#i j hope that team succeeds and doesn’t leave hating each other

[solace-seekers]

trying not to sound like an engineering major but all my thoughts are just about my robot course

[dangerous-disposition]

On Tragedy vs. Bad Endings

[Image ID: user @frostyfrogz​ replied to your post “my mag171 #thots: I fully agree with. I love jonmartin I want nothing but the best for them. I know my answer today was an obvious twisting of dialogue but its just frustrating sometimes because it seems like people dont understand some sort of tragedy will indeed happen. I have never and will never suggest that something will happen to Jon and Martin’s relationship I’ve just been saying the shows not going to end well no matter what.]

So I have a lot of thoughts about this very subject, and too much for the replies on my post, so allow me to try to articulate what I mean, and what a lot of us mean when we say “it does not make sense for either Jon or Martin to turn evil in the end,” even in a show that has been advertised from day one as a tragedy.

First of all, no one thinks this is going to end happy. The few who do are usually unaware that this show is billed as a tragedy, and are quick to be corrected. I didn’t know it was a tragedy until I was on season 3 and someone told me. It’s overall just best to assume that the OP knows it’s not going to be a happy ending, because “reminding” people or “explaining” to people that the ending is going to be sad is a fast way from people to get annoyed and defensive.

Anyway! It appears, above all, that people have either fundamentally different ideas of what a tragedy is or accomplishes, or that people have a fundamentally flawed understanding of tragedy and it’s place as a narrative device/theme.

My thoughts are that tragedies hurt, and tragedies can be devastating, but they have to have a message and they should not be cruel to the audience.

A cruel ending would involve leading the audience to believe one thing for the entire book, show, movie, podcast, what have you, just to rip it away at the last minute like a big “fuck you” to the audience. Those sorts of endings are inherently mocking of the audience, and ultimately disrespectful. The only people in the audience that “benefit” from this sort of writing are the cynics who spent the entire show talking down to everyone for seeing the silver lining in the impending tragedy, even if, up until the finale, the silver lining was always part of the narrative. Like it took actual twisting and outright ignoring of the narrative as it’s written to be cynical and sceptical all the way until the end.

That is, plain and simple, bad writing. Jonny Sims is not a bad writer.

Now tragedies often have “happy endings,” they just also have an element of sadness colouring that ending. A good, tragic ending should, in my opinion, feel bittersweet. We should see it coming, we should know it will hurt, but it should be for the greater good and should further the narrative that has been told from the beginning.

I said a few weeks ago that a tragic ending without a silver lining is just torture porn, and I stand by it.

Now, if Jon or Martin are revealed to be Actually Evil in the end, where is the silver lining in that? What narrative has even possibly hinted at this outcome, without putting on cynic glasses?

Every single plot point and plot “twist” in TMA has been clearly detailed, never relegated to pure subtext that you would have to comb through a single interraction and analyzing the tone in which it was said (which could easily be actor shortcomings or error). They have always been obvious, at least in hindsight. This is why, for a while, I subscribed to the Web!Martin theory, but due to recent episodes I’m more inclined to believe those “obvious things” were red herrings.

Throughout The Magnus Archives, the common theme in every. Single. Season finale is that “we are stronger together.” What do I mean by that? Well, here’s the general idea:

Season 1: The one time someone gets separated by the group for any significant length of time, like I mean the main group, she gets killed by the NotThem and replaced.

Season 2: Jon is alone, due to his intense paranoia and his reluctance to reach out for help. This leads to a disastrous series of events that leaves him a suspect of murder, and his friends even more doubtful of his character.

Season 3: In the episode just before they deal with the Unknowing, Jon literally says that isolation was his downfall, and he was going to work on trusting his friends more. When they got separated during the Unknowing, things went to shit. When they found each other again, they were able to rally and they “succeeded.” Conversely, they are also teamed up with Melanie and Martin who hung back to bring down Elias. They were successful, working as teams on separate objectives, etc.

Season 4: This is, by far, their most “successful” feats while simultaneously their least. The whole season was again showing the downfalls of isolation. In the season finale, Jon has Basira and Daisy’s help, and while bolstering himself with their strength, and the strength in his conviction to save Martin to be with Martin, Jon was successful in stopping Peter Lukas and saving Martin. Conversely, Martin and Jon’s isolation in Scotland could be, theoretically, implicated in how Jonah Magnus was able to succeed in the end like that.

Now evidence of this same train of thought in season 5? Jon literally says it: Gertrude would not have done well in this post-apocalyptic world, because she had no friendships, no anchors, no reason to stay human. And then Jon says “you are my reason” to Martin.

It is in the text of the story that the only way to succeed, or win, or survive, is through trust, friendship, and love. One of the main factors in so many of the statements, on why the statement givers succumbed to the fear in their story, for even a moment, had to do with very little personal ties to anyone else. Many of the statements feature isolation and, as Jon put it, “lack of corroboration.” On the flipside, many of the statements that ended with the statement giver escaping successfully, and surviving long enough to be reached out to for follow-up questions, involved them having close personal ties to someone else that kept them safe, somehow. Like the girl from Italy; remembering her mom saved her from the Lonely. Or, more ridiculously, the guy and his dog that escaped the spiral because he was so distracted by his dog and had to be home for dinner. In MAG170, it was Martin’s love for Jon, and his trust in the love from Jon and his friends, that saved him from the Lonely again. Jon’s incredible amount of love, and respect, and trust in his friends is what’s kept him from becoming another Jared Hopworth or Jude Perry. In MAG155, Cost of Living, he expresses open disgust in how that particular avatar of The End justified her actions, killing and killing and killing again because she viewed herself as more worthy of life than that person. In that same episode, he talks of not blinding himself because he hopes to use his powers to protect his friends, that without them they’re too vulnerable. Honestly, this is the same reason Peter Lukas is unsuccessful, because Martin only helped him at all to protect his friends. The fact that he didn’t see his failure coming was hilarious.

Gerry said in Family Business that there is no “entities of love”, and that might be true, but love and trust is literally what saves you from fear. How many of us deal with things that are scary in our lives, if only because we have some level of trust in the people or things around us. How many of us have been brought out of a panic attack by someone we love and trust?

So all of this has been presented to us, over and over and over again, which is what I, and others, mean when we say “it does not make sense for one of them to be evil.” That’s what we mean when we say “it would be Bad Writing to make one of them evil in the end.” The entire show has driven home the message that we need love, we need personal connections to survive fear. To rip that away from the main characters at the last minute and call it “tragedy” would be a spit in the face of every single listener who took the story at face value, without picking it apart and reading lines out of context. And Jonny Sims and Alex J. Newall have both said they hate lazy writing.

Now, none of the JonMartin fans I follow are deluding themselves to think this show will have a happy ending outside of very self-indulgent fix-it au fanfics.

The way I see this going down is that Jon and Martin will figure out how to put the world back to the way it was, but Jon will not be able to be part of the new world with Martin. That’s the tragedy; that the world gets saved, and Jon helps save it, but he doesn’t get to benefit from his efforts in any way. The tragedy is Jon loves Martin so much, and they deserve their happy ending, but they don’t get it. But, they still saved the world so others can have their happy endings.

Idk about you, but between the “Jon turns evil in the end” and “Jon stays good and sacrifices himself to save the world” endings, only one of them has me in tears right now as I type this out, and it’s not the former.

I’m not against sad endings,I’m against bad endings that punish the audience for having even a bittersweet hope. I’m against sad endings that are just sad for the sake of being sad, with zero pay-off or reason to happen, especially when those endings throw out 5 years of hard work.

And hey, I might just be forced to eat my words in the end, but not before I fly all the way to England and make Jonny Sims eat a knuckle sandwich.

This was a lot longer than I meant for it to be, but I just have a lot of feelings.

[chilly-me-softly]

Coparents (Part 3) • Ben Chilwell

Part 1 and Part 2 here if you haven’t read them yet! Hope you like it x ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One week. Seven days to get caught.

She would have liked to have been more careful, but it was not for her son's sake or for all the bullshit she continues to fill her brain. The reality was that yes, she also wants to understand if she and Ben are made for a real relationship before she even let her son in. But that came later. First she wants to enjoy the boy without having to share him with anyone, she wants to be able to kiss him or take his hand away from prying eyes.

And they thought they had been as careful as possible with everyone, careful not to exchange too many looks at dinner with friends, careful in saying or doing things too compromising in front of Ryan. Rotate the people with whom they left the boy because the excuses wouldn’t hold up. Behave normally, you know.

But it was difficult to do so when their child seemed to be in the middle of the ‘I want my parents together' phase and he thought he was acting like Cupid for the two of them. Not that they were bothered when he tried to keep Ben stay the night or when he interweaved their hands together when they all fell asleep randomly on the couch watching a movie or when he pretended to have a nightmare -always when Ben stayed at home- and forced them to sleep together in her bed. In fact, they should have thanked him for the moments he was inevitably making them go through together and to tell the truth, they felt a bit guilty because they saw the sadness in his eyes when one of them go home or when he doesn’t succeed in something he had put on his head.

But that day had been different, and then things had fallen apart from there. Ben had come home with some doughnuts and they had breakfast all together as a family, then they had taken him to school on foot. And Ryan had printed a huge smile on his face on the way, happy for once to be able to walk through the school gate hand in hand with his mom and dad. Together. And he almost didn't want to take their hands off when they arrived, almost fearing they might disappear at any moment. And when they picked him up that afternoon, Ryan literally threw himself on his father’s arms seeing them together again.

In his little head everything was already settled, the pair only need one last little push before finally becoming a permanent family and throw away one of the two houses. And they’re on the field at the end of a game, Ryan runs to James who takes him in his arms without batting an eyelid when “Uncle James can I come to sleep at yours tonight so mom and dad can make a baby?" says the little one as if it were the most natural thing in the world, leaving the boy somewhat stunned.

The two parents turn with their eyes wide open, caught by surprise as well as the others around them. “Honey…” had tried the girl by extending her hand to caress him, but the boy removes from her touch and hides his face in James' neck. He knew that look, she used it when she had to tell him he couldn't eat fries at dinner for the third night in a row and put meat and salad in front of him.

Never in his life Ben had seen that look in (Y/N)’s eyes, the one they exchange quickly watching the scene that is full of ‘my son hates me, I'm a bad mother'. She doesn't know how she manages not to burst into tears there at that moment. So Ben tries, stroking his back but the baby twists again. And then with a nod James takes them all into the locker room and they follow him without saying a word, Ben's hand squeezes hers as if to instil courage into each other.

“Hey, little man" James tries to get him to come off by whispering in his ear, but Ryan holds those slender arms around his neck so tightly he gives it up. And Ben looks at him shaking his head slightly, kneeling down in front of his son who gives him his back, telling him that it’s okay. They could face it with him there too, if only they would have avoided repeating it a second time.

"Ryan" (Y/N) calls him, perhaps a little too sternly because the child unconsciously clings to James even more. And that small gesture adds to the weight she feels in her chest. She sighs, sitting next to James, "Can I know why you said that to Uncle J?"

The only thing they receive in response is an incomprehensible mumble due to his pressed face against James' shoulder, but it's understandable he's crying. For a moment even her eyes fill with tears but she bites her lip so hard she resists. Taken by an act of courage, Ben stretches out to snatch Ryan from his friend's arms but the child begins to kick and Ben loses his balance, finding himself on the ground. The baby in his arms crying inconsolably.

They just can't figure out what might have brought them to that moment. They are sure they haven’t kissed when he was around or behaved differently from the usual, but somehow in their plan there was a leak and now they were back to the wall. They had to reveal the truth, and then they'd think about the consequences.

“I just wanted a kiss" hiccups the baby in his father's arms when he realizes he won't get his uncle's comfortable chest back. The faces of those present are softened and a spark seems to illuminate her face. Make a baby. A kiss. Of course! She remembers the conversation about his friend's brother, as not ready to address the issue yet they hadn’t commented. And now there they are, dealing with a hysterical child who somehow understood that something had changed.

"Oh love" she sighs more softly this time, but she still doesn't dare to approach for fear of another refusal, "why did you want it so bad?"

"You brought me to school together" he sniffles leaning on his father's chest and Ben passes a thumb over his cheeks to wipe away some tears, which had fortunately stopped falling.

"Can you keep a secret?" Ben whispers, looking at her who nods. Time to drop the bomb. The child looks up at him, his blue eyes looking at him curious. "Mom and I ... we have already kissed"

Silence. The child looks at them without saying a word. Then he smiles widely and jumps out of his father's arms. The locker room is filled with cries of joy this time, the baby looks like a loose cannon jumping all over the room.

"Ryan" she calls him signaling to approach her and he does it with pleasure this time, going to crash into her mother's legs. "Easy" she chuckles. He's too happy, he climbs on her legs to leave a kiss on her cheek. A gesture to apologize to her, a gesture that makes her forget the bad feelings of a while ago. "I want you to be clear about something, young man. This doesn’t mean mom and dad will have a baby. Just that they are together" and this time she wants to clarify, in order to avoid other problems in a few weeks.

"Madders" Ben recalls his friend who has since been enjoying the whole scene, surprised by the news but also amused by the child. They will have a lot to do while growing up.

"Ugly bastard" he murmurs before hitting the brunette who is still on the ground, and pretending to struggle to mess up his hair while he does nothing but laugh.

***

"How's you doing?" Ben sighs, leaving a light kiss, with his eyes closed, on her temple. She leans lightly on him and sighs in turn, following with her eyes their son who is trying to take possession of the ball and James who enjoys making him jump from one side to another, “A baby takes a lot of energy" he chuckles.

"Mommy, daddy come play with us!" the boy screams as he comes running and standing between her legs, she is sitting on the bench in their garden with a glass of lemonade in her hands.

"Mommy can't little man" she cooes passing her hand through his hair and the baby puts on a lovely pout before getting picked up by Uncle James who makes him squeal. "Come join my team RyRy, we already have a ball to play with"

"No Uncle J, mom is beautiful. And my little sister is in there" the child points out her figure proudly, happy to finally have his wish fulfilled, to then be dragged farther away from the blonde.

"Our little Stella" Ben murmurs laying a hand on the seven months belly now.

"Daaaaaad" the child calls him almost complaining and then passes under his uncle's legs, taking advantage of the height difference.

"Go, we'll cheer for our men from here" and he leaves a last kiss on her lips and belly before joins the group.

[shirtlesssammy]

Abandon All Hope...: 5x10 Recap

Then:

Jo and Ellen! Whaaaa.

Now:

We open to Generic City, USA, where a fancy man in a fancy suit exits a fancy car under a highway, and buries a small box in the gravel. “Mr. Pendleton, I presume.” Ah, the first words uttered by our previously only mentioned friend, Crowley. The man is surprised Crowley isn’t a woman, since this deal will be sealed with a kiss. Get over your homophobia dude. (Ha, Boris is typing this up as she watches and loves that Crowley calls him out on this as well. Oh Crowley, how we’ll miss you.) Crowley starts counting and the dude agrees, and our favorite King of the Cross Roads swoops in to seal the deal. (Boris is just going to pause right here and admit she doesn’t rewatch this episode. It’s too painful, so I didn't remember how long this kiss lasted. I know this isn’t romantic and my thoughts are way off topic, blah, blah, blah, but uh, yeah, I’m not going to settle for anything less than a kiss when Destiel does eventually exist.) Anyway, the crossroads deal is witnessed by our favorite flying badass in a trenchcoat. Castiel has tracked down Crowley.

Cas is on the phone with Dean, filling him in with the deal. Ah! This is the episode where Dean calls Cas Huggy Bear (ok, my half of the recap will just be be reminiscing on quotes, etc. that I didn’t realize happened in this episode.#sorrynotsorry) Crowley tells the man to enjoy his new wealth and that he’ll see him in 10 years. (crying noise, crying noise) Crowley takes off, with Cas in hot pursuit. Cas tracks him to a place that’s warded with Enochian magic, which means Cas can’t enter. Sam and Dean are on the case!

Later that night we’re introduced to Crowley’s domicile, and one of my very favorite musical quasi-introductions of a character ever on this show. Crowley’s making cocktails, watching Hitler videos, listening to the Main Ingredient’s “Everybody Plays the Fool”. (Fun fact: Cuba Gooding Sr. is the lead singer of this band.)

A woman buzzes the main gate. In distress, she asks for help with her car that’s broken down. The woman turns to the camera, and it’s Jo! The demon guards are condescending and gross, but Jo’s a professional hunter and plays with them long enough for Sam to stick a demon blade in each of them. Along with Dean, the trio head inside to find Crowley.

Once inside, Sam and Dean confront Crowley. They’re smart, but he’s Crowley, so their hidden devil’s trap idea doesn’t work. Instead, they’re captured by Crowley’s minions. He knows exactly why they’re visiting him: The Colt. He promptly shoots both his demons with the gun. Plot Twist!

Crowley leads the brothers deeper into his inner sanctum, informing them that without his rumors about the Colt, they wouldn’t have had the gun at all. He had it well hidden. Sam wonders why he would share it with them at all. “I want you to take this thing to Lucifer, and empty it into his face.” Crowley’s loathing for that particular fallen angel dates way back. Crowley understands that if Lucifer succeeds in destroying humankind, demons are next. “So what do you say if I give you this thing, and you go kill the devil?” IT’S A PLAN! What can possibly go wrong?! NOTHING. WE WIN. YAY! Crowley even tells them that Lucifer’s got an appointment in Carthage, MO.

Omg, Sam gets the Colt and then tries to shoot Crowley with it? Lol. Barely batting an eye, Crowley gets them some more ammunition. And tells them that they better not fuck this up, MORONS!

*Classic Drinking Alert*

Back at Bobby’s, Ellen and Jo are trying to upstage Cas with their drinking prowess. And fail. 

After 5 shots, Cas admits, “I think I’m starting to feel something.”

Sam and Dean discuss the probability that this is all a trap. It is a trap, but the devil is in Missouri. Dean tells Sam that he can’t come --there’s no way they’re just going to hand his vessel over to the devil. Sam insists they’re doing this as a team. Dean relents.

Dean, resigned to his probable death in the morning, decides to give Jo his best “last night on Earth” line (you know, the one he gave Anna --AND CAS), but is shut down. Dude, you shouldn’t have sister-zoned her in season 2. Bobby calls everybody over for a group photo. (crying noise, crying noise)

The group enters Carthage, and Sam’s internal wi-fi is faulty.

I also really enjoy the set design’s juxtapositions sometimes:

The boys head off to check out a different part of town, while Jo, Ellen, and Cas (Boris asks: Why was he with them? Answer revealed two seconds later.) scope out the downtown. It looks empty, but Cas reveals that it’s full of reapers. 

Cas informs them that reapers only gather like this in times of great catastrophe (and then mentions the Chicago fire. *Puts on Wisconsin Nerd Glasses* The Peshtigo fire, which happened on the same exact night, was actually a far more devastating fire.) Cas wanders off to find out why the reapers are there (man, I miss these creepy ass reapers. I mean, if April was anything like these weirdos, human!Cas would have avoided her at all costs, love of PB&J or not.)

Cas follows one reaper into a building, and is trapped by Lucifer (ok, fine, maybe he wouldn’t have avoided April).

Dean, Sam, Jo, and Ellen meet back up. Cas is missing.

Cas is currently trapped in a fire ring of holy oil. Ok, guys, things are about to get heavy, so take a quick breather:

Lucifer questions Cas’s loyalty to the Winchesters, and marvels at what a peculiar thing he is. You idiot, he’s just like you, only he rebelled against Heaven because he loves humanity too much. Cas notices Lucifer's vessel is failing. He tells Lucifer that he will not take Sam Winchester as his vessel; Cas won’t let him. Lucifer then points out how similar they are, but Cas will not serve Lucifer. He’ll die first. (crying noise, crying noise)

Meanwhile, back with Team Anti-Lucifer, Dean’s missing the angel. As they walk down the street, they’re greeted by Meg, and her faithful hell hounds. We still hate Meg at this point. Dean is particularly stressed about the invisible hell hounds. He shoots one, and they all take off running. Dean goes down and Jo goes back to protect him, but is attacked herself. SON OF A BITCH. This does not get easier on a rewatch. Dean scoops her up and they all run into a store. Sam and Dean secure the perimeter, while Ellen assesses her daughter’s wounds. GODDAMMIT, WHERE'S THE ANGEL!?! It’s bad, folks, and they all know it.

“It's gonna be alright,” Ellen murmurs over her mortally wounded daughter. Sam approaches Dean in despair but Dean bolsters him as he toils over an old radio. Meg has confirmed that Lucifer is in town. They can't give up now.

Back at Bobby's, his CB radio turns on. It's Dean. “Is everyone alright?” Bobby asks.

“No,” Dean tells him, shaking. “It's Jo. It's pretty bad.”

*Wraps Dean in a blanket*

Bobby can tell that Dean is breaking apart and he calmly prompts him for the next step. Dean tries to reign in his despair to refocus on the mission. “Tell me what you got,” Bobby asks.

They tell Bobby that Cas saw over a dozen reapers at least before he went missing.

Bobby: I don't like the sound of that.

Dean: Nobody likes the sound of that, Bobby. But what does that sound like?

Bobby thinks that Lucifer is in town to raise a new horseman. He's going to raise Death, the “pale horseman in the flesh.” (Me: takes some time out of HARD CORE MOURNING to chuckle at the use of “in the flesh” to describe an oft-skeletal being.) The last time Death walked the world was the great floods of Noah's time. While the team has been out on their mission, Bobby's been researching the town. He discovered an old battle ground on a farm dubbed the “Devil's Hell Hole” where hundreds of soldiers died. Hmm, sounds haunty.

Meanwhile, Lucifer's still smirking at Cas when Meg arrives with a report. The Winchesters are pinned down by their hell hound guards. Lucifer tells her to leave them for now and counsels her to have patience when she wishes for bloodier orders. Lucifer offers Cas the gift of time in his little fire circle. He can sit in his corner and think about Lucifer's offer to join his side.

Back at the shop, the boys go over their to-do list. They've got to sneak past several hell hounds, take Jo and Ellen to safety, and then make it out to the farm before Lucifer raises Death. Noooo problem. Sam heads off to find a stretcher for Jo when she stops them and begs them to be realistic. She can't move her legs, her guts are an ace bandage away from spilling to the floor... She's toast. Ellen begs her not to give up but Jo rattles off her own to-do list. They've got everything in the store they need to build a bomb. “Those are hell hounds out there. They've got all of our scents. Those bitches will never stop coming after you.” She tells them to head to the roof and she'll take them out when they storm the store.

Ellen begs her not to do this, not to give up. But Jo doesn't see it as giving up. She's a fighter and, “This might literally be your last chance to treat me like an adult. Might wanna take it?” Fucking KNIFE twist, Jo.

Ellen wrestles her tears under control. “You heard her,” she tells the boys. “Get to work.”

Enter a bomb making montage:

Dean lays the final wires and brings the trigger to Jo. “See you on the other side,” he says. “Probably sooner than later.”

“Make it later,” Jo smiles at him.

Dean presses one final kiss to Jo's forehead, then to her lips. It holds all the weight of what might have been, all the weight of her young life cut short. Ellen crouches as though to deliver her final goodbye. The two women exchange looks, their expressions alone writing volumes, and realization comes over Jo. Ellen doesn't plan on leaving her daughter. “Somebody's gotta let them in.” Ellen tells the boys to get moving. “Dean, kick it in the ass. Don't miss.”

FUCK.

The boys head out and Jo and Ellen listen to the hell hounds snarling outside. Ellen wipes the salt from the door, removes the chains, and turns the gas on in the bomb. She cradles Jo in her arms. “I will always love you,” she tells Jo.

Okay, listen. I often joke about needing to take a break from recapping for a bout of crying but I seriously needed to take a crying break. This scene gets me every damn time. The delicate way their relationship is portrayed in this episode, the beautiful potential they both held, followed by their horrific loss hurts so badly. This episode is so well written but fucking OUCH.

As the hell hounds approach the door, Jo dies in Ellen's arms. Tears fall and she just manages to reign in her sobs because there's work to do. The hell hounds burst in and stalk through the store. Ellen waits until one exhales into her face. “You can go straight back to Hell, you ugly bitch!”

The store blows and Dean and Sam run.

We cut to the farm where the townspeople have gathered. “Last words?” Sam asks.

“I think I'm good,” Dean says. Time to go out in a blaze of glory, just like Ellen and Jo.

Sam shouts at the Devil, interrupting his digging. Lucifer smirks at Sam. It's just the distraction they need because in the next moment, Dean has the Colt up against Lucifer's temple. He fires it and sends a bullet straight through his head.

Hooray! They did it! Hoor-- Oh wait, nope. Lucifer's eyes pop open. “Ow,” he seethes before jumping up again. He knocks Dean clear across the field and into the woods and turns to confront Sam, now alone. “There's only five things in all of creation that that gun can't kill, and I just happen to be one of them.”

Lucifer swiftly finishes his work, checks in to see if Sam's ready to say 'yes' yet, and tells him it'll happen in Detroit.

“I'm gonna rip your heart out,” Sam shouts.

“All that pent up rage?” Lucifer grins. “I'm gonna need it.”

Sam asks what Lucifer is up to. Well, you know. It's the basic plan. He ordered demons to possess every man in town, who then killed every woman and child. Lucifer tries to bond with Sam. “I was a son. A brother, like you, a younger brother, and I had an older brother who I loved. Idolized, in fact. And one day I went to him and I begged him to stand with me, and Michael—Michael turned on me. Called me a freak. A monster. And then he beat me down. All because I was different. Because I had a mind of my own. Tell me something, Sam. Any of this sound familiar?” Sam responds with the eyebrows of despair.

Lucifer performs the spell and as he does so the demon possessed townspeople fall dead. Dean and Sam look appalled. “What? They're just demons.”

Back in the fire circle, Castiel scowls at Meg. She's awfully happy and it's disconcerting. She thinks all the demons are headed to Heaven under the shelter of Lucifer's wing. Cas smiles at her. “Strange, because I heard a different theory from a demon named Crowley.” Cas uses the classic trick of exposition to distract Meg while he unscrews a girder telekinetically. The girder smacks into Meg and tosses her through the flaming circle and into Castiel's arms. He tries to smite her but she chuckles at him. Without Heaven's support he doesn't have enough mojo. Cas, being the out of the box thinker that he is, chucks her to the ground and uses her back as a bridge to cross the fire. Cas...you fucking BADASS.

Back at the farm, the ground shakes as Lucifer raises Death. Cas rescues Dean and Sam, flapping them to safety. “Well, hello Death,” Lucifer says with a smile.

In the wreckage of Bobby's kitchen which is still littered with empty shot glasses, Bobby watches the grim news coming out of Carthage. Dean and Sam look on as Bobby burns the photo they'd taken together.

Boris: I realize the symbolism and all, but why would you burn that photo!? Garrrr.

Tl:dr: I wasn’t around when this first aired, but I’m so curious what people thought of this episode. Like, in hindsight, it sucks that Jo and Ellen died. The show was supposed to end at the end of this season, but it didn’t. Their deaths were noble and heart wrenching, and would have meant so much more if there wasn’t 8+ more years of show to watch. Will we see AU Ellen and Jo in season 13?!

Quotes:

So, the Hardy Boys finally found me.

Rumors, innuendo, sent out on the grapevine.

I'm in sales, damn it!

Sam Winchester, having trust issues with a demon. Well, better late than never.

Tomorrow we hunt the devil. This is our last night on earth.

What a peculiar thing you are.

Hasn't Death been tromping all over the place? Hell, I've died several times myself.

Even as we speak, it’s….going….down.

You’re functioning..morons.

[spaceshippingace-blog]

LOGH Episode 3

Episode 3: Birth of the 13th fleet

This episode is set mainly in Alliance territory.

The post may contain my personal opinions / commentary.

Locations:

Heissenpolis, the capital of the Free Planets Alliance 

Strategical Planning Headquarters

New characters:

Julian Minci, protege of Wenli

Wenli's cat :3 So cute!

Secretary of Defense, Job Truniht

HQ Chief of Staff and Fleet Admiral Sidney Sitolet

Rear Admiral Alex Cazellnu

Patriotic Knight Corps (P.K.C.), a group of violent nationalists, it's said that they are Truniht's shadow army

The leader of P.K.C. (right)

Not yet introduced, but first appearence of Admiral Greenhill

The story:

There's a memorial for the soldiers killed in the battle of Astate. Wenli is the hero of the battle (literally "the Hero of Astate"), so he's invited, but he fakes that he has more serious injuries so he stays home. He says the whole memorial’s stars should be the soldiers who died, but neither them, nor him will be the star, but instead Truniht, the Secretary of Defense. 

Fleet Admiral Sidney Sitolet tells Truniht that Wenli is still recovering from his wounds, that's why he's absent. Truniht later asks his secretary if that's true, and gets the answer that Wenli's wound is not that bad. Sitolet asks Rear Admiral Alex Cazellnu  to deliver Truniht's good wishes to Wenli. And also this message from him: "Quit pretending to be sick and show your face at HQ, early."

Cazellnu does that, and it is shown that Wenli doesn't like to be called a hero. Cazellnu doesn’t like Truniht's  "tediously vulgar, agitating" speeches. Julian and Wenli discuss Truniht and Wenli says: "It's not bad taste to admire Truniht for his sheer nerve." 

Wenli is a tea lover. He likes his tea with brandy in the morning :'D

Julian tells Wenli he wants to be a soldier after school (his father was a soldier too), Wenli says there's no law that says a child has to pursue his parents�� occupation. 

Wenli's father was a merchant, who died in debt, on the verge of bankruptcy. Julian's school was paid by the military, if he doesn't join, he'll have to pay back the money. Wenli offers to pay it back. Julian protests, but Wenli wins the argument with this: "Don't be impertinent. You're just like a kid. Kids grow by exploiting adults."

J: Commodore do you hate soldiers that much?

YW: I do hate them, don’t I. In this war, I’ve come to hate them more and more. If there’s anything I can do to wash my hands of this business soon. I want to devote myself to historical research, you see.

Truniht's speech:

T: Why did 1 500 000 soldiers had to die?

YW: Because the chief executives' planning directives were unwise.

SAVAGE

T: They died to protect the motherland and freedom!

Jessica arrives and calls Truniht to book.

JE: Secretary of Defense, I am Jessica Edwards. I am the fiancée of 6th fleet Staff Officer Jean Robert Lap, who died in battle at the Battle of Astate. No... I was his fiancée.

T: That’s... That’s regrettable. But...

JE: You don’t need to console me. Because you say my fiancé achieved a noble death protecting the motherland.

T: I see. Well you are a person who must be called a model for the surviving women and children.

YW: Tell us about it. The human race does not know what shame is, eh, Julian?

JE: Thank you very much. I only came to ask you one question, Secretary of Defense. 

T: What kind of question is it? I hope it’s a question I can answer.

JE: Where were you? 

T: Huh? (Real smooth there Mr. Secretary of Defense :P) What?

JE: My fiancé went to battle in order to protect the motherland, and now he’s gone. Secretary of Defense! Where were you?! Where were you, who glorify the war dead?! 

T: Miss...

JE: Where is your family?! I offered my fiancé as a sacrifice.So where is your family, you who preach the necessity of citizen’s sacrifice?! Are you practicing what you preach?

T: Guards, this woman has lost her composure. Take her into another room!

T: Regrettably, grief invites madness. However, we citizens of the Free Planets Alliance must not be defeated by grief. We must commit ourselves to sanity. Victory in freedom! Military band! The national anthem!

The Alliance anthem:

Liberty stands for freedom,

Oh hail the flag that set us free!

Standing righteous symbolic of strength,

Our hopes for freedom to be!

My friends not so far away,

Rules will reunite hand in hand!

Oh hail! Liberty bell! 

True freedom for all men!

The guards take Jessica outside. Wenli gets up to go drive to the HQ, but gets a call from Attenborough, who also was home "injured". The Patriotic Knight Corps tries to attack Jessica as she leaves the HQ. They say they symphatize with her, but her speech was an act of treason and it's punishable. They start to hum the anthem of the alliance. 

Attenborough and Wenli arrives in time to save her. The P.K.C. declares Wenli a dangerous element, making the connection between Attenborough and Wenli, and Lap and Wenli. They know that the car is in the use of Attenborough.

Jessica supposes Wenli must think of her as a bitch. Wenli tells Jessica that what she said was needed to be said. They drive to Wenli's residence. However, the P.K.C. is already there as Julian informs them. Attenborough wonders why aren't the neighbors doing anything.

YW: Is there, “The freedom to break into other people’s homes” in the Alliance constitution?

P.K.C. leader: We are the PKC, who truly love our country! We accuse you! Have you become conceited? Perhaps you recall when you acted to demoralize the united will of the motherland!

Attenborough: What a thing to say! With all this uproar, why don’t the neighbors come out?!

YW: Who’s behind the P.K.C.? Everybody knows. The freedom to “not get involved” is perhaps the most valued freedom we have in this country.

The P.K.C. throws demolition grenades inside, Wenli switches the fire hydrant on, which alarms the firefighters. The P.K.C. team members disperse. 

YW: They showed up pretty quickly, didn’t they? If it’s only a fire, it’s a different story, isn’t it? If they ignore it, they’ll aslo get burned. Maybe nobody really wants to see the Alliance burn up, too.

Attenborough drives Wenli to Truniht. (Truniht has freaking portraits of himself in his house :'D) Wenli asks Truniht to guarantee Jessica's safety. After a couple moments of silent staring at each other, Truniht promises to do something about the situation. Before Wenli leaves, Truniht tells him he has expectations of him. When Wenli leaves, the leader of P.K.C. enters through another door and Truniht tells him that Jessica is not important.

Wenli gets promoted by Sitolet to Rear Admiral and he's made to be the Commander of the 13th fleet. It's a fleet of the troops which survived Astate.

6 400 ships and 700 000 personnel. Half the usual number of a fleet. Their first duty will be the capture of Iserlohn Fortress. Sitolet tells Wenli that if someone can capture the Fortress, it's Wenli, and if he succeeds, Truniht will no longer overlook his talent. Wenli accepts the assignment.

Wenli accompanies Jessica to the airport. She tells him Lap always said Wenli was the pride of their classmates. Wenli says he's still a soldier. They share a meaningful look, then Jessica turns away and leaves. 

An old lady approaches Wenli to tell him both her husband and son died fighting in the Alliance Forces. She says her grandson wants to be a soldier too. Her grandson is visibly upset by this. Wenli tells the old lady that when his grandson will be fighting age, there will no longer be a war, and there will be no need to force him to become a soldier.

BONUS ROUND:

Truniht with his portrait (what an asshole!)

Introduction of Yang “Sleeping Beauty” Wenli:

Episode 4:  The Afterglow of the Empire