AP2 DRAFT 5: STILL COMPLETE! BUT EVEN MORE SO!

I made a list of details and events that NEED to go into the book somewhere. “XXXX needs to witness XXXX happen at some point” for example. Or like “Add a scene where the mechanics of hex doors are completely explained.” And when I finished draft five, I notices that there were still about eight things on the list. 😅

And I added it all in. I searched the whole book for JUST the right place to put all of these vital ideas. Eh, except for one. I might need Kim’s feedback first. (It’s the part where I’m trying to decide if a character dies or survives the book.)

I did send the draft to Kim, but I haven’t heard back from her about it yet. Gosh, I should check to see if she actually received my email. It might have gotten sent to her spam inbox. Totally unintentional, I’m sure. 😑

Okay, I drove to her house after I got done writing this post. She did get it, but didn’t look at it yet. I’ll just send her this updated version then. I also taught her how to buy games on Steam.

Speaking of games, here’s what I’ve been playing/watching this past month: spoilers for Cross Blitz and Supernatural season 11.

Cross Blitz –

This is one of the best card games I’ve played in a while. It takes quite a bit from Hearthstone, but adds in some wild twists of is own. For instance, in Hearthstone there’s a card that puts a bomb card in your opponent’s deck. It deals ten damage. And it’s a PAIN to wait for your opponent to draw the ONE card in their deck that will hurt them.

But Cross Blitz cranks it up. They reduce the damage bomb cards do, but there are TONS of ways to put them into decks. Your bomber minions can stuff your opponent’s deck full of multiple bombs. There are cards that put multiple bombs into BOTH players’ decks. And there are minions and spells that can even do beneficial things based on the amount of bombs in EITHER player’s deck. Just so you have a way to use the bombs even if no one draws any.

And that’s just one archetype. You’ve got pirates; discard; poison; golems with blueprints to power themselves up; ramping up to high-cost minions; decks of LOW-cost minions; weapons; thorns damage; archers that DON’T take damage when they shoot other minions and that’s probably not even half the decks there are. 😮

And there’s a story mode! With actual portraits for when the characters have dialog!

And not only do most characters have portraits, but they have multiple images for the emotions they’re feeling. They laugh, get shocked, get angry, and cry. Yes, they cry because card games can have serious consequences! 😭

This is the kind of stuff I love. Other reviews wouldn’t even mention this. They’d go on about ‘roguelike mode’ or whatever. But I love storytelling, even in card games. I mean, look at this stuff:

A hand-drawn graphic showing you what the character is doing. These show up ALL the time. And it’s STORY MODE for a card game. You don’t even need to touch it! Yeah, that’s right—it’s separate from the roguelike mode where you battle through escalating fights on your way to the final boss. Each mode has its own contained rewards, so you will receive NO benefit from completing the story and then going over to rogue-like. (Except hands-on experience with the cards and items.)

So go get it on Steam if you like minion-based card battles with tons of cards, content, and a fun story. (Five characters with their own unlockable cards and three story chapters each. And twenty characters in roguelike mode.)

 

Supernatural Season 11 –

I got a stupid surprise from Netflix when I started up season 11: “This show will be leaving on Dec. 17th.”

Gotta be kidding me. I have five seasons to go! Why now!? I can’t watch anything that fast! You see, I watch shows during my lunch, and then for thirty minutes before bed. ALL other free time is spent writing or playing video games. I got through this season, but I suppose I’ll have to find another solution.

The first three episodes deal with the emerging ‘Darkness.’ It’s a little baby girl that eats souls and also has THE MARK. Yes, we are still talking about that. But at least now the mark is part of an antagonist that is growing in power and threatening the world instead of just being on Dean’s arm looking menacing.

The Darkness baby quickly grows up into a woman called Amara. And boy, do I love this development. EVERYONE is scrambling to react to the Darkness. Crowley tries to take control of her. Heaven tries to—whoops, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Baby – First, let’s talk about an episode shot entirely from the interior of the Impala. And yes, the episode summary tells you this. (I read it accidentally. I guess the title was too short and my eyes kept going. I usually just read the title and then look away from the summary below.) 😄

I was disappointed at the promise of ‘car camera,’ but kept watching. I mean, you start the episode inside the car, staring out at the bros washing the windows. RIVETING. But the episode actually pulls off the concept. There are some very creative situations, like the part where Castiel is on speakerphone. Dean sets the phone down on the dash, leaves the car, and gets ganked by the monster-of-the-week. As Castiel keeps talking, Dean fights off the fiend, with the viewer only catching glimpses of the wild brawl outside.

The final fight is even crazier, with Dean making use of many different objects that have been dropped inside the Impala over the course of the episode.

A bit predictable, but it still felt good to see the payoff of some joyrider’s Hello Kitty purse containing the copper pennies needed to send the zombie to its eternal rest. (The coins paid the toll for his trip to the afterlife.) 😅

Thin Lizzie –

There’s a famous killer named Lizzie Borden that Sam wants to investigate. I have no idea if this person is real though. Let me check.

Dang, she’s a real axe murderer from Massachusetts. 😲

Our Little World –

Castiel has been watching Netflix all season. No, I’m not joking. He was still under the effects of Crowley’s mom’s RAGE spell from last season until he was cured. Then he decided to rest at the bunker. He decided to take a break from watching shows I’ve never heard of to check out the local news, and he spies METATRON’S reflection in a mirror during some crime footage. Seems everyone’s favorite scribe has been recording juicy videos and selling it for rent money. I can relate, man! 😂

Castiel shakes ol’ Meta down for the info on Amara, the Darkness. Turns out she’s God’s sister. 😲

Plush – Various kids of masks have been haunted by a ghost. No tricks or anything fancy happens in this one. They just run around burning the ghost’s masks until they’re done. Could’ve been a season ONE episode. 😪

Just My Imagination –

This is more like it! In the opening scene a little girl’s imaginary friend is murdered. (He has a unicorn horn, hooves, and glitter-covered skin.) This causes Sam to receive a visit from HIS old imaginary friend, asking for help.

Yes, we learn through flashbacks that Sam had an imaginary friend as a child. Every time he was left behind as Dean and Dad hunted, Sully the magical fairy dude would appear to cheer him up. But eventually Sam got the go-ahead to hunt, and poor Sully was told to hit the road by kid Sam. 😭

Great episode. Character development all around, and a fun idea. (Even if Drop Dead Fred did it years ago. Yes, Dean makes a reference to the film.)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? –

Amara, the Darkness, goes nuts killing priests in an effort to bring her brother GOD out of hiding. He doesn’t appear, but a legion of angels do. They bombard Amara with a massive smiting beam from the heavens.

Dean is with Amara as this happens, and she SAVES him from the attack. She claims to be BOUND to him by THE MARK. Sam, however, is working with Crowley and his mom to visit Lucifer. Because Sam got a vision from GOD to go see him.

Lucifer is moved from his cage into a DIFFERENT warded cage, but the wards fail thanks to Crowley’s mom. Sam then gets sucked into the cage, and Lucifer reveals that HE has been the one talking to Sam in his dreams, not God.

A single tear falls from Sam’s cheek.

The Devil in the Details –

Uh, oh! Things get worse. By the end of the episode Lucifer, Sam, Dean, AND Castiel all get trapped in the cage together. Now this is my kind of party! I only wish the cage was flying around in the sky or something. Crowley manages to banish Lucifer back to his eternal torment, and I was convinced the episode was over.

But they got me. Castiel comes sauntering in right before the credits, and reveals to Crowley and his mom that he is indeed Lucifer, and that Castiel was so desperate to beat Amara that he said ‘yes’ to possession by Lucifer. 😮

Into the Mystic –

Not sure what the title means, but this is a special effects bonanza. The bros have no idea that Lucifer has possessed Castiel, so they just go back to hunting. And we’ve got a full-on Ghostbuster-type banshee here. Floating, writhing hair—the works.

The introduction of a deaf hunter was cool, too. Her hearing was destroyed by the banshee’s scream when she was but a wee babe—now she quests with the bros for VENGEANCE!

Don’t You Forget About Me –

Gosh, I almost forgot that sheriff Jodi has TWO teenage girls living with her now. One is Castiel’s host’s daughter, and the other is that girl that was raised by vampires.

At the end of the episode, Jodi and her daughters are all captured by those very same vampires. And because everyone seems to die on this show, I had NO IDEA if they were going to survive or not. (They did. THIS time.) 😔

Love Hurts –

It starts out with a married man seeming to kill his babysitter who he’s having an affair with. Turns out his wife went to the local witch to get a love potion to win him back, but got a cursed kiss of death spell instead!

The way it works is when you’re kissed, you are marked to be killed by some weird monster. You can pass on the curse and survive if you kiss someone else.

Man, I’d be dead for sure! 😅

And the kiss monster always appears as the person you love most. So when Dean takes on the curse to save the day, he sees…AMARA!?

The Vessel –

All this time Lucifer/Castiel has been ruling over Hell, playing Angry Birds on a tablet while Crowley is leashed like a dog. But today Lucifer shows up when the bros call Castiel for help: they need angel time-travel powers to steal a godly artifact from the Nazis during World War 2. It’s the only thing that can kill Amara.

Misha Collins is really entertaining here: playing Lucifer while also hiding that fact from the bros. And after he sends Dean to the past, he remains in the present with Sam. Suddenly Lucifer realizes: I don’t have to keep up the act anymore! Lucifer bursts into laughter as Sam is going on about ‘let’s do whatever it takes to get Dean back safe!’

Misha must have loved not having to do that strained ‘Castiel’ voice as he’s playing Lucifer. I wonder who came up with that voice? Maybe they were thinking that a strained voice would fit an angel trying to speak through a human vessel? And they didn’t figure that this actor would have to do it for ten years straight?

But the scenes in the past are great, too: we’ve got a submarine, German warship, depth charges—all shown in great detail with SPECIAL EFFECTS and EXPLOSIONS!😍

As Dean returns to the present with the artifact, Lucifer decides to kill Sam. But Castiel breaks through and stops him. “RRRRGH! Don’t hurt Saaaaaam!”

The artifact’s power was used up to destroy the German ship in the past, however, and it no longer functions. Lucifer leaves without killing anyone. Aw. 😟

Beyond the Mat –

Did I just say ‘aw?’ I meant AWWWW YEAH! Wrestling episode! I love wrestling! Razor Ramòn! Mankind! Doink the Clown!

And this episode is full of big burly dudes! I’m sure some of these actors are modern wrestlers, but I have no idea who they are; it’s been years since I’ve watched any. Possibly decades. I should try it again. I see that Monday Night Raw has been on Netflix this whole time. 😆

The wrestlers, however, are making secret devil deals for their fame. Say it ain’t so, guys! You’re telling me you have all this juicy demon drama and you’re wasting it off the mat!? What would Vince think!? And the Undertaker would KILL for a real demon deal storyline!

The wrestler eventually does the right thing and kills the demon, even though his let his buddy die. Hopefully he shows up again. He can stop Amara with his piledriver.

Safe House –

I really need to stop watching who the guest stars are during the opening; they spoiled that Jim Beaver was back! At least I forgot Rufus’ actor so he was still a surprise.

And no, Bobby and Rufus didn’t get brought back from the dead; they just appear in a flashback as the bros investigate a Soul Eater that’s making a nest at a certain house. The scenes of the bros in the present are mixed in with scenes of Bobby/Rufus in the past as they work to solve the case. Fun stuff. Although I think the whole part where Dean and Bobby glimpse each other in the ‘beyond time and space’ version of the house should have been longer.

A wasted opportunity to have them work together again, and have it make sense! 😑

Red Meat –

Wild episode. Sam is shot by a werewolf in the very first scene. Dean finishes off the wolf, and rushes to extract the bullet. After he does so, he rescues a couple that was tied up in the isolated cabin that they’re in.

As the four try to make it back to civilization, the husband tries to convince Dean to leave Sam behind. Dean won’t do that, as if I had to tell you at this point. So the husband waits until Dean goes outside to make a sled out of wood, then he SMOTHERS the wounded Sam. 😮

They leave Sam’s corpse behind and as soon as they all get set up at a nearby hospital, Dean kills himself. 🤨

He does this so that he can talk to a reaper to bargain for Sam’s life. Now, earlier in the season this reaper told Dean that they’re quite cross about Death being killed. So the next time the bros die, the reapers will make a ‘mistake’ and toss them into Limbo forever.

This reaper has not changed her mind, and refuses to deal. Also, Sam is actually alive somehow. You see, he woke up right where they left him on the floor of a cabin. Oh, and the two remaining werewolves are after him.

Dean is revived from death with adrenaline by a doctor. He immediately must kill the husband, who got bitten and turned into a werewolf. Are you STILL WITH ME!?

Sam—back at the cabin, half dead and bleeding all over the place—manages to slay the two werewolves, make it back to the Impala, and arrive at the hospital just in time to save Dean from getting killed AGAIN.

The only thing that confuses me is how Sam just came back to life. The doctors have some explanation about ‘going into shock’ when he was smothered and only appearing to be dead. It just doesn’t seem likely that Sam would survive being unconscious that long with such a bad gunshot wound.

And of course Dean doesn’t tell Sam that he KILLED HIMSELF earlier. Ha,ha, maybe you’ll learn to be truthful in season 13, Dean! 😂

Hell’s Angel –

Cheese Louise, how is this season so good? Were they saving up the budget and good ideas from that last season for all this!?

You’ve got Lucifer trying to take over Heaven, Crowley on the run with yet another godly artifact, and Amara teaming up with Rowena!? (Crowley’s mom.) Yes, I finally remembered her name. And Rowena was supposedly killed when Lucifer broke out, but she had a backup ‘Reraise’ spell hidden in her right leg. Maybe they could have foreshadowed that a bit better. (Like a gaudy amulet she’s always seen wearing.) 😉

But everything is woven together in this episode. First Amara attacks Heaven, interrupting Lucifer’s takeover. Then Crowley and the bros team up in an effort to trap Lucifer and force him to use their new weapon to kill Amara. As they’ve trapped him, Rowena uses her witchy magic to observe all of this happening and SWITCHES SIDES on the fly as Amara goes to attack the bros/Lucifer/Crowley. Are you with me? Because I’m not!

THEN there’s a three-way mind battle for Castiel’s body as Lucifer and Crowley have a rumble inside him as Dean and Sam use all the holy water/exorcisms they can to expel the Prince of Lies.

Lucifer wins, breaks free from the sigils, and grabs the godly artifact. (Joshua’s horn from that whole Jericho party.) I thought this episode already had half a season worth of content, but then Amara blasts through the wall ready to rock. Lucifer fires off a Dragon Ball beam at her, powered by the artifact, but it does nothing.

Amara allows everyone else but Lucifer to leave. Since Lucifer is God’s son, she figures that maybe this will lure the wayward creator out of hiding.

NOW the episode is over. I’m writing these reviews as I watch them now, and I have no idea how this will all play out. WILL God ever appear again? If he doesn’t, how will the bros win? I do believe Sam said that the artifact didn’t work because Lucifer used it. Could that be the answer? Did Sam just need to use THE POWER? And what godly artifacts remain? The Ten Commandments? Spear of Destiny? Or are we going back to Indiana Jones with the holy grail? 😅

The Chitters –

This one is something straight outta Berserk. The bros go to a town in Colorado haunted by cicada spirits. And every 27 years they emerge from the ground to possess unwilling people. These possessed husks shiver in place with a shrill ‘chittering’ sound to attract others to mate with. Then the pregnant females are taken to a burrow where they die and glowing cicada monsters pop out of them and dig into the ground again for another 27 years.

Unfortunately the bros don’t figure any of this out themselves; another pair of hunters show up and explain everything as if they were writing a blog post summary. 😂

Don’t Call Me Shurley –

And what the Mystery Science Theater 2000 crew says with irony, I say with conviction: “It’s Curtis Armstrong in the role of a lifetime!” – Captain Picard (Almost.)

Yes, Metatron is back. He’s digging through a dumpster, as another hungry mutt looks on from the outside. Ol’ Meta reluctantly shares a half-eaten sandwich with the pooch before shouting ‘I give up!’

That’s when he’s transported to a cozy bar as if by magic. It seems ‘Chuck’ the prophet has summoned him, and reveals himself to be God.

I always figured, but it’s nice to have confirmation nine seasons later. 😅

‘Chuck’ explains what he’s been up to all this time: dating, playing music, and writing his autobiography. He wants Metatron to help edit the latter.

Metatron spends the entire episode pleading with Chuck the almighty, as a son; a servant; even a writing buddy. I can’t do it justice, this performance is DIVINE.

Will God try to save them from the Darkness? And if not, why? It’s an endless cycle, isn’t it? The arguments are all so entertaining and well-acted that I almost forgot that Dean and Sam are also in the episode.

They’re in some town that’s being engulfed by Amara’s fog. Sam has been infected. The dark hordes have the building surrounded. Nothing can be done. It’s hopeless.

But as the fog closes in, Sam’s coat pocket begins to shine with a brilliant light. Dean reaches in and finds that necklace from the first seasons! Yeah, the one that Castiel took to help locate God all that time ago!

As the fog is dispersed and every dead person is brought back to life, Chuck appears to the bros.

“Guess we need to talk, huh?” 😆

All in the Family –

I had to somewhat ‘binge’ these episodes in order to finish the season before the Netflix deadline. So it’s a good thing they’re all interesting. 😆

Chuck warps the bros back to the bunker for a chat. Sam is amazed and grateful to the creator, but Dean pulls the usual ‘why do you let bad things happen’ schtick.

After everyone’s theological questions are satisfied forever, they agree to go rescue Lucifer. Dean will distract Amara while Sam and Metatron go in for the save. Not sure why they left GOD behind on this little mission, but I’m sure there was a good reason.

Chuck does warp everyone back home just when Amara closes in, but Metatron blows himself up in the escape. Ha, one last prank to end it all. (I’m sure he’ll be back.)

We Happy Few –

Isn’t this the name of a video game? Anyway, the episode starts with Lucifer hiding in Sam’s room. Sam bangs on the door: “Lucifer! Get out here and talk to… God!”

Dean shakes his head: “This is the worst episode of Full House ever.”

Lucifer eventually comes out and settles things with his dad. The studio audience lets out the cutest ‘Awwwww!’

Then Chuck explains that he wants to go with the plan used to seal away Amara all those zillions of years ago: blast her with archangels until he can seal her weakened self back into THE MARK.

Only this time they’re low on archangels. So Crowley and Rowena’s coven of witches will have to take their place.

What follows is a special effects blow-out. Rowena lets loose the force lighting, followed up by a sky-rending angel blast from the heavens. The final barrage comes in the form of a tornado of black demon smoke (Along with Crowley’s red.)

God then uses the power of THE MARK to seal Amara away…inside Sam!? Dean is shocked, but it doesn’t matter: Amara uses one mighty blast to escape the spell and seriously wound her brother.

Alpha and Omega –

Amara escapes, and the very sun in the sky begins to fade. It seems that Chuck is dying, and only Amara can save him. But one cannot live without the other: they are Yin and Yang; if one dies then the other dies too. Also, the universe will be destroyed.

Another plan is made to kill Amara outright this time, with Chuck being reluctant. Sam recalls that souls contain energy, and with enough collected from haunted houses and reapers, they could harm Amara. It involves making a ‘spirit bomb’ of sorts, and yet no Dragon Ball cracks are made. 🤔

But it doesn’t matter in the end. Dean, implanted with the bomb, goes to Amara. He gives her yet another ‘family is annoying, but ya love ’em anyway’ speech.

And it actually works! Amara and Chuck hug, and she heals him. Cool.

But the season can’t just end on a pesky resolution, of course. Some British woman has been shown heading to Kansas as the end of the world battle occurred this episode. She surprises Sam and Castiel in the bunker (Castiel is back, by the way. I guess Amara fried Lucifer at some point.) and she uses a sigil to banish Cass.

It seems this mystery woman has been sent by the Men of Letters to terminate the bros. Because, gosh, they’ve been ‘almost ending the world’ a little too often. Sam tells her that Dean is dead, and I’m REALLY not sure when that happened. Chuck even removed the spirit bomb from his chest before he flew off.

The woman is not happy and seems to shoot Sam before the episode ends. 😮

Oh yeah, and we briefly see Dean in a forest somewhere with his mom. 😲

Well, that’s all for now. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to pick up the show again; it doesn’t seem to be airing anywhere that I have access to. Happy New Year!