#i lean more towards them being obviously real but weaker than canon in rewrites but this was a fun thing to think about!

[angsttronaut]

Contemplating the idea of an AU where Starclan and other paranormal stuff is never confirmed to actually exist.

Either we never get a medicine cat POV, or their experiences with the supernatural are somewhat ambiguous. Example: They usually dream of Starclan or the dead at the half-moon meetings, but not always, and the dreams are often weird and fade from their memories like normal dreams, making it hard to tell if they actually received a message, or if the power of suggestion influenced their dreams.

Leaders are still taken to the Moonstone/Moonpool, but they don't get a big Starclan ceremony where they receive nine lives; it's similar to medicine cats, they may have a Starclan themed dream that night, they might not. It's believed Starclan lends them their strength; as far as most cats are concerned, this means leaders live longer and are more likely to recover from wounds that will kill an unblessed cat. However, while some leaders make surprising recoveries from wounds and illnesses that ought to have been fatal, it's unclear if this is actually magic or luck. They're also well protected and treated by their Clan, which may account for their increased lifespan.

The Dark Forest/Place of no Stars is believed in by the cats, but the most anyone might ever see of it is nightmares of a dull, empty-skied woodland. Often, it's cats who feel guilty in some way that have these dreams. No spirits come out to train or hurt them, but every now and again sinister eyes may watch them from afar...

Midnight and Rock probably don't show up. Midnight could maybe work as a badger who learned to speak cat somehow, but I have no idea how Rock could fit into this one.

The Three are very skilled, abnormally so, but they still have clear limitations. Lionblaze is an excellent fighter who rarely gets hurt, but despite terrified rumours in the other Clans, he definitely isn't invincible and can be defeated. Dovewing has strong senses and tends to pick up on things other cats missed because of this, but can't hear things that happen on the other side of the lake. Jayfeather has a talent for guessing what other cats are thinking and feeling, but his guesses can be completely off-base.

Most cats believe in Starclan, but there's way more cats who are unsure or privately atheist. It's not uncommon for leaders and medicine cats to have crises of faith because they aren't having visions like they think they should. One of the things that contributed to Bluestar's breakdown was not witnessing anything Starclan-related at her leadership ceremony, or when she returned to the Moonstone for advice.

Bramblestar's being possessed is a rumour that starts after he gets ill and becomes a different, crueller person afterwards. The belief is that Shadowsight's experimental snow cure to break his fever actually killed him, and without Starclan watching over them a malign spirit entered his body. Not everyone believes this is what caused his change in personality, but it's especially popular in Shadowclan, where Shadowsight experiences many terrifying visions of a shadow looming over Bramblestar's corpse.

[eisforeidolon]

Episode: Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes

I think I'm just going to end up damning this one with faint praise:  it was definitely better than last week's.  I do honestly feel I'd appreciate this episode more if it was in a different season, but when you start every week wondering is this even going to try to make sense? you're constantly left looking for the point where it all goes south.  And that makes what might otherwise be entirely forgivable hiccups stand out more than they probably should.

I did love seeing the twins again!  I loved the family dynamic between the two of them with the bickering up front and clear love later as well as the dynamic between them and their mother.  I liked how Max went straight for praising Dean's car, because there's not many better ways to make Dean's day.  I thought it was an interesting choice to make only one of the twins a witch.  The acting from all three of the guests was fantastic – especially Max's dismissal and guilty horror when they find out what's going on and Alicia's worry and the confusion of her simulacrum at the end - all of it was well written and expertly brought to life.  The visual effects for all the witchcraft stuff were gorgeous, and the villain witch and her twig dolls were just as creepy as I could have possibly wanted.  The way they presented the mystery of showing us that Tasha was killed and then showing Tasha seemingly alive again was a well-executed twist that had me wondering.  I liked the paralleling with Sam and Dean's sibling relationship.  Heck, I even thought the title was really clever, referencing the witch's specific power.  And hey, at least Dean got to kill something again this week!  I also can't help but feel the Winchesters purposely left Max there with the ring and his sister's body and left that decision to him knowing he might make the extreme choice.  It, combined with their conversation in the car, was a great (and somewhat unusual) moment of self-awareness that they really can't judge the extremes anyone else might go to.  

Although I did seriously wonder why, if Max could burn his sister's actual body at the end, the witch was keeping all her old kills just laying around stinking up the place?  I mean if it was just the last kill, it'd be one thing, but one of 'em had been dead long enough to have missing posters!  Yeah, she could be just sloppy or crazy enough to not give a hoot, but it bugged me a little how transparently it seemed done just to solve the mystery easily.  I also think the episode leaves a lot of hanging questions about just how much the dolls have of the original person.  Personality?  Yeah.  Soul?  ?  Adding in that the power comes from a demon and may be corruptive along with the siblings clashing personalities at the beginning likely leading to a temptation to use the ability for control the spell gives ... Which doesn’t even mention the part where it’s a baffling disappointment they kill one of the twins and their mother before the BMOL cull even kicks off and when Rapey McBitchface, Blonde Scrappy Doo, and the Groundhog Angel all have seemingly impenetrable plot armor.

Also, I'm not impressed with the idea of deal-making demons so sloppy they'd make a deal that would allow witches to cheat at the last minute.  That seems contrary to everything we've seen about demon deals in the past, and I hate every instance of them making the demons and angels weaker to prop up whatever lesser player is around any given week. Still, there was definitely a lot worthy of praise in the MotW parts of the episode.

As to the rest of it, well, it was more mixed for me.  They've done a lot of surface-level callbacks to catchphrases and moments from earlier seasons.  Some have worked really, really well.  Some have just felt super cheap, and for me, the whole 'hunting trip' line fell flat. Likewise, bringing back pretty much anything from Bloodlines can only be a mistake, especially that shifter rewrite nonsense.  Way to go writers, take something that actually makes your canon unique and creepy and fuckin' toss it.  Bravo.  Also, when Dean is the one traditionally most mechanically inclined and has been more often shown dealing with their weapons and equipment, why is it presented as if it's on Sam, specifically, to try and fix the Colt?  They seem to be leaning heavily towards giving only Dean the desire/ability to express negative feelings, and only Sam the ability to be effective - and it's a mutual disservice in both cases.

Furthermore, the Winchesters just worrying about Cas being taken over again is annoying, because it so blatantly (and unfortunately not unexpectedly) skips right over all the shit he did when it was his choice.  Yeah, if we're going with them considering Cas “family”, getting his ass un-whammied is more pressing than being pissed at him.  Still.  How many times do we have to do this and just have the Winchesters shrug it off?  Even if Cas' betrayals of them were unarguably on an equal level with Sam and Dean's of each other, which isn’t given *coughhellwallcough*?  The two of them actually spend an insane amount of time together in between major relationship fractures – giving them a chance of building their mutual trust back.  Castiel usually flits off until the next time he's due to fuck up after a vague apology and occasional effort at reparations the Winchesters have to force him into.  It leaves the idea of them being family coming off as more and more like a joke every time, and not the funny kind.  Sure, they’re limited by the fact Misha is a regular rather than a lead, but the answer is to not give Castiel huge unforgivable idiot balls all the freakin’ time.

Then, of course, we have the BMOL stuff.  Yeah, I honestly want to throw up in my mouth a little every time someone parrots how Mary is such a ~*great hunter*~.  Worse, I do not give a fuck how many times they try to present her as being a “parent” who is disappointing because she's “just people”.  NO.  She's disappointing because she has zero consideration for her kids!  She abandoned them by choice without communicating for long stretches, actively chose to deceive them about working with people employing a personal enemy who tortured them, and intentionally endangered their lives to grab an object the BMOL apparently didn't even have specific plans for.  And then she tried to guilt them for being upset about it!  That's not being fallible, that's, again, actively choosing to be a callous asshole.  Mary hasn't chosen to move towards actually getting to know and caring for her sons as real people rather than abstract concepts, and in turn I can't be bothered to care about Mary – which leaves so much of this episode falling flat for me.  

I mean, some of it would anyway, because anyone who spends five minutes with Ketch and can't figure out he's a sadist probably shouldn't be capable of tying their own shoes.  Obviously the writers want her to suddenly care, so bam! she does.  I mean, they do give her a great fight scene – and it really is a good one! - but when I can't even care about Mary for the sake of her being someone not-actively-screwing-over her sons?  Eh, whatever, wake me when Toni's dead.

I do hope the whole thing with Mary finding Mick's conveniently undisposed body in a place she can access and seeing the wall o' hunters that all happen to be people she knows (or her sons know) is an intentional set up by Ketch to flush out her loyalties.  Rather than, you know, the most ridiculous convergence of coincidence and timing in quite a while.  Since Ketch is waiting right outside the door for her, I'll give them some benefit of the doubt on that one.  

So overall, yeah.  Way better than last week, but that’s a low bar to clear.