#the character development & ‘every episode is essentially a special episode’-ness?

[incunabulayy]

if any of y’all love wkrp in cincinnati please let me know - i fell head over heels for this wonderful, silly little show but i’m the only 20-something i know who’s even heard of it

[x0401x]

What did you think of Tsurune S2 episode 6?

Okay, gotta start this as I always do: pointing out the positive and canon-complying elements first and foremost, because I love them.

First of all, Minato being a lovable little dumbass. We had scenes of him being clueless or distracted here and there, but in this episode we have him being the deadpan airhead that he is. That comes in the form of him doing things like saying funny shit without realizing how ridiculous it is (the unironic use of cute onomatopoeia is a classic for him in the novel and I’m so glad to see it making its way into the anime at last), or getting overexcited about kyudo-related stuff while his body language completely contradicts his straight face. Gotta love Seiya and Kaito giving him the Parent Look TM every single time.

I love that this season is very focused on all the minute details of kyudo. It's visible that the animators have dug deeper into this hole and done even more research on it. I specially appreciate the way they've been including the right breathing techniques into this season and we get a pretty good display of it whenever the camera zooms in on the characters when they're firing a shot.

On the topic of attention to detail, I almost screamed when we got to see Noa and Yuuna's houses. They got Rika's hair color wrong in one of the cuts of this scene but I couldn't care less. I loved it.

I love even more the tournament itself. The way that flower petals are used instead of tree leaves for the girls in order to showcase that their team has a different aura from the boys'. The flashbacks displaying their development and illustrating that it didn't come out of nowhere. The richness in their facial expressions and dialogues along the way.

I also like that they added a scene where Minato teams up with Seiya and Shuu for the first time. In the novel, we only ever get kind of an idea why these three were teamed in middle school, but we never got to see how this started or how they even knew they could work as a team in such a huge club like Kirisaki's. This also serves as a hint that they'd been doing kyudo outside of the club, which is a good explanation as to how they were able to nurture their skills given that Kirisaki's middle school kyudo club only allowed the third-years to actually do archery, while the juniors were stuck with other, more basic forms of practice and couldn't participate in tournaments.

Bonus points for it also being the first time Seiya realizes that Shuu is different around Minato, and that Minato has some sort of influence in him that other people don't. Plus, it gives us something that I missed a lot in S1 and that is being depicted beautifully in this one: Minato is a very charismatic kid. There's something about him that draws people in. His honesty, his innocence, his transparency - it all works to make people either love or resent him, and it's probably the most essential part of his character identity. After all, it's the eptome of Zen.

This scene was a very smart addition.

Speaking of his character identity, by the way, this episode was personality traits by the truckload. Minato's bow nerd-ness is at full power here. And also his impulsiveness being turned into productive, learning patience. He's on his way to being an even better archer and it all begins with the mindset.

Now, I wanna take a moment to appreciate Nanao being a little shit and Minato being embarrassed by it. Love me some in-character banter. And props to finally being shown that Minato's mom used to do archery and that she was his gateway to kyudo. I mean, we had seen that she was the person who taught him about tsurune, but she's also the first person who ever shared previous experience in kyudo with him, so it would've been unfair to just leave this fact out. Again, missed it in S1 and now we're making amends. Bless!

I'm almost in tears at the fact that the girls got themselves headbands too, as well as matching bow sleeves that have cute rabbit patterns to indicate that this is set in the year 2023. I'm also internally howling at the subtle, barely perceptible visual implications that Seiya is slowly migrating to Kaito's side. He's always right beside Kaito in every shot, and I almost didn't believe my eyes when he deliberately chose to sit next to Kaito instead of next to Minato to watch the tournament.

Now, for the things that aren't so positive. Luckily, there's actually very little negative stuff in this episode. It's been the most gratifying one to watch so far.

So, there's been a trend in this season ever since episode 4 where the storytelling ended up falling into the same territory as S1, in which we are getting a bunch of character arcs that culminate in a team arc instead of having a linear plot. It feels like we're checking boxes of character data and kyudo info that we were supposed to have had in S1, which isn't bad in itself, but the way it's being done strikes me as a bit inorganic. These arcs all serve a very specific purpose and are timed in order to fit exactly into the duration of each episode and it shows. It shows a little too much, I'd say, which makes them feel mechanic and somewhat artificial. Like, I know that I'm watching a fictional story, but that doesn't mean I wanna be aware of this fact.

Thanks to these arcs being a thing, we end up having another trend, which is that Minato's development is being delayed until his turn comes up. This ends up creating sort of a disconnect between him and his own habilities. In order to fit into his own arc while simultaneously serving as a proxy for the viewers who have no knowledge about kyudo, Minato literally seems to have forgotten everything. Ever since episode 1, we've seen Masaki do almost nothing but point out what Minato's been doing wrong in every single interaction they've had, so it's hard to ignore that Minato's been making a bunch of newbie mistakes.

This feels weird not just because Minato is the most experienced of the team, but also because he'd already received this exact kind of training at Yata Shrine during the beginning of the story, when he was getting back into archery and making up for the time he'd spent away from the dojo. He's already gone through this phase and was supposed to have overcome it. Besides, all of this stemming from just one fuck-up at a particular tournament is... a stretch, to say the least. Specially when said fuck-up was basically just a matter of teamwork-related mentality shift. It shouldn't mess up his entire form to a point where he has to almost relearn it from scratch, so we're left wondering what happened to his natural talent that everyone used to admire and how the hell he's managed to get to this point when he's literally sucking ass at the basics.

Speaking of Minato’s ordeal with getting back into practice, him using formal speech with Masaki during training is extremely uncomfortable to me. We do get the whole "awkward pupil who can't hold a candle to his mentor" vibe from him, but the formal treatment is pretty odd. In case anyone is wondering, Minato has dropped the formal speech since the second time he and Masaki met in the novel. So yes, this backtracking is something quite strange to witness.

Now, the thing that has me side-eyeing this character arc thing the most is that we seem to be wasting time with them. The show is using these arcs to flesh out the characters and make them likable because it failed to do this in S1, which is understandable, all right. However, I again would argue that having a linear plot would do the job better, not just because it'd feel more natural, but also because, while we're having these arcs, nearly nothing is accomplished except for working out non-canon, unnecessary problems that the anime has created... so that we could have these character arcs in the first place. And that's where I keep asking myself: why are we getting this instead of the source material's content? I mean, I do know the reason why. The original is too gay, we get it. But since I know what I'm missing out on, I at least want to see an on-screen justification for it. I want KyoAni to show us something that will make these changes worth it, because so far, it feels like they're dragging the story down in comparison to the novel.

I have already expressed this before but I still feel the need to voice my concern that this season is just as uneventful as the first. There’s just too little going on and therefore too little for the viewers to get invested in. The drama in the novel might feel exaggerated at times, but KyoAni doesn’t seem to have realized that it’s the only thing separating the series from... well, real life. Without that aspect, Tsurune is just a kyudo nerd-out galore with not much purpose. I’m of course not suggesting that they should suddenly insert into the anime the exact same amount of drama as the novels have, but that they could at least be a bit more daring than what we’ve seen so far and introduce some of it. Because I can't imagine how boring this series must be for anime-only’s.

I keep noticing, after every single episode, that I’m only enjoying this installment because I was already a fan of the original work. If I hadn’t read the novel and didn’t have it in me to read it, having the anime as my only form of contact with this series would’ve prompted me to drop it by S1. This season is way better than the previous one in every sense and it oozes good intentions, yet there’s still a palpable lack of excitement in it. The training at the inn, Shuu’s petty envy, the hotel shitstorm. So much stuff that isn't too far removed from the tone of the anime and that could be put to good use here, yet isn't.

KyoAni, I’m literally on my knees. I implore you to make this thing sell. Please make it sell.

But I want to end this one on a good note, so my last comment is gonna be on the later half of the episode. I adore Saionji's participation and the subtle, well-written explanations about what the boys' team is lacking. It was super refreshing to have the girls' team as the reason why they realized what they were missing in a different way from how the novel did it. Speaking of different way from how the novel did it, I like that we got to see Minato and Saionji's conversation about Shigeru. In the novel, we only had Minato telling Eisuke about it, so I'm happy that we got to actually see it. And gotta tip my hat to the scene where Masaki watches as Minato finally gets his form right once again. Pretty good punchline.

And of course, the last scene is a treasure. The girls being valued as important members of the team is my new favorite thing. Yuuna absolutely blasting Ren into outer space was a blessing. Minato being an unapologetic dork has watered my crops and cleared my skin. That nod to the one-eyed fish had me at the edge of my seat (yes, I still have hopes of it being at least referred to at some point, along with Masaki and Minato's scars). And finally, the Star Festival has been mentioned. Love the way that the dojo was decorated for it. Yata Shrine looks like a new world entirely, almost as if we've been transported to a feudal fantasy setting. I just don't get why it's gonna happen after the tournament. I guess this means we're not getting Ren and Minato's conversation and that honestly worries me, but as always, I'm just taking what I can get.

[wehavethoughts]

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Review!

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

George Lucas (1977)

20th Century Fox Productions

Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, Fantasy Movie

Rating: 3.5/5 Waves

Content warnings for A New Hope: Character death, Violence, Implied torture

This review does NOT contain spoilers.

“She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid.” – Han Solo 

Summary: A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the evil Galactic Empire has lost the plans to their planet-destroying battle station, the Death Star, to Princess Leia of Alderaan, an agent of the Rebel Alliance. Unfortunately for the princess, the Empire has sent the mysterious and powerful Darth Vader to retrieve the plans. Cue the epic space adventure starring a farm boy, a smuggler, a Wookiee, a Jedi and a pair of sassy droids. Can they save the princess, deliver the plans to the Rebels and restore hope to the galaxy?

It’s difficult, some might say impossible, to think about Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope as a stand alone movie. This movie launched one of the biggest and most lucrative brands in western media, and it is hard to think of the movie without considering the impact it has already had on our culture. I personally love every chapter of Star Wars in their own way. These are stories of adventure, friendship, and hope. Who wouldn’t love that? However,  it is easy to get lost in the iconic-ness without actually thinking about the movie itself. So I am going to do my best to judge this movie for what it is (as I see it), not what it’s done. 

Let’s start with the obvious: the special effects. A New Hope premiered in 1977 with state-of-the-art, groundbreaking visual effects. It won an Oscar for Visual Effects, that’s how good it was. So how does it hold up more than 40 years later? Honestly, not bad. During blaster fights and light saber battles, it’s clear that this film is very old (there is something about the lighting idk), but I personally never found it to be jarring enough to pull me out of the experience. The well developed sets and reliance on costumes and prosthetics allow the audience to be swept away by this alien universe in spite of the dated effects.

One thing that does not stand the test of time, though, is the movie’s pacing. Modern audiences are used to fast paced action adventure stories with a lot of explosions and yelling, especially when it comes to intergalactic wars. A New Hope, in contrast, finds itself meandering through deserts and space stations at a glacial pace. While it is clearly trying to build tension with its long, quiet shots, it gives the audience just enough time to check out emotionally. 

There are two main points that kept me from giving this movie a higher rating: 1) the lack of diversity, and 2) the unrealistic way the characters respond to trauma. 

First of all, there are only two women characters with speaking roles in this entire movie and no people of color. With all of the aliens and droids, they chose not to include a single person of color in their galaxy far, far away? It just doesn’t speak to diverse audiences in 2020. 

Second, Luke and Leia have to weather insanely traumatic events in this film, yet these characters dust their shoulders off and move on with hardly a scene to process. It might be trying to speak to their resilience, but it also sends a message to suck up your emotions and get the job done, which frankly is just plain unhealthy.

That being said, I still gave this movie 3.5 out of 5 waves. So what does this movie have going for it? At the end of the day, the big draws for me are the music and the character dynamics. 

Movie scores can make or break a movie: one of the reasons why I love A New Hope so much is because of its fantastic music. With each swell of the orchestra, we are transported fully into this fantastical world. The music plays as much of a role as the characters, adding comic relief and dramatic tension in equal measure. 

The sound effects are equally compelling. It takes quite a bit of work to create believable sounds for things that do not exist, like lightsabers and TIE Fighters, but the sound designer, Ben Burtt, was up to the task. He created the iconic lightsaber sounds using a projector motor, an old tv, a speaker and a moving microphone. This fun blend was essential to make the lightsabers buzz, hum and zoom the way we know and love. Ben Burtt was also responsible for Chewbacca’s growls and roars (bears, walruses, lions and badgers) and R2-D2’s classic chirps and screams (a synth and Ben Burtt making weird sounds). 

My absolute favorite thing about this movie has to be the dynamic between the three main heroes. They embody such youthful and relatable energy, and together they make a team that is not only effective at getting the job done, but fun to watch. It comes across as an authentic and organic friendship that I just love to see.

Tldr; Definitely worth the watch. It’s a fun movie with relatable and unique characters, but you will be disappointed if you go in expecting diversity, a typical action movie’s pace, or much emotional depth. 

~ TideMod

(wave icon by Nawicon from the Noun Project) 

[monkey-network]

Steven Universe is Anime Garbage (And That’s Okay)

WARNING: This is gonna be a very weebish brain fart. I didn't come into writing it for any purpose, I just decided to write out my general stream of thoughts to see where it took me. This was the result. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy.

A key to enlightenment is the severance of attachment

Can’t deny it. Steven Universe is a cartoon practically on the boundary with its many fans. Some find it engaging and wonderful, others find it wasted potential and struggling, and others are terrible fans with no sense of control or integrity, like most fandoms really. But I, a fan since its beginnings, wish to make a case that could potentially bring everything and everyone together in somewhat reasonable understanding (a stretch, somewhat). Steven Universe is a trash anime....and it is the best trash out here. Now I’m not saying this because it has an anime look, or that Jasper is a tsundere, or especially...

“Hey it’s a reference to that one anime that’s also very aesthetic™ and sad with lesbians and allegories!”

Nah, I’ll be real with you here. Now we really can’t deny that Steven Universe has its major flaws, not a hard pill to swallow way I see it. Wishy washy in tone, seldom in world building, basic animation, off putting character models, and so forth (though the last point is a malleable nitpick tbh). Furthermore, we can’t deny that the “plot” is up in the air and really not in the mood on coming down with anything truly shaking yet (putting a pin in that). But, I won’t deny that it looks good, some characters are worth my investment, and there is some development to be had in all this, for better or for worse. You could say it’s down the middle, so where am I going with this? Well, I think I found something that may be able to bring this together: Sword Art Online

*imitating Austin Powers* YEAH, BABY!

For those unaware, Sword Art Online is a light novel turned RPG Game turned full series anime about thousands of people getting trapped in a VR game with one seeking to escape by beating the 100 levels of the game. It has action, death, good game feel, wonky gameplay, and fanservice.... I do not and will not recommend this to anyone, nor am I just comparing this to Steven U because both have OP protagonists, a myriad of female characters, and how one character is generally Lars if a better person initially. To repeat, I’m not saying these shows are the same in plot and such. Though the similarities certainly come in their perceptions and reactions.

Also dual wielding

Let me sidetrack a bit and do understand, at the time SAO premiered, otakus, anime fans, and even esports fans were hyped! This was before My Hero Academy blew millions away, before Attack on Titan throttled its theme music onto people, many were stoked and kept up that stokeness for this for quite a bit. This was SAO’s keepsake: Mass Appeal and timing. Then people started seeing the cracks of the show’s true faults, and now we’re at the point where more of the franchise is coming and the fandom is dragging between people that find it sucks or never should’ve been invested in the first place, people that continue to make the lemons into lemonade regardless, and the creeps (you know who they are). Sound familiar?

I mean we could say the same thing for the current Star Wars fandom, but that’s a tad more complicated

But this isn’t enough to say this is trash anime. No, like SAO, there is one thing that can tie everything together to implode into an enveloping infinite wormhole of foolishness and cleverness. One moment that just brought everything together and is gonna put everything together in the end. The definitive proof that...

Rose Quartz was the Origami Killer all along!!

But seriously, this was a twist that certainly cemented itself into being on par in writing with SAO and similar trash series. I mean, from a meta perspective, it’s pretty hilarious that the biggest twist the show presented was mostly considered a joke in the same way people thought The Simpsons could predict the future with the absurdist jokes they made. And really, all the symbolism and foreshadowing from every episode previously doesn’t excuse the blue balls I felt with the recent two seasons. I’m sorry guys, the eye opening revelation can go so far with someone who was only glad something actually came together after so long (even if the episode leading up to it lacked that “special shit”).

But as for Pink Diamond being the real Rose Quartz, the twist admittedly lack that impactful-ness and really shows how they’re twanging a string in the efforts to make you take the story seriously. For one thing, it’s pretty stupid to believe that nobody questioned the abilities the one Rose had compared to a typical quartz, not to mention that it felt pretty convenient that she never lost her form revealing her gem to anyone beside Pearl. Secondly, it kinda bait and switches not just the ideal, but a reasonable idea of Rose Quartz for just being the ambitious dictator turned anti-villain bent on liberating the Earth from her bigger than thou parents and more or less her own armada. Like, “Ha ha, you thought Rose Quartz was an ordinary gem that had to make genuine sacrifices in her efforts to best the higher ups and liberate her kind. But in reality, she had the abilities to win all along and generally did everything for the sake of not being a dictator anymore. MWAHAHAHAAAA” We can examine the complexities behind her motivations all we’d like, but that just feels like rewriting the already stupefying concept to make it sound more sensible.

Funny enough, Rose could’ve definitely working as the Charles Xavier of this series but they never delve into that reasonably valuable concept*

Lastly, it sort of--lack of a better term--irons out the whole show up with Steven being Pink Diamond, if that makes sense. In the back of my mind, I’ve generally lost my suspension of disbelief in believing that a fourteen year old child is not only the reformation of a failed rebel leader, but said failed rebel leader actually being the supposed antagonist and jumpstarting source behind everyone’s frustrations, ambitions, and tragedies. As if Steven wasn’t special enough on the fact that he can revive the dead, like Sword Art Online, it’s already apparent that he’ll generally win in the end due to him being the Special, the Ninetail, the Last Jedi, the Hollow, and the Fullbring all in one. It’s kinda hard getting invested in your story when I can’t care about your protagonists! Maybe he might actually suffer long term consequences, but I don’t have much in the future since it now feels hard to relate to the protagonist, who by the way is the central protagonist meaning no episode can go without his presence apparently.

He’ll enter your dreams if he must

And I’m afraid that Steven Universe has officially sunk to trash tier anime. And frankly, it’s always been anchored to this. I mean with SAO, as much as I saw before quitting, there was plot variety, not plot flips. It is one thing to have your series shift from light villain of the week slice of life to something like Oedipus Rex, but to get this far, nose diving into this belly flop of a reveal, to then ask to be taken with a modicum of seriousness, what? To put so much ambition into your work, that you’re essentially believing your own hype, barely exploring a big handful of your own ideas, until now, trying to make sympathy and reason coincide with the villain(s) instead of making them somewhat real. One could say “Monkey, it’s not about taking on villains, it’s about achieving resolve within the group’s personal struggles.” And while that is a reasonable and pathetic way of saying violence can’t resolve things, it doesn’t bear the fact that the Crystal Gems were essentially fighting villains beforehand while achieving resolve, so why change things up now? Especially when the villains before don’t bear any quirk of their own besides being relative to the plot. Or a plot, since again, it wants to be taken seriously with the “story” it has, but juggles way too many things that it can feel hilariously jarring when the show actually gets somewhere.

And as a character drama, the establishment of its world and idealogies don’t feel as valuable when the importance and passion to them are continuously muddled or dull

And this is the way of trash anime. People shouldn’t have to continuously think of how things could’ve been better, why plotlines and characters don’t mesh well, why it can just feel so contrived. Yeah it’s unfortunate that an SU Critical community exists, and yeah sometimes they deserve scrutiny because some try to make it deeper than it is, but we can’t deny that this all appeared from a vacuum. With criticisms can come a consistent string of logic that some things have turned up wrong, something that the series failed to grasp previously. Like SAO, most Shonen works, and “those” shows that I won’t speak of, this series was and has become a glorified gamble on your interests and the anticipation to see where it lands, how cathartic it’ll be, and what’s to look forward to and look back on.... has somewhat slimmed. While it is most certainly its own thing, it doesn’t bear that evolutionary yet timeless nuance Avatar and Adventure Time has, nor the continually captivating hook the best anime can have with its episodes and characters. This series has gotten stupid...and I say it’s not wrong to think that way.

Anime isn’t that big of a mistake, you guys. Come on.

If there’s anything I learned as one of the smartest idiots around, it’s that stupidity can be enjoyable; trust me, I know. So while I say SU’s anime garbage, I’m not saying it’s the bad kind that kills your mood/investment like the shit I found. it’s the Rocket Raccoon of Cartoon Network (and if you’ve seen Guardians 2 and get where I’m coming from, I love you for it). It’s still enjoyable, for the most part, and I’m not gonna ignore the influence it had on its fans. Hell, Black Panther is a movie I find flawed as fuck, but I and the millions (and the millions) still recognize and appreciate it for what it provided, for black people especially. While it can be predictable, there are some good moments to think over, for better or for worse, like how the Rose Quartz was subtly hinted at throughout the seasons. It’s still competent in some aspects, there are a few characters I still love and, to unpin, things look like they’re finally heating up. It still has that “Fuck yeah” spirit buried underneath, like many anime good and trash. It’s certainly better than Star vs th- Point I’m getting at is that this series sure as hell ain’t bulletproof, but I’ll gladly bandage it up and see it through to the end. Not as some guilty pleasure, but as a series that staggers constantly and consistently but makes up in keeping it compelling (in a way). That’s a quality only the best trash anime achieves, shooting itself in the foot while proudly making that run to the finish line. I’m not just blatantly criticizing it or supporting all the hype it makes, I’m embracing it for going this long with this many bruises, willing to take more hits, all the while never really losing sight of what it set out to do. I’ll still smack it upside the head for the stupid shit it might pull, because I know it can and will, but that smack is delivered with love. And really, is that not a reasonable feeling to have?

Steven U is anime garbage... and I’m fine with that.

[aion-rsa]

Supernatural: The Best Episodes

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Supernatural feature contains MAJOR spoilers up to and including the series finale.

Over the course of 15 years, Supernatural aired an extraordinary 327 episodes, every single one of them starring the same two people, a quite incredible achievement (there were two attempts at backdoor pilots, but both featured Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles at least briefly).

In 327 episodes, of course, there have been some stinkers, and there have been moments of brilliance. Supernatural did scary episodes, gross-out episodes, funny episodes, tragic episodes, tragically funny episodes and episodes set on its own soundstage. Here are 25 of the very best.

25/327*. Carry On (Season 15, Episode 20)

*delete according to preference, and see “Dishonorable mentions” below

We’re being controversial right off the bat, as the series finale has fans split right down the middle between feeling pretty pleased with it and absolutely hating it. And for the many fans that hate it, they really, really hate it. If that’s you, we understand your issues with it – see our ‘Dishonorable Mentions’ list.

But for others, while this ending was somewhat marred by coronavirus restrictions (which are surely to blame for Sam’s wife being blurred in the background instead of clearly shown to be Eileen, and possibly for the absence of Castiel as well), there were also moments of emotional catharsis and beauty. Heaven has undergone some drastic improvements since we last saw it and the afterlife is no longer strangely lonely and depressing. The music choices for the episode are perfectly on point – it almost seems strange we haven’t heard ‘Brothers in Arms’ before – and finally the promise of ‘Carry On, Wayward Son’ is fulfilled, as “surely Heaven waits for you”.

Best moment: Hearing the voice of Original Bobby (not Apocalypse World Bobby) for the first time since Season 11.

Quotable: “Always keep fighting” (Dean, to Sam)

Watch if you like: Tragic melodrama, great music, Bobby

24. Devil’s Trap (Season 1, Episode 22)

Supernatural’s very first season finale set the tone for many more finales to come. The arc plot kicked up a gear, Winchesters pointed guns at each other, and the whole thing ended in a nail-biting cliff-hanger. This episode sets up much of how the show will work, including the important detail that demons possess innocent humans, which led to our heroes spending some years trying to avoid killing them where possible (before they eventually gave up on that one). Most important of all, though, this is the episode that introduces Jim Beaver’s Bobby Singer, who would become the Winchesters’ surrogate father, and whose particular brand of caring, with a hefty dose of calling them idjits, was always entertaining with a warmth underneath the humour.

Best moment: Sam refuses to kill his father – the first of many times this sort of decision will be forced on the brothers.

Quotable: “The storm’s coming, and you boys, your Daddy – you are smack in the middle of it” (Bobby)

Watch if you like: Family melodrama, demon arc plots, Bobby

23. All Along The Watchtower (Season 12, Episode 22)

Death and life have always gone hand in hand in Supernatural, and nowhere is that clearer than in this game-changing season finale. We lose one of the show’s few regular characters, Mark Sheppard’s Crowley, along with a newer, highly likeable, recurring character, Courtney Ford’s Kelly Kline, both in moving self-sacrifices that honor the characters and their development. (Oh, and Castiel dies again too, but of course that doesn’t stick). On the other hand, we gain two new characters. We meet Apocalypse World Bobby, and while he can never really replace the Bobby the boys knew and loved, he brings some essential Bobby-ness back into the show. And Jack is born, Castiel’s (and later the Winchesters’) adoptive son, whom Cas is convinced will create a paradise in the future. This episode is full of great character work featuring numerous fan favourites, along with genuinely exciting plot developments that left viewers itching for the next season to start.

Best moment: Castiel took an online doula class in preparation for Kelly going into labour, but it didn’t cover quasi-celestial beings.

Quotable: “Whenever there is a world ending crisis at hand, I know where to place my bets. It’s on you, you big beautiful lumbering piles of flannel” (Crowley)

Watch if you like: Alternate universes, self-sacrifices, Bobby

22. Don’t Call Me Shurley (Season 11, Episode 20)

This episode has shifted down the list since we last ranked it, as the plot developments of season 15 have robbed it of some of its joy, but the episode itself still stands up. It’s well known that Supernatural is often kind of a grim show, and one of the pleasures of watching it is that, however crappy your life is at that moment, it’s not as crappy as Sam and Dean’s. There are occasional moments of satisfaction (like the killing of Azazel in “All Hell Breaks Loose”) and there’s certainly plenty of humour, but real, honest to Chuck, joy? That’s rare, and the best example (Dean’s Heaven) required both main characters to be dead. So there’s something really special about this Season 11 episode, in which God finally comes back (and reveals that He has, in fact, been helping out on the odd occasion all along). The rest of the episode, in which Metatron makes the case for humankind to God, is a philosophical and meta-fictional treat as well, but it’s that conclusion that really makes it something to remember.

Best moment: Dean pulls his old amulet out of Sam’s pocket – signalling that God has returned.

Quotable: “You know what humanity’s greatest creation has been? Music. That, and nacho cheese” (Chuck)

Watch if you like: Philosophy, happy endings

21. Lebanon (Season 14, Episode 13)

Supernatural’s 100th episode (“The Point Of No Return”) was an arc-plot heavy drama; it’s 200th (‘Fan Fiction’) was a delightful and comedic take on the show. For this, the 300th episode, the series went in a different direction again, and focused on the Winchester family unit, bringing Jeffrey Dean Morgan back as John Winchester for the first time since the season 2 finale. Sam and Dean’s whole story has been driven by their broken family life, and before this the closest they’d come to being together as a family was a brief car ride with their parents’ unknowing younger selves while time travelling. Here, they get to spend some proper time together as a family, before it’s inevitably cut short – and as a bonus, we get to see Zachariah (not seen since the 100th episode) and Scary Castiel again as well.

Best moment: All four Winchesters, all alive at the same time, have dinner together. It’s lovely.

Quotable: “Now you live in a secret bunker with an angel and Lucifer’s kid” (John)

Watch if you like: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, family dinners, anniversary episodes

20. Roadkill (Season 2, Episode 16)

Many of the episodes on this list are major arc plot-related episodes, or hilariously funny format-bending episodes, or both. But it’s also worth celebrating episodes that offer just a really good Monster of the Week, and this is one of them. Supernatural was inspired early on by urban legends, and this episode is a sad, scary and effective take on a classic, the Vanishing Hitchhiker. Guest star Tricia Helfer does a great job as Molly, whose perspective we follow throughout the story, keeping her true predicament from both her and the audience until the twist ending. The episode’s conclusion was also the first time we saw a suggestion of something potentially positive waiting for human souls after death, giving all the many, many dead characters on the show a glimmer of hope.

Best moment: The reveal of Molly’s true nature isn’t really a surprise if you’ve ever read a ghost story, but it’s very well done.

Quotable: “Follow the creepy brick road” (Dean)

Watch if you like: urban legends, scary ghost stories, plot twists

19. Scoobynatural (Season 13, Episode 16)

By Season 13, inevitably some viewers had drifted away from the show, as people will when something runs as long as Supernatural has. “Scoobynatural” had a concept so enticing, it brought some of those viewers back (only out-performed in the ratings that year by the season opener). Not only was the idea of Sam and Dean in a Scooby Doo cartoon too good to miss, Supernatural also has an excellent track record in comedy episodes. These can be hit and miss on most shows, but Supernatural’s comedy misses are few and the hits are plentiful enough that six of them are on this list. Viewers trusted the show to make this work, and that trust paid off – the episode is both very funny and touching, as all the show’s best comedy episodes are.

Best moment: Sam and Dean trying to explain to the Scooby Gang that no really, ghosts are real.

Quotable: “We’ve been stopping real estate developers when we could have been hunting Dracula? Are you kidding me?! My life is meaningless!” (Fred)

Watch if you like: Scooby-Doo, crossovers

18. No Rest For The Wicked (Season 3, Episode 16)

The writers’ strike cut Season 3 short (yes, Supernatural has been going that long), which meant the planned story arc, in which Sam and Dean desperately tried to find a way to get Dean out of the deal he made with a Crossroads demon, also had to be wrapped up in fewer episodes than anticipated. The solution was truly shocking – they failed. Dean was sent to Hell and viewers were left with an image of him being tortured and screaming out Sam’s name. OK, no one really thought he was going to stay there for ever, but it was still a bold move.

Best moment: Sam joining along in a singalong to Bon Jovi’s “Wanted” with his brother, knowing they only had a few hours left.

Quotable: “Family don’t end with blood, boy” (Bobby)

Watch if you like: Dante’s Inferno, soft rock anthems

17. All Hell Breaks Loose, Parts 1&2 (Season 2, Episodes 21&22)

Like “No Rest For The Wicked,” this was a real watershed moment for the show. Sam’s death and the deal Dean makes to bring him back set in motion just about every major storyline since. But these episodes don’t make the list just for that reason. The “only one can live” set up Sam is dropped into is always an intriguing premise, and these two episodes make up a dramatic, satisfying season finale in which the bad guy of two years is dispatched, the Winchester men get some closure, and the mythology gets a bit more development.

Best moment: Sam’s first death. The regularity with which the Winchester boys die and come back to life is a long-running joke and has even been the focus of more than one episode over the years, so it’s easy to forget just what a huge, horrifying moment that first death is, back when they used to take it seriously.

Quotable: “That was for our mom, you sunnnuvabitch” (Dean, to Azazel’s dead body)

Watch if you like: The Hunger Games, Jensen Ackles emoting

16. Abandon All Hope… (Season 5, Episode 10)

Season 5 was Supernatural creator Eric Kripke’s final season as show-runner, and it was written to be the final season of the show. The story arc followed the boys’ attempts to stop the oncoming Apocalypse and recapture the Devil himself, with the stakes getting higher and higher as the season wore on. “Abandon All Hope…” is a turning point, hammering home the seriousness of the situation by killing off half the regular supporting cast, after which the story became increasingly grim until our heroes faced an impossible choice in the season finale. It’s also the episode that introduces Mark Sheppard as Crowley, King of the Crossroads Demons, who immediately cements himself as much more fun than your average demon.

Best moment: Ellen staying with a mortally injured Jo as they sacrifice themselves to save the boys.

Quotable: “Your choice. You can cling to six decades of deep-seated homophobia, or give it up and get a complete bailout for your ban’s ridiculous incompetence” (Crowley)

Watch if you like: Mark Sheppard as Crowley, tear-jerkers

15. Nightshifter (Season 2, Episode 12)

Sam and Dean spent much of the first few years of the series on the run from the law, despite having several police officers in their debt. This would continue until the police thought they were dead, only for the pair of them to turn up again, and the threat of jail time if they were ever caught and identified never quite went away. This episode, in which a shape-shifter is carrying out bank robberies, really notches up the tension as they come to the attention of the FBI in the worst possible way, as well as observing the tragedy of a well meaning civilian caught up in something he doesn’t understand.

Best moment: The brothers escape to the tune of “Renegade,” by Styx.

Quotable: “We’re not working for the Mandroid!” (Sam, to Ronald)

Watch if you like: Bonnie and Clyde, The Lone Gunmen

14. Death’s Door (Season 7, Episode 10)

The decision to kill off Bobby permanently in season 7 was controversial, to say the least, but it’s hard to deny his final episode as a living member of the team is a great one. Poor Bobby’s backstory is revealed to be even more tragic than we already knew it was, but more importantly, his bond with the boys and the reasons their relationship is so important both to them and to him are explored. It also prompts the show to explore a fairly obvious question – we’ve seen plenty of ghosts on the series whose bodies were burned, so even with hunters’ funerals, how is it we haven’t seen more beloved deceased characters return after death?

Best moment: Bobby giving his alcoholic father a proper telling off in his imagination.

Quotable: “As fate would have it, I adopted two boys, and they grew up great. They grew up heroes” (Bobby)

Watch if you like: Bobby and Rufus, daddy issues

13. Dark Side Of The Moon (Season 5, Episode 16)

The earliest episode to acknowledge how often the boys have died and come back to life, “Dark Side Of The Moon” sets its cards on the table by abruptly killing them both in the first few minutes. We finally get to see what happens when you go to Heaven in the world of Supernatural, and it’s a little weird and oddly lonely (with the exception of “soulmates”, everyone is off in their own little worlds – thankfully this is eventually rectified) but it’s a satisfying journey nonetheless. Not that Dean or Castiel would agree, as this is the episode in which they give up on searching for God, having been told He isn’t interested.

Best moment: Dean’s Heaven – playing with fireworks with Young Sam. It’s a truly joyful sequence.

Quotable: “Gentlemen, I don’t mean to be a downer, but I’m sure I’ll see you again soon” (Ash)

Watch if you like: Family drama, nihilism

12. Baby (Season 11, Episode 4)

The Supernatural team have always been clear that the Impala is the third main character on the show (sorry, Castiel) so this Season 11 episode shifts focus to tell a story entirely from the car’s point of view. No, this isn’t a Herbie or Transformers situation – rather, the entire episode is shot from inside the car. What this means for the story is that we get to see different parts of Sam and Dean’s day – while they’re off investigating, we see the Impala get taken for a joy ride by a car park attendant, and Sam and Dean’s traditional emotionally-charged conversations are given a little more space to breathe. This is how you shake a show up while keeping its unique feel after eleven years.

Best moment: All of Castiel’s hilarious phone calls.

Quotable: “Never use Swayze’s name in vain, OK? Ever” (Dean) 

Watch if you like: Classic cars, Bob Seger’s “Night Moves”

11. What Is And What Should Never Be (Season 2, Episode 20)

Towards the end of season 2, as the series started to grow in confidence, Supernatural started to do slightly more experimental episodes that took us away from the straightforward “Sam and Dean hunt a monster” set-up. The first meta-fictional episode was the fun “Hollywood Babylon,” while this was an early glimpse of an alternative timeline – or, rather, an hallucination of Dean’s under the influence of a djinn. The result was a fun “what if” scenario and a lovely penultimate appearance from Adrianne Palicki as Jessica, but it culminated in a truly heart-breaking moment for Dean as he confronts everything he, Sam, and their father have had to sacrifice in their attempts to help others, and is forced to choose life at the expense of happiness.

Best moment: Dean breaks down at his father’s grave.

Quotable: “Look, whatever stupid thing you’re about to do, you’re not doing it alone. And that’s that” (Sam)

Watch if you like: Alternate timelines, wishes gone wrong

10. The French Mistake (Season 6, Episode 15)

In this episode, Sam and Dean are pulled into a parallel universe where they are the actors Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, the stars of the TV show Supernatural. The story takes the highest of high concepts and makes it work beautifully, including an appearance from Padalecki’s real life wife and former co-star Genevieve Padalecki and Misha Collins sending himself up gloriously. There’s even a clip of a much younger Jensen Ackles on Days Of Our Lives thrown in. A joy from start to finish.

Best moment: Sam and Dean trying to act. They are not good at it.

Quotable: “You married fake Ruby?!” (Dean)

Watch if you like: High concept comedy, Misha Collins

9. The End (Season 5, Episode 4)

What better way to raise the stakes early in the season than to flash forward five years and reveal what the world will look like after the Apocalypse has come about? Funny and heartfelt in equal measure, this is a classic alternate timeline story with a twist. It is also a really important episode in the development of Lucifer as a character, here played with squirming intensity by Jared Padalecki, who gets to sit out most of the story while Jensen Ackles pulls double, only to come and steal the show at the end. It also features some advice from Chuck (i.e. God) to hoard toilet paper, which turned out to be remarkably prescient.

Best moment: The reveal of Hippie Future Castiel, who has taken a surprising attitude towards the end of the world.

Quotable: “When you get back there, you hoard toilet paper. You understand me? Hoard it like it’s made of gold. Cause it is” (Chuck – some people clearly took this advice too much to heart in 2020)

Watch if you like: Dystopias, toilet paper

8. Fan Fiction (Season 10, Episode 5)

The show’s 100th episode was an important moment in its then-current story arc, but it was the 200th that really celebrated in style. Watching a girls’ school put on a musical version of the Supernatural story (the Kripke years) sounds like a terrible idea but they pull it off brilliantly, making an episode that is both funny and sweet. Most of all, though, this is just a treat for long-term fans, full of call-backs, references, and in-jokes, and that finally ties up a loose end from “Dark Side Of The Moon” in an emotionally satisfying way.

Best moment: The lovely cover of “Carry On, Wayward Son” at the end of the show.

Quotable: “That is some of the worst fan fiction I ever heard!” (Marie, on hearing what happened after the end of Season 5 – a popular take on just about everything that’s happened since then in some quarters)

Watch if you like: Musicals, subtext

7. The Monster At The End Of This Book (Season 4, Episode 18)

Neither “Don’t Call Me Shurley” nor “Fan Fiction” would have been possible without the episode that introduced Chuck in the first place, though back then he was nothing more than a cowardly writer and (apparently) reluctant prophet. Supernatural had done a few meta-fictional episodes by this point but “The Monster At The End Of This Book” was the moment they took it to new places, creating the fictional Supernatural universe within the Supernatural universe and allowing the show to explore fandom, fan fiction, fan conventions and fan musicals further down the line. The whole concept is a real treat for the show’s real life fans.

Best moment: Sam and Dean discover online fandom and slash fiction.

Quotable: “They do know we’re brothers, right?!” (Dean)

Watch if you like: Fan fiction, meta fiction

6. Faith (Season 1, Episode 12)

This low-key Season 1 episode may seem like an odd choice for the sixth best episode ever out of 327. But there are two reasons for singling out “Faith” here. One is to highlight just how good Supernatural’s early ghost stories were. We could fill a whole list with classic examples of spooky tales done really well from the show’s early years (“Dead In The Water,” “Bloody Mary,” “No Exit,” “Playthings”). “Faith,” though not strictly about a ghost, centres around a faith healer’s wife controlling a reaper. But “Faith” is more than a good yarn done well. It’s also the episode that showed what the series could be, as it started to deal with the deep and complex philosophical themes the show would later explore in more obvious, explosive ways. There’s also a great guest performance from Angel: The Series’ and Dexter’s Julie Benz, and poor Dean finds himself dying from something fairly mundane – not for the last time.

Best moment: “Don’t Fear The Reaper” is put to great use here as the reaper hunts down a jogger.

Quotable: “You better take care of that car, or I swear, I’ll haunt your ass” (Dean)

Watch if you like: Theology, Blue Oyster Cult

5. Mystery Spot (Season 3, Episode 11)

The best comedy episodes of Supernatural are not only side-splittingly funny (and they are), they also have a dramatic punch, an element of real drama behind the comedy. “Mystery Spot” is based around a twist on the Groundhog Day concept, in which Sam has to relive a day on which Dean seems doomed to die over and over and over again, unable to prevent it. Dean’s many, many deaths caused by all manner of strange things (just how did he manage fatally to slip in the shower?) are very funny, but Sam’s increasing difficulty in dealing with the situation, and then his terrible three months without Dean (this was the first time that had happened since the series began) bring sincere emotions to the table as well. 

Best moment: Sam working out that the Trickster is behind everything.

Quotable: “OK, look. Yesterday was Tuesday, right? But today is Tuesday too” (Sam)

Watch if you like: Groundhog Day, Final Destination

4. Pilot (Season 1, Episode 1)

Not too many shows can claim their pilot as one of their best episodes. But Supernatural’s Pilot really is a great episode of the show. It kicks off the series’ major plot arc, of course, but it also introduces the show’s humor and heart. On top of all that, the Pilot also features a classic Ghost of the Week that’s spooky and sad and ghoulish, as all good ghost stories should be.

Best moment: Our introduction to Dean’s “mullet rock” music collection, including two classics from AC/DC (“Back In Black” and “Highway To Hell,” of course).

Quotable: “We got work to do” (Sam)

Watch if you like: Mullet rock, ghost stories

“Swan Song” – Jared Padalecki as Sam, Jake Abel as Adam Milligan, Jensen Ackles as Dean in SUPERNATURAL on The CW. Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW ©2010 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

3. Swan Song (Season 5, Episode 22)

The episode that would have been the series finale, if the show hadn’t been renewed and taken over (first by Sera Gamble, then Jeremy Carver, and finally Andrew Dabb and Robert Singer). “Swan Song” would have made a great finale as well – it’s thrilling, satisfying, tragic and funny all at once. The main reason it’s not higher on this list is that it is a little bit of a downer – if the series had actually ended there, there would have been a lot of Fix Fic out there online, sorting it out. Granted, that’s true of the series’ actual finale as well, but honestly, think about it, and take out the sequel hook shot of a resurrected Sam at the end of “Swan Song” which presumably wouldn’t have been there – this one is even more depressing.

Best moment: The opening narration, describing how the Impala has always been the boys’ real home.

Quotable: “Hey! Assbutt!” (Castiel, to Lucifer)

Watch if you like: Supernatural. Honestly, this one is the conclusion to five years’ story-telling – don’t start here!

2. Changing Channels (Season 5, Episode 8)

Is this the funniest comedy episode of Supernatural? It’s a tough contest, but the genital herpes commercial Sam is forced to star in might just give it the win. But “Changing Channels” is more than comedy. The reveal that the Trickster is actually the Archangel Gabriel in disguise really shouldn’t work, but somehow it does, and it brings a new dimension to the Trickster’s previous appearances (especially “Mystery Spot”) as well as a solid conclusion to this one. But really, the episode’s greatness lies in the fact that it’s just. so. funny.

Best moment: The Impala/Sam as KITT from Knight Rider.

Quotable: “Should I honk?” (Sam/the Impala)

Watch if you like: Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, Knight Rider, cheesy sitcoms, Japanese game shows, adverts for genital herpes treatments

1. Lazarus Rising (Season 4, Episode 1)

What with running for 15 years, Supernatural went through a fair few major upheavals and shifts that sent the show in a new direction, and several of them are on this list. Nothing, though, beats the appearance of real, possessing-someone-else’s-flesh-and-blood angels on the show. This was the episode that made Supernatural what it has become, for better or for worse.

But that alone isn’t the reason we’ve put it at Number 1 of 327 episodes. The episode is hugely emotionally satisfying – although Sam and Dean had both come back from the dead before by this point (Dean technically dozens of times) Dean coming back from being buried for months is undeniably huge. The series needed to show how much of a big deal this was, and they did. We immediately learn that angels are terrifying and that wherever they go, collateral damage follows (it’s easy to forget that the first thing Castiel does on this show is burn out an innocent woman’s eyes).

And then, we finally get to meet an angel face to face. Castiel, in his first appearance, is genuinely something to behold. The deep voice, before it became the subject of in jokes and deadpan comedy, was originally intended to convey gravitas and power, and it works. This is a force like nothing the boys have encountered before, and it is awesome in the classic sense of word – full of awe.

Later, of course, Castiel would become the third member of Team Free Will and one of the most important characters on the show, next only to Sam and Dean. Misha Collins has made the character funny and loveable and awkward and generally indispensable. We wouldn’t change Castiel for the world and certainly don’t mean to suggest that it’s all downhill from his first appearance. Indeed, that later legacy is part of what makes this episode so special.

But really, it’s that entrance we can’t get enough of. We get shivers every time.

Best moment: Castiel’s entrance, of course. Though the rest of the episode is very good as well.

Quotable: “I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition” (Castiel’s first line)

Watch if you like: Castiel, angels

Honorable mentions

There were so many great episodes we didn’t have room for here – “My Bloody Valentine” (gory and funny in equal measure), “It’s A Terrible Life” (a classic Angel Shenanigans of the Week story), ‘The Born-Again Identity’ (Castiel’s return after it looked like they really had killed him off this time), “Houses Of The Holy” (the first references to angels on the show), “Everybody Hates Hitler” (a solid adventure during the course of which the boys discover the Bunker that has become their home), and “LARP And The Real Girl” (probably the best and most fun episode featuring fan favorite Charlie, played by Felicia Day) are just a few of the other greats.

Dishonorable mentions

We don’t want to spend too much time focusing on the negative, but we should probably acknowledge that, in 327 episodes, the show has occasionally got it wrong. Generally speaking, any time the show decides to feature dogs (the domesticated variety, not werewolves) the results tend to be less than excellent – “Man’s Best Friend With Benefits” is a real low point, and while many fans love “Dog Dean Afternoon,” we find it cringe-worthy. “Bugs” and “Route 666” (the one about the racist truck) are the two most often picked on by the writers themselves as examples of terrible episodes, though since both are from Season 1, they’ve long receded into most viewers’ long-term memories.

And of course, there’s “Carry On.” For every fan who found it a flawed but satisfying ending, there’s another who ranks it somewhere up there with Game Of Thrones’ and How I Met Your Mother’s finales in the All Time Terrible Series Finales Hall of Fame. There were too many people missing (largely the fault of COVID-19, but that doesn’t really help), especially Castiel and Eileen, whose absences were palpably felt. To leave Misha Collins and Castiel out all together after years of him sharing show-leading duties with Padalecki and Ackles seems very wrong, and many fans were disappointed that we never really see Dean react to Cas’s confession of love for him in ‘Despair’. Dean’s abrupt death felt anti-climactic to many, and the fact he was robbed of the chance to live a life free of Chuck was frustrating. And on top of all that, Sam’s grey-haired wig really was quite terrible. So all in all, while we would still say that for us it felt like a fairly well played conclusion to the story, we can understand that for many, it belongs at the top of the list of Dishonorable Mentions.

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Did your favorite episode of Supernatural make the list? Let us know in the comments below…

The post Supernatural: The Best Episodes appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[theonyxpath]

Oh yes, the time has come. We are getting prepped for the Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness Kickstarter on Thursday, the 6th at 2pm EST. Flashlights, arcane knowledge, talismans, Desert Eagles, stakes, silver bullets, all that kind of thing!

HtV 2e will be the last of the first edition core books needing to be updated to 2nd Edition, and we are really excited to be able to essentially add in the final piece of the Chronicles of Darkness 2e puzzle for first edition fans.

And beyond that, I’m excited because first edition was one of the two Chronicles of Darkness (back when the line was called the New World of Darkness) game lines that I green-lit as WW Creative Director and worked on from start to finish with the developers.

Not that I was involved with every day to day decision – no siree! The genius parts of Changeling: The Lost and Hunter: The Vigil were all brought to you by the incredible creative teams that put their awesome hard work into those books. No, my efforts then, and a large part my efforts still, were to set the course, determine the tone we were going for, hire the right main dev, and make sure they were onboard – and then help them bring it to fruition with that overall feeling intact.

Nameless and Accursed art by Tilen Javornik

Why, I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was sitting at my computer desk in my studio on the fringes of Philadelphia talking to newly signed-on Hunter developer Chuck Wendig…

…waaaaavvvvy liiiiinnnneeesssss…

“Chuck”, I said, because that’s his name, “You good with all the pitch notes and idea files I sent you?” He replied that he had a couple of ideas to run past me, actually. One, he was thinking of ways to give the Hunters something special. Not supernatural, but a boost in what they could do in combat with foes that will usually outmatch, or completely outmatch them.

The other was a meta way to look at the Hunter: The Vigil experience so you could comfortably, and be supported by the game if you wanted to, use HtV to play the lone hunter type, the plucky band of investigators, and the world-spanning hunters that are part of huge or wealthy or ancient organizations.

So we talked about different ways both those elements could work in the basically working-class joe sort of Hunter he was envisioning.

…waaaaavvvvvyyyy lllliiiinnnneeeesssss…

From that conversation were planted the seeds that grew into the Tactics system and the Three Tier system that Chuck did such a fantastic job of bringing to the game, and were both such an important part of what made first edition HtV stand out.

Side note: Although not involved with HtV 2e in any way, Chuck Wendig has, of course, gone onto a stellar writing career after his stint writing and developing for White Wolf over a decade ago, and has written both for brands like Star Wars, and has written his own novels, including the absolutely superb and terrifying Wanderers, which I truly can not recommend strongly enough. I read it almost non-stop for three days last summer; it is just that compelling!

Distant Worlds art by Pat McEvoy

During the time we were working on the core book, I remember doing a PowerPoint presentation during a CCP North America retreat – in fact this might have been the first one since White Wolf and CCP had merged – about the Tabletop RPGs we were making in our little division of the now-merged company.

Up until I began to explain Hunter – the new game – I got the impression that of the audience consisting of the WW crew, plus those CCPers who had moved to the US, plus new employees, that only the WW crew were responding with any real enthusiasm. There were some chuckles at the right spots, but not enough of the kind of response I was used to.

Then, I started to explain the ideas behind Hunter, and one after another, you could almost see them like flowers opening one by one as the sun hits them at dawn, the audience began to really listen. And react to the amazing Hunter art we were showing them. And laugh. And finally, at the end, it was the Icelanders from CCP that cheered the loudest when I practically yelled out that we should “Take Back The Night!”.

Helluva moment.

Now, that was the past, which sets us up for the present, which is this new, second, edition. Here’s a run-down of the book pulled from the Kickstarter page:

Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition includes all the rules you need to play a hunter in a tier-one, -two, or -three chronicle.

Chapter One: Provides an overview of a hunter’s world; the history of the hunt; the types of hunters you can play; and three, separate types of gameplay included in this book: tiers one, two, and three.

Chapter Two: Compacts and Conspiracies are specialized hunter organizations that may be used for tier-two or -three games. In this chapter, you’ll read more about Hunter lore and the history of the compacts and conspiracies, find write-ups for six compacts and six conspiracies, along with rules for tier-three Endowments and how to make them.

Chapter Three: Allows you to build and customize a character. You’ll learn how hunters retain one foot in an unsuspecting world and another in the Vigil. Plus, you’ll discover more about the Code and how it shapes hunters’ core identities and beliefs.

Chapter Four: Dives into the rules for gameplay. It also offers rules for specific aspects of Hunter that includes investigation and socializing along with teamwork and Tactics.

Chapter Five: Offers a taste of the strange and unusual monsters hunters may come across during the hunt. Sample monsters are presented according to the type of terrain from which they originate along with notes for how these creatures may be modified. Additionally, monster-creation rules, ephemeral-entity rules, and Dread Powers are found in this chapter.

Chapter Six: Takes another look at the Hunter setting by introducing where monsters live, locations the supernatural has tainted, and which places are actually monsters themselves. It offers new rules to handle each type of location, along with several examples.

Chapter Seven: Is a sample chronicle setting. Yanked from the slasher-movie genre, the Slasher Chronicle is a horror-movie-themed setting that includes a new slasher-specific compact and conspiracy, rules for building slashers, customized approaches for tier-one, -two, and -three gameplay, new Storyteller characters, and more!

Chapter Eight: Offers advice for Storytellers to help build and manage a chronicle while fleshing out rules for Storyteller characters. Additional content includes advice for creating player-facing compacts and conspiracies.

The Appendices: Provide Equipment, Conditions, and Tilts likely to come into play in Hunter.

Heroic Land Dwellers art by Brian LeBlanc

So with that lead-in, I hope you’ll check out the HtV 2e Kickstarter when it goes live Thursday. Like most of our recent KSs, we’re doing this to finish off a great hardcover traditionally printed book and then print extras to get them into stores.

And also like most of our recent KSs, backers will receive sections of the finished text throughout the KS so they can decide if what they are reading works for them. If so, that’s what we want, and if not, backers can drop their pledges before the KS campaign is over.

Basically, unlike for the Hunters, it’s a no-lose scenario for backers, so I hope we’ll see you all there!

Or if not, then in others of our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Next on Kickstarter is Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness starting THIS WEEK at 2pm EST on February 6th!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features the Terrible Trio of Terrific-ness playing around with setting mashups and crossovers! Check it out direct on Podbean, or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

A heaving schedule on Twitch this week with Vampire: The Masquerade, Chronicles of Darkness, Scion, Pugmire, Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition, even more Vampire: The Masquerade, Changeling: The Lost, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, Scion, two lots of Scarred Lands, and yet another Vampire: The Masquerade game! What a bloody week.

As ever, subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath

Our YouTube channel continues filling up with content, including the Onyx Path News! This week will also see uploads of Pugmire, Changeling: The Lost, Vampire: The Masquerade, and an interview concerning Mummy: The Curse! Do stay subscribed to youtube.com/user/theonyxpath to catch the news when it comes out live!

Some new Occultists Anonymous for all you Mage: The Awakening lovers out there:

Episode 76: Fault Lines Arriving home in NYC, the cabal check to see what has happened to their shared Sanctum, then share some of what they’d found in Mexico, reaping both reward and consequences of their actions. The Consilium might make a power grab based on what the cabal has discovered… https://youtu.be/5b8gZ-Z1X14

Episode 77: Hold My Beer Wyrd the Seer and Atratus dig into the Athanaeum to find out more of this creature Wyrd has made a deal with, while Songbird speaks to Hadramiel about his future. Then the cabal meet with a vampire… https://youtu.be/hFH_p5N_sQA

The Botch Pit release their Beginner’s Guide to Promethean: The Created video regarding Flux Pandorans right here: https://youtu.be/cAc75iTtA68

Red Moon Roleplaying continue their actual play of V5 Cults of the Blood Gods, on their YouTube channel, Spotify, their website redmoonroleplaying.com and everywhere else good podcasts might be found! https://youtu.be/S58N1EZlU5s

The Story Told Podcast have commenced a new Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition actual play right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/the-78-laments-1

And in case you missed them last week, the Keeper of the Archive has assembled a triple bill for Trinity fans:

The Trinity Core: https://youtu.be/3-MkRv7z37s

ÆON: https://youtu.be/CMRBAEGnHfE

The Storypath System: https://youtu.be/RJgN6sGr0CQ

Finally, if irreverent interviews are your thing, Matthew Dawkins was interviewed by Utility Muffin Labs for the 25 Years of Vampire: The Masquerade podcast right here. It’s a bit sweary: https://utilitymuffinlabs.com/25-years-of-vampire-the-masquerade/2020/1/30/cults-of-the-blood-gods-interview-episode-153

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero AND Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we will be releasing five different Storyteller Screen PDFs on DTRPG! Exalted 3rd Edition! Dark Eras 1! Beast! Changeling 20th! Wraith 20th!Collect them all!

Conventions!

More conventions will be listed for 2020 in the weeks to come-

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Duke Rollo fiction (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

RUST (Working Title) (Scarred Lands)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – Rolling on this.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars – Art is in.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – Just waiting for cover art.

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Mummy 2

City of the Towered Tombs – Recontracted.

Let the Streets Run Red – Contracted.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Contracted.

Deviant

Legendlore (KS) – Pulling assets for KS.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS) – KS finals coming in.

Scion Companion – Working on art notes for that with Meredith.

TC: Aeon Terra Firma – Getting that rolling out.

WoD: Ghost Stories – Cover contracted.

Tales of Aquatic Terror

In Layout

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – With Travis.

Pirates of Pugmire – With Aileen.

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – Ongoing.

Scion Mythical Denizens – In proofing but need some full page art to come in.

Contagion Chronicle – With Josh.

Vigil Watch – Getting first release ready for this month.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Proofing

Dark Eras 2 – Backer PDF out to backers, errata ending.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Backer PDF out to backers, errata wrapping up.

VtR Spilled Blood – At WW.

Chicago Folio – Sending for WW approval.

Wraith20 Anthology – Sending Backer PDF out to KS backers this week.

At Press

V5: Chicago – Shipping to stores, scheduled to go on sale this month.

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – At fulfillment shippers.

Geist 2e Screen – At fulfillment shippers.

DR:E – At fulfillment shippers.

DRE Screen – At fulfillment shippers.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Memento Mori – Awaiting errata for input.

Trinity Continuum: Aeon RMCs – Wrapping up errata.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today is The Day The Music Died, when in 1959 a plane carrying The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, and Ritchie Valens crashed, killing all aboard. This was an event that gutted American Rock ‘n’ Roll and created a domino effect on US culture far beyond the music industry that I can expound on for hours, and have. So, to take my mind off of that, here are some folks that I like that were born today: Norman Rockwell, painter (1894), Shelley Berman, comedian (1925), Victor Buono, actor (1938), Blythe Danner, ethereal actress (1943), and Warwick Davis, actor in many legendary nerd films (1970).