#For those that don't remember it's in the grey King scene

[seagull-energy]

BUCKLE UP, FOLKS, IT'S TIME FOR SOME BIG THOUGHTS ABOUT SEPTEMBER 29THS NEWSLETTER ENTRY! (this took so long omg, I got very busy) VERY long post incoming.

First of all, the entire barrow scene is INCREDIBLY creepy, but I want to highlight this bit in particular:

'What in the name of wonder?' began Merry, feeling the golden circlet that had slipped over one eye. Then he stopped, and a shadow came over his face, and he closed his eyes. 'Of course, I remember!' he said. 'The men of Carn Dûm came on us at night, and we were worsted. Ah! the spear in my heart!' He clutched at his breast. 'No! No!' he said, opening his eyes. 'What am I saying? I have been dreaming. Where did you get to, Frodo?'

Hey, what's happening here??? Is Merry being possessed by the unhoused spirit of a man of Arnor?? This is another one of those things that is just dropped in, never explained, and then moved past and it's REALLY SCARY.

-

Then, does this line remind anyone else of Macbeth? Specifically the scene where he sees the line of Banquo's descendants. Like, compare these two texts:

The hobbits did not understand his words, but as he spoke they had a vision as it were of a great expanse of years behind them, like a vast shadowy plain over which there strode shapes of Men, tall and grim with bright swords, and last came one with a star on his brow.

A show of eight kings, the eighth king with a glass in his hand, and Banquo last. MACBETH  Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo. Down! Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs. And thy hair, Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first. A third is like the former. [...] A fourth? Start, eyes! What, will the line stretch out to th’ crack of doom? Another yet? A seventh? I’ll see no more. And yet the eighth appears who bears a glass Which shows me many more, and some I see That twofold balls and treble scepters carry.

Obviously it's not a one-to-one comparison, but the Vibes are similar. (The use of the phrase 'crack of doom' in the Macbeth passage is also interesting, although I think that's probably a coincidence rather than anything else) LotR obviously has other well-known Macbeth connections, but this is one I only just noticed. (I really hope this comes off as similar to someone else and I'm not just coming up with nonsense)

-

As soon as his back was turned, a dark figure climbed quickly in over the gate and melted into the shadows of the village street.

I LOVE THIS MOMENT because reading it for the first time, anyone's first assumption is that this is going to be a Black Rider, but (spoilers) IT'S NOT! What a brilliant little subversion!

-

Frodo, Pippin, and Sam decided to join the company. Merry said it would be too stuffy. 'I shall sit here quietly by the fire for a bit, and perhaps go out later for a sniff of the air. Mind your Ps and Qs, and don't forget that you are supposed to be escaping in secret, and are still on the high-road and not very far from the Shire!'

If only they'd listened to Merry... I feel like Merry's practicality and good sense gets overlooked a lot. In these early chapters his status as 'most well traveled of the group' really comes across

-

Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits.

Words cannot express how much I love this description (and Strider's introduction as a whole)

-

There is an inn, a merry old inn beneath an old grey hill, And there they brew a beer so brown That the Man in the Moon himself came down one night to drink his fill. [...]

*The Cat and the Moon from the LotR musical starts blasting in my head*

-

And now... the Aragorn list... (my thoughts are in list format because otherwise I will just be pasting large chunks of the entry here, and I've already done enough of that)

what was he doing behind the hedge on the Road???

"I slipped over the gate just behind them." and there's the payoff to that spooky moment earlier!!! It goes from 'oooh a Black Rider might have followed them' to 'nope, it was actually just this dude who wants to help them' to 'OH SHIT THE BLACK RIDERS WERE ALREADY HERE' a little later. Good stuff :D

"a secret that concerned me and my friends" I'm curious which friends he means here. Probably the Dunedain, maybe the sons of Elrond as well? Anyway, it's a fun little note

Okay now I need to break the list format because WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT ARAGORN'S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE RIDERS

'[...] They will come on you in the wild, in some dark place where there is no help. Do you wish them to find you? They are terrible!' The hobbits looked at him, and saw with surprise that his face was drawn as if with pain, and his hands clenched the arms of his chair. The room was very quiet and still, and the light seemed to have grown dim. For a while he sat with unseeing eyes as if walking in distant memory or listening to sounds in the Night far away.

So uh, Aragorn doesn't just know OF the Riders, he knows the Riders. He's obviously speaking from experience here, and iirc this is never expanded upon. What happened between them? And when did it happen?

'[...]I am afraid my only answer to you, Sam Gamgee, is this. If I had killed the real Strider, I could kill you. And I should have killed you already without so much talk. If I was after the Ring, I could have it – NOW!'   He stood up, and seemed suddenly to grow taller. In his eyes gleamed a light, keen and commanding. Throwing back his cloak, he laid his hand on the hilt of a sword that had hung concealed by his side. They did not dare to move. Sam sat wide-mouthed staring at him dumbly.   'But I am the real Strider, fortunately,' he said, looking down at them with his face softened by a sudden smile. 'I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will.'

Chills. I love him. So much. Also, SURPRISE! It's art time!!

[ID: A digital drawing of Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. He has pale skin and shoulder length dark brown hair. He is wearing a brown quilted vest, brown trousers, a cream shirt with puffy sleeves, and a dark green cloak. He is looking slightly down and to his left (image right). His left hand is resting on his chest and his right hand is resting on a sword belted at his waist. The drawing has dark, blue-gray lighting and the background is a rough blue-gray rectangle. /end id]

Andddd now for one more thought: there is no mention of him having a second sword, which implies that his ONLY WEAPON in these DANGEROUS TIMES is just the shards of Narsil. Unhinged behavior, I love that for him

Moving on from Aragorn now! (although I will have many more things to say about him later)

-

'[the Black Rider] seemed to make off up the Road, eastward,' continued Merry. 'I tried to follow. Of course, it vanished almost at once; but I went round the corner and on as far as the last house on the Road.'

MERRY. WTF. Okay so this is 1) extremely brave and 2) not actually a terrible idea in theory. Trying to find out where the Rider was going and what it was doing would be smart, IF IT WASN'T ONE OF THE ENEMY'S MOST DANGEROUS SERVANTS THAT SHOULD BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS

-

[Merry said] "I could hardly help myself. I seemed to be drawn somehow."

FORESHADOWING????? Actually looking at both this and the thing with the wights that I talked about at the beginning of this ramble, merry actually has a pretty strong link with the wraiths from the beginning, which is INTERESTING!

-

Okay I think that's everything I wanted to say. I'm so sad this took me so long to write because now there's been a whole WEEK of entries that I haven't talked about or done art for :((( Weathertop at least will probably get some love at some point, but rn my art brain is telling me to draw the entire cast of the musical so we'll see how I balance things :)

#lotr #lotr newsletter #seagull.thoughts #seagull.art

[jumpscaregoose]

ok I'm finally doing it I'm finally drafting up this post. if you've spoken to me about shaman king literally ever or even followed this blog for more than two days you know this one

goose's Renmei Thoughts™ aka:

(thanks @gelatinous-jellyfish for making me this wonderful image a while back)

(quick explanation for everyone unaware, renmei is the canon relationship between iron maiden jeanne and tao ren from the sk sequels. I never explain this in the post but if you want to read it and don't know that's what this is. also I mention this takei guy a lot he's the mangaka)

so pov you're me circa feburary 2022, currently unaware of the kzb manga ending or sequels because you got into sk 6 months ago and the 2021 anime isn't over yet. you're innocently googling your girl jeanne for idk drawing references or whatever and BOOM autocomplete drops the most confusing spoiler of all time on you

that's how I remember finding out renmei exists, and at the time I'm pretty sure I was like "oh this must just be a popular het pairing from the Olden Days or something it'd be ridiculous if that was-" it was it was canon. cue a terrible amount of suffering april 21st 2022 when episode 52 of the new anime aired and it was what it is

of course I was upset but in an attempt to not be That One Annoying Fandom Person I sat down and thought about it and gave the concept the benefit of the doubt for a bit and now I have a pretty solid idea of how I feel about it. my renmei thesis is basically:

well that could have been a good idea but wow did takei completely fumble it

part a why it's not conceptually terrible: this one's really simple it's just that they're both similar characters. I'm anticipating you the reader have actually read/watched shaman king so I'm just gonna present you with the chart I made a few months back

murderous child -> oh shit -> what now it's quite similar

btw this file was named "the.png". that is such an unhelpful file name I had to DIG to find it. wtf past me

basically if it was actually written properly I think we could have gotten some cool things out of a romantic relationship between these two characters. however

part b: we didn't

my favourite way to describe renmei is that it just wasn't written. because it wasn't. across over 300 chapters of mainline and spinoff manga they have maybe four interactions, three of which were after they were already a couple (and the fourth one is that time she raised him from the dead and they didn't speak. does that really even count?). and those three actual interactions were flashbacks and not... actually important. I think one of them was just about cheese. as a reader your experience is

2 characters who never interacted -> literally what the fuck when did that happen -> she's DEAD???

when my friend was reading the manga I had to tell her to reread a scene because the panel where they explain it is such a blink-and-you-miss-it moment

literally the same pacing and payoff as CANON DESTIEL.

their entire actual relationship happens during the downtime between the main manga ending and the sequels beginning. and I'm going to bring osp into this because I think this graphic is helpful

(side note as I was scrolling through this trope talk I noticed a problem red brings up that does apply to the sk sequels but that's for another post...)

this is from the osp trope talk on sequels, and it shows the difference in Stuff Happening levels between plot time (red) and down time (grey). the issue with renmei is that it is an IMPORTANT PLOT EVENT (two characters with little interaction having an entire love story) that happens during DOWN TIME, when the audience only sees things through flashbacks in snippets. and it doesn't help that we never get any flashbacks to before the event happened, before they got together. it's jarring because the ENTIRE THING happens during down time. plot time 1 (the main manga) ends with no interactions between them, and ONE scene that's supposed to set ren up for getting Straight Married that in my opinion didn't work. because it is stupid. plot time 2 (every sequel manga) starts after jeanne's death. it's literally the inciting incident for red crimson. their entire 7+ year relationship is encapsulated in foggy down time, and we're expected to care.

and this especially doesn't work because we aren't set up to care. again, 1 interaction in the main manga, where they don't talk (but I will go to bat for the inherent intimacy of raising someone from the dead like we could have done something there). it's pretty clear to me from rereading the manga that takei didn't know these two would get together when he was writing it. that one scene I mentioned where he tries to set up ren getting Straight Married? if you've read it you know it's incredibly vague and with how takei wrote literally everything else it sure doesn't work as intended. or I'm too aromantic and yaoipilled to understand his literary genius idk. it's clear from some other missed opportunities that the jeanne part of the equation wasn't exactly planned from the beginning. which is even more insulting tbh

part c jeanne character assassination: out of the both of them jeanne really got the short end of the stick in terms of characterization in the sequels. I say this because I actually really like ren in the sequels I like the way takei took his character, so holy shit does sequels jeanne look even worse in comparison. the whole housewife thing is eeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhh, not really a fan of that but I'm also not mad enough to comment. her death I do have some thoughts about. conceptually the beheading herself with shamash thing is BADASS AS HELL and I do like it conceptually, I also know like, the themes. yeah remember that time "atoning for your crimes with your death isn't the right thing to do" was an important part of the plot. TWICE. FUCK THAT I GUESS. there is some equivalent exchange bullshit happening with these two and the continuation of main manga themes and I want it to stop please

part d tao men: one thing I've thought about a lot is Why. why fumble this so badly. why do this at all. what do we get out of this. and the answer is an inciting incident and tao men. and the fumble bag continues because tao men deserved better this is a tao men appreciation account. we could have done some cool shit with his revenge thing but nope fuck that I guess. poor guy

part e contrast: so the sequel manga where renmei is most relevant is red crimson. I absolutely love red crimson I recommend it to everyone. and that's because of jun and pairon (and chapter 9 full transparency). jun and pairon in red crimson have one of the most beautiful relationships I've ever seen. they have an established dynamic and baggage to work through and that's what the manga focuses on. and it works it works really well. however this is also the Renmei Manga, and having most of that stuff right next to jun and pairon just makes it look worse

those are all my renmei thoughts I remembered while writing this post, I think that covers most of it but I may reblog this later with stuff I forgot

#shaman king #the way I will immediately drop everything and rant about them whenever I remember they exist #hi jeanne enjoyers this one's for you

[tadpolesonalgae]

ok first, before i forget, i don't remember sending that eris ask in but i know it was the night i got drunk and couldn't stop thinking about him lol eris has me by the throat and thank u if you actually write one of my ramblings 🙏

about the tier list, you not liking reading major character death or unhappy ending but like writing it is so funny but also terrifying please have mercy. some of them were surprising but others i expected like i knew dark fic was going to be s tier because you write the best ones. i guess it changes a bit from what you usually write to what you like to read about

turns out i can't send images on asks on anon so 💔 but i can just do a rundown of mine:

- s tier is: slow burn, mutual pining, friends to lovers, arranged marriage, fake relationship, fluff and angst

- a tier: sharing a bed, enemies to lovers, unrequited love, established relationship, huddle for warmth, pwp, soulmate

- b tier: dark fic, in vino veritas, fix it fic, hurt comfort, first kiss

- c tier: amensia, abo, sex pollen, missing scenes, bang or die, humor

- then there's a special row for canon divergence

- and the ones i don't really like are: prangancy fic, baby fic, major character death, love triangle, unhappy ending, crossover, crack fic, body swap, high school au

i want to clarify that unrequited love is pretty high but i usually like it when it turns out not to be unrequited because i like the momentary angst but i like an happy ending

also the aus are hard to rank because what i usually like and read about is already fantasy or magic so they're not really relevant. and they left out the best ones like demon au or vampire au

and the canon divergence has its own row because when there's a oc there's going to be changes but i don't like when those changes are to the point of me barely recognizing the acotar world yk and i don't like when certain things are changed but i don't mind with others (like some fics don't have nyx), i guess that's king of personal for each person. also in other fandoms i tend to like all the characters that end up dead somehow so i like when they're alive or when the fic kind of ignores some of the main plot of the show because it completely changed the dynamics of it at some point or killed basically everyone off, being a fan of anime is torture

also i just read the dark!rhys fic and i love it so much, i need more of him in my life. do you have any more dark rhys fics planned? i like that sjm made him nicer in the books and all but the high lord of the night court being a little darker and leaning more into the morally grey just hits different - 🧶

My gosh I feel so dumb, this was directly above the last one 😭 I’m so sorry

‘thank u if you actually write one of my ramblings 🙏’

I’ve got the first one done!! It will hopefully be going up tonight! I decided to write the friends to lovers one where Eris has just become High Lord + slightly drunken confession just to ease into his character! Hopefully next will be energies to lovers + arranged marriage with a little more CBMTHY-type dialogue 🧡💛

‘about the tier list, you not liking reading major character death or unhappy ending but like writing it is so funny but also terrifying please have mercy.’

I can promise there’ll be no major character death in CBMTHY and it won’t have an unhappy ending—don’t worry :)

It’s only fun when the story is under my control which I think is understandable? I can experience angst within a controlled environment so I don’t have to worry about actually getting upset, which makes it easier 😭

‘turns out i can't send images on asks on anon so 💔’

Oh! 😭😞

‘also the aus are hard to rank because what i usually like and read about is already fantasy or magic so they're not really relevant. and they left out the best ones like demon au or vampire au’

That’s a really good point, I completely forgot about demon/vampire/werewolf aus or the pirate ones? Those ones I would 100% read—especially vampire/demon ones because oh my gosh 😳😳🫣

I think maybe for a fandom that didn’t already have magic and royalty, then the magic and royalty au’s might be fun as a once-every-so-often sort of thing? But I don’t think they’d be a frequent read.

‘also in other fandoms i tend to like all the characters that end up dead somehow’

You made me laugh so hard with that 😭I’m so sorry 🫂🧡💛

!acowar spoiler below!

Like probably a lot of other people, I really loved the suriel, so it’s death made me so sad 😞 There was another ToG character who I absolutely adored (not the TaB one) and Miss Maas had them die and I was so upset 😔

You seem to have the Comfort Character Curse, my condolences 😔🫂

‘being a fan of anime is torture’

You totally just reminded me of a post I saw I think back in 2020/21 saying that Isayama had a dartboard of his characters and he would sit back and just casually kill them off one after another 🥔🧡💛

‘do you have any more dark rhys fics planned?’

I actually have a request for ‘DARK dark (dark, dark), dark’ Rhys or Az smut so I think I’ll write another for the High Lord since I already have one planned for Azriel!! 🧡💛

#🧶 anon <3 #🧶 #🧶🍁 #Eris #Trope Tier List #Eris Vanserra #Dark!fic

[aegor-bamfsteel]

Do you any idea of the purpose of the- basically all east of essos?? Some people believe the Others are going to come from the Grey Waste somehow, bcs idk the Five Forts standing ground there like the wall.

To be honest i don't know how this part of the world have something to do with westeros and D@ny, i don't think she going to defend the land from the Others in the East when the story begs for her to balance the scale by being The Fire Menace.

Perhaps is only worldbuilding from Grrm, with traces of terror like h.p lovecraft.

Also it's funny how you can turn the map to the side and d@ny is like going "south" to westeros like the Others.

GRRM discussed the purpose of those places East of Qarth in a 2022 podcast (transcript by kellyvela):

GRRM: I think I invented half those lands, of course, because of the map book, you know, we did Lands of Ice and Fire a few years ago. These are the secrets of publishing that'll probably shock your listeners who think it's all real, but, so we've done The World of Ice and Fire, which had done well, and so my published said this to me, "oh wait, let's do a map book,” the maps are very popular, oh, okay, that sounds fun, we'll do a map book.  So I had these maps that I'd hand drawn on typing paper, you know, and I'd been adding to them over the years, and so, I had, you know, I not only had the north and the south, but I had a little, little stuff from the free cities and I sent them all to Bantam and they blew them all up and said, well it is nice, but when we blow up to poster sizes, they're kind of blank, can you like put in more stuff?  You know, cities and rivers and mountains and stuff, so, you know, so I did, I went back and I put in a lot more stuff, and, you know, of course, as I'm putting in stuff, that fucking muse in the back of my head is thinking, oh, this is good, yeah, look at that, that'd be a story there, oh, that might be, that'd be interesting, you know, and I'm venting all this damned stuff, and I send it to them and it goes pretty much as far as Qarth, you know, I've done all this and that's fine, and then my editor calls me up and said: “Well, this is great, but we noticed something, there's this scene where the Qartheen Xaro Xhoan Daxos gives Danny a big tapestry of the entire world on it.  And I said, yeah, I remember that scene, yeah. "Qarth's in the middle." Yes, Qarth's in the middle. "Well, it's only on the edge of your maps, the readers are gonna wonder what's on the other side of Qarth. So could you do more maps to fill out the rest, and you've mentioned these places let's see them." So, you know, so now I'm doing maps that, you know, and I know Asshai had to be on it, there had been mentioned many times, and a few mentions of Yi Ti and Leng, so I'm putting them in and then, you know, I'm, what are the cities named? What are the mountains named?  You know, at a certain point, my brain was rotting. So I started stealing things from Lovecraft and, you know, Carcosa, which is actually from Robert W. Chambers's The Yellow King, but Lovecraft borrowed it, and, oh, that's a good name for the city. I'll put in Carcosa. I'll put in Leng of course, I made it an island, it's a plateau in Lovecraft, a horrible Plateau, but it seemed a good name that would ring.  I did tell you the truth, I didn't know that anybody would even notice, but there it is.  And, you know, then at some point, I guess I thought I can't just have Asshai with nothing but sea below, there should be another, so, I put in a little corner of all those there.  And still, of course, you've noticed that there's still more maps.  So, you know, I do get whether what's beyond the Grey Wastes and what's, what is the shape of all those? What is that?  And you know, I don't know. If I live to 105, and the story takes us there, or one of these other shows takes us there. I will make up stuff that hopefully will be good stuff if my muse cooperates and throws up some fun stuff for me.

From this quote, aside from a few mentions of certain places (Asshai as a city of dark magic), GRRM didn’t know about those lands until he had to come up with a map book (not published until after ADWD). The idea that the Others will come from the Gray Waste doesn’t seem like it’ll pan out in canon, because GRRM doesn’t seem to really know what’s there (and certainly thinks the characters in the main series won’t go there) beyond some references to other works like Lovecraft. There’s some foreshadowing for Dæny going west to Volantis and probably Pentos (rather than east of Qarth), as well as destroying the Yunkish army in Meereen. It’s implied in TWOIAF that there were children of the forest and giants in North Essos, so maybe there were Others in the Gray Waste (although the Five Forts analogous to the Great Wall of China are supposed to keep out “raiders” analogous to the people called the “Xiongnu”) ; but I don’t think that will be relevant to the main series, which GRRM has stated (for better or worse) is centered on Westeros.

#ask #opinion #asoiaf

[thevelaryons]

What do you think of the Velaryons in the main books? We barely know anything about them between Lucerys who was the lord of Driftmark during Aerys ii’ reign to Monford and later Monterys. Any headcanons? 👀

I talked briefly about the main series Velaryons in this post. I think they'll just continue to exist on the fringe of the story, with maybe Aurane playing a role going forward. My speculation on how Aurane may rejoin the plot, this time in allegiance with a Targaryen monarch. It's hard to say anything about the current lord, Monterys, as the books don't provide many details beyond the mention that he's 6 years old.

As for headcanons, well I do like the idea that Lucerys was the father of both Monford and Aurane. The books don't give Monford's age but his half-brother Aurane is mentioned as being in his early twenties (born in either 277 AC or 278 AC). So, in all likelihood, Monford must be somewhere in his 20s too in the ASOIAF timeline. That means Monford would have been around 5+ years old in the years preceding Robert's Rebellion (282 AC).

Parents in ASOIAF are known to take their young children to visit the royal court, as evidenced by this quote from Stannis:

"I remember the first time my father took me to court, Robert had to hold my hand. I could not have been older than four, which would have made him five or six."

Steffon Baratheon was known as an old friend of Aerys' and he had his children visiting the court. I see no reason why Lucerys, as the Master of Ships and one of the people in the Mad King's inner circle, wouldn't do the same with his son.

Some more headcanons, which then put this quote into perspective:

The Myrmen swapped jokes as they enjoyed the warmth of the fire, but young Lord Bar Emmon had turned a splotchy grey, and Lord Velaryon was watching the king rather than the conflagration.

In the scene where the burnings are happening on Dragonstone, as per Stannis' orders, everyone watches the conflagration, but Monford watches Stannis (and Davos watches Monford lol). I've always interpreted this scene as indication that perhaps little Monford might have witnessed those public executions by fire that were common at Aerys' court.

Lucerys, who was Aerys' Master of Ships, does not seem the type to care about much beyond his own political advancement. I doubt he would care what effect witnessing such things could have on a child.

The Mad King could be savagely cruel, as seen most plainly when he burned those he perceived to be his enemies, but he could also be extravagant, showering men who pleased him with honors, offices, and lands. The lickspittle lords who surrounded Aerys II had gained much and more from the king’s madness and eagerly seized upon any opportunity to speak ill of Prince Rhaegar and inflame the father’s suspicions of the son.

Chief amongst the Mad King’s supporters were three lords of his small council: Qarlton Chelsted, master of coin, Lucerys Velaryon, master of ships, and Symond Staunton, master of laws. The eunuch Varys, master of whisperers, and Wisdom Rossart, grand master of the Guild of Alchemists, also enjoyed the king’s trust.

So when Monford watches Stannis instead of the burning conflagration, he might have been thinking back on the Mad King. The books repeatedly make note of the fact that Monford does not want to be there, as he's not overly supportive of Stannis and even hostile to him at times. It's only because he's directly sworn to Stannis, who is Lord of Dragonstone, that Monford is obligated to serve him (especially with Driftmark being right next to Dragonstone).

And while Monford would certainly have the typical classist mindset of a Westerosi noble, I do also consider him to be someone willing to at least look beyond the social hierarchy enough to acknowledge the merits of a commoner who rose high. This is based on the fact that he's mentioned as being one of the few people who bothers to acknowledge Davos' existence:

When Davos arrived at the Stone Drum, a dozen highborn knights and great bannermen were just leaving. Lords Celtigar and Velaryon each gave him a curt nod and walked on while the others ignored him utterly.

Not to mention, Monford's bastard half-brother Aurane being part of the Velaryon retinue. You'd think he might seek to keep the bastard away as some other lords might do, in order to avoid the shame to their family, but Monford does no such thing. Also, when Aurane makes known his intention to Cersei that he wants a castle of his own, he never sets his sight on Driftmark, presently ruled by his nephew (Monford's son). Aurane (despite being a manipulative conman) shows no desire whatsoever to usurp his own family, which seems to suggest a positive relationship between the brothers.

#whew this post turned out quite long #asoiaf #monford velaryon #monterys velaryon #lucerys ii velaryon #aurane waters #ask

[arabian-bloodstream]

I’m worried about daemon’s portrayal of being a father. I was very optimistic because the leaks were saying he was a good dad and could do no wrong but unfortunately that’s not entirely true. It broke my heart when one of them said he ignores her. Do you think the show runners are making daemon extremely unlikeable intentionally or is this accurate to his character? It would be extremely shitty if he’s a good father to rhaenrya’s kids but not his own. Because so far if they make him a deadbeat father and plus him “killing laenor” next episode I fear EVERYONE is going to hate him 😭

Oh, I don't think we have to worry at all about this. I read some takes that I thought really laid it out quite clearly what is going on. This was the best one, in my opinion. The money quotes:

He has a closer connection with Baela, but in my opinion it is not because of the dragon but because she remembers both him and Rhaenyra - similarities from when she was younger. The fact is Daemon is not Daemon. He is lost, displaced and without his essence, which makes him. He pretends. He dwells on books and books, can barely look at Laena and shows himself to be an absent father. Which proves that he lies when he says he doesn’t miss Westeros. For the only ones he truly loved are Viserys and Rhaenyra. [...] That’s why they cut his scene with his daughters, in my opinion. It wouldn’t make sense for him to have a sudden change in behavior with them if he still doesn’t feel himself. He tried, he still tries. But you can’t go back to what it was if what makes you feel complete is so far away

I agree with this. I think it makes perfect sense. Especially the bolded part. Once Daemon returns to King's Landing, returns to Rhaenrya (and even Viserys). Once he returns to Dragonstone, and, thus to HIMSELF, to Daemon Targaryen, we will see a Daemon who embraces the Targaryens that are all of his family, including not only Baela Targaryen, but also Raena Targaryen.

In episode 06, Daemon just couldn't connect to Raena because the only part of her that connected to him was her Targaryen self, and Daemon could not connect to that part of himself because to do so caused him too much pain. It was wrong of him; it was selfish and wrong, wrong, wrong. But Daemon is not the best of men, we already know this.

He *could* connect to Baela because Baela was a dragonrider, and that was something--the only thing--that Daemon had still retained of his Targaryen self. And so he could connect with Baela on that level. Once he returns to Westeros, to Dragonstone, to Viserys, to Rhaenrya, to his Targaryen self, he will connect with the Targaryen in Raena.

At least that is what I think. And that is why I think we didn't get that connection in episode 06. I could be wrong. I don't know because I haven't seen episode 07 yet. I tend to try and *not* pre-judge (and certainly not be negative or even overtly positive about) an episode I haven't seen yet. Leaks, spoilers, etc. do NOT tell the full story. The episode itself does.

And certainly, Fire & Blood is NOT telling the story. It is subjective. It is based on biased accounts from misogynistic after the fact peeps who had their own agenda, and collated a century later from another biased account who edited it from ALL OF THOSE many accounts. It is not an objective telling of facts. Period. End of.

Finally, we don't know that Daemon "kills" Laenor. He may; he may not. And if he does… :shrugs: We'll come to that bridge when we cross it. Again, I'm not going to pre-judge Daemon based on something I haven't seen. I don't know what is going to happen, if it's going to happen, and if it does what, how, why, the circumstances of it.

Daemon is not being written as "the evil bad guy." Daemon is being written as a grey, sometimes dark grey, character. He is complex, conflicted, and he loves deeply. He is our amoral anti-hero. But he is certainly not someone that viewers are supposed to hate. He gets the big, bad-ass battle scenes (see, end of episode 03). He gets the quips. He gets the bad-ass entrances. He is half of the OTP of the show (Daemon/Rhaenrya). He gets sweet soft moments (with Viserys, with Rhaenrya, with -- yes, he did -- Laena).

Daemon is NOT the character that viewers are supposed to hate.

Now, I can only hazard my guess on what will come, and I generally don't like to go too far into the guessing because I have not seen the episode and speculation often leads to disappointment. I like to let the episodes speak for themselves. I can say that based on what we've seen so far, I have faith that it will be good. That it will work with the story we've been given thus far. That Daemon will be awesome. And that I am freaking stoked!

#daemon targaryen #daddy daemon #hotd spoilers #hotd 1x06 #hotd 1x07 #hotd is the true story #f&b is fake news ya'll #I will keep beating this drum don't care

[bustyasianbeautiespod]

Episode 47 Transcript: The Jesus Special

[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 this 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 3: “Bad Day at Black Rock,” written by Ben Edlund, directed by Robert Singer. This is an iconic episode of Supernatural. Wouldn't you agree?

C: Yeah, I agree. There are a lot of iconic moments, at least. But the episode itself, I feel like I've never heard the name of it before.

G: This is one of those episodes where I know the name, I know it's an important, or at least like, relevant in my psyche episode, but I don't remember the details of the episode until I watched it, and I was like, “Oh, it's this episode. Obviously.”

C: Right.

G: Yeah.

C: I feel like this episode is divided between fun, iconic moments, and then, like, "Who the fuck are these random guys?"

G: Literally. Who the fuck are these random guys? This episode is like, iconic for several reasons, one of them being that -

C: Bela?

G: Well, one is Bela, obviously, and then the other one being that it feels like a later Supernatural episode. You know what I mean? Like, it's not serious or like, it's serious, but like, it has a lot of comedy which is like the trademark of later Supernatural. It has significantly more comedy. So this one, this one is like, it feels kind of like, not a season 3 episode, and I think I remember it for that reason, that it's like, "Oh, it's Supernatural," which to me is a funny show, which we haven't really seen a lot of in these first few seasons, but we see it in this episode.

C: Yeah. Right. And well, it's written by Ben Edlund, who also did “Hollywood Babylon,” right? So he seems to be inclined towards the more light-hearted episodes sometimes.

G: Mm-hm, yeah, exactly.

C: Yeah.

G: Sometimes, though. [laughs] Sometimes not. 

C: Sometimes, he does "The Man Who Would be King-"

G: Exactly. 

C: - and sometimes he is fucking annoying and doing "Simon Said."

G: Noo! [laughs] Now, I'm thinking about what I said that like, "Later Supernatural is so light-hearted and funny!" and that entire time, the scene that was playing in my head is Steve like, closing up shop, and I was like, "Noo!"

C: Noo, baby!

G: That is so sad. That is the saddest episode of Supernatural.

C: So true.

G: Because like, those seasons are the ones that I think of immediately when I think of Supernatural, and it's funny to me that I'm like, "They're so comedic!" Meanwhile season 9 is the saddest season of all time. Anyway.

So, Crystal, what did you think about- What did you know about this episode before going in?

C: I genuinely had no idea, because the title of it meant nothing to me. But as soon as I started watching it, or like, while I was watching it, I definitely recognized a lot of scenes. Like, the "Dean, I lost my shoe" scene, and pretty much every single Bela scene.

G: Do you think they establish Bela well as as someone who's gonna be a recurring character this episode?

C: Yeah, I think so. Because they build up the mystery of her identity for a while throughout the episode. And, I mean, she's very cool.

G: Yeah, and she had nice banter that's like, actually meaningful and has some, you know, food for thought.

C: Yeah.

G: Yeah.

-

G: So we begin with a man like, going into a prison area, and you know, he's being swiped down, he's being metal detected, and then, when he enters, he goes to the booth where he's about to talk to a man-

C: Gordon!

G: And the man is [both] Gordon. Yeah. So they start talking about the gates of hell that was opened. But- Gate of Hell? Devil's Gate, right? The Devil's Gate that was opened in Wyoming, and how there's like, hundreds of demons out here now, and it's an army, and Gordon asks if Sam Winchester was there, and the guy, whose- his name is Kubrick- he's gonna be relevant the entire episode.

C: Sadly.

G: Sadly! And he talks, he says that Rob Singer, Bobby Singer was there, and they were all there, and they were trying to stop it-

C: Robert Singer was also there. [G laughs] He was behind the camera.

G: Exactly. And, Gordon was like, "That's not possible. Sam Winchester was involved," blah blah blah. And they they go back and forth between like, "This Sam Winchester looks like he checks out, looks like he's a good guy," and Gordon is going. "No, no, no, no, he's not even human." And then he says, like, "I told you six months ago that there's a war coming, and now the war is here." And he goes, "Sam Winchester [overlapping] must die."

C: So true. Honestly, Gordon deserves to kill Sam. [G laughs] I think it's only fair.

G: It is fair.

C: I mean, his reasons aren't great. Honestly, if he was just like "Sam Winchester called the cops on me, and now you should kill him," I would have been like, "Yeah, go for it." [laughs]

G: I wonder what the interpersonal relationship is like with hunters when, like, you're friends with Bobby Singer, who's like, "The Winchester boys are good," and then you're friends with Gordon, who's like, "The Winchester boys literally called the cops on me, and now I'm in prison, and I was literally trying to kill a monster."

C: Right. Right.

G: And like, what- what would you feel as like a hunters in the middle of that? But yeah, they don't really explore that this episode. It's just this person is like, "I believe both sides, but because God told me-" [both laughing] This episode is hilarious, guys. God literally led him to Sam Winchester. Society if God led me to Sam Winchester. [C laughing]

C: You'd be on your knees [G laughs] praying for a different reason.

G: On my knees for a different reason.

C: Yeah, I- yeah, I didn't do the joke right. [G laughs]

G: Noo! I'm here to correct your jokes.

C: Thank you. This is why we need co-hosts.

Yeah, I guess hunters are more like business associates than like, friends, right?

G: Yes.

C: I think you can handle having two business associates who hate each other.

G: Yeah.

-

C: Yeah, so we cut to the Impala, and so, Sam and Dean are arguing. Dean's all mad at Sam for being like, for like not killing Ruby and not exorcising her, and Sam says, “Well, she told me that she could help you get out of the deal,” and Dean's like, "Well, you're stupid because she was lying," and also, he says, "She knows what your weakness is. It's me.”

G: Me!

C: Presumptuous! [G laughs]

G: No, but I did go "Aww!" when he said that.

C: I guess it just didn't- I feel like because I interpreted so much of Dean's "sacrifice"- in quotes- "sacrifice" at the end of season 2 as-

G: Yeah, as selfish.

C: Yeah, as selfish, but also that, like, he thinks that Sam doesn't need him as much as Dean needs Sam, I feel like it was odd to me that Dean would say basically, to Sam, “I'm the most important person in your life, and you love me!” Like- [laughs]

G: Yeah, okay, I got it. Yeah, you're right.

C: It's odd. But yeah, I guess Sam's really got no one else going on for him, [both laugh] so.

G: Sorry, Sam.

C: Yeah. And Sam's like, "I'm not talking about trusting her. I'm talking about using her." Rude! Both of you are being so rude today. What did Ruby even do wrong at all?

G: Literally, what has she done wrong? She wasted ketchup. And that was it.

C: Yeah. That was fine. It was a diner ketchup.

G: She was literally the girl who saved your ass.

C: She was literally the girl who saved your ass.

G: She was the girl who saved your ass!

C: And like, when she turns around, her hair does a cool flip. Like, how could you ever be mean to her? [G laughs]

Yeah. So he says that "She has information that we don't have, so we gotta do that." And Dean starts doing that thing where he's questioning if Sam came back as Sam.

G: Yeah. But it was so throwaway, and so like, out of the blue, and so irrelevant to anything else that happened this episode-

C: Yeah, it's really irrelevant.

G: - that it's like, "Okay, whatever."

C: Yeah. Maybe this is something they would have developed if the season had been 22 episodes long, but yeah, it feels out of place.

They hear a phone ring, and it turns out that it's John's phone, which Dean keeps charged in case anyone calls it. Which did make me very sad, imagining like, every time they pull up to a motel, Dean, like, pulling out John's phone and a little charger.

G: Aww.

C: Yeah.

G: I mean, those shit last like, two weeks, probably. So like-

C: That's true.

G: He charges it once a month. [laughs]

C: Yeah, all right, that's fine then. Sadness solved. So the call is from some people who own this storage unit in like, some area outside of Buffalo, and apparently, John owned this unit, and it recently got broke into, so they decide to head there to see what is up.

-

G: Yeah. So [laughs] this one is so funny.

C: The most irrelevant scene ever. Who give a shit.

G: So Kubrick, the guy from, you know, the prison earlier, is with another hunter named Creedy, and they're in an RV, and they're talking about what just went down with Gordon, and how they're try- how they're trying to find evidence against Sam Winchester, and like, how they don't really know what's going on, they're just working off of Gordon's instincts, blah blah blah. And apparently, Kubrick and Gordon like, have a good rapport, because Gordon is, to Kubrick's eyes, a very good hunter, and like, someone who has saved him several times. And they're trying to track Sam down, and the last time he they saw him was in Nebraska three weeks ago. And [both laugh] like, while this conversation is happening, there is a Jesus through- like, this is like-

C: Kubrick's own personal Jesus.

G: Yeah. They're a Jesus- I don't even know what to call this. What is this? It's like a frame-

C: It's like the opposite of an engraving, but it's also like, made out of rubber or something.

G: It's like, it's popped out. And it's like-

C: Yeah, it's like a Jesus popsicle mold.

G: Yeah! [laughs]

C: But painted.

G: [laughing] It's a Jesus popsicle mold! Noo!

So Jesus popsicle mold [C laughs] is being held by Creedy, and he's like, "What is this?" And he's like, turning into a way because it's one of those things where it's like, if you turn it a certain way, it becomes three-dimensional. Like, it's one of those, right? So he's like, trying to find the 3D spot, and then Kubrick just like gets it, and is like, "Don't play with my Jesus." [C laughs] And while watching this. I was like, "What the fuck is going on?" but what they're trying to do here is to establish that Kubrick is the religious type and the Jesus type, so- because it's gonna be relevant.

C: Yeah. I love that like, all the Supernatural hunters who don't believe in anything have like, these nice rosaries-

G: [laughs] Yeah!

C: - and all these nice Bibles, and then the like, really religious guy has a popsicle mold of Jesus.

G: Literally the most comical Jesus image of all time.

C: Yep.

-

C: So meanwhile, in the storage facility, Sam and Dean are talking about how like, "Dad kept all these secrets," and Dean’s like, "I spent all this time with the guy, and it's like we barely even know the man." Which, you know, in most contexts, I'd be like, "This is an interesting conversation," but in the context of like, "He has a storage unit," like, whatever. Are you supposed to tell your kids every time you rent out a storage unit?

G: Yeah, Dean is like, "I don't even know anything about my dad," and like [laughing] shut the fuck up! It's literally nothing.

C: [laughing] Yeah.

So they go out into this room, and there's like, some kind of Devil's Trap thing drawn on the ground. They see bloody footprints, and there's a tripwire where, if you trip it, then it sets off this shotgun. Yeah. So they look around for clues. They see two sets of footprints, and as they go further inside, Sam sees that John kept a 1995 division championships soccer trophy that he won-

G: Aww.

C: - and that did make me emo because, you know-

G: Who cares? [laughs]

C: Soccer- soccer's the thing that Sam and John had that big blowout fight about because Sam wanted to do it instead of crossbow hunting! G: Yeah. So even then, he's still proud of Sam's- consolation prize, probably. [both laugh]

C: Yeah. And then [laughs] Dean says, "It was probably about the closest you ever came to being a boy"? Which-

G: Yeah. I don't even know what that means.

C: What is he saying? What does he mean? Like, obviously like, trans rights for Sam, but like, what's happening? [both laugh]

Yeah. So- and then the thing of Dean's childhood that John kept was Dean’s first sawed-off, which is-

G: A type of gun, yeah.

C: It's some kind of gun thing that Dean made when he was in sixth grade, which, you know, is also a sad thing. And in a further room, there's like, a bunch of weird weapons, and then there are a bunch of curse boxes, which are boxes where you put cursed objects in them so that they don't have power anymore. And they notice that there's a box missing, and Dean says, "Well, maybe they didn't open it," and it cuts to...

G: A bunch of guys trying to open a box. [both laugh] So like, these guys are- Do they have names? Oh, yeah, Grossman is the name of the other guy.

C: Wayne and Grossman. Imagine being named Gross Man. Like, no wonder you turned to a life of crime. So would I. [G laughs]

G: So Grossman is trying to convince the other guy to open the box, and the other guy is lying on the couch with his arm bloody because he's been shot trying to bring in the item-

C: Yeah. Did you think these were Kubrick and Creedy at first? I was like, "They don't look like how I remember them."

G: [laughs] No. I knew they were different from them.

C: There are many new characters in this episode. Like, there's too many like, buddy cop duos in this episode, you know?

G: There's so many duo, you're right,

C: And it's like, "Ugh, how am I supposed to remember all these people?" [G laughs]

G: Well, so the other guy is just complaining that, like, "I got shot, and you want to open that box?" But like they were like, "We're gonna deliver this box to whoever we're gonna deliver it to for just a couple of hundred bucks, but like, if we open it, and it turns out to be completely, you know, valuable, then we can earn that money ourselves." So Grossman does open the box, and when he opens it, there's a lot of fanfare, there's a lot of music that's like, [gasping] but he open it, and it's just a rabbit's foot.

C: Mm.

G: So Wayne holds it up, and is like, "I almost died for a rabbit's foot?" Which, he's so dramatic. It's just a shot in the shoulder. [C laughs] Shut the fuck up! [C laughing]

C: I mean, blood loss can be pretty bad. [G laughs]

G: You'll have shoulder pain for the rest of your life, but that's a price to pay for breaking into a storage unit.

C: That's the price to pay for making Bela happy. I think it's worth it.

G: Exactly. Anyway, you know, they're both like, confused and kind of pissed about this when the, I don't know, motel owner, whatever, comes in, and is like, "Hey, why are you guys so noisy? Can you guys keep it down?" And then he looks over at Wayne, who, again, is bloody, and he goes, "What happened to you?" and he's like, "I was shot," and the guy goes, "Well, good for you. I'm a military medic!" or something, and he's like, "I'm gonna fix you up! I guess it's your lucky day!"

C: Dun-dun-dun!

G: Dun-dun-dun. I actually don't know- They make it seem like a rabbit's foot is a thing.

C: Yeah, it is a thing.

G: What is it?

C: It's like a lucky charm the way that, like, a four-leaf clover or like, a horseshoe-

G: Oh, okay, got it, got it.

C: Yeah.

G: That's very morbid. Like, a rabbit's foot-

C: Oh yeah, that you have to find a rabbit and cut off its foot?

G: Yeah, I feel bad. I used to have a rabbit!

C: Aww.

G: Come on , guys.

C: Yeah.

G: Yeah. I used to also be- like, we had a rabbit, and then also, I was obsessed with the concept of eating our rabbit [C laughs], because there were like, rabbit meat in the supermarket. But it was so expensive, so like, my mom never, never bought it, but every single that we would go, I would go there and be like, [fearful] "The shape of this lump of meat is exactly like the rabbit that we have at home!"

C: Aww.

G: And it was, you know. And whenever, like, sometimes my parents would joke around about like- because the rabbit's name is Muimui, and they were like, "Let's just eat Muimui!" And I'll cover the rabbit's ears and be like, "Noo! Don't say that around him!"

C: [laughing] Aww.

G: Yeah. I miss my Muimui! He is dead.

C: Aw, I'm sorry.

-

G: Anyway, Sam and Dean find these guys, though, because apparently, they parked in front of a- what's it called?

C: Traffic camera?

G: A traffic camera, and their plate number is CNT something something. When your plate number is CNT, that automatically means Connecticut? Or like, that's just the shortcut for Connecticut, and Dean was like, "Connecticut!" Or is there a Connecticut on the plate number?

C: I think there was just a Connecticut- like, the state is on the border of the license plate, so -

G: Oh, okay, got it. Is Connecticut a state?

C: Yeah.

G: Damn. Alright. What's Cincinnati? That's different, right?

C: That's a city in Ohio.

G: Okay, got it

C: Wayne and Grossman are playing poker, and Wayne, the one who touched the rabbit's foot, keeps getting really really lucky cards, and he starts realizing that he actually can't lose, and maybe the rabbit's foot actually works. And they're about to head out to the casinos when Sam and Dean bust in with their guns and demand the box back. And they see that it's been opened, and they see that what's been inside of it and no longer is inside of it is the rabbit's foot. So there's like this, I guess, comedic-ish fight scene where like- I don't remember the specifics of it.

G: I mean, everything just goes wrong for Sam and Dean until Sam gets hold of the rabbit's foot, and then everything goes right for them.

C: Yeah.

G: That's pretty much it!

C: That is pretty much it.

G: Which is sad, because these fight scenes are the funny parts of the episode.

C: Right, and we can't describe them.

G: It's not funny to describe them, though, like, yeah. So.

C: Yeah, it's just slapstick, you know, like, bookshelf falls on someone, Looney Toons physics.

G: Yeah, and it's like, there's a scene where like, Dean stands up and the guy points the gun somewhere else, but still hits Dean with the gun, like as with the body of the gun, and it's like, Dean falls, "Ah! Ow!" It's funny like that. But yeah.

C: Yeah. Love to see the Winchesters get beaten up. [G laughs]

C: So yeah, Sam has the rabbit's foot. He has touched it. And they go over to a Biggerson's, which- is this the first time that Biggerson's shows up in the show.?

G: I'm not sure, but you're probably right.

C: Okay, yeah. I know Biggerson's is very important because there's a little montage with cut scenes of Cas at a bunch of different Biggerson's. So yeah, so they're in the parking lot of this restaurant, and Sam's looking through John's journal for information about the rabbit's foot. Meanwhile, Dean has bought out a bunch of lottery tickets and keeps scratching them out to show that he has won like, tens of thousands of dollars.

G: They're so real.

C: Yeah. Right. And Sam's like, "Well, okay, but this is definitely cursed," and Dean's like, "Okay, yeah. But you just won $1200, so whatever." Meanwhile, Wayne and Grossman are lying there, beat up, and this beer bottle rolls over into the kitchen, and like, there's a lot of focus on it, so you know something is gonna go wrong here.

G: Yeah, it's like, beer bottle, and then like, on the sink, he props up the things on the sink to wash his face, and one of the things he props up is a carving knife. And it's like, "Okay, we get it. He's gonna fall on it and die."

C: [laughs] Yeah.

G: But it's so fun when it happens. It's still like, "Ooh!"

C: Ooh! He fell on it and died! Yeah, stabs him through his throat-

G: Yeah. I don't think it's that sharp, though. Do you think like, in real life that can happen? Like, a carving knife just through your skull?

C: No, well, it goes through his throat, not his skull, right?

G: Oh, really? Like the base of his neck kind of situation?

C: Yeah, kind of, yeah. And then it's like, sticking out through his mouth, and he's like bleeding and shit.

G: Ugh. Fun.

C: Fun!

-

G: We go to Dean and and Sam, and they're like, at a restaurant lot. And Dean is still doing the whole like, scratching cards, blah blah blah, while Sam is standing in the corner talking to Bobby. And Bobby is saying that he made the curse boxes, actually, so he knew about the storage unit. And the rabbit's foot is like, serious stuff, like, it's "real hoodoo," and it was made like, a hundred years ago, which at this point is like, 1907, right?

C: Yeah.

G: I feel like the whole like, "hundred years ago" thing doesn't work for our era now, because, like, 1920 doesn't seem that long ago.

C: Yeah.

G: You know what I mean?

C: Yeah, I mean, there was a world war going on and shit.

G: Sam says it's, "Oh, it's one hell of a luck charm." But Bobby clarifies that it's not a luck charm, it's actually really cursed, because yeah, it gives you luck, but after you lose it, your your luck just goes to shit. And Sam's like, "Well, I just won't lose it, then!" [C laughs] And Bobby says, "Well, everybody fucking loses it, you idjit." Or- he doesn't say idjit yet. He says that later. And Bobby says like, "Everybody loses it, but I'm gonna look for a way to destroy it. Let me consult my library and stuff." And then he ends the call, and also, all throughout this call, Sam is fiddling with a newspaper that's lying on the ground, and then he fiddles with it enough a gold watch shows up underneath it [C laughs], which I thought was funny.

C: Yeah, it is.

G: Anyway, Dean-

C: If Bobby can figure out a way to destroy it, what was the point of the curse boxes?

G: No, yeah, you're right! What is the point?

C: Maybe John would have sold it for more ammunition if he had to.

G: Exactly.

G: Anyway, they're up fifteen grand, you know, 'cause of the scratch tickets. That's a lot, right? 15 grand?

C: Yeah, that's fifteen thousand dollars. Let me convert that to Philippine pesos. Uh... where does the comma go? ₱885,000.

G: Oh yeah. That's a lot.

C: Yeah.

G: But it's not fifteen million, which is- no, it's not 1.5M, which is what Bela is gonna sell the rabbit's foot for. But not bad.

C: Yeah, yeah, she did not recoup her costs. So- or recoup her losses. Whatever. Okay. [both laugh]

So Sam and Dean, they go inside of Biggerson's. Dean says something about like, they should hit Vegas with the rabbit foot and like, do Rain Man. I don't- What is Rain Man about?

Yeah, okay, okay, I am right. Okay, this is a win for autistic Sam truthing.

G: Why? What is Rain Man?

C: I mean, I think it's- it's a movie about some guy who... Okay, yeah, I think the main character is based off of a quote unquote "autistic savant."

G: What the fuck is a savant?

C: I think it's just someone who has like, really high skills in a certain area?

G: Oh, okay, got it, yeah. [laughing] He's an expert at autism. [both laughing]

C: No, but I think it's like, someone who's disabled but has a lot of skill in a certain area, like, usually it's like a intellectual disability, plus like, a skill in a certain area. I'm not entirely sure. But yeah. Yeah. Sam is an expert at autism. [both laugh]

So they go in to the restaurant, and then there's like a whole, like "Congratulations!" and like, streamers going down on them because apparently they're the one millionth guest at this restaurant. They have a free meal-

G: For one year!

C: For one year.

G: Fun!

C: And they have a lot of photos being taken. And I was like, "This is gonna be plot relevant, right?" And soon, it was. So that's fun. And after that, we're back to Kubrick and Creedy [laughs], and it's just a brief exchange where Creedy is like, "We should go get food somewhere," and Kubrick's like, “Yeah, okay, I have like, canned peaches," and Creedy is like, "No! I'm trying to ask you on a date!" No, but he-

G: [laughs] Noo, here's what he said. "I have canned [both] everything." [laughs] That is so real.

C: Yeah.

G: Good for him.

C: Yeah, but no Creedy says like, "No, let's go to this restaurant that I know of that's really nice-"

G: And romantic-

C: "We should go on their website-" and romantic-

G: "And has homey atmosphere, beautiful lighting, someone playing [both] a violin on the side..." [laughs]

C: Yeah. "We can hold hands across the table," etc. But yeah, he's like, "Let's go on their website to look at the menu." Oh, also, apparently, there's a shot that shows that there's a "Jesus fish" on the window of the RV? What the fuck is a Jesus fish? Why didn't I catch that?

G: That's- wait, I'm not sure. I mean, the Jesus fish is like, an actual symbol of Jesus.

C: Oh, like there's a fish called the Jesus fish?

G: But I'm not sure- I'm not sure- No, there's like, a symbol that's like, fish-shaped, vaguely fish-shaped that's like, you know, a Jesus symbol.. I'm sure if you look up "Jesus fish" you'll find it.

C: Okay, yeah I'm looking it up. So it's just like, a fish and then sometimes, they write "Jesus" inside of it.

G: It's called an "ichthys"? I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that right.

C: Mm.

G: Sometimes they write Jesus inside it, but like, that symbol, like the-

C: Yeah, the two curved lines-

G: The sideways omega symbol, like that- [C starts laughing, G joins in] That's the Jesus symbol. [laughing] What?

C: [laughing] Nothing.

Wait, okay, what is that post about how like, if omegaverse was a real thing in the world, then that means that Jesus would have had to have a designation. And how there's an actual-

G: [laughing] Noo! Well, he's the alpha and the omega.

C: Yeah, the line in the Bible that says that "I am the alpha and the omega."

G: Yeah.

C: Good for him. Good for intersex Jesus. [G laughs] So-

G: Whenever we go to church, [laughs] there's like a symbol on the church door that's like, the alpha and omega symbol, and every time, I do laugh. Every time I'm like, "Haha, that's funny." So I love how the Internet has rotted my brain.

C: Yeah. So... where were we?

G: Oh, I think it's my turn.

C: Yeah, it's your turn.

-

G: So they're in the Biggerson's. They're seated now, and they're talking, and a waitress comes up, and it's like- the way they shoot her, it's like, you know how in Tom and Jerry and they don't show the adults?

C: Yeah.

G: They do that thing where it's like, just her body, but you can't see her head. For a while, but you do eventually see your face. She pours like, coffee, but then it spills over, and it's like, "Oh noo! Let me mop that up," and the way they they do it, it's supposed to be like she's flirting with Sam-

C: Right, like, I think it's supposed to be like, "Ooh, like, cleavage" [laughs] or whatever, I don't even know.

G: No no no! It's just like, she's like leaning towards him, you know, and the way she's mopping the coffee is like, so exaggerated that it's like, "Oh, she's putting on a show for Sam Winchester." I think that's the vibe. I don't think it's cleavage necessarily. I don't think we see her cleavage.

C: Yeah, yeah, I think that it's a high-collared shirt. Yeah, and Sam and Dean are being so fucking horny about it. [G laughs] It's like, embarrassing for them

G: Like, she walks away, and then she looks over, and like, Sam and Dean are like, [dazed] "Huh? Huh. Hm." [C laughs] And then Dean was like, "Well, if you're ever gonna get lucky..." And Sam-

C: Right. What are the consent issues-

G: I know!

C: Are there consent issues in terms of getting sex by having a rabbit's foot?

G: I know.

C: Well, we'll never know.

G: We will never know. Thankfully! I don't- [laughs] you know what? I don't want to know.

C: Yeah.

G: Anyway, just as Sam was like, trying to get up, the coffee spills over on him, and then, he sends a tray flying up, and Sam and Dean are like, "Oh, no! Did you lose the rabbit's foot?" and Sam goes to his pocket, takes it out, and it's not there! Dean goes, [deepens voice] "Son of a bitch!" [C laughs] and then we cut to-

C: Woo!

G: Bela, who is wearing this uglyass wig.

C: So ugly.

G: Truly atrocious. Truly so ugly.

C: I can't believe they were attracted to her when she was in that

G: She looked like Edna from like, what's that? You know- you know what I'm talking about.

C: The Incredibles?

G: Yeah. [laughs] She looks like Velma from Scooby Doo, who is a lesbian icon-

C: Who is a lesbian icon.

G: - and Edna from The Incredibles combined.

C: Yeah, who is also a lesbian icon.

G: Yeah, you know what? They're all lesbians to me.

C: Yeah. Bela is a lesbian.

G: You're so real. And she takes off the wig, and it reveals her beautiful brown hair. Is it brown? I think it may be a blonde.

C: I would consider her blonde.

G: That would be blonde, right?

C: Yeah, we forgive her for her sins. [G laughs]

G: Her sins being that she's British and she's blonde.

C: Yeah, it's difficult, but you know, sometimes people are worth it. [G laughs]

G: Yeah. And there's- it's like, in slow motion, music is playing, and it's super fun! And then yeah.

C: Yeah, and she specifically has the rabbit's foot with her, and it is wrapped in a towel, so she has not touched it, but she does have it.

G: Exactly.

C: Yeah.

-

C: So Sam and Dean are like, "Ah, shit! We gotta go after her," and as they run, Sam just fucking falls on his face.

G: Exactly, yeah.

C: Hilarity. His jeans get torn.

G: Ripped! Yeah.

C: Ripped really badly. What a fashion icon. Ahead of his time.

G: Exactly.

C: Yeah. When did ripped jeans become like, a big thing in your peers? I feel like it took me- I feel like I wasn't until, like fifth grade or something.

G: I remember- you know what? You're probably right. Because I remember, I only started wearing pants- because I was always a dress person when I was younger, like skirts, dresses. I only started wearing pants when I moved out, essentially, like, went to high school in a different city. And I already was doing ripped jeans at the time, so that was like, seventh grade, right? So probably like, sixth grade is when it came into fashion.

C: Yeah, that makes sense.

G: So that's your fifth grade.

C: Yeah, yeah.

G: I mean, like, I remember vividly that like, I really liked Five Seconds of Summer [laughs] when I was younger.

C: [laughing] Yeah? Uh-huh?

G: Like, around that age. And most of my- like, I went into high school, and I was like, "Well, I need to buy clothes, because, you know, I'm going to a new place." And the entire time, I was like, "Well, you know what my fashion choices would be based upon?" [both laughing] It will be based on Dean Supernatural [C laughing] and Five Seconds of Summer.

C: So real.

G: And so I just bought ripped jeans, plaid shirts, like, that was my attire. [laughing] And it still is! I still go out in that shit! [both laughing] So yeah.

C: Oh, god. This is your brain on Supernatural

G: And Five Seconds of Summer.

C: And Five Seconds of Summer.

So now, like, Dean's like, "I wonder how bad your luck is gonna turn." And obviously, we cut right to Kubrick and Creedy on the Biggerson’s website, and they see, on the front page, a photo of Sam and Dean Winchester.

G: Yeah.

C: But before they see the photo, they're like having the most inane conversation where Kubrick's like, “Oh, yeah, that looks good. I like when they drop the whole onion in the fryer.” [both laughing]

G: I was- when he said that, I was like, "He's being sarcastic," but he says with a completely straight face-

C: Yeah. He likes it when they drop the whole onion in the fryer!

G: He does like it. Yeah.

C: My god.

G: You know what? We don't get to see enough male friendships that are like, this wholesome in media. I feel like men really are just like this. They're like, "Yeah, the- [C laughing] the onion in the fryer was really good!" So-

C: What's the Tumblr post that's like, "I went out with my bro to like, an Outback Steakhouse, but-"

G: [laughing] "And then he ordered-!"

C: "He ordered a Bloomin' Onion, thus turning this completely platonic hangout into a [overlapping] romantic tryst." Yeah.

G: So real.

C: That is Creedy's goal, but, alas, Jesus has stopped them. [G laughs]

G: I love- I honestly think it's so funny, the whole Jesus thing that they are doing in this episode.

C: Yeah, I agree.

G: It's fucking hilarious. You know what? People who are into Jesus really are just like this. [both laughing]

C: Are you speaking from personal experience? [G laughs]

Right, so like, when they see this picture, like, Kubrick, looks up into the sky, and he's like, "Oh my god, thank you Jesus for sending me here," blah blah blah.

G: [laughing] I know! "Sending me Sam Winchester," yeah.

-

G: We cut to the apartment or the motel room or whatever from earlier, and it's Grossman holding a picture [C laughs] of the guy who just died.

C: [laughing] Sorry, Grossman!

G: And it's so funny. It's genuinely hilarious. What even goes on? And he's like crying, and he's holding like a liquor bottle. I'm not sure. I think it's a clear liquor. And he's like, pouring it on the floor as in like a "This is a tribute to my bro."

C: Yeah. I mean, like, we do pour like, alcohol on graves sometimes.

G: Oh, yeah, of course. They do that in Supernatural, too, which is how I learned that people do that.

C: Yeah. Oh, I learned it from like going to my grandfather's grave and watching people do it. [laughs]

G: Yeah?

C: Yeah.

G: That's fun, yeah.

C: It is fun.

G: Is it like a Chinese thing, or is it like, that's just something people do everywhere?

C: I don't know if it's a Chinese thing or- yeah, it might just- I mean, if it happens on Supernatural, it probably happens in America and China, at least.

G: You know who they do it to?

C: Is it Bobby?

G: No, no, no.

C: Rufus?

G: It's Rufus! Yeah.

C: Yeah. Aww.

G: Because he likes the Blue Label Johnnie Walker, and like, when he's introduced, they were like- Bobby was like, "Yeah, get him a Blue Label." And so that's why he lets Dean into the house, because Dean is like, "And I got you this!" [both laugh] And when he died, they poured a Blue Label bottle on his grave.

C: Aww.

G: RIP.

C: RIP.

G: I miss him every day. I haven't met him yet in this podcast, and yet I miss him every day.

C: I haven't met him yet at all, but he is one of my ex-fiancee's favorite characters, so I trust that I will like him.

G: He is so fun. He feels like a person, he's well fleshed-out, etc etc. Love him.

C: Yeah.

G: And his dynamic with everyone that surrounds him is so fun. And like, we've all said that Bobbyrufus is the-

C: Yeah.

G: But they are, though. [laughs]

C: Yeah. They are

G: The door opens, and it's Sam and Dean. And Dean is literally holding a gun. And it's like, what a way- you know what? Dean's method of deescalating a situation [C laughs]: Show up unprompted, holding a gun. And then that's the end of his-

C: [laughing] He got Grossman through a hard time by making it worse!

G: [laughing] - by making it worse. And he's like, "Well, who gave you the instruction to steal the rabbit’s foot?" And he was like, "It's a woman, right?: And Grossman was like, "How did you know?" And Dean says, "Because she stole it back from us." And while Grossman's laughing about this, Sam's like, "This is serious, man! Listen to us." And then he falls over [C laughs], and then, you know, and then Dean is facing forward because he's trying to be intimidating, but he's like, [tough guy voice] "Sam, are you okay?" And Sam's like, "Yeah." And as he's pulling himself up, Grossman is like, "I'm not gonna tell you her name," blah blah blah. Dean was like, "You can not tell us her name, but, like, your friend died because of this cursed object, and you know it, because you've seen it do its work, and it's gonna kill more people. It's gonna kill my brother, etc. And I know you're scumbag and a thief-"

C: [laughs] Christ.

G: "- but you're not a killer," and he says [laughs], he says, "I can read people."

C: [laughing] Yeah!

G: "And you are a thief, a scumbag, an asshole, a terrible person, your dad didn't love you-" [both laugh]

C: "I hate you, you're disgusting, give me two hundred dollars..."

G: "But you're not a killer." And Grossman's like, "Yeah, you're right."

C: Jesus Christ.

G: Yeah. He- It's funny, though, because this is- they do a callback to this later, and it's incredibly funny.

C: It's worth it for the callback. I- Dean is so like, high and mighty to Grossman and Bela this episode. And it's like, I mean, he did credit card fraud. Like, how is it different?

G: He literally- like, he thinks of himself as such a Robin Hood hero, you know?

C: Yup.

G: And he has his moments, but come on. Come on, Dean.

C: What this man did was he stole a box from an abandoned storage facility whose owner is dead that you never even knew about, so literally, what was gonna happen with the box anyway?

G: Yeah. It's not his fault.

C: Yeah.

G: And his friend just died. Come on, Dean!

C: Yeah.

G: Noo!

C: What?

G: I mean the next scene is like, Kubrick and Creedy are in a van, and apparently, the van is like covered with stickers about Jesus. "Bethlehem or Bust"? [both laugh] That's one of the stickers.

C: Good.

G: God. He's so funny.

C: It is.

G: Does he come back? I don't think he does.

C: It seems like he would, but yeah, I don't think he does. I don't know.

G: But it will be so funny if he comes back, and he's like, still the Jesus guy. I want to see a Kubrick conversion arc where he's like, he becomes disillusioned with religion, and he realized it was just a rabbit's foot.

C: Yeah.

G: And he becomes just like me. He's just like me for real. [both laugh]

C: [laughing] Being gay, finding a cursed rabbit's foot, we all find different paths out of religion.

G: Exactly.

C: Yeah. I want to see him interact with Godstiel. I feel like that would be fun.

G: Yeah. They should kiss. [C laughs]

C: They should.

-

C: So yeah. So Kubrick and Creedy are yeah, near their RV. Apparently, Creedy's been searching Biggerson's to see if Sam and Dean are there, but Kubrick’s like, "No, don't worry. We'll find them. Because there's a higher power at work here."

G: Wait! [laughs] Wait. The rest of the stickers- I said "Bethlehem or Bust." But let's talk about the rest of these stickers. "How would Jesus drive?" Which is like, I get that, It's like, you know, be kind on the road. I get that. "'Don't make me come down there.' - God." [both laugh]

C: Yep.

G: That's hilarious.

C: It is hilarious. What a man!

G: Yeah. At least he has a sense of humor, you know?

C: Yeah.

G: I mean, if you're gonna be religious, you have to be funny about it.

C: I agree.

So Dean gets a call from Bobby. But, you know, the important thing that's happening is Sam in the background, who [G laughs] steps on a wad of bubble gum, and then decides that the best way to deal with this is to try to scrape it off his shoe by like, scraping his shoe against a grate, and then his shoe falls down the entire grate.

G: [laughs] Yeah.

C: And he looks so fucking wet and pathetic this entire scene. It's great. I love him. I feel like this scene has been in like every single Sam AMV that I've seen that's made by someone who doesn't care about Sam.

G: Yeah, because it's in the- it's in the scenepack.

C: Yeah, in that one YouTube compilation of like "Sam funny smiling moments," or whatever it's called. Yeah.

But yeah, so what Dean is doing on the phone is that Bobby says that like, "I found this cleansing ritual that'll like, neutralize the rabbit's foot." And Dean's like, "Yeah, but uh... Sam lost it." He says, "This hot chick [laughs] stole it from him." And apparently, she had a an alias that she gave the guy that she hired. He said, "Luigi or something?" But it was Legosi.

Do you think- What do you think Dean thinks about Chris Pratt in the Mario movie?

G: [laughs] Well, we know he likes to whoo-hoo [C laughs], so.

C: [laughing] Isn't that a Sims thing?

G: No, like, "Whoo-hoo!" That's a Mario thing, right?

C: Okay, yeah, that is a Mario thing.

G: Yeah.

C: Yeah. So Bobby realizes that, "Oh, well, that is Bela's alias. Her name is Bela Talbot." And Dean asks if she's a hunter, and Bobby says, "Pretty frickin' far from a hunter, but she knows her way around the territory." Apparently, she was in the Middle East earlier, but now she's back. And he knows a little bit about where to find her. And after Dean hangs up, Sam is standing there looking like a kicked puppy, and he says, [sadly] “I lost my shoe.” What a king. Love him!

G: Yeah. Also, this is the part where Bobby says for the first time, "ya idjit!"

C: Oh!

G: Which is his tagline. Yeah. He says it when he's telling Dean to look out for Sam. And it's a tagline, this is where it begins. Good for them. I love how it's like already- Like, when did they edit this transcript? When did they make this transcript? Because in the transcript I'm reading right now, it has- it's already spelled "idjit," like the way they spell it. But like obviously that's, you know. Like, I wonder if in the script they were like, "And he's going to say idjit, but he's gonna say it this certain way. He's not gonna say 'idiot.'"

C: Yeah.

G: I- yeah.

C: Yeah. Fun times.

G: Anyway, [laughs] Sam lost his shoe. [both laugh] And next we know, Sam and Dean are like, driving to a motel. And Dean is on the phone, and it's like, "Oh, yeah, Bela is in Queens. It's gonna be two hours away. But you're gonna stay here in the motel because I'm not gonna let your bad luck get us both killed." So they open the door, and they enter the motel, and Dean was like, "You sit there, don't do anything, don't even scratch your nose," [C laughs]. Sam was like, "Okay," and Dean goes out, and Sam immediately scratches his nose, which I love.

C: Yeah. Good for him.

G: So Bela is in an apartment in Queens. She looks affluent, you know. She looks rich. And you know what?

C: What?

G: I feel like Supernatural should have had more British people who were not rich. Like Tamara was like, she had a nice accent, you know? We need someone with a Cockney accent. [laughs] Is that what it's called?

C: Yeah.

G: Yeah, someone who's like, "What's up, bruv?" [both laugh] That's not-

C: [laughing] I don't know how accurate that is, but yes, I agree with the sentiment.

G: Yeah, we need a bruv to be in Supernatural.

C: Yeah,

G: Anyway- Wait. There's actually quite a bit of British people in the show.

C: Well, there's Crowley.

G: Yeah.

C: There's the whole Men of Letters.

G: Yeah, exactly, that's what I was on.

C: There's a whole season about British people in the show.

G: Yeah, and then the moral of the story is that British people are fucking evil. Exactly.

C: [laughs] Yeah.

G: And she's on the phone with someone, and she's like, "Well, you know, your reputation doesn't scare me. And if you don't pay me the 1.5, then goodbye to this rabbit's foot." And

she has a cat, very cute cat, love it.

C: Yes.

G: I was afraid that the cat was gonna get shot later.

C: Ohh, yeah.

G: But the cat was not shot. So that's fine,

Anyway, what- she hears like, scuffing in the back. She like looks at her array of security cameras, and she's like, "Oh, someone's here," and she gets the tiniest fucking gun [C laughs] from her wine cabinet. This gun is tiny. It's like, so small.

C: Yeah.

G: How does it- how small do guns get?

C: I don't know.

G: Yeah, I also don't know anything about gun.

C: I think I've never seen one. 

G: You've never seen a gun? Are you serious?

C: Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've never seen one.

G: Really.

C: Yeah, like besides in movies.

G: Well, that's interesting. That's probably the experience of most people, though. Yeah.

C: Yeah. You said you had classmates who were really into guns?

G: No, those are like, you know, they're just into video games where you're first person shooter. But I have seen like, a gun in real life. Yeah, anyway. She goes around, and Dean is there. And Dean goes like, "You left without your tip," because, you know, the waiter thing. And yeah.

C: Specifically, when she goes over to her array of security cameras, there's like, a post-it note on it that says, “Turn around.”

G: Turn around! Yeah, yeah, yeah! I forgot about that.

C: Yeah, which is very fun. And she turns around, and Dean’s there, pointing a gun at her. But also like, how fucking dramatic does Dean have to be [G laughing] to like- the effort! The effort! He had to put it on there, he had to position himself, he had to make sure she was there at the right time, that she was looking the right place. He had to have like, a post-it pad and a pen on him. Like, I forget to bring that stuff to class. How do you remember to bring that to like, your break-in?

G: [laughing] There's a gifset going around recently of Dean- there's a witch going like, "Oh, a gun, it's not gonna work-"

C: Oh, the witch-killing bullets thing?

G: [laughing] "It's not gonna work on me!" And then Dean raises a post-it note that just says, "Witch-killing bullets."

C: Okay, so this man just really likes dramatic post-it note reveals.

G: It's so funny!

C: Yeah, that is so funny.

G: Literally, he could have just said, "They're witch-killing bullets." Bam. Like, what? I don't know. It's hilarious.

C: Yeah. I mean, what TV show or movie character do you think he stole this from? [G laughs]

G: Well, I've I've never seen it before, so.

C: Yeah, that's true. I feel like it's like a thing that you would see in like- I don't know. For some reason, I think you would see it in Westerns, but I don't know why.

G: [laughing] I don't think they have post-it notes from that time.

C: I'm thinking about the guns and the flags coming out of guns.

G: Oh, yeah, yeah, that's different.

C: Yeah, I feel like it's sort of like that. And Bad Day at Black Rock is a Western, like the name of the episode is a Western movie. So yeah. I wonder if anything in here is a reference. Yeah, okay.

G: Well, we'll never know.

C: We'll never know, because we'll never watch it, and we don't give a shit. [both laugh] Yeah, god. Dean is such a drama queen.

-

C: So meanwhile, in the motel, Sam’s literally just sitting in the chair, rocking back and forth. And then suddenly, the AC on the wall starts like, smoking, and it's bad. And Sam's like, [whiny, high-pitched] "Aw, I didn't even do anything!" in like, the most pathetic voice. So he goes over, it catches on fire, he tries to put the fire out with a blanket on the bed, and then he lifts up his sleeve, his sleeve is on fire, he tries to put it out with the curtain, but as he does that, he accidentally like, tears off the entire curtain, and then looking into the window, standing right there, are Kubrick and Creedy. [laughs]

G: Exactly.

C: It's a good scene. It is a funny scene.

G: Yeah, it's hilarious.

C: I appreciate it.

G: I can't believe I completely forgot about these guys, though. Like Kubrick and Creedy. Because I remember this episode so well. Like, I remember it's so well. But I have absolutely no recollection of this B-plot. So-

C: Yeah.

G: Anyway, Dean and Bela are talking. And Dean is like, "You're gonna give it back," and Bela's like, "No, I'm not." And it just goes on for a while, and it's like, "You know it's cursed," and Bela's like, "Yeah, but people will pay for something like this. Lucrative market out there. And all those amulet and talismans you use to stop those big bad monsters; any one of them could put your children's children through college." Fun.

C: Fun.

G: And Dean is being so judgmental-

C: Yeah. Get over yourself.

G: "This is what you choose to do about everything that you know?"

C: Blah blah blah blah blah.

G: And "You become a thief?" And it's like- [C laughs] It's literally in a storage unit of a dead person, and you didn't even know that the storage unit was a thing. Like, shut the fuck up.

C: Yeah. And also, even if she was stealing things from alive people, like, whatever?

G: Like, obviously, you don't need this, and it's a relief to have it not on you anymore. And like, the people who are acquiring these stuff, probably know how to handle it because- you know?

C: Yeah. And if they don't, they're clearly rich, so whatever they have coming to them, like, whatever.

G: Who cares? Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. And she's like- and Dean is like, "You're a thief." And Bela's like, "No. I'm a great thief." I love it!

C: Yeahh! Good for her.

G: I love it. Go Bela.

-

C: So meanwhile, Sam is getting duct-taped to a chair. And yeah, apparently, as soon as he saw them, he just passed out, so that's why they didn't even have to fight him to get him in the chair. And yeah, Kubrick tells Sam like, “Initially, your friend Gordon sent me." And Sam goes, "Gordon? Come on!" Bro. Just deal with the consequences of your actions. Yeah, and then Kubrick says, "Yeah, he said that I should go kill you. But, you know, I'm actually on a mission from God!" And then he slaps Sam across the face. Ouchie.

Meanwhile, Dean and Bela have more of a standoff, and Dean's like, begging for the rabbit's foot because Sam's gonna die and Bela's like, "Okay, well, you can have it if you can pay me 1.5 million dollars." And yeah, Bela reveals that she found the foot by like, communicating with the ghosts of the people that it killed, which is very cool of her.

G: Yeah.

C: That is a fun job. And Dean's like, "So you're only out for yourself, huh? It's all about number one?" Who wrote this dialogue? I mean, Ben Edlund. But why wrote this dialogue? [laughs]

G: [laughs] What is "It's all about number one?" It's all about money? Is that what he's saying?

C: I think number one just means like, yourself, which is just repeating the same thing.

G: Ah, okay. I was confused because I was like, you know, I think of "number one" as like, peeing [C laughing] because, like, number one/number two. And I was like, "What? It's all about what?

C: [laughing] "So you're only out for yourself? It's all to fund your piss kink, Bela?"

G: Exactly. [C laughs]

C: Right. I guess, okay, so should we try to unpack why Dean is so judgmental about this?

G: Well, because I think it's because he was taught from like, a very early age that to justify what they're doing, which is like, to justify like, being out of school, and being, you know, moving, all this, and like, having such an unstable life, John, justified it to him as "We're saving people."

C: Right.

G: So like, it's very important for him that he that that sometimes illusion, sometimes reality remains intact that like, "We are saving people, and it's very important that we're saving people, and it's our job to save people, and we have to care about other people even more than ourselves." So like, seeing someone be like- this is not even selfish. She's just doing her job.

C: Mm.

G: Like, seeing someone be like, "I know about the supernatural, but it's not my job-"

C: "I don't give a shit about saving people." [sneezes twice]

G: Like, "It's not my job to save everyone," but to Dean, it's his job to save everyone.

C: Yeah. Yeah, I think he's jealous of her.

G: Yeah.

C: Strongly so. And I mean, he's right. She has a great job, and she has great outfits, and he could be just like her for real.

G: Yeah.

C: Yeah. So Bela says like, "Being a hunter is so much more noble? A bunch of obsessed, revenge-driven sociopaths trying to save a world that can't be saved?" So true.

G: She's so real.

C: She's so correct. Yeah. And she also says, "We're all going to Hell, Dean. Might as well enjoy the ride." Queen. And Dean's like, "Yeah, okay, I agree with you there. But uh, I'm leaving because, guess what? I got the rabbit's foot." Yeah, okay, and then his last words to her are, "If it's any consolation, I think you're a truly awful person." Girl. What? Why? What is the point? What is the point?

G: Why does he hate her so much?

C: Yeah, I mean, we have tried to unpack that, but like, it's just so unnecessary.

G: No, yeah, exactly.

C: Like, I feel like they- Like, Walter is way worse than her, and like, they, it feels incredibly like patronizing, I think, is what's happening. 'Cause it's like, there are antagonists out there where they're like, "Well, clearly they suck. Whatever. Let's defeat them and leave." But the fact that, like, he's like specifically like, sitting her down and being like, "No. Bad girl." [laughs] You know?

G: Yeah.

C: It's weird. It's weird. The only other times that Dean does something like this are like in "Asylum" when he's like, "You're silly for not listening to what the horror movies tell you, you silly little teenager," but like, this is a full-grown woman.

G: Yeah.

C: And he's like, "I think you're a terrible person, [G laughs] and you should be better and go to church" or something [laughs], you know?

G: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

C: Yeah. Oh, well. Well, she is so much cooler and sexier than he will ever be. So it's fine.

What's her line later? Like, "How do you sleep at night?" Like, "Naked, rolling in silk sheets," or whatever?

G: Yeah.

C: Yeah. Good for her.

G: Good for her.

C: So Dean jets, and he has the rabbit's foot.

G: He shouts, "See ya!" [laughs] Which I thought was funny.

C: And he does see her.

G: Yeah.

-

G: So back to Sam. And you know, they're like, torturing Sam.

C: Yeah. Not doing well.

G: They're punching and like, throwing water at him, and they're like, "You opened the gate, didn't you? You know about what's happening, don't you? You know what's gonna happen," blah blah blah. And it's like, Sam is just sitting there like, [flatly] "I don't know. I have no powers anymore. I know nothing. I am but a child on the street [C laughs], begging for alms." Like he- you know. And yeah.

C: Yeah. Poor dude.

G: And then- [laughs] this is when Kubrick goes like, "Ask yourself, why are we here? Because God led us here to do his work. This is destiny." And Dean comes in and just goes, "No, no, destiny. Just rabbit's foot." And he puts down his gun. And Kubrick is like, "Who are you? Put down your gun." And Dean is like, "Okay!" And he puts down his gun, and he says, "But you see, I don't need my gun. Because it's my lucky day." And he picks up a pen, throws it at the person, and the pen jams the barrel of the gun, you know? And he's like, "Oh my god! That's so fun!" And then they do this whole fight scene where it's like, comically easy. Like, Dean throws a remote which knocks the person out. Stuff like that. And then, he goes. “I'm Batman.”

C: [laughs] Jesus fucking Christ.

G: And Sam's just sitting there like, [bored] "Yeah, I guess you're Batman."

C: Ugh. Absolute loser behavior! Is this like- why did he say, "I’m Batman"? Does Batman not use guns because he doesn't kill people? Is that what Dean is referencing?

G: No idea. I have no idea. I've never seen a Batman movie and never read a Batman comic. Barely know who Batman is.

C: Yeah. I mean, I watched the latest Batman movie.

G: Oh, the Robert Pattinson!

C: With Robert Pattinson, yeah.

G: The most I've seen of Batman is that gif that people post where it's like, they exchange the models. So like, I think it's a video game, and like, there's a woman in the video game, and then there's Batman, but they exchange the model so like-

C: Oh yeah!

G: - the action of the woman is in the Batman form, and he's walking so ridiculously and swaying his hips- yeah. That's most the most I've seen of Batman.

C: Yeah. I think that's all you need to see. [G laughs]

G: That's all you need!

C: Yeah. And that is what Dean was referencing, in fact.

G: [laughing] Exactly.

C: So okay, so back to the Sam losing his power thing. Okay, so the assumption is that

what? Like, Azazel was sending him the visions? Like, what are the mechanics?

G: I think it was just like, the source of the power is gone, so yeah, you know, his powers are also gone.

C: Right, okay, But like the powers came from him having demon blood. Like, is the demon blood, no longer like valid when the demon who owns the blood dies?

G: No idea. I genuinely have no idea.

C: Because Ruby dies, and he was getting a bunch of powers from drinking her blood, so-

G: No, that's not true!

C: Oh, right. "You never needed the feather to fly, Dumbo, it was in you all along," blah blah blah.

G: Yeah. It was always him all along.

C: Yeah. But doesn't he still have to glug a bunch of jugs of demon blood when he says yes to Lucifer or something? And doesn't he also drink a lot of demon blood on "My-"

G: I- look.

C: Yeah? [laughs]

G: I am not a Supernatural expert. [both laugh] I know I seem like I am-

C: But you've watched all of Supernatural, and I only know about it from social media!

G: I know it seems like I am, but I actually know nothing about this show. So-

C: Alright. [laughs] Yeah. Well, yeah, okay. I mean, they didn't make a big deal about him losing his powers. You'd think that it'd be a bigger deal. He didn't even have a vision for like, when was Sam's last vision in season 2?

G: Huh. I think during the Ava episode?

C: Yeah. So he hasn't had visions since 2.10?

G: Yeah, you're right.

C: And it wasn't even a big deal when Azazel was alive, and then Azazel's dead, and he still doesn't have visions? Yeah, whatever. It's confusing. I'm confused. But that's Supernatural for you.

G: Yeah.

C: Yeah. 

-

C: So now they're at the cemetery, and they're about to burn the rabbit's foot. They have a bunch of ingredients, they have a fire going, and Sam's trying to get it in the fire ASAP, and Dean’s like, “Wait wait wait wait wait! Let me finish this pile of lottery tickets." Which, yeah. So true. I would also do that. And they're about to toss it in the fire when we hear a gun, and it's Bela!

G: Whoo!

C: And Bela- oh my god, it's Bela. And yeah, she says, like, "That belongs to me, or, you know, whatever." And she says, “Put the foot down, honey.” And I like Bela's use of pet names in this episode quite a bit.

G: Mm-hm.

C: I think it's a fun little like character trait for her to have, and I mean, she's just like Dean for real, right?

G: Yeah.

C: Like, she is just like Dean for real. Dean- what's Dean's thing? Sweetheart? Is that what he says when he's being mean?

G: Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. Exactly.

C: Yeah. I'm glad that she has her own sweetheart.

G: "Sweetheart, I don't do shorts." Yeah, that's him.

C: Yeah. “Sweetheart, this isn't gender studies”? Is that also him?

G: Yeah yeah yeah. [laughs] Imagine he was like, "Bitch! [both laugh] This isn't gender studies!"

C: [laughing] "This isn't gender studies, you fucking cunt!" [G laughs] Yeah.

Yeah, so she has the gun pointed, and Dean tries to bring back the thing that worked on Wayne, which was like, "No, you're not going to shoot anybody. See, I happen to be able to read people. You're a thief, fine. But you're not-" But before he can say "a killer," Bela fucking shoots Sam and the shoulder.

G: Exactly. She's so real.

C: God. She's so hot.

G: I loove her.

C: Yeah, she's great. I love her. She's amazing. I don't know what like, fans thought about her at the time. I feel like that they were negative?

C: Well, we'll see later.

C: We'll see on IMDb later, yeah. Yeah. Oh, and then she calls him "tiger" when she says, "Back off, tiger," which is also fun. Yeah. And yeah, Bela's like, "Yeah, okay, you have the rabbit's foot, so like, I can't actually manage to shoot you. But, you know, Sam doesn't, so- haha." Dean goes like, [high-pitched, distressed] "What the fuck is wrong with you? You don't just go around shooting people like that." He's like- he does sound like that, basically.

G: [laughs] Yeah.

C: In my mind. Right. And Bela's like, "Get over it. It's a shoulder hit. I can aim."

G: Just like me for real! Literally, I said this earlier, it's just a shoulder, shut the fuck up.

C: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And she says like, "Besides, who here hasn't shot a few people?" So real. Yeah. So she demands that he put the rabbit's foot on the ground, and Dean seems to comply, but then he throws it at her, and, like, on instinct, she catches it. So she has touched it, so now she has the curse. Which I think was a fun way to sort of resolve this.

G: Yeah.

C: Because she's like, “Damn it. Like, I guess now, because I will lose it eventually, let's just destroy it.” And the next scene is just Bela dropping the foot in the fire, and they're just like, having the world's most awkward little campfire moment together. It's great. Yeah. And, you know, Bela's complaining about her lost money. Sam and Dean are being like, "Ugh. Who cares?"

G: [laughs] Who give a shit?

C: Who give a shit. And she says goodbye and walks away. Ugh. I wish they were friends after this. Wouldn't it be fun if they were friends after this?

G: Yeah. I- yeah. I think like, a very begrudging like, allyship would have been fun.

C: Yeah! Like, "Well, I stole this from you, you stole it back, you threw it at me, what a smart move. And now, we're just sitting here with our arms crossed, watching it burn. Do you want to play a round of poker?" you know?

G: Exactly. Yeah.

-

G: So like, while walking back to the car, Dean is like, "Oh, wait wait wait! The-" what's that?

C: The lottery tickets?

G: "We got $46,000-"

C: God.

G: That's actually a lot. That's more than-

C: It is a lot.

G: Yeah. $46,000 worth of scratch tickets, blah blah blah. And then he reaches out for his pocket, and the scratch tickets are gone. [C laughs] And then over in the distance, they hear Bela’s car fucking just roaring on the street and Dean’s like, “[gasps] Son of a bitch!” [C laughs] Yeah. Fun stuff!

C: Alright. And there's a shot of her inside the car-

G: Yeah! And she has the tickets!

C: And she's like, counting them and smiling. She looks great. She's doing so good.

G: Yeah. Meanwhile, we're back in prison, and Kubrick is talking to Gordon, and he was like, “You were right about everything. Sam Winchester is the adversary. And God, He told me about it. He led me to Sam Winchester. His will is clear." And Gordon's like, "... Okay."

C: "Okay..." [both laugh]

G: "Okay..."

C: Like, "So true, bestie...!"

G: "Cool! Whatever gets you on the boat!" And he's like, "First things first, we gotta get me out of here. 'Cause like I told you before, Sam Winchester must die." And the thing is like, okay, my problem with this scene is like, you know, it's good because it's like, ominous, you know, it's like "Ooh." But also, it's so funny to me that Gordon was like, "Get me out of here, because, like I said earlier in the very first scene of this episode [C laughs], where I said something good, and then we cut to the splash screen, and everyone was like 'Ooh! That's a good line,' I must repeat that line. 'Sam Winchester must die.'" [C laughs]

C: Yeah, it's important.

G: It's important.

C: It's important.

-

G: So, post episode thoughts. What are yours?

C: Oh, I mean, I like Bela a lot. There were some funny moments in the episode. I feel like when I was watching it, my main emotion was just like, "Why are there so many characters and plotlines- why are there so many random duos of men that I don't care about happening?" But like it was fun, I think.

G: Yeah. Talking about the duos of men that we don't care about actually made me kind of care about them! So- [C laughs]

C: Yeah. A win for duos of men we don't care about.

G: I would say this episode was super fun, super funny. It's good. And the thing is, the past two episodes of season 6- [laughs] "season 6"- season 3- have been very good, and I'm excited. It's making me excited for season 3. Like, "Oh my god, we're gonna see Bela again! That's so fun! Oh my god, we're gonna see Ruby again. Isn't that so fun?"

C: Yeah.

G: And it's like, it's building up to something, and the something is, you know, Dean dying. But like, whatever. It's still fun. And I'm glad that I'm having fun again.

C: Yeah!

G: Because, like we said a couple of episodes back, we and Supernatural, we're having a [both] divorce. But now, we're- I think we're back together. [laughs]

C: I don't know if I'm back together with Supernatural yet. But, you know, I could get there.

G: Yeah. We're attending couples therapy with Supernatural.

C: Yeah. It's so fun that they didn't even know that Sam was gonna be Lucifer's vessel yet, and yet he is the adVERsary. The ADversary? Whatever it is.

G: Who cares? [laughs]

C: Yeah.

G: Yeah. How about- What do we do after this? Best Line/Worst Line.

Agh. You know what? Every single time I'm like, "Best Line/Worst Line!" I'm always like- the spike of anxiety that I feel [C laughs] because I have no recollection of any of the lines in this show.

C: [laughs] Uh-huh. Yeah, same. Can Bela's gunshot at the end be an honorary best line? It's not a line, but it is a line. The line is “bam.”

G: What do you mean Bela's gunshot?

C: Like, when Dean's like, "I know you're not a killer!"and then she just shoots Sam in the shoulder.

G: Oh yeah! It's a comedic timing thing. So yeah, sure. Yeah. That's funny.

C: Okay, yeah. The best line is "bam." [laughs] And I think it also says something about Bela. It's a good character-building moment.

G: Yeah, it's like, "Oh, you think I'm not capable of-" you know? Things like that.

C: Yeah.

G: I think my best line would be [laughing], “Don't touch my personal Jesus.” [both laugh] Because it's like, it's funny in the moment, because it's like, "What are they doing?" And then they establish it, and looking back at it, it gets funnier and funnier.

C: Yeah, it does.

G: I find it so amusing that they're making fun of this guy, and it works so well. Like, he is worthy of making fun of, and it's just hilarious to me.

C: I agree.

G: Worst line.

C: Worst line, “If it's any consolation, I think you're a truly awful person.”

G: Mm-hm. Yeah. Which you explained earlier, yeah.

C: Like, you're so annoying. Shut up, Dean. [laughs]

G: Uh, I think my worst line would be- you know, I don't have a worst line, so I'm hitching my wagon on your wagon-

C: Nice. Sounds good.

G: - and declaring that that as also my worst line.

Okay, How about our rate- like our- we should have an official name for this segment, for this corner.

C: Okay.

G: The misogyny/racism tab.

C: Yeah, the misogyny/racism tab.

G: Let's just call it- let's just call it The Spreadsheet Corner.

C: Alright.

G: So what's more of our spreadsheet numbers for this episode?

C: Huh. Hard to say. I think- they weren't-

G: I think it's- yeah.

C: I don't think it's worthy of a point in either category. I mean, the fact that Gordon is here at all, like, Gordon as a character is born out of very racist ideals, but like-

G: But not in this episode, yeah.

C: I feel like he doesn't do that much in this episode, yeah.

G: He's more of a plot device in this episode than anything, than like, a character who's in the show.

C: Right. And like, there's some writing choices they made with Bela that I think are specific to her gender, but I don't know if they're like, bad enough to warrant a point, you know?

G: Yeah, I don't think so too. Ben Edlund, you get a pass! [laughs] You get a- yeah.

C: Yeah. Is this the first time that Ben Edlund has made it out of an episode unscathed? [G laughs]

G: You know what? Probably.

C: Yeah. Congratulations, Ben

G: Congrats, Ben!

So, how about IMDb rating?

C: Hmm. I feel like people really like the funny episodes, I feel like.

G: Yeah, especially earlier in the show.

C: Right, because it's like, rarer, and I feel like all of the reviews are gonna be like, "It was so funny when Sam lost his shoe. Ten out of ten." You know? So-

G: Yeah.

C: I- [sighs] I don't remember what the ratings for the other two episodes of season 3 were, though, like I feel like I need to couch my guesses-

G: I think the last one was 8.6, yeah.

C: Oh, okay. 8.9?

G: I'll give this one an 8.7.

C: Alright.

G: Okay, let's see. [gasps] Oh my god!

C: What?

G: You want to guess again?

C: Okay. You sound happy...

G: Mm.

C: Which means... it's higher?

G: Mm-hm.

C: 9.1?

G: 9.2!

C: Oh, wow! That is high.

G: You know what? I think it's deserved. It's a little bit higher than I would expect, but-

C: It's a little bit higher than I would put it-

G: Give it, yeah. But-

C: I feel like the ones above 9 can't just be funny; they also have to make me cry, you know?

G: Oh, yeah. But like, I mean-

C: Like, “In My Time of Dying” is allowed to be above a 9, but like, a funny episode, I wouldn't really put it above a 9. But yeah, I mean, it was an enjoyable watch.

G: I would say this one is like- the thing about this episode is, the past few, I would say the past like six, seven episodes have been so bad, or like, so boring or like, so tired. And then you get this episode, and it's like a breath of fresh air.

C: Well, our last episode was "The Kids Are Alright," which was also hilarious, though.

G: Yeah, it was hilarious, but it was more of a- it wasn't like, good. You know what I mean.

C: Yeah, it was hilarious for being bad, yes. [laughs]

G: Like, this one is like, it's good, the segments are good, it's funny, it's refreshing. It feels like Supernatural. [C, background: I'm recording the podcast! Sorry, Evan!] It feels like we're back on track.

G: Noo. Sorry, Evan.

C: [yelling to someone offscreen] Yes, you can come in and use the fridge, just turn the key, whatever thing.

G: Yeah. Anyway. [laughs] Let's look at the reviews.

C: Let's look at the reviews.

G: I have no idea where the reviews are because I'm in-

C: Did IMDb change up their-

G: Oh, okay, okay, I got it, I got it. Yeah.

C: Okay. [laughs] The first one is called "LOL Funny."

G: That's so real.

C: Mm. They don't like Bela. G: Noo!

C: I hope you die forever. Well, they said they're just not sure about Bela yet. I'm sure about Bela.

G: I'm sure about her, and I don't remember much of what goes on with her.

"LOL funny." "Funny story." Everyone, you know. Everyone's having fun.

Oh. This one says, "Ten out of ten, but not a lot of the Impala this episode." [both laugh]

This one says, "Announces season three is at a whole another level." Which, like I said earlier, like, I kind of agree because it's like, "Oh, it's gonna be funnier season" or like, "It's gonnahave more people that are recurring." You know, it establishes those points.

C: Yeah.

G: So it's like, yeah. "Sam Winchester must die."

C: Yeah. Someone says they want to see more of Ellen in the future. I agree.

G: Real! This one says, "It's the best this season," which I find interesting. I mean, we haven't seen much of this season, so.

C: Yeah, I mean, I'd say of the three episodes of the season that we've seen, it probably is the best one.

G: Yeah. It is.

C: I mean, I don't know. I am still- I think, okay, I watched this like a week ago, I guess, so-

G: Yeah. yeah.

C: - my memory of it is a little more dulled. I feel like 3.02 will sit with me longer because the case I thought was so good.

G: Yeah. This one is more-

C: But yeah, I thought this one was more consistently good.

G: Yeah. So-

C: Every time I say something nice about season 3, I feel like I'm betraying that one anon. [laughs]

G: The one- Yeah! Oh my god, the one who was like, "Season 3 sucks ass-"

C: I'm sorry! I'll try to hate it more next time!

G: [laughs] No, I mean, they said that the opener was absolutely atrocious, which we have established is true.

C: This is true.

G: So true. I can't believe that we're like, "Eric Kripke is such a genius" [C laughs] or whatever they say. And then you see his episode and it's like, "Well, this one's atrocious."

C: [laughs] Yeah. Truly is.

G: Anyway-

C: Anyway.

G: I think that's all for this episode of Busty Asian Beauties. Next week, we will be discussing- Wait! I actually don't know what we will be discussing. Season 3, Episode 4... Goddamn! My laptop is so bad. Season 3, Episode 4... I still don't know. Hold on. [laughs] "Sin City"! Leave us a rating or review wherever you get your podcasts.

C: 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. And thank you to everyone who's donated to our Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/bustyasianbeautiespod.

G: You can email us any feedback, comments, or inquiries at [email protected]. See you guys next time!

C: Bye!

G: Buh-bye-bye!

[guitar music]

#transcript

[reksink]

for the silly hollow knight ask:

ghost

hornet

cornifer

myla

the grey mourner

pure vessel

Man I'm gonna have to write an essay's worth, hehe

Ghost: Why did you decide to play Hollow Knight?

What really started to kick things off was seeing all of the wonderful fanart for it! (Especially from my mutuals, ALL of you caused this /lh) Over time I just got really curious, but I was also under the impression that it’d be way too hard of a game for me, so I foolishly just bunched a ton of lore videos. Eventually I snapped, and decided to finally buy it! And I am so glad I did, I love this game so much!! I’ve always been a soft fan of metroidvanias, and Hollow Knight made my love for the genre skyrocket!

I really wish I didn’t spoil myself like that though. I would have loved to have a fresh experience with the lore and character for myself first. Still hooked in though, and now I have over 160 hours in this game about the bugs that be people. (Shout out to Path of Pain counting for 20 hours of that. Never again)

Hornet: Favorite boss battle? Most difficult boss?

Favorite: Pure Vessel. To make my thoughts as TLDR as possible: Everything in that battle feels earned. Every hit, every dodge, every moment to heal, the fact you can even fight them at all, you’ve earned it. The fight swells with pure emotion and focus. The wonder triumph I felt after beating them at the end of the pantheon-finally getting my 112% completion-is a feeling I’ll remember for years to come.

Honorable Mention: Dung/White Defender. I love Ogrim’s fights so much, but the fear and horror I was in when I first saw his pile of dung in the Royal Waterways will haunt me forever.

Most difficult: Nightmare King Grimm. 8 hours of work for that one baby!! When you finally understand the rhythm to the fight, it flows so well, but while you’re trying to figure it all his punishments are BRUTAL.

Honorable Mentions: The Watcher Knights, I HATED THOSE BITCHES. But now I kill them all in like 2 minutes during my pantheon runs. I have slaughtered my tormentors.

Cornifer: Favorite area in the Hallownest?

God, this one is gonna be difficult, I love nearly all of the areas ingame (Some more than others, but shhh) The first that comes to mind would be the City of Tears, more so the scene where you get to sit with Quirrel on the bench. The city is lonely, but knowing that at least for little while you have someone to sit with, was something really special.

In a more general scene, Greenpath! I'm a sucker for green and plants, plus they have my favorite enemies and lore bits!! And of course The Hunter is there, the lonely lanky man himself 💚

Honorable mention: Weaver's den. I love their bits so much. (Also the poor weavers that cared about Hornet so much that they're wills turned into Weaver's Song breaks my heart 💔)

Myla: What's your favorite song from the soundtrack?

I naturally never have favorite songs, but I can list the ones that rot my brain!

Sealed Vessel, Nightmare King Grimm, Mantis Lords/Sisters of Battle, Greethpath, City of Tears, Queen's Garden, White Lady, Hornet/Daughter of Hallownest, & Lace (Lace's theme typically counts as a Silksong track, but for now I'm counting it)

Honorable mention: Myla's singing. Infection be damned, my girl can sing!

The Grey Mourner: Who would you give a delicate flower to, if you could?

Cloth!! Considering where she is most of the time, it'd be difficult as all hell, but I’d love to see her with one! She’d possibly break it by accident, but just seeing her have a little holding flower sprite for it would be the greatest of blessings.

Pure Vessel: What game achievement are you the most proud of?

Typically I don't have it yet because I need to get an ending again, but it has to be getting 112%. During my playthrough I kept joking about how I'd never be able to get 112%, BUT I DID BABY, 142 HOURS OF HARD WORK.

#ask #ufofunk #ask game #long post #Rambling about Hollow Knight my beloved 🙏💚

[sedailanderekaden]

I posted 313 times in 2022

That's 269 more posts than 2021!

100 posts created (32%)

213 posts reblogged (68%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@spiced-wine-fic

@photographss-world

@catchymemes

@starstrand-sorceress

I tagged 243 of my posts in 2022

Only 22% of my posts had no tags

#witcher - 65 posts

#witcher fanfiction - 58 posts

#wiedźmin - 53 posts

#aen elle - 50 posts

#my asks - 40 posts

#humor - 36 posts

#fanfiction writer - 35 posts

#nature - 25 posts

#aen seidhe - 24 posts

#fanfic - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 64 characters

#obviously my male elf beauty standards are different than cdpr's

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Damn, this really fits so well. 😂 Source: https://twitter.com/TerribleMaps

18 notes - Posted November 4, 2022

#4

Summarizes my feelings perfectly.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wiedzmin/comments/rvxul1/stop_defending_bad_adaptations/

1, If you call something a book adaptation, then stay true to the source material.

2, If you don't stay true to the source material call it what it really is, just like we do - fanfiction. (Although I've seen most of the Witcher fanfiction stories being 100x more true to the source material, than the current Netflix abomination.)

3, If you don't stay true to the source material and are unwilling to admit your work is fanfiction, then go and create your own fantasy story, characters & content and stop screwing over the fans of the Witcher, which have been here for decades.

27 notes - Posted January 8, 2022

#3

Beauty is pain

The tap-tapping sound stopped for a moment as the older elf's hands stilled and he turned his head to the side. Briefly examining the speaker out of the corner of his eye.

He heard about this one already. A new member of the Scoia'tael. They said he was smart, courageous and very eager to fight the Dh'oine. Soon enough he'll probably be a strong competition for some of the commanders.

The much younger elf stared back at him defiantly with his stunningly green eyes.

Excerpt from my newest short story on AO3. You can find the full story under: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37713121

This is a very short humorous story about Iorveth’s tattoo.

Thanks a lot to @aquakaris​ for the idea and @cirimanga​ / @witchermanga​ for the very inspirational pictures of his tattoo... Especially the NSFW version... 😁

27 notes - Posted March 14, 2022

#2

do you like eredin's personality?

Thank you for the Ask. 🌹

The book version - hell, yes! The game version - not so much.

His character in the game is quite one-sided and I had the feeling it's on purpose just to make him the 'big bad antagonist', without giving him more depth.

Even though he appears in the books only briefly, Mr. Sapkowski managed here to depict him in those short scenes as a complex character. Like most of the other characters in the Witcher universe, he's not entirely just good or bad. (*"Shades of grey, I think."; Iorveth)

He does have his pros and cons. Charming, yet threatening. Irritating, yet polite. Smart, observant. I seriously got the impression from the books, that he didn't really want to kill Auberon. When Ciri told him, that Auberon is dead he was surprised for a brief moment. So that seemed to me really like an unfortunate accident. Eredin did want to probably 'help' Auberon for his own selfish reasons (like making sure Auberon is able 'to perform' and impregnate Ciri).

Hard to say what his ultimate motive was really, but I doubt the intention was to kill the King. That he took advantage of the situation later and in the games took Auberon's place, is I think more related to him simply being an opportunist. (And because the game needed the 'big bad antagonist').

So I actually like his personality in the books. I can understand why he at first was sceptical towards Ciri and made some nasty remarks. The Aen Elle have no real respect towards humans as such. But I keep on remembering, that he still managed to be polite later when talking to her and kept his condescending remarks really to a minimum. Going so far as to invite Ciri for lunch even though she clearly refused previously his offer to give Auberon the aphrodisiac.

So he still handled the whole thing with a certain amount of grace. He only got pissed and became quite nasty when he caught Ciri as she was fleeing. I can also here understand his reactions as he probably saw it as her breaking the agreement she had with the Aen Elle.

For me he's an interesting character with a multifaceted personality and I like that. 😉

PS: Let's also not forget that for me Eredin means someone like this:

And definitely NOT this: 😏

See the full post

35 notes - Posted March 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Let’s enjoy today’s National Squirrel Appreciation Day

Until today I had no idea this day exists... 😂👍

See the full post

42 notes - Posted January 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[lonelier-version-of-you]

Omg I was just saying the other day how much I missed the lovely Sacha so I'm delighted! ☺

:) Sacha, our king. The moral compass of the hospital. It's great to see him back. (And the fact that it opens up the possibility of cameos from other Holby characters makes me excited too, lol, because I wanna see Eli pop up and share scenes with Marty. For those not in the know, Davood Ghadami and Shaheen Jafargholi played brothers on EastEnders, so it would be fun to see them interact again in another show.)

I remember funnily enough there was also a Metro article recently pointing out that an extra in a recent Casualty episode looked like Sacha (although I don't think he looked like Sacha really, he was just a bloke with long grey hair, other than that I couldn't see much similarity). They unintentionally predicted Sacha actually turning up!

#asks #anons #casualty spoilers

[books-and-waistcoats]

"By the way," said Anjais, "this is from Locke Lamora."

- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

The irony of this is truly beautiful

#For those that don't remember it's in the grey King scene #books #fantasy books #book #bookworm #bookblr #bookshelf #booknerd #best seller books #the lies of locke lamora #locke lamora #scott lynch #high fantasy #grimdark fantasy #the gentleman bastards #The gentleman bastards trilogy

[orsuliya]

The bad thing about Netflix' Witcher season 2 is that it is an unholy mess reeking of games. Am I being bitter? Yes. I grew up reading the books, I've got the right to be exactly as bitter as I want to.

The good thing about Netflix' Witcher season 2 is that it is so utterly forgettable that two hours later I can scarcely remember a quarter of it and I can quote the books verbatim and recap every episode of Wiedźmin starring Żebrowski, just try me.

What I do remember is this (spoilers ahead):

Jaskier doing break-up songs? Yes, please! Also, more Jaskier in general would do this thing good - unlike most of the other characters, he's at least entertaining.

Did Nivellen really need to be there in the present timeline? Nope. Do I mind terribly? Also nope. There's something to be said for good old Last Wish-y feel.

The Codringher&Fenn&Cat bit is absolutely amazing... and notice that I don't even mind Istredd being there or the fact that apparently Hen Gedymdeith's legacy is all but lost. (Book!Hen Gedymdeith would very much like to say something about that!) See? They can do it when they want to!

Philippa is the most gorgeous of all the sorceresses, in both human and owl forms. Perving on Dijkstra? Proceed!

This whole plotline with Fringilla deciding the Empire's pro-elven policy is a hot, hot mess. First of all, good luck to any wizard trying to pull any of that grey eminence bullshit in Nilfgaard. Secondly, for some reason the very political, clear-cut and surprisingly honest off-screen deal with Enid an Gleanna re: Scoia'tael&Dol Blathanna becomes an emotion-fueled tangle of pure idiocy and some weirdly hazy political messages. Also, why did we need the baby again? Oh, to make Nilfs evil baby-killers, right, I forgot.

THE Tissaia de Vries having tears in her eyes every other scene I could deal with. Miraculously pregnant Francesca Findabair trying to manipulate Fringilla Vigo in the clumsiest, most blatant way possible? Stop the Earth, I want to get off. Philippa, all my hopes regarding Magnificent Witchy Bitches are on you now, don't you disappoint me in season 3!

The final bit with the Council of Kings was suprisingly good. Now, why would that be...? Oh, they were using book material, how shocking! At least it gives me hope for the future politicking bits, so there's that.

For some weird reason Melitele's temple is the cleanest and the best lit location there is. Meanwhile, the Northern kings (and queen) congregate among ruins. Why not.

Nice to see you, Yarre! Bye, Yarre!

I like my Emperors cute AND smart. This one is very, very cute, but smart he is definitely not. Unless all the Nilfgaardians in Cintra are afflicted with sudden deafness or... they're going for the Empress Ending route, to which I say: NOPE. Where's my False Ciri subplot, you bastards?

It's been 8 episodes and what have they achieved? There is no bond nor even the beginning of one between Yennefer and Ciri and no real hope for one forming naturally. At the same time, the timeline being all wonky doesn't give the relationship between Ciri and Geralt any time to deepen. But at least it exists, yay!

Politically they've spent all this time on the Dol Blathanna deal and still got absolutely nowhere other than making the elves look bad. Also, the pacing is really, really slow, thanks to all those invented bits; I had been fully convinced we were going to get to Thanned or nearly so by the end of season 2. Well, we didn't.

Other than that I have no bloody idea what happened.

...and don't you dare tell me! I really, really don't want to know.

#there comes a day when you get on your knees and beg forgiveness for laughing at the Polish TV series #this is the day #I am sorry I didn't mean it back then! #witcher season 2 spoilers #the witcher netflix #the witcher #anti netflix witcher

[visd3stele]

literary parallel : Nikolai Lantstov, Kaz Brekker, The Darkling

disclaimer:

saw a tumblr like this on pinterest and decided to get my own take on it, but can't remember the user's name. If you happen to know them, pls tag them.

this is about book characters and my take on them, NOT about the show and DEFINITELY NOT about the actors. THE ACTORS ARE NOT THEIR CHARACTERs (yes, I am obviously implying that I love Freddy and Ben)

feel free to start/join a debate, but respond nicely and respectfully!

°•▪︎~▪︎•° Proceed carefully, spoilers °•▪︎~▪︎•°

At first glance, there is nothing alike in these three characters. An almost hero, a dark morally grey character and a real villain. What can they possibly have in common? Well, I found some similar aspects, if you're kind enough to stick 'til the end. Be warned, though, it will be a long enough read, not a properly academic essay, but a prelude of one, if you will.

Quick characters' presentation:

Nikolai Lanstov, prince of Ravka, is certainly not a hero. But as a morally grey guy, he leans heavily on the good side. He's selfless, kind and fair. A natural born leader who cares deeply about those under his command. Blessed with a bright mind, Nikolai is also a great inventor, being known for his crazy, yet spectacular inventions and ideas.

However, the young prince is never afraid to take one step after another, dancing around the dark side. To win the crew's respect as Sturmhond he cut a man's fingers and fed it to his wolf, for instance. Even though he puts on a confident show, the reality is a bit different.

Kaz Brekker takes things a little farther. Driven by his revenge, the boy becomes a prodigy criminal. Willing to do whatever it takes to see a job through, greedy and selfish, Kaz would never bet against his team. The bastard of the Barrel doesn't like too many people and he certainly cares about less, but when it comes to his crows, he'd work tooth and nail to see them breathing by the end of the day.

Sharp, cunning and terribly smart, Brekker managed to make himself a terror for Ketterdam. Learned magic tricks all by himself at a ripe age, taught himself how to pull the biggest strings around the corrupted city and always has a plan at hand. Even when things don't go as he originally thought, his schemes run so deep and tangled, only the wanted outcome can occur in the end.

However, he still has some limits and boundaries, lines he won't cross and a scratch of morality (see the scene where he flips some guy off a roof because he dared threatened a r*pe victim, for example - not just, but this is what comes to my mind).

The Darkling won't let anything stay in the way of his plans. Viewing himself as the only possible savior of Ravka, this man is a pro manipulator. Dark, powerful, patient and intelligent, the Darkling doesn't care who gets hurt as long as the biggest picture of the greatest good he sees come to pass.

He pulls the strings, never yielding control, trusting no one but himself. He owns so many masks, plays so many roles he cannot act like Aleksander Morozova anymore. The man he becomes is ruthless, vicious and scary, shedding pieces of himself for his cause until there is nothing left. Tragic, really.

This guy has zero morals, no boundaries, no limits. He'd cross any line without remorse (4 words: Genya and the king)

Following a five points argument, I will try to draw a parallel between these three interesting characters: the edges and the middle of the same line:

messy upbringings

incredible intelligence

loneliness

drives and ambitions

love interest

Despite, or rather exactly because of, his noble status, Nikolai Lanstov grew up ignored by his family, with barely any friends in sight. However, the most painful side of his childhood must have been the rumors about his parentage. Being a bastard made young Nikolai feel the need to constantly prove himself, which later bottled up in his personality, hidden behind fake confidence.

His character is seen as mischievous, a young trouble maker who can't sit still, by the high nobility of Ravka and the servants in the castle. He seeks comfort in books, thinkering with metal and wood until he comes to create his notorious fleet (amongst other). But even as a little child, Nikolai learns kindness, solidarity and compassion, as seen when he finally makes a friend. Qualities that later will help him be a beloved leader.

He befriended the boy brought to calm his temper. This boy would take the prince's punishments when he misbehaves, something which Nikolai won't allow. His connection with the other boy, friendship that lasted a long while until their departure on the battlefield, assured the future king stays on the good side.

By the age of fourteen, Kaz Brekker managed to make a name of himself in the darkest, most dangerous part of Ketterdam, the Barrel. As a child, he lost everything: his parents, his home and eventually his brother. Gaining a touch aversion and trauma, plus a late limp and a scary cane, the boy build a myth around himself, Dirty Hands. But all his efforts were to take revenge on the man who was responsable for his brother's death.

The ruthless lieutenant of the Dregs, the daring jobs and impossible heists, weren't just out of greed for money and power. He needed money and power to take down a monster. Kaz actually cares about his people - and not just the crows, but those loyal to him. In his own way, long since unused to love. More than that, he has principles, morals. For example, when he was threatening information out of a man, he was willing to let the person go after he got what he needed from them. But as soon as the man offered him dirt on a pleasure house girl, Kaz killed him.

Also, he knows what he is. He knows he's bad and rotten. He admits it and accepts it. But for the one he loves, he can try to change.

The Darkling was born as Aleksander Morozova. His mother pampered him, feeding him the tale of his godly power. In her attempt to shield him, for the Grisha were treated awfully, his mother prevented the boy from creating real connections with the world. Aleksander grew up a dreamer, persecuted by people he got to hate them, despise them. Not even Grisha, his own people, could be trusted. The Darkling is a living amplifier, which means his bones could power up a Grisha talent. An incident in one of the camps, when a girl tried to kill him for that exact reason, rose dread and fear in his heart. It was then he decided to never trust anyone but himself again and vowed to make the world safer for Grisha so no one would have to end up like that girl.

So, all alone - because his mother was colder than Ravka's snows - Aleksander begin plotting. He only had his own view of the world, no one to correct him, challenge him. Left to believe the worst of everyone he meets, thinking its better to control people rather than building relationships with them. So he never got to care about another being, but himself. Yes, his scope may have been noble, pure and good, but it got stamped over by years of wrong lived life.

The Darkling sacrificed anyone and anything to the cause, keeping the walls around himself high and thick. Not caring who gets hurt or how many die, he kept believing he's Grisha only hope, their savior. He never saw his wrongs.

All three have great minds. Nikolai read and learned everything he knows all by himself. War game, strategies, science, you name it, he studied it, know it. Kaz is a man boy of many tricks, courtesy to no one but his strong will. He picked up magic tricks from watching people in the streets, he taught himself lock-picking, he learned the going of the Barrel and worked his way to the top. The Darkling didn't manage to build a safe palace for Grisha because he was dumb. He's not a general of the Second Army because he's brainless. He thinks. He thinks a lot way too much. He knows the games of the court, how to scheme and plot. Manipulate and deflect. But what is possibly his greatest ( and worse) achievement is when he learned merzost by himself, an unnatural practice of the Grisha, forbidden and only information about it being barely scrapped over in some journals.

All three are lonely, in their own rights. Surrounded by masses of people, the prince is never feeling himself. He has to hide from them, or else he risk hearing unpleasantries. On the battlefield, leading his troops, he felt better, but the wearying feeling of not good enough, one he never shows, is constantly at the back of his mind. Even as Sturmhond, his alter ego, he cannot share himself wholly with his crew.

Kaz chooses to keep to himself, trust coming hard to him. Besides, he works better alone, no one to annoy him, no one to distract him. But it doesn't mean he's happy. How can he be wholly when he yearns for touch, but never able to reach out?

Much like the others, Aleksander brings up a wall around himself to protect what is left of him. He chooses to be alone, his work far too important to risk the mingling of another mind, which he'd view as nothing compared to his.

All three are driven by past trauma that leaves its mark on them to present days. All work from the shadows, posing to the public only what they want to be known. But the takes each follow to fulfill their goals couldn't be more different.

If both Nikolai and The Darkling want a better Ravka, the former wants to build it alongside his people while the latter would have everyone on their knees, ready to take orders. Kaz never dreamed of a better world, but it doesn't mean he can't see it through. As a boss of Ketterdam's worse criminals, he can shape the city as he likes, and as I said before, the boy does have principles.

They all fall for strong, powerful, amazing women. But that is where the similarities end (with The Darkling, at least). Nikolai and Kaz would give up Zoya and Inej in an instant if that'd make the girls happy. Nikolai loves her adderantely, not just for her looks, but also for Zoya's brave hurt, sharp mind, skills in a fight and the fierceness with which she protects her own. Therefore, Nikolai gives her his crown, knowing she'll make a remarkable queen. And when he said "Then I'll love her from my grave" as an answer to the question how will their relationship work seeing he'll die long before her, only shows the devotion, affection, love and loyalty that runs deep in his heart.

Kaz lets Inej go because she needs it. They both need to heal their own selves first before trying to work something together. Which only shows how much Kaz respects and loves Inej. In the savage way of Ketterdam, but love her nonetheless. So much, in fact, he's willing to piece himself together for her. Not just work on his trauma and touch aversion, but be a better person altogether. Plus, Kaz didn't just offer Inej space for herself she well needed and deserved, he also gave her room to find herself outside the Barrel and reconnect with her long lost family.

Now The Darkling is a whole different matter. Unfortunately for poor Aleksander Morozova, The Darkling doesn't know how to love. Doesn't understand love ( yes, he never really was on the receiving end of it, but he's a hundred years old grown man he can do better if he so chooses to try). He expects Alina to fix him "you might make me a better man", but never puts effort into changing. His feelings looks more like an obsession than actual love, with him being convinced they were made for each other because of their powers and refusing to let her make her own decisions. He wants her to sooth his loneliness, but doesn't understand, or won't accept, that for as long as he remains hidden, she can't do anything at all. Besides, he s*xually assaults Alina and treats her horrendously after his real identity is revealed, threatening her, making her believe she's going crazy, not allowing her privacy (which shows how little to no respect he has for her). So, he doesn't love her, just wants her love.

Therefore, Nikolai is what the Darkling could have been if not losing himself to his own demons and long life and Kaz is the other side of a coin he's sharing with Sturmhond, the result of a decaying society like Aleksander, but never getting to taste the curse of immortality.

notes:

1. I do think that the Darkling would be reedemable if he acknowledge that he is not perfect and feels truly guilty and wants to do better

2. His redemption doesn't have to bring forgivness to it, because redemption is about the character seeking it, regardless of the others' justified wish to not firgive him

3. I feel like he is different in the show and I hope it will take a different path than the books (a few points on why he is diferent:

-his display of merzost is shown as a mistake based on emotional response and not a deliberate move gone wrong

-he seems closer to grisha at the little palace; unlike in the books when he rarely is present, in the show he knows them by name, is pattient and involved in their training and is invested in knowing about their well being

-more respect for women

-trying to talk to Alina and listen rather than dismissing her, even if he doesn't have a change of heart yet)

#kaz brekker #bastard of the barrel #dirty hands #freddy carter #nikolai lanstov #sturmhond #sobachka #the darkling #aleksander morozova #ben barnes #darkles #shadow and bone series #grishaverse #leigh bardugo #literary #parallels #book blog #spilled thoughts #hot take #personal opinion #3 am thoughts #bookworm #bookish #booklr #book dragon #dark academist #literature #lit #bable #character study

[justice4harwin]

Light's Corruption- Chapter IV

Pairing: The DarklingxAlina

Summary:With few friends at the Little Palace, Alina must work to win the favour of her fellow grisha and their commander, who makes her feel light headed every time she sees him.

After training in Os Alta for two years, the king grows tired of waiting and demands the Sun Summoner joins a western post near the Fjerdan border along with the rest of The Second Army to test her abilities.

Something happens. Suddenly, Alina wants blood to run down the rivers and those who stand in her and The Darkling’s way will be blinded by her light and swallowed by his shadows.

It won’t be pretty

Rating: 18+

Click here for chapter 3

Tags are in the comment section. If you dont wanna be there or wanna be added please let me know 😊

Anyways, I hope you like this one. I'm really excited over a particular scene 😏😏

Chapter 4: golden butterfly, black rose

Alina woke up with a new purpose: to observe and listen.

She hastily threw the blankets and sheets off of her and put on her kefta as she realized she might be late for breakfast.

Running down the stairs, hair a mess, the Sun Summoner smiled and greeted everyone on her path.

Some replied. Others just stared oddly.

She entered the hall to find that, as usual, Marie and Nadia had left a seat empty between them. Alina gingerly took it.

"Good morning!"

They gave her smiles as they reciprocated the greeting.

"You're in a good mood today." Nadia noticed, taking her spoon.

"I slept like a baby." she lied. She hadn't gotten that much sleep -Genya must've gotten even less- but she felt good that day.

Just the day before, she had been able to summon on her own for the first time, and she had to stay positive if she wanted to accomplish her new mission.

She engaged more in the chatter with the grisha women that day, venturing so far as to reply with questions of her own to get to know them better.

"I didn't know you had a brother, Nadia." she said, genuinely surprised as they made their way to Botkin's stables.

The woman nodded with a half-annoyed, half-endearing smile.

"He's grisha too. A few years younger, so he's still at school. His name's Adrik."

"Is he a Squaller too?" 

Nadia confirmed that he was, because of course, the little rat had to copy everything about his older sister.

Alina laughed at that.

"The little girl seems very happy for someone who's about to get into a fight?" were the words with which Botkin received her.

Alina fought back the need to recoil. The only time she had won so far had been against Zoya, …if one could consider that a win given what happened right after.

"Maybe I'll be lucky today." she beamed at him.

Botkin seemed almost surprised.

"Positivity is fine, little girl, but you need to focus during a fight. But first." he clapped his hands twice, immediately getting all the attention. "Run around the lake. Twice. The last one to get back here will help the stable hands for the rest of the day."

Alina really ran like never before that day.

Her side hurt, and she almost felt like she wasn't getting enough air; but after the first half, her legs didn't burn so much anymore, and she felt almost as good as she did when walking.

"Damn, Starkov." she turned her head to see that Michail, a heartrender with a hard-shaped face and kind, green eyes, was easily keeping up with her. "When did you get this fast?"

"Practice." she said, a little breathless but feeling nice with the cold air slapping against her face. "Besides, I really don't wanna end up in the stables."

He laughed at that.

"That makes two of us. I hate those animals."

Alina frowned. She just didn't wanna clean up their shit, but other than that, she could find nothing wrong with horses.

"Why?"

"Those long faces," he said, gesturing over his own. "they're scary."

"You're scared of horses?!" she asked, disbelieving. 

"Why don't you yell it a little louder?" he asked, looking around at the disperse group, but he was smirking. They weren't at the front, but they weren't slagging at the back either.

"Sorry." she leaned in. "I'll keep your secret if you help me not to be the last."

"I don't think you need my help," he laughed. "but sure."

She got knocked down on her ass by a short Inferni woman with dark blonde hair, but Alina laughed it off, hiding her embarrassment, and stretched out a hand. The Inferni rose an eyebrow and then helped her up.

"Thanks." she told her, dusting off the back of her kefta.

"For kicking your ass?"

"Hey, I think I did learn a thing or two." she winked. "Next time I'll be ready."

"Oh, so you want a rematch?" the woman asked, amused, as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

"If you're up for it." Alina shrugged.

"Deal." they shook hands. "But it'll have to wait until we're done with him." she said, nodding towards Botkin, who was busy making rounds, watching the others. "I'm Natasha, by the way."

"Alina."

"Oh, I know. Everyone knows." she smiled once more before retreating to a small group of Inferni that had reunited by a corner.

As she passed by the lake in her usual route to Baghra's hut, Alina got startled by the damage she had done to the perfectly green grass. Gardeners were still at work getting rid of the black mass she had left in her path, going so far as to dig into the earth. They saw her passing and glanced up, some frightened, others definitely not amused.

"I am so sorry." she whispered frantically, before hurrying her steps.

"Don't let the heat out!" was all the greeting she got from the ancient woman.

Alina closed the door and hurried to the chair that awaited her. She was smiling.

"I don't think that will be a problem." she said, proud of herself.

She scoffed. "So I have heard. Show me." she said, hitting her in the arm with her cane.

"Ouch!"

With a nasty frown, Alina placed her palms in front of the others and called the light that she had rejected for so long. So eager to answer, her power rushed through and out of her, and she was almost puzzled by its intensity. She focused on keeping the orb small.

"Uh. Well, it took you long enough."

"A 'Congratulations' would be nice."

She got hit again. Her light wavered and then solidified again.

"Congratulations? What? Do you want a parade thrown in your honour as well? For what? Doing what you were supposed to do your entire life? Shut up and expand the orb. Make it encompass the entire place."

With deep breaths, both to concentrate and control her anger, Alina steadily expanded her light, making it fill the hut.

"Bend it to its shape."

Carefully, she tried to do as she was told.

"You were right, about being held back." she uttered as she tried to shape her light to blend in with the walls.

"I know." the woman said, petulant. "Now call it back and repeat until there is no effort to it."

Alina tried, and tried again, but as eager as her power was to explode, her body was eager for a long, long nap. There had been so much repression, so much denial for so many years, that it was as if the light wanted to just explode out of her body and consume it all.

It scared her a little, but she focused.

The Darkling had told her she was magnificent, Alina remembered, and he had made it sound like she was capable of anything.

The way his grey eyes shone with such intensity, like he wanted to engulf her into his arms and have her all to his own, the way in which his hand felt against hers, or how just even being next to him made her want to lean into and over him like a lazy, overly clingy cat. 

She'd lay on top of him all day if she could.

Alina wondered what would've happened if Genya hadn't arrived at the moment she did. Would The Darkling had kissed her? What would his lips taste like? How would his beard feel against her skin? Just exactly how good was he with his tongue?

Alina blushed. The light flickered, as if excited at the mere idea of the man.

She had kissed a few people before, but him, there was something about him that told her that if he should kiss her only once, she'd spend the rest of her life running after the very same sensation and more.

"Dreaming about your dark prince again?"

She looked at Baghra.

"What?" looking around, she noticed that her light had expanded farther than the hut and she was glowing.

Alina snapped her hands, and everything was dark again. Her fingers tingled with power, her eyelids closed with exhaustion.

"I-I wasn't-" she blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the new environment.

"Stupid, stupid girl. You need to focus on your task."

"I'd concentrate better if I wasn't being hit every five min-OUCH!"

"Do not make excuses with me. You are lazy, easily distracted, you do not know what you are getting yourse-"

"You know, for someone who's supposed to be such a great teacher, I've still got to see some actual teaching." Alina snapped. "All you do is yell at me, hit me and belittle me; yet one conversation with The General I can finally summon." the brunette spat, each word more angrier than the previous one. "So don't try to blame me for your shortcomings."

Baghra was silent, nostrils flaring. When it looked like she might raise her cane and hit Alina right in the head with it, she opened her thin lips instead:

"Out." she uttered, almost inaudible. "Out! And do not come back!"

"Gladly!"

Alina stood up and marched for the door, her steps almost as loud as the insults the old woman was throwing after her.

"Stupid girl! Unconscious! Just another pawn of his! You never learn! Lazy! Stupid! Blind!"

 It was a good thing the old crone couldn't see the tears of frustration and shame in her eyes.

She was on her way back to the Little Palace, trying to decide if she should bathe or go to the library first.

Baghra’s words still rang in her head.

Maybe, if she was quick, really quick with her bath,...but then again, she was getting too used to such a luxury, that once in there it was quite difficult to leave unless the water turned cold.

But if she went to the library, she’d be there until the words blurred and her eyes burned.

On the other hand, there were other grisha in the library, and she couldn’t afford to walk in there smelling like-

"Alina?"

General Kirigan's smooth voice had her turning on her heels, hand still massaging the spot on her arm Baghra's cane had so harshly landed. She had managed to hold back the tears, but the woman's word still stung.

"Moi Soverennyi." She greeted but forgot to bow.

He looked at her arm.

"How was your lesson?"

"I spent months with her and nothing; five minutes with you and I can summon." She basically spat, still bitter at Baghra's harsh words. "I think that speaks for itself."

He smiled, almost.

"Give the old woman some credit. She is good at what she does."

"Terrorizing isn't teaching." she replied, and then, with her head high, added: "She didn't get me to summon."

"No." The Darkling agreed, taking a step towards her. All engulfed in his black cloak, he almost seemed to float. "You did it. It was all you." He said it with such reverence that her breath became shallow.

She didn't look away from his eyes. The storms swirling in there were magnetic. There was so much going on in there at the moment, yet it all sped up through those grey orbs so fast she couldn't make sense of it.

"Why don't you teach me?" The words slipped from her tongue before she could think better of it.

He rose an eyebrow, taking another predatory step towards her.

"I serve the King. I run an entire army. I do not have the time to train everyone personally, nor would I want anyone to think they are favoured above others." 

He was so close to her now, she had to crane her neck to look up.

"You once said there was no one else like us; who could be a better teacher?"

In truth, she also wanted to see him more often. Glimpses as he passed through the Little Palace or left Os Alta, and the occasional conversation weren't enough for her.

"You flatter me, Miss Starkov."

"I only state my opinion." she took a step, shortening the distance, like he was a magnet calling for her.

Mirth shone in his eyes. It made her smile. 

"I will be going away for a few weeks." At this, her smile fell, and his formed as he tilted her chin up with his gloved fingers.

Alina stared up into his eyes, dark with something.

"I'll miss you." She whispered, foolishly, without thought. 

"Will you?" He asked, almost perplexed for a moment.

She found herself nodding.

"I know we don't get much chance to talk, but I like talking to you." She confessed, a knot in her throat. "You understand all,...this." she flickered her fingers and a tiny orb of light formed above her hand.

His eyes followed suit, almost fascinated, like he still couldn't quite believe her power was real. And when he looked at her, it was like he couldn't believe she was real.

His hand rose and shadows swallowed her light. Alina watched them dance, entranced by his power, and noticed it taking shape.

"For you." The Darkling said, handing her a black rose, from the base of its steam to the very last petal. "To remember me by while I am gone."

Disbelieving, she reached out and gasped as she touched the shadow. There was a little bit of gold in there, her own power hidden within, shimmering weakly here and there.

"I don't have anything to give you." She said, lamenting.

He leaned down, his beard rough against her soft cheek.

"Trust me, Alina," he whispered, her name on his lips against her ear making her tremble. "I could not forget you if I tried."

There was the whisper of a kiss against her cheek that seemed to linger for the longest moment, …and then he was leaving, cloak flipping behind him as he left the sun Summoner holding onto a small piece of shadow and a piece of her heart gone with him.

Click here for chapter Five

#shadow and bone #alina starkov #the Darkling #darklina #alina x aleksander #darkling x alina #fanfic #shadow and bone fanfic

[bustyasianbeautiespod]

Episode 76 Transcript: Uriel is the Funniest Angel in the Garrison and the Worst Thespian in All of History

[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 this 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 are discussing Season 4, Episode 16: "On the Head of a Pin," written by Ben Edlund, directed by Mike Rohl.

C: This is a big one. [G: Big one.] What does the title mean, actually? It doesn't come up.

G: I suppose it's like, you know, because it's angel v angel, so it's like, dancing can be-

C: Fighting?

G: Fighting, yeah.

C: Sure. Okay.

G: So they're dancing on the head of a pin this episode. I like the title of this one. And like, I know that nowadays, in- and even back then. Like, Supernatural fandom has always been very conscious of like, title names and like, writers. Like, you say a scene, and everyone is like, "Oh, yeah, that scene is in Episode blah blah blah written by blah blah blah." And it's like, you know, people are very aware of the writers and everything. [C: Right.] But even before I was involved with any fandom whatsoever, this episode, I remember as like, this is an episode I remember. And I remember it also as being written by the same guy as "The Man Who Would be King." And like, I don't even know why I had that like, conscious thought or like, I paid enough attention in that regard to have that conscious thought before I got into the fandom of it all. But yeah.

C: It's important.

G: It's important. It's true! I mean, Ben Edlund has been swinging back and forth between being our enemy and being our friend, [C laughs] and by being our friend, I mean like, being fine. [both laugh] So he's swinging back and forth in between being our enemy and being fine. But this episode-

C: He's our friend this time.

G: Yeah, he's a friend of this one. And like, a big part of it is that it's so- it's like, our first angel-centric episode, like, really. Because all of the other ones- I think I mentioned it last episode like, Cas would just show up for like, five minutes or like, halfway through the episode or whatever. The angels are never the center, the focus. Like, when we open this episode, and it's Cas, like, the first scene is Cas [C: Uh-huh!], and it's like, you know, I think about like, "Oh, what must people have felt when this was first airing?" And they see this and it's like, "Okay, we're in the big one! This is the big plot one!" And I mean, it is. It is the big plot one. It's crazy. I suppose because they don't interact with much people we don't know prior,there's also less of the annoying "Ugh, the Winchesters are hanging out with people! I don't wanna-" like, [laughs] "and they're being so annoying about it!" part, too. So I think that's a big part also why it's so- like, it's nicer to watch. [laughs] 'Cause you don't have to deal with the everything else.

C: Yeah. Right, there's no humans in this episode [G: Yes.] besides the two of them.

G: I think, actually, this is a really good follow-up to last episode, don't you think?

C: Yeah, yeah. I mean-

G: Like, the discussions of being special and all that. 

C: Yeah. And, you know, "Whatever the angels have in store for you, it's not actually good. Stop lying to yourself." [G: Yeah.] All those ideas get explored here.

G: Like, I mean, throughout this episode, I did feel like, empathy for Dean. I'm like, "Good lord. That's horrible! [laughs] that reveal must have been horrible. That responsibility must be horrible," and all that crap.

C: I guess? Sorry. [laughs] Still no.

G: I mean, it wasn't like, my main thought.

C: [laughing] When he got all upset, I was like, "Okay. And? You didn't know." He didn't know that that was going to break the seal. Why does it matter?

G: Well, it matters because it did!

C: Well, I just- I don't see how that's relevant. [both laugh]

G: It's not important to his journey. [laughing]

C: It's not. It's not important to anyone's journey.

G: No, I actually- I felt a lot about this episode. I don't know. This gets thrown around a lot in the Destiel circles. I mean, I don't really recall how people interface with it as a Destiel episode, but like, it's not. And I also like that about it. Like, Cas's struggles and all that is like, removed from Dean in some way. [C: Mm-hm.] They do interact, and their interactions are good, like, I do think their conversations are good in this one. I mean, it's kind of like- What do we mean when we say "It's a Destiel episode"? Like, "It's like, obviously romantic" or whatever?

C: Just that their connection seems to be the focus of the episode.

G: Yeah, that's true. So that's going to be our definition of the term from now on. [C laughs] Like, moving forward, it's their connection. Yeah. Their profound bond, even. Yeah. And this one, there are aspects of it here, but I like that It's so Cas-y. Like, it's so Cas-centric. [C: Yeah.] Oh, Cas is so wonderful! [laughs]

C: Yeah, and I like Anna and Uriel in this episode a lot, too. [G: Yeah.] I think they're all much bigger in my head than Dean was.

G: Yeah, exactly. Like, I think this is what we said about that episode that we liked and was rated so low. The magicians one. What's it called?

C: "Criss Angel is a Douchebag."

G: Yeah, the old guy yaoi. [C laughs] And it's like, that one, it's like, it's barely about Sam and Dean, and that's why it's good. And I suppose it's rated low because it's barely about Sam and Dean, in the not plot way. [C: Yeah.] But this one is like, barely about Sam and Dean in the plot way. And also, I mean, I also said last time, right, like, what makes this stand out in your head, like, what makes you remember it is the atmosphere of it. And agh, wonderful. Wonderful! It's a wonderful episode. I quite like it. So what did you know about it going in? Obviously, like, everything, probably.

C: Yeah, I mean, obviously, I knew about the flickering halo streetlamp shot [G: Agh, yeah!], most important thing that's ever happened. I know that it ends with Cas having a conversation with Dean in the hospital where Dean talks about like, letting down both of their dads. I knew that this was gonna be the episode where Sam's demon blood drinking gets fully revealed, and that he like, saves Cas with his powers on Alastair. I know that Cas says, "I would give anything to like, have you not do this" or whatever before he tells Dean that he has to go torture Alastair. And then I guess just the gist of Cas's conversation with Anna, and how he asks her to tell him what to do, and she refuses. [G: Yeah.] So yeah, just most of it.

G: I think those are the big parts. But also, like, every single scene in this episode with Cas in it, like, every single shot of Cas, is like "that's an iconic shot." Like, [laughs] and then the next scene happens and you're like, "Wow, that's also an iconic shot of Cas."

C: Yeah. For real.

G: You go through the profile pictures of every Cas girl on the Tumbles [C laughs], it's probably gonna be from this episode, you know? Yeah it's that iconic. It is. Yeah. Oh, they really go ham on the halo imagery on this one.

C: Yeah, yeah, thank god.

G: It's like, the lowest hanging fruit of having an angel character, but like, I mean, I love fruits, baby! I love to pick them. [C laughs] So it's fine.

G: So the "Then" sequence is like, very Anna-centric, I would say, but not in the like, way you would connect with the character. It's kind of like, the plot of her, you know, the plot of her presence in the show, and it really focuses on the "Oh, she's an angel now." Because I do think that is a little bit hard to recall. Like, that's not the first thing you remember because the last time we actually interact with her is, she knows she's an angel, but she doesn't have her Grace, and so now it's like, "Oh, she has her Grace." Although we don't really see it this episode.

C: I mean, it ends on getting her Grace yet, but yeah.

G: So, you know, like, it's just at the tail end of the episode. We don't really interact with her as an angel with her Grace back. [C: Mm.] I mean, we also still don't. And I actually quite like that. Because, like, they really make a point of having Cas, like, move things telepathically a lot this episode, but you have Anna, who doesn't do that at all and like, actually touches Cas. And it's like, you know, it's wonderful to me that this whole episode, Cas doesn't touch anything. I mean, you know what I mean. [C: Yeah.] Like, when he's trying to like, move something the pipes, whatever, he just telepathically does it. Then you have Anna, like, reaching out to him, and that's something that he's like, offended by, almost. Yeah.

C: Yeah. I mean, she teleports and makes the lights flicker, but you're right that there's like, less of her power showing off this episode. We also get some Sam recap in the "Then" sequence. I mean, to lead up to the demon blood reveal, like, we have the part where he tells Ruby, "It's not the psychic thing I have a problem with." I guess, like, we've probably already discussed it when it actually happened, but, like, do you have further thoughts on that ? Like, what does he actually think is so bad about drinking demon blood? 'Cause that's like, the big thing of Season 4, right? [G: Yeah.] It's like, "Oh, what Sam's doing is like, probably evil. We're not sure. Oh, we're pretty sure it's evil." But like, what's supposed to like, really, really hammer that down is like, "He's drinking demon blood, and that just automatically is an evil action"? [G: Yeah.] And it's like, what is that ?

G: Because you can say that like, "Oh, it can lead to like, further bad things," like, you know that, nurse that he bled out or whatever at the end of the season. [C: Yeah, sure.] But like, that doesn't happen yet. And also, like, Ruby's vessel is like, that's just her. There's no one in there. So no one's suffering in that way.

C: And they don't give a shit about the vessels anymore. [G: Yeah.] Like that is very clear with like, everything Dean's doing to Alastair later.

G: Yeah.

C: Like, there is a guy there. They don't give a fuck. So it's not about that.

G: Not at all.

C: Okay, I guess Uriel is the one who has the talk with Sam, where he's like, "Your mom died because Azazel wanted to force demon blood inside of you, and now you're just like, doing the same thing voluntarily with Ruby." Right, so I guess that's something. Just the association of that with Mary's death.

G: Yeah. To Sam, that makes it fundamentally bad. To us, I don't know. But like, yeah, to Sam, that can be like, a reason why. Though I feel like that's a bit weak.

C: Yeah. Mm-hm. I agree. It doesn't feel like the same thing, exactly. And I mean, okay, in Season 2, we have, you know, Sam, following the psychic kids and being like, more and more afraid that, like, all of them like, "go bad," all of them end up killing people. One could claim it's the [both] demon blood that makes them evil.

G: Although I presume that's the- you know.

C: Are we supposed to think there are actual mental, like, effects?

G: No.

C: Like, are we supposed to think that, like, Sam getting arrogant in Season 4 is partly because of like, the demon blood being mood-altering in any way?

G: I don't think so. [C: I don't think so.] Because, like, we see like that guy who like, has the giant bong. He seems pretty cool.

C: Andy? Is that his name?

C: Yeah. Does he end up being a murderer? That's not him, right? That's Ava.

C: No, Ava kills him before he can be a murderer.

G: Sad! He should have been a murderer. [C laughs] Well, I mean, we can see from the episode like, the different kids- those different- like, them. [laughs] What's the term they use in the-?

C: [laughing] Psychic kids.

G: Yeah. [laughs] The different psychic kids have different reactions-

C: [laughing] It's so funny when people call us Samgirls. True Samgirls would never. [G laughs] But yeah.

G: Yeah, I'm so sorry. But like, you know, the different psychic kids had different reactions due to situation, and like, Ava seems very into it, but like, I don't think that's a demon blood thing. I think it's just she was there for a long time, and she-

C: Yeah, her fiance was killed like, pretty brutally.

G: Yeah. And she's really into it.

C: Like, we all cope in our ways.

G: Exactly. I don't think it's directly that, but maybe Sam can think it, although I don't think he does. I think part of it is just the surrounding accoutrement to it, which is that doing this means he has to lie to Dean, and- Well, only that, I presume. Like, doing this means he has to like, hide it, which may make it feel like, guilty. You know, there's the aspect of "Oh, if you're- why would you hide it if it's bad?" which Dean has brought up before.

C: Or "Why would you hide it if you think there's nothing wrong with it."

G: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that one. Yeah. And it's like, "Oh, it's because Dean will judge me," but also, "Dean will judge me because Dean thinks it's bad," and it's like, it just piles onto each other. So I don't know. [C: Yeah.] Like, it is uncomfortable to lie to a person who is with you like, all the time, so.

C: Yeah, I guess it also makes Sam like, dependent on Ruby [G: On something, yeah.] in a way he wouldn't want to be.

G: Yeah, which is what they lean into.

C: I mean, not necessarily because he could just like, go around and then like, suck the blood out of demons. Like, he does do that, doesn't he? So he's not actually that dependent on Ruby, but you're right that they do sort of lean into it where it's like, now it seems like he really really-

G: A drug allegory.

C: Yeah.

G: I mean, also, they hunt- they do hunt vampires, and this is what they do. What do vampires do? Do vampires literally just drink blood?

C: Yeah.

G: Well, I mean, this is like, the same thing, and if vampires are worth hunting, and then- you know. But that's different. Because those people need it to live. And Sam is like-

C: He needs to feed Lilith, so that everyone in the world can live.

G: So it is a need for him too. Yeah, exactly. I do think strongly it's just that the hiding aspect of it is, like, frustrating and difficult, and makes it feel worse than how Sam would feel if he didn't have to hide it.

C: I guess. But also, I feel like we're talking about like, Supernatural here, right? [G laughs] And I feel like for Supernatural, it's like, the language of like, biological impurity is pretty big in Supernatural. Like, I feel like it is just like a-

G: "We're tainting-" yeah.

C: - instinctual, like, "Eugh!" thing. Just, yeah, like, "You're tainting your blood with like, the inferior blood of like, the evil demon race." Like, it feels like they're leaning into that rhetoric and just expecting the audience to like, understand that and like, sympathize with that rhetoric. Which, like, is another reason, I guess, why the whole "Sam is evil" storyline just doesn't really work for me in Season 4.

G: Yeah.

C: But yeah, I think there's probably a lot of things mixed up in it.

G: Of course.

C: Okay, I guess the one other "Then" sequence thing that I thought was odd was that the line that they kept from Pamela was, "I know what you did to that demon," and not the part where she says, "If you think you have good intentions, think again." Like, why?

G: Yeah, because then it makes-

C: Why would Pamela knowing be important? She's dead. [laughs]

G: I think this is supposed to like, do the whole, "And it's not just exorcism now. Like, it's killing," whatever.

C: Sure. Okay.

G: Yeah. But also it makes it seem like what Pamela had an issue with was like, [laughs] killing the demon instead of like, whatever it is she had an issue with, which is pretty funny to me personally.

C: "That demon was my pal! How could you?"

G: No like, you know how like, later, when Sam is torturing Alastair and Cas is looking at him like- I mean, we'll talk about what Cas looked like in that scene later. [C: Hot.] But like, I kept on thinking like, "This is what you like, wanted. Like, you wanted Alastair tortured to get info out of him." [C: Mm-hm.] Like, you can't judge Sam for doing what you were like, already doing.

C: Yeah, like, it's okay to do it, using like, physical torture with knives and shit, [G: Yeah.] but like, as soon as Sam uses his powers, it's like... bad? Okay, I don't get it. If you say so.

G: And that's kind of the vibe of the Pamela line here. It's like, "It's okay if you kill the demon with, you know, stabby stabby."

C: I mean, Dean says, "Hey, use the knife" in "Metamorphosis."

G: Yeah. "Or if you exorcise a demon with your words, it's fine. But once you start waving your hands around? [C laughs] No-no-no-no-no." And it's like, "Okay, well, I don't fucking know what we're doing here."

C: Yeah, we just still have not seen any evidence that the blood is-

G: That it's bad, yeah. [laughs]

C: - like, actually changing Sam in any way besides giving him powers. And like, maybe the idea is that we're just supposed to know that it comes with a catch 'cause it has to 'cause demons are evil, but, like, I don't know that!

-

G: We start with Cas, as I've said. [C: Cas!] First scene of this episode is Cas. And like, I just find it so funny that, like, [laughs] whenever we talk about a previous episode before that was just okay until Cas shows up, like last episode and "The Great Pumpkin" episode, it's like, [laughs] you know, like, you could actively hear us be like, "So like, oh, yeah, we're just waiting for Cas to show up" when we're talking about the scenes. [laughs] And now, like, Cas is literally here. He has shown up, first go. This intro is actually- it's iconic to me. I remember it. I mean, to be fair, I remember, like, all of this episode. But this intro, specifically, I remember watching it and thinking, "That's cool!" when we pan out at the end.

C: Oh, absolutely.

G: Yeah. This is the first time we see an angel die, right? And so this episode is the first instance of the wings like, being burnt in this way.

C: Yes! God. Such a good idea.

G: And it's such a good choice. And like, the thing about Supernatural is you can say anything about it, and I literally do mean that. [laughs] You can literally say anything about Supernatural. But the way they handle the imagery of the angels, like, the physicality of it, I do find it quite impressive, always. Like,the wings part specifically. The fact that Supernatural never shows the wings, it's always just shadows, I think is such an excellent choice. Because, like, I just don't- I just think like, you need like, a high budget, and like, amazing execution to be able to pull off having physical wings like that. But like, even then, it's still so present, even though you don't actually see the physicality of it. It's still present. You know that Cas has wings 'cause you've seen it, even though you haven't seen it. When these angels die, you know that they're angels who had wings because you see it! It's imprinted on the floor, burned to the ground. Oh, wonderful! I mean that we're not there yet. We're just with Cas, and he's walking. And it's like, in this dark night, and there's like, a bunch of cars, and they're crashed into each other. And Cas is just walking through this. There's like, alarms blaring.

C: He turns a car alarm off. [G: Yeah.] Even though, like, the cops are already coming, so like, I guess the only reason wouldn't be that the sound bothers him, and I love that.

G: Yeah. I love it! Yeah, he walks towards this woman who is on the ground.

C: Guess what color dress she's wearing? [G laughs]

G: Literally, my first thought was like, [both laughing] "They put this fucking angel in this white nightgown-ish outfit."

C: Yeah, and she's blonde. [G: She's blonde.] She looks a fair amount like Mary, I think.

G: Yeah. Like, Supernatural is never beating the white nightgown allegations. Like, I genuinely do think they're never going to beat it.

C: Right, like, okay, so she was on Earth, like, battling people [G: Yeah!] in this? Bad idea! I don't get it.

G: 'Cause Anna is an angel, yes, but she was human for a long while, so when we see her, she's in her human outfit.

C: Yeah. And I think with Cas and Uriel, they both are just sort of wearing what their vessels were wearing when they like, possessed them for the first time.

G: Specifically what I'm saying is like, when we do see angels like- I don't know. Like, Naomi had a vessel, too, but like, that one is like, she's dressed up corporate style. And then you have the- I don't know, there's an angel in Season 6 who shows up and reprimands Sam and Dean for using Cas. She's in corporate attire. I feel like Hannah was in corporate attire when she was in a woman vessel. Raphael, when he was in a woman vessel, was in- you know what I mean. [C: Right, yeah.] And so this one kind of feels like an exception to the rule of like, all the angels are in corporate wear.

C: Yeah, I get that they like, just wanted it to look really cool for their first angel death, and I do think that the like, dress helps with the burnt wings and everything.

G: Yeah, 'cause it's like, a stark difference.

C: I mean, she's part of their garrison, and their garrison has been on Earth for thousands of years, like, all fighting together, right? is the history that Cas talks about with Uriel. [G: Yes.] So like, yeah, I feel like realistically, she wouldn't be wearing this.

G: So yeah, lady's on the ground, and Cas moves over like, a piece of cloth that is covering her middle of her chest, and we see that she has a stab wound a little bit below her neck.

C: That's below where the Grace is, right? Like, the Grace, is closer to the Adam's apple area.

G: Yes, I think the Grace is like, at the base of the neck, almost. This is not a removing the Grace thing. This is like, she's being stabbed to death. [C: Yeah.] And Castiel looks at this and goes, [James Charles-esque voice] "Goodbye, sister." [laughs] It's James Charles here. [C laughs] He literally does not say it like that, though.

C: That's a great "Jensen Ackles doing Misha Collins impression" impression.

G: Cas goes to leave, and we see a bunch of police officers just looking at this scene and going, "What the hell?" And then we swoop up. There's like, bunch of flashlights going around, like, looking at the area beside her. And as the flashlight pans around, we see that there are links seared into the road. Wonderful!

C: Yup. The timing of all that is so good. Because it's like a bird's eye view shot, and you just like, see her like, as a spot of white against like, this, like, [G: Dark night, yeah.] dark pool of black, and then just the flashlights just like, move and overlap with each other just so, and then you see the wings, and it's so cool. It's so cool. [G: Yeah.] They don't always do that in the future, do they? Like, when, like, Miriam died, did they bother to like, have burned wings?

G: They only do it, for, like, dramatic stuff, I feel. I mean, when Cas died while getting stabbed, they didn't even wing him.

C: God damn.

G: Is that true?

C: Like, at the end of Season 12?

G: I don't know. Maybe that's a lie and I'm lying to you.

C: I just feel like I would have seen like, ten million Cas burned wings shots in like, AMVs [G: That's true!] if we got to see a Cas burned wing shot. Like, I know that there's like, a Jack one 'cause I see it.

G: People will parallel the hell out of that, if it like happened more than once for anything, yeah?

C: Exactly.

G: I think we have it here, we have it with Uriel later.

C: Godstiel. The field of burned wings.

G: Oh- oh! Yeah. I mean, that scene is wonderful, but it's colored in a way that if you put in it an AMV [C: Yeah.], it looks so odd.

C: It's ugly.

G: Yeah, it's bad. Which is also my main complaint with the Purgatory Season 8.

C: Of course.

G: Like, I genuinely feel like they were comfortable enough to make it that gay because they were like, "And nobody's gonna be able to put it in their fucking AMVs [C laughs] because it looks so bad."

C: Literally.

-

C: We cut to the Impala, and [both] Sam's driving! Hello!

G: And immediately I was like, "Okay, what are the like, implications of Sam driving in this episode?" Because they cannot just let that guy drive. It needs to have a reason. I guess it's to-

C: It's to continue the "I'm stronger than you, I can do things you can't" thing.

G: Yeah. Which is also the topic of the conversation while he's driving that like, Dean is too upset, too tired, blah blah blah.

C: Sam is saying that they're going to Cheyenne to meet with Ruby. You know, he starts being like, "I know you don't really like her, blah blah blah," but Dean's like, "IDGAF." It turns out that what's on Dean's mind is Pamela's death.

G: He says, "I don't really give a rat's ass," which, like, I mean, he's said this before, I think. For sure. This is like, a typical Deanspeak. Is it like, something people say?

C: Yeah, I've heard it other ways, around.

G: Okay, okay, great. Yeah. There are so many phrases in Supernatural that I have to guess whether, like, people actually say it or like, Dean says it. [C laughs] And sometimes I would use it in real life and like, people would be like, "Oh, where'd you get that phrase?" [C laughs] Because, like, you know, even if it's common in the United States, for example, like, it's not gonna be as common in the Philippines. And I have to be like, [laughing] "Oh, it's an American saying." [C laughs] And I just pray to God that like, it's an American saying and not a Dean saying, and if they Google it, the first result isn't like, "What did Dean Winchester mean by this [both laughing] when he said it on Supernatural?"

C: Well, "rat's ass" is safe.

G: Rat ass. Don't give a rat's ass. Yeah.

C: Right, so what Dean's upset about is Pamela's death. He says, "Pamela didn't want anything to do with this, and we dragged her back into it." And I guess Sam's sort of just compartmentalizing really hard, right? [G: yeah.] I mean, it does suck that like, he was the one who, like, woke up at the moment of her stabbing, so like, he probably feels more responsibility for like, not being there on time. And also, like, her last words were to him, and were like, pretty soul-shaking for him or whatever. So yeah. He's just going like, "She knew what was at stake." Dean says that he's tired of burying friends. Like-

G: Who the hell else do they have to bury in Supernatural?

C: And also, Pamela we talked to her- we saw her like, three times before this? [G: Yeah.] Also, who else was it? Who else did he bury? I don't think he did.

G: Is there anyone else that they bury in Season 4?

C: Not that I recall.

G: Season 3.

C: Who in Season 3?

G: No, I'm asking like, [laughs] who did they bury in Season 3.

C: Like, Bela died, but they didn't like her. Gordon died, but like, Sam did that shit. [G laughs]

G: Sam caused that to happen, yeah. [C laughs] [C: Yeah. Ugh.] Henriksen died. But that's in Season 2.

C: Yeah.

G: Is that in Season 2? No, that's in Season 3.

C: No no no, "Jus in Bello," yeah, that's in Season 3, and Dean did like him.

G: Did like him eventually, yeah.

C: And he did show up as a ghost in 4.02.

G: You mentioned the other day you don't think Dean is a friend person. Like, you don't think Dean just ever defines anyone as a friend, and I've been thinking about it. Because the only other person we have outlined here, aside from Pamela, is like, Henriksen, and I think [laughs] Dean wanted to fuck that guy. Like, genuinely.

C: Yeah. And I feel like Pamela, like, we were supposed to think that, like, both of the boys were attracted to her, and she was attracted to them back in some way.

G: Not even that. To me, Pamela is more of a like- it's a friend buddy, you know? Like, I don't think they're calling Pamela to talk to her about their days or whatever. [C: Right.] To like, "Oh, I saw a snail on the road. Effervescent." her, you know? [C laughs] Like, I think she's someone they call when they need something for a job. And that's fine. Like, it's a fine relationship to have to Pamela.

C: Yeah, she's a work friend, just like Sam and Bobby. [G laughing]

G: Yeah. Dean and Bobby is like, "That's my dad." [laughs] And Sam and Bobby is like, "That's my boss, dude." [C laughing] Like "That's a librarian that I met."

C: "That's my manager. He's really mean to me sometimes." [G laughs]

G: No, exactly. But I don't know. Like, I mean, obviously, it's fine if Dean calls Pamela his friend. Like, yeah, they did go through shit or whatever. But you're right that Dean doesn't develop what we typically think of as a friendship relationship with like, anyone. [C: Yeah.] Until we get to Charlie, I suppose. I would say Charlie is a friend, although they also make it a point of being like, "Oh, Charlie's like, my sister." Which, yeah, typical Dean! Does Sam have any friends?

C: Does Sam have any friends. [laughs] He used to.

G: He used to, yeah.

C: He had Stanford friends-

G: Those college friends and everything.

C: Yeah. Like, we open with him having friends. He was friends with that kid who got bullied in "After School Special."

G: Yeah, he was friends with Brady. We haven't met Brady yet. When the hell are we gonna meet Brady? I don't even know who Brady is. Like, I know Brady is like, a college friend, but I only know him from like, people who are like, "Oh, my headcanon for Brady is," and I have no idea what he is in canon. I'm so sorry. I know we're allegedly Samgirls, but like, it's literally not true. [laughs]

C: No one thinks that except for like, Deangirls.

G: Exactly. In the future, I feel like him and Eileen were friends-

C: Is Jody a friend?

G: - before they were something, but like, I think we would be called hypocrites for saying that because we're saying that Henriksen and Dean were not friends. But [laughs] literally, Henriksen and Dean were not friends. And Sam and Eileen were calling each other and everything. That's a different-

C: Right. Henriksen was trying to put them in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives-

G: [laughs] Yeah, exactly, until the last-

C: - until 20 minutes before his death. Rowena. Rowena's gonna be his friend.

G: That's true, but also, I think they should fuck raw, but that's just me personally, and also everybody.

C: Yeah, I mean, Sam and Eileen and Sam and Rowena were both like, friends who should fuck raw.

G:  Yeah. But that doesn't mean they're not friends, I feel like. [C: Yeah. Yeah.] They're still friends. They just also should fuck raw.

C: Jody? Is Jody a friend?

G: I think Jody is a friend, although I don't really remember much of the Jody-Sam-and-Dean relationship-

C: Yeah, nor I.

G: Mostly because I think the bulk of that happens in "Asa Fox," which is in Season 12, which is the season where I sort of lost my mind.

C: Okay, Dean supposedly had his friend in the- in "Sin City." The guy with, like, the New York accent or the whatever?

G: What the fuck is "Sin City"? We already watched that, and I have no recollection of what it is.

C: Yeah, in 3.04.

G: Ohh! I still have no idea.

C: The guy- the guy with the New York or Boston [G laughs] or something accent. I literally am USAmerican, I should know this.

G: Both of them are kind of buddies with that guy, right?

C: Well, no, he was someone that Dean had done a solo hunt with in the past but Sam had not met yet.

G: Oh, okay, is this the guy with the nice shirt? He talks about having a nice shirt? He's like, "and the shirt's silk, bro" or something. [C: Yeah.] Good for him. I mean, as I was saying, Dean also had another hunter buddy, the one in like, "Just the good old boys." What's that?

C: Lee? You mean that guy?

G: What everybody thinks he fucked. [laughs] Which doesn't really help our case. But no, that's a buddy, that's a friend. And you know who else is his friend? [both laughing]

C: Are we doing this? Again?

G: It's Cas, baby! I think Cas is his friend.

C: I mean, not yet.

G: Not yet, yeah.

C: I mean, Sam and Cas are also friends. Yeah, no, I mean, all of them are pretty bad at friends, and all- like, Dean especially likes to fit his friends into the family paradigm instead of the friend paradigm. [G: Yeah.] And also, you know, a lot of the people that he's close to, he just seems to see us his responsibility rather than like, a companion.

G: Yeah. And I mean, their being bad at friendship we see bleed over to Jack when he literally [laughs]- he makes friends with those kids and like, kind of stabs one of them. Good for him. [C laughs] I miss Jack already. We haven't even met him in the podcast yet.

C: His ideas of friendship came from like, Riverdale or something. [G laughs] I'm sure those kids stab each other all the time. They're also like, canonically in a polyamorous, like-

G: Is that true?

C: - four-person relationship for a bit.

G: Yeah, maybe he saw those- I don't know. Those lesbian people-

C: He saw this kiss and was like, "Oh, okay, I see what's going on. We're all dating now? Yeah."

G: [laughs] Exactly. He was like, "I know where this is going. They did it in Riverdale." [C laughs] What's that? The Greater Boston Polyamorous Circle? That joke that people-

C: The Greater Seattle... Polycule, yeah.

G: Yeah, exactly. And he's going to enter the Greater Seattle Polycule.

C: Alright. Anyway, so,yeah, Dean says this line that doesn't really make that much sense, and Sam's still, you know, pushing, like, "Okay, and then we do this, and then we do this," and Dean says that he's just getting tired. And Sam says, "Well, get angry," which I love!

G: Which is interesting. I thought that was an interesting thing to say, 'cause the next scene-

C: Dean's angry.

G: They enter-

C: He heard that advice and was like, "Yup. On it."

G: Dean was like, so angy, and the whole time, Sam is kind of like, trying to stop Dean from being like, "Dean don't be so mad." And it's like, this is the people that you're probably supposed to be angry with! Like, for fucking real! But like, Sam doesn't think of it that way 'cause Sam thinks that, like, the path to the Apocalypse is what's killing their friends, and so they need to stop the Apocalypse. [C: Right.] But to Dean, it's like, the angels not helping-

C: "You're putting us in danger," yeah.

G: "The angels not helping is what's killing our friends." And also, I guess a big part of it is that Dean had that conversation with Cas where Cas explicitly said, like, "We sent you to do this." So.

C: Yeah, okay, Sam's "Get angry" is fun to me. Just 'cause like, I don't know, I guess I'd sort of forgotten how revenge-driven he's been for a long time. I mean, we saw him get quite revenge driven at the end of Season 1, and then we saw "Mystery Spot," which is sort of like, a look into what his first few months after Dean's death were like. Maybe this fits into what Pamela was saying about the good intentions, but it's like- I feel like we are like- He's trying to kill Lilith to save the world, but I guess he started trying to kill Lilith for revenge for Dean's death, right? Like, do you feel like that's still what's primarily motivating him now? Like, what is he thinking?

G: I wouldn't say it's number one motivation right now, but I'm sure it like, helps that like, "Oh, and she wronged me personally."

C: Is saving the world his primary motivation, though?

G: I don't know. Because I think about it, and it's like, Episode 2 is the reveal that the world is ending in some way, right? Like, that's when Cas said it. That, like, Lucifer, is going to rise if we break all the seals or whatever.

C: Sam doesn't seem to like, step it up at all.

G: Yeah. And also like, prior to that, he already was like, having conversations with Ruby about like, upping his, you know, skills. And also, like, he did spend all of those months hunting down Lilith. Like that's the reason why he got intimately involved with Ruby because of that journey of getting to Lilith.

C: Okay, like, Season 3, it was like, the war on the demons 'cause like, they all got released from the gate, yada-ya. That is sort of dropped in Season 4, but it's like, "All the demons coming out of the gate is what makes it so that they're speeding along the Apocalypse better." So I guess it could just be a continuation of the war of Season 3.

G: I think what happened there is like, there was like, war between those demons, and then Lilith came on top. So like, that was dropped because now it's like, "Oh, we have one specific target now. All of those demons have coalesced." Is that the term? Coalesced means go together, right? [C: Yeah.] They coalesce into being like, under Lilith, right?

C: Yeah. And then I mean, she engineered the Dean going to Hell thing so that the first seal could be broken so that the Apocalypse could happen. Yeah, so I guess it is all sort of the same thing, so it doesn't really mean that much that Sam didn't step it up after 4.02.

G: But I don't think Sam knew that Dean was sent to Hell to start the Apocky-lypse.

C: That's true. Sam doesn't know at the end of this episode, either.

G: Yeah, I don't think so.

C: Sam ends up knowing what the first seal is at some point, right? Does he?

G: I actually don't know. I don't remember. I don't remember

C: Okay.

G: Yeah.

-

G: As they come in, Sam opens the lights, and Uriel and Cas is there, and the way they are positioned is. [C: Mm-hm.] Like, Cas is kind of like the attack dog on the side that's like, a little bit on the back, facing away from them.

C: He's quite far on the back.

G: Yeah, far on the back, facing away from them, even. Uriel is the one doing all the talking. Uriel says that "You are needed." And Dean gets upset with this, and Uriel starts doing the whole, like, "Okay, mind your tone with me." He acts pretty much the same way he has acted in the past, although I do feel like now, he is acting with more amusement than anything regarding Dean. Like, I feel like in the past, it's kind of like, when Dean talks like this, he was kind of like, a bit more offended, like, genuinely. And then, as the time progressed- like, we see this with Anna, too. With the Anna eps too. - Like, he's kind of just like, "Huh! Look at you. Like, this guy thinks he can talk to me like this." Sam explains that they just got back from Pamela's funeral, and Dean's like, "Yeah, Pamela. You remember her?" And then he starts talking to Cas directly. He goes, "You remember her Cas, right? You burnt her eyes out." Yeah, he says, "She died trying to save one of your precious seals, so maybe stop pushing us around all the time." Uriel says, "We rescue out of Hell for a purpose," which, I mean, Dean's contemplating on this. And again, as we've said, this episode interfaces with that. But, man. Horrible! At some point, Cas goes, "Dean, we know this is difficult to understand," and Uriel goes, "And we..." and like, gives a pointed look at Cas and faces back at Dean, and goes, "don't care." And like, the look that is happening in this situation is like, Cas is looking at Dean, and then as Uriel says this, just looks back ahead, away from Dean.

C: He turns around so like, he's like, fully in profile, and sort of tilts his head up, like he's trying to make himself into a statue.

G: [laughs] Exactly. And Dean notices this, and we linger on Dean noticing it. 'Cause Uriel has said before that like, "See, he has this weakness. He likes you. The reason why I'm here instead of Cas is because," like, "Upstairs don't want him talking to you directly anymore because he's fond of you in some way." But like, this is, I think, the first evidence we see of it being true to Dean. "Oh, yeah, like, the reason why they're doing this whole bit where Uriel is doing the talking and Cas is just standing there and Uriel stopping Cas from saying this is because Cas likes me," which does massively inform his decision to talk to Cas later by himself, I think. Uriel says that seven angels have been murdered from their garrison, him and Cas. Last one killed tonight! They think it's demons. Sam is like, "If a demon can kill angels, how the hell are we supposed to fight it?" And Uriel's like, "Oh, that's not what we need. We just need to find who it is." And Cas starts to move forward and starts talking. He says, "We don't need to hunt down a demon. We already have a demon. Alastair. We just need him to speak."

C: As he's doing this, he's sort of like- he's trying to keep a very open expression and like, make eye contact as he like, sort of leads up to what they're gonna ask of Dean. And that, coupled with the "We know this is hard to understand" thing is nice. Like, he's like, been observing, and he's like, I'm gonna try to take like, the "human" stance, the, whatever the "making Dean trust me" stance to do this.

G: Dean makes a comment that like, "Oh, it's it's going to be difficult to make Alastair talk 'cause that guy's like, a back black belter in torture."

C: Have we already talked about how it's like, it is actually weird how fast Supernatural jumps to torture?

G: Yeah. [laughs] Yeah.

C: Like, it's like, "He won't talk? Okay. Well, I know what the only logical next step is." I don't know. I mean, it's a common trope in like, all media forever and ever, but, like, you know, like, confessions extracted under torture are not reliable, etc etc but Supernatural really likes to legitimize it as the only way to get monsters to talk.

G: Yeah. And Uriel says, "Yeah, and that's why we have come to his student. And you happen to be the most qualified interrogator we've got." And throughout this scene, we don't see like, from here onward until the very end when Dean gets teleported out, we don't see Sam at all, and it does frustrate me. The reveal that's happening here is that they're asking Dean to torture Alastair 'cause Alastairis like, the head torturer of Hell or whatever, and he taught Dean to do it. I understand that this is like, important to Dean's journey or whatever, but I feel like it's also pretty important [overlapping] to Sam's. Later, he makes the argument that, like, Dean, is not strong enough to do this, and I feel like if we are able to glean in this scene that like, it's because Sam understands the implication of like, "This is the guy who tortured Dean and taught him to torture, so like, surely, this isn't just like, 'I'm torturing a demon.' This is like, a personal thing, and he won't be able to do it because it's a personal thing," I feel like that would inform Sam's words more or whatever. [C: Yeah.] For an episode that is like, big on the Sam reveals, we get nothing of Sam. But like, it's fine, because we also barely get anything of Dean, even though it's big on the Dean reveals. Again, like, this is not about them. This is not an about them episode. But I wish in this scene, just one shot. Just one shot of Sam. Cas starts doing the convincing. "You're our best hope." And Dean goes, "Nope, you can't ask me to do this, Cas." Not this.

C: Dean loves to make it personal.

G: Yeah, he does. I mean, when's the first time he said "Cas" to Cas face? Have we had that conversation?

C: I remember it was during a time when we were really angry at Dean so we couldn't appreciate it properly.

G: No no no, that's different. That's him saying that to Sam. Saying like, "But Cas said that you're doing something evil" or whatever in "Metamorphosis." But like, Cas's face, is this the first time?

C: Uh, I can check. Yeah, this is Dean's- Well, Dean's first "Cas" was earlier when he was like, "You burned Pamela's eyes out, remember?" [G: Yeah.] And Sam calls Cas "Cas" to his face earlier than Dean does!

G: When this scene was happening, I did keep thinking like- 'cause, like, the first "Cas," the "Oh, Pamela. You burned her eyes out. Remember?" is before the "Dean, I know this is difficult for you" or whatever part, which is the part where Dean is like, "Oh, something's happening to Cas." I don't know. He starts doubling down on it like after that part. He just does it a lot this episode. I don't know. I think about this thought I had quite a while back, where like, throughout a lot of the times Dean has made a plea to Cas over anything, it's always like a "Because it's me!" He does it Season 8 with the "Goodbye Stranger" scene. Like, he goes, "Cas, it's me." Like, that's the plea. "I know you're in there. I know you can hear me. It's me." And it's like, no other argument is made other than "It's me, Cas. When the angel tablet thing fell through and Dean is mad at Cas for it, and he goes like, "Oh, you didn't trust me!" And then he repeats it. He goes, "You didn't trust me." So like, the whole point of the "Oh, you ran away," the mad part isn't even that he lost the actual tablet. It's that he didn't trust Dean specifically. In like, "The Man Who Would be King," he goes, "I'm asking you not to. Just 'cause." And like, the implication there is like, "Because I'm the one asking, and because I'm asking you to." Like, "I'm just saying it, which is what should make you not do it." I don't wanna make it seem like this is a conniving thing for Dean. But I do think, as you said, that he thinks of the people he loves, people he thinks is important to him as like, responsibilities. And part of that is like, also thinking that their responsibility in the relationship is to like, follow Dean in some way, you know? [C: Mm-hm.] For Sam, we see this in that, "Oh, but like, you shouldn't drink demon blood or whatever. You shouldn't go be with Ruby. Because I think it's a bad idea. Yeah, maybe I don't have like, the data to back it up. But like, I think, and therefore you should." With Cas, the moment he realized that Cas cares for him, that becomes the same argument with him, too. "You care about me, and I think, and therefore you should." And I feel a little bit like this is the moment he realizes that this is something happening.

C: That he can use.

G: That he can tell Cas, like, "But it's me. And I'm telling you this."

C: Yeah, I don't really see that, but I like the reading. I don't really see it. I feel like it's too early [G: Yeah.] for him to think that way. I think, right now, he's just straight up angry and scared.

G: In this post that I made about it that I'm currently referencing- I'll probably reblog it- I say that like, in "Lucifer Rising," the last ep of the season, like, Dean argues to Cas, like, "No, we need to save the world. If there's anything to die for, it's this. Saving the world." And Cas is still like, "No no no no no no." The moment he decides to turn around is when Dean goes, "We're done. [C: Hm.] Don't talk to me. We're done." Yeah, he does like Dean. And to Dean, it's like, "Oh, the core of the relationship is that Cas likes me and will do things for me because of that. Because I am the one asking." Again, like, the tag I left on this post is "this is not deancrit." [C laughs] I don't think this is a bad thing. I think it's just like, at the back of Dean's head, this is one of the thought processes that informs his decisions moving forward in this show.

Uriel says, "Who says anything about asking?" Zaps Dean away. And this is the only time we pan to Sam's face.

C: Who gives the most overacted "Damn it!" I've ever heard.

G: Yeah. [dramatically] "Damn it!" Good for him.

-

C: So we cut to some like, creepy old building where they're keeping Alastair. He's like, chained up in a devil's trap and all that shit. Dean and Cas are watching him through the door. Dean just is not having it. He is trying to head out. As he walks past Uriel, Uriel stops him, and he says, "Angels are dying, boy." I love the way Uriel calls Dean "boy." Like, he really does think that he's superior to all humans. And he's right. [G laughs] Dean replies with, "Everybody's dying these days," which, you know, continuation of earlier. He says, like, "You know, I get that you can make me do whatevs, but like, you cannot make me do this." You know, Cas tells him that it's too much to ask, but like, "We have to ask it." And then, like, Dean, sort of- he makes some calculations, I think. And then he says that he wants to talk to Cas alone. And, I mean, currently, it's like, "He's the weak point. I can get him to like, let me go, or whatever." I think later in the conversation, it becomes more of like a, "I trust Cas to be the one to tell me how necessary this really is." And I'm not entirely sure when it switches, but, interesting.

G: I do find also that the moment like, Uriel leaves, Dean starts joking. Like, I mean, it's still a serious conversation, but he goes back to his usual Dean banter.

C: I mean, he jokes about the donuts while Uriel's leaving, so I don't think it's just that.

G: Yeah, but that's a different tone. You know what I mean? Like, he's saying it's spitefully to Uriel. The moment he goes to Cas, it becomes a bit more friendlier, I suppose.

C: So Uriel says, "I think I'll go seek revelation," [G: Fun!] which is a great way to refer to like, listening in on angel radio or whatever. He's looking for further orders. And yeah, Dean says, "Well, get some donuts while you're out." You know, Uriel laughs, and he says, "This one just won't quit, will he? I think I'm starting to like you, boy." Which is fun. Like, he likes how predictable Dean is is what it is, and that's fun. I enjoy the way that familiarity can breed fondness, even if it's like, begrudging or like, mostly tinged with annoyance. I'm just sad that Uriel dies this episode. I want him back.

G: I do too.

C: They bring so many people back, right? But like, he doesn't ever?

G: Do they bring angels back other than Cas?

C: Gabriel- Does Gabriel not die and then come back or something?

G: Oh yeah, Gabriel comes back. "I need you!" What the fuck? [both laugh] No, I already said my Sabriel piece in "Tall Tales," and I was allegedly quite nice about it, so I'm not going to taint that experience. [C laughs]

C: Right, when Uriel disappears, Dean makes some joke about how "You guys don't walk enough. You're gonna get flabby." Cas doesn't laugh, and Dean's like, "You know, I'm starting to think Junkless has a better sense of humor than you." Maybe he didn't laugh because you're not funny.

G: You're unfunny. You're not funny.

C: Like, have we considered it? Also, like, just Uriel is called Junkless? Like, he thinks all other angels are fucking and sucking; it's just Uriel who's not? [G laughs] Like, what's the deal with that? Yeah, okay. And then we get, you know, the most important line that's ever happened all of Supernatural, which is, "Uriel is the funniest angel in the garrison. Ask anyone."

G: Wonderful.

C: He literally is the funniest angel in the garrison. But like, everyone in the garrison is dead [G laughs], so I guess it's not that much of a contest.

G: Yeah, it's Cas or Uriel, and you know, Cas pretty killjoy.

C: Not funny.

G: Just like Sam Winchester. He does get funnier in the later seasons, I feel. [C: Yeah.] He develops a sense of humor that is so endearing.

C: Yeah, I mean, he learns how to be funny from Dean. It's just that like, because he's the one delivering the jokes, like, it's funny. And also because he's not misogynistic.

G: He also is like - I mean, I don't wanna be like, "Oh, Cas just like, funny in that he's not intentionally funny." I do think he's intentionally funny sometimes, but like, a lot of the- you know, like, when he goes in to cut off Pestilence's hand or something, and they were like, "How'd you get here?" and he goes, [seriously] "I took the bus." [C laughs] Like, you know, that's like- he's just saying a fact. Like, he literally just took the bus, though, for fucking real. [C: Mm-hm.] Yeah, stuff like that. I do think his humor is very deadpan in a way. Aw, I love Cas! He does get funnier later.

C: So Dean, like, sort of does something with his face to like, switch into "real talk" mode, and then he walks closer to Cas, and he's like, "What's going on, Cas? Since when does Uriel put a leash on you?" I feel like, yeah, the first "What's going on, Cas?" sort of seems like he does sort of care and is sort of concerned. But then the second sentence, sort of, I feel like, solidifies it as like, he's trying to separate the two of them, put an obstacle between the two of them so that Cas is more willing to let Dean go.

G: Again, I'm sure Dean is subconsciously thinking this, but I don't think it's like, the conscious thought. I mean, it's true, but like, it's not a conscious thought. I think it's more of like, he does genuinely believe that, like, he can change Cas's mind if it was just Cas here or if it was Cas who is like, doing the negotiations with Dean, it would be easier. So like, this question legitimately is like, "Why is Uriel the one talking to me? It should be you," and like, you know, the implied thought is "Because I'm sure you'll listen to me, probably, more than Uriel will."

C: Cas says, "My superiors have begun to question my sympathies." Who are Cas's superiors? What is the chain of command?

G: I actually don't know.

C: 'Cause like, Anna was his boss, but like, she's gone. Who replaced her?

G: I think Cas replaced her. Cas is now the head of the garrison.

C: Okay. So like-

G: Who was before Anna? Who was like, on top of Anna before? I don't know, actually. So like, the general Heaven command, maybe? I don't know.

C: Dean asks, "Your sympathies?" And Cas says, "I was getting too close to the humans in my charge. You." Crazy line! Crazy line.

G: Because the way this is delivered, he's looking at Dean directly.

C: And there's not a pause between "charge" and "you," like, besides, the amount of pause that you need for just a regular sentence. [G: No, yeah.] Like, he's not emphasizing it, and he's not holding it back, or something. [G: Yeah.] I don't know. It just feels so much about- it feels like how you can't feel shame for something that you don't have a name for yet

G: Exactly. This is just a statement of fact. It's not like, a reveal of emotion. Like, you know, to Cas, this is like, it's not something he is ashamed of. It's just, "Oh, and that could be dangerous, because it can lead to doubt." And like, you know, it's delivered in such a straightforward way. It's delivered in a way that is so "I'm just telling you, it's a statement. It's a fact."

C: Dean does seem a bit taken aback by this, though.

G: Yeah. Do you think Dean understands that like, this is like, unique to Cas? I mean, 'cause like, the only three angels we've met at this point is Cas, Uriel, and Anna. Anna seems-

C: Anna wanted to fuck him so bad.

G: Yeah, Anna wanted to fuck him so bad. Uriel's an asshole to him. And Cas is, like, seems like a reasonable guy sometimes, so like, maybe Dean doesn't really comprehend that, like, the way Cas is interacting with him and talking to him is like, weird. Like, this is weird for an angel to do with a human.

C: Right. But yeah, but now that, like, his superiors are being like, "Cas, you're being like, way too weird," this is when Dean's like, "Oh. This is different."

G: Yeah. Also, I mentioned looking straight ahead because the rest of this line is, "I was getting too close to the humans in my charge. You. They feel I've begun to express emotion. The doorways to doubt." And then he turns and like, looks away, in kind of like a, as you said earlier, like, looking away, and then like, holding your chin up high, kind of like you're making yourself into a statue. He goes, "This can impair my judgment." I don't know. It gets to me that him saying that "Oh, this can impair my judgment" and then turning away in that moment to look away from Dean and go back to his like, stoic self that is like, so closed off, almost, is like, "Oh, and now, what's happening right now is not impairing my judgment at all. Like, telling you this, not impairing my judgment at all. This, having this conversation, not impairing my judgment at all!" You know, because, like that's kind of like, the implication of the looking away to me.

C: Yeah, "I'm just telling you this 'cause you're asking. It doesn't mean anything for me."

G: Yeah. Again, he treats it like a statement of fact and not a reveal of emotion. Oh, Cas. [laughs] Your judgment will be so impaired, buddy.

C: For a man in jeans. I mean, Dean is sort of aware- I like that, you know, he says, that just emotions themselves are the doorways to doubt. That's just the issue right away. And like, we already knew that in 4.10 'cause, like, Anna said that in Heaven they can't have feelings, and they like, have to be cold and like a marble statue and have only obedience, blah blah blah blah. But like, it's nice to have that continued here. And okay, another thing that Anna said in 4.10, that's like, so crazy, now I think about it, is that she said, that "We have to take that"--like, the orders that they get and stuff from God--"We have to take it on faith, which we're killed if we don't have." So like, the whole like, "You're getting too close to Dean, get away" stuff, that's like, step one of the like, "And then if you get to this point, we're just gonna kill you."

G: Yeah!

C: Yeah. So, as you said, Cas turns away again into his marble statue pose. Dean, he like, circles around to talk to Cas, and you think that it's like-

G: To make Cas look at him? Yeah.

C: - to make Cas look in his eyes again, but like, he doesn't. He continues through the circle. And now they're standing so that Dean's looking at the door, his back to Cas-

G: And like, his shoulder, yeah.

C: - yeah, is like, a 90 degree angle away. So they're both like, looking like, like, what? Like, 270 degrees away from each other, basically?

G: Yeah. And Cas is by Dean's shoulder, like, a blurred-out vision on his shoulder. Aww! [laughs] What if the angel on your shoulder is telling you to torture some guy? [both laugh] It's horrible!

C: Dean says, like, "Tell Uriel or whoever, you do not want me doing this, trust me." And Cas says like, "No, we don't want it, but I've been told that we need it." Agh. He's been told. [G: Yeah.] So like, he doesn't even know. But like, Dean is still starting to get convinced just by that. Just by Cas being told. But also, I guess there is interpretation that he kind of also wants to do the torture. Like, he doesn't, but he also does. [G: Yeah.] He tells Alastair later that he's been dreaming of it, so I think that's part of what's going on here, too.

G: I mean, do you think that's true? Or [laughs] is that just torture talk.

C: I don't know. I mean, he does get creative with it. That does imply some forethought.

G: He does say that like, when he was in Hell, he liked it. Like, he liked- yeah. And I guess here, it's like, he hates that he likes it. Like, "If you put me in there, and then I realize that like, I still do like it, I think that's going to be real bad for everyone!"

C: Yeah, he says that if, like, he opens that door and walks through it, like, "You will not like what walks back out." And then Cas says, like, you know, crazy line. Crazy line. "For what it's worth, I would give anything not to have you do this." You just met the man! What does that mean?

G: Cas is like, so taken by Dean.

C: Yeah. And I guess it's like, his default state in heaven, like, while he's- you know, post-all his mind wipes and stuff - is just like, no emotion. Even if this is like, not that much emotion, it's like, the only one he has, so.

G: I mean, also, there may be some form of protectiveness over Dean. 'Cause that is a guy he raised out of perdition, you know? So it's like, "I went through all that trouble to get that guy out of there, and what? We're just going to break him."

C: Right. And also he said that, like, what his garrison did, like, laying siege to Hell, was to prevent Dean from breaking the first seal, so like, he probably spent like, months or whatever, fighting, just thinking like, "And I really don't want Dean to torture people." so [G: Yeah.] it probably does feel cognitively dissonant to be like, "And now we're telling him to torture people? I spent so long trying to get him to not torture people!"

So yeah, Dean closes his eyes, and then we cut to inside the room, 'cause it's torture time.

G: Yeah. They really will just do torture in Supernatural.

C: [laughs] They really will.

-

G: So we enter the room. Dean is wheeling in a cart. And Alastair is still there, tied up, chained up onto the whatever that thing is. As Dean is walking, he starts singing a song, I think, called "cheek to cheek," and, ohh. That like, singing really brings out like, something in me. Like, I'm like, "Yeah, that's real bad!" [laughs] And so, yeah, I quite like it. I quite like it. He actually does like, deliver a bit of like, some lines later in a sing-songy manner, too, and like, I think it really adds to the vibe! Takes off the cloth off the cart, and it's a bunch of like, rusty torture materials. [C laughs] And I was like, "Dude. Yeah, you're gonna torture this guy. And then what? You need to get a tetanus shot? [C laughing] You're gonna die of tetanus?" And he literally did. He literally did fucking die of tetanus.

C: Yeah, no, that wasn't because of the rusty nail in that barn. That was just like, the Season 4 shit. Yeah, Cas had been healing him like, all the time because of all the tetanus that he was getting from like, this episode, and then finally, like, after Cas finally, like, fully, truly kicked it, like, it's over for Dean. The tetanus finally got to him.

G: Yeah. It was a ticking time bomb. Like, Dean was gonna fall out of tetanus at some point, [C laughs] and he did! And Alastair, you know, is laughing, giggling, twirling his hair if he was able to reach it. He goes, "Oh, sorry! This is very serious, like, very emotional for you and everything. Yeah. But, like, God, are they serious? Did they really send you to torture me?" And yeah, Dean starts the whole like, "Tell me the name. Tell me who's killing the angels." And Alastair says, "You think I'll see all your scary toys and spill my guts?" And Dean goes, "Oh, you'll spill your guts one way or another." Which, I remember this line. He goes, "I just didn't want to ruin my shoes." I remember this line. I mean, again, I remember this episode so well. It's not even an episode I frequently rewatch, but yeah. I don't know. Dean just starts torturing the guy. I don't know what to tell you.

C: Yeah. There's nothing particularly important. It isn't even like, worse than anything else we've seen on this show, but like, we're just supposed to think it's worse.

G: Yeah, I do like the line where Alastair says like, "Oh, you think you can like, get to me? You left part of yourself back in the pit." And then he goes, "Let's see if we can get the two of you back together again, shall we?" Implying that, like, what he left in the pit was like, the part of him that was like,the torture. And now, like, in this scene, we're gonna get that Dean back. The connotation of like, the words, "You left part of yourself back in the pit," like, Sam used it later. "He came back like, missing," or something. As Dean is like, preparing his stuff, Alastair drops that like, he also tortured John, which Dean does like, hear, and it does, I don't know, spark some interest in him.

C: Right. 'Cause [laughs] John escaped and went to Heaven at the end of Season 2. Remember?

G: What the fuck, even? [C laughing] What a weirdass season. But that scene was so- And they the, like, benevolent smile bullshit?

C: Yeah. Hilarious. Right, while we were on hiatus and doing RubbishPod, Danica did ask me like, "What's the like, ratio of like, humans to like, demons torturing people in Hell?" Like, there's no way that there's enough like, humans in there for every demon to like, get a go.

G: I mean, some of them are crossroads.

C: Some of them are crossroads. Yeah, okay, but like, how many? What is the like, job allocation in Hell? Like, what percentage of the demons are primarily doing torturing?

G: I mean, also, like, there's not gonna be a lot of crossroads demons, I feel like. [C: Yeah.] I feel like they're not super in demand. It's not a rising industry.

C: Yeah. I guess, like, some of them go on Earth and possess people and like, kill people for funsies, but like, it seems like Hell doesn't like them to get back up there, because, like, you know, Meg's always been like, "It's such a pain like, when I get exorcised to like, claw my way back up to Earth." Because isn't it like, the ratio of like, dead people to alive people is about like, 14 to 1 or whatever, right? And I'm assuming most people break. Like, I don't think that there are people who like, never, ever break.

G: I mean, some people also go to Heaven.

C: Yeah, sure, but I'm just saying that overall, like, I'm saying, like, there's probably like, 14 times more demons than like, humans in Hell. Approximately. [G: Yeah.] Is it just like, 14 demons to one person, and they like, only have to do a torture session like, biweekly? [G laughs]

G: They do rotations? [laughs] Bro.

C: Are they a team? Yeah. Do some of the torturers there go, "Oh, I'll let you practice torture on me, bro." Like, what's the- [laughs] What's the deal there?

G: You know, some of these- they're just TAs. [laughs] Like-

C: I mean, Dean was a TA.

G: Dean was literally Alastair's TA. [C: Yeah.] That's actually a very interesting question. I don't know. The Hell economy is in shambles. [C laughs] Unemployment is at a massive high.

C: RIP. Very sad that Dean couldn't just be one of the unemployed people down there. Like, those people are having a great time. Like, they're not being tortured. They're not torturing.

G: They have demonic powers.

C: Yeah, they're probably just like, playing cards with each other. Good for them.

-

C: We cut to the motel room in Cheyenne. We see Ruby again! Hi, Ruby! It's been a while. [laughs] Genevieve Cortese is still not a good actress. [both laugh] But it's fine.

G: She literally isn't, though! But, you know, we live, we laugh, we love.

C: Yeah. You know, she doesn't really want to be here because there's angels around, and she also doesn't see why Sam needs to find Dean because, you know, it seems like it's a good plan, everything's gonna work out. And Sam says he can't do it, and Ruby says, "Look, I get it. You don't want him going all torture master again." [laughs] And Sam says, "No, I mean, he can't do it. He can't get the job done." So funny for that. I do like, the way that Sam's rate of like, progression into like, arrogance or whatever is like, faster than what Ruby anticipates. Like, she's still like, "Okay. And you're gonna be nice. You're gonna be like this." And Sam's like, "No, I'm past that now." He says that something happened to Dean in Hell, and he's not what he used to be, he's not strong enough.

G: Which is our first verbal confirmation of all the things that Sam said in the siren ep and that Dean has been insecure about. It's true. He does think it

C: He does. Though I still don't know why he thinks it. I guess, more recently, Dean's been giving up. So to Alastair, the thing that Dean left behind was like, the torturer side of him. [G: Yeah.] Like, what does Sam think Dean has left behind? Like, his anger?

G: Probably like, his drive.

C: Those things can be the same thing. Ruby asks, "And you are?" And Sam says, "I will be."

We're back to, you know, Dean doing the torture shit. Alastair's just trying to provoke Dean, who hasn't started the torturing yet. And Alastair says that he was in charge of torturing John, and for a hundred years, each time, he would ask John, "If you become a torturer, I'll stop torturing you." But John said no every single time. I don't believe it. [G: You know what?] Like, I know that must be the case, because if John had given up, like, you know, that would have been the righteous man breaking, and the first deal would have broken. But, like, I just- I don't believe it.

G: I think I do believe it because I do think John Winchester thinks himself a good man.

C: To be above that, yeah.

G: I mean, the only reason why he was able to reason out like, treating Sam and Dean the way he did it is because "It's for a greater good," like, "I'm being a hero by doing this." Like, "My kids suffering because I can't be there is actually me suffering because I can't be there for them [C: Mm.], which makes me a hero, 'cause I'm doing it to save the world," you know. [C: Right.] And so I think this does fly for John Winchester's characterization to like, hold out and be like, "Oh, but I'm the one suffering, and I am able to hold out that suffering" because I feel like that's the same reasoning he has used for Sam and Dean, even though I would argue and everyone would agree that, you know, Sam and Dean suffered more in those situations.

C: Alright. I can see that. Yeah, Alastair gives the iconic "Daddy's little girl, he broke in 30."

G: Yeah, just like us, except we broke in like, 29 or something.

C: What are we talking about?

G: Do people still- We used to do two episodes per week, and then by like, Episode 29, we quit that. [C: Oh.] And I said in the podcast like, "I wanted us to quit in 30, because, like, just like Dean Winchester. But yeah, alas! We have to do it now."

C: Sad.

G: Devastating.

C: Yeah, and Alastair calls Dean "Not the man your daddy wanted you to be," which Dan echoes at the end. And then Dean, you know, picks up some holy water. Alastair is not impressed, but then Dean says that in Hell, he dreamed, and over and over he dreamt of being able to torture Alastair, and therefore he has a few ideas. And he gets a needle, and he fills it up with holy water, and then he walks over, and then we cut to outside where Cas is listening in, and Alastair is screaming.

G: Yeah, I do like the part that, like, you know, Alastair's just being like, "Oh, holy water. Come on, Dean." But when Dean holds up that syringe, he does actually look a bit like, scared. [C: Mm.] Like, yeah, this is creative of Dean to do, I guess. Like, they didn't do it in Hell. [laughing] Also, I'm just so- I mean, every time it happens in Supernatural, I do have a bit of a laugh, but like, the fact that they would just visualize holy water as like, anything. Anything- any like, jug of water, any tank of water with a rosary in it [both laugh], and like, "Go, girl!" I think you'd legitimately need a priest to bless that thing. [C laughs]

C: I'm sure that angels can do it.

G: That's true. Maybe so. Why are the angels Catholic, though? Like, why are they using a rosary?

C: I don't know.

G: Is a rosary a Catholic thing? I feel like it is.

C: I think so.

G: Yeah, because, like, isn't the whole point of like, Protestantism they don't do saints? I mean, not the whole point. But they don't do saints in that thing, so I assume they don't do Mama Mary. [typing] "Rosary... is it Catholic?"

C: Is holy water Catholic.

G: No, it's like, a different process for every- I mean, you can have, like, holy water, for literally, like, every religion. Like, it's just holy water. [C: Okay.] But, like, Catholic holy water specifically needs to be blessed by a priest. Okay. So rosary is Catholic. I'm gonna look up [typing] "holy water... do Protestants do that shit." [C laughs] Okay, they don't do holy water.

C: Okay, so it is all Catholicism.

G: Oh, the like, when you enter a church, you dip your hand in the holy water, and you do the sign of the cross, that's a Catholic thing also, apparently. I mean, that makes sense. The sign of the cross is Catholic.

C: Yeah, the sign of the cross is a Catholic thing. I mean, is it just Catholic because only Catholics do exorcisms?

G: Is that true?

C: Yeah, I feel like- I don't think the demons are very big in Protestantism, but also, like, I literally know nothing due to the atheism, so, [laughs] I don't know.

G: Okay, so Anglicans and Episcopal church, they don't usually use- like, they don't use the term "holy water," but they do use some kind of water for baptism.

C: Okay.

G: Dean tortures Alastair some more. There's a line, where, after like, Dean pulls out the needle, like, Alastair goes, "Go directly to Hell, do not pass Go, do not collect $200," and the thing is, if this is was literally anyone else, like, if this was any other demon saying this, I'll be like, "That's so corny. I don't think you should be speaking like that." Whatever whatever. But because it's Alastair, I'm like, "It's fine." The line delivery is so good, like, it just heavy lifts everything. And as he said, like, this scenes, not much really happens in them. Like, there's some reveals, but the reveal is actually kind of like, compressed towards the end, so not much is happening in the middle parts, but it's still very- while you're watching it, it's still very interesting because of the acting.

-

G: Back in the motel room, Ruby kind of like, burns down this map while doing a little chant. Which is pretty cool.

C: Yeah, it's fun when she gets to be a witch. [G: Yeah.] And her eyes turn black.

G: What happens is it burns down the entire thing and leaves a little piece of it, and she goes, "Yeah, that's where Dean is." And as Sam looks at this, he turns to Ruby and goes, "Ruby, it's been weeks. I need it."

C: How has it been weeks? Like, he could throw Alastair in 4.15. Like, I thought that they were like, meeting up again since "Criss Angel." Have they been meeting up and him not drinking her blood?

G: Maybe. Or like, maybe it's been a while since they have met up. When was "Criss Angel"?

C: That's true. "Criss Angel" was- was it like, 4.13? No, that was "After School-" 4.12. 4.12.

G: So yeah.

C: Yeah. And right, he was calling Ruby in 4.14, but they didn't actually meet up. So yeah, perhaps it has been a while.

G: Ruby says, "You don't seem too happy about it." Is that an odd thing to say? I don't know. Never drank blood, so I don't know. [both laugh]

C: Right, are you saying- Does it seem like she's like, offended by it?

G: Yeah, is it- What's that supposed to mean?

C: I mean, he doesn't seem too happy about it. [laughs]

G: It's just an observational thing. [laughs] Okay.

C: I think- I don't know. I think she's still like, trying to get him to get over like, the qualms that he has around the blood drinking.

G: Okay, yeah.

C: Also- I don't know. Like, the blood-drinking is mixed with sex, and like, I'm not entirely sure what the sex means to either of them, because, like, I feel- it's mostly like, for Ruby, I think it definitely started as just, "It's easier to manipulate him now," but like, I don't know if if it also like, matters to her emotionally. I also don't know if it matters to Sam emotionally, or if he's just doing it as a way to like, somehow make the blood drinking seem less weird to himself. So like, there could be a reason to feel offended if you're equating the two- like, like, blood drinking with having sex.

G: But like, are they having sex?

C: I mean she straddles him and then kisses him. I don't know if they have sex after that. 

G: Yeah. But like, the act is definitely portrayed as-

C: Sexual.

G: Sexual. Yeah, okay. Sam just goes like, "I mean, I don't- You think I wanna do this? This is the last thing I- But I need to be strong." Blah blah blah.

C: I mean, it is interesting how Sam and Dean are both like, leaning into their "dark side" and like, doing something that they like, don't want to do but have to in order to get this information from Alastair. And I guess, like, both of their sets of actions are condemned by the narrative, at least, so at least that's nice.

G: Is it?

C: I think so.

G: The torture?

C: I mean, Anna comes in, and she's like, "This is terrible, and God doesn't want this" for the torturing.

G: Yeah, but like, with Dean, I feel it's more like, "Doesn't want this because it'll be a boo-boo for him! [C laughs] Like, he'll be sad about it!" You know?

C: Well, she also says, "It'll ruin the one real weapon you have," [G: Yeah.] which makes it sound like there's like, a- Oh, okay! You thought that that just meant like, emotional hurt? Oh, I fully thought it was like, "Dean needs to remain morally pure to be Michael's vessel" or some shit. But no, you're right, it probably is just like, "His feelings will be hurt!"

G: [laughs] Yeah. Which is completely different from, you know. Like, for Dean, it's like- it's almost almost like, a passive kind of thing, versus Sam's-

C: Right, even though he's fully, actively doing torture? Like, both of them are being the exact same amount of active. But yeah, you're right. It's like, "Don't do this to Dean" like he's not making the choice himself, which he is. And for Sam, it's like, "How dare he make this choice that he was manipulated into by Ruby a while ago also." So yeah. Yeah, you're right.

G: Ruby straddles his like, lap, and then they kiss, and then Ruby brings out the knife.

C: Yeah, she starts with like, "It's okay, Sammy, you can have it." Which yeah, I really liked that she calls him "Sammy." It's a fun Ruby thing.

G: She slices like, a little bit of her arm, and then Sam starts [laughs] just slurping that shit. [C: Yeah.] He's slurping it. And this whole time, like, we go to Ruby's face, and she has, like, a sick and twisted smile on her face. [both laugh] And she's like, caressing Sam's hair and going, "It's okay. Sam." [C: Yeah.] Like, literally her smile is like, that "I'm a sicko."

C: [laughing] Yeah.

G: Like, whatever that is.

C: Yeah, yeah, the- what is it? "I'm a sick bitch, I like freak sex."

G: I don't know. I am inclined to say it's like, overacted, but like, I don't know. Maybe I'm just being- like, maybe she's just not directed well. I don't know!

C: Yeah. I don't know. I feel like there's something to discuss that like, this is the manner by which Sam drinks the blood, but I don't know what to say. I'm sure- I don't know. I'm sure there's a bunch of psychosexual literature out there I could reference if I bothered to read it. Does it feel like, motherly?

G: I think because the vibe that Ruby is putting out is like, comforting, that is like, a way to see it.

C: 'Cause doesn't Mary stroke his hair in a similar fashion, in like-

G: When?

C: - "When the Levee Breaks"?

G: Oh, like, in his like, fucking hallucinations or whatever.

C: Yeah.

G: I forget. I'm not sure. I think there is something to be said about how Ruby like, paints this as like, she's trying to comfort Sam. [C: Yeah.] 'Cause the way the "But it's okay. It's okay, Sammy, you can have it," is kind of like a "This is something I can restrict." Like, "This is something I can not give you. But don't worry. I always will." You know, that's kind of like, the implication here with the "It's okay, it's okay." And yeah, like, oof! Poor Sam. [laughs]

C: Yeah. Sorry, Sam.

G: I don't know. It's a lot. It's a lot.

We go back to the torture room. Dean holds up for Ruby's knife and ladles holy water onto it. Which is odd. Like that's a metal blade. [C laughs] I don't know what this is supposed to accomplish.

C: Yeah. Like, there's just gonna be like, a tiny little droplet?

G: I feel like that shit is like, hydrophobic. [laughs] What's happening here?

C: I don't know.

G: He goes to Alastair. Alastair's saying some shit, but you know. He just stabs the guy.

C: Yeah. They don't care about the vessels.

G: No, wait. How does this work?

C: No, exactly. Because the demon knife kills people.

G: So like, if you slooowly put that demon knife in, it won't kill the guy? Only when you do it fast?

C: Doesn't Alastair have some kind of an immunity to the demon knife in some way 'cause like, didn't they like, stab him in the shoulder with it in like, 4.09 and he was fine? And Cas stabs him with it again this time, and he's fine.

G: The implication with those is like, if it's in a non-lethal position.

C: Yeah, I don't think Dean stabs Alastair in a lethal position here. It's like, lower abdomen.

G: He stabs- I'm pretty sure that's where your intestines are. Like, your large intestine is in there somewhere.

C: Huh. Maybe.

G: But I guess you can survive an intestinal rupture for a while. But yeah. He stabs the guy. As this is happening, we see like, a pipe thing turn. What do you call this? What's that circular pipe?

C: A faucet?

G: Is it a faucet? It may or may not be a faucet. I don't know. Not- I don't know. What are the people who know what faucets are. Civil engineers?

C: Plumbers?

G: Plumbers! Yeah! Plumbers. I'm not a plumber, unfortunately.

C: Well, okay, so the point of the faucet is that it drips water onto the devil's trap, which causes it to break eventually. However, [laughs] Dean's been sloshing holy water all over the place. You told me that didn't erode any of the chalk? Also, Alastair's been spitting blood everywhere.

G: Yeah. The inside of that sigil would have been broken like, earlier. Also, like, the moment Dean, like, wheeled in that cart, the wheels go over the chalk. [C laughs] And like, my immediate thought was, "Dude, you're gonna break the sigil."

C: I don't know, man.

G: I'm pretty sure they could get like, a paintbrush and a can of paint. Cas, you got lazy? Is that what this is? [C laughs]

C: Step it up, dude.

-

G: We go to [C: Ah!] Cas in the fucking waiting area or whatever. Like, there's a light above him, and it starts flickering, and then it bursts, and Anna is behind him.

C: Yeah, also, the position he was waiting in, he's sort of like, braced over the table like he has both arms- hands on it. And it's like, the sounds of the torture really are affecting him. Like, he is upset or whatever. It's nice.

G: Yeah. I love the fucking halo thing, because, like, it is over Cas, but like, there's another one in front of it, so it looks like Cas’s halo is the one that's still up, and then, like, Anna’s is the one that bursts, which is pretty fun! Oh, I love you halo imagery. Anna's there. Cas goes, "Oh, Anna," like, before he turns around, which is pretty fun.

C: Yeah. He can sense her like, true form, or whatever. Like, they've known each other for thousands or millions of years.

G: Yeah, also, we just don't know what the fuck sensation is like for angels, you know. Can they see all around? 360 degree? You know. He turns around, looks at her, and remarks that she's still in the same vessel, even though it like, I don't know, probably exploded, destroyed. And Anna says, "Yeah, I guess I'm sentimental." And she goes, "I called in some old favors."

C: With who?

G: Who the fuck is giving her favors. And also, how do vessels work? What is this?

C: What favors give you this body back? Yeah, I don't know. Someone who was able to heal the ash pile that her vessel became?

G: This happens to Cas, too, and it's still the same question. Like, who the fuck brought Cas back? And the answer is God. So like, is Anna like- I don't know. Did God bring her back? What the- Is that the old favor?

C: I don't think that God's one of her old favors, because when she was two, she was screaming and crying about how he was gonna kill her. Also, [laughs] I'm pretty sure if she ran into God, she wouldn't be saying all this stuff about how God's abandoned them or whatever. [G: Yeah.] So like, a reaper, probably?

G: But like, a reaper is responsible for souls. Not bodies. [C: Yeah.] Although maybe a part of it is like, she has become so entrenched in her body that that's her now also.

C: Yeah, that they'd be able to construct it from her soul.

G: Yeah. It's not a vessel. It's a body now.

Cas is just going like, "Yeah, you shouldn't be here." Anna is asking about Uriel, whatever whatever. Anna asks, "Why are you letting Dean do this?" And Cas is like, "It's God's work." Anna goes like, "Oh, yeah, God is telling you to make Dean torture that guy?"

C: Well, she says specifically, "Torturing? That's God's work."

G: Oh yeah, that's a different-

C: - which makes it seem like she's against torture in general, but, like, I don't know if she is. I mean, we have no evidence that she's not against torturing in general, but like, the show is not against torturing in general. So.

G: Yeah. And then she goes, "Stop him, Cas. Before you ruin the one real weapon you have." Cas goes, "Who are we to question the will of God?" And Anna then reveals the "Yeah, but is it His will?" And Cas is like, "Yeah, I mean, where else would the orders come from?" "I don't know. Somebody else, but not God." [C: Yeah.] I did get jumpscared when they referred to God as "him." [C laughs] I was like, "Noooo! Oh, yeah, the- yeah, okay."

C: Yeah, I also got used to she/they God on Good Omens. That was nice.

G: Exactly. It was nice.

C: Yeah, I'm still so stuck on the Supernatural stance on torture thing. I think there's a post about it that I read that we'll just reblog 'cause I don't remember the details, but I think it was interesting. I think it's just the fact that, like, Dean does torture all the time, but they don't portray it as torture. They portray it as- I think the post says that a lot of what Dean does is just portrayed as a cop interrogation room scene, which the writers consider separate from torture, whereas, like, this is actually torture. And like, the ways that they make that distinction just, I don't know, show ideological messiness with the writers.

G: Yeah. I mean, Supernatural, first and foremost, as a show written by many people, so like, I don't know. Like, every single idea is interfaced with differently by every single person who writes for this show. So-

C: Yeah. I'm sure I could find a Ben Edlund episode where they torture like, pretty fast, though. [G: Sure.] Like, in "The Man Who Would be King," doesn't it open with like, Bobby and Dean, like, with a demon?

G: Torturing the demon, yeah.

C: Yeah. And that's like, okay.

G: Yeah, like, this is not like, ruining Dean's psyche or whatever.

C: Yeah. Interesting. Oh, also, when Cas asked, "Who are we to question the will of God?" the shot turns wider, and then we see that his hands are in his pockets! [G: Aww.] Which I think is so cute. He's had this body for like, a few weeks, and he's already developed nervous tics and defensive stances and all that shit. Good for him. Does Anna- does Anna meet Chuck, ever?

G: I don't think so.

C: Does she know about Chuck eventually? She ought to, right?

G: I don't think so. I don't know. I genuinely don't know.

C: 'Cause it's like, alright, like, currently, the Supernatural stance is like, "Oh, like, God is good, but like, Heaven is evil, like, maybe," but eventually, it takes it to like, "No, God also really fucking sucks." Yeah, Annacurrently still does have faith and God, just not in Heaven.

G: Yeah. And Uriel, I think, has a more reasonable belief in that, "Yeah Heaven is- God DGAF." which I think is what's happening.

C: Everything that Uriel says later is true-

G: Is completely true, yeah.

C:  - and proven by the narrative later.

G: And he gets fucking killed for it! Like, okay! Slay, I suppose! [C laughs] Diva down!

C: [typing] I don't know.

G: [laughing] No, because I just saw it in the like, George Santos posts.

C: I think it's just a saying in ball culture, I think, but I don't know.

G: Yeah. Okay. Well, Anna tells Cas, "What you're feeling, it's called doubt." And then she goes to touch Cas's hand, and like, holds it. Like, not just touch it. Like, she's like, trying to grab it, kind of. She goes, "These orders are wrong, and you know it. But you can do the right thing. You're afraid, Cas. I was too. But together, we can still-" and that's like, what breaks Cas out of it. He goes, "Together?" And then he yanks his hand away and goes, "I'm nothing like you. You fell. Go." Yeah. Anna does.

C: I really like- okay, first off, like, "The father you love." What does love look like if you can't have feelings in Heaven? Like, I guess love is obedience?

G: Obey, I suppose. Yeah. Put your faith into blah blah blah.

C: But like, I feel like that's not what Anna's trying to say. Because I feel like Anna would not like, Anna means something else 'cause like, she understands love and all that shit because of her time as a human. I also love that she says, like, "You think he'd ask this of you?" Like, it's almost like she's framing it like, "He would ask you to do something that hurts you so much?" [G: Yeah.] Which, like, again, reiterates that this is like, personal for Cas, and that it emotionally hurts him to see Dean do this, which slaps. I'm so sad that we don't get Anna after Season 5 because she's so interesting. Like, okay, she got her Grace, and then she like, went off, right? We don't really know what her goals are, what she's been doing since. Okay, she came back because she wanted to protect Dean, and also because she thought that she could find an ally in Cas because she must be really lonely right now. She just keeps being lonely, right? She never gets followers or friends or anything.

G: Follower. [laughs] Just like on Instagram?

C: Yeah, just like on Instagram.

G: The three of them, Anna, Uriel, and Cas, they should have kept these three in some way.

C: Yeah.

G: Or I don't know, just kept them longer. For me, the person that interests me more is Uriel in the Uriel-Anna-Cas situation right now. Because, like, again, like, he's right! You know? [C: Yeah.] Like, he's right, and like, his reasoning of like, "Why are we supposed to bow down to the humans? Like, why are we inferior to them?" Like, I can see why he would think that. Obviously, like, Uriel, is portrayed in the show, as like, "He thinks he's better than humans," and the argument he's making is like, "They're not better than us." I think, like, later in the show, they have Lucifer make the argument, like, actually say the words like, "And God like, tried to make me bow down to the humans, and that's why I fell" or whatever. I don't know. I think that is a very interesting concept of like, "God has a new favorite show now," quite literally, "and we're just fodder for that show," quite literally. And yeah, I feel like Uriel can have a lot of interesting journeys upon discovering that he is, in fact, right.

C: That's true. And like, we need- I mean, we need both like, Anna and Uriel because they sort of provide these two distinct perspectives.

G: Opposite. Yeah, like, Anna thinks like, not that humanity is better, but like, you can learn something from them.

C: She thinks humanity's better.

G: Does she? She actually says that?

C: I mean, at least when Dean's asking her why she chose to fall like, she- I mean, I guess not better, but like, she'd rather be a human than an angel.

G: Yeah, like, she thinks there is more freedom to be who you are as a human.

C: Yeah, she wants to have feelings and all that shit.

G: Even though those same things you can experience as an angel, you just don't have the freedom to.

C: Yeah, I mean, I think she seems to think that you can't experience them as an angel. So like-

G: Yeah, but, you know, she understands that Cas is experiencing doubt.

C: That's true.

G: I don't know. Both of them can have journeys regarding like, "Can angels really experience this shit? What makes us different from humans? Are we really that different? Is it so important?"

C: And they can all confront God.

G: Yeah, and they can all kill God about it.

C: Yeah. [laughs] Would be nice. Unfortunately, it is not what happens in this show.

G: Also, they have, like, so much history together.

C: Yeah!

G: Every single conversation that Cas and Anna have, Cas and Uriel, Uriel and Anna- do Uriel and Anna talk? Whatever. But, like, all of those relationships are implied to have so much history together. And it's like, I don't know. What would it be like, if, like, one of your closest buddies at work just goes like, "And now I will stand against everything I believe, which are the things you believe,and I think I'm right for it, so like, obviously, I think you're wrong for you." [C: Yeah.] Like, what does that do to Cas, you know? And I'm sure it informs like, Uriel's decision in some way.

C: Like, Anna falling?

G: Yeah, that there's an angel who like, rebelled.

C: Yeah. And who wants to join humanity. "Well, I'm not gonna like, lose more people to this God propaganda." I mean, we get very few glimpses of that, and I would like to know more of their history. I would like a flashback episode.

G: For real. Wishlist for Supernatural Season 16.

C: [laughs] Season 16.

-

C: Back in the torture room, Alastair finally is about to reveal some information, but Dean just pours a bunch of salt down his throat.

G: This is like, the scene that I was like, "Yeah, maybe Dean is like, doing this because he likes it." 'Cause like, you know, I feel like doing the salt down the throat thing, it's like, you're gonna prevent this guy from being able to communicate with you.

C: Alastair finally says that John was supposed to be the one to "bring it on." Dean doesn't know what he's talking about. Alastair says that the first time that Dean started torturing, that was the first seal broken. Also, he calls it "The first time you sliced into that weeping bitch." Of course the first person Dean tortured was a woman. Seems correct. Dean does not want to believe this,and Alastair quotes from- I don't know where- "And it is written that the first seal shall be broken when a righteous man sheds blood in Hell. As he breaks, so shall it break." [laughs] You're telling me not a single other righteous man has shed blood in Hell?

G: What is a righteous man? Like, how do we define that?

C: I don't know. Some people define it as someone who like, sacrifices themselves by a crossroads deal.

G: I'm sure- like, that guy was like, "And I was gonna sacrifice myself for my wife who had cancer." Nobody else?

C: Right, yeah, I don't think his pain tolerance was that high. [laughs] I'm sure he broke, too.

G: No, I mean, did that guy die? I don't think so.

C: I forgor. Did they save him?

G: I think they did. They only let the Black guy die. [laughs]

C: Oh, yeah, I remember having issues with that.  I'm sure there have been other people. I guess- I feel like Supernatural just thinks that like, people can withstand more torture than they can. Like, I feel like Supernatural thinks that some people don't break ever, and I don't think that's possible.

G: Another idea that I have read around is that a righteous man is like, someone who could be Michael's vessel, and that's why it's like-

C: Oh, it was John who was supposed to be it. Okay. Okay, I see it. I believe it. None of John's relatives went to Hell? I'm pretty sure they did.

G: Isn't his dad like, a Man of Letters or something?

C: Oh, and so he would go to Heaven because Supernatural supports indiscriminately killing monsters. Yeah. [laughs]

G: Yeah. I don't know, I feel like it is interesting that the Campbells are the Lucifers, and then the Winchesters are the Michaels.

C: Yeah.

G: Is that true?

C: No, it's true.

G: Or is it like "and the combination of them will result to the brothers who are the Michael and Lucifer."

C: No, no, I'm pretty sure it's the Campbells and the Winchesters [G: Okay.], 'cause they were brought together on purpose so that you would have two brothers who could house Michael and Lucifer.

G: I think that could be a good way to look at it. It's going to just be the Winchesters, and then at this point, it was just John and Dean, and John didn't break.

C: Okay. I could see it.

Dean is upset at this, and Alastair also clarifies that like, you have to break the first seal before you break the rest of them, so when the Apocalypse happens, it'll all be Dean's fault. And Alastair says, "Believe me, son, I wouldn't lie about this. It's kind of a religious sort of thing with me." which I really like. I really like.

G: I like it too.

C: I like that demons have a religion around the Apocalypse, I like applying it to Samruby, I like applying it to everything. It's great. Love it.

G: Yeah! And the fact that this is like, so sacred that it wouldn't- like, I don't know. It's good! It's good. I mean, to me, I'm glad Alastair dies this episode because, I don't know, I feel like it does lend to like, the validity of Sam's power, that he's able to kill Alastair specifically. Also, I just feel like the gimmick that they have with Alastair probably would have gotten old if they had him stick around. [C: Yeah.] The reason why he's so iconic is because he dies this episode. But fun stuff. Fun thing they have going with Alastair.

C: Dean says, "I don't think you are lying, but even if the demon's do win, you won't be there to see it." So he is planning to just fully kill Alastair, he is no longer focused on the torture-him-for-information plan. [G: Yeah.] I think you're right. This is just him getting revenge at this point. But, you know, Alastair has gotten out of the trap, out of the chains, and he punches Dean. I still can't stop laughing every time there's a punch fight in Supernatural. Like, this is supposed to be a big, serious thing, and you're just like, doing a bar fight, but with like, cooler lighting.

G: No, for real, like, Cas is like [C laughs] notoriously bad at this fights. Like, he looks goofy. [C laughs] Like, apparently they laughed at Misha Collins on set when he first punched someone in this episode 'cause it looked goofy as hell. And like, I believe it, 'cause Cas does look goofy as hell when he fights.

C: He does.

G: He's so bad at mortal combat! [C laughs] Like, he's so bad at it!

C: Can't he just do the throwing people across the room thing? Like, he doesn't touch anything this whole episode. Can't he just like, airfight people?

G: He's cute, though. He does a little twirly-twirly later.

C: Yeah. He is cute.

G: So Dean, on his knees- is he on his knees yet? He is about to be. But he's just bloodied up, and Alastair's punching him and punching him. There's this part where he gets lifted off the ground by his throat, and like, Alastair's thumb is like, really digging into the hollow of his neck, and he goes, "You've you got a lot to learn, boy, so I'll see you back in class, bright and early, Monday morning." Oh, it's a w- It's so fun! [C: Yeah.] And all I keep thinking of is that thing you always say where you go, "You're a pleasure to have in class!" [C laughs] And literally, Alastair's going, "You're a pleasure to have in class, Dean." Apparently- actually, I'm not sure if this is true. We may be spreading misinformation, beware. [C: Okay.] But, like, apparently, this scene is like, Jensen was actually lifted by the neck this way.

C: Oww.

G: Yeah. And like, I don't know, he said something like "I trust the actor to not hurt me."

C: Um-!

G: I wouldn't. [laughs] I wouldn't trust anyone to lift me by the neck. But okay, you go, girl.

C: Yeah, I don't know about that. Maybe Alastair's actor has like, a lot of training in these things.

G: Yeah. But then you still are legitimately being lifted by [laughs]- I mean, I don't know!

C: I mean, they'll do anything to these- Maybe, after like, having the like, 10,000 bees sicced on you, like, your standards for workplace safety are just shit.

G: Alastair gets disrupted by Cas. Cas shoves a knife into his shoulder. Very bad, aim, Cas. You should have just gone straight to the heart. What the fuck are you doing? [C laughs] Also, I have a question. Do you need to get fucking stabbed with this thing? Like, if you slit someone's throat with Ruby's knife, [C: It should kill.] and if someone happens to be a demon, it should kill them?

C: I think so.

G: But it seems to be like, a "You need to like get that thing in there, and it needs to like, electrocute visual effects to kill you."

C: True. I have no clue, man.

G: I don't know. The knife like, does the flickering thing, but it doesn't fully- it doesn't even seem to hurt him at all. And Alastair's like, "Well, would you look at that. God's on my side today." And Cas, who has taken a couple of steps back, lifts his hand, and then does like, a turning motion with it. And the knife is like, twisting on Alastair's shoulder. But Alastair is like, "Yeah, bit painful," but he just pulls the knife out. And it does like, have some resistance from Cas's- I don't know telekinetic powers, probably. But eventually, he tosses that knife away. And then they start to fight, in the goofiest way- [C laughing] I mean, Alastair's fine. Alastair's fine. Like, I feel like this actor’s good at like, you know, his stunts or whatever. Cas does look so fucking goofy. I mean, I don't know. I'll keep on thinking to myself like, "He's getting used to his body, you know, he's not used to-" And, I mean, he is, "- and that's why he's so bad at throwing punches." I do love how every single time we see Cas like, throw a punch, [laughs]it cuts to an angle that like, hides it. [C laughing] Like, hides, like, Misha Collins, you know? He gets thrown into a wall eventually.

C: There's blood dripping down out of his head. He looks so handsome.

G: There's a rebar on that wall?

C: Is there?

G: Yeah, he gets stabbed into it. There's like, a sound of him being impaled on the rebar. [C: Whoop.] And it's not just stabbed, too. He gets like, hooked. He gets impaled on it, and then, like, Alastair kind of like, lifts him up and then pulls him down as if like, you're putting a coat on a hook. [C: Hm!] Which is pretty fun. Pretty fun visual. Alastair says like, "Oh, you roaches- You're like roaches, these celestials. It's unfortunate. I don't know how to kill you, but I can just send you back to Heaven." Which is fun. You can exorcise angels. That's fun. [C: Yeah.] I feel like we don't really utilize this a lot, the same way we don't utilize demon exorcism in the future. It's just, there are sigils to do that now for angels, and for demons, you just kill them. They don't give a fuck. Alastair starts chanting something. Light starts kind of like, pouring out of Cas's eyes and mouth. And like, it's a different thing than the demon smoke, 'cause that shit is smoke, and you can like, actually see the smoke moving out. This is just like, a bright light. Suddenly, Alastair is like, choking.

C: Here comes Sam with the steel chair.

G: Saaam Winchester! He's here.

C: It's quite funny that it's like, "It's Dean's turn! Oh, no, he's about to die. It's Cas's turn! Oh, no, he's about to die. It's Sam's turn! Finally, this works."

G: Alastair is just fucking pinned up to the wall, and Sam starts interrogating, "Where's the angels? Who's murdering the angels? How are they doing it?" And Alastair's like, "Oh, you think I'm gonna tell you?" And Sam's like, "Yes, I do." And he twists his hand. Is it the same way that Cas twists his hand for the knife? I thought that was fun. And then we bring back the Alastair eye roll to white, which I quite like, 'cause it seems like an unconscious thing, you know. He's not on purpose doing that. And it just goes to show how much more Sam is [laughs] torturing this guy effectively. 'Cause like, Dean wasn't able to do that. [C: Mm-hm.] Alastair says, "It's not us. We're not killing the angels. I don't know who is." Alastair is like, "Okay, well, send me back to Hell if you can!" And Sam says, "No, I'm stronger than that Now, I can kill." And then he holds up his hand, closes his eyes, and then Alastair dies! [C: Yeah.] He fucking dies. He's dead.

C: You said you were gonna talk about how Cas looks in this scene.

G: Oh, yeah. This entire scene, Cas is like- when he slumps down, and then he finally stands up, he's just looking in between, like, Sam and Alastair. He's just like, following the conversation. 'Cause Sam is like, screaming in this part, kind of. He's like, demanding answers in a way that's like, quite forceful, you know. And the moment he twists his hand even more to hurt Alastair even more, Sam goes from looking at Alastair to doing a slow headturn towards Sam, kind of like, in disbelief. Like, I don't think anyone expected Sam to have this much power is the implication. I don't know. It's interesting, because, like, Ruby didn't expect Sam to be as like, gung-ho as he is right now, for example. And like, Cas knows that Sam is doing something, but not to this extent, to- Yeah, he exceeds expectations. Above average, even.

C: Does Cas know that Sam is doing something? 4.03 was like, "Stop your brother, stop doing this." 4.07, Uriel pulls Sam aside and was like, "Stop doing this." But like, when Cas comes by in 4.15, he doesn't say anything about Sam. Like, he might think that Sam has ceased his extracurricular activities.

G: But I feel like he'd know.

C: Maybe. Also, okay. So these are orders from their higher-ups that they're getting? To like, not let Sam power up? And the idea- 'cause Heaven wants the Apocalypse, right? Cas doesn't fully know the extent of the plan with, like, the Michael vessel and all that yet, I'm assuming. [G: Yeah.] But, okay, Heaven strat is just like, "We need San to be powerful enough to raise Lucifer so we can have the battle, but like, we want them just on like, the edge of that so that Lucifer's vessel isn't that powerful in the battle against Michael"? Like, what's the strat up there?

G: I don't know.

C: Okay. Whatevs. We'll find out, I suppose.

G: Maybe we won't. [laughs]

C: Or maybe we won't, due to how the show is badly written. [laughs]

-

C: So we cut to the hospital. Dean's there. And Sam sits next to him. He looks all like, young and innocent and scared again, which is- it's nice to see. It's nice to see him care. Cas sort of pokes his head in and then keeps walking, but Sam follows him out and demands Cas to get in there and heal him. Miracle. Now.

G: Cas says, "No, I can't." [C: Yeah] Why? [C: Why?] He just got punched in the face! What? Is a demonic punch [C laughs], like, special? Can you heal like, a regular guy punch, but a demonic punch, a bit too much?

C: Is Cas just on like, a- does he just have a "no healing allowed" rule that he's under right now?

G: Perhaps. Maybe he's like, in deeper scrutiny.

C: He'll come in and save their lives- Yeah, yeah. So that would- Yeah, 'cause they'd be like, "That's not necessary. And like, we're already suspicious of how much you care about Dean. Like, that's a weird thing to do, Cas."

G: Yeah, but like, they literally did cause Dean- like, this is their fault.

C: Yeah.

G: But I suppose they already got the info [C: Yeah.], and like, Alastair's dead, so it's not like they need Dean for more stuff.

C: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Sam is very angry 'cause he says, "You and Uriel put him in there because you can't keep a simple devil's trap together." Cas, he starts out- he sounds sort of angry on the like, "I don't know what happened. That trap-" and then he sort of like, stops and looks away and like, softens a little, and then goes, "It shouldn't have broken. I am sorry." Which is nice. Sam's still angry about how all this was pointless because the demons aren't doing this, and Cas says, "Perhaps Alastair was lying," and Sam says, "No. He wasn't." And Cas does believe this. Like, later, when he reports to Uriel, he goes like, "Sam Winchester said that like, the demons weren't doing it." So it's nice that he does have this trust in Sam. I don't know. 'Cause the whole like, "Sam has this power. Sam can kill demons" thing- like, they were like, against it, because they were like, "It's going to make him more demonic" or whatever the fuck, but like, it's nice that he does still have this trust in Sam, despite all that. 

We cut to a park outside. Is there like, a significance to these these benches at children's playgrounds in Supernatural?

G: I don't know, but the gate to Heaven later does end up being like, a fucking playground.

C: Oh, a playground! Huh. Interesting. That's fun. So Uriel's there on the park bench. He's-he's trying to do his community theater acting thing [both laughing], and not doing a very good job.

G: [laughing] He literally is so bad at it! Yeah. Uriel is the funniest angel in the garrison [C: He really is.] and the worst [C laughing] thespian in all of history.

C: At what point does Cas suspect him? Do we know?

G: Later.

C: At what point is Cas like, "I think Uriel's the one who's killing the angels." 'Cause like, he does know once he's like, there and he inspects the devil's trap, but like, is he suspicious like, right now, already?

G: Huh! I don't think there's anything in the Anna conversation that would lead him to suspect. [C: Okay.], but I don't think it's now. I think it's between the Anna conversation-

C: Okay, so everything Cas is saying right now-

G: I think it's genuine.

C: - we should take as his genuine belief and not like, an attempt to like, trick Uriel or anything. Okay. Cool. So yeah. [laughing] Uriel's being soo funny. He's like, [dramatically] "Castiel! I received revelation from our superiors. Our brothers and sisters are dying, and they..." [laughing] and he does some gesture with his hands, I think, which is like, quite unnatural-looking. He goes, "They want us to stop hunting the demon responsible!" He's great. I love this guy.

G: Amazing. For real.

C: Yeah, this is the most emotion he's ever shown his entire life, and he thinks that this is like, "This will get Cas. He'll be like, 'This is my old pal Uriel acting normal.'" [G laughs] He says, "Something is wrong up there. I mean, can you feel it?" And yeah, Cas says that "I don't think a demon did this, because that's what Sam said." And Uriel's like, [stilted] "If not the demons, what could it be?" [laughs] God bless.

G: Amazing.

C: Cas says that it is the will of Heaven. He thinks that because they're failing and losing the war, the garrison is being punished.

G: That's crazy.

C: So is the will of Heaven- that's different than like, "Our superiors are doing it," like, "Our individual superiors are doing it." It's like, this is what like, God- well, but-

G: This is divine retribution, yeah, from God himself. Yeah.

C: Yeah. But then Uriel goes, "You think our father would," and Cas goes, "I think maybe our father isn't giving the orders anymore." So like, is it divine retribution, or is it just like, "I think one of our superiors is doing it"?

G: I don't know.

C: Hard to tell. What a sad thing to think, though.

G: Yeah.

C: Yeah, when Cas says, "I think maybe our father isn't giving the orders anymore," he literally said, "I'm not Anna, but I believe in her beliefs."

G: For real.

C: Yeah, like, do you think he had thought that before Anna showed up? I mean, he expressed doubt in 4.07 already, but like-

G: The thing is like, his argument of like, "I'm not like you" is like, "You fell." I don't know. I feel like the argument really isn't like, "I don't believe in what you believe," it's that "I believe it in a far superior way than you do." [both laugh]

C: Yeah, also the thing about falling is that it's Anna's choice. [G: Anna's choice!] It's not like, something that happens to an angel that disobeys. That doesn't just happen to angels that disobey. So like, he thinks he's better than Anna because... she chose to stop being an angel?

G: Yeah, I suppose, although they don't paint it like that.

C: Yeah, I mean, Cas is gonna say, "I don't serve man, and I certainly don't serve you," so I think that he he does still have, like, an angel superiority thing going on, but he also like values humans because they're God's like, creation, and it's blasphemous to say bad things about them. But like, yeah, he still wants to be separate from them in some ways.

Uriel says, "Well, I won't wait to be gutted," and then he goes. What are we supposed to-What is he communicating to Cas with "I won't wait to be gutted." 'Cause later, when he comes in, he's like, "Are you gonna join me in my fight?" So like, is "I won't wait to be gutted" like, "I'm going up to Heaven to like, stab the superiors that are killing our garrison"?

G: I don't actually know. Is it like, maybe like- No! But like, at this point, he's saying like, he doesn't believe that it's Heaven. Like, he's trying to tell Cas, like, "Oh, Heaven's not killing the angels."

C: But then he goes to "There's something wrong up there. Can you feel it?"

G: I mean, I think the implication here is that "I'm going to keep looking for that demon." but that falls apart.

C: Yeah, but then the next conversation he has with Cas just like, straight up opens with like, "Will you join me?" though, which, like, implies that Cas should know already what Uriel's goals are, like, his team's whatever things.

G: His themes and motifs, yeah. [C laughs] [C: Yeah.] Castiel should have read a character analysis of Uriel already at this point. [C: Yeah.] On Schmoop, even. [laughs] [C: God.] Fuck that website. Well, I mean, it's fine. It's fine. But also, fuck that website. [laughs]

C: Yeah. It's helpful to some people.

-

G: We go to Cas standing under like, a streetlight on- just just a road, really. And he's saying, "Anna. Anna, please!" and the street light above him flickers. He looks up, and then Anna's behind him! And Anna says, like, "Oh, what? Have you decided to kill me, after all?" Cas says, "I'm alone. I'm considering disobedience."

C: Okay, like, great line solo. What does that mean? Like, what is the order that you're currently considering disobeying, Cas? [G: Yeah!] Like, you did the thing already. Like, you're not under an order right now. What are you disobeying?

G: The order is to stop hunting the fucking demon.

C: Yeah, which, like, you're already down for 'cause you don't think there is a demon.

G: What is he- Or maybe this is like, a bigger-

C: Yeah, I think it's like, a general thing. I'm just- I'm not sure what- Okay, if this is a general thing, it's like, what? Like, okay, "I made Dean torture. I didn't like that. So now, I'm considering that future orders from Heaven may also be wrong."?

G: Yeah.

C: Sure. I just wish this was placed at a place in the episode where it made more sense as a sentence.

G: Also, it's like, we do learn later that the order isn't from Heaven. Uriel did that shit, so, I don't know. [C: I don't know.] Maybe next episode, we'll figure out more on how that pans out for Cas. Anna says, "Good." [C: Fuck yeah.] Cas says, "No, it isn't. For the first time, I feel..." [C makes pained sound] Oh, god! And I mean, everybody knows what these fucking lines are because it's everywhere. Everything, everywhere, all at once. It's just this lines. But the "I feel" really isn't "I feel," period. It's "I feel..." and he doesn't have a word for it.

C: Yeah, he doesn't know what it is.

G: He doesn't- He can't say it, 'cause he doesn't- He probably doesn't know what it is.

C: But what is it? Is it fear?

G: I think it's doubt. I mean-

C: But he was able to say "doubt" in 4.07.

G: I don't know. Probably like., it's the feeling of like, "But I know better." Is that- I think that's different from doubt.

C: Yeah.

G: Anna says, "It gets worse. Choosing your own course of action is confusing, terrifying." She puts her hand on Cas's shoulder, and he like, looks at it. We don't actually see him like, look at it. I mean, we do. But like, sorta far away.

C: He sorta turns his face down towards it, yeah.

G: But she like, apparently gets super offended by this, and she's like, "That's right. You're too good for my help. I'm just trash, a walking blasphemy," and she goes away. And I don't understand why that was the one. But like, I suppose the last time she did touch Cas, he did like, shove her away for it. She starts walking away. Cas goes, "Anna. I don't know what to do. Please tell me what to do." [C screams] And she says, "Like the old days? No, I'm sorry. It's time to think for yourself." [C: Yeah.] God. I mean, we've talked about this in our Good Omens podcast, Rubbish and Probably a Podcast, but, like, the tendency when you are ridding yourself of a force that has, you know, dictated much of your existence is to find another force that will dictate your existence [C: Yeah. Uh-huh.] and hope that this one is better and hope this one aligns more with your wants and needs and values and stuff.

C: Yeah. He is begging her to be God, basically.

G: To be- yeah. To be the new God. [C: Yeah. Yeah.] To be the new person to tell him what is right and what is wrong and what to do and what not to do. And she refuses.

C: Yeah. And she tells him it's time to leave the garden.

G: And they don't even like, interact substantially after this episode, I feel like.

C: Yeah. Yeah. It'd be nice to see them talk. Like, especially later seasons Cas. Like, "Hey, look where I am now. Thank you."

G: He's healing babies in the park and everything.

C: I wish Anna was the one who stayed on.

G: I do feel more of an attachment to Cas's story right now, just because it's more of a journey, rather than Anna, who feels like she has already reached the destination.

C: Yeah, but I feel like she still has more places to go.

G: Of course, yeah. I think she does, too. It's just Supernatural's [laughs] a terrible- a misogynistic show. Yeah, it is.

C: Yeah. Unfortunately.

G: I love this because every single time Cas is left alone, we pan out, like, in the fucking- in the playground, when Uriel leaves, we pan out, and like, it's just this little angel surrounded by the everything. [C: Mm-hm.] And then here, when Anna leaves, we pan out and it's just Cas under that lamp surrounded by the everything. [C: Yeah.] Cas's physicality is so important to me, because, like, it's not him, but like, it's him, also, you know? [C: Yeah.] Like, he is bigger than this, but also, he is this, and I think that- it's so nice. It's so wonderful! Having him be like, small in the frame really, really like, accentuates those ideas, I feel.

C: Yeah.

-

G: Cas goes back to the like, fucking torture chamber, and he's kneeling down in front of the little divot in the devil trap that has led Alastair escape. He notices the faucet; he stops it with his hand telekinetically.

C: Yeah. We also get some fun shots of him looking up like, all the way up. [G: Yeah! Of course.] It's very good.

G: And yeah, Uriel's there. Apparently, Cas called him. And I mean, at this point, it's like, for sure, Cas knows already. [C: Yeah.] Uriel asks like, "Okay, what do you say, Castiel? Will you join me? Will you fight with me?" And Cas goes, "Strange. Strange how a leaky pipe can undo the work of angels when we ourselves are supposed to be the agents of fate."

C: What does that mean? Like, that coincidences and accidents and mistakes just shouldn't happen to angels?

G: Yeah, I think.

C: Like, "We would have considered all possibilities. I considered all possibilities. So how did this happen?"

G: Yeah. I mean later, he says, like, "I made it myself," like, "This shouldn't have happened." I think part of it is that like, "agents of faith" as in like, "It was always meant to go this way, and the fact that it didn't is like, "That's going against my very being as an angel 'cause like, I made it have to go this way, and then it didn't. So something must have changed that was also done by an angel." [C: Interesting.] Yeah, and Cas goes, you know, "No demon can overpower the trap. I made it myself. We've been friends for a long time, Uriel. Fought by each other's side, served together away from home for what seems like forever. We're brothers, Uriel. Pay me that respect. Tell me the truth."

C: Flashback episode, please!

G: I know! Also in season... When did we first get corporate angelhood? I think that's in Season 6, right?

C: Probs.

G: But here, it's less that. And I think most of it is that the angels we see are less corporate. Like, Zachariah later on seems to be like an office guy, but, like, Uriel and Cas and Anna are not office workers of Heaven. [laughs] They're the door-to-door salesman of Heaven, [C laughs] you know? Like, they're out there on the road. I don't know. I think it's so interesting that  the angels that we do see are not in their like, quote-unquote "natural habitat," you know? Like, they currently exist outside of that. And like, the idea of like, away from home, like, away from Heaven. Oh, Cas. For what seems like forever, even. If you have been away from Heaven that long, would it still even feel like home? In season 6, we see Cas in Heaven, but he didn't seem particularly at home in Heaven. He was in that guy's Heaven for a while, like, a specific like, cell in Heaven, specific room in it, but it wasn't like, home. He just liked it. I don't think there's a part in Supernatural where I would ever say Cas is like, solidly at home. It would be nice if he did. Like, you know, in Season 14, Dean says, like, "We live here. This is our home. Like, we live with an angel, a half angel, and the two of us." I don't know. The show seems to want us to believe that Cas thinks of the bunker as home [C: Yeah.], but I'm not particularly convinced, I would say. [C: Yeah.] I suppose for Cas here, it's like, less about the place and more of the people you spend all of that time with, and Uriel is like his brother because they have spent that long together.

Uriel says, "The truth is the only thing that could kill an angel," and then a blade slips out of his sleeve, and he goes, "It's another angel." This is our first angel blade. [C: Yeah.] Fun stuff! Fun stuff.

C: Big fan.

G: I love that. They keep it up their sleeves, and I love that they keep this detail for 5ever. Like, it's never changed. [C: Yeah.] How does that even work? They just have a-

C: Aren't there theories that thy're the physical manifestation of their Grace?

G: Mm, so it's like-

C: They form it.

G: - they fucking summon it the ether. Yeah. Oh, yeah, that's fun.

C: I mean, doesn't Dean just have one that he uses?

G: Yeah. They steal it from like, angels who are dead.

C: Yowch.

G: They also have like, an archangel blade, which is so funny. [C laughs]

C: Yeah. Get a bigger gun or a bigger knife.

Castiel goes, "You." Uriel did all that shit. And Uriel starts calling Cas "Cas," which I think is quite fun.

G: 'Cause the implication of the name, everybody to hell and back has said is already.

C: The removing the "of God" part?

G: Yeah.

C: He is telling Cas like, turn away from Heaven and raise Lucifer with them. So yeah. And it's also just a- I don't know. Maybe it's a mocking thing, maybe it's a familiarity thing, but I'm a fan. So yeah. He says that "Alastair should never have been taken alive. Really inconvenient, Cas." And yeah, he says that the plan was for Alastair to kill Dean and to escape and then for Cas to keep on like, hunting down demons. And Cas says, "For the murders of our kin?" And Uriel says, "Not murders, Castiel. No. My work is conversion." Very fun. I love the way that Uriel uses religious language. Like, "receive revelation" for angel radio, "conversion" for this. And then they kill him, and no one else talks cool ever again in all of Supernatural. He goes, "How long have we waited here? How long have we played this game by rules that make no sense?" He's literally right. He's literally correct. [G: Yeah.] Like, these are the questions everyone is asking. Like, Anna and Cas have been asking these questions too.

G: But, like, the thing is, Supernatural is a very human-centric show. [C: Yeah.] So like, the moment someone asks the same questions and comes to the conclusion of, "But like, I don't really give a shit about the humans," it's like over.

C: Yeah, it is indeed over.

G: They have to have these questions and be like, "And humanity is the answer to all of our woes!" [C laughs] Annoying as fuck.

C: Aiya. Annoying as fuck. Yeah, Cas says, "It is our father's world, Uriel." Cas, you literally like, five minutes ago, were like, "God's not giving the orders anymore." Like, get over yourself.

Uriel says, "Our father. He stopped being that, if he ever was, the moment he created them. Humanity, his favorites, this whining, puking larva." He's so cool! He's so cool. Why did they kill him? Ah! And just the idea of angels as like, jealous children who like, grew up [G: Yeah.], is like, neat! It's neat as hell! I enjoy it!

G: Like, you were a single child for a long time, [laughs] and then suddenly, you have a little kid in the house, and you're like, "Why? He's annoying as fuck."

C: [laughs] Yeah. And he's been stationed on Earth for a long time. I guess in that whole time, he was just like, "These people are so annoying." And like, he's right a lot of- Yeah, I'm sure that he encountered a lot of annoying people. I get it.

G: Yeah, he had a post blow up on Tumblr, and he was like, "They should all kill themselves." [both laugh]

C: So Cas asks, "Are you trying to convert me?" And Uriel says, "I wanted you to join me, and I still do. With you, we can be powerful enough to-" [laughs] Literally untrue. Did you see his goofyass punches? [G laughs] Cas can't do anything!

G: He almost died. Alastair was fully going to send his ass back to Heaven.

C: [laughing] Alastair almost killed him in 4.10, and Dean had to save him. This time, Alastair almost kills him and Sam has to save him. How does Cas have any power that can help us raise Lucifer? Uriel really does love Cas. Like, they really are brothers. The fact that he's able to overlook how much Alastair tosses him around like a rag doll and is like, "No, you're actually really cool, and you could totally help me on my team!" This is a pity invite.

G: For real. [both laugh] He was like, "Everybody else said no. We need to fill up the table, though, so like, we have like, one more meal-"

C: [laughing] No, exactly. There are seven people he asked first, and that's because they were all better than Cas. [G laughing] God.

G: [laughing] For real!

C: Yeah. So he says, "To raise our brother." And Cas says, "Lucifer." And Uriel goes, "You do remember him? How strong he was? How beautiful? And he didn't bow to humanity. He was punished for defending us. Now, if you want to believe in something, Cas, believe in him." No one will ever talk this cool again! But yeah, anyway, I don't have much to say. Just a great concept. It'd be nice if Uriel- okay, 'cause it's like, Uriel and the demons seem to be following sort of the same religion. Like, we've talked about this belief in Lucifer being a religion in Hell. But I guess just 'cause Uriel considers himself far, far superior to the demons, no epic team up could ever happen. But if they let him stick around for a while more, I feel like they'd eventually come to an understanding.

G: There's going to be character development, yeah.

C: Yeah, I feel like we could get epic team up. But, alas! Cas says like, "Lucifer is not God." But Uriel says, "God isn't God anymore." Hell yeah, babey! And he says he's proof that God just doesn't give a shit about what they're doing. He goes on and says that he killed the members of the garrison who said no, but others have joined him. He says, yeah, "Others have joined me, Cas. Now, please, brother, don't fight me. Help me! Help me spread the word. Help me bring on the Apocalypse. All you have to do is be unafraid." And Cas says, "For the first time in a long time, I am." which is supposed to echo like, "For the first time, I feel..." I- okay. "For the first time in a long time, I'm unafraid."How long has he been afraid? What- is he referring to just the start of the Apocalypse or just all his time on Earth? What has he been afraid of? Just his dwindling faith?

G: Maybe so. Yeah.

C: In this moment, when he's like- does Uriel saying this make Cas, what? Like, reaffirm his belief in God? Because he like, heard an opposing position, and he was like, "I know in my heart this is wrong"? Why is this the thing that makes him brave again?

G: I think maybe- Not that like, "this is wrong," like, the totality of it, but like, I think this is like, "I have figured out how I will interface with the feelings I'm feeling, and it's not this way."

C: Yeah. Good for him. Cas like, hurls Uriel through a wall, and they like, fistfight again. And then Castiel gets hit by a big ol metal bar. He like, falls on his knees, and he says, "You can't win, Uriel. I still serve God." And Uriel says, "You haven't even met the man!" Agh! Slay. And then, "There is no will."

G: Yeah. You didn't even mention when Cas gets fucking tossed to a beam and then he falls through it, and then to get up, he like twirls! [C: Oh! Cute.] He literally does a princess twirlto fucking get on his feet.

C: Good for him. Yeah.

G: And then he braces himself with like, two fists beside his face. He is so goofy! [C laughs] He looks so small and scrungly, as the Tumblrinas slay.

C: Yeah. [laughs] You know, Uriel's punching Cas between sentences as he goes, "There is no will. No wrath. No God." Hell yeah! But then, extremely unfortunately, on the last punch, he gets stabbed from behind through the neck by Anna. Why did she come back? Why is she here? I don't think Cas like, told her. Okay, whatever. I guess she just came back to check on everyone, and this happened. But yeah, she does have a pretty banger line. She says, "Maybe. Or maybe not. But there's still me." God.

G: Hell yeah!

C: Yeah, I like that Anna's stance is like, agnosticism. Like, that seems like a nice place for her to land. And yeah, she pulls out the knife and Uriel collapses on the ground and then screams, and like, we see, like, a bunch of white light come out of his eyes and mouth, and like, basically, the building looks like it explodes. And then when we cut back. We see Uriel dead on the ground with his wings in the form of ashes all across the floor. It looks really neat. I am very sorry that Uriel's dead, though, and that this creates a pattern with Supernatural and Black angels in general. Yeah.

G: The shot of like, Cas and Anna. Like, Anna standing beside Cas and Cas is kneeling as though the light engulfs the room,that's like, pretty iconic. I see that a lot, too, around.

-

G: So we go to the hospital bed, and Dean is like, sitting next to him on like, the couch beside the bed, and he asks, "Are you alright?" And [laughs] he says, "No thanks to you." And Cas says, "You need to be more careful."

C: It's nice blocking. It feels a lot more like a conversation between equals.

G: Yeah, that's true. They start talking, and Cas is asking how Dean is, and Dean's like, "Bad." And Cas says, "You need to be more careful," and Dean says, "You need to learn how to manage a damn devil's trap." And Cas says, "Oh, no, that's not what I mean. Uriel is dead. It's not the demons. It's disobedience. He was working against us."

C: That's an interesting way to put it. "Disobedience"? Like, disobeying- I don't know. That's not how I would put it. Like, disobedience is something that Cas was considering earlier, but now he's-

G: This is like, more like treason, I would say?

C: Yeah, or like, rebellion, something something. But yeah, I don't know. Like, why does he use that word? Is he just sort of trying to distance himself emotionally from what's happened back there?

G: I think maybe it's like, this is Dean. Maybe if he was talking to someone else about it. But Dean is like, literally lying on a hospital bed right now, so like, let's not get into it, you know?

C: Sure.

G: Dean asks, "Is it true that I break the first seal?" And Cas says, "Yes. When we discovered Lilith's plan for you, we laid a siege to Hell to get you, but, you know. Too late." Dean asks, "Why didn't you leave me there?" And Cas says, "It's not blame that falls on you, Dean. It's fate," which, I love that line. I love it! "The righteous man who begins it is the only one who can finish it. You have to stop it." And Dean says, "What? Like, Lucifer? The Apocalypse? What does that mean?" Cas doesn't respond for a long time, and like, moves his head away. And yeah, Dean's like, "No, don't fucking disappear on me. What does that mean?" And Cas says, "I don't know! Like, they don't tell me much. But yeah, I know our faith rests with you." [C: Yeah.]And Dean says, "Well, then, you guys are screwed. I can't do it. It's too big. Alastair was right. I'm not all here. I'm not strong enough. I'm not the man either of our dads wanted me to be. Find someone else. It's not me."

C: I really like that-

G: And a single man tear-

C: Oh, yeah, I don't give a fuck about Dean. [laughing] I really like Cas said-

G: No, I don't really- Okay, go on.

C: Okay. I like the, "Dean, they don't tell me much." a lot.

G: Yeah.

C: Because, you know, earlier in the season, Cas is like, he's doing this thing where he like, seems so untouchable, and he's the one who's withholding information from Dean, and like, giving it to him on a need-to-know basis. And this is like, I feel like, a moment of vulnerability that, like, he is aware, is a moment of vulnerability unlike, all of his previous stuff where he's like, "Yeah, I like you, but that doesn't mean anything." This is like, "We're in the same position here."

G: And also this is like, could be a dangerous thing to tell Dean if he doesn't plan to keep on trusting this guy. [C: Yeah.] Because, like, suddenly, when Dean is asking questions and Cas just goes, "It's a greater plan," like, it's easier for Dean to question him now, [C: Yeah.] 'cause he has revealed that he doesn't really know what the fuck that means. [C: Mm-hm.] It's both like, a reveal of vulnerability, of like, "I am not as powerful as you think I am," and also like, "And if you want to use that against me, you now can, due to I have volunteered that information to you." [C: Mm-hm.]

-

G: So yeah, what did we think about this episode?

C: I mean, it's good.

G: It's good. And it's one of those episodes where- I feel like there are some episodes where they can be good, it's just there are parts that are like, boring. Like, maybe the A-plot is good, but the B-plot is so-so, or the B-plot is good and the A-plot is confusing as hell. This is one of those instances where they pretty much just solidly stick to one plot [C: Yeah.], and it works. It's not boring, the pacing is good. It works. And I quite like that. [C: Yup.] I'm a big fan of, especially towards the end of Supernatural, where they would have a monster of the week that, like, morphs into a plot episode. Those are my favorites. My favorite episode, pretty much of all time in Supernatural- I don't know if I've said this before, and if I have, I'm not sure I said this episode. Like, maybe I said something else, like "Dog Dean Afternoon" or whatever. [C laughs] But like, my favorite episode of Supernatural is "Ouroboros." [C: Yeah.] And that episode is, it's a case episode, and then something real bad happens at the end, and it becomes a plot episode. Like that episode is essential to the plot, but, you know, it's a case. And towards the end of Supernatural, those ones are real good because, like, you need to spice up the case episode somehow, but, like, here in Season 4, I do like that they kind of keep it separate. The case episodes are case episodes, and the plot episodes are plot episodes. I feel like separating it in those ways kind of like, gives the plot episodes like, so much energy and so much like, "Ooh!" Like, you know it, it gives it- it makes it so meaty, so dense.

C: Yeah. Best Line/Worst Line? I really like Cas's "Anna, I don't know what to do. Please tell me what to do." And I like that Anna like, does like, a slight little smile, and says, "Like the old days." in response, like, calling it out for what it is. It's a great exchange!

G: I think my best line for me is the one I spent a really long time talking about. The "Dean, we know this is difficult for you" and "We don't care." Uriel's response to that. Not exactly for the line itself, but just the surrounding like, visuals of it, I really quite like. Also, additional best line, as I said, I really like that Alastair was singing. I like it! [C laughs] So I'm putting that as a best line also. Worst line-

C: I do think the moments where I was sort of taken out of it is when, you know, Anna's like, "Torture? That's God's will" or whatever, 'cause it's like, I don't think Supernatural has a good stance on that. I feel like they don't- Yeah, they're just saying shit.

G: There's a line where Dean is like, [laughs] preparing his torture materials, and Alastair's, you know, Alastair goes, "He was supposed to bring it on"--like, John--"John was supposed to bring it on, but in the end, it was you." And Dean goes, "Bring what on?" I don't like that he inquires in that moment.

C: Right, you feel like he wouldn't engage in that. 

G: Yeah, I feel like he wouldn't engage in that. And also, the entire conversation could go the exact same way minus that line. [C: Yeah.] Like, Alastair will just keep on talking. He does not need prompting. I feel like Dean prompting that, I just think he wouldn't do it. And when I was watching it, I did go, "That's not something he would say."

So, spreadsheets?

C: It's hard to quantify the racism of Uriel’s death because it's like- I feel like the way that we have this structure where it's episode-by-episode points doesn't seem to like, account for the fact that, like, a lot of the racism of Supernatural is just like, an ongoing problem, and this is just some part of that. 

G: Something we say a lot with Supernatural is like, "If this was any other show, this would probably be fine, [C: Right.] but because it's in Supernatural, where it's already existing in the context of every single other thing that they do that you can describe as such in the show, it's like, 'Well, it is in Supernatural, and they do have a history of doing this over and over again, and not doing anything else that can like, maybe provide their female characters or their characters who are not white with any more like, characterization, or they're not given the same benevolence or the same like, care. They're not engaged with the same care that like, Sam or Dean' or whatever," It's like, yeah.So I don't really know what to put.

C: Yeah. We gave 4.10 two points in racism, which was for, I think, Uriel's misogyny being part of the larger Supernatural pattern of making Black male characters unlikable by having the misogynistic to white women. [G: Yeah.] Was Ruby possessing the maid also in 4.10?

G: Yes.

C: So that's probably why we gave that two points. So then, Uriel's death would probably be like, a bump up from that.

G: A 3?

C: Yeah, like, a 3. Is that reasonable?

G: I think so, yeah.

C: Okay, cool. Misogyny... I think it was fine? [G: Yeah.] I don't recall any.

G: Yeah.

C: Okay.

G: So, IMDb.

C: Okay, people like this. I'd say it's a 9.

G: People like this. I think this is a 9 point something.

C: Yeah. Same.

G: I would go for a 9.4, even. 9.4

C: Oh, wow. I think I was aiming more for like, 9.2 range? Well, okay, "Laz Rising" got a 9.4. I feel like people like this about as much but a little less than "Laz Rising," so maybe a 9.3? I'm gonna go with that. 

G: Okay. Well, let us see. It's a 9.1. [C: Okay.] Still pretty high, not as high as I thought it would be. But this is still a highly-rated episode

Oh god, the fucking- You know how like, they have those photos that are like, not exactly in the episode, but like, it's in the promo or whatever? It's in the sides. I don't know-

C: Oh, the Cas's fat ass one? [both laughing]

G: The Cas's fat ass picture! You know, I told you about the bookmark, right? [C: Yeah.] I have a bookmark of Cas. Back-to-back. That shit is back-to-back. And the front is the picture from last episode, and the back is [laughs] this picture of Cas looking like this. [C laughs] Crazy!

C: Hell yeah.

G: I mean, I don't expect any funny reviews on this because, like, the funny reviews are usually in the episodes that are a bit bad. Oh my god, this one is " Unwatchable... seriously, it was almost painful "

C: Aw, why? Did they think Alastair's voice was annoying?

G: They don't like Alastair.

C: Yeah, there were moments when I was like, "It's a bit much." Huh! What? This person says that they don't like Anna. Like, "I know Anna saved the day and saved Castiel, but to me she is no different from Ruby. Both are manipulative and can't be trusted." I think you might have had a problem with women? What did Anna do wrong?

G: I think part of it is that -

C: Just that, like, her sleeping with Dean is sort of paralleled with Sam sleeping with Ruby or something? Like, is that what it is? Is it just her trying to get Cas to like, join her? Is that-? She's fine, though. What'd she do?

G: I mean, I think we did say that like, the Dean and Anna stuff, blah blah blah. But I feel like it's a different thing than the Cas and Anna stuff.

C: Also, the show doesn't frame it as-

G: Doesn't engage with it that way. I think part of it is-

C: - sleeping with Dean at an emotionally vulnerable moment, so that's- Yeah, I don't know what it is. What do you think it is?

G: The Cas scene is like, she's trying to hold his hand, and that can be seen as like, "She's trying to elicit an emotion out of him through physicality," which I don't agree with like, at all. I think she's just a human being who's used to being in a human society.

C: Yeah, she spent a lot of time being a person, yeah.

G: And she understands that if you want to connect with a person in ways mere words can't bridge, you do tend to touch, to like, show that kind of like, "And this is what I mean, and I'm touching you so you understand that I mean it for real." [C: Mm-hm.] That's how I read that scene. And, like, thing is just Cas doesn't have those social mores, and like, the moment he understands that that's what Anna is trying to say, like, he gets offended, too, so. [C: Yeah.] But I don't think that's manipulation.

C: Yeah, she's trying to convince him.

G: Well, I think that’s it for this episode of Busty Asian Beauties. Next week, we will be discussing Season 4, Episode 17: "It's a Terrible Life." Leave us a rating or a review wherever you get your podcasts. C: Follow us on social media! We are 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 merch at babpod.redbubble.com. G: You can email us any feedback, comments, or inquiries at [email protected]. See you guys next time! [both] Bye!

[guitar music]

#transcript

[azems-familiar]

For the 3 things ask: 11. 3 books that you would recommend everyone to read

ooh yes books!! i'm going to cheat and do two trilogies and a book, but i doubt anyone will mind that much.

1) the Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin (fantasy)

these books are just- honestly incredible. the writing style is stunning and absolutely something i aspire to, and beyond just having a very very good plot that will keep you in suspense until the last page and characters you will fall in love with, it also has a shitton of super casual queer rep in it. one of the main characters is a trans woman - this is remarked upon very briefly, but not as something odd or out of place, and homophobia and transphobia don't seem to exist - and there's a poly triad at one point in the books, m/m/f where the relationships are m/m and m/f (a v shaped triad, not a triangle, between a gay man, a bi man, and a straight woman). the main character is a middle-aged woman who has had multiple children.

unfortunately, the books are very dark and come with a lot of trigger warnings. child abuse, of both the physical and emotional kind, child murder, some really not-fun dynamics at a societal level, forced sex/pregnancy for eugenics reasons (they both consent to it, but it's not enthusiastic, it's doing it because they have to. not rape because both partners are victims, idk how else to explain it). despite all that, they're worth the read!

2) the Red Rising trilogy, Pierce Brown (sci-fi)

now for the sci-fi rec. the red rising trilogy also comes with a fair number of trigger warnings including murder, abuse of a lot of different kinds, gore, cannibalism (only ever mentioned, not actually shown onscreen, but it happened), rape (also only mentioned), i'm pretty sure there's others but they're escaping me at the moment, partly because it's been a while since i read the latter two books. is torture a trigger warning? anyway. despite how dark it can get at times, these books are very well written with some fascinating worldbuilding and a really well done story about revolution and politics and human nature and what makes a society. seriously, there are so many politics. a lot of it is sort of "ancient rome but in space with very high end tech"; the ancient rome thing is an aesthetic cultivated on purpose by the Society, but that does give you a sort of ballpark. also to be noted is the science in it! this is a sci-fi series that actually talks about the different levels of gravity on different planets, the lengths of days and years, the mechanics of spaceflight and ship to ship fighting in a vacuum. it's fun and unique and more people should read these books.

3) Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay (fantasy)

Tigana is a single book, but clocking in at over 1k pages (from what i remember), it's long enough to be a series on its own. Tigana is a story about personal and cultural identity, the meaning of a name, magic and morality and religion and art and poetry, and it's absolutely beautifully written. i cannot recommend the author enough - he's one of my all time favorites - but of his novels, Tigana is my favorite. it's one of those stories that does a grey antagonist really damn well, exploring the trope about how sometimes the antagonist is just another person behind the one awful act he's done to set him apart. (sometimes the conquering king is a good king to everyone but the people who killed his son, and but for the atrocity committed in his grief, he becomes the villain and dies for it.) this is definitely an 18+ novel due to there being a few sex scenes in it, but they're plot and emotion relevant and i found them to actually be worth reading, and i tend to skip a lot of smut scenes in writing/fic.

anyway, those are my recs! thank you very much for the question and if any of my followers read these (or have read them) please send me your thoughts! especially Tigana, i never meet anyone who is familiar with Kay's work

#asked and answered #book recs