#There was originally an episode in between

[evilwickedme]

The most hilarious part of this to me is that next episode is Real Me, which has the bit where Dawn says she'd "like to do some of the stuff Willow and Tara do together" and Joyce reacts by getting quiet and sending Dawn to her room.

So there are three options:

She learned they were gay between Buffy Vs. Dracula and Real Me, the most boring option we can just dismiss this one

She just forgot they were gay cause she was so frustrated with dating men as a middle aged woman, which, honestly I get it

By far the most hilarious option - she DIDN'T know in the original timeline, but somehow Dawn's presence in the new timeline created by the monks changed that. This is the only thing that is explicitly different between the two timelines, as Dawn was supposedly seemlessly intwined in the world as it was. And yet

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Wait you wrote some of the Dragon Prince's Reflections short stories? That's awesome, congratulations! What was that like and how much lore did the showrunners give you access to, or were you allowed to make your own additions to canon? 😃 Which ones did you work on if I can ask? Thanks!

Oop, this question came in while I was answering another one! I just went over which Reflections stories were my work here! tldr, most of the first volume and one in the second volume.

I worked with Devon on ideas to pitch, and then on crafting and polishing the ones that got approval. I only needed to know a little bit of lore from upcoming seasons in order to write the stories, but with the timeskip between S3 and S4, I necessarily had to know a few things, like "so it's been two years."

I did get a couple of references to look at, such as the design of the soul candle for "The Queen's Soul," since that was an asset they'd already created for the show. And I did get to watch an early version of the first episode of S4, for character/design/location/etc reasons. A picture is worth 1000 words, etc. But most of my stories were just little bubbles stuck on the side of the main plot bubble - as the Reflections series was originally pitched to be! It's full of treats and foreshadowy lil clues, but in the end it's just fun supplemental material for the extra nerdy to indulge in! So there was some freedom in pitching and writing, as long as it held to theme, and we had a lot of fun bringing these little moments to life.

Crackledrake is my favorite short story because I got to add the cute little ritual to Sunfire canon and created the lore behind it. It's inspired by the real-world tradition of snapdragon, so you can see I was super inventive with its TDP name there! I gave Janai and Amaya their own Xadian fruits and nuts, though, as they deserve. I can't say I did so with a straight face, though. My face was extremely gay about it, actually.

Rise Again was another of my pitches that got accepted, and writing it really helped me connect with Claudia in a way I hadn't before. I've felt differently about her ever since, and that wouldn't've happened if I hadn't gotten to spend time with her and give her Burnt Biscuit.

I think Changing of the Guard was already in the pitch lineup, but I was really excited to get to write for Soren and Corvus. I always enjoy when opposite personalities try to come together! I tried my best to add some angst into Corvus' backstory, but I had to trim it for length so he remains mysterious. But King Ezran's Belly Full of Jelly tart-eating contest is a thing I've put into the world, and I'm genuinely pleased with that. And then there's all the *waves Sorvus flag*. I just think they're neat! (and you're welcome)

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I always used to wonder how Meghan is seemingly able to get away with so much bullshit she pulls everywhere she goes. I never understood why/how marrying someone powerful (or in this case, someone from a powerful family) enabled her so much. When the Blake/baldone situation exploded some people were making the same kind of argument about blake too , that she is absuing the power she has from being married to Ryan and ut has gone to head and she is trying to manipulate the situation.

Again, I like most, believe that women should support women. But inwanted to understand the power dynamics about blake, the bigger star and also a producer, working with a small time production house and first time director.

Then a couple days ago I came across this podcast on Spotify, called Reality Bites. It has a 6 episode (for now) series on the it ends with us situation. They do not discuss the lawsuits or accusations or debate the merits of the SH claims. Instead, they did a deep dive on the power dynamics behind the scenes during the making. Mainly, the star power of blake and Ryan, their (proven and spoken) ambitions about their careers and the decisions they have made in their careers recently, but most importantly the role the studios played in this whole saga. Along with the personal motivations of the PR reps and WME in creating/causing/escalating this situation between blake and baldoni.

I'll say, I had not heard this angle before, nor had it explained so well so far. The 2 ladies are producers of reality shows so they know the inner workings and know what they are talking about. If anyone is interested, give it a listen.

Some highlights for me :

- how scooter Braun may be tied up in this

- WME played a key role. decided to fire baldoni not because of the accusations but because they decided to go with the bigger fish, Ryan and his production company+ blake

- baldoni was very out of his depth from the get go

- blake had made a SH complaint against her make-up artist back in 2017 during MeToo, so she knew how to go about things and how/why to get SAG involved. So, why didn't she doesn't it this time when the SAG strike happened and they were fighting for the same kind of workplace rights at the time?

- blake pushed to get a PGA certification for herself instead at this time. She bulldozed Sony,wayfarer,baldoni and heath for letters for recommendations. After Sony and wayfarer refused because her involvement wasnt upto the mark. Then she blackmailed baldoni and heath personally saying she would back out of the movie. They agreed under duress and company communications from that prove this.

- she did not allow him to sit in on the initial editing process by himself with the editors, as per the rules of the DGA, which allows him to get a director's cut ready. She barged in from day 1, negotiated for a 2 day editing input and access, stayed for 10 days, and later stayed back in the editing rooms by herself. Later brought in the editor from Ryans movie and fired the actual editors. Changed the music score, fired the original music composer and made her own cut. Which as per DGA rules is not allowed. (There can be only 1 cut) And convinced Sony to show competing cuts to test audiences. She promised to agree to whatever the test results said but then later blackmailed Sony saying it she won't do promotions.

- apparently Ryan has previously done a similar things for Deadpool 2, where the original director then later left the franchise because of ryans harrassment. So they did the same on this movie for blake.

- the NYT article and how it came about is explained. And it's insinuated that it's a pr hit job.

- it's insinuated that Blake made baldoni sign a no- retaliation clause, per which, he wasn't allowed to say anything at all about her. He signed it as a sign of good faith when they resumed shooting after the strikes.

- all the claims she sites are from the period or may/June 2023, before the strike happened. And she never said anything at all to SAG or the producers. She was also a producer so she was in the place to make changes happening if the work environment was hostile. But she did not. Instead she started over extending budget, got involved in areas where she wasn't contractually obligated to and over ride Justine all over.

- she and Ryan both bullyed Justin and Wayfarer, going over his head to Sony all the time. Justin was under immense stress and it was do or die situation for him because he just wanted to make the movie and agreed to everything that Sony and Blake demanded of him.

- she orchestrated a smear campaign against Justin way before the public had any hints of strife between them. She did this knowing that Justin was legal bound not to say, do anything about it.

- WME played a hand in the marketing strategy for the movie, especially the placements of blakes hair care brand, alcohol brand etc. Sony's agreed to message was "Hope", extending to resilience. Not florals. That was all blake. Justin did use the word "hope" in almost all his interviews.

- they speculate that all this is make baldoni give up his rights to the 2nd book due to sheer public pressure, so blake can help that project. On another note, WME has recently signed up with collen Hoover for her new book. Colleens initial contract with Justin may include a clause that allows her a right to refusal or voiding of contract incase of any reputational damage caused by baldoni. This 2-fold strategy gives blake a better chance of acquiring the book.

- Ryan based the character of 'Nicepool' in his movie on Justin - the manbun, feminism spouting, goody-two-shoes. She eventually gets taken down by ladypool, Blake's charactor (her voice). This apparently happened right after Justin signed the "no retaliation clause". It's symbolically shows blake destroying Justin, and that was ryans whole idea. The lawyers could prove this with the receipts they have.

- Sam Jones and Blake's pr rep played a huge role in this saga. It was a personal vendetta between Sam Jones and Jennifer able that may have caused baldoni to become collateral damage. (Jones believed that Able may have been behind the articles exposing Jones for her horrible boss behaviors and misusing client info. The articles and a website, why Sam Jones lies, came out last year that damaged Sam Jones reputation amongst her clients. So she fired Jen for that and further pursued this vendetta by aligning with blake in taking down baldonis reputation. Jen is widely believed to be the whistle blower in jones' take down)

...

I know this is not the usual fare for this blog but you've been saying we've all had too much of HnM. And I agree. This topic got me really interested when I started reading up the documents. And looking at blake, I can see Meghan may even operate. The way she got p.morgan fired, how she got hold of all those female senators' personal phone numbers. How Harry tried to bully the NYPD into arresting the paps and tried to get those included in his lawsuits. It's amazing how much power the right contacts - PR agents , WME etc - have.

So, anyway, anyone else interested in the unending saga of This Ends With Us? Or is it just me?

Thanks!

There’s a lot of people interested in this who I’m sure will enjoy this. I’m not posting on Blake/Justin anymore because it’s too messy for social media and not something that can be easily discussed.

(Scooter is involved because he’s a partner in the PR firm that Justin is signed to.)

A few other recent developments for everyone who is following this:

1. Justin’s lawsuit against the New York Times means one thing: evidence discovery. He’s after something in evidence discovery that he doesn’t think will come up otherwise. My guess is that his lawyers are hoping discovery reveals a coordinated scheme between Blake, her PR, and the NYT against him since the basis of Justin’s lawsuit is that he wasn’t given adequate time to respond to NYT’s reporting.

2. Blake filed her lawsuit against Justin on December 31st. Blake hasn’t sued anyone yet. She filed a complaint with a labor board, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, but the lawsuit hasn’t happened yet.

3. Ryan Reynolds gets more and more implicated and embroiled in this the more information that comes out. I don’t think this will end with his reputation fully intact. There’s been some gossip that he pressured some of the IEWU actors and crew that defended Justin to switch sides by threatening to blacklist them from future work in the industry.

4. Blake is now complaining that her separate companies/brands are suffering (ie losing money) and she believes the loss of sales is because of Justin’s PR’s smear campaign.

5. Blake has shut down some of her social media accounts, including TikTok. I’m guessing the comments weren’t what she expected.

Like I said before, I won’t post on this anymore since it’s too messy for social media and while I do stray into entertainment/Hollywood topics from time to time, this has evolved so much that it’s out of my depth now. Sorry.

—

(Meghan got away with everything she did because she immediately made it about race, and then exploited it with PR tactics. The whole premise of the KP love shield is that she was being harassed because of her race.)

Edits

[adnirod]

Book 2 for 2025 book bingo! For the "Published Before 1950" square (so many options! I love to read older books!) I selected the original "The Adventures of Pinocchio" (1883), translated by Carol Della Chiesa in 1926.

All I knew about this book was that it was different from the Disney movie, and that instead of the wise and friendly Jiminy Cricket as Pinocchio's conscience, there's a talking cricket that tries to advise Pinocchio until Pinocchio smashes him to death with a hammer. (I think Stephen King mentioned this in something of his--maybe "Danse Macabre"?). So I wasn't really at risk of tonal whiplash.

As promised, this is a pretty dark story--Pinocchio is mostly a pure chaos agent, kind of like Curious George except with violence and death, plus always someone looking to trick/prey on/take advantage of you. The narrator delivers morals, but for most of the book they come across (to me, at least, in translation and from my different historical context) as brightly tongue-in-cheek, since once a moral gets set out, Pinocchio generally smashes right through it. He's not malicious per se, but he is entirely impulsive and only does what he wants to do, and then cries about it afterward in self-pity once he has Fucked Around And Found Out. Then he gets rescued somehow, and heads back into the FAFO cycle.

I enjoyed the Fox-and-Cat sections, because of the difference between what Pinocchio knows, how the narrator describes things, and what we as readers (if we can get the hang of unreliable narration) know. They're con artists, they have unacknowledged cover stories and nefarious plans, while Pinocchio (and the narrative) is taking them entirely at their word. I can't remember when I first learned to navigate narrative unreliability in my own childhood reading, but I definitely came to love that feeling.

The last section of the book feels different--the stated morals start feeling more serious, and Pinocchio starts doing kind and positive things without being forced to. That means the sense of humor changes too--it kind of filters away, as does the sharp irony and the layers of unreliability. And a few earlier events get softened--like, the Talking Cricket reappears toward the end of the book without any explanation, scolds Pinocchio for the hammer thing, delivers a sententious moral, and Pinocchio apologizes and agrees with him. Definitely different than the Pinocchio of the earlier sections. (Although interestingly, Pinocchio may have Plot Armor, but even once the book has gentled a bit, other characters still die--like, Lamp-Wick, someone who convinced Pinocchio to misbehave, doesn't get rescued from being turned into a donkey the way Pinocchio was rescued. He's bought and then worked to death, and dies in a sad on-page scene.)

I read more about the book afterward and found out it was originally a magazine serial, so it all makes perfect sense, the episodic nature and the tone change and whatnot. Wikipedia also said that the serial originally ended fairly early on, when Pinocchio is punished by being hanged by the neck from a tree and dies (whereas in the book he's hanged and almost dies but is rescued). (Man, my childhood books were never like this.)

It really benefited Collodi to start up again with a fixit, given how popular the happy-ending book version became all over the world. It's hard to imagine a dead-at-the-end version becoming as beloved in places like the U.S.--at least in my sense of children's literature at that time, it wouldn't have much room for such a pitch-black tone.

@batmanisagatewaydrug

[kimberellaroo]

It's also a show that kind of has to be kept up to date to keep kids engaged and also to educate them and help them navigate the world as it is now. Sure, kids can watch re-runs, and there would still be some valuable lessons in there, but there would be a lot that would have changed between the original episodes of 1969, the episodes I remember watching as a kid in the early 90s and episodes now. For starters I remember episodes involving landline phones, tech that today's kids wouldn't know or identify with, but more importantly, there was no character with autism when I was a kid. We never got those lessons on how to be patient with autism from the show. If the show had ended 10 years ago kids now wouldn't have got those lessons either. And society is changing, there'll be more demographics to be addressed and social issues to talk about.

people responses to Sesame Street not getting renewed r so funny bc they’re all like “it’s a show they’re supposed to end” bro it’s been going on since 1969. america loves the muppets. it’s supposed to go on forever. “it’s not that good anymore” bc hbo bought it, cut its run time in half, and hid it behind a paywall. the show was supposed to give underprivileged children access to the early education. “ kids don’t watch tv anymore” huh?? if ur initial reaction to the characters of 123 sesame not having a home anymore is “who cares” then ur not the audience and move on. they’re beloved family members to ME!!!!

[stormyoceans]

MONICA'S INCREDIBLY BIASED TOP 5 GL SHOWS OF 2024

1. the loyal pin. a period piece QL with a (believable) happy ending and a fairytale-like quality to it that was able to charm me from the very first episode. while the pace of the story can definitely be slow at times, i was personally just too absorbed in the world that this show created to mind it. the display of traditions, customs, and food from thai culture, along with the beautiful cinematography and the colorful cast of characters, all helped to achieve this fully immersive experience, giving the perfect frame for anin and pin’s romance. becky as anin was also a revelation.

2. ayaka-chan wa hiroko-senpai ni koishiteru. I ADORE THIS LITTLE SHOW WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL. i admit that, as a bisexual woman myself, i found the bisexual erasure pretty maddening at first, however i am willing to forgive it in the face of how bright, lively, sweet, and at the same time deep and full of emotion this series is. it’s an age difference office romance that actually addresses the generational gap between the leads by exploring how society’s view on queerness changed throughout the years, and it does so by being funny, delicate, and unapologetically lesbian.

3. reverse 4 you. this is where my bias comes through, because while this show is far from perfect, i have the biggest soft spot for it. in general i tend to really enjoy stories that feature any kind of time related powers, but compared to others the true strength of this series is the familial bond between wa and vi, which shines as much (if not more) than the romantic relationship between wa and four. i do feel like the story needed at least one more episode to wrap up the loose ends more neatly, as some things kinda left me baffled and pretty confused, but my love for this little family of three makes me willing to overlook everything else.

4. pluto. if my meter of judgement to make this list had only consisted in chemistry and performance, then this show would have definitely landed in the first three spots, as namtan and film are incredible in it (the bridge scene in episode 11 is one of the most memorable of the year for me), however some of the plot points don’t sit quite right with me, and the execution of others was a bit lacking, so i unfortunately had to detract a few points. still, i enjoyed the show a lot: it presented a unique story in an interesting way, there was never a dull moment, and not once i skipped the intro because the OST is just amazing.

5. the secret of us. this show being so low in the list doesn't sit quite right with me, but at the same time it doesn't have the originality or the effectiveness in storytelling that other ones have. what it has, however, are ling and orm showcasing fantastic chemistry and very natural acting, which elevated a plot that im not usually particularly fond of (exes meeting again years later) and gave a lot of personality to their characters. the happy ending also feels earned, and some of the side characters are very memorable.

+ honorable mention (because once again, im a cheater)

23.5. i wanted to do a quick shout-out to this show because i feel like the fandom tends to give it a way harsher judgement than it deserves. while the second half did have a few things that bothered me, i still find this show a very accurate representation of teenage emotions, and the way it depicts young queer love healed the part of me that didn't have this kind of series growing up. all in all, it brought me a lot of comfort, and im incredibly grateful for that.

[sailor-crusader]

Imagine. You do a full watch through of a huge franchise of multiple shows. 600+ episodes in total. In the very first episode, you latch on to one specific character. She is your favorite. She's a minor character, only truly relevant to about 12 episodes. Even then, she's not super important. Still, you love her design, her personality, her mannerisms, and she still periodically appears in short bursts. It's like a little gift. She even returns near the very end of the original series. It's like a lovely goodbye gift.

Then, in the next series, she isn't there at all. Gone. Figures, a lot of characters were dropped in favor of new ones. It's understandable that this quaint character would be dropped when the series was getting more bombastic than ever.

Then, the next series, she's back! As this is a long time after the first one, she's old now. A geriatric grandma. But, she's just as good as before! Everything you love about her is still there, plus what's not to love about elderly women? She's still not very present and makes her last appearance about halfway through, but it was still very nice to see her again after so long.

Then the next series. She's back! Your favorite character is back and with more screen time than ever! Perhaps even more than the original! This is amazing!

Or so you'd think.

The last series was retconnned and made not canon. Your precious blorbo is no longer an old timer. No. She's young. Very, very young. Through some sort of twisted OFF SCREEN shenanigans, she has been magically transformed into a goddamn toddler. A baby. She was always silly. That was one of the reasons you loved her so much. But now she's a 5 year old whose character consists of wanting ice cream.

She was once a character who would point a gun at a child but then sleep with a teddy bear. A charming dichotomy. Now she's an abomination. A sick dysfigurment. Your blorbo matters so little. She's a joke. She goes on cocomelon baby adventures now.

But it's ok. The plot has just entered a time travel storyline, the protagonists are going to an alternate future, and what is there? Your beloved! Finally, an adult again! Surely you'll get your sweet blorbo back again, right? She'll return to her former glory, right?

No.

She doesn't point guns at children. She doesn't sleep with a teddy bear. She doesn't eat ice cream or do baby adventures either. Shes nothing.

Your blorbo is. Nothing. She is nothing. She has no personality traits. Every single thing she has ever had up to this point is just. Gone. She's not villainous, she's not funny, she's not even annoying. This is not the character you love. This is some random person.

Whatever, you'll just look for fandom stuff for her. Sure she's not very popular or important but the fandom is still huge. There will certainly be atleast a few fics and fan art. You'll just take what little you can get.

No.

Your blorbo has a new boyfriend. And this guy? He's popular. Really. Really popular. One of the most popular. Your favorite girl is a very minor character. And she's dating one of the most popular characters in the whole franchise. You know what that means?

Every fanfic. Her and him. Every fan art. Her and him. Every tumblr, Twitter, and reddit post. Her and him. 90% of all talk about your beloved girl is just a trashy ship between a worse version of her and some guy you also don't care for.

All is lost. No one gives a crap about her unless it's to ship her. No one gets her appeal. You are the only person in the world who chooses her as your favorite. You are alone. All you have is the sweet memory of that girl you loved.

That is the story of Mai from Dragon Ball.

[vidavalor]

<<I looked up the etymology>>

*blush* You can't say these things to me when we're in public. 😂

<<And so our loops connect again with "Every Day.">>

Very true! The focus on mornings in S2 in the "Everyday" of S2 was also interesting to me. The first few episodes all begin with like "here we are again with Aziraphale trying to deal with his same daily round of these weird, lonely mornings" and The Final 15 is like welcome to the worst Friday morning that has ever existed lol. I guess my point is that the cycle of time is a thing during the week we're watching with things around everyday and the same daily round, etc. and that also shows us Aziraphale's diary.

Dawn is difficult for him because new days are micro-versions of the new dawn he feels stuck in trying to figure out how to start. He faces them alone because part of that new dawn would be figuring out how to make it so he can breakfast with that one, particular demon without them getting killed.

Diary and journal do seem to be quite a bit interconnected with some overlapping roots and connected words tied to daily/the dawn/daybreak, etc.. The PIE root dyeu is it a bit more the sky and heaven than technically God-- I know that, in some minds, those are the same things, but I think there might be a difference in meaning with relation to Good Omens. There's a disconnect between the awesome Voice of God who has been chatting with us and the evilness of the Heaven we've been watching.

There's also plenty of blasphemous wordplay throughout where characters are referring to those they love in different ways using terminology related to God or religious figures. With Crowley and Aziraphale, it's obviously deliciously dirty but, in the more general and innocent and direct paralleling plotline with the kids in S1, it's also just using the most famous palindrome word in the English language:

Dog, backwards, is God. The kid's gonna be alright. 😉

The ties between sky and heaven and the word diary does make Aziraphale choosing that word to call his record of his life on Earth a lot of fun. I've found that the words sky and heaven overlap in their etymologies as well because the sky is basically space but, as we know, space has always been where people thought the angels and the gods and such lived. It's something that makes me smile about Aziraphale writing in Demon's Guide that Baraqiel (Crowley) is the "Angel of The Sky."

It's true on a few levels. It's dry, since Crowley's a fallen angel who, like the other demons, was originally an angel of Heaven. It's also a nod to sky being space-- Crowley as the angel who made the stars. And the sky being an ancient way to refer to heaven... and heaven then becoming human figurative language for paradise? It then also seems to make it something of a C&A version of Gabriel's 'Beezlebub is my Heaven' moment. 😊

So, Aziraphale arrived in Edinburgh with a briefcase we never see him open and a hat that reads, among other things, "PRESS 66" on it, right?

And we might think that these are just Aziraphale's journalist cosplaying accessories but I think there are some hints that there's a bit more going on here than we might think-- all of it very relevant to The Finale.

We think that Aziraphale's arrival in Edinburgh is the first time that we see these things but, in true Good Omens form, the hat and briefcase are both actually glimpsed in a prior scene... rather significantly placed in that earlier scene, even.

Here they are, sitting together, the hat atop the briefcase, both in front of Jimbriel's once Fly-containing box, beside/behind the memory-wiped Muriel, in the scene below:

So, as Muriel is sitting there, not remembering Aziraphale, and as Aziraphale is sitting there, remembering Muriel and thinking all the things about the fact that they don't remember him at all? In the shot between them is the box into which Jim put his memory and brought it to Crowley and Aziraphale for safe keeping. In front of that box? Is Aziraphale's press hat and briefcase, seemingly drawing some connections between the journalist accessories and the memory plots in S2. Hmm...

What this scene also shows is that Aziraphale didn't just magic this stuff up as props when he arrived in Scotland. Even though we didn't see them in the car on the way up, they were there on the passenger seat for him to retrieve upon his arrival. He brought them with him from the shop. He packed them overnight and they were there, all ready to go, prior to Muriel's arrival, which coincided with Crowley coming over and moving the plants out of the car because Aziraphale planned to take it to Scotland. Why does this matter?

Because it might signal that there's more to the briefcase and the hat with its press credentials than we might initially suspect.

I think it would be safe to say that Aziraphale, by this point in the story, would be concerned that his memories were in danger.

He knows he's always been on a collision course with falling and this is all escalating pretty quickly in S2 in the two days prior to Aziraphale packing this press stuff and taking the car. Gabriel was The Supreme Archangel and he couldn't remember who he was and the archangels had shown up to threaten them and say that they're going to be spying on him even more closely, sending another angel to bug them the next day... the memory-wiped Muriel being quite an interesting choice, as that's sending quite a threatening message. Aziraphale also had roped Maggie and Nina into this and he knew he was likely going to have a confrontation with Heaven and Hell coming.

One of the first things he'd be concerned about would be his memories, right? and it's here where we can mention what we later learn about what Heaven can and cannot do regarding those memories... things that are new to us but that Aziraphale likely would have already known and factored into his plan, as we'll see.

Hints are given to this all season via Gabriel but it really becomes overt in this scene here:

This scene proves that Gabriel's memories aren't just in The Fly in S2-- they're also still in his mind. His memories are shown to be in two places at once. Gabriel's memories-- ones even directly related to the trauma he underwent-- actually began to come back before The Fly, in this scene. Gabriel felt safe and like he was talking with someone who could understand in this scene with Crowley so the memories began to come back for him.

The point here is that this scene shows that, when Gabriel "took his memories out" and put them into The Fly, what he was really doing was basically backing them up. He "uploaded" his memories into The Fly for safekeeping so he could retrieve them later, as a way to keep it so that they wouldn't be erased forever, but those same memories are still also on the "hard drive" of his mind. They were just mostly inaccessible to him for almost all of S2 because of trauma.

Before you say well, Gabriel might be a special case because he took his own memories out to avoid Heaven attacking him? Consider that Crowley didn't have a chance to do that-- but he tells Gabriel he knows how Gabriel feels.

Crowley has had the same experiences with his own memories. He's been able to bring some back at different times, without a lot of context, but a lot remains blocked. Crowley saying that he's been able to retrieve some memories means that those memories are still there in his mind, just very painful and difficult to access.

The idea might be that their memory loss is actually trauma-blocking. If Crowley's situation has the same effect as Gabriel's, it suggests that Heaven can't actually take people's memories-- they can only block them.

This would then be suggesting, as a lot in S2 did, that Gabriel didn't develop retrograde amnesia from taking his memories out-- he developed amnesia from the trauma he underwent.

When he felt safe enough to confront some of that trauma, the memories started to come back to him a bit.

What does this have to do with Aziraphale's briefcase, you ask?

It is connected because Gabriel's memory loss being from the trauma of Heaven trying to kill him, not from putting his memories into The Fly, proves that an angel could take his out their memories and not get amnesia from doing so.

Gabriel's story is showing that they could take out their memories whenever they want and still retain those memories also in their minds and be perfectly fine.

It's showing that Aziraphale could have backed up his memories in S2 without experiencing memory loss-- and the press hat and the briefcase are tied to just how he might have done that.

Aziraphale might have taken one look at Gabriel and his memory situation and the archangels circling the shop and thought that it would be a good idea to backup his memories and store them somewhere safe for if this all went pear-shaped.

What's interesting is that then, in a parallel shot to Aziraphale arriving in Edinburgh, we have this later scene when Aziraphale returns to London... note what's missing:

We see him park by the suit shop-- but no suitcase/briefcase this time. No hat. He's also taken off the raincoat. We never see them again for the rest of the season but we see a whole bunch of scenes that hint at where they are and why Aziraphale has left them in that location.

In this moment, we spend a strange amount of time on watching Aziraphale get out of the car and look around, hands-free, pat The Bentley, go for a little walk for a moment...

He talks to Nina, he goes back to the bookshop and greets Crowley and gets an armful of plants. The Bentley is largely the focus of the scene with Nina as well and its moving up in a scene that involves Nina and her bicycle-- another "mad 'American' woman on a bicycle", in parallel to Anathema in S1-- recalls Aziraphale miracling a bike rack onto the boot of The Bentley to transport Anathema's bike back to Jasmine Cottage. The key to getting Anathema and her bike safely home to her cottage was the bike rack Aziraphale made happen; the key to getting him and Crowley safely to the South Downs Cottage might be what Aziraphale stashed in the trunk of the car on his trip.

Here's where we can see that scenes before and around this involving Shax and Crowley show us pretty emphatically where the briefcase and the press hat are not located in the car...

They can't be on the passenger seat as they were on the way to Edinburgh because Shax wouldn't have been able to sit there when she got into the car on the drive back from Edinburgh. They also can't be in the backseat because the scene adjacent to Aziraphale's return to London is he and Crowley loading the plants back into the backseat. Crowley would have handed him his things if they were back there.

So, we have all of these shots of Aziraphale's return that are, among other things, emphasizing that the hat, the raincoat, and the briefcase are all not things he's taking out of The Bentley's trunk upon his return, even if they are his belongings and he brought them with him from the bookshop. He's intentionally leaving them all in the Crowley's car.

Aziraphale definitely did not leave his memories in a briefcase in The Resurrectionist Pub, even though that's the last place we saw the briefcase. How do we know that?

Because let's say that we're right here and Aziraphale did put his memories into the briefcase... either into something else that he then locked into the briefcase or just into the briefcase itself. What's the one problem with this?

He locked them in there for safekeeping, right? So...

He can't just leave the briefcase for Crowley-- he also needs to leave the key to the briefcase, yes? He needs to leave the combination somewhere... but he also has to hide that combination key. The briefcase wouldn't be very safe if just anyone could figure out how to open it, right? It needs to be something only Crowley can understand.

This is why Aziraphale is not a private detective in Edinburgh but a journalist because the key is in the hat.

How does one open the locked briefcase?

Press 66. 😉

The briefcase and the hat go together because the briefcase cannot be opened without the press credentials in the hat which, in very Good Omens and Crowley & Aziraphale form, look like they're one thing but are really another when you consider alternate meanings of words. Aziraphale knows that only Crowley would see Aziraphale's hat atop that briefcase and the 'Press 66' and work out that it's how to open the briefcase.

It would also be very Good Omens to nod to famous film Macguffins and then make them actually important in Good Omens' story. While a "what's in the briefcase?" thing here is very Pulp Fiction, the film that inspired the briefcase in Pulp Fiction is 1955's atomic noir Kiss Me Deadly, which is being referenced all over the place in S2.

The scene where Aziraphale picks Shax up from the side of the road is a homage to Kiss Me Deadly's opening scene, Gabriel's memory issues and his "I am in The Fly" note is similar to part of the central mystery of that film, and Kiss Me Deadly is the origin of the popularization of the word vavoom/va-va-voom.

Like basically every other film referenced in Good Omens, it's also known for innovative use when it comes to language-- particularly, coded cinematic language, in this case. Like North by Northwest, which is referenced in both parts of 1941 so far, Kiss Me Deadly found innovative ways to get around the Hays Code to tell its story. References to The Maltese Falcon in the story are also likely in relation to that story using etymology-based language to queer code aspects of its story, in a similar way to Good Omens, but also that The Maltese Falcon itself is a bit of a MacGuffin. In Good Omens, though, it seems like they're actually winking at those by making Macguffin-alluding things actually important parts of the story.

Anyway, the biggest fan theory about what's in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction is based around the combination to the briefcase being 666 in the film and the idea is that it's Marcellus Wallace's soul, which he sold to the devil. Famously, the audience never sees what's inside the briefcase. We might be saying here that the combination to Aziraphale's briefcase being 66 may be nodding to Pulp Fiction's briefcase a bit and hinting at the Satan in The Final 15 ideas. 66 is also tied to Route 66 and rock 'n roll in America, Buddy Holly, and the paralleling Gabriel & Beez flashback, maybe especially hinting at memory-related things happening with the briefcase.

I won't spoil you on what's in the briefcase in Kiss Me Deadly but let's just say that it goes along with Good Omens pretty well thematically... in a much, much darker way. The film being very bleak noir makes it very different in tone from Good Omens but the fact that the briefcase is actually is relevant to the story in the end of that film might also hint that Aziraphale's disappeared briefcase might wind up being important in The Finale, too.

Adding to this theory is also that another briefcase in The Bentley's trunk/boot was also something shown earlier in S2-- on a very significant night in Crowley & Aziraphale's history:

When Aziraphale is in Edinburgh, we see him intentionally hamming up his newspaper man persona and, in doing so, he takes the briefcase into The Resurrectionist Pub, right? Bit of foreshadowing there as to what will happen to Aziraphale and what will need to happen to bring him back?

Yes, we don't see the briefcase again after this scene but I doubt he left it in the pub because it would be useless to Crowley without the hat, on which Aziraphale has hidden the briefcase combination hidden in plain sight. Aziraphale was seen wearing the hat in one scene set after we last saw the briefcase, proving that both of them and the raincoat are in the trunk of The Bentley:

Aziraphale wore this whole get up to Edinburgh so that, if anyone was watching him, they'd think he was Muriel-like cosplaying a newspaper man. I mean... we know the trench coat is a little Columbo-esque, but why wouldn't he just be a private detective and not a journalist, if the goal was just to play a role to help solve the Gabriel mystery? Because he had to be a old movie-esque journalist so he could have the word press there in the credentials, only for its other meaning for the briefcase combination.

Aziraphale definitely had a whole other list of motivations for being the one to go to Edinburgh. He wanted Crowley to rest in the shop and to talk to Gabriel, he wanted to be the one to go tackle the mystery, and he wanted to work on his 1827 issues by going to the graveyard again... but we might find we can add to that list that he also realized it would be a good opportunity to hide his memories in a briefcase in The Bentley with actions that are right there, in plain sight of anyone who is watching-- including us 😉-- but might not be deemed suspicious.

Parallel-wise, the briefcase and The Bentley are the matchbox and the moving box and PRESS 66 is Aziraphale's equivalent to I AM IN THE FLY... all before Aziraphale and Crowley actually figured out what Gabriel and Beez did to protect Gabriel.

He's pressing on the press hat he's leaving for Mr. Six Shots of Espresso... 😂 The press card is in his hat, like a feather... Crowley's "it'd be a real feather in your cap wing" joke from the foreshadowing "I'll be damned"/"It's not so bad when you get used to it" scene in 1.01...

That demon doesn't know it yet but he's driving around with Aziraphale in the trunk because Aziraphale figured out how to get around the worst case scenario. He knew he was on a collision course with falling and he found a way to potentially dodge the memory loss by stashing his memories for Crowley in The Bentley.

His enthusiasm in Edinburgh is him barely able to contain his amusement at getting one over on anyone watching him who think they know what they're seeing but don't realize what he's actually up to.

No wonder why he was walking on air when he got back to London-- it was mission accomplished. He'd managed to leave Crowley the ability to bring him back, tucked away in the safest spot possible.

The bookseller who, like the others, is a metaphorical book/paper, left their out for Heaven and Hell trying to kill him for Crowley's safekeeping in a briefcase... the thing people use for...

...paperwork. 😂

But wait... there's one other big question, though, yes?

Why didn't Aziraphale tell Crowley this?

There absolutely was enough time and opportunity to tell Crowley he'd backed up his memories and left them in The Bentley's trunk.

The fact that this didn't come up seems wild, right, because they both know that Crowley has been having a steady anxiety attack about Heaven and Hell circling all week. We would think that, if Aziraphale had figured out this plan to circumvent that threat, the first thing he would have done would be to tell Crowley about it, yes?

Except... while I wrote this meta from the perspective of what the end result of Aziraphale's actions with the briefcase might be in The Finale, I don't actually think that was Aziraphale's own motivation for doing what he did.

Aziraphale didn't take out his memories and leave them in the briefcase in The Bentley for Crowley as a backup plan for them to elude a form of death for Aziraphale.

He left them there for Crowley to find and have after Aziraphale was already gone. Why else would Crowley need the combination on the credentials on the hat, right?

If Aziraphale had intended on his memories in the briefcase being a plan to save himself, he would have told Crowley about it so that Crowley would know. Instead, though, it's something of a suicide note. He left them for Crowley to find and have in the future.

I think The Bentley was even warning of this suicide ideation and showing concern upon the return to London for Aziraphale over what he had put in its trunk. The car is worried. [I love Good Omens-- when else am I going to type a sentence like that? 😂]

Aziraphale first parked it in front of Battye [madness] & Palm [to take]. It's a shop reflective of a lot of that depression and suicide ideation happening in Aziraphale's story and leading to his fall that I looked at in The Devil Takes The Hindmost.

The Bentley then drives itself-- and all Aziraphale's Aziraphaleness in the briefcase-- up a few feet. What is The Bentley then aligning Aziraphale with?

Death.

The car parked itself in front of the Give Me Death half of Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death...

... until Aziraphale told it to go back to where he parked it. Then, The Bentley backed up a few feet to Battye & Palm and all the madness that is the rest of the season. The car was foreshadowing the end, parking itself right along where it would be parked the last time we'd see it in S2.

The trunk is aligned with Give Me Death in The Final 15...

...fulfilling the foreshadowing of the end of S1.

[theside-b]

Remember when we all thought that Our Youth would succeed where Love is Better the Second Time Around failed?

Well… ha ha

Now that we have the full picture, it is amazing how much these two shows share in their DNA: the rousing start, interesting characters, compelling conflict, and inspired casting - but also the crumbling second half, with flawed pacing, disjointed development, and aimless direction.

One of the key differences between them was length; the greater episode count was a luxury not afforded to Koi ni do, and it made a difference, leaving so much untapped potential on the ground. Our Youth, on the other hand, got bogged down, lost momentum, and delivered sequences that didn't really land where they thought they would.

In the end, it became a show where you can't really ask why things are happening the way they are because nothing really sticks, it just doesn't sustain itself. The show demands too much suspension of disbelief, asks too much of the audience to just go along with it.

Neither Minase nor Hirukawa ever confronted their parents? Years of being "friends" and having absolutely no faith that the people around you will accept you? In all the years they wanted to talk to each other, neither of them sent a DM on Insta? An email? Asked one of their mutual "friends" where the other one was? Hell, the reason for the breakup barely holds up in the first place. It's all too extreme without a really good reason for it, but I'll admit that some of these issues might stem from the source material and its place of origin, society works radically different in South Korea.

All that said, at least Kenshin and Junsei were great and did their best, if anything they elevated the material whenever possible. And it wasn't a bad show, if you ignore the missteps, you have a very good show here, especially the first half, which promises sweet pain and melancholy - it delivers 'meh', but it's not all bad.

[salemigre]

My thought on the age of the super 4´s !

As long as I’ve been watching these show, I always thought the super 4 were young adult. And I was surprised to saw some people representing them as teens since it always was obvious for me that they were at least major.

Well in the episode « body guard » from season 2, it is said that Leonora is celebrating her 18th birthday. And she is the older sister between her Alex meaning that Alex is at least 17.

But, by watching super 4 recently I established that from season 1 to season 2 three years happened. I concluded that from some annual fairy’s celebration that is evoked in season two (Ruby says that each years Twinkle is refused to join a certain fairy celebration and that it already happened three times in the episode « fairy snatcher »). I think it could be canon by the way we can see that the super 4´s friendship evolve (I feel like through the episodes their friendship is more deep).

So if Alex is 17 in season two, it would mean he’s at least 14 in first season, wich is for me impossible. Even if we assume that my « three years » theory is false and presume that Alex is 16 in season one, it still feels odd to me.

I saw that the minimum age to officially be a knight is 18, so technically Alex is supposed to be at least 18 if it’s historically accurate.

And for me, Ruby in her origin is 17 or 18 cause it’s said that she had some adventures before meeting the super 4(I assume that by the fact that she often mentions her first boats, treasure,… it’s shown that she have experience unlike Gene who met the super 4 right after his own origins), and she sounds much younger in her origins anyway. So if she’s 18 when she met the super 4 it would mean she was around 15 during origins which feels wrong to me.

Anyway, I’m certainly thinking too much about a timeline that maybe never existed cause it’s common in kid shows that the timeline doesn’t make sense

But I still think the two seasons take place over three years. And for me the mane four age is between 21 and 24

Feel free to express your opinion, im really confused cause I always was so sure they were young adult that since I saw « body guards » I’m kinda disturbed by all my reasoning being crushed down

[girlhell1999fan]

!! DO NOT READ IF YOURE A HUGE NAGIREO FAN !!

!! BLUE LOCK SPOILERS !!

So I was scrolling on reddit when I saw this post by u/Any_Tower_9204 on the blue lock subreddit. Here's the link to the post if you'd like to see . https://www.reddit.com/r/BlueLock/s/uOHtjxJbVA

Basically, in this post it seems to be a picture of an interview with kaneshiro about Nagi and Reo which has been translated, in which he states that there are no romantic feelings between them .

And honestly this is just ...what ? I feel like this was just the wrong thing to say honestly because its up to interpretation according to him in the same line . This is a little bit sad to read to be honest, and I feel very conflicted about it . Does anybody have the original article and does anybody know if this was properly translated or what's up ? Because with some of the interactions between Nagi and Reo this is a huge shock . is this interview even real ? I'm still on the edge because I've only found 2 things mentioned on the Internet about this article with i guess some shallow level research, so I'm not fully sure . ( most likely bad research on my part.. :P )

I fully understand men can be super friendly with one another and can be touchy the same way women are , but this honestly just hurts my heart in a way I can't explain . I know these 2 can be toxic but the way that it was framed in the manga (both episode nagi and main manga) gave me the impression that this manga might have queer representation with reonagi, because they are so cute together !!! Just the way they interact and talk about each other is sus ... but, this feels like it could be bait after reading this (once again not sure if it's real or what have you..) . please give me thoughts on this and if anybody can find confirmation that would be wonderful. Thank y'all !

[lycorogue]

I was going to keep this in the tags to not influence anyone, but it became too long and I wanted to include screenshots so we'll just add it here.

I'm focusing on the pics that Nathalie had stashed in her wall safe, as seen in the ending of "Revelation"

First, we have what looks like Gabriel's passport under his original name: Gabi Grassette. This was when Gabe was still in his punk phase and hanging out with the future comedian Harry Clown. We know that Gabi and Harry were college buddies, so Gabe was probably in his early 20s at this point.

Production purposefully had the decade Gabriel was born smudged out. Full disclosure, I don't have a passport myself and I only have the faintest of knowledge of the French language. I'm assuming that's supposed to be his birth date that is smudged, and not the issue date for the passport. Anyway, even with the smudge, we know that Gabriel was born April 23rd in 19_5 (again, assuming that isn't the passport issue date). *Fun side note: Gabe is also apparently 1M79 = 179cm = just over 5'10". No wonder he magically gives himself lifts when he transforms. Bro is self-conscious about being sub-6ft. HA!

Punk became a major musical and fashion influence both in England and France in the mid 1970s. Gabi also looks to be in his late teens/early 20s in that shot. Which means he most likely was NOT born before 1955 (putting him at 20 just as the punk era starts). Being born in 1965 means he was about 10 when the punk era started. Giving him another 8+ years to really get into that style (which, let's face it, never ended).

Here we have a photo of the Agrestes and Bougeoises hanging out in a tiny little apartment. Given the fashion photos on the walls, I'm assuming this is the Agrestes' first home.

The big thing to point out here is the record player. Sure, my own parents held on to their record player well into the 90s, but CD players took prevalence in the late 80s/early 90s. Between the clothes, the record player, the decor, and the subdued tones of the photo, and the white boarder around the photo, this feels very late-70s/early-80s vibes. Someone who is a fashion historian can probably do better than I with this.

Gabi seems to have fully rebranded himself as Gabriel Agreste here, with his signature slicked back hair and glasses. Most likely a rebranding to appear more worthy of his princess of a lover. Andre had already stated in the episode "Adoration" that he changed his name "for love" (presumably he changed it to something Audrey preferred). Being close friends, Gabriel most likely did the same. It's unclear who followed who's lead.

Point being, if the group photo with non-punk Gabriel is in the 80s it is unlikely that his punk phase was ALSO in the 80s. If he was born 1975, and was in his punk phase in his late teens/early 20s, that would put that passport pic around 1995, and the group photo even closer to the turn of the century. That just feels too late for the vibe of that group photo.

For me, that seems to firmly place Gabe as being born in 1965. The show takes place roughly 2014/2015/2016 (I've seen debates of each and don't know if there's an official canon year). For ease of math, we'll go with 2015.

Making our dude 50 at time of his demise (give-or-take, depending on when the show actually does take place). Admittedly a touch older than I was going to give him with a cold read (I was going to guess closer to mid-40s)

This also means that Gabriel was roughly 36 when Adrien was born. Makes sense with the backstory of a couple trying for a while to conceive. Also matches Gabriel being desperate enough to go to China and search for the Prodigious a year before Adrien was born.

More to support this is this photo of Gabriel, Emilie, and Nathalie excitedly finding the peacock miraculous. The photo has a bit more vibrance to it compared to the last group photo. It no longer has the white border, and has a more "modern" vibe that feels more 1990s. Further making me feel like the group shot with the Bourgeoises was from the 80s.

been dicussing it with a few mutuals and we're all in agreement but I've seen some wild discrepancies in the character tags so out of interest:

[catcherwrites]

TDP S7E7 Rewatch (feat. my commentary)

Everyone’s suiting up for a hero shot! I love the owl griffons

Number one rule in media: if you explain a plan before it’s been executed, there is a 95% chance that the plan will fail

“Big help” callback to Ezran’s line in S3?

The fact that Soren and Corvus were explicitly sent on the Zubeia mission and Terry just…tags along without being asked. He’s just happy to help :)

I absolutely ADORE Astrid asking everyone she meets if they’re Aunt Amaya and complimenting them anyway

This scene between Karim, Janai, and Amaya originally made me think that the show would be redeeming Karim, which is SO funny in retrospect

Ethari baiting Rex Igneous with a hallucination-inducing berry pavlova was not on my S7 bingo card

I find it so fascinating that Aaravos proclaims innocence by telling Ezran essentially “well I never hurt you [humans]. Everything I did was for you [humanity]". He and Viren were so alike in that way – constantly minimising/justifying the pain their ‘allies’ suffer due to their actions. They’d argue that hurting you is a worthy sacrifice (or compromise, in Aaravos’ words) so long as your shared enemy is also hurt

Side note, Aaravos’ star markings are completely unblemished by the dirt, scratches, and bruising. Idk, just a cool detail I noticed

“Have Zubeia back in a week” yeah…about that

Truth be told, the first time I watched this episode, the hints about what happens when a Startouch elf dies went over my head. Now that I’m rewatching it, I can really appreciate Aaravos’ manipulation. You can tell he’s intentionally sowing the seeds in hopes that Ezran will act rashly and unleash a nova

Claudia looked soooo creepy standing in the shadows! I absolutely LOVED it!

The animation for the mage battle was fairly well done (I do wish Callum and Claudia were moving around and interacting with their environment more though? They both just stood there casting spells at each other)

“We wait for Callum … Then he will decide whether you live or die” was a fantastic response from Runaan. He’s an assassin, it’s his job to kill, but only when he’s been ordered to

I really want to know what these dragon-winged elves are! The wing placements are different from standard Skywing elves

Genuinely, truthfully, I lost my mind when I saw the magma titan the first time…

…And then doubly lost my mind when I saw Ziard summoning Avizandum’s spirit

Overall thoughts:

There’s so much about this episode that I love, and I think it’s one of the episodes that is benefited most by a rewatch. The highlight for me is definitely Aaravos and Ezran’s interactions, but I have to give a shoutout to Akiyu for being our first major character death of the season (sorry Lujanne). Unfortunately, this episode was also the one that made me realise a slight issue I have with TDP Arc 2 overall; the battle sequences. Arc 1 had some really dynamic fights, and from what I remember of Arc 2’s fight scenes, they just don’t hit as hard. Don’t get me wrong, every battle in Arc 2 has at least one standout moment for me, but the average sequence tends to be ‘flat’ and ‘stiff’ (I can’t think of better words to describe my memory of them). If we get Arc 3, I hope that’s something the team gets to work on in the future! That tangent aside, this episode did a great job of raising the stakes and setting us up for the last two episodes.

[galwithalibrarycard]

An Ode to Lovely Little Ficlets

A Fanfiction Writing Challenge for the Ten-Year Anniversary of the NMTD/Lolilo Hiatus

Ten years ago, in January 2015, the NMTD fandom was busily embroiled in the Lovely Little Ficlets 30-Day Challenge. A month-long event featuring daily writing prompts and no maximum word count, the LLFL Challenge was to celebrate the news of the then-upcoming sequel series Lovely Little Losers, and to give us all something to do and plenty of fic to read during the hiatus between series.

Now, in January 2025, we’re all awaiting the fan-run @lolilodaily experience, where each episode of the series will be emailed out to you in real time, Dracula Daily style. While we wait, let’s celebrate the anniversary of Lovely Little Ficlets too!

An Ode to Lovely Little Ficlets is a week-long fanfic challenge, because the fandom is smaller now, and folks might not be up for writing 31 ficlets in one month. An Ode to LLFL is not affiliated directly with the original LLFL event or the folks who ran it. We thank them for the inspiration! An Ode to LLFL is run by me, galwithalibrarycard, with input from my fellow LoliloDaily mods.

An Ode to LLFL will run from January 26 to February 1, 2025. I can make an AO3 collection for folks to add their ficlets to. (Link to come!)

No word counts- make your fics as short or as long as you wish! Write fics for all seven days, or just write one fic! Write about any characters, romantic ships, or platonic ships you love from NMTD and Lolilo! There are no Rules! ;)

Prompts

Day 1 - Friendship

Day 2 - Sonnet

Day 3 - Potential

Day 4 - Tent

Day 5 - Gunge

Day 6 - Shenanigans

Day 7 - Break ‘Dem Rules

Bonus Challenge - Write for one of the original 31 LLFL Prompts from 2015!

Most importantly: Have fun! Can’t wait to see what you create!

[xx-sketchy-xx]

So much blah blah blah lol.

[incesthemes]

yes, exactly. i don't consider anything beyond swan song canon so the whole "cain and abel's descendants" thing is like 🤨 to me, but regarding everything else, it does indeed go much deeper than this too.

the story of cain and abel is the story of god's love, and their fatal vying for it. from the beginning of the show sam and dean are paralleled with this myth—sam is the shepherd whose violent sacrifice pleases god; dean is the farmer who struggles to gain god's approval. azazel and john are parallels, or rather they are one and the same. as sam follows his path of revenge, he is fashioning himself in the image of his father, and he is simultaneously pursuing the destiny laid out for him. he gains john's approval at the same rate he gains azazel's. and azazel, for seasons 1 and 2, is god, just as john is god—the omnipresent force that guides and strangles his children crawling upon the earth. azazel favors sam, and so the narrative conclusion is also that john also favors sam. at least, this is the belief dean holds, which is the important part. dean believes that john doesn't love him, doesn't trust him, and that sam is more important to john than dean is. dean is cain; john is god. there is animosity bred between the brothers because of john's (god's) favor.

sam's fate is bloody and murderous. dean's fate, by contrast, is to kill his brother. as the representative of cain, he has been forced into the unique situation where he is "his brother's keeper" (as cain himself says in genesis). their destinies are to clash fatally, and for sam to die. dean is cursed to live (see: swan song) and carry the burden of sam's death with him into eternity. sam fills the shepherd role again by azazel's original plan to lead the demon army come to earth. sam the shepherd abel, offering bloody sacrifice to john the god; dean the gardener cain, who kills his brother to gain god's favor. important, too, is it that john is the one who imparts this destiny upon dean, because enacting it, killing sam, is therefore the direct attempt to fill his role as john's, god's, son. to curry favor. to do his bidding. it is an act of complete submission and devotion to god. that dean could not fulfill that role is defiance of god and therefore coincides with dean's loss of faith in john as his father.

john and mary are adam and eve. they lived in the garden of eden, an ignorant bliss, until mary contracted with the serpent azazel (who is, in episode one, portrayed by none other than JDM) and poisoned them both. she dragged her husband from eden and thrust him into a world of evils. together they begat two sons, dean and sam, cain and abel. they have been genesis all along, and they would always fall. childbirth would always be painful.

the invention of the apocalypse from season 3 to 5 is just another reflection of this. in east of eden by john steinbeck, samuel calls cain and abel the "oldest story." lee says it "i the best-known story in the world" and he says this is because "it is everybody's story. [...] it is the symbol story of the human soul." cain and abel is a story about rejection: "and with rejection comes anger, and with anger some kind of crime in revenge for the rejection, and with the crime guilt—and there is the story of mankind."

in this sense, cain and abel is the only story in the world. at least, in supernatural's world. michael and lucifer are as much cain and abel as dean and sam are. dean and sam are as much michael and lucifer as they are cain and abel. there is only one story in supernatural, and it is the cycle of a father's rejection and the crimes that accompany them. john is god and god is the father. there is no difference between them. azazel, john, and the judeo-christian god are all the same entity (there are only four characters in supernatural). john is god because his children made him god. the father is the god of his sons, and his approval is the defining force in their lives. family is hell because we want to be loved. sam and dean wanted to be loved. michael and lucifer wanted to be loved. cain and abel wanted to be loved.

supernatural is the endless retelling of cain and abel, from pilot to swan song. it does not waver and it does not deviate from this cycle because this oldest story is the story of mankind itself. there is no other story to tell.

always so intrigued how sam's forgiveness and acceptance of john coincides with his loss of faith in the christian god, and dean's loss of faith in john coincides with his growing suspicion that god might be real. like it's fine guys you can just say your daddy is your religion