#not to mention that John deserves so much more than to play third wheel to Jamie/Claire

[brotherhoodoftheblade]

You cannot tell me that DG (back before she lost her mind and dropped the ball at the homestretch) didn’t mean for us to read this scene:

“....It’s coming is a gift, which I accept with gratitude, but when it’s gone, there is no sense of abandonment or deprivation. I’m only glad to have had it for as long as it chose to remain.”

“And you’re saying your relationship with Manoke is the same. Does he feel that way about you, do you think?” I asked, fascinated. He glanced at me, cleared startled. 

“I have no idea.”

“You, um, don’t...talk in bed?” I said, striving for delicacy. 

His mouth twitched, and he looked away.

“No.”

We lay in silence for a few moments, examining the ceiling. 

“Have you ever?” I blurted.

“Have I what?”

“Had a lover that you talked to?”

He cut his eyes at me. 

“Yes. Perhaps not quite so frankly as I find myself talking to you, but, yes.” 

(An Echo in the Bone, Ch.95)

...and draw a straight line in our recollections to the times John lay abed with Percy in BotB, speaking of intimacies they shared with no one else. Because obviously, Percy was the only lover of his he really talked to about deeply personal matters in bed. (That we were shown anyway. He probably confided in Hector at least about some things, I hope.)

“Shall I tell you a great secret?” Percy’s voice was soft, breath warm in his ear. Grey reached a hand through the sheets, slid it over the high round of a still warmer buttock.

“Please,” he whispered.

“My name is not Percival.”

.....[Percy] laughed a little unsteadily, took a deep breath, and lay down on his back, drawing the sheet up over his chest.

“My name is Perseverance,” he said in a rush.

“Per -” Grey lay completely still, holding his breath and concentrating fiercely on his belly muscles. 

“Go ahead and laugh,” Percy said from the dark, with exceeding dryness. “I won’t mind.”

“Yes, you would,” Grey said, but was still unable to quell the bubble of mirth that rose up the back of his throat, and being there firmly suppressed, emerged through his nose in a strangled snort. To keep from committing further offense, he said the first thing that came into his mind.

“What’s your middle name?”

Percy laughed, sounding a little easier, now that the dreadful confession was made.

.....Just now, he was realizing exactly the magnitude of the the gift Percy had given him. 

He was the only one who knew. Percy had been right; it was a great secret, and John felt the weight of his lover’s trust, warm on his heart.

He groped for Percy’s hand and found it, slightly cold. They lay silent for a bit, holding hands, bodies warming to each other. 

..... “Shall I tell you a great secret?” Grey whispered, at long last. ...

“Please.” Percy’s hand tightened on his.

“My father was murdered.”

..... Somewhere in the telling, Percy had gathered him into his arms, and held him now, close against his body. His head lay in the hollow of Percy’s shoulder, and the curly hairs of Percy’s chest brushed soft against his lips as he spoke. ...

Percy’s hand smoothed the hair away from John’s face, gentle. 

“Your mother likely thought whoever’d killed your father had got you, too.”

“Yes, she did.” For the first time in the telling, a lump came into his throat, recalling his mother’s face when she’d seen him, filthy, trailing hay and mud across the Turkey carpet in her boudoir. “That’s - that’s the only time she cried.”

Percy’s arm tightened round his shoulders. He could hear Percy’s heart, a muffled steady thump beneath his heart.

“And you?” Percy said at last, very quietly. “Did you weep for your father?”

“I never did,” he said, and closed his eyes.

(BotB, Ch.18)

~*~

Percy did return to the matter a few days later, though. No doubt it was a matter of Percy’s own upbringing in a religious milieu, Grey reflected. Or perhaps it was only that Percy had never been with a man willing to discuss philosophy in bed. Grey hadn’t, himself, but found the novelty mildly diverting. 

They had left the barracks separately and met in Percy’s rooms for a few stolen hours. Where, after the initial delights of the flesh had been tasted, Grey found himself with his head pillowed on Percy’s stomach, being read to from a collection of legal opinions. published a year or two previous. 

.....

“So,” Grey remarked, “we must be exterminated, because our pleasures are insufficiently ecstatic?” 

Percy’s brow relaxed a bit, and he closed the book.

.....Still, he considered the matter, enjoying the peaceful rise and fall of Percy’s breathing beneath his cheek. 

“I think a gentleman conducts his affairs with kindness and with honor,” he said, at last. ...

Percy gave a short laugh.

“Kindness and honor? That’s all well - but what of love?”

Grey valued love - and feared it - too greatly to make idle protestations.

“You cannot compel love,” he said finally, “nor summon it at will. Still less,” he added ruefully, “can you dismiss it.” He sat up then, and looked at Percy, who was looking down, tracing patterns on the counterpane with a fingertip. “I think you are not in love with me, are you?”

Percy smiled a little, not looking up. Not disagreeing, either. “Cannot dismiss it,” he echoed. “Who was he? Or is he?”

“Is.” Grey felt a sudden jolt of the heart at the speaking of that single word. Something at once joyful and terrible; the admission was irrevocable.

Percy was looking up at him now, brown eyes bright with interest.

“It is - I mean, he - you need not worry. There is no possibility of anything between us.” Grey blurted, and bit his tongue to keep back the sudden impulse to tell everything, only for the momentary ecstasy of speaking of Jamie Fraser. He was wiser than that, though, and kept the words bottled tight in his throat. 

“Oh. He’s not...?” Percy’s gaze flicked momentarily over Grey’s nakedness, then returned to his face.

“No.”

It was late in the day; light skimmed across the room from the high attic windows, striking the dark burnished mass of Percy’s curling hair, painting the lines of his face in chiaroscuro, but leaving his body in the dimness of shadow.

“Is friendship and sincere liking not enough for you?” Grey was careful to avoid any tone of pettishness or accusation, making the question merely one of honest inquiry. Percy heard this, and smiled, lopsidedly, but with answering honesty.

“No.” He stretched out a hand and ran it up Grey’s bare arm, over the curve of his shoulder, and down the slope of his breast, where he spread his palm flat over the nipple - and took a sudden hold of the flesh there, fingers digging into the muscle.

“Add that, though...” he said softly, “and I think it will suffice.”

(BotB, Ch.19)

That their story will never have a happy resolution - after all that they were, and could’ve yet been, to each other - is just tragic. 🥺😭😭😭

#*sits here loathing DG again* #John and Percy were literally the only LJG pairing set up within the integrity of the narrative to actually have a true shared love #John and Manoke are a joke as romantic pairing - John barely knows the first thing about the man bc he's never cared enough to know #John and Stephan have a lovely friendship and occasional FWB thing but John himself both by his own actions and self-knowledge... #knows what he feels for Stephan isn't romantic love but only physical attraction coupled with genuine friendship #and sorry not sorry but John/Jamie will only ever exist in fanfics - DG will never make them canon #and honestly if she did after 25 fucking years it would feel like such slap in the face to John because someone who really loved him... #would've figured out their shit decades ago rather continually hurt someone they're supposed to care about #not to mention that John deserves so much more than to play third wheel to Jamie/Claire #I mean seriously WTF is Gabaldon even doing with John's character anymore?!?!?! #OL is the most frustrating fucking fandom ISTG #at this point only the fanfiction DG loathes so much is actually worth reading lol #my random ramblings #Lord John Grey #Percy Wainwright #john x percy #Brotherhood of the Blade #lord john series #quotes #anti diana gabaldon

[drewstarkeys]

SWEET TO ME : JJ MAYBANK

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Reader

Word Count: 1.9k

Summary: being JJ’s girlfriend comes with a lot of highs and lows, yet you stick with him throughout it all. Based off of Sweet to Me by Summer Salt.

- NOT MY GIF! ALL CREDITS TO THE OWNER -

“You’re so sweet to me.”

He had his arm wrapped around you as he let out a loud laugh at whatever John B was saying. His body was the only thing keeping you warm as you sat on the beach drinking warm beers in the cold air of early June.

You huffed after a breeze went by as you watched your skin litter with goosebumps from the cold air. The fire in front of you was dying off, which only added to your growing discomfort. You wished that you had dressed warmer but you hadn’t thought of that earlier when you chose a pair of shorts as your only cover-up over your bathing suit.

“Baby,” JJ whispered into your ear, “you cold?” He asked, his eyes meeting yours as you turned to look at him. You nodded at his question and in response, he pulled off the hoodie he was wearing and handed it to you with a small smile.

You thanked him by kissing his cheek, happily accepting the warmth that his hoodie was giving you, “I love you.”

“Will you be sour later?”

“JJ put the gun down or we’re done!” You yelled, glaring at the blonde in front of you. Anger was coursing through your veins as you stared at him and you could tell he was feeling the same way from how he ignored your request.

“Keep threatening that.” He spat back, still holding the gun tightly in his hand, “he touched you and he deserves what’s coming to him.” He added, glaring back at the girl.

Topper had gotten too friendly with you at a Kook party and when you told JJ, his first reaction was to grab the gun, despite all of your protests.

The two of you had been fighting for over twenty minutes, trying to find common ground but it was clear that both of you were too stubborn to give in.

“Let’s climb in our tree. Looking back, looking back, I remember. Stepping out on the moon.”

JJ was sitting on a tree branch holding his hands out to you, begging you to come up with him. He had his back rested against the trunk of the tree and looked as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

You were standing a few feet away from the tree with your arms crossed over your chest. As much as you trusted your boyfriend, you didn’t trust the tree. It was dark out and you were scared to slip and fall which would cause you to get hurt.

Finally, you gave in, letting the boy help you up onto the tree branch. He had placed a ladder next to the tree for easy access and you climbed it with ease, refusing to look down.

Time passed with the two of you on the tree, your back pressed into his chest as he leaned against the trunk and the two of you stared at the moon in silence.

Every now and then, he would kiss your cheek, mumbling about how he loved you and how lucky he was and you would answer in an equally sweet way.

“Back home where we’re from. Digging your company. Day has just begun.”

The morning sun had barely risen and yet you missed JJ. The two of you had gotten into a fight and he had chosen to sleep at John B’s instead of at your house so that the two of you could cool off.

You thought back to the night before when JJ told you that loving you was too scary, that he felt like he couldn’t take it anymore. You had originally tried to reason with him, but he mentioned wanting to break up and you had gotten upset.

You had told him that if he ended things the night before that you would never get back together. That threat was the only reason you two had stayed together, JJ knew that he couldn’t lose you for real.

Your hand ghosted over your phone on the nightstand and texted your boyfriend, giving him a small apology and asking him to meet up. You missed him and wanted to make up with him more than anything.

“Nowadays the waves ride high as we crash on the ocean floor. Dusting off the daisy chain you wore.”

You watched your boyfriend hit a wave the wrong way and he was quickly flipped off the board, falling into the water. You stood up off the sand to look for him, considering it wasn’t usual for JJ to take a hard spill like he just did.

Once he popped back up, you let out a sigh of relief, watching as he swam back towards the shore and came out of the water. He made his way over to you and dropped the board down, a frown evident on his face after his last fall.

“Baby,” you pouted, looking at the small scratches that littered his back. It was clear that he had hit a rock or a group of rocks from his fall, “you were doing so good before that. Don’t worry about it.”

He sighed, clearly not happy with himself, “I’ve got a surfing competition in two days, I need to win to get that money. I can’t win if I’m not surfing at my best potential.”

You played with the shark tooth necklace that hung from his neck as you listened, feeling bad for him. You could hear the stress in his words and just wanted to be there for him, “I’ll be on that beach cheering you on the whole time.” You answered, leaning up to kiss him.

“When life was new and strange. Taking us back for a change.”

“Remember the first time I told you I loved you?” He asked you softly as your head lay on his chest.

You smiled at the memory even though it was bittersweet. You had gone to his house to check on him after he said he needed to talk to his dad and had walked in on him in the bathroom, laying on the floor. He had been beaten up and you were terrified, quickly running to him and asking him if he was okay, despite the fact that he wasn’t. After a few minutes of comforting him, he let the words slip, telling you that he loved you more than anything. “Yeah, how could I forget the best day of my life?”

The blonde smiled at your words, “my heart was beating so fast at that moment, I thought. would pass out. I just needed to let you know how I felt about you.” He answered, his hands playing with yours as he spoke.

“So sweet to me. Bringing treats back from the food trailer.”

He ran up to you with a wide smile on his face, grabbing your hand to pull you along with him as he ran for the boat. You laughed at his actions but ran with him nonetheless.

When you guys arrived at the Pogue, he was quick to open up a cooler he had, bragging about all the snacks that he forced Kiara and Pope to help him make. You smiled at how proud he was, pulling him in for a kiss, “I love you so much.” You whispered against his lips.

“I love you more, baby.” He said, pulling away for a second to look at you as he spoke. He paused for a second, looking down as he took a shaky breath, “I think I want to marry you someday.”

You smiled brightly at his words, he wasn’t always the most expressive with words but right now he was and you appreciated every single word that he was saying.

“I could leave you a key. Kicking back, feeling lazy. Tripping around the house.”

You and JJ were sitting at your kitchen table, listening to some quiet music as you talked about your favorite show, still trying to convince him to watch it.

“Oh, wait!” You exclaimed suddenly, “stay here.” You added, running up to your room to grab the gift that you had gotten for him.

It wasn’t until you reached the kitchen again that you started to get nervous, it was a big gift and you hoped that you weren’t going to overstep anything with the gift.

“Close your eyes,” you mumbled, watching as he closed his eyes and held his hands out. You smiled as you placed the small object in his hands, “open them.”

JJ opened his eyes and looked down, scrunching his eyebrows in confusion but a small smile was resting on his face. “A key?” He asked, not sure what it was for.

“In case you ever need somewhere to go, you’re already welcome here whenever but I wanted to remind you of that.” You answered softly, watching as JJ’s smile grew bigger from your words.

“You’re amazing,” he said, pulling you into a tight hug. “Thank you.”

“Been away too long. Spinning me all your love. Though I’m lost and gone, nowadays you’re still my partner in crime, my cherry lime.”

“They’re gone,” he sobbed into your arms, trying to pull you even closer to him, despite how close the two of you already were, “I want them back.”

You sniffled, knowing what he was talking about. Sarah and John B had disappeared over a week ago and JJ seemed to be taking it the hardest. John B was his best friend since the third grade and he didn’t know what to do without him.

“Promise me,” he said, a sob interrupting his words, “promise me you won’t leave me too.” He begged, pulling away to look at you.

His eyes were bright and watery as he stared at you, silently begging you to give him the confirmation he needed. You hated when he cried but whenever he did, his eyes would turn the brightest blue and you would fall even more in love with them.

“I’m never leaving you, I love you, JJ.” You whispered, pulling him back into your arms as he continued to cry.

“Shaking out the stereo with songs we used to know and sing. Taking us back for a change.”

Two months after the “death” of John B and Sarah Cameron and things were slowly starting to become okay again. Obviously it wasn’t the same without them, but JJ was starting to become happier, he was even starting to sing along to the songs on the radio again.

You two were currently working on fixing the twinkie, repairing the windshield, wheels, and more. It was one of the few things you had left of John B and the two of you were dead set on cleaning it up to use it again.

One of JJ’s favorite songs came on through the speaker you two had set up and he moved away from the twinkie, pulling you up with him, “dance with me!” He suggested, pulling you closer to his chest.

You laughed but complied, putting your head on his shoulder and swaying with him to the music, just happy that your boyfriend was smiling again. It may have taken a while but you wouldn’t change it for the world.

“I love you.” You mumbled, turning and kissing him on the cheek, watching as a blush spread over his cheeks at your words. Despite how many times you told him those words, they always seemed to affect him.

“I love you too.” He answered, “thank you for always sticking with me, through everything.”

#outer banks #jj maybank #jj x reader #jj imagine #obx jj #jj maybank imagine #rudy pankow #outer banks imagine #outer banks fic

[murphystartedthefire]

Why Sanctum Ending Sucks: Emori Edition. Emori needs a higher purpose. She admitted that she’d never felt she mattered before being a “Prime”, that being with Spacekru and Murphy isn’t enough. However, she knows Murphy doesn’t like it, and she would live with that knowledge. I would expect that long-term, she would feel guilty knowing he is sacrificing for her. I am unsure they could come to a compromise that makes them both happy. They aren’t on the same page anymore. (1/3)

Why Sanctum Ending Sucks: Murphy Edition. Murphy needs to be loved. There wasn’t much room for heartfelt moments last episode, but Emori’s scene with Raven was more openly loving on Emori’s part than her scenes with Murphy. As mentioned before, he would be sacrificing his own wants to make sure Emori is happy. If no one else is on Sanctum with them, would Emori be enough, long-term? We saw how busy Emori was being a Prime, would she be able to give Murphy the love he needed by herself? (2/3)

Why Sanctum Ending Sucks: Raven Edition. Raven needs to be loved (and picked first). Either she stays on Sanctum and is forever a third wheel. Sure, you could imagine she finds someone in the future but, as a fan of her, that’s a shitty compromise. Being “Auntie Rey” is kinda sad, in my opinion. Or, she ends up somewhere else and her comments about not wanting to lose anyone she loves is moot because she’d be separated from her family. Doesn’t she deserve better than that? (3/3)

Hey, I've been trying to decide how to respond to this, I didn't want to just ignore you or anything. I kinda disagree with a lot of your points here, but appreciate you taking the time to share them!

One of my biggest issues here is that NOW (as of the final section of S7) we're not talking about a Sanctum ending for Murphy and Emori the same way as the beginning of the season. Yes, Emori said that he "hated playing Primes" and he admitted he only enjoyed seeing her happy -- which is a nice bit of growth from the Ring IMO, and doesn’t at all mean they’re doomed to have S5 problems again, but it’s still not really fair for a long-term relationship.

But the thing is they AREN'T playing Primes anymore. They would not have to keep wearing suits and dresses (although it seems like they like to) or being worshipped for a lie. Murphy is still kind of uncomfy with people *genuinely* looking up to him, but that's where they're at now -- the former cultists and kids in Sanctum have faith in them as John Murphy and Emori, not Daniel and Kaylee Prime. It's faith that he earned by giving an actual crap about them, shielding innocents from their own and from Sheidheda. (And he's done a pretty good job dealing with Wonkru through Indra and Eligius through Nikki on top of it.)

It's Murphy, not Emori, who was most determined TO go back and not abandon all the people there, when Clarke stranded them on Earth in the bunker. This is something he's become sincerely invested in and it’s been a logical progression of his character. Not to get a fancy castle and be idolized under false pretenses, but because he’s shown concern and leadership and responsibility. These people actually see and appreciate him for his actions. So in my view he wouldn’t just be staying there to be bored and miserable or sacrifice for Emori’s sake.

(Also, I don’t think EMORI deserves a Sanctum ending only to wear pretty blue clothes and “matter” to people. It’s understandable she wanted and enjoyed something more than only mattering to Murphy -- first the community of Spacekru, then a taste of actual power and meaning in the world. But again, she’s not playing Kaylee Prime anymore, and it’s not the same situation she was talking about in the bunker scene.)

The other thing I just wanted to push back on is that Emori is... more "openly loving" to Raven than Murphy. (And yet also Raven is doomed to be a third wheel at the same time. That’s a whole other poly argument again!) I’m sure it’s not a shock, but I found the Memori interactions in this ep incredibly full of love. They never had a “big” moment or I Love You in 7x15 -- which I was honestly terrified was coming because it would basically feel like their ‘goodbye’ scene -- but they’ve HAD those before. We know they love each other, they know it too. (Plus we have a literal Last Memori Scene still coming... sooner than I want to admit, sob.)

I personally loved the unexpected move to focus on Emori’s relationship with Raven for the emotional climax (of that storyline) this week. That friendship has always been there, but it was usually in the background and for light moments, and it tended to feel more one-sided on Emori’s end. This is probably definitely the first time they’ve ever said that they love each other. And in a way it’s just a lot MORE powerful that it’s not just another scene between the Canon Love Interests. I don’t think the choice to give them that beautiful, much-needed scene should detract or be taken as a *lack* of depth or love in Murphy/Emori’s relationship, though.

Appreciate all your thoughts, and sorry that ONE sentence sent me on a rant! ;) Honestly I really doubt -- except in the world of fanfic -- that Murphy, Emori, and/or Raven’s ending will actually be on Sanctum. But I guess we’ll find out soon. (AGAIN SOB.)

#the 100 7x15 #the 100 s7 #meta

[mamusings]

Supernatural Season 2 thoughts

Continuing with my rewatch. This season kicks up several gears on season 1. Overall the storytelling is much better. There is a less formulaic approach to the even the MOTW episodes. Its inventive: you get one from the perspective of the ghost (Roadkill), two that layer in the boys run ins with the law. The first 4th wall breaker (Hollywood babylon), first alt reality (What is and what should never be) and I think the first straight up comic one (Tall Tales). This works much better. S1 episodes give you: a kill, work out the lore, find the creature and kill it right back. Instead of s1 espousing the lore and developing the brothers as a team, we now get to explore the show's moral compas and the complexity of what brotherhood means within it. I think Hollywood Babylon riffs off ditching the initial importance placed on accuracy in how Spn presented itself in it's own storyline. Yep we like story telling thank you, realism isnt really the point. The monsters and sub plots more clearly refract on the season themes and plot.

Supporting characters are another aspect of the shows blooming. They are a much more varied and interesting bunch. Gordon helps explore a key issue for the show - the distinction between being a hunter and a killer. Its significant he appears twice - it's a big issue. The psychics Andy and Ava are fun. Bank heist dude Ronald garners the right mix of derision and respect - I'm not sure spn homages to freaks and geeks hit the right note most of the time. And theres the Roadhouse crew and Bobby who really help flesh out what can become an overly confined universe.

The first third explores grief. You get the contrast in Sam and Dean's personalities in how they try to deal with John's death. But you also get the sense of them learning from each other as the season progresses. Dean tries talking. Sam tries keeping busy. Both grow while staying themselves. Nice. You also get a switch from s1 dominance of Dean's concern for Sam, with Sam's concern about Dean's increasingly high octane behaviour here and it's a nice switch. With grief you get guilt. Sam's is the easier too little too late regrets. Dean's is the motherload of guilt that John sacrificed himself for him. Given the shows dominant theology is Christian I find it hugely interesting that the focus here is on the receiver of the sacrifice. The overwhelming guilt Dean feels underpins the opening episodes, gets hammered home in Crossroads and then comes back for an even bigger bite when Dean does the same to Sam in the finale. Bobby's anger with Dean and Sam's devastation leaves me little doubt that as much as we all love that Sam is back, Dean did wrong here. Although maybe Dean's guilt comes from his low self worth. Sam might cope very differently?? But I do think the zombie episode declarations of 'what is dead should stay dead' make the point that thus wheeling and dealing with death cant be good. I personally find the idea that moral rules dont apply to Sam and Dean because of love is a weak one. I think fandom does spn a disservice by reducing something really complicated here into 'well they are soul mates'. Loving someone is not an excuse to chuck the rules out the window. But maybe the show itself descends into a moral free for all with no underpinning message and the blame lies there? I'm not sure. In a way that is what I'm trying to figure out with these commentaries.

What works better in explaining why Dean does to Sam what John did to him is the other big theme of season 2: the idea that right and wrong isnt black and white. This is the focus of lots of episodes some of which explore whether hunters are just killers. And others that explore at what stage something becomes evil and why. Both these questions are crucial in relation to Sam's destiny and how each of them should respond to that destiny. The first half of the season sees Dean trying out his fathers black/white approach and the hardening off of himself he thinks he needs to achieve in order to kill Sam should that becomes necessary. Its the mid season finale that finally answers that one for Dean. Sam goes proper bad, Dean doesn't kill him. Along the way, with Sam's prompting, Dean questions not only his father but also the morality he had assumed of his hunting so far. How Dean outgrows John is a huge theme for me. I find it fascinating because he remains the same kind of man as John. Tough, difficult etc he diesnt become Sam. What he changes ir accepts are that what he prizes isnt what John prizes, but rather the people he loves and he learns that this isnt a failing or a weakness. But it's a long long road.

Sam wrestles with the fact that he may turn evil trying to find ways to hope and ways to cope. He takes a leaf out of the Dean playbook at gets drunk. He prays. He looks for a safety net getting Dean's to promise to off him. Dean promises to save him, but the message in Heart is that sometimes the only way to save someone is to kill them. However, the other message is solving things one step at a time, making the right play for the circumstances and not drawing one arbitrary line somewhere - be it between people and non-people or even that evil acts make you irredeemably evil. Slippery stuff, but that's what makes it interesting.

One thing I really like in this season is how the brothers begin to influence each other. They are still a study in contrasts, but they try out each others approaches and they've learned to value what the other brings to the table. As Sam says in the opener they have just started to be brothers again. Their relationship is so supportive that the comic Tall Tales reminding us how much they wind each other up is a needed counterpart lest things get just too damn sweet. The disturbing siblings at the centre of 2 episodes is also sends the message that it ain't all roses too. Andy has an actual evil twin. The ending of Playthings with the sisters is filled with creepy foreboding is particular to this episode. One sister gives her life up for the other and it feels wrong. Of course its foreshadowing other famous brothers but let's leave that alone just now.

In terms of Sam and Dean, their brotherhood seems to have kicked the S1 Sam and Dean team up into formidable. Their run-ins with law enforcement moves our perception of them beyond boys hunting into being increasingly impressed as they outwit cops and feds. It also moves their interactions with outsiders beyond gratitude from victims towards validation from peers and this feels important. There's the seamless teamwork with code words and all. But more importantly trust and loyalty - Sam is unswayed under police questioning in The Usual Suspects. Folsom Prison Blues most explicitly highlights Dean's almost fanatical sense of loyalty and paying your dues.

This pays off in the final two parter. As strong as All Hell Breaks Lose 2 is, part 1 is a yawn fest. But what is interesting is that while Sam does his best to found a team, Azazel can just pluck them off one by one by appeals to each person's individual self interest. The only one of the psychics who gets that the only way to win is to stick together is Sam. In my view Sam learned this from Dean. Dean is always playing the stronger together card. At this point in the show, brotherhood is about solidarity, trust and loyalty. That's actually the message here far more than love. Of course they love each other. But that alone wouldn't have got them this far. What gets them here is sticking together. When Dean finally surpasses John in killing Azazel he gets his moment of John unqualified approval and love. But right after comes the key dialogue of the season. Sam says 'you did it' and Dean replies 'I didnt do it alone'. That seems to me to highlight what's been going on so far. Learning not to do it alone. Learning to lean on and accept others. That's where the Winchester boys outgrow their upbringing and themselves.

Addendum: the angel episode House of the Holy deserves a mention. Its so finely balanced between being about angels and not when viewed on it's own. Its only on rewatching that the effects and props leave you in no doubt that even if F. Gregory isn't an angel this episode is about angels. Its curious as to why it's in season 2 rather than maybe in s3 - no angel appears until season 4. I refuse to count Gabriel in s3 as an angel appearance as he's for many seasons yet still just the trickster. So why? Maybe it's to help us understand the significance for Sam? Angels give Sam hope - making it even more awful for him that he is the object of their suspicion. Or is it about the need for faith, which tellingly Dean hadn't got.

#supernatural #spn #sam #dean #winchester

[notesonfilm1]

  Burt Lancaster got his contract with Hal B. Wallis at Paramount on the basis of a test directed by Byron Haskin with Wendell Corey and Lizabeth Scott for Desert Fury. Lucky for him, the film was not ready to shoot for another six months and he was able to fit in Robert Siodmak’s The Killers(1946)  for producer Mark Hallinger at Universal beforehand. Desert Fury started shooting two weeks before the release of The Killers but there were already whisperings of Lancaster as a big new star, and the whisperings were so loud that Hallinger gave him first billing and a big publicity build-up rather than the little ‘and introducing….’ title at the end of the credits that was then typical, and is indeed the billing offered Wendell Corey in Desert Fury as you can see in the poster above. Before Desert Fury started shooting, Hal Wallis knew he had a big fat star on his hands and that his part had to be beefed up so as to capitalise on it.

By the time the film was released on September 24th, 1947,, Burt Lancaster was the biggest star in the film. The Killers hit screens on the 29th of August 1946. As Kate Buford writes, Ít was an extraordinary debut for a complete unknown. Overnight he was a star with a meteoric rise ¨faster than Gable´s, Garbo´s or Lana Turner,¨as Cosmopolitan said years later (Buford, loc 1260). In New York the movie, ‘played twenty-four hours a day at the Winter Garden theatre, ‘where over 120,000 picture-goers filled the 1,300 seat theatre in the first two weeks, figures Variety called “unbelievably sensational.”‘ Brute Force was the fourth film Lancaster made, after I Walk Alone, but it was the second to be released, on June 30th 1947. According to Kate Buford, it too ‘set set first-week records at movie houses across the country’ (loc 1412).

  Lancaster’s status as a star is reflected in the lobby card and poster above, where in spite of being billed third, what´s being sold is what Burt Lancaster already represented, the publicity materials giving a false impression that he is much more central to the narrative than is in fact the case. His image dominates in both, and even the tag lines are attributed to him: ‘I got a memory for faces…killer´s faces…Get away from my girl…and get going’, is the tagline in the lobby card. The text on the poster reads, ´Two men wanted her love…the third wanted her life.

  In the ad below, he´s billed second, as ´the sensation of The Killers, Dynamite with the fuse lit’

When trying to recapture a past moment in relation to cinema, it´s often useful to look at trailers and other paratextual publicity materials. Trailers hold and try to disseminate the film´s promise to viewers. Of course, its purpose is to sell, to dramatise its attractions so that viewers will go see it. And of course, they often lie, dramatising not what is but what they hope will sell. That said, those promises, lies and hopes are often very revealing.

  As you can see above, the trailer is selling melodrama — violent passions — in a magnificent natural setting filmed in Technicolor. Burt Lancaster’s name is only mentioned 39 second into the 1.41 trailer, after Lizabeth Scott with her strangeness and her defiance of convention and after John Hodiak with his secrets and coiled snakeyness. And Lancaster’s introduced as ‘hammer fisted’ Tom Hanson, erroneously giving the impression that this will be an action film. But note too that by the end of the trailer, Lancaster is given top billing.

According to Kate Buford, in Burt Lancaster: An American Life, Lancaster thought ‘Desert Fury would not have lunched anybody’, later ‘dismissing it as having ‘starred a station wagon’ (loc 1157). The film is really a series of triangles: Eddie (John Hodiak) and Tom (Burt Lancaster) are both in love with Paula (Lizabeth Scott), Fritzy (Mary Astor) has already had an affair with Tom who is currently pursuing an affair with her daughter Paula, Paula and Johnny (Wendell Corey) are both in love with Eddie etc. I have made a not-quite-video essay that nonetheless well illustrates the Johnny-Eddie-Paula triangle, surely one of the queerest of the classic period, which can be seen here:

Tom is really a fifth wheel in the narrative. But by the time the film started shooting, Burt Lancaster was already the biggest star in it.  His part was beefed up to take his new status into account, scenes were added, According to Gary Fishgall, the film was based on a 1945 novel, Desert Town by Ramona Stewart, and ‘ Lancaster’s role was an amalgam of two of the novel’s characters: the embittered, sadistic deputy sheriff, Tom Hansen, and a likeable highway patrolman named Luke Sheridan. Neither character was romantically linked to Paula (p.55). But in the film, he ends up with Lizabeth Scott at the end. All these additions probably contributed to the film seeming so structurally disjointed.

In Desert Fury Tom, a former rodeo rider, just hangs around waiting for Paula to get wise to Eddie, leaving her enough rope to act freely, as he does with colts when taming them, but not enough so that she hangs herself, or so he thinks. Really, he’s extraneous. He gets to walk into the sunset with Paula at the end of the film but the film really ends once Paula and Fritzy kiss, on the lips. He certainly doesn’t get much to do during it, except for a couple of great scenes where Fritzy tries to buy him into marrying her daughter (above) and another bit of banter when she thinks he’s come to accept her offer (below). Mary Astor steals both scenes. In fact she steals everything. Every time she appears, her wit, weariness, intelligence, the intensity of her love for her daughter — she lifts the film to a level it probably doesn’t deserve to be in. But Lancaster is good. These are the only scenes in the film where he looks like he’s enjoying himself.

Tom is the closest the film has to a ´normal character’. Indeed, aside from the character he plays in All My Sons (1948) this is the closest he’d come to such a type during the whole of his period in film noir in the late 40s and which includes all of his films up to The Flame and the Arrow in 1950. Even in Variety Girl, which is an all-star comedy where he and Lizabeth Scott spoof  the hardboiled characters they’re associated with, the surprise is that they’ve already created personas to spoof in such a short time (see below).

    According to Fishgall, ‘Lancaster –billed third before the film’s title — acquitted himself well in the essentially thankless other man’ role. Still, if Desert Fury had marked his screen debut as originally planned, it is unlikely that he would have achieved stardom quite so quickly. Not only did the film lack the stylish impact of The Killers, but so did the actor. Without the smouldering intensity of the Swede and his first pictures’ moody black and white photography, he appeared to be more of a regular fellow, and guy-next-door types rarely become overnight sensations’ (p. 67).

In Desert Fury we’re told that unlike the drugstore cowboys who are now criticising him, Tom used to be the best rodeo rider there was but a while back, whilst wrestling a steer, he got thrown off and is now all busted up inside. Being ‘busted up inside’ is what all the characters Burt Lancaster plays in the late ’40s have in common. He thinks of returning to the rodeo all the time but knows he can never be as good. He used to be a champ, now all he can hope for is to be second best. He knows he ‘ain’t got what it takes anymore’. He’s in love with Paula and she knows it. But she doesn’t know what she wants. He think he does: ‘you’re looking for what I used to get when I rode in the rodeo.  The kick of having people say “that’s a mighty special person” I’d like to get that kick again. Maybe I can get it with just one person saying it’. He will, but he’ll have to wait until the end of the movie.

But even in this,  Lancaster doesn´t play entirely nicey-poo, true-blue, throughout, and his Tom is given moments of wanton bullying and cruelty where he gets to abuse Eddie just because he’s a cop and wants to. And it´s interesting that it´s that moment, which jives so well with the ´brute force´Lancaster was already known for, and which would attach itself to his persona for many a year, that is the one chosen for the trailer.

According to Robyn Karney, in Burt Lancaster: A Singular Man, ‘As the straightforward moral law officer in a small Arizona town who rescues the object of his affections from the dangerous clutches of a murderous professional gambler, Burt had little to do other than look strong, handsome and reliable. Despite Wallis’ much vaunted rewrites, the role of the Sheriff Tom Hanson remained stubbornly secondary and uninteresting, with the limelight focused on John Hodiak as the villain, fellow contract players Elizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey’ (p.31).

  I mainly agree with Robyn Karney except for four points, two textual and stated above: the first is that even in this Lancaster is playing a failure, someone once a somebody that people talked about but now all busted up inside; the second is that that element of being ´busted up inside´leads to a longing that gets displaced onto Paula. If the rodeo is what made feel alive and gave him a reason to live before his accident, now it´s Paula, and the idea that she might also be an unobtainable goal  leads to his outbursts of unprovoked violence towards the rival for his affections, Eddie (John Hodiak).

The other two points of interest are extra textual. Desert Fury is gloriously filmed by Charles Lang. A few years later, in Rope of Fury, Lang would film Lancaster as a beauty queen: eyelashes, shadows and smoke, lips and hair (see below):

  Here, even with his pre-stardom teeth and his bird´s nest of a hairdo, Lancaster sets the prototype for the Malboro Man:

He looks good in technicolour, and Lang brings out the blue of his eyes:

  More importantly, the film visualises him, for the first time, as Wester Hero, a genre that would become a mainstay of his career from Vengeance Valley (1951) right through Ulzana´s Raid (1972) and even onto Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1981):

  Desert Fury was not well reviewed. According to the Daily Herald ‘The acting is first-class. But except for Mr. Lancaster as a speed cop, the characters in the Arizona town with their lavish clothes and luxury roadsters, are contemptible to the point of being more than slightly nauseating’ (cited in Hunter p. 27),

The Monthly Film Bulletin labelled the film a western melodrama, claiming, surprisingly, that ‘The vivid technicolor and grand stretches of burning Arizona desert give a certain air of reality to the film’. Hard for us to see this thrillingly melodramatic film, lurid, in every aspect, evaluated in the light of realism. The MFB continued with, ´This reality is however counteracted by the way in which the sharply defined, but extremely unnatural characters act. Everything is over dramatised, and the title is a mystery in that the desert is comparatively peaceful compared with the way the human beings behaved…Lizabeth Scott is suitably beautiful as Paula and Burt Lancaster suitably tough as Tom. (Jan 1, 1947, p. 139)

Thus, we can see that on the evidence above, the film was badly reviewed, Time magazine going so far as to call it, ‘impossible to take with a straight face’ (Buford, loc1293). But Burt Lancaster´s performance was either exempted from the criticism or its faults where attributed to the film rather than to himself. More importantly still, the film was a hit, Burt Lancaster´s third in a row. Finally, as I´ve discussed elsewhere, the film is now considered by many a kind of camp classic,  a leading example of noir in technicolor as well as arguably the gayest film ever produced in the classic period. 

  José Arroyo

  Burt Lancaster in Desert Fury: Third Film, Fifth Wheel Burt Lancaster got his contract with Hal B. Wallis at Paramount on the basis of a test directed by Byron Haskin with Wendell Corey and Lizabeth Scott for…

#Burt Lancaster #Desert Fury #Lewis Allen #Lizabeth Scott #melodrama #noir #post-war cinema #post-war stardom #stardom #Third Film Fifth Wheel #westerns

[abundantchewtoys]

Homestuck Candy p17-23 (holy shit)

So, yeah, this baby coming up.

I wonder if there's going to be callbacks to Dirk's art for Caliborn in any form. ("jake no, what are you doing - to our baby?")

John can't erase this baby in any case, since no retcon powers.

I wonder if we're going to learn its name. I kind of like one of Blaperile's theories, that he would name a boy after his Dad... It would reveal one of those long hidden mysteries in Homestuck.

Otherwise... Liv? :P

Theresa, after Terezi?

---

Page 17

Oh wow.

OH WOW.

Yeah, now we're getting to the juicy bits.

The candy is turning into diabetes around John. Details about the past are getting vague for his friends, the harmony trumping the validity of their experiences. It's all turning out a lot more existential for John in this path than I thought!

"Harry Anderson Egbert", heheh. But yeah, John has a good point. He wants his wife to have some identity, but it's like she's ... malleable, or something. Everything shapes around each other and forms the least offensive shape.

On the one hand, I want to imagine Vriska Lalonde-Maryam and Harry as childhood friends, growing up together.

On the other hand, I wonder what there is in store for this John. He's lost his retcon powers. But he says Terezi is the only thing that still makes sense to him. So maybe, if he rejects this reality, he can escape it again?

It all is going to depend a lot on what Terezi has to offer. (Going by the assumption it really is Terezi, by the way, not an imposter.)

It would really be something if this John, a twenty-four year old now, crosses back into the Meat timeline. He'd be leaving a lot behind, and frankly, be a shitty husband and father by going through with it. But yeah, Meat John is dead, has been for some time.

Jegus, John keeps filling his own dead self's shoes. Alternate John who dated Vriska. (Okay, in fact, in that situation, it was more of an inversion as the other John continued his developing relationship. On the other hand, for Davesprite, alpha John must've felt like the replacement John in the beginning.) Post-Retcon John who was killed by Typheus. Even Poppop Crocker, when he met up with B2 Dad.

The Candy path is definitely shaping up to be quite suspenseful, all expectations be damned!

---

Page 18

Wow.

Jake's so much more mature here. I want to see more of this man.

So yeah, it had occurred to me that part of the reason Gamzee hooked up with Jake and Jane could be because he was somewhat thinking of a) the other Page he was attracted to, and b) the Hope and Life players in his session, who were close to him on the hemospectrum?

But... I hadn't imagined Gamzee being Jane's kismesis. But it works so well. Got to say, it brings back memories of him on her land during the session.

So Jake and Jane had a baby! The first cross-species naming, then. After Tavros.

It's remarkable, isn't it? Dad, GCATavrosprite, Jasprosesprite^2, Nannasprite, Nannasprite*2... They fell on the wayside, we have no idea what happened to them. The sprites could've dissolved, we didn't seem them in the official credits after all, only the extra possibly outside-of-canon snaps, explaining why Jake would name his firstborn after Tavros. But Dad?

As for Jade and Davekat. Wow. Well, I guess, I really want to know now whether this revelation is also canon.

Cause Jade is either intersex or trans now, after fusing with Beq. (Also, it might be a dog penis, but capable of transferring human DNA? *Shudder.*) I can understand this would make her uneasy in exploring sexual options with Dave.

Wow. Yes, it seems that things are, in a very different but equal sense than in the Meat path, very raw and heartwrenching in this timeline as well.

At the start of the page, I started thinking for a minute that Gamzee would also find something off about the timeline. It would have been something for him to join John in pursuit of relevance, truth and all that. But no, it was just to bait Jane, it seems. If anyone, it would be Jake who might go through something similar as John.

Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Still said to see Jake getting the small end of the relationship stick, once again. Boy has no luck in love.

It was interesting to get Jane's honest take on politics on Earth C. If she and the others had just been honest with each other, they might have been able to struck an accord. Alas, through Dirk's meddling, it was not to be.

Also, it was funny to have Gamzee refer to the 5000-year skip in sweeps. Yeah, that... That doesn't convert well.

---

Page 19

Wow that took a turn!!

I thought it might have been time for them to discuss their relationship. How Jade has turned into the third wheel stopping the Davekat bicycle from taking off.

(Those references to Jane and Jake, I could've gone about.)

But then.

Something hit.

I thought instantly it would've been the other Jade. A moment or two I thought an ecto baby or First Guardian infant, for these three to take care off in lieu of a biological child. But no.

It's really REALLY the Postscriptum Jade!! (Well, I hope it's her, and that the Postscriptum doesn't take place on Future Candy Earth C.)

She "escaped" the black hole, into relevance, the PS said. So... It seems... As if...

Dirk was very much wrong.

Candy Earth C is going to play an important part in what's to come, yet.

Unless this Jade has only come to lift some of the people here away, like the mentioned Blue Fairy.

But in any case... It seems Davebot and Aradia can't be far behind.

This idyllic fantasy, who's already shown cracks, is about to be shattered.

What hit Jade, though, it almost seemed like those shards from the Furthest Ring, though it was called massless, here.

---

Page 20

Wow.

So, this Jade is suffering from a metaphysical poison. Just like John was from Lord English's tooth. Only... This Jade went into the black hole, and last we saw she was okay.

Is it because she's back in the "real" world that it's affecting her now?

For a minute there I thought Jane and Kanaya and Karkat could actually *explain* their grievances to each other. But no, alas. Karkat, validly I must say, just exploded with everything he's pent up.

Gotta say, if the trolls are getting antsy in this timeline, just imagine how it was going to pan out in the Meat timeline! I'm reminded of the troll rebellion that was referenced in the non-canon snaps.

Also, of course. OF COURSE, these Vriska and Tavros would clash on their first meet. Everyone should've seen this coming.

If anything salvages this scene, it must be Jake being able to placate the two toddlers. It's that sort of attention that Joey and Jude deserved to get from their Pa.

It's interesting to note how Rose is no longer sure about their situation. Maybe that's the influence of this corpse and its heavily-dripped-in-canon origin.

Roxy keeps being almost a vanilla version of herself, although the intent to hold a corpse party is horribly in character for her. Still, she feels less *real* than the other characters, who all seem to be kind of recovering from their diabetes-filled state.

John and Roxy, and Dave, Karkat and Jade are in dire need of some therapy, in any case. It was nice to see Karkat telling Gamzee off though. And weird to see Jane and Roxy keep jumping to his side. Like, they have no idea of the history here, and seem to think anyone can redeem themselves if they try hard enough. It kind of shows how they're not really all that streetwise.

Oh, forgot to mention - John has a moustache now. A manly one. Dear god, he's gone full Sassacre :P

---

Page 21

WHAT THE SHIT.

WHAT THE SHIIIIT.

WHAT THE SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT.

Roxy was right. The chances of all of them coming together like that, with all the stuff going on between them, are so infinitesimal.

But then she got into labor, and I thought that was that.

But

But

So, Aradia and Sollux turn up, and when I heard Jade had the shard still in her torso....

It would seem that this Jade isn't Postscriptum Jade... Yet.

Aradia and Sollux found a way out of the Furthest Ring on their own??? And somehow ended up on Earth C without explanation. Just when last page I almost thought as if all missing trolls mentioned in the epilogues' ToC were going to end up appearing as babies to the characters.

Karkat and Jane are in dire need of an actual debate.

Rose's lack of a good consolation was hilariously described.

But of course, the meat (Meat) of this page.

Is that Alt Calliope found a way through the Black Hole into the Candy path, and sent Reload Jade's corpse through it.

And just like in the Candy path, alpha Calliope is scared off. But it bears mentioning that Calliope herself was acting kind of weird, and was weirdly absent for a lot of the pages. It almost seemed to set her up as the narrator of this path, trying to give everyone what she thought they wanted. The fact that she and Roxy "broke character" for a moment was one of the things pointing in this direction.

But now Alt Calliope is here.

The narration is about to force everyone to confront who they really are. For better or worse.

I wouldn't be surprised if this ends with Candy Earth C as the battlefield seen in the Postscriptum. But what does that imply for Meat Earth C, where Alt Calliope ALSO put her influence to work.

She may claim not to influence, but even when she retreated into the narration, the atmosphere wasn't just magically improved over there.

Aradia and Sollux talking with Gamzee was... weird, but funny. I wonder if they are supposed to have aged some sweeps in the meantime. We know Gamzee must be about 8.5 sweeps now, while Karkat and the other trolls are about 11 sweeps.

I guess it's time we learn what Alt Calliope understands under "protecting" a world. I don't think Meat Dirk is coming over there, though I'm unsure what his grand design really is.

---

Page 22

Oh my god.

what is happening.

So Alt Calliope's influence didn't really do anything at that point but upset the group.

And now a 3 year time skip took place. So... wow. They're all 27 now.

And the troll ghosts that were sucked into the black hole are appearing everywhere now. The government is going bananas, but in fact, it must all be repetitions of the same 24 trolls, how weird is that.

I'm sure that in due time, some human ghosts will be appearing too. But this is just getting ridiculous.

Karkat went underground and into the resistance. Jane, as the shadow president, is secretly maneuvering things to invade the troll kingdom. This was supposed to be the Candy path, I thought it was going to be all shits 'n giggles!!!!

I do like that John, finally, after years, is starting to realize Terezi doesn't share anything about her at all. He asked for a picture, which I guess is nice. But, just like in the Meat path, he's torn up about the girl that he didn't stay with.

This has "disaster waiting to happen" written all over it.

Calliope seems to hunker after Roxy, but she still doesn't act on those feelings. It's like a twisted inversion of the Meat path.

It's like, all the sugar we started with has been turned into energy, and the rush has dissipated, and now there's only a tummy ache.

---

Page 23

Wow.

What the shit.

I could only root for John and Tavros' relationship. Seems like the little man is very sharp for his age. Since Harry is into atomic clocks as well, it seems that the tradition of children being into adult subjects like philosophy and psychology and science, continues.

But alas, it was not meant to be.

John finally couldn't take it no more, he had to scream what he'd internalized for so long. But it turned into something really messy, towards Jane and Jade. All valid points, but by losing control he most importantly scared Tavros and Harry Anderson.

The reaction of the other people was so... empty, though. Non-confrontational to a fault.

And I agree with John, Gamzee has apparently set himself up as Jane's subjugglator.

For all that Alt Calliope was saying, she sure seems to have NOT used any influence, though. And things very much have gone to shit here.

It was very cool to get to know Tavros and Harry Anderson as people, though. Tavros is indeed a kind of brother, biologically, to John (and Jade, and a half brother to June and Joey) in appearance. But it's like, personality-wise, he's more like a sad but smart version of Tavros. While his speech is colored in Gamzee's purple, ugh.

And Harry Anderson... A prankster in the making, for sure.

So, what is Terezi going to talk to him about? Is she talking to him from the end of the Meat path, just before she left Earth C? Or is she talking to him just after the other John died. :(

I can say this: I didn't think for a millisecond I would get THIS attached to people from the Candy path.

#homestuck #homestuck candy #reaction #homestuck epilogues #john egbert #alt calliope #jane crocker #tavros crocker #harry anderson egbert #roxy lalonde #dave strider #karkat vantas #jade harley #jake english #vriska lalonde

[sithlordintraining]

Can’t Be Friends

Summary: Of course, Kylo has heard about you. You’re Hux’s famous, and if not only, friend. But seeing in the flesh is different; now he understands why Hux always keeps you away. Or does he?

Masterlist

The Love Pizza

Kylo and Hux didn’t really talk much, to begin with, but after that horrible meeting with Y/N, they definitely didn’t talk. Kylo ignored Hux as much as possible, yet felt guilty because this was sort of his fault. What made it worse was that he couldn’t get you out of his mind. You were so beautiful and such a bitch, but he deserved it. He also began looking into the mirror more often; he could afford to hit the gym more and clean up a little more. It had been under a week and you’ve impacted him in such a way that almost every decision was answered with: Would Y/N Approve? Kylo didn’t have work today so he decided to gut his whole room. Hux walked in to hear the loud sound of Frank Oceans ‘Blond’ blasted from the speakers. Hux face twisted as he made his way down the hall to the bedrooms, only to stop when the tip of his shoe hit a pile of faded black clothing. “What is this?” Hux asked; Kylo turned around revealing his glistening bare chest. Hux locked his jaw as the heat began to rise up his cheeks. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” Hux yelled loudly over the music. Kylo smirked as he turned off the music. “You’re home early.” Kylo crossed his arms leaning on the wall. Blue eyes rolled to stop from falling under his spell. “Yes, and why are you here? You told me you were going in to finish up work.” Hux said. “I went in earlier so I could have an early start to the weekend.” Kylo shrugged walking pass Hux. Hux turned to see Kylo’s jeans hanging low on his hips showing the top of his Calvin Klein briefs. His eyes dilated as he began to follow him.

Kylo walked into the kitchen drinking a glass of water. “Why? Wanted me gone so you could bring home a date?” Kylo wore a smug smirk as he propped himself on his forearms across from Hux on the island. Hux let out a breath as his long fingers tapped away at his iPhone. There was silence before Hux placed his phone down and exited the room. Kylo just watched him confused; maybe he was trying to bring some girl here. He jumped as the vibration from the cellphone against the island top, he perked up when he saw your name and smiling face on the screen. Kylo would never answer Hux’s phone, he’d probably kill him and vice versa. But you were worth death. His large thumb pressed the answer button as he quickly ran into the coat closet. As soon as he pressed the device to his ear, he heard your beautiful voice. “Hux!” You said. “Yeah,’’ Kylo said quickly so you couldn’t tell, but who was he kidding. “Who is this?” You asked. “I-It’s Kylo.” Internally he cursed himself. “Why are you answering his phone? Hux is going to KILL you!” You said and he smiled. “I know, I know...I just wanted to apologize for how I acted and talking to you like that.” Kylo’s eyes roamed the dark closet until he found the string for the light turning it on and playing with the string. “Thank you,” Y/N said. “And I apologize for being a bitch. I can get a little protective of Armitage.” Kylo laughed. “A little?” This gained a laugh from you and it made his heart flutter. “Okay, okay, a lot but-” “But, I deserved it,” Kylo said.

“Well, now that you know this, may I please speak to him now?” You asked nicely. A mischievous smile graced his face. “Wait, now hold on, I think we are beginning to have a lovely conversation,” Kylo told you. “Oh my gosh,” You scoffed. “If we are, why are you whispering?” You asked. Kylo looked around the closet. “I’m in the closet.” “Well, get out the closet and tell Hux!” You laughed and Kylo rolled his eyes. Before he could comment on your joke before the door swung open. “Is that my phone?” Hux accent clipped as he stared angrily at his half naked roommate. Hux stepped in pulling at the phone, fighting with Kylo. “Give me!” Hux said through gritted teeth. His kept hair fell from its place as he finally pulled out his grip. “Hello?” Hux said, icy eyes still on Kylo. “Y/N, I-” Hux opened his mouth. “But, we-” He locked his jaw. “Please, no you-” Kylo and Hux stood in the coat closet; Kylo didn’t know why he was still in there but he didn’t want to leave until you were off the phone. “Why are you in here?” Hux whispered to Kylo. “Because I was talking to her!” Kylo whined gaining another eye roll. “Fine, Y/N.” Hux said turning his attention back to his roommate. “Would you like to go to dinner with Y/N and I?” Hux asked. Kylo’s hazel eyes lit up like a puppy; another chance with Y/N? Of course! “Yes!” Kylo said running out the closet.

Out of place was an understatement. Even at the apartment, when Kylo watched Hux change into something more comfortable, he felt out of place. “Are you ready?” Hux asked Kylo, standing there in his white band-collar button down, gray wool peacoat, black slacks, and black Gucci Brixton soft leather loafers. Kylo looked down, he had gone shopping this week investing in not a lot of designer things, but more practical pieces. He was just wearing a brown sports coat, dark blue jeans, a tee and some black sneakers. He wanted to impress you, but also not make it obvious that your comment caused this. Plus, knowing Hux, he would be taking you to another restaurant that would, sure enough, embarrass him, again. But, to Hux’s horror and Kylo’s relief, you were much more casual than expected. Your black Fiorucci bomber jacket covered your red-floral wrap midi dress. “Y/N?” Hux said breathlessly. You turned around with a bright smile as your (y/h/c) curls framed your face. “Teej!” They friends hugged and Hux looked her over. “You’re dressed so casually, I don’t know if the restaurant will accept this.” He said. “Good, because I want pizza. Real New York Pizza. Pizza in Italy SUCKS. I need at least three slices, we can either go to John’s or Patsy’s or the place in St. Marks, I don’t care. I just need it; hi, Kylo!” She waved at the tall man whose face was now red as he awkwardly waved back.

He did his best to keep it together, but he was just staring at a wide-eyed you and annoyed Hux. “Did you hear what she said?” Hux broke him out of his daze. “What?” Kylo shook his head turning his attention back to you. “Where do you want to go?” She asked. “I guess St. Marks since it is walkable.” Kylo shrugged. “Then lead the way!” You smiled. Kylo did lead the way, but not by choice. The sidewalks were too narrow for all three of them to walk side by side. Instead, He stayed in front grumbling as Hux and Y/N chatted away with linked arms. The walk seemed forever and every once in awhile he turned to see your sparkling eyes and beautiful smile. Turning onto the crowded street, Kylo stopped and peered over the sea of people before pushing past them and trudging into the small pizzeria. The others joined a few minutes later laughing. Kylo stared at the array of pizza to hide his annoyance. The click of heels caused him to look up to see you looking at him. “Are you okay?” You asked. Kylo nodded and looked behind you to see Hux on the phone outside. “He had a call from the office.” You shrugged and looked back at the pizza. Y/N ordered her slices, Kylo followed behind and quickly put a $20 bill on the counter. “Oh no,” You shook your head pulling out your wallet. “Oh yes,” Kylo’s long arm blocked you. Hux walked in with a pout. “What’s wrong Teej?” You asked. “I have to go into the office, someone copied the wrong papers and we have to revise everything now.” He told you. Happiness glinted in Kylo’s eyes at the thought of possibly being alone with you.

“Oh, Teej no, can you stay to eat something?” You asked like a worried mother. He shook his head. “It’s ok, they’re ordering in. Well, I guess…” Sad blue eyes looked at Kylo before looking back at you. “I hope you guys have fun.” He said and you tightly hugged him. “Text me when you’re there!” You said and he rolled his eyes as an embarrassing blush fell on his face. Turning, you saw Kylo with a devious smirk. “I guess it’s a date.” You shook your head and took your tray of pizza. “This is not a date.” You walked to the seats and Kylo followed suit. “Uh huh, it’s you and me, I paid, you look nice, I look nice.” Kylo tried to reason, but you rolled your eyes. “Nope, just two mutuals abandoned by our friend.” Y/N replied. “More like the third wheel,” Kylo said. Shaking your head, you picked up your slice. “Look, we are like this pizza. Hux is the tip and we are each end of the crust. We are all connected and all affect each other.” You said. “But, if you did this.” Kylo bit into his pizza. “Then it will be just us.” You sighed. “Why are you so difficult?” You asked. “I-I just don’t understand why you won’t give me a chance? Is it because of Hux?” Kylo asked. “Yes! What don’t you understand?” He groaned at your answer, not liking it one bit. “Why?” His full lips fell into a pout and your eyes glanced down, quickly scolding yourself for looking. “He’s my friend.” You sighed. “So...doesn’t that mean we can be friends, too?” His soft brown eyes poured into yours making you suck in a breath. This wasn’t going to end well.

The whole night was filled with laughter. Kylo’s cheeks hurt from being stuck in a wide smile from all your stories. Not to mention, making you laugh; he loved seeing your curls dance around. It was getting late and it was best to start heading back to your hotel. Shoulder to shoulder, Y/N and Kylo walked the empty streets of NYC. A few blocks in, his large hand engulfed yours causing you to stop. “What?” Kylo tried to hide his smile. “I just want to help you, your shoes look broken.” You looked down at your black mules. “They’re not.” You replied. His face twisted up making him look like a confused child. “There’s space and a nail.” He said. “That’s the style, sweetie.” You teased him. The nickname caused the blush to cover his neck up to his ears. “Who would do that?” He shook his head. “Alexander Wang, that’s who.” Your hand still in his, you continued to walk to your hotel. Kylo was on cloud nine at the fact you haven’t pulled away. “How do you know so much about fashion?” Kylo asked. You shrugged. “I just like it and I don’t know.” His brown eyes looked over at you with a sly smile. “I bet you can’t tell me where my jacket is from?” He said. “Ralph Lauren?” Your voice and inflected and Kylo began to laugh. “No way! How’d you do that?” “Really?” You asked surprised. He shook his head. “You’re like a fashion medium,” Kylo said and it made you giggle.

“You’re amazing, I just don’t know how I’m just meeting you, I mean I know, but,” Kylo took a deep breath. You looked down to hold your blushing smile. “Listen, I understand you don’t want to date me because of Hux, I’m very respectable. I don’t take any girls home, I might flirt, but I’m honestly looking for the right one.” Your heart beat faster at his words. He could be an asshole, but he was sweet. But, you couldn’t do that to Hux or yourself. “Listen, Kylo that’s very sweet but I can’t date a bisexual.” You said and Kylo was confused. “What?!” He asked. “N-nothing is wrong with bisexuals, I just dated one before, for months, and I had a b-” Before you could finish he was cutting you off. “You think I’m bisexual?!” He asked with wide eyes. “Yeah, Hux told me about college.” He ripped his hand from yours and pressed the heel of his hands into his eyes. “Urgh! No, it wasn’t like that. I worked for an escort service and occasionally I went with men. I was nothing more than arm candy. SHIT!” Kylo’s yell caused you to jump. “I just needed a little extra money and it worked with my class schedule,” Kylo said. “So you aren’t bisexual?” You asked. “No,” He shook his head. “You don’t like guys?” He shook his head again. “You like girls?” “Yes. More specifically you.” He replied. You shook your head. All along Hux thought Kylo liked guys and now here he is professing his feelings to you. You gulped: “This is not good.”

#Can't Be Friends #Kylo #kylo ren fanfiction #kylo ren imagine #kylo ren #kylo ren one shot #modern au #modern!kylo #kylo x you #kylo x oc #kylo x reader #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren x you #star wars kylo ren imagine #kylo ren x oc #Hux #hux imagine #general hux imagine #general hux #one shot #one shots #kylo ren one shots #drabble #drabbles #kylo ren drabble #kylo ren drabbles #Star Wars The Force Awakens #Star Wars: The Force Awakens #Star Wars: The Last Jedi #star wars the last jedi

[wazafam]

Despite a build-up of promise, the finale episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier failed overall. The finale found Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) squaring off in a final battle against the anarchist terrorist group the Flag-Smashers, led by Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman), who were intent on assassinating the Global Repatriation Council on the eve of an important vote. As is usual with Marvel movies and TV shows, some plot lines were resolved, other stories were set up, and hints at brand-new superheroes from the comics entering the MCU were dropped.

The six-episode miniseries (or season, if it gets an order for season 2) tackled a number of complex topics along the way, some poignantly and others seemingly just check a box off on a list. Along with the central problem of the Flag-Smashers, Sam's individual struggle was learning to come to terms with being the first Black man to be Captain America while Bucky was dealing with laying the ghosts of his past as the Winter Soldier to rest. Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) also featured in the series as Bucky and Sam's temporary ally – at least before Ayo and some of the Dora Milaje showed up for a subplot involving tracking him down and returning him to prison. Meanwhile, the Flag-Smashers and their cause were also given screen time, if not exactly clear focus.

Related: Captain America 4: Sam's MCU Future After Falcon & Winter Soldier Explained

It's a lot of plot to wrap up in a single finale episode, and while some of the lesser storylines were resolved earlier (or largely forgotten entirely), the finale had quite a few major stories and loose ends to juggle. Unfortunately, it failed in that aim. It's telling that overall, the first season of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is at a solid 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the finale is currently sitting at a dismal 59%. The general consensus is that the final episode was a letdown for a few reasons.

It's hard to overstate how little happened for an episode of 52 minutes. The attempted GRC takeover and battle is a whopping 25 minutes of the episode. Sam's speech is another four. And the credits, minus the brief mid-credits scene, eat up nine minutes of those 51 minutes. In essence, one single battle and follow-up speech takes up two-thirds of the entire episode. That's just poor pacing. For a series that dealt with a number of weighty issues, the finale being reduced to one big punch-'em-up fight was an enormous letdown and a regression in terms of storytelling.

In fairness, it's worth noting that Covid-19 forced delays in production, but more, it also forced a number of considerable changes to the story itself. There was reportedly a virus storyline that had to be cut in light of the current pandemic and it's been confirmed that Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was supposed to make her first appearance in Black Widow but it ended up being introduced in Falcon & Winter Soldier after release date delays forced the Marvel film to be bumped back by more than a year and release after the Disney+ show. The Covid seams were clear throughout the series: some plotlines were dropped completely and characters disappeared for episodes at a time, other storylines were rushed or lacked clarity, and the editing was at times jumpy. There was enough great chemistry between the two lead stars, gravitas provided by Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, and thought-provoking moments to mostly carry the series through the first five episodes. But in the finale, the wheels finally fell completely off. With so many stories that needed to be given time to bring them to a close in a satisfying manner, the finale felt like an episode centered on one fight and then cobbled together with the scraps of whatever footage was left.

One of the most surprising and disappointing elements of the finale was how painfully hamfisted and on the nose much of the dialogue was. Sam Wilson's speech at the end sounded less like an organic moment and more as if Anthony Mackie would turn to the camera at any minute and say, "In case you didn't notice, I'm laying out my manifesto as the Black Captain America" before winking and turning back to the other characters. Likewise, the callback dialogue between two Black male characters of, "Hey, it's Black Falcon!" "No. That's Captain America." was so absurdly unnecessary and cheesy that more than a few people on social media commented on how it made them laugh aloud – not the reaction one would want from the audience during what's supposed to be an inspiring and serious moment.

Related: How Did Marvel Get The Falcon & The Winter Soldier So Wrong?

Before the finale, Falcon and the Winter Soldier tackled complex issues like being Black in America and what it means to be a hero or a villain with a morally gray touch and often an ambiguous stance. That approach allowed audiences to debate scenes, think about the messages they sent, and draw their own conclusions. The entire point of the series through the first five episodes was to underscore that in a post-Blip MCU, the line between good guys and bad guys is thin, and the world is no longer so black and white. Thus, the finale delivering Sam's big moment as nothing more than a heavy-handed morality play was jarring. It felt like an episode written for the audience Marvel was worried hadn't quite gotten the first five episodes and the issues they explored. Unfortunately, in doing so, it undermined what the series had done to that point. One good thing did come out of Sam's pointed speech, however: It finally explained what exactly the Flag-Smashers were trying to stop the GRC from doing, a point that hadn't exactly been made clear in the series.

Both Karli and Sharon Carter (Emily Van Camp) got the short end of the stick in the finale. Karli Morgenthau's arc felt like a regression to Phase 1 of the MCU, when villains were little more than 2D constructs serving as walking plot catalysts and then killed off as soon as their function was served. Karli's character being underwritten and her motivations unclear were major issues throughout the series, but her being casually killed at the hands of Sharon Carter and dying quickly only served to underscore how little audiences ever truly learned about her character. Viewers were given a surface explanation of what she and the Flag-Smashers wanted, but not exactly why, what Karli's own personal motivations were, or what happened in her past to turn her into such a zealot. What could and should have been a poignant moment with her death turned into merely a plot point resolution to tick off the list.

As for Sharon Carter, her character has suffered in a similar way over a longer period of time. The MCU has never quite known what to do with Sharon, giving her moments of showing her bravery and heroism only to waste her potential or turn her into a will-they/won't-they potential love interest of Steve Rogers. In theory, she went on the run for a few years, disappeared in the Blip, then returned with everyone else a few months ago. In the interim, it was established she'd made a nice life for herself as an art thief and forger in Madripoor. However, it was later revealed Sharon Carter was the Power Broker and, in the mid-credits scene, that she'd gone full-on villain. While it's exciting to know that her character may finally get the interesting writing and screentime she's deserved, Sharon's heel-turn never felt fully earned, especially for a woman who well knew that she'd be a rogue agent and exiled for doing what she did during the events of Captain America: Civil War. In the unseen interim, there was an enormous change in Sharon's personality, evidenced by her unceremoniously killing Karli, who was still just a kid, a line Sharon never would have crossed before. If there was a story that justified Sharon's new ruthless coldness, it's not one the audience was privy to and so her turn to villainy doesn't sit right. Not yet, anyway.

Throughout the series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier tackled fraught topics from dealing with PTSD and trauma to racism. Some of those topics it did great justice to, others, not as much. The series should be commended for swinging for the fences with some of the issues it explored; the show was timely, with many of the conversations it evoked necessary and long-overdue. It's well past time for Marvel to start exploring difficult issues with thoughtfulness and depth.

Related: Falcon And The Winter Soldier: Why Bucky Said He Failed Twice

However, the speed and ease with which a number of these issues were resolved in the finale did them a disservice. After a single, unseen conversation with Yori (Ken Takemoto) in which Bucky finally came clean about having killed Yori's son when he was the Winter Soldier, Bucky decides he no longer needs therapy, apparently magically cured. In just a few days, 90 years of trauma were seemingly resolved and put to bed, which isn't how it works. Likewise, after brutally murdering a man in an uncontrolled rage and then trying to also kill Bucky and Sam, John Walker, too, is suddenly restored to being of sound mind after one moment in which he sacrificed vengeance for heroism. While Walker making the decision not to punish the bad guys but to save the innocent (or as innocent as the GRC can be), is a big step toward redemption, the fact of his sometimes considerably unstable mental state remains. Neither that nor his very recent transgressions were so much as once mentioned in the finale, however.

But the finale failed Isaiah Bradley perhaps most of all. His story was tragic, horrific, and heartbreaking; the decades of torture and suffering and neglect he'd endured at the hands of the U.S. government shaping him into understandable bitterness and fear. Isaiah's life for decades had been a matter of trying to lay low and not attract any attention in order to protect himself and his grandson. Sam putting Isaiah's story out there for the world to see in the form of a statue and an exhibit without his permission was shockingly insensitive and disrespectful considering the last time they'd talked, the old Super Soldier reiterated that he'd be killed if his story were told. Regardless of whether or not that's any longer true now that Sam carries weight as the new Captain America, blindsiding Isaiah with the reveal did not come across as the heartwarming moment it was meant to be, but a complete lack of consent and out-of-character for both men.

It, like a number of choices in the last episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, might have made sense given more time to develop. The entire season could have used about two more episodes to flesh out some of the stories and characters instead of cutting contextual corners. While the series was a lot of fun overall and should be commended for its ambition, it was wildly uneven, no episode more than the finale. Hopefully, if there is a season 2 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it will sort out the issues of the first season and its finale with more time and no Covid to work around.

Next: 7 Biggest Questions After The Falcon & The Winter Soldier Finale

Why Falcon & The Winter Soldier’s Finale Failed | Screen Rant from https://ift.tt/3tUFLqg

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[supernatural-jackles]

Where It All Began (College AU) Part 29

Title: Where It All Began (College AU) Part 29

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 6,906

Warnings: Pregnant!Reader, Vomiting, Fluff, Smut

Catch Up: Masterlist

A/N: AH! The second last part to this series. Thank you all for waiting so DAMN patiently for this part! I promise you, you won’t have to wait nearly as long for the finale part. I hope y’all enjoy this part! As always, I appreciate your feedback, thoughts, and hey, send me what you think is going to happen in the next chapter. Enjoy!

x

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You and Dean rushed to the hospital as fast as possible. He broke a handful of speed limits on the way, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel. You could only imagine how he was feeling right now. He didn’t deserve to go through this. He has been in the hospital way too many times to count and every time, someone he loved was hurt. He was always so close to losing someone he loved. So you did the only thing you could do, you reached over and grabbed his hand off the steering wheel and took it in yours, squeezing tightly to reassure him that you were there.

 When you arrived at the hospital, Jess and Sam were sitting in the waiting room, no signs of Mary anywhere. Dean held you close; closer than he usually did. Jess made her way over to the two of you, hugging Dean first before you. Sam joined behind her slowly, unsure of what to say. His hands shoved in his pockets.

 “Guess it’s a good thing our flight doesn’t leave until tomorrow,” Jess broke the silence.

 “Where is he?” Dean questioned. “And mom?”

 “They took him back. Everything is going to be okay. It was a minor heart attack, he was cutting the grass in the backyard when it happened. Mom called 911 and got him here as quick as possible,” Sam explained. “Mom’s back there with him now.”

 “Can we see him?” you inquired.

 “Right now, no. They are doing a bunch of tests to see if there is any damage to dad’s heart and mom is there, well because she’s mom and wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Sam chuckled. Mary was a tough woman, and that you knew. You could practically see her arguing with the doctors to let her through. “Dean, it’s late. You and Y/N have work in the morning. Mom will probably want to see you tomorrow when everything has calmed down.”

 “Are you sure? I don’t mind staying,” Dean sighed.

 “Dean, it’s okay. Really. I’ll tell mom you stopped by and that you’ll see her and dad tomorrow,” Sam urged, a small smile playing on his lips at Dean’s stubbornness. You wrapped your arm around his waist and leaned into him. His body relaxed instantly, you could feel the tension leaving his body.

 “Okay. Call me if anything changes, I don’t care what time it is!” Dean pointed his finger at Sam. You smiled softly at the interaction between the two brothers. Sam nodded and smiled at his older brother. “You ready to go, sweetheart?”

 “Yeah,” you grinned up at him. He leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to your forehead. “I’ll see you guys later. Have a safe flight,” you told them. Jess hugged you tightly, telling you that she would text you when she got back to Stanford.

 Dean was a lot calmer on the ride home. Led Zeppelin played softly in the background as you traveled the dark, empty roads. You were so thankful that John was going to be okay. John was like a father to you, he was a better father to you than your own was. But you were happy that Dean didn’t lose him. He would have been devastated. You can remember just how broken up he was when Mary was sick. You spent many days in the library trying to comfort him. Your hand rubbing his shoulder, assuring him that everything was going to be okay. You always saw a whole other side to Dean that he never dared to show anyone else.

 You waked in the front door just after midnight, both of you exhausted. You headed straight to the room you two shared, changing into your pajamas before going to the bathroom to brush your teeth. Dean joined you moments later in the bed. He let out a loud sigh.

 “Dean, you okay?” you questioned, moving your body closer to his.

 “Yeah,” he breathed out. “Just gave me a good scare is all.”

 “You and me both. You’re mom’s a badass though,” you chuckled.

 “You should have seen her when we thought Sam had an appendicitis,”  he let out a laugh. “If I remember correctly, I think she threatened the nurse’s career.”

 You couldn’t help but smile at the look of love on his face when he talked about his mom. “I’m so glad that both of your parents are okay, Dean.”

 “Me too. I’m sorry your mom isn’t here though. Especially now.” He looked over at you, turning on his side to face you completely. “Are you okay with this? I mean this wasn’t exactly planned.”

 “Honestly, I’m happy about this. I know it wasn’t planned and that is completely my fault-”

 “Hey, it’s not just your fault. It takes two, Y/N.”

 “Are you okay with this?”

 “Sweetheart, you have no idea how happy I am,” he beamed. He moved down to the middle of the bed, his face coming up to your stomach.

 “Dean, I should probably make a doctor’s appointment to make sure,” you told him.

 “Yeah. I’m going to be there,” he replied, lifting your shirt up just enough to reveal your stomach to him. “I’m going to be at every appointment. I’m not going to miss a single one.”

 “Would it be okay if we didn’t tell your parents just yet?” you asked him. “Or anybody?”

 “Yeah, that's completely fine. We can tell them when you’re ready,” he responded. His fingers traced over the skin of your stomach. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you. It was like he was expecting you to grow just before his eyes.

 You were scared, of course you were. A huge part of you was excited though. This was huge and you couldn’t be happier. You were happy that Dean was happy about this. He was more supportive than you ever expected him to be. You never expected him to go out with you to buy tests, or for him to be there when you took them. You loved him more for how sweet he was. But watching him right now with his eyes glued to your stomach because he knew there was something growing inside of you; something that is both of you, made you love him more than ever.

 You didn’t have any doubts that he wouldn’t be an amazing father. You were sure he already loved the baby, just like you did. You couldn’t wait to watch Dean become a father. He was going to protect your child just like he protected you. He was going to be as amazing as both of his parents were at raising him and Sam.

 “Dean.”

 “Yeah?”

 “I love you so much.”

--------------------------------

 You woke up with this awful taste in your mouth. Your stomach was churning and you felt more nauseous than you have felt in since college. You practically threw the covers off of the bed and made a beeline for the bathroom, barely making it in time for you to spill the contents of last nights dinner into the toilet.

 “Babe,” you heard the familiar gruff of Dean’s voice as he made his way into the bathroom. He carefully pulled the hair away from your face just in time for you to throw up once more. You hated that Dean had to see you like this and quite frankly, you wondered how he could stand seeing you like this. This was definitely not a good look for you, and the last thing you would have wanted was for the man you loved to see you spilling the contents of your stomach first thing in the morning.

 You finished up and flushed the toilet. You let out a sigh of defeat before getting back up to wash your hands and face and to brush your teeth.

 “You okay, sweetheart?” he asked, cupping your cheek, his eyes glossed with concern.

 “Yeah,” you stated. With that, he left you in the bathroom, letting you do what you needed to. By the time you emerged from the bathroom and back into the bedroom, Dean was back and holding a mug in his hand.

 “Peppermint tea. It’s caffeine free and I read that it’s supposed to help settle your stomach,” he revealed. You smiled widely as tears glistened in your eyes. This was the third morning in a row that you had woken up only to throw up. It was such a simple gesture and it meant the world to you.

 “Thanks, Dean,” you muttered, taking the mug from him with a soft smile before moving back to the bed the two of you shared. You took a few small sips, the peppermint instantly calming your stomach, making you feel a lot better. Dean sat at the end of the bed on your side and looked over at you; admiring you. “You ready for the appointment today?”

 “You bet. Sam wanted to get together tonight but I told him that you and I had a date night planned. You still haven’t told anyone yet have you?”

 “No. But now that you say Sam wants to get together with you, Jess is going to want the same. Hiding something from her is like trying to hide something from you-”

 “Impossible.”

 “Exactly. Not to mention every time she and I get together, there is a ninety-five percent chance alcohol will be involved. It will be so obvious,” you breathed out, placing your mug on the bedside table.

 “Yeah, and babe, you’re also showing a little. You’re almost twelve weeks,” he reminded you. “You have no idea how beautiful I think you are.”

 “You’re just saying that because I’m getting bigger,” you giggled.

 “I’m saying it because it’s true. You were beautiful before you were pregnant and you’re even more beautiful when you are. You have this glow to your skin that I can’t even describe. I don’t know if it’s because you’re mine and the fact that we made that together. If we didn’t have to head to work in an hour I would take you right now.”

 “Well, we have tonight,” you winked.

 The work day went by faster than you expected. Your first two classes had an in class essay to write, not that it was a big deal or worth a lot of marks. You just wanted to see how well your students were grasping the concept of essay writing. For lunch, you spent the hour in Dean’s office. He couldn’t keep his hands off you ever since you found out you were pregnant. It was the sweetest thing, and you definitely didn’t mind.

 After work, he drove you to your doctors appointment. Today was the day you were going to hear your baby’s heartbeat for the first time. You glanced out the window, Dean’s hand in yours in the middle of the impala. You could tell he was just as eager as you were and quite frankly, you thought it was adorable.

 “So, Sam texted me after lunch about meeting up tonight and I think Jess is going to come by to hang out with you. Do you want to do something with all four of us or?” Dean asked as you sat down in the doctor’s office. You and Dean had the last appointment of the day, leaving you alone in the waiting area.

 “Go hang out with your brother. I’ll be fine with Jess,” you told him.

 “Alright,” he grinned. “Wanna make a bet?”

 “Alright, Winchester. What’s the bet and what do I win?”

 “You’re cocky, you know that, Mrs Winchester,” he chuckled. “I want to bet you that within the first twenty minutes of you and Jess hanging out that she finds out you’re pregnant. The winner is on top tonight.”

 “You have so little faith in me! I won’t give in,” you stated, crossing your arms. “But I’ll play. I definitely wouldn’t mind being on top tonight. I can’t go wrong with seeing you writhing underneath me with that sexy mouth of yours open and that almost sinful tongue peeking past your lips.”

 “Oh is that so? See, I love being on top, and I know you love it too. You love having my body on top of yours, no space between our bodies. I love watching your face as I thrust into you. I love the way you grip my arms. But most of all, I love the look on your face when I make you-”

 “Mr and Mrs Winchester,” the nurse called out. You had to take a deep breath and try to forget the words that just came out of your husband’s filthy mouth. Dean stood up first, holding his hand out for you to help you up.

 “We got a deal?” he whispered in your ear. You turned your head and stood on your tiptoes, pressing a firm kiss to his lips.

 “Game on, Dean.”

 You lay on the table, Your shirt bunched up around your breasts. Dean sat next to you, holding your hand the entire time. The ultrasound technician told you what was going to happen and how she was going to explain in further detail what exactly was going on with your baby.  

 She poured some cold gel on your growing baby bump and started moving it around. You began to see the image appear on the screen. Dean squeezed your hand as the image became clearer.

 “So right now you are twelve weeks and two days along. On the screen you will see your baby’s development this far in. Here you can see your baby’s nose and their eye sockets,” she explained, pointing them out for you to see on the screen. “Your baby is developing very well. It is a healthy size, at twelve weeks, your baby is about the size of a lime. I don’t see any sort of abnormalities in your fetus, which is a good sign. Now let’s check for a heartbeat.”

 She moved the machine over your stomach, carefully spreading the gel a little more. Then you heard it, how could you not? It was loud and steady. Your baby’s heartbeat. Tears sprang to your eyes. It was all so real to you now. There was a healthy living thing inside of you.

 “Your baby has a strong heartbeat,” she stated. “I’ll give you and dad a moment to yourselves.”

 She exited the room, but you couldn’t take your eyes off the screen. There was your beautiful baby, a piece of you and Dean. You quickly turned to face him and instantly saw the tears in his eyes.

 “Dean?” you breathed out.

 “That’s our kid,” he whispered. “We made that.” A single tear slipped down his cheek before he smiled down at you. You met him halfway, kissing him like your life depended on it. You couldn’t believe just how happy you were in that moment. It was a moment you would treasure forever.

 You got back to the house just after six, smiles plastered on both of your faces. Dean carried your bag in from the car and held the door open for you. Much to your surprise, you were greeted to two familiar faces.

 “Where have you guys been? We’ve been here since four,” Jess called out, making her way over to you, pulling you into her arms. For a moment you tensed, worrying that she would feel your tiny, yet growing belly.

 “I had a few students that needed extra help and Dean stayed back with me to keep me company,” you lied.

 “Well, we’re just glad you’re safe. I hope you don’t mind but we were hungry from our flight so we cooked one of your frozen pizza’s,” Sam added in, taking a bit out of his slice. The house smelled like veggie pizza. You didn’t know if it was a good smell of bad.

 “No no, that’s fine. We still heading out tonight?” Dean asked his younger brother.

 “Yeah,” he nodded with food in his mouth.

 “We going out too, Y/N?” Jess asked.

 “You know, I thought we could stay here. It’s been a long day,” you told her. “Maybe we can watch a movie, eat some junk food. Have a girls night in?”

 “Sounds like a plan.”

 You and Dean headed to your bedroom to go and change out of your work clothes. The second the door closed, his hands were on your body, lifting your shirt over your head. His eyes trailed over your body, stopping on your stomach for a moment before he kissed you hard, taking your breath away.

 “The timer starts the second I walk out that door,” he muttered against your lips.

 “Alright, so a grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the duty free shop in the airport, I figured we could get a few drinks in us just like old times,” she smiled, pulling the bottle from her purse. Dean had been gone thirty seconds and you already knew that you were going to lose this bet.

 “I’m not really feeling the alcohol tonight, Jess,” you shrugged, pulling a bag of dill pickle chips from the cupboard. You turned to look at her and instantly saw the surprised look on her face. “What?”

 “You never skip out on drinks. Not even one,” she pointed out. “You feeling okay?”

 “Yeah, just a long day is all. I’m fine I swear,” you smiled. “So I was thinking we could watch Pitch Perfect or some other chick flick. What do you say?”

 “Hell yes!”

 You had five minutes left until you won the bet. You were surprised to say the least. Jess had been a little quiet. The only sounds that filled the room were the ruffling sound of the dill pickle chip bag. You knew she could tell something was up. Her eyes were on you, you could feel them every so often.

 “How are things with you and Sam?” you asked, breaking the silence.

 “Is it that obvious?” she questioned, sheepishly. You glanced over at her, her eyes not quite meeting yours.

 “Jess?”

 “I think he wants to break up, Y/N” she stated, tears filling her eyes. “We’ve been together for so long and I’m still so in love with him but he’s been really distant lately. Every morning, I wake up and he’s not there. It’s been forever since he and I have had sex. I don’t know what happened. He doesn’t talk to me anymore.”

 “Jess, he still loves you! That boy loves you more than you could ever imagine. You guys have been together longer than Dean and I have. If Dean and I can get through what we’ve gotten through, you two will be just fine. Just talk to him. You’ll feel better once you do,” you assured her.

 “Yeah, you’re right,” she breathed out. “I need a drink, and so do you.”

 “I’m good, but by all means, have a drink,” you beamed.

 “Oh no, I am not drinking alone,” she stated, pouring you both a glass.

 “I can’t Jess-”

 “It’s Friday Y/N, you said you had a long day, this will take the edge off,” she smiled, handing you the glass of amber liquid.

 “I can’t,” you grinned, placing the glass on the table. She looked at you, her brows furrowed.

 “Wait, you aren’t- are you? Are you pregnant?”

 You lifted your shirt up, revealing your tiny baby bump. You glanced up and saw the tears in her eyes. Her smile was wider than you had ever seen it.

 “Congratulations Y/N, how far along?”

 “Twelve weeks and two days. That’s why Dean and I didn’t get home until late. I had an appointment. We heard the baby’s heartbeat today,” you told her.

 “Why didn’t you tell me!” she practically screamed with excitement.

 “He and I wanted to wait until the second trimester to tell everyone. We’re planning on telling everyone at Christmas,” you informed her.

 “That totally explains why Dean can’t seem to take his eyes or his hands off of you. You both looked so happy the second you walked in that door.”

 “We are really happy about this. I was terrified when I found out. I had missed a few pills and when I was late, I freaked out. Dean was so great. He literally held me together when I told him I was late. He was very sweet.”

 “I’m so happy for the two of you. You both are going to make amazing parents.”

 You and Jess continued to chat throughout the movie. You texted Dean to let him know he won the bet. You also told him to tell Sam to knock it off and talk to his girlfriend. What you didn’t tell Jess was that Sam was planning on proposing to her and he was nervous as hell to ask her. He didn’t want her to figure it out. Dean was happy for his baby brother though, very happy.

 The second Jess headed to bed with Sam, you dragged Dean to the bedroom and let him have his way with you. Needless to say, he made good on his naughty words he shared with you in the doctor’s office.

 Sam proposed to Jess the day before Thanksgiving. He did it discreetly, in the place where he first asked her out on a date. Of course, everyone knew he was going to ask her before she did. Sam told everyone, including his parents, and his aunt and uncle that he was going to, then swore everyone to secrecy.

 It was getting harder to hide your pregnancy from his family. Jess was still the only one to know. You made he promise not to tell Sam. You couldn’t have any wine at dinner, and you were watching what you ate. You wore baggy clothing. Christmas couldn’t have come quick enough.

 “Alright sweetheart, you ready to go?” he called out from in the bedroom. You grinned, emerging from the bathroom to join him. He was wearing a warm sweater that marbled his body exquisitely, jeans that fit snugly to his legs. He smiled softly at you. You were definitely showing now.

 “I’m ready,” you told him. You wore a Christmas t-shirt with a loose fitting black cardigan. Your jeans no longer fit so you went with a pair of black leggings. “You know, we should start picking out some names we like.”

 “Yeah we should. How is baby doing today?” he asked, kneeling down in front of you. His hands came up to your growing stomach, his lips pressed against the fabric.

 “Baby is good.”

 “And mom?”

 “Mom is excited. I can’t wait to tell your parents today Dean. I hate that I haven’t seen them since Thanksgiving,” you revealed.

 “They are excited to see you. I’m glad both of you are healthy. The doctor says you have a very healthy pregnancy, and you’re almost sixteen weeks,” he smiled up at you. “I can’t wait to see the look on my mom’s face.”

 Dean placed one more kiss to your stomach before getting up. He pressed his lips to yours sweetly. He helped you put your winter jacket on and even assisted you with your boots. The two of you headed out the front door and straight to the impala to head to his parents for Christmas.

 Dean sang along to some Christmas carols on the way over. His voice incredibly out of tune and he got a lot of the lyrics wrong, but you were certain he was doing it to make you laugh. You were laughing alright. He always had the ability to make you laugh.

 You tried your best to hide your stomach the best you could before you headed to the front door of Dean’s parents house. You held the gifts that were meant for his parents, Sam and Jess. You took a deep breath as Dean rang the doorbell. Mary opened the door, her smile wide.

 “Merry Christmas Mom,” Dean beamed. Mary pulled him into her arms. Oh god, Mary was going to hug you as well. She would definitely feel your baby bump when she did.

 “Merry Christmas you two. Come on in and get set up in the living room,” she told you both. Relief coursed through your body. You would be able to hug her as soon as you broke the news.

 Mary took off into the kitchen, leaving you and Dean to take off your jackets. Dean took the presents from your arms and carried them into the living room before coming back to help you. Your eyes met his gorgeous green ones for a moment before his hands snuck around your waist.

 “You’re beautiful, you know that?” he said. He leaned down and gave you a quick peck on the lips. “You ready?”

 “I’m ready, babe.”

 Dean took your hand and lead you over to the couch. The couch that had so many memories associated with it. This is where you realized just how hard you were falling for him. This is where you asked John to walk you down the aisle, where Dean asked you to marry him. Now there was going to be one more memory added into the mix.

 You sat down, adjusting your sweater so that it would successfully cover your stomach. Dean snaked his arm around your shoulder, placing a chaste kiss to your forehead. You leaned into him, relaxing into his touch.

 “Merry Christmas everyone,” John beamed. In his hand, he was carrying a small cooler filled with cold beers for everyone to drink. You began to worry that Mary and John weren’t going to be happy that you and Dean were having a baby. You had only been married for 6 months. You made eye contact with Jess for a moment. She sent you a wink and somehow that was reassuring. You knew his parents. His parents loved you both. They would be happy for you. “Beer?”

 “Oh, no thanks,” you smiled.

 “You don’t have to worry about driving, kiddo. We have Dean’s room set up for the two of you,” he assured you.

 “I’m okay.”

 “So Uncle Bobby and Aunty Ellen aren’t coming this year. They are spending it with Jo and Zach. Looks like it’s just us this year,” Mary informed everyone. She came in, her apron still tied around her waist.

 “More pie for me,” Dean chuckled. Mary gave him a knowing smile.

 “Alright, shall we open presents?”

 Sam handed out the presents to everyone first before anyone opened anything. You watched as Jess opened her gift from Sam. He had gotten her a beautiful necklace that matched her engagement ring perfectly. You watched as her eyes welled with tears, launching herself into Sam’s lap. She had gotten Sam a collection of old books that he had been looking at in August. He was completely surprised by it. He had thought she wasn’t paying attention. She also bought him some more flannels, but you both knew they weren’t just for him. John and Mary both gave them some money they could use to put towards their wedding.

 After all the presents were opened, wrapping paper covered nearly every part of the floor. Dean helped you put on his gift to you, which was a charm bracelet. John grabbed another beer while Mary took a seat in his lap. Sam was telling everyone a story about what happened to him before finals. Your stomach was filled with anticipation, your palms began to sweat.

 “Well I better get back to the kitchen. The potatoes aren’t going to mash themselves,” Mary sighed.

 “Mom wait,” Dean called out. Alright, it was time. Dean looked over at you for a moment, needing your reassurance before continuing. You smiled softly, reaching for his hand. “We have one last thing to share.” Mary took her seat back on John’s lap, her eyes locked on the two of you. Dean squeezed your hand.

 You stood up, releasing Dean’s hand. Your fingers made their way to the hem of your Christmas shirt, you slowly revealed your stomach to his parents.  “Y/N’s pregnant.”

 “OH MY GOD!” Mary screamed, jumping out of John’s lap. She pulled you into her so quickly you didn’t even know what hit you. When she finally released you, you could see the tears in her eyes. “I’m going to be a grandmother,” she breathed out.  “Congratulations!”

 Tears sprang to your eyes. Her reaction was more than you ever imagined it would be. She pressed her hand to your baby bump. You could see she already loved her grandkid. John came up to you not long after, pulling you into a hug.

 “Congratulations to both of you. You’re going to make amazing parents,” he assured you.

 He ushered Mary away from you, promising her that she could ask anything she wanted after dinner. The smile was permanent on her face, John’s as well. He pulled Dean in his arms the second he walked back in the room.

 “You have no idea how hard this was to hide from everyone,” Jess admitted.

 “Wait, you knew?” Sam questioned.

 “I got it out of her four weeks ago,” Jess confessed.

 “Wow, my own fiancee!” he joked. “Congratulations guys. I’m so happy for the two of you. Who would have thought this time last year that this would happen.”

 It hit you then. This time last year you were healing from a gunshot wound. The thought hadn’t really crossed your mind, even with it being Christmas time. You and Dean didn’t talk much about the incident. You were finally over it. You were happy to be healthy and alive.

 “I’m grateful everyday,” Dean added, looking down at you.

 You were getting a lot of love, and you were happy that Mary and John were excited for the two of you. You never really realized how big of an effect it had on you though. You couldn’t help but have this heavy feeling in your chest, and you knew why.

 “I’m just going to excuse myself. Bathroom,” you said quietly. You took off almost instantly, headed upstairs to the bedroom you and Dean had shared so many times.

 You shut the door silently behind you before taking a seat on the end of the bed. Tears welled in your eyes once more, this time, they weren’t happy tears. You didn’t want to cry, not over this. You knew it was going to happen at some point. You just never expected it to be so hard.

 “Sweetheart?” Dean’s voice called in. He was peeking his head in the door before he entered, closing it behind him. He closed the space between the two of you and kneeled down in front of you. He took both your hands in his, concern evident on his face. “What’s wrong, babe?”

 “Just thinking,” you smiled weakly.

 “About what?” His voice was an octave higher than usual. It was soft and laced with worry but he put on a strong face, knowing that it’s probably what you needed.

 “I never thought telling your parents about this would be like this. They were so excited, like beyond excited and happy for us! It’s more than I ever expected, but I can’t help but wonder if this is how-”

 “If this is how your mom would have reacted?” he finished for you. You nodded your head. “I want you to listen to me, sweetheart. Your mom would have reacted way more excited than this. You were her youngest daughter and she loved you more than anything. She would have been so happy for both of us and I know it’s not fair that she’s not here and that she doesn’t get to experience this. She left this world way too soon, but I will tell you now, she is watching you right now, and she is so happy for you. Your mom would have dropped her glass, letting it shatter against the tile floor. She would have screamed at the top of her lungs and raced over to as quick as her legs would let her. You would have to beg her to let go of you.” Dean cupped your cheek, his thumb wiping away your tears. You leaned into his touch. “Just remember that babe.”

 “Have I told you how much I love you lately?” you asked him, genuinely.

 “You tell me you love me everyday,” he smiled. “You show me you love me more often than that.”

 “Good. I don’t want there to be a day that you question that,” you stated.

 “I should be saying that to you,” he winked.

 You headed into the kitchen to see if Mary needed any help while Dean spent some time with his dad and brother. Mary still had a wide smile plastered on her lips. Jess was smiling just as wide.

 “Can I help with anything?” you asked.

 “Nope, you can sit and relax,” Mary told you.

 “Are you sure? I may be pregnant but that doesn’t mean I can’t help,” you giggled.

 “I can’t believe you are pregnant! This is amazing. How far along are you?” she questioned.

 “Almost sixteen weeks. Dean and I wanted to wait until the second trimester to start telling people, just in case something happened. The doctor said we are both very healthy and the baby is growing just fine,” you explained.

 “I can see how happy Dean is about this,” she pointed out.

 “What am I happy about?” Dean interrupted, making his way over to you. His hands were instantly around your middle, resting on your stomach while he pressed a kiss to your cheek.

 “About the baby,” she smiled.

 “You know it. This kid is going to be a badass, just like his mom.”

 “His? You think it’s going to be a boy?” you questioned.

 “Yes I do.”

 “Funny enough, I think so too.”

 You helped Mary carry the dishes to the table, John and Sam joining you in the dining room. Sam distributed the plates on the table while you grabbed some spoons from the kitchen. The whole house smelled amazing. You couldn’t help but feel thankful for the family you had.

 -----------------

 You and Dean headed to bed a little later than you usually did. His parents were sharing old memories they had when both of the boys were younger. Some of the stories you had heard before, others were brand new to you. You enjoyed listening to them go on about how adorable each of their sons were as kids. You even piped in and shared your own stories about your own childhood which was nice. You hadn’t really shared much about your life before Dean with his parents and they seemed to really enjoy it, Dean too.

 The second the door closed, Dean’s hands were all over you, his lips on yours. You knew where this was headed, you could tell with the way his lips moved with yours and the way he held your body.

 “Dean, your parents are downstairs,” you muttered against his lips.

 “Yeah, my parents are drunk downstairs. If they hear anything, they probably won’t remember in the morning,” he grinned. “You have no idea how much I want you.” You reached down, your hand palming over the bulge in his pants. He definitely wanted you alright.

 Clothes were shed quickly, thrown across the room in an attempt to speed up the process. Your bra was on the floor in an instant. His boxers were thrown over by his closet, your panties joining them. Your back hit the mattress, Dean coming down on top of you, spreading your legs to fit him between them. His lips attacking your neck, your hand carding through his hair. You could feel the tip of his cock pressed against your entrance.

 Your hand reached between your bodies, taking Dean’s hard length in your hand, stroking him slowly, earning a delicious groan from his lips. “Y/N, fuck,” he whispered. You lined him up with your entrance, his eyes watching your every move.

 “Please, Dean,” you muttered. Your fingertip trailing up along his side, all the way back up to his chest. He nodded, licking his lips before pushing himself into your pussy, your walls stretching to accommodate his size. He let out a breathy moan the second he was fully sheath inside of you.

 “We still gotta be quiet, babe. Don’t want anyone walking in on us,” he hummed. He positioned himself on his elbows, so his body weight wasn’t resting on your stomach. He pulled out, almost all the way before thrusting back in you, effectively making you cry out. His lips were on yours in an instant, keeping you quiet.

 Your hands stayed cupped to his cheeks, holding him gently in place while he pushed into you over and over. You rolled your hips to match his slow thrusts. You relished in the feeling of him filling you up, over and over again.

 It didn’t take long for that familiar burn to appear in your core. Dean thrusted into you at the perfect angle, hitting your sweet spot each time. “Faster Dean.”

 “Fuck baby, I’m so close,” he mumbled.

 He picked up the pace alright. Both of you were panting and moaning as quietly as you could. His hand reached down and rubbed your clit, sending you over the edge in an instant. Your walls clenched around him, bringing him to his own orgasm. Pleasure coursed through your body, your legs shaking around him. He buried his face in the crook of your neck, muffling his moans as he spilled himself inside you.

 He pulled out of you, reaching to the floor for his shirt. He clean you off with the soft material before doing the same with himself. The two of you quickly settled into the bed, his arm pulling you close to him.

 “Well, we can scratch that off the bucket list,” he chuckled.

 “You sound so sexy when you come,” you confessed, trying to repress your smile.

 “You look sexier when you come,” he laughed. He placed a kiss to your cheek, pulling you in tighter. The two of you drifted off not long after that.

---------------------------

 “Y/N, come here!” Dean called out. You sighed, carefully getting up from the bed. You swung your legs over the edge of the bed, your feet hitting the carpet before heading down the hall where you knew Dean was.

 “Dean, I am thirty-six and a half weeks pregnant. I’m exhausted, my feet hurt, and your son won’t stop kicking,” you stated.

 “H-he’s kicking?” Dean stuttered. Every time the baby kicked or moved, he was always gone. He was either at work, or on a grocery run. It always happened when he was out of the house and it really upset him. You nodded your head, taking his hand and placing it on your huge stomach. The baby kicked instantly. Dean dropped to his knees, tears filled his eyes. “Hi baby. Daddy’s here. I love you.” He peppered your stomach with kisses, a single tear slipping down his cheek, your own sprang to your eyes at the sight of him

 “I love you, Dean.”

 “Words can’t describe how much I love you, both of you.”

 “So what did you need us for?” you questioned.

 “Right. I finished the room, in case you didn’t already notice. Is this okay? Do you like where everything is?” he inquired.

 When you and Dean found out you were having a boy, you were both ecstatic. You both knew it was going to be a boy, and you hoped for a son. You and Dean agreed on painting his room a light green. It certainly seemed to brighten the room. Dean had placed the crib farther away from the window, in the corner. There were two chairs set up on the other side, along with a bookshelf filled with some baby books. There was a dresser filled with clothes and a small basket with some baby toys.

 “The room is perfect, Dean,” you smiled. “Absolutely perfect.”

 It was the beginning of May and you were in a lot of discomfort. The baby was due in a week and you couldn’t wait any longer. You desperately wanted him out of you and in your arms. Sleeping comfortably was difficult, cuddling with Dean was impossible. Your feet were so swollen.

 Dean was trying to spend as much time at home with you as possible. He cooked dinner for the two of you, along with helping you clean and get comfortable. You swore you were never going through this again. One kid would be enough for the two of you. Dean only smiled, agreeing with every word that came out of your mouth.

 All in all, it hadn’t been a bad pregnancy in your opinion. You were really sick in the beginning, but you weren’t as hormonal as you expected to be. Nothing more than you would be before your period. Dean had been super supportive. You couldn’t have picked a better guy to have a kid with.

 You were headed back to the bedroom. You were going to rest up a little in hopes you could stay up and watch a movie with Dean a little later. The second you climbed on the bed, you felt something wet between your legs, something wetter than usual.

 “DEAN!” you shouted. He was there almost instantly, panic evident on his face.

 “Babe?”

“I think it’s time!”

Where It All Began Tags

@theelishad @fangirl131996 @abby-ackles @beautifulfound @caitsymichelle13 @chelseypaigeake @lilo-and-stitch-love @gracieliz03 @carryonmywaywardballs @andtheraincamefalling @mrsamerica16 @destiny14444 @angel-allie-winchester @theskytraveler @deanscherrypie @that1seniorchick @sodamerons @crystal0bware @c00lbr33z3y @iroa26 @dragonmaster13 @claire7475 @belfiore94 @fellypepper @randomrainbowzebra @shaywarrix @jfk-is-the-bae @jencharlan @hasta-impalasta @imthatphotographynerdblr @supernatural508 @deanfuckingwinchesterrr @imagine-the-imaginable @like-a-bag-of-potatoes @dancingalone21 @deansbaekaz2y5 @sympathyforluci @deanislife67 @busybee612 @siniistuff @that1awkwardfangirl @deya-supernatural @67idjit-impala @spnbabyabgelpieimpala01 @cass-xxo @throughmyeyes4you2see @prokmoriarty13 @zoeelizabeth15 @margaritafid @joseyrw @deanbowlegsackles @escapiingeverythiing @omgreganlove @purplepalmblue @toxictori27 @im-a-light-child @yaya-snowflakes @nicolealexisxx @ackleholic-hunter @gbuttry @anythingaboutwhatever @jpadjackles @chickenmcsade @clarewinchester @winchestdiaries @angelbabymed @ravenclawpirate @thisistheonly-nameleft @anokhi07 @waywardjoy @satans--wife @spn-4-eva @bakabozza @ams-2004 @alexafromthefandom @laurenisnot @xfanqirlinq @letsgetyourdeanon  @angelwingsandsupernaturalthings @skathan-omaha @betterlattethennever @quiddy-writes @savetheimpalaridedean @iamabeautifulperson18 @supernaturalyobessed @lizmalfoywayland @chaos-and-the-calm67 @timetraveltothe1920s @annadier

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John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter

John Wick 3 has just released and already being labeled as the best action movie of this year. Famous for Keanu Reeves slick gunfight and his love for dogs, this is the third movie in the series titled as John Wick: Parabellum.

The first movie focused on the dog and wife of John Wick, second on blood pacts and the third movie is about more of the world. Let us see what fans are saying after watching John Wick 3.

John Wick 3 Twitter Reactions

Fans are loving John Wick 3 all over the world, it has some of the most amazing action scenes. Keanu Reeves has once again done a great job and it is bigger and better than the previous two John Wick movies. The people who have seen the movie are happy with more of the assassins worlds mythology being uncovered. John Wick 3 has also been certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 88% score.

Do yourself a favor and go see #JohnWickParabellum it was iiiiiinnnnsaaaaaaane in the best ways on every freaking level!!!! I’m so pumped I might go see it again! pic.twitter.com/l4N9GVvSqr

— sarah hensel (@sarahjohensel) May 18, 2019

Keanu at 50 is cooler than any of us at any age.

The action sequences and kills in #JohnWick3 were LEGIT pic.twitter.com/G3ahlK96Uc

— Amanda M. Sink (@_Ayaa) May 17, 2019

Get to see John Wick soon best action you could ask for. #JohnWick3 pic.twitter.com/0KBsH20twz

— Movies That Maher (@MovieBuff100) May 17, 2019

John Wick 3 was goddamn awesome, such amazing action sequences and the story just keeps getting bigger and better! Please do a 4th one! 😁👏#JohnWick3 pic.twitter.com/RhlATN2AjG

— Jacob Peach 🕹🚀🎬☕ (@PeachyBaws) May 17, 2019

#JohnWick3 impressively keeps the wheels spinning with its rich, complex mythology and finds so many brutal new ways for Wick to kill people that I’m not sure even horror franchises can compete at this point. Goddamn this franchise is cool. I already want the next one.

— John Squires (@FreddyInSpace) May 17, 2019

#JohnWick3 Saw it 10 times already. Just as good as the first two. #BeingSeeingYaJohn

— Grand Master Galen Marek (@GMasterGMarek08) May 16, 2019

What is amazing is that John Wick 3 has bought the love for pet animals back and made a major plot point. John Wick rides horses, pets various dogs who also help him fight the bad guys. Fans are willing to watch the movie more than once for the amazing experience. Not also that, John Wick 3 is compared with the classic action movie series Raid. Almost all of the John Wick 3 reviews are amazing, and fans are asking for more.

John Wick Parabellum is awesome af. The gruesome killing scene, the never ending chase, and all the adrenaline rush really cannot calm my bontot 🔥🔥#JohnWickParabellum pic.twitter.com/Ncoqv3Ps8c

— 🍫 (@pidodott) May 16, 2019

With its focus on over the top violence, a central boogeyman character who cannot be killed and a deep, rich mythology, the #JohnWick franchise in many ways feels like the modern, action-oriented equivalent of ‘80s horror franchises. I think that’s probably why I love it so much.

— John Squires (@FreddyInSpace) May 15, 2019

Just saw #JohnWick3. It’s the most heartwarming tale ever told about pet ownership.

— Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) May 17, 2019

Wow! #JohnWickParabellum was amazing! It’s like watching a hyper violent ballet & I love it. Several dogs 🐕 are pet during the film which is a big plus. Also Chapter 4 is shaping up to be the Matrix sequel we all wanted. #babayaga #johnwick3 pic.twitter.com/SWNlHtkOdt

— SuperFERMOR (@SuperFERMOR) May 18, 2019

Just saw JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3: PARABELLUM. Finally, an American action movie that deserves to be mentioned in the same conversation as THE RAID and THE RAID 2. #JohnWick

— Screen Zealots (@screenzealots) May 15, 2019

Fans want John Wick

Fans are so much impressed by the action and cinematography of John Wick 3, they are asking for more of it. People already want a sequel and want to see John Wick going on more adventures with his pets and guns.

[This post contains video, click to play]

Loved it can’t wait for the next. #JohnWick3Parabellum #JohnWick4 pic.twitter.com/7TcFQCB71J

— MB (@_mbrocket) May 18, 2019

John wick 3 is good. Now I need part 4. 😂💯#JohnWick3 #JohnWickParabellum pic.twitter.com/HmKhgu5JG5

— cj yap (@nexxt777_) May 15, 2019

Just got out of #JohnWick3 & I didn’t leave disappointed! Non stop heart pounding action. Love the nods to Hitman & Assassin’s Creed in it as well. Already patiently awaiting #JohnWick4

— Nick (@MRriNICKulous) May 18, 2019

Just saw #JohnWick3 and I absolutely loved it 🖤 All I want to know now is when is #JohnWick4 coming out and is there going to be even more pets? 🐶🐦🐱

— John Wick is a mood (@readyplayersolo) May 17, 2019

While there is no official release announcement about the fourth John Wick movie, both the actor Keanu Reeves and the director Chad Stahelski are ready for it. Given its $50 million-plus opening weekend and amazing reviews, John Wick 4 will surely be a thing.

The post John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter appeared first on Hiptoro.

John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter published first on http://www.hiptoro.com/ John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter posted first on http://www.hiptoro.com/

[claytoncoughlan]

John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter

John Wick 3 has just released and already being labeled as the best action movie of this year. Famous for Keanu Reeves slick gunfight and his love for dogs, this is the third movie in the series titled as John Wick: Parabellum.

The first movie focused on the dog and wife of John Wick, second on blood pacts and the third movie is about more of the world. Let us see what fans are saying after watching John Wick 3.

John Wick 3 Twitter Reactions

Fans are loving John Wick 3 all over the world, it has some of the most amazing action scenes. Keanu Reeves has once again done a great job and it is bigger and better than the previous two John Wick movies. The people who have seen the movie are happy with more of the assassins worlds mythology being uncovered. John Wick 3 has also been certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 88% score.

Do yourself a favor and go see #JohnWickParabellum it was iiiiiinnnnsaaaaaaane in the best ways on every freaking level!!!! I’m so pumped I might go see it again! pic.twitter.com/l4N9GVvSqr

— sarah hensel (@sarahjohensel) May 18, 2019

Keanu at 50 is cooler than any of us at any age.

The action sequences and kills in #JohnWick3 were LEGIT pic.twitter.com/G3ahlK96Uc

— Amanda M. Sink (@_Ayaa) May 17, 2019

Get to see John Wick soon best action you could ask for. #JohnWick3 pic.twitter.com/0KBsH20twz

— Movies That Maher (@MovieBuff100) May 17, 2019

John Wick 3 was goddamn awesome, such amazing action sequences and the story just keeps getting bigger and better! Please do a 4th one! 😁👏#JohnWick3 pic.twitter.com/RhlATN2AjG

— Jacob Peach 🕹🚀🎬☕ (@PeachyBaws) May 17, 2019

#JohnWick3 impressively keeps the wheels spinning with its rich, complex mythology and finds so many brutal new ways for Wick to kill people that I’m not sure even horror franchises can compete at this point. Goddamn this franchise is cool. I already want the next one.

— John Squires (@FreddyInSpace) May 17, 2019

#JohnWick3 Saw it 10 times already. Just as good as the first two. #BeingSeeingYaJohn

— Grand Master Galen Marek (@GMasterGMarek08) May 16, 2019

What is amazing is that John Wick 3 has bought the love for pet animals back and made a major plot point. John Wick rides horses, pets various dogs who also help him fight the bad guys. Fans are willing to watch the movie more than once for the amazing experience. Not also that, John Wick 3 is compared with the classic action movie series Raid. Almost all of the John Wick 3 reviews are amazing, and fans are asking for more.

John Wick Parabellum is awesome af. The gruesome killing scene, the never ending chase, and all the adrenaline rush really cannot calm my bontot 🔥🔥#JohnWickParabellum pic.twitter.com/Ncoqv3Ps8c

— 🍫 (@pidodott) May 16, 2019

With its focus on over the top violence, a central boogeyman character who cannot be killed and a deep, rich mythology, the #JohnWick franchise in many ways feels like the modern, action-oriented equivalent of ‘80s horror franchises. I think that’s probably why I love it so much.

— John Squires (@FreddyInSpace) May 15, 2019

Just saw #JohnWick3. It’s the most heartwarming tale ever told about pet ownership.

— Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) May 17, 2019

Wow! #JohnWickParabellum was amazing! It’s like watching a hyper violent ballet & I love it. Several dogs 🐕 are pet during the film which is a big plus. Also Chapter 4 is shaping up to be the Matrix sequel we all wanted. #babayaga #johnwick3 pic.twitter.com/SWNlHtkOdt

— SuperFERMOR (@SuperFERMOR) May 18, 2019

Just saw JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3: PARABELLUM. Finally, an American action movie that deserves to be mentioned in the same conversation as THE RAID and THE RAID 2. #JohnWick

— Screen Zealots (@screenzealots) May 15, 2019

Fans want John Wick

Fans are so much impressed by the action and cinematography of John Wick 3, they are asking for more of it. People already want a sequel and want to see John Wick going on more adventures with his pets and guns.

[This post contains video, click to play]

Loved it can’t wait for the next. #JohnWick3Parabellum #JohnWick4 pic.twitter.com/7TcFQCB71J

— MB (@_mbrocket) May 18, 2019

John wick 3 is good. Now I need part 4. 😂💯#JohnWick3 #JohnWickParabellum pic.twitter.com/HmKhgu5JG5

— cj yap (@nexxt777_) May 15, 2019

Just got out of #JohnWick3 & I didn’t leave disappointed! Non stop heart pounding action. Love the nods to Hitman & Assassin’s Creed in it as well. Already patiently awaiting #JohnWick4

— Nick (@MRriNICKulous) May 18, 2019

Just saw #JohnWick3 and I absolutely loved it 🖤 All I want to know now is when is #JohnWick4 coming out and is there going to be even more pets? 🐶🐦🐱

— John Wick is a mood (@readyplayersolo) May 17, 2019

While there is no official release announcement about the fourth John Wick movie, both the actor Keanu Reeves and the director Chad Stahelski are ready for it. Given its $50 million-plus opening weekend and amazing reviews, John Wick 4 will surely be a thing.

The post John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter appeared first on Hiptoro.

John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter published first on http://www.hiptoro.com/ John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter published first on http://www.hiptoro.com/

[anawiliams]

John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter

John Wick 3 has just released and already being labeled as the best action movie of this year. Famous for Keanu Reeves slick gunfight and his love for dogs, this is the third movie in the series titled as John Wick: Parabellum.

The first movie focused on the dog and wife of John Wick, second on blood pacts and the third movie is about more of the world. Let us see what fans are saying after watching John Wick 3.

John Wick 3 Twitter Reactions

Fans are loving John Wick 3 all over the world, it has some of the most amazing action scenes. Keanu Reeves has once again done a great job and it is bigger and better than the previous two John Wick movies. The people who have seen the movie are happy with more of the assassins worlds mythology being uncovered. John Wick 3 has also been certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 88% score.

Do yourself a favor and go see #JohnWickParabellum it was iiiiiinnnnsaaaaaaane in the best ways on every freaking level!!!! I’m so pumped I might go see it again! pic.twitter.com/l4N9GVvSqr

— sarah hensel (@sarahjohensel) May 18, 2019

Keanu at 50 is cooler than any of us at any age.

The action sequences and kills in #JohnWick3 were LEGIT pic.twitter.com/G3ahlK96Uc

— Amanda M. Sink (@_Ayaa) May 17, 2019

Get to see John Wick soon best action you could ask for. #JohnWick3 pic.twitter.com/0KBsH20twz

— Movies That Maher (@MovieBuff100) May 17, 2019

John Wick 3 was goddamn awesome, such amazing action sequences and the story just keeps getting bigger and better! Please do a 4th one! 😁👏#JohnWick3 pic.twitter.com/RhlATN2AjG

— Jacob Peach 🕹🚀🎬☕ (@PeachyBaws) May 17, 2019

#JohnWick3 impressively keeps the wheels spinning with its rich, complex mythology and finds so many brutal new ways for Wick to kill people that I’m not sure even horror franchises can compete at this point. Goddamn this franchise is cool. I already want the next one.

— John Squires (@FreddyInSpace) May 17, 2019

#JohnWick3 Saw it 10 times already. Just as good as the first two. #BeingSeeingYaJohn

— Grand Master Galen Marek (@GMasterGMarek08) May 16, 2019

What is amazing is that John Wick 3 has bought the love for pet animals back and made a major plot point. John Wick rides horses, pets various dogs who also help him fight the bad guys. Fans are willing to watch the movie more than once for the amazing experience. Not also that, John Wick 3 is compared with the classic action movie series Raid. Almost all of the John Wick 3 reviews are amazing, and fans are asking for more.

John Wick Parabellum is awesome af. The gruesome killing scene, the never ending chase, and all the adrenaline rush really cannot calm my bontot 🔥🔥#JohnWickParabellum pic.twitter.com/Ncoqv3Ps8c

— 🍫 (@pidodott) May 16, 2019

With its focus on over the top violence, a central boogeyman character who cannot be killed and a deep, rich mythology, the #JohnWick franchise in many ways feels like the modern, action-oriented equivalent of ‘80s horror franchises. I think that’s probably why I love it so much.

— John Squires (@FreddyInSpace) May 15, 2019

Just saw #JohnWick3. It’s the most heartwarming tale ever told about pet ownership.

— Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) May 17, 2019

Wow! #JohnWickParabellum was amazing! It’s like watching a hyper violent ballet & I love it. Several dogs 🐕 are pet during the film which is a big plus. Also Chapter 4 is shaping up to be the Matrix sequel we all wanted. #babayaga #johnwick3 pic.twitter.com/SWNlHtkOdt

— SuperFERMOR (@SuperFERMOR) May 18, 2019

Just saw JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3: PARABELLUM. Finally, an American action movie that deserves to be mentioned in the same conversation as THE RAID and THE RAID 2. #JohnWick

— Screen Zealots (@screenzealots) May 15, 2019

Fans want John Wick

Fans are so much impressed by the action and cinematography of John Wick 3, they are asking for more of it. People already want a sequel and want to see John Wick going on more adventures with his pets and guns.

[This post contains video, click to play]

Loved it can’t wait for the next. #JohnWick3Parabellum #JohnWick4 pic.twitter.com/7TcFQCB71J

— MB (@_mbrocket) May 18, 2019

John wick 3 is good. Now I need part 4. 😂💯#JohnWick3 #JohnWickParabellum pic.twitter.com/HmKhgu5JG5

— cj yap (@nexxt777_) May 15, 2019

Just got out of #JohnWick3 & I didn’t leave disappointed! Non stop heart pounding action. Love the nods to Hitman & Assassin’s Creed in it as well. Already patiently awaiting #JohnWick4

— Nick (@MRriNICKulous) May 18, 2019

Just saw #JohnWick3 and I absolutely loved it 🖤 All I want to know now is when is #JohnWick4 coming out and is there going to be even more pets? 🐶🐦🐱

— John Wick is a mood (@readyplayersolo) May 17, 2019

While there is no official release announcement about the fourth John Wick movie, both the actor Keanu Reeves and the director Chad Stahelski are ready for it. Given its $50 million-plus opening weekend and amazing reviews, John Wick 4 will surely be a thing.

The post John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter appeared first on Hiptoro.

John Wick 3 review: Fans reacts give their reactions on Twitter published first on http://www.hiptoro.com/