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cecilysass · 3 months

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I always think the question with MSR isn’t so much who fell first or fell harder—mainly because I personally think it was pretty simultaneous / parallel—but rather who became self-aware about their feelings first.

In my take on this ship, they may well have gone years without fully admitting to themselves how they felt, or fully addressing the feelings head on. They were so distracted by the work and the Truth and the heady emotional power of Partnership and Trust. It was just really possible for them to stay in denial, these two characters in particular.

I tend to think Mulder faced the music first—that he was the first to accept the feelings weren’t platonic. Maybe I think that because he’s the believer, or he’s a doomed Romantic in a big R sense. I could see this realization coming as early as Scully’s abduction, but it could have been as late as Never Again or the cancer arc, too.

But I think @randomfoggytiger might argue it was Scully who understood her feelings first and waited for him to get his act together. I can be convinced of this, too, especially in fanfic. In The End, Scully has to have some awareness when she is stewing over Diana in that car. That could be her first realization, although it could have been earlier, too.

I listened to the XF Diaries podcast’s recent interview with Frank Spotnitz, and he talked about how he viewed Mulder and Scully in season 6 and the FTF near-kiss. He said they didn’t talk about it because they both thought it was something they shouldn’t have been doing. He said the show couldn’t spell it out for the audience because the characters didn’t have their own feelings figured out.

I thought that was striking, thinking about how all the way as late as season 6 the 1013 writers imagined them in this state of not fully realized feelings. I do get frustrated with this kind of talk because it seems so disembodied and unrealistic. I mean, six years, and they haven’t thought seriously about this?

But … also I admit to kind of liking this really repressed version of MSR. This version of MSR that just can’t get its shit together to admit what is happening. In other words, they aren’t exactly pining. They are more just in massive mutual denial. Fingers in ear, nah, nah, nah, I can’t hear you, no feelings here. That does make dialogue in season 6 episodes like Rain King and HTGSC and Milagro seem especially tense and loaded and fun.

And I do like fanfic that depicts them being forced to come out of denial; it’s much rarer than fanfic with one or both of them consciously pining. I mean, please. Do not mistake me. I like the pining fanfic very much, too, and I write it more. It’s just interesting to think about.

#meta #mulderandscully #MSR #x files #the x files #fox mulder #dana scully

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syntax6 · 8 months

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Happy birthday, X-Files! I discovered to my horror after 15 years of marriage that my husband had never seen you. I am fixing that now and we're partway into the sixth season. I'm impressed at how modern the storytelling is; clunker episodes occasionally, sure, but no dead time on the screen. Every bit of story counts.

What is emotional about rewatches is that you can see everything at once. You see their beginning in the basement office and know everything that is to come, even if they don't yet grasp the impact of that first handshake. Mulder and Scully surf a tidal wave of stories, both canon and not, rising and falling and being reborn from the sea of collective imagination over and over again.

Mulder and Scully live on the way that any of us lives on, in the stories told about us. So, as we give thanks today to CC and the boys of 1013, to David and Gillian and the rest of the cast and crew for bringing these marvelous characters to life, let's also say happy birthday XF fandom. XF is 30 today, but we keep the flame burning, and in our stories, Mulder and Scully are eternal.

#x files #happy 30th #xf fandom #the pilot is magic #the killer kitties ep is still terrible #vince gilligan didn't write a bad episode #mulder and scullly are still the cutest

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muppet-facts · 2 months

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Muppet Fact #1013

The filming of Don't Eat the Pictures and The Muppets Take Manhattan coincided with each other, making many puppeteers have to go back and forth between the two sets to film.

Source:

Puppet Tears. Episode 9: Martin Robinson. Hosted by Adam Kreutinger and Cameron Garrity. October 10, 2018.

#muppet facts oc #jim henson #the muppets #muppets #muppet facts #fun facts #The Muppets Take Manhattan #the muppets take manhattan #Don't Eat the Pictures #behind the scenes #bts #puppet tears #Adam Kreutinger #Cameron Garrity #martin p. robinson

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amphibia-a-day · 2 months

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Day 1013 of Amphibia Screenshots

Episode: Toadcatcher

#Amphibia #Toadcatcher #Amphibia Toadcatcher #General Yunan #Captain Grime #Sasha Waybright #Amphibia Screenshots #Amphibia Screenshot

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jimintomystery · 8 days

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MST3K's most wanted

I've been organizing my Mystery Science Theater 3000 collection, so I've become preoccupied with the handful of episodes that are not easily available, and the reasons why. In case in anyone else is interested, I thought I'd share what I've learned.

For our purposes we'll be focusing on the ten seasons that aired on cable, from 1989 to 1999. With the post-2017 episodes, it's trivial to purchase them on home video or streaming. And the pre-cable stuff, from KTMA, is widely available as bootleg footage, which is probably about as good as you're ever going to get. But the episodes from the cable era have been notoriously difficult to re-release, and require special attention.

Of the 176 MST3K episodes that aired on cable, 166 have been released on home video, and 145 are available for streaming/download on the Gizmoplex. As someone who's been trying to collect the whole series since the 1990s, I think that's pretty impressive. But there are 40 episodes that have been particularly tricky. Let's take a look, won't you?

Currently available on the Gizmoplex, but never on home video (1):

913 - Quest of the Delta Knights

As I understand it, nobody was sure who owned the rights to this movie, or how to contact them, for years. The situation has only recently been cleared up, perhaps too late for a DVD release.

Currently available on the Gizmoplex, but out of print on home video (8):

203 - Jungle Goddess

317 - Viking Women and the Sea Serpent

319 - War of the Colossal Beast

510 - The Painted Hills

619 - Red Zone Cuba

806 - The Undead

808 - The She-Creature

912 - The Screaming Skull

It looks like all of these went out of print due to being on a set where a different episode's rights expired. Theoretically Shout Factory could re-release any of them in a "Lost and Found" set, but that may not be cost-effective as people move away from collecting physical media.

Currently available on home video and MST3K's official YouTube, but not on the Gizmoplex (1):

615 - Kitten with a Whip (Vol. 25 DVD, 2012)

Kitten is one of the Universal movies that could only be licensed for physical media. And yet, it's the only one I can find on the official YouTube channel. Beats me why that is.

Currently available on home video, but not on the Gizmoplex (16):

401 - Space Travelers (Vol. 32 DVD, 2015)

522 - Teen-Age Crime Wave (Vol. 33 DVD, 2015)

524 - 12 to the Moon (Vol. 35 DVD, 2016)

601 - Girls Town (Vol. 39 DVD, 2017)

605 - Colossus and the Headhunters (Vol. 38 DVD, 2017)

614 - San Francisco International (Vol. 32 DVD, 2015)

704 - The Incredible Melting Man (Vol. 36 DVD, 2016)

801 - Revenge of the Creature (Vol. 25 DVD, 2012)

802 - The Leech Woman (25th Anniversary Edition DVD, 2013)

803 - The Mole People (Vol. 26 DVD, 2013)

804 - The Deadly Mantis (Vol. 27 DVD, 2013)

805 - The Thing That Couldn't Die (Vol. 29 DVD, 2013)

814 - Riding With Death (Vol. 36 DVD, 2016)

815 - Agent for H.A.R.M (Vol. 33 DVD, 2015)

901 - The Projected Man (Vol. 30 DVD, 2014)

1013 - Diabolik (Vol. 39 DVD, 2017)

I was able to find the DVD sets listed above on Shout Factory's website. As far as I know, they'll remain in print for the foreseeable future, but there's no way to know how long that will last.

The general pattern with these episodes is that the movies are owned by major studios that would only license them for physical media. Columbia owns Teen-Age Crime Wave and 12 to the Moon. MGM owns Girls Town and The Incredible Melting Man. Paramount owns Diabolik. But the big player here is Universal, which controls the rights to Space Travelers, San Francisco International, Revenge of the Creature, Leech Woman, Mole People, Deadly Mantis, Thing That Couldn't Die, Riding With Death, Agent for H.A.R.M., and Projected Man.

The odd man out here is Colossus and the Headhunters; I can't find any info on who owns the rights to this film, which may be part of the problem.

The real hard cases, the stickiest of wickets, are below...

Released on home video, but now out of print (5):

212 - Godzilla vs. Megalon (Vol. 10 DVD, 2006)

309 - The Amazing Colossal Man (VHS, 1996)

910 - The Final Sacrifice (Vol. 17 DVD, 2010)

1001 - Soultaker (Vol. 14 DVD, 2009)

1012 - Squirm (Turkey Day Collection DVD, 2014)

Megalon and Colossal Man were both recalled when rights issues came up after they were released. Oops. These were produced by Rhino, back before Shout Factory took over.

The Final Sacrifice is particularly tough to find, even unofficially, because director Tjardus Greidanus is very aggressive about tracking down download links. I always figured someone was similarly possessive of Soultaker, since it's clearly a passion project, but that's purely my speculation.

The Turkey Day DVD set is still available on Amazon at a reasonable price, so Squirm is still relatively accessible for now.

Never released on home video or streaming (9):

201 - Rocketship X-M

213 - Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster

311 - It Conquered the World

416 - Fire Maidens of Outer Space

418 - Attack of the the Eye Creatures

807 - Terror from the Year 5000

809 - I was a Teenage Werewolf

905 - The Deadly Bees

906 - The Space Children

In 2017, Shout released its final (?) MST3K DVD collection, which included Satellite Dishes, a compilation of host segments from episodes that "may never get a legitimate release." This included the nine listed above, as well as The Amazing Colossal Man and Quest for the Delta Knights. Of course, Delta Knights eventually got a digital-only release, which is cause for a glimmer of hope. But the others are probably tougher nuts to crack.

Wade Williams owned the rights to Rocketship X-M and had a particular sentimental attachment to the film. His death in 2023 may make it easier to negotiate with his estate, but I wouldn't count on that being a swift process.

Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster are part of a prestigious franchise, and it's remarkable MST3K got away with riffing on Godzilla movies in the first place. I get the impression that Japanese culture doesn't particularly appreciate the sort of mockery MST3K is known for, so the rights to these two movies may be a long, long shot. Then again I used to think there was no hope of for the Gamera episodes too.

Fire Maidens, Deadly Bees, and Space Children are owned by Olive Films, and currently licensed to Paramount. It's possible a deal can be made later on, but not until the current arrangement expires.

The major bugbear for MST3K fandom is Susan Hart, the widow of American International Pictures co-founder James Nicholson. One way or another the AIP catalog was split up and Hart laid claim to several of their films, including Amazing Colossal Man, It Conquered the World, Eye Creatures, Terror from the Year 5000, and Teenage Werewolf. Hart's price for licensing her movies is very high, and it seems Shout has given up negotiating with her. I suppose the situation could change when she passes away, but I'd feel rather silly hoping for an old woman to die just so I can pay 8 bucks to watch robots laugh at a werewolf movie.

In conclusion, I've already purchased all the movies available on the Gizmoplex (I got most of them in a Kickstarter reward package), and the 31 that aren't available there can be obtained by, ahem, other means. So it's a great time to be an MST3K fan, and I'm still amazed how easy it is to watch the show nowadays.

#mst3k #mystery science theater 3000

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ydotome · 2 years

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Portgas D. Ace (ポートガス・D・エース) - One Piece - Episode 1013

#One Piece #opgraphics #opgifs #opedits #Ace #Portgas D Ace #my gifs #my post #long post

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stannyramirez · 1 year

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COMPLETED PROJECT! check the link in the source OR HERE to find an additional #553 gifs of 𝐬𝐚𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐝 as lestat de lioncourt in amc+’s 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖎𝖊𝖜 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖛𝖆𝖒𝖕𝖎𝖗𝖊 episodes 5,6, & 7 for a total of 1013 gifs. all gifs were made from scratch by me for role playing purposes and each gif is 268 x 165 px. please read my rules and REBLOG this post if you found it useful.

#sam reid #sam reid gif pack #interview with the vampire #gif society #vvgifs

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marshmallowgoop · 1 year

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DCMK Blu-rays

A list of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito content with physical HD releases.

This won't be comprehensive by any means; I'm going to be focusing on Japanese, German, and United States releases because these are the ones that I own and am most familiar with. I believe that many of the films are also available on Blu-ray in several countries, dubbed in several languages, but I don't have much concrete knowledge about that at this moment. Please feel free to add any information!

That said, the main thing to know about Detective Conan Blu-rays is that... they kind of don't really exist. The television series is (mainly, more on this later) released on DVD only in Japan, usually with the equivalent of four episodes per disc, sold at 4,620 yen each. They're grouped in "Parts," with up to 10 Volumes per Part, and the next release, on June 23rd, will be Part 31, Volume 3, containing episodes 1007, 1008, 1010, and 1013.

A handful of episodes are released on Blu-ray via collections in Japan; there are the Treasured Selections and Akai Family TV Selections. But with a series running over 1,000 episodes, it really is just a handful of episodes available in these collections.

Treasured Selections

With the Treasured Selections, you can get 67 episodes on Blu-ray:

1: "The Roller Coaster Murder Case"

2: "The Kidnapping of the Company President's Daughter"

54: "The Game Company Murder Case"

128: "The Black Organization: One Billion Yen Robbery Case"

129: "The Mysterious New Student"

176-178: "Re-Encounter with the Black Organization"

226-227: "Battle Game Trap"

230-231: "Mysterious Passenger"

258-259: "The Man From Chicago"

271-272: "Hide, Hurry Up, and Abbreviate It"

277-278: "English Teacher vs. Great Western Detective"

286-288: "Shinichi in New York"

307-308: "The Remains of Voiceless Testimony"

309-311: "Contact with the Black Organization"

338-339: "Four Porsches"

340-341: "The Hidden Secret in the Toilet"

343-344: "Convenience Store Trap"

345: "The Confrontation with the Black Organization: The Coincidence of the Two Enemies on a Night with a Full Moon"

346-347: "Look for the Mark on the Buttocks"

361-362: "Teitan High School Ghost Story"

425: "Black Impact! The Moment the Black Organization Reaches Out."

427-428: "Super Secret School Zone"

429-430: "The Point of No Return"

462-465: "The Shadow of the Black Organization"

484-485: "The Whereabouts of the Black Picture"

491-504: "Red and Black Crash"

507-508: "Blind Spot of the Karaoke Shop"

509-511: "Conan VS Double Code Mystery"

However, anything before 286 is not in HD; these are all traditionally animated episodes that were not especially remastered for these releases:

Episodes 286 and beyond (from Treasured Selection 6 to 18) are digitally animated, and these Blu-rays are more properly HD:

Akai Family TV Selections

With the Akai Family TV Selections, you can get 33 episodes on Blu-ray:

563-564: "The Detective Squad vs. The Band of Robbers"

578-581: "A Red Omen That Summons Danger"

675-676: "Not Even a Millimeter of Forgiveness"

699-700: "Shadow Closes in on Ai's Secret"

701-704: "Pitch Black Mystery Express Train"

724-725: "Thief Kid and the Blushed Mermaid"

779-783: "The Scarlet Return"

785-786: "Taiko Meijin's Match of Love"

836-837: "The Unfriendly Girls Band"

861-862: "Just Like a 17 Year Old Crime Scene"

863-864: "The Spirit Detective's Murder"

866-867: "The Traitor's Stage"

881-882: "The Magician of the Waves"

Other Japanese Blu-rays

Beyond these, the TV-original specials Episodes 804-805 ("Conan and Ebizo's Kabuki Juhachiban Mystery") and Episodes 965-968 ("Kaiju Gomera VS Kamen Yaiba"), plus the canon Episodes 927-928 ("The Scarlet School Trip"), are also available on Blu-ray.

Finally, special edition Blu-rays for Movies 17-25 include a second disc containing the movie's tie-in anime episode... but that second disc is likely a DVD, speaking as someone who doesn't own any of these but does own the Japanese special edition Blu-rays for Movies 14 through 16, where the second discs are, indeed, DVDs.

German Blu-rays

Outside of Japan, Germany is currently releasing boxed sets of the Detective Conan series starting from Episode 1. At this time, these are the only physical releases of the remastered footage (which make a big difference), and they include Japanese and German audio (but any German-dubbed songs are omitted). Three boxes are available now, covering Episodes 1 to 96 (or 102 with the international numbering); a fourth box is set to be released on May 19th, covering up until Episode 122 (or 129 with the international numbering).

Do note that these releases edit the name boxes in a way that can't be turned off, however.

Films, Specials, and Magic Kaito

In Japan, there are Blu-ray releases for:

Films 1-25

Both Lupin crossovers

The Disappearance of Conan Edogawa: The Two Worst Days in History

Episode One: The Great Detective Turned Small

Magic Kaito and Magic Kaito 1412

In Germany, all of the same content is available on Blu-ray. There's also a Blu-ray release for The Scarlet Alibi, and I believe that they're the only ones with a physical HD release of Gosho Aoyama's Collection of Short Stories as well.

In the United States, there are Blu-ray releases for:

Films 19-23

Both Lupin crossovers

Episode One: The Great Detective Turned Small

As far as I'm aware, there are no HD releases anywhere of the OVAs. They're available on DVD in Japan, either separately or via four "Secret File" compilations (though these only cover OVAs 1-9).

There also aren't any HD releases of the Magic/Bonus files, but DVDs are included with the Japanese special edition versions of Movies 12-16. They're also available for individual purchase in Japan as well.

TV Specials 1, 2, and 4 (with 3 being the Lupin special, 5 being The Disappearance of Conan Edogawa, and 6 being Episode One) seem to be DVD only, too. Actually, I'm not sure if TV Special 1,"Time Travel of the Silver Sky," is available on disc at all? But TV Special 2, "Black History," is said to be included with the Japanese special edition DVD of the second live-action drama special, and TV Special 4, "Fugitive: Kogoro Mori," is included on the Part 24, Volume 7 DVD.

TV Special 7, "Love Story at Police Headquarters ~Wedding Eve~," might be included on Blu-ray in Japan with the special edition of Movie 25, but I can't confirm if that disc is a Blu-ray or DVD right now (and the same goes for The Scarlet Alibi, included with the special edition of Movie 24 in Japan).

The eight VHS-only Shogakukan Illustrated Encyclopedia Series tapes are obviously not available in HD, either.

Tl;dr?

So, in short, combining releases and eliminating the not-remastered Treasured Selections, you can find 186 episodes on Blu-ray right now (with more on the way with the fourth Detektiv Conan box). You can also get all of the films and Magic Kaito series, plus a few specials, in HD.

And I think that's all I've got! Feel free to add more information if you know any! I am desperate to physically own more HD DCMK content.

EDIT: I've done some more digging, and from what I can tell, starting with Movie 24, the Japanese special edition Blu-rays for the films changed the bonus second disc from a DVD to a Blu-ray instead. This means that Episode 1,002, "The Beika City Shopping Center Garbage Bin Mystery," included with the special edition of Movie 24, as well as Episode 1,039, "The Flying Jack-o'-lantern," included with the special edition of Movie 25, are available on Blu-ray, too. So, a more accurate number of episodes that have been released on Blu-ray (in HD) at this time is actually 188. Further, this confirms that The Scarlet Alibi and TV Special 7 are also available on Blu-ray in Japan.

Additionally, though I have provided a couple of links throughout this post, the Detective Conan World wiki deserves a bigger shout out than I initially gave; their "Collectibles" page, and particularly their "Japanese Blu-ray" article, were a huge help in compiling the information laid out here. Many, many thanks to the contributors.

And while I'm here, for those interested in English-language releases specifically, Magic's Detective Agency is a fantastically detailed resource for every DVD released by FUNimation (Volumes, Season Sets, and Films). They're not HD releases, true, but at the time, they're the only physical releases of any episodes and the first six films in English.

Finally, I also discovered that a fifth Detektiv Conan box is set to be released on July 21st! This should mean that remastered episodes up until 145 (or 155 with the international numbering) will be available on Blu-ray, and it bodes well for these releases to continue. Hopefully, there will be physical releases of the remastered footage in other countries, too!

#detective conan #case closed #dcmk #long post #ramblings #detco dvd saga #well blu-rays really but that's my tag ^^;#shrug emoji i just really want more physical hd releases...#it was a journey to figure out what's available so i hope this is helpful for any other collectors!

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correct-hermitcraft-quotes · 2 months

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Evil Xisuma: I got work to do, its one thing I hate, it's having work to do.

#hermitcraft #a quote #Evil Xisuma #Xisuma Hermitcraft Season 8 Episode 1013 Time Stamp 11:31 #Quick note: Be prepared to a lot of Evil Xisuma quotes #I kinda bingewatched #Mod Evil Rat

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nerds-yearbook · 2 months

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The infamous The Lone Gunmen pilot aired for the first time on March 4, 2001 and was never aired in the UK. The X-Files spin off pilot featured a plot of the government trying to fly a commercial airplane into the twin towers to create a war in the Middle East. 6 months later in real life, terrorists hijacked several airplanes, two of which crashed into the World Trade Center in an event that has since been known as 9/11 and spawned a long term war in the Middle East. Australia first aired the episode just days before the tragic events that changed the world. The episode was filmed over year (March and April of 2000) before the real world events. The episode also marked the last episode long time X-Files director Rob Bowman did for 1013 Productions before focussing on feature films. The episode also introduced the recurring character Yves Adele Harlow and there was a cameo by X-Files alum Kimmy the Geek (Jim Fyfe). ("Pilot", The Lone Gunmen, TV Event)

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twofrontteethstillcrooked · 2 years

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Suptober 13 Oct.: Morning after

The morning after the rehearsal, Dean realized with something akin to banked panic, was technically the morning of the wedding. Shit.

deancas, mild horror + fluff, trippy evil mushroom au

note: since today is 10/13, this snippetfic is also an homage to The X-Files s6 episode “Field Trip”

(1013 is the XF production company. yes, this is very geeky lol)

(fyi that ep has a guest star in none other than Mr. Bobby Singer-- uh, Jim Beaver. Highly recommended 👽)

The morning after the rehearsal, Dean realized with something akin to banked panic, was technically the morning of the wedding. Shit. Extremely early morning at present. 1:07 a.m. according to his wristwatch. He should go take a nap.

The rehearsal went well, didn't it? He scrubbed at the back of his neck. All these new shirts for the occasion were itchy as hell. He was about to scratch himself out of his skin about five times an hour.

Now that most of the crowd had cleared out, he supposed he should lock up. Seemed weird it was his responsibility – where was Sam, anyway? Some best man he was – but all right. The caterers would be back at 8 a.m. to switch out the tablecloths and reset the hall; Father Whatshisname (Christopher?) said he'd let them in. Kickoff: noon. Be there or be square. Jo'd murder him if he was late. Literally, with her hands around his throat and not in the fun, sexy way.

The sidewalk buckled under his feet a little and his stomach lurched. New shoes, still stiff with too-slick soles. Find the car. He detoured through the cathedral yard and skidded to a halt before he could trip into a bed planted with purple mums.

Cas was still here? On one of the stone benches by the memorial wall. Just sitting by himself in the dark. Head bowed.

Praying, Dean thought, and thinking it seemed to turn up the volume. The yard that had been silent – no cars passing or crickets chirping or wind, no late night television wah-wahs coming from the nearby homes – amplified Cas's quiet voice.

Dean knew he should leave, or cough, something to announce his presence. But he stood, transfixed, and somehow heard every word Cas spoke.

"Please keep them safe," Cas said. "They both deserve safety more than anyone."

Say something, Dean told himself.

"Please." Cas's voice broke on the word; Dean felt it splinter something beneath his own ribs. "Please let them always be a home to each other."

No, Dean thought, this is… Wrong. He looked down at his hands in the dimly green, slanted light – a strange hue, like before a storm – and saw they were trembling. Cassie was going to fuss at him if he was coming down with the flu.

Cas had kept praying, more and more quietly, until on a sharp swerve of unnerving breeze Dean heard him say, "Please help me let him go."

Dean shouldn't have been able to hear him. He was too far away.

Him who? Dean thought, desperately. Who is he letting go? He was wracked as though with a high fever, all chills and burned eyes.

Cas, he tried to say. Wait.

The bench was empty.

The streetlights along the road to Cas's house were all flickering, like fireflies. Really must be some sort of weather brewing. Dean wiped his eyes for the fourth or fifth time and kept driving. His throat ached and his chest hurt and shit, what if it was the flu? Cassie– Jo. She'd been pestering him to get a flu shot before everything but he'd just run out of time. Not like he'd known October was such a big month for weddings and everything would be a hundred times more tedious and more expensive, and that he'd wake up every day like he'd slept crushed in a vise the whole time.

He couldn't remember what Jo was wearing at the dinner mere hours ago. A sage green dress with long sleeves. No. Cassie always wore harvest gold yellow when she wanted to feel comfortable.

He missed the driveway and slammed on the brakes. Backed up and drove up to the door. Behind the house, the lake shimmered with moonlight. He couldn't hear it lapping at the dock; the sound was more like water dripping from a leaky faucet. His hands were almost translucent. When he looked again the sky seemed too near, filled with roiling clouds. He knocked on the front door and the sound boomed, echoed somewhere far away like thunder.

"Dean?" Cas said, expression full of worry.

He looks so tired, Dean thought.

"It's very late. Are you all right?" Cas asked, stepping aside to let Dean pass as he came in.

Dean smiled feebly. "Hey. Yeah, I think so."

"Is something wrong with Lisa?" Cas's eyes were…

"Lisa?" Dean exhaled, shook his head quickly. The room clicked, as though a clock was nearby, or a metronome, neither keeping good time. His vision blurred and he sat down on the couch as his legs weakened. "Why would– I haven't seen Lisa in years."

Cas sat facing him on a heavy wooden footstool. He'd gone pale, making the circles under his eyes darker. "Dean, what are you talking about? You're marrying Lisa in fewer than twelve hours."

Dean swallowed. "No." All he wanted to do was touch the vulnerable pulse he saw fluttering at the base of Cas's throat. "I'm not."

Cas went very still, his eyes boring into Dean's. "Why not."

Dean's head hurt. "Your prayer was the kindest thing I've ever heard someone ask for," he said, squeezing his eyes shut for a second against the room's glare. When he opened them again Cas was watching him, so much sorrow and regret in his face it almost made Dean sob. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"I don't understand how– You'd gone, with Sam, your mom, Lisa, Ben. I saw you all drive away in the Impala. Did you come back to the church for something?" Cas wrung his hands.

"No, they must've gone on without me." A single drop of cold sweat scored its way down Dean's spine. "They, uh… I had to find my suit jacket after Jo– It was on the back of the kitchen door?" But he wasn't wearing a suit jacket.

A look of pure horror crossed Cas's face. "Dean, Jo's dead."

"I meant Cassie," Dean corrected, and a blinding pain crack across his skull.

"You're engaged to Lisa," Cas said, voice quivering with fear. "We– I fixed it. I undid the–" He stood up and paced. "She remembered you and you reconciled; you're in love and you'll be a family." He was having to speak more loudly; tree branches clawed at the windows in a ferocious wind. He ran to bolt the lock. The door rattled like it was wrapped in chains and being kicked in by a hurricane.

Dean stabbed his thumb in the middle of his forehead, hard, and the pain subsided enough that he could breathe again. Something flashed in his vision – slimy coils like innards strung everywhere, and a cocoon binding him and Cas with unnatural ropes – and the look Cas gave him then told him he'd seen it too.

"What's the last thing you truly remember clearly?" Dean asked, clutching at Cas's arms.

"Thursday," Cas said, concentrating. "It's Thursday after lunch. We're going on a hike to see if the kid's story about the cave checks out." Dark, almost black blood was smeared in his hair and down the side of his face. He reached up, ran his fingertip along Dean's temple. "You're injured," he said, voice shaking.

"We're still in the cave," Dean said, feeling the blood oozing from where he'd been hit. "None of this is real."

Cas pressed his hand to Dean's jaw; Dean could feel the angelic healing begin but it was nothing like the instantaneous spark of heat Cas could usually command. This was a thick needle being pulled through torn skin, slow as torture. Blood trickled from Cas's nose and Dean was suddenly terrified for him.

"Stop," he said, tipping his forehead to Cas's. "Stop."

Cas rested, breathing heavily, in the cradle of Dean's arms. They swayed for a moment and collectively decided to sit down on the floor. Darkness poured in around them; the lake flooded into the house. They were dry, because the cocoon floated – but they couldn't escape it either.

"They'll find us," Dean whispered. He tried not to think about how being held by Cas was the first thing that had felt right in a long time; how if this was his end, he was dying right where he wanted to be. He held on as tightly as he dared.

Just before he lost consciousness, someone yelled, "Over here," and the world burst open with light.

Dean came to in the back of Donna's pickup. She and Sam and Jody and whoever else had been roped into the search party were milling around in the headlights of a half dozen other trucks. Fire poured out of the mouth of the cave like a dragon lived there. He could see Sam's towering silhouette as he helped a guy in a haphazard hazmat suit do…something.

"They're sealing the cave," Cas said. He tightened his arms around Dean. "They excavated the bones we tripped over going into that largest cavern, but it was deemed too dangerous to search for others."

"Sam?" Dean asked. He felt Cas smile.

"The GPS on your phone was glitchy, and Nathanial wasn't sure which cave his brother had been in. I guess that makes sense since he's seven. All the caves on this side of the park were checked. Apparently the other caves only have bats living in them."

"So what was living in ours?"

"Sam's theory is, some kind of malevolent fungi-networked forest spirit." Cas shrugged when Dean raised his eyebrows. "Iron dipped in sheep’s blood cut through the cocoon. Salt, fire, then filling in with rocks, then lead-lined concrete, maybe. Sam says he's staying a few more days to help figure it out."

Dean turned just enough to be able to really look at Cas. Cas still looked exhausted and bloodied. And wonderful.

"You doing okay?" Dean asked.

"Better." Cas looked away. "When I was trying to heal you in there – it rebounded or something. Cracked the outer cave wall and pulled down a few trees. That's how they found us."

"It trapped us like a djinn, huh. Tapping into our subconscious somehow?" Dean's eyes started to burn again. "But both of us at once. And all screwed up." He laughed a dry little laugh. "Monsters always think they've got a bead on me and they are always fucking wrong."

Cas was also trying not to cry; Dean could tell by the way he blinked and clutched Dean more fiercely.

"In case you didn't know." Dean leaned in as close as he could, to speak as softly as he could. "You're already my home."

Cas tasted like salt the first time Dean kissed him. Dean was pretty sure he tasted like salt too.

#suptober22 #deancas #destiel #spn #fic #snippetfic #suptober

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