#also Rufus' name has a very specific meaning to me
Photo
Walk the Walk: “Signature Spellbreakers” Runners-Up
~
Our runners-up this week are @bergdg, @hypexion, and @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes!
@bergdg — Rufus, Lore Retriever
Heh heh. Well, that’s a funny one. Lorehold certainly has some new archeologists these days. I’m struggling a little bit to find any kind of story with this one, or at least I’m hoping that there’s more of an anthropomorphic bend, but animals and planeswalkers and yadda yadda—I don’t know enough about the intricacies to really be an expert on the specifics. I will say that the silliness factor would be welcome by some, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Besides, people like dogs.
People also like spirits, and wow, this card’s got some interesting mechanics to it. What I really like about the Spirit and the +1 is that it encourages you to get your Treasure for the Spirit, but Treasures beg to be cracked, so it means you’ll have to engage with how you want to play your cards in order to make the best turns. Optimization, that’s a word for it. This is a simple mythic that’s got a lot of beatdown capabilities and I can see it in a supplemental set for sure as one of the more lighthearted aspects with a cool artifact theme in these draftable colors. I almost wish there was a way to self-mill, but that’s not the point of this card; the rest you have to build around
I would like to run this card with White Sun’s Twilight or Trash for Treasure.
~
@hypexion — Aster, Kingdom Killer
I don’t know how to feel about that static ability—in a curious rather than a critiquing way. Everything else about this card, just to be clear, is amazing. Looking up the number of Monarch-able cards in black, there are only nine, one of which is a Transformers card. The pedant in me says that this kind of design may be frustrating to players who don’t know what the Monarch ability is. The opposing side of me says that well, cards like Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting has two non-evergreen mechanics (proliferate and poison) and doesn’t explain that either, and Tezzeret Bridge-Boy is there too, etc. BUT but, the pedant says again, none of the cards that reference the monarch have the mechanics explained on any of their printing, and you need the specific token/marker in the booster pack you buy, that Tezzeret is a promo and doesn’t count, etc. etc. It’s a quite fascinating discussion. In the end, I feel that it would be a card that merits explanation for new players, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s also intrinsically steep in your necessitated knowledge.
That’s all that aside. Let’s get to the good stuff. I LOVE the way this card works. The +1 is definitely powerful in the right build but far and away not easy—unless you’re Bitterblossoming, baby! Lots of cool ways to make that work. The deathtouch tokens are radical, as both blockers and aggressors to regain the monarch ability. That -10 is one of the most unique abilities I’ve seen as a huge ult and it’s so evil that if you’re the monarch you can just -9 and after four turns of harsh sacrifice and draw you’ve gotten to a point where you’re giving folks choices they don’t want to make in a big multiplayer brawl. Very fun. Fantastic name. Great play feel all around.
I would play this card with Feast of Succession or The Elderspell, just to be extra mean.
~
@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Grunnhild of the Spellyard
Oh my goodness, I was about to comment on that first ability’s wording, but no, yeah, you have it down, that’s the right way to put it; I completely forgot about Future Sight-effects. That makes sense! Surveiling being evergreen-ish also checks out here. Which makes this card such a massive pain. The thing is, because that +1 is always going to get you a blocker, it acts as though it’s creating a Faerie token even though it’s not actually, and then bumping up the loyalty is free protection. Perhaps, for balance, you could have it be a 0 ability that, if you mill the card, adds a loyalty? That’s my only actual critique, though; the term “Spellyard” being meta is just me giving you the “C’mon, I need story immersion” look. Maybe the old border’s a little not the right choice for this particular contest, either, but I know you have your signatures, heh heh.
The second ability is my favorite, and this whole card in general? I’m feeling gleeful. Having that -2 being able to Scooze someone is really funny, and even though it doesn’t directly interact with the static ability, it doesn’t have to in order to be good. It’s flexible enough to work with your own cards as a build-around while also postulating that you can discard/destroy/mill things your opponents control in these colors naturally and it’ll be enough to wreck face. And by “wreck face” I mean “have a control build that’s fun and faerie-centered.” Very nice job with that. A limited fun-pick, a constructed pleasantry, and an Oathbreaker scheme.
I think if the Faeries were Rogues, I’d play this card with Norotious Throng, but as it stands, I’d run it with Memory Sluice or Lim-Dul’s Vault.
Commentary to follow! I got a chunk done but there are quite a few to go.
@abelzumi
#mtg#magic the gathering#custom magic card#oathbreaker contest#runners up#commentary#inventor's fair
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
Episode 59 Transcript: The Formula
[intro guitar music]
G: Hello! My name is Grey.
C: And my name is Crystal.
G: And this is Busty Asian Beauties, a Supernatural commentary podcast where I, someone who has seen the show several times...
C: And I, someone who only knows the show through social media, discuss every single episode of Supernatural from start to finish. Also, we are both Asian.
G: Both Asian! For today's episode, we will be discussing Season 3, Episode 15: “Time is on My Side,” written by Sera Gamble, directed by Charles Beeson.
C: I don't like these people. These people did me wrong today.
G: Really? Well, I guess we'll find out as we talk about it, the parts that you didn't like.
C: Alright.
G: But before everything we want to announce that this is the second to the last episode of this season. So, as usual, we have a Q&A at the end. Are we still doing that? [laughing]
C: Yeah. Yeah, let's do that.
G: So this is around the time where we start accepting questions through DMs- what do you call that? Asks on Tumblr? Email, whatever avenue you can reach us, we'll find your answer, and we'll answer it. So ask us questions! Whoo!
C: Yes, please do. Thank you.
G: It can be about season 3 in general; it can be about Supernatural in general; it could be about specific episodes. It could be about me and Crystal! [laughs]
C: Yeah, though, I guess we will decide what we will and won't answer.
G: Yeah. I mean, yeah. But yeah, just throw some questions.
C: Yes.
G: So before we start the episode, what did you think of it first? Pre-episode-
C: Well, I guess first-
G: No, no, like, because we have pre-episode discussions, right?
C: That's true. Didn't like it.
G: Really?
C: I feel like the Bela ending was just really sloppily-done, and there was very little lead-up to a lot of what happened here. And I thought the case was dumb as shit.
G: It was so stupid! When they were like, "It's science, bro-" [C laughing], like, "It's-"
C: "I'll read you the formula!" [laughs] What? What formula?
G: It's so stupid.
C: What do you mean? What do you think the formula is?
G: It was- you know that, like, Twitter debate going on right now that happens every 6 months, where people are like, "What does this basic PEMDAS equation equate to?" And people are like, using PEMDAS wrong, so they're getting the wrong answer, and they're fighting for their lives saying it's the correct answer? [laughing] That's the equation [C laughing] that he's going to read. It's so stupid!
C: [laughing] "Please don't kill me! I'll teach you PEMDAS, and then you'll be able to live forever!"
G: Literally. It's so stupid.
C: I just don't think there's anything good in this episode besides Rufus.
G: Yeah.
C: And even Rufus, this isn't his best moments or anything.
G: Yeah. It's his introduction. He's introduced well enough, but like, not like his introduction surrounded or centered around him. It centered around Bela.
C: Dean, also.
G: Which is understandable. Yeah, which is- The Bela part is understandable, because, you know. And also, the Dean part, I guess, because the season is ending. I mean it's a bit late of an introduction-
C: Yeah, the dialogue, whatever.
G: It's a bit late of an introduction, as I said, but Bobby was introduced last episode of season 1, right?
C: True.
G: So they like to do this.
C: Yeah, they do.
G: Yeah. I mean, [laughs] it's just such a- It's not that bad. It's not the worst episode of Supernatural. But it is quite goofy, and it ends the thread of plot that has been going on since the start of the season quite poorly. So that's that.
C: Yeah.
G: Yeah. But before we start discussing the actual episode, what did you know about the episode before you watched it? Did you recognize this title?
C: I did not recognize the title, but like, from the vibe of it, I was like, "Okay, Bela's probably gonna die in this one, because I don't think she's gonna die in the finale because they have other things to do in the finale." And I guess the things I knew about Bela's death was that she was going to be crying on the phone, asking Sam and Dean to help her, and they would not. And then she would die. Yeah. I don't know. I think that's about all I knew about this episode.
G: Yeah. I mean, as for me, I have no recollection at all of the bullshit case, but I do remember the Bela parts pretty well, so- That was- Those were the parts where I recognized what was happening. But I didn't remember that the Bela episode was this- The final Bela episode was this lacking of her. Because it really was. She was like, barely in it.
C: Yeah.
-
G: So I suppose we start with a "Then" sequence, which doesn't really matter. I mean, did you notice anything about the "Then" sequence?
C: I just thought it was funny that they ended it on like, "The only person who can get me out of this is me." "And me." And then it's like, dramatic music, and it closes so it makes it seem like what Sam said was like, a normal thing to say, which it was, and not something that Dean makes fun of him for 10 minutes at the end of last episode, which is what actually happened. [G laughs]
G: Yeah. Yeah. That's the "Then" sequence. But as for the episode, we start with this very, very basic teaser. Like, could have been in any episode teaser. Last time, we talked about how that teaser was actually really fun, right? Do you remember that?
C: I do.
G: So this teaser being like, so lackluster and like, nothing happens, was like, "Okay. So sometimes it's good, sometimes it is bad." [C laughs] Slay.
C: So true.
G: So true. We start with two guys chilling in a spa, and- I don't know.
C: Racquet club?
G: The racquet club. Yeah!
C: It's literally called "Crystal Spa and Racquet Club."
G: Yeah! It literally. They're chilling in a Crystal Spa and Racquet Club. And I suppose they're- what are they?
C: Plastic surgeons?
G: They're like, workers in there. Plastic surgeons. Yeah, I suppose. What were they talking about? Is this completely relevant at all.
C: They were talking about how everyone wants to like be young and live forever.
G: Oh, yeah, yeah. They're talking about like, "This whole looking young business is so like-"
C: Brutal.
G: Brutal. Yeah, they say that. But at some point they say-
C: There's a fun little misogyny moment where one doctor is like, "Ooh, do you have a boob job to do tomorrow?" And the other doctor's like, "I wish." I- [G laughing] I don't people derive any real sexual pleasure out of like, doing a boob job right? Like, I feel like- I feel once it is a medical thing, like, you get over that.
G: Yeah. Anyway, one of the doctors end up putting his bag at the back of his car, and then he gets pushed into the trunk by some person, and then he gets trapped inside the trunk. And then the next scene is him walking into a hospital in like, a dressing gown, and he's holding his stomach, and blood is dripping out from his legs. At first, I thought they like, cut his dick and balls. [C laughing] 'Cause like, the blood was dripping from his thighs in like, you know, like, the imagery is like, something related to genitalia. But no, it's not what happens. What happens is a nurse comes up to him. Actually, I thought the scene was super creepy for some recent, because I thought the nurse was creepy as all hell, but like, that wasn't the intention at all. Like, the nurse was like, "Don't worry! You can show us what happened to you. There's nothing I haven't seen yet." Blah blah blah. And then he opens his- like, the nurse takes his hand, and then, like, his insides fall to the floor. Disgusting, but-
C: Do they? They did? I didn't even notice that.
G: You don't see it. You don't see it, but you can hear the plopping sound.
C: Oh.
G: Yeah.
C: I thought that was just like, the maggots or something. But I guess it's too loud to be the maggots.
G: Yeah. The nurse starts screaming. End of teaser.
C: RIP.
G: RIP.
C: Yeah, that was boring. So-
G: So boring. It did remind me of like the whole, like, you know, gutting is a very- I don't know what the word is. It's like, a very- Evocative! Like, it's a very evocative imagery. The image of someone being gutted like a fish.
C: Yeah. Like a fish.
G: So like, that's something I like. The fact that they incorporated that. And like, the whole, like, your insides slosh on the floor. I think- I think that's what happens. But other than that, truly the most "eh!" teaser of all time.
C: Yeah. I thought that what he was covering was like, a giant mouth or something growing out of his side [G laughs], so I was very disappointed when it was just a regular hole.
G: Yeah! It's not even a mouth.
C: Yeah.
-
C: So, right. So we're like, in some random cabin, and Sam and Dean are torturing a demon. And like, this demon is possessing a Black man which makes the torture scene feel worse, and maybe also is worse. I feel like they're being heavier on the holy water than they have been in other cases.
G: They- Yes, that is true. Although this episode, this entire episode-
C: Right. The gore rating is a lot higher than the usual Supernatural episode.
G: Yes. So I think I would give this like, a pass, although because like, the point is to make you uncomfortable that, like, "Look at Sam and Dean! They're so- They're so like, gung-ho to get this deal thing out of the way that they're becoming like, such violent people." And also like, just the episode itself, from the case, from the monster of the week, he was very brutal. Eugh.
C: Yeah.
G: There were maggots in this episode!
C: There were maggots in this episode.
G: And it was truly- it was truly something.
C: Yes. So they're torturing this demon, asking him who holds Dean's deal, and yeah. Basically, Dean just keeps like, forcing like, holy water down this person's mouth, and yeah, this person's like, gargling and choking. It's like, not fun. And yeah. The demon makes a "your mom" joke.
G: He truly does. [laughing]
C: Yes. Good for him. And he also says that, like, he's not gonna talk because whatever torture Dean puts him through is like, incomparable to what he will face if he actually talks. And so Sam starts to exorcise this person, and he tells Dean like, "Oh, sure, if you send me back to Hell, I'll just be there to like, beat you up once you show up." And Sam stops at this and he goes, "Okay, like, should I actually exorcise him then?" But Dean says, "Yes, send him someplace he can't hurt anyone else." And yeah, exorcism happens. And end.
-
G: So we go to the cabin that they're staying in. And Sam is talking on the phone to someone about some fingerprints and stuff, like, case details. And then Dean enters, and he goes like, "Did you bury the body?" [laughs] And Dean was like, "yeah." And he says that the body before the guy died, like, told him that the demon, like, fucked him up. Or, did he say that, or did he just say that "It looks like he-"
C: He just said it looked like-
G: Yeah, like the demon fucked them up like, on purpose. Like, for kicks.
C: Yeah.
G: Which is, I guess, fascinating because I feel like angel vessels have the tendency to take care of their vessel, right?
C: Right.
G: Like, they heal their vessel. Shit like that. But I suppose because you're a demon and [both] you don't have healing powers.
Yeah, so like, it doesn't matter to you as long as you get to puppeteer a body. It doesn't really matter. But I remember during this scene, and this is like, completely unrelated, other than the fact that it's also a Supernatural scene, but like, later in like, Season 9, there's a scene where a demon complains that like- Oh, not a demon. An angel complains. Because this is when they fall, right? Like, they've fallen. And the angel is like, "Oh, I've lost like, a lot of my powers. My vessel has psoriasis, and I can't even do anything about it." And like, I just remember that because I have psoriasis, and every single time they're like, "Oh, angels can cure anything. But not psoriasis!" [laughs] I'm like, "What a- what a slay." [C laughs] So real.
C: Yeah.
G: Yeah. Anyway, so Sam relays that a case that they have been looking at, like, yesterday, there's been updates to it. And like, they make a little joke where Dean goes like, "Oh, the case on the newspaper? You mean, like, a stripper suffocating a dude with her thighs?" And it's like, whatever. Eh.
C: Whatever.
G: [laughs] Whatevs! Sam says that the body that they found, like, you know, in the hospital, was covered in bloody fingerprints, not of the guy's, but of someone who died in 1961. So like, that's interesting. And Sam proposes that it could be zombies, that maybe they should check it out. And Dean is kind of weirded out by this because, and he mentions here, he has three weeks left.
C: Yep.
G: And he goes like, "Oh, of course I want to hunt zombies. But like, if I have three weeks left, like, why are you interested in zombies?" And Sam just explains that like, "I just want you to, you know, let loose. [both laugh] You wanted to visit a case, so I wanted to do you a favor by making you visit a case." And so they go to the coroner.
C: Yeah. Also, like, Dean's just so excited about it being zombies. I don't- Okay, like good for him. He's also says, "Zombies like the other white meat." What is that? Brains? What's the other white meat? First, what's the first one? What's the second one? [G laughs]
G: I have no idea! Like, is he talking about white people? [laughing]
C: Maybe?
G: What is happening? I have no idea what he was saying there.
C: Yeah.
G: To be clear, the line was, "Zombies do like the other other white meat."
C: Oh, the other other, right.
G: And, so first, there's the white meat, which is like chicken, right?
C: Chicken, yeah.
G: And then the other white meat is what? White people-
C: White people? White people's cocks? I don't know.
G: And then the other other- are brains? I have no idea.
C: Yeah, okay, brains have gray matter-
G: Yes.
C: Do they have white matter also? Okay, so that's what he's referencing?
G: I think- wait, like- I think there's like, white matter in the brain is like the super inside.
C: Okay. So is that the white meat?
G: I think that is the reference. Yeah! Neurology major king. [C laughs]
C: So true of Dean.
G: [laughing] Is neurology the study of the brain? I have no idea.
C: I don't- Neuroscience?
G: I was right. Neurology.
C: Is there any difference?
G: What is the difference between neurology and neuroscience? You know what? If you happen to be a neurologist- I feel like neurology is like, a doctor, right? A neurologist is a doctor-
C: Yeah, neurology is medicine and neuroscience is just the study of the nervous system in general.
G: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
C: Yeet.
G: Yeet, as you like to say.
-
C: Yes. So we go to like, a lab with the coroner- coroner and the body. And Dean's still very on the zombie track. He's like, "So, like, were there teeth marks?" Because apparently it looked like the body was intact except the liver was missing. And the coroner is like, "You all are fucking stupid. I don't believe you're actually cops." And they show him their badges, and Dean says, "We're very smart." [laughs] So true. So the coroner reveals the liver was removed surgically by like, a clean cut of a scalpel. And then the coroner's like, "I fucking hate both of you. You clearly didn't read my report. Please go away." And they go-
G: Yeah, I thought this guy being so mean to them was gonna be plot-relevant.
C: Yeah same! Like, "Is he the monster?"
G: It wasn't. It wasn't. Yeah, it wasn't plot relevant, but that also made me very happy, because, like, somebody should just be assholes to Sam and Dean, just because, I feel like.
C: I agree.
G: Like, it should be the status quo for every interaction they have with a professional who is actually trying to do their job.
C: Yes, I agree. I think it should happen all the time. And the next person they talk to also doesn't like them for good reason. And I think-
G: Yeah, because the guy is- yeah. Because the guy is like, this guy in a hospital bed who just had his kidney stolen. And before we go into that, like, something I want to mention is, there's one woman in this episode that was a victim. And like, that person we don't get to see- Because we mention, right, like this episode is very brutal, but we don't get to see her be brutalized, and in a way, I'm thankful for that. Because, like, the whole, like, getting your like- You take the wrong drink or whatever, and then you wake up with no kidneys is like, a genuine fear that, like, people have, especially women, right? Do you think so?
C: I don't think that organ-stealing is a particularly gendered fear, but I don't know. Maybe it is.
G: I mean, maybe, but like, I guess the whole like, being taken, stuff like that, is like, yeah.
C: Right.
G: So like, in a way, I was like, throughout the episode I was like, "Oh, it would be so much more horrible to- if this scene was happening to a woman." [laughs] I mean, obviously, it was bad that a guy was murdered, etc. [C laughs]
C: Yeah. [G laughs]
G: But like, I was thinking like, "I don't think I could stomach seeing like, a woman be like, chloroformed, and then, like, her organs be taken." So like, in a way, I was like, "Oh, at least we didn't get to see the poor women be brutalized in that way."
C: Yeah, but also, it was just her arm that had maggots on it, so like, I don't even know. There's no fucking organ in the arm. I don't know what was taken from her.
G: Maybe- I don't even know. Because, like, the implication, I feel like, was her arm was taken, but like, her arm was attached to her body!
C: [laughs] Yeah.
G: So what was taken?
C: It was right there! Just a little skin swatch?
G: The guy was like- [laughs] Yeah. The guy saw her arm, and was like, "Okay, I'll take a cut," and then he realized it was like, too small proportionally for his body, or like, the wrong size or whatever, and he was like, "No, let's stop this right now. I cannot have tiny hands." [C laughing]
C: Exactly.
G: So yeah. Anyway, they talk to the guy, and the guys visit them, and they don't really get any information from this guy other than like, he was strapped to the table, and there was no anesthesia, it was just pain after pain after pain. And they ask about any details. The guy sarcastically tells them that like, "Oh, let me think! Like, yeah, I remember... My kidneys getting fucking taken from my body. So fuck off." Dasurv, as I like to say.
C: Right. There's also a line here that I like, where the guy's like, not wanting to answer their questions, and Dean says, "Don't you want to get the guy?" And the patient says, "Will it get me back my kidney." Like, so true, carceral and punitive justice is completely useless. Say that.
-
G: We go back to a motel room, and it's Sam and Dean, and Sam's doing research and Dean is eating, and Sam says that he's got a theory. And he says that the incisions for the patient whose kidneys were taken - and he calls him Mr. Giggles. [laughs] Did you catch that?
C: Yeah.
G: And I was like, "Is that his surname, or are they insulting this guy who get his kidneys taken-"
C: They're insulting this guy who got his kidneys taken. [G laughs]
G: "- about being cranky?" [screams] Insane. But yeah. His incisions were sewn in silk, and this hasn't happened for a long time. Like, 19th century. Way back. And apparently, this was like, a terrible thing to do, because infections and everything. So what they would do is they would put maggots on the body, and the maggots will eat the bad flesh. Well, there's a term that they use. Good, bad tissue. And then, like, leave the good tissue behind. So when they found the guy, his body cavity was stuffed full of maggots. Sam says that. And Dean is eating. So like, the entire scene is like, this whole exchange of like, "Dude, I'm eating. Like, stop it!" That's exactly how he says.
C: Wait. Why are there so many scenes where Dean's eating, and Sam isn't. Like, do they not take their meals at the same time? Or does Sam just not eat?
G: Interesting.
C: Like, I just remember last episode, Dean had a hot dog, and Sam just had a soda that he then threw into the trashcan [both laugh], you know?
G: His empty- his full, empty soda.
C: Yeah. [laughs]
G: Well, you're right. Although, do you think that was the intention of the show, or it just so happens?
C: I just feel like they're like, "Dean has a thing about food that we think is haha funny. So we're gonna show him eating more. But the default thing is not eating." But like, by always having Sam not eating, they've also created a Sam thing about food. Which I feel like people delve into before.
G: Maybe, like, how I would interpret this is that, because I feel like Sam is always portrayed as the more motivated to get shit done. So like, an interpretation could be like, "Dean has the mental, like, separation from the case to eat, and Sam's like, super focused," you know.
C: Right.
G: So he forgets to eat. Which lends to a lot of possible other avenues to take that, with regards to Sam.
C: Yeah.
G: Yeah. And like, Sam and food is, I feel like, something that will be explored more and more and more and more as time- as the seasons come and go. It's just interesting to me because I feel like that exploration is more, you know, fandom-side, like watcher-side, than actual show-side. Because the show like, is just" Haha! He's vegan."
C: Yeah.
G: And then, like, no other analysis, no other anything. They don't even say the word "vegan." [both laugh] They don't even say anything about it. It's just like, "Haha! Look at his eating habits. It's so funny, isn't it?" And it's like, [laughs] "How about we think about this for a little while?"
C: Yeah. What if?
G: Yeah What if? Anyway, Dean says, "This whole thing about the silk and maggots and etc sound very familiar. Why is that?" And Sam says, "You have heard it before when we were kids, from Dad, because this guy named Doc Benton is a doctor from like, way back, who is obsessed with alchemy." This guy was like 1816 when his- [laughs] This guy was not 1816. It was 1816 when this guy like, ended his practice, and then, a couple of years later, people started showing up dead and stuff, and, like, you know, hunter community realized that it's this guy's doing, and he has found, like, some cure-all for immortality or whatever. And Dad- not Dad. John killed him before.
C: Mm-hm. Oh, also, to clarify, the people showing up dead were all like, people missing organs because he was replacing his own organs with theirs.
G: Yes. Missing organs and body parts and stuff. So, you know, like, very Frankenstein-ish story. Not story, but like, a Frankenstein-ish composition of the body, which we do see later. Because, like, there are like, stitches across his face, which I don't really understand. Unless-
C: Yeah, wouldn't he just keep the whole face?
G: Yeah! [laughs] But whatevs. This entire case is so stupid, so, yeah.
C: So stupid. Like, "Oh my god. This guy was scientifically advanced enough to create immortality." But he's still using 19th century medical practices with stitching and maggots? Like, you're telling me he can't get dental floss somewhere. [G laughs]
G: Yeah, exactly. Also, I think- I don't remember exactly when in this episode, but they say like, a specific term for killing someone. Like, etc. And, update about the whole thing we had in Season 1 where we were like, "I'm gonna ventilate the guy," and you were like, "How is that- Why is that a term for killing?" etc etc. Do you remember that?
C: Yeah.
G: I have seen the word "ventilated" used recently for like, killing someone.
C: In Yakuza?
G: In Yakuza, yes. So like, at some point, one of the guys is like, "Everyone out there is gonna ventilate you." And I was like, "Oh my god. It's an actual word that people use for killing!" I love that I watched it in Supernatural, and I was like, "It must be a fluke and a stupid way, and something the writers thought of that was so stupid," [C laughing] and then I see it in Yakuza, and I was like, "It's a real word."
C: "Wow! A real thing?" Yeah. [G laughs]
G: But yeah, the the monster stays- or well, the Dr. Benton guy stays beside like, a river or a stream of fresh water because that's where he dumps like, the other stuff, like, intestines and fecal matter and stuff. And like, Sam says this in like a way where he's looking at Dean in a like, "Is this disgusting you yet?" And Dean just looks at him, and then looks at his burger and goes, "Oh, baby," talking to the burger [C screams], "I can't stay mad at you," and then he bites it, and it's a whole thing. He's so happy to be eating this burger.
C: Sick and tired.
G: What?
C: I said that I'm sick and tired of Dean's bullshit. [both laugh]
G: Yeah.
C: This episode never really gets into the fact that the doctor doesn't want these people to die. Like, he tries to stitch them up-
G: To save them, yes.
C: - and like, send them out. Yeah. Which doesn't really seem like the right move. You don't want to be caught. So like, I feel like that could have been used more in his like, "I'm not so bad" argument, but eh, whatever.
-
C: So we get a scene where there's some guy, and he's jogging, and then he gets chloroformed. And he is like, strapped to a table. He has like, a heart meter watch-
G: A heart monitor, yeah.
C: Yeah, that he had on when he was jogging. And the director has a lot of fun with like, cutting to it at opportune moments.
G: Yeah, like it gets faster when he wakes up-
C: Yeah, 'cause he's afraid-
G: - and then it stops when his heart like, gets taken out of his body. Stuff like that. And [laughs] like, I saw this guy and I was like, "Why does this look like Jared Padalecki if he was an even more generic white guy?" [laughs]
C: Huh. I don't remember what this guy looks like, which maybe like, because he's such a-
G: Yeah, that's my point. Like, this is Jared Padalecki if he was - you know. It literally looks like Jared Padalecki though. No, I'm sorry for calling the guy "it." He looks like Jared Padalecki. For real
C: Mm. So we see Doc Benton for the first time. He's wearing a surgical mask, but we can see that there's like, scars down his face where skin has been sewn together. Also, his eyes, one of them is like, cloudy, and another one is closed, and that becomes plot-relevant later.
G: Yeah.
C: So, okay, this scene is just incredibly long. Like, what happens is that-
G: That's what i'm talking about!
C: Yeah, the doctor like, carves the heart out of this guy, but like, it's soo long. Like, we get him cutting the rectangle. We get him slowly, like lifting up the skin flap. We get him putting the like, whatever underneath the whatever to disconnect it.
G: Like, we hear the ribs crack as he cracks open the ribs! Like, why is this so gory? Which is why, like we mentioned earlier, like, "Oh, like, I think the vibe of the episode is just this." But I did wonder today like, "Is this because I'm not used to Supernatural again?" Because we did take that break like, you know, a week ago. And yeah, I was like- But like, this is particularly brutal, right?
C: Yeah, this is more blood than- and like, guts and stuff than they are usually willing to show.
G: Yep.
C: Yeah, like we fully see him lift the heart out of this guy's like, bloody like, cavity.
G: - Chest, yeah. This guy's fucking- yeah.
C: I feel like they just needed to fill time or something. Like, we already know what the doctor does. Like, this scene adds nothing to the case.
G: Yeah, but, you know, it's gory.
C: Mm. Yeah. For the horror fans
G: For the horror fans out there. Charles Beeson was having fun.
-
C: So now we're at a motel that Sam and Dean are staying at. It's called The Erie. And they're looking at a map where that has all the hunting cabins in the woods where the doc might be hiding out. And right, I guess it's good to know that Sam is taking the lead on this case. Like, which he usually does do, research-wise, but like, seems to be doing more this episode. And also, when he introduced the case to Dean, like, that scene ended with like, ominous music that felt very out of place at the time. Do you remember that?
G: Not really.
C: Okay. This episode just made a lot of weird ominous music choices, but I guess for that opening scene, it's to hint at something that we will find out later. So Dean gets called-
G: I think maybe like, it's also a matter of, it's the second to the last episode of the season, so they need to make you feel like they're upping the ante. [C laughs] You know?
C: Yeah.
G: So yeah.
C: Yeah.
G: Truly, a fascinating- like, Season 3 is so fascinating because of how short it is. Like, can you imagine next episode, that's it? And like, I wonder- I really do wonder what it was like watching the show live and being like, "It's the second to the last. How the hell are they going to save Dean? They don't even have the fucking Colt." And then you have [laughs]- you get to the next episode, and they literally don't save him.
C: And he fucking ides?
G: They literally don't save him. So yeah.
C: Yeah.
G: Alas, we'll never experience the joy of watching that.
C: Yeah. Dean getting torn apart without knowing.
G: We're so mean! We're so mean.
C: Yeah.
So Dean gets a call from Bobby. and he says that he has a lead on where Bela is from... Rufus Turner!
G: Whoo!
C: So Bobby says that he is a hunter, or used to be a hunter. Currently, he just is a hermit, and sells some- he doesn't say what he sells, but it's like, probably like, magical object things?
G: Items, yeah. Probably like- I mean, are we supposed to believe that Bela went to Rufus specifically to trap Sam? Or was she actually looking for like, magical items? Not magical. What's the term? Occult items.
C: I mean, from her phone call later, it seems to imply that she went to Rufus on purpose.
G: Yeah.
C: Yeah.
G: So like, she really wasn't there to actually like, buy shit from Rufus. It was just a trap.
C: I think.
G: Yeah. Smart!
C: Smart.
G: Not smart enough, though. RIP.
C: Yeah. So some British woman with the alibi "Mina-" or not alibi. With the name, fake name-
G: Alias.
C: Yeah. Mina Chandler called up Rufus and wanted to buy some items. And Dean says that she has used that alias before, which, yeah, makes me think that she just did that to set up a trap. And Dean says, "It's sloppy of her to get in contact with one of your old friends," and Bobby says, "Friend? No, lover." [both laugh] No, well, what he says is that they haven't spoken-
G: He truly does say that.
C: Yes, [laughs] you're right. Nothing else happened. [both laugh] Yeah. So he says that Rufus isn't his friend, because they haven't talked in 15 years, and Rufus isn't the Christmas card type
G: Because he's Jewish! Correct?
C: Yes, which we don't learn this episode-
G: We don't learn this episode, but we do learn at some point.
C: Yes. And yeah, he is living in Vermont. And Bobby also advises that Dean take a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue with him to soften Rufus up.
G: Yeah. I think this is- this is the most that I remember about Rufus. 'Cause like, the Johnnie Walker Blue thing, I think, as a child, that really imprinted on me, because like, I thought like it was like, a super high-end- like, I thought because of this episode, I thought Johnnie Walker was a super high-end whiskey. [laughs]
C: Wait, is it not?
G: I don't know. I'm not sure. Is it? [typing] "Is Johnnie Walker high-end?" Oh! Blue Label is actually like, high-end for real.
C: Okay.
G: Ah. But like, I don't know. I remember when I was young, and we renovated the house, we had like a case for my dad's liquors and stuff. And [laughs] when he brought out the Johnnie Walker, I was like, "Oh my god! Are we rich? [C laughing] Oh my god! He's just like Rufus for real!" Like, I was actually super excited because I was like, "Oh, he's like- He and Rufus, they could be buddies. They both like Johnnie Walker."
C: So true.
G: And like, that's why, when I was young, I was like, "Oh, I remember this scene so so so well," because for some reason, the branding really stuck with me. You know what? You know they say that Supernatural is a 15-year-long Chevy commercial. For we, it was a 15-year-long Johnnie Walker: Blue Label commercial. So real.
C: Good for them.
So Dean tells Sam, "Okay. We're abandoning this case, and we're gonna go after Bela." And Sam says, "No, I think we should stay here and finish the case because there's no way that Bela still has the Colt. She's probably sold it off already." And Dean says, "Well, then, I'll kill her." Like, okay. They have joked, or maybe seriously talked about killing her like, since basically the moment they met her, right? At what point do you think it tipped into real?
G: Yes. Well. They really did- She really did fucking-
C: Yeah, call the cops.
G: Yeah, like, she actually did some bad shit to them. So I guess at some point, it has become real. But it's the same vibe that I- You know how I said like, "Oh, the whole Dean being like- With Ruby, he has always been like, 'Oh, she's a bitch. She's a cunt. I'm gonna kill her.'" [laughing] I don't think he ever says, "She's a cunt." He's not British enough for that. But you know, that's the vibe with Ruby. And then, like, it ends with the death of Ruby. So like, it's less satisfying because they never get out of that- He never gets out of that mindset of like, "I want to kill her." And I feel like the same could be said about Bela, although I guess with Bela, it's a bit more straightforward than with Ruby. That, like, she wronged them. So of course Dean is gonna be mad. But a part of me is like, "I wish there was some point where that wasn't the case." Like, maybe if Season 3 was longer, there could have been a case where it was just like a solid thing where she's doing them a good thing, and then they can be buddies for that episode without like, strings attached and all that shit. And so that we can have a bit more of a emotional thing when he ends up being so mad at her to this degree instead of just, "Oh, I'm a little bit mad her. Now, I'm a loooot mad at her"-type situation.
C: Yeah. Agreed. Also, like, they've become pro-killing humans this season. Or I guess they were pro-killing humans with Jake already at the end of season 2, and there was not really a discussion about that at all.
G: About Jake?
C: Well, just about them being fine with killing humans now. Because it was such a thing in Season 1 where they were like, "We can't."
G: I mean, he doesn't, right? Like, he doesn't kill Bela.
C: He doesn't kill Bela. But like, they've been fine with saying that it's gonna happen, and when like, Dean shows up at the end, Sam asks, "Did you kill her?" like, expecting the answer to be yes.
G: A yes! Yeah!
C: And yeah, they totally killed that guy in "Dream a Little Dream of Me," which is still the funniest thing that's ever happened. [G laughs]
G: [laughing] Sometimes, when I want to cheer myself up, I go back to that episode and go to the portion where we just go, "And then the guy dies!" [C laughing] and then start laughing so hard for like, five minutes. It truly was a fun time.
C: Soo true.
G: That episode was so fucking funny. Literally, they just killed a guy.
C: You know that post from like, what? Like, 2012 or something that's like, "If you're ever having a bad day, remember that Jensen beat up 3 guys when they talked bad to Jared and Jared broke a guy's nose for talking bad to Jensen."
G: [laughing] What?
C: [laughing] And then someone replied, "How are these violent men supposed to make my day better?" But in Supernatural "Dream a Little Dream of Me," those violent men did make my day better. [G laughing]
G: Is that for real? Did Jared-
C: Also, I have no fucking clue if that original post is true. I don't know if anyone beat up anyone. Well, I mean, Jared Padalecki did beat up up some people, but that was alone.
G: Yeah. Surprisingly, I do not give a shit. [laughing] About this happening- no, about Jared and Jensen.
C: Yeah. Yeah. So they start having an argument where Dean's like, "Sam, we're fucking going." And it's clear that he's like, kind of desperate to see Bela so that he can get the Colt back because he has 3 weeks left. Whereas Sam goes like, "Dean, this case, here, is what's gonna save you." Which yeah, like, I guess before this, we think that Sam wants to stay because people are dying. But nah. [laughs]
G: Yeah.
C: So yeah, apparently, Dean has to die before he goes to Hell, so Sam has decided that they should figure out how to make Dean immortal through Doc Benton. "If we find out how he did it, we can do it to you."
G: Which is so stupid because, honestly, it isn't even gonna work.
C: How he does it is stealing organs.
G: Like, one, morality-wise, it's not an option for Sam and Dean, maybe. Maybe not. [laughs] But like, you know, we're- that's like a concern that we have. But also like, does he not understand that like, they kill you.
C: [laughs] Yeah.
G: Like, you don't just die. You don't just like, go to sleep and die. Literally, hellhounds fucking ravish your body. [laughs] Maybe ravish is the wrong word. But like, they fucking- yeah. They kill you.
C: Right. And I guess the idea is that, "If John carved this guy's heart out and he's still alive, maybe there's invincibility built in with the immortality?" could be what Sam's thinking. But they never say that explicitly. So it is very confusing. It's like, sure. Dean could live forever. But like, that's only if hellhounds don't tear him apart, which they will. So yeah, it's stupid.
G: Yeah.
C: So Dean realizes that Sam knew the whole time that this was Doc Benton. And he says, sounding so betrayed, "So the whole zombie thing... you were lying to me?" [both laugh] And I know this argument is not about just Sam lying about the zombie thing specifically, bu the way the script is written, it just seems like Dean is so sad that Sam let him think there could have been a zombie chase-
G: There was never a zombie.
C: - but there was never a chance that he could have fought a zombie specifically.
G: He played The Last of Us and he was like, "I want to see a zombie. For real!"
C: For real. Yeah.
G: Yeah. An interesting part of this is that Dean says that, "If I like, backtrack on this deal, you die, you fool. You will be dead." And Sam is like, "Then I'll take the magic pill, too." [C laughs] And it's like, you guys are so funny.
C: So stupid.
G: So stupid!
C: Yeah, I do- like, in a different franchise with a different tone, like, this is an interesting idea, the idea that you would want your brother to live so much that you would keep him alive as a Frankenstein, like, throughout the centuries, and you would do it too, and you guys would kill people together to take their organs and shit. Like, that is an interesting premise for a story. But not this one. Like, we know these guys. They're not doing that.
G: Yeah. They're not. Yeah.
C: Oh, Dean calls Doc Benton "Slicey McHacky," which I guess-
G: I love that.
C: - which is great, and I guess it's just a side of like his emotional distress during this time that he can't come up with a good joke. [G laughs]
G: Yeah.
C: So Dean says, "You're fucking stupid. The only thing we can do is kill the demon who owns the contract." And Sam says, "Okay, we don't have the Colt, and we don't know who it is." Dean says, "Well, I'll just shoot the hellhounds before they kill me." And Sam says, "Well, I'm staying here," and Dean says, "No, you're not. I'm not gonna let you." Sam goes, "You're not gonna let me?" And Dean repeats, like, "No, I'm not gonna let you." And then Sam goes, "Well, how are you gonna stop me?" Soo true! I've missed this. They haven't parted ways in a while.
G: Yeah.
C: Yeah. And Dean's like, "Okay, fine. Well, I'm going. So if you want to stay, you should stay." And like, at this point, they're both like, slightly teary, and Dean like slowly walks towards the door, and Sam's not looking at him. And then he goes like, "Sammy. Be careful." And Sam says, "You, too." And then Dean leaves. This didn't feel earned. Like, in context, this is an emotional thing, because Sam could die on this case today, and Dean is probably going to die in 3 weeks, so the fact that they're separating at all at this point means something. But the argument itself feels stupid, and so the teariness and sad music-
G: Yes, because the case is stupid! [laughs]
C: Yeah. It's just stupid.
-
G: Yeah. Anyway, we go to Rufus's house! Where we like, don't see Rufus immediately. What happens is Dean is like, in the front porch, and we see that the house is, or like, the entire property, is monitored by security cameras. And like, it's an intercom-ed house. Didn't they visit a house that was just like this?
C: Oh, yeah, the house of that hunter who Meg-possessing-Sam killed.
G: Oh, yeah yeah yeah. So we can assume that a lot of hunters who have a home, like a permanent residence, act like this. But basically, Dean introduces himself. And at every single point, Rufus just goes, "What?" [C laughs]
C: Or he goes, "So?"
G: So Dean goes, "Hi!" Yeah, Rufus is like, "What?" And Dean's like, "Oh, I'm Dean Winchester." Or no, he says like, "Hi, Rufus," and Rufus is like, "Well. I mean, okay. What?" And Dean is like, "I'm Dean." And he goes, [both] "So?"
C: Literally!
G: Like, literally, "I'm Dean Winchester." "So?" And then, you know, it just keeps going like this. It's like, "You called this morning about this British girl who contacted you. Do you know where she is?" And Rufus is like, "Yeah, I do." And, Dean asks, "Could you tell us where she is?" And he just goes, "No." And it's like, this goes on for a while. He's uncooperative until Rufus actually opens the door. And- at some point, Dean says like, "Look, Rufus. Look, man." And then Rufus opens the door and says, "I am not your man." [laughs] Like, he says, "Don't 'Look, man' me. You're the one who's knocking at my door." And I like this because- actually, I'm not sure I like this. But Dean does say like, "Sir," to him-
C: Yeah, "Sorry, sir."
G: And I don't think it was sarcastic. So that one, I was like, "Oh." 'Cause, you know, Dean's relationship with the word "sir," quite loaded in the world of Supernatural.
C: Is it? Or just because he calls John that?
G: Yeah.
C: Okay, yeah. I guess he has never called anyone else sir? Has he called anyone else sir?
G: Not anyone else. I don't think.
C: Okay.
G: Yeah. And yeah. And then Dean takes out the bottle of Johnnie Walker: Blue Label, and he asks like, "So, is this bottle of scotch considered good?" And this is the first time that we see Rufus smile.
C: Yeah!
G: And he lets Dean enter the house.
C: Yeah. The smile is beautiful, and I see it giffed a lot, this specific scene.
G: This specific scene, yes.
C: Does Rufus have his gay little earring in this episode, or is that only in flashbacks.
G: I don't think so! I don't think so. I think it's a flashback sitch.
C: Okay. Sd.
G: Yeah. Anyway, they start drinking and Rufus is like, praising this drink, which is, I suppose. Do you think this is sponsored?
C: I don't know.
G: Because it should have been. [laughs] They should have gotten paid for this shit.
C: Yeah. It worked on you.
G: Because it works. Worked on me. And they they talk about Bela. And Rufus just says like, "She wanted to buy a couple of things, but it's gonna take me a while to find those things, so she's around town." And Rufus just asks Dean, like, "Why are you looking for this girl when you're about to die in 3 weeks?" And Dean is like, "How do you know that?" Rufus just says, "I know a lot of things about a lot of people."
C: Also, the camera angles are really weird in this scene. Like, it's incredibly close up on both of their faces.
G: You think so?
C: Yeah, I think so. I feel like the vibes feel off.
G: Off as in, supposed to make you feel uneasy?
C: I don't know. I think, well the camera, like, their faces like, fill up the entire screen whenever it goes to both of them, which I think just makes it seem like you're supposed to think the conversation's very intense or something.
G: Well, yeah.
C: I mean, I didn't think it was that intense. I don't think it's worth that close of a shot.
G: Yeah. Rufus just says like, "The gun is not gonna save you, and the reason why it's not gonna save you is, even if you get out of this one, you're never getting out of the life. There's no happy ending," etc etc.
C: He dies on a hunt.
G: He says a line- Dean? Or Rufus?
C: Rufus.
G: [laughing] Well, you don't care about Dean, so it is Rufus.
C: Yeah, Rufus!
G: Yeah. I mean, the line that I liked here was, "I'm what you've got to look forward to if you survive." And then he follows that up with, "But you won't."
C: So true.
G: But just the first part, and, like, the entire sentence is good. The entire statement is good, I feel. But like, just the first line, just the first part where it's like, "I'm what you got to look forward to if you survive." And we know that Rufus- Does he really die on a hunt? I don't remember.
C: Yeah, like-
G: How does he die?
C: He dies in- I don't know. Season 6? Or something? 7? I don't know. A hunt.
G: 6, yes. Well, he dies on a Sera Gamble season. That's for sure.
C: Yeah.
G: Because, like, I remember being upset and thinking like, "It's Sera Gamble!" [both laugh] Or somebody pointing it out then. I'm not sure.
C: So what I know about Rufus's backstory is that he and Bobby haven't spoken for 15 years because Bobby called Rufus's daughter to be the getaway driver on a case, and Rufus's daughter died on the case.
G: And then the daughter died, yeah.
C: And is that when Rufus retired?
G: Perhaps so. But also, I mean, that's the reason why they stopped talking, right?
C: Yeah.
G: So I think maybe we are to assume that like, that is also the reason why he retired. And then another backstory that they have for Rufus is that he was the one who exorcised- like, he helped out with the demonic possession of-
C: Oh, Bobby's wife.
G: Right? Right?
C: Ohh.
G: Let's go to his Wiki. Yeah. He like, introduced Bobby to the supernatural.
C: Oh, wow, yeah. Huh! That's interesting.
G: Also, it says, "A woman important to Rufus, possibly his daughter." So it's not clear, apparently.
C: Huh. Okay.
G: Cool.
God, he died during a stupid-ass season. I'm so sad. I mean, Bobby also died in a stupid-ass season, but like, at least Bobby's death was a very significant plot point. I do love like, the parts of Season 7 that are good. Like, it's a hell of a season to get through, and I do kind of dread it, but also like [laughs], when Cas comes back, that's one hell of an episode.
C: Mm.
G: And like, the entire- yeah. And there's a lot to be said about Cas's characterization when was-
C: When he took on Sam's-
G: When he took the trauma, yeah yeah yeah. So I'm excited to get to it. But I'm not excited for the first [both] 16 episodes of that season. [laughs] Yeah.
-
C: So we cut to Sam, and he's driving a rental car.
G: He has a rental car!
C: He's in his rental car era, just like in last episode.
G: Yeah. I was super happy when I- because I didn't notice at first it was a rental. Like, obviously, it was a rental, but like, it didn't click. I only noticed when he was getting smashed to the [C laughs] car later, and he's trying to like, do the- [laughing] I don't even know what the parts of the cars are called. But like, the stick shift. He was trying to do the stick shift, and I was like, "Oh, this is not the Impala's stick shift. Oh my god! He's in a rental, baby!" And I was so happy! It's the little joys.
C: Okay, I knew immediately that it was a rental, but I felt like it was very obvious when he parks like, in the scene, and he pulls down like you know, the top thing with the mirror in it, and it has the rental company's logo on it. [G laughs]
G: So real.
C: But I don't know. I guess you missed that part.
G: No. I know. I mean, I knew, but I wasn't like, ecstatic about it. I only was ecstatic about it when it became like a very interactive- [laughs] when it became an interactive prop in the scene. I was like, "Oh, he's using the rental car to get away from this scene. How cool, how fun! He's literally the rental car guy."
C: Yeah. I'm glad to see Sam driving again.
G: Yeah!
C: So he's going into the forest alone, and then we cut back to Rufus, and Rufus tells Dean that Bela's staying in Hotel Canaan, Room 39, and he says that there are things that Dean doesn't know about Bela. And Rufus is like, "Uh huh. 'Cause I know things." Rufus lifted Bela's fingerprints, but he didn't get anything because she burned them off years ago. Which is so cool of her.
G: But you can do that, right?
C: I don't know. Can you?
G: Like, they grow out. Like, even if you burn them.
C: I guess she could regularly be burning them.
G: Uh-huh. This is a plot in Ace Attorney as well, so I recognize the shout-out, [C laughs] and I respect it.
C: So true. And then Rufus asks, "Did you do her ear?" So then Dean's doing a joke thing about like, "I'll try anything once but that sounds uncomfortable." But Rufus means like, "No, like, a photo of her ear," because they're also unique to human beings. So he got a shot off of the security camera of Bela's ear, and he sent it-
G: (s that true?
C: Oh, that ears are unique?
G: Yeah.
C: It's a plot point in the Elementary episode "Ears to You," and I think also, perhaps, in a Sherlock Holmes original story. So maybe.
G: Damn. But like, you know how handwriting is a plot and shit, but like, it's not actually a conclusive thing.
C: That's true. Yeah.
Rufus had a contact in England send him some files about Bela based off of the ear picture. And he hands those files over to Dean.
-
G: Sam is now in the cabin, and he finds the guy from- the heart guy. And he checks his vitals. He checks the guy's-
C: Pulse?
G: - pulse, and, you know, he's dead. So he moves to this other bed. Another body, this woman who has maggots all over her arm, as we mentioned. She apparently has missing skin. The transcript says she is missing skin. So this guy literally took skin from this woman, and like-
C: [laughs] Not a lot of skin, even. Like, I don't know. 10 square inches, max?
G: First of all, you kill a guy. Why don't you take his skin also? He's already dead.
C: Yeah. You are waiting resources here. [G laughs]
G: You need to be efficient! And yeah.
C: You are not cutting costs. You are not like, making the bottom line.
G: Literally. This is bad governance. [both laugh] But Sam checks her pulse, and she gasps to life. And Sam tries to comfort her and all that. The doctor ends up going to them because of all the noise. But when he gets there, Sam and the girl are gone, and they are on their way to the car. And as Sam places her into the car, Dr. Benton comes out and smashes him to the-
C: Wheel?
G: I don't know the English. The wheel, yeah. And [laughs]- me, "I don't know the English," and it's literally "the wheel." [laughs]
C: All good.
G: Whatevs.
C: Whatevs.
G: And then Sam keeps on trying to drive. But, you know, shit happens. At some point, he couldn't do the stick shift, and I was like, "It's because it's a new car. That's why." Poor Sam. He has never held a car that is older than 1990 in his hands. Although I guess it's not that old at the time.
C: You mean younger than 1990?
G: Yeah, no, he- Yeah, you're right. [laughs] Sorry!
C: All good.
G: Wait. When was the Impala?
C: 1967?
G: '67. Jesus Christ, it's old as shit! How is this car running? Maybe they should consult the car for immortality tips. [both laughing] It's so fucking old.
C: Wait, you didn't even mention that Sam literally runs the guy over with the car.
G: Oh, I mean, duh! And then his head like, dislocates, and then he pops it right back in.
C: Yeah. Good for him. Why didn't they do a Ship of Theseus thing with this guy at all? Like, did he ever have to replace his brain?
G: Interesting. Maybe that's the one thing that he kept. 'Cause like, how are you gonna-?
C: But also like, brains deteriorate with age.
G: That's true.
C: Like, if he is actually several- like, over a hundred years old, he probably wouldn't be talking as coherently as he is right now if he kept the same brain. Yeah. I guess they didn't want to deal with that.
G: Yeah. This episode is way stupider than that concept. [laughs]
C: Yes.
G: I'm so sorry! I'm just insulting this case. Like, the episode is not bad. It's just the case that's bad.
C: I think it's bad, and the case is bad. [G laughs]
G: Okay.
-
C: So Bela goes into a motel room, and Dean is there. And, you know, he shoves his elbow into her throat and demands the Colt. And, you know, he's being all intense or whatever. And Bela says like, "I have sold it. It is gone." Okay, for this whole season, I assumed that Bela was stealing the Colt to protect against the hellhounds. Did she actually sell it?
G: She gave it to the demon.
C: Oh, in return for changing her deal to kill Sam. Okay, that makes more sense.
G: No- to- yeah yeah yeah.
C: Alright. So there's this like, really awful like, quick moment where Dean is like, taking Bela's gun from her, but like, he does it by grabbing her by the waist, and she goes, like, "What the hell are you doing?" And Dean says, "Don't flatter yourself."
G: Yeah, I hated that.
C: Like, "You're not hot enough for me to rape you"? Like, what? I hate it.
G: I hate it as well.
C: Yeah. So yeah, Dean searches the entire room for the Colt. And, you know, when Bela tries to head for the door-
G: Moves, yeah.
C: He shoots next to her head.
G: Shoots! He literally shoots!
C: Yeah. Like, there is a bullet hole in the door. Surprised that no one called anyone at hearing a gunshot in this fancy hotel.
G: Nobody give a shit. Nobody give a shit in this hotel.
C: [laughs] Nobody give shit. Yeah. [G laughing]
G: Why is that funny? Like, every time we say, I'm like, "Literally nobody give a shit." [laughs] Anyway.
C: It's just a good sentence. And, okay, so Dean's like, "Okay, no gun." So he points his gun at her head and says that he is going to kill her. Bela tells Dean that he's not the cold-blooded type, and Dean goes, "Oh, you mean like you? True. I couldn't imagine killing my parents." We knew from-
G: You can. [laughs]
C: Yeah. First, yeah. Second, we already know from "Red Sky at Morning" that he knew that she killed a family member.
G: Yeah.
C: Is it just that much worse for it to be her parents specifically?
G: Yeah, I think so. Maybe to him, that's worse.
C: To Dean. Yeah. Do you think that that's like, one of the last straws for him, or like, was he already at last straw?
G: No, I mean, he wasn't. Because he doesn't shoot her.
C: Yeah, that's true.
G: But I think it's just fascinating that Dean never learns. Because, like, the last time he does this was like, "Oh," in the last hellhound episode-
C: Yeah, in "Crossroad Blues," yeah, you mentioned that in "Red Sky at Morning" as well. That he assumes the worst of people.
G: Like, yeah. I mean, haven't you learned, dude? But like, Bela doesn't try to defend herself here. 'Cause like, what happens is like, Dean is like, "Yeah, your parents died in a car accident, and people suspected stuff, but everything was too crispy, like everything was burned up so they couldn't tell. And you, young Bela, or should I say-" And it was another name. I don't know what was it.
C: Abby.
G: Abby. Like, "You inherited all of their money." And then we get a flashback.
C: Yeah. And the flashback is of Bela, and she- and the actor they got, like, that is literally her. Good job. So yeah, she's like, in her room, sitting on the bed crying. And we don't see very much. We just see, like, the legs and shoes of a ma walk into her room, and then we cut outside the door, and he's closing the door, and she's like, very afraid.
G: Yeah.
C: That is all we get, but like, the implication is like childhood sexual abuse by her dad.
G: Sexual abuse, yeah.
G: Like, I've mentioned this at our beginning-of-Season-3, like post-Season 2, beginning of Season 3 episode. But I remember this scene so well because it scared me so much as a child. And like, this one- because our two flashbacks are this and the swing one, right? And it's just, now that I watch it, I'm like, "It's so so so lightly, lightly implied." Like, I don't know. I guess when you're younger, or, you know, at different times in your life, shit just hits different. It doesn't matter really the age, but it just so happens sometimes, like. I don't know. Maybe this episode really just impacted me a lot. Like, maybe I watched this during a day where I was really paying attention. Because I remember the Blue Label so much, and this scene really really scared the crap out of me. Because it was the one violence against someone that was like, real, you know.
C: Yeah.
G: Like, this could happen to people in real life.
C: Right.
G: And I guess that, like, it really humanized Bela for me. Like, I already liked her prior to this, obviously. And it's like, if you like her because of this, like why. But like, you know, like, there's a a perspective of like, "Okay, she went through a very human struggle." It wasn't like, you know how Sam and Dean, like, their trauma is that a demon killed their mother? [both laugh] And it's like, Bela having her trauma be something so rooted in, like, not the supernatural.
C: Yeah.
G: I don't know, like, it was more like impactful to me when I watched it the first time.
C: Yeah. That makes sense.
G: I think the fact that she was 14. I guess that was like, that was like super, you know. Because it was a closer age to my age now. Like, I've talked about this, but like, now I watch Supernatural. And at the beginning, I really was like, "just like Sam for real!" 'cause I was around his age. I am around his age. But, like, you know, when you're younger, and it's Bela, and it's like, "Oh, I am also a child. And this child has suffered so much." And it's like, "Oh, okay, that's sad."
C: Right. Yeah. And her being 14 is also when we learn that she is 24.
G: Yes.
C: Which surprised me a lot. For some reason I thought she was like, 30, you know?
G: No no no. I think 24 is reasonable for her.
C: I guess. But like, she's a homeowner. And I know it's just because she's rich. [G laughs] But like,
still!
G: Literally. Every 24-year-old should be struggling in life.
C: Yeah. No 24-year-olds are allowed to pay mortgages, regardless of- or, she's not even paying a mortgage. She just owns her house, I'm sure.
G: She just has a house, yeah.
C: Right. But I guess it's- I just didn't think that she was younger than Dean, but she is.
G: Oh, that's an interesting way to look at it. She is younger than Dean.
C: Yeah, by like-
G: Because Dean at this point is 28.
C: Yeah, by 4 years she is younger than Dean.
G: Yeah.
C: She's only, what? One year older than Sam?
G: Yeah.
C: Like, yeah, I feel like that also humanizes her for me a lot. Because I am close to her age, and I am a loser. So I choose to believe that she is also a loser girl who is better at hiding it.
G: Exactly. Yeah.
C: Right. So yeah, she doesn't defend herself. Like, we see this flashback, but she says, like, "Yeah, my parents were lovely people, and I killed them to get rich because I can't be bothered to give a damn, just like I don't care what happens to you." And, right, Dean, like, pushes her by the throat into the door again, and we see there's like, a bundle of twigs and stuff above the door that moves. And he tells Bela, "You make me sick." And she says, "Likewise." So Dean like, points his gun at her forehead, and she looks for a second, and then after a little bit, when Dean's still holding it, she closes her eyes, which I also liked a lot as a character moment. 'Cause like, yeah, like you can't be cool during the moment when you think you are going to die for real. Like, you will be afraid. And then, yeah. Dean sees the twigs, and then he changes his mind. And okay, I know we're supposed to think it's just because he's decided that he can't do it. But like, this is also the moment when he realizes that she's gonna die tonight anyway, right?
G: Yeah.
C: So like, I feel like if she wasn't gonna die tonight anyway, I think maybe he would have shot. I don't know.
G: Yeah. I agree. Like, it's the realization that she is gonna die anyway that stops him.
C: Yeah. Not because he's a good person or whatever. Which is kinda-
G: Yeah yeah yeah. It's kinda- [clicks tongue]
C: [mocking voice] It's not very nice!
G: [mocking voice] It's not niice. It's not nice.
C: He doesn't treat her very niceys.
G: Yeah!
C: So Dean tells her that she's not worth it. And then he leaves, and we use linger on Bela for a bit, and it's revealed that she got the receipt for the motel they're staying at. And then she goes on the phone and tells someone, "It worked. He found me." Which means that the visiting Rufus thing was a trap. And she said, "Sam wasn't with him, but I know where they are."
-
G: Sam is in the motel room, and he has a notebook out. He's reading it while he's calling.
C: Oh, we didn't mention, he stole the journal of Dr. Benton when he went into the cabin.
G: Yeah. Anyways, Sam asks if Dean got the Colt, and Dean says, [angry] "What do you think?" [laughs] Which is- you know how that's how I respond to like, anything my parents ask me. [C laughs] So real. Sam asks if Bela is dead, which you mentioned earlier is like, such a testament to their stance on killing human beings. But Dean says, "She deserves to die a dozen times, but I couldn't do it." And then, Dean says, "I'm really screwed, Sammy. You were right. Bela was a goose chase. The Colt's gone, and I'm really screwed this time." And then, Sam, not paying attention to this completely emotional, completely honest, emotional scene from Dean, just goes, [airheaded] "No, you're not. I mean, I found the cabin, and I found the notes, and I think you can survive through science, baby! [both laugh] I found his lab book. It has the formula."
C: [laughing] "The formula!" What-
G: And Dean was like, "Do I have to drink like, blood from a baby's skull?" And Sam's like, "No no no. It's not black magic! There's so sacrifice. It's just science. Extremely weird science."
C: My question here is, in a world where the supernatural is actually real, what is the difference between magic and science?
G: One, true. And I cannot answer that. Two, let's talk about, quote, "science," right? [C laughs] Because, you know, I have a family member who is a kidney transplantation. And, like, he reached 10 years last year, and that is a celebration. Because like, when he got the transplant, the doctors were like, "You'll last 10 years, and after that, you're probably gonna die."
C: Geez.
G: [laughs] Which is, you know, a lot. But the fact that this guy is like, everything in his body is transplanted, and he is alive since 1816, you know, even before that-
C: Is he testing these blood types before he like, takes their organs?
G: [laughing] I know! Like, is he on insane levels of immunosuppresents so this liver and kidney and patch of skin and heart are not rejected by his body? Like- it's insane. It's just so stupid. Just make it like, he has a magic spell or whatever, and then he also needs the transplants. Like, you are a show called Supernatural. [C laughs] Be fucking for real [laughs], as, you know, people say nowadays.
C: Yeah.
G: It's just so stupid. It's so stupid!
C: Right. I just- if they literally found a "scientific cure for death," like there should have been at least like a little bit of a discussion over like, "Is it right of us to destroy this? Like, this could save people from disease?" Blah blah blah. "No, humans shouldn't play God." Like, just say something about it. Why is it science? The only point of it being science is so that, like, there's more of a reason for Dean to be okay with this, so it's like, more of a big deal when he says no. But like, obviously, he's gonna say no, because it involves killing people! [laughs]
G: Yeah, it's so stupid.
C: Yeah.
G: So stupid.
C: Right. Was "Mystery Spot" and Sam being- Okay. First, was Sam down to actually bleed someone to death to summon the trickster in "Mystery Spot"? Or do you think he was just saying it-
G: It was like one of those like, "Is he? Or was he in on it all along?" type of situation.
C: Right. So I guess this is not that out of character for Sam if we take "Mystery Spot" Sam to be-
G: As for realsies.
C: Yeah, for realsies. But yeah, this is just still so stupid.
G: Yeah. Anyway, as Sam speaks, he gets chloroformed. Dun-dun-dun!
C: Dun-dun-dun.
-
C: So we cut to Sam inside of the doctor's cabin, and there's tape around his eyes to like, keep them open. Is this- is this screenshot used in the Perfume Genius- never mind. It's not. [both laughing]
G: So real.
C: For context, if anyone doesn't know, if you don't mind eye horror, look up "Perfume Genius, Substack, Last Friday, I had my eyes removed by Jared Padalecki."
G: I feel like our target audience knows about this and don't need any additional input from us, so- [laughs]
C: Yeah. It's so good. I'm going to re-read it after this.
G: [laughs] I have not read it. I have not read it, but I trust that it is an amazing work of creative writing.
C: Yeah. [laughs] Of RPF?
G: [laughs] Yeah. Anyway-
C: Anyway. So the doctor's there, and he's talking to Sam. He's like, "Hey, don't worry. The odds of you coming out of this alive are very high!" And, you know, he's monologuing about how "You think i'm a monster, but I've never done anything that I didn't have to do. I just have to replace things when they go bad, like my eyes. Also, I remember your dad cutting out my heart, and that was fucking annoying. I stole his journal from you somehow, and this is some kind of fun family reunion." And he gets out a fucking scooper to scoop Sam's eye out. I hate eye horror. I hated to see this.
G: Yeah.
C: And I think he actually like- he like, starts digging it in, right? Like, there's blood that starts happening before Dean shoots-
G: No!
C: No?
G: No, I don't think so. It's just very, very close.
C: Okay, yeah, maybe it was like a shadow that I saw as a cut or something.
So Dean has appeared. He's shooting. Oh, also, Dean got here in time because he- like, Sam was on the phone when he got chloroformed, so Dean would have heard Sam yelling. So we get a pre-"Laz Rising" scene where Doc Benton is coming at Dean, [G laughing] Dean's shooting at him, nothing's happening, and then Dean stabs him in the heart with a knife. [laughs]
G: They did it first. They did it first.
C: Yeah. [laughing]
G: They were in love here. [laughing]
C: Yes, they were in love here.
So Dean's like, "Oh, yeah, I know that like due to immortality, this knife, like, doesn't, actually do anything, but actually, it's fine, because I dipped it in chloroform first. It is sending chloroformed blood all throughout your body!" And then Doc Benton pass it out.
G: Collapses! Yeah. And then Dean is like, just- like, when Doc Benton wakes up, Dean is over him, and he's, you know, putting his act of like rough, tough guy. Doc Benton is saying, "You don't need to kill me. I can read the formula for you! [C screams] Immortality." He says, "You know. Immortality. Forever young. Never die." Like- [laughs]
C: Thank you, dictionary.com.
G: Well, first of all. Look at this guy.
C: He looks like shit.
G: One look at him [laughs], he does not look forever young. At all.
C: Yeah. He looks old.
G: He looks- is this rude? He looks like the guy who died from the royal family. [both laughing] What was his name?
C: Prince Philip?
G: Is this rude? Is this bad?
C: No. [laughs]
G: I think his name is Prince Philip, but if it's not, I'm so sorry. It literally is Prince Philip. He literally looks like Prince Philip before he died. Oh my god, the queen is also dead, right?
C: Yeah.
G: RIP. I feel like we talked about that in the podcast.
C: Yeah, because Tamara was in the episode following the queen's death.
G: [laughing] Yeah. So real. She was responsible for it.
C: Yes, thank you.
G: Well, Dean is very against this, but Sam pulls him aside and says, like, "You're gonna be in Hell in 3 weeks if we don't do anything, so might as well try to do something. And it's gonna buy us more time. Just think about it." And Dean is very adamant that it's a no for him. And he says, "He isn't living. This is simple to me. It's black or white. Human, not human. And Doc Benton's a freaking monster. I would rather go to Hell."
C: Fascinating stuff.
G: Yeah.
C: Dean's just changing the goalposts here.
G: Yeah.
C: Like, if it's genuinely just "science" keeping him alive, like, by Dean's previous definition, he is human. Dean's just decided to change his mind. Also, I don't- this is like an odd sentence to put in- 'Cause, like, Sera Gamble is the writer who's like, very interested in, like "Are humans-" or, "Are monsters actually human?" or like, "Are monsters actually people?"-type writing because, like, she's the one who started that with all the vampires. But that hasn't really been a feature of this season at all besides just them being okay with killing people now without explaining it. So I don't know. This is an odd thing. This is odd reasoning for Dean to have. I'm not sure what the themes and motifs they're going for here are. Because I think we're supposed to think he's right.
G: Anyway, what they do is they chloroform Doc Benton again. And then when he wakes up, he's inside of a coffin. And Sam and Dean are burying him alive basically, with the book on top of the coffin. And he's screaming the whole time like, "I can help you! Let me out! I can help you." And then, you know, they bury him.
C: Why wouldn't they burn the book? Someone could find it. Someone could find him, too.
G: Yeah. But like, I mean, what's the solution? Dump him in the deepest part of the ocean, just like [both] Dean for real.
C: I just- I do not believe that if they cut him up into tiny little pieces, the pieces would re-form into him. There's gotta be a way-
G: Yeah, it will crawl-
C: Yeah. There's gotta be a way to fully kill him. This feels like- I mean, this is on purpose just mean. I feel like they could have actually killed him, but they just wanted him to suffer eternally. Which like, okay, fair enough. Whatevs.
-
C: There's someone walking down a hallway wearing a black leather trenchcoat, and we pan up and see it's Bela. And she's in the motel that Sam and Dean were staying at. She goes into the room, and she has a gun. And there's like, lumps under both the beds, so it looks like both of them are sleeping under the covers, and she just shoots into the piles.
G: It's obvious-
C: Yes, it is pretty obvious. Which I was like, "Oh my god! Really?" But like, after we find out what her deal is, then I'm like, "Okay, yeah, fair." So she pulls back the covers, and there is no Sam and Dean. They are like, sex dolls, but like-
G: Inflatable.
C: Just terrible, low-quality, inflatable sex dolls. And my favorite part about these sex dolls is that one is blonde and one is brunette. Like, they went and bought sex dolls for this prank, and they were like, "Their hair colors have to match ours." [G laughing]
Yeah. This was not necessary. They could just put a fucking pillow under there.
G: Literally.
C: It feels like- I guess they could have done this with a man too.
G: It feels like such a gag for-
C: A very serious scene.
G: - for a scene that precedes a very serious reveal.
C: Right. But I- the thing about the end of this is, I'm not sure if we're supposed to feel like, triumphant. Like, are we supposed to be like, "She got what was coming for her!" Like, coming to her, whatever. Like, what are we supposed to feel?
G: No, I don't think so. We're supposed to feel empathy for her.
C: Yeah, which is the point of the flashback. But also I think the script for this ensuing phone call is so terrible that it's hard for me to tell what they're going for.
G: Yeah yeah yeah.
C: So the room gets a call, and it's Dean. And oh, by the way, it's 11:56PM right now in the Supernatural-verse. So Bela says like, "You don't understand." And Dean says, "Actually, I do understand, because, like, those herbs that I saw above your door, their purpose is to keep hellhounds away. And then I went and looked at what happened to your parents, and they died 10 years ago today. So you actually made a demon deal to kill them." And we get a flashback of young Bela, and she's on a swing set, and there's a little like, 8-year-old girl next to her. And she says like, "I can take care of them for you, and it won't cost you anything for 10 whole years." And her eyes turn red, which looks like shit, especially because the flashback is like, basically [both] black and white.
G: [laughs] Yeah. So stupid.
C: Like, okay, girl. Yeah. Also, Sera Gamble, like, wrote herself into a corner here where, like, I guess, canonically, 14-year-old Bela and this 8-year-old girl had to kiss at some point. But like, luckily, we don't have to see it. Just like we didn't see the Johnzazel kiss.
Yeah, Dean says that, "Okay, so you stole the Colt to like, try to use it to bargain your way out of your deal." And Bela says, "Yes." And Dean says, "But that wasn't enough." And Bela says, "I was able to use it to change the deal to killing Sam." And, right, at this point, Dean is going like, "Well, look at that! It's almost midnight! Hahaha! I love it when people die."
G: He's such an asshole!
C: Yeah. And this is when Bela is crying and asking for help. Dean says, "Sweetheart, we are weeks past help." Fucking sick of this guy. Okay, so this is when Bela's crying and saying that she doesn't deserve it. And Dean goes into like, lecture mode, where he's like, "Yeah, you don't deserve it. And also, if you'd just come to us sooner and asked for help, we could have taken the Colt and saved you." Could you have? Could you fucking have? You still have no idea who's holding the deals, Dean. It's true, if Bela told you who it was, then yeah, sure. And okay, I think this next line--Bela's crying, and she goes, "I know, and saved yourself." And I thought that was just the clunkiest shit ever.
G: It is.
C: Like did you- [fake-crying] "I know, and saved yourself. I know about your deal, Dean!" I feel like the only point of that line is to make her seem less sympathetic. Oh, "Let's just put in that it is all her fault that both of them are going to die." Even though I don't think that's true, and I don't think she would say that, and it's just a stupid sentence structure, and I'm sick and tired of Sera Gamble forever.
G: This entire scene makes me sad in the- I feel like for a character that we have grown to know in some way for an entire season, and this is how she just dies. And like, come on. It's sad because even her death is- I don't know.
C: Yeah.
G: It's sad because it's not done well and like- Actually, I was quite emotional when Dean was like, "We would have helped you if you asked." But I don't know, following that up immediately with Bela pointing out that, like, "You would only have helped me because it would have helped you too." [laughing] That made me laugh. I was like, "So real."
C: Oh, I didn't read it like that.
G: No, I mean, obviously, that's not- I don't think you're supposed to read it like that, but like, that's how I received it.
C: [laughs] Yeah, okay. That is pretty funny. Yeah. I don't- I was not emotional at like-
G: [laughs] Any point, yeah.
C: "We would have helped you." There's no reason for her to think that they would help her. Ever since, like, "Jus in Bello" or like, probably even earlier, the only thing that like they talk about on the phone is Dean saying, "The next time I see you, I'm gonna fucking kill you." [laughs] Why would she go to him for help?
G: Yeah.
C: So, right. She reveals that she knows who holds his deal, and her deal. Lilith apparently holds every deal. And Dean goes like, "Why should I believe you?" And Bela says like, "You shouldn't, but it's the truth." I just- just the fact that, like, her entire death, is her going, like, [fake-crying] "I'm a piece of shit! It's okay that I die because I'm just the worst person ever! Keep lecturing me, please!" Just makes it hard for me to believe that we're supposed to sympathize with her that much in this scene. Like, I do, because I like her. But, like- I don't know. This is like, a degrading way for her to die.
G: It is.
C: And I mean, this is not really worse than the way any, like, recurring character dies on Supernatural. Like, Henriksen had a absolutely nothing death. But I feel like Bela has been more of a fixture this season than any other recurring character that's died.
G: Yeah. But also, the whole deal with Supernatural is a lot of the time, they can't let side characters stand on their own. They always have to be like, connected to the Winchesters because, you know, it's the Winchester show. And like, that makes it difficult to do scenes like this. Because even here, Bela's dying, and it's like, "We need to do exposition for Dean!"
C: Yeah, like, "She's gonna give him information for the plot! And that's gonna be her last act!"
Also, the thing about the her- Like, what is the timeline of her changing the deal. Because clearly, she hadn't changed it yet during "Jus in Bello" because-
G: What do you mean changed the deal?
C: Like, she hadn't been told to kill Sam yet by "Jus in Bello" because she wouldn't let him be taken to supermax prison where she could never kill him. At what point did she bargain with the demon? I don't know. I would have liked some more foreshadowing of the deal change.
G: Yeah.
-
G: But yeah, eventually, what happens is just, they hang up. Well, Dean says-
C: Well, Bela tells Dean that she's telling Dean so he can kill Lilith, and Dean says, "I'll see you in Hell." Which implies that he's not even gonna try to kill Lilith.
G: I don't like "I'll see you in Hell." Maybe if he said, "I'll see you," I would have liked it because it- I don't know. "I'll see you in Hell" feels so vindictive. Like, it still feels like, "Good for you that you're going into Hell."
C: Yeah, and I think that is what he is trying to communicate.
G: Yeah, and I hated it.
C: Yeah. Also, like, I don't know if in the next episode they try to go after Lilith. But, like, Dean saying that is like, "Oh, your dying wish is that I'm gonna kill Lilith? Well, too bad."
G: Tough luck!
C: "I'm specifically not gonna kill Lilith, and I'm going to go die because you want me to kill Lilith, so you should die thinking about how your last words were useless, and your dying wish will not be respected. Goodbye, girl."
G: Bye, girl!
C: Like, okay.
G: Yeah. And then she dies.
C: Yeah.
G: The clock strikes 12, and she hears dogs like, barking and howling and shit.
C: Yeah. End.
G: Okay. So what do we think about this episode? We've talked to a lot about what we thought about this episode, which is that it's-
C: Stupid?
G: Bad. [laughs]
C: Stupid.
G: Stupid case, and like, the non-case stuff is like, not that good as well. Yeah. Should we proceed to Best Line/Worst Line?
C: Sure.
G: I like Rufus's line about him being what Dean is looking forward for or to if he survives. Because I think there is some truth to that. Like, you know. It's about dying bloody, or like being so scared of everything even though you're not in it anymore type of situation. That makes me sad.
C: Yeah.
G: How about you? What's your best line?
C: There's not really many lines here that I like, but I think i'm gonna go with Bela telling Dean like, "Oh, like my parents were lovely people, and I killed them, and I got rich, and I can't be bothered to give a damn," because it's just very good, like, juxtaposed right next to the scene where we see the truth. And like, when she dies, we know that like this truth dies with her. Like, they're going to spend the rest of their lives thinking Bela just killed her parents for money, and that she's like, just the worst and like, feeling no remorse at all over her death, and like, it's only her and the audience who knows the truth. And I like that she decided to exercise that agency over how she wants to be remembered. Like that- yeah, that's not any of Dean's business. So yeah, he can think whatever he wants of her. Goodbye.
G: Yeah. My worst line is, "There's no blood sacrifice or anything. [C laughs] It's not black magic. It's just science!" Fuck my life.
C: [laughing] Yeah.
G: What was your worst line.
C: The "Yes, and saved yourself." [G groans] Just for the reasons I said.
G: Yeah, earlier. Okay! We have to do spreadsheets.
C: Yes. We do have to do spreadsheets.
G: So what's our sitch?
C: Huh. It's like- It just feels like in the past, when we were like, "This is like, due to some greater racism problem or greater whatever problem, but we don't know how to pin it on this episode specifically." Like, it feels like a that kind of a situation.
G: Regarding to what?
C: Like, Bela's death.
G: Mm. You think it's like a larger misogyny problem?
C: Yeah, I would say so. But I also don't know. Yeah. I don't know.
G: Hm. I- I mean. Because, you know, like, misogyny in Supernatural is like 5D chess.
C: Yeah.
G: [laughs] Like, there's the misogyny of the characters, and then there's the misogyny of the show. And then there's the misogyny of the fans and how the show reacts to that. And like, we've heard this over and over again, but like, a lot of the female characters in the show end up not being treated well because, like, the fan reception was poor. That type of situation.
C: Yeah.
G: And yeah. Do you want to give a point?
C: Oh, I guess- I think we could just give a point on the merit of the boob job line and the stripper suffocates a man with her thighs line. So yeah, let's just bundle all that together in 1 point. Like, the Bela storyline and then both of those things.
G: I mean- Well, I think I think the boob job line is supposed to be like, "Oh, these guys are assholes."
C: Yeah. That's true. Okay.
G: So I don't think that counts specifically, but I think the Bela part, we can give it- Like, they treat her with so much vitriol. [laughs] And I don't know. Maybe it's an equality thing! [both laughing]
C: Yeah, I mean, they never treat her as bad as Gordon.
G: Yeah. Like, if she was like a- I don't know. I feel like I can't solemnly give a point to this episode for misogyny.
C: Okay. Okay. So I guess are we- just zeros across the board today?
G: Yes.
C: Okay.
G: Interesting turn of events.
C: Wait, what about the "Don't flatter yourself" when she thinks he's gonna rape her?
G: Oh! Oh oh oh oh yeah yeah.
C: Okay. Let's put a point down.
G: Let's put that in. Let's put a point down.
C: Okay.
G: Yeah. Okay. What is our IMDb rating guess for this episode?
C: Huh. I don't- I thought it was stupid. And people do seem to pick up on when the cases are stupid.
G: I would say, I'll rate this an 8.0.
C: Okay. I'll go an 8.2? But yeah, I don't know. The last half of Season 3 has been weird in IMDb scores. So actually, maybe an 8.1.
G: 8.1. So- It's an 8.4!
C: Huh. Okay.
G: "Victorian horror."
C: Victorian? Like, the doctor?
G: 'Cause the doctor, yeah.
G: This one says, "Go to hell, Bela."
C: Okay. I mean, we're expecting some things like that.
G: "Bela Talbot is finally disposed, and I only regret that Dean had not had enough courage to kill her."
C: Cool
G: Oh, that makes me so sad! [laughs]
C: Cool. Someone asks, "Will Bela come back next season?" Literally! Will Bela come back next season?
G: "This is by far the worst actor I've ever seen." So real.
C: For who? The doctor?
G: Yes. [C laughs] I mean, if that was for Bela, [laughing] that would be a horrible thing to say.
C: Uh-huh. I can't believe people-
G: "The plot was just bad this episode."
C: Did the "Go to hell, Bela" person, like, not care about the backstory reveal at all?
G: The what? The "Go to hell, Bela" person?
C: Yeah. I feel like that was a attempt to make her sympathetic in her last episode, but I guess some people just don't care.
G: Yeah. Mm-hm. Some people just do not give a fuck.
C: Yeah.
G: Yeah. Well, I think that’s it for this episode of Busty Asian Beauties. Next week, we will be watching the season finale for Season 3, uh... [laughs] Season 3, Episode 16: "No Rest for the Wicked." Leave us a rating or a review wherever you get your poddycasties! [C laughs]
C: Yeah, that. [G laughs] Follow us on social media. We are on twitter at twitter.com/BeautiesPodcast and on Tumblr at bustyasianbeautiespod.tumblr.com. Our official tag is #BABPod, B-A-B-POD. Thanks to everyone who's donated to our Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/bustyasianbeautiespod, and check out our Redbubble at babpod.redbubble.com. Also, submit questions to our Q&A-
G: Whoo!
C: Which will be open until- what day?
G: Whatever. It'll be open. [laughs] We'll announce how long it'll be open next week. How about that?
C: Yeah, yeah.
G: So yeah. Leave us a rating- No, it's not that. You can email us any feedback, comments, or inquiries at [email protected]. See you guys next time! [both] Bye!
[guitar music]
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Some newer characters, one of which I've had the design for a while.
#my art#I kinda can't decide if I want to finish this or not#but I may#probably will change clothes up#their names are Fable . Miya . and Rufus#from left to right#my sister said that i should make Rufus a scientist but idk yet#i have quite a few characters like that#like i cpuld but also should i?#cause the concept is a strange little girl with weird animal parts and a dark magic#but it's already slightly similar to my other stories of experiment children#why i have so many couldn't tell you#they are all very different but hhhh#im still working on it :V#also Rufus' name has a very specific meaning to me
4 notes
·
View notes
Photo
“There's somethin' in the wind, I can feel it blowin' in:
It's comin' in softly on the wings of a bomb...
There's somethin' in the wind, I can feel it blowin' in:
It's comin' in hotly and it's comin' in strong...
Lately I've been thinkin' it's just someone else's job to care --
Who am I to sympathize when no one gave a damn?
I've been thinkin' it's just someone else's job to care --
Who am I to wanna try?
But change is a powerful thing...people are powerful beings...”
~“Change” by Lana Del Rey
x~x~x~x
I was totally inspired by this rockin’ coat and decided to draw some Reincarnation-AU!Batticus, specifically during the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince. (Grim’s look is very slightly based on this -- because Atticus @cursebreakerfarrier is the OG Academia fashion icon. 🥰💙)
At this point in Bat and Grim’s second lives as Robert Bellamy and Atticus Lestrange, the two seventh-year Ravenclaws (and, the following year, Ravenclaw alumni) have solved the mystery of their past lives and are now roommates sharing a dinky little flat in London. Atticus has miraculously landed an internship at the Ministry of Magic, specifically in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, while Robert’s an apprentice at the apothecary in Diagon Alley over winter, spring, and summer break to earn enough money to help pay the rent.
When Cedric Diggory died in their sixth year, though, Bat was thoroughly unconvinced by the Ministry’s cover-story that it was a tragic “accident,” and -- upon colliding with Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts in their seventh year -- was pretty soundly convinced that the Ministry was covering things up. Grim, for his part, had his misgivings about the Ministry’s version of events, but being the Lawful Good person he was, he had a bit more trouble expressing those doubts, especially now that he was on the way to joining the Department of Magical Law Enforcement himself. Sensing Grim’s inner conflict on the matter and not wanting to put him in the position where he’d have to choose between his friendship with Bat or his family and future, Bat made the decision to not tell Grim when he -- despite his intense personal dislike and distrust of Albus Dumbledore -- nonetheless chose to join the Order of the Phoenix. After all, in all of his lives, Bat is a soldier, and he couldn’t in good conscience not fight back against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, just as he did against Grindelwald so many years ago.
From the start, however, Grim got a bad feeling Bat was keeping something from him. In early January 1996, while on an assignment with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Grim ended up coming across Bat, who was likewise on an assignment for the Order in hooded black robes with white trim not unlike his old British Redcoat uniform and a high turtleneck-like collar that hid the lower half of his face. Even if he was very anxious and didn’t understand what was going on at all, Grim covertly covered Bat as he fled before the Aurors could discover him and -- upon rushing back to their apartment -- helped Bat with the injuries he’d sustained. It was only that that Bat finally came clean to Grim about his alignment...and he also, having just been made aware of the Azkaban break-out, offered to leave their apartment to Grim and move out.
“My alignment with Potter and Dumbledore already endangers your livelihood. But if your family’s out on the streets now, then that means Voldemort has gotten strong enough that soon he’ll be bold enough to act out in the open. And once that happens...well, then it’ll be open season on Muggle-borns like me. Your ancestry protects you, Grim -- your family name would protect you from people like Him. Associating with mine would put you in the cross-hairs -- ”
But, of course, Grim stubbornly shot this down.
“You seem to have forgotten that in our previous lives, you already tried to ward me off from helping you once by talking about how dangerous it’d be for me. And trust me, you’re no more persuasive in making me abandon you now than you were then.”
“This is different -- ”
“Perhaps it is, but the result is not. I am not going to kick you out -- nor am I leaving you.”
“Grim, if things get worse, I won’t be able to protect you from the Death Eaters -- ”
“ -- then it’s a good thing I’m more than capable of protecting myself!”
“I know you are -- but they’ll try to force you to join them or die, Grim. At least if you distance yourself from me, you might be able to slip under the radar -- not draw so much attention. If you’re with me, then they’ll target you just as fiercely.”
“Well, then, we’ll just have to fight them off together, won’t we?”
“Grim...”
“Bat...I already lost you once. I do not intend to lose you again. ...You...mean far too much to me. You must know that.”
“...I do. ...I do know...Atticus.”
The occasion was one of the few times Bat has ever been serious enough to call Grim by his full name. It was also followed by one of the two men’s very first kisses, and one of their deepest.
As the War went on, Bat would continue to go on covert, mysterious missions for the Order, often coming back to his and Grim’s apartment nursing wounds that Grim would help him patch up with healing potions and spells. One particular injury, which left an array of terrible vein scars down Bat’s arm, had been the result of a Dark curse chucked at him by Atticus’s relative Rodolphus Lestrange. Meanwhile Atticus would do his best to help Bat how he could through his work at the Ministry, both under Fudge and even more so under Rufus Scrimgeour. Although one worked within the law and the other often worked outside of it, they both had the same goal in mind -- to fight evil however they could, in the hopes of circumventing the Death Eaters’ growing thirst for control over the Wizarding World.
#hphl#hogwarts legacy#golden era#reincarnation!au#bartholomew varney#atticus grimsley#other people's mcs#my art#voldemort#order of the phoenix#albus dumbledore#cornelius fudge#rufus scrimgeour
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
no-sleep 1x09rewatch ramble-essay (all content warnings for the episode apply here)
i was just like. oh i’ll watch a feel-good episode of gossip girl! s1 thanksgiving ep is great isn’t it! blairenate family feels!!! ruflyson love triangle drama!!! vdw siblings AND humphrey siblings hanging out!!! dan’s “see you later waldorf” *salutes & closes the cab door* !!!
& like. yes i DID remember serena’s whole not being sober on thanksgiving thing, and yes i DID remember blair’s ED relapse - which is heavy, but eating disorder content isn’t particularly triggering for me personally (i find it kind of cathartic, if we’re being honest) BUT . i somehow forgot. that THIS was the episode which has howard’s suicide attempt?? and now i have some of the most painful nate feels in the world.
blah blah blah, leight’s acting brought me to tears, which probably doesn’t sound like a very big deal but sort of is, for a variety of reasons (watching things doesn’t usually make me cry, it’s happened maybe a single-digit number of times before + also just my blair feels in general --> she’s a really interesting character but i don’t find her AS relatable as i do dan, or nate, or vanessa, or maybe even serena at times --> so i usually do have a bit of a disconnect re: watching her, which i really do not have for like. dan, for instance.)
i just cannot divorce that very cute outfit blair wears with her ED relapse - which brings me to the next point, which is that blair is maybe THE only character ever for whom her clothing choices and her plotlines are so interwoven in my head (lemon yellow shirt and funky little hat is her mean bridesmaids competitive game day, yellow-&-orange dress is her choose chuck over dan moment, genderqueer plaid skirt and grey shirt is her “dan loves me for me” moment, white shirt with the pink flowers is her get owned by nelly yuki moment, etc etc)... the only other time i noticed outfits is derena cotillion, but that’s just because i LOVE derena cotillion, and date matching shirts, but that’s because i am tuned into all things date and couldn’t possibly tell you what those outfits actually symbolise, with the exception of dan’s pink flannel shirt from when he’s holding milo. or any of the outfits from 2x06 because that is my episode hands down. oh hey would you look at that, i do actually form associations. but you gotta believe me on this, blair’s the one it happens most naturally for, which is very strange. i think it’s because her outfits are always Statements in a way that the other characters never do, except for jenny, who is a fashion designer, so it’s Different for her. what am i trying to say.
oh yeah another iconic outfit is serena’s golden jacket and bright blue pants to the morgue to identify what might be chuck’s corpse. she literally dressed like she was going clubbing and i respect her so much for that.
anyway. gosh. nate just - getting gaslit by his mom, getting reprimanded by his dad for telling his mom to stop being rude/petty... howard was like “don’t fight my fights for me” but nate wasn’t even doing that?? he was just asking his mom Not to be rude, and the fact that nate got told off at the end of that interaction... uh. it shows a lot about the archibald family unit in general and just. how nate is sort of treated as ... i don’t have the right word, but my brain is like “second class citizen”... which is absolutely NOT the right concept for nate but like. he is treated like he is Less a part of the family than his parents are....... RIGHT until one of them (or both of them!) fuck up in a big way and it’s down to nate to fix their mess. i haven’t read “adult children of emotionally immature parents” but from whatever i’ve heard about it, i think nate could do with reading it. or not. maybe it’d just make him sadder.
and fuck - nate’s whole talk with his dad and his dad telling nate that he doesn’t know how he can go on, etc etc... idk what to say or where to draw the line but i have really complicated howard & nate feelings. i really truly think anne was the worse parent (not like it’s a competition of course) and i sometimes seriously wonder if maybe howard archibald had a more supportive life partner, maybe he wouldn’t have ended up being ~like that~ to nate (doesn’t justify anything of course). anyway nate’s sitting by the hospital bed and his dad is denying his suicide attempt at first and nate’s just like, no, stop. this is also making me think now of nate sitting by serena’s hospital bed after tripp, and nate possibly sitting by blair’s hospital bed some point pre-series (eating disorders are serious and i really do think, esp with eleanor being eleanor, that it must’ve gotten pretty bad for blair before she got help - which. sorry. i know, it’s sad but i’m just putting together pre-existing implications.) all i’m saying is some point in the future i wouldn’t be surprised if nate’s just. uncomfortable in hospitals and unable to piece together why. oh yikes i just remembered blair’s miscarriage. at which point do hospitals become overly suffocating for natie, remind him of his own helplessness, etc... because i really think they would. anyway.
anne archibald chills me because she is such an accurate representation of a very specific kind of mother and. i hate it for nate obviously but i struggle to remember a time i’ve seen a tv mom who i can 100% relate to so hard. as in. fuck. worded that wrong. whose SON i can relate to so hard. ouch. this may be a moot point because i don’t watch much tv, but honestly anne & nate is just. a Lot. in a way that is significant to Me, specifically. this is part of my pet peeve (not enough to fight with anybody don’t worry) when people make edits about mothers & daughters, as if what was happening between nate & anne, somehow didn’t have the same complications - i honestly think there’s some solid eleanor & blair/ anne & nate parallels to be drawn. and we’ve been over this somewhere else, but lily & serena / rufus & dan / rufus & jenny definitely have a lot of the same specific issues (parent projecting on child, etc.) again - everyone engages w the show differently, im ready to admit that like... maybe 65% of my problems with the ‘mothers & daughters’ reading probably stem from gender dysphoria, lol. but whatever.
i have feelings about dan & alison, too... i really do think dan was closer to his mom than to his dad for majority of his childhood, and this ep really cements it. anyway. i don’t have any more words and i’m tired. and i might just watch derena cotillion episode because . derena cotillion episode my beloved...
wait wait before i forget. venn diagram of humphrey family & van der bilt family & playing american football. i know this has come up before but like. here we go i;m thinking about it again. both dan and nate have been competitively thrown in the grass by a family member in the name of sports. no wonder nate chose dan over chuck in 2x06 (i would put a tone indicator but even i can’t tell if this is /gen or /j)
#rewatch tag#long post#natie my beloved :(#meta#ok now for the heavy stuff#alcohol#addiction /#i mean it's implied im gonna tag anyway#eating disorders cw#eating disorder mention#bulimia cw#attempted suicide cw#suicide attempt cw#parental abuse cw#abuse cw#personal#this is actually ok to reblog if you want just don't add things to it#and be mindful that it's. whatever it is#im also tagging#prompt#again: solely for myself#i was gonna write a datefic where [ redacted ]#the number of typos in this are embarrassing but this is the time people wake up#and not the time people go to bed#so#im allowed
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
Ready for the long ass explanation on Rufus’s abilities that no one asked for ? No ? Too late , you’ve already started reading so now you should keep reading and Memorize. ( Just kidding you don’t need to memorize. There’s no quiz. ) But here we go ! I’m putting this under a cut because it’s long as hell.
First , I do want to address a major question I see when it come to Rufus’s potential.
IN REGARDS TO DRAGON SLAYER / GOD SLAYER / DEVIL SLAYER MAGIC
Rufus HAS been seen using it , specifically Orga’s Lightening God Slayer magic in combination with other magics. But the difference is , Rufus can’t use any of these magics to their full potential. He can see something , he can replicate it , but he CANNOT make it stronger ( unless he combines it with something else and that happens to make it stronger. ) In essence , he can’t truly wield the magics , simply replicate. He can’t strengthen that spell greater than the strongest he’s ever seen it. Which is also why Rufus talks about memorizing everything in the Sting & Rogue vs Natsu & Gajeel fight because it strengthens his memory. But Rufus HASN’T learned or been taught these arts. So Rufus can’t use them as they’re intended. He can utilize the type of magic they are , he can have the same effect , but the method will likely be altered OR combined with something else , thereby making it even more dangerous. For example , he could utilize a spell that was a combination of Sting’s Holy Magic and Natsu’s Fire if he thought of something. But it would not be as strong as if Sting & Natsu were to actually perform of Unison Raid or the highest potential power. Only the highest that Rufus as seen. He does not have that magic , only memories of it.
IN REGARDS TO MEMORY MAKE.
Memory Make Magic itself is an Ancient Magic , allowing Rufus to memorize and essentially mimic any magic spell that he witnesses OR that he can read about in significant detail. ( I.e. what type of magic it is and its effect. the delivery is helpful but not necessary. ) There is NO limitation to what Rufus can combine things with. As long as it exists in his memory and he can create something , then he can do it. He could , technically , replicate an exact spell so long as he considers it in full detail , as Gray asks if Rufus memorized the spell used to beat him , and when he confirms it , Gray tells him to use it , and Rufus agrees after getting permission to do so. The only requirements to memorize a spell is to know the type of magic and its effects. To replicate it , he needs to observe EVERYTHING about it , albeit Rufus typically does this anyways. That little bit on having to know ever step however does make it a hassle to use the identical spell. Furthermore , Rufus himself prefers to combine spells. First of all , it makes it stronger in general. Second of all , Rufus finds it rather disrespectful to simply ‘ steal ‘ it , unless he’s given permission as was the case with Gray. But its this fact that he has unlimited potential for spells that makes Rufus so dangerous. As I talked about in another post , Rufus has to be unconscious for you to be safe , because as long as his mind is active and he has the spirit , he can still fight. It can ONLY work with magic , it cannot work with curses.
IN REGARDS TO POSTURE FOR MEMORY MAKE
Typically we witness Rufus putting two fingers to his head from his right hand , or sometimes both hands. It isn’t a NECESSITY , as we also see Rufus do an over head sign as well as slam his hand on the ground to unleash a spell. When it comes down to it , it’s simply easier to use the gesture and focus , but it isn’t a strict necessity to activate the magic. It’s Rufus’s personal touch. Plus its aesthetic.
IN REGARDS TO “ FORGET “
Another big topic of debate. Rufus himself doesn’t forget the spell. If he did , he’d have to memorize and forget over and over again. Rather , it’s more like hitting UNDO on it. Rufus has to memorize it to forget it. By memorizing it , he knows everything bout the spell. When he “ Forgets “ it , it effectively erases the spell by undoing the memory of it ever being casted. Neither mage actually forgets the spell , it just cancels it being cast once it’s already been cast. Rufus can’t cancel a spell before it’s actually being said , since he’d have no idea of what was being cast.
IN REGARDS TO “ AFTERIMAGE “
A messy spell introduced without clear mechanics. Afterimage is a type of memory-make. But it’s a combination of illusion-magic he’s witnessed before and himself. Memory-make itself is in regards to spells , meaning the images are a form of spell. Hence why they are intangible , and also do not count as a mark in the Hidden game , because they are not attacking rufus or a clone , but a conjured illusion. Rufus named this Illusion magic himself as it’s his specific take on how he’d like illusion magic to work. He can make conjure such in a matter of seconds , and the afterimages DO give off heat , heartbeats , etc. because it is an ‘after-image’ of a current Rufus , and his memory includes those aspects. It’s likely why Nullpudding was fooled by it.
TELEKINESES
This magic is one Rufus has learned himself , though he predominately simply uses it in regards to carrying objects around or having multiple books up when he’s reading new spells.
IN REGARDS TO HIS PERCEPTION SKILLS
Rufus is extremely skilled in sensing and his perception. He is constantly memorizing information around him , from people’s breathing & heart-rates to the environment around him. Hence , when something is amiss , he is quick to perceive it and separate it from the rest of the group. He DOES NOT necessarily need to utilize any magic to memorize these things. In a small area , his natural skills are enough and with focus , he can pinpoint things. However , in large spaces , it is ENHANCED by his own magic to actually be able to pinpoint people , and certain spells like his Night of Falling Stars ( aka the spell i fell in love with ) have this locked into the spell’s creation , which is why it can accurately pinpoint its targets ( albeit there is that 2 second delay )
I think that about sums up all the major points to the Rufus’s magic that might be relevant or that there are more questions about. But it’s also 1 a.m. when i’m posting this so I may have missed something or not made something very clear. So if you need any clarifications or have any other questions or things you’d like me to address , feel free to comment them or send them to my ask !
#〉what history lies beyond appearances〈 — ⚜ ⌜rufus headcanon⌟#seriously they gave him such an op power tbh#and then just entirely disregarded it#and left so many questions to it so#*slams this down* i tried my best to explain#and i was constantly rewatching/rereading scenes#to make sure it fit with what little canon gave us
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
Title: Let Your Heart Be Light
Author: thefandomsinhalor
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Castiel/ Dean Winchester
Alternate Universe - Modern Settings | Friends to Lovers | Growing Up | Christmas Fic | Kid Fic | Teenagers | Adults | Fluff & Angst | Pining | Sam and Dean are closer in age | Background Sabriel |
Summary:
On Christmas Eve, five-year-old Dean meets a boy of the same age, named Castiel. With every passing year, their friendship blossoms, and soon, Dean knows that he is drawn to his friend more deeply he’d like to admit.
The question is: will he do something about it before it’s too late?
Read on AO3
(I will update throughout the month)
Read Chapter One below :)
Chapter One: Thursday, December 24th, 1998
“Dean, honey, what do we say?”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome! Ho-ho-ho!”
The man pretending to be Santa Claus amicably bopped Dean’s head before walking away to the next couple of children standing by, awaiting their present.
Yes, Dean Winchester, despite being five-year-old, wasn’t fooled by this imposter. He knew this man couldn’t possibly be the real one.
It was quite simple, really. It was late afternoon, he hadn’t climbed down the chimney, nor had he any cookie or milk laid out for him.
And then, there was the gift in question.
Dean didn’t want to seem ungrateful, as he knew his mother wouldn’t like it, but he had been very specific in his letter to Santa.
And there was no way this flat, though large, box contained the very intricate race track set he had begged for.
But that was fine. As he had concluded, this man wasn’t Santa. He was just pretending. Like the one at the mall. Or the one near the video store.
No. The real Santa was yet to come.
“Don’t you want to know what you got?” his father asked him.
Glancing around him, Dean realized that nearly every child had already torn open the wrappings and were enjoying their Christmas surprises. Fire trucks. Coloring books. Dolls and soldier toys. Even Sammy, sitting on his mother’s lap, was hugging a cute teddy bear.
Feeling the stare of both his parents on him, Dean began tearing off the metallic blue and silver wrapping, which had snowflakes of various shapes on it, and was left staring at his present, puzzled once he had opened the box.
He had no idea what he was looking at. It was a thin layer of material, of a bright yellow color, with adorable bees depicted on it, stretched across a wooden frame, and a string attached to it.
“Oooh, that’s nice,” said Mary gleefully.
Noticing his confused state, John asked him, “Do you know what this is, Dean?”
Frowning, he shook his head at his father.
“It’s a kite,” he said kindly. “You make it fly.”
Dean lowered his eyes to look at his present again.
“Like in Mary Poppins,” said Mary. “You remember?”
He nodded.
“Next time we go to the park,” said John, “we’ll try it. Or even when we visit Uncle Bobby. He certainly has the open fields around his house for it.”
A grown-up, one of many present swarming around in the house, then called out to Dean’s parents. It was a nice lady named Tamara who smiled at Dean and wished him Merry Christmas.
“Isaac is somewhere in the parlor talking with Rufus and Bill Harvelle. They were asking for you, John,” she said to Dean’s father.
“Bill?” said Mary. “Did he and Ellen bring little Joanna with them?”
“That’s what he said. I was just on my way to find them.”
Keeping Sam in her arms, Mary stood up from her seat, scanning the room for her friend.
“I’ll go check on Isaac and the others, and then I’ll catch up with you to see Ellen and the baby,” said John, smiling at his wife’s eagerness to see the newborn. He then turned to his son. “Do you want to say hello with me, Dean? Or would you prefer going with Mom, Sammy and Tamara?”
Dean shrugged. Talking to grown-ups wasn’t exactly what he considered a thrilling activity. Of course, there were exceptions.
Due to his lack of enthusiasm, however, his mother then suggested, “How about you stay here with the other children?”
Another questionable prospect, thought Dean.
Most of the kids in the living room, laughing and playing with their new toys, seemed much older than he was.
And more importantly, he didn’t really know any of them.
The celebration, which Dean and his family were taking part in that day, had been hosted by Mr. Donatello Redfield, one of Dean’s neighbors.
Except for when John had raked his lawn in the fall, a task dutifully assisted by Dean—though he had mainly played in the pile of dead leaves while his father had done most of the work—Dean hadn’t had much interaction with Mr. Redfield.
He remembered that he had been very generous at Halloween when he and Sam had stopped by his house. Mr. Redfield had given them enormous delicious candy bars. And Dean also recalled him letting him taste his spicy chicken wings on the Fourth of July, in the previous summer.
But nothing much beyond that, and especially during Christmastime. For reasons unknown to Dean, Mr. Redfield didn’t make a fuss of the holidays. He typically travelled somewhere exotic and returned home in the new year with a sunburn on his nose.
This year, however, had been different. For health-related reasons, or so Dean had heard, Mr. Redfield had been recommended to pause his travels, and given his holiday habits, many of his concerned neighbors feared he would feel lonely and had wanted to keep him company.
So, due to numerous dotting neighbors, friends and colleagues showing up at his doorstep throughout the months of November and December, Mr. Redfield had decided to host a Christmas family-friendly party on Christmas Eve to thank everyone.
His first ever.
The crowd was merry. Laughter and cheers from children and adults alike filled the entire house.
But despite the jolly vibe in the air and the numerous children present, Dean hadn’t been too keen on exploring on his own.
When he told his parents why that was, his mother said, “That’s a good thing, sweetie. It means you can make a new friend. Okay?”
Assessing his mild hesitation, after he had glanced apprehensively at the other children, she pointed out that he had nothing to worry about and that if he was shy, he could start by joining another of their neighbors. For example, Mrs. Missouri, a kind and generous woman, was comfortably sitting in a rocking chair, telling a story to a few children gathering around her, and listening with attention and with wide eyes, near the fireplace.
Suddenly determined to prove that he was not shy, Dean shook his head and said, “I’ll go play with the others, first.”
Even if he really wanted to say hello to Missouri as well.
“Alright, buddy. Do you want me to hold this for you while you do that?” said his father, pointing at his kite, but Dean expressed that he wanted to keep it with him.
And without further ado, young Dean turned on his heels and joined the group of children, searching for a new friend.
He was briefly tempted to approach a joyous girl with a blond ponytail and a sheriff’s hat that was too big for her. She was laughing with her friend who had a very strange haircut. His hair was very short in the front, but really long in the back. They were playing Connect Four, which Dean enjoyed playing.
He changed his mind, however, when a bunch of older children swooped by, running around, taking a lot of space.
Feeling somewhat intimidated by them, Dean briefly glimpsed back to the spot where his parents and his brother had been a moment ago.
But they were no longer present, as he knew they wouldn’t be.
He swallowed hard and decided to go near the large window across the room to avoid the bigger kids. He kneeled next to the Christmas tree, taking in the overwhelming scent of pine and cinnamon, and observed the room from this new angle, holding on tightly to his kite.
Everyone else seemed to know each other and blissfully occupied themselves with their toys.
Which made sense, thought Dean, as their toys could be enjoyed in their current environment.
Unlike Dean’s.
“Hello.”
Dean looked up.
A boy his age and height, with bright blue eyes and thick, wavy dark hair, was suddenly standing right in front of him. He was wearing a green knitted sweater with an angel on it and his socks were different colors.
“Hi.”
“Do you want one?” the boy asked politely.
He was holding a square box against him with one hand.
And then, Dean’s eyes fell on what the boy was presenting him with his other hand.
Star-shaped sugar cookies.
“For me?”
The boy nodded.
After Dean accepted his generous offer, the boy sat next to him and they both ate their treats next to each other.
“What did you get?” he asked Dean, nodding at what he was holding.
Pursing his lips, Dean showed him his kite. Expecting the boy to be as disappointed as he was, he was then stunned to see the boy’s eyes widen.
“You’re so lucky,” he told him.
“You think so?”
“I like bees,” he said, after nodding. “And kites are fun.”
“I’ve never had one before.” Eyeing the box that the boy had rested next to him, he said, “What’s yours?”
And the boy slid himself closer to Dean to show him.
Right next to him.
They delicately opened the box together.
And to Dean’s delight, the boy retrieved a giant rainbow slinky.
“Whoa! That’s so cool. Can we play with it?”
“You like it?”
His eyes glued to it in adoration, Dean nodded.
“Do you want it?”
Young Dean blinked. “What?”
“We can exchange, if you want.”
“Really?”
And moments later, both boys were content with their new presents. Dean certainly believed that he had gotten the better end of that deal. At that thought, a mild pit grew in his stomach, not unlike when he sometimes lied to his mother about brushing his teeth.
Feeling uneasy that he had perhaps taken advantage of his new friend’s generosity, he asked him, “Are you sure you don’t want the slinky? It’s really fun and the colours are nice. It was yours first. I—if you changed your mind, it’s okay.”
But the adorable boy in question did not mind. In fact, he informed Dean that the main reason why he was so keen on having the kite was because his brother had one of his own. So now, he would be able to accompany him to the park without having to constantly ask him to share.
Reassured—not to mention, very glad to know he could keep his rainbow slinky—Dean said, “I have a brother too. He’s younger than me.”
“I have more than one brother. I have three. They’re all older than me.” The boy hadn’t said it with as much enthusiasm as Dean had. His brief morose expression disappeared though, and a warm grin spread on his face when his eyes met Dean’s.
His bright blue eyes staring back at him.
“What’s your name? I’m—” started saying the other boy, but he was cut off by an impeccably dressed teenager, who had stopped right in front of them.
“Castiel, there you are. Come, now. We have to go.”
Dean’s new friend shook his head vehemently at the teen. “No. I want—I just made a friend. Can I stay a little longer? Please?”
“Aunt Naomi said we have to leave now or we’ll be late.”
“Michael, please? I’ll—”
“She asked me to find you. I found you, now come on.”
“Michael,” hissed a woman. “It’s time to go—Gabe, stop! You’re making me dizzy.”
A child with sandy hair, not much older than Dean and Castiel, was running relentlessly around her, chortling and unspent.
“Castiel, say goodbye.” And his brother presented him his hand, signalling to him that he had to leave immediately.
He turned facing Dean and said softly, “Goodbye.” And added, waving at him, “Thank you for the kite. I love it.”
“Bye.” And Dean thanked him as well.
He watched his new friend walk away towards his family members, a large group, mostly consisting of older kids and adults, and disappeared through the crowd.
Feeling lonely once more, Dean was suddenly sad when he realized that he never had the chance to tell him his name.
He comforted himself, however, that he had caught the boy’s name and was eager to tell his parents of his new friend and the very first Christmas present he had ever received from a friend.
And that was the day Dean had met his best friend Castiel Novak. His best friend of many years to come. And one day, perhaps, something more.
Read on AO3
(where I will update throughout the rest of the month)
#Destiel fanfic#spnpetra#destiel fluff#spn fic#SPN xmas#kid fic#growing up#my fanfic#spn fandom#spn fam#spn family
11 notes
·
View notes
Text
A Mission For One
A Mission For One
Soulmate AU
Sephiroth/Fem! Reader
You are given the details of your mission. It wasn't your intention to be crippling the last of the previous AVALANCHE's funding, nor was it to face the risk of seeing Hojo ever again.
RENO, JUST LIKE RUFUS had said, showed up the very next day, just shy of seven in the morning. He didn't have Rude with him, which was unusual, and instead had a lowly grunt with him. He had a briefcase in one hand and his weapon in the other, shooting you a grin when you opened the door.
"Ready to get started?" He asked, pushing past you to set up on one of the tables. He opened the briefcase with a flourish. "Might wanna sit down because I have a lot of stuff to tell you and not a whole lot of time."
You locked the shop door and sat down across from him, eyeing the grunt who positioned his back to it with a rifle in hand. "Was it necessary to bring the gun inside?"
"Him? Nah." Reno pulled out a file as thick as your fingers put together and set it aside. "Right, first thing I have to tell you is to hold out your arm."
You did so obediently. "What for?"
"This." Reno gave you no warning other than a smirk, and plunged what looked like a five gauge needle into your wrist. He injected a clear substance into you and, before you had time to jerk away, was done. "There. Your Shinra access chip. After the fiasco with keycards and AVALANCHE last year, we decided on these bad boys to secure the system. As long as you're alive, calm, and healthy, you can get anywhere you want to. I think the boss gave you B-Level clearance until you pass your physicals, then will up it to A-Level after that."
You felt dread settle in the pit of your gut. You had never owned anything as much as D-Level access in your entire life, and that was just to attend a small court session to set up your tea shop and legally sell tea from Shinra suppliers. B-Level was a high jump, and giving you A-Level access after? Those were the same permissions that only Rufus's seconds in command got, only less to Rufus himself.
"Reno," you asked slowly,"what the hell am I going to be doing that requires A-Level access?"
"A lot of things," he whistled, thumbing through a plastic card case and pulling out an ID card with your face plastered on it. "Assassination, murder, espionage, sabotage, take your pick. The things we Turks can't do and get away with easily."
The bad feeling in your stomach told you it was a bit more than that. You let it slide when he handed you the ID, noting the fluorescent finish on it and the expensive plastic it was made of, as well as the giant Shinra logo printed beside your head with a script reading 'VIP: DO NOT ENGAGE' along with your VIP permissions underneath, which extended to free hotel stays, you noticed.
"What's this?" You asked, watching it shine in the light. "I already have an ID."
"Yeah, but not one that's special like that." Reno then pulled out a manilla file almost as thick as the one he had brought out before, except this one had giant red confidential stamps all over it and was sealed with Rufus's personal seal. "It can get you anywhere and everywhere, just like the Turks, and more. Flash that thing and anyone will think twice about stopping you. Murder is easy with a card like that."
"I'd imagine," you said, a little choked. You had, quite literally, just gotten federal permission to commit murder. Freely. In an effort to distract yourself from the fact that you'd just been given a 'free for all' card, you tapped the first file he'd pulled out. "And these?"
"Paperwork for the doctor who does the exam." Reno shrugged when you gawked at the sheer size of it. "I know. It's a lot. But it only takes an hour. Drug tests and blood tests and all that. Even STD tests."
You placed it aside in favor of the packet he now held. "I'm guessing those are my mission details?"
"More like your trial targets," Reno supplied vaguely. "You won't officially start them until next week. You'll have a month to finish all of them. You can read up on them and memorize them until then."
In Reno's hands laid the lives of the people you were about to take forever. Permanently. And it wasn't even what you were being recruited for; they were tests. That was it.
He handed it to you and you broke the seal, pulling out one of the targets. A photo had been blown up to visible proportions, blurry and grainy, but you could make out the face well enough, recognized it even: one of AVALANCHE's older benefactors, a man by the name of Michael Dallien.
He had donated a total of three million gil to the cause shortly after the mako reactor went down, you read, and had been funneling smaller sums to them ever since under the guise of fundraisers. At the bottom, stamped in blue, was the price of his bounty: four million gil, plus a bonus for delivering visceral proof.
Which meant Rufus wanted his head. Literally.
"As you can see, you'll get paid more than the three million gil for whoever you kill," Reno explained, pointing to a section near the bottom. "There will be others competing with you, though, but they aren't doing it with the accesses that you have. They work for other corporations wanting to overthrow Shinra. If you get to them first, the other corporations won't be able to nab their resources and bam, you get paid and you move on to the next one."
The more people you found in the packet, the higher the bounties became, until you came upon a bounty on Rufus Shinra himself, priced right around one million gil.
"What the hell?" You breathed, showing Reno the picture. "What does this mean?"
"That leads me to your official assignment." The redhead plucked the paper from your hands and pointed to the list of mercs slated for the job; you weren't on it. "Our little Public Relations guy, Heidegger, put this up a few weeks ago. I doubt he knew we bugged his personal computer, but he's enlisted several attempts on the boss's life in the next couple of months. Now, the Turks aren't invincible, some are bound to slip through the cracks. That's where you will come in."
"You want me to protect Rufus Shinra," you deadpanned,"because the Turks can't."
"Hey, it isn't for lack of trying. He has so many enemies it's hard to keep track of. We keep eyes on the outside, you keep eyes on the internals. Simple."
"You mean people like Heidegger and Scarlet," you supplied, realization dawning on you. "It's not because you can't, it's because you can't do it without everyone knowing who did it."
Reno winked and pointed a finger at you. "Bingo. I knew you'd put it together. Rude owes me fifty gil."
"That explains the ID," you sighed, waving the card around flimsily. You tucked everything into a neat pile in front of you. "Anything else?"
"Yep. I took the liberty of pulling some strings and getting you a female doctor to perform your physical." Reno leaned back and crossed his arms, the grunt shifting nervously behind you. "Figured you wouldn't want Hojo snooping around in your insides again."
The sudden horror you felt had you speechless. Hojo was supposed to do your physical? Hojo had none of the specifications for that, last you had heard, and that was when he was injecting your eyeballs with some dark fluid. To have him examining you from head to toe, even for the gynecology exam because it had to be on there too, made you want to throw up at the idea.
"Other than that, though, all you have to do is get your Shinra tech fitted and your uniform. It's all unbranded so no one will be able to trace us if you get caught, and made with synthetic material that also can't be traced. You'll have to check with the boss about your weapons. Can't go to Scarlet." Reno seemed to be checking off some list and nodded to himself. "That's it, I think. Rude will drop by later and give you your rental keys."
You were still caught up on Hojo doing your physical exam, even after Reno dismissed himself and headed out of the shop. It disgusted you on so many levels that as soon as you tucked your files away into your floorboards and put your ID in your wallet, you went to the bathroom to hurl up your breakfast.
None of what Hojo did to you was memorable after the initial injection, but you recalled him speaking of something like,"Let Her see through your eyes," but it was muffled behind the wall of pain you felt. You remembered the pinch of an IV, trying to open your eyes and only feeling your eyelids as swollen as golf balls, and feeling nurses walk in and out to switch your dressing gown.
Hojo would check, occasionally, prying your swollen lids apart and testing the tears and occasional pus that would stream out, ignoring your crying and screaming indignantly. He pressed the swelling, irritated them, scraped samples from your waterline, and then fed tubes into them to drain the pus out. It never ended well, because it would soon grow clogged with that black material he had put in, like a coagulated gummy pile of rot. You never bled, but the sheer amount of tears you produced left you dehydrated and desperate for water.
You were one hundred percent certain he had also done something to your reproductive system, because after that, your cycles just became nightmares, even more so towards you leaving after he deemed you a failure. You never checked, though, too scared and poor to afford an exam, even when you now had the money and means to do so.
But now you had to because of the stupid physical exam. Hojo had ruined you in more ways than you could say, and it was no wonder you lied to everyone in your life. You were petrified of trust because you, once upon a time, had trusted him to help you. That had been a mistake.
Never again.
33 notes
·
View notes
Text
More proof in the pudding for 15x20 breaking the fourth wall theory
I kind of already discussed this theory on this post here but in going over the last two seasons of GoT to add to this dark!Dany meta I’ve got going, I noticed something that I think is worth taking a look at.
GoT 8x06:
We all remember what happens after this weighted ominous walk of Jon’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XhfGY5pIPg&t=254s
“When I was a girl, my brother told me it was made from a thousand swords of Aegon’s fallen enemies. What do a thousand swords look like in the mind of a little girl who can’t count twenty? I imagined a mountain of swords too high to climb. So many fallen enemies, you could only see the soles of Aegon’s feet.” “This is our reason. It has been from the beginning since you were a little boy with a bastard’s name and I was a little girl who couldn’t count to twenty.” “You are my queen, now and always.” -- this is dialogue meant to call back to the Dany the audience has known since season 1 - this was done in an effort to keep her character sympathetic to the end but it’s problematic since she just torched an entire city that held a million innocent people, and it completely negates the true moral of her story - her brother is mentioned who we haven’t seen since season 1, who by all means is not a good influence or a hero in this story but in this last season, she has started to embrace the Targaryen side of things (that we’ve seen reflected in her wardrobe, I see you Michele Clapton, you brilliant woman, you) - the dialogue even invokes season 1 Jon in that one line, though obviously the focus is not on Jon but Dany herself - Jon who had just been acting as the audience mouthpiece in the jail scene with Tyrion (acting as the writers’ mouthpiece - again breaking the 4th wall), saying “You are my queen, now and always”, something the split audience (the ones who felt betrayed by Dany’s dark turn and still stan her to this day) keep saying - yes “now and always” was a common saying in the North, but this wording is purposeful as is this piece of dialogue for essentially what is Dany’s death scene, the most controversial death to come out of this episode, the end of this series I would even argue
15x20:
We all remember Dean’s monologue that took close to 10 mins to happen as he was “fading pretty quick”, so much so that Sam couldn’t call for help
undefined
youtube
“There’s a few things that I need you to hear. Come here. Let me look at you. There he is. I am so proud of you, Sam. Do you know that? I’ve always looked up to you. Remember when we were kids, you were so damn smart, you never took any of Dad’s crap. I never knew how you did that. And you’re stronger than me. You always have been. Hey, did I ever tell you that night that, uh, that I came for you when you were at school? You know when Dad hadn’t come back from his hunting trip? The woman in white, that’s right. I must’ve stood outside your dorm for hours because I didn’t know what you would say. I thought you’d tell me to get lost or get dead and I didn’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have you. ‘Cause I was so scared. I was scared. ‘Cause when it all came down to it, it was always you and me. It’s always been you and me.” “I can’t do this alone.” “Yes, you can.” “Well, I don’t want to.” “I love you so much. My baby brother.” -- notice anything...familiar? -- this is dialogue meant to call back to season 1, to the original audience that started out with the brothers in season 1, that may not have stuck with the show for all 15 seasons but maybe ducked back in for the finale just to see how the show chose to end the boys’ stories - John is mentioned who is not a good influence nor a hero in the story which the show has gone out of their way to show time and time again, despite 14x13 - this is the result of one of their dad’s old unfinished hunts from season 1 including the “villain” - Dean mentions events of the first episode when John hasn’t come back from an old hunt, when he goes to get Sam from school, the woman in white being their very first MOTW of the show, even the dialogue from that first episode where the lines are reversed and Dean tells Sam he doesn’t want to do it alone - the dialogue is meant to invoke nostalgia of that pilot and that time, that version of the boys’ stories, where it was Winchester only - Dean’s death (outside of Cas’) is one of the most controversial deaths to happen this episode, even this series (though it has a lot of problematic deaths, i.e. Charlie but I mean in the main character arena) - this was done to keep season 1, specifically the pilot, in the viewers’ minds and as a callback to the beginning of the show, the dialogue was very purposeful, it’s also no coincidence that Sam is the focus here and once Dean is finished telling him goodbye essentially, he looks away behind the camera and talks about how he didn’t think today was going to be the day but it is (which adds to the pudding even more, because this is later season Dean talking who did not want to die on a hunt and wanted something different for himself, season 1 Dean always knew he would die young on a hunt)
And let us not forget this:
Andrew Dabb: “If you thought Game of Thrones was bad, just wait” (x) - this is said in a joking manner but where is it said? Comic Con 2019, the same Comic Con D&D canceled their appearances at & left the cast who did appear to deal with the fallout. This isn’t a man flipping off people and being like “Ha! Crybabies, we’re doing what we want to do and that’s that! Ha!” He said it in a joking manner when he talked about how only 30% of people would be pleased after seeing the finale and Jared joined the conversation. This is the same man who pushed hard along with Bobo Berens for a spinoff that featured women and women of color as well as having proper queer representation but got shut down by the network in the end. The same guy who worked to separate Dean and Sam from their toxic co-dependency and bolstered the found family theme in the narrative, while also taking the baton that Carver started with of Dean and Sam thinking of what they would actually want for their endings, and running with it, developing that even further.
What did GoT have? 2 final seasons as it were. To be fair, season 7 cannot be considered an alternate ending, it had way too many open endings but here (x) it’s stated that D&D did want to end GoT with season 7 initially before being convinced by the network to go to 8. They wanted to move onto other projects (that never happened because they’re egotistical greedy idiots, but I digress) and their rush to end the series showed. HBO wanted 10 seasons but they didn’t want to move forward without D&D. GRRM thought at least 13 seasons would be appropriate.
What did SPN have? 2 finales. 15x19 is not only the finale that closes up the mytharc but also the found family finale. I’m not sure if they knew this ahead of time or found out last second (Misha’s line of “Cas’ ending was supposed to be different but I don’t think we’re supposed to talk about that” still haunts me), but ultimately, that’s how it worked out. 15x19 was for the later season fans, the found family, the mythology fans (meaning Heaven, Hell, angels, nephilim, Lucifer, Jack, etc). That’s why we get the huge montage of characters at the end of the episode, the initials on the table, Dean demanding Cas be brought back in the beginning of the episode and Lucifer’s phone call, Dean and Sam wanting Jack to come back to the bunker but he can’t, Dean and Sam driving off in Baby together with “Running On Empty” playing. 15x20 was the series finale for early season fans, Kripke fans, Winchester-only fans. That’s why there’s no big montage in the beginning of the SERIES FINALE that they had done every season premiere, every season finale, and every mid-season premiere. They didn’t want the found family (yes, including Cas and Jack) in the viewers’ minds. But they couldn’t remove those two characters from the narrative completely (they were too integral later on in the series plus later season fans are watching this too) so they get mentions. This is why the Carry On My Wayward Son twice, Sam married to Blurry Wife and having Dean Jr., the Winchester-only mantle, the MOTW that calls back to one of their big bads (vampires) in season 1 (outside of YED & any demonic forces), why the brothers-only ending. This is why Dean is all ‘Cas who?’, why Eileen disappeared, and why Jack is off shooting a new spot for Architectural Digest. They only wanted Sam and Dean on your minds in 15x20 with the extension of John, Mary, Rufus, Bobby, and Baby with a touch of the Roadhouse in the background. This is also why no pictures of Blurry Wife on the Winchester-only mantle either. This is why Sam’s son was named Dean. This is why after putting on the Party City wig, Sam goes to sit in Baby and cries, thinking of Dean.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again: 15x20.👏 Was.👏 A.👏 Vehicle. It’s no coincidence that W*lker was more heavily promoted during 15x20 than any other time before. That what happens in 15x20 for Sam and Dean (and that Sam is once again the focus after having the story split between the brothers for years before) parallels somewhat to what happens in Jared’s new show and his character. This is the same network that uses its shows to backdoor pilots of spinoffs and other shows time and time again (think Green Arrow and The Canaries, Legacies, etc). It’s also no coincidence that W*lker is in the same time slot as SPN had been in, that they intersperse the use of #SPNFamily and #W*lkerFamily on Twitter, that the C*W SPN twitter account is used to steer followers to their other content, that the C*W YouTube account for SPN no longer has any clips or promos available for that show, almost as if it doesn’t exist. You know why? Simple, they don’t want SPN on your minds anymore. They want you watching W*lker and any other new content they are cooking up and throwing at you. Don’t be surprised if they start heavily promoting another new show (besides their returning ones) during W*lker episodes now. That’s just the name of the game, how it works. They already pushed the audience they wanted from 15x20 to W*lker and now SPN is an officially closed chapter for them. Dabb and the actors had other projects to move onto. In their minds, it’s done...until they try to reboot it in some way in a couple of years. And it will not only feature a younger generation of actors but will have what they consider to be appropriate queer representation as well as POC representation in the new cast. It may be the same Winchester story though changed or a whole new story in that universe. You laugh but watch. It’ll happen. This network is not known for its quality or originality, only for their brand. There’s a reason they keep on showrunners to head up new content if their original source of content works and they become “favorites” (i.e Julie Plec).
Ultimately, GoT was referenced many times on SPN, in dialogue between characters whether it applied or not. GoT was mentioned by the actors when discussing watching it, at cons and in interviews. SPN (and Dabb) was very well aware of GoT and what happened with that show. Not only because it was all over the media everywhere, being a pop culture phenomenon that had HUGE backlash, but also because they were there at the Comic Con where the backlash was felt strongest. To the point where even other people mentioned it in their panels (i.e. Seth Rogen). I’m obviously not in Dabb’s head nor was I on set when they filmed the finale or in the writers’ room with J2 and the writers when they pitched the ending so I don’t know. But isn’t it odd that 8x06 of GoT features a scene that has been confirmed by Kit Harington as breaking the 4th wall to speak to/get the viewers’ attention, make them think, and SPN is a show that has featured that same concept (usually in a comedic fashion) time and time again? And in 15x20 they have Robert Singer make an appearance? And the infamous bridge crew shot, J2 talking to you while still in costume as Sam and Dean from that same shot, and the voiceover “And cut” before it cuts to black?
I don’t think we’ll ever really get answers. I think any we get will always be complimentary to the network, or “we can’t talk about it”, or “it was always planned that way”. I’m not saying those people are being less than truthful (and seriously, I don’t blame any of them, it’s PR and they need to protect their careers, feed their families, if you speak out on anything in this universe, something really serious or the tiniest thing, you risk ever getting hired again, you will be blacklisted, it’s not right and it’s certainly not fair, but this is the way this particular business works) but something is not adding up (a lot of somethings actually). I think there was definitely a different ending for Cas, possibly even Jack (meaning he might have made at least one appearance). I do think there may have been a different resolution to Destiel and Saileen (unless they truly planned to keep it ambiguous all along). I don’t know if Dean would have had a different ending, I think he might have at one point as suggested by the narrative during Carver’s and Dabb’s eras, but I’m not sure what their “true ending” was going to be regarding him or Sam. To have Sam be the one that died would have been redundant from Swan Song (5x22) so I doubt they would have gone in that direction. I hate to think it but I don’t think we’ll ever really know. As far as death scenes go, Dean’s death in 9x23 was way more meaningful and impactful for me when he tells Sam that he’s proud of them, than what we got in 15x20. No offense to the guys’ acting or to the boys themselves, but the 9x23 scene was more appropriate imho. And that also leads me to believe that Dean’s manner of death may not have been what they planned all along. But until we get answers (which again I don’t think we will), we’ll never truly know for sure.
As for me, this is just more proof in the pudding. I’m not saying Dabb & Co purposely sabotaged 15x20 at all but I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept the reaction to GoT’s finale in mind at a couple of key points while getting these last two episodes shot. 15x19 was our finale, sad to say. 15x20 was the network’s finale, meant to induce nostalgia and callbacks, bringing the boys’ original fans over to Texas to watch a certain ranger do roundhouse kicks. Sad but true.
#The15YearShow#spn#spn posts#got mention#got and spn parallels#spn 15x20#who's she#the rancid nutwork#daenerys' death#dean's death#season 1 callbacks parallels#for each
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Tale of Two Rulers.
...
*Sonia stands in front of the large poster of Roland Sigmund and Oliver Nevermind, standing in front of the large poster.
Sonia? What are you doing here?
I thought I’d just come back to this place...now that the truth of Roland Sigmund’s line has come out, I’m having some internal processing...
Mikihiko Koyasunaga lied about being his descendant, but I am curious as to whether or not he lied about the conflict between my Grandfather and King Sigmund...This poster seems to suggest they were allies...
But, I do not understand...Which of them was king? And why would my family specifically be the one’s to rule!?
I believe I can answer your questions, your highness.
Shuichi...
Oh, that is right...You made a brief trip to the library that allowed you to find out the truth about King Sigmund.
That’s right...but to be honest, I only told you a small piece of the information I found out. Roland Sigmund was in fact a real person, but he was never Oliver Nevermind’s enemy...
But...I’d advise you brace yourself...This may hit a little hard...
...
Ok...What did you find?
I’ll get straight to the point. Neither Roland Sigmund, nor Oliver Nevermind were the true king of Novoselic...And they weren’t cross kingdom allies either...
Roland and Oliver...ruled Novoselic together. They were both the king.
What!?
How is that even possible!?
The records were hard to find, but in truth, King Roland and King Oliver had a great secret that their family had kept hidden for many years.
And what was that?
It doesn’t end with just them being friends...In truth...they were brothers.
Brothers!? You mean...Roland Sigmund was also my ancestor!?
They weren’t just brothers either...Look at this portrait.
*Sonia, Gundham and Shuichi all look up at the poster, at the sturdy figures of Oliver and Roland.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but while it’s clear that they are different people, see how similar the two of them look?
Yes...it is almost like they are-
!!!??
Surely you do not mean-!?
They were identical twins. Down to every last freckle.
The full story is this. Roland and Oliver were both born at the same time, and founded Novoselic together. However, Novoselic could only really have one king that the people would answer to. The brothers did not want to compete for the throne, and they wanted to rule hand in hand...so they came up with a plan...One that had more than one benefit.
One of the two brothers, being King Roland, changed his name from Roland Nevermind to Roland Sigmund. From then on, he and his brother came up with an ingenious scheme.
Due to how people could never tell the difference between the two twin brothers, no one noticed which of them was actually sitting on the throne. Every once in a while, King Roland and King Oliver would usually swap places, while one ruled and the other went out to enjoy themselves and spend their time however they wished, without the stress of kingly duties weighing them down. For King Oliver, it was mostly to spend time with his wife and children.
In the end, Oliver Nevermind was believed to be the one true king. Like I said earlier, you are King Oliver’s descendant, Sonia, because King Roland, your other grandfather, never married and never bore a child...
I...I never knew...
Of course you didn’t. It was their greatest secret, one they kept from even the members of their family...But they had such a strong blood connection, they were able to keep it hidden for many years.
Shuichi...Truly, my choice to invite you on this journey was a blessing in disguise.
You deserved to face none of what transpired here...Yet your presence was much needed to bring an end to it.
You don’t have to thank me. And I can’t exactly take credit for finding this out when Mikihiko clearly knew already...
He...
Hm?
Everything...was a lie...He really used...me?
Angie...?
I...I believed in him...!
Novoselic...both your Novoselic and my ideal Novoselic...were almost doomed...doomed because of my blindness...
It is clear now...I was never fit to rule...I was never strong enough...!
Yonaga...
...Take my life, Queen Nevermind...it is your right...I will not be able to rest peacefully until you do...
No, Angie. I refuse...Enough needless blood has already been spilled...
Novoselic is not doomed. It will rise again, and it will do so because we will work together to rebuild it.
...Wait...whatever do you mean?
Ever since I was officially crowned, I have thought long and hard about it...and have come to a few decisions. This being one of the more important. However, I suppose I should start from the beginning.
Even after all that has transpired between us, I no longer hold you responsible for any of that...It is clear to me that Mikihiko Koyasunaga was my true enemy this entire time, and used you as a way to shift the blame of his atrocious crimes. In short, you are as much his victim as everyone else in this kingdom, and I shall let the people know that, I assure you.
As a Remnant of Despair, it was never surprising to me that there would be a number of people, no matter how big or small, whom would heavily object to me becoming the queen...The rift between those who care for me and those who hate me can not be closed so easily...
But...close it shall. One day, I hope to make up everything that I have done to my people, so that we may stand together hand in hand, as one, beautiful nation, that we can all call our own.
And you, Angie Yonaga, will help me bring this about.
B-But your majesty...! Why would you...!? Why would you trust someone who has failed you so utterly! At who’s hand you almost...a-a-almost...!
I have my reasons, I assure you. Truth be told, the duel I invited you to was not done to stall for time. It was a test of character, a test of strength, and a test of will.
From clashing swords with you, I learnt a lot about you. You see far. As far as I can, maybe even further. You are a maker of plans. A doer of deeds. A promising ruler.
Yet, there still remains a lingering shadow of doubt within your soul. Doubt of others born from the doubt of yourself. A true ruler must learn to trust their own judgement...
As of such, I have decided...I shall help you out. I am going to employ you as my kingdom’s regent. You shall fill the gap that was left by Rufus Nevermind’s death.
A regent...!? You mean...you still think me worthy...!?
Who better to help me rule over the realm I love, than someone with as much conviction, strength, and drive as myself?
She is serious about this...She truly wants you to help her save this realm.
Even after all that happened...I think that’s a good idea...
But...I...I-I...
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHAAHAAAAA!!!
*Angie falls to her knees and for the first time ever, erupts into tears and starts crying.
...
*Shuichi instinctively kneels down and gives her a hug. After a few minutes, Angie calms down and gets back up.
*sniff* If...If it please you...I shall accept and shoulder whatever responsibilities may come with the title...I will...pledge my lifelong allegiance to you, and no one else...!
That is all I can ask. Thank you so very much...
#danganronpa survivor#danganronpa#danganronpa 2#dr2#danganronpa v3#drv3#sonia nevermind#gundham tanaka#shuichi saihara#angie yonaga#novoselic revolution arc
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
Kim Possible: The Extremely Secret Files-Intro
It was a dark and stormy night. It was also a fierce night, so fierce that not even a monster of a child's worst nightmare would be crazy enough to set out at a night like this. Oh, did I mention there were werewolves? Well, there weren't any, but that's not the point! What's important was something happened that night.
I believe it was precisely 1 AM when Kim Possible's arch-enemies, Dr. Drakken and Shego broke into the space center where Kim's father works. Drakken: "Come on, come on, where is it?" Shego: "OK…what exactly are we looking for?" Drakken: "You'll know when we find it, so just keep quiet!"
He kept searching until he shouted in excitement, which startled Shego. Drakken: "I FOUND IT! I FOUND IT, SHEGO!"
He held up what appeared to be a small device. Shego: "Great…what is it?" Drakken: "This, Shego, is Dr. Possible's secret project: the ISSF, Impossible Space Station of the Future!" Shego: "That thing, a space station? You have got to be kidding me." Drakken: "It may look unimpressive now, but believe me, it's a lot more than it seems. You see, Dr. Possible had been working on this project since he was still in high school. With this space station, I can finally rule the world!"
Shego seemed less than pleased from hearing this. Shego: "I hope you have a brilliant plan to go along with this because every time you come up with another "take over the world" scheme, Possible and her goofy sidekick, what's his name, always barge in, kick our butts and have us thrown in JAIL!" Drakken: "Don't worry, Shego. Things will be different this time. With this space station, Kim Possible will not be able to know where we are."
Shego was puzzled. Shego: "OK, I still have no idea what your "brilliant plan" is." Drakken: "Think about it. Why does Kim Possible always beat us? There's something that causes her to do so and do you know what that is?" Shego: "Well, let's see, not telling her our evil plan didn't work, putting her into "impossible to escape" deathtraps didn't work, either, trying to keep her out of our not-so-secret hideouts have been complete failures." Drakken: "THAT'S IT, SHEGO!" Shego: "OK, what? Are you telling me…that this space station is going to be…our new secret base?" Drakken: "Yes, that's exactly right! In the past, Kim Possible had always managed to defeat us because our previous bases have been too easy for her to find. But with this, we'll be someplace where she won't even be able to find us." Shego: "Oh, no, don't tell me, we're going to be in space, are we?" Drakken: "No, we won't."
Shego brought out of sigh of relief. Drakken: "We're going to be in another galaxy and one that Kim Possible has never even heard of!"
Shego slapped herself on the forehead. Drakken: "What?" Shego: "OK, hello! That's still outer space." Drakken: "Oh, right...well, whatever. The point is that Kim Possible doesn't know about it and we will be THERE! So let's go!" Shego: "What? Now? You mean during this storm? Shouldn't we wait until the storm has passed?" Drakken: "And risk having to leave in the morning when everyone is awake? No way! We leave now! Besides, this space station is weather-proof so it won't be damaged by this storm when we lift off. Come on, Shego, we have what we need."
Drakken walked off. Shego: "(sigh) I don't even know why I stay with you sometimes."
She walked off after him.
Outside, Drakken turned on the small device which instantaneously morphed into a massive space station, stepped in with Shego and blast off. As they leave Earth's atmosphere, Drakken was laughing maniacally. Shego just kept looking out the window, trying to face away from Drakken. Shego: "Seriously, I don't know why I hang around with you."
They spent a long trip flying through space. They eventually stopped in an unknown galaxy. Drakken stopped laughing, surprised when he noticed that the entire space station has stopped. Drakken: "Wow, that was fast."
Shego pulled down her glove and checked on her watch that she's been wearing underneath. Shego: "Hm, it's 3 AM and on the same day. You weren't kidding when you said that this space station is called "Impossible". This thing is beyond extraordinary." Drakken: "But of course, Shego. But where are we?"
Shego checked on a nearby monitor. Shego: "Hm…well, from what I can tell on this monitor, we're in some sort of galaxy called…" Drakken: "I don't care! All that matters is we're in some place that Kim Possible knows nothing about! Come, Shego, we have work to do."
Drakken walked off. Shego: "Hm, alright, Dr. D., you're the mad genius here."
She walked off after him.
Meanwhile, not too far from the space station, there was a space cruiser with 2 other beings on board it. One being was an animal-like humanoid, the other was a robot. Those 2 go by the name Ratchet and Clank. Ratchet, the animal-like humanoid, noticed the space station since the exact moment of its arrival. Clank, the robot, seemed concerned and walked over towards the window that Ratchet was looking out of. Clank: "Ratchet, you seemed troubled. Is there something the matter?" Ratchet: "Clank, that space station arrived over there just recently. It seems to also be a space shuttle of sorts. I…I've never seen anything like it." Clank: "Hm…that does seem peculiar, but not unheard of. May I see for myself?" Ratchet: "Go right ahead."
Clank walked up to the window and looked out of it towards the space station. Clank: "Hm…that most certainly was not there the last time I checked that specific location. What do you suppose this could mean?" Ratchet: "I don't know, but I have a strange feeling that something about this just isn't right."
Meanwhile, back on Earth, it was 8 AM; at least an hour after Kim Possible woke up. She was about to meet with her friend, Ron Stoppable, when her Kimmunicator rang, she answered it immediately. Kim: "Hey, Wade, what's the sitch?" Wade: "Kim, you and Ron need to meet with your dad at the space center immediately. It's urgent." Kim: "We're on it!"
She left to meet with Ron.
A while after she did, she and Ron met with her dad at the space center. Kim: "Hey, dad, Ron and I got here as soon as we could. So, what's the…sitch?"
She then noticed her dad sobbing with his hands covering his face. Kim: "Um, dad, you OK?"
He looked up and noticed Kim right in front of him. Dr. P.: "Oh, Kim, it's terrible, something important was stolen from here."
Kim became serious. Kim: "What was stolen from here, this time?"
Her dad seemed cautious as he looked behind both of his shoulders, then leaned closer towards Kim and held his hand beside his mouth. Dr. P.: "I was hoping not to bring this up too soon, but…the very thing that was stolen was a secret project of mine." Kim: "A secret project?" Dr. P.: "Yes, I called it the ISSF: The Impossible Space Station of the Future. It was supposed to be a space station to defy all space stations. I have been working on that thing since I was your age, Kimmicub." Ron: "Whoa! You've been working on a space station since you were in high school?" Dr. P.: "Nnnnnnnnot so much the actual space station as it was the schematics; blue prints, diagrams, the whole nine yards." Ron: "Wow, that must have been some hobby you had."
Rufus popped his head out of the pocket in Ron's pants that he likes to occupy. Rufus: "Wah-ho! Hobby!" Dr. P.: "Yes, it did start out as just a hobby, then it became a project when I attended college. Soon as I started working here at the space station, I had all the excess materials needed to make that project a reality. But then I met my lovely wife, then had Kim, and then Jim and Tim, which slowed down my progress for years but it was a break that was truly worth it. I have come narrowly close to finishing that project; I just needed to work on taking care of 1 tiny problem." Kim: "And that is…?" Dr. P.: "TV receptor. What's the point of going into space if you don't have any good reception?"
Kim had a displeased look on her face. Dr. P.: "And now it's…gone."
Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator. Kim: "Wade, can you check on the security cameras of this place? They might have caught whomever stole dad's…secret space station project." Wade: "I'm way ahead of you, Kim. What I found is something that you're not going to believe."
Wade then displayed an image from one of the security cameras of Drakken and Shego. Kim: "No way! So it was Drakken and Shego that stole dad's secret project! Don't worry, dad, we'll get it back from them. Now to find where they went with it." Dr. P.: "That shouldn't be a problem, Kimmicub. I've had a tracking device installed into that thing, that was encase I misplaced the darn thing, especially if it was in space." Kim: "Wade?" Wade: "Already tracked it down. The signal seems to be coming from a…what!? A far off galaxy!? Wow! That's one impressive space station, Dr. Possible!" Dr. P.: "Thanks, Wade. Although, I'd have to admit, even I didn't think it would go that far." Kim: "Hm…would that space shuttle you built be able to go that far, too?" Dr. P.: "Well…I wouldn't think it could at first, but if that space station did, then so could my shuttle." Kim: "Let's go."
Kim walked off; Ron went with her, he seemed very excited.
#Kim Possible#Ratchet and Clank#Ratchet#Clank#Dr. Drakken#Shego#Dr. Possible#Ron Stoppable#Rufus#ISSF#Wade#long post#Kimmunicator
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Atelier Lulua Opinions
This feels a little early, since I haven’t really done the Machina Domain DLC, and that might change some stuff, but I’ve read a bit and it’s just a handful of lore tidbits about Mana and Ficus, so I’m calling it good. Overall it’s pretty fun! It’s nice to return to the Arland games after a while, and Lulua definitely delivers on both the nostalgia factor, and having some pretty unique stuff going on all its own.
CHARACTERS
The cast wound up being surprisingly strong, all things considered. Lulua herself is a fun protagonist, being, perhaps expectedly, quite a goober but trying her best. Her best friend, Eva, is also hilarious at most points in the game, and actually has some incredible moments regarding her birth parents and her response to them reaching out after years of leaving her with an orphanage. Aurel is...okay, one of the weaker characters. He’s very serious warrior man, which is odd considering he’s related to Gio. You’d expect a bit more aloofness to have rubbed off, but no, he takes his role seriously. There’s Niko, who’s a doofus who’s a pirate but the nice kind because of course you are.
Then there’s Ficus. I expected to hate Ficus, and initially, very much did. But wow, what a turnaround. It took a bit for me to figure out what was going on with him, but you’ve actually met him before. You wouldn’t know it immediately, but...damn. Damn what a tie-in that didn’t need tying in, but sure as hell got wrapped up anyway. Seriously, it takes the story from the ending of Totori and completely turns it on its head. There are a lot of questions I have about the whole situation, but overall he’s got a strong history.
Then there’s the returning cast. Rorona and Sterk are as great as ever. Sterk is having another, different midlife crisis this time, because this poor man has had one every game he’s been in. Just let the man rest. There’s Totori and Meruru, who are both wonderful. Totori honestly feels a lot more sassy this game, and I absolutely love it. Meruru is just as boisterous as always, and has even taken over learning the sword, and taking the mask, from Gio. She’s Masked M. It’s exactly as great as it sounds. And your final recruitable member...is Piana. Yeah, I love this recent trend with Atelier games, where the alchemy teacher is not the protagonist from the last game in line. I expected Meruru to be the teacher, in that same successionary line, but instead it’s Piana, the girl Totori rescued from the Eastern Continent. Piana’s fun. She adopted a lot of teaching style from Totori, and is a bit of a mess as a person, but really talented with alchemy.
There are, of course, a ton of returning characters that are not playable as well. Mimi and Keina are the big ones, and...god I love both of them. Mimi’s just the right of “developing to be open with her feelings while still not being proficient with them” to make a wonderful character. Keina has apparently taken over a lot of governance from Rufus, and is just really well liked. Oh, and Cole’s here, grown up now, and the apprentice of Hagel. While I’m all for Hagel getting an apprentice, his absence in this game is felt tremendously. We also have some returning faces, in the form of Wild, Iksel’s protege.
Basically, it’s a solid cast, that...unfortunately misses a few marks for me. Largely because of who isn’t here. I get it, we can’t have every single character from all three Arland games show up. That’d be too much. But Mimi not being playable is ridiculous, and the fact that Cordelia of all people never shows up is just infuriating. Why can’t Lulua see her other mom? Work? Cordelia’s always been busy with work, but has always made time for her friends. Don’t give me that shit.
STORY
Lulua’s probably the first real story we’ve gotten in the Arland games. Rorona was just saving her Atelier, Totori was just looking for her mom and tripped into the plot, Meruru was just developing her kingdom. Lulua actually hints at a lot, and develops things pretty substantially. At its core, Lulua retains the simplicity of the other Arland games, being primarily about Lulua’s journey to become a great alchemist like her mother. Beneath the surface, however, we have the mystery of Fellsgalaxen, and how it ties in with the other area we know of: Orthogalaxen. Turns out, both are related, and there was even a third that fell into disrepair and became the Modis Ruins. The galaxen arks were basically command centers, where ancient civilizations overlooked machinery they built in order to control the world around them. For instance, Night’s Domain? It was apparently an area where a machine was built to control night and day. When the command center broke down, the machine lost control, and now just perpetually converts the surrounding area to a deeper and deeper night. There’s also the Fire Domain, which control weather, but went haywire and now just spews fire. Rule of threes, there’s one more Domain area we actually know of. Machina Domain. Now, I didn’t get the DLC for it yet, I’m sure there will be more to talk about from it, but presumably that was something to allow for passage through space, given it’s constantly referred to as a “distortion in space.”
The story develops into Lulua meeting the operator of Fellsgalaxen, a girl named Stia, who is desperately trying to get to the core and fix the problems at hand. It’s not working, and you need to help her get there before Fellsgalaxen is destroyed, and takes your hometown out with it.
Despite how solid the story is, I feel like there are too many gaps. We don’t know a ton about the galaxen arks or the different domains or their purposes. We don’t know...well, much of anything. Maybe a lot of that is left to the DLC, but even if it is, I do take some issue with needing an additional purchase to make sense of some of your lore. Still, I absolutely love this, for possibly stupid reasons. Those reasons largely being around enjoying stories of man vs. nature where man lost, and the new trial being current man vs. past man’s mistakes echoing through eternity.
SETTING
Okay, yes, I love the establishment of what the domains and the galaxens are. I love the added depth they gave to certain areas or bosses, to a degree it almost feels like this game was planned since Rorona (though I’m sure it wasn’t). It just feels like such a good development of the setting we’ve known and loved all these years.
I will say that I wish Lulua had more unique areas to work with, instead of being just a highlight reel of areas from previous games. The general scale also looks weird, and kinda packed together compared to previous games, but it doesn’t really detract from anything.
ALCHEMY SYSTEM
Not gonna lie, the alchemy system is kind of over-complicated this time around. There’s 999 quality, again, as well as elemental values for each items. Different ingredients give different values, leading to different potential effects on the new items. But wait! Now there’s also Awakening effects! Depending on the item used, in certain slots, you can get additional effects! Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they suck.
The problem is, you’re trying to balance all of these things at once. the most quality you get out of gathered items is like 230, so 999 quality on items is one hell of a leap. You basically have to rely on synthesized items, but the items natural to a category don’t always work for the effects you’re after. So you have to Awaken other items to be part of that category, so you can have better effects, all while monitoring the absurd quality level and traits you’re passing on. Oh, and speaking of traits? All the best ones are locked behind specific traits being combined, and not in the way you think. See, to get the maximum of, say, Stat boosting traits, you don’t just mix together two of the low level ones, like Stat Boost and Stats Mega Charge. No, you have to combine Stats Mega Charge with a rare trait you only get from bosses or rewards from S-rank battle quests, like Awakening Agent, Deadly Art, or Resonant Agent, to combine with the highest tier you can make naturally, and upgrade into the next form. It can be a little bit frustrating, and frankly? I had to shift difficulty down to Easy just to get started. Without having a good spread, you can’t take the S-rank bosses easily, and then you can’t really get the effects. And you do need the effects. The final bosses are pretty tough without them.
TP (formerly Cost) for an item isn’t great. It caps naturally at 60, increasing by 5 for each 5 levels you grow in alchemy, but the TP increasing skills actually stack this time, so it’s not too hard to get what you need, as long as you’re passing the highest tier of this skill on to everything you make.
BATTLE SYSTEM
Battle system can also be frustrating. Basically, there are two issues I take with this game: Stun, and Support Attacks.
Stun is obvious. Pretty sure I’ve complained of it before, and will do so until the end of time. Stun sucks. It’s either a problem where you’re getting stunned every two hits, or you’ve managed to perfectly stunlock an enemy who is no longer allowed to move. It takes twice as many hits to Stun an enemy once they recover, but you only really need it to land once. Stun is only gained from skill attacks, which means it’s really easy for the enemy to just spam those and stun you. God forbid they have something that both has high stun value and knockback. You may as well turn the game off if the enemy gets to act at all.
And that’s where Support Attacks are annoying. You can control them, but only in the sense that you can determine who to put on the back line to allow the follow-up. Not all follow-up attacks activate off of the same frontline skills, so it’s more about matching to your specific playstyle than anything. The problem is, you have no control over when they go off, or if they go off. They’re not all guaranteed. So, let’s say an enemy isn’t stunned, but needs two hits to be stunned, after your skill was used. Piana may follow up with her two support attacks. May. If she hits with one, the enemy gets their turn, and you might be fucked. If she gets both, great! But this also works in reverse. Let’s say you know full well that an enemy needs only one hit to be stunned. Tough shit, Piana is guaranteed to follow up with one of her skills, and that’s going to remove stun so the enemy gets to act anyway. Stun is just annoying. It’s hard to control for, and you don’t really get a chance to act on it most of the time. Without these two parts, I think the game could be fine with a bit of rebalancing. As it stands, bosses all felt either way overpowered because taking a hit meant being stun locked forever, or were a cakewalk because equipment was all at its optimal and nothing could stand against you. You could argue that’s just the Atelier Experience, but I have a hard time saying that this was all that much fun, considering I never once touched my items. I got through everything on stats alone, and that...doesn’t feel like the best thing.
OTHER MECHANICS
Exploration items exist in this game, and it’s...kinda weird? You need specific bombs for mining now, and they come at different destruction levels, such that some bombs won’t even dent certain rocks, and it’s not clear which are which. Pickaxe has the same issue, mostly being unable to break things without its max destruction value, which is pretty low. A lot of exploration items feel redundant or kinda useless, like the Wind God’s Bag or Traveling Shoes (there’s no time limit, why do I need these?), but some are hyper-vital, like the key. It’s really just about picking the best options for you. So in my case, it was mostly mining bombs.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
I’m gonna echo what I said about Lydie and Suelle: one of the things I never took into account before was graphics. I think people who bitch about graphics needing to be top-tier are ridiculous. This game has all sorts of visual issues, but it does nothing to detract from the charm of the game. Rather, what they choose to use graphics for has a lot of impact. Instead of the relatively flat affect of some previous games, characters have gotten really dynamic in their expressions, poses, and general actions, and it’s frankly fantastic. It adds a layer of comedy to the games that really complements the series’ general tone.
Also, please, please watch the Lulua and Sterk armwrestling bit. I promise it will be the best thing you’ve watched all day.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Atelier Lulua is a fantastic game that, I think, really succeeds at what it attempts to do. It’s a fun nostalgia trip through Arland, with a lot of great returning cast members, and new developments for characters and setting that are really fun to experience. If you’ve played the Arland games and are a fan, absolutely check Lulua out. If you haven’t...consider trying out Rorona. You really do need to have background knowledge of the Arland games to appreciate Lulua to the fullest. But once you have that knowledge, it’s definitely worth playing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed this (for some reason), consider checking out the write-ups for the other games in the series as well!
Atelier Rorona Plus
Atelier Totori Plus
Atelier Meruru Plus
Atelier Ayesha Plus
Atelier Escha and Logy Plus
Atelier Shallie Plus
Atelier Sophie
Atelier Firis
Atelier Lydie and Suelle
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Today’s entire TNT loop in one post, because I’m tired and there’s only three episodes:
3.14, Long Distance Call. This is what happens when you mess with the phone company, dillweed!
I've written a bunch in the past about how this episode relates to communication and keeping secrets, which is still relevant:
https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/159234156395/314-lies-and-secrets-and-its-deans-turn-to
and
https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/171381786235/not-meta-just-interesting-im-rewatching-314
But because the voice on the phone when Dean starts getting Calls From The Beyond (which aren't from the beyond but a manipulation by a creature who wants to lure Dean in to eat his soul) is John, providing words of comfort, encouragement, and instruction to Dean at a time where he feels like he's running out of time and options, Dean is led down a completely wrong path. "John" tells him he can get out of his deal and save himself from Hell by trapping a specific demon, but of course it's just the crocatta luring him to his death (but of course Dean figures that out before that can happen).
But Sam, meanwhile, THINKS he's told Dean what the monster actually is, but that information never reached Dean, leaving him confronting the crocatta by himself... RIP Stewie. Sam calls Dean and gets his voicemail (This is Herman Munster, leave a message), but his whole previous call with Dean wasn't even really a call with Dean...
SAM: What are you doing?
CLARK: I'm killing your brother. Or maybe I'm killing another guy. We'll just have to see how it goes.
and most terrifying:
CLARK: Well once I made you two as hunters, it was easy. I found Dean's number, then your number, then your father's numbers. Then emails, voicemails, everything. You see, people think that stuff just gets erased, but it doesn't. You'd be surprised how much of yourself is just floating out there, waiting to be plucked.
SAM: Dean's not going to fall for this. He's not going to kill that guy.
CLARK: Then the guy kills him.
The crocatta was a monster who preyed on human communication, twisting words to his own benefit and manipulating people into believing what he needed to lure them to him. He had Dean convinced killing this innocent man would save him from Hell, but the other man was convinced that Dean was the man who'd killed his own daughter. It was all a distraction to keep Dean from learning what was really going on-- that Sam had effectively figured out what the monster was, and that it was the monster luring Sam to his lair, using Stewie as bait.
At the end of the story, everyone lost. Dean lost hope that they'd find a way to save him from Hell. Which drives Sam to pull a bit of a manipulation of his own...
in 3.15, Time Is On My Side.
This is Sam's last stand, his last hope to save Dean. Not by defeating the demon that holds his contract, but by gaming the system. His logic-- if Dean's can't die, he can't go to Hell. But the way Sam wants to make Dean immortal is... horrific at best. And something tells me the hellhounds wouldn't care if someone scienced their physical body into effective immortality, and would've collected Dean's soul anyway. But Sam needed to believe in something, as is his wont. When he loses hope, he loses it hard. Look at mid s13 for a reminder of that, specifically in an episode with a heavy thematic and tonal comparison to this one-- 13.11 Breakdown.
Meanwhile, Dean goes in a different direction, getting a lead on Bela and hoping to get the Colt back:
DEAN: You're not helping! You forget that if I welch on this deal, you die. Guess what, living forever is welching.
SAM: Fine! Then, whatever the magic pill is, I'll take it too!
DEAN: Oh, what is this? Sid and Nancy? No. It's just like Bobby's been saying. We kill the demon who owns the contract and this whole damn thing wipes clean. That's our best shot.
SAM: Even if you had the Colt, Dean, who are you gonna shoot? We have no idea who holds the ticket.
DEAN: Well, I'll shoot the hellhounds then before they slash me up. Now, you coming or not?
Sam decided... not. He stayed to try and figure out Benton's immortality formula. He does find it, but Dean doesn't want to live like that:
SAM: Dean, don't you want to live?
DEAN: What he is isn't living. Look, this is simple.
SAM: Simple?
DEAN: To me it is, okay. Black or white; human, not human. (DEAN walks back to stand in front of DOC BENTON) See, what the Doc is is a freakin' monster. I can't do it. I would rather go to hell.
Well, heck, we know Dean doesn't really see anything as "black and white," and the real issue isn't "human or not human" anymore. But he does have a line he will not cross, and whatever Benton is is way too far across that line for Dean. And thank heck... Preserving life at all costs that way? At the cost of his own essential humanity? Yeah, that's horrific.
We meet Rufus, who eventually does provide Dean the lead to find Bela, but he also echoes Dean's attitude we've seen over and over again:
RUFUS: I know ain't no peashooter gonna save you.
DEAN: What makes you so sure?
RUFUS: Cause that's the job, kid. Even if you manage to scrape out of this one, there's just gonna be something else down the road. Folks like us...there ain't no happy ending. We all got it coming.
DEAN: Well, ain't you a bucket of sunshine?
RUFUS: I'm what you've got to look forward to if you survive. (Smirking and raising his glass again) But you won't.
Survive this round, just wait for the next one, because there's always a next one... Thanks, Rufus!
But of course Bela doesn't have the Colt anymore. Dean does learn that she sold her soul and her deal is about to come due. She's in the same boat he's been in all along...
DEAN: Is that why you stole the Colt, huh? Try to wiggle out of your deal, our gun for your soul?
BELA: Yes.
DEAN: But stealing the Colt wasn't quite enough, I'm guessing.
BELA: They changed the deal. They wanted me to kill Sam.
DEAN: Really! Wow, demons untrustworthy. Shocker.
Because no matter what, the demons were NEVER going to let Dean out of his deal. No matter how many demons they killed, no matter who they bargained with, no matter what, they needed him to die and go to Hell to fulfil their prophecy and break the first seal on the Apocalypse. And that's what s3 boiled down to in the end...
This was the long con that s4 would do to freaking perfection, but s3, with all it's structural deficiencies for having been 6 episodes shortened because of the writer's strike, manages the same...
So that brings us to 3.16, No Rest for the Wicked.
The one where they think they finally gained the upper hand on catching the Big Bad Demon who holds Dean's contract, and don't yet know the entire setup was a trap laid just for them. The fact the payoff on this information doesn't come until the end of s4, with other little hints along the way-- like Dean learning what Sam's been up to while he was in Hell, like learning about angels and the breaking seals of the apocalypse, like being given the runaround as heaven and hell both use Sam's desire to get revenge on Lilith for perceived wrongs against them and is willing to turn himself into a monster to achieve that end... when all along it was exactly what the angels and demons both wanted them to do...
S4 will become the template for Cosmic Manipulation of the Winchesters as part of the Grand Story of the Universe. But all the seeds for it were already planted in s3.
Well, except for Cas. He's the wild card, and isn't that the wildest thing ever?
I wonder how Chuck accounted for him? Bring on Team Free Will, breaking Chuck's story again and again until they'll finally force him to drop the curtain in 14.20...
ETA, because I always do this... I’ve written some about Ruby’s manipulation before, like in this post from May 2018, after the s13 finale aired:
https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/174230167715/since-your-anons-are-on-the-subject-there-is
SAM: And you decided to tell me this just now?
RUBY: Um... demon. Manipulative's kinda in the job description. Fact is, is that you would have never considered it. Not until you were –
SAM: Desperate enough?
and when Sam has doubts, and he’s so close to wanting to trust Ruby out of desperation?
DEAN: Don't you see a pattern here? Dad's deal, my deal, now this? I mean every time one of us is – is – is up the creek the other is begging to sell their soul. That's all this is, man. Ruby's just jerking your chain down the road. You know what it's paved with and you know where it's going.
And yep, that’s exactly it. The Winchester Family Sacrifice-Go-Round. All in the name of keeping Chuck entertained.
ETA FOR THE SECOND TIME: Lilith. Pretending to be a seriously twisted little girl, controlling this entire family for her own horrific idea of “fun.” Kinda similar to Chuck’s own MO, always playing a persona-- Chuck the trashy novel author, Chuck the prophet of the lord who doesn’t want to be, Chuck the super cute guy who was delightfully enamored by humanity enough to want to be human himself, at least for a little while... But all of it is part of his own incredibly long game, thinking he’s got the Winchesters exactly where he wants them, being on the scene to watch his plan play out, only for it to all go sideways.
ugh and yet another ETA: Dean, only when he is very close to death, a side effect of that is that he can literally see things he wasn’t able to before:
DEAN: I could see its face. Its real face under that one.
SAM: So what, now you're seeing demons?
DEAN: I've seen all kinds of things lately but... nothing like this.
BOBBY: Actually it's not all that crazy.
DEAN: How's it not that crazy?
BOBBY: Well you've got, just over five hours to go? You're piercing the veil, Dean. You're glimpsing the B side.
DEAN: A little less new age-y please.
BOBBY: You're almost hell's bitch. So, you can see hell's other bitches.
What a strange way to finally see through the illusions to the truth, you know? Dean got all the way through Chuck’s endless parade of misery in s14-- losing hope against Michael only to lose hope for Jack, and himself-- to that final moment where he was able to glimpse the B side, as it were.
ugh again... this is what I get for posting stuff before the episode is over...
How close to killing an innocent little girl did Sam come here? While her own mother begged him to do it, because as far as they knew, the girl was still possessed. But Dean saw the truth, the demon was gone.
Sam’s ready to do whatever “Ruby” wants him to to save Dean, but it’s already too late. Ruby isn’t even Ruby anymore. Dean hadn’t noticed the switch until it was too late, again. Always too late. All part of the long manipulation.
#spn 3.14#spn 3.15#spn 3.16#s14 hellatus rewatch#spiders georg of the tnt loop#it's spirals all the way down#that's what free will is#spn 4.22#for the reference#spn 14.20
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
A Timeless Thanksgiving
This is my Timeless Fan Fic Swap/Secret Timeless Birthday Santa gift for @tsuuriki! This is an S.S. Garcy Original Bunker Family Thanksgiving fluff piece.
For the fanfiction purists, this is my first legit fanfic...so please be nice and enjoy.
So heres my warning I see in other fan fics about how we don’t own these characters, but enjoy this jaunt into my head canon.
Rating: PG
Characters: Garcia Flynn, Lucy Preston, Wyatt Logan, Jiya (I just realize she doesn’t have a last name), Connor Mason, Denise Christopher
Parings: Implied eventual Garcy, Implied eventual WyJess, Riya
Trope: Bunker Family, Holiday Fun
Prologue
It’s been seven months since the time team lost Rufus in 1888. Seven months since Future Lucy and Wyatt appeared, bringing with them more questions than answers. They brought with them instructions on how to upgrade the lifeboat allowing the team to cross their own timelines and increasing capacity so that they would be at full force when returning to save Rufus. Their visit was all business, the only information about the future shared were time machine upgrades. This was much to the dismay of Wyatt, who was hoping for reassuring information about his baby, about Jess. And as soon as the team appeared to have the task of upgrading the lifeboat under control, Future Lucy and Future Wyatt were gone.
It was a long, long seven months. Lucy told off Wyatt for the inappropriate “I love you”, for his selfishness in not even offering Lucy condolences after the death of her mother. He realized that Lucy was right and what he was feeling for her wasn’t love, but his own desperation to be loved. He needed to sort things out with Jessica, save his child from Rittenhouse. He needed be the dad he always desired to be, back before his world fell apart.
It was seven months of Connor and Jiya distracting themselves with work, Denise cataloguing Rittenhouse intel, Lucy brushing up on all the history that had changed since they started stomping through time. Flynn and Wyatt cleaned and restored the time team’s weapons. They would sometimes go on clandestine missions out of the bunker. Although they were far from being buddies, they tolerated each other better and complemented each other out in the field. The last seven months were a period of growth, in the wake of pain, for the bunker family and they were a little more than a month away from completing all the necessary upgrades to return to Chinatown.
Seven months of quiet and solemn nights. The emptiness in Wyatt and Jiya’s room was suffocating, reminders of heartbreak and loss. They would occasionally share a drink, late at night, when neither of them could sleep; wordlessly understanding what the other was going through, silently showing support. Lucy and Flynn had grown closer than ever, sharing late night conversations about family and the alterations to history Lucy had discovered during the day. She had moved her bed into Flynn’s room before the team went to 1888 and their relationship was a comfortable unknown. Lucy had not been in the state of mind the last seven months to be romantically intimate with anyone. Like most things between Flynn and Lucy, Flynn understood this fact without it being spoken. He showed restraint and showed his love for her by being present and available, he gave Lucy the space she needed to heal.
These seven months were an emotional gauntlet and the time team desperately needed a break. Something to renew their spirits in spite of all the emotional baggage currently cluttering their underground space.
———————————————————
Chapter 1
November 15, 2018
Garcia Flynn casually waltzed into his and Lucy’s bedroom, hair wet from just taking a shower. He dried his hair aggressively with a towel before shaking his head causing droplets of water to hit Lucy. “Hey!” Lucy objected from the cot on her side of the room, “you got me!” Lucy put her book down and grimaced, she had been reading up on her history. This down time the past months while they upgraded the lifeboat had given her lots of time to catch up on all the changes they accidentally made. Flynn smiled at Lucy and shook his head again, laughing as water flew in her direction. “Sorry,” he said even though he wasn’t really. Flynn was feeling puckish and loved making Lucy squirm, Lucy rolled her eyes even though she enjoyed these little moments. These were the bits of her day where her life felt almost normal.
Flynn flopped down into a chair over by Lucy, “what are you reading?” He asked has he glanced around. “Oh, it’s about the industrial revolution…how industry progressed after we erased Henry Ford and his bloodline from Rittenhouse.” Flynn made a look like ‘Henry had it coming’ when Lucy’s calendar caught his eye. “Lucy, what day is today? Is it the 15th?” “Ummm, yeah…the 15th of November…why?” she replied. “Well, it’s just next week is Thanksgiving!” Lucy grew quiet and a frown crept across her face before she quickly fought it off. “What?” Flynn asked, “Lucy, what’s wrong?” “Nothing, I’m fine” she tried as she looked away. Flynn touched her chin and forced her to look at him, “Lucy, c’mon, I know you better than anyone, I know when you’re not okay.” Lucy softened, “It’s just…Thanksgiving is a time for family, it reminds me of my old life where my Mom would roast a big turkey, and Amy demanded cranberry sauce….but only the kind that kept the shape of the can.” Flynn understood, he thought of Lorena and how they would spend all day in the kitchen and how Iris helped to tear up bread for stuffing while she watched the parade on TV. “Hey, I know how hard it is Lucy, but we have to do something for thanksgiving…Amy and Lorena, they wouldn’t want this….us…sitting around all sad.” Lucy nodded, “ I know it’s just hard.” She took a deep breath, smiled a tight smile and squeezed Flynn’s hand. Flynn winked at her, squeezed her hand back and stood up, not wanting to be too touchy…Lucy was still healing and needed her space. “Hey, I’m about to go to bed, you need anything? Glass of water? Mug of booze?” He smiled playfully with the last suggestion. “Nah, I’m fine but thank you though,” Lucy responded as she smiled, closed her book, and put it on the crate next to her cot that she used as a table. “Alright,” Flynn said as he walked over to his side of the room, sat on his cot and swung his legs into bed. They both laid down and Flynn reached over to turn off his lamp, “Good night, Looce!” “Night, Flynn” with that Flynn reached over and pulled the chain on his lamp, turning off the light. As his head hit the pillow, he thought about how Lucy deserved the best Thanksgiving he could give her in this bunker and how he was going to make it happen.
————————————————————
Chapter 2
November 16th, 2018
Flynn woke up early the next morning. He went straight to the kitchen and made coffee, poured a cup for Lucy and walked it back into their room and left it on her crate. He had been making her coffee every morning since she moved in with him and he liked to make sure it was there ready for her as soon as she woke up. He went back to the kitchen and started rummaging through the pantry, trying to figure out what they had and how he could McGuyver a Thanksgiving meal out it. To his chagrin, the pantry provisions made for a very sad menu. There was a half open box of spaghetti that Wyatt had placed upside down, Flynn discovered this less than ideal orientation of the box when he tried to move it and the uncooked noodles fell out. He rolled his eyes, put the noodles back and placed the box in the correct orientation. He also found peanut butter, a can of corn, a bag of rice, and a bag of English muffins. “Well, here you go Lucy, a thanksgiving just like the one you used to have with your family…complete with corn and rice….pathetic,” Flynn sighed. None of this was going to cut it, not one bit. As he put his findings back in the pantry and moved to shut the door, he heard Agent Christopher clear her throat.
Flynn turned around, “Good Morning Denise, I made coffee.” Flynn pointed to the pot. She smiled and grabbed herself a cup. “Um..Denise, by any chance are you going on a shopping run for us this week?” Agent Christopher turned to Flynn and continued to prepare her coffee, “I can, is there anything specific you need?” Flynn replied casually, “Oh you know just enough stuff to make an entire thanksgiving dinner for the bunker.” Denise looked up, “Oh…well okay, like what?” Flynn continued, “You know…..a turkey, spices, bread, onions, celery…for stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, pecans, pie crust, corn syrup, dinner rolls, and um…cranberry sauce in a can.” Denise laughed, “is that all?”. Flynn shrugged snarkily,”Yeah, I mean that should be it…if you could get some wine too that would be excellent.” “Heh.” Denise shook her head at Flynn, “And um how am I going to sneak all of this into our underground bunker?” “I’ll help!” Flynn offered and Denise promptly shut him down, “You’re a wanted terrorist!” Flynn looked at Agent Christopher, slightly defeated, “ I know..it’s just…it’s for Lucy…” Denise raised her eyebrows, “Lucy?” “ Yes,” Flynn replied. “I mentioned Thanksgiving last night and she looked so depressed, it brought up memories of her mother…and Amy…and cranberry sauce in a can.” “I’ll see what I can do,” Denise said with a sincere smile. Flynn nodded and Denise turned in the direction of Connor’s room. Soon he heard Jiya’s door open and the bunker began to rustle as very one got up and got started for the day. Lucy emerged from her and Flynn’s room with her cup of coffee, and shot Flynn a smile. Flynn smiled back and nodded knowing that he was going to be able to give Lucy and the rest of the bunker one day of happiness that everyone desperately needed.
—————————————-
Chapter 3
November 20th, 2018
Everyone in the bunker was hard at work. Connor and Jiya were in the the lifeboat making some final adjustments so the team could jump across their own timeline in a month and rescue Rufus. Wyatt and Flynn had just come back from another recon mission and were putting their putting their gear and guns away. Lucy was studying, marking down more and more history changes that happened to 1888 so that this time the team would be better prepared. It’s was getting late and the team was about to call it quits for the evening when Denise arrived with her arms full of groceries. “Garcia Flynn, you made me buy all this stuff you better help me carry it in,” Denise yelled and everyone looked up. A smile flashed across Flynn’s face as he grabbed the 20lb turkey from her arms, ran to the kitchen, and dropped it in the sink.
The rest of the team followed behind Denise and Flynn, trying to figure out what was going on. “Is that…is that a frozen turkey?” Wyatt asked. Flynn turned to him and cracked, “I know I’m not from this country, but isn’t that what you Americans eat on Thanksgiving.” Wyatt glared at him only mildly appreciating his snark. “Do you even know how to roast a turkey?” Connor then inquired. Flynn shrugged, “how hard can it be, you just plop it in the oven and turn it on.” Wyatt chuckled, “looks like we’re all getting food poisoning.” “Oh shut up, what are you some kind of expert? Do a lot of top-secret ‘Delta Forcing’ in the Army’s galley?” Flynn snarked back. “You guys can call the hotline!” Jiya exclaimed. Everyone looked at her with surprise, she had hardly said a word since they lost Rufus but the idea of a Family-style holiday had brought some life back into the scientist. “Hotline?” Flynn asked. “Yeah the butterball hotline, they used to have commercials for it during the holidays when I was a kid. You could call in with questions and they would give you tips and tricks for cooking the perfect turkey!” Jiya continued. “She’s right, here it is,” Connor confirmed as he spun his laptop around, “They have a chat or you can call 1-800-BUTTERBALL”. Denise cleared her throat, “Well since you all are in hiding, and one of you is an escaped prisoner/wanted terrorist, I suggest you all use the chat option. Now I’m off for the rest of the week, the kids are off from school and I have to cook a Thanksgiving of my own. Good luck.”
As Denise left, the team got back together trying to figure out how to thaw and prepare the turkey. Lucy started removing items from the grocery bag and setting them in the counter. A loaf of bread, green beans, a box of wine, and then she saw it….a single can of jellied cranberry sauce. She set the can down and walked towards Flynn, placing a hand on his shoulder. Flynn turn at the contact and looked down at the petite brunette, “Hey, what’s up,” he asked. Lucy looked him in the eye, stood on her toes, and kissed the giant “terrorist” on the cheek. A tear dropped from her eye as she smiled at him, “Thank you, Garcia.” He stood there frozen as he watched her turn away and go back to unpacking groceries. He smiled, took a deep breath and went back to ‘helping’ Wyatt and Connor fill the sink with water so they could defrost the turkey by Thursday morning. For a moment, they all forgot where they were and just enjoyed feeling like a family.
———————————————————————
Chapter 4
November 22nd, 2018 (Thanksgiving day)
Garcia Flynn woke up to the smell of coffee wafting through his room. As he cracked his eyelid open he could see that a fresh cup was left for him on the shelf next to his cot. He slowly sat up, reached over to grab the cup and take a sip. As the hot liquid passed his lips he grimaced from the bitter taste before smiling to himself..Lucy should never be allowed in a kitchen, ever. But he appreciated the gesture and as he got up he grabbed his cup and continued to drink the hot liquid, knowing that coffee is coffee and the caffeine is necessary for him to be an actual person in the morning. He padded to the bunker where he heard the sound of showtunes blaring from the television. To his surprise, Lucy and Jiya were sitting on the couch, tearing bread for stuffing and watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Flynn took a seat on the arm of the couch and nudged Lucy, she looked up with a smile and he whispered, “thanks for the coffee.” She nodded and went back to tearing bread and watching the parade. Garcia spoke aloud to both the women, “I thought I was supposed to be cooking Thanksgiving dinner, why are you ladies doing all the work?” Jiya replied, “Connor and I got back on the Butterball chat and figured out the stuffing recipe, so Lucy and I figured we’d get a head start on the prep.” Looking behind him he could see Wyatt and Connor fumbling around in the kitchen, everyone was busy trying to do their part to help with dinner. Flynn looked back at the girls and made a crack about Lucy’s kitchen skills, to which she playfully elbowed him before he got up, knowing when to take his leave...before he got himself into actual trouble.
Flynn walked into the kitchen and poured himself another cup of coffee, before approaching Connor and Wyatt. Wyatt looked up and acknowledged the tall Croatian, “This Dinner, asking Denise to go get everything, that was really decent of you..it’s been really rough here these last couple months and this is exactly what everyone needed.” Flynn awkwardly returned, “it was nothing, I know people have to be missing their families” as he stole a glance at Lucy before he continued “i just figured we all deserved a nice meal.” Flynn’s glance at Lucy didn’t escape Wyatts notice and he gave Flynn a knowing look. “Well, I can tell you really care about people and I was wrong months ago to tell you to stay away, you’ve really grown on me now that you aren’t trying to kill us anymore.” Flynn rolled his eyes, “thanks, I’m gonna start seasoning the turkey if you and Connor can manage to put together this pie..the bird has to go in soon if it’s going to be ready by 2.” Wyatt agreed, “Yeah I can do that..I don’t know if pie is really a two man job though..” “I can make the vegetable offerings,” Connor interrupted. “There you go.” Wyatt confirmed and everyone got busy cooking so that dinner would be ready early and everyone could relax for the rest of the day.
By 1:45 the smell of Turkey and sides had filled the bunker as bickering could be heard from the living room where Wyatt wanted to watch the Cowboys game but Jiya wanted to watch Hallmark Christmas movies. Connor was nursing a tumbler of scotch while Lucy napped on the couch with her feet on Flynn’s lap who was enjoying a nap as well. Connor looked up at Wyatt. “Does it really send the best message for a team called the Redskins and a team called the Cowboys to be dueling on a holiday celebrating a shared peaceful meal between Native Americans and European Settlers.” Wyatt rolled his eyes, “Fine. We’ll watch the girly Christmas movies.” Just then the timer went off on the oven, waking Lucy and Flynn up from their respective naps. “Saved by the bell,” Wyatt exclaimed as he got up to check on the turkey.
Flynn groaned and rubbed his eyes as he woke up. Wyatt shouted into the living room, “Flynn, how do we know if this bird is ready?” Flynn looked over, “Uhh….there should be a red button in the turkey, if its popped then it’s ready to come out.” Wyatt looked, “Oh yeah, it’s ready!” and he lifted the Turkey out of the oven and placed it on top of the stove. Lucy, Jiya and Connor got up and started setting the two small tables from the kitchen that they moved together to make one long holiday table. Flynn began to carve the turkey placing the light and dark meat on a serving platter. When Flynn was done carving everyone sat down at the table as a family. Before they ate Jiya acknowledged that although the have all been through alot, that they go around and say one thing that they were thankful for. Lucy grabbed Flynn’s hand under the table and gave it a light squeeze before releasing it to pick up her napkin and place it on her lap. Letting Flynn know silently that although she wasn’t ready to announce it to the table, one of the things he was thankful for was the growing closeness she shared with him. Meanwhile in Wyatt’s pocket he could feel his phone vibrate, he discreetly checked the screen to see a text from his wife, “Happy Thanksgiving.” He drew a deep breath and cracked a small smile at the comfort that not all was lost, that maybe there was a little bit of hope that when this was all over, he, Jess and his unborn son could possibly be a family again.
When everyone was done saying their thanks, the team dug in to the spread of food on the table. Flynn noticed that something was missing and abruptly stood up, alarming Lucy. He walked into the kitchen and returned with a can opener and the can of cranberry sauce on a plate. He opened the can, shook the jellied cranberry onto a plate and placed it in front of Lucy. “We can’t forget the most important part!” Lucy glowed at the sight of the cranberry sauce and all the memories of her lost sister, like the others she remembered with every bite of the Thanksgiving meal why they must continue to fight Rittenhouse, all the important things that they needed to preserve.
Later that night when everyone retired to their rooms after an afternoon of eating and movies, Lucy sat and waited at the edge of Flynn’s bed. She smiled as he walked in, fresh from the shower and shook his head like always hitting her with the clean water from his hair. “Garcia?” Lucy said, and the tall man froze and looked at Lucy intensely, not accustomed to people using his first name anymore. “Thank you for today, I mean really thank you.” He smiled at her and answered, “It was nothing, I wanted to,” as he sat on his bed and swung his legs behind the historian so he could lay down. “I mean it Garcia, thank you for helping me save some of my memories, from when life was more...normal.” Flynn touched her hand, “Well you saved my life, it’s the least I could do.” Lucy exhaled and laid down next to Flynn on his cot, “would it be okay if i slept right here tonight?” Flynn wordlessly wrapped his arm around the small historian in a chaste embrace and closed his eyes, knowing that Lucy was still healing and this small step was all she was ready for. “Happy Thanksgiving, Garcia.” Flynn exhaled and whispered as he fell asleep, “Happy Thanksgivng, Looocy.”
#timeless#Timeless fanwork exchange#garcy#Wyjess#Bunker family#Thanksgiving#Post Chinatown#ssgarcy#i will go down with this ship
21 notes
·
View notes
Note
genesis Rhapsodos ❤️
general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life
hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang
hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff
best quality: Listen. Genesis is like that cat who gets an idea into its head and once it has that idea he will not let go. So, I’d say his ‘best quality’ is actually twofold: his stubbornness, and his sense of right and wrong/justice. Yeah, I said that - because for most of Crisis Core we see things through Zack’s eyes, and... Zack’s working for Shinra. For the bad guys. And Genesis, despite his godawful ways of going about it, found out they were the bad guys, and went against everything he’d grown up thinking was ‘right’ because he found out it wasn’t actually ‘good’. And this is delving into headcanon territory, but toward the end of the game, plus the DoC stinger, suggests that him being irrevocably told ‘nah mate, you’ve gone too far, you’re the bad guy now’, really makes him go ‘oh shit, this is BAD.’ And he actually does change
worst quality: Hm, how about the fact that he’s so damn reckless? And tied to that, he never really thinks things through when the consequences of something he does might hurt other people. He just... he’s really self-centered. In fact, one of the things I found most fun about writing Genesis early on in Sombre Morrow, was ‘how do I get the asshole who only thinks about himself, to care about people enough to actually change things? Enough to make a difference?’ - my answer, of course, was ‘make it personal, then.’
ship them with: Genesis is a bisexual disaster of a man who crushes on way too many people who are just Not That Into Him. A short list of people he’s had crushes on (whether he’d admit it or not) is: Sephiroth, Cloud... potentially Tifa. This not counting the many, many people he’s dated and/or had flings with before the whole degradation thing started up, back when he was just a ‘normal’ SOLDIER rising his way up from Third to First and upward. I currently don’t have a specific actual OTP or anything for him. He’s open to suggestions.
brotp them with: Angeal, definitely. Also Cloud. Genesis would put Sephiroth down under the ‘rival’ category more than the ‘close as brothers’ category, but Sephiroth probably does belong here. Does Yuffie, for being That Annoying Kid Sister? Maybe.
needs to stay away from: Hollander and Hojo. Mostly Hollander. Just... keep them away with a barge pole and a restraining order, please. Both are abusive in their own ways, one with emotional control while the other literally used his DNA in order to create the Tsviets without his permission.
Post-DoC? In at least one timeline? Sephiroth. And to a lesser degree, Rufus Shinra. Not because Rufus is a threat to him, but letting Genesis near anyone with ‘Shinra’ in their name is a... bad idea.
misc. thoughts: Genesis is my Boy and I love him very much but he is also an asshole cat that knocks stuff off tables and kicks puppies (read: Zack) whenever he’s bored.
He’s often reduced down to basic character traits and his love of that one play ridiculed, when the people who do so are just as guilty of having something just as weird or esoteric as their own special interest, and a lot - and I mean a lot - of his actions and dialogue can be better understood if one takes him as someone with chronic illness, with all the pain and fatigue that comes with that, and the trauma of the sudden realisations that he was given, from the worst possible source.
He’s also one of the few antagonist characters who’s canonically come to a redemption and has decided to become better than they were, and that, to me, is a very important aspect of his character, of who he is as a person, that he’s able to do that. It takes a certain strength of character to move on from treating people as lesser, to wanting to make up for what you’ve done.
22 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
peterphanlabel
Bella Snow
good-girlxo
PRINCESS
possumsquat
dont eat cherry pits
xo-cod
🤍
insanity-house
Insanity