#but she is watching Every Single Episode of psych. what is going on

[lokh]

for some reason my mom has gotten Really into the TV show psych???

[straydog733]

I just need to share with you one of the stupidest writing choices I've seen in a long time.

(Spoilers for The Gilded Age S2 Premiere)

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So The Gilded Age is not a good show, but it's a not-good show that I'm going to watch every second of. It's by the guy who made Downton Abbey, leaning into all his worst habits, and it's trash in incredibly tacky outfits. But anyway, in Season 1, they have this character named Peggy. She's a young woman, from a Black Elite family in New York, ambitions to be a journalist, but also some mysterious secret that she's keeping all season. It's eventually dribbled out that she had a baby who died at birth, but when someone tries to blackmail her for her scandalous past, turns out she was married at the time (to a lower class man her father didn't approve of, but married nonetheless), so she can be pitied, not scorned. After the baby died, her father paid her husband to fuck off and annul the marriage. This was a few years ago, and Peggy has been trying to find the midwife who delivered her stillborn, to talk to her and get a bit of closure.

PSYCH, BABY'S ALIVE! Her father paid the midwife (what must have been an absurd amount of money) to kidnap his grandson, foist him off to another family, and tell Peggy her baby died. The first season ends with her and her mother heading off on an adventure to find and reunite with her boy.

So this plot was very unpopular and got the show a lot of criticism. It was boring, it was a scandal with all the scandal removed, it was a retread of a Downton plot, and it took Peggy away from the actually interesting stuff about New York black high society and black journalism at the turn of the century. So how best to respond to these criticisms in the premiere of Season 2?

PSYCH, BABY'S DEAD AGAIN! We start the season after a time skip, in which time Peggy has managed to track down her three year old son, gotten in contact with his family, and almost reunited with him...only to learn he died of scarlet fever six months ago. The season starts with them having learned this a bit ago and already in mourning, because the show creator refuses to put anything interesting on screen, and by the end of the episode she is determined to leave her parents' home again and basically return to her non-baby Season 1 plot. 

And I just can't get over the fact that they double-killed her baby. I get wanting to write out this stupid plot, but there are ways to do it that don't feel like a shaggy dog story and bury a vibrant character in mourning for the season premiere! 

Andrea and I have been plotting alternatives, and it would have been SO easy: have her meet the kid, realize he's a happy toddler with a loving family, and that she doesn't want to tear him away from that to be a single mother (which a character on Downton did twice with the same baby, so you'd even be attoning for a previous sin!). "Oh my darling son, I am glad to know you, and I will make you proud of your mother's accomplishments as I take the publishing world by storm!" Then you never have to show the kid again, can throw in a line every now and then about her visiting, and she can still do her fun plotline! Boom, fixed it!

It is all just brain-bendingly stupid and I needed to ramble and share the joy. And as a reward for getting to the end, have a ridiculous costume photo of an unrelated character:

[sylvies-chen]

after seeing a tweet about season 2 coming out I thought now would be a good time start The Bear to fulfill my need to have seen every single show in existence! I’ve only seen the first 5 episodes so far but here are my thoughts:

it seems everyone in this show except marcus (he’s just in the corner perfecting his lil donuts!! leave him in peace!!) teeters so beautifully on being absolutely detestable. some *cough cough richie cough cough* do venture into unlikeable territory but then when they do, the writers bring in a scene that instantly gives them an extra layer and shifts you towards empathy. it’s a really delicate balance but so far it’s working for me!

this is, at its core, a show about how to go about taking pieces of something broken and turning them into something better and beautiful, revamping it without discarding its true nature— and this is true in both the inwards sense, relating to carmy’s (and sugar’s and richie’s) grief and mental health in learning how to move on from a tragic loss but not forget your past pain, and then in the outwards sense as well regarding to the restaurant and the Chicago community, how to make a successful restaurant without forgetting the people they serve, how to not be a gunslingin’ dive but also not a gentrifying posh joint.

speaking of that internal turmoil though, I’m absolutely lovinggggg the bear motif and it fits perfectly with this idea! it’s like carmy has so much bottled up inside him, both good and bad, like his passion to change the restaurant mikey left him but also his pain and grief and sorrow, and him trying to let the bear out of the cage and slowly tame it or control it in his dreams is very reminiscent of someone trying to get a hold on their own psyche. but it’s like. no dude. you gotta let it all out, let it go wild! both the pain and the ambition! it will let you be more loving, be healed, and be a better leader! gosh, it’s so so good.

JON BERNTHAL IS IN THIS?? Oh wait I think I vaguely remember @levijeanqueen watching this show just to see Jon Bernthal on her screen. sky babe this is me formally saying that I should have followed in your footsteps sooner omg I love this

richie gives me whiplash because he starts crying about his kid and I wanna give him a hug and tell him he’s a good dad but then he yells at syd and I get filled with rage and then he calls the cops on the mobsters when someone else solves the problem he couldn’t because he can’t stand not being needed and then anti-hero by taylor swift starts playing in my head because it’s him hi he’s the problem and what do you mean he accidentally drugged children with xanex i-

sydney is my GIRL y’all!! she has such a passionate, eager spirit about her that she can’t hold in and yet she also lacks confidence in a lot of ways and like. she is me!! I am her!! I kin this woman so hard. (that’s actually my first time using that word I hope I did it right lol). I’m so obsessed with everything she does, I can’t wait to see her grow and evolve as a chef, and to gain more confidence! also I need to learn more about her backstory right tf now like what was that catering business?? what’s her family like??

I don’t know where people are shipwise with this show?? it’s not a show that offers a lot of substantial material on that front but shipping is so much more fun when you have zero expectations and can kind of just go with the flow and take your own creative liberties so I like having fun with it. anyways I definitely feel a certain vibe with carmy and sydney but also marcus is so outwardly sweet to her when no one else is so I’m not mad about that either.

I think carmy and syd are like… two side of the same coin? they’re not the most alike but they’re not polar opposites either, they’re very much foils of each other and they each are the parts of the other that the other wishes they were. like sydney very openly wants to be skilled like carmy (she’s skilled on her own ways though might I add) and be a fearless chef and innovator, and carmy I think less-openly wishes he was like sydney: new, fresh, eager, not beaten down by the verbal degradation of high-end culinary culture, hopeful about the world and creative. I really like that sort of connection between two characters, it kind of alludes to a deeper idea that this bond was meant to be in a way? their chemistry is fucking fire too like wow

but then there’s marcus and sydney, which I think is cute because marcus has that sort of fun experimental eager green energy that sydney has and that many others (like tina and richie) have discarded or snuffed out, so I think he could be like a nice bright spot for sydney. idk. I need to know like a million more things about her character as well, she deserves all the screentime in the world. but in the meantime I’m just chilling, enjoying the little itty bitty crumbs that let me have my fun lol

anyways I’m sorry if that was too long for you lovely folks but I hope it was a worthy interruption to your regularly scheduled tumblr scrolling because I really love this show and I can’t wait to finish these last two episodes before moving on to this new season!!

[theodoraflowerday]

heartstopper s3e2 live episode reaction

and it's gonna start to get so much worse I wanna bask on that final scene for a little longer

bro it took me one hour to watch a half hour episode

"shame mom had to pull out" honestly yeah it's such a shame I'm gonna miss Sarah so much this season

but also HELLO AUNT PEGGY CARTER

oh he wrote it down lmao me too charlie

OH. OH OKAY CHARLES

bro and by the end of this they're gonna be having sex idk how I'm gonna cope

tori's face.... she's always so worried about charlie I get her so much

oh my god

JANE STOP

TORI SPRING CHARLIE'S #1 DEFENDER

"can you please not undermine me like that in front of him" stop making her do your job then she's a *child*

I see julio's prob not gonna be in this season either lol bc that was his line not tori's

oh my god auntie diane didn't know (or at least not officially bc i know sarah was gushing over charlie)

bro and nick came out to her just like that....... my baby boy I'm so proud of him

"you know me" "I do" oh I BET y'all do

"I'll be good" "not too good tho" OOHHHHHH AYEEEEEEEEEE

I know in the comics they've only been dating for a year and I know they're probably at MOST late 20s but please can we have a nathan/youssef wedding in s4 (at least just a mention)

STOP DARCY'S GRANDMA IS SO WHOLESOME please don't be transphobic

not sahar saying she's unsurprised about imogen's high drama grade skfjdkfk y'all are gonna be the messiest gfs

oh darcy baby

ALL NINES??????

OXBRIDGE PREP GROUP AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA LETS FUCKIN GO TARA

"exams mean nothing" oh tori baby

omg nick did terrible at math he's so relatable I love him

oh wait he passed math. is it obvious I'm not english lmao

"NEVER IN DOUBT" oh uncle rick you'll always be famous

god please let charlie go to menorca with nick's family next year please

oh that's not great

NOT A SHIRTLESS SELFIE NICHOLAS YOU WHORE

oh isaac youll get used to this don't worry (yes worry)

OH HELLO JACK MADDOX

"you're abandoning me again" god every time tori speaks it tugs at my heartstrings

"I don't wanna see mum" and she accepts it.... greatest big sister in the world bro

oh char

CATCH PLANES NOT FEELINGS LMFAOOOOOOO IMOGEN I LOVE YOU

OH AUNTIE DIANE IS A PSYCHIATRIST LETS GOOOOOOO TEAM PSYCH

oh nick baby talk to her she's about the single most qualified person you could be talking about this to

oh I love you darcy's grandma you're so cute

darcy giving away her skirts..... or should I say THEIR SKIRTS. LET'S GO NB DARCY

oh tori

oh tori no

oh my god tori no

bro tori is breaking my heart CAN WE GET MICHAEL HERE WE NEED SUNSHINE

TAO NOOOOOOOOOO

"I wish I'd sat still" oh no

bro this show is gonna fuck me up

Isaac being worried about charlie 😭 also isaac being annoyed is SO ME I'd be smacking them left and right like wow

NOT ELLE COPYING TAO'S "RRRUDE"

ISAAC WENT TO CHECK ON CHARLIE what the fuck no one appreciates isaac enough what the fuck

oh they're watching a movie :( bffs :(

I love them so much your honor

also where are imogen and sahar I miss them :(

oh my GOD TORI IS ON TUMBLR

HER BEST FRIENDS HER BROTHER I LOVE YOU TORIIII

I know this season probably kills any solitaire adaptation hopes but I would have loved to see solitaire :(

omg julio IS here and being horrible at cooking!

OH MY GOD SHES LOOKING AT HIS LAPTOP

TORI'S TEXTING NICK OH MY H OD

tori 🤝 nick -> being charlie's #1 stans

OH MY GOD SHE SAID ILY

BRO THATS SO CUTEEEEEEEEEE I LOVE THEM

oh my god that's so horrifying

god you can *feel* his anxiety

I'm preemptively crying don't mind me

I was right to start preemptively crying that was *so* bad oh my god

bro charlie's face how he can't contain the tears i

im not gonna cope well with any of this

oh god im literally *sobbing*

my cat heard me sobbing, started kneading on my legs for like a few seconds and then left lmao skfkskfldkf tjsgs not good none of this is great

there's no way that was the ending

they just had me sobbing my eyes out and were like "ok time for a break" ok THANKS

please give both joe and kit like a thousand emmys

[dream-in-fall]

My theory about Maggie and Nina

The fan community has noticed that Maggie and Nina's relationship parallels that of Aziraphale and Crowley. After a while, many agreed that Maggie mirrors Crowley, and Nina mirrors Azi. I've watched the series a thousand times and made my observations.

First of all, I think Maggie and Nina are the metaphorical souls of Aziraphale and Crowley - anima. The anima is the female part of the soul or psyche, the source of feeling and mood. And a conductor between a man's consciousness and his subconscious. So, I think Maggie is Aziraphale's anima. Here are my arguments. The store where Maggie works is called the "the small back room." It belongs to Aziraphale. There is always a "closed" sign on the door of Azi's store, but someone always comes to him. Maggie's door is always "open", but only Azi comes to her. I'm sure this store is a metaphor for the part of his subconscious where his inner female part lives. She is very kind and gentle, always ready to help and understand. She looks like Crowley in some external attributes, for example, she wears bright clothes, often changes outfits (almost every episode she has a new outfit). The place behind the counter where she spends most of her time looks like an old-fashioned car, like Crowley's (only this is a cute version of it. And this car is not going anywhere. It's like pieces of objects in dreams or in paintings by Salvador Dali). And what unites Aziraphale and Crowley is their love of music. That's why Maggie works in a record store. If you look closely, you can see jewelry on Maggie's neck. It's a heart with an eye inside, a snake biting its tail with a bird inside (a nightingale?) and a ring (an engagement ring?). Maggie is a complex and deep image that unites Aziraphale and Crowley into a single female loving image.

Maggie bluntly tells Aziraphale that she loves Nina. She gives him the record (clue) to finding love. And Azi is in fact making a pilgrimage to the place where the miracle of love happened. After this trip, his behavior towards Crowley changes a little and he becomes more courageous. Unfortunately, well-known events will not allow these things to develop.

Nina. So why is Nina not the prototype of Aziraphale, despite the fact that she is in a difficult relationship. I will say that Crowley is also in a difficult relationship. With Heaven, with Hell and Aziraphale himself. Aziraphale doesn't spare Crowley's feelings.

"We're not friends!"

"I don't even like you!"

"You're a demon - you're lying!"

"Come and help me with a naked archangel, and if you don't like something, you liberty to go!"

"I want to perform on stage - shoot me in the face! You're a demon, so you've shot people a hundred times!"

"I'll take your beauty car, and you look after the archangel you hate!"

I think Crowley has heard enough of this kind of nonsense in the last 6,000 years. Yes, as viewers we don't pay attention to it, because Aziraphale is cute and handsome. And it's served up like a comedy. But something tells me that such words often hurt Crowley. When Crowley talks to Nina alone for the first time, he asks her about Maggie. Nina makes a whole nervous speech about how they're not friends. This is very similar to how Crowley would express all the accumulated offensive words said to him by Aziraphale. Later, Maggie and Nina talk in the rain. Nina says, "Of course I'm not your type." Maggie replies that Nina is wrong, Maggie likes her. Nina looks incredulous - it is clear that she is pleasantly surprised. When Shax tells Aziraphale that he's not Crowley's type, Azi has a sarcastic "Of course" look on his face. He knows for sure Crowley likes him. By the way, in Wikipedia, the name Lindsay is of Scottish origin and means swamp (in very short). In the second private conversation, Nina asks Crowley: what exactly is the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale? Just because Crowley is stunned doesn't mean he suddenly realized his love. He has known this for a long time. Songs from his repertoire pointed this out to us (such things reveal the inner world and motivations of the characters). I think Crowley is taken aback by how obvious and visible this relationship is from the outside. That you can talk about them so simply and casually. And that they can really be real. Here's my theory about Maggie and Nina. Through them, we were able to learn a lot about our heroes in one way or another.

[blodreina-noumou]

#Stacked100 - Day 1

Today we're watching 2x01: "The 48"

Positives:

+ The title alone! In a show called "The 100," coming back to season two with an episode called "The 48" immediately reminds us of the massacre at the end of the first season, and of just how many of the kids sent to the ground have already been lost. And this was still early on, when there wasn't a new group of hundreds of people either dying or coming very close to dying every other episode. I do remember how effective that number reduction was when I first watched this episode, though, and I think that reminder pairs nicely with Clarke's desperation when she wakes up in the white room.

+ The first scene is an intense way to start the season - and this rewatch! Maya in her hazmat suit + Clarke immediately losing her shit and injuring herself + taking Maya hostage... all ending with that shockingly peaceful, community breakfast scene. If there was one thing the early seasons were especially good at, it was raising the stakes and changing the status quo in a surprising way. This scene is a great example of that.

+ This season in particular is one that I think Clarke's single-minded intensity towards a specific goal works really well for her character. She immediately distrusts everyone at Mt Weather and wants only to get out of the shelter and back to her people. And since she ends up being absolutely right, her determination and drive to protect people is at its most noble and justified.

+ TRIGEDASLENG TRIGEDASLENG TRIGEDASLENG!! This is the first time we ever hear it and it comes straight from Octavia's mouth and I love that. In later seasons, she's one of the people who speaks it the most and keeps it alive, long after it probably should have died out, so it's very fitting that she's the first person to speak it on screen.

+ Raven and Murphy on the dropship floor, (nearly) dying together. The beginning of a beautiful friendship and they don't even know it yet. Raven literally would've killed him if she wasn't out of bullets. He shot her like, only a few hours before this. But they talk and they come to a sort of uneasy truce. She saves his life at the end, by telling the adults that she "got shot" instead of saying "Murphy shot me." Another thing this show was very, very good at was putting adversaries in the same situation and that letting them find the beginning of a positive relationship there. This wasn't the first time and won't be the last, but it is one of the best.

+ Monroe and that other kid trying to psych themselves up to go save Bellamy and Finn by going "we're warriors. we're warriors!!!"- that kind of made me tear up! They were just kiiiiids!

+ Lincoln carrying Octavia on his shoulders and supporting her tiny head with one huge hand while she's sick from the poison. Lincoln making Octavia repeat that same Trigedasleng phrase over and over again so her pronunciation sounds natural and his people might accept her without him. Lincoln going back to his village and risking a very painful death for treason to get Octavia the antidote. And that doesn't even touch what Octavia is going to do for him in next week's episode. Linctavia really was THAT ship.

+ The late episode pop/rock/indie/alternative/vaguely mid-2010s song montage! Another CW classic. Especially common on The 100 in the first three seasons. I had a playlist of all of them during the peak of my obsession of this show. I genuinely love how on the nose they are, it cracks me up. Clarke settling into Mt Weather (to the extent that her paranoid ass can,) interposed with Skaikru making their way to the Ark to settle there, all while the lyrics "we are coming home" play in the background. So specific. Gotta love it.

+ Monty and his magic tricks! Jasper and Monty play-fighting over chocolate cake! Jasper meeting Maya for the first time! Jasper and Monty well-fed and wearing clean clothes!! I really miss Monty and Jasper. They brought so much heart to this show. And as much hardship as they're going to face later on in this season, it's so nice to see scenes of them relatively happy and carefree in this episode.

Negatives:

- Lincoln says "our warriors speak English," implying non-warrior Grounders don't. They gave up on that one really really quick, didn't they?? I don't think we ever met a grounder that didn't actually speak English.

- The Mountain Men probably would've discovered nightbloods and it should've been a thing, but of course nightblood wasn't a thing at all in the written story at this point, because it clearly wasn't thought of until the writing for s3 began. Just a fun little plothole, classic CW writing.

- "I saw a man. No, it was a - it was a monster!" and then it cuts to an actual deformed human who *doesn't* look anything like the Reapers we'll meet later in the season. I might be wrong - someone please correct me if I am, this has bothered me for years - but I don't think this ever gets addressed. I guess it could just be an especially irradiated Reaper but we never see anyone else deformed to that level. Most people who get radiation poisoning in this show die quickly. I hate this scene.

- "I know she's intense but Clarke's the only reason we survived." One, it's just not true, and totally dismisses everything Raven, Bellamy, Finn, Octavia, Jasper, Monty, and even the nameless kids in the background doing basic (and hard) labor did. Two, Clarke is gonna use that mentality to continue a series-long downward spiral into that "intensity," making some truly awful decisions, many of which will not be for the good of her people, despite what she says. Despite what so many of them say, unfortunately.

- "When you pulled that lever, you saved lives. Don't throw that away by pulling this one." THE GODDAMN LEVERS. IT BEGINS.

- Occasionally this show could be subtle. The heavy-handed comparison between Clarke and Dante Wallace was not one of those occasions.

Miscellaneous:

~ I fully forgot how brutal this show is??? The Grounder just executing that kid that couldn't keep up?? Woof. And they don't really hold back on the violence/gore, at least for a YA/teen show on The CW.

~ The Mtn Men put together a whole welcome packet and orientation for these kids with surprising efficiency. But I don't think anything like this has happened before?? Like they've never had unexpected new arrivals that they didn't just immediately turn into Reapers or blood bags??? How did they know to do that in such an organized way??? The mysteries of Mt Weather continue to baffle me.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I think this is a good episode. It clearly sets up the stakes and positions of everyone for the season. It gives us our first hints at some later plot points in season two, like with mentions of The Commander and Finn's first darkly uttered "The Grounders took them." It's a great season premiere, and a good place for us to begin - it reminded me a lot of what I liked about this show.

I'm not gonna lie, I had a hard time stopping! Season two has always been one of my favorites, and it's so tempting to just binge the rest of it, like I always have. But I'm also excited to stretch it out a little, and slowly reintroduce this beautiful, corny, well-written, horribly written, funny, sad, charming, heart-breaking, annoying, confusingly enjoyable show back into my life. It was one of my absolute favorites once. It'll be nice to keep rediscovering why!

Next week we have 2x02, "Inclement Weather" - see you then!

Tagging some mutuals: @laufire @bombshellsandbluebells @lucerants @murphystartedthefire (and anyone else who's doing this rewatch! please let me know if you want to be tagged in these posts going forward!)

[bigassbowlingballhead]

wow. we’re almost done. what a journey we’ve been on together, jon.

just finished season six and i liked it SO much more than season five. if every episode starred may it still wouldnt be enough for me but im obsessed with the thought that she didnt hesitate for a SECOND to play a moody teenage addict, not to mention the fact that she ate and left not a single crumb. i picture bobby and athena talking about the situation and may piping up from the other room like “i could pretend to be addicted to heroin and infiltrate the cult that probably killed someone” without even looking up from her book. i would die for her.

also, i dont think ive mentioned enough yet how much i adore the couples on this show? so many procedural dramas fish around for plotlines by turning couples against one another, but this show always feels like the couple as a team vs the world’s problems. it’s incredible that they actually give us dedicated scenes to healthy marriages, and like, that’s it. theres no storyline being forwarded, theres no plot point to uncover in the scene. the editor looked at the episode and said “hey, whats the point of bobby and athena going for a run with one another? or this scene of hen and karen watching love island? what does that do for the show?” and the writers said “the point is that they love each other and theyre happy? there does not need to be another reason?” i love that theyre using the space that you get from a multi-season show to really flesh out the relationships in a nuanced way. one of the reasons i really soured on greys anatomy after the early seasons is because they double dosed us with angst and drama. in 911, the writers understand that there’s enough trauma in the jobs theyre doing. they dont need to drop bombs into healthy relationships to keep our attention; the SITUATION keeps our attention, and then the characters keep our INTEREST. if every element of your show is just shock value drama and horrible things happening to beloved characters, the audience gets pretty overwhelmed pretty fast. 911 is a rare example of a long running procedural not falling into the soap-opera pipeline. okay sorry writer rant over. i just really love well written stories.

here we go into season seven. i cannot wait to catch up and i cannot wait to watch evan buckley finally kiss a man! i’ll check back in once im officially done but im so psyched to watch live on thursday with the rest of you guys.

may is a real unsung hero of season six i think. She's so much fun.

the relationships really are were this show soars above the rest. I'm glad you're enjoying that part of it too.

have fun with season seven! the cruise is sooooo well done. I can't wait for you to meet tommy again!

[construingseacats]

Umireread: Legend of the Golden Witch - Chapter 8: Legend of the Gold

Sat, Oct 4 1986 - 10:00PM

The following contains spoilers for the entirety of Umineko. Please do not read if you are yet to finish it.

Taking a quick second here to say that I’m kind of disappointed that the Steam Version doesn’t play the OP every time you boot it up. I really loved booting it up every day during my initial read and watching it to get myself hyped again. Like yeah, I suppose nowadays I can just watch it on youtube whenever I want, but it’s just not the same, you know?

It’s almost like having the fantasy they’d constructed of their parents shattered by the grim truth of reality is a negative thing or something. Someone should write a 1.1 million word visual novel about that idea

23 year old talking down to a 17 year old moment. It’s always funny how young adults see themselves as full fledged adults rather than kids.

Yeah wow this scene is really going all in on the theme, huh. At first glance, it’s a pretty normal scene of kids being upset that their parents are mad. But really it’s just another proxy of the horrors of truth without kindness.

Saving this as a reaction image for whenever Battler says something perverted.

And so our great countdown begins! Honestly one of the coolest parts of the overall mystery of Umineko is going through the motions of there being a potential 19th person on the island, to there only being the known 18, to Kinzo being dead, to Shannon and Kanon being a single person. So, so good.

Another one of those lines where Ryukishi definitely smiled to himself while writing it. Yeah, there sure aren’t a full 18 people on the island!

Oh, and here’s our first Devil’s Proof - it’s interesting that Battler is the one to bring it up. I wonder if this is a concept that he discovered on his own, or whether it’s another hand-me-down from Kyrie that he’s grown accustomed to.

And hey, Chessboard Thinking! I guess this chapter is just “THEY SAID THE THING” central. I suppose that makes sense given this chapter is basically named after the episode title.

I’m not so fond of it when Ryukishi has a character do something and then immediately use the narrator to talk about them doing it, but this kind of line is really good in my opinion. We picked up on Battler using this type of thinking on the boat in Chapter 1, and now we’re getting confirmation here (several hours later) that it’s something that he picked up from Kyrie. If nothing else, I’m glad that Ryukishi isn’t the kind of writer who’d say this without justifying it elsewhere with an example.

Kyrie caps off this section by saying that her logic is full of holes, but honestly, she lays out a pretty solid deduction. It’s funny how many times someone will get something right and then go “nah that can’t be it”.

Man, my heart really breaks for Maria here. REALLY liking her more than I did first time round. I kind of want to say that she’s even more upset here than she was at Rosa’s mother of the year moment in the rose garden, which is an interesting look into her psyche if so.

God, the cut back to Kyrie here is stark. A 9 year old is all by herself in the hall, practically traumatised, and here’s Kyrie going “hey she can give us the answers!”

What makes this one interesting, however, is that it’s framed as Kyrie trying to cheer Battler up. I’m… not entirely sure I agree with this being portrayed as a good thing? Like, it’s not a conversation Maria will learn about, so it’s not going to hurt her, but being so lackadaisical to someone else’s suffering doesn’t sit well with me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the world’s biggest advocate for “Don’t set yourself on fire to make others feel warm”, but I kind of wish there was a little more here about care for Maria’s wellbeing from at least Battler (if not Kyrie). I don’t know, this one just feels a little off.

So this is probably going to be my hottest take for the entire reread - but I don’t like this line.

When you read it the first time, it’s a HUGE point of intrigue, and honestly one that causes a lot of readers to perk up and start paying attention. After all, murder mystery, Epitaph talks about sacrifices, and now someone says they’re going to be killed? That’s got to be important.

But the thing is, I feel it’s a little… unwarranted? Like, in hindsight, this line feels way too dramatic. I’d argue it’s unearned, honestly. I’m not dismissing Rudolf’s sentiment behind this line, but given what he’s alluding to - a confession about Battler’s true lineage - it definitely feels like it’s being written unrealistically to make the story seem more mysterious. I just can’t see anyone actually saying this in this specific manner for the given topic.

Of course, a facetious “You’re probably gonna kill me” doesn’t carry the same weight, so trying to find something that keeps the mystery without sounding needlessly obtuse is kind of a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too situation. I guess I’d opt for something like “There’s something that’s been building up for a while… And it’s gonna come to a head tonight. …Honestly, it’ll be a miracle if I’m still here in the morning.” That’s still a bit needlessly obtuse, but it feels way more natural given the circumstances.

After the earlier observation of “Episode 1 is written with an intent by Yasu to make Natsuhi suffer”, I can’t help but notice it showing up over and over again.

Once again we’re literally telling it as it is. I do wonder how different people would be treating this if it hadn’t first been introduced as Genji dressed up as Beatrice to discredit it.

Yeah Yasu is REALLY going in on Natsuhi here. It’s uncanny.

LIKE FOR REAL, ALL IN

You know, I was about to comment about how tense this scene is, getting everyone into position for the first twilight. Making a point to separate the different groups. And then Battler just has to go and say this, huh.

Another scene where both Shannon and Kanon are being addressed independently by Genji. Kind of interesting to think of it as the final meeting for how the night is going to go.

A special case indeed.

Another win for self indulgent self insert Yasu writing her to be sleeping in the same place as her crush. Next you’ll tell me there was only one bed.

It’s EXCEPTIONALLY funny to have Shannon gushing over Battler, and then the plot IMMEDIATELY misguiding you to George. I legit don’t think there is any way you could even notice this on a first time read unless you were approaching Umineko from an uncannily adversarial approach. Like, I think it’s reasonable to pick up on Kanon potentially liking Battler from the big bulging muscles scene earlier, but unless you’d somehow figured out them both being the same person, I don’t think you’d really be able to pick up on this detail from what you’d already seen from Shannon.

Ah, and here’s the Fukuin name drop. Very funny that the latter part of it is the “on” Kanji once again. I wonder how many more examples of Kanji wordplay we’ll see as hints to the Epitaph?

I made a note back in Chapter 3 where I’d forgot about this detail and thought the other “on” servants were additional identities of Yasu. I actually edited that post to respond to a reply about that and address it, in case anyone missed that.

You know, it’s very telling that George’s response to Shannon saying “I would have to obey that request if it was an order, since I’m furniture” isn’t “you’re not furniture”, it’s “that’s an order”. Very romantic.

George’s relationship skills in this scene overall are just pretty creepy. The impression I’m getting is that Yasu is writing this from a space of heteronormativity - by all sensible metrics, George looks like an atrocious partner for her here, but this is the kind of relationship that society wants you to have, right? He’s a rich disney prince here to whisk her away for a happily ever after. She should want this, right? She doesn’t believe that in her heart, but she feels like she should want it, so it’s written out of a place of obligation rather than love.

For some reason I remember Thank you for Being Born playing here, and man, it really isn’t. Pass isn’t a bad song, but man, I do not care for it. Another one that feels overly generic - funnily enough, it kind of reflects the forced heteronormativity by sounding like what “heartfelt confession” music should be without really saying anything special, but I’m almost certain that isn’t intentional.

Yeah George? You sure understand the meaning? Not even a hint that there’s something more going on under the surface here?

Really, the most realistic part of Umineko is that I’d also want to kill everyone in my immediate vicinity if George proposed to me.

Oh the glass shattering here is phenomenal. Perfect mood setting.

[unchataparis]

Thoughts on Le Dernier Jour (The Final Day)

I haven’t watched any episode of Season 5 past Exaltation last year, because according to Thomas Astruc, waiting will really make it worth it.

I do want to watch all of Season 5 before the Miraculous movie comes out, however, as the film will heavily spoil the ending of Season 5 according to Julian Zag, which means I am really looking forward to bingeing Season 5 in a couple of days when it's eventually released on Disney Plus.

But, I was scrolling through my YouTube recommendations today, and saw the trailer for the double-episode finale Le Jour Dernier, and thought: why not? How badly can I be spoiled if it's just a trailer? And – boy, I did not need to be worried about getting spoiled because I have absolutely no idea what is going on. Some incidents has gone down in the preceding episodes, that has wildly derailed Miraculous from the storyline I know it as.

Most prominently:

Did this man put his own son in psych ward? With Kagami? What on Earth is going on? I certainly hope this isn’t proving the theory that both Adrien and Kagami are Sentibeings, because I do not have the energy to explore that narrative. But Adrien isn’t wearing his Miraculous anymore – was he found out? And what is Gabriel hoping to achieve by pushing one of his Alliance rings at him?

Is it now a brain-washing device? A tracking device?

Gabriel is monitoring both Adrien and Kagami’s vitals, are they ill? Or is he expecting the result of some experiment? Neither of them look very well as an off-mention.

The trailer does show Marinette wearing what appears to be both the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous, transformed and battling Monarch to boot, so was Adrien’s Miraculous removed from him and is in Marinette’s custody? I’m glad Monarch doesn’t have it at least.

It’s a cool idea, but I’m not particularly fond of it; I know that Marinette wearing both the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous, thus elevating to some divine, higher being, has been a popular trope in the fandom since Season 1, but it honestly seems like giving Marinette far too much agency, and, even in the scopes of a cartoon, unrealistic power. Like in Season 3, Chasseuse de Kwamis, where Marinette wore all the Miraculous minus the Peafowl and the Butterfly, and Master Fu remarks that she is the first hero in the history of the Miraculous to do so.

Really? That doesn’t seem like it’s true. Is it just Master Fu’s favouritism influencing his memory? Because previous Miraculous holders were adults and soldiers, battling wars, supernatural beings, and superhuman enemies, surely a fourteen-year-old girl from Paris couldn’t have triumphed five thousand years of remarkable individuals all by herself? 

I do also fear that Marinette having both Miraculous means that she will save the day single-handedly again, which – kudos to her, I can’t blame the writers for having a favourite, but it really does not look good for Adrien at this point.

Marinette is aware that Adrien has gone missing, locked up in Gabriel's multi-use mansion which can function as everything from a house, a jail, an underground villain lair, and a party venue. If this dream sequence of Marinette charging to rescue her damsel-in-distress (linguistically the right term) is any indication, I assume she doesn’t know it’s Gabriel’s fault otherwise she would’ve knocked down his front door. 

From all these screen-captures of the Parisian Miraculous Team in various states of despair, I assume there’s going to be once again a city-wide event which impacts and drains everyone. It seems significant how every one of their locations is a place of personal significance: Nino seems to be at the same street where he realised, in Larme Ultime, that Rena Rouge may be cheating on him with Chat Noir, Kim at the swimming pool, Max the brainiac in their homeroom, and Sabrina in Chloé’s closet (lmao).

Does this hint at another possibility of an all-out battle royale like in Penalteam? I hope so, Penalteam was so cool. And if the writers could up the fight scenes and choreography even a bit from that episode, they could cinch Miraculous’ place in 3D animation history.

Judging by the half-broken moon, a Chat Blanc reference :)?

I love Chat Blanc, he’s the best Akumatized victim thus far, and if he takes a step onto the battlefield against Monarch, even for a man with fourteen Miraculous on his side, that’s going to be a challenge. Just as how Marinette awakens from a dream of saving Adrien, Adrien seems to be rousing from this rust-sky, broken moon nightmare, is he remembering his alternate self from another universe? If Adrien and Chat Blanc manages to have a conversation together (hopefully one that doesn't involves Marinette/Ladybug) that'll be a bingo-stamp for the Unrealistic Miraculous Expectations card.

Plagg carrying Adrien's Ring away, yep: seems like he's delivering it to Marinette.

Marinette seems to lose an initial battle against Monarch with this ominous flickering scene –

– Adrien and Kagami are announced at large, and –

Who is this??

I thought it was Socqueline at first, judging by the hair and the glasses, but that is very much Lila's face and eyes and lips. Has she disguised herself as Socqueline? If so, for what purpose? (Nice leather jacket by the way, very femme fatale.) Or, is it – building on the rumours I've gandered about Lila in Season 5 so far – did Socqueline never exist and was only an instrument of Lila's conniving? That doesn't sound too farfetched for Miraculous actually.

But Miss Cerise does appear in the trailer, looking smug as she always does. Lila has much more of a presence in this season compared to the previous, happily, I look forward to seeing her more than anything else when I finally watch Season 5 :). That, and seeing Adrien in action again.

Final thoughts: It's a little concerning that Chloé didn't show up once in the trailer. Neither did Félix for that matter, for two people that are deeply important to the plot. I know it's difficult for the writers to include everyone in an integral manner with a forty-minute plot, but considering Chloé and Félix's characters and contribution to the series, I hope their non-appearance is because they didn't have the space to fit them in, and not because they're completely absent.

[asm5129]

RWBY V9 Thoughts & Analysis: E7 - The Perils of Paper Houses

So I thought there were new images of the blacksmith in the opening of this episode on first watch, but a friend told me they were always there and i checked and he was right. Oh well. Moving on

From the first shot we can see the creativity put into the design of the town with the paper lantern acting as their "sun"

Yang and Blake appear to have slept directly next top one another, which is adorable. Yang's also a snorer, because naturally.

Jaune...literally sleeps in his armor. Yikes. that's not a good sign.

And then Ruby...Ruby, you poor girl. I desperately hope you weren't awake all night stewing in your negative thoughts while staring at CR. Honestly though, considering what comes later, i wouldn't doubt it--we'll get there.

"I'm late!! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" As others have noted, Jaune holds allusions to the white rabbit

"You can fix it. You always fix it." Ooh boy, that's not a good sign.

"Ruby, where's your weapon?" Ruby dismisses this as her being tired, but it's clearly hinting at her actually not wanting to pick up Crescent Rose again.

"Hurry, people are counting on us!"

Ruby needs a break, but she's expected to be able to fulfill the role of Hero at any given moment. No time to rest, there's a new crisis to deal with!

btw I'll be talking more about Weiss' role this episode--and honestly, this volume--when i get to the final scene

Love this bit of foreshadowing--the vocal performance of "Three cheers for the Rusted Knight and his White Rabbit" is extremely flat and inauthentic. I noticed that the first time, but i wasn't sure what it meant. Now i know.

In fact, nearly every single moment with the Paper Pleasers gets new context on rewatch.

For instance, blatant disregards for their own (presumed) safety, like "Hello water, how may i serve you?"

Oh so Alyx did leave Jaune to die. It was a lethal poison. I stand by my theory that Alyx genuinely thought of the Ever After as make believe though, not to mention that it's quite possible she thought would Ascend--especially if she had topped believing he was actually from Remannt

Jaune's spent decades literally putting out fires whenever one pops up. He runs himself ragged, but as he says--at least the crises in this village are "predictable"

Oh no. He named the Paper Pleasers after everyone he feels like he failed. Oh no.

Ooof, Yang and Weiss accidently feeding the idea that Jaune is a failure through their tone about him not having any leads. This whole episode is "hurt people hurt people"

I won't go in depth here, but i highly recommend reading through Jaune's to-do list. It's wholesome and heartbreaking and a great look into his psyche at this point in time. I'm really happy they actually filled it out and gave us a good look, they easily could have made it squiggles or something.

So...hot take: I actually think Jaune's plan isn't that bad. But I also get why WBY are hesitant to take him up on it. From their perspective, this absolutely would feel pointless.

"This isn't crazy...I'm not crazy..." Poor Jaune. he's genuinely terrified he IS crazy, that he's been driven mad by isolation and pain, which is why he was so angry when CC implied it last episode.

"We can be frustrated later. Right now, Jaune needs us."

Ruby hasn't talked at all since they sat down, and she's not looking too good. and Little is noticing.

"Who does that leave us with? It's obvious we need someone to guide us"

Ruby speaks up for the first time "Well if that's how everyone feels--"

and gets cut off. If she hadn't been, I think what happens later would have happened here. She was already getting genuinely angry, clearly feeling like her team was saying they had a problem with her leadership. Except, maybe it wouldn't have been quite what it was in that final scene. Maybe it would have been more manageable. We'll never know.

So here's the thing. Arryn's great, but this isn't a town of "suicidal origami." The Paper Pleasers have no wish to die. If they were suicidal, they'd want to get eaten by the Jabberwalker. The problem is, Jaune doesn't understand that Ascension isn't death. I know to us and to him it sounds like it's indistinguishable from it, but it's been made explicit that to Afterans it is not the same at all. If they were the same, there would be no reason to worry about getting eaten by the jabberwalker. No, Ascension is a continuation of life to them. We may not understand it, but it's simply their reality. And that's why what Jaune has done is so awful.

To be clear, I'm not demonizing Jaune. I have deep empathy for him. He was desperate, and in pain, and isolated, and again, to him Ascension is death. But his own trauma and trust issues and subsequent willful ignorance about how the Ever After works ended up pushing him to craft a fantasy where crises can befall the people he loves (or stand-ins for them, anyway) and he can save them, again and again and again and again and again, forever.

Yang is totally right-- no one has the full story, not yet.

"he's clearly not...all there"

"Is that what you think?!"

There is a surprising lack of empathy for Jaune from Weiss and Yang in particular this episode--and we see the direct consequences of it right here.

"We're not listening to [the cat] We're listening to the Afterans"

Someone mentioned this somewhere and i think it's right--this is Blake's social justice side coming out in the aftermath of the visit to the herbalist. Listening to those with the authentic lived experience, rather than accepting the biases that come with her own.

Oh Jaune. Your trust issues are so deep.

"Then why do you care so much about this village?"

"BECAUSE I CAN ACTUALLY PROTECT THESE PEOPLE"

Ugh, my heart. Refer to my paragraph about Jaune creating a fantasy here

OH NO, JABBERWALKERS

Again, they aren't suicidal, otherwise they wouldn't be running in fear from the walkers

"then we won't run this time"

Ruby stays back for a couple seconds, but as always there's no time. She has a responsibility, right? She's the hero. There's no choice but to fight, no matter how much she doesn't want to, because that's her role.

Weiss and Jaune acting like partners in this fight while Ruby stands off on the sidelines, ugh. And that look he gives to Ruby when he notices she isn't fighting? ouch.

I hope i'm not misusing the term, but what's happening to Ruby here certainly seems like PTSD flashbacks. And the way they're animated and visualized and framed really puts us in ruby's headspace, it's heartbreaking. Plus that shot of Salem? Yikes

It was literally going to eat her and she was just...paralyzed.

Yeah, so yang's weirded out--definitely more than a semblance evolution here.

Regardless, Neo's closing in. I expect a lot of her tomorrow, but we'll see.

Meanwhile Jaune is lashing out, framing her paralysis as cowardice and selfishness, yet Ruby can't even hold Crescent Rose, the thing she once called her "sweetheart".

everyone knows that's a big deal, but hey--there's another crisis! There's always a crisis.

Clear mirror to the fall of Atlas.

"I was supposed to save them, and they're dead." -Jaune

Explicit spelling out that they're gone, but not dead

And here it is. THE scene. Let's break it down

"Why are you asking me? Because I'm the leader? Because I'm just supposed to have something to say? Cuz i don't. I mean, why do I have to be the leader anyway? Why do I have to be the one who always picks everybody up? What about me?"

Everyone has always looked to her for inspiration, because she's damn good at it. But it's waaaay too much pressure. It's funny--Yang once said something ruby desperately needed to hear, but she said it in one of her worst moments and Ruby didn't know how important it was.

"Sometimes bad things just happen"

And the thing is, without intending to, a lot of people--people who genuinely love her--relied on her to make that not true. To make every bad thing seem manageable, or to mean something.

They relied on her to make the world more like a fairy tale, because they didn't know how to cultivate the same spark she seemed to have.

Ruby's pain was always quiet. Actually, funnily enough, a lot of the audience fell into similar assumptions--that if Ruby's development wasn't loud, didn't get the spotlight, that it didn't matter. But it was always there. And just because not everyone's pain is loud and obvious, doesn't make it not real--If you were paying attention, you could see the groundwork being laid for this in every volume, including the ones that get the most gripes for doing her dirty.

But, the thing is, WBY and co aren't the bad guys for not being able to help her. She wasn't able to be helped, and they had their own baggage to deal with. Everyone can do their best, and someone can still get extremely hurt. WBY did the absolute best they could, and Ruby was still hurt. Those can and do coexist.

To Weiss: "No time, right? Gotta get home! Gotta help Jaune! Gotta find someone who isn't going to screw everything up!"

So, i personally take this line as coming from Weiss' behavior in this volume--the complaints about the Ever After, the blaming of team RWBY for the evacuation plan going wrong, being "tired of leaving places in ashes--having been internalized by Ruby as remarks about her failures.

Remember, Ruby blames herself for getting everyone stuck in the Ever After, so every time someone expressed frustration with the Ever After, or impatience over not having gotten out yet, she would have internalized that as slights against her.

When Weiss' frustration about the Ever After comes out, Ruby hears it as "You got us stuck here, you lost my home, and I'm miserable because of your choices. and you aren't even able to get us out."

BUT

I ALSO think it has a lot to do with her behavior in volume 1

the FNDM talks a lot about the impact of Oz's words on leadership on Ruby, and for good reason

But i think we overlook just how much of an impact v1 Weiss likely had on Ruby's psyche

Ruby came to Beacon riddled with insecurities

She was worried about making friends, worried about being a leader, worried about not deserving the skip to Beacon Oz granted her, and worried how people would treat her because of it

And Weiss hammered at ALL of those

Reapetedly

Hell, Ruby only got that awful advice from ozpin because she wanted reassurance that he didn't think weiss was right about her inability to be a leader

Again, not demonizing Weiss. We know why she was like that, it wasn't her fault. But i think it's something we oughta talk about more.

To Yang: "Gotta stay positive, right?! Smiles all around!! Maybe even get our feelings sorted out!

We've seen Yang very explicitly put Ruby on a pedestal multiple times. Most obviously in volume 5, but a bit even as far back as volume 1.

in volume 1, Ruby is expressing her desire not to be seen as a freak or imposter for skipping ahead two years, saying she doesn't want anyone to think she's special, while Yang piles on the praise telling her she is special

in volume 5, she stays to fight Salem after learning about all of Oz's lies and explicitly states it's because Ruby is doing so and she "always knows the right thing to do"

In volume 7, despite her hesitancy around lying to Ironwood, she tells Ruby they'll follow her lead

in volume 8, she says "We said we'd follow your lead when we got here, and that hasn't exactly worked out", unintentionally laying the blame for Ironwood's fall and all the other Atlas crises at Ruby's feet

Again, not demonizing Yang. She gave up her childhood for Ruby to be her parental figure when Tai was in his depression, but that doesn't mean she knew how to be a mother, not at that age. She would have no idea how to deal with with the complex and messy emotions of someone the age Ruby was when she was raising her, and Ruby herself would have felt pressure not to make an unfair job for Yang even harder.

To Blake: "Good for you, by the way, we're all so happy for you!"

RUBY IS NOT BEING HOMOPHOBIC. Can't believe I have to say that. She's not even genuinely unhappy for them I'd wager, she's just resentful that she didn't get to be happy too.

The thing is, there always seemed to be time for everyone else to slow down and sort through their feelings, but to Ruby that meant that if they needed that time she had to pick up the slack. That's why she went to Haven. It's what happened with the Apathy. If everyone else has fallen apart, someone has to hold it together and save lives. Someone has to hold it it together and lead. And she could, so she should...right?

"i'm sorry is this a bad time? Are we supposed to be mourning Jaune's make believe friends?"

and then Jaune goes on to blame her for everything she's already blaming herself for, and ooof that painful expression she makes, it breaks my heart (RWBY facial expressions are such an underrated part of the series btw--they're so good)

Jaune was her first real friend at Beacon. He gave her his hand in support for no other reason than that she needed it. I'd say that they genuinely might be best friends. They were always there for each other.

Hearing these words would always be painful, but hearing it from Jaune cuts straight into Ruby's soul.

He immediately apologizes. "I'm sorry, I know I'm not okay, I know I'm not right.... but how am I supposed to be?"

That bit of self-awareness is what could save you Jaune. Hold onto that.

"I've been alone for so long...Here...on that bridge...I was the only one that could do it, i was the ONLY ONE. And now I have to live with that forever. In here or back home." I think he's talking about killing Penny.

"Guys, i know things are bad but--"

"Shut. Up.

Don't do that. Just...don't."

When you know all the right words to lift people up, but you've stopped believing them, hearing them from others feels...almost insulting.

God what a brilliant episode. Im excited for what comes next, but also utterly terrified. I'm not sure any other story has affected me quite as deeply as RWBY. I'll have to do some RWBY meta on why that is at some point, but right now I've already spent far too long on this.

Good luck everyone! We'll need it 😅

[bustyasianbeautiespod]

Episode 71 Transcript: This Episode is the Opposite of Scoobynatural

[intro guitar music]

G: Hello! My name is Grey.

C: And my name is Crystal.

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

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

G: Both Asian! For today’s episode, we will be discussing Season 4, Episode 11: "Family Remains," written by Jeremy Carver, [C laughs] directed by Phil Sgriccia.

C: Jeremy Carver will just have Sam say fucking anything for Dean character development. [G laughing]

G: No, for fucking real. This is so- The thing is, you messaged me about this episode way before I watched it. So you watched it before me.

C: Yeah yeah yeah.

G: And I will read the messages that you did send me. “This episode is soo corny. You already did ‘The Benders’! You can be done now.” And then you replied after like, a couple of minutes, “I feel mixed to negative about SPN so much it's unreal.” And then in a bit, you reply again, “Actually, it's okay.” And then you go, [laughs] “I'm back to mixed to negative.” Which, this did, in fact, color my watching of this episode.

C: Oh, apologies.

G: Because I didn't know what this episode was going to be about-

C: Oh no! You didn't know the twist? Fuck!

G: No, I had absolutely no recollection.

C: I knew the twist before I came in!

G: I don't know anything about this episode! Nothing! Nothing. So like, when you were like, "You already did 'The Benders,'" I was like, "Oh, it's gonna be a human being."

C: Oh no, I spoiled it all.

G: But the funny thing is, the entire time, like, I already knew that, like, there was a girl who killed a guy at the beginning of the episode. And I was like, "Yeah, I mean, yeah." But for some reason I was still thinking, "Maybe the family is like, a cannibal family." [both laugh] Like, I was still in the- Because they were like, you know, they were obviously like, building up that they have secrets or whatever; they're going through some shit-

C: Right, you thought the secret was that they cannibalized? That's so funny.

G: Yeah, that maybe the secret is that they are evil, evil, you know, mass murderers!

C: True.

G: And I was looking forward to that. And then twist was "there is a girl in there," and it's like, "Ah, okay, fine, whatevs."

C: Sorry. Sowwy.

G: But honestly, you know, it's okay. Honestly, I do not agree with you on this episode.

C: You liked it?

G: I think it was extremely entertaining. Whether I like it or not is up for debate.

C: There was a twist that she had a secret twin. [G laughing]

G: I- [both laughing] it was the stupidest fucking thing. I don't know why they did it, and then they never acknowledged it before or after. Wow! They're crazy.

But I- [laughs] I thought it was entertaining. Which is different from being good.

C: There was a twist that she had a secret twin. It opened with the guy being like, "Oh my god! It's impossible! How are you here?" but he was secretly feeding her the whole time! [both laughing] What- why was it impossible that she was there?

G: No, I really liked that it was like, we were looking into the psyche of like, another person, you know? There was another family here, and we do get insight on who they are and the things that they've been through, and how this is going to affect them. Because, like, one of my issues with Supernatural is, they keep doing this thing where a person learns about bullshit bullshit whatever, goes through a very traumatic experience, and they come out of it like, [valley girl] "Oh my god, thank you so much! Like, I really wanna kith you right now." You know? But this episode-

C: It's a slight improvement on that-

G: It is!

C: But also, it does imply that like, her brother getting murdered is what saved her marriage, so. [G laughing]

G: No, but like, you know what I mean. It has this impact of like, "This will affect them."

C: Yeah, that part is true.

G: And I like that. I really like that.

Although I would say, everything else about this episode is so fucking goofy! I mean, I'll bring up the shit when we get to it, so that I don't just ramble for the entire beginning-

C: Did he teach her how to spell while she was living in the walls?

G: I know! [laughing]

C: Like, she was able to spell "too late" out in blood-

G: She spelled "go"!

C: - even though, according to Sam, she's "barely human," or whatever the fuck. [G laughing]

G: That's what- [both laughing] we'll get it. I mean, this episode is entertaining. I would say that it's not boring. Which is, you know, there are episodes of Supernatural that are so, so humdrum-

C: It's not boring because I'm just flummoxed by [both laughing] how any of this can be true.

G: I mean, yes, and also like, Sam's like, reaction to the whole thing, Dean's reaction to the whole thing... [both laughing] You know what? Jeremy Carver, as we've said before, is good at comedy. He writes funny episodes.

C: And he tried to be serious-

G: He tried to be serious-

C: And instead was so unserious. [G laughs]

G: I think that's the best way to describe this episode. It is so unserious.

C: It is not the jonker from the movie the jokner. [G laughs]

G: It is unserious, and also like, it is so funny when you think about literally anything. And like, funny in a "What the fuck?!" kind of way, [C laughs] you know?

C: Yeah.

G: Because many times in this episode, I was like, "What??" [C laughs] And, I mean it sure is, you know. At least I was thinking. [C laughs] 'Cause usually, when I watch an episode of Supernatural-

C: It was intellectually stimulating.

G: It was. Because it was so funny. But usually, when I watch an episode of Supernatural, when I watch anything, really, I'm also doing something else. Like, I'm knitting, I'm crocheting, I keep my hands occupied. It's just how I watch things. But this episode, I really was watching it! Like, I put down my knitting to watch this episode [C laughs] because I thought it was that entertaining. So that's something to say about it.

C: I guess it is.

G: Yeah. So, well, going in, what did you learn about it? And also, I'm very curious as to how you knew the twist.

C: I think I just saw a post once that was like, it was like, a list of like, the scariest episodes of Supernatural, or someone asking like, "What do you think is the scariest episode of Supernatural?"

G: [laughing] They said this?

C: And someone I followed mentioned "Family Remains,"- or the episode said "Family Remains," and the person in the tags was like, "Was that the one where Sam and Dean spent so long trying to convince the family that ghosts were real, but it turned out to be children living in the walls?" [G laughing] So I knew it was humans living in the walls.

G: This is the opposite of "Scoobynatural." Like, here, they were like, "They're ghosts! They're ghosts!" And it was literally a human being. And in "Scoobynatural," they were like, gaslighting the Scooby gang. [laughing] Like, "It wasn't a ghost. You guys are craazy." [both laughing] Which is, honestly, such an odd thing to do in a fucking- I don't know. We'll get to "Scoobynatural" when we get to it.

C: Was it like, "We're gonna preserve the innocence of these children-"

G: Yes!

C: "- but they weren't children when I, Dean Winchester, was hitting on one of them earlier."

G: It was- it was literally like, "Oh, they're so distraught over having ghosts." Look! They knew they were ghosts. Like, the Scooby gang saw the ghost, and totally believed that there were ghosts. Then, Sam and Dean orchestrated this thing where it's like, "Oh, but like, it's not actually a ghost! It was an apparition!"

C: "It was Cas under a sheet!"

G: "It was a human being who was haunting you all and trying to get rid of you! Ghosts aren't real! [C laughs] You guys never even believed it! Like, you guys were just thinking that you believed it." It was a wild thing to put on.

C: That's very different from their usual thing. [G laughs] Why?

G: No, 'cause like, Dean wanted to preserve, you know, their- I don't know what the word is. I don't know words in English. You know, they were happy people.

C: Dean is an AO3 user for real. [G laughs] He does care about fictional characters more than real people.

G: He do. He fucking does. Well, anyway, is that all you knew about this episode?

C: Yeah, yeah. But I could guess, like, the rest of the twist. As soon as the housekeeper said that the daughter killed herself.

G: Well, I mean, the fact that it was her daughter, I didn't see that coming. I thought it was still her.

C: Oh, but like, I guess because I knew it was a human, so like, she was not old enough to be her.

G: Yeah, but like, you know. They did bring that up, and I was like, "I don't know. Maybe she has a banger skincare routine." [C laughs] Like, who fucking knows.

C: Maybe the all rats-

G: Maybe she's the opposite of Peter Capaldi! [both laughing]

C: Okay, the thing about that episode that haunts me is that I said that he was 58, but he was 55 or 56, and I knew that, and I said that in the post, so I don't know why I messed up on the age. Like, I'm a fucking fake fan, and everyone should laugh at me and throw tomatoes at me forever.

G: Yeah, exactly. I love how we're talking in this episode like everyone who listens to this episode are also listen to that episode.

C: Of course they did! What do you mean?

G: And you know, it's probably true. It's probably true. Like, why are you listening to an own episode of a Supernatural podcast for the episode "Family Remains" [both laughing] if you're not a consistent listener? But yeah.

God, we should start. We've been talking for so long.

C: Sure.

-

G: We start off with a "Road So Far" where they show Cas-

C: And for what?

G: And I did get my hopes up a little bit. I was like, "He's here. Is he gonna be here? Maybe!"

C: Nope.

G: No, he's not. It's not happening. [C laughs]

C: It's so joever.

G: What else did they show? It was Dean being like, [mocking, teary] "I tortured people. Put them in the rack." You know, stuff like that.

C: They really AMV-edited this one. [G laughs] Like, there's a part at the end of the last- or an episode before that- where Dean's like, "They like, carved and tore like, every part of me." But it's like he says, "they carved," and then it flashes to him in Hell, like, in pain, and then he goes "and tore," and then it flashes to another- the same clip of him in Hell but slightly zoomed in. [G laughs]

G: Exactly. They knew what they were doing. I wish, you know, everyone else who made this episode also felt the same way [C laughs], but it's okay. We should be less mean to the writers because they are having a strike, and I want to be clear that [laughing] I do support them. I just also am very much a hater.

C: Yeah, I support the strike. But I do think an AI could write a better episode of Supernatural than this.

G: [laughing] No! Do not say that! Do not say that.

C: Okay, yeah, they probably couldn't. Because they can only work off of previous data, and the previous data is also from the Supernatural writers, so it's shit data.

G: Yeah. And you know what? I don't think Supernatural can be what it is if it does not have Sera Gamble's twisted psyche [both laughing] embedded all over the first few seasons, you know? C: It's true. It's true. She did write some very important episodes

G: So yeah. Go writers, go actors.

C: I forgot that the Supernatural writers are still like, writers.

G: [laughing] You thought once Supernatural was over-

C: I just sort of assume that like, they took them out back and shot them like a lame horse. [G laughs] But yeah, I guess Sera Gamble did "You," which everyone says is like, good?

G: Yeah, I'm not gonna watch it, though. I'm so sorry.

C: Yeah, I'm not gonna watch it.

G: I watched Trixie and Katya's episode on it, on like, the last season of it. And apparently, this guy was like, being blackmailed for being a murderer by another murderer. And I was like, "Yeah, that's fun."

C: Oh, yeah, I heard that like, yeah, the most recent girl was like, a twisted cycle path, or whatever.

G: [laughs] Yeah. Hashtag cyclepathy.

-

G: Well, we start off the episode in a good old- well, this house is a house in the country, like, in the middle of a farm. It's a very pretty house. I would say that. It's big, spacious, etc.

C: It's nice. Though it's sort of grimy right now.

G: I didn't notice that, I don't think. I was still at my knitting era while I was watching this.

C: Maybe it was the lighting that made it seem like it was grimy?

G: Yeah. I mean, the thing about me is it takes me maybe 10 minutes into watching a Supernatural episode before I realize that I probably need to put my brightness to the max so that I can see anything. So like, for the first 10 minutes, I'm just like, "What's happening? What's happening?" [both laugh] And then I realize that like, "Oh, okay, like, I can actually control the brightness so I can figure out what is happening."

C: Yeah. It's so horrible. How dim every Supernatural episode is. I mean, it's like, a nice look. Like, I know I'm gonna miss it once they get fully into sitcom lighting. But right now, it just hurts my eyes so much to switch to my notes-taking Google Doc, [G laughs] which is like, all white, like, after I have cranked the brightness to the max in order to see what the fuck those men in jeans are doing.

-

G: Well, we start off in said house, and there is a guy there.

C: Sure is.

G: And he is watching, like, a show on the television. And then suddenly, power goes out.

C: Right, okay, so does she have control of the power, or does it just happen coincidentally?

G: I think she has control over the power. Maybe this is like, a Parasite situation.

C: Right, right, yeah. With the the flickering the lights Morse code thing.

G: Yeah. He tries to go out, but the door is locked. And then suddenly, this lady who looks like a ghost comes out, and then he goes, "You? [both] It's impossible!" [both laughing]

C: Why is it impossible?! He literally has been feeding her the whole time! What is he talking about?

G: It's wild shit. Anyway, he just goes like, "Stay away from me! Blah blah blah blah!" And then the girl, you know, attacks. And that's the end of our teaser.

C: Blood splashes on the "Home, Sweet Home" cross-stitch-

G: Hell yeah.

C: - is like, how they showed that he died. Which is fun, but also Corny.

-

C: We're in the Impala, and like, they're parked out, like, near some trees, and Sam's sleeping in the back seat. He's soo cute. And Dean's looking through newspapers and shit. And Sam's like, "Oh my god! Why are you looking for a job so much? Like, we've been working nonstop for a month. We just finished a job two hours ago. This sucks." And Dean's like, "No, I will sleep when I'm dead. I'm fine. I'm good." And Sam tells him that he can't run for forever. And Dean's like, [belligerent] "Oh, yeah? Well, what am I even running from?" [G laughs] And Sam says, "From what you told me." Like, i.e. the torturing souls in Hell thing. And then he goes, "Are we pretending that never happened?" And Dean pretends that it never happened by just talking about the case that we saw in the teaser. Sam's like, "Okay, that does sound like a ghost." And Dean's like, "Uh-huh. So we should check it out." And Sam does like, a fun thing where he like, sighs, and then he just like, fully flops back down in the backseat. Like, you just see his head go down. Love that.

G: I think he's so real for that. My commute to school is insane. And every time I arrive-

C: It's like 4 hours, right?

G: Well, it's 4 hours total. It's 2 hours away and 2 hours from.

C: That's still disgusting.

G: But every time I arrive on campus, I go - if I don't have classes immediately - I go straight to the library, and there's like, a couch situation in the sixth floor, and I just plop my head down. And seeing Sam do this, I was like, "I understand being on the road. [C laughing] Like, I get it." You know, 2 hours, a month. It's the same thing.

C: Yeah. [G laughs] True.

G: It literally is.

C: It is.

G: Also the case is in Nebraska.

C: Yes, which is so Ethel Cain of them.

G: What can you tell me about Nebraska? You know, the only thing I know about that place is-

C: It's near Kansas?

G: [Southern? accent] "Something about that cool Nebraska guy."

C: What?? [laughing]

G: "Something, baby." [laughing]

C: What??

G: I'm singing a song! Fuck off.

C: What is the song? [G laughing]

G: It's a Lady Gaga song. [typing] "Lady Gaga Nebraska song." It's called "You and I."

C: Huh.

G: It's like, I think her like, it's her country hit or whatever. And it's like, "Baby, like, we're drinking whiskey" and something about "you and I." And "you're a cool Nebraska guy." [C laughs] So yeah.

C: Wh- Yeah.

G: Why do I know this? What do you mean "why?"

C: I don't- No, no, I mean, that makes sense. Like, Lady Gaga's a famous musical artist.

G: Yeah. God.

C: I really don't know anything about Nebraska. Ethel Cain has a song called "A House in Nebraska."

G: Slay!

C: Available on all streaming platforms. But that's about all I know. And that it's close to Kansas, like, it's bordering Kansas.

G: Hm. Well, what are they gonna plant there? Like, what is Nebraska known for, agriculturally?

C: I don't actually know. Let's see. [typing] "Nebraska agriculture"...

G: "What is the major agriculture in Nebraska?" Corn! It's a corn place

C: I feel like everywhere that's an agriculture place is a corn place-

G: No.

C: - because of the US, like, subsidy whatever things regarding corn.

G: Oh, yeah. That's why corn syrup, you have in everything, yeah.

C: Yeah, there's high fructose corn syrup. There's corn in like, all animal feeds, even though, like, corn in cow feeds-

G: Yeah, is not good.

C: - causes them to form methane and fucks up the air, yeah.

G: Yeah. I mean, you have potatoes in Idaho. I know that.

C: That's true. Good point.

G: And then you have peaches in Georgia.

C: That's true.

G: I think you have weed in Colorado. [laughing] I don't know if that's the major culture in there.

C: I don't think it's the major. But yeah, there's weed in Colorado, and in California-

G: Yeah. That's true.

C: And probably elsewhere nowadays.

G: Mm-hm. Who is- is this from Supernatural? There's a guy who was like, growing weed in his bathtub? And then he goes, "That's not weed!" [G laughs] It was from here, right?

C: Yes! It was the fucking- it was the guy they fucking murdered [both laughing] in "Dream a Little Dream of Me," right?

G: [laughing] Yeah. [both laughing] That is still the funniest episode of this show. They literally just killed a guy [both laughing] after an entire season of "We shan't kill people, Sam. It's bad!" And then they just kill a guy.

C: Yeah. They don't even talk about it afterwards. [G laughing]

G: I love Supernatural.

C: Like, it's just business as usual.

G: Yeah.

C: They sent his abusive dad to beat him to death- [G laughing]

G: And then he died in his sleep! [laughs] Crazy.

C: God. [laughs] What the hell? Anyway, Supernatural is a show.

G: It truly is.

-

G: Well, you know, Sam and Dean drive through the country. And they see the house, and there's like, a thing where there's a sign that's like, "House For Sale" and I guess there was supposed to be like, a sign over it that says, "Sold." But the sign fell down so they didn't know that it was already sold.

C: Yup.

G: So they go to the farm. And there's this very long sequence- Did you notice this? Like, they just climb up the stairs and open the door.

C: Yes! [laughing] And Sam- the way Sam climbs the fucking stairs. [G laughing] I'm obsessed with him.

G: I am obsessed with him, that's true.

C: So like, the stairs, there's steps, but then there's like, you know, the flat area in between like, sequences of steps. And like, Sam switches between walking like a totally normal person [G laughs] and fucking like, jog-hopping up the stairs. Like, he has, like- you know the jogging thing where you have your hands in fists and like, you're moving your arms? Like, he fucking does that for like, sets of five steps.

G: I love him. Also, it's just a weird thing, because it was completely silent. Nothing was happening aside from, you know, we're watching them walk up the stairs. And then-

C: I think they just did that to make fun of Jared Padalecki for how he climbed stairs. [G laughing]

G: They open the door, like, Dean picks the lock or whatever. And the whole time, I was thinking, "Oh, is this one of those episodes where they're so obviously, like, running out of material [C laughs] and like, there's just so much time that they need to occupy or whatever?" And I was ready for that kind of episode.

C: But no.

G: But it's not that kind of episode. This episode is full.

C: In fact, they cut out the whole part where they talk about how the diary reveals that it was a twin so that they could show Sam climbing the stairs. [G laughs]

G: They literally cut out any mention of the twin brother other than his death [both laughing] in order to make room for this climbing up the stairs shot. And I respect that. You know, they know their priorities.

C: They were right to do it.

G: Yeah. Dean enters the house, make some quip about it's a 3 bathroom, 1 bath home, but, like, there's one homicide. "I guess this place is gonna sell really well." And then they start walking around. This episode does start very slowly. Like, it's just a house, and they're just walking around. And he's opening cabinets. They're like- they're just like, knocking at the walls, which I respect. And every couple of shots is interspersed with a shot of like, somebody looking at them from inside the wall.

C: Yeah, it's like, a POV thing where they're looking through the slats.

G: And it did make me think of- what's that? The Jo episode? "No Exit"?

C: "No Exit," yeah.

G: Yeah. Which, that was actually a ghost. And they fucking imprisoned him there with concrete, which is, you know. Always a fun idea to do.

C: Yeah.

G: But it has that vibe of like, "Oh, there's somebody looking at you through the walls." And then Dean finally, like, knocks the wall and notices that it's a different kind of knock. And he realizes that it's wood instead of, you know, concrete. Sam says that it's probably a dumbwaiter, which is, you know, old houses have them? A dumbwaiter is like an elevator for food, right?

C: Yeah.

G: Yeah. Is that common? Like, have you ever been in a house-

C: No, I've never been in a house with a dumbwaiter.

G: Yeah, okay. It is a very fascinating word. Dumbwaiter.

C: I guess because it's like, a waiter that brings you food except it's a machine, so it's stupid. That's fun.

G: Yeah, but like, it's so mean! Don't be mean! [C laughing] Don't be mean! That's all I have to say about it.

C: I understand.

G: Did you miss the little bit where Dean goes like, "Ugh. Know-it-all."

C: Yeah. And Sam goes, "What did you say?"

G: And then Dean's like, "What?" [laughs] I respect it.

C: "Huh? What? No? That must've been the ghost, Sam!"

G: "I think there's a ghost here-"

C: "You're craaazy." [laughs]

G: "I think it's a ghost here telling you that you're a fucking know-it-all. I mean, it's just what I heard." [both laugh] He is so funny. He's so funny for this.

C: He's not funny. But-

G: I love it when siblings are annoying to each other.

C: That's true. But it doesn't make them funny. It makes them siblings.

-

G: They go in, and, well, there's nothing. I mean, we learned later that this place was completely fucking- it was horrible in here, like, when the guy died. Like, the way it was described is "He was everywhere." So the fact that this space is spectacular is like, oh, well, you know.

C: Good realty company.

G: Yeah. And they open a closet. There's a doll head in there.

C: Just like in Yellowjackets.

G: Well, maybe.

C: The eyes are removed.

G: The eyes are removed? I didn't know notice that.

C: Or at least it looked like it. Or the lighting was so bad that just the eyes looked like they had been removed.

G: Well, this exploration is cut off by a moving truck and a car coming in. They realize that the place is, in fact, bought by someone already. And now they're here.

-

C: So we cut to, you know, the family, and they're such a like, capital letters Normal American Family it like, made me physically ill to look at them. You know, like, there's a son, Danny, and his dog, and they're both rambunctious or whatever. And then there's like, the parents. And then there's like, a daughter, and she's on they phone. We get a conversation where it is made clear that there is no cell signal out here. Which is-

G: It never comes up ever again.

C: Yeah, I mean, I think it's just helpful to know. Because it's like, as soon as you know it's like, a real person, like, I feel like a hashtag #NormalAmericanFamily would call the cops, so like, I guess it's like a "Well, they can't call the cops because there's no cell signal."

G: Yeah, but like, I think they can. [both laugh] I don't know.

C: Yeah.

G: There was cable. The guy jad cable. So.

C: That's true. Oh, and also, there's an uncle, the mom's brother. We learn things about their lives. They moved here from far away. We find out later they moved here from 400 miles away. Like, you are ruining your teenage daughter's life if you're moving away from all of her friends and now she can't even talk to them anymore.

G: That's true. [typing] "400 miles to kilometers," because I am, in fact, not American. 643 kilometers. I respect that. [C laughs] Aren't the like, "500 Miles" guys, like, Scottish or something? Do they also use miles-

C: Oh, The Proclaimers?

G: Yeah. Do they use miles there?

C: I think they also use miles in like- because I know they do miles per hour, at least, for driving speeds in-

G: The UK.

C: The UK. And I learned that from Good Omens. So yeah, maybe they do miles in general as well?

G: Well, I mean, it's a British, you know, imperial unit. I don't think they use it anymore. But maybe they did in the past.

C: Hm, yeah. Purgaps.

G: I have no idea. I have no idea what I'm fucking talking about. Slaycation! [G laughing]

C: Slaycation!

G: [laughing] What is happening?

C: - Which is what this family is embarking on.

G: Yeah, they're going to a slaycation.

C: So-

G: Wait. This house is a 3 bedroom. Where the fuck is the uncle sleeping?

C: Good question! [laughs]

G: 'Cause, like, the kids are in separate rooms, and I assume the couple is in one room.

C: Yeah.

G: Is the uncle just hogging the couch, like, "Yeah."

C: Maybe he's like, sleeping on the floor of the couples room. Who knows? [G laughs]

G: I respect that.

C: So, I don't know. They're just talking to each other, establishing a dynamic where it's the teenage daughter who's on they phone and the, like, uncle who's like, her friend, and like, a jokey guy. And then like, it ends on this shot where like, the husband, Brian, and the wife, Susan, are looking at the house, and he's like, hugging her from behind, and they're both looking up at the house. And like, I truly did want to throw up. Like, stop doing that shit. [G laughs]

G: What do you mean?

C: I just don't like this sort of pose. Like, you're not taking prom photos. [G laughing] Like, what are you doing with your life? [laughs]

Also, like, the women's outfits here are so 2000s. Like, the mom's, wearing like, a puffy jacket, but like, a puffy jacket vest, and the daughter's wearing like, basically like, a fucking Abercrombie jacket with like, a fur lining on the hood. Like, I remember my Abercrombie jacket was fur lining on the hood.

G: I also do fucking remember having an Abercrombie jacket with fur in the hood.

C: Yeah.

G: I fucking loved that thing.

C: Yeah, it was like, my go-to jacket-

G: It was also my go-to!

C: Even though Abercrombie is like, an awful company.

G: It was my go-to. We bought it at like, one of those like- what do they call it? It's like the store, but like, it's cheap. What's that called?

C: Wait, the name? I don't know.

G: It is the store. But like, it's cheap.

C: Factory store?

G: And like, you find it in like, gas stations and stuff. Yeah! It's a factory outlet, yeah. My sister had the blue one, and I had the red one! It was a wonderful, wonderful time.

C: Aww. I had a blue one, and then later, a gray one when I outgrew the blue one.

G: Yeah. I love jackets. They are my ride or die.

C: Yeah, agreed.

Abercrombie the general store was so horrible to be in because my sister liked getting clothes from there so like, we'd all have to go there, but like, they don't make clothes for people who are average weight, you know? Or above that? It's like, awful. Anyway.

G: Yeah. Well, you know, I- like, in American sizes, I am a medium to large, which means in Filipino size [laughs], I'm a XXL. Which, you know, makes life quite miserable. Yeah, 'cause Asian sizes are significantly smaller, I think. So like, shopping in like, a normal store that is like, not American sizes? Always been horrible.

C: Yeah.

-

C: But their reverie is broken by Sam and Dean like, [G laughs] running down the stairs, trying to leave.

G: I love it!

C: Yeah. Trying to sneak out or do something. And then, like, you know, the dad's like, "Hi. What?" And they pull out their fake code inspector badges, and go, "Hello! We're county code enforcement. And there's a fucking problem with the building. There's asbestos in the walls and a gas leak. So that means that no one is allowed to live here, and you all have to go stay at a motel. And if you don't, you are gonna get a fine or go to jail."

G: Boo.

C: And the family's all like, "Oh, I don't wanna. We just got here. Blah blah blah." Bro. It's fucking asbestos. Was asbestos not as big of a problem back then?

G: It's so funny- like, at one point, the wife goes like, "Asbestos? Meaning what?" [C laughs] I was like, "Meaning what?? What?? [laughing] Why are you asking this?" There's asbestos in the walls! [C laughs] I love it.

C: Are the health effects like, not immediate? Because I remember there was like, an episode of like, fucking House Hunters or Property Brothers or something on HGTV [G laughs] where, like, they had been in there for like, a while, and then they're like, "So, the inspection came back, and there's asbestos in the walls." [both laughing]

G: I mean, I think it's a little bit like mercury or like, lead or whatever-

C: Okay, it's like, a gradual poisoning.

G: I don't know. Actually, I don't know. What's the thing on the paint? That's lead, right?

C: Yeah, it's lead paint. And that like, fucks with kids a lot.

G: Yeah, mostly, yeah. Actually, I don't know. Let's not spread misinformation on our podcast Busty Asian Beauties.

C: True. About real things instead of Supernatural, yeah.

G: Yeah.

C: They are like, "Okay, fine. We'll stay in a motel for one night. But we aren't even gonna call anyone to remove the asbestos from the walls [G laughs] over the night."

G: Yeah, because, like, health inspectors are not allowed to like, touch up your house. This is like, a thing, because, like, it's- what do you call it?

C: Conflict of interest?

G: Conflict of interest. Yeah. Like, they're legally not allowed to do that. So like, they just did not call anyone. [both laugh] And I respect that! They were like, "We're gonna solve this problem by tomorrow. By tomorrow, I mean, we're gonna call someone tomorrow. RI-fucking-P." [C laughs]

C: Yeah. Yeah. And the daughter says some shit like, "Another motel? Awesome, dad. I hope this one has hooker sheets like the last one." What are Hooker sheets? What does she mean?

G: I don't know, I guess, like, if you're like, in a motel that's specifically like, a hookup motel, and it's designed in a tacky way-

C: Okay, Urban Dictionary says it's "a quilted polyester bed spread at low-budget hotels that may or may not ever get cleaned."

G: Ew!

C: Yeah. Anyway.

G: God. Best motel experience in Supernatural is still the one in "Provenance." I don't know why they did that, but I'm glad they did. It's always in my head and in my heart.

C: Yeah. Thanks, Phil, for that one.

G: Yeah. Our best friend Phil Sgriccia.

C: Though the best motel they've ever stayed in is still the "Yellow Fever" one where there's like, a door between the bedroom and the living room area. Like, what the hell? That's fancy.

-

G: Sam and Dean go to a woman's house, who, I guess, is the caretaker of this place, and she is also the one who found the guy when he died. Wait, I'm gonna burp. [burps] Okay.

C: Don't even cut it out. [G laughs] Do they still- in the more recent "Life in the World to Come"s, do they still keep in all the burps?

G: I think I have listened to one where somebody burped. I respect that.

C: Yeah, no. Earlier episodes, like, there's like, 3 burps per episode. They do not bother cutting that shit out.

G: I respect that.

C: Yeah.

G: So, you know, she says that it was a gruesome scene. She has been his house cleaner for a while, and Dean was like, "Oh, so do you know him at all?" And she goes, "Not really. He was very private. I think it's because his wife died in childbirth and his daughter hanged herself in the attic and stuff like that." 20 years ago, I think.

C: Yeah. And at this point, I wrote, "Okay, my theory is here that obviously, the daughter was pregnant at 20, maybe she was raped by her dad, and the creepy wall girl was her daughter."

G: How did you-?

C: So I called it five min into the episode, just so you know.

G: How did you-? How did you make that leap?

C: I just assumed that like- I don't know, like, it has to be like, bad or whatever.

G: [laughing] 'Cause they're in the country, and Supernatural.

C: Yeah, and also Supernatural like, loves like, just like, taking every single stereotype about the country and putting it in there. [G laughs]

G: Yeah. Yeah.

C: And also, okay, for some reason, I sort of thought that she'd given birth and then put the daughter in the wall herself as like a-

G: Oh, to hide it.

C: - "stay safe, stay away from like, yeah, the guy who raped me." So like, I guess that's why I thought that that was the situation.

G: It is wild to think that, like, if we are to assume that she killed herself, like, before the kids were grown, like, to a certain childhood. Like, this man like, raised these children.

C: Yeah, so.

G: How?!

C: He just like, threw food into the wall, I guess?

G: They were babies!

C: No, actually, yeah, they can't eat food.

G: They can't even drink water! [laughs] Like, you can't give water to a baby!

C: Yeah, was he going out to the stores and like, buying like, formula and mixing it and then like, tossing it on the ground for them to slurp? [G laughing] Like- What was the situation?

G: Ah! It was wild. Frankly- I don't know. We can be, you know, nitpicky about this episode, and we're never gonna get an answer, ever.

C: I mean, maybe she stayed around for like, the first few years of their life. But like, then [laughing] you would think that the diary would fucking mention that they were twins.

G: Yeah, like, I think we are to resume that she died like, immediately after birth or something. I don't fucking know.

C: Yeah, immediately after childbirth or something. Yeah, I feel like that the implication that I thought was like- Whatever. So yeah, like- They could not have stayed- They can't eat anything! [laughs]

G: Yeah! Anyway. she goes to get some pictures and hands it to Sam and Dean. You know, they keep the pictures. Sam asks why the daughter killed herself. She goes, "I don't know. But they were cremated." And also, Dean asks if she ever noticed anything about the house, like, "Oh, you know, like, are the lights going on and off?" like, blah blah blah. And the woman just goes like, "No, but there was one thing. Like, I heard rustling in the walls, like a rat." And they just went back to the house.

-

C: Back at the house, the moving truck and the family have returned because the uncle, Ted, is like, "Yeah, like, I'm a person who builds houses. That's my job. And I went in and I inspected, and there's no asbestos, and there's no gas leak, and those guys were total fakes."

G: How the hell did he do that? Like, did he buy like, materials that were like, asbestos detector?

C: How do you test if there's asbestos in the walls?

G: I think there's like, a tester.

C: Huh.

G: And then the gas leak is like CO something. CO meter or something? I don't know.

C: Yeah, perhaps.

G: Like, there's gotta be like, equipment that you need for sure. You can't just like, lick the wall [both laugh] and be like, "Okay, I licked the wall. It tastes like asbestos." You know?

C: Maybe he's the Tenth Doctor. Who knows?

G: Yeah. If he sat down and was like, "Oh, I started hallucinating after three hours. There's a gas leak here," like, yeah.

C: [laughs] Yeah.

G: That's a pretty good way to detect gas leaks, I feel.

C: That's true! Everyone should do that in the future. [G laughs] Who needs home inspectors?

G: Yeah. [laughing] You know, there's like- you know Jenny Nicholson? I love her. She's a YouTuber that I love very much.

C: Did she do a thing where she was a Reylo?

G: I don't think she was a Reylo. I think she was specifically like, "Reylos are so fucking funny," like, you know.

C: Wait, who was the person who was a Reylo?

G: I don't know. I mean, she read like, a published book that was a Reylo fanfic originally.

C: Oh, the fucking Love Hypothesis? I can't go into Barnes and Noble's anymore; it's always there.

G: Not even that. Not even that.  Not even that.

C: What, there's another one??

G: There's so many. There's so many. But like, she just made fun of it. I don't think she's a Reylo, but maybe she is. And you know what? [laughs] Star Wars made it happen.

C: I don't want to be flinging false accusations. Perhaps she isn't.

G: [laughs] Anyway, there's like, a whole deal where she reviewed a TV show that was like, a ghost hunting show. And basically, the format of the show is the family comes to them, and they're like, :Our house is haunted," and they start talking about why the house is haunted. And then the next segment is a house inspector going in and being like, "Yeah, you have a gas leak." [both laughing]

C: God, that's so funny. There's an episode of Monstrous Agonies that's also sort of the same thing. Like, it's a podcast that's like, a supernatural advice podcast [G laughs], and someone's like, "Oh my god, the house I'm in is haunted. Like, I've done everything. I've given it all the offerings that it's asked for, and it's still doing shit." And then, like, the like, host is like, "You have a fucking gas leak." [both laughing]

G: It was so funny because it's like, "Oh, like, sometimes, a door opens, and like, and then closes, and we don't know why." And then he just goes in there and goes like, "Yeah, this door is installed incorrectly, and it will open unprompted [C laughs] because the hinges are out of out of, you know, out of order." And it's like, "Cool! Great." And then after that, they bring in a psychic to be like, "Oh, I hear a spirit!" [both laughing]

C: So real!

G: Wild.

C: Also, I looked it up. I think it's Lindsey Ellis or Lindsey whatever who's the Reylo and Jenny Nicholson is friends with her, so that's how I got it mixed up.

-

C: Kate sees like, the creepy girl from earlier standing at the window, and she startles, but then she disappears. And the mom says something about how like, "It's gonna be great here, Kate, it really is." Which, you know, starts the thread where like, you don't know exactly what happened in this family's past, but they've come here to escape something. I think at this point, I thought that Kate was just like, bullied at her old school or something. But no, it's something else that happened.

And then we go inside the house to later in the night, and we start with the son, Danny. He's playing video games in the dark. And then the door-

G: He's playing on a DS! Which, you know, I love. Every time there's a DS in Supernatural, I feel extreme happiness and joy.

C: Good!

So the door, like, creaaks open, and then there's like, a dirty baseball that, like, rolls in, and like, this kid is not young enough to be falling for this shit. [laughs] He's like, "Oh my god! Hi! I'm Danny. It's okay. You can come out. Let's play ball together." Like, girl. Have you never seen a horror movie? Were you never taught stranger danger? What do you think is happening?

G: Yeah. He was like, "I've never seen The Shining. You can come in." [C laughs] Are there even ghosts in The Shining?

C: I don't know.

G: I think that's just him going insane. Like, I think that's The Ring, right?

C: Yeah, that's just- I think it's a psychological whatever thing of that guy being mean to his wife.

We don't see the girl. We just see like, darkness, and like, he like, rolls the ball back, and then, like, she throws it at him. They start playing catch. And you know what? That is kind of fun.

G: Overhand throw, I respect that.

C: Yeah, that is kind of fun. Except that this kid is not fucking old enough to be- not fucking young enough to be falling for this shit. What the fuck.

We cut to the next morning.

G: Is it the next morning? It's still night.

C: Oh, is it- Okay, it's still night. Sorry. I think I got it mixed up with a different- okay.

G: I think this all happens in one day, which is- there's a scene later that is very confusing because [laughs] it's so obvious that they filmed it during the day. But like, you're supposed to think it's night. And it's just the oddest fucking thing.

C: What is the scene?

G: The one where they're like, getting Danny out of the hole.

C: Oh. Hm.

G: That shit was supposed to be night, because, like, outside, it's night. But it's so obvious that they filmed it during the day [laughs], so-

C: Maybe the sun had started rising or- no, was it not that kind of light?

G: No, because, like, outside, we- the mother and the daughter are like, in the shed, and it's complete darkness.

C: Mm, true.

G: And they go out later, and it's still complete darkness. So the fact that the sun is coming up in the scene is- it's not.

C: Yeah, got it. So then we have a brief scene with, like, the parents. And the mom was just like, basically like, looking up  the Wikihow on how to start a farm.

G: I respect that. She said, "I'm a procrastinator, and this is what we're gonna do." At some point, she goes like- she's like, reciting very, very, very basic plant-growing facts. Like, "Zucchini will grow, but the soil is too acidic for beets." And then she looks up and goes, [both] "Do you understand any of that?" [G laughing]

C: Yeah, like, girl, what- what's not to understand?

G: "'The soil is too acidic for beets.' I wonder what that means?" [C laughs]

C: "What's acid? I never took chemistry."

G: Yeah, I mean, "Will zucchini grow or not grow? [C laughs] I don't know."

C: "It's a mystery. I'm gonna fail the GRE so bad!" [G laughing]

G: Yeah.

C: Sorry, okay, for the the the audience, I overslept our recording time and it's because I was doing GRE practice problems last night. Horrible.

G: Hell yeah.

C: Anyway. So the dad's, like, inspecting cabinets, and it smells bad. Like dead animals or some shit. Which is that because, like, behind the walls, it's all the dead animals? Is that the implication?

G: I think so, yeah. [laughs] I was so looking forward to him- because it's a two-door cabinet. And he opens one door. And a part of was like, "Is he going to open the other door and find a dead raccoon there?" And like, I think that would be the funniest fucking thing.

C: It would be.

G: But alas, they never open the second door, yeah.

C: Yeah. Sad. I mean, he did in the footage, but then they cut it out to show Sam going up the stairs.

G: [laughing] Show that Sam going up the stairs, yeah.

C: So, you know, like, he's not really listening to her. And she's like, "Brian, what are we doing. Like, we can't farm. What the fuck?" And he's like, "No, like, everything's gonna be good. I promise that we're gonna be happy." And she says, "If we're not?" And he says, "We will be. We have to be." [laughs] I don't think your marriage counselor did a good job.

G: Your marriage counselor was like, "I wanna get rid of these people. [C laughs] I'll send them to buttfuck nowhere. That'll get rid of them."

C: Yeah, yeah. And then she says something about how "I can't put the kids through another year like the last." So, you know more intrigue, more mystery.

-

G: Anyway, Sam and Dean are outside the house. They pull up. They see that the family is, in fact, residing in their house. And Dean goes, "So what now?" And Sam says, "We could tell them the truth." And Dean goes, "Really?" And Sam goes, "No, not really." [laughs] I love this conversation.

C: Which is what they do, like, immediately afterwards.

G: It is truly- you know. Like, they're like, "Oh, we should do it! But like, nah." And like, the reasons for doing it and the reasons for not doing it in their head are both equally stupid.

C: Yeah.

G: Like, I don't even know what the fuck these guys are on. Like, "We shouldn't tell them to keep them safe!" I don't fucking know.

C: I think it's "We shouldn't tell them because they won't believe us, and then it'll be less likely that they'll allow us to stick around."

G: Yeah. But they already think you guys are fakes, because, you know, you're not actually house inspectors.

C: I guess they don't know yet that they figured out that there was no asbestos. Like, it's possible that they just-

G: - just moved in.

C: - think that the family does not care about asbestos. "Asbestos? What's that?" [G laughs] She doesn't know what asbestos is, she doesn't know what acidic soil means...

G: Yeah. .Ted, the uncle- Okay. Maybe the uncle is only supposed to be here for a bit, just to help them move, and that's why there's not a room for him.

C: That's true.

G: Anyway, he's walking around, fixing some stuff up. And then he like, sees something on the wall, and then he calls the couple, and they come in, and somebody has written, "Go" in crayon, in red. So it's like, "Ooh."

C: Okay. [laughing] Did you also think that this was Sam and Dean? [both laughing] Because it happened right after that, like, "We should tell them." "No, we need a new method to get them out." And then it cuts to this, right?

G: "Let's just scare the crap out of them with crayons." I respect that.

They start calling on the little kid, and, you know, Danny goes down. And then he says, "Oh, I didn't do it. It's the girl in the walls. She wants you to go and me to stay because she likes me, but she hates grownups. So you guys have to leave."

C: How old do they think this kid is supposed to be? Like, I can see this kid and this kid is like, 12, or whatever the fuck. But how old is he supposed to be in the show? Like, 5?

G: No, definitely not 5.

C: I'd believe a 5-year-old could say that, but no one older than 5

G: Definitely not 5. Maybe 9? I think that's the age we're supposed to infer.

C: Okay, sure. I just- yeah. "There's a girl in the walls, and she's grimy and eats rats, and she hates grownups and wants you to leave and wrote 'Go' on the wall in crayon, and I'm her friend, and I like her, and this is a normal thing."

G: I don't know. Anyway, he goes- like, they like, make him go to his room, and while he was walking up the stairs, he goes, "If Andy were here, he'd believe me!" Which, you know, "Ooh. Mystery person." But this was interesting to me because this felt like the plot of- what's that episode?

C: 3.01?

G: No, the one with the- the girls and the haunted mansion dolls.

C: "Playthings"?

G: Yeah, it's, yeah, that one, I think. What's season is that.

C: 2?

G: It's Season 2. Yeah. It reminded me of that, which did make me feel like this episode was just a combination of the two episodes I've already mentioned, so-

C: "The Benders."

G: "Playthings" and "No Exit."

C: Oh, and "No Exit."

G: And "The Benders." So like, I don't know. I feel like they're rehashing old sentiments. Rehashing old ideas. But I like this because it has a more personal touch. Like, these people are people, I feel.

C: Mm, yeah. I mean, I guess what it reminded me of was like, Tamara and Isaac's thing in 3.01, where it was like, dropping hints about how they got into hunting, and then, eventually, it's like, "They had a child that was killed."

G: Died. Hell yeah. [C laughs]

Our next scene is the teenage girl, Kate. She's lying in bed, and she is like, caressing something on the floor. The dog. And she's talking to the dog also. She's saying like, "Oh, it's okay. I hate it here, too." And then the dog starts licking her. And then she goes, "Ew! Guh-ross! [both laugh] What's the matter with you?" It's a dog. Like, I think a dog can lick you, and it's fine.

C: Yeah, though, I mean, probably like, this dog is not much of a licker.

G: Yeah, I guess. Anyway, she keeps on caressing "the dog," and then the door opens, and it's the dog! [both laughing] I love this scene! The dog comes in.

C: What- okay, so like, this little girl was like, hiding under the bed, and what? Like, Kate was stroking like, her hair-

G: Her hair, yeah.

C: And it ended up being the same texture as the dogs? [G laughs]

G: It's not.

C: And then she started licking her? Like, for what? Was she pretending to be a dog? Was she like, "I wana eat this girl, and I need to check how she tastes." Like, what is happening?

G: It's wild shit, honestly.

C: Also, you would be able to tell if it's like, your dog's fur or like-

G: A human hair.

C: - some random girl's dirty hair. [both laugh] Like, this doesn't fucking work!

G: And also, she's supposed to smell really bad.

C: Yeah.

G: So like, I don't know. But I just love this scene because it's so ridiculous! [laughs] It's so- it's so funny! It's amazing.

C: Yeah, a lot of this episode is just like, "We want to do like, a fun horror trope, and we're just gonna like, throw logic out of the window in order to do it." And that does make it entertaining, because I'm like, "It is fun that it was the girl licking her, and that is something that would be scary." But also, like, just put a little thought into it. Make it seem to make sense a little bit, please.

G: I mean, a part of me was like, "Maybe it's the brother," 'cause, like, he has shorter hair, as we see later when he dies. But like, [laughing] why would he have shorter hair?

C: Why would he have shorter hair? Who's reinforcing gender norms inside of the walls? [G laughs, then screams]

G: It's crazy, what they in this episode. [both laughing] It's like, it's so bad, it turns back into good. [C laughs]

Anyway, Kate is obviously very distressed by this, and she starts screaming.

-

C:  We cut to the downstairs, and the whole family has gathered. And, you know, she's freaking out, and she's like, "Jesus Christ like, a ghost, just like, fucking licked me." And then Danny's like, "Oh my god! A ghost? Like the girl in the walls?" And then, like, the parents are like, "You guys are full of shit. Stop it." And then Sam and Dean knock on the door, [G laughs] and then-

G: Bust it open.

C: - they go, "You have a ghost." [laughs]

G: Literally, Sam just goes, "You have a ghost." And that's, you know, it's wonderful.

C: Even though the last scene was them going, "No, we can't tell them the truth." Like, what is hap- the logical leaps in this episode.

G: [laughing] No, this is what I've been talking about. This episode is so- I think part of it is intentional, like, it is intentionally funny.

C: Yeah, okay.

G: Like, this is like, a funny scene because they were like, "Oh, we shouldn't tell them." And then the next scene of them showing up is, "You have a ghost." Like, I think that's like, maybe intentionally funny.

C: I guess it was-

G: And I think the girl getting licked by the girl was also funny. Like, I don't know. I think this this episode is so funny.

C: It is funny, but I don't- I feel like they're just trying to do a regular horror movie.

G: They are.

C: But I guess a lot of regular horror movies are meant to be like, shticky and funny sometimes, too, so.

G: Yeah.

C: Dean's like, "Okay, like, your family's in danger, and you have to get out of the house fucking now because of the ghost." And then, like, all the lights go out. And then, they hear the dog, like, barking from a distance, and then the dog is whimpering, and then the dog goes quiet. And they run out of the house towards the direction of the sound. [G laughs] And then they see, written in blood, in the dog's blood on the wall, the words, "Too late." Who was teaching her the ABCs inside the walls?!? [G laughs and screams]

G: I love how they were like, "These people are animals. They don't even talk. Like, blah blah blah." And she just literally wrote, "Too late."

C: She can read and write. Like-

G: I respect that.

C: Right, so Dean's like, "Okay, we have to go. We have to head to the motel." They go over to the cars, and all the tires of the Impala and the moving truck and the family's car are slashed.

G: How do they drive out like, later? Like, Sam and Dean?

C: There's like, a scene of them installing new tires on- which actually, if they had- where did they come from? If they had new tires the whole time, why not just install them now?? [both laughing]

G: [laughing] This episode is fucking bonkers!

C: I mean, maybe in the morning they like, walked to town and bought new tires, like, from a store? And then they walked back? But like, why can't they walk to town now, then?

G: Yeah, it's crazy.

C: God, what the fuck.

G: They can't because they're gonna abandon this family to die.

C: Well, actually, it's possible that they had them, but then, like, they got taken like the guns got taken. Right?

G: Oh, yeah, maybe, yeah.

C: Okay, sure. Fine. Jeremy Carver, you get away with this one.

G: I mean, okay, first of all, how was she able to open the trunk?

C: Right. Isn't it locked?

G: Like, all the guns are stolen! It's a hidden compartment. If this person is so animalistic that she can even think of anything-

C: Yeah, so unsmart or whatever.

G: Yeah - how she able to figure out their hidden compartment? [C laughs] Like, I don't- this episode's fucking nuts.

C: Actually, the brother's like, really smart, and like, he knows how to read, he did all the writing, and he knows everything. It's just that, like, we didn't learn that he was smart 'cause he got killed so fast.

Sam checks the trunk, and all the guns are gone, and he also says, "So is the-" and then, like, he pulls something out. Was that like, the demon knife? What was-

G: Flashlights.

C: Oh, it's flashlights. Okay, I couldn't tell because Supernatural's lighting is terrible, and also, I had really bad eyesight yesterday.

G: It's so funny. Like, this person just did not get the flashlights? I don't know. It is such a confusing- everything about this episode.

C: Isn't there a thing where she's barely ever even seen light?

G: Blinded by the lights, yeah.

C: So she didn't have any need for the flashlights.

G: But did she see guns? Does she know what guns are?

C: Yeah, I don't- I don't know. She never used them.

G: They had fucking like, those like, things you throw, and they're blades, in that car. They had a flamethrower. [C laughing] And then she just took everything? [laughing]

C: She was like, "I'm gonna stick with my one knife."

G: Yeah. Anyway, like, at some point, Brian, the husband, comes back and he goes like, "Yeah, the truck's no good because both tires are slashed"? [laughing] Thinking there were 4 tires in the truck? [both laughing] Or is he saying that both the truck and the cars' tires are slashed? C: I think that's what he means, but it does sound like there were only two tires between the truck and our personal car.

G: [laughing] This episode's so bad!

C: Obviously, Dean's very upset because "Oh, no, it's the Impala." And he's like, [whiny] "What kind of ghost messes with a man's wheels??" Blah blah blah. Kate, sees the girl like, running off in the woods. And Dean's like, "What's a ghost doing outside?" So, you know, they're leading up to the "it wasn't a ghost at all" sort of thing. And Dean's like, "Okay, actually, we all have to go back into the house that I spent so long convincing you to get out of. Because, like, this ghost could go anywhere, and she's hunting us for sport, so we have to be in a place with better defenses," whatever whatever.

-

G: Anyway, so they go inside, and Dean sets up a salt circle for everyone, and Brian starts, you know, being like, "Oh, we're gonna go. I don't wanna be here." But Dean is being more forceful while Sam is doing the whole- like, he's calling this guy "sir," and he's like, "This is what we do. Trust us." And the kid shows a little bit of interest. Calls them Scooby-doo, which is fun. And Sam and Dean show the pictures to the kids.

C: Oh yeah, the housekeeper gave photos of the the daughter and the wife. Did we mention that? I forgot.

G: Yeah. I think we didn't mention specifically what pictures she gave. But yeah. The both kids say that the daughter is the girl in the walls, and Sam and Dean speculate like, "Oh, maybe she did not kill herself." You know. No no no. They speculate that she wasn't cremated, or like, something in the house has her spirit or whatever. Sam suggests going to the attic, and then, you know, Dean was supposed to stay there and take care of the people. Which, you know, in terms of division of labor, who would you assign? If you were the team leader here, right, who would you assign to be the caretaker of the people and who would you assign to go to the attic?

C: I mean, this family is in emotional distress, so I feel like Sam at least tries to be accommodating of that.

G: No, exactly. This is what I was thinking. Like, send Dean to the attic! [C laughs] Like, I don't know. He's- I mean, at least he doesn't have a gun that he can't actively point at other people.

G: Yeah. But that doesn't stop him. [G laughs]

G: But it doesn't stop him!

Well, anyway, they go, and Ted, the uncle, is like, "Oh, whatever. I'm gonna fucking get out of here." And Dean corners him to the wall, tells him, "I've got a gun. So get back inside that circle before I gave you a third hole." [screams]

C: Okay, yeah, no. Okay, what are the- okay, anus and mouth? Are those the two?

G: [laughing] I don't know!

C: Like, there's a lot of holes in the human body.

G: There are a lot.

C: There are nostrils, and like, ears.

G: Eyes.

C: Yeah. Or maybe Ted is trans.

G: Yeah, I don't know. Maybe the pee-hole is, you know -

C: Yeah, sure.

G: - the second hole, and then the gunshot is the third hole. So I guess if you have the anatomy of- he's gonna give you your fourth hole? I respect that.

C: Sure. This is very the "Maybe they like the other other white meat" of him. [G laughs]

G: Exactly.

C: Also, Ted talks exactly like Dean. He says, "It's just some backwoods hillbilly bitch, and I'm not about to sit around here waiting for her to go all Deliverance on my ass."

G: They should have kissed. [C laughing] They should have kissed for real.

C: I guess he turns out to be right, so. [G laughs] That's egg on Dean's face.

G: Yeah. Sam calls Dean out on not having a gun, but Dean's like, "I don't give a shit."

C: It's so funny how they're whispering and like, supposedly, no one in the family is going to hear this, but they're in a salt circle with a diameter of 6 feet max.

G: Yeah, exactly. And Dean says, "I'm not letting anyone die tonight." Which starts a theme in this episode that, like, [mocking] he doesn't want anyone to die.

C: Yeah. Because he feels so so guilty about Hell so he needs to save everyone, blah blah blah blah.

G: Yeah. I mean, I get what they're trying to do, but like, where was this in the earlier episodes of Season 4?

C: Yeah. He remembers being in Hell the whole time. Like, why is he only doing this now that Sam knows about it? Like, now, it just seems like, he's trying to like, look good for, like, Sam, not like, for actual guilt.

G: Yeah, exactly.

They start asking about the salt until suddenly, the girl comes in [laughs] and opens the door. And like, slowly starts creeping up to them. And all I could think about is, "They didn't lock the fucking door?" [C laughs] Jesus Christ, man.

C: Well, they think she's a ghost, and ghosts can pass through walls or whatever, right? [G groans]

G: Yeah. But like, still lock the door. Come on.

Dean is just there being like, "She can't come in the circle. Don't you guys worry about it." And the girl just keeps on walking and walking. She reveals a knife, and then, she steps over the line.

C: Yup.

G: Hell yeah!

C: Hell yeah!

G: And Kate goes like, "I thought ghosts can't cross the circle!" and Dean's like, "Yep. Not a ghost." And Ted is like, "Shoot her! Shoot her!" And Dean was like, "Mm..."

C: "Well..."

G: "I don't have it." and he just tells them to start moving. And then Dean, you know, is fighting for his life until Sam comes in, shines a flashlight on her face, which, you know, hurts her eyes, and she starts running!

C: Photosensitive gang rise up.

G: Yeah.

C: We cut to a leetle bit later. They've all left the house. They're all outside. So apparently, the whole family, when this happened, they all ran into the woods to hide and shit. Dean's like, "I'm telling you, man. Humans." Which starts a thing in this episode where it's Dean's like, "Humans are capable of so many horrible things." I just never find it interesting when Supernatural does "humans are the real monsters." 'Cause whenever they do "humans are the real monsters," which is like, this and "The Benders"-

G: It's always some, like- yeah.

C: Yeah, it's always like, "Oh, these are like, some Southerners who are poor, and they're just like, on the edge of society like, being serial killers, blah blah blah blah blah." Like, they never do it about like-

G: Actual people.

C: - corporate greed, or anything that is actually like, common and happens.

G: Even when they do corporate greed -

C: It's Dick Roman.

G: - those are Leviathans. It's literally Dick Roman. Also, like, it is quite irritating, in this episode specifically, where they keep on referring to those people as like, "They're barely human." I mean, we'll get into it the first time Sam mentions it. But that really like, pissed me off because, like, what's the point of doing this episode, then?

C: Yeah. Well, I think Sam's supposed to be considered wrong.

G: No!

C: No?

G: No, I don't think so.

C: Really?

G: 'Cause the thesis of the end is like, Dean going, "Yeah, they're barely human, but they're still better than me."

C: That's true.

G: "Like, the fact that they don't know what they're doing makes me worse because I knew what I was doing."

C: That's true. Also, they keep bringing up that they're in the countryside.

G: [laughs] Yeah.

C: Which I think is fucking annoying as well.

G: [laughing] It's a focal point of this episode. Yeah, this episode's fucking nuts.

-

C: Yeah. So they're talking, and Dean's like, "Hey, maybe it's like, the daughter Rebecca, and instead of hanging herself, she just went to live in the walls." And Sam's like, "No, she would have to be like, 50 now." Which, okay, wait if she has to be 50 now, and she killed herself-

G: 20 years ago.

C: When she was like- so these- okay. So these, okay, I keep calling them "kids," but they're like, 20. They're like, young adults.

G: Yeah.

C: Okay. Don't they keep calling them kids in this episode. Well, no, it's because she says she- 'cause she hates grownups. Like, that implies to me that that's a child. But like, she's like, 20 or whatever.

G: Yeah.

C: Sam says that he found Rebecca's diary in the attic, but nothing else. And, you know, they talk about how they have to like, hold her off, keep the family safe. So Brian is calling the family out to go, and Susan and Ted and Kate, I guess, show up, but they can't find Danny. They start like, yelling and screaming 'cause they don't know where he is. So their former plan of like, them all walking to town as Sam and Dean stay here and kill these people is now null. Nill. Whatever. You know, Dean decides that Kate and Susan should hide in the shed because the windows are boarded up and it only has one door, so it's the most defensible position. Sam and Dan are gonna work with Brian and Ted to find Danny. Why? I mean, misogyny. Anyway. [laughs]

So Dean and Ted are looking around inside. Also, Ted finds a knife., so they've got one weapon. Dean finds like, a board in the wall that's loose, and he's able to crawl inside. It smells really bad. As they go further inside, there's like, a little hole in the floor, and Dean decides that he's gonna go in. Okay, if they're just looking for Danny, can't he just shine his flashlight down there and see if he's there? Dean doesn't doesn't have to go in the hole. He can just yell Danny's name and then sweep a flashlight around

G: I mean, he wants to go into the hole. [C laughing] Yeah.

C: Yeah. He really wants to enter that hole.

G: I mean, there's a gaping hole inside of him! [laughing]

C: Yeah, fucking hell. "Don't-" what does Bobby say? "Don't go after Dick because it fills the hole. Go after Dick because-" what does he say?

G: "The right thing," I think. "Go after the right-" I don't fucking know.

C: We'll find out in like, two years or whatever.

G: He also says it this episode. He says "there's a hole..."

C: He does say that.

G: I respect that. They're obsessed with holes in this episode.

C: Doesn't he have a conversation with Gordon about a similar thing where, like, killing monsters fills a hole in him or something? Or is that someone else?

G: Yeah yeah yeah. I think so, yeah.

C: Poor Dean. He has so many holes. And Cas isn't even in this episode.

So he goes down, and it's like, a room with like, flies buzzing around, and there's like, dead rats, the dead dog in there. And he calls it her kitchen. Also, like, there's art on one wall, like, where there's like, 2 stick figures holding hands. Okay. Who the fuck is enforcing gender norms down here? Because one of them is like, a girl symbol with like, a triangle dress on it, or whatever. Where did she learn that.

G: Yeah. Oh my god, she's wearing a white nightgown!

C: Shit, she is, yeah. It's just very dirty now.

G: Like, what was the guy wearing? Normal guy clothes?

C: I don't know. It was very hard for me to see anything. Okay, how did she have clothes that fit her? Like, in addition to like, throwing like, food down there like, her dad/grandad was also like, making her new clothes each year?

G: I have no idea.

C: Yeah.

G: This episode is so fucking stupid.

C: Okay, wait. I couldn't tell. Were the two stick figures like, a girl and a boy?

G: Yeah.

C: Okay, so it's her and her brother. So it's like, foreshadowing. That's cute.

And then, Ted, hears, like, creaking behind him. He turns around, and the girl is there, and she stabs him to death. And the way that it is revealed that he dies is like, we're back to Dean, and then, like, Ted falls down perfectly. so that [both] his head falls through the hole. Which is fun. I did like that.

-

G: Anyway. Sam and the husband are in the shed together with the two women. And they're talking about how, you know, how "We should go in there!" and Sam's like, “No, no, no, let's wait for them.” And then Dean knocks, enters, and it's just him. And they ask, “Did you get Danny?” And he goes, “No.” And Susan goes, “Well, where's Ted?” And he goes, "He's outside." And Susan goes, “Well, why won't he come inside?" And Dean just goes, “I had to carry him out. I'm sorry."

C: I'm so annoyed every time they refuse to be straight up about a death notification. Like, “He's outside”? [laughs] Like, what is wrong with you? Just tell people. And also, how they didn't even tell Anna that her parents were dead. Sam was like, “I'm sorry,” and she has to come to the conclusion by herself. Which, I wouldn’t come to that conclusion by myself. I would be like, “Oh, are they like, very badly injured, or something?” you know what I mean? It's rude of them to not just tell people the truth because they feel awkward about it.

G: Like, the confirmation, yeah.

C: Yeah. In Disco Elysium, there's a scene where you have to give a death notification, and your skills tell you very explicitly you have to use the word “dead,” like, that is the only way to like, properly go about it. And I agree. Sam and Dean are so annoying. So so annoying.

G: Anyway, he explains what happened, and everybody starts freaking out. Dean is very apologetic. He's very sad. Dean... fucks off? I don't know. Sam is reading the diary, and the husband and wife are talking to each other. Well, the husband is saying, “We'll find our son. It's okay,” and Susan is saying like, “Oh, the kid is dead. I mean, my brother is dead, so, you know, our son must also be dead.” And Brian just goes, “No, our kid is alive.” And they just go back and forth, like, "He's alive." "No, he isn't." "He's alive." "No, he isn't." And then finally, he just goes, “The girl in the wall likes him. She said he could stay. So it's okay. He's gonna be alive.” And Susan just goes, “I don't understand. We're good people! We're a good family! Why is this happening to us?”

C: Which I found really annoying, but I also understand that she is in a situation.

G: Yeah. And the husband says, “What happened to Andy happened, you know; I cannot change that. But Danny, we'll find him. And we're going to be okay.” And then he goes, “You, me, the kids; we're gonna be fine.” And it's like, her brother just died!

C: Yeah.

G: And they do not even acknowledge this?

C: They don't care.

G: They don't give a shit about this guy. And it's just, I don't know. A part of me was actually very like, "Huh! There's an uncle in this family." Because I understand that, in the United States, that's not common, for like, specifically like, white families.

C: Wait, what do you mean?

G: I mentioned this before in the podcast. It's like, here, everyone in the family is just in the family.

C: Oh, yeah, I know what you mean.

G: Like, it's very common for a family to have an aunt or an uncle just tossed in there; a grandma, grandpa. Like, we don't really- we have the concept of a nuclear family, but it's, you know, it's more than that. It's extended. So having an uncle here, I thought was interesting. I was like, "Oh, what are they gonna do with it?"

C: Nothing.

G: And then, basically, they just do this thing in the show where it's like, “Oh, like, we got rid of the uncle, we got rid of the dog, but, like, those people are not necessary!"

C: Yeah. 'Cause it's the nuclear family.

G: "What's important is the nuclear family.” And I was like, “Okay, well, it is an American show, I fucking guess."

C: It sure is an American show. Aiya.

-

C: Now we're outside the farm- Okay, wait. Was Brian standing there alone, and then Dean came up to him? Or were they standing there together?

G: I think they're both outside. Which is just such a stupid idea.

C: Yeah, why are you not all just in the fucking shed?

G: [mocking] They need space. "I need space."

C: His brother-in-law just got murdered while he had Dean there for protection. And now he's like, “I wanna be outside with only Dean for protection.”

G: Nobody in this episode acts in any way that makes sense.

C: Yeah. So Dean's like, “Oh, was Andy your son?” And Brian says he was the oldest son, and he was killed in a car accident last year. And it was very bad for his marriage [both laughing] is literally what he says next. [both laughing] Oh my god. So he-

G: This episode is truly something.

C: Yeah. And he says the marriage counselor said that they should move here for fresh air and a fresh start. And he's like, “Oh, yeah, because what could go wrong in the country?" Which is like, whatever dude. Stop being- Supernatural just fucking hates the country. Like, they're like, "We're gonna set- like, Kansas is going to be the home of our protagonists, and like, we're gonna be so big on the like-"

G: "But they're not country people!"

C: "Yeah, but they're not disgusting country people. They're from the Kansas suburbs." Okay, man.

Dean's like, [fake teary/tough-guy] “I'm getting your son back if it's the last godforsaken thing I do.” And Brian's like, "Why do you care so much?" Which is, you know.

G: A very very prevalent question. [laughs]

C: What you ask when one of your sons died last year, and one of your other sons might be murdered right now by the girl who killed your dog. You go, "Oh my god! But you're such a hero! Why do you care so much? Please, tell me more about your life, Dean.” [G laughs]

G: It's just such a odd fucking- [groans, C laughs] Anyway, Sam shows up and tells Dean that they gotta talk. So they go inside the house-

C: Leaving Brian alone to be murdered! [G laughs] Leaving the family alone to be murdered so they could have a private conversation about something that isn't even confidential!

G: Anyway, Sam finished reading the diary, and he assumes that the girl is Rebecca's daughter because she, in the journal, she talks constantly about being pregnant and being ashamed of being pregnant.

C: Dean is such a shithead about this.

G: He goes like, “Oh, whatever. Get over it." He says, "Rent Juno and get over it.”

C: And then he knows that she killed herself. Like-

G: Yeah, I don't fucking know. He goes like, “Why did she kill herself, like, after the baby?” And Sam's like, “Oh, her dad called her a dirty little whore and said that he was gonna lock the baby up.” And Dean goes, “Why would he say that?” Which is, I feel like, an odd thing.

C: Yeah, I mean, I don't- Is it really true that men who grow up without sisters, like, don't know anything? Dean watches movies. Dean watches a lot of movies.

G: Yeah, but he watches the kinds of movies that are-

C: With no women in them. Just cowboys.

G: Yeah.

C: I don't know. Does he not know about slutshaming and how, like, having a baby out of wedlock, even if it's not the result of your dad raping you is considered shameful to a lot of people? He grew up in Kansas.

G: I don't know. The whole thing of like, Sam would say nothing, and that automatically means that like, "Oh, her dad raped her." And it's like-

C: Right, no, it's just-

G: This conversation doesn't make any sense.

C: Yeah. She was an unwed mother. Like, that's considered very taboo in a lot of people's families.

G: Yeah. And, I don't know. The question of “Why would he say that?” [C laughs] feels very much like, "What did she do to deserve this horrible thing thrust upon her?"

C: Mm.

G: And I think that's why it made me feel so uncomfortable. 'Cause like, "Why would he say that?" Because he's an asshole? I don't fucking know. [C laughs] But, like, now, it becomes a "Did something happen for him to say that?" And it's like, "Yeah." And it's- I don't know. It's just- This episode is just so weirdly written. It's so weirdly written. Jeremy Carver, what is up with you?

C: I don't know.

G: Anyway, they conclude that the father raped the daughter. And then, you know.

C: Dean cracks two different jokes about this. What the fuck?

G: Yeah. Sam starts this thing where he calls the man a monster, right?

C: Right.

G: Which, I mean, yeah, but also like, the way they use it here and for the rest of the episode- like, calling someone an animal or a monster is not a cry against their values or their morals or their actions, you know. It's basically going like, "Yeah, I mean, what can you do? Monster." [C laughs] Do you get what I mean?

C: Yeah, yeah.

G: Maybe it's more applicable to the later uses of Sam basically going, "Oh, monster," or like, "animal," or like, "barely human." But every time he says it, it has this air of- it becomes less like, "Oh, I'm telling you off for being a horrible person." It becomes more of excusing in a way. Like, "I mean, yeah, these people are horrible. What do you expect?" That's kind of the vibe. Which is annoying and is horrible. And, I mean, it's- in my personal life, that's something I try to not do.

C: Yeah, yeah.

G: Like, when people do terrible things, I do firmly remind myself, like, "These are people, and that is actually worse. Like, that makes it worse."

C: Yeah.

G: Because when you go like, "Oh, those people are monsters," or "Those people are horrible in a way that is different from a horrible that I can do, or like, a horrible that a normal person can do, it like, almost excuses the behavior."

C: Yeah.

G: It's the same deal with corporations. Seeing corporations as an entity that is indestructible removes the fact that those are built and made up of people, and like, that makes it worse, and you should be angrier about the fact that there are people behind this. And actually thinking about them less as people and more as just entities of evil that don't think as complexly as you or whatever is actually more, you know, it's more beneficial for them for you to think of that that way.

C: That's true. That is true.

G: So like, yeah. That's where my train of thought went, and like, yeah, it is a bit far off from this specific line. But I just don't like it. I don't like when people call other people monsters. 

C: I agree. Also, there's a scene in “rising sun blues”, which is the “bad moon rising” Season 2 thing which is the author's version of “Heart,” and Sam's basically telling Maddy, like, “Hey. So yeah, you're a werewolf. And like, I do have to do something about that.” And she's like, “What the fuck. The guys I killed were abusive and shitty.” And Sam goes, “Yeah, I know. Like, look, he deserved it, okay? He was a monster.” But then Maddy says, “No, he wasn't. He was human. And I'm not going to kill the monster that saved me.” Anyway. So yeah, that seemed slightly relevant to this.

G: Yeah, yeah. Anyway. Dean, again, as Crystal said, makes a joke about how "This is like a story from an Austrian headline."

C: So this is a Freud joke, which implies that she-

G: Is it a Freud joke?

C: Yeah, I think that's what he means, yeah, which is so terrible.

G: Is it not like a- What's the name of that family that's completely fucking inbred?

C: Oh, the Hapsburgs or whatever?

G: Hapsburgs. Is it not a Hapsburgs joke?

C: It's possible. Yeah, the Hapsburgs were Austrian, but like, so was Freud. So I don't know what-

G: I think it's a Hapsburg joke.

C: Okay, okay. I hope so.

G: I mean, it's probably on the fucking, like, SPN Wiki. But, you know, I'm not gonna look.

C: I'll check.

Okay, so what the Superwiki says is that it's neither of what the things that we said. There was a case in 2008, so it would have been right around the time this episode aired, of a guy in Austria, who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and raped her. So. 

G: Jesus Christ.

C: That's a bad thing to make a joke reference about, Dean.

G: Anyway, so she has been locked up and then gets out and kills the guy from the scene earlier. Dean goes, “Well, I can't say I blame her.” And Sam goes, “I'm sure her life was hell, Dean. It doesn't mean she gets a free pass for murder.” Honestly, I think she can do whatever the fuck she wants.

C: Honestly, yeah. Definitely, killing the guy from the intro, definitely, that's fine. Currently, it's not great, but like, I get it.

G: Yeah.

C: [laughs] We're saying this right after you said that you hate when people excuse people's actions by calling them monsters.

G: [laughing] No. I mean, I think I've delivered that with enough levity for people to conclude what I feel more strongly about, you know? C: Good point.

Also, I think she's a human that makes choices, and this is an okay choice for her to make. [both laugh]

G: And then the thing that Dean latches on in this sentence is the fact that Sam said, "Her life is hell." And he goes, like, “Do you know what Hell's like?" [screams, both laugh] Who wrote this episode? Jeremy. What are you doing, Jeremy?

C: Dean's literally a member of the people who were in Hell community, and he's advocating for you all to use more sensitive language in your figurative language. [G laughs]

G: You know, Sam, like, tries to apologize, and Dean's like, “Oh, whatever!” And then Sam's like, “Where do we find her?” And Dean goes, “Well. Kid's gotta eat. And he kept her locked up, but he had to feed her. So I think I know where.”

Do they mean like, where?

C: I don't know. Was it the dumbwaiter? I couldn't tell where they went.

G: No, it says here that they went to the basement, but they busted open a door. They busted open a wall. Why is there a basement inside the wall?

C: I don't know. I guess-

G: Isn't a basement like-

C: Yeah, like, accessible.

G: This is a tornado area, right? So everybody has a basement.

C: I think so, yeah. 

G: So it's normal to assume that there is a basement. But it's not normal to break down a wall to get there.

C: Yeah. I mean, it had to be hidden in a way, or else the realtors would have found her. But like-

G: Yeah, but like, it's so stupid.

C: Did he seal up the- Okay, he probably sealed up the basement or something, right?

G: But how did he give her food? C: The dumbwaiter? But then, like, the dumbwaiter [both] was also sealed up. But also, okay, right now, she's eating dead rats. Is the implication that she had regular food until recently-

G: And then it stopped, yeah.

C: - after she killed him, and then she had to eat dead rats.

G: I don't know. 

C: I mean, that has to be the case or else she would have died of scurvy by now.

G: I mean, I think she would have died of other things, too.

C: Yeah, I mean, rats often carry disease and stuff.

G: That's true.

C: And also, it's cold in the winter.

G: [laughs] She doesn't get Vitamin D. Like, who fucking knows.

C: Yeah, she doesn't get any Vitamin D. It's just, I know humans can survive in like, horrible circumstances.

G: Extreme conditions, yeah. But 20 years, I don't know.

C: But like, starting from being a baby, also.

G: Yeah! [C laughs] How did he give her milk? [C laughing] She can't process water! I don't know. Eh.

C: I don't fucking know.

G: Anyway, we go to the basement, and Danny, the kid, is there, and, you know, he's screaming. And then he sees the girl come in. Also, this is filmed in dark. What do you call that?

C: There's a green filter.

G: Yeah, what's that called? Like, night vision? 

C: Yeah, night vision, something like that.

G: And then, you know, she comes through the wall and she holds up like, a rat, and then she tries to offer him the rat, I think.

C: But he's gagged. He can't eat anything.

G: Yeah! He's tied up. He can't hold the rat. And then she just looks at him and then breaks the rat's neck, and then she bites into it. Are human beings even made for this kind of carnivorism?

C: I don't know. I feel like rats don't have very thick skin or anything, though, right?

G: You'll be surprised.

C: Okay. So okay, the transcript does say that they're busting a hole in the dumbwaiter shaft. So- but yeah. How was he giving her food if it was boarded up there? Or did he stop giving them food at some point? Like, is that that the "Oh my god, no, it's impossible for you to be here." Because, like, maybe eventually, he was like, “Actually, I don't want this anymore.” And then he boarded up the dumbwaiter and expected them to starve to death?

G: Left her to die? Yeah.

C: That could be it, right?

G: Maybe.

C: I would love it if this episode told us anything.

G: You know, I'm so excited, because I'm in the transcript right now, and I'm scrolling down alongside our discussions-

C: And we're so close to the end.

G: I am waiting for the end when we see like, deleted scene.

C: Was there a deleted scene?

G: No no no, I don't think so. But if there is, I want that insight. I am so curious about what they decided to delete to accommodate Sam's walk up the stairs. [C laughing]

C: Yeah, real and true. 

-

C: They like, hammer into the kitchen wall where the dumbwaiter shaft is until there's a hole.

G: They do this thing where Brian is there. Like, the father is there. And he's like, "I'm gonna go down," and Dean's like, [dramatic] “No, I'm gonna go down. [C laughs] I promised that I would save him, and I will.”

C: Yeah.

G: And he just goes down, and it's so ridiculous. 

C: Yeah. It's stupid.

G: I think it's realistic for Dean to be like, “I'll do it,” but he wouldn't do this, like, entire speech about like, “I said what I said, and I said I'll save him, so let me save him,” you know. I think he'll just be like, “No, I'll do it.” And just jump in. Like, you know. Everything here on out just feels so performative. Because he wasn't like this throughout the rest of Season 4. It's annoying.

C: Yeah, he wasn't like, at all. We spent basically every episode criticizing him for being sarcastic or untruthful about how he wants to save people. You're telling me that he had the same mindset during “Damn right, I wanted to save some naked women.”?

I guess the explanation, the charitable explanation, is that he was in denial about that stuff and trying not to think about it. And now that he's told Sam, it feels more real to him. So now he starts needing to redeem himself or whatever. Eh, I just don't think people can be that good at denial. He spent longer there than his natural lifespan on Earth. Like, that's pretty hard to tamp down.

Okay, and then after Dean goes in, Sam’s like, “Oh, by the way, are there any curtains around? Because we need a rope.” [both laugh] They don't even do this beforehand.

G: They're like, “No, I don't want to think about it.”

C: Yeah.

G: And they didn’t.

C: So Dean goes downstairs. Okay, there's like, a wooden cross and a rosary in there. Which, what does that mean?

G: There was?

C: Yeah, there was a wooden cross on the floor, I noticed. Like, did the dad toss one in? He's like, “I need this baby to be Christian.” And also, there's like, guns and stuff that - the stolen ones - littered across the floor. So Dean is able to get one. Also, we're like, we cut between like, Dean and the shed. Because, you know, Kate and Susan are in the shed, and then the window gets busted in, and the girl shows up and starts trying to attack them.

In the basement, Dean finds Danny tied up. He like, frees Danny, and is like, “Come on, let's go, let's go." And then Danny goes, "Hurry! He's coming back." And Dean goes, "He?" And Danny goes, "Her brother." [both laughing]

G: Everything is so miserable.

C: We've already spent, like, 20 minutes talking about how fucking stupid this twist is. But have we concerned that this twist is fucking stupid? [G laughs] Oh, god.

G: The thing is, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. I don't know. It's just- it's so stupid.

C: It's just for this one moment of Dean going like, "He?"

G: It is. It's such- it's also so funny, because like, occasionally, I would do this thing where I would translate Supernatural in my head. And sometimes, it's like, really nice, because when Sam and Dean are talking, and then they're amping up the whole big brother-little brother thing, and I think of Sam calling Dean kuya, I think, "Oh my god, like, that's so like, I'm gonna cry." I was thinking about this scene, I was like, "Yeah, we don't have gendered pronouns in Filipino, so this would not- [both laughing] this would have just passed us by." And there is - I've been saying this - there's a Filipino dub of Supernatural. A Tagalog dub, specifically.

C: Right.

G: And I have been looking for it. I have no access to it. I don't know where I can find it. I do want to find it. So if anyone has a link, [laughing] we've been saying this since Season 1, but if you know anyone who can give me access to this, I would want it. But this one- like, I think they did until Season 7. So they definitely dubbed this episode, right? 

C: How would they do it?

G: I was like, "How would they have dubbed this episode?" [laughs] I have no idea!

C: I guess, like, Danny would be like, “Hurry! The man is coming back.”

G: Oh, yeah, that's true. And then, "yung kapatid niya." I don't know, it's so stupid! [both laugh] It's such a pointless twist. 'Cause it could have- like, it would have made more sense if it was also a sister. Like, if it was also a girl. 'Cause twins generally work that way. C: What? No it doesn't-

G: I mean, like, identical twins, at least work that way. 

C: Oh, yeah, they'd have to be fraternal.

G: Yeah. And the thing about this is, it would have been a lot more interesting if there's like, two of her, you know?

C: Right, yeah. And "How is she in two places at once?"

G: And that would have amped up the whole ghost thing because like "Oh, she must be a ghost because she was here, and now she's there," you know. But they were like, “No, let's reveal a brother at the forty-minute-" or whatever.

C: But if it was identical twins, would I not be calling it corny, like, right now? [laughs]

G: I mean, who give a shit? It's already corny as hell. This episode is so bad it's good, [C laughs] and I feel like having a twin ghost-not-ghost actual people who want to kill you situation would be hilarious, and would be, you know, even cornier.

C: And then the brother starts coming out and attacking Dean.

G: [laughing] He has short hair.

C: What?

G: [laughing] He has short hair.

C: He does have short hair. I don't know what clothes he's wearing? Do you wanna do a redo of 4.09 where we go on the Home of the Nutty and try to see? Yeah, sorry, it is not even loading. But I really wanna check now.

G: Home of the Nutty hates me specifically. I mean, does he even have short hair? What if I was just seeing things?

C: That's true. What if the true gender norms were in your brain and Supernatural is more enlightened than you are?

G: Yeah.

C: I can do this. I can find it.

G: Episode 4.11.

C: The album for the episode is loading. I believe in myself. [G laughs] This is just gonna become a segment of our our podcast now. The one where we go to Home of the Nutty and wait for it to load.

G: Oh my god, it's here!

C: Oh. Does he have short hair?

G: I can't- wait, I can't see it properly because my darkness is, in fact, set to very low.

C: He does have short hair. It's a little longer than a quote, unquote “man's haircut.” It's like, shoulder-length, a little, more like.

G: Do you think they put him in a wig? Or this is just like, the guys hair.

C: I can't tell if he's wearing pants, but he's definitely wearing a long-sleeved shirt, and not a nightgown, so like, this man was tossing food, he was tossing baby formula, he was tossing wooden crosses, and he was tossing increasing sizes of gendered clothing into that dumbwaiter.

G: Okay, I don't think his hair is short, but it must be shorter than hers.

C: Yeah. And also looks a lot more washed than hers.

G: Yeah. [laughs] He's got a- this guy could have a shampoo-

C: He's got conditioner or whatever, yeah. [laughs]

G: Yeah. Palmolive. And also, like, yeah, not a nightgown in sight.

Dean looks ugly as fuck in this screencap.

C: He is fighting for his life. [G laughs] But yes.

So meanwhile, in the shed, you know, Susan is trying to defend with like, a rake. They're like, standing against a wall furthest from the window that got busted in. But then a knife stabs into the wall behind Kate's head. Sam drops down the curtains that made the rope for Danny to get up. You know, they get him out. He's okay. And then, you know, Sam tells Brian to run off with Danny. He goes down. Dean eventually like, shoots the brother to death and then Sam comes down and gets him. And then the sister is, you know, about to murder Susan and Kate, but then she gets like, pulled out of the shed by the ankle, and then there's stabbing and screaming sounds outside, and then they go outside, and Brian is there, and it's a whole reveal where it slowly pans to him holding a bloody knife. So like, it's like, a big deal that he killed her. I don't think it's a big deal that he killed her. Like, that's what was gonna happen. I guess the idea is just, "Oh, this was a regular American dad, and now he's been forced to murder." But, I don't know. The uncle was a regular American uncle, and he was ready to shoot her to death within like, two minutes.

And then, you know, everyone comes outside. They see the body, and they're all miserable.

-

C: So we get part one of the epilogue. It's the next morning. Dean’s replaced the tires and got all the guns back in the trunk. Dean's like, “Thanks for letting us leave early before you guys call the police.” And Brian says, “Why doesn't it surprise me you guys don't like the police?” And then Sam says, “It's sort of a mutual appreciation thing, really.” What?

G: Yeah, what?

C: What does that mean?

G: It is not, Sam. It is not, Sam.

C: Like, you don't like police because you were in jail and going to get death penaltied last season.

I mean, there's a "bad moon rising" excerpt about this, because of course there is. Can I read it? [laughs]

G: Okay.

C: “There’s a strange kinship between hunters and cops. If pressed, neither would admit it. Hunters wield unregistered weapons, and they find under-the-table ways to stay fed, and they print themselves fake badges, and they break into morgues and mausoleums. They set fires, they drink too much, they dig up graves and kill things without a twinge of remorse. They linger on the ragged border of civilization and monstrosity, violent and hungry, always one wrong step from death or prison. Still, you would be surprised how many cops have some odd knowledge of monsters, and the men that kill them. You would be surprised to know how many hunters left law enforcement because it wasn’t enough for them. There’s an implicit understanding between them, a knowledge that the only reason hunters aren’t out of a job is because there’s no cells made for werewolves or shapeshifters in federal correctional facilities.” So like, I get what Sam means except that Supernatural doesn't really do anything that implies it. You're right that they do basically the same job, and that's one of the criticisms of hunting in the Supernatural fandom, the fact that you are just cops for monsters, and because you're cops for monsters, you feel like you have even more power to be judge, jury, and executioner. But like, the show never plays into that, and it's weird for Sam to say.

Anyway, Brian and Susan both thank Sam and Dean. Dean asks, “Are you guys okay?" like an idiot. And Susan's like, “No, we're the opposite of okay. But we're together." And then she, like, holds hands with her husband, which implies that all the marriage issues they were having earlier from their son dying are now gone because of this. Which I think is insane.

G: I feel like, you go through this much shit. Just divorce. [both laugh] I don't know. That's a mean thing to say.

C: I feel like the whole "you can't find someone else because no one else was there, and they don't understand what you went through."

G: Yeah, but I'm not- whatever. Personally, I don't necessarily agree with that kind of sentiment. But, you know, if I were to fight or flight, I will fly, so.

C: True.

G: Anyway, they fucking get out of there.

G: They go to an overpass which, looks, I believe, exactly like the overpass they were at last episode. [laughs]

C: Probably.

G: Did you notice that? It's crazy. So they go out, and Sam hands Dean a burger, and Dean opens up the burger, and my first thought was, "How can you eat after everything that you've seen today?" [C laughs]

C: And he doesn't.

G: And you know what? Dean heard me. 'Cause he fucking looks at the burger and just wraps it back up. And Sam asks, “Are you okay?” And Dean was like, you know, “I felt for those sons of bitches back there. It's a life of torture. It turns you into something like that.” Sam says, "You were in Hell, Dean. Maybe you did what you did there, but you're not them. They were barely human.”

C: Jesus.

G: Dean goes, “Yeah. You’re right. I wasn't like them. [both] I was worse. [C laughs] They were animals, Sam, defending territory. Me? I did it for the sheer pleasure.” And then he reveals that when he was torturing souls, he enjoyed it. Because it felt like retribution for all the years of pain that he experienced. He said he didn't care about who they put in front of him, as long as he was able to inflict the pain that was inflicted on him. He goes, “No matter how many people I save, I can't change that. I can't fill this hole, [C laughs] not ever.”

C: I- yeah.

G: This scene, I was laughing all throughout it. Like, I'm being fucking for real. I was just laughing so hard. [C laughs] Because I don't know, it felt so like, "Damn. You did all that for this?" [both laughing] For fucking this? Jesus Christ!

C: Wait, what is "that" and what is "this" in your sentence?

G: Like, this entire episode was done so that this reveal could happen. I don't know. It's just so stupid. A stupid episode, a stupid reveal. Everything's so stupid. I love it!

C: To be fair, I think this reveal was better than the last episode reveal. So it's like, yeah, okay, you tortured people in Hell, because, like, it was the way to get out of torture. Cool. Who cares? At least, this is like, a little bit like, morally graying Dean, you know?

G: [laughs] Yeah, I guess.

C: Last episode was like, a total cop-out, like, "You were in Hell. It wasn't your fault. The end." At least this is something. And I think this is very in-character, but the writers often don't make Dean in-character in the way that he's in-character in my mind. So at least they did this one. Like, yeah, he does- like, he is a control freak sometimes, and also, he does feel resentment about the pain he's felt in his life, and he does want to hold power over other people and cause them pain sometimes to feel better. Like, that's him. Yeah, you got it. Good job. At least you're willing to admit that.

G: Yeah.

C: Sam will just say anything, though. [both laugh] What was that?

G: [laughing] Sam will literally say anything.

Well, okay. Do you have anything more to say about this scene, or should we do the exit stuff?

C: Oh, I figured you would have more thoughts about how Sam will say anything.

G: [laughing] I have no thoughts about this episode other than complete and baffled amusement.

C: Okay, how does Sam justify the demon blood stuff to himself, if, like, this is his attitude towards the world? [G laughs]

G: I don't think Jeremy Carver thought of that at all. [laughing]

C: I mean, that's a good point.

G: I think they were like, “Jeremy, we need you to do an episode where it's revealed that Dean tortured souls, and he liked it.” And he was like, “Okay!"

C: "I got it!"

G: He did not read a single other script from this epis- from this season.

C: I mean, this isn't the first time Sam has said totally out-of-pocket shit. [both laughing] Remember at the end of "Provenance" when he was like, "Well, some people are just born evil." [both laughing]

G: At least that makes sense because it's a belief system he has. He does believe that he was born evil.

C: Like, okay, you fucking Catholic. [both laughing] What is this one?

G: I don't fucking know what's wrong with this guy. [both laughing]

C: I mean, it's also, he could just be a girl on the phone with her friend where you go, "Yeah, literally. Literally, you did nothing wrong" to your friend even when they were the wrong one in the story.

G: Yeah.

C: Like, maybe he's just saying this shit to make Dean feel better. Like, maybe he doesn't even believe any of this.

G: Well, what did you think about this episode now that we have finished?

C: We recorded for 2 hours and 20 minutes? For what?

G: We have been recording for so long.

C: Just for us to say over and over again how stupid we think the episode is?

G: It is so stupid. The thing is, I feel like this is not typical Supernatural levels of stupid. I feel like Supernatural is constantly something, whether that is offensive, or like, distasteful, or sometimes good, you know? But it is often not this, like, just straight up like. "What? [C laughing] Why?" Like, that is the genuine emotion I felt watching this episode. So yeah.

C: Yeah. And also, there's no deleted scenes.

G: There's no deleted scenes. Guys, I'm so sad. Well, I guess we have to do Best Line/Worst Line.

C: Oh my god!

G: I don't even remember a single line from this episode. You know, I'm gonna start fresh and new and like, from up top, and I'll say, “It's impossible!" is my worst line. [C laughing] It's literally not impossible. It's completely possible. I don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

C:  Well, I think my worst line is the one you pointed out, where Dean goes like, "Why would he say that?" for the reasons that you said. Like, I didn't even think like- the reasons I disliked it when I watched it was like, "Does Dean not know about slut-shaming culture?" But when you pointed out that it sort of implies that he thinks that she must have done something to deserve it, like, yeah, that's not it, really. Yeah. Worst line.

G: Yeah, I guess my worst line is the whole like, "She was barely human."

C: That too.

G: "She's an animal."

C: Yeah, no, instead of having a Best Line/Worst Line, let's just both have two worst lines for this episode. [both laughing]

G: [laughing] No, I think this episode deserves it, yeah. What's your second worst line? [both laughing] I mean, I was wracking my brain for a best line and I couldn't think of any, so, I think we can just do this instead.

C: Yeah, I think you've covered a lot of the worst lines. I think the one criticism that we haven't covered yet is all the “Well, we're in the country," "she's a backwoods hillbilly bitch" kind of shit. So one of those.

G: Hell yeah. Well, we have to do spreadsheets.

C: Yeah. Huh.

G: I don't think this episode particularly has anything.

C: Like, there's moments where I'm like, "This is a bad thing, and it did happen because the character's a woman," but like, it's not- it's like, a different flavor. Like, I don't know if it's like, truly misogyny.

G: Yeah.

C: Is it just a nothing episode?

G: It is a nothing episode, I think.

C: Yeah. alright. Cool. Have no clue what the fuck the IMDb scores would be.

G: I am willing to bet that this is low.

C: I- yeah, same.

G: I want to believe so bad that people saw this as stupidly as we did.

C: But also, the fact that it was on the like, scariest Supernatural episodes post that one time makes me- I don't know. Like, before I came into this episode, because of that post, I sort of thought that this was-

G: It was gonna be scarier.

C: Yeah, that this was gonna be like, a “Roadkill"-esque episode where it's decent and a little horror one-off that's like, good. So it's possible that people do view it that way because they're not as smart and cool as we are. Also like, I don't know it's got some- It's gotta be bad, right? It's gotta be bad. You say your number first.

G: I'll say 7.8

C: Oh my god, okay. I was gonna go with 8.1.

G: I'm betting low on this one.

C: I'm gonna go 8.1.

G: Okay. Let's see. Ooh! It's closer to me. It's a 7.9.

C: Interesting. Okay.

G: [laughs] The first one is, “This episode is so perfect. And so movie-like.”

C: I mean, it sure is like a movie that had no budget.

G: This scores 10/10. "The twists in the story are so unexpected."

C: Oh my god.

G: "You just do not see them coming."

C: I got in 7- 5 minutes in. All of it. All of it except for who put who in the wall, but- [G laughs]

Oh my, [overlapping] "This is one of my most favorite episodes of Supernatural. Shows how simple human beings can turn into bloodthirsty killers." You're right. This happens to everyone. Everyone gets put in the wall by their dad/grandad. What a good message. [both laughing]

G: [laughing] This was in 2015! So there were definitely better Supernatural episodes at this point.

C: God. [G groans] You know that one reviewer from Brazil who we never read anything from because they always just summarize the episode? I do just want to say that it's very nice to see them week by week, ending with like, "My vote is [number'," and then putting the title of the episode in Brazil at the end. Like, good for you for being here all the time.

G: Yeah.

C: Okay.

G: It is basically a summary, though, so we just pass by it.

C: Uh-huh. Okay, the next one's 5 out of 10. It says, “No plausibility.” Thank god.

G: “One of the scariest episodes, despite poor writing.” I think that's an understatement.

C: Yeah. They mentioned that it does make no sense for Danny to be so innocent that he doesn't think there's someone weird inside the walls.

G: This one points out the writing, like, "How are they literate enough to write the warnings?"

C: Yeah.

G: "One word was even [both] appropriately capitalized." [both laughing]

C: This person enjoyed the surprise of the brother. "Well, it did feel convenient for the writers. It was also unexpected in an episode of surprises." It- the fact that it was unexpected is part of why you should dislike it. Okay, anyway. They keep mentioning The People Under the Stairs being- I don't know what that is, but supposedly, it's similar to whatever this is.

G: I think it's like, "The Benders"? I don't know

C: No like, it's like, they capitalize The People Under the Stairs by Wes Craven. Like, it's some kind of a- let me see if it's like, a short story, or a movie or something. Not that it matters like, at all. Okay, it's a horror comedy film from 1991.

G: [laughing] "Some of the dumbest crap in the entire run is in this episode."

C: God bless.

G: "Maybe if the Winchesters didn't lose their common sense here, the final scene would play better. [both laughing] As it is, it is insulting covert subtext into text."

This review is basically saying that like, if you watch the last confession, you can basically infer what Dean is trying to say here.

C: I don't think so. Maybe I'm stupid.

G: Yeah, I don't know. And he's saying that it's common sense, and it's like, insultingly covert subtext into text. I respect that.

C: Yeah. Okay. So AnnaShade is back. AnnaShade does not have a rating, a number rating. But okay, the review reads, “First, an explanation for my exuberant and unfounded rating of 10 out of 10. I will be happy for any episode without angels, demons, Ruby or Anna, plus haunted houses are just so much fun.” And then you read further, and it says all they did was they saw the preview for this episode, and are excited to see it on January 10th.

G: [laughing] This is-

C: And then they said, "So I think it's gonna be a fun, spooky episode with Sam and Dean in a haunted house. I'll probably change this comment when I actually see the episode. But who knows?" AnnaShade never came back [G laughs] to change- But okay, but it doesn't say 10 out of 10. It has no rating. Did AnnaShade come back and take out the 10/10 because they were like, "Oh, no. [both] This was bad." But they didn't change their comment at all?

G: I support that.

C: Oh my god, AnnaShade didn't start during the first Anna episode. I'm looking at their history, and like, they were the one who titled the “Bloodlust” review, “shows just how deep the show goes.” [G laughing] They've watched House M.D.? They reviewed “Birthmarks” and titled it “good to have the guys back together.” "I've always been a huge fan of House and Wilson as best friends, the two have a great dynamic.” [G laughing] AnnaShade, call me. Let me study your brain. Who are you?

Anyway. Sorry, let's not get deep into- this isn't what the segment's about. Let's not get deep into insulting one specific person.

G: Yeah. This person points out that Sam and Dean are like, hulked-up men, and like, this woman is like, malnourished.

C: That's true.

G: And like, how is it possible that like, when they were doing hand-to-hand combat, like, Dean and the lady-

C: She has a knife.

G: Why did he- but he has something too, right? He was defending himself.

C: He was just punching, I think, at the beginning.

G: Okay. [laughing] I love-

C: What?

G: They go, "It was not the greatest episode." And you would think like, saying like, "It's not the greatest episode," "but it's okay," like, that's what you expect, right? But they say, "It's not the greatest episode, and it's a hiccup in the series as a whole," [laughing] and they end it there.

C: Wait wait wait, did you- okay, the one that mentions the malnourished thing. yeah, they also mentioned that, like, it just seems ableist to like, portray these characters as terrifying monsters, and it ends with “P.S. has anyone else noticed that Supernatural is oddly misogynistic?” [both laughing] Which- and then, “P.P.S Though in all fairness, the creators of Supernatural don't seem too fond of ethnic minorities or the handicapped either. Though these elements are not quite so pronounced as the veiled misogyny. And yeah, I'm a dude writing this review.” [G laughing] You know what? Good for you, dude. Like, [laughing] it took you four seasons, but I'm glad that this episode was finally bad enough that you finally had a reckoning and realized.

G: No, this one says, like, “I felt so sorry for the poor, pitiable girl and her brother, whom the makers of Supernatural wanted me to fear and hate." I think this is like, a good point in that-

C: Yeah.

G: - like, I feel like, if you- Well, I don't know anything about feral - is this considered feral children situation?

C: I don't know. Sure, yeah.

G: I guess it is because they were not- yeah, like, since they were kids. But like, you would expect, I feel like, they would be more scared of you than you are of them? But I don't know. How would I know?

C: That's true. Isn't like- I don't think that like, she's killed anyone before, like, the guy in the opening. So like, I don't know. Like, yeah. I don't think that she has a history of being aggressive. You're right. And like, the flashlight thing. Yeah, it does make more sense that she'd just be scared. Though, I mean, fear it does sometimes like, cause like, aggressive behavior, so. I feel like it's like-

G: No, but the attacking the two women in the shed, that was obviously portrayed as like, he was like, grinning and stuff, you know?

C: Right. Right.

G: Yeah. "Wasted my time watching it. [both laugh] I was so disappointed. But I waited until the end of the episode hoping that it will have at least have a nice ending. [both] Bad decision." [both laugh] It literally is.

C: It literally is a bad decision.

G: Yeah. This episode is really fun. I really enjoyed [C laughing] dunking on this one, if I'm being fucking for real.

C: Yeah. Yeah. I had a time. Was it good? Was it bad? Who knows. What's the next episode? Tell me Cas comes back, or I'll die. I'll just die right here.

G: Okay, well, let's do the outro.

C: Okay.

G: That's it for this episode of Busty Asian Beauties. Next week, we will be discussing Season 4, Episode 12, “Criss Angel is a Douchebag.”

C: Oh, Ruby's in that one. Right?

G: Give us a rating or a review wherever you get your podcasts. I don't think so.

C: What? Are you sure?

G: Ruby is here, but Cas is not.

C: Oh, well, that's fine. As long as one of them's there.

G: This is the episode with the- with The Chief. "You haven't been had-" [laughs]

C: Oh my god, no. No, no, no, no! Dean hasn't been had until he's been had by The Chief?! [G laughing]

G: Yeah.

C: Oh my god, okay. I'm looking forward to whatever circumstance creates that scene. [G laughs]

G: Yeah.

C: Do I even say our Twitter in my outro anymore.

G: Sure, do it.

C: Should we just cut it? Like, no. Okay. We're still on Twitter? Okay, fine.

G: I mean, we do have a Twitter.

C: I guess we do have one. We haven't deleted it yet. Okay, follow us on social media.

G: If someone DMs us, we receive an email about it. So like- and I check our email, so like, I'll see it, yeah.

C: And we can't delete Twitter, because sometimes I do need to look at Tweets, and I do it through our account because I don't have one. [G laughs]

G: God. I wish, like- 'cause we share a YouTube sometimes. Like, I think we both forget to log out of our- like, we forget to change-

C: We forget to switch back to our personal YouTubes. So you see that I-

G: [laughing] So sometimes I see our YouTube history, and it is the funniest thing. And what I would give for us to see- for me to see your Twitter history on our account.

C: I mean, I'll tell you. It's just the Good Omens tag. [G laughs] Anyway.

G: I support that.

C: Follow us on social media! We are on twitter at twitter.com/BeautiesPodcast and on Tumblr at bustyasianbeautiespod.tumblr.com. Our official tag is #BABPod, B-A-B-POD. Thanks to everyone who's donated to our Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/bustyasianbeautiespod, and check out our merch at babpod.redbubble.com.

G: If you have any comments, inquiries, feedback, etc, email us at bustyasianbeautiespod@gmail.com.

See you guys next time! [both] Bye!

[guitar music]

[hahahahahangst]

Honey and glass (Be The Young 33)

TW: [suicidal thoughts, self h*rm, violence, s*xual assault]

Other tags: [sister fic, canon-level violence, dean is an asshole, angst]

All chapter titles are song titles, some of them translated from Italian songs. We start from the first season and make out way through the series. I will occasionally break canon✨ .

Summary: Emily Reed, born and raised in Portland, is preparing her admission papers for Stanford, medical school. Little does she know, her life is about to change forever.

"After reading this whole letter, call John Winchester. [...] He’s your real father."

A/N: We interrupt the regular programs for some relax. 

MASTERLIST

Honey and glass

I'm sitting here thinking this is not fair but [...] It's not her fault that I'm so fucking sad

When they reached Bobby's lot, they moved Anna into the panic room. 

“Iron walls drenched in salt. Demons can't even touch the joint.” Commented Dean, knocking on the walls of the room. Ruby, from the other side of the door, was looking around, disgusted. Emily joined them from the stairs just in time to hear the demon complain: “Which I find racist, by the way.”

“Well that's sad…“ Emily said, sarcastic, walking behind Ruby as she handed Dean some hex bags. “Looks like you won't be able to have the threesome you were hoping for.” 

“Very funny.” Answered the demon, giving Emily her protective bundle. 

“Anna, what's playing on angel radio? Anything useful?” Asked Dean, rolling his eyes at the conversation behind him. 

“It's quiet, dead silence.” 

Just at that moment, Sam joined them as well in the basement. 

“That's not troubling at all.” Continued Dean, ironic. Sam silently took his hex bag. 

“We're in trouble, huh? You guys are scared?” Asked Anna, sitting in the chair in the middle of the room, almost perfectly still. She had a weird vibe, as if she was too calm. Too still. 

Dean, with a strong exhale, said “Nah.”. Sam and Emily exchanged a complicit look as they started to catch some interest their brother had towards Anna. 

However, Sam called Dean's attention to show him the research he had done. 

He closed the panic room's heavy door and the siblings left Anna behind, with Ruby guarding her, and walked back upstairs.

“What've you got?” Asked Emily, rifling through some paper Sam had just placed on the table.

“Uh, not much. Her parents were, uh, Rich and Amy Milton: a church deacon and a housewife.”

“No wonders she went crazy.” Scoffed Dean.

“Yeah. But there is something here in the report. Turns out this latest psych episode wasn't her first. When she was 2 1/2, she'd get hysterical any time her dad got close. She was convinced that he wasn't her real daddy.”

“Who was?” Asked Dean. “The plumber, mh? A little snaking the pipes?”

“Dude, that's for sure the plot of a porn that was in that motel in Ohio.” Emily answered, putting down the paper. “The plummer used his dick to clean the sink?” 

“Exactly! Wait, how-”

“Guys?!” Sam interrupted Dean and Emily rambling about the porn video and kept explaining. “Anna didn't say who her real father was, but she said he was very mad and wanted to kill her.”

“At 2 years old? That’s not fun.” Said Dean. Emily sat down on the couch as they spoke.

“Well, she saw a kid's shrink, got better, and grew up normal.”

“Until now. So, what's she hiding?”

“Why don't you just ask me to my face?” Said Anna’s voice from on top of the stairs. Ruby, behind her, stood, bored with her arms crossed.

“Nice job watching her.” Said Emily, sarcastic.

“I'm watching her, demon-barbie.” Answered Ruby, annoyed. 

“No, you're right, Anna.” Sam interrupted Emily, who was about to answer back. “Is there anything you want to tell us?”

While Anna told them about how she had no idea what was going on, Emily was leaning on the wall, distracted. 

All she could think about was Dean crying. It was like an image stuck in the back of her brain, a constant reminder of the shit they went through. She had spent year and year in hell, just regretting every single fight she had ever had with him. Everytime the clock ticked, she was reminded that, even if she wanted to stop fighting with Dean, it seemed like she was failing over and over in her task of keeping peace. All she wanted was for the fighting to stop, but life seemed to have other plans. 

Sam had the idea of calling Pamela, a friend of their father who had helped them with psychic matters before. 

Dean offered to pick her up and bring her back:“Sammy, wanna tag along?” He asked, searching in his pockets for the car keys. 

“It's probably better if I stay here.” He pointed at Ruby. “But maybe Emily can come with you?” 

Come on, man! She glared at him.

What, I heard you before, I thought you wanted to stop the fighting, right?

Yeah, not being forced to spend three hours with him!

If you want the fighting to stop, you need to talk about what's bothering you!

“What are those two doing?” Said Ruby, raising one eyebrow and pointing at Sam and Emily who had just started gesturing in front of their faces. 

I don't want to be stuck with him for hours, you know he's not gonna talk-

“Telepathy. They keep forgetting that we can't hear them, but we can still see them!”

Well then you force him to!

 Dean snapped his fingers in the middle of the siblings, finally getting their attention. “Hey!” 

Emily turned to him. “What?!”

“You're being weird- you know what, it doesn't matter, we have a long way to go, let's just leave.” 

Emily walked a couple of steps while still looking back at Sam, who showed her a sarcastic thumbs up, but then followed Dean outside the house and into the Impala. 

“By the way, you really need to learn how to not let people know you're talking telepathically- It's not a very useful power if everybody knows you're using it.” Said Dean, starting the engine. 

“Right.” 

Either of them spoke for a couple of hours as Dean was focused on driving and Emily did her best to distract herself by reading a lore book she had in her bag. 

“What' you reading, kid?” Dean tried to lift the cover to see the title. 

“It's one volume of Edda.” 

“Cool.”

“Yeah.” Muttered Emily, knowing full well Dean probably had no idea what Edda was. 

Dean started tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, humming on the notes of the classical tunes he was playing on the radio. “You like this song?” He asked. 

“I guess.” Answered Emily, distracted.

After a little more silence, Dean spoke again. “Do you remember that time-”

“Dean!” She finally lifted her eyes off her book, annoyed. “I'm trying to read!”

“I'm just trying to have a conversation, you know.” 

“Well, I don't really want to talk right now.” 

Exhaling, Dean went back to staring at the road for a while. 

“Emily?” He asked, about an hour later.

“What now?!” 

“I need to say something to you.” 

Emily closed her book, annoyed. “Alright, I'm all ears.” 

“You were right.” Said Dean.

“Can you be more specific?” She asked.

“I was a dick to you when Sam died and- I know you think it was stupid to bring him back, but-”

“Actually, I- I started regretting not bringing him back like two days after we burned him.” She exhaled. “There. I admitted it. But I knew it wasn't the right thing, so I didn't let you do it.” 

“Well, you were right. And when he came back… Explaining to him what happened to you and how you were gone was… Too hard.” 

Emily stared in front of her for a bit, thinking about Dean's words. “I get it.” She sighed. “I don't approve of it, but I get it.” 

 “I know, sorry. You- When you died, it really was a slap in the face. Cops showed up at Bobby's and- I felt like I failed you and as if it was my fault and now- now there's this hell thing and…“ He trailed off. 

“About that.” Said Emily, shifting in her seat. “I'm sorry about this morning. I spent one hundred years regretting fighting with you and letting us escalate as much as we did, but then I came back and I let it happen all over again.”

“One hundred years?” 

Emily exhaled, realizing she had just revealed something about hell she was not supposed to. 

“That's an expression, you know.” She tried to convince Dean. He raised an eyebrow and briefly glared at her. 

”...Is it? Because that was my next point, Emily. Hell didn't feel- It didn't feel like four months. More like thirty years.” 

Emily exhaled. “Mine did feel like one hundred.” She admitted. “Give or take, I honestly lost track. I almost stopped counting when you-” 

“I'm sorry. Really.” 

“It's not about the apology, man. While I was down there… I thought about you and about how I fucked it all up. I kept thinking that if I ever got a redo, I would not be a fucking bitch to you, but you're making it really hard, Dean.” 

“So what you're saying is you want us to be siblings? For real?” 

“I want us to try and be siblings. Yes.” 

They later arrived back at Bobby's, together with Pamela. Emily holed up in her room to do research, hoping to get some calm time. Having so many people around, all giving different info and opinions, was stressing her out. So she changed out of her clothes, put on one of Sam's old t-shirts and sat on the bed with a pile of books on her side. She was deep into her reading when someone knocked on the open door frame. She raised her gaze to see Sam. 

“Hey kid.” He said, smiling. “How you doing, got anything interesting?” 

“Not really.” She exhaled, closing the book she had on her legs. “You?” 

“Got nada. Are you okay? You've been up here for a while.” 

“Yeah, all is good. I spoke with Dean, we… We got somewhere, I guess.” 

“Really?” Sam entered the room, Emily gestured him to sit on the bed. “I thought you'd be happier.” 

“I don't know, Sam- I'm tired as fuck. This whole Anna thing is very stressful.” 

“Do you want some help with those?” Sam pointed to the books and papers she had laying around her. She shrugged and handed him a book. He made himself comfortable on the other side of the bed. “So, will you and Dean be in peace now? For real?” 

“Well, I'll try, but… It wouldn't be the first time it all goes to shit.” Sam's face tightened up a little and he resumed his reading. It wasn't long before someone else interrupted their silence. Ruby entered the room. “Ah, here you are. My favourite nerd and- well, you.” She pointed at Emily, disgusted. 

“Love you too, girl.” Said Emily, sarcastic, without taking her eyes away from her book. “You got anything useful or are you just here because you want to have sex with Sam?” 

“What, jealous?” 

“Cut it out- I think I found something.” Sam interrupted them. “Here. In march '85, a meteorite vanished in the night sky over northwestern Ohio. It was sighted nine months before Anna was born, and she was born in that part of Ohio.”

“Wait-” Said Emily. “I got a meteor on the same day, just over Kentucky.” She handed him a piece of newspaper. 

“Must be her grace.” Nodded Sam. 

“All right. That just narrows it down to an entire state.” Said Ruby, annoyed. “Sam... I'm sorry.”

“For what?” Asked Sam. Emily scowled at the demon. 

“For bringing you this mess. If I had known, I would have kept my trap shut.”

“It’s easy to say it now, maybe you should have thought of it earlier.” Spat Emily, bitter. 

“I’m not talking to you, barbie.” 

“You’re not? Because last time you seemed pretty keen on having me on your team!” 

“You b-”

“Hey!” Interrupted Sam. 

Emily and Ruby both turned to him. “What?!” 

“This is not the time- Listen. We’ll muddle through, okay?”

“Not this time. You do not want to get between these two armies. It's Godzilla and Mothra. If one side doesn't get us, the other one will.” At these words, Emily rolled her eyes. 

“So, what do you want to do? Dump Anna and run?” Emily let the two talk and started sorting the paper and books. “Forget it. Look, I know the angels freak you out.” Continued Sam.

“Forget the angels. It's Alastair I'm scared of.”

“Alastair?”

“You met him in the church. Practically the grand inquisitor downstairs. Picasso with a razor.” Emily shivered. “And you should pull him out and throw him back in the pit... if you weren't so out of shape.”

“Ruby-” 

“No, your abilities… you're getting flabby. You know what you got to do.” 

“Stop-” Sam gazed over at Emily, who had stop clearing her space and was looking at him, confused. “No, I'm not doing that anymore.”

“Well, then you better either convince your sister to join us, or pray that Anna gets her groove back, or we're all dead.” Said the demon as she left the room.

Emily and Sam remained alone. “Sam, what was that about?” 

“Forget it, it's- it's not important.” 

“Doesn't look or sound like it.” 

“Really. Forget it.” 

There was a fight. Castiel and Uriel showed up, as well as Alastair. As they fought, Emily dislocated a shoulder. As Dean packed ice on it, she sat on the couch, the same couch where they fought after Sam died. 

“So, one hundred years, uh?” Said Dean, pressing the ice on her shoulder as she winced in pain. 

“Dean, please, we don't have to talk about that now.” 

“Of course, just- does that make you 125?” Dean smiled, amused. Emily thought about it for a second. 

“Dean, does that mean… Am I technically older than you?” 

Dean scowled at her, regretting his joke. “Absolutely not.” He said. 

“Dude- I just won the oldest sibling's privileges.”

“That's- that's not a real thing!” 

“Oh, I'll show you if it's not a real thing.” She giggled. “Also, dude, you had sex with an angel?!” 

“What?! How do you-” 

“I know everything. It's my oldest sibling's brain.” She pointed at her head, smiling.

“Yeah, right.”

“Also, it was super obvious. You know, you kissed in front of us. You doing okay?”

“I'll live.” 

[ruby2stardust]

This post. One year ago, I watched Bocchi the Rock. And I still stand by every single word, now even more strongly than I did then. I have watched and rewatched this show so many times in one year. Maybe 13 times? Probably more. Read the whole manga three times. Read a frankly unhealthy amount of fanfiction. I have sung its praises to my family and friends, I have written multiple essays even if I haven't shared a single one. I have a Google drive folder where I personally made my own take on the translated lyrics of each song. Somehow, some way, I still have more to say. I'll get quite personal and a little dark. I have to explain how much this series has meant to me. To do that, I have to give a good picture of where I was.

365 days ago, I was tired. College classes will do that. Especially when you have Autism and ADHD and anxiety and probably a few other things too. I was awful in school. I have been since 1st grade, and I don't know why I pressured myself into taking college classes. So yeah I was failing every class because I didn't know I had ADHD and I would stare at math problems for hours on end doing absolutely nothing trying to psyche myself up before curling into a ball to cry.

But that was just school. I had done school before. For years. The worst of it was something else. I was lonely. My family was distant. Always distant. Worse, the friends I made in high school turned out to be real jerks at times. Between blatant and open homophobia/transphobia to peer pressuring others into saying racial slurs as if it were an initiation ritual. I was always uncomfortable with it, but I had finally worked up the courage to get out of that group. At first, it was freeing. But every passing day, I didn't have people to talk to. I felt worse. I missed them. I had a hard time making friends, but those people had wanted me. I hated that I missed them.

Now, if you've watched the show, you understand what that loneliness looks like. At least a little bit. The first scene of the first episode in all its melancholy. I felt like that, but all the time and way worse. Social anxiety is a trap. The snake eating its own tail. I am alone, I do not want to be alone, but what if I ruin it? What if I mess it up? What if I do something dumb? I'll just wait for others to come to me. And so, I am still alone. It is a hard cycle to break, and even when people do try to talk to you, it's easy to miss the chance to make something of it.

I never blamed myself. My old "friends" were keeping me in an uncomfortable place, so I left. But I hated myself for missing them. I would sit by the train track each day, waiting to go to class. I would wonder, should I just walk down it? It would only lead to one place. In retrospect, I knew I didn't want that. But I felt trapped by my own emotions.

December 19th, 2022. Enter silly anime about teenage girls playing guitar. I watched eleven episodes in one day. And I was bawling my eyes out by the end. There are so many jokes about how relatable the show is. Yes. That's what drew so many in. From the first few seconds, I could relate to Hitori. But that wasn't what made it special. It was how she was portrayed, walking the empty hallways, the hunched posture, the panic attacks, and the self depreciating thoughts. All of it seeming sort of ridiculous, but it was very real to her. She was lonely. She couldn't speak up. And she always seemed to miss her chance. So she just retreated to what she knew.

I remember laughing. I remember smiling honestly for the first time in months. I remember connecting with these simple characters. I remember feeling understood by this show. I remember waiting for the final episode. And the emptiness I felt as soon as the credits rolled. But that feeling. The song filling my ears. That music, it made me want to try.

Music is powerful. The music in this series is intensely emotional. At least it is for me. I've listened to each song in repeat. Seeing those lyrics, the heavy pounding on drums, the wild strumming of guitar through the 14-song album that whirled through all sorts of emotions. I felt heard by this show. I knew that someone out there, heck tons of people all watching at the same time as me, all knew, and we all understood. The music couldn't have done it on its own. But the show wouldn't be what it is without the music.

It was a simple story. A girl played guitar alone. But by taking a risk and sticking to it, she changed. She didn't magically become an extrovert or cure her anxiety, but she began to learn to love herself. She began to learn new things. She began to gain more confidence in who she was, if only a little.

And I could too.

I need to gush about this series it's so good I have never gone from not knowing what something is to being hyperfixated so incredibly fast.

So Bocchi the Rock right? Yesterday I had no clue this series even existed. By the end of yesterday I had seen a few clips and heard a few people talking before watching one episode of it. Today I binged the other ten episodes and I am OBSESSED. This show had me rolling on the ground with laughter while simultaneously getting me invested in a story that normally I wouldn't find myself enjoying that much. So I'll just start from the beginning I guess this is a slice of life comedy show about social anxiety. I don't think I have to say much on that we all get it but the way it's portrayed here is just beyond words good. The presentation of this show is out of this world. It follows Hitori Gotoh a socially inept girl with a passion for playing guitar. She wants to start a band and get popular but just can't get herself out there. One day she brings her guitar into school hoping to get some attention to little success. However she is noticed by Nijika Ijichi who is just starting the Kessoku band and had her guitarist flake out on her five hours before a concert. Desoerate she drags Hitori along with her to join her band. It's a huge step for Hitori that she is not at all ready for and various shenanigans ensue from there. I could go on but this show is fantastic and I want people to watch it. I personally love how the show ties its drama and comedy together seamlessly. Whenever Hitori is stressed out about something the show goes wild changing up the animation style completely to represent her sudden panic attack which both puts you in her frame of mind and gets you to laugh.

My personal favorite is this one where the animation just rapidly devolves into simple 3d models for all of 4ish seconds while Hitori is hurled through a wall to represent her fear of an upcoming performance. It's something that I think a lot of people can relate to having to present to a ton of people is nerve wracking while also just being incredibly fun to watch and there's a different style change every single time this happens I never know what to expect next and it always catches me off guard and makes me laugh! The show also has an actual plot going for it it isn't all just jokes with no substance these characters develop throughout and they do it quickly enough for a character's growth in the season to be clear. It doesn't take Hitori 20 episodes to overcome every issue she faces. She's just honest and works on herself bit by bit with things coming full circle from the start to the end. It's the small details that really bring everything together here. Little things that keep popping up as the show goes on that develop Hitori and her relationship with her bandmates.

Also the opening song is super good I've been listening to it on repeat for literally like 6 hours.

[writingdotcoffee]

#199: How to Start a Story

Story ideas come from weird places that most writers don't fully understand. That's why we're so afraid of talking about it. Do you create new ideas or uncover what was already there in the collective psyche of humanity?

Orson Scott Card has a great quote about story ideas:

“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.”

This is the most controllable aspect of the process — learning to recognise a story idea when you see one. In this post, we’ll take a look at five different ways how you can start a story.

A Vivid Image

A story can start from as little as an image in your mind that makes you feel something. It may be something you saw or experienced, something that came to you in a dream or just randomly.

Maybe you’re on your way to the train station in the morning. It’s foggy outside, and when you’re passing through the park, you get an eerie feeling that something or someone is lurking in the mist. Is that a ghost, a thief, a spy, a bear, a murderer? And why is he there? All sorts of ideas can come out of that single image.

Here’s another example: a helicopter wakes you up as it flies low over your house. You’re annoyed but not enough to get out of bed. Then you hear another one. And another one. What’s going on here? The image doesn’t have to be the first scene in the story or even appear in the story at all. But it sets you on a path of discovery.

Here’s a third one: a group of friends are watching the sunset from a rooftop in New York City. Then a creeping shadow from a huge alien spaceship obscures their view. Why is the ship there? And why is Jay the only one not panicking? Is he one of them?

A Unique Character

Another way to start a story is to develop a unique character. Characters can make or break a story. Sometimes, it makes sense to figure out who the protagonist is first. Then you'll build the plot around them.

A good example of this is House, M.D. The entire series revolves around the personality of the protagonist. The writers very likely developed the character of Gregory House and then wrote the episodes to tell his story. Dexter is another good one.

You may have a specific personality trait in mind, a certain look or lifestyle that you want to write about. That’s when it makes sense to start with a character.

Confluence

Neil Gaiman is a big advocate of this approach. To create a brand new idea, combine two unlikely ideas together. It can work within a genre and across genres as well.

This is where stuff like sci-fi romance or military sci-fi comes from. It works very well for speculative fiction.

Bringing two disparate ideas together is a great way to create something unique. Let’s go back to the first story example — the fog in the park with something lurking in it. That’s literally the most obvious thing you can do. Thousands of stories have been told about innocent people getting ambushed.

What if the fog isn’t pollution? It’s some sort of agent that aliens inject into our atmosphere to learn about us. The aliens were particularly active in Victorian times — hence why London always was so polluted. That’s a very different story...

What If?

The what-if question is the holy grail of story development. You can use it to start a story as well as build on an existing idea.

When you think about it, asking the what-if question means discovering various parts of your story. You start from a tiny seed and keep adding plausible branches to it. When you’re done, the whole thing seems obvious, almost as if it was always there.

It’s a strange feeling, but the what-if question works.

Let’s say your protagonist is walking down the street. What if a scruffy looking man approached her and handed her an ancient spellbook? What if the man then turned around and got hit by a bus? What if the protagonist took the book home, but when she wanted to read it a few days later, she couldn't find it? And what if someone later came to her place asking for it?

Prompts / Fanfic

Prompts are also a fantastic way to kickstart your writing. A prompt is basically a way to inject an image into your mind. And then it’s up to you what you do with it. Contrary to what people might say, starting from prompts is a completely valid way to work as a writer.

Fan fiction can work as an original story starter too. You might write about your favourite characters at first, but later on, you can edit the copyrighted parts out. Nobody has to know that your story started as fanfic.

Final Thoughts

There are a million ways to start a story. Whichever you use, it's only the beginning. You will have to fully develop the narrative from there. Asking many what-if questions is a great way to do that.

It’s hard work, but very few things are as rewarding as seeing your idea come to life.

About the Author

Hi, I’m Radek 👋. I’m a writer, software engineer and the founder of Writing Analytics — an editor and writing tracker designed to help you beat writer’s block and create a sustainable writing routine.

I publish a post like this every week. Want to know when the next one comes out? Sign up for my email list below to get it right in your inbox. 

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Past Editions

#198: Can You Write a Story Right Now?, June 2021

#197: Whatever You’re Doing Can Be Fixed, May 2021

#196: The Shiny Object Syndrome, May 2021

#195: Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?, May 2021

#194: Your Inner Critic is Wrong, May 2021

[hacash]

ted lasso 2x09 thoughts

ARGH

those are it. those are my thoughts.

Ok, slightly more coherently…

Sam’s getting recognition! Sam has his own chant! I love that for him. Love it all. It’s obviously so good that Sam is becoming an in-universe hero when we’ve loved him from his first scene - however, that also comes with the caveat of not wanting him to move anywhere from Nelson Road. I’m curious to see where they take it though, because I obviously can’t see Toheeb Jimoh leaving the cast before the show finishes, but at the same time this offer is so good for him?? I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know.

(If, on the other hand, Toheeb is being written out because he’s going on to star as a lead in another show where we could see more of his beautiful face and stellar acting every week? I would find that acceptable.)

Screeners’ reactions for this episode had me thinking something cataclysmic and dreadful was going to happen between Sam and Rebecca with them reuniting and it hitting the papers - and it ended up being fine?? Of course she’s torn about him leaving. Even if they end up never being together again Sam clearly represents something wonderful to Rebecca - possibility and the sense of being treated right - and those feelings don’t just go away.

I expected a bit more reaction from Ted about the whole Sambecca thing, but that little look in his eyes after their conversation did have me curious - does he disapprove more than he lets on? is he secretly pining for Rebecca already? only time will tell. also I did notice Ted was once again basically saying whatever Rebecca wanted to hear and agreeing at every single line - he might be going to therapy but he’s not out of the people-pleaser woods yet.

Another bombshell next year? OH COME ON. If that’s not a prediction of some sort of confession of love I will go out and buy a hat just to eat it.

SHARON. How I am going to miss thee. But it was a lovely and understated farewell to a character that I’ve really come to love - Sexy Mother Fucker; he stole my move, yaas - showing how much she and Ted have helped each other grow and I just *tear*. Also I’m a Tedbecca shipper through and through, but Jason and Sarah do have such lovely chemistry together.

Also the pub regulars basically pleading for free therapy? Aww.

Higgins luring Ted back to read Sharon’s note with a well-chosen letter based pun? I love this man to the ends of the earth.

I FUCKING KNEW THAT HIGGINS KNEW EVERYONE’S BIRTHDAY. I PREDICTED THAT SHIT.

Roy and Keeley…I’m sorry, I’m emotional and anxious and hopeful and I do not think they’re going to break up. Relationships go through messy spots and people struggle, and the mark of a good, communicative, grown-up relationship is that you take time and discuss your issues and move past them. Keeley and Roy’s relationship has always been characterised by that maturity, and I just don’t see a couple of ill-timed romance confessions breaking that down.

(If anything, we might get a discussion from Roy about Keeley trusting him - I’m guessing there’s a fair bit of time lapsed between Jamie’s confession and her telling all to Roy, and I can see that being the sticking point that upsets Roy, that she hid this from him for some time. He clearly didn’t feel at all upset by what happened with Nate; it’s the - arguably fair - point that Keeley didn’t let him know that her ex confessed love for her that I think is going to be the issue.)

Also, the ‘are you married’ question - coupled with the fact that we keep seeing Roy on his knees in front of Keeley - makes me think we’re going to get a proposal next episode.

Also I love that we’re seeing more of Keeley’s psyche beyond the ‘cute and supports everyone’ façade - her mother’s experience with ambition and not being able to achieve it is a really interesting little snippet, not to mention the reason she bonds so much with Nate and is able to see how someone seemingly ‘undeserving’ should be able to realise their dreams.

also her and Rebecca’s ‘bleargggggh!’ competition! and Ted thinking he was going to be on the cover of Vanity Fair! return of Biscuits with the Boss!

ok, deep breaths now

NAAAAAATE

WHAT ARE YOU DOOIIIIIIING

Is it bad that I sort of liked the whole thing with Keeley? Not in a ‘yes I want this to happen’ sort of way, but because it makes so much sense that Nate (particularly Nate in his current state) might mistake that level of bonding and emotional support as something romantic. We know Nate is insecure and hasn’t had much of a social life in the past, and that he idealises Keeley for her basic kindness and decency: much like Jamie in 2x10, he’s mistaking Keeley’s kindness as something more…it’s absolutely gutting to watch, and also so human and real that I can’t help but take my hat off to the writers for it.

(Honestly, there’s been so many posts on tumblr about how toxic masculinity fucks men over to such an extent that when they receive kindness and friendship for a woman they immediately think romance - but yeah. this show does tick all the boxes.)

I did see the kiss moment coming a mile away and was really worried that Nate was going to be…uh, very entitled about it, given his current state, but the fact that he wasn’t - that he was immediately horrified and realised he’d fucked up and stumbles away muttering about how he ‘is worried about it’ and ends the scene spitting at himself in the mirror again and looking absolutely disgusted with himself - well, in a way that just hurt more. (I mean, I’m relieved Nate wasn’t all bolshy with it because his reaction does show there is still some of the old Nate still there…but still, owch.)

And then that text from Trent…

Next episode is going to hurt like hell, isn’t it? I absolutely cannot wait for the showdown between Nate and Ted, it’s been a long time coming…like I’ve said, while I think ultimately Nate is going to have a redemption arc, because thematically it makes sense and would send some pretty iffy messages if he doesn’t, I don’t think it’ll come until season three. Right now I just want to see Ted get angry after several seasons of suppressing his anger, I want a full-blown emotional hash-out between them both - basically I want Jason and Nick to have me sobbing before 9AM.

My one question is: are we going to see Nate realising what he’s done, or not? Was this a pragmatic, doing-this-for-the-sake-of-the-club betrayal or a blind, lashing-out-in-frustration betrayal? In short: is Nate Lando or Anakin in this scenario?

I’m very curious as to what show people who say this ‘came out of nowhere’ have been watching. Nate’s been heading for some sort of implosion since mid-season, and we all knew it was going to hurt some innocent bystanders.

I’m saving something light and cheery after all the angst, so let me just say: cinema has never surpassed, and will never surpass, the scene of the Richmond boys dancing along to Bye Bye Bye. Almost made up for the fact that they were criminally underused in the rest of the episode, and quite frankly this had better be redressed in the season finale.

and WE FINALLY SAW COLIN DRIVING THE LAMBO. I don’t know what I find funnier: the fact that it’s some neon lime green monstrosity that every fourteen-year old boy would have dreamt of owning growing up (should my new Colin tag be Colin ‘I Need To Rethink My Relationship With My Car’ Hughes, or Colin ‘More Money Than Sense’ Hughes? enquiring minds want to know…) or as was pointed out to me by @kamillahn, the look of absolute terror on Colin’s face as he begins to drive. Colin, hun, please just buy yourself a Fiat. It’s not worth it anymore.

[pastelwitchling]

🚨 PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME YOUR SPECULATIONS/RANTS 🚨

Now, with that out of the way, let’s talk about 3x02.

Oh my gooooods, this episode, guys. This post won’t be nearly as long as last week’s (Edit from future Rin from half an hour later; it is indeed as long as the last one), but there’s quite a bit to unpack here, so let’s get started.

First, Liz. I skipped every single one of her scenes 😂 I am so bored and completely uninterested with her work in LA, and her relationship with Heath. I feel like these past two episodes, and this episode in particular, she really has nothing to do anymore with Roswell. Everyone has some role to play, but she has this whole separate storyline going on somewhere else. She just doesn’t seem to have any integral part of the story this season. So yeah, every time her and Heath came on screen, I just skipped until it was over.

Second. Y’all. I could not bring myself to skip any other scene. Everyone’s storyline was interesting enough to watch, everyone was so fascinating. I even legitimately enjoyed Maria’s scenes! (Save for the one with Michael catching her, but I really enjoyed her reaction to him! I like that they’re giving them their old banter back with none of the “romance”, if that’s what you can even call it.) I really enjoyed everyone’s scenes. There’s such a clear improvement with the writing so far (gee, I wonder what changed), and I really hope the rest of the episodes are as good and even better than this one was.

Max looked so good this episode, his smiles and laughs at the beginning -- MY HEART 😍 I’m so proud of him for having written a manuscript, and maybe it also just makes me really happy because he and I connect so much now 😂 He’s a bookworm who’s written a novel, I’m a bookworm who’s written a novel -- I just love it very much 🙈❤

Hate me all you want, I don’t care, but I thought the Wyatt and Rosa scenes were extremely cute. If the show goes in this direction of truly redeeming Wyatt, I could totally ship them. I really, really enjoyed them, they were very cute to watch. I swear, I had this smile I couldn’t help the whole time like, “Aww!”. Obviously, I want Wyatt to be properly redeemed, I want him to be an actively better person, and I want Rosa to firmly decide that he’s good first, but if they do redeem him, then I’m all for this, I really loved it 🥰💗

Michael is the Dictator’s son?! I’ll tell y’all honestly, I thought Mr. Jones was actually the Dictator, and I was really shocked in the best way. This is how you surprise your audience. Not shock for the sake of shock, but shock that is relevant, that makes sense in the story, that makes people want to keep watching, not stop. What a brilliant turn of events, and you know I had a fic planned the second it happened which will hopefully be coming soon. No promises, but I’ll do my best.

And finally, we get to my Alex. Yeah! Alex is in this! I love how the general consensus has just been shock that he’s in it at all 😂 (Hell of a job, PR team, I can see you’re really on top of things 👍🏻.) I will confess though, I was a little worried about that when I found out, just because we know that Alex has to miss two to three episodes, and I’d hoped to get them out of the way early on, but it’s Alex, so you know, the world’s a better place for it.

Alex is officially Black Widow, and I don’t normally do this, but I 👏🏻 CALLED 👏🏻 THAT 👏🏻 PLOT 👏🏻 LINE 👏🏻. The way the Black Widow movie had inspired me to write about Alex, the way I just envisioned Alex as I was watching in that theater, the number of fics I wanted to write but didn’t because I was done with aus. And then the number of non-au fics I ended up wanting to write instead. Nevertheless, it doesn’t matter because I 🌝 called 🌝 it 🌝. Here is the fic where I called it. I’m very proud of myself for that one, and even prouder of the writers for recognizing what I’d already known since the Black Widow release date.

Words cannot describe Alex’s beauty this season. In the diner, in his cute suit, in that white-tee, the scene when Ramos (who I guessed was the one conducting the psych eval the second I saw him, by the way) opens the door and the lights come back on, the purse of his lips, the way he studied the Lockhart Machine (did anyone else just immediately think of Gilderoy Lockhart when they heard the name?), when he said, “No. I’ll take this one,” like the freaking badass he is?!!! 😍

I really enjoyed this episode. Admittedly, I am worried now that Liz is back since it seems like every time she’s around, they focus too much on social issues as oppose to the actual story going on, but I’m holding out hope for the best. I had a lot of fun, I don’t trust Mr. Jones at all, even less after the way he talked to Isobel. I’m really hoping the writers don’t take the typical route of doubt gnawing away at her and then making her help Jones despite it being the obvious worst thing to do. I’m also a little frustrated malex hasn’t interacted yet, but I’m sure it’s coming, and, according to Vlamis, in a really, really good scene. I’m choosing to keep faith that these writers know what they’re doing.

Gods, could you imagine if these people had been free to work on season 2 without constant interceptions from CAM? How different life would be. Alas, there’s no use lamenting the past. I just know that I’m eager for the story to move forward, and as Alex had been, for the first time in a long time, I’m hopeful.