#the last second of the last episode and dean is STILL straight

[t0ast-ghost]

Hmmm mmmmmm I have so many boys thoughts and since I’m not sleeping tonight I guess I’ll write them down:

(Spoilers for the Boys season 4. Don’t cry over spoiled milk show! Go watch it for yourself)

- Truthfully I didn’t like Hughie in the second episode they just made him (super forcefully) bring up his mom. I did really like all his other bits though especially the stuff we’re getting into with a-train (really hope they actually go through with giving him plot, since he’s supposed to be the main character and all that or whatever)

- every time a character got close to another I legitimately asked if they were gonna kiss

- butcher is my wet cat sad puppy murdering babygirl, he’s slaying this season by actually communicating and I hope it stays that way

- This is the second time I’ve seen Jeffrey Dean Morgan play a horrible person willing to weaponize children for their cause… and he’s good at playing that part (I feel they gave his character a lot of what Butcher was in the comics)

- I really do like what they’re doing with A-Train

- I really do hate what they’re doing with Annie and Firecracker, I get they have to have personal conflict but this feels shallow and although it’s believable that this grudge would last I think there should have been more thought put into the stakes of their relationship (Curry and Moriaty’s acting was so good for the bit where Firecracker threatens her but the stakes are so low and the hatred in the writing doesn’t feel built up enough for her to have that big of a reaction to the threat)

- Going back to Hughie and his mom, I think Quaid’s acting for the bits with his mom were phenomenal, I could relate to his frustration and his sadness was palpable. I think a lot of their moments didn’t feel great and I couldn’t put my finger on it but the conversation about how her depression lead to her leaving felt like the truth finally came out and now it’s hopefully going to feel a bit more like things are moving forward for them

- I’m a little surprised they actually had a character like splinter. Simply because he felt straight out of the comics, and I know how much they’ve veered away from the comics. I really liked the scene where Butcher got to take out a bunch of them simply cause he got to be good ‘ol Billy Butcher

- Homelander has me on a roller coaster because I was going to write a post while watching about how they write him really well in a mindfuck kind of way because you slowly start realizing you’re relating to his character and you can understand his actions, and right before I wrote that post he told the deep to suck off a train and I stopped dead in my tracks. I was legitimately scared in that moment because that also felt like something out of the comics but the difference is that the tv show wouldn’t or at least didn’t go through with it

- Homelander this season is even more brilliantly acted, and seeing him with Sage is a new interesting experience. I was trying to figure out Sage’s motivations and I thought I knew but really I didn’t know because I was trying to say she was fighting for a cause. That is wrong. She is constantly manipulating the people around her but it is solely to benefit herself and her happiness. Yes, she helps Homelander and is honest with him because that is the best way to keep herself happy and alive. She’s smart enough to know that manipulating him or trying to agree with everything he says will be a dead end. She’s still trying to please him and is ultimately playing by his rules but she’s the smartest player because she knows being inauthentic will only end up losing you power, and if you’re on the end of two hot glowing red orbs anyway, why not at least have an actual say

- The gore is going well so far. I’ve appreciated it. Especially the beetlejuice-esque scene where Kimiko has her face torn off and you only see the back of her head and the reactions

- Ryan has so many good scenes. His scenes with Homelander are punctuated by quiet, you can hear every thought screaming through, but what would saying any of it actually accomplish? His scenes with Butcher are so heartfelt, I’m glad they’re finally able to talk. But Ryan still dealing with his grief and guilt is heartbreaking. And on top of that him thinking that the closest person to his mom seemingly hates him and would never want him adds so much to the emotional confusion that he’s experiencing. He obviously needs to leave Homelander, but he still doesn’t want to leave his dad which makes sense because this is currently the only source of love he has from anyone and it was promised unconditionally (even though it is very conditional)

- Frechie’s gotta tell that guy that he killed his family but I was really glad they gave him a boyfriend. I forgot that him and Kimiko weren’t a thing so I got really excited that Frenchie was getting to be awesome and polyamorous. I am glad that Kimiko has asserted that they are friends tho

- I am so intrigued by the brain worm

Thoughts upon second rewatch:

- Opening could’ve been bloodier or more horrific. They toned it down :( but the flesh and blood melting off that guys face was pretty good. And the Todd scene is pretty horrific.

- The way Ryan and Homelander speak in unison about people being ants is so telling, and makes sense with the later context of Homelander wanting Ryan to be an exact replica of himself

- The way that Ryan in this season is so focussed on fear, because he is scared but the people around him won’t admit to that, so when Butcher finally communicates with him and tells him that he’s most afraid of dying without making amends I think that finally gains Ryan’s trust back

- They really are changing Butcher’s character, he’s not just ‘do thing to get thing and it’s justified by the end result’ he’s finally thinking about the people around him and considering them even if the results aren’t fast. He doesn’t give the info to Vick, he doesn’t drug Ryan, and he’s really trying to help even if he is still being a shit about it

- The talk between Vick and Homelander in the opening is sooooo good cause of HL’s little voice crack, he’s losing it

- KIMIKO PAINTS HER NAILS!!! they’re blue :)

- I feel like Hughie’s hatred towards Vicky is forced upon him. Like I guess he hates that she lied to him (but if he thought about it he’d realize that it’s reasonable for her to want to hide her powers especially since she’s been shamed about them for most of her life) and I get they have very different views with her under vought’s thumb and all. But since they’re recruiting A-Train I’m wondering if there’ll ever be a bit of a redemption for her cause I feel like wanting supes to be allowed to live like normal people is not a bad thing, it’s just that she’s working with people who view supes as superior

- “He killed that poor cunt in broad daylight, and they fucking cheered.” Alongside Homelanders “I save people, they cheer. I fucking kill people, they cheer.” is like, they both understand this fact. Homelander will get what he wants no matter what and Billy wants to take him down a notch. Same as always and yet so many changes.

- I missed that the acid that Hughie threw on Vick was Frenchie’s creation the first time around. Also missed Hughie’s failed pep talk, I love that loser. I didn’t miss that no one else is able to understand Kimiko, which sucks

- I want Karl Urban and Simon Pegg to be in the same room again but that’s just my star trek fan talking

- Is that the first time Hughie and Butcher properly hug in the series?

- There’s a weird obsession with phones this season. Especially with hanging up on people. Also an obsession with “no/yes, sirs” which I think is them upping the show of power dynamics

- I thought that octopus sounded familiar. It’s Tilda Fucking Swinton.

- “He always knew he was destined for greatness, because he came from greatness.” Good job guys. I see your little joke

- I did not notice that all the guys setting up Firecracker’s stage were splinter who is played by Rob Benedict (Chuck in Supernatural)

- One of the background noises at the Truthcon mentions an “Alex Jones look alike contest”

- When Ryan throws Koi against the wall in other shows that would be his turning point. The point in which there’s no going back for him. So I’m really glad that it’s just the point in which he needs to talk to someone, that it really does upset him. Unfortunately he goes from one horribly emotionally repressed man to a slightly less emotionally repressed man who is dying

- I hope whoever that person that Kimiko knows turns into a new found family member

- M. M slowly realizing why Butcher was such a bitch to everyone on the team. And it’s because no one listens. Ever. Unless you’re actively threatening them in one way or another

- I don’t know what that bloody metal rod in Sage’s room means even after a rewatch. So I guess I’ll find out.

- Closing thoughts; bring in more A-Train and Hughie moments (also get people to call him Reggie so I don’t have to write A-Train every time)

Hughie has weed in his desk

If y’all wanna talk about this with me (especially after reading all that) feel free to do so

Uhhh more thoughts here

[winchesterszvonecek]

Gabriel x fem reader, lots of comforting cuddles pls! If possible, something about her being overwhelmed/overstimulated/triggered and Gabriel comforting and reassuring her

I’ve Got You - [ Gabriel ]

Summary: Gabriel offers you some comfort and some cuddles when life just gets to be too much to bear

Word Count: 1758

Warnings: female!reader, fluff, comforting, talk of being overwhelmed and overstimulated

A/N: i hope this was okay, i’ve never really written for Gabriel before so hopefully this seemed like him… and I hope it was what you were after in terms of being comforted and reassured

Masterlist | Gabriel Masterlist

You never usually skipped out on a hunt. Never usually stayed by yourself in the bunker, as despite what you knew about the world and despite it being the safest place in said world, it could feel a little creepy at times. Well actually it felt creepy all the time and there was that mysterious dripping noise that you could never seem to be able find where it was coming from. But even still, you stayed behind.

Sam and Dean had left hours ago on some hunt involving a werewolf or a vampire, you didn’t know and frankly you didn’t care. Jack and Cas were on a hunt of their own too, a little ghost problem, nothing too big for the still new to hunting nephilim. But you? Well you just needed a break. You just needed a little while to yourself, to get your head on straight and try to relax a little. You’d never felt this overwhelmed, never felt so overstimulated with the goings on around you.

It was all getting to be too much lately, between getting locked up for months for trying to kill the president, who was actually Lucifer, but you try telling that to the secret service without getting thrown in a padded cell for the rest of your life. To ending up in a parallel world, one where you came face to face with an alternate version of the man you called your father. One who had no idea who you were as you didn’t exist in that world.

Let’s not even get into the whole alternate Michael situation… You were still reeling from that but at least now it was over. It was all finally over. All the battles and the stress, but to you… To you it felt like it was just starting as now that you were alone, now that you had a second to actually think for yourself, you felt the weight of the last few months come crashing down on your shoulders. And hard.

You’d never felt like this before, not to this extent anyway. You knew you shouldn’t be alone but you couldn’t talk to Sam and Dean about this, not when you still felt so embarrassed from the last time you fell into one of these episodes. Castiel didn't understand you and Jack… bless him, he tried to help but the kid was technically only three years old so the most he could offer you was a hug and a pat to the head, one where he whispered ‘It’s all going to be okay’. Something you wanted to believe but couldn’t bring yourself to actually do.

You didn’t think it was ever going to be okay, not when you hadn’t seen the one person, the one angel, you needed to see most in this world. It had been weeks since you last saw Gabriel, since he returned to Heaven to restore some order amongst those left and truthfully, you needed him. You’d never needed him more which is why the second you found yourself on the brink of falling over the edge, you prayed to him.

It didn’t take more than five seconds for that flutter of wings to fill your bedroom and the second you heard it, the second you felt the slight puff of air against your skin, you very nearly started crying.

“Gabriel.” You whispered, your heart warming over the mere sight of him as you slid off your bed, falling against his chest the very second your feet hit the cold ground, needing to feel his heart beat beneath him.

“Hey, hot stuff.” He greeted, placing a soft kiss atop your head as his arms engulfed you, holding you tighter than ever as you simply clung to him, finding that you were unable to stop your lips from rising just a little over his pet name for you, the one he always used as he did often say there was nothing hotter to him than you. “You doing okay?”

“Not really.” You mumbled against his chest, your fingers gripping his shirt tightly as though you were afraid he’d be taken away from you again. It’s been too long since you last saw him and you’d be damned if you allowed him to leave you again so soon.

Gabriel leaned back, making you straighten as he came to hold your face in his hands, his thumbs drawing slow circles on your skin. It was funny how a simple touch from him, mixed with that look on his face, the one that showed you that you were the only thing he truly cared about, could make you feel so much better than you’d done a second ago.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Gabriel asked softly, feeling your hands land atop his forearms, your gaze dropping to the floor before he gently drew your head back up. The second your eyes landed back on his, your lip started trembling, your stomach knotted together and you could already feel the pressure on your chest, as though someone was sitting on it, stopping the air from getting to your lungs.

“It’s just…” You began, your breath hitching as you tried to speak. As you struggled to get any air into your body.

Gabriel led you to the bed, sitting on the edge beside you as he took you hand in his, his thumb gently stroking across your palm, in slow, easy, strokes so that you could breathe along with each one. It took a second for you to find the rhythm, to ease yourself back into reality now that he was here with you, but nevertheless you did.

“That’s it, love. Just breathe.” Gabriel said soothingly, watching the slow rise of your chest as you focused on your breathing before you finally found your voice.

“I’m sorry… It’s just- Everything lately… It’s all been so much.” You whispered, wiping at your eyes as a few lone tears escaped them. “Between that prison…” You spat, thinking back to those months you spent all alone in a cement cell with nothing to do and no one to speak to. Literally on the verge of going crazy. “And-And the whole alternate world… Seeing Bobby again but not our Bobby. Not my Bobby… I just… I can’t take it anymore. It’s just all too much.”

“Come here.” Gabriel’s arms opened, allowing you to fall into them again as you cried quietly, needing to get all your emotions out before you burst. “That’s it darlin’, let it all out.” His hand gently stroked your hair, his other rubbed comforting circles on your back as he held you. Comforted you. Allowed you to cry for as long as you needed.

“You know…” He began, even his voice being a comfort to you. “I’ve been around for a very long time. A very, very long time. I’ve seen more presidents than I can count. Seen more Kings and Queens than you can even imagine. But the one thing I’ve never seen my whole life, is someone as strong as you…

“You’ve been through Hell, literally. You’ve been through so much crap, some of which I put you through myself and I’ll never be able to fix that. Never be able to apologise enough for the things I put you through…

“But what I can do is tell you that you’ve got this… You’re the strongest person I know and if anyone can handle this, it's you. And on days where you think you can’t? Well, lucky for you… That’s what I’m here for. Because I’ve got you too. You aren’t alone, darlin’. For as long as I’m alive you’ll never be alone… If all you need is a hug, or someone to talk to… Someone to complain about Sam or Dean to…” He continued, making you chuckle a little as you did sometimes call him just to complain. “Or even a little something else.” He added, gently poking your side which had you arch it away from him.

It wouldn’t take a degree in rocket science to know what he meant by that.

“Whatever it may be… All you need to do is pray and I’ll be here. For as long as you need me to be.” He said softly, placing a kiss on your head before you finally looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. He leaned down, pressing his lips gently against your forehead, feeling the tension leave your body beneath him before he pulled back.

“I love you.” You whispered, one final tear rolling down your cheek which Gabriel quickly wiped away, bringing his hand to rest on your cheek.

“I love you too, hot stuff.” He said with a smile, a different smile to that which he usually sported. This smile was for you. The one that only you got to see in moments like this, when the two of you were at your most vulnerable with each other. “Do you need anything? Bubble bath? Foot massage?”

“I just want you to hold me.” You said quietly, fiddling with your fingers as you didn’t want to come across pathetic.

“Alrighty… If that’s what you want, then you bet your sweet ass I’ll hold you.” He replied, kissing your forehead once again before he simply clicked his fingers, having you changed into your favourite pyjamas without you so much as having to stand up.

Honestly, you were still jealous over his ability to do that… It would save you so much time if you had the power to do it yourself.

“Hop on in.” Gabriel gestured to the bed, which was made up in your favourite sheets, your favourite stuffed animal waiting for you by your fluffy pillow. You happily shuffled back, sliding beneath the warm covers where Gabriel joined you the second your head hit the pillow.

You moved towards him, nestling yourself up against him as your head came to lie upon his chest, one arm draping around you and his other took hold of your hand, bringing it to his lips to place a kiss against your knuckles. You breathed in, taking in his signature scent which was enough to allow you to feel the stress leave your body. All your thoughts settled, nothing but this moment right here present inside your head.

Most people had a favourite place, whether it be that perfect spot by a lake, or at the beach, perhaps at Disneyland. But yours? Your favourite place, your most treasured and special place to be, was right here… In the arms of your archangel.

Prompt List

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[narrynukezankielover]

I’ve read a lot of posts of people saying that they don’t like at the end of season 7 Dean yelling at Cas. Personally I don’t like it but Dean needed to get it out of him. The guy went the whole season without anyone trying to talk to him about what was on his mind. When he finally was able to talk about it it just came out like that. Cas wasn’t in his right mind so he didn’t take it to heart but at least it got Dean to get over what had happened.

Then comes the cute stuff.

Every time before this when someone would say something like the angel that’s in love with you or whatever Dean would roll his eyes. This time Meg said he was your boyfriend first and there’s no eye rolling or denying it he just swallows.

Then there’s the two times people called Cas Deans angel. Sounds like they all think of Cas and Dean as boyfriends just no one says it. Dean even had a smile on his face when the vampire said it.

This scene is very sweet. Dean telling Cas if you were the last person I’ll take you cursed if not. Back in season 6 Cas secretary accused Dean of only calling Cas when he needed him. Dean obviously didn’t think that was true because he started to go nuts and Cas obviously didn’t like her saying that because he told her to go away but I think that idea was in both of their heads. When Dean thought Cas was dead and he clearly couldn’t handle Cas not being around I think he realized what Cas meant to him. Now Cas doesn’t want to fight because he’s afraid he’s going to make things worse so why would Dean need him but when Dean said if you were the last person I’ll take you cursed or not he was telling Cas he doesn’t care if he had powers or not he still wants him around and to help him fight.

This part makes me wonder what Cas says about Dean in heaven. All angels know Dean and Sam but Alfie let Sam pass him and went straight to Dean to ask about Cas. He didn’t know Cas and Dean were in purgatory so it’s not like he went to Dean because he was there with Cas. Clearly he knows how close they are by the sounds of it so do most angels. Then when Alfie said how some angels think that even though Cas did something insane his heart was in the right place and Dean asked what he thought. To me it sounds like Dean was trying to figure out if Alfie was a good angel or not. When Alfie said he thought Cas has too much of a heart Dean knew he was good. If he likes Cas he’s a good angel.

This hug just makes me smile. I’m very happy that Cas first single hug with Dean or Sam was with Dean.

I kind of wish the purgatory stuff were full episodes so we could see more of the place and more Cas but at the same time I like that it was done as flashbacks so random things made Dean think back to that place. It’s soooo sweet that Dean looked for a year for Cas when he could’ve went home at any point but he wouldn’t leave Cas and he prayed to him every night. Dean doesn’t pray to god but he will pray to Cas. He even told Cas I need you. That’s a big thing for Dean. Dean doesn’t tell anyone that he needs them so for him to say that was a big deal and Cas knew that.

I love when they protect each other. Cas had to leave Dean to protect him against the leviathans and Dean telling Cas to fly off when the leviathans were coming plus he kept defending Cas to Benny. You don’t say anything bad about Cas to Dean.

One thing that pisses me off is that Cas and Dean were gone for a year and Sam couldn’t take 2 seconds to go look for Dean. They disappeared in front of Sam so he didn’t know if they were dead or just down the street he had no idea. Dean gave up his soul so Sam could live and he looked for a year for Sam when he thought Sam was in hell but Dean went and Sam took that opportunity to give up being a hunter and ran away. He kept saying it was because he met Amelia but she wasn’t waiting for him outside the building which means he had time before he met her to look for Dean. I can completely see why Dean is pissed off. Sam never said he was sorry or that he did the wrong thing by not looking for Dean and not answering his phones. This could turn into a rant so I’m just going to say I completely agree with everything Dean said in that scene about Sam.

[skateyoulater]

Between Us Thoughts!

Starting with episode 3 and will be updating here as I watch because I didn’t do this for 1 or 2 but. Here we go. 

My stream of consciousness throughout Between Us Episode 3

First of all, I’m glad it’s immediatley on Youtube. They had a whole thing with last episode which meant I couldn’t watch it right away which was very said. Right, let’s get into the ep.

so Team is skipping swim club again. Why are we still avoiding Win? I know you’re an anxious mess of a human, but come on. I am already seeing something concerning regarding Team's want to exercise. If i analyse this too deeply I’ll get sad so I’m not going to. Yet. 'Win will eat you alive' bestie he BEEN eating Team alive and not in the way you're talking about

OH DID BEE JUST RUN INTO HIS OWN LOVE INTEREST? Or should i say nearly ran over? (Let's fucking go) I wonder if this is the guy from his class that never turned up to lectures that the teacher called out last time?

HAHAHAHA WIN IS WAITING FOR YOU Team you fucking moron of course he's waiting for you, you SKIPPED SWIM PRACTICE this boy is so fucking dumb. 'did you dump him already' - 'DONT TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT AGAIN' Win is already so whipped. Dean you're so right about him making Win this grumpy. I love that Dean just , immediately read Win and figured out what's up with him. - this means that Dean knew about Win and Team from the get go?! Does he just think it's a crush? Does he truly know what they’ve been doing?! Team is so fucking grumpy 'why do i have to be afraid of him' - then as soon as he has to deal with Win he’s IMMEDIATELY LOOKING LIKE A PETULANT CHILD IN FRONT OF WIN sticking out his lower lip like a baby. ARE THERE BITEMARKS ON TEAM'S SHOULDER?! Those look like bitemarks,,, we know Win has a thing for Team’s neck and shoulders don’t we! Team's getting drunk? This never goes well. 'WHY DO YOU CALL HIM HIA?' oh they're so suspicious. oh man. Oh these shots from their first hookup?! We haven’t seen these, right? Oh the way Team is looking at Win is everything! Win's just in this boy's mind 24/7 isn't he? Win telling the friends 'You dont have to be afraid of me' - My mind is making those parallels to the scene in UWMA where win tells team that he doesn't have to be afraid of him?!?!!?!?! there's so much in my brain here, I can’t... Win telling Team he was just worried about him? Then Team asking what right Win has to be protective? I’m going to put my foot through my ciomputer because of these two... THE WAY WIN'S THUMB IS MOVING ON TEAM'S SHOULDER AFTER HIS NIGHTMARE? Also, that was a very quick passing-out-into-nightmare timescale. Four seconds? We’re just going to ignore this.

I can't get over the fact that they just EXPECT Pharm to have food for them, not even a 'hello' but a straight up 'yo do you have food for me?’ Also, those are the sweets that Pharm feeds Team, then Win, then Dean in that iconic scene in UWMA... You can see the way Team's anxiety just sets right in after that comment about the competition.

FUCK we’ve got the backstory. I imagine that’s his older brother? Did his older brother drown, or is it Team who nearly drowned? Fuck, this is going to be painful when we figure out exactly what happened. Win can immediatley sense that something's wrong with Team. oh no. oh he’s traumatised.

I can see Win looking at Team and just thinking that ‘oh it’s adorable... oh it’s traumatised’ meme.

I know that Dean’s supposed to tell Team to train harder because he’s the president of the swim team, but at the same time I don’t agree because Team is a baby who needs protecting. You can see how worried Win is about Team already. Win just, almost forcibly adopting Team is adorable. like 'youre sleeping with me tonight. stop being a baby'.

Are they already borrowing clothes?! Oh god they really just tumbled right into domestic here didn't they.

I see win wears chanel, dior, and gucci fragrance. My man smells GOOD. Also

Win why are you acting all abashed for talking in on team in the shower? You've already railed him, who cares if you see his bare ass again? Team thanking Win for helping him sleep?! No what the fuck I’m so-  oh that little kiss, oh he's so in love. It's so fucking cute. He's warm and fuzzy and already just obsessed with win. he might as well be lying on his tummy kicking his feet and tirling his hair.

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW THOUGHTS: 'you adore team more than any other 1st year, but ifd you're not gonna take this seriously' - 'i didn't want to let it be this way' MY GOOD SIR WHAT THE FUCK. TEAM LOOOKS SO HEARTBROKEN. WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER FUCKING WEEK.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 16/12/2023 (Dave/Jack Harlow, Fred again../Baby Keem, Christmas Garbage)

Content warning: Some language, brief references to abusive sexual relationships and ho-ho-ho, merry Christmas

Once again, “Last Christmas” is at #1, as anyone would really expect - Mariah’s at #3, the Pogues are at #5 and filling in the gaps we have “Lovin’ on Me” by Jack Harlow at #4 and Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” at #2. It’s Christmas again, so excuse the shoddy structure, but there’s actually a lot more to this week than one may expect. I guess welcome back to a semi-festive episode of REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

It was an odd week, this one. A lot of Christmas songs actually decreased in chart position although obviously remained actually stable, and there’s not really much at all there to replace these songs, and most gains or falls weren’t at all substantial. So it’s like a liminal space of a week, in preparation for the Christmas #1 next week. There are more new arrivals than the usual Christmas week… they all kind of suck though. We have Tate McRae, a disappointing album from Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow, as well as the dregs of The Idol, Baby Keem and… Cher? I mean, we’ve covered the Christmas stuff really, there are actually no songs making their first top 75 entry this year this week. Hell, three of the songs that re-entered last week have actually dropped back out though obviously they’ll be back next week or the next. We do have some… secular gains, I suppose, with “Surround Sound” by JID featuring 21 Savage and Baby Tate at #64, “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims at #59, “On My Love” by Zara Larsson and David Guetta at #54, “exes” by Tate McRae at #39 thanks to the album - again, more on that later,  and then new peaks for the Amazon originals: Jorja Smith’s “Stay Another Day” cover at #20 and Sam Ryder getting his second top 10 with “You’re Christmas to Me” at #10 - for God’s sake.

In terms of our notable drop-outs, songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40, and I didn’t need to say all that because the only notable songs to bid adieu to this week are “Liquor & Cigarettes” by Chase & Status and Hedex featuring ArrDee and I suppose “Standing Next to You” by Jung Kook. Again, take Christmas-week drop-outs with a grain of salt.

NEW ARRIVALS

#60 - “One of the Girls” - The Weeknd, JENNIE and Lily Rose-Depp

Produced by The Weeknd, MIKE DEAN and Sage Skolfield

I still haven’t seen The Idol - I mean, why should I watch that show? - but for whatever reason, TikTok has latched onto some of the soundtrack cuts which, to my knowledge, are Weeknd leftovers with guests tacked on, though at least JENNIE and Lily-Rose Depp are actually cast members, with Rose Depp being the second main character after The Weeknd’s… “Tedros”. Sorry, I’m just learning these characters’ names, “Tedros”? Alright, well, is the song good? Well, it’s a pretty unsettling one, with JENNIE’s airy vocals soon rendered void by a stodgy bass beat and grimy, flickering percussion that sounds pretty terrible, especially with singers who have such high, careening falsettos, or just straight can’t sing that well like Rose Depp here who feels a bit out of her depth attempting to be all that convincing. She sounds a bit bored and stretched thin, which makes some sense for this song about rough, emotionless sex, but doesn’t make it any more appealing. In fact, there’s an ugly lack of passion or seduction here that I think does the song a lot of good for the most part, largely because, well, this doesn’t sound like a healthy relationship at all. It is a shame that JENNIE’s parts just… don’t fit, they almost feel off beat and Tedros over here has very little chemistry with either woman, though with JENNIE, to be fair, there’s not really much chance for him to even harmonise with her, she’s reallly set apart. It’s a pretty ugly, slow dirge with a sprinkling of 80s synths, very typical for The Weeknd, and it’s not exactly bad, but it also doesn’t feel all too special

#58 - “Needle” - Nicki Minaj featuring Drake

Produced by Boi-1da, YogiTheProducer and 40

Alright, big story of the week: Nicki Minaj debuts at #3 on the albums chart with the sequel to Pink Friday - the first instalment reached #16 over here, surprisingly low - and she debuts two new songs, both with features, and I’ll refrain from saying too much because I’ve expressed my first impressions and opinions on the album on my RateYourMusic log and I don’t see much point going further into it here, especially since the tracks we get aren’t fully representative of the album, but I do think this is particularly sad of an effort, even if I generally like Nicki quite a bit. The trend-chasing, the samples, the odd level of sincerity that seeps in only to create a cynical product, it’s almost pretty depressing, especially when this is a bloated, rushed album serving as a sequel to perhaps her most iconic and important project. It’s… unfortunate, though I find it difficult to say that Nicki is at fault for most of it, though she definitely doesn’t help on this one, which is mostly a Drake song. I don’t particularly like Drake in his dancehall or Afrobeats mode, but his singing isn’t bad and whilst the mix feels a tad messy, the subtle synth pads and little vocal samples in the chorus lead to a pretty solid foundation for the groove, though the percussion loop is a bit incessant for four minutes. Nicki is… here, though not with a particularly impressive verse, in fact a pretty awkward one, and her cascading vocal mix in the backing vocals, sometimes harmonising with Nana Fofie, and the final chorus, feels very tacked-on and honestly kind of gross, especially since Drake couldn’t sound any less engaged, and the instrumental outro is a tad lengthy for a song that is purposefully not doing much of anything. It’s really far from the worst on the album though… we’ll get to it.

#55 - “run for the hills” - Tate McRae

Produced by Ryan Tedder and Jasper Harris

Tate McRae’s new album THINK LATER debuted at #5 on this week’s albums chart. It’s Ryan Tedder’s vessel of manufactured pop writing wherein Tate McRae is a vehicle for regurgitated fluff that Tedder probably has a team of people deciding to include. I’m usually not nearly this cynical about pop music but there just really isn’t anything on this one that redeems it, or feels all that human, especially not McRae herself, but it’s not like the floaty algorithmic production helps at all. This is far from the album’s worst but is also probably one of its most derivative, given that lower on this week’s chart, we had a song by The Weeknd debut and I’m getting deja vu. The drums even sound just as clicky and awful, if not more, and McRae doing her half-rap thing on the chorus to fill in all these lyrics rapidly with little care for the song actually functioning as a coherent whole is just embarrassing. The album is a microcosm of all recent pop trends and this is one of the more egregious attempts, especially because God, she cannot pull off alternative R&B to save her life, and the OneRepublic guy shouldn’t be making her try.

#53 - “Everybody” - Nicki Minaj featuring Lil Uzi Vert

Produced by DJ Smallz 732 and Tate Kobang

You’ve got to be kidding me. Okay, so I fully expected Lil Uzi Vert to show up on a track, even if they actually aren’t on the CD version, much like over half of the album apparently. Nicki often collaborates with Uzi so I expected a phone-in verse. I also expected Nicki to include several awkward nostalgia-bait samples because that’s been her thing this era, and I also expected Nicki to experiment with a Jersey club jam because she did it on “Barbie World” and this album needs all the audience it can get. However… sigh, “Move Your Feet” by Danish duo Junior Senior peaked at #3 in 2003, whilst Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” was #1. And here it is, completely butchered on “Everybody”, which is a pretty manic track, stripping the song of its tight grip on the groove, and flavourful sound palette, by drenching it in the mysterious Jersey club allure that comes with an odd level of angsty-feeling percussion, and stop-start rhythms, that whilst expected with the genre do not fit this sample at all, which itself struggles for space in the mix against Nicki, who whispers along to its hook and uses the iconic “Everybody!” refrain to fill in her own bars, but doesn’t even do the full chorus because of course she doesn’t, even though she is heavily relying on that chorus because these verses are minimal and the pre-chorus is ridiculous. She even references the Kanye leak she refused to clear her verse on just yesterday, and that’s before the song feels like it even starts, which for the record, is when Lil Uzi Vert comes in with some incoherent intensity. They’re just doing their “Just Wanna Rock” schtick again, but it will always work for me, even if just for their brief appearance here, especially when they say the beat is so hard that they just might die. Sadly, it returns to the state of limbo it was in prior and just fades out lazily instead of making use of its Uzi-addled climax, not that the song wasn’t dead on arrival in the first place. Again, this is embarrassing.

#41 - “DJ Play a Christmas Song” - Cher

Produced by Mark Taylor

In the darkest days, at least there’s Cher. This is the long-term entertainer and greatest-of-all-time Twitter account’s first hit this big since around 2013, and I always wondered why Cher had never tried her hand at self-inserting herself into the Christmas canon, or at least why she hadn’t done it before Mariah or Kelly, who are in some ways the Chers of their respective generations. It turns out she released an entire Christmas album, with covers and original songs, and duets from Stevie Wonder to Cyndi Lauper to Tyga. It also turns out she also did a Christmas duet in 1999 with comedian Rosie O’Donnell, who also did a Christmas duet with Macy Gray on that same album for “Winter Wonderland”, which we talked about last week. Christmas music is a small world, and it’s all connected through one comedian, clearly. As for the song itself, it’s completely serviceable, using the same Auto-Tune warble that she made iconic with “Believe” over a synthscape that kind of blends its way from 80s synthpop to 90s Euro-trance, but doesn’t sound bad at all. The percussion is a bit rote though, and doesn’t really fit the looser feeling of Cher’s older, slower vocals, even if she does display a lot of pure joy and expressiveness that you just don’t hear that often nowadays. There’s also a lot to be found in the request to just play that Christmas song that gets you dancing, as a temporary escape from everything else in life. It’s cute, innocuous, I could even see it making itself into the canon eventually, but I can’t say I’m a massive fan, at least not for now. Still better than everything else so far, but this next one might give it some company.

#30 - “leavemealone” - Fred again.. and Baby Keem

Produced by Fred again.., Alex Gibson, Benji Gibson, Four Tet, Loose, Sid Stone and Skrillex

These next two songs are actually quite similar: both would-be top 10 hits without Christmas featuring American rappers, penned by acts who don’t contribute vocals, containing one artist I quite like and one I… am weary of to say the least. This one does have the edge a bit because it’s stacked with seven producers, with Fred seemingly bringing his brothers into the mix alongside his common collaborators Four Tet and Skrillex, who pretty much always help Fred make some magic so even if it has Kendrick’s SoundCloud rap cousin on it, it could still be good. Hell, Keem’s artist credit isn’t as much of a feature as it is just using chopped-up vocals from his album cuts, 2021’s “south africa” and 2019’s “BULLIES”, so this could be a shining light in this week and… it’s drum and bass. If you’ve read any episode of this show, you’ll know this is a cheat code, and yes, I think the song’s great.

This has been a fan favourite at his shows for a while and I can see why with the looming sub-bass that is panned excellently, and a glitchy rendition of Keem that morphs him from his usual nasal mumble to something almost resembling a jungle MC, and Fred has a lot of fun teasing the audience with its long, stop-and-start build-up that uses a lot of mechanical clashes, almost IDM-esque, to establish the reckless paranoia that Keem actually contributes to through what you can make out of the lyrics, and whilst it isn’t exactly the most detailed or heavy breakbeat that comes in, it’s a whirry and industrial drop that hits in all the right places with tiny little details because I mean, of course, it’s Fred, Skrillex and Four Tet, it’s going to be intricate. I’d also like to say it’s one-note, but there’s a bridge where the bass becomes a static fuzz amidst some new sampled vocals from Sabrina Benaim, “I don’t want to go”, that push Keem further into restless isolation. That last build with what sounds like a fan getting closer and closer to Keem’s mantra of “everybody, everybody…”  before the clearing off point, interrupted by a growling bass, before the drop comes back in and in full force this time, is absolutely brilliant. I know that half of what I do on this series nowadays is lush over detailed EDM tracks, so I will actually give some critique here: I want to hear what happens next. Don’t just peter out at less than four minutes: it goes into what sounds like a racket of a half-time drop by the end and I want to hear it get even noisier of a thrash. Maybe that’s what happens in the DJ sets where he plays this, I don’t know, but either way, an extended cut would be kind of sick, even if as it is, it’s already fantastic.

Also, yes, I do have a degree of chart nerd detail to note that the additional vocal from 070 Shake in the drop is most likely sampled from Ye’s “Ghost Town”, which peaked at #17 in 2018 - I remember reviewing it - whilst “One Kiss” by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa was #1. The sampled Baby Keem tracks have not charted, and neither did Fred’s own track “Sabrina (i am a party)”, which is where he took Benaim’s vocals from, though they originated from a poem of her own that of course did not chart. I like these connections though.

#29 - “Stop Giving Me Advice” - Lyrical Lemonade, Dave and Jack Harlow

Produced by Hollywood Cole, Rascal, Daz, Matthew Tavares and Angel López

Oh, yeah, the other similarity: they have way too many producers. Anyway, for our final song, we have music video director Cole Bennett getting his DJ Khaled on by curating an album under his YouTube channel and production company’s name but contributing minimally to the music itself. At least maybe he can get some good, unique collaborations going, and I wouldn’t really expect Jack to make a song with Dave otherwise though it makes actually more sense than you’d think. They’re in some ways outsiders to the globally Americansied rap mainstream, they’re incredibly popular not because of but more in spite of their conscious leanings, and a lot of the time, they’re less interesting than they think they are, and I never want to hear what they have to say about women.

This could absolutely still be a good song though but sadly, most of it is Jack Harlow over this rattling Timbaland-esque beat except the groove just stutters instead of pulling itself forward or going into any interesting directions, kind of just letting the awkward bed of samples spread into a funkless beat. I zoned out of Mr. Harlow immediately when he asked me “have you ever raised the value of anyone around you?” and… the whole first verse is directed, arguably, to the haters, but it’s not like those haters are the only people who want to live Jack Harlow’s life, and it’s an entire verse of condescending hypotheticals and rhetorical questions that make him even more punchable than before. Sure, the rhyme scheme is nice in the second verse but by that time, he’s directing me to the chorus - which barely exists - and talking a lot of substanceless bars about his rapping ability which he’s yet to actually prove much of.

In fact, this is actually pretty terrible. This beat just becomes more incessant over time, especially with the added filtered vocal sample and Dave… well, he starts by seemingly dissing - or at least dismissing - everything Jack Harlow said, by saying his fans are nuanced and that Dave shouldn’t be unimpressed by everyday life, which is something that he actually aspires to have, but as soon as this verse picks up into pretty interesting territory with a great rhyme scheme, he… stops rapping… for seven straight seconds, in the middle of a bar, for no reason, and the man never picks that momentum back up, mostly because he adopts the rhetorical question BS that Jack did, except he’s spelling out his elementary “alone” / “a loan” wordplay, calling himself a feminist because of how he pays women in spending sprees for sexual favours, comparing how the people on death row eating their last meal just can’t compare to his seven-figure deals - maybe you’re forgetting all the gang violence you use to sell records, Dave - all the whilst painting himself as the “tortured artiste”, and this is simply the life of an artist escaping darkness… oh, and the super models he has sex with are so skinny they sound like skeletons. Delightful. I hope this pisses off the charts as soon as possible.

Conclusion

Yup, as predicted: really rough week, and honestly, though one song may be a tad more egregious in its sound, I’m still giving Worst of the Week to Lyrical Lemonade, Jack Harlow and Dave for the utterly degradable “Stop Giving Me Advice”, just a complete spit in the face of their own audiences with one of the most raggedy attempts at a 2000s throwback beat I’ve ever heard. As for the Dishonourable Mention, it’s easily going to “Everybody” by Nicki Minaj featuring Lil Uzi Vert, though Tate McRae wasn’t as far off as one may think. There’s not much worth in an Honourable Mention, considering the only good song here is miles better than anything else, so Best of the Week goes to “leavemealone” by Fred again.. and Baby Keem. I know, what a surprise. It’s the Christmas #1 next week - kind of, since the tracking week doesn’t include Christmas but this is what will be promoted as the Christmas #1 because it’s the chart three days before. That’ll be exciting, I’m sure, but as for now, thank you for reading and I’ll see you then!

[sapphia]

i have so many thoughts about chang from community and almost all of them are about him coming out in the final 30 seconds of the entire six-season show.

like, maybe dan meant it just to be a homage to the office and nothing more. maybe it’s just a joke and we will see it fully retconned in the movie. but imagine if it’s not.

from the very first episode, chang is a character who has been hiding his true self. when we first meet him, he’s an ethnically-speaking spanish teacher. this is played heavily for laughs, but we can already see the ways in which he’s running from himself. he’s very on edge about racism, and some of his first lines are him preemptively defending himself against racist comments. it’s not crazy to think that chang’s fixation on latin culture comes from his discomfort with his own race. and we can connect this to his sexuality too - chang met his latina wife at salsa dancing, and by marrying her he becomes closer to the image of the straight, non-asian man he wishes he were, rather than who he really is.

when we meet him, he is also clearly unpredictable bordering on unstable - showing signs of the mental illness (or as the show puts it, chang’s “craziness”) that defined his entire arc. chang is one of the few characters who gets a full arc, both downswing and upswing, as he starts off as a teacher, married and comfortable. as the series he continues, he loses everything, becoming first homeless, jobless and wifeless, then becoming a crazed dictator who kidnaps the dean, then claiming total amnesia, before owning up to his memories and confessing to his crimes and becoming a teacher again - but this time he has found his place and his people, having been accepted into what by this time has become the save greendale committee.

in the early seasons, chang’s craziness seems to escalate as his life gets worse, but you can also view it as his symptoms becoming harder to hide. his behaviour is visible mostly to his students, and only a little to his colleagues, but he’s considered a ‘wild card’ rather than someone who might genuinely need help. in this regard, he is forced to hide his mental illness rather than be open about it and be supported.

but seasons 5 and 6, chang GETS to be crazy. in a weirdly-heartwarming twist, chang is still unbalanced and he still betrays the group multiple times, but it’s treated as a character flaw no greater than anyone else’s in the group, and he is forgiven over and over again for his transgressions in the same way other characters are forgiven for theirs. it is, in my mind, not a coincidence that abed is the one to recognise that chang deserves a second chance regardless of whether he has amnesia or not, because changs issues begin to genuinely be treated as a mental illness and he received the support and help he didn’t before the series - and with it, we can see he does make genuine improvements. sure, like an addict, he still falls into his old ways and betrays the group, but these are treated like relapses, and the group doesn’t stop forgiving him, thus truly demonstrating that greendale is for everyone, especially people who don’t fit into wider society. underneath the humour, this says something serious; that people deserve help, even when they’ve relapsed. Even when they’ve relapsed multiple times. Recovery is not a straight road, nor is the journey to becoming a better person. chang is the hardest person for the study group to forgive, but he’s the most important because of that precise reason.

this comes to a head in the second-to-last episode where chang makes a speech that saves an incestuous marriage from annulment. the episode is about how the group are parasocial and they are at the worst when they’re around each other - except for chang, who actually demonstrably is much improved from the person he’s been for most of the show, and manages to smooth over the mess that the group accidentally creates. this is a hugely symbolic moment, one of the first actually positive and selfless things that chang has actively done.

so when he comes out at the end, it’s with all that context and baggage. finally, after six seasons, chang is accepted by the study group. even though he’s crazy and unpredictable. even though he’s needed a lot of help to function as well as the other characters. even though his shortcomings mean that he often ruins their plans, both deliberately and by accident. even though he leaves when he gets famous, throwing the finger at as he goes. each time he comes back, they forgive him and bring him into the fold once more. and this is the payoff, to show that their patience and forgiveness and work has been worth it, because chang is a better person for it. not only can the study group see that, but chang can see that, just as he has finally been able to see from his betrayal and the group’s instant unspoken forgiveness only a few episodes earlier that they truly will support him for whoever he is, whatever he does. and that just gets me.

[littleragondin]

~ getting to know your BL mutuals ~

I've been tagged by @excessivelyobssesed - I think you did get your revenge because making me choose anything is always a torture lol. To try and help myself I only picked through BL broadcast this year and finished as of today (12/12)!

~ rules: answer the questions and @ some people. include the tag ‘g2ky BL mutuals 2022’ on your post so we can find everyone’s answer. ~

What have been the BLs that took you by surprise this year?

Hands down Ghost host, ghost house. I expected to like it certainly (have I ever said how much I love ghost stories? yes?), but not to be taken in such a tender and touching story of grief, love, and growth. 

Secret Crush on You. The stalker premise and the cringe humor had me ready to set it aside forever (I cannot handle second hand embarrassment this was straight up torture) but I’m so glad I didn’t. The love portrayed through the series is so diverse, so sincere and treated with such kindness, I really really loved it.

You’re my sky. For some reason I kept scrolling past that one on viki, despite my (undying, overwhelming) love for sports manga, and I started more out of boredom than anything. In the end, I loved the stories, I got moved far more than I expected, but most of all it looked BEAUTIFUL?? The photography through it all was incredible and I took tons of screenshots all along.  

Kabe koji, not because of exceeded expectations so much, but if you had asked me earlier this year “what media will have a character you relate to at such a deep level that seeing him be loved even as he hates himself will mess you up for days” I would NOT have put my money on that one, and yet!! 

what have been the BLs that you felt a bit/a lot disappointed with this year?

Senpai, danjite koidewa! for me too. It had a lot going against it (hello cringe) but I was finding it really charming and sweet anyway (will I ever come back from that scene where Yanase gently wraps Kaneda in his vest because he is obviously terrified to disrobe? Probably not) and then. Those two last episodes. I think I had come to expect far too much and it made the disappointment even worse. 

Star & Sky: Sky in your heart. I found Star in my mind absolutely darling, thought what we saw of Fah in there was intriguing, and I like Mek Jirakit, so I was primed for that second part. But I couldn’t STAND Fah in there nor did I believe for a moment in his romance with Prince, so the comparison didn’t help with how disappointed I felt.

Adding Fahlanruk because I did DNF it, but it’s not so much that I was disappointed, more that it didn’t manage to surprise me from my low expectations and ended up not being entertaining enough for me to keep going.  

… Bad year for characters named Fah uh (I guess You’re my sky redeemed them a little lol)

what has been your favorite BL this year?

Oh no. I have to make a choice?? Even if I only pick from BL that came out this year it’s going to be so hard… I’m going to steal the idea and do an non ranked Top 3(-ish) per country because boy… 

Japan : Eien no Kino, Old Fashion Cupcake, Kabe koji (with Takara-kun to Amagi-kun as a strong runner up)

Korea : Semantic Error, Blueming, Roommates of Poongduck 304 or Cherry Blossom After Winter

Taiwan : DNA says love you (only one here because I only saw 4 taiwanese BL from 2022 - including the still ongoing My tooth your love) 

Thailand : Triage, Ghost Host Ghost House, Secret Crush on You, My Only 12% 

favorite BL couples (not just of 2022)?

Somehow I feel like I have to choose between all my children lol okay let's assume the couples in all my choices for the previous question have their place on this list, I will add: Kiyoi/Hira (Utsukushii kare), Pharm/Dean and Korn/In (UWMA), Ae/Pete (LBC) and Tar/Tum (LBC and TT), Petch/Pie (Oh! my sunshine night), Solo/Gui (Oxygen), Eun Ho/Lee Heon/Go Geum (Tinted with you), Win/Tops (Ingredients), Gitae/Chisoo (Long Time No See), Ootani/Tachibana (Ai no kotodama) ...

what’s your non-BL favorite this year?

The Korean drama Tomorrow came for me and kept me in a choke hold all through its 16 episodes and I loved it dearly (all the trigger warnings for that one tho, every episode deal with suicide and a whole collection of very difficult subjects) Severance blew me out of the water, I can’t wait for next season, Our flag means death was fantastic and renewed my long lasting love of pirates, and I have been enjoying the Quantum Leap sequel a lot so far!

Ok, if you haven't done it yet and would like to, I will tag @benkaaoi @heretherebedork @fandomfairyuniverse and @machikeita as well as anyone who'd be tempted to do it ^^

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 272

Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell/Smile

“Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell”

Plot Description: The Winchesters must unravel a complicated case of a demonic deal one wrong when an invisible hellhound claims a soul at a campsite

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: yes because I wouldn’t be camping. Too many people on supernatural die while camping for me to ever go

Aw man, they were (maybe) gonna get engaged

Deeeeeean being interested and still grossed out in how many monster parts are…all over him

Why is Sam’s……….Sam named his monster hunting algorithm Frodo. That’s so unbelievably cute. Sam has a Frodo he takes along to defeat evil 🥹

What….what is Cas even investigating?? I forgot that this came out before last year for a second and I really thought this guy believed the queen was killed by aliens and not that she was one

I hate this restaurant owner. Even Castiel can see through his bullshit

Unfortunately, there IS something, but it’s not aliens, it’s angels and demons

Literally though, I am ON Crowley’s side but in the way I’m terrified for him. He’s been so much about self preservation this WHOLE TIME, why would you fuck up and do to Lucifer what he did to you?? Are you out of your goddamn mind?? He is AWFULLY sure of himself and i don’t think he should be

Has he been spending ALL his time taunting Lucifer instead of his Hell responsibilities??

I get so tickled when normal ass people get dragged into conversations they shouldn’t around the Winchesters. This woman doesn’t NEED to know the whole backstory of the hellhound that tried to kill her straight from Crowley’s mouth, but she’s getting it and she’s taking it surprisingly well

Omg did these demons double cross Crowley and purposely let out the hellhound that’s only loyal to Lucifer?? It’s really that simple? Look, I love Crowley as a character but the simplicity of Lucifer’s plans is so fucking good

Ok nope, they did this on their own (probably…maybe?). They planned all that out of loyalty to Lucifer, but Lucifer had nothing to do with it (maybe). Crowley really needs to get his house in order

Do you really WANT to be back under Heaven’s thumb, Cas?? You know better…you know who your family is.

Lucifer is gonna kill these demons IMMEDIATELY after getting freed. He doesn’t have the bureaucratic heart Crowley does….he doesn’t care about the deal he just made. HE’S THE ACTUAL FUCKING DEVIL FROM THE BIBLE

I get it, girl. I, too, would like to give Crowley a hug. He’s gonna need it

Sorry not sorry for loving characters that sit like this, especially on a throne

Oh holy shit. How…how did Crowley turn off Lucifer’s ARCHANGEL POWERS?!?! How’s he absolutely kicking Lucifer’s entire ass? I’m not attracted to Crowley but this is doing something for me. So much for Crowley getting soft over the years

I know that name from Good Omens! Dagon was not as powerful in that…

Castiel. I can’t believe you’re going back to heaven…

SAMUEL I-DONT-KNOW-YOUR-MIDDLE-NAME WINCHESTER!!! I don’t know how I didn’t see it. I’m feeling a little dumb that I got fooled. To be fair, there was a lot that went on between when I watched yesterday’s episode and now. Of course “Frodo” is actually the BMoL. I’m so mad at him and me

Oh Dean. Dean. Deeeeeeeeean…you shouldn’t have had to find out this way. More people need to be honest with him forever and always. How can you look at his betrayed face and ever want to see that again??

He’s taking it way better than I expected. Is it practice? From feeling betrayed so often? And so recently? He’s still hurt though….

"Smile"

Plot Description: The Doctor takes Bill to a spectacular city--but where are the colonists?

Ahaha! I've wised up since last time! Now, WHY does my tv like to occasionally not show the video and only give me the audio? I don't know, but at least now I know better than to think they're gonna serve me up a blank screen for ten minutes.

As a mode of transportation, the TARDIS is a funny thing. It CAN take you anywhere, but hearing that you don't steer it, you negotiate with it...maybe I've been a driver too long. Even though driving is basically second nature, hearing about having to actually negotiate with your mode of transportation....like....we haven't had to do that since horses.

Why...why is the Doctor not supposed to go off-world? Like, I'm glad we're finally finding a balance between the Moffat- and RTD-esque seasons, but I do want to know now, please and thank you. Also, why doesn't Nardole like Bill?? Bill's great!!!!

Oh...I don't like this place they're going. It is literal toxic positivity central. If you get too sad you get basically vaporized??? Boooooo

Oh good, the explanation (so far) is he did a thing, something happened, he made an oath to not leave Earth. Thanks, Doctor.

I know there's a difference between hieroglyphs and memes and emojis when it comes to communication, but i do love that a form of picture communication has survived millions of years onto humanity's first colony. Did it have to be emojis though?

Omg, the little emoji badge the Doctor has and it's puzzled face is adorable. However...the reasoning behind it is less cute. Oh, when he said skeleton crew...he...he meant the crew sent here to set everything up has been turned to skeletons

I doubt you'll be safe outside of the city precisely because you said you would be. However, in the TARDIS seems pretty safe.

It's so funny that this "have to appear happy" story was given to Twelve. The only one who could possibly also have such a funny time doing this is Nine. Ten and Eleven could appear genuinely happy at any moment if they needed. Twelve needs to convince these robots, and he still doesn't SOUND happy

Billllllll, don't let the TARDIS hear you call this a proper spaceshippp please. I like you too much

Actually, Bill, I'm so sorry I said that to you. This is like a Star Wars spaceship...the interior makes no sense and OSHA would have a FIT if they could see the lack of railings on these bridges. You were right

Someone, anyone, George Lucas, explain to me why very important technology is always kept in the middle of four walkways over the gaping maw you’re generously calling a room and there are no railings, pleasenowtellmeyes?

Coolcoolcool. All the work the Doctor did just now is for nought and he may have egregiously fucked up…I KNOW they’ll save humanity, they always do, but HOW? Yeah. So he was TRYING to blow up this whole city…….until the people who were cryogenically frozen started waking up.

Oh. Fun. I mean, it does make a certain amount of sense that these robots would start to learn and expand their knowledge, wrong as it may be, that grief is the enemy of happiness and that to eradicate anything that doesn’t bring happiness, you actually have to kill the very people you’re there to help keep alive…which just causes more and more grief. Yikes

Don’t vaporize the kidddddddddddddd. Please don’t do that

Ok ok ok. You hit the reset button, you turned it off and turned it on again, you wiped the robots’ memories, but did you disable the function that allowed them to do what they did? Did you keep them from killing everyone again somewhere down the line??

What a weird solution. Like, sure, the Vardi (spelling optional) became sentient and are therefore pseudo-indigenous to this planet (brought here not sentient, gained sentience while here), but to then make them basically the humans’ landlords and potentially force the human race to only exhibit ‘positive’ emotions for the rest of their time on this planet is A WEIRD SOLUTION, DOCTOR

[oldtvandcomics]

The mess that the Supernatural writers managed to create is one of the most fascinating things I have EVER seen in television.

The way that they made the end of the show all about fictional characters trying to break free, but kept aggressively shoving them back into their boxes until they broke them. The amazing tonal difference between the written word of the story and the way the story was being told, the way it feels like the latter is trying to kill the former.

The way they introduced Cas as a literal Deus Ex Machina to solve the problems caused by the writers' strike in 2007, and then he refused to leave the story to the point of completely changing the tone of the whole thing. Fictional characters aren't supposed to have free will, but Cas is getting shockingly close.

The way they kept dropping little hints and making little jokes for twelve years, until there was only one way to wrap up the story of those two characters.

The way they still backtracked the last possible second, not letting Dean reciprocate verbally, but still having to kill him because there was no way he could get a happy ending.

The way they also axed their canon and perfectly well-functioning straight pairing, because... I still don't quite know why they did that.

The way that they acted around it after the fact, the lack of goodbye tweets after Misha Collins' last episode, the translator thing, the way that there still seemed to be Discourse about the way that scene is supposed to be read (like COME ON!)....

Idk. It's a horrible mess, but also a very fascinating one.

i still can’t believe after all these years that the supernatural writers managed to screw up so badly and in such specific ways that they accidentally made the whole show about being queer. like. cas invents free will in season 4. he goes against god. you guys aren’t supposed to be there. you’re not in this story! you know what every other version of you did? what you were told. he rebels against heaven and defies god-the-father and he does it because he’s gay and he needs to act on it. and none of it was on purpose

[wif-san]

The hellers are insulting the writers/set designers/etc. more than they know

Now, some writers are pandering assholes, and some are shit as showrunners, but that doesn’t mean that what the hellers are implying about the lot of them isn’t insulting.

What am I talking about you ask? Well, you know how hellers like to use all sorts of homophobic/biphobic/toxic masculinity stereotypes to prove that Dean is bi? Well, by claiming that those were purposely put in the show to intentionally prove Dean’s bi-ness, they are therefore claiming that the writers, set designers, and whoever else (including the gay writer who created Max Banes) also buy into and support those stereotypes too.

So, ultimately, in reality, the hellers have never claimed that the writers, set designers, and whoever else were not homophobic/biphobic bigots. The only real difference is whether or not the hellers claimed them to be in support of their ship or not, and how they behaved in response.

Thus, the hellers claims of canon bi Dean and their proof is not only a reflection of themselves, but also of how they think about the writers, set designers, etc.

[nancylou444]

noxbait replied to your post “marvel-and-moor reply to this post: hi if you don’t like the idea of...”

Visited by Dabb in a dream? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 and they want YOU to check your facts? Bahahahahahahahaha! I can’t....I just can’t even.........: 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤣🤣🤣

Yeah Dabb is visiting THAT lunatic to talk about how BI Dean is. And we are supposed to accept that foolishness as ‘fact’. 

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 105

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid/Turn Left

“Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”

Plot Description: The dead are rising from their graves and happily reuniting with their families in Bobby’s hometown

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: 1) I thought they said the dead were HAPPILY reuniting. But 2) I don’t think I’ve pissed off anyone who’s died enough for them to KILL me. But also I’m not answering the door in a storm like that if I don’t know someone’s on the way

That is some very convenient narration from the nature documentary

Well, they’re not calling you a TRUTHER. Mmm, but okay. Just solidifies my hypothesis that I wouldn’t die in the first five minutes: I’ve also never killed anyone

These are, in fact, the correct faves to make when you get caught impersonating a government official because you had the sheriff of Bobby’s home town call him

Oh shit…Bobby didn’t tell them what the fuck’s going on because his wife is back from the dead too

So DEATH Death is on his way

I am…extremely sympathetic to Bobby’s dilemma (and I am EXTREMELY glad I didn’t watch this last week). But yeah, if it were John and the boys had found out he came back from the dead, Bobby would be telling them the same thing they’re telling him now.

Well, one good thing about Sam getting attacked by that old woman is that we know you don’t have to do anything special to kill them

Bobby, come on.

Look…the level of planning Dean’s doing to go kill Bobby’s wife is exactly the level that Cas did to get Famine’s ring yesterday. Surface level to the extreme

Oh Jody…now I see why you’re pro-zombie. Oh no…oh you poor woman. To get your son back and then lose both your son and your husband in the same night due to your son coming back. I can’t even imagine. Jody, I’m so sorry

Oof, Karen knows it’s over, but Bobby (predictably) can’t do it. He can’t kill her again

Aw come on…I wanna know the messagggggge

Oh Bobby. He did it. He had to, but that doesn’t make it hurt less

WHY ARE THEY SO FOCUSED ON KILLING BOBBY AND/OR DEAN? Unless Bobby is somehow responsible for their deaths too?? Maybe??? I dunno. Are we gonna get closure on that?

This must be so hard to do a second time.

Oh…this whoooooole thing was a hit on Bobby’s life.

“Been On My Mind…”: Nope. 9

“Turn Left”

Plot Description: Donna's entire world collapses, but there's no sign of the Doctor. Instead, she finds help from a mysterious blonde woman - a traveler from a parallel universe

(First things first, HBO Max spelled traveler wrong in their plot description...just needed to get that out of the way)

I'm not ready at all for this episode. I feel like I JUST. GOT. Donna. (The episode just about every day all last week didn't help, but I still want to complain)

*blinks slowly* they were going to pay her HOW MUCH a year? to be a secretary? 20k a year? adjusted for inflation and converted to USD, no. No absolutely not. Well, I suppose if you had multiple wage earners in the house, sure. Anyway...

Normalize making what turn out to be life altering decisions out of spite. I love that for you, Donna.

You can take the companion away from the TARDIS but you can't take the instinct to run toward danger away from the companion

There's so much I've forgotten (fitting) about these episodes because I rarely went back to these in particular. They're so painful. So, yeah, I forgot the Doctor straight up dies.

Rose came all the way across universes just to find out the Doctor died.

Way to go, Mama Noble, making Donna take the job where she's just gonna get laid off because half of he employer's contracts are on the other side of London and they can't cross the Thames.

YES, DONNA!!! GO OUT LOUD AND TOXIC!! This is cathartic for me.

Watching this in 2023 is...something, for sure. Wilf's (rightly) going on about how there's solid proof of alien life, and how it's coming to Earth, and it's not friendly. All the while, Donna and her mom are (also correctly) still having to deal with the minutia of daily life. (Adore that Donna stole Beatrice's label stapler.)

I don't like that Donna and Rose don't get along here. Darkest timeline.

WILF IN HIS TWO PAIRS OF CHRISTMAS ANTLERSSSSSSS <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Oh...oh, shit. Girl..."is that like a sequel?" TO TITANIC??

"America is in crisis" bitch, you are telling me. OKAY HANG ON NOW. I was on board with you when you said that the country I live in is in crisis, but I will always draw the line at the fatphobic comments about Americans...

GODDDDD this episode is depressing. Like. I've seen this episode of Supernatural, that one sucked, too. I don't like watching all the things our protagonists accomplished, all the people they saved....be....not that. (I'm tired. It's nearly 11pm because I was dreading watching this)

Oh god...this family Donna and her family have been living with. Fuck. FUCK. The Donna I know wouldn't be this oblivious to what's actually happening around her. The knowing looks exchanged between the patriarch of that family and Wilf...it's heartbreaking

I hate Donna's mom so much. How dare she.

Oh,...that's what Rose meant when she told Donna she was going to die. She's going to cause the accident that forces...herself to turn left

The Doctor's reaction to hearing Bad Wolf once more...

[nancylou444]

Put this shit in the ‘supernatural’ and ‘dean winchester’ tags and don’t bitch about the remarks you get.

DEAN WINCHESTER IS NOT BISEXUAL. 

Regardless of what YOU and that anon think/headcanon/meta.

Dean has NEVER showed any interest in kissing/fucking A MAN.

I find it extremely funny that Dean Winchester and Diego Hargreeves are you favourite characters from each show, two disaster bisexuals

mayhaps i have a type

[wif-san]

A simple post on why Dean Winchester isn’t bisexual

I know there’s already a number of these out there, but a tumblr post I just saw got me thinking, so here it is; Firstly, being bisexual means being attracted to both sexes, so:

- I can provide at least 10 pics/gifs of Dean (willingly) kissing women, but where are the ones of Dean kissing guys? And yes some people will say you don’t need to have that to be canon, ergo it can be super subtle, but 1) supernatural isn’t that subtle, and 2) leads into my next point.

- while we don’t need to have onscreen kisses (or sex) to establish a character’s sexuality, there needs to at least be a CLEAR mention of something like that, some sort of CLEAR indication that said character DOES swing that way, even IF they’re in the closet (which Dean is not). Take Magnus Bane from Shadowhunters for example, he only has onscreen kisses (and sex) with men, just Alec Lightwood to be precise, but it is clearly communicated that Magnus had previously had a romantic/sexual relationship with a woman, whereas Dean has never mentioned kissing, nor having any sort of sexual (or romantic for that matter) encounter with a man, ever.

- It doesn’t matter if we’re talking “in the closet” or not, and even if Dean wasn’t willing to have even discreet hook-ups with men, we’d still see him secretly indulge in some way, like privately perusing gay porn, yet, not only are there no secret hook-ups, there’s no secret indulgences of any kind, not even his porn preferences (which we have seen) reflect anything other than a straight dude, as he’s only ever watched either straight porn, or woman on woman. (Quickly addressing Sam comment about Dean being “strictly into Dick”, it had nothing to do with porn, but it was Sam teasing Dean, as brothers do, about his then-obsession with Dick Roman, out of wanting revenge for Bobby’s death.) - supernatural could have been written, FROM THE GET-GO, with Dean being bisexual, and hooking up with both men and women for one-night-stands, BUT Kripke wanted this SPECIFIC dynamic between TWO STRAIGHT dudes (Sam and Dean), and while the current show runners and writers might be willing to pander and give some gratuitous representation, none of them are incompetent enough to actually rewrite any character’s ESTABLISHED sexuality. Not to mention that that’s not how sexual orientation works even in fictional stories, unless you, yourself are writing a story set in a universe where people’s sexual orientations CAN just change or change at all.

One last little note for the hellers, you can absolutely fantasize and imagine whatever you want, and you can interpret what you want, and you can head-canon whatever you want (the difference between head-canons and fantasy being that head-canons are canon-compliant and fantasies need not be) but your interpretation ONLY changes how YOU VIEW canon, it doesn’t actually change the canon itself.

[nancylou444]

Now that we have a date for the finale, let me introduce a new tag:

#dean is as straight in november 2020 as he was in september 2005

[wif-san]

A clear and simplistic explanation of sexuality

I know the desperate fools like the destieHellers and bi-Dean stans (a lot of whom are one in the same) are clearly willfully ignorant and will probably never get it through their thick heads, but I wanted to try my hand at making this as clear and simple a single possible with 2 very important points.

1. Sexuality (note that it contains the word SEX) is about who you HAVE SEX WITH, and who you ENJOY having sex with. Dean Winchester has only ever had sex with women, his entire sex life, there are no confirmed cases of him ever having sex with a man (neither on-screen sex scene, nor otherwise confirmed in no uncertain terms), in his entire 39 (going on 40) years of life, AND he always enjoys the sex he has with women, THAT is called heterosexuality. Fun fact, Dean is a hedonist (at least for the most part) because in terms of his primal needs/urges (food, sex, and entertainment) he does what he wants, when he wants, (and in the case of sex) with whom he wants (provided his prospective sex partner for the night is willing of course), and he doesn’t let being in the closet stop him from enjoying what makes him happy (I.e. The tv show Dr Sexy Md, Dean being a closeted fan but continuing to watch it anyways) therefore that arguement is null and void.

Before I get to my second point, I know others have pointed out that food/clothes/signs/etc don’t determine sexuality, which is true, sexuality is determined by who you choose for sex partners, especially in Deans case since he only has sex with people who arouse him (women, particularly curvy, busty, 100% feminine women), so let me put it this way:

Sexuality is about sex, hence why sex is in the word

Clothing ≠ sex

Signs (on walls, etc) ≠ sex

Colors (on clothing, signs, etc) ≠ sex

Food ≠ sex

Which is why none of those have any bearing on sexuality, also choosing to be flexible and trying new things and/or changing one’s mind, about ANYTHING (except a person’s implicit choice [directly] about his/her sexuality, to change his/her mind and embrace It), is not an indication that said person has any intention or desire to change his/her sexuality.

2. As we’ve already established sexuality is about sex and not determined by food, clothing, etc, and my second point is to clarify that notion, for example, a man CAN be genuinely into all kinds of activities and hobbies that are deemed “girly” like baking, sewing, jewelry making, and be 100% straight, and conversely a man CAN be genuinely into all of the most masculine hobbies and activities and be 100% gay, which is another example of why SEXuality is directly linked to SEX and not at all affected by any choices that are not about having sex, but primarily affected by WHO you choose to have SEX with. (Just a reminder that Dean has willingly had sex with women, and ONLY women his whole life, and is a hedonist at least insofar as sex, food and entertainment.)