#edit: i just realised i used ETA wrong. do not point it out to me i do not respect the english language /lh

[prime-adeptus]

TOPPED UP AND LOCKED IN WE WILL BE FARMING!!!!!!!

[almaasi]

reaction post typed while watching SPN 14x02 “Gods and Monsters”

Cas gives the softest, most loving advice, full of character growth, and hello yes where’s the petition for me to adopt him as my angel dad

03:13pm

the title reminds me of Lana Del Rey’s song of the same name, and/or the cover of the song from American Horror Story, and by extension, that song has reminded me of Cas in purgatory ever since purgatory became a thing. i used to sing that song to my rat Barty, definitely up there in my favourite songs of all time

-

oh no this is a deadly duo episode

immediate dread

hrhrhhhhhhh

please don’t make me hate the song

-

03:15pm

here we go

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03:18

michael!dean: “yyeeesss... good boy”

on the one hand, yes dean please do praise other men like that while giving them something to drink, please do that a lot

but on the other hand NOT THEIR OWN BLOOD PLEASE and it would be great if you had their consent and you weren’t possessed while doing it

in other words: yes but NO but yes

file thing under sexy things i would rather came with a different context

-

03:22

bobby: "voracity”

mmm good word

-

03:24

sam: “cas you know why you can’t come with us, right?”

cas: “my angelic presence will be sensed by michael, thereby nullifying your hopes of a sneak attack”

okay while that’s probably true, WHAT a buLLSHIT REASON TO KEEP CAS AWAY FROM DEAN BECAUSE IT’LL END UP BEING ANOTHER “I LOVE YOU PLEASE FIGHT THIS AND COME BACK TO ME” SCENE

like i know people were complaining cas was kind of useless last episode but THIS TAKES IT TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

YEAH LET’S JUST DO A SNEAK ATTACK AGAINST A SUPER-POWERED ANGEL MANIAC WITHOUT THE MOST POWERFUL ALLY WE HAVE

great idea

last episode’s uselessness was kind of explainable and excusable but this one was just like “hey let’s point out exactly what we’re doing under the guise of a real reason”

-

03:28

cas: “nick is *chuckles* just a mess”

sam: “it’s not his fault”

H

WHAT

HOW DOES CAS NOT ALREADY KNOW IT’S NOT NICK’S FAULT

CAS IS MADE OF EMPATHY

WHAT

unless the squint is cas’ surprise that sam understands nick’s predicament

-

03:32

nick: “i don’t get how i could let lucifer possess me”

um.... victim blaming much

cas: “you were in a lot of pain, and lucifer saw a vulnerability, and he exploited it”

this is probably destiel tbh, given lucifer possessed cas for half a season and basically used that time to mess with dean’s feelings

-

03:35

bobby: “if they were doa, do you have an eta on tod?”

i probably watch too many murder mysteries if i knew what that meant before i even realised he was using acronyms

LIVER TEMP

-

03:38

aww but isn’t this cute?? sam gets to run a case with his mom and his kind-of-dad <3 <3 <3

FAMILY BONDING OVER DEAD BODIES

...i.e. my family yesterday

-

03:40

you know, i just realised what bothered me about sam saying “you know why you need to stay behind, right cas?”

it’s not the fact cas stays behind, because he’s clearly needed here in the bunker, and he gets his story, and he gets to do stuff, and we get to see soft caring cas. so i’m not mad.

but what bothers me is the... i guess condescension from sam? not in his voice, since jared acted just right, but in the script. the fact sam had to give a reason, and ask if cas knew why. and it could’ve just been cas saying “hey you know what, i don’t wanna screw up your mission, i’ll stay”

and maybe sam could’ve argued a little and then cas puts his foot down and say no (and maybe cas doesn’t want to see dean possessed because it’ll hurt too much)

 that would’ve read better to me

-

03:45

how the hell do they have old books on angels in the bunker library??? before angels showed up in season 4 nobody saw them for years???? and i thought there were no books on them

how does jack come up with figures like “a month” to replenish archangel grace

-

03:47

jack: “what did you have left?”

cas: “well - i had sam and dean”

the way he says that makes me smile

and i love that this season they seem to be going for a “cas knows he’s loved” thing

cas: “just basic me.... as dean would say, without all the bells and whistles”

<3 <3 <3

-

03:49

“the past... is important, but it’s not as important as where you’re going”

can cas be my dad pls

-

03:51

oh nick has muscle memory defence mechanisms leftover from lucifer

-

03:52

cas: “even though he’s departed, there may still be some of his influence within you”

i snorted... “influence”

spn conventions ruined that word

i can’t imaging misha got through that line without making dirty jokes at least 5 times

-

03:57

*crosses fingers* pLEASE LET THIS ELEGANT BROWN LADY IN THE RED DRESS NOT DIE HORRIBLY and/or be raped or something

i don’t trust a red dress, too close to a red shirt

-

04:00

micheal: “now... summon your master”

oh no is this gonna be another one of those familiar-is-a-brown-person-and-the-white-master-has-sex-with-them things

(sidenote edit after watching this episode: i feel like the deadly duo has been sliiiiightly less racist and sexist in recent episodes they’ve written? i mean a woman died this episode and a background black dude, but i wonder if they’re Trying Hard and i’m (we’re?) ignoring progress because of past mistakes. still not a fan, but... i sense something a little different here. just a bit??? mayhaps. could be wrong. time will tell.)

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04:04

cas: “in all my thousands of years... what happened to jimmy novak.. is my greatest regret”

for reasons unknown this became my favourite cas moment this season so far

-

04:06

there’s a lot of jensen in michael’s expressions, it’s weird

-

04:08

also feeling weird about the fact michael seduced a woman to get to her male boss??

if he could track down that lady, why wouldn’t he just straight-up track down the dude instead? i mean, besides heteronormativity and establishing michael as Straight

but then again, maybe it’s a bisexual subtext

he acts like he wants the woman but actually wants the man

okay, that makes more sense, way less weird now

-

04:11

jack: “mrs kline?”

HE JUST MET HIS GRANDMOTHER

I IMMEDIATELY WANT GRANDMA & GRANDSON ADVENTURES AND BOSS BATTLES

-

04:18

i love this shot

thank u richard speight jr

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04:21

NO DON’T TELL CAS THINGS ABOUT DEAN DYING IT WILL HURT HIM A LOT

-

you know what, at some point this season i wanna see cas bawling his eyes out and ugly crying because of dean

but then being happily reunited with him and everything is fine

(and then they kiss)

-

04:24

oooooh boy maybe nick’s friend was the murderer, that flicker in his face gave it away.........

nick’s gonna murder him isn’t he

and then trigger something and have some kind of ex-lucifer power

which is gonna cause a huge fuss but at some point is gonna be directed at michael

-

04:32

oop no, nick was maybe the murderer, and his friend saw him coming out and was trying to protect him.

fffffffffffffffffffascinating

-

well it’s over~

not a bad episode? favourite bit was cas imparting good advice, and jack being jack, and then dean talking to sam at the end

probably not an episode i’ll remember a single thing about in 2 months, besides gifsets of cas from this episode showing up in character growth compilations on my dash for the next 5 years

but a decent bridging episode between the last part of the story and the next, i think

i guess this season’s starting slow and working up to something, and it’s clearly going somewhere. i await more lady characters having episodes of their own, and fun monster of the week episodes with team free will ?? please and thank. in general they’re the best ones imo

also... i thought of this while jack was talking to his grandparents: i kind of feel like they’re trying to wrap some loose ends up, just a bit. the season-4-onwards story seems to be coming full circle with michael and lucifer, i think sam will probably end up being some sort of vessel for lucifer (?) at some point, again

but that’s a theory and there’s no telling what direction anything is gonna go in, given the track record of setting up plots and then not following through

not as bad as merlin though, nothing will ever top the lack of follow-through like merlin did. still salty so many years later

but ?? i am not disappointed by this episode so that’s good right

8.5/10 maybe

OKAY COOL

[rowdyprofessor]

Your thoughts on the dupatta scene ? I read the synopsis but was hoping for more, not necessarily condemnation but a bit more I guess. I am on the point of leaving the show I was so outraged, but it is a show, just a show. Is there a moral obligation for the makers of the show ? Am I overthinking ? You are good at analyzing. Please help me analyze the scene more if you can with symbolism if there is a thing that I am not seeing in this scene ?

Hello :)

I’ve broken your ask up because there’s a lot to address :)

Your thoughts on the dupatta scene ?

It was intense! I think it was a brilliant performance by Sobti. So far this series has showcased the breadth and depth of his acting brilliantly, and shown us how much he’s grown as an actor since he was last on a daily show.

I can understand freezing in panic but I thought Chandni acted oddly. Normally people would try to get the danger as far away from them as possible, she just screamed and cried like she did in the promo.

This is one of the first times I’m watching something where the male lead actively tries to hurt the female lead. I’ve seen male leads do horrible things in moments of anger but this cold, calculated pursuit of revenge is new for me.

Overall, it was a very powerful sequence. My favourite part was how Aday looked at Chandni as he was stamping out the fire. 

I read the synopsis but was hoping for more, not necessarily condemnation but a bit more I guess.

By “synopsis” do you mean my Saat Soch post or something else?

If you are referring to my post then I’d just like to point out that Saat Soch posts are not intended to be analysis. They’re my thoughts, in real time, with a few bits of research thrown in. Granted, they’re not liveblogs, but they’re not recaps either – they’re somewhere in between.

It may help you to think of them as conversation starters. I invite any and all comments in my askbox so we can discuss, theorise, and dissect :)

Now, when I first read this ask I interpreted this part as “I am disappointed that you didn’t say what I expected.” That upset me a little - the idea that I cannot use my own blog how I wish - but the more I thought about it, the more I felt that your words were more along the lines of “I respect your opinion a lot and was disappointed that you didn’t comment on this.”

I understand the feeling when you admire someone and respect their opinion, and you read their posts hoping that they’ll say a certain thing or comment on something and then … they don’t.

I’m not infallible. I will make mistakes. And sometimes I’ll say something, or fail to say something when I really should have. So I apologise for behaving in such a way that compelled you to message me with disappointment.

I am on the point of leaving the show I was so outraged, but it is a show, just a show.

If the show is upsetting you this much, then I think it would be best if you didn’t watch it. It doesn’t matter if it’s just a show – if you engage in something that upsets you five days a week, for the foreseeable future, it’s going to have a negative impact on your life.

In my opinion, it would be a waste of your mental and emotional energy, not to mention your time. You can spend those 30 minutes doing something you enjoy instead :)

Is there a moral obligation for the makers of the show ? Am I overthinking ?

I don’t think you’re overthinking. I answered a question on this topic here on PS, please take a look :) 

From my point of view, there is very little to be gained by commenting on how wrong and horrible Advay’s character sketch is. We’ve known this show is dark, unapologetically dark, since it came onto our radars. All the promotional material showed Advay using fire to destroy Chandni. Advay has talked about tearing her down, about making her suffer, about making her life into a living Hell.

We’re all watching this show knowing that Advay is a mad, dangerous man who will hurt Chandni in the pursuit of revenge. Advay is wrong. I don’t think there’s any dispute over that. You are absolutely correct in drawing a line and saying that you refuse to support this crap.

I realise that by creating a blog and talking about the show, by creating posts and gifsets and answering questions about it, I am supporting the show. Maybe not directly by contributing to its ratings and funding, but it’s still support no matter where I watch it or how I talk about it, even if all my talk was negative.

Publicity and support are about reach, not about intent.

For me, the draw of the series is Sobti’s performance. I want to know what makes Advay tick. I don’t mind watching horrible people do horrible things as long we all understand that they are horrible. Which means that I want the serial to portray Advay as a villain instead of an anti-hero.

I don’t want him to get a happy ending with Chandni. I want this show to be an intelligent look at the line between anti-hero and villain, and show us a villain who doesn’t get the happy ever after.

I doubt I’m going to get that, but that’s another story for another day.

You are good at analyzing. Please help me analyze the scene more if you can with symbolism if there is a thing that I am not seeing in this scene ?

Thank you so much for your compliment :) I don’t think there is anything that you’ve missed, but I will share what I saw.

I saw Advay calculate his moves. I saw him use every word and gesture in a precise, decisive way. It was scary because it wasn’t the hot-headed, reactive anger I’m used to seeing in male leads. This was cold.

I also saw menace. I saw a man pretend to be a saviour when he was the cause of the danger in the first place. I saw a man willing to do horrible things to achieve his ends.

I saw a desire to destroy Chandni’s purity, honour, and innocence in the way he stamped on her dupatta, which is unsurprising given the way his mother was immolated in front of him. This is a man who has let his anger and betrayal and hurt fester for sixteen years, who is mistakenly projecting it onto someone who doesn’t even seem to remember what she did. 

I saw symbolism in the gesture of offering his jacket as protection. Though the gesture was fake, I believe the interpretation is real – he will be her protector in the end.

This is the thesis of the show: Advay is both tormentor and protector, both Raavan and Ram. He is Shiva; the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer all at once.

I saw something gentler once she’d fainted. A realisation of how innocent she seems, and perhaps …. even a desire for her to be as innocent as she looks. I saw a man who doesn’t trust his feelings, who doesn’t even seem to be aware of them, but nonetheless a man who still feels. A man who held her head in a gesture of care while he threatened her.

Remember that Advay was introduced to us as a man who rescues puppies. This doesn’t mean he’s a good man or excuse his behaviour, but it means that his words and actions are often in direct contradiction with one another. And this is one of the most compelling parts of the show so far, in my eyes.

ETA: Edited to make my last statement clearer in its intent after receiving an ask from someone who was upset by it.