#Maybe i shouldn't watch the ep before work ha

[fairyhaos]

seventeen and babysitting kids

ib the return of superman w svt bc i watched all the eps w jeonghao + junshua recently and it made me soft :((

masterlist

seungcheol:

better with kids than some of the others, but cautious. has the experience to take care of the child, but he's worried about coming off as too mean or harsh bc he's used to dealing with grown men with the mannerisms of children instead of actual children n he's too afraid of making the children cry if he's too strict w them. is very Parent when it comes to looking after the child, like, literally acts like their mom and makes them eat their vegetables and fusses over them when they spill something and makes sure they go to bed on time. the efficient person when it comes to looking after children

jeonghan:

he's so sweet. maybe a little too sweet bc as soon as the child is making the slightest whining noises he's dropping everything and doing aegyo or getting out all the toys or offering snacks bc god forbid a child starts crying in his care :((( good at being all gentle wheedler when he's exhausted out of his mind tho but he's just so weak that he doesn't do it often. lets them stay up half an hour past their bedtime. plays hide and seek with them a total of twelve times in a row. he's exhausted by the end of it, but the parents are smiling and the child is telling them how much they adore jeonghan and really that makes it all worth it for him

joshua:

the adorable uncle!! spends fifteen whole minutes explaining his name to the child, before giving up and telling them to call him jisoo. which leads to even more confusion bc he has two names???? what???? very excitable, but also clueless. he's an only child, what can he say? lets the kid get away with most things. when he inevitably exhausts himself two hours in by going way too hard while playing chase, he speaks in a cutesy tone and tries to convince the child to play some more sitting down activities. it always works, and honestly even tho he's terrible at puzzles it's better than going thru fitness training for five hrs straight

junhui:

eagerly participates in the child's made up games! pretends he's a superhero spy with them, pretends he's a magic prince(ess) with them, pretends they're pirates and encounter a ginormous sea monster with them. forgets to feed the child dinner because they're too busy playing, and so he lets them eat a whole hour after their bed time and because they're so late it takes ages to wash up and tuck the child into bed and eventually, the kid is only just going to sleep and it's three am and the parents are pulling up to the front of the house. but it's okay, because the child had fun and junhui had fun too

hoshi:

loves it the most when the children pretend they're animals. or if they have animal toys. managed to get into a fight with one of the kids once bc they wanted to be a tiger and soonyoung insisted that only he could be a tiger. almost made the child cry before eventually agreeing that they could both be tigers. gets hungry really quickly, so he ends up eating half of the child's dinner, then gives them loads of junk food to compensate for it. bad idea though, because now he has a child that's bouncing off the walls and it takes him hours to convince them to Not try and be spiderman and climb the walls and to Please get into bed because your parents are going to be home any minute and they are going to Obliterate me if you're still up

wonwoo:

he's chill. acts like a ghost that's simply observing the child's movements. only speaks when they start doing something they shouldn't or when it's time for dinner or when they should go up and get ready for bed. sometimes plays with the child if they ask him really nicely, but most of the time he's zoned out and staring at the wall, letting the child do whatever they want (so long as it's within the rules that he's been given)

jihoon:

awkward with children. doesn't know what to do. introduces himself and then holds out his hand for the child to shake. sits on the couch like he's ready to bolt any second. ends up putting the tv on for the child so that the silence in the room isn't too deafening. definitely warms up more as the night goes on, and ends up engaging in conversation with the child about how their life is at school. he forgets the names of all the children that the kid mentions though so he has no idea who has drama with who and how they're all connected but he nods and frowns and gasps in what he hopes are all the right places

minghao:

he loves children. so eager to play with them, encourages them to introduce all their toys to him and their histories and their relationships. shows them his cool hand tricks, has them gaping at him in awe for several minutes after. he's very shy, surprisingly, so desperately wanting to be all hyper and loud with the child but worried it will come off as too excitable. tries to teach the child better habits, too, talking to them about handling emotions and how emotional manipulation w tears will Not work on him, nice try. makes sure they eat their greens, and helps them brush their teeth as they get ready for bed. reads them a book and does one last finger trick before patting them on the head goodnight <;3

mingyu:

dramatic. big baby. literally acts like a child too. by the end of the evening, he's made a new friend and has pinky promised thrice that he'll come over some time for a proper play date with them. lets the child do whatever they want, with him and just in general. doesn't force the child to eat their greens bc honestly he finds those yuck too, and lets them go to bed later bc they gave him the most adorable puppy eyes and he's weak for that. reads them like five bedtime stories, acts out two of them, and would have definitely sung a song as well if he hadn't gotten a text saying the parents were coming home. rated 10/10 by all the children he's looked after

dokyeom:

the sweetest :(((( literally the most adorable with kids. treats them as if they're his younger siblings. is unintentionally doing aegyo the entire time he's with them bc he's just being influenced by so much cuteness all around him that he does it too. lets the child play with his hair, his clothes, his fingers. does the child's hair for them when they ask, and throws them into the air so many times that the child is almost sick all over him. plays hide and seek several times, two of which he was the one hiding from the child. almost forgets to put the child to bed, but then tucks them in really nicely and sings to them so sweetly. can't leave the room until the child falls asleep tho bc they insisted on grabbing onto his fingers and won't let go bc they're afraid he'll go away :((

seungkwan:

very fussy over children. dotes on them like he's a rich musty aunt, pinching their cheeks and calling them adorable every five seconds. participates in their made up games, but is hit with reality minimum three times every game bc even though he loves pretending he's a princess dressed in a pink and purple dress, it does feel weird when reality slaps you across the face. very good at Following the Schedule, and becomes almost sergeant-like while the child is brushing their teeth, standing over them and measuring the time to make sure they're doing it correctly. kisses the child on the forehead goodnight, giving their cheeks one last squeeze before tucking them in for the night

hansol:

kinda just there to have food. he's good with children tho, paying the right amount of attention to them and making all the exaggerated facial expressions that they adore. finds kids rlly adorable, but also just kinda sits there n munches on snacks half the time. asks the child how much english they know, quizzes them on the numbers from 1 to 100. all in all he's pretty good with children, feeding them on time and getting them to bed on time. ends up being so good that they fall asleep a long while before the parents come home, so he's just kinda sitting on the couch n staring at the wall for a while

chan:

literally acts like a child too (2). great with kids and matches their energy immaculately. isn't really into dressing up or chasing, but he's great at made up games and board games. once spent the entire evening playing snakes and ladders, bc it was a tense match okay and he was sure the child had to be cheating bc how were they always ahead of him?? makes sure they eat their food properly + very good at convincing them their veggies taste delicious. watches the child jump on their bed for a solid ten minutes, despite having been given express instructions to Not let the child jump on the bed, but really, how can he say no when theyre so adorable?

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#fairyhaos.works #seventeen #svt #seventeen fic #seventeen drabble #seventeen headcanons #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #svt x reader #seventeen x reader #svt fluff #scoups #seungcheol #jeonghan #joshua #hong jisoo #junhui #hoshi #wonwoo #woozi #jihoon #minghao #the8 #mingyu #dokyeom #seokmin #seungkwan #hansol #vernon #dino

[originalaccountname]

There are some posts I've seen floating around that at the start Dazai may not of known that Chuuya wasn't a vampire which I kind of agree with. I'm at work currently so I cant double check but when he goes "that's a nasty trick you've pulled fydor" im pretty sure its in his thoughts?? To which why would he think that if he knew the whole time. I think dazai must of caught onto the fact Chuuya was faking it at somepoint but not sure when that would of been. Also at the end of the ep Dazai said he didn't have a plan. (I did watch the episode at just after 2am my time when it came out and then fell asleep afterwards so my memory could be not correct). I do think chuuya not being a vampire at all is a little disappointing tbh but this idea softens the blow. Would like to know your thoughts on this idea if you are open to sharing?

I'm in that category too, yes. I've left a few tags saying basically the same thing on some posts.

First, there are a few things the anime didn't answer (more than failing to justify Chuuya faking it since the start, there's Sigma's case about needing to help the ADA, which... didn't happen at all) so either we haven't seen the repercussions of this arc yet, or we got the shortened version of what the manga will offer. Which could work either way. (not ideal necessarily, but besides huffing what can we do huh)

Dazai not knowing though! Dazai did admit to his "plan" being to mostly adapt on the fly and trust his allies to help him back. He implied this prison break was one big trust fall. But that's how I've always interpreted Dazai's way of planning! I even made a post about it a full year ago!

Since Dazai knows Chuuya slowed down the elevator (which I can accept, Dazai's ability shouldn't affect random objects he touches, and Fyodor had told Chuuya through a comm to go finish off Dazai because he wasn't in the room), I assume that by then he was aware. Maybe not before though. Definitely not at first. Because this?

I refuse to believe was entirely scripted. Why is he acting? For Sigma? For corpses? I'm of the opinion that no matter what is going on through Dazai's head, his expressions are always genuine (ex: he might react with surprise at something he completely expected, if only because of how sudden it was, or when/how it ended up happening. Here? genuine distress.)

And I extend that feeling to Dazai having an emotional moment, complete with flashbacks, while "drowning" Fyodor and Chuuya. He did say he wasn't expecting to kill them that way, but perhaps it really was a moment of weakness triggered by concern or guilt.

I can accept Dazai having caught on during his face-off with Chuuya. That's Mr I-know-your-breathing-patterns we have here, so if they didn't high-five after the elevator crash-landing (still broke Dazai's leg), I would say Dazai knows physics enough to go "hold on" and connect the dots. So yes, that baiting of Chuuya, the light taunting, the bratty attitude he only really has with Chuuya, the angry YELLING and insults when Chuuya shot him in the shoulder? The destiny talk? Yeah I can re-contextualize those as Dazai over-acting his part. And then not being able to shut up after being shot in the head.

Maybe there's some reaching here, maybe this will not be totally accurate to the source material. But Asagiri does have a habit to write scenes from an outsider pov while knowing whats happening in the characters' heads and behind the scene, but then not give us that input directly. Never before today was it confirmed that Dazai improvises a lot in his plans. And yet! That's something I've believed in for a very long time.

This all could very well be covering Asagiri's poor decisions, but between this being the adaptation and bsd being an unfinished story, I have a hard time deciding at the moment how much of a poor decision this was. Maybe it's worth a raised eyebrow. Maybe it deserves some criticism in hope the author takes notes. Maybe this was an anime-original resolution due to time constraints (think of the Fifteen final fight). I can only raise concerns for now, and wait.

#bsd being a monthly release is also detrimental to its pacing #the chapters in the last+ year were very short and suspense-heavy #which makes it look cheaper than if you took a break and read them all in one go #there's a balance in there #i don't know if asagiri really writes with our time perception in mind. maybe he just writes the story and then it's divided in chapters #and that's that. who cares if there's 6 months between those two entries. #bsd #bsd s5 #bsd spoilers #apparently i talk sometimes #ask answered

[unhinged-comics-scree]

Bravern Ep 9 thoughts! Oh my god this got so long I'm sorry

I think if I was more genre aware the transformation/level up shouldn't be a surprise. I am actually fine having to remake the decal because I had to lift it up to fix how I applied it so its already lifting lol.

I'm glad that the theories are right like, a plot twist that can be predicted via foreshadowing isn't bad plus it helps my "keep shows weekly" fight. I honestly think the ramp up of hint dropping is done well like "oh he has lewis vibes, oh he knows a thing about Lewis, oh here's a direct showcase that they have the same gunpla hobby" (btw I love that they got an actual gundam box artist to do the ones in the show, such commitment to the bit). The final nail in the coffin being the Lewis flashback where his favorite toy looks a whole lot like Bravern.

For how mysterious Deathdrives were for a while, I like that the limbo zone reinforces the kind of importance in passing on on their terms for them. Just like, restating that this is the core motivation for them. Like yeah this is Cunty's goal death but Lewis isn't satisfied yet so he's in their loading zone going like "hey no this isn't right for me". My only complaint is that I wanted whole ass. No glowy cowardice. Full naked and just enough to keep it aired on TV.

The like, entire thing that gets me though is that Isami is now living thinking that Smith is dead. And he like. Is. If we consider the overly uh horny parts of Bravern to be from Cunus then he's not 100% himself in the end. Like he sees himself as Smith but is it wholly him? Like Smith is happy he can protect and save the world and have Isami inside him. But especially with Bravern/Smith being all shady Isami is just going to have to mourn him.

I hope that this makes Lulu get closer to Isami and she ends up revealing it somehow. Ooooor Isami is on such a wavelength with Bravern he figures it out on his own. I just want him to know. Bravern has a mouth to be kissed after all.

I don't have any idea what Lulu is cooking but I wanna see it. I like that she's getting agency which, apparently to Deathdrives, is totally unheard of.

The alternate timeline theories slap. Everyone who is able to point out proper discrepancies between episodes I love you keep it up. I don't have the mental capacity for that. I kind of want to go with "world without Bravern" ED/promotional art stuff to be like, final loop maybe? I don't know what kind of time loop that needs to work but like, maybe he takes Lulu with so he doesn't need Isami and can defeat the Deathdrives really early on.

Which. Interesting thought. Before Cunus' proposal she yeets one of her Lulus but appears to have two spots. Lewis, also a two life form system yeets his Lulu so you'd think the resultant mech is a two life form mech, the Lulu from Cunus + Lewis himself makes it whole but he clearly isn't in top form unless he has Isami. Bravern is also more than a Deathdrive/Special TS so who knows how that maths out.

Ugh okay sorry this got so long congrats on getting this far. I like, clearly don't have anime friends to scream about this irl except my partner who watched me go through the spectrum of "gay sex wins" to crying for Isami.

#sorry I'm flooding the tag so much ;-; #I don't have anime friends irl #bang brave bang bravern spoilers

[eyesontheskyline]

oooh talking about that scene in 3x02 i think that kickstarted their whole relationship, but im curious to know what was the moment in cm or maybe what season when you felt like something shifted between them? for me, season 5 after foyet’s attack is for sureee a turning point. In my head, the recovery from 9 stabs in a month would’ve been an absolute bitch. And considering that hotch had no family bc they were in witsec, how did that man manage to change his dressings, take care of his wounds etc etc?! Getting that glimpse of rossi telling morgan that Prentiss is driving hotch to and from work kinda connects the dots that she was probably the one that spent the most tine with him and helping out. Bc no matter how hardheaded that man is, he was fucking stabbed, there’s no way he was able to do shit on his own # just a thought

Yes! So okay in between writing my S7 fix-it, I'm also (oh god I just looked at the word count) like 23,000 words into writing a ficlet / chapter for each episode from S2E15 onward, and they deal with Emily and her friendships with the whole team but tend more Hotchniss as they go on. So I've been thinking a lot about where those little shifts are.

I think she sees a different side to him in the burn ward in S2E19, when he sits with the dying woman for no reason other than not wanting her to die alone. And he tells an against-protocol lie that's just kind.

I think the shift to him trusting her as a person is definitely S3E02, and then once she has that trust it's absolute - I think there were moments before that where he liked her, but this is a different thing. They have this intense, life-in-hands trust in each other from this point on that becomes the foundation for everything.

It feels to me like they get gradually closer and more in tune with each other from that point and I could ramble forever about that but if I ever want to actually publish that fic I probably shouldn't.

S4E02 where his eardrum does its thing in the cemetery and she follows him and touches him while he is vulnerable feels like a Thing to me. And then the next ep is Minimal Loss where he's listening to her being beaten up and looking tortured, and then we see her hug Reid and Hotch just staring at her. So that also feels like a Thing. Like I'm suuure he drove her home or showed up at her place or something after that.

And then by the time Foyet gets him, she's already the one who's like 'where's Hotch?' and can't relax because it feels like something's off with him. Sits with him in the hospital. And I think you're right - I think she would be the one to show up to give him any practical help he needed, because that's the clue we get from her driving him to work after and him just accepting that.

So yeah, I became a shipper the first time I watched S4E03 Minimal Loss, but watching it back I can see something developing between them before that. I think they both just know how to care for each other quietly, in this quiet, understated way that never feels like too much.

But one of the things I really enjoy about them as a ship is that there are multiple different plausible starting points - some other ships for me feel like they hit a point in canon where they've missed their chance, and I never get that from Hotchniss. I think you can start something right after he signs his divorce papers, or after he's left the show (my first Hotchniss thing after a long break was set in S13), or more or less any point in between.

#ask me #hotchniss #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner #criminal minds #look at me not writing

[bengiyo]

Utsukushii Kare 2 Ep 2 Stray Thoughts

I almost wanted to call this show 2 Beautiful 2 Man. Ah well. Maybe next time.

Last time, I was floored by the increased budget of the show and how effectively they used it, and am still thinking about the long take by the coffee shop. We learned that Kiyoi and Hira have been together for a while now, and it's near the end of college for Hira. However, Hira still struggles at being a boyfriend, and these two aren't really great at talking to each other. Excited to see how Kiyoi's rising star shakes things up.

🎵 Back to the past Samurai Jack. 🎶

Kiyoi must have been so frustrated for years waiting for Hira to confess, but that's just not the way Hira works.

These two are so misaligned. Hira is totally devoted to Kiyoi to the point that he rushes to get drinks that Kiyoi likes, and yet Kiyoi just wants Hira to affirm their romance with words.

I'm glad Koyama suggested a photography gig for Hira, because I don't see him thriving in a traditional office environment.

I wonder where this thing with Anna is going to go. I'm also curious about Kiyoi's fondness for stage production.

These fans really dunking on Hira when they're all out here watching people film a show in the middle of the day.

I hope Anna's fondness for Kiyoi only extends to the platonic and professional.

I am dreading Hira having to kill this other obsessive fan for being jealous of Kiyoi.

I am frustrated for Kiyoi that Hira woke up from a fond petting and instantly panicked instead of leaning into his lover's touch.

I love Kiyoi sometimes. He knows he shouldn't take a friend from Hira, so insisted he remain with the photography club. Still, he feels threatened by Koyama.

Bringing Koyama back was a good choice. He has no qualms calling out Kiyoi. I hope they interact again later. He knows Hira, and knows outside intervention is required.

Kiyoi, that is so much sake. This looks like a disaster.

Oh he didn't even taste it before he served it.

Kiyoi keeps calling Hira "my man" this episode, and I like it. He's also not going to let anyone demean his man, let alone Hira.

"Take a picture of me in the same world." Kiyoi has been begging Hira to see him as just a man for years.

Putting blush on Yagi to highlight how drunk he became was excellent.

My goodness. These two feel so heavy.

#utsukushii kare 2 #utsukushii kare #my beautiful man 2 #my beautiful man #Japanese BL #bl series #Utsukushii Kare meta #Ben watches

[yennasun]

I started reading your writings regarding on MT. And Oh my god, I’m addicted to it now, its now my daily dose.

Just the way you made MT, your writing and overall is just a huge wow. Honestly MT gives me the Spartan Kratos vibes. Especially the explaining his moves (yes I scrolled wAAYY down) This question is more on a personally, you can answer this or avoid it if you want to. Only a few. Forgive me when i bombard you.

How did he meet his wife. Was she a nurse of his, a fan who watches he previous fights, a passerby who bumped into him, a cute shop owner Mt found and kept visiting regardless, a blind date. Possibilities.

2. Was Gold aware of his dad’s old career. Did he accidentally find stuff that belonged to MT, or did MT never brought it up.

3. Can you imagine MT pulling a Spartan Rage Ape Shit like God of War just minus the healing part.

4. If ever or a thought, how would Amp MT react to seeing Redemp Squad MT. An opposite of who he is and what he looks like. You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to. Just a thought.

Im so sorry for asking this much.

Hi Jelly, I'm glad you like the writing! I know it's been a while since I made any new additions, but I do have plans for it. Just hit a bit of a creative slump recently.

Now for the questions!

1: I was actually planning on using @nzn43 OC Lime, she was gonna be a fighter as well. They were supposed to fight and have a very even and competitive fight that would go limes way by razor-thin split decision.

MT would eventually be allowed out into the city where he crosses paths with lime once again, and it'll carry on as MT consistently crosses paths with lime.

Eventually, after MT escaped and adopted an infant gold, the commission would find him. They'd send a hit squad after him because he saw and experienced firsthand how the commission REALLY worked and they wanted to tie up loose ends.

He'd escape but only after taking a few bullets, he collapses in an alleyway with a wailing, but unharmed gold in his arms.

He wakes up in Lime's place and thats about as far as I've thought about it lol.

2: for the most part, no. MT never really saw it as super important for the relationship he has with his kid, so he never really brought it up. Pair that with the USFC's official TV channel being incredibly tentative to play re runs of MTs fights in fear of people maybe finding out something they shouldn't, MT mostly goes down as a "forgotten warrior" type of figure in the usfc despite how entertaining his fights were.

Gold DID start looking a bit into it in the months leading up to the "incident" but didn't find much given the time they had left.

3: So actually, funny story about this, when episode 30 came out, I began to redevelop MT as a personality. When I'd first started this au I think it was around the time ep 28 came out, I was sorta on the bandwagon of MT being in his early to mid 20s.

So when I began this au I gave him a starkiller/galen Marek personality.

After Episode 30 came out, I designed his personality with kratos in mind (from the new god of war games) as a stoic but dangerous warrior who will fight for the people he loves.

So for the earlier chapters, before ep 30, he's more like a young kratos. Bold, wrathful, headstrong and prone to destructive outbursts. Post ep 30 chapters are where his personality will start to shift to the newer kratos.

As for the spartan rage thing, I do have something to say about that but i think I'm gonna keep it to myself, I will say that if you like that stuff then you'll LOVE what I got in mind.

4: depends on which type of MT you ask.

Pre escape MTA would keep his head down and speak only if spoken to, cuz that's how he was taught. And plus, redemption squad MT isn't an Amp, and Rooney taught him that nonamps can get him in serious trouble if he's not wary.

Pre redemption king would hate his guts off jealousy alone

he hasn't been through half of what i have, why does he get to heal and I don't?! He thinks

Post redemption MT would look at him with that rough, hard squint he's become known for, crack knowing smile, give him a pat on the shoulder and a nod of understanding. They both made it out, the journey was long and painful but they both made it.

Also don't ever apologize for bombarding me, I absolutely LOVE answering asks like this!

#alan becker #animation vs minecraft #avm #animator vs animation #avm king orange #au #ava #usfc #avm mango #avm mt

[cantshinebrighterthanyou]

I've seen a lot of takes floating around about how we shouldn't make excuses for EJ/Gina/Ricky while talking about the others' mistakes. I can't help but wonder -

Am I the only one that's Team-Make-excuses-for-everybody?

Because fundamentally these characers are pretty young and that summer of firsts has put a lot on their plates.

EJ - isn't spending enough time with his girlfriend and friends? Yeah, because he was slapped with the huge responsibility of making a blockbuster musical work in a few weeks and nobody is helping him. (They are learning their lines and cues to be fair, but no one offered to help him plan for the read-through in that tent? Not one person?)

He's not telling Gina about the letter until she finds out for herself? That's absolutely bad, but he was planning on telling her after he had sorted it out. Which, let's be real, wasn't going to happen before the end of the summer after the documentary came out, so his plan really wasn't very likely to go well and even if it did, he would have still been in the wrong for not confiding in her.

But it makes sense, too. When we first meet EJ, he's a jock who gets leads in the musicals. A popular kid with grades impressive enough to make it reasonable for him to get into Duke. He's also prone to schieming and sabotage and has no clue how to sincerely apologize. We later find out that there's a lot of pressure to be perfect from his dad. You can't tell me that EJ grew up in an environment where it would have been acceptable for him to be vulnerable about something he was struggling with unless it was already in the past and he had already handled it. There's a reason this kid doesn't know how to apologize and I'd wager it's the same reason he doesn't know how to talk to his girlfriend about a something he doesn't yet know how to fix.

That doesn't make it okay, but it makes it understandable and I'm willing to make excuses for him and sympathize with him anyway.

Gina - is being passive-aggressive towards her boyfriend instead of talking to him directly? Yeah, because she's discovered that he's hiding something from her and I think the first few jabs were meant to give him the hint that he should maybe explain himself before she would bring it up. She's been busy with getting the lead in Frozen and trying to be 'a good girlfriend' for the first time, only to learn that EJ is hiding something from her and has been confiding in someone else about it instead. That would upset anybody. And I truly believe that most of her anger has been her trying to force a conversation, even if it wasn't in the healthiest way. Which is perfectly understandable.

She's also showing glimpses of old habits? Of course she is - ambition is not inherintly a bad character trait and "Gina 1.0" wasn't very long ago, so of course she has that ambition in her still. (Tbh I have a whole analysis in defense of Gina 1.0 that I wrote when I first watched that ep, so if anyone's interested in reading that I might still post it.)

And Ricky - has a crush on Gina while she's in a relationship with EJ? Yeah, that happens. It's already tough to rebuild a friendship after having had crushes even when those romantic feelings haven't lingered. Trying to navigate a friendship while having a crush on an unavailable friend is deeply complicated.

And that is what he's trying to do! He's not trying to interfere in portwell at all. We know what Ricky looks like when he's trying to sabotage a relationship and this isn't that. (I could make a whole other post about that difference tbh.) This is Ricky and Gina, who never got closure on their feelings for each other, trying to act like the casual friends they were before she ever pulled away from him. Only their casual friendship was founded on electric understanding that was likely already hurtling towards something way back then - so finding a new normal, that will actually look casual to the outside world (nevermind feel casual), is a tall order for both of them. (Not saying their attempt at friendship will leave them driving off into the sunset together anytime soon! Just saying that they've got a difficult goal here and it's bound to be awkward as they try to figure out new boundaries.)

At the end of the day, these characters are all trying to navigate pretty complicated romantic situations while also having a lot of other stuff going on at the same time. Be that the musical, the documentary, pressure from home, having to defend your ambitions to your best friends, or having to find your place in a group where some of your strongest connections were your ex, your ex-friend who you have a crush on that can't be more. (And I'd also list Ricky's friendship with Carlos here, but tbh their friendship is pretty uncomplicated so it's not relevant to my point right now.)

Of course all of them are going to make mistakes, but they're all very understandable. The discourse around not laying blame at only one character's feet feels to me a bit like people trying to justify their fave or even their ship at the expense of (more) nuance. (Which is also totally fair, I just felt like I had to throw my own take into the ring as well.)

#hsmtmts #portwell #rina #ricky x gina #ej x gina #ej caswell #ricky bowen #hsmtmts analysis #gina porter #i hope it's fair for me to tag both the ships #i feel like they're both relevant to the post and I haven't really said anything bad about either #the musical the series the tumblr tag

[kongthapatom]

My thoughts on ep 11 and ep 12 preview:

Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely here for the ride P'Au and MSP team are taking us on. I appreciate the developments of ep 11 and I adore chinzhilla's friendship. I'm also relieved the ep 11 curse did not unimaginatively separate tinngun and their relationship is stronger than ever. But I'm trying to understand how these events fit into the overarching romantic vision of the show, and perhaps I will feel differently after we've watched ep 12

I was somewhat caught off guard when chinzhilla lost hot wave. I was so sure they would win because the show has already told us about the outcome multiple times: That love is not a dream's greatest enemy but the very essence that fuels it, and dreams are also meaningless without sharing it with the person you love. Love makes Gun sing love songs better and hence love will be what eventually helps him win hot wave with the song he wrote about the people he loves. Because Tinn has been by his side since day one as his most ardent believer and supporter. Shouldn't Gun watch his dream come true with Tinn by his side then? Did that outcome not make the most sense narratively speaking? If this was a more serious show, I would've entertained the possibility they may not win cuz that's quite an idealistic and clichéd storyline. But MSP has been the most perfect romcom to date and there's no other show this would've worked on, so I'm sorry if I was wrong to hope

Through 10 episodes, MSP has built a light-hearted but realistic universe which had no traces of homophobia so the ep 12 preview (which maybe lying) is also confusing me. Since the first episode we've been watching Tinn bend over backwards to facilitate Gun's dream and I always thought, "I'm so glad this is a romantic comedy cuz Tinn would be getting into sooo much trouble for using his position as the school president to help his boyfriend" - because I didn't think for one second this was the kind of a show that would really land Tinn in trouble 😩😩

I do still believe everything that's to come in ep 12 will bring better answers and give them the happy ending they deserve. But I'm a little sad and trying to understand why it seems like the story has gone back on some key points it established before, and if the story is heading in a more serious direction than it set itself up as. I'm just trying to wrap my head around this and if y'all can share your views on this, I would really appreciate it

#my school president #my school president the series #my school president episode 11 #my school president ep 11 #tinngun #msp #au kornprom niyomsil #tinn x gun #gun x tinn #my school president meta

[jaggedwolf]

pll rewatch 1x03-1x04

this is happening, apologies in advance to everyone who did not experience pll-era jaggedwolf, including the two knuckleheads dragged into watching this show

I was so distracted by the horror of having to actually watch the Ezria of it all that I entirely forgot about Wren, and the Hastings family going "boo you whore" at Spencer for the audacity of being kissed by a grown man. What's the point of being lawyer parents if you don't threaten the fully adult man kissing your daughter instead of being mean to her.

but who are the Hastings if they don't pick the "Be Mean To Spencer" button whenever it appears? I forgot it started so early

other thing that starts early: A liar going, well, what the fuck do we do, Spencer?? and Spencer going ??? I don't know!!!!!???

First appearance of Noel's cabin! It has a foosball table. Noel did you have to spend money on that photo booth or did your parents have that lying around.

Here I contemplate the economic stratus of the parents of Rosewood (~7k population, along the Main Line, unincorporated?) and their frequent traveling for work, though here the Hastings are Out of Town for Melissa reasons.

I've never thought about Toby punching out Ben in the context of what we later learn about Toby, but huh. considering that.

you know, Sean did nothing wrong. Dude did not want to fuck and got his car wrecked for it. Just remembered the other plotline he's briefly involved in this season through no fault of his own and am laughing, he is here to be utterly clueless.

Hanna is still so good though <3

Group flashback time - when Alison tears into Hanna, it's Aria who speaks up. Something to keep track of, maybe, for the pre-disappearance dynamics

The first two episodes have Emily-Aria and Hanna-Spencer link up as pairs, the former feeling like outsiders to the town, the latter the shining stars on the edge of flaming out.

These eps have no Emily-Aria, each wrapped up in their own secrets, but we get a bunch of Hanna-Spencer. Spencer tells Hanna about the plagiarism first, Hanna talks to her about dad dinner outfits, Spencer asks Hanna when she needs a ride from the motel. ....Is S1 going to make me contemplate Spencer/Hanna? I have no complaints.

(To be fair, I'm not sure Emily has her own car at this point. We only see her with the bike and in other people's cars so far, which would make sense for the Fields. Am I going to start tracking proof of car ownership? Maybe.)

A's responses when the girls block unknown numbers are good. The missing girl poster, the frickin song dedication, the jungle red lipstick on a mirror! Can't wait for A to hit the girls up on Excel

god does tom marin suck. and byron. and ezra. and wilden. let's stop there before I list every man in rosewood

except for toby, whose only crime these episodes is failing to make non-creepy expressions. then again, he spent a year in reform school wearing that terrible durag. that must do damage to a fella.

am reminded that Aria can be fun when she's not mired in Ezra bullshit (very insistent on the difference of gnats vs flies! utterly aghast that Spencer hasn't started a paper! decides to tell her mom too late when it shouldn't have been her problem from the start!). this week's fashion crime was an earring so big i thought it a shawl or part of her shirt until someone pointed out it wasn't

Emily's plot mildly stresses me out now that we've gotten past the locker room scene because I don't remember what happens when. I just want this kid to be okay! She's the only one still wearing the friendship bracelet, yeah? I don't remember how long it lasts for

mentions of writing on facebook walls...this show is so 2010...

#jaggedwolf rambles #pll watching #pll #mine

[sepyana]

JJBA Stardust Crusaders Ep. 25-29 Thoughts

Aka I ramble on about the N'Doul episodes and some manga differences.

Ep 25 is the start of the second half of SDC. I have been a bit slow so far so I've decided to pick up speed. It's gonna take me 2 months to finish the anime otherwise. I've watched episodes 25 to 33 but I have some extra things to say today, I'm gonna split the post in two.

First of all, the opening. It starts off all mysteries but then the rest of the song is like the first one. It even has Star Platinum's ORA ORA's in it. My favourite part is the start and the sequence with the white lines in it.

Ep. 25-26 (N'Doul)

There is a dog. The dog has a stand, The Fool. To be fair, he is a really anthropomorphized dog, way smarter than the actual thing. They kind of have to do this if he is gonna be part of the team with a stand and all. (Jotaro smiling while Iggy is biting Polnareff's face off was pretty funny. Mr. Emotionless over here thinks this is hilarious.)

It's honestly a crime that N'doul shows up for only two episodes. His design, abilities and personality is sick as hell to me. My fave DIO goon, maybe? Most of the time stands are way more interesting then the goon using 'em. Basic bitch pick, I know. Sometimes things are popular for though.

^ Kakyoin being a piece of shit here was pretty funny. They were arguing so much that N'Doul could sense them. Good work guys.

Episode goes from 1 to 11 real quick when N'Doul slashes Kakyoin's eyes. And he passes out from the shock. Kakyoin getting hurt to show how dangerous the new threat happens a lot, but it seems actually serious this time. I don't think Araki is bold enough to make him lose his eyes for real, but It'd be really interesting development if he did. I'm just saying.

Advol says "No, that's wrong" He says the thing! Guys!!! He also gets his neck cut too ig lol. I'm sure he'll be fine.

Jotaro uses the secret Joestar technique of running the fuck away (to divert attention away from the people he cares about). Classic. He makes sure to grab Iggy on the way.

^ Jokes aside, I thought Jotaro throwing Iggy to not get hit by Geb was really smart. It makes so much sense but I couldn't think of it at all.

I know Iggy is just a dog, he didn't ask for this yada yada I don't care, if the bastard didn't wanna get thrown at 20 mph he shouldn't look so goddamn puntable. Every time I look at him I am filled with rage. I want to kick him like football.

Okay but for real, Iggy is gonna be a hard sell for me. I don't like small dogs but I dislike fart jokes even more, which he unfortunately delivers in spades. I know part 3 has a lot of piss shit and fart jokes in it but Iggy isn't helping!!

Okay the stand-off between Jotaro and N'Doul was excellent. The animation, the soundtrack and the sound design worked really well. And then Star Platinum going HUUUUAAAHHHH

If you didn't think Dio wasn't building a cult before, you'll surely do now. Even Jotaro comments on it. Cults give people a purpose and answers, so...

I do feel a lil bit bad for him. Dio finds the most isolated and depressed people to use them, letting them depend on him. As much as I've been trying to avoid them I get recommended jojos when I search for clips. N'Doul's line "I do not fear death. Just as long as [Dio] doesn't abandon and murder me himself." in one of the games puts it plainly.

It's hard to wrap your head around Dio being charismatic but when you hear his interactions with them it becomes obvious. He acts like he cares for them, whether that's genuine or on is up in the air. Considering everything in Phantom Blood, how much it took for Dio to finally respect Jonathan, I'm inclined to say no? He was definitely meant to be a pure evil Disney villain type of character there. SDC might shake things up, who knows.

Overall, these episodes are great. They have a lil bit of everything I like. Part 1 doesn't feel boring compared to part 2, unlike some other two parters. Not to mention the music picks.

-

Now, onto something I wanna talk about. I was sort of going thru the manga pages for the last few episodes and,

This line of Jotaro is given to Advol in the anime. And he is less stressed about it. (I know characters get major injuries only to be fine the next episode but like, Kakyoin losing his eyes is a big development. He doesn't show for the next 13 episodes after this.)

^ Too tired to change the lines.

Also, in the anime, It is Advol who holds Kakyoin. (Polnareff holding Joseph isn't in either.) Instead, Jotaro hangs with one hand while the other is casually in his pocket. Which is absolutely hilarious. And shows how anime and manga to treats his character.

I know people arguing over manga and anime Jotaro is -a whole thing- I would hear stuff about it while Stone Ocean anime was still releasing. I will think about this a lot more if I actually read the whole thing. Just talking about these two episodes here.

In the anime, Jotaro needs to look cool all the time always. I assume what they were going for was to make him more stoic so that when his cool guy persona (and it is a persona) starts slipping it has more impact. But the changes made seem kind of random. They changed some stuff in this episode but they have kept the Anubis one largely the same. He is not as agitated there but he is still on the back foot.

He is losing control in this episode. The only reason they made it out alive was because The Fool just happened to be able to fly, he was basically fucked before then. Him looking panicked at Kakyoin losing his eyes also makes sense. He can't do anything about the situation, so naturally, his stoic demeanor starts to dissipate for a while. Kakyoin and Advol has put him on a timer.

I don't think the difference between manga and anime Jotaro is that big but it is notable. I dunno. I would prefer Jotaro breaking the cool mask too much rather than basically never.

Another tidbit is, Star Platinum smiles in the manga way more. And I'm gonna be honest I prefer the anime in this. It goes back to the "Having it less makes the times where it does show up more impactful." thing. So, it can definitely be done in a good way.

Ep. 27 (Oingo Boingo Brothers)

One thing I found strange is how the English dub and sub treats the brothers' names. They normally call themselves.Oingo Boingo Brothers. The English sub calls them Zenyatta Monetta Brothers. The dub straight up doesn't mention their name at all.

Weirdly enough, the the other subs do call them Oingo Boingo Brothers. Is it a cultural thing, or a copyright one? I don't know.

I don't have much to say about this episode. So I'm gonna take the opportunity to talk about Kakyoin instead :D

^ This is from the next episode but there isn't much I can use.

I mentioned before how I thought it would be interesting to blind him. You never see legally blind characters in action stuff, unless they have an ability that let's them sense the environment. Like Toph or N'Doul himself. It's a pain to fight blind, it turns out.

Kakyoin should have a way to see, through the humanoid stand Green Heirophant (unless him being blinded makes Heirophant blind also). Like, It would have been really draining. Summoning the stand is a lot but also the chronic pain from his injury, but he could do it. He could use the eyes for battle situations, or Joseph could have SPW bring him technology that could help him in some way. I'm not gonna call this a missed opportunity, I can see why didn't go with that.

I'm guessing Araki wanted to shrink the cast for a while, like with Advol's "death". 5 man band casts are nice but it can be hard to work with 5 people all the time. Cast is divided again with Polnareff-Jotaro and Advol-Joseph. I went in to check when Kakyoin shows up again (grazing thru the manga) and he is not in the show for 13 episodes, excluding 2 scenes. That's more than quarter of the whole runtime. Advol was away for 9 episodes, and he was suppose to be dead.

I'm a bit conflicted on this, shrinking the cast builds relationships between the characters more in depth and it allows for new and interesting storylines. But at the same time, that's a lot of episodes. I just really like both Advol and Kakyoin, man.

Ep. 28-29 (Anubis)

FINALLY Some swordfighting scenes.

Polnareff goes off on his own, again. He comes across a stand user and gets almost killed, again. Yet he keeps going off on his own anyway. Never change king.

Anubis' shtick is that it's a stand with no user, that gets more powerful the more you fight it. It's like Nasus but way cooler. Not that that's a high bar to pass, anything is cooler than farming stacks for 20 minutes. I don't know where Anubis getting stronger with time comes from, since Nasus also has this It's probably part of the mythology. I know absolutely nothing about that though.

Anubis themselves is also a fun villain. Funny man with funny voice. Their design is the opposite of unique but it works for me. I like that him possessing the kid gives him lipstick.

Going back to Polnareff, I think people forget how powerful he is sometimes. When it comes to power and speed, only one stronger than Chariot in the group is Star Platinum. And Star Platinum is op as hell.

Jotaro vs Anubis drives that point even further, Jotaro is not even sure he can win against Polnareff with Anubis' speed added to the equation. The whole fight is just Jotaro sweating bullets thinking "Shit shit shit shit sh

When he does finally win, he says "What were you saying? You were gonna tear me into shreds?" while Star Platinum puts his hand like this. Just. I love it.

^ Compilation of Jotaro faces for this episode.

Overall, Anubis episodes were pretty nice. I think the Alessi epsiodes do a better job building Jotaro and Polnareff's dynamic though.

#sepya watches jjba #↪ posts

[thegeminisage]

okay i have TEN MINUTES to type out my thots about the last two tng eps i watched. day before yesterday was a surprise watch of "the icarus factor" together and last night i did "pen pals"

the icarus factor: i have nnnnever been more angry IN my entire life. riker's dad sucks so bad he sucks SO BAD

that being said the episode was horrifically sloppy. it could have been a must see but it was all over the place and committed so many crimes

firstly, i dont understand the point of offering riker a promotion in this episode when 1. he already canonically turned down a promotion to be here and 2. it didn't tie into his daddy issues in any way whatsoever

also, why did they have his dad DATE THIS DOCTOR LADY? not only is that extremely uncomfortable for everyone involved (can you imaaaagine your parent bringing home a coworker or vice versa seeing a coworker show up at work with your parent) but it ALSO served no function - pulaski didn't tell us anything about riker's dad that he didn't know and we didn't know

it also used up basically all of my goodwill that had been generated re: pulaski. she really is just a knock-off bones and she's actually so boring because of that and even her dating riker's dad and being a chronic divorcee didn't make her interesting. sigh. once again i'm sorry women.

i also don't understand worf's b-plot being about his ten year (although wesley trying to get them both into the dead dad club was HILAAARIOUS and maybe the most i've ever liked wesley so far, i'm allowed to say this since i'm also in the club). i feel like worf's >:( should have been something to do with riker's daddy issues either a disapproval of his parenting or a lack of understanding of why it's bad parenting or SOMETHING bc that needed to be the whole episode and the b plot was just so ??? like it's a b plot i would have enjoyed in a diff ep but not this one

and finally, after ALL of that, after outlining in detail what a shitty person riker's dad is, how he felt the need to compete with his own child who he was also emotionally and physically neglecting so much so that he CHEATED and felt proud for it, how he never put anything before his career, AND

AFTER HE SAID

"IT WASN'T AS HARD FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU WERE IN DIAPERS WHEN SHE DIED"

WHICH MADE ME SO ANGRY I ALMOST BLACKED OUT

the man didn't even apologize. the word "sorry" never left his mouth he just told his shitty sob story and that was it. they yelled some japanese at each other while doign this martial arts thing and will was like glad you came pops and they hugged and that was the end. and also he didn't take the promotion because we knew he wouldn't. girl come ON.

pen pals: the first half of this episode sucked real bad. picard and the horses was awful and i don't think he should be allowed to say the word "allah" on television

wesley getting his own command...eh. it was fine and he hasn't been nearly as annoying in s1 as he was in s2 but i don't care so i was tapping my watch and waiting to get to the ACTUAL episode. it was so tedious to watch everyone argue about his mental wellbeing and future or whatever. who cares. he shouldn't even be here there should not be children aboard starships

i liked the part with data's pen pal BUT i also think he knows better than to violate the prime directive like that. if he slipped and did it once and then confessed that'd be one thing but 8 weeks?? he wouldn't fucking say that

i was also ??? when he beamed her up and didn't leave her in the transport room...idk, i like that he has feelings, and she WAS cute if a little uncanny (the voice filter sounds like the one tumblr used in that one interview lol), but it seems like if you wanted an episode About Data he could have fugured out that third answer of how to both save her and obey the prime directive, instead of getting yelled at and/or ignored by picard and then picard doing it. (man when picard asked for tea first from the replicator while data was trying to get his attention...)

at least pulaski was nice to him i guess :/

tonight, "q who," which will sadly probably have q in it, but at least i get to meet the BORG. at long last...................................

#personal #star trek blogging #tng lb #i'm so excited. i've been looking forward to this for weeks. tng for once PLEASE don't let me down

[hils79]

Hils Watches Fairyland Lovers - Ep 11

Okay drunk Bai Qi is cute

LOLOL

How old is this dude that an adult woman is his great-granddaughter? I suppose if he's in his 80s, the grandfather is in his 60s, the father is in his 40s and she's in her 20s it would work

Aww can't even make eye contact when asking her out. I like him a lot more now that he's got a bit of personality

Ah there we go he's back to being grumpy. Which is good because her baby voice was getting annoying.

Gosh they are both acting like a couple of primary school kids. It's cute but also cringe. Come on you are both adults please have an adult conversation about your feelings

Oh my god what's happened to his hair? It's all crinkly

Wait wasn't it daytime when he left the restaurant 'for a minute' and now it's night?

Oh maybe it wasn't daylight maybe these are just really bright lights

Okay standing on the blade of his sword is just showing off

Is she just going to leave without paying? Bai Qi said he was coming back so I can't imagine he paid before leaving.

Hot

Well at least this time she was pushed rather than just falling over I guess

Ohhhhh shit. Now you've really pissed Bai Qi off!

Well, I guess now she knows he's a spirit

And she also now knows that Yang Jian isn't human either. She's not having a good day.

I shouldn't laugh but this reminds me of that episode of Friends where Joey has his face pressed against the rainy window

Oh no he's angstily loosening his tie

I like that she vents her frustrations by playing Street Fighter

#hils watches #hils watches fairyland lovers #hils watches cdramas #fairyland lovers #cdrama

[meandmyechoes]

Kingohger ep16

oooh we get a movie title: Adventure Heaven!

tonikaku it's raining and thundering here too so great atmo 👍

~09:30~

I have my handkerchief ready…

LMAO Bandai can you be more cash-thirsty just hitting us with ads right away

it's like a fanfic scene…

Rita who works hard and real-time this time!!

yes at least they get to keep the moffun evidence

poor moffun shouldn't be all alone i'll just keep it here instead… Rita genius!

yes i told you they'd bend the rules because they are the MOST familiar with rules

if Rita never takes a day off how will Moffunland episode go 😭😭

wait wait what about Racles's negotiations??

aiya snow spider so handsome

They do this every year…

yikes yabbari he's the consort

Wait her body disappeared… so spinoff route? Or he faked his death so she can retire…?

Defending Moru! Kakkoi

Yesss Moru is just the candidate and not officially appointed yet

They've been aide since 5????? Should I be happy it partly fits my adoption headcanon and maybe they had some loving time or be appalled that Gokkan has no law against child labor??

So bugs in Gokkan is not a first

Show-off Jeramie haha

why is Yanma so serious I'm scared

aww they unconsciously won't let go of moffun!

she said it! she said they are alike!!

no… the energy difference between the two of them remembering their first day as king… Himeno might hide behind a smile but at least it turns out fine for her in the long run and she had no shortage of people loving her… Rita never gets to talk about it…

and that Himeno is very much raised with her birthright as monarch but Rita... if she's only adopted at 5 as such a timid child, how aware/determined/confident are they at fulfilling the monarch's duty? Probaly still not much huh....

okay no big leap in ritahime only means MORE ritahime later. progress is progress :)

wait why is N'kosopa music on in the trial scene

"God's Fury is not something law can judge, so Karas sealed away the culprit with herself" ?!

what kind of wuxia arrangement is this the secret will of the last king

"I will go find Karas, until the end of the Earth. Because I love her." awww

WOAH KAKKOI KAKKOI KAKKOI

that moment when Ignorantia plays 👌👌

woah did NOT expect that scene is reversed instead of covering their eye they pushed the bangs away…

"I won't be wrong again" okay this is a bit underwhelming compared with the preview

They just, stood there and watch Jeremy goes

This compo is so frozen lol

wait a minute that's not the right angle??? Rita's room was on the opposite side?? / This angle should show Rita's room with the hallwaway in the background

okay so in the end they tell us nothing about Rita's gender or their odd eye or Moffun or how they met Morfonia okay hmmm

i'm glad at least Rita and Morfonia is not related and Morfonia is not the princess

Relieved that Rita didn't have to try their father year after year but if they have been an aide since 5, Shiron would still've been like a father figure to them? 🥺 Maybe he taught them about forensics or anatomy...

huh didn't expect 17 would be Yanma, is the new arc Aide's arc?

every shot of Yanma is this episode is very cool

The film was GIRA'S CORONATION??????

We have 5 eps until the film and Racles' spinoff would finish before that, so Racles going full villain next would fit into him being disposed or his character being retired (until later) for the schedule... though, is the film not another dream sequence?

Production notes:

Shiron is a doctor from Ishabana who fell in love with Karas and moved to Gokkan for her.

YES EXAMPLE!! YELLOW PURPLE GET MARRIED FOR YOUR COUNTRIES NOW

hmmm it used "Ishabana's noble doctor" (noble as in upper class, not as in personality) to describe Shiron, so there is some level of discrimination towards Gokkan people huh

they are family 😭😭 (at least Rita had 5 years of happy family time should i say thanks....)

absolutely NOT the focus here yet again I marvel at the cutting of Rita's coat

Predecessor's namesake: Karas de Haan

カラスアゲハ（烏揚羽、Papilio dehaanii）

(Dehaanii is in turn from Dutch zoologist Wilhem de Haan)

romanizing might be Clarice de Haan?

#kingohger #kolb

[bustyasianbeautiespod]

Episode 50 Transcript: You Play D&D?

[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'll be discussing Season 3 Episode 6: “Red Sky at the Morning,” written by Laurence Andries, directed by Cliff Bole. Both of these people we're seeing for the first time. 

C: And the only time.

G: The only time for both of them?

C: Yeah, which is interesting. 

G: Fascinating. 

C: I don't know why that is, like, I'd say that this is not the worst episode in any way. [G laughs] So.

G: Yeah. 

C: Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, Laurence Andries worked on How To Get Away With Murder, he sort of seems like hot shit, so maybe they just couldn't afford him again.

G: Ohh, yeah, perhaps so. Onto greater things, that guy.

C: Yeah.

G: Yeah. So what's our pre-discussion thoughts?

C: Like, I mean, not a fan of misogyny, but love to see a Bela. [G laughs] So that’s basically it.

G: I can't help but think about that post that's like, “For this week's episode, Dean will be talking to someone who will embody his childhood trauma, blah blah blah!"

C: Uh-huh.

G: "Meanwhile, Sam is going to go talk to the MILFs.” 

C: [laughing] Yeah, this is true.

C: Sam will be talking to MILFs. 

G: He literally talked to that MILF.

C: Yeah. Well, I guess she was a MIDLF? A mother he did not like to fuck?

G: Yeah, and it was quite upsetting to see him be harassed so much during the episode, so.

C: Yeah, it wasn't very funny. 

G: Yeah, the episode treats it like it's funny, and Dean treats it like it's funny, but like, I don't know, it's just, it's baaaad to watch.

C: Yeah, like, maybe you shouldn't grab people's asses when they're not comfortable with it. Revolutionary thought. [G laughs]

G: Poor Sam. But, yeah. So before going into this episode, what did you know about it?

C: Honestly, nothing, like from the title? I think this episode and “Bad Day at Black Rock” both just have really long titles that have nothing at all to do with the actual episode. Like, I definitely, like, as soon as I watched it I definitely recognized scenes, mostly the Dean coming down the stairs, looking like shit in his tuxedo, you know. [G laughs]

G: In his ill-fitting suit.

C: Yeah, which, you know, I really appreciate that they were like, “Ooh, ladies, look at this!” meanwhile he has never looked worse in his life. [G laughs]

G: He looks like a stumpy little guy. [C laughs] Like he looks so short.

C: He does!

G: And I support a short king. But like, the fact that we're supposed to go, “Ooooh,” is so funny. [G laughs]

C: Right, like, “Look at this raging piece of red meat and masculinity,” like, whatever, he looks awful.

G: Yeah.

C: But yeah, I didn't really know anything about the episode, besides that the writer is Black because I saw that on a post about how there are no Supernatural writers who are people of color except for like, this one guy this one time.

G: Mm, yeah. I actually remember this episode pretty well. I remember pretty much everything that happens, and also I remember the title, because- I don't even know why. I think I just remember the Bela episodes quite well, because this is also my reaction during our last Bela ep. So yeah. I was very fond of Bela when I was watching Supernatural the first time. So that's no surprise. Yeah.

C: Yeah.

G: Yeah. So, shall we start the episode? [G laughs]

C: Sure.

G: I hate it here. [C laughs] I already said that, but I’m just reiterating it. I hate it here.

C: Yeah, I think this episode did get one of my “I hate Supernatural so much it's unreal” Discord messages.

G: Exactly. Which happens, I think, once every three episodes?

C: [laughing] Yeah, approximately.

G: Yeah. Oh, also this episode, they mention Castiel.

C: They do!

G: Did you catch that? 

C: Yes, I did catch that, of course I caught that. God. 

G: And I felt happiness bloom in my heart.

C: [laughs] For the first time in years.

G: [laughs] Exactly.

-

G: So we start with this young woman, she's running-

C: In the dead of night. 

G: In the dead of night, middle of the street. She's not even running on the side- what's the pavement, what's that called for you? Side road?

C: Sidewalk?

G: Sidewalk. She's not even running on the sidewalk. She's just running in the middle of the street, which I respect.

C: Yeah, she's wearing like a sports bra that is far more bra-looking than the average sports bra, I'd say.

G: Yeah, I think people just really do wear that, right? Well, not here, but-

C: Not in the dead of the night!

G: Yeah, perhaps! She stops for some water, and she's like, drinking from the water fountain, and she looks up, and she sees a ship! Yeah, it's spooky. It's a spooky ship. You know what I said like a couple of episodes back? I don't know if you remember this, and I don't even know if I actually did say it. [C laughs] But I said something along the lines of, “I want them to do an episode on a haunted ship, but I think it's gonna be way too expensive.” 

C: Oh yeah. Yeah, this is how they did it.

G: She comes home, and she's showering, because of course she is. 

C: Yeah, and like, she's, like, just looking up with her mouth open in a sexy way, just like, glugging all that shower water, as you know, women often do.

G: [laughing] Yeah! The way she was like, wiping her hair down, you know, like, the shower motion that you see in television, except that's the only thing she was doing. And this is a long scene!

C: Yeah! Right, no shampoo! 

G: [laughs] No shampoo, no soap, no anything. [C laughing] No conditioner, no nothing. She's just wiping her hair up and down. 

C: Just down, not even up, 'cause like [overlapping] if it was up, it would get all frizzy and be unattractive. 

G: [laughs] It's so funny because she, like, okay, here's what happened. She's showering, right, and then she hears some noise, so she checks it out, and then she goes back to the shower and continues doing the exact same thing that she was doing from before, and this keeps on going and going for so long that it's impossible to not know this. At some point I was like, "Are they reusing this clip? What's happening?"

And we cut to outside, and we see her like, scream and like, get pushed against the door of the shower, and then, like it ends with her hand sliding down the shower door.

C: Yeah.

G: Which is like, I don't like that.

C: Me neither.

G: Because well, I mean, I think we've said this often in the show, or at least we've said it at some point, but like, the whole concept of "when a woman dies, she has to die in the shower!" [laughs] is so fucking stupid.

C: Yeah. Naked, sexy.

G: She has to die in a bathtub. And the other men who died in this episode don't die like that. It's just her.

C: Right. Yeah, I mean at least one of the men who dies is shirtless. #Equality. [G laughs] But yeah, he's not in the shower, and he didn't have to be all sexy and weird before he died. Yeah, no, as soon as I saw her in that sports bra that's bra-shaped instead of binder-shaped, I was like, “This is not gonna end up well, is it?” and it did not.

G: Yeah.

C: At least we didn't have to see her dead body naked with the spiders around it, like we saw in “Bugs” or whatever.

-

C: So we cut to the Impala, where Sam and Dean are about to have a fight. And Dean's like, "You gonna tell me like, what it is you've been keeping from me?" Sam, like, jokes, "Happy Purim?" which is, you know, more Jewish Winchesters evidence, so good for them. So Dean reveals that he has noticed that there is a bullet missing from the Colt, so Sam has discharged it at some point. And Dean's upset that Sam went after the crossroads demon that he made the deal with, but, like it seems like the main thing that he's worried about is that Sam could have gotten himself killed, which was- it was kind of sweet. I did go “Aww” a little at that. Sam says that he shot her because-

G: I mean, it doesn't feel like the reason why he's mad [laughs], I mean-

C: Maybe it's not the reason.

G: I think he's just like upset because of like, the hiding and stuff, and like, "You could have gotten killed," blah blah blah. And then he immediately goes, "What happened to the demon? You killed her! Now we have no lead."

C: That's true.

G: I think there's a feeling here that Dean, even though he's denying it, still feels-

C: Yeah, hoping.

G: - a little bit like, "Oh, I hope I can get out of this deal."

C: Yeah, definitely. Sam says that he shot her because "She was a smartass."

G: Hell yeah.

C: What's wrong with this man? Why is he using the logic I use in like, my kills in D&D in like, real actual life? [both laugh] God.

G: You play D&D? Is that for real?

C: Yeah, I mean, I guess I use D&D just to mean tabletop roleplaying in general. Like, the current campaign I'm playing with my ex-fiancee and our friends is Masks, so that's not the D&D mechanic. But yeah.

G: ... Alright. [laughs]

C: Oh, oh! You said that to be judgmental. [laughing] I understand now. [both laughing]

G: I said it to be a cunt. [both laughing]

C: Slay.

Yeah, so Dean has a little hope, it seems, because he goes like, "So, does that mean that I'm out of my deal, then?" And Sam's like, "No, I probably wouldn't have mentioned it if that was true." I do want to live in the universe where Sam gets Dean out of the deal and then just doesn't tell him. I think it'd be fun.

Yeah, Sam says that he doesn't know who actually holds the contract, and Dean does this whole like, "It'd be great to figure out who it was. I wonder who our best lead was. Oh, wait. You shot her." Yeah. And then Sam does this whole like, "I'm not sorry for doing it. You're my brother. [G laughing] I'm gonna try to save you, no matter what," blah blah blah. Okay, whatever. Sure.

G: The thing is, they've been at it for six episodes, and nothing has happened so far, and I am beginning to feel like-

C: Maybe they're not gonna to get out of it? Maybe Dean might actually die?

G: No, no, no. I'm beginning to feel like they're running out- they're like, running out of ideas to put in the episodes for brother conflict, and they're like, "Let's just milk this one. Let's just do this one over and over again for 16 episodes [C laughs], and that will be the entire season." And I get the Supernatural does that, and I get like they have to keep doing that because this is a TV show that is like, weekly.

C: Yeah. And some people weren't watching last week's episode.

G: Yeah, exactly. But part of me is like, "Okay, we get it. We get it. I get it."

C: Yeah. I think maybe also this might be them realizing like, "Oh, in season 2, we like, totally dropped the overarching plot until the end. So I think that the solution for season 3 is just to have a case and then have every other moment just be them being like, 'Hey, remember the overarching plot? Let's talk about that.'"

G: So Sam and Dean enter this house, and there's this old lady-

C: We don't get a city for this episode.

G: Oh, yeah, we don't.

C: Which is odd. I feel usually, we get a city.

G: Also, like, I think, you know, it's near a port. Is that a port? What is it?

C: Yeah.

G: So like, it's gonna be reasonable that they're like, "Oh, it's near a body of water," so it'll be easy to have a city. Or maybe that makes it more difficult. I'm not sure.

But so they enter this house, and there's an old lady, and she's like, “Why are you guys here? I already talked to the other detectives?” And they're like, "No, no no no."

C: She's so chipper for someone whose niece just died.

G: It's her niece?

C: Yeah.

G: I thought it was her granddaughter.

C: No, it's her niece.

G: That's actually wild. Like-

C: Yeah.

G: Why is she so happy? [laughs]

C: I don't know. I think the implication is that Bela/Alex has been like, doing seances where she's been talking to her niece, so she doesn't feel that she's like lost her entirely, maybe?

G: Yeah, yeah yeah. [laughs] The way they said that was so funny, which we'll get into later.

C: Yeah. [laughs]

G: So she's talking about who these guys are like, "Who are you guys?" And they're like, "Oh, we're with the sheriff's office. We're different detectives. So like, just talk to us. Like, what happened?" And she says, like, "She drowned in the shower." So that's a clue for us, that the way she died was drowning. But like, how did she drown in the shower? And Sam starts asking about behavior during the days before the accident, and then- and the lady goes, "Oh! Are you guys working with Alex?" And Dean latches onto this and is like, "Oh, yeah, sure. We're working with Alex. Alex and us: coworkers!" Like, he's hammering this home.

C: "We're super, super tight. My brother is gonna have a sex dream about her in future episodes!" [G laughs]

G: Noo! Yeah. And she says like, "I thought the case was closed. What's the deal?" And Sam and Dean says, "Oh, it's not actually closed, and we're still investigating it." And she mentions that Sheila saw like, the ship. And this starts a thing in the episode where she's like, really flirting it up with Sam. And by "flirting it up," I mean, like sexual harassment-

C: [overlapping] - sexually harassing him.

G: Yeah. Like, here it's like, "Oh, don't call me Mrs. Case. It's just Miss Case." Which is like, that's fine.

C: Yeah, that's fine.

G: It's forward, but it's fine. And then she starts caressing his fingers, which is weird.

C: Yeah. Yeah.

G: And then that's it for this scene, and we'll get more later.

C: Mm-hm.

G: I feel so bad for Sam.

C: Yeah, it's very sad. He's not having a good time this episode.

Oh, also, Alex- Specifically, Gert says that Alex thinks that it's a ghost ship, so-

G: Yeah.

C: So that's a hint that this Alex might be a hunter, but obviously, it's Bela, because yay, Bela!

-

C: Right, so Sam and Dean are outside, and so Dean's teasing Sam a bit about the Miss Case thing. I think in this scene, it's not entirely clear how Sam feels about her. Because, like, Dean's like, "Oh, haha! Like, you're saying she's not crazy because you're sticking up for your girlfriend, you cougar hound." And Sam seems alright with the teasing. He's like, "Bite me," and Dean's like, "Okay, not if she bites you first," and like, they seem to be laughing it off. But I guess it's just because she doesn't really seem like a threat to Sam quite yet. The finger caressing is not as bad as later things. So yeah, they wonder if Alex might be a hunter. And then Sam does a bit of a lore dump, where apparently, the ship is sighted every 37 years, and then a bunch of people drown on land, and they all see the ship out in the bay. Sam says that his next step is to figure out what boat it is, but there are apparently over 150 boats matching that description that got wrecked off this coast, so yeah. Not doing well. Also, sometime, during this, Dean uses the phrase, "you pucker up and kiss your ass goodbye," which I actually thought was kind of fun. [G laughs]

But they go to where the Impala was parked, and it is not there, and Dean starts freaking.

G: He's hyperventilating. [laughs]

C: He goes like, "Where's my car?? Somebody stole my car!!" He- yeah, no, he's bent over. He is hyperventilating. He's not doing well. It is a fairly humorous scene, but also like, if your house was your home, and also all you had left of your father who died, I understand why he is doing this. But it is very, very funny. Especially because, like, when he's being really angry, he's like, gesticulating a lot and sort of the tails of his suit coat are like, [G laughs] flapping around with his arm motions, so he just looks like a silly little penguin man.

G: Yeah. And he looks so short this episode.

C: He does. This entire episode.

Sam's like, going over and telling Dean to calm down. But like, he's being quite supportive about it, just like, patting him, going like, "Take it easy." So he's not really making fun of him, which, you know, I guess is rights for neurodivergent Winchesters and helping each other cope.

So we hear someone coming up, and it's Bela! It's Bela!

G: Whoo!

C: She looks so good this episode, you guys. She's wearing like, this leather jacket, but it's like, brown, but then like not like, regular leather jacket brown. It looks really good on her. You know, her earrings match her necklace, her eyes are shining, she is beautiful and radiant, and we love to see her.

So yeah, she's all like, "Oh, sorry, was that car yours? I had it towed." So real. So real. And both of them are like, very upset to see her here. And Sam realizes that Bela is Alex, and Bela reveals that what she's been doing is just like, basically scamming old women. [laughs]

G: [laughing] Yeah, but the way she said it-

C: Yes, is great. She says that she sells them charms and performs seances so that they can commune with their dead cats. And Dean says, “Oh, and it's like all a con, and none of it is real,” and she goes, “The comfort I provide them is very real.”

G: She's so real. She's so iconic.

C: She is so iconic. Like, I support women's rights, but, moreover, I support women’s wrongs, etc. God bless. Yeah.

Also, like, of the things that she could be doing with her skillset, like the fact that she's bothered- well, she- at least from- I think she's lying here. But the fact that in this universe, where she's telling the truth, she's bothering to, instead of like, selling things for millions of dollars, she's just going to old women and being like, "And Mr. Tuna says that he's having a great time in cat heaven!" [G laughs] is so fun to me.

G: I think she's telling the truth, because, like Miss Case doesn't- like, she actually believes her, and she says that Bela has brought her great comfort, and Bela- Like, at the end, they're like, obviously like, friends in a way. Like, they know each other. So I think she's telling the truth here that, like, she does scam these old women.

C: That's true, but I feel like that's like, her side quest, 'cause she's mostly here for the Hand of Glory.

G: Yeah. I'd like to believe that she does this for multiple old women.

C: Yeah. Yeah.

So Sam, at this very small crime, like, honestly, not even a big deal, goes, "How do you sleep at night?" Girl? I don't get it.

G: The thing is like, every single psychic in this universe, aside from like, Missouri, is the exact same way.

C: Yeah.

G: I think her crime is knowing that it's true, and yet not doing anything.

C: Right, like she could possibly actually commune with their dead cat, but she isn't bothering?

G: Yeah, perhaps? [C laughs]

C: Right. She does have her ouija board that she used to talk to the spirits who'd been killed by the rabbit's foot, so yeah, she could totally actually talk to these women's dead cats; she just isn't bothering to. So yeah, Bela has her iconic line of "On silk sheets, rolling naked in money." And she's surprised that Sam is judgmental because she only expected this from Dean. But Sam goes like, "You shot me!" [G laughs] And Bela goes like, "I barely grazed you!" She's so real.

G: I laughed out loud when he said, like, "You shot me!" because I didn't expect them to like, call back to the last episode she was in.

C: Yeah!

G: Like, you know, Supernatural episodes are so disjointed that any callback is like, takes me aback.

C: Mm-hm.

G: This was fun.

C: Yeah, yeah. I also wonder if there are more callbacks in this one because it's a guest writer. I feel like if you're a guest writer, you're like, "Oh, I have to do a good job, and I have to like, watch all the episodes and do my research." Meanwhile, if you're like Robert Singer, [G laughs] you're just like, "What the fuck ever." [laughs]

G: Maybe.

C: Yeah.

So they question her about the ghost ship thing, and she's just like, "Well, I'm mad at you for telling Gert that the case is still open, because now she wants actual answers instead of just paying me. So just stay away from me. Plus, like, your car- like, something bad is gonna happen if they find the one million guns you have in the trunk, so you should go get that." And she says, "ciao" to say goodbye, and she walks away. She is iconic, she is the moment, etc.

G: She's so fun.

C: And Dean goes, "Can I shoot her?" and Sam goes, "Not in public."

G: The thing is like-

C: Have they joked about killing real human people before, like ever in the show?

G: I don't think so. They're so mean to Bela! Like, maybe I'm biased because I like her [C laughs], but also like, maybe not. Have we considered that?

C: Maybe I'm bisexual because I like her? [both laugh]

G: Exactly. But like, they're so mean to her, and it upset me.

C: Right.

G: Even towards the end of the episode, she's like, "Yeah, I stole it." They were like, "This is the worst thing that you could ever done."

C: I know!

G: And it's like, calm down!

C: Calm down! There's like, murderers out there.

G: Yeah.

C: The disdain for her is definitely, completely disproportional from any like, metric of how bad of a person she is, or how dirty she's done any of them.

G: Yeah. And also like, how they react to previous people who are in this vein.

C: Yeah. Right.

G: Anyway.

C: Yeah, but I wonder- I feel like she's also being set up as a clear foil for Dean, so like, maybe this is like their shoddy attempt to just show conflict between a foil and Dean, and like, make it like about like, self-hatred. Because there's a lot of like, pointed lines about like-

G: Yeah, "We're the same."

C: "Takes one to know one," and like, "We have the same damage." Maybe they're trying to say like, they just hate on her so bad because she's like, Waluigi Dean.

G: Just like me for real, yeah. [laughing] "Waluigi Dean"! If anyone is Waluigi-

C: No, Dean is Waluigi.

G: Yeah, Dean is Waluigi.

C: Yeah.

-

G: So Sam and Dean arrive at this crime scene where Bela is like, posing as a reporter and trying to interview this one guy.

C: Uh, yeah, so we see his brother be killed like, right before this scene where he's near his bathtub, and then, like, someone comes out of the bathtub and drowns him.

G: Oh yeah! Somebody does come out of the bathtub. That was funny. [both laughing] I was watching-

C: A man just died, Grey! ...It was pretty funny.

G: [laughing] It was pretty funny. But yeah, Bela is interviewing, posing as a reporter, and she's like, [British accent] "I'm so sorry for your loss." [C laughs] You know how she is?

C: Yeah.

G: Sam and Dean come up and are like, "Hem-hem. I think you should leave the guy alone, Ms. Reporter. The guy's been through enough!" [C laughs] You know, they're being so mean, and they're shooting like, looks at each other. But Bela does concede, and she walks away, and Dean goes, "They're just like roaches, aren't they?" [both laugh] And Bela looks menacingly at him. And then Sam starts asking about the ship, and the guy starts describing the ship like, with full intensity.

Okay, you've seen the ship, right?

C: Yeah,

G: How would you describe the ship?

C: It was a boat [G laughs], but it had sails, so I guess it was a ship. That's how I would describe it.

G: It was a ship, and it had sails, and they're big. Potentially masts. Is that the term? I would say it had big masts.

C: Yeah, yeah, I think those are what the big wood sticks that hold up the sails are called.

G: Yeah, and it's a big ship. And that's all I would say. But this guy is like, "Here's some details. Old Yankee Clippers, smuggling vessel, rakish topsail, a barkentine rigging. Angel figurehead on the bow." And Sam was like, "That's way too much detail for a ship that your brother saw," and he's like, "Well, I saw it, too." And even then, I was like- [both laughing]

C: That's too much detail for a ship that you saw.

G: Exactly. I wish they were like, "I'm a bit of a boathead, you know. I love the ships."

C: Are you also currently trying to figure out how to make a joke about a ship with an angel on it that leads to the punchline "Destiel"? [G laughs] 'Cause I'm not coming up with the right sentence, but I would like to do that.

G: Well, the the fact that we kept on saying "ship" over and over again, it did cross my mind. But alas.

C: Alas.

G: You know, we're not professional podcasters.

C: That's true.

G: We're not doing advertisements. We don't- we're not funny enough.

C: But also, if anyone wants to sponsor us, like, hit us up. [laughs]

G: If somebody decides to sponsor us big-time, I will write down jokes before we record [both laughing] the podcast. I promise. I will be extra funny. And my chair will not be creaking all the time like it does.

C: Yeah. I won't yell at my roommate Evan in the background- [G laughing]

G: And I will cut it off when it happens, instead of leaving it in the recording. [both laughing]

So yeah. I mean, Sam and Dean are like, "Ooh, you saw the ship too? Alright. We'll keep in touch." And then it cuts to them loading up guns in the middle of the day, in the middle of the road-

C: Yup. Like, right next to where the cops were just then-

G: It's so funny because-!

C: -after them, because Bela was talking to them, points- talking about them and pointing at them and going like, "I don't think those are real FBI agents."

G: Yeah! What's the deal? What are they doing? But yeah, they're- And Bela starts saying like, "Oh-"

C: Yeah, she just shows up behind them, like, over their shoulders. It's a great shot. I like that she keeps showing up to bother them. Like, they're like the funny little stray cats that she found in her neighborhood, and she's coming over to take photos of them for Instagram and disrupt their mice hunting.

G: [laughs] Yeah. And she asks what they're still doing, and Sam and Dean are like, "The guy saw the ship. We have to save him." And Bela is of the opinion that it's not useful or worth it to try to save the guy because he's cannon fodder. He's dead anyway, so what's the point? And Sam and Dean are like, "You're such a heartless, soulless bitch." [C laughing] And she's-

C: Yeah, "I have a loaded gun right now. Why are you talking to us? We're gonna murder you literally in broad daylight for being slightly unsympathetic for two seconds."

G: Yeah. And Bela's like, "Well, it's better to just focus on figuring out what the boat is, and like, getting to the bottom of the situation, to the root of it."

C: And she's right.

G: Yeah, she's right, and the episode degrees that he's right because- spoiler! The guy dies.

C: [overlapping] - the guy dies anyway, yeah. But they never say Bela was right.

G: Yeah.

C: But she was.

G: Yeah, anyway, Dean was like- It's weird to me, because what she's saying makes sense, right? But Dean is so mad. Dean is so mad.

C: He's so mad! Is he just upset that she wasn't like, "It makes more sense to focus on the big picture. However, I will cry every day at the thought of this guy dying"? Like, is it just the fact that she doesn't feel bad that this guy is gonna die? Is that what he's so upset about? 'Cause like, I don't think that matters.

G: Yeah.

Anyway, before they go, Dean goes like, “How did you get like this? Did Daddy give you not enough hugs or something?" And Bela goes, "I don't know. Your dad give you enough? Don't you dare look down your nose at me. You're no better than I am."

C: Right, so Bela's background that we learn later is that her parents were- were they sexually abusive as well as like, physically and emotionally?

G: This is the one thing about Bela that I don't remember. Like, I remember the scene where they reveal it, but I don't remember the details because I think I was like, "Oh, this sucks! I'm not gonna think about this anymore." So I don't actually know. I don't remember.

C: Right. But yeah, like, I feel like in any situation where her parents were abusive, that is not a good line to-

G: Yeah, but it's intentional.

C: Yeah, it was on purpose, but yeah, especially if her father was sexually abusive, that would be rough.

G: Yeah, anyway, Bela continues on, and she says like, "You do this job for vengeance and obsession, and you're stone throw's away from being a serial killer."

C: So real.

G: She says, "I, on the other hand, have a job." Well [laughs], good for her. And also, "I do my job, and I get paid for it, and that's it. So I'm faring much healthier than you guys are."

C: Yeah.

G: And Sam is like, [snippily] "Why don't you just leave? We've got work to do." [C laughing] In that exact voice.

C: [laughs] Yeah.

G: And she says, "We'll, you're O for 2." And [laughing] it took me so long to understand what the fuck she was saying.

C: Yeah?

G: She was like, "Yeah, you're 0 for 2, so bang-up job so far." She's super fun.

C: She's so good.

G: This entire episode, she's super fun, and love her.

-

C: Sam and Dean they're parked outside this guy whose brother died's house. This guy's name is Peter, I guess, but I did not notice that the whole episode. So Sam's researching their backgrounds. Both brothers don't really have a criminal record. Six years ago, their dad died and they inherited $112 million. And yeah, Sam's wondering what the connection between them and Sheila is, and why the ghost went after them. And Peter notices that they are parked outside, and he is like, "Why are you guys here? Why are you watching me?" He says, "You guys aren't cops! Not dressed like that. Not in that crappy car." [laughs] So real. And Dean's like, "Whoa. No need to get nasty!" Yeah. So Sam says that, "Oh, we're just undercover! We think you're in danger! Let's just talk about it." And Peter is like, "No, get away from me," and he gets into his car and starts driving away. I guess we're supposed to realize later that he was acting- like, we're supposed to go, "Oh, he was acting weird because he thought that like people were after him for killing his dad," right? But I think that this is a normal reaction.

G: No, I don't think so. I think it's normal.

C: Okay, just the normal reaction, okay. So yeah, he he gets like five feet in the car, and then it breaks down, and- Sam and Dean, they're not that far away from him, right? Like-

G: Yeah. It took them so long-

C: It took him so long for them to run towards his car, which was like-

G: Have we considered that it's their fault that this guy's dead? [laughs]

C: Yeah, it's literally their fault that this guy's dead because they r- they like, slow-jogged over to the car, and by the time they got to the car, this ghost, who looks like a stereotypical pirate, I think, has choke-drowned him to death inside his car.

G: Yeah.

C: Woof

G: Whoops! Yeah, the effect is pretty good. The guys like, vomiting out the water.

C: Yeah, it does look pretty neat. I think the special effects this episode in general were quite good.

G: Eh, it's a hit or miss. I think the practical effects were good.

C: Yeah, yeah, that's true.

G: The other effects were like, a bit hit or miss.

C: Yeah. Though I mean, I honestly thought that the effects when at the end, when the ghost disappears, was like- I mean it was a lot better than most ghost disappearing effects, at least. [G laughs]

G: But you know how it is with ghosts disappearing. They're always bad.

C: Yeah.

G: My favorite one is still the one where she gets like, sucked up to Hell, and it looks exactly like the Castiel Empty one. I think that was like the first episode of the show, right?

C: Yeah, it was the Woman in White.

G: It was so funny. That was so funny.

C: It was.

G: Yeah.

-

G: The next scene, we have Sam and Dean like, in the car again. And Sam is moping, and Dean is like, "Okay, I'm gonna say it. You can't save everyone." And Sam is like, "Okay. Does that make you feel better, now that you said it?" And Dean is like, "No." And Sam goes, "Yeah, me, too. It just feels like I can't save anybody anymore." [laughing] It was something like that, and it's so corny!

C: It is very, very corny.

G: It's so corny!

C: I think some of it is like, Jared Padalecki's acting choices. 'Cause like, for the next three scenes or so, like, he's trying to show Sam being shaken up by this man's death-

G: [laughs] Yeah.

C: But like, he does that by just sort of having him look like, constipated but angry about it? [G laughs] Right, like, I think the makeup team sort of put some dark shadows under his eyes to like really bring home that he's upset, but like, he looks silly. He looks silly.

G: Yeah. So we are at this house that they're squatting in. And as they're sitting, Bela knocks, and she comes in, and she's like, "Wow, you guys are squatting for real? Charming." This is her only crime.

C: Yeah.

G: And she asks like, "What happened with the guy you were watching last night?" and they're like, completely quiet, and she goes, "That well, huh?" And Dean is like, very mad. Like, "If you say I told you so, I'll start swinging!" And Bela goes like, "Well, let's just have a heart-to-heart," and Dean goes, "If you even have a heart!" He's really going hard. [laughs]

C: Yeah, what's going on?

G: It's so funny because saying it consecutively the way we are really makes you realize like, how much they're doubling down on like, "Everything Bela says, I'm gonna rebut with  a snarky comment about how eeevil she is [C laughing], because she's an evil, evil woman."

C: Oh, god bless.

G: And basically, she says, "I've identified the ship, and it's the Espirito Santo." I love that. And there was a time when a sailor was accused of treason, and he was tried in a kangaroo court and hanged. I have a question.

C: Yeah?

G: What does kangaroo court mean?

C: This is a great question, and I'm gonna redirect that question to duckduckgo.com.

G: Like, I know what it means, but like, why it means? [laughs] You know what I mean?

C: [laughs] Yeah.

G: Like, why is it called kangaroo court?

C: Why called- yeah, maybe it has something to do with Australia.

G: Ohh.

C: Let's see. Oh, hm. Yeah, okay, I don't know. People just seem to say that they don't know, except it's probably just about how like the court is sort of slapdash, so it's like an animal in the wild, and also, another theory is that kangaroos are quick and unpredictable. Yeah, I don't.

G: I'm going with the Australia thing. I think that's more fun.

C: Yeah.

G: Yeah. And he was 37 when he died, which kind of explains the 37 year gaps between the deaths. Which is like, they've never done this before in Supernatural. Like, "He was 50 years old, so every 50 years, someone dies." [C laughs] Like, it's never like that, right? This is the very first one. So I thought it was fun that they- it was like funny. It was funny that they were like, "In this episode, it's gonna be 37 years because he's 37 years old!" [C laughs]

C: Yup.

G: And yeah, they like, showed pictures, and Sam recognizes that this was the guy who they saw the other day with the guy who died, and he was missing a hand. And the reason for that is the sailor's body was cremated. Which is fascinating, because they- don't they just toss that shit in the ocean?

C: Yeah, I thought they tossed them in the ocean. But I guess it'd be too hard for them to find the body from the ocean and burn it.

G: Yeah, you're right. That would stump the audience, so they didn't do it.

But before they did that, they cut off his hand first to make a Hand of Glory. [laughs]

C: Oh, oh. This is when I sent "I hate Supernatural so much it's unreal" in the Discord.

G: Why?

C: When Dean- at Dean's line?

G: Oh, okay. He says, "A Hand of Glory? I think I got one of those in the end of my Thai massage last week." [C sighs] Yeah. I mean, I completely forgot about that line. [laughs]

C: That's good. You probably live a better life than I do because you forgot about that line.

G: [laughs] Yeah. I will say-

C: Do we even have to unpack that? I don't even know if we have to unpack it.

G: Yeah, it's whatever. Yeah. I mean, it just is what it is. And by "is what it is," I mean it's a horrible thing. But like, okay. I think we talked about this in that- like a couple of episodes back, so.

C: Yeah, just go relisten to our "Tall Tales" episode. [G laughing] We will never talk about the topic of- the title of our show ever again because we already talked about it that one time.

G: [laughing] You have to have listened to every single episode of this show to understand every single episode of the show.

C: Yeah, that was a really important part of BABPod canon, and you should be ashamed if you haven't listened to that part. [G laughs]

G: Anyway, Sam reprimands Dean, and he's like, [broody voice] "Dean, this is a very serious occult object. It's very powerful." [C laughs]

C: We're being so mean to Sam in this episode! [G laughs] His line about how he can't save anybody wasn't like, the worst thing ever! [G laughs] I did like that like, that he says it by cutting Dean off mid-sentence which doesn't happen often in Supernatural because in TV shows, people say their full sentences, and then they respond to the full sentences. Like, that was a good move! But yeah, no, Sam is not getting too many points for this episode. [G laughing] Dean is getting negative points this episode, though, so like honestly, we should clown on Dean more.

G: Yeah. And anyway, the hand counts as remains, so they need to find it and burn it. And Bela knows where it is. It's in Sea Pines Museum. It's a macabre bit of maritime history. And she says-

C: Yeah. I'm surprised that Sam wouldn't have figured this out already if it was like, in a local museum. You'd think that'd be one of the first places you hit up for research.

G: Anyway, Bela says, "I need help," and Sam goes, "What kind of help?" And, dun-dun-dun!

-

C: We cut to the house, but later that night, and Bela is waiting downstairs, and she looks very good. She's wearing the like, black dress that every single-

G: I know.

C: - slightly evil or slightly hot woman on Supernatural wears, but like-

G: Like, Sarah wore this. Sarah wore this.

C: Yeah, Sarah wore this, I think like, half of the crossroads demons wore this. Tessa wore something quite similar. But Bela looks really good. Plus, she has like, a necklace that has just a lot of gems on it, and I like the shape of it. It looks very good with her collar line.

So Bela's yelling upwards to Dean, like, "Why are you taking so long?" Dean says, "I'm so not okay with this." And Bela says, "What are you, a woman?" [laughs] Okay, two things Bela has has done wrong this episode, I suppose.

Yeah. I think this is trans on trans violence where she's misgendering Dean on purpose. So yeah, she tells him to come down, and there's- there's like this music that plays when he comes downstairs, and the transcript says that this sounds like the James Bond theme tune, but you know, I've never engaged in that media, so I don't know how accurate that is. And it does like a pan up.

G: [laughing] Yeah, and he looks so bad!

C: And Bela's being like- Bela's like, basically like gagging herself with how much she wants to suck his dick, apparently. But he looks like shit. Like, we've already said this, but he looks so bad. He looks awful.

G: It's so funny. It's such a funny scene.

C: Yeah, I just- Right, like I'm assuming- Like, what do you think was going on? Like, they were like, "Well, I believe that women who are attracted to men are more attracted to them when they are in suits, so we're just gonna say that in a tuxedo, he is so so hot, even though he looks like shit"? Like- he looks like he's going to his high school prom.

G: How different is a tux from a suit?

C: I think there's like, more satin on it, but it's like, not that different. He has a bowtie instead of like, a hanging tie-

G: A tie tie, yeah. He should have worn a cravat. That's my take.

C: Yeah, yeah. Maybe if he'd worn a cravat, he would have been hot. I mean, I don't think he would have, but it would have been better

G: She says, "When this is over, we should really have angry sex." [laughs]

C: Dean's reaction to this is like- It's very long. It's like, ten whole seconds of him being like, "Hm, well- NO! Hm, well- NO!" [laughs] Right, he's just very uncomfortable, but clearly sort of into it, and then he says, "Don't objectify me." God.

Right, so I'm assuming- What is going on here is that the writer's making fun of feminism. Is that what's going on in that sentence? [G laughs] Like, it's a really funny sentence, but I do wonder what the motivation behind it is.

G: I don't think it's like, making fun of feminism.

C: Okay.

G: But I just think it's a funny line.

C: It is a really funny one. It's good. I appreciate it. So yeah, they go to the museum.

-

G: Bela and Dean walk in, and Bela is like, "Okay, you're chewing gum, which you shouldn't be doing. Also, can you just fucking act like you've been here before?" And Dean, you know, is upset at this, takes out his gum, and he sticks it under this thing. How you describe it?

C: It's like a silver bowl- the current transcript says that it's a flowing champagne fountain. It's a fancy event.

G: Yeah. And they're doing the whole- Oh my god, I just realized! I just realized they're doing a fake dating!

C: Yeah, they are!

G: Oh, I'm so happy.

C: Yeah.

G: Good for them!

C: Yeah.

G: Oh, earlier they mentioned that like Sam has a date, and the date is Miss Case.

C: Sam's not doing well.

G: Yeah, like Sam is there, and he's like, he's offered champagne, and he's like, "Remember, we're on business," and she's like, "Business can be pleasure, right?" It's so uncomfortable. I feel so bad for Sam!

C: Yeah.

G: And she's like touching him a lot. She's like sliding his her hand up and down his chest. And later, she grabs his ass.

C: Yeah, like multiple times.

G: Yeah. And when Sam notices them, when Sam notices Dean and Bela, he like, goes over to them and says, like, "How long am I supposed to entertain my date?" Which, like, okay, here's the thing. Why did he need to have a date?

C: I think they needed- well, just because Gert is like, rich, and she actually had invitations to this event.

G: Oh, so it's like he's the plus one.

C: Yeah.

G: But like, from the looks of it, Sam didn't need to be there.

C: Yeah, I mean, maybe she was- maybe she was like, "I'll like-"

G: Noo.

C: "I'll give you the invitations if like, this hot piece of ass goes as my date."

G: I feel bad for him.

C: Yeah, which is highly unfortunate.

G: Dean makes a joke like, "He's playing hard to get. Look at him, he's playing hard to get." And then he says, "I want the details in the morning," which is such an ugly thing to say.

C: Yeah, 'cause Sam says, "You know there are limits to what I'll do," so like, the joke is like, "I'm not gonna sleep with her for the case." Ugh.

G: Yeah. Anyway!

C: But I feel like the whole portrayal of her I think is like, built out of the idea that, like, it's laughable for older women to view themselves as sexual or want sex. Because, like, they're like, "This sexual harassment isn't serious because she's a harmless old woman, and it's just funny for her to think that anyone could be attracted to her."

G: "She has a chance," yeah.

C: Yeah, so right, it's not good, not a fan.

G: Yeah. And anyway, as Dean leaves- this scene is iconic.

C: Yeah.

G: Sam is handed champagne, and he takes it, and they cheers. And instead of sipping on it, like you usually do champagne, he throws it back.

C: Yeah. One swallow.

G: Drinks the whole grass. And I remember this scene only because of, and I mean only- because of the Profound Bond trailer. [both laugh]

C: Nooo!

G: Which is such an important piece of media.

C: I mean, this summer, a man afraid of flying and an angel afraid of falling are gonna fall in love, though. Well, "they're gonna meet in the middle" is the specific line. Ugh. Yeah. Fully understood. It's a good fake fan trailer.

G: Yeah. I mean, I think that was one of the very first fan-related things that I ever watched in my life.

C: Yeah, my first was the clicky AMV. Oh, for Supernatural. But you mean the first any fan thing.

G: Yeah.

C: Wow.

G: 'Cause what happened was like, I didn't have Tumblr, I didn't have Twitter, I didn't have any social media aside from YouTube, so like, I would go on YouTube and look up like, "clips of Castiel" or something [C laughing] and watch them. And then like, at some point-

C: "Videos where Castiel is my boyfriend and loves me so much"-

G: - "ASMR." [both laughing] And eventually, this showed up, the trailer showed up, and I watched it. And I was like, "That's super fun!"

C: Yeah.

G: So yeah, it's my first fan content.

C: Did you ship Destiel like, as soon as Cas showed up? What was your journey there?

G: That's interesting. I don't know. I don't remember well enough. But I think like immediately, I was- I remember feeling vindicated when I realized that many people ship them.

C: Yeah!

G: I do remember that. Because- so like, that implies- the vindication implies that I already shipped them prior.

C: Yeah.

G: And it was like a feeling of like, "Oh, everyone else sees what I'm seeing," but I don't remember. I don't remember well enough.

C: Yeah.

-

C: So we cut to Dean and Bela, and they're like, off to the side trying to figure out how to get upstairs where the Hand of Glory is being kept. The guards look very professional. They are apparently state troopers. And yeah, Bela's like, "What do you suggest for us to get upstairs?" Dean says, "I'm thinking," and she says, "Don't strain yourself." So real. And she says, "Interesting how the legend is so much more than the man." What channels do you think she heard about Sam and Dean through?

G: I don't know. I mean, they seem to be very famous everywhere.

C: Yeah but like, I mean, whenever they're famous, it just seems to be like, "Bobby was bragging about his kids at the bar yesterday." [G laughs]

G: Maybe she goes to hunter bars.

C: Yeah, maybe. So Dean's like, "Well, do you have any ideas?" And Bela goes, "Okay." And then she fake-faints in his arms, and she's so fun for this. She's so fun and right for this.

Yeah, so Dean does his whole fake dating thing where he's like, "Honey, are you all right?" Like waiter, like my wife-

G: It's so funny!

C: It's so good. He's like, "Waiter, come over here. My wife has a severe shellfish allergy. There's no crab in that, is there?" And the waiter says no, and Dean says, "No?" and then he takes one and eats it, and he says, "They're excellent, by the way." So good.

G: He's so funny. Also, like, the concept that this woman faints in the middle of an event, and nobody comes to help? Like, they're all like, "Mm... okay." I respect that.

C: Yeah.

G: Mind your own business. [both laugh]

C: Does Dean have a shellfish allergy?

G: No.

C: Okay, yeah, because I-

G: Oh, the implication being that-

C: He's like, "Oh, my wife has a shellfish allergy, so is there shellfish in that? No? Okay." And then he eats it. Yeah, like I was like- I mean, I think the implication is that he's looking for like, a reason that Bela fainted, and then, when it fails, [laughing] he just eats the food that's in front of him. But I also like the idea that he just literally called the waiter over because he wanted to eat the food and just asked about the allergies.

G: Checks, yeah.

C: So a guard comes over, and Dean's like, "Oh, you know, my wife is a lightweight when it comes to champagne, so, you know, she just randomly fainted in the middle of an event," which is how people react to drinking too much. And then he asks if there's somewhere that he can lay her down so that she can feel better, and the guard takes him upstairs. And Dean- Yeah, Dean picks Bela up and carries her.

G: Yeah.

C: They should have had angry sex.

G: Yeah. Anyway, they end up in a room, and he like-

C: I know. I know.

G: - literally plops Bela down so hard on the couch.

C: And he says the rudest fucking thing.

G: Yeah, he said, "You think he's a pain in the ass now? Try living with her."

C: Imagine you're at an event, and a man's wife faints, and this is what he says over her unconscious body.

G: I mean, to be fair, the guard thinks that she's fucking someone else while this-

C: Oh, yeah, later. Yeah, no. I think the guard is thinking, "Good for her," right? [G laughs]

G: Yeah. Anyway, as the guard gets out, Bela "wakes up," in quotation marks. And Dean says, "Next time, give me a little heads up with your plan," and Bela goes like, "I didn't want you thinking about it. You're not very good at that." I love her!

C: So real, so true. She's so funny.

G: Dean is like standing there glaring at her, and she goes, "Oh, look at you. Trying to think of a witty thing to say." And Dean is like, [both] "Screw you." "And then Bela, you know, says like, "Oh, the thing is in Room 235. It's in a locked glass case wired for alarm. I'm sure that won't be a problem?" Which, like, for a bit I was like, "Oh, they're gonna do a thing where Dean gets caught or something, and like, Bela has to save him or whatever, because it's a wired glass case." But no, he just gets it instantaneously.

C: Yep. He just gets it.

-

C: So we cut to downstairs, where poor Sam is there, and he's dancing with Miss Case, and Sam is not having a good time. That's about it. There's like, no actual point to the scene in any way besides "Isn't sexual harassment funny."

So Dean gets the Hand of Glory out of the case, no problem. And then [G laughs] a guard knocks on the door where Bela is at, and he's like, "Is everything okay?" So like Bela, like she, like sort of like, takes one of her dress straps down so that she can like, pretend that she's like, mid-fuck, and she opens the door-

G: Yeah, and she smudges her lipstick. It's super fun.

C: Yeah, yeah. It's very fun of her. She's like, "Oh my god, yeah, hi. I'm feeling better, but I'm not exactly done with room yet...can we have a few more minutes?" He leaves, and then Bela starts making fake like, giggling sounds that I guess are just like, her version of sex sounds? Apparently she says, "Stop it! That tickles!"

G: Yeah.

C: Who's doing this? Yeah, I mean, I'm glad that she isn't fake moaning because, like, yeah, you wouldn't get back to fake moaning that fast after a guard shows up. [G laughs] So yeah, good for her. She's doing the build up, she's like, simulating the foreplay. And the guard walks around the corner, and he bumps right into Dean! And Dean's like, "Oh, yeah, sorry, I was like in the bathroom. But thanks for looking after my wife!" And the guard goes, "Oh, she's being looked after, alright." [laughs] God. This is so funny. I did like this part a lot.

Dean shows Bela that he got the hand, and she asks to take it because it would fit in her purse better, and Dean's like, "Uh, fuck no," and puts it in his pocket. Bela says she's trying to be helpful. Dean says, like incredibly condescendingly, like, "Well, sweetheart. I don't need your kind of help." What- I mean, I guess, like, I guess by now, probably this whole time he has suspected- Well, okay, see, like, I feel like we all know that she is not here to save people, she's here for this artifact. But Sam and Dean seem genuinely surprised and upset when they're like, [whiny] "And this whole time, you were just manipulating us to get into the event?" So why is he being so rude?

G: Well, I mean, I think it's like he's more angry at the fact she was able to steal than, you know, the actual stealing.

C: Mm. Okay. So you think that he does know that this is just what she's after already?

G: Yeah, yeah yeah.

C: Okay. That tracks.

G: Yeah, anyway, back downstairs, Gert and Sam are still dancing, and she's still doing the thing, groping him, blah blah blah. But she starts talking about the Warren brothers, and like, how they got it coming in the Biblical sense, and Sam's like, "Oh, what's that supposed to mean?" And apparently the father was like- Dad was killed by the boys.

C: Yeah.

G: And Sam asks if Sheila had any connection to them, and she says, "No, none of that." But she had a tragedy in her life, where when she was a teenager, she got into a car accident, and her cousin died in it.

C: Right, this was so unclear. So like, Sheila. Okay, first of all, who intentionally kills their cousin? What has a cousin ever done to warrant killing?

G: No, I think it's like- It's not intentional.

C: Okay, that makes sense. Just, she was driving the car badly.

G: Yeah.

C: Well, if it could have been an accident, then why are Sam and Dean immediately so judgmental of Bela when she says she's seen the ship? Like, that implies that it had to be like, on-purpose murder, right?

G: Yeah. No. I think they're just judgmental.

C: Okay, yeah, they're just mean. Because I was trying to figure out the mechanics of murder via car accident where you're also in the car, and I don't think that's- I think that's way too risky.

G: [laughs] Yeah.

Anyway, Bela and Dean arrive, and Bela starts talking to Gert, and Gert is like, "He wants me." And Bela is like, "Okay, let's take you home now." And Sam and Dean head to the car. Oh, before that, like, Dean tells Sam, "You stink like sex." Which, again, the episode is trying to be funny.

C: Yeah. Sam asks about the hand. He calls Miss Case "Mrs. Havisham," who is a character in Great Expectations who got left at the altar and then wore her wedding dress for the rest of her life. So yeah, I think it's just like, "old woman who thinks she has a chance, but is just obsessed with the idea of getting a man or something." Whatever. Yeah, and Dean's like, "Yeah, I totally got this hand." And he takes the handkerchief that he had the hand wrapped in out of his pocket. He unwraps it, and it's like a ship in a bottle. It is not the hand. And he goes, "I'm gonna kill her."

Meanwhile, in Bela's car she is looking at a box with like, millions of dollars in it, and she flips through the money. She looks great, she is doing so well, and then she looks out in the distance, and she goes, "Oh, no." And the ship is there.

-

G: She goes into Sam and Dean's room, and Dean is talking about like, "I'm not gonna kill her. I think I'm just gonna slow torture her." And [laughs] yeah. They're like, just super upset that Bela, as they said, "got one over us" [C laughs], which Sam corrects as "No no no. She got one over you. She didn't get one over me." [C laughing] And Dean is like, "Oh my fucking god, Sam." And a knock comes, and it's Bela.

C: Yeah.

G: And it's very urgent-

C: Yeah, I do appreciate that in the two episodes that she's in, it's like "cringefail thief is unable to complete her thievery due to the cursed object cursing her." It is fun. I like when women are a little bit pathetic.

G: She explains what happened, which is that she sold the thing, and of course Sam and Dean are mad, and she's like, "The whole reason for the charity ball was, yeah, a cover?" Blah blah blah, and "You guys were convenient." Yeah. And Sam was like, "Just go buy it back then," and Bela says like, it's already halfway across the ocean, we don't have the time. And they're like, "Time for what?" and she reveals that she did saw the ship. And Dean is like [C groans] "Oh, wow. I thought you were just a thieving, immoral person."

C: He says, "immoral, thieving, con artist bitch."

G: Oh my god.

C: Yeah.

G: And then he's like, "Just when I thought that you couldn't get any lower than this?" And Bela is like, "What are you talking about?" And they saw what's happening, which is that people who kill family members are the target of the thing because the guy who was tried for treason and killed, his brother was the captain who tried him and ordered his execution. So yeah, they were brothers! Cain and Abel.

C: Yeah, he literally references Cain and Abel. God bless. I liked-

G: Yeah, and Dean is like, "So who is it, Bela? Who'd you kill? Was it Daddy? Was it your little sister?" He's so annoying.

C: He's so fucking annoying, especially when-

G: I mean, hasn't he learned? Hasn't he learned? Because, like, this also happened that one time he was like, "Why did you sell your fucking soul? Was it to be a selfish cunt to marry your wife?" Blah blah blah.

C: Yeah.

G: "For her to like you?" And then the guys like, "No. She had cancer, and I wanted her to live."

C: Yeah.

G: And Dean was like, "[gasps]." I mean like, haven't you learned from that, Dean, that people are not as evil as you think they are?

C: Dean has never learned anything ever in his entire life.

G: It's so annoying.

C: I did like- 'cause, okay, like, earlier in the episode, when the three of them were working together on the case, Sam's being like, "Well, we need to figure out the ghost's motivation. We need to figure out the ghost's backstory," and Bela was like, "Oh, I know his backstory. It's who fucking cares. Let's just go and get the hand." So I like that it's like, both of them, like, both groups of people on this case fucked up at points. Like, Sam and Dean fucked up by not looking at the bigger picture and being focused on saving that one guy that they couldn't save. Bela fucked up by not like, looking at the backstory of the ghost and just focusing on the profit motive. So like, my point is that they should all- that she should join Team Free Will, and they should all work together all the time and they should stop being mean to her. But, you know, it's not going to happen.

G: Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, Bela says, "It's none of your business." And she kept saying that nobody understands. Nobody understood back then, nobody understands now. And they try to leave her-

C: To die.

G: And she's like, "You can't just leave me!" And Dean is like, "Oh, I thought we were serial killers." He's so annoying. I'm so sorry. I know this is like quite- I mean, is it a reasonable response?

C: I would find this more reasonable if what he called back to was her saying, "Oh, that one guy is cannon fodder anyway, so you should just focus on getting the hand."

G: Yeah.

C: Like, if they're like, "Okay, well if you think that all these collateral deaths don't matter, then, we'll just leave you and get the hand." But like, I think like, you've had multiple conversations with this woman. Does your fake dating mean nothing to you?

G: Also, it makes his anger at her so personal instead of what he's trying to insist, which is that it's a moral thing.

C: Yeah, exactly.

G: Like, suddenly, it's not a moral thing. It's just that she said something mean to you about you.

C: Yeah. Yeah. I guess like- well, I guess he was more like, "Oh, like I thought you thought that like, hunting and hunters were cringe and fail, so why are you asking for help in the way that we provide help?" But yeah, it's fucking annoying.

G: Mm-hm. Anyway, Sam figures out the way that they can save her life. [spooky voice] Dun-dun-dunnn!

C: Yeah.

G: Wow, this is a variation of our typical dun-dun.

C: It is a variation. Fun.

G: A remix, if you will.

C: Right. Also, like, Bela like, literally apologizes, right? She says like, "That was a bit harsh."

G: Yeah.

C: "But it doesn't warrant a death sentence." And she's just- I like her very much. I don't even think she needed to apologize for that, but she did. And also like, before Sam offers to help, like, she's about to head out. She goes like, "I'll just do what I've always done. I'll deal with it myself." And, I don't know, that coupled with like, "You wouldn't understand. No one understood, even back then" makes me sad because it's like, that implies like she had like friends and stuff when she was like, a child, and she tried to open up to one of them about her parents' abuse and how she killed them, and they were just like, "Ew, get away from me," you know? Ugh. Oh, Bela. You will always be famous, and I'm gonna miss you after this season ends.

-

C: So they're in a graveyard, and Sam's setting some stuff up. There's like a pentagram, and like candles and shit. And Bela's afraid. And like, this sudden rainstorm starts happening so that Bela is wet and pathetic, as all women ought to be sometimes. And Sam starts reading Latin, and the second word that he says is Castiel!!

G: Whoo!

C: It's Cas. It's Cas. He's here. That's my boy. He's literally right here.

God, yeah. So he does this whole incantation. It's raining really hard, there's a lot of wind. And the ghost sailor appears and just throws Dean in the air, and then he starts drowning Bela by putting a hand on her face, and she starts coughing up water. And yeah, the ghost does not go after Sam at all, even though Sam is the one who is doing the incantation that might defeat him.

So what Sam has done is apparently summoned the spirit of the ghost's brother. Are we assuming this incantation- they're in the graveyard, so is he like, raising this brother from his grave?

G: Yeah, I guess so.

C: You can just do that? Like, with anyone?

G: [laughs] I don't fucking know, bro.

C: Like, do they ever do this again?

G: I don't think so.

C: I just- this just seems like a useful thing. Like, you can summon literally anyone from the dead, even if they didn't die as- I mean, maybe the brother is still a ghost, but like sort of like, I feel like we would have seen him around if he was a ghost earlier, too, right? Like, I feel like he wasn't a ghost. So like, he was in Heaven or Hell, and Sam yoinked him out?

G: Yeah,

C: I- if Sam can do this, like-

G: He can do anything.

C: Why do they even bother with the cases? Why doesn't he do the Ace Attorney thing [G laughs] where he just communes with the dead and asks what killed you?

G: Yeah, well, according to Ace Attorney, that doesn't really work too well, so.

C: Fair. Yeah, Sam was like, "I know this neat new trick, and I'm gonna use it." And then he played all of Ace Attorney so that he could be better friends with you, and then he was like [G laughing], "I guess I'm not gonna use this trick anymore."

G: Exactly.

C: Yeah. So the brother, he shows up, and he looks like a regular guy, cause like, the original ghost, he has like straggly hair, and he's like wet and rain-soaked and drowned, but this other guy looks like he works in an office and has like a 401k. [G laughs] So he shows up, and the ghost is like, "You killed me!" and the brother's like "I'm so sorry! I'm sowwy! Sowwy about that!"

G: "Sowwy!"

C: "Sowwy!" And then original ghost charges into his brother and sort of like, as soon as he hits him, like the place where he hits him becomes like a water splash, and as he goes through him, they both like, dissolve in water. And I don't know, I thought that was kind of neat because I feel like ghosts usually die by a fire, and it looks silly. And this looked better than the fire, at least. And Bela's okay now. Yay!

G: Yay!

-

G: So we go to- back to the room where Sam and Dean are squatting. And Bela comes in, and she's like, "You guys should lock your door." And then she throws money at them. So a whole wad of cash. Apparently it's-

C: Yeah, $10,000.

G: You think it's for both of them?

C: I think it's $10,000 each.

G: Damn. Yeah, and Dean is like, "Wow." Well, she says first that- Bela says that she's paying them because she doesn't like owing people things, so that about covers it, right? And Dean is like, "Wow! You'd rather pay ten grand than to say thank you. You're so damaged." And Bela goes, "Takes one to know one!" [laughs]

C: Yeah.

G: I love them. Anyway, she says "Goodbye, lads," which I love.

C: Mm-hm.

G: And Sam goes, "She got style. You gotta give her that." [laughing]

C: So true!

G: Why do I keep voicing Sam like this? I'm so mean. [C laughs]

And Sam says, like, "We don't know where this money's been, though." And Dean says, "No, but I know where it's going." Then they go to the car. What's Atlantic City mean?

C: It's like somewhere- is it in New Jersey?

G: I think it's like, I think it's in the South, right?

C: I think it's East Coast Las Vegas or something, or maybe South- it's in New Jersey. Atlanta is in Georgia, and that is in the South, not Atlantic City. Okay, so it's a resort city in New Jersey. So I think it's-

G: Are you sure?

C: Atlantic City? Yeah, I'm sure. So there's a lot of casinos there.

G: I think I'm thinking of Atlanta?

C: Yeah, you're thinking of Atlanta.

G: Yeah, anyway, they're gonna go to a casino. And Dean goes, "Actually, I just want to tell you that I understand why you're doing the thing with the crossroads. I understand why you went after her. If the situation was reversed, I would have done the same thing."

C: He literally did do the same thing. That's what got them in this situation.

G: Yeah. And he says, "I see what you're going through with this whole deal. Me going away and all that. But you're gonna be okay." And Sam is like, "Oh, you think so?" Like, rather, you know, out of life. And Dean is like, "Yeah! You'll be fine. You'll hunt, you'll, you know, you'll live your life. You're stronger than me." And then he goes like, "You'll get over it. But I want you to know that I'm sorry for putting you through all of this shit."

C: Yeah. Which is his like, first actual apology for this, right?

G: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sam is like, "Go fuck yourself. This is such a terrible-ass apology. And besides, I don't want an apology from you, and I can take care of myself." The point he's making is like, "I know I'm gonna be fine. That's not the point. The point is like, you keep on worrying about me, and that's what led us here in the first place."

C: Yeah.

G: And he says, like, "I don't want you to worry about me. I want you to worry about you. I want you to give a crap that you're dying." And that's pretty much the end of the episode. They have like, a little banter where Dean is like, "I'll just play their craps or something. I'll just play like, Russian roulette." No, like, he says, "I'll just go to the casino" or something.

C: Yeah, well he says, "I'll play craps," which is a casino game, which I think is his response to Sam saying, "Give a crap that you're dying." Dean's like, "I don't give a crap that I'm dying, but I'll play the game of craps." I don't think it counts as banter if Sam is like, glaring straight ahead the entire time. [both laughs

G: That's just what banter with me is like. Haven't you heard?

C: "Oh, so you play D&D?" [both laughing]

Yeah. Yeah. So that's the end of the episode. I did like this last scene.

G: I liked pretty much- I liked a lot of the episode.

C: Yeah. I also liked a lot of the episode. There were moments that I did not like at all, but yeah, overall, I think Bela is such a good character, she adds so much to their dynamic, by being- Can you imagine how fucking boring this episode would be if it was just Sam and Dean?

G: Oh, it would be unbearable.

C: And it's just like, "Oh, there's a ship, and there's a ghost guy on the ship." Like, who give a single shit?

G: [laughs] Yeah. What's your best line?

C: Oh, shit. Um... I mean, I like a lot of the ending scene, I guess.

G: I would say I like the line about like, "Your daddy gave you enough hugs?" and Bela replies, "What, your daddy didn't?" I think that's like, you know, it's foreshadowing. Also, it's like, you know, that kind of banter shows you that Bela does see through Dean, and like, she can see what he's like, and that kind of acknowledgment of like, knowing who you're talking to from- I know it's not gonna lead to anywhere, but it provides this feeling of "they understand each other." And that's fun!

C: It is fun. Yeah. I guess I'll just go with the like, "I don't want you to worry about me, Dean. I want you to worry about you. I want you to give a crap that you're dying" thing. Because-

G: Yeah.

C: I feel like this scene's the first time either of them are like, fully voicing a lot of the tensions that-

G: What they're feeling, yeah.

C: Yeah, have been going on throughout season three, and, I don't know. It's a good time.

G: My worst line is the Thai massage line.

C: Yeah, that is also my worst line. I did have to pause the episode for a few minutes.

Misogyny... there was misogyny. Racism, there was one moment of racism. I'd say...

G: I think, let's do one point for racism.

C: Yeah, I think misogyny, maybe 2?

G: Yeah.

C: Yeah, like Gert's whole thing, not a fan.

G: Yeah, Gert's whole characterization, and also, they're just extra mean to Bela, I feel.

C: They're so mean to Bela.

G: Like, if this was a guy, I feel like there would be like a little more like, "Oh, we respect him for what he is." You know what I mean? Like, maybe I'm wrong, but that's the vibe.

C: Yeah, I like that is probably the vibe. But yeah, I don't know. What are- are there a lot of evil men that we've met?

G: Gordon.

C: That's true, that's true. I mean, they are worse to Gordon than they are to Bela. At least they don't tie Bela up and leave her in her own piss for like, a week. But I do think- I think a white man would probably be treated a lot better than Bela is.

G: Okay, IMDb rating. What's our rating for this ep?

C: Huh! Like, I like it, but I know that Bela was controversial, like her presence in the show was controversial way back then. So it's hard to know how it's gonna shake out, so I'm gonna just go with like a 8.5?

G: You know what? I'm gonna go a bit higher than you.

C: Okay.

G: I'll say 8.7.

C: Alright.

G: Okay, let's check.

Holy shit!

C: What?

G: 8.0.

C: Oh, no! Really? They hate Bela that much?

G: Devastating.

C: It's not a bad episode! Like, there are moments, but like, overall, I had a fun time. I know we opened this episode being very, very negative about this episode, but now I'm very upset. Ugh, okay, let's see what people are saying-

G: Wait lang.

C: Yeah?

G: Apparently, Eric Kripke apologized for this episode in “Monster at the End of this Book,” because it's bad.

C: Wait, why? What did he say about it?

G: I don't know! [C sighs] This one can't stand Bela.

C: Ugh, boo.

Sorry, this first review said "the worthless but sexy Bela Talbot." [G laughs] Sorry, what? And they also call her "the despicable Bela." What? Who are you? Who talks like this?

G: This one says, "I can't stand her. Her character annoys me like hell, so much so I have almost a problem watching the scenes she's in. I like Jo, because, although she's a bit of a stereotype, the actress was able to fill that character with some sort of life. Bela doesn't seem like a real person, rather like some kind of force. She's the perfect example for the current problem on the show, a total lack of heart."

C: Okay? I- I mean, maybe we are attributing more depth to her than she has been shown so far in season 3-

G: Yeah, because we know her.

C: - because we know about her backstory and about the demon deal.

G: But this is a retrospective show.

C: Yeah. And the hints for these things like, have been dropped throughout. Like, "We're all going to Hell, so like, just have fun with the ride," and like her- clearly, like, they're setting something up with the death of her family member, so like, I don't think she completely lacks heart. And I think it's clear that she's putting on an act when she's acting like not a real person because we see her at more vulnerable places in this episode, so I don't get it!

G: Yeah.

C: At least this person said that "Just watched it and was taken with Bela. She will add much to the series." So true, you're right.

G: You're so real.

C: I respect no one but you.

G: Okay, so that's it for this episode of Busty Asian Beauties. Next week, we will be discussing Season 3 Episode 7: “Fresh Blood.” [laughs]

C: Oh, no, do we have to? [G laughing] What if we didn't?

G: Leave us a rating or- Well, Sera Gamble is at it again. 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 leave us any feedback, comments, or inquiries at

[email protected]. See you guys next time! [both] Bye!

[guitar music]

-

G: Okay, what I'm going to say is- like, the first part of this sentence made me laugh, like the "Hand of Glory" part because, I'm going to cut this out-

C: Okay.

G: I've been reading DGS fanfiction, and as you know, DGS is set in the Meiji era/Victorian era, and apparently, during that time, it's a common time to "bring someone to their glory" [C laughs], which means to make someone come, which I think is so fun, and I'll start using that.

C: It is. So real.

G: We better start bringing that back.

C: Yeah, I agree. No, I think that's still a thing. People call- like, I think- Never mind, I read that in Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle fanfiction, let's move on with our lives. [both laughing]

G: [laughing] What is it? What is it? What is it?

What is it?

C: What?

G: What is it?

C: Oh, I think "afternoon glory" and "morning glory" were phrases they used to refer to morning sex and afternoon sex.

G: Yeah, I think that's just how it is during that time period.

C: Yeah.

G: When was ACD Sh- ACD Holmes written? I keep saying "Sholmes" because I'm so used to Ace Attorney.

C: Yeah, huh. Let me check when The Scarlet- or, wait, sorry.

G: Study in Scarlet.

C: Yeah, Study in Scarlet was published.

G: Oh my god!

C: What?

G: I need you to play DGS! [both laugh] I need someone to play DGS!

C: It was published in 1887.

G: Ah, okay, got it. So yeah, that's- it's set around that time.

Anyway...

C: Anyway...

[beep]

G: [laughing] What are- I'm so sorry. My iPad notified me about a Tweet of mine that someone liked, and the Tweet reads, "I need a bisexual man {Shi-Long Lang) in my life (pussy)." [C scream-laughing] What's going on?! [both scream]

C: You should keep that in. [both laughing] God.

G: I'm gonna put it at the end of the episode.

#transcript

[neonapocalypta]

First Impressions on Takeshi Shudo's Radio City Fantasy

NOTE: This one's another repost from my old twit account (Originally posted March 20th 2022.) I edited anything that didn't need to be here and spelling stuff. I also reworded the beginning bc this was more a live tweeting thing and would make no sense in this context. Of course, things I say could change in the future, espesh w/ a re-watch. This is more of scattered thoughts than anything. One day I'd like to talk more about this one.

----

Radio City Fantasy is Shudo's most trippy anime and one of his most... down to Earth at the same time. I know how that sounds. It's more visual than story, tho I think I need another watch before trying to recap it properly. The basic plot is about this dude and a chick who meet and fall in love and go on dates. It's that vanilla. Surprisingly, they're very cute together.

I'm not sure why cause I don't speak Japanese, but there's these dudes are following the chick around. Like they're cops or part of a gang or something. So she has to keep running from them during their dates. Also the middle to the end of the OVA becomes a drug trip.

It's wayyy different from his other work in most respects, but its really good. If you like psychedelic stuff, weird one shot 80s OVAs, or more artsy films, I'd recommend seeking it out.

It feels more like a student art film maybe? It's a different vibe from a lot of his other stuff (that I've seen.) Though, it's not like it's completely a unique outlier in his catalog. (And do remember I haven't gone though all of it. Yet. Or sadly maybe ever...)

I think the main difference is that shit doesn't go to TEN like with the Ken episode of Momo or even the first ep of Pokemon. Instead, it takes a slower approach and dispenses its TEN though calm exoteric visuals instead of escalating problems with fire and bloodthirsty birds.

I'd love to know other people's theories on this one. What I got out of it was.... *SPOLIERS* Is that she died and was reincarnated. Died literally or just her past self idk.

I feel like there's a few things I can't parse cuz of the language barrier, but most of it is because it's so abstract. I feel I'll be watching it several times from here on out.

The most typical Shudo writing comes from the main woman. (I don't remember if the main characters even got names.) She's great. But when it comes to "Shudoisms" I want to watch more of his stuff before making a definitive list.

One thing I'm slowly realizing is that Gary Motherfuckin' Oak might be the most "Shudoism" character he's ever created. I see so much little stuff Gary did that's featured in so many other Shudo works. Though this is a developing theory, so take it with like 15 trucks of salt. It could also just be coincidence and I'm thinking too deep. But it just keeps happening lmao.

As I'm thinking about it, with the small frame of reference I have, the vibe of this story reminds me of the somber moments in the Filena anime. Like when Filena and Lila are just chillin'. (And there's some more abstract visuals tho nothin' like RCF.)

One thing I've learned about Shudo's work is I like a lot of the couples he creates. Considering a big theme for his version of Pokemon is that no one has a happy family, cute couples is something I never expected from his work. He's a diverse writer to say for sure.

Also, CW for attempted sexual assault in RCF. It's not graphic or goes that far. You'll figure out when its about to happen. I was warned by the RCF T.V. tropes pages, so I think its fair to mention it. It shouldn't deter you from watching it, but be kind to yourself if need be.

#Takeshi Shudo #OVA #Radio City Fantasy #anime

[sothischickshe]

I have so much shit I have to do tomo morning 😭😭😭 pls no batshit plot twists that make my head explode pls pls pls I beg 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏📀📀📀📀

#This is mostly abt gg but it's not not abt rl too haha 😬 #(my Friday night got WEIRD man) #But like my insane plot twist spidy sense is TINGLING 😱 #Maybe i shouldn't watch the ep before work ha