Both TV series have actors who are not only talented but also among the most likable and funny people you'll find anywhere. Jensen Ackles (Dean) and Matt Bomer (Neal) in particular are not shy at displaying their inner dork, with many examples to be found on YouTube. Is it any wonder that I chose a dorkyness curse for Whispers in the Night?
Penna provided inspiration when she included a scene of Henry performing dorky dancing in Caffrey Disclosure. So, if Peter is unhappy with the fate that befalls him in Whispers in the Night, he can blame Henry.
Mozzie is, of course, a natural at odd behavior and has already exhibited it on numerous occasions in our series. When Elizabeth met him for the first time, he reminded her of the Mad Hatter. (The Woman in Blue). Once he demonstrated to Neal how a man possessed by a space alien would behave. (The Dreamer). In Penna's latest vignette, "April Fool", Mozzie dressed as a Ghostbuster. Mozzie is a free spirit. What might appear dorky to others is merely his original personality shining through.
Peter has done his best to avoid embarrassing situations, but he's not been immune either. In canon, his lack of flirtation skills was highlighted when he became the object of a suspect's affection in "Vital Signs" and again in "Veiled Threat." In my stories, Peter has been good-natured about wearing costumes such as the Julius Caesar outfit he wore in The Woman in Blue and receiving instructions in the tango (The Dreamer).
Dean has had some classic dork episodes on Supernatural. Normally a fearless hunter, he was the victim of a ghost sickness where even a beribboned Yorkshire terrier caused him to break out in a sweat ("Yellow Fever"). No one who's watched the series can forget the episode where he could act and think like a dog ("Dog Dean Afternoon").
In her post Playfulness and Puppies Amidst the Angst, Penna wrote about how the Burkes' Lab Satchmo can be used to reduce tension and add a note of playfulness. Similarly, having our characters display a goofy side makes them more endearing and can act as a welcome pressure valve for the stressful situations we put them in.
I've included three of my favorite videos below, featuring Dean, Sam, Neal, Peter, and Mozzie.
Matt Bomer (Neal) and Tim DeKay (Peter) of White Collar
Matt Bomer (Neal) and Willie Garson (Mozzie)
Jensen Ackles (Dean) and Jared Padalecki (Sam)
Whispers in the Night on Archive of Our Own
Whispers in the Night on FanFiction
There's something about a willingness to be dorky that makes certain actors fan favorites, and I think that's true about characters, too. Love of a person or of an activity can make a character willing to be dorky, and that humanizes these sometimes impossibly talented people. Henry's dorky dance was originally intended to cheer up his mom. Someone who watched Neal on his knees showing little Ethan how to fence might say Neal looked dorky, but love of fencing and friendship with Jones & Ethan made it worth it in his eyes. (That was in The Queen's Jewels, I think?)
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Neal fenced with Ethan in The Queen's Jewels. You make excellent points. Some might say the childhood nicknames we've given our characters -- Baby Bear for Neal, Pluto for Peter, Tickle Bug for Henry -- are a little dorky, but they make the characters more relatable. I wonder if Hughes had a nickname when he was a toddler?
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