Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Dominika Psohlavcová

A Study of Audience Reception of through Fan Fiction Bachelor's Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D. 2016

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Dominika Psohlavcová

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D., for continuous support, advices and guidance. Also, thanks belongs to every person who works or worked on the show and to the fan fiction writers who write in their spare time for free and with love.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 5

1.1 episode ...... 6

1.2 Show overview ...... 9

2. FAN FICTION ...... 18

2.1 Fandom ...... 18

2.2 Genres ...... 20

2.3 Channels ...... 25

3. ANALYSIS ...... 27

3.1 Twist and Shout ...... 27

3.2 The Winchester Way ...... 30

3.3 The End ...... 34

3.4 Touch Me ...... 36

4. CONCLUSION ...... 39

5. WORKS CITED ...... 40

6. RESUMÉ (English) ...... 42

7. RESUMÉ (Czech) ...... 42

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1. INTRODUCTION

Supernatural is an American TV show that first aired on 13th September 2005

(“Release Info") and since then gained a huge, loyal and passionate following. Maybe thanks to it, it is currently running its eleventh season and has been renewed for the twelfth (Sokol). The creator of the show is . In his original pitch for the production company he stated that he wants to create a show about “two brothers...battling the things that go bump in the night”. Its main focus should be urban legends, but it should still feel “grounded...like our world, real-life America. With darkness that bubbles and boils just beneath the surface...The humor is extremely important...but the episodes have to be scary as shit.” (“Tweet”) He accomplished all of these. His vision was embodied by , playing and Jared

Padalecki, playing .

The Supernatural fandom is very active and productive - mainly in writing fan fiction which represents a rich source of material through which the show itself can be studied. By studying fan fiction, we can see how the show influences its fans and what elements of it they enjoy, how and why.

The aim of this thesis is to identify main themes that occur in Supernatural fan fiction and analyze them to draw a conclusion about the show and its fans. The thesis is divided into three parts. In the introductory part I present the pilot episode and overview of the show, because I believe it is necessary to familiarize with the studied work first.

The pilot episode introduces the main characters and underlying plot and sets the tone for the show. The knowledge of the main is presented for better understanding of the third part. In the second part I present facts about the fandom itself and its relationship with the creators and actors. I also name six main genres of fan fiction and three chosen websites where fan fiction can be accessed and enjoyed. Third part focuses

5 on analyzing chosen fictions representing the genres and drawing conclusions about how they display the experiences of the fans.

1.1 Pilot episode

In Lawrence, Kansas, 22 years ago, a happy family says goodnight to the youngest , Sam. His big brother Dean kisses his cheek. Later, the mother is woken up by the baby monitor and goes to check. She sees a man’s silhouette by the bed and turns around. She hears TV from downstairs. She sees John sleeping in front of the TV and rushes back to the nursery. John is woken up by a sharp scream, but when he runs up to the nursery, everything seems fine. When he strokes Sam’s hair, something drips on his hand. It´s blood. He looks up and sees Mary pinned to the ceiling and bleeding.

Suddenly, flames engulf her. Desperate John grabs Sam and gives him to Dean to carry outside, as fast as he can. He comes back to help Mary, but there is no way. He runs out of the house in the last second.

At Stanford University, back in the present, Sam Winchester and his girlfriend

Jessica are getting ready for a Halloween party. Sam is excited for his interview for law school on Monday and has high hopes for full scholarship. Jessica says it is a pity his family does not know about this.

When they are sleeping in their apartment, Sam hears an intruder. They fight and the intruder turns out to be Dean. Sam is angry that Dean appeared so suddenly, because they do not speak to each other. He wants to speak about something personal in private, but Sam insists Dean can talk in front of Jessica. Dean is not happy, but says: “Dad’s on a hunting trip. And he hasn’t been home for few days.” Sam freezes and understands,

Jessica cannot hear this.

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Dean wants Sam to come on the hunt with him, they might find dad. Dean opens the trunk of his car, full of guns and other weapons, and shows Sam their dad’s research about this case. For last 20 years, men are going missing on the same stretch of road.

Plus, on the cleaned up voice mail from John, a woman’s voice is saying: “I can never go home.” Sam lies to Jessica and goes with Dean, under the condition he will be back on Monday for the interview. He wants to continue with his normal life.

In Jericho, California, a young man named Troy, drives home and picks up a woman in white dress. She wants him to take her home and for him to come with her.

When they arrive, she disappears and he goes to look for her inside the old, rundown house. He is scared and runs back to the car, the woman sits in the back seat. The car starts up on its own and stops on a bridge. We can hear a scream and see a giant splat of blood on the windows.

The brothers are shopping at the gas station. We get to know Dean a little better: his hunting career is funded by fake credit cards and pool hustling, he drives

Impala ’67 he affectionately calls his “Baby” and loves classic rock. When they drive up to the crime scene, Dean opens a little box with various fake badges - their way of getting information about cases. They ask around the local police and run into the real

FBI, but they manage to escape in time.

They run into a girl putting up “missing” fliers of Troy. Brothers lie about being

Troy’s uncles and talk to the girl in a café. They encourage her to talk about anything she thinks that might have happened. She starts to talk about an urban legend: the girl was murdered at the same bridge the accident happened, she is still out there, hitch- hiking. Whoever picks her up, disappears forever. They are dealing with the vengeful spirit.

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They search the Internet database for “Female murder hitchhiking” and “female murder centennial highway” but there are no hits. As the spirits are born of violent deaths, they try to search “suicide” and find it. A woman, Constance, committed suicide after her two kids drowned in the bathtub. Her husband is still alive and they decide to interrogate him.

When they search the bridge at night and talk about their family and Jess, Baby suddenly starts up and chases them off the bridge. They get a room in a motel and the clerk says someone with the same name has been staying here for a month. They break in - the room is full of cut outs, pictures, information about victims and salt. It is definitely John’s room. He wanted to keep something out, as spirits cannot cross the salt line, and he figured out the case - it is a Woman in White.

Dean sets out to eat something, but is arrested, because his room is filled with missing person’s info and “satanic mumbo jumbo”. He manages to warn Sam who flees.

The police man is interrogating Dean and throws John’s diary at the table. Dean recognizes it, but keeps calm. John would never go anywhere without it, so Dean knows something is wrong. There is a message for him: Dean 35 - 111.

Meanwhile, Sam pretends to be a reporter and interrogates the husband about his marriage. He claims it was a happy one and Constance was the love of his life. Sam asks him whether he heard of Women in White - it’s a ghost story and the women have the same fate. Their husbands were unfaithful to them and they murdered their children in a moment of insanity. When they realized what they have done, they killed themselves and wander the roads, punishing unfaithful men. The husband understands what Sam means by this hinting and indirectly confesses that he made some mistakes.

Dean is still arrested, but the policemen have to leave to stop a shooting. Dean frees himself and takes the diary. Sam calls Dean from the Impala that he made the fake

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911 call and knows the spirit is in fact a Woman in White. Suddenly, Sam has to slam the breaks, because there is someone - Constance - on the road. She appears in the backseat and orders him to take her home. When he refuses, she makes the car go by itself. The car stops in front of her rundown house. Constance says she can never go home, again, and Sam figures out the way to put her spirit to rest. Constance tries to kill him, but cannot, because Sam was never unfaithful. Dean appears and shoots Constance with the shells full of salt - momentarily banishing her. That gives Sam enough time to drive right to the center of the house. When Constance appears again, she is scared. Her kids appear at the top of the stairs, dripping water, calling to her. Then they grab her and they all disappear screaming. The hunt is over.

The coordinates that John gave them are of a place of the next hunt, but Sam insists on going home for the interview. Dean drives him home and leaves with a heavy heart. Sam finds freshly baked cookies from Jessica and finally relaxes a little bit on his bed. Something drips on his forehead. He opens his eyes to see Jessica pinned to the ceiling and bleeding, bursting into flames, just like Mary. Dean runs inside and grabs

Sam. In front of their apartment building, Sam is devastated and cries. He loads his shotgun and slams the trunk: “We got work to do” (“Pilot”).

1.2 Show overview

The overview will describe the show from the first to the tenth season. I chose not to include the eleventh season, because it is still running and the season finale will have aired after the publication of this thesis. The aim of this chapter is to familiarize the readers with the show’s main story arcs, because they are essential part of understanding fan fiction analyzed in this thesis, as well as fan fiction as a whole.

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Season 1 can be characterized by the brothers’ search for John. He is going after the killer of their mother alone and there is a lot of questions. We are still getting to know the characters. Sam is the pensive one with a huge guilt over Mary’s and Jessica’s death, Dean is really not just the tough hunter he makes himself out to be. As they search for John, they hunt a number of monsters like Woman in White, Bloody Mary,

Hookman, ghosts and poltergeists. Demons are the biggest threat there is now and they are just finding out how to fight them. Bobby, other hunter, is of great help to them. Sam starts to have vivid nightmares about people dying. They turn out to be premonitions somehow connected to people whose mother died the same way Mary did. When they are finally reunited with John, he reveals Mary was killed by a demon that can only be killed by the Colt - a gun created by Samuel Colt himself that can kill any supernatural being. When Dean is forced to kill a demon to save Sam’s life, wasting a precious bullet,

John praises him for doing so. Dean knows something is wrong and his father is possessed. He indeed is and by the demon that killed their mother himself - he has yellow eyes instead of black, as other demons do. Yellow Eyed Demon confesses he killed Mary and Jessica, because they got in the way of his plans for Sam. John manages to get a moment’s hold on the Demon and orders Sam to shoot him with the Colt, but

Sam cannot bring himself to do it, because that would also kill John. He shoots him in the leg to make the Demon leave his body. They drive to the hospital; John is shot and

Dean is badly bleeding from the demon attack; but the Impala is suddenly pushed of the road by a giant truck, driven by a possessed driver. All three of them lie bloody in the car.

Season 2 starts with Dean dying. He has been injured too much in the accident and there is nothing doctors can do. John makes the deal with the Yellow Eyed Demon to save Dean’s life, but he has to give him the Colt and his life. Dean is devastated to

10 find out his father sacrificed his life for him. They gradually meet other hunters - Ellen,

Jo, genius Ash and Gordon. Sam’s premonitions are back and when investigating the cases, they meet Andy, another person whose mother died the way Mary did. Sam is determined to track down all the “ kids” while Gordon is slowly killing all of them. Sam manages to save himself and put Gordon in jail. He meets all the remaining

“psychic kids” when they are all kidnapped to an abandoned city. There is only five of them now. Yellow Eyed Demon comes to Sam in a dream and reveals that he wants them to fight, he needs the strongest one to lead his demon army. Sam is killed by the remaining opponent Jake just as Dean arrives to save him. Dean sells his soul to a crossroads demon for Sam, but instead of ten years to live, he only gets one. It is revealed that Yellow Eyed Demon needed someone to cross the huge demon trap around the Hell Gate and the Colt to open it. Hundreds of demons are set free as Jake abides. At least Yellow Eyed Demon is killed by Dean. They finally hunted down the thing that killed their mother, but a lot more hunting awaits them now. Sam also finds out Dean sold his soul for him and he is angry.

In season 3 the brothers and Bobby are hunting the newly freed demons. Dean is trying to enjoy his last year on Earth with cheeseburgers and women, and Sam is desperately trying to come up with a way to get Dean out of his demon deal. Sam is tracked down by Ruby, a demon who claims to be different and knows how to save

Dean. His contract is held by a powerful demon who also wants to kill Sam; she sees him as a threat, because he was supposed to lead the demon army. On the day

Dean’s contract is supposed to end, they track down Lilith in a last hope of saving Dean.

Sam turns out to be invincible to Lilith´s powers, but Dean’s time is up, he is attacked by a hell hound and goes to Hell.

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Season 4 begins inexplicably with Dean digging himself out of his grave, after four months. Only thing different about him is a big hand print on his left shoulder. It turns out he was brought back by an angel , because God has a very important task for Dean. Angels have returned, because Lilith is trying to break the sixty six seals that would open Lucifer’s cage and free him from Hell. Dean is their weapon.

Meanwhile Sam works with Ruby. He drinks demon blood and is able to exorcise demons with his mind. He does all this to be able to kill Lilith and stop the Apocalypse.

However, Dean and angels do not like this. The relationship of the brothers is heavily strained and they even part their ways when Sam chooses Ruby over Dean. Dean tries to stop Sam from killing Lilith, because her death is actually the last seal, but he is stopped by angels that want the Apocalypse to happen, so they can rebuild Paradise on Earth.

Dean reaches Sam too late to stop him, but just in time to hear Ruby confess that she worked with Lilith the whole time. Lucifer is freed from his cage.

Whole season 5 is dedicated to stopping Lucifer. According to the angels, archangel Michael is supposed to defeat Lucifer, but for the fight to occur, both angels need vessels. The brothers are their true vessels, Sam for Lucifer and Dean for Michael, but the angels need the brothers’ consent to possess them, as it is the only way angels can possess humans. This complicates things for angels and their plan. Brothers refuse, because the fight would destroy most of the Earth. Sam and Dean are constantly pushed into taking on their roles by different angels, but their plan is to stop the Apocalypse by capturing Lucifer again. The keys to his cage are the rings of the four horsemen - War,

Famine, Pestilence and Death. Their first plan to kill Lucifer with the Colt they had to steal from the King of Hell, , failed and they only managed to lose Jo and Ellen.

In the meantime, Castiel sets out on the mission to find God so he will stop Lucifer himself. Sam and Dean battle the signs of upcoming Apocalypse and the Horsemen, and

12 collect their four rings. Sadly, Sam decides to say yes to Lucifer and jump into the cage with him, but it does not work at first. As Michael is tired of waiting on Dean´s consent, he uses Adam, Dean and Sam’s half-brother, as a vessel. Lucifer and Michael are set to fight, but Dean interrupts and for a small enough moment, Sam gains power over

Lucifer, opens the cage and jumps in. Dean is devastated that he lost his brother and goes to live with his old girlfriend Lisa and her son Ben.

Season 6 begins one year after Sam jumped into the cage. Dean lives a happy normal life with Lisa and Ben. One day Sam appears alive saying he needs Dean’s help again. He has been alive for a whole year and has been hunting with some relatives of their mother (who surprisingly came from a hunter family), most notably their grandfather Samuel. Something seems off with Sam. Whoever resurrected him did so without his soul, making him a coldblooded and emotionless hunter. Samuel’s work is suspicious. Dean finds out he hunts Alpha monsters - the first creatures of their kind - for Crowley and interrogates them about Purgatory - a place monsters go when they die.

Dean makes a deal with Death who brings Sam’s souls back and also builds “a wall” in his mind, so he will not remember Hell and Lucifer’s torture. When Sam’s souls is back, he does not remember last year and a half and all the horrible things he did when he was hunting. A new threat occurs in the form of The Mother, creator of all monsters. She is breeding new monsters, combining the features of the old ones. When she is killed by

Dean, it is revealed that Castiel, who has been mostly dealing with the civil war raging in Heaven, after the Apocalypse did not take place, is behind Sam’s resurrection. He plans to open the gate to Purgatory, together with Crowley, and absorb all the souls there, so he is strong enough to defeat Raphael, the leader of angels who want to free

Lucifer and make Apocalypse happen again, as it was supposed to be. When the brothers

13 try to stop him, Castiel makes Sam remember his time in the Lucifer’s cage and proceeds to absorb all the souls, their power making him a God.

Season 7 sets of with Castiel’s reign as God, but that lasts only for a little while.

His vessel is unable to contain all the souls and he is slowly falling apart. Although he returns most of the souls back to Purgatory, he frees the Leviathans into the world as his vessel finally falls apart. They are the oldest creatures that God locked away in

Purgatory, because they became too dangerous. They pose a huge threat, because they can take on a form of any human and all conventional weapons do not work on them.

They take place of wealthy and influential leaders and start to work on their big plan to turn the human race into their perfect food source. Meanwhile Sam battles his hallucinations of Lucifer that drive him insane and into an institutional care. Castiel emerges alive again and heals Sam’s hallucinations by taking them on instead of him.

When Dick kills Bobby, Dean is determined to get rid of all Leviathans once and for all.

They steal a very important package from Dick that turns out to be a tablet with the

Word of God about Leviathans. In it they find, with the help of the prophet Kevin, the way to kill them. Dean and Castiel manage to kill Dick - killing all the Leviathans in the process - but are dragged to Purgatory with him.

Season 8 starts with Dean getting out of Purgatory, after one year. With him, he brings out the soul of a vampire Benny who has been his fighting partner there. Castiel supposedly stayed there. Kevin’s whereabouts are unknown. Sam is happy to see Dean alive, but it turns out he was not even looking for him. When they find Kevin together, he has a lot of news. Crowley found the Demon tablet - the Word of God about demons - and was making him translate it. There is a way to close the Gates of Hell forever - after three trials are finished. Sam and Dean meet their other grandfather, Henry Winchester, when he time travels to them in order to escape Abaddon, the Knight of Hell, the last

14 one of the group of first demons. Henry was a Man of Letters, a member of a secret group gathering all knowledge on all things supernatural. Henry is killed, but they are given the key to the Men of Letters’ bunker full of this knowledge and make it their home. Kevin continues to translate the Demon tablet, but there is also an Angel tablet.

Castiel finds it with help of Naomi, an angel who has been brainwashing him and using him ever since she got him out of Purgatory. Sam takes on the trials, but every time he finishes one, his health turns for worse. The brothers find the God’s scribe - the angel

Metatron – who reveals the last trial to close the Gates of Hell. Metatron takes on a mission of his own - to close the Gates of Heaven - and persuades Castiel to help him.

Dean stops Sam from finishing the third trial, because he found out the trials would kill him. However, Metatron finishes his trials, taking Castiel’s grace in the process. The

Gates of Heaven are closed, but they do not keep the angels in. All the angels are expelled from Heaven as a Metatron’s form of revenge for when he himself had to flee.

Season 9 starts with Sam in a coma after the trials wore him out. Dean is able to get help from angel Ezekiel who promises to heal Sam from the inside, simultaneously healing himself after the fall from Heaven. Castiel is human now, because Metatron took his grace and Crowley is held in the Bunker. Abaddon tries to take over and become the new Queen of Hell. Ezekiel turns out to be angel Gadreel, the one who let the snake into

Eden, and betrays Dean for Metatron’s promises of Heaven. With help of Crowley, they get Gadreel out of Sam. Killing Abaddon is now priority number one. In order to kill her, they need to find the First Blade - a weapon Cain used to kill Abel. But the Blade only works with the Mark of Cain, which Dean carelessly takes on from Cain himself.

Castiel becomes an angel again, when he steals grace from another angel and leads his own army against the one of Metatron. Dean manages to kill Abaddon, but he feels the

Mark is changing him, making him angry and bloodthirsty. Metatron has almost God-

15 like powers now, thanks to the Angel tablet, and he kills Dean. He is imprisoned by the angels when he reveals his true intentions. Sam lays Dean on his bed in the Bunker and leaves, devastated. Crowley appears with the blade and gives it to him. Dean’s eyes flash black. He is awakened as a demon.

At the beginning of season 10 Dean is a demon working alongside Crowley.

Sam is searching for him, determined to cure him. Crowley gives his position away when Dean is over his head and he cannot control him anymore. Sam cures Dean by using sanctified human blood returning him to a human state. Dean still has the Mark though that has to be dealt with. A powerful witch Rowena comes to the scene, later revealing to be Crowley’s mother. Dean’s situation is becoming more and more unbearable, but after Rowena’s unsuccessful attempt to kill him she reveals that the

Mark is only a curse, so it can be lifted. This gives Sam a new hope. Breakthrough comes when Charlie, a friend who helped them with the Leviathans already, discovers the Book of the Damned, which contains a spell that can remove the Mark. However the book is written in an ancient language and in code. Sam makes Rowena translate it in exchange for Crowley’s murder, keeping all this from Dean, who already gave up on himself. Charlie actually decodes the book, but is killed by the powerful Stein family.

This sets Dean over the edge, kills the whole Stein family and makes deal with Death to kill him. He cannot bear it anymore. Death cannot kill Dean, but can move him somewhere where he will not be a threat, but Sam must die, because he would otherwise never stop looking for ways to save Dean. The Mark cannot be removed, because it is a key, locking away the Darkness, the old and destructive power God managed to defeat before creating humans. Dean agrees, but when he is overcome by his love for his brother, he kills Death instead. Meanwhile Rowena finishes the spell and the Mark is

16 removed. Lightnings hit the ground and awesome black smoke gushes from the ground, engulfing the sky and the brothers.

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2. FAN FICTION

Fan fiction is a text based on another fictional text, in this case a television series, and written by a fan. The writers borrow the characters from their beloved show and develops a text based on his affection for the source material (Pimenova)

Reception studies claims that an interpretive practise of a fan explain the work’s meaning, the produced text can be considered a version of a response. This response tells a lot about the source material and so it can be studied. What fans produce about it shows how they are affected by it - what they like and dislike or what they wish to see or seek (Goldstein).

Fandoms began to be studied in 1992 when Henry Jenkins published his book

Textual Poachers: Television Fans & Participatory Culture where he described the fans

„spectators who transform the experience of watching popular television into rich participatory culture.” (Jenkins)

Production of fan fiction boomed with the development of the Internet which enabled its sharing across the world. Fan fiction writers are active fans and the process of writing proves that they think about the source material. In the process of creating the fiction, they project into it how it was received by them, how the source text influenced them. Because fan fiction always brings some new element to the story, that element also tell us something about the source material - what the writer was missing from it and he wanted to see in it.

2.1 Fandom

Fandom of Supernatural is very connected to its show in a way other fandoms are not. Creators of the show are very aware of them and they let them know that they listen. The fandom is inserted into its own show on numerous occasions. In the episode

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4.18 “The Monster at the End of This Book”, the brothers discover series of books called

Supernatural, which describe their life to the last detail. They are written by Chuck, a prophet who sees the brothers in his visions. When they search the books on the Internet, they discover their fandom - it of course representing the fandom of the show - and are intrigued by its sheer existence, by “Sam girls” and “Dean girls” and horrified by

Wincest - fan fictions depicting incestuous relationship of the two of them. Becky is an embodiment of the real passionate fan and a “Sam girl”. In episode 5.09 “The Real

Ghostbusters” there is even a whole Supernatural convention held by Becky and Chuck and the brothers are assisted by a couple of fans when hunt ghost haunting the hotel the convention is held in. Whole 200th episode of the show called “Fan Fiction” is dedicated to fans. Group of young girls create a Supernatural musical. Dean and Sam have to cooperate with the girls on the case and are once again shocked by their imaginations and their own interpretations of the events of the show. The creator Eric Kripke claimed several times that this is just supposed to be a harmless fun and that he really appreciates the fans and their dedication. Fans’ reactions to their portrayal was overall positive, because it a definitive prove that they are being heard. Castiel is a shining example of fans’ influence on the show. He was supposed to be a minor character, but fans liked him so much that the creators kept him in and by the fifth season, Misha Collins was promoted to series regular and Castiel practically became the third main character.

What bonds the fans to the show even closer is a family atmosphere of its creation. Jared and Jensen are real life best friends and truly consider one another a brother. The amazing atmosphere breaths from every single blooper. Jared met his wife

Genevieve, who played Ruby in the fourth season. Supernatural is a huge part of their life, not just another job. The CW head Mark Pedowitz even claimed that they are ready to continue Supernatural as long as Jared and Jensen want to do it (Sokol).

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The actors also give back the support they receive from the fans. Jared started a campaign to support people suffering from depression, as he himself had this problem at one time. His campaign “Always Keep Fighting”, was followed by Jensen‘s and Misha‘s campaign “You Are Not Alone” going along similar lines. Misha himself has a charity

Random Acts and every year there is GISHWHES, Greatest International Scavenger

Hunt the World Has Ever Seen, for fans around the world. The winners get to spend a vacation with Misha. There is also a number of conventions held every year where fans can meet the actors. They are extremely popular and the actors enjoy meeting people that support their show. The age of the fans spans from teenagers to parents, because its message is universal - family above all.

2.2 Genres

Although it is very hard to categorize something that is limited only by human imagination and tastes, I do so in the following chapter. I have tried to sort the genres more by their underlying essence than by the individual themes. Each genre is explained and the differences between them are highlighted.

First genre of fan fiction can be named Alternate Universes. It is extremely popular and technically limitless. The characters and their personalities are preserved, but anything else can be changed and moved to a different scenario; the family ties, friendships and relationships can be changed or rearranged. Creating new relationship that do not exist in the show are connected with Ships. Ship, shortened from relationship, is a pairing of two characters. Often fans are not satisfied and pair the characters completely differently than they are paired in the show. In Supernatural the most popular ship is “Destiel” - pairing of Dean and Castiel. A majority of fans simply

20 sees something more between the characters than their deep friendship forged by fighting common enemies. And as the show is still not over, lot of them do not lose hope of this pairing actually becoming canon.

The show itself creates a few alternate universes for the brothers that may have popularized this genre. I will mention three episodes featuring alternate universes. Their existence always carries some kind of purpose that propels the story further. These

“better realities” are always instantly distinguishable, because the camera does not use the grim filter that is used in classic episodes.

In episode 2.20 “What is and should never be” Dean is attacked by a djinn and wakes up laying next to his wife Carmen. Mary is alive, Sam is a lawyer about to marry

Jessica. Dean works as a mechanic. Initially, he cannot believe what has happened, but takes it as a second chance he is willing not to question. He is very happy with how things are and enjoys the smallest things - like mowing a lawn. He is sad that in this new take on life, he and Sam do not speak to each other, but is determined to make things right. When he finds out that all the people he once saved died, he searches for a way to get back to his first reality. He solves a case with an appearing dying girl and finds out he is, same as the girl, held up by a djinn. He stabs himself to wake up in his body and is saved by Sam. This episode really revealed Dean’s dreams and desires - his family being happy and safe - but he could not bear it if his happiness meant other people’s deaths.

In episode 4.17 “It´s a Terrible Life” Dean and Sam are planted into a company as an employee and supervisor without their memories. There is a ghost of a company’s founder who makes bad employees kill themselves. Sam and Dean eventually come together and solve the case with tips they find on the Internet. Sam urges Dean to leave this life behind and suggests they should dedicate themselves to hunting. Dean accepts the day after when he gives his notice to his boss. The boss turns out to be an angel

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Zachariah who orchestrated this scenario to prove to Dean that hunting is his life’s purpose. He always finds his way to it. He counters his earlier worries that he is not strong enough to stop the Apocalypse. The new family ties implanted by in the brothers’ minds are similarly done as they would be in a fan fiction, here Bobby and

Ellen are Dean’s parents and Jo his sister, for example.

A very unique episode is 6.15 “The French Mistake”, it is breaking the fourth wall on a whole new scale. Sam and Dean are sent to a parallel universe to protect a key by an angel Balthazar. The parallel universe turns out to be our universe, where

Supernatural is a TV show and Sam and Dean are and Jensen Ackles. It very amusing to watch, but serves a purpose nevertheless. While other angels were distracted by hunting the brothers down, Castiel obtained Heaven’s most powerful weapons and could battle Raphael in the angels’ civil war.

The show also inspires a lot alternate universe fan fiction by putting the brothers in various roles and disguises throughout the episodes (gangster, cowboy, husband, mechanic, demon, vampire, etc.)

OFC stories (Original Fiction Character) are stories with a made up character, as the name suggests. The characters are given their own personality and back story and usually occur in the universe of the show. The storylines can go along the events from the show, completely divert from them, or follow just to a certain point and come up with their own ending. These characters need to have a rich back story and big personality, because they are new to the readers and they have to be interested in them enough to reading the fiction.

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Sequels/Prequels/Furthering of an episode is a genre perfectly showing fans’ desire for more stories within the Supernatural universe. Prequels contain anything happening before the show - they can be about John and Mary’s life, Samuel Colt or life of any supporting character before they meet the brothers in the show, for example.

Sequels are little more complicated with Supernatural, because it is an ongoing show.

As temporary sequels can be considered stories written in the pause between seasons that actually guess the events of the upcoming season. These stories are exciting and fill the time the fans have to wait, but end up more often “Jossed”, meaning proven wrong as the show goes in the different direction (the term originates from the name of creator of a famous series Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon, who discredited most of the fans’ theories) than “Kripked”, meaning the opposite, fan theory getting canonized (the term originates from the creator of the show Eric Kripke, who seems to cater to his fans and often validates their guesses about the small details or story arcs). Most sequels contain theories of how the show will ultimately end. The fiction can also center around one episode, furthering its plot and answer some unanswered questions or develop a unique story out of its own conclusions.

Reader inserts are a special kind of fan fiction written in second person in such a way the reader is a major character in the story. A very close relationship with a character from the show is the key element of this genre - the stories are often sexual (so they intertwine with the other genre mentioned below), but also full of love (called

“fluffy”) or just friendship. There is a lot of writers that specialize in this genre, mostly on Tumblr (mentioned below). Readers can send their favorite writer a prompt for a story they would like to read about themselves and a character and if the writer agrees to

23 write it, it is published with the original prompt, along with the description and warnings.

Smut is a substantial genre in fan fiction of all fandoms. It has infinity of subcategories according to the featured pairing or prevailing activity. If sorted by pairings (ships), there is heterosexual and homosexual smut. Slash is a category pairing two males and Fem Slash two females. As Supernatural has mostly male characters,

Slash is in an abundance. The most popular Slash pairing of the show is Destiel, pairing of Dean and Castiel. The list of smut varieties grows with the list of possible kinks that are explored in this genre. The tastes vary from conventional to very specific.

The aim of these fictions is pleasure, but accurate pleasure. The way to succeed is to write realistically. Fans do not like to read about acts that may sound exciting in theory, but are not possible for physiological reasons. Smut can also be regarded as a guide during the process of discovering one’s sexuality and all its components.

Crossovers are pieces of fiction where the universes of two or more works intertwine. The shows are usually of the same persuasion, so it makes sense to put them together and fans are rarely fans of just one show. Supernatural is often crossed over with Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Even though the shows do not run at the same time, they have a lot in common and main characters deal with similar problems - family, fighting evil and monsters, apocalypses, etc. Buffy also makes a perfect match for Dean or Sam, because they share the same secrets and life styles. The most popular crossover now is called “SuperWhoLock"- crossover with Doctor Who and Sherlock. The shows run at the same time, which makes the actual crossover technically possible. Doctor Who deals with various beings and can travel to any time or place or universe and Sherlock is a

24 brilliant investigator and a weirdo who would not be fazed by the existence of the supernatural. “Superwholocks” usually have the solve a complicated case together. Supernatural, Doctor Who and Sherlock fandoms are also amongst the largest and most visible ones.

2.3 Channels

There are numerous pages dedicated to fan fiction, among them, probably the most popular, are www.fanfiction.net, www.archiveofourown.org and www.tumblr.com.

The first two are archives created specifically for fan fiction and the last is really emerging as a platform for writers for its highly interactive nature.

FanFiction.net is among the biggest fan fiction sites there are. Writers can sign up under pseudonyms and publish their works and see reviews from the readers. When a reader comes to the site he can choose whether he wants to read “simple” fictions or crossovers. He can choose from categories: TV shows, books, films, comic, etc., then choose the specific piece. There are also filters available, so the reader can read whatever he likes - he can choose characters, themes, time periods or number of words, for example. Supernatural is leading the category of TV shows with 113 thousand fictions (includes crossover fictions).

ArchiveOfOurOwn.org works on the same basis as FanFiction.net. It is an ongoing project of Organization for Transformative Works (OTW). OTW is, in their own words: “a non-profit organization run by and for fans to provide access to and preserve the history of fan works and fan cultures.” The archive has 842 100 users and 2

258 000 works, Supernatural fiction being 131 689 of them, that is 5, 8 %. To compare,

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Sherlock has only 83 115 and Doctor Who approximately 70 000 fictions (in April

2016). When the reader chooses the story, there is usually a short overview completed with warnings. These constitute a very important part of the fiction and ensure that people do not read a piece that would in some way displease them or trigger them

(violence, blood, graphic sex,..).

On Tumblr.com everyone can sign up and create their own blog, follow other blogs and the content he wishes to see on his dashboard. A lot of writers choose this site, because their fictions go straight to the follower´s wall, readers can leave likes, reviews and even write messages. The writers then have a following they know and readers do not miss any piece of their favorite writer. Some writers use pseudonyms and only write as an outlet, but some do not conceal their identity and wish to eventually become

“proper” writers. The Internet allows them to bypass the difficult publishing process and deliver straight to the consumers. On Tumblr, the reader usually goes by the writer and not the fic and the writer has his “master list” set up - links to all his works, most often sorted by the characters that appear in the story. Warnings are also written here. The author can choose not to publish them for whatever reason (mostly because they could give away the plot), but this can lead to people simply not reading them. By its format,

Tumblr is popular for reader insert genre of fictions.

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3. ANALYSIS

This part of the thesis will revolve around analyses of four chosen fan fictions and their representative message they send about the fandom and the show. Represented here are all genres from the previous chapter except for crossovers. Analysis of the crossover fan fiction would demand a closer introduction of the other work and would not correspond with the rest of this thesis.

Each fiction is introduced and placed within the context of the show. The analysis will try to identify the major themes looked for by the readers and inserted by the writers of the genre. There are also excerpts from the stories to demonstrate the language of the writers.

3.1 Twist and Shout

Twist and Shout by authors gabriel and standbyme is a well-known fiction amongst the majority of Supernatural fandom. It quickly took on a reputation of one of the most heartbreaking fictions there are. It represents a genre of alternate universes, because the story is set in our “normal” world and its history and Castiel is human. Other thing it alters is the canonic relationship of Dean and Castiel. This story features them as a couple.

The story begins in April 1965 where Dean Winchester, motorcycle riding badass, takes an interest in shy college student Castiel Novak on a party. Dean is a typical rough guy with a bad reputation and Castiel lives alone in a small apartment and concentrates on preparing for medical school. Both of them are in the closet, but Dean takes Castiel on a date anyway. They fall in love, but because it is the 60s, they have to hide it. Castiel is evicted from his apartment, because one of the girls rejected by him, tells about his relationship to his landlord.

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“I told your landlord the truth. I know you might be angry now but, Cas, this is for the better.

This way you can get back on the right path. You can let go of this. You’re young. You still

have time,” she said soothingly, stroking the back of his hand. “I’m only trying to help you,

don’t you understand?” ... “Cas, the world is cruel to homosexuals, and it’s to teach them. There

is something wrong with it, and it’s sick, but you know, darling, I think you can get past it. I

really do, I really truly do, and I think people do it all the time.” She traced her fingers over his

skin. He stared at the page. “I don’t like to use the language, but, darling-” She kept calling him

that. He wanted to hit her.

“Darling, your landlord was so appalled, you should have heard going on and on about how

they couldn’t rent to cocksuckers. Having faggots in your building is unsanitary, too. Sounds so

crass just to evict someone, but think if he had found out himself? Wouldn’t that have been just

terrible?”

It is established that Castiel has no place to go, because his family cut him off when they found out about his orientation. Dean insists on Cas moving in with him. They have a happy relationship full of love that is spoiled only by having to keep it secret. In

December 1969, Dean is drafted for the army and leaves for the Vietnam War. Shortly before he is supposed to return home, the youngest soldier in his platoon and his friend,

Adam, is shot. He feels responsible. When Dean gets home, Castiel is ecstatic and cares for him, but Dean suffers from PTSD and they slowly drift apart.

“Dean?” he rasped, pushing it gently aside, and Dean looked up from the where he sat on the

closed toilet seat, his eyes red rimmed. Cas opened the door further and Dean held up his hand.

“Go back to bed,” he said quietly, and Cas stared at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, go back to bed.”

Cas stared at him. It was obviously not nothing, but he didn’t want to press. Dean would come

round, wouldn’t he? He was tired. He was just a little off. He just need time to sort himself out,

and eventually, he would talk about it, and things would be worked through, and it would all be

understood.... Time. He just needed time.

“Come back to bed with me,” Cas requested and Dean sighed.

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“I just need a few minutes.”

Cas’ heart sank a little.

Cas left for school one day and Dean got up. He got dressed. Took a shower, the whole nine

yards, but when he stood in front of the mirror he could barely place himself; he was gaunt and

drawn in, and there were lines in his brow that refused to straighten, and all at once, with

disgust, he realized that this was the face Cas saw, and it was nothing. It was nothing – not a

man, not a lover. Nothing. It was the face of a soldier who couldn’t fight anymore. Dead

weight, pulling Cas under with him. Drowning him.

Dean leaves without a goodbye in June 1972 and does not see Castiel for nine long years. In 1981 he receives a phone call from Castiel's brother Gabriel. Castiel is dying and wants to see Dean. When he arrives, he is devastated to see Castiel in the hospital bed weak and thin to the bone. Doctors do not know what is causing his condition, just that he does not have any immune system and has only few weeks left. Dean is confronted with Castiel’s lover who explains to him how things have been after Dean’s departure - lots of alcohol and drugs with shady characters to forget. After a month, Cas dies.

Relationship of two characters from the show is studied from a different perspective. Their personalities are preserved - Dean is the rough guy on the outside, but very emotional on the inside and loving with all his heart. Castiel is changed into a human and his angelic distance and not understanding human interactions is transformed into a shy personality that is blooming with the right person. In this universe, changed into regular humans, they face human problems - instead of an apocalypse, there is the

Vietnam War, instead of curses, there are illnesses and instead of fighting monsters, they have to fight the hate and nastiness of their fellow humans. The quality of this fiction also lays in the story’s authenticity. The history and attitudes of the supporting characters comply with actual history of the sixties and seventies. Moments of anger and

29 moments of passion are described in detail, focusing on the character’s feelings. Dean’s battle with guilt and depression is typical for soldiers back home and his failing relationship too. When the authors described the struggle that homosexuals had to face at that time, they also included the horrors of HIV and AIDS.

Other characters from the show are used, sometimes in the same position: Lisa is

Dean’s former girlfriend, Gabriel and Michael are Castiel’s brothers, Sam is Dean’s brother and Jessica is Sam’s girlfriend. Other characters are given a new role, as it is usual in alternate universe fiction: Balthazar, originally an angel, is Castiel's lover, Ellen and Jo are working in Dean's favorite diner and Adam and Ash are soldiers fighting alongside Dean.

The reason readers respond in such a positive way is that they experience every step of the relationship that is conveyed in a very real way. The falling in love, sex, fights and breakups resonate with the readers.

3.2 The Winchester Way

The Winchester Way by the author Dean’s Dirty Little Secret is a fiction from the

OFC genre. It is very well written and the new character is carefully developed. It has to be in order for the readers to emotionally invest in the new character. This 81 577 words long story is set in the original universe of the show and fitted in the events of the eighth and ninth season that are slightly changed. The angels have fallen, but there is no

Gadreel, which also means that Kevin is alive. Abaddon is trying to become the Queen of Hell.

The story revolves around Dean and Amie, a female hunter. Amie is a short redhead who despite being a hunter loves to wear high heels. This may be the reason why was Dean very skeptical about her in the beginning, but Amie has proved she is a

30 great hunter who does not have to change in order to please others. No one really knows much about her past, too.

The relationship between Dean and Amie is established in three short fictions that take place before the main story. In That Time in Vale Dean and Amie play a married couple to get to a party in a haunted house and their initial attraction deepens after a kiss. In Die Hard Marathon and Safer for Her” they began and continue their physical relationship, but when Amie gets hurt on a vampire hunt, Dean decides to put an end to it, because he is afraid of his feelings for her and losing her. The author presents points of view of both characters so the reader knows what goes through their minds.

The Winchester Way, also being an expression used by Sam to describe the brothers’ process of coping with feelings, begins with the three hunters patching themselves up after a hunt. Dean is still attracted to Amie and still afraid of his feelings for her. Mirroring the show, Dean does not want to let anyone too close after Lisa (in the episode 6.21 “Let it Bleed” Dean makes Castiel wipe Lisa’s and Ben’s memories of him, so his enemies cannot hurt them anymore).

After a demon attack, Amie moves with the brothers to the Bunker for better safety and she and Dean restart their relationship again. Her back story is revealed: she became a hunter after her son and husband were ripped apart by a werewolf. For the same reasons, she is too afraid to let herself love Dean. Dean is overprotective of her, but she proves again and again to be a capable hunter. Dean’s worries that they will be used as each other’s weak spots are proven valid when Amie is taken by an Angel

Katarina, who uses Amie as a leverage to get Castiel’s position out of Dean. She believes Castiel is essential for reopening the Gates of Heaven and proceeds to help the hunters. Amie’s deeper feelings are revealed when Dean is mortally wounded on another

31 hunt and survives with the help of Katarina. When she is overwhelmed after Dean is saved, she tells him she loves him, but Dean is not quite ready to say it back.

“Baby, tell me what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Dean held her face gently in his hands,

trying to see into her eyes in the dark room.

He felt her shake her head in his hands. She took a deep breath. “I’m...I’m just scared, Dean.

I’m absolutely terrified.”

Dean had no idea what she was talking about. “What? What are you afraid of?” he asked.

“Losing you. I can’t lose you, Dean. And tonight I almost did.” Amie blew out a breath as she

spoke, her hands gripping his upper arms so tightly her nails bit into his skin.

“I know, but it’s okay,” Dean said, kissing her forehead. “I’m alright. There’s nothing to worry

about.” Amie didn’t respond. He knew she’d been worried, of course, but he was fine. He

couldn’t understand what she was so upset about.

“No, you don’t understand.” Amie said. “I love you, Dean,” she whispered so quietly he barely

heard her. Dean was so shocked that he took a step back, dropping his hold on Amie. “You

what me?” he said.

Amie wouldn’t look at him. She fidgeted nervously, twisting her hands in front of her. “I’m in

love with you, Dean, “she finally admitted, the words spilling from her lips. “For a while now.

Probably even before we got together. I totally understand if you don’t feel the same way about

me, and I’m okay with it. I don’t need you to, you know, love me back.”

Dean couldn’t speak. A million things he wanted to say were running through his head, but not

one thing would come out of his mouth. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but

then he closed it again. He ran a hand through his hair. He could see Amie watching him,

despite the darkness in the room. He wanted to tell her he loved her too, to reassure her that his

feeling for her were just as strong. But the words wouldn’t, couldn’t come out. There was

something holding him back, keeping him from telling her.

After this Amie leaves the Bunker secretly, because she found a lead on a werewolf that killed her family, and Dean would not let her go. After Dean comes to help her with the hunt, apologizing for his behavior, he finds out that Amie lead a hunter life long before

32 her family was killed. Her father was a hunter and the werewolf was taking revenge for his family.

The last case investigated in this story is Bartholomew who is rounding up vessels for the fallen angels. When he tries to make a vessel out of Amie, Katarina interrupts him and stressing that Amie has a larger purpose than that. Kevin later finds out from an ancient book that she and Dean are a part of an angelic prophecy and were brought together by a cupid. The story ends with Dean furious and fed up with being a puppet of the angels.

Dean struggled to get the words out, the pain of realization tearing him apart. “None of this is

real. How I feel about Amie, the love I think I feel for her, it’s just another game the angels are

playing. How can I really love her? How is anything I feel or anything I believe real when some

prophecy says that we’re meant to be? That it’s ’inescapable and unavoidable’. We’re together

because of a cupid. It’s a lie. All of it. Just one big lie.” He turned and stormed out of the room

before anyone could see the tears on his face.

This sets up the plot for the continuation of the Dean/Amie story Meant to Be that continues with Missing you. It is not the first time cupid has interfered with Dean’s existence. In the episode 5.14 “My Bloody Valentine”, the horsemen Famine was in town, but initially the brothers and Castiel suspected that the killings were caused by a cupid. When they met one and interrogated him, they found out cupids are innocent.

What they also found out was that the love of Mary and John was priority number one for cupids, “a match made in Heaven”, because they needed to ensure Dean and Sam were born. Not only is Dean alive, because angels needed it, now his own love life is controlled by them and it sets him of the edge. He feels desperate and does not know what to believe anymore.

Since Lisa, Dean has not had any serious relationship. This is completely understandable because of his hunting lifestyle and bad experiences. Amie is a

33 representation of what the author felt was missing in the story. She is written to the story, but not unrealistically. If Dean would ever have a relationship again, it would be with someone with the same “secret”. A hunter girlfriend is a good compromise between adding a new component and staying true to the source material. Through good writing, the author delivers a complex new character that fills the blank space by Dean’s side and ads a dimension of romance and sex for those who wish to find it amongst the hunting.

3.3 The End

The End by DeanandIdrinkcoffee represents a story that further develops a certain episode from the show, in this case episode 5.04 “The End” where Dean is sent five years to the future by angel Zachariah, to see the consequences of his determination not to say “Yes” to Michael and thus not fulfilling his destiny of being Michael’s true vessel. Dean finds himself in the desolate city being chased by a rabid mob. It is year

2014 and the Earth had been decimated by the Croatoan demon virus. He finds his future self and Castiel, along with the other people, in their survival camp. Future Dean updated Dean on the history: five years ago, Sam said yes to Lucifer and he has not seen him since and nearly whole planet is being destroyed by demons and their virus. Future

Dean pleads Dean to say “yes” to Michael when he is back in the past. Future Dean goes on a mission to retrieve the Colt and plans to kill Lucifer with it. After it he shoots a teenager, because there was a possibility that he was infected with the virus. Dean is horrified to find out that future Dean is planning to use his friends as bait to get to

Lucifer. He has changed beyond belief. This episode belonged to the most discussed ones, because it was believed that in five years, the story will really develop to this stage. This kind of foreshadowing naturally produced lot of fiction centered around it.

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The End stays true to the events of the episode, but focuses on Future Dean and his change. The author concentrates on descriptions of the atmosphere and the settings to establish a post-apocalyptic feeling. The story is also a reader insert story, but written in first person instead of the usual second. The reader and Future Dean are married.

“A stale heat hung in the air, accompanied by equally unchanging silence. There was so sound,

save the rare rustling of the sides of the tent. I strained for any familiar tune in the distance, any

bit of laughter or conversation, but there was none. Despite the many tents sprawling out in all

directions, this place was just as dead as the mass graves we dug outside.“

Their relationship is strained by the situation and the reader can see how Dean is changing. He acts suspicious. From the Colt retrieving mission, the prisoner is brought back and the reader is instructed to take care of a huge knife injury on his side. He has a bag on his head, because it is Dean from the past and Future Dean does not want to cause a scene in the camp.

Reader takes care of the prisoner and takes of his disguise. Dean explains how he got to the future and reader fills him in on the information. Dean is devastated of what has become of him and tells the reader how Future Dean shot a teenager, because he may have been infected.

"It’s all a misunderstanding, I’m sure. Dean wouldn’t let an innocent man killed….” That same

mechanical speech exited my lips, an empty oath to a man who was becoming more tyrannical

every day. Still, I held tightly to the Dean that I loved, the one that kissed me goodbye each

morning. I was too lost in thought to notice the prisoner closing his eyes, in either pain or

painful memory.

"That’s not what I saw out there.“ His brow was furrowed in a tight crease between his eyes,

mouth pursued with bitter taste. The grief in him was evident, and it made me shudder in fear.

"What do you mean?” I was afraid to ask. The conditions outside these compound fences were

bloody and filled with death. My nightmares were bad enough, but Dean had reassured me the

reality of living in this world was much worse. He once compared it to purgatory, saying he’d

much rather be there again than on an earth with the virus.

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"Today, before he captured me…he killed a teenager point-blank. Shot him right between the

eyes and didn’t even flinch. I feel terrible. It was like watching myself…“ Blood rose to my

cheeks and pounded in my ears. I jumped from my chair before he could go on.

Future Dean continues to lie to the reader and she feels horrible because of how they turned out. She brings food to Dean in secret and gets in trouble. Future Dean is all set on killing Dean and they fight. They become unrecognizable from one another and reader cannot bear to watch a lifeless body being dragged to the grave. She grieves for the innocent man, a kinder version of her husband when Dean enters her tent. This Dean has fresh stitches on his side.

It is unknown whether Dean is brought back to his time or stays in the future, although a “happier” ending would be Dean staying, because that would mean the reader is not all alone and she can have a new chance at a relationship with Dean. The slightly changed story explores the character not so much developed in the show - Future Dean - and how he is influencing those around him.

3.4 Touch Me

Touch Me by Bovaria represents two genres which I decided to analyze together

- reader insert and smut. They often go hand in hand. This story is a one-shot, meaning it is short with a simple plot and stands on its own, it is not part of a longer story.

This story was based on a prompt from the reader who wanted a fiction based on a song Creature of the Night from Rocky Horror Picture Show. This may seem a little odd, but after getting to know the song, it is clear the prompt is about sex. The reader should be innocent and one of the brothers - in this case Sam - the one. The author plays with the idea a little more and manages to develop a concise story in just 4 181 words.

The brothers and the reader hunt together as a group. Sam and reader have feeling for each other the reader would like to act on, but Sam refused to have a

36 relationship, because in their field, love would complicate things. This is told in a flashback to when the reader was attacked, because she was not paying attention because of Sam. After the rejection, reader stays as cold and professional as possible, which also bothers Sam, because he lost her as a friend. Back in the present, the song Creature of the Night starts playing in the Impala and reader sings it out loud. Sam is irritated by it, because they both know the song is about sex and the reader is teasing Sam. However, reader pretends not to understand the deeper meaning.

Sam could only shake his head, trying to deny what he felt as he heard the lyrics of the song. He

clenched his fists on his lap, the words causing his thoughts to run wild as he imagined himself

tracing your skin with his fingertips and showing you just what the song meant.

When they arrive into a motel after the hunt, Sam decides to show her what the song was about and love making ensues. After, Sam admits that not being together was a stupid idea.

His arms wounded around your waist, pulling you up from the ground and prompting you to

wrap your legs around his torso. He groaned against your skin as he felt your hips grind against

yours. He had tasted you and in that moment he knew he’d never get enough of you. Why he

even denied himself the pleasure of having you in his arms forever was now a mystery to him.

I’ll put up no resistance

I want to stay the distance

I’ve got an itch to scratch

I need assistance

He found himself taking steps forward until he could press you up against the wall, hands hold

your waist as his lips kissed down to your collarbones. His hips moved forward and you found

yourself literally being held up by them as Sam’s hands lifted your shirt up and off your body.

Your bra was his next victim as it hit the ground by his feet and Sam inhaled sharply as you

arched yourself, breasts pushing forward.

The story is true to the show with Sam’s reservations about a relationship. After what happened to Jessica and his continuing bad luck with the ladies, Sam protects himself

37 and mainly the ladies. He feels completely responsible when something bad happens to them.

Reader insert genre allows the reader to be a character in the story and interact with the brothers or other characters from the show. Reader can via this genre live through a plethora of scenarios with the brothers. By its nature, the scenarios are often sexual, centered around a relationship of some kind. However, sweet stories of only comfort and closeness are not unusual. The reason for so much of erotic fan fiction existing is simple - the brothers are played by handsome actors. The show also does not shy away from this topic and in a quest of being authentic, the brothers have numerous physical relations throughout the show. This adds a very important visual for the fans that further supports their creativity in this topic.

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4. CONCLUSION

Analyses of representative works of Supernatural fan fiction provided results that lead to answering the question of what exactly fans get from watching the show and why they enjoy it. Fictions belonging to different genres were analyzed and each chapter of the thesis had its importance in reaching this conclusion.

Fans declare their love for the show by creating their own stories about the characters. They place themselves by their side or explore them in a different world facing different challenges. When they feel that some end was left too loose, they try to tie it, they amuse themselves by thinking about different possible outcomes and then waiting if their guess was the right one. Fan fictions are another mean of experiencing the thrilling feelings of a hunt, but in a safe environment.

The brothers became heroes for a large number of people in the world, a thing they lack in their own universe. When they fight evil and win, the fans are encouraged to be just as courageous and fight their own battles. As the show has strong family elements, the show puts their affairs into perspective and offers a way to deal with them accordingly.

Some fans choose to experience their with the characters. Through harmless fun with a fictional character, they can be true to themselves, their likes and dislikes or discover something new about themselves. Ultimately, fan fiction exist, because the fans never have enough of their favorite thing. By writing, reading and sharing stories with others they can feel closer to the show and the characters.

The story of the Winchester brothers is long and exciting and it is nowhere near approaching its end. Even when it is officially over and laid to its rest at once, the fans will not let it rest for long. After all, no one and nothing is ever really dead in

Supernatural.

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11 Mar. 2016. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

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6. RESUMÉ (English)

This thesis offers an analysis of fan fiction of the American TV show

Supernatural. The thesis is divided into three parts. In the introductory part, the show and its main plot is presented. The second part deals with technical aspects of

Supernatural fan fiction. It describes the fandom and its unique relationship with the show and its creators. Six main genres of Supernatural fan fiction are described along with their main themes, so are the distribution channels for fan fiction. The third part contains analyses of four chosen works. Each one is described and placed within the context of the show, individual differences between the genres are specified. A conclusion is drawn about each story - what it represents of fans’ reception of the show and what that reception tells about the show.

7. RESUMÉ (Czech)

Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá analýzou psané fanouškovské tvorby týkající se amerického seriálu Supernatural (Lovci Duchů). Práce je rozdělena do tří částí.

V úvodní části je prezentována zápletka celého seriálu. Druhá část se zabývá technickými parametry fanouškovské fikce tohoto seriálu. Popisuje fanouškovskou základnu a její unikátní vztah k seriálu i jeho tvůrcům. Je představeno šest hlavních

žánrů fanouškovské fikce tohoto seriálu spolu s jejich hlavními tématy, také jsou popsány kanály, kterými je fanouškovská tvorba distribuována. Třetí část obsahuje analýzy čtyř vybraných příběhů. Každý z nich je popsán a zasazen do kontextu seriálu a jsou zdůrazněny individuální rozdíly mezi jednotlivými zastoupenými žánry. Je vyvozen závěr z každého příběhu a také celého seriálu - jak prezentují zážitek fanoušků a co ty vypovídají o seriálu samotném.

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