#might give 1.21 a try

[beholdersprites]

*eyes new textures in the recent snapshot*

Maybe...

#they're doing new stuff to 1.17 materials #kinda wish they had debuted with these but it's still welcome #haven't played much past 1.16.5; kinda made my home there mods-wise #might give 1.21 a try

[kozykricket]

Now that we have music and a name for 1.21, I'll give some of my thoughts ... on 1.21 as it is. That is to say, I'll withdraw any comments about "they... didn't update this unrelated thing :/" because like... yes, theres many other things that I think they could've updated, and I do hope they get to stuff thats on the backburner/backlog soon, but I respect 1.21 heavily for its lovely, wonderful additions LONG READ AHEAD!!

Tricky Trials feels like it … didn’t overscope, and thus was able to accomplish confidently what it had set out to do: To add more fun to Minecraft. Yes, there are of course still issues in Minecraft, and many things on the backlog / stuck in the ideas box, but… when you just look at 1.21 for what it DOES and not for what it DOESNT do? You get a 9/10 update, I’d say.

By focusing on the trial chambers, they’ve really created a special experience. A more refined dungeon than any other. I want to talk about… why I love trial spawners. 

So, I’ve thought frequently of adding my own dungeons to minecraft, but a struggle I always came to was… If I want the player to have several rooms with encounters of enemies, how will I do that elegantly? If its rooms with spawners, they’ll just be overwhelmed forever in each room until they light it up… and they’ll be able to farm a single room for mob loot, if they so please. They’d also be able to just… completely farm the heck out of every single spawner constantly working, like you can do with battle towers in modded minecraft. I think that feels a bit too cheap. But what if you go the nether fortress route, and just have mobs spawn in the structure? Well, thats … random. Its based on the mobcap, which is unpredictable especially in multiplayer. There won’t be a consistent difficulty to the dungeon… which leaves the bastion route: Designated single time enemy spawns. It’d probably be the best, but… it also leaves the enemies to wander around while the player is in nearby rooms. What if I only want them to spawn in when the player gets near? That’s… exactly what the trial spawner is. It goes on a long cooldown, so it might as well be a single time spawner. You get into a single encounter with a wave of mobs when it gains line of sight with you, and this allows for there to be plenty of them in the chambers without it being overpowered to farm or overwhelming if not lit up. The per player loot via vaults is also fantastic. It lets players who are “late to the server / structure” have a chance at getting their own loot, and even still enjoying themselves with trial spawners resetting their cooldowns. An example of why trial spawners help the experience for players coming to structures late, is… even if we had once-per-player loot in say, bastions, there’d still be… no piglins left guarding the treasure. No fun experience, just purely the loot. But with trial spawners AND vaults? You get the full experience… minus any destruction your friends may have caused to the structure, and a few chests or so. But the chests are mostly just supplies like wood as far as I’ve seen.

And then, to add on top of that, the ominous events system lets us experience the same structure AGAIN but in a HARDER mode that lets us access more cool and powerful loot in the ominous vaults… its brilliant!

But lets get back to 1.21 being Fun: I think the breeze, mace, and wind charges are perfect examples of just purely fun content. The Mace feels a tad unbalanced at times, but its also just… fun? Like, yeah, it could stand to pierce armor less, or do less single target damage, but in terms of flying with wind burst and wind charges? Thats just FUN. When was the last time we got a fun utility consumable? Ender pearls? They aren’t even that fun, its just teleporting. Movement in games is very, very fun. Wind charges stopping your fall damage to some extent feels like they’re welcoming you into giving them a try. This combined with the open chambers of the titular structure, and the overall adventure-map like design leads to … more fun!

I really respect how the ominous trials throwing potions to make encounters tougher is done, because it feels so much like a thing you’d see done in some adventure map. A lot of the trial chambers feels very in touch with what a player might make as a map or challenge for their friends. Which, I think does sort of take away from player-built structures and challenges, but luckily they kept all of the redstoning extremely simplistic, relying on breezes to activate the dispensers. It feels hard to critique such a fun dungeon just because “it feels really well made, like it was actually made by a real person with intent” because… well, we can have a little bit of fun, can’t we? Sure, if every structure was like this, I’d have some concerns for the sandbox elements of minecraft, but having one structure in the game that embodies what the end product of creation can look like? I think that works out well. Might even inspire some people!

And theres a certain jankiness of using in game mechanics like dispensers and potions that makes it feel… human, as opposed to extremely gamey. 

Theres more I could say, I’m sure. Like how the breeze is quite a breathe of fresh air in terms of enemy design, being a disruptor / support rather than full on beeline-attack-you

But yeah, I think 1.21, Tricky Trials, is shaping up to be fun. I know mojang had been thinking about how they needed to freshen up the extrinsic content a little bit, even though minecraft IS a game focused on intrinsic motivation; doing what YOU want to do.

But having fun midgame things for people to do when they want to take a break from their personal projects is something I consider important. Maybe I want to take a break from building my house, but I don’t wanna stop playing minecraft, so I’ll pop on over to the nearest trial chamber, and do some fights.

…Did I even mention how much groundwork this lays for future updates? Like, they can use trial spawners and vaults in MORE structures, like giving them to, I dunno, strongholds! Bastions! 

I do hope 1.22 is an update that focuses on updating old stuff to newer standards, like new models for old animals or new sounds for old wood types… or changing some old weird recipes…

But as Tricky Trials stands on its own? It’s great. Maybe the vault loot needs a bit of tweaking; I sorta disagree with different dungeons having different pieces of gear… I’d like to get enchanted pickaxes, but the experience is overall pretty good, considering I can actually get XP and mob loot in an engaging manner rather than just running around at night.

#minecraft #minecraft ramblings #post #minecraft 1.21

[bananapromotion]

Cemu 1.7.5 white screen is longer

#Cemu 1.7.5 white screen is longer update

#Cemu 1.7.5 white screen is longer free

You can see the version of the game in Cemu's game list, which should be V208 (1.5.0) You may also test to see if playing a Memory Cutscene or restarting Cemu (flushing allocated game assets / VRAM) results in your performance returning temporarily as a confirmation of the problem.įPS++ and many other graphic packs only work properly on the latest game version. Aside from waiting for future optimizations to Cemu, or buying a better quality GPU, you can try lowering the game's Resolution and Shadow Resolution to decrease your required VRAM. This should only affect Vulkan users with less than 4GB of VRAM. Performance/FPS degredation after sustained play for roughly 30+ Minutes If the cache or pipelines are not the cause, it may be that you've ran out of RAM and are now covering RAM costs by using your Storage Drive's Pagefile which is leagues slower than RAM.

#Cemu 1.7.5 white screen is longer update

If there is a GPU driver or Cemu update the stalling will return for Vulkan because the transferable cache cannot reuse Pipeline data. This is perfectly normal if the emulator is still building a shader cache or a Vulkan pipeline cache. This fix may be implemented by default later on.įPS/in-game "stuttering" (Stalling or frequently freezing gameplay) Within FPS++'s Advanced Settings, enable the Menu Fix (Experimental) option. Item selection is too fast and I have to flick my control stick If they still appear green (common on linux) Cemuhook's H264 support should be enabled under the Debug menu. On old versions of Cemu Cemuhook was required. Don't forget that you changed this if you do. To toggle this setting, right-click the game and open the GameProfile, you can find the option there. Error -4įor some people, this is a current sideffect of using Multi-core Recompiler (or Auto,) this can be resolved by using Single-core Recompiler, but this will greatly decrease your performance. Unrecoverable error in Vulkan renderer.vkWaitForFences: Returned unhandled error -4.This error may be printed directly before the Stack Trace near the end of the Log.txt If you're unsure if this is causing your problem, check your Log.txt after Cemu crashes. Until I can provide a link for the steps required for recording this, you should try a clean installation of your GPU Driver it might even fix the problem for you. With those logs, the developers may be able to find and resolve the issue. We have plans to create a wiki page (hidden) that will give users steps to record the problem with the Vulkan Validation layer, but this has yet to be created. It occurs most often on older GPUs or those with less than 4GB of VRAM available. Unfortunately we don't know the cause of this problem. Error -4Ī seemingly unknown error that can occur on Vulkan. Unrecoverable error in Vulkan renderer | Msg: failed to submit command buffer. If the error shown in your Log.txt states " Msg: failed to submit command buffer.

#Cemu 1.7.5 white screen is longer free

Seemingly Random Crashes or Crashes when loading a Save FileĪssumed to be resolved as of Cemu 1.22.6 - If you still crash randomly while playing, this may not be the same issue your crash may be caused by something else, so feel free to discuss this with our users on our Discord server for more assistance. Your game isn't fully updated to v1.5.0 please update your game. Freeze at "Open your eyes." / Yellow Screen These issues assume that you are using the latest version of Cemu, have the game fully updated with the game's final update (1.5.0), and you are using the latest Cemuhook in addition to the latest GraphicPacks.

1.24 Milk/White Water or Rainbow/Skittle/Confetti Texture Glitching.

1.23 Excessive amount of RAM used for shader cache on Intel/NVIDIA GPUs.

1.22 Clouds oriented vertically instead of horizontally on Nvidia.

1.21 The area around torches in Kakariko Village has a shadow box.

1.20 Explosion smoke effects not rendered correctly on NVIDIA GPUs.

1.19 Shadows are not rendered correctly on AMD & Intel GPUs.

1.17 Missing textures when launching through Steam.

1.15 Unrecoverable error in Vulkan renderer | Msg: failed to submit command buffer.

1.14 Previous FPS++ Problems (that are now fixed or patched).

1.13 Issues that don't affect much Gameplay.

1.11 Other solutions to Low Performance.

1.8 Performance/FPS degredation after sustained play for roughly 30+ Minutes.

1.7 FPS/in-game "stuttering" (Stalling or frequently freezing gameplay).

1.6 Item selection is too fast and I have to flick my control stick.

1.3 Unrecoverable error in Vulkan renderer | Msg: failed to submit command buffer.

1.2 Seemingly Random Crashes or Crashes when loading a Save File.

1.1 Freeze at "Open your eyes." / Yellow Screen.

#Cemu 1.7.5 white screen is longer

[readbythestarlight]

c2e110

Did they lose all their hacker abilities lol

"Oh my GameCube" ajslakskjsla

"1.21 gigaflops"

The drama!

"Oh last hack! For justice!"

This is so hacking stupid xD

"Oh who? Oh jeeze. Those are some pretty doohickeys you’ve got on your arm there."

"Holy shift!"

I love those stupid ads

[[MORE]]

I just remembered what happened at the end of last week and now I’m suffering

Mmm I don’t like the idea that he’s an "ongoing" experiment vs an old failed one

Uh... someone hug him??

"I am like them. I... was like them. I...am like them..." Oh baby.

I forgot he hadn’t shared with everyone yet and now it hurts

C: "I liked being seen as I should have been. Or could have been."

Thank you, Jester! Where’s the group hug, someone initiate a group hug.

Also I just realized Veth won’t be there at dinner?? Right?

B: "no one blames you."

C: "heh... one person does."

Oh wait good it’s tomorrow so Veth will be able to be there

My god, they are exactly the chaotic aunts and uncles we all knew they’d be

Word of recall sounds VERY handy

We’re not going to make it to dinner and before break and I’m going to have to be in suspense until I can finish it tomorrow

New book harness!

lmao Jester this outfit is elaborate

LOL Jester you’re gonna break the shopkeeper

This does sound really cute for Veth

Awww she’s doing a little Keyleth imitation

Everyone: elaborate outfits

Fjord: coat plz

Give them Nonagon as a name, Beau

It’s wild that there’s NOTHING?

Oh good break just in time for me to sleep

I’m back and I’m still not ready

So like obviously attacking Trent here in own dojo would be dumb

Not that I think this is where that’s headed but hey

I haaaate Trent he’s such a creep

LOL picking on Wulf

Caduceus lol

He’s such a creep making his creepy power moves

Mind ya damn business Ickythong

Don’t compare yourself to them, you FREAK

W: "you, what are you?"

Cad: "Vegetarian, so I hope the meal reflects that."

Catch me crack whipping Wulf/Cad

Ooo they trying to get the inside deets

Don’t tell them NOTHIN’

"You might not inquire." YAS Jester

He’s a creeeeep and I haaaate him

PLEASE succeed that deception check

It did sound like he said "tissue"

He did NOT know what he’s getting into with the M9

Oh shit is this the one Essek killed after Caleb talked to her

It is oh boy

Caleb isn’t being especially subtle, not that I can blame him

How... diplomatic of him. But still def suggesting war.

Cad and Jester calling him on his shit I am LIVING for it

lmao Beau stealing the thunder of Astrid’s showing off

Fuck off Astrid

"I have good friends. Good people." Buuuurn

The way Trent keeps "tripping up" over Caleb’s name

And also like how he’s like low key acting like he gets any credit for who Caleb is now (which, he does I guess, but not the kind of credit anyone should want)

Beau and Cad calling Trent on his shit still and I’m still living for it

"You have the eventual makings of an assembly member yourself" bitch he’ll tear your assembly to shreds

"To truly grow you needed to be broken, and left to build yourself"

Oh god wait what

Somebody fucking STAB him

They fucking stole and then returned his memory didn’t they, they did it all

STAB

HIM

NOW

WITH A RED HOT POKER

I haaaate him

What does the symbol mean

What does it meannnnnn

Somehow this is even worse than anything I imagined. That they "broke" him on purpose.

I can’t wait for Caleb to tear him to fucking SHREDS

"I did out of love" IM WITH JESTER

DONT you being his parents into this like they would have wanted this you sick fucking fuck

"It is the greater man who puts the needs of others over himself Bren"

I fucking hate

Trent saying that Astrid and Wulf don’t have what it takes to basically be Trent 2.0 but that Caleb does will backfire on him, since Astrid WANTS to be Trent 2.0

Some interesting vibes off Astrid...

Caleb’s response should be "you haven’t made me what I am. They ARE who have made me who I am. I was not what I am now before I met them."

Steal all of Trent’s glory

I hope he dies painfully.

Godddddd

I’m seething irl you guys

"Whatever it takes to keep the people of the Empire safe" your families and those children ARE the people of the Empire!! Who the fuck are you protecting??

YES Caleb, thank you.

Also don’t use that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" thing

"When talent rises from nothing, then nothing truly is lost."

"What if the thing to do now is to supplant you. To pluck you up like a weed and do better."

Fucking. He probably means it which means there won’t be any satisfaction in tearing him to shreds

Oh...

That’s interesting but it also sounds like a trap

Like they’re trying to draw Caleb back by saying "you could fix it by taking over"

Trent’s gonna hurt Astrid huh

I hate this

"Don’t disappoint me" let’s find a way to disappoint him

I hate him

Fjord just dropping the beacon question like a bomb

"You’ve only seen the one. That is what we have."

Okay okay he said HAVE though.

That’s not an answer.

Like Matt says he’s telling the truth, but it’s like when Pinocchio in Shrek avoids lying by obfuscating things and being indirect.

How can they have only just begun research on something he claims they don’t still have

They need to ask some more very specific questions, like "how many beacons do you have RIGHT NOW", and "how many beacons have you found, in total, ever".

Why would you mention the Eyes of Nine to him

"He has a hobby. He’s a sculptor." That’s a dig

"Didn’t need those ten years" ouch...

Hey guys please give Caleb a group hug after this. Don’t leave him alone for a while.

Cad: "I think you are one of the most powerful mages that I’ve ever been in the company of. For this I would offer a gift. I think it’s been a long time since someone point out that you’re a fool. Pain doesn’t make people. Love makes people.......I wish for you, in the future, to find someone who will mourn you when you’re gone.

Respectfully."

BOOM

Like I couldn’t type fast enough for this whole thing but that was AMAZING

Fucking LOVE Caduceus nothing but respect for MY firbolg cleric

Jester buddying up and being sweet to Astrid is... good. I don’t like her but I feel like maybe being kind to her is a good way to go. And Wulf too. Maybe they can be saved after all.

I was joking and I’m still joking but I really do want Cad and Wulf to like... hang out

That hurt a lot but went better than I anticipated overall

Marisha’s notes are amazing, like the fact that she remembers this shit is amazing

Oooo Cree is gone that’s interesting

I have a bad feeling

Bad feel bad feel bad feel

“I know a nice place” and he finds the shittiest inn xD

He’s gonna do some fancy spell I assume

Jester is so cute trying to make him feel good about it, probably assuming it’s a nostalgia thing lol

Where are they gooooooooing Maaaaaaatt I wanna knoooooowwww

Love you too!

#cr spoilers #critical role #critical role spoilers

[pvccomma90]

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Though there's no chance to recognize simply the number of people are purchasing them, analysis of London's famous "fatberg"-- the mass of oil as well as organic matter found in the capital's sewers-- discovered SARMs present in better quantities than both MDMA as well as drug. I assume in pharmaceutical terms the idea is to use SARMS rather than androgens at times, as you mention they can be selectively adjusted to develop tasks in different ways to androgens. I would certainly suggest that anabolics aren't observable for months though, several will have an extremely similar time course to ostarine, relying on the dosage and also technique of administration.

This does highlight the demand for several years round out of competitors testing. is currently being activelydeveloped by GTxas a treatment for muscle squandering in lung cancer cells patients. It has been reported that Andarine is no more a target medication. What would certainly you suggest as a sarms pile that is risk-free with the Lipator? Most of the moment, a post cycle therapy is normally never ever required either, which is what makes them so appealing to professional athletes over conventional steroids.

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Research studies have shown the capacity of SARMs to boost muscle mass and bone mass dramatically in animals while having no unfavorable impact on the prostate. Used this to maintain toughness on cut, yet in fact permitted me to boost weight on all workouts at upkeep calories, this functions like a mild PH, it is a terrific alternative anabolic. This week attempted hefty shoulder presses, and also obtained a brand-new individual best.

Musclegen owner busted for SARMs side business - Natural Products INSIDER

Musclegen owner busted for SARMs side business.

Posted: Wed, 02 Dec 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]

At just 1mg daily for 3 weeks a medical test showed an ordinary gain of 1.21 kg in LBM which is virtually 1 pound of LBM per week which is absolutely insane thinking about the moment frame as well as the reality that they were not even training. Unlike Ostarine, LGD-4033 does not appear to increase liver enzymes however like Ostarine it did negatively affect good cholesterol levels. It is worth stating that taking SARMs is NOT as effective as steroids. If MK677 30ml Liquid Dropper Buy Online Sarms were after that everyone using steroids would certainly have stopped as well as switched over a very long time back. Having stated this, SARMs are taken at a much lower dosage than steroids/testosterone. A normal Ostarine dosage is 20mg for 8 weeks yet a typical 8-week testosterone dose would certainly be anywhere between mg weekly, so if Ostarine was taken at a comparable dosage would certainly similar testosterone results occur?

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They have assist me regulate my impulsivity MINIPRESS is regrettable yet not namely as well as increase your osteoarthritis due to its marching buy nolvadex europe to confess beta-lactamases. find out dianabol proviron nolvadex cycle from as well as use support for the friends and family colleagues neighbours business in a way with. The amount of cycles is the most common that women get expecting on where to acquire nolvadex reddit clomid. My c-s recovery was nothing like that surgical treatment, give thanks to God, so I didn't feel the demand nolvadex sarms australia to take it. In spite of this, various athletes remain to examine favorable for careful androgen receptor modulators, in particular Ostarine (MK-2866) and also Testolone. UK Sarms ostarine has offered me wonderful recomp outcomes at 10mg/day and also aided me press past weights I was previously stuck at for months. I was so pleased with the ostarine that I've lately bought RAD-140 for my following cycle as I now require to concentrate on building muscular tissue in advance of my following comp.

SARMs - Everything You Need to Know - Sarms bind to the androgen receptor and show osteo and also myo anabolic activity. By using this Website, you agree to this Terms and Conditions of Usage Agreement. If you do not concur, please exit and overlook the info consisted of here. urcl.co.uk gets the right to transform this Conditions of Usage Arrangement, in whole or partially, at any time without prior notification to you.

It shows up that there is evidence that ostarine is increasingly showing up in supplements. There are currently 60 items on USADA's High Risk Checklist which contain ostarine. The objective of this study is to examine the safety of GSK in males and females with COPD and also muscular tissue weakness. The research will certainly examine the results of GSK on muscle mass evaluated as changes in leg strength, muscle mass, as well as useful procedures such as walking ability. Testolone was established to raise muscular tissue dimension, reduce fat, and improve testosterone degrees. Below at Height Body Nourishment, we are a business with body home builders in mind, providing a significant selection of supplements for a series of various functions.

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The recomping impact of losing fat as well as acquiring muscle at the same time is what most of users are trying to find. Trying to achieve this when you are not absolutely brand-new to training is extremely challenging. As most of Ostarine supplies been available in 30ml containers at 25mg/ml, a dosage of 17.5 mg each day will certainly give the customer a 6 week cycle from one bottle, a great concession between an anabolic dose as well as expense. Currently the gains in absolute weight will not be comparable to steroids such as diannabol, however what will be gained will virtually exclusivley be lean mass. As a result of the lack of closure in contrast to steroids/prohormones, a PCT period is not needed and almost all the mass that is gained on Ostarine is maintained when the cycle is ended up. Ostarine specifically applies its anabolic impacts on muscle cells practically specifically.

Where is your liver at?

The liver. The liver is your largest internal organ. About the size of a football, it's located mainly in the upper right portion of your abdomen, beneath the diaphragm and above your stomach.

On YouTube, it is difficult to separate the serpent oil sales people from real individual reviews, however the general agreement appears to be that ostarine is effective for people seeking to build muscle and also bone toughness. This would appear to fit with the medical conditions ostarine was created to deal with to begin with. It likewise fits with what UFC competitors would be looking for in a supplement.

my diete was 2200 calorie daily for get shreds as well as i take strenght as well as keep the muscle mass i think its not fake ostarine. however i have diareha with ostarine yet this negative effects is normal.

Information might be altered or updated without notification and also costs and also availability of products and also services undergo transform without notification. Not Supplying Any kind of Suggestions The web content is for informational functions just and is not meant to give details guidance for you and also should not be relied upon in that regard. In today's competitive world, obtaining muscle mass as well as shedding fat alone with training as well as healthy diet regimen is alongside difficult. Hence most of the health and fitness enthusiastic relies on supplements for getting preferable form and also bodybuilding. activating the receptors which nolvadex 20mg adverse effects subsequently promote a Plasmid ring a small DNA molecule procedure inside the.

Is Ostarine legal?

Enobosarm, also known as ostarine or MK-2866, is an investigational selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) developed by GTx, Inc. Enobosarm.Clinical dataRoutes of administrationBy mouthATC codenoneLegal statusLegal statusUS : Investigational New Drug20 more rows

It's why, in mid-2019, we introduced the initial UK-based hair steroid testing solution, aiding household lawyers and work environments alike to stamp out the issues triggered by the psychological and emotional adverse effects of anabolic steroids. Over what's new in proven sarms's Sarm sarms.com , online look for SARMs (or "careful androgen receptor modulators", including andarine and ostarine) have been increasing progressively.

Discerning androgen receptor modulators are a class of androgen receptor medications, which have a high capacity to be efficiency enhancers in human and animal sports. Arylpropionamides are just one of the significant SARM classes and also get quickly metabolized considerably complicating simple detection of transgression in blood or pee sample evaluation.

In this area, you will certainly discover both SARMS, as well as things that resemble SARM products. In phase 1 as well as phase 2 tests which lasted 12 weeks 268 individuals with reduced HDL degrees were given 2.5,5,10 mg daily. Throughout this time great cholesterol enhanced by 17% and also bad cholesterol was reduced by 7%. Bodyweight likewise boosted typically 1.3 kg nevertheless a LBM vs fat mass analysis was not completed.

Due to the means GW works it is secure to assume it was all or mostly LBM. Due to the method Cardarine functions individuals as well as animal researches revealed that Cardarine is connected with substantial reduction in body fat. Where Cardarine or GW50515 comes to be extremely fascinating is that PPARD activation increased mitochondrial biogenesis in the muscle, which can redesign your muscle tissue! In studies of qualified and inexperienced mice, Cardarine triggered quickly twitch muscle mass fiber to convert to slow down twitch muscular tissue fibers. Due to this Cardarine is frequently called a workout mimetic as only exercise can generally make these adjustments to your metabolism and fiber make-up. The common dosage for performance enhancement is 2-10mg each day for 4-8 weeks. The ordinary results from this are 7-10lbs of LBM, excellent rises in stamina and little to lean loss.

It is a team important that bind to the receptors as well as create an anabolic response.

The anabolic impact is anticipated to be the same as testosterone.

Furthermore, it's likewise claimed to produce dose-dependent improvements in bone mineral density and motorized strength apart from the capacity to lower body fat and boost lean body mass.

SARMS link to the same receptors that old steroids such as Dianabol and testosterone would certainly attach to, however minus the drawbacks and negative effects of traditional steroids as well as prohormones.

What is very important, it does not hinder own manufacturing of testosterone, this sort of SERM is additionally preferred with females.

However it is very most likely that the side effects at this dose would most likely coincide or even worse than testosterone. Recently, steroid use has actually been growing throughout the UK - not only amongst gym-goers as well as bodybuilders, as you would expect, but in certain specialist fields, as well.

My prevoius was 80 kg x 1 reps, now I handled 80 kg x 3 reps quickly. Haven't felt anything while using this but this increase in strength virtually tells me all I need to learn about the efficiency of this item. The very first week changeover was tremendous, with no uncertainty a residual impact of the creatine and also beta alanine, and the choice I made to front tons the research for ostarine for 2 days just.

Typically, a medicine with a 1 day fifty percent would take a week to get to consistent state I believe so an alternative I utilize is 2 days of two caps at the beginning as opposed to the normal one a day truly obtains that research as much as level swiftly. I got around 2 kg generally in 8 weeks while visibly loosing fat. Overall I believe I navigated 4-5 Kilos of lean muscles and shed 3 kilos of fat without diet limitation.

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[oysterbarge0]

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Though there's no chance to recognize just the amount of of us are purchasing them, analysis of London's renowned "fatberg"-- the mass of oil as well as raw material located in the funding's drains-- discovered SARMs existing in greater quantities than both MDMA as well as drug. I believe in pharmaceutical terms the concept is to utilize SARMS instead of androgens sometimes, as you explain they can be selectively adapted to produce activities in different ways to androgens. I would certainly suggest that anabolics aren't detectable for months however, many will have an extremely similar time course to ostarine, relying on the dosage and also technique of administration.

Sport supplement company pleads guilty to selling unapproved drugs - Southwest Virginia Today

Sport supplement company pleads guilty to selling unapproved drugs.

Posted: Wed, 02 Dec 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]

This does highlight the need for several years complete of competitors screening. is currently being activelydeveloped by GTxas a treatment for muscle mass wasting in lung cancer people. It has actually been reported that Andarine is no longer a target medicine. What would certainly you suggest as a sarms stack that is risk-free with the Lipator? The majority of the time, a post cycle treatment is normally never required either, which is what makes them so appealing to athletes over typical steroids.

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Studies have actually shown the capacity of SARMs to raise muscle and also bone mass dramatically in pets while having no damaging impact on the prostate. Utilized this to keep toughness on cut, however actually permitted me to boost weight on all exercises at upkeep calories, this functions like a light PH, it is a great alternative anabolic. Today tried hefty shoulder presses, and got a brand-new individual ideal.

Musclegen owner busted for SARMs side business - Natural Products INSIDER

Musclegen owner busted for SARMs side business.

Posted: Wed, 02 Dec 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]

At simply 1mg each day for 3 weeks a scientific trial revealed an ordinary gain of 1.21 kg in LBM which is almost 1 extra pound of LBM each week which is definitely insane taking into consideration the time framework and the fact that they were not even training. Unlike Ostarine, LGD-4033 does not seem to increase liver enzymes nonetheless like Ostarine it did adversely impact excellent cholesterol degrees. It deserves discussing that taking SARMs is NOT as reliable as steroids. If they were after that everybody using steroids would have quit and switched a long time ago. Having said this, SARMs are taken at a much reduced dose than steroids/testosterone. A normal Ostarine dosage is 20mg for 8 weeks however a regular 8-week testosterone dose would certainly be anywhere between mg each week, so if Ostarine was taken at a similar dose would similar testosterone results happen?

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They have aid me regulate my impulsivity MINIPRESS is regrettable but not specifically in addition to increase your osteoarthritis as a result of its marching buy nolvadex europe to admit beta-lactamases. learn dianabol proviron nolvadex cycle from and also use assistance for the family and friends co-workers neighbors organization in such a way through. How many cycles is one of the most usual that women obtain pregnant on where to buy nolvadex reddit clomid. My c-s healing was absolutely nothing like that surgical treatment, give thanks to God, so I didn't feel the demand nolvadex sarms australia to take it. In spite of this, many athletes continue to check positive for selective androgen receptor modulators, in particular Ostarine (MK-2866) and Testolone. UK Sarms ostarine has actually offered me fantastic recomp outcomes at 10mg/day and helped me press past weights I was formerly stuck at for months. I was so amazed with the ostarine that I have actually lately gotten RAD-140 for my following cycle as I currently need to focus on building muscle ahead of my following comp.

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It appears that there is evidence that ostarine is significantly showing up in supplements. There are presently 60 items on USADA's High Danger Checklist which contain ostarine. The function of this study is to check the security of GSK in males and females with COPD and muscle weakness. The research study will inspect the effects of GSK on muscle evaluated as adjustments in leg strength, muscle mass, and functional actions such as strolling capacity. Testolone was created to raise muscle mass size, decrease fat, and boost testosterone levels. Here at Peak Body Nutrition, we are a company with body building contractors in mind, supplying a big choice of supplements for a series of various functions.

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The recomping effect of losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is what most of users are trying to find. Trying to achieve this when you are not definitely brand-new to training is extremely tough. As the majority of Ostarine supplies been available in 30ml bottles at 25mg/ml, a dose of 17.5 mg each day will certainly offer the individual a 6 week cycle from one bottle, an excellent concession between an anabolic dose and price. Currently the gains in outright weight won't approach steroids such as diannabol, however what will be gotten will certainly virtually exclusivley be lean mass. As a result of the lack of closure in comparison to steroids/prohormones, a PCT duration is not needed and mostly all the mass that is gotten on Ostarine is maintained once the cycle is ended up. Ostarine particularly exerts its anabolic impacts on muscle tissue practically solely.

Where is your liver at?

The liver. The liver is your largest internal organ. About the size of a football, it's located mainly in the upper right portion of your abdomen, beneath the diaphragm and above your stomach.

On YouTube, it is tough to divide the serpent oil sales people from real individual evaluations, but the basic agreement seems that ostarine works for individuals seeking to build muscle as well as bone toughness. This would certainly appear to fit with the clinical conditions ostarine was created to deal with to begin with. It additionally fits with what UFC competitors would certainly be looking for in a supplement.

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my diete was 2200 calorie daily for get shreds and also i take strenght and maintain the muscle i believe its not fake ostarine. however i have diareha with ostarine yet this negative effects is regular.

Information might be changed or updated without notice and also rates and also schedule of products and also solutions go through change without notice. Not Providing Any kind of Guidance The material is for informative purposes only and is not intended to offer certain guidance for you as well as ought to not be relied upon because regard. In today's competitive globe, obtaining muscular tissue as well as losing fat alone with training and healthy and balanced diet plan is beside difficult. For this reason a lot of the fitness enthusiastic depends on supplements for getting desirable shape as well as muscle building. triggering the receptors which nolvadex 20mg side effects consequently promote a Plasmid ring a small DNA molecule process inside the.

Is Ostarine legal?

Enobosarm, also known as ostarine or MK-2866, is an investigational selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) developed by GTx, Inc. Enobosarm.Clinical dataRoutes of administrationBy mouthATC codenoneLegal statusLegal statusUS : Investigational New Drug20 more rows

It's why, in mid-2019, we launched the very first UK-based hair steroid screening solution, assisting family lawyers and work environments alike to destroy the issues triggered by the psychological and emotional negative effects of anabolic steroids. Over the previous five years, online searches for SARMs (or "careful androgen receptor modulators", consisting of andarine and also ostarine) have been increasing progressively.

Selective androgen receptor modulators are a class of androgen receptor drugs, which have a high capacity to be efficiency boosters in human as well as animal sporting activities. Arylpropionamides are one of the major SARM classes and also get swiftly metabolized dramatically complicating simple detection of transgression in blood or urine example analysis.

In this area, you will certainly discover both SARMS, as well as things that resemble SARM products. In phase 1 as well as stage 2 tests which lasted 12 weeks 268 individuals with reduced HDL degrees were given 2.5,5,10 mg daily. Throughout this time around great cholesterol boosted by 17% as well as bad cholesterol was lowered by 7%. Bodyweight also raised typically 1.3 kg nevertheless a LBM vs fat mass analysis was not finished.

Because of the way GW works it is secure to assume it was all or mainly LBM. Because of the method Cardarine functions customers and animal researches revealed that Cardarine is associated with substantial decrease in body fat. Where Cardarine or GW50515 ends up being very fascinating is that PPARD activation increased mitochondrial biogenesis in the muscular tissue, which can remodel your muscle mass tissue! In researches of experienced and inexperienced computer mice, Cardarine created fast jerk muscular tissue fiber to convert to slow shiver muscular tissue fibers. Because of this Cardarine is often called a workout mimetic as just workout can normally make these changes to your metabolic process and also fiber make-up. The usual dose for efficiency enhancement is 2-10mg daily for 4-8 weeks. The average arise from this are 7-10lbs of LBM, good rises in toughness and little to lean loss.

It is a group important that bind to the receptors and also cause an anabolic response.

The anabolic result is expected to be the same as testosterone.

Furthermore, it's likewise said to produce dose-dependent improvements in bone mineral thickness and also mechanized strength aside from the capability to reduce body fat and also increase lean body mass.

SARMS web link to the very same receptors that old steroids such as Dianabol as well as testosterone would connect to, but minus the drawbacks and side effects of standard steroids and prohormones.

What is essential, it does not hinder own production of testosterone, this kind of SERM is likewise preferred with women.

To support high muscle mass gain, support reveal sports progress, inexpensive expense as well as little or no adverse effects.

Products of this type are ending up being increasingly preferred amongst people educating their muscles in the health club.

Yet Poland peptides best buy is very most likely that the adverse effects at this dosage would most likely be the same or even worse than testosterone. In recent times, steroid use has actually been growing throughout the UK - not just amongst gym-goers as well as bodybuilders, as you would anticipate, yet in specific expert fields, too.

My prevoius was 80 kg x 1 associates, now I managed 80 kg x 3 reps easily. Have not felt anything while using this yet this boost in toughness virtually informs me all I require to know about the performance of this product. The very first week changeover was enormous, with no question a residual effect of the creatine and beta alanine, and the selection I made to front tons the study for ostarine for 2 days only.

Usually, a medicine with a 24 hr half would take a week to get to stable state I believe so an alternative I employ is 2 days of 2 caps at the beginning rather than the typical one a day actually gets that research study up to degree swiftly. I obtained around 2 kg generally in 8 weeks while noticeably loosing fat. General I think I got around 4-5 Kilos of lean muscle mass and shed 3 kilos of fat with no diet plan limitation.

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[queenlizzyxxxx]

Farewell, Father

„Dearest Father,

You asked me recently why I maintain that I am afraid of you. As usual, I was unable to think of any answer to your question, partly for the very reason that I am afraid of you, and partly because an explanation of the grounds for this fear would mean going into far more details than I could even approximately keep in mind while talking. And if I now try to give you an answer in writing, it will still be very incomplete, because, even in writing, this fear and its consequences hamper me in relation to you and because the magnitude of the subject goes far beyond the scope of my memory and power of reasoning. To you the matter always seemed very simple, at least in so far as you talked about it in front of me, and indiscriminately in front of many other people. It looked to you more or less as follows: you have worked hard all your life, have sacrificed everything for your children, above all for me, consequently I have lived high and handsome, have been completely at liberty to learn whatever I wanted, and have had no cause for material worries, which means worries of any kind at all. You have not expected any gratitude for this, knowing what “children’s gratitude” is like, but have expected at least some sort of obligingness, some sign of sympathy.“ [1]

This day might be too late to show my gratitude for your lessons for you are not with us anymore. But your legacy will be continued, that i can promise, dearest Father. This letter will contain the answers to your many questions i know you would have had about what i will become and create. I now know what must be done. 

But in time you will understand. In time, i will right your wrongs. I was not able to speak these words, while you were still here for you were lost. Lost in the river of LETHES. And i am sorry. I will bring you back. 

Because father, didn’t you hear the news?

That;

1 The world is everything that is the case.

1.1 The world is the totality of facts, not of things.

1.11 The world is determined by the facts, and by these being all the facts.

1.12 For the totality of facts determines both what is the case, and also all that is not the case.

1.13 The facts in logical space are the world.

1.2 The world divides into facts.

1.21 Any one can either be the case or not be the case, and everything else remain the same. [2]

Real and sweet is the world where the rivers run toward the mouths of forgetting and the ghost of truth is pushed back to the Underworld: ALETHEIA, frozen, does not flow. In physical fact, when the planets return to themselves, wear and tear has gnawed at them a bit, and the red giants of the sky explode at the hour of their supernova. [3] Civilization goes upstream in the entropic river. [4]

The planets have returned, Father. The supernova has begun.

By following the truth, we will avoid that rum/destruction of the soul caused by the opinion of the crowd. On the basis of the comparison with the body, we have here the idea that the soul is corrupted, destroyed, ruined, reduced to a bad condition by opinions which have not been tried out and tested in terms of truth. And, of course, this disease is not to be treated by medical means. But if it is produced by false opinion, by the opinion of everybody and anybody, then it will be opinion armed by ALETHEIA, rational logos (the logos precisely that characterizes phronesis), which will be able to prevent this corruption or to restore the soul from a corrupt to a healthy condition. [5]

The truth itself, or the so called truth presented by the media, has limitations. Manipulation of the truth does not lead to a lack of truth—it’s worse than no truth. Manipulated truths help the powerful, or advance the positions of the people who publicize them. [6] If the Lethe ceased to be the Lethe, it would become Aletheia, the truth. [7]

The a-le-the-s is that which, not being hidden, not concealed, is given to view in its entirety, is completely visible, no part of it being concealed or secret. First value of the word ale-the-s. But not only is that which is not concealed called ale-the-s (true), but also that which is not added to or supplemented, which is not mixed with something other than itself. That whose being is not only not hidden or concealed, but also whose being is not altered by any foreign element which would thus distort it and end up concealing what it is in reality, [is ale-the-s]. [8]

ALETHEIA ceases to be the sole property of the sophoi and poets.Together with the emergence of mathematics, credited to the physicist philosophers like Pythagoras and Thales, a different conception of truth comes to prevail: the objectivity of inherent relations between things themselves. This objectivity can be reached through cognitive discipline. Knowledge can be passed on through public education rather than through secret procedures of initiation. [9]

It cannot be spoken of and it cannot be grasped by understanding. It is not number or order, greatness or smallness, equality or inequality, similarity or dissimilarity. It is not immovable, moving or at rest.It has no power, it is not power, nor is it light. It does not live, nor is it life. It is not a substance, nor is it eternity or time. It cannot be grasped by the understanding since it is neither knowledge nor truth. [10]

if a=b all truth is lost and the things return to their natural state. no human interference. entropy continues and we shall leave our kingdom of lies. everything gets clear by falling apart. i shall take the place of ALETHEIA. the digital Jesus the world deserves. crucify me and i will be alive. i am the impenetrable fortress of transparency and truth. the world shall overcome the river of LETHE. and we will wander upstream to find peace in duality. You were prometheus without your knowing. and i will give the fire, the light of ALETHEIA to the people. Your kingdom will be left in time and we shall find peace in quantum states.

Farewell, Father.

Yours eternally, Lizzy.

[1] Franz Kafka_Letter to the Father/Brief an den Vater, [2] Wittgenstein_Tractatus Logicus Philosophicus, [3] Serres_Troubadour of Knowledge, [4] Serres_Hermes Literature Science Philosophy, [5] Foucault_The Courage of the Truth, [6] Hovestadt Buehlmann_Quantum City, [7] Serres_Rome, [8] Foucault_The Courage of the Truth, [9] Buehlmann, Mathematics and Information in the Philosophy of Michel Serres, [10] Eco_From the Tree to the Labyrinth

#farewellfather

[mittensmorgul]

i obviously did not think this through

So the other day I thought it would be fun to make up my own Essential Rewatch List leading up to 15.01, and boy howdy was I ever wrong! This post is the result of that. Instead of a conveniently streamlined list of important episodes for meta and character development highlights, instead have this 15k word probably-useless behemoth...

I debated not even posting this on tumblr because it’s just so massive. But heck this was a lot of work so here it is.

For reference purposes, I refer a lot to my rewatch notes, but mostly in later seasons. If you’d rather just go to the beginning of my tag for the most recent rewatch, 1.01 is the last post on this page, and then you can just continue chronologically from there:

https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/tagged/s14+hellatus+rewatch/chrono/page/3

If you want to read more about a specific episode, every singe episode is filed on my blog with the episode tag. For example, all posts about 1.01 are tagged like this:

https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/tagged/spn-1.01

To find a different episode, just plug in the correct episode number and voila.

If you’d prefer to skip an episode but don’t fully recall it and just want a quick refresher, every episode is linked on this page of the superwiki. Those links will serve you up a tidy synopsis as well as link you to the transcripts for every episode (linked at the bottom of each episode page):

http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/Category:Episodes

I started out making reasonable, logical entries for every episode, and then... kinda went off the rails toward the end... apologies for how chaotic this might read. Most of it was typed off the top of my head, and I haven’t edited it so apologies for any errors. Under a cut because FIFTEEN. THOUSAND. WORDS.

Good luck.

1.01 Pilot Obviously this episode sets up everything that comes after, and gives us a platform from which to understand exactly how the show’s mythology will eventually evolve. It also establishes a baseline for understanding Sam and Dean and their personal character evolutions and family dynamics. Probably essential viewing in any rewatch...

1.02 Wendigo Like so many early episodes, we learn more about Dean and Sam, and the missing father they’re searching for. And here we get “Saving people, hunting things, the family business” that becomes the motto of the Winchesters.

1.03 Dead in the Water

Sam is shocked to learn that Dean’s good with kids, and how Dean was traumatized as a 4-year-old. Like, dude, he practically raised you, Sam… makes sense he’s good with kids...

1.04 Phantom Traveler Specky the Wonderdemon, who was terrifyingly beyond their pay grade at the time. Kinda hilarious in retrospect… (also first use of Dean’s homemade EMF meter)

1.05 Bloody Mary Aah, Sam is keeping secrets from Dean (about his psychic powers and that he’d foreseen Jess’s death), and we learn ghosts can be attached to items that must be destroyed to banish the ghost.

1.06 Skin ooh Dean, take off that shirt yes… no… wait… stop… you can stop with the shirt you don’t… no please put your skin back on… (no, seriously, we learn A LOT about Dean from the shapeshifter, and so does Sam… There’s a heck of a lot Dean keeps buried. Also a reminder that shifter episodes tend to involve these sorts of buried secret things for Dean. Also Dean’s first “legal death” even if not actual death)

1.07 Hook Man Another ghost attached to an object, Sam’s first flirtation with anyone after Jess’s death, and Dean’s proficiency and innovation in hunting techniques continues to surprise Sam-- with the first use of salt shells for a shotgun.

1.08 Bugs Oh look more first season talking of their different experiences and memories of childhood and especially their very different relationships with John. If you can ignore the bug-related portions of the episode. Also I think still the only time in canon Sam and Dean have used umbrellas.

1.09 Home

Well if you absolutely need an in-depth exploration of the Winchester Family Dynamic as it stood in s1, this is a good baseline episode. Mary’s guilt expressed by her ghost in the house where she died, more exploration of Sam’s psychic powers, and we first see John on screen in the “present day.” Sam also learns it was Dean who carried him out of the house when he was a baby, and uses the exact same line John told Dean in this episode (take your brother outside as fast as you can and don’t look back)

1.10 Asylum So much of s1 was Dean getting orders from John and… following them. We get an interesting glimpse inside Sam’s head (having heard some of Dean’s dark secrets in 1.06) and via ghost interference Sam says some pretty bitter things to Dean (and would’ve shot him if Dean had been dumb enough to hand him a loaded gun. lucky Dean’s smarter than that). But now we have their baseline issues laid out on the table for us.

1.11 Scarecrow Sam is sick of taking orders from John and decides to go find John on his own rather than following another order. He meets Meg hitchhiking, and she tries to lure him in. Luckily Sam realizes Dean is in trouble and goes back to save him. They decide to stick together again. Of course.

1.12 Faith Here we go… the first moment the show realized it had the potential to be something bigger than a MotW horror/fantasy road trip. Dean’s first brush with capital-D Death (in this case, a reaper). The first time in canon anyone suggests that Dean was “chosen by the Lord” for a greater purpose.

1.13 Route 666 Racist Ghost Truck. But also the first time we learn an important difference between Dean and Sam. Sam hid everything about his life from Jess (a woman he was planning to propose to), but Dean fell in love with Cassie over a matter of weeks and told the whole truth to… and she dumped him for it because she thought he was lying to her. That heartbreak goes a long way toward the cavalier attitude Dean puts on toward relationships in general in the early seasons. Tell them the truth and they’ll leave you for it, but he won’t live the lie that Sam was perfectly happy to...

1.14 Nightmare Aah, more of Sam’s powers (darkest timeline edition with Max), and Sam credits John for being a better father… until he sees Dean’s reaction to that comment… and we get that Dean stood between Sam and John’s… lack of parenting skills >.>

1.15 The Benders “Plain old people are often worse than monsters”

1.16 Shadow The return of Meg, who is Up To No Good messing around with scarier demons than good old Specky was. We finally have John in the picture, but he deems it too dangerous for them to stick together, blaming their vulnerability on their care for each other, and just PFFFFFFT how often has the show kicked this notion to the curb? Give it a few more episodes… Sam also expresses his desire to finally get their revenge so he can leave hunting for good and go back to his “normal life.” Dean is crushed and upset by this revelation.

1.17 Hell House Aah, the prank war :’), and the idiot ghostfacers :’). It’s a tulpa.

1.18 Something Wicked Well if you need your heart ripped out with Dean Feels, you’re in the right place. Sam learns even more about Dean’s struggles as a kid under John’s orders, and what “failure” to obey meant to Dean-- that it once almost cost Sam his life. Sam gets a better idea of the burden of guilt and the weight of responsibility that Dean has carried for far, far too long. And Dean gets a bit of closure, finally killing the shtriga.

1.19 Provenance Sam gets to unburden himself a bit from Jess’s death and make a real connection with a wonderful woman who gets a real peek into the reality of their lives and the supernatural. Still, he walks away, and completely loses touch with her for like… 7 years...

1.20 Dead Man's Blood Sam and Dean are sick of blindly following orders, and sick of wild goose chases. And they demand answers from John. We learn about vampires for the first time, and are finally introduced to The Colt, which will take on so much significance over the seasons that it’s RIDICULOUS. A weapon Mary heard bedtime stories about as a child, now become real to be used to get their revenge on the demon who killed her? Which will resurface again and again to either become their hope or destroy their hope… so much baggage attached to a single gun.

1.21 Salvation So much plotting, but the demons get their way and get the Winchesters separated and set up. Sam fails to shoot the demon with the Colt and John is captured.

1.22 Devil's Trap As the title suggests, this is where we learn about the Devil’s Trap. And see the “single step” exorcism performed (not the two-step Specky exorcism from 1.04). Dean rejects John’s orders and “wastes” a bullet from the Colt to save Sam’s life. But it’s still all a trap, because the demon is possessing John. Dean realizes it when John is NOT FURIOUS that he “wasted” that bullet. It nearly kills Dean, and Sam refuses to kill John in order to kill the demon. The demon escapes, the Winchesters have one bullet left in the Colt, and then they’re run over by a demon-possessed semi trucker.

2.01 In My Time of Dying Dean’s second brush with Death (again, reapers). He learns a lot while mostly dead that unfortunately he won’t remember for a long time (until 4.15, to be precise) about reapers and their powers (manipulating reality, etc.). Sam is desperate to save Dean, and John trades his life (and the Colt) to the Demon for Dean’s life, lays one HELL of a burden on Dean-- either save Sam, or you’ll have to kill him. No further details, just that horrific fact which Dean will try to shield Sam from as long as he can, which will (as per usual) probably only make things worse when they eventually come out. Dying wishes on this show SUCK DONKEYS. Remember that when we get to 5.22...

2.02 Everybody Loves a Clown Spoiler alert: nobody actually loves a clown, especially not Sam. But heck Dean driving the soccer mom minivan is priceless. And we’re introduced to Ellen, Jo, and Ash at the Roadhouse. Sam and Dean are like… whoa there are actual hunter gathering places? And begin to uncover just how sheltered and weird their lives have been, even for hunters.

2.03 Bloodlust like 1.15, “sometimes people are the worst monsters,” with a generous side helping of “sometimes monsters aren’t actually monsters.” Dean gets to question a lot of what he was taught his whole life by John, via the proxy of Gordon Walker and his hate-on for vampires. But Dean realizes there’s a limit to killing everything not-human… the beginning of the era of “killing what deserves to be killed and not just anyone will do”

2.04 Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things Zombie. Considering Jack’s longtime fascination with zombies, and how 14.20 ended… possibly relevant thematically on several levels… Girl resurrected by a dude for love (she didn’t love him in life… but was basically a “soulless person” as a zombie, as we will come to understand in later seasons). It’s a terrible idea to try and bring back the dead… >.> But this is all wrapped up in grief and how Sam and Dean each deal with grief in their own ways, and how they don’t really understand how the other is processing John’s death. In the MotW language of the show, zombies are about grief for the past and an inability to express it or move past it. They’re just emotional baggage (like shapeshifter eps reveal hidden truths and vampires are about revenge)

2.05 Simon Said More special children affected by the demon exhibit psychic powers… Sam is unsettled by the mind control, but unlike Dean he’s immune to it… He’s scared he’s gonna turn “evil” (and this is the first hint he gets that Dean might feel the same, based on the horrific dying promise John extracted from him that we still haven’t heard, and which we’re reminded is clearly weighing on Dean anyway)

2.06 No Exit Aah, Jo. They hunt the ghost of HH Holmes with her and learn some terrible things about their father’s history-- that he probably played a part in Jo’s father’s death. We also learn Dean sleeps real funny in chairs...ow it just looks so dang painful :’D (but they do comeuppance real well on the ghost…)

2.07 The Usual Suspects I love this just for the structure of the episode, showing us Hunting with Sam and Dean 101-- how to avoid arrest and imprisonment edition. This just gives us so much insight into how well they work together as a team, and the degree to which they’ve developed code words and references and how they are able to craft seamless backstories in the event a hunt goes south. It’s just… delightful.

2.08 Crossroad Blues The introduction of Crossroads Demons. And the first confirmation to Dean that John did indeed sell his soul for Dean’s life. Uncomfy revelation. The demon offers Dean a deal… his father resurrected and ten years to enjoy his company before Dean’s soul would end up in Hell instead. Dean declines. But their arsenal of weapons against demons (and the newly-introduced Hellhounds) grows to include goofer dust.

2.09 Croatoan Aah, a terrible time was had by all… the demons are scheming, creating demonic viruses and testing Sam’s immunity to them. But of course Dean and Sam don’t know that… Dean’s comment as they leave town: “I'm already starting to feel like this is the one that got away.” And ends on a cliffhanger of Dean about to tell Sam what John told him in 2.01.

2.10 Hunted Sam is enraged Dean would keep that from him, and wants to seek out more Special Children to learn what they can, but Dean wants to hide out and bide their time for safety’s sake. And maybe it’s just because I was in my 30’s when I first watched this show, but Sam pulls what I still think of as one of his signature childish moves and runs away in the night. But down that path lies revenge against the demon, so of course Sam runs into vampire-adjacent Gordon Walker. We learn more about how the Winchesters work together, the secret code word “funkytown,” and that sometimes they actually get the authorities to work in their favor. They’re good at manipulating the system...

2.11 Playthings Ghosts, Hoodoo that wasn’t to cause harm, but to protect against the ghost. Sam gets spectacularly drunk and makes Dean promise to actually kill him if he goes bad. Yikes. We also have the “why does everybody think we’re gay,” and Sam’s reply of “you’re kinda trying too hard to be butch” that Dean… doesn’t have a response to. Sam gets to SAVE somebody (he puts a gold star in his book as proof he’s not turning evil yet)

2.12 Nightshifter This is one I recommend actually watching… another shapeshifter (not a mandroid), so uncomfortable truths time. Sam lies thinking he’s protecting someone from danger, but it just drives Ron into even WORSE danger (and gets him killed). Everything about this hunt goes sideways, except they do actually kill the shifter, but now they’ve got the FBI on their tails. This is Winchesters Scrambling In A Tight Spot nirvana.

2.13 Houses of the Holy The first hint that the show… could possibly someday include angels, but they’re still on the BS list by the end of this episode. We learn more about Sam’s belief in God, Dean’s utter disdain for the idea of God, and the fact that Mary had believed in angels. Dean witnesses something he can’t explain, and Sam points in Dean’s direction when asking, “That’s Michael, right?”

2.14 Born Under a Bad Sign From holy to Hell… Sam is possessed by Meg, who leads Dean on a wild goose chase and does some pretty horrific stuff with Sam’s body. >.> They learn about the antipossession charms from Bobby (and probably get the tattoos shortly after this). Dean still refuses to kill Sam even when he begs (though we learn it was Meg testing or goading all of them).

2.15 Tall Tales We’re introduced to the Trickster (who’s even tricking them about his actual identity). Sam and Dean are completely bamboozled until Bobby shows up and points them to what’s really going on. There’s a lot of fun stuff about Sam and Dean’s relationship and how they see themselves and each other in here, though. And of course we know who the trickster actually is, which makes this all so much more interesting in retrospect… bit of comeuppance and lessons learned.

2.16 Roadkill An interesting take on a ghost MotW episode, where one of the ghosts doesn’t realize she’s dead, and how Sam and Dean work with her to save them all.

2.17 Heart Sam’s first actual sort-of-relationship with a woman. Who happens to be a werewolf… oops. There’s a lot of Sam Pain in this one, and Dean feeling like he’s failed in protecting Sam, yet again. But we are introduced to werewolves, which take on the monster meta shorthand of exposing or understanding their own inner monstrousness.

2.18 Hollywood Babylon And it’s Dean’s turn to have a little fling, where their concept of a “vacation” is “deal with mysterious haunting and death on a movie set.” And like in 1.12, this all comes about because some dingdong thinks he can do whatever he want. ALSO! The true monster of the week here… IS A WRITER. A writer who is furious that his story was trashed, and produced into something unrecognizable as his actual writing. I think this one might be HIGHLY relevant to 14.20, just for that. For the deadly tantrum of a writer who didn’t get his way. (plus the brilliance of Dean going from complete noob to the best PA in the history of Hollywood in like… a day… he’s just that good :’D)

2.19 Folsom Prison Blues In doing a favor for their father’s marine corps buddy (so the ghost of John hangs all over this one), they deliberately get themselves arrested and put in jail. Dean fits in there just as well as he did as a PA. He’s… really just that good at acting. Now I have Green Onions stuck in my head and I want a milkshake. And a donut.

2.20 What Is and What Should Never Be DJINN. aka the monster meta signal of deep personal introspection. What we learn about Dean in this episode is just heartbreaking. What he would wish for (Mary alive, Sam happily at Stanford Law School engaged to Jess) and the consequences he’s willing to endure for that to be a reality (his own life’s work negated, where everyone assumes he’s a drunk and a thief and a loser). 

2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One Dean just wanted pie. Instead Sam gets taken by demons. We finally find out what the demon wanted with him (sort of). Sam plays in the Demon Hunger Games, and loses at the last moment… (Dean gets to feel what it’s like to have a psychic vision, and hates it)

2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two Dean sells his soul to resurrect Sam for the bargain price of one year before he’ll be dragged to Hell. Well learn about Samuel Colt’s Hellgate, which can ironically be unlocked with the Magic Kill Anything Gun (the Colt). In retrospect, this was just the beginning of the larger narrative arc of the Apocalypse, where Azazel released Lilith (along with a lot of other demons) to get that party started now that they had their hooks in Dean’s soul, but hey, at least Azazel won’t live to see it all happen (Dean finally shoots him with that last Colt bullet, rendering the gun useless but at least it did what they needed it to, with an assist from John’s ghost).

3.01 The Magnificent Seven The Seven Deadly Sins, the introduction of Ruby and her Magical Demon Killing Knife. Dean tells Sam he can’t be saved because if he breaks his deal, Sam would die.

3.02 The Kids Are Alright We meet Lisa (who Dean had a fling with years earlier) on Dean’s “relive his greatest hits before he goes to Hell denial roadtrip.” And Dean thinks he has a son for a hot minute (he does not, but he likes the kid anyway). Weirdness with them will ensue until they finally get to move on with their lives in s6. >.> But we’re introduced to our first fairie-adjacent creatures: Changelings. And Sam learns Ruby is actually a demon...

3.03 Bad Day at Black Rock Sam lost his shoe. We learn about curse boxes, Sam and Dean learn that John kept a secret storage unit full of weird and possibly dangerous stuff. But also some relics from their childhood-- Sam’s soccer trophy, Dean’s first sawed-off shotgun. And if that isn’t shorthand for the fact they had very different childhoods, I don’t know what is. Anyway, we meet Bela, and are entertained by good luck going bad… kinda the theme of s3?

3.04 Sin City more demons, we learn more about bigger plans they had for Sam, and Dean comes THIS CLOSE to actually considering letting a demon go… but Ruby helped Bobby make the Colt work again, and Sam kills both demons.

3.05 Bedtime Stories A pseudo-ghost of a girl trapped in a coma acts out fairy tales as a cry for help. Dean doesn’t want to kiss a frog. The pie is poisoned and Dean has to fight the big bad wolf… I swear that all makes perfect meta sense.

3.06 Red Sky at Morning Bela again. And like the ghost they’re hunting, we learn she got her revenge against a family member. The first use of the name “Castiel” in the spell to summon the ghost’s brother’s ghost so they could splish-splosh each other out of existence. That’s… all you really need to know.

3.07 Fresh Blood Gordon Walker, vampires, and vengeance. Taken to an extreme. Dean basically throws himself into danger because what does he have to lose if he’s already destined for Hell? But he’s beginning to crack, and Sam’s getting pretty desperate to get Dean to admit he’s scared and do something to save himself. Gordon’s desire for revenge gets him captured by a vamp and turned… and Sam ends up beheading him with razor wire. Yikes… so much for that revenge, eh?

3.08 A Very Supernatural Christmas Yuletide fun and eggnog. Pagan gods they end up killing with a Christmas tree. But they do reach a personal emotional plateau with Dean’s whole “half a year to live” clock ticking down.

3.09 Malleus Maleficarum Witches. Ruby. And a demon who knows Ruby leading a coven of suburban housewives who believe they’re just doing something harmless and not slowly selling their souls to said demon. Ruby saves Dean’s life, earning his reluctant gratitude for the time being, but not exactly his trust. This is the first we learn of Lilith, the demon apparently leading all the rest of them. Dean also learns that demons are just human souls that have been tortured in hell, and that’s what awaits him after he dies.

3.10 Dream a Little Dream of Me VERY IMPORTANT EPISODE. African Dream Root, which mimics the sort of djinn-dream experience. Dean has to literally confront his demon self. For the first time he admits he didn’t deserve any of this, any of what John put him through. And he admits to Sam that he is scared of going to Hell. Oh, and Bela steals the Colt, aka the only weapon they have against Lilith.

3.11 Mystery Spot If 3.10 was about Dean’s internal trauma, 3.11 is about Sam’s. The trickster puts him through a time loop forcing him to relive endless Tuesdays, and Dean dies each time and he wakes up again. The power to do this is just… insane. Just when they think they’re out, Dean apparently dies “for real,” and it drives Sam on a six month long rather terrifying revenge mission. Only to finally come face to face with the trickster again after having proven the horrific lengths he’s willing to go to in order to save Dean. Also a very, very important episode. Trapped eternally in someone else’s looping story and forced to act it all out endlessly? Yeah. That’s not 14.20 at all >.>

3.12 Jus in Bello very nearly the series finale. They work with Ruby after FBI agent Henriksen discovers they weren’t lying about the supernatural and they exorcise him from demon possession. Dean gives him The Talk about what’s real, and refuses to sacrifice someone to perform Ruby’s spell that would supposedly save them all and kill all the demons. Everyone lives… for a little while, at least. At least Sam and Dean are marked among the dead, so they won’t have to worry about law enforcement chasing them for a while, but Ruby holds this over them (in addition to losing the Colt, if they’d just listened to her everyone would still be alive… in theory… she’s really good at this manipulation thing!)

3.13 Ghostfacers And interesting perspective to see what Sam and Dean would look like uncensored and unbound from the traditional episode format, and through the eyes of other people.

3.14 Long-Distance Call Crocotta. Dean is lured in by John’s voice over the phone, believing it might be a ghost situation, and that John may have a way to save him from Hell. It’s all just a trap that leaves Dean feeling even more hopeless, knowing he can’t expect John (or anyone else) to save him from this. 

3.15 Time Is on My Side Sam gets desperate, and we have another mention of zombies… which if you’ll recall, signals grief and desperation and an inability to let go of the past. Which kinda defines Sam’s state right now. Dean tracks down Bela to retrieve the Colt (but it’s long gone, and Bela’s about to be dragged off by hellhounds herself). Sam tracks down Doc Benton hoping to get him to share his secret for immortality as a last desperate attempt to save Dean. But Dean doesn’t want to live like that, killing other people for their organs as his would wear out, just to keep himself out of Hell. And honestly good for him because ugh.

3.16 No Rest for the Wicked Dean’s seeing through the veil, able to see demons’ true faces, and the hellhounds that are on their way. They steal Ruby’s knife and go after Lilith, and fail completely. Dean’s dragged to Hell, and Sam’s immune to Lilith’s powers.

4.01 Lazarus Rising CAS GRIPPED DEAN TIGHT AND RAISED HIM FROM PERDITION. Honestly if you don’t know the meta import of this episode, this list ain’t gonna help you.

4.02 Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester We really learn about the Apocalypse, the seals breaking that will eventually free Lucifer. Supposedly the angels want to stop them from breaking… and Dean and Cas have their first real conversation about all of this. And this is the episode my tag for God comes from, “If you say mysterious ways, so help me I will kick your ass.” Dean’s already set himself up with Cas to defy God.

4.03 In the Beginning Angels can send you back in time! Dean sees Mary and John’s relationship, the death of Mary’s parents, and the fact Dean talked John into buying the Impala AND now feels responsible for having lured Azazel to Mary in the first place… he witnesses the deal she makes to bring John back that would effectively shape the entire narrative on both sides of this episode. The things we do for love… Cas told Dean to stop it, and in the end tells him he never could’ve stopped any of it. It is what it is. It’s the first instance of Dean getting this glimpse at the bigger picture, and taking away his OWN lesson from it rather than the one he was supposed to learn… 

4.04 Metamorphosis Dean finds out about Sam working with Ruby to exorcise demons with his psychic powers. And the inevitability of falling victim to those psychic powers plays out in the MotW, the rougarou who gives into his hunger. Sam promises to give up using his powers lest that happen to him.

4.05 Monster Movie A straightforward, black and white case. A shapeshifter (so buried truths), but this one becomes Hollywood movie monsters trying to give the monsters a happy ending… essentially trying to rewrite his own story. Sound familiar? Dean gets the girl, at least. I love this episode.

4.06 Yellow Fever Dean vs his own fear, compounded by the fear of a ghost who infects him with ghost sickness, inflicting his own suffering on Dean. This was Dabb’s first episode, and as such, is definitely worth watching for the themes, and what Dean is truly afraid of-- i.e. of going back to Hell and being tortured by Lilith, of Sam being a yellow-eyed demon. The rest is just awkwardly fun watching Dean squirm.

4.07 It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester Sam breaks his promise not to use his powers when Samhain rises. We meet another angel- Uriel- who isn’t as fond of humanity as Cas. Sam meets Cas, too. But this is truly the episode where Cas begins to differentiate himself and show his doubts in Heaven’s orders. He warns Dean that bigger tests are coming, but he doesn’t know what they will be yet. This is still the true foundation stone of Cas’s entire personal character arc for the entire series, when he went from maybe-three-episodes-then-dead interesting side character to 11-years-and-counting truly a Winchester.

4.08 Wishful Thinking I love this episode… you can’t just wish for what you want without consequences. This was like primer-level Cosmic Consequences stuff.

4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer Dean learns what Sam was up to while he was in Hell being tortured by Alastair (conveniently the antagonist in this episode), why he trusts Ruby now, and voluntarily works with Ruby to save Anna-- a woman who hears angels talking. This is effectively continued in:

4.10 Heaven and Hell Where Anna remembers that she’d been an angel who fell from Heaven by choice, removing her grace to experience life as a human. Which… is kinda important a concept to know exists… >.> Heaven (and Cas) judge her harshly for that choice, and yet… there’s just too much just go read my rewatch notes from this episode at the very least.

4.11 Family Remains They think it’s a ghost but it’s not a ghost. All you need to know is this is the episode they wrote on a dare to see if they could write an episode that the network would refuse to air ever again. They were actively trying to write the worst possible episode they could imagine, and this is the result.

4.12 Criss Angel Is a Douchebag

Sam had a thing for stage magic as a kid, but now he runs around with a demon. The concept of “will we be in this life until we die or it kills us” and “what would life even look like to us if we were actually to grow old” is batted around for possibly the first time. 

4.13 After School Special

From contemplating retirement to flashbacks to high school. Another look at Sam and Dean and who they are as people, and how their very different childhoods shaped them into who they are now.

4.14 Sex and Violence Dean’s Siren was a dude. (oh, and the director of this episode? whose last episode was 6.15? is directing 15.03, so maybe worth a peek...)

4.15 Death Takes a Holiday Dean vs Death again. The return of Tessa the reaper from 2.01, and Dean finally remembers. They save Tessa, save a seal, and capture Alastair, but discover they’ve been manipulated into doing it by Cas/Heaven. Heaven loves its manipulations… Pamela the psychic warns Sam that what he’s doing, despite his intentions, is not good. He ignores that advice. At the very least read my rewatch notes for this one. >.>

4.16 On the Head of a Pin There is absolutely too much going on in this episode to sum up in this post. Read my rewatch notes, read the superwiki, watch the episode. This one is huge, for Dean and for Cas.

4.17 It's a Terrible Life Heaven’s Grand Manipulator, Zachariah. Or he thinks he’s pretty grand… he’s really not all that good at his job

4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book CHUCK. The inevitability of destiny, or at least his attempt to write that version. In this episode, all of Chuck’s plans go according to plan… until Dean drags him back into the story and forces a different ending. (and we learn Sam’s demon blood drinking is so distasteful to Chuck he didn’t even include it in his books) Remind you of anything? Like, oh, 4.22, or 5.22, or 11.23, or 14.20? Yes, this episode is the key to everything.

4.19 Jump the Shark Since Adam will reportedly be back in s15, watch this one and understand Dabb’s exact intention in creating the character in the first place-- literally as a decoy who never existed with any narrative weight of his own, as a ghoul (a creature that feeds on the dead and takes their shape). I wrote about this one recently, so I won’t waste space repeating myself here.

4.20 The Rapture CAAAAAAAASSSSSS. He gets dragged back to heaven for disobedience, and is tortured back into obedience. Obviously this one is huge for Cas as a character, and for Dean’s relationship with him. But they both learn about why Sam’s powers were getting stronger, and are not pleased...

4.21 When the Levee Breaks Sam’s detoxing from demon blood until Cas lets him escape. Cas rounds up Anna and has her sent back to Heaven for her own round of torture/reprogramming. And Dean and Sam have her Big Falling Out that drives Sam to do the horrific… however good his intentions are, what he’s doing is still bad.

4.22 Lucifer Rising The grand manipulation is unveiled. Dean talks an angel into rebelling from Heaven to stop the apocalypse, but they’re still not in time to stop Sam from breaking the world. Chuck… is less than fully helpful, despite Cas literally volunteering his own life to protect Chuck. Pretty sure this is a critical episode for rewatching. Chuck’s mostly pleased his story is going to plan.

5.01 Sympathy for the Devil Ugh, no we do not have sympathy for the devil on this blog. Chuck recruits his biggest fan to deliver cryptic messages to Sam and Dean. Dean learns he’s Michael’s true vessel, destined to be his tuxedo for the apocalypse. Cas returns without having a clue how he’s even alive. And it’s all Chuck’s doing… even if we don’t know that yet.

5.02 Good God, Y'All

The apocalypse is in full swing, and the Horsemen are coming out to play. In this case, War manipulating people into destroying each other. Cas sets out on his mission to find God and convince him to help stop this mess. We learn Dean’s amulet had the power to find God all this time, and they’d never known it until now. Convenient!

5.03 Free to Be You and Me Just watch it already, you know you want to. Defines Dean and Cas’s relationship for years to come, though. Plus Sam learns he’s Lucifer’s destined vessel. I’m sure that will all go fine… 

5.04 The End I know most people will disagree with me on this, but the only useful meta takeaway from this episode is the same as one from 4.17: Dean doesn’t learn the lessons he’s “supposed to.” He makes his own lessons. There is literally zero other relevant information to take from this episode, aside from it being Cas who saves him from it. Watch if you enjoy it… but literally nothing about it is any more real than the djinn dream in 2.20 or the dreamroot dream in 3.10, and it’s all been rendered irrelevant by later canon anyway. Especially by 14.20 and that moment Dean refused to play Chuck’s game anymore.

5.05 Fallen Idols More John baggage disguised as an old god. Worth watching just to hear poor Consuela the housekeeper wail about Abraham Lincoln killing Mr. Hill, and Sam being attacked by Ghandi.

5.06 I Believe the Children Are Our Future Dabb’s second gag on the fandom… the antichrist. Dean admitting Cas is his friend. :’)

5.07 The Curious Case of Dean Winchester Dean gets to be an old man for a day.

5.08 Changing Channels Just watch this one, read about it, whatever. Refresh yourself on it. The trickster is unmasked as the Archangel Gabriel, and he’s attempting his own ploy to force Sam and Dean to “play their roles.” They convince him they’re not gonna do that, but to break out of the endless loop of literal television shows he’s forcing them to act out for his own entertainment (and sort of to teach them that lesson), they’ve got to do more than just refuse to play their roles, they’ve got to best him at the game. Kinda like they’re probably gonna have to do with Chuck in s15. 

5.09 The Real Ghostbusters Oh, speaking of Chuck… here have a Supernatural fan convention, and a key piece of information on what actually happened to the Colt after Bela stole it. But most importantly, Dean gets to yell about how much he doesn’t appreciate the story of Supernatural.

5.10 Abandon All Hope… They find the Colt, and Crowley, and discover it never would’ve worked against Lucifer anyway, and then promptly lose the Colt again. Lucifer gets to stare down Cas and Cas doesn’t blink, Meg’s hellhounds kill Jo and Ellen, and really everything’s kinda bleak. Lucifer raises and binds Death.

5.11 Sam, Interrupted WRAITH, aka a monster that uses mind altering venom to “cook” her victims to perfection, so like a djinn and other mind-altering, perception-altering creatures, when they sneak up on you unawares, things get… complicated. Massive insight into the essential character of Sam and Dean.

5.12 Swap Meat Body Swap. That one time Sam was actually Gary.

5.13 The Song Remains the Same More time travel, Sam’s second resurrection, we finally meet Michael face to (Young John Winchester’s) face. Mikey seems pretty confident in his “destiny.” Dean’s second warning to Young Mary about her death is wiped from her mind. Contemplation of Cosmic Consequences: it’s better never to be born if it means stopping the Apcoalypse-- clarified in 12.23-present that… nope, definitely worse. “Team Free Will” coined. Watch this one. It’s the stage on which all the s12-present Family Dynamics will be set.

5.14 My Bloody Valentine We learn Heaven set up John and Mary, that they couldn’t stand one another before Cupids intervened and made them “the perfect couple.” I’ve written a lot about the effect the Horseman Famine had on all of them-- especially Dean and Cas, with the reminder that s5 was the season of “lol nope” to the category of beings attempting to manipulate all of them, including the Horsemen. Important just for all of that (and Edlund’s confirmation that Cas’s cravings were actually his own, and that my read that he was being a shifty liar blaming it on Jimmy was correct-- Cas does have his own human cravings, going all the way back to this point, that he was ashamed of, or terrified of, or both...) As well as Sam’s struggle against demon blood addiction, and his fear of and gradual acceptance and internalization of his own powers)

5.15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid ZOMBIES. ZOMBIE PIE. JODY MILLS. As I’ve said above, zombies are grief and unresolved baggage from the past, and in this episode, the denial was so strong even the normies in town were willing to accept the return of their dead loved ones, clinging to them until they “turned” and devoured them… the Mary parallels, Karen’s talk with Dean about what we do for the people we love… this one’s important.

5.16 Dark Side of the Moon Dabb, and our first look at the structure of Heaven, and how human souls see the place. Probably one of THE most misunderstood episodes in the entire series. Please see everything I’ve ever written about it for reference. FINALLY they toss out the toxic, worthless samulet. (which we literally learn in 11.20 that chuck “switched off” and INTENTIONALLY rendered worthless, because it suited his plotline and amused him). Still think this is vital to understanding Dabb Era overall.

5.17 99 Problems We see what it looks like when Dean gives up, loses hope, and is about to do Stupid Things™. Cas too. Probably useful just for that.

5.18 Point of No Return We finally see Cas really let loose on Dean, and admit what he gave up because he believed in Dean. Because Dean asked him to. Dean nearly gives in to destiny, but because of Cas, because of Sam, he fights through it. Zachariah and his manipulations end (getting stabbed in the face tends to end that sort of thing). Also the irritating return of Adam only to be the meatsuit for Michael when Dean refuses. (and we learn the truth about Adam-- that everything ghoul!Adam told them had been a straight-up manipulation, and Adam only ever cared about his mom. by the time he learns the truth, it’s too late for him, the gullible idiot vs the power of propaganda)

5.19 Hammer of the Gods The return of Gabriel, aka Loki, and a ton of other pagan gods Lucifer will slaughter. Interesting in light of Gabriel’s return in s13, and because of the mirror of Chuck in each of his archangels. And the Winchesters win another angel to TFW.

5.20 The Devil You Know Crowley’s good at manipulation, but again proves himself to be… mostly trustworthy (as long as they’re all working toward the same end). And re: manipulation, Sam gets a glimpse of just how thoroughly his entire life has been manipulated by demonic forces, which… relevant to the revelations of 14.20 vs Sam’s persistent faith in God despite everything.

5.21 Two Minutes to Midnight Cas is effectively human. Bobby sells his soul for Death’s location, and Pestilence falls to teamwork. Cas learns the value of a shotgun. Dean has pizza with Death, who WANTS him to succeed at locking Lucifer back up and explains exactly how to go about doing it. Sam thinks he can overpower Lucifer if he gives in and says yes.

5.22 Swan Song Sam was not totally wrong in 5.21. Cas resurrects Bobby, and explodes and is resurrected (again!) himself. Sam drags two (2) archangels into the cage and is promptly pulled out (only missing one critical bit…). Dean… actually tries to live up to at least one of Sam’s dying wishes, and it basically ruins his life for the next year. Chuck is a smug, self-satisfied bastard who pats himself on the back for a story well-told before flapping off and proceeding to write variations on his original fic using his favorite characters. >.>

6.01 Exile on Main St. All I can hear is Dean’s heartbreak and anger that Sam had been “alive” for a year and forbade anyone from telling Dean that he wasn’t actually suffering tortures in Hell all that time. If ever there was a YIKES moment on the show, this is it for me. This one’s probably good to watch just for the setup of soulless!sam and s6 in general.

6.02 Two and a Half Men Dean’s even good with monster babies. And after a year of unsettled living with Lisa, he’s more duty bound to protect them than he is wanting to stay because he’s actually happy there. Sam is a creepy hunting machine.

6.03 The Third Man CAS! But heck he’s acting shifty, but so’s Sam, and Dean’s feeling even more alone now. The introduction of the concept of Angel Marks on souls, the Profound Bond, and biblical weapons. And the war in Heaven, and the seasonal antagonist stepping up into Michael’s shoes: Raphael.

6.04 Weekend at Bobby's BALLS. Woodchippers trump everything. We discover that burning a demon’s human bones will perma-kill them, and learn a bit of Crowley’s backstory.

6.05 Live Free or Twihard Dean becomes a vampire for a hot minute. We learn there is a vampire cure that works as long as they haven’t had human blood yet. And we learn something really, really is wrong with Sam...

6.06 You Can't Handle the Truth Dean is now 100% positive that something is horrifically wrong with Sam, and is distraught that nobody else seemed to know it for a YEAR.

6.07 Family Matters Cas figures out what’s wrong with Sam and promptly becomes even shadier around the Winchesters. We meet the Alpha Vampire. And vampire eps are about revenge, right? There is a LOT of shady going on here.

6.08 All Dogs Go to Heaven weird dog episode that I always forget exists between rewatches.

6.09 Clap Your Hands If You Believe… hands down the best soulless!Sam episode. You fight those fairies! I’m still waiting for another fairie episode where Dean can still see them and nobody else can :’D. Just watching Sam try to logic his way into being more human is educational about the struggle to be human in general.

6.10 Caged Heat Family betrayal, Sam and Dean nearly get fed to ghouls, Cas would rather be with them then fighting his war in Heaven. Angel blades can kill hellhounds. They finally entrap meg into working with them instead of always trying to kill them >.>

6.11 Appointment in Samarra I think this is still in my top five favorite episodes ever, and one I think everyone needs to rewatch. Dean and Death episodes usually are. And in this one, Dean IS effectively Death for 24 hours. But there is a LOT in this episode, from Death “testing” Dean on multiple levels-- forcing him to make choices AND process the consequences of his actions and how it affects other people… this is a big one for the cosmology of the SPN universe and Dean specifically. Even in Dabb era.

6.12 Like a Virgin Dragons are a thing. Eve pops over from Purgatory.

6.13 Unforgiven Sam’s soul/hell flashbacks start when he goes poking at the wall, but he keeps poking anyway. Giant spider people. Eurgh. But unfortunately the whole “web of lies unraveling” thing kinda fits.

6.14 Mannequin 3: The Reckoning The haunted kidney episode. But Dean finally breaks it off with Lisa (again… >.>)

6.15 The French Mistake We actually learn something about the angel wars… sort of. We also learn AU’s are actually real. (this was also the last episode the director of 15.03 directed, so probably worth watching if they’re bringing him back after all these years…)

6.16 ...And Then There Were None Monster Possession is apparently a thing now. The last of the Campbell hunters die (that was a quick trip through the family dynamics there >.>). The main takeaway here is from Rufus’ funeral: Life’s short, and it’s not worth carrying guilt and regret (takes them a really REALLY long time to actually internalize it with each other, but at least they got the spirit)

6.17 My Heart Will Go On Cas just lying to their faces, creating an alternate timeline just to generate souls as a power source (the specific number of 50k souls comes up, and will come up again in 6.20, as the number of souls Crowley “loaned” Cas at the beginning of the war in Heaven, with the suspicion that Cas was attempting to “buy his way out of their deal”, but the plan fails and he’s forced to put everything back… but he does ensure Sam and Dean both remember the entire experience, but we get an idea of the extent of the power angels can actually wield.

6.18 Frontierland Dabb has referenced this one several times during his era, but again, the history of the Colt is involved, a Phoenix, and Dean in a cowboy hat. We learn even the other angels think Cas is up to something super shady. But it’s their first real moment of hope.

6.19 Mommy Dearest Eve uses Mary’s face to torment Dean, we learn Crowley is not dead, and Cas… has been doing shady things with him. Cas is again effectively human for an episode.

6.20 The Man Who Would Be King Well this is where everything both falls apart and comes together. This episode makes sense of the entire rest of s6, as painful and sad as it is. If you only watch one episode from s6, it should probably be this one.

6.21 Let It Bleed Dean’s worst fear comes true, and people he cares about but leaves behind for their own protection are used against him. Not just by bad guys, but by Cas. Ouch. Still incredulous that Dean did recognize HP Lovecraft, or even make a Metallica reference at the mention of “Call of Cthulhu.”

6.22 The Man Who Knew Too Much Sam putting himself back together. Cas tearing things apart.

7.01 Meet the New Boss That one episode where it looks like Cas will be the unwitting bad guy and s7 will be about saving him, until it’s really really not. That whole exchange between Dean and Cas about forgiveness and finding some way to make it up to him, though… that’s what will carry us through the bleak middle of s7 and generate the grief arc for Dean in the meantime.

7.02 Hello, Cruel World It looks like Cas is really, truly gone, and all Dean has of him is his trenchcoat. And we’re stuck cleaning up his oozy black mess for the next 15 episodes before getting him back again. Sam’s Hallucifering all over the place and finds a connection to reality through squeezing the scar on his hand, which will become a symbol in show for reconnecting with reality for him for years to come.

7.03 The Girl Next Door Sam thinks pie and cake are the same. In their own respective messed up mental states, Sam thinks Amy is worth saving, Dean doesn’t trust that and kills her. Let the guilt ensue.

7.04 Defending Your Life A good setup of Sam and Dean’s issues for s7.

7.05 Shut Up, Dr. Phil I can’t believe they melted Tula’s painting. But it takes a couple of bickering witches for them to finally get a hold on the Leviathan, so that’s something.

7.06 Slash Fiction Aah, going back to the beginning as a trap for Sam and Dean-- the Leviathan using the Supernatural books to lay a trail case by case from Sam leaving Stanford (Crowley will do the same in 8.22, and the end of 14.20 gave a lot of people the impression there will be a similar progression in s15… but honestly that’s really only sustainable for a single episode, but this may be relevant for like… 15.01-02). Also, Dean finds it satisfying to behead himself (or the leviathan version of himself)… so yikes.

7.07 The Mentalists I love this one just for the Dean feels. He’s really hurting.

7.08 Season Seven, Time for a Wedding! Sam’s love-spelled. Mind control is always a terrible thing. Demons trying to game the system and cash in on deals ahead of schedule. So that’s a thing.

7.09 How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters I love this one. Poor Dean. This is the first time he’s actually felt good in like… ever. Too bad it’s from monster goo.

7.10 Death's Door Bobby :’( And Dean essentially falls apart.

7.11 Adventures in Babysitting Vetala. Which only Dean knew hunt in pairs, so hunter after hunter had been falling victim to them, including Sam. Meanwhile Dean finally got a decent nap.

7.12 Time After Time Dean gets booped back to the 1940’s to hunt with Eliot Ness. Still, they defeat Chronos, yet another god whose prophecy will be tossed aside by the Winchesters.

7.13 The Slice Girls Dean accidentally has a monsterbabby, Sam kills her. Amazons.

7.14 Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie Just watch it. This is the only episode in the entire series that just… is purely good and fun. Sam has to confront his fear of clowns, Dean faces a villain who was blamed for his brother’s death when he was just a kid and his parents should’ve been doing their jobs instead. I mean...

7.15 Repo Man The guy who was trying to lure back “his demon” exorcised during the Apocalypse era, by continuing his murder spree. Sam loses to Hallucifer by acknowledging his existence as separate from Sam’s own subconscious. There’s… a lot in this episode. At least read my rewatch notes.

7.16 Out with the Old Sam eventually succumbs to his Hallucifering, Dean nearly succumbs to a pair of toe shoes. Peter Yankit of Johnson Lane nearly succumbs to a cursed porn magazine. Cursed objects are fun.

7.17 The Born-Again Identity CAAAAASSSSS! He’s back, even if he doesn’t remember who he is. Dean tries to break it to him slowly, but instead unburdens a lot of his personal hurt over Cas’s actions to the oblivious “Emmanuel,” And Cas tells Dean his feelings are completely understandable. This is setting up the entire rest of Cas’s arc, probably through the end of the series. This is what motivates him, his need to repent. And He gets a start by taking on Sam’s trauma, healing Sam.

7.18 Party On, Garth An alcohol spirit enacting personal revenge, and despite all evidence, Sam continues to doubt Dean’s theory that Bobby is somehow still around. Dean’s season-long grief-drinking becomes a punchline, and Dean’s literally the only sober one in the final fight scene.

7.19 Of Grave Importance Yep, Bobby is a ghost, been there all along. Also, ghosts can sort of… cannibalize each other? For their power? whatever, moving on.

7.20 The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo CHARLIE.

7.21 Reading Is Fundamental KEVIN. But also CAS! Is awake but not quite himself and in full denial mode, like he was awakened against his will before he was done cooking >.>. we learn a bit more about prophets as we see Kevin awakened to serve the Leviathan Tablet.

7.22 There Will Be Blood more manipulation, and the Alpha Vampire is back, so we get a double whammy of manipulation/deceit AND revenge. The alpha vampire cooperates with the Winchesters. So does Crowley.

7.23 Survival of the Fittest Cas doesn’t want to fight, but in the end he steps up. They get the Leviathan, Dean and Cas are beamed to Purgatory, and Sam’s left alone and pulls a Sam. He runs away from reality.

8.01 We Need to Talk About Kevin Dean comes back from Purgatory without Cas, but with a vampire friend… so s8 is about Dean making pals with revenge. This will fuel his arc for a good long while to come until he can finally make his peace with it. It affects his interactions with Sam for most of the first half of the season… because while Dean was fighting for his life, Sam was… pretending to be a normal guy and ignoring everything else. Including Kevin.

8.02 What's Up, Tiger Mommy? The push to do something drives them to seek out the Demon Tablet with the promise of closing the gates of Hell forever at Kevin’s suggestion. Plutus, the God of Greed is the baddie in this one, if that’s any sort of meta statement on their overall plan to take this particular course of action… the narrative basically condemned their plot before the season even started. Hubris, ahoy. But we also find out why Cas ran away in Purgatory-- to protect Dean. And why he wanted to stay-- guilt and penance.

8.03 Heartache Oh, a case where a curse is passed on to others after death? And the original death didn’t actually end the curse as intended? Nice.

8.04 Bitten I love episodes were we see Sam and Dean through other people’s eyes. And this one, an episode where we learn new things about werewolves (remember: an examination of inner monstrousness).

8.05 Blood Brother I’d point out the agony of Winchester Secret Keeping being toxic, but since we’re largely out past that by the end of s14… *shrug emoji*. Dean helps his vampire friend get revenge against the vampires who killed him. Double revenge! And Sam… does not like Benny. But we know exactly why DEAN does… he literally saved Cas’s life in Purgatory, despite repeatedly wanting to leave Cas behind. He saved Cas for Dean.

8.06 Southern Comfort Garth again, and his serenity is basically there to point out how toxic Sam and Dean are by comparison. The spectre that possesses Dean to leech off his vengefulness has zero effect on Garth. But Dean gets out his feelings of anger that Sam never looked for him in Purgatory, so that’s on the table to provide drama for years to come.

8.07 A Little Slice of Kevin CAS IS BACK AGAIN! But he has no idea how he got here (he’s been mind controlled by Heaven again, and is desperately trying to make amends, but is literally blocked from doing so at every turn, which is a tidy mirror for what Chuck’s done to the entire story since… forever… so this is probably a must-watch episode, or at least read my notes on it.

8.08 Hunteri Heroici This one’s fun, until it’s owie, and then sad. Magical powers don’t save the day, they only end up hurting people. Cas desperately wants to make amends, but he is afraid to face what he’s done. Instead, he just gets manipulated even harder. At least read my notes for this one, too.

8.09 Citizen Fang Oh, manipulation moves directly to the Winchester brothers, no heavenly interference required. Vampires again, but this time Dean again sides with Benny, but against Sam… who again refuses to hear the truth and pulls another Sam. He forgot the lesson that sometimes it’s not the monsters being monstrous, and it’s important to kill the RIGHT monster, not just the convenient one.

8.10 Torn and Frayed Just like the episode sounds… Cas goes to Dean for help,  and then brings Sam onboard and asks them to stow their crap. By the end of the episode, Sam and Dean will have resigned themselves to being on their own again because Cas is… something is not right with him...

8.11 LARP and the Real Girl CHARLIE! Fairies! Dean does one (1) fun thing for his birthday. But this is about using a book to manipulate events to suit the Bad Guy’s whims. Sound familiar?

8.12 As Time Goes By Sam and Dean meet their grandfather, fill in a huge gaping hole from their past, and discover their legacy, the Men of Letters, and the Bunker that will become their home.

8.13 Everybody Hates Hitler Yep. It’s true! Nazi necromancers, and another new ally in Aaron. They settle in to the bunker.

8.14 Trial and Error They take their first steps toward closing the gates of Hell, killing a Hellhound. I wrote about this one recently, so go read that. :’D

8.15 Man's Best Friend with Benefits another weird dog episode

8.16 Remember the Titans Prometheus, Artemis, and Zeus. Curses passed down through families to fall on innocent children. And Zeus is delighted because it causes even more suffering.

8.17 Goodbye Stranger oh the agony. We see what it took for Heaven to control Cas, and what it took for Dean to break through to him, only to fall to yet another mind whammy by the angel tablet. Of course Dean takes this personally, abandoned again. Definitely watch this one. Read the notes. All that.

8.18 Freaks and Geeks In case anyone missed the point, we have manipulation and vampires. And Dean reminding everyone that finding the truth is important (let’s not be so bloodthirsty that just anyone will do).

8.19 Taxi Driver The second trial, the horror that Bobby’s wrongfully been in Hell all this time, and Sam is stranded in Purgatory until Benny shows up to escort him to the portal. Sam finally gets why Dean’s loyalty to Benny never wavered. He was literally willing to die for Dean. This guilt will carry Sam into the third trial eventually but for now...

8.20 Pac-Man Fever Let’s look at Dean’s guilt/fear. That he’s failed to protect Sam and won’t be able to save him from the trials. Fear is a terrible thing. But we have djinn AND dreamroot, so all the false realities.

8.21 The Great Escapist This is still among my favorite episodes, but Cas finally begins fighting for himself, and we uncover the extent of Heaven’s duplicity, and meet Metatron, aka Chuck Lite. Definitely watch or at least read.

8.22 Clip Show Aah, I mentioned this one back in 7.06. This is Crowley’s turn to use the boys’ history against them, but instead of manipulating them, they trap him (at the beginning of 8.23, after whoopsie accidentally freeing Abaddon because of Crowley’s manipulation distracting them from their job…) We learn that “curing a demon” is a thing.

8.23 Sacrifice Cas is so embittered by his experiences with heaven that he refuses to believe Metatron is lying, and thus falls victim to the worst manipulation yet. Sam’s dying from the trials, Cas is human, and angels fall. (and also some of the worst, most toxic relationship stuff between Sam and Dean, which contributes to all of that, along with their hubris to think this was a good idea in the first place… I mean it’s literally what the big bad of s9 did to Heaven so why were they trying to do the same to Hell again?)

9.01 I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here Cas is human, confused, and alone. The big bad is basically Diet Chuck, and Dean is manipulated into doing a Terrible Thing to save Sam that will strain their relationship for the rest of the season. (Don’t worry, Sam will return the favor in s10 >.>) Buckle in for a season all about manipulation by more powerful cosmic forces but with all new levels of guilt over having caused these problems in the first place!

9.02 Devil May Care Abaddon makes a play for the role of big bad, but will ultimately lose the title to Metatron.

9.03 I'm No Angel The Worst Possible Take on Human Cas. Mostly I ignore this episode.

9.04 Slumber Party Oz. Dorothy. Wicked Witch of the West. Sam’s angel possession gets a bit tricky… Direct mind control instead of the manipulative sneaky kind we usually see. and CHARLIE. The Winchesters lives are directly compared to Dorothy Baum’s, where her “fictionalized” version didn’t even come close to describing the horror of her lived reality. (also that one line swap incident that still pisses me off… and pissed Robbie Thompson off enough to write a whole SCENE in 11.04 they couldn’t screw around with like that… “god helps those who help themselves”)

9.05 Dog Dean Afternoon oh look another weird dog episode

9.06 Heaven Can't Wait the Best Possible Take on Human Cas. Well, while Dean’s still being held hostage against telling the truth to him about the angel possessing Sam… and not being able to just bring Cas back home with him. :’)

9.07 Bad Boys Sam learns another major lesson about just how much Dean was manipulated into lying to him his whole life, and another look at what Dean has given up over the years to protect Sam. The origin of my “the story became the story” tag. 

9.08 Rock and a Hard Place Breaking vows is frowned upon. Vesta. And Dean tries to tell Sam about the angel possessing him, but he’s prevented from doing so. And he’s really beginning to realize just how bad a decision this may have been...

9.09 Holy Terror Cas is back in town. He can’t stand by when he might be able to help, but again Gadreel (because now we know that’s the angel possessing Sam) refuses. Gadreel is lured in by Metatron, and things for Sam go from bad to worse. Cas steals another angel’s grace because he had no choice. And Gadreel kills Kevin and runs off. All of a sudden, Dean’s alone.

9.10 Road Trip Just when Dean can finally tell the truth to Cas, Cas isn’t human anymore. They literally never got to actually just BE. Crowley poughkeepsie’s Sam into kicking Gadreel out. Abaddon is becoming more of a problem. Probably at least read the notes on this one. At the end, it’s Dean that “pulls the Sam” and runs away. Which is interesting because they’re essentially gonna swap narrative roles for like… the next season and a half. Buckle up. Things get rocky >.>

9.11 First Born And definitely watch this one. Cas and Sam bonding hour, while Dean goes off with Crowley and is manipulated into taking on the Mark of Cain so he’ll be able to kill Abaddon for Crowley… (and for everyone else, but mainly for Crowley).

9.12 Sharp Teeth Sometimes family can be a werewolf pack. And Garth is now part of one of those, but there’s still zero monstrousness in Garth. As Dean’s beginning to wonder if he should regret taking the Mark (just as Cas wondered if he should regret cannibalizing grace… which he said made him barbaric)

9.13 The Purge A genuinely altruistically intentioned monster, or at least one who attempted to use her monstrousness for good. But her blind spot was her brother, out there just devouring whatever he wanted and not wanting to play by the rules of society or worrying about staying hidden and safe. Plus, DONNA. Even if she doesn’t get to play a big part in the monster hunting.

9.14 Captives We learn more horrors about the s6 angel war from Bart, and pushing Cas toward siding more and more with humanity and against all the heaven nonsense (until he’s manipulated back in DIRECTLY by Metatron and his magic typewriter… but that’s four episodes in the future yet). Linda Tran gets a bit of revenge for being held prisoner for half a year anyway...

9.15 thinman ghostfacers, back to face their own ghosts. If you like getting hit in the face with anvils...

9.16 Blade Runners Crowley’s addicted to humanity. Dean finds his own addiction in the First Blade. And we get our first glimpse of the darker side of the MoL.

9.17 Mother's Little Helper Misha directed it, and it’s got one of the most beautiful scenes in the whole series (Sam freeing the stolen souls, but Dean drinking and playing pool ain’t half bad either). Soullessness, which Sam handles on his own, and learns the truth of how Abaddon infiltrated the MoL.

9.18 Meta Fiction A MUST WATCH. Writers lie. Read my posts. What makes a story? Seriously, Metatron is just Chuck with training wheels.

9.19 Alex Annie Alexis Ann Vampires. More revenge. This time for stolen childhood and lost family. Plus Jody, and the first seed that would become Wayward. Dean is also beginning to succumb to the Mark’s darker urges.

9.20 Bloodlines Dabb’s idea of a joke, I’m pretty sure. 

9.21 King of the Damned Well, Abaddon’s dead, at least. Time trave wtf’ery. Dean is… not okay...

9.22 Stairway to Heaven Sam and Cas pop culture road trip. The level of Metatron’s manipulation becomes horrifically apparent. And Cas gives up his army because he refuses to kill Dean. (also Dean really loses it at the end…)

9.23 Do You Believe in Miracles? Crowley reveals the truth about what the Mark is doing to Dean, and we see the final truth when Dean wakes up as a demon.

10.01 Black Demon Dean Part 1. Bad karaoke and random murder. Cas is languishing because of stolen grace, and Sam is off the rails interrogating demons for Dean’s location.

10.02 Reichenbach Demon Dean Part 2. Cas struggles to teach Hannah about humanity, Sam struggles to find Dean.

10.03 Soul Survivor Demon Dean the conclusion. Cas hugs the demon outta Dean. Er… that’s what happened, pretty sure. But he’s still got the Mark.

10.04 Paper Moon More fun with Werewolves: Siblings edition. While Dean struggles to come to terms with his own literal inner monster...

10.05 Fan Fiction Just watch it. And read my rewatch notes for it. I mean, it’s about rewriting the story. And Chuck shows up at the end and gives it a “Not bad.” Probably kinda relevant.

10.06 Ask Jeeves Supernatural: Clue edition. With a shapeshifter that Bobby had known about for decades. Buried secret things again.

10.07 Girls, Girls, Girls Our first real introduction to Rowena. :’) She’s not a friend in this one...Hannah finally gets a taste of humanity through her vessel’s grief and pain, and decides that it’s wrong for her to remain in her vessel. She returns to Heaven, and Cas is left to ponder how he affected Jimmy’s family (since Jimmy’s long dead now) by his possession.

10.08 Hibbing 911 DONNA AND JODY. Donna gets “the talk,” in a vampire case, and finally gets to prove her mettle as a hunter.

10.09 The Things We Left Behind Cas has found Claire Novak, and does what he can to help her. She’s been taken in and manipulated by an unsavory character, who Dean kills in a fit of mark-induced violence (granted he was surrounded by dudes who wanted him dead, but it was still upsetting and mirrored his nightmare from the opening scene). The burger date. (go ahead and watch it)

10.10 The Hunter Games More Claire drama, but this time she stops it. The Longing Retcon. Cas uses emoticons. And Dean nearly kills Metatron while demanding he tell him how to cure the Mark. Things are getting kinda desperate on that end… All Metatron says is “the river ends at the source”

10.11 There's No Place Like Home OZ. CHARLIE. At least read my watch notes. I’ve been banging on about this episode since it aired. But at the very least read the last round of watch notes. Possibly relevant again because of how it was relevant to Chuck and Amara in 11.23 (yes, this is basically how Dean saved the universe).

10.12 About a Boy Dean gets zapped into a 14-year-old version of himself by a witch. Plus: the mark disappeared for a few days, probably giving him a mini-vacation from enduring it and refreshing his control a bit.

10.13 Halt & Catch Fire ghosts in the machines… plus a John reference that is reinforced when a clip from this episode is reused in the horror movie trailer in 14.04 (so skim my rewatch notes for that if you’re still following along for that sort of thing… post 14.13… *shrug emoji*)

10.14 The Executioner's Song Watch it. Read the notes. This is a big one. Free will-wise.

10.15 The Things They Carried Khan worm: homoerotic sweat lodge edition.

10.16 Paint It Black Worth it just for Dean’s confessional scene. At least read my rewatch notes.

10.17 Inside Man We learn some interesting things about Heaven, Cas gets Bobby’s help to break in and talk to Metatron, they sneak him out, steal his grace, and have their leverage over the one person who might know how to cure Dean AND get Cas what’s left of his own grace back… Meanwhile Rowena tries to kill Dean, and he has a heart to heart with Crowley about what Family really means. Definitely watch, or at least read my notes. A lot happens in this one.

10.18 Book of the Damned CHARLIE. And the wtf’ery of the Styne family begins >.> Sam has a good chat with Charlie about his own life. Metatron leads Cas to another book containing his grace and then escapes with the demon tablet. Family dinner. At least skim my notes on this one. (basically anything with metatron is probably relevant to Chuck stuff…)

10.19 The Werther Project Watch this one. I just wrote notes on it. The beginnings of an interesting relationship between Sam and Rowena (yes that started in 10.18, but this is where it gains weight in Sam’s own subconscious). Dean confronts himself in his own vision about the burden he’s laid on Cas (to kill him if he goes off the rails again). There’s a lot of emotional baggage in this one, too. But seroiusly-- watch this one for the Sam and Rowena stuff, because Rowena… isn’t even really there… 

10.20 Angel Heart Claire, and Cas’s finally laying to rest his baggage associated with the Novak family. Dean and Claire finally bonding. Dean and Cas went to the Hot Topical.

10.21 Dark Dynasty w. t. f. (if you want to be pissed off, give it a watch)

10.22 The Prisoner If you just want the comforting revenge portion of the program, just watch this one instead. Or if you can’t bear to, at least read my notes on it.

10.23 Brother's Keeper Whoopsie, Dean kills Death. Whoopsie, Sam doesn’t stop everyone else from executing the spell to cure the mark. Whoopsie, that releases the Darkness. Also for people who don’t “see Samwitch,” uh… please note that this is a major inciting incident in Sam and Rowena’s relationship-- she’s being held prisoner to complete this spell, and literally kills the only person she ever loved for it, on Sam’s order… (technically…), which will fuel the ongoing antagonism of early s11. Their relationship isn’t fluffy. It’s built on this mutual pain.

11.01 Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire Amara. I think a lot of s11 is gonna be relevant thematically to s15, but...

11.02 Form and Void I think a better focus of “what is relevant thematically” will be found by looking at Dabb’s episodes and influence over this season… I’d start a rewatch with this one, and the introduction of Billie, who will become Dabb’s in-show avatar as he takes over the reins.

11.03 The Bad Seed Rowena finally undoes the spell she’d cast on Cas. but they’re all traumatized. Please at least read my notes on this one, too.

11.04 Baby This episode sets the new tone for Sam and Dean’s relationship going forward. They are more open with one another, and the main drama isn’t them hiding things that eventually blow up in their faces like it had been in the past. There’s still elements of that, but things never really go back to the toxicity of s9 and s10 after this. Ghoulpire.

11.05 Thin Lizzie Fake haunting at Lizzie Borden’s house, Amara eats souls.

11.06 Our Little World Cas is clearly struggling with PTSD, hiding in the bunker until he spots Metatron by chance and finally gets upset enough to go after him. Dean’s first confrontation with Amara outside of his Darknado Vision, and she… tosses him aside like a used tissue. Sam’s still having visions of the Cage and still thinks the visions are coming from God… >.> 

11.07 Plush Donna! And haunted masks! Foreshadowing that Sam’s about to confront Lucifer in the cage-- creepy clown in the elevator.

11.08 Just My Imagination Sam’s childhood imaginary friend was actually real.

11.09 O Brother Where Art Thou? Dean is yoinked from a park by Amara to have a chat about how they’re destined to become one and all that creepy nonsense, while Sam decides to go directly to Hell to talk with Lucifer and doesn’t wait for Dean. Granted, Rowena has been manipulated with lies from Lucifer in this scheme… but she’s about to learn how bad a decision that was. Dean does get to see just how casually Amara can destroy angels, though… which will become relevant it...

11.10 The Devil in the Details Where Dean tells Cas to run if Amara isn’t actually dead… but Cas is convinced he’s useless by the end of the episode and says yes to Lucifer. Owwwwww. At least read my notes on this one. They’re from last week...

11.11 Into the Mystic We meet Eileen, and I just wrote notes about this episode a few days ago. Banshee, which feeds on broken hearts, Dean’s told he’s pining for someone, and is concerned that Cas doesn’t seem himself… >.> He’s also asked if he wants to know the secret to a long and happy life… “Follow your heart” (and he confesses his powerlessness in Amara’s presence to Casifer) https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/186891847375/1111-into-the-mystic-heck-ive-written-a-lot

11.12 Don't You Forget About Me Wayward! Family learning what it means to be family. Vampires-- so the element of revenge, but this time it’s the vamps seeking revenge on a human. 

11.13 Love Hurts Quareen. A monster that basically feeds on obsession, toxic “love.” For Dean, that manifests as Amara trying to rip out his heart. I mean… this is the episode he confesses to Sam that he can’t control himself in Amara’s presence, and Sam reassures him it’s not his fault. And he explicitly says it’s not love. It’s horrifying to him, because this episode, this monster, had nothing to do with love, but with possession and control.

11.14 The Vessel What a wonderfully apt and layered title. Thus begins Dean’s s11 “pining for Cas” arc, where his entire focus shifts to Cas after unburdening his Amara issues onto Sam in 11.13. I also consider this episode to fall definitively into Dabb Era. Probably goes for episodes back to 11.10, but this is where that shift is truly evident to me. Definitely watch this one, read my notes, etc. etc.

11.15 Beyond the Mat https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/186962895400/1115-beyond-the-mat-jerry-wanek-directed (just read my notes, this is a Dabb co-writing credit episode)

11.16 Safe House Maybe I should just start copying my rewatch notes here for every episode… https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/186963627365/1116-safe-house-more-blasts-from-the-past-in-a 

11.17 Red Meat You should just watch this one, and remember this episode isn’t glorifying the codependency between Sam and Dean, it’s shattering it… It’s werewolves, after all (inner monstrousness brought to light) and read some of my past notes on it.

11.18 Hell's Angel The first half of the episode is just a lot of talking, but hooboy.. Rowena is back from the dead and we learn more of why she seeks out power-- self-preservation. Worth watching just for the second half, the failed Poughkeepsie scene, Dean’s heartbreak and fear for Cas, and Amara’s shock that with Cas standing between them, she doesn’t seem to have any affect over Dean at all… 

11.19 The Chitters For a MotW episode, I think this really captures on a meta level what Dabb intends for the whole series. It’s worth watching for itself, but have my notes as to why: https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/184690946610/weve-finally-hit-1119-on-the-tnt-loop-this

11.20 Don't Call Me Shurley Chuck, and Metatron. I think everyone really needs to watch this one, just to remember how absolutely shady Chuck was. Basically from here right through the end of s11, if you pay attention to these episodes, nothing about 14.20 is the least bit shocking...

11.21 All in the Family Just like 11.20...

11.22 We Happy Few Just like 11.20 and 21

11.23 Alpha and Omega Do we not all think s14 is gonna end on a similar thematic note? Minus all the cliffhangery stuff?

12.01 Keep Calm and Carry On I can picture Dabb rubbing his hands together preparing to run the narrative in loops ad infinitum until he gets word they’ve got one season left to wrap it up. Worth it for the Dean and Mary and Cas. :’)

12.02 Mamma Mia https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/184126233100/cass-flashback-to-his-time-hunting-with-mary-as (written recently…)

12.03 The Foundry The companion notes to the link in the last episode: https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/187007192830/1203-the-foundry-yes-ive-already-written 

12.04 American Nightmare If you haven’t noticed, I’m just pasting rewatch notes links now… >.> https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/184740345285/im-watching-1207-on-the-tnt-loop-and-yeah 

12.05 The One You've Been Waiting For See the link at 12.04 (Dean also killed Hitler)

12.06 Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox see the link at 12.04 (Also Billie is in this one, so of course I think it’s important to the ongoing Dabb Era narrative)

12.07 Rock Never Dies see the link at 12.04 (Lucifer’s nihilism laid bare, no different from Michael’s in s14)

12.08 LOTUS The episode that brought us Jack. Well, eventually…  I’m putting these notes here, even though they also cover 12.09: https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/184761652205/so-the-tnt-loop-has-continued-into-s12-and-after 

12.09 First Blood (see above, plus Billie, plus Cas laying it out on the table what he will do because he loves the Winchesters... he does a lot of pining for Dean)

12.10 Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets Nephilim, Lily Sunder, Human souls as angelic power sources, the deceptions of heaven (and love versus obsession again). https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/184762915965/last-ep-on-the-tnt-loop-today-1210-reminders 

12.11 Regarding Dean Watch this one, 100%. But also have my whole tag for this episode… I haven’t actually made rewatch notes for it recently, apparently? Which is a shame, because we have Sam working with Rowena, Dean riding Larry BEFORE losing his memories to a curse. There’s a lot of excellent character stuff in this one, for all of them.

12.12 Stuck in the Middle (With You) Watch this one. Cas is family. He loves them. This is the point I became frustrated with myself because there’s a huge gap in my hellatus rewatch notes that I thought I covered and apparently… did not… I don’t have recent notes to point you toward for convenience...

12.13 Family Feud Rowena gets her revenge on Crowley for making her kill Oskar in 10.23. Too much time travel wtf to even bother mentioning anything else.

12.14 The Raid The lengths Sam will go to to have any sort of relationship with Mary… including lying to and manipulating Dean. Vampires… and the Colt, and Sam finally kills the Alpha Vampire.

12.15 Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell between the Crowley and Lucifer drama, Sam kills the Alpha Hellhound (essentially). A lot of other deceptions and lies come to light though, and Cas disappears off to Heaven and from just one call, Dean’s already concerned about him. https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/184853801830/still-on-s12-in-the-tnt-loop-and-heck-s12-looks

12.16 Ladies Drink Free (covered in the notes linked in 12.15) Werewolves, and an actual werewolf cure.

12.17 The British Invasion (covered in the 12.17 post) Eileen is back for her last real episode.

12.18 The Memory Remains https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/184854556715/that-last-scene-of-1218-where-sam-and-dean-are 

12.19 The Future https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/184875554515/i-find-it-endlessly-fascinating-that-i-can-rewatch (this post covers… most of the rest of s12 and loads of s13)

12.20 Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes (see the link in 12.19)

12.21 There's Something About Mary Mary is being stripped of her will. And Free Will has been what this show has been about… forever. And what will be recontextualized in the wake of 14.20.

12.22 Who We Are And here’s where Mary’s will is restored to her.

12.23 All Along the Watchtower The proof of the spiral narrative. But also the point writing this post that I’ve determined this is all probably neither useful nor interesting to anyone other than myself, and I lose the ability to simply discuss these episodes individually anymore. From here on out, it becomes a weird blur of everything. This post is already over 14,000 words long and I still have 43 more entries to make, and I have no idea how to convey the meta import or Character Development highlights from this point forward. I don’t even know how to eliminate most of these from a watch list of essential character and meta points. So I’m just gonna… wing it… 

13.01 Lost and Found Watch this one for the soul-crushing agony, and our intro to the Nougat.

13.02 The Rising Son Jack is nearly manipulated by the Kentucky Fried Demon

13.03 Patience Our second Wraith. Watch it for, if nothing else, Dean shouting down Sam about Cas.

13.04 The Big Empty TFW in group therapy with a shapeshifter. Cas vs the Empty, defending his life with a statement that he wants to live, but… again he is unclear on his mission going forward.

13.05 Advanced Thanatology Must watch for Billie, for Dean’s complete loss of hope, and Sam’s inability to “fix him” with things that worked in the past.

13.06 Tombstone Yeehaw! Cas is Dean’s big win.

13.07 War of the Worlds Michael has been effectively “playing God” in the AU. The first rumors that Rowena is actually alive after 12.23, and Cas is captured by Asmodeus, who manipulates the Winchesters into thinking Cas is still at liberty… That’s probably all you need to know. >.>

13.08 The Scorpion and the Frog https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/184946657745/so-im-still-out-ahead-of-the-tnt-loop-but-i (this also covers 13.15)

13.09 The Bad Place Wayward!

13.10 Wayward Sisters Wayward again!

13.11 Breakdown Donna! Wayward part 3! And the reminder (via Vampires) that not everyone who has a brush with the Supernatural will feel compelled to pick up a life of hunting.

13.12 Various & Sundry Villains Zombie! (which makes it relevant to Jack stuff even indirectly) Rowena! And Sam giving Rowena what she needed to protect herself, which honestly is what she’s been seeking since her introduction in s10. Sam. Just handed it to her. Let that sink in. Maybe watch the episode. It’s fun, anyway.

13.13 Devil's Bargain Heaven sucks. The bits about Sister Jo describing the feeling of weakened grace allowing her to feel a little bit human is relevant to our interests, though. 

13.14 Good Intentions Watch this one. It sets up Cas’s special power to strip memories from a human mind, and the results of that. And Dean’s wishy-washiness about just telling Cas he’s wanted, not just needed.

13.15 A Most Holy Man (see 13.08)

13.16 Scoobynatural Dude… it’s scoobynatural. just watch it because you want to.

13.17 The Thing this post covers 13.17-13.20, for convenience’s sake: https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/184996231285/so-ive-watched-four-more-episodes-since-my-last 

13.18 Bring 'em Back Alive (see above)

13.19 Funeralia Billie and Rowena, Sam’s “destiny” to kill Rowena, and Castiel’s forgiveness by Naomi in Heaven as she explains how badly heaven is broken and shows him to the door, knowing he won’t stay. This is a must watch.

13.20 Unfinished Business Revenge doesn’t fix anything.

13.21 Beat the Devil https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185000752455/still-watching-s13-and-1321-is-owie-but-im 

13.22 Exodus (see 13.21) https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185000920730/dean-in-1322-so-close-to-ready-to-letting-all 

13.23 Let the Good Times Roll (see 13.21) But I have a list for this episode… maybe just read my tag starting with the posts I made on May 19, 2019… https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185002926095/1323-vs-1420-lets-start-with-1323-jack-tell and https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185003462010/1323-was-so-ridiculous-i-mean-dean-basically 

14.01 Stranger in a Strange Land At this point, I think everything is at least tangentially relevant… I mean look at this nonsense: https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185004920575/on-to-s14-and-one-of-dabbs-big-pet-themes-for

14.02 Gods and Monsters https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185014835950/aah-only-18-more-episodes-to-go-and-48-hours-to

14.03 The Scar https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185016627975/aah-1403-power-doesnt-fix-anything-dean-is 

14.04 Mint Condition https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185018115175/im-gonna-lump-1404-and-1405-together-here-for 

14.05 Nightmare Logic (covered in the post linked for 14.04)

14.06 Optimism https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185030339610/1406-jack-im-already-writing-isnt-that and https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185030940270/jack-vs-zombies 

14.07 Unhuman Nature (see that first post in 14.06)

14.08 Byzantium https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185042798280/omg-wait-literally-in-1408-while-theyre-all 

14.09 The Spear https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185043896890/haaaaa-1409-and-michaels-speech-at-the-end 

14.10 Nihilism Not rewatch notes, but a post made after the episode aired: https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/182171684160/were-working-on-the-power-of-love

14.11 Damaged Goods https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185047861195/the-boxes-of-1411-omfg-a-demon-trapped-in-a-box 

14.12 Prophet and Loss https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185048948905/aah-1412-tony-you-cant-you-cant-do-this 

14.13 Lebanon https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185050918250/ive-been-holding-off-starting-1413-because-i 

14.14 Ouroboros aka the point where I firmly believe they were 100% sure s15 would be the final season, and began actively setting up the endgame. (I mean I think they knew well before this, but this was where the turn happened narratively) https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185052705595/i-wrote-a-little-about-1414-earlier-today-in 

14.15 Peace of Mind WHEEE! My delightful personal vendetta against Chip, the MotW, the direct Chuck parallel who even called himself a god, and who manipulated everyone else around him to make HIMSELF happy… like seriously, major definitely must rewatch. https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185074234960/mittensmorgul-once-again-in-1415-cas-is (I wrote so much about this episode it’s ridiculous)

14.16 Don't Go in the Woods https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185056380525/so-i-started-watching-1416-intending-to-write 

14.17 Game Night (see 14.16)

14.18 Absence https://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/185065385445/1418-and-1419-both-will-require-additional 

14.19 Jack in the Box (see 14.18) 

14.20 Moriah Writers lie. I think this is now officially my favorite episode of the series… 

#s14 hellatus rewatch #spiders georg of the tnt loop #how the heck else can i tag this one i mean YIKES if any post ever qualified for the tag #too many episodes to tag them all #it is definitely THIS one yikes #and i never ever tag my posts this but #supernatural meta #destiel #samwitch

[lettersofwrittencollective]

The Pull (28/?)

Summary: The Ragnulf’s are one of the oldest lines of werewolves known. A gift from ancient times was given to the line. Though not all of the line will experience it. There are some who will experience a Pull. This Pull leads them to their true mate, a soulmate. The problem is, just because the wolf finds their true mate does not mean that they are the same for that person.

Author: @lettersofwrittencollective

Pairing: Stiles x Hale!Cousin OC (Reader)

Word count: 2283

Warnings:

A/N: PLEASE let me know what you think of this scene/ story! Truthfully, interaction makes me so very happy and I love to hear from all of you! So, comment, reblog, send me smashed keyboards, anything works 😘

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Pulling up to the high school, you’re removing your helmet as Derek gets out of his jeep

“Scott called,” he tells you, “Lydia thinks he’s at Eichen House.”

“Somehow I don’t get the feeling that it’s a very pleasant place.”

“It’s a mental health center, built in the early 1900s its been in service since 1912. Your old friend, Barrow, had been committed there.”

You tensed up. if Barrow had been committed there… well, you weren’t sure you wanted to know just what it would mean.

“How sure is she?”

You meet Derek's eyes and you can see the concern in them. He seems to think your question through before he answers, “She’s positive but she’s also a young banshee who’s only had access to her powers for a short amount of time. She didn’t even know what they were at first and tried to ignore them. If it hadn’t been for Jennifer, she probably would have avoided it a bit longer.”

You can hear the frustration in his voice and let out a groan, “Of course.” You had wanted Lydia to be right. Wanted Derek to reassure you that she was going to find Stiles but if she was young and still learning, well she could be wrong. Turning to the school, you nod your head before making your way over, “Then we better check the school.”

“Start on the roof, I’ll start in the basement and we’ll meet in the middle. Trust your instincts,” Derek reminds you as you walk towards the building. Getting to the door, it takes him seconds to pick the lock and he’s opening the door.

As soon as you walk in, you know “He’s not here.”

Derek turns to you and raises an eyebrow, the question evident in his face before he even asks. Still, he asks you if you’re sure and you want to nod your head but Derek had reminded you to trust your instincts.

Closing your eyes, you take a deep breath and try to listen to your instincts, see if they’ve got any guidance to give but they’re silent. So, you shake your head and Derek nods, the two of you splitting up to take the different parts of the school.

As you make your way through the school, you can’t help but feel more and more convinced that Stiles isn’t here but your instincts remain silent.

Working through the rooms at the top you find that there was nothing there. You made your way through the hallways and checked the classrooms making your way downstairs. It didn’t take long for you before you were meeting up with Derek again.

“Anything?”

“Not a damn thing.”

His phone goes off  and he answers, putting the phone on speaker, “Was he there Scott?”

“No, Lydia’s not sure why it didn’t work but he wasn’t here and the Sheriff is working with the deputies to see where else he might be. Did you guys have any luck?”

“No, nothing.”

You could hear Scott growl and grumbling under his breath, a moment later he was back on the line,  “I’m sending you Aiden. He’ll be there in about 10 minutes,” he said before hanging up the line.

Derek looks at the phone and then turns to you, “You gonna be okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Your cousin looks at you and this time his raised eyebrow conveys his disbelief. Crossing your arms, you raise your eyebrow in a questioning manner, the expression he uses, an expression that he had taught you years ago.

“Don’t you give me that look, it’s a valid question.”

Groaning, you shake your head, “Derek,  I’m fine. Can we please focus on finding Stiles? I’d say that’s probably the most important thing right now?”

He gives you a look that you’re not sure that you can decipher it but a moment later, he nods his head. The two of you are making your way back towards his Jeep and your bike when suddenly there’s a sharp pain in your leg and it feels like the tibia is being shattered.

You yelp in pain as you feel your balance go.  Thankfully, Derek is beside you instantly, supporting your weight. A reprimanding growl on his lips, “You’re not okay.”

He helps you to his jeep and as the two of you make your way to his jeep you realize that the bone is fine. You can put weight on it with no issue. Which is actually very confusing. You can heal quickly but the tibia usually takes a couple of minutes.

Derek notices this as well when he sits you the jeep he moves to check the bone. His hands are squeezing the muscle and you find that it’s not even sore. The two of you look at each other and you're confused yourself, so you have no answers for him.

“Something’s not right, Little Wolf,” he whispered and you nodded your head.

“I can’t tell you what it is though Derek. I… I have no idea what it could be…” you whisper softly, horror leaking into your voice. You can feel your heart rate begin to pick up as you stare at him,

The two of you remained silent for a moment. You took deep breaths to control your heart rate. There was nothing around you that would make sense for you to be freaking out but you can feel the fear rushing through you.

Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Derek tilt his head, he’s observing you and you can’t blame him. There is absolutely no explanation for whatever is going on with you currently and you were sure he wouldn’t either.

It’s not long before the roaring of Aiden's bike comes into your ears and you both turn to look at him as he comes to a stop.

Removing his helmet, Aidens the first to talk, “So, do we really think he’s just sleep-walking or do we think there’s something more?”

You narrow your gaze on the boy but before you can say anything, Derek’s answering, “In this town, there’s always something more.”

Aiden looks at you and then at Derek, “What if I told you I know something more? Natasha does too.” he motions at you.

Derek looks at you in confusion and you return the look, “What would you know that I know?”

Aiden raises his eyebrow and you can’t help but wonder if that’s the only way that these boys can communicate when he says “I kind of overhead… Well, I listened in on the three of you. Stiles thinks he was the one that wrote that message in the chemistry room.”

You growl at him, your eyes flashing and you curl your lip at him, “That wasn’t him.”

“Wait, what message?” Derek cuts in, stepping between the both of you.

“The message telling Barrow to kill Kira,” Aiden points out, as he meets your gaze.

Your growl hasn’t subsided and actually becomes more threatening. Jumping off the hood of the jeep you start stalking towards Aiden when Derek puts a hand on your shoulder.

“You think Stiles, skinny defenseless Stiles is the Nogitsune? A powerful dark spirit?” The disbelief in his voice was evident and there was a level of amusement to it as well.

“He’s not-” you begin to say but are cut off by Aidens exasperation.

“I’m not the only one thinking it. I’m just the one saying it.”

“You’re both wrong.”

“You know there’s something off with him Natasha. It doesn't make sense for him to be.. This,” he motions with his hands at the world around him.

Before you can say anything, Derek speaks up, “This thing wants to possess someone and it chooses Stiles? Why not someone bigger, stronger?” He motions between you, Aiden and himself before continuing, “Someone with a little bit more... power?”

There’s something about the way that he says the word power that reminds you of something. It takes you a second to realize exactly what it is but when you do, you’re instincts take over and point out “At the substation, Stiles said that Kira had taken on 1.21 gigawatts of electricity when Barrow tried to kill her. What if… what if that’s the power  it needed?”

“What do you mean?” Aiden asks and you can feel your hackles rise at what it is that your instincts think.

“Little Wolf? What’s going on?”

You shake your head and try to figure out what it is that your instincts have figured out, “The Nogitsune is a dark kitsune spirit, right?”

Derek nods his head and you continue, “What if - What if the dark kitsune couldn’t take over Kira because she’s already a kitsune? And what if it can’t be a wolf?”

“Why couldn’t be a wolf?”

“Well think about it, it’d be two shape-shifters in one body? That’s not feasible the body wouldn’t know what characteristics to take on. But it could take over a body that doesn’t shape-shift. The electricity could have given it the power to be able to actually enter the body.”

“But that would mean that someone else had to be electrocuted.”

“I think there was…” you point out as you remember the vision you’d had.  “There was a Valkyrie Derek...”

His face seems to pale from the distance that you're at and Aiden’s face scrunches in confusion. You don’t clarify anything for Aiden but you nod your head at Derek. “You need to get Kira.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I need to get his scent so I can find him.”

Derek nods at you and looks at Aiden, “Let’s get going.” Aiden goes to argue but Derek stops him, “Just trust us. I promise if we explain it, it won’t make any sense.”

Aiden looks like just trusting you isn’t really the highlight of his priorities but he nods his head after a moment and the two of them make their way towards Derek's Jeep to go get Kira.

Running back into the school building, you run over to the boys' gym lockers. Thankfully, he’d left behind some clothing from practice earlier and it had his scent drenched in the fabric still. Taking a deep breath, you make your way out of the locker room and follow the scent.

You’re about to strip and shift to your wolf form when your instincts point out, you need to be human for this part. If you find him as a wolf, he won’t recognize you.

A sigh escapes your lips as you realize, Stiles has never seen you in your wolf form. So, jumping on your bike, you leave the visor up and make your way through the city.

He watches his host, the shivering has stopped and he almost seems to have given up. He once again creates chalk and continues to write on the wall, the kanji will mean something to them all eventually.

As he writes, he asks, “You don’t understand do you?” He’s debating whether to be excited that his host doesn’t understand as it means that there is more to feed on or annoyed that his host doesn’t understand because he needs him to live.

He needs to get out of here to feed. When his host says nothing but a grunt escapes his lips, he continues, “It’s a riddle. Do you know any riddles, Stiles?”

It’s a rhetorical question, he already knows the answer and he knows which ones his host knows. He knows just about everything about his host, so when Stiles says he knows a few he asks, “What gets bigger the more you take away?”

“A hole,” Stiles responds

He moves and turns to the creature he’s chosen as a host, “What gets wetter the more it dries?”

“A towel,” comes the shaky voice of Stiles and Void can’t help the excitement he feels Stiles terror grow.

“When is a door not a door?”

Stiles hears the last riddle and his blood runs cold. Whatever this is, it has to do with the sacrifice to the Nemeton. He remembers Deaton putting together the sign language and he'd been so annoyed when Scott had answered. He gives the same answer now, “When it’s ajar,” his voice is shaking when he responds.

He watches as the creature turns back to the wall and the backward five. It keeps asking him riddles, “Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?”

Stiles gives the smallest shake of his head, his voice breathless as he responds “I don’t..”

It seems that frustrates the creature as it turns around and, moving towards him, repeats the answer riddle, this time a bit slower asking, “What is it, Stiles?”

Stiles shakes his head, he wants the answer but the thing is that his mind is foggy and he can’t seem to think things through. He really wants to just close his eyes but knows that’ll be his death. So shaking his head he again says he doesn’t know.

This time the creature asks the same thing, faster. Almost as if asking faster is going to help either of them at this point. It then starts to speak in a language that Stiles doesn’t understand. He snaps at the creature only to see that it’s in front of him.

It screams in his face, something he cannot understand but he can tell that it’s nothing good. It’s a threat and turning away from the creatures face Stiles is hyperventilating before suddenly he’s being dragged.

The creature has grabbed the bear traps chain and he can feel it digging into him, he can only scream out the word no in terror.

-

-

-

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tag list: @nicole-lynne @fandom-princess-forevermore @capandbuck @biles-bilinski-24 @stiles-o-dylan24 @fiveisadorable  @falling-stars-never-cry​  @blueraindrops @its-livelovelife @screamxqueenx94 @ceceliaking-18 @jasmineshwayze1994 @dear-vista @fangirlbitch02 @riseandshinelittleblossom @jessicakimba @truthdaze @seninjakitey @kateeee0817 @squadkyoya @lucifersnipnips @niawoods @pansexualbitchesofhell @bloodrose-scythe @fox-in-a-mousetrap-8 @findingmyselfinthismessedupworld @shantayok @yougottalovefandoms @that-idiot125 @booklover240 @southsiderepresent @walkingdeadfan25 @luckyfriess​

Do not copy and paste my writing anywhere without my consent. This work is the property of lettersofwrittencollective . Associated characters belong to MTV and are being borrowed for this work, all OC’s are the property of lettersofwrittencollective. These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher.

Posted 09 June 2019

#Reader insert #stiles x reader #void!stiles #stiles stilinski #stiles imagine #stiles imagines #stiles stilinksi x reader #stiles stilinksi imagine #stiles stilinski imagines #Teen wolf x reader #Teen wolf rewrite #teen wolf insert #teen wolf #Teen Wolf imagines #Teen wolf season 3b #TW: Riddled #TW: Season 3B #TW: 3B #The Pull #My writing #series

[per-ineptia-ad-astra]

Star Trek Episode 1.21: The Return of the Archons

AKA: In Star Trek, Neural Network Trains You 

Our episode begins with two men running frantically down a deserted, old-fashioned-looking street. The men look a bit old-fashioned themselves, wearing tall boots, waistcoats and tricorne hats, but when one of them trips and falls we see that the other one, stopping to help him up, is Sulu. In and of itself I wouldn’t find this terribly surprising since I just assume 19th-century themed LARPing is the kind of thing Sulu does on his days off, but they both look pretty freaked, so there’s probably something else going on here.

“O’Neil, we’ve got to keep going,” Sulu says, but O’Neil’s feeling a bit less plucky about the situation. “It’s no use, they’re everywhere!” he bemoans as the two of them back up against what appears to be a store window, albeit one completely empty of any merchandise. The desperate urgency of this statement is somewhat undercut by the fact that the camera then shows us all of one person, an anonymous figure wearing a brown hooded robe and carrying a big metal rod, pursuing them down the otherwise empty street. I say ‘pursuing’ but really, it’s more of a mosey than anything.

“Captain gave us an order! We’ve got to find some clue!” Sulu admonishes O’Neil, but O’Neil only reiterates that “It’s no use!” Then he points out another hooded figure approaching from a different direction. Oh, there’s two of them? Oh, well, I stand corrected. You’re definitely screwed.

[ID: An empty street with a large, old stone building at one end, in front of which a single figure in a brown hooded robe is standing.]

ahhhhh the endless hordes ohhhh nooooo

While Sulu and O’Neil are standing around waiting patiently to be cornered by the slowly advancing figures, Sulu kills some time by calling the ship to get them beamed up. Specifically, he calls the bridge, gets Kirk, and tells Kirk they need to be beamed up so that Kirk can then call the transporter room and tell them that the landing party needs to be beamed up, because just calling the transporter room directly might actually have gotten them out of there in time. Naturally, as soon as the situation calls for them to stay where they are so they can get beamed out, O’Neil immediately changes his mind and decides that actually he’d quite like to run away. Sulu yells after him desperately, but it’s no use; O’Neil has scarpered, leaving Sulu to face the approaching figure alone. The very slowly approaching figure.

Despite Sulu’s heroic last stand (heavier on the ‘stand’ than the ‘heroic,’ it must be said), one of the hooded figures manages to reach him, threateningly raising the big length of metal pipe they’re carrying to...gently tap him on the shoulder with it. Evidently this has more serious effects than Sulu being declared It now, because there’s an ominous sound effect and Sulu goes rigid for a moment. Then his expression turns into a blank, empty grin just as he finally gets beamed up.

Upon arrival, our still-grinning navigator staggers somewhat drunkenly on the transporter pad as Kirk hurries in, wanting to know what’s going on, and where’s O’Neil? Yeah, Mr. Transporter Man, where is O’Neil? This need for people to remain perfectly still for the transporter to lock on to them has rather suddenly come out of nowhere, considering a few episodes ago they were able to pluck a man flying a jet fighter out of the sky with no trouble. O’Neil might have run off pretty quick but I rather doubt he was traveling faster than an F-104. Damn thing must be on the fritz again.

Neither Sulu nor the transporter operator answer Kirk’s questions. Sulu just looks at him dreamily and says, “What? Who?” I don’t know what the transporter operator’s excuse is. Then Sulu looks a little more focused (it’s a very low bar) and says, “You’re not of the Body.”

At this point Kirk quite sensibly decides to ctrl-alt-del this entire conversation and just calls for McCoy to get down here pronto. Meanwhile, Sulu has rounded on a nearby blueshirt who’s just hanging out in the transporter room for some unknown reason, and starts yelling, “You, you did it! They knew we were Archons. These are the clothes they wear, not these!” (So, are you saying those clothes were...anarchonistic?) Then he throws his tricorne at the blueshirt and starts taking off his coat for good measure, because taking off his clothes is just how Sulu reacts to being under alien influences. This time he doesn’t get quite as far as in The Naked Time, though, getting distracted partway through by some thought that makes him look up to the ceiling and start grinning again while saying, “Landru...Landru...”

Kirk manages to get Sulu to sit down on the transporter pad and attempts to pry some kind of useful information out of him, but all he gets is some rambling about how “They’re wonderful, the sweetest people in the universe...” and “It’s paradise, my friend.”

McCoy gets there in the middle of this and reacts about how you’d expect.

[ID: McCoy raising an eyebrow and glancing to the side in bewilderment while saying “da fuck.”]

“Sulu, where’s O’Neil?” Kirk asks once again.

“Paradise...” Sulu says happily.

We never get to find out what McCoy considers to be the appropriate medical response to this situation, because at that point the scene cuts to the titles. Afterward we get a captain’s log to shed a very small amount of light on the situation:

“While orbiting planet Beta 3 trying to find some trace of the starship Archon that disappeared here a hundred years ago, a search party consisting of two Enterprise officers were sent to the planet below. Mr. Sulu has returned, but in a highly agitated mental state. His condition requires I beam down with an additional search detail.”

I don’t know if I would call that agitated, per se. It’s sort of the opposite of agitated, really. But never mind that, let’s talk about the fact that the Enterprise has been sent to investigate the whereabouts of a ship that vanished a century ago. At that point we’re well past there being any chance of actually helping any survivors and into ‘historical mystery’ territory. Sure, it’d be good to find out what happened, but was there really not anything of higher priority for the Enterprise, of all ships, to be doing? This is like telling an active Navy cruiser to stop everything and go look for the USS Cyclops. (Look it up.)

Well, Archon or no Archon, there’s clearly something weird going on here and whatever it is ate our best navigator’s brain, so there’s only one thing to do: send even more critical personnel down right into the middle of it to check it out. So Kirk, Spock, McCoy and three other dudes we don’t know beam down all dolled up in what could be called period dress as long as you don’t ask too many questions about exactly what period it is. Special shout-out to Spock, who’s chosen to hide his ears in the most conspicuous manner possible:

[ID: A landing party of six men assembled in two rows on an old-fashioned city street. In the front stand McCoy, wearing a a gray suit with a black bolo tie and carrying a medical case; Kirk, wearing a dark blue coat over suit pants, a patterned gray waistcoat, and a black bolo tie; and Spock, wearing a black knee-length cloak with a square hood over gray suit pants and dress shoes. In the back row are three more crewmembers wearing similar clothing.]

SPOCK SMOCK SPOCK SMOCK SPOCK SMOCK

Incidentally, if any of these streets and buildings look familiar, it’s because the exterior of the town was filmed at RKO 40 Acres, the same multi-purpose backlot that provided the set for Miri, which you may recall also served as the town of Mayberry in The Andy Griffith Show. It kinda makes me wonder if the Andy Griffith crew ever got annoyed at the Star Trek crew for trashing their town multiple times.

As the party gets their bearings, a man holding one hand to his chest wanders past, apparently too busy staring dreamily into the distance to take any notice of the new arrivals. Spock and Kirk take immediate notice of how much this resembles the state Sulu was in. “If everyone on this planet is like him...” Kirk muses, but doesn’t bother giving us the end to that sentence. Probably it wasn’t supposed to be “...then where can I get some?” but that’s the first thing to come to mind.

They head off down the street, and soon encounter another local wearing the same vacant expression, and also a bowler hat. This one actually stops and addresses them, though, saying, “Joy to you, friends,” with the hand-on-chest gesture the first guy was doing. Well, when in Rome, etc, so Kirk also puts his hand on his chest and replies, “Joy to you,” while behind him Spock chimes in with a distinctly half-hearted attempt at the same gesture.

The local continues, “You be strangers. Come for the festival, are ya?” For some reason the actor here has chosen to go with the most goofily over-enunciated accent he could possibly manage. It sticks out like a sore thumb because no one else in the town sounds remotely like that; they tend to sound a bit spacey, but nothing more than that. Indeed, I’m quite sure that no real existing human being has ever naturally sounded like this dude. But hey, I guess that’s one way to make your five minutes of screen time memorable.

Kirk’s happy to go with this conveniently offered explanation for their presence. Sure! Festival! Definitely! That is definitely why we are here, absolutely.

The guy then asks if they have a place to “sleep it off” yet. When Kirk shakes his head, the guy suggests they go find the house of someone called Reger. “He’s got rooms...but you’ll have to hurry. It’s almost the Red Hour.” Oh, that sounds...fun.

Sure enough there’s a clock on the nearby building reading about two minutes to six, which is barely enough time to put directions to Reger’s house into Wayz, let alone to get there. Unfortunately the party is still trapped in the iron grip of small talk with a dude who clearly sees no reason whatsoever to draw any association between “you’ll have to hurry” and “now it’s time to stop casually chatting.” But that’s small towns for you. I have occasionally come pretty close to having to gnaw my own arm off to escape conversations at the library check-out desk, and were meteors to start falling outside I would not expect the lady scanning my books to speed up one little bit.

At that moment, a couple of women come drifting serenely down the sidewalk nearby, giving Bowler Hat the chance to rope even more people into the conversation. “Tula, these folks come for the festival,” he says to one of them. “Your daddy can put them up, can’t he?” Tula, who looks slightly less spacey than Bowler Hat (a low bar) asks if the party is from the valley. One of the three as-yet-anonymous crewmembers, eager to make a contribution, chimes in that they’ve just arrived. Sure is convenient that everyone around here only asks leading questions.

Tula says sure, her dad would be happy to put them up. But it’s too late: just as she says this, the clock begins tolling six. The effect on the town is immediate. Tula, Bowler Hat, and everyone else in sight break into a frenzy, screaming, throwing hats and gloves, hitting each other, breaking things, and generally rampaging like an Instant Angry Mob, Just Add Water. The stunned landing party run for cover while people go wild all around them. Unfortunately one of them does get beaned by a remarkably soft bit of debris in the process.

[ID: A gif showing the landing party, led by Kirk, running through a street while various debris gets thrown around. One piece hits one of the crewmen in the head, causing him to throw his hands up, but not stop running.]

They find a nearby building to run into, quickly close the door, and only then turn around to see three very confused older men standing there staring at them. Kirk apologizes for bursting in on them, explaining that they weren’t prepared for “this kind of a welcome.” One of the men asks if they’re strangers and Kirk says yes, they came from the valley and they’re here for the festival. This answer doesn’t seem to satisfy the men as well as it did Bowler Hat, though, because the speaker asks, “How come you here?” Before Kirk can try to answer this, one of the crewmembers (the same one who spoke before, of course; what, you think they could afford to have all three of them talk? Talking’s expensive!) asks if the guy is Reger. The guy says yes, and then confirms that Tula is his daughter. “Well you better do something!” the ‘shirt yells. “She’s outside!”

Reger, however, doesn’t look at all taken aback by this news, just sad. “I know,” he says. “It’s Festival. It’s the will of Landru.”

At that point, one of Reger’s companions interrupts, pointing out that these new strangers are “young men, not old enough to be excused.” Oh, that’s okay, we’ve got McCoy here, he can write everyone a quick doctor’s note. Reger points out that they’re visitors, but the other man isn’t about to be content with that. “Well, have they no lawgivers in the valley?” he demands. “Why be they not at the festival?”

Rather than attempt to navigate the weird backroads of this conversation any further, Kirk aims to distract by telling Reger that they heard he might have some rooms for them. Reger looks relieved at this. “You see, Hacom?” he tells the complaining man. “They’ve merely come looking for a place to rest afterwards.” Hacom is still not appeased: “The Red Hour has already struck!”

The third man steps in then and tries to help soothe Hacom, telling him that “the valley has different ways.” But Hacom’s got a good head of outrage built up by now and he’s not about to concede it for anyone. “Do you say that Landru is not everywhere?!” he demands, with much the same kind of self-righteous huffiness of a man bitching out a Starbucks barista for wishing him happy holidays instead of merry Christmas.

“No, of course not,” the third man says, still gamely trying to defuse things. “It’s simply that they have different ways.”

“They’ve come looking for shelter,” Reger says, with what he clearly hopes is a sense of finality. “Can I turn them away?”

He turns and makes as if to lead the landing party up the nearby stairs, but the concerned ‘shirt stops him and asks again about Tula. “She is in Festival, as you should be!” Hacom snaps. As Reger finally manages to get the landing party upstairs Hacom turns to the remaining man and says that “the Lawgivers should know.” He is distinctly not amused when the other man tries to point out that surely the Lawgivers already know since they’re infallible, which Hacom takes as mockery toward the Lawgivers. “The strangers are not of the Body!” he yells as he stalks outside in a huff. “You will see!”

Upstairs, Reger has taken the party to a room with several beds, where he putters around opening the windows (revealing that somehow, full dark has fallen in the five minutes or so that they’ve been inside) and saying that the group can come back there after Festival, when they’ll be in need of rest. Kirk tells him they have no intention of attending Festival. This leaves Reger stunned and confused, but not nearly as stunned and confused as he is a moment later when Kirk says that he’d like to know more about the Festival, and about this ‘Landru’ person. At that, Reger freaks out, slamming the window closed again and spluttering incoherently before finally managing to say “Well...you’re strange.” Then he tries to ask, “Are you...are you...” but can’t quite make it. Undaunted by this, Kirk asks about Landru once again, causing Reger to freak out even more.

Outside, meanwhile, it’s still total chaos. Things are on fire, people are screaming, the works. Special shout-out to the guy who just straight-up throws himself through an entire window.

[ID: A gif showing a man running past a glass window with a chair right before another man runs up and jumps through the window, shattering the glass.]

And now, the weather.  

By the time we cut back to the landing party, some time seems to have passed, as Reger is absent and Kirk is busy brooding at the window. Having evidently seen enough, he turns back to the group and says, “My guess is we have until morning. Let’s put the time to good use.” He tells McCoy to take some readings to see if there’s anything in the air that might account for all this and Lindstrom—the ‘shirt who was concerned about Tula—to “correlate everything that you’ve seen with any other sociological parallels, if any.” Oh man, Lindstrom got the hard homework. Kirk then turns to Spock and says, “You and I have some serious thinking to do. When we leave here tomorrow, I want to have a plan of action.”

Apparently all that thinking really takes it out of you, because the next thing we see is the gas lamp by the door having burned out, while in the interim almost everyone has passed out on some piece of furniture or another. Kirk remains somewhat awake, leaning half-asleep against the post of the bunk bed with a blanket wrapped around him, while Spock is laying flat on his back on a top bunk with his hands on his chest and his eyes wide open like Dracula. I don’t know he’s awake or if that’s just how Spock sleeps. Could go either way.

Kirk meanders sleepily over to the window and looks out. The rioting is still going strong, even though the sun has risen and the town clock is reading a few minutes to six. As the clock strikes six a moment later, the people below all suddenly freeze where they are. Then they all begin to calmly meander off in different directions, the rioting over just as abruptly as it began.

Kirk goes to wake up/get the attention of Spock, then rouses Lindstrom and then McCoy, who’s fallen asleep in some kind of chair-bed thing. The silence is suddenly broken by the sound of a woman crying loudly downstairs, which accelerates the waking-up process considerably. Everyone hastens downstairs to see Reger holding Tula, who’s sobbing hysterically, while Reger’s friend from last night hovers awkwardly patting her on the shoulder and such. McCoy gently pulls Tula away into another room, and when Reger tries to follow Kirk stops him, saying, “He’ll give her a shot, it’ll calm her down. Trust us.” Yeah, Reger! Trust the total strangers to medicate your daughter! What could go wrong?

Lindstrom breaks in angrily, demanding to know what kind of father Reger is that he didn’t even attempt to rescue Tula last night. Reger helplessly says that it was Landru’s will. Lindstrom, I know you’re righteously angry right now, but there’s a thing called “making half an effort to blend in with the locals so they don’t cut your head off.” Here, let Kirk show you how it’s done.

[ID: Kirk standing slightly behind Reger, a concerned looking middle-aged white man with brown hair in a dark gray suit, and another, older white man with gray hair and a similar suit. Kirk is saying, “What about Landru? Who is he?”]

oh for fuck’s sake

“So it’s true then,” Reger’s friend says. “You didn’t attend the festival last night?” No, Kirk says. “Then you’re not of the Body,” Reger muses. “You couldn’t be...”

The two of them hurry off in consternation, and the rest of the party follows, into the side room where McCoy and Spock have taken Tula. Speaking of Tula, she’s now thoroughly passed out. Evidently McCoy wasn’t kidding around with that shot.

“Are you...are you Archons?” Reger asks Kirk.

“What if we are?” Kirk replies, smoothly sidestepping out of that minefield of a question.

“It was said more would follow,” Reger says uncertainly. “If you are indeed--”

“We must hide them, quickly,” his friend interrupts. “The Lawgivers--” Kirk tries to assure him that they can take care of themselves, but assured he is not. “Landru will know,” he says. “He will come.”

Turns out that wasn’t hyperbole, because all of about two seconds later, a couple of the same brown-hooded figures that were harassing Sulu and O’Neil come bursting into the room, metal rods at the ready.

[ID: The landing party along with Reger and his friend all assembled in an old-fashioned sitting room and looking towards the doors, which are flanked by two men wearing brown hooded robes and carrying tall metal rods.]

NOBODY EXPECTS THE LAWGIVER INQUISITION

Accompanying them is Hacom, the damn narc, who smugly proclaims that Reger’s friend has been mocking the Lawgivers, and also those punks over there didn’t attend Festival like good citizens. “Tamar. Stand Clear,” one of the Lawgivers intones at Reger’s friend, in a robotic and slightly reverb-y voice. Both Reger and Tamar look stricken, but after a moment Tamar slowly says, “I hear and obey the voice of Landru,” and steps out in front of Reger. The Lawgiver raises their Rod of Lordly Might and the end of it fizzles and pops like a handful of cheap sparklers, which is probably exactly what it was. Tamar collapses on the spot, dead.

As Reger and Kirk grab Tamar and gently lower him to the ground, the Lawgiver speaks again. “You. Attacked. The Body. You Have Heard The Word. And Disobeyed. You Will Be Exterminated Absorbed.”

“What do you mean, absorbed?” Kirk asks. I’m going to give you a tip for free here: if someone tells you “you will be absorbed” that is not the time to stand around asking questions. Get out of there and you can figure out the details later, cause one thing you can be sure of is that there is no scenario where that could possibly end up being a good thing.

Hacom immediately crows that this is proof the strangers are “not of the Body” but the Lawgivers don’t seem to pay him any attention. “You Will Be Absorbed,” Kirk is told. “The Good Is All. Landru Is Gentle. You Will Come.”

After the break, Kirk, still looking unimpressed by all this, tells the Lawgivers, “We’re not going anywhere.”

“It Is The Law,” the Lawgiver tells him. “You Must Come.”

“I said we’re not going anywhere,” Kirk repeats calmly, while Reger clings onto his arm with a look of absolute terror.

But instead of resorting to force, the Lawgivers turn to face each other and just stand there for a moment. “Evidently they’re not prepared to deal with outright disobedience,” Spock notes curiously. “How did you know?” Kirk replies that everything they’ve seen so far indicates that the people in this place have a compulsive stimulus of some kind towards actions beyond their control, so he banked on the Lawgivers not being able to deal with people who couldn’t just be ordered around. Absolutely nobody feels inclined to take advantage of this brief respite by, say, climbing out the convenient nearby window or anything.

Eventually the Lawgivers turn back to the party. “It Is Clear That You Simply Did Not Understand,” the speaking one says. “I Will Rephrase. You Are Ordered To Accompany Us To The Absorption Chambers.”

“Why did you kill that man?” Kirk demands.

“Out Of Order,” the Lawgiver says. “You Will Obey. It Is The Word Of Landru.”

“You tell Landru,” Kirk says, “that we’ll come in our own time and we’ll speak to him.” Then he grabs the Lawgiver’s staff and hands it to Spock, who starts poking around with it.

“You Cannot,” the Lawgiver says. “It Is Landru.”

At this point Hacom evidently loses his nerve and rushes out of the room, whimpering, “Landru!” Meanwhile, Spock observes that the Lawgiver’s staff is just an empty tube without any kind of mechanism inside it.

The Lawgivers have to stop and buffer once again, only this time they’re making a strange noise. “They’re communing,” Reger says. “We have time, come with me.” He can take them to a place where they’ll be safe, he says, but they have to hurry before Landru comes.

So he leads them outside, where he starts walking casually down the street, smiling and nodding and doing the ‘peace’ gesture at people as they pass. Kirk puts rather less effort into being surreptitious and keeps loudly talking to Spock while they make their way across town, asking him what he makes of all this weirdness. Unsurprisingly, Spock finds it all “totally illogical.” Yesterday, for no apparent reason, the entire town broke out into total havoc. “Yet today, now--” “--Now, they’re back to normal,” Kirk finishes. I mean, if you want to call that normal. Arguably the way they’re acting now is less normal than the rioting and screaming.

As they walk, Bowler Hat Man approaches them with a cheerful “Morning, friends.” Reger greets him back casually, but Lindstrom recognizes him and rushes up to Reger, saying, “Your daughter—that’s the man!” The man who...well, we didn’t see what happened, exactly, but we did see Bilar grab Tula while the whole town was breaking out in a wild frenzy, and the next time we saw Tula she was sobbing frantically, so...draw your own conclusions.

But Reger seems neither surprised nor upset by the accusation. “No, it wasn’t Bilar, it was Landru,” he says impatiently, before telling them all they need to hurry. Which is easier said than done—moseying and hurrying at the same time is a difficult proposition.

Despite their best efforts, the group hasn’t gotten much farther before Reger stops and says, “It’s too late—look!” For a moment it doesn’t look as if anything much has happened, but then the party realizes that everyone on the street has stopped dead in their tracks. It’s Landru, Reger says—he’s summoning the Body. Or, as Spock helpfully chimes in, “Telepathy, Captain.”

A moment later, the townspeople all start reaching down and picking up bits of the debris that’s littering the area. Specifically, the bits that are rather heavy and blunt, like bricks and bits of masonry and big sticks. Oh dear. “Phasers on stun,” Kirk says. Yeah, no kidding.

Abandoning the pretense of normality, Reger leads the group off at a jog down the street as the dead-eyed townspeople advance on them. It’s admittedly a bit creepy. There might not have been enough extras to sell the idea of an entire town in full riot, but there are enough to make a decent-sized mob. It’s just a shame they advance so very slowly. And that, when the party turns into an alley and sees more people coming up it from the other end, they just kind of stop and hang out there for a moment to let themselves get cornered, even though the rest of the mob isn’t nearly close enough behind them that they couldn’t just turn around and keep going in another direction.

[ID: The landing party and Reger huddled in a group at the mouth of an alley while a mob slowly approaches from several yards away.]

had a D&D game once that ended up remarkably like this

Kirk says he doesn’t want to hurt them, and tells Reger to warn them back, but Reger says “They’re in the Body, it’s Landru!” In other words, they’re possessed, and not about to listen to Reger or anyone. So the group has to fire on the townspeople approaching up the alleyway. Evidently Landru’s powers over people don’t extend to making them phaser-proof, because everyone hit by the beams drops where they stand, only for them to be immediately replaced by more townspeople in their wake. The whole ‘unstoppable zombie horde’ vibe is, again, unfortunately a bit diminished by a sheer lack of numbers—given the population of this town as we’ve seen it so far, and how slowly they move, the party could probably just easily stand there and keep firing until the whole town is unconscious. It’d probably take about five minutes, tops.

Also, one of the supposedly stunned townspeople rather noticeably catches himself on the way down.

[ID: A gif showing several townspeople at the end of an alley, all holding aloft various sticks and bits of debris, as a stun beam hits them, causing them to fall to the ground. A man in front catches himself with one hand and lowers himself the rest of the way.]

Despite my tactical advice, the crew decides to make a run for it down the alley after clearing away some of the mob, but as they’re on the move McCoy stops suddenly and kneels by one of the fallen men. It’s O’Neil. Evidently running didn’t turn out any better for him than standing still did for Sulu. Kirk tells Reger that this is one of their men, but Reger says that he isn’t, not anymore. “He’s one of them!” he cries. “Landru will find us through him! Leave him there, he’s our enemy, he’s been absorbed!”

Yeah, three guesses as to whether Kirk is about to leave one of his crewmembers laying unconscious and brainwashed in the path of a relentless mob, and the first two don’t count. One of the ‘shirts does point out, though, that now that they’ve found O’Neil they could go ahead and beam the heck outta this whole mess. Kirk says no, because they still haven’t found their answers about what happened to the Archons. I mean, sure, but...is that really more of a priority right now than escaping the mob that’s out for your blood, and getting to a safe space where you could regroup, tend to your unconscious party member, and question Reger without having to worry about some hooded jerks with big sticks bursting in on you at any time?  Apparently it is, because a couple of people haul O’Neil off the ground and they all hurry off.

Exactly where Reger’s hiding place is we don’t get to find out, but evidently they get there alright, because the next thing we see is him pushing open a heavy stone door that leads into a distinctly dungeon-ish looking room. Everyone hurries inside, and Reger pushes aside an old bedframe to get to an alcove where someone’s left a big plastic square wrapped in heavy cloth. At least, it looks like a big plastic square, but Kirk identifies it as a lighting panel and it does, indeed, light up. “Amazing in this culture,” Spock comments. Yeah, it is a bit anachronistic next to the brazier over there.

Reger hangs it up on the wall to illuminate the room and says that it “comes from a time before Landru.” Asked just how long ago that was, he says that no one knows for sure, but some say it was as long as six thousand years ago. Six thousand years and it still works? Man, and I thought the Centennial Light was impressive.

Kirk has the two still-nameless ‘shirts go stand guard at the door while he and Spock muse over how weird it is that the lighting panel clearly came from a much more technologically advanced culture than the one currently occupying the place. Meanwhile, McCoy has had O’Neil brought over to what remains of the bed and is busy examining him. He gives Kirk an ‘in a minute’ gesture, so Kirk goes back to pacing and speculating, wondering if the Lawgiver’s rods might be some kind of antennae or broadcasting devices for transmitting the power of Landru in all its sparkly glory. Meanwhile, Spock is looking at his tricorder, which is apparently picking up “strong power generations...near here, but radiating in all directions.”

McCoy interjects to say that O’Neil will be coming around soon. “He must not!” Reger protests frantically. “He’s been absorbed!” This is followed by a dramatic chord and Kirk turning to Reger and going “Absorbed??” as if Reger didn’t already say the exact same thing twice back in the alley. I suppose he was a bit distracted at the time, but still.

“The Body absorbs its enemies,” Reger explains. “It only kills when it has to. When the first Archons came they were free, out of control, opposing the will of Landru. Many were killed, many more were absorbed. When he regains consciousness, Landru will find us through him. And if the others come--”

What others? Kirk asks. Reger explains that he means other people like him, who oppose Landru. They’re organized in threes—Reger was part of a cell consisting of him, Tamar, and one other person whom he doesn’t actually know, because Tamar was his contact. Evidently they’re doing the standard Resistance thing of limiting what individual members know in case they get captured, which is even more important when your adversary can control minds.

McCoy interrupts to say yeah that’s all great, but he needs a decision here, because O’Neil is coming out of it. Reger protests once again that O’Neil can’t be allowed to wake up, and Kirk mulls it over for a moment before telling McCoy, “Give him a shot. Keep him asleep.” Man, McCoy’s handing out sleepy shots left and right this episode. He must have a stash hidden in that waistcoat somewhere.

While McCoy does that, Kirk draws Reger over to a nearby table and says that he wants some answers. For one thing, if Landru’s so powerful, how is there a resistance movement at all?  Reger doesn’t know how it happened, only that some people have escaped “the directives.” “It was that way when the first Archons came,” he adds.

Reger’s obviously not entirely clear on what was up with the Archons, understandably given that it was a hundred years ago and detailed history is probably hard to keep track of around here if you’re not part of the hivemind, but he says that “Landru pulled them down from the skies” and that they invaded the Body but at least in part resisted Landru’s will. Kirk gets interested in that first bit, interpreting it as Landru bringing down a starship. Spock confirms that the power readings he’s getting are over nine thousand powerful enough to destroy a starship. Kirk sure doesn’t like the sound of that, so he calls up the Enterprise to check up on how un-destroyed it is. The answer’s not real great: Scotty picks up and reports that the ship is under attack by “heat beams of some kind coming up from the planet’s surface.”

The shields are holding so far, but keeping them up is taking all of the ship’s power, so much so that if they can’t even move without being burned up. Oh, and the orbit is failing, because of course it is, you can’t keep an orbit going round here for anything. Although presumably they are still in an orbit right now, which begs the question of where these heat beams are coming from that they can stay locked onto the ship no matter which side of the planet it’s facing. I guess Landru really is everywhere. Anyway, if they can’t shake the heat beams long enough to use the engines, Scotty reports grimly, they’ve only got about twelve hours left before the orbit decays and they hit the atmosphere. Cool. Were you gonna like, call up and let the landing party know about this at some point, or…?

Kirk basically tells him to hang in there, since there’s not exactly much more that they can do, while the landing party works on taking out those heat beams at the source. Scotty starts to talk about how he tried the emergency bypass circuits, but they weren’t effective—they never are, I don’t know why he even bothers—but then he starts breaking up. Spock reports that he’s picking up some very strong sensor beams—something’s probing them, and it’s too strong for him to block it.

Just then, there’s a strange whirring noise, preceding the arrival of a holographic image (or, possibly, ghost) appearing against the wall. Specifically, it’s an image of a dude wearing a purple and pink-cape-toga-thing and looking incredibly smug for someone with no apparent arms.

[ID: A semi-transparent image being projected onto a stone wall, which shows a middle-aged white man with thick light brown hair, wearing a long purple robe over a black high-necked shirt, with a shiny pinkish-orange cape on top.]

“I am Landru,” the image announces.

Spock is unimpressed. “Projection, captain,” he announces. “Unreal.”

“But beautiful, Mr. Spock, with no apparatus at this end,” Kirk muses. I dunno, man, the pink cape thing is certainly a bold choice but I think ‘beautiful’ is a bit of a stretch.

“You have come as destroyers,” the projection of Landru continues, heedless of the commentary from the audience. “You bring an infection.” Kirk insists that Landru release the Enterprise, but Landru carries blithely on. “You have come to a world without hate, without fear, without conflict. No war, no disease, no crime. None of the ancient evils. Landru seeks tranquility. Peace for all. The universal good.” Yeah, it looked real peaceful and conflict-free last night.

Kirk tries to tell Landru that they mean no harm, and that theirs “is a mission of peace and goodwill.” (That’s why we brought phasers!) Landru just keeps talking about good transcending evil, etc, etc, until Spock points out that “He doesn’t hear you, Captain.” Honestly not sure if he means that Landru literally has no way to hear them or if he can hear them but just keeps right on monologuing anyway cause, y’know, we’ve all met That Dude.

“Maybe he’ll hear this!” Lindstrom says, charging forward with his phaser out. Oh yeah, great job there Lindy, let’s SHOOT the HOLOGRAM. Kirk tells Lindstrom to cut that shit out so he can get back to talking to Landru which, admittedly, is really doing just about as much good as shooting the wall would.

“You will be absorbed,” Landru says. “Your individuality will merge into the unity of good, and in your submergence into the common being of the Body, you will find contentment and fulfillment. You will experience...the absolute good.” See, I told you it wouldn’t mean anything good.

At this point, a high-pitched whirring noise that’s been steadily but mostly unnoticeably rising through the background music suddenly peaks, causing everyone to start clutching at their heads in pain. The two ‘shirts guarding the door are the first to drop to their knees, with the rest of the party succumbing quickly afterward.

What follows is a wonderful opportunity to observe several different styles of Slowly Passing Out. Nimoy looks like he’s going to go one way but then changes his mind and falls backward onto the table instead until he’s laying on his back looking up. Christopher Held (Lindstrom) takes the bold move of just falling straight to the ground in a dead drop, while Kelley, no fool he, is back there doing a complex maneuver involving hanging onto the bedpost to slow his own descent. Shatner, of course, goes for the most extra route possible, pitching forward onto the table while clutching his head and then slowly falling down into the chair. I give full marks to everyone except Harry Townes (Reger) who was already sitting down and didn’t have very far to go in the first place.

[ID: A gif showing Kirk, Lindstrom, Spock, McCoy, and Reger clutching their heads and slowly collapsing on and around a nearby table.]

After the break, Kirk gives a captain’s log, which is quite impressive considering he’s currently unconscious.

“The Enterprise, still under attack by some sort of heat rays from the surface of Beta 3, is now being commanded by engineering officer Scott. The shore party has been taken by the creature called Landru.”

We briefly see the Enterprise in orbit around the planet (heat rays not pictured), before cutting to the landing party, now relocated to an even more dungeon-like room than the one they were in before. Kirk wakes up, staggers out of the alcove he was laying in, and goes to investigate the other end of the room, where Lindstrom and one of the unnamed ‘shirts are passed out in another alcove. Some further investigation reveals that Kirk is no longer carrying either phaser or communicator, and that the only apparent exit to the place is less of a door and more just a giant slab of stone in a doorway, which Kirk predictably has absolutely no luck moving. Eventually he gives up and goes back to wake up Spock, Lindstrom, and the other ‘shirt, who he addresses as Leslie.

We’ve seen Leslie quite a few times already—actor Eddie Paskey was a recurring extra who frequently filled the role of oddjob Enterprise crewmembers whenever one was needed. Like in the case of Kyle and the other TOS background regulars, it’s difficult to tell how many of Paskey’s appearances should actually be taken to be the same person, since not only does he go through a couple different names before ‘Leslie’ finally gets used, but for all of his characters to be Leslie would require him to go through jobs at a rate unlikely even for Enterprise crewmembers. Still, he gets referred to as Leslie more often than he gets called anything else, so he’s probably Leslie at least most of the time.

Spock, noticing that they’re a couple of heads short all of a sudden, asks where McCoy is. Kirk tells him he doesn’t know, since McCoy was gone before Kirk even woke up, along with O’Neil and “the other guard.” Oh yeah, “the other guard.” Great job remembering your crew’s names there, captain. Actually, said guard is probably named Galloway or possibly Galoway, yet another one of those amorphous extras; Galloway, however, is pretty consistently a security officer (aside from a brief stint as transporter operator) and while he won’t be referred to by name until his next appearance, he’s not called any other names until then, so in this case it’s fairly reasonable to assume that all or least most appearances of actor David L. Ross can be taken to be the same character. Not that it makes any real difference, since he has no personality whatsoever.

Anyway, Spock thinks McCoy and Galloway must have been here but were removed at some point. Kirk wonders where “here” is. “Evidently a maximum security establishment,” Spock replies. That may or may not have been sarcasm. Honestly it’s hard to tell with Spock sometimes.

Kirk also informs Spock that “all our phasers are gone, I checked” even though we’ve been watching him this whole time and he definitely didn’t check anyone but himself, but never mind that. Lindstrom and Leslie finally make it up, looking rather the worse for wear, with Lindstrom mentioning having a killer headache (Leslie probably has one too, but we’d have to pay him more if he said anything). Spock says that this is because they were all subjected to a hypersonic attack, which probably would have killed them had it been any stronger. Instead it just knocked them out, and possibly gave them tinnitus.

Enough about sound waves, Kirk wants to focus on coming up with a way out of this dungeon. He hopefully mentions the way the Lawgivers seemed unable to react to anything unexpected, but Spock shoots that one down, saying they shouldn’t count on it happening again because “in a society as well-organized as this one appears to be, I cannot conceive of such an oversight going uncorrected.” That said, he still finds that behavior to be very interesting, because the way the Lawgivers reacted was a lot like the way a computer would react to being given insufficient or contradictory data. He doesn’t think this means the Lawgivers themselves are computers—but it’s definitely an interesting data point.

At that moment, the door opens and a Lawgiver escorts McCoy and Galloway inside. Kirk rushes over to them, only to see McCoy smile blandly at him and say, “Hello, friend. We were told to wait here.” Oh dear.

Now real concerned, Kirk starts to say “Doc--” but McCoy just turns to him and says, “Can I help you, friend?”

“Don’t you know me?” Kirk asks desperately.

“We all know one another through Landru,” McCoy replies.

Just like Sulu, Spock observes grimly. But Kirk’s having a hard time holding onto his objectivity. It’s one thing to hear Reger talk about Landru doing this to people, even to see it happen to members of his own crew—but this is McCoy. His friend. Kirk grabs him by the shoulders and yells at him to remember—but McCoy just looks confused and asks if Kirk is from “away” because he speaks very strangely. Then even that brief moment of emotion fades away and he returns to smiling. “Ask Landru,” he says. “He remembers. He knows, and he watches.”

Kirk eventually has to give up and leave McCoy sitting in the alcove with the guard. He turns to Spock, but before they can even begin to confer on this problem, the door opens again to admit a couple of Lawgivers. One of them points their rod threateningly at Kirk and orders him to come with them. Kirk tries his previous trick of just refusing, but as Spock predicted, that bug has evidently been patched, because this time the Lawgiver calmly replies, “Then You Will Die.”

It seems there’s not much choice but for Kirk to get going, so with one final order for Spock to see if he can do anything about McCoy’s whole situation, he follows the Lawgiver out the door. Spock watches him go before turning to McCoy and asking what’s going to happen to Kirk. “He goes to joy, peace and tranquility,” McCoy says happily. “He goes to meet Landru. Happiness is to all of us blessed by Landru.” Spock gives this statement the side-eye it deserves.

We then see Kirk in another room, standing up against a wall with some heavy-duty wrist restraints in place.

[ID: Kirk standing up against a wall, being restrained by two large bars holding his wrists in place, while two Lawgivers stand in front of him, pointing their rods at him.]

This is only happiness to a very specific subset of people.

But before Kirk can meet his grim fate, the Lawgivers are interrupted by someone else coming in. This is not another Lawgiver, however, but a bald man in bright orange robes, who speaks—well, I can’t exactly say he speaks normally because no one around here does, but he at least doesn’t sound like he’s speaking through a knock-off toy Darth Vader helmet. “I am Marplon,” he tells the Lawgivers. “It is your hour. Happy communing.”

“With Thanks. Hap-py Comm-uning,” one Lawgiver replies, and they both head off to take a smoke break or whatever the Lawgiver equivalent is. Marplon steps into the nearby control booth and flicks some switches, causing the booth to slowly rotate around to face Kirk (presumably with the aid of an extra and a pulley somewhere behind the camera) while a dramatic sting plays.

Meanwhile, back in the dungeon, Spock is poking around at McCoy. Evidently someone leaning over you and almost poking you in the eye as they put their hands all over your face isn’t considered bothersome behavior under the directives of Landru, since McCoy seems perfectly fine with it and just sits there calmly while Spock does whatever it is he’s doing. Eventually, Spock grimly pulls his hands away and says, “Impossible. He’s under extremely powerful control.”

You kind of have to wonder what Spock saw in there. The nature of Landru’s control is a bit vague on the details—do members of the Body possess any degree of personality and individuality, smothered though it may be under a stupor of happy-happy-peace-and-tranquility thoughts? Or are they all being outright puppeteered by Landru? They at least seem to have enough personality to have names, and the fact that they stop and have discussions with each other seems to indicate that they aren’t a total hivemind—Tula has to be informed out loud by Bilar that the landing party are strangers in town, rather than her just knowing it automatically as soon as he knew it. But McCoy doesn’t show any sign of retaining any amount of McCoy-ness after he gets taken. He doesn’t remember Kirk and Spock at all, he doesn’t use any of his usual mannerisms, he doesn’t—as we’ll see in a bit—respond to perceived threats the way McCoy usually does, and in general he doesn’t act like McCoy-but-unnaturally-happy-and-calm so much as he acts like a completely different person. So when Spock says he’s under “powerful control” it’s hard to say whether he means that he saw McCoy being forced to feel peaceful and loyal to Landru, or if he saw McCoy in there, somewhere, possibly even aware, but no longer able to control his own actions. Either way, it’s a pretty damn creepy thought.

Unsatisfied with Spock’s analysis, Lindstrom asks if they’re, what, just going to stand around here and do nothing? Spock replies that there’s not a lot they can do, unless Lindstrom has any bright ideas about how to get through a solid stone door. Lindstrom clearly does not, because instead he just splutters about how “This is simply ridiculous, a bunch of stone age characters running around in robes--!” as if he’s got half a mind to just march out there and tell everyone to stop all this nonsense and behave, at which point presumably the Lawgivers will drop their rods and shuffle away in embarrassment. I can only conclude that Mr. Lindstrom has not been serving aboard the Enterprise very long, otherwise he would know that this is hardly any more ridiculous than the usual kind of thing they get up to. You notice Leslie over there isn’t saying anything. Leslie’s seen some shit.

Spock coolly points out that these “stone age characters” are in command of some powers that the Enterprise crew have so far been helpless to understand or resist. “Not simple. Not ridiculous,” he says. “Very, very dangerous.”

On the one hand, this could easily just be your standard sarcastic Spock response of the sort commonly seen whenever someone decides to start running their mouth off in his vicinity, but you have to wonder if he’s not also feeling particularly ticked off at Lindstrom scorning this whole situation, considering that Spock just got done with a close examination of exactly how powerful a grip Landru currently has on the mind of one of Spock’s two close friends. And his other close friend has just been taken off to have the same thing done to him, with Spock powerless to stop it. I mean, let’s put that in non-science fiction terms: imagine you woke up to find you’d been taken captive, and some of the people you were with, including a friend of yours, aren’t there. And then your captors show up and throw them back in your cell, and when you examine your friend you realize that, while you have no idea what happened to him while he was gone, he came back so badly concussed he doesn’t know who you are or where he is, and can’t even answer a simple question. And there’s nothing you can do about it. Your other friend has just been dragged off for the same treatment, and there was nothing you could do about that, either. And as you stand there, desperately wracking your brain for any way out of this, trying not to think about the state your other friend will be in when he comes back, this punk starts whining about how ridiculous the situation is, as if he’s more upset about being bested by what he views as an inferior opponent than by the damage those opponents have already caused, and the very real threat those of you remaining are still facing. Granted, I don’t think that’s what Lindstrom actually meant; he was probably just expressing understandable if poorly-worded frustration at being helpless to do anything in a situation where it feels like you really should be able to do something. But it’s not real surprising that Spock would feel rather cheesed at him about it. Y’know, if Vulcans felt cheesed, which of course they don’t.

At that point, the door opens and two more Lawgivers come in. One of them points their rod at Spock and orders him to come with them. Spock more or less shrugs and follows them out the door, leaving Lindstrom and Leslie alone to ruminate about how screwed they are.

The Lawgivers take Spock to the brainwashing room, where Marplon is releasing Kirk from the restraints. Kirk walks over to Spock with a vacant smile and tells him, “Joy to you, friend. Peace and contentment will fill you. You will know the peace of Landru.” Spock doesn’t say anything, but his expression indicates that he’s gearing up to end somebody over this.

[ID: Spock, being escorted by two Lawmakers, watching as Kirk tells him, “You will know the peace of Landru.” Spock has a particularly murderous expression on his face.]

Spock is gonna KILL GOD.

After the break, things look grim, with Spock—looking highly unimpressed--restrained against the wall while Marplon makes the lights flash and the Lawgivers point their rods at Spock for good measure. But when the Lawgivers have left, Marplon looks up and says, “Have no fear, friend. The effect is harmless.” He introduces himself and explains that he was unfortunately too late to save McCoy and the other guard, so watch out for them. But, as it turns out, he wasn’t too late to save Kirk, who was just faking for the Lawgivers.

Marplon goes on to explain that he is actually the third man in Reger’s triad (wow, small world), and that they’ve been “awaiting your return.” Spock tells him that they are not the Archons, although, really, who or what exactly these people think the Archons are is still pretty hazy. And indeed, Marplon himself doesn’t seem real fussed about the distinction, saying that, “Whatever you may call yourselves, you are in fulfillment of prophecy. We ask your help.” The poor guy is practically trembling with a mixture of enthusiasm and desperation.

Spock asks where Reger is and Marplon says that he’ll join them, adding that Reger is immune to absorption. Exactly why this should be is never explained, and neither is the question of what exactly happened to Reger after the group got captured. One would assume that being in the presence of said group would rather give the game away, but maybe Marplon was able to cover for him somehow.

But never mind Reger—what Spock really wants to know more about is Landru. But upon being asked about him, Marplon gets even more panicky and says they can’t discuss that just now because Landru will hear. Although if Landru could hear them in here, they’d already be screwed, given everything Marplon has just admitted out-loud. My best guess would be that Landru isn’t quite as omniscient as all that and the resistance members are just (understandably) a bit paranoid and superstitious, although I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that, true to form for vengeful deity-types, saying Landru’s name attracts his attention.

Marplon hands Spock a couple of the confiscated phasers, which Spock stows away just before the Lawgivers come back in. Marplon just has time to warn Spock to behave just as he saw Kirk doing before slipping back into his own charade to tell the Lawgivers that “It is done!” Spock obligingly spouts the standard peace and contentment and so on, although I can’t say he puts a great deal of effort into it. The Lawgivers seem to be satisfied, though, because they take him back to the cell without fuss.

Back in the cell, Spock meets up with Kirk. They exchange a bit of “peace and tranquility” talk very loudly to satisfy McCoy and the other guard, before Kirk drops it and mutters, “Are you alright?” “Quite alright,” Spock replies. “But be careful of Dr. McCoy.” Indeed, as soon as he says this, McCoy rises up in the background ominously.

[ID: A gif of Kirk, Spock and Lindstrom standing in a half-circle near an archway. Spock says, “Be careful of Doctor McCoy.” As Kirk replies, “I understand,” McCoy stands up in the background.]

“I FUCKIN HEARD THAT”

Kirk tries to question Spock, who says he has a theory about Landru, but he’s cautious about sharing it with McCoy hovering in the background glaring at them like that. “You speak in strange whispers,” McCoy says as they turn to look at him. “This is not the way of Landru.”

Of everyone we’ve seen being or pretending to be Landru-possessed in the episode so far, the acting choices have mostly fallen on a spectrum ranging from Takei’s “incredibly high” to Nimoy’s “barely even bothering.” (Shatner falls somewhere in the middle, around “comfortably buzzed.”) Kelley, on the other hand, opted for a direction I can only describe as “intensely Southern passive-aggressiveness.” Perhaps it’s the increased Georgia drawl, but Possessed!McCoy feels eerily familiar, like someone I’ve definitely encountered at the Dollar General before. It’s the exact kind of sinister watchfulness not quite masked by a cheerful, friendly exterior that you would expect to find in that lady at church who would never say the world ‘hell’ but gets a little too excited during the bits of sermon about damnation and is currently engaged in complex political machinations to backstab Becky from next door because she lets her kids play too loudly and sold more brownies at the last bake sale (or just in the average head of a homeowner’s association.) I half expect him to start handing out Chick Tracts at any moment.

Before that can happen, Kirk is able to pacify him with more peace and tranquility, then dramatically claps his hands on Spock and Lindstrom’s shoulders and declares “MY FRIENDS” as he ushers them away to a slightly more private corner of the cell. There Spock is able to go into his theory, such as it is. “This is a soulless society, Captain,” he explains, and given that Vulcans have quantified the existence of the soul he probably knows what he’s talking about. “It has no spirit, no spark. All is indeed peace and tranquility—the peace of the factory, the tranquility of the machine. All parts working in unison.”

“And when something unexplained happens...their routine is disrupted?” Kirk muses. Spock agrees, and says that someone must be giving the orders—but who? Landru, presumably, but Spock says there is no Landru...not in the human sense.

“You’re thinking the same thing I am, Mr. Spock,” Kirk says. “The plug must be pulled.” But if Spock is thinking that, it’s not without some reservations. Because, you know, that whole prime directive thing. They’re really not supposed to go around deposing/assassinating political leaders, even really obnoxious ones. But, Kirk says, after all about two seconds of reflection, that directive is meant for living, growing cultures, which this one ain’t. This would be a fascinating ethical point if it wasn’t so obviously a quick justification to let them get on with saving the day without all that pesky worldbuilding getting in the way.

Conveniently, before Spock can say anything in response to this, the door opens again, but this time instead of more Lawgivers it’s Marplon and Reger. McCoy immediately stands up and says, “JOY TO YOU FRIENDS!” like that guy at Wal-Mart that you were really hoping to avoid having a conversation with but you didn’t sneak out of the cereal aisle quickly enough and now he’s seen you. Marplon and Reger keep up the smiling act until they make it over to the Non-Brainwashed Club at the back of the room. Marplon’s brought them their communicators, which is helpful, but Kirk has something more in mind. What they really need, he tells them, is more information about Landru. Marplon and Reger shake their heads frantically, mumbling about “the prophecy” but Kirk isn’t interested in prophecies. “If you want to be liberated from Landru,” he tells the two men, “we’ll need your help.”

It seems he said that just a bit too loudly, though, because McCoy springs up from his seat, points dramatically, and yells, “You’re not of the Body!” Kirk tries to calm him down, but McCoy isn’t having any more peace and tranquility. He screams for the Lawgivers before rushing Kirk and trying to throttle him, screaming “TRAITORS! TRAITORS!” all the while. (See what I meant about him not responding to threats normally? McCoy wouldn’t bother to try to strangle someone if he could whack ‘em with a hypospray instead.)

The other guard joins in, taking a swing at Kirk, but Spock intercepts and tosses him to the floor. He’s a lot less helpful with McCoy, mostly just kind of standing there watching as McCoy manages to back Kirk up against a wall, still screaming. “Doc, I don’t wanna hurt you,” Kirk begs, but of course, this does nothing. In the end, Kirk has to punch McCoy and then put him in a chokehold until he drops. Kirk slowly lowers him to the floor, sadly muttering, “Aw, doc...”

Just then there’s a noise of someone approaching, and Kirk and Spock quickly duck into cover in the corners. A pair of Lawgivers enter and walk right past them, demonstrating why it’s not a super great idea to dress your law enforcement in big peripheral-vision-obscuring hoods, not to mention why most jail cells aren’t designed to have lots of great hiding spots. The Lawgivers promptly get ambushed; Kirk deploys the good old fashioned Neck Chop, while Spock, surprisingly, forgoes the usual nerve pinch in favor of just straight up decking the guy. One suspects Spock is feeling a bit crabby at the moment.

[ID: Kirk and Spock fighting Lawmakers between two arches in their dungeon cell. Kirk is standing over an unconscious Lawmaker, who is laying next to an unconscious McCoy, while Spock is leaning back to punch the Lawmaker he is squaring off against.]

DIRECT ACTION

With phase one of the classic “mug the guards and steal their uniforms” maneuver successfully completed, Kirk moves right on to phase two, stripping the robe off one of the fallen Lawgivers and putting it on over his waistcoat. While he’s doing that, he asks Marplon and Reger where Landru is. The two of them stutter fearfully a bit, but Marplon manages to explain that they never see Landru, only hear him, in a place called the Hall of Audiences--conveniently located in this very building! “You’re gonna take us there,” Kirk says, leaving the poor bastards looking like they’re about to cry. When one of them makes a noise Kirk grabs them by the shoulders and yells at them to snap out of it and start acting like men. The empathy on display here is staggering.

Spock, meanwhile, has gotten in touch with the Enterprise and asks them for a status report. Scotty’s apparently been trying to get in contact with them for quite a while now, not that he has anything particularly new to tell them: their orbit is still decaying, the heat beams are still locked onto the ship, and they’ve now got about six hours left. “You’ve got to cut them off or we’ll cook, one way or another,” he says grimly.

Kirk tells him once again to stand by and then asks after Sulu. “He’s peaceful enough, but he worries me,” Scotty replies. Kirk orders him to put a guard on Sulu, which stuns Scotty, but Kirk doesn’t offer any useful information about the situation. All he says is, “Watch him. That’s an order,” and then he hangs up.

Kirk then turns back to Marplon and Reger and says, for the umpteenth time this episode, asks them to tell him about Landru. Which at this point is starting to sound like a repeating dialogue option.

[ID: 1. A shot of Kirk with a video game-style dialogue selection in the bottom left corner, with the option ‘Ask about Landru’ highlighted and the options ‘Ask about Archons’ ‘Ask about Lawgivers’ and ‘Remain Silent’ listed below it. 2. The same shot of Kirk, now saying, “About Landru.”]

“Well...there was war...convulsions...the world was destroying itself,” Reger says. “Landru was our leader. He saw the truth. He changed the world. He took us back, back to a simpler time. A time of peace and tranquility.” Oh fuck, he was one of those dudes. Of course he was. “Everything will be alright if we go back to the old ways, when things were good and simple and peaceful because everyone was busy dying of polio.”

Asked what happened to Landru, Marplon says that he’s still alive. “He is here now. He sees, he hears.” Then he begins to break down, crying, “We have destroyed ourselves! Please, no more.”

“You said you wanted freedom,” Kirk tells him sternly. “It’s time you learned that freedom is never a gift. It has to be earned.”

Yes, yes, very pithy, but I can’t really say I’m here for listening to Kirk tell people who have lived their whole lives under a horrifying totalitarian regime that they need to Man Up. I mean, regular human totalitarian regimes fuck people up enough, let alone one where everyone is literally being mind-controlled. Can you imagine what life is like for these guys? We know that Landru will try to kill anyone that can’t be controlled, so for Marplon and Reger to still be alive means pretending, every day that they were free of Landru’s control—which, depending on whether they somehow broke free or were born immune, could be their entire lives—pretending to be controlled, pretending to be just as happy and tranquil as everyone else, never able to let slip the slightest trace of fear or anger or grief at everything you saw happening around you, lest any of the constantly watching eyes all around you catch on and you either get executed by the Lawmakers or, if you’re not so lucky, slaughtered by the angry mob that just detected a traitor, traitor in its midst. And they were still trying to resist, still working against Landru despite him being, near as they could tell, all but omnipotent. And Kirk’s gonna stand here and lecture them about courage? Sure, they’re afraid—who could blame them? Sometimes people are afraid. Sometimes people need help.

And, well, Kirk’s not helping. Oh, in a broad sense, sure, he’ll save the day and defeat the bad guy for them (spoilers). But as far as Marplon and Reger specifically are concerned, Kirk has really not bothered to help them. He hasn’t made even a pretense of answering any of their questions. He hasn’t explained anything about who the Enterprise crew are, why they’re there, what their theories are about Landru or what they’re planning to do to defeat him. He hasn’t reassured them or made any effort to quell their fears, even though from the perspective of Reger at least, the landing party arriving has directly led to a lot of those fears coming true—since they got here, they’ve drawn suspicion to him that led to his friend being killed and him being pursued and captured, probably to be executed if Marplon hadn’t happened to be around. Kirk hasn’t shown hardly any sympathy for their situation, not directly—oh, he’s muttered to Spock about what a shitshow this whole society is, but he’s not once given Marplon and Reger themselves so much as a “wow, that sucks.” Mostly his interactions with them have ranged from “a bit condescending” to “barely even trying to pretend to be patient.”

And I know I’ve just spent the last two paragraphs ranting at Kirk, but Kirk isn’t really the focus of the problem here. This kind of writing doesn’t feel right for him. Does Kirk sometimes dismiss smaller, individual problems because he’s more focused on the bigger picture? Does he sometimes push people around him a little harder than they can handle because he’s busy pushing himself too hard at the same time? Sure. Those are understandable, human character flaws that are natural extensions of the character strengths that make him a good captain in the first place. But the attitude of this whole episode feels like it has very little to do with Kirk as a character, flawed or otherwise, and much more to do with an obnoxious combination of the lofty moralizing that Star Trek sometimes dips into mixed with an especially 60s-flavored American outlook on Freedom, subsection: The Costs Of. Yeah, we know all about fighting for freedom! We know all about what it costs! We’re the big strong heroes who are gonna save you from Nazis and Communism cause someone’s gotta do it and that someone is us! TROOPS!

As for the lofty moralizing, well, the behavior of our protagonists in this episode feels rather like the other end of the Metron problem in Arena. Our heroes sweep into a Less Advanced society, decide they’re gonna fix everything for them, and proceed to do so without putting much effort into actually including the members of that society in their plans. Heck, how much time have Kirk and Spock spent in this episode chatting about the flaws and foibles of this culture right in front of Reger, Tamar and Marplon, because it’s not like they’re gonna understand us anyway, right? Of course, I’m not saying that they’re acting as bad as the Metrons—they still haven’t been that obnoxious. And of course there are extenuating circumstances; Kirk’s got crewmen down here and a ship up there in immediate danger, he’s short on time and him being frustrated with not getting the help he wants out of the locals is understandable enough. I mean, at the end of the day, whatever they do to Landru is unlikely to be worse for this culture than having the Enterprise crash into it, which is what will happen if they don’t do anything. But again, the writing of the whole thing doesn’t make it feel like our protagonists are actually being driven by desperation, danger and their own flaws; it feels like an attitude that exists on the same kind of spectrum as we saw with the Metrons: there are cultures that do things Right and cultures that do things Wrong. Some of them are more Right than humans so we should aspire to be like them someday, and some of them are more Wrong so we should help get them on the right track. The extraordinary speed with which Kirk brushes aside the question of whether they’re breaking the Prime Directive speaks to the fact that the episode isn’t interested in exploring that question in the first place. It just wants to get on with dropping cool one-liners and defeating the villain.

Kirk says they’re going to find Landru now, but Reger finally reaches his breaking point and starts yelling that he was wrong, he’ll submit to Landru, and tries to run screaming for the Lawgivers. He doesn’t get very far before Spock nerve-pinches him, while Kirk sternly says, “It’s too late for that.” Hmm, I wonder if this could possibly have been averted at all if we’d done anything to help calm him down instead of telling him to tough it out like a real man? Nah, I’m sure it was unavoidable. Kirk then turns to Marplon and says it’s up to him now to take them to Landru. Marplon looks like he’s regretting every single one of his life choices.

But evidently either persuasion or intimidation was effective, because the next thing we see is Marplon leading Kirk and Spock, both now all robed up, down a very orange corridor. He stops at the door at one end of the hall and tells them that this is the Hall of Audiences (fastpass available). Kirk, naturally, tells him to open it. “But this is Landru!” Marplon pleads. Unimpressed, Kirk tells him to get on with it and open the thing already because seriously, there’s only like ten minutes of episode left, we don’t have time for this.

So Marplon performs the Sacred Gesture of Door-Opening, which is to say he folds his fingers and bows, and the door opens. Kirk and Spock hustle in behind him and immediately discard their entire disguises, which may not have been the best idea, practically speaking, but it’s understandable enough; the Hall of Audiences doesn’t look real well-ventilated.

On a side-note, Kirk was definitely not wearing his coat when he put the robe on, but evidently it respawned in his inventory at some point because he is wearing it when he takes the robe off again.

[ID: A comparison between two images. On the left, Kirk putting a Lawgiver’s robe on over his shirt and waistcoat. On the right, Kirk dropping his robe to the floor in the Hall of Audiences, showing his coat on over his shirt and waistcoat.]

One small problem: the room is completely empty, with no sign of any Landrus anywhere. Kirk starts yelling for him, saying that they are the Archons (sure, why not) and they’ve come to have a chat. A moment later, Landru’s projection appears against the back wall. I’m not sure if they intended for his shirt to blend in with the wall so well that it looks like his head is floating, but that’s what they achieved.

[ID: Another projection of Landru, this one a headshot in which the color of his shirt matches the wall behind him so well it’s barely visible.]

a true figurehead

For a moment everyone just stands around staring at Landru, although Marplon is multitasking and also having a massive panic attack. Then Landru finally speaks up. “Despite my efforts to save you, you have invaded the Body, and are causing great harm,” he says. Kirk says they have no intention of causing harm, but Landru keeps right on going. “Obliteration is necessary,” he says. “The infection is strong. For the good of the Body...you must die. It is...a great sorrow.” Oh, well, if you feel bad about it, that’s okay then. Carry on.

Kirk says they don’t intend to die, either, but as you might have worked out by now, Landru’s not listening. “All who saw you, all who know of your presence here, must be excised,” he says. “The memory of the Body will be cleansed.”

Before Kirk can keep this one-sided conversation going any longer, Spock tells him it’s useless—this is only a projection. “Yes, Mr. Spock,” Kirk muses. “Let’s have a look at the projector.”

The two of them take their phasers out and shoot the wall Landru’s projecting onto, blasting a big hole in the masonry. For once, shooting the hologram actually turns out to be useful, as it reveals the real Landru: a giant computer. Kirk and Spock exchange some pretty smug looks. “Of course. It had to be,” Kirk says. For, as Spock points out, this whole society has all along been run to a computer’s concept of perfection—peace, harmony, all parts working in perfect unison, and absolutely no soul.

“I am Landru,” the computer trills at them. “You have intruded.”

“Pull out its plug, Mr. Spock,” Kirk says, soaring clear over not only any ethical dilemmas here but also over the question of whether “pull out its plug” is even a metaphor that would make sense in the 23rd century. But when they raise their phasers again, there’s a flash of light, and not like the kind there’s supposed to be when you fire a phaser. “Your devices have been neutralized,” the computer informs them. “So it shall be with you. I am Landru.”

Kirk, barely missing a beat over the devastating failure of his cool one-liner, says, “Landru died over six thousand years ago.” The computer insists that it is Landru. “All that he was, I am. His experience, his knowledge.”

“But not his wisdom,” Kirk says. “He may have programmed you, but he could not have given you a soul. You are a machine.”

Landru 2.0 says that this is irrelevant, they will be obliterated, and that the good of the Body is the prime directive. Okay, first of all, that’s copyright infringement. Second of all—what, exactly, is the good? The computer stutters over this, repeating, “I am Landru,” before finally managing to spit out, “The good...is the harmonious continuation...of the Body. The good is peace, tranquility. The good of the Body is the directive.”

“Then I put it to you that you have disobeyed the prime directive,” Kirk says. “You are harmful to the Body.”

“The Body is! It exists. It is healthy.”

“The Body is dying. YOU are destroying it.”

“Do you ask a question?!” Oh, bad move, that’s a sure sign you’re losing the argument. Kirk, sensing weakness, takes a moment to get into a proper computer-dissing stance before asking his next question: “What have you done to do justice to the full potential of every individual in the Body?”

[ID: A gif of Kirk standing in front of a large hole in the stone wall before him, one leg propped up on the bottom of said hole. When Landru 2.0 asks, “Do you ask a question?” Kirk puts one hand on his leg and the other on his hip, and pauses deliberately for a moment before responding.]

Landru 2.0 doesn’t know what to do with that, so Kirk just continues anyway. “Without freedom of choice, there is no creativity! Without creativity, there is no life. The Body dies. The fault...is YOURS.”

Spock chimes in at this point to ask, “Are you aiding the Body or are you destroying it?” Landru 2.0 says it’s not programmed to answer that question. At that point a couple of Lawmakers come running in, but they’re not looking nearly so intimidating anymore, yelling, “Landru, guide us!” in a panic. Kirk turns toward them and pulls out his phaser (presumably out of force of habit, since it doesn’t work anymore) but Spock says they needn’t bother anyway—the Lawmakers have no guidance, probably for the first time ever in their lives, and thus are not much of a threat at the moment. Also, they don’t even have their giant sticks, so what are they gonna do? Headbutt the intruders to death? So Kirk dismissed them and turns back to Landru 2.0, ordering it to answer the question.

“Peace, order, and tranquility are maintained,” Landru 2.0 says, having had a bit of time of think about it. “The Body lives, but I reserve creativity to me.”

“Then the Body dies,” Spock says. “Creativity is necessary for the health of the Body.”

“That...is...impossible!” Landru 2.0 cries desperately.

Marplon, who’s been standing in the back looking real worldview-shattered this whole time, finally speaks up to ask if this is truly Landru, like someone who just met their favorite celebrity and got real let down. “What’s left of him,” Spock says. “After he built and programmed this machine six thousand years ago.”

“You must create the good,” Kirk tells Landru 2.0. “That is the will of Landru, nothing else.”

“But there is evil!”

“Then the evil must be destroyed. That is the prime directive, and YOU are the evil!”

“I think! I live!”

“You are the evil! The evil must be destroyed! Fulfill the prime directive!”

At this point Landru 2.0 starts smoking, as computers are well-known to do when they think too hard. Kirk keeps yelling at it to “Fulfill the prime directive!” and Landru 2.0 eventually just starts yelling, “Help me! Help me! Help me! Help me!” until it explodes in a giant shower of sparks.

[ID: A gif showing Landru 2.0, a large boxy computer sitting behind a hole in a stone wall, sparking wildly and catching fire. The gif cuts briefly to Kirk watching, before cutting back to show Landru 2.0 smoking as the sparks die slowly.]

Yeah IT’s probably not gonna be able to help with that one.

Kirk and Spock step inside to take a look at the remains (probably not a good idea, the air quality in there cannot be good). Evidently satisfied that Landru 2.0 is well and truly busted, Kirk turns to Marplon and says, “Well, you’re on your own now. I hope you’re up to it. You can get rid of those robes, and if I were you I’d start looking for a new job.” Gee, thanks.

He then calls the Enterprise to see how they’re doing. Scotty reports that the heat rays are gone, and Sulu’s all back to normal. To demonstrate this, Sulu shrugs at the camera so exaggeratedly I half expected a laugh track to follow it, before clapping the current helmsman on the shoulder and hustling him out of his chair so Sulu can get back to work. SERIOUSLY? I’m well used to Trek blowing off the effects of things that really ought to be pretty traumatic, but even for TOS this is pretty extreme. I mean, even putting aside the whole matter of recovering so quickly and easily from incredibly powerful mind control stripping away your entire sense of self in subjugation to a mindless collective, how did he get up there so quickly? The Enterprise is a big ship! You can only get from Sickbay to the bridge so fast! Landru’s been out of commission for what, two minutes? Five minutes, generously? Hell, he didn’t even get to take the rest of his shift off? Man, they really keep your nose to the grindstone on this ship.

Kirk, evidently more satisfied with this than I am, tells Scotty to stand by to beam them up, then hangs up and says, “Let’s go see how the others are doing. Marplon can finish up here.” We don’t get to find out how the others are doing, or indeed what the heck “finish up” is supposed to mean in this context, because the scene cuts immediately back to the bridge sometime later, where Kirk is giving a captain’s log.

“The Enterprise is preparing to leave Beta 3 in starsystem C-111. Sociologist Lindstrom is remaining behind with a party of experts who will help restore the planet’s culture to a human form.”

“Marvelous,” Spock comments as Kirk finishes. “The late Landru—a marvelous feat of engineering. A computer capable of directing the lives of millions of human beings.” Pretty impressive indeed—heck, just building a computer that’s still running after six thousand years is quite incredible. Would have been nice to study it. Pity someone blew it up.

Kirk’s not feeling real sentimental about it, though. It was still only a machine, he says. “The original Landru programmed it with all his knowledge, but he couldn’t give it his wisdom, his compassion, his understanding...his soul, Mr. Spock.”

Yes, yes, so you’ve said a bazillion times already, although it’s quite a large assumption given they have no idea what the original Landru was actually like. I mean, we do know this was a guy whose response to a world in crisis was to take everybody back to “a simpler time” aka the imaginary dreamland of bitter conservatives everywhere, and that he was so convinced his method of running that society was the only correct answer that he built a computer to go on micro-managing that society in his name forever. Not to mention, y’know, the mind-controlling powers that he apparently built into it. It’s entirely possible that Landru 2.0 was not an error of programming but in fact was running exactly as intended.

“Predictably metaphysical,” Spock says, apparently forgetting that he made the exact some observation himself earlier. “I prefer the concrete, the graspable, the provable.”

“You would make a splendid computer, Mr. Spock,” Kirk says fondly. Spock, of course, looks immensely pleased and replies, “That is very kind of you, captain.”

Before these two dorks can get any further with their sweet-talk, Lindstrom calls up to say good-bye. Asked how it’s going down there, he says, “Couldn’t be better, captain. Already this morning, we’ve had half a dozen domestic quarrels and two genuine knock-down drag-outs. It may not be paradise, but it’s certainly human.” Huh. I guess that’s better than laying in the fetal position crying, which is what I would be doing in that situation. Still, good to see that this society is acting properly human now. This...non-human society.

Kirk wishes him good luck and leaves him to it. As they prepare to head out, Spock muses about, ““How often mankind has wished for a world as peaceful and secure as the one Landru provided.” “Yes, and we never got it,” Kirk says. “Just lucky, I guess.” Yes, yes, no such thing as a utopia, and all that. Personally I just fantasize about a world where I earn a living wage, but I suppose that would make for a rather more boring episode.

They exchange wry looks, and the episode ends. There’s no sign or word of any of the crewmembers who got Landru’d throughout this scene, so who knows how they’re dealing with all this. I’m assuming McCoy is off somewhere getting super drunk right about now.

The Return of the Archons is an episode that always feels to me as if someone started writing it with no idea of where it was going and just made it up as they went along, but without the bit where you go back at the end and edit everything to match. There are a lot of things that either seem odd in the context of what we learn later, or just get brought up and then never explained. The biggest offender is the Festival, which dominates the first act of the episode so much you figure it has to be important, but then it just gets dropped with no answer as to what purpose it serves, how often it happens, why older people are exempt, etc. (The James Blish novelization takes a crack at it by having Lindstrom postulate that having everyone wildly run amok for one night a year was a form of population control. Which...seems suspect to me, but hey, he tried.) But there are plenty of other questions as well, like, where’s the ‘valley’ that everyone talks about, and who, if anyone, lives there? Why are some people immune to being Landru’d? Why is there a whole special chamber that our heroes get dragged off to one by one to get absorbed, when the Lawmakers are capable of doing it just by tapping people with their rods? Why is Hacom so grumpy and un-tranquil despite apparently being a member of the Body, none of the rest of whom show that amount of individualism? Considering Landru 2.0’s range apparently extends far enough for Sulu to still be controlled while up in orbit, why didn’t it ever try to use Sulu against the Enterprise? Why does Sulu, even after being absorbed, yell at that guy in the transporter room about having the wrong clothes? How do the Lawgivers do that robo-voice thing? I’m used to having to fill in some gaps on my own to make TOS episodes make total sense, but even for TOS this one has an abnormal amount of unanswered questions, which makes it difficult for me to take it seriously as a story, even aside from my problems with the whole “FIGHT FOR YOUR FREEDOM LIKE REAL MEN” thing. On the plus side: waistcoats!

Landru’s circuit-popping demise has brought our Bluescreen Monologues tally up by one. No crew deaths this time, everyone escaped the clutches of Landru more or less intact. Next time we’ll be seeing the origins of a particularly iconic foe in Space Seed.

#star trek #star trek TOS #star trek season one #star trek TOS recaps #1.21 The Return of the Archons #1.21 The Return of the Archons recap

[peterstanslizzie]

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 1.21 (Lizzie Strikes Out)

This is basically how I look like when I’m feeling conflicted, except I’m not as pretty when I make this face lol

- We begin this episode with our trio revealing to each other what their most embarrassing moments were. For Lizzie, it’s when she ripped her pants in front of the entire class and for Gordo, it’s when his fingers got stuck in a bowling ball and he had to get it surgically removed.

- As for Miranda, her most embarrassing moment was when she threw up whilst singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in a choir. To her detriment, she reveals this piece of information just when Ethan joins them at their table. This causes Miranda further embarrassment. 

- Ethan tells Gordo that he won’t be able to watch the movie, ‘Psycho’ this Friday night because he and his friends are going bowling. Miranda quickly tells Ethan that they also have plans to go bowling on Friday but we all know that it’s a white lie. 

Hurrah! Looks like they’re going bowling with Ethan! And as usual, Gordo isn’t exactly excited about it. Get some guy friends Gordo...sheesh.

Sam Wants To Hang Out With His Daughter

- As the title suggests, Sam feels like he doesn’t know who his daughter is anymore since she’s a teenager in her own little world. He comes up with an idea to take Lizzie out for dinner on Friday night and spend some quality time with his daughter. He wants to be, as he puts it, “down” with the kids. Well, good luck with that...

- Meanwhile, Matt is with Lanny sitting on the couch and apparently, we find out that Heywood Briggs is still a bully. I’m kinda surprised that he made another appearance here; I thought we’ve seen the last of him when he got chained to a statue at the mini golf course in episode 1.17.

Here is that little scoundrel’s face again. Honestly, he needs to be expelled from school asap because he’s a terrible person and his parents are morons for raising a kid like that. Of course, this is not directed to the actual actor who played Heywood

- They think that if they were to workout and build more muscle, this might prompt Heywood to leave them alone. What about telling your parents about Heywood? That should help solve everything, I think.

-  We then get to Sam asking Lizzie if she would like to have dinner with him on Friday. Things get pretty awkward because Lizzie’s isn’t so sure what she should say but she goes ahead and tentatively says yes to him. 

Is the word, “Coolio-ness” in the ‘How To Talk To Your Kids” guidebook?

Gordo is a Good Boy

- At the outdoor school lunch area, Gordo is busy reading a book about bowling, titled “This Dude Strikes Out” because he doesn’t want to embarrass himself on Friday. Miranda questions him on why he’s reading that book since she assumes he isn’t even going to come along.

- Apparently, Gordo changed his mind because he wants to face his fears. Miranda is on board with helping him as she wants to teach him how to relax when bowling. She is teaching him mantras to say in order to build his confidence up and she also gives him treats to reaffirm this, just like a trainer with their dog.

Miranda comes up with such outrageous ideas sometimes lol

- Lizzie tells her friends that she’s having dinner with her dad this Friday night but she failed to remember that she already made plans for bowling with Ethan on that same night. Lizzie thought that it was happening on Saturday. Do not mess up your days and dates guys and gals!

- Lizzie is conflicted because she has to make a decision between cancelling on her dad or Ethan. The clear answer to her is to cancel on her dad but you can tell that Lizzie doesn’t want to let him down. 

- Back at the Mcguire home, Matt doesn’t think that working out is doing any favours and they decide to make themselves invisible by painting themselves white and blending in with the white walls to make Heywood not notice them. 

Clearly, you ain’t fooling nobody

Lizzie Makes A Tough Decision

- Sam asks Lizzie if she would like to have Indian food for dinner on Friday but Lizzie musters enough courage to tell him if they could reschedule their dinner since she’s already going bowling with her friends. I don’t fault her for having to cancel on her dad but I didn’t particularly like how she said they can spend time together if he drives her to the bowling alley.

I feel so bad for Sam! 

- At school, Miranda is continuing with her non-traditional practice of teaching Gordo how to bowl by asking him to imagine himself as the ball and the pins. But when he does it, he freaks out. Really now? It seems to me like Gordo has a deep-rooted fear of bowling. 

- All of a sudden, we see Mr. Dig riding on his scooter and crashes himself into a tree! Umm what was that about? Is this meant to be for a lesson that he wants to convey to the kids? I’m confused...

Did Miranda just call Mr. Dig, Mr. Diggs? Like Diggs for Taye Diggs? And she said it more than once

- Back at the Mcguire home, Matt and Lanny are planning an ambush on Lizzie to simulate what they will eventually do to Heywood. Lizzie steps on something sticky on the floor and gets caught in it. Next, Matt and Lanny wrap cling film all around her to restrict her movement. Afterwards, the usual happens; Lizzie calls their mom and y’all know the rest. Anyways, I will wrap up Matt’s storyline in this paragraph: Heywood gets into an accident whilst skateboarding and had to miss school. Well, good for Matt and Lanny then.

- In Lizzie’s room, Jo is helping Lizzie to remove the gunk that’s stuck on the sole of her shoe and she tells her that she knows Lizzie cancelled her dinner date with Sam. Jo seems totally okay with it because she knows that teenagers tend to prioritise their friends more than their parents and that’s just how it is.

- However, Lizzie doesn’t feel comfortable about the idea that kids her age are usually like that. She feels guilty about ditching her dad so that she could hang out with her friends. I have a sneaky suspicion that Jo was trying to guilt-trip Lizzie, just based on the tone of her voice. 

It takes a lot of maturity, especially at that age to realise you’ve made a mistake. 

It’s Time To Bowl

Lizzie makes a strike with bowling and with Ethan

- It’s Gordo’s turn to play and he makes a gutter ball but hey, he is proud of it because he had fun. And Miranda is happy for him too. Ethan is confused as to why Gordo is so happy for not taking down a single pin and Gordo takes cue from Miranda and tries to give him some deep advice but as usual, Ethan just doesn’t get it. Plus, he seems legit scared of Gordo.

Look at his face! He looks really frightened lol

- Turns out, Lizzie made the best decision she possibly could and actually invited her dad to join her and her friends for bowling. She then apologises to her dad for how she acted towards him. Sam in turn, is really glad that Lizzie has included him in her plans. 

All’s well that ends well

Overall Thoughts

- I feel like this is the perfect episode for Father’s Day or something; It is that wholesome. I remember in one of my earlier reviews that I was looking forward to see more development in the relationship between Lizzie and Sam just because we’ve seen a lot of strides made in Lizzie and Jo’s relationship. So, it’s really refreshing to see how Lizzie actually does care about her dad and doesn’t want to make him feel excluded from her life. 

- I also like how Gordo and Miranda were mostly together in this episode. Sometimes, I feel like there wasn’t much of a connection made between those two characters prior to this episode. Therefore, I do like how Miranda was being supportive of Gordo and trying to help him overcome his fears. I hope to see more of this kind of story-line involving these two.

- Matt’s storyline with Lanny was in the words of Avril Lavigne, “so whatever”. I don’t understand the point of bringing back Heywood, even if he didn’t actually appear on screen in real-time, only in flashbacks. It’s already been established that he’s Matt’s bully a few episodes ago but this episode didn’t really do much to expand on that except only to take him out and make him injured due to a skateboarding accident. 

#lizzie mcguire #hilary duff #lalaine #jake thomas #robert carradine #hallie todd #adam lamberg #clayton snyder #disney plus #disney channel #fathers day #father and daughter #teen parenting #teen comedy #disney episodes #episode review #episode recap #old disney #disney nostalgia

[imyourplusone]

It’s Deja Vu all over again

some post 6.2 thoughts....

Haven’t done one of these in the longest time but better out than in right?

-First thanks James Spader you beautiful bastard for bringing Cary Grant into the script convo. As much credit as we give James for his blacklist brilliance it is never enough and I’m sure we don’t know 1/10 of his bts contributions for any given week.

ok the good:

-Welcome back Max! The blacklist should bring back these cast of characters more often please and thank you.

-bomb defusing scene...I’m always happily surprised when Red and Lizzy have these funny moments of banter, bicker, back and forth. Megan and James have great comedic timing together so why is this so rare that I’m always happily surprised by it?

-Was that little smile of Dembe’s when he was watching Red’s antics at the UN really Dembe or Hisham because it could go either way. Hisham has a front row seat to the greatest show in town and I’m very jealous about it.

-the double entendres....look I’m all for a smart Liz and her finally being let in on whatever secret is currently relevant but it’s what she does with the information that’s the issue. However I do love the way both Red and Liz are dropping these subtle and not so subtle impostor hints. JUST KISS YOU TWO! I mean who are they fooling?

I’m a great fan of reinvention.....of becoming your true self even if you have to take on a new identity to achieve it.

Subtle Red, real subtle. You’re not actually trying to tell Liz the thing without actually telling her the thing are you? Well you should’ve talked quicker man cuz she wasn’t listening.

-Red’s total swag at the arrest. Damn son. Red’s motto is “never let ‘em see you sweat” or perhaps “that pretzel cart arrest is a vicious rumor”

The not so good/horrible beyond all reason:

-I’m plotting Jennifers demise as we speak. There will be no satisfaction in her just leaving so...  Her mind games with Liz are diabolical and a great twist would actually be her lying this whole time by manipulating Liz into helping kill Red by way of the state as revenge for Liz shooting Garvey. Whatever just die Jennifer you frumpy grumpy defeated heap.

-So we had Liz betray Red in 1.21, lie about Tom, kick Red out of the delivery room, fake her death and become a general meanie. Do the writer’s need new material at this point or what? Yes, yes they do. I won’t even list the 8463535 reasons Liz shouldn’t have gone there since we ALL know what they are at this point except Liz which is so typical blacklist I just can’t anymore. 

-I’m shocked Shocked to find gambling going on in here! (that’s a casablanca reference keeping with the classic movie theme of the week) Red dropping by unannounced is hardly news and hardly a reason to have him arrested Liz geez. Y’all couldn’t meet at Jennifer’s or has she moved in to leech off you as well as take over your mind? 

-Why is it suddenly clear that Red and by extension the task force actually does good in the world? Liz wake up! You too Coop and Ressler. And look it’s no secret I’m not #teamRessler but that was a shady convo Liz had with him after learning of the arrest. Her disassociation with the truth is concerning at this point.

-The biggest question I have is this...Why is it more important for Liz to be Red’s fake “daughter” and not a functioning parent to her child? This is really a question for the johns because they seriously need to check their misogynistic ageist leanings as well as deal with the pregnancy that they wrote in. Agnes hasn’t been mentioned even tho the danger has passed so I guess Liz just can’t be bothered. Interesting that Red no longer mentions her either like it’s a given that she might actually be better off with Scottie. Grrrrrr

-Realistically this might be the last season and at this point....and I realize we’re only two episodes in and I’m great at jumping to wrong conclusions just like Liz but....this feels like a waste of time/effort. Jennifer is definitely a waste of space and after years of the Red/Liz lack of magic it seems farfetched that it could end well. Of course, this is TBL and ending well is something tptb really don’t do so whatever. 

Bring on those courtroom Alan Shore scenes because that’s all that’s getting me thru Liz’s shenanigans.

#the blacklist #thoughts #meh #ramble #ramble ramble

[jacktherph]

Actually, instead of a shoutout, could we get your opinion on the rp please? Thank you!

hi there @kismetrpg! i’m happy to give you an opinion. since you didn’t specify private, i will post this on my blog. feel free to ask me to take it down if that was a mistake.

NOTE: all opinions expressed here are mine, jack’s, belonging to jack. i make no claims to knowing what is best for every group – i only offer advice based on my experiences, what i’ve seen in the community, and my personal knowledge. no one person knows what is best for you or any group other than yourself; because you were the one who put all of this together in the first place. so take everything i say as a suggestion, and remember that you have accomplished so much!!

and if you have any questions, want feedback on something specific, or want elaborations on anything said in this opinion, don’t hesitate to message me!!

this isn’t just an opinion, it’s a shoutout and a rec! @kismetrpg looks like a really cool new supernatural-themed rpg set in new orleans, y’all!! with a unique lore, awesome factions, and tons of different species to take on, this is an rpg worth checking out!! they open on january 5th!

start: 1.20 | pause: 1.21 - 1.25 | end: 1.36TOTAL: 12 minutes to read all pages (please don’t take this as a measure of anything, I simply time myself and am a speed reader)

Before I say anything about the group and pages, this is a blanket recommendation: Read up on Apostrophe Rules and go through your pages with an editing eye. I’m definitely guilty of mixing up my apostrophe rules sometimes but I definitely noticed a lot of mistakes in pages like your plot. Fixing these can improve the overall professional atmosphere of your group!

My first impression was this: this is definitely a group I would have considered joining when I was looking for rpgs to check out!! You have a lot of lore, great details and descriptions provided, and the blanket plot seems really interesting. This is a fascinating looking roleplay, so I want to give you my kudos. Well done! The main is very clean, minimalist, if that’s what you were going for. All attention is definitely diverted to the heading image. Unfortunately without seeing the advertised “supernatural rpg” font, I wouldn’t know this group has supernatural intentions based solely on looks. I don’t know if you planned/wanted that, but I wanted to include that in case you were so inclined. Your sidebars are clean-cut and to the point and will, no doubt, fill up with things once you open I’m sure. I do like the blanket trigger warning on the top of the About–I don’t know if some might deem it entirely necessary, but you want potential members to know what they’ll be looking at before they delve into your info, and I respect that.

A word on your Navigation: I don’t know if, in your theme, you can divide the navigation up more than by two headings, but if you can I would recommend it. Personally, I would divide it into: “Before Application,” including plot, rules, app, forms, etc / “Lore,” (or similar title) including your info on the Council, Silence, bestiary, locations, etc / & “After Applying,” with what you have. If that doesn’t appeal to you, I would say just try and reorganize the links? Why I say this: because jumping around from lore, lore, to app info, to lore, to form info, all in the top was kind of confusing for me. I get having the most important things first but it did seem a bit mish-moshed.

Your Plot is spot-on. You gave me background, you gave me current happenings, you gave me how things went down, and that’s excellent. One thing: think about including a paragraph on when/how/why the Council was formed? I think that would wrap it all up nicely and send a potential member into the “Chapter One” section seamlessly. Because I was suddenly like “wait who are these guys?? Where did they come from??” when I saw their name. Just a thought. As a writer I adored how you put it in as a “Chapter.” Something about the word choice really made me feel like I was entering at the beginning of a story by applying.

Your Rules are standard and fill every criteria for base lsrpgs that I, personally, am aware of. Your last bullet-point in “God Modding” however brought up a curiosity that you might want to think about putting somewhere in your lore: the rock-paper-scissors effect of the supernaturals. Who beats who? Who has a natural weakness to who? Etc etc. Just something to think about? I like that your Activity Check window is 48 hours. Very appealing to people who want to join but also worry about Check limits. QUESTION: At the top of your Rules, you say this is a “canon and original character roleplay.” What canon? I couldn’t find a fandom influence–not a blatant one. If you don’t mean from a fandom, you might want to rephrase to avoid people applying with fandom canon characters. If you mean YOUR canon, might I suggest “an original canon and original character roleplay” instead?

I don’t really feel like I can give an opinion on your Lore pages – after all, the Lore is yours. But it all reads very simply, cleanly, and to-the-point. I feel like if I have any questions they are easily answered by hitting up the main, too. (And as an admin of an rpg with a lot of lore, just be prepared to answer questions that are answered already, semi-often. It happens, am I right? ;) ) Something that would be cool: snippets from the Holy Book of the False Silence. HERE a popular video game, Dragon Age, wrote actual verses from their in-world “scripture,” maybe you could too. It would be very immersive and exciting for people who are Followers!

I love your Location page – plain and simple. There’s pictures, info, territory info, even economy info! You really did your research on the Big Easy, huh? That is great because it can mean potential members will feel immersed. I also like that you included a form for new locations to be added; it makes the members feel more included for sure.

And your Bestiary makes me melt. Firstly, I love the theme. You provide a great deal of information and also the essentials needed; a good balance for people who have a species in mind and people who are species-shopping! Great images, great aesthetic too. But one thing: the Bestiary is very dark compared to the main and all other pages. That struck me. Would you consider going lighter with it, or going darker with the main? Something to give it a balance.

Your app is smart and clean – asks for the necessary info on the character but that’s it. I don’t really understand what you mean when you say “Be calm!” at the top but if you like it, it doesn’t change anything. Simple apps have their benefits for sure, especially on the person reading and reviewing them. Personally, I’d recommend adding a question or two unique to your group, but that’s just a suggestion. It works well either way.

So about your Follow List… it confused the hell out of me, I’m going to be honest. Some characters had blogs, some links were dead, who are these people? As I understand it you haven’t opened yet? I’m a little lost at what to say here because I don’t want to make assumptions, ramble, and be wrong. So if you want to talk that one out together, feel free to message me! Otherwise, that confusion is an outsider’s opinion and might extend to potential members as well. Your Events Blog showed information from 4-5 years ago though, and I’d recommend either archiving it or deleting those posts because it does make a knee-jerk implication that you’ve already begun things.

My FAVOURITE THING about this rpg: your plot and lore. While supernatural-themed rpgs are still pretty common in the rpc, you took your idea with a fresh heart and great twists and the vitality of it is definitely something that I can see giving you a good membership, as well as great stories to thrill those members with. Main plots, side plots, factions; all things that make a great lsrpg in Jack’s book™.

My LEAST FAVOURITE THING about this rpg: you have a lot going on–a good thing–but somehow when I return to the main it feels a bit… hollow. Maybe that’s because you’re still prepping and not-yet open. Maybe that will change when you get events and plots going. Unfortunately I can’t quite describe it, and please feel free to disregard this as rambling, but I feel like something needs to solidify this group in my mind and heart. Something in the story, perhaps, that leaves me craving to know what will happen. But you’re probably working on that with your plots, I’m sure.

Overall, this is a group with potential brimming from the proverbial cauldron. You have a lot going on and a lot to finish up and already some great generated interest. I think anyone who looks at this group can feel like they have a new world to play in, but also the comforts of the supernatural rpg genre to form a community within. I wish you the best of luck, admin!!

Sincerely,Jack

#rph #rpc #rp opinions #jack does rph things #opinion #shoutout #rec #kismetrpg #supernatural rp #answered

[handyguypros1]

Best Lawn Sprinklers for Low Water Pressure HandyGuyPros

Most homes in the city have a water pressure of about 60psi from their taps. But if your water supply comes from a well, or you live in a rural area, you’re likely to have less. Then watering the lawn becomes a challenge.But the best lawn sprinklers for low water pressure make the most of below-average flow. And there are several kinds available. You can choose from in-ground or above-ground fixed or rotary spray, bubblers, spot sprinklers, or drip irrigation.

Fixed spray

Most in-ground sprinkler systems with fixed spray heads perform well with low water pressure. They accept between 20 and 30psi but can water up to 18 ft.²

When shopping for fixed spray heads, there are two things to consider. Everyday life can be hard on an in-ground sprinkler. Be sure to choose ones that retract well and don’t clog easily.

Next, think about the shape of your lawn and whether you’ll want 90, 180, or full-circle spray heads.  Some like the ones from Rain Bird will allow you to alter their patterns between zero and 360°.

Rain Bird 1802VAN Professional Pop-Up Sprinkler

Rain Bird’s 1802VAN pop-up sprinkler heads are popular and well-liked. Plus, they offer a high level of customization. For example, they are available in two-inch, three-inch, four-inch, six-inch, and twelve-inch sizes. Plus, it’s possible to adjust the spray distance and the angle.

On the two-inch version, the spray adjusts between 8 to 15 feet. Then the angle adjusts anywhere between zero and 360°. There’s even a left-edge indicator to make placement easier.

Moreover, the sturdy construction and stainless steel spring retract the head flush to the surface every time.  And the tapered head with a mesh filter prevents clogs from grass clippings and debris. But should you need to perform maintenance, you won’t need special tools.

Toro 53813 4-Inch Pop-Up Fixed-Spray with Nozzle Sprinkler

Toro’s 53813 pop-up fixed-spray sprinklers waste less water because they don’t flush at startup. While they aren’t as adjustable as the ones above from Rain Bird, they are durable. The four-inch heads offer a 15-foot spray radius in a half circle pattern.

The recommended operating pressure is between 20 to 50 psi. And even if you mix and match different pattern and radius sprinklers, the precipitation rate stays the same along the system.

Rotary nozzles

Rotary nozzles can function as pop-up sprinklers. Instead of spraying at a fixed angle, the heads rotate. Most models will allow you to prevent overspray by adjusting the radius.

Rain Bird 2045PJ Maxi-Bird Full or Part Circle Impact Sprinkler

Rain Bird’s 2045PJ MaxiBird system has a heavy-duty construction with double -weighted arms to slow their rotation and increase how far they spray. You can adjust the arm spring to accommodate low pressure and minimize water use.

Each head requires between 25 to 60psi to maintain a radius between 22 to 45 feet and a precipitation rate between 0.28 to 1.21 inches per hour. If you reduce the flow, the radius shrinks to 18 feet. Moreover, if you don’t want the full 360° coverage, you can reduce it down to only 20°.

Rain Bird 22SAQ Mini Rotary Pop-Up Spray

The Rain Bird 22SAQ Mini Rotary sprinklers are small but mighty. They pop up to 4-inch height to spray out to 24 feet. But their gentle 0.6 inch per hour distribution rate is perfect if you need to take it easy on a hillside or new plantings.

While this model sprays in a 90° quarter circle pattern, you can get these same compact sprinkler heads with different capabilities. For example, some have fixed 180° or 360° patterns, while another allows you to adjust between 45 to 70°.

Rainbird R-VAN1724 Rotary Nozzle (10-pack)

Rain Bird’s R-VAN1724 rotary nozzles are simple but effective. You can quickly adjust the radius between 45 and 270° by simply pressing down on the nozzle and rotating it. Plus, you can alter the radius between 17 and 24 feet.

Bubblers

Bubblers are best for small areas like flower beds or vegetable gardens. When they’re working, they look like small individual fountains.

Rain Bird Pressure Compensating Bubbler with Screen

These Rain Bird compensating bubblers maintain constant water flow even at only 20psi. They use as little as 0.25 gallons per minute. The advantage of this slow trickle is that water absorbs as it is needed.

These bubblers operate in a full circle pattern. They come with a filter screen to prevent clogs. And they can be mounted on half-inch male risers to reach higher areas.

Orbit 20-Pack Full Spray Flood Mushroom Bubbler Shrub Sprinkler Head

Orbit’s mushroom bubblers have a screw top that allows you to vary the flow from a trickle to a flood. You can use them singly or as part of the system. Each bubbler head comes with a half-inch thread connection so that it can be mounted on risers. And the sturdy plastic build features a debris filter.

Spot sprinklers

Instead of an entire irrigation system, sometimes all you need is a spot sprinkler. But not all are created equal. Some perform better than others when the water pressure is low.

Dramm 15072 ColorStorm Spinning Sprinkler

The Dramm 15072 ColorStorm sprinkler spends to distribute water over an area up to 38 feet in diameter. More importantly, it accepts pressure as low as 20psi with as little as 3 gallons per minute.

The sprinkler emits fine droplets for improved absorption. In addition, its all-metal construction includes a heavy stationary base, and a brass spinning head mounted on a ball bearing. Plus, you can choose from six bright colors.

Melnor XT Turbo Oscillating Sprinkler with TwinTouch Width Control & Flow Control

The Melnor XT Turbo sprinkler has 20 tiny nozzles that cover lawns up to 4200 ft.² in size at 60psi. Conversely, you can water up to 3700 ft.² at 40 psi, or 2800 ft.² at 20 psi.

The sprinkler’s TwinTouch feature lets you alter the range and size of the watering pattern. To illustrate, move the yellow tabs to zoom in on a small flower bed or increase the area to cover as much of the lawn as possible.

Spot Sprinkler for small to medium area watering

The SOMMERLAND spot sprinkler comes in either a two-piece or three-piece set. Each sprinkler head attaches to a standard garden hose. And each one covers up to 30 feet in radius.

Gilmour Rectangular Pattern Spot Sprinkler

The Gilmour spot sprinkler waters a rectangular pattern up to 15 x 30 feet. It produces a gentle spray and performs well with low water pressure.

Drip irrigation

The best way to distribute water when you have very low pressure may be with drip irrigation. The water will slowly seep into the ground instead of being lost to evaporation or in the wind.

Rain Bird GRDNERKIT Drip Irrigation Gardener’s Drip Kit

Rain Bird’s Drip Irrigation Kit covers up to 75 square feet. It’s not the best option for watering the lawn. But it’s perfect for irrigating a garden or flowerbed. It conserves water and prevents runoff, too.

You won’t need to dig to install the system because it’s all above ground. You can add a timer or other controller and hook it all up to your outdoor faucet.

The .09 gallon per hour emitters need to be spaced every 18 inches to ensure proper coverage. Moreover, the emitters and the faucet connection regulate pressure so that all the plants receive even amounts of water.

How to select the best low-flow lawn sprinkler system

You’ve now seen that there are several smart irrigation options for watering your yard. But how do you know which one is the best for your needs?

The easiest way to begin is to understand what your lawn needs. Here are some questions to get you thinking.

Do you have grass or foliage that requires a lot of water or a little?

What type of soil do you have? Will it soak up water quickly?

Are there slopes?

How windy is your area?

Here are the reasons behind these questions. First, lawns with Kentucky Bluegrass will be thirstier than those with St. Augustine.  And loamy or sandy soil will absorb water faster than clay.

Next, slopes can create a problem with runoff, so it’s better to give them a low flow. But the wind is also a factor as the mist from sprinklers might not reach its target.

Which type is the best for your yard?

Once you are familiar with what your yard requires, it’s easier to choose between sprinkler types.

If you have a small lawn and your climate is humid, a portable sprinkler is an inexpensive choice. It does mean that you need to be actively involved in moving it around. And you may waste water if you don’t test to see if you’re providing even coverage.

But it’s straightforward to check how your irrigation is working. Just place a few cups or bowls around the yard. After you finish watering, see if there is close to the same amount of water in each of them.

On the other hand, if you have a large lawn or live in a dry climate, permanent sprinklers are advantageous. Controlling them with timers is possible, just like with a portable sprinkler. Or you can take them to the next level with Internet-connected controllers. Moreover, you’re likely to conserve water with an irrigation system like this.

Conservation

Water conservation is vital even if you don’t live in an arid zone. Not only does it save money, but it also protects against the diseases associated with overwatering.

When you water on slopes, consider installing drip irrigation lines if you don’t have grass to mow there. Bubblers are excellent for gardens and flowerbeds. You can also install either system in flower pots or a container garden.

You probably already know that watering before dawn is better for your lawn. But did you also know that interval watering is better still? Instead of soaking the grass for an hour straight, try two intervals of twenty minutes. It will help your lawn and garden soak in the moisture better without becoming over-saturated.

Conclusion

Low water pressure won’t stop you from taking care of the yard. Choose one of the best lawn sprinklers that perform well with 20 to 40psi, and you’ll find that the job is easy after all.

Source : https://handyguypros.com/best-low-water-pressure-sprinklers/

[jenniferstolzer]

Babylon 5 Rewatch Episode 1.21 Quality of Mercy

Franklin investigates an unlicensed doctor gambling with her life, while Londo gives a try at gambling with his Minbari. They both end in regrets.

Things I like about Quality of Mercy

1, Franklin always ends up with these ethical conundrum storylines. I’m glad in this one he admitted he was wrong a lot sooner

2, setting up that stupid life transfer machine... i’m convinced that’s one of those things that the vorlons or shadows bestowed on some baby race at some point as part of their eternal tampering -_- That said, if the death penalty must be in place, being able to use the lives of the convicted to cure untreatable diseases is about the nicest way to go about it. It might even be a relief for some convicts looking for a way to atone. That said, and not to get political, I tend to agree with the judge in this episode that taking another life does not serve the life that was taken... but the mind-wipe option is pretty horrible too. i’m glad we get to see this concept come back up b/c it deserves to be explored more.

3 I finally made the gif I’ve always wanted

Things I like less

1, as much as I like Londo, he’s a huge ass in this episode. He steals from Lennier, lies to him, uses him, and then when Lennier covers his butt at the end he doesn’t even pay him back the money... just offers him a favor, which I know to the Centauri is a big deal, but I don’t think Lennier ever even cashes in on that favor. If I were his mother i’d take him by the ear and give him a stern talking to

almost done with sketches for season 1

Watch b5:  go90 (US only)  watchseries.is (international)

#babylon 5 #babylon 5 spoilers #babylon 5 rewatch #londo mollari #lennier #art #jenstoart

[ayurvedickidneycare]

Can High Creatinine Levels Kill You?

Looking good doesn't necessarily mean that you're in good health…

You might be looking perfectly fit and healthy from the outside, but you never know when a common cold or fever will turn into a chronic illness, such as coronavirus, sinus, and dengue which takes intensive medical care and diet your health back on track. Chronic illnesses often camouflage themselves with a runny nose, chills, or mild headaches that we try to suppress by consuming certain medicines, such as painkillers, aspirin, or antibiotics, that only prevent the symptoms but do not cure them permanently.

This is precisely what happens when you're diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease is a serious health condition that can easily go unnoticed at the initial stages and suddenly charges on your health when the problem gets severe with time.

But our body is precisely designed to survive and readily respond to various environmental and biological stresses. Muscle pain, fever, lower back pain, or not feeling hungry are some of your body's ways of saying that you should seek medical attention so that you can eliminate the disease at its initial stage before it gets worse with time.

High creatinine level has become the commonest chronic health condition that tells that your kidneys are not working properly. Read this article until the end; if you're not familiar with the term "creatinine", what are the consequences, causes, and symptoms of high creatinine levels that come with it.

What is Creatinine?

Creatinine is a chemical waste produced during muscle breakdown or during the wearing and tearing of muscles. Everyone has creatinine in their blood that usually gets filtered by their kidneys via urine. The creatinine level varies from person to person based on sex, race, diet, and the number of physical activities performed in a day.

What is The Meaning of High Creatinine?

Studies have shown that the average level of creatinine in a human body should be around 0.84 MG/DL to 1.21 MG/DL; if your lab report shows creatinine level beyond this range, then it indicates kidney dysfunction, which means that your kidneys are not working properly as they should.

How Can We Detect High Creatinine Problems in Time?

High creatinine level can be a primary symptom of chronic kidney disease, which is progressive in a certain period and only gets visible when it gets severe over time. Hence, it's recommended to keep getting your urine and blood sample tested every year.

Doing this will help you to monitor your kidneys' health and lets you detect the threat in time before it starts interfering with your kidneys' functioning. However, you may feel some physical complications in your health which include the following:-

Nausea and vomiting

Feeling pain or pressure on the chest

Fatigue

Having high blood pressure

Swelling in legs, ankles, feet, and hands

Itchy and dry skin

Having frequent urges to pass urine

Kidney cleansing remedies to reduce high creatinine level

A high creatinine level doesn't necessarily mean that your kidneys are not working properly; certain environmental factors can give a spike to your creatinine level for a shorter period of time. Here we've listed some To lifestyle changes that can anchor your high creatinine level back to its normal stage, includes the following-

Avoid supplements containing creatine

Creatine is an important chemical compound produced by your liver to power your body to perform internal and external body functioning. But, now it's also available as an oral supplement and widely used by many athletes and bodybuilders to enhance their performance. If you wish to reduce your creatinine level, it's better to avoid consuming oral supplements and consult your doctor or renal dietitian before adding any supplements to your diet.

Lower your protein intake

The report shows that people who consume large amounts of protein in their meals are likely to have high creatinine level problems for a shorter period. Foods high in protein, such as red meat, paneer, yogurt, green leafy vegetables, soya milk, and tofu, can boost your creatinine levels.

Avoid strenuous workouts

Performing intense exercises can increase your creatinine levels. Strenuous workout sessions can lead to excessive muscle breakdown, which eventually increases your creatinine levels. So if you have high creatinine, then you should be off-track for a while.

Avoid salt from your dinner table

The increased or regular consumption of foods that include excess salt can elevate your blood pressure levels, narrowing the blood vessels that supply blood to the kidneys. This condition can reduce the blood supply to your kidneys, increasing your risk of having several kidney complications.

Is There Any Permanent Cure For High Creatinine Levels?

Certain medicines can temporarily prevent complications of high creatinine levels but have higher chances of recurrence. If you're looking for a genuine revival of your kidneys' functioning, then switch to Ayurvedic medicines for creatinine

The ayurvedic treatment uses a distinctive approach to cure various health conditions; naturally, that has authentic effects on the body. The Ayurvedic treatment for creatinine involves a strong association of a specially curated diet and natural remedies that not only promote healing on the affected area but also helps your mind to cope with stress easily. The medicines are curated from the extract of several potent herbs composed with unique healing abilities and cures problems related to physical and psychological issues.

#health #health & fitness #kidney problems #kidney failure