Imaginary storytelling, Supernatural edition: Places to come from, places to go.

[hannahrorlove]

This is for neotoma and tiny_antares. And everyone who likes fictional anthropology.

I had a moment of great jubilation when I got to the fourth season of Supernatural - not just because the plot was kicking into high gear, not just because of Misha Collins, not just because the effects budget had been increased to about $72 per episode up from $65. A lot of it was

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[neotoma]

Starting a new thread because the old one was getting ridiculous...

I still need some sort of external conflict hang the plot on, something that parallels things that happened in canon somehow, so that it feels like it's an actual SUPERNATURAL story...

Maybe something about demons? Maybe angels can also sell their souls, and the demons that they become are ... more dangerous? more plotting and good at the long game? Or maybe angels can't sell their souls and can always see demons, so the plot revolves around hunters trying to recruit angels to the cause, except that angels don't even last as long as most hunters because they are violent the ways humans are?

[neotoma]

I think, if anyone sold their soul, it would have been Gabriel's older brother Lucifer, who managed to get his entire family killed in the process, except for his baby (7ish) brother who ran away in terror.

I'm not sure if Lucifer becomes a demon or not -- I have the idea that he wasn't married, or even half-married. Maybe he just got taken over.

Australia is ridiculously fragile -- because they don't have volcanoes or glaciers, and thus have nothing to make soil.

[hannahrorlove]

The climax of Gabriel's story is, as always, him throwing off his fears and learning courage, standing up to what made him run so long ago.

Yeah - the oldest exposed soil and rock formations on the planet. Hence all the specialization.

[neotoma]

I don't know -- I always found Dean calling Gabriel a coward for not wanting to kill his brothers really hypocritical. *Dean* never seriously entertained the idea of killing Sam, but told Cas and Gabriel that they should kill their brothers.

But yeah, Gabriel's story climax with him facing his past.

The oldest and some of the most nutrient poor.

[hannahrorlove]

Dean is a master of the blind spot.

Here, Gabriel wasn't scared of his parents or his brother - he was scared of the creatures that did those things to them. Even as an adult, with decades to grow and mature and find himself secure in his power, he still becomes that little child when he think back on what he saw. Fighting through that fear, that's where his courage comes from.

[neotoma]

Dean is, and since hypocrisy is one of my bugaboos, I sometimes have a hard time writing him sympathetically.

I think he was scared of this brother at the end. Admittedly, he was so young he wasn't gendered yet, so being completely freaked out was understandable.

So, if I do sign up for the GBB, would you be willng to be my alpha-reader?

[hannahrorlove]

What do you mean when you say he wasn't gendered yet?

And absolutely. I'll be cheering you along every step of the way.

[neotoma]

He was too young to have a definitive gender -- angels are 'child' with a non-gendered pronoun until they fledge into their flight feathers.

Thanks, then I feel okay about signing up for it

[hannahrorlove]

No wonder they thought he was a girl. And this is before DNA testing being able to confirm these things without feathers present.

Awesome. I'll settle in to wait patiently.

[neotoma]

Well, his taste for frills and lace was also kind of confusing -- angels didn't have anything like that and he was completely fascinated. His behavior kind of combined badly with 1950s gender stereotypes.

It will take a while -- but you'll probably get random scenes at random times.

[hannahrorlove]

The language barrier didn't help much. Him trying to explain that he likes how it feels, that it's warm like feathers, and - being a little kid at the time - crying when he doesn't have the words.

Coolness. As a linear writer, I look forward to being surprised.