SPN_Darkside. A community to explore wincest, J2 and dark gen fanworks - a triumvirate of evil.
Thursday Inspiration: The Uses of Sorrow

We'll admit it; we're selfish in here. What is the point of having this community if we can't find a way to inspire others to create , discuss and join in?
To that end, the intention is to provide something each week that might inspire some of us to do just that.
Today's inspiration, is this yummy graphic by meus_venator featuring 'The Uses of Sorrow' by Mary Oliver. I know the words resonate with me, even before we place Jared and Jensen, or is it Sam and Dean (you decide) in the box with them.
We'd like to hear your thoughts on the image or the words, and if it happens to inspire anything more we'd love you to come back and share your creation with us. There are no rules, no pressure or deadline just a wispy hope that it sparks some sort of emotion with you.
Today, we would also like to know what sort of things inspire your imagination. Do you listen to song lyrics and think they fit Supernatural perfectly? Or do lines from novels and poetry spark ideas? Maybe it's as simple as mulling over a scene or lines from the show? Let us know and we'll try to find something that will light that dark spark.
On a practical note, if you're new to Imzy then you may not know that until you comment on a post a community then your mods have no way to know who you are. All we see are numbers until you pick an identity to use on that first comment. Now, with the nature of the comm we will respect anybody's decision to remain anonymous, but we suspect that a lot of us will recognise friends when you're unmasked -so go on, say hi. We don't bite but we're not promising we can keep those boys in their cage forever.




Catharsis is something I treasure, as I often shut off my emotions in order to deal with life. It's watching something--could be a tv commercial, could be a scene in a movie, often it's Supernatural because I know those characters and feel close to their emotions--and when they deal with grief and anger and sorrow, it's like the dam breaks on my own emotions. It is a kind of gift.
Oh, what a great word for it. it's spot on. You're right though, for it to work the characters have to be both believable and feel close to us. Watching a good ep, in the moment I know my body feels like it is real. It makes me wonder again about Jensen and especially Jared's struggle when they have dark story lines. It's easy to dismiss it because they are actors and we expect them to have a magical way of dealing with it but if it can make the dam break for us how much worse could it be for them?
That's one of my favourite things about an online SPN community is the coming together of words and images. There is something so wonderful about seeing someone's interpretation of your words come to life as a jpg, gif or even a podcast. It's like you get a chance to see your efforts from a brand new perspective through their work.
From a writing perspective I think sorrow is just such a wonderful transient emotion, halfway between guilt and grief. It lends itself to violence and outbursts as well as lonely, melancholy reflection.
I think in writing sorrow is a very difficult tool to understand. Especially through rewrites and edits. How much is too much or not enough to touch a reader. But it's so good when you get feedback that someone actually cried when they read something you wrote. It's pretty wonderful.
I do think that the show sometimes aims for sorrow and gives too much but it has been capable of making me cry all along - and that to me is a dark gift. Crying can be so therapeutic, as can the anger or hurt generated by the show and fanworks. It is a bit like I've been handed a box of darkness that I can open and close at will to feel those emotions without the real life fear of ridicule or guilt.