#it should take 4 days to finish if i watch 10 episodes a day but i might start it next tuesday i need a little break from watching stuff rn

[diobrando]

Oh BTW I watched lovelycomplex&kamisamakiss since making that post about shoujo anime

[defeateddetectives]

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

thank youuu @coquelicoq for the tag! yes this is an entire month late because of who i am as a person :'D

3 ships you like: actually gonna give some real estate to the ones i have NOT been rotating nonstop on this space like a rotisserie chicken lately to mix things up!

1) hiyakawa/mikado (the night beyond the tricornered window) - a plug for my tiny, spooky, hilarious and obscure af manga series that blindsided me with its pathos (and because i want everyone to read it and then create some very niche fan-content for me specifically! :D wait who said that!) emotionally oblivious loser 4 emotionally oblivious loser!!! except they're emotionally oblivious in fun, complementary ways! their whole journey is absolutely bonkers and unexpectedly heartfelt, and yes, exorcism should be this hot always!

2) natsume/tanuma (natsume yuujinchou) - i know that no one will believe me when i say that this is still THE natsume yuujinchou ship to me at the end of the day! something something if i loved it less i might be able to talk about it more! but lonely kids finding one another and making each other's lives SO MUCH BETTER solely for existing in each other's orbit and being such a paragon of healthy, functional communication and trust and growing connection that still floors me to this day (and with such courage and eloquence that most adults still cannot manage...i say...sideeyeing two v specific adults)!!! theirs was the thread that pulled me into the series to begin with (i literally just watched all the tanuma eps on first pass) and i'm still so grateful for them and everything about them

3) jack rackham/anne bonny (black sails) - platonic/queerplatonic/romantic/whichever combo or other nebulous way you slice it! THE soulmates of all time that haunt me on the regular and really said to the audience: watch us take your expectations and definitions and parameters of love, joyfully smash it to smithereens, and create something so tremendously unrecognizable and beautiful. truly partners till they put us in the fucking ground!!!

first ship ever: the first fanfic i stumbled upon in my life featured taichi and yamato from digimon adventure. i still remember this because it was interspersed with an edit of yamato in a dress and posted on ye olde personal webpages and shown to me by a school friend, both of us looking like the :o face incarnate. we were Babies. it was a Time. i don't even think i knew what a ship was at the time but hashtag formative things!

last song you heard: it's been a grimes & janelle monae - venus fly kinda day

favourite childhood book: soft spot for whitechurch by chris lynch forever. i think i read it maybe in high school? it rewired my brain and is probably a huge part of why i am the way i am/write the way i do subconsciously.

currently reading: does vi bullying me into danmei count? in which case, global examination....at snail's pace. in this house we love and appreciate a good arson!

currently watching: recently started rewatching the original a:tla for the first time since it finished airing after trying and failing miserably with the live action :( only a few episodes in but augh its still so good and some things hit even harder with foreknowledge. there will never really be another character arc like zuko's ever again.

currently consuming: a smoothie! i've discovered i am a fan of almond butter when dunked in a blender with berries, yogurt and milk. 11/10 would recommend!

currently craving: earlier today i was daydreaming of bbq so let's go with that

super low pressure tagging @endless-season @half-infinite @argyros @fadedclxssic @caroline-hill @kastellaran @doubleboyfriend @constastan @spookirou and as always, everyone is welcome to steal

[study-with-aura]

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

I was surprised to see someone wanted to see more of my handwriting but delighted too, so feel free to check out that earlier post. It is merely close ups of these notes and some from past but recent notes. It was another long day again, but I was happy to have a review day for geometry. I looked over all the combinatorics and probability stuff again mostly since that seems to be my current struggle. As of tomorrow, I am going into straight cumulative study from what it looks like. To think that I will be finished in just a little over 20 week days is crazy! However, I am also ready for my summer break because I am so excited for my summer trip and camp and the summer variations intensive. There is so much to look forward to!

Tasks Completed:

Geometry - Review day!

Lit and Comp II - Reviewed Unit 24 vocabulary + read Act 3 Scenes 4-5 of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare + read modern translation of same scenes + typed up a page about Beatrice for a 10 minute writing challenge + completed first draft of my literary analysis for Emma (due Friday) + began editing first draft

Spanish 2 - Reviewed vocabulary + watched lecture video on the future tense + practice activity

Bible I - Read 1 Samuel 20

World History - Reviewed World War II Terms + answered five question sets dealing with World War II

Biology with Lab - Read through virus vocabulary + copied microorganism vocabulary terms that I have to know for a coming up quiz

Foundations - Read the definition of tolerance + completed next quiz on Read Theory + took notes on how an outline of a persuasive speech should be written + read Winston Churchill's "We shall fight them on the beaches" speech

Piano - Practiced for two hours in one hour split sessions

Khan Academy - Completed World History Unit 6: Lesson 10 (parts 6-9)

CLEP - None today

Streaming - Watched Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War episode 1

Duolingo - Studied for 15 minutes (Spanish, French, Chinese) + completed daily quests

Reading - Read pages 260-293 of Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Chores - None today

Activities of the Day:

Personal Bible Study (John 14)

Ballet

Variations

Journal/Mindfulness

What I’m Grateful for Today:

I am grateful that we still had good weather today because tomorrow, we are not supposed to.

Quote of the Day:

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

-Winston Churchill, (but apparently falsely attributed to him)

🎧Drei Romanzen (Three Romances) Op. 21 - Clara Wieck-Schumann

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Currently Watching - February

Because I love a good little list - in alphabetical order! 😊

Regularly updated during the month, latest update 28.02.2023

This may contain spoilers!

1. Bed Friend (2/8 on iQiyi)

The trauma is strong in this one! As is the tension and longing looks of King. Do you have feelings for me? Should ask yourself, buddy. But it is interesting and the first episode was promising.

2. Bokura no Micro na Shuumatsu aka The End Of the World With You (5/8 on Gaga or Viki)

This feels depressing and heartbreaking and I love it! Done right this can become a little sad gem. This is way more explicit than I thought...and there are so many plot twists! Now we have the supernatural element and the boy can influence the weather? What else is there to come?

3. Boyband (1/6 on Youtube)

And so they decided it is no longer free with subs on youtube...why starting with the first epsiode, when you can't keep up with it?

4. Chains of Heart (2/10 on iQiyi)

Cinematography and scenery - stunning! Really pretty and dark and atmospheric. The plot - I don't get it yet? I really have no clue who some of those people are and what is going on. The acting? Everything between okay and cringy. And there are some scenes which are so damn fucking long! Unnecessary long!

5. History 5 (9/10 on Viki)

I hate it here.

5. Island Part 2 (2/6)

It starts where part one ended and I really appreciate we got to see something from their past! There was so much to explain and they finally did it. Great first two episodes.

6. Moonlight Chicken (6/8 on Youtube)

I love EarthMix so much and I missed them and now I am just so happy they are back and damn they are fine! I felt so shy watching the first episode. Let me just sit here with a huge grin on my face. I won't be normal for the next few weeks...and GeminiFourth are so lovely too and took over the whole show for me! Oh this series is so good.

7. Tin Tem Jai (1/10 on Gaga)

I don't know when I am going to drop it, but the first episode was...not that good. I have no idea what is happening and why this little girl is everywhere...I just...I don't know...And Park looks annoyed like everytime he is on screen...

8. Utsukushii Kare Season 2 (3/4 on Gaga and Viki)

Yeah, I like it. And today my heart broke together with Kiyoi's.

Finished in February

Series

1. The New Employee (7/7 on Viki)

I thought it would be 8 episodes, but apparently there are only 7. Fine by me. I liked this one a lot. It felt mature and they did great with the communication. It is Woo Seung Hyun's first relationship, so of course he is sometimes a little bit overwhelmed and shy, but he learns and trusts and Kim Jong Chan helps him and also learns so much in the progress and they both are just so perfect for each other. It is a 8,5 out of 10 for me.

2. Love at the End of the World (9/9 on Gaga)

What the actual fuck have I just watched...I left my best friend 20!!! voice messages while watching this. Some scenes left me speechless, some depressed and some I couldn't take serious. I don't know why it had to be this graphic, but okay. The end of the world is near and we accompany four different couples through their last days on earth. And those last days are fucked up, just as this movie and its plot twists are. It is a 6,5 out of 10 for me, because sometimes I just like a fucked up story.

3. It's okay not to be okay (16/16 on Netflix - no bl)

I am not okay and that is totally okay...the moment Kim Soo-hyun smiled it blew me away and the acting and the story hit me with all its force and I am in love with this series. I love it so fucking much! I don't know how to get on from it right now. This series has such powerful messages and I love all the characters and all the ups and downs and all my painful tears and happy tears I shed, I love every moment, every single emotion I felt while watching it. So fucking good. If I could, I would give this 100/10, and yes, this is my blog and I can do what I want, but let's keep it real, I'll stick to my rating: This is clearly a 10 out of 10 for me.

4. Work from heart (7/7 on Youtube)

Well, this one was...cringy and boring? And the pacing was something else. I liked the chemistry between the main, but everything felt a little bit rushed. The ending was unexpected heated. The ex was a big red flag and really annoying at some point. 5,5 out of 10 for me

5. Individual Circumstances (8/8 on Viki)

After years spending their lives apart from each other an almost worn out movie director and a famous writer meet again. The past has to be processed and the writer deals with their history and present in one of his stories. It started strong and overall I like it, but what was that kiss in the end? Korea you can do better, we know that! It is a 7 out of 10 for me.

6. Ameiro Paradox (8/8 on Gaga)

Well it had its moments, but sometimes there was just no progress. It started in a good way, but I just lost interest halfway through. But it is not a bad series, just a little bit boring from time to time. A 6 out of 10 for me.

7. I Will Knock You (12/12 on Gaga)

Not gonna lie, I had my problems with this one. I can understand where people come from when they say it is good, because I get the message and that is a really beautiful one. Don't judge people without knowing anything about them. To change is not always bad. Some people can bring out the best in you and love doesn't judge and I guess some more, I can't think of right now. I enjoyed the second half of the series. But till the end, I didn't like the characters that much. So for me this is a 7 out of 10.

8. Sh**ting Stars (16/16 on Viki - no bl)

This is one of those dramas that put a huge smile on my face. I really liked it! It is funny and cute and Gong Tae Sung is the biggest, softest puppy in love out there! He is just so awwww! It is a good 9,5 out of 10 for me.

9. Lonely Connections (6/6 on Gaga)

This series left a feeling of solitude in my soul. I have to let you go, so you can be with the one who loves you. This series shows different kinds of romantic and sexual relationships, the different types of love and desire. Does it mean I love you when I have sex with you? Can I love someone and still desire someone else? At some point it is very explicit, so not for everyone. I liked the tone of the series. It is very artsy. Overall 7,5 out of 10 for me.

10. The Love that Dare Not Speak Its Name (6/6 on Gaga)

Well this was a quick one with a runtime of round about 15 minutes in total! But it told a whole story. The acting was a bit stiff and the dialogues were not that good. It is the story of two roommates who become friends and best friends and one day, out of the blue, one of them confesses. Well yeah...I really like the titel! 5,5 out of 10 for me.

11. Move to Heaven (10/10 on Netflix - non bl)

This is such a little gem. I have cried for like 8 hours straight. Such a fucking good and touching story! I want a second season! Now! But it is really a beautiful drama about growth and family and love and grief. One of the easiest 10 out of 10 ever!

12. Physical: 100 (9/9 on Netflix, non bl)

Well this was fun. Most of the fun came from watching with my best friend, but still. My last favorite came in third, so I am not that dissappointed 😅 and damn all of the contestens were strong af! I won't rate it, because, I don't know how 😅

13. Red Balloon (8/8 on Gaga)

Gaga is going to kick out a bunch of movies and series, among others also this series, so I took time today to watch it. It was sweet and heartbreaking and brutal and sad. It deals with a bunch of homophobia and mobbing and that was difficult to watch, especially because non of the teachers would really help...that was so frustrating. 7,5 out of 10 for me.

14. My School President (12/12 on Youtube)

It hurts so much to put it in my completed folder. This was such a wholesome series. There were no unnecessary cliffhangers, no unnecessary drama. The communication was superb! The characters were so well written and the character growth is just chef's kiss. I love every singel second of this series and I will come back to it, if I need something to comfort me. Because it is just wholesme and lovely and healing. And Tinn is the biggest, cutest green flag walking in bl-land. I adore him. I give it 20 out of 10, because that is what its deserve.

15. Never let me go (12/12 on Youtube)

I like this one. Yes, there were plotlines I don't understand. Palm, why did you have to leave, again? Just stay together, because alone both of you are unhappy! The best part of this one was definitive the chemistry between Pond and Phuwin. Those two did a really great job! 8 out of 10 for me

Short Film

1. Table Manner (on Gaga)

This one...I don't like it that much. It was a little bis boring. There was a sweet kiss, but the story was just not that interesting. 5,5 out of 10 for me

2. Plus Minus (on Gaga)

Not to be msitaken with the taiwanese Plus & Minus, this one is a Pinoy short film with a confusing plot. The time line is not linear and most of the times I didn't know when the scene took place. 5 out of 10 for me.

3. Firsts (on Gaga)

For everything there is a first time. Problems occure when you can't deny your desires anymore, when there is no going back for you. Then you have to be true to yourself. You can't pretend forever and you have to make a choice. A great short film that displays the intimacy and vulnerability really good through words and actions. 8 out of 10 for me

4. Pure Vanilla (on Youtube)

Such a sweet short film, just as the titel promised. Two coworkers who have feelings for each other, but don't know if the other person feels the same. Really cute. 9 out of 10 for me

5. One Afternoon (on Gaga)

It is a quiet short film with not much talking, but nevertheless is it quite intense. It is a different point of view than we usually get. We see most of the film through the eyes of the younger brother and how he deals with discovering that his brother loves another man. 7 out of 10 points.

Movie

1. Tinted with you (Viki)

A historical drama with time travelling and some really nice scenery. It is always difficult to tell a good time travel story. At some point I just had to stop thinking about all the problems which could come with the things they did, but okay. It is not a bad bl, but a little bit boring. For me it is a 6,5 out of 10.

Dropped/On Hold in February

1. Cutie Pie 2: You (2/4 on Youtube)

Oh this is so boring! I couldn't bring myself to watch any further, even though it only has four episodes and I watched with double speed...I was in love with the first season, before it lost me on the way with its sugary, lovey dovey washed story and this second one is just...no. I can do so much more with my time...

Looking forward to in February

Moonlight Chicken (Feb 8th)

Utsukushii Kare Season 2 (Feb 8th)

Marry My Dead Body (Feb 10th)

Egoist (Feb 10th)

Moments of Love (Feb 14th)

Boyband (Feb 16th)

Jack Frost (Feb 17th)

Bed Friend (Feb 18th)

Chains Of Heart (Feb 18th)

Island Season 2 (Feb 24th)

Tin Tem Jai (Feb 27th)

Café in Love

A Shoulder To Cry On (-Viki and Youtube page were created)

The Luminous Solution

Future

[lurkingteapot]

bad buddy fandom getting-to-know-you meme!

tagged by @mahuhumaling and @galauvant, meme created by @fiercynn

note: i consider "fanworks" to pretty much everything people create related to a fandom, including but not limited to meta/analysis/discussion, gifs, fanvids/edits/fancams, filk, fanart, fanfic, fan food, fan crafts, etc. please include this note with the meme unless you have a different definition!

name and whatever you want to share about yourself I'm tpt! 30s, queer, brainweird, language nerd, been reading BL and slash and other queer lit since before the turn of the millennium and probably (hopefully) never gonna stop.

when did you watch bad buddy/join the fandom? I watched the first episode the day after it aired. Went in knowing nothing about it except the English title, which I thought was thoroughly unappealing, and the promo image. Came out of ep 1 convinced Paa was the only person with any sense on the entire show, but sufficiently intrigued (ointment sharing! Line ID shenanigans!) to keep watching. So I watched as it aired from ep 2, and when the bus stop scene rolled around, I blocked the airing time slot out in my calendar so I could watch live (which didn't work out for ALL eps, but … close enough). I did find a regular group to squee with after ep 5, but didn't really interact with fandom beyond that little bit of squeeing with friends and looking at fan art until after ep 9, I think. This was the first Thai BL show I watched week to week, and that also made it special to me.

favorite ship(s) Pat/Pran.

favorite character(s) Used to be Pran no contest, but Pat worked his way into my heart in the later episodes. couldn't choose now. they're all favourites.

favorite episode(s) I really love episodes 3-5 and 10/11. but honestly I love the show as a whole, and the episodes in the context they exist in. Except for the gun subplot.

favorite scene(s)  the opening sequence of ep 2! also episode 3 bus stop scene (and Pat's way of accomodating Pran in it), ep 4 sleepover scene, ep 5 Pat's realisation/the fight, ep 6 gate convo scene, ep 8 fight/apology scene, ep 9 hand-holding scene, ep 10 Our Song teaser scene and confrontation scenes, ep 11 affirmation/we got to go back scene and wishful thinking sequence, ep 12 bar scene.

one thing you would change about the show if you could I'd adjust the pacing of ep 12 so the fake-out is a smaller part of the whole thing proportionally.

what are your some of your favorite fanworks made by other people? It's really hard to pick. I love SO MANY. Even just the authors whose fic I list here have written more than one of my faves each. but let's see:

fic (missing scene): keeps me warm by unsungyellowraincoat (@isaksbestpillow). direct ep 8 aftermath exploration that made me ache.

fic (canon divergence): fight or flight (worth the wait) by jabber_moose (@galauvant). Ep 2 canon divergence wherein Pran is discovered under Pat's bed.

fic (AU): Pinocchio by aworkingprinter (@miscellar). In which Pran has an obvious, unsuppressable tell when he lies.

fan animation: international love song by @architectxengineer

fan art: this pic by @ thatgothsamurai was one of the first things I saw in this fandom in the way of art and it's stuck with me

(if you create fanworks) what are your favorite fanworks that you’ve made?

fic: the only truth that sticks (<5k, G) is my take on Pran's mother's backstory, told as vignettes from her school years. There's a lot I'd do differently if I wrote it now – not give her a nickname, for one – but it's nevertheless my baby; when I started it, I hadn't finished and posted any fic in over 20 years.

I had a collection of random language- and storytelling related observations about the show on twitter that I should probably copy over somewhere else at some point for preservation purposes.

there's an epic canon divergence that lives only in my friend's and my DMs and a back-up doc that I'm starting to think will never take full shape, but I love it anyway. There's also an escalating intimacy thing set vaguely pre-canon plus ep 7 to time skip that I've not added to in a year and probably won't finish, either, but again: love what I've got there.

a song that makes you think of bbs (the ones in the show don’t count lol) If it's a bittersweet love song I'm PatPraning it. But specifically: Tilly Birds' เพื่อนเล่น ไม่เล่นเพื่อน (Just Being Friendly) and pretty much the entire tracklist from the ON Thailand fanmeet, especially แดงกับเขียว (Red and Green) by TaitosmitH, แน่ใจไหม (Are You Sure) by Nont Tanont, อย่าใกล้กันเลย (We shouldn't be close) in Aof Pongsak's version, and ดวงเดือน (Moon) by Joey Phuwasit.

idk anything else you want us to know? I love this show. I love the hopeful ending. I love all the recurring characters (yes, that includes Wai and the parents), with all their flaws. I love how gently P'Aof tells this story – the way he approaches entrenched BL clichés, picks them up, examines them, and puts them back down: does it have to go this way? not for us, not for this story, let's look at how else this could go. He said he wanted to make a typical, an ordinary BL, and he did, and he didn't.

I love that I met so many nice people through our mutual love of this show. I love that we're still on the rooftop nearly two years later.

I love that there's so many sides of this fandom – analytical, transformative, curative, and everything in between.

I have completely lost track of who has and hasn't done this yet, but IF you see this and think, hey, this seems fun! and decide to do it, please tag?

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Hello! I really love your meta (especially your addition in the one regarding Victor and empathy), they are really well thought out! I read your edit to the episode 12- episode 4 meta yesterday, and I really would like to hear your thoughts about the ending as a whole. I personally felt that it was a bit off to me with Yuuri not winning gold (and the scoring) but I do understand what they were going for. Viktor's return to skating surprisingly was something I kind of expected to happen, but I would love to hear your interpretation of it! (Also I must say that viktor-yurio scene before yurio's fs being called as Viktor asking yurio to get the gold or whatever is a take I disagree SO much with (it just seems like it isn't something Viktor will do at that particular time...or ever tbh) so I was glad to see that being addressed in the post! I kind of felt that Yurio's monologue and pushing himself to win by a difference of .12 was just his own desperation to keep Yuuri on the ice (or even simpler: to just somehow convey to yuuri that he is capable of more and more and quitting at that point was not the best decision after all)) anyway, sorry for rambling away :') I really thought this is something interesting to discuss with you, have a great day/night!

Thanks for your Ask! I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I hope you’re still interested in my thoughts on the ending!

Generally (and this might be controversial), I think that episode 12 wraps up the story quite nicely and comprehensively, although I think it could have been 5-10 minutes longer. As much as I believe that a good story should require the audience to use their brains, I’m under the impression that episode 12 subjects the answer to too many open questions to the subtext, stirring a feeling of lacking closure as a result. With a few minutes more airtime, this could have been avoided.

To me, Yuuri finishing in second place was more satisfying than Yuuri winning the GPF. Episode 1 raised the expectation that by the end of the series, Yuuri would hold a gold medal in his hands and throughout the series we are led to believe that this is Yuuri’s ultimate goal. However, when we go back to the very beginning of episode 1, we see Yuuri yearning for becoming Viktor’s equal and it’s implied that he also yearns for Viktor as a person (I discussed some of this here). If Yuuri had won gold, he wouldn’t have been motivated to continue and thus would have denied himself the fulfilment of his greatest dream aka skating on the same ice as Viktor and competing against him—a desire he has nurtured since the day he saw Viktor skate for the first time. So, while the ending doesn’t fulfil Yuuri’s want, it satisfies his need with a promise of the future he envisioned. To me as a viewer, this is more rewarding, but it’s absolutely a matter of taste.

When I watched Yuri!!! for the first time, I personally didn’t anticipate Viktor’s comeback as I was too caught up in the story (and the fear he and Yuuri might break up—I made some bad experiences in this regard). While his return to skating was sufficiently foreshadowed through Yuuri’s unreliable narrator, Viktor’s story arc contradicts this notion. By episode 12, he has settled into his life as Yuuri’s coach and partner and is happier than he has been in a long time. Yuuri fulfils his unmet need for love, which is expressed through Viktor’s free programme and his participation in Yuuri’s gala programme. However, like Yuuri, he lost his passion for skating and is incomplete without it as it is a significant part of his personality (just like Yuuri). His need to regain his passion is met when both Yuris smash his world records at the GPF, but I highly doubt Viktor would enjoy his comeback without Yuuri as his love for skating and his love for Yuuri are intertwined. And for Yuuri, it’s the same. To me, that’s the perfect ever after.

Some more thoughts about the conflict between Yuuri and Viktor, Viktor’s reaction to Yuuri’s retirement plans, Yuuri’s intention, and whether they break up or not, I detailed in this old post.

I feel like I should point out that I don’t see Viktuuri as a couple who would conform to the “let’s break up because our paths of life diverge”-trope as I see them as too mature for this and I’m glad the creators didn’t let the story end like this. (This trope is one of my romance pet peeves.)

I agree with what you said about Yurio! In Yuuri, Yurio has the kind of rival who motivates and pushes him, and whom he likes and admires to some extent. In this sense, their relationship resembles the one Chris and Viktor had and it stands in stark contrast to Yurio’s relationship to JJ, who would be Yurio’s only rival if Yuuri quits. For a character like Yurio, I think, that’s reason enough to keep Yuuri in the sport. I even go as far as saying that stopping Yuuri from retiring is Yurio’s agape.

The scoring at the Grand Prix final is pretty wild to me. I read in an interview that the creators consulted a figure skater to ensure realistic scores, but for the GPF, they went completely off the rails for plot reasons. Without knowing the protocols from the competition, this is difficult to explore, but it seems that to ensure a certain outcome the creators ignored several basic rules about how mistakes play into GOE and PCS and which of these are reasonable for the world’s best six athletes. I did a quick and dirty calculation based on the ISU rules from the time Yuri!!! was created and broadcasted. It's the same system the creators used to calculate the base score of the athletes' programme. I came up with a significantly lower score for JJ and a score for Yuuri that is well above the 100 mark (his hand down on the 4F only gives -1 GOE and limits his PCS to 9.5 maximum in each category). In Yurio’s case, I assumed maximum GOE in all elements and maximum PCS and still didn’t get his score of 118, which means his score in the series is technically impossible. (I actually ended up with around 113.) I’m planning a post that explores the scores in YOI in more detail. For now, suffice it to say that the creators could have achieved the same with reasonable scores.

Given the mistakes he made, JJ was blatantly overscored. Especially in a competition like the GPF, judges tend to be exceptionally strict as all skaters are incredibly skilled and their programmes are of similar difficulty. While I understand that the creators intended to give JJ a strong comeback in the free skating, realistically, his performances would have only put him on the podium if other skaters had made more mistakes (unfortunately, the free skating is a black box as quite a number of elements are executed off-screen). Regarding plot choices, I don’t think the story needs two skaters making a strong comeback in the free programme. If JJ had finished the GPF in last place, this would have made the plot of episode 12 more realistic and better balanced and would have been a fine parallelism to Yuuri’s situation one year ago. Personally, this would have gone his ego good and I would have preferred Phichit, Chris, or Otabek in third place. That said, I don’t understand the reasons for this choice, but that’s okay.

I hope I was able to answer your questions. Feel free to ask if you want to know anything else! Anyway, thank you again! This was my first Ask on Tumblr and I was super thrilled when I saw it!

If you enjoy my meta posts, please consider giving my blog a follow or checking out my works on AO3(link in bio). You will find the results of my meta musings in there!

[iantimony]

last tuesday of 2023!

i thought about making this my Yearly Roundup for last tuesday of the year but i think instead i will make this a normal tuesdaypost, and do a big yearly reflection on friday or saturday for last shabbos of the year :)

listening: twilight mirage, still in that holiday special, episode 23. the way that there are eight fuckin episodes for that special........in part 1 or 2 they make a comment how they might have to do three parts and i was like. lol. lmao, even. i'm in the bit right now where they're doing an election and it's very funny. thisbe as the debate moderator made me laugh out loud.

reading: the best part of the game awards this year was the fashion, alyssa mercante: i looooved some of these looks. love the art corset on slide 4, jay-ann lopez on slide 15, the pleated dress on slide 17, the MATCHING BABY ON SLIDE 19, and the author's whole everything on slide 20.

sff's big fat problem, r. k. duncan: i was already aware of some of the stuff talked about here but i am definitely guilty of having less overt things - i.e. goblin emperor reference in there - totally fly by me. i feel like i saw a lot of people talking about rowling's fatphobia after she went mask-off but she is definitely on the more malicious end of the spectrum, it's a much much much more baked in problem than people give it credit for. thinking also about the locked tomb, which i love, but also makes some very weird comments about ortus that i did not clock at all until someone else pointed it out. just something i'm thinking about lately.

the world is hard, dinner doesn't need to be, julia turshen: what it says on the tin. some recipe ideas, cut down to mental bare essentials.

old growth, brawlite: saved the fanfic for last. obsessed with this. it's so so good. the format is a really neat idea that i don't know if i've seen done before. like, using the 'comment section' to point out 'things in the background of shots'? genius. i am eating it up. i should have signed up for this exchange. maybe next year.

playing: fallow. i might buy some games that are on sale tho lol, i've seen both pyre and ghostwire: tokyo recommended this week. latter is no longer on sale unfortunately but i am noting it down for later.

watching: the fashion industry hates older women, mina le

history of bathing, bernadette banner

aaaand a short film that a grad student in my department made as a project. it's. not good. like i'm happy that he's doing hobbies or whatever but this short film commits the cardinal sin of being neither good nor bad, Just Boring. 2/10.

making: the [redacted project] is almost done!! i have 10 rows left. each row takes me about 15 minutes. i will definitely finish it by the end of the week, fringe and all. no pictures yet for obvious reasons but it will be in the first tuesdaypost of the year for 2024! the biggest challenge now is the point of contact on my left hand where i rest the knitting needle against my middle finger is aggravating on a sensory standpoint from overuse, so i have been knitting with one glove on that hand which has helped a lot.

there was a preview of these last week, but i added finishing touches to my gavle goat holiday cards! i used a metallic sharpie to add some horn embellishments and wrote a little note on the back, and mailed out a bunch :)

misc: the first christmas eve/day of my life where i didn't get chinese food!!! shock, horror, etc. i'm at my roommate's family's place so i experienced a real christmas situation. it was fine. her family & their home is like ... hallmark card vibes and idk how i feel about it. i want wonton soup :(

[noangeleither]

"About the Blogger" Meme

Thanks for tag @bioloyg <3

Star Sign(s): Scorpio Sun (I literally never remember my other ones, I should probably memorize them)

Favorite Holidays: Christmas and Halloween. even tho i find it harder to feel the holiday spirit up until the very last minute i love christmas so much. and not even to be corny but its true that when you grow up you start to care less about the presents and more about the memories with family and friends.

i grew up in a religous family so my parents didnt let me celebrate halloween but i still love it with my whole heart. im a november baby so i love fall and all things eerie and spooky.

Last Meal: McDonalad's snack wrap and one of those new fruit splash drinks. its exam season so ofc im eating like shit. will probably eat some ice cream when i get home after my physiology exam in 30 minutes. so yay to junk food

Current Favorite Musician: currently ive been really enjoying pinkpantheress. her new album is literally 10/10. she has such a knack for melodies, and her lyrics are very eerie and poetic while maintaining a cutesy 2000s vibe. shes also a sampling queen.

honoarble mentions: ive been listening to a lot of janet, rosalia and red velvet these days too.

Last Music Listened To: feedback by janet Jackson. bro istg you have to clear the area when this comes on, i cant help but dance

Last Movie Watched: last movie i watched was bride wars. honestly a classic movie, so funny and i love wedding movies so i reccomend it. that was a month ago tho, which is crazy.

Last TV Show Watched: like the wonderful person who tagged me i watched the bear last. i just rewatched s02e01. ive been doing this thing where i'll either rewatch episodes for research, boredom or just because i get sucked in rewatching a specific clip that makes me want to rewatch the whole episode.

Last Book/Fic Finished: last fic i finished was keeping up with the berzattos by chefskiss40 on ao3. ive reread it like 3 or 4 times now and im patiently waiting for an update. its just so good, i love the domestic vibes. im not a fan of seeing my ships start families in canon but in fic? oh i could read that forever

Last Book/Fic Abandoned: not really abandoned but sorta modified? the sydcarmy high school au i started in the summer was a good concept but i didnt really have a concrete idea where the overall story would go. BUT im planning on maybe doing a series which is just a collection of one shots of them in HS? OR i plan on doing a multi-chapter shorter story that is an AU that also takes place in a high school setting but with a twist that i dont want to reveal bc that would mean i would have to commit to it. lol

Currently Reading: nothing. unless you count all these articles/research papers I've been reading for my health research studies course (think i aced the exam yesterday so maybe all the pain was worth it)

Last Thing Researched for Art/Writing/Hyperfixation: doesnt really count as research but basically i was on pinterest creating boards for 3 different fics. was researching wedding dresses for a nat & syd fic where they go wedding dress shopping (will be finishing after my last exam). also just creating two other boards to inspire myself to start the au i teased above and my bones and all AU/retelling i talked about last month. i want to watch some more cannibalism media and maybe research about 80s pop culture and politics before i dive into that one fully.

Favorite Online Fandom Memory: ummmm probably just being a menace on twitter with my friends that i made through being a reveluv. we talk every single day, and they are some of the best people i know. maybe the times we used to get up early or stay up late for comeback season, watch the kcharts being updated hourly and crack jokes about group we liked and didnt like

Favorite Old Fandom You Wish Would Drag You Back In/Have A Resurgence: technically THG is having a resurgence right now but im way too into the bear to really get back into it and also i havent seen the new movie. im excited to once exam season is done but i feel like the hype is already dying so i dont see myself getting too into it.

Favorite Thing You Enjoy That Never Had an Active or Big "Fandom" but You Wish It Did: uhhhh cant think of one tbh.

Tempting Project You're Trying to Rein In/Don't Have Time For: honestly every sydcarmy fic idea i have that would take multi chapters to flesh out. one shots are very safe for me. but im praying i'll commit to it. esp the bones and all AU lol

this was fun

tagging some ppl to do this too, only if you want!

@amieraisposting @chefkids @sennenrose @sydneys-adamu @sydneyscarm @happylikeasadsong @chansoooo1-blog

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

A Moment's Surprise--Chapter 14

Whether it’s called an accident or the fates of the universe, you and Calum find yourselves taking on the next level of your relationship: parenthood.

Reader (Gender Neutral) X Calum. Multi-chapter Series.

Series Note: Across this series, pregnancy is discussed thoroughly. While I have made this series specifically a reader insert and have done my best to avoid coding for cis women, I am taking this moment to acknowledge that this content may not be suitable for every reader. I want to acknowledge even if I’ve been careful some things (like uteri) are still mentioned and if that causes you discomfort please DO NOT read this. You may keep scrolling (as there is a read more) / skip this series as necessary.

Series Masterlist

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7| Chapter 8 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Epilogue

Joy returns to the living room, refilled glasses in her hand. In the months that she’s stayed with you, the two of you have obtained a ritual. While the weekdays can feel like a whirlwind, you two still try to build a space in the evenings that are a bit slower. And over the last five months, you and Joy make an evening ritual of watching at least one episode of a show together. A Korean romantic drama currently holds your two attention and while sometimes the antics felt overdramatic, the laughs were more than welcomed. The weekends, when they are not filled with errands, are dedicated to either a maximum of three episodes or a couple movies. It’s nice to have a space for just the two of you to bond. 

This weekend is no exception. You and Joy have agreed to finish out the season as there are only two episodes left. Between the first and second episode, there is a small snack break. And you need it. The last week or so a background feeling of being uncomfortable had settled. Though you had managed to continue on with your daily life and tasks, today just seems to be the day that the feeling cannot be ignored. The break had given you a chance to get up, as a struggle that it was, and walk around. But now that you were settling back in for the last episode of the show, you had a feeling that the sort of discomfort should be something that you vocalized more. 

Your due date was still two weeks out. And even though you’d told Calum it was just an estimate, you still used it as a sort of benchmark. Two weeks wasn’t terribly early, but you didn’t want to believe anything would happen just yet. There was still time. “You’re sure you’re okay?” Joy asks, watching you readjust yet again in your spot on the couch. 

You nod. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

She holds her gaze on you for a moment longer. Your brows seem to be wrinkled just ever so slightly at the middle of your forehead and they’ve been that way for the last couple hours as well. She didn’t want to suspect anything was wrong, but Joy also knows that the thing can’t dismiss is her own gut. “Let me know if that changes, alright?”

“Of course,” you return, “you know that.” You hit play and the show’s introduction and theme song cues up around you. 

It’s silly. It’s ridiculous. But as much as you felt like not yourself in the last few weeks of your pregnancy, the reality of giving birth and becoming a parent frightened you. What if you fucked it all up? What if you weren’t cut out to be a parent? All the books and sessions couldn’t truly override the fear that creeps up. What if it all fell apart on you before you even had the chance to feel like you had it together in the first place?The episode doesn’t even settle into your brain as it goes. You’re too caught up in the spiral of your thoughts. And like a pinch, your stomach hints at a twinge of pain. 

“It’s okay, just breathe, dear.”

You know it’s Joy. Her touch is soft and reassuring. But your own heart races in your ears. Your blood thumps against your veins, jumping at your neck. Could it all really happen right now?

“Just breathe,” Joy softly commands. 

You take in a breath, letting it slide in through your nostrils and when you exhale you let it all slip out over your tongue and lips. It feels easy enough but the seconds continue and the pain doesn’t exactly stop. You repeat the action, inhaling and exhaling. 

“That’s it,” Joy praises. She waits for the confirmation that the contraction has passed before she moves towards the coffee table. Her fingers are steady as she dials Calum’s number. The phone rings and rings and rings in her ears. The voicemail picks up and Joy leaves a brief message, knowing that she will call back again. The next call is to your doula. This time the phone connects and Joy talks calmly. You listen in on the evenness to her voice, the accent that colors her words and it’s a small wave of peace. 

_________________

Calum’s phone rings from the right of Michael. It’s the second time it’s rang in the last five minutes. He halfway wonders if he should answer it, knowing he never has previously. But everyone knows Calum’s been on edge. Since the baby shower, getting him to settle longer than ten minutes before he’s checking his phone has been hard if he’s out without you. Michael understands it the most.  Calum just doesn’t want to miss anything, he wants to be there after having been away for so much of your pregnancy. 

Before Michael can settle his internal debate, the door to the room opens and Michael looks up to see Calum returning from the restroom. “Your phone’s rang twice since you left, mate,” Michael states, lifting the device up off the table.

 Though it is a weekend, and the guys agreed not to let the band interfere too much with personal time off, the weekend was the only time Calum left okay enough to leave you, since he knew his mum would be there with you. So the guys worked around it for the time being. In all honesty, it hadn’t mattered at all until it came to vocal sessions which were mostly done individually with the group session sprinkled in and right now. Today only needed to be a couple hours long to review the tour plans, the set, lightning and ensure that everyone was squared away for the Oceania dates starting up. 

Calum nods as he takes his phone. “Thanks.”

He sees the two missed calls and voicemail from his mother. And in that moment, Calum’s barely thinking about the meeting still left. He calls his mother back, head swiveling to see where he set down his keys. They’d been in his pockets but he took them out he remembers at one point in the day. “Mum?” Calum states once he hears the split second of the call connecting. There’s a shaky edge to his voice that even rattles his own ears. 

“Hi, love. Did you get my voicemail?”

Calum shakes his head. “No, no, I-I just called back when I saw you called twice. Is everything alright?”

Ashton gives a small whistle after noticing the panic swivel of Calum’s head. Calum snaps his head up in the direction and his keys come arching through the air at him from the gentle toss Ashton gives them. His mother’s voice floats in through the phone even and calm. “How fast can you get home?”

“I can leave now. What’s going on?”

“I don’t want your blood pressure to go through the roof,” she teases. “But thank your stars.”

“Are they in labor?” Calum asks aloud, tucking his phone between his shoulder to keep it pressed to his ear. He pats his back pocket and he’s still got his wallet where he left it. Calum’s fingertips feel like they are buzzing. The entire room snaps to Calum. They’d been listening in a polite way. Where one looks away and tries to actively tune out the conversation. But the word ‘labor’ causes everyone to tune into what Calum’s saying. 

“Yes, son, it’s still early on. So we’ve got some time. I’m finalizing the hospital bag.” The moment his mother finishes the sentence Calum’s turning on his heel back towards the door. “The doula’s on her way. Things are okay on this end.”

“I’m on my way,” he answers. 

“Drive safe, Calum. They’re going to be okay. I’ve got them. Promise.”

The buzzing crept up his arms, and his head started to swim. Panic. Calum knows the signs of the fear flooding his body. Recently the signs and the fear have plagued him more consistently than before. But the promise, the sincere weight of his mother’s words to ease the fear she knows is consuming him, puts a pause on the building fear. “Thanks, Mum. I’ll be home soon.”

“Of course. See you when you get here.”

The call ends and Calum slips the phone into his back pocket, fingers finding the keys and fob to his car as his feet cross over the threshold. The hallway suddenly feels endless, but Calum keeps putting one foot in front of the other. 

“We’re getting baby Hood or what?” The voice echoes and Calum pauses to look back. All three of the boys are spilling out of the room. Ashton paused two steps from the door and Michael and Luke crowd around him. “Is it really happening?” Ashton asks. His smile breaks out across his face bright and wide. All of them hold wide grins on their faces. 

The sight makes Calum smile too. A bit more of the fear is pushed down, his head feels less like he’s swimming. “It’s really happening,” Calum answers, his voice carries down too. 

“Oh my god!” Michael screeches. He bolts down the hall and collides into Calum’s chest. “Tell them we’ll be there once you give us the all clear,” his voice is soft as he speaks. 

Calum returns the embrace, tight, but quick. Hands pat backs and the slap is a slight echo up each of their chests. “You guys will be one of the first to know. Promise.”

The two men separate and Michael gently shoves Calum along. “Go, man, go! You have a baby to meet!”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Calum laughs in return. He takes a step down towards the exit doors. 

“You’re not going fast enough,” Michael huffs. “Run! Go!”

In a light jog, Calum carries his body down the hallway, throwing one last wave back at his friends. “Love you guys!”

“Love you too!” The trio choruses back. 

Where Calum’s drive home, longer than he would ever want thanks to traffic, is a mixture of frustration and excitement, the second Calum steps into the house he is relieved to only seem calm. You are pacing, the distinct heavy sigh of your sustained breathing cuts through the low volume of the TV. But there’s very little panic. A couple bags are nestled next to the door and Calum’s attention snaps down to the Duke closing in around his feet. Calum watches as Duke walks over to him, big eyes staring up at him and then looking over to you. 

“I know,” Calum states to Duke. “That's why I’m here, big guy. I got ‘em, okay? Promise.” Calum’s careful as he approaches you, one not wanting to startle you and two because even though everything in him wants to comfort you, he knows there are somethings he will just never be able to understand. 

“Baby, I’m here, okay? What do you need from me?” he asks gently. He’s half aware  that getting the bags into the car is probably a priority. He hasn’t spotted his mother yet, but all he really wants and cares to focus on is you. 

You complete the lap across the living room to him and rest your head on his shoulder. “They’re not too bad right now-the contractions. I just, I’m scared now too.”

He hums, dropping his head a little to rest against yours. “It’s okay to be scared. Fear in some ways means progress.”

You nod again. “Pacing helps for now.”

“Let me get the bags into the car and we can pace, okay?”

“I’ve got the bags,” his mother states. He’s not sure when she came up or where she came from. He only nods and keeps his attention on you. He doesn’t even worry something might be missing from the bags. There's a checklist for the checklists and Calum knows Joy won’t let the two of you falter at this moment, not in the slightest. Calum sways as you sway. He breathes as you breathe and having the mirror keeps you focused. Though there’s the twinge of fear that creeps up, you keep focused. 

You can put together the drive. After three more laps in the living room, Joy and Calum are able to get you into the car. The neighborhood passes, the highway opens up. You are staring at the back of the cars in front of you, focusing on the license plate numbers as Calum talks next to you. You know you’re responding because you’re laughing. You know you’re aware because you remember how Joy kissed your forehead and promised she’d be there at the birthing center soon to meet you two and her first grandbaby after she got Duke settled. You know you’re aware because even you poke fun at how Calum raced to get home but couldn’t at least snag one of the boys to get Duke like they had agreed to do, though you know the agreement really was that the boys would alternate on who would check up on Duke while the three of you were away.  

But no amount of breathing and reading off licenses and laughter really prepares you for the moment when you’re actively squatting, Calum’s arms hooked through your armpits to hold your weight and your back is up against his chest and you’re swearing you’ve never sweated so much in your entire life. Because even as the contraction does subside, though the relief won’t really be long, you know just on the other side of this is actually rearing a child. It’s actually real. And how can it all be real in the thick fog of sweat, and groans, and breathing? How could it all be real?

“I’m here, okay? I’m here,” Calum whispers into your ear. “You’re doing so well, love. You know that?”

Another contraction seizes your response, the gratitude replaced yet again with your breathing to ride through the pain. Calum’s chest expands against your back and you follow it to take the inhale. When his chest decompresses, you follow that lead to exhale. You can’t tell if he’s saying anything else at the moment, but you can feel the gentle brush of his lips against the shell of your ear. 

The squeeze releases its grip from around you. Your head falls back just a bit and Calum doesn’t fight it. He lifts his head to accommodate you and then presses a kiss to your cheek. Now around your tongue aren’t the words thank you, because when you look at Calum you can see even the worry on his one face. “So, how was your day?” you ask in a tease.

Calum laughs, shaking his head. “You don’t get to ask me that. Not right now.”

“Oh why not?” you return. Your grin is brief, mostly because you can feel part of the fatigue trying to settle too thickly on you. 

“You’re literally giving birth. I don’t think anything else matters.”

“Huh, could’ve fooled me.” You’d want to give a shrug, but you can’t, not with the lock Calum has under your arms. But you still try anyway. His smile replaces some of the worry lines. It makes your chest ease up a little at the sight. 

The water is warm and you’re grateful for the small respite as you settle down into it. Time doesn’t really matter but you think how the hours must be crawling by for everyone else. Here though time feels like a foreign concept. Who cares how many hours? Who cares how many days? Who’s counting the seconds? There is only just now. The wall of the pool is thick enough that you do find it steady to recline into, but Calum settles behind you. It’s a comfort, you know he’s close, to hear his voice soothing at the part of your brain still attuned to him. Not that you’ve tuned everything out, you’re just zeroing in. 

The drops and aches and contractions are all alerting you. You want to make sure you can hear it, the call from your body that once you start pushing there will be no stopping. You are zeroed in. You’re thankful that Calum is here and that your doula’s helping and you catch the nurses that pop in to cheer you on, but you are zeroing in. You don’t want to miss it. And you’re not sure you ever would. 

What feels like a fleeting thought becomes a screeching reality. There’s Calum in your ear, softly encouraging you. There’s water lapping around you. There are grunts of exertion and without hesitation, you reach down knowing the head’s beyond crowned. You’d think it’d be harder and it is hard work; it is taking nearly every ounce of consciousness to remember to push but not to go too hard, but there’s something natural about it too. To catch his head and as another push sends him out you gently guide his body up. 

And there is the very real thing in your arms. There are tears stinging behind your eyes and you can’t tell what’s sweat from what’s tears on your face. Not that it matters how separate the two are, because there is the very real thing in your arms. 

“Amiri, look at you,” you coo. A rush of pride fills you, and the laughter turns up into a victorious cry from your lips. Amiri is the very real thing. There’s no room for fear. You love him--instantly, deeply, and fully you love the tiny baby boy in your arms. 

“He’s so small,” Calum laughs from behind you. His hands hover like he wants to touch, but he’s too scared. And then with a rush of braveness, Calum runs his fingers gently over the top of his son’s head. “Hi, Pumpkin.”

“Welcome to the otherside,” your doula says softly. 

__________________________

You watch Calum cradle Amiri to his chest. Amiri’s tiny hands rest near the silver fern tattoo on Calum’s bare chest and from your vantage point, it’s almost like Amiri’s holding the plant. You know the truth, that Calum is utterly obsessed and you are too, but mostly tired. Calum smiles up at you. “I’m whipped. Like I knew it was a high chance before, but god, he’s perfect.”

“You say that because you’ve yet to change a diaper,” you tease. 

“Even his shits will be perfect.” A small tuft of laughter creeps up your chest. You gently run your fingers along Amiri’s back. He hardly stirs at the action, but you don’t mind it. “Thank you,” Calum whispers. 

“You don’t have to thank me,” you state. 

“I do. What you did wasn’t easy and no little task and I so appreciate it. For our little boy. I can’t--” Calum pauses hearing his own voice choke around the words. “I really can’t thank you enough.”

Pressing a kiss to Calum’s lips, you only pull back enough to glance down to Amiri again. “I know, love. I know. I’d do it again for him.”

“So a second child could definitely be on the horizon.”

You laugh besides yourself but nod. “Yes, but you’ll have to be prepared for the second round of, ‘Will you still love me if I shit myself in delivery?’” you state. 

“You didn’t this time,” Calum counters. “And you know I would.”

“Guess I’ll have to get pregnant again to see if you’re really man about your word.”

Calum’s grin is still a tad watery from his tears, but it’s just as bright as before. “Don’t give me any ideas."

Tagging: @busstop @wiiildflowerrr @wonderlandiswhereitsatyo @icelily13 @fandomfoodiedancer @markaylafruitcup @one-sweet-gubler @carma-fanficaddict @sunflowercalum @rosie-posie08

[moneeko]

I honestly still think it's cruel that Chloe was abandoned by her father for a woman (mother) who abandoned her when she was about 4-5 years old. I understand Chloe trying to be like her mother to get her mother's approval. That I finally understood that it's better to be myself and not seek approval by a person who has forgotten my existence (I came across such people, one I considered a friend). For the character Chloe; as if I was rewriting the series,

in the last episode when she lost her Miraculous when she allied with the Hawkmoth just to free her parents from the Akuma. She knew she was going to lose her status. She would lose people's trust, she knew Ladybug would never trust her again. She knew this was her last chance. 'Yes, but on one condition that you free my parents' HawkMoth agreed to free them. "Now you're the wasp queen" Chloe felt different now that she was under the influence of the akuma. Maybe it's because of Pollen? She did not know . She obeyed the enemy's orders not to break the contract lest he deceive her. However, hoping that Biedronka will discover and save the day. (. after the fight) Ladybug didn't look at her. She was devastated watching Master Fu lying limply on the ground. She didn't look like an autoratu, a calmly brave heroine, but for a normal girl like her. 'It's your fault!' she screamed holding back tears. Chat Noir tried to comfort her. Chloe returned the miraculous box. Seeing her heroine hug her master with tears. ' Grandpa…' Chloe's eyes widened. this old man was the grandfather of … Ladybugs … Chloe ran away. She ran as fast as possible. ' It's my fault…' She went back to the big apartment. She opened the Closet and started packing. She can't stay here in Paris. She's made so many people villains. It's best if I go to New York. I won't be there and no one. no one will be true. She was waiting under the helicopter behind her mother. She was finally walking though… with Marinette. No No.. Her mother is smiling. " Your projects are amazing for your young age. You should come to New York with me and you will know how show business is. The woman looked at the teenager. "Clawdeen?" "Chloe…" she corrected her quietly, afraid of being scolded. "Well, I'm leaving, I'm taking this girl, I'm not going to let her talent go to waste.' and her mother still wanted to invite Marinette (her rival) to new york. Something inside Chloe snapped.

"Why don't you love me, mom?" Marinette saw the girl she was competing with. She began to cry. "Answer please." - she started wiping her tears with her hands." For these 10 years you were not even able to call me … You were not able to hug me … And others …: She ran away, was unable to return to the apartment and locked herself in the room. She didn't go out for weeks. Ladybug knocked on the window. ' Chloe turned pale but opened it "Chloe how are you feeling" she was silent. Ladybug sat on the couch. "Your classmates were worried about you." "No one cares about me. I'm just a mean brat. They're probably better off without me." Ladybug grabbed her by the arms / "Sabrina's worried about you" "only her… She doesn't deserve a friend like me" "Adrien too." Chloe pursed her lips into a grimace. She held a yellow teddy bear in her arms. "Alya, Kim, Rose" she started listing "and Marinette" At these words of the ladybug, tears began to flow from the blonde's eyes. "I'm sorry I jumped on you then." Chloe hugged her, not letting her finish. "Thank you… I promise to change." Ladybug looked at her "I always wanted my mother to notice me… And I thought it was best to be like her. But no. She's better at herself. She'll change for the better. Even though I won't be queen bee anymore, I still want to help you." Ladybug smiled. "you promise" " I promise"

[cr-noble-writes]

20 Fanfic Questions

thanks for the tag @mallaidhsomo!

How many works do you have on AO3?

124

2. What's your total AO3 words count?

675,033 (about 200k or so of these aren't actually mine because when you do a collaboration with several authors, it adds the total word count of the fic to everyone's word counts)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mass Effect mostly. Once in a blue moon Dragon Age. The majority of my posted fics are Supernatural.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Season Z Watching You Truth or Dare You Should See Me In A Crown Lock Me Up (These are all Supernatural)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I respond to every comment I get! There have for sure been times where its taken me months to do so, but I always do.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Here's the thing, "angstiest" is super subjective. I've got lots of fics with pretty angsty endings. There was a point at which people regularly called me a murderer because I had a habit of killing characters. However, I tend to find 'fate worse than death' much angstier than character death, so this one in which Dean burns off his soul to find Cas' grace to save him is it, I think: Whatever It Takes.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

You Should See Me In A Crown. I have a tendency to not do straight up happy endings. Like, trauma doesn't just go away, ya know. So my happy endings tend to be more melancholy/hopeful or what have you. This fic is absolutely an exception to that. Everyone gets what they want, the guy gets the guy. Basically I wrote this like an action movie haha

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've never gotten *hate* on a fic, but I have gotten comments that are rude and shitty in the way of commenters being demanding about what should happen in a fic or complaining that things weren't written the way they wanted them to be. My response to that usually something along the lines of "you fucking write it then."

9. Do you write smut. If so what kind?

Yeah! I very much enjoy writing smut. I think probably most of the smut I write is pretty vanilla, although I have definitely written some more intense kink by request and also because I like to challenge myself and learn new things. I do think my sweet spot when it comes to smut is leaning into the emotion involved. For most of my characters sex is less about the physical act of sex and more about trust and intimacy, so leaning into that works for me.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have an unfinished Supernatural/Into the Badlands fic, and honestly I only ever wrote one chapter, but I had initially planned to do a chapter for every episode of Into the Badlands. I also have a half-outlined, partially written Supernatural/Dragon Age crossover in which Dean is a templar, Cas is an apostate, and Sam is a Grey Warden haha

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Several! Its why my word count on AO3 is so high, actually lol

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I have a lot of ships across a lot of media, but the one I always always always come back to is mShenko.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Oh god, I have a ton of abandoned WIPs from my Supernatural days that I'd love to finish but probably never will. I just can't bring myself to write Supernatural fic anymore.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Character voice and creating dynamic relationships between characters.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Consistency, especially in long fics. My writing style tends to change, sometimes pretty significantly, from one chapter to the next.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Hell yeah, I love multilingual characters, and I love putting foreign language dialogue in fic. If you're using a made up language, you can kind of do whatever you want. If you're using a real language, try to find a native speaker to help you with it so you don't accidentally end up writing something offensive or that you don't mean to.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Marvel

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Lust. I wrote this fic for the SPN Dark Fic bang in 2019 because I wanted to write murder husbands. It was honestly super fun to take a full loving, domestic dynamic between Michael and Crowley and juxtapose it with them also being incredibly brutal murderers.

no pressure tags: @imbiowaresbitch @nickelkeep @bleuzombie and @rotschopf-thedrow

[construingseacats]

Umireread: Legend of the Golden Witch - Chapter 8: Legend of the Gold

Sat, Oct 4 1986 - 10:00PM

The following contains spoilers for the entirety of Umineko. Please do not read if you are yet to finish it.

Taking a quick second here to say that I’m kind of disappointed that the Steam Version doesn’t play the OP every time you boot it up. I really loved booting it up every day during my initial read and watching it to get myself hyped again. Like yeah, I suppose nowadays I can just watch it on youtube whenever I want, but it’s just not the same, you know?

It’s almost like having the fantasy they’d constructed of their parents shattered by the grim truth of reality is a negative thing or something. Someone should write a 1.1 million word visual novel about that idea

23 year old talking down to a 17 year old moment. It’s always funny how young adults see themselves as full fledged adults rather than kids.

Yeah wow this scene is really going all in on the theme, huh. At first glance, it’s a pretty normal scene of kids being upset that their parents are mad. But really it’s just another proxy of the horrors of truth without kindness.

Saving this as a reaction image for whenever Battler says something perverted.

And so our great countdown begins! Honestly one of the coolest parts of the overall mystery of Umineko is going through the motions of there being a potential 19th person on the island, to there only being the known 18, to Kinzo being dead, to Shannon and Kanon being a single person. So, so good.

Another one of those lines where Ryukishi definitely smiled to himself while writing it. Yeah, there sure aren’t a full 18 people on the island!

Oh, and here’s our first Devil’s Proof - it’s interesting that Battler is the one to bring it up. I wonder if this is a concept that he discovered on his own, or whether it’s another hand-me-down from Kyrie that he’s grown accustomed to.

And hey, Chessboard Thinking! I guess this chapter is just “THEY SAID THE THING” central. I suppose that makes sense given this chapter is basically named after the episode title.

I’m not so fond of it when Ryukishi has a character do something and then immediately use the narrator to talk about them doing it, but this kind of line is really good in my opinion. We picked up on Battler using this type of thinking on the boat in Chapter 1, and now we’re getting confirmation here (several hours later) that it’s something that he picked up from Kyrie. If nothing else, I’m glad that Ryukishi isn’t the kind of writer who’d say this without justifying it elsewhere with an example.

Kyrie caps off this section by saying that her logic is full of holes, but honestly, she lays out a pretty solid deduction. It’s funny how many times someone will get something right and then go “nah that can’t be it”.

Man, my heart really breaks for Maria here. REALLY liking her more than I did first time round. I kind of want to say that she’s even more upset here than she was at Rosa’s mother of the year moment in the rose garden, which is an interesting look into her psyche if so.

God, the cut back to Kyrie here is stark. A 9 year old is all by herself in the hall, practically traumatised, and here’s Kyrie going “hey she can give us the answers!”

What makes this one interesting, however, is that it’s framed as Kyrie trying to cheer Battler up. I’m… not entirely sure I agree with this being portrayed as a good thing? Like, it’s not a conversation Maria will learn about, so it’s not going to hurt her, but being so lackadaisical to someone else’s suffering doesn’t sit well with me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the world’s biggest advocate for “Don’t set yourself on fire to make others feel warm”, but I kind of wish there was a little more here about care for Maria’s wellbeing from at least Battler (if not Kyrie). I don’t know, this one just feels a little off.

So this is probably going to be my hottest take for the entire reread - but I don’t like this line.

When you read it the first time, it’s a HUGE point of intrigue, and honestly one that causes a lot of readers to perk up and start paying attention. After all, murder mystery, Epitaph talks about sacrifices, and now someone says they’re going to be killed? That’s got to be important.

But the thing is, I feel it’s a little… unwarranted? Like, in hindsight, this line feels way too dramatic. I’d argue it’s unearned, honestly. I’m not dismissing Rudolf’s sentiment behind this line, but given what he’s alluding to - a confession about Battler’s true lineage - it definitely feels like it’s being written unrealistically to make the story seem more mysterious. I just can’t see anyone actually saying this in this specific manner for the given topic.

Of course, a facetious “You’re probably gonna kill me” doesn’t carry the same weight, so trying to find something that keeps the mystery without sounding needlessly obtuse is kind of a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too situation. I guess I’d opt for something like “There’s something that’s been building up for a while… And it’s gonna come to a head tonight. …Honestly, it’ll be a miracle if I’m still here in the morning.” That’s still a bit needlessly obtuse, but it feels way more natural given the circumstances.

After the earlier observation of “Episode 1 is written with an intent by Yasu to make Natsuhi suffer”, I can’t help but notice it showing up over and over again.

Once again we’re literally telling it as it is. I do wonder how different people would be treating this if it hadn’t first been introduced as Genji dressed up as Beatrice to discredit it.

Yeah Yasu is REALLY going in on Natsuhi here. It’s uncanny.

LIKE FOR REAL, ALL IN

You know, I was about to comment about how tense this scene is, getting everyone into position for the first twilight. Making a point to separate the different groups. And then Battler just has to go and say this, huh.

Another scene where both Shannon and Kanon are being addressed independently by Genji. Kind of interesting to think of it as the final meeting for how the night is going to go.

A special case indeed.

Another win for self indulgent self insert Yasu writing her to be sleeping in the same place as her crush. Next you’ll tell me there was only one bed.

It’s EXCEPTIONALLY funny to have Shannon gushing over Battler, and then the plot IMMEDIATELY misguiding you to George. I legit don’t think there is any way you could even notice this on a first time read unless you were approaching Umineko from an uncannily adversarial approach. Like, I think it’s reasonable to pick up on Kanon potentially liking Battler from the big bulging muscles scene earlier, but unless you’d somehow figured out them both being the same person, I don’t think you’d really be able to pick up on this detail from what you’d already seen from Shannon.

Ah, and here’s the Fukuin name drop. Very funny that the latter part of it is the “on” Kanji once again. I wonder how many more examples of Kanji wordplay we’ll see as hints to the Epitaph?

I made a note back in Chapter 3 where I’d forgot about this detail and thought the other “on” servants were additional identities of Yasu. I actually edited that post to respond to a reply about that and address it, in case anyone missed that.

You know, it’s very telling that George’s response to Shannon saying “I would have to obey that request if it was an order, since I’m furniture” isn’t “you’re not furniture”, it’s “that’s an order”. Very romantic.

George’s relationship skills in this scene overall are just pretty creepy. The impression I’m getting is that Yasu is writing this from a space of heteronormativity - by all sensible metrics, George looks like an atrocious partner for her here, but this is the kind of relationship that society wants you to have, right? He’s a rich disney prince here to whisk her away for a happily ever after. She should want this, right? She doesn’t believe that in her heart, but she feels like she should want it, so it’s written out of a place of obligation rather than love.

For some reason I remember Thank you for Being Born playing here, and man, it really isn’t. Pass isn’t a bad song, but man, I do not care for it. Another one that feels overly generic - funnily enough, it kind of reflects the forced heteronormativity by sounding like what “heartfelt confession” music should be without really saying anything special, but I’m almost certain that isn’t intentional.

Yeah George? You sure understand the meaning? Not even a hint that there’s something more going on under the surface here?

Really, the most realistic part of Umineko is that I’d also want to kill everyone in my immediate vicinity if George proposed to me.

Oh the glass shattering here is phenomenal. Perfect mood setting.

[snowlessknitter]

The Masked Singer: S10 E12 — Finale Predictions

So, instead of doing a running commentary for tonight’s episode (which I’ll likely watch back on the TiVo at some point tonight as the Survivor 45 finale is also tonight), I’m going to recap who I think the Final 4 are and how I think they’ll finish.

Without further ado, here are my predictions and who I think they are.

Fourth Place: Donut 🍩

So, we saw a lot of clues like a bow and arrow, that he sang with Ray Charles, and we know that he is an older celebrity and a widower. This celebrity has been married three times, and although his most recent marriage lasted only around 4 years, his wife did pass away this year. This celebrity is also an accomplished country singer, having released nine studio albums, and was a co-founder of the Children’s Miracle Network (an organization that raises money for children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada).

Who is Donut 🍩?: John Schneider

Third Place 🥉: Sea Queen 🌊 👸

I honestly didn’t need clues to figure out who the Sea Queen is. I could tell just by the sound of her voice. The clues referenced her many acting projects in addition to her music career. Most notably, clues referred to Denzel Washington (whom she co-starred with in Training Day) and two clues referring to Tyler Perry (who adapted, produced, and directed the film For Colored Girls, which was adapted from a 1975 theatrical work by Ntozake Shange). I was a little surprised to see her reach the finale. Unfortunately, I don’t think her voice will quite stand up against Cow and Gazelle, but she should be proud of herself for getting to the Finale.

Who is Sea Queen 🌊 👸?: Macy Gray

Runner-Up 🥈: Gazelle 🦌

Like Donut 🍩, this celebrity is primarily known for her acting work more than for singing. The clues seem to suggest connections to Pretty Little Liars and the fact that her home state was Hawaii. I think I may have guessed Lucy Hale at one point, but later ruled her out because she’s not from Hawaii and also Gazelle mentioned that she was married. (Lucy Hale, as far as I know, is not married.) She’s got a pretty good voice, but I think the next celebrity has more overall stage presence and will probably be crowned the season 10 winner.

Who is Gazelle 🦌?: Janel Parrish

Winner 🏆: Cow 🐮

No surprise, I think Cow’s going to take the title. It took me a little time to match the clues to his voice, but ultimately I think I have an idea of who this celebrity is. Millennials like myself had this celebrity’s music as part of their teenage soundtrack, both from songs he performed himself and those he wrote for others (including, but not limited to, Beyoncé). Some of the clues referenced his upbringing in Las Vegas. This celebrity is known for his incredible stage presence and I wouldn’t be surprised if Cow won the whole thing.

Who is Cow 🐮?: Ne-Yo

[xion92]

TMMN: Masaya/Ichigo relationship analysis, episode 7

Hi everyone! Before starting the analysis of this episode, I have a question for you all: do you have any contacts with the producers of the old anime? I’d kindly like to write to them, and say to sit down, watch this anime and learn from this series how to characterize a character.

Folks, this show is treating Masaya very, very well. It’s giving him a great depth, which even the manga didn't have. Yes, the scenes are mostly from the manga, but it adds a lot of little things that dig his character even deeper and give even more meaning to this couple's bond. I don't know if Ikumi is behind all this, but if this is the case I can only be immensely grateful to her. Let's start, then.

Let's start by saying that this episode actually combines the last chapter of volume 2 and the first of volume 3. Condensing two chapters into a single episode, you'd think: they cut things, surely there will be less depth, the dynamics will not be understood. But it’s not like this.

So it begins with the scene that alone gives 10/10 to the episode. Ichigo falling asleep in class and having a dream about Masaya. Note that here, unlike in the manga, he dreams of kissing him. As in episode 4, he goes much further than the manga. Among other things, we finish seeing her dream before she actually wakes up (”Aoyama-kun, you’re so bad”...lol 🤣 what are you doing with him in your dream?), at this point I wonder how much further she goes with him in her fantasies 😁

An aspect of Masaya's character that I’ve always appreciated: he also likes Ichigo's carelessness and jokes about it with irony, but in any case he always helps her to solve the problems she caused. Oh, another nice foreshadowing: the blue handkerchief!

Ichigo, what did you want to do here, crash into him and throw him to the ground to kiss him again by mistake? 🤣

And it’s wonderful that Ichigo has fantasies of him kissing her and leaning her against the wall and in real life holding his shoulders from behind is enough to get her excited up to this point.😆

This part is very important: in those days, between her who was chasing Zakuro and him who had training, they talked a little. Clearly they are not a couple yet, at least officially, since in my opinion the ending of episode 3 was quite eloquent in this regard. But that's okay, relationships need to be developed slowly and they'll probably get together at the end of the season. Masaya is busy with kendo these days, so for the moment she is content to give him her support in words and starts to walk away from him.

Masaya shows, again, his impetuousness which he has already shown before, but which over time he’ll show more and more. He doesn't ask her to wait, he actually stops her by taking her by her arm, again showing how he can't handle his actions when he gets excited. He too wants to go out with Ichigo again and spend time with her because he wants to get to know her better, admitting between his lines he likes her. And then something happens that I wanted so much to see but didn't really believe they actually would do: as far as possible, the authors let us hear his thoughts. I say "as far as possible” because with him they have to be careful. Just one word in excess, and you might understand that he’s no ordinary guy. But they give us as much as they can.

Oh, a tip to the animators: when you draw a new eyebrow to replace the wrong one, you should erase the wrong one. I hope this error is eliminated in the DVD. 😆 Anyway, here he thinks "if I know more about you ..." and I conclude it: "...I will be able to understand why I feel so weird with you." 

And in fact when she goes away he asks to himself "what is this feeling?" Poor darling. Again, he's in love with her but he doesn't realize it and he doesn't know how he feels about her. This scene is similar but also different from the manga: in fact, there we didn’t hear his thoughts and there was no torment of not understanding what the feeling he felt was. Of course, you could have arrived at it through reasoning, but seeing it on screen in such a blatant way is another matter entirely.

We then see a scene that we never saw in the manga: Masaya interacting with his training mates. Here they mostly talk about the Mew Mew, but from their lines, such as the fact that his mates know that he always talks to a girl but not her name, we understand that Masaya is very reserved, he doesn’t talk to them about his personal things (they know that he always talks to Ichigo only because they saw them together, certainly he didn't tell him about her) and he has no real connection with any of them. Masaya is a guy who until now has always been alone despite being always surrounded by people on a superficial level, Ichigo is the only one who has managed to get close to him on a personal level and to involve him with actual feelings.

Adorable that Ichigo, as in the manga, made for him a cat-shaped lucky charm, which here acquires a deeper meaning, since she learned in episode 3 that he has a soft spot for cats. Besides, she made it with the same color of her fur, and she put a red bell like hers, as if to say: with this lucky charm, you’ll always keep me with you.

And here comes out what had already been glimpsed in the previous episodes: Ichigo's paranoia, which here compared to the manga has a different reason. In the manga, she is basically scared because she fears she is being discovered by him. In the anime, however, she feels terribly guilty because she lied to him, and she is sure that if he finds out the truth he’ll never forget her and he won’t speak to her anymore. She walks away like that because she feels like a bad person, she almost regrets letting their relationship go on like this, because it's hard to go back now, she knows that, if she continues to stay with him, she will have to keep lying to him and it doesn't make her feel good. Moreover, she knows that he, of all people, is the one who came closest to discovering her identity, and indeed it’s like this, even if Masaya at this point in the episode still has some doubts.

I loved this line, which wasn't in the manga: I didn't see you, but I felt you were there. He already has such a high connection with her that he feels her presence even if he can’t see her.

And he tries asking her: are you that Mew Mew? Because Masaya has no idea what Ichigo thinks about it, and surely there wouldn’t be any problem for him if she answered yes, so she asks her such a direct question. He loves her for who she is, she was the first person to make him feel real feelings, what does he care if she's a Mew Mew? But of course Ichigo doesn't know it, and such a question would be a big deal for her. I always wondered what she would answer him if he could finish the question.

The detail of this scene is beautiful: as soon as they perceive the danger, they instinctively go close to protect each other in case of need. And in fact the danger arrives. And here we have something great, which surpasses even the manga, in my opinion.

Remember this scene? Before watching the episode, I was a little worried about the lack of Quiche, because in this manga scene we have Masaya who openly stands up to him, and Quiche also compares him to Ichigo, because Masaya has a strong personality like her. And I thought, without Quiche there won't be this scene and something of Masaya's character will be lost. Instead, the anime also gives us something better. 

He doesn't just scream, he not only dodges Ichigo from the attack, he takes a stick and fights alone, when he's still just a normal boy, against monsters! Moreover, to protect Ichigo, which was not there in the manga because he was alone. What a man! It’s therefore not important Quiche’s missing, because the point of that scene in the manga wasn’t to show their interaction, but to show how strong Masaya was. And this is shown to us perfectly in the anime, in a different and better way, so once again, I totally approve of the change that has been made. Furthermore, Masaya manages to resist enough against monsters, taking advantage of the skills he has developed in kendo (in which he is skilled because he was created by a god who uses the sword as a weapon).

Ichigo then, even if at that moment she can’t transform because she’s with him, she doesn’t stay still, leaving him all the work, but she too takes a stick and tries to help him. Even from these signals, despite the misunderstandings that will constitute an obstacle for them up to volume 5, we can see how they are building a healthy relationship, made up of mutual help and support.

Only when Masaya is hit and the wasp is about to kill him, Ichigo decides to transform to save him, even if she’s there in front of him. And here we have something that wasn't in the manga. In the manga, Masaya at the end of the chapter is not sure Ichigo is a Mew Mew, and he says so in the last panel of the chapter: he is suspicious, but it can't be. Here, however, even if the lines the characters exchange are almost the same, from the shots and the tones of the voices we understand well that Masaya understands perfectly in this moment that Ichigo is a Mew Mew. Also because as she transforms, he sees her clearly and his suspicions are definitively confirmed.

The subs are inaccurate. He actually tells her “kimi wa Mew Mew”, "you are a Mew Mew", as in the manga, but in the manga the interpretation is deliberately ambiguous. He could mean "ou in a generic sense are a Mew Mew", or "then you Ichigo are really a Mew Mew". In the anime, on the other hand, you understand what he means by the tone of his voice, and it is very clear that it’s the second. He's clearly saying "Ichigo, you're a Mew Mew."

Poor Ichigo, crying ... it makes me really sad to see her like this. She understood what it actually happened, he know who she is. She’s desperate as she fights because she knows that this is the end of their relationship, as she’s sure he will be angry with her because she has been lying to him all that time. However, notice that it's all a film that she only made in her own head, because she has no idea how he thinks about it. He would accept her anyway and forgive her for lying to him, but she is instead convinced that he won't want to have anything to do with her anymore.

When the fight is over, we have another proof that Masaya has understood who she is. As she begins to walk away, he calls her by name, and not insecure, as a question, as if he was looking for confirmation. In the manga he calls her by name in the previous chapter, here instead, since they condensed the two chapters, they moved it here. In that scene of the manga, however, he calls her uncertainly, a sign that he is not sure. Here, on the other hand, he is sure and calls her without doubts in his voice.

And at this point, as the title of the episode also says, it is clear what she wants to do. Out of guilt and fear of how he might react, she is ready to say goodbye first, perhaps because it would be less painful than hearing him say goodbye. This is the first of two times in which she will say goodbye, moreover with the same phrase: “ima made, arigatou”, “thank you for everything”. This is the first time, absent in the manga, in which she only thinks it. The second time will be in the rain after the Tokyo Tower battle, probably in the end of the season, where she’ll really tell him, and it’ll be the exact moment when he’ll realize he’s in love with her.

And then she simply says "ja nee", which could also just mean "bye, see you later". But said with that expression and with that tone, it’s clearly a farewell, it’s clear that if she had left at that moment, she would never have approached him again. But then, the turning point: in the manga Masaya stops Ichigo because he actually wasn't sure of his suspicions, but here the things are different.

Masaya knows that she’s Ichigo, but realizing that he is losing her, he panics and first yells at her to stop, as to tell her “don't go away from me”. He then thinks about it for a couple of seconds and immediately makes up for having mistaken her for that girl he knows. He has no idea why she is keeping her identity hidden from him, but he knows that if he proves that he knows her, she will go away from him. So, if the condition for her to stay with him is to pretend he doesn't know anything, then he’ll play that part. She is too important to him, and he’s willing to do anything to keep her with him. From the tone of his voice while he’s saying it and the fact that he looks down, it’s clear he’s not sincere with what he says and that he is making it up. To reinforce what he said, he also asks her who she is and if she can at least tell him this. In the manga, his is a sincere question, because he’s not sure if Ichigo is really her. Here, however, he already knows, but he asks it to her to convince her even more that he knows nothing about her. In fact, before those further questions she’s still doubtful whether he knows or not, but after he asks her who she really is, she is convinced that he doesn’t know, and she’s relieved, because she has understood he hasn’t recognized her.

And at this point I wonder why the authors didn't give the warriors a completely different name to make them protect their identity, as they did in Sailor Moon. "I'm not Usagi, I'm Sailor Moon." It’s okay. Here instead ... "I'm not Ichigo, I'm Mew Ichigo." And she tells him even with a convinced tone! 😆 It’s like calling their secret base “Café Mew Mew”. Great coverage, guys, you really want the paparazzi around you.

However, Masaya already knows who she is, even if Ichigo had had a different superhero name it would have been the same. And at that point Ichigo says "ja nee" again, but in a completely different tone than before. She’s cheerful and happy, a sign that she no longer means it as a farewell. Masaya instinctively tries to stop her anyway, but he’s no longer in panic as before. He knows Ichigo will stay with him, but still that is a pretty shocking discovery. But in that moment it doesn't matter, his only thought is to find her again as soon as possible.

Another proof he has understood who she is, he immediately goes to look for her in the very place where Mew Ichigo has gone away. Can we dare a dubbing award to Yuuma Uchida? He already has a lot of them, I'm sure, but here he’s truly a monster. Even though he calls her passionately all three times, you notice the change in his tone when he sees her sitting against the wall. He first calls her loudly, but only to find her. As soon as he sees her there exhausted his voice becomes worried and agitated, and it’s agitated even when he asks her if she’s okay. Yuma Uchida… they couldn't find a better voice for Masaya!

In the manga at this point he lifted her torso off the ground, but here Ichigo is already leaning against the wall, so it wasn’t needed. And all the additions in the anime make up for that! Especially the scene now.

She manages to give him the lucky charm she had prepared, an indirect way of telling him she loves him and she supports him, and Masaya, unlike the manga, where in this scene he didn’t say a word, clearly shows his emotions, those emotions that only she is able to make him feel and that still he can’t explain. In the anime it’s him, and not Ichigo, who realizes that she has given him a gift. Surely it’s not the first gift that he receives in his life, but it’s the first gift he has received with feeling and from a person he loves in turn. In the manga, he didn’t even thank her, here instead, after gazing the lucky charm and realizing what it means, he blushes so much and thanks her warmly. A lot of feelings are shining through every action of him, in a way that he has never shown in any of his previous incarnations.

Awww, how adorable he is! Masaya is generally represented in two ways in this anime. Like a cool guy or like an adorable puppy. Here is the second. This is the same character who said at the beginning of the series that mankind is full of sins. And now he's all in love with a member of the species he hates so much.

And then we have a final exchange, also a nice anime addition. In the manga the two separate because he has to go back to training, but not here. She wants to be close to him while he trains, not just hope he wins like she said earlier in the episode. He’s obviously more than happy that she’ll stay with him during his training (he’s still blushed), and therefore from here on an issue that worried me a bit is resolved: in the manga, Masaya and Ichigo are together only a few more times before he declares himself to her (when they go out together, they meet Ryou and she turns into a cat, and when she feels sick and he takes her to the infirmary). They’re actually a very few meetings for such a declaration. Instead, here, with this little additional interaction, we have the confirmation that only some of their interactions, the most important ones, are shown to us, but they stay together and bond even off-screen. That's just great! They have every opportunity to stay together both before and after training and thus to bond even more.

And all ends with a vision of the sky with cherry petals, and Ichigo is very happy because she’ll be able to continue to be with Masaya. Keeping lying to him and feeling guilty about it, but right now she doesn't care. She just wants to be with him, the other problems are not important.

And with this episode 7 ends. Guys, during the first episodes I kept my expectations low because I didn't want to be disappointed, but after all things they gave us, and especially after this episode, my expectations are rising more and more . You can feel the difference with the old series, in which the authors seemed to have put this couple only because they had to do it. Here, on the other hand, you can feel how much love and care they are putting into characterizing both him and his couple with Ichigo. They are giving us so much, if you are a fan who loves Masaya and the canon couple, they are giving us a wonderful gift. It had always been my dream to see Masaya and this couple shine like a bright star in a new adaptation, and that's exactly what they're doing. I will never be grateful enough to Mia Ikumi, Reiko Yoshida and the creators of this anime for these characters, this couple and this huge gift!

Now, as the next one is the ship episode, I'm sure Masaya won't be there, so I'll gladly take break. See you again in episode 9!

[pof203]

Justice Week: Happy Tiger & Bunny Day!

It's almost time! Countdown with me!

12...

11...

10...

9...

8...

7...

6...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

Happy Tiger & Bunny Day!

>The entire arena cheers at the stroke of midnight, beginning Tiger & Bunny Day.

Mario: As part of Justice Week, the Mayor has declared April 4th Tiger & Bunny Day since it's the anniversary of the first episode the anime series, Tiger & Bunny. Hard to believe it's been 12 years and we now have 12 heroes. Let's see how each one is doing. Let's start with our Crusher of Justice and one of our veterans in the Hero Buddy System: Kotetsu Kaburagi, aka Wild Tiger!

Thanks, Mario. Though I wish you wouldn't have used my real name. I may not have my powers anymore and no longer a hero, I still have to hide my identity. Anyway, I'm still trying to find a way to keep busy. I still want to be involved in Hero TV.

Mario: You could always try becoming an announcer... Actually, don't. I already have the job... But I suppose there's always that.

Kotetsu: (curious) What do you mean?

Mario: (smiling) You'll see when Justice Day comes. So, what are you doing now?

Kotetsu: Well, right now, I'm making my famous fried rice. My family's coming over for Justice Day. We're going to the Blorkus Spring Fair and then the parade.

Mario: I'm told you go there every year. Have you ever thought about doing anything different?

Kotetsu: I don't see why we should change a perfectly good family tradition.

Mario: That is true. Me and the old ball n' chain watch the parade every year without fail... (nervously) Not that she is a ball n' chain. She's one of the best things that ever happened to me. Well, thanks for you time, Ko- I mean, Wild Tiger.

Kotetsu: Anytime.

Mario: (Oh boy, I wonder what Agnes and Lloyds will say if he's not coming.) And now, we should check on Super Scion of the Aristocracy and the other veteran of the Buddy System: Barnaby Brooks Jr.!

Thanks, Mario. It's a pleasure.

Mario: So, what are you doing now?

Barnaby: Well, I just finished reading The Legend of the Goddess of Justice to the children here at the orphanage. I've never seen them more excited for Justice Day since that one Justice Day when we thought the legend was coming true.

Mario: Yes, that was a very memorable time. They even made a movie out of it. It just makes me wish to know if they're going to make a third one.

Barnaby: We can only hope.

Mario: Which makes me wonder, what will you be doing on Justice Day? Will you be coming to the Justice Day Ball at the Maylor's mansion this year?

Barnaby: I don't know. I was hoping to take the kids here to the fair and the parade... But I saw what happened... (wink) Don't worry, I'll make sure he comes.

Mario: (unsure) Okay. Thanks for your time, Barnaby.

Barnaby: Happy to help.

Mario: And next up, the Wondering Prince of Gravity, Ryan Goldsmith, aka Golden Ryan.

Thank you! Who's awesome? I'm awesome!

Mario: (unimpressed and whispering) I think that's mantra's taken. (back to normal and out loud) So, Ryan, how are you doing?

Ryan: Just fine. Just watched a movie with my pet, Molly. I thought it would be a nice way to spend some time before Justice Day.

Mario: So, you'll be going to the ball that day?

Ryan: You bet. I've got my tickets and my suit ready.

Mario: That's great. Will we be seeing Blue Rose coming with you.

Ryan: (laughing) You wish. She's performing at the parade. But don't worry. I have someone in mind... Jr. said so.

Mario: Oh, now we're really curious. Anyway, thanks for your time.

Ryan: Just make sure you get my good side when they show the ball on TV.

Mario: I'm sure we will. And speaking of the Icy Superstar, let's check on Blue Rose now. How are you, my dear?

Thanks, I'm fine. Just getting in some last minute rehearsals before the big day.

Mario: Yes, Ryan told us. Have you got a new song for us in store?

Blue Rose: Not really. Just some of the recent stuff, but I know some new talents that might have something up their sleeves. I just know they'll be the real show stopper.

Mario: True. But I doubt... Never mind.

Blue Rose: (unimpressed) Yeah, we better.

Mario: But still, we can't wait for any new songs you might come up with soon.

Blue Rose: Don't worry. I will. I'm actually working on one right now. It's still a working progress, but you'll hear it soon enough.

Mario: I'm sure we will. Thank you for your time.

Blue Rose: Hope to see you all at the Justice Day Parade!

Mario: Now, to check up on our Expert of Being Seen in the Background, Origami Cyclone, who, at this time, is with his partner, the Bulltank of the West Coast, Rock Bison.

Thank you.

Mario: Where's Bison?

Origami Cyclone: Probably best you don't know.

>You can clearly hear the sound of gagging in the background.

Mario: So, got any plans for Justice Day?

Origami Cyclone: Not really. I'm just going to hang out with some old classmates from the Hero Academy. Catch a movie and then finish off with the parade.

Mario: Does that include He Is Thomas?

Origami Cyclone: No. He's got plans with his sister.

Mario: Really? I would have thought you would go to the ball.

Origami Cyclone: No, but Bison is. Right?

(panting and staggering) You bet I am! I'm gonna have ball- (quickly ducks out of the camera and clearly into a toilet)

Mario: (a bit worried) I thought he quit drinking.

Origami Cyclone: Actually, we were having dinner and he eat some bad sushi. As you hear, one of the chefs is being yelled at by the manager.

Voice from outside the bathroom: YOU'RE FIRED! HOW COULD YOU SERVE SUSHI THAT WAS ON THE FLOOR!?

Other voice from outside: (nervously) Three second rule...

>More gagging could be heard from Bison. Origami is not happy with what he sees in the bowl.

Origami Cyclone: (serious) And there's blood there. Sorry, we'll have to cut this short, gotta get this one to the ER. Thanks for checking in.

Mario: Sounds like the hospital's going to have their hands full. Here's wishing Bison a speedy recovery. Next up, the Wind Master, Sky High, and his partner, the Bourgeois Open Flame Broil, Fire Emblem!

We're so happy that for the interview. Thanks, and thanks again!

Mario: Do I see fancy wear in the background? Are you two going to the ball?

(this is the only picture I could find) You bet! I know we'll be the stars of the ball... Until the surprise. I'm told this year's Justice Day Ball at the Mayoral Mansion promises to be a memorable one.

Mario: Really? What is it?

Sky High: We're not sure ourselves at the moment. We're just as excited about this as you are.

Mario: No doubt. Thank you for your time.

Sky High and Fire Emblem: You're welcome, and you're welcome again!

Mario: And now, to see the Lightning Bolt Kung-Fu Master, Dragon Kid!

Thanks, Mario. I was just doing some last minute training. I'll be back.

Mario: So, got any plans for Justice Day?

Dragon Kid: It took a while, but it looks like my parents can come for Justice Day. We're even going to the ball at the Mayor's house.

Mario: That's wonderful. Got any plans for the rest of Justice Week with them?

Dragon Kid: Well, mostly we're just going to do some sightseeing until it's time for them to go home. But I'm sure it won't be so bad. There might be some places in Sternbild we might not even know about.

Mario: You mean... Everlasting Life? You don't really believe that, do you?

Dragon Kid: Who knows, Mario. Who knows. Well, better get back to training. See you at the ball.

Mario: (whispering) It takes all kinds of people. (out loud) Anyway, let's move on to the Magical Girl Carnivoran, Magical Cat!

Hello, everyone!

Mario: So, what are you up to?

Magical Cat: I convinced my mother to play tennis with me. She's just taking a break right now.

Mario: So, what do you have planned for Justice Day?

Magical Cat: Me and Mama usually spend it with a big dinner and watching the parade on TV. But this year, my boss gave me a ticket to the ball. I'll be going. I wanted to bring Mama with me, but she says it would make me stand up more to the fans if I want by myself. Of course, she doesn't mind I share the spotlight with Dragon Kid. I can't wait to see what will happen.

Mario: Neither can I. Or the fans.

Magical Cat: (hearing a flushing sound nearby) Sounds like Mama's coming back. Hope to see you later!

Mario: Same here. Now for the One Adorned in White Light, He Is Thomas!

... Hello. I'm just here with my sister.

(this is the only picture I could find) Hello, everyone!

Mario: How sweet. Spending time with you little sister. I guess you two have plans for Justice Day?

Ruby: Yes. First, we're going to visit the Spring Fair and then we're going to a ball.

Mario: Does this mean we'll be seeing you at the Mayoral Mansion on Justice Day?

He Is Thomas: Yes. It was Carlotta's idea.

Mario: Even Mr. Black?

He Is Thomas: He says he already has plans for that day... Carlotta was really upset.

Mario: I can imagine that. But I hope you two will have a fantastic time.

Ruby: I'm sure we will.

He Is Thomas: Thank you.

Mario: Just one Hero left: The Literal Man in Black, Mr. Black!

What was that?

Mario: Oops! Caught you at a bad time?

Mr. Black: (just realizing he failed to acknowledge the camera again and pulling the towel up) Holy shoot! When did you guys get here?

Mario: We're just checking up on our Heroes and asking what they have planned for Justice Day. Thomas said you're not going to the ball.

Mr. Black: I'm not. One of my friends from Panjourney's coming over to visit for Justice Day. We're just gonna do some sightseeing, hit up the fair, and finally end it with the parade.

Mario: That sound nice. Having a friend over from when you were Hello Goodbye.

Mr. Black: No kidding. (starting to get embarrassed) Now could you please leave? I was just about to take a shower.

Mario: Right, thank you for your time. (whispering) I wonder how many fans he'll earn from that interview? (out loud) Well, that's all the heroes we can interview. Before we end tonight's program, a word from the famous NEXT, Little Aurora.

Thank you, Mario. It is wonderful to know that our heroes find some time outside of being heroes. These days, we hope to celebrate Justice Day knowing that for this day, and, possibly now, Justice Week, we are reminded that we all carry a heart of justice. For when all is said and done, we are one people. Thank you.

Mario: And that concludes tonight's program. We hope to see you all again soon. This has been Hero TV Live!

[bustyasianbeautiespod]

Episode 74 Transcript: Goodbye... for now

[intro guitar music]

G: Hello! My name is Grey.

C: And my name is Crystal.

G: And this is Busty Asian Beauties, a Supernatural commentary podcast where I, someone who has seen the show several times...

C: And I, someone who only knows the show through social media, discuss every single episode of Supernatural from start to finish. Also, we are both Asian.

G: Both Asian! For this episode, we will be discussing Season 4, Episode 14: "Sex and Violence," written by Cathryn Humphris, directed by Charles Beeson.

C: I know this isn't that bad of an episode, but I just had the most horrific time forcing myself to watch it. [G laughs]

G: Okay, that is a very, very nice segway to a very big announcement for us. [both laughing]

C: [laughing] Yeah, so, um-

G: Crystal had a rough time watching this episode, and now we're going to do a completely different podcast and we're taking a break from BABPod-

C: [laughing] - For 3 months.

G: [laughing] - for 3 weeks- oh, no, sorry, it's 3 months.

C: [laughing] Bye everyone! Sayonara, you weeaboo shits! But- [both laughing] No, okay, we are taking a 12 week break on BABPod because I'm insane and I begged Grey to do a Good Omens podcast with me because I can think of nothing else in my waking days; it haunts me forever and ever. [both laugh] And we can't run two podcasts at once because this is like, a 10 hour a week commitment for like, each of us separately, so we're leaving in the middle of Season 4. Maybe if Cas was in this episode, this wouldn't have happened. But you know what? He wasn't. [laughs] So.

G: Yeah. And we'll see Cas in 12 weeks. Bye, Cas! [both laugh]

C: Okay, so the name of our our new podcast is "Rubbish and Probably a Podcast." We have substituted the f-slur in the original book for the word "podcast." It will not be on this podcast feed; it'll be on another podcast feed, so if you just like, look up "rubbish and probably a podcast," hopefully, it'll show up for you on the Spotifies and the Google Podcasts and the whatever. But we're sticking to our same Tumblr and email account and Ko-Fi for anyone who wants to chat with us about Good Omens.

G: Yes.

C: Oh, also, we're finally doing the switcheroo, which I've always, always desired, which is where I've seen the show multiple times and Grey only knows about it from social media. So, hell yeah.

G: I don't know about it from social media. I know about it from you exclusively-

C: From me, screaming and crying.

G: Yes. So it'll be a really fun experience for me. And for you, hopefully. If it's not, this is gonna be so miserable. [laughs]

C: And for me, it will be. Yeah, because it is fully an act of charity you're doing for me. [G laughing] You should put this on your tax returns.

G: Exactly. And also, this is a wonderful opportunity for you to show some leadership skills because you're gonna be like, doing the like, hosting of the podcast [C laughs], which I'm very excited about. God.

C: So true. So very true.

G: When we do our intro, you're gonna be the first to speak. Are you excited about that in any way, shape, or form?

C: Oh, yeah, of course. It's all I've ever dreamed of ever since I was a little girl.

G: Exactly. Yeah. I am now the co-host and you are the host of this podcast.

C: Yeah. Yeah. So true. Well, there will be a trailer where we state more things, I suppose. So look out for that.

Back to this fucking show. [laughs] It's not that bad. But I just- to really get you into the mindset of how horrible it was to watch, I started watching at 9PM, and I couldn't get myself to finish until 2AM. And the things that I did in order to avoid finishing watching this episode, like, got a lot of water and snack refills, talked to my mutual Jeb on Tumblr about Good Omens, watched a 13-minunite Mitski video explaining how she wrote the song "Bug Like an Angel." I opened Pocket Frogs for the first time in 3 weeks to play it. [G laughs] I opened Disco Elysium for the first time in 2 months to play it. I also downloaded a game from itch.io that Danica's friend made, and then played all of that, and I watched an 18-minute Good Omens line reads compilation, and only after that 18-minute video of Good Omens did I have the energy to finish the last 6 minutes of "Sex and Violence."

G: I mean, this episode is not that bad, but it is one of those episodes that-

C: Hates women so much it's unreal?

G: Hates women so much it's unreal. And also, like, I think we do a good job in this podcast not talking about Wincest and the Wincest shippers of the world-

C: Yeah. But like, this, episode was like, a huge win for them, I have to say.

G: I would say, though, that every episode is probably a huge win for those people, [C laughs] because like, to them, everything is like- you know what I mean? You know what I mean? C: Yeah.

G: Like, if you're that level of- [both laughing] I'm not going to complete that sentence. It's way too mean. But-

C: This is just because Richard Siken is like- people think that Wincest is okay because he's out here doing good PR work for the evils.

G: Is he? I blocked him.

C: [laughs] Anyway.

G: I blocked him.

C: For real. [laughs]

G: I am of the opinion of Richard Siken's Twitter account is- I need to apply the same philosophy to it which I apply to-

C: As to any other- yeah?

G: - TikTok, which is that if it's good enough to be seen by me, there will be a person who shows it to me in some way. If the Tweet is not good enough to be seen by me, the middleman or the middlemen and women and non-binary people of the world [C laughs] will not show it to me. They will feel no need.

C: Yeah, yeah.

G: And my middlemen, I mean my mutuals.

C: Anyway, we're not mad at Richard Siken because we all knew it already [G laughs], but yeah, it was nicer when it was easier to forget. [laughs]

G: I don't give a shit. I really don't give a shit. Like, people were @-ing me!! Like, people were fucking messaging me! Like, "Grey, don't you love Supernatural and Richard Siken? [C laughs] Have you heard about this thing?" And I'm like, "Look. Look at me! I have heard about it. You are also the same person who messaged me about Misha Collins coming out as straight asking me if I've heard about it. I've heard about it all! [both laughing] So don't fucking go to my house and tell me- and ask me if I've heard about these things." You know what I mean?

C: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So true. I mean, at least he said, "I can guess the t-boy part, but what is swag?" That was at least a good sentence.

G: Anyway! This episode-

C: Yeah.

G: What is going on in Cathryn Humphris's head?

C: I really think it was just like- "Well, we need there to be a twist. Like, it can't just be like, a hot woman." But like, why is he talking like that?

G: No, here's the thing. Here's the thing. Well, first of all, you know the person who I don't like the character's characterization the most in this episode? It's Sam Winchester. Like, I cannot believe that he would-

C: No, he would not do this unless he was poisoned! Like, you're telling me in this glass office with the blinds open? [G laughs]

G: Like, they are working a case where guys fuck women and then they kill the people around them. And he's out here like, "I'm just gonna fuck this woman." [both laugh] And he doesn't even have the "because I was poisoned" because he wasn't.

C: Yeah, no, he just fully chose this with full consciousness of everything he was doing.

G: And then he was like, "I'm so upset at you Dean because you don't trust me because I slept with a woman in the 'man sleeps with a woman and then kills other people' case. [C laughing] What's wrong with you, Dean?" And it's like, "Sam! What is wrong with you?" What the hell? Why's he acting like this?

C: I truly have no clue like. Like, the last time Cathryn Humphris wrote Sam, like, was in "Metamorphosis," right? Like, she seemed to understand things then. Why doesn't she understand things now?

G: Yeah. Well, anyway, let us start the episode. So-

C: What did I know about it?

G: Oh, yeah, we need to do that. What'd you know about it? [laughs]

C: Well, I knew that Nick, the siren, was going to be a man, and that he and Dean would have- would get along very well, but that like, he would be like, wanting to be Dean's replacement, little brother rather than like, a sexual or romantic person in his life, but that it's still like, weirdly homoerotic 'cause, you know, Tumblr is obsessed with this episode.

G: Ye.

C: And I also thought I knew things about this episode, but I think that they were actually for the other siren episode, in like, Season 5 or whatever where there's like the room with like, like, pink sheets and stuff, and then at some point like, Dean goes in, and he like, flips open the blanket where there's like, a naked guy in there like, to check if there's anything underneath. Do you know the the clip I'm talking about?

G: It's not from here.

C: Yeah. Is that from the other siren episode, though, like, in Season 5?

G: Not sure. Not sure. But he does look at the guy's dick once.

C: Yeah, I mean, I remember when Danica watched whatever episode involved looking at the guy's dick, I feel like she told me that Dean also has a conversation with the guy where they like, share a moment of like, bro solidarity, where, like, Dean's like, "Oh, you like, Asian chicks too?" [G laughs] And like, I'm looking forward to whenever that happens. [laughs]

G: Ugh.

C: But you know what? It'll be more than 3 months before we have to see it! [both laughing]

G: That is true.

C: Not that Good Omens isn't racist, but it is a different brand.

G: One of the only few things I know about that show is that once you told me that there was a Supernatural fan on Tumblr who said they don't want to watch Good Omens due to racism, and you were like, "You are a Supernatural fan. You do know that, right?" [C laughs]

C: Yeah. I'd say if I if I had to like, rank them, I'd say Good Omens the book is the most racist, followed by Supernatural, followed by Good Omens the show, but maybe refreshing my memory will change how I feel about it.

G: Well. Let us start the episode!

-

G: We begin at a suburban household where a guy comes home to his wife.

C: Does the "Then" sequence not matter?

G: Well, what is it?

C: Well, okay. It like, starts with like, Ruby telling Sam like, "Oh, like, you need to tell Dean what we're doing, because, like, if it doesn't come from you, he'll be pissed." And then it's like, Dean going like, "Oh, so you're BFFs with a demon? Like, something major must have happened." And that's a voiceover over the clip of the Samruby sex in 4.09, which is like, strange. Like, the implication- 'cause like, in the episode, it's like, "I'm friends with Ruby now because she saved my life when I was like, at my most suicidal." But like, the way that this "Then" sequence is putting it is just like, "It's 'cause [overlapping] we fucked."

G: Yeah.

C: Yeah, and then it goes like, Sam goes like, "Oh, then like, why don't you be more forthcoming? Like, tell me what happened in Hell." And then Dean doesn't answer, and then the sequence ends, which makes it seem like he's hiding something about it, even though, like, he's not. Like, we already got the answer to that. So like, it's just a very odd reframing of Season 4 thus far, which I thought was interesting. And I don't really know what a lot of it has to do with - I guess, like, the Samruby stuff is just like, "Oh, we're gonna make Sam seem extra untrustworthy and unsympathetic in this so that you understand why Dean, like, is looking at his phone and things like that." And then the Hell thing, I guess- like, I don't know. Like, Sam has his line later where he's like, poisoned, and he's like, "Oh, you just keep going, 'Blah blah blah! I'm so sad about the torture.'" which is so like, why didn't you show Dean being sad about the torture in the "Then" sequence? Why did you just end it on him not answering.

I don't know. Strange and odd.

Whatever. It's no pizza man montage. That is the strangest and the oddest thing they've come up with.

-

G: The beginning of the episode is a man shows up at his house, and, like, his wife, is like, asking him like, about work and all that crap, and he's just- every response he gives is one that reeks of like, anger and frustration, right? Like, at some point, she says, "Oh, a friend of ours invited us to a party, so we're going to a party on Saturday!" And the guy got really upset by this because he doesn't want to do that. And the woman just says, "We'll just cancel it. I don't know why you want to pick a fight with me." Then he bashes her head in with a meat tenderizer.

C: We now turn to a motel room, and Dean's like, asleep. But then he wakes up, and he hears Sam whispering on the phone. He's in the bathroom doing his secret phone call, but he's left his bathroom door completely open! Like, man. Growing up gay when your dad isn't around must be so easy. [G laughing] Like, [laughing] do you know what I mean? Like, he didn't learn any basic life skills like, at all. He probably like, never had to like, be on his laptop with like, one finger like, poised over the homework tab as he took "Am I Gay" quizzes. Like, not a single time, you know?

So he's talking about how there's like, no demonic omens nearby, but he'll keep looking, blah blah blah. And then he hangs up, comes back to the bedroom, and wakes Dean up. Dean is pretending that he was asleep the whole time. And Sam's like, "Oh, yeah, I wasn't doing anything. I was like, pissing and shitting. With the door open, you know."

He introduces Dean to a case. the one that we saw in the opening. And this is the third man like, in the last two months in Bedford, Iowa who has killed his wife. So yeah. RIP.

Sam references "The Shining" here. Sam does way more pop culture references than usual this episode. Did you notice that?

G: Yes. He even says like, some stuff that like, I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about, which is new for him.

C: I feel like it's possible that, like, maybe, like, Sam and Dean's roles were like, somewhat switched in this episode originally. And then like, it didn't work out because they wanted Nick as the little brother figure, so then, Cathryn Humphris just like, moved around some lines and things? 'Cause yeah, Sam feels really out of character here.

G: Yeah, that line is pretty much the - like, the whole, like, "You want me to be your little brother" - is pretty much the only thing that is character-specific about any of their interactions with other people this episode.

C: Yeah.

G: 'Cause, like, everything else is like, "That could be Sam" or "That could be Dean," and it wouldn't matter. Like, even in their big final fight, the siren poisons Sam, too. It's not essential that Dean gets poisoned and then says all this shit to Sam, you know? Because Sam gets poisoned too and says all this shit to Dean. So it's equal footing.

C: Yeah. And we'll get to it when we get to it, but like, it's weird that like, during the fight, I feel like Dean was saying things he meant, but I don't know- like, everything Sam said, I was like, "Is that something he actually like, thinks or cares about?" I don't know. Whatever. Maybe it is.

So we go to the prison where the man from the opening is being held, and Sam and Dean are pretending to be public defenders, asking him questions about what exactly happened. And the guy, Mr. Benson, is like, "I am pleading guilty because, like, I fully killed her just because I was angy about nothing at all, and I was completely in my right mind when I did it even though I loved her and we were happy." And then Dean pulls out some bank statements he has for Mr. Benson, and apparently he's recently spent $9,000 at a strip club. So Benson says, like, "Okay, yeah, fine. Her name was Jasmine." At no point in this episode do they like, actually mention that all the names that the siren is using are for like, Disney Princesses.

G: Yeah.

C: Was that just supposed to be like, "a fun little Easter egg 'cause like, not that many people are gonna get it!" Like, I know that men don't know about fairy tales, but-

G: I think it's more of like, "This is just what stripper names are."

C: Like, Disney princesses?

G: I mean, that's the implication, yes.

C: Okay, but like, later, Dean was like, "One of them was a redhead, and one of them was Asian," and he's talking about when the stripper was going by Ariel, and then Jasmine. Like, that's like, not just about the name. Like, they're like, taking on Disney princess appearances, supposedly.

G: I don't think it's enough of like, an obscure thing to be an Easter egg, though. It's just something that they- C: Yeah, I agree that it's not enough of an obscure thing to be an Easter egg, which is why I'm surprised that it wasn't pointed out. Or like, that Nick didn't have the name of a Disney prince or another Disney character to continue the thing to be like, one of the hints that it was him? You know what I mean? Like, this seems like, something that was going to be pointed out as part of solving the case, and it wasn't.

G: [laughs] That is such a goofy thing to happen, something that happened this episode. Like, imagine this entire episode, and then at the middle of it, they're like, "And this guy's named-" I don't even know the names of-

C: Sebastian!

G: [laughing] The guy's named Sebastian! [laughs]

C: Yeah. But then, like why do the like, specifically like, the siren takes on the name Ariel when choosing to be a redhead, etc. thing. Whatever. It's not a big deal. Who cares?

G: I mean, okay, put yourself in the mind of a stripper. You have red hair or you have a red wig, right?` And you think to yourself, "What will make me, like, a recognizable figure in this establishment?" You would want to draw onto your features that differentiate you from the other people there, right? So if you have red hair, you would be like, "Okay, I'm named Ariel now because I have red hair and Ariel has red hair, and I'm trying to stand out."

C: Okay. Alright. Fine. I'll allow it.

G: It's just what people do. Yeah.

C: Anyway, so yeah, Ben says her name was Jasmine, and Sam goes, "She was a stripper?" and Dean goes, "Dude. Her name was Jasmine." Which- I don't think-

G: First of all, many people are named Jasmine.

C: People are named Jasmine. Come on.

But anyway, so he met her when his friend was having a bachelor party, and apparently she was "Perfect. Everything that I wanted." I think he just has a thing for Asians. And then he says, "It wasn't about the money. It wasn't even about the sex. It was- I don't know what it was. It's hard to explain. [G laughs]

G: This literally-

C: We see the siren interact with someone later, and like, it literally is about the sex, because, like, the character that they're putting on has no fucking personality. [laughs]

G: Well, also, this is me in every single two-week fling that I have ever. [C laughing] "It's not about the anything! It's about the connection." God, hearing it from somebody else has made me realize how I annoying I am no matter what.

C: You were fine...ish [G laughs] during the last one. [C laughs]

Anyway, so, but his wife never found out. That's not why he did it. It was just because Jasmine said that they could be together forever if only Vicky was dead. And after the murder, he was supposed to meet up with her, but she never showed up. And he doesn't know anything about where she lives or her name, so he's got nothin'.

G: Here's my question.

C: Yeah?

G: In most like, monsters that Supernatural does, there's always some kind of motivation, right?

C: Yeah, right. Usually they have to kill to eat, or like, with ghosts, they're just so angry about something that happened that they just have to act on it.

G: There's absolutely no motivation for the siren at all for anything ever.

C: Yeah.

G: Like, is it the money? Is it because they're giving the siren money? And now the siren has money? Because, if so, why like, disappear immediately after you have established that this person will do anything for you, no matter what, you know?

C: Yeah, I mean, the confrontation with Nick later, doesn't he say something about how like, "It just feels so good like, knowing someone would kill for you. Like, that's it. I'm just evil." But like, I guess the implication is that there are like, perfectly nice sirens around.

G: Yeah, exactly.

C: 'Cause they don't have to kill to eat or anything. We just like, ran into a real dickbag.

G: But like, I don't even think it's about the "It's so nice that someone is willing to kill for you."

C: You poisoned them!

G: Because as a fan of toxic media, if somebody kills for you, you stay with that person.

C: So true.

G: Because then, you have like, something over them, you know?

C: Yeah.

G: "You killed for me already, so why not-" blah blah blah blah blah.

C: Yeah.

G: So this power play doesn't even work because you're gone before it has any effect. So boo! If you're a siren and you have the power to make people kill for you-

C: Commit to them.

G: Commit to the bit. Exactly.

C: Yeah. Also, I don't know. It's not even a "I like practising my skills of manipulation" thing because it's like, as long as you get the poison in them-

G: They are poisoned, yeah.

C: Right. You don't actually have to interact with that person in any way, like, you don't actually have to fuck them or do anything. But like, is it just about-

G: He didn't even kiss Sam. He just spit on his mouth.

C: Yeah, exactly. So I don't get- is it just about reveling in the power you have with the poison? I yeah, I don't know. I don't get it. They did not really flesh this out.

G: This is a poorly-written episode.

C: Yeah. Sam says, "You didn't think to tell this to the cops?" which, I mean, why would he? This just makes him look worse, doesn't it? Would this actually help his case at all?

And Benson's like, "No, I didn't, because it was me who was in the wrong, and if I don't get the death sentence, I will just kill myself." So yup.

Also, did you notice the just awful zoom-ins on this guy's face while he was talking?

G: There's a lot of it this episode.

C: Right. And like, has Charles Beeson done that before? I thought it was a Robert Singer, but no, this is like, new.

G: This is just like, because of the topic of the episode, I feel. Because the episode is supposed to be like, sexual or intimate or whatever.

C: No, but it was like, while this guy was just talking about how upset he was that he killed his wife. [G laughs] It's like, there's a bunch of weird cuts and like, zoom-ins on his face.

G: Yeah. I don't know.

-

G: We go to a hospital and it's kind of like, a pathology office where the only person there is this doctor who is holding, like, her head in her hands, and she feels a bit sick because of a hangover.

C: Dr. Cara Roberts.

G: Sam goes in, goes like, "Oh, you had a rough night?" and Dr. Cara goes, "No, I had a fun night, but I'm having a rough morning." And, like, you know, immediately you get the vibe of the character that they're gunning for, which is like, snarky, and- It's the type of character that they always pair up with Sam.

C: Yeah, yeah, she does have like, Sarah Blake vibes.

G: She has Sarah vibes. Madison vibes, even.

C: Yeah.

G: Why? Why do they always do this specifically for Sam?

C: I don't know. I mean, what's the vibe of the characters that they pair up with Dean?

G: Anyone? I don't know. [C laughs]

C: Yeah. Anyone. I don't know.

G: The thing is, I feel like a lot of the time with Dean, the characters they pair up with him are more of like, "I'm hitting on you."

C: Mm.

G: And with Sam, it's more of "They are hitting on Sam," you know.

C: Yeah.

G: So it is more like, the concept of, like, a type of woman that likes Sam is more conceivable than like, type of woman who likes Dean. [C laughs] 'Cause honestly, I don't think women like Dean that much. Like, think of one woman that, like, liked Dean instantly or before he was there, before he was like, flirting it up with her. You know what I mean?

C: Yeah. Huh. Good question. Yeah. I can't think of one.

So right, I guess, in order for them to hit on Sam, they have to have some kind of an assertive personality, and they've decided the way to make it hot in a woman is if she's like, snarky.

G: Yeah. Also, like, they always do like, the career woman for Sam. Which I think is their thinking where it's like, "Oh, because Sam was like, in college or whatever [C laughs], so like, he likes women who are career women."

C: Yeah, yeah, he requires a diploma before the smash.

Yeah, and you know, she's pretty, so immediately, you're like, "Oh, here's the red herring of the episode."

G: This doctor is the one who works on all the autopsies from the sheriff's department, and all the like, blood tests, like, tox screens for the people who are arrested and all that. And she says, like, "Nothing's wrong with the autopsy aside from the way they were murdered, which is pretty straightforward." And there was this moment where Sam is like, pressing on about the blood, and she just goes, "Well, can I see your ID again?" And Sam shows it, and she looks at it for a while, and then and and then she gives the file. And like, I think they are trying to do something with this. And like, later on, with the FBI guy siren also, like, checking up on their credentials.

C: Oh, yeah. That makes sense.

G: So I think maybe there would, there would be a portion in the episode where you think they're both sirens or something.

C: Hmm!

G: But like, that's not what they do.

C: I don't think so, though. I feel like they've made it very firm that like, "Oh, the siren only takes the shape of a woman." So I feel like that's enough to throw them off.

G: Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I don't recall watching this episode for the first time at all, ever.

C: Mm-hm. And I already knew going in.

G: So I don't know what my reaction to this was. Yeah, I don't recall what my reaction to this was where, like, I didn't know who the siren was, you know?

C: Yeah.

G: Anyway, there was some stuff in the blood work 'cause there's high levels of oxytocin which the doctor describes as "the love hormone."

C: You know another reason I think this was written for Dean and not Sam? Sam would know what oxytocin is.

G: Exactly!

C: And he wouldn't later go, "So this chemical..." like he forgot the name?

G: It's a hormone!

C: Like, he would not forget the name of oxytocin.

G: And they do this like, little thing where Cara describes what love feels like, and they smile at each other. [C laughs]

C: Cornyass.

G: And then Dean comes in like, "Hey, what's up?" And like, you know, like, he's like, trying to put up the charm. But Cara don't give a shit, and just keeps on talking to Sam. Like, as they head out, Sam turns around and goes, "Hey, you know what cures hangover? A greasy breakfast."

C: Everyone knows that already! Like, how is he, dispensing it like, it's like, a line?

G: [laughing] I don't know!

C: "Hey. Sometimes you can breathe oxygen through your mouth if your nose is stuffy, girl." Like, that's what he sounds like right now.

G: It literally does. Yeah. Anyway, they have a little laugh about it. And then they go out and Dean tells Sam, "Dude, you totally cockblocked me!" But he doesn't say "cock," he says "C."

C: He can't say cock. Yeah.

G: I mean, I'm pretty sure they can say cock.

C: Can they?

G: Maybe not cockblocked, because that implies cock specifically being about the penis.

C: I mean, they can say cock for a chicken, sure.

G: Yeah. But like, technically, they can say "dick" even if it's like, "you're being a dick" because it's like, "You're being a Richard" [C laughs] instead of being a, you know.

C: Sure, yeah. I don't think they can say cock unless they're talking about a chicken.

G: Yeah, is cock worse than penis? Well, I mean, it's [laughs] it is, because penis is the medical term. It's cock than dick? Let's let's explore this.

C: I think so.

G: Really?

C: Yeah. I mean, cock is like, the go-to word in pornography. [G laughs]

G: Okay. Man. I mean, I'm pretty comfortable saying most words in English that refer to genitalia, but make me say it in any- like, in Filipino, and it's like, "Nooo! [both laugh] That's too much!" Like, I don't even know why. I think because, like, there's more of a modesty culture when it comes to like, speaking in Filipino.

C: Yeah, that makes sense.

G: But literally like- [laughs] I cannot- I cannot say it. Like, even right now, I'm thinking, like, "Oh, I should like, set an example and like, say it." And I'm like, "Don't say it in the podcast!" [laughs]

C: Yeah, hey, remember, when we started this podcast, you wouldn't say "bitch"-

G: I literally wouldn't.

C: - and like, you heard me quote it the first time and you were like, "Damn. I guess I have to now."

G: Yeah, I mean, you know. We live, we laugh, we learn, etc.

C: Indeed!

Dean has apparently interviewed the other two men who killed their wives, and both of them went to the same strip club called the Honey Wagon, but they did not hook up with someone named Jasmine, they each had a different person that they said they were seeing. But this person was described as "perfect, and everything that they wanted."

So Sam theorizes that they were under some kind of a love spell and notices that Dean is incredibly cheerful. And he asks him about this, and Dean goes, "Strippers, Sammy! Strippers! We're on an actual case involving strippers. Finally." Well. [sighs] I think we've already discussed how in like, every other episode of Season 4. Dean is like, "I'm in it just to look at naked women," but also in the other half of the episodes he's like, "I'm so guilty about Hell, and these cases are the only things that are like, redeeming me in the eyes of God." So, okay. Cool.

G: Yeah.

C: Leave people alone, Dean.

-

C: They go to the club and Dean's talking to the manager. So the three names used by the siren were Jasmine, Aurora, and Ariel. One is a redhead, about 5'9. The other one is Asian. And then, yeah, he gets cut off because the manager is just like, "I don't have any paperwork. I don't know anything because everyone here works for cash. and I don't keep track of this shit, and this is not my problem." Meanwhile, Sam has called Bobby. Is it always is Sam who calls Bobby? I feel like I haven't been keeping track. Yeah, it is weird that- like, I feel like most of the time when it's like, "I called Bobby and he has a theory," it's like, Sam who does it well, but like, Bobby still considers Sam his least favorite child.

G: Yeah. Sam is just work child-

C: Exactly.

G: - and Dean is his child child. Yeah.

C: Yeah. Their theory is that the monster of the week is a siren. And Dean goes, "Oh, like, in the Greek myth The Odyssey?" And Sam looks at Dean kind of weird and Dean goes, "Hey, I read!" which people like to quote

G: Which is such an odd thing- First of all, siren is just part of the cultural- it's just something that exists in the world as a concept. I don't think you have need to have read The Odyssey once in your life. I don't think you even need to know what the word "odyssey" means to know what a siren is. You know, and it's just this, like, super odd like, "Why is Sam so surprised? Why is Dean literate all of a sudden?" [both] No, I'm just kidding. Like,  why is Sam so surprised, you know?

C: Yeah.

G: And it's just- It does- I don't know. The whole like, "Dean reads, and is actually smart!" I feel like there's a lot of other references that he makes that can be attributed to that that doesn't have to be this stupid of a like, "Oh, this thing that everybody knows about? I know about it too!"

C: Yeah.

G: You know. Like, the guy love Kurt Vonnegut. He's the reason why I started reading that shit. Like, there's- I don't know. He consistently references Lord of the Rings, like, other big fantasy stuff. And also just like, the the sheer amount of pop culture he knows,  like, those things are already impressive. It just- I don't know. I don't know why I hate this line so much, but like, I'm not here to hit on the "Dean Winchester can read" truthers. [C laughs] But like, I don't know. It feels so stupid to me because of the context of it.

C: Yeah, and, I don't know, I feel like- like, he can be smart without reading. [laughs]

G: That's true.

C: Like, we can like, value different forms of intelligence equally, or whatever. Like, [laughs] do you remember that week everyone was- wait, is it okay to make fun of a fanfiction on our podcast? [G laughs]

G: Maybe. Maybe not. I'll decide in the editing room, which is also the room where I record 'cause it's the same room for everything.

C: The "Smart!Dean 'verse"- like, there was like, a series called like, "Smart Dean" or something like that.

G: [laughs] Okay.

C: And, like, it's- okay, okay, can I just read a passage?

G: The synopsis? Oh, okay, okay.

C: The synopsis is- the general plot of one fic in the series is that Dean shows up at Stanford and is hanging out with his college friends, and Sam keeps trying to change the subject to topics he thinks Dean can handle, but Dean is able to keep up with an academic debate and win it. And then the summary ends with "Sam is surprised. Dean's hurt that Sam thinks he's stupid." And at the end of a scene- okay.

Dean attempts a smile. It comes out as more of a grimace, though, so he lets it fall from his face. Finally he sighs, dragging a hand over his face.

“Dammit, Sammy. This is me. You want the real truth? I’ve hidden for as long as I can remember. I’ve hidden from you, Dad, Bobby, pretty much everyone we’ve ever come into contact with. And no, I’m not going to talk about why. No chick-flick moments, remember?”

“Dean—” Sam starts.

"No, Sammy. I get why maybe you thought I wasn’t a goddamn genius, but I don’t think I ever acted like that much of an idiot.”

“And are you?” Sam asks.

“Am I what?” Dean says harshly.

“Are you a genius?” Sam waits with bated breath. [G laughing]

“Yes. Yes, Sammy, I am.” With that, he turns and leaves. Sam watches him go, regretting his words, but most importantly his assumptions.

It has 817 kudos. [G laughing] Anyway. We can move on.

G: [still laughing] What is this? What is happening? What is happening? What is this? [both laughing] What is this?

C: It's like, one of Sam's friends asks him-

G: "I'm a genius." [C laughing]

C: "Sam"- [laughing]

G: "I'm coming out as a genius-"

C: [laughing] "- watches him go, regretting his words, but most importantly, his assumptions."

G: [laughing] "- and you can't ever shame me with who I am."

C: Oh my god. The next day, Sam texts him, and is like, "I'm sorry I never really knew you. Tell me about your favorite intellectual field." And Dean says, "Mathematics as a whole, if we're going to get particular, I'd say differential geometry and mathematical logic. And then there's philosophy. Well, individual philosophies that interest me personally would be a better way to put it." Like- [laughs] [G sighs] This is not- Like, a character can- You can respect people who know about cars and pop culture as their like, main interests! Like, you don't have to do this.

G: Yeah. Like, if you're if your like fucking PETA statement about how "we should treat stupid people niceys!" [C laughs] and your conclusion is "because stupid people are actually smart in the most traditional way that we think of intelligence." Like, dude! Come on!

C: Yeah. Yeah. It's- it's bad. [G laughs]

G: I'm so sorry, fic writer.

C: 817 kudos!

-

C: So Sam's like, "Well, the siren's not actually a myth." Like, that's hilarious. Everything you hunt is a myth that's not actually a myth. But anyway, so apparently, they specifically prey on men, which I guess is why the episode opens with three domestic abuse cases or whatever, and it entices them with their siren song. And okay, the two songs that Dean cites as being like, seductive, are "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Cherry Pie," which I don't know very well. I think I've seen an AMV of Dean set to "Cherry Pie," but I don't know "Welcome to the Jungle."

G: They're both like, songs that are loud and noisy.

C: Okay.

G: You know what? We need, Dean, to listen to Kali Uchis.

C: To what?

G: Am I pronouncing that incorrectly? You know Kali Uchis?

C: I think I may just not know the artist.

G: The first thing who sang "telepatía."

C: Oh. I never really listened to that. I know there's some good AMVs to the song, but like I just never finish them.

G: You've never listened to Kali Uchis? You need to. You and Dean Winchester.

C: Okay. I'll do it just to differentiate myself from Dean Winchester.

G: Yes, exactly.

C: So, you know, Sam says that they don't have an actual song. It's more about an allure. And sirens used to live on islands. but now, if in 2009, they are more likely to set shop in a strip club. Why would you go to like, the middle of nowhere, like, Bedford, Ohio, where it's a small town and like, there's like, one doctor. Couldn't- it's so obvious that something is up. Like, hunters are gonna come immediately, because 50% of the town's population murdered their wives, and the other 50% are the dead wives.

G: No, also, like, you don't have to be in a strip club. You can literally just-

C: You can spit in someone's mouth!

G: Yeah!

C: From 10 feet away!

G: Like, I don't know why anyone- I know like, it's because I'm a lazy fuck, but I cannot imagine wanting to work in any way, shape, or form [C laughs] if I have abilities that will allow me to just go, "Hey, do you want to give me money?" And a person just go, "Yeah." You know what I mean? [laughs]

C: Yeah. Yeah, I agree.

G: So like, I don't know. Why do all this?  If you're in the middle of the ocean, and you're like, "Come to me in the middle of the ocean on this beautiful island," like, I completely understand that. The ocean is beautiful. But like, what would you do in whatever fucking place this is.

C: Bedford, Iowa?

G: Who give a shit about Iowa? Go into the ocean, you know.

C: Yeah, I mean, there are people in Iowa, and I care about them in general-

G: Sorry, people in Iowa.

C: - but yeah, I do think that there's nothing about the siren that makes me think that they wouldn't be better served like, just spitting in random people's mouths on the streets of NYC.

G: Yeah.

C: Yeah. So that is the situation. Also like, the mirror thing doesn't come up this episode at all?

G: It does.

C: I mean, does it that much? Sorry. During the fight is there a moment where, like, one of them sees the mirror, and it helps break them out of it? 'Cause I didn't see that happen. Maybe I missed it.

G: No, there's just like, the whole like-

C: It's just that like, I thought it'd be more relevant that, in a mirror, you can see the siren's true form.

G: Well, I mean, we can, 'cause we see it, but not the victims, you know.

C: Yeah, but like, one of the men that the siren, like, seduces has what? Like, a fucking mirrored ceiling. And he doesn't notice that, like, in the mirror, is a horrific creature? I don't know what the point is if it wasn't going to be relevant to solving the case or realizing something. Also like, I don't know. I feel like strip clubs are often like, full of mirrors, so like, wouldn't you want to go to a more matte establishment if you wanted to like, get away with shit like this? Whatever. Who cares? Bad episode.

G: Do they even mention the mirror in the episode?

C: They don't. It's just that- they don't at all. We just see it. You'd think that it's like, with like, shapeshifters, it's like, "Oh, let's check all the camera feeds because we know this thing about their eyes." But like, with sirens, it's just like- I guess they don't know that they show up weird in mirrors, but it also never comes up that they show off weird in mirrors. Whateber.

So they can read your mind and then disguise themselves as whatever you want best. So this, like, the Ariel, Jasmine, Aurora, were probably all the same person. And, you know, Bobby's working on figuring out the right way to kill him. But currently, it's gonna be very hard for them to figure out who it is.

As they talk, like, there's like, a woman who walks by them, and then like, in the next cut, she's changed appearances from like, a blonde person to a brunette person. And she approaches some youngish guy named Lenny, and he says, "Hey, Belle." And she leads him out to his apartment.

-

G: They do this thing where the guy that she has come home with is taking care of his mom, which we- I think we can assume that's like, old and like, sick in some way. Yeah. So, you know, like, the- Belle is like, "Oh, it's so amazing that you're still taking care of her. Most people would just put their moms in a nursing home." And the guy is very like, "Yeah, I mean, she's my mom, so it's fine." But like, Belle keeps on insisting that like, "No, this is like, a big deal, and you're so strong and you're so wonderful for this."

C: Yeah, and the whole time she's also taking off her clothes.

G: Yeah. And then they have sex. And then, like, after the sex, they're doing pillow talk, and she goes like, "Oh, but it sucks that your mom's here like. It would be so much better if she just wasn't here so you can just be with me forevermore." And then the guy's like, "Okay." And then she goes, "You should bash her brains in." And he goes, "Okay." And then he does!

C: Yeah. Wild shit.

There's no skill here, no personality. Like- whatever. It's just the same thing where I don't know what the siren gets out of it. This is the most generic woman ever that they're playing right now.

G: Also, okay. I have seen many a takes about this episode. People who are like, "This is proof that Dean is bisexual." People who are like, "If you think this is proof that Dean is bisexual, you're feeding into like, the whole incest jujuju that the show is peddling." And then, I have seen a take where it's like, "There's a character in the show where he's taking care of his mom, and then he ends up killing his mom, and like that relationship is very strictly familial, so like, we can assume that, like, [laughs] Sam and Dean's relationship is also familial."

C: I mean-

G: Which like, I would love to- No, I that's a very bad way to put it. I am going to point out that, like, in this one, he is taking care of his mother. and then he has sex with her-

C: Not his mother. He has sex with the siren.

G: Yeah. And she goes, "We could be in love if you kill your mom."

C: That's very different.

G: It's not like [overlapping] "I could be your mother." [both laugh] Yeah! Exactly. So this is not the evidence that you're looking for that this episode is not like, weird in the incest way, you know?

C: Yeah. I mean, I think it's just like, Hays Code era gay villain shit. Like, "There's always gonna be a level of queer sexuality to something that is evil because we're Supernatural."

G: Yeah.

C: So yeah, I don't think they're feeling into the incest shippers on purpose-

G: Yeah, I also do not think so.

C: I think they're just like, "You know what's evil? Being gay. Also, Dean's most important relationship is with his brother platonically. We'll combine these 2 things, and it won't be weird. Prommy."

G: Yeah.

C: Is Cathryn Humphris the one who did bedtime stories?

G: I forgor.

C: I will check. 'Cause I was like, one of the most blatantly homophobic episodes that we had, right? Yeah, that was her. The "dude, could you be any more gay?" I think she's just kind of a sicko. Anyway. [laughs]

G: I've also seen someone say that like, "For a repressed queer person, it is very natural to think of like, [laughing] someone that you desire sexually to be like a family," which is such a wild to say, I feel, personally.

C: Huh.

G: So, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, maybe it is. Maybe it is.

C: I mean, maybe- I guess if you're like, trying to like, rationalize being very attached to someone.

G: Loving someone a lot, yeah, you can be like, "I love them in a family way!"

C: You're like, "This doesn't feel like typical friendship," then, yeah, that is like, one way you could choose to rationalize it to yourself. But like, I don't think that's what is happening here.

G: Yeah, [laughs] I also don't think that's what like, Cathryn Humphris was trying to say. I don't think Cathryn Humphis was trying to say anything at all.

C: She just was like, "Well, I don't want to be too obvious, the end." [G laughs]

G: Exactly. Yeah.

C: Yeah. I mean, but like, she is still saying something even if she didn't intend to say- [G laughs] I don't know. It's so odd. Like, honestly, even- okay, there's like, a way that she could be like, trying to say something that like, could be executed alright, I think, which is like, "Oh, like, for a lot of people like, sex and romance are the things that they long for the most or that they prize the most in their lives. But for Dean, it's like, this relationship."

G: You know what I read the most about it in the queer sense? Dean is aromantic. Isn't that like, something? You know what I mean?

C: Yeah, no, yeah. I feel like that is honestly- right, like, the biggest takeaway. Right. I think that's sort of what I was getting at. The way that it's like, "You don't have to prize a romantic or sexual relationship above all else, like, that could be something you don't even want that much, that you're just doing for the sake of appearances."

G: Yeah. I think if we're going to do like, queer reading of "Sex and Violence," Season 4 Episode 14 of Supernatural, that is like, I think the direction, I mean, I would personally take. Like, all these other people want romance in their lives. Dean... doesn't. He just wants a guy to hang out with. [both laugh] You know?

C: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that could be done well, except they just make the whole Nick thing so... like, it's still a seduction, and it still feels sexual, even as he keeps saying the words "little brother." [laughs]

G: [laughing] Yeah, I suppose.

C: Yeah. There are ways- like, maybe you're thinking like, "There's just not a way to do something like this without making it seem sexual." But, in fact, if you read "bad moon rising" and its sequel, "rising sun blues," like, the author has taken Meg's character and changed it a lot so that like, sort of what she's chasing Sam around for is that she wants, like, a brother replacement for the one that they killed in Season 1, and like, that's done in a very interesting way where there's like, not a single hint of sexual or romantic tension with the two of them at all, but like, it is still like, a trying to convince you and like, longing and all that shit. But like, it's actually done in a way that separates the two modes of like, affection and shit. So yeah, Cathryn Humphris, take notes.

-

C: Dean's alone in the motel room, and Sam has accidentally left his phone unguarded, unpassworded in the room. Again, growing up without your parents in the house truly makes you a different person, I have to say. So Dean spends a long time looking at it, being like, "Do I invade his privacy?" Okay, I don't know if it's like, a "do I invade his privacy?" or like, "do I want to confirm this suspicion that I think is true but that I wish wasn't?" sort of look, but he takes a while before he picks up the phone and then goes to the third most recently dialed number, which there's no contact name in it, it's just a number with a 219 area code, which is Chicago. So maybe that's where Ruby lives.

So he dials, and he hears Ruby's voice go, "Hey, Sam. Sam? You there?" And Dean hangs up immediately and is upset.

So Sam comes in from interviewing Lenny from earlier. Apparently, he brought home Belle, he killed his mom right after. And Dean was like, "Wait. He killed his mom?" And Sam was like, "Well, it was the woman he was closest to," which implies that- I don't even know what it implies. [G laughs] It's weird that it's like, women only, but I mean, I guess Cathryn Humphris was like, "equality is when you try to kill your brother later in the episode."

G: Yeah.

C: And then Dean returns Sam's phone to him and Bobby calls and says that the lore indicates that probably the best way to kill sirens is to nick them with a bronze dagger covered in the blood of someone who is under the siren's spell, and the spell is probably some kind of venom that gets in the victim's blood. And Sam goes, "Oh, and it makes them go all Manchurian Candidate," which is his next pop culture reference that I feel like he wouldn't know. But basically, The Manchurian Candidate- oh, no, I thought I took notes on the Wikipedia page that I read, but I think, instead, I read the Wikipedia page and was like, "I need to go on YouTube and watch Mitski talk for 13 minutes instead of thinking about Supernatural." But basically, the The Manchurian Candidate is a novel that was adapted into a movie, and it was like- there was some guy who was like, the son of a prominent US politician, and he was like, in the army or something, and then he got kidnapped by, like, the Soviet Union during the Korean War, and then taken to Manchuria, which is like, northeast China, where they're like, in a camp and brainwashed into being Communists, and then they become like, sleeper agents and like, go back to like, the US or something, and then he acts as like, a Communist assassin or whatever whatever whatever. And also, his like, handler is his mom, and in some of the movies or in the book, too, he has a sexual relationship with her. I don't know. It just- it seems like just a bunch of Red Scare shit. [laughs] But that is that is what Sam is referencing here. [G laughs]

C: People would just write anything back in the day.

So yeah. So that's what we know. And apparently getting the blood of one of the people who is currently in jail is useless because they're no longer under the spell, so Sam decides that he's gonna go visit Dr. Roberts, Cara Roberts, Dr. Roberts, to pick up the blood samples that she has.

-

G: Sam and Dean go to the hospital again, and Doctor Cara's there, and they're asking her for the blood when suddenly, a guy goes up to them, and Dean goes all, "Hey, we're working a case here, and we're FBI." And then he shows his badge. And the guy goes, "Well, I'm FBI, too." And then they start talking to him. And he is suspicious of them and asks them about where they're from, who assigned them, all that crap. And Dean gives them a calling card of their superior officer, and so the guy calls this, and what do you know? It's Bobby! And Bobby's putting on such a fucking show, he's like, "Ugh. Are you questioning my authority? I checked, and it's under our jurisdiction. Or are you saying I'm wrong?" [laughing] Like, he's putting on bad cop so good.

C: And he's barbecuing the whole time, wearing a "Kiss the Chef" apron.

G: Yeah, he's like, "Next time you want to waste my time, don't." [C laughs] And then he hangs up. And then, like, you see a row of fucking phones that's like, with different tapes over them that says different things. And it's like, "Marshall," "FBI," you know, "CIA," all that crap. And I remember the very first- actually, here's a thing that I remember about this episode. I remember this scene. Is this the first time that we see this phone setup?

C: I feel like we saw a different phone set up earlier with like, a bunch of like, cell phones on a table, but I feel like they were not as well-labeled.

G: I think that was Dean with the phones, like, in the glove compartment of the car. But, like, in the late- I may or may not be misremembering this, but in the later seasons, the bunker kind of becomes this. Like, Sam and Dean would have like, a bunch of phones out in the bunker, so it's just like-

C: Well, Bobby's dead, so.

G: Yeah, somebody's gotta do the job. And I don't know. I always thought that this whole situation of like, "different phones, they build different things, and they have their, like, aliases and their personas, and who is playing who and which jurisdiction is which," like, write down every single thing, like, every single thing is accounted for right down to like, the very specifics. I always thought that was cool.

C: It is.

G: Because I am so interested about the logistics of all this shit, you know? Like, do they have a checklist? Do they fill out a form? [laughs] You know?

C: Yeah.

G: I always thought it was so cool that they just know what to do in these situations and they have their fucking cosplay characters in check at all times.

C: Yeah. So funny that the siren had to like, drive 20 miles to the nearest like, Kinko's to like, print out a fake FBI badge.

G: The guy comes back to Sam and Dean, and he introduces- Well, he introduces himself a while ago. He's Nick Monroe. He apologizes, shares some of his insights, which is that he knows about the strip club and that all of them went there and all of them spent lots of money there, and all that. And at first. when he asks Sam and Dean whether they should go and check it out, Dean was opposed to this idea, but Sam pulls him aside and basically goes, "Well, you just stay with him, keep him out of there, and I will just be here and like, getting the blood," right? So Dean heads out, and they also have this conversation where, like, Sam is like, "Focus on the naked girls. Dean [C sighs]; you'll forget he's even there." And Dean is like, "Okay. I'm doing it for the girls." which, you know, once you know how the episode turns out, it's like, "Okay, well."

C: Well.

-

C: We cut to Dean and Nick heading to the car. And Nick is like, "Oh my god, no way! You drive an Impala? Is it a 67 with a 327 4-barrel? Oh my god!"

G: [laughing] I'm pretty sure that, like, they said, a different 4-barrel number when John was being introduced to this car or whatever.

C: Let me check.

G: I will believe that no matter what.

C:  327 4-barrel. No, it matches up. Same thing.

G: Sad. Devastating.

C: Sorry.

G: What's the other thing that John says?

C: 275 horses. [both laugh]

G: I love that.

C: Yeah. So, you know, Nick's like, "Oh my god! Like, how did you get the FBI to let you drive your own car? Wow, you're so cool, Dean." Meanwhile, Sam's trying to convince Dr. Roberts to give him the blood, and she's like, "Bro, like, do you not trust me? Like, I'm a doctor. I did the tests." But eventually, Sam's like, "There's a specialist. We wanna try out a theory," etc. So she goes over to her cabinet, but the blood is gone. Gasp.

Meanwhile, at the strip club, Dean is not looking at the naked girls at all because he's asexual and aromantic is sort of the vibe of this episode, which I enjoy as a reading. If only there was good writing attached to it. So he and Nick are talking. They're like, basically just like, quizzing each other on Zepp songs, like, what year they were recorded, and then like, who wrote them and things like that. And it's like, man. Is this how like, men have fun? [laughs] Like, okay, you know that, like, probably completely bullshit era of like, people thinking that fandom was like, equivalent to like, social justice or whatever-

G: [laughs] Yeah.

C: - where they were like, "The way that, like, men enjoy things is that they enjoy knowing trivia and like, gatekeeping like, who is a true fan, and women enjoy things by being transformative and writing fanfiction." [G laughing] And like, that's bullshit, but also, like, currently Dean, is not doing much to-

G: Elevate, yeah.

C: - go against this statement that was made. Yeah. So they're having fun- G: I mean, to be fair. I think, like, the last- like, my most vivid experience of being around guys talking about an interest is- I think I mentioned this in the podcast before because I think about it constantly. One time, I was just hanging out with guys in my class, and they were talking about guns in extreme detail, and I was so shocked that, like, they knew anything about this. And they knew like, I think real shit. I mean, I don't know. I don't know anything about guns. So like, they were talking about things that I couldn't even begin to understand what they're referring to. So I was like, "How do you guys know all this?" and they're like, "Oh, we play it in video games." [C laughs] And it literally is just them like, exchanging like, information about guns. [both laughing] And I support that. I love it so much.

C: Yeah, yeah. Whatever floats their boats.

Dean's like, "Oh my god, dude, you know, like, for a Fed, you're like, pretty alright." And they're discussing the case a little bit, and then Nick is like, "Hey. I found something kind of weird at every single crime scene. There was a flower left behind, like a calling card." And it's a hyacinth, and it's blue, and Dean's like, "Oh my god! I think I've seen a flower like this before." And we cut outside of Dr. Roberts's office, where that plant exists.

-

G: Sam is there. Dr. Roberts is there.

C: Can I make it any more obvious?

G: Yeah. [laughs] They're like, watching the tapes.

C: Yeah, security tapes.

G: They're trying to look out for who stole the blood, right? And they can't figure it out. RIP.

C: Can you believe Sam just ditches town and doesn't tell her anything? Like, she's just like, "Well. He left. No arrests were made. The blood is still missing. We have no clue why. Oh, well, I guess at least no one else has murdered his wife." Also, like, again, like, all the people in jail who are going to get the death sentence, like, this is because none of you are willing to tell the world that the supernatural is a real thing. Like, those men are going to be executed because none of you will tell the world that the supernatural is a real thing. I hope you think about that sometimes.

G: And I think this is why Sam needs to be a lawyer, no matter what.

C: Yeah. Yeah.

G: Yeah.

C: This show would be so much more fun if he was a supernatural lawyer.

G: Yeah.

Sam is trying to tell her that like, "Oh, I think there's something that happened to them. Like, maybe they were drugged or something." Cara is just saying that, "Yeah, no. Sometimes you just loving someone so much, but you still want to bash their head in." And Sam is like, "Are you speaking from experience?" And she goes, "Yeah," and then starts going to like, the... fridge?

C: Liquor cabinet in her doctor's office.

G: I guess there is a liquor cabinet.

C: She's a terrible doctor.

G: This may be true. Maybe she's the Dr. House of her generation.

C: Yeah. Good point. She's not mean enough.

She offers Sam the drink. Sam takes it after, like, some banter about like, "Oh, it's a doctor! I'm fine, it's medicine." And she starts talking about her ex-husband, who is Carl, and, you know, she talks about it like, "I loved him. I really did. But one day I just looked at him, and I couldn't recognize him anymore." And then, like, at some point, Sam goes, "So you guys split up?" and she goes, "I suppose it's a word for it." [both laugh] Then, like, later we find out that he died! [laughing] Crazy shit.

C: Yeah. Which, like, okay, sometimes people don't want to say that their spouses are dead because, like, people just like, go full sympathy mode and don't find you hot anymore. So like, I get it. But like, they really did so much to set her up as a red herring that like- it doesn't even work because of like, how obvious they're trying to make it.

G: I mean, it's quite funny to think that like, they didn't technically split up. He just died. [C laughs] And the thing that she focuses on in that event in her life is that one day, she doesn't recognize him anymore and not the fact that, like, I don't know, a week later he was dead on the floor. [C laughs] Like, that shit's crazy to me.

C: One day, I woke up and I couldn't recognize him anymore, because the decay had set in.

G: Exactly.

C: Seriously, yeah. What a funny funny woman.

G: Well, somebody needs to compensate for Sam's absolute lack of any humor whatsoever.

C: Yeah.

G: I didn't know when this running gag of "Sam is so unfunny" in our podcast started.

C: Yeah, me neither.

G: I don't stand by it. I don't stand by it, but I think it's funny to say that I think Sam is unfunny.

C: I agree.

G: So you know what? Sam is unfunny, no matter what. [C laughs]

C: Every week, you bring a new verbal tic that you decide to just sprinkle throughout the episode. And I appreciate that.

G: What, me saying "no matter what" at any given opportunity? Yeah.

Well, they have sex.

C: Well, okay, first of all, Sam's phone rings, and it's Dean, who he knows is out on a case at the strip club where the siren usually works. And he's like, "I don't have to get that." What if he died?

G: Is it even Dean? It's implied that it's Bobby. It's implied that it's Bobby.

C: Oh, really? Okay. Never mind, then. It's fine.

G: But also like, Bobby is only going to call because of the case.

C: Yeah.

G: And he was like, "I don't really give a shit about it right now. I'm going someone in the someone in the 'fuck someone and kill other people case.'" [C laughs] Jesus Christ, Sam.

C: In the glass office! Also, like, you said they have sex so that you could skip the horrible dialogue that comes before they have sex [G laughing]-

G: Yes!

C: - but I think we really need to give attention to every single line exchanged here.

G: I don't wanna think about it! I don't wanna think about it ever again!

C: Because you hauve Covid? Okay, I'll do it. I'll do it. [G laughs]

So Cara's like, "Oh, well, you know, we all have our sad backstories, so let's have fun, no regrets, and live life like there's no tomorrow." Which is like, okay, cool. Definitely a thing a real person would say. And then, like, she starts scooting closer to him. And she goes, "For instance, I have been thinking about you all night. Well... parts of you." And Sam goes, "Just parts?" And then, due to the fact that they can't say cock on Supernatural, she says, "Yeah, like, your [both] lips." Sure man, that's what you were thinking about. And then she says, "Oh, they're very distracting, and I can't stop thinking about kissing them." This is like, a 12-year-old's idea of what a sex scene is. [laughs] And then they do- Sam's like, "That so?" and like, she takes his tie off, but like, she doesn't even unknot it. She just like, moves it around, and it just somehow comes off. I don't get it. And then, yeah, they have sex against the glass window where the shutters are open. Because, yeah. Also, like, the whole time, like, just at the beginning of the scene, like, her shirt is unbuttoned, like, to the waist. I mean, maybe she planned this. But also I just think that- I don't know. Just, you know, we've talked about the Supernatural costume designers, but it's so crazy how the Supernatural costume designers- Really, what her whole outfit reminds me of is like, there's a scene in Elementary where they're like, interviewing a barista who, like, may have interacted with someone that they need to question. And he was like, "Oh, yeah, like, there was like, this super hot woman who came in and like, I know, she was a doctor, and like, I could like, see her cleavage, and it was great." And like, later, Joan is like, "Okay, that was not a doctor because, like, there's like, a dress code for like, hygiene in the hospital, and like, she would not be allowed to have her shirt unbuttoned that much." And that's what leads them to find the actual person, because she's like, "He probably thought he was a doctor because she was wearing a white lab coat, but she was probably like, one of the women who give you perfume samples at the nearest department store because a white coat is part of their uniform." So yeah. I don't know. Cara Roberts and the Supernatural costume design people sure are people who make choices.

G: They are.

C: Do you think that, like, Ruby comes into Sam's thoughts at all throughout this situation?

G: What, you think he experiences guilt about-

C: I don't think he's in a monogamous relationship with Ruby. But like, this is like, as far as we're aware, the only person that he's had sex with besides Ruby in like, a while. Like, does he consider this to be just like, a completely different part of his life, so like, he doesn't really consider the two things similar in any way?

G: I mean, that could be a possibility.

C: Yeah, yeah. It's just- I think it's just because Ruby was so present in the "Then" sequence, especially the part where it's like, "Oh, what really changed his mind was the sex." And I was like, it's weird that that's not part of this at all or that, like, they don't try to draw some cornyass parallel between Ruby and like, sirens 'cause like, it's not a Sam episode.

Also, when I say the shutters are open, I mean, like-

G: They are open, yeah.

C: They are 90 degrees perpendicular to the window. And they're having sex against the window, and she's the one against the window, so like, they are fucking jabbing into her back the whole time! That cannot be comfortable! Whatever. And Sam's not even poisoned at all. Which, I mean, I guess is good cause, like, he's been through enough sexual assault already this season and every season. But like, he would not do this. [laughs]

Okay, well, that was a scene

G: It truly was.

-

C: Okay, so Sam heads back to the motel, and- wait. Why did we think that the call was from Bobby if Dean calls him and goes, "Where the hell have you been?" Doesn't that imply that Dean tried to get in contact with him earlier?

G: Yeah, but also later, Bobby says-

C: Oh, Bobby's like, "Neither of you picked up your phone, so I knew something was weird." No, but but okay, Dean called Bobby after this about Cara. So that was not the phone pickup that Bobby thought was suspicious. He was probably calling them during the fight, and we didn't notice.

G: Yeah, okay.

C: Yeah. So yeah. Dean goes, "Where the hell have you been? And you're not picking up your phone?" So that was him. So Sam was like, "Oh, I was with Cara. Someone stole the blood samples." And Dean goes, "Yeah, I fucking bet. Nick found these flower petals, the hyacinths, at the crime scenes, and those flowers are Mediterranean, which is from the island where the siren myth started, and Cara had those in her office or outside her office. And also, she's only been in town for 2 months, and her ex-husband, Carl, died of a heart attack with no warning." And Sam was like, "Well, I mean, I just don't think it was her!"

G: Yeah. You know the Tweet that's like, "But she apologized and her dick is ten inches throbbing."

C: "And I want her in me," yeah, no, 100 percent. Like, remember in "Monster Movie" when he like, ran over to like, fucking kill Ed at the movie theater with less evidence than this? Whateber.

G: Whateber.

C: So Sam's like, "I just have like, a feeling that like, it wasn't her. And the feeling isn't how like, my ass is still sore from her 10-inch cock." Dean's like, "Bro, like, you're being fucking stupid. Did you sleep with her?" And Sam goes, "No?" And Dean goes, "You're so stupid. That was so stupid. I do not get it." And Sam goes what? And Dean says, "Nothing." And Sam says, "No, say it." just like Edward from Twilight. And Dean goes, "Well, okay, like, first Madison, then Ruby, now Cara? Like, what's with you and banging monsters?" Which, I mean, I support monsterfuckers, but this is not a pattern because this is this is only the- Cara doesn't count, we find out later. But, I mean, what is with Sam and banging monsters? Is this something that we've discussed?

G: You know what? I don't think it's true. You know why?

C: Sarah?

G: 'Cause Rowena and him didn't even have sex, even once!

C: Oh yeah. That's true. I'm so sorry.

G: They had metaphorical sex in terms of he stabbed her to death, and she was holding his hand when the blade impaled her. And you know what? That, too, is, yuri.

C: [laughs] I agree.

C: But yeah. I don't think Sam really has a thing. I think the issue is just that he like, fucks people on cases instead of after cases. I mean, it's bad to fuck people after cases, too. But at least when Dean fucks people after cases, he knows that they're not the monster. [G laughs]

C: And Sam keeps insisting, "Hey, it's not her. I feel fine." and "You don't trust me?" And Dean's like, "Well, yeah, 'cause it could be the siren talking," which is, in fact, a fully reasonable thing to say. And Sam's like, "Hey, no like, let's meet up, and I'll help you out with the case." Neither of them have really considered who the siren would want them to kill. Maybe Sam was like, "It's fine, 'cause there's no women in my life." [G laughs]

G: Yeah.

C: Right. In fact, this episode, in addition to making Dean aromantic and asexual, also makes both of them transfem.

Dean's like, "Nope, you are not helping me. Shut up." And Sam's like, "Are you fucking serious?" And he gets so angy and he throws his phone across the room! God. Men will literally.

G: Maybe this is like, what Bobby means. "You didn't answer the phone!"

C: Oh, yeah, "You weren't picking up your phone because you fucking broke it." Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. I guess they're cheap and they do credit card fraud, anyway.

G: That's true.

C: But like, does he even remember Ruby's number? How's he gonna transfer it to the new one?

G: Man. I don't remember my own number. You know your number?

C: Yeah. And I'll say it right here on the podcast [G laughs]for everyone to prove that I do. No, but yeah, what was your statement?

G: No, I have two phone numbers, and I don't know one of them. So you know what? I know half of my numbers. And that's okay. Just be yourself.

C: Okay, you know what? I also only know half of my numbers 'cause I don't know my work phone number.

-

G: So Sam is so angy, and Dean calls Bobby, just updating him. And he makes another phone call, this time to Nick. He is asking for his help. So now they're both in the impala and they're watching Cara, the doctor. Apparently, Dean has explained to Nick that like, "Oh, I think these people are getting drugged, but I think it's Cara who's drugging all them. And also, I think Cara is transforming into all the strippers who told them to kill people." All that crap. Dean is just saying like, "Oh, you gotta trust me," and the guy goes, "I do, I guess." He hands Dean a flask. The guy has drank from it, and now Dean drinks from it. And then he goes, "Okay, let's say she is drugging the victims. How do you think she's pulling it off?" And then Dean goes, "You know, like, a toxin passed through physical contact." And then Nick goes, "Or maybe saliva. You really should have wiped the lip off that thing before you drank from it, Dean." C: Real.

G: And Dean like, realizes what's happening, but he is poisoned, so he can't do anything about it. And then Nick goes, "I should be your little brother." [both laughing] Funniest thing anyone has ever said ever.

C: Yeah.

G: And he goes like, "You can't trust Sam. You can only trust me. You should kill him now so we could be brothers forever." [C laughs] And then Dean goes, "Hell yeah." Have we considered that maybe they're just looking for excuses to kill each other so bad it's unreal?

C: Yeah, it's possible. Because, it's like, the siren, like, really played the long game with those other guys. But like, this is just like, five minutes work.

-

C: Inside the motel, Sam comes in and Nick is right there, and Sam's like, "Huh?" And then Dean ambushes him and holds a knife to his throat. Sam says to Nick, "I gotta tell ya, you're one butt-ugly stripper," which like, I think he'd be fine at a gay bar. He would get tips.

Sam's telling Dean, like, "Hey, fight this, please." whereas Nick is like, "Hey, like, why don't you just give him a little nick on his neck right there?" And Dean does. And he keeps talking and he says that he "gave Dean what he needed." He says, "It wasn't some bitch in a G-string." [flatly] Love that. Great. And then he goes, "It was you. A little brother that looked up to him. That he could trust. And now he loves me. He'd do anything for me. And that kind of devotion? Watching someone kill for you? It's the best feeling in the world." We've discussed that this is a bad explanation. And then Sam goes, "Is that why you're slutting all over town?" Would he say this?

G: I mean, he did, so. [C laughs]

C: Yeah. And then Nick is like, "Well, I got bored. And I wanna fall in love again and again and again." which, you know, really starts undermining the brother thing, like, right away. And, you know, Sam calls him a "needy, pathetic loser." And then Nick squirts poison right into his mouth. And he's like, "Okay, you two go fight to the death and scream and whatever. And whoever survives can be with me forever." We don't really know what Sam wants from Nick, you know? Like, okay, like, Sam's fighting, but like, why does he want to be with Nick forever? Like, what kind of role is Nick playing for him?

G: Because he's been poisoned!

C: No, I know, but like, doesn't the poison also like, make you think that this is someone that you like- doesn't it at least draw on like, your own desires in some way? Or like, is it just truly nothing here?

G: I think it's just whatever.

C: Okay. it would be interesting to know what Sam wants the most from a person.

G: Apparently, what Sam wants the most from a person is a person who gives him permission to kill his brother. [C laughs] And you know what? Good for him.

C: Yeah. Yeah.

Dean's like, "The Sam I knew is gone, and it's not because of the demon blood or the psychic crap. It's because you've been lying and keeping secrets, like calling Ruby and shit. And you're hiding things from me. We used to be like, a team and have each other's backs, blah blah blah." And then Sam's like, "Oh, well, you know the real reason I didn't tell you about Ruby and our hunt for Lilith is because you're too weak to go after her, and you're holding me back, and I'm a better hunter than you are. I'm stronger, and I'm smarter, and I can take out demons you're too scared to go near." Which we haven't seen- we haven't seen any of that in Season 4, right? Have we?

G: Yeah. I mean, most of it is like, not important to Dean's journey, so they don't show it. Also, I'm so fascinated that the thesis state for Sam and for Dean is like, [fake-crying] "You don't trust me! You don't love me enough!" etc etc. And for Sam it's like-

C: "Skill issue."

G: "You're a loser, Dean. [C laughs] You have a skill issue, and I'm too tired to compensate for your lack of ability to be a good hunter."

C: I know! It's so devoid of any leadup or any evidence or any emotion. I don't know, I just- do they just decide "this episode is gonna be a Sam episode" or "this episode is gonna be a Dean episode," and then they just like, go like, "Whatever. I don't care about the other one's characterization"? Is that just how Supernatural is written?

G: I think it may well be.

C: This is the woman who wrote "Metamorphosis," like, 10 episodes ago. And, like, Sam, stopped the car and yelled at Dean, and it wasn't about him being a bad hunter. It was like, a genuine emotion of like, "You make me feel like shit by like, acting in certain ways." Like, why couldn't that have been here?

G: Yeah. I mean, it could have been like, both of them being like, "You don't trust me because, like, I don't trust you because you don't trust me!" and like, "You don't trust me to do the good thing and like, to know what's right," and etc etc.

C: Yeah. I mean, I don't know. Maybe- Okay, let's- Should we explore the world where we take this at face value and this is truly Sam's number one issue with Dean? 'Cause there is evidence for it. Like, I know, in the panic room, isn't there the scene where Mary comes to him, and she's like, "You're stronger and better than Dean, and you have to get out and go after like, Lilith." So like, this is something that they've been trying to develop this season. Not well, but they've been trying. Right?

G: "Sam thinks he's better than Dean."

C: Is, I think something that they've been going for? I still don't see it. Is he getting arrogant this season? Is that something that's- It's just so many of these episodes are just generic case episodes where they just give each of them a random role. I guess, okay, you know what? I think maybe the only moments I can point to are like, in 4.07 when he tells Dean to like, stay behind and help the kids while he goes and confronts Samhain. Like, that's different from their usual dynamic. And then in "Family Remains," when he tells Dean to remain with the family as he goes to check out the attic or whatever. But like, I don't know. The generic case episodes is just like, each of them give themselves random jobs, and it's like, not really a big deal who does what, and it's not really clear who is better or worse. Like, maybe if he like, rubbed it in more about how like, the uncle died while Dean was supposed to be protecting him or something like that, I could see it. But I just don't- Yeah. I don't know. Like, this is something that's being told to me, but I am not feeling it.

C: Sam's like, "You're too busy sitting around feeling sorry for yourself, whining about all the souls you tortured in Hell. Boo-hoo!" This is how I act and talk about Dean as well, unfortunately. And then they start beating each other up. I don't know. It's just a fight scene.

G: Do you recall why Sam was mad at Dean in "Asylum"? Because this is like, similar vibes, right?

C: Yeah. I think it was about being at John's beck and call.

G: I think it's like, "Dad used to boss me around, and now you boss me around."

C: "You're following Dad's orders like a good little soldier 'cause you always do what he says without question. Are you that desperate for his approval? The difference between you and me is that I have a mind of my own. I'm not pathetic, like you." So okay.

G: I think maybe Sam really has like, a [both] superiority complex thing. Yeah.

C: I, okay, I can see it sort of in "Asylum." But like, that's quite different from like, "I'm a better hunter than you." Like, I think, like, "I'm willing to question dad," that's something that he- I can believe that he feels superior about sometimes. But like, about being a better hunter? I don't see it. It's not happening.

G: I mean, he did bring up that like, in his stint in Hell-

C: Oh, yeah.

G: Sam was able to save more blah blah blah. So I guess-

C: Okay. The pieces are there, but I don't think they've provided us with glue. It's not something that's been emphasized and Supernatural's not very good at subtlety, so I just assume that things have to be emphasized before they matter.

Eventually, Dean gets the upper hand. Sam's like, on the floor, and Dean's like, getting an axe to kill him. And he's like, "Oh, now, who's the better hunter?" basically. And he swings at Sam, but is stopped by Bobby rushing in. He gets Dean in the shoulder with a knife to like, get some blood, and then Sam starts like, yelling, "Noo!" as Bobby throws the knife at Nick, and it kills him. Goodbye, Nick.

So like, Bobby thinks they're gay.

G: Bobby definitely thinks they're gay.

C: Because they did not explain like, "No, he wanted to be like, my little brother." [both laugh]

G: God. Good for them.

-

G: Well, the episode ends with Sam and Dean and Bobby yet under another bridge. Bobby, like, gives them soda, and he's like, "Oh, you can't drink. You're driving."

C: So true.

G: And it's like, "When has that ever stopped them before?" But you know what? I'm glad they're stopping now.

Bobby, like, berates them a little bit about like, "Oh, you should have picked up your phone." And then there's this really awkward like, pause. And then he goes, "Are you guys gonna be okay?" And Sam and Dean are like, "Yeah, we're good! We're good! Yeah, we're fine! Yeah! Nothing's ever wrong in our life!" [C laughs] And Bobby is just like, "Okay." and then turns around back at them before leaving and says, "Those sirens are nasty things. There's no reason to feel bad that they got into you." And as he leaves, Sam and Dean continue sipping their sodas. And Dean goes, "Are you gonna say goodbye to the doctor? To Cara?" And Sam's like, "Yeah, no. What's the point?"

C: To be fucking polite! To be polite, that's the point.

G: Yeah. Well. Sam goes, "Hey, Dean, I didn't mean the things I said." [C laughs] And Dean is like, "Yeah, me, too." [C laughs] And Sam's like, "So it's okay?" And Sam's like, "Yeah." And then that's how the episode ends. I love it.

C: Yeah. I mean, at least Dean will never bring up that Sam called Ruby again because it's all forgiven now, and he says he didn't mean it. So there. A win overall.

G: He didn't mean it! Yeah. Well, what is our overall thoughts in this episode? I think it's not that bad, but also definitely not good, oh my god.

C: Yeah, I think it's- I feel like my thoughts on this episode are encapsulated by three texts I got from Danica while I was complaining about it where she goes "can't believe this is literally the Dean is gay for that guy ep and it's still boring," followed by "I mean, I know it's also the Dean is a misogynist ep, but still," and then, a few minutes later, presumably after she re-read the summary, "god, kind of wincesty episode, huh?" [both laugh] And you know? Yeah.

G: Yeah. Best Line/Worst Line? [C groans]

C: I mean, I'm assuming your worst line is the "I read!" because you spent so long complaining about it.

G: Okay, sure, yeah, that could be my Best Line/Worst Line. [C laughs]

C: I think that Nick and Sam are both very mean to strippers in the last scene, and it just- it seems unkind. Don't like it. So I guess those are my worst lines.

G: You know what? I actually really like the line where it's revealed that the flask is like, he's getting poisoned through the flask. I like that. When he goes, "You really should have wiped the mouth of that thing, Dean." It was like, very effective in being like, "Oh, no!" you know, that feeling. And like, I knew full well what the twist was, and yet I still felt it. So, I don't know. I like that line.

C: Okay, cool. I'm scrolling through the entire transcript, desperately trying to find a single moment I thought was good. Yeah, no. I'll just go with yours 'cause- Oh, wait, no, Bobby was funny. Maybe when he was like, "The next time you want to waste my time with stupid questions, don't."

G: [laughs] "Don't."

C: While he's in the "Kiss the Chef" apron. What a fun look for him.

G: Yeah. Well, spread those sheets

C: Alright. Well, I think there is some misogyny.

G: Yeah.

C: How much misogyny?

G: The thing is okay, like, the misogyny is not that there are strippers in the episode.

C: Yeah.

G: Like, I just wanna make that clear.

C: Yeah, yeah.

G: 'Cause I feel like when when we were starting the podcast, we would like, explain every single thing, you know. But like now, we would do this thing where we just assume everyone has listened to every single episode of everything we've ever said and done.

C: Yeah, and that every time I stop and say, "Okay," they understand what I mean by it. [laughs]

G: Yeah. But like, that's not the issue. The issue is that Supernatural literally only has two types of women in their head.

C: Yup.

G: And like, every time they do a woman, it's like- [both laugh]

C: What if we just didn't?

G: I mean, I don't wanna be like, "the mere existence of women-" [both laughing] I don't wanna be like, "The mere existence of women in the Supernatural universe is misogynistic," but boy, do they do it for fucking real! [laughing]

C: Well, they're gonna have better women. We're gonna meet Claire.

G: Yeah! Claire is the best.

C: And like, Eileen.

G: Eileen, love ya girl.

C: And a lot of people. But currently-

G: Charlie! We're gonna meet Charlie. Can you believe it?

C: - the one-off women in Supernatural are truly, truly Logan Roy-dreamed-up.

G: This could have been an opportunity for them to, I don't know, talk to one of the strippers. And they don't. Like, all of the strippers in this episode are literally just for set dressing and decor.

C: Right. They hired like, ten women just to like, be part of montages as like, untz untz untz music plays and they twirl around.

G: Yeah. And it's like- I mean, the reason why we don't even explain anything anymore is like, the explanation is pretty much, "It's Supernatural!" [laughs]

C: Yeah.

G: Which- I mean, it still is the explanation in this episode.

C: Yeah, it is unfortunate that "It's Supernatural" is the explanation, but like, I don't know, it would just take too much time for us to like, be how we were in Season 1.

G: Yeah.

C: Like, everyone knows everything already. I mean, this is the great like, what like, normalization/desensitization project that shows like this undergo, and it sure does work a little bit.

G: Yeah. Okay, before we tackle the homophobia, let's get into the racism.

C: How much misogyny points did we want?

G: Uh... maybe...

C: 2? 1 or 2? 2? 1? 2?

G: 2, yeah.

C: Okay. Racism.

G: I don't think there's much of it. I don't think there's anything that warrants a point.

C: Yeah, like, there's the one-off thing about Jasmine, but I don't think it like, matters that much. It does bother me that Dean's like, "One of them is 5'9 and has red hair, and also the other one's Asian. These are equally descriptive descriptions." [laughs] But-

G: Also, like, okay, do white people name their kids Jasmine?

C: Uh, let's see. The one Jasmine that I knew in grade school, I think, was Latina.

G: Every jasmine I know is Filipino by virtue of every person I know is pretty much Filipino. [both laugh] Yeah.

C: Oh, wait. I know another Jasmine, and yeah, she's Asian. Yeah. So. I don't know any white Jasmines.

G: 'Cause in the full context of the episode, where all of the names of the strippers are of Disney Princess names, it's like, having one named Jasmine is okay. But like, when the episode was starting, and we just learned like, Jasmine, and-

C: - and Dean's like, "Oh, obviously, stripper name."

G: Yeah. That did put me out a little bit.

C: I also did feel a little uncomfortable about it.

G: But in the fuller context of the episode, I guess it makes more sense. But in that specific moment, before we got the full context, I was like, "Well, why? Many people are named that."

C: The idea of stripper names is just an odd thing to me because I feel like a lot of the names that are considered stripper names are like, more common amongst people of color. Like, I don't know. Like, my sister was possibly going to be named Cherry, and my mom has a Chinese friend named Candy, and like, I don't know like, that's like, language barrier and cultural things and like, whatever whatever. But also like, yeah, I don't know. It's just- yeah. The concept of stripper names feels classist and racist a lot of the times.

G: Yeah. But, you know what? I won't count it. I'm not gonna give it a point. I just wanted to point that out because I did, like, have a reaction to it while watching.

C: Yeah, same

G: 'Cause the content, especially, 'cause I understand that most white Americans do not name people after food, but that is like, quite common in other cultures, you know? C: Yeah.

G: Like, what you said about Cherry, I know multiple Cherrys in my life. I know multiple Candys. I know an Apple, you know. It's like, people are just named that. And I'm not- these are not like, nicknames, but they have a different legal- like, no, these are like, legal names. You know what I mean?

C: Yeah, yeah.

G: So yeah.

C: Homophobia.

G: That's the kicker! What is it?

C: Like, is it? Like, it is but it's not?

G: It can be, but it's not.

C: Yeah.

G: They make no acknowledgement of homosexuality in this episode, even though there is like, aspects of it in it. And also like, surprisingly, it's kind of like, gay positivity. [laughs] 'Cause Bobby being like, accepting. [both laughing] Because there's this like, context of like, "This guy tricked you into falling in love with you. And you know what? It's not your fault." [both laughing] It's like- [laughs] I don't know. I really don't know. [both laugh]

C: That is incredibly funny. You're right. Him being like, "Heym don't feel bad about falling for it" is literally like," Hey, it's okay, if you like, fucked a guy. Like, you weren't in your right mind!" [laughs]

G: Exactly. This is exactly the vibe.

C: Man. What an odd relationship these three must have after this episode.

G: I'll give it a 0, honestly.

C: Okay, if you say so. Alright, it's a 0.

G: Happy 0.

C: Alright. IMDb? I have no fucking clue.

G: This has got to be a low 8s. 8.3.

C: Alright. I feel like every time I've gone higher in the past I've been burned, so I'm gonna go with an 8.2- well, I don't- This is like, sort of a famous episode, though. Like, aren't some people gonna like, enjoy the twi- whatever. No, I'm just gonna stick to my guns. I'm gonna say 8.2.

G: And you've been burned yet again! It's an 8.4.

C: [laughing] Fuck! Alright. Great. Love to hear it.

G: What the hell is this review? I love it. It goes, "Another good episode. 'Sex and Violence' seems to be the staple of any show on TV today. I believe 'Sex and Violence' grabs the viewers primeval urges. I found 'Sex and Violence' [both laughing] interesting." I love it! This is how every reviews can be written.

C: Yeah. Truly trying to match a word count that no one else is maintaining.

G: This one points out that like, it's nice to see the boys crossing paths with another FBI agent, even if they were fake.

C: That's true.

G: And they use gender mutual pronouns for the siren. I love that

C: Love that, yeah. The one that says the words "Sex and Violence" again and again, yeah, mentions that they like the plot twist because- they said, "Dean is an alpha male that has no problem meeting women but real friendship with men is difficult." Which is something that we pointed out with like, "After School Special," right? So this is maybe a- this comes like, right after "After School Special," right? So maybe it is like, an emotional continuity thing.

Yeah, this person points out that Dr. Roberts reminds them of Madison.

G: I mean, they do make a direct comparison in the episode, so.

C: They do. This person has just a paragraph defending bi Dean.

G: Yeah. And like, how it's not a Wincest episode.

C: Oh, no, there's two different reviews about bi Dean. "I think the character could be bisexual, but never went there, because, as we can see, the guy has some toxic masculinity in him. All his digs at Sam are 'you're a girl or gay.'" So true! "It's entirely possible, but come on, not because of this episode of this episode. If this episode is to be taken that way, it doesn't mean Dean is bi," yeah, blah blah blah blah. Yeah. And they end it with, "That's it. No sick Wincest." [laughs]

G: No, exactly.

C: Real!

Yeah, no, it's an earlier- cubsandculture, who talked about the homoeroticism in "Criss Angel" is one who's saying again that Dean's- there's queerbaiting regarding Dean and that he has a lot of homoerotic relationships with men, which yeah, I suppose so.

You know what we'll be watching next week? Not Supernatural! [both laughing]

G: Yeah, we should say goodbye. Goodbye, everyone.

C: For three whole months.

G: I don't even know how- That's it for this episode of Busty Asian Beauties. Next week, we will be discussing Season 1, Episode 1 of Good Omens-

C: "In the Beginning!"

G: Subscribe to us. "In the Beginning." Also the name of a Supernatural episode!

C: Yeah, I mean, it's in the Bible. People really like those words.

G: There are many words in the Bible. [C laughs]

C: It's true.

G: Yeah. There's a famous Filipino song that like, directly quotes the Bible, and it is the only Bible verse I can recite in full.

C: Ooh, what is it?

G: Thank you, Yeng Constantino. It goes, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrong. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres."

C: Nice. Yeah. That's from Corinthians, right? It's pretty common in wedding vows.

G: Yep. It is!

C: And it's in Mary Lambert's "She Keeps Me Warm."

G: Oh my god. That's a lesbian song, right?

C: Yeah.

G: Good for the lesbians.

C: Good for the lesbians.

G: It was corny as hell, though. Sorry, lesbians! [C laughs]

C: It's from a different era. I feel like the things that like, I needed to see in middle school and like, cry over in my little room by myself are like, the things that I would find corny today.

G: I never cried over anything in middle school. [C laughs] Probably because we didn't really have middle school. But, you know, that's a story for another day.

C: Yeah. Sure is. And that story will be on the podcast feed of [G laughs] Rubbish and Probably a Podcast, not here! Goodbye!

G: Not here on BABPod.

C: Not here!

G: Okay, well. I don't know. You can subscribe to us and shit. Okay, if you subscribe to us on Tumblr, we'll be there, no matter what.

C: Oh, yeah, yeah, We're sticking- yeah, so follow us on social media. We are gonna still be on Twitter at twitter.com/BeautiesPodcast-

G: We're still not gonna be on Twitter, if I'm being honest. [laughs]

C: We're continue not being on Twitter at twitter.com/BeautiesPodcast, and we're gonna continue being on Tumblr at bustyasianbeautiespod.tumblr.com. Our tag is #BABPod. Do we need a new tag for Rubbish and Probably a- Our official new tag next week will be #RubbishPod. [G laughs] And yeah. Thanks to everyone who's donated to our Ko-Fi, which will still be at ko-fi.com/bustyasianbeautiespod, and check out our merch, which will still only be Supernatural merch at babpod.redbubble.com, though I don't know. Maybe I'll Venmo our artist some more money and have her draw things. Who knows?

G: Who knows? Leave us a rating, something something- but that's not the part. It's [both] email us, at bustyasianbeautiespod@gmail.com. Also, if you're gonna email us about the Gomens stuff, it's still there in there because I don't want to check the other email. Thank you! [both] Bye!

[guitar music]

[beep]

G: Man, hearing you read them reminded me of why I don't read fanfiction any more. [C laughing]

C: Yeah, yeah.

G: I can barely read books that have like, a third person. You know how like, people who read fanfiction are like, "If it's in the first person, I ain't reading it." Well, if a book is in the third person, I'm not reading it, [laughing] because it reminds me too much of fanfiction.

C: Noo.

I mean, didn't we- I had a fanfiction era where I only wrote in second person.

G: I did that also.

C: Is that something that happened? Yeah. I don't know why. It just felt the most natural to me at a certain point in my life. Anyway.

C: Also, like, I need everything I read to feel like a diary entry no matter what. You know? [C laughs]

C: Yeah. So I guess first person is necessary for such aesthetic.

G: Yeah.