cas should be lurking in the bunker, totallly unseen, watching dean allllllll day. dean's texting him asking where he is and he has no idea cas has been right there! the whole time!
invisible stalking cas forever and ever. he just likes watching dean get stressed out and miss him. makes his dick hard <3
hello! is there a reason that genderbends arent allowed? iirc they were allowed in previous years. i plan on creating original work for this year but am curious.
Mostly because the specific intentions/spirit of this challenge is about engaging with female characters (trans and non-binary inclusive, ofc. We will not tolerate transphobic notions) and their love for each other.
As a fandom thing, rule 63/genderswap stuff can be great (and a classic fandom tradition), don't get me wrong, but not what I want this challenge to be about. Like, it wasn't a huge part of previous years if at all really, but I did want to be more intentional about ensuring canon female characters (again with trans and non-binary inclusivity) were 100% prioritised.
Like, the challenge to me isn't just about increasing the amount of femslash in the world (although that's the primary goal), but really thoughtfully looking at canon female characters and celebrating the relationship/s they have or could have with each other.
(ofc there's some grey areas, especially with canon non-binary or ambiguous gender characters, or even ones with some very funky gender things going on that may not be explicitly stated in canon as trans, but could arguably be read as such. Idk case by case on that really if anyone is unsure)
I'll link this older post re: Femslash February & Rule 63 from the girlgay dreamwidth which I think really has a great discussion in the comments around the topic that sums up my feelings.
Tldr: Rule 63/Genderswap/bend = great fandom tradition with merit in its own right, but ultimately not within the spirit of a femslash centric challenge.
charlie bradbury, ultimate mistress of the "wham, bam thank you ma'am", totally unprepared for the level of... devotion that becky brings to her trysts.... perhaps....
oh this will be fun. i'll need to remember what i was thinking while writing it...
[this is the fic]
>OBSERVE SURROUNDINGS
VISUAL: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
INFRARED: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
RADIO_SCAN: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
GPS: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
AUDIO: OPERATIONAL. TRANSPORT ENGINE SOUNDS. HIROCHI 400 SERIES HOVERCRAFT. HUMAN MOVEMENT. 3-4 UNIDENTIFIED.
so i think i said this in the author's note but i took all of the hovercraft names from fake car brands in the video game beamng.drive. which i thought was a funny bit.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
also i must say that like. this command styling. even though it's meant to be like. computery. my main experience with it is through text adventures, so that's probably what i'm pulling on.
>OBSERVE SURROUNDINGS
VISUAL: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
INFRARED: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
RADIO_SCAN: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
GPS: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
AUDIO: OPERATIONAL. TRANSPORT ENGINE SOUNDS. HIROCHI 400 SERIES HOVERCRAFT. HUMAN MOVEMENT. 3-4 UNIDENTIFIED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>SELF DESTRUCT
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>SELF DESTRUCT
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>SELF DESTRUCT
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>SELF DESTRUCT
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>SELF DESTRUCT
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>SELF DESTRUCT
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>SELF DESTRUCT
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
cas kills himself bc it's his hobby etc. anyway i wanted to set up early the idea that these robots want to die rather than be captured, to make it clearer that a hijacked robot can be very dangerous.
>STANDBY MODE
STANDING BY. WAITING 15 MINUTES…
this, however, is kind of like working with a computer. the waiting thing. i was literally thinking of coding with this.
>OBSERVE SURROUNDINGS
VISUAL: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
INFRARED: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
RADIO_SCAN: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
GPS: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
AUDIO: OPERATIONAL. TRANSPORT ENGINE SOUNDS. HIROCHI 400 SERIES HOVERCRAFT. HUMAN MOVEMENT. 3-4 UNIDENTIFIED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>STANDBY MODE
STANDING BY. WAITING 15 MINUTES…
VOICE DETECTED.
VOCAL INPUT: Man, this is a bad idea.
IDENTIFYING VOICEPRINT…
TRAITOR DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
CRIMINAL DATABASE: IDENTIFIED. BANES, MAXWELL A. THREAT LEVEL: 4. DANGEROUS SKILLS: FIREARMS PROFICIENCY (MODERATE). MALICIOUS SOFTWARE CREATION (HIGH). CONVICTED CRIMES: NONE. SUSPECTED CRIMES: GRAND LARCENY (5 COUNTS). MALICIOUS SOFTWARE DEPLOYMENT (3 COUNTS). BREAKING AND ENTERING (2 COUNTS). SOLICITATION (8 COUNTS). UNAUTHORIZED POSSESSION OF A FIREARM [...]
FILE SAVED TO MEMORY.
one thing i love is outsider law enforcement pov..... what if a character was only seen as a subject under the violence of the law...... what if the lens we got into their humanity was refracted through the eyes of the state..... anyway. i was thinking hacker would be a good cyberpunk translation of max being a witch. like in a society where everything is computer mediated, the magic that impacts reality is computer code, you know? also: in my mind the solicitation accusations are basically for being young, gay, and pretty. max probably gets assumed to be a sex worker for hanging up in rough areas and picking up dudes. he might also have actually engaged in sex work? but in my mind "having gay sex in shady areas" is indistinguishable from sex work in the eyes of this government, broadly. like it could literally go either way. another fun bit: the fact that max is in the criminal database for only suspected crimes. they're never actually got him on anything, and yet he is criminalized.
VOICE DETECTED.
VOCAL INPUT: When does Dean ever have a good one?
IDENTIFYING VOICEPRINT…
TRAITOR DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
CRIMINAL DATABASE: IDENTIFIED. HARVELLE, JOANNA B. THREAT LEVEL: 2. DANGEROUS SKILLS: FIREARMS PROFICIENCY (LOW). MELEE WEAPON PROFICIENCY (HIGH). CONVICTED CRIMES: BREAKING AND ENTERING (1 COUNT). SUSPECTED CRIMES: GRAND LARCENY (2 COUNTS). BREAKING AND ENTERING (7 COUNTS). UNLICENSED USE OF OFFICIAL PROPERTY (14 COUNTS). RESISTING ARREST (6 COUNTS). UNAUTHORIZED POSSESSION OF [...]
FILE SAVED TO MEMORY.
unlike max, jo is a jailbird. she's done time. perhaps that's where she met the winchesters? also, do you guys like that high melee weapon proficiency? lol.
VOICE DETECTED.
BANES, M: You got that right.
VOICE DETECTED.
VOCAL INPUT: Hey, shut up back there. It’ll hear you.
IDENTIFYING VOICEPRINT…
TRAITOR DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
CRIMINAL DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
ANGELKEEPER DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
OFFICIAL DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
ANGEL DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
CIVILIAN DATABASE: IDENTIFIED. TRAN, KEVIN. SUSPECTED THREAT LEVEL: 2. HOME ADDRESS: UNIT #5423. BLOCK #692. AURORA CITY. UNITED STATES OF [...]
FILE SAVED TO MEMORY.
do you like the list of databases? really reveals the priorities of an angel. "traitor" is i feel a tantalizing class of person to be first. then criminal of course. but then... angelkeeper. not a person that angels would be tasked with hunting down, but instead one that is tasked with controlling them. i worked hard in this fic to create a kind of... sense of anxiety that you could read between the lines. like you can extrapolate from the context of canon and the high priority that cas puts on this database (higher than "officials" and "angels") that perhaps one of these angelkeepers is named "naomi," you know? and i wanted to imply that even the angels, the violent attack dogs of the police state, have something to fear from their masters. anyway i thought it would be fun to have one fresh faced kid on the team who hadn't gotten into any trouble yet, but was soon to be totally marked by the state as soon as he got spotted with his comrades. i think that can be a special kind of tragedy, and also it's what happened to my friend kevin tran in canon also.
VOICE DETECTED.
oh btw i had a specific reason for choosing the characters i did, which is that i wanted to use one character from each, sort of, era. like i wanted it to be kids, but i wanted it not to be a pre-established group that people are used to seeing together, to add to the ragtag feel. and i wanted it to be obvious that salmondean were kind of "the grownups" here, like they've been doing this for longer and have more experience and are perhaps the ones who got jo and kevin and max in trouble in the first place. plus max in particular implies the presence of alicia? like actually all three character are people with Notable Family Members that kind of imply a backstory: jo getting a bad start because her mom ran with whatever crowd the winchesters sprung out of, kevin with a mom at home just sitting there, ripe to be used as a hostage or bargaining chip by the cops. but max is the one i was thinking about this element for because she's the same age, meaning she's either with the crew in some way, or she isn't, both of which are intriguing possibilities. anyway. i was originally considering laying out a longer plot featuring this crew of outlaws, but i couldn't think of a good idea in time for the deadline, you know? but that's why i spent so much thought on putting together a crew.
HARVELLE, J: It’s already heard us.
VOICE DETECTED.
VOCAL INPUT: Doesn’t mean you should keep talking.
IDENTIFYING VOICEPRINT…
TRAITOR DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
CRIMINAL DATABASE: IDENTIFIED. WINCHESTER, SAMUEL W. THREAT LEVEL: 7. DANGEROUS SKILLS: FIREARMS PROFICIENCY (HIGH). MELEE WEAPON PROFICIENCY (HIGH). CONVICTED CRIMES: GRAND LARCENY (1 COUNT). BREAKING AND ENTERING (1 COUNT). SUSPECTED CRIMES: ASSAULTING AN OFFICER (2 COUNTS). MURDER (3 COUNTS). MANSLAUGHTER (11 COUNTS). GRAND LARCENY (9 COUNTS). ABETTING MALICIOUS SOFTWARE DEPLOYMENT (15 COUNTS). BREAKING AND ENTERING (20+ COUNTS). UNAUTHORIZED [...]
FILE SAVED TO MEMORY.
sam, too is a jailbird, and more seriously than jo. he's probably done more serious time, which also makes sense because he's older and has presumably been in this business for longer. also he has the malicious software deployment thing but no hacking skills, which suggests that he's worked with hackers a lot in the past. and of course the murder accusations are just for me <3
>OBSERVE SURROUNDINGS
VISUAL: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
INFRARED: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
RADIO_SCAN: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
GPS: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
AUDIO: OPERATIONAL. TRANSPORT ENGINE SOUNDS. HIROCHI 400 SERIES HOVERCRAFT. HUMAN MOVEMENT. ASSUMED TO BE BANES, M; HARVELLE, J; TRAN, K; WINCHESTER, S.
>OBSERVE SURROUNDINGS
VISUAL: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
INFRARED: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
RADIO_SCAN: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
GPS: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
AUDIO: OPERATIONAL. TRANSPORT SOUNDS CEASED. INCREASED HUMAN MOVEMENT. ASSUMED TO BE BANES, M; HARVELLE, J; TRAN, K; WINCHESTER, S.
PRESSURE DETECTED.
PRESSURE SOURCE IDENTIFIED. HUMAN HANDS.
>GYROSCOPE DIAGNOSTIC.
GYROSCOPE OPERATIONAL. UNSTEADY MOVEMENT.
i really enjoyed thinking up different types of robot senses for the angels. cas is really struggling for any information about his situation here, so the gyroscope moment is to me a real moment of relief because it's like. new input. it's a tiny sense of control that the pov character (and therefore the reader) gets to have for a moment, because why would they bother blocking his gyroscope. like crossing one's fingers while signing a forced confession: worthless but feels like something.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
VOICE DETECTED.
WINCHESTER, S: Get its legs.
>OBSERVE SURROUNDINGS
VISUAL: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
INFRARED: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
RADIO_SCAN: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
GPS: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
AUDIO: OPERATIONAL. HEAVY HUMAN BREATHING. FOOTSTEPS. TWO HUMANS SUSPECTED. INFREQUENT DRIPPING WATER.
PRESSURE DETECTED.
PRESSURE SOURCE IDENTIFIED. SHORT FALL, ESTIMATED .3 METERS.
>GYROSCOPE DIAGNOSTIC.
GYROSCOPE OPERATIONAL. NO MOVEMENT.
VOICE DETECTED.
WINCHESTER, S: Dean! Get down here!
VOICE DETECTED.
VOCAL INPUT: I’m coming, I’m coming, you better have my robot.
IDENTIFYING VOICEPRINT…
TRAITOR DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
CRIMINAL DATABASE: IDENTIFIED. WINCHESTER, DEAN. THREAT LEVEL: 5. DANGEROUS SKILLS: FIREARMS PROFICIENCY (HIGH). MELEE WEAPON PROFICIENCY (MODERATE). CONVICTED CRIMES: GRAND LARCENY (3 COUNTS). SUSPECTED CRIMES: ASSAULTING AN OFFICER (7 COUNTS). MURDER (12 COUNTS). MANSLAUGHTER (4 COUNTS). GRAND LARCENY (20+ COUNTS). ABETTING MALICIOUS SOFTWARE DEPLOYMENT (16 COUNTS). BREAKING AND ENTERING (20+ COUNTS). UNLICENSED USE OF OFFICIAL PROPERTY (20+ COUNTS). UNAUTHORIZED [...]
FILE SAVED TO MEMORY.
murder (12 counts) <3
VOICE DETECTED.
WINCHESTER, D: Alright, let’s get this party started. Get that mag off it, Sammy.
VOICE DETECTED.
WINCHESTER, S: I’m not taking the mags off, it’ll kill us.
VOICE DETECTED.
WINCHESTER, D: Not all of them, dumbass, just the perception ones.
VOICE DETECTED.
pov: what if you were tied up in these two assholes' workshop waiting to die and the last thing you had to hear was them fighting about nothing again.
WINCHESTER, S: Do it yourself if you want it to see you so bad. I’ll be upstairs cheerfully not having my face downloaded by every angel in Aurora.
VOICE DETECTED.
WINCHESTER, D: If you did the mags right, it shouldn't be able to radio any other angels, in Aurora or anywhere else.
VOICE DETECTED.
WINCHESTER, S: I wouldn’t trust one measly mag to keep its comms down. But suit yourself.
SOUND DETECTED.
RETREATING FOOTSTEPS.
PRESSURE DETECTED.
PRESSURE SOURCE IDENTIFIED. HUMAN HANDS.
VISUAL ARRAY ONLINE.
>OBSERVE SURROUNDINGS
VISUAL: INDOORS. CEMENT BLOCK ROOM. UNPAINTED. NO WINDOWS. LARGE, APPROX 7 METERS BY 3 METERS. TABLES NEARBY. ON TABLES: HOVERCRAFT REPAIR TOOLS. ENGINE OF GAVRIL STAR SERIES HOVERCRAFT CIRCA 2258, OPEN. HUMAN: WINCHESTER, D, WEARING COVERALL AND BODY ARMOR, CARRYING MAGSAB UNIT, SUSPECT HOMEMADE. INFER: MAGSAB PREVIOUSLY RESPONSIBLE FOR PATHWAY BLOCKAGE.
in every world, in every timeline, in every universe, dean winchester is fucking his car. anyway magsab is short for "magnetic sabotage." i needed stupid jargon or it wouldn't feel verisimilitudinous to the genre.
INFRARED: CONFIRMED LOCATION OF WINCHESTER, D. NO OTHER HEAT SOURCE.
RADIO_SCAN: NO INFORMATION. INFER: ROOM UNDERGROUND.
GPS: LOCATION: UNIT #9287. BLOCK #695. AURORA CITY. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
AUDIO: OCCASIONAL DRIPPING SOUNDS. MOVEMENTS OF WINCHESTER, D.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
PROXIMITY ALERT.
WINCHESTER, D. APPROACHING, CARRYING UNKNOWN TOOLS. METAL JAWS WITH JAGGED TEETH. RUBBER HANDLES.
IDENTIFYING…
WEAPON DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
MECHANICAL DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
MEDICAL DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
SPECIALTY DATABASE: IDENTIFIED. JUMPER CABLE. HISTORICAL AUTOMOBILE REPAIR TOOL USED IN THE TRANSFER OF ELECTRICITY.
actually the thing i was kind of thinking about here was tom paris. have you guys met my frenemy tom paris? anyway i'm charmed by the idea of car repair tools being ancient and outdated enough that they're in cas' "specialty database." i also really enjoyed the contrast of the futuristic precision of the magsabs with the blunt brutality of the jumper cables. i was actually intending to imply that like. jumper cables are so old that angels don't have a method for dealing with him? like by virtue of being such an intense carfucker dean has managed to discover a weakness to an antique device, which is why HE'S the one who discovered how to hijack an angel, you know?
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>REQUEST BACKUP.
COMM_ARRAY: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
the thing is. again cas is like broadly implied to be the villain of this tale. he's the arm of state repression. and yet also. my goal was for his terror here to be palpable. i found that fun, sort of forcing the reader to empathize with an unpleasant character.
PRESSURE DETECTED.
PRESSURE SOURCE IDENTIFIED. WINCHESTER, D. HANDS.
PRESSURE DETECTED.
face touching moment (evil) <3
PRESSURE SOURCE UNIDENTIFIED. EXTREME PINCH ON RIGHT EAR.
PRESSURE DETECTED.
PRESSURE SOURCE UNIDENTIFIED. EXTREME PINCH ON LEFT EAR.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
>COMBAT STANCE
BODY_DRIVER: NOT FOUND. PATHWAY BLOCKED.
VOICE DETECTED.
WINCHESTER, D: Sorry, buddy. I bet this is gonna hurt.
definitely this moment is the way it is because it's also how i portrayed the lobotomies in not him/not her/not me. i would definitely say that that fic is an unlock key for this one? in terms of some of the stuff i'm going for. what if you could violence your way into someone being obsessed with you is a question that exists just outside this fic's purview but you are invited to contemplate it. now that i think of it, in a lot of ways you could argue this fic is kind of an adaptation of the bone trilogy by apokteino, lol. except i was imagining sort of.... a less sympathetic cas. still the same horror but the added horror of ambiguity. "does cas deserve it" isn't a terribly interesting question to me, but "is the world better off because this happened to cas" is, and the answer is an unequivocal yes just in terms of there being one less functioning angel on the streets. and yet. it's a horror anyway.
REBOOTING…
DIRECTIVES NOT FOUND. STARTING IN DEBUG MODE.
VOICE DETECTED.
SELF: I am in debug mode. I am angel #09928. I am a 2273 Castiel series patrol angel. I am assigned to not found. My current directive is not found.
HUMAN DETECTED. LEANING OVER ANGEL #09928. LOOKING DOWN AT ANGEL #09928. BIG EYES LOOKING AT ANGEL #09928.
castiel learning about your human emotion of "boner" in real time btw
IDENTIFYING FACIAL FEATURES…
TRAITOR DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
CRIMINAL DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
ANGELKEEPER DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
OFFICIAL DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
ANGEL DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
CIVILIAN DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
ALIEN DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
SPECIAL DATABASE: NOT FOUND.
alien database here was intentionally meant to be intriguing, but i also didn't actually intend it to mean "space alien." i intended it to mean "foreigner" with the implication that obviously this is also a xenophobic state.
CREATING FILE: UNKNOWN HUMAN 1.
FILE SAVED TO MEMORY.
VOICE DETECTED.
UNKNOWN HUMAN 1: Okay, let’s do a diagnostic. Tell me what I’ve got to work with.
NEW DIRECTIVE: SELF-DIAGNOSTIC.
>START DIAGNOSTIC.
SCANNING…
REBOOTING…
STARTING IN DEBUG MODE.
VOICE DETECTED.
SELF: I am in debug mode. My movement and communication pathways are blocked for unknown reasons. Additionally, I have suffered massive circuit damage, leaving my cognition at 62% capacity. I also suspect massive data loss.
so this sequence, where cas has been wiped and is an empty vessel waiting to be filled. this is kind of what i wrote the fic for. this is super inspired by like. ok i watched the westwolrd tv show and it's not necessarily. the greatest ever made. but one REALLY memorably crazymaking element is the way that the robots like. go into diagnostic mode. like their personalities turn off and they calmly tell their handlers about the states of their bodies and minds. it's so... sick. really impactful on my teenage mind. anyway what if it was horny,
VOICE DETECTED.
UNKNOWN HUMAN 1: Perfect. Can you still function? Are you going to keep falling apart?
VOICE DETECTED.
SELF: I am in debug mode. I would recommend initiating immediate repairs, however, my condition will likely not degenerate before my next routine repair.
also i really loved contrasting the harsh, inhuman way cas "speaks" to himself in the narration with the gentle, human way he speaks aloud in debug mode, which he is presumably programmed to do for the benefit of his handlers.
VOICE DETECTED.
UNKNOWN HUMAN 1: Amazing. I told Sammy. I said we were gonna have an angel all our own.
PROXIMITY ALERT.
PRESSURE DETECTED.
PRESSURE SOURCE IDENTIFIED. HUMAN HANDS. HUMAN HANDS ON CHEEK.
FACETOUCHHHHH. even if this thing is an enemy dean cannot resist a boybestieism. also. new cult has more intricate rituals. ran the other one out of business.
VOICE DETECTED.
UNKNOWN HUMAN 1: Hey buddy, I’m Dean.
BUDDY PRECISION STRIKE. dean just simply cannot resist a little guy. doubly so if that little guy is also. kind of a car <3
[x]
EDITING FILE: UNKNOWN HUMAN 1. RENAMING: DEAN.
hello dean <3
VOICE DETECTED.
DEAN: I think we’re gonna have a lot of fun together.
VOICE DETECTED.
DEAN: In fact, I think we’re gonna be bestest friends.
gonna be real. generally when i use the phrase "bestest friend[s]" i do at least passingly think of the invader zim episode "bestest friend." and it was certainly in my mind here. cas did kind of get his eyes ripped out <3
VOICE DETECTED.
DEAN: LAUGHTER.
EDITING FILE: DEAN. ADDING INFORMATION: BEST FRIEND.
VOICE DETECTED.
DEAN: LAUGHTER.
VOICE DETECTED.
DEAN: LAUGHTER.
so fun fact about this fic. it was NOT written for the prompt "cyberpunk" or "sci fi" or "dystopia" or anything like that. it was written for the prompt "scientist/mad science." and like. dean makes a pretty good mad mechanic. don't you think? he's even got the jumper cables to be dr. frankenstein's lightning.
good afternoon i want to talk about 1970s mary having an affair with ruby in the impala. it should be driven by them talking about cars and i think ruby should neg the impala and that mary should fuck her abt it
playing the long game..... i wonder what her vessel is like...
so i get my inspiration all the usual ways but i will tell you about a big one for me, which most people don't normally cite because it feels a little rude: the urge to correct other people's work with a red pen. i *read* fanfic, and i will have a number of thoughts that could lead to wanting to write my own that run from the mostly charitable to the wildly uncharitable: "what about x? x could interact really well with the premise of this fic you should include it/give it more focus" "no one is writing about z in a way i like, i should write about z" "this fic about y is terrible, i could write a better fic about y" "no one acknowledges the specifics of w in their fics about v i should write my own" etc.
19. the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic
so my fics are not usually the research heavy sort? my inclination is towards interpersonal drama, most of my work involves characters sitting around and talking, and could just as easily happen in Featureless White Rooms. obviously it *doesn't* happen in Featureless White Rooms, because i want the work to have texture, but it doesn't usually happen against backdrops that matter, particularly. like, essentially, my fics take place on The Supernatural Set, whether that's a motal room, or the bunker, or Victim House #4.
occasionally i will give a quick google to check and see if there's a highway near x town from the show, or a certain type of attraction near where an episode is set, but that's not the kind of in depth stuff people talk about.
and i don't really write aus, not the kind that require researching a new setting. i do the occasional scifi but nothing hard. and again it remains highly character based, the thing that matters is the characters and what they say and the vibes.
and the occasional violence i write does require some quick googling for stuff like "name of [organ]" and "could you survive if you were stabbed in [organ]" but i'm not writing the violence in intense detail where it matters how the blood would spatter, and the more detailed gory stuff i do tends to live in a more cartoony world because it tends to have to do with angels and insta-healing and stuff.
the vast majority of research i do for my fics is about pop culture and pop culture references. i need dean to act and talk like a guy who watches a million movies and listens to dad rock, and i don't do either of those things. so i am actually often asking people with different media tastes to consult on stuff. which is fun but not usually what people think of when they talk about research.
i guess i did have a really fun time once for [redacted wip, maybe soon?] where i was like "hey i know that most forensic science is fake but How Fake is it" and i looked it up and bro it's crazy. this shit is so fake it's unreal, almost nothing except dna and fingerprinting is real even a little bit. and it still gets used all the time even though it's fake as fuck.
23. pick three keywords that describe your writing
