#I think there's enough implied that Dean could work out the implications | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

scoobydoodean · 1 month

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Do you think John ever used to hit Sam and Dean? If so do you think he hit one of specifically or do you think he hit the both of them?

I don't think there's any solid evidence that John hit Sam and Dean. Some people do believe he did at least a few times (maybe when he was drinking—see: 7.03). I can't think of anything that I believe would 100% confirm John hit either of them.

I can think of three episodes that might imply Dean was occasionally physically abused by John:

1.14 "Nightmare": Dean's "All things considered". Haunting little set of screencaps.

5.16 "Dark Side of the Moon": This one is mainly down to jacting joices. When the brothers enter Sam's memory of running away to Flagstaff, Dean gets upset as Sam's lack of memory of the ramifications. Dean says "Well, you don’t remember, do you? You ran away on my watch. I looked everywhere for you. I thought you were dead. And when Dad came home…" The look Dean gives on that last line tends to stick with people.

9.07 "Bad Boys": In the scene where Dean and Sonny first meet, Dean has finger-shaped bruises all over his wrists. Sonny first asks if the deputy harmed Dean, then asks if it was John. Dean says it was a werewolf, but that story doesn't necessarily make sense either.

Another suggestive hint comes from young Sam in 7.03 "Girl Next Door":

YOUNG AMY Yeah, well, she [my mom] has a temper. Sometimes. It's... no big deal. YOUNG SAM My dad does, too. You don't want to see him when he's drinking.

Sam doesn't necessarily understand the implication of physical abuse in this scene, but he later finds out that Amy's mother is physically abusive toward Amy. We also knew that John had a drinking problem long prior to 7.03. Sam in particular resents this to the point of making several references to John's excessive drinking in 1.01 inside his apartment building. He says John's probably just "Working overtime on a Miller Time shift", then tells Jess that John's probably somewhere with "Jim, Jack, and Jose” (these are all brands of alcohol for anyone unfamiliar).

While 7.03 seems potentially damning, Sam explicitly denies that John physically abused him in 1.14 "Nightmare". When confronted with Max's extensive physical abuse, he ends the episode being thankful that they had John instead of some other dad who might not have coped as well:

Well, it coulda gone a whole other way after Mom. A little more tequila and a little less demon hunting and we woulda had Max's childhood. All things considered, we turned out ok. Thanks to him.

One might also consider how Sam responds to hearing about abusive relationships in 1.14 and 2.17 with Max and Madison respectively. He asks Max why he didn't just leave when the abuse continued into his adulthood, and suggests that he doesn't see Madison as the type to be caught up in an abusive relationship (questions that do make one wince, yeah...)

My own thinking is the following: I don't think there's anything wrong with exploring the idea that physical abuse did occur. I think John's well-documented neglect is enough child abuse for me personally. I think 1.14 probably rules out John hitting Sam (but one could argue otherwise). I think some incidents can be used to suit the narrative that John hit Dean, but I don't find any of the hints we're given are concrete proof of physical abuse.

1.14's "All things considered" line might be interpreted as a convincing suggestion that Dean suffered physical abuse, but it also might just represent Dean slowly trading places with Sam over the season as the John Defender, as he becomes more and more angry with their father (especially considering 1.14 comes after both of Dean's pleas for help went unanswered in 1.09 and 1.12, and 1.11 where he says he wishes he could stand up to John).

5.16 comes down to a look that, at the end of the day, could be interpreted a multitude of ways (and if I think about it... it seems to me that words would haunt Dean more at that point in his life than fists).

It seems to me that 9.07 might actually rule out John being responsible for Dean's injuries. John had been gone on a hunt when Dean got caught for stealing, leaving Sam and Dean behind at a motel. John had been gone long enough for Dean to risk gambling to try and get more cash. This suggests John had been gone for a while, meaning Dean and John probably hadn't been in the same room for a while. This also means I'm not sure if I buy Dean's story about a werewolf though (John was on a Rugaru hunt. Dean wasn't with him).

#mail #john #i dont deserve what he put on me #we probably have a lot more in common than just about anyone #1.14 #5.16 #9.07 #7.03

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taibhsearachd · 3 years

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Speaking of S3 and how it failed:

Dean letting Bela die without any compassion actually undermines his position lore-wise as the righteous man who finally sheds blood in hell. Is it righteous to look at an abused, traumatized child and decide she deserves to be dragged to hell for a deal she made as a TERRIFIED CHILD because she grew up to be a somewhat terrible selfish adult? Personally I don’t think so???

Wouldn’t it have underscored his righteousness more had he recognized all of that and decided that no matter what shit she’d pulled as an adult, her being hellbound was the result of a deal she made as a child trying to escape a terrible situation and she did not deserve that? Wouldn’t it have been clearer that he was a righteous man had he tried his best to save her from an unjust fate, even after she stole critical items from him, because some things are just wrong? Wouldn’t it have some real resonance had he thrown his energy into saving this girl who did real wrong to him but did not deserve to die this way, when he could have been working to save himself? Wouldn’t that speak to his righteousness as a person?

What if he’d tried to save her and she died anyway? What if he did save her and failed to save himself? Wouldn’t any of this be more compelling than what actually happened?

#supernatural #yes I know Bela never told Dean exactly what happened to her as a child #but also...#I think there's enough implied that Dean could work out the implications #and why would you explicitly put that on screen if it was never going to be important????#you just like the idea of CSA as a reason someone deserves HELL???#literally it's a horrifying thing to include if you always intended to send this woman to hell #fully condemning all of her actions and choices up to and including her childhood #absolutely nauseating #to be entirely fair: we do not know how much of the season was written prior to the writer's strike #as a writer personally I would have put off Dean's death to a later season and bet on compressing the apocalypse if I had to #but I realize they had no actual writers available at a certain point bc again #WRITER'S STRIKE #but oh my god the end point they arrived at is both ideologically horrifying and narratively unsatisfying #honestly it undermines the narrative #this is your one righteous man? this guy?#200 thousand years of humans as a species #12 thousand years since we started building settlements #and THIS GUY is the first righteous person to make a deal where he ends up in hell and then sheds blood?#sorry but as you've written him I don't buy it #and there were very obvious doors open for you to write him in a way that I would believe that

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dickspeightjrs · 4 years

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Kiss It Better (canon / 1.1k words)

ao3 link

Dean is tired down to his bones.

The ghost they’d been hunting was a stubborn bastard and wouldn’t just give up and die (though when did they ever). It’d thrown the Dean into a few headstones while Sam and Castiel had been fighting to burn the bones.

But it was finally dealt with and now here they are, staggering into yet another nameless motel room. Dean had made the mistake of leaving Sam in charge of getting the rooms so now he and Castiel are stuck with a queen and Sam’s room is a few doors down. Dean didn’t want to think about what Sam was trying to imply.

Dean flicks the switch by the door and the light twitches into life. He lets his duffle fall to the floor with a clunk and shuffles over to the mirror. He inspects his injuries. He has a few cuts and scrapes littering his face and he’s probably going to be bruised as hell in the morning but at least he’s alive.

Still checking himself out in the mirror, Dean’s eyes flit up and catch Castiel’s watching him. The angel is standing behind him with an uncomfortable look of concern on his face.

“Y’know, the wind changes and your face will stay like that.” Dean mocks. He watches as Castiel’s head does its signature tilt of confusion.

“I don’t understand how the variation of the wind affects someone’s facial expressions.” Castiel wonders.

Dean rolls his eyes lightly and shakes his head with a chuckle. “Don’t worry about it, man.” He cuts himself off with a sharp hiss as he moves his shoulders, trying to work out the tension that has built in them.

“Dean.” Castiel says, moving closer to the hunter. “Are you okay? Are you in pain?”

Dean turns to face Castiel. “Nothing I’ve not dealt with before.” He tries to reassure the angel with a cheeky grin.

But Castiel isn’t buying it. “Dean..” He presses.

“Seriously, man,” Dean sighs, “I’m fine.”

Dean hopes Castiel will just drop it. Every man and his dog knows how much Dean hates talking about his feelings.

Of course, Castiel knows it too but he chooses to ignore it.

“Dean, you have cuts all over you and you limped all the back to the car. Do you ever get tired of saying you’re fine when it’s clear you’re not?” Castiel walks closer into Dean’s space, almost close enough for their breaths to mingle.

Dean hates the way Castiel can see right through him.

“Yeah? And what are you gonna do about it, Cas? Kiss it better?” Dean sarcastically quips, hoping it’ll annoy Castiel enough to make the angel drop the subject in exasperation. (He won’t let his brain think too hard about how much he wishes Castiel would actually kiss it better - that one is staying buried until he’s in his grave, permanently.)

“Dean,” Castiel growls, “must you always deflect when someone is trying to care for you?”

Dean goes warm inside at Castiel’s implication that he cares about him. Of course Dean knows, logically, that Castiel cares for him. He’s saved both his and Sam’s asses many times. Given up armies for Dean. Dean knows Castiel cares. But to hear it said out loud in this context is overwhelming. He doesn’t dare to hope.

Dean doesn’t know how to answer but he’s saved when Castiel lightly grips his upper arms and moves him to sit on the edge of the bed.

Suddenly, the atmosphere shifts and Dean fully accepts that he’ll do anything Castiel asks of him when he is looking down at him with blue eyes filled with concern.

“Take off your shirt and lie down.” Castiel whispers.

Dean frowns slightly in confusion. “I thought you were just going to heal me?”

Castiel crouches to kneel in front of Dean, resting a delicate hand on Dean’s knee. “I said I wanted to care for you. That doesn’t just involve healing you.”

Dean doesn’t trust himself to speak, so he slowly, carefully reaches to lift his dirty, bloody shirt over his head. He cringes slightly at the look on Castiel’s face when the angel takes in the marks littering his torso. So maybe Castiel had been right. Dean is not okay.

Castiel wordlessly reaches out a hand to run a soft finger across the purpling bruises on Dean’s chest. He sighs and shakes his head minutely.

“Just try to relax, Dean.”

Easier said than done when Castiel is touching his skin in ways that Dean could never even begin to dream. But Dean takes a steadying breath and tries to relax into Castiel’s touch.

A finger turns to a full palm and Castiel smooths a hand over the cuts and bruises. Dean looks down to see a familiar light glow come from under Castiel’s hand. He would never get used to the way his body feels when Cas heals him. It’s a numbness and sense of brief purity that he’s never felt any other time.

Castiel takes his time and, even once Dean’s stomach and chest are clear, he continues to knead his hand over Dean’s skin as if massaging the aches no longer there.

Soon, Castiel moves onto Dean’s arms, this time bringing his other hand up to mirror the other, and softly glide them over Dean’s hands and up towards his elbows. The redness marring Dean’s limbs disappears under his touch. When his hand reaches Dean’s left shoulder, he squeezes over so slightly and Deans lets out a soft breath at the memory of having Castiel’s mark there. The look Castiel gives Dean shows that he remembers it too.

From there, Castiel moves hand to cup Dean’s cheek, a soft thumb brushing against his jaw. Dean braces himself for the wash of pain relief. But, after a few seconds, he can still feel the stinging pain of the gash to his head and the dull ache of the thud in his brain. He sends a questioning look to Castiel.

“Close your eyes, Dean.” Castiel asks.

While he doesn’t completely understand the reason behind Cas’ request, Dean trusts Castiel with his entire being, so he flutters his eyes closed.

With the loss of his sight, his other senses become heightened. He can hear Castiel take a steadying breath and can feel him move in closer.

In a second there are lips on his. This time when Dean feels the numbness and purity, he knows it’s not only from being healed, it’s from the euphoria of Castiel’s mouth against his.

Dean’s injuries might be gone but Castiel continues to pepper Dean’s face with soft, slow kisses.

A few moments pass before Castiel pulls away, bashfully avoiding Dean’s gaze.

But Dean doesn’t allow the angel to go too far, pulling Castiel back into another kiss that is this time much deeper.

A/N: Idk how I actually feel about this one but it’s out there now. I’ve done quite a few canon fics recently and i think i definitely prefer doing AU so I think i’ll stick to that for a while!

Hope someone enjoys...

TAGS: @eccentriccas @starrynightdeancas @credentiast @imbiowaresbitch @starclaire @cockleslovesdestiel @bend-me-shape-me @destielfactory @dea-stiel @wendeano @wingsandimpalas @aggressivedean @flowersforcas @chill-legilimens @pancakesofthelord @saltnhalo @caslikescoffeeandfreckles @assbuttboyfriends @jhoomwrites @breathingdestiel @simplymisha @thekingslover @aelysianmuse @2musiclover2 @cas-you-assbutt-dean-needs-you @50shadesofsubtext @destielle

#destiel #destiel fic #destielfanficnet #dean winchester #castiel #myfic #1k #fluff #canon #protective!cas

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inventors-fair · 3 years

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Can’t Wait To Draft: New Archetype Winners ~

Congratulations to @helloijustreadyourpost, @naban-dean-of-irritation and @snugz for winning this week’s contest!

Going through the awesome cards for this week, we had a plethora of strong design choices. Winners were a lot harder. I had to ask myself a few questions:

Does this card re-inform how I’d usually draft these colors and/or understand these archetypes in a draft?

Does this card play well in with previous MTG cards? e.g. If these cards appeared in a supplemental set, could someone slot them into a deck and/or make a deck with cards of that concept without reaching?

Does the flavor resonate? How so? Does it make sense mechanically? How is it connected?

Finally, does this archetype inform me of what’s to come in a constructive way that implies fun and dynamic gameplay?

Not every question is answered here explicitly, but the options are weighed. Hopefully I can make clear the kinds of thoughts I had about these cards!

@helloijustreadyourpost — Titanspeaker

One of my old favorite cards wall Nulltread Gargantuan from Alara Reborn. UG big monsters shows up on occasion, but...at the same time, never really as an archetype. Eldraine had a little “big spell” subtheme, ish, and even WAR Kiora didn’t have a “build around me” feel. Big creatures in blue feels perfectly reasonable even when the slant would probably be more towards green, and mechanically, wow, that activated ability really is something cool. Not great for much other than limited and commander, but hell, that’s all we can ask for, and it plays great. Can’t play your big thing yet? Use it as an aggro buff. Really cool.

Merfolk as shamans/monster whisperers also checks out and makes sense, playing against the Ixalan merfolk’s strategy; it makes me feel like they’re not the only speaker species. I can see the sort of misty, rocky, rugged merpeople in their shamanic getup, the speaker themself drawing from the ocean or the stream and being imbued with the monstrous energy. Cool!

Nitpick: it should be “5 or greater” and “gains trample.”

@naban-dean-of-irritation — Surgesword Sentry

[Art direction from user: “A spindly looking robot cobbled together from multiple metals, with tubes running from it to a sword that is crackling with energy. Behind it is a completely barren and desolate wasteland.”]

Okay, this definitely feels like it’s at the top of the “weird” curve. Having just played a little of MH2, there’s this sense of robotic artifact mess, and I say “mess” in a Pollock way, not in a disaster way. I mean, hey, you’re here in the winner’s place, so. RG storm isn’t exactly an archetype, and this card, well, it asks for something different. Bizarrely, the “cast 2-3 spells per turn” archetype shows up in BW on Kaldheim, occasionally in blue, and it’s just an odd little duck there. But, casting multiple spell is really cool, and this card changes gameplay hard. Blowing out as a charged mechanic, choosing your spells and/or working around what your opponent might be able to cast, debating instants, changing your curve—yeah, really neat. If R and G have any sacrifice in them in other archetypes, yeah, we’re there too. I think that the RG aggro shell can use this well, and that despite the constructed ease with which aggro decks could use this to go nuts, it changes limited in great ways. Not 100% sure that mechanic is worded exactly right but triggers are weird. Worth asking a legit judge.

Flavorfully! We have this world with green artifact creatures, RG artifact creatures, this kind of world energy, a strange old/overgrown/rusty series of sentries (what are they guarding?) on an inhospitable world. Where on earth are we? What kind of place built these kinds of creatures? I’m intrigued at what the world could be here, and that’s... I can see how it would be frustrating to read how the mystery evokes feeling over something explicitly cool/new, but the implication is strong enough to make me want more.

@snugz — Xaus, Unfettered Ritualist

I want to start with the flavor here. Convocation as a concept is indeed not just limited to this choral feeling of Selesnyan togetherness. The warlock demands that the cult come together to complete the ritual. Great! I see this person with their robe, their knives, the way they’re drawing their power, the strength of all the other cultists around them watching as the shackles of the flesh fall away, etc.

Mechanically, what do you need here? BR creature-heavy decks aren’t uncommon, but the extent to which you’d need them to make Xaus work here implies a larger connection. Tokens make that easy, way easier in colors like GW, but RB goblins exist, black spirits, thrulls, whatever—it hardly matters, because this is a weird and awesome subtheme. I’m getting strong Feaster of Fools vibes, or even Hogaak, where it’s less about big swarms and more about easing into some massive spell late-game while also being able to use your cards to get there. At six mana, Xaus is a really big spell itself, but it’s also an engine that can do some weird, weird things. I have no idea what a set like this would look like. I feel that the strength of this card’s ability to cast cheap spells would negate some of the utility considering its cost, but if this is the absolute top of your curve, then what other spells are you playing? I love the challenge of this theoretical set and what BR cards could make for convoke as a subtheme. What happens when they become convoked? What happens when you cast spells in a certain way? What recursion is there? All interesting questions.

Again, thank you all or your entries! I’ll be chipping away at commentary while catsitting and birthday-celebrating this next week. Strong choices mean lots of discussion.

— @abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #winners #commentary #new archetype contest #inventor's fair

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bourbon-ontherocks · 3 years

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Hey! You break my heart! CONTINUOUSLY! Thus do you know of any fics that could break my heart further?

Sama anon: TAKE A DIP - still comes up in my dreams!

OMG Anon!!! This is so sweet!!!! Thank you so much!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Okay so I’m not quite sure here if you’re asking for other angsty fics of mine or for general recs? I assume you’ve already read my work since you said ‘continuously’ but just in case, real quick:

If you want a heartbreak, I recommand you read It Hurts When I See You Struggle, and there’s some pretty heavy angst coming in When I Got Nothing But My Aching Soul too. Also Please Don’t Remember Me For My Crimes does not fancy a happy ending, and A Reason To Fight’s theme speaks for itself!

Now, as for heartbreaking fic recs, I’m your girl!

The Hours Between Dawn by elisewrites @elise-jupiterstyle: I would definitely recommand anything by this author because the angst is absolutely off the charts and delicious, but this one, oh my God, this one!!!! Just know that it’s a beautifully written post-S3 fic where Beth gets hurts and Rio takes care of her, lots of darkness, silences, feelings, ugh, it’s just so good how it hurts!

Until Long After She Takes Her Final Breath by watermelonriddles @emilykolburn: Trigger warning for major character death, but my Gosh, this POV of Rio killing Beth is just one of the truest heartbreaks I’ve had in this fandom!!! So good!!

Ain't No Sunshine by MissMaxime @missmaxime: So I don’t know if your ask was specifically implying Brio fics, but if it wasn’t, this is a very dark, post S2 canon divergent Beth x Turner fic with implications of PTSD and a constant Brio shadow looming over. A must read (also I’ll never stop reccing this fic)

Do No Harm by riosnecktattoo @riosnecktattoo: Beth x Rio x Rio’s wounds inflicted by Beth. I’ll never recover from Beth begging Rio to lie to her. I would also recommend Thirty Pieces of Silver by the same author.

a song inside the halls of the dark by ms_scarlet @mego42: It starts as a meeting going down and Beth saving Rio’s life (which is already... a lot!) but then it all unfolds into so much more! Angst! Near death experiences! Feelings! Oh-my-God-I-think-I-like-you moments!

A Rational Choice by fireinsideforfun. Obviously. And you know what’s the most heartbreaking thing about this fic??? IT’S STILL A WIP!!!!!

The Happiness is a butterfly (I try to catch it, like, every night) series by linzackles @mrslackles: A pregnancy AU fic with a devastating backstory. Would also recommend the There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin series.

Nothing like blood to even things out by dancingsynapses @dancingsynapses: Beth gets accidentally shot by Dean in front of Rio and that’s all you basically need to know. Would also recommend Rather a hundred hells with you, than a heaven without.

Climbing up the walls by s_t_c_s @sothischickshe: Rio POV, a post-S2 fic where Beth desperately keeps chasing him and he’s mostly hating it her. Angst! PTSD! Injuries sequelae! Nonsensical comical relief! Would also recommend A time to refrain (from embracing)

Maybe It’s Karma by alittlemystery: Yes, I fancy stories where Beth gets hurts as a payback for 2.13, leave me alone...

You still keep me up at night, You have love, But just not quite, Enough for me by Sdktrs12 @sdktrs12: Post 3.04 angsty sex and baffling absence of communication.

So that’s all I can think about from the top of my head but I’m sure there are more...

#anon #ask #fic rec #heartbreaks #angst #thank you for stopping by anon this was fun #always down to break a few hearts around #💔💔💔💔💔

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the-ace-with-spades · 3 years

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(2/6) the best is yet to be

five times someone realized Ronan and Adam were basically married and one time they actually were

Part 1 │Part 3 │Part 4 │Part 5 │Part 6

Read on ao3

Gansey tried to forget about that weird experience of a study session and he mostly succeeded — they rarely even registered as a couple in Gansey's mind, still.

And then they went to Nino's.

Adam was, as always, bone-tired and still using the time to revise the Latin verbs for the next test. Blue, when they entered Nino's, said it was in itself adorable — that Ronan Lynch, high school dropout, was helping his boyfriend with his homework. She probably said it to tease them, but Gansey couldn't help and feel that it was very true. After all, Ronan hated everything school-related, and Adam hated everything help related.

Gansey decided to concentrate his attention mainly on Henry the minute Ronan sat next to him, correcting Adam's ugly handwriting and throwing sarcastic comments against Henry's rant here or there. His arm was lying on the backrest behind Adam and it might have looked casual, but Gansey was still remembering that awkward night when he saw just how quickly something casual could get intimate.

He decided to look only at Henry and the way his eyes would light up whenever he would get to the most exciting part of his monologue, and the way he would smile when Gansey asked questions.

They were still waiting for Blue's break.

Ronan and Adam's conversation quieted down, Ronan's voice became more of a whisper the closer he leaned over Adam's shoulder. With the corner of his eyes, he could see Adam scratching the dry skin off his knuckles — it was a habit Gansey, and probably anyone else, noticed.

Adam's hands were always in a quite poor state, with his different manual jobs and lack of proper hydration. He always had little scratches on the sides of his hands, rough knuckles and calluses on the inside of his palms, to the point that it became just another characteristic.

This was another thing Gansey was not allowed to help with. He had seen Adam, before, carrying hand lotion in his bag but he must have used it up — things were better between them but he still wouldn't dare to buy Adam something like that, small as it was.

Gasnsey pretended he didn't see the way Ronan's body curled around Adam's like a heavy afghan blanket. Maybe he would get used to it with time, but time meant months, if not years.

He looked at his watch. Blue's break should have already begun.

Adam rubbed off a tiny scab on his left hand. Gansey ignored Ronan's gaze.

Blue's hip bumped his when she sat down in the booth. Gansey glanced at her, smiling, and let her steal some of his fries.

"Hey, nerds," she said, as another greeting. "What are you nerding about?"

Blue was already there when they entered Nino's — she was their waitress — but he still gripped her hand in his, caressing over her handmade rings. It was the best thing he could focus on to avoid everything around him, even though Henry's smile was radiant and distracting in itself, Blue's warmth always kept him from anything else.

He looked at their joined hands and Henry's response fell deaf on his ears.

Blue's hand tensed up and her arm bumped his ribcage.

He looked up.

Henry's face stilled mid-word, wide-eyed. He could hear dishes in the backroom, banging in the sink, and the air in the room suddenly felt too warm, especially around his cheeks.

Ronan's hand held Adam's palm, close to his mouth and Adam's head leaned back, chin up enough that he could easily look into Ronan's eyes when he kissed the dry skin on his knuckles.

He, Blue and Henry were watching it like a train wreck — frozen and expecting an explosion, from either of them. It didn't happen.

In the relatively quiet Nino's, and with their whole table dumbstruck, Ganey could hear their next words clearly.

"Forgot your hand cream again?"

The words were unbelievably soft-spoken, even for a normal person, not to mention Ronan.

"I didn't," Adam said. "Left it at home on purpose."

Ronan leaned over closer to Adam's ear, having on his face a smirk but the kind of a smirk Gansey had never seen on him — he looked flirtatious and so unlike himself. "That's a shitty excuse to visit."

It takes him a second, realizing that Adam meant the Barns when he said home, and it made Gansey's insides soften into a gooey puddle of fondness. He wonders when exactly it happened and how he missed the bluntness of it, the implications it came with.

Ronan brought Adam's hand to his mouth to kiss it again and Adam smiled in a way Gansey had never seen before — in a way that made his heart still in his chest.

"Wow," Henry whispered to himself, sounding more confused than ever.

"What?" Adam said, uncharacteristically low and a little red in the face.

To be honest, Gansey was surprised that Ronan wasn't even a little bit red. He remembered from the Before Days, that fifteen-year-old Ronan, just as fair-skinned, would turn beetroot red at the smallest embarrassment. This Ronan didn't appear to have even a slight amount of shame because he did lower Adam's hand to the tabletop but he didn't let go, instead, his thumb lied over Adam's shoulder, rubbing small circles onto it, smooth and unhesitating, as if he had done it a million times. The shame might have transferred onto Gansey in a form of secondhand embarrassment as his own face felt feverous.

No one said anything out loud, but Gansey could hear Blue's hashed words close to his ear, "Has this really happened?" enflaming his cheeks even more due to proximity.

Gansey had wondered whether Adam was as affectionate and open when he dated her. Her shock was probably an answer in itself.

Henry, on his other side, moved closer, effectively sandwiching Gansey between the two of them. "I think so."

He felt even warmer like that, squeezed by them and observing this out of body experience that was Ronan and Adam acting as if they had been together for the past twenty years, unabashed and insolent in public.

Ronan rolled his eyes and let go of Adam's hand but didn't move all that far away, his arm still lying an inch or two behind his shoulders.

"What?" Adam asked again, this time much more put together.

Blue cleared her throat, snapping out of the wide-eyed state that took over their table — she had always been the least moved by things out of the ordinary. She nudged him in the ribs.

"I'm going to finish in half an hour," Blue said. "You are staying until then?"

Ronan pointedly looked at the window outside the booth. It meant that this sentence was based in a longer argument.

"I have work tonight," Adam answered. "I should leave in a couple of minutes."

Gansey could see how this could have blown up between the two of them — and probably did — Adam was working plenty, and was already tired plenty. He was sure there was a reason behind it, like college fees or gas money but it also set a darker mood over the table. No one liked the way Adam looked after a school day and another eight hours of work, with graying skin and reddened eyes and a hunch in his back.

Despite that, Ronan still got up with Adam, walking him to Hondoyota.

"Well," Blue said, when they were outside the door, coming up to their table with a fresh jug of lemonade. "That was something."

Henry bit on the — metal — straw and hummed in a way that implied he was still confused.

"Yes," he said. "They—They do that—"

This felt awkward.

"By that, you mean lovingly gazing into each others' eyes next to Parrish's hideous car?" Henry asked.

He was looking out the window, eyebrows raised. And sure enough, just under the street lamp light, Ronan and Adam were standing — Adam leaned on the passenger door, his hand holding his nape.

"This is really weird," Blue said. "Weirder than seeing my mom with Dean even. I'd have never thought that Adam could—"

"Adam?" Henry asked. "Have you met Lynch? You know, tall, angry face, at least one swear a sentence?"

"Is it just me or this happened really fast?" she continued.

Gansey could understand it.

Looking at the window again, he could see Ronan leaning close to Adam's face, in a familiar goodbye, kissing under his cheekbone.

Maybe they should get used to it. It didn't seem like it would change.

#pynch #my fics #my writing #trc #the raven cycle #TRC #pynch fic #gangsey

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astudyinfreewill · 3 years

Text

“look what you made me do” 2/? | masterpost

aka: me making taylor swift songs about dean winchester and/or deancas bc it’s what dean himself would want

second song on deck, as promised; this one actually has quite a few cas beats in it, especially at the start, despite it having a dean vibe overall, so it should be interesting. again, bonus fanvid link at the end <3

this is me trying

i've been having a hard time adjusting i had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting

ok, we start off strong with a couplet that could suit either dean or cas. “the shiniest wheels” is actually a perfectly fitting metaphor for a show that treats cars like emotional avatars of the people who drive them (i could so easily go into a digression about how the same thing happens in trc but this is the wrong post for that... how do i keep finding myself emotionally invested in car-fetishizing media while barely being a can-drive gay myself). ANYWAY, the first thing that comes to mind is the impala and how it’s pretty much synonymous with dean’s sense of self, how it gets wrecked and rebuilt over the course of the show, often tied in to his emotional state. and dean, well. he’s built up a lot of trauma over the years, but he’s also just getting older, as humans do.

on the other hand, we could also see it as a cas line - he’s not as much of a carfucker car aficionado as dean but he’s an adoptive winchester so hey, it still kinda works (rip to the pimpmobile, gone but not forgotten). what i MEAN is -- cas has been slowly falling from grace ever since season 4. he was becoming more human in season 5 already, with a grim prediction of his human future in 5x04; then lived as human for a while in season 7; then became completely human in season 9 before regaining his grace. but in season 15, again, his grace was apparently failing (boy it would be SUCH a shame if that plot point just, like... got dropped... 😐). substitute “wings” for “wheels” and you get a picture of someone who used to be this unstoppable, super-powered angel soldier that demons cowered in fear of, but has slowly become more human over time. as for “a hard time adjusting”... well, cas’ journey towards humanity has not been the easiest transition: it’s come with self-doubt, mental and physical pain, and of course, as he learned about love: heartbreak.

TL;DR: LIFE COMES AT YOU FAST AND THESE GUYS ARE TIRED.

i didn't know if you'd care if i came back; i have a lot of regrets about that

‘kay, this next part is definitely cas. cas who, as i mentioned in the previous post, just keeps leaving, whether that’s because he’s sacrificing himself or taking off on his own. and because that typically goes over like a lead balloon with dean, either because it leaves him grieving and traumatised or it plays right into his abandonment issues (or both - hello purgatory arc!), cas would be tentative about coming back. it’s also very apparent that castiel feels like the winchesters only value him for his abilities and powers (and after all, he’s been created to be a soldier), so if he feels like he’s not being helpful enough, he also tends not to feel wanted (again: dean wants him to stay, but cas wants to be asked to stay). plus, we know every time they’ve had a falling out it takes dean a bit to get over his anger (“dean, i thought i was doing the right thing”; “yeah, you always do”) so i don’t think cas takes his forgiveness for granted, especially if he has lied to him in the process (yes i’m thinking about the mixtape episode). “a lot of regrets”, indeed.

pulled the car off the road to the lookout, could've followed my fears all the way down; and maybe i don't quite know what to say, but i'm here in your doorway.

here, again, the car can easily work as a metaphor for someone’s emotional state. pulling over to take a breather, to try to assess things from a distance; and with lookout points so often being perched on steep hills, it’s easy to imagine the sense of vertigo, your own fear and self-doubt almost pushing you towards dangerous, self-destructive ideas. and we know cas doesn’t do things by halves - when he’s committed to something he believes is right, he goes all out. and yes, that has led to more than one falling out.

but despite that - despite his worst fears telling him he should not come back to dean unless he’s “coming back with a win”, or able to protect him from harm (yes i’m thinking about the mixtape episode AGAIN), he does always come back to him. it’s the one thing that dean can always depend on, castiel finding his way back to him like dean is his true north. i’m here in your doorway; the please take me back once more is implied.

i just wanted you to know that this is me trying i just wanted you to know that this is me trying

(and dean does take him back, because however many times castiel feels that he has failed in his mission, he always comes back and tries again, tries harder, tries to make it right or do it better. and that’s something dean relates to - fucking up in the worst ways and getting beaten down but always getting back up, always starting over, always trying again. in fact, he’s kind of the one who taught cas that. and with that-- we move over to the dean portion of this.)

they told me all of my cages were mental so I got wasted like all my potential

ah, it wouldn’t be a dean pov without some good old fashioned self deprecation. “all of my cages were mental” isn’t 100% accurate in dean’s case because he has been dealt a pretty shit hand by life, but he also excels at self-sabotage. “I got wasted” is of course an allusion to his alcoholism, but then we have the clever play on words with “wasted potential”, which... hits close to home. all dean’s ever done is tried to live up to what he thought he should be, always feeling like he was falling short. never quite the favourite son, never the man his father thought he should be, not strong enough to resist hell, not the righteous sword of michael the angels expected, not good enough for the people he loves not to leave him, just not enough.

and my words shoot to kill when I'm mad i have a lot of regrets about that

...as i said above: though dean does always forgive the people he loves, it still takes him quite a bit to get over his anger at them. and when he’s angry, he lashes out, often saying things that come off cruel, things he absolutely does not mean. and this part reminds me, yet again, of dean’s painful confession in 15x09, about how he gets so angry and doesn’t know why (of course, the answer is trauma and childhood abuse; but he has no way to process that); and he tries to stop it but he can’t, and he always, always regrets it in the end.

i was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere fell behind all my classmates and i ended up here

oh, dean. dean winchester with his ged and his give ‘em hell attitude. he breaks my heart. i touched on this in my previous post, but there’s something to be said for the fact that dean had to grow up so fast, he really didn’t grow at all in some ways ( “so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere”). from a young age he was shoved in a parental role, having to be both a father and mother to sam, which meant never getting to exist just for himself. which of course, in turn, means he never got to develop a healthy degree of emotional maturity. in “bad boys”, we find out that the only time dean even got close to being a normal teenager, receiving positive reinforcement by sonny and bonding with his peers, john ripped him right out of that safe haven; and by the time “after school special” is set in, he’s given up on ever getting a shot at a healthy environment, using denial as a coping mechanism by trying to pass off his and sam’s shitty, depressing lives as super edgy and cool.

pourin' out my heart to a stranger but i didn't pour the whiskey i just wanted you to know that this is me trying i just wanted you to know that this is me trying at least i'm trying

i don’t really need to explain this bit i guess, but it’s about the implications of how it can somehow be easier to open up to a complete stranger rather than someone you care about; and how for dean, who is used to frequenting seedy bars and dives, one-night stands are as much about comfort than they are about pleasure. that’s the only way he knows how to let himself be touched, seen, held -- because of course, “no chick flick moments”, and besides, we know that when he falls in love he falls hard, so it’s safer to just roll in and out of town.

the interesting part in this context though, is that “but i didn’t pour the whiskey”, especially since we know dean, like every other winchester, tends to drown out his problems with alcohol; so him choosing to not do that, and instead just look for comfort from a stranger (whether it’s through sex or just chatting away at a bar) is, in itself, a sign of trying to do better. because if there’s one thing dean knows how to do, is trying, and trying, and trying again. in fact, as i mentioned above, it’s kinda where cas learned it too. and we know dean is a stand-in for human nature, so of course, this is also a larger discourse of how humans are flawed and imperfect but can always improve, always do better, always try harder or be more. and maybe that’s what makes a righteous man, really.

and it's hard to be at a party when i feel like an open wound it's hard to be anywhere these days when all i want is you you're a flashback in a film reel on the one screen in my town

this next part... listen. i don’t know how it fits into the narrative of trying, but what i do know is i can’t stop thinking about grieving dean. about how every time he loses cas, a little piece of him dies too, but it’s a piece that gets bigger and bigger every time, carving a hollow inside him. it’s unsightly, it’s unforgiving, it’s raw - it’s like an open wound. and as much as dean has always taken on the role of the person who puts on a brave face, makes a joke, and pushes all his feelings down, well -- it’s hard to that; it’s hard to focus on anything else when he’s missing cas like a phantom limb. “all i want is you” which is to say i’d rather have you, cursed or not; which is to say, i need you. need you badly enough to see your face everywhere after escaping purgatory, just like “a flashback in a film reel”.

and i just wanted you to know that this is me trying (maybe i don't quite know what to say) i just wanted you to know that this is me trying; at least i'm trying.

so, yes. dean is trying. he’s always trying, even though healing and progress are not linear or easy. and he knows he’s got anger issues, he knows he’s bad with his words, but damn it, he always shows up for the people he loves, and he tries to do better, every. damn. time. partly because he’s us, he’s all of us, he’s human perfectibility incarnate; and partly because he loves cas so damn much and maybe if he gets it right this time he’ll get to keep him -- and i don’t know which of the two options makes my heart hurt the most.

---

fanvid rec link here! it’s only for the second half of the song, so the more dean-centric one :)

#spn #dean winchester #castiel #destiel #spn meta #deancas #taylor swift #lyrics #taylor swift x destiel #lwymmd #mp #this is me trying #long post

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whentheynameyoujoy · 3 years

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Women in SPN—Seasons 2 and 3

Previously on Joy Obsesses over a Show That Creatively Expired in 2010

Tessa

Introduced back when the Winchesters dodging the coffin actually qualified as an episode, she follows in Meg’s tracks by continuing to make monsters seem more approachable and less a malevolent force of nature. Starts off with a completely flat affect but gets annoyed with the Winchester bullshit real quick—a sure-fire sign of an SPN character with a brain. A powerful being capable of returning one’s memories by a smooch which is… convenient. As is the fact that bad guys keep using her for their ebul plans. Serves the typical secondary-character function of a springboard for a main guy’s development. Plants hints of the “natural order”, “destiny”, and “inevitability” which will become major themes down the road and be explored by characters with deeper writing.

Status: Alive as of s5

Importance: Minor, remembered primarily because she keeps popping up.

On her own: A nice addition to the lore.

Jo Harvelle

Originally Dean’s love interest until she got written out for the crime of having tits around the fandom’s husband. Driven by a wish to honor her dead father and become a hunter, she’s held back by the unfortunate fact of not being all that good at it. Cheerful, temperamental, and a pretty skilled hustler, she’s mortally wounded when charging in to protect Dean. Ends up sacrificing herself so that others can escape and attempt to end the Apocalypse.

Status: Dead as of s5, dragged back and disappeared again in s7

Importance: Major

On her own: A soldier going out in a blaze of glory. I bawl every time.

Ellen Harvelle

Unlike her daughter, very good at what she does. No-nonsense authority figure, she’s one of the few in the show to pull off a combination of a hand-wringing mama bear and a pro-active badass with a life outside her family. Not perceived as a threat because fans don’t know the meaning of MILF yet, and so is allowed to stick around for the season 2 finale. Dies to make Jo’s plan to obliterate Meg’s hellhounds work, though it’s strongly implied she mostly refuses to survive her kid.

Status: Dead

Importance: Major

On her own: SPN’s Molly Weasley, sullied by the implications of her death

Lenore

A head-strong leader of a nest of vegetarian vampires, she’s deliberately contrasted with Gordon’s Terminator schtick and to a lesser degree with Dean’s black-and-white monsters vs. humans kill-everything grief-cope in order to further cement SPN’s ongoing crusade of challenging who in fact is the monster around here. Has a crowning moment of awesome when she refuses to feed while covered in Sam’s blood. The entire point of her is her determination not to give up her humanity even when no longer human. Would be shame if the show decided to later abandon this essential part of her character and twist it for cheap drama…

Status: Alive as of s5, annihilated in every way in s6

Importance: Minor in the overall narrative, major in the episode and the boys’ development

On her own: An effective mirror to Dean’s stroll down the slippery slope

Diana Ballard

TheGoodCop manipulated by her professional and romantic partner, she has a surprisingly functional tension with Sam. Luckily for Linda Blair it goes unnoticed because the fandom doesn’t view older women as competition. Noteworthy mostly because she actively participates in uncovering the episode’s mystery which automatically elevates her above the standard clueless civilian, man or woman, who needs the duo to save them. Despite fewer appearances arguably more memorable than Henriksen, precisely because of her active involvement.

Status: Alive as of s5

Importance: Minor overall, a major player in the episode

On her own: Interesting take on the usual boilerplate cop

Ava Wilson

To present a very, very generous interpretation, she foreshadows Sam’s eventual turn to the dark side. Spirited, a little bit airheaded, and freaked about her Azazel-given powers, she gives enough of a damn to prevent her visions of people dying from coming true, though she clings to her intention to lead a normal civilian life. Does a complete switcheroo off-screen to become a villain because… power is awesome? Ends up the most advanced special child in season 2’s battle royale, the very concept of which is just… eh? Still gets dispatched no problem because… why not?

Status: Dead

Importance: Minor

On her own: A prime example of why the special children subplot is just…wot?

Molly McNamara

Memorable primarily because of the experimental (for SPN) narration which frames her as the duo’s partner when in fact she’s one of the things being hunted. For plot reasons spends her episode switching between being terrified, worried for her missing husband, and heartbroken. Can be somewhat tortuously argued to fit the theme of (not) overcoming grief and letting go, one of the few detectable threads in the directionless slog that’s season 2.

Status: Dead

Importance: Minor overall, major because she’s arguably the main character of her episode

On her own: Torture porny. Very torture porny.

Madison

Intelligent, educated, and with an endearing love of soaps, she’s responsible for one of the three watchable sex scenes in the entire show. Has a nice theme of personal growth and healing from trauma going on, although it’s cut short and undermined when she’s revealed as a werewolf and euthanized by none other than Sam himself. Her death is filmed as a narrative-changing tragedy before it goes on to become a joke in season 4.

Status: Dead

Importance: Major

On her own: No matter how you look at it, she’s a diseased dog that needs to be put down for her own good while the menz wallow in their manly manpain. A rare example of a storyline I don’t think can be tweaked to be even marginally less awful.

I believe maestro may have wanted to portray sadness here.

Tamara

Told to be an excellent hunter, she’s shown as needing to be saved in order not to end up like her husband who’s literally forced to gargle bleach. Introduces the notion of growing hostility against the Winchesters in the hunting community. Full of wrath to fit the episode’s one-off seven deadly sins schtick, she’s emphasized as emotional and not in control of herself to such a degree that it overshadows how she’s in fact fairly competent in the second half of the episode.

Status: Alive as of s5

Importance: Minor

On her own: Wouldn’t stand out this much if she weren’t one of the few POCs in the blinding whiteness that’s SPN’s Americana.

Ruby

Doesn’t have the most organic introduction (A cool intriguing sexy French fries loving not like other gurls sassy badass, with a superdooper special knife? How 2000s cringe can you get?) but quickly becomes one of the show’s most distinctive villains allies. She’s an ally. Totally. Don’t worry about it. A sarcastic smartass jerk who breathes lies and manipulation, she’s resourceful, thinks on her feet, and throws herself into the thick of action without hesitation—a trait that gets especially interesting in retrospect as it suggests a fanatic devotion to her real goal. Sadly, her motivation doesn’t get fleshed out beyond “she really likes Satan, I guess” (which, hey) as the writers prioritize the surprise of the revelation over her further character development. Has the second watchable sex scene in the entire show; the fandom weeps itself to sleep. Gets killed by her own weapon when the writers decide that a character who’s smarter than both protagonists combined could well do with a bit of the good ol’ lobotomizing.

Status: Dead

Importance: Supermegadoublemajor

On her own: The stupid nature of her demise and occasional wooden acting do their best but never overshadow the awesome that’s Ruby.

Lisa Braeden

Dean’s past fling who becomes a living symbol of his desire for the white-picket fence. Is implied to possess mad financial skills as she owns property on a yoga teacher’s salary while a single mom below the age of 30. A blank slate the likes of Cassie, she’s salvaged by better acting. Frequent frowning suggests the presence of an inner life though it doesn’t tend to manifest itself on screen or affect the plot. Her single established trait—blow-out assertiveness the moment things get too far—is exercised mostly in service to her son. Exists solely to give Dean something to pine for.

Status: Alive as of s5

Importance: Major

On her own: A tertiary character who so-so sustains her own episode.

Bela Talbot

The best expansion of the show’s lore after the host of heaven, she’s unequivocally a bad person who nevertheless evokes huge amounts of sympathy. A cynical self-serving dealer in supernatural objects who mirrors Dean’s cracking tough guy persona, due to her abuse and the resulting trauma she refuses to open up and rely on anyone out of principle, or be indebted to them. Her pride makes her clinically unable to ask for help until it’s too late, and even forego mentioning personal history when it’d actively benefit her by softening the horrible impression others have of her. Switching between being an antagonist and the duo’s reluctant ally, she manages to outwit them roughly 90% of time. The fact that she has sexual tension with Dean while Sam lusts after her to the point of literal drooling sends fans apoplectic.

Status: Dead

Importance: Major

On her own: A complex character brought down by her own flaws.

Casey

A demon, she’s torn between wanting to enact the Apocalypse and just chilling with her soulmate. Definitely a fanfic reader because her idea of dealing with danger is to shut herself with her enemy in a room and have a lengthy theological debate. Very outspoken about humanity’s propensity for evil. Outcomplexes Lilith and to a lesser extent Ruby as she’s allowed to openly address her life philosophy. While the dialogue format of her scenes is designed to give Dean space to talk about his feelings regarding his impending demise, it’s more or less an equal push-pull exchange. She’s smart, captivating, capable, and in love, i.e. things SPN just isn’t interested in keeping around.

Status: Dead

Importance: Minor in the overall narrative, major in the episode and Dean’s development

On her own: Could have been so good if allowed to stick around

Gertrude Case

A rich elderly creep whose gropy ways are played for laughs because she’s a woman I guess. Either can’t read social cues or doesn’t give a fuck about people’s obvious discomfort. But don’t worry, it’s hilarious. She’s a woman, you see. What harm have those ever done.

Status: I’m going to assume dead by now, otherwise alive as of s5

Importance: A major figure in Sam’s life since she sexually assaulted him. Otherwise minor.

On her own: Sexual harassment is fun, kids

Lucy

Take Molly McNamara, strip her of any pretence at thematic relevance, minimize her importance while playing up her suffering, and then remove her like a broken Christmas decoration while making sassy remarks—voilà, you’ve ended up with the exact simplistic image that pops into one’s head when the words Supernatural and women are mentioned in a sentence.

Status: Dead

Importance: Non-existent

On her own: Just… why

Astaroth

Approaches awesomehood as her demonic business operation is built around preying on bored suburban hausfraus and taking their souls in exchange for magical powers, which they then use to secure benign materialistic keeping-up-with-the-joneses crap and devour one another like a bunch of assholes whose death you can’t help but eagerly anticipate. Srsly, eff those ladies. Stands out as the only (implied) lesbian in the Kripke arc.

Status: Dead

Importance: Minor, not even the real monster of the week when compared to the coven

On her own: There’s probably another discussion about Doylist sexism hidden around somewhere that I’m not really interested in having. Go Astaroth.

Nancy Fitzgerald

Sugar and spice and every other cliché about kindness combined in a pretty sweet package. Plot demands her to be a virgin for some reason, even though this aspect of her character doesn’t amount to anything in the story and only serves to contrast Nancy’s… purity with Ruby who we’re being constantly told is a “slut” and a “whore” and I have no idea how that’s supposed to work. Then again, Nancy’s virginity is framed as a valid personal choice in a rather empowering moment so that’s good. Has standards because even after deciding to let go of her chastity vow, she won’t settle for just any loser who happens to stand around converting oxygen into CO2. Her “cause manpain out of nowhere”-type death is one of the few of this category in the show which actually work because the cruel pointless nature of it is precisely the point (and at least she’s not the only one who doesn’t survive, please ignore how the episode literally says her demise is the most tragic because she never got laid, barfs).

Status: Dead

Importance: Minor

On their own: A textbook definition of a cinnamon

Lilith

An overarching menace that doesn’t spend too much time on screen, she’s a prop rather than her own person. This gets highlighted the moment the show stops casting her as a clichéd creepy child who likes to larp as that Twilight Zone kid, and turns her into the standard hawt chick in a will-they-won’t-they episode. No interiority as she goes along with a plan which requires her obliteration, without at least allowing her to explore her religious motivation. Ruby does all the heavy lifting in this partnership.

Status: Dead

Importance: Major

On her own: For the life of me I can’t make sense of her actions in s4. But the clichéd creepy kid is adorbs so points for memorability.

Maggie Zeddmore

The straight man to the Ghostfacers’ utterly delightful douchefacery. Manages to keep up with Harry and Ed in terms of hilarity because not only is she exactly as out of place as them, she decides to role-play her childhood-friends-to-lovers fanfic in the middle of a haunted house as the best sister that she is.

Status: Alive as of s5

Importance: Minor

On her own: Love at first geek

Next, season 4 and 5 before I try to figure out what this all adds up to.

#spn #spn critical #supernatural #supernatural critical #sexist writing #tessa #jo harvelle #ellen harvelle #madison #ruby #bela talbot #lisa braeden #nancy fitzgerald #lilith

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mego42 · 3 years

Text

207 Discussion Q’s

shout out and thank you to @pynkhues for putting these together even though she wasn’t gonna be here this week

1. What was your favourite scene of the episode? Tell us why!

obvs the dubby but underrated fav is Ruby and Jane in the closet, idk exactly why but I am starved for the families interacting with each other content (screw the timeline, the most unrealistic aspect of this show is that they aren’t constantly in and out of each other’s houses with ben and sara continually being called on to babysit) so this little snippet makes me levitate

2. Was there any scene that missed the mark for you? And if so, how?

the annie and noah scenes for sure. I mostly feel betrayed bc I really liked them the first time I watched (i have a lot of built in affection for sam huntington let me live) and now I’m like BEGONE FOUL BETRAYER and feel pre-emptive fatigue over annie’s taste in men and how that’s not going to get better any time soon

3. I know time does not exist in the Good Girls universe (or in reality anymore), but let’s start with a timeline question! The implication of the opening montage is that a bit of time has past since Beth strongarmed the partnership with Rio at the end of 2.06. How long do you think it’s been? And more importantly, what do you think these early days of their partnership looked like?

I tend to lean towards at least 2 months, maybe more based on:

the number of shoeboxes and how many times Beth’s shown making a closet deposit

how lived in their annoyance over Beth’s dividing her time and Rio pushing back feels

the implication (at least how i read it) that Rio’s annoyance stems from having to track Beth down which presumably implies they’d grumbled their way into a semi-functional working relationship prior (supported by their ease with each other in 208) and if the montage has only been a month, that would be a maximum of 4 meetings and I don’t particularly think that’s enough time for them to get over being extremely prickly with each other

the fact that Beth goes to Rio for help when Jane’s missing (again, to me implies a longer period of time to get over some of their antagonism than a max of 4 meets)

I imagine their initial partnership went something like Beth being a smug brat about forcing her way in, Rio being deliberately unhelpful and trying to force her to admit she’s in over her head (while still keeping enough of an eye on things that his money isn’t jeopardized), Beth stubbornly refusing to and finding ways to rise to the occasion, Rio being grudgingly impressed, Beth being annoyed with herself for how pleased she is over that. Lather, rinse, repeat until they’ve worn a cantankerous but bizarrely comfortable groove into each other.

meanwhile, Mick, Annie and Ruby are absolutely disgusted by everything happening in front of their eyes.

4. The first scene between Ruby and Turner in this episode is a really dynamic one! It’s pretty clear that Ruby’s afraid of Turner, but what do you think Turner thinks of Ruby?

I think he sees a big cartoon canister labeled "Beth Boland Bait"

5. Taking the kids to the drop was a pretty big mistake! What do you think Beth should’ve done in this instance? Do you think saying no again to Rio was an option?

CALLED BEN OR SARA FOR A BABYSITTING ASSIST. For fucks’ sake.

And yeah, I think she could’ve said no to Rio but he would’ve kept her cut of that drop and, even worse, would’ve been able to hold the fact that she didn’t deliver that one time over her head forever more.

6. The krav maga teacher offers some sage advice telling Dean to not order the hit and instead just divorce his wife, haha. Do you think that he thought the baby hitmen would come through for Dean? Or do you think he was deliberately setting Dean up to get robbed?

I choose to believe the krav maga teacher knew exactly what kind of an idiot Dean was and set him up because the dude clearly had at least two brain cells to rub together and anyone with two brain cells to rub together would never get tangled up in a murder plot with Dean standing on the street corner telling random bystanders in detail how he wants to kill the guy that fucked his wife what do you mean established means and motive Boland.

7. During Ben and Annie’s tense conversation, Ben tells Annie that she’s hard to keep track of - she’s parent mom, cool mom, sketchy mom. In a lot of ways, this feels like a parallel to Ruby talking to Beth in the last episode and calling her ‘drug Beth, gun Beth, human trafficking Beth’. What do you make of this? And how do you think it relates to the show’s themes?

I defer to @foxmagpie’s answer because I like it a lot.

8. The scene with the girls in the house! Tell me all your thoughts please!!!

I love this scene a lot

Beth’s channeling Rio in general but also specifically in 201 you will never ever change my mind

Sometimes I lie awake at night wishing Rio had seen it

Prayer circle that he sees a version of it in s4

Can you imagine the nightmare level of boner he would get? The sheer narcissism!!

Ruby’s obvious wish for new friends is The Most Valid

I really love the main drug den guy, I love Blake Shields’s energy, it makes the scene crackle, and I wish they’d bring him back purely bc he’s gr9

9. Annie meets Noah in this episode! What do you think of their introduction to one another? And how would you rate Noah on the scale of ‘Garbage Annie Love Interests’?

at least he’s not her therapist I guess

10. Beth has two pivotal and emotionally revealing fights this episode - one with Dean and the other with Rio. How do these fights compare? And what do you think they tell us about her respective relationship with them?

UUUNNNNNFFFFFFFF

I L O V E how hard the show goes on Dean’s obsession with Beth and Rio as the primary source of his angst

the fact that he’s trying to rope Stan into murder while looking for Jane who isn’t even MISSING but Dean had NO IDEA bc instead of giving a shit he went straight to HOW CAN THIS BE THAT GUY’S FAULT

I love how clearly they delineate that it isn’t about Beth but specifically about someone else ~*~taking~*~ Beth from him and how emasculated that makes him feel (something something something the storyline opens with the krav maga guy choking him out and then telling him to divorce her and Dean being like I reject your rational and logical solution bc it doesn’t punish the man who touched my property, idk i have a half baked thought there but i can’t pull it out of my brain)

and then it’s all underscored how little Dean’s worried about Beth and her safety by him bringing her work up specifically as a gotcha (which, unless I’m forgetting something, is p much the only context Dean ever brings it up in besides maybe the sit down fight but that’s again, about Beth acting out vs genuine concern)

Meanwhile, this is contrasted with:

Beth flipping tf out at the mere suggestion Rio would ever hurt her children, showing how deeply and instinctively she trusts him in regards to her children aka what’s been established as her Most Important Priority over and over (in the same breath that she rips into Dean for losing Jane in the first place)

which is doubled down on her immediately going to Rio for help

and he is FURIOUS at her, but the thing he leans hard on isn’t how she could have jeopardized the business deal (aka his money, what’s been established as his Most Important Priority over and over) but how she jeopardized herself and how badly she can fuck up if she doesn’t take this seriously

putting himself in a vulnerable position (presumably burning a connect, letting on that Beth means something to him beyond business) to look out for Beth’s emotional well-being

And then, just to drive it home a little further, @sothischickshe pointed out the Beth and Rio fight over Beth’s self preservation is directly paralleled with Stan freaking out at Ruby over the IA stuff because he’s worried about her and I had to go and stare at a blank wall for a few minutes to calm down.

anyway, draw your own conclusions.

11. Ruby takes Jane being missing as an opportunity to try and find evidence on Beth for Turner and, in the process, finds Jane too. How do you think this scene captures Ruby’s moral dilemma? And do you think it’s a satisfying turning point in the Ruby-Turner arc?

I struggle a lot with the Turner and Ruby plot specifically because I HATE that Turner’s ruthlessly leaning on Ruby as the weak link but I’m also ferociously attracted to him so I’m less bothered by it than I feel like I should be so mostly I just try not to think about any of it.

Idk, I see it in some ways as a continuation of Ruby’s fight with Beth and Annie in s1 where Annie said she isn’t blood. They put Ruby on the outside but when push comes to shove, Ruby still puts the two of them above her own family. As far as I’m concerned, Annie still owes Ruby a massive apology for that. Beth I let off the hook a little because by the end of the season she’s ready to turn herself in to make it all go away for all of them (I think, unless I’m misremembering, which is entirely possible bc I don’t think I’ve ever rewatched all of 213)

12. RIO GETS BETH THE DUBBY!! That’s it, that’s the question. Please discuss.

I think a lot about how the gesture is so baldly honest neither one of them can face it either at all (Rio) or without taking a shot first (Beth) which, now that I’ve typed it out, is also an interesting flip of their general MO bc under normal circumstances I’d put Rio down as the one that, of the two of them, is more willing to face stuff whereas Beth’s the one that hides from it.

#gg rewatch #gg 2x07 #gg related #shut up meg

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evermoire · 3 years

Text

as if you were a mythical thing | pack

with christmas just behind them and the new year steadily approaching, a blissful quiet settled over the pack, which—- really should have been derek’s first clue that things would go wrong sooner than later.

though not everyone was here today, the house — their house, this time, because they had to let hershel and natalie enjoy their farm in peace at some point — was alight with noise from every corner, a good half of which came from dean playing the record stiles had given him for christmas. everyone seemed to make it a point to make the most of the presents from their secret santas, wearing their jewelry and clothes, carrying their blankets and teddy bears everywhere. cora sat on the couch with boyd, reading one of the books that sam had given her aloud, breaking stride every now and again to explain why something excited her so much. she smiled more nowadays, derek noted with a glance in her direction, and usually around boyd, but he had a feeling she’d scowl at him if he pointed that out. scott had shown up earlier telling them about the progress of his wolf — he’d named her mika, for obvious reasons — and clutching his stuffed toy like it was his most prized possession.

they smelled of scented candles and perfumes and joy, this eagerness to just exist with one another, and it was a feeling derek thought he could get lost in.

when the raeken clan came over — with hayden, jacqui, ezekiel and rory in tow — aoife, swaddled in the blanket from castiel, had grabbed her hand and dragged her upstairs, along with a few of the other girls. derek could still hear their laughter from downstairs, even as he and a few others discussed the one matter from christmas that still needed a bit of work: adopting erica and lucy.

“having stiles’s dad find the reyeses isn’t a bad idea,” camden said, the words obviously preceding a ‘but.’

derek nodded, catching the hint before he had to speak. “but what we find could hurt erica more than it helps her.”

“do you think you should go ahead with lucy’s adoption first?” t-dog asked curiously, though his voice didn’t imply an opinion one way or the other. “since you don’t know how long it’ll take to find erica’s parents.”

“i think you should,” erica said, drumming her fingers along the marble countertop. “i’m not in danger if i go back to my house.” she ended the sentence there, but the implications were enough. “i’ve been independent since i was twelve. lucy still has to go through her mom for important things, and you can’t rely on that. for me, it’s more important that you get custody of lucy now and worry about me later.”

derek rolled her words around in his mind, trying to determine the right thing to do here. he did want to move forward with lucy’s adoption sooner than later, but he didn’t like the idea of leaving erica behind just because her parents had — once again — failed to show up when she needed them most. he opened his mouth to ask if she was sure, then—-

the air grew displaced, as if it was pulled taut around all of them, trapping them in one stiff moment — magic — before there was shuffle of voices, a gasp, and a piercing scream. “HELP!”

if asked, derek couldn’t tell you when or how he got from the kitchen, up the stairs so fast. one second, there was a pen spinning between his fingers and in the next, he was bounding up the stairs in long, quick strides, heading towards evie’s room. before he and the others could make it, lydia came rushing out of the room, her cheeks red and her eyes wet. “no, no, no!” she grabbed derek and lori’s arms, stopping them from going into the room. “you can’t go in there.” she shook her head and a few tears fell. “you can’t.”

every bone in derek’s body wanted to protest, but t-dog slipped past, stepping into the room first. the first thing he saw was the gaggle of women on one side of the room. maggie stood closest to him, her eyes wide and her arms wrapped protectively around enid as she stared at whatever was on the other side of the room. evie buried her face in allison’s neck, her body shaking. kali stood firm in front of beth, a shield between her and whatever was scaring everyone. then there was hayden, eyes gleaming yellow and expression blank as she stood in front of bailey.

a little ahead of all of them was kira, who seemed fine, just—- still.

and then, clear on the other side of the room, sitting in a wicker chair, was meghan. and meghan—- meghan was on fire.

“meghan!” tara all but threw herself towards her sister, stopped only by t-dog’s arms wrapping around her to keep her from getting hurt.

the smell of burning flesh reached t-dog’s nose and his eyes snapped to bailey. “bee—-”

“she can’t see it,” hayden promised, voice blank. “i have a glamour up. but...”

cole slipped past t-dog, shakily kneeling down in front of meghan. she swallowed thickly and held out a hand. t-dog’s eyes widened. “cole, don’t!”

her hand passed through the fire, once, then again. after a second, she rested her hand on top of meghan’s. beats of silence passed, before she let out a breath. “it’s not a fire. it’s...” cole shook her head, amazed. “it’s magic. when it—- that tension we all felt a second ago, that was her magic trying to explode as a result of being let out, but meghan pulled it back in. she’s protecting us. the flames are just her magic taking a familiar form. it can’t hurt us; it’s not hurting her. meghan will be okay,” she reassured them. t-dog hesitantly let tara go, and the teen rushed forward, falling to her knees in front of her baby sister. cole stood up. “meghan’s just getting her magic under control. she’ll need a few minutes, but she’s still conscious. but someone needs to get that necklace from kira.”

burning flesh. his eyes snapped to kira, who still stood still, and he finally recognized that the scent was coming from her. his eyes fell to her hand, clutching a fine object, but—- burning, burning, burning. it was a gruesome scene, one that he’d never witnessed before. he swallowed his nausea and stepped closer to her. “kira, you have to give me the necklace. it’s hurting you.”

she flinched away from him, drawing the necklace to her chest. her face was twisted up, but it was with worry, rather than pain. it didn’t look as though she felt the pain at all. “it would hurt you. it was hurting meghan. that’s why i asked her if i could take her necklace off. i knew it was hurting her, i could sense it. just like lilly’s is hurting her.”

maggie’s eyes worriedly sought out lilly. “lil?”

“it has to be someone human,” kira said. “it’s... it’ll hurt the rest of you. i’m fine,” she said before t-dog could ask for the necklace. “my fox is, um, taking most of the burn. someone has to help lilly first.”

kali — expression blanketed by nothingness, a state that t-dog hadn’t seen in her yet — glanced towards cole. “will the same thing happen to lilly?”

the blonde woman hesitated, shrugging unsurely. “it could? meghan has impeccable control over her magic, so it didn’t hurt anyone. lilly could be the same way, with her magic taking its own form. or her magic could explode. it’s...” her eyes drifted over towards evie sadly, still hiding herself in allison’s safety. “it’s not horribly different from what the laveaus did. except the jewelry didn’t kill meghan and lilly’s magic, it just put a lid on it. so the pressure has built up, and if you take that lid off...”

jo clenched her jaw, a few unsavory words building on her tongue, but she held them back. she placed a hand on lilly’s back. she didn’t imagine lilly knew about what the necklace was doing; she wasn’t cruel enough to ever do something like that, not to anyone, least of all meghan. and jo had questions, but she could save them for later. “are you okay with taking it off, lilly?”

“kira, can you—-” noah stopped, biting his lip. “can someone hold up one of the necklaces? i know i can’t touch it, but i want to inspect it. i might be able to find who did this.”

#gen. : ❛ pack !#par. : ❛ pack paras !#tit. : ❛ as if you were a mythical thing !

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tonyglowheart · 3 years

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This entire thing is a rant, feel free to ignore it, but I saw your post about how destiel fans can’t win in this context, and yeah. So have some rambles.

I’ve been thinking about the fact we (current spn/destiel fans) can’t win all night... I’ve seen so many people talking about how homophobic it is - and while I would very much like to argue, as every point I’ve seen made by a non-spn fan has been wrong so far, if I did everyone inside the fandom would agree and everyone outside would either call me straight or pity me for believing it’s okay.

(Cas wasn’t even sent to hell lmao. He was sent to angel death (the empty), a place he has escaped in the past. Other points, like that meta about spn has been predicting exactly this for months, that Dean ended up sobbing on the floor because he was so upset, like that death means next to nothing on spn, like that there is two episodes left, etc etc. you feel me right? I just don’t want to post wank to other spn blogs atm, we’re getting enough frustration as it is, no need to add to it.

It’s also worth pointing out that the bar is very, very low. Spn is a prominent TV show - not a Netflix show, or indie, or whatever - and it just said “main character in gay love saved the world”. [insert gif of ghostfacers dude saying that gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day here]

I just saw someone saying that spn having Naomi try to brainwash Cas out of loving dean makes spn homophobic (it is a conversion therapy parallel). My first response to that is that Naomi was the villain lmao? I guess we can’t write villains doing anything homophobic because having villains do homophobic things makes, uh - checks notes - villains look homophobic, and clearly we can’t have that.

There certainly are legitimate things to criticise spn about, but this isn’t it lol.

Also now some people are unironically trying to cancel Jensen because “his acting was homophobic, and so he’s clearly homophobic”, nevermind that he’s an actor and his character struggles with understanding his emotions (which I think he played excellently, myself. That scene had a very Dean delayed emotional response), nevermind the support he’s given to us queers in the past. Like. Idek man.

We would have been laughed at if we got no destiel, too.

It would have been worse, had the writers pulled a dumbledore. At this point I also trust the writers not to pull a GoT - they have explicitly criticised that ending in spn’s canon.

Spn’s writers did that by making the main villain of this season, Chuck / God, say GoT had a good ending. To reiterate a previous point I had: villains do bad things because they’re bad. And the bad things they do make them bad. For the people out there not still following, if someone does something in a story and it makes them a villain, that is explicitly telling you the story (and probably the writers) thinks that thing is bad. In this case, Chuck likes to write things for him, and we the audience have been shown and told that is bad.

Apparently thinking a gay confession is good in 2020 makes me straight. Seems unlikely, but whatever. Sorry for the length, I guess I went overboard, I’ve been holding it in lol. Anyway, DESTIEL IS CANON 💚💙 hope you have a good night

Helloo supernatural anon I hope you are living your best life right now. Yeah I’m like..... skeptical and leery myself but having lived through some absolute garbage discourse that is general purity wank, as well as the C/QL greater fandom here and on Twitter I find myself... much more wanting to question the “general wisdom” of things esp in terms of negativity, bc a lot of the time I find.... it’s wrong? Like so wrong. Or at least presents such an incomplete picture of the whole situation and also presents it in such a removed context that words that have meaning and are operationalized in a certain way for a reason, no longer have meaningful usage.

Anyway I don’t... know too much about the specifics of Spn but someone I follow is into it and talks a lot about the Gnostic stuff and that all was very fascinating to me, and I also have been grappling a lot with cultural Christianity bc of cmedia and the way ppl just *clenches fist* unthinkingly or uncritically slap some Christian norms on it and call it a day 😩 help I’m Tired. My thing here being... I actually got tired of the uncritical “superhell”s at some pt bc I am, in fact, incredibly exhausted with cultural Christianity, and because it does seem like, even possibly(?) without the Gnostic stuff it’s different from a “hell” or other Protestant-derived afterlife concept, and also yeah that it wasn’t seeded out of nowhere, it was set up to happen, which then... lends credence to the idea that whatever the current era of Spn is doing, the current showrunners are doing it with purpose.

And idk I just... refuse to believe the concept that ALL of the fans of Spn - esp the ones who have been following it still, or got back into it and are following it currently, are acting under delusion or are fooling themselves into liking it or thinking it’s good or whatever. I personally find that kinda infantilizing and patronizing and playing into issues of dismissing things women and/or other marginalized identities like.

Plus I find the concept that (from what I think I’ve been seeing Spn fans say) that the current era of the show is quite actively grappling with itself, its past, its legacy. to be very interesting and compelling; it hearkens back to like an old lore kind of feeling, of a thing that has grown into a nigh undefeatable monster and realizing that, also realizing that the only way to defeat itself is through grappling with its own nature and transforming and transmuting itself into something else. I personally find that more plausible and compelling than “Supernatural has been actively and continuously queerbaiting for 15 homophobic homophobic years., so right now we’re all very sorry for you because this maybe is no longer queerbaiting but it’s still homophobic and it can never be anything different ever.” I’ve been sort of tangentially aware of Spn thru the years and didn’t we agree, around the time of that in-universe play about Spn and with the lil Destiel shoutout, that Spn has come a ways as far as coming to terms with its fandom and working to treat its fans better? Why the sudden regression into “oh no, Supernatural is and forever will be homophobic and a hate crime”? 🤔

The rest under a cut bc the ask is already long and then my rambling will get longer-

But yeah I mean..... I get that the legacy of Supernatural has been certifiably Rough, but I think people also forget how different of a time 2005 was? Hell, how different of a time 2015 was, even, prior to, say, Obergefell v. Hodges. Now I’m not saying that to blanket-excuse Supernatural, but like, you look at mainstream shows from the era and... there’s a lot of shit lmao. The fact that Supernatural has existed this long seems to me like.... maybe we CAN look at how it’s developed through the years vs just insisting it is what it was 15, 10, hell, 5 years ago. Especially since, to my knowledge, there’s been showrunner changes? Which seems to me like it would... affect things? I mean honestly, I remember back when I got into Spn for a hot second because of Castiel, I remember watching panel, Q&A, etc vids thru the years, and like... I thought we agreed that... it was the fans who were going a bit far pushing the shipping question like literally ALL the time to the actors, who are not in control of the show and.... like at the time.... that could have had personal implications for them? And yes homophobia bad, and people can still be allies despite that, but again like.... I do feel like - from what I’ve seen - that these guys were NOT ready to deal with a lot of that but they’ve (okay Jensen I’m talking about Jensen here) genuinely grown and learned? Also how many years ago was the essay autograph thing that people keep trotting out, like what year was it in and what year of spn was it, and what were the prevailing opinions on LGBT issues and bisexuality then.

I’ve been seeing some murmurings of identity politicsing surrounding ppl who enjoy Supernatural, and I’m sorry that that’s happening to you, it really fucking sucks and it’s also the dumbest way to “make” or “win” an argument because it shouldn’t ever be a final determiner, just factors to consider when considering what life experiences might have informed someone else’s PoV and views as well as maybe how you can better communicate with them. Instead of it being a “weapon” or “tool” to either dismiss someone or de facto validate an argument.

Also yeah I get it that you don’t want to send discourse to spn blogs bc I imagine you guys ARE actively grappling with all the bs rn and it’s a lot. Even just from like, the stuff I see around, I’m like tired of it. I’m genuinely having more fun with ppl who are having a good time with Supernatural than the ppl who are hating on it, even in this sort of backhanded “oh we’re not clowning YOU we’re clowning the writers and showrunners who think you should be satisfied with this,” when... yeah? the people who HAVE been watching the show and therefore... know what’s up.. DO seem to be? And all this based on *fake gasp* context. And that’s where the backhandedness becomes kind of poisonous to me, because it implies that it IS bad, and that you SHOULDN’T be satisfied, but poor little you are but don’t worry, we’re not making fun of YOU for liking garbage, you’re just the hapless victim who is consuming the garbage bc... idk, whatever reasons ppl are coming up with ig.

idk man it’s 2020. Fandom isn’t activism, performative or otherwise, it’s okay to let people enjoy things even if you think they’re “objectively” bad, and like... I don’t know if people can call something bad when they’re not even working with the whole context and instead are dealing with rumor and reputation.

#supernatural cw #I tag this for ppl who I know want nothing to do with spn rn and are blacklisting and so it doesn't end up in main tag #Anonymous #asks answered #long post

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eisforeidolon · 4 years

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I know, I know, at this point, I should probably be jazzed about the idea that anything in the final episodes might actually be about Sam & Dean rather than cardboard extra #5. But, probably unpopular opinion, the partial speech by Sam in the trailer has me dreading we’re going to get another dead horse dramallama “plotline” on how Dean has to learn to ~*let go/let Sam grow up*~.

I’ll mostly agree it worked ... okay ... as the end of the apocalypse in season 5. Sam and Dean were working together for the first time as adults in those early seasons. They were both trying to adjust to working together on a more even footing after a childhood of Dean being left in charge of Sam too often and they both clearly had lingering issues from it. Dean was overbearing and overprotective sometimes. Sam was sometimes right, but also just sometimes surly that he wasn’t immediately getting his way now that he was an adult.

I’m not saying, particularly with the abnormal nature of their lives, it would be unreasonable for that to still be bleeding through to some minor extent. They both have libraries’ worth of issues and have spent very little time on genuinely resolving them rather than just working past them. These are no longer boys in their twenties who have just started to work together again, though. These are no longer the naive humans first getting manipulated by heaven and hell praying on their obvious weaknesses. At this point, playing it as if a major ongoing conflict between Sam & Dean is Dean needing to LET Sam grow up is a major disservice to both characters and an increasingly dull-witted and ludicrous characterization of their relationship for several reasons.

One, it implies that Dean’s protectiveness of the only constant person in his life who is in frequent danger is inherently unreasonable and can only be based out of being controlling/overbearing. Which - putting aside what a bafflingly how-do-you-do-fellow-humans premise it is as an assertion, which is definitely its own WTFery - inherently also calls into question Sam's protectiveness of Dean. If Dean’s concerns and expressions of them are unreasonable and controlling, it implies then that Sam’s for Dean should either be nonexistent (categorically untrue, season 10 is right there for starters) or that when it’s Sam, it’s somehow entirely different for ... uh ... reasons.

Two, it ignores the times Dean has shown he is, yes, actually capable of backing off and letting Sam take the lead both in small day-to-day events and apocalyptic ones - when he agrees or can be talked around, that is. Painting it as still being a problem of ~*letting Sam go/grow up*~ because Dean doesn’t immediately agree Sam’s ideas are the best every time and can’t always be talked into them has the unfortunate implication that Sam can only be an equal to Dean if Dean immediately concedes every time they disagree. That ... is not how an equal anything works. Again, it also paints all the times Sam doesn’t agree with Dean’s ideas as somehow different for ... uh ... reasons.

Both of them have had some pretty harebrained schemes, so at this point, having Sam harp on about Dean needing to ~*let him go*~ to get his way would be falling back into painting Sam, the grown-ass competent hunter of a man, as a manipulative manchild who isn’t capable of actually standing behind and selling his plan on its own merits (to be fair that’ll probably true because it’ll be Dabb-dumb, but still). Potentially capping the series with another Sam pulls an idea out of his ass and decides it must be the One True Solution for Reasons that Dean has to go along with, not because it’s genuinely good and will end up working as intended because these guys are intelligent and competent and are actually allowed to earn a genuine win to end it all, but because Dean needs to ~*let Sam go/grow up*~ and the McGuffins will make it all work out somehow? No thanks. Then again, who am I kidding, thinking either of the Winchesters will actually have enough agency to come up with even a bad plan when they’ll probably both just be cheerleading for Super Speshul Jack from the bleachers.

Which brings us to three, that even if you take out the idiocy of the premise of treating someone as a grownup = being a doormat? Like so many other things in these last seasons, this is a painfully stagnant well to keep going back to. Okay, so Dean letting Sam get possessed by Lucifer wasn’t enough to ~*let him go/grow up*~. So what about letting Sam get his way and do the trials himself? Agreeing to Sam meeting with Lucifer in the Cage even though Dean still thought it was a terrible idea? Agreeing to work with the BMoL when Sam wanted to while same? Staying behind while sending Sam off to lead the loltastic army of hunters to wipe out the cartoon villains the BMoL became? Taking in Jack and giving him a chance? If none of these times of stepping aside and going with Sam’s plans was enough to ~*let go/let Sam grow up*~ literally what could be? At this point, continuing with framing their conflicts this way says the literal opposite of what they seem to intend, because IF, after all that, anyone is holding Sam back - it’s Sam. Which I don’t remotely agree is a thing, because it’s a ludicrous nonsense premise of regurgitated previous dramatics that no longer really fits the characters and their relationship.

And yes, that is an awful lot of words over a possible interpretation of a partial line from a trailer when the show’s trailers are often misleading, I know. Hopefully I am entirely wrong and this whole rant will be laughably irrelevant.

#anti dabbernatural #brother vs. brother #long post #negativity for ts

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mittensmorgul · 4 years

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Yes I do have question. How the heck did they make it to alaska so quickly???

https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/tagged/dabb%20vs%20cars/chrono

Car continuity isn’t the show’s strong suit?

Also we don’t have any idea how quickly they actually made it there. All we know is that they’d been driving for a WHILE when we joined them in the car. I saw a post go by last night where someone googled it and discovered it was something like 57 hours to drive from Lebanon to Alaska, but we don’t even know where in Alaska they were...

that 57 hour estimate puts them at a random spot in the middle of Alaska, though, about 50 miles southwest of Fairbanks:

lol i zoomed way in on the end of that map to see if there was even a town there, and nope... even the ROAD ends before the end of that journey:

I am amused by this in a meta fashion, since Sam and Dean set out for Alaska without even a specific destination in mind. Because what Garth told them... is impossible. There IS no road between Kotzebue and Barrow Alaska. And neither of those towns are even on this zoomed-in map. Kotzebue is on the west coast of Alaska, not connected to anything else by any roads at all. Barrow is the northermost point of Alaska, also completely disconnected by any roads. It’s nearly a four hour flight between the two, with nothing between them but wilderness.

This reminds me I really need to write up something about what I believe are the very deliberate series of “continuity errors” in s15. Because I’d file this under that “well this only makes sense until you actually stop and think about it for five seconds” assumptions that s15 seems littered with. And again, my point is that it’s all deliberately skewed, because these are our hints about where Chuck is messing with the story for his own purposes.

But that’s obviously for another post... back to your actual question... >.>

It’s never stated how long Sam and Dean had been gone, driving to Alaska, and then driving around once they got there looking for the place. We don’t know how long Cas had been in Heaven, doing whatever he was doing, scoping out the Chuck/angels situation... and then when he did return, he got pulled into the Jack investigation (bless Agent Lizzo), and conceivably spent a few days on that. We also don’t know how long he and Jack were waiting at the bunker for Sam and Dean to return...

And all the while, Sam and Dean thought Cas was still in Heaven because he hadn’t called them after finding their note about Alaska, or if he did he probably didn’t get a signal because there are VAST swaths of Alaska that don’t have any cell signal at all... because again, no roads, vast wilderness, etc... and it’s highly unlikely their phones even worked at all through most of that journey...

In this context, I LOVE the parallel this creates between Sam and Dean going so far out into the wilderness where they’ve disconnected from the communication grid. Because there’s several other incidents of this exact theme in Cas’s side of the episode. Let me explain.

Cas himself had been disconnected from human cell phone service while he’d been in Heaven. Hence why Sam and Dean had to leave a note for him rather than calling him. The fact they would be in Alaska implied they would be out of cell range themselves. I love the implication that just as Cas returns to Earth, to the bunker, to communicate, Sam and Dean have left... And it’s only because one of the tangled nest of cell phones in Sam’s room rang that Cas was even there to get the lead on Jack being back... Communication is a wild meta point this season, isn’t it?

The Grigori had been surprised that Jack had been able to track them all down, specifically because the Grigori operate on a different frequency from Angel Radio. He couldn’t figure out HOW Jack was tracking them all, and had killed them all, when even Heaven supposedly couldn’t. That in itself was a direct parallel to 12.10, when Lily Sunder wanted Benjamin to call out to the rest of the angels over Angel Radio before killing him, to draw them to her so she could kill them, too. Jack had used this in the exact same way to draw out the last Grigori. But in doing that, we learned that the Grigori were on their own “radio grid,” communicating “in secret” from Heaven.

I mean, theoretically, Chuck still could’ve known all that went on with them, but would he bother? We don’t know... his laser focus has been on the Winchesters, after all, and even a warning like Jack’s killing spree prompted may have gone entirely unnoticed on this alternate frequency.

Jack himself had been hiding in the Empty, under Billie’s protection, until she deemed it “safe” to return, after Chuck went “off world” again. But do we really think Chuck is actually gone? That he isn’t still actively attempting to bring about his desired ending directly?

I mean, since 14.20 when the Shadow smiled at Jack and Billie sat him down for a talk, I’ve been assuming they needed that meeting to take place somewhere that Chuck couldn’t “overhear” their plotting. And the Empty absolutely qualifies for that. Chuck’s “cell service,” his ability to look and hear directly what’s happening in his creation, doesn’t extend to the Empty. And on Jack’s return, he specifically says he can’t use his powers lest Chuck know he’s alive again.

Interesting how these “communication issues” are being lampshaded in text by actual physical limitations and “empty places” on the map, where normal human communications via cell phone service don’t even exist.

lol i googled a cell phone coverage map of alaska, and this is just the northern half... Barrow is at the top, and the bit on the left I circled, that wee little orange blot on the tip of that spit of land, is Kotzebue... Sam and Dean were really out of their coverage area...

And for European friends who don’t get how freaking MASSIVE Alaska is... have this for handy reference:

okay... I think that’s enough to get going with...

Basically, we don’t know how long they were driving, nor how long Cas had been in Heaven. We assume once they won and left Fortuna’s bar, they were able to drive back to the bunker with all due haste and no further interruptions due to the car breaking down or running out of gas or any other meddling from Chuck’s curse... So probably about 57 hours. There’s nothing else in the episode to suggest it didn’t take that long, you know? Just because we didn’t see it happening doesn’t mean it didn’t take exactly as long as it should’ve. And honestly, not watching them drive for 57 hours straight is something I can live with :’D

#spn 15.11 #dabb vs cars #yes even though i know meredith and davy wrote this episode #using your words #even when the story itself seems determined to prevent communications #or to disguise them or force characters into alternate methods to keep in touch...#it's incredible actually...#Anonymous

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pynkhues · 5 years

Note

Say Dean did give her the necklace. Out of all the horrendous things he’s done to her, why would she decide to wear it tho?

Well, assuming that he is the one to give her the new necklace, which Istrongly suspect he is (although I’ve been wrong before!), I think there are afew reasons she’d wear it. And hey! I’ve had five or six asks since 2.08about Beth and Dean’s relationship, history and age gap, which I had a fewdrafts of, so I’m so sorry! I’m going to highjack your ask to combine/answerthem all! Hope that’s okay.

Putting all myheadcanons and theories aside (at least for the first half of this post haha),let’s just talk about what canon has established about Beth and Dean and theirrelationship over the last 18 episodes.

This is like, verylong (seriously 2,800 words), haha, so I’m putting it under a cut to save all your feeds.

The Marks’ Family ValuesWhile 2.08 clarified a few things about the way Beth, Ruby and Annie wereraised, there’s still a lot that we don’t really know, so let’s look at what wedo know:

1. Beth as a youngteenager crashed her mother’s car out the front of Ruby’s house with her kidsister in the passenger seat because there was no food in the house, and theirmother wasn’t getting out of bed. The implication, from Annie’sdialogue “She just really likes it there” is that this is not a new thing.(2.08)

2. Annie was areckless kid and had a broken arm during a time it’s implied she and Beth were neglected.(2.08)

3. “You knowwhat my mama used to say? You get what you get and you don’t get upset.” – Beth(2.01)

4. Beth played pianofor six years after her parents dropped $$s on it, despite changing her mindand wanting to play violin, which on its own I think can be written off as generalchildish indecisiveness, buuuut I think means a little more than that in thecontext of everything else. (1.05)

5. Beth worked heronly legitimate job in highschool at the Dairy Queen. (1.03)

5. Annie used to gethigh and was sexually active in highschool, and had gossip/rumours spread abouther. Their mother came into the school to address it and, it’s implied, madethe situation a lot worse, causing Annie not want to do the same to Sadie with Sadie’sbullies. (1.04)

6. Then Annie gotpregnant in highschool. (mentioned multiple times)

7. Beth has alwaysbeen the one that Annie has called to bail her out of trouble (mentioned a fewtimes).

9. Beth had postpartumdepression with at least one of her children. (2.05)

The Boland Timeline

While we haven’t gottenconfirmed ages of the characters, we do know that Dean is, at the very least, ayear older than Beth, although I think it’s more likely around three yearsgiven the way it’s framed in the episode. SO.

1. Beth meets Dean atschool when she’s either a freshman, sophomore or junior. He’s a senior. It’sat a point in time where we know her mother is bedridden and Beth spends a lotof time looking after Annie (she even took Annie to Ruby’s father’s funeral,which I think says a lot as to how much Beth – and by proxy Ruby – were lookingafter Annie). (2.08)

2. Beth and Dean havebeen married for 20 years during S1, so that puts them likely at gettingmarried when Beth is somewhere between the age of 20-22. (mentioned multipletimes)

3. Somewhere in thistime period, Dean takes over Boland Motors from his father (one of the photosin the screensaver Dean’s looking at in 2.04 looks like it’s from a grandre-opening, and Beth’s holding a baby boy, so it looks like this could bearound the time Kenny or Danny is born) and Beth becomes a stay-at-home motherand a housewife. Dean also has full control of their finances, and Beth is onan allowance that he also controls.

4. Kenny has hiseleventh birthday in S1, so Beth would’ve been in her late twenties when shehad him.

5. We don’t know theage gap between the rest of the kids (and in fact, those age gaps have obviouslychanged between S1 and S2 lol) but it looks like Jane is now the youngest, notEmma, and that Beth and Dean hadn’t had sex in the two years before gettingpregnant with Jane, and then that they hadn’t had sex since she was born until2.06, which seems to be about five or six years. (2.05 / 1.05)

6. Beth had postpartumdepression after at least Emma (it was the specific given reason as to why theyhadn’t had sex in the two years before getting pregnant with Jane), although Ithink the implication is that it was with more of the kids than just her.

7. Somewhere in allof this, Dean had multiple affairs. He says four, but the implication fromAmber is that it’s more than that, and then I think Beth basically confirmsthat when she says “Dean’s slept with half of Detroit” later in the episode.Plus Dean being a pathological liar isn’t exactly a secret. (2.05)

8. Beth finds out hesleeps with Amber in 1.01 and that he’s mortgaged their house three times andthat their savings are gone. She kicks him out, takes control of theirfinances, and robs Fine & Frugal.

9. Dean tries to winher back a few times - first by appealing to her pragmatism (and I’ll beexpanding on this shortly) - by talking about how they’ll both be worse offfinancially if they separate - before telling her that she’s the love of hislife, then by showing up unannounced to mow the backyard (a traditionally malehousehold job), then by using Kenny’s birthday wish that they were backtogether to try and guilt her (another point I’ll be expanding on shortly!)

10. Cut to Kenny’sbirthday party. He implies Beth’s having an affair with Rio (lols for so manyreasons), they fight, Beth insinuates that she’ll be filing for divorce soon(”You’re still my wife” “Yeah, I’ve gotta get on that.”) and Dean drops TheCancer Lie. Beth is obviously upset, and lets him move back in, but he’ssleeping in Kenny’s room. (1.04)

11. Dean doubles down on the cancer lie by bribing a doctor to tell Bethhe has prostate cancer, but he also covers for her when Turnerfinds the Boland Motors car the girls stole from the lot. He then confronts herabout it in a very paternalistic way (”Why don’t you get a job?” “Sit down!”“These people prey on good, innocent people” “I’m sorry I yelled at you, buteverything’s going to be fine. I’ll take care of you.”). Beth plays along inthe moment, but Dean changes the locks without telling her (and also doesn’thelp her bring the grocery bags in which is sooo telling), reveals he’sswitched hours with a guy at work to be around to ‘protect’ her, and Bethfinally stands up for herself “You have no idea what I’ve done or even who Iam”. (1.06)

12. Dean asks her ifshe’s doing it for the kids. She says yes, and he says it’s all he needs toknow. It genuinely seems to comfort her in the moment. It’s one of their fewnice scenes and I think shows what they were like when they were at their verybest. (1.07)

13. Rio shuts down,Beth is back on an allowance. She tries to get a loan, but their credit hasn’trebounded enough and they still have too much debt. Dean solves the problem bymoving the botox via the doctor he bribed. Dean won’t tell Beth how he did it,but she’s grateful enough to end up coming clean about what she does for Rio.They have their second nice moment. “You don’t deserve anything I did toyou.” + “I think you’re incredible.” (1.08)

14. Dean obviouslyfeels like he and Beth are getting back on track, and is annoyed that Annie’sliving with them temporarily. He builds Beth a craft table with hiddencompartments to hide her fake cash! (1.09)

15. Dean tries toorganise something for their anniversary, which Beth doesn’t agree to rightaway, but does later in the episode when he tries to help her after realisingshit’s going down in the crime world. Dean gets into a car accident whilechecking out another woman, Beth finds out he lied about the cancer (like thatgrenade was never going to blow, Deansy), he came home, Rio shoots him to getback at Beth, but not before revealing a certain degree of intimacy and trustbetween the two of them, which Dean clocks instantly. (1.10 / 2.01)

Then Season 2happens, haha.

So let’s talk about Beth & Dean

I’ve said it a fewtimes before, but when it comes to Beth, we’re ultimately watching somebody whohas been disempowered and disenfranchised for a really, really long time tryingto reclaim a sense of identity and control over her life. Even before 2.08, wewere looking at that through the sense of her marriage to Dean where she had noreal independence. Her entire life was dictated by decisions that he made forthem, personally, professional and financially, and a lot of the first half of Season1 was devoted to her realising exactly how many of those decisions had been bad ones. As the series went on, she reallydid start to gain a sense of financial independence (which is incredibly important)as well as a sense of her own identity and agency, only for that to becompletely crippled again across that four episode arc - 1.09 through to 2.02 –firstly by thinking Rio had played her for a fool (the empty truck), then Rio firingher, then realising that Dean hadplayed her for a fool again (thecancer lie), and then her plot to put Rio away falling apart, Dean being shot,and her realising that she was newly indebted to both of them.

I think what 2.08contextualised was that Beth has never really been allowed to explore who sheis, because there’s always been somebody she’s had to look after. She’s alwayshad dependents and she has lived a life of constant compromise, making her incrediblypragmatic and sacrificing of her own needs and wants. The episode establishedthat Beth spent most if not all of her adolescence caring for Annie and theirmother, married young, and then spent her entire young adult life looking afterDean and their four children.

Likely the appeal ofDean was that he was older, gave her attention in a way that seemed to ‘see’ herat a time where her needs were neglected at home, and likely popular – he’s goofyand fun, as the show’s establishedmultiple times, which I think would be more likeable at that teenage age, and Ithink he probably appealed to Beth as a way out of a troubling home situation.At the end of the day, the show has established pretty firmly that Beth is, whenit comes to her and her own, a survivor. And when I say survivor, I don’t meanthe badass, action heroine sort of survivor - I mean the desperate, do-what-she-has-tosort of survivor. She has an uncanny ability to lie and perform to get herselfout of situations, and also a tendency to sacrifice her own happiness for thoseshe loves. I think when it came to Dean, for a very long time, Beth sacrificedpower and control for a security and safety that she hadn’t had growing up,first for herself (and likely in part for Annie too), and then for her fourchildren.

And I think Dean, priorto the start of the series, had never truly been challenged on any of thecontrol that he wrought over their lives. He’s your classic embodiment of whitemale privilege, and I think he has all the baggage that comes with that,including a firm belief in gender roles, a heady sense of entitlement, and asubconscious expectation that things will usually work in his favour. The factthat he started dating Beth when she was so young, that he inherited BolandMotors from his father, and the fact that he blames Beth’s postpartum depressionfor his affairs too I think drasticallyemphasises that. We talk a lot about the power play between Beth and Rio, butBeth and Dean, since 1.01, have been in a power play of their own – Beth in herdesire to break out of their traditional roles, to ‘steer the ship’, and toreally put her family in a more secure position in life (something she realisedDean was incapable of doing), and Dean in his desire to keep them in their traditional roles, to ‘steer the ship’, and tokeep the status quo (I mean, hell, the fact that he was checking out anotherwoman on his way to his anniversary dinner with Beth in 1.10 says a lot about exactly how little he wants things tochange).

In what is typical ofpeople who are nurturers/carers or have been forced into nurturer/carerpositions in their life, Beth also seems to feel guilt to a disproportionatedegree, and in a way that often seems to cancel out any other emotion,including her anger. This is established pretty early in season one in smallways - her snipping with Annie then immediately back pedalling when sherealises Annie might lose custody of Sadie, with not being able to throw Kennythe birthday party he wants, with her telling Dean about what she does for Rioafter Dean offloads the botox, and then reiterated in big ways this season -nursing Dean after he’s been shot, crawling into bed with Kenny after he gotcaught binge eating at school, going above and beyond to get the dubby backafter Jane feels neglected, I’d even argue that the whole situation with MaryPat has partially been fuelled by guilt for putting Mary Pat in that situationin the first place when she’s a widow with four young children.

And I think Dean knows this! He has guilted her so much across the course of this show, often in a way to deflectfrom his own shortcomings or to ultimately playher. He gaslights her all the time,and she often doesn’t even realise it, which demonstrates, to me at least, howoften he’s done it over the course of their 20+ year relationship. The wholething about the cancer lie in the first place was to back her into a corner,which he succeeded in doing. He guilted her about being at Boland Motors andaway from the kids. When Jane went missing, he immediately blamed her and guilted her for her involvement with Rio(instead of………you know……….looking for his daughter), in 2.08, he guilted Beth for checking on her moneybefore untying him after he’d tried to organise a hit on her partner and gottenher robbed blind in the process.

And when the guilt and the manipulation stopped working, he did thething he knew she couldn’t ignore (and that would hurt her the most) which istake the children. Beth is, like I said earlier, a survivor and a sacrificer whenit comes to her and her own. There’s no way she won’t give up everything togive those children what she didn’t have – a mother who she could rely on. I thinkDean’s ultimatum won’t just be about them either. I could be wrong, but I thinkhe’s going to tell her that they have to try again as a couple, and I thinkthat’s what that necklace is going to be about (seriously though, if he givesit to her as a part of the ultimatum, everything about it symbolically is acollar), and she’ll put it on for her children, and I think it’s all honestlygoing to push her over the edge in a really big way before the season’s over.

I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but I think Beth fully was intendingto leave Dean before the cancer lie, but then she needed to care for him(again, a manipulation I think Dean knew would work because of Beth’s historycaring for her mother and Annie), and then the shooting (same reason, plus theadded bonus of her having caused it). Since then, I think she has almostcompletely emotionally divorced him – having sex with Rio, taking over BM,checking on the money first, not letting him back into her bed – is all verytelling of this, and I think she had likely had her pragmatic hat on and waswaiting until she could feasibly balance all the pieces in her life on her ownbefore filing for divorce. Of course, that’s now blown up with Dean holding thechildren essentially hostage.

And look, do I thinkDean loves Beth? I do actually, in his own way. Do I think Beth loves Dean? Ithink she did, but like she said to Ruby – Dean’s not a soulmate for her, oreven a partner. Beth and Dean should’ve maybe briefly dated in highschool andthen broken up, but they’re both in too deep now, and I don’t think anythingshort of a bullet or an arrest is going to easily disentangle them.

#beth x dean #NBC Good Girls #speculation #gg 2.08 #gg 2.09 #welcome to my ama #character backgrounds #timelines #beth boland #dean boland #staying's worse than leaving #gg season 2

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spootiliousrps · 5 years

Text

Suspicious Natures

[An Ongoing RP with the amazing @fandomrp ]

// [Next]

Castiel pulled his cloak tighter around him to try and ward off the chill from the night air. It seemed that these late nights seemed to grow colder and colder. He paused just briefly to glance over the rolling hills before him before continuing his patrol of the armaments. It was late but it wasn’t as if he had anywhere else to be; he was the Knight Commander of the King’s Arms, he took pride in his work and nothing could pull him from it. He paused to nod at one of the guards as they passed each other but said nothing. How long had he served until King John? It had to have been the better part of a decade and now that he had passed his son was due to take over. Cas had only met the man briefly, but it was enough to notice the Alpha’s reckless nature. He obviously had his reservations about the boy’s ability to rule but it would not interfere in his duties. That is… if the newly appointed Monarch allowed him to keep his position.

No, Castiel would be fine. Even if he were demoted, he would take pride in training his replacement. Though there was no real worry that he’d be replaced, not unless… Well, not unless someone discovered what he really was… He was sure the younger Prince had figured it out long ago. Sam was far too intelligent for his own good, it worried him some time… But as far as he knew the boy never told anyone Castiel’s secret and for that the Knight Commander would be forever grateful. He had worked far too hard to gain his title. Of course, he couldn’t take all the credit; if it wasn’t for Hannah, he would have never discovered how to hide his scent so effectively.

He offered another murmur of greeting as another guard bowed in respect as Castiel passed, a bit too lost in his own head to really pay attention where he was heading.

King Dean was a strong Alpha, he considered himself to be fair and just, just like how he runs the Kingdom. Though if it wasn’t for his brother Sammy, he would be lost. He much preferred to be out with the King’s Cavalry actively protecting his Kingdom. He was walking through the fields above the Kingdom, looking down on what he ruled. As he walked he noticed the Knight Commander walking towards him. King Dean jogged up to him. “Castiel isn’t in? I’ve been meaning to have a discussion with you. How about we have it now?” He asked, as he held his hand out to the Commander.

Cas glanced up as his name was called, intense gaze falling on the man in question. He straightened immediately, tension obvious in his shoulder. “Your Majesty.” Castiel greeted quickly, fist pressing against the thin metal covering his chest as he bowed deeply. “I was not aware you were out for a stroll. I apologize for not sending an escort.” He hurried before the man’s words sank, causing him to frown, thankful that his low bow hid the expression. The King wished to have a discussion this late… it did not bode well.

“Oh no, no. I did not tell anyone.” King Dean smiled. “I prefer coming out here alone. You can straighten, Castiel. Unless you enjoy the reflection of your face in my boots.” Dean chuckled warmly. “There is no need to worry about this chat, it’s just a formality. We may as well do it now when we are both free, then try to find time in our schedules.”

The teasing had the Knight Commander flushing slightly as he did as he was instructed, lips still pursed in apprehension. “I… Understand your desire to be alone, Your Majesty, however, I do not think its wise for you to venture the grounds alone, especially with your recent rise to the throne.” He protested gently, unsure of Dean’s temperament when it came to question his actions in such a manner; King John certainly wasn’t too fond of it. Still, he fell in step next to the King. “I will be happy to discuss whatever you wish, My King, if you will allow me to walk with you.”

“If I was not born the eldest child, I would have joined the quests to search for far off lands. I feel the safest out here.” He explained. “But now I have you, to ensure my safest. That if you are loyal to me.” King Dean asked, raising an eyebrow. “You would never conceal your true actions, nor lie to the King would you?” He asked.

Castiel glanced at him once more, intense gaze narrowing at the implications. “I am loyal to the Throne, Your Majesty. You sit upon it. I am loyal to you just as I was loyal to your father. If I have given you any reason for doubt or concern, I will do what it takes to make things right. All you need do is name the task.” Castiel reassured, avoiding a direct answer in regard to his ‘true actions’ and ‘lies’. “It is my honor to serve this kingdom and the royal family.”

“Do not be so offended, Commander, or one could read into it. These are just formal questions, I am asking of the staff surrounding me.” King Dean hummed. He knew that Castiel was keeping something from him, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He decided to change tack and continue on with the formal questioning. “Throughout this transition period, I’m hoping you’ll take some slack, that I may cause, I am still trying to juggle many things, and as such, I may not answer your queries as quickly as my father.” He explained. “During this time I wish for you to follow your gut, or think back to what my father would have asked you to do. Will you do this?”

Cas blinked at the request, unsure of what to make of it. “Of course, Sire.” He mumbled after a moment’s hesitation. “I will do my duty with honor, have no doubt in that.” He encouraged with a nod. “I have a request, however, if you will hear me?” He offered, gaze shifting back in the direction they walked leisurely.

“Of course, Commander. But I do reserve the right to waiver the request if it is not suitable for a King to do.” King Dean smiled warmly, he watched Castiel walk, noting the softest of the cheekbones and narrower shoulder’s usually adorning Omega men.

"Of course, Sire." Castiel nodded, unaware of the King's attention to detail. "Ruling is a difficult job, one that I am certain you are already of aware of. But a King is only a great as his people. You are not alone in your power, Your Majesty. We are all here to help lighten the burdens of the crown. Forgive my brash nature, but this includes your brother. He may be young but he is wise beyond his years perhaps he could be of use in your transition to the throne." He offered, tensing slightly as he waited for the backlash the was undoubtedly coming. Castiel had a tendency to toe the line of insubordination but it had served him well on occasion.

I speak with my brother often.” King Dean hummed, he stopped walking and turned to Castiel. “He is helping with more... mundane matters at the moment. Is there a reason you wish for me to use my brother more frequently? He has a job of his own, that we both wish for him to attend to, and a good wife.” Dean hummed. “I do not wish to take too much of him time away from either of those matters.”

Castiel paused when Dean did, turning to face him as was proper. “Of course, Your Majesty, I would not wish to imply that you would.” He rushed, obviously worried he had offended the Monarch. “It is just that I have watched the two of you for the better part of ten years now. King John, God rest his soul, ensured that your brother remain on a very strict path and while I must respect his wishes, I fear that your brother’s talents and intelligence may not be utilized to their fullest. If allowed, I believe your brother would gain immeasurable honor in a more productive role. While a scholar is an honorable trade I feel his talents may be wasted scribing others’ words.” He explained before flushing deeply as he realized how it sound. “Though I, of course, would not presume to know anyone in the Royal Family with such familiarity.” He rushed. “I am merely making assumptions off a few rare observations of the boy.” When had he become so easily embarrassed? Perhaps it was just how warm it had suddenly gotten. The thought had him tensing as he realized that that couldn’t be right, the night had been chilled just a moment ago. No, it had to be the way the Alpha’s scent seemed to swirled around them in the evening air that seemed to heat him, making him realize that they were particularly close and causing him to take a step back.

King Dean eyed Castiel as he took a step back, as his cheeks flustered with warmth. “As you are so keen to hand out unwarranted advice, how about you give me advice. You are the Knight Commander of the King’s Arms. These following days, I wish to receive a full report on one of the men directly under you. Each day, until you have reported on each of them. Their strengths, their weaknesses, and where you would advise to place them.” Dean stated. “At dusk every night. Or, of course, you can explain why you refused to answer my question about whether you’re lying and telling me the entire truth of your actions.” Dean offered, with a wry smile.

Castiel’s stomach twisted almost painful at the words, eyes growing a bit wide in surprise. He could feel his heart pounding against his ribs noticeable as he quickly bent low at the waist once more. “Of course, Your Grace!” He rushed perhaps a bit too loudly. “I will have those reports ready and waiting just as you request.” He offered eagerly, pausing in his bow the action helping to conceal his worried look. “Forgive me for stepping out of line.” He added. “I meant no disrespect. It was wrong of me to assume you were in need of any such advice from someone such as myself. Though I fear I do not understand what actions you refer to, Sire. I try and conduct myself as honestly as possible.” ‘As possible’ being the key words. He had never lied to the man… Merely, provided a lack of information.

“Honesty. Yes, I agree. Yet you are not honesty about your entirety. You are keeping something from me. And as your King. If you do not wish to be demoted out of the Army, then I suggest, very wisely, that you provide all the information about yourself to me, right now.” Dean’s eyes narrowed, as he tried to piece together what Castiel’s secret could be. All he could imagine was that the Commander was an Omega, but that was surely untrue, his father would have noticed.

Cas’s brows furrowed as if confused as he straightened. “Of course, Your Grace. Whatever you wish.” He offered. “I was born Castiel Novak in a neighboring Kingdom, though I could not say which, to Charles Novak. My Mother died giving birth to myself and I do not know her name. I have too many siblings to name, most of which I couldn’t even if I tried fore I was very young when I was sold to a labor camp outside the walls of the city. After a few years among the slaves I presented and managed to escape by killing my direct caretaker and made a run for it. After a fortnight of scrounging for food I was collected by a small merchant train who cared for me until they reached your Father’s territory. I was left to care for myself with no money nor skills and thus began to gravitate towards the page boys who taught me to spar. Sir Metatron took notice of my willful nature and took me under his wing, educating me and guiding me towards knighthood. When the war broke out I served as a foot soldier beneath him, quickly rising in rank and glory on the battlefield. Until, of course, Metatron proved to be a traitor and fought against your father, may he rest in peace. Discovering this I led the rebellion against my mentor, ultimately slaying him and gaining great renown. Upon returning victorious in both the battle and the war I was given the title of Knight Commander and have served your father and your kingdom faithfully since.” He explained almost as if he had rehearsed the whole thing. He managed to keep an emotionless expression during the explanation aside from the small flash of pain that tainted his icy blues at the mention of his mentor’s death. “I hand pick each of the men in your service to ensure that history does not repeat itself and that the Kingdom’s integrity remains at its utmost strength. I wake early each morning to make my rounds, ensure my men are in peak physical and mental condition and assess any security issue that may pose itself. I eat my meals among my soldiers to boost moral and end my evening far past dusk after my final inspections. I find pride and satisfaction in my work which is why I have committed myself wholly to it. I have not, nor do I plan on marrying or having cubs for that reason. I am and will remain a faithful servant to the crown and while I hope this satisfies your curiosity, Sire, I respect your decision and have a list of men that I feel would excel as your new Knight Commander should you wish to replace me.” He offered with another bow.

// [Next]

#destiel #supernatural #Dean Winchester #Castiel Novak #Fantasy Kingdom AU #RP #Roleplay #m/m #ABO #A/b/o #a/b/o rp #Destiel prompts #destiel rp #dean/cas #dean/castiel #dean winchester/castiel #suspicious nature

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