Prequel-tastic
I fucking love Neighbours. I can't stand Eastenders at all, but I love Hollyoaks and Neighbours. I like my soaps trashy, unrealistic and chock full of melodrama. I like plane crash tragedies, people faking their own deaths, serial womanisers with one leg, and people missing presumed dead who turn up with memory loss working for the Salvation Army. I like ridiculous teenage drug addicts, late night specials where date rapists get impaled in abandoned fair grounds, schemeing evil wives, and closet gay priests. Who doesn't?
I also have a massive girl crush on Libby Kennedy. I grew up watching the Kennedy family, and my first boy crush was on young Billy. Remember when he asked everyone to call him Bill because it sounded more grown up? Heh, yeah. And my first girl crush? Libby. She's like the amazing older cousin you looked up to as a kid, who always seemed so clever and strong and beautiful and you could never be convinced otherwise, even when she was babysitting in her jogging bottoms and burning your dinner. Even now, I adore her. She can do no wrong.
JKRs prequel-type thing was cool. I really kind of wish she would write a prequel, because if it was all James and Sirius running around back-chatting muggle police officers and taking down Death Eaters it would be pretty cool. But her James and Sirius in flashbacks aren't very likeable at all. I suppose she's never fleshed out their younger characters, so at the moment they're just walking cliches of teenage arrogance. Still, their story has so much promise! The drabble, meanwhile, is full of squee-worthy moments. The Order t-shirts were cool. Slightly stupid, seeing as the Order is, uh, secret. But hey, I always like a good merchandising opportunity. The flying motorbike will always kick arse, as will the cheeky teenage bravado of the boys. I loved that the policeman mistook their wands for drumsticks! That was genius.
I also devoured Supernatural: Origins, the graphic novel prequel that follows John Winchester's hunt for the thing that killed his wife. It was slightly disappointing, I guess. Both because the art wasn't my kind of thing, and because the storyline was a bit thin. I was hoping for more revelations about Mary's connection to the Yellow Eyed Demon, more info about Missouri and the Harvelles, and maybe an appearance from Bobby.
Not to be completely negative, I did love seeing John's stumbling firt forray into demon hunting, and seeing the start of this weird family life. The flash-forward storyline where a teenage Dean, who saw his dad shoot a man as a child, almost leaves the family, and then stops because he realises his Dad needs him to take care of Sam, is adorable. This family really does seem to revolve around Sam. He's the youngest, and they all strive to keep him away from the reality of their lives for as long as possible. It's lovely, but seems somewhat misguided. He ends up feeling isolated and eventually, as we see in season one, resents his dad and his brother for conspiring to keep the truth from him. The comic gives hints at this, but doesn't go into too much depth; for now it's mostly about John's move from family man to killing machine.
The little story at the end is cute, although feels like a fanfic drabble. I wonder if Dean ever did teach Sam to swim? Dean's desperation to stop his brother crying, to keep him safe, is so sad. They're just kids, and they're having the worst childhood ever. I really think John made the wrong decision. I know he'd just seen his wife burned alive on a ceiling, and that inevitably Sam would have been killed in the Yellow Eyed Demon's reconstruction of Battle Royale, but at least they could have had a few years of happiness instead of a life of pain, you know?
There was a rumour I read that they might keep this prequel comic going. I really hope they do. I want to see John's relationship with the Harvelles grow and then disintergrate, and I want Bobby back story, and I want more teenage!Dean and Sam...
ETA: And now I am going to do my ironing and watch the tennis and this makes me very happy indeed. Yay tennis!
I also have a massive girl crush on Libby Kennedy. I grew up watching the Kennedy family, and my first boy crush was on young Billy. Remember when he asked everyone to call him Bill because it sounded more grown up? Heh, yeah. And my first girl crush? Libby. She's like the amazing older cousin you looked up to as a kid, who always seemed so clever and strong and beautiful and you could never be convinced otherwise, even when she was babysitting in her jogging bottoms and burning your dinner. Even now, I adore her. She can do no wrong.
JKRs prequel-type thing was cool. I really kind of wish she would write a prequel, because if it was all James and Sirius running around back-chatting muggle police officers and taking down Death Eaters it would be pretty cool. But her James and Sirius in flashbacks aren't very likeable at all. I suppose she's never fleshed out their younger characters, so at the moment they're just walking cliches of teenage arrogance. Still, their story has so much promise! The drabble, meanwhile, is full of squee-worthy moments. The Order t-shirts were cool. Slightly stupid, seeing as the Order is, uh, secret. But hey, I always like a good merchandising opportunity. The flying motorbike will always kick arse, as will the cheeky teenage bravado of the boys. I loved that the policeman mistook their wands for drumsticks! That was genius.
I also devoured Supernatural: Origins, the graphic novel prequel that follows John Winchester's hunt for the thing that killed his wife. It was slightly disappointing, I guess. Both because the art wasn't my kind of thing, and because the storyline was a bit thin. I was hoping for more revelations about Mary's connection to the Yellow Eyed Demon, more info about Missouri and the Harvelles, and maybe an appearance from Bobby.
Not to be completely negative, I did love seeing John's stumbling firt forray into demon hunting, and seeing the start of this weird family life. The flash-forward storyline where a teenage Dean, who saw his dad shoot a man as a child, almost leaves the family, and then stops because he realises his Dad needs him to take care of Sam, is adorable. This family really does seem to revolve around Sam. He's the youngest, and they all strive to keep him away from the reality of their lives for as long as possible. It's lovely, but seems somewhat misguided. He ends up feeling isolated and eventually, as we see in season one, resents his dad and his brother for conspiring to keep the truth from him. The comic gives hints at this, but doesn't go into too much depth; for now it's mostly about John's move from family man to killing machine.
The little story at the end is cute, although feels like a fanfic drabble. I wonder if Dean ever did teach Sam to swim? Dean's desperation to stop his brother crying, to keep him safe, is so sad. They're just kids, and they're having the worst childhood ever. I really think John made the wrong decision. I know he'd just seen his wife burned alive on a ceiling, and that inevitably Sam would have been killed in the Yellow Eyed Demon's reconstruction of Battle Royale, but at least they could have had a few years of happiness instead of a life of pain, you know?
There was a rumour I read that they might keep this prequel comic going. I really hope they do. I want to see John's relationship with the Harvelles grow and then disintergrate, and I want Bobby back story, and I want more teenage!Dean and Sam...
ETA: And now I am going to do my ironing and watch the tennis and this makes me very happy indeed. Yay tennis!