#early s13 it could have worked

[pentacentric]

so if angel vessels are tied to bloodlines…

and sam is lucifer's perfect vessel, and dean is micheal's…

and their ancestors were bred specifically to perfect them over time…

and john was able to hold michael fairly easily…

…does that mean mary would have been a good vessel for lucifer?

JFC WRITERS WHY DID WE NOT GET LUCIFER-POSSESSED MARY???

can you imagine what that would have done to her? can you imagine what that would have done to sam??

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

we have MISSED OUT on 13 being jealous oh my god 12 is SO petty imagine IMAGINE if someone had shown some interest in yaz. i dont even know if yaz would notice but the DOCTOR oh my GOD she’d be INSUFFERABLE

bonus points for ryan totally noticing and repeatedly trying to catch yaz’s eye like ??!?!!!! youre seeing this?? are you seeing this yaz good for you good for you

[yamujiburo]

POKEMON SERIES RANKED (IMO)

I get this question a lot and haven't made an updated list with Journeys

Original Series (S1-S5)

Sun & Moon (S20-S22)

Chronicles (S0)

Diamond and Pearl (S10-S13)

Advanced (S6-S9)

Journeys (S23-S25)

Black & White (S14-S16)

XY (S17-S19)

Original Series (S1-S5)

OS had that first season charm. Very unpolished, still finding its footing but super enjoyable for those reasons

Probably the strongest series comedy-wise

That GORGEOUS 90s anime style

Main character dynamics were REALLY strong

Ash's personality felt much more like a shitty little 10 year old which was entertaining

Dub writing was also the best hands down

Sun & Moon (S20-S22)

Honestly tied for first with OS for me

REALLY fun ensemble cast! They do a fantastic job giving each character enough time for you to get to know and care about

Excellent modern anime style that perfectly fit the vibe of the season and allowed for some of the best character animation of the show's run

Finally figured out how to write Ash like a 10 year old again (but in a kind/sweet 10 year old way as opposed to OS)

Very different from previous series in terms of the formula they'd follow. Doing a school series instead of another "8 badges to championship" plot felt new and fresh!

This series genuinely made me cry the most (MEMORIES IN THE MIST!!!!! LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME)

Chronicles (S0)

Fun concept! It was really nice to see more of the side characters without Ash there. We get to see more of Misty, Tracey, Daisy, Brock, Ritchie, Oak, Delia, Butch, Cassidy, Jessie, James and Meowth!

Stylistically really nice. Just solid drawings all around and it retained the 90s anime style in digital form more successfully than other digitally done series imo

BUTCH AND CASSIDY!!! Team Rocket centric episodes!!! Training Daze!!!!!!!

Idk how possible it would have been (seems like a TON of work) but it made me want one of these in between each season, where we'd follow the characters that Ash had just said goodbye to for the next region.

Diamond and Pearl (S10-S13)

Series I grew up with! Honestly I was kinda a hater as a kid but having watched it back, I love the series

Love that Ash and Dawn were bros. They had a really fun dynamic.

Debatably peak Team Rocket. They had some of the best Team Rocket centric episodes this series.

Contests were really fun and a bit more figured out compared to the Advanced series

Fun, memorable rivals for Ash (Paul and Barry) as well as Dawn (Zoey, Kenny and Jessilina sometimes)

This is unfortunately where I stopped caring about Ash as much. He feels kinda watered down for the next couple series.

Advanced (S6-S9)

Pretty tied up with DP for me

Really fun series! Still had some of that early Pokémon charm

I appreciated that they put Ash in more of a mentor role for May (but he still had a lot to learn himself).

Ash and May constantly butting heads was really fun

May was a very compelling character to me, being very clumsy, kinda lazy, directionless, not really into Pokémon, etc. But then over time, she comes around and finds something she's interested in!

Journeys (S23-S25)

I love the episodic take as well as the way they let the characters jump around from region to region at random

Goh was a GREAT travel companion to Ash. They contrast each other nicely, have moments where they get on each others' nerves but still get along and have a mutual admiration for one another.

It was fun that they made Goh's thing catching every Pokémon (the motto of the entire series) so they could focus on Ash just training and prepping for Worlds.

Amaaaazing style. Took the great parts of classic Pokémon, roundness of SM and blended em together for a really fun look.

Black & White (S14-S16)

I don't think it's that controversial to have BW this low haha

I did enjoy Iris and Cilan but it felt like the writers didn't reaaally know what to do with them? Also this was their first time in a while not having Brock and it shows. I feel like Brock was successful because he was grounded and lower energy compared to the rest of the kids. Having 3 pretty eccentric characters is kind of a lot. No hate to the characters in the slightest, there was just not as much balance.

I think maybe they leaned on Cilan and Iris for more comedic relief because they killed the comedic relief that was Team Rocket this series. I appreciate them trying something new with Jessie, James and Meowth but I don't think it worked very well lol

XY (S17-S19)

I've ranted about this series a lot LOL. I get the appeal of it, but it just wasn't for me. I felt like it was the weakest comedy-wise and took itself a bit too seriously for my taste

My main gripe is that Serena, Clemont and Bonnie all like,,, worship Ash. By doing so, Ash begins to feel like a side character because we're constantly looking at Ash through their eyes. There's so little conflict within the group so their dynamics feel really flat. I think this dynamic could have worked if they leaned waaay more into Ash being a mentor and maybe feeling the pressure of having to be a role model for the people around him.

Team Rocket very much feels like an afterthought in this series. They did in Journeys as well, but at least in Journeys they were doing something silly and also had a handful of episodes dedicated to em.

Outside of that, the episodes weren't super memorable for me

I think it's just frustrating because there was sooooo much potential character-wise

[astralbondpro]

Binging Red Dwarf and going from S13 back to S1/S2/S3, you notice little things that changed so slowly, you didn't notice. Craig was Scouse as a mother fucker in the early years. Then as time went on, you could hear the accent diminish, and diminish. I assume that just comes with working in television so much? He's still obviously a Scouser, but it's very light in comparison to young Craig. Then with Robert, early on it was very obviously a bit of an inconsistent fake accent. Then later on, it was still a fake accent of course, but it sounded believable. That it's not just a voice that he's putting on, even though it is. It's also a similar situation with Danny. Always fun, but very caricature for a while there. Then over time, it's still a cartoon, but like Robert it feels a lot more believable. Not that any of this changes the quality of the show, just something you notice. Then Chris has always just been Chris. Love that smeghead. His word choices have changed, but that's just a result of a change in general cultural parlance over time.

[doctorwhoisadhd]

what are your thomas england thoughts? like what do u think thomas was like b4 they died

ok so thomas england is DEFINITELY one of the players who i imagine as part of the Prehistory Fridays Gang. so first he was around for everything in prehistory (along with fletcher berger, sebastian diaz and his partner, erickson hendricks, rhonda elliott, our lady of perpetual friday, fenry marlow and their dog homer, fitzgerald massey, jessi wise, and mrs silk who was then miss silk. and then also baby york and his dad parker, who was dating miss silk. obv not all of these people were necessarily fridays players at the time though maybe they worked behind the scenes). so THAT was a whole thing.

honestly part of the problem of being LITERALLY retconned out of the game is nobody remembers you anymore. thomas england was only around long enough to get joke lore, we were only really just starting to flesh out relationships between the players when he got incinerated, and he didnt get any of that. and what adds to this problem is, well in the fridays style of lore, we dont necessarily think about what a player does outside of blaseball, or at least we DEFINITELY didnt early on (and didnt get ANY new entirely unlored players until relatively late af in the game — so like, after sixpack on s4d86 our next two were fenry and yass statter jr in the s13 and s19 elections respectively). so as a result there isnt any kind of a precedent to fall back on for what i think about what he did?

but here's what i DO know;

i disagree with the wiki on this one: neither of his parents are from the UK (there is no way). i like to think like, at least one of his parents is native, and hes lived there his entire life

his legal name is thomas england + thats whats on all his blaseball stuff, but typically with other islanders he'd use pelekane (which is what some of the last few members of the hawaiian royal family called england in ʻolelo hawaiʻi). so its like, his career name is thomas england

hes transmasc B) also ADHD

he played first base

he loves doctor who, and not just because its from the UK. like, hes seen the TV movie and at least one of the peter cushing movies and most of classic who, listened to a whole bunch of audios, reads the comics and the novels and like every EDA, has a subscription to dwmag, his bar for media quality is on the fucking GROUND so its literally all good he just loves dr who so much. he also probably has a cosplay of literally every doctor (including the shalka doctor and like the curse of fatal death ones too)

despite this he DOES. NOT. know ANYTHING about UK culture. he is constantly having amelia bedelia type misunderstandings of what things are. (ex: beans on toast = toast, peanut butter, jelly beans / "the tube" = "big pneumatic tube like the one for salmon, except people sized" / thinks john lennon's name was actually "john lemon")

he cant tell a single british accent apart he just identifies all of it as "british accent". fitz massey is from australia and is completely unaware that he thinks they are british. it is extremely lucky that he has never met anyone from ireland because they would probably strangle him. (weirdly though: despite him identifying approximately 50% of kiwis as british seemingly completely at random (absolutely no common criteria has been found at all. not looks not age not location nothing), he identifies 100% of scottish accents as "aotearoan")

he plays ʻukulele! maybe he worked at a ʻukulele store for a time at some point, even if it was like a summer job during high school... i like to think he's what got heat into playing :')

obsessed with choose your own adventure stories. he loves them.

(fridays angst train incoming) so york grew up with the whole Prehistory Fridays Gang as his family, and when york was really really little he couldnt say "thomas" (or england or pelekane, for that matter) but would ask him if they could play "docka who" all the time, so eventually what stuck for thomas england was he became york's "uncle who"

[variousqueerthings]

Hello again!

Anon here, who asked for advice how to avoid River Song episodes.

First of all, thank you so much for your extremely detailed reply and all the work you put into it.😘

Wow… these upcoming storylines are wild, and reading about it made me cringe a few times. Also reading the summary of the events makes it look like the show’s focus shifted somewhat (more towards the personal/ romantic life of the Doctor???). But I’m sure that won’t be true for the story when I finally watch it, and it just seems like it now, because I read the summarized version.

I’m not sure if I already asked this in my original message… But, as you mentioned in your reply, season 9 is the last time River Song actually appears in DW, which seems kinda odd, given that they are married and she was foretold to be the most important person to the Doctor. Did they drop the character or the storyline??? Or is it still too early for their main story, and most of their time together is still a part of the future (of future seasons) ? Plus after reading your answer, I was wondering if the Doctor had time to get to know her as a person and fall in love with her at all? Maybe I’m thinking way to logical about a TV series “love story”. It all sounds just somewhat icky. Obsession turning into love etc.😕

(In the end I probably should stop guessing and start watching, with the help of your guide.)

And another question...

As implied, I haven’t started with s5 yet. So I was wondering if it would be advisable to watch the 60th DW anniversary episodes with David and Catherine now, given I just finished the Donna & Tenth Doctor arc? Or would it be too confusing without the s5 -s13 knowledge?

Thanks again for your detailed reply!

hello hello again!

I hope the guide is useful (I can fall into the trap of over-explaining that lead to a confusion for others, but hey, it's not for lack of enthusiasm that's for sure!)

I can tell you that there's a whole bunch of storyline that isn't related to the doctor and romance. there's some neat stuff with the doctor and the master (played by michelle gomez) in s8-s10 and I like about that narrative how much it throws itself into the un-nameability and complexity of their arc, but people can and do read it as romantic, which is totally fine. but point is it's far more open + the master and the doctor obvs have that... history

outside of river song, the arc of s5-7 isn't romance-based either (well, the ponds are romancing each other, but the doctor is kind of weirded out and/or curiously fascinated like a kid looking at bugs by the Rituals of the whole thing)

I think river song's narrative is over on the tv-show, because of how that final story in s9 ties it all together. there's this odd thing about the timeline of river song in her seasons where she talks about her and the doctor as if they're meeting backwards in chronological order (so for example at one point she kisses the doctor who's like "oh ok... first time for everything," and she answer sadly when he can't hear her that there's also a last), but this is definitely not actually the case, meaning theoretically she could come back, but if they nominally want to keep this idea of them meeting backwards, it's finished. it's doctor who though, and some characters come back after over 50 years off the show sometimes, so who can say

(I uh... personally don't think the doctor was ever written properly as falling in love with river song and that it's very creepy in its whole construction and that river song never seems to have agency in her narrative, right up until she gets trapped in the library for apparently all eternity to "save" her, but then m*ffat has had the doctor seemingly "falling" for a woman who's been into him since childhood twice now (girl in the fireplace), not to mention that amy pond -- while he does not reciprocate thank goodness -- also meets the doctor as a kid first and as an adult wants to have sex with them, so... that's just a weird thing m*ffat does a few times)

but you don't really get that narrative with the watchlist I gave you, because river song barely exists outside of narratives that are actually about the doctor (no really, she's almost always doing things because of the doctor, for the doctor, so the doctor will notice her, or talking about the doctor)/in which she's a plot-point, it's one of the reasons I actually quite like her final episode -- the doctor falls into her adventure, rather than her assisting his narrative (and it turns out the doctor knows next to nothing about her life, which is frankly another embarrassing anti-endorsement to this fuckn "romance") and that format... actually works for me, it's frustrating how it gives a tidbit of a story that might have been quite fun -- still not the romance though, go away

as for the last question: I know some people who watched the Specials before watching m*ffat or chibnall eras (I actually watched the Specials before I watched most of thirteen, just because I couldn't wait, but I had spoiled myself for the major stuff of that era beforehand). there is character development and plot and lore that gives the Specials extra Spice for sure -- I think the main thing that is Very Good in terms of going the long way around is that one of the core themes of the Specials, the doctor's sheer exhaustion and loss, is really felt a whole lot more, buuuut tbh, I think there's a lot of fun in having seen the Specials first and then going back and building to it, with the second time around being "ohhh so that's why- yeah, yeah this Creechur needs a holiday or something!!!" sometimes knowing where things end actually adds to the fun, youknow

but hold on, I'll ask from a direct source: @aq2003 you watched the Specials first and then went back to catch up, do you feel solid about that decision-making in hindsight?

(in the end though, seriously, watch the specials if you're impatient -- I don't subscribe to delayed gratification. get gratified in any order you want, that's more my personal speed, it'll be fun either way)

[missjanjie]

Nobody asked but that’s never stopped me anyway. So, here’s which queen from every season that I think is most likely to be on a future all stars season (no repeats/winners) with explanations that also no one asked for:

Season 1: Porkchop - I just feel like they’re priming us for her to be on either an AS or early-outs season and I think she deserves it

Season 2: Nicole Paige Brooks - it was between her and Mystique as the only ones left and Nicole has expressed interest in going back for AS, and with Poppy’s reunion look referencing her, she’s back on fans minds

Season 3: Delta Work - out of the queens that haven’t been on, I think she’s the most relevant other than Carmen, who has burned all the bridges between her and wow anyway. idk what standings she’s in but I could see it happening

Season 4: Dida Ritz - I’ve seen people campaigning for her to be on AS for a while now, and she’s always expressed a willingness to go if invited back. And while Willam is more popular, we can all safely assume that’s not happening

Season 5: Lineysha Sparx - like Dida, she had some good highlights but never really got her flowers (I’m noticing a trend here). No offense to Monica, because I am genuinely so excited to see her on AS8, but I am a bit surprised she was picked over her. But I will concede that I don’t know if she’s still active in drag, but a lot of articles had said MBH retired so 🤷‍♀️

Season 6: Joslyn Fox - I like her, I wanna see her back on. But this is one of those cases where out of the remaining queens from that season, she seems like the most likely choice unless the producers want a ‘do it for the meme’ route like with Serena and cast Kelly (who doesn’t need it and has a great resume on her own, but that’s how I imagine a show runner seeing it)

Season 7: Jaidynn Dior Fierce - another queen that fans have pointed out deserve another chance in the spotlight and there have been rumors that she’d been shortlisted once or twice. Kandy Ho was also shortlisted for what I believe was an early-out season, but I feel like between the two, we’ll see Jaidynn first

Season 8: Cynthia Lee Fontaine - this is, of course, contingent on her health being in a strong enough state to take it on, which isn’t a given, unfortunately. So, barring any health problem, I know Ru loves her and would bring her back

Season 9: Peppermint - at this point, I feel like they’re gonna give into peer pressure one of these days and finally cast her. I think a lot of fans feel that it’s long overdue

Season 10: Asia O’Hara - the only reason I put her as more likely than Kameron is because (I think) she’s expressed more interest in going back. But both of them did the Vegas show for a while so wow definitely likes them and is probably keeping tabs on them

Season 11: Vanessa ‘Vanjie’ Mateo - I feel like this is one of the more obvious ones, to the point where I’m actually surprised it hasn’t happened yet. My theory is that they’re waiting to bring her back when producers know she’ll go far (unlike with 11 where there were a lot of highs and lows without people really seeing her as ‘winner material’). I will, however, acknowledge the possibility that someone like Nina or Plastique could be cast before her

Season 12: Crystal Methyd - like Vanjie and Cynthia, it’s clear Ru loves her and production likely wants her back. That said, I do think she’s one of the queens that wants to put a little more time between her original season and AS, but there’s no other obvious choice. And knowing what I do know about AS shortlists, there’s a chance Rock or Dahlia may precede her if they do go an early-outs route

Season 13: Denali Foxx - again, I don’t know if she’ll be the next s13 queen to go on for the same reasons as Crystal, but I don’t doubt it’s inevitability with how much of a fan favorite she is. If I saw anyone getting cast before her, it could be Kahmora (see above) or Utica

Season 14: Any of the four runner-ups - I know, kind of a cop-out. But here’s the thing, the obvious answer is Kornbread, but she’s said she doesn’t want to go back for AS, but wanted to get another chance to compete in a regular season (which she should’ve!!!). So, Daya, Bosco, Camden, and Angeria all seem more or less equally likely if you mix both the fandom and production standpoints

Season 15: Mistress Isabelle Brooks - also kind of early to call, of course. But I’m not talking about who will be the first/next queen of a season to do AS, just who I feel like stands a good chance of being on one at some point. And I’m so sure they’re gonna wanna bring her back

[rahleeyah]

So I read a lot of fic lol and one of the things I find so funny is that authors either write that Liv still can’t cook a thing and still gets takeout for everything or they’ll say she had to learn for Noah’s sake and now she’s actually a decent cook. (And as someone who now lives alone and had to grow up and figure some shit out and has actually gotten pretty good at cooking now if I do say so myself it really isn’t that hard so I’m usually team liv figured out how to use her kitchen for Noah’s sake)

Anyways I always have this head canon (that I’ve never wrote out but maybe I should) that when liv got Noah she got a phone call from Nick’s abuelita who was like “my Nicky tells me you have a baby and you cannot cook anything” 😂 and then Liv goes to her house and learns how to cook. And probably Barba’s mom and Mrs. Carisi teach her some things too cuz I want to believe they shared more time together than could be shown on screen.

Anyways I’m thinking about this mainly because there’s been some fics from Mrs. McCann’s POV and obvs she’s an excellent cook. And that’s not to say liv doesn’t get takeout often I’m sure she still does but I mean she’s also an adult with a child I’m sure she learned how to make some meals😂

You mention food a lot regarding svu and how it was nice in 1.0 when the characters sat down to meals together and how it made them very human which I totally agree with so I was wondering if u had any thoughts?

Have a great day!! Happy L&O Thursday!! ❤️

I love this so much thank you friend!!

So the thing is like. 1.0 Liv doesn't ever cook, it's established there's no food in her fridge, she's always getting delivery. There's a scene early in s13-14 where she is actively trying to cook at home when Nick brings her bad news and she throws her half cooked dinner in the sink, as if she no longer has the strength to keep trying (or as if she no longer thinks she deserves it, but that's another post). By s15 she is throwing dinner parties, of the manic kind (@calliopecantaloupes being of course the expert on the trauma response dinner parties). When Noah is going thru his particularly unbearable phase we see Olivia actually making dinner for him and trying to get him to eat his vegetables.

So my theory is that Liv always knew how to cook in theory, but never spent the time on it in practice. When you're just cooking for one delivery is so fucking easy, and she's barely ever home, why bother? I live alone and I love to cook and I'm pretty good at it and I know a lot about it and I cook once a week on Sundays and heat up leftovers or order in every other night of the week. It's not lack of knowledge that held her back, it was lack of need. She just didn't have to.

Now we know Cassidy cooks, at least a little, and cooking with someone is a special kind of intimacy, and I like to think he taught her some recipes. But then he's gone. But then she has a baby.

And Olivia is devoted to being a Good Mom. She sings to Noah she's working with him on his speech she's buying him all the little toys and outfits and trying so fucking hard. I absolutely think Liv started to cook more - not learn to, bc she already knew how, but started to actually do it - bc she had a child and feeding her child is important emotionally and practically.

But she took the boy to get shake shack this season, she is not above a return to her old ways lol

But I love your thought bc I love the idea of all these older women who are tangentially connected to Liv - Nick's mom even looks after Noah! - taking her under their wing and I love the idea of Noah growing up in this rich and varied quasi family with influences from multiple cultures/traditions, not being any one thing but being deeply loved.

But I do think Elliot can't really cook (beyond one or two set meals like spaghetti or whatever) and if I see one more fic that treats cacio e pepe like it's a fancy complex dish that Elliot "learned" how to cook while he was in Italy I am going to start biting people

[upslapmeal]

The Power of the Doctor

The time has come! The hour has arrived!! But the moment has been prepared for!!! 

honestly I love the cybermasters they’re so ridiculous

like when they first appeared and people complained they looked stupid??? yeah that’s the point!

them going along the train roof is giving Polar Express vibes

oh boy Dan’s ready to bail

right, betting on the cargo being kid doctor

‘the doctor lies’ man I hated when that was a ~fun thing said by companions

~there lived a certain man in russia long ago~~

man I wish I’d seen some Tegan or Ace eps before this, I have no way to judge how well they’re being written

RIP Dan you could have had a great character arc

…Fugitive Doctor????

no wait it’s the joker doctor Master’s tardis

ok so the cargo is not the kid doctor

wasn’t UNIT shut down

tbh I know UNIT showed up during s13 I just can’t remember what actually happened to it

lmaoooo the Rasputin photoshop

terrible to a degree that rivals those photos of Nine showing up in history

‘yes take me away you’ll all feel safer with me in the building’

I’m really enjoying Seismologist Master he’s clearly having a great time

‘darling I don’t seem to have the room service menu, only I have allergies’

honestly disappointed the location text isn’t bigger, c’mon Chibbs that’s been a staple of your era

WAIT THEY ACTUALLY GOT THE SONG

RA RA RASPUTIN BAYBEE

lmaooo the cyberman and dalek turning to each other like….what is he doing

wait surely the regeneration can’t come this early?? you mean to say that the regeneration teased in the promos wasn’t the actual regeneration???

and how would regenerating into the master even work??

consciousness transfer? while also looking like the Master??

surely this is just a very long-winded way of the Master going about changing their clothes

what is his aim??

oh Yaz hon

HE’S WEARING ALL THE DOCTOR’S CLOTHES

hdsafj a lone DoctorMaster recordering 

ONE OEN ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ON ONE ONEO

SIX????

F I V E?????

EIGHT!!!!!!!!!

SEVEN!!

full offence to the 50th special but this non-anniversary ep is doing a better job

‘I am a manifestation of our consciousness I can wear what I like’

I wish they’d done a bit more with the rebelling dalek rather than killing it almost instantly

Tegan and Ace both got closure moments with their Doctors <3

Graham??????

‘Arnold Palmer…son. volcano inspector’

‘your conversion shall begin’ so like father like daughter eh?

Ruth!!!!

kinda wish Thirteen stayed in the Master’s mishmash outfit

the return of the goggles!

wait was Thirteen just killed by accident by that energy thing? that’s it?

….and are we just never going to know why Graham was in the volcano?

does Yaz know she doesn’t have to leave just bc Thirteen is regenerating?

IAN IAN IAN INA INA ADICANPSDOI VNWIFNHQ-[0w

COMPANIONS SUPPORT GROUP!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

IAN IAN IAN IAN INA IAN IAN

where’s Martha though

REGENERATION SCRONCH

she got a beautiful sunset regeneration T_T

genuinely a gorgeous regeneration

regenerating clothes???? something funky’s going on

teeth! WHAT!!!

and lmao not even a whisper about the timeless child in that whole ep

Well!! Honestly that was all I wanted from the ep - ridiculous and fun with some genuine moments of emotion. Did it have typical Chibnall issues with character and dialogue? Sure. Did it completely drop the Main Chibbs Contribution to DW lore? Sure. But did I have a great time watching and did it feel like an Event? ABSOLUTELY!! Anyway everyone acted their socks off and Thriteen got a truly beautiful ending which I’m so glad about - she really seemed at peace <3

Now. As for what came after the regeneration. RTD I hope you are ready to fight everyone here bc DT can’t be Fourteen!! He’s an interim Doctor! He’s going to be around for 3 eps! He needs a name not a number!! I’m so glad we got a glimpse of Ncuti in the trailer though, I just can’t believe we have to wait over a year!!

[nympha-doras]

aaron & emily: a taylor swift playlist

a hotchniss playlist, telling the story of their lives using only taylor swift songs. inspired by the one i made for harry and nikki.

if a song has been connected to a specific episode/storyline, then they will be first in each section in a specific order. songs that relate to the section they’re in overall, are in album order at the end of each section.

i’ve added in songs that don’t particularly fit with hotchniss as a ship, but fit with a part of one of their lives that had a significant impact on them (like emily’s abortion, and her time undercover with doyle, and aaron’s divorce from haley).

there are a few bonus tracks from speak now deluxe that i’ve added, however with that version of the album not being available on uk spotify they’re currently missing from the playlist. they’ll be added when taylor releases speak now (taylor’s version).

i’ve used taylor’s version of songs where i can, and i’ll be back to update as soon as she releases the rest of her re-records.

below the cut you’ll find a brief timeline/some headcanons to make this make sense a little more, followed by an explanation for the positioning of each song.

enjoy 💜

playlist

    a few headcanons/a timeline to make some of these make sense:

pre show: aaron and emily had an affair while he worked for her mother and she was home from yale for the summer. it was the early days of aaron’s relationship with haley. haley wasn’t 100% in the relationship at this point, she wasn’t a fan of the career he’d chosen, she always had 1 foot out the door. emily took a real interest in him and encouraged him to go for his dream career, she cared and she listened. he felt guilty, but he doesn’t regret the summer they spent together. i’ve also slotted emily’s undercover time with doyle here seeing as this is when it happens

2x09 - 3x11: sparks are flying but aaron is married. they get to know each other again, it’s been so long since they last saw each other, they’re completely different people now

3x12 - 5x01: aaron is now divorced, they’re free to fall in love again. they’ve both been hurt by love in the past so they’re hesitant, they take it slow

5x02 - 6x13: they’re ready to be together, but with foyet after aaron’s family it’s not the right time

6x14 - 6x18: once again, just as they’re ready to be together someone is trying to kill one of them

6x19 - 7x01: emily has faked her death and is now living in paris

s7: emily is back, but she needs time to adjust before they jump into anything 

post s7: emily has left dc, the love they have for each other wasn’t enough to make her stay in a city she no longer felt comfortable in

s12: emily has returned, she still loves him and she hopes he still loves her, but they can’t explore anything because once again someone is trying to kill one of them and aaron and jack have to go into witsec

s13: aaron and jack are out of witsec, no one is trying to kill either of them, now is their chance to be together 

no particular placement: songs that fit into multiple sections, or cover their relationship as a whole

        pre-show

seven before they meet - taylor wrote this about a childhood friend who didn’t have a great home life growing up. aaron had an abusive father, emily doesn’t have the best relationship with her mother.

tied together with a smile written about a girl she knew with an eating disorder, someone who was hurting but didn’t tell anyone - emily’s abortion when she was 15

everything has changed their lives will never be the same now that they’ve met tim mcgraw taylor wrote this about a relationship she knew wouldn’t last, and she wanted to memorialise their time together love story forbidden relationship speak now emily overhears security at her mother’s place talking about aaron and haley’s wedding and dreams of a world where she and aaron could have made it wildest dreams they know this affair isn’t going to last, but they hope to remember each other fondly when it’s over wonderland they shouldn’t be having this affair but they’re “too in love to think straight” dancing with our hands tied their relationship is doomed to die because of outside pressure, but they hate the idea of losing each other and desperately want to hold on for as long as possible august forbidden relationship illicit affairs forbidden relationship

don’t blame me emily undercover as lauren, falling in love with doyle cowboy like me emily falling for doyle while undercover hoax narrates the struggles taylor endures in a toxic relationship. although she has been driven to the edge of hopelessness by her lover, taylor is unable to let go of her doomed relationship - emily being in love with doyle getaway car emily beginning to realise she needs to leave doyle all too well (10 minute version) the end of emily’s relationship with doyle

        s2e09 - s3e11 (emily’s first episode - aaron’s divorce)

enchanted 2x09 - they’re just as enchanted to meet each other for the second time as they were the first innocent 2x15 - aaron beginning to learn from his mistakes and become a better man because of those mistakes

invisible emily falling back in love with aaron, while he’s happily married to haley girl at home they’ve had an affair behind haley’s back once and they refuse to do it again, especially now aaron and haley are married and there’s a child involved gorgeous they’re both attracted to each other, but with aaron still being married to haley, there’s nothing they can do about it dress they’re best friends, but they want to be more cruel summer falling for each other while aaron is still married to haley i think he knows they’re starting to fall for each other. emily knows it’s a bad idea, they work together and he’s married, but she lets herself fall anyway. willow they weren’t expecting each other, but they want to take each other hands and jump into it together. gold rush emily falling in love with aaron, while he’s still married to haley ivy emily falling in love with aaron while he’s still married to haley

we are never ever getting back together haley divorces aaron

        s3e12 - s5e01 (aaron’s divorce - foyet’s attack, haley and jack going into witsec)

a perfectly good heart 4x17 - demonology disagreement tell me why 4x17 - demonology disagreement false god 4x17 - they’re still in love, despite disagreeing with how to handle the death of emily’s friend afterglow post 4x17 - aaron apologising to emily after demonology

fearless falling in love with each other after aaron’s divorce - the start of a new relationship, the fearlessness of falling in love mine they’ve both been hurt in past relationships, but falling in love with each other makes them believe in love again sparks fly they’re starting to fall for each other, sparks are starting to fly between them state of grace neither have had much luck with love in the past, they didn’t see each other coming, but they could have something good and right and real together. treacherous they’re starting to fall for each other. they both know it’s a bad idea - they work together, he’s recently divorced - but they let themselves fall anyway.

jump then fall they’ve fallen in love, they’re going to be there for each other no matter what

        s5e02 - s6e13 (foyet’s attack, haley and jack going into witsec - first mention of doyle)

soon you’ll get better 5x01 - emily looking after aaron after foyet’s attack forever winter post 5x09 - emily helps aaron heal after foyet’s attack and losing haley evermore post 5x09 - emily helps aaron heal after foyet’s attack and losing haley superman post 5x09 - emily waiting for aaron to be ready for her and for them after foyet and haley’s death stay beautiful they know they want to be together, but they also know that right now isn’t their time, and they hope it’ll come one day …ready for it? post 5x09 - emily has fallen for aaron but knows he isn’t ready for a serious relationship after everything that happened with foyet, but she’s in this for the long haul so she’s willing to wait to wait until he’s ready

        s6e14 - s6e18 (doyle comes after emily - emily fakes her death)

bad blood 6x16 - doyle threatens emily and her family mad woman end of 6x17/6x18 - emily goes after doyle on her own haunted (acoustic) 6x18 - aaron loses emily to doyle my tears ricochet 6x18 - emily faking her death

        s6e19 - s7e01 (emily fakes her death - emily returns after faking her death)

you all over me post 6x18 - aaron missing emily after they’ve faked her death red post 6x18 - they loved each other passionately, in burning red, losing each other was one of the hardest things they’ve had to go through. marjorie post 6x18 - the team mourning emily this love 7x01 - “this love is good, this love is bad, this love is alive back from the dead” doyle is dead, and emily is able to return. their love comes back from the dead.

look what you made me do emily has done a lot that has hurt both herself and those she loves because of doyle

        s7

come in with the rain 7x12 “i’m having a bad day” - aaron knows he can’t push emily, but he lets her know he’s there for her and to come to him when she needs to you belong with me 7x16 the triathlon - emily watching aaron with beth bye bye baby 7x24 - emily deciding she needs to leave, aaron’s love isn’t enough for her to stay last kiss 7x24 - emily deciding she needs to leave, aaron’s love isn’t enough for her to stay the lakes 7x24 - emily needs to escape and a part of her wants to ask aaron to go with her it’s time to go 7x24 - emily deciding she needs to leave, aaron’s love isn’t enough for her to stay miss americana & the heartbreak prince 7x24 - emily telling aaron she’s leaving exile 7x24 - emily telling aaron she’s leaving

teardrops on my guitar written about an unrequited love - emily’s pov while aaron is with beth a place in this world written about the uncertainty of the future - emily’s pov during s7, trying to fit back into her old life after faking her death call it want you want aaron helping emily heal after she returns from the dead mirrorball emily isn’t quite the same after returning from the dead, she’s fractured like a mirrorball, reflecting the person she used to be back to her family to make them think she’s okay this is me trying emily struggling after returning champagne problems aaron hoped they’d become something more once she returned, but she struggled too much after everything happened and couldn’t give him what he wanted happiness there was happiness because of each other, and there’ll be happiness when she leaves coney island a heavy feeling of loss and nostalgia for a past relationship where effort was not equal from both sides

        post s7

white horse aaron accepting that emily is leaving and they won’t get their chance to be together breathe aaron accepting that emily is leaving and they won’t get their chance to be together forever & always (piano version) aaron coming to terms with emily leaving just as he thought they were getting somewhere we were happy they were in love, they were happy, but they live separate lives now come back…be here emily leaving for london back to december their first interaction after she leaves if this was a movie hoping emily will come back. i almost do there’s so much they want to say to each other whenever they call each other, but they both know they can’t, that it would just make the separation harder holy ground their love didn’t last, but it was good and something they’ll both treasure the moment i knew the team’s first christmas without emily message in a bottle they try to keep in contact as much as possible, but being in different time zones and both having such demanding jobs makes it difficult the very first night they miss each other, they wish they could go back and be with each other again out of the woods reminiscing on their relationship all you had to do was stay they were on the verge of being something, all she had to do was stay i wish you would a part of emily wishes she had never left  clean the hidden message to clean is “she lost him, but she found herself, and somehow that was everything.” emily lost aaron but leaving, but it was essential to find herself again after what she went through with doyle death by a thousand cuts losing emily hurt aaron, “tryna find a part of me you didn't take up, gave you so much, but it wasn't enough, but i’ll be alright, it's just a thousand cuts”. dorothea emily’s off running the london interpol office, but she’ll always have a place back at the bau with her family right where you left me emily left, she moved to london and started a new life. but he’s still in virginia, still working at the bau. right where she left him.

’tis the damn season fits with either 9x14 or 11x19 - emily returns to help the team out with a case and reconnects with aaron

        s12

untouchable emily is back in the states and they’re ready to be together, but it can’t happen with scratch after aaron and jack, and them having to go into witness protection

        s13

that’s when reconnecting after aaron and jack come out of witsec begin again they’ve not had much luck with love - both with each other and with other people - but they’re finally in a place where they can watch it begin again cardigan reconnecting after aaron and jack come out of witsec

change things are finally changing for the better, they’re finally getting what they’ve always wanted, nothing else is in their way and they can finally be together run they’re finally getting their chance and they’re not going to let anyone or anything tear them apart again endgame they want to be each other’s endgame, they want to last. but neither have had much luck with delicate they’re ready to be together. they want it to last, but they’re scared it won’t, because their past experiences with relationships haven’t given them reason to believe it will. king of my heart they’re the ones each other has been waiting for, the one they want their happy endings with. new year’s day they want forever with each other, they don’t just want the midnight kiss, they want to still be there the next morning helping each other clean up after the party, and every morning after that the archer they’re ready to be together. they’re scared that their past experiences with love will mean this relationship will end the way all their others have. paper rings they want to spend their lives together, the shiny superficial things don’t matter as long as they have each other. cornelia street they wouldn’t survive losing each other again me! they’re irreplaceable to each other, they’ll never meet anyone like each other. it’s nice to have a friend the song follows two friends from childhood to their marriage. aaron and emily have known each other since their early 20s, and are now happily spending the rest of their life together daylight neither have had much luck in love, but they finally have each other invisible string their past relationships have paved the way for their relationship. their romantic pasts have taught them what love shouldn’t be. peace they’re ready to be together. they’re scared that their past experiences with love will mean this relationship will end the way all their others have.

        no particular placement

i’m only me when i’m with you they know each other better than they know themselves, they only show their true selves to each other. the best day jack’s pov, growing up with aaron and emily never grow up jack growing up with aaron and emily ours people are going to frown upon their relationship no matter when it happens - he’s her boss, and the fbi have rules about this kind of thing (thanks rossi) - but they’re in love and they don’t are what anyone else thinks style written about a relationship between 2 people who keep leaving and coming back to each other - they separate and are reunited 4 times before they get their chance to be together i did something bad emily flirting with the male unsubs to get what they need out of them so it goes… they know how they feel about each other, and they’re gonna keep fighting to be together no matter what gets in their way. parts of the song also relate to lauren/doyle. this is why we can’t have nice things the cases and unsubs always interrupting their free time the man people assuming that emily isn’t an agent because she’s a woman, having to flirt with the unsubs to get what they need out of them you need to calm down the unsubs need to calm the fuck down and give the team a break epiphany the songs describes someone hoping to find peace in their dreams despite living in a world of chaos and violence. no body no crime it’s a song about a murder, ofc i was always going to put it on here

you are in love they’re in love lover they’re in love

the 1 in another life they could have been the 1 for each other

[spookyrobbins]

I think they were setting up s13 with Callie who actually takes accountability for her mistakes and fights for Arizona's forgiveness. Because other than their last scene with the plane tickets, which wouldn't have happened if Sara stayed, Arizona was just so. done. with Callie after the custody battle.

i always refer to any potential s13 callie storylines as the callie torres apology tour. obviously arizonas the biggest one and the one that would probably take the longest time. but she probably could do with some apologizing to other people like bailey and meredith.

i do think s13 would be the first major time where arizona isn’t so quick to forgive callie. and callie would have to really show that she understands why arizonas so hurt after the custody battle and why arizona doesn’t feel like there’s anything left to fix.

i’ve done a few hcs of what a calzona s13 storyline could look like if callie still went to nyc, but i don’t think ever one where she stayed on seattle without the possibility of going to nyc so here goes (side note: i haven’t watched s13 in a while so some plot points may be out of order/missing):

at the end of s12, instead of arizona giving callie tickets, it’d just be callie going to visit penny to work things out bc they’re the great love story, right, right?? (they probably wouldn’t even show callie going to nyc or anything, just mentioned that she did bc that’s the calpen way)

callie would have this weird on/off long distance relationship with penny where her heart is completely not in it and it’s frankly irritating to everyone around her. but callie’s determined not to fail at this relationship even though it’s completely lost steam and they barely talk

arizona, who’s far less miserable, but in this super weird space with callie where they’ve stopped speaking, is still going to at bare minimum flirt with eliza, if not outright date her.

the early stages of the season with calzona are centered on the fact that they actually have a custody agreement that arizonas in charge of and arizona who’s never going to leverage that against callie but it bothers her quite a bit, and the general lingering fallout from the custody battle.

interns and residents will actively flee if they have to work with the both of them bc it’s so uncomfortable and they aren’t fighting, they’re just very cold and snippy with each other in a pseudo-professional way

arizona eventually caves and offers a sort of truce with callie where absolutely nothing is resolved

callie is feeling kinda isolated bc a lot of people were bothered by the custody battle and callie trying to leave for nyc and just the whole penny thing - namely bailey and meredith and in his own way, alex. bailey is the first to sort of forgive her and kind of cryptically makes a comment about callie sorting out her priorities. meredith needs a bit more time bc the stuff said about how arizona wasn’t sofias mom along with the penny of it all was just too much. they just don’t really talk.

and now the eliza situation: much like all of the other attendings, callie is not happy about eliza. perhaps doubly so bc eliza’s been foisted onto her department and she does not care if she’s highly regarded in sports medicine, she doesn’t want someone messing around with her department. they clash a lot professionally and callie just can’t stand her well before she knows there’s anything with eliza and arizona.

callie would finally get an ortho focused resident after eliza makes a whole thing about how lacking ortho has been in producing strong residents since callie took over (ie callie was the last good orthopedic resident)

not to forget about leah, there’d be a lot more calzona conversation with leah’s reappearance and a little convo between callie and maybe bailey about the whole leah and arizona situation and callie and arizona where arizona tries to apologize and it’s all very awkward and weird bc they’re awkward and weird now.

as eliza and arizona are starting up, callie would finally break up with penny after an entire episode with a sub plot of callie missing pennys phone calls. penny would break up with callie and callie would accuse her of cheating which she wasn’t. this would be the catalyst for meredith and callie speaking again.

the breakup with penny causes callie to do a lot of self reflection and for a change, she doesn’t try and jump into dating.

arizona is genuinely the last person to find out about the calpen breakup and finds out from jo or someone like that. she makes a point to try and check in on callie and encourage her to get back out there - bc calzona are truly the weirdest and worst exes

arizona is a bit more resistant to eliza than in canon purely bc callie’s still around and it’s confusing. but her frustration and hurt with callie after the custody battle mellows her affection for callie for a while, allowing her to be open to dating in a way she wasn’t before.

when callie finds out about arizona and eliza, she is the least chill of everyone unsurprisingly. but she insists it’s because it’s not professional (which admittedly hilarious) and because eliza is against the hospital and arizona doesn’t get it because she didn’t do her residency there and callie has a whole thing about loyalty etc which has great potential for a very loaded conversation with arizona about loyalty and arizona who would never deny that she was disloyal in their marriage but also callie has consistently come after her character when she’s been nothing but cordial after their divorce and she’s tired

callie all the while is refusing to ponder the possibility that she might want to try again with arizona, that she might have feelings for arizona and that’s why she’s so bothered by eliza. multiple people try to prod callie towards the truth of the matter but she’s very stubborn about it.

not to forget alex in all of this, callie’s the one who tells arizona that they don’t know where alex is and think he’s gone to jail and callie tries to comfort arizona and saying she knows how important alex is to her and arizona basically rejects anything from callie and really, calzona are sort of at an all time low of not being on the same page which really says something for them

all throughout its sort of building up that callie has re-developed feelings for arizona but has absolutely zero clue that she does and arizona never stopped having feelings but she doesn’t think they have a chance and she’s really lost a lot of trust in callie

and then in the finale, callie keeps looking for arizona. like singlemindedly looking for arizona. asking everyone if they’ve seen her and clalie keeps missing her. she’s always just left wherever the last person told callie. and callie’s freaked out. like convinced arizona is dead freaked out. and someone like idk alex saying “why do you even care” and callie snapping back “because she’s my wife and i love her” which is quite the take

and then as sort of the final calzona scene of the season, callie showing up at arizonas door in the morning and seeing arizona opening it and callie saying “hi i think we need to talk” and then cutting away

[alanshee-keeper-of-realms]

Really sorry to hear that your time with the ninjago fandom didn't treat everyone fairly, including you. Virtually, people there are bunch of teenagers who likes to act toxic over fictional characters or act like they're martyrs who wants to be wrongfully oppressed.

I used to watch Ninjago a long time ago, but I've stopped caring about the show and its creators. Now, that I think about it looking back, it isn't the greatest cartoon for me, but nostalgia will come kick in and I think about how s8/s9 is their well-written seasons. I've heard about Dragon Risings but I don't know, I'll be left with huge disappointment again as always like I had with the Wild Brain era (S13 and Seabound is their best).

For me my time in that fandom was filled with good memories in the beginning and bad at the end,

Like I said I was really an original member of the fandom back when it was very small, I still remember going on fanfiction.net and there being only two pages of fanfics one could dig through,

But then something happened around season 8 and 9 people became diluted that's all I can think of what happened they begin mixing fiction and reality and treating these characters like they were real

And that led to shipping fights, people being doxxed, and people actually being hurt. I'm not joking when I say I have seen a couple of actual suicides after Antis bullied them so horribly, and all these guys did was cheer over these creators' deaths. That'd be the Twitter side.

And these guys to this day still Lord over the fandom God forbid you ship greenflame or any of the old ships that they now have deemed taboo according to these 'leaders'

If you aren't like the others, as in shipping the straight hetero couples or staying within a certain box, you're an outcast

My page being dead since 2020 is proof of that because ever since I moved over to the Owl House fandom, it's been pretty active and alive again. Like in the early days of the Tumblr Ninjago Fandom,

Really does not make the Ninjago fandom look good, not at all. That just revealed their favoritism.

I'll even tell everybody I cried the day I decided I was no longer going to be affiliated with the Ninjago fandom because that's how much I loved it and still do. I still want to contribute but I have to think of my mental health and the future of my creative works over my love for a show that I've been a part of for half of my life

I was 12 when Ninjago premiered I am now 24 going on 25 half of my life was dedicated to that show from child to teen to adult.

It is the fandom and show that got me writing, drawing and even cosplaying it is where I met my two partners via an old Discord server and the 10th anniversary Zine

So when I say the fandom is toxic, it hurts me to say because I remember the days when it wasn't. I remember the days it was filled with love laughter and camaraderie,

Not people throwing things at each other to hurt each other and bringing out the worst in one another.

[sortasirius]

What the Fuck Happened to the SPN Finale?

Okay so here it is, my Charlie Kelly style manifesto.

Before I get into it, I recognize that I will look like this to many of you, and that’s okay, I understand:

Secondly, your personal Takes about the writers don’t interest me, I don’t need to hear them. This, as I’ll explain, is going to remain a writer positive blog, and that’s the end of it.

Third, and most importantly: some of what I’m going to talk about is fact, and some is highly educated speculation. I will notate what is speculation, just so there’s no confusion or hot takes in my inbox that I’m a conspiracy theorist or stirring shit up for no reason.

A list of what I’ll be discussing

The episode in regards to the rest of the season

The episode issues: length, editing

Scene placement and speculation of scenes cut

The scrubbing of Jack, Cas, Eileen

Network involvement and general timeline of when things were cut

Misha: theories on where he was, official company line, why we can’t expect to hear anything directly

The silence of the cast post episode (in Misha’s case, mid episode) and what this might mean

Jensen speaking with Kripke about the ending: why it doesn’t mean what you might think (also why kripke remained positive on the ending)

Walker, and why this episode had a major shift

Why the network would do this or get involved

Why the writers of the show simply aren’t the bad guys here, and what I “want” out of this post, since I know it’ll get asked

This is very long and under a cut, but I hope you’ll give it a read.

The Episode In Regards to the Rest of the Season

So, I’ve discussed this already here, but it’s the most obvious thing to me, and that’s the way this episode simply doesn’t fit with the rest of the season.

These people in this room have, truly, been nothing but consistent when it comes to their arcs, especially this season, and the marked dropoff in quality for the finale episode is just too sus to discount to me.  Dabb’s whole focus has been character-based.  In his seasons, we’ve moved far away from MOTW and bro-codependency, the found family taking it’s place.  Does it really sit right to anyone that that was all thrown away in literally the last episode of the entire show?

This is speculation on my part, but as a writer myself, there is no way I would be happy or willing to stamp my name on something that I didn’t think would, at the very least, wrap up the season+ character arcs that I and my team had been crafting.

And before anyone comes in here saying, “well GOT did that!”  Bruh.  The writing was on the wall for GOT long before the final episode.  You could tell that the showrunners just wanted to be done (not only from the plot, but from the fact that they lobbied for a shorter season).  Miss me with that, it doesn’t apply here.  Andrew has, besides Singer and J2, been with the show longer than anyone.  He cares, he is meticulous and detailed, and this ending feels worse than anything Bucklemming has ever written, let alone Dabb.

Additionally, I’ve seen a lot of people say that Dabb was never behind Destiel, that it was all Bobo and Meredith and no one else.  That is reductive to the point of insult of the work Dabb has done to get this greenlit.  This man did not write the s13 Dean grief arc to be slandered like this.  That being said, YES, Bobo and Meredith were the leads on the DeanCas arc this season, but ANDREW IS THE SHOWRUNNER, TO GET EVEN THE CONFESSION APPROVED BY THE NETWORK HE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE THEIR BACKS.  AND HE DID.

Finale Issues

So, now that we’ve gotten the fact that this episode doesn’t hit on any of the major themes the show was barrelling towards all season, let’s discuss the fact that the episode is just...weird.

Not only is it shorter than any other episode (I think with the intro and the credits/crew thing at the end, it was around 38 mins), but it was also...idk, 90% filler?

One of the lovely humans in the POLOL server did the legwork here, and broke it down:

This is weird, y’all.  Most series finales are LONGER than normal (Lost, SOA, Longmire are the ones I can think of off the top of my head), and for the final episode to be this?  I saw more than one person point out that we only really needed 19 episodes, what was the point of 20?  AND THAT’S EXACTLY IT?  WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS FINAL EPISODE IF THIS WAS ALL WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET?

It simply doesn’t make any sense, the first half of the episode was rushed, a final monster hunt gone wrong, but in the second half?  Nothing really happened?  Sam lived his entire life and Dean just drove around.  It doesn’t make sense to have all the emotional arcs left unaddressed in an episode that definitely needed some kind of spark.

Here’s the speculation I have: the episode seemingly went through a lot of changes between the initial inception of the final season and when we actually got it, but I think it would have been passable (as in, we wouldn’t be sitting here asking each other why each arc feels incomplete) until the editing room got ahold of it.  The only think that makes this episode make sense is network fuckery.  Truly, that is the only thing.  It explains the weird, cuts, the rushed pacing of the first half followed by nothing in the second half, the double montages of “Wayward Son” back to back, and Dean just...driving around for the last half of the episode.

Scene Placement and Speculation of Scenes Cut

Before I get into this section, the info of the shots in the episode I have come from a source that @occamshipper​ got a week or so before the finale.  She’s talked about this here.

So here’s what Min was given:

1-5: 1 INT MEN OF LETTERS – DEAN’S ROOM Dean is greeted by Miracle

6-10: 6 INT MEN OF LETTERS – HALLWAY/SAM’S ROOM Sam has his routine

D1 1 11-15: 15 EXT FARM HOUSE Establishing

N1 1/8 16-20: 19 Dad’s journal, marker, drawing of masked man in journal.

21-25: 23 INT IMPALA – PMP Driver picks the music

N2 1 3/8 1,2 26-30: 28pt2 INT BARN: A face from the past

28pt3 Sam and Dean say goodbye

28pt4 Shot early for technical reasons, presumably the overhead shot

N2 31-45: 41 INT MEN OF LETTERS – SAM’S ROOM Sam’s alarm goes off D4 1/8 1 46-60: 56 INT N7glasses for Sam, laptop.

So...it all fits right?  It all tracks with the actual episode, where it lands, etc.  The issue is between shots 29-40 which were apparently “too big to spoil.”  Uh.  Where are they?  And where’s 28 pt4?

After Dean dies, the next scene is Sam burning him, then shot 31, the shot of his alarm going off.

So.  Where are those 11ish shots?

PLUS we have the boards, which are scenes we KNOW were actually shot:

As well as scenes for 20 that were shot in 19.

It’s just...weird, it’s weird and again hits on the fact that the episode is so short and like 80% montage.

The Scrubbing of Jack, Cas, and Eileen

So now we have to reckon with the fact that Eileen was last mentioned by Sam after she got snapped by Chuck, Jack’s last mention is that he’s off being God somewhere, and Cas’ last mention is a ~knowing look~ between Dean and Bobby.

I’m sorry, make it make sense:

????????  That’s the end if it?  They don’t need to be discussed after this???  It’s just simply not something a writer would do, they would not introduce these characters, these arcs, without thinking there’s going to be some kind of follow through here.

So not only were three major characters (including two leads and both of the original characters’ love interests) completely wiped from the finale episode, it was as though Sam and Dean never even needed them, which just...ain’t it.

So why Eileen and Jack too?  Why not just take Cas out of it if they were afraid of the gay?  Because, ultimately, the episode went back to Kripke’s original story: just the bros, they only need each other and no one else.  They don’t want anyone else, they don’t need anyone else.  Easier to go back to something they knew was successful than trust the writers and their audience and take a big leap.

Alex even said he shot for 20 with “some of the guys” here.  What happened to that footage?

The complete 180 of it all still shocks me, I still cannot believe that we were essentially at the finish line, and the network just stopped short, and decided to go run another race, at the expense of the arc of this fifteen year legacy show.

Network Involvement and When Things Were Cut

Okay, now into the juicy stuff.

So I’ve pretty well established that network fuckery is clear, but how much did they get involved, what was the original intent?

Well again, we may never actually know what Andrew’s original script was, but I think, at the least, it would involve Dean speaking his truth to Cas and Sam living a life with Eileen.

Now, it seems today, that Misha said that Jimmy Novak was supposed to be in the finale in one iteration of the script, and while initially my brain was like “that truly makes no sense and he’s either straight up lying or telling a half truth,” I think what may be happening is Misha talking about as much as he can right now.

So Jimmy right.  Weird as fuck.  Why would he been in the Roadhouse and not Cas?  My current thought (this is about as reachy as I’ll get) is that Jimmy had no lines, could he have been in the Roadhouse as a red herring, like it said “Jimmy” in the script but it was just Cas in human clothes, a way to get around the network saying Cas couldn’t be in the final scene.  Also, you’ll notice that Misha didn’t say that Cas wasn’t supposed to be in the ep at all, just Jimmy in the last scene.

All this to say, there have clearly been multiple versions of the script, getting lighter and lighter with Cas and Eileen as the network pulled further and further back.  Remember, Dabb has to get things approved before they get shot, and if the network kept asking and asking and asking to cut Cas and Eileen, he had to find a way to work around it.  Granted, I still think that if we had been able to get a Dabb script that wasn’t torn to shreds in editing, it wouldn’t be so bad.  It may not be what a lot of us wanted (Dean speaking his truth to Cas and a reciprocation), but doing everything he could to give it to us in subtext or visual clues.

Plus, in all honesty, my man can’t keep his story straight anyway.  He said twice in his panel that the Empty and offscreen Heaven ending weren’t his original ending either.

In addition, remember that Jensen did ADR post episode 18, AND said in a meet and greet last weekend that Dean’s reaction to Cas’ confession was “cut down.” (Source here).  Many of us clowns got excited when we first heard about ADR, because we thought it would be upping the ante on Dean’s reaction, but I remember being a little sus when it was just crying.  My speculation on that is that they cut out Dean actually SAYING something, @winchestersingerautorepair​ spoke about that here.

The biggest sins were, in my opinion, committed during editing, where the network got too gun shy and sliced the episode until it was nothing but a heartless bro-fest of a finale, not mentioning anything about the other major characters that we all love, and letting the boys just suffer in separation until Sam died and finally joined Dean in Heaven.  The editing came by cutting all the major emotional beats between anyone other than Dean and Sam, leaving the skeleton of the story intact, just shorter and less...poignant than it was ever supposed to be.

Misha

We know Misha was in Vancouver, we know he quarantined, but we also know he wasn’t in the final scene, when he spoke about being in the last moment of the show months ago.  We were not crazy, he was there, he quarantined, and, in all likelihood (speculation but fitting with the timeline), he actually may have shot something (not much, but something).

I have sources here, here, here, and here showing where Misha was at that time.

Remember, the man was completely open about coming back until they finished shooting (look at this thread).  The switch happened, just like everything else, halfway through them shooting.

Please also remember Jake Abel posting his “Where’s Misha” video here.  Jake isn’t malicious, he isn’t being nasty here.  Misha was there, and everyone that’s trying to convince people he’s wasn’t just...isn’t telling the truth about it.

This is one of the things that makes me really mad, because they’re literally attempting to gaslight people into thinking, “oh we were totally wrong he was never supposed to be there” WHEN HE WAS THERE, WE KNOW HE WAS THERE.

So we’ve already heard from several people (Meghan Fitzmartin, Jay, a PA on the set of 19 (WHO WAS NOT WORKING FOR 20), Misha himself) that this was all down to Covid restrictions.  Ultimately, as this post says, we’ve heard FIVE versions of where Misha was.  None of it makes sense, but the Covid protocol seems to be the company line that others are repeating.

You may ask: why?  Why lie to all of us when we have questions?  Why, in Jay’s case, say that we’re all spreading false lies to stir up trouble, when we just have questions and things that do not make sense.  Simply?  Warner Brothers is absolutely massive.  These people have their careers to protect and are likely all under NDAs.  They want to work for WB again and don’t want to burn bridges, including Misha.  It sucks, but that’s why it’s unlikely that we’ll hear someone come out and say, “yeah we’re lying to you.”

Silence of the Cast Post Episode

So this is...probably the worst part of all this, at least in my opinion.

The guys had all been pretty excited about the end of the show (especially Jared, but Jensen’s panel last week was Jensen as happy and jokey and positive as I’ve ever seen him.  He was so excited about episode 18, about what it meant for Dean and for Cas, and I just cannot buy that he would have been that excited unless he thought there was something more in the episode.

Misha live-tweeted the episode, and was watching it with his kids.  It’s well known that Misha and the kids don’t watch the show because it’s too scary, and let’s ask ourselves, why would he have them watch an episode that he’s barely even mentioned in?

He also stopped live-tweeting at a very specific point in the episode (Dean’s death) and has not mentioned Supernatural since then. 

None of them, not Jared, Jensen, Misha, or even Alex, said anything about the episode for nearly 36 hours, when Jensen posted a salty photo on instagram.  It’s just...not what you’d expect for the end of a 15 year show, when the cast and crew are so close to the fans, so close to each other. 

My theory?  They didn’t know.  They thought Misha was, at least, going to be in the episode in some way, and when he wasn’t, they decided not to say anything.

You really think that Jensen “Heller” Ackles would have been so excited about the end of the show last week if he thought Cas wasn’t going to be in it at all?  Nah son, doesn’t make any sense.

Even today, in Jared and Misha’s panels, they seemed sad and...more than a little careful, both saying that there were things they couldn’t say, both talking around things that we all have questions on.

Jensen Speaking with Kripke

So this is where a lot of people are getting fodder to take shots at the writers, saying that Jensen hated it from the beginning, but I don’t think so.  I actually think I know what Jensen went to him about, and it wasn’t the lack of Cas or the weird pacing or the montages (which I don’t think were there when Jensen got the script); I think it was the manner of Dean’s death.

I know a lot of people were upset about that, upset with how...normal it was, coming off an episode where they literally beat God.  I actually didn’t mind it, I thought it was an interesting thematic take to be like: you can be a hero all your life, but sometimes shit happens, and you just die.

But imagine how hard that was for Jensen to read.  He would run to Kripke for that, because for him, Dean dying by being impaled by a piece of rebar had to be tough to swallow.

So, why didn’t Kripke say that?  Why didn’t he say, “oh well he had a problem with Dean’s death, none of that other stuff was in the script.”

Guys.  Why would he get involved?  He’s not going to burn bridges any more than anyone else is.  He said the ending was good because it’s the easy thing to do, it’s simple, will cause him no problems in his career, and he can just ignore the people trying to engage with him on it.

Walker

Something else to talk about is the major shift this episode had from the rest of the season: the shift from Dean to Sam.  I am NOT saying that Sam isn’t important, he definitely, absolutely is, but it was DEAN who really needed to wrap up his arc, Sam just needed to move on, get married to Eileen, become the leader he was always meant to.  So what changed?  What was with the shirtless scene, the Austin number and random case there, most of the episode being heavily Sam focused, going through his entire life in a montage?

Anyone else notice the 375 Walker promos, or Jared’s little spiel about Walker and how he hoped SPN fans would “come along for the ride.”

It’s...kinda obvious?  CW wanted to appeal to who they think the key demographic of SPN and Walker is: rural areas in the South.  It would explain a lot, why so much editing, why so Sam focused, the Austin number, the number of Walker promos, all of it.

I’m not saying this is fact, I don’t know that it is, but it is a little suspicious that even in Jared’s panel today, he talked A LOT about Walker and how he hopes SPN fans will watch it.

Why Would the Network Get Involved?

Simply put: $$$

If they think Walker can be the new SPN, and that those crazy SPN fans liked it originally, it’s a lot safer to go with the “original intent” of the show than do something risky (like making one of your two original leads queer).

And?  They don’t care.  They don’t care that the episode didn’t make sense, they don’t care that all the emotional arcs were left hanging, they don’t care by (potentially) smashing together two of Dean’s monologues (one to Sam, one to Cas) that it came of as...gross. ( @curioussubjects​ wrote a beautiful post showing how part of that death speech was likely meant for Dean here).  They don’t care, they never have, they just want to make their money and move on from the too-loud fandom that fought for representation too hard for too long.

It can’t help but feel insidious, which, honestly, it might be, but it really all comes down to the next cash cow, which, they think, is Walker, even at the cost of the fifteen year legacy show.

The Writers and What I Want

So here it is, all this weird, sus shit laid out on the line.  And you know what?  To me, there is no way to blame the writers, because they didn’t want this.

I don’t think Dabb and Bobo would have gone ahead with the confession in 18 without thinking that there would be some closure to that arc, they wouldn’t have done that not only to the fans, but for the sake of their own story as well: no writer wants to start something that they can’t finish. (And this applies to both Cas and Eileen).

Here’s a basic rundown of what I think happened: they had a clear arc from 18-20, ending in reciprocation at some level from Dean, Sam marrying Eileen, Hunter Sam as the new Bobby, Dean in heaven with Cas and big roadhouse reunion at the end. Covid prevented a good amount of that. Network had to stare at big gay 18 for six months, got cold feet. Thought about Walker, target audience and alienation of the rural areas if it went full gay. Misha quarantined and likely shot something (not much), he was then cut by execs and went home. They likely added in lines referencing Eileen and Cas to make it clear but more subtextual. They wrap, editing gets it and hacks it to pieces, so we get a shorter episode that’s mostly montages and jarringly bro-centric with nothing else. Arcs are left hanging. Dabb gets episode but it’s too late, there’s nothing he can do. Actors aren’t told so they can continue to do positive PR for the ending, they all found out at the same time we did: hence almost complete silence about the finale.

And you know what?  They warned us.  I talked about it here, but they’ve been telling us all season that Chuck wasn’t the writer, he’s the network.  I don’t think, still, that they thought it would be cut up like this, into something so unsalvageable that it’s been panned by almost everyone, even people who didn’t care much about Dean and Cas.

Finally, a masterpiece can be ruined by editing, and while I’m not sure even the script they ended up shooting on was a masterpiece (due to the network meddling already), but to me it’s blatantly obvious that it’s no one but the network that caused this, that took away closure for Dean, Cas, and even Sam.

So what do I want?  Nothing really, there’s nothing we can do, but I wrote this mostly to show people that the writers are not your enemy.   In fact, to the people trashing them?  You’re doing exactly what the CW wants you to: blame the obvious targets, blame Misha, blame Jensen and Jared, blame Dabb.  Scream and yell at them on Twitter and about how the show is ruined because of them.  The network keeps their engagement levels high, they don’t get as targeted for their behavior, and just keep moving along.

Just, please, think about who did this,  Mourn the show, be angry, but not at the people who fought tooth and nail for this for literal years, not the people who wanted it more than we did, not the people who cannot say anything because of their careers and the NDAs they’re bound by.

Someone is going to spill eventually, but until then, we just have to wait, and continue to be loud.

[mulderscully]

i feel like... so shitty that i can’t even be excited about eo rn because i feel like it cost me liv and barba’s relationship. it’s not a secret that i ship eo AND barson. i ship them in different ways. i have watched literally every season of svu, and when for a while it really did seem like elliot would never come back, i felt like barba was the only person who felt like a true equal to liv. 

and the thing is, it doesn’t matter if what she had with barba has romantic undertones to it (it did, confirmed by warren leight and raul himself) - he was one of her absolute best friends. he was there for her at her darkest moments, he knows her son since birth - he’s uncle rafa, he held her when that son was kidnapped, and when he did leave the show he facetimed her early so he could be the first to say happy birthday. ffs, their last conversation was about how much they missed each other. he isn’t just a coworker, or a casual friend. he was her best friend. they LOVE each other, however you see it. that’s undeniable.

watching liv tell him that she feels betrayed by him and may never get over it is like a kick to the gut because barba cares about her feelings and opinion so much, he thinks so so so so so highly of her. 

and now, you can literally see his heart break when she says that. and i get that he’s a defense attorney now and this is his job, but i do not believe that the rafael barba i know would take a case that would purposely hurt liv unless his life/family was being threatened and that’s what i am holding out hope for. i see people saying they like shady barba only caring about money, but that is a fundamental misunderstanding of who he is.

and this bring me back to what bothers me the most about this. how every time they bring back barba it’s to destroy his character more and more. see, when i started s13 after not watching for a few years when elliot left, the most exciting thing to me was seeing TWO latinos in the cast. my mom was a lawyer and we are latine, so seeing barba felt like seeing part of myself on that screen. and not as a drug dealer or rapist or one of the witnesses that works at a bodega - as the longest running ada the show has ever had. barba means something to me. 

his character development, from being so brash and distant to someone who cared so much that he couldn’t separate himself from the case was some of the finest work the show has done, i truly mean that. and liv is inherently tied to his development.

and that’s why seeing them bring him back for this just hurts. it hurts in a way that feels oddly personal because it’s like he’s being framed as the villain of this arc (immediately after doing smth similar with amaro) and for WHAT?

i love eo. eo is my first ship. i think they are soulmates and endgame. there is no reason to have barba betray liv in order for that to be true. and the fact that they did so just makes feel really frustrated because i would’ve been so much happier if barba and stabler had just been left in separate spheres.

[nikadd]

ok i know we love to clown on j*rp*d but whenever i think of just. what he had to work with? like i wrote out my thoughts on sam’s storylines here, but i just gotta say that whenever they actually gave sam shit to do that was his actual storyline it was Good. they just kept dropping his storylines in favor of either being reactionary to dean and dean’s arc, or just by poor writing and mishandling of his arc.

here are my thoughts on like. the bare minimum they could have given sam:

more shit for leaving kevin to crowley in s8. OR just delete the entire amelia thing and make him spend a long time trying to save kevin from crowley. OR even Working with crowley. that would also add a dimension to his dislike of benny bc then dean could be like “well, You are working with crowley!!!” and then add more to the crowley thing by the end of s8

to make space for it, as i said, cut the amelia part, and just the entirety of the animal familiar episode

also yes im willing to sacrifice a sam + woman / dean + man parallel for better storytelling.

more interactions with gadreel in s9. make sam be the one who gets gadreel on their side. have sam interact with other angels as well --> a contrast of the first time they met angels in s4 and their reaction to him being a freak vs the angels having fallen and sam having to help them now.

to make space for it, eject gadreel earlier. cut the dean wants to fuck a dog ep. cut the bloodlines ep - except for the “i was here. where were you?” part. easily could be reused in a different ep with different monsters that have a romantic relationship.

EDIT: GIVE THAT LINE TO GADREEL AND ABNER. DONE.

more stuff with rowena in s10. just really get into it. start the witch!sam storyline early. also have demon!dean thing last for longer, so the witchcraft might even be a necessity earlier.

just cut the whole thing of charlie dying to make space for it. and for other reasons as well ofc. OR maybe have sam revive her??? c’mon. like, dean just seeing her die is already impactful for him to get the mark going, so have sam save her right after.

in s11, maybe actually address the lucifer issue??? differently??? with sam being a more active participant in what’s going on??

just. cut down on so many lucifer scenes.

in s12, have sam find out that ketch killed magda. just... just that, and everything that would follow from there. i don’t actually think i necessarily want him to be working with the BMOL, but it’s fine, as long as he knows that ketch killed magda from the very beginning. fuck i have a lot of feelings about magda.

also don’t kill eileen wtf lmao?? like if we still want to keep the plot of sam using witchcraft to bring her back maybe make it more like a coma thing. or if she dies, make it like. a more plot relevant scene. that sam is aware of.

more sam and jack scenes in s13. more comparisons of them being born bc of lucifer’s plans and having to deal with that and being more than their purpose.

loved the gabriel stuff, have more sam & gabriel scenes. have sam bring the mjollnir to the nordic gods’ hideout, we know he still had it.

just. cut down on the lucifer screentime. no one cares.

also? have sam kill lucifer in the end. like ok michael could Help, but it’s sam who should be the one to kill lucifer. literally no one deserves it more.

s14, HAVE THE SAM IS THE LEADER OF THE HUNTERS PLOT LAST FOR LONGER FUCK WHY DO THEY HATE HAVING THINGS LAST.

and also? keep the beard. this might be the hottest take but i liked it. fuck what dean says about it, sam is in his mid30s.

more sam/rowena stuff please.

s15, do more with the connection to chuck. c’monnnn you spent a season making a dean x amara parallel..... give me some sam x chuck parallels. c’mon.

can honestly cut the drag me away from you episode entirely. why was it even a thing? there was no purpose for it

[spneveryseason]

if your fic requests are still open could I request late seasons (like 12-15) psychic sam? maybe with jack either teaching jack about how to use his powers or jack accidentally awakening something in sam? I love love love your fics btw.

Omg thank you! I love this genre of fic so much 😊 this one is set early s13

Like a Punch

“Can you show me?” Jack asks.

Sam pauses, hand hovering over the pencil on the table. “What?”

“The pencil,” Jack says, pointing towards it. “You said you were like me, right? So can you show me how you would move it?”

Sam swallows. “Uh,” He says, pulling his hand back, holding it by his side. “I can’t, Jack.”

Jack looks at him, moves his head sideways. Sam has a sudden pang of Cas from the gesture. “You know,” Jack says, purposefully encouraging. “Dean isn’t here. It’s okay.”

Sam stares at him for a second, then the implications of that hit him. “No,” He chokes out so fast the words almost get lost before they get to his mouth. “No, Dean’s not...Dean’s not the problem. He’s good. It’s just...I literally can’t. I used to be able to, but not anymore.”

“Why?” Jack asks him, wide-eyed.

“I don’t actually know,” Sam says. “Anyway. I never really had what you have. I saw visions of the future, and exorcised demons.” He pauses, then “Well. I did move something once. But...it wasn’t on purpose.”

“It just happened, right?” Jack asks, nodding. “See? I knew you’d understand! We both have the same thing.”

Sam blinks. “Um. Maybe,” He acknowledges. “But I’m sure you’re a lot more powerful than I was. And I was only ever able to do it once. Thirteen years ago. Not since then.”

“Oh no,” Jack says, crestfallen. “You tried and it didn’t work?”

Sam’s about to say yes but...that’s not true, isn’t it? “Not really,” He hedges. “I...I guess I haven’t really tried. Never have.”

“Oh,” Jack says. “Then why did you get me to try, if you don’t think it works?”

Sam’s surprised into a chuckle. “You’re right,” He says. “I don’t know. But you’re more powerful than I am, so I figured you might have an easier time of it. I’m sorry for assuming.”

“Why don’t you try now?” Jack gestures towards the pencil. “Maybe we could practice together!”

“Probably not a good idea,” Sam responds. “My powers are...well. Not from a good place. It’s probably good to just leave that as it is.”

Jack’s face scrunches up. “We’re the same though, right?” He asks. “So are my powers also not from a good place?”

“No!” Sam responds hastily. “No! We got our abilities differently. You were born with yours. I...” Well...he doesn’t know if he wasn’t, not for sure. “I probably wasn’t. It’s different.”

Jack starts to look even more distressed. “So whatever gave you the powers I also have is bad?”

Okay, this was getting out of hand. “No, Jack,” Sam says firmly. “You’re not evil. I promise.”

Jack’s eyes are impossibly wide. “If I’m not evil, then you can’t be either.”

Sam lets that land, settles into it. It’s not fair on Jack, he realizes. It’s not fair that he takes his baggage and projects it on this kid. Just this one time, he can do it. For Jack. “Okay,” He says quietly, ignoring the prickling in the corners of his eyes. “I’ll show you. Let’s try it.”

He sees the moment Jack gets what he’s saying: his face brightens immediately. “Yeah!”

Sam smiles back, feeling it waver. “Okay,” He mutters, turning back to stare at the pencil. “Let’s do this.”

He closes his eyes, lifts out a hand, lets muscle memory take over. He can sense Jack’s concentrated stare as a takes a deep breath, trying to access the feeling that he hasn’t felt in nine years.

Nothing happens. Not even a twinge.

Sam lowers his hand, opening his eyes. “Huh,” he says, frowning. “It’s not working.”

Jack nods. “Yeah,” He says, very world-wise for a days-old Nephlim. “It’s difficult.”

Sam laughs. “Yeah, you were right.”

He examines the pencil again, thinking back to that moment in the closet all those years ago. He frowns. Like a punch...

The exorcisms has never been like that. For them, it was all about the buildup, the connection. The telekinesis had been a burst of energy, barely contained.

He’d been doing it wrong. He’d been trying to exorcise the pencil.

Sam straightens. “I’m gonna try again,” He tells Jack, staring at the pencil. Like a punch, he repeats. Burst of energy. Uncontrolled. Let it out.

It’s hard. He can feel the pressure rising in his head, and can also feel his brain’s panicked response to draw it back in again. Like always. No, He thinks firmly. No. Not this time.

The pressure build and builds and builds, and then now and there’s the concentrated burst and there’s the pencil flying in the air and hitting the wall.

Sam blinks. Jack claps politely.

“That was cool!” He says, as Sam tries to process what he had just seen. “How’d you do it?”

Sam swallows. “I just...hit,” He says. Oh God it’s here it never left you never needed a feather oh God oh God. “You know. Like a punch.”

He doesn’t know if that makes sense, but Jack nods along like it does. “Cool!” he says again. “Will you practice with me later?”

Despite himself, he feels a smile start to grow. “Maybe,” He allows, and then remembers...everything, and rethinks it. “We’ll see.”

Jack smiles and nods, looking like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. And for that, it was worth it.

“Jack,” Sam says, and Jack looks back at him. “Don’t worry about Dean, okay? I’ll talk to him about what he said. I promise.”

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