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mittensmorgul · 3 years

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do we know why the boys were not allowed to have facial hair on the show? i feel like it was more in character than to assume sam and dean had to time to just always be clean shaven in the middle of apocalypses, being demons or possessed, fighting gods ect. on the flip side, im still confused as to how cas grew facial hair in purgatory when i didnt think that was something that happened to angel vessels?

Hi there! There's actually quite a bit going on in this question (I think this is my way of saying sorry it's taken me a few days to get to it :'D)

I'll start by saying I don't think it was a matter of "not allowed" to have facial hair, but it's actually more complicated than that. Not to mention Dean especially was almost never what I'd call "clean shaven" outside of when they were beginning a hunt and posing as FBI.

There's a video I think on the s1 dvd's called something like "a day in the life of Jared and Jensen". Wait... I found it on the youtube...

youtube

It's only about 10 minutes long, and if you haven't seen it, it's worth watching all of it. It was shot during the filming of 1.20 Dead Man's Blood, so they hadn't even been at this a full year yet. About 2 1/2 minutes in, they go through hair and makeup, and talk about shaving.

Back in s1, Sam had to be more clean shaven to look younger, and Dean had to have a bit of scruff just to look a bit older. So at first it was to visually make their ages more obvious. But it's also about continuity on camera. Remember, each episode of supernatural was filmed over eight weekdays (with a couple days for weekends in the middle). Episodes are NOT filmed in scene order. It would make it almost impossible to show normal, chronological beard growth over the span of two weeks of filming, you know?

If they film scene 38 first, then scene 12, then scene 19, then scene 2 over the course of four days, their facial hair has to remain believably consistent, not grow and shrink :'D So having a designated easily duplicatable facial hair style (and hair cut, because head hair can grow noticeably in two weeks, too, especially when it's as short as Jensen's on the sides/back) makes visual continuity actually possible. Especially when they're filming entire EPISODES out of airing order.

Think about Jensen's beard in the AU bunker battle scene in the beginning of 15.04. That was the first episode filmed of s15, and those were the first SHOTS filmed of s15 before Jensen shaved off his hiatus beard for the rest of the season. Those scenes were probably filmed in a single day, two at most, before he had to resume "standard Dean." Also think about Demon Dean's slightly longer hair that went back to normal, or Sam's beard from the first three episodes of s14 before he shaved in 14.04. Those times the longer hair/facial hair was used to show a lack of self-care for various reasons.

I think Cas's Purgatory beard was used to show the same. He was doing "penance" in his own mind, but I do think it was also the seeds of his entire depression arc that would run right through 15.18 and then never get an actual resolution (sorry, I had to at least grumble about that a little bit...). I remember Jensen saying when he asked why Dean was clean-shaven in Purgatory and Cas wasn't, he was told by someone that "Dean has knives," and would actually continue shaving for some reason, while Cas wouldn't even bother using his grace/powers to maintain his appearance there.

I don't believe the show has ever made any sort of statement about angel vessels NOT growing hair/facial hair. Plus by this point in the series, we really do have to consider that Cas's body, not as much his vessel anymore. Jimmy was long gone, and the last at least two times Cas had been resurrected, that body was also remade for him. We're at least two degrees of remove from that being a normal vessel, so even if angel vessels aren't "supposed to" grow hair or change their appearance, Cas would have an exception asterisk attached. :'D

The thing is, we HAVE seen other angels change the appearance of their vessels. I mean... Lucifer, for one, especially in s13. He grew scruff, looked messy, etc. And it was explained to be a result of having been imprisoned and his grace seriously depleted to the point he couldn't even perform small magical tasks for himself.

So why did Cas grow scruff in Purgatory? Because television is a visual storytelling medium. If you had a friend in real life who usually looked like Cas normally does, and then saw him after months and saw the guy Dean found in Purgatory, what would your immediate thoughts be about how that friend had been doing lately? Did similar thoughts about how Cas's last few months in Purgatory alone, running from Leviathans, staying alive primarily to keep the Leviathans focused on HIM instead of on Dean?

I think the phrase "run ragged" applies to Cas's Purgatory look. Sometimes facial scruff combined with smudged on dirt is the fastest visual shorthand for "yikes this guy has had it rough lately." Hence his "get clean" scene in 8.07 restoring him entirely to "normal," including clean-shaven and a decent haircut somehow. I think he'd been entirely able to have given himself that look in Purgatory, but he just never bothered to. For whatever reason, Dean did bother. And that was part of the visual narrative telling us that Dean still cared, and that Cas (outside of his mission of keeping the leviathan away from Dean) didn't.

Like, even when Cas was human in early s9, when he was on the run and homeless, even when he was given opportunity to shave his scruff (at the beginning of the episode while brushing his teeth, and at the end after showering at the bunker and before being kicked out) he still retained the scruff. The next time we saw him in 9.06, when he was settling into his "new human life" as a sales associate, even though we understand he's still technically homeless, he's actually maintaining his appearance, demonstrated by his care for himself and the fact he bothered to shave. For him, it was a visual signifier of his growing to accept himself.

To go way back up to that video above, in the makeup trailer are dozens of photos of different looks for each of them. Yes, some are purely silly, but even as shown in 6.15 The French Mistake (the "I'm a painted whore!" scene) are a few similar continuity photos. Every day of filming, every change to makeup and hair (including FX makeup showing wounds, bruises, etc.) has to be documented for the sake of continuity. Or you'd have an episode with alternating scenes of them having longer/shorter/longer facial hair over the course of what's supposed to be a single day on screen. The easiest way to maintain that continuity is character consistency, only having a drastically different look occasionally, for a specific reason.

So why couldn't they have chosen to go with a beard for an entire season? It's just as easy to maintain beard consistency day to day on set as it is to just have them shave to scruff, right? Crowley did that... he was clean-shaven the first few seasons he was on the show, and then grew the beard, so why not Sam and Dean?

As I said above, the visual language of the show actually means something. These aren't real people who might casually decide to grow facial hair for fashion reasons. They're fictional characters being used to tell a specific story. Their appearance and their clothing choices are visual shorthand to give us information about their current mental state, their internal priorities, etc. It's all part of the story, and in this story, Sam and Dean generally care enough to maintain their chosen physical appearance. They only seem to grow beards when they're either being run ragged or otherwise lack the ability to care for themselves, whether by choice or by circumstance.

I think it's less "they were not allowed to grow beards" and more "this would not be in character in the visual language of the show."

#visual storytelling #spn fashion hour pffft #heck what else do i even tag this? lol #on the nature of angel grace #i guess since there's literally nothing in canon that says angels can't grow facial hair or that they don't #just that in most circumstances they actually bother to maintain the appearance of their vessels

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luffylaws · 7 years

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Explain The Currents, As I Just Smile

10 Days of Lawlu Day 10: T is for… Time

Summary: Decades after Luffy found the One Piece, Law is still with him.

[read on AO3]

there we go, that’s the last one. this was so much fun to do again! happy lawlu day <3

Time had been kind to Luffy, and he knew it.

Despite the years he had lost in Impel Down, and the months and months his life as a pirate must have shaved off his life span, he was still fortunate enough to see his hair go slowly grey. There were no executions to end his life and no illness to cut it short.

He had never seen himself as the kind of person who would retire one day. He would find his end on the sea. The ocean had been his home for longer now than Dawn Island ever had been. The Thousand Sunny was where he belonged.

It was a little weird, because he could have seen everyone else doing that. Settling down. Retiring on small or big islands. Sanji should have opened that restaurant. Franky should have been allowed to return to Water 7. Robin should have finally been able to end her long years of running, and never having a home.

But they were all still there with him.

He was standing at the bow of the Sunny – now an old ship, and he was proud she had made it that far – and was contemplating climbing up onto the figurehead, when Law stepped up next to him.

The Heart Pirates had disbanded years ago, gone their separate ways, but Law had stayed with Luffy, even though Bepo had offered him a calm, safe life on Zou. For a while Law had considered rebuilding Flevance, but finally given up on the idea when they had visited his former home. It had been too painful.

So he had kept traveling with them.

“Any thoughts on where we’re going now?” Law asked. His hair had gone almost gone completely grey by now, and Luffy loved touching it, loved reminding himself how many years Law had spent with him.

Luffy shrugged and grinned. “Into the sunset for now. Then tomorrow we’ll see.”

“I liked you better when you had a plan,” Law said drily, and Luffy could clearly hear that it was a joke. He laughed.

“I never had a solid plan beyond ‘becoming Pirate King’,” he said.

They watched the waves and the sunset in silence for a while, and Luffy tried to remember who had first watch. Was it Usopp? It probably was.

“Maybe we should go back to Alabasta,” Luffy said then, leaning on the railing now, “and give Nami a chance to meet with Vivi again.”

Luffy knew that Law had only been to Alabasta once, briefly, and wanted to give him the opportunity to get to know the country as well as he did. He had been there together with Nami more often than he could count by now. Her relationship with Vivi – who had been queen for nearly three decades now – was no secret, although the navy ignored it for the most part. Being the strongest pirates on the seas had its perks.

“That’d be nice,” Law said.

“I’ll talk to Nami about it in the morning then.”

But for now they would just watch the sea. Nothing was set in stone, and there was nothing to do.

Luffy had never wanted to become like Whitebeard, and he was glad he had not.

He was technically a Yonko, but he didn’t run any of the big enterprises Big Mom or Doflamingo had, he didn’t have the big fleet Whitebeard had had, and he sure as hell wasn’t the cliché that Blackbeard had become (and not ceased to be with his death). He was probably still closest to Shanks’ style of piracy, and he remembered his former mentor fondly.

The thought of Shanks made him touch his hat subconsciously and adjust it on his head.

He had eventually given the hat back to him, but Shanks had only kept it for another couple years before he died. Then Ben had returned the hat to Luffy, and Luffy hat started wearing it once more. He guessed the hat was truly his now, and it was probably better that way. Shanks had said that wearing it didn’t feel right anymore – he wasn’t Straw Hat Luffy.

Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy. Sometimes he forgot he was carrying that title now.

No one reigned over the seas, and he wouldn’t presume to pretend he did. He had people loyal to him, and people who loved him all over the world – as well as people who hated him. Just as any other person.

But still people came to him to handle disputes, or for protection for their islands, or for advice.

“What are you thinking about?” Law asked.

Luffy shrugged. “The present. The past.”

Law raised an eyebrow. “That’s rare for you.”

“Getting more common now,” Luffy said and grinned. “I’m getting old, remember?”

“You’re not that old yet,” Law scoffed. Luffy laughed, because it wasn’t true – he was older than he ever thought he would be, and he knew Law was the same.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” he asked, straightening up. “That we made it this far.”

“I ask myself how you did it every day,” Law said. “Fate, maybe? Luck, probably. Your friends… most definitely.”

Luffy laughed and bumped their shoulders together. “And my allies.”

“I can’t believe you still like to call me that.”

“Well,” Luffy said and once again considered climbing up onto the lion’s head. His knees could still manage it. “You are everything to me after all. Ally, friend, lover.” He heard Law gasp beside him and grinned at him. “Still surprised?”

“It just never gets old.” Law snuck an arm around his shoulder and pressed a kiss to Luffy’s temple.

“Good, because you’ll be stuck with me for another while, hopefully,” Luffy said.

Law hummed in hopeful agreement and Luffy could see him smiling. It was a sight that had become more frequent – a joyful, happy smile, not the spiteful, aggressive grins he had been sporting when Luffy had first met him. It was a good look on him.

Luffy leaned against him and breathed in the smell of the night mixed with Law’s cologne.

There was no rush to go to bed. No rush to do anything. They could just enjoy the cool night air, and the stars glimmering in the sky.

Law had his arm around Luffy, and Luffy was calm.

#10 days of lawlu 2k17 #10daysoflawlu #opfanfic #lawlu #one piece #my writing #my fics

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