#(there would be extensive crossovers. i don't know who all would be there for sure except captain a from the rookie)

[kanerallels]

bessxhenry and i must know how you'd coffee shop them. (also have you written any other fic for them???)

Oh you have no idea how many different ideas I just cycled through before finally landing on this one I'm still not totally sold on it but I feel like I'm never totally happy with the M Sec stuff I write. I feel like I have a hard time getting Bess's voice right

But in answer to your question yes! I have! I wrote one Christmas drabble for them last year, and I have an unpublished fic about them and Stevie where I basically went "what if they interacted with one of my blorbos?" and didn't wait for an answer. Anyways, without further ado! My much longer than planned ficlet, beneath the cut

The clatter of pans in the background tugged Elizabeth’s attention away from the paper she was writing for what had to be the hundredth time, and she winced. Usually, this off the beaten track coffee shop was less busy at this time of day, leaving her in peace to finish her schoolwork.

But today, it was packed. Every table was full, and there was a long line stretching back from the counter. Things weren’t going to be getting any more peaceful any time soon.

Closing her laptop, she slid it into her bag. It was probably time to head back to her dorm room and see if she could get anything done there. The day had been enough of a loss already.

She grabbed her cup of coffee, which had long since gone cold, and moved to her feet. Elizabeth took one step towards the trash can— and immediately crashed into one of the other customers.

The coffee slipped from her hand, splashing across the front of the man’s shirt, and Elizabeth let out an involuntary gasp. “Oh my— I’m so sorry!”

Hastily, she grabbed some of the paper napkins from her table, apologizing as she did so. “I didn’t see you coming— it’s so crowded in here and loud and I was just leaving—”

“It’s okay,” the man assured her, offering her a smile as he accepted the napkins from her. Despite herself, Elizabeth found herself giving him a quick onceover. With dark hair and warm brown eyes that reflected his friendly smile, he was… definitely not unattractive. 

“It was my fault, anyways— I was distracted, wasn’t looking where I was going,” he continued apologetically. “The least I can do is buy you a new coffee.”

That made Elizabeth’s eyebrow shoot up. “I’m the one who dumped a drink all over you. If anything, I should be offering to buy your coffee.”

“Well, if you’re offering,” the man said with a half-grin. “But it’s not exactly good manners to tell someone to buy you a coffee. This gets the job done a lot better.”

Oh, so that’s what’s going on. Giving him a polite smile that, with any luck, communicated a polite disinterest, Elizabeth said, “I was actually just on my way out, I have some studying to do. I appreciate the offer, though.”

He accepted that with a nod. “Sure. You’re at UVA, too, right?”

“I am,” Elizabeth said, and the man smiled.

“Thought I recognized you. I’m Henry.”

“Elizabeth,” she said, casting a quick glance towards the door. Henry seemed to get the point.

“Maybe I’ll see you around, Elizabeth,” he said, giving her a final easy smile before joining the line for coffee. 

Despite her insistence that she had to leave, Elizabeth lingered just another second to watch him chat with the cashier, wearing that smile, warm as the sun. Interesting, she thought, and almost found herself hoping they did meet again.

However, it was unlikely— she had school to focus on, not a social life. And she wasn’t about to keep pining away for a boy she’d just met that day.

She headed for the door, and had almost made it to the door when she shot a last look over her shoulder. To her surprise, Henry met her eyes, and lifted his coffee towards her in a quick salute. Sending him a quick smile and a nod, Elizabeth pushed open the door. Focus, she scolded herself. She had work ahead of her that was bigger than some boy with a nice smile.

[jinjeriffic]

Dan Phantom vs. the Justice League

Most DCxDP fanworks gloss over how Dark Danny/Phantom kills the JL, or argue that TUE wouldn't play out the same way in the DC universe, since there are tons of superheroes and some would have a way of beating Dan. So let us dig into this with a shovel!

I would like to point out that we have seen plenty of apocalyptic/dark futures in DC. Even without Dan, that superhero multiverse is constantly teetering on the knife's edge of catastrophe! It feels like every couple of months someone has to stop the end of the world. Dan is just one more possible future to avert.

Dan is not a mindless monster, he is capable of planning, subterfuge and working with/coercing others to work with him (i.e. Fright Knight). He has both Danny and Vlad's memories, so in a crossover setting there is no way he wouldn't know about the public superheroes and villains at least.

Speaking of, DC is obviously crawling with supervillains and world destroying entities. Nobody said Dan had to conquer the world alone! I can totally see him working with and manipulating other villains to achieve his goals, only to stab them in the back later (ho-ho).

Dan's powers of invisibility, intangibility, duplication, overshadowing etc. make him an ideal candidate for infiltration, espionage and sabotage. Unless a person or location is specifically shielded against ghosts with tech or magic, he can get in and out without anybody noticing. Sure, someone like Batman probably had his home proofed against supernatural attacks, but surely not most of them! I envision him taking down Earth's heroes by extensively spying on them first.

Consider: Dan causes a major disaster that requires superhero intervention (runaway train, high-rise fire, sinking oil tanker etc.) and waits for someone to show up. When they do, Dan uses his duplicates to follow the hero(es) home/to work etc. Learn their identity, their weaknesses, their loved ones etc.

Dan could strategically leak hero identities to villains with a grudge who have no problem going after their civilian lives. This could also act as a smoke screen so the heroes don't immediately realize someone is targeting all of them.

Overshadow a loved one and use them to kill the hero - "Oh, Hero X got in an argument with their SO and their SO shot them in a fit of passion? Their SO claims having blacked out just before they picked up the gun? Trauma will do that."

Use intangibility to plant bombs, nerve gas, radioactive materials, etc. in the homes of various heroes and set them off in a coordinated strike.

Probably the biggest threat to Dan would be magic based heroes or supernatural entities (Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate, the JLD, etc.). They would also be the most likely to have countermeasures in place against ghosts, or a way to detect him. But they're also mostly suited for fighting the supernatural. I admittedly don't know enough about a lot of these characters - would say, Zatanna think to have a shield in place against sudden sniper attacks? Dan could steal some money and hire Deathstroke/Deadshot etc to blow their head off when they're out in the open.

Have I mentioned what a nightmare Dan would be in terms of security? I can totally see him say, breaking into the CDC and unleashing smallpox, ebola and any number of virulent diseases on the world. Cause some nuclear meltdowns. Knock down a dam. Steal some highly radioactive isotopes! Would the magic heroes be protected against something that can give you a lethal dose of radiation within minutes?

What I'm saying is, a clever and ruthless villain like Dan could unleash enough chaos with his OP powerset to overwhelm the heroes and then pick a lot of them off. He's pretty much the definition of someone who just wants to see the world burn!

[fandomfuntimem]

Remember when I promised all my one shots would come with art? I lied. ANOTHER DOAI X RE CROSSOVER BE UPON THEE!

----------------

The folie of deux au x resident evil

Leon dove below a desk. Holding his breath he heard the sound of heavy boots slowly approaching the door. The door creaked open.

"Leon?" It said, "helloooo..." it began to wonder around the room. There would be footsteps, then they would stop, things would be shuffled around, then it would continue searching. This thing wearing Alex's skin just appeared and began stalking him! Like that freakish super soldier from the police station. It knew his name, but that wasn't his cousin. No. It was some freakish mind controling parasite or something!

Leon heard it stop again. The sound of a book being slid from a shelf was heard before the brief flipping of pages.

"Huh..."

"No. Nothings wrong. I just find books inturesting."

"Yeah... so. It seems he isn't in here."

"I know, but maybe you saw wrong!"

"Ugh! I don't even know what you like about the guy. I get he's your cousin and all, but he carries those gun things and keeps running."

"You're right. We aren't exactly what you used to be."

"Yeah... sorry..."

A one sided conversation, and it sounded regretful. Leon felt his shoulders relax, "your cousin" it said. Was it talking to Alex? Is Alex still in there? Leon shook himself. Maybe they were still there, but they have no control. He can't risk his life. Even if there was a sliver of a chance at saving them, he couldn't risk it.

The footsteps started again, moving away from his hiding spot. Soon the door creeked open, and the creature exited with the door slamming behind it. Leon listened as the footsteps slowley, but surely, became quieter and quieter. He let out a sigh of relief. Slowly creeping out of his hiding spot, he made his way to the door. Leon pressed his ear to the door, nothing, its safe.

~

Leon slowly made his way through the halls of the old office building. He hasn't found whatever Lankmann wanted him to find, but whatever it was can't be this hard to find. "It will revolutionize my research," he had said, "A matter of combining the two most optimal forms." Leon didn't believe it. Its probably going to result in a zombie apocalypse he'll have to clean up again...

He searched through some cabinets and desks. It would have really helped if they told him what he was looking for. Turning to leave he was only met with the tall lanky figure of what used to be his cousin. It basicly towered over him despite slouching. Black sludge dripped down half it's face, a glowing blue eye peaked through the curtain of slime. Clawed hands hung at it's sides, and the rest of their figure was shrouded in a black trench cout.

It smiled, "there you are!"

Leon tried to run, he really did, but it gripped his arm. A monstrously strong grip. He wanted to scream, yell for help, cry, but he couldn't. There was no one who would answer. The creature pulled him in, he struggled to no avail, and it just hugged him. A kind and firm hug. One that Leon hadn't felt in a long time.

Despite all his instincts telling him not to, Leon melted into the hug. He must be touch starved to take even the smallest form od affection from the mutated form of what used to be his best friend. "I missed you." It said.

"What?" Leon stepped back. The glowing eye was gone, instead he was faced with Alex's normal green eye on the right side of their face.

"I missed you. It's been years!"

"You were able to talk this entire time and you never did!?"

Alex laughed, "sorry sorry! Winfrey likes her freedom! It was pretty spooky though, wasn't it?"

"Yeah... it was."

"Ugh, yeah. Sooooo..."

"So?"

"Wanna grab something to eat and catch up? I know a place willing to make our burgers raw!"

Leon took note of the sharp teeth, carnivorous. Leon has seen weirder,

----------------------

My list of potention crossovers is extensive. I am also on a 9hr road trip rn and the most well behaved person is my 1yo niece. She's just straight vibin.

[according2thelore]

different anon jumping in here but hot damn i'd read 500k of just your slice of life vignettes about this ls/es crossover. plot is so beyond unnecessary for this one holy shit just please hit a million word count giving us this juice. not sure if you had plans for first time/established but i'm now fantasizing about the added layers of all the varieties of it. the dark spiraly angst of es!bros who never crossed the line and have just barely begun to think about it, all naked panic and throes of guilt and excitement, trapped in a timeline with ls!bros who crossed it years back and can't help poking at the es versions of themselves bc they both know how hard it was for them. or, even better, if all 4 are still sort of peeking over the fence at the possibilities and ls!bros are going on year 30 of angsty mutual pining and here come the versions of themselves who made these emotions the ugliest that they ever were ... yum. yummyyyyyy please keep going

AAAA thank you so much!!!!!! :,)

i'm so honoured and glad that you like them! 🥰 these are so fun to write, so i hope you all keep thinking they're interesting, lol!

in my head, i've been picturing ES!Sam&Dean as being not "together," and as LS!Sam&Dean as being pretty firmly together/established.

it happened around a year and a half back, the slow realization that they both felt the same way, that the ownership and protectiveness and fear that close wouldn't be close enough, that they had for a while--single digits while. there wasn't any big "thing" that did it, just a bad hunt and a slow recovery and with all the god business, it just seems fair that they finally get to have this. it doesn't even feel like anything "new," more like an extension of what they already are to each other, what they already do. more of an equilibrium, a homeostasis, the world settling back into how it is supposed to be.

sometimes dean finds himself in the reflex of leaning away before he remembers that he can actually lean forward if he wants to. sam kicks his brother's shins under the table when he's being a dick but kisses him afterwards.

but ES!Sam&Dean are still stuck in the early stages. ES!Dean spent years mourning and hating sam for leaving, thumbing old polaroids of him in his middle school theater costume until the film starts to peel away and the picture underneath chips. sam had been hoping that the time apart would make his stomach less riotous, something with more ability to be tamed, but after jess and during the quiet moments spent in motel rooms, driving while sun filters through the windscreen and warming denim-clad legs and old leather, sam realizes that nothing has changed.

it makes him feel even more wretched because was he using jess this whole time? no. he loved her. he really did. dean just chips away at the hardest parts of his grief, the most isolating, with quips and burgers and big, earnest eyes. but how can someone find space for anything that's not dean in their chest, when he looks over with a betrayed moue and his hand glued to a beer bottle?

with sam's nightmares shaking him awake almost nightly, they've gotten in the habit of touching each other, fingers on wrists and dean's palm at the back of his neck and ankles crossing under tables and eyes tracking chapped lips and sides pressed together all the way down shoulders-biceps-forearms-waists-hips-thighs.

so when ES!Dean tries to find LS!Dean to ask him about the keys to the armory--because, hey, cool--he sees the door to his bedroom open. he sees the two pillows. sam's house shoes on one side of the bed. dean's on the other. the lube on the fucking nightstand that they don't even bother to put away because who ever comes over

and ES!Dean is...floored. fucking agog. and he gets even more flustered around LS!Sam and more convinced that this is some kind of alternate timeline/universe or something in which sam actually wants him back

he's blushing whenever LS!Sam looks at him and can't stop looking up at his not-so-little brother, built like a statue and making dean sweat with his fond smiles. he can't stop jerking off to imagining what it would be like to pull him down into a kiss, or feeling him from behind as he presses in. and this makes LS!Dean even more unworthy in ES!Dean's opinion, a murdering bastard drowning in gold and splendour. he thinks about it all the time--can't stop thinking about it. ES!Dean tries to catch LS!Sam's attention like 'me too, right? i'm good enough too, right?'

plus, it also fuels his anger at LS!Dean bc how did sam find out? how did this happen? did you force sam into this, you sick fuck? we swore on mom's grave that he'd never find out. no way sam actually wants us, no fucking shot.

if ES!Sam finds out, it would all kind of blow up, i think. it would be messy and sam would be furious because is that what ES!Dean's been trying to do and why he suddenly can't look either sam in the eye?? he wants to fuck LS!Sam?? what is different about him that ES!Sam doesn't have? it's kind of a betrayal on both fronts: a brother that only wants a specific not-ES!Sam version of sam, and a version of his older self that steals his brother out from under him.

not to mention, the whole time LS!Sam&Dean are looking at their younger selves with a weird mix of glee and pity, bc they don't even know yet, know what the word "brother" means, how it can mean everything at once, and to what extents they are willing to go to keep each other.

ARGH! it would be so messy!!! the tangled webs of longing and possession and just sheer goddamn need!

but anon!!!! you're so right!!!!!!!!! if neither of them are together, and suddenly they have to interact with these younger versions of themselves, who, if they can't have each other--who knows? with their big eyes and clear admiration and longing? these feelings have never been easy, but with ES!Sam&Dean, they're so messy. they bleed want, and it's agonizing to witness. idk...makes u think...

anyway. thank you for this lovely ask anon! and for your kind words!! if only i could write a million words about them, lol! x <3

-lizzy

(for the new: ES = early seasons, LS = late seasons; the other ES/LS posts can be found here!)

[xerith-42]

Some less than favorable MyStreet Headcanons

I know we're all scared of making our characters problematic or whatever, but if MyStreet is going to pretend to be a character driven show, then it needs to have character driven conflicts. And if it's going to have that, it needs to have characters who can cause or even BE the conflict for storylines, big or small.

Nobody's perfect, everyone has something about them that sucks, and that includes the cast of this show.

-Vylad has literally no sense for his brother's privacy after a certain age. He's described Garroth's life as his soap opera and Zane's life as the edgy spin off based on a fan favorite character. He will stand next to doorways or windows to listen to bits and pieces of conversation, he is not above leaning his ear against the wall to try and hear what Zane is cursing under his breath about.

-When he's out traveling and he gets calls from Garroth he's commentating to himself about whether or not this episode is any good, whether he likes where the writers are taking it, and subtly gives Garroth advice to push him to a better alternate ending that the show runners (Garroth's braincells) might not have thought of.

-The only other person who knows this is Cadenza, who has been doing it with Laurance's life since the first girl smacked him across the face in kindergarten for being terrible at flirting. She and Vylad frequently have hang outs/calls where they talk shit about the romantic drama their siblings just can't stop ending up in.

-Bonus points if their siblings are having romantic drama with each other and they get to have a crossover episode

-Dante is a kleptomaniac. And he's not malicious in it at all. It's just that he has friends with a lot of cool stuff, he likes cool stuff, and sometimes the cool stuff ends up in his pockets. I don't know how to explain kleptomaniac tendencies to people who aren't kleptomaniacs

-Lucky for Dante, Gene is there and understands and keeps an eye on his brother's tendencies. He can tell when Dante is eyeing something and keep him in check, he'll do occasional "random" pocket checks, and if Dante's been caught he's always been sure to try his best to explain that Dante wasn't actually trying to steal anything from them. Gene's always good at keeping him and his brother out of trouble.

-These are all sibling headcanons I just noticed... Eh, my brother and I suck, and you write what you know

-Melissa and Aaron when they're in the "our parents suck and so do all businesses' by extension" phase, they do a lot of shoplifting. Usually they go in some form of disguise, no ears or tail, not dressed as they normally would, and then go grocery shopping and just. Don't. Pay for all of it.

-Other characters in MyStreet, namely characters like Rylan, Katelyn, and Sasha who all have prior or current experience working in grocery stores know that there is usually at least one cashier (even if it was them) who's totally willing to look the other way in the self checkout isle if you're not a dick.

-Blaze once said that Aphmau's mom was a milf. Aphmau has not forgiven him for this. He has resorted to teasing her about this until she'll give in. She'll only forgive him if he can sincerely say he didn't mean it. Blaze has yet to do this.

[noxxytocin]

20 Questions for Fic Writers Tag ✍️

Thank you for the tag @myokk 🫰✨ This looks fun!

How many works do you have on AO3? 4 public and 1 anon!

What's your total AO3 word count? 18,969 words (public)

What fandoms do you write for? For now, I'm focused on Hogwarts Legacy. But I do have some pretty intense ships in other shows, like Stranger Things, so I might dip my quill into those at some point.

Top five fics by kudos? My most popular fic by kudos is Bury. It’s quite amusing because I knocked it out in one night after a few drinks and some seriously intense feelings. It’s my least polished piece, which just goes to show that AO3 readers are all about those spicy, quick reads and I love that, haha.

Do you respond to comments? Absolutely! Every comment notification makes my heart a bit brighter, so I reply to them with as much warmth as I put into my fics.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't think any of my stories end on an angsty note—I'm more of a fluff enthusiast.

What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Perhaps, Insomnium.

Do you get hate on fics? I don't believe I receive enough attention for that to be a concern. However, I do review all comments before they are posted for this very reason, so that I may block any unwanted individuals, if necessary.

Do you write smut? Yes, but in a very delicate, poetic manner. Smut, to me, possesses a certain elegance.

Craziest crossover? None.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge, though I do believe I have inspired some writings. I don’t particularly mind if I encounter similar works after mine has been published. Writing is meant to be an inspiring endeavor, and that is precisely the purpose of inspiration.

Have you ever had a fic translated? I have a close, French mutual who helps me double-check my French in my fanfics, and I know a decent amount.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Well, my husband provides me with a great many ideas for the fics I’ve written, so I would certainly count his contributions. He is an excellent beta reader!

All time favorite ship? I couldn't possibly choose that...I have so many ships. I don't believe I have a favorite; they all occupy equal space in my mind.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? None, I am confident that I will finish all of mine in time. I've just been busy!

What are your writing strengths? Transforming risqué themes into romantic fluff is my specialty. I can take a rather smutty idea and turn it into tooth-rotting fluff. It’s more of a curse than a strength, really, haha...I also enjoy crafting dialogue and capturing the canonical personalities of characters. When writing Sebinis, I make a point of watching extensive videos of their lines to accurately capture their mannerisms and language.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? It’s fine as long as it is executed properly. A minor mistake is forgivable, but it genuinely irritates me when I encounter French in other fics that is clearly incorrect, especially when the writer or beta says that French is their first language, yet this is not evident in their sentences. My French beta mutual has even remarked, “Yeah, no, they're lying” It drives me mad, as I am certain this beta is deceiving the poor author, and yet I cannot address it myself. It is not my place, and I am well aware that it would only result in the individual defensively justifying their lies. Hopefully they will find out eventually...

First fandom you wrote in? First ever?....hmm....I am honestly not sure...maybe (cringe) homestuck??? But that was in 2011 or 2012, hahaha...

Favorite fic you've written? One that I am currently doing for Sebinis...but I can't share because it's for an anon writing fest!

Surprise - no 20th question! 🫴✨ Tagging: @luminousecho @the-invisibility-bloke @shyinsunlight @steve-black-hl @moltenwrites @the-golden-comet @the-letterbox-archives @mirdeli @esolean @gaunts-angel @jamiemoonymark @crime-in-progress

[asknarashikari]

*The Kuma voyager lands near Shugoddam’s castle

Gira: Kotaro?

Kotaro: Gira-sama!

Gira: What are you doing here? In this universe?

Kotaro: I just wanted to inform you that some pirates might want to borrow or steal your powers to protect that other Earth.

Gira: What do you mean?

Kotaro: One of their abilities is to turn into other sentai.

GIra: I’ll be sure to inform everyone of that.

Kotaro: Okay, I’ll head back to my universe now.

Kotaro: I just took a quick detour to your planet.

I would be surprised if the Gokaiger hadn't turned up by now demanding the King Ohger's Grand Power... except in canon Earth was also conquered by Dugded and co (by proxy, but still) without much resistance. If the Gokaigers did exist in canon I don't think Earth would've fallen as easily, especially since their existence would by extension imply all the other Sentai also exist. As it stands though, as far as we know the only ones who stood between Earth and Dugded were the Kyouryugers.

And while you can say that it had to be them because Dugded revived their enemy (the Deboss) specifically, we know that if the planet was under a dire threat all the Sentai would unite, as seen in the Legendary Battle. So... yeah... maybe as far as canon is concerned, the only other Sentai in this universe is the Kyouryugers.

Of course the Donbrothers crossover could dispute this, but then that would raise the question of where the fuck they or any other Sentai were when Earth got taken over by the revived Deboss Army. It would be pretty pathetic if they had 45+ Sentai teams except the Kyouryugers captured just to wave away that plot hole.

[jade-masquerade]

20 questions for fic writers

thank you for tagging me, @periwinkle39!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

40

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

350,294

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily GOT/ASOIAF, but a bit of The Last Kingdom in the past as well

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Thawing of Winter

Ever After

Don't Tell Robb

Try It

Snow Madness

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, because I very much appreciate the time people take to leave them! I know I still have to reply to the ones left on the last chapter of Always Loved a Queen though, which is on my list of things to do for winter break.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It's just a drabble, but probably loving you is like holding smoke. I had some ideas to make it into a longer fic so if I did it would probably have a happy ending, but for now it is definitely not erring on that side.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of them wrap up with a Jonsa happily ever after, but if I had to choose one probably The Thawing of Winter since it also has all of the Starks reunited!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

On occasion--definitely far more for the last fic I published, Always Loved a Queen, than others so I'm not sure if it was the choice of characters involved, truly that controversial of a plot, or if there are just more haters out there now than before lol

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yep, a fair bit 😅

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not usually, unless various versions of AUs would count as crossovers

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Again not that I know of

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, Ever After!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Absolutely Jonsa without a doubt, and I can't imagine anything ever coming close to that

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have dozens started on my computer that will probably never be published in any form, but the most extensive one and the one I would love to finish the most would be a full-length followup fic to my f1!AU one-shot Green Flag

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think writing a character's inner voice and having a sense of who that character is, what they would do in a given situation, and how they would think

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Definitely plotting, particularly the middle part that starts to sag--this is why I write mostly one-shots!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I think it can fit well if it fits with the character using it, used for a particular purpose, and is easily understood in the context

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter wayyyyy back when

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Finally finishing The Thawing of Winter was absolutely an accomplishment for me, but in terms of the most fun I've ever had writing a single fic I think I would also choose In Case of Fire!

I think a lot of others have been tagged already, so I will tag anyone else who sees this and wants to share as well!

[scramble-crossing]

Hi friend! I am a resident kh fan who's been into the games for over 10 years. I actually started the bc my friend forced me to play twewy, I loved it, and she was like ~ooooo~ these characters are in KH you should play it~~

Little did I know that at the time, it was literally the last game in the series that they were in lol.

But! Here's a handy dandy guide if you would like to get into them!

There's a lot of different numbers for the games but repeat numbers and extensions, are just different versions of the games. So don't worry about "2.5" or "0.2" necessarily.

Ok!

So the game order to play:

Kingdom Hearts

Chain of Memories

Kingdom Hearts 2

358/2 Days

Birth by Sleep

Re:coded

Dream Drop Distance

KH UX

0.2 Fragmentary Passage

Kingdom Hearts 3

Melody of Memory

I know it's a lot but luckily, they made it really easy by bundling remakes together. There's a game called 1.5+2.5 and that's just the first 6 titles. 2 games (days and re:coded) were just made into cutscene movies so you don't have to play them. I highly recommend just watching the scenes for Chain of Memories bc it's a very different type of gameplay and a lot of people don't like that one as much, but it's important to the story. One little thing I don't like about the bundle is it switches the order for kh2 and days. Try to keep that in mind. Then after that you need 2.8. It will have a remake of DDD, a cutscene movie of the original plot of khux (mobile game), and 0.2. It's a new extra chapter to birth by sleep. It's pretty short but still important. You can find these all put together for PS4 (and PC I think?) called Kingdom hearts the story so far

Then KH3!! The game many were waiting for so so long. (Make sure to include the dlc scenes)

After that is Melody of Memory. It's a rhythm game that only has about half an hour of actual important plot.

Then the mobile game. Which unfortunately had been shut down but you can find videos of the entire plot in chronological order. Oh and an extra little story called dark road. That is what has baldur.

So to summarize:

1.5+2.5 remix

2.8

Kh3

Melody of Memory

Mobile game

(and you can condense it more by getting 1.5+2.5 and 2.8 in one bundle and watching MoM and KHUX on YouTube)

The only purchases would be story so far bundle, and kh3.

Sorry this is a long ask but I felt like it's important to explain all the different titles. Feel free to message me if you have any questions!

Oh geez tysm!!

Its very kind of you to type out a guide for a series with like...man 11 whole games??? There's a RHYTHM GAME??? With PLOT IMPORTANCE??? I mean I guess I'm not too surprised. I don't think there's much this franchise can do to surprise me anymore - knock on wood (<- just learned about Baldr mass murder like three hours ago)

Anyways, it's good to know that there's a bundle game out there to make things easier for newcomers! Yknow a few months ago I stumbled across one of them - I think it was 358/2 Days - at a second-hand game store. I didn't grab it right away and kind of regretted it (I mean I tried to play neo twewy first, might as well have a simialrly awkward introduction to kh), so I drove right back a few days later and the thing was ALREADY gone! Would've been cool to own, but my main concern with getting into this franchise was that I'd miss games due to them running on out-of-date consoles or else being rare or pricey, so I'm glad there's still an easy way to play it via bundle!

I mean with a name like that who can resist

I'm gonna have to look into this later...winter break plans perhaps? 👀 The twewy-kh pipeline feels inevitable so I might as well embrace it.

And if I procrastinate well hey, there's always a chance there'll be twewy crossover pt. 2 in the upcoming game, and if Sho's there I swear I WILL drop everything to play game # fourtwelve in a franchise I've never touched before. That is a promise.

[cascadeofsouls]

Pinned.;

Independent multimuse and multifandom rp blog portrayed by the entity known as Nayen. (of @exnusquam , @sourhydrapplin and @manywcrlds fame)

I'm 27, use it/its pronouns exclusively, and live in Germany, which means my online times are harshly different from most of the 'Muricans here.

This blog doesn't host any pokemon muses, but is still welcoming other people with pokemon muses here for crossover/AU interactions!

MUSES | MUN | OTHER BLOGS

Read all rules underneath. I'll know if you haven't.

Multiship, multiverse, chemistry only. Platonic ships welcome and encouraged! - Every ship will result in it's own verse unless discussed otherwise. -- Please make sure you say which muse you're referring to so I know which one to write.

None of the art here is mine unless claimed otherwise.

No drama, no badmouthing. I don't touch antiship/proship discourse either.

This is a hobby, not a job. Do not hound me for replies. Reminding me one every three days or so is fine. - I do not enjoy roleplays that only have like two lines per reply, but so long as you write more than that and give me something to work with, I truly do not care how long your reply is.

I will not ship any minor muses with any muse over the age of 18 and vise versa. - Any attempt anyway will result in an immediate block.

We do not ship with pokemon at all, unless it's a legendary pokemon written in a similar role to a greek god (e.g. human form, intellect, ability to communicate and consent). - If you have a problem with that, that's okay, but please just block me and move on

I am willing to roleplay s/mu/t rp, but only with people I trust and have interacted with extensively, and only based on chemistry. I prefer doing nsfw rp on discord, but can also do it here if tagged appropriately and under a read more. - Discord is only given out to people whom I trust and have interacted with extensively oocly on tumblr IMs and otherwise.

If you want me to unfollow for any reason, let me know privately, and I will do so without resistence. I would prefer to be following someone who welcomes me there.

In general if you have any issue with me, feel free to talk to me privately. Don't just listen to whatever someone else says about me. The rpc has a clique problem as is, let's not make it worse. I promise I don't bite.

I ask you not to softblock me and instead just hardblock me. It makes things a lot easier for both of us.

I'm much friendlier than I sound like, I promise!

This post will be edited whenever I find it relevant to.

Thank you for reading. Love you all!

[phvntom-limbs]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @scary-monsters <3 ty ily

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 6! One for The Witcher and 5 for JJBA.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 6,498 <3 So few!!! For now <3

3. What fandoms do you write for? JJBA, One Piece and maybe a few others in future. Buuut mostly those two right now. Even if the OP shit is unreleased. And Resident Evil!!! Hopefully soon.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Well this is sorta easy with only 6 works in total. BUT. His Sweet Kiss (Geraskier fluff), Letters from a lover (compilation of short letters from characters), If I could be with you tonight (Gyro angst), Ties that Bind (Dio fic...... that I uhhh,,, haven't continued. Whoops) and Phantom Pains / Fleurs Captives (Diabeth angst) !!!

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes! I do try to! I don't get them very often, mostly because I'm only recently getting back onto writing platforms. But I do try to. I like people who enjoy my works to know the support is appreciated.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Definitely Phantom Pains. Out-of-the-blue Diabeth angst ending in grief and regret... I do love writing angst and I don't shy away from sad endings either! Although I do love a good happy end too <3

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Speaking of.... His Sweet Kiss is definitely the happiest one, at least so far. My lost-to-time fics from the Wattpad era weren't exactly happy, so I think a fluffy mess like HSK is the best right now.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not yet. Yet. It'll happen eventually I'm sure.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do! I have yet to publish any of it, though. Mostly because I am incredibly picky when it comes to smut, and by extension incredibly finicky with my own smutty works. As for what kind? Ah... a mix.

10. Do you write crossovers? I don't. I don't even think I'd necessarily consider it for anything other than a crackfic.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I have not! But I have had people copy my writing suspiciously closely.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I have not, but I would be honoured if someone offered to, and I hope that at some point I'm fluent enough in another language to do so myself.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have not. I'm semi-open to the idea of it, but also... kind of sounds stressful.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? Ahhhh..... Geraskier held my heart for a very long time. I'm also a YenRalt truther, though. I struggle a little to compute ships nowadays but I think Dinopants is really fun. and Satosugu.

15. What’s a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Oh god, the Dio fic I started and then never continued. It was meant to be a look into Diabeth over the years but I changed a lot of things since I started it, so I may have to scrap the whole thing and restart.

16. What are your writing strengths? Description. I love describing things and spaces and people more than anything and I think that love has lead to a lot of practice. I can be a little flowery at times but I don't particularly mind it. It's not for everyone, though.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue. I never know how much to have people say or not say. It's something I need to practice. On the flipside, sometimes I have characters say too much and then I completely neglect action. I just need to get better with it all-round.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I do it! And I respect other writers who have the balls to do it (and potentially cock it up). I tend to check, and double/triple check it.

19. First fandom you wrote for? If I'm being honest it was probably Skullduggery Pleasant, back before I even knew Fanfiction was a thing. And I read it out in front of my class at the time. I think I was about 10.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Honestly? Every since I wrote Phantom Pains it's been my pride and joy. I really love my use of description and imagery and tone in that one specifically. I just really love it.

I don't have anyone to tag.... that Kat didn't already tag. So take this as a free ticket to join in should you wish to <3

[narastories]

20 questions for fic writers!

Thank you @septemberskye for tagging me <3

I'll tag @nijinskys @viole-n-ts @brotherhoodoftheblade and anyone who would like to do this.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 98! (The same formatting thing happened to me too lmao) I can't believe it's almost 100. It's especially fun because it's Yuletide season and the fic authors won't get revealed until January. Which means it will probably be impossible to tell exactly which one counts as my 100th fic and somehow I like that.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? For a second I thought I would have to add it up manually. Phew. It's 457,682.

3. What fandoms do you write for? The Fetch Phillips Archives, The Dresden Files, and the Lord John Series (Outlander). Sometimes a fic here and there for other fandoms.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? the hero's prize, A bed and a penny, whatever this may be, over the edge and out of sight, Love your enemy The popularity of a fandom or a ship + the age of the fic will always have a bigger impact on your statistics than the quality of your writing. Don't swear it too much.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, almost always. I found many friends this way.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably "so cold". A short ficlet but it hurt lol

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?  I usually write happy endings so I can't choose ^^"

8. Do you get hate on fics? Luckily I wouldn't say I do. I've gotten some annoying grammar corrections, and deliberate misunderstandings about a ship, but nothing I would call outright hate in the comments. Oh, and there was that one guy who got their panties in a twist because I've written a male character as a witch. That was fun.

The silver lining in writing for small fandoms, rarepairs, and niche topics is that you don't get many eyes on you so you just statistically catch fewer dumbasses. But if you are getting hate, just remember: don't feed the troll. Eat the troll ;)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes, I write all kinds of smut. Usually, my kind of smut is: - There is extensive set-up. I like to set the mood first, so unless it's a very short fic, there isn't any smut in the first 30% I would say. Even if I consider it a PWP there is usually some kind of set-up. - There are usually feelings involved. I like to focus on that, even if it's just a hook-up. - It's usually kinky. Not always, but I do write a lot of ships with inherent power dynamics or morally grey characters. And I'm happy to go all out there with the kinkyness lol

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? No. It's not my thing. But never say never because I actually have one idea for a fun little crossover...

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? OMG yes! Three of my ficlets from the Harry/Nic OTP challenge got translated to Russian and I'm so honored <3

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?  No... that idea gives me anxiety....

14. What's your all-time favorite ship? I can't answer this either. There are just too many ships that are too close to my heart. Especially since there are several rarepairs where I published either the first or most of the fics on AO3 for that ship... I simply can't choose.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I have one unfinished WIP on AO3, "over the edge and out of sight" which I know I will never continue (but I don't even want to so I don't think it counts as an answer). After that, I've stopped putting WIPs on AO3 in general ^^" From my WIP folder, there are several that I would love to finish, but I don't think I will: - I started a translation of my super old BJR/OC (Outlander) fic but I had a really hard time getting over the embarrassment of reading my old fic - I have a few snippets of a continuation for the J/J/J series (Outlander) and it would be very fun but I'm not sure if I'll ever be in the mood to finish it - I also started a modern Enjou/Aether fic (Genshin Impact) that would be super cute but it's probably too much work compared to my investment in that fandom

16. What are your writing strengths? POV. I think I'm good at showing the POV character's personality. And I sink my teeth into that deep POV and don't let go. You won't catch me slipping into a different POV in the next paragraph, and I'm sort of proud of that.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plot? lmao It's complicated for me. I can't come up with an intricate plot before I start writing. I need to start writing and then halfway through move the puzzle pieces around. It's difficult for me to wrap my head around it. I also think that sometimes I get so focused on setting something up that I don't realize that the reader might think I'm setting something else up if that makes sense. That's definitely an area I could improve on.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I don't like it. I'm fluent in 3 languages and I've written fic in 2. But I don't like writing or reading dialogue in another language in a fic because I think it disrupts the flow of reading. For me, it's less about the fear of making a mistake in a language that isn't my native tongue (because this one isn't, for example, lol) and it's more about worrying that it won't be enjoyable for someone who doesn't speak that language. Even if you provide translations it's just a lot of effort to scroll back and forth.

A word here and there is fine for me, or if you can cleverly convey language barriers by adding a few sentences. But otherwise, I would just rather write what language they are supposed to be speaking in.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Uh I think HP, back in high school. But that just shows my age lol

20. Favorite fic you've ever written? That is so difficult to answer. It's either "put my heart in your pocket" or "moral compass for hire".

[bccksmarts]

VERSE NOTES ➝ Sherlock

Just more verse notes as I've been rewatching the show and I might be a tad obsessed ♡

These notes are 100% up for change, especially if people feel like including their muses!! This is just how I see things going or could go if HP muses were to be involved in some way, shape or form ♡

This verse, even though it's clearly a crossover, can also be taken as a Muggle AU! Basically the world where magic doesn't / never existed.

And a little reminder that Hermione, in this verse, is not a Granger. She's a Holmes.

• The Malfoys, primarily Lucius Malfoy, are members of the Government.

•  Like Mycroft, Lucius Malfoy is a Government Official. He sits on the seats as most of the important Government members do, such as Mycroft Holmes. •  Lucius is one of the more snobby and shady members of the Government, who has strong distaste for the Holmes'—specifically Sherlock Holmes and especially Mycroft Holmes, and by extension, Sherlock's only child & daughter, Hermione. • Lucius has a strong dislike for Hermione due to her besting his son, Draco, in most ( if not every ) lesson they have together, always walking out of exams with perfect marks. He goes home and does nothing but complain about her.   ⤷ Molly tells Hermione it's just a school boy with a crush on her, which    at a young age, makes the little Holmes cringe and gag. •  Narcissa is the high class ❛do things behind the scenes❜ wife and mother. She goes out for tea and events with women of similar standing, making sure her son is well taught, tailored, prim and proper, whilst trying to keep her husband in line.

• The Weasleys

•  So similarly to how it would be at Hogwarts, all the Weasleys, ( Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Percy, Bill & Charlie ) all attend the same school that Hermione attends. A mix class school, all the children in different year groups, but basically exactly as it was at Hogwarts. How Molly Weasley manages, we'll never know. •  Arthur Weasley is also a Government official, sat on the same row of tables as Lucius Malfoy and Mycroft Holmes, but digs more into the things that people of the Government deem as "little" / unimportant.

• The Potters are NOT infamous.

•  Harry is still born to James Potter and Lily Potter ( neé Evans ), but unlike the movies and books, James and Lily are still alive and thriving, raising their son Harry without a worry of murder in the world, just a normal family, really. •  That being said, Harry still grows up with the same, kind attitude as he usually does, but having a lot less trauma following behind him, still becoming best friends with Ronald Weasley and Hermione Holmes. •  James Potter is a member of the Government, but on a lower tier compared to Mycroft, Lucius and Arthur. He also coaches the "Gryffindor" football team on the afternoons when he isn't working, teaching Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George and other kids / teens how to play.   ⤷ Football is where Harry & Draco kick off their rivalry, and where    Hermione goes to stick up for her friends, calling Draco a "spoilt little    brat" for his father buying his position and her a "filthy little trollop". •  Harry's got two non-blood related uncles, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, and a God-son, Teddy Lupin, who are all alive and well. Sirius has still been to jail for being framed for some sort of murder, and Remus has scars from a dog ( or wolf ) attack.

• The Teachers at school are the exactly same, just less magical

•  I don't think I need to make note, but I will. Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore, and lots of other professors are now just plain teachers. Albus Dumbledore is still the headmaster, but dies in their sixth year of old age, having Minerva McGonagall take over as Headmistress.   ⤷ The subjects that they will teach is totally open for people's muses of    them to interpret! •  This also means that if people make their muses teachers, like Hermione for example, they'd just be plain teachers, following on from their old mentors above them.

[annachronisme]

I just remembered that when I saw Encanto ( me and my friends almost shat urself because of Isabella's song cause she says like row of roses in og and in FR they said 'mes roses sont rose and rose' is fr word for pink so we're trying our best to not disturb the five other person in the room because we were like 'WHOUA congratulation gurl ur roses are fucking rose U DONT SAY' anyway) and while watching my feral writersbrains on an MHA phase was like HEY IDEAA and I though about it for months I'm not even joking I saw encanto late december in 2021 and almost spent my whole second semester of 2022 thinking about it, planning and drawing it. And now that I started to really use this blog for my fics and arts I will now explain to you my Encanto/My Hero Academia extensives fanfic idea enjoyyy

TW : mention of sui**de and of abuse (I don't go into detail to the best of my ability)

The parallel between Mirabel and Izuku is mind blowing (Waiting on a Miracle was like textbook quirkless Izuku of the start of MHA yes ?) So I thought of this : Imagine if quirkless people had a things, a sort of ritual, that one would do when they were going to end their life its like super simple juste light a white candle (I hadn't though of the implication so far but I was thinking something like to represent those who went before them those still living and those that would follows it that makes sense ?) Imagine Izuku that was just told by Bakugou ukw and All Might saying No u can't be a Hero ? Whitout going into details Izuku does the candle things but before he dies the candle juste burst to life and saves him in a burst of lights ((I should draw that ....)) and it's a crossover it is NOT an AU

In this crossover... Izuku is a direct descendent of Mirabel. Madrigal, Midoryia same thing. And when Izuku did what he did the Miracle of familia Madrigal protected him like it protected them before. Izuku was saved by the Miracle but the Miracle is directly linked to him now and thats mean that now he can use the powers of the miracle. And he can see the Madrigals too and can interact with them and that the story of how Izuku Midoryia gots his quirk and got trained by ghost of his ancestors.

Imagine how he would pass the entrance exam the physical portion part would be something to watch for sure because he use a lot of different things while the only information they have on the quirk is that it's called somethings like legacy or Madrigal's legacy and All might thinks that AFO is behind it because it is not normal blablba. So he really does a good impression etc (specially Nezu that boy smart and he knows it)

the drawbacks of Legacy are things like migraines, sensory overlord, sore muscle to the point he can't move etc he has drawback for almost all gifts because while the Madrigal's lived with their power for years etc he just got them. + He has to shape up a lot for Luisa's gift and he can't use it often so he doesn't rely on it.

List of power goes as this : -Super Force (Luisa) - Flora control (Isabella) - Healing (Julietta) - Wheater control (Pepa) - Future Vision (Bruno) - Shapeshifting (Camillo) - Animal Affinity (Antonio) - Super Hearing (Dolores) -Casita (I love the theory where casita spirit is Mirabel's abuelo)

Loving the wholesome moment with other Madrigals etc and of course adding my favorite part the one were he gets adopted by Aizawa because that my idea and I decide.

was also thinking of making Izuku's father reaaaaaly similar physically to Bruno and him being a good dad but completely clueless to what happened with Izuku (I want Hisashi Midoryia to be an Historian/Archélogue and that's what he will be.)

ah and he's hero name is Mariposa.

I will post Fanart etc soon keep watching !

[bustyasianbeautiespod]

Episode 113 Transcript: Queerbaiting is Only an Offshoot of Straightbaiting

[intro guitar music]

G: Hello, it's Grey.

C: Hello, it's Crystal.

G: And this is Busty Asian Beauties, a Supernatural commentary podcast where I, someone who has seen this show many times...

C: And I, someone who only knows the show through social media, discuss every single episode of Supernatural from start to finish. Also, we are both Asian.

G: Both Asian! For today's episode, we are watching Season 6, Episode 9: "Clap Your Hands If You Believe," famously written by Ben Edlund [C: God.], directed by John Showalter. [C: Well.] Did we have women this episode that Ben Edlund was weird about? [C: Um...] I have completely forgotten this episode. Full disclosure, [both] we watched it a week ago. Yeah. And it was fine. Was it fine?

C: Patchouli was there. That was a woman.

G: Who is? Oh yeah.

C: The hippie girl whose name I don't know.

G: Yeah. She didn't smell that bad, as Sam Winchester said.

C: There were gay people who were never on screen that Ben Edlund was weird about. I think that was the main thing this episode.

G: Yeah, it was the homophobia, the ableism, "we don't even know what kind of hate crime this is."

C: Yeah. Yeah. [laughs]

G: He was trying to be like, "Haha! Wouldn't it be so funny if it was a hate crime?"

C: Yeah. "Wouldn't it be so funny if Dean Winchester was homophobic and ableist?" And it's like, he is homophobic and ableist! [G laughs] What are you talking about?

G: Well, and it's not funnay! [C laughs] This episode was pretty fun, though, sometimes.

C: Sometimes.

G: Sometimes it was just normal. To bad! Normal to bad.

C: Yeah, yeah. It's true.

G: But okay. This is a famous episode. Why is it famous?

C: 'Cause of the homophobia.

G: Is that it? Are you sure? I'm asking because-

C: Because soulless Sam is iconic in it.

G: That's true. That is probably the reason why. Soulless Sam. And I'm sure there's a lot of crossover between X-Files and Supernatural fans, and so the intro to this episode must have been a fun thing! You know, it's a fun thing. It's memorable. Also, they put Misha Collins in there, and Castiel is literally not here. [C: Not in this episode.] Unbelievable. Why would they lie to us like this?

C: They were just calling him gay. That's the point of putting him in the credits. [laughs]

G: Sure. Why not? [C: Why not?] I mean, I do think it's fun that they have- Does Sam believe in aliens? Sam is the alien believer, I would say.

C: Yeah, well, we should check "Tall Tales."

G: Or did they both not believe in aliens? Well, Sam believed in aliens for a while, and Dean also did, I suppose, this episode. Honestly, I loved the bit about this episode where the reason why Dean was experiencing all those horrors was because he was the [both] first-born son. Like, loved it. Loved it.

C: Sam and Dean both express that they don't think aliens are real in "Tall Tales."

G: That's true. So Cas is the alien. [laughs] That is the point of the introduction. [C: Yeah.] We're like, "We have two guys who don't believe in aliens and some guy who's an alien!" And that's so important. [C: Good for him.] It is so wonderful that Cas is an alien. Isn't that so nice? [C: Yeah.] Or does he not count?

C: I mean, is Heaven another planet? It's not.

G: I think it's extraterrestrial. It's out of this world.

C: It's only for people who die on Earth, though.

G: Yeah, but like, angels don't necessarily have to have been on Earth. [C: Right.] So therefore they are extraterrestrial. If people went to Mars, would you be like, “Oh, and this creature from Mars is not an alien anymore because people from Earth are in Mars”? You know.

C: But Heaven was created specifically for dead people, wasn't it?

G: How do you know that? How do you know that? We don't know that.

C: Is it not just an extension of Earth?

G: Is it really?

C: I sort of view it that way.

G: I don't think that's true. Or is it? A wonderful question. What did you know about this episode before going in?

C: Dean yells “fight the fairies!” and gets taken in by a cop for homophobia. He also gets abducted by aliens, but they are fairies.

G: What's crazy is I thought that was because of homophobia because I know of the hashtag. [C: Yeah.] I never really remembered that-

C: That he beat a guy up first.

G: - he beat a guy up for it, and that is- and the guy’s a little person, and that's why the cop goes like, “I don't even know what kind of hate crime this is.” That part of it was erased in my mind. Unbelievable. Because of that damn hashtag [laughs] that trended because it was homophobic.

C: Sam talks to a woman whose name we don't get but who Dean calls Patchouli and says that his brother got kidnapped once, but he's over it, and she goes, “Did it happen when you were a child?” And he says, “No, like 30 minutes ago,” and then he sleeps with her, and Dean says, “What the hell? While I was kidnapped?” and Sam goes, “Well, I did all I could to try to get you back. What did you want me to do? Just sit in the dark and feel bad?” And Dean goes, “Yeah!” That's what I knew about this episode.

G: Yeah. Well, what I knew about this episode was that, you know, I didn't know what the quote-unquote “monster” was. I truly didn't.

C: What? Why do you think Dean was saying that?

G: I mean, I don't know. Okay, here's what I thought was gonna happen. It was gonna be aliens, but it's not aliens. It was gonna be fairies, but it's not fairies. And then it's something else. That's what I thought. [C: Okay.] But I thought it was also a red herring, the fairies. But they were not red herrings. They were real as hell. I thought it was a completely other episode, the counting sugar, because that one, I remember vividly, Sam ripping open the sugar packet and the monster of the week bending down to get to count it.

C: Sam going, “Why didn't I just do this in the first place?” [laughs]

G: And he was so real. Anyway, so that's what my shoddy memory did for me this episode. And now let's begin.

-

G: So for the “Then” sequence, actually, I have something to point out, which is that they butcher the speech Sam gives at the end of last episode, I feel, a little bit. Because for the “Then” sequence, they make it seem like he's just saying, “I don't care about you. I don't care about Lisa and Ben.” Like, [laughs] they remove the comedic aspects of it, and so the blow is that much more stronger. And then also, they cut it in a way where Sam isn't really explaining himself. It's important to me and to the Supernatural universe that that statement ends with like, “That's why I want to get my soul back,” you know? But of course, it's cut for purposes to make Sam seem ominous and etc etc. How dare they? How dare they do this to my beloved Sam Winchester? But it's fine. He's hilarious this episode.

G: He's really funny this episode. But again, in a way that seems over the top. [G: Yes!] Ben Edlund just went really hard in the "he's completely mean and doesn't think about anything." Like, he was able to feign social skills in the past, and there's no reason for him to have stopped now for this case.

G: Yeah. And with Dean specifically, I think the argument that they were trying to make was he was being fake with Dean, and now he's being for real, but they're making it seem like he doesn't understand when it's very clear from past episodes that he does understand, or a lot of the times, he gets why he shouldn't say that, he gets why he should do this instead. But the way he would talk to Dean was like, “No, Dean. Explain to me why," etc etc etc. And it's like, I don't think that he would have done that. [C: Yeah.] I do feel they exaggerate it to make it funny. [C: Mm-hm.] Unfortunately, it is hilarious. [laughs]

C: It's pretty funny.

G: Yeah,. So we start the episode in a lover’s lane situation, but instead of smooching in the car, they're literally on the ground. They're in a cornfield, right? [C: Yeah.] And then there's like some sound, some ominous shadows passing by, and the guy is like, “Well, what the fuck is this?” So he gets up, he heads into the hedge. There's like a giant, giant fucking light, a la how we think alien abductions are supposed to look like. And he gets abducted. And we get the splash screen, which is not simply a splash screen but an X-Files credits roll. That's very fun. [C: It is fun.] I do wonder why Supernatural does not have that. It just has a splash screen. What was the choice that was made in the- is it the writers room? Is it the production team? that was like, “We're not going to do a credits roll at the beginning.”

C: I think it's just more impactful for horror for there to be sort of a jumpscare splash screen, and then go back. [G: That's probably true.] Don't give people time to calm down between the cold open and the rest.

G: Yeah, I suppose so.

C: For mysteries, you want it to be long for people to go, “Hmm! I wonder what's happening.”

G: Yeah, that's true, because what I was thinking about was House M.D. has a pretty long intro.

C: Yeah, but they never, ever change, [laughs] even though those people are barely characters in later seasons.

G: They change- well, they change the music for it at some point.

C: Yeah, but it's still like, Cameron, Chase, Foreman. Like, only Foreman's still here.

G: Is that true? I think they change it. They don't?

C: I don't know. I'm sure there's different credits versions in different platforms.

G: My friend, who has been watching House M.D., is now at the part where Taub is a friend who is your enemy, [laughs] and that's so important! I think everyone should have a post-antagonistic relationship with Dr. Taub.

C: Yeah, I mean, he deeply sucks, but it was really funny of him to have two babies at the same time.

G: Yeah. [laughs] Literally.

C: Not as twins, because he was cheating on his wife with a nurse?

G: I don't even remember.

C: It was his ex-wife, but he was still sleeping with her?

G: And that's important. Divorce is the most romantic thing in the world.

C: It is. The X-Files credits say “Created by Eric Kripke,” and there's no Sera Gamble shout-out at all! which feels mean.

G: Yeah, I mean, it was created by Eric Kripke.

C: It was created by Eric Kripke.

G: Maybe they were just following the format of X-Files. I've not seen a single-

C: I suppose, like, they never had a showrunner.

G: Yeah, I've never seen a single X-Files episode.

C: Yeah, me neither. All I know about it is- what? There's an episode where there's a shapeshifter who like, makes out with Mulder or something, and then they never talk about it again, that he was down for it?

G: No.

C: I love queerbait applied to straight people.

G: No, I love straightbait. That's the only thing I know about X-Files, is that they were straightbaiting to Hell and back, and that's the most important thing. The second-most romantic thing after divorce [C laughs] is straightbaiting.

C: Yeah. Where's queerbaiting?

G: I think queerbaiting is at a 2.5, you know? [C: Okay.] Queerbaiting is only an offshoot of straightbaiting in my mind.

C: Yeah, okay. [both laugh] So true!

Yeah, we have a bunch of interviews from people talking about the alien abduction, and apparently, there's been multiple in this town. And there's a lot of believers here, and a sheriff who's like, "It's literally not."

G: The way it's filmed is like a documentary style, [C: Yes.] and then at the end of it, we realize that they're talking to Sam and Dean. But it is quite disconcerting to watch it thinking that like, "Oh, it's the beginning of a documentary," because it's people being like, “There are evidences.” And then the girlfriend from the cornfield just being like, "They took him!" Like, she's in distress. And then it's interspersed with all these people being like, "Woo, aliens." And then this girl going, "They took my boyfriend!" And it's like, you know, it's a bit- that's the comedy of the scene. [C: Yeah.] And then it ends, and they're interviewing these people.

C: So Marion says, “Of course it's not UFOs. It's fairies.” We'll see her later. And yeah, and Sam immediately chews into her, saying, "If you want to add glitter to that glue you're sniffing, that's fine, but don't dump your wackadoo all over us. We'd rather not step in it." [G laughs]

G: Which is crazy because like, for Sam and Dean, it is more likely to be fairies. [C: Yeah.] Like, it is a giant leap for it to be aliens.

C: It's because she's a woman, and fairies are considered girly. I think that's literally it.

G: No, it's crazy!

C: Like, remember the scene where they're in her parlor, and they're like, "Oh my god! It's disgusting that we're drinking from small teacups." Like, get over yourselves!

G: I do think this is culturally insensitive, and I mean that solemnly. [C laughs] It is culturally insensitive to talk about fairies this way! It is!

C: Yeah. To what? Ireland?

G: I mean, yeah.

C: Yeah, with the leprechaun.

G: But also, there are many places in the world who have similar concepts of like the girly, whatever. I can't believe that it's classified as girly. I don't know. People are fucking corny as hell. Why? Because they're small? Is it like a Thumbelina situation? [laughs] Why is it considered girly?

C: I don't know. They're small, associated with fairy tales, and men don't know about Cinderella, remember?

G: Oh, yeah. If I say "Thumbelina" to Dean, Sam would go, "Oh, I know her. She's my friend." [C laughs] And Dean would say, "You're gay as hell."

C: I mean, currently, Sam is saying, "You're gay as hell."

G: You know what's so frustrating? I was gonna reserve this for later, because I have a big thing about it, but it is so disconcerting to me that this entire episode, Sam is portrayed as not giving a fuck, having no sensitivity whatsoever, but when it's time to make a gay joke, he's so uncomfortable. Like, they portray him as like so uncomfortable to make it funny. And it's like, "I thought he didn't give a fuck. Why is he now so uncomfortable?"

C: I guess Sam was straight, but then, without his soul, he's gay.

G: No, I think what they were doing was that Sam without his soul- They believe that [laughs] homophobia transcends soullessness. [C laughs] It transcends soullessness. So like, you can be soulless. You're still homophobic. [laughs]

C: So true! He also says, "The only thing you're missing is a couple dozen cats, sister." I don't think he would talk like this. [laughs]

G: Have you considered that it's actually gay to speak like this, Sam Winchester? Maybe he is gay.

C: Okay, so now we're back to the "Sam is gay without his soul."

G: Yeah, maybe he is gay without his soul. We're gonna go back and forth on this.

C: Alright, sounds good. Dean pulls him away, and Sam's like, "I don't understand what I did wrong there!" And Dean's like, "You're so stupid. But I guess because you're soulless, this is correct that you wouldn't know why this is a wrong thing to say." Dean's like, "You need to be empathetic because old Sam would have. And you have to care!" And Sam's like, "What do you mean? And Dean, about what?" And Dean goes, "About everything, man! About being human, at least."

G: There's also a part where Sam goes like, "Old Sam had a soul. Or was a soul. I don't know," which is very fun.

C: Yeah, that was fun. I did like that.

G: Supernatural never really answers that, I don't think. [laughs] Well, they do. They answer it with, "You have a soul. You're not a soul," which is like, fascinating! So when you die and your soul goes to Heaven or Hell, what happens to you?

C: I don't know.

G: Your body is also there? But your body's on Earth decomposing. I don't know. We don't know.

C: Yeah. Sam goes like, "Look, Dean. You obviously care, a lot, and that's great. But I can't care about what I can't care about. Like, do you want me to fake it?" And Dean goes, "Yes."

G: Love it.

C: Yeah, this is an interesting dynamic, and I like it, but I don't have anything else to say about it.

G: I mean, it is- because we have been going with like parallels, etc. Or like, not parallels. Allegories. We have been doing an allegorical reading of Sam's soullessness. I think it does come at this point where it's not really allegorical anymore. [C: Mm.] I suppose it's it could be allegorical to like, psychopathy.

C: Yeah, I was thinking that.

G: I don't know. I don't really have much to say too other than, I don't know. Fake it till you make it. So true, I guess. But the thing is, Sam's never gonna make it unless he gets his soul back, so what is the game plan? And they haven't really worked on getting the soul back, I suppose.

C: I mean, last episode it was, yeah. Do something for Crowley and hope you can get the soul back.

G: It is about- this episode airs in November 19. So I think it's about to be the break very soon, and I do wonder when they do the break. What happens?

C: "Caged Heat" is a pretty big episode, right?

G: What?

C: "Caged Heat," 6.10?

G: Yeah, that's the one with Cas [both] and Meg. Yeah. So like, maybe that. Maybe that.

C: Yeah. Crowley's there, too, so I'm assuming a big soul development happens, so that's a good time for a break. Dean does come across as fantasy ableist- and real ableist! in this episode. Dean tells him to fake it because "If you want to be a real boy, you've got to act the part." But like, [laughs] he's not gonna be a real boy until you get his soul back.

G: Yeah. Well, I do think he mentions earlier that "You should care because Sam with the soul would have." And I think an approach to this would be, "When you get your soul back, you're gonna feel real bad about how you've been acting."

C: Maybe so, yeah.

G: And like, I think that is an approach, but Supernatural never really leans into that, which is what I think the most reasonable thing to be saying to Sam is now. Because he talks a big game about wanting to get his soul back, and then, "There are feelings during that time that were like harder but also more rewarding." And it's like, well, if, you know, when you get your soul back, you'd want to feel a little bit good about it.

C: Yeah. But yeah, Sam says that he was faking it. He was picking every single word when they were together, and it was exhausting. Which I could believe, except again, we've seen Sam doing investigations alone during episodes where he's working a case with Dean, and he was fine. [laughs] He was not particularly insensitive. And that was just so the audience didn't know that something was up or only knew a little bit that something was up. But yeah, it just doesn't work because of past events that we have seen. Dean says that he'll just be Sam's conscience the whole time, his Jiminy Cricket, because Sam's a freaking puppet. So they go to interview Mr. Brennan, who is the father of Patrick, who got abducted. And he says that Patrick was taken after Sam says he disappeared, and he keeps going, "I don't want to talk to you because you can't help me because Patrick's nevah, evah coming back." [G: Nevah evah.] And they think that it's suspicious that he feels so sure about this, but he says, "No, it's because after 72 hours the odds of finding a missing person is zero, and it's been weeks." And after Sam and Dean leave, we see Mr. Brennan talk to somebody we can't see, going, "Is that alright?" Like, "Did what I say- Was that fine? Was it not too much information?" And outside, Dean thinks that Mr. Brennan is hiding something.

G: I honestly- because, as you remember, I didn't know it was gonna be the fairies for real. [C: Uh-huh?] I thought the watch was possessed. [laughs] Like, I thought he put his son in the watch. [C: Aw, that would be fun!] I was like, "Very fun. Very fun! Yeah!" Yeah, and also, to be clear, this guy makes watches, and there's a little workshop that he lives in or stays in a lot.

-

C: So Sam and Dean split up. Dean's gonna check out the cornfield, and Sam will stay back and watch Mr. Brennan. And Dean goes, "But do not engage with, maim, or in any way kill Brennan. Don't make any judgment calls. If anything happens, call me." And Sam's like, "Okay, fine. But I was fine alone for a whole year." [G: Yeah.] But yeah, they split up.

G: It is hilarious that he was like, "Don't kill anyone." [laughs] Love that.

Dean goes to the crop circles, as you said. Stuff starts happening. He's calling Sam, and they're talking about the case. Sam is like, watching the guy in a bar, and the guy's just drinking. But then suddenly Dean gets fucking UFOed. And there's just a fucking UFO, and he's being chased, and he's running, and like, Sam is a little bit interested, but like, his general disposition is like, "Okay." He's like, "Oh, you see something, Dean?" And Dean is like, "Yes! There's a UFO!" And Sam just goes, "Stop yelling." [both laughing] Yeah, he's like, "Oh, you're choppy. I'm so sorry. I can't hear you."

C: He doesn't say "I'm so sorry." [laughs]

G: No, he doesn't say. He just says, "You're choppy." He says, "You're breaking up. I can't catch that." Literally DGAF. And Dean says, "Close encounter," which, is this a proper term?Or, you know what I mean.

C: I don't know.

G: Is it the term?

C: Yeah, would people immediately know that that was about aliens?

G: Because Sam goes like, "What kind? First or second?"

C: Apparently it is. In ufology, a close encounter is an event in which a person witnesses a UFO at relatively close range. [G: Ah.] Level one is lights in the night sky. Second is, in the daytime, you see disks. Third, there's like UFO reports with radar confirmation. Fourth is you see one for real less than 500 feet away, with detail. Fifth is when there's a physical effect like a car malfunctioning. And six is when you actually see an alien or whatever.

G: So Sam is using a wrong scale.

C: Yeah, he is.

G: When Dean says that "They're after me," Sam says, "Third kind already." And then he goes, “You better run. I think the fourth kind is a butt thing.” And also, I suppose we should mention here that this episode has a lot of [C: Yeah.] rape jokes. [C: Yeah.] And specifically of this kind. "You're gonna get fucked in the ass" rape jokes.

C: Well, probed in the ass, but yeah.

G: Yeah, but that's the implication. It goes on until the fairies, [laughs] which is crazy. They were like, "Well, we gotta continue it at some point."

C: Yeah, they stopped when they were like, "Well, I guess it's actually gay, so now we can't."

G: Yeah, the fairies are real, so now it's gay for real. I don't know. It's just-

C: Yeah, it's unpleasant. It's yeah- I don't- yeah. And I feel like those were mostly Dean [G: Yeah, towards Dean.] doing those jokes in "Tall Tales," but now, yeah, Sam is doing them towards Dean. And yeah, they do a different form of rape joke when it's fairies. [G: Yeah.] Which is the "service Oberon, King of the Fairies" thing.

G: And it is disconcerting because we'll talk about it later, but there is this scene where Dean comes back and he talks about it, and he's obviously in distress. And Sam is incredibly blunt about it, and you're supposed to be like, "That's funny." When Sam says, "Oh, they took you to the probing table," and Dean goes, "Don't say it!" they're like, "Don't call it that" or something. And it's like, well, it's not fun to watch. [laughs] [C: Yeah.] Dean goes, "Have some empathy, Sam." But then the phone dies, and Sam tries. He's like, "Are you there? Are you there?" And then he's like, "Not there." So he shrugs his shoulders and then eyes up a waitress that's passing by. You know what's so fascinating is soulless Sam is like- Okay. Soulled Sam is attracted to women, but he never is like, hitting them up in this way. [C: Right.] He's never like, eyeing up women. [C: Yeah.] It's just fascinating that now that's like a "when he had a soul, he didn't eye up women." [both laugh] Like, what- [laughing] what conclusion are we supposed to make here?

C: I guess just, he wanted to, but he knew not to, out of respect, and now he doesn't have that anymore?

G: He has no respect for women. Well, that's crazy.

C: Yeah. Yeah. The base male body wants to eye up women, but if you have a soul, sometimes, you know that that's not on. [G laughs] It's strange.

G: If I'm gonna think about it, I do find it fascinating the things that Ben Edlund in this episode [C: Yeah.] has defined as part of the human experience that is not- that if you didn't have a filter, this is just what it's like.

C: Yeah. Being homophobic, [G: Being homophobic.] disrespecting women-

G: And being misogynistic. And like, I do think it is representative of a worldview.

C: Yeah, and of himself, too. [laughs]

G: Yeah, [laughs] I mean, I was trying to avoid saying that, but yeah. [both laugh] It's representative of a worldview... that he has! [laughs]

C: That he has, and acts upon, or wishes he could act upon.

G: Yeah, it's just a- it's a weird thing to do, personally, I think. And there's something I don't- I think it's weird because I don't agree with it, so.

C: Yeah. I mean, Sam's doing a lot of things that Dean does also, though.

G: Yeah, they kind of- Dean Winchester is an interesting example of like- he is representative of an uninhibited man, but he's so inhibited. [C: Yeah.] You as an audience, you're supposed- I think if you're trying to do the- what do you call it when you're watching, and then there's a term, right? You're watching, and the guy's like, being so cool, and then you're watching because he's so cool. I completely forgot the term.

C: Huh? I don't know.

G: There is! You know it. We've used it so many times. I'm just blanking now.

C: Power fantasy?

G: No, there's like a voyeur- you're riding the coattails. [laughs] I can't believe I can remember that term but not whatever the fuck this is. Well, that is what Dean is. You're- something that ends with -ly. Like "egregiously watching," but egregious is not the term. You're-

C: Vicariously.

G: Vicariously watching. [laughs] You're egregiously, vicariously watching. And if you're supposed to be vicariously watching Dean, you're supposed to think that he's so cool and so uninhibited. "Look at him! He's divorced from social norms and like, expectations, and he can just be cool, and hunt monsters, and be violent, and have sex with women." But like, you look at his character, and he's the most repressed man alive.

C: In some ways, yeah.

G: What's that about? Yeah. And like, I don't know. This is a thing that- now that we're seeing Sam being quote-unquote "uninhibited"-

C: Is Dean really that repressed?

G: I think so! Very much so!

C: Like, I don't know. I'm like, I'm sure it's true because I've said it before too, but I just don't remember when he was.

G: Maybe repressed is not the term, but he is definitely always putting on a show of some kind, which is the opposite of uninhibited. If you're uninhibited, you're supposed to not think of those consequences or that image of yourself [C: Or not care.] to the world. You're not supposed to be caring about that. But Dean cares so so so so much. [C: Yeah, okay.] And his fantasy is just being cool, you know, without trying. Being effortless in it, in your masculinity. And then you look at him, and he's putting in so much effort. And like, with Sam now, they are trying to portray Sam as the uninhibited man. Now, Sam really is not putting in that much effort to come off as this embodiment of masculinity that's like, "I'm working out with oil on my body, [both laugh] and I'm having sex with women," you know? And I don't know. Supernatural, what is going on? A question of all time.

C: Yeah. One we may never answer.

-

G: Sam does go to the crop field. He brings Dean's phone, sees it, picks it up. He's like, "Mm, well. He's gone, I guess." So he goes to a UFO night. It's a bunch of mobile homes. Is that what it's called? There must be another term.

C: Trailers?

G: Trailers, yeah. There's there's a bunch of trailers, and they have set up around a circle area where they're talking about UFOs and stuff. So Sam comes in to the guy that they were interviewing earlier. His name is Wayne. We'll see him later again. And he's like, "Okay, well, they're real." He asks for "What do we do? How do we get them?" So Wayne hands him the literature, and Sam scrolls through it or shuffles through it- flips through it? Sam flips through it. And he is like, "Well, whatever the fuck is this? Because there's no way to kill anything that is listed down in here, the only essential thing to know about everything." [C: Yeah.] And also, "I can't believe that after thirty years, all you have is this stupid shit." [laughs] He's really coming down into this guy. And then at some point, the lady that we were talking about earlier comes in.

C: Oh, her name is Sparrow.

G: Was it really?

C: That's what the transcript says. I don't remember her introducing herself, though. [G: Yeah.] It might just be in the credits.

G: Sam has been talking about Dean, about how his brother was abducted, and she goes like, "Oh my god! That's so sad!" And he's like, "No, it's okay. I've had time to process it." And she goes, "Did it happen when you were kids?" [C laughs] And he goes, "No, just thirty minutes ago." They share, you know, a smile. A look, even. After Sam demolishes the guy that he's talking to, we go back to the cornfield. Dean is there. He- not "wakes up." He just shows up there. He's just there again. And he has a gun out, and he's wildly pointing it to places. And then he walks to the motel, and when he gets there, he turns on the light, and Sam's having sex. And he turns around. He goes, "Dean!" And the lady is like, "Oh my god, you're Dean! Sam, they brought your brother back!" [C laughs] Love it. Sparrow is about to head out when she turns around, and she's like, "Oh my god, Dean. I know it's like, you know, family time, etc. But I was just wondering, what happened? What were they like?" And Dean dismisses her and closes the door on her. And Sam's like, "Wow! I can't believe that you're so upset." Well, no, he just says- he is using statement terms. He says, "You're upset." So true. Dean says, "I was abducted." Also maybe true. And "You were banging Patchouli." And Sam goes, "I don't think she smelled that bad." I don't even know what patchouli is. Does it smell bad? Or is it like an herb or something that's associated with hippies?

C: Yeah, I guess it's a species of plant, so probably.

G: It's like an earthy smell. They have terrifying-looking flowers. Look at these. What the fuck is these? Terrifying.

C: They do look like mold.

G: Dean is mad because he was abducted by aliens and Sam DGAF. Dean also conveys that he was just gone for an hour, and half of that time he spent walking to the motel. And Sam's like, "That's not true. You're lying to me because you have been out the entire night. It's 4 AM now." And Sam's like, "Yeah, it usually happens. There's a time slip and everything." Sam hands Dean a drink, and Dean starts talking, and he says, "You know, there's this white light," and he's obviously struggling to get his words out. So Sam pats him in the in the knee and goes, "It's okay." And then nods sagely and goes, "It's a safe room." [laughs] He's so stupid! It is so stupid that they're doing this, but it is very fun. But again, as we've mentioned, [laughs] the context of the situation- The comedy that they were trying to do is that Dean is having a serious moment, and Sam's being incredibly direct about everything, which is what happens here. When Dean is like, "Oh, they were taking me to a table," and Sam goes, "A probing table!" and Dean goes, "No, don't say that out loud." Dean says he started like hacking and firing, etc, and then he was back on Earth. And I do wonder how this translates to now. Now that we know that it's fairies. They just made him see something else?

C: Well, he said that- he didn't see anything that was like, deceptive. He said that they were all like so bright, glowing white lights that he couldn't tell who the figures were, [G: Ah.] and the fairy we see later is a very small, glowing white light until Dean is able to see closer, right?

G: Yeah, but they also had some guy who was a guy.

C: Well, yeah, I guess they were taking human form on the Earth? But that was like, after they were summoned or whatever, right? So wherever they are, they could just be bright lights to the human eye. [G: Ah.] But yeah, I don't know why they wanted him on the table, though. It's not clear what the fairies want with abductions. Abductees?

G: Yeah, anyway, now, they go to a diner. And as they're talking, Dean's like, "Unbelievable. Aliens, real. What else is real? Unbelievable." And this entire time, Sam kind of DGAF, and then a waiter comes in and he gives her like a "How you doing?" [C laughs] And Dean's like, "Wait! Why are you doing that? [both laugh] The reality is collapsing around us, and you're flirting with a waitress." And Sam goes, "Okay, let's finally talk about the fact that I slept with that girl. So I have no soul, and-" Oh, no, he says, "Say you've got a soul, and your brother gets abducted by aliens." And Dean's like, "Well, you try everything to bring him back." But Sam goes, "No, but I did that. But then there were no more leads for the night. So I'm just supposed to suffer and sit there in the dark? There's nothing else that could be done." And Dean's like, "Yes, you're supposed to sit there and suffer in the dark! [C laughs] And you feel the loss," is what he says. And Sam says, "Well, can't I do all that, and also sleep with a hippie chick?" [C laughs] And Dean says, "No," and Sam says, "It'd be in the dark," [C: So good.] which is my best line. That is my best line, as I now say. Loved it. And Dean says, "You can't do that because you would be suffering."

C: Sam's literally right, though. [laughs]

G: I mean, I think Dean is also literally right in that if you had a soul, your soul wouldn't let you.

C: If you'd be suffering, it'd be hard for you to- [G: Yeah.] Yeah. But I think there's no moral high ground to suffering in the dark at night.

G: Yeah. Sam says, "So you're saying that having a soul equals suffering? Oh, so like when you call Lisa, almost, a million times. That's what it's about. You're saying that that's a good thing? Suffering is a good thing?" And Dean says, "I'm saying it's the only game in town." I agree with him, unfortunately. [C: What?] I know you just said that you shouldn't suffer in the dark, but like, it is what it is. You kind of do suffer. You don't have to, and there's no moral high ground to it, but it is what it is.

G: I mean, you don't have to. And also, there are exercises for distress relief.

G: I know, but sometimes, it's like, it feels good to suffer, which is, you know.

C: No, I agree with that. But that doesn't need to be a a universal whatever, yeah.

G: Ah. So what Dean is saying here that you're not agreeing is that it's the only thing to do is to suffer.

C: Yeah.

G: That's probably true.

G: I love to be miserable. Is that true? I don't think that's true.

C: Yeah, when you're miserable, you say things like, "I hate this. I'm miserable."

G: Yeah, and I don't think I am a particularly miserable person as well. Like, that's not my general disposition. I mean, about suffering, they were never wrong, the old masters, etc, you know? I think the thing here is that you're suffering, you have to understand that it does not mean that other people are supposed to be suffering as well, which is, I think, where Dean is going wrong. That's the quote I was referencing. This is about the W.H. Auden poem, oh my god! My first poem from him that I know of. It's called "Musée des Beaux Arts." I don't know how to pronounce that, I'm so sorry, French people. Except I'm not. Who give a fuck about the French? [both laugh] Am I allowed to say that, or is that actually offensive?

C: You're allowed to say whatever.

G: What languages are we allowed to be like, who give a fuck? I feel like if it's a colonizing language, [C: People do feel like making fun of the- yeah.] that's probably fine. Yeah. Well, anyway, that poem is about how, you know, when Icarus fell, people were just walking around, even though there's something marvelous happening, a boy falling out of the sky. And like, with Dean, I think that is where he- I think Dean has this perspective that if he's suffering, Sam has to suffer. So this entire conversation is not really about Sam's suffering, it's about Dean's. And yeah. And I do think the example that Sam gives of "Yeah, but the million times you almost called Lisa" is like a fascinating example, because we have already established with Sam DGAF about that, and that is a suffering that is not supposed to be seen as transcendental to Sam. [C: Right.] So that's fine. It's fine that he doesn't care about that because it's not supposed to be something that he also possesses then afterwards. But worry about Dean is something that he is supposed to possess, and therefore, Dean suffering at that moment is transcendental to Sam supposedly, and so therefore, he should also suffer, which is not something that I believe, personally. So yeah, I suppose we do agree. I just love to say that I love to suffer, even if I don't.

C: [laughs] So true.

G: I am still Catholic after everything. Dean starts seeing a guy. This is the beginning, right? He sees just a guy outside, and it disappears. The guy disappears.

C: Yeah, and he's glaring at Dean really hard, and Sam can't see the guy when Dean points him out.

They go back to the motel, and Dean is calling Sam, who's actually at the library. And he's just been doing UFO research, and not a lot is happening. "Major Tom" by David Bowie starts playing on the radio really loud, and then the lights start flickering, and then a bright ball of light flies into the room, gets really close to Dean, and he sort of squints, and he goes, "Nipples?"

G: I do love the music choice this scene. I like the vibe of the scene. It's very fun.

C: Yeah. The bright light hits Dean, and he yells, "Bitch!" [both laughing] because now that he's seen that it's a naked woman, he knows the correct slur to call her.

G: That it's not a son of a bitch, literally.

C: Yeah. And he traps the fairy in a microwave and puts it on for a bunch of minutes, and he laughs while she gets microwaved to death. [G: Yeah.] So Sam returns, and they're both looking inside the microwave. Sam sees nothing, but Dean sees splattered blood and entrails from the fairy who he microwaved. And yeah, he explains that the monster was "a little, glowing, hot, naked lady, with nipples."

G: She's a hot woman.

C: Yeah. Do we see any female fairies for the rest of this episode?

G: I don't even think so. And also, everyone else-

C: Yeah, it's because women can't make watches, and they're not hot or naked. [G laughs]

G: Women literally cannot make watches in the Supernatural universe! [both laugh] Literally.

C: Very confusing to me. Ben Edlund, what even goes on? Sam goes, "I'm not supposed to laugh, right?" And then he does make an effort because yeah, they move on. And Sam says, "One of the fringe theories is that these UFO objections are actually with ultra-terrestrials, aka fairies." And Dean agrees that that could be the case because the woman had wings. They go to Marion's trailer. Marion's the woman who was talking about fairies earlier, and her decor is there's a lot of gnomes and fairies and things like that and porcelain around, a lot of knickknacks, and she's serving them tea from very small cups, and that's a huge point of humor in this scene, I suppose, that men are drinking from small teacups.

G: The scene where Jared Padelecki, and I do mean Jared Padelecki [C laughs] is drinking from the cup is a very famous one.

C: It is. She's talking about fairies, and Dean points at one of the figurines and is like, "Oh,  that's sort of like the one I killed," but he doesn't say "killed." And yeah, Marion explains that tiny Santa Clauses and trolls and everything, goblins, they all count as fairies. And she seems very positive about them, and she mentions that only people who have been to fairyland can see them back in the real world, and they only take firstborn sons, we don't know why. And she says that she thinks that they're taken to Avalon to service Oberon, the King of the Fairies, so I mean, essentially, sexual slavery. And there's like, a moment that feels tense, but I think it's just tense because Sam's holding back laughter, and that's supposed to be the entire vibe, where he goes, "Dean. Did you service Oberon, King of the Fairies?" And he sounds very serious, but it's just because he thinks it's so so so so funny?

G: I don't think he thinks it's funny. That's not the vibe I got at all.

C: What is the vibe you got?

G: He's supposed to be like, "Uh." Like, that emotion. [laughing] I can't describe it. If it's not obvious, I'm having difficulty with my English this evening.

C: Yeah, is it just the like, I don't know, feeling- It's a very out-of-pocket thing for him to hear, so he's just going like-

G: No, this is why I find this scene weird, as I've said earlier. He shows no emotions or no consideration for sensitivity this entire episode. And now he's like- he's not laughing. He's uncomfortable. And I'm like, why would he be uncomfortable?

C: He's uncomfortable because he's trying to hold back laughter.

G: You think so? Are you sure?

C: Yeah, I mean, he repeats Marion's exact phrasing, which I feel like to me usually implies that he thinks that there's something funny or peculiar about the exact phrasing, which makes it feel like a holding back laughter thing.

G: Okay, got it.

C: But yeah, I don't know. If people have a different read, let us know. ‘Cause yeah, he hasn't shown himself to care about Dean being raped at all this episode, so.

G: Yeah. What does Dean say? He just looks over at Sam, right? Like he glares?

C: I think he just glares at him and moves on. He asks Marion, "How do we... do things about the fairies?" And Marion's like, "Oh, you wanna interact with them?" And Dean's like, "Forcefully interact." And she says to win a fairy's flavor- sorry, if you want to win a fairy's favor, you leave a bowl of fresh cream out for them. For more force, they hate iron, they burn when touched with silver, and if you spill sugar or salt in front of them, they have to stoop to count each grain. They're about to head out, but she asks them to just stay for a bit to finish their tea, and they just spend this time making fun of her for her decor. Dean calls it "cuterrific," and Sam asks for a bigger cup, but unfortunately, even though he's a man, he has to drink out of a small one! They head out, and they're like, "Well, that was wild! I don't know what to do next, but maybe let's call Bobby?" But they get a lead because they see Mr. Brennan buying a bunch of cream.

G: A flat of cream. [laughs] The fuck is a flat?

C: Like a flatbed truck? Like it was in a-

G: Ohh. That's an actual term? That's fun.

C: I don't know. I'm just guessing.

G: Oh, okay. A whole apartment of cream.

C: I don't know. I think it was like a whole- basically like a crate, but bigger, right? The floor of a flatbed trucks thing. So maybe.

G: So Sam and Dean split up. Sam's gonna keep an eye on Mr. Brennan, and Dean is gonna go to the watch shop. And as he heads in there, there's just a bunch of creature. Small guys. Like Thumbelina! [both laugh] Thumbelina is the only small girl I know, but they're all making the watches.

C: Yeah. And by small, we mean a foot tall, if shorter.

G: No, like Thumbelina. Yeah. Do people still know Thumbelina? I have not heard Thumbelina's name in so long.

C: I still know Thumbelina.

G: Who doesn't? [C laughs] A genuine question. Who doesn't know Thumbelina?

C: Some people.

G: I don't think my 8-year-old would know who Thumbelina is.

C: That's on you. You could introduce her to Thumbelina at any point.

G: Literally. Also, my 8-year-old sister. I don't have a child. So Dean calls Sam about it, and he's like, "Well, he made the deal with a bunch of fairies so they would make his watches or something." And so Sam is like, "Ugh, I'm gonna confront this guy." And so he does, and then he goes, "Did I ever mention how beautiful your work is? They're stunning. I just can't figure out how one man can make all of these watches. It's almost like a bunch of elves are working for you to make them. But that's not true, right? Except, it is true. [both laugh] A bunch of elves are working for you to make your watches." And he says, "Did you decide to trade your son for a bunch of watches? I mean, I assume you have a soul. So what's your excuse?" Love it. Do you think if Sam saw a completely bangerass watch, he'd sell Dean about it? Well, he was going to for a Coke, as [C: Yeah.] was established last last episode or last episode.

C: Is Sam a watch wearer?

G: I don't think he is.

C: I don't think so. I haven't seen him with one. He'd sell Dean for a FitBit.

G: No, Sam would tell Dean for an Apple Watch or something.

C: True, he will be an Apple Watch user, just vibes-wise, in later years.

G: It is so unfortunate that Sam and Dean are On the Road Jack Kerouac when Sam is literally, you know that term for the first wave of people to accommodate into a technology? Sam's literally that. [C: Yeah.] He literally would get an Apple Watch before everyone. He would get the Apple Visor before everyone else.

C: Is that a thing?

G: Yes!

C: We already had this conversation, maybe. Well, let's stop advertising for Apple. But yeah, I didn't know about that.

G: Mr. Brennan finally tells Sam- They are now like at the booth because this is now a booth conversation, not a bar conversation. And he says that what happened was he called on the elves simply because he just wanted to make better watches, or he wants to keep on making watches [C: Well, he couldn't.], but his hand was injured. He had-

C: No, he has Parkinson's, so it's not injury.

G: He has Parkinson's, oh! And he knows that his grandmother used to say that you can summon fairies, so he summons one, and then he wishes to be able to keep on making watches, and his hand- his Parkinson's not... do it anymore. [laughs]

C: Yeah, reduce the hand tremors from Parkinson's.

G: Yeah. He agrees, but he didn't realize that what he was agreeing to was that they were going to take "the fruit and the fat of the land," which is the term that they use, and he didn't understand that meant first-born sons. Rumpelstiltskin is the comparison that they make, and I love it so much. Literally like Rumpelstiltskin. [C: That's true.] Is it firstborn son or is it firstborn? [both] Marion said it was firstborn son. Yeah, and I don't think we did see a girl get taken. And he says that there is a way to reverse the spell, but because the fairies are in the book or in the store, and that's where the book is, he has not been able to get it. What a nightmare situation! What a horrible thing to experience this thing. But he can see the fairies, just like Dean Winchester. And as as we have this conversation, we see Dean get into a whole fiasco where the guy that has been like following him around is there and starts mimicking him as he's walking, which I do think they make this interesting- I don't really know what the purpose of this character is other than, you know, try to kill Dean later. It's never really explained, is it? You said it-

C: Yeah, I don't know. Dean tried to escape, so he's trying to bring him back, I think.

G: They're just trying to get someone to be a creepy mime, which is the vibe of this guy. He's like a creepy mime. But he mimics the way Dean walks. Dean was supposed to tackle him at some point, but then he ends up tackling a little person, and then he's calling this guy "a little fairy." "Fairy, fairy, fairy." He keeps on repeating it.

C: Yeah. [both laugh] Why? [laughs]

G: [laughing] What is up [both] with Ben Edlund.

C: I don't know. [G: Yeah.] He just loves a slur. He loves to get to say a slur and to laugh.

G: He loves to go "hehehehehe!" every time.

C: He loves to make Crowley say "fag" to refer to cigarette, right? Yeah, this is an episode where he goes, "Without a soul as a filter, you will be homophobic and make rape jokes all the time and disrespect women." This does seem to be a manifestation of him always sort of wanting to say a slur [both laugh] and coming up with plots that allow him to.

G: Well! This is happening pretty near the bar that Sam and Mr. Brennan are in.

C: Yeah, there are people nearby, and there's a little girl who screams, "Daddy!" And also, there's an Asian man there, and he's frowning and shaking his head to show that he disagrees with homophobia and ableism.

G: And then, you know, the cops show up and arrest Dean as Sam is heading out to Mr. Brennan's. And he's saying like, "Oh, don't worry, my brother and I, my brother can see the fairies, we can cover for you," etc. But then Dean is being cuffed and arrested. Sam is saying, "Hey, what's going on?" And Dean just goes, "Just fight those fairies! You fight those fairies! Fight the fairies!" What is-?

C: Why?

G: He would not say that shit. [C: Yeah.] First of all, we already know that it was the fairies, so like, if it was a reveal, if it was revealed now that "Oh, it's actually fairies!" then this would make sense, except that's not the case. And number two, doesn't he already understand that he's in trouble for potentially being a fucking hate crimer? [C: Yeah.] [laughs] And he did- I don't know. Many things going on in this episode, and all of them- well, some of them- bad. But now he's in jail, and as we said, the cop goes, "I don't even know what kind of hate crime this was." And Dean goes, "It wasn't a hate crime." And the cop goes, "If this gentleman was a full-sized homosexual, would that be okay with you?" [C laughing] And Dean says, [laughing] "I don't hate any size person or any size gay guy."

C: Separate categories! [G screams] So true. The three categories of sapient beings are person, gay guy, and monster.

G: You know, I kind of do commend Ben Edlund for getting him to say, from Jensen Ackles's mouth, "I don't hate any size gay guy." [both laugh] Like, I commend it. It's just- yeah. Hearing Jensen Ackles say "gay" is not- I don't know.

C: Every orientation.

G: Every orientation. He should have said "I don't hate any size person or any size person with any orientation."

C: Yeah, he should have said, "It's not about the heterosexual or the nonbinary."

G: No, why did Jared Padalecki say that? [C laughing] [C: Why did he say that?] Why did he say that? Why did he say that? What was the cause?

C: What did he mean? What did he think he was meaning?

G: I think he was- No, but why is it like, heterosexual and nonbinary specifically? [laughs]

C: Yeah, why are those the two?

G: I think he was trying to say that it's not about gender and sexuality. [both laughing] And of course, the main gender and the main sexuality is heterosexual and nonbinary. Yeah. So yeah, the cop goes, "Well, he's not gay, as it happens, but he is the district attorney for Tipton County." [laughs] And so- and they bring this up later as well. At the end of the episode, this is-? [C: Yeah.] Well, anyway, Dean goes like, "I'd say he's done so well for himself, considering his..." and then he pauses a bit, [C: Jesus.] and the cop looks at him and he looks at the cop, and he goes, "Considering the tough economic times."

C: Ugh. Yeah. Literally, Ben Edlund did go, "Wouldn't it be so funny if Dean was perceived as homophobic and ableist?"

G: And he was.

C: And then Dean immediately was homophobic and ableist?

G: Well, didn't you see, Crystal? He already said that he doesn't hate any size person or any size gay guy.

C: Or any size... gay... guy. [laughs] He paused.

G: He takes a pause. He goes, "Any size... gay. guy." [C laughs]

The cop doesn't buy it. And so we get a scene of Dean- and I do always love these scenes where someone is in a room or something, and they're just going around doing things in the room, walking, pacing, lying down somewhere.

-

C: Now, we cut to Sam and Mr. Brennan going inside his watch shop, and Sam obviously can't see anything, but Mr. Brennan can see that the fairies have all basically fallen asleep, or they're just very tired because they ate all that cream, and it sort of knocked them out. So he goes over to his safe and gets the book, and he starts reading it out loud in the shop. Go outside, dude! They can hear you! Maybe he needs to be near them for it to work. But yeah, he starts and he gets halfway through, and then-

G: He dies! [C: Yeah.] He gets killed! [laughs]

C: The guy who has been following Dean around stabs him in the back, and we see it as a shot of the blade going through his front in the middle of him reading. And then that guy transforms into Wayne, the UFO guy Sam was talking to earlier. And he is the leprechaun that made this deal in the first place And Sam's like, "Wow, you're so smart because you  encourage the UFO stuff so that nobody knows that it's really fairies while you abduct the firstborns." Wayne is like, "Well, who cares if you know my secret? You're so screwed," and he disappears because he has the power to. And they have an exchange where Wayne is like, "I can tell that you're missing your soul because fairy folk are all about energy, and the human soul has a certain energy," which I guess is this episode's contribution to the Season 6 overall plot. And he says, "You know, like I could get your soul back for a price." And Sam says, "That's impossible because it's locked in a box with the devil," and Wayne says, "Your devil, not mine. We can do what angels can't do because we have real magic from fairyland." And Sam's like, "Okay, sure, I have a wish I want you to fulfill," and he shoots him with an iron bullet, and it's painful, but it doesn't really actually hurt him. And then the rest of this is a continued fight scene where a fairy shows up- I guess the guy that's been following Dean shows up inside his cell and starts beating the shit out of him. And it's tense, because "Oh, no! If Sam doesn't banish all the fairies in time, then Dean will die!"So yeah, Sam's struggling a lot, too, he's losing. And then he remembers to throw a bunch of salt on the floor, and Wayne, he goes, "Oh, no!" and he starts stooping down to count. Sam goes, "Why didn't I do that earlier?" So true. And while the leprechaun's counting, Sam finishes up the spell, and all the fairies vanish, and Dean's fine.

In the last scene- I think this is so interesting. I like this so much. Because, okay, Sam and Dana are by the car, and Dean offers him a beer, and he goes, "Nah." And we're so used to the two of them having a beer at the end of a case. It's like a bonding moment. Both of them enjoy this activity. And at this point, you realize that Sam only wanted to drink when he had a soul like, for Dean's feelings? [G laughs] Like, he doesn't enjoy this post-case ritual. There's nothing in it- Like, it was purely sentiment. He doesn't like beer. Earlier, when Dean comes back, Sam pours him a drink and tells him to drink, but he never drinks in this episode. Have we seen Sam, soulless Sam drink in general, in fact?

G: I'm not sure.

C: Like I don't recall it happening. I think he is not into it.

G: That's interesting. That's interesting. Let's keep on observing it.

C: Yeah, he's purely a social drinker. Yeah. And they're like, "We weren't ableist enough this episode. Let's do it again." So Dean cheers to, quote, "the tiniest DA" because he dropped the charges against Dean. He shouldn't've. And then Sam goes, "Little big man." Why? Why? I mean, "why" is ableism.

G: No, it's just, you know, we have talked about how Supernatural has a tendency to do things where they would have a person who is not their usual fare of character in Supernatural and do a big deal of pointing out such. And here, obviously, they put in a little person here so Dean can hate crime the guy, which is already insane. But post-hate crime, too, it's the only thing about him? Post-hate crime? What's going on?

C: Yeah. [laughs] What the fuck is going on? And then they move on because Dean's like, "Do you think the leprechaun really could have gotten your soul back?" And Sam's like, "No, probably not." And Dean's like, "I mean, why did you say no?" And Sam just says, "‘Cause it's a deal, and deals are bad," and blah blah blah. And Dean's like, "Okay, sure, but I think it's because you secretly don't want your soul back." And Sam's like, "What?? No. That's crazy." [laughs] And then the episode ends. [G laughs]

G: Literally. I mean, are we supposed to be on Dean's side of suspicion, or on Sam's side of, "[British] Dean, I can't believe you would be suspicious."

C: I think we're supposed to be on Dean's side, even though I don't think that not wanting to get his soul back had anything to do with Sam killing the leprechaun. But I think we are supposed to suspect because Sam's questions this episode have all been like, "Why do I have to do that? Having a soul is literally just suffering? Like, okay." So yeah, that's the episode.

G: Yeah. Well, what did we think of it?

C: I did not like it particularly.

G: It's less fun than I was led to believe it would be, given that it is a very famously funny episode, or known to be as such. I do think it proposes interesting things and funny things about Sam's characterization as soulless Sam, but not in a way that continues on the more interesting aspects of the season, and also, it absolutely lacks subtlety on it. [C: Yes.] AndSupernatural is not the kind of show where you demand subtlety, but like, it's nice when it happens! [laughs]

C: Yeah, I appreciate subtlety.

G: When it happens, they do it good sometimes! And so it is a little bit sad that they don't do it good this time. [C: Yeah.] Or they don't do it at all. Best Line/Worst Line? My best line is, in fact, "It would be in the dark." [C laughs] He's so real for that. It would be in the dark. [C: Yeah.] It's like, sometimes when I go to sleep, when I'm supposed to be doing something, and I turn the light on, so I'm asleep with the light on, I'm like, "I'm not working, but I'm asleep with the light on, so I-" [both laugh]

C: Yeah, you are. I also like that exchange just in general. The whole conversation, "Are you supposed to just sit there in the dark and suffer even when there's nothing that can be done at the moment?"

G: I do suppose I also like that Dean brings up Lisa [C: That Sam does?] because we haven't really seen- Yeah, that Sam does, because we haven't really seen it be around that much, or we have, but always Dean checking his phone, and we've never really spoken about it in Supernatural. Supernatural hasn't really addressed it in that way. And so it's fun for it to be addressed, I would say.

C: Yeah, I suppose so. [laughs] "Lisa, please pick up! It's so hard to explain that I was a vampire! We need to meet up so I could tell you the one sentence 'I was a vampire'!" [G: Literally.] Worst line, probably- there's a lot. [laughs] There's a lot of them. I feel like everyone knows what the worst lines are. They're just all the ableist and homophobic ones.

G: Yeah, I did severely dislike "Did you service Oberon, the King of the Fairies?" And I also don't like the fact that that's a semi-famous fandom line.

C: It is.

G: Yeah. And also the implications on Sam's character of that line, I also don't like. Spreadsheets. Spread those sheets. [C: Well.] Well, we have quite a bit. We kind of already do have a honorary category of ableism. [C: Yeah.] I said at the end of Season 5 that we were gonna add it for real, but we didn't end up doing it.

C: I forgor.

G: We literally forgor, but that's okay. We can just remain it to be honorary.

C: Okay, [both] misogyny. Sam disrespects women.

G: Yes, but there is also a misogynistic attitude behind the way they treat Marion. [C: Yeah.] So I would say, I give this- It's casual enough, I give it 2 or 1.

C: Yeah, I was thinking 1.

G: Okay. Racism.

C: I don't remember any.

G: I did say it was culturally insensitive. [laughs]

C: Yes.

G: But I am not including it.

C: I mean, the fairies that they make fun of in this episode are pretty Western culture.

G: Yeah, but I don't know.

C: Yeah, it's fucked.

G: I just hate the gender- Why are we making monsters gendered? It's always egregious, too. The fact that witches are like, the girl monsters, [both laugh] and they're "bitches!" You know, Dean loves to say that.

C: You know, I'm gonna up the misogyny to 2 now that I think about it more. But yeah, nothing on racism, or?

G: I would say nothing on racism.

C: [both] Homophobia. I think it's intrinsic.

G: This has got to be- It's intrinsic. I would say it's a 4.

C: Yeah, I was thinking 4, too. Alright.

G: And I do think the ableism is the same. It's also 4.

C: Yeah. Yeah. Well, good job, Ben Edlund. If we add the honorary points, then you have 10 this episode. [G laughing]

G: Go, Ben! Love that!

C: Go, Ben!

G: Well, IMDb? I am that Db. This is 6.09. So it's odd. It's your turn.

C: I mean, this is iconic regarding the humor. I've seen people talk about it a lot. But I also think it's like, not good, [laughs] so.

G: Yeah. The episode, it's an iconic episode, but not because of the quality of it, is the thing. [C: Yeah.] It's about other things.

C: Yeah. So... 8.1?

G: Okay, 8.1. I'm gonna go higher than you, because I do believe in the power of [both] humor. I would go 8.4.

C: Oh, wow!

G: Yeah. Okay, let's see. Ah! It's an 8.3.

C: Good job. [G: Thank you.] I'm losing so so so so hard this season.

G: Yeah. "A funny joke with the X-Files." What is the deal with X-Files? What is the twist of it? That it's like, actually [both] aliens-

C: I think it's aliens.

G: - when they think it's like the FBI shit?

C: Okay, this person says that this was funny, but they're missing good old Sammy now. "I hope they don't stretch it any further because it would turn the humor into sheer annoyance."

G: This one says that "It was interesting to see Supernatural tackle fairy lore, which actually has a lot more horror potential than most people realize." And they talk a bit about how it was the Victorians who started to romanticize them, and then Disney, "but if you read some of the older tales or listen to still current ones in rural Ireland or Scotland, fairies are anything but cute and harmless." I wonder- they don't do a Filipino lore situation at any point in Supernatural. They do an Indonesian one?

C: Do they?

G: I'm pretty sure. In "The Chitters." They have an Indonesian monster. I do think this has been- I don't know if I've mentioned this in the podcast before, but the global, you know, lore of stuff like this is so rich, I would say especially in southeast Asia. It's like- I think we are a region that is famously like, people believe in that shit. And I've actually read some papers on this where the take is that when you're in a country with that much colonial and also dictatorship violence, and there's a lot of censorship, it happens that your mythical lore or the mystical creature and haunted and ghost shit is much higher. I think I've said in this podcast that I actively believe in ghosts and creatures and stuff. I don't know. It's not like I want Supernatural to tackle them. [both laugh] But like, I do- for this one specifically, I understand that there are people who believe in this, you know? And so I feel a little bit more- this is more akin to me to when they- I mean, obviously, it's a different thing, but this is like closer to me when they make fun of gods [C: Right.] than they do when they talk about vampires or werewolves. I think that's where my pushback against it is coming from. [C: That makes sense.] Yeah, even though it's not- obviously not from my culture. But yeah. [C: Yeah.] This one says, "I believe, clap clap clap clap clap emoji." That's pretty fun. [laughs] But they think it's an incredibly funny episode. Not true. Not funnay.

C: Not true. "For some reason, I like the first episodes in Season 6 where Sam has no soul. When he is normal, he is a more weak and always end himself up being hit by the monsters." [both laugh] Sam got hit pretty hard in this episode, too!

G: Oh, Robert Picardo from Star Trek is here. Who is that guy? Robert Picardo... Oh, he is from Star Trek: Voyager, which I have not seen. That's fun that they put him in here. He was Mr. Brennan. Or was he the leprechaun? I'm not sure.

C: I don't know.

G: That’s it for this episode of Busty Asian Beauties. Next week, we will be discussing Season 6, Episode 10: "Caged Heat." Leave us a rating or a review wherever you get your podcasts.

C: Follow us on social media! We are on Tumblr at bustyasianbeautiespod.tumblr.com. Our official tag is #BABPod, B-A-B-POD. Thanks to everyone who's donated to our Ko-Fi- Oh, especially that last person. Thank you!

G: Oh, that's very nice. Yeah, thank you.

C: Yeah, thank you. I guess you said that you were just finishing Season 1 when you gave us that money, so it's gonna be a long time before you get here, if you even do. But thanks! [G: Yeah!] But yeah, thank you to everyone who's donated to our Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/bustyasianbeautiespod, which is where our outtakes live, and check out our merch at babpod.redbubble.com.

G: You can email us any feedback, comments, or inquiries at bustyasianbeautiespod@gmail.com. See you guys next time! [both] Bye!

[guitar music]

[shady-groves]

20 fanfic questions

tagged by @el-dritchknight, thank you! :>

Tagging: Everyone who I would tag is already tagged, so whoever wants to do this!

how many works do you have on ao3? 18

what's your total ao3 word count? 147,654

what fandoms do you write for? As of now, only My Time of Sandrock, but I've written a fic for both the game Lifeline (mega props to you if you've heard of it at all...) and Cells at Work BLACK

top five fics by kudos: [All are for MTAS and GN!builder/Qi]

A Builder, a Researcher, and a Rooftop - fluff with some angst

Statistical Anomaly - fluff

Empty Skies, Hazy Skyboxes - heavy angst (mind the tags)

1000 Things to Do with Sulfuric Acid - crack

How to Send Letters to a Star - heavy angst (mind the tags) - extension to Empty Skies, Hazy Skyboxes

5. do you respond to comments? most of the time, yes! if i don't, it's not personal, sometimes i just don't know what to say 😅 but know that i do see it, and i really appreciate it :>

6. what is the fic your wrote with the angstiest ending? hmmm while it's a toss up between this and ES,HS, I think it's How to Send Letters to a Star. It's distinctly a lot more melancholy than the ending of ES,HS...and it's doesn't feel like Qi's emotions are as resolved.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? fadsfasdrlkj none of my multipart fics either have a happy ending or have an ending at all yet wheeeEEEZE

but if it's currently done fics, Statistical Anomaly would probably be it? tho it's smack dab in the middle of Builder, Researcher, Rooftop so idk

8. do you get hate on fics? not as of now...

9. do you write smut? occasionally. and any i've written so far is in a particular niche (ace4ace, one of whom is partially averse). not generally comfortable writing a lot of the dirty details...don't think i'll ever be able to stray too far from porn with feelings so i can just focus on the emotions more😂

10. craziest crossover? same as el...do oc crossovers count?? but aside from that, i have an uzumaki + mtas fusion fic that i'd like to write...someday...

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? nope!

12. have you ever had a fic translated? Nope! Open to it tho :>

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? Also nope...but absolutely down to 👀

14. all-time favorite ship? any Qi/builder, or if i'm allowed to indulge, Qi/Wisteria, my builder >:3

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? [looks at entire writing folder]

...but more seriously:

A fourth part of my Wis/Grace miniseries: In Vino Veritas...while the idea is cute, it's taken me more than a year to get part 3 done 💀

A funny little multichapter genfic featuring Unsuur and a couple other ppl in town reacting to his rock stacking fascination and things

16. what are your writing strengths? dialogue and characterization. it helps if the character has voiced dialogue somewhere that i can reference so i can really get a good picture of not only what they say, but how they say it.

17. what are your writing weaknesses? long fics and writing things without the help of hyperfixation 💀 i am actively working on it tho!!

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language? i mean yeah, why not? :> just be sure you actually know what they're saying and give a translation somewhere, and it should be fine

19. favorite fic you've written? if it's fics that actually exist outside of my head, it'll have to be How to Send Letters to a Star. It was formed out of a mess of ideas that I originally had for an extension to ES,HS, but it tied them together a lot stronger with the repeating presence of the letters...and I think I got the intended mood down solid. I was inspired a lot by the 4th Eva movie...I LOVE the somber, melancholic, introspective tone of the first half so much and I think I emulated it pretty well 🥺

but if we're including WIPs, then I think anyone on the OTAS server could probably guess that it's probably Earth and Sky...when I actually write it 😂It will be long and it will be hard!! But I think that this is legitimately a whole level up for me writing wise (assuming, again. that it actually will get written and exist. in the real world 💀) :>

20. what's something you want to write someday? I really want to get through Earth and Sky and also to write out that Uzumaki fusion fic I mentioned above :> Just in general write more for Qi and Wis, really. I love exploring the interesting little opposites-but-also-deeply-the-same-at-their-core dynamic they have......and the symbolism that they come bundled with lets me cool and pretentious too 😂