.

Sam and Dean's faces mirrored mild shock.

"Did she just threaten us?" Dean said nonplussed plunking his chair back on four legs.

"I think so," Sam blinked.

"Can she do that? Like legally?" Dean asked.

Sam rolled his eyes, "I don't think she cares…"

Nurse Masters finished fitting a nasal cannula around Jack's face, marked down something on his chart, and left again flashing one last patent murder grin.

“Thanks…” the med student squeaked after her, quickly looking back to his clipboard when he realized everyone was staring.

“So um… is there anyone with a history of epilepsy in your family…” Kevin said not daring to look up again.

“Nope,” Dean sighed, distantly pissed again.

“Autoimmune disease?”

“Sam?” Dean said looked at him expectantly.

“No…” Sam sighed going to look through his emails on his phone, feeling more out of place by the second. He cleaned out his inbox to the tune of Dean’s repeated “no’s”

"Diabetes?"

"Nope," Dean yawned

Kevin tapped his clipboard with his pen, "Cancer?"

“Actually we did have a second cousin who’s died of cancer,”

“Oh?” Kevin’s head tilted up almost seeming relieved.

“Lung cancer, she smoked like three packs a day and worked in an asbestos factory,” Dean blinked and giving him a weird look.

“Oh…” Kevin trailed off.

“Cas?” a feeble voice broke the monotony.

Sam fumbled and almost dropped his phone, looking up.

Jack was waking up. The blanket shuffled slightly and he coughed hoarsely.

Castiel jumped and went almost immediately to hover over him.

The kid's eyes were half open glancing lazily around at the ceiling and Castiel like they weren't quite taking everything in.

"Jack?" Castiel asked voice quivered, "Jack I'm right here…"

The boy blinked dazedly reaching an exploratory hand up to feel the tube on his face tugging a little on the iv in his arm in the process. He blinked blearily at it for a moment and then his eyes snapped open breathing speeding up fearfully.

"Jack are you okay? hey hey, Jack… look at me…" Castiel said carefully laying a hand on his shoulder, "you're in the hospital."

Jack went stiff in his bed arms held awkwardly in front of him hovering over his chest like he was scared to move and accidentally yank on something important.

"No… no I…" he breathed looking around panicked, wincing, his eyes caught sight on the splint on his arm.

"I'm sorry…" he mumbled giving another hacking cough and tearing up, "did I… did I get in a fight? I'm sorry, please don't ground me…"

He didn’t even seem to notice Sam or Dean in the room.

"No Jack you're not in trouble you didn't do anything," Castiel quickly reassured him with a soft smile, "you… fell Jack…" his voice cracked.

Something in Sam’s stomach squirmed like he was invading something incredibly personal and private.

Castiel took a steadying breath that came out almost as shakily as Jack’s."Y-you had a seizure, Jack…"

The teenager’s eyes widened.

“Do you… do you remember anything about what happened?” Cas reached out to gently relax Jack’s arms back on top of his blanket.

“M-my head hurt… I…” Jack’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “I felt… weird, I went to the bathroom…” he trailed off.

Cas smiled sadly, “you did, and you locked the door…” he gently held the boy's non-splinted hand, “I really wish you hadn’t done that.”

Dean must have felt as out of place as Sam did because at that point with barely a sound he got up face unreadable and left the room.

Jack finally noticed his older siblings then roaming glazed eyes landing bewildered on Dean’s retreating back before shifting to Sam.

Sam’s chest jumped and he opened his mouth searching for something to say but Jack looked quickly away as if burned before he could get anything out.

It hard for Sam to resist following Dean right out the door after that. Instead, Sam tried to busy himself on his phone drafting an email to his work that he’d be a day late flying back.

“No no, I…” Jack face screwed up and he coughed again much harsher than before into his free hand, “I can’t,” his breath came out in a wheezy huff between coughs.

The medical student Kevin came to the side of his bed and picked up the control pushing a button causing the back to come to a half seated position.

It seemed to help because the coughing eased after a few moments and Jack was finally able to finish his sentence.

He cleared his throat, his pale face stained pink from the stress of the attack, “I… I can’t be in the hospital… we need to go home… I need to feed F-felix.”

"Felix? Did Jack have a dog or something," Sam thought.

Castiel comforted him gently, “Jack you fed him before we left, it’ll be at least another week before you feed him again.”

“Ah so… definitely not a dog then…”

“M-maybe you could bring him here?” Jack looked up at him hopefully.

Castiel blinked it was his turn to look confused, “Jack I don’t think they let pets in the hospital.”

“I… I’ve got school tomorrow…” Jack muttered conversation changing mid-stride looking unfocused past Castiel, “we… we have to go back.”

“Jack, you’re in the hospital I think they’ll understand,” Castiel shot the medical student a worried look.

“He’s um… they have him on morphine for the arm, he might be a little… confused?” Kevin explained looking a little unsure himself.

“Mr. Edlund hates me…” Jack muttered trying to push himself weakly up in bed, “he’ll fail me.”

Castiel sighed, placing a hand on his chest, “well then it’s good that I work at your school, I’ll just have to talk Chuck out of that okay?”

Jack seemed appeased by that and relaxed back against his pillows.

“I actually needed to ask Jack a few questions for the form,” Kevin said after a moment awkwardly clicking his pen.

Sam’s eyebrow rose, Castiel shot Kevin a look.

Kevin cleared his throat suddenly studying his clipboard like it held the secrets of the universe, “Um have you recently taken any drugs, Jack?”

Jack hunched up defensively giving Kevin a suspicious look, “Yes… but you gave them to me…”

“Okay,” Castiel broke in aggravated, “maybe now… isn’t the best time for that?”

“P-please don’t,” Jack cleared his throat, “call the c-cops…” he took a shaky breath and launched into another fit of coughing.

Castiel gently patted the boy's back as he curled in on himself coughing into his hands Castiel’s expression quickly turning to one of alarm as the coughing was broken up by almost choking gasps.

“Sh-should we call someone?” Sam asked nervousness sinking into his stomach. Kevin opened his mouth unsure.

It took a minute for the coughing to gradually ease, Jack’s face red and eyes watering as he shakily regained his breath…

“Are you alright?” Castiel asked, the hand not on Jack’s back gripping the bed rail like a lifeline.

Jack was squinting befuddled into his hand, “I… I think I coughed up a lung…” he mumbled before raising his hand for all to see, “look…”

The medical student turned dead white fumbling around for the call button.

Jack’s palm was coated in blood.

#Supernatural #SPN #fanfiction #Jack Kline #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #Castiel #angst #whump #illness #family drama #kinda a #sickfic

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