they anticipate each other's moves well
from the "you should totally vid that" files: I saw someone mention this, though I don't remember who, but there should totally be a Castiel (and Dean) vid to the Eurythmics' "Missionary Man" (which I sadly do not have on mp3), and that made me think that the companion piece would have to be a Sam and Ruby vid (from Dean's POV, kind of) to the Eurythmics' Who's That Girl?
I have also been thinking more about John Winchester, and why they chose to show him as callow and nice, even though he's apparently just back from a tour in Vietnam which - okay, I know this is just a bad idea to get into, but the gravestone in WIAWSNB gave his dates as 1954-2006, right? And Mary's dates were 1954-1983, right? So John had already been to Nam and came back by the time he was 19? I should just not think about the dates, I know.
ANYWAY.
In order to fanwank that sweet boy turning into JDM's John, even the happy daddy John we saw for two minutes in the pilot, I am going to argue that John - like Sam twenty years later - is consciously REPRESSING everything bad. He is back and he has his girl who he loves more than life itself, and he is going to just FORGET anything BAD he ever saw or did while he was at war. He's going to consciously adopt the aw shucks persona of the small town Midwestern boy he was before he shipped out. He's going to believe in the happily ever after and he's going to have it, goddammit, and nothing is going to get in his way (except his girlfriend's scary dad - that's the one part I have trouble with, though I suppose it's not usual for even brave men to quail before their in-laws or future in-laws).
I mean, part of it is we're only getting outside points of view on him - we see him as Dean does, as Mary does, as Grandpa Samuel does, and I think that he's showing them what he wants them to see. Much like I'm sure Sam Winchester showed Jessica's family the nice sweet boy from a family background he didn't like to talk about. Sam KNEW evil existed and pretended all was well so he could believe in the happily ever after he desperately wanted (much as Mary tried to do); John must have seen horrors when he was in-country, and he consciously chose to leave them behind, along with whatever persona he'd adopted there to deal with those horrors.
I really like how we see reflections of both Sam and Dean in each family member, because that's how it is with families, and that's the sort of thing the show is best at. (I don't get why people are sniggering over the boys being named for their grandparents - I'm named for my dad (as is my brother's oldest kid), my brother's named for my paternal grandfather, my sister for her mother; ask how many Margarets and Elizabeths there are on the H. side of the family, and how many Anthonys in my brother-in-law's family, and I don't think we're that unusual. Names, like everything else, run in families. I love that Dean was named for his badass grandma. I love that he would have fit in with that side of the family. Sigh. Oh, Dean.)
Another thing I think is interesting is that Mary and John probably got married soon after the events we saw, but they waited nearly six years to have a kid; how much of that was Mary's reluctance to give the YED any more family to take away from her? (not to mention they waited almost another four years before they got pregnant again.) I don't blame Mary for what she did (nor do I think Dean does), even though it was not the best decision ever, but I do fault her for then keeping it all a secret from John. I understand why she would - like I understand why Sam would from Jess - but that was the part that makes me want to shake some sense into her. (When Dean is the most honest member of the family, you know you're in trouble.)
So Mary and John both went into their marriage keeping huge parts of themselves a secret, and yet I imagine in the day-to-day, they had a pretty happy life for those ten years. (I also REALLY want to see the AU where hunting really is THE FAMILY BUSINESS - where Mary tells John the whole truth and they are the MOST BADASS HUNTING FAMILY EVER.)
I do like the idea that Mary telling wee!Dean that angels were watching over him was a reference to "Dean Van Halen" - I don't know when she would have made the connection that he was her Dean - possibly not until "Home," and that adds another layer to her smile at him, so the way he appeared, had knowledge of future events and how to kill demons, and then disappeared, would maybe make him appear to be some kind of angel (since she didn't hear what YED!Grandpa said to Dean). It makes me really sad to think though that he'd be tagged with the murders of his grandparents (and possibly the doctor and Liddy Whatever-her-name-was) - that strange drifter in the leather jacket and the Pinto. Sigh.
I have lots of things I want to write, but I can't seem to get untracked. So I am writing girl!Sam porn instead. *shakes head* Sometimes you just gotta dance with who brung you.
Woo! Marcus Naslund with the first goal of the season! And his first as a Ranger! \o/ Rangers with a 1-0 lead!
***
I have also been thinking more about John Winchester, and why they chose to show him as callow and nice, even though he's apparently just back from a tour in Vietnam which - okay, I know this is just a bad idea to get into, but the gravestone in WIAWSNB gave his dates as 1954-2006, right? And Mary's dates were 1954-1983, right? So John had already been to Nam and came back by the time he was 19? I should just not think about the dates, I know.
ANYWAY.
In order to fanwank that sweet boy turning into JDM's John, even the happy daddy John we saw for two minutes in the pilot, I am going to argue that John - like Sam twenty years later - is consciously REPRESSING everything bad. He is back and he has his girl who he loves more than life itself, and he is going to just FORGET anything BAD he ever saw or did while he was at war. He's going to consciously adopt the aw shucks persona of the small town Midwestern boy he was before he shipped out. He's going to believe in the happily ever after and he's going to have it, goddammit, and nothing is going to get in his way (except his girlfriend's scary dad - that's the one part I have trouble with, though I suppose it's not usual for even brave men to quail before their in-laws or future in-laws).
I mean, part of it is we're only getting outside points of view on him - we see him as Dean does, as Mary does, as Grandpa Samuel does, and I think that he's showing them what he wants them to see. Much like I'm sure Sam Winchester showed Jessica's family the nice sweet boy from a family background he didn't like to talk about. Sam KNEW evil existed and pretended all was well so he could believe in the happily ever after he desperately wanted (much as Mary tried to do); John must have seen horrors when he was in-country, and he consciously chose to leave them behind, along with whatever persona he'd adopted there to deal with those horrors.
I really like how we see reflections of both Sam and Dean in each family member, because that's how it is with families, and that's the sort of thing the show is best at. (I don't get why people are sniggering over the boys being named for their grandparents - I'm named for my dad (as is my brother's oldest kid), my brother's named for my paternal grandfather, my sister for her mother; ask how many Margarets and Elizabeths there are on the H. side of the family, and how many Anthonys in my brother-in-law's family, and I don't think we're that unusual. Names, like everything else, run in families. I love that Dean was named for his badass grandma. I love that he would have fit in with that side of the family. Sigh. Oh, Dean.)
Another thing I think is interesting is that Mary and John probably got married soon after the events we saw, but they waited nearly six years to have a kid; how much of that was Mary's reluctance to give the YED any more family to take away from her? (not to mention they waited almost another four years before they got pregnant again.) I don't blame Mary for what she did (nor do I think Dean does), even though it was not the best decision ever, but I do fault her for then keeping it all a secret from John. I understand why she would - like I understand why Sam would from Jess - but that was the part that makes me want to shake some sense into her. (When Dean is the most honest member of the family, you know you're in trouble.)
So Mary and John both went into their marriage keeping huge parts of themselves a secret, and yet I imagine in the day-to-day, they had a pretty happy life for those ten years. (I also REALLY want to see the AU where hunting really is THE FAMILY BUSINESS - where Mary tells John the whole truth and they are the MOST BADASS HUNTING FAMILY EVER.)
I do like the idea that Mary telling wee!Dean that angels were watching over him was a reference to "Dean Van Halen" - I don't know when she would have made the connection that he was her Dean - possibly not until "Home," and that adds another layer to her smile at him, so the way he appeared, had knowledge of future events and how to kill demons, and then disappeared, would maybe make him appear to be some kind of angel (since she didn't hear what YED!Grandpa said to Dean). It makes me really sad to think though that he'd be tagged with the murders of his grandparents (and possibly the doctor and Liddy Whatever-her-name-was) - that strange drifter in the leather jacket and the Pinto. Sigh.
I have lots of things I want to write, but I can't seem to get untracked. So I am writing girl!Sam porn instead. *shakes head* Sometimes you just gotta dance with who brung you.
Woo! Marcus Naslund with the first goal of the season! And his first as a Ranger! \o/ Rangers with a 1-0 lead!
***