#and now the torturer guy in the next couple episodes?? I'm losing it

[serious-goose]

ofmd s2 is actually so princess bride coded

[razberryyum]

TGCF donghua Special Episode Thoughts (SPOILERS for episode & novel!)

Favorite moment:

Of COURSE that amazing ending sequence, which is the mirror of Dianxia's backstory at the end of the first episode, except this time from Hua Cheng's point of view. Speaking of, holy mother of YUM, dear gods, Hua Cheng:

Look at this "hideous" man. I am DROOLING.

Funny thing is, I didn't even know his appearance was supposed to be a secret, that we technically hadn't seen his face yet all this time. I remember we had a super quick glimpse of him in the Banyue pit and I thought that was his reveal, that that'll be all we'll get for now and I was fine with that...that is, until this ending sequence happened and we actually see him in his entirety. My eyes will forever never be the same. What was I even thinking??? The flashes in the pit were absolutely inferior to the real thing. No comparison. He is so gorgeous; I can't WAIT for Xie Lian to meet him next season.

Second favorite moment:

What I love about this scene is first of all it features some of my favorite lines from the novel, "If you don't know what to live for, then just live for me. If you don't know the meaning of life, then take me as the meaning your life." Even though Dianxia was playing it up for dramatic effect, I loved how he crawled towards San Lang and then uttered the lines with such conviction. I LOVED the way the music reached a cresendo during his words--hell, I love the music in this entire episode, this entire show, period. I also love how bittersweet this scene is: here Dianxia is so embarrassed by his own words that he even laughs about them, dismisses them, not know just how much of an effect they had on the person he said them to, how they really did serve to motivate that person to live on, to exist, utterly for him. Not knowing at all that that person he said what he now thinks were silly words to is right in front of him. The irony!

I'm still making my way through the book so I haven't gotten to the part where all is revealed to Xie Lian yet, but I can only imagine how shocking and emotional this particular revelation would be. It'll probably be ten years before we get to see all that in the donghua, if we ever do, but I'm gonna keep on crossing my fingers and hoping.

"I swear, whether in Heaven or or on Earth, you cannot find someone more sincere than me". The subs left out the Heaven or Earth part but it's still such a good line. Love also how San Lang precedes that by trying to reach out to touch Dianxia but is like too afraid to. The donghua really captured his feelings of...I guess I'd call it timid inferiority...so well.

I have a strong suspicion what that ring is (irl, I've seen companies advertising turning ashes into diamonds as a keepsake of your loved ones...never tried it so I don't know if it's the real deal or some kind of scam) and I cannot wait to get to that revelation as well. Putting aside the potential significance of this momento, the fact that Hua Cheng left Dianxia a ring to wear around his neck is already a beautiful gesture on its own.

I already miss seeing how San Lang looks adoringly at Xie Lian. In fact, I think I'm going to miss San Lang for quite a while since next season I think we'll be mostly spending time with Hua Cheng. Not complaining at all since Hua Cheng will no doubt look at Dianxia just as adoringly, but I will miss this cute guy.

Also already missing the cuteness that is Dianxia. I love all his expressions...the way he said "San Lang" just made my heart explode. How can he be this adorable??? Really, bravo to Jiang Guangtao-laoshi, his voice actor, for such an endearing voice performance. I actually started listening to the Qiang Jin Jiu audio drama because I've become a fan. Imagine Xie Lian being super seductive all the time. That's the ear candy I'm enjoying now, even though I only understand like less than half of the plot due to my shoddy Chinese comprehension.

Proud of how San Lang didn't just lose it when Dianxia cradled his face like that. This man really has unbelievable self control.

I loved that they were chatting in bed like an old married couple. I'm sure this is a glimpse into their future married life. 😁

Besides SanLian, I know Banyue was in this episode as well, I still think she's adorable and love her voice, and I'm glad she gets to enjoy a torture-free life now (I am assuming she does).

I'm glad we got this special episode to really close out the season, but I'm still kinda confused as to why we didn't get it at the actual end of the season but rather as an odd stand alone episode like this. Obviously it picked up right where the 11th episode left off, so it would've slotted in perfectly well. I was hoping the reason they held on to it was because they were going to attach a teaser PV for the next season, but alas that wasn't the case. I wonder if they just needed more time to finish the episode. I still don't quite understand how the Chinese donghua industry works: for something seemingly as popular as TGCF, you would think they'd have good enough budget and resources to finish episodes in time and to make more than just 12 episodes. There are other donghua shows I've seen on Bilibili that have blown way past 12 episodes, so I don't understand why they have to stubbornly stick to a dozen only for something like TGCF. Or is it a danmei thing, I wonder. They just don't want to devote the time and resources to danmei shows beyond just 12 episodes? So weird. Again, VERY GRATEFUL we're getting a second season. SINCERELY praying that we get many more seasons after so that eventually they'll finish out the book. God I hope I finish reading before the donghua team finishes putting out the show.

And that brings me to: Current Reading Progress...chapter 160. Look, I'm gonna be honest, I'm just not a fan of the whole jinx demon concept or the Brocade Immortal. I know all mysteries of the week lead back to the gods and their backstory, but as CONCEPTS, I was just NOT into them so I constantly got distracted. I know MXTX-laoshi was under a LOT of pressure from both censorship and just ridiculous deadlines (I was told she had to produce a chapter a day, which is INSANE), so I feel like a douchebag for even thinking anything negative about the book...not to mention I'm only on Book 3 still so maybe all of this will be wrapped up nicely at the end. But for now, yeah, those two as ideas are a bit underwhelming and almost silly (especially the Brocade Immortal) and maybe I don't need the backstory of ALL the gods. Anyway, before anyone yells at me, there's always a chance I might change my mind about all this by the end...which I hope to get to soon. Didn't finish the book in time for this special episode which was my goal, so readjusting the goalpost back a little further...hopefully just a tad...like a few weeks, because I DO want to get to the unrelenting pain soon so that I can get through the suffering and finally to the HuaLian happily ever after ending.

[copias-thrall]

HI HELLO your writing has killed me, I'm legitimately dead, thanks! Oh and what if... What if Copia had a shy, awkward s/o, but said s/o had a secret dom side and needed some encouragement to actually explore it? 👀

Well, nonny, we’ll just have to send Mary Goore over to raise you from the dead so you can be killed all over again 🤣 

Let’s get to it!

It’s the little things that make Copia take notice: how you try to manhandle your way on top when the two of you are getting hot and heavy; how you love to tease him just past the point of propriety; the way you sometimes tell him what to do and expect him to acquiesce. Copia’s been around the block—he’s been a Dom; he’s been a sub; he’s been neither—and you’ve got his radar pinging.

One night he rolls onto his back, cock hard as a rock, and asks if you’d like to play with him. At first, you hesitate—biting your lip and jacking him slowly as you watch his face for cues—but soon you get into it; licking your lips, you coat his cock liberally with lube and bring him to the edge … only to stop once he gets close. Heart racing at the way Copia whines and pleads, you cooly bring him to the edge over and over again, letting him cum only when you decide you want to see how much spunk you can milk from his heavy balls.

(It's a lot.)

You’re enraptured with the way his back bows and how his limbs and cock jerk in time to each spurt. When he’s done, you can’t help but dip down to lap at the pool of cum in his belly roll, your tongue naturally traveling up to trace the head of his sensitive cock—and your belly flips at the way he mewls when you don’t stop.

Afterwards, you feel flustered and do your best impression of a pillbug—how could you have treated your Papa that way?! Copia tries to coax you to unfurl with the promise of his mouth, but your mortification runs too deep. Instead, you let him stroke your head and you listen as he sings your praises for a job well done.

Next, he tells you that you can give him 3 rules for while he’s away on tour if you’d like. You’re a little dubious—but willing to try it once—so you do your best to think of some light regulations. 

“Um, so first: you gotta wear a dance belt.” You slide your hand over his crotch. “This is mine.” Copia rumbles in agreement.

You think some more. “Uh, second: stop playing with Aether’s balls. Leave that poor Ghoul alone.” 

Copia chuckles. “He loves it.”

“Whatever—you’re a cock tease.” You squeeze his cock in warning, and he gasps. “For the third, hmm …” You search for a good one. “You have to incorporate barking into any of your speeches,” you say, giggling.

He laughs along with you. “Such fine rules, amore. Now, what shall my … punishment be, hmm? If I be breaking them?”

“P-Punishiment?”

“Sí.”

You think. 

And think. 

And think some more. 

“Each one you break is an entire day you can’t cum.”

“Such harshness!”

“Well, what were you thinking?”

He actually blushes.

“Are in certainty you wouldn’t rather give me a sound spanking, eh?”

Something inside you seems to click into place.

“No,” you snap. “I think you’d like the spanking too much. It’s supposed to be a punishment, right?”

Copia frowns at you. “You are hustling me, but okie dokie.”

When you view the footage from the first show, your blood quickens when you see that he’s clearly not wearing a dance belt, and you realize how much you want to carry out the punishment you outlined. You’re almost gleeful as you make careful ticks for each infraction you see, knowing once he comes back you’ll have him on his knees as you lay out his discipline. You’re surprised at how delighted you feel when you think about how you’re going to tell him that he’s got nearly 2wks of waiting before he’s allowed to cum again.

Of course, once he’s standing in front of you—smug look on his face—you lose a little of your resolve. You start mumbling and stammering (he’s your Papa, how can you tell him how it’s going to be?!), but he just tilts up your chin.

“It’s ok, dolcezza. Tell Papa his punishment.”

You don’t know if he was testing you or not, but the wide-eyed look he gives you and the way he gulps when you outline his punishment goes right between your legs. To solidify the decree, you straddle his body, get off over him, then kiss his nose before rolling over to cuddle; you pointedly ignore his hard on, sleeping soundly despite his discomfort with his blue balls.

It’s only once he’s sure of your sadism from these episodes that Copia suggests the cock cage, and—despite your internal interest in the logistics of the contraption—you’re beside yourself with embarrassment.

“It’s too much!” you protest, stuttering … but then he gives you the key, and you feel a sense of purpose come over you. Holding that piece of metal, you’re suddenly very aware of how much control you now exert over Copia, and you’re … exhilarated.

He really did himself a disservice because the cage becomes your favorite way to torture him. Of course you like locking him into it long-term on tour, but you also get a thrill locking him up after edging him for hours so there's no way he can come without your dispensation; you’re also the one who had the bright idea to use the vibrator on his sensitive head while he's still in the contraption just to see what happens (he cums, but he barely enjoys it—not as much as you do watching it happen).

When he suggests you ruin his orgasm, you’re horrified. You like making him cum, and you’re not fucking cruel … but then he has you try it on him.

You’re jacking him at a moderate pace—his chest heaving, and his fists clenched in the bed sheets—and then he warns you, “Now … now amore. Stop now.” You release your hand, Copia moans in frustration—his eyes slamming shut and his brows furrowing—and then his cock spurts a few shots of cum. His resigned look as he stares down at his cock has you immediately addicted, and soon you’re ruining his orgasms left and right. In fact, after a few practice runs, you’re ruining his orgasm as you use the vibrator on him in the cock cage.

What can you say? You’re a quick study.

You’ve come to find that there’s nothing more sexually exciting than denying Copia and listening to him whine at and implore you. As he begs and pleads with you to let him orgasm, your blood rushes through your veins, pooling between your legs, and you snarl at him that you own his orgasms and that he’ll get one when you fucking feel like giving it to him.

However, you’re still a soft being at heart—his tears excite you in the moment … but after, you’re crying to him that you’re sorry for being so mean even as he’s trying to seek comfort from you. Neither Copia nor you react well to those particular episodes, so he schedules a meeting with Papa II to go over proper aftercare and dom/sub drop.

Papa II frightens you, and you have no desire to be one of his pets, but—with Copia’s solid presence at your elbow—you do end up learning a lot from him; the most important being that if you want to Dom Copia, you need to get your shit together. He needs you to care for him when he’s vulnerable, and you need to feel comfortable with your actions so you can be there for him.

It of course takes some trial and error—and you both have found you’re more likely to suffer from a drop than he is—but the two of you find a routine that works for you. Mostly you guys do normal couple stuff, but he enjoys it when you top him, and you are happy with the knowledge that your slightly sadistic inclinations are welcome.

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

(Vol. XXII)

It was a love story from the very beginning.

Worry about you

(6x15/6x17/6x19)

Hi my friends! Today I want to talk with seriousness about one of the most hilarious episodes from season 6. And because it was written by Ben Edlund, there's juicy Destiel elements there. I will talk too about episode 18 and 19, near to the end, because I will take some points from those too.

I want to give thanks to my friend @agusvedder , she made the gifs for this meta! Love ya girl!

Ok, let's start this volume...

Balthazar calling Cas as Cassie

When 6x15 "The French Mistake" starts, Balthazar appears in Bobby's house, moving fast as Cas did in 6x03, appearing and dissapearing the whole time looking for things to use in a spell... In the middle of that loud scene, this dialogue is developed...

BALTHAZAR: Raphael is after us all. You see, he's consolidated his strength. And now he's on the move.

SAM: And where's Cas?

BALTHAZAR: Oh, Cassie? He is deep, deep underground. So, good old Raffy put out a hit list on every last Samaritan who helped our dear Cas – Including both of you. And so much more importantly, me. See, he wants to draw Cas out in the open.

First of all I want to say, each episode written by Edlund, shows us DEAN AND CAS ARE IN LOVE, each one of them. The man knew what he was doing writing their relationship as romantic. So, I would say... This wasn't the exception... Why Balthazar would name Cas as Cassie (Dean's first love?) Balthazar doesn't know that, but we do, the spectators.

Dean exaggeratedly eye fucking Misha/Cas

One of the most hilarious scenes was this one here ...

Dean playing to be Jensen playing to be Dean, and the eye fucking. Delightful, just because Dean knows Cas and him do that thing the whole time. So, he plays his role, but because Dean is an awful actor, that's the result.

Pretty interesting Dean is aware of it... Just saying.

Dean starts to worry about Cas

By the end of the episode, Raphael find the boys and Balthazar, but Cas makes his apparition. But why on Earth the camera just took Dean's facial reaction to what Cas was saying and doing?

That's fear and concern in Dean's face... He is maybe seeing things are not good... And he's worry because CAS doesn't tell him the whole thing...

CASTIEL It was Balthazar's plan. I would have done the same thing.

Castiel is in soldier mode these words made Dean be a little mad at him...

DEAN That's not comforting, Cas.

He would expect something different from his friend, like maybe, some kind of protection, and not be used as bait. So here Dean is feeling a little disappointed.

CASTIEL When will I be able to make you understand? If I lose against Raphael, we all lose. Everything.

Edlund is pointing one of the excuses for Castiel taking this kind of decisions and positions. Castiel needs desperately to win against Raphael, and he's willing to everything to fulfill that mission. Even lie to the Winchesters and work with Crowley.

DEAN Yeah, Cas. We know the stakes. That's about all you've told us!

CASTIEL I'm sorry about all this. I'll explain when I can.

Cas would love to count with them and not lie them, but he's at war.

DEAN Friggin' angels.

Edlund's Dean quote each time an angel surprisingly vanish in front of him 🤣

Jealous!Dean attacks again

In episode 6x17 "My heart will go on"

When Fate is attempting to kill Dean and Sam

In that abbandoned restaurante, i noticed something interesting. Remember I mention the colored codification started in this season? Well... We have another Destiel Coded Colored foreshadow. The burner knobs were colored in BLUE and RED, representing Dean and Cas, but toxic, angry Dean. And the whole place exploded... So... What a big and huge foreshadow for the settlement of the bid Destiel fight and break up in the following episodes, isn't?

But we're here to talk about Jealous! Dean, because we love it.

When Cas saves the boys from that explosion, this was part of the talk...

DEAN So we've pissed fate off personally.

CASTIEL If I know her – and I do – she won't stop until you're dead.

DEAN  Awesome. So what do we do?

CASTIEL Kill her.

SAM Kill fate?

CASTIEL Do you have another suggestion?

SAM No, I'm – I just mean, uh...Can you even do that?

CASTIEL Balthazar has a weapon that will work against her.

DEAN Of course he does. Yeah. Boy, that guy's just got it covered, doesn't he?You need new friends, Cas.

Do you notice the shade of jealousy here?? And then...

The dialogue between Fate and Cas showed us again how desperately was Castiel to win the war. And Balthazar was working for him. We see more about how CAS is getting into the dark side for the biggest purpose.

But even so, they showed us too, he's worry about Sam and Dean safety.

By the end of the episode, we had another dialogue between Castiel and the boys...

And Cas lies to Dean...

And then Dean makes a bad joke, and Cas dissapears again.

DEAN I'll tell you one thing about Cas, he does not appreciate the finer things.

Dean says this because isn't the first time he makes a joke and Cas vanishes. But I wonder if is related to Castiel feeling a little bit offended, and you'll know what I mean in the next point...

Dean mocking CAS, just because he enjoys it

In episode 6x19 "Mommy Dearest" we can see how since this scene happened...

So, Cas feel offended, and Sammy pointed that to Dean. Dean gets a little surprised, but...I'm sure this was very enjoyable for him, because then he'll mock him again.

Also... I want to mark here something... If Cas was able to dissapeard by flying here, I'm sure he may do it. Because... I recall that scene in the car in season 5 (last episode) when Dean mocked him about not having sense of humor, he vanished then. And the we had the Kate Winslet's breast joke, and now this one... So...

We had this one here...

Again mentioning babies, because he knows Cas got mad about that, and he repeats the action. He's enjoying it, for sure.

But we will have a sweet Innocent comment, I just wanted to share...

The thing here is the sexual innuendos in this episode, firs the famous "Cas get out of my ass!" And now this one here, so funny the double meaning... And Dean's gay panic face 🤣🤣🤣😏.

Castiel is worried about Dean

This episode showed us too, Cas in his soldier mode, can see things the boys can't. Like those little kids in that police station.

Castiel and Dean fought because CAS wasn't agreed with them in driving those kids to their home.

CAS: Dean, Dean. Millions of lives are at stakes here, not just two. Stay focused.

Castiel in soldier mode, trying to make Dean to understand the danger in his decision, but it was late, because Sam and Dean saw in those kids themselves.

DEAN: Are you kidding?

CAS: There's a greater purpose here.

Castiel's excuse to do the things he's doing.

DEAN: You know what, I-I'm getting a little sick and tired of the greater purposes, okay? I think what I'd like to do now is save a couple of kids. If you don't mind. We'll catch up. Okay guys, let's go. C'mon. (Dean walks out. Joe, Ryan and Sam follow.)

Cas and Dean are in different pages, Cas is cold minded, first killing Lenore as it was nothing, then torturing the sheriff, and now... Because he's feeling worry about Sam and Dean...

But we know he already fix this sending Crowley.

Another thing is, when Eve attacks Dean, the only one calling his name in despair was CAS...

But when he had to heal him, he took his time, studying Eve's dead body on the ground... He was worried there... Because it supposed that monster should be alive to find Purgatory...

But then Sam reminded him Dean was hurt. So he approached him, and the way he heals him caught my attention, he out his hand on Dean's shoulder... As if he wanted to say something... But he didn't. He just healed him. Maybe with a shade of relief Dean was ok...

Just an addition...NUMBER 25

Ok, the number 25 was mentioned a couple of times in this episode. It was the age of the patient that died and the address in which Eve was.

So... What does this number means? It represents the Argonaut in the arcana. The Argonaut is a Greek hero (it could be Cas) but it also represents in numerology the number 7 that means the inner war to choose the right path and the impulsiveness as a dangerous way to make the wrong decisions... It sound familiar, isn't?

To Conclude

Dean was worried about Castiel because he saw how dangerous was Raphael.

Castiel is between his soldier duty and the love he has for the Winchesters. As we will see in the following metas, he's worried about their safety.

Dean enjoys mocking CAS, that's not news...

Jealous!Dean is delightful too...

Castiel lying to their friends for the biggest purpose, as his excuse. And his impulsiveness and desperation to win a war.

I hope you like this meta, I see you in the next Chronicle. 😘💞

Tagging @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @whyjm @koshisekisen @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @angelneedshunter @trickster-archangel @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @mishka-the-angel-of-saturday @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @xsghn @foxyroxe-art @authorsararayne @anonymoustitans @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @wildligia @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-is--endgame @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant

If you want to be tagged, please let me know.

If you want to read the previous season 6 metas, here the links...

Vol. XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI

Buenos Aires, July 31st 2019 9:14 PM

[caranfindel]

Recap/review 14.18: “Absence”

THEN: I am a Winchester! Which means I do awful and wonderful things! Like saving Sam (Saaaaaammmm!!!) and torturing Nick and doing Something Bad to Mary! And possibly losing my soul! Whoopsie!

NOW: Sam and Dean are just getting back to the bunker after the events of the previous episode. I assume they've given Donatello a ride home (which, as we've established, is x hours away), but maybe they stuck him in a cab like they did with Claire that one time. Maybe they found a car for him back at the abandoned warehouse. Sam drops his bag on the map table and they both start calling for Jack and Mary, but aren't too terribly concerned about them not being there. "They probably just stopped for a bite on the way back," Dean hypothesizes, when they settle in the library with a couple of beers. Um. Jack zapped them to Nick's cabin, didn't he? So what is on the "way back?" Are they going to zap to a McDonald's first? What is important is that Sam is still wearing that orange plaid shirt. And they're both pretty unperturbed, even for them, about what just happened.

Here's to another miraculous Sam Winchester survival. Gotta say, man, if Jack hadn't have healed you... you know, lately, it feels like we'd be up the creek without that kid. I mean, first he takes care of Michael, and then Nick...

I know, and he even got the blood out of my new orange plaid shirt, which means I can keep wearing it for this entire episode.

Yeah, I been meaning to talk to you about that. You've been adding a lot of orange to your wardrobe lately.

Just this shirt and that one jacket.

It's more orange than anyone needs. Sure, it fits you great, but so does that red and black plaid. Why don't you wear that shirt some more? Or that solid black shirt you have?

Sorry, but you know I'm a Texas fan. You're just going to have to put up with the orange.

At least I think that's how the conversation went. I could be remembering wrong.

I'm just saying. It's a lot of orange.

The point is, Dean appreciates Jack and recognizes everything he's done for them. Dean pulls out his phone to call her and they hear a buzzing, which is her phone, on the map table, right to Sam's bag. Sam, I know you're recently back from the dead (or near-dead) but it does seem like you would have noticed the phone there. (Also, how close is the library to war room? This makes it look like the map table is practically in the library.) Her keys are next to her her phone, and it's not until this very moment that I realize they didn't know she and Jack zapped to the cabin - they must have thought she and Jack drove there. Because obviously they didn't have a lot of conversation about it. Even though they had a long drive back and it does seem like Sam would have called his mother and asked how their end went.

Anyway. They're perturbed now. Sam tries to call Jack and we see him, staring, ignoring Sam's call.

Title card! (ha ha, I forgot we were still in the Now.)

The guys are making phone calls to all their contacts, and Sam reports Rowena has a spell that might be able to track Jack down. Oh, I love that Sam calls Rowena for help. LOVE IT. Dean gets a call from Cas and gives him the scoop. "Were they together?" Cas asks. “Alone?" Cas looks more Cassy than usual, and then tells Dean about the snake. "I don't think Jack is well, Dean," he says. Dean hangs up on him, which seems kind of rude, but neither he nor Sam act like the snake story is particularly significant. Then Sam gets the brilliant idea to track Jack's phone. (Sidebar: Should Cas be able to use his angelic powers to locate Mary and/or Jack? Discuss.)

Sam fires up the phone tracking website and expositions that they should be able to track him as long as his phone has power. (Listen, guys. You need Find My Friends. Best parent app EVER. It locates him in Nepal, but then he immediately appears in Peru. "Jack's flying," Sam says.

Eventually Jack tires of Paris and Lima and Madagascar and and flops to the ground back at the Cabin of Death, next to Nick's stolen truck. He pulls out his phone, revealing a low battery (so much for that plan, Sam) and several missed calls and messages from the rest of TFW 2.0. He has some flashbacks to happier times with Mary, and then in the background we notice someone standing on the porch of the cabin. They're wearing jeans, and their face is hidden in the darkness, and I'm open to the possibility that Jack actually zapped Mary somewhere instead of killing her (and according to the 14.17 poll, some of you are also open to this), so for a second I think it's going to be Mary standing there. But no.

On the TV:

Nick?

Hmm. Guess again. Hello, son.

At my house:

OH FUCK.

?

Sorry. I'm just really tired of him.

So, after Jack left to do more important things (Saaaaaaammmmmm!!!!), Lucifer made it back into the world? I mean, this is awful, but it would mean Lucifer is the Big Bad instead of Nick, so... not ALL awful? But it's not Lucifer either - "I'm your subconscious, or whatever," he says. Oh god, it's Hallucifer. Jack has his own version of Hallucifer, JUST LIKE HIS PRIMARY DAD. He's here to help, allegedly, though he doesn't seem all that helpful. "Buddy, you killed Mary Winchester. You cannot come back from that, and you know it." Well. I guess she's officially dead, then. Or is she? Where's the body? I mean, Hallucifer is just Jack's subconscious. So if Jack thinks he killed Mary, so does Hallucifer. That doesn't make it so. Jack tells Hallucifer that it was an accident, and he's all, sure, tell Sam and Dean that, I'm sure they'll understand. (It's funny because it's not true!)

Cut to the Winchesters, driving through the night. Sam expositions that Cas will meet them at the cabin (how do any of them even know where this cabin is?) and speculates that maybe Lucifer is behind whatever happened, not Jack. And maybe Jack thought he was being kind when he killed the snake. Because Sam is grasping for anything that exonerates his son (sob!). But Dean's not accepting it and doesn't want to talk about it. Then Sam's laptop or tablet or whatever he's using beeps with notification that Jack's signal has been lost. Uh oh. (So I guess that's how they found the cabin?) Oooh, yes, we actually get confirmation that it's in Longton "KA" (which doesn't exist and I suspect is supposed to be KS, SERIOUSLY, GUYS).

Longton KANSAS is 4.5 hours from Lebanon. In case anyone but me is curious.

When they get to the cabin, there's no sign of Jack or Mary or Hallucifer. Just the stolen truck. Sam goes inside and Dean looks outside and oh, who's going to be the one to find the body? First I'm sure it's going to be Sam, because there's a lumpy pile of blankets on the bed, but it must just be blankets, and Sam doesn't even look under them. He does find a body, but it's Nick, not Mary. And then I'm sure it's going to be Dean, because he comes across something disturbing outside and ignores Sam's calls. But what he found is... well, it's hard to see what it is in the dark. Apparently it's a blast zone. A big one.

Cas is sitting in his truck somewhere, having his own warm and fuzzy Mary flashback where she eats a candy bar after a hunt without washing her hands and refuses to let Cas heal her because she's still a little bit afraid of him. He tells her that, no matter what other things there are to deal with, Sam and Dean are glad she's here. "Finally they don't have to be so alone." Wow, that's a dumb thing to say. Mary agrees with me and says "Castiel, they were never alone. And if they were, me being here wouldn't fix that, since I'm always off doing other things." That's how I remember it, anyway. Reverie over, Cas gets out of the truck to face the music - he's at the Cabin of Death.

Inside, Sam is covering Nick's body. He and Dean have some concerned conversation about whether Nick deserved whatever Jack did to him and conclude that Jack must have made it as painful as possible or otherwise killed him in some inappropriate way. And there are very good, valid reasons for them to come to this conclusion. I mean, I can't think of them right now, after watching the episode twice and ruminating for several hours, but I'm sure something will come to me very soon. Let me just go check my Tumblr feed again. I bet they're there.

(Seriously. Nick looks like he was burned out by an angel. That's all.)

They're surprised when Cas walks in, because they didn't hear his giant truck or see his headlights in the dark Cabin of Death. They tell him they haven't found anything except the blast site that looks like something "angelic, but bigger." Dean theorizes that it could have been Lucifer, but Sam points out that Jack said he took care of Lucifer, and I'm not sure why they've reversed their positions. Because in the car, Sam was the one who thought it might have been Lucifer. Script mix-up? Someone brought Jensen the wrong pages? Anyway. Dean says "If he did something to her, if she is... then you're dead to me." Pointing as Cas, because Cas knew something was wrong with Jack. Well, that hardly seems fair. When he first told you the snake story, Dean, you didn't think it meant anything at all. But NOW, all of a sudden, it was some ironclad harbinger of doom?

"I was scared. I believed in Jack for so long. I believed that he was good. I knew that he would be good for the world. He was good for us. My faith in him, it never wavered, and then I saw what he did. It wasn't malice, it wasn't evil, it was like Jack saw a problem and he solved it, with that snake. What he did wasn't bad. It was the absence of good, and I saw that in him. But we were a family and I didn't want to lose that..."

And I'm going to stop here, because this is the most important part of Cas's speech. This is the core issue. Jack's not bad, he just might not be good either. He thought he was doing the right thing. And he's family. Is any of this familiar, Dean? Any of it at all? Cas also says that he wanted to "fix it" on his own, so he left and didn't tell anyone. Neither brother asks how he thought he was going to fix it, but I guess they'll get the story of the failed faux Samulet someday. Right now we just have Sam looking sad and guilty and Dean looking angry and guilty but mostly angry.

Sam's phone rings - it's Rowena. She says she was unable to scry Jack because "his energy is too unstable; it's like looking at the sun." And as for Mary? "I don't know what happened, or where she is, but I can tell you with certainty - Mary Winchester is no longer on this earth." At this point, I'm still ready to accept that she's been zapped to a different dimension. I mean, there's no body. But TFW accepts it as her being dead, and Dean starts throwing furniture and Sam is despondent and flinchy (and hoo boy, I love that combination.)

So what do we do?

What do we always do when we lose one of our own?

Bad things. Very bad things. He declares "we fight to bring them back." And they will call on Rowena, because "she's got the Book of the Damned; she's resurrected herself more times than we can count." (Not to quibble, but we've only seen her resurrected twice. You yourself have been resurrected more times than that, Dean.) He orders Cas to go to Heaven and find Mary, and orders Sam to tell Rowena they're on their way. Mmmm, angry bossy Dean. I like that combination too.

Another thing I like about this scene is that it's one of those times when Sam turns into the little brother. When he looks at Dean and asks "what do we do," because that's how this works.

So much to like.

We go to Rowena's place, and if you're wondering where she lives and how far it is from the Cabin of Death, you're not alone. She's working away on her spell, though it sounds like she says cumin so maybe it's actually a chili recipe, when someone bangs on her door. "That was fast," she says. But when she answers the door... oh god, it's Jack, and for the first time in this episode I actually feel some concern. DO NOT HURT HER, JACK. (Rowena, I apologize for not appreciating you when you first arrived on the scene. I adore you now and you must remain.)

She pretends she doesn't know what happened, asking if he's well and telling him 2/3 of his dads are looking for him. He admits he accidentally killed Mary by just thinking it for a second and oh, imagine how horrible that would be, if the awful things that popped into your mind for one second actually came to pass. Or maybe I have more intrusive thoughts than y'all do. Anyway. "I need to undo it," he says. "You need to help me undo it." She explains that the magic she normally uses has to be in place before you die, so he suggest the book (I adore the way she says book) and she tells him about the spell. It requires "enormous power" but simple ingredients that could probably be found in the bunker.

Someone bangs on the door again - it's Dean. Jack accuses her of stalling, but they only talked for like 90 seconds, so, okay. She asks him to talk to his "kin," but he grabs her arm. Sam kicks the door in (with hair in his face and yes it is hot) but it's too late - Jack has zapped her out.

Sadly, I have not found a gif yet, so this will have to do.

Cut to Cas at the Stairway to Heaven, calling for Naomi. No one responds.

Jack and Rowena appear in the bunker, and he pulls her along, but happens to notice some gouges in the floor. And now we get another flashback. Mary is trying to teach him how to handle a knife, and he keeps dropping it on the floor. She's all sweet and supportive and blah blah blah, and Jack says Dean will kill him for gouging the floor when they get him back, so this must be during the Michael!Dean period. Mary pulls the table over to cover the damaged floor, but who is that in the background? It's bearded Sam! Oh, long lost Beard of Despair! How I've missed you! (Is it fake? Is it real? Was this a deleted scene? Or did they plan for what was coming, and film this before he shaved it off? Does Jared just grow a beard that quickly? I DO NOT CARE.)

He feels bad for not being there for Jack while he was busy looking for Dean, and then he apologizes for complaining to her. But she's relieved not to be the only one with "parental guilt." Because they went through so much without her, and then things were "complicated" when she got back. "I'm just saying, parenting is always a struggle. You always feel like you're failing, but then you look at them, and somehow, they're amazing. Somehow, they're literally the bravest, kindest, most heroic men on the planet." Well, this is true. Very true. And I'm glad she's giving Sam the praise and validation he SO deserves but come on, Mary. What do you know about parenting? You did it for four years. When did you feel like you were failing six-month-old Sam?

YES, MARY, I WANT TO TOUCH IT TOO

Fade to Sam. Interesting that Jack's warm fuzzy flashback turned into Sam's. (It's because Sam is his primary dad! It is known!) They're still at Rowena's, and Dean is still ranting about Cas not telling them about the snake. EVEN THOUGH DEAN DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE SNAKE WHEN CAS FIRST TOLD HIM.

Cas, Cas should have told us. As soon as he saw Jack going Dahmer on his stupid snake, he should have told us.

Dean, it wasn't just Cas. We knew Jack was dangerous. We always knew. Long before he killed Michael. You more than anyone. I mean, from the very beginning you knew. But, you know, we fell for him, because he had a good heart and a good soul. And then, he didn't. And that's on me, too, by the way. I mean, I'm the one that made the call to bring him back. He didn't ask for that. I decided for him. And you warned me.

Oooh. Sam. No. Because:

1) Dean didn't KNOW from the very beginning. He was, in fact, WRONG at the very beginning, when he thought Jack was evil. Jack was not evil, and you insisted on giving him a chance, and YOU WERE RIGHT. Jack becoming "evil" in the future (and he's not even EVIL, he's just naive and untrained and too powerful for his own good) wasn't anything Dean predicted.

b) Dean didn't exactly fight very hard to stop Sam from bringing Jack back. Seems like most of his concern was that it wouldn't work, not that it was a bad idea in and of itself.

Then Sam says "You know, after Maggie and the other hunters died, I just left. I just dumped Jack on Cas and left." Well, I'm not a big fan of "Maggie and the other hunters" (reminds me too much of "Sting and the Police" and I don't know why Maggie - or Sting - were so damn special that they deserved to be singled out as the only ones in the group with a name), but I also don't have any memory of Sam leaving after Michael killed the other hunters. And when he did, he wanted to take Jack, but Dean wouldn't let him. But Sam says he knew something was going to happen and he's wallowing in guilt. Dean admits that he also knew there was a risk, because of what Donatello told him about not being sure. Well, thank Chuck for that. I'm glad Dean's not letting Sam shoulder all the blame for something that wasn't his fault.

Angry Dean and sad Sam, two things I adore.

Back at the bunker, Rowena is gathering her cumin and other ingredients. Jack's getting impatient, and she tells him that she could have fought him, but she didn't. "Because you want the same thing the boys want. That I want." This is a beautiful, beautiful moment, with Rowena wanting what "the boys" want, but it's interrupted by Hallucifer, who doesn't even know why Jack is doing any of this. "To ease your guilt? But you don't have guilt any more, do you, Jack? Admit it. You don't feel anything any more." Well. Everything Hallucifer says comes from Jack's head, so what do we think about this? Does Jack really not feel anything any more? I disagree. If he didn't feel anything, if he didn't want Mary back, if he didn't care about forgiveness, why would he even bother? So I think our boy does feel something. Rowena is disturbed by Jack talking to his hallucination, but she carries on and finishes the spell. They have everything they need except the body. Oh.

Stairway to Heaven. Cas isn't going anywhere until Naomi talks to him. Someone finally shows up, but it's Duma.

Where's Naomi?

Well, I'd tell you it's none of your business, but you already know it's none of your business. Naomi just gets paid more than I do, and we've already got all the regular guest stars in this episode, so we had to cut some corners.

At least that's how I remember it. She tells him Mary is at peace in "a special Heaven" and "is complete" and he should just let her be.

Jack takes Rowena to the Cabin of Death, but Mary's body isn't there. He thinks she should be able to complete the spell anyway, but she says she can't. He wants to do it himself, but she says he's in no shape, and "disposition affects execution." She tells him that whatever he brings back won't be Mary, and refuses to help him and OH I'M CONCERNED FOR HER AND HE REACHES OUT AND PUSHES HER and she just ends up being shoved back into her apartment. WHEW. She calls Sam and tells him what Jack is doing, and that it won't work because there's no body, and Jack has snapped and they need to stop him." Necromancy is a delicate art, unpredictable under ideal circumstances. In his state, I fear your boy will bring back something terrible." WELL, THAT'S ENCOURAGING. (Also, Rowena is hilarious in this scene.)

Jack sits in the corpse-less blast zone and performs the ritual and a huge swirling purple cloud appears overhead and I'm thinking, is this our out? Is Jack going to summon something awful, something that can be the Big Bad so he doesn't have to? Please? He notices the Impala nearby, and uses his powers to stop it in its tracks. Luckily it's just right outside the cabin. Sam and Dean run toward him, and we see him looking down at whatever he has summoned, but he doesn't look happy about it. Neither do the Winchesters. "It didn't work," he says, before zapping out.

Oh, the thing he brought back is Mary. Well, Mary's corpse, apparently. Dean holds her and finds her still dead, and he's sad and we get his flashback, which is just Mary leaning on him, asleep in the car, and then Sam comes and holds Dean as he holds Mary and everybody's sad, we're all sad, so terribly terribly sad and we get a crane shot and it's a very lovely scene but I can't help thinking um, correct me if I'm wrong, but we do have that missing piece now, right?

Jack ends up at some industrial kind of place, where Hallucifer tells him there's no going back. "Cas, Sam, Dean, they're never going to trust you again. And you know what that means. You can never trust THEM." And oh, this is Jack's head telling him that. Poor baby.

Bunker. Sam has his box of treasures and he's looking at the few remaining family photos. He looks up, full of hope, when Cas comes in. But Cas tells him Mary is in Heaven and at peace. Dean shows up in time to hear this, and asks if he's just going to take Duma's word for it, because she's a known liar and also might possibly be that dude from The Empty. He says no, he actually saw Mary's Heaven, and we see her door with the dates 1954-1983 and 2016-2019 on it, which of course begs the question of what Sam and Dean's doors are going to look like.

He says he saw her with John (way to bury the lede, Cas), and they're full of joy. But was it really John? Haven't we established that most people are in their own individual Heavens, and if she has a John, it's just an avatar? I mean, John's name wasn't on the door. And I expect Dean, at least, to insist they try to bring her back anyway. But Sam says Rowena told him that what Jack brought back was just an empty replica, "incapable of holding life." (I mean, I feel like that sometimes.) "So what are we supposed to do now?" he asks. And again, Sam is looking to Dean to lead them through this, and yet he's got to know what they SHOULD do. He's got to be thinking of Mary, safe and happy in Heaven, and of ripping someone (anyone, no one in particular, right Sam?) away from that and forcing them to continue on Earth just because you can't be without them. He's got to be thinking of that.

"What we always do," Dean says. And the last time he said that, in this very episode, it meant we do something awful, we throw our own lives away or make some horrible bargain or damn the world in order to bring her back. But this time, it just means that we give her a hunter's funeral. And Sam doesn't look like he was ready for that after all.

So Mary gets a very dramatic pyre, and a montage? Did anyone else get a montage? Ellen, Jo, Bobby, Kevin, Crowley? JOHN? ANYONE? A FREAKING MONTAGE? NO. Grrr. Cas tries to get closer to Dean and Sam puts out a hand and stops him. Also, Sam burns a photo of her and I don't know why.

And finally, we cut to the library table where Sam and Dean carved their initials and we see they are joined by a M.W. Um. What about John? Didn't he get to carve his intials? (NO. Those are only for people who get a montage.)

Also, now that I'm going back to get screencaps, it doesn't look like her intials were there at the beginning of the episode. So she didn't carve them, one of the guys did. And not Dad's? Cold, boys.

You know, last week, like, five or ten minutes before the end of the episode, I thought if Jack hadn't cemented his place in Dean's heart already, he's certainly there now. Because he saved Sam. No matter what else Jack did or is doing or will do, he saved Sam. And I want someone to point that out. I want Sam to say "no, I'm not ready to give up on him, and you realize the only reason I'm here to argue with you is because Jack saved me, right? And if he is soulless, he lost it by saving our asses, right?" (Is this because I watched "Clip Show" a couple of days ago and watched Sam frantically try to soothe Sarah as she died from Crowley's handiwork, and I want Jack to get the same kind of second chance that Crowley got? Maybe.) Now, I realize killing Mary is more awful than anything Crowley (or any other enemy-turned-frenemy) has done to them. But it was an accident. And HE SAVED SAM'S LIFE. Come on. That counts for something.

(Sidebar: We also learned, in that scene back in season 8, that Crowley's mother was a witch. {blows a big wet kiss to the Continuity Fairy})

So, how do I feel about Mary being gone? Here's the deal. This show, at its heart, is about two (or three) men who have a giant bleeding Mary Winchester-sized hole in their lives. Filling that hole does not make for good television. And the Show tried to make her interesting and edgy by playing against what we thought we knew about her (she can't cook! she can't stay away from hunting! she sleeps with both Arthur Ketch and New Bobby!), it tried to make her both a source of conflict and a source of comfort, and ultimately (as far as I'm concerned) it just failed. She was so much more effective as that siren song of the impossible apple pie life. I said earlier and I'll repeat it here... the fact that they had to retcon all of these warm fuzzy flashbacks, instead of using actual clips, just shows how shallow these relationships were. There wasn't anything real to fall back on. And the way they spend these two episodes trying to make us care? It had the opposite effect on me. I'm glad to be shed of her.

But maybe that's just me. Maybe absence will make the heart grow fonder. We shall see. Come on and tell me what you think, and remember, no spoilers in the comments, please!

[theangrypokemaniac]

Sinnoh has massive flaws as an era, although it's starting to feel like the good old days compared to the present piss-poor offerings.

The major drawback is the amount of 'recurring characters', ones not good enough to be in it fully, but inflicted upon us nevertheless.

I did care about Ash. I did care about Team Rocket.

I was prepared to care about The Misty Replacement, as in the girl shipped with Ash.

I was prepared to care about The Brock Replacement, that is the older brother figure who does all the cooking, carries the medicine, and knows about Pokémon.

I don't give a toss about extras who outstay their welcome.

Hoenn only had Drew and Harley. What was wrong with that?

There are just too bloody many.

Why does Dawn require so many opponents, as if she's of the greatest importance? Why won't Jessie suffice?

I accept the necessity of Paul as The Rival, and we were at least permitted to resent him initially, before the writers fanboy'd like there was no tomorrow.

I admit I liked two of them. They therefore featured the least.

Typical.

Nando

The Blondel of Iberia

A softly-spoken, raven-locked troubadour, roaming the many pathways of life, playing his songs for those weary travellers he encounters on the road.

He's wearing a cloak! The finest use of material to ever be invented!

All this ethereal grace considering the dub lumbered him with the most appallingly unsuitable name possible.

It could've been Raphael, or Dante, or Leonardo.

Oh no, let's name him after a restaurant chain. That adds gravitas.

His lyre pays tribute to Mew, because Nando knows she's The Rarest Of All Pokémon, thus refuses to be impressed by any deformed horse like Arceus throwing its weight around.

Damn straight.

Ursula

A pretty girl with lovely clothes and the spark of a proper personality.

You're not wanted round these parts, love.

I have no particular animosity towards Dawn, but it irritates me how the world revolves around her whims, where if she's lost in the woods, it's a major disaster, and if an attack heads in her direction, she must be protected in case she shatters.

It makes a refreshing change to find someone firmly inoculated against the lures of the temptress.

Also, alongside Ursula from Dinosaur King (the real Jessie), I'm glad of any attempt to reclaim that name, considering most of my generation, upon hearing it, think only about evil old octopus women.

As for the rest?

It's that bad I prefer the Unova bunch to these.

Reggie

Reggie is even more of a knob than Paul. As above, being Ash's enemy meant that, if only by narrative, he was intended to be somewhat disliked.

Not Reginald. No, he's the kind one.

Oh really?

When Ash and Paul have their showdown, Reg starts wittering that it's just as well Chimchar took up with Ash, since he wasn't suited to Paul's 'battle style'.

Battle style.

Is the what he calls mental and physical cruelty?

In Reg's amoral cesspit of a mind, there is no right and wrong, so do whatever you feel.

Reggie is quite aware of how his brother tortures Pokémon, and not only is he unconcerned, he excuses it with euphemism, hoping the audience will obligingly forget too.

What's more, he implies it's Chimchar's fault for not pulling his weight, and Paul abandoning him was the compassionate thing to do.

Cynthia

Suffering severe Bridge Nose Syndrome.

She may be Champion, but I don't remember Lance turning up all the time where he wasn't wanted.

She doesn't even use her influence properly. Rather than give it straight to Paul, order him to shape up and stop spanking the monkey, she fannies about with her cod mysticism, emptily preaching about how Ash and Paul are spiritually linked, with magical, beeyewteefull events taking form just because they met.

That's right, don't bother about Paul clearly being a psychopath, for 'tis ART!

It's the same as trying to convince me that Ash, Dawn and Brock were the Divine Trio because they all saw Something Nasty In The Lake District, as if they have an intrinsic bond foretold in ancient prophecy.

The writers pull this knowing two thirds of the Holy Trinity, plus Paul the Fallen Angel, will be leaving, at which point we'll be expected to stop being overawed at the great majesty they all apparently possess and transfer allegiance to their usurpers.

What's the point?

Angie

Yet another smackhead from that lunatic stare.

What shining genius decided giving all the characters contracted pupils was a good idea?

She looks like one of those kids whose parents dealt with nits the traditional way:

Shaving the entire head and painting it purple.

A barnet resembling privet hacked at by a paralytic gardener before he conked out.

I've seen her arc three or four times, and I still remember nothing about her, except for the amazing skill she possesses to make Ash sneeze on command from a distance.

Conway

One word: nonce.

A clichéd weirdo fitting into Pokémon's Four-Eyed Freaks fixation, where anyone with a slight visual impairment is a weedy, know-it-all bastard or on a register.

Oh yes, and this lad comes with hidden delights, because his glasses gleam like a giant cockroach, just in case he wasn't creepy enough.

Zoey

The human black hole. Has the incredible ability to suck all the joy out of a room just by appearing. A personage of absolute lead.

Too nice and over familiar, lacking a single detectable personality trait.

Bland, empty, and with the charisma of vomit-sodden cardboard.

Sinnoh is a prolonged saga as it is, padded with nonentities like her and Kenny.

Alright, episodes must be devoted to Dawn's Contest career, however tiresome it is, but why exactly do we need any about Zoey and Kenny? Why should we care?

Every time I sat through a competition Dawn lost, I resented that she was no further along on her quest, equating to another episode eaten away by this shallow, blackened hymn to superficiality.

Compare this indulgent treatment to the sneering disrespect shown to Jessie, an actual main character, who not only had to win her Ribbons practically off screen, but the writers delighted in hammering home how worthless she was in only scraping into the Grand Festival because Princess Salvia took pity on the deluded wretch.

They favour their own inventions over the original cast, then dump 'em as soon as the next generation arrives, so how could they ever matter if even the creators eagerly cast them aside?

After all the effort on my part to put up with the entire witless farce, Zoey beats Dawn in the finals!

Why?!

I understood the unspoken law of Ash not being allowed to win a League until the very last series, for fear whatever came after would be anticlimactic, but why should this deadening failure apply to May and Dawn?

By the culmination of the Contest rigmarole, it's obvious they'll be making their exit for the next region's Girl, so why couldn't either bid farewell to the fans with a victory?

Why must they be incompetent too?

Even if achieving their dream dampened any hunger to carry on, they're departing anyway, so what difference does it make?

At least Ash will continue, but for May and Dawn, it's the end.

How could any fan be satisfied with a smarmy vacuum of a creature like Zoey succeeding instead?

Barry

Eyes of molten evil.

The second-worst character ever created (Iris is top of the ranks), Barry is a smug, arrogant, screeching dweeb jabbering his oh-so endearing catchphrase about fining anyone who slightly irks him, so sure is he that his feelings should come above everyone else's

He truly believes he has a God-given entitlement to demand lesser lifeforms should arrange themselves to suit his pleasure, that they are morally compelled to shield him from  meagre inconvenience.

Twat.

Knocking the little geck out of the League was the most noble thing Paul ever did. It practically redeems him.

This is what I cannot comprehend:

Ursula is openly conceited, rude to Dawn, and brags about her own excellence even after losing.

We're asked to dislike her.

Barry slags Ash off constantly, is convinced of his own divinity, and jeers at Team Rocket.

We're supposed to see him as a 'good guy' and welcome his arrival.

Why? Are Ash and Team Rocket fair game, but offending Saint Dawn's intolerable?

Again, it astounds me how temporary, region-specific stars seem to count for more than those who've been here since the beginning.

Whilst they're here, that is. Once gone, you wouldn't know they'd existed.

Kenny

He wears a matador outfit to compete.

It's a crying shame Tauros was never given the opportunity to gore him.

As usual, it's Piplup I blame.

Each generation likes to flaunt the starter Pokémon, presumably in the hope of flogging more games, that's why Ash usually catches all three, or they're spread out amongst his friends.

It's about time Team Rocket had one.

Can't do that, they only appear five times per series now.

Piplup is a whiny attention whore who refuses to evolve. In consequence, he can't advertise the next stages in the evolution chain, so we have to keep seeing Barry and Kenny instead, that's why Empoleon and Prinplup are always walking about.

This equates to three characters having the same Pokémon, albeit in different incarnations.

There's variety.

However, Kenny's true purpose is much more grim than that.

Fans will ship Ash with The Girl, a useless endeavour when it's destined to come to nothing when she's kicked out.

In Hoenn and Sinnoh, an effort was made to wean shippers off in preparation for the upcoming split, so alternative suitors were introduced, with the girls effectively pushed on to them.

May got Drew.

I don't mind that. He had some refinements.

Dawn got Kenny.

...

What, you want me to cheer for such a revolting couple?

Have I not suffered enough?

What unpardonable crime did Dawn do to deserve such a horrible fate?

She's not a bad-looking girl. She can do better than an ugly, portly, shrunken, pie-faced cretin! 

You do this to me when Nando exists?

Sod the age gap, that never concerned anyone here.

This being the Kenny who spends four years belittling Dawn by constantly reminding her of a humiliating childhood experience, even giving her a nickname too!

Dawn is visibly distressed when he does this, but he's a fine candidate for romance?

She has to settle for a sweaty, lecherous herbert like him, who doesn't even try to atone for his unfortunate mug by being kind?

I suspect the whole Sinnoh adventure was really him wearing down her self-esteem until she believed he was the best available, wanting her to be grateful for his slobbery attentions.

It won't stop there either. He'll trap her for the rest of her life by isolating her from friends, followed by accusations of how undeserving she is of his 'love'.

Such is Dawn's lot: absent father, pushy mother, whinging penguin and abusive boyfriend.

Kenny's already a perv:

He's not looking at her face.

She knows he's not.

Ash and Pikachu have noticed an interesting feature further down.

Aipom likes it too.

[agent-85]

Thank you, Mary:) 1. This time the writing is good - strong storytelling and interesting concept, encouraging a deep philosophical debate and a social commentary. Brilliant acting, I like so much scientifically sceptical Jemma:), the hero Mace and good dad Mack. I'm not convinced about May's story and even more Fit'z change. Maybe it's exhausted part of myself who speek, but until now and what we know, it's not so clear, but they weren't brainwashed?, programmed to forget who they are?

2. and … Framework Fitz is a sadist. Framework could be interpreted as a “reality” where people can discover their potential without the limitations of their past/limitations in the real world (Mace). The writers maintain the interpretation that a minor event can completely reverse the course of our lives and that different experiences can change us to unrecognizable version of ourselves. I don’t know, I just feel like they just switched Ward and Fitz. It’s like Fitz had Doctor in him.

3. For Fitz with his vulnerability it’ll be like his worst nightmare. And until now I don’t seem to find “the truth behind Fitz’s turn” as convincing explanation that he’s a monster. Things will get ugly if they don’t treat carefully this plotline. I can hope for some twist, fuller background, but once (you know, season 3 mess) I had such hope, in vain;) I don’t see how this is ever going to be okay again for now.

4. I hope it’s not over, but the AoS writers usualy put the closure and make the caracters healing offscreen:(, so, I don’t expect believable closure, there are only four episodes left, a lot of it of it won’t be addressed properly. Finally, for Fitz’ mental health I need RealFitz to come through by himself, not by Jemma, especially after Daisy’s remarks that Fitz became a Doctor in a world without Jemma.

Hey there, Mary! Somehow this turned into a jumbled mess, but bear with me.

I really do like the writing, despite how much it hurts! They are really doing a good job of balancing all the characters and showing how all of them are trying to get through the world that AIDA put them into. 

And they definitely WERE brainwashed, just as much as those kids in that facility. They have been programmed to play the roles that they play. I think the greatest evidence of that is that this isn’t just the world that would happen if a handful of people had made different choices—it’s a world in which AIDA/Madame Hydra is the supreme ruler of the universe. That’s not an accident. And it’s DEFINITELY not an accident that Jemma’s dead, and that AIDA has Fitz as her Ken doll. AIDA is framing this world to be what SHE wants, and some are under more control than others. Coulson, Mack, and Mace didn’t have to drink the Kool-aid, but Fitz and May definitely did. 

It’s not just that they have different memories—they have different morals. Coulson is a person who’s afraid to stand up until Daisy comes along. Mack is, too! Mace is exactly the opposite in that he’s NOT the coward he was before. And May and Fitz? They believe that what they’re doing is the right and best thing.

That’s why I don’t see Fitz as a sadist. He’s not doing it because he enjoys hurting people. He does it because he thinks it’s necessary. Daisy tells him that he doesn’t want to torture her, but he does because a) she’s a threat and b) he thinks she’s lying to him. And yet, when he kills Agnes, he asks himself: Did I have to? Was it necessary? Or was she a person I should have protected? That is a man who believes that what he’s doing is RIGHT, it’s just that someone went into his brain and changed what right and wrong mean. It’s the same thing that happened to Kara Palamas.

To contrast, let me tell you a little about Star Trek. In Star Trek: Voyager, there’s this episode called The Killing Game, in which these aliens abduct the characters, implant false memories, and put them in an alternate reality: Nazi Germany. Sound familiar? There’s a difference, though: the characters gravitate to the same roles they have in their real lives. The captain becomes the leader of the Resistance, the married couple starts to flirt with each other (even though he doesn’t know her baby is also his), and the team ends up defeating the bad guys in a way that’s authentic to them. They were given false histories, but they were still the same people, even though they didn’t have to be. That’s because no one was purposefully trying to change who they were.

[This got long, so the rest is under the cut!]

And I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to fundamentally change yourself, Mary. I have. I got to a point in my life where I had to change everything down to my thoughts and my perception of the world, because depression goggles can really mess you up. It took me almost a decade of constant, intentional, hard work to change myself that much. You can’t change Fitz that drastically with a flip of a switch. It might look that way when he’s in public, but have you noticed that he’s different in private settings? When he’s alone with Ophelia or his father, he’s completely different. That’s where we see the real Fitz peek through—when he doesn’t have to put on a show. And what happens then? The brainwashing continues. Madame Hydra and his father reinforce the lies he’s been told, with the silent threat that he will lose their love if he doesn’t step in line. That’s not a sadist. That’s not even The Doctor. That’s someone in more than one relationship that’s deeply abusive. 

As for Mace, yes he did get a chance to be a hero. BUT, you can’t say this is a world without limitations. The moment he became an actual threat to her, AIDA killed him. Like I said above, everyone is under her control. This is a prison in disguise. No one is living their true potential, and I think Mace and Mack are the only ones who are getting anything close to what they actually want, and the price for them is STEEP.  

As for if one event can change your entire self, we actually have two conflicting viewpoints: Radcliffe and Jemma. Look at these two people and what they think about accountability. One most definitely believes he is the victim of circumstance, even though this whole predicament came from his choices. The other believes that if you want something in life, you have to work hard and earn it. She believes that people are more than their programming, even though a SERIES of events might give a person an opportunity to go another way.  We are seeing this debate play out, but I think it’s obvious who’s winning. If this world were the natural consequences of one different event in each person’s life, AIDA wouldn’t need the thought police to keep them in line.

Also, I personally have a moral objection to this deterministic idea that one thing can happen to you, and you have no way of overcoming it. That’s what we’re saying, right? It changes you forever, and that’s that? A bad father means you’re going to be a bad person? A mental illness means you have no chance of being happy? I refuse to accept that idea, because it means that people don’t have any actual agency, and if you take away someone’s agency, you’re taking away a large portion of their personhood. We each have the responsibility and power to change ourselves, to rise above our circumstances. Coulson is doing that right now. May did it, in a large part, between seasons one and three. If we don’t have the power to change ourselves, there is no actual meaning in life. There’s no reason to vote or have children or try to help a stranger. We’re all just a victim of our circumstances, right? Why make any kind of effort of nothing’s going to change? 

So, I mean, yes, a character did say that onscreen. I wouldn’t take it as gospel. That character is also the supreme idiot whose lack of morality and accountability got us in this mess in the first place.

As for the truth behind Fitz’s turn, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head here: it’s not convincing that he’s a monster. He maybe a man playing at being a monster, he may be a man who believes that he NEEDS to be a monster, but like I said, a monster wouldn’t worry about killing Agnes. It’s not that the Doctor was in Fitz—it’s that Fitz is in the Doctor. He HAS been brainwashed, but there’s a part of him that’s fighting back. There’s a part of him that’s drawn to Jemma. There’s a part of him that’s rising above his circumstances. The problem he has is that he has two people who are actively trying to keep him down. Coulson, May, Mace, and Mack don’t have that. They have the environment in general keeping them down, but they aren’t being targeted by specific people. Fitz doesn’t just have to rise up. He has to conquer AIDA and his father first.

You know that I agree with season 3 being a mess, but this season had a masterful setup. This isn’t Jemma having PTSD one episode and not having it the next. This is Jemma and Radcliffe having competing viewpoints from the start! She’s trying to grab power to help her friends; he’s trying to skirt his responsibilities in order to help himself (and pretending he’s helping others to assuage his guilt/get other people to help him). That’s 4x01! And Fitz, this whole time, has been caught in the middle. You don’t have that kind of storytelling in season 3. Jemma is going to have her moment, she is going to make her own arguments, and she’s going to win because she’s actually right. So I mean, yes, we’ve seen the writers royally screw up before, but all they have to do is follow the exact course they’ve already set, and we’ll end up with some of the most powerful storytelling we’ve ever seen. I’m cautiously hopeful.

I think you’re right, though, that the characters won’t get as much closure as we’d like. They’ll probably get a hug and cut to black, a short conversation if we’re lucky. My real OTP for this show is myself x closure, so I get how frustrating this is. We should prepare for headcanon to fill in the gaps.

Finally, the good news is that Fitz has already come through with the help of Agnes. Agnes is the one who’s making him question himself. Daisy, too. I think that Jemma has contributed a little bit, but it’s mostly Agnes that is weighing on him. And if he has to fight May, his most trusted soldier? If Madame Hydra gets sick and can’t influence him? If he find out about the brainwashing of teenagers (I’m not convinced that he knows) (or maybe there’s something else he doesn’t know about)? It’s all going to fall apart. Jemma might be the final nail in that coffin, but it’s not just going to be her. In the end, we’re going to get Real Fitz back because Real Fitz is going to rise up. That’s what it’s looking like, at least!

[portugalisinsa]

Telling my Friend, Who Still Hasn't Watched Gotham, All About S03E13 (and Why I Haven't Told Her Anything Else)

Me: So let's start with something neither of us gives a shit about: Catwoman.

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Me: Selina is quite reasonably angry about her mother abandoning her when she was five or something. I posit that if she was this annoying when she was five then I kinda see where her mother comes from, but understanding is not condoning and all that.

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Me: And you think, okay, so this boring dribble about her being angry about her mother abandoning her is going to be her plot for the season, I see, I hate it but it's not like I was really paying attention when she happened anyway. However, you'd be wrong, because two scenes later Bruce says "being an orphan sucks" and she discovers that her mother had a box full of things that reminded her of Selina, so she's instantly forgiven.

Friend: ...Then what was the point of this?

Me: I have no idea. My theory is that somebody told the writers "no, there's always drama when people find their estranged parents, so we must have this" and the writers were like "ugh, FINE, here's your stupid DRAMA".

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Me: Alfred has a crush on Selina's mother. There's nothing much to say other that it's embarrassing for everyone involved, most of all the audience.

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Me: Done with that, let's go on with the next completely useless drama: Lee. I'm pretty sure she didn't see her husband running towards her with a knife for reasons too unlikely to explain, so she's pretty angry at Gordon for killing him. Which is understandable, I'm not saying it isn't, but does it warrant her causing a scene in front of the entire GCPD in which she calls out Gordon? Wouldn't a call have sufficed?

Friend: Imagine being part of the crowd and seeing that, though, it must have been amazing.

Me: Oh yeah, I assume someone was passing the pop-corn.

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Me: So you think, oh, this must be her plot for the season, right? Well you would be wrong.

Friend: Jesus christ, does it get solved the next scene too?

Me: No, the next scene has her and Falcone posing while discussing how they both hate Gordon and he must die.

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Me: By the way, I never told you about Zsasz, I think, so very quickly: he's awesome. He's a hitman, but I swear to god I can't understand who the fuck he's working for. He was very loyal to Falcone the first season, but then he was taking orders from Penguin, then from Ed, then from Falcone again. I assume he's freelance, but in my heart he works in a waffle house. He also usually works with a crowd of leather-clad women who are apparently called 'the Zsaszettes'. As I said- fucking awesome.

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Me: Lee then talks to Barnes, you know, I Am The Lawwwwwww, to ask him about the virus. I have no idea why she doesn't ask Mad Hatter, the guy who actually infected him, but whatever.

Friend: Maybe because he's a fucking hypnotist.

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Me: Barnes is all "no, I totally like killing and I want to do it forever" and Lee is like "that instantly makes me change my mind" and sends her to Falcone to beg him to spare Gordon. Falcone thinks nostalgically of times gone by, when people angered the mafia and their bodies ended up in a barrel of acid with no 'ifs' or 'buts': then he remembers he's the kind of idiot who had a woman who wanted to kill him and get his criminal empire tortured rather than killed, and brainwashed the right hand of the aforementioned woman because, I don't know, there's no person who knows how to keep a club who also hasn't tried to betray him, I guess, and spares Gordon.

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Me: So thus concludes another one-season-plot in one single episode. In my mind, an image of the writers mumbling "there, you have your fucking former-lover drama now, you happy now? Are you being entertained?! ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE SHITS?!" appears.

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Me: On to Nygmobblepot. Edward has disappeared, leaving a guy who looks a lot like Draco Malfoy behind. Penguin, no longer the most Slytherin guy in the room, pouts.

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Me: Then this woman appears and she's all "come on my show, so you will be revealed as a horrible person in front of the whole US and be ruined forever."

Friend: ...I see at least two problems there.

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Me: Okay, so, long story, I never told you about Penguin's father, but basically he was this nice guy who met Penguin when he was reformed, and he was the best, and he was married with a wicked woman and her two children, another wicked woman and a guy who I honestly kind of loved, he was too dumb to be malicious in his dickery and I think he actually wanted to pounce Penguin. Like, in a sexy way.

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Me: -he made her eat her children, then chopped off her head and mounted it somewhere in the mansion where I think it still is

Friend: God I love Penguin

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Me: His father appears and he's like "beware the birthday boy", and I was like 'the birthday boy better not be Edward, because 'Edward' has way fewer syllables than 'birthday boy''. Then it turns out the birthday boy was Draco Malfoy, and I was like "oh, okay, he just had no idea what was his name, got you".

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Me: The woman now goes "be ready, mr Cobblepot, the world is watching". Somehow, that is not supposed to be a joke.

Friend: Why the fuck would the world care about an interview to the mayor of some city? Do they translate it for other countries? Are you telling me that, in Gotham's world, Japan is watching the interview to the mayor of Modena?

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Me: We then discover this was all a plan by Edward to... something something ruin Penguin in front of the people.

Friend: ........I still see at least one glaring flaw in this plan.

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Me: My main problem with this is, I'm pretty sure that's what counts as an April Fools in Edward's world. Like, tell me stealing the corpse of Penguin's father and then hiring a shapeshifter to be the father's ghost and make Penguin slowly lose his mind and kill a random person isn't Edward's version of sticking a 'kick me' sign on his back.

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Me: So that was a couple of episodes ago. Now you might be wondering, what happened after that? The answer is, I only have a vague idea, because I don't really care to find out.

Friend: Oh? Why?

Me: Well, Gordon's and Harvey's plot was that there's a group of people who want to bring Jerome back to life, so I'm now debating whether I care enough about Nygmobblepot to suffer through Jerome. The answer is, I don't. God, I so don't.

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Me: I just, look, ignoring the fact that I don't like him as a character- I saw some gifs of Jerome in the following episodes, alright, and apparently it was him trying to make Bruce kill someone, and for fuck's sake, if I have to live through another fucking villain that wants to destroy the hero's ideology I will punch a fucking puppy.

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Me: The truth is that Christopher Nolan ruined us. He made his Batman movies, and now villains are too fucking fancy to just want to kill people with a big laser. What is wrong with wanting to take over the world? What's wrong with wanting to kill the hero with a rock? Big rocks are good. There's no shame in being practical.