#and also Cas not understanding mortality

[annmariethrush]

Thinking about the line “Do it doggy style so we can both watch x files” from the sex song The Bad Touch and DeanCas cause ofc

Dean proposing that they have sex while they’re on the couch watching X Files and Cas agrees but goes to turn the tv off and Dean’s like, nah just fuck me from behind and we can keep watching. Cas giving Dean the ‘humans baffle me’ look. Dean retorting with “Look, I know it doesn’t make sense to you cause you have literally all the time in the world but I’ve only got another 40 years in me at best. Not enough time to get all the serial tv shows and carnal pleasure in that I have on my agenda. Besides, I might get dementia and not be able to understand X files if I wait and I know for a fact that my joints are not getting any younger. Now line up lover boy, Scully’s about to see something science can’t explain.”

[angelsdean]

Reading the script from 13x02 and it opens with Dean, Sam, and Jack in the Impala driving through the night and eventually stopping at a motel where Donatello catches up to them and reveals that yesterday he was "knocked off [his] feet by this weird wave of power" which was Jack's birth. We know Jack was born at night/early morning, and it's night/early morning again, which means it's literally been a mere 24 hrs at most since Cas died, and the drive that this episode opens with, yeah they're literally just leaving from burning Cas's body. Dean not being immediately warm and fuzzy toward Jack is so understandable, especially since they literally do not know anything about him, other than he's an incredibly powerful supernatural being that they spent all last season trying to stop from existing because of the potential threat his existence could cause on the world.

And the way s12 ends, Jack was positioned to be the next Big Bad from that cliffhanger.

(12x23 script)

Dean also believes Jack brainwashed Cas to get him on-side. He has no reason to trust Jack. And Sam is only really thinking about what Jack can do for him, aka get Mary back. So Sam immediately starts playing nice to get Jack on-side and willing to work with them. Sam also inserts himself into the situation, trying to force Dean and Jack to bond, and this happens again in 13x04 and both Dean and Jack express that they need time.

Dean might be harsh toward Jack and not have a Nice Tone when speaking to him in these early episodes, but he's being brutally honest about his feelings, instead of lying and pretending like Sam. Which Jack values Dean's honesty and is hurt by Sam's dishonesty when it comes to light.

The scripts also make a point to highlight how Jack is not a kid, he's in his twenties. And uses words like "demi-god" in later episodes to distinguish his status as an ultra-powerful supernatural being. Jack is naive and new to the world, sure, but he's not helpless and certainly not powerless. If we want to talk power imbalances than the true imbalance is not Mean Adult Dean not instantly loving Poor Baby Jack and it's not Mean Adult Dean shooting a gun at Literal Newborn Jack. This is a supernatural fantasy show, not a family drama. The genre is important. The true power imbalance here is mortal human man with zero powers vs supernatural being with immense powers. And moreso, a supernatural being with uncontrollable immense powers. They don't know what he could do! They have no way of stopping him if he decides to "go darkside" and just end the world! That's scary. And Sam even explains this to Jack, saying that Dean is scared of what Jack could do and it's their job to protect people, and that they may have to protect others "from you" (Jack). This scene is also another moment where Sam tries to convince Jack that he just needs to work on his powers and train to control them (and also so Sam can use Jack to get Mary back, his top priority).

Anyway, point is, Dean isn't wrong to be skeptical of Jack and on guard and keep him at a distance in those early days, and that's not even accounting for all the grief. It's literally been less than a day since Cas died and they lost Mary (and Crowley). He just burned Cas's body. So him talking about dealing with "the problem" and not immediately adopting Jack into the fold is a pretty normal response, given the context of everything.

I think often people also take the "widowers arc" John parallels too seriously. It's an interesting parallel but it's far from being a 1:1, the context are completely different. Yes, Dean just lost his love. Yes, Dean is now left with a "kid" in the wake of Cas's death. But Dean never claimed Jack as his own. Jack saying Cas is his "father" could be another manipulation tactic to ensure his survival for all Dean knows. Cas isn't there anymore to vouch for Jack, and even when he was there Dean was rightfully skeptical about Cas's sudden change of heart. A change of heart that suddenly had Cas believing in the possibility of "paradise" and "peace on earth" and fulfilling "destiny", all things that go against the core beliefs of Team Free Will who have been fighting for Freedom over Peace. So Dean has no connection to Jack and he doesn't trust Jack's alleged connection to Cas at this moment. He doesn't know Cas will come back. Cas's death felt permanent to Dean. He saw Cas's grace go out, saw his wings burn. He burned Cas's body. He prayed to Chuck and got no answer. There's no coming back in Dean's mind and he's dealing with all that intense grief while also having to contend with the potential threat of this supernatural being that has come into their lives and is literally a stranger to him.

Also Dean's "anger" and harshness, like I've said, is in part because he doesn't trust Jack and is putting up walls because he doesn't want to trust him and then get burned. Dean's always putting his heart into things, he always ends up caring, he can't help it. So in this case he's guarding his heart, he's leaning into his skepticism and suspicions. He's staying on the defensive. But also, anger is a normal and natural step in the grieving process. Yeah, Dean's immense grief over losing Cas, Mary, and even Crowley is not pretty. It's real though. And it's not an over-reaction. I think Dean is reacting the appropriate amount considering all they've lost. Sam under-reacting and dissociating and clinging to the hope of getting Mary back isn't the "baseline normal" emotional reaction. Sam is not coping well either. He's not coping at all, actually, and is instead refusing to really acknowledge these losses.

Anyway, I find many comparisons to John re: widower's arc leaving me cold these days, because they often disregard how completely different the contexts of the two situations are, and instead try to force-fit Dean and Jack into a John and his kids mold. Dean isn't becoming "the angry man of the house." He's grieving and he's skeptical of a near-stranger's intentions. Another way in which Dean and John differ greatly in their responses to grief is: John becomes consumed by revenge and springs into action (just like Sam when he lost Jess) but Dean? Dean shuts down. Dean loses hope. Dean ends up killing himself and wishing to stay dead. (Also, I know not everyone agrees with this interpretation, but: see Dean's response post-15x18. Jensen describes Dean's death as Dean being "tired" and letting go (sounds a whole lot like suicide to me). Dean always loses hope when Cas dies).

As the audience, we have the gift of omniscience and we are also able to look into the future now that the show is done. We know Jack doesn't become the second coming of Lucifer, but Dean doesn't know any of that at the time. Dean, in-world, is dealing with the very real possibility that Jack could become their next antagonist and all his actions in the early days following Jack's introduction are informed by that lingering threat.

[collarbjt]

I read one of the Destiel legend fic “Broadway musical” from AO3, written by Griftings.

What a wonderful fanfiction!! It’s the best way to describe Dean’s falling-in-love behaviors, in a very subtle but thrilling way. Cas charac description in this fic is similar to my taste, it’s so easy to read and understand about our cute angel. Cas and Jimmy’s chemi is also good, their banter is fun. It’s another delicious point of this fic. If you read, you’ll empathize of Poor Jimmy lol 😂 Jimmy and Jo’s reactions about Destiel is hilarious

Love the author’s description of how putti and angels make the love affection arrows. The precious things of mortals are the ingredients, it’s quiet moving to read this part.

Also the angels, they are soooo interactive audiences, which perfectly matched with the fic’s title “Broadway musical”! Though they are a little bit noisy haha

For me, non-english user, the words variation is quiet broad so I used my apple translator and dictionaries alot during reading, but still worth it.

I strongly recommend this fanfic!

[shallowseeker]

There are a lot of nervous breakdowns in SPN that are very tied up with delayed grief reactions.

S4 Sam - Drinking demon blood is a reaction to losing Dean; to being horrified that Dean could die and having a disgust-reaction to his weakness as a way to protect himself from the emotions he has about Dean's mortality; Sam was desperate to be stronger. He couldn't unpack why.

S6 Cas - Being murdered by Heaven (Raphael), and though he returned to Heaven to be "the new sheriff," he was paranoid of even the angels close to him because of *waves at all of S4-5* That paranoia and withdrawal into himself reached into every relationship he has. He watched his loved ones suffer, so he decided to be the one to "Put a Stop to It--to All of It"

S7 Cas - Nihilism; (The endless repetition of life and deriving no meaning from it; route of flowers being a predestined plan is also a "nothing matters" nod); Feelings of guilt and the need for penance, terminating in s8 "suicide" / wanting to stay in purgatory *is* suicide btw

S8 Cas - Brainwashing redux; Guilt, Becoming human, lots of changes here, as a result of the brainwashing he needs space to figure out what he's feeling and who he trusts; ALSO Feeling afraid of heaven (re: The great escapist and Matatron "Heaven's powers always spill over (to the humans)" and "Who's it gonna be, Castiel, her or YOUR family (human family)?"

S8 Sam - Great big Sam nervous breakdown; totally paralyzed and running away. Even Amelia-Sam was part OF the freakout, something Amelia's father, someone that knew her well and cared about her, recognized (Amelia doesn't wanna go back to her husband, because he can *die* and maybe she's like Sam too in that she's completely allergic to grief, hey?); Sam oscillates between CHECKOUT OF REALITY and WE GOTTA STICK TO THE HUNTING CODE(TM) the same way Dean clung to the simpler hunting code at the beginning of s7; "Don't choke!" Both boys veer between all-or-nothing with regards to the hunting life

S9 Dean - Gadreel and Kevin and feeling like he was doing the wrong thing; Sam's willingness to commit suicide; Cas's symbolic suicide, then Cas falling — we see in his speech to Metatron that he was desperate to also "Put a Stop to It--to All of It" and his reasons were spelled out clearly, protecting Sam and the distress over Cas's grace/falling/being wronged BY Metatron

S10 Sam - Reacting to Dean's death AGAIN; Reacting to the terrible knowledge that everyone was always sacrificing for him and not the other way around; also a delayed grief reaction to how his family locked him up for detox; and of being an addict himself and fearing that it would end in black eyes and blood (he's not exactly wrong, either; he just went too far)

S10 Cas - Delayed reaction to Jimmy Novak's passing; meeting Claire and wanting to be "like a human"; his guilt was so overpowering; also dealing with his hypocrisy (re: Metatron) about wanting to stay on the earth

S10 Dean - Loss of free will redux, but in the disinhibited direction; dealing with feelings of shame over the loss of free will and past experiences where he also felt powerless or manipulated; he (like Claire Novak) overall tends to choose forgiveness, trying to understand and give grace to those who wronged him; also dealing with being Cole's "Azazel," the parallel to Claire dealing with her "Azazels"

S11 Cas - Delayed reaction to Dean dying in s9, reaction to his grace power reduction (he got his grace BACK and it was damaged), also feeling powerless to protect anyone; the attack dog spell etc etc; Sacrifices himself to the cause

S12 Mary - Huge breakdown because she was ripped from her life and is grieving her entire family as she knew it; feeling like she can't escape from hunting and she corrupted John and in reading his journal she empathizes with his plight while struggling with the cruelty of it; she decides if she can't escape then maybe she can "Put a Stop to It--to All of It."

S12 Cas - Still struggling with the deal/mortality of the human fam (First Blood) and his lack of strength, See Lily Sunder and Stuck in the Middle with You as crisis points. Was enticed by Jack keeping his power because that means he'd have a fam member who could outlive him. The script taps into Cas's wants: Kelly to be at peace, Sam to be free, Dean to be *ahem* thankful, and himself to be strong. Nephilim gives him a cause to not feel guilty about being on earth because it's a Mission (TM)

Nervous breakdowns, man. I can keep going. There are so many nervous breakdowns. SO MANY. And when you look at them AS nervous breakdowns, they make more sense.

[ineffablydelighted]

[How exploring the Ineffable Husbands' dynamic in Good Omens can help us figure out what the show/book is all about, Part 3.1/?]

Also called: This human has, apparently, too much time on her hands and will be trying to Effable the Ineffable for [...] hours.

Hiya, Angels! 👋

Hope you're all doing well!

First of all, if you randomly came across this analysis, I guess you would expect me to entice you to read the first two parts beforehand... And you would be absolutely right.

"Obviosleh."

And since I'm nice [and because I fully understand the importance of saving people as much effort as possible to catch a larger audience - Duh 😇], here are the links for Part 1 and Part 2 🥰 so that everyone is on the same page as we dive into Part 3.

As I previously announced, we'll dissect our favorite pair's next two encounters today which are S1 3004 BC (Noa's Arch, The Flood) and S2 2500 BC (Job's ca-

[future me rereading this before dropping - Yep, nope, not happening just yet]

By doing that, I will try my best to prove to you the main point of my analysis I've revealed at the end of Part 2.

Repeat after me: Good Omens is a philosophical essay disguised as comedic/satyric/romantic fiction.

[Yeah... here she is, already giving orders strong recommendations... I'm so Metatroning you right now.]

[And, since I'm at my best when I'm Metatroning people, this is the moment I'm gonna take to strongly recommend you to ingest the human matter of your choosing - Num num num.]

*In Crowley's voice* OOookaay, let's start!

3004 BC (Mesopotamia - Noa's Arch, The Flood)

In S1, Right before this encounter happens, the scene starts by making us, the audience, witness Aziraphale very badly lying to God about the flaming sword, an event that I already mentioned in part 2 because of the contrast it was considering he did tell the truth to a newly Demonized Crawley in comparison.

BUT [Yay, first "but" of Part 3! Are you having fun?], I really want to talk about this bit some more because that remains one of the scenes that, to this day, bugs me THE MOST in Good Omens as a whole.

To sum things up, you're telling me that GOD:

BOTHERED to pop in to ask one of their Angels a question.

That the said Angel seemed suuuuper anxious about from the start: looking everywhere aimlessly, almost asking them WHAT A DAMN SWORD EVEN WAS... basically giving away EVERY TELLTALE SIGN, both in their voice, mannerisms, and the simple fact that they were literally back to the wall, that they were about to LIE, proceeded to give God the UNanswerest answer EVER:

"Oh, must have, uh, must have put it down here somewhere."

And God just... just... LEFT THAT LYING ANGEL ALONE?! Just as quickly as they arrived?! No arguments, no further questions, no reckoning, just... NOTHING. HAPPENED?!

HUH?

WOT?!

WHO?!

WHO THE F DOES THAT?!

WHO DOES THAT?! That is a real question! WHO?!

IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY. SENSE!

THE F-

I mea-

I'll never recover from it.

Oof. Okay, I'm fini-

I NEED an answer in Season 3! This is all I ask! I don't need the world to be saved, I don't need Alpha Centauri, man, I don't even need Aziracrow to reuni- [okay, no, can't say that, even if I like being dramatic, I take that back, this is all I want and all I've ever wanted, please, I just need to see Aziraphale in a white dress and Crowley demanding him to remove his 200 yo jacket on top of it because it "absolutely ruins it", please!] I. NEED. ANSWERS.

*clears her throat* Yeah. So. I'm perfectly fine with this scene. Moving on!

Aziraphale and Crawley meet in Mesopotamia during the year 3004 BC.

Crawley is the first to notice and to greet Aziraphale VERY enthusiastically. Which is, first of all, cute, but also an indicator that they haven't seen each other in a very long time, more precisely, since Eden (a thousand years prior to be exact). We know that because the first thing Crawley says after his "Hello, Aziraphale!" is the direct continuation of their conversation back in Eden:

"So, giving the mortals a flaming sword. How did that work out for you?"

Aziraphale answers what will never cease to bug me:

"The Almighty has never actually mentioned it again."

Which still peaks my interest because it could mean two things, and pretty different things at that:

One, God and Aziraphale never directly interacted again and nobody from the Main Office ever asked him about the flaming sword at all, which made Aziraphale believe that God never asked them anything about it.

OR

Two, God and Aziraphale DID directly interact again but the flaming sword subject has never been brought up once more.

Given the way this sentence is constructed and the emphasis on "actually mentioned it again," I'm more inclined to believe in the second option, which would be a very interesting thing to pounder:

Aziraphale might have a "privileged" relationship with God considering they probably interacted somewhat directly and more than once.

I'll go back to it later because we need to keep that in mind for the Job's case encounter.

Crawley says that it is "probably a good thing" until his attention is drawn to what is happening around them.

Then, they will debate the subject of the day, which is pretty much the same thing as before but formulated differently and condensed:

What is the point of Good and Bad? Do these concepts even have a meaning or not?

The main difference between the two previous encounters compared to this one is that this time, Aziraphale and Crawley are both active in the debate and do find common grounds here and there. It is shown cinematographically: they share the screen.

Aziraphale explains to Crawley that God got "a bit tetchy" and wants to drown the human race (well, at least the Middle Eastern humans) and Crawley takes that announcement astonishingly, which still aligns with his creator-at-heart persona.

"All of them?"

Insists Crawley.

Aziraphale first tries to mitigate what appears to Crawley as an extreme reaction by stating that Noah, his family, and their spouses will be spared but you can see that he, himself, doesn't really believe in what he tries to say.

"But they're drowning everybody else?"

Crawley really, really cannot comprehend what is happening.

"Not the kids. You can't kill kids."

This reminds us of their very first meeting because Crawley, here, judges God and tries to put himself in their place. Again.

Aziraphale answers with a worried nod: both because he is scared (his Fear of God cannot be anything but present at that moment) and because... he agrees.

And THEN, Crawley says that:

"Well, that's more the kind of thing you'd expect my lot to do."

Now that Aziraphale is more inclined to be part of the debate, Crawley tends to be more forthright about his opinion:

If God can do what Satan and his demons do, what is the point of separating the two? Are they, really, that different?

And, more so:

Is God a Good being anyway?

If Good or Bad exists, of course. [Oh, yes, I know I'm annoying. 100% aware. 😁]

To Aziraphale, it is clearly the case, and that is why he tries, again, to mitigate God's actions:

"The Almighty's going to put up a new thing, called a rainbow. As a promise not to drown everyone again."

A rainbow, huh? How interesting...

A rainbow is basically a demonstration of the union between Water and Fire. God and Satan. Good and Bad. Blah blah blah.

Almost as if...

Nahhh...

Almost as if they both needed to exist at all times!

Also, Aziraphale almost sounds like he is interpreting the rainbow as God's excuse for having a tantrum.

Which Crawley responds with a very sarcastic:

"How kind."

That's when Aziraphale cannot bring himself to follow Crawley's opinion any further (even if it is clearly shown he DOES agree, he is just SCARED to be).

After telling Crawley that he cannot judge God, that's when the "Ineffable" word is brought up again. This time, by Crawley. Because he already knows what Ineffable means to Aziraphale:

I am not important, or mighty enough to judge God and I am not supposed to. I am supposed to do what I am told, no questions asked.

Does it sound repetitive? Yeah, because it is 😅 That is Good Omen's main theme, after all.

This story is, as I mentioned before, a satire. Of religion, but also, of the concept of hierarchy, and the danger of ideologies as a whole. "Ineffable" is an ideology. "Ineffable" literally means "so emotionally overwhelming and powerful that you cannot translate into words"...

But Good Omens wants to bring you to ask yourself: cannot or don't want to?

Aziraphale is a character who doesn't want to think by himself because he is scared of a higher power (hierarchy). But he cannot just... stop thinking. Oppositely to Crowley, who kind of always, naturally had that ability.

Therefore, that makes it difficult for the both of them to understand each other [Oh yes, we'll talk about that further when we finally talk about that S2 finale that left us traumatized. According to my rhythm and how my Muse is an erratic bench, I'd say this conversation will occur in about a year or two.] Just as it is difficult for any of us to understand the people who think dramatically differently than us. Good Omens is an invitation to debate with people who do not share our views. That is how we stay open-minded and prompt to change.

Basically, folks: don't blindly stay in the boxes you're in.

Hierarchy is heavily criticized too, because it is a big cause - if not the main one - of people staying put in their respective boxes. Religion is a box among many others, hence the fact I prefer to say that GO mocks ideologies as a whole.

But hierarchy can be different things, and, more so, can use many different tones towards its subordinates: hierarchy can be nice, and affectionate (family, for instance - or not, definitely not always). Hierarchy can also be threatening, physically or mentally, or both (dictatorship, for instance).

Basically: hierarchy can either come from love or fear.

Or... well, both. That's how you get... propaganda? That is the most blatant example that came to my mind. We tend to associate love with good. We also tend to forget how often love has been used as a weapon.

Good and bad are...

[You know the end of the sentence, now, do you? If not, it means I haven't harassed you enough, so let me remind you]

Good and Bad are always mixed up. If they exist.

Anyway, I feel like I'm starting to digress.

.... Actually? I'm not done with that segment just yet.

[You right now.]

Hierarchy can also come from... habits. History. Some hierarchies that we are under today are still there because of how long they have been installed, but not really because they are that relevant anymore. I am not going to bring examples here because I do not want to offend anybody and because you are more than capable of interpreting this statement in a way that speaks to you.

We'll talk about this more when we'll reach the... Jim/Gabriel subject. [In about a year and a half.]

ANYWAY. Moving on to a lighter reflection:

Romantically speaking, Aziraphale remembers that encounter because Crawley displayed strong empathy and concern during that whole meeting.

He asked Aziraphale how he was after the flaming sword incident,

He could not comprehend how killing kids was okay,

He bothered to alert Noah about the escaping unicorn.

[Also, maybe, because damn - Also, it might come as a surprise to you who have seen me fangirling over Crowley for the last 3 parts but my favorite is actually Aziraphale 🤣]

After this conversation, The Flood starts and neither of them is protecting the other from it. Because of habits (after a thousand years spent on earth, they know this will not hurt any of them), but also as a way to tell us, the audience: they have started to realize they were in this together.

[Insert the "We're all in this together" Disney's High School Musical song right here... Yeah! I'm a Millennial, how could you possibly have guessed?!]

They are Equals.

Another really important topic in Good Omens, by the way, but it is time to dive into one of my favorite encounters between Aziraphale and Crowley and-

Huhhhh. I feel like analyzing two meetings including a whole episode in only one part might feel too heavy (to me, at least). So... I guess see you next time? 😅

Bye, Angels!

[No, no, I'm not saying you are "sssuckersss" okay? Just wanted a Crowley gif.]

Need help to find the rest of this analysis? I've got you covered! Follow me, Angel 😇

Previous - Beginning - Next

[clairethecutepup]

Murder Drones: N's New Pet

Uzi didn’t know what the hell she’s looking at… Well, whatever, uh, “that” was supposed to be, N sure seemed excited about it. In fact, excited enough to forget they’re supposed to be on a super important mission here! If they’re going to the humans’ planet, they need to find some way of getting there… Or, Uzi supposes she could always build something to wipe out human life from here, like a giant version of her railgun that’d totally decimate Earth. Nah, probably better to do things “in person” and it’d also be a pretty dick move to wipe out the non-human life there. Sure, the dogs there would be fine, at the very least, but no canonically immortal being would appreciate endlessly floating and suffocating in space-- on top of surviving whatever otherwise-mortal wound a distant attack would leave on them.

Still, Uzi couldn’t deny this was an interesting discovery on N’s part, while the disassembly unit couldn’t stop that large and stupid grin on his face.

“I found her right over there!” he points to some distant portion of the tundra-like wasteland, “I was looking for that possible rocket or something else we could use, but then I saw the cutest little blue eyes watching me--!”

“Uh, what the hell even is this…?” Uzi points at the equally sized weird-creature-thing, “Is it supposed to be, like, some sort of dog…?”

Well, if humans performed experiments to make canines achieve that mentioned immortality, why not experiments to make them something else? But if this clearly wasn’t a pure dog, then what was it…?

“She’s a…!” N still smiles, but needs to pause, “... Well, I know she’s a girl!”

“... Hhhoowww…?”

“Well, she came to me when I tried, ‘Here, girl…?’ after trying, ‘Here, boy…’ In fact, she actually gave me a confused look when I called her ‘boy,’ too…”

“Okay, it’s apparently something that understands speech, so maybe it can actually say something--” Uzi presses a finger into the organic being’s nose,  “like what the hell you’re supposed to be?”

“Oh, great idea!” N pats the pup’s shoulder, “Come on, girl, speak!”

The canid creature could only muster, “Ca’ s’ea’...”

Uzi raises her digital eyebrow, while N’s grin turns a bit more nervous.

“Uh, sorry,” he pats the pup’s head, “what was that…?”

The strange kid tries again, “Ca’t… S’e’k…”

“I think she’s saying she can’t really talk,” Uzi points out, “Which, yeah, obviously not…”

“Aw, that’s terrible…” N hugs the pup, “Poor little guy; not only all alone, but she wouldn’t be able to ask anyone she could find for help…”

“Yeah, it’s sad and all,” Uzi sighs, “but we really need to get back to work… If we don’t find some way to Earth, then we can’t make the humans pay for--”

She suddenly narrows her digital eyes, burning holes into the shrinking and recoiling pup before her.

“Wait a minute…” the worker drone points again, “Look past the ears, tail and all that…” Uzi straightens up, eyes wide and arms falling to her sides, “You’re exactly what a human is…”

“Uh, I guess she could be…?” N asks, but his eyes go wide as he recalls, “... Uh, U-Uzi, y-you’re not gonna…?”

There’s a tense silence: Uzi continues to stare, N bites his lip, and the pup backs into N and quivers her own lip. Uzi then begins to giggle, prompting N to anxiously follow suit. Then, Uzi maniacally cackles, while N laughs and digital sweat drops appear on his facial screen. The poor little pup in N’s hands seeks sanctuary in him: turning toward him and clinging to him, accepting his tightening arms around her. Then, Uzi pulls her railgun out from behind and aims straight for the weird hybrid’s head.

“I’ve always wondered what this could do to a human, too…”

N shrieks, “Uzi, NO!!”

“Good point,” she slightly lowers the firearm, “I’d be hitting you, too… So, maybe just set her down over--”

“N-No, I meant you can’t…!” N’s eyes shift in desperation for an idea, “Uh, she…!” he then holds one of the pup’s wrists and shakes her paw, while using his other hand to lightly pull a wolf ear, “S-She’s probably not even actually human!! I mean, humans don’t usually have soft little paws o-or big, floppy little ears!”

“Being part human is just as bad as being fully human!” Uzi lies the gun on her shoulder, “Now, mind throwing her into the air or something, if I apparently can’t have a grounded target?”

“Uzi, please…” N whimpers, giving his biggest digital doe eyes, “Even if she looks human, she’s not responsible for us being sent here to wipe all of you out…”

“That’s another reason, N!” Uzi points at them, “What if she’s a new attempt to wipe all of us out because you guys aren’t doing it ‘fast enough’ or something?!”

“Uh, not to be rude, but I think it’s pretty clear which of you might be the bigger threat…” N steps back, still clutching the pup protectively, “Besides, how could something so deadly be so cute?” he holds the pup up and makes her face him, “Just look at those big little eyes!”

“You ever hear of a ‘false sense of security’?” Uzi shrugs, then properly holds her railgun again but points it down, “It’s also a little fishy that you suddenly find something like that… It’s not exactly like this planet’s rich in more organic life, and why else would something like this even exist if someone didn’t want it made-- like for extermination purposes?”

“Well, maybe she’s something that was leftover, too…?” N taps his chin, looking up. He then motions to Uzi, “I mean, you guys used to be here as worker drones for humans, so maybe they wanted to make…” he looks at the pup, “Uh, humanlike-puppy-things for some other reason-- that doesn’t involve killing anyone!!” N quickly hides the hybrid behind himself, “I-I mean, sh-she doesn’t even look like she could hurt anyone… No scary syringe-tail, clearly no arm-weapons…” he grabs one of the pup’s paws and holds it out, “Just soft little paws, see?”

He squeezes them for emphasis, his smile growing; Uzi simply looks back and forth between the two, slowly accepting the fact N won’t let her desires become reality. Yes, N has regenerative abilities and even recovered from the last time Uzi actually shot him, but she doesn’t like him being generally hurt and thus can’t just fire anyway. What? It’s not like she likes him or anything…! … Okay, maybe a little. Bite her!

Anyway, N made some good points… It’s weird humans would make something like this to kill them all, when disassembly drones seemed to be doing a fine enough job. It’s not like they hid behind her father’s doors because they feared the snow out here… Speaking of fear, this weird dog-thing seemed more eager to escape Uzi than destroy her. She was even the same size as Uzi, making her even less formidable. No, Uzi’s not short, the weird dog-thing is! “But being the same size as something ‘short’ makes you--” blah, blah, blah, bite her-- again!

But still, why was this clearly unnatural thing able to exist; plus, if she’s organic and all, how is she not dying from the frigid wasteland and unsuitable air? Something about her just doesn’t sit right with Uzi…

“Fine, N, I won’t kill it…” she sighs, “... But do me a favor and get rid of it yourself then,” she then rolls her eyes at his dramatic gasp, “No, I don’t mean you have to do it like that… You know, maybe throw a stick or something, and disappear before she’s got a chance to come back?”

“B-But Uzi…”

“No ‘buts,’ I don’t see any reason why it’d be a good idea to keep it around…”

“But there’s no reason why it’d be a bad one…”

“N…”

The taller drone bites his lip, his eyes shifting about. Then he suddenly perks up.

“Okay, Uzi, no problem! You won’t ever see her again…”

“Good, now do it before she causes us any trouble…”

N expands his metallic wings and flies off with the strange pup.

“Hey, just tell her to run back into the trees or something!” Uzi cries, “Don’t just leave me alone to-- UGH…”

Why did she even bother asking him for help…? Well, at least he’d return to actually do that… Uzi puts her gun back behind herself and ventures on. Of course, N was back in a near-instant. Uzi thought he seemed suspiciously happy for someone who just got rid of something that he took a liking to… He claimed he found someplace the pup could safely stay and would be taken care of. Note to herself: Uzi must check any areas that’d be perfect for hiding a potentially dangerous dog-human-thing… 

Oh, look at that: later on, she catches N carrying something in his hands.

“What’s that?”

He yelps and turns around.

“Oh, hey, Uzi…”

“... ‘#1 Pet’?” she points to the crafted water bowl, before crossing her arms, “... You’re seriously keeping her?”

That’s all she needed to say. N then shifts his eyes around, holding the welded and muglike water dish in his hands.

“... Mmmmayyyybbeeeee…?”

He chuckles and grins, making Uzi roll her eyes.

“... Do you think she’ll like it?” N asks, “I even put on this handle, in case she wants to drink it more like a person!”

“Just make sure she doesn’t kill anyone or cause any other trouble…”

“Don’t worry, Claire’s way too sweet and obedient for that!”

“You’re going with that for a name? How about one that actually kicks ass: like, ‘Vira’ or the classic ‘Cujo’? Although, I guess ‘Cuja’ would sound better for a girl…”

“Oh no, I didn’t name her, that’s what it said on her tag!”

Oh yeah, she was wearing a collar of sorts… Perhaps Uzi should take a closer look at it sometime, then they’ll get some answers to this “Claire” suddenly showing up-- and why she did.

----------------------------

It's always fun to have your ocs interact with canon characters. Of course, I prefer going the platonic route as I'm not big on romance... Also, it's fun to take fanart/fan comics and turn them into an expanded tale through literary writing. Yes, this will be a bit of a "series" as I wanna make more images/comics.

[grimecrow]

Below are some of the pros and cons of each faction as I seem them.

The Phyrexians: Magic's ultimate bad guy, and all assimilating, corrupting force that at it's peak began to declare war on all of existence across the multiverse, everywhere, all at once. Pro - Phyrexian Oil - Phyrexians bleed corruption, the ichor of their bodies will slowly contaminate those it touches. The very act of killing them can over time turn you to their side. Pro - The Reality Chip - Normally used to augment an individual it can also be applied to alter an individual making them easier to join Phyrexia via the process known as phyresis making you compleated. It is believed specific indivisuals can manipulate it in ways that streamline the process on those previous immune to it. Pro - Realmbreaker - The Invasion tree allows for multiple direct breeches into a single realm. Allowing for cross universe invasion. Pro - All Will Be One - In every battlefield everyone can become a part of the invading army. This includes the insects, beasts, birds, everything. The moment they land somewhere recruitment begins, they have even compleated actual Gods by corrupting the followers whose believe the Gods were connected to compleated as a result of that connection.

Con - Individual Reliant - There are few commanders in the vast Phyrexian forces known as the Praetors. Once these handful of individuals are destroyed Phyrexian forces turn into near mindless animals. Con - Realmbreaker/The Reality Chip - These are objects that in theory can be destoryed. Realmbreaker's branches do travel both ways and in theory can be tracked back to their source.

The Borg: Pro - Unlimited Leadership - The Borg Queen is a program installed into a drone. If she is destroyed another is instituted at near instant speed. There is no command post to destroy, no one person to kill that can actually halt the Borg. Pro - Adapt Negate Obstruction - The Borg are always learning and when a weakness or work around is found the required adaptation is shared with the entire collective and the adaptions made at the speed of thought. Pro - Assimilation - In the field the Borg can assimilate their opponents gaining knowledge of weaknesses and understanding of previously unknown technology.

Con - The Collective - What affects one Borg can in theory spread throughout the collective before the Queen is aware of it happening. If an enemy can figure out how to cause disruptions to the Collective the Borg fall apart.

Con - Underestimation - The Borg always tend to underestimate those they face at first. They never throw the required resources at a problem initially believing they can just adapt to whatever they run across.

Con - Fragile - The Borg have some shielding but that's about it. Overwhelming or properly implemented force over whelms them easily.

The Viltrumites Pro - Viltrumite Physiology - Capable of feats far beyond average creatures, tending to be on a scale physically where a single Viltrumite can overwhelm an entire planet. Their skin is near invulnerable. Pro - Interstellar Travel - Viltrumites can survive in space without aide. Pro - Healing Factor - Even if it takes time a Viltrumite can heal many things that would kill mortal creatures.

Con - Sound - There are sounds that cause Viltrumites great pain, or even paralyze them out right. In theory if the frequency of the strength is strong enough it could in theory kill them.

Con - Weaker On The Inside - Viltrumites are highly susceptible to internal attacks if you can somehow get past or around their skin. Their incredible healing factor also has as much trouble as a human dealing with disease if they can somehow become infected.

The Daleks

Pro - The Time War - Daleks have faced the Time Lords, a race that could manipulate time and were still on the brink of victory before the intervention of the Doctor. Pro - Exterminate - There are threats that exist in their universe that can phase out of existence if you look at them and yet the Daleks are considered the 'greatest fire in the universe' as there isn't a threat yet aside from the individual known as the Doctor that they have not been able to at least stalemate if not overcome. They even had the power to relocate specific planets to be used as the battery to a weapon that would erase all of existence outside of the little pocket they were hiding in that was one second ahead of the rest of existence.

Pro - The Dalek Body - The outer casing of a Dalek has been shown to be very resilient to many weapons. It can also survive in some pretty extreme conditions. Not only that but a Dalek free from it's casing can in theory highjack the functionality of a biological host it connects with.

Con - The Eyestalk - If you damage a Dalek's eyestalk you leave the Dalek blind.

Con - The Dalek Body - If a weapon is strong enough to over come the outer body they have no other defense. If the being inside the casing was to get infected with something they do not possess a strong or unique immune system.

[lantur]

tw cancer, tw death, tw grief / life update

I was having a nice day on Saturday. I woke up, made a tea latte, did some yoga, went for a run, went to get groceries.

Around 3 PM I got a call from my mom and aunt, letting me know that the hospice nurse said that they expected my dad to have 24 hours or less to live. This was a huge change from previous estimates of a week-two weeks. Derek and I booked airline tickets same-day from Minneapolis to CA. Our flight wasn't until 9:30 PM.

We were at the airport, past security, waiting for our flight to board, when I got the call from my mom saying that my dad had passed.

I had prepared for this since he was diagnosed 10 months ago - I had prepared for this since he started hospice - I had prepared for this since the last time I saw him in April - but I still wasn't ready. I thought I was ready, I thought I would be ready, but I wasn't.

Derek held me when I broke down weeping in the middle of the airport. We flew 3.5 hours to CA, were on the road for another 1 hour, and got to my parents' house at past 1 AM. It was hell. It was a hell day.

The hell got worse the next day when we saw his body at the funeral home. I walked to him and automatically said "Daddy? Daddy?" like I always used to, and he didn't respond. He didn't say anything. It was hell. The worst thing I've ever been through.

My aunt and Derek had to go back to home (Pennsylvania and Minneapolis respectively) yesterday. My mom and I attended my dad's funeral today. Seeing the hearse, driving behind the hearse, was really hard. My dad taught me how to drive, and I used to sit in the backseat when he and my mom drove me around when I was a kid, and now I was driving behind the funeral hearse.

My mom and I were so nervous about the funeral, but it was beautiful. It was at a veterans cemetery, peaceful and quiet and beautifully maintained. The ceremony was beautiful. It gave us peace and closure.

My dad was 70 years old. He grew up in Chennai, India, in abject poverty, the youngest of seven kids, raised by a single mom. He grew up to become a pharmacist, and moved from a couple of decades of retail pharmacy work in India and Dubai and the United States, to moving to outpatient and inpatient clinic pharmacy management after he enlisted in the Air Force. He loved pharmacy so, so much. He was so passionate about it. His last job before he retired was an oncology pharmacist, at the same chemotherapy infusion clinic where he ended up receiving his chemotherapy after a diagnosis of small cell lung cancer.

My dad grew up in poverty, and his own dad was never around. He worked hard and provided for my mom and I.

I have had a lot of pain and grief ever since my dad was diagnosed with cancer. I could write for pages about it. All I can say is that I hope nobody has to see a loved one suffer and lose their life due to cancer, because it's hell to witness. I have the greatest empathy and love for others who have witnessed this painful process in their family.

All I can say is my only consolation is that my dad lived a long life. I know there are so many people who tragically die younger. My only other consolation is knowing that we are all united in grief, because this pain of losing a loved one comes to all of us someday.

This past few days, this past month, this past 10 months, has changed me irrevocably. I have new fears, new anxieties, new understanding (and fear) of death and mortality.

I also have more understanding and appreciation of life, how temporary it is, how important it is to live life to the fullest while we can, and how important it is to appreciate the people we love. My husband, my friends, and my aunt and cousins have been so supportive, carrying me through something so devastating. Even work, even my boss, who has been so understanding.

And to everyone on tumblr who has been so supportive during this journey. People who read my posts, who liked them to show solidarity with my feelings, who commented, who sent me messages of support and kindness. Thank you.

[bookoftheironfist]

hihi!!!

what do you think of an asian danny (comics) ? i know we have pei (whom i adore) but how do you think danny as a character would change? (personally i feel like danny would feel less isolated in kun lun, maybe only dimensional differences, but would face more racism back in america. i think white danny is a better concept, to be torn in half between your nature(america) vs nurture(kun lun) yknow)

<3

Hihi! Thank you for asking!

A few key points, just to start off:

I am not Asian myself, therefore I feel like my opinion on this topic doesn't really matter. (I also don't work for Marvel, so my opinion really doesn't matter.)

At the end of the day, this conversation comes down to the desire for more and better Asian representation across the Marvel Universe, which is obviously something we should all want.

Okay, now, on to the in-universe, Danny-specific stuff:

I would be perfectly happy with an Asian Danny, and I understand the arguments for making that change. I don't personally feel like it's a necessary change in this case, but I do get it, and I do think that the introduction of the Iron Fist legacy was very important; back when he was the first and only person to have defeated Shou-Lao, it was certainly much more uncomfortable that he was an outsider. (I will also point out that the feeling of being pulled in two directions--America and K'un-Lun--is something that he would still experience if he were Asian. Probably even moreso due, as you mentioned, to anti-Asian racism and anti-immigrant sentiments in the US.)

For me, the question is more about whether Danny should be of K'un-Lun descent specifically. Just making him Asian wouldn't make him not an outsider there, and that was the main cause of his alienation as a child. The thing that baffled me about Lin Lie being chosen as the next Iron Fist to presumably "fix" the "problem" of Danny's non-native status was that Lin isn't from K'un-Lun either. He's just as much of an outworlder as Danny, and at least Danny grew up in the city and had family there. (And obviously, that's not even touching on the fact that we already had Pei, who was born K'un-Lun.)

Tucos: "You dare aspire to join the ranks of the immortals of K'un-Lun--!?!" Danny: "I dare nothing, Tucos--I merely am. If I am Iron Fist, it is because the gods--thru Yu-Ti--will it so...and if I become an immortal--it is because they will that as well!" Merrin: "Is that so, outworlder--? How pleasant to see an Earther mortal adopt our ways so...fervently." Iron Fist vol. 1 #2 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Michele W., F. Chiarmonte, and Joe Rosen

Kheng: "Stupid orphan couldn't stop a bunch of dogs from turning his mother into breakfast...how were you ever going to face an immortal?" Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #3 by Kaare Kyle Andrews and Joe Caramagna

Yang Yi: "The next Iron Fist should have been one of us. Any of us--even Mei Min. It should have been me." Lin: "I--I didn't call Shou-Lao to me on purpose." Yang Yi: "That's even worse! You stole something that belongs to K'un-Lun and you don't even know its worth. The last Iron Fist was an outsider. So was the one before him. Special enough that the dragon chose them...or callous enough to rip its heart out without respect." Iron Fist vol. 6 #2 by Alyssa Wong, Michael Yg, Sean Chen, Victor Olazaba, and Jay David Ramos

If Danny had been Asian but not from K'un-Lun, the bullying might have focused less on his appearance (he gets called "Snow Pea" and "Snowflake" in Living Weapon), but he still would have been an outsider, an Earther mortal freak, and his bullies would still have been angry that he became the Iron Fist instead of them. If Danny had been of K'un-Lun descent...honestly, I still think he would have struggled to fit in, since he wasn't raised in the culture. Wendell as we know him didn't teach Danny anything about K'un-Lun, and unless we considered the idea of changing Wendell's personality or past experiences, I can imagine that would still be the case if he had blood ties to the city. It would still have been something Wendell spent most of Danny's life trying to put behind him, and Danny would still have been arriving massively traumatized, and even with the knowledge that his ancestors had been from K'un-Lun, I'm not sure how much that would have fixed for him, or for his peers' perception of him. This is a dimension that is extremely difficult to access, and thus a very insular society. They don't get a lot of outworlders, regardless of their race or ancestry.

For the record, it would be easy to give Danny blood ties to K'un-Lun without changing a single thing about his backstory, due to the simple fact that we have no idea where Wendell came from. He was just some random orphan Orson stumbled upon in the Himalayas. It would be very easy for a writer to do a story arc in which Danny found out that his father (possibly even unbeknownst to Wendell) was born in K'un-Lun. Rather than retconning Danny's backstory to make him aware of this from the beginning, I feel like it would be a more interesting approach to have Danny discover a blood connection later on, in the present day. I am always a big fan of explorations of Danny's relationship to K'un-Lun, and this would certainly present new territory in that regard.

Ultimately, though, I agree with you in that I don't feel like this change is needed, or even that it would change much about Danny's character or journey (which I suppose could be an argument either for or against). He would still be that same guy caught between two worlds and not fully at home in either. My personal feeling is that I would rather see characters like Colleen Wing, Pei, Sparrow, Miranda...heck, even Steel Serpent...given more of a spotlight. As I mentioned at the top, what's most important is having strong Asian representation throughout the Marvel Universe, and there are a ton of fantastic, under-used Asian characters within the Iron Fist sphere who I hate to see buried under ongoing debates about this one guy's ethnicity, especially when those debates too often seem to contain incorrect information from people who haven't actually read many of the comics.

Again, thanks for the question! Obviously, this is a very layered and sensitive topic, and having lived through the heated conversations surrounding the Netflix show, it's something that is always on my mind.

[stealing-the-smp]

All character names and species (will link bigger blogs of them and the species as we continue)

Gods and God like Immortals

XD - Xade - God

Foolish - Demi - God of creation, death, life, sharks, and gold

Drista - Dixie - Goddess of chaos

Eret - Mahogany - Glitchis

Lady Death - Foxglove - Avian goddess of death for when Demi stepped away for a bit

Philza - Castiel - Angel of death of a worker for Foxglove

Callahan - Antler - Xade’s “pet”

Slime - Slime tbh I can’t think of anything else - it’s in the name….

Karl - Patch - Time traveler that’s also a dream entity

Inbetween Overseer - Inbetween Overseer - Lower ranking god

Otherside Overseer - Otherside Overseer - Lower ranking god

Velvet(yes he’s here) - Trix - ???

Mortals

Wilbur - Vian - Avian

Fundy - Cas - Fox anthro

Tommy - Chord - Avian

Tubbo - Bee - Goat hybrid

Ranboo - Ender - Enderman / ???

Purpled - Astin - Skywarian

Punz - Whiterose - Skywarian

Boomer - Frog - Human

Ponk - Aloe - Blaze hybrid

Sam - Sam - He’s a cat centaur creeper combination

Niki - Hydrangea - Cat creature / dragon

Aimsey - Nutmeg - Bunny hybrid

Guqqie(I’m finding her important enough) - Comet - Alien?

Jack - Cypress - Robot

George - Nightshade - ???

Dream - Asphodel - Fallen God

Sapnap - Aries - Part demon part diamond human

Bad - Muffins - Demon

Skeppy - Diamond - Diamond human

Eryn - Coal - Part Demon part Crystal human

Schlatt - Shep - Ram hybrid

Puffy - Komo - Sheep hybrid

Quackity - Franklin - Duck avian

Antfrost - Mantis - Anthro cat

Tina - Carrot - Mimicking Demon

Seapeekay - Wisp - Fox anthro

New characters

Myotis - Vampire

Pumpkin - undecided

Benson - Benson - Starshine duck (he’s technically not new but he’s been made a actual member!)

Jeremy - Human

Kids in order of age

Finley - Fin - Helper God

Sylbee - Beeatrix - Half Skywarian(yellow)

Shroud - Saylor - Spidershifter

Michelle - Morgan - Zombie Piglet

Kiwi - Kiwi - Half Skywarian(lime)

Yogurt - Coin - Arctic Fox anthro

Foolish Jr - Frazer - Helper God

Beenus - Beenedict - Half Skywarian(brown)

Michael - Mac - Zombie piglet

Weird beings

The voices the syndicate hears apparently fallen warriors and anarchists

My apologies to cut characters

Techno I’m sorry but I don’t want to at all steal a dead man’s character so I will be not including him as a show of respect

Hannah bc I don’t understand your lore

[cap-mack-23]

Theories on how Sera will survive the Ascension: (SPOILERS for ALITF)

ASH will Ascend Sera:

1. Ash has "fallen" for Sera in the same vein as the Ancients "fell" and developed kardia/emotion in the first place. This is evident in Nektas's language "he is how you wish him to be." It's clear he is unable to recognize what love feels/tastes like and is unable to place the emotion at the coronation once Sera realized she was in love with him. He feels peace with Sera according to Nektas, we know peace is a defining feature of true love in the JLA-verse because Aios (goddess of love, etc in Poppycas time) describes it as such when Sera asks her before the coronation. He is willing to choose Sera's safety over that of his people/the shadowlands/the world - he admitted he wasnt protecting the embers, he was protecting Sera. This emotional reaction is not the logical/able to put aside caring for the greater good he described in SITE as the advantage of not loving one person above all others.

-there's also the language I've seen pointed out that without a kardia you cannot love someone "not of your own blood" and how Sera has consumed Nyktos's blood so its a loophole

2. Ash will have his kardia restored by Maia or Aios (since Sera Ascended her at the end of ALITF) and will make it to Sera before Kolis drains her of blood and starts the Ascension

-I havent thought this one out as much because it seems more direct narratively, but the “narratively direct” route just doesn’t seem like JLA’s style so this one is much less likely to me

KOLIS will Ascend Sera:

1. This was my immediate assumption at the end of ALITF because Kolis had already begun the process of draining Sera for the embers when he realized she had Sotoria's soul within her. We know that Kolis loves Sotoria (in a twisted, possessive way) and he is currently the Primal of Life, so he could meet the "blood of the Primal that one of the embers of life belonged to" criteria even though he stole his embers from Eythos. Holland states "she will die without the love of the one who Ascends her." We know that only one of the embers in Sera technically belongs to Ash so the other ember (I believe it belonged to Eythos, right?) is the one that would likely respond to Kolis since he stole his brothers birthright and we know he drained Eythos's life force as well (there's also the loophole of blood meaning family, Kolis being Nyktos's uncle and blood relative). 

Narratively, Kolis saving Sera and Ascending her into the Primal of Life makes sense because of the narrative trend of Kolis/Nyktos being swapped in Sera's understanding (her destiny was to kill Kolis, not to kill Nyktos; Kolis caused the Rot, not Nyktos; she tries to run off to seduce Kolis and continue her plan that was originally meant for Nyktos, etc). This also provides reason and closure for Sotoria's soul and possibly explains why Nyktos states he believes Sera is right and she has two souls, hers AND Sotoria's, instead of being another reincarnation of Sotoria alone (I imagine Sotoria's soul/life force would be removed from Sera's body/drained in place of Sera's).

Also Kolis bringing about his own reckoning because of his obsession with Sotoria, giving her/Sera the power to end him and fulfill the prophecy makes for great storytelling

-my main hangup about this is that its not a great message about love because clearly Kolis is toxic and I would hate for it to be confirmed he does truly love Sotoria, but with the narrative trend of unhealthy/ obsessive love (Isbeth to Malec, Eythos/Mycella/Kolis, Nyktos's whole reason for removing his kardia being the fall of the Ancients due to love) and Sera's philosophy on goodness/trying to be good I feel like its a real possibility

——

also thoughts on how the requirement to Ascend a mortal into a primal impacts the original Ascension between Poppy/Casteel? Was Poppy's Ascension into the True Primal of Life and Death/Blood and Bone also reliant on Cas's true love and will for her to live?

[incarnateirony]

At the end Donnie Darko realizes that by avoiding death at the beginning of the film, he created a separate and unstable branch of time, and in order to save Gretchen, and his mom and little sister, he has to accept his death & time travel back to that night and let himself die to correct the timeline. Is TW a separate branch caused by Dean, and Dean has to accept his death to correct it, so s1 ends with a rewind and John and Mary meeting again?

Um close but different. It's that It Was Always A Different Branch. He's not Making A New Timeline. Dean already broke the timeline before he was ever born.

Like, even Original Supernatural, in this context, means that The Timeline We Know Was Already Influenced By Dean.

This isn't a new idea. After all, we have to go back to the beginning, like Dean said. In The Beginning, the same point of buying a certain car even Chuck said was the beginning and end of it all. But it's not about the car, it's about the road it takes them on.

This resonance becomes even deeper than In The Beginning in the new framework.

Just as Jack went cosmogenic and exploded before and beyond spacetime to make it loud; just as Rowena went cosmic unbirthing hell; Cas, and heaven essentially, as will be explained to those that lost the original Occultum threads, but essentially mirror Rowena, hence Queen Bee--pop star diva alias, we all know his favorite.

It's Dean's turn as Cosmic Humanity(TM). The Deanmanity that Chuck looked at in season 11 talking, implicitly, about souls. Something greater than his pride or Ego that was there waiting to be born, that just is, like he and amara just were; that he feared as equals, like Amara, and set up systems of control and self extermination since he couldn't do it himself.

That Humanity.

That Humanity lost its face, its identity, knows who it's not, but not who it is. And at The 70s Spacetime, Humanity Itself is becoming an angry spirit and rattling time while it's stuck in its own cage. John and Mary save The Whole World. Dean Winchester.

Cas cared about the Whole World because of him. John and Mary, despite the future it gives her, choose the path they choose, together, because they ran their own race, they made their own rules, and mostly, they do okay with that.

And Humanity chooses this life, rather than to seal itself away or fade into oblivion or let Some Other Person Named Dean In Some Other World do it. This is Dean. Dean IS the One but he's also finding The One. Because this is a romance.

So it's not that we're watching an alternate reality. It's the same reality. It's always been this, because Dean Always Chose This, even if in mortal life he didn't understand why. Why Humanity chose to be born here. to NOT be the S13-14 burnt out AU they were never born in. Even if he could have lived coffeeshop What Is And Should Never Be, even if he could have been a Richester. To fight these hard fights. But it's not just about what and how they fought, who they lost or how they died.

It's about how they lived. Who they loved. What they learned, and what they chose. John, Mary, Dean, whoever. They already made their choices. Dean's just here to understand, and accept, why he made those choices, to understand Who I Am.

Would you do it over again? from different worlds. Or with all the pain. Would you do it over again, Ada? I followed my heart. I don't think that's ever a mistake. The day your dad left, neither of us stopped to say. I am never letting you walk out that door again, without telling you, that I love you. Me too. What's wrong with you? I don't--I can't--then SPEAK. I-- I--

[mittensmorgul]

This is kind of random, but I'm thinking about the finale again: Do you think if Dean had ingested some vampire blood in that barn, he could have been healed? (And then just immediately be cured, ofc). We know that vamps are immortal and can heal their injuries, but I'm wondering if there's any precedent for humans-in-transition to vampirism to heal, or if you think that would be possible.

I'm not just asking as a hypothetical, I'm thinking/writing about Dean's state of mind in the finale. I def think he was very unhappy, and I'm arguing that he effectively committed passive suicide.

(My reasoning being: If someone has a mortal injury with no chance of survival, then their acceptance of death would be understandable.

If someone has a mortal injury but there are options, then their refusal to try those options says something about their mental state before that injury occurred.)

Some say there was time for emergency services to get there in time, (which maybe? they talked for a looong time after he was stabbed. but idk, I'm no doctor). But I'm also wondering if you think the vampire blood route would have been an option.

thanks in advance, I love your thoughts and your meta 🙃

hi hi! And I appreciate you too! I have to confess that I have far bigger issues with the finale than just that one scene, and haven't really thought about it in more depth than you presented above. I mostly do my best to not think about the entire episode at all... everything from the random dog that replaced cas to dean apparently filling out job applications to be a cop to the pie festival to that idiotic random hunt just... no :'D

(i mean, the universe has apparently been quiet since the end of 15.19, no hunts, no supernatural weirdness, and then THIS is the monster that acts up on them? I hate it, thanks!)

But I try not to dwell on it. I wrote an ending I can accept and I really don't think too hard about what happened on screen.

But yeah, all those dead vampires just bleeding all over the place, and they KNOW how the vampire cure works... it's just... stupid on the face of it. Dean just giving up because that's how he always knew he'd go out? I mean, did he not watch his own character growth over the last 15 years? Did he somehow forget about Living For The Ones We Lost that he got all misty about a few scenes before this? Or did having pie shoved in his face give him amnesia?

(or was this all just chuck's failed finale idea that we were forced to watch? I like that one myself... basically it's not real and it can't hurt me... >.>)

so yeah, sorry I can't expound more on it than that. it's bad. i still haven't rewatched the episode again since it originally aired, and i'm starting to think i never will. And for someone who's still watching the entire series in a loop (which i turn off right as they drive away from Chuck at the beach at the end of 15.19), that's just kinda sad.

[worldsokayestdragon]

so I never learned my lesson about getting attached to supernatural characters that aren't Sam and Dean so Jack became my late in the game new favorite and I am outraged by how badly the narrative treated him!

truly the most heinous shit happens to him constantly, and it's never even about his character development or story arc because the writers don't care enough to give him his own arc. like I said on that other post season 13 is entirely about traumatizing as much as possible as fast as possible (because that's the only way they know to make characters interesting) while also using him to advance the plot with all the apocalypse world Lucifer vs. Michael round 2 stuff.

then in season 14 the overarching plot is so weak and all over the place that it barely even feels like they're using him for that so much as hurting Jack to hurt Sam and Dean and Cas. he gets sick so they have to go through the pain of losing a child. it's discussed in those terms way more than how Jack feels about it is brought up. he gets brought back with the Lilly Sunder spell so they'll have to grapple with whether risking his soul to save his life was the right call. they say they're going to let him decide but the whole situation with the empty makes it so he doesn't really have any options while also letting them set up Cas dying/destiel confession in what should be an episode about Jack.

him choosing to burn out his soul to kill Michael and save the others could have been a big moment for him, but the way they wrote him up to that point made it a little unclear if he fully understood how dangerous loosing his soul could be (which I mean is fair. his only reference for someone without a soul is Donatello who was always nice to him, Jack wasn't born yet for soulless Sam or Amara leaving a bunch of soulless people around, and he was in apocalypse world when Donatello went crazy. he's physically 18ish and chronologically 2 so as much as he's a smart person and not actually a baby you can't really expect him to have the best understanding of consequences and his own mortality. him not fully getting the risk could also be interesting for his character but they didn't commit to that either, they just had him say he got it while repeatedly using his powers and never seeming all that concerned about it.) the show focuses so much more on the Winchesters and Cas being worried and guilty about his soul than having Jack react to or deal with that loss.

and then he kills Mary. the one thing he was always afraid of, the one thing he never wanted to do, was hurt his family. and the writers made him lose control for one second and kill one of the most important people in his life and break the hearts of all the other people he loves. and again it's all about hurting Sam and Dean to drive them to try and contain or kill him, while also driving a wedge between Dean and Cas. like of course, of course, that's devastating for Sam and Dean, I'm not trying to minimize that. but even after Jack gets his soul back his trauma and grief around it are never addressed. even his guilt is only touched on so far as it's the motivation for him sacrificing himself for them again. directly afterwards when talking to Rowena and imaginary Lucifer he's horrified and maybe not sad or guilty exactly (no soul) but he obviously understands the magnitude of what he did. but then for some reason when he's talking to Sam and Dean in Jack in the Box he's very casual and dismissive, all like well it was an accident, anyway let's move on. that scene is really the only time he acts like a lot of the other soulless characters. for the most part he seems to understand emotions and morals much better than anyone else without a soul, and almost feel a little even if it's not the same as someone with a soul. (I think the angel grace mitigates some of the effects of not having a soul. angels don't have souls but do have the capacity to feel and tell right from wrong. Jack tells Donatello that he feels different but doesn't feel nothing, and I think that's because the emotions coming from the grace are different than the ones from a soul and it takes practice to identify and develop them to be as strong as what he was used to.) it feels like between Mary acting pretty out of character during her last scene and Jack being so weird about it when he talks to the boys I suspect Chuck was supposed to have been meddling before he actually showed back up, but they never outright say that. regardless they fridged Mary Winchester for the second time and forced Jack through his worse nightmare because they needed to motivate Dean with pain.

his second death was explicitly meant to punish the rest of team free will. Dean couldn't and wouldn't kill Jack, so Chuck did it to hurt his dad's. they wouldn't play his little game so Jack had to die so they'd learn their lesson about defying him. even when he was dead his corpse gets puppeted around to hurt the others. like I also like belphegor as a character, he's bitchy and funny, but narratively making him possess Jack's body was just a way to hurt Cas specifically. (Sam and Dean were way less bothered. maybe the whole casifer situation had numbed them a bit to the horror of working with something evil that has your loved ones face for the greater good.)

then when he comes back it's all "kill yourself to save the world" which is a pretty common plot point for supernatural, but it's also "die to absolve your sins, it's the only way Dean will ever forgive you" which I find significantly more fucked up. and then that plan fails, and Cas dies so Jack loses the only parent who never gave up on him, and then he becomes God.

and Jack becoming god is like...it doesn't really work any of the themes of the show, and it also is the worst way to end his story. he's always been powerful, but he's only ever cared about that in as much as his powers can help his family. when he loses them he's upset because he can't protect the people he loves anymore, not because he isn't special or whatever. all he wants is to be with the people he loves without having to worry about his powers hurting them. and the end they came up with for his story is to get a massive power boost and have to leave his family so he can "be everywhere" or whatever. it's so dumb!

this post got super long, and I'm sure that people have already said all of this better than me, but it's driving me nuts. I just love Jack so much, he's such a good character, and supernatural has so many instances of wasted potential, but Jack's story could have been amazing if there were more than three or four episodes that treated him as an actual character instead of a plot device or a prop for other characters stories.

[shallowseeker]

Sam, Eileen, and the glimmer of a better future

If Dean has been staking his faith in the future on Cas...

///

...it is deeply echoed with Sam and Eileen. We see this in the Winchester family's perception of Eileen. She represents the glimmer of Sam's hopeful future. She's that hope Sam allows himself to have for a better tomorrow.

Take this from 15x18:

Dean watches Sam keenly, sees this glimmer of Sam's future extinguished.

///

Or this from 15x09:

Sam, ever the psycho-analyzer and almost never the psycho-analyzee, bristles when Dean diagnoses his problem. Sam's not that different from John and Dean in his unhealthy coping mechanism here. He can barely face up to, let alone NAME his personal pain.

Going out swinging in this way is a back-to-the-wall, hopeless suicide. It’s the loss of meaning. They don’t even save people anymore.

///

Also in 15x09, we see Sam coming to terms with Dean the man versus Dean the idealized parent. Dean has been conceptualized, perhaps even fossilized as the invincible brother who raised me...who never gives up.

There is a reason this shakes Sam to his core, because he's seen what losing Cas does to Dean, even if he doesn't understand why. (He's seen this as far back as season 7-8.)

There's also a reason that is juxtaposed with Dean losing Cas in Purgatory, Dean crazed and searching for his lost love. (The Leviathan blossom represents what Dean and Cas inexplicably grew together, against the odds, during times of crisis and strife and death and destruction.)

Sam is finally seeing.

He’s understanding Dean as a real mortal person, not just a parent.

It’s why he’s so rattled.

///

Hope and faith are bright things that they wish to preserve for one another. They finally see each other as equals: brothers. They will not see the others’ happiness vanished (if they can help it).

[mlobsters]

supernatural s14e9 the spear (w. robert berens)

this recap is so long and covering so much plot bs from this season, never a good sign :p

more extremely unfortunate monster teeth, sheesh

all right, garth is back. like a lot of side characters i see passing chatter about in fandom, i thought he was in more episodes

CASTIEL Jack. If you can't sleep, that's understandable, given recent events. JACK You mean dying and coming back to life. CASTIEL Yeah, we've all been through it. It's something of a rite of passage around here

ignoring sam's supposed comments about the cookie crisp knockoff. but this made me snort

JACK Cas. The deal you made -- why can't Sam and Dean know? CASTIEL They can. I -- I just don't I don't want them to. They don't need that burden. You don't need that burden. JACK Of course I do. You did that for me. CASTIEL You know, the Empty said that it wouldn't come for me until I had finally given myself permission to be happy, but with everything we have going on, with -- with Michael still out there, I don't see that happening anytime soon. This life may be a lot of things, but it's rarely happy.

LOL well. he's not wrong

KETCH Look, I improvised. It's not as if I have access to the top-shelf clandestine courier networks I did during my British Men of Letters days. And really, so, whose fault is that, hmm? SAM Okay, K-Ketch, we're -- we're not mad, - W-We appreciate the effort. DEAN Do we?

they didn't really do the work of convincing me i should come around on ketch but whatever. this made me laugh

looks like he's using a zoom background

DEAN Okay, well, getting the spear is literally a trip to the Carter Lake recycling facilities. I say we get both. Me and Cas -- we'll go deal with Michael's monsters and get the spear. You and Jack -- you do your mail run and get the egg. We'll meet back at Hitomi Plaza with both weapons, and we'll hit him from both sides.

i'm sure this will go off without a hitch! totally did a double take, thought hitomi plaza was nakatomi plaza (from die hard lol)

CASTIEL You seem good lately. Happy, even. You -- We have a broken tape deck, we drove this whole way without music, and you did not complain once. DEAN You know, I guess I'm just fired up. I mean, look. We got -- We got Jack back. When was the last time we had a big, no-strings-attached win like that? CASTIEL But now we have Michael. DEAN I know. CASTIEL And, Dean we're taking a big risk going after the spear like this. DEAN I know we are. Listen to me. Michael conned me. Kept me trapped and drowning inside my own body. Now, when you and Sam were possessed by Lucifer, I -- I thought I understood, but I didn't, not really. So, yeah, if we get a chance to trap him, I'll take that, but I won't be truly happy until he is dead and I kill him. And now I have a chance to do that, so, yeah, I'm good. Let's go.

all right then. another rite of passage, forcibly possessed by an archangel

least she gets to look badass with her spear, even if she has to go by goofy dark kaia name

DEAN Well, then, you should just kill me. There are people that I care about -- my family -- and they're in danger. Michael, the one who tortured me, the one who tortured you -- he's gonna hurt them and kill them. And then, worse. Thousands will die. And the only thing in this world that will stop him is the spear in your hands. So if you're not gonna give it to me, kill me.

they're always pulling the family card. but, their family is perpetually in mortal danger.

DARK KAIA The boy. The special boy. The one that used Kaia to open up the door? He can do it again, for me. DEAN Yes, he can.

LOL at cas's side eye

this whole speech (which i admittedly am partially tuning out) from michael to jack reminds me of amara trying to convince dean of how great it'll be together for eternity. without the god-whammy assist

sammy, i thought you agreed to not go in alone, what are you doing

ok well that was mostly repercussion-free, for once. also i like the effect of the bland instrumental christmas music quietly echoing through the parking garage, sets a very particular vibe

this is all actually a die hard reference isn't it? lol. slow on the uptake. it's been a while since i've seen it. but the music it just switched to. ode to joy, finally clued me in (i've played that on the clarinet [badly] and violin [slightly less badly], look at me). annoyed how they chopped it :p

should have at least tried to enlist kaia to wield the spear against michael, she's clearly better at it

MICHAEL!DEAN Yeah. When I gave up Dean, you didn't think to question it, to ask why? Dean was resisting me. He was too attached to you, to all of you. He wouldn't stop squirming -- to get out, to get back. So I left but not without leaving the door open just a crack.

was wondering if we were ever going to get back to that. too attached to sam first, and right, all of you too

MICHAEL!DEAN To break him, to crush and disappoint him so completely that, this time, he'll be nice and quiet for a change -- buried. And he is. He's gone. And now I have a whole army out there, waiting, ready for my command, ready for this.

so what do we need now, an archangel to wield the archangel blade to stab dean? and man, now kaia doesn't get her spear back? she's gonna be pissed. i imagine shadow guy or lucifer or somebody gets all up in this too at some point