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orgasming-caterpillar · 7 months

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Dancing On Your Heartstrings

Chapter 15

Raghav POV

Raghav stared at the unsaved contact on his phone. He tried to remember if he had given out his number to anyone recently, but no one came to mind. Hesitantly, he swiped up.

"Hello! Raghav, right?"

"...Yes?"

"Hi, it's me, Karan. Remember me?"

Karan. Yes. Yes he did remember. He had helped bring Ranveer to the studio when Raghav asked him to, in return for which Raghav missed three classes the next day and assisted him in staging a prank on his brothers. Raghav also owed him a favour for keeping his mouth shut in front of Ranveer.

"Haan, bata kya hua."

"If I remember correctly, Little Mr Patil owes me a favour."

The mischief in his voice scared Raghav more than he would like to admit. There were only twenty minutes left until his practice with Ranveer. It better not be something excessive. "Of course I do. Kya chahiye?"

"Mujhe Shabana's Cafe se chicken momos laake de. Two plates."

Thank god, that was easy enough. If you knew anything about those triplets, you would know not to be in their debt. Ever

"Thik hai. Mujhe apna address Whatsapp kar. Main lata hu," said Raghav.

"Jaldi laio. Ranveer se mangaye the abhi tak nahi laya."

Ranveer. Gosh, being around the boy did things to Raghav that he wasn't sure he liked. It was frustrating, but it was also comforting. His face would heat up at every stolen glimpse of brown skin, every time Ranveer's shirt would lift up even a little bit during his stretches, but it always left him eager for the sight one more time.

Whenever Ranveer replied to his shameless flirting with a sarcastic flirt back, he would feel like a hamster was doing cartwheels in his intestines. (Because what he felt was much lower in the abdomen and much, much less innocent than 'butterflies in the stomach')

But it also hurt. It hurt being around Ranveer knowing he could joke around and flirt back and tease all he wanted but he could never truly like Raghav in the way Raghav wanted. Hell, he didn't even like Raghav in general most of the time. It was the whirlwind of brushing limbs and snarky comments and small smiles that lit a fire in Raghav's heart. If he didn't learn to control the flames, he might burn himself alive very soon.

He shoved his feet into his shoes, deciding to walk instead of taking his car. It would waste time, but he needed to clear his head. "Thik hai, abhi lata hu. Bye."

The worst of it all was the hope, Raghav realised as he started the walk on the street. What was he even hoping for? Another surprised laugh from Ranveer? Another victorious smile from him as they effortlessly rehearsed the choreography? Or was he hoping for Ranveer to run up to him and tell him he loves him and kiss his stupid face? Was he hoping for love or yearning for an impossibility?

Curse this damned hope.

Raghav reached Shabana's Cafe and mindlessly ordered two plates of chicken momos. He was surprised that Ranveer was the one who got late in bringing them. The boy was so punctual, after all. That was one of the things Raghav liked about him. But Raghav liked it when he broke character too; when the carefully crafted discipline slipped away to reveal the raw humanness underneath.

He didn't want to think about Ranveer anymore, so he looked around the cafe. A bunch of girls, all in different shades of pink, crowding the table by the window caught his attention first. Then a group of four boys on the table beside the counter. They were laughing over something, until the South Indian looking guy accidentally spilled his coffee on the guy wearing a pagg. The Sikh guy cursed him out －in pure Punjabi－ as the waitress tried to be polite while furiously telling them to calm down. The guy sat back down with a guilty expression mirroring the one of the South Indian guy.

Raghav would have laughed, if only he hadn't lost his voice. Because when a face amidst the onlookers of the fiasco caught his eye, the breath left his lungs.

Ranveer was sitting there, smiling like he had everything he ever wanted. He was chatting with someone －a girl－ and seemed so content in himself that it made Raghav's heart speed up.

He had this look in his eyes, filled with an easy and casual intimacy that Raghav was so frightened of, that made it impossible to look in his direction anymore.

Because he wasn't looking at Raghav.

Because he was looking at someone else.

Because he was looking at someone who wasn't Raghav and never could be.

Yet Raghav couldn't tear his eyes away. The girl said something shocking －probably, not that Raghav could hear them－ and Ranveer's features formed into a surprised oh.

Whenever Raghav said anything surprising, he furrowed his brow in suspicion. Raghav liked that, until now.

He wondered if he would ever get that look of comfort from Ranveer. He wondered if he would ever get over that look of comfort.

Fuck this. Raghav needed to get a grip. Ranveer was straight. Ranveer liked girls. Ranveer had girls he could sit with at cafes and talk about probably things like the future and marriage and how many fucking kids they wanted to have.

That might have been immature. She might have just been a friend. Who the fuck knew? Not Raghav certainly. And it was making him insane.

"Oh bhaiya," a voice called from behind him. He turned to the counter, where the lady had put the momos. With one last look at Ranveer, Raghav took the bag containing the two plastic boxes and bolted through the door.

The sight of Ranveer smiling at that girl was burned through his eyelids. His eyes stung with the oncoming of tears, the back of his throat tightened and Raghav wanted to scream.

He wanted to go up to Ranveer and scream that he loved him and that it felt like a thousand needles plunging into his heart when he was mad at him and that he didn't fucking care if it ruined their friendship, he just needed to get the words out.

But he did, didn't he? He cared too fucking much.

He bumped into someone. He knew he was fighting off tears. If he spoke, it would come out as a sob. So instead of saying sorry, he righted himself and walked away.

A hand grabbed his shoulder. The man spat out a filthy slur and jerked him around.

Raghav swore as he recognized who he bumped into. "What the fuck do you want, Ayush?"

"List bana ke du?" Ayush snarled.

Raghav's blood was boiling in his veins. He did not have the fucking energy to pretend he didn't care about anything. He took a step towards Ayush and said, "Thik hai. De list. Us sab ke sath mera revenge bhi laake de dunga, okay?"

Ayush grabbed his collar harshly, the joints of his fingers digging into Raghav's throat. "Kis baat ka revenge, saale? Pehle to tune mujhe competition main nahi aane diya. Jab maine dubara try kiya tab bhi tu us Ranveer ke peeche pada tha. Aur abhi mujhe dhakka bhi tune diya."

It was hard to breathe. Raghav refused to gasp for air. He should just… no. He wasn't fucking scared of Ayush. He wasn't eighteen anymore. He pushed Ayush off him. "Apni ladai to usse bohot purani hai, Ayush. You were the one who pushed me into the fountain and outed me in front of the whole courtyard."

"Outed? You mean maine sabko teri sacchai bata di? We both know you're a fucking faggot. Tabhi to us Ranveer ke peeche kutto ki tarah bhaagta rehta hai-"

Raghav should have just walked away. Raghav should have let him talk about his bullshit by himself. But that wasn't what Raghav did.

There was an itch in his fist and teeth he wanted to break.

• • •

Ranveer's face was the first thing Raghav saw when he opened his eyes. They were both on his bed, Ranveer was holding his wrist in one hand, and it seemed to Raghav that all his teenage fantasies had come true.

Then reality crashed in.

Typical.

"Who did this to you?" Ranveer's voice was livid. Raghav's wrist hurt like hell at the joint where he had grabbed it. "What were you fucking thinking, Raghav?"

Raghav recalled the things that had happened. He had a fight with Ayush. On the streets. Because… because he was already crying. He was crying because he'd seen Ranveer with a girl.

"Why do you care?" he said.

Ranveer looked one millisecond away from slapping him. "Why do I care? Why do I care!? Raghav the competition is in two days."

#dancing on your heartstrings #madhav ke lekh

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little-bitty-froggy · 1 year

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Cg(s)- Eddie Dear+Frank Frankly

Little(s) - Julie Joyful

Age- 5

It was a nice spring earning and Julie, Eddie, and Frank were outside in a nice flowery field catching or just watching bugs.

Frank and Eddie don't really get much time together due to Eddie being a mail man so they thought this would be the perfect time to hang out together. On the way there they met Julie skipping around and being her usual self. “HAY JULIE”. Eddie yelled crossing the street. “Hm”? Julie turned around to see her best friend Frank and his boyfriend. “Hiya fellas, whatcha doing”? “Oh, we're just going down to the flower field to look at some bugs and to catch up on things”. Frank said with a smile holding a small leather bag that he carries around for his books and notes. “OOOOO~ that sounds like a lata fun. Can I tag along”? “Sure why not”. Eddie giggled turning to his boyfriend. “Is that ok with you hun”? “Sure I don't see why not.” “YAAAAY~”!!! Julie jumped with joy as she ran over the boys.

—Time skip cause i’m too lazy——

They had made it to a big field of flowers of all different kinds, peonies, tulips, windflowers little rose bushes on the sides, etc. There were many different bugs to look at. Butterflies, bees, Beatles, spiders, etc.

Julie giggled as she ran threw the flower patches. “Guys look, these ones are orange and yellow too, just like my horns”. She said pointing at the tulips and then right back to her horns.

“It sure does”. Eddie gasped. “FRANK LOOK, this one's orange”. Eddie pointed to an orange and black butterfly. “Ooooo~ that's a mark butterfly”. Frank said looking very happy to be talking about his interests.

Meanwhile, Julie was in her own little world chasing the bugs and nationally falling over the ruts of an occasional tree here and there.

“Oof, dat one really hurt”. She quickly put her hands on her mouth and looked over at frank and Eddie laughing at each other in the distance. “Thank god they didn’t here dat”. She groaned (“i cant regress now, I’m with my friends right now. Ooo- but what will they say if they find out”). Everything was flooding her head till she started spacing out.

“Julie”? “Hay Juuuulieeeee, you ok”. “Hu, oh ya m fine”. Julie said trying not to sound so kiddish even thought thats her hole personality but today she was a little off. Her voice was a tad bit higher and she kinda slurred her words. “You sure cause we’ve been calling you for like two minutes now”? Frank sounded a bit worried. “Mhm, m fine, ima be ight back”. Julie then got up and started walking. She didn’t know where she was going, she just new she wanted to get away from the couple.

“Oof”. “Owy, owy, owy”! Julie cries, slowly turning into sobs. “JULIE”!!The boys cried out. “Are you ok”. Eddie says running over to the mentally younger. Julie is still sobbing uncontrollably. “Shh shh, hay everything’s gunna to be ok”. “M-m-m-m sowry”. Her sobs slowly turned into soft cries. “Theres no reason to be sorry, you just had a little accident, your ok, hehe”. Eddie reassures her. “M- what do you want me to do ki—oooh hehe”. Julie looks over at frank making grabby hands towards him. Frank gets down to her level.”are you little right now”. “Mhm” she blushes hiding her face from the two mentally older boys. ”Why didn’t you tell us”. “Cause is didn wan you to e weiwded out. I didn wan you to stwap bein m fwend”. Julie started to tear up. “I don’t know if you know this already but”. Julie looks up at Eddie. Eddie takes out a small stuffed bear and an orange,yellow,blue pacifier. “Im an age regressor too. Well a flip”. “Same here, and when where both small Howdy comes and takes care of us”. The two mentally boys looked over at Julie as she’s giggling ind stimming.

“Now, can we go catch buofwies”.

“Yes, yes, we can”.

Im so sorry that it took me so long.school has been tough cause i had a bunch of tests, but tysm for the request this was a lot of fun to make, especially with some of my headcanons.:)

#sfw agere #welcome home agere #welcome home arg #welcome home #frank frankly #eddie dear #Julie joyful

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wigglebox · 1 year

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Thoughts on the SPNWIN Finale

Okay so I’m gonna divide this into two parts: Implications for the future of where this show will go, and then implications for a potential continuation.

**This is me writing after only seeing the episode once and then popping through here and there to try and remember things, but I may mis-remember or misinterpret but I wanna get these first thoughts out of the way!**

First off, just to quickly summarize my thoughts at the top: I really loved it.

They had a hard hand dealt with this show, which is, only 13 episodes and no promise of a season 2. Because of that, they had to write it in a way that both closed this season but kept the door cracked open for more season. It’s a very very hard balance to do, but I think they still did it.

To me, I have a lot of questions, but I LIKE having questions because that draws me back for season 2. And, if done properly, it can also lure people into the continuation.

Implications for the future of SPNWIN

This episode was a whirlwind so I apologize if I mis-remember anything!

I think the key thing that I took away from this in terms of future potential was the journal. They have Dean’s journal in the sense that Dean and Sam had John’s journal.

John and Mary take off in the end but I have no doubt in my mind Lata, Carlos, and Ada will all come back and play a part some how as well.

Which, by the way, the fact that this Carlos was THEE Carlos that was referenced in a Robbie episode a million years ago is so amazing, idk why. Robbie you madman!

But, now we more or less have the confirmation that this isn’t truly our world, however we are going to be sticking with these characters in the future. Therefore, I don’t know if that means they’ll be universe hopping too, I don’t know if it means they’ll uncover more mysteries from Dean’s journal? I think that’s likely. I also think that will be fun.

I also ALSO think that will provide more world building for the continuation, like this season already did.

There is the obvious issue in the room of that being there were only 13 episodes and this may have felt more like a mid-season finale rather than a finale, however not being promised a season 2 has had to have been thee most annoying thing to write around.

But, for a first season, it set up some solid base foundation work for them to continue to explore more stories while also not screwing around with canon.

There are still questions I want answered and who knows when or if they’ll ever be answered. The biggest one, however, is what on earth is in that journal?

I have more questions but I need to rewatch the show to form them so they’ll be in a follow up post most likely.

Another question I have is: Was that really Dean from start to finish? The hair is the biggest thing for me bc J finished filming Big Sky and there was no reason not to cut it, or use a wig of some kind [lol]. But also in general it felt different a little bit. Like it’s still him but also it didn’t feel like him from the pilot and from the photos we were seeing. But it really may well be him all along! I imagine that’s part of the mystery.

I don’t think we’ll see him again, or if we do, it’s not going to be the same version. I think he served as a launching point. Several friends have made this point already but basically he laid the foundation for all this multi-verse stuff and now the kiddos are on their own and there’s a lottttt to explore.

Again, I have to rewatch in order to fully form my thoughts on the future for the show.

My question is gonna be basically are they going to explore different universes? And, how, if Chuck kinda offed all of them? But I’m okay with my questions for now because I like to go with the flow of the show. I don’t want to figure everything out right now.

Implications for a SPN Continuation

I’ll talk about this first since I have some frens who were disappointed that 1) Cas wasn’t with Jack and Bobby and 2) Cas wasn’t mentioned.

If you’re new around here, then I’ll cut to the chase now: I am a full on “Cas Is Not In Heaven” believer. There are several reasons why. I am also a “Chuck Won” and “Jack is Chuck” believer. Also several reasons why.

I don’t believe Cas is in Heaven because they never showed him getting there. “Well Jack got him out of The Empty,” is one of those things that I’ll believe it when I see it, because otherwise, it’s too shady for me. Cas was last taken, alive, to an Empty where everything else was awake and alive and taken on behalf of a deal, not because he died. The Empty has wanted Cas for a while, and has been pissed that he’s gotten out. Cas is a PRIZE for The Empty so I don’t really see it giving up Cas any time soon for any particular reason.

Especially if that reason is Jack.

I don’t believe The Empty likes Jack either, especially after their last interaction being so bad (Jack exploding in The Empty, waking everything up). I don’t feel like The Empty is willing to do any favors for him.

God isn’t supposed to be able to influence The Empty but I think, since Lilith and Lucifer were brought down, that Chuck and The Empty had an arrangement. And from 15x18 to 15x20 I had literally no reason to believe that Cas, a threat to Chuck, would have been let go for any reason, even if Jack was “God” now.

It would have been sloppy story telling, in my opinon, if they tried to explain how Cas got into Heaven in such a short amount of time, and would have extremely taken away from the emotional magnitude of 15x18.

And that’s how I felt with 1x13 of The Winchesters.

If we had seen Cas I would have been upset, I think. Because again, there’s no explanation for him being there. If it wasn’t going to be a *wink wink nudge nudge* thing like “We’ll explain it in the continuation” then I didn’t want it.

The reason why I feel so passionate about this is beacuse of the Chuck Won theory. And because of that theory, and how Cas’ role evolved over time in Supernatural, I don’t believe Chuck can “recreate” Cas. Because Cas exists outside of Chuck’s narrative, and isn’t beholdened to Chuck, that means Chuck can’t reproduce Cas. It’s just never going to happen.

And I feel strongly about Chuck not being able to do that SPECIFICALLY because when all is said and done, I don’t EVER want Dean to look at Cas and wonder if he’s real or not (throwback to 15x02 anyone?).

Therefore, I did not want to see Cas in The Winchesters except for very very very specific ways that I knew deep down wouldn’t happen because this isn’t the show for that.

And I’m sorry I wish I could go along with the Cas in Heaven memes because they do make me laugh — but also the thought of him being there with no explanation and still not showing up makes me more sad than not.

And that’s another thing—

With 15x20, and no Cas, there had been conspiracy after conspiracy for the last two and a half years as to why, everywhere between network censorship to Misha secretly filming and then them not showing anything. I’m personally more inclined to believe a mixture of: Censorship (Dean can’t reciprocate so what’s the point) and a deliberate choice on behalf of Dabb. But that’s for a different post because this is already very very long.

But, him not being in the finale — while it fed into the Chuck Won theory — it also didn’t have enough stability to truly land on one theory or another because COVID restrictions were also blamed (in whatever manner people saw fit to blame it).

However, NOW — with Cas NOT showing up next to Jack and Bobby — even tho in 15x20 Bobby said that Cas helped Jack — was very LOUD to me.

So what does that imply, to me?

1) No Cas until they have the time and space to put the story and emotions into it that it deserves. AKA — since I’m a Cas Is In The Empty believer — A rescue, by Dean. Even Jackles at JIB11 said that he’d want to explore that. Both of them have expressed an interest in exploring a follow up to 15x18. They can’t do that in the season finale of a spin off show that hadn’t mentioned them virtually at all (apart from parallels) all season.

2) No Cas because Cas isn’t there. I’ll get into my “Jack isn’t Jack” thing in a second, but because there was also this choice not to have Cas there — once is a mistake, but twice? Now it’s starting something. Especially since this time, they DID have Jack there. It’s like they’re showing us a Cas-shaped puzzle piece missing. The piece may be missing but you can clearly see the hole and know what’s supposed to be there (kinda like Dean’s reciprocation!).

To me these are interesting storytelling tactics. And that’s what this is, storytelling.

I feel like maybe we lost the plot a little bit, we being The Fandom, in terms of long-term storytelling efforts.

Cas being in The Empty still really does open up a TON of plot ideas for a continuation. Is it sad he’s not with Dean right now? Absolutely. But I’d rather have them apart than have a flimsy, unexplained reunion just to have a reunion.

“They didn’t even mention Cas,” and yeah, maybe they could have, but as friends in Discord servers have pointed out, that also locks them into a story that they may not be able to tell so it’s better to keep it like how it was in 15x20 where Dean never spoke his name. That is, it adds to the uncanny valley of it all.

Jack isn’t Jack

Look at this lovely post. This reminds me of the first time I was ever exposed to Chuck Won, Chuck is Jack theory way back in ... I want to say December 2020. Someone had compared Jack’s clothes to Chuck’s, and here we are again.

Also these tags from @clarkenting

Jack didn’t feel like Jack. He hasn’t felt like Jack since 15x19.

I already freak out and ramble a lot about Chuck Won when it comes to Becky’s Notes in 15x04 about “no one even mentions Cas” and the line about rock music and the like. But another note she made was regarding the villain’s monologue at the end and how it kinda sucked. Jack had a monologue at the end. Jenny, in 15x20, said 8 words.

So Jack post-15x19 has always been suspicious to me! And last night was no different, especially since it’s the most Chuck Like he’s looked.

Also, another thing that got me, was the reference to Carry On (the Kansas song). It felt super duper pointed and not just an Easter Egg but like — hey this IMMEDIATELY reminds me of 15x20 and how Dean was like, weirdly, “I love this song!” a little too out of character in heaven as he began to drive off.

Dean’s favorite band isn’t Kansas, it’s Led Zeppelin.

Also, the reference felt like a fourth wall break, something that Chuck would do.

So no, I don’t believe that Jack was Jack last night. I’m sure if I go through the dialogue, which I plan to do lol, I’ll find even more reason to believe that.

Another thing that confused me was Bobby being there. Dean drove off, alone, and was continuously shown alone, throughout his drive. But BOBBY was there last night? Confused I am. But in the good way.

We know now that Baby can hope planes of existence so I really really hope she can hop into The Empty.

I’m someone who believes that Dean’s “Heaven” is in reality just The Empty. Or, as sometimes my friends will hear me call it, Chuck’s toy shelf. I am also someone who believes we DID see Chuck in 1x08 as part of the band and it wasn’t just a Rob cameo. Rob’s character has too much implication to just casually toss him in as a background character.

This is super duper long, and I apologize but also not really!

Some final thoughts (for now) (any follow up posts I make also will be under #spnwin thots):

I think this finale set up things for both a season 2 AND a continuation. I’ve been a contination believer since literally the SPN finale finished airing. At first it was a way to cope, but then it became a full blown belief for me the more and more first Jackles talked about it, and then the rest of the cast.

I’m really excited for season 2 of The Winchesters should it happen. I really hope it does. I personally believe it has a high chance of migrating to HBO Max for a home — and if that’s the case that’ll be awesome bc I also believe that’s where a continuation will go.

All of our favorites of the season will be in season 2 as well. We will see Carlos, Lata, Ada, Millie, Betty, Tony, etc. back. There are still questions about their characters too that we need answering. I’m still suspicious of Betty!

I liked that they contained this just enough for the finale just in case they don’t get a season 2, but still left dangling plot threads to catch for a season 2 (which felt very season 15 of SPN to me. In my eyes, they really did leave some things dangling for a continuation.)

What kind of potential world building will we get now that we know space and time is but an illusion, lol. I like the prequel being used to expand worlds more and expand the canon more, especially when it comes to hopping planes of existence.

Is The Empty really the big villain, or Chuck? I personally think so, and I personally think that this will help funnel some stuff into a continuation.

“What about Destiel” yes what about Destiel? That’s a continuation problem but one that I know Jackles and Dee and whoever else will be involved will ultimately tackle as well. I may have more faith and optimism than others, but that’s because I know from past experiences from SPN that I won’t be burned no matter what happens — so if you need me to clown for you, I can!

What about the Akrida? Do they just stop at this place? Why this particular storyline? What’s going on? We already have alternates to our own timeline that is the Akrida did not finish off our Men of Letters, Baby got into John’s hands via a car dealership (well, according to Chuck anyway), John didn’t know about hunting in our world, etc etc.

So what else is different? Will they see OUR world? Who is dead, who is alive? Is Chuck gonna send them to other places too?

Only time will tell I guess!

Time to light those manifestation candles for season 2 and a continuation!

#long post #very long post i'm so so SO. fucking sorry #spn #spnwin #spnwin spoilers #spnwin thots #spnwin finale #i wrote this all in a frenzy and before i could grab starbucks #and i'm running on 3 hours of sleep #so i apologize if i missed anything #again anything additional i wanna talk about will be under spnwin thots #walejaflwkejfw #time to go on areblog spree

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mittensmorgul · 1 year

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okay, so there was no new winchesters tonight, but I HAVE been listening to the @endofthebookpod episode from the last new ep last week (go listen!). I haven’t had a chance to hear the whole episode yet, but i wanted to type this before my brain let go of it... huh, memory magic

SO. Anyway, point being, the discussion around Lata learning memory magic, and the comments about how it wasn’t really a big part of spn canon so wondering how it was going to be used... my VERY first thought when Lata offered to remove Roxy’s traumatic memories was of Cas in s6 taking all of Lisa and Ben’s memories of Dean (ostensibly to protect them and to unburden them from the horrific trauma they experienced because of their association with him-- only partly for Dean to protect them from being used against him again, but because he HATED what he’d done to Ben, having to watch his mother killed (or near as), and Ben both wanting to become a hunter like Dean and then having to confront what that actually means as Dean carried his dying mother to safety and Ben had to shoot someone (yes, a demon, but still, a person-shaped thing).

Okay that was a lot of words to say that DEAN HIMSELF had made that choice for someone else in the past, and here’s Roxy confronting all the suppressed traumatic memories and CHOOSING DELIBERATELY TO KEEP THEM. (I already wrote a bit about that here)

But memory magic was also like... a core staple of Heaven’s power structure. Cas spent several seasons dealing with the aftereffects of heaven’s torture, which largely involved brainwashing quite directly. Not only can most angels Obi Wan humans (these are not the droids you are looking for level stuff, or even the level that Zachariah used on Sam and Dean in episodes like 4.17 It’s A Terrible Life), but Naomi had a specially built device to specifically dig into angel main programming and tweak the internal dials-- everything from behavioral correction to what we will learn in later seasons involved deleting specific memories of things (like the fact Cas was a participant in several biblical atrocities like the killing of the firstborns, etc.).

Sure, Naomi needed specially constructed tools to achieve that level of mental manipulation-- which Crowley and his demons were then able to duplicate to use on Samandriel and eventually Sam/Gadreel-- but Cas? Well, he had a Particular Specialty with memory magic himself. It was a major plot point in s13. Not just in 13.14 Good Intentions when he confesses to Donatello that he had a special ability that he swore to never use on anyone without their consent, but that he deems it too urgent not to use it on Donatello, for the sake of the world. He feared the corruption that Donatello suffered because of the Demon Tablet, and he needed the information Donatello refused to give about the alternate universe gateway spell.

This power was supposedly unique to Castiel, like many other angels were “specialists.” Specifically we know Uriel’s specialty was smiting towns, Zachariah’s specialty was... lets call it giving unique experiences to people directly. Whatever. Cas’s special power was not only reading people’s minds (something we saw him do a good number of times before this-- like tapping Rowena’s forehead and knowing the one person she felt love for, Oskar), but also specifically stripping those memories from people’s minds.

Which is kinda what we saw him do to Lisa and Ben. And what he did from Donatello here. Literally removed the memories so he could sort through them all himself.

Is that what Lata is learning to do now, whether from Tony or some other source inside her dreams? To access other people’s memories and then selectively strip those memories away from the person?

Because that’s like a Cas Special.

(even the broken AU Castiel was called in to use that special talent specifically, to strip the information the angels wanted directly from Charlie and Ketch’s minds... if that was a standard angel power, they wouldn’t have needed to call in Cas specifically, and I always felt that was a MAJOR reason that version of Cas was as broken as he was, that being forced to use that power is what damaged him, since Our Cas had REFUSED to use the power until it was the only option they had left...)

(I won’t even mention The Empty and the Entity’s interesting power to just... flip through Cas’s memories in 13.04... okay i mentioned it, but I don’t know what else to do with it yet lol, other than to suggest that whatever is happening in The Winchesters is adjacent to or being affected by the Empty... I wouldn’t be shocked if the Akrida turned out to be agents of the Empty actually so... off point mittens, get back to the point now...)

but then that also made me wonder... did Cas hold on to all those memories he stripped from Lisa and Ben? Did he flip through them when he was feeling sad? did it actually make him feel WORSE about everything that had transpired leading up to 6.22 and the choices he made afterward? his determination to obliviate himself into Emmanuel even? or to stay in purgatory? heck... i just made myself very fucking sad...

Okay. I just needed all this on record. Memory magic is a HUGE part of spn, and whatever it’s leading up to in The Winchesters feels very, very relevant.

And also very, very connected to Cas.

#the winchesters #spnwin s1 spoilers #spnwin 1.10 #spn 13.04 #spn 6.21 #castiel winchester

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dotthings · 1 year

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This whole show is a beautiful tribute to family and found family in the spn universe. Especially, so far, ep 1.08, is a song for found family, with Carlos's song and who he sings it for.

After pulling a Dean and smashing up a guitar in defiance and frustration at a cosmic deity and over being yanked around and all that's been lost and all the pain.

Carlos is a mirror to those dual parts of Dean, the part that resent hunting and what was lost and the part that found fulfillment in it and wouldn't trade the family he gained along the way for anything. The part that's angry about lost paths but also joyful in the moment and appreciative of all they do have and the good they do for the world and they are both deeply loving people.

Mary and Carlos are both Dean mirrors. The part tasting the regrets on what they had taken away, either by tragedy, in Carlos' case, or by drill-sargeant parents, in Dean and Mary's.

Carlos is a lot more at peace than Dean is with that inner conflict, maybe because Carlos' path to it wasn't like Dean or Mary's. Nobody drill sargeanted Carlos. He hunted down one of the things that killed his family and it's a self-chosen mission to get the rest. Carlos acted by choice. There was no domineering guidance telling him from a very young age this is his only value and purpose and the only path he can possibly have.

Jericho coaxing Carlos to sing again, just this once, take that stage again, also made me think of Lee coaxing Dean to sing. This had a happier outcome. But that is another Dean and Carlos parallel. Singing is a way they express themselves and feel free, and feel joy, and Carlos, despite openly being a traveling musician, and taking his guitar with him everywhere, also keeps that part of himself a secret in a way, every bit as much as Dean hid the fact that he could sing.

Carlos also represents the fact that hunters don't have to starve of self expression. Even if Carlos can't be a rock star, he is still a musician.

Loved that Mary and Carlos hug, and Lata's big heart, her tears. Mary's tears too. Mary has a big heart underneath the facade.

#carlos cervantez #mary winchester #dean winchester #The winchesters #spnwin #spnwin spoilers #spnwin meta #carlos meta

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sabraeal · 10 months

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All That Remains, Chapter 11: The Prince and the Princess [Part 1]

[Read on AO3]

Written for both Obiyuki Bingo and also a very, very overdue birthday gift for @lusakina, who has nearly waited a year for me to be able to sit down and write this. It’s a slightly shorter chapter than these typically are, but this one needed to be more of an interlude between parts...

With a flourish of the pen, the girl escapes.

That is how a story would tell of this, wouldn’t it? A grand climax racing into the gentle arms of a denouement. An exultant cry of victory followed by a blank page.

Our fingers straddle the border between two words; one in which there is the possibility of failure, and the other which brings us the relief of success. It is so easy for us to turn the page, to shift from those dire hours to the moment of safety. A girl escapes, and in the space of a breath, she is far away, only pale echo of that danger buried beneath the next step of her journey.

There is no time to dwell on the between; on the sleepless hours wondering whether you will awake to the sounds of stomps and shouts, of whether you can afford to stop to catch a breath or must chance a push onward, hoping your own legs won’t give out beneath you. On the page there is only room for failure or flight, and anything in between...

That is where the story abandons you. Escape is only a small sliver of survival, and the the rest, the rest--

Is living. And oh, that is by far the hardest part.

Lata taught her how to ride on one of the sparse spring days in Lilias; Shirayuki had been the one to ask, only a day or so before, and he had huffed, at least it might make you more useful. A tepid response, one she thought had been as polite a refusal as a man like him could come, until she bumped into him in the courtyard, mouth wrapped halfway around a good morning, before he hauled her off to the stable.

Unlike most of her studies, riding did not come easy. No, instead it came in fits and starts; months of taking two steps forward and ten steps back until one day her amiable little mare broke out into a canter, and Shirayuki kept her seat. Good, the professor had grunted, hunching his furs up around his ears. I thought I might just wash my hands of this and let that poor excuse for a knight cart you around like luggage.

Please, my lord, Obi had called from his perch on the fence, a gloved hand pressed courteously to his chest. She would be my precious cargo.

Whatever he chose to call it, it was baggage, and if there was one thing Shirayuki refused to be, it was a burden. Riding might not come easy, but she had kept with it until not even Zen could find a flaw with her seat, and yet--

And yet, beside Kiki she sits a graceful as a rock in a bucket; unlikely to tumble out but by no means proficient. At least, not the way she thought she was. That’s the difference between learning a good seat and being born to it, she supposes, which wouldn’t matter at all if the moment Kiki slowed them to a trot, she didn’t feel as if her own backside would fall off.

“Catch your breath,” Kiki tells her, voice raised no louder than the susurrus of leaves around them. “We’ll need to keep moving.”

A protest hones itself to a point at the tip of her tongue-- there’s no need to stop, it wants to say, I won’t slow you down-- but Kiki only stares at her, kindness leaving her no quarter. The fight sloughs off her like a skin-- no, like a gown, ill-fitting and heavy, made for someone else. Another Shirayuki, one more used to saddles and stirrups, who spent her days toiling in the gardens and summers riding across the North, who hadn’t been afraid to throw a blanket over dewy grass to stare up at the stars.

Not the one who had wasted two seasons trying to slip into a smile that pinched at the seams. Who hadn’t let her friend simply disappear while she chose which spoon to stir her tea.

Nails bite into the flesh of her palms, sharper than she ever kept them in Wirant. She’d needed them short, then; longer ones were liable to break, for dirt to get caked deep within the bed, but in the palace...

Ornamental, Haki had called them, hanging polished nails over the divan. The same as Shirayuki had been, when all the flounces settled. Nothing more but another face to decorate its halls.

Her breath steams in the air, a gasping specter that dissolves as soon as it appears, never quite solid enough to grasp. Glancing over her shoulder, the lights of Wistal still shimmering past the dark ribbon of the river, she feels much the same. Insubstantial. Hardly real. That if she just reached out she could touch those glittering lamps as if they were no more than shards of wunderocks, meant to settle in the palm of her hands and never burn.

The city’s so tame from so far away.

“We should go back.”

It’s barely more than a whisper, a toneless sigh into the night, but Kiki’s stare cuts to her, sharp as the blade at her waist. “Shirayuki. You have just fled the palace and its protections.” The night blurs the details of her expression into shadow, but the angle of her brows says sharp, skeptical. “Are you really so eager to return?”

“I-I didn’t say we should go back t-there.” She skips over her words like a stone on a still pond, hands clenched tight around her reins. “I just meant...the market. Or maybe one of the pubs. Somewhere...”

Somewhere there’s something left of him, she doesn’t say. There’s no point when Kiki is already shaking her head, gold shimmering silver in the moonlight. “You do understand, don’t you? We cannot go back. Not to the palace, not to the market...not to Wistal at all.”

“But that was the last place Obi was seen,” she insists, stomach as knotted as the leather strap in her hands. “If we’re going to find anything, it will be there. If we leave now--”

“Obi has made some...questionable decisions in the past” --the wrinkle between Kiki’s brows discourages further inquiry-- “but if he was trying to slip out of Wistal under the Watch’s nose, he wouldn’t stop for a drink.”

Her mouth works-- wasn’t he supposed to be a slither-outer? a man who abandoned his post to make a fool of himself in every tavern before he’d crawl back into our good graces?-- but that venom stings even her own lips, a set of lies too raw a wound in her to even scrape out a single sound. To pretend she could believe that of him for a moment, even just to win her way--

You do know that house plants don’t drink champagne, she informs him, poking her head around the improbable girth of this fiddle leaf fig. Even if it does reside in a manor house.

Gold flashes up from where he crouches, startled, flute hanging limply from his fingers. It’s only a moment before it smooths into an easy confidence, into a grin that’s right at home with all these silver platters and crystal glass. It’s either this or off one of these fancy little balconies, and I got to say, there aren’t ladies walking out from beneath these leaves. Well, except you, Miss.

His playfulness is contagious. You could just drink it, if you need to. I doubt this would give you anything more serious than a case of the hiccups. She leans in, conspiratorial. In my professional opinion.

You may be the granddaughter of a bar, Miss, but never on the streets I’ve visited. A corner of his mouth twists as he levers himself to his feet. Then you’d know that the only knife you carry with you is a sharp one.

--It would be a betrayal. Another way for her to turn her back on him, to forget the man he’d become over these past six years, the one who-- who--

So, it was worth having? Just asking makes her stomach lurch, like holding her foot over a precipice, trying to judge the distance down. It’s just a necklace, just Obi, and yet she’s tangled up in anticipation, breathless for that tilt of his head, that soft flicker of a smile.

Of course. Both fondness and confusion add an airiness to his laugh, as if his answer were as certain as the ground beneath their feet, or as necessary as the air between them. It would have been just for the fact that you lent it to me.

--It’s impossible.

Not that he loved her; of course he did, but in the way a key loved its lock, or a hand might miss its pair. The way she felt when she walked the streets in front of her grandparents’ old pub and heard laughing through the glass. She was a best-worn glove, a favorite meal, a half-remembered chorus to a lullaby.

She was home, the same way he was for her. And to think of it as the same as the knights in the palace tapestries, kneeling at the feet of their mistresses and longing, to think of it as desire...

They’re mistaken, is all. Of anyone, she knew him best. If his feelings had changed, then surely she would have noticed, she would have known--

You don’t know anything about me, Miss.

Her breath catches, painful in her chest. “But we don’t know where to look. If there’s a lead, then--”

“There’s nothing left to find of him there.” Each word hits her like a whip crack, a lash she’s not braced to take. “They will be looking for you, Shirayuki. Not now, but in the morning...”

In the morning, one of Haki’s maids would bustle into her chambers, throwing curtains wide and informing her of the gowns the consort had set out for her perusal. But today her hands would sink into the covers and find no flesh beneath it, no young lady to dress as her mistress pleased. No, there would only be a haphazard bundle of silk and velvet and down, and then, then--

Kiki’s eyes narrow as she gazes back, a hunter gauging the distance between her and her target. “It will take them time to search the grounds, to realize...”

That she was gone. No, that she, of her own volition, had left.

Kiki’s mare nickers as she leads her head around, back to the road ahead. “We should use what time we have wisely.”

It is simple to have purpose when there is trouble at your back, when there is the promise of menace nipping at your heels. One step yields to the next with such ease that it becomes nothing more than an instinct, heedless of fear and of good sense. Forward is so much more tenable as a directive than a decision.

Second thoughts are the luxury of those whose stories have an after.

Night passes into day, and what once seemed a steady, sustainable pace turns relentless. Kiki turns them off the main road at first light-- we can cover your hair, but two women riding hard is a rare enough sight still-- leading them first through fields of tall grass and wildflowers, so many Shirayuki is tempted to ask for a rest, if only to replenish her stocks--

But the grimness of Kiki’s jaw stills the words on her tongue.

It’s not long until fields give way to scrublands, and scrub gives way to the first stirrings of a forest, its canopy blotting out the sun’s heat as it climbs to its zenith. To her eyes, it seems untouched, a primordial kingdom of leaf and bramble and vine, but Kiki quickly picks out a hunter’s trail in the brush, leading them deep into its cool embrace.

It’s only then that Kiki lets their pace slow, that she lets her mare come to a panting halt. “We’ll stop here. The horses need to rest.”

There’s no block for her to dismount to, but Kiki provide a knee-- and then a net of arms in short measure, once Shirayuki’s leg fails to swing over and becomes a slow, terrifying slide.

“Sorry,” she gasps, clutching hard to her shoulders. “I didn’t realize that my, er, I mean...everything’s numb...?”

Her only consolation is that Kiki’s huff is at least amused when she finds her feet. “No need to apologize. We rode for a long time. Longer than we should have.”

Obi used to complain that too much time in the saddle made him bow-legged-- like some sort of hedge knight, Miss-- but it’s not until she hobbles across the clearing, too much space between her thighs, that she understands it.

“Oh, did we? That’s good. I mean--” there’s no comfortable way to rest; to stand means suffering her trembling legs, to sit only worsens the numbness “--I thought so, but if we were really riding for so long, then we would stop to switch out the horses...”

Kiki shakes her head, expert hands never slowing as she rubs down their mounts. “They’ll check the roads first, the post stations where it’s likely we’d need to stop. And any groom worth his pay will know these are from the royal stables, which means he’ll be the first to tell them what he knows.” Her mouth gives a wry twist. “Horse thieves always pay well.”

“But we’re not...” Kiki spares her a long, dubious look. They certainly hadn’t asked to borrow a pair of His Majesty’s finest mounts. “Are you so sure there will be anyone coming after us? Izana said that if I left, that I would be-- I’d--”

It should go without saying-- even now, the burden of his gaze weighs on her-- if you break this agreement, there will not be another offer.

She clears her throat. “I don’t think he’d be sending anyone for me.”

“Not Izana.” Kiki stretches out the words with care, the kind that warns of a ‘but’ before it can round the corner. “But Zen will turn over the whole city to find you.”

“Ah...” She hadn’t accounted for that, no. Not for Zen, who so often complained of tied hands, of how his brother’s wants ran roughshod over his own, using what little power he could bring to bear. “But Izana would never let him. Not when he was so clear...”

“Which is why this will all happen so quickly.” Kiki turns to her, as grim and serious as she had been in the stables. “Before Izana can hear of it.”

Her fingers tremble against the trunk, bark biting into flesh to keep her upright. “N-no. He can’t do that. When Obi disappeared it took him weeks to even get a single search party...”

Beneath the black of her jacket, Kiki’s shoulders tense. She does not speak but brace, and that is enough to draw Shirayuki up short, to remember--

A knife strapped to a belt. A seed pressed into her hand. Ah, she’d forgotten how easily a healed wound can run fresh, if she only pulls off the scab. “But he never sent anyone. Not for Obi.”

“Shirayuki...” A sigh soughs through her teeth. “We should go.”

But it cannot last forever. There always comes a time where fear banks, when tempers have cooled and the ceaseless war drum of the heart fades. And all that is left...

Is you.

Day fades into night again before Kiki allows them to truly rest, not just pause to catch a breath or let the horses drink. Their pace had been slow through the forest, careful as they picked their way along the knotted trails, but their mounts are exhausted, pulling at their leads as they plod into the clearing. Shirayuki can hardly blame them; she nearly balks until Kiki reaches for her, more falling from the saddle than dismounting it.

No matter how she might insist that she bore the mark of Tanbarun in her strong shoulders, or that heaving bags of soil from the cart to the greenhouse made her as capable as any of the male scholars, Shirayuki is hardly heavy. A girl her size might make Suzu stagger-- I can’t leave him on the walls by himself, Obi had confided once, grin peeking over his scarf, he’s got more in common with a sail than stone-- but even with the brunt of her weight slumping over her like a sack, Kiki is only driven back a step, solid when she plants her on the ground.

“You’ll have to forgive the accommodations,” she huffs, one half of her mouth hooking into a smirk. “I’m afraid it falls just short of royal.”

There’s no silk sheets or pillows of down, that’s for certain. But Kiki lays out her cloak to cover the soft sponge of the forest’s undergrowth, plumping her pack to make a kissing cousin to a pillow, and oh, what Shirayuki would have given for such luxuries during that breathless flight across the border, all those years ago. She stumbled upon that forgotten manor after a half dozen nights of only rocks and roots to lay her head on, with just that little hood to keep her warm.

“Ah, don’t worry about me,” she murmurs, unclasping her own cloak from around her neck. “I’ve slept on worse.”

Kiki’s smile stretches tight over her teeth. “Of course.”

Never one to need to fill the air with noise when silence would do, Kiki gathers their leads, nickering quietly at their mares as they tamp at the ground, impatient. Lata had taught her how to care for tack-- as any good horseman should, he sniffed, turning up his nose at the university’s groom-- but there’s a practiced efficiency to Kiki’s movements, almost meditative, that suggest any of her fumbling might only get in the way.

Still, Shirayuki isn’t about to stand idle. Not anymore.

“If you’re going to take care of the horses...” Her slippers shuffle, uncertain, beneath the hem of her skirt. “Should I gather some wood for--?”

“No fire.”

Shirayuki blinks. Wistal may be warm, even into its winters, but its nights still grow cold late in the season, enough that some mornings leave a lick of frost on the windowpanes. “But it will get cold soon. The sun’s already--”

Kiki shakes her head, sharp. “We can’t risk the smoke.”

She doesn’t so much snap as rasp, a dire note scraping her voice raw. Kiki has stood tall before kings and traitors both, and yet her whisper is nothing more than a live nerve that her desperation skins open. And it-- it seems so silly. They aren’t running from some first’s prince’s wounded pride, from four dozen of the kingdom’s most loyal knights and a half dozen dogs, but...

“But it’s only Zen.” It’s strange that she’s the one to say it, that in this twilight of her escape, she’s the one to speak sense. “He won’t hurt us. He’ll just...”

“Convince you.”

Her mouth falls slack. “I...?”

“Zen loves you.” It’s stunning how easily Kiki can say such a thing when Zen never had, when it had always been something hidden in the wrinkles of his smile or the longing in his eyes. “The fear has never been that he would hurt you. It is that you will listen.”

Shirayuki wants to protest, to say there would be nothing he could say to convince her to abandon Obi now that she’s set herself on his trail--

But even now her heart leaps to her throat not in dread but anticipation as she imagines Zen stepping into the light of their fire. Hope sears as he kneels before her, the fire casting his pale hair golden as he tells her, it’s all been a mistake. The anguish would turn itself to earnest apology in his eyes, and he would say that they can do this together, if only she would come back with him, if only she would stand by his side.

A breath shudders from her lungs, so full of wanting it burns.

It is so easy to say that she would not turn her back on Obi again, but three months ago, she would have sworn no one could get her to forsake him the first time.

“Right,” she rasps, chest tender beneath the hand she presses to it. “No fire.”

Oh, how easy it is for the doubts to set in, when it is only your tender heart to stand against them.

These are not Lilias’ nights, so cold that even a warm pan beneath the pallet and a heap of furs can’t keep the chill out, but they do have to press close beneath the weight of her cloak, tucking it tight around their shoulders and back, scrunching to keep their feet beneath it. It’s hardly the first time she’s had to huddle for warmth under the blankets, tucking deep into open arms to keep out the elements, but she’s used to a warmer body beside her, a furnace wrapped in flesh. And Kiki, well--

What do you expect? Obi lilts into her ear, as soft as he always spoke beneath the stars. Miss Kiki’s got a reputation to keep.

Her body is weary, bruised and battered from the ride, but even still-- her heart leaps when Kiki lays next to her, the sweet scent of lilac wafting from where her hair knots at the back of her neck. For a moment, it feels like that night so long ago, when snow had pressed at the inn’s windows, and her heart had raced from how close she had come to-- to something in that room. Not with Kiki, but with Zen, the pillows collapsing in among them and the urgency to see, to know had pressed her in for that next kiss. Her lips stung from it, tingled, and she had wanting nothing more than to say something, to ask if it was right that she felt so torn between her head and her heart.

But instead she had stared at the nape of Kiki’s neck, where her hair parts around skin like waves around a breaker, and worried. The same as she does tonight, as she does the next, and the night after. She is a font of concerns, an endless well of anxiety that burbles through the early morning hours, ceaseless until the sun rises.

You understand, don’t you? Even now, she feels Kiki’s fingers at her ankle, a single thoughtful tap on her boot. What all this might cost when it’s over?

If you break this agreement, Izana warns her, his tone implying fine print, there will not be another offer.

Think about what you might lose, the silence urges her, sounding more like Kiki than any words ever have. Think about what you might not get back.

Her fingers clench tight in the wool of Kiki’s tunic. But what about you? she wants to ask into the soft skin of her nape. What do you lose, coming with me?

Kiki is a royal knight, an aide to the second prince, the heir to Seiran. Soon to be married, too, after her father’s summit. One so important that it even peeled Zen’s aides from him, one Kiki herself is supposed to be handling the arrangements for.

And yet here she is, with her. Because a princess needs her knight. Except Shirayuki has never wanted to be a princess, and Kiki...

Must have her reasons. Good ones. The kind Shirayuki wants to know, to understand--

But instead her body betrays her one last time, and all its anxiety abandons her for sleep.

Oh, how stories never speak of this part, of that space between the wanting and the knowing. A woman wakes from her thousand year slumber in the arms of her true love. Children outsmart a witch and find their way home without a single wrong turn.

A girl escapes the garden of a sorceress, and stumbles straight onto the trail of her boy. No doubts, no second thoughts, no leads that have gone cold over the long months she spent, a prisoner in paradise.

How much easier it must be to suffer knowing that there is purpose to it in the end. How much easier it is to go forward, when every step will lead you true.

It’s impossible for her to say how many days it take for them to travel through the forest, or how many more there are before Kiki leads her back to a road. Obi had always been the one with the map in his head, unerringly leading them through hill and dale and drift; Shirayuki had only followed, putting her boot prints beside his own, a matched set.

It’s only the hangings above the inn’s door that give her pause when they pass it, that remind her that they’ve been here before. They’d run across this very courtyard with rain dogging their heels, standing in front of the desk soaked entirely to the skin. The five of them, traveling back from Tanbarun, breaths caught up in laughter as they skidded to a stop in the tile. It’s impossible, she thinks, that they could have been so young only such a short time ago.

“How about it then?” Kiki grunts, voice rough from disuse. “Would you like a bed tonight?”

Her back would certainly appreciate it. “They had baths here, too, didn’t they?”

For the first time in days, Kiki’s mouth curls toward a smirk. “You know, I think they did. Good ones, too.”

Strange, is it not, how we never know the precise moment the story finds us again?

Steam curls thick in the air, a palpable curtain between her and the bath. A welcome one; it’s been so long since Shirayuki last removed her dress that the cuffs stick to her wrists. It’s a miracle of the humidity-- and her own ingenuity-- that it peels away, leaving pink skin in its wake.

“Oh.” The warmth of the bath clings to her as thick as any cloak, coaxing out a sigh. “Where...?”

“Leave it,” Kiki urges her from farther in. “The maids will look after it. If there’s anything that can save those things.”

She hums, uncertain, letting the fabric hang from her fingers. This is her own sweat, her own mess; it hardly seems right to expect someone to clean it...

But she wants to deal with it even less. “All right.” The gown drops into the fog, lost. “I’m coming.”

When it is not just our own will that moves us forward, but the narrative, pushing us inexorably to the next turn of the page.

It’s a good, solid scrubbing that Shirayuki gives herself; she’s no stranger to the sort of dirt that a body can gather over a day’s work, but this, this is a week’s accumulation of grime and filth. It doesn’t wash away so much as flake, chipped off by the application of horsehair and grit until the only think left is pink, scoured skin beneath.

“We’re alone,” Kiki assures her through the partition, one pale foot sliding a sudsy bucket beneath. “If you want.”

Shirayuki blinks for a moment, staring down at the bubbles uncomprehending--

“Oh.” She reaches up, unwinding the towel from her head. It’d be generous to call what’s under it brown, let alone red, but with a good wash, well... “Thank you.”

Kiki hesitates. “I’ll meet you in the bath.”

Even in the most mundane of moments, the times in which we feel the most off the trodden path, lost and left with only our hopes to guide us, we can be so close that only a step would traverse the space between. That only a breath could speak it into being.

How many times must we come close to relief, and then never know it? How many doors must close while we hope for a mere window, all unknowing?

If Shirayuki had thought the steam thick before, it is nothing to how it rises from the actual bath. It might well be a curtain for how well it shields the edge from her; she risks a few toes at first to feel for it, and with a steeling breath, sinks a whole foot right down to the knee.

It’s hot, enough that the fresh skin these prickles with pain before the heat soothes it away. Her other leg follows, then the rest of her, sinking down into its warm embrace.

As much as it stings, it’s pleasant as well. As if she’s been made new again, the Shirayuki of the palace washed away, and leaving behind only her.

And then, when we least expect it--

“Caw, caw,” the crow says, swooping down to the little girl, “Good day, good day, little one, what brings you here?”

“Well, well, well.” A lithe body slides into the pool, tawny trailing after her like a comet’s tail. “Didn’t think I’d find a fine young miss like you here.”

--We are found once again.

For better or for worse.

#obiyukibingo23 #obiyuki #akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #fairy tale au #all that remains #snow queen au #my fic #ans #this took so long because i truly wanted to join back up with the story frame before it finished #and i tortured myself for SO LONG thinking this chapter wouldn't be long enough without it #and then like halfway through the first scene i was like #oh no the whole pacing of this chapter is literally like...an interlude #the point is that this is the part of the story where the narrative has abandoned shirayuki #because this isn't the INTERESTING part #and it can only come back in at the end #YES IT TOOK ME LIKE 7 MONTHS TO REALIZED THIS #I DUN WANNA TALK ABOUT IT

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shirtlesssammy · 1 year

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The Winchesters 1x09: Cast Your Fate to the Wind

On a lonely stretch of highway, our little show starts with an armored truck barreling into a station wagon. Things don’t look good for the folks in the little beat up wagon. It’s okay though! They’re just vampires looking to steal whatever is in the back of the truck (are they possibly vampirates?) They’re looking for a missing amulet, but walk away with maps!

Mary and John are still puzzling over Dean the mystery man that gave John the letter from Henry. John loves the car. Mary thinks her son is a babe. PDA ensues. They run into Kyle, the reporter. Kyle is less than impressed that he ran into them all lovey-dovey. John asks Mary if they should tell the others about them. Mary thinks they should keep things simple.

Carlos alerts them to the vampire case and they head their separate ways.

“This isn’t how I saw things going when I pushed over that first domino. Thing is, I’ve had more than a few dances with free will, and fate, but as my dad used to say, ‘Fate is what you make it.’”

At the crime scene, Lata and Carlos talk with one of the truck drivers. Carlos talks with him and gets the full story, but tells him to stick with the original drug story for others. Lata sees the police box up a Men of Letters box with the initials “RJM'' on it. Mary arrives and asks more about the mysterious box. Lata has been mapping out the bunker and notes that there’s a locker room. She thinks she can trace the initials back to the clubhouse. John’s ex, Betty, arrives in time to ask the driver about our intrepid investigators and look suspicious.

In the bowels of the clubhouse, Lata gives the others the ultimate home tour.

They locate the locker room and the locker with the initials “RJM” on it. Very convenient. Mary picks the lock. They find the amulet. John “Sam Winchester is my son and does dumb stuff and takes after me” Winchester holds the amulet. He sees a vision of one of the vampires killing him. He drops the amulet, but not before rune symbols are burned into his palm. Well, John, you’re not a real hunter until you’ve died at least once.

Lata figures out that the amulet is the Gem of Ursitoare, the Romanian gods of fate. This amulet can tell the future. The group breaks up to find some answers to John’s potential fate.

Betty visits Millie at the repair shop. She voices her concern about John hanging around people that like to hang around crime scenes. Millie assures her that they’re upstanding citizens, despite their rap sheets.

Lata and Carlos (with John and Mary right behind them) head out to talk with the lore expert, Diana. Lata laments the fact that Carlos didn’t seem to hit it off with his crush, Anton. Yeah, Carlos, what gives?

At the lore shop, Diana confirms that what the gem shows, must come to pass.

Diana explains the connection to the vampires and how the amulet doesn’t necessarily show how you die, but your next fated moment in your life. These vamps, the Il Soarta, want their lost amulet back, and they’re not above bribing lore clerks. Diana! We trusted you! Well, the vamps arrive, and Diana trusts them, but they kill her anyway. Fisticuffs ensue. The big bad vamp finds the amulet and sees his future –and John’s.

Back at the clubhouse, they decide that it’s too dangerous for John to head out to a vamp hunt when he’s fated to die at the hands of a vampire. Instead, Mary calls his mom for some quick John-sitting duties, and reassures him before she heads out. She WILL kill every last vampire in the area if she has to!

At the apothecary, the crime scene is taped off and guarded by one highly suspicious Betty. She immediately intercepts Mary before sneaking can commence. Mary tooooootally plays it cool. WHAT? Somebody got MURDERED HERE? Oh, what a world!

Betty isn’t buying it. She tells Mary that she clocked her at two crime scenes in one day, and it is QUITE suspicious. She expresses concern that John might get hurt. “I would never put John in any kind of danger,” Mary says and - hey. She BELIEVES it, but girl plz.

Mary scoots behind the building to meet up with Lata and Carlos. She was serving as a distraction for the cops so that Lata and Losie could sneak inside and loot the place for intel. It worked - Carlos and Lata found Diana’s ledger, which will give them a lead on finding the vampires.

Millie researches in the clubhouse with John, and lets him know about Betty sniffing around. Betty’s worried that John’s backsliding into some of his “old ways” - which presumably involves, idk, punching people on the street and other hooliganisms. Millie DOES express some of her own concern. John’s middle name isn’t, after all, “Healthy Coping Mechanisms.” John insists that he’s FINE. He has heart eyes for Mary, which helps.

Millie tells John to brush aside the fate fixation. “Everyone told me I couldn’t be a mechanic and look at me now.”

“Fate is what you make it,” Millie assures him. (We point and shout at this week’s catch phrase!) And then they settle back into vampire lore.

Elsewhere, the gang lands at the vampire nest, but it’s empty. They find the heist plans AND a cool new toy - a magic lock pick!

Carlos whips out some of the paperwork, and they discover that the stolen blueprint from the cold open heist is of the MoL complex. Furthermore, the blueprints reveal a weakness: a THERMAL EXHAUST PORT! I mean, unwarded sewers. Same thing!

John and Millie are still researching when Mary radios them and warns them that the vampirates are on their way. Suddenly, there’s a huge bang and the room shakes. It’s too late for them to escape the clubhouse but they CAN hide! Lata identifies a vault they can lock themselves into.

John and Millie make a run for it, and the vampires give chase. They lock themselves in the vault just in time, and Millie fixes the electrics to get the lights working.

The Scooby Gang pulls up to the clubhouse, greeted by vamps. Carlos pulls off his scarf and swings his hair out for Lata. She uncaps a canteen and soaks his hair. “Holy water hair commercial?” Mary asks him. Carlos smiles with confidence, taunts the vampires, and when they try to get bitey he whips his hair around and paints them with holy water, burning them. Carlos THEN takes them out with graceful swings of his blade. Mmmm you know I love to see it!

Millie, meanwhile, gets the lights working. But John’s not too happy about what he finds. It’s….a room swathed in red carpet.

Mary slices and dices her way through the vampires guarding the clubhouse. And she does it all in TWO INCH HEELS, fellas!

In John’s Death Pit ™, the vampires pound at the vault’s door while Millie frantically tries to find a way to save themselves. John looks at the room fatalistically. There’s nothing they can use to fight except for the extremely unsafe exposed wires. John tosses an idea her way.

Finally fighting her way past the vamps, Mary arrives to find the vampire already feeding on John. The lead vampire is strong! He’s confident! He’s totally going to murder Mary! But the vampire starts to choke before he can start his impressively acrobatic vampiratical assault. Millie tells Mary that he’s got dead man’s blood in his system. John was already dead when the vampire attacked!

Mary slices off the vamp’s head and we catch up via flashback. John had proposed that Millie electrocute him, stop his heart, and let the vampire feast on an already-dead John. Then, they just do some quick CPR and bring him back to life! Easy peasy. John thinks that his preview of death was skewed - it didn’t show him the possibility of life beyond that.

Mary and Millie perform gentle CPR on him, and it looks like it’s going POORLY. They weep over John’s body for several seconds. Like. SEVERAL SECONDS. And then suddenly John gasps and revives. (Hmmmm sus…) But hooray! He’s great! He sits up and Mary immediately deeply kisses him.

GURL LET THE BOY CATCH HIS BREATH.

Mary admits to their relationship, and Lata and Carlos immediately declare victory. For they hath called it.

Later, Anton patches up Carlos, tenderly cleaning his wounds. Awkward flirting happens. Carlos apologizes for never calling Anton. He was scared, but he’s ready for a second date. They KISS! Doves fly away in formation! Balloons ascend! Roses bloom!

For Cuties Being Cute Science:

Mary and John stow the amulet in a glowing lockbox in the clubhouse. They recap their feelings before heading off to the movies for a real date!

At a diner, Betty talks to Kyle. They discuss that suspicious lass, Mary Campbell. Betty makes it clear that she’s investigating the Scooby Gang FOR John. Kyle is toooootally just interested as a curious journalist. His collaboration with Betty has nothing to do with the Akrida bite visible on the back of his neck. DUN DUN DUN

What did the Akrida journalist say to the witness? I just need an A-quote-a:

Office romances can mess up a work dynamic

Loco es mi segundo nombre

I think it might be time to get a clubhouse cat

What can I say? The Campbells know how to have a good time

I did not expect something called hunting to involve so much reading

Bank heisting vampires would make such a fantastic movie

I told your little friend, nothing can stop fate

Hope looks good on you, Campbell

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

#spnwin #spnwin spoilers #spnwin recap #the winchesters #spn #mary campbell #john winchester #carlos cervantez #latika desai #millie winchester #the winchesters season 1 #spnwin 1x09 #cast your fate to the wind

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waterstar2016 · 1 year

Text

Smooth Criminals - Chapter 10

Well, looks like we're early...hope you enjoy.

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“It seems, I’m getting used to sleeping in.” Immogene eyed the terrapin from the corner of her eye as she spoke.

Raphael was laying on his side, cheek propped up on his knuckles. “If I had ma way, ya wouldn’t be allowed to leave tha bed.” He chuckled deeply when he saw the flush form over her cheeks.

That look in his eye. “There’s not much time until I’m supposed to leave with Gabriella.”

He noticed her tone wasn’t quite prim, but more on the defensive. He smirked, he didn’t mind stroking her in the opposite direction. “Ah well. I thought I’d have breakfast in bed…but I’ll wanda down ta the kitchens and see what’s cookin’. The terrapin stood and resisted barking out a laugh when she huffed and averted her gaze to his nakedness. There was still suspicion and even hesitancy in those pretty green eyes of hers. He knew what he’d seen last night when her eyes sparked and she’d ground herself on his face. Smirking, he grabbed the yakata at the side of his bed.

Hearing a knock at the door had Immogene grabbing her robe. Putting it over her shoulders as she stood, she then looked at the terrapin and called out. “Enter.” A smile formed on her lips when she saw Gabriella come into the room.

The petite woman looked at the couple. Out of habit she looked at Immogene and did a quick scan of her friend and found there was nothing to be seen. In fact, the woman looked more than ok. She couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but there was something different. Then she looked at the massive mutant turtle.

“Good morning?” Gabriella couldn’t help the question like inflection in her voice. She cleared her throat. “I know I’m a little early, but…”, She looked at the turtle again, “…I’m a little excited about today, you know how I get Immogene.”

Immogene let out a soft laugh and Raphael chuckled.

“A’ight, ladies. I can take a hint, I’ll make myself scarce.” He looked over at Immogene and smirked. “But first…”. Walking over to her side of the bed he stopped in front of her and wrapped a large arm around her waist, pulling her into his form. “Betta avert yer eyes pixie.”

Gabriella cocked her head and a quiet squeak left her lips when she saw him kiss her friend. For a moment she was unable to look away. After a a sudden stiffening of her body her friend seemed to melt into the kiss. She quickly looked up at the ceiling and hummed to herself.

Raphael released her and she gripped his arm for balance. Her eyes narrowed before relenting and shaking her head. “Erm.”

Chuckling deeply the male grinned down at the woman. “I had ta grab an appetizer before I left.”

Immogene huffed and pursed her lips.

The look only made the behemoth chuckle some more. After giving the woman a long look he then turned away and started making his way towards the doors. Reaching the smaller woman he gave her a wink. “Lata pipsqueak.” Not waiting for a response he continued walking. When he reached the door, he looked back at over his shoulder. “Immogene, I’ll be wantin’ a midnight snack later.”

Arriving at the department store they noticed a woman waiting for them. She was elegantly dressed and had an opera length slim cigarette holder between her fingers. The smoke wasn’t lit, so it seemed to be more a part of her ensemble.

“Mes cheries. Welcome. I am Madame Giselle.” She walked to stand between the two. “Master Shredder was most explicit in his instructions.” She tapped the holder lightly with her thumb. “May I be bold enough to say, he’s…different than the last one, non?”

Immogene arched her brow and Gabriella found herself giggling softly.

Fang and Trax on the other hand, laughed outright.

Madame brought them through each section, showing them the stores wares and making helpful suggestions along the way. Such business was good and the money real. It had surprised her at first that it wasn’t counterfeit. She kept the questions to herself though.

The two women felt a little odd. To be out in public, shopping and spending money on themselves. The concept was a little foreign.

Gabriella leaned towards her friend. “This almost feels like the old days…before…you know…”.

Immogene nodded. “It does.”

Trax and Fang had so far managed not to grumble over the experience. If anything they were enjoying watching their charges have some fun. But…

Noticing the two males were a little green at the gills she chuckled and then clapped her hands. Striding over she stopped between them. “Will you trust me with your ladies, gentlemen? I promise you they are safe.”

Fang looked up to Trax. “What do you think?”

The triceratops was about to answer when his eyes widened. “Um.”

The madame grinned. “Ah, Victoria, Constance. So nice of you to join us.” The fox and tiger mutant females went up to the wolf and the trike.

The males looked conflicted. Fang glanced down at the arctic fox and had to stop his tongue from lolling out. His tail on the other hand was wagging. Trax snorted. “Obvious.” But his own eyes found the tiger and he cracked his neck.

Madame chuckled. “I called these ladies to entertain you. You see…”, She gestured with the cigarette to the large wooden doors at the end of the hall. “Behind those doors is for les mademoiselles eyes only. I give you my vow that they will be safe.” A grin appeared on her lips. “Otherwise it would be bad for business, non?”

Both Trax and Fang looked to Immogene. Gabriella was busy trying not to laugh at their efforts to not seem so eager.

Immogene licked her lips and managed to keep the smile tugging at them concealed. “I believe the Master did mention something of a ‘gift’ for the both of you. Enjoy.”

Fang and Trax looked at each other. “Well. We’re not going to argue.”

“Now, ladies. I believe you were in need of a new wardrobe?” The Madame gestured to two long divans set in the middle of the room.

They were given cold juice and a platter of petit fours while various items of clothing were being brought out.

Seeing the expression of her friends face Immogene chuckled. “Gabriella, the way you’re twisting your hands in your lap suggests that brain of yours is worrying away at something.”

Gabriella shook her head as if coming out of a trance. She took a nibble of the merengue while she gathered her thoughts. After swallowing she exhaled a soft breath. “I’m not exactly sure I even know what I’m asking.”

Immogene arched her brow and took a sip of her drink while contemplating which of the small delicacies she was going to have.

The smaller woman popped the rest of the treat in her mouth. “You know how when Raph left he…um…asked about a midnight snack and spoke of an appetizer?” She picked up another merengue. “What did he mean? Do you know? I mean…he’s not like Slash by any means, I just…you know me.”

Immogene felt the heat rising to her cheeks.

The Madame happened to overhear the question and a slow smile spread on her features. She called to one of her girls and gave instructions.

“Erm.” Immogene chewed the small lemon and cream cheese filled pastry. “Well, it seems Raphael, he is indeed a male of another species. He does not hold to the rules our ex husbands did. I guess, I would say he is rather progressive.” The flush deepened on her cheeks. “He used his mouth on me.” No point in pussy footing.

Gabriella looked at her friend with a confused expression on her face. Suddenly her eyes widened and she unobtrusively gestured to where the apex of her friends thighs would be. “Ohhh.”

A surprised laugh left Immogene’s lips. “Yes. There.”

The smaller woman opened her mouth and then snapped it shut. She then pursed her lips.

Immogene sighed and straightened her dress. “He seemed to take great pleasure in performing the act.”

The next question left Gabriella’s lips immediately. “Did he..you know?”

Understanding registered on Immogene’s face. “No.”

Gabriella blinked, she was shocked into silence. Before she thought of anymore questions to ask the Madame came back out with two other women in tow. One of them was carrying a tray.

“I must apologize. I overheard the beginning of your conversation.” She looked at Immogene and inclined head. “It was not done on purpose.”

Immogene cleared her throat. “As long as it remains in this room, there will be no consequence.”

The Madame shook her head with a smile. “No, of course not.” She waved her hands for her girls to wait a moment. “I will tell you though, hearing it made me want to offer you a procedure that will…shall we say enhance the experience.”

A little while later, Immogene sat back down in the chair, albeit a little more delicately than she had before. “I shall have to keep that procedure in my mind for a type of mild torture.” She did have to admit though, that with her newly awakened awareness, it did feel more…sensitive down there. Not all of her pubic hair had been plucked, a small triangle had been left at the top of her mound. Very firmly, she pushed the thought of Raphael’s possible reaction out of her mind.

Madame held out her hand to Immogene. “Oh cherie, those eyes of yours. They can kill with a look. But, I’m going to make you look like you can kill. The whole deadly package if you would.” She then looked to the smaller woman. “Gabriella, Emily will help you choose your attire.”

The women fit the two friends into clothing that was suited to their colouring and figures.

Immogene and Gabriella came out of their changing rooms at the same time. The Madame gasped loudly. “Oh! I am good at what I do.” She walked around Gabriella first. “Ma petite, this colour blue sets your eyes off nicely, your lithe body is suited to the lines of the dress. Then she looked to the Mistress of their city. “Immogene.” A sultry laugh left her lips. “Do me a favour and tug the metal broach at the bodice would you?

Immogene looked down and pulled at the silver piece. A smile formed on her lips and she finished pulling what was a six inch dagger from the corset style top.

The Madame walked up to her. “What do you think?”

Immogene chuckled. The sound held an edge. She looked at herself in the mirror and then met her friends startled eyes in the reflection. “I think…looks can…and will kill.”

Amongst her haul, there was a black dress with a blood red lace trim. A request satisfied.

The two women looked at each other had had to stifle their laughter when Trax and Fang looked at all of the bags.

Fang coughed quietly. “I think we’re going to need to call for another car, Trax.”

Trax shook his head. “Maybe more than one.”

Back at Gabriella’s apartments Immogene looked towards her friend when she spoke.

“So much has changed hasn’t it.” Gabriella sighed with a quirk of her lips. “I know, I’m stating the obvious here.”

Immogene thought for a moment.“I’m starting to think it isn’t temporary.” Walking over to the table she picked up one of the shopping bags at random. After taking its contents out, she placed it in a drawer.

The smaller woman nodded. “In its own way, it’s scary.” She grabbed a dress of light blue and hugged it to herself. “I’m afraid I’m going to wake up and realize this was all just a dream.”

Immogene walked over and set a hand on her shoulder. “Are you still dreaming of Kanto?”

Her friend swallowed and gave a small nod. “Not all of the time.” In the last dream she had, Kanto had been hovering above her.

An angry noise sounded in Immogene’s throat. “I hope the both of them are rotting in bowels of hell.” She considered before speaking again. “I’m not sure if those dreams will ever completely go away, but I believe in time, they will lessen for the both of us.” She squeezed the shoulder gently and looked down and into the woman’s eyes. “When we wake after such an experience, we can calm ourselves by knowing they are dead and we are not.” The green gaze burned. “I know the memory of the sound of me cutting off Oruko’s hands soothes me. Just think of how Kanto would have choked on the rings.” Immogene smiled. “I approved of your chosen ending for him, my dear friend.”

A surprised laugh left Gabby’s lips. “You’re right. They’re gone for good, I just have to keep reminding myself of that until it sinks in.” She hugged her friend with the dress still clutched in her hand. “Today was good. Today was amazing.”

Immogene smiled. “That it was.”

Gabriella then chuckled and unwrapped herself from Immogene. “I wonder what Master Shred…, I mean, Raph will think of your new accessories. I especially like the dagger that goes between your…”. She pointed to her own chest. “It’s a great hiding spot.”

A laugh left Immogene’s lips. “We’re going to be alright my friend.”

After spending a little more time helping Gabriella put away her purchases, she bade her a good evening and started back to her own apartments. Just what would the terrapin think of her newly acquired pieces? She had a strange feeling that he would more than approve.

Shouto and Fang accompanied her at a distance. One at the front and the other holding the rear. She appreciated their discreteness. It aided in the development of a feeling of independence. Admittedly, she was also starting to enjoy when the two walked near her so conversation could run freely.

She decided to meet Amber at her quarters and turned down another hall.

The two males flanked the sides of the door as she went in.

The sound of a vase crashing had her alert.

“I said no. Leave me alone!” The sound of a slap could be heard and with the fear for her handmaiden and friend flooding her veins she headed towards the sounds.

Fangs ears swivelled. “There’s trouble inside.” Shouto started drawing his katana and Fang shook his head. “I think our lady has this handled.”

The Elite considered for a moment and then grinned. “I believe you’re right.”

Fang cracked the door and both men listened in.

Peering around the corner Immogene saw one of the men from the meetings holding Amber by the hair. “Stop struggling you bitch.” The man shook the woman.

Raphael was heading back to their apartments when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shouto and Fang peering in the door to Amber��s quarters. “I’m gonna assume that this ain’t a peepin’ Tom situation, but do ya mind telling me what’s goin’ on.”

The two males caught Raph up to what was happening inside.

The behemoth of a turtle smirked. “I think I’m gonna go in an’ take in tha show.” He had no doubts in his mind that Immogene was gonna serve the man his just desserts and he wanted to see it happen. It was something else seeing her start to grow into stripes.

Immogene stepped fully around the corner and her heels clicked on the marble. “Let. Her. Go.”

The man stilled for only a moment. What was the mahogany haired woman doing here? She was supposed to be out shopping all day with the little dragon doll. He scoffed. “And what if I don’t?”

A smile formed on her lips. “I think you know the answer to that.”

He laughed and shoved Amber to the floor. “You should have stayed out longer. Amber and I were just going to spend some time together before I left for Japan.” He took a menacing step towards her and wondered why the smile didn’t falter on her face. “Master Shredder’s not here to help you.”

She exhaled slowly. “You might be right, but my guards are just outside. All I have to do is call for them. But, since I’m feeling, shall we say…feisty. I’ll give you the choice of dealing with me or them.”

The man shrugged. If he could take out the head bitch and escape out the balcony, the Foot might be able to get back to the old ways. He pretended to consider and then lunged towards the woman and managed to backhand her.

Raphael’s fists clenched with the effort it was taking to hold himself back. He knew she had to do this. If only to realize the power she had. Didn’t mean he didn’t want to tear the guys head off though.

Immogene chuckled in her throat and licked the blood from the corner of her now split lip. “You think after what I dealt with Oruko, that bothers me?” She shook her head. “That tickled.” Something in her eyes flashed. “I think it’s my turn to tickle you, except it will be red and not pink.”

The broad was crazy. “What the fuck are you talking about?” He pulled a knife from the inside pocket of his jacket and whipped it at her face.

She leaned back and the metal whisked by her cheek. When coming back up straight she spun a kick out and into the man’s kidney with the steel toed point of her stiletto. He stumbled and she used the momentum of it to help him to the floor by landing another kick behind his knee.

The knife fell out of his hand and onto the floor, tumbling a few inches away. He groaned and started trying to reach for it.

Her heel came down on his hand hard, pinning it to the floor. The small bones of his fingers and palm, fractured under the pressure. A pained scream left his lips. She lifted her heel and the man brought his broken hand to his chest, cradling it against his body. Not wasting any time she kicked him in the ribs and then shoved him with her foot over and onto his back.

Lifting her foot up she moved aside his tie and jacket while he struggled to catch his breath. “Coochie, coochie coo.”

Raphael’s smirk grew as he watched the woman smile when she slammed the spike of her stiletto into the mans heart. It was then he leaned against the column, his arm supporting him. His eyes narrowed at her. ‘Son of a bitch, I think I’m in love.’ He’d known he cared for her and that had been enough of a surprise. But falling in love, him? That was something he never thought would happen. Yet here he was looking all goo goo eyed at the woman who was again covered in blood. He tucked the thought away, for now.

Immogene looked to Amber. “We’ll get this cleaned up.” Concern showed in her green eyes.

Amber was surprised when she laughed. “Ok.” She looked at her mistress with an odd expression on her face.

Immogene squatted beside the body. “Why don’t you head to the physician, I also want you take the next couple of days to rest.”

Before Amber could respond her eyes went a little wider at who she saw approaching them.

“Did ya have to let him hit ya?” Raphael had came out from behind the column and reaching her, he stopped just as she was pulling out the stiletto from the man’s chest. It made a sucking sound before it released and a little blood squirted out and onto her neck and bodice of her short dress.

“Damnit. I just bought this.” She wiped off the heel on the man’s jacket. “He was on guard. Your speech a little while ago had him wary. I needed him not to be.”

Raphael nodded and held out his hand.

She looked at the large green and three fingered hand considering before placing her own in it. A sharp exhale left her lips when the male pulled her up and into his front. The stiletto fell to the floor with a clatter.

Raphael lifted his other hand to his mouth and licked his finger before gently wiping the blood off the woman’s split lip. He could see it was already healing. He shifted his eyes to Amber for only a second and nodded his head towards the door. “Go get yerself taken care of, Amba. Fang will take ya to the doctor. I’ll take it from here.”

Amber stood and after a moment to gain her bearings, she walked passed the couple. She looked at them over her shoulder and a smile wanted to tug at her lips.

“That was…quite the show, Kitten. I really liked the tickled red part. Afta all, it is my favourite colour.” This little display of hers had his cock pushing against its slit.

A huffed laugh escaped her lips and she looked down on the body. “My father might have said your influence is a bad one.” She laughed lightly. “But, under the circumstances I know he would have wholly approved.” Looking up she met the golden gaze and what she saw had a new awareness growing inside of her. Maybe she should see the physician too. The naked want in the males eyes was stirring.

The turtle couldn’t resist any longer and he bent his head, gently kissing her lips. When he pulled away he smirked. “So, busy day huh?”

Immogene chuckled and then chewed on the inside of her lip. Here she was, standing beside someone she had killed, the smell of his blood in the air, but yet she found herself wanting to touch the male holding her. “Shall we go?”

Raphael nodded. There was something going on in that mind of hers. “Ya, let’s get ya back.”

When Shouto closed the double doors to the apartments she went to the bathroom to clean up. Raphael poured himself a whisky and one for the woman. He then stood in front of the fireplace looking into the flames. It was time to write his brother. Would he come? A bark of laughter left his lips. “He’ll prolly think y’av lost yer mind.”

When the woman opened the door he noticed the split in her lip was now pink. “Handy trick.” He said to himself as she walked towards him. “So, what’d ya get today?”

She arched her brow and looked at the table that was overflowing. “Oh, this and that.” Seeing the whiskey she picked up the glass and took a sip. “Madame was good at her job.” Her green eyes glittered in the light of the fire. “I really liked the accessories. It didn’t take much convincing for me to buy one of everything.”

The terrapin chuckled and resisted reaching out to her. She had to come to him again. “Ya?”

Immogene smirked. “The stilettos came in handy, I think.”

Raphael chuckled and the deep and dark sound had her stomach tightening. She took another sip of whiskey.

“Ya committed murder in style.” A wide smirk formed on his lips.

Her held tilted back and she laughed. It was the first full bodied laugh she had since she’d been taken.

The turtle then grabbed a short rectangular shaped box off the mantle. “I had this made fer ya. Somthin’ the women of ma brothers clan wear.”

Setting her glass down on the mantle she gave him a questioning look before taking the box and lifting the lid. Her lips parted and a dark grin then formed on them. It was a finger claw. Delicate with its flowed design. She shook her head, still grinning. He wanted her to be strong. He wanted her to be able to defend herself and kill if necessary. “Well then.”

Immogene set the box back on the mantle and stepped into his front.

The turtles eyes widened before a rumble left his chest and he wrapped an arm around her waist. “I take it ya approve.”

She ran her hand up his hard front and rested it on his pectoral. “Yes.” Her eyes met his and she realized something. She’d thought she would never want to touch a man again, not after Oruko. But, right now, she was filled with a need to do exactly that. “Don’t move. Please. Just…just let me…feel you.”

Raphael swallowed. ‘Fuck me.’ His cock slid out. It was now hard, hot and heavy within his trousers. ‘Don’t move ya asshole. See what she does.’ Curiosity and and a good dose of heat shone from the golden orbs.

Her other hand rubbed up and down his hard plastron. Keeping her eyes on his, her fingers undid the buttons on his shirt one by one.

A louder rumble sounded from the broad chest when she touched him with her bare hand.

Immogene traced the groves, exploring the feel of the different whorls and textures. Her hand slipped lower and the only reaction from the male was that his breathing became deeper. She found the buckle of his belt and undid it. The button of his pants followed.

Her nipples hardened under the robe. She blinked. Her desire was growing from touching him. Was this what he had felt while pleasuring her?

She swallowed and pulled down his zipper. The pants slithered down his legs and pooled on the floor. His cock lifted with the restriction removed, but it hung at a slight angle with its weight.

Her eyes remained on his, she wanted to see what he was feeling. Looking into his eyes also gave her, surprisingly enough, reassurance.

Immogene licked her lips and reached down and touched his member. She slid her fingers under and grasped it. Her lips parted. She couldn’t wrap her hand around it.

Raphael’s grip tightened around her waist. He wanted to see her delicate hand holding his cock, but he refused to leave her gaze.

She stroked him. Her hand slid all the way down to his base and then back up and over the bulbous head. God he was thick.

The mutant couldn’t help the smirk that formed on his lips.

Seeing the smirk had moisture dripping from her slit. She gasped softly, the surprise of it written all over her face.

The terrapin rumbled loudly. He could smell her heat. She was fucking getting turned on by touching him. Fierce arousal rolled through him. It almost made him stagger. Her cheeks were flushed and he could see the colour creeping down her neck. It took everything in him to stay where he was.

A soft sound left her lips. It was a sound of pleasure. She began to stroke him in earnest, paying attention to the look on his face. Oh, he liked it when she rubbed just underneath the head. On each upward stroke she made her hand twist over the spot.

“Immogene.” Fuck. She was going to make him cum. With just a fucking handjob.

“Mmm?” She parted her lips and then smiled. Her hand began to stroke faster, gaining confidence and gripping him more firmly. The pre-cum leaking from the lip lubricated her hand, making the motion smooth.

That did it. His hips jerked and his hot cum spewed over the floor. He clenched his teeth while his hand moved down to grip her ass as he came.

Raphael was breathing hard, her scent filling his nostrils. He couldn’t take it anymore. He dropped to his knees and eased the robe off of her body.

She was standing, legs slightly apart. A string of her arousal hung suspended from her pussy lips. She was trembling, but not with fear.

He lifted his eyes to hers. “I like the new landscaping, something I can really dig into.”

Raphael licked his lips. “Now it’s my turn, sweetheart.” His voice rumbled out.

It was all the warning she had before he lifted one of her legs over his shoulder to rest on his shell, his other hand cupping her ass so she wouldn’t fall over.

He pressed his face against her sex and with no preamble shoved his tongue up and deep inside of her.

Immogene’s head fell back and she cried out from the shock of pleasure. “Raphael!” Her hands fell down to his head, the nails digging into the skin slightly.

The male tongue fucked her. In and out, over and over again. Her juices were running down his chin.

Her thighs twitched and he looked passed the soft curve of her stomach and her full breasts to her face. She was looking down at him. It was when her eyes started to close he stopped.

Immogene’s eyes snapped open.

“Don’t take yer eyes off me, Kitten. I want to watch you cum.”

She opened her mouth, but what left her lips was a cry when his thick finger suddenly pushed into her pussy.

He curled the digit and when a shocked sound left her lips he smirked. “That’s it.” Keeping his eyes on hers he thrust his finger firmly into her g-spot while his lips wrapped around her clitoris. He mouthed it, lipped at it, all the while not stopping the thrusting of his finger.

It was the vibration of the loud growl that sent her over the edge. “Raph, oh god…RAPHAEL!” Her orgasm washed through her and he held her firm against his face.

Her pussy clenched around his finger making him groan. He could feel the ripples of her orgasm. He didn’t stop thrusting his finger or working her clit until she started to collapse.

Raphael caught her easily and rumbled. She wasn’t ready for what he wanted to say yet and he, well he wasn’t ready to say it either.

Neither spoke. Neither had the words for what had just passed between them. She in his lap and he on the floor. They rested there, unable to look away from one another.

Deep in the recesses of the hold a pair of Foot soldiers were looking at a vial filled with a black substance. “Will this do it?”

The dark laughter of another voice filled the small room.

To be continued…

@post-apocalyptic-daydream @leosgirl82 @mythigal1966 @verothexeno @silentturtle @aurora-the-kunoichi @ravn-87 @turtle-babe83 @raphielover @imthegreenfairy88 @hotredphoenix @the-nightshades @androidships007 @nikitaboeve @fyreball66

#Smooth Criminals #Smooth Criminals Chapter 10 #waterstar2016 #forerunnertracer #immogene #raphael #gabriella #trax #fang #shouto #collaboration

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iron-parkr · 1 year

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I had my doubts about The Winchesters at first, I’ll admit, but once you learn to take it as is, in all its silly camp glory, it’s so entertaining and intriguing. And honestly they’ve delivered every. episode. Not shying away from John’s anger and rage and his almost refusal to channel it into other more productive avenues like Mary, Lata, and Carlos do. I was scared they would gloss over his issues and try to paint him as this awesome guy but they didn’t and I for one appreciate the hell out of it

#spnwin #spn #supernatural #finally caught up on the winchesters and hoo boy #definitely a ride but i’ve enjoyed it #i also love going feral over photos of dean winchester i missed this

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minalblood · 1 year

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So the cancellation anouncement came 😞 but Imma still be on my bullshit and doing my rewatch. I hope they're able to shop it around cuz I'm way to invested in these characters now.

But back to our shit. Episode 6 Art of Dying. It's honestly one of my favourites as well, this time focused on Lata aka the Dean mirror d'jour. It's very significant that Dean's voiceover here speak of who the actual monster is and when does that line begin to include you. Because fuck knows he's one of the few people who can actually fully speak on this, having gone through every iteration of monsterhood on the show. So for this episode I'll get a bit into that if y'all don't mind: what is a monster in supernatural. Now that's a broad question so let's break it down a bit. We have monsters as species (aka anything non human in spn case) and monster as behaviour/moral value ( anyone at all and henceforth refered to as monstrous to make a dif when talking). Sorry for all this, I happened to write my bachelor's on this topic so I've many thoughts about it ( but won't be delving into that today). Now Dean has been both at various stages (though personally I'd argue the monstrous has been more sparce for Dean) and has seen people become both (including loved ones). And it's both that we'll be seeing in this episode as well tho whether one person will inhabit both is another question we'll round back on.

It is interesting as well that this is one of the few episodes that have Dean's voiceover at the beginning and the end of the episode.

But let's return to Lata, who while Dean is giving us forshadowing and heartache, is trying to do her meditation and is unable to because of Carlos and John bickering in the next room. As fun as the scene is, I do find something to pull at with it, because it's, at its core, an oversimplification of dealing with trauma while hunting aka you try to but there are always interruption, always more important things to take away your focus so that, much like Lata here, you end up worse off then when you started. Fun line to add here, John saying "I'm not obssessed, I'm thorough" could literally be his life motto because this line just encapsulates his general approach to ... most things tbh but trauma certainly and as discussed, the trauma he's had pushed to the surface in ep 4 has yet to be dealt with and, moreover, he's actively pushed it to the side to help Mary deal with her own trauma in ep 5. So at this point John is in the same both as Lata, in need of an outlet and not having been able to process anything due to interruptions. But unlike Lata, who is trying to cope as best as she can, John is hyperfocusing on the task at hand despite not having any leads as Carlos makes clear. Carlos who has actually been working toward progress on the Akrida front because they have contacts they can approach and avenues for more information to take. John has neither, he's not been doing this enough time to have built any connections like that (and in spn we know he chooses not to built any connections like that with very few and often quickly fading exceptions). God I love that both Lata and Carlos give him two different choices in how he could deal with his issues. It's been a constant open helping hand from them and Mary and John has pushed it aside everytime. It is deeply frustrating to see but also very much in character.

Deanna mention! Eyyyyy!

Tracy is Mary's equivalent to Dean's Lee. Like sure the relationships are wildly different but both Tracy and Lee ultimately represent the same thing for Mary and Dean, hope for a normal life without hunting only to have that dream crushed because of the way both Tracy and Lee went about achieving it, through monstrous means in both of their cases. They are both the exception to the rule (they got out) while simultaneously acting as a cautionary tale about how far should you go to achieve your goal/dream. And while Carlos says they were being dramatic in the Pilot about how hunters end up, it was still the truth, so much so that Mary was shocked to realize she actually does know someone who, as far as she knows so far, got what she wants. And John has to point this out to her. So again, it's the exception to the rule not the norm and in this case the exception isnt even fully accurate because of how Tracy left things.

Another fun fact I thought bout while grinning like a dumbass whenever Carlos spoke this episode? It's their general approach to hunting that has kept them alive this long ultimately, the "mellow out" that John was so pissed about, the "how much weed you could grow" comment. It tells me that while Carlos clearly understands the urgency and pressure and responsability of hunting, they also know not to get lost in them, not to consume themselves trying to solve a case. Carlos, it seems to me based on what we've seen, has learned very early on that things being taken seriously does not mean you have to torture yourself if you can't do something right that instant. Something the Winchester's have never really been able to do. It's made clear multiple times that Carlos does remember the people they weren't able to save and the people they personally lost, but at the same time, that loss and those past failure have been used as a learning platform, get what you need outta that experience, deal with it, then move on as much as you can, put all those experiences into being better in the future, there's no point killing yourself over something you can't change, you just learn to do better going forward. And while Carlos treats things seeming without any seriousness, I've been mentioning every episode how in truth they are the ones who've been behind the scenes, putting (likely very stylish) boots to the ground, a perfect counterpart to Lata's intelectual work. They may act irreverent, but they certainly do the job when it's necessary.

"Kill or be killed" is how Tracy sums up hunting life and while Mary, Carlos and John all have some degree of resignation/grief about that statement, Lata's reaction is different. And we of course know why, shes a pacifist, she doesn't kill, can be killed sure, but hasn't so far. This episode Lata feels most like an outsider to her friends because is she a hunter? By Tracy's definition she def isn't, by Samuel's definition she like isn't either and ofc Mary in the Pilot def didn't think she was hunter material. But this is overturned by the end of the episode (will add thoughts then)

*cannot believe I've written this much and only watched 7 min of the episode*

And speaking of Carlos again to prove my point! Mary, Lata and John are checking out the body and then Mary notices Carlos isn't there. Turns out they just took off a bit to investigate on their own and brought back a vital piece of the puzzle, a claw. Once more Carlos is putting in the work, doing it flawlessly all while also finding the space to make jokes. It's honestly this trait of theirs that most reminds me of Dean.

I love the funeral scene 🥲

I will say it is much more spiritual and culturally significant that what we have in spn, but we've seen close-enough funerals on spn. We see it with John's a bit, despite the focus there being complicated mess of feelings about what John's last words were. We have Asa Fox's funeral that is very much making clear there is a hunter's culture and it's important and we see it with Cas', the reverence with which Dean wraps him up in 13x01.

There is something else significant about the funeral scene though. And it's the illusion shattering for John. I think he'd likely convinced himself when he found out about Tracy and after the convo in the van that actually hunting isn't that dangerous, see people can get out, Carlos was just dramatic. But the funeral and the fact that there is a ritual to it for hunters made it real for him and made him aware of the danger Mary has been and is in every hunt she goes on and that no matter how good you are ("Darla was one of the good ones" has multiple meanings here) you are not imune to death.

Tracy having completely removed everything related to hunting is a perfect parallel to spn!Mary and her having done seemingly nothing to prepare for the 10 years coming up (Tracy has been out of hunting for 10 years too btw)

I love that Lata talks about her concerns with Carlos, that she doesn't keep it in. And I also love that they don't give her empty platitudes as a response. It shows Carlos genuinely listened to her and took it in and is considering her stance.

Anton!!! Yesssss!!!

The way Carlos freezes after just shit talking Anton omg. The pure disaster bi vibes are immaculate! And it's still less disaster then Dean and Aaron 😂

Deanna mention once more, she's maaaaybe in Minnesota or was recently. Deanna and Samuel have separated in the past, something Mary seems surprised by. Samuel was the one to go get her back which is intereting here, with Deanna being the one to leave the home... so in this case Samuel is a Mary mirror and Deanna is the John mirror (think Dark Side of the Moon Mary and John). But like I said before, the Winchester-Campbell romantic relationships seem to have always been fraught with a on again off again vibe. I'd like to mention Sam and Dean both count here as well ( think both Cassie and Lisa and Cas, even Benny, for Dean, Sam and Eileen obviously, even Sam and Amelia work here tbh, we might've seen it with Jess had she not died since we know Sam was lying about who he was to her)

I do like Tracy's advice to Mary though, she should look out for number one, herself, but there is a way of doing that without having to step on corpses which is where Tracy fucked up.

I love and hate this thing in Anton's shop, I see it everytime it's on screen and it always startles me. Sorry, entirely left field but yea... it haunts me so... y'all have to see it too

John really thought he was doing something here. He has been dying to make this case somehow related to the bigger picture he is in fact obssessing over, but in doing so he jumps to conclusions. Not a good look, jumping in thinking you're right without having all the info, especially with hunting where having the wrong info will get u killed (read spn!john was a shit hunter teacher/leader to Sam and Dean because he withheld info)

"Mac was impatient and took of after it" John hears Tracy tell them and decides to just do the same shit... goddamn.

I appreciate Carlos patching John up, cuz medic! Wish we'd see more of that.

I adore it when Lata is enjoying her morbid curiosity about monster physionomy. Cuz I get it! And Anton being the same is soo fun. I also have to give her props for how she saved Carlos there, gave them an out since they're really all over the place with Anton. But in doing so she kinda revealed a bit about herself. I hope the fact that Anton's reaction to Carlos being "squeamish" was to be understanding probably on some level helps with her own issues regarding where she fits in as a hunter.

The sheer joy on her face at the ectoplasm is just soo fun!

I love that Mary confrunts John here, and I say confrunts but really what she's doing is checking in and trying to offer her help, giving him another option to deal with his shit, in addition to the ones he got from Lata and Carlos at the beginning of the episode. And once it's clear he's not willing to listen and may pose a threat to himself and them, because he isn't thinking through his actions, thats when she brings up taking a break. She does get him to talk a bit. Ohhhh, I love that she hears him mention the funeral and what he thought about it and rolls her eyes. Because she has tried to make it clear from the get go what the stakes are, she's never had the benefit of ignoring the life and death of hunting so John coming here suddenly claiming to be spun out because of that is not just ridiculous, but almost insulting, that he's essentially putting his behaviour on her. Absolutely love that scene. But the moment John says he isn't joining, I knew he was going to do the stupid thing.

Ok, we're getting into the Mac of it all and that usually gets me fired up so let me just mention this about it: Tracy and the others thought Mac was paranoid bout them attacking him so they decided to ... and here's the kicker... attack him. Thus validating his worry and completely proving him correct aka Mac cannot be described as paranoid, Tracy, because paranoia requires irrationality and you fuckers attacked him exactly like he feared thus rationality.

More about this : Mary is correct when she says Tracy lied. Tracy said Mac ran impulsively after the soucouyant and the cave in just happened, that was a lie. Not a lie by ommision (tho that too is still a lie), but a true complete lie, and def not a "didnt tell you everything" situation. And here we get into monster/monstrous territory again with Carlos saying they've been hunting the "wrong monster". And I do genuinely believe that when Carlos refers to monsters, they do so as monstrous aka the behaviour makes them monsters not anything inherent to their species.

Ah, "wielded him like some kind of weapon". Lata really summed it up perfectly here. And the contempt on her face and in her voice are exactly how I feel about it ( and about how Dean was treated throughout, Sam and Cas and Jack too tbh) I also adore that Tracy keeps trying to rationalize her (and the other's) behavior but no one is buying it. Appreciate that a lot.

"Started a farm and played make-belief" is also a very important line because yea thats what she did, but more importantly, that's to some degree what spn!Mary herself tried to do. Moreover, the story makes it clear that Tracy actually does not understand Mary's reasoning for quitting hunting at all. That distinction is important. And the similarity between spn!Mary and Tracy's situations is also important. Because while spn!Mary was planning on leaving hunting, it was ultimately the fact that she lost everyone tying her to hunting that actually got her to leave, not a choice she made for herself, but rather one made for her when Azazel killed her parents and John, her only choice then being to revive John to be able to move forward in some way. John also made it easy to play make belief as well which helped. But even then Mary didn't actually kill anyone, it wasn't that kind of guilt that made her quit hunting. But it was still the consequences of hunting and choices she made while hunting that led to her death, much like Tracy nearly dies here.

Sooo yea, I am very very mad about what they did to Mac and I will continue to be.

God, John you are so dumb.

The fucking handprint on the barn door of the soucouyant is soooooo Something Wicked Striga vibes and I hate it, but John is behaving similar enough that the tiny call back is relevant af here.

I will say, it is very important I think that while they did recognize the similarity to Mac, Mary, Lata and Carlos instead chose to offer help to John, multiple times, each in a dif way. And on a macro scale, I also wanna say the way the show tackled this is important to me, because like I've been saying, John here is very spn!John and as I've said before, I kinda hate John in spn a lot. But even with the parallel drawing from Mac and my being angry on behalf of Mac here, it doesn't detract from the fact John is and has been (and technically will be if nothing changes and spn happens) fucking up. Pretty badly. But it is never brushed aside or excused. He is offered help, yes, but he is also challenged and confrunted when he goes overboard or tries to rationalize his own behaviour. Mary makes it clear she won't stand for him using her as an excuse not to deal with his bullshit, but she is there for him anyways. Ultimately, John is both a Mac mirror and a potential Tracy mirror here, the way Mary is an imperfect Tracy mirror. It's not 1 to 1, it can't be, but it's the ways it compares and contrasts them that make it so interesting to delve into.

Another fun thing, Mac is very clearly only after the people who hurt him, he pushes Carlos outta the way, but doesn't kill him. He only tries to attack Mary because she keeps preventing him and even then he tries to just push her outta the way.

I love that Lata doesn't try to say she knows what Mac went through, because she can't possibly, but she can let him know what she's been through and allow him to make the coice for himself whether he thinks she understands him or not, whether he needs to keep the cycle of violence going or not after he listens.

In other news, Lata's story here, after knowing what happened, is so much more interesting because while yes, her hitting her father after what happened to Sonia was a response of her anger and it did have the consequences of him responding to it by taking it out on Sonia, part of that anger I think also has to do with Lata leaving without Sonia, something she did also out of anger. It was both these things that cost Sonia her life. So Lata is right that letting urself drown in anger until it consumes you is wrong and there is a choice to be made there. But Mac is also correct in that their stories are different enough that there are other things he needs answers to. Because that was the thing with Mac, he needed to understand why they did what they did when he trusted them.

For all that I've shittalked Tracy the last few paragraphs, her parting words to Mary are the whole point, cuz yea, it wasn't the hunting that was the issue, it was Tracy's decisions that compromised her life outside of hunting. Tho I will say, I personally dont think returning to hunting is the only way she could've made up for things, that was another choice she made. Because ultimately what's done is done and no good you do going forward will erase the past. But also, no bad you did in the past can erase the good you do now. So it's less about hunting, more about Tracy asociating hunting with doing good and thus alleviating her guilt. She could've found something else to do that would've put good into the world, but this was the one she chose/preferred.

Oh Carlos, I love you for having actually taken the time to answer her question afterall. Also love their friendship soooo much. The very thoughtful moments and the ones when they bicker.

John making progress is soo nice to see. It's so good that it's not just him saying Mary was right, but actually offering a bit more information to her, opening up. And then trying to do something about it all by joining Lata. It's an odd feeling being proud of John Winchester, usually my thoughts about him are that I wanna punch him in the throat. And there was plenty of that in this episode tbh, more than the 1st 3 ep of the show had, but I don't actually mind the pride either. It's sth about people changing and being willing to try that gets to me.

I do love the symetry of the end of the episode. The meditation, Dean's voice over, the interruption. It reinforces what Lata said, it is a choice. One she makes everyday, even with the interactions, even with the world's fate being in balance, even with cases like the one they just did hitting waaay to close to home. Still she chooses to try again and again despite them, for herself and her own happiness.

See y'all for ep 7 I guess and still hoping for a season 2 cuz I'm way too invested in these characters not to want more.

#spn #dean winchester #spnwin #the winchesters #john winchester #lata dar #carlos cervantez #mary campbell #spnwin 1x06 #spnwin rewatch #spn meta #save the winchesters

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diminuel · 2 years

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Covid addled brain reaction to 1x03 of The Winchesters under the cut.

Is Latika trying to be John’s wingman? First I thought she was trying to hint towards him taking her to the movies, but then it became clear that it was about giving John a hint to ask Mary out. Mary’s pretty oblivious though (this is giving me Everandanon Dean vibes, I like it!)

Ada not happy to be given a partner by Mary? Did you want to go solo? Suspicious.

Oha, we meet Betty.

Not that I know a lot about truckers; then or now, but I imagine it as being away from home, being on the street for days or weeks. And yet she considers this life normal. (And of course it also made me think of Dean who knows how to use this form of communication. Not to listen for hunter code words but as a source of regular information.)

John’s dream was to be a catcher of what? Is that baseball? Softball? (I only know the sex metaphors so I am having a bit of a giggle *lol*)

A demon who doesn’t care about holy water all that much, but who is still black eyed. Interesting.

I enjoyed the music scene and John’s desperation. :3 (Also, John’s shirt is too short for him. Is he still wearing his old clothes that he grew out of during the war?)

So Lata’s parents (or at least mom) isn’t dead after all? Unless the parents she lost and the mom she mentioned aren’t the same.

Ah okay. John proposed to Betty? That must have been before he left for the war, so I guess they were super young then. Aw, John.

“Omega Man”? Are they just doing this on purpose to amuse me?

No, go away strange guy! You don’t get to join Mary in movies! >:C

Strange choice to become a radio DJ for a otherworldly monster possessing a human but eh, Chuck decided to be a not very successful writer X’D And since the first episode has established “choosing the music” as similar to, or possibly even equivalent to the act of writing. So I guess she’s the “Chuck” figure in this one, trying to manipulate what cases Mary and co go on.

That was a good episode, I like it but I don’t have enough brain power to read into it now. Maybe later!

#Effi stuff #Supernatural #The Winchesters #spnwin #spnwin spoilers

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sl-newsie · 1 year

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Chapter Four: Brooklyn (Spot Colon x Female Newsie)

I’d hoid of tha Brooklyn Bridge before, but I’d neva seen it.

But when I do, it takes my breath away.

After star’n in awe for 20 straight seconds I hear Boots call: “Hey, Becs! You’s com’n or not?”

I blink out and catch up. I think I like Brooklyn.

We walk for about ten minutes and come up to a dock. Multiple boys are jump’n off inta tha refreshing-look’n wadda beneath.

One of ‘em comes up and intimately gets in Jack’s face. “Go’n somewhere, Kelly?”

Jack ignores ‘em and pushes forward.

“Stay behind me Becs,” Jack cautions.

“Fine,” I say stiffly. And as soon as I say it, a big kid comes up and starts check’n me out.

I cross my arms. “Hey, pal, ya got a problem?”

“Only tha pain of tha heartthrob you’s giv’n me,” he swoons.

“Well, bite tha bullet! Take a hike!” I push past him.

Afta a few minutes of walk’n I think we’s neva gonna find this ‘Spot’ character until I hear:

“Well if it ain’t Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.”

I look up and see a boy, almost a man (a very nice-look'n man, surprisin’ly), sitt’n on top of some crates. He’s wear’n a checkered shirt, faded red suspendas, brown knickas, and a gray cap- tha guy from tha alley.

“So, Spot, you moved up in the woid. Got a river view and everything,” Jack comments. I try ta move so I can see bedda, but Jack keeps mov’n with me. Why won’t he let me see?!

‘Spot’ hops down and I see he’s hold’n a cane. He don’t look crippled ta me. Him and Jack do tha spit handshake and grin at each odda.

Then he notices me- and I can tell he recognizes me. I try not ta shrink away as his piercing blue eyes analyze me.

“Who’s the goil?” he asks.

“My liddle sista-”

“Hey, Jack, I can introduce myself! And I ain’t so liddle.” I turn ta Spot, too sure that Jack’s gonna tell me off lata. “Name’s Becs, Becs Kelly.” I spit in my hand and hold it out. Spot, surprised by tha gesture, shakes it.

“Take your hats off, boys. There’s a lady present,” Spot smirks.

Tha gathered crowd obliges, all tha while with their own snickers and smirks.

I snort. “No need- I’s may be a goil, but I ain’t no ‘lady’- you’s don’t see me walk’n around all decent-like, do ya?”

Tha leader grins. “Tha name’s Spot Colon, and I’s tha King of Brooklyn.” He states proudly, then turns to Boots. “How’s it hang’n?”

“Got some nice shooters for ya!”

Boots hands him a few smooth rocks. Spot then takes out a slingshot, loads it, and aims at a nearby bottle. “So Jackie boy, I’s been hear’n things from little boidies.” He shoots, caus’n the bottle ta shatter poifectly. “Things from Queens… Harlem. They been chirp’n in my ear, tell’n me Jackie’s boys are plann’n on a strike.”

“Well, we are,” David says assurin’ly.

“Oh yeah? Yeah?” Spot gets up in David’s face, try’n to intimidate him. I tense up. He may be talla and stronga than me, but when someone tries ta mess with my family- that’s just someth’n I don’t stand for.

“Yeah, we’s are,” I step forward and speak up in a warning tone.

“Becca!” Jack hisses, try’n ta tug me away.

Spot looks me straight in tha eye. At foist I think he’s gonna soak me, but he just leers at me. “Tough goil, huh? You’s got spirit!”

“Ya have ta when you’s a newsie,” I bite back.

“All too true. So Jack, are all the odda boroughs pitch’n in?”

Jack lets go of my arm and relaxes a liddle. “They is wait’n for what Spot Colon is do’n.”

“That makes you’s the biggest gamble. And if ya join tha strike, we’ll be unstoppable,” I add hopefully.

“You just gotta join!” David backs me up.

Spot seems ta think it over, all tha while look’n to and away from me. I can tell I really gots him think’n, and that Jack is secretly internally grateful.

“You were right, Jack. Brains. And you’s certainly got brains in that pretty head of yours, doll.”

I squint. “I ain’t no doll.”

“Whatevea, beauty.” I scowl at tha nickname. “I got brains too. How do I know you’s won’t go run’n at tha first sign of trouble? How do I know you’s got guts?”

“‘Cause I’m tell’n ya,” Jack replies.

Even I know that ain’t gonna be good enough when Spot says: “That ain’t good enough Jackie boy. You gotta show me,” he smirks while twirling his cane.

“Whadda ya want us ta do? Take ova New York?!” I rage. Spot looks surprised.

“How old are you, beauty?”

I gape. “What’s that gotta do-?!”

“That ain’t your business, Spot.” Jack states clearly.

Spot nods. “Then get oudda here.”

I scowl. Jerk! I follow Jack and Boots towards tha bridge again, but then I hear:

“Come back anytime, toots.”

I stop and pivet, now fac’n a talla, bulky guy.

“What did you just say?” I ask sternly, a bit animated.

“I’s said: Come back anytime, toots. You got a hear’n problem?”

I tilt my head. “No, I hoid ya. I’s just giv’n ya a chance ta rephrase yer sentence-”

Bam!

I punch tha guy clean in tha nose. Blood starts dripp’n down his face and tha odda guys around us start laugh’n. Tha guy gives me a murderous glare.

“You bitch-!”

He lunges at me and grabs my arm, earn’n a well-deserved kick in tha crotch. Tha guys gasp, and then help tha guy sit down while givin’n me horrified looks.

“Call me that again, I’ll kick ya again. Touch me again, and you’ll be talk’n through a mouth with no teeth!” I growl before bein’n pulled away by Jack.

“Becca, what’re ya think’n!? Ya can’t just go around kick’n guys where the sun don’t shine!”

“I don’t kick just anybody. I kick jerks where tha sun don’t shine! He started it!”

“Well, I’s end’n it-”

“Kinda already did that myself-”

“I don’t care! Let’s go,” he says, annoyed.

I follow closely, but not before gett’n one last look at tha infamous ‘Brooklyn gang.’ Spot, still twirl’n his cane, gives me a curious look. I return it with narrowed, dar’n eyes and a frown. Why didn’t he mention… I guess it don’t madda. I still owe him, but I guess he don’t care that much.

I guess I like Brooklyn, but I’s ain’t sure if Brooklyn likes me.

When we get back ta tha lodg’n house, tha fellas immediately wanna know what happened.

“Becs soaked a guy!” Boots says, earn’n a glare from Jack.

“Really?”

“Why?”

“Did he cry?”

“Shut up!” I yell. “One at a time, please!”

“No, no one at a time! No questions!” Jack barks. This gets everyone outraged.

“Why? We should get ta know!” Race complains.

“It ain’t your business!” Jack storms off, leav’n tha fellas hang’n on my every move.

Mush leans in. “Did ya really soak a guy?”

I smile. “Yeah,” I whisper back. “He started it, though.”

“What’d he do?” Les asks.

“Called me ‘toots.’”

“Oh, he had it com’n!” Blink hollars.

“Yeah. Then he tried ta grab me…” I trail off fer dramatic effect.

“Uh-huh…” The fellas wait.

“...so I kicked him where tha sun don’t shine!”

A lodda tha fellas cringe, but laugh all tha same.

“Good job, Becs!”

“No one messes with our Beccy!”

“Nice save, Becca, but Jack is right- you’s need ta be more careful.” Crutchy comments.

“I hate ta say it, but he’s right.” Skittery agrees.

“Aw, c’mon guys! I can handle myself. I’s might not be tha strongest, but you’s all know how good I’s is at dodg’n- not ta mention hide’n!”

“It don’t madda- ya gotta be more careful,” Mush says. “So ya may owe Race and me that bet…”

“Foiget this- I’s go’n out now. Tell Jack not ta wait up.”

I turn ta leave, but Race grabs my arm. “Where?”

“Town square, maybe Medda’s.”

“Keep yer hair up-”

“Already on it!” I call as I dash out tha door and out inta tha cool night air.

I just wish they’s would just trust me more… I ain’t weak just ‘cause I’s a goil.

I sigh, then sit down on some crates in tha empty street and sing:

(Based off of (Just a) Simple Sponge from the SpongeBob Musical)

“Sure, I spend my days floating around.

Head in the clouds and my feet on the ground.

But there is more to me than just my name.

Give me a chance and I could change the game.

And maybe one day they’s all will say:

"You’s an independent newsie, it's your lucky day!"

That is what I've always wanted,

And I can finally say I've done it!”

I hop up and lean onta a lamppost.

“Let me have adventure!

Be a contender, and more!

'Cause I’m not a simple goil!

I wish they’d see I'm not just the goil next door!

No, I ain’t a simple goil!

There's gotta be a better way,

A way to save this dream I love.

But how can I stop their stubborn minds?

Am I just a simple goil?

No, I’m not a simple goil.

I take one last look up at tha sky, then rush into tha already-bustl’n theatre.

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drsilverfish · 1 year

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The Winchesters: Back to the Garden?

Is this, SPNWin 1x02 Teach the Children Well.

really heading for this? SPN 4x03 In the Beginning

The tone and colour palette of The Winchesters, which is Scooby-Doo in golden sepia is, thus far, significantly removed from the dark palette and profound horror of early Supernatural.

This is partly because the CW wants its programmes to be advertising friendly for its youth demographic and it has ideas about what that looks like. We know that Supernatural was an anomaly, and that the network told SPN to move away from its early (gorgeous) darker cinematography,.

But, the story-telling horror remained. And that horror was driven significantly by the struggle with fate.

If we are in Universe One (the SPN universe) then we already know John and Mary’s fates.

As Lucifer said in 5x04 The End: “Whatever you do, you will always end up... here. No matter what choices you make, whatever details you alter, *we* will always end up... here.”

But that would be hopeless, right? To simply be heading to SPN 4x03 In the Beginning, when Cas takes Dean back in time, but Dean is unable to prevent the events that lead to Mary, desperate on the road at night, kissing her own father Samuel on the mouth (possessed by Azazel), to seal the demon deal that damns Sam to become Lucifer’s vessel, while John Winchester’s lifeless body lies between them...

This story, The Winchesters, doesn’t feel like a dark-character-arc story, a fall-from-grace story, about how Mary ended up dead and John ended up neglecting their kids.

Robbie Thompson wrote SPN 10x11 There’s No Place Like Home and the colour palette of Oz (an Alternative Universe) really reminds me of The Winchesters:

I’m guessing many SPN fans are missing the traumatic text of SPN.

I’m missing it too, and The Winchesters feels... confusing.... for that reason.

Trauma can be addictive, after all.

Is The Winchesters intended to be a redemptive text, a healing text, by contrast?

I mean, like Sam and Dean, The Winchesters Scoobies are carrying trauma. John is suffering from Vietnam War PTSD, given he saw his friend Murph get blown up. Mary has been traumatised by her childhood as a hunter, and the death of her beloved cousin Maggie on a hunt. Lata is estranged from her family and has lied to her friends that her parents are dead. Carlos’ family (parents and brother) were killed by a ghoul, which is how he got into hunting. Ada has already been traumatised by demon possession and seems to be going a bit dark with her bonsai tree as demon trap.

But somehow, they’re... reaching out to each other, supporting each other, talking about their feelings?!?!?!

Particularly given the 60s and 70s soundtrack, I’m really hearing Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock:

“I came upon a child of God He was walking along the road And I asked him where are you going And this he told me I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm * I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band I'm going to camp out on the land I'm going to try an' get my soul free We are stardust We are golden And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden Then can I walk beside you I have come here to lose the smog And I feel to be a cog in something turning Well maybe it is just the time of year Or maybe it's the time of man I don't know who I am But you know life is for learning We are stardust We are golden And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden By the time we got to Woodstock We were half a million strong And everywhere there was song and celebration And I dreamed I saw the bombers Riding shotgun in the sky And they were turning into butterflies Above our nation We are stardust Billion year old carbon We are golden Caught in the devil's bargain And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden”

Some kind of return to Paradise (but not the fakery of Heaven) guided by Holy Ghost narrator Dean?

To a place where “Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt”? (Slaughterhouse 5 - Vonnegut).

I can sense that the SPN fandom is a bit muted about The Winchesters and there’s some not-great news about its survival coming out of the CW already:

https://deadline.com/2022/11/the-winchesters-amp-walker-independence-no-back-orders-cw-cutbacks-season-2-canceled-renewed-1235159619/

A shame, because there’s something really intriguing about a redemptive after-vision for Supernatatural from Robbie, Jensen and Daneel, with a Vonnegut twist - the promise of healing for the traumatised and I’d like to find out where the story is going.

#Supernatural #The Winchesters #SPNWin 1x02 #The Winchesters meta #Meta #SPN meta #Robbie Thompson #Vonnegut #Everthing was beautiful and nothing hurt #Joni Mitchell #Woodstock

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wigglebox · 1 year

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Basic review for IMDB on ‘Masters of War’ 1x04 for The Winchesters:

I loved this episode a lot. It made me cry but obviously that's what we're going for!

I remembered when this show was first announced there was a fear that it'd gloss over the kind of person John wound up being in the main show and from what we heard from stories from other characters.

I hope this episode negated any of those fears.

And that's not to say those with PTSD always grow up to be like how John was, especially because we know that John's going to get screwed around with and we don't know what cosmic twists and turns are going to happen to exacerbate his internal demons. But I like that for the first three episodes, apart from a few moments, you see this cute, puppy-dog kinda guy learning how to hunt and making his new friends and going along for this adventure -

But now we're confronted with the fact that he indeed faced horrors in the middle as a child really because he illegally signed into the war too young, and that combined with other issues stemming from the mystery of his father growing up, seemingly combined into what we saw in this episode.

Because while watching Supernatural, we never really knew what John's deal was. It was speculated that he did have PTSD, if not from the war then from seeing his wife burn alive on the ceiling, or that he was always mean, or that he was maybe soulless or possessed - anything really.

The reason why I like this show is that it is constantly reminding me that this is, indeed, a tragedy we're going to witness. No matter the twists no matter the turns, John and Mary will end up where they ended up.

It's hard to have my brain suddenly go from Supernatural's adult John, and the scorn I had for him, to seeing this and having empathy and feeling very sad for him. However, I think that's also such a great thing.

One of my favorite bits was at the end of the episode and you see the other three characters dealing with their trauma in a way that helps them: Carlos is at that group veteran therapy session, Lata and Mary are together, but John's isolated away from them, even from his own mother until she comes in, and crying. That speaks volumes (and also made me cry volumes) to me. It's a sign of what's to come. Already in the last three episodes, even in this one, John's often fighting alone. They're a group but he always finds himself isolated. And I feel like, given how many falling outs he's had in his adult life, per Sam's comments in the OG show, this is going to continue to be a trend.

And seeing him in the tub, and even seeing him freaking out in the hospital and trying to calm himself, I wanted to walk into the TV and try to give him a hug myself! It's sad when you can see the beginnings of the road a character's about to take, knowing where they're going to end up, and not being able to do anything to try and steer them in the other direction.

It's really powerful stuff and helps really start to flesh out a character that we really only knew through other characters' stories about him as a grown man.

Another thing I loved about this episode is Carlos. I mean, I love him in general, but specifically, I like how they contrasted John's eagerness for a fight, signing up for the war underaged, all that jazz - to Carlos, who didn't go into service the same way, who also experienced trauma, and in contrast to a fighter, he was a medic; he helped to heal people. I loved that contrast to them, and I liked the exchange where Carlos and John talked about that group session and John's PTSD over having seen his friend blow up in front of him. John's shutting down the possibility of going back into a group like that and talking about it, versus Carlos embracing it, again added more to the character dynamics.

And not to forget about Mary and Lata.

Mary is like, truly alone in terms of blood family. Her mother and father are separated, legally and marriage-wise, and one's on a hunt and the other is missing - and she lost another relative, a cousin, who was like a sister to her. Lata helping Mary through that, both of them really helping each other, really helped me love their friendship even more. Even that cute moment in the park when Mary goes and meets Kyle and Lata's failing terribly at acting casual! That made me laugh.

Other elements of the episode were great as well, but I loved the whole 'inner demons' message, and that yes - not all the time people will take the path towards healing but towards a kind of self-preservation of not confronting said demons.

My final bit that I loved was at the end of the fight with the god, it mirrored kind of Dean in 15x19 but like, in the opposite kind of way. In 15x19, Dean tells Chuck, who thinks Dean's gonna kill him, "That's not who I am" and walks away. John didn't walk away and instead stabbed the god so hard with that broken spear that it killed him and then continued to attack him. It echoed back also to the Mark of Cain arc in SPN where Dean won't stop going at Abaddon, despite her already being dead. Dean had lost himself there, and I think John lost himself in his situation too. And I think he knows it, but instead of confronting it, he will continue to run from it because confronting it is too painful, too uncomfortable, and we never want to feel in pain or uncomfortable.

I loved this episode very much, I loved how heavy it was, I loved the subtext, I loved the implications and the character development.

#i'll talk about jarlos in another post lmao i didn't wanna bring it up in a review #spnwin #spnwin discussions #0104

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kagesdumpsterfire · 2 years

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The Winchesters Season 1 Episode 2: Teach Your Children Well

I had to be a good friend last night which meant putting off The Winchesters until this morning, but seriously, everyone refusing to watch it, is MISSING OUT!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Characters

ADA

This is the character I didn't know I needed in the mothership and I'm so glad we have her now.I absolutely adore her. I love a mystic anyway, so she was already on good ground but damn. I love that she is able to get her point across without being agressive about it. Her talk with Millie was such a good moment. The Jasmine vine thing made my heart clench a little.The shadow writing was cool as hell.My only complaint is that there wasn't more of her. I need a whole Ada backstory plotline.

MILLIE

Millie is a hardass, but with good reason. To play devil's advocate, as a mom, I 100% get where she is coming from with John. It's not that she doesn't believe in him, she just doesn't want to lose her son. She already lost her husband ( and btw she's not gonna heal instantly now that she knows Henry didn't just walk out on them. Years of bitter resentment don't wash away over night). Parents make mistakes but a good parent knows when to apologize for them and explain themselves, and Millie is a damn good parent who loves her son(and knows how to tell him so[meaning the Winchester Emotional Constipation comes from John]) I REALLY wish she was around for Sam and DeanI and I am so not looking forward to whatever the hell is going to happen to her.

*also, fuck Abaddon for taking Henry away from them. I know the whole " if she hadn't AB&C wouldn't have happened but still.

LATA

She is so smart. I love that the group has an eager bookworm. I feel bad for her when it comes to her friends both having such...strong...personalities, while she is a pacifist. It seems to me that she often gets caught in the middle of their nonsense and that is never a fun place to be. But she remains loyal and patient and I think that brings such a nice balance to the group. Proud of her for sticking to her guns when Mary shut her down.

CARLOS

Carlos is love, Carlos is life and if they harm one glorious hair on that precious baby's head I will riot. I feel like it's too soon to call Carlos my favorite character, but he is definitely the most relatable to me, I don't know why (says the bisexual latina with a love of all things music) he just is. He has his fun goofy streak but knows when to keep it serious. I love a character who is not afraid to be 100% themselves despite time and environment. He says what is on his mind. He talks to each person in a different manner acording to their personality.He loves what he loves and will defend his beliefs (I also would have given Mary the silent treatment, Cabaret is a fucking masterpiece). And I really do love the free love hippie vibes. I know there was some discourse last week about making the Latin/Bisexual character a promiscuous stereotype, and look, I get it. I do. I think I have quite a good grasp on how both of those demographics have been presented in media and how disappointing it can be. HOWEVER, knowing what I know about the time setting AND how storytelling works, I'm not personally upset by it.

It's the 70s. If you have ever sat down with someone who was young around that time and talked to them about the culture, you will know there is no more explanation needed than that. If you dont have acces to a person then I suggest looking into any media or major events from that time to know what that means

One of them had to be a slutty character. If you look at television and movies (even books) where there is a core group of teens/adults ( young or old) there is always a character who is more promiscuous and/or wild than the others. It's just a basic archetype.

Now, does it suck that it had to be the Latin bisexual? Yeah. Yeah it does. But it wasn't going to be Mary or John, as that would have messed up the story and upset fans quite a bit. It sure as hell wasn't going to be Lata, that doesn't fit her character nor does it fit Ada. That leaves Carlos. I get why people are upset, I'm not going to sit here and say you shouldn't be, but again, me, personally, I'm okay with it. That's that.

MARY

She is definitely her sons' mother. I see all the Dean-coding for sure, but I appreciate the bits of her I see in Sam( which we know Sam learned from Dean so, still heavy Dean-coding.) I still very much get Mary Winchester from her. Stubborn, pushy, badass, acting without thinking, know it all, caring about others, but not to the point it gets in the way of her goal.. The works. I still have my mixed feeling on Mary. I like her, but I resent her. I love that.

JOHN

John JohnJohnnyJohn John. What to say about Sa....I mean John Winchester. Look, I'm not saying he's a bad guy yet. He's not. He's young and bullheaded, but he seems nice enough. I really do see a lot of him in Sam ( mostly the back and forth about the self conciousness and the desprate need for approval without admitting he wants it) , which isn't a bad thing it's just....I see it, okay? I see the John Winchester I know and loathe. And I don't think it's just because of previous bias. It could be but...it's the little things. The way he treated his mother in the beginning, running head first into danger without thinking about the consequences for the people around him, the cockiness. I just can't unsee it. I'm trying, but it's hard, okay?

Story

I really enjoyed this episode. It had both MOW feels while also moving the story along. Those were always some of the best episodes of SPN. I wasn't always of a fan of plain ol' MOWs that had nothing to really move the plot forward, but when they balanced plot and monsters it was always a good time. La Tunda was a good monster (story wise). It gave Latika a chance to flex her contributions to the group with knowledge and I like that the whole "not a shapeshifter" point was there to humble Mary a bit. And the abusive parent story. *chef's kiss*. The show has so far been about two characters finding missing parents and healing from childhood trauma put on them because of those parents. I could go into more detail but it would inevitably lead down a personal patb I don't want to take, but I got a "Face that trauma head on and kill it before it kills you so that you can move on with you journey" vibe. You know? I liked that they used Ada as someone who knew Henry for a catalyst for Millie to start her healing process. Her subtle way of telling Millie that Henry put that vine there to protect them while he was gone was a nice moment. I feel like Ada knows more about the MOL than she lets on, mostly by the way she seems to feel incredibly comfortable with the workings of the chapter house (where they keep their shit for spell casting and such). Seriously cannot wait to know more about her. The moment in the hotel before the core group goes to the comune is great. It added a nice free moment for this group of troubled young folk. The zombie scene was fun and it showed where everyones strengths lie and I'm glad it gave a bit more insight to the dynamic between Carlos and Lata. (Lata trying to put the Zombies it the box was kind a funny to me idk why) Not much on the Akrida but there's still a whole season. That end though! I'm in Camp Rowena with everyone else. It's possible that it's another witch, but I don't think so. The hell hounds were a bit concerning (unless its it's a time traveling Rowena who is already queen of Hell even though it doesn't need to be because she centuries old) because the Gates are still closed but like I said, whole season ahead.

Production

It was great. The monster effects were miles above episode one with the Loup-garou ( a rugaru varient apparently) and honestly I saw no major issuse. The only thing I saw was a slight inconsistency with Mary's hair style shot to shot but that's just being nitpicky. ( Spn had whole ass filming equipment and crew members in shot before so...)

Acting

Already noticing improvements in chemistry. The cast is doing a great job.

Final thoughts

It's safe to say I'm already hooked. This felt like an episode of SPN just with different characters. With the improvements I've seen already from the pilot to episode two, I have hopes that it will only get better from here. It feels so good to have this universe back. Solid 8/10

Will we learn more about the Akrida?

Will Ada get the screen time she deserves?

Who the hell was the hooded figure?

For the love of Chuck and all that is unholy, will someone please address the RDP ( random diner patron) from In The Beginning that I know is most likely just a continuity error but I desperately don't want it to be and its been bothering me for almost an entire DECADE?!?!?!?!

Find out next week on: Kage Rants about The Winchesters To Almost Nobody But Themselves

#the winchesters #tw #the winchesters 1x02 #kage rants #kratwtanbt #spn prequel

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