This week has been hell.

Supernatural fans suffered through another season finale and, for my first time watching the show on season, I think I’m doing fairly well. I drank only 4 nights this week (every night since Tuesday), I cried only twice, I’ve had one demon!Dean dream and avoided lashing out at my angel and bro about stupid stuff by reading at least 50k words of Destiel fanfic.

And the Hellatus is just getting started.

Ouch.

So, I decided to put together a Hellatus care package for my favorite people, you obsessed fans of Supernatural who, like the Collectress and I, are in agony over the next 144 days of Winchester silence. The season finale wrecked my feels, tore apart my insides, and made me desperate for comfort from something other than a pint of mint chocolate chip Blue Bunny ice cream.

Supernatural Season 10 premieres Tuesday, October 14 at 9pm. Until then, I have a few suggestions on how to survive the 2014 Hellatus into what may be the last season of Supernatural. Ever. And Dean Winchester is a motherflippin’ demon. Just saying!

Breathe.

Good.

Better?

Here are a 5 easy steps to remaining calm and surviving the Hellatus. Good luck! I will see you on Tumblr, scrolling down…scrolling down…reblog…scrolling down…

1) Supernatural Conventions

J2M are on the convention circuit all summer long, ending the year out in SoCal with me at BurCon in November 1014. To get through Tuesdays sans the Winchesters, queue up some of the panel videos posted on YouTube. My favorites are always the J2 Gold session breakfast chats. The boys are adorable, comfortable and laid back, enjoying the fans and having fun with the Supernatural family. If you can get to a Con, go! If not, these fan made panel vids are a great way to get the meta scoop from cast, crew and fans. These cons are so fun. If you love SPN, you will have a helluva time.

2) Crack!Fics

Start here: What Has Eight Tentacles and Isn’t Allowed to Eat Pie? by Annie D (Scaramouche)

I am a big fan of Scarmouche, but not so much of the crack!fic genre. Which is why I was always apprehensive about discounting her octo!Dean fic completely, but never quite ready to read it. She writes some of my favorite Destiel fics and I am a huge fan because she can do fluffy or smutty, AU or canon and keep the boys totally in character regardless of setting. This week, I decided to give her octo!Dean fic a go, since the Hellatus has made me numb and I needed something to jolt me out of my funk. Surprise, surprise, the story reads as a perfect balance between the fantastical and funny and could totally be canon. Sorry, no smut, but I still friggen loved it. I dare you to read this story in which Dean is transformed into an octopus in the MoL bunker, and Cas takes care of his friend and NOT squee just a bit at the cuteness of it all.

3) Mark Sheppard as a series regular in S10

The CW Network announced this week that our favorite King of Hell, Mark Sheppard, will be a season 10 regular on Supernatural starting in October. Seems about right, since he and Dean are now besties and will probably have a ton of scenes together. I’m excited about this because Sheppard is one of the longest running guests on the show and deserves the bump up to regular. His perfect snark and banter with the elder Winchester will be a welcome ray of sunshine in the darkness of the Demon!Dean storyline.

4) Write, draw or just be SPN creative

Fan art, music, fics and videos can really be quite therapeutic to create. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve registered for the 2014 Dean/Cas Big Bang and I’m already halfway finished with my story. This past month has been hectic, but the Hellatus gives me an excuse to pen situations with my TFW boys that DOESNT’ include Demon!Dean, and instead has oodles of blatant Destiel to keep my heart from breaking. It’s too late to sign up for DCBB fics, but if you draw, the artist call opens this summer. If you neither draw nor write and creating fan videos seems complicated, pin obsessively to Pinterest or reblog your heart out Tumblr. Immersing yourself in the artistic side of the Supernatural fandom can be invigorating and exciting. There are so many talented fans out there, enjoy and share their work.

5) TSA America

If you are a fan of Misha Collins but didn’t get a chance to participate in the screening of TSA America showed during DC Con, no need to fret. Pick up a copy of the DVD here and prepare to giggle during this very Misha and Vicki production. TSA America: Level Orange Training Module is only $10 and the 3 short films are filled with treats specifically for the SPN family. We get a pregnant Daneel Ackles, Misha feeling up a blond Texan and a cameo from the adorable West Collins. I got my copy in the mail, and guess what my plans are tomorrow? Watch TSA, tumble, repeat.

 

Happy Hellatus,

The Collectiva Diva

 

Tweet me @collectivadiva to share tears about the S9 finale