#meg rewatches stranger things

[redhatmeg]

I like that in Season 2, when we get to see the Party again, everything seems normal with them, but then something happens which reminds us that the events from S1 had repercussions.

First we have the scene in Arcade where Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Will are just hanging out... but then Will has vision of Upside Down. (Also Joyce is very nervous when she brings her youngest to the Arcade.)

Then we have Hopper who comes to work on the precinct and is greeted by journalist Murray Bauman known for his consipracy theories... but this time he tells Hopper about a weird girl with psychic powers that destroyed a supermarket door.

Finally we have Steve and Nancy in the car talking about Steve’s essay and about his future... but then Nancy reminds Steve about the weekly dinner they have with Barb’s parents.

[scoobydoodean]

I want to point out something in 1.16 “Shadow” regarding Dean’s resourcefulness and the derision with which his contributions are treated within the writing. In “Shadow”, multiple shots are taken at Dean’s methods of earning money and working cases as well as his intelligence level.

It starts with another small squabble about money that clearly frames Dean as still, at this point, the sole person supporting him and Sam financially through credit card scams, gambling, and hustling pool.

Yet again we have a jab at the ways Dean earns money. I wouldn’t make a big deal about this one at all if not for the outside context—the three previous episodes where Sam (while happy to benefit from Dean’s ill-gotten gains and provide no financial support to their two-man team) criticizes or is dismissive toward the work involved in how Dean earns money for them (1.01, 1.05, 1.08). Dean deserving to have his contributions dismissed is explicit in the text, but Sam's failure to actually assist with finances is implicit.

Next, it's how Dean gets information. He flirts with a cop and a bartender:

In the case of the cop, he gets information that is valuable to the case—unreleased details. In the case of the bartender, he doesn't, but he learns there's nothing to learn. But because Dean was also having fun, his actions are reduced down to him thinking with his dick, when he is actually intentionally using charm and even (see below) offering sexual favors in exchange for information:

Additionally, Sam (despite having seen Dean research just fine on his own multiple times) questions how Dean was able to do research on his own, which—you do you, Kripke, I guess? But we get "Haha name the last book you read" in a similar vein to 1.03 "Dead In the Water" (and just as Sam demands that Dean name one child he knows and Dean can't but it means nothing because Dean actually does like kids, Dean also does read—as established multiple times throughout the series.)

But also—if Dean called Caleb, why does that matter? Is talking to people to get the information you need, somehow inferior to finding some old tome and finding it in there? No. But it's treated that way in the framing of the episode. Weirdly like Dean took a shortcut or something and that's... "bad"...? When a shortcut in this context literally just means you're being efficient and resourceful and yeah—smart.

Then Meg jabs at Dean's intelligence as well:

What's also interesting, is that this is the first (I believe—I don't think I missed one at least) example of Dean's eye for visual patterns within the series.

So Dean, in this episode

Finances the suits Sam wanted to buy so they could sneak into the victim's apartment

Gets valuable information from a cop twice by charming her

Is able to recognize a symbol on the floor from blood spatter and is able to trace that symbol back to discover the monster they are dealing with using his hunting connections.

And all of this is treated in a dismissive way within the writing—like Dean's contributions don't matter or are earned in some way that causes them to deserve to be dismissed and even used as points against him. What's more, Dean doesn't fight back much. He leans into the very thinly-veiled suggestions of him just being dumb and horny and covers with jokes and a light jab about how the only thing valuable EITHER of them have gotten at the bar is the bartender's number (note that this is after he gets secret information from the cop and finds the symbol on the floor, which he could have pointed out but doesn't). He also leans into other narratives about himself suggested by Meg in the episode, but that's a separate post.

[deakyjoe]

About Me:

Name: EJ

Age: 19 (painfully gen z)

Pronouns: she/her

Location: UK (Bri’ish innit)

Sexual orientation: bisexual

Occupation: student, studying for BA in film studies (1st year)

MBTI: INTJ (architect)

Likes: reading, writing, watching stuff, Marvel (especially Spider-Man), Star Wars (especially The Mandalorian), horror (especially Saw), music, musicals (especially Beetlejuice)

Current main interests (constantly changing): Pedro Pascal (+ filmography), Leigh Whannell (+ filmography), Saw, The Mandalorian, The Last of Us, Call of Duty, Heath Ledger (always), Star Wars

Current read: Haunting Adeline by H. D. Carlton (ebook), Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout (audiobook)

Current watch: The Mandalorian (weekly), Beyond Paradise (weekly), Narcos, Young Dracula (rewatch), Louis Theroux Documentaries, 911: Lone Star (weekly), Gogglebox (weekly)

Favourite films: Tangled, 10 Things I Hate About You, Jaws, Saw, Jurassic Park, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Get Out, Top Gun, Prospect, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Brokeback Mountain, A Knight’s Tale, Knight & Day, The Social Network, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Princess Bride, American Psycho, Clueless, Legally Blonde, Jennifer’s Body, Some Like It Hot, Little Miss Sunshine, The Martian, Final Destination, The Batman, Heathers, Mamma Mia

Favourite shows: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Mandalorian, Friends, Criminal Minds, Sex Education, Stranger Things, The Big Bang Theory, Ghosts, Doctor Who, Merlin, Fleabag, Miranda, 911, 911: Lone Star, I Am Not Okay With This, Bones, The Mentalist, Death in Paradise, Narcos

Favourite actors (changes regularly): Pedro Pascal, Paul Dano, Heath Ledger, Leigh Whannell, Nicolas Cage, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Keke Palmer, Lupita Nyong’o, Lucy Liu, Gemma Chan, Joe Mazzello, Rami Malek, Stanley Tucci, Samuel L. Jackson, Willem Dafoe, Keanu Reeves, Queen Latifah, Angela Bassett, Jane Lynch, Tracie Thoms

Favourite YouTube channels (a lot of movie commentators): Aaron and Jo, Dylan Is In Trouble, MacDoesIt, Pretty Much It, Trin Lovell

Favourite music artists: Mook, Queen, ABBA, Olly Murs, P!nk, The Beach Boys, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Elvis Presley

Favourite books: Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco, Forget Me Not by Karissa Kinword, The Martian by Andy Weir, From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata, The Mindf*ck Series by S. T. Abby, Abandon by Meg Cabot, Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

This is just some generic information about me. Always feel free to ask questions if you want to know more :)

Uhhhh what else do you want to know?

[iknow-becauseiwasthere]

SPN Season 8 rewatch thoughts

- Currently my least favorite season (post season 5 I think it goes 7, 6, 8) The plot is at least coherent but I hate Benny and Amelia. Both as characters and their use as devices to cause tension between my boys.

- Even though the plot is coherent it’s pointless bc they don’t even complete the trials!!!! Can demons be cured? We still don’t know!

- We also get information about Cas basically being alive forever and continually having his memory wiped and angel mind control that I don’t remember getting revisited?

- Kevin is the bright spot but he is like GOING THROUGH IT and is basically abandoned

- if the fandom didn’t love Cas when I watched I honestly and am unsure how I’d feel about him he is soooo stupid at the end of this season. And mean to Kevin which is not cool!

- Crowley remains the smartest character. Team Crowley. Abbadon is meh. Does she use that “tell me what you see” thing ever again?

- this season is when Sam became my favorite. Dean is so mean to him at the start of the season and is such a little brat about it.

- Garth/Southern Comfort another bright spot but again Dean is such a dick!

-Charlie/LARP and the Real Girl Another bright spot and Dean is not a dick in this ep!

- I forget if Goodbye Stranger is when Meg actually dies but what a lame way for her to go

- I do like the plot line of Cas hiding out in a chain restaurant to escape angels

- I can’t believe Abbadon comes back because the boys WILLINGLY STITCH HER BACK TOGETHER

- oh I do love Crowley talking about Girls! And calling Sam Marnie to his Hannah!

- Still can’t believe Benny had to die, Sam had to almost die, and the gates of hell were almost closed just for these guys to talk about their feelings! Men!

- the shot of the angels getting cast out is great! I do like that plotline

[empress-of-snark]

ask meme

(indirectly tagged by @televinita )

last song: Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard (from my hellcheer playlist)

last movie: French Kiss (1995), found at a thrift store months back and bought because I love a good 90’s romcom. Kevin Kline is a sexy, morally ambiguous Frenchman who falls for Meg Ryan playing “Meg Ryan in a romcom.” 3.5/5 stars, nothing revolutionary but sweet enough.

currently reading: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo, book two of the Shadow and Bone series. I read book one before the Netflix adaptation came out, then forgot to read book two until they announced that season two is coming out later this month, so I’m on a bit of a time crunch to finish it before March 16th so I can binge watch.

currently watching: keeping up with new episodes of Abbott Elementary and The Good Doctor, and finishing up my Friends rewatch (recently started season ten). I also technically haven’t finished New Girl but I needed a break because I just don’t always vibe with Zooey Deschanel (I’m sorry but sometimes the whole ‘quirky girl’ act just tests my patience lmao).

currently craving: a good, long nap

working on anything right now? chapter seven of my Stranger Things /Friends AU fic, and I’ll soon be starting on a baby quilt for a coworker whose fiancée is pregnant (might post pictures when I’m done, if anyone’s interested)!

tagging @simplyshelbs16xoxo @muffin-n-waffle @loubuttons @cunnninghams and @virevoltantes

(assuming the mutuals that @televinita and I share already saw her post, but if not, you know who you are and you’re tagged too!)

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse’s Rewatch Thoughts SPN 08x17 Goodbye Stranger

There’s a fun fact about this episode I’m going to tell you once we get there

“Does he know his gun’s hanging out?” “At least that’s a better death than getting stabbed by a nail on the wall” Why is Cas only killing Deans? There’s no Sam

“Doesn’t everybody hate Sam?” “probably” “are we really just playing with shit?” “that’s what they all say’ laughter

“Ya’ll got something in common. Collecting girly magazines” You wouldn’t even have girly magazines if it weren’t for me

Laughter “That fkn smile” “this season is ridiculous. It’s a totally different show, ya know” “MOSS” 🎶yellow and green🎶

“I didn’t understand anything he just said” “Hair” “and this is the only copy” “ball handler” It’s Cas

“Lighting much” “they can just pause reality? I wish I had that power” “it would be an autism super power” “strange hair huh? The curlers lady” yeah dean

Laughter

“That doesn’t kill demons?” He just stabbed the hands “This lady won’t be able to do her hair again” laughter

“Uh huh” laughter

“They really went all out on her makeup. Extra bloody” “Man, they could have gone all out on the Star Wars jokes. Meg, you’re our only hope” “I love how Cas is so bad at keeping secrets. They can’t even make it a whole episode. Then he ganks a demon and the truth comes out. Not even 15 minutes later” laughter

“He can’t just heal the demon body. Couldn’t Meg smoke out then heal the vessel?” “I feel like that’d be a lot easier than all this shit” “That was such a weird thing to say” “what the fuck is she drinking?” “Goddamn it. I keep missing what she’s saying” laughter

Laughter

“That was so awkward but kinda good. I enjoyed that” “whoever was on the microphone boom hovered that shit right over Jensen” laughter

“Cas doesn’t know these references” “stand back or off to the side works too” “wait what” She possessed him once

“Isn’t that obvious? Isn’t that everybody?” laughter

“She wants to have fun with the unicorn” “Is Cas lying again? No? I wouldn’t think so idk” “They spent way too much time on Dean’s hair” “We’ve got a standoff” “How long have they been talking? Holy shit” laughter

“It’s cool editing” “He just fucked off with your magic juice” “that was easy” “new coat of paint” “Exactly” “why the fuck would he word it like that” laughter

Gee I wonder what broke the connection

“Aww. Does she never come back?” “Is that the last of Meg?” Until S15

“What happens in S15?” “huh. I don’t really like Naomi that much I guess” “I mean is it so much to ask?” “How many times have we gone through this? It’s one of the most frustrating things in the show. This back and forth lying and splitting up on the job” The fun fact is that it was supposed to be I Love You instead of I Need You “they mean kinda the same thing” “going on a little world tour with the tablet. Taking selfies with it. This is me in Paris. This is me here. This is me there”

[cluelesslyxbeautiful]

₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧₊♡₊˚ 🍒

Welcome everyone!! 18+ please

My name is Dani. She/Her. I’m 21 y/o, bisexual, I’m really shy, born and raised in the middle of nowhere called Oklahoma. I’ve been using Tumblr since middle school but this is my new and only account. My hope is to meet and fellow others in the Lana fandom. Who understands me better then most.

₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒

Some Music I Like: Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Billie Elilsh, Stevie Nicks, Olivia O’Brien, Meg Myers, MARINA, NF, Eminem, Jessie Murphy. I will listen to anything and everything.

Song of the week:

Some Shows I Like: Supernatural, TVDU, Pretty Little Lairs, The Crown, Stranger Things, CAOS, TWDU, Shameless, Good Girls, The Walking Dead , YOU, TEOTFW, AHS, and the list could go on forever. I watch a lot of television.

Shows I'm Watching/Rewatching Rn:

Some Movies I Like: Beautiful Creatures, Practical Magic, The Heathers, Clueless, Scream Movies, 10 Things I Hate About You, Girl Interrupted, Lolita, The Crush.

Other Things I Like: The Sims 4, Minecraft, True Crime, I’m Into Witchcraft, Astrology, Editing, My boyfriend of almost 2 years, and Weed.

₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒

My Icons: Lana Del Rey, Princess Margaret, Princess Diana, Stevie Nicks, Danielle Rose Russell, Misha Collins, Dylan O’Brain, Amy Winehouse.

₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒

Other Platforms:

NSFW Tumblr- PLEASE ONLY 18+ MDNI

Pinterest-It’s a mess but check it out!

TikTok- I edit every now and then!

₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊♡₊˚ 🍒

[jjongleurs]

I hate that, after Cas breaks free of Naomi's control in the crypt, Dean is all like "what broke the connection?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? YOU DID, YOU IDIOT. YOU WHISPERED TO HIM THAT YOU NEEDED HIM AND HE BROKE THROUGH MONTHS OF CONDITIONING AND TORTURE AND PROGRAMMING TO KILL YOU. You're telling me that, in that instant, Dean had NO CLUE that Cas loved him? Are you SERIOUS?!?! It's so blatant and obvious! Is Dean just that dense?

Cas lied through his teeth and said he didn't know what broke the mind control and then DIPPED. He just left so he didn't have to face Dean anymore.

Was this the moment that Cas knew that what he felt for Dean was love? Not the familial kind of love or the kind of love that angels should have for living creatures or whatever. Like, actual romantic love. Was this when he figured it out?

And Dean... those last moments in the crypt. They were so quiet and just... it felt like things were going to be okay. Dean was talking like he thought Cas was going to stay now that he was free. There was nothing keeping him away anymore. Not impending doom, not penance or purgatory, not getting mind controlled, nothing. Dean probably wanted him to go home with them, to the bunker. Wanted him around because there was no reason for Cas to run off anywhere anymore.

Dean wanted him to stay. But he left.

[cockworkangels]

8x17 ’goodbye stranger’

here we gooooooo!

cas killing copies of dean. thousands of them. like they made this choice. ONLY copies of DEAN. specifically. and that doesn’t mean anything. and that cas had to kill thousands. and how that is what finally broke him. and how his eyes are just empty. yeah.

oh no. oh no. not the busty asia beauties gag. no.

’he really puts the ass in cas’

’you know i’m a celestial being. i can hear you’

’why did you pray to him if he’s so sketchy?’ yeah dean. is it not because he’s still cas and that’s why you still trust him no matter what. you trust him enough even about sam’s safety.

hello cas and meg were gonna fuck????? that is one hell of a conversation and i don’t know what to think about it. cas knows how to make girls wet? good for him i guess?

okay insane insane INSANE. i can’t believe they thought the crypt scenen was gonna pass as just ’a they are bros’ moment? how?

first of. in the beginning of the episode they show that cas has been forced to kill thousands of copies of dean. but! the second the real dean is there and naomi orders cas to kill him. he refuses. he won’t hurt dean. when naomi forces cas’ hand the terror in cas’ face. like. how this is the moment he realises he’s been tampered with. and how hard he tries to fight back.

and meanwhile dean. he is begging for cas. dean. begging. and he’s not even begging for himself but for cas because this is not cas. it’s not something that cas would do. dean’s trying to break cas out of it. and he’s appealing to family. the thing that’s most important to him. he tells cas he needs him. NEEDS HIM. like holy shit. begging on his knees.

and cas breaks out of it. and when he reaches to heal dean. dean thinks cas is going to kill him and just grabs his hand. and cas just heals him. and like the whole hand cradling on his cheek thing.

’what broke the connection?’ and cas’ face here????? and it’s like what the fuck do you think broke the connection you idiots?

cas was in love here. god holy shit this is really one of those moments that hits different now. and like by hit i mean like a sledgehammer.

and meanwhile meg and sam just have a chat.

also this was how meg died? i guess she had kind of a redemption? they had her be in love with cas? and then she’s stabbed to death after a lot of sexual innuendo from crowley.

naomi and crowley fucked?????

[redhatmeg]

Also I like how it’s not just Joyce and Hopper who mourn Bob.

Mike got to know Bob for the past couple of episodes and realized that the guy is pretty awesome. The fact he gives to the Party about Bob being the founder of AV Club means that he got to talk with Bob... or mister Clark mentinoed it once to Mike.

Either way, Bob the Brain had an impact on people.

[untouchab1e]

Due to the Goodbye Stranger renaissance, I just rewatched and. Dude.

Dean Winchester SCREAMS bisexuality in this episode. I don't make the rules ok?

First, he finds an old magazine with Asians hotties. Ok.

Second, the whole looking at Castiel???? *screams*

Third, the minute they found meg? He's JEALOUS. He's the one to bring up, and I quote, Megstiel !!!11 He doesn't spend two seconds looking at her face. He dismiss her the whole episode.

The fact that the lights turn bisexual in heaven *screams louder*

You know how they cut the i love you part and that just made it even more gay, yes it is real, and actually just imagine if they had kept it:

You think you're gonna die. Your best friend is killing you. You tell him you forgive him, you love him. He drops the blade. He picks the tablet, light shines and shit. He gently holds your face to heal you.

That's it. He explains the being in control thing and whatever. You ask what broke the connection.

You hope it was you, your words, your love-

He says he doesn't know. He flees. And never address the confession again.

No wonder Dean years and years later would think angels don't love like humans do.

[supernatural-reacts]

Between seasons thoughts

- that season was really good

- there were 2 episodes with Charlie!! 2!

- Benny’s whole arc was great

- I’ve been resisting the urge to rewatch Goodbye Stranger since I finished watching it

- Sam and Amelia plot line was annoying, the Sam and the trials plot line was beautiful and I’m still crying

- the purgatory flashback scenes were awesome

- Naomi kinda sucks but Metatron sucks more

- the scene with all the angels falling at the end was really fricking pretty

- 8x02, 8x07, 8x08, and 8x17 are some of my favourite episodes in the show so far I wonder why

- the amount of Destiel screenshots in my camera roll has doubled this season

- I feel bad for Kevin

- I hope Linda isn’t actually dead bc I like her

- Crowley was really fricking evil this season and I hope he’s gonna be less evil now

- I hope he still has his mean personality though bc that’s what I love about him

- I know I shouldn’t like Abbadon. I know. But if they want me to dislike their female villains they should consider not making them so pretty

- the whole men of letters thing is really cool I like it

- I love the bunker

- that episode with the Nazi necromancers and Aaron was also really good I have high hopes for that plot line

- my hopes for season 9 are more Cas, more Charlie, and Crowley being not evil but still being a bitch

- Dean is such a complex and amazing character and I will write meta later but right now I am tired

- I love Castiel so much

- idk what was going on with him exactly at the end of the season? I think he was human? Anyway I hope he’s ok

- I am more than halfway done this show now which is insane

- I miss a lot of the female characters

- spn stop killing all your women challenge

- I hope there’s more Jody and Meg next season

- I think season 9 is the season I have heard the least about so we’ll see how this goes!

[shirtlesssammy]

1x11: Scarecrow

Welcome to our harvest themed hiatus episode. Hope everyone enjoyed their freakin’ pie this week!

Burkitsville, Indiana

Sixteen Years One Year Ago

A young couple leave a friendly town after the townsfolk load them up with pie and gas for the car. “Everyone in this town is so nice,” remarks the wraith young woman. The man adds, “Yeah, what’s the catch?” The townsfolk’s daughter niece notes that the dude has a cool arm tattoo. 

Once on the road, the couple’s car dies. I love how the woman asks what happened and the dude is just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . They head into an orchard looking for help. They come across a scarecrow. 

The woman is a bit freaked out, and I would be too if I saw the damn thing move! They hear strange noises and start running. The camera work gets grainy so you know we’re in scarytime land. The couple gets separated. The woman runs alone until she finds the man again -faceless and dead on the ground. She screams and then the now loose and animate scarecrow is upon her! 

*John Winchester is a Horrible Father Alert*

Sam wakes to a ringing cell phone. He answers it and it’s John. He’s all evasive and apologetic about disappearing. He’s on the trail of the thing that killed their mom. It’s a demon! They have to stop chasing him. It’s not safe. Sam refuses. He wants answers. John jumps into drill sergeant father mode and Sam continues to balk. 

Dean grabs his phone, AND MY GOD, watching Jensen transform silently while Dean listens to John talk is magnificent. He just falls right into order, writes down the names of three missing couples, and the brothers hit the road. 

*Sam is driving Alert*

Ok, hold the phone, Dean’s giving backstory to the missing couples. They’ve gone missing every year in the second week of April. I --what? I should probably watch the whole episode before recapping, and I haven’t seen this episode in years and don’t really remember the secret. There were apples all over the orchard implying it’s the fall...hmm. Dean’s amazed at the level of research John did to figure out something was happening. He calls him “a master” and I just die a little knowing how very little John knows. 

Sam stops the car and tells Dean that they’re not going to Indiana; they’re going to California. 

John is on the trail of what killed Mary and Jess, and Sam wants to be there for it. Dean insists that John gave them an order (I’m having serious John/Chuck and Soldier Dean/Free Will feelings right now, give me a moment). Whew, Sam pulls the ‘My girlfriend just died six months ago’ card and insists that Dean can’t know how important this is to him. Dean continues to be a good little soldier though. Sam gets out of the car and tells Dean that he’s going to California. See ya! Dean tries pulling what I can only imagine the same move John pulled many times over the years, and tells Sam that he’ll leave him on the side of the road. That’s what Sam wants! Dean leaves. 

Oof, there’s a lot to unpack with that fight. I’ll just throw up @mittensmorgul​ post. I’m just so very happy to see how far Dean’s come. 

Dean pulls into the town in Indiana. He meets Scotty, owner of the local cafe. He introduces himself as John Bonham. “Isn’t that the drummer for Led Zeppelin?” How this hasn’t happened more over the years is beyond me. 

Dean asks about the missing people and Scotty dismisses him quickly. They don’t get a lot of strangers around the town. Dean tries flirting with the guy but the man is a stone wall. 

*Meg Alert*

Sam, meanwhile, continues to walk down the road hoping to see a passing car. He finds a young woman just sitting and listening to music instead. Like, wtf is Meg doing? Sam, how is this not suspicious activity to you? Anyway, a truck pulls up and offers to take only the lady. 

Dean asks at the general store about his “friends”. Emily, the young woman there, remembers them. Dean heads off to where the couple was last seen driving. Dean’s driving along and his EMF starts to go nuts. He’s right by the orchard and walks in to investigate. How is this April? Anyway, Dean finds the scarecrow and we’re gifted with the now iconic line: “Dude, you fugly.” 

He takes a closer look at the scarecrow and sees the tattoo on the arm. SMART, OBSERVANT BOY. 

Dean heads back to town. He stops to get gas and talk to Emily. (Sidenote: Can all guest stars wear a necklace with their names on it so I’m not scrambling to figure out names every week? Thx.) Emily tells Dean how she came to the town when she was 13. It’s the middle of nowhere, but she loves it. This town seems blessed compared to the surrounding towns. Dean’s not suspicious at all. Dean asks about the scarecrow. Emily admits that it’s always just been there. Detective Dean also finds out a couple is in town waiting on their car to get repaired. 

Sam is dealing with the nightmare that is the American Car Culture and lack of decent mass transit across our expansive 50 states. He runs into Meg again. This time she introduces herself. 

Dean heads to Scotty’s to find the couple (and eat pie.) Boy does he need to work on his casual chit chat. Scotty is suspicious AF at Dean and tells him to leave them alone. Dean doesn’t and even offers to fix their car for them so they can hit the road sooner. They decline his offer, and like, I get it, but HOW DARE they accuse Dean of not being a mechanic. 

Dean tries to warn them again but just comes off as creepy and they brush him off. Dean laments the lack of Sam’s puppy dog face, and then Scotty calls the local law enforcement on him. They literally chase him out of town. Lol. 

Meg and Sam bond over a romantic bag of Cheetos and some beer. She’s on the run from family expectations too! Looks like they’re made for each other, friends. (This is the nicest damn bus station I’ve ever seen. It has NAPKIN holders! And tables! And beer!)

While Sam’s enjoying a meet-cute, the couple from the restaurant clutch each other in the apple orchard, the scarecrow in hot pursuit, when Dean appears. He shouts at them to run back to their car and shoots fruitless holes in the scarecrow. The moment they all arrive back on the road, the scarecrow disappears. 

On his phone, Sam gets the hunt recap from Dean while he watches his new friend sleep at the station. Dean figures that he’s dealing with a god because the killing happens once a year, it’s always couples, and “you should see the locals. The way they treated this couple. Fattenin’ ‘em up like a Christmas turkey.” It’s ritual sacrifice, baby. While Dean’s talking, he’s driving out to a local community college to meet with a professor there and get some information about what kind of god he might be fighting. He tells Sam that he’s proud of him for defying their father and going his own way in life. Dean wishes he could do the same. To quote Boris, excuse me while I fling myself into a volcano. 

Dean chats with the Cigarette Smoking Man a professor in the nicest damn community college I have ever seen. He asks about pagan lore and the origin of the residents of Burkitsville. They were Scandinavian which leads to Dean’s next pointed question: he’s looking for a Scandinavian god who might live in an apple orchard. They pull down an ancient book of lore - the kind that is standard issue in every community college classroom - and start paging through looking for a “woods” god. 

Dean spots a creepy scarecrow drawing. The description lists the scarecrow as a Vanir, a norse god of protection and prosperity which keeps villages from harm. Worshippers built effigies of the Vanir in their fields, and some practiced human sacrifice. They’re tied to a sacred tree. Dean, my best and direct friend, asks, “So what would happen if the sacred tree was torched? You think it’d kill the god?” LOL, there’s no such thing as gods, young man! Dean bids farewell to the professor and immediately gets conked out by the Burkitsville sheriff. SIGNIFICANT LOOKS™ are exchanged between the professor and sheriff.

Later, rain falls heavily on a group of older folks standing outside under umbrellas. Three of them plead with Harley, the gas station owner. His wife tells him that the trees are beginning to die. It’s the “seventh night of the cycle” and they have one more chance to appease “it.” Dun dun DUN.

For Pretty Shot Science

Cut to a cellar door opening. The cadre of elderly conspirators hauls a tearful Emily down to be trapped alongside Dean. Her aunt comfortingly tells her that it’s for “the common good.” (This REALLY makes me want to rewatch Hot Fuzz again!)

At the bus station, Sam and Meg’s bus finally arrives. But Sam’s got a problem. His brother hasn’t answered his phone for the last three hours. He’s got to go to Burkitsville! “You’re running back to your brother? The guy you ran away from?” Meg implores Sam to go to California with her, but Sam tells her he can’t. His family needs him. 

In the cellar, Emily freaks out about her newfound knowledge of a murderous scarecrow god and her accomplice relatives. Dean describes human sacrifice as “classier” than plain murder and…Dean Bean. More helpfully, he tries to put together a game plan with Emily. He asks her about an old tree - one the locals might treat with respect. Emily does know about a tree that the locals call “the First Tree.” Subtle naming, dear locals!

They’re seized from the cellar and tied in the orchard as evening approaches. Emily pleads for her life, but her aunt tells her that family bonds aren’t enough to save her. “That’s what sacrifice means. Giving up something you love for the greater good.” (I’ll just...look directly into the camera.)

Much later, night’s fallen and Dean is still working on a plan to free them both. Something insidious approaches and….wait, it’s Sam! Dean’s practically giddy to see his brother, who stole a car to get to town in time. What a good, thieving bean! Dean tells Sam to keep an eye on the scarecrow because it “could come alive any minute.”

In classic horror movie fashion, Sam asks, “What scarecrow?”

The scarecrow’s on the loose, but our trio is finally free in the orchard. They’re prevented from escaping by the four town elders penning them in with shotguns, however. Harley tries to convince Emily to give up (and die) when the scarecrow’s sickle slices through him, killing him. It drags Stacy and Harley away, having claimed its yearly couple at last. 

The next morning Sam, Dean, and Emily walk through the orchard with a can of fuel. They find the “First Tree” which has runes carved into its bark. Sam douses it with gasoline and Emily lights the tree on fire. Look at this wholesome tale of youth dismantling a toxic system!

Back at the station I finally get a good look at the bus company. It’s called “American Freedom Coach Lines.” LOL, if you need me I’ll be picking myself up from the floor after being hit by this symbolic brick. 

Emily boards a bus headed towards Boston. Dean gleefully anticipates the murder-town’s slow, god-less demise before asking Sam about his plans. “I still wanna find Dad. And you’re still a pain in the ass. But, Jess and Mom…they’re both gone. Dad is god knows where. You and me. We’re all that’s left. So, if we’re gonna see this through, we’re gonna do it together.” Can I get a yee-haw?!

Meanwhile, Meg’s hitched a ride with Creepy Driver Number 2 and suggests “pulling over” when he asks her where she wants to go. He pulls a little way off the road and she takes out a silver bowl. “I’ve gotta make a call,” she tells him before slicing his throat open and filling the bowl with blood. She stirs it, mutters an incantation, and then asks the bowl why she wasn’t allowed to just kill Sam and Dean. Someone clearly gives her orders and she says, rather ominously, “Yes, Father.”

Natasha: This is one of my favorite episodes! What’s not to love about creepy scarecrows and murderous fertility/prosperity rituals?

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I Hope These Quotes Were Frickin’ Worth It:

I’ve given you an order

I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man

Dude, you fugly

Nice tat

My brother could give you this puppy dog look and you’d buy right into it

Indiana isn’t really known for its Pagan worship

I hope your apple pie is freakin’ worth it!

Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful.

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Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[pinelife3]

Sleepless in Seattle

I rewatched Sleepless in Seattle recently on a plane, and now I’ve crawled out of my cave to declare: this movie is not romantic!

Directed by Nora Ephron, Sleepless in Seattle, is regarded as part of the canon of great rom-coms. Ephron and Rob Reiner (who actually appears in Sleepless in Seattle with a great bit about tiramisu) are kind of the big-dogs of rom-coms in that people still talk about the films they made 20+ years ago (some together, some separately):

The Princess Bride

When Harry Met Sally

Sleepless in Seattle

You’ve Got Mail

Rom-coms are tricky to define - for example, is Shakespeare in Love a rom-com? There is romance and comedy, but the lovers are separated at the end. What about Top Gun? There are iconic romantic scenes and the lovers do end up together, but the love is really a conciliatory prize (the real prize is being the best at flying) and the romance is more of a B or C plot in the film, so Top Gun probably doesn’t qualify. People talk about rom-coms as having to posses certain tropes - for example:

A neurotic, highly mannered protagonist (ideally played by Meg Ryan or Hugh Grant)

An argument featuring dramatic irony, where the audience knows more than the characters and sees their misunderstanding unfold

A grand final gesture to win a lover back after a stupid misunderstanding: a last-minute dash to the airport, a last minute dash to a new year’s eve party, a last minute dash to the Empire State Building

But for our purposes, let’s say a rom-com is anything that:

Places the romantic plot at the core of its film AND

Has a happy ending (i.e. the lovers are together at the end) AND

Features genuine attempts at humour along the way. 

LOTR features a romance plot, but there’s a lot of other stuff going on (something about a ring?!), therefore it’s not a rom-com. Same deal with Bridesmaids. I would classify Superbad as a kind of rom-com because most actions taken by the protagonists are to secure love (or at least sex) from the girls they like. The English Patient? Romantic and HILARIOUS but the lovers aren’t together in the end.

So does Sleepless in Seattle qualify as a rom-com?

Yes, the whole point of the movie is to get Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks together. This plot dominates the film - but is it romantic? More on this to follow.

Yes, in the world of the film, a happy ending is secured because Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are together

Yes, there are some laughs along the way. Mostly at the expense of poor Bill Pullman who is playing a man with severe allergies. There is also some precocious-child related humour

Back to point one: I contend that the ‘romantic plot’ in Sleepless in Seattle is actually anti-romantic. In fact, there are two romance plot lines (both of which fail to be romantic) because this bitch is engaged to another man throughout the ‘romance’ with Tom Hanks.

Before we get into that though I have another major gripe: at the start of the film, Meg Ryan and her fiancé (Bill Pullman) leave home together to drive to a family Christmas lunch. They leave the same location at the same time and are heading to the same location - no stops along the way. But for some reason they take separate cars. The film provides no reasoning for the separate cars. It is patently odd and really bothers me.

Let’s take a look at the script:

________________________________________________

EXT. BALTIMORE SUN BUILDING - LATE AFTERNOON - CHRISTMAS EVE

As Annie [Meg Ryan] comes out of the newspaper building with WALTER JACKSON [Bill Pullman], a tall, handsome man who wears a hat. They're carrying an armful of Christmas presents. They're walking toward the parking lot.

WALTER

The short one with black hair  is your cousin Irene --

ANNIE

-- who's married to --

WALTER

Harold, who ran away with his secretary but came back --

ANNIE

-- because Irene threatened to put the dog to sleep if he didn't --

WALTER

And your brother Tom is a psychology professor and is married to...Betsy --

ANNIE

-- who is the most competitive woman in the world --

They put the presents in the backs of their two cars and pull out together.

EXT. A HOUSE IN BALTIMORE SUBURBS - NIGHT

Christmas lights twinkling as the two cars pull up in front of a comfortable upper middle-class house and park their cars. They get out assembling presents.

________________________________________________

This whole thing with the two cars was scripted - and even in the script it’s unexplained. My suspicion is that this just a device to get her in the car alone later so she can hear Tom Hanks on the radio - and thereby fall in love with him. This is LAZY writing. Why not just write that she had a premonition and saw a wonderful widow in Seattle and knew that they should be together. That would make about as much sense as the separate cars.

People criticise rom-coms for having unrealistic premises. For example: Last Christmas, in which a woman hangs out with the ghost of a man who gave her his heart - via transplant - the previous year. A ridiculous premise made unbearably kitsch because of the connection to the WHAM song. But honestly that makes about as much sense as an engaged couple taking separate cars for no reason.

Allow that gaping goatse of a plot hole to set the scene for the other major problem with this film: our romantic heroine is already engaged. Engaged to a man she finds boring. She remains engaged to this poor guy throughout her infatuation and pursuit of Tom Hanks. She lives with this guy, sleeps with him, plans her wedding with him: all while she is falling in love with Tom Hanks. She remains engaged until the final 10 minutes of the film when she finally dumps him. She keeps telling this poor guy she loves him. It’s evil. Can you imagine what /r/relationships would say about someone who behaved this way? This is an emotional affair.

As much as rom-coms celebrate the pursuit of love and marriage, they also caution against bad or inadequate love: it is not romantic to settle. A classic example of this is Charlotte Lucas in Pride & Prejudice: she marries the ridiculous Mr Collins to secure her future and avoid spinsterhood - but she doesn’t love him and won’t ever love him because she doesn’t respect him. Readers in Austen’s time may have been more sympathetic to Charlotte’s decision since the nature of marriage was quite different back then and spinsterhood was a seriously undesirable outcome, but contemporary audiences commonly interpret Charlotte settling for Mr Collins as a weakness of character. That decision and her life with Mr Collins only serve to reflect further radiance on Elizabeth Bennet: wistful, bitey, beautiful, beloved for centuries. That’s why no one writes fan fiction about Charlotte Lucas. 

So, in Sleepless in Seattle, the audience sees that Meg Ryan is settling for the wrong guy. This is communicated to us primarily through the visual gags around Bill Pullman’s allergies: he uses a huge number of tissues, he’s allergic to everything from strawberries to bees, he has a special respirator machine to help him sleep. This guy can’t get the girl! He can’t even breath properly. It’s clearly isn’t meant to work out between them. No, no this won’t do at all. 

What is the function of the unsuitable fiancé as a plot device? Why couldn’t this be a romance between two single people? Is it to make her cross-country pursuit seem more whimsical and fun? If it to demonstrate that she can get a guy? I actually think it’s meant to create stakes: it’s so she has something to hold her back from ‘following her heart’. This is a way of adding tension so she’s risking something (normalcy, comfort) by making the last minute dash to the Empire State Building to meet Hanks (who represents the possibility of windswept romance). Never mind that they’ve never actually spoken to each other. He’s a single parent? Um sexy! He’s a widow? Swoon. Seattle is rainy? I’m already wet.

If it’s important to the plot that she is already in a couple when she falls for Hanks, and that she casts aside an unsatisfying relationship for the mere possibility of passionate excitement, then we have had it wrong all along: the grand romantic gesture of Sleepless in Seattle is Meg Ryan dumping her fiancé. Forget the Empire State Building. It’s her telling him that she’s had an emotional affair. It’s her taking off her engagement ring. It’s her blaming him for being boring rather than working on their relationship. It’s her leaving him sat in that restaurant alone so she can go and pursue a stranger.  

This movie is not romantic. 

[atreemakestheforest]

Rules: bold the statements that apply to you, italicize your aspirations, and tag 9 people.

AIR: I have small hands - i love the night sky - I watch small animals and birds when I pass them by - I drink herbal tea - I wake up to dawn - the smell of dust is comforting - I’m valued for being wise - I prefer books to music - I meditate - I find joy in learning new things from the world around me

FIRE: I don’t have straight hair - I like to wear ripped jeans - I play an organized sport - I love dogs - I am not scared of adventure - I love to talk to strangers - I always try new foods - I enjoy road trips - summer is my favorite season - my radio is always playing

WATER: I wear bracelets on my wrists - I love the bustle of the city - I have more than one set of piercings - I read poetry - I love the sound of a thunderstorm - I want to travel the world - I go to sleep past midnight most days - I love dimly lit dinners and fluorescent signs - I rewatch kids shows out of nostalgia - I see emotions in colors, not words

EARTH: I wear glasses - I enjoy doing the laundry - I’m vegetarian or vegan - I have an excellent sense of time - my humor is very cheerful - I’m a valued advisor to my friends - I believe in true love - I love the chill of the mountain air - I’m always listening to music - I’m highly trusted by the people in my life

AETHER: I go without makeup in my daily life - I make my own artwork - I keep track of my tasks and time - I always know true north - I see beauty in everything - I always smell flowers - I smile at everyone I pass by - I always fear history repeating itself - I have recovered from a mental illness - I can love unconditionally

No one tagged me, but I love myself so I tagged myself.

@likenobodysbizz @talestobetraded @tenderlyglowinglights @this-is-me-from-now-on @fresh-laid-megs @missgelly @greentomato13 @sean3102 @earthmoonlotus @gogh-save-the-bees

I’m not sure if any of you have done it, but if you want to, here you go! ❤️❤️✨✨

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Name 5 of your favorite movies and why you like them

I am gonna forego my mainstream faves, bc who tf doesn’t love things like LOTR, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Indiana Jones etc; and go for my really-mildly obscure favesSnowpiercer is phenomenal and so underrated in its scope of notoriety, despite staring Chris Evans with a hot beard. It’s an incredible story, with some of the best cinematography and visceral imagery I have seen in a movie in a long long time. The moral and the plot is more relevant to our times than ever, and nothing makes me happier than a film or book that subverts cliched tropes and plots and has anything but a predictable ending.

Predestination DO NOT SPOIL YOURSELF BEFORE WATCHING THIS FILM. This movie is wild. Fucking wild. I love it because it’s just so unapologetically fantastically freaky. It’s a slow burn that once it finally hits you and all the pieces come together you’re already gaping-jawed and whispering fuck to yourself, and then you get juked and shocked again. Please do yourself a favor and enjoy this film.Seven Psychopaths  No film list of mine is complete without a Martin McDonagh film on it, and though I love all of his, this one is my favorite simply because it’s so darkly comedic and so outrageously unique. The cast is on point at all turns (even Woody Harrelson) and I have rewatched it so. so. so. MANY times. 

Signs By far my favorite Shyamalan film, and one I can quote frame per frame. IDK man, I just love the deeply emotional message, mixed with the humor that gives you a break from holding your breath and gritting away the painful tragedy. The full circle nature of the plot, and the classic M. Night subversion of the expected is just so good. 

Clue is an oldie but a goodie. I love those “strangers with secrets locked in insert location on a dark cold stormy night, and people start dying. All modern whodunits all hail to Clue which has a brand of humor that is incapable of being replicated. if you’ve never had flames on the sides of your face, then you’ve not experienced Clue. 

HONORABLE MENTION: When Harry Met Sally / French Kiss I sound like some kind of Meg Ryan freak, and honestly I’m not. But these two films are both just the peak of romcom for me. Before we reduced ourselves to raunchy humor for a quick laugh, or standardized degrading misogyny. Though both films have their flaws and unique stories and flow, they’re the sort that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, like I could actually believe in love someday. ALSO the cinematography of WHMS is LEGENDARY. ABSOLUTELY LEGENDARY.

For pure entertainment value, Lord of the Rings is likely my number 1, but it’s easy to exhaust yourself on them after you have binged the extended editions 30 times. Indiana Jones probably edges out Star Wars and Jurassic Park for me, at least the original trilogy, anyhow. I love me some action and adventure. (In the same vain, Romancing the Stone & Jewel of the Nile are also A+ but sorry Michael Douglas you will never be Harrison Ford.)