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bb-bare-bones · 1 month

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Transformations in Re-Animator: Body Horror at its Finest

By Tabby Knight (Instagram - tabby.knight6)

Artwork by Dy Dawson, @xgardensinspace

I love Re-Animator. I’m in love with it. Seriously, disgustingly, violently in love with it. If I could marry a film, it’d be Re-Animator (and I’d be sure to court it first—flowers, chocolates, disembodied hearts floating in jars, the works). If I could marry a character in a film, it’d be Herbert West, which probably indicates—not that I needed an indication—that there’s something really very wrong with me as a human being.

But the heart wants what it wants, and ever since I watched Stuart Gordon’s 1985 splatter-fest as a bloodthirsty undergrad, streaming the film in low quality on my cracked, ageing iPhone, my heart has wanted Re-Animator. I love everything about the film, from its lead characters to its buckets of blood to its ridiculous, oh-so-quotable moments of barefaced comedy (“You’ll never get credit for my discovery. Who’s going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow.”) and I know just about everything about it, too. I’ve seen its sequels (Bride’s a messy triumph, we don’t speak about Beyond) watched interviews, deleted scenes, actor and director commentaries, the works. I’ve also tracked down just about every other horror film featuring the dynamic duo of Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, seeking something of the same calibre to scratch that gory itch. A few films have come close, but none so far have surpassed it. As a lifelong viewer of 80’s corn-syrup gore, I can assure you that Re-Animator is unmatched. It stands alone.

There’s a lot of talk about Re-Animator as a cult classic, and rightly so. There’s also talk about it as a comedy (true) a splatter film (also true) and a landmark of Lovecraftian canon (absolutely). But what I don’t see talked about as much, is that it’s a pretty impressive piece of transformation horror—verging on body horror, really—in the same vein as Jekyll and Hyde, The Fly, or American Werewolf in London.

At its core, Re-Animator is a film about uncontrollable, transforming bodies, both the obvious and the subtle. From its opening sequence (Doctor Gruber’s freaky, bulging eyes that explode right out of his head) to its final, blood-soaked showdown, the body is a constant site of change.

There is, first and foremost, the transformations brought about by Herbert West’s re-agent: the re-animation of the tranquil dead to aggressive, violent zombies. By that same token, the re-agent also transitions Dean Halsey from a rational human being into a creature who mindlessly kidnaps, restrains and strips his own daughter, and aids Doctor Hill’s transition from a creepy, unethical professor to an all-out, murderous sexual predator (albeit a decapitated one).

But there are also the subtle changes. Dan’s patients are always in motion, crossing over from life to death (it’s funny to think that in a film set primarily in a hospital, none of the patients on display actually make it out alive) and the bodies in the morgue are always shown in transitional states of rot and decay. Almost every shot of a body (or its parts) displays these changing states in full detail, a constant reminder of human fragility—our own lack of control over our own bodies, and the inevitable breakdown of the flesh.

But my favourite transformation—and perhaps the most criminally overlooked—doesn’t actually occur in the body at all. Or at least, not at first glance. It’s the transformation we see in All-American good guy Dan Cain: our squeaky-clean med student protagonist, and eventual accomplice to Herbert’s maniacal experiments. At the start of the film, Dan appears to have it all. Good career prospects, a super cute girlfriend (Megan Halsey, I’m in love with you) and what appears to be a fairly concrete spot on the Dean’s List: Dean Halsey even goes so far as to describe him as one of Miskatonic’s most promising students—no mean feat, considering he’s regularly bedding the ultra-conservative Dean’s only daughter. The only identifiable flaw in his apple pie life would appear to be his inner struggle with mortality. Not his own, you understand, but that of his patients. He refuses to accept that dead is emphatically, irrevocably dead. And of course, it’s this struggle that sets up the rest of the film.

Throughout Re-Animator’s speedy 90-minute runtime, we see Dan transition almost seamlessly from an upstanding member of society to a man who willingly injects a volatile substance into the corpse of his dead girlfriend, despite knowing full well what the consequences will be. In essence, he transforms from a regular guy into an all-out monster. Granted, he’s a monster with a conscience (we see that very clearly in Bride of Re-Animator) but arguably, so are your American Werewolves and Brundleflies.

In fact, you could argue Dan’s a little bit worse than most transformative monsters: Dan’s conscience, such as it is, always seems to disappear when faced with the prospect of his own self-interest. Despite all his prior reservations, his reluctance to revive Dean Halsey (until it suits him) his fury at Herbert’s murder and resurrection of Doctor Hill, all of it seems to dissipate in the face of Meg’s death. Then, suddenly, there’s no hesitation, no ethics. He barely hesitates in retrieving the reagent, measuring up the dose, or injecting Meg in the brain stem. His transformation—man to monster—is complete. And he didn’t even have to shed his skin to do it.

This is, in part, what I think is missing from the 1989 sequel, Bride of Re-Animator (aside from Stuart Gordon in the director’s chair). Bride’s a good movie, and I like it a lot, even if it does lag a little somewhere around the middle. But what really lets it down is the absence of that underlying transformative arc – we as an audience aren’t particularly unnerved by Dan’s second descent into medical madness, because it’s not exactly shocking or new. We’ve already seen the very worst he could do first time around, and anything Bride tries to offer us naturally falls short. A better direction for the sequel might have been a role reversal—maybe Herbert gains something of a conscience while Dan continues to lose his? But then of course, there’s the risk that Herbert might also lose some of the callous edge that makes him such an iconic anti-hero (and makes me love him so, so much). It’d be a fine line to walk, and interestingly some fanworks do a great job of it, but it’s never quite transferred to the realm of sequel film.

For me, it’ll always come back to that final shot—the plunge of the Re-agent filled syringe before Barbara Crampton’s iconic scream and the dramatic cut to black. There’s only one ending that comes close to scratching the same depraved itch in my strange little brain, and that’s the closing line in Stephen King’s Pet Semetary:

“…Darling.”

#80s horror #horror #horror movies #horror writing #spooky #bbqueue #reanimator #bare bones articles

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golby-moon · 10 months

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first day of posting for the @dadstielminibang and I'm already up uh oh. nah it's good though

got to draw all kinds of new stuff with this banner, including a little toy boat and a rubber duck. it's been so long since I've drawn water as well but I don't think it turned out too badly idk. I tried to make a clear distinction between Jack's fluffy baby feathers and Cas' more neglected adult feathers. at least they look like feathers ig

with this one, I tried to have it almost in Jack's pov, so none of the adults' faces are visible and Claire's is only partially visible. I spent way too much time on Dean's flannel while Sam just has that hideous shirt he always wears when there's an apocalypse coming up. I felt this was an appropriate analogy for washing a disgruntled winged toddler

then finally there's this one, which I wanted to look like one of those unfunny comedy 'vacation gone wrong' movie posters where some poor unsuspecting family experiences Vacation from Hell. Dean ofc has to carry all the duffel bags for everyone and Sam over here pretending he has style in the bad fashion family (although I actually really like Cas' shirt), not to mention Claire's epic star-shaped sunglasses, envy of the entire middle school

I do like how Jack turned out here as well since this was actually my first time really drawing him beyond a scribbly meme, let alone as a baby. babies are weird to draw since they're like just little tiny blobs but I do like how he came out here

the fic this is made for is called "Wings of a Dove" by @mbqnoyolo for the dadstiel mini bang

(08/14/23)

#my art #supernatural #spn #spn fanart #castiel #dean winchester #destiel #sam winchester #claire novak #jack kline #baby jack #kid claire #fic art #art made for other people #my thoughts

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dean-winchester-is-a-warrior · 2 years

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Dear Fucking Diary: Entry the 4th - Less Lothario, More Boy Scout

Pairings: Dean x Fem!OFC (Daisy)

Explicit 18 +/Warnings: None in this chapter. Some light flirting, embarrassment, Dean being the absolute sweetest while continuing to be sexy af. (That is definitely a big warning!)

Word Count: 1,818

DFD: Series Masterlist

Series Summary: I’ve been tasked with writing in this fucking diary like a some teenage girl. It sucks, but who else am I going to talk to about the incredible hottie who lives next door?

Chapter Summary: 4th Entry: It might have been better if he'd stayed an anonymous sex god.

A/N: This series has popped into my head from out of nowhere. It was supposed to be a whole other thing, but then it just morphed into this. (Cause I needed more series to work on! 🙄😄) Hope you like it, I should be releasing a new entry every few days, and I think there will be about 7 or 8 entries. The first entry is short and sweet, but most of the others will range between 1000 and 3000 words. Thanks everyone!! 🥰

The awesome divider at the bottom is created by @talesmaniac89

Ugh! So, turns out, he's really sweet too. Fuck. I may be royally screwed here.

This morning I was on my way to work, and running very late. I was trying to get to the bus stop on time and slipped and fell in the icy parking lot.

I blame my stupid, sexist boss! Don insists all his waitresses wear heels and short black skirts. He claims it's just part of the uniform, but I know it's because he likes to constantly check us out from his permanent spot in the back booth.

Anyway, I hadn't realized that icy rain had been falling all night. I hit the skating rink parking lot and immediately fell, almost flat on my face.

My knees and hands were all scraped up from the ice and I had twisted my ankle pretty bad. I tried to sit up, but before I could manage it I heard a deep voice from above me.

"Daisy! Are you alright!" Dean asked as he knelt on one knee next to me.

Somehow I was not at all surprised that the sexiest man in the world had witnessed my completely unsexy, ungraceful crash to the ground.

He helped me move into a sitting position and I looked into his face expecting to see at least a trace of laughter there; I mean my crash to the ground was physical comedy at it's finest I'm sure. But I saw only concern and kindness in his stunning, mossy green eyes.

I gave him an embarrassed smile. "I'm fine. Thanks."

"Doesn't really look like it." He said, as he shifted to check on my rapidly swelling ankle.

He picked up my foot, taking off my black pump and gently probing my ankle with his strong fingers. My ankle hurt a lot but not enough to stop the tiny frissons of heat that ran up my leg from wherever his fingertips roamed.

"This looks like a pretty bad sprain, I should take you the ER."

I shook my head, adamant. "No, really. It's not that bad, and I absolutely can't afford the ER bill, my insurance is crap."

He nodded. "Okay, well let me get you back into your apartment at least."

I heaved a sigh. "My boss is gonna be pissed."

He scowled. "Pissed that you hurt yourself? Sounds like a douche."

I rolled my eyes. "Yep. Of the highest order."

He grinned at me and then passed me my shoe to hold. He wrapped his arms under my knees and around my back and I panicked, all my most negative thoughts immediately flooding my brain.

Shit! He's gonna try and pick me up and not be able to do it. I'm gonna be way too heavy for him to lift, he's gonna hurt himself, or drop me and it's gonna be incredibly humiliating.

But before I could work myself up into too big a frenzy of self-loathing, he scooped me up like I weighed no more than a kitten and settled me in his arms. He walked easily and confidently back into the apartment block. I was never so grateful we had an elevator.

He walked up to it and angled me toward the button. "Would you mind?" he asked, smiling and breathing without a hint of effort.

I obligingly hit the button and the elevator dinged into the lobby almost immediately.

We got in and I hit the button for the second floor. Now that my panic had died down, other sensations began to hit me, like how incredible he smelled and how amazing it felt to be this close to him.

His arms were strong and secure beneath me and his chest was a hard wall I was pressed up against. My arms had just naturally looped around his neck when he picked me up, and now I was finding it very difficult not to allow my fingers to run themselves through the short, light brown hair at the nape of his neck.

I was also trying mostly unsuccessfully not to stare at his mesmerizingly beautiful face. Up close I noticed his cheeks were sprinkled with freckles - he even had a few freckles in his ear!

That was when I started to understand that this man might actually be trouble for me.

I closed my eyes and tried desperately to ignore the scent of him, something warm and spicy, and just tinged with the smell of metal and motor oil, scents that no doubt clung to the mechanics coveralls he wore.

"Shit!" I said suddenly, realization dawning. "You were going to work too! I'm gonna make you late."

I made shifting motions, trying to get him to set me down so I could hobble my way to my apartment and he could get going. But he just squeezed me closer to him to stop my wiggling and shook his head with a smile.

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart. I own the place, so there's no douchey boss to tell me off."

The elevator doors opened and he stepped out and headed toward our apartments.

"Oh." I said, impressed in spite of myself. "Well, that must be nice."

He chuckled. "It really is. And very fortuitous, since I don't really have much patience for assholes."

I laughed along with him as we reached my door and I pulled my key out of my pocket. "Does anyone?"

He carried me through my door and set me down on my couch. "Where's your first aid kit." he asked.

I looked up at him quizzically. "Um...I have some peroxide and Band-aids in my medicine cabinet. That's about it." I shrugged.

He shook his head and clicked his tongue at me. "Tsk! You wouldn't make a very good Boy Scout, sweetheart." He winked at me before he walked back toward my door and I felt like my heart might explode out of my chest, it started beating so rapidly.

"K, I'll grab mine. Be right back."

In the three minutes he was gone I managed to start freaking out about my cluttered apartment and what he must think of my housekeeping skills.

He came back with a big, white metal box and pulled over one of my kitchen chairs to sit beside the couch and tend to my wounds.

"Wow," I teased, when he opened the box and I could see the rows of bandages, gauze, tape, tweezers, cotton balls, ointments and various other first aid accoutrements, "you must have made one hell of a boy scout."

His smile was mischievous. "Actually, I was never a Scout; couldn't deal with the shorts."

He lifted my leg and tucked a couch pillow under it to keep it elevated and then pulled out an ice pack, squeezing it to activate the chemicals inside before he placed it gently across my ankle. The cold felt fantastic against my swollen joint.

As he took care of the scrapes on my hands and knees, I tried not to notice the way his jaw clenched as he concentrated, or the way he bit into his bottom lip as he carefully applied the Band-Aids.

But as it was my senses were reeling from his closeness and his warmth and the feel of his fingertips running across my skin. Watching him lick his lips and clench his perfectly square jaw was just too much for me to handle and I closed my eyes and laid my head back on the arm of my couch.

"Daisy?" His voice was soft. "Are you okay? Do you have a headache? Did you hit your head when you fell?"

I opened my eyes to see that he had moved closer to me and was peering into my face, no doubt checking to see if I was concussed.

His heart-stoppingly beautiful face was hovering so close above me that it took everything in my power not to reach up and pull his tantalizing mouth down to mine.

I saw his gaze flicker to my lips and I felt my mouth run dry. When he looked back into my eyes I told myself that I was just imagining the heat I saw there. My apartment wasn't very bright this time of day, that was most likely why his pupils seemed bigger, crowding out the jewel green irises.

I cleared my throat, trying for a normal tone. I didn't quite achieve it, my words entirely too breathy.

"My head is fine, I'm just a little sleepy."

He seemed to accept that answer and sadly thankfully stood up and walked to my kitchen.

"Where do you keep your glasses?" He asked.

"Above the sink." I told him, hoping he wouldn't notice my sink of dirty dishes from breakfast.

He filled the glass with water and brought it back to me, handing it to me along with two pain killers from the kit.

I downed them and he took the glass back and set it beside me on the table. He passed me the remote from my coffee table along with another emergency ice pack.

"Okay, you've got the tv, another ice pack for when this one stops working, and I'm assuming your phone is in your purse?" He asked as he set my bag on the floor beside the couch where I could reach it easily. I nodded.

"Do you want me to call your boss for you and tell him you won't be in?" He asked and I was very tempted to take him up on it. The prospect of getting a huffy lecture from Don was not appealing. But getting Dean to call for me seemed a bit pathetic.

So, I shook my head. "No, it's alright. I wouldn't wish Don the Dick on my worst enemy."

Dean chuckled. "Okay then. Do you need anything else, before I take off? More water? A snack?" A look of concern replaced his smile. "Will you be okay here on your own?"

I laughed and shook my head at his worries. "I'll be fine, really. You've done way too much already."

I felt suddenly shy and lowered my eyes, fidgeting with the tassel on my couch cushion.

"Thank you, Dean." I said softly.

When I looked back up at him he was smiling again. "No problem, Daisy. What are neighbors for?"

He gathered up his first aid supplies and returned them to the box. He straightened up and looked at me, his expression slightly bashful.

He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "This is gonna sound like such a line but, can I get your number so I can check in later? I'll give you mine too, so you can call if you need anything."

I grinned and nodded. "Sure."

His cheeks flushed slightly and I was amazed to discover that my lothario neighbor was actually blushing about asking for my number. Who woulda thunk?

Yeah, Dear Diary, like I said, I think I'm fucked.

Continue

@akshi8278, @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @foxyjwls007, @b3autyfuldisast3r, @myloversgone, @kazsrm67, @fangirlxwrites67, @kickingitwithkirk, @charred-angelwings, @hopefuldreamers-world, @siospins, @deanwanddamons @deandreamernp, @my-sherlock221b, @jensensgotyoudean @lyarr24, @snowlovespie, @stixnstripesworld, @thoughts-and-funnies, @magssteenkamp, @norman1967, @princessmisery666, @mishkatelwarriorgoddess, @deepsketchsupernaturalcowboy, @eevvaa, @b-i-t-c-h-i-e, @twirpbunwarrior

Masterlist

Tag Lists

#dean x ofc #dean winchester fan fic #spn fan fic series #dfd: entry the 4th - less lothario more boy scout #dean winchester fluff

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deancasbigbang · 3 years

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Title: Maybe not a comedy (according to Jack), but he likes the happy ending

Author: seidenapfel

Artist: kipnova

Rating: Mature

Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, mention of Sam Winchester/Jessica Moore

Length: 68000

Warnings: No Warnings Apply; vague mentions of: sexual assault, homophobic behaviour/language, torture, mass panic, slavery; dubious consent kiss (not Dean/Cas), 15x18

Tags: AU – Space/Sci-Fi, Canon-typical Violence, Angel Wings, Slow Burn, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hurt Dean, Fluff and Angst, Angels and Demons

Posting Date: November 11, 2021

Summary: Dean Winchester is dead. He died ten years ago, when he sold his soul to Demon Corp in order to save his brother’s life. He has lost everything, even his dignity. All that is left is a brutal tool to torture other lost souls on Inferno just like himself. Castiel’s orders are simple. Free one random soul from the pit on Inferno in order to bring it back to Angelus Associations’ headquarters on Paradiso. No one expects him to be successful, but, as a soldier, he never questions his orders. The moment Castiel lays eyes on the human overseer, everything changes. Castiel has found his mission, the man he needs to save. An adventure begins that takes Dean and Castiel from planet to planet, from Inferno to Purgatorio to Paradiso, and beyond. It’s a journey to find themselves and each other. Or: What happens when you take the structure of Dante’s Divine Comedy, mix it with Supernatural canon, and set it in space?

Excerpt: Over the years, it had become more difficult to blindly follow orders. Seeing Dean’s struggle with accepting who he had become, and with the human’s sobs still ringing in his ears, Castiel turned towards the dashboard. Without further hesitation, he changed their course. He would save Dean. It might be the first decision he had ever truly made on his own. Because of that, Castiel felt elated. A strange feeling flushed through him. It took him hours of sitting on his chair and staring into the void in front of him to finally pinpoint what it was: Pride. He felt proud to have made his own decision for once. For having done the right thing. For the first time in his life, he was free. However, this feeling didn’t last long. Suddenly the whole shuttle vibrated. Behind him, a loud bang sounded followed by a volley of curses from Dean. “Son of a bitch! What the hell is going on?” Another loud clang that sounded as if Dean had almost fallen out of his bunk in his attempt to get up rang out. “Hello, Dean.” The human was right behind him when another blast hit the shuttle. “What the f–?” Both of them stared at the screen. Right in front of them was a single ship. It bore the logo of Demon Corp and it was attacking them. Crowley had betrayed Castiel after all. Dean slid into his chair. “What weapon system does the shuttle have?” He already was leaning over the dashboard. “None,” Castiel explained, “this is a corporate ship. It is not built for combat.” Dread was taking him in. His course correction had only taken them further away from Paradiso. There was no hope. “Shields?” “Yes, they are already up. They were automatically activated with the first impact.” “Fuck! We’re sitting ducks.” “I am not a duck,” Castiel corrected the human. A smile flitted over Dean’s face, even reaching his eyes for a short moment, and Castiel realised too late that he had once again taken the expression too literally. He wasn’t used to Dean’s manner of speaking. Distracted for the moment, they both were taken aback when another shot fired.

DCBB 2021 Posting Schedule

#dcbb 2021 #fic preview #2021 promo #deancas #destiel

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mayonnaisetoffees · 3 years

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Mayo's Fic Recs

List of my favourite fics below the cut; this list is a WIP and completely personal taste; a mix of fandom classics and lesser knowns

Please remember to leave comments and kudos for the authors and podficcers!

*shows particular favourites

Fandoms currently included: Spn, Merlin, Les Mis, BatFam

Fics That Changed Me Fundamentally

Loaded March*** by Footloose. Merlin | E | 1.26M(Series)/ 35k (First part) | 188k hits (First part)

The reason SAS Captain Arthur Pendragon can’t keep a communications specialist in Team Excalibur because none of them are good enough. And then Lieutenant Merlin Emrys gets assigned to his squad, and Arthur does everything he can to prove that Merlin isn’t good enough, either. Except he is.

You can read all about my thoughts on Loaded March here, here, and here. Basically this fic series is beautifully written, has absolutely delicious UST, has found family, magic, and high stakes. It’s been part of my life for almost a decade now, I made friends through LM that I still have to this day, and it genuinely changed me as a person. Plus there are 78k of Extras to itch that I Finished Now What scratch. Parts 1-5 have been podficced and you can find them in works inspired by this one in each part.

Down to Agincourt*** by Seperis. Supernatural | E | 1.12M(Series)/ 154k (First part) | 73k hits (First part)

The world’s already over and they’re already dead. All they’re doing now is marking time until the end.

S7!Dean is transported back to the aftermath of where 5x04 The End left off. Much like LM, DtA was one that I avoided for a while. I didn’t think it would be my thing. I’m not usually into End!verse, it sounded so bleak from the summary, and it sounded so long for something I wasn’t sure about. If you’re reading this and nodding along? You are as much a fool as I was. Yes, it’s the end of the world. But it’s not over yet. This is a beautiful journey in what it means to be yourself, how to survive the end of the world, a How-To for Coups, and a study in food as a love language. I only read this fic this year, but like LM, it has genuinely changed me. Map of the World has been podficced.

Supernatural

Let’s start with the current hyperfixation. All of these are at least passively Dean/Cas unless otherwise stated. I've split into ones from my first time around in the SPN fandom and more recent ones because the vibes are actually really different and it took me some time to adjust (Not in a bad way! In a time has passed they have grown as characters way)

Old-School SPN (AKA the Classics my first time around)

Canon-Compliant or Divergent

Home in Motion* by nomdeplume13 M | 232k | 48k hits

Castiel swore he was done with spur of the moment decisions that permanently changed Dean Winchester's life. A year after the angel's most disastrous, his newest may present the largest challenge of dean's life: Fatherhood.

Did someone say kid!fic in canonverse? This is perfect. Canon divergence from the end of S6. Cas saves a baby from a neglectful mother and gives him to Dean to raise. They all move in with Bobby. Great OCs. Bobby considers Cas his son. Listen everything I say here will not be able to begin to encompass how much I love this fic. Just trust me on this one.

Named* by RC_McLachlan M | 95k | 95k hits

Jesus Christ is dead. Somehow, that isn't the worst part of Dean's week.

With a summary like that, need I say more? No but I'm gonna. This is one of the funniest fics I've ever read, but it doesn't take any emotion from the serious moments, if anything it heightens them. There are so many quotes from this I think about all the time. It was written in 2010 and so there's a bit of misogyny/character assassination of Anna in places.

Second Childhood by CloudyJenn (read by exmanhater) G | 16k (1h30) | 10k hits

"Dude, I can't do this whole thing by myself," Dean said with far more desperation leaking into his tone than he liked. It would just be too much to make it through hell and death and Lucifer only to have Castiel bail on him because of a frigging baby.

They beat the Apocalypse (OG-S5) and then Sam gets de-aged by a spell. I've listened to this so many times I know it by heart, it's an ultimate comfort fic to me.

Defy Any and All Expectation* by Tenoko1 (read by Tenoko1) M | 138k (14hrs) | 37k hits

Chuck's newly released books tell of another war between Heaven and Hell. Team Free Will sets out to try to defy prophecy, only to realize there is a lot more at stake and amiss than the not-quite-accurate words of one Prophet of the Lord. Along the way, Dean and Cas' relationship continues to evolve into something neither expected or were prepared for, all of their lives transforming in ways no one could have expected. But with no shortage of cases, monsters, and mayhem, it's going to require the help of new friends and old enemies if they're to have a hope of saving the world one more time. Alternate Season Six.

So this is a re-written version of Tenoko1's The Path We Choose which I don't think is around anymore. By the time I was reading the re-write as each chapter came out, I knew every single line of TPWC and it wasn't all that much shorter. It's such a perfect canon divergence because they are all 100% in-character. If you're into podfic, you already know what an absolute gift 14 hours is, but if you have never tried podfic before, Tenoko1 is a fantastic place to start. Her voice is soothing and energetic and her Cas sometimes comes to mind when I'm reading fic in Misha's place (sorry Misha)

His Fucking Kids 'Verse by 8sword M | 96k(Series)/ 3k (first part) | 26k hits (first part)

Jesus, the school should just have a parking spot labeled, “Reserved for the Novak-Winchesters,” because Dean’s getting sick of having to cruise around the parking lot looking for a spot every time he gets a call from the principal about Emma.

Emma survives and Dean and Cas are raising her and Claire. This fic series will make you laugh, make you cry, and (nowadays) make you wish Emma had survived to be a part of Wayward Sisters.

One Species Too Many by wallmakerrelict E | 22k | 37k hits

While Dean is laid up for a month after breaking his leg on a hunt, Cas decides that it's a perfect time to adopt a litter of kittens. But even though he's gotten better since Purgatory, Cas still isn't quite the same as he was before fixing Sam's head, and being trapped in a cabin with him for weeks on end is making that all the more obvious to Dean. When Sam takes off on a hunt, Dean has to figure out on his own how to navigate his new relationship with Cas while also helping to raise a bunch of fuzzballs that aren't even cute. Not even a little bit. (Well, maybe a little bit.)

Dean breaks his legs, and honey!Cas brings home some kittens to foster. It's achingly sweet and also painful because you know Dean wants to fix Cas but there's nothing to fix. It is tagged for ableism for this.

Tripping* by Hatteress E | 49k | 78k hits

That time the universe decided Dean belonged with Cas and wasn't afraid to pull out the big guns to make it so. Big guns in this case being obsessive fangirls, archangels turned tricksters and overly enthusiastic cupids. Welcome to Dean's life.

Alt!S5 and it is beautiful. Also any fic with Missouri is an automatic win.

Broadway Musical by Grifitings M | 12k | 79k hits

This is the day that marked the Holy and Blessed Union of Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle. The merging of prominent bloodlines is always a grand occurrence, but breeding pedigree hunter families like Winchester and Harvelle is something to be rejoiced. It is also something to be meticulously planned, which thankfully the Host is very good at. Or, the romantic comedy where Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle are destined to get married, Castiel is given the task of playing matchmaker and fails terribly, the entire Heavenly Host becomes a sitcom audience, God warns against male pregnancy, and Jimmy Novak is incredibly unimpressed with angels in general.

Jimmy deserves a sainthood and frankly I don't even want to hear about crack if it's not on the level of the Host yelling at Cas not to touch the butt.

Classic AUs (AKA AUs from my first time around)

Try Something Tuesday by almaasi E | 48k | 144k hits

Dean Winchester teaches a third-grade class. He's new to this whole ‘bisexual’ thing - but by pure happenstance, he meets Castiel: a particularly dapper male librarian who moonlights as a substitute teacher. Dean's curious and Castiel is willing, so why the hell not? Except, fate never intended it to be one-time-only...

This was one of the first spn fics to really really stay with me and it never really left.

Rock 'n' Roll Queer Bar by ChasingRabbits E | 127k(Series)/ 8k (Part1) | 29k hits (Part1)

Ellen and Jo Harvelle run Harvelle's Roadhouse, a bar that unintentionally becomes a beacon for wayward queer souls. Her employees: Dean, the smartass runaway with a big heart and bigger mouth; Castiel, the college drop-out turned hippie; his (surprisingly heterosexual) trouble-making brother Gabriel; and Charlie, who has been told several times that the back room is not to be used for after-hours Dungeons & Dragons games. But there's a lot of love in this place, and a new family for anyone who may otherwise be without.

This series. If you've ever felt unsure or out of place or anxious or just really felt like no-one understood you, this fic is for you. I first found this series when I was coming to terms with my queerness and I genuinely think it was invaluable. Also I am a sucker for the go for a dinner at Cas's family and end up storming out trope.

Play It All Night Long by janie_tangerine (read by Tenoko1) NC17 | 43k (4hrs)

The rom-com-ish one where Dean hosts a late night radio show, Castiel is a regular listener of his who starts calling one day and ends up calling more often than not and Dean finds himself liking it. This, until one day Castiel calls for not exactly petty reasons (just before Dean's brother Sam is visiting with his girlfriend for spring break) and things get very, very crowdy at his place. He also doesn't know it's just the beginning of it. Also features Gabriel, Chuck, Andy, the Roadhouse crew and a huge amount of music quoted. Especially Bob Dylan.

Again, this podfic has got me through many a night of insomnia. Cas calls in after a particularly shitty day and it all goes from there.

New-School SPN (AKA post-2014)

Canon-Compliant or Divergent

Tall Grass by aeli_kindara E | 57k | 28k hits

“I think we should have a garden,” Cas says. Dean looks up from his beer. He hasn’t had that much to drink, but Cas still has a vague look of unreality about him, a splash of living color that doesn’t fit in the bunker’s echoing stillness. Dean didn’t hear him coming. A lot of the time, Cas is so unobtrusive it feels like Dean has the bunker to himself, with Sam away. Dean shakes his head to clear it. “A — garden?” he repeats.

There is a reason you will see this recced time and time again. It healed parts of me I didn't know needed healing.

So Says the Sword* by komodobits E | 85k | 73k hits

The briefing was simple: ‘Stand guard over the Michael Sword until the battle is ready to commence. Await further instructions.’ Castiel doesn’t mind working security duty; he was briefed shortly after the initial salvation of the Sword from the pit, and again before taking up his position. He knows what to do. However, it’s easy to forget that the green room isn’t real. Time moves differently there, the space ever-changing to make a prison of mountains, cathedrals, salt flats, orchards, and whatever Castiel was led to believe about Heaven’s greatest weapon—Dean Winchester is something entirely unexpected

I saw ssts mentioned in like every single If you're getting back into the fandom READ THIS rec list. For good reason. It's described as "canon-adjacent in that seasons one to three happened exactly the same, but when Dean goes to Hell, he is not raised by Castiel". It's one of the most interesting concepts I've read and it's one of those fics where the writing style will stick with you. Castiel POV in a way you've never read before.

Aching in the Absence of You* by sobsicles E | 95k | 9k hits (in 5 days)

Brittle and battle-worn, Cas looks at him over coffee one morning and says, "I need to go," and Dean instantly knows that he's not coming back. He's not really sure how he knows it, but he does. It settles into the pit of his stomach, curling hot and tight like something he instinctively wants to tear out with his bare hands. He takes a breath, and it gets stuck in his throat, hitching there. It hurts, hurts, hurts when he finally exhales. "Yeah," Dean says, "of course you do," and he nods jerkily as he looks down at his phone. He doesn't say goodbye. He doesn't look up from the screen when Cas gets up and leaves the room. He doesn't finish his coffee, or move for a long time. By nightfall, Cas is gone.

If you don't already know sobsicles, I am delighted to introduce you to the person who will smash you to pieces with a hammer to put you back together Kintsugi-style. This one is post-finale but without 15x18 (it'll make sense as it goes). Cas says he's going to leave again and again Dean doesn't ask him to stay. Full of lines so beautiful they'd make Shakespeare weep, Sobsicles has this way of writing that is so evocative and paints such a clear picture. Fair warning, if you're Dean-coded, this might be A Lot.

dumbassery, denial, doing (the three d's to the destination)** by sobsicles E | 108k | 25k hits

Freedom is just one adjustment after the next. ~~~ Cas hums again. "I think you already have. It's been months since everything settled. All that's left to do is...get used to it, and perhaps—" His voice stalls out, uncharacteristically, and his gaze roams Dean's face with intensity. When he speaks next, his tone is a little raw. "Perhaps what one does with peace is...whatever they want." "What if I don't even know what that is?" Dean grumbles, arching an eyebrow in challenge. "'Cause I know damn well you don't just mean good food and a good bed and time in Baby, not simple wants like that. You mean—ya know, the big things, the wants we didn't get to have before." "Yes," Cas agrees. "If you're not sure, figure it out." "Easier said than done."

Yes, two sobsicles recs back to back. This one I read first and it still holds such a special place in my heart. A sign of a good fic is being able to picture it perfectly. The sign of an amazing fic is that when reading this I was so in Dean's shoes I could feel a pool cue between my hands and Baby behind my back. And I sobbed like a baby in this. It has probably my favourite ending ever. It's genuinely beautiful. If you don't read another on this list, read this one.

Teaching Poetry to Fish by aeli_kindara M | 52k | 14k hits

In which Castiel teaches poetry to fish. Also, himself. Also, eventually, Dean. (A series-long story, diverging slightly from canon after S14.)

The ultimate Cas character study and interwoven with poetry.

So There It Is, I've Said It All by PorcupineGirl (read by Ceewelsh) G | 4k | 13k hits

"Why, do you have something you need to say to me that you don't think I'll like?" I think I'm in love with you. "Yeah. I guess so."

Dean figures out he's in love with Cas then can't stop thinking it. This is genuinely beautiful and if you've ever had trouble actually saying the thing you're thinking, you'll relate to Dean here. I recently did the podfic for this.

you won't find this place alone by amidsizedfrog G | 9.5k |

When Claire said she was dropping out of college to pursue hunting full time, Dean said, “right,” and left the room. Or, the cross-generation conversation about formal education, choosing your own path and figuring out what it looks like to find a family. Or, in other words: "But what I do have is a GED and a give-'em-hell-attitude, and I'll figure it out." - Dean Winchester

This is a beautiful look at education in the hunter world, and I love anything that looks at Dean and Bobby's relationship and this does it perfectly. Also best cameo ever.

Seek to Know You Better by ahurston E | 33k | 23k hits

Dean and Cas, a long stretch of highway, and 36 questions empirically designed to make two people fall in love. As if they weren't already.

This is perfect. It has a lovely slow pace like it has the vibes of an indie film if that makes sense? Like it's two guys going from place to place talking. It was an instant favourite.

Newer AUs (AKA more recent AUs)

And This, Your Living Kiss* by opal_bullets M | 57k | 69k hits

Only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet Jack Allen is just Kansas mechanic Dean Winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. Not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen. Until, that is, a string of coincidences leads Dean to auditing a poetry course with one Dr. Castiel Novak. The professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia's foremost expert on the poetry of Jack Allen.

When I asked which fics were absolute must-reads for someone who'd been out of the fandom a few years, this was said repeatedly. But what really got me to read it was everyone actually told me more about what it meant to them than just the summary. It's a study in poetry, a study in learning who you are and who you used to be, and a reminder that it's never too late.

The Graveyard Shift* by riseofthefallenone, PurgatoryJar E | 620k | 175k hits

Dean’s favourite coffee shop, The Graveyard Shift, is only open after the sun goes down. Which is perfect for him, because that’s exactly when he craves coffee the most while doing the overnight at the fire hall. The coffee shop’s owner is pretty perfect too, but it’s kind of a bummer that Dean never gets to see Cas during the day. In a world where the supernatural live more or less in peace with the rest of humanity, it’s a little impolite to ask Cas just what he really is - or what his dark past entails.

A fantastic magical realism fic - magical creatures live and work with humans. Gabe and Cas run a coffee shop, Dean is a fireman, and the burn is slow and delicious and the intrigue kept me reading for like a week every single spare minute.

Painted Angels by WinJennster E | 106k | 162k hits

Author Castiel Novak has finally hit the big time, with a book based on his failed college relationship with a brilliant painter. He's put all his pain behind him, but at a book signing, he comes face to face with Dean Winchester for the first time in twelve years, and the reunion doesn't go like Cas hoped. Dean's a broken man, with a lot of scars and secrets, shoulders weighed down by his demons and self loathing. Cas sees a second chance with the man he's never stopped loving, but Dean's moved on, and is about to get married. Sam launches a "brilliant" plan to reunite his brother and his best friend, but Cas is worried it will all blow up in their faces, and he'll go through the agony of losing Dean a second time.

The first part of this I actually saved back when I was first in the fandom but I never got around to reading it (I had a To Read folder of 100+ fics that I absolutely dove into when I got back into spn) and the rest of the series finished in 2016 so I'm counting it in this section not the other. On the one hand, I wish I'd read this when it first came out. It's beautiful and heartbreaking, and so visual. On the other hand, I think I appreciated it a lot more now than I would have seven years ago. The parallel of me coming back to the old fandom that I loved dearly with Cas coming back to see someone and places he loved so much really hit. (Although coming back to the spn fandom was much easier and much less heartbreak!)

Finale Fix-Its (yeah fuck you Dabb that this has to be a whole category)

The Goldenrod Revisions by aethylas M | 66k | 15k hits

A rewrite of Supernatural’s final two episodes, expanded into a five episode arc - in which Chuck needs to be defeated, Castiel deserves to be saved, and the characters in this story get a very different ending.

Script format re-write of 15x19 and 15x20 into a 5-episode finale fix-it. As far as I'm concerned, this and chocolatecakecas's American Pie fanvid are the Supernatural finale.

break the skin (to break the barriers)* by sobsicles M | 30k | 9k hits

The first time she meets him, he's nothing more than an almost-missed appointment. ~~~ Dean is silent for a long, tense moment, then he gruffly says, "It's not for banishing the angels. It's to summon them. So, it doesn't—it's not to get rid of 'em, but to draw 'em in." Mitzi can't help but glance up at him at that. His voice is so heavy with so much unexplained pain, and she doesn't understand why, or what angels have to do with it. She knows religion can impact people. She's very aware that it can get complicated, and that it can be a huge source of pain for someone, but Dean sounds grievously wronged, somehow, as if it's a truly personal thing. She pushes through, focusing back on her job, clearing her throat before murmuring, "Well, I guess we all want angels to visit us sometimes." "Just the one," Dean mumbles. "Your guardian angel?" Mitzi asks. Dean breathes out, "Something like that. As close to one as an angel will ever get."

Therapy through getting tattoos and telling your life story to someone who obviously doesn't think it's real. Outsider!POV not just done well, but done literally the best.

Kingdom Come by ahurston E | 17k | 10k hits

Cas wakes up on the coast of Maine. He makes his way home.

I don't know if this counts as finale fix-it as it's more fuck the finale we're ignoring that. There's just so much love and care in this fic.

The Family Business by chai_lattes M | 16k | 5.5k hits

It's all over. It's been weeks since Chuck's defeat and Cas' return from the Empty. There are no threats on the horizon, no apocalypses to stop, but there's something that keeps the Winchesters from being happy. Something that's maybe always been there. On their way back from a hunt, they find John Winchester, back from the dead.

If you're anything like me, you start rubbing your grubby little hands together at the tag John Winchester's A+ Parenting like yes let's address this! This is one of the best examples of John coming back and how it jars with the life that they have built. Also Claire and Jack getting to share screentime!

Merlin

If I have a forever fandom, it's Merlin. I've always kept one foot in this fandom, and it introduced me to fandom, and most importantly to podfic which kinda had an impact. All Merthur unless stated.

Canon-Verse

Seven Magpies by syllic (read by lunchee) E | 33k (3hr15) | 58k hits

Arthur opened his eyes a minute later to the sight of seven magpies streaking across the top of the clearing, their shapes dark against the white clouds and the muted grey of the sky. He tried to remember what it was that seven magpies meant—he'd had a nurse who had sung the rhyme to him as a child—but couldn't. Arthur wakes up somewhere he doesn't recognise, but where he clearly belongs.

Okay so this is an AU but it's Canon-AU so it's going here. Fantastic role reversal fic that you will be thinking about for weeks.

and from your grace, i fell by TheDragon (read by Ceewelsh) T | 4.6k (41mins) | 13k hits

“Where’s Merlin?” he asks the maid. “Where’s that idiot of a Court Sorcerer?!” “Begging your pardon, Your Majesty. I thought you knew,” the maid replies, not daring to look him in the eyes. “He’s taken ill.” “And he couldn’t be bothered to tell me himself that he would be unable to attend today’s council meeting?” Arthur questions, voice full of acid. “He hasn’t woken since he collapsed two days ago, Sire,” the maidservant says, blissfully unaware that what she’s saying the power to stop Arthur’s heart in its tracks.

When I first read this, it had me completely transfixed. I could not stop reading. It was so raw and so full of emotion. I was then lucky enough to get TheDragon in our exchange, so I did a podfic for it and it's probably the most proud I've been of one.

Modern AU

The Student Prince* by FayJay (read by FayJay) M | 145k (15hrs) | 696k hits

A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love...

A classic is a classic for a reason. I'm also pretty sure this introduced me to podfics so like special place in my heart x2. Did you know if you filter AO3 by hits on Merlin, this has 426k more hits than the second result? Now that is a Fandom Classic.

Drastically Redefining Protocol* by rageprufrock (read by lunchee) E | 46k (5hr30) | 269k hits

In which Prince Arthur meets Merlin and all hell promptly breaks loose.

As I always say, if this can happen to me and I still love the fic, nothing is going to change that. Arthur hides from his duties in a cupboard and gets stuck in there with a chainsmoking med student.

Fundamental Imperfections by Starlingthefool (read by bravenclawsome) M | 12k (1hr35) | 123k hits

In which an argument about Dickens leads to a Twitter scandal, broken bones, midnight conversations, and transatlantic longing. (Or, an AU with Arthur and Merlin as moderately famous authors.)

This fic has everything: Charles Dickens, long distance texting, Morgana choking a Sherlock cosplayer with his own scarf. This is the ultimate comfort fic and I compare all fics to this even when they're incomparable. I never read the sequel because it was WIP and I was waiting for it to complete, it hasn't been updated since 2015 and apparently ends on an unhappy note, so if you're going to read the sequel you have been warned.

Les Mis

Modern!AU

Overzealous Oddities by YassHomo e/R, Courf/Cosette/Marius, Comb/Ép | G | 6.4k | 4k hits

Courfeyrac: Remember when I smashed our tv and we laughed about it? Enjolras: No. Courfeyrac: Let me rephrase Courfeyrac: I've smashed our tv, lets laugh about it.

I love me a text fic and this is in my opinion the best one around. Just look at that summary. I have quoted that so many times.

But Paris was a very old city and we were young* by GingerNinjaAbi E/R, Courf/Jehan | M | 99k | 42k hits

Perhaps somewhere in between all the cups of coffee, shots of tequila, sunny March days, terrible lumpy jumpers, love, cigarettes, drunken nights and the desire to change the world they'll all leave Paris with a degree in something. Or not. Grantaire's money is on no. But he's a pessimist who's hopelessly in love, so perhaps his opinion shouldn't count.

The ULTIMATE modern!AU tbh.

Tagged by Salomonderiel E/R, Courf/Jehan | E | 155k | 28k hits

So there's this artist. He could probably be compared to Banksy, but he's a lot more... cynical. He shares rooms with a poet who braids his hair with flowers, in a flat near Covent Garden they rent from a short-tempered shop keeper with a penchant for fans and who'd do anything if you mentioned Poland. Sometimes, the three of them will go and deface public buildings in London whilst completely smashed off their heads. And then there's this, shall we say, 'revolutionary'. He has a band of other revolutionaries, who all meet at this cafe by Borough Market. He shares rooms with his best mate, a philosophy student, spends too much time with a flirty guy who has a thing for poets, goes boxing with a guy in a red vest, wants to punch the wet sop who drools on the blonde waitress and is getting tired of this guy who keep breaking his laptops through sheer dumb luck. Thank god the hypochondriac's there to keep an (slightly too) attentive eye on their stress levels. The revolutionary thinks the graffiti artist's work is a waste of space. The artist thinks the revolutionary's campaigns are a waste of time. And all the while, the poet and the flirt drool over each other in the background...

This is perfect and it's funny and it's beautiful and it rips my heart out multiple times.

Canon

To Be Free by kjack89 (read by Ceewelsh) Gen, Cosette/Marius | T | 3.8k (32mins) | 375 hits

Three blows from a bayonet had transfixed Combeferre’s breast, followed by a fall from the barricade as he rapidly lost first blood and then consciousness. But neither of these, it seemed, was enough to kill him, as much as later he might perhaps wish that they were.

I read this because it was on a list kjack89 did of their favourite fics which don't necessarily have the same hits traffic. It's nothing I would have usually read (canon era, not e/R, MCD) but I am so glad I gave it a go. It's a study on what if Combeferre had survived the barricades too and the guilt. This stayed with me for days afterwards until I eventually messaged kjack89 to get permission to podfic it.

BatFam

Canonish (I don't know differences between canons but these are all they're superheros fics)

Robins United by laceymcbain (read by reena_jenkins) Gen | T | 49k (6h15)/ 19k (2h25) (First part) | 103k hits

Bullets, knives, a three story fall, even a fucking crowbar hadn't managed to keep Jason down permanently, but Dick Grayson (and the rest of his "family") was going to kill him with kindness.

The ultimate batbros series. Also if you haven't heard reena_jenkins' podfics before, you are welcome. Pre-pandemic I took a lot of public transport and reena_jenkins kept me sane.

batcoons by drakefeathers (read by reena_jenkins) Gen | G | 6k (49mins) | 14k hits

Jason and raccoons have a lot in common. (Additionally: his so-called family are much bigger pests than the stray animals hanging around his safehouse.)

This is funny, it's heartwarming, and it's a really good character study.

Here Comes the Sun by batsy_rocks Clark/Bruce | T | 19k | 20k hits

Clark Kent is a kind-hearted reporter working in the big city. Bruce Wayne is a stressed dad of four with no idea of what he's doing. Then they meet.

Bruce Wayne is a Tired Single Dad™. It's genuinely such a sweet fic.

#fic rec #spn fic rec #merlin fic rec #les mis fic rec

23 notes · View notes

baritonechick · 4 years

Text

Gabriel’s Love Letter

Reader writes notes to Dean, Sam, Cas, and Gabriel

Loosely based on “To All the Boys I’ve Loved”

“What’s this?” Jack pulls a small, decorated box out from under your bed. He tugs at the top before you can run over and stop him.

“Jack, don’t touch that,” you warn, desperately trying to reach for the container. The nephilim’s strength keeps you back and he begins pulling out the letters.

The letters to all the boys you’d loved before, well, essentially the boys in the bunker you’d had a crush on at one point. Sam, Dean, and Cas’s were all from the past, but Gabriel’s was fairly recent.

Thankfully, your room was one of the few ones warded against angels of all kinds. Jack could pass by because of being half-human.

“What are these?” Jack inquires curiosly, peeking into Cas’s letter to read it.

“They’re letters, Jack. And they aren’t supposed to be read by anyone,” you huff, once again trying to grab the paper from his grasp.

His eyes skim over the words on the page, and his eyes widen.

“You like Castiel?”

“Give me that,” you frown, snatching the note from him.

“There is one for Sam, Dean, and Gabriel also in here, too. Why haven’t you given them these?”

Your expression turns fearful immediately.

“No, Jack. These aren’t for them, or for you, to read. It’s a way for me to get over liking them. We all live together. It’d be awkward for me to have a crush on any of them.”

Jack’s eyebrows furrow, his nose scrunching up.

“But isn’t love what drives humans? What if one of them likes you back!”

“Shh,” you hush him, stuffing the letters back in the box and shoving it back under your bed.

“None of them like me, Jack. Go back to your room and get some sleep,” you sigh, standing up from the floor.

The nephilim copies your movements silently. He heads for the door quickly and exits your room with a look of dejection and sadness.

Thankfully, he is out of your hair about the letters. Those are very private and go into extreme detail about your crushes on the boys. And now, with all the people living in the bunker, it has made things much more chaotic.

You climb into bed, realizing it’s quite late now. You’re able to fall asleep with little worries.

Your phone buzzes violently, alerting you that it’s time to get up. You’re glad that you let yourself sleep in this much. It’s almost 10:30.

You’re clad in warm pajamas and a fluffy robe as you head for the kitchen. Thankfully, it’s almost midday, so hardly anyone is in the way of you and the fridge. However, you do notice Sam reaching for a mug from the cupboards. He’s the only one in the room with you, so you mumble a “Good morning”.

It’s as if a ghost had scared him with the face he gives you.

“O-oh, morning,” he smiles awkwardly, grabbing his cup and quickly leaving.

What the hell, you think, tugging open the refrigerator’s door. A chilling gust of air hits you, and you fight back a shiver. Maybe Sam’s just skiddish after everything that occurred in the apocalypse world.

There’s little to no food stocked up; someone would hopefully be on a supply run by now. You opt for an apple, closing the fridge.

Your body turns around just as Dean comes walking through the doorway.

“Hey, what’s going on with Sam? He’s acting weird,” you ask, taking a bite of the apple in your palm.

“I’m sure Sam’s fine. Listen, Y/n, we’ve got to talk,” Dean lets out a deep breath, leaning against the counter away from the exit. The tone in his voice means something’s wrong.

“We’ve been through a lot, and you’re like a little sister to me,” he pauses to make sure you’re listening and understanding.

“Yeah, I got it, Dean. What’s the issue?”

“I don’t like you... in a romantic sense.”

The realization hits you, and it hits hard. Your mind is reeling. Jack must have told them all, that’s why Sam was acting so odd when you talked to him. Or even worse, maybe Jack had given out the letters.

“Dean, I don’t like you, well, not anymore. What did Jack tell you?”

Dean’s eyes narrow in confusion and he crosses his arms.

“He didn’t tell me anything, just gave me a note from you.”

Your eyes widen into the size of golf balls, At least, that’s what you imagine happened. You quickly push past Dean, shouting, “I’ll explain later,” and rushing down the hall toward your room.

You spot Cas and Gabriel down the hall talking, their conversation being stopped short as they both turn to you. Your mind goes straight into panic mode.

“Hey, Y/n, you got a second?” Gabriel calls, motioning for you to join them. The option is there, to get it all over with and to explain the situation to both of them. However, your brain wants to take a different route.

Without thinking, your cheeks flush red and you duck into your bedroom, slamming the door shut. You’re safe in here, the angels can’t get past the sigils.

Your feet carry you to the foot of your bed and you kneel down to pull the box out from under your bed. Maybe Jack only gave out Sam and Dean’s as a funny prank. An awful, demented, torturous funny prank.

Slowly, your fingers brush the edge of the lid. You carefully lift it up, gazing down into a completely empty container. It’s all over.

You fall back onto your butt, pulling your knees up into your chest. Your arms are wrapped around your calves and you can’t help the sobs spilling from your mouth.

Everything was ruined. The boys will all hate you if they don’t already. You’ll have to move out and live on your own again, hunting by yourself. You don’t want that, you have it so perfect here. And these stupid letters are going to be the end of that.

You force yourself to take deep breaths, not allowing for a panic attack right now. Think, Y/n, there has to be a way to fix this before it gets out of hand.

What if Jack hadn’t gotten to Gabriel and Cas, yet? You’ve got to act now.

You clamber up, wiping the spare tears away on the sleeve of your robe. You groan, realizing you haven’t changed from your sleepwear yet. There’s no time for that right now.

Upon opening the door to your room and peering out, it seems Gabriel has disappeared and now Cas is by himself. He leans against the brick wall with a confused look as he stares down at a piece of paper. His brow bone arches downwards as he strains to read the words on the page. Your bare feet hit the cold tiles of the floor with each quick step.

“Cas, hey, um, can I take a look at that paper?” You smile nervously, as your words register in the angel’s head. He peers up and holds the note out for you to take.

You snatch it, letting out a thankful sigh.

“I’d just finished reading it. I’m glad you see me so fondly, Y/n. It proves our friendship is very strong,” Cas gravelly voice speaks, and you mentally face-palm. Of course he didn’t understand that you meant it romantically at the time.

“Yea, we’re really good friends, Cas. That’s all I meant with that. Say, do you know where Jack went? I have a letter for him, too.”

Oh, you had a letter for him. You really wished you had a book to smack him upside the head.

Cas nods, pointing down the hall, the opposite direction of your room.

“He said he was looking for Gabriel, who also headed that way.”

Your head is spinning now, it’s hard to concentrate on the task at hand. You could chalk up Sam, Dean, and Cas’s letters to accidents that were very far in the past. But Gabriel’s, you can’t deal with that heartbreak.

“Thanks, Cas,” you reply with a small stutter, rushing off to find Jack.

“Jack! I’m gonna kick your little, half-angel ass!” You shout, loud enough for anyone in the bunker to hear. The pitter patter of your feet clicking on the floor is enough to drive someone insane, especially with the given situation.

The hall eventually opens up into the library, where numerous groups of people are scattered, discussing various hunts and cases. Off to the side, you see Gabriel in a conversation with other world Charlie, both laughing at something one of them said.

In the corner of your eye, another figure is moving toward the pair. With a quick glance, you’re able to pinpoint the person as Jack, effectively about to ruin your whole life by handing Gabriel the note.

Everything starts to slow down, and you can see Jack ducking around people to reach Gabriel. You move as quick as your human legs can go, now only a few feet from the laughing pair.

Unfortunately, you’re not able to stop in time, completely and utterly colliding with Gabriel’s body. You fall to the floor with him underneath you like some cheesy romantic comedy.

Your face is bright red and burning, less than a foot away from the archangel’s below you. This is not how you imagined this day was going to go.

“I’m so sorry,” you apologize profusely, forgetting for the moment about Jack’s mission to torture you.

You pick your self up, dusting off the dirt from your embarrassingly casual attire. Gabriel’s wearing a small smirk, chuckling as he too stands back up.

“What are you in a hurry for?” He asks nonchalantly, as if you hadn’t just ran him over.

“I, uh,” are the only words that can form in your head, which is now spinning from the impact.

As you’re struggling to find a response, Jack pops up beside you, smiling cheerily.

“I’ve got something for you, uncle!” The nephilim says, shoving the note into Gabriel’s chest.

The archangel’s attention turns to his nephew, who’s beaming at the fact that he’s about to completely ruin your life forever.

Gabriel slowly reaches for the piece of paper, but you’re quick enough to snatch it away. He’s surprised that you’ve taken it, retaliating by raising an eyebrow.

“Why did you just take that from me?”

You squirm under his and Jack’s intense, celestial gazes, “You don’t want to read it. It’s just some dumb story I wrote that Jack wants to share with everyone.”

The nephilim’s name comes out as a hiss from your mouth.

Gabriel’s confusion, and now curiosity, springs to life. You can tell he’s thinking about all of his options.

“There’s something you’re hiding from me, Y/n. You really don’t want me to read that,” he smirks, offering you a chance at a response.

With the letter in hand, you feel confident and care-free. The world is on your side for once.

You need to drop yourself from the conversation as soon as possible so you can tear up and burn this piece of paper.

“I already told you, Gabriel. Anyways, I’ll see you all later.”

You turn your body completely around, ready to head for your bedroom. Adrenaline is pumping through your body, but you take deep breaths to calm yourself down. You glance at the note in your hand... and it’s gone.

You’ve never spun around so fast in your life. The action isn’t expected by your body, and now you’ve acquired a hard headache.

Gabriel has a letter, his letter, in his hand, taunting you by waving it around. Your eyes widen, but there’s nothing you can do against an archangel’s curiosity.

“Gabriel, please, do not read that letter,” you plead, screaming at him in your thoughts to forget it. Of course, Gabriel was always too stubborn for anybody’s good.

A pair of reading glasses comically appears on Gabriel’s face as he opens the note although you’re horrified with embarrassment at what is about to take place.

“Dear Gabriel... blah blah blah cute blah blah blah funny,” Gabriel nods, “blah blah blah... love.”

He’d read it all, all the way to the end. The look of amazement on his face makes the panic set in. If you run back to your room in time, maybe you can lock yourself in forever. Right before you strangle Jack.

You quickly set a pace for your bedroom. The long hallway is torturous to run down. There are no footsteps following you, and no sound of wings fluttering. That means you must have scared Gabriel off for good and you’re heartbroken by the thought of it.

Your exhales get longer as you slow down, coming to a halt in front of your bedroom door. The only problem is, there’s now an archangel blocking the way.

“Gabriel, I don’t know what to say,” you blurt out, unable to form a coherent sentence to explain the letter.

Gabriel’s letter was current, all the other boys’ letters were from years ago. You had just written the letter addressed to Gabriel a few months ago.

You’re watching his demeanor, and the way his body is entirely still, while his bright, golden eyes are digging into your skull. He’s a few feet from you, leaning against the wall rigidly.

“Is this letter true?”

His voice came out deeper than normal, and it sent chills down your spine.

You gulp and manage to whisper, “Yes.”

Gabriel closes the gap between the two of you. His steps are deliberate and nerve-wracking, making you breathe heavy. The archangel wraps a strong hand around your waist, the other reaching up to cup your face. His thumb runs over your lips and his eyes are glued to the same spot.

Oh my GOD he’s going to kiss me.

Gabriel leans forward, slowly pressing his lips against yours. They’re soft and you can faintly smell chocolate. Your whole body relaxes into him, reveling in the feeling of his body so close to you. Moments pass till you’re wondering where this may lead and you’re hoping it’s the bedroom.

Gabriel gently pulls away and chuckles lowly. There’s a smirk on his face and a tension in the air.

“Y/N! Where are you?” Loud shouts can be heard echoing down the halls and you recognize them to be Jack.

You smile evily, sending a wink to Gabriel.

“We’ll finish this later. I’ve got a nephilim to smack,” you say, racing down the halls.

#gabriel #gabriel x reader #spn #supernatural #baritonechick posts #gabe #gabe x reader #spn gabriel #spn gabriel x reader

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sweeethinny · 4 years

Note

can you do the roommate prompt "Person A thinks they’re doing a great job keeping their house plants alive but actually, Person B has secretly replaced them with identical-looking fake plants so Person A can’t kill them" for Hinny? thank you hehhehe :)

thankk youuu honey <3 i love write this I had problems with the ending, but I think it was so cute that I didn't want to change it is an AU where they are muggles, and Ginny was born before Ron, who is now the youngest. hope you like <3

LIST

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

They had been friends for a few decades, almost three, so when Ginny needed a home to live in after breaking up with Dean, it was not shocking to her family that she had moved in with Harry. His house was not as big as his parents', but it was very cozy, still a reminder to her that he came from a fortunate family and that all that luxury was more than ordinary, even if he had worked hard to be able to buy in an area farther from the city center. Harry was one of the big names in Hockey, there was no one living in England who did not recognize the surname Potter, which made him have more reason to live far from everything.

Ginny loved it, especially when Dean started to get sticky and go after her to try to get back what he had ruined (jealousy bordering on the possessive on her and Potter, without any reason ... or at least she hoped it was). The ex-fiance didn't know how to get to Harry's house, he was never even there, so it was a safe area and free from any public declaration of love that she could win (like that terrible serenade, at three in the morning on the street of Luna's apartment )

Harry liked it too, her company was amazing, the house was not so lonely anymore and now he had reason to return home when training was over. Not in a romantic way - even though he had already fantasized about it when he was 15. And for a millisecond, when they agreed with the idea - but in a friendly and way.

They shopped together, watched series on Harry's free nights, and had fun on the weekends, dancing on tables or climbing on the roof to sing cheesy songs and talk about nothing. Harry knew it would be an incredible experience.

He just didn't expect him to have to lie to her.

The two "met" at the nursery, when they could barely speak a full sentence, and were not sure how human relationships worked. Their mothers worked together at the Hospital, Lily - Harry's mother - and Molly - Ginny's - were doctors in different sectors, the first was a neurosurgeon and the other was a pediatrician, and it was by chance that they discovered that their children had a friendly relationship at the nursery, which meant the two of them playing a lot more time together. They went to the same school, and when they were able to formulate phrases that would allow them to maintain a reasonable dialogue, they became friends.

After that, there was no more day when Harry and Ginny were not seen together.

There were omissions at that time, small lies as when he had a not very friendly dream about her, but nothing that Harry thought would interfere with the functioning of they friendships.

But that ... well, he didn't know much.

Ginny had been so different since she broke up with Dean, buying plants of all kinds and attacking gardeners almost every day now that she had taken a vacation from work - and Harry thought that the leisure time helped the weird mood - she even painted three rooms in his house, claiming that it looked like a hospital that was so white and dull.

He didn't want to see her cry, but so far she hasn't shed a single tear, and after ending a relationship of almost 6 years, some reaction is to be expected. Right?

Maybe that was how she got it out.

The problem was not the changes in the decor, or the garden, or even his own appearance, since she had induced him to grow his hair and beard, no, the problem was that Ginny was the worst gardener Harry had ever had seen.

His mother cultivated one of the most beautiful gardens he was lucky enough to visit, even though he traveled all over the world, he had never seen a better and more organized one like Lily Potter's, always alive and colorful, and even in winter. mother managed to make everything beautiful. His father said that his wife always seemed to be doing surgery on the leaves, such concentration and devotion to the garden.

But Ginny's was just ... a mess.

And it wasn't even because of the mess he would complain about, it was fun to see her full of dirt, with a team cap, and her cheeks flushed with sunshine, talking about the newest acquisition and how she had been doing a good job .. And there lived the lie. Ginny was not doing it well, in fact, she killed far more than five seedlings, Harry was betting his fortune that none so far had survived. Not without him.

After seeing her smiling like a child because flowers were blooming all over the garden, he couldn't stop. Every time one died, or was close to death, he changed and fertilized everything again, following his mother's advice and trying to keep the mess she always left behind. Almost every night, Harry needed to sneak out of his own home to fertilize, water or replant some poor flower that hadn't survived in Gin's hands.

Harry didn't want her to suffer, and it seemed so important that it worked, that he didn't even think about it.

''Another flower was born'' She said smiling, appearing as soon as he opened the back door, the birds singing like crazy in the trees behind the house, the sun shining in the pool and across the garden, as well as in on top of Gin, making it look like a fucking flame lit up "I bought one more .. This one will stay inside" Well, that would be a problem. Harry thought. Being indoors, it ended her chances of not realizing that they were dying.

And that's how he ended up with several plants around the house, all of which were fake. Ginny was still wetting them as if she wanted to drown them, and then, there he was going to buy new pairs or just hope that he could still dry the poor things without mold spots appearing on their fake leaves.

He also continued with the garden work, which didn't seem as organized as his mother's, but was much better than the week he tried to trust Gin's endowments and ended up having to spend two hours taking care of the damage that had been done. .

His house was much greener than it had been in years, there were vines on the walls, a vertical garden in the TV room, and his dining room was almost a nonliving garden. Even though most of them were fake - Ginny had been so excited that she had managed to keep so many of her, always bringing a new one after work - he had realized how happy she was, which made him happy too.

Dean was no longer an issue, eventually Gin cried, after drinking two bottles of wine and watching a sweet romantic comedy on TV, and she was back at work, which left him with more time to replenish and take care of everything.

There were also strange things that Harry didn't want to comment or think about, for example the way he started to notice her legs, or the frequency in which his dreams of her came back as when he was 15, and we wouldn't even talk about that totally strange moment that two looked like they were going to kiss when they went swimming together. Gin was so close ... so fragrant.

But on the current night, when he came in from training later than usual, Harry knew he had been discovered. Maybe it was because of Gin's expression, but he suspected it was because of the plastic flower flying towards him, forcing him to dodge, listening to the clay vase breaking against the wall and the damp earth staining everything.

''Were you mistaken me?!'' she shouted.

Oh, the angry Ginny was always a problem.

''No'' Harry swallowed hard ''Well, yes, but you looked so happy ..'' And one more flower flew

''And instead of telling me I sucked at this, did you prefer to lie?'' Harry thanked that the neighbors were a good distance away, or else they would have noise complaints

''I didn't want to-- '' But he was stopped by another plant flying towards him.

''I thought we were friends'' Ginny sounded all dramatic and painful, as she always did, but Harry didn't want to laugh this time, she seemed to be really serious

''And we are. Gin .. Please put the pot down .. Gin, you looked so happy, and… fuck, I didn't know what to do to help you, you were all weird and nothing really seemed to cheer you up! ... I swear I did it because I wanted to see you smile again'' He said, sounding a lot calmer than he thought he could be. His heart looked like it was about to rip open his chest.

''You did this to ... Harry, you could have told me!'' She spoke a little lower this time, but still loudly

''I didn't want to see you sad!'' His voice came out loud this time ''It makes me sad to see you sad'' They were silent, Ginny looked around the entire room loaded with fake flowers, then at the big window that it overlooked the back of the house, the lit garden was all flowery and alive, seeming to glow in the night. There were roses, jasmines, lilies, and even, varied fruits scattered across the land. All bright and colorful.

Ginny approached, which made Harry instinctively want to take a step back, just to be safe. "You're a fucking romantic noble idiot" Then she kissed him.

#Ginny #harry x ginny #ginny weasley #hinny #hinnyprompt #hinny au #friends to lovers #hp au #Harry Potter #roomates

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alcalavicci · 3 years

Text

1988 interview with Dean. This is a really good one and helps bring more of his life into perspective. Note: the newspaper originally censored his swearing, but I’ve put it back.

Guthman, Edward. "Dean Stockwell: Third Time's a Charm." The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California), August 14, 1988.

“Six years ago, Dean Stockwell's acting career had turned to dust. Reduced to playing parts in unreleasable, made-in-Mexico movies that now make him cringe, Stockwell decided to chuck it all and get out of Hollywood.

“Along with his second wife, Joy, Stockwell moved to Santa Fe, settled down under the wide New Mexico sky and applied for a real estate license. He even placed an ad in Daily Variety to announce his exile: 'Dean Stockwell will help you with all your real estate needs in the new center of creative energy.'

“Stockwell never sold a house; he didn't need to. Instead, almost as soon as he'd relocated, things started happening to the former 1940s child star. It began with a small part in David Lynch's 'Dune,' and escalated with an important supporting role in Wim Wenders' highly regarded 'Paris, Texas.'

“Moving back to California to cash in on his fortune, Stockwell acted in 'Beverly Hills Cop II,' 'Gardens of Stone,' and 'To Live and Die in L.A.' He also played a cameo role, as Howard Hughes, in the newly released 'Tucker: The Man and His Dream.' And in 'Blue Velvet,' David Lynch's American nightmare, he delivered a chilling cameo as Ben, a waxlike, sexually ambiguous drug dealer.

“And now, at 52, Stockwell says he's found 'the favorite role I've had, by far.'

“The picture is 'Married to the Mob,' a dark, romantic comedy by Jonathan Demme ('Melvin and Howard,' 'Stop Making Sense') and Stockwell plays Mafia don Tony 'the Tiger' Russo. Wearing an Al Capone fedora and full-length vicuna coat, Tony is a rich, sardonic, larger-than-life character -- the kind Stockwell has never had a chance to play until now.

“Opening Friday at the Galaxy and UA the Movies, 'Married to the Mob' has been touted as Demme's first shot at a genuine box-office winner. Set in Long Island, New Jersey and Florida, it stars Michelle Pfeiffer as Angela DeMarco, a young Mafia wife who tries to start a new life when her husband, Frankie 'the Cucumber' DeMarco, is pumped full of lead during a hot-tub tryst at the Fantasia Motel.

“When Stockwell's character isn't ordering hits, drug deals and the dumping of toxic waste, he's lusting assiduously after the gorgeous widow. Meanwhile, bumbling FBI agent Mike Downey (played by Matthew Modine) is jumping through hoops trying to shadow Angela and 'catch Tony with his pants down.' Instead, he falls in love with Angela.

“During a recent luncheon interview, not far from his central California home, Stockwell spoke about the film, about his new happiness as the father of two children and about the bizarre trajectory of his long career. Dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and slacks, wearing a Panama hat and drawing first on a cigaret, later on a cigar, Stockwell emanates prosperity and calm.

“'I don't know why I was unemployed so long,' he says, reflecting on a fallow period that started in the '60s and lasted the better part of two decades. 'The only thing I can figure out in my own mind is that, for some reason or another, I was being made to wait until a certain time in my life when my talent would reach its full maturity and fruition.'

“Ironically, he says, he felt just as equipped 10 years ago to do the work he's doing now -- 'only I couldn't get fucking arrested.'

“Today, Stockwell sees harmony in the fact that his new success coincides with the arrival of two children. His son, Austin, will be 5 in November, and his daughter, Sophia, turns 3 this month. Inordinately proud and protective, he refuses to allow his children to be photographed, and also requests that the town in which he and his family reside not be named. (There were no children from his first marriage, to Millie Perkins, which lasted from 1960 to 1962.)

“'I want to make a lot of money and I want to put it away for my children,' he says. To that end, Stockwell has been snapping up job offers. 'A lot of people ask me, "How have you been able to choose these wonderful things you're doing? Have you been very selective?" And I have to tell them, "I haven't been choosing what I'm doing." Things have been coming and I've been accepting virtually anything that's come.'

“Stockwell's ambition is so great that, for the first time in his life, he actively pursues aspects of his career that he once shunned- interviews, for example.

“'My entire motivation in life is my family,' he says. 'I don't need to get an award. I don't need recognition. I've had that already. What I need is to provide. The best way I can provide is to be successful, and the best way I can be successful is to take advantage of all the things at my disposal to achieve that, one of which certainly is press.'

“Take a look at the young Stockwell, specifically the version that emerges from old magazine and newspaper interviews, and you meet another person altogether.

“Robbed of a normal childhood, Stockwell had made 22 films by the time he was 15 -- including 'The Boy with Green Hair,' 'Kim,' 'Anchors Aweigh,' and the Oscar-winning 'Gentleman's Agreement.' Working nonstop, he had a privileged life that millions of children probably envied, but he loathed it nonetheless.

“The son of show-business parents -- his father, Harry Stockwell, was the voice of the Prince in 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' and his mother, Betty Veronica, was a former stage dancer -- Stockwell made his professional debut at 7. It all happened by a fluke: when Stockwell accompanied his older brother, Guy, on a Broadway audition, the casting director took a liking to both boys, and cast each one. The play, aptly enough, was called 'Innocent Voyage,' and it led to an MGM contract for curly-haired Dean.

“From the beginning, the pressure on young Stockwell was intense. His parents had divorced when he was 6, and when his father defaulted on child-support payments, Dean reluctantly became the family provider. Over a six-year period, he averaged three to four films per year.

“At home, he says, 'There was a lot of friction... I was getting all the attention, but I hated it. [Guy] couldn't appreciate that, because he wasn't getting the attention. He had all these friends, his peer group, that he took for granted. I had none and I resented him for being able to live that way. I was fucking lonely.'

“When he was 13, chained to a seven-year contract, Stockwell was described by one magazine as 'a young rebel who despises acting and resents every moment it takes from his fleeting boyhood.' Many years later, Stockwell told columnist Hedda Hopper, 'Child actors exist in a sort of limbo between childhood and maturity and belong to neither. Adults take them too seriously and other children are either awed or hostile. A child actor can find friends in neither group.'

“Finally, Stockwell fled Hollywood when he was 16. He cut off his curly locks, started using his real name, Robert Stockwell, and for the next five years roamed the country, working menial jobs and disavowing his true identity. 'People that might have known me from seeing my films knew me as a young child,' he remembers. 'Now I was 17 and I wasn't that recognizable.'

“Around the time of his 21st birthday, Stockwell was pushing papers as mail boy to a Manhattan plumbing firm. 'Of all the jobs that I'd had in those intervening years,' he remembers. 'I think I hated that worse than anything. I came to the realization I had no training at anything. My primary education was very skimpy, very poor, and happened under the worst type of conditions. I was literally at the mercy of the world.'

“Most of Stockwell's childhood earnings were squandered by crooked accountants, he says, and he knew that the tiny sum being held in a trust wouldn't last forever. 'So I thought, "What am I gonna do? Well, let's go back and attack this [acting career] again, and see if I can do it a little more on my terms."'

“What followed for Stockwell was a brief but impressive 'second career.' He starred in the 1959 film 'Compulsion,' based on the Leopold-Loeb case of the '20s, and won a joint acting award with Orson Welles and Bradford Dillman at the Cannes Film Festival. He played the lead in the 1960 film of D. H. Lawrence's 'Sons and Lovers,' and in 1962 scored the plum role of Edmund Tyrone in Sidney Lumet's film version of 'Long Day's Journey Into Night,' holding his own alongside Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson and Jason Robards.

“Stockwell was winning the best parts, but found his attention drifting elsewhere. What was happening, he says, were the first signs of the '60s youth revolution. 'It captured my imagination as much as anybody's. And it represented to me -- I can see this in retrospect -- something in childhood that I had missed: the freedom and loving being alive, without responsibilities and work and having to report to the studio every day, and deal with fans and interviews and shit that I hated when I was a kid.'

“So Stockwell called his agent, said, 'I'm not workin',' and dropped out once again. When he tried to come back three years later, though, 'I found it very difficult, 'cause I'd been out-of-sight, out-of-mind.' What followed was a long period of marginal employment: He found some TV work, took parts in low-budget trash ('The Dunwich Horror') and occasional oddities (Dennis Hopper's 'The Last Movie') and co-directed a film with musician Neil Young ('Human Highway') but often just didn't work at all. At one point, he went 18 months without a job.

“Today, along with his buddy Hopper, Stockwell is enjoying a major career renaissance. And with his starring role in 'Married to the Mob,' he says, he's never felt more confident.

“'I knew before I started the film that this character was going to work in spades,' he says, adding that Demme, as director, deserves credit for taking a risk with such offbeat casting. Instead of picking Peter Falk, Vincent Gardenia or another ethnically identified actor to play the Mafia don, he went with Stockwell (who is actually half-Italian on his mother's side).

“Demme's inspiration occurred on a flight from Los Angeles to New York, when he opened a copy of the Hollywood Reporter. Stockwell had just changed agents, and in order to announce the fact, had taken out a full-page ad. Demme saw the picture, and instantly recognized his Tony.

“Weirdly enough, Stockwell made another film immediately prior to 'Married to the Mob': a Canadian feature called 'Palais Royale,' due for an October release, in which he plays a character almost identical to Tony Russo.

“'It's very curious,' he says. 'For all my years I'd never had a role like this come my way, and here it was twice. The Mafia don in New York, the Mafia don in Toronto, both of them colorful and charming and also threatening. And I just thought, "What am I gonna do? It's the same character." So I decided to do the same character in both those movies.'

“To take the coincidence 'one nauseating step further,' Stockwell says he's also got a part in the recently completed 'Backtrack,' Hopper's next film. This time he plays a corrupt mob lawyer, dropping the Italian accent for a generalized East Coast sound.

“It would be difficult to find a film actor who's busier than Stockwell at this moment. And it would be difficult to find anyone whose job history better illustrates the vicissitudes, serendipities and insecurity of a Hollywood career.

“Looking back on his misfortunes -- at the career that he was forced to accept as a child, and the humiliation he felt when he couldn't maintain it as an adult -- Stockwell says he's not bitter. 'When you reach your maturity, I think it behooves you to accept the fact that it's absolutely futile and fruitless even to speculate on changing anything in your life. All you can do is get embittered. So I accept everything that's happened as part of my life, and try to push it in a positive direction from the moment right now.'”

#dean stockwell #article #i hear the kid who had plans to get a ranch again in this article :)#i've also been trying to reconcile his working in NYC when he was 21 with what parts he had around then #i think he tried acting again at 19/20 #hated it #got out went to NYC worked that job also hated it #so he went back to acting #then Compulsion helped him accept acting more

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amwritesitall · 4 years

Text

TV Show Preferences for the Sarahs (AHS+Alice+Tammy+Harriet)

Masterlist

None of you asked for this but I have some thoughts lol

Billie Dean Howard

The Lana Winters Special

I stand by this. Billie Dean is a Lana Winters fan

Some nights when she’s up late she’ll turn on a late night talk show

I also feel like Billie would lowkey love game shows?

Like she would love to play along sometimes quietly

Sometimes yelling at the television

Might watch a paranormal show occasionally

But most of the time she ends up getting annoyed at how fake it is

“They’re not even trying!”

“You’re not supposed to do that!?!”

“Billie, maybe we should watch something else?”

Lana Winters

Watches the evening news every night

She likes to remain informed on everything going on

I mean it’s kind of her job to be informed

She watches any special news event

Enjoys the political satire that is sometimes on SNL

Post Asylum Lana wouldn’t watch a lot crime documentary shows about serial killers and such because it would give her flashbacks

She would watch limited series though like Hollywood

She would totally watch Mrs. America

Docu series Hillary

Might watch The Handmaid’s Tale

Cordelia Goode

Cordelia watches TV occasionally to unwind

I don’t think she has many favorite shows though

She’s content just to watch whatever you want to

She just wants to wrap her arms around you and hold you close while you watch your favorite

If it’s a magical show she definitely would crack quite a few jokes on how wrong it is

Bette and Dot Tattler

Bette likes to watch those dramas targeted for teens

Or soap operas

She LOVES the drama

And I feel like Dot would kind of lowkey like them

She’ll roll her eyes but secretly be into it

She likes to guess what’s going to happen next

Dot likes mystery shows

And some spooky shows that cause Bette to hide her face in your shoulder

Sally McKenna

Out of everyone Sally would be most likely to watch American Horror Story

True crime shows

And on the total opposite end of the spectrum she would watch reality TV shows

But she’d get annoyed with the Kardashians

Ru Paul’s Drag Race?

Live tweets whatever she’s watching whether it be a competition show, reality TV, or drama show

Audrey Tindall

Audrey Tindall is a Billie Dean fan so she’s watching Billie Dean’s show

Because they’re married

Audrey strikes me as the one who’d watch a ton of reality TV

Probably watches Project Runway

The Real Housewives

She’s a fan of the Beverly Hills ladies and New York

Below Deck and all of the spin offs

Reality TV is a good way for her to decompress from a stressful day at work

Also seems like she’d watch Dynasty

Audrey loves drama and hot people

Ally Mayfair Richards

Ally cannot watch crime shows like Law and Order: SVU and all that

She is WAY to paranoid

Watches the news religiously

Especially during times of crisis

You have to pull her away from the TV at times to get her to stop dwelling over it

During election years and the time leading up to it, she will watch every single debate and town hall meeting

You and her watch Oz’s shows with him sometimes

So she does know quite a bit about superhero shows

And other random action shows because if Oz likes something, she tries her best to get to know it as well as she can

Wilhemina Venbale

Wilhemina would watch the news every morning before work as she drinks her coffee and every night around dinner time

Mina does not watch TV without a purpose unless you want to watch something

But by herself she will rarely watch TV unless she’s learning something

I feel like she would watch PBS if she isn’t watching the news

She appreciates the period dramas

Masterpiece Mystery

Alice Macray

Would be a regular to the Cooking Channel, Food Network, and HGTV

The Great British Baking Show

At first you don’t see the appeal, but then she insists you watch it with her and you finally get it

The show just radiates good vibes like Alice does

She would also like a good PG sit com

Alice is so pure

Most likely to watch Shark Week?

Would love nature documentaries

Tammy

When does Tammy even get to watch shows that aren’t meant for children?

There is almost always some children’s show on TV

She’s always either with her kids or working on her side hustle

When she finally get’s time for herself, she would be like Alice and watch HGTV

The thought of Tammy watching Shark Tank makes me chuckle

Tammy wouldn’t be opposed to many shows, so she would be alright with whatever you would want to watch

Harriet Hayes

Harriet has some odd work hours so she doesn’t really get to watch that much TV

She would enjoy a light hearted comedy

She tries not to get into shows too much when Studio 60′s not on break

Breaks are the only time she really gets to watch much television

Could be a little into crime shows?

Harriet’s taste in television would be all over the place

And when she really likes a show she’ll binge the hell out of it once she gets the chance

You might like: Sarah’s AHS Characters’ (+Alice, Tammy, and Harriet) Sleepwear or Sarah Paulson’s AHS Characters’ Best School Subjects

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therainroguefanfiction · 4 years

Text

⁂ The Hunter is a Witch (HP/SPN)

Genre: Comedy, Crossover, Supernatural, Magic ☁

Word Count: 2,559 ☁

Pairing: None ☁

World: Harry Potter & Supernatural ☁

Author’s Note: Wrote this a long time ago and planned to write a series about this, but I’ve never been that great at working on series so I just made it a one shot lol

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Snape and I appeared inside a large office filled with books and various other strange items. He called it ‘apparating’ but, honestly, it was just instant transmission like Goku uses from Dragonball Z. I mentioned this fact to him but he only looked at me as if I was insane.

‘Excuse you, but I’m not the one going around recruiting fifteen-year-olds to some magic school.’

“Wait here, and do not touch anything.” He drawled. With a flip of his cloak, he disappeared out the door.

I scoffed in annoyance, running a hand through my short hair. I ventured further into the office when a squawk caught my attention. My eyes jumped to a large bird sitting on a perch near the desk. His feathers, though dominantly red, held highlights of bright orange and yellow. His head was tilted to the side as he watched me almost curiously. I approached slowly, entranced by this strange bird. It seemed familiar, but with all the thoughts running rampant through my mind, I couldn’t quite place why.

My hand suddenly stopped a few inches from its head as I sub-consciously tensed in anticipation for a hit to the back of the head – but it never came. I was so used to Dean smacking me every time I approached a strange creature. Though it was more or less in my younger years that I did so before I learned how dangerous non-human creatures could be.

The bird closed the distance, rubbing its head gently against my fingers until my palm rested against the top of its head. It was warm, much warmer than any other bird I had ever touched. It should un-nerve me because I knew this was no normal bird, but for whatever reason, I felt calm around it. Something told me it had no intention of harming me.

“I see you’ve met Fawkes.”

I spun around, instinctively reaching for the dagger on my hip, only to remember that Snape had refused to allow me any weapons. I cursed the man internally while regarding the man now before me. He was clearly older and wiser than Snape and my brothers. His hair was a mix of gray and white and reached down to his waist. His beard was the same mix of colors and stopped a few inches short of his hair. It was tied with a thin string with beads on the ends. He looked like a typical wizard from books and fairytales.

“Who are you?” I demanded, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his gaze.

He regarded me softly, his eyes twinkling like he knew something I didn’t. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Miss Winchester.”

“Finally?” I questioned, watching him closely as he approached me. Most hunters and non-human creatures knew the Winchester name, that much I understood, but it seemed strange to me that this man knew me. The way he said it made it seem like he had met me before or something.

“Please, have a seat.” He smiled gently, motioning towards the two chairs in front of the desk. “My name is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

I forced myself to relax as I plopped into the seat, watching him from over the desk. I remained silent, waiting for him to begin what I figured would be a long speech.

“I’m sure Professor Snape has already informed you that you’re a witch. You have great magical ability, though it is slightly wild and quite out of hand.” He folded his hands on the desk and I noticed he had nails that were quite longer than I was used to seeing. Maybe it’s a magic thing.

“How is that possible? I haven’t made any contracts with demons.”

He chuckled. “Those that make contracts with demons are not true witches or wizards. They use borrowed power and from a terrible source, no less. No, you are a true witch, born with great power and potential. You are a muggle-born witch.”

“Muggle-born?”

“Muggle-borns are witches and wizards who come from muggle families. That is, non-magic families. It’s quite an interesting situation, though not everyone will agree.” He paused thoughtfully before continuing. “You’re the first hunter born witch in the history of this school, which makes this a fairly new situation for all of us. Because of your status as a hunter, along with your family’s, the Ministry of Magic decided not to allow you to enroll in this school. However, a ministry wizard was assigned to keep an eye on you. I did warn the minister that not allowing you to enroll would prove to be quite dangerous.” He stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“So what’s gonna happen to me?” I shifted nervously.

“After the recent incident involving your power, the minister has agreed that you must be enrolled here so that you may learn to control your power.”

“I don’t have time to go to school. I’ve got more important things to deal with.” I stood up and headed towards the door, stopping only when he spoke again.

“It scares you, does it not? You try very hard to control it, but you have not learned how. When you were fifteen, you injured your older brother by mistake. If you don’t learn to control it, it will only get worse. I’m afraid you will only continue to harm others or end your own life by mistake.”

I froze, my hand hovering over the doorknob. How did he know about that incident? Thinking about it made a pang of guilt rush through me. I remember it clearly. Me and Sam had been arguing over something petty and I got too emotional. Next thing I knew, I felt power rushing through me and Sam was on the floor clutching his arm; it had been broken.

The last thing I ever wanted was to harm my brothers or cause them trouble. They’ve done so much for me – they practically raised my ass. I only wanted to be useful to them…

“How long?” I asked softly.

“Hmm?”

“How long will it take?”

“There are seven years of schooling. Students may choose to stay or go home for the holidays and are sent home over the summer until the next year begins. First years are all eleven years old, so it will be an adjustment not only for you but the other students as well, but given the fact that you have no knowledge of our world, you must begin as a first-year.”

Seven years… that’s a long time. A long time away from my brothers, but… “I have a question.”

“I’m sure you have many, Miss Winchester.” He smiled softly, urging me to continue.

“Do you know about my brother’s situation?” I turned around to face him, surprised by the solemn expression he now wore.

“Yes, I am aware that Dean Winchester has become a demon due to the Mark of Cain.”

I swallowed hard, clenching my hands at my sides. “Is it possible that there’s a… a spell or object or something that may help him?”

“I’m sorry, I do not have an answer for that. He is the first person to find himself in such a situation.” He paused as he approached me, resting his hand on my shoulder. “In exchange for your enrollment here, I will search for a way to try and restore your brother.”

“Fine. I’ll stay.”

“Excellent.” He steered me back to my chair. “We still have much to discuss.”

We spent the next few hours going over the basics of the wizarding world, including what to expect during my stay at Hogwarts. He presented me with my acceptance letter and list of supplies needed and, finally, we were done.

Or so I thought.

“There’s one more thing, Miss Winchester.” Dumbledore walked up the short stairs on either side of the room and retrieved an old looking witches hat. “You must be sorted into your house. I feel it’s best to do so now. There will be quite a bit of attention on you, and I do not wish to make it worse.”

“What’s the hat for?”

“I will be sorting you into your house.” It wasn’t Dumbledore that spoke. No, it was the freaking hat.

I stared at it blankly, wondering if I had gone insane and this was all some psychosomatic episode.

And then the hat started to sing. “You may not think I’m pretty, but don’t judge on what you see! I’ll eat myself if you can find a smarter hat than me! You can keep your bowlers black, your top hats sleek and tall, for I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat and I can cap them all. There’s nothing hidden in your head the Storting Hat can’t see. So try me on and I will tell you where you ought to be!”

Yup, this was definitely a psychosomatic episode.

“You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart. Their daring, nerve and chivalry set Gryffindors apart; You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal. Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil; Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw if you’ve a ready mind, where those of wit and learning will always find their kind; Or perhaps in Slytherin you’ll make your real friends. Those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends.”

I looked at Dumbledore blankly, but he only smiled at me encouragingly.

“So put me on, don’t be afraid! And don’t get in a flap! You’re in safe hands (though I have none), for I’m a thinking cap!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Dumbledore set the hat on top of my head and stepped back, still with that encouraging smile. It was kind of annoying.

“Hmm, interesting. Very interesting.” The hat began. “A hunter, hmm? I’ve always wondered what lurks in the mind of one. Quite disappointing.”

I scoffed. This is ridiculous. How can a hat, and an ugly one at that, tell me anything about myself?

“Is that what you think? I can see everything, Miss Winchester. Yes, you’ve gone through much in your fifteen years. You’ve quite the dark personality. Sarcastic and lazy, but willing to risk your life for the ones you love. Not quick to trust and a terrible temper.”

I could feel my eye twitch in annoyance. Damn hat.

“You’ve got a dark side to you, one that would flourish within Slytherin. Such a brave and courageous heart you have, perfect for Gryffindor. But where to put you? Hmm, this is quite a hard decision.”

“Will you just pick already?”

“GRYFFINDOR!”

I winced. “Did you have to yell? Jeez.”

“Congratulations on being sorted into Gryffindor.” Dumbledore smiled as he removed the hat. “Before I send you off with Professor Snape to get your supplies, I’d like to ask something of you.”

I looked at him warily. “What kind of something?”

“There will be a boy joining Howarts this year, a boy named Harry Potter. He’s a very special boy. I ask that you watch over him and help him when needed, without letting him know that you were asked to watch him. Can you do that for me?”

“What makes this kid so special?”

“I’m sure it won’t be long before you find out.”

“That sounds encouraging,” I muttered to myself before addressing him. “I guess I have no choice. I’ll do it.”

He rested his hand on my shoulder, offering me a gentle smile. “Thank you, Miss Winchester. Now, Professor Snape is waiting to take you to Diagon Alley.”

“What about money? I’m broke.”

He reached into a drawer on his desk and produced a shiny gold key. “It’s been taken care of.”

I took the key and opened my mouth to ask what he meant when the door swung open. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Snape standing there with the same blank expression as earlier.

“Come, we don’t have all day.”

“I’m not a dog.” I scowled, clutching the key in my fist. He grabbed my arm and he used instant transm – I mean, err – apparition and we disappeared from the office only to appear in the middle of a crowded cobblestone path. “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Snape looked at me strangely again. “We’re in Scotland.”

I stopped walking and returned the look. “Scotland. There’s no way, we were just in the States…”

He ignored me and continued walking. I shook my head to regain my senses and rushed after him with an annoyed scowl. I could tell already that this was going to be a long year.

The first place we visited was Gringotts, the Wizarding Bank. Apparently, the whole place is run by Goblins… oh if Dean could see me now. We were taken to ‘my’ vault where I found a shit ton of money waiting for me. I wanted to take it all because I’m not used to having a lot of money at a time. The most we ever have is a few hundred that Dean wins from gambling or stealing, and then the short-term use of credit cards in random names.

Snape pushed me back, however, and took out only two small sacks of coins; they easily fit in my hand and it made me scowl.

“It’s more than enough to get your supplies.” Was all he said as we exited the building.

Flourish & Blotts was next. It was the shop where I would get my books. I pulled out the list of books I would need for my first year.

* The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk * A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot * Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling * A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch * One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore * Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger * Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander * The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Holy shit… that’s a lot of freakin’ books! I groaned as I handed the list to the man who was waiting expectantly.

“These are first year books,” The man stated.

“No shit,” I responded, only to be slapped in the back of the head by Snape.

“The list is correct.” Snape drawled.

Without another word, the man gathered my books and handed them to me. I grunted, thankful that all my training had made me physically strong. My clothes were next. Snape chose to wait near the door as the woman took my measurements. I could see skirts in the background and I instantly shook my head.

“What’s the matter, dear?”

“Can you make me some pants instead of skirts?”

“Well, I can but – ”

“Great. I’ll pay you extra to do so.”

She glanced at Snape nervously but finally agreed. After picking up other equipment, like the cauldron, we set out to get my wand.

A wand… it still seemed so strange to me. I remember that time we fought that couple that were using their powers to get back at each other. They were so powerful that they didn’t even use wands.

Ollivander’s Wand Shop was pretty small, with shelves and shelves of boxed wands. I was actually feeling slightly nervous and I turned to snape, only to find him waiting by the door once again. I scowled at how useless he was being and approached the desk.

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katehuntington · 5 years

Text

Title: The Battle at Taco Bell Fandom: Supernatural Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Reader (POV) Pairing: none Summary: Dean and Reader can be competitive sometimes, even when it comes to food. When she devours her tacos faster than the hunter, he can’t help himself and tries to out do her. Warnings: None, I think. Almost choking on a piece of taco? Dean’s eating habits? Word Count: 572 words (almost a drabble, barely a oneshot) Author’s note: Something fun I wrote. This is comedy; light and goofy. No angst or drama this time.

Every hunter’s gotta eat. A roar so loud that it sounded like something I’d hunt turned out to be in fact Dean’s stomach, complaining about the absence of food. The boys and I got so caught up in tracking leads that neither of us remembered when we last ate today. Fifteen minutes later, I’m sharing a table at Taco Bell, just a mile away from the motel. It’s a hot humid day in Sacramento, California, so we all traded our Fed suits for something a little more casual. I’m aware that I look like a totally different person now that I left my black pumps, blazer and pants in the motel room. The weather has forced me to sport a pair of shorts and a tank top. I’m not a fan of revealing clothing, but I have no idea how the Winchesters survive sweltering temperatures like this, covered in multiple layers of fabric.

It is one of the rare occasions since I started hunting with the brothers, that we exist in complete silence. Satisfied, we eat tacos, and I - since I’m rather hungry - do so in record time. Dean seems to have the same appetite, because he shoves the taco so far in his mouth, that when he bites down on the hard shell, bits of beef and a slice of tomato fall down in the wrapping paper. A little disgusted, Sam stares from one to the other as if he’s watching a tennis match, but I ignore him. Instead I finish my first taco, take a sip from my Pepsi, then start on the next one. Dean isn’t even surprised with my manners; he’s more annoyed by the fact that I’m eating faster than him. He looks up for a moment as I lick the sauce off my fingers after finishing the second one, then he picks up the pace. “Dude! Seriously, a food race?” Sam scoffs. “Wholth?” Dean says with his mouth full.

He swallows his bite, which apparently still contained a large chunk of taco shell. He coughs and hits his chest with his fist, and I can’t help but laugh when I see tears prick in his eyes. “What are you? Five?” I chuckle. “I wasn’t racing you,” Dean mutters, his voice hoarse. “Oh, you so were.” I glare at him victoriously. “But you’re right. You can’t really consider it a race when you lose with half a taco length.” Obviously enjoying myself, I wait for his reaction. As expected he takes the bait. “I wasn’t racing you,” he repeats, pointing his finger at me. “Cause if I was, you would be many taco lengths behind, woman.” “I challenge you to a duel.” I take the next taco in my hands as my piercing eyes provoke the hunter opposite of me in the booth. “Oh, it’s on,” he accepts gladly.

On his turn, Dean dramatically unwraps his third taco without breaking eye contact and then waits, staring at his opponent intimidatingly as if he’s Clint Eastwood in a gun draw duel. Time ticks away on the clock on the wall; Sam leans back amused and crosses his arms in front of his chest. His smile says it all; this he's got to see. To prevent us from killing each other with our competitive table manors, he steps up as the referee. “Oh, what the hell.” he sighs. “Ready. Set. Go.” And so the battle at Taco Bell begins.

Something light and hopefully funny for a change. I hope you enjoyed it!

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pynkhues · 5 years

Note

Love your writing always ❤️❤️❤️❤️ rio making light hearted jokes about Beth being a cougar . Or Beth pta friends or neighbor asking about beths younger bf

Ahhh, this one got long, anon, haha.

Anyway, here you go!

(Quick reminder that Asmita and Lauren are who IMDB tells me are Beth’s S2 PTA mom friends).

Set in The Centre and Circumference / Domestic Fic universe

Despite what she knows Rio will inevitably tell her later, Beth didn’t really have a choice.

Or, well, she did, kind of, but honestly telling Asmita and Lauren that she couldn’t make it to her own leaving party seemed like the exact type of drama Beth was inclined to avoid. Besides, it sort of felt like the end of an era. The school year was over, and with that came the end of her kids’ time at Peach Grove Elementary (and her own time on the PTA) and Marcus’ at Buckley Street Elementary – the promise of Glenvale and a new start waiting at the end of the summer.

If nothing else, Beth was mostly excited too – it felt like the final transition, after all. They’d moved months ago, had gotten the kids settled, had navigated Dean and Laura and the rest of their families, and while none of it had been without hiccups, it had all been surprisingly easy too. So what if she spent a few hours enduring Asmita and Lauren’s banal chatter as they saw her off and out the elementary school doors? Beth might not have felt particularly excited at the prospect, but in some ways it felt like an accurate way to mark the end of this chapter of her life.

(Although Rio had disagreed.

“Just tell ‘em you ain’t interested,” Rio had told her over breakfast at the café down the road from her office, newspaper folded to show just the crossword in front of him, a pen in the hand not holding his fork. “Not like you gonna see any of them again.”

“Except I will,” Beth corrects, taking a sip of her coffee, eyeing off the clues from across the table. “Lauren’s daughter is Emma’s best friend. Four down is Jakarta.”

Rio blinks up at her, eyebrow arched, and Beth tilts her head back to the crossword.

“Four down, capital of Indonesia. It’s Jakarta.”

Rio fills it in.)

And all in all, the party wasn’t exactly bad. The kids were all burning off energy in the playground while the parents hung around the back of the school hall, drinking cheap chardonnay out of paper cups. The PTA had organised a bland spread of gluten-free, sugar-free, flavour-free cakes and slices, a few of the dads manning a smoking barbeque, and Asmita had insisted on an array of gold-toned balloons that looked more nickel beneath the glare of the afternoon sun. (Honestly – what were they going to do without Beth to wrangle all of this?)

At least she wasn’t here alone anyway, Beth thinks, her gaze finding Rio easily across the fray of other parents – his tall, lean form, his navy button-up shirt, his angular handsomeness striking like lightning in the otherwise dull fog of the PTA. He doesn’t look at her, doesn’t even seem to realise she’s looking at him, not with the way his forehead furrows, his lip curled at something Annie must’ve said as he stares down at her and her date. Beth bites back a grin when she sees Rio draw in an unimpressed breath.

Beside her, Asmita snorts.

“Your sister sure knows how to pick them, huh?”

With a quick twitch of her lips, Beth’s gaze drifts away from Rio to where Annie’s date stands beside him, nursing a beer – and just, god, nobody could say her sister doesn’t have a type. Beth wouldn’t look twice at him in an empty room, but he seems sweet enough, and enamoured with Annie, and it wasn’t like he was unattractive – sandy-haired and a little pale, thin, wire-framed glasses propped on a long, narrow nose. He talks a little too quickly, nervously, and had made at least three pop culture references in the space of their five-minute introduction that afternoon which Beth had enough experience to just smile and nod at, but had Rio shaking his head in what Beth was starting to recognise as second-hand embarrassment.

At the thought of Rio, Beth’s gaze slides back to him, and she’s surprised when he meets her look this time, his dark eyes rolling up as Annie’s date babbles beside him. Beth bites back a grin.

“I mean, he is handsome,” Lauren confesses. “But gosh, you know, he looks like he could be in a gang or something. Like in one of those shows on cable.”

And just - - wait. Beth stiffens, turning around sharply to look at Lauren and Asmita, but before she can even get a word out, Asmita shifts closer, tilting her small paper cup at Beth and levelling her with a strange look.

“Speaking of new men,” Asmita says, shoulders raised a little as she leans in towards Beth. “You’ve certainly kept yours on the down low. I feel like last I heard you and Dean were just starting to talk about separating, and now look at you! You’ve let some new beau buy you a house.”

“He didn’t buy me anything, we bought it together,” Beth corrects, but Lauren and Asmita titter excitedly, ignoring her.

“A house near Glenvale,” Lauren enthuses. “I mean, gosh, those are million dollar houses out there.”

The words are enough to make Asmita nod a little too furiously, and Beth turns to reply only to pause when she sees Asmita’s face twist, almost pinched, before she catches Beth looking and smooths it back into a PTA-friendly smile.

“Must be on good money then, huh?” Asmita says quickly, then sing-songs: “Upgrade, am I right? So is he a doctor, dentist, lawyer?”

“Finance,” Beth replies easily, a practiced routine. Her gaze skirts the crowd again, locking in on Annie who’s somehow managed to steal one of the chardonnay bottles from the catering table and is liberally topping up her own cup. “He made his fortune young, now mostly invests.”

With a happy gasp, Lauren throws out a hand to paw at Beth’s arm.

“Oh my god, an investor. Like, a Silicon Valley type?”

Beth opens her mouth to reply, but Asmita doesn’t give her the chance to.

“How’d you meet him?”

“Grocery store,” Beth says with a shrug. “I…accidentally picked something up that belonged to him. You know how it goes.”

“Ohmygod, Beth! You are like, a total Meg Ryan right now. Total romantic comedy moment. Or - - what do people call it? A sweet meet?” Lauren gushes, while Asmita makes a strange noise in the back of her throat.

“Meet cute,” she corrects, eyeballing Beth, and Beth takes a sip of her cup of wine, dragging her gaze away from Annie and looking back out across the park to where the kids are playing now, laughing as they chase each other around the climbing frame. Even Marcus has gotten in on the action, Beth thinks with a grin, pleased to see him chattering with Jane at the top of the slide.

“That’s it! You know, it reminds me a little of me and my Steven – we met at a football game, back when I was still cheering. He was working in management - -”

“Please, he was managing the hot dog stand,” Asmita says with a snort, and Beth jerks her gaze away from the kids to look at Lauren, who’s blushing bright now, swallowing thick as her hands tighten around her cup of wine. Beth purses her lips, not even looking at Asmita.

“But he was barely twenty-one back then, wasn’t he?” she says loudly, smiling at Lauren. “Managing anything at twenty-one is pretty impressive. Besides, I’ve heard nothing but incredible things about his new restaurant.”

Her words are enough to make Lauren practically glow back at her, and Beth’s smile settles into something a little more natural at the reply, even if she now just wants to tell Asmita exactly how ugly the balloons she’d chosen were. Not worth it, Beth reminds herself, sucking in a breath, but then again - - it really would feel pretty good.

Before she can think any more of it, there’s a hand at the small of her back, and she turns in time to see Rio slide into view beside her, leaning in to kiss her chastely on the lips.

“’Ey,” he says, grinning against her mouth, and Beth can’t quite chase off her own grin in time as he leans back to reveal the wide-eyed looks of both Lauren and Asmita, and - - right, Beth thinks, standing up a little straighter. She clears her throat, turning back a little to better face them, as Rio’s hand drops down her back a little further so that it’s resting less at her tail bone and more at the upper swell of her ass. He balls his hand in her dress, making it bunch a little, before smoothing it back down. Beth resists the urge to slap his hand away, because god, if this is absolutely not the time or place.

“Lauren, Asmita, this is Christopher, Christopher, Lauren, Asmita,” Beth gestures back to the girls, and Rio tilts his chin up at them in acknowledgement, and she sees it – the way he seems to unpack them instantly, his gaze lingering a little longer on Asmita’s curled lip than Lauren’s wide eyes. He holds out a hand to Lauren.

“Nice to meet you,” he drawls, and Lauren flusters, but takes his hand and returns the sentiment.

“Wow, you are not what I was expecting when I heard Beth had herself a boyfriend,” Lauren stutters, and then blushes, glancing at Beth apologetically. “I just mean, you’re very - -” her eyes flick over Rio’s face, his neck tattoo, the bracelets on his wrists, his converse, and everything all those things imply, before she settles on: “Young.”

And well, Beth thinks, resigned. She certainly could’ve said something worse. She lets herself glance over at Rio, who mostly just looks intensely amused, tilting his head, which only serves to keep Lauren talking, a bundle of nervous energy.

“I just mean to - - to be an investor,” Lauren babbles, her tone reaching a higher pitch, her hands flailing, her cheeks pink. “Beth said you - -”

“Beth was just saying you worked in finance,” Asmita interjects, giving Rio a long, pointed once over, and god, Beth thinks, annoyance sparking in her gut. Has she always been this much of an asshole? She frowns, opens her mouth to reply, but Rio smoothly moves his hand from her ass to curl around her hip, pulling her into his side.

“Yeah, somethin’ like that,” he drawls, almost bored, and Asmita must pick up on it, because next thing she’s tilting up her nose, eyes unblinking.

“My husband actually works in accounting – for Shepherd and Sons.”

“Good firm,” Rio replies easily, and Asmita blinks, surprised, before quickly recovering.

“One of the best in Detroit.”

Sucking in his lower lip, furrowing his brow, Rio nods in a way that Beth hopes reads as considering instead of condescending.

“One of, sure,” he replies, tone loaded, and Beth resists the urge to elbow him in the side.

Thankfully, Asmita doesn’t seem to pick up on the undertone of Rio’s words, instead she seems to preen, her husband’s status firmly re-established, and god, Beth had forgotten she’d be like that. She’d mostly laid off the comparisons after Beth had told her she and Dean were divorcing, but suddenly she’s having flashbacks of Asmita sniffing that Boland Motors was a cute little family business but really, if Dean was more ambitious he’d be looking at climbing the ladder in an established, name-brand dealership like Toyota or Mazda, like Martin was at the Shepherd and Sons firm.

“You might know him, actually, if your background’s in finance. He was interviewed for an article in The Detroit Economist a few months ago.”

Rio just shrugs.

“Maybe. Think Elizabeth probably woulda told me though, huh?”

And god, both Asmita and Lauren’s eyebrows shoot up at that.

“Elizabeth,” Asmita says, a look of disbelief on her face. Her eyes skirt quickly to Beth, as if asking is this guy for real? before settling back on Rio. “A little formal.”

“Mmm,” Rio hums. “Was raised to respect my elders, y’know?”

He gives Lauren a playful grin at that, making her blush furiously, and Beth resists the urge to roll her eyes. The words are enough to make Asmita laugh though, something too loud and put upon, and Beth catches Rio’s look back at her, his lips twisted in something that tells her Asmita’s reaction was exactly what he wanted, and just. God, she wishes he was less obvious when he wanted to put people in their place.

“You certainly have made a regular Mrs Robinson out of our Bethie, huh? Of course, Mrs Robinson wasn’t the one who shacked up with her boy toy in the end, was she?” Asmita says, voice still a little loud, and just - - what? Any sympathy for Asmita flies out the window as Beth almost swallows her tongue in mortification, her body stiffening even as Rio’s grip stays firm on her hip. He stares back at Asmita, something between amusement and clear disregard colouring his features.

“Asmita,” Lauren hisses behind her, but Asmita ignores her, looking smugly between Beth and Rio, her shoulders set back firmly, and right, Beth thinks. It’s time to go. Before she can summon up an excuse though, Rio’s leaning forwards a little, his eyes bright.

“Oh, you lookin’ for tips, baby?” Rio asks Asmita suddenly. “Don’t blame you. Can’t be easy bein’ married to a guy at a second-rate firm like Shepherd and Sons. Gotta say though if you lookin’ to pick up some college-aged side piece, I’d probably take the basic bitch act down a notch.”

“Okay!” Beth says loudly, over Asmita’s gasp of outrage, grabbing Rio’s hand. “We really need to go check on the kids. Lauren, still on for the play date next week?”

Lauren nods, eyes wide all over again, staring between Rio and Asmita, as Beth waves them off and drags Rio down towards the playground and the kids. She waits until they’re out of earshot to glare up at Rio.

“That was rude.”

“She was rude,” Rio counters easily, untangling his hand from hers to drape his arm over her shoulders instead. Beth huffs at the weight of it, still glaring at him, and Rio just rolls his eyes. “You’ve never had any problem callin’ me out, why you play polite around that shit?”

And, well. Isn’t that the million-dollar question? She bites her lip, looking away. Somewhere behind her, she can hear Annie laughing, can hear the sizzle of the barbeque and the sounds of children playing, and if it were anyone else - - hell, if it was them a year ago, she’d probably have changed the topic. As it is, Beth sighs.

“I don’t know,” she says. “Had to see them all the time, I guess.”

“And you ain’t seein’ me all the time? Mama, you wakin’ up to me, ain’t you?”

Beth rolls her eyes, reaches a hand sideways to jab a finger at his side, to the one spot she knows is ticklish, relishing in feeling him twitch at her side.

“I just can’t believe you’ve seen The Graduate,” she adds instead of elaborating any further, and Rio grins, dart quick, before swallowing it. Honestly, she can’t. She thinks she can count on one hand the number of movies Rio’s seen, and most of them involve Minions thanks to the kids.

“Maybe she wasn’t entirely wrong about the Mrs. Robinson thing,” he replies easily, and Beth blinks, turning enough beneath his arm to stare at him again.

“You like older women?” she asks, then corrects it, nose scrunching up in disbelief. “You like that I’m older?”

Rio just laughs, the sound lyrical through the fray of the event.

“Like the whole package, you know that.”

It’s enough to make her squint up at him, making a noise of disbelief, before saying:

“Some parts more than others.”

And that just makes him hum in agreement, and then, quick as anything, the hand attached to the arm draped over her shoulders, slips down the neck of her dress and gropes her breast, and even though she yelps, really, she should’ve figured he would’ve taken that as an invitation.

***

And okay, it’s not like the thought takes up that much space in her head, just that it floats back to the surface later that night, when she’s straddling him in bed.

“You really like that I’m older?” Beth asks, a little breathless, and Rio blinks up at her face, tearing his gaze away from where he’s rolling her nipple between two fingers.

“You like that I’m younger?” he counters, and really, it’s not something she’s thought about recently, and back when she had, it had mostly come with a degree of embarrassment – at being so much less experienced than him in almost every capacity except child rearing, at wanting him so much, at being made fun of for it, at being some sort of desperate joke to him and his boys. Before she can work out how to say that though, Rio rolls his hips up beneath her. “Like bein’ a cougar, yeah?”

Beth rolls her eyes, but can’t quite hide her blush at the thought.

“Like bein’ a MI- - “

She drops her hands to cover his mouth.

“Do not finish that,” she hisses, and Rio laughs beneath her hand, the sound dampening her palms, and she gasps when he thrusts up into her, tilting forwards, and then before she can better balance herself, he’s rolled them over, grabbed her wrists, held them above her head as he pulls almost the whole way out and then sinks slowly back into her, drawing a low, guttural moan from her in the process.

The thought mostly leaves her mind until afterwards, when Rio flops down on the bed beside her, stretching a little, his long, leonine body curving effortlessly against the sheets. Beth rolls onto her side to watch him - - god, she loves watching him move - - before pursing her lips.

“What is it about that, anyway?” she asks. “The whole mom you’d like to - - older woman thing.”

The question is enough to make Rio roll onto his side to face her, hand finding the dip of her waist, settling there.

“Dunno,” he says lightly, stroking his hand down from her waist, up to the peak of her hip. He makes a noise of appreciation that still surprises Beth. He likes this – likes feeling every curve, memorising them with his touch, and Beth - - well, Beth likes that he likes it so much, even if it had taken her longer than she cared to admit to get used to it. Dean had always seemed to use touch as a means to fuck her, disentangling as quickly as he could after he’d had her. She doesn’t think Rio would ever stop touching her if she let him. “Idea of bein’ taken care of maybe.”

Beth furrows her brow at that, blinking in surprise, her gaze darting over Rio’s face, searching for any sort of insinuation or request in it, but he’s as much of a mystery as ever, so in the end, she just asks:

“You want me to take care of you?”

His reaction is instant – he snorts, shakes his head.

“Fuck no,” he says, and then looks at her, levels her with an expression that can only be described as lewd. “Maybe,” he corrects, shifting a little closer towards her, enough she can feel his cock twitch at her thigh, and Beth rolls her eyes, but can’t quite help her grin as she lowers her hand to glide through the thin line of hair from his belly button to his crotch.

And it’s later still, when he says:

“Wouldn’t matter.”

And Beth’s panting underneath him again now, writhing up to get closer to him, when he pulls away a little, and Beth looks up at him through her lashes.

“What?” she asks, twitching back a little self-consciously, and Rio just shakes his head.

“Wouldn’t matter if you were twenty-six or sixty-six, age - - just a fuckin’ number. But you. Ain’t nothin’ just about you.”

And it’s just - - it’s the way he looks at her when he says it, his gaze fixed on her, soft and dark and not like anything she’s ever felt before, but nothing with Rio is anything she’s ever felt before, and before she can stop herself, she’s surging up to kiss him, tangling her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

“Nothing just about you either,” she says breathlessly, and Rio grins against her lips, brushing his nose against hers as he thrusts into her, and Beth just holds him closer still.

#beth x rio #my fic #the center and circumference #domesticity #beth boland #rio #pta moms #welcome to my ama

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moonlightmadnessreviews · 5 years

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Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: PG-13 Horror Done Right

This review is meant to scare viewers out of missing the movie discussed therein. At the end of the review, pause and then scream at the top of your lungs to make sure your friends know to go see it! Directed by André Øvredal and produced by Guillermo Del Toro, this summer’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark has found more ways than one to make the monsters of our childhood leap off the page. Like many movie-goers my age, I was an avid fan of the Scary Stories series of books, so I was more than a little excited to see how this movie would adapt the creepy tales. The end result is a fun, PG-13 ride that accomplished the same goal as the books, which is to turn young kids into fans of horror and the macabre!

Author Alvin Schwartz first published Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark in 1981. A collection of camp fire ghost tales, folklore and urban legends, Schwartz found a way to make scary stories accessible to a young audience. I can still remember walking up to the books at each year’s book fair, flipping through the pages of the book and putting it back down once I’d sufficiently creeped myself out. I wouldn’t be brave enough to check one of the books out of the library until just before a road trip to Niagara Falls in my early teens. I read the stories the whole way there, transfixed by Stephen Gammell’s illustrations, which have become just as iconic as the stories themselves.

The movie follows teens Stella, Auggie, Chuck and Ramón as they explore the home of local legend Sarah Bellows, accidentally unleashing her vengeful spirit and the book she uses to curse the local town’s folk of Mill Valley. The cast of young actors did an exceptional job through out, getting a few good laughs, great scares and quite a bit of emotion from their performances. Michael Garza stars as Ramón, Gabriel Rush does a great job playing the “everything has a ration explanation” character of Auggie, Natalie Ganzhorn and Austin Zajur play siblings Ruth and Chuck respectively, Austin Abrams plays obnoxious bully Tommy and Zoe Colleti stars as the shy but strong final girl Stella. Along with creating some great scares and good tension, I loved seeing how Dan and Kevin Hageman‘s screenplay dealt with themes of alienation. Ramón faces racism and sideways glances, a member of the Bellows family staff is blamed for teaching Sarah black magic (much like in the Salem Witch Trials) and Stella deals with her mother abandoning her and her father, played by none other than Dean Norris. The only heavy handed performance came from Zajur who serves as the comedic relief, though I feel that may have more to do with the script itself. At time it feels like he was directed to act as dopey as possible to help sell the comedy but as heavy handed as it was, it never felt annoying.

A spooky atmosphere was achieved throughout with the help of music by Marco Beltrami and Anna Drubich. The film captures the same kind of wonder and fear felt in the books through beautiful and haunting cinematography from Roman Osin. Øvredal, who’s previous film The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a must watch, manages to give the film a wonderfully gothic look, especially within the home of Sarah Bellows. The set design reminded me of Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak, and you could almost smell the pumpkin spice and burning leaves when exploring the town of Mill Valley.

I couldn’t get through this review without mentioning the amazing special effects work. I’m a huge fan of practice effects, as I feel it helps to get a genuine reaction from actors when they have a physical horror to react to and, when done well, the effects look amazing on screen. Veteran special effects artist Norman Cabrera and effects studio Spectral Motion helped to recreate some of the most iconic monsters from the book series with striking accuracy. It also helps that they had the talented, and horrifying, Troy James as The Jangly Man and Javier Botet as a corpse in search of their big toe, each bringing amazing physicality to their respective monsters.

Re-reading the books in preparation for the movie, I was surprised by Schwartz refusal to pull his punches when it came to the scares. Furthermore, though the set up and delivery of the stories were rather simple and to the point, it never felt like Schwartz was talking down to his readers. The series is really rather adult for a being a collection of what were scary stories for children. Though the movie takes a similar approach, there is a fair deal of hand-holding and exposition. You can tell they’re trying to make the film easy for its intended PG-13 audience to follow. I wouldn’t say this aspect of the movie can be overlooked, as it’s fairly blatant in some parts, but its excusable as it doesn’t feel insulting to the audience.

This is certainly balanced out by the fact that the scares really push the boundaries of the film’s PG-13 rating, the “Teenage Scarecrow” scene being a great example. I originally expected the movie to be an anthology akin to movies such as Creepshow or Trick r Treat, but I’m glad they came up with a way of weaving individual Scary Stories into the overarching plot. Del Toro himself said they decided against an anthology because:

“Anthology films are always as bad as the worst story in them — they're never as good as the best story. I remembered in Pan's Labyrinth, I created a book called 'the Book of Crossroads'. I thought it could be great if we had a book that reads you, and it writes what you're most afraid of. Then the theme became stories we tell each other."

While horror movies seem to be more mainstream than ever, more and more cash grab horror movies are being released (see The Curse of La Llorona, The Nun and The Bye Bye Man) in an attempt to capture the PG-13 crowd. These movies are often filled with vacant characters, horrible scripts, and nothing but jump scares that lead to laughter rather than tension. This is exactly where Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark excels! A movie that knows it’s audience, builds tension and uses jump scares as effectively as possible with characters you actually care about, Scary Stories is a refreshing horror movie for young audiences. Øvredal and company have shown that it’s possible to create a “Baby’s First Horror Movie” experience without being mindless and vapid. Like the books the movie is based on, I’m excited to see younger audiences really latch onto this movie and develop a love for horror because of it.

Rating: 4 Full Moons out of 5 🌕🌕🌕🌕

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caranfindel · 5 years

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Recap/review 15.02: “Raising Hell”

THEN: Sam shot God! Welcome to the end. Demon!Jack. Last week's non-scary ghosts or spirits or whatever. Strangely missing from the "Then:" Sam's godhole vision. It's actually a very short "Then." Maybe the episode itself is so good, so crammed full of wonderful things, that the "Then" had to be kept brief to make room for all of it.

Or then again, maybe not.

Now. We're still in Harlan, Kansas. A woman holding a scarf over her nose and mouth sneaks into the forbidden zone, and is startled by a neighbor. Or "neighbor." She's seen Close Encounters and knows the benzene story is fake (but if it was true, lady, I don't think that scarf would save you). And yet she's apparently never seen a horror movie, because the fact that her "neighbor" is silently and creepily staring at her doesn't raise any alarm bells. He stabs her a few times and then smokes out into an old-timey ghost who says "Disembowel. D-I-S-E-M-B-O-W-E-L. Disembowel." Well. Okay. She certainly doesn't look disemboweled, but I'll take your word for it. I mean, you spelled it and everything.

Title card. (BTW, you need to check out this very through breakdown of everything you're missing in the title card. It's fantastic.)

Nighttime. Harlan High School. Sam is large and in charge, but the people are restless. And apparently there are "hunters in the zone." Sam gets everyone's attention and tells them the EPA will be here tomorrow (a lie) and they need to stay out of the zone (the truth) and is adorably befuddled when he asks if there are any questions and everyone raises their hand. He's wearing a huge chain around his neck and, unfortunately, has gone back to the undershirt.

[[MORE]]

The zone. Dean and Belphagar. Dean's EMF meter is going crazy, and Belphagar says there are spirits about (are they ghosts? souls? spirits?) but they don't like him so they skedaddled. (Do we believe that?) Dean can't believe he's working with a demon again, and Belphagar can't believe he's working with a hunter, and it's the classic buddy comedy all over again. Except it's not a comedy and they're not buddies. (Do I miss Metatron?) He reminds us that his rationale for working with hunters is that he liked Hell the way it was. (Do we believe that?)

There's a fiery blast at the zone border, and even though Dean was facing it and Belphagar was facing in the other direction, Belphagar is the one who points it out and says "escape attempt, eleven o'clock." The bad guys can't cross the barrier, but rock salt can, which is convenient. Dean blasts a spirit away, who I believe is the same one from the "Then" but I can't be bothered to confirm and is relieved that the warding still works. Belphagar expositions that it won't last forever, and these ghosts/spirits/whatever are more dangerous than average. For example, the ghost Dean just shot was Francis Tumbelty, aka Jack the Ripper.

(Sidebar: Okay, I did actually rewind and use closed-captioning to confirm what Jack said, because what I heard was Francis Tomelty. And here's how my brain works: I can't remember my kid's phone number, I can't remember my license plate number, I can't remember to call the guy to fix the garage door opener, but I do remember that musician Sting's first wife was named Frances Tomelty. That's how useless my brain is. But Wikipedia confirms that Francis Tumbelty is, in fact, a Jack the Ripper suspect.)

I know, Dean, I feel the same way.

High school. It's daylight now. The citizens are still restless, someone's wife is "missing," the benzene story is wearing thin (sidebar: I'm still using captions, and they misspelled benzene,) and people are plotting an escape.

Zone. Ghosts/spirits/whatever are gathering in one of the houses. Francis Tumbelty, who does not have a British accent (but it turns out he was born in Ireland but raised in America so okay, I guess someone did their research), informs the group that they were released from Hell by God himself. And all of these spirits know what hunters are. And Belphegar's name is actually Belphegor. Well. So much to learn tonight. Tumbelty says they need to gather the spirits who are still in hiding. And they can break the warding because "Warding is a door, doors have locks, locks have keys." Actually, the analogy I would have used is that warding is a lock but WHATEVER. Their plan is to "make it as ugly as possible for those who stand guard." Well, the ineffective spooky makeup will help.

Outside. Hunters are patrolling the perimeter. Civilians sneak out of the bushes and then walk right down the middle of the dang street. And then meet a couple of very unscary ghosts. Oh no, what will happen?

I don't know, because we cut back to the high school. They found the first woman's body, and Cas thinks they need to tell her family, and Sam's all, can't do that yet, people are gonna panic. They're interrupted by the arrival of Rowena, which was a surprise to me because I covered the guest star credits. Although it shouldn't have been a surprise, since Dean called her for help in the previous episode. (See how useless my brain is?) She pretends to be more interested in Cas than Sam but I'm not fooled.

Sam says "Remember a couple of years ago when we were trying to get rid of Amara," as if that's how the conversation would go, as if that's anything either of them would need to be reminded of. What he really would have said was "You know the soul bomb you made for Amara? We need another one of those."

WHATEVER.

They don't want to use it as a bomb, they just want a way to capture the ghosts. Rowena thinks it would be too difficult, but they're interrupted by someone who tells Sam they have "a situation."

Zone. The situation is that the two civilians are facing down Dean and Belphegor. And apparently they've been standing there long enough for Sam to actually show up at the zone, which is miles away from where he was. WHATEVER. Dean explains that the guy is married to the woman who was D-I-S-E-M-B-O-W-E-L-E-D earlier and came to look for her. (BTW, we're almost 10 minutes in, and this is the first scene with Sam and Dean together.) Sam, in his kind way, tells them they need to go back to the school. Then black goo drips out of their eyes and Dean realizes they're possessed. The whole standing-and-staring part didn't clue him in (WHATEVER) but now he gets it.

Bowlegs! Hair blowing in the breeze! Something for everyone!

Tumbelty appears and tells them if they don't open the warding, the spirits are going to kill these two civilian vessels. The civilians drop to the ground, groaning in pain, and I remember back when the guys would have let the spirits out in order to save two innocent people. Or at least would have been conflicted about it. (WHATEVER.)

However, some unexpected shots ring out, sprinkling the possessed civilians with... confetti? How festive. Tumbelty zaps out and the Winchesters and Belphegor turn to see none other than Arthur Ketch. Who is also a surprise to me. I guess that gig as an insurance agent didn't work out. Dean seems ridiculously annoyed to see him. Ridiculous considering that they were working together fairly recently. (WHATEVER.)

And now, since none of my regular download sources worked out and I'm forced to rewatch on the CW app, I'm sitting through commercials. Like a goddamn animal.

Back at the school. Ketch says he just happened to be in the area when they sent out the call for hunters. Dean's still not pleased. What is his problem? Am I forgetting something? Did they leave on bad terms? His gun, stolen from the BMoL, shoots iron flakes. Which somehow expels the spirit without hurting the vessel. He and Rowena reacquaint themselves, and she holds no hard feelings against him regarding the whole prisoner thing, since he let her escape. Well, you actually bought that escape, Rowena, but okay. There is an uncomfortable level of eyefucking, as least as far as the Winchesters are concerned.

Belphegor shows up and they have to explain to Ketch that Jack is dead and oh, Sam's face, when he says "dead." This is the first time this episode has made me feel anything. Well, anything good. And it turns out Ketch was actually contracted by "an attractive female demon" (seriously, that just means a demon in an attractive female vessel but WHATEVER) to kill Belphegor. Her name is Ardat and I guess she's gonna show up later. Yawn.

At least sad Sammy is good.

Reno? I laughed and said ha ha, I wonder if Amara is here and it turns out she is! (Because, again, I covered the guest stars.) She's getting a massage. Her maseusse is replaced by Chuck, who looks about 10-20 years younger than he did the last time we saw him. (Just for Men. Find it in the men's section.) She's annoyed with his presence. He's rambling. He liked the Game of Thrones ending, which I guess is supposed to signal what an awful hack of a storyteller he is. Or to warn us that we won't like the ending of our own Show. Or both.

High school. Poor Cas has to lie to Restless Citizen #3 that they're looking for the other missing citizens. "You said you'd keep us safe!" the guys says. That cuts deep, man. Meanwhile, Rowena has given Dean a shopping list. She asks him about Ketch, even though, as Dean points out, they've obviously met. "That was more of a torturer-torturee relationship. Fun, but I didn't really get to know him." But Dean doesn't want to play matchmaker, and says she shouldn't get involved with Ketch. "I mean, Sam is right here," he says. "Why don't you guys get off high center and do it?" (No, not really.)

Cas comes up behind Dean, all rumpled and sad and wanting a hug, and he apologizes for "dropping the puck." Dean doesn't want to hear it. He's so very angry, at Cas and at Chuck and at his life being one giant rat maze. Cas doesn't think their whole existence has been a lie, because even though they were in a maze, they were still living their lives in that maze. That's what life is. Chuck sets up the obstacles, but they still run their own obstacle course. Dean doesn't accept this.

It's interesting that Dean is the one who's taking the truth about Chuck so hard. Sam and Cas were the ones who had faith, and you'd think they'd be knocked harder by the realization that there was never a benevolent God. But on the other hand, Sam's so used to being manipulated by outside forces; this is nothing new to him. And Cas has already seen how the sausage is made. So they're both just, yeah, this is how it is, let's deal with it.

However. I'm not feeling the Dean-Cas conflict at all. I don't really care. And I suspect it's going to be a Big Deal. {sigh}

I’m definitely feeling angry Dean. So much.

Zone. Nighttime. Dean and Ketch are on patrol. I mean, I guess it makes sense to leave Chief Sam in charge at the school, but I'm tired of the guys being split up. Dean gives Ketch one of the giant chains they've been wearing, and says it's iron, to prevent possession. Wow, that would be a heavy chain. They talk about God and Rowena, and then Dean gets a text message. "Trouble. Two hunters haven't checked in." Uh oh!

Meat packing plant. Seriously? There is a meat packing plant in the middle of this residential area? So many chains hanging from the ceiling. I wonder what kind of cage flashbacks Sam would have in here. (And if you fic that, I'd like to be notified, please and thank you.) Dean and Ketch search the place and then it gets cold and then Ketch is hurled against a wall. Hard. Lizzie Borden appears, prepared to take an ax to Dean's head, but an electronically altered voice says "Stop! Get out!" She zaps out and we see the voice belongs to... Kevin???

Turns out when Chuck said he was sending Kevin to Heaven, he lied. Um. Why? What's the rationale for this? I mean, he did things to make a good story, but what was the purpose of sending Kevin to Hell and not letting the Winchesters (or anybody else) know? Dean promises they'll get him to Heaven, and Kevin accept this happily, because Kevin knows that Dean always takes care of him, as promised. (Ha.) Kevin can feel the wards weakening, but he doesn't know if the other spirits can detect it. And the other spirits are afraid of Kevin because he was personally cast down by God. Um. Okay. WHATEVER. But this tells Dean they can use him as a spy.

Reno. Chuck is flipping through channels, and he spends a couple of seconds watching a cooking show where the recipe involves tripe. Which is so meta, isn't it?

He's whiny. I'm over it. So is Amara. And she suddenly detects (WHATEVER) that he needs her for some reason. She can feel his own version of the godhole? She pokes at it and it hurts. "Something happened. You're not complete. You're not at full strength."

Zone. Sam doesn't think using Kevin is safe. Well, he's already dead, so. Belphegor shows up and they're all, your wards are failing and he's all, duh, I told you that was happening, I thought you heroes would have this wrapped up by now. (Are they really fading due to the nature of wards, or is this deliberate? Discuss.) And this spell was a one-time thing - he can't do it again. Because...? We'll never know, because neither brother asks. WHATEVER.

This conversation is like some people. Stupid but pretty.

Belphegor knows Kevin and calls him a "whiny millenial" and my goodness, he gets around a lot for a low-level grunt, doesn't he? He tells the guys that Kevin can't get into Heaven because once a soul is cast into Hell, Heaven can't take it. I am quite sure that Show has forgotten about John and Bobby, who both accomplished that very thing, and I'm shocked to find Show actually address this. Belphegor says God made an exception, and that isn't likely to happen again, since God doesn't like them any more. Oh no! The only way to fix this is if someone else takes over for God!

Reno. Chuck checks out his own godhole, which looks just like Sam's. He pokes at it and winces in pain.

Zone. Sam feels pain in his own godhole. Because they're connected! He lies that he's okay and it's getting better and Dean's all yeah, right.

Sam, for a professional liar, you are so bad at it.

Zone. Spirit meeting. They know the wards are fading. Tumbelty thinks they should attack at a weak point, rather than waiting for the whole thing to collapse. Kevin shows up. They all know him, and some fear him. But Tumbelty knows he's buds with the Winchesters. Because all these spirits know the Winchesters. You know, I can understand all the demons knowing who they are. That's justified. But every resident of Hell? I'm not feeling it. WHATEVER.

High school. More heavy flirting between Rowena and Ketch. Somehow Ketch knows something she doesn't know - that a jolt of electricity will fast-forward her spell. Can we just skip this part? It makes as much sense as the Rowena/Gabriel detour when they were trying to open the rift. They're interrupted by a call from Dean, who demands she hurry. Yes, please.

Zone. Rowena shows up with a bag and runs right into Tumbelty. Who knows her. Because they used to date. All this romance for Rowena, and Sam's still sitting alone at the high school. Come on, Ro. Climb that mountain. Tumbelty tells her they've got Kevin, and sends a message for the Winchesters to meet them at their spirit house. Ketch shows up behind him, with his iron confetti gun, and blasts him, but Tumbelty whacks him with a rock. However, Rowena escapes.

{Commercial time. Zombieland 2 looks good.}

TFW is finally all together. Rowena tells them about Kevin. Dean asks if she has the soulcatcher, and for some reason, Sam has a problem with the name soulcatcher. I suppose this was supposed to be humorous. She does, but she doesn't know if it will work.

Spirit house. Winchesters show up. Tumbelty says if they shut down the warding, he won't devour Kevin. They say no. Tumbelty sticks his hand into Kevin, and this takes a really really long time, but Rowena finally shows up with the crystal and catches all of their souls. Boy, it's a good time devouring Kevin's soul took so very, very long. Rowena tells them this crystal isn't as powerful as the earlier version, and can only gather a few souls at a time. In fact, some of the souls here got away. Oooh, I wonder who.

Kevin tells them about the plan to break through the warding at the weakest point. Jump to the weakest point. There are at least 100 spirits there, according to Belphegor, and more are coming. Dean brings his gun up when someone approaches, but it's only Ketch. Oh, good, he escaped safely from Tumbelty's clutches! How fortunate. It's odd that he's no longer wearing that huge iron chain, though.

Dean tries shooting at the spirits they can't see, but Belphegor tells him there are too many. So Rowena goes forth with her soulcatcher. She still seems to be on this side of the warding, which means she's able to drag the souls through the barrier. I wonder if it would have worked better if she'd gone past the barrier. Then Ketch backhands her because, SURPRISE SURPRISE, he's actually possessed. He drips black goo from his eyes, just to confirm, and picks up the soulcatcher. Dean tries to shoot him, but is conveniently out of ammo. Tumbelty!Ketch monologues and then Dean pulls out his handgun and shoots him and he... tosses the soulcatcher to Dean? Drops it horizontally? Somehow, the thing ends up flying into Dean's hand.

WHATEVER.

(Or did Ketch toss it to him once he was depossessed? Discuss.)

Rowena takes it back and sucks up the few visible souls, including Tumbelty's. Yay! Success! Is Ketch alive? Dunno!

Time jump. Ketch is alive, with only a wounded shoulder, and is being loaded into an ambulance. Cas tells Sam that he tried to heal him, but couldn't. "You're just tired," Sam says. "We all are." Oh, I don't think so, Sam. Dean apologizes to Ketch, and lets us know it was an iron bullet, which is why it expelled Tumbelty. Ketch and Rowena exchange a longing glance. Dean stares. Angrily, maybe? Angry that Mary's ex dared to look for love again? Angry that Rowena is flirting with someone else right in front of Sam? Angry that Ketch is such a wuss that he actually needs an ambulance, and medical treatment, for a mere bullet to the shoulder? Angry that he's stuck inside a Buckleming episode? All of the above? He and Rowena exchange an uncomfortable look.

Aftermath! Kevin doesn't want to stay in the zone and hang out with the guys. He knows he can't get into Heaven, so he's just gonna ghost around and wander the earth. Sam tells him this is a terrible way to exist, and Kevin points out that it's better than Hell. And Kevin and Sam give us what might be the motto for just this episode, or maybe for the entire season:

I'm sorry, Kevin. I wish there was some way to make this right.

Me too. But there isn't. And sometimes, you just gotta accept that.

Kevin tells the Winchesters he loves them (d'aw) and they don't say it back (aw) and Belphegor quite easily makes a little opening in the barrier. So easily, that it really makes you wonder why he has so little power to keep it going. Yep, it sure does. Kevin is gone. Sad waves.

Reno. Amara is hitting the road. Chuck isn't invited. And she knows he's too weak to do anything about it. He can't leave this world without her help, and she ain't helping.

Zone. We see dozens of glowing souls flitting about. The warding won't last long. We need a plan B. "How," asks Dean. How indeed.

So. When I watched this for the first time last night, I desperately wanted to fast forward through the scenes with the spirits in the house. And the Ketch/Rowena stuff. It wasn't any better on rewatch. Some of this episode was just the usual Buckleming nonsense - badly written, stupid things happen for stupid reasons, yada yada yada. But the Kevin plot... can we blame that on the Buckleming? Or was that a showrunner master plan? Either way, it's annoying. And probably pointless. The only good thing about this episode was the confirmation of the connection between Sam and Chuck. I noticed a distinct lack of excitement on my Tumblr feed, so maybe a lot of us feel the same way. If you haven't watched this one yet, my vote is: don't bother.

Please help me stay unspoiled, thanks!

#spn #recap #tv recaps #15.02 #spoilers

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