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engagemachine · 4 years

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I joined a tdkJoker gc and we were talking about fics. A lot of the stories they read are joker dub con. I didn’t knock it because that’s what they read. And anything with the joker in it is going to be dark fiction. But I brought up your stories & how much I loved them but they said it romanticized CSA. I don’t understand this accusation because the whole point of your story is to show the toxicity of Taylor and jokers relationship. Idk what to do or say now but every joker story is dark.

OMG. That’s okay, bby, really. When I tell you I don’t interact with probably 90% of the Joker fans on this website... it’s for a reason. It’s all good. And it’s truly none of my business what other people think of me.

This isn’t the first time I’m hearing about this, and I’m honestly not surprised some people would say that... but I do think it’s ironic since there is an egregious amount of romanticization/fetishization of the character of the Joker in this fandom, so much so to the point where I personally find it a little disturbing. That’s my opinion and I don’t really feel the need to say anything more about it. It’s not my intention to ruffle feathers, and everyone is entitled to write what they want to write. I’m not going to police other people’s work and I would hope that other people don’t feel the need to police mine. We’re all adults, here, there’s no need to tear other people down simply because our opinions on a fictional character differ.

I will be the first to say that my writing is extremely disturbing and not palatable to the casual reader, and I’m very open about the dark nature of my work and the sensitivity of the topics I write about. Ultimately, I cannot control how other people interpret my work -- that’s on them -- but to refer to my work as “romanticization of CSA” is an egregious oversight, and it deeply saddens me that people would misinterpret my writing as such given the amount of time, effort, and mental energy I have put into articulating what I hope is an incredibly realistic and poignant story about the effects of lifelong trauma/PTSD in an adolescent girl, and will eventually touch on the incredible amount of resilience and power that women hold inside themselves, a power they cannot be stripped of.

Burn has garnered a lot more attention than I ever expected -- I’ve had more longtime readers crawl out of the woodwork to introduce themselves and express their enthusiasm for my writing than I’ve ever had before -- and after the events that transpire at the end of chapter seven, it revealed to me that a lot more people were reading my work than I initially thought.

I think the situation would be different if I was the kind of author who was like, “uwu Joker is baby :’(” and “I just want the Joker to love/fuck me :(” here on my blog... but I’m not. And I never have been. If that’s how you feel about the Joker, that’s okay and that’s on YOU, and though I tend to find that insensitive and slightly immature given the nature of the character’s sordid history... that’s my own business, and I don’t sit here on a pedestal on my blog and talk down to other writers who do that. In fact, I don’t talk about it at all, and I don’t care to. I can only speak for myself when I say that, and I make absolutely no qualms about how disturbing/nasty I think the Joker is. I enjoy writing about him solely for the fact that he has absolutely no reservations -- about anything -- and there is so much freedom of expression in that. This is a villain I have enjoyed sinking my teeth into for so many years because there’s so much meat there. I keep tearing off more to chew and it’s never enough; just when I think I’ve found the depth’s of the Joker’s depravity, I always find he’s willing to sink just a little bit deeper.

I think when people talk about the “romanticization” in Burn, there is a severe lack of critical thinking that has gone into that statement (truly, I do not say this to offend) because Taylor does romanticize the Joker: but it’s because she’s been gaslighted, drugged, and psychologically manipulated into believing the Joker cares about her. Additionally, because the majority of the story is told in her POV, she does view the Joker through a set of lens that are incredibly rose-tinted. For that reason, she is an unreliable narrator.

What happens at the end of chapter seven is unquestionably rape. Even though she “wants” it, she’s still a minor, and therefore she cannot consent. But I also believe her age is rather arbitrary at this point, because even if she were eighteen (a legal, consenting adult in the United States) or even if she was nineteen, or twenty, I would still consider the events at the end of the chapter rape just because her mind has been so psychologically warped by the Joker for so many years. What is consent to a person who is straight up delusional? For all intents and purposes, you shouldn’t believe a thing that comes out of this girl’s mouth, even if her intentions are pure (and because it’s Taylor, they usually are).

Additionally, one of the main reasons why the scene at the end of the chapter is told from the Joker’s POV is so that you, as the reader, do not see Taylor romanticize the rape. That was very important to me to make that distinction. You only see it from the Joker’s POV, who regards the violation as him simply taking what he’s owed. That doesn’t mean in the future I will not show scenes of that nature from her POV, but given that it was their “first time”, so to speak, I wanted to strip any thoughts of romanticization out of the picture entirely. When Taylor tells the Joker she loves him, it is incredibly heartbreaking as much as it is fascinating. We’ve known that she’s loved him since forever, pretty much, so for her to express her love to him in the context of this particular moment, it’s horrifying.

And I find this dynamic so incredibly spellbinding just because it thrills me to write about a character’s involvement with the Joker throughout three different stages of her life: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. I’ll be the first to admit it’s very hard to imagine the Joker we know and love in the comics and in TDK interacting with a teenager -- I just don’t see it happening -- but that’s exactly what thrills me about writing this dynamic, and why I created Clockwork; I love putting the Joker in scenarios you wouldn’t normally get to see him in.

Unfortunately, because of the nature of this content, there are always going to be people out there who misinterpret it. I also think it can be hard to appreciate a story like this when you’re not privy to the entire picture, which is to say that, as the reader, you don’t know how it will end, and it’s frightening seeing Taylor crawl further and further down the rabbit hole (no pun intended) and not knowing whether she will receive the freedom and catharsis she so painfully deserves.

I’m always open to discussing these topics -- as I said, it’s incredibly important to me to handle them with a certain level of tact and sensitivity -- and my readers know that nothing I write is ever for the ‘shock value’ of it, or to ‘romanticize’ CSA, which I find incredibly insulting given my own experiences and those of some of my close friends.

In closing: you really do not have to say anything to these people -- they are entitled to their opinions/thoughts/feelings -- and please don’t feel like you have to come to my defense. I have a handful of really incredible supporters out there (and some amazing friends) and I also know there’s a lot of silent readers out there who support my work, too. Thank you so much for your concern, anon, but I promise it’s okay, and I do really appreciate you reaching out. Please feel free to do so off anon, if you feel comfortable doing so, as I’d be really interested in talking to you personally. No pressure though, and thanks for your message. <3

#anonymous #asks #Burn #tw: rape #tw: CSA

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mirrorfalls · 4 years

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The Joker 80th Anniversary Super Spectacular (2020)

“So Lego,” said nobody ever. “Now that you’re got some decent free time and the spoons to write, what are you gonna do? Get some actual work done on that Detective Conan longfic you’ve been rattling about the last two years? Actually start your long-overdue cert paper, that thing you need to graduate?”

Oooof course not! Instead, let’s dive back into the wonderful world of Cape Comix, featuring Tumblr’s least-wanted villain! Will any of these ten little tales actually manage to find something new - or at least interesting - to say about Laughing Boy? Let’s find out.

“Scars” by Scott Snyder and Jock. A pretty typical Snyder gonzo-horror jaunt, complete with “haha, the Joker really is the godmode manipulator/killer you’ve been denying he was all story! Sucks to be you!” ending. It’s stories like these that make me wonder why the hell Bruce’s rogues gallery even needs Scarecrow anymore, even in concept.

“What Comes at the End of a Joke” by James Tynion IV and Mikel Janin. Ahh, Christ, why didn’t I expect there’d be a Joker War tie-in somewhere in this... Well, there ya have it, the Secret Origin of Punchline. There’s a germ of an interesting idea here, likening the Joker’s “the hell with anything else, I just want to fuck over The Powers That Be” influence on Gotham’s youth to the Alt-Right’s influence in real life, but even then I reckon other writers have already done it better.

“Kill the Batman” by Gary Whitta, Greg Miller, and Dan Mora. The first creative team I had to look up - apparently, one of ‘em used to run IGN, and the other co-wrote Rogue One. This is also the first one built as a comedy, which I approve of in theory; in execution, though, the setup is a bit too mawkish for its own good (not to mention way too eager to quote-mine Chris Nolan) the last-page punchline is exactly the kind of dad humor our “hero” was complaining about halfway through the story. All in all, I’d still recommend “Going Sane” as a better take on the whole premise.

“Introducing the Dove Corps” by Denny O’Neil and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Guys, whatever differences I’ve had with his work over the years, I really wanted to report that O’Neil went out on a high note. And I will say this one probably has the strongest premise in the whole book, with Joker trying to not only (gasp!) play hero but (horrors!) do it without bloodshed. O’Neil doesn’t quite cheat the premise, but the story is still bogged down with at least one unleapable logic hole (a Special Forces Team doesn’t know who the fucking Joker is?!), a bunch of pointless continuity-mining (See! The origin of TKJ’s tourist getup!), and a predictable-as-hell ending. Whatever faults the other stories may have, none of them end on a line as hacky as “Killing is so much fun.”

“The War Within” by Peter Tomasi and Simone Bianchi. Okay, first thing - it’s not “Batman/Badman” levels of faux-cleverness, but it’s not quite out of that ballpark. There’s no real plot outside the narration (except maybe to set up some future arc in Tomasi’s Detective), just Bianchi doing a Joker-through-the-ages showcase. Said showcase hits most of the obligatory choices - Golden Age, Silver Age, TKJ, TDK, TDKR - but I will say I was pleasantly surprised to see The Batman’s Joker getting a shout-out, dreads and all.

“The Last Smile” by Paul Dini and Riley Rossmo. Huh. Wasn’t expecting to see Dini do a riff on Joker: Devil’s Advocate of all things - and only slightly that it would average out as the best story in here. After his less-than-stellar writing on the Arkham games, it’s heartening to see Dini’s still got some of the old magic, with a genuinely insightful look into what might scare the Joker: the possibility that Batman can have his cake and eat it too, can get rid of his not-so-eternal dance partner without endangering his precious code, because sometimes, the law is good for something after all. Kudos, too, for a more creative use of Harley - and rapport with Ivy - than years and years of Harley-centric media have ever managed.

“Birthday Bugs” by Tom Taylor and Eduardo Risso. A strong competitor to the previous one - you can almost never go wrong with “the Joker tries to do something nice for an innocent” as a premise - with some choice lines that carry the theme smoothly without ever feeling like grandstanding. That said, Risso’s art is a lot more hit-and-miss than Rossmo’s - some panels are absolutely beautiful, but others - especially if Joker’s actually in them - just look hideously tryhard - and the gore in the last couple pages feels more cheap than disturbing.

“No Heroes” by Eduardo Medeiros and Rafael Albuquerque. See previous opening line. The themes discussed here (why be a hero for a soulless Capitalist engine?) are a little triter, not helped by the fact that the story’s not really long enough to let them breathe properly, but the art is on the whole a lot stronger; and in an age where artists are falling over themselves to out-demonic each others’ Jokers, I especially dig the choice to put him in a mask for most of the story, rooting his scariness in unmoving minimalism instead of hyperexaggerating every wrinkle and pore of his face,

“Penance” by Tony Daniel. Ah, yes. The perennial weak-link of the Reborn era and the inventor of that whole skinned-face idiocy back at the start of the New 52, Daniel’s turn here... threatens to be interesting a few times, but never manages to get all its ideas into anything coherent, much less good in execution. Shame, really - apart from “Birthday Bugs” it’s the only one to focus on “normal” crooks, a perennially underrated element in Joker romps.

“Two Fell Into The Hornet’s Nest” by Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo. This was the one I was least looking forward to... and it looks like ol’ Brian anticipated that, given the line (”Have you checked the credits on who’s writing this?”) he kicks off page two with. I suppose it, more than any of the other stories, cut to the heart of what the Joker’s stream-of-consciousness should look like - but that doesn’t really stop it from feeling like something Azzarello cranked out on a lunch break. Even random nonsense needs to be handled with care to not feel like waste of the reader’s time - and whatever else this one has going for it (I did smile a little the nurse taunting Joker about being as much an empty corporate symbol as Batman himself), care's not really on the menu. Stick with his Calvin & Hobbes parody from Superman/Batman #75.

So there ya have it - three (possibly four) stories I’d legitimately read again, surrounded by a sea of mediocrity and misfires (and some intermittently interesting pinups - JRJR’s Joker-as-007 piece hit my sweet-spot best). That’s honestly a better record than I would’ve expected for the J-Man in 2020 - better, by all accounts, than the 80th super-spectacular the Robins got.

Would it have been too much to ask the Lego Batman guys to contribute something, though?

#Joker #Lego has too much time

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thepilgrimgeek · 4 years

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Unintended Symbols: Minor Spoilers for Joker (Part the First)

It's Academy Award season! The nominations are announced! Between now and February 9, ThePilgrimGeek is going full Blockbuster clearance shelf with Minor Spoilers! What made me laugh? What made me cry? What were the films that stuck in my noggin for days? Here's the first of Minor Spoilers at the Academy Awards! Todd Phillips' Joker has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. For a director who’s works include The Hangover and its sequels, as well as Starsky & Hutch, it is an astounding and captivating change of form. The cinematography and writing is on point, and Jaoquin Phoenix easily delivers one of the best performances of his career. Joker, in most regards, is a well-crafted film. Yet, my response to Joker was a cocktail of curiosity, confusion, and more than a dash of despair. I walked out of the theater mulling over all I had watched, a telltale sign that this movie was worth the ticket and that perhaps the haunting sensation that followed me required my attention and prayerful engagement. In doing so I resolved that the only appropriate way to discuss Joker is in two separate Minor Spoiler reviews. This first installment reflects the part of me that is more generous with the film and what I think may be Philips’ commentary specifically about the Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy and its cultural impact. The second part will approach the character of The Joker both in Joker and in the comic book canon of the DC Universe through a broader theological lens. With no further ado, here is my first of two Joker reviews : Unintended Symbols: Minor Spoilers for Joker I wonder what Joker would look like if there had never been Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy. I even wonder if such a movie would exist if Christian Bale had never faced off with a painted Heath Ledger or a masked Tom Hardy a decade ago.

Christopher Nolan weaves one thematic thread throughout his trilogy: what does it take to create a symbol? From the first moment Bale’s Bruce Wayne conceives Batman, he has one aim. He tells Alfred “I want to be a symbol.” Becoming a symbol to the rest of Gotham City is Wayne’s endgame from the outset. He wants to inspire the citizens of Gotham to have no tolerance for the corruption and villainy of the city’s crime soaked streets and bought-and-paid for bureaucrats and politicians. Wayne continually questions whether or not the symbol is having the resonance for which he is striving. In one of the more humorous moments of The Dark Knight, Batman encounters copycat vigilantes with firearms trying to thwart the schemes of an escaped Scarecrow. Batman reprimands them with his fists and words. They accuse Batman with “What’s the difference between you and me?” The Caped Crusader responds “I’m not wearing hockey pads.” This is more than a mere comment about equipment. This is an indictment about the copycats’ methods under the symbol of Batman. This is revisited in the trilogy’s final installment The Dark Knight Rises. While Batman strove to emphasize what differentiates him from former mentor Ras al’Ghul in Batman Begins, he is now face-to-face with Bane, who calls his whole endeavor into question. If what Batman desired was to be a symbol to mobilize the masses for change, then the Dark Knight was not radical enough. Following Bane’s defeat, the symbol of Batman is passed on to a new Batman in the person of Blake. Batman as a symbol that inspires and mobilizes is at the center of Nolan’s take on the Batman mythos. And yet, the second installment, The Dark Knight, saw pop culture latch on to a different symbol…

In 2007, Warner Bros. embarked on a viral internet marketing strategy in the months leading up to The Dark Knight's release. This included a mock campaign site for Harvey Dent and a "vandalized" duplicate site in which fan emails revealed (pixel by pixel) the first look at Ledger’s Joker, and multiple scavenger hunts launched via the website WhySoSerious.com that led to more Joker images and a teaser trailer. These and other viral strategies put the enigmatic image of the Joker, and his line “Why so serious?” further into the pop culture ether. This strategy was adjusted and refocused on Harvey Dent (Two-Face) following Ledger’s untimely death prior to the film’s release. Despite this transition in marketing, the iconography of The Joker became far more associated with The Dark Knight, perhaps even more so than Batman himself. Even a decade later in 2019, despite having the introduction of two more silver screen Jokers, Halloween brought more kiddos and adolescents in the guise of Ledger’s Joker asking for candy, rather than that of Jared Leto or Jaoquin Phoenix. Undoubtedly, Nolan and Ledger created a definitive symbol of the Joker that has persevered. The pop-culture obsession with the Joker was ignited in 2008. Between the viral marketing of Warner Bros, and Ledger’s iconic performance (which eclipses Bale’s Batman), the real symbol to rise was from The Dark Knight was not the virtuous Batman, but the chaos-relishing Joker.

In light of the pop-culture impact made by TDK, I think it is more than coincidence that in Todd Philip’s film, Arthur Fleck’s murder of three drunken, abusive frat boys while in clown makeup take on in-movie cultural significance. In Joker, the image of the clown becomes the icon under which the disenfranchised of Gotham unite. The image’s power is only fueled by the rhetoric of the city’s elite, namely the Caped Crusader’s own father, Thomas Wayne, who uses "clown" as pejoratively in reference to those praising the mystery murderer. And it is under the icon of the Joker that society breaks out into chaos. In the film’s climax, Arthur Fleck (painted and garbed in what is recognizably the figure of Batman’s arch nemesis, insists to Robert DeNiro’s Johnny Carson-esque late night host that he never meant to be political. Any association between him and the growing symbolism of the clown, he claims, has little to do with him. However, he then goes into an extended socio-political speech that culminates in him killing the late night host. It is the moment that literally sets Gotham on fire as the masses don clown masks and paint, rioting through the city. For a character who does not desire to be a symbol for the politically disenfranchised, he rages against all that the forces that (insofar as Fleck is an unreliable narrator) seem to be oppressing the downtrodden of Gotham.

Fleck has many moments where he basks in the presence of the symbol, grinning at flyers of killer clowns and looking gleeful over news headlines. The film’s near final moments sees the Joker dancing on the hood of a wrecked police cruiser while chaos reigns around him. He is basking in the madness. So the questions remains: what does Arthur Fleck’s Joker stand for? What is Todd Philips’ portraying? At best, maybe Philips is portraying why the iconography that grew around Ledger’s Joker following The Dark Knight is an empty one, offering not hope but only chaos. Maybe we are asked to look at Arthur Fleck, to paraphrase Michael Cain’s Alfred Pennyworth, literally watching the world burn and dancing in the fire light, and ask: what good is there in the cultural popularity and idolization of the Joker?

If Phillips is attempting to draw out this question in a sort of satire of the The Dark Knight's Joker, then we should ask if Philips does this well. If at any point the chaos and violence that Fleck incites (from whatever motivation) is justified or even glorified in its portrayal, then Philips has failed. A satire done poorly is no satire at all, but instead becomes the very object that is meant to be satirized. Maybe Philips has only added to the cultural iconography of the Joker. I think that Tasha Robinson, writing for the Verge, is correct in the assessment that “Phillips suggests in the end that everything he went through was necessary to bring him the power and recognition he deserves. It’s a tempting fantasy, crafted with utter conviction.” Phillips' satire fails, if that was ever his intent. But perhaps the Clown Prince of Crime is not a force to be satirized. Perhaps any time the Joker becomes a symbol, or is transformed into an icon, there is only one result: the celebration of violent chaos. Perhaps he is not, and was never meant to be, a symbol on par with Batman. Unless Todd Philips understands that too… but let’s cross that bridge to Gotham next week. Read the full article

#Joker DCComics

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shirtlesssammy · 7 years

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How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters: 7x09 Recap

Then:

Sam and Dean are well on their way to losing EVERYTHING

Now:

Pine Barrons, New Jersey

In a well furnished camper in the woods, a glamping couple enjoys a nice evening of TV before snuggling into their sleeping bags for the night (lol, the husband turned on his nature sounds audio to lull himself to sleep.)

We cut to finding the husband trussed up in a tree like a deer in November. He awakens to a horrible snarling noise, before becoming the subsequent chowfest of the blood cannon. Man, that thing’ll get you every time!

The brothers and Bobby find themselves in an abandoned safe house. Living off the grid is not agreeing with Dean. Life isn’t agreeing with Dean. He is 100% done with it all, and asks why they always have to steer the bus away from the cliff. “What if the bus wants to go over the cliff?” he wonders, and then self-medicates with a beer.

Sam and Bobby proceed to look into the monster of the week: The Jersey Devil. It’s been terrorizing the woods in the area for ages. Time to hunt!

Well, time to FBI, and then hunt!

The boys head to the local Biggerson’s to interview Ranger Rick, and amiable fellow to say the least.

They ask him about “the human burrito” attack. He has no clue what’s out there, but it sure wasn’t a bear attack. Rick, and his assistant ranger, Phil, have found leftovers of animals all over the wood lately. Rick then realizes that he hasn’t seen Phil in a couple of days, and offhandedly mentions that he should report that. A suited up Bobby shows up. Dean gives Ranger Rick his number, and the brothers excuse themselves.

Bobby’s back from morgue duty and reports, while he couldn’t rule of Jersey Devil, they’re not dealing with levithan or werewolf or wendigo. Dean suggests lunch! They ask for a table, and get a crap-ton of attitude from, Brandon, a passing waiter. Dean’s “Do you want to look like a hostess?” was quality.

Bobby hopes they don’t end up in Brandon’s section.

Brandon: Sidewinder soup and salad combo goes to Big Bird.

Brandon: TDK slammer to Ken Doll.

Brandon: And a little heart-smart for creepy uncle.

He’s SO MEAN, but I can’t help but laugh at the nicknames. The guys have no clue what the hell is Brandon’s problem. Dean just comes out and asks, “What the hell is your problem?” “YOU are my problem!” Brandon responds, and storms off.

They discuss the case and the fact that Ranger Rick is “definitely growing his own on the back 40 and smoking all the profits.” Dean is quickly distracted with the stunning decadence of his delicious sandwich: The Pepperjack Turducken Slammer! “It’s like the perfect storm of your top three edible birds.” Jesus Christ show. PRACTICALLY EVERY LINE IS PERFECT IN THIS EPISODE. They then watch Brandon lose his shit again, this time to his boss, and walk off. No worries, though, Dean’s got his delicious, delicious burger.

The trio head out into the woods. This whole hunting sequence always hurts a bit. They reminisce about hunting -or at least tracking forest animals- in Sam and Dean’s youth. It’s such a coming of age/bonding thing that Bobby would do with the boys. Their lives were nothing but hunting, but this --this was something normal the three could do together, to forget about the real world, and the monsters that live in it. It’s interesting that he could never get them to kill an animal though. I miss Bobby.

The three come across another trussed up victim, and call Ranger Rick. Later, when Rick arrives, his just as stoned as ever, and casually suggests calling in that they found Phil, dead. Without urgency, Rick calls in the murder. Bobby senses something is wrong and before they can really warn Rick, he’s grabbed from behind. The others chase them into the woods. Bobby realizes that the monster has Rick in the trees, tells the brothers to shut up, turn off their flashlights, and listen. They hear the monster eating Rick (“Man, I liked Rick.” Oh, Dean Bean.) In the dark, Bobby shoots the thing out of the trees. They leave what’s left of Rick for the other rangers to find, and head back to the safe house with the monster for a research break.

They’re marveling at the fact that a single, normal bullet took the thing down, when it springs to life! Several more rounds of regular bullets really take it out this time. Dean checks for ID, and concerned comment about the ruined wallet leather rings some bells with Bobby. Dean’s great though.

Bobby pokes at the once-human thing, and comes back with weird, gray goo on the stick.

Autopsy time!

While Sam and Bobby are elbow deep in gray goo, Dean wonders when it’s chow time.

They find lots of Ranger Rick, a pine cone, a pack of gum, and a cat’s head. And one very enlarged, discolored adrenal gland. Sam knows they’re not dealing with the Jersey Devil, but whatever they’re dealing with isn’t human anymore either. Dean interrupts with a VERY IMPORTANT SITUATION: “It's time for dinner?” The perfunctory wtf looks Sam and Bobby give him say it all.

Back at Biggerson’s, Dean’s chowing down on his Pepperjack Turducken Slammer, while Sam exposits on the missing people and their pine cone eating monster man. Sam asks for Dean’s point of view, but he “could give two shakes of a rat's ass.” I know you’re going through a serious situation here, and eating those turducken slammers are really, really, bad, but you’re TOO CUTE, Dean. I kind of wish he could have coasted on these burgers until he found Cas again, I swear.

Dean’s behaviour makes Sam look around and realize everyone else in the restaurant is also acting slow, sluggish and high. They head back to the house with their leftovers.

Bobby and Sam stage an intervention. There’s something wrong with Dean. He is way too chill and acts like he’s stoned. Dean begs to differ. He’s never felt so good! “Cas, black goo, I don’t even care anymore.” (Boris interjects: The layers to Dean’s pain! It’s Cas --not the car, not Bobby’s house--and “I don’t care that I don’t care”, gah. Not hopped up on his turducken burger means that he cares that he cares.) Speaking of ooze, Dean’s sandwich burps out gray liquid. (shudder)

Dean eyes his meal with horror. “I think you pissed off my sandwich.” They identify the nasty ooze as what was filling their deranged predator. Whatever is turning Dean into “an idiot” (in Sam’s words) is in the meat everyone’s eating. “If I wasn't so chilled out right now, I would puke,” Dean says, wide-eyed.

Later at Biggerson’s Sam and Bobby man the surveillance van while Dean sleeps off the turducken slammer in the back seat. Sam frets over Dean, saying that Dean seems to be going through the motions these days. Bobby scoffs at his worry, calling Sam out on the endless cycle of worry that passes between the Winchester boys. Shouldn’t Sam be focused on his own trauma? Sam assures Bobby that he shouldn’t worry about him.

Sam: ...at least all my crazy's under one umbrella, you know? I kind of know what I'm dealing with. A lot of people got it worse.

Bobby: You always were one deep little son of a bitch.

Me: Accurate.

A truck pulls up to the Biggerson’s and they watch as a man wheels inside unmarked INSIDIOUS boxes. They follow the delivery truck. Just afterwards, one of the waitresses walks outside when the Pieces-of-Flair waiter jumps out at her, crazed. He gets knocked out by Leviathan Edgar.

Bobby and the Winchesters trail the delivery truck to a warehouse where they spot Edgar and friends hauling in Pieces-of-Flair with a bag over his head.

Inside, Edgar chats with everybody’s favorite leviathan physician, Doctor Gaines. They’ve been experimenting with the turducken formula and Edgar chides him over the results. They haven’t perfected it; there are still outliers, aka hyperaggressive people. Edgar orders him to torch all the aggressive people because Dick Roman is on his way to town.

The next morning Bobby and Dean run surveillance in the van. Dean’s slamming coffee. Bobby asks Dean how he’s doing - and he doesn’t mean physically. He wants to talk to Dean about his world-wants-to-end outlook on life. Dean snaps at him, telling him that he’s reacting like any normal human.

So Bobby drops more truth bombs.

Bobby: I've seen a lot of hunters live and die. You're starting to talk like one of the dead ones.

Dean: No, I'm talking the way a person talks when they've had it, when they can't figure out why they used to think all this mattered.

Bobby tells him to get over his shit. He’s a hunter, so he needs to pull up his panties and get his head in the game or he’ll get killed. Bobby’s prevented from further ranting by Sam hopping back in the van. Something’s going down… “I’ll be a squirrel in a skirt,” Bobby mutters. It’s Dick Roman!

Cut to a video montage of Dick Roman footage. He’s taking over companies left and right. He’s even getting some attention in conservative political channels.

Commentator: Roman is ruthless, but good-looking. I think he'll make a great candidate.

(shudders)

It all clicks for Dean. “Remember when Crowley kept going on about hating Dick? I thought he was just being general.” Lol, Dean. And then a few seasons later you and Crowley had your summer of love.

Bobby hooks up a high tech listening device he’d borrowed from Frank. They’re ready to eavesdrop.

Cut to a living room. A family sits slowly eating turducken sandwiches and watching surgery on TV. Dick, pleased, watches over them with narration by Doctor Gaines. Their food tests have been going great! The food has maximized weight gain, minimized intellect, and one bite fuels their desire for more. Heck, the test family hasn’t even noticed that Grandma died. Dick’s pleased but not SUPER pleased. He asks Doctor Gaines about his failures.

Dun dun DUN. Dick asks about the Reapers crazed cannibals who have been showing up in the local paper. Dick pretty much hates any publicity getting near their nefarious dealings. The future ain’t so sunny for Doctor Gaines.

Bobby, perched atop the opposite building, mans the listening device and watches the building with binoculars. Dick and Doctor Gaines convene a meeting in an office across from Bobby. Dick tells Doctor Gaines that he’s violated the cardinal rule, “There’s no such thing as monsters.”

Gaines begs for a chance to make it right but it’s too late. He’s going to be “bibbed.” Roman’s assistant pulls out a plastic lobster bib and ties it around the doctor’s neck. His face splits into a leviathan maw and he begins to eat himself, per Dick’s orders.

Dean and Sam find Bobby’s abandoned surveillance station and Dean…just gets this lost look for a moment. He proposes busting in through the front door.

Inside Dick and his assistant work through some paperwork in front of a surly Bobby. Dick asks him calmly how he’s doing and tells him that leviathans can take anybody - be it powerful Dick Roman or Bobby Singer.

Dick lays a huge condescending monologue on Bobby about Earth and the cute widdle humans with their texting and murder… “I’m gonna eat you, Bob,” Dick tells him quietly. But first he’s gonna lure in Bobby’s friends, the Winchesters.

The Winchesters ain’t dumb enough to storm the facility, Bobby protests...right before Sam and Dean bust in spraying borax like a crazed perfume sprayer in an old timey mall. The leviathans scream and clutch their burning faces and in the office above, Dick Roman hears the din. Dick heads off to check out the mess while Bobby springs up to check out maps and other intel on Dick’s desk. He grabs a gun and a folder then busts past Dick’s assistant and out the door.

Sam sprays down Dick Roman with borax, but he seems to shake it off much easier than the others. Bobby shoots him with his purloined gun, then Dean tosses a bucket of borax onto Dick. They run out the door, but Bobby’s running behind. He jumps into the van at last and they drive away. Dick Roman gets in three shots while the van rolls out.

Sam hands Bobby his hat which had fallen into the front seat, only realizing a moment later that there’s a bloody hole in the front. The boys shout at Bobby who is...unresponsive.

Natasha: As I was watching this episode I was thinking...man, the boys are sure lucky to have Bobby keeping them grounded and mentally honest with themselves. And then I realized...it was TOO nice and oh yeah, Bobby’s gonna die soon. How did I forget this?

Boris: Yeah, I forgot why I don’t rewatch this episode. Bobby!

My Quotes are Doing JUST FINE:

Motel 6 just ain’t leaving the light on anymore.

What if the bus wants to go over the cliff?

You got to respect Mother Nature. You respect her, or she's gonna string you up, and she'll eat your ass right through the Gore-Tex.

Brendan’s got his flair all up in a bunch.

A bunch of birds shoved up in each other. You don’t play god like that.

A glamper or two is one thing but you gotta be damn hungry to eat a cat’s head.

I don't care that I don't care.

You get a case of the Anne Sextons, something's gonna come up behind you and rip your fool head off.

That’s not how we communicate from a place of “yes”.

I sure hope we don’t get Brandon’s section.

Do rats shake their ass, or is it something else?

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#spn recap #spn rewatch #spn picspam #spn 7x09 #how to win friends and influence monsters #dean winchester #sam winchester #bobby singer #dick roman #supernatural season 7 #he was my ben edlund thing

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