Dean: "I'm tired, Sam. I'm tired of this job. This life. This weight on my shoulders, man, I'm tired of it."

Sam: "So you're just going to give up? You're just going to lay down and die?"
- 2.09 Croatoan

I think it's significant that the only time we've ever met Michael was in a place where we could also hang out with our old friend Uriel. If starandrea turns out to be right about this, I'll be pretty damn happy.

Take one down, put it in the ground, ninety-eight problems of the apocalypse on the wall.

There's a lot of people bitching about What Dean Said in 5.17, and I just want to ask them "Are you paying attention?" Besides the fact that deflecting with humor about how great it is to vent anger by killing evil things being Dean's complete M.O., notice that the episode ended with ( spoilers for 5.17 )

I've only watched these promos for 5.18, but you know the last one? I could've sworn I've read this fic before. Of course that was written back in season 4, but fandom can be remarkably prescient at times.

You know, my episode reactions tend to be more geared to fandom reactions of episode reactions. And heh, iTunes, I love it when you're so on point.

WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN.

It's like it got possessed by mishaland. I can't tell if it's horrible or AWESOME because it's burning my eyes too much.

Try to imagine Dean's reaction. Just try.

So I was watching Aladdin and since I now queerify every story I enjoy as recast with CW actors, I caught myself thinking that this would be easy to write as a J2. Jared could be Aladdin, poor but good-hearted and running around being a riff-raff, and Chad Michael Murray could be his-only-friend Abu (what!), Jensen could be Jas- no, Sandy could be Jasmine, and Jensen could be a ridiculously pretty Genie (bonus points for begrudging shirtlessness) trying to get them together, and —

And then I stopped. Because wait, has someone written this story? Have I read it? Is Tyler my bad dream or am I Tyler's?

I feel like this has to exist. Somehow.

RPF AUs basically do what Hollywood does when it pairs up famous people in movies to attract audiences: cast familiar famous faces and personalities into new roles and see what entertaining combinations come out.

What is Mr. and Mrs. Smith but an RPF story on the screen? Who wants to see Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sexual chemistry while being secret agents that are trying to kill each other but are actually married? A lot of people, actually. The big draw of the film is not, in fact, that they are secret agents but that it's Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie being secret agents. Their star image submerges the characters, and that's why they are using the stars.

That's what RPS AUs are all about. Because whether we admit it to ourselves or not, celebrities in our culture are characters, and characters that we want to see in different situations but still essentially be themselves. That's why we have actors that are just playing a certain character which we call "themselves" — like Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson — that completely overwhelm our image of them as less than larger-than-life people.

At least in RPS stories the writers are not confusing the actors with their on-screen characters. I have yet to see "Dean" confused as "Jensen", or vice versa beyond maybe some minor acknowledged character bleed characteristics. And while some of the stories that happen are kind of horrifying that they exist that I would like to bleach from my brain or smite from the interwebs, the fact of the matter is celebrities are a constructed fiction. Sorry guys. I know you just wanted to act and maybe do something more fun than just being a pretty teen heartthrob.

Celebrities are almost always trying to either reshape or maintain their star image, but their star image is always a performance as much as "we" try to penetrate their inner lives. That's why reality shows about Paris Hilton's life exists, why there are gossip columns, why the news reports stories of them having children. In any case, RPS is well aware that it is fiction, and is not trying attempting to malign or damage anyone in the process except maybe Chad Michael Murray. Okay, I kid. But even beyond the "lol porn" aspect it is a fascinating phenomenon and evolution of the image of celebrity: if you have any doubt, look at Misha Collins' Twitter, where he LARPs as himself.

In pandarus's RPS AU story Starstruck, she writes in the author's note:

I'm pretty sure that I'm not really doing RPS 'properly', but I don't care. Notwithstanding the fact that I'm appropriating the names and physiognomies of the people in question, this is very much NOT about actual Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Katie Cassidy or anyone else. This is me playing at writing a big gay version of 'Notting Hill', and casting various actors in various roles in my movie. But they're clearly not playing themselves.

Oddly enough, this is exactly what it's all about.

On the whole though, I wish it were a more private enterprise, because these people fandom writes about are adored (well, as characters of their own lives), but I wish that they weren't made uncomfortable so often by their fans, especially in public. I have my doubts that I could enjoy a convention. Fandom is scary.

In conclusion,

Apparently ("someone with the credentials of") Jensen Ackles costs about $60k per day.





Well. I'm off to revise my "What I'm Going to Do If I Win the Lottery" list.

Screw Africa. And private islands.