#sam fans and benny fans seem the most…troubled

[shallowrambles]

anon, the short answer is…not really. my block style is mostly merciful, i think. i’m also gifted with the ability to forget the faces and usernames of even users i DO like, so i rarely remember who i blocked after a certain point.

one thing i do despise when ppl reblog you en masse with walls of text, cluttering your feed, then delete their responses before you can reply, or act as if as if passive aggressiveness can be erased by signing everything with “<3.” i favor directness, and that is…the opposite.

but in that case too i see the person is usually troubled…and usually literally also torturing themselves w my blog and i feel like i’m doing them a huge favor by blocking. they get to save their energy!

[mariacallous]

Purity can be a dangerous thing in politics. The world is full of impurities. Compromises are often needed to make policies work. Voters also rarely reward politicians for having a consistent ideology. Sometimes they see such people as fanatics.

Yet without a set of stubborn beliefs, governments and political parties can become directionless. They can lack a sense of purpose and a compelling story. The common centrist argument that grownup government is pragmatic ignores the fact that the most influential British governments since the second world war, Clement Attlee’s and Margaret Thatcher’s, changed society to fit their worldviews more than vice versa.

Liz Truss, one of the keenest remaining Thatcher fans in Britain, wants her government to be similarly transformative, or “disruptive”. “The status quo is not an option,” she told last week’s Tory conference. “We are the only party with a clear plan to … build a new Britain.”

That plan is currently in deep trouble, thanks to its widely perceived sketchiness and extremism, Truss and her cabinet’s shortage of political nous and communications skills, and her lack of a mandate from either the electorate or her members of parliament. But there is another, less examined reason why she is struggling. Her government has taken office when the philosophy that has re-energised and reshaped conservatism worldwide since the early 70s – a philosophy to which the Truss government seems as devoted as any in British history – finally appears to be declining.

Neoliberalism, the belief that free markets, low taxes and a state with little or no interest in equality will produce the best economic and social outcomes, has fallen out of fashion even among the business elite and their chroniclers. In the Financial Times this week, the columnist Rana Foroohar argued that the west was entering a “post-neoliberal era”: there would be more state intervention in economies, more regulation of markets and more power for workers.

Yet Truss says she wants a country with the opposite characteristics: a “lean state”, less “red tape”, less redistribution of wealth and stricter anti-union laws. This confrontation between Downing Street’s neoliberal purists, still pushing for a few last victories, and the political, economic and even financial market forces massing against them, is making Tory politics a compelling and globally significant spectacle, at least as much as the party’s divisions. In Britain, arguably the first democracy where neoliberalism was tried, it is simultaneously ploughing onward and dying.

This was vividly clear at the Tory conference. In a tent on the supposed fringe of the event, hosted by the anti-state Taxpayers’ Alliance and the free-market Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), packed discussions about the radical things the government should do next featured ministers such as Kwasi Kwarteng and Jacob Rees-Mogg. These were much more animated than the speeches in the main hall. The IEA’s director, Mark Littlewood, presided over the discussions with an air of barely contained delight. At one point, he said he was “very excited” about the Truss premiership. Rarely have ideologues exerted so much influence over a British government.

Yet it is influence on a government under siege. The speakers in the tent were often almost drowned out by anti-Brexit protesters, just feet away outside the conference perimeter, blasting out the mocking theme music from Benny Hill. And sometimes even the most confident rightwing contributors sounded spooked by the government’s unpopularity. On deregulating business, Rees-Mogg warned: “You can’t go for a year-zero approach. People will think we’re just lunatics.” An adviser to Littlewood, Sam Collins, went further. “Attempting to introduce free-market reforms and doing it badly,” he said, “can poison the well for a generation.” The Truss government may be doing just that.

In the early, expansive years of neoliberalism, unpopularity and policy failures were less of a problem. The first country where the philosophy was applied was not a democracy. Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, which began with a military coup in 1973, turned what had been a relatively open and egalitarian society into a laboratory for polarising free-market policies such as privatisation and austerity. “There was much bloodshed and numerous political prisoners were taken,” Alan Walters, a rightwing British economist who worked with the Pinochet regime, wrote in the Times in 1990. “But [there was also] vigorous economic recovery, the wonder of the rest of Latin America.”

Walters went on to be Thatcher’s chief economic adviser during some of the most divisive periods of her premiership. While obviously less authoritarian than Pinochet, her government similarly used coercion, such as aggressive policing and anti-union laws, to suppress opposition to neoliberal policies. In both her Britain and his Chile, as in the nation Truss envisages, some economic freedoms – to get rich, to avoid regulation – were considered more important than others, such as freedom from overwork or poverty. Enough powerful interests, and enough of the public, supported this rightwing approach, even though it only intermittently produced strong economic growth, for neoliberalism to spread all over the world for half a century.

But nowadays the philosophy is in retreat even in its original heartlands. In Chile, the current president is Gabriel Boric, probably the most leftwing since Salvador Allende, the socialist whom Pinochet overthrew. In Britain, the latest annual social attitudes survey shows that even among Conservative supporters, only 7% want a smaller state and lower taxes. Neoliberalism has become a minority faith, far less popular than the socialism and social democracy it supposedly defeated for good back in the 70s and 80s.

Yet the Truss government is trying to press on regardless. Over the coming weeks, assuming her administration survives that long, announcements are promised about deregulatory reforms to everything from childcare to the planning system. One explanation for her persistence with this largely unwanted revolution may be that the Tories have tried everything else they can think of. Since returning to power in 2010, they have hastily produced and discarded a succession of solutions to Britain’s problems, from David Cameron’s “big society” to Theresa May’s focus on the “just about managing” to Boris Johnson’s populist nationalism.

Perhaps neoliberal purism is the only option some Tories feel they have left – the only way to give their ageing, messy government some clarity and momentum. But between now and the next election, unless there are a lot more government U-turns, the price of that purism, for the party and for the country, may become frighteningly clear.

[janicho88]

Fire, Fur & Mistletoe  Chapter 4

 Pairing- Eventual Dean x Female Reader.

Word Count-3,045

Warning- Mentions of car accidents.  Possible swearing. Slight angst. Fluff.

Summary- A rewrite of the Nine Lives of Christmas, Hallmark movie. AU, Dean is a firefighter who doesn’t do commitment, the Holiday’s don’t mean much to him.  Coming home after a shift he finds a dog in trouble.  The reader is a veterinary student who works in a coffee shop trying to make it to graduation, until someone causes problems there for her.  She isn’t interested in finding anyone other than her own dog until after she finishes school.  Do their four legged friends have other plans?

A/N- This series is written for @spnchristmasbingo​.  The square filled for this chapter is presents.  The first two chapters will stay closer to the movie than the rest will.   This has its own tag list and it is open.  That way I am not tagging anyone who doesn’t want to be tagged in Christmas stories.   This story is unbeta’d.

Header by the amazing @winchest09

Divider from freepngimg.com

Series Masterlist   The next morning you were in the kitchen looking through ads when Dean came down.  “I was wondering what do you think about doing our Christmas shopping together?  I thought it would be fun to tackle the stores together?”

“I usually just do Visa gift cards, or regular gift cards.”

“Do you remember how you were saying you can’t recall the last time you really enjoyed Christmas?”

“Yeah, you really think going to the mall is going to help me feel..”  He paused looking at you with a smirk, “Christmassy?”

“I think going and seeing all the festive decorations could help.  One afternoon, we can make it fun, I promise.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

“So you’ll go?”

“Yeah, we can give it a shot.”

“I’m going to help you do it right this year.  We can go to the mall after your shift tomorrow.”

“I can hardly wait,” he grumbles as you leave the kitchen. 

Dean’s shift started earlier today, he headed in just before noon.  They started off busy before things slowed down.  They were called out for two car accidents, the light snow falling today causing some problems.  Dispatch also had them at two nursing homes.  The first resident was fine and back on their feet before they and the paramedics left.  The second was a fall and the poor guy wasn’t happy about having to go to the hospital to be checked out further.

When things calmed down later Dean was sitting in the common room with Sam and Benny. Those two watching the game, Dean going through paint samples.

“What are you trying to figure out now?”  Sam wanted to know.

“Which color is going to look best in the dining room. I picked up some new color swatches on the way in.  I have a light green, pale blue, a really light grey, or a cream.”

“Which one does the design genius living with you like?” Benny questioned.

“She thought maybe a light green would go with the trim in there.”

“I’d go with what she likes so you don’t have to redo it in a year or so.”

“What’s being redone in a year?”  Bobby asked walking in.

“I hope to have sold it by then.”

“Dean’s trying to pick a paint color, we told him to go with what Y/N picked so he wouldn’t have to redo it later when everything is all done and she doesn’t like it.”

“Yep, need to keep the women happy.”  Bobby agrees.

“How’s the girlfriend doing while we are on that subject?”  His brother wanted to know.

“You’ve all lost me. Still don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Are you sure about that Chief?  You do spend a lot of time with her.  You trust her opinion to remodel your house.”

“What was your excuse earlier about not going out with us tomorrow?  Oh right you have plans with Y/N, like a date.”

“What was going on the other day when you couldn’t come over and watch the game with me and your brother? Pretty sure you were with her again.”

“How many dates are you going to have before you realize you are dating?”

“Are you two morons done?  We aren’t dating.  I trust her opinion, because she’s good at this.  Still selling the house when I’m done.  She just wanted to get a tree for the house, so we picked one up and decorated it that night.”

“It really took you a couple hours to pick up a tree, did you carry it home.”

“No, we went to a tree farm, not a tree lot.”

“Hold up.  You actually went and cut down a tree for her?  You wouldn’t do that for me. We always went to the tree lot and just grabbed one.  You are more gone on this girl than you think.”

“You are reading too much into a simple tree, Sam.”

“What are you busy doing when the shifts over?”  Benny wanted to know.

“Apparently Christmas shopping.  She thinks it will be fun to do it together.”

“You, Dean Winchester are going Christmas shopping?”

“Why are you saying it like that?”

“I wasn’t sure you knew what a mall was, I’ve been getting a gift certificate from you for years now.”

“And I’ve had enough of this conversation, I’m going to go clean the truck or something.”

Dean walked out to the sound of the guy's laughter.

When his shift ended the next day Dean headed home to shower and change so he would be ready to head to the mall with you.  You were in the living room sitting with the dogs when he came down.

“I’m ready if you are.”

“I’m good to go.  I’ll see you babies later.”  Giving the dogs each a little hug you got up to follow Dean to the truck.

As you are entering the mall Dean turns to you.  “I realized I haven’t told you lately, thanks for your help with the house.  I might just be able to sell it sooner than I thought.  I really appreciate all you have been doing.”

That caught you off guard.  “Oh yeah, no problem.”  You had gotten wrapped up in staying with him you kind of forgot it was temporary, and that wasn’t really his home.

“That’s really great.  You didn’t just fix a house this time, you created a beautiful home.  Some family is going to be incredibly lucky.”

Dean nods, sneaking a glance at you, “Yeah they are.”

“Alright, who’s on your list?” You were eager to change the subject.

“My brother and his girlfriend, Jess.  Bobby, he’s the Fire Chief.  Cas and Benny, you met all them at the station when you found Miracle.”

“Okay.  Any ideas on what to get?”

“Gift cards.”

“No.”

“Then I don't know.”

“You’re helpful.  What is your brother’s girlfriend like, what kind of things does she like?”

“Um, she’s a nurse.  She likes my brother.  I think she likes the beach.”  This might be harder than you thought. 

“What about any of the guys?”  

“Sam likes Jess, and healthy crap like green shakes. He’s always bringing some into work. Benny wants a girlfriend.   Cas, who knows.  He’s a little different some days.  He does like to sit and think, and bees. He’s a tad obsessed with them.  Chief likes, um his job, family, Miracle.”

“Okay, so where do you want to start?”

“That store sells gift cards to multiple places.”  He points to a big store behind you. 

“The next time you’re at work I’m going to paint the living room hot pink if you mention gift cards again in the next hour.”

Dean starts to open his mouth but isn’t too sure how serious you are, so he shuts it again and rethinks what he wants to say.  “What do you need to get?”  He asks instead.

“A gift for my sister and brother-in-law, then a few friends.  I have a thought for your brother if you want to hear it?”

“Sure, what are you thinking?

“The bookstore might have a recipe book for different health drinks, maybe we can find a little smoothie maker so he could make them fresh at the station instead of bringing and storing them.” 

Dean thinks about if for a minute, “He would actually probably like that, although I hate to enable his bad habit.”

Laughing at his jab at his brother you head toward your destination.

The book store is your first stop, while there you browse through the shelves to see if anything else catches your eye.   Finding a book, The Buzz about Bees, you show it to Dean who puts it in the cart for Cas. As you were heading to the check out, Dean started laughing at a book which caught his eye.

“What’s so funny?”

“I have to get this for Bobby, it’s Tori Spelling's autobiography.”

“Um, okay. That’s a random gift.”

“Bobby is a closet fan.  Big fan actually.  Not very many people know.”

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.”  Maybe you should have let him get his boss a gift card.

At the sporting goods store he found some fishing gear for Benny who likes to spend time on his sometimes girlfriend boat.  Dean figured they were due to get back together soon. 

While there you found part of your sister's gift.  You got her an extra magazine for her off duty gun, and a new cleaning kit.  The woman loved her weapons. 

Heading to the next store you came across some Santa hats and antlers you made Dean try on with you and take some selfies.  He grumbled about it at first but he did seem to have fun with it, making silly faces in the photos. 

With your hands full you took what you had out to the truck so you didn’t have to carry it to the rest of the stores.  The fishing gear was a little big to lug around.

Coming back inside Dean suggested a quick stop at the food court for a snack before hitting more stores.  

You grabbed your drinks of choice and a couple of cookies and sat down for a few minutes. Dean was complaining because none of them sold pie.  The mall was starting to get busier and people were hustling everywhere.  

“Do you enjoy shopping and all this craziness?”  Dean asked, drawing your attention away from people watching.

“Generally no.  I’m a get in get out person.  My sister and I used to try and go together, but she’s busier with work and she has Doug to go with.  I’m used to doing most things on my own now.   It’s better if you have someone with you, which is why I thought we could have fun with it.”

“I will admit, this hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be.  You did make it fun. Thank you for that.”

“No problem,” you give him a small smile and go back to drinking your coffee. 

The next stop was the pet store for some treats for your favorite four legged friends.  You passed stockings on the way in and went to pick one up.

“Dakota needs a new stocking, does Miracle have one yet?”

“No, he doesn’t have a stocking.  I don’t think I even have one.”

“Well, we need to remedy that for the both of you.”

“Of course we do.”

There weren’t many stockings left.  They were on one side of a middle aisle display, the back side had various balls and kongs.  The few stockings that  were there were on the back of a shelf behind some toys.  You had to move the toys out of your way to pick through the stockings.  With one arm full of squeaking toys you used one hand to look at the stockings.

“Do you need help?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Uh huh.”

You found two white and red stockings you liked so you were pulling them out, when your elbow hit a toy still on the shelf, trying to use your arm to keep it up on the shelf you missed the toy and hit the display instead.  Apparently you used more force than you meant because the display you were looking at tipped backward and hit the one behind it.  This sent various balls and kongs bouncing to the ground. 

Dean was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed watching, “Now do you need help?”

“It appears so.”

Other people in the store did their best to avoid your mess while the two of you cleaned it up.  Getting the last toy back on the shelf you pick up the stockings and turn to Dean.  “What do you think about these?”

“I think we aren’t going to go through that again just so you can pick out a different one. So let’s go with those and head out before you knock over the display of canned food.”

“You don’t want to clean that up too?”

“Let’s save that one for the next time we’re here.”

Sam’s girlfriend was a little harder than you thought since you didn’t know her and Dean wasn’t much help.  You ran with his comment about her liking the beach and picked up some scented lotions and bath bombs along with hand cream.  Being a nurse her hands would be constantly washed and most likely very dry.

In a men’s store you found a new tie for your brother in law to go with the briefcase organizer you found for him. 

You found a mug that Charlie would get a kick out of.  You also came across a Hermione Granger bobblehead she would like. 

You had picked up a couple small things for your old coworkers, Claire and Kevin.  You did miss working with those two. 

There was one more person on your list, but it was hard with him right next to you.  

Dean’s shopping was done, he had picked up some little things to complete Bobby and Cas’ gifts.  

Browsing the picture frames as you walked by you saw one you had to get. 

 You had the perfect picture to put inside.  Dean had texted you a picture from the station one day of him and Miracle.  Miracle was wearing Dean’s firehat, both were in front of the fire truck.

You passed Santa in his village the mall had put up.  “Are you sure you don’t want to ask Santa for anything this year?”

“I told you Sweetheart, he and I are extremely close.  I’m good.”

“If you say so.”

“I think you need to go see Santa though.”

“What me?”

“Yep, you keep trying to send me so why don’t you go tell him your wish.”  Dean stood there smirking at you, fully believing you wouldn’t do it.

“Okay.”

“Okay, you’re going to go up there?”

“Yep.”  You went and got in line behind a group of young children, who all turned to stare at you.  Oh this wasn’t awkward at all. Dean had walked off while you stood in line waiting your turn.  A part of you thought about walking away and telling Dean you had gone through the line already when he returned. 

“Got you something.”  Too late, he’s back.  He was handing you a bag and trying to hold back a smile.

Warily you took the bag and opened it up, chuckling when you saw what was inside.  “I’m going to guess I’m supposed to wear this up there?”

“You know it.”

Dean stood next to you in line as you waited, when you were the next one up, you took the elf hat he gave you out of the bag and put it on your head.  “How do I look?”

“Like Santa’s perfect helper.”

Heading up you were fairly certain Santa was looking for a child with you, and finally realized there wasn’t one.  “Ho ho ho, what can Santa bring you for Christmas, miss?”

While in line you had been thinking about what to say when you go up here.  “I have a friend over there who has had a rough time of it over the years.  He’s lost his Christmas spirit and the belief in happy endings.  I wish he could find that again.”

“Well, that’s some Christmas wish.”  He looks over at Dean who’s smiling at the two of you.  “It looks like someone is already working on bringing that Christmas spirit back to him.  Santa will see what he can do to help.  Is there anything for you?”

“Not unless your workshop is looking for another elf.” 

Giving you a candy cane he wishes you a Merry Christmas and sends you off.

“So what did you ask Santa for?”

“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true.”

“I think you are confusing Santa with birthday wishes.”

“Either way, I’m not telling you.  You can ask Santa since you are so close though.”

Dean just shakes his head at you.

Behind Santa was a Christmas shop and you dragged Dean inside with you to find him a stocking.   Holding up a Grinch stocking he shook his head, next you tried Superman.

“I’m sorry you have me mistaken for someone else, I’m Batman.”

You looked around.  “You aren’t the only one.  Sorry, Batman is all sold out.  There is Batgirl though.”

“I’ll keep looking.”

“Pink snowflakes?”

“I’m really starting to doubt your decorating tastes now.”

You laughed at that and went through a few more stockings.

“What kind of crazy is on your stocking?”

“It’s the same one I had growing up, classic red and white with my name in glitter.  It looks like that one over there.”

Dean walked over where you had pointed and looked at those.  “That’s what I want too, I don’t need flashy or cartoons.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.”

Finishing your shopping you were on your way back to the truck to head home.  After unloading the packages in the living room Dean headed for the kitchen.

“Are you good with ordering pizza for dinner?”

“I can make something up really quick.”

“I know you could, but I thought we had to wrap all that stuff we got today.  I figured we didn’t need another mess.”

“If you want that’s fine with me.”

You made sure to take what you had for Dean up to your apartment before you came back to start wrapping anything else.  When the pizza was ordered Dean did his best to help you out.  You were surprised by how well he did.  

“You buy gift cards for people, I wouldn’t think you had practice with wrapping.”

“We have to wrap all the donated toys for the kids every Christmas, so I get my fair share of practice with that.  Bobby wouldn’t let us hand out sloppily wrapped gifts to the kids.”

The two of you took a break from wrapping when the pizza arrived then went back to finishing it up. When the presents are wrapped and under the tree Dean builds a fire and you go off to make some popcorn.  When you come back the stockings are all hung over the fireplace.

  The two of you get comfy on the couch with another Christmas movie playing while you enjoy the fire and the sight of the tree and gifts around you.

Thank you for reading!!

Chapter 5

Tags-@winchest09  @waywardbeanie @whatareyousearchingfordean  @flamencodiva @deanwanddamons @jensengirl83 @abuavnee @lunarmoon8 @amyzombie1013 @akshi8278 @that-one-gay-girl @mandalou29  @igotmadskills  @440mxs-wife @paryl @supernatural-love14 @krazykelly @anotherspnfanfic @bobbie3939 @deanwinchestersnightmoves @winchestergirl2 @thoughts-and-funnies​

[snarkymonkeyprime]

I apparently started a destiel!labyrinth!au a million years ago?  And it’s not terrible?

Also, I don’t know what a Bowman Tree is but I’m intrigued by my thought process regarding it.  

Also, I made a note of who’s who:

Sarah – Dean Winchester

Toby – Sam Winchester

Goblin King – Lucifer

Hoggle – Castiel

Inch-Worm – Balthazar

Ludo – Benny Lafitte

The Dueling Guards – Bobby Singer and Crowley

Sir Didimus – Gabriel

Everyone’s so horrendously in character that I can’t stop snickering.

     The creature stared at Dean, blue eyes wide.  “I understand now, why the Bowman took hold of you.  You’re the human,” he stated, voice deeper than Dean had expected.

     Still holding his plank, Dean nodded sharply.  “Yeah?  So?”  He inched forward, muscles tight with strain.  The thing might have pulled him out of that bloodthirsty tree but even in the short time he’d been in Lucifer’s playland, he knew he couldn’t trust it.  If he could get close enough, he could stab it and run.  Probably.  God, he hoped its skin wasn’t made from iron or something equally annoying.

     “You one of Lucifer’s dicks?”

     The winged man across from him tilted his head like a bird, narrowing his eyes a bit as he did.  “Dicks?  Lucifer has only one penis.  And it isn’t anthropomorphic.”

     Startled by the blunt answer, Dean almost dropped his makeshift weapon.  “Uh, no shit Sherlock,” he muttered, frowning. 

     “My name is Castiel, not Sherlock,” he replied bowing.  The black wings at his back flared out gracefully before tucking in once more.  “I apologize for the lack of introduction.  My brothers and sisters were most curious of news regarding humans.”  He smiled, clearly trying to appease Dean.  “We don’t often see your kind here.”

     Dean glanced around, still not lowering the wood in his hand.  “Yeah, I figured that part out when the tree tried to eat me.”

     Castiel approached him again but stopped as soon as Dean swung the stick toward him.  “Apologies,” he murmured, holding up his hands.  “I mean you no harm.  You must understand that this world feeds off the energies of its master.  Currently, that is Lucifer.”  He half turned, pointing in the direction Lucifer himself had indicated after dropping Dean in the middle of this hellhole.  “It is a living creature.  It forms based on the fears and dreams of the creatures around it.” 

     Curious despite himself, Dean half-lowered his weapon.  That … no way.  Christ, no wonder Lucifer had seemed so smug after Dean had agreed to this stupid bullshit.  “He controls it?  So, he tells it what to do?”  Five minutes ago, he’d never have asked such a question but, five minutes ago, he hadn’t almost been eaten by a tree and rescued by a man with wings.  So … fuck it.

     “Hm, no.  Not entirely.”  He pointed again toward Lucifer’s home.  “In fact, he is as much at its whim as you and I.  However, this land feeds on his presence.  The presence of an ancient angel.  As long as one of that line remains on the throne, it survives.”

     “Hold the fuck up,” he snapped, eyes wide.  “Did you say angel?”

     “Of course.” 

     Dean waited but when Castiel stayed quiet, he lifted his brows as high as he could.  “That’s … what?  How the … what?”  Seriously, his brain was going to explode.  Just … exasperated Dean all over the damn place.

     Castiel’s wings lifted, feathers fanning.  Sunlight gleamed on the blue-black color.  “I am an angel, human.  We are a limited race here but this is our home.”

    Clenching his jaw, fingers gripping his plank, Dean grunted, “Why isn’t God your leader?”

     The angel’s blue eyes were blank.  “God?  Perhaps you mean the one who created us?  Created this place?”  His visage soured for a moment as he looked away.  “Our Father left us here a long time ago.  We have no name for him.  Not one that is translatable.”

     There was sorrow in Castiel’s voice.  And anger.  Dean, strangely, understood that all too well.  “So he just up and ditched you?  Put you in charge and walked?”  Yeah, that sounded pretty damn familiar.

     Castiel nodded.  “In a way.  Lucifer has led us since we woke here.  He is our brother.”  Something in the way he phrased the statement sat wrong with Dean.  Brother wasn’t a term he wanted to use.  But why he held back now was a story better for another time.  The land was important as far as Dean was concerned; not brotherly sniping between giant winged human dicks.

     His mind whirled as he rehashed their conversation.  “Right.  That’s a bunch of shit but … fuck it.  Can’t deal with that right now.”  He took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush.  Jesus, this was tiring.  “So, if what you said is true, empty the chair, the place dies?” 

     And then there was that.  Just when he thought this place couldn’t get any weirder.  Giant life support system hooked to a massive dickhead?  Yeah, that’s a great thing to learn.

     Castiel nodded.  “To simplify it; yes.  It would take ages to die but it would cease to be, eventually.  So we keep one of the ancient blood on the throne at all times.”

     “But I’m going to kill him.  I need to get my brother back.”  He sneered.  “Isn’t it in your best interests to stop me?”

     Again the bird-head tilt.  “I suppose, it would be the right thing.”  He licked his lips.  “But, no?  There are others of ancient blood.  I, myself, am one.  We would find a replacement, if need be.”  Castiel was holding something back given the hesitation in his voice but for now, given he had helped Dean, he was willing to overlook it. 

    Great; history lesson was over.  Dean hefted the wood again.  “Fine.  So … thanks for smiting the tree back there but I’m kind of in a hurry so kindly fuck off.”

     Castiel blinked.  “I … I could help you?”

     “Are you asking or offering?” Dean tossed back.  He really didn’t need a tag-a-long in this endeavor.  He just had to hike it to that dick’s home and get his little brother back.  God only knew what Lucifer was doing to him right now.  The very idea made his shoulders tense and splinters dig into his fingers. 

     Again that broad smile.  “Offering, of course.”

     Yeah … no.  Dean shook his head.  “Nope.  Fine on my own, feathers.  I don’t need one of you bastards spying on me to His Royal Dickness.”

     “The title is highness, actually,” Castiel corrected blithely.  “Though, we don’t heed such terms here.  He’s merely considered our … leader.”  He wrinkled his nose.  “You seem quite obsessed with male anatomy.”

     Dean wanted to be annoyed but it was strangely endearing how literal the birdman was taking him.  Despite the situation, he found himself grinning a bit.  “Uh, it’s a … nevermind.  Cas, I don’t exactly care what you call him.  He has my brother and I’m getting him back.”

     He hadn’t even seen the guy move.  In less than a second, Castiel had gone from being a few feet away to less than a handful of inches.  His eyes were narrowed but it didn’t hide the brilliant blue.  He didn’t seem particularly angry; just confused. 

     “Cas?  Did you forget the rest of my name?  Did the fight with the Bowman Tree make you ill?  If you’ve forgotten, it’s Castiel.”

     “Uh, nickname, Cas.  You know … short.”  He glanced at the plank he still held.  Given the guy’s insane speed, he was fairly certain it wouldn’t be much in the way of weaponry.  With an annoyed sigh, he tossed it, noting that Castiel relaxed when he did.  His black wings fluffed once before settling again.  “It’s easier to remember.”

     “Hm.”  Castiel nodded.  “Very well.  Do you also have a name?”

     “Yeah.  Dean.”  He snorted.  “I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but it kind of isn’t.  Lucifer stole my brother and then told me I have twenty-four hours to make it to his lair to get him back.”  He swallowed, new nightmares of what waited for Sam swarming his head.  “I just … this wasn’t what I wanted,” he muttered.

     “Dean.”  Castiel spoke his name as though cradling a gift.  He smiled again.  “Would you prefer to go by D?  Short, yes?”

     He did laugh then.  “Uh, no.  The short name thing is really only for longer names.  So … like Matthew?  You’d call him Matt.  That kind of thing.”

     Castiel, strangely, seemed disappointed.  “Oh.  I see.”

     “You really have never seen a human before?  Talked to one?”

     “Not myself, no.  I believe some of my brothers and sisters have.  But not for many, many years.”  He stared up into the sky, squinting.  “It is … somewhat remote here.  You have to intend to arrive.”

     Figures.  Dean scratched his head.  “Yeah, got it.”  He looked up to find Castiel watching him intently, the blue eyes tracking slowly along his face and body.  Suddenly uncomfortable, he shifted and pointed.  “So?  Do we go or what?”

     “You’ll allow me to aid you?”

     “Yeah, sure; first sign of trouble?  I take your head off, though.”  With what, he hadn’t figured out just yet.  He still had his dad’s tactical knife in his boot but that wouldn’t do much more than poke a hole in the guy; if he could even be cut.  Shit, this place officially sucked.

     Castiel’s eyebrows lifted a moment before settling again.  “You don’t trust me.  Very well.”  He took a few steps away from Dean and gestured toward the dirt road ahead of them.  “I assure you, I mean no harm.  If, however, you feel my presence is detrimental, you need only tell me and I will leave.”

     Dean considered it.  But then again, he was alone in this freakhole of a place.  Knew nothing about it.  Hell, the giant slimy tree had almost eaten him.  What else waited?  He stared ahead, barely able to make out the shape of Lucifer’s home.  Sammy, I’m so sorry.  I didn’t … this wasn’t what I meant.  Wasn’t what I wanted.  He sighed and began walking.  “Yeah.  Fine.  Just … let’s go, all right?  I need to get to Sam.”

[canonicallysoulmates]

Supernatural 15.07

I don't know what to say- I don't know what to tell y'all, it's filler with some bad exposition. It's boring, the writing is bad, there’s retcons - or as the writers of this show like to call it "new canon" - and it's such a shame cause it has Christian Kane who's a really good actor...I just don't know where to start with this I guess I'll start with the acting....

It too was bad- or to be fair it's not that it was bad it's that there didn't seem to be any effort put into it like for example a lot of the scenes between Dean and Lee (Christian Kane's character) seemed less like the characters and more like Jensen and Christian rehearsing and that's in part due to the bad script that had nothing of sustenance to let these actors use their talents but it's also- while I'm sure they had a lot of fun filming because they are friends in real life I don't think they put their best foot forward with their acting. And honestly I can't say I blame any of them, with a script like this one I too wouldn't bother putting in the effort. I don't even know where they would put the effort cause it's a plain script there's no genuine emotion. 

The one thing I was looking forward to in this episode was Christian Kane because I really like him as an actor, I loved him in Leverage, I loved him in The Librarians so I was really excited to see him guest star on spn, but sadly he played a forgettable, underdeveloped, no personality having character. There was nothing especial about the character that he played, he was just Dean's old friend that's it he exists for....I don't even know what for, to get Dean out of his rut I guess, he could have been played by any other guest star hell I think he could have been any random character cause I don't feel like his connection to Dean really added anything, and to be honest I didn't see the friendship between his character and Dean at least not one as close as what they supposedly had I mean Lee and Dean were so close Lee was even close with John but I have trouble believing they were that close because it's not really shown, it's said they're old friends but the script doesn't really delve into it I guess, i don't know how to explain it I'm just missing something, something genuine, to see their friendship properly if I'm to believe they were the best of friends. Also i found it weird that Sam wouldn't come up in conversation between them if they were so close considering how important Sam is to Dean, or maybe they did talk about him and I missed it; there's a scene were he and Dean sing together, and Jensen sounds amazing as always but I thought it was canon Dean wasn't a good singer yet there he was on stage belting out tunes like a rockstar.....and he seemed to have some demon!dean strength cause he managed to kill the monster and didn't even break a sweat and he must have managed to do it quietly too cause it seems Lee didn't hear a fight going on, and we didn't hear the fight either or see it cause we didn't get a scene of Dean killing the monster which fucking sucks cause that must have looked really cool. Or maybe it didn't cause the fight scene in this episode was weak. I miss the fight scene of epi 4 *sigh*.

Meanwhile while all of this is going on with Dean, back at the Bunker Sam is unconscious and we get some badly done exposition. That's it. 

Dean gets to meet up with an old friend, sings - or well Jensen sings, gets drunk, hunts a monster, meanwhile Sam does a bit of research and then is unconscious for 98% of the episode. Fun 😑

So Castiel who's at the Bunker for- well actually I don't know why he's back at the Bunker I didn't pay much attention to him to be quite honest, I was just happy to see him walk through the front door cause he interrupted the almost kiss between Sam and Eileen, let me tell you when I say I do not want to see that romance being pursued I mean it.  No offense to those who like the idea of Sam and Eileen being together but I find them nauseatingly saccharine and I don't see any romantic chemistry between them, I have no desire to see them get together if I wanted to watch romance I'd watch a Hallmark movie. 

I don't want romance in Supernatural, especially during it's last season.

I don't watch Supernatural for romance, I watch it because of Sam and Dean and THEIR relationship with each other! And I want this final season to focus on that!

And I hate what that relationship does to Eileen because I think she has potential as a character but instead of doing something interesting with her she just gets relegated into a love interest who spends the majority of her time just looking at Sam with lovesick puppy eyes. She loses all her personality. 

And I also hate what it does to my enjoyment of their friendship because I think they're cute friends but since I'm dreading this relationship being turned romantic and the writers are pushing the romance angle it takes away any enjoyment I might have had of their scenes together.

But back to Sam, he's unconscious...

So Castiel calls Sergei to help with Sam because....I guess the actor is the only one that was available that week, and if you're wondering who the hell Sergei is he's that character that appeared once in s14, lied to Castiel and made Jack's condition worse (fun fact: i had to look up who this dude was cause i barely remembered him) so definitely the right person to call, seems trustworthy enough to allow him into what's supposed to be a secret Bunker that's filled with artifacts and information and I'm sure he won't lie and put Sam in any kind of danger....

(Oh, and before I continue if anyone is wondering if Dean knows what's going on with Sam he does not, Castiel did call him but Dean handed his phone over cause the bar he's at takes away your phone which makes no fucking sense to me, they took his phone but not his gun? But anyways he didn't have his phone with him and thus he never got the call and he didn't find out what was happening until near the end of the episode.)

Where was I? Oh yes, Sergei so, of course surprise, surprise the bad guy did the bad guy thing and thus Sam is dying, and what does Sergei want in exchange for Sam not kicking the bucket? The KEY TO DEATH'S LIBRARY! Which is apparently a thing that the Men of Letters have and is supposedly in the bunker but somehow Sam and Dean have never heard about it or stumbled upon it even though they have lived in the Bunker for years, and non of the AU hunters or any of the other rotating cast of people that have access to this hotel sorry Bunker have heard of it or stumbled upon it, and the BMOL said nothing of it even though they turned the Bunker upside down! These writers have no shame!

But before all that goes down Sergei does some exposition where he says Sam's wound is soul deep and he's connected to something CHUCK or someone CHUCK! CHUCK! CHUCK! HE'S CONNECTED TO CHUCK! WE KNOW! DO SOMETHING WITH THIS STORY LINE FFS! And apparently Sam's soul is all stretched out like a rubber band or something- there's scenes in this episode where the dialogue is so bad it's painful to listen to, this exposition scene is one of them.

Anyways, Castiel threatens the life/safety of Sergei's niece so Sergei is like 'fine I'll reverse what i did' and so Sam's no longer dying and he's awake just in time for the episodes end; and the episode ends with the four of them (Castiel, Eileen, Sam and Dean) in the Bunker and Sam saying he thinks they can defeat Chuck cause they now know Chuck's battery power is low.

There's a lot of differences between this episode and the last one but one of the big ones is that while the last episode was Sam focused and Dean was barely in it Dean was still a part of the story and even with the brothers separated their relationship was still incorporated in the form of Sam telling a story about when he and Dean where little but here Sam is not used at all, he's only in the story so the writer can once again point out what we already know which is that Sam's wound is connected to Chuck, he's not a part of the story, Dean doesn't even talk about him to his super close old friend even though Sam is an incredibly important part of his life. Sam was ignored by the writer in a disgusting fashion.

This episode has no redeeming qualities, there are no highlights, there is no saving grace; the only thing I liked was Sam telling Dean to call him if he needed him and Dean replying he always does in the beginning of the epi which was the only brother moment we got btw. It sucks cause the things I was looking forward to the most were Christian Kane and his scenes with Jensen but I didn't like them, for the reasons I mentioned earlier in this post, that was the one thing I thought was going to be good in this episode and it flopped. This whole episode flopped.

It angers me cause this could have been a really good episode, this could have been like - well actually i'm not a big fan of the episode I'm about to mention either but it did this way way better, but this could have been like the epi where Dean helps Benny out I don't remember the name but the one where Benny calls Dean for help and at the end of the epi Sam meets Benny (I should re-watch that episode I love Benny,  Benny was a well written friend) this episode could have been like that or even better; instead of having him unconscious they could have had Sam going through Rowena's journals and maybe practicing some magic and while Sam is doing that Dean and his friend go on an actual hunt together and we get to actually see that relationship or even better yet they could have not separated Sam and Dean, have them go on the hunt together I would have loved to have gotten scenes between Sam and Lee, or it could have started out like this epi did with Dean on the hunt and Sam in the Bunker but Dean has to call Sam for help and so Sam joins in on the hunt.

This could have been a fun episode. It could have been funny, it could have been action packed, it could have been emotional instead this is the second episode they wasted this season.

[kennexara]

I’m still so mad. Like you can put aside the entire Cas thing - and even for that I wasn’t expecting anything but subtext, jesus, I just wanted him to show up and Dean smile at him my standards were fucking low. But even if you didn’t care about Cas and the 12 years of subtext between him and Dean there’s no way around the fact they just…fucked Dean over. Threw 15 years of character development out the window. For - for what? YOUR ENTIRE FUCKING SHOW WAS ABOUT DESTINY NOT MATTERING AND THEN YOU KILLED DEAN THE WAY EVERYONE - HIMSELF INCLUDED - DESTINED HIM TO DIE. What, you wanted to show they finally got over their codependent brother thing? Jfc show them living in separate fucking houses it’s not that hard.

Like, okay, I’m going to tell you what I wanted to happen, and also how they could’ve tweaked it to leave everything ambiguous - do they die next week, do they die of old age, we aren’t telling - and still have the show make fucking sense.

You can keep 15x19 - it was fucking weird, but whatever it works. I do think you should replace the montage with this one, and also you maybe should’ve played carry on wayward son at the start of this second-to-last episode. (hey harkening back to season 1 without destroying 15 years of growth!)

Then 15x20. Don’t do that just-two-brothers-against-the-world. If your primary message was about free will your secondary message was about found family. Show them ACTUALLY checking up that all their friends are back. Jody & Donna and the girls. AU Bobby and AU Charlie and her girlfriend. Eileen - how dare you establish this kickass deaf hunter, slowly start something between her and Sam, and then just fucking forget her. As if two episodes ago he wasn’t more upset about her disappearance than anybody else’s.

And Adam. Get Jake Abel one last time and give him something to do besides stand there while getting called a cuck. “I was wrong before,” he says to Dean. “Sometimes - sometimes, we do get what we deserve.” Dean smiles and slaps him on the back but his eyes are sad. He has that look - you know the one - that he gets every time Cas is gone.

But COVID- Then have everything be phone calls. Or if you’re really cheap and lazy just dig up past dialogue of Hey or Hi or Hello from these people. I don’t need entire conversations, I guess, though I’d prefer them.

“So that’s everyone,” Sam says, putting down his phone. “Everyone’s back.”

“Well, not everyone,” Dean sighs and he has that Look again. Sam gives him a sad look and starts to say something but is interrupted by the creak of the bunker door opening. It’s Cas, of course it’s Cas, and Dean stares at him with that look he always gets when Cas comes back from the dead.

“How are you-”

“Jack,” Cas explains. “He brought me back when he restored everyone else, and I’ve been helping him change things in heaven. It took longer than expected, otherwise I would’ve come sooner.”

“Jack got you out of the Empty?” Sam asks.

Cas hesitates. “Sort of. The Empty claims angels. But if that angel has developed a human soul…the Empty can’t hold it. But it could still take my grace,” he adds, sounding annoyed at the last part.

“You’re - you’re human now?” Dean asks.

“Yes,” Cas says, looking at him. “That’s why I couldn’t return to Earth until we were done with heaven. Are you mad?”

“No,” Dean says, “I don’t - human or angel, it doesn’t matter, I’m just glad you’re here, Cas.”

(And then, if the show had some guts, Cas would say, “No, I meant the thing I said before I died.” And Dean would say, “No, of course not,” and then make some excuse to get them away from Sam and they would actually TALK about it and I don’t need a kiss just Dean saying something about “I feel the same, you know,” and “Being’s nice, sure, but having - having is even better.”)

But they don’t have guts so I’d settle for Dean and Cas hugging and then the three of them all stand there until Sam says, “What do we do now?”

And Dean smiles and says, “Now? Now we write our own story.”

(and if they really decided not to go with classic rock they could’ve done christian rock a la matt maher’s ‘hold us together’ which does not mention god or anything, just talks about how ‘love will hold us together’ and ‘I’ll be my brother’s keeper’ but most importantly ‘this is the first day of the rest of your life.’)

Then you actually show them living lives that are balanced. They’re not full-time hunters, but neither have they stopped completely.

The show’s been establishing Sam as a leader, maybe have him running an American hunter network of sorts? Or having the wall of phones like Bobby? But he still lives in the suburbs with a white picket fence and kids bc that’s the straights dream life apparently. Or if you really want to have season 1 callback, have him be a lawyer for hunters - god knows they get in trouble or arrested by law enforcement enough.

Have Dean open a bar for hunters, like in that dream fantasy from AU Michael. Actually, maybe it’s a restaurant, partially bc he does like to cook and partially so that teenage hunters can breeze in and get advice or extra rocksalt rounds without any trouble while he Dads them. Maybe even have some monsters show up and Dean kicks their asses, like in his dream world. And Cas is there - of course Cas is there, rolling his eyes at Dean’s one-liners but smiling at him fondly all the same.

Don’t do the wig and makeup and ‘look they’re old now!’ thing. Just…don’t. Just fade to black on some scene of Sam and Eileen visiting Dean and Cas at the restaurant and they’re all smiling and laughing.

Then, that scene of Dean in heaven mostly plays out the same. Dean flexes and looks at his hands, his whole body, and says, “Huh, must be in heaven, no arthritis,” or some other issue to let us know he did grow old. And Bobby greets him and doesn’t have to explain quite so much about heaven since Cas already did. And maybe instead of the Roadhouse it’s Dean’s actual restaurant, and you can hear everyone they’ve lost - Charlie, Kevin, Ellen, Jo, Mary, etc inside, bc again COVID and just voices would be enough for me. Maybe you can hear even Crowley and Benny, and Bobby makes some comment about “Oh yeah, Jack dragged people from all places just for you.”

And Dean says something about, “Not everybody is here yet.”

Bobby rolls his eyes and says, “They’ll be along soon enough.”

(I think…I think I would like Sam to be one of the voices coming from the restaurant. Sam always seemed a bit more able to live without Dean than vice versa, so I’d think it’d be nice to show Dean could and did. But they probably really wanted to end on a ‘look at the brothers’ note so I guess Sam isn’t there quite yet.)

Dean gets into the car and there’s that flap of wings they haven’t done in years and “Hello, Dean,” from Cas in the passenger seat and Dean grins at him and cranks the radio higher and it’s playing, idfk, I know they can’t do Stairway to Heaven but we know they can do the actual Kansas version of Carry On Wayward Son so if they’re gonna play that song PLAY THAT VERSION and maybe morph it into the slower one from the musical episode as Dean and Cas exit the car and Cas smiles and Dean says “What?” before turning and Sam’s there and maybe they stand on the bridge together but you know Cas is to the side and Bobby’s waiting at the restaurant with everyone else.

But some fans want blaze of glory and some want growing old so we split the difference and- and made nobody happy motherfuckers! If you want to please everyone then don’t show either! Fade to black from Dean saying “Now we write our own story” and idk, maybe you should’ve saved the montage for this, or at least just say “Sometime in the future” and then my version of the heaven scene plays out minus the arthritis comment and both Cas and Sam show up quicker and it’s left ambiguous if they all lived long lives or died in a blaze of glory a week after stopping Chuck.

[eisforeidolon]

Episode: Atomic Monsters

I watched this at least a week ago, but just didn't get around to rewriting my notes into a post 'til now.  I did actually find this the best episode so far, but lets be real, that's such a low bar to clear at this point it says basically nothing.

The opening sequence is really fun!  I found the whole thing genuinely enjoyable, both the action itself and that it included exactly the kind of return cameo I can actually get behind.  No retcons or resurrections that make death somehow even cheaper or ruin the original finish to the character's story!  Not even to mention that, instead of existing just for the sheer fanservice of it?  A sequence like this is actively improved by giving us a familiar face we have investment in to keep it from being all just random unfamiliar cannon fodder getting offed.

Unfortunately, this isn't the rousing endorsement it could be when we know that both expanding to a big action sequence and bringing Benny back for it were actually Jensen's ideas.  Not even to mention that the thing which really works best in the episode?  It's the dream sequence that's not actually connected to anything else and doesn't have to worry about continuity to work. This is my surprised face.

I enjoyed the exchange between Sam and Dean in the kitchen.  The meat man conversation over the bacon was rather silly, but in a fun way. I've seen some people reading things into it (it's insulting Dean doesn't know the slang, Sam is randomly vegetarian now) that I didn't really see there.  I did appreciate how Sam was weirdly jumpy and had trouble meeting Dean's eyes after the creepy alternate world dream.  I thought it worked really well for both slice-of-life and Sam’s reaction.

In terms of the Winchester's case, well, for the most part it could have been worse.  I don't honestly believe even if I hadn't been spoiled that I wouldn't have immediately suspected the parents from their introductory exchange about how Billy playing in the big game was more important than a cheerleader's death.  I think it was supposed to be a retroactive subtle clue, but it was more of a clue-by-four.  So the “mystery” of tracking down the monster was pretty lost on me.  I did like that the one girl having braces was a clue!  But I also thought the scene with her rehearsing her speech on a live mic in an empty auditorium was weird and contrived.  I straight out cannot forgive that a girl was literally abducted from the school campus and NOBODY checked the security footage near her car fucking IMMEDIATELY well before Sam & Dean.  C'mon.  Then, of course, a couple random middle-aged suburbanite humans get the drop on Sam and Dean, because Dabbernatural really just loves to make them incompetent so plots happen.

Then the big reveal and blah blah blah, kid accidentally ate his girlfriend.  WHAT WERE WE SUPPOSED TO DO???  Um, maybe try not being scumbags?  Idiotic scumbags at that, abducting a second girl from their son's own school instead of somebody that wouldn't be missed or even, hey, maybe encouraging him to try harder not to eat people.  Don't try to sell me on this pseudo hallmark 'but they just love him so much' bullshit.  At least the kid has more self-awareness and conscience than his fuckwad parents.  

Then we get to the infuriating character assassination part of the programme.  Having Sam and Dean say that they'd do the same thing as the dad for Jack their “son”?  Fuck you very much, show.  I could maybe, maybe, see Sam or Dean kidnapping and draining the life out of an innocent to save the other at their most desperate worst.  Though I think the only time they even really get close to that kind of an actively, knowingly evil choice is with Doc Benton.  Not only do I not buy for a second that they would do that for the totally-really-their-actual-child-for-reasons albatross Dabbernatural has shoehorned into their lives?  Struggling to do the right thing even when it hurts used to actually mean something – it was always a very important qualifier that while Sam or Dean might make that choice, the other would not let them.  So having them both agree this kind of straight up villainy would be a-okay for oh-so-totally-loveable-no-really-woobie-blob Jack ...

Like carelessly assassinating every human in the BMoL headquarters, it fundamentally fails to understand what it is that keeps Sam and Dean from being the monsters.  Hint: it's not just that the show centers around them.  “We do the ugly thing so that people can live happy” - these moronic hacks seem to be actually trying to parallel Sam and Dean saving innocent victims and the world to human monsters that were going to selfishly help their son eat his way through the entire goddamn cheerleading squad.  Am I getting this wrong somehow?  Is there some other, less appalling, reading here that I'm missing? This whole scene honestly made me nauseous.

They talkity-talk on for a while longer, but it's really not much better.  Sam declaring that God was totally done with them was the writers putting those words in his mouth based on nothing.  At it’s very best, it was Sam’s bad habit of convincing himself conclusions he’s come to are true because he wants them to be.  So them both just deciding to believe it's true after Chuck has admitted to orchestrating their entire lives … I'm not sure if we should conclude the Winchesters have brain damage or if that's just the writers.  Especially when the underlying reason for it is nothing more compelling than , “Watch the Winchesters see-saw on the angst fulcrum completely at random!  Yay!”  If this was actually well written, there would be some precipitating reason for Sam to suddenly be the one being all fatalistic while Dean is accepting.  Instead, the writers  just slap some coin-flipped angst angst angst on the page and meander on in a supposedly forward direction.

So then there's the other half of the episode, the Becky storyline. Am I the only one a little disturbed that Becky's first reaction to seeing Chuck was to look scared and try to run away?  Like, they're exes and all, sure, but she doesn't know any of the god stuff yet – I think the only thing she even says about their breakup is that Chuck dumped her.  Is that reaction supposed to be yet another bit of “new canon” showing how Chuck was just that terrible all along? But then she does let him in, so maybe we're just supposed to take it as Becky still having a tendency towards dramatics?  I honestly don't know, but it was weird to me.  

I do genuinely love that they had Becky go to therapy and realize just how absolutely fucked up what she'd done was and ultimately sort herself out to become someone who seems to be a well-balanced adult. A well balanced adult that didn't have to give up being a fan for that!  Seriously, kudos to the writers for this, because 7.08 is such a loathsome episode that otherwise ruins Becky as a character.   Though I do have to nitpick a bit – while I get that they wanted to put SPN merch in Becky's home as a callout to her still being a superfan?   In the show's universe, Chuck's books were never that popular, so I'm having some suspension of disbelief issues that there would be Funkos for them.  We could pretend they were customs, but she's got at least one Impala, so even that doesn't quite work.  I'm not entirely sure who “people only want them sitting around doing laundry anyway” is a dig at, but I'm giving it the side eye.  

I also am not entirely sure what to make of Chuck's whole no one needs me I kinda hate me I'm all lost and don't know what to doooooo shtick.  Is this a game he's playing?  Is he really that wishy-washy? Did some of Dabb's sad internal monologue as showrunner somehow end up in a script by accident?  

He goes on like that and laments he's lost the Winchester's trust and had words with them or whatever, and then he zaps Becky and her family away at the end.  Like, if he cared enough about Becky to care about her opinion, why does he turn on her, too, just like that?  I guess we're supposed to see it as him having found his mojo in her space and vanishing her because taking over her space that's working for him currently is his latest whim.  I suppose they're intending to show Chuck as just being that capricious and flighty, but I don't know that it works for me.  The way they've been writing him he's acting so randomly and impulsively that it's kind of unbelievable he can even sit still at a keyboard long enough to write another Sam and Dean installment.  Again, I definitely find it unbelievable that the Chuck they're giving us now would be capable of playing the long game that he would have had to for him to be actively behind everything.  Until he suddenly got impatient and lazy and popped up in the cemetery at the end of the last finale ... for reasons … and is now just … like that … because.

Not to mention that his powers are, big shock, just as arbitrary as everyone else's in the current show.  He can't actually see what is happening to Sam and Dean because of the bullet sapping his power or whatever, but we're supposed to be worried about the ominous ending he's writing for them because … he's got those god powers to make it happen, I guess?  Uh...

I will grant that the ominous bobbing of Sam and Dean Funkos' heads to Chuck's furious typing was a wonderfully foreboding shot to end on.  

[canonconspiracy]

We Need To Talk About Benny

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing: Benny Lafitte x Reader

Warnings: Mild Swearing

Cross-posted on my wattpad (@rmorningstar21) in Supernatural One Shot Collection II.

__________

You could see it in Sam's puppy dog brown eyes that he was fuming.  The three of you had arrived on a case, and Sam had realized that the vampire that you and Dean had brought back from Purgatory after the Leviathan ordeal was living in the same town that there was some vampire sucking humans.  Dean and you both glanced to one another knowingly, before looking back at Sam.  

"It's not Benny," Dean said firmly, his emphasis on the not, as if Sam would need more of a pie chart to show that Dean was correct.  "He doesn't drink humans." 

"He's a vampire, Dean," Sam stated firmly in counter.  "Why isn't he dead?" 

"Neither of us would have been topside from purgatory if it wasn't for that vampire," Dean countered back, his face clearly contorting in anger.  Sam was his brother, but he was questioning his reasoning. It was almost logical, seeing as Dean had killed other supposedly good monsters, after all.  

Benny wasn't a monster, though.  He may have been a vampire, but you swore that man had a heart of gold.  Sam wouldn't understand the way that either of you did. The three of you had spent a full year in purgatory with him and Castiel, and none of you would have lived through purgatory without him. 

You would not have stayed sane without him.  Dean, your overprotective older brother, would have driven you crazy right along with the monsters that were ready to kill all of you.  At certain points, call yourself crazy, but purgatory was beginning to feel like home. It was all Benny's doing, though Castiel and Dean had both saved your ass more than a few times.  

"Benny is less of a monster than most humans," you muttered out, glaring at Sam.  "We'll find the damn vamp that's killing around here, but it sure as hell isn't him." 

"You two are both way too close to this," Sam said, before he ended up hitching it with another hunter to take down Benny.  It was someone who did not know Benny, just like Sam. They both just looked at him like he was a monster, while Dean and yourself both knew otherwise.  

Dean and you both knew that you needed to find Benny before the two hunters found him, along with the actual vampires that were killing the humans in this town.  After plenty of missed calls, the two of you had gone on the road to find him, scouring the surrounding area to find any sign of him. The two of you had split up and asked the locals about where he would be living.  Thankfully, you had finally gotten a lead.  

Despite the need that you had to see Benny alone, you had opted to go with Dean, especially if Sam and the other hunter were to find him before the two of you did.  When the two of you, guns drawn, walked into a secluded area that the locals had said he lived, you could hear a familiar southern drawl say, "If this is about the missed calls, I didn't want to get y'all involved."  When the two of you had gotten closer, you could see that he was merely wringing out some laundry. "Now, how about you two put the safety on and we can talk." 

You felt a rush fill your body as those blue eyes flickered over to you, and you had to fight the urge of your lips to curl up into a smile, though it lightly tugged upon your lips.  Dean had started talking first after the two of you had put your weapons down, saying, "There's a vampire feeding in this town, and you better tell us it's not you." 

"With Andrea gone and y'all back hunting, it seemed like time for a homecoming," Benny explained after shaking his head.  Both of you had known the answer far before Benny denying it after all. "You three being the only ones who kept my ducks in a row. Went back to my old job at the cafe.  I even found someone to hold myself accountable to. Best kind of someone, Dean." He smiled gently as he kept talking, before his eyes once again shifted to you before shifting back to Dean.  "Family." 

"Elizabeth," Dean and you had practically said at the same time.  Dean was more lustful, while you were more disappointed. You felt as if you missed your chance with the handsome vampire. 

That was, of course, until Benny had continued.  "My great-granddaughter," he said fondly. You stifled a laugh at the look upon Dean's face when he asked for confirmation with a really.  "Now, hold it.  You didn't, did you?" 

"Uh, no," Dean replied quickly, receiving a skeptical look from Benny.  

When Benny's eyes shifted to you once more, you could see his lips curl into a gentle smirk as he placed a hand upon your chin.  "It's wonderful to see you, Cher," he murmured out, causing you to blush darkly, a smile tugging at your lips.  

You were almost disappointed when he merely brought you into a tight embrace, though you were happy to feel his strong arms around you.  Hugging him back tightly, you said, "I've missed you, you know." 

As the two of you separated, you could see the longing look that he gave you before he turned to Dean, giving him a brotherly hug.  The two of them were as close as the two of you, after all, possibly even more. You just happened to be the Winchester to fall for Benny Lafitte.  

After your short lived reunion, the three of you had taken care of an entire vampire nest together, and had to deal with a hunter that held Elizabeth hostage to kill Benny.  He had to kill to save his great-granddaughter, and you were sure after everything was over that you would not see Benny again.  

To your relief, you had received a call on your phone to meet him at a gas station about 10 miles out from the town, and you had sped there faster than anyone would imagine.  Dean knew where you were going, and though he was iffy about the whole situation, he still allowed you to go. When you were face to face with Benny again, he had planned to merely say goodbye to you.  

"You better keep yourself out of trouble, Cher," he whispered, giving you a sad smile, his blue eyes never leaving your gaze.  

"Benny," you murmured out quietly.  "I don't want to be missing you again."  You were the one to bring your hand to his cheek, your hand tickled lightly by his facial hair as you brushed your thumb against his cheekbone, staring up at him.  Your hands were cold to the touch, though he had not seemed to mind, a soft smile tugging upon his lips as he nuzzled gently into your touch. It had been a while since anyone had gazed at him with that look, or touched him in the gentle, loving way.  Too long, for that matter. 

"I've never been a fan of long distance relationships," he said with a joking chuckle, his southern accent ringing out gently in your ears as he spoke, as if your favorite song had just turned on in your truck after a long, grueling hunt. 

"Neither have I been," you said softly to him, the smile tugging upon your lips gently.  "Nor have I been a fan of saying goodbye to you." 

As his light blue eyes bore into your own y/e/c orbs, you wondered where to go from there.  The man that you desired was so close, and you could easily close the gap between the two of you.  On the other hand, you could move your hand, instead merely embracing the charming vampire in a hearty goodbye, leaving the sentiments back in Purgatory where just maybe they belonged.  

The one thing you knew for certain as you were staring up into those light blue eyes was the love that you had for this man.  This man was charming, funny, and sweet. He may have been over 100 years old, even more so than that, and yet he had been less of a monster than more than half the men you've met in your own years.  

"Maybe, Cher," he whispered nervously in his southern drawl, "we don't have to say goodbye."  He gave you a hopeful smile, the kind of smile you knew you could never say no to. "If you're willing to settle down with a monster." 

You chuckled gently, a smile fully imprinted across your face as you shook your head.  "I won't be settling down with a monster," you said with a wink. "A charming southern gentleman that's saved my ass more times than I could count - well, that, I would adore." 

He gave you a curious look, as if he were testing the waters as he moved a little bit closer to you.  You could feel one of his hands move to the small of your back, beaconing you closer. Taking one last longing look into Benny's eyes, you wrapped your arms around his neck, closing the gap between the two of you.  The kiss was gentle, lips lovingly paced in sync with one another. His stubble tickled your face as you kissed him, and you could feel his arms move to your waist, pulling you closer.  

When the two of you were finally in need of oxygen, you separated, him resting his forehead against your own.  His light blue eyes stared into your own y/e/c eyes, and the southern gentleman had a quirky smirk across his lips.  "What would your brother Sam think of me stealing you away?" He questioned in his drawl, somewhat as a tease with light seriousness laced into it.  

"The boys will have mixed feelings, but they'll live," you said with a smile.  "I love you, you know." 

He hummed in satisfaction, a genuine smile against his lips.  "Purgatory's a wild place to fall in love, but I love you as well, mon Cher," he said softly, and you could not be more pleased to hear it.  The two of you connected lips once again in a longing, loving kiss before the two of you had returned to one vehicle - to his vehicle. Though neither of you knew where you would be going right away, you knew you were on your way to the rest of your life with the light of your life.

[missjackil]

Winsecurities

I have no doubt in my mind that Sam and Dean love eachother in every human way possible. This is in no way to say one loves the other more than the other, but to just have a look around Sam and Dean’s relationship and see where and possibly why, they are insecure sometimes with each other. 

Anyone reading this that knows me, knows I love both of these boys. I do favor Sam but I have no lowkey or highkey hate for Dean... he’s my buddy and a good dude and just as deserving of love and happiness as Sam is. With that said, it may appear sometimes in this post that Im dumping on one, or blaming him for something unnecessarily, but Im not, Im just making an honest observation.

Since this is about Sam and Dean’s insecurities, this is going to be a long post. So bag a lunch, get comfy, and click the cut if you feel like reading.

Sam and Dean are the most selfless people I know. They’re not selfish men at all, though both displayed some selfishness as kids, but thats normal. They’;ve both grown into men more than willing to put others before themselves, and sacrifice everything for the greater good. However they do have a selfshness when it comes to each other, and this fans the flames of their insecurities. 

If you could ask either of them “Do you love your brother?” Both would say “Yes” before you finished the sentence, but if you were to ask either “Does your brother love you?” They might pause for a second before you get the “Yes”. In their hearts they know it as surely as the sun rises in the morning, but in their heads, sometimes they’re conflicted. 

Sam has an irrational fear of Dean replacing him. He needs to be everything to Dean and doesnt like when others seem to take his place. We dont really even see this until s8 and the show has been chipping at it ever since. Dean has an irrational fear of losing Sam. Either by choice or by death. Dean defines himself as Sam’s caretaker, and doesnt want a life that Sam isnt in. I say these fears are irrational in the sense that neither should be fearing it anymore, not in the sense that the fear has never been warrented. We just recently learned that Dean still fears that Sam is going to decide to leave him someday. 

I believe that Sam has always loved his place in Dean’s world. The precious little brother that Dean protects without argument. His best friend, confidant, the one who always has his back and fully trusts to have his own back. Sam loves that Dean would die for him, so Sam would die for Dean just the same. There have been times though, that Sam has felt smothered. He’s even said so, but he just wants space to grow and breathe, and be Sam, and not only Dean’s little brother, so Sam has seperated himself from Dean at times, and Dean takes it like Sam doesnt need or appreciate him. 

I believe that Dean thinks about Sam first in everything. He depends on him to be his best friend and confidant, to have his back and save him when he needs saving, but Dean likes to surround himself with friends, family and allies, and Sam sometimes takes it as though he’s expendable in Dean’s world. Sam and Dean are each other’s spouces, in every sense of the definition that matters. They are two very different people but one single unit.

Dean’s insecurities with Sam came to our attention very early in the series. Since S1 Dean has shown how badly he wants Sam with him, and fears him leaving. In the Pilot episode Dean says he needs Sam to help him find Dad, and Sam tells him he can do it on his own, and Dean tells him he doesnt want to. We were never given any insite into why they didnt speak for 2 years so, Im just going to leave that out as it seems to be irrelevant to everything. 

I believe they began when they were kids, and Sam started wanting to be like a normal kid. We know from Just My Imagination that at 9 yrs old Sam was begging to come hunting with Dad and Dean, we also learned that he would also like to run away and be normal. At that age, he chose to go with Dad and Dean, instead of running away, but as he aged, it became clear that he didnt want the hunting life. 

I dont think this meant that Sam hated his Dad or Dean at all, he feared for them and himself, so he took himself away from the situation when he could. Having Thanksgiving at a friend’s house, hiding out in a cabin in Flag Staff, going to college, none of these are bad things that Sam did (well ok maybe running away and hiding in a cabin is debatable) but Dean took it personal as leaving him. 

Dean loves taking care of Sam. He’s said he never had to be told to, he would have done it anyway. Sam has always loved it too but when Dean took off to hunt with Dad and left Sam alone he chose something over Sam, and thus fed his insecurities. 

I think where Sam’s insecurities began, just using canon, was always when Dean put something ahead of Sam. He left Sam in a motel room so he could play video games, and Sam almost got killed. Dean left him at Plucky’s to troll for girls while Sam was being scared by the clowns, he left Sam to hunt with Dad, so who was protecting Sam then? Sam thought all these other things were more important than him, and if they were, then does Dean even still love him? (possible thoughts of an adolescent boy)

So we dont really see this insecurity in Sam much until S8 when Dean had Benny. When Sam met Benny, he was ready to kill him before he even knew he was a vampire. There was no way Sam knew he was a vampire when he went for his blade. He was ready to kill him for being some big dude that went on a hunt with Dean... a replacement.  We didnt even know Sam had any qualms with Dean’s friendship with Cas until Dean wanted to go with Cas on his quest but felt he needed to stay behind and help Sam. Sam told him to go, but when Sam was ready to die for thinking Dean cant do this job with him, cant trust him, and would rather be anywhere than help Sam see this through, he gave Dean (and us) an ear full of his pain. And we were all (Dean included) Wait!! Hold up Sam!! Just think for a moment ok? 

Dean assured Sam that nothing is more important than him, never has been, never will be... and Sam came down off the ledge. Sam got hit with the insecurities again in S9, after the trouble with Gadreel, and Sam worried about his place with Dean again. At the end of Sharp Teeth, Sam tells Dean things are broken and they cant be fixed just by saying theyre family, because all their crap comes down to them being family. So he gives Dean somewhat of an ultimatum. You want to work? Lets work... if you want to be brothers?..... well those are my terms” I didnt like that Sam didnt finish that statement, but Im pretty sure, judging from the next several episodes, that the statement would have been “If you want to be brothers.... then we cant work together” and then we see that they took the root of working instead of brothering, and now Sam sees himself as just a hunting parter to Dean. Is it true? Of course not. But we see the whole pciture and Sam just sees what he sees.

The show has been chipping at Sam’s insecurities ever since. Sam feared Dean chosing Amara over him in S11, choosing Mom over him in S12 as family, Cas over him as friend in 13, and Ketch over him as hunting buddy later in 13, and now his life over Sam in just this past episode. He even saw Dean kill himself to save a kid they dont know who was already dead in S13, so I understand why Sam might be confused about his place and importance in Deans life ya know?

Im sure about Sam’s place in Dean’s world. Sam IS his world. Ive seen Deans reactions every time Sam died or Dean thought he was dead... but wanna hear something sad but true? Sam never did. Sam never saw how freaked out Dean gets. How suicidal and broken he is when Sam is gone. Dean doesnt tell him. Sam knows Dean sold his soul for him, but Sam doesnt know Dean sat for like 2 or 3 days crying and talking to his corpse. Maybe if he knew, he wouldnt worry so much right?

I dont want the show to put Sam back in a place where he would voluntarily leave Dean again, but I hope they reassure Sam that he’s Dean’s who world. I think they’ve begun that, with Dean telling Sam why he wanted Sam to stay behind when he went with Ketch, and telling Sam later that he doesnt worry about what happens to himself, but he does care about what happens to his brother. And letting Sam know that he said “Yes” to Michael to save him. Maybe someday these boys will get their shit together and just enjoy getting saving the world and getting old together. 

[jensenknowsdeanbetterthanyou]

Dean’s self awareness and his need to protect himself.

I have to be honest, a lot of this “Performing Dean” meta upsets me, not only is it patronising but its also too simplistic and a massive disservice to the character. It shows no regard for Dean’s personal survival instincts on how he needs to act around his family, and within the world of hunting, instead it only focuses on this idea that Dean is in denial and he just needs the right man ie Cas, and only Cas, heaven forbid it be anyone else, to make him realise who he really is (ie loves). Dean needs to “get over himself” before he and Cas can become real. This type of meta isn’t even about Dean, it’s really just about how he’s getting in the way of Dean and Cas becoming canon, but he’s “getting there!” Its all on Dean apparently, he’s the one who needs to learn when there is no lesson. 

First of all, Dean is not repressed, he knows who he is and who he likes and dislikes. Dean is not hiding who he is from himself, if Dean ever does put on a “performance” it isn’t due to lack of self awareness. 

Dean is bi and he knows it! 

Dean doesn’t need Cas, or Sam or anyone else who’s more “enlightened”  to help him realise the truth so he can come out of the closet. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dean has known since he’s a teenager, we’ve seen him openly flirt with guys when he can and he only protests with remarks like “I don’t swing that way” when he perceives a threat, when he’s being preyed upon ie by creepy Vampires. 

There’s a difference between hiding from yourself and hiding from others to survive. 

It’s highly likely that he kept his sexuality from John, which is not surprising, as well as a lot of the other hunters he encountered growing up as they were most likely not the type to understand - and even if they were okay with Dean’s sexuality that could have led to the other type of trouble for someone as attractive as Dean, something that’s been often discussed. Dean would have needed to protect himself, but when he was a little older and away from John, when he felt he was safe, and could let his guard down? It wouldn’t surprise me if Dean had at least one half decent boyfriend when he was hunting alone pre-series, as well as Cassie. 

We’ve just had an episode featuring Dean’s childhood idols The Scooby gang where he had an obvious crush on Daphne, but Dean also grew up idolising the wrestler Gunner Lawless who got him all flustered in s11, and just on a side note I believe Gunner was the proto-type for Dean’s many (bearded) boyfriends ie older, tall, well built, a bit rough around the edges maybe. There may or may not be some subtext there involving Dean and John, but that’s a whole other conversation. Have a look at the other guys Dean has developed a close bond with or had a crush on - Benny especially, also Victor and Dr Sexy. Here’s a link to my tag on Dean’s many bearded boyfriends.  X

Dean’s bisexuality does not begin and end with Cas. I don’t trust anyone who says otherwise, it’s bias towards Cas and again ignores Dean’s own personal backstory and development. I also don’t see how he has to become a different person for Destiel to happen. I wish meta writers would take the time to think more about the real obstacles between them, specifically Cas’s past actions over the years and how it affected his relationship with Dean. Dean has been hurt by Cas, like he’s been hurt by Sam, John and even Mary. Dean never really forgets, so if Dean puts up a barrier between himself and Cas, then there’s good reason for it and it’s not repression. See my Dean versus his family tag. X

I have often spoken in private with fellow Dean fans and friends of mine @veneredirimmel @powerbottomdean @deansmith and @deanstandean about the Performing Dean meta that seems to have become some kind of gospel in the fandom. This particular meta argues that Dean’s apparently hyper masculine “dude bro” side is just a performance, a persona, because he’s afraid to be his true softer self which is somehow connected to his hidden repressed sexuality and therefore his relationship with Cas. Well, first of all I don’t consider being soft or badass, strong or vulnerable as proof of sexuality or either masculine or feminine. They are just personality traits, and Dean being Dean has them all, it’s what makes him hard to define and therefore more interesting. But, if fandom wants to put a label on Dean then actually he has never really hidden his “soft” “feminine” side. Since season one Dean has liked nice things like hot showers and soft towels, he watched Oprah and soap operas, he has been on many occasions emotionally vulnerable. More so than Sam even, who is far more of a “stereotypical toxic male” than Dean (don’t be fooled by the Mr Nice Guy™️ label fandom has given him) and yet he doesn’t get the same treatment as Dean from the meta writers, and they are really missing a trick there, but again that is a discussion for another time. In the pre-series years its canon that Dean experimented with women’s underwear. Again, not proof of anything other than that Dean has always been comfortable with who he is. So where is the performance? When he’s flirting with women? Surely he is allowed to enjoy himself and have some harmless fun with the opposite sex, because the whole point of being bisexual is that he is interested in both men and women. 

The actual answer is quite complex, firstly as mentioned above, Dean has had to perform when he is threatened, when he needs to protect himself. He is not hiding from himself, he is just creating a protective shield that is a necessary part of his daily arsenal. I repeat, Dean grew up in a rough, perilous world of hunting where danger lurked everywhere (and not just from the supernatural monsters). Dean had to do what he had to do to survive, and sometimes that meant having to put on a “hunters” persona, to match the burly red necks he was forced to hang out with.  

Dean’s protective shield isn’t just against any physical threat though, more and more over the years it has been used to protect himself psychologically. When it comes to talking about feelings, how many times has Dean let down his guard only to have someone he loves use that against him? Throwing his “weakness” back at him? Dean should not be blamed for protecting himself by putting up his defences and keeping his feelings to himself when he is distressed. 

Dean is not emotionally repressed, he just knows what happens when he speaks the truth. 

If you really want to talk about Performing Dean then lets look at all the times that he, who is the most relied upon character, has had to be whatever others need/want him to be. It’s interesting that the very first monster to be connected to Dean was a shapeshifter, because Dean has a talent for assimilating with his surroundings, adapting and changing and becoming one with them. Dean as a prison mate earning smokes, Dean in a television studio as a PA, Dean as a hunter. John needed Dean to be a good son/parent/soldier so he was and he excelled at it. In the meantime Dean often had to put his own feelings to one side in order to play the part. I am not saying that Dean didn’t love his father or feel protective of his brother, but its canon that Dean wanted more for himself, and was sometimes tired and frustrated about all the sacrifices he had to make. 

Remember what Frank once told Dean back in season seven? “Decide to be fine until the end of the week?” “Do it right with a smile or don’t do it at all.” Was this for Dean’s benefit? Or for those around him? 

Dean was suicidal at the start of this season, not something that can be dealt with easily, but Sam kept pushing and pushing, dictating how Dean should deal with his feelings, so what? So he could play father figure to Jack? So he could go back to his main role as Sam’s support system? Of course Dean relents, he puts on a smile, pretends that everything is okay again, claims his faith is back, all because it’s easier, because it saves him from the agro if he and his brother are “on the same page”. I refuse to believe that all it takes is the return of a friend/loved one to cure Dean’s depression and suicidal tendencies. 

Despite all his previous concerns Dean decides to accept Jack as a new member of Team Free Will, because that’s what Jack needed to hear as he was constantly trying to prove himself. Dean put on a good show of support there, regardless of how he really felt (and the subtext was there in Jensen’s performance). 

And Cas, who has always held Dean up on a pedestal needed Dean to accept his bad decisions that were made in his name, remember season six? “I did it for you!” and ever since he keeps trying to win Dean’s forgiveness, through one disastrous grand gesture after another that often involves his absence and usually backfires. (Although, I feel like Cas is maybe the one character Dean performs less for, and maybe that’s why there’s more conflict and a lot of this “Dean needs to......” meta comes from Cas and Destiel fans). 

Both Sam and Cas, have at one point or another desperately wanted Dean to say the things they want to hear regardless of whether it is deserved or not. They both try to make Dean feel what they want him to feel, usually forgiveness or trust, by forcing the issue instead of allowing Dean to have his own feelings naturally. 

They both expect validation and/or support in what they are doing and why, at the expense of Dean’s own feelings and concerns. More than once Dean has tried to warn Sam and Cas when he can see the bad path they’re about to go down, he tries to express his own opinions but they are stifled, met with anger, they don’t listen and so Dean is forced to watch as he is proven right again and again when things go wrong. 

Dean is the Cassandra of Supernatural after all. 

Finally, I’d like to finish this incredibly long post by mentioning the need for Performing Dean that also exists within the fandom. Dean is expected to be strong and dependable and there for either Sam and Cas (and now Jack) no matter what state of mind Dean is in (see why they all get upset when Dean is not!Dean because then he can’t be the show’s shoulder to cry on). Dean’s feelings don’t matter, they are not as important, he’s not allowed to be angry or have legitimate concerns, he’s not allowed to question their motives, (see the level of fandom hate Dean receives when he goes up against Sam or Cas, and now Jack, in any season but especially seasons 4, 6 and the start of s13), Fandom only expects Dean, never Sam or Cas, to learn a lesson, to change his ways, and it’s usually to benefit their favourite, it’s only Dean who has to concede so Destiel can finally happen. If anything, meta is which criticises Performing Dean is actually them asking Dean to perform for their ship. The whole thing is too close to the “dance monkey dance” mentality. Dean has to be whatever the fandom wants him to be, he has to fit their mould for their ships to exist or for their favourite characters to be happy. 

The level of uproar in fandom whenever Dean breaks that mould is astounding. Dean can’t just be who he is, he’s not allowed to like women, he’s not allowed to like other men, he’s not allowed to be on his own, he’s not allowed to have his own opinions if they go against Sam or Cas, he’s not allowed to be angry, he’s not to be happy doing something for himself, he’s not allowed anything that does not meet up with fandom’s expectations and demands. 

But then the fandom takes its cues from the writers, after all they turned season five into one big unnecessary lesson for Dean in how to let Sam go, and their dependance on him is why we were never allowed Demon Dean for more than 3 episodes, because the show needs Dean to be there for everyone else and he can’t do that when he’s flying fancy free with Crowley now can he? 

[dustydreamsanddirtyscars]

Sorry if you've answered this already but based on the current trajectory/pieces on the board and your own awesome ideas on the show -- if you were in charge, what would S14 look like/be about?

Hello. I have a question, and it may seem weird. But is it confirmed that Jensen’s new character is Dean possessed by something? or does everyone just assume that? Because Judging on the pictures we’ve seen of him as the new character, his outfit is pretty ‘old timey,’ you’d think if he was possessed that whoever/whatever possessing him would just wear whatever Dean is wearing at the time right? Or am I wrong and looking too much into it?            

Hey there!

I’ll tackle these asks together as well if you don’t mind. :)

I’m sorry for only replying so late and also only with this short reply, but I am truly so short on time due to traveling for work atm that in my days off I just have so much other stuff to do and plan prior JIB that I simply can’t be online as much atm. So sorry again! *hugs*

Given the latest episode I personally think that we will likely end this season on a mixture of endings such as in S8 and S9. I get the feeling that possibly none of the main characters will actually end the season in the same place, but will each face their respective “all goes to hell”-moment. And with that I don’t mean they are in different universes, but they’ll be split up and each of them focused on a different obstacle. And I also kind of think that the Apocalypse World thing may not be resolved this season.

But to make it a bit easier, I’ll give you some things I could imagine happening in S14 or the end of S13 that takes us over to S14 and that being things I’d pick to explore if I was to be part of the writing team.

Judging from official descriptions it seems that in 13x21 the Winchesters may enter Apocalypse World once more and trying to bring Mary and Jack back. From spoilers we know however that won’t go as smoothly as expected because Mary seems to see that world as her form of purgatory and doesn’t want to go back. Futhermore in 22 apparently they plan on saving lots of innocents which I suppose could mean they will try to bring all of the resistence over to the normal SPN world including Kevin, Bobby, etc.. At the same time it seems Rowena is dealing with Lucifer in some way as the official description for 13x22 says that Rowena’s interaction with Lucifer will have an effect on the outcome of the journey for one of our heroes. Now question is does journey mean the journey to the other world or their story in a broader sense? In any case the hook line is called “hitching a ride” which at the very least feels ominously alluding to possession or something like Dean carrying Benny out of purgatory in his arm. That said based on these infos I could imagine that

a) Lucifer may be wounded ot even dead after his confrontation with Rowena, which is the reason for

b) the last bits of his power keeping Heaven stable enough (where was he btw? because he seemed to not have been in Heaven since the whole low on bettary thing and lights flickering wasn’t a thing when he was around) are gone and Heaven would fall and that leading to

c) all souls kept in Heaven crashing to earth and causing chaos - and the show using a parallel to how it was in S9 with the angels that possibly some of those ghosts, because they are unable to deal with this opt for possession.

d) the falling souls thing would be of course another perfect possibility to bring back deceased characters (this is also where I could imagine the show truly got JDM for some short scene as John), but much more than that truly re-arrange the whole natural order (and with that also give Death a whole lot more trouble), because

e) with Heaven falling and apparently Hell being run by no one, I think they could really let a few big bads come out to play from Hell.

f) Furthermore Heaven falling and God remaining absent and Jake possibly also staying back in the AU would make for a blank in power structure that so far jas been filed by everything christian belief/lore and in that regard Gabriel going after demigods of other cultures and beliefs feels important, because those smaller religions, etc. could be filling that blank space.

And that brings me to the main characters and what may be in store for them. The least ideas I have for Sam’s story tbh, but I think whatever it will be it will be tied to Rowena and witchcraft (possibly even his psychic abilities coming back or his demon blood addiction playing a role again) since for seasons the show has been framing Sam with witchcraft in particular and with Rowena as well.

Cas I could imagine is either the one to finally remember there exists another archangel in their universe that they may try and contact and in so far could be trying to rise Michael from the cage in a desperate attempt or could even go as  far as tyring to reach back to the Empty and get that place’s entity to allow more angels to return. In any case they will make this angels dying out thing a very personal journey for Cas I assume.

And last but not least there is Dean and that is probably who everybody is thinking about most and while the show has been alluding to Michael!Dean or Death!/Reaper!Dean or more generally Dean dying quite heavily I think it will be none of that or at the very least in the shape we have come to know.

As I have said before on this topic of spoilery pics from set and that Jensen posted himself, the vibe I am getting is that whoever Jensen plays is something/someone that hasn’t been walking earth in a long time or never (really, their “it’s someone from a while back” could just be distraction). Just look wise I fangirled over the outfit because as a massive Peaky Blinders fan it reminded me a great deal of those costumes, but moreover reminded me also of “Baron Samedi” (who could fit the bill of someone from way back and something related to Death).

At the moment I think that what- or whoever Jensen will play (and of course they could truly just opt for a doppelgänger plot with Hevane falling and possibly different world collapsing someone looking like Dean but not being Dean could pop up, but I think this is a more unlikely possibility) is a creture/character that only comes into being due to the situation and blanks left by Heaven going out of business and there needing to be someone to “guide those souls” to their new resting place. If they wanted to they could perfectly use  Baron Samedi like figure here to do that. Now question is why that creature would look like Dean but dress differently or would chose Dean as his vessel. I have no good explanation or idea, but it could be the Billie as Death knows Dean’s expertise in that regard and knows something will come - she was very interested truly about what would happen if Sam died (you could even argue that Sam getting hurt/death could have brought about the chnge in Dean Billie is after - again I don’t think Billie will survive this season) - and that Dean would be the right one for the job. More generally I think Dean is in a mindset where he would make a deal - even possession of some sort - if it meant they could save the world. Also, reapers are supposedly a league of angels, couldn’t they possibly be “promoted” to angels and power Heaven and therefore someon who has worked as a reaper before filling their place? Anyway...

So to answer your first anons questions (and this really just a brief collection of ideas I have, I could also imagine Cas trying to get some angels from AU to this world for example, but there are so many ideas but I can’t get them in order or at least can see them work on their own but nor woven together, so I left those out)

All that said if I had to take over from here on out, I would work with Heaven falling and the aftermath of that and explore that. Likewise one would also have to take a look at the state of Hell, because who runs that atm? I’d stick to this main thing and would work everything around that in terms of personal arcs and would chuck the million tiny stories Dabb opens up with each new episode without resolving or truly takin time to develop them.

And now to the second ask. No, I don’t think it was said anywhere that Dean will get possessed. It is just based on allusions throughout the season one could think that was foreshadowing, but also it would be the easiest explanation and the current staff seems to go with the most obvious options. But no, in general it could be someone who looks like Dean or appears in his shape, but is not possessing Dean. If Jensen playing someone else than Dean and Dean disappearing would be a dead serious confirmation imo that this mini arc won’t last longer than 3 episodes or 4 at most, because the show simply cannot function without Dean as Dean, because Dean builds the emotional core and serves as the narrartor of the show, so if he isn’t there, the show lacks it’s heart and soul. That is not to say Sam isn’t important or that Cas isn’t, but I am saying this without any maliciousness involved, the show can function and has shown to function when they are not around as Cas or Sam (see all the times we had Not!Sam or Not!Cas), but that would not be the case with Dean. He is the stepping stone and core of it all holding it together, so... I’d be surprised if the show went with Dean not being Dean for much longer.

[babygirl06301]

13 Wishes for Season 13

So, I did this last year when I made a wishlist for Mary’s character in season 12 (find it here), and I thought it’d be fun to do the same for this season and see what I come up with!

P.S. There aren’t really any spoilers, so I didn’t tag it, but if you want to wait and read this after you’ve gotten the chance to watch 13x01, you can do so!

1. Jody to finally see the bunker and finally meet Castiel. 

Y’all, I have been waiting so long for this to happen, you don’t realize. From the chatter I’ve been hearing, the Wayward Daughters backdoor pilot is coming after Castiel returns from The Empty. I figured that the backdoor pilot would focus mainly on the ladies with Sam and Dean there mostly as background pieces to sort of pass the torch. But since Castiel is apparently counted as a lead character now, maybe he could be there too? How awesome would it be for Cas to meet Jody and the rest of that cast, huh? They already have a connection through Claire, so why not?   

2. A season-long arc between Sam and Jack

It’s about damn time we got a new dynamic on the show. I’m confident that this will come to pass, but I really would like to see Sam acting as a sort of mentor and friend to Jack. After all, both of these two were/are object of Lucifer’s desire, they both have powers they can’t always control, and they seem to be innately good. Sam could definitely offer advice or even comfort to Jack since he can easily empathize with his situation.

3. An Evil!Jack arc

(This is another one that I’m sure will happen in some form.) Of course I prefer the cinnamon roll of a character that we were introduced to in 13x01, but I feel like his character development would be severely lacking if he didn’t go dark side at some point. I don’t really care how it happens: he feels betrayed by Cas and/or the Winchesters, Lucifer somehow influences him to his side, he thinks he’s doing the right thing when really he’s not (just like his daddy). I don’t care. But I think seeing an evil Jack would be really awesome. 

4. Bobby, Bobby, Bobby

I mean, right? You cannot give us a glimpse of Earth 2 Bobby Singer in 12x23 and not give us more in S13. I know he isn’t the same Bobby that we’ve known this whole time, but honestly, I’m just jazzed to have some of him back. I’m just a little fearful that he’ll be in maybe three episodes tops? And that doesn’t suit me at all. Bring me all the Bobby, please.

5. Returning characters

We’ve all been talking about the possibilities that this other Earth could bring up. A parallel world that’s basically the same as the one we know but without Sam and Dean. So, that means you could bring back... well, anybody. I heard a rumor that Osric was set to come back this season, so maybe we’ll get to see Kevin? Or Charlie? Benny? All I’m saying is if they don’t bring somebody back, I’m gonna be mad. Earth 2 is a total loophole to revisit some fan favorites. And listen, it doesn’t all have to be the good guys. Bring back fuckin’ Abaddon or Azazel or Ruby. Take full advantage of the situation you’ve written yourselves into, writers. Don’t let me down.

6. A real, lasting solution to Castiel’s burdened soul

For the past six fucking seasons Castiel has been on a fucking journey of self-loathing and self-hatred. It’s been exceptionally highlighted in the past two seasons, and not enough has been done to fix it. I’m not trying to downsize all the goodness that came from the Winchesters in S12, but there was also a fair amount of belittling, especially from Dean. Shit, that’s all Cas’s arc has been for the past two seasons. This season, I’d like to see a change. I’d like to see a real, extended conversation with Castiel and Dean (because, let’s be honest, Dean’s opinion means the most to Cas) where Dean sits him down and says something to the effect of “You’ve got to stop trying to prove yourself, Cas. You don’t need to. You have always been the strongest player on the bench, and I need you to believe that. I do.” You know? I just need for someone to put their damn foot down and make Cas see how amazing he is so he stops getting stabbed in the damn chest trying to prove himself.

7. A Sam-centric storyline

I’m gathering that this season is going to be Cas-centric at its forefront, which is beautiful. He deserves that, he’s never had that, it’s his time to shine. However, Sam has been sidelined for too long. I don’t care if it’s a subplot, but I need for Sam to be a part of the actual plot for the first time in forever beyond him fighting alongside Dean. I get it; Sam’s the one who’s got his shit together, so why would he get into the kind of trouble that would warrant a solo story arc? Maybe he doesn’t have to get into any kind of trouble. Maybe he could just become a leader of some sort (like we saw in 12x22). Maybe something with his psychic abilities could be touched on again (which I heard might actually happen). Maybe you could stop painting him as a character to be sidelined and actually give him his own stories again. How ‘bout that, SPN?  

8. Explosions

I don’t really know why, maybe because of the grenade launcher last season, but I really wanna see something blow up. I mean, Jack can do so much, right? So, let’s blow some shit up!

9. Weird demonstrations of Jack’s powers

Like I said, Jack can do a ton of stuff with his powers, so I’d love to see an episode (which is probably the Scooby-Doo episode) where Jack’s powers just fuck something up so badly. He could accidentally turn the Impala pink. He could replace Sam’s fancy shampoo with toothpaste. He could be the reason Cas has highlights this season (but for real, have you noticed Misha’s hair lately?). I just want some funny shit to happen because there’s a juiced up spawn of Satan living in their house.

10. Chuck

I know he’s not going to bring Castiel back. Hell, I’m guessing Cas--and maybe Mary--are gonna save their own damn selves. But, even if it’s just for five minutes, it’d be cool for Chuck to come in like, “Dean, I heard your prayer, but there’s nothing I can do.” And then Dean would 100% try to kill God himself before Chuck poofs away.

11. Teleportation station

Honestly, if Cas is going to be back at full power, I want him to get lit about it. I just want to see him so damn happy to be back, ya know? He’d say, “I’ll drive” before a hunt and then boop Sam, Dean, and Jack to wherever they were going. He could flash his wings at random intervals. Shit, he could break Sam’s friggin’ leg and go, “Wait, watch!” and then heal him. Then Sam would go, “You could already do that, you marble!” And Cas wouldn’t even care because he’s so happy. Tell me that wouldn’t be cute.  

12. Crowley appreciation

Sadly, we all know Mark isn’t coming back to SPN, at least not any time soon. However, we can still give Crowley the respect he deserves this season. I understand that Crowley wasn’t TFW or family or anything, but he was something to Sam and Dean (as we saw in 13x01). I’d just like to see more comments made about wishing Crowley was there to help them with something or absentmindedly saying the kinda miss him. Ya know, just something to show everybody that they haven’t forgotten about him and that he meant something to the Winchesters. 

13. A new grieving process for Dean

I just made a post about this today, but I really want to see Dean grieve differently this season. For one, he’s lost so much at this point that I think it warrants more than the moody, drink the pain away, ignore the crushing feeling of loss, fight through it response that Dean normally has. For two, he made so many steps last season toward a more open and vulnerable expression of his feelings, and brooding doesn’t line up with that. Also, there’s a big difference this time around: Cas. He’s never lost Cas like this before. Not this completely, not for this long, not this far into their relationship. Say what you want, but Dean’s relationships are all different. From Sam to Mary to Crowley to whoever, Dean has a unique relationship with all of them. And losing Cas should result in a different kind of grieving. Especially considering the shit they’ve been through, especially because of all the shit Cas gave up for him. Dean’s lost plenty, but this time needs to be different.

Well, that’s all I got! Let me know if you agree or disagree or think some of these will happen. I’m excited for the season, for sure. Hopefully, it’s everything I’m wishing for! 

[impandagrl]

Four Fandoms

I was challenged to post four of my favorite fandoms and why I love them by @whovian1077. Thank you; this should be fun! Not gonna lie; I’m probably gonna cheat a little. I’m not good at picking my favorite out of things I love. Also, these will be in no particular order.

1) Star Wars-

All the movies (yes, even that one; that one too) and basically all the books (I can’t say I’ve read all of them, but I’ve read a substantial number)

Favorite Characters- Obi-wan, Han and Chewie, Leia, R2, Chirrut, Jyn, Cassian, K2, Rey

Favorite Quotes- Obiwan has some great ones that I quote all the time (Good job; That’s why I’m here; You want to go home and rethink your life), but they’re mostly in the dry delivery. The majority of K2’s dialogue. Leia-”I’d rather kiss a wookie,“ Han-“That can be arranged; he could use a good kiss!”

How long I’ve been a fan- From the first moment I watched Episode IV I was hooked. I’d say I was probably 12-13.

Why I love it- I love how everything feels like it has its own deeper story. Each planet has customs, language, people. You can fall in love with characters that are on screen for a couple minutes tops (do not get me started talking about Zett Jukassa). The expanded universe is basically a bunch of books full of fanfic that was published. I wrote so many stories myself in my early teens that took place in the star wars universe. I made my own planets and wrote and drew about the inhabitants. I will always love Star Wars.

2) Joss Whedon

Okay, I warned you I was going to cheat. Because of this great man, I get to include the Marvel movies (yes, I’m aware he wasn’t responsible for all of them, but like I said, I’m cheating!) and Agents of Shield, Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog as one entry.

Favorite Characters- Iron Man, Captain America, Coulson, Hawkeye, Fitz, Star Lord, Buffy, Willow, Spike, Xander, Zoe, Kaylee, Mal, Wash, Inara, Dr. Horrible, Penny (this was still hard; I feel like I betrayed everyone I left off this list)

Favorite Quotes- Oh, jeeze! “I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you,” “Out. For. A. Walk.- … Bitch.” “It’s a brand new day and the sun is high/All the birds are singin’ that you’re gonna die,“ “B:I wanna be an achiever, like Bad Horse; P:The Thoroughbred of Sin?; B:I meant ‘Ghandi’,” Most of the lines …  

How long I’ve been a fan- I want to say 10 years or so?

Why I love it- They are funny and clever, but also sad and real. The characters are amazing and believable. The dialogue is incredible 

3) Supernatural

Favorite Characters- Sam and Dean, Bobby, Charlie, Cas, Benny, Jody, Donna, Pamela, Crowley, Ellen, Jo, Kevin, Bela, Lisa (shut up), Ruby (both incarnations), Baby

Favorite Quotes- Really? “I think I’m adorable,“ “Fight the fairies,” “Hey, I am your flesh and blood brother … believe in that, believe me … make it your stone number one and build on it,” “Do I look like a ditchable prom date to you?” “It’s okay, boy, that’s why I’m here,” “Don’t ask stupid questions,” “Urination. I understand.” “Dean, always with the scissors!” “No, I’m kidding because clowns are really funny to me,” etc.

How long I’ve been a fan- Since July 3rd, 2016. I was planning on casually watching the first season to satisfy my curiosity and take a much needed break from job and school stress. I was watching the first episode. Dean did something or said something or looked something idk and I said, “I’m in trouble.” Then Sam said/did something and I said, “I think I may have made a terrible mistake.” I was right.

Why I love it- I love so many things about this show, but it all comes down to Sam and Dean. I could tell right from the pilot that these were well done, complex, characters that were also well-casted. Individually, I would have fallen in love with either of them. Together, with the dynamics of their brother relationship, I just don’t see myself getting tired of it. Combine it with the incredible acting ability that only seems to get better (how?), the fantastic side characters, the amazing/crazy fandom, and the actors’ relationship with each other and the fans …  well, I’m just glad I didn’t know when I popped in that first dvd: I probably would have been too scared to sign on for 13 seasons (wow, that’s a lot of emotional trauma)

4) The Chronicles of Narnia

The 7 Books by C.S Lewis. The most recent movies were okay. I watched an old BBC rendition once that was equal parts good and terrible.

Favorite Characters- Lucy, Edmund, Mr. Tumnus, Reepicheep, Shasta, Bree, Hwin, Aravis, Puddleglum, Prince Tirian, Jewel, The Professor, Strawberry -ah, who am I kidding: Peter, Jill, Eustace, Caspian, Susan, and Aslan of course

Favorite Quotes- “(Edmund:)Girls aren’t very good at keeping maps in their brains, (Lucy:)That’s because we’ve got something in them.” “(Narrator:)Edmund or Lucy or you would have recognized it at once, but Eustace had read none of the right books … He never said the word Dragon to himself. Nor would it have made things any better if he had.” “(Aslan:)Courage, dear heart” “(Puddleglum:)I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia,”

How long I’ve been a fan- I believe I was 13 when I first read them

Why I love it- I loved the magic, the adventure, the fact that ordinary kids became heroes. The humor. The love and sacrifice. The Narrator. Lewis’ incredible ability to tell a good story.

Honorable Mentions

Anything by Tolkien or Cornelia Funke, Criminal Minds, Pirates of the Caribbean, House (the show with Hugh Laurie), Anything by Ted Dekker, Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events (the books; I liked the movie, haven’t seen the show), Harry Potter, Psyche, The Mentalist, Justified, Being Human-not the bbc version though I saw the first season and found it funny, Person of Interest, Teen Wolf (I’m hopelessly behind on some of these shows), The Walking Dead (fell behind on that too- no spoilers, please!), Pushing Daisies (thanks to @seenashwrite, I’m almost done and I LOVE it!)

[365footballorg-blog]

#MLSisBack! Here&#039;s your complete 2018 season preview

February 26, 201812:00PM EST

#MLSisBack and the 2018 season will kickoff on Saturday in Toronto. Given that, we asked our experts for their quick take on each of the 23 teams heading into the season. You can also find a link to your teams unofficial depth chart based on our own evaluations and preseason matches. In addition, there’s my prediction for where every team will finish in their conference.

Atlanta United

The Five Stripes are everyone’s hot pick to take a big step forward in 2018, and that’s understandable. They spent big to bring in 18-year-old Argentinean DPEzequiel Barco, and splashed out TAM + GAM to pry Darlington Nagbe from the Timbers. That’s a lot of flair and off-the-dribble skill. The problem might be that they’re unbalanced now, as lynchpin midfielder Carlos Carmona headed back to Chile and, as yet, there’s no replacement for his midfield steel. —Matt Doyle

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Ezequiel Barco

KEY LOSS:Carlos Carmona

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 3rd in East

Chicago Fire

Chicago brought back their biggest star this winter in Bastian Schweinsteiger but lost one of their most productive players when they traded winger David Accam to Philadelphia on draft day. The Fire signed a promising Accam replacement in Serbian attacker Aleksandar Katai, but still need some help in a few spots – center back and No. 10 being two – if they want to build on last year’s third-place Supporters’ Shield finish. —Sam Stejskal

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Aleksandar Katai

KEY LOSS:David Accam

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 7th in East

Colorado Rapids

It’s a new era in Colorado, with new head coach Anthony Hudson and the front office overhauling the Rapids roster hoping to wash away 2017. The additions are plentiful, with many coming from England and New Zealand, and Hudson will be hoping his 3-5-2 can provide enough in the attack for a team that has struggled to score goals. —Ben Baer

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Jack Price

KEY LOSS:Mohammed Saeid

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 11th in West

Columbus Crew SC

Crew SC almost upset the best team in MLS history in the Eastern Conference Championship, but getting to that point again will be a tall task for Gregg Berhalter’s team. Star attackers Justin Meram and Ola Kamara were traded away in the offseason, with only maligned striker Gyasi Zardes brought in to replace their star production (so far). Columbus will likely be relying on an intact defense and a rising star in between the pipes to get them back to the playoffs. —Ben Baer

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Milton Valenzuela

KEY LOSS:Ola Kamara

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 6th in East

D.C. United

The level of optimism around D.C. depends on how you see the half-filled glass. On the positive side, D.C. upgraded in multiple positions, including the acquisitions of Ulises Segura, Junior Moreno, Frederic Brillant and Yamil Asad. The lineup could be both sturdy and electric, all to go with a brand new stadium. On the downside, they have a crazy schedule, front-loaded with road games and then extra congested on the backend. —Bobby Warshaw

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Yamil Asad

KEY LOSS:Bill Hamid

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 9th in East

Last year we were talking about Dallas pushing for MLS Cup. Then they had the worst collapses in MLS history. Now we are wondering if they are even a playoff team. From Point A to Point B, they have almost exactly the same team. They struggled to replace Fabian Castillo in 2017, but this winter they got Colombian attacker Santiago Mosquera. If they can sort through their late-2017 issues, Dallas should be pushing for trophies again. —Bobby Warshaw

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Santiago Mosquera

KEY LOSS:Walker Zimmerman

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 4th in West

Houston Dynamo

Was 2017 a playoff mirage or did the Dynamo re-establish themselves among MLS’s upper echelon? We’re about to find out. Houston sold their leading scorer (Erick “Cubo’” Torres) in the offseason, and that might be a good thing since it opens a spot for Mauro Manotas, one of four young attackers Wilmer Cabrera will set free on the counter. Speed kills, but the rest of the league knows what’s coming. Can the Dynamo find another gear? —Andrew Wiebe

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Alejandro Fuenmayor

KEY LOSS:Erick Torres

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 10th in West

They say one should temper expectations with expansion teams – even Atlanta in 2017 finished 4th – but that’s not the mentality manager Bob Bradley is taking into the season. He’s gone to the world market for top-end talent in Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi and blended it with proven MLS contributors like Benny Feilhaber, Walker Zimmerman, Laurent Ciman and Steven Beitashour. The first 13 on the roster looks like it could compete with anyone. Like most expansion clubs who need to build from scratch, if Bradley needs to dig deeper, he could be in trouble. —Bobby Warshaw

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:N/A

KEY LOSS: N/A

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 9th in West

They were the worst team in the league last year, so by definition nobody had more work to do. And so work they did, pulling in international defenders, a fringe USMNT defensive midfielder and goalkeeper, and one of MLS’s most consistent goalscorers. There’s a lot to like about this group, but there’s no guarantee all of the above will be enough if Gio and Jona dos Santos don’t start playing like the stars they’re supposed to be. —Matt Doyle

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Ola Kamara

KEY LOSS:Gyasi Zardes

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 5th in West

Minnesota United FC

This really is gonna be a slow build, eh? While most of the rest of the league was pulling in TAM or DP-caliber players from overseas, the Loons pretty much stood pat (except for adding three more wingers, because of course they did). The prize signing of their offseason at this point looks to be 35-year-old journeyman right back Tyrone Mears, and it remains unclear who’s gonna be the playmaker. It looks like they’ll need serious improvement from within. —Matt Doyle

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Tyrone Mears

KEY LOSS:Johan Venegas

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 12th in West

Montreal Impact

The Impact have yo-yoed in and out of the playoffs during their six seasons in MLS. In former Lyon boss Remi Garde, Montreal hope they’ve found a head coach who can foster more consistency and tap into the talent coming through the academy. Garde wasted no time turning over the roster and getting younger. Losing Blerim Dzemaili hurt, but Saphir Taider arrived in return. If all else fails, just give the ball to Ignacio Piatti. —Andrew Wiebe

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Saphir Taider

KEY LOSS:Ezequiel Barco

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 8th in East

New York City FC

NYCFC are clearly one of the top contenders for MLS Cup entering the season, even after selling Jack Harrison to Manchester City. David Villa will be hunting for a trophy in what could be his last season in the Big Apple and reinforcements have been added all across the field. The midfield trio should be one of the best in the league, with young star Yangel Herrera likely getting more playing time after a breakout year. —Ben Baer

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Jesus Medina

KEY LOSS:Jack Harrison

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 1st in East

New York Red Bulls

The Red Bulls traded their captain (again), but did so with a purpose. The red side of New York is going all-in on the press, and that requires young legs, which arrived via DPKaku, the Kljestan trade and a cadre of Homegrown and Red Bulls II graduates. Tyler Adams should take another big step, this time in central midfield, but the old heads will still be expected to lead the charge. —Andrew Wiebe

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Alejandro Romero Gamarra

KEY LOSS:Sacha Kljestan

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 5th in East

Orlando City SC

Has anyone in MLS history had as active (and, frankly, impressive) an offseason as the Lions? They added the two-time reigning assist king, a Best XI-caliber winger, a high-priced young DP playmaker, an in-his-prime MLS Cup champion d-mid, a Bundesliga starter at CB, the best college midfielder, the college assist king, and the NASL MVP/Golden Boot winner. This team is deep and LOADED, and now Jason Kreis has to make the pieces fit. No excuses in 2018. —Matt Doyle

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Josue Colman

KEY LOSS:Cyle Larin

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 4th in East

Philadelphia Union

Union fans seemed ready to riot in December, then the club spent big to acquire David Accam. Accam has the ability to turn any game and immediately lifts any team to the next level. Is it a playoff level? It could come down to how well their No. 10’s perform in creating goals and if any of the young center backs on the team — Jake Elliott, Josh Yaro, Auston Trusty or Richie Marquez — can become consistent performers. —Bobby Warshaw

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:David Accam

KEY LOSS:Chris Pontius

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 11th in East

San Jose Earthquakes

A new year, a new era in San Jose. The Quakes took a European turn this winter, with Swiss GM Jesse Fioranelli hiring Swede Mikael Stahre as the club’s new head coach and signing Swedish striker Magnus Eriksson to a Designated Player deal. How the two Swedes adapt to MLS will do a lot to determine if San Jose can improve on a 2017 in which they made the playoffs but had a negative-21 goal differential. —Sam Stejskal

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION(S):Magnus Eriksson

KEY LOSS:Victor Bernardez

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 7th in West

Seattle Sounders

Continuity is the buzzword on the Puget Sound heading into the season. Seattle, who had significant turnover after winning MLS Cup 2016, are bringing back almost everyone from the team that fell short in the final in Toronto in December. Will that core be enough after an offseason that saw most of the other Cup contenders make big moves? The Sounders are betting on it. —Sam Stejskal

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION(S):Magnus Wolff Eikrem

KEY LOSS:Joevin Jones

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: First in your heart, but last in the East

Sporting KC

If defense wins championships, how come Sporting KC can’t seem to get past the Knockout Round? Another year of playoff disappointment prompted Peter Vermes to break out the TAM and DP slots to replace the traded Benny Feilhaber, augment the league’s best backline and keep pace with the rest of the league. What Vermes hasn’t done (yet) is land the forward #SKCnation yearns for. Are Khiry Shelton and Diego Rubio enough to make KC a top contender? —Andrew Wiebe

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION(S):Felipe Gutierrez

KEY LOSS:Benny Feilhaber

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 3rd in West

Toronto FC

Could Toronto do the quadruple? It’s certainly possible after the best team in MLS history had few changes over the short offseason. Already off to a good start in the CONCACAF Champions League, the Reds could make a run in the continental tourney before setting their sights on retaining their three other trophies. Keep an eye on Greg Vanney’s lineups though, as he will not want to wear out his team before the stretch run. —Ben Baer

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Gregory van der Wiel

KEY LOSS:Steven Beitashour

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 2nd in East

Vancouver Whitecaps

The Whitecaps favorite ride is the Forward Carousel, and Kei Kamara is the latest to climb aboard. With Kamara and Kendall Waston attacking dead balls, Vancouver ought to dominate on set pieces … but can they step out of their direct shell and go toe-to-toe with the league’s best? The answer in the playoffs was a resounding no, and the likes of Yordy Reyna, Efrain Juarez and Alphonso Davies will have to prove this version of the ‘Caps is different. —Andrew Wiebe

2018 DEPTH CHART

KEY ADDITION:Efrain Juarez

KEY LOSS:Fredy Montero

BEN BAER’S 2018 PREDICTION: 8th in West

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#MLSisBack! Here's your complete 2018 season preview was originally published on 365 Football