This was all kinds of incredible and you had me genuinely terrified when Cas woke up only a day later and had me believing it was all a dream as well. I am so very excited for the next instalment. This story is utterly epic, there is no other word to describe it.
Hey you! Yes, there are clues peppered throughout as to the possibility Cas is hallucinating it all... the appearance of Sam and Bobby, and the fact he hears their voices; the noise of the dogs barking that he thinks is the sound of hellhounds. We tried to do it as subtly as we could because we didn't want y'all to catch on - and originally the cliffhanger was actually going to end right at the point where Cas wakes up, and y'all would have been left thinking he dreamed it all. But we decided that would be too cruel, so we brought over the first two sections of the final part into this part to give you that scene where they are reunited...
Thank you for reading, and Zat goes into better detail on it, but the whole dream/surreal aspect was something we ended up going with -- I know for myself, some of the scariest things in short stories I read were ones that had you wondering if what you read was real . . .
Hey there! Yeah, this is pretty epic, way more than we expected. It jus grew and grew, and the ideas and concepts and words flowed so fast that it became massive. We ended up having to add on #24 as a separate episode because we basically had a 120K epic that wasn't really going to work spread across just #22 and #23. And the final installment posting tomorrow is pushing 40K in itself.
And really I know better than to even think that anything cliché or anything that's been done before would show up here...Totally... sword and I both worked really hard to ensure the ideas and concepts in this section especially would (hopefully) read like nothing y'all had ever read before, albeit that the very human themes of love and loss - themes that we all know - are the thread holding it all together. And there are elements of it that will carry through to the next installment. My greatest thrill would be for people to re-read all of this VS from the beginning and then let me know, however far down the line, that their re-read showed them all
( ... )
Thank you for reading! Zatnikatel's comedic genius, along with so many other tender/dramatic scenes, were really just so great. I remember bursting out laughing at the screen when I read the fart joke and being glad I was alone at the time so people didn't think I was nuts!
Thanks muchly! During our (usually) booze-fueled brainstorms for these finale episodes, I said to sword that it'd be great if we could do something redolent of Ripley in the movie Aliens, driving that troop transport over monsters and crashing through bulkheads to rescue the marines. And then sword said it'd be great if Cas drove the fucking Impala into Hell!!11!! So we merged those ideas into something that is pretty trippy but also has emotional resonance for readers given how important the Impala is as symbol of home and brotherhood. That will continue right through to the end scenes of RR...
Heh, you're luck you go that end! Previously we had the cliffhanger stop at the point Cas wakes up and ended it with the suggestion he had hallucinated it all. But we decided it'd be too cruel to leave y'all hanging there!
Thank you so much for reading! And Zatnikatel really did a great thing with that bit with Bobby helping Cas cuddle up to Dean, it speaks volumes of each of the characters and how they interact. And yes, guilty as charged, who doesn't love the Bangles I ask you!?!?!?!
It was very key, certainly for myself and I think also for Zat, to realize that as easy as it is romanticize Dean with his canon titles (Righteous Man) and the legend that kind of builds up around his own storyline in canon and among fandom, it must be slightly tragic to actually be him, were he real -- when does he ever get a chance to just be himself, and loved for himself? And I think a lot of people want that in their own lives. We should all be so lucky.
Just... Wow. I found this about two weeks ago looking for good Destiel fic. Oh My Chuck am I glad I did. This whole faux season has just been absolutely amazing. And this latest bit? All I can say is...wow. Just gah!
Also, I have to ask: where did Cas get Gabriel's Horn from? Did Kali give it to him in that episode with the will-o-wisp? I remember her saying something like "I have something that will interest you", but then it's never explained because the next scene I think Cas wakes up. I remembered that and kept waiting for something to show up to explain it, so is this it? :) Or is this something from the show that I've completely forgotten? Or does stuff just magically appear in the Impala because they *need * it? Oh and also- though I suppose this may be answered in the next installment- do you see Cas' grace as fading- him becoming fully human- because even has he describes himself as a hybrid or a mongrel..I think Dean is as much now- what with bits of Cas' grace in him, and if I remember correctly, the Forest Deity says they are "one". I guess what I'm asking is- will Death separate them, in the end, many many years down the line, even for a little while
( ... )
Oh no: Gabriel had the horn with him, bb! We figured it'd be able to materialize much as the swords do! Heh, those questions will be answered, bb, as well as something Cas mentioned in Ghosts...
*silly me * I re-read that section, and it was Gabriel's sword, along with Rachel's and Michael's that's in the trunk. I'm curious how they got there though- since Cas, apparently, has no clue. :) Read the sneak peak, and *sigh *...just..just don't fix my heart a bit to break it all over again. Also, funnily enough, there's a DCBB fic this year that's based on a similar premise- Cas is human but without a soul.. I don't want this series to end! Right now I'm three parts impatient and four parts sad (yeah, what, I hate math) while waiting for the finale. And I'm going to be all confused when watching S8 and going "But where's Bobby" and "Hey do you think Cas beats Claire at Words with Friends" because RR is CANON and nothing can convince me otherwise.
I've been late to comments so by now I'm sure all has been revealed, but thank you for reading . . .
Gabriel certainly can just materialize things, this is accurate; in my head canon, I figured Vassago was hanging onto it for Gabriel, as he is a demon in some mythology who specializes in the finding of lost things . . . thus, it made him a perfect character for retrieving Castiel, in the end.
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;-)
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And really I know better than to even think that anything cliché or anything that's been done before would show up here...Totally... sword and I both worked really hard to ensure the ideas and concepts in this section especially would (hopefully) read like nothing y'all had ever read before, albeit that the very human themes of love and loss - themes that we all know - are the thread holding it all together. And there are elements of it that will carry through to the next installment. My greatest thrill would be for people to re-read all of this VS from the beginning and then let me know, however far down the line, that their re-read showed them all ( ... )
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Heh, you're luck you go that end! Previously we had the cliffhanger stop at the point Cas wakes up and ended it with the suggestion he had hallucinated it all. But we decided it'd be too cruel to leave y'all hanging there!
Reply
It was very key, certainly for myself and I think also for Zat, to realize that as easy as it is romanticize Dean with his canon titles (Righteous Man) and the legend that kind of builds up around his own storyline in canon and among fandom, it must be slightly tragic to actually be him, were he real -- when does he ever get a chance to just be himself, and loved for himself? And I think a lot of people want that in their own lives. We should all be so lucky.
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;-)
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Oh and also- though I suppose this may be answered in the next installment- do you see Cas' grace as fading- him becoming fully human- because even has he describes himself as a hybrid or a mongrel..I think Dean is as much now- what with bits of Cas' grace in him, and if I remember correctly, the Forest Deity says they are "one". I guess what I'm asking is- will Death separate them, in the end, many many years down the line, even for a little while ( ... )
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Tomorrow all is revealed!
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Read the sneak peak, and *sigh *...just..just don't fix my heart a bit to break it all over again. Also, funnily enough, there's a DCBB fic this year that's based on a similar premise- Cas is human but without a soul..
I don't want this series to end! Right now I'm three parts impatient and four parts sad (yeah, what, I hate math) while waiting for the finale. And I'm going to be all confused when watching S8 and going "But where's Bobby" and "Hey do you think Cas beats Claire at Words with Friends" because RR is CANON and nothing can convince me otherwise.
Reply
Gabriel certainly can just materialize things, this is accurate; in my head canon, I figured Vassago was hanging onto it for Gabriel, as he is a demon in some mythology who specializes in the finding of lost things . . . thus, it made him a perfect character for retrieving Castiel, in the end.
Reply
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