A Chasing After Wind

So, in Reading is Fundamental, the Meg demon explains what she's about: "Look, I'm simpler than you think. I've figured one thing out about this world – just one, pretty much. You find a cause, and you serve it. Give yourself over, and it orders your life. Lucifer and Yellow Eyes – their mission was it for me."

But that's not true. In Born Under a Bad Sign, the Meg demon laughs at the idea that she might be motivated by a cause: "You really think that's what this is about? The master plan? I don't give a rat's ass about the master plan."

I also like the in BUaBS, the Meg demon rejects the name "Meg". It never made sense to me that she would have any attachment to that name.

Then again, I never did like Rachel Miner Meg. I like the actress well enough, but not as Meg.

From 2.10, Hunted:

GORDON: See, I was doing an exorcism down in Louisiana. Teenage girl, seemed routine, some low-level demon. But between all the jabbering and the head-spinning, the damn thing muttered something. About a coming war. And I don't think it meant to, it just kind of slipped out. But it was too late. Piqued my interest. And you can really make a demon talk, you got the right tools.

DEAN: And what happened to the girl it was possessing?

GORDON: She didn't make it.

DEAN: Well, you're a son of a bitch.

Now when did Dean change his mind on that one?

I really hate Of Grave Importance. Not just because it's a Bobby-centric episode, but it because it does for ghosts what season five did for death: Takes away the mystery in a truly uncompelling way. We fully see the point of view of a group of self-aware ghosts, and…they are just like people. Boring people, at that. Nothing alien at all.

We'd seen humanized ghosts before, of course. There was Cole in Death Takes a Holiday, and even further back Molly in Roadkill. But with those two, there was still an element of mystery about what they were, about what would become of them. Bobby becomes a ghost and he’s just…annoying. Not haunted or haunting.

It would be interesting to see ghosts who were truly mad…not just occasionally out-of-control, the way Bobby is, but a bit insane. Struggling to communicate with the human world not just because their powers are limited, but because their thinking is confused by death.

Wouldn’t it be great If Bobby were something other than his usual blah self turned only invisible? I like the idea of Annie, but Of Grave Importance is so dull.

If I didn't know better, I would be certain the Imagine Dragons song Monster was written for season four Sam Winchester. However, Wikipedia assures me that it was written for a video game.

I'm actually surprised by how little attention this song has gotten among SPN fans. I once saw a Sam-focused gif set on tumblr that used some lyrics from this song, but otherwise…not so much. Which is surprising because not only is the song absolutely perfect for Sam, but the band is wildly popular.

For those of you who are not familiar with the song, a Youtube link:

( And it keeps getting stronger )

Brian Jacques was the fantasy author who turned me on to fantasy novels. I was eight - I haven't read a book of his in years, but there was a time when I read his Redwall books repeatedly. Despite his intended audience of children, he was quite the character killer. No book finished without at least one major sympathetic character dead. I shed so many tears over his books. I learned, then, how good it feels to cry over a story.

( Because you're breaking my heart )

One of the downsides of woobifying a male character is that the claims made about the character can too easily have sexist implications. Two examples involving arguments from fans of one Dean Winchester:

( Cause endless understanding is the sign of a healthy relationship )

I just finished re-watching Repo Man. I've always thought it a strong episode, one that really takes a harsh look at how Sam and Dean treat possessed people. But nonetheless, I've always felt the making Jeffrey turn out to be so evil undermined that harsh look. It makes it harder for us to care, to empathize with Jeffrey, to fully feel the effects of Sam and Dean's actions.

Yet somehow, I never noticed how the exorcism of the demon Nora's son completely undermines any argument for the Winchester brothers' near-constant murders of countless possession victims. Some fans have argues that demons should be killed rather the exorcised because otherwise the demons will return to kill others. Well, here is a demon who is especially dangerous - he not only kills, he possesses people planning to teach them how to be serial killers, so they can kill on their own after he leaves. Yet, because they have sympathy towards the victim's mother, Sam and Dean choose to exorcise him.

Dean even kills Jeffrey to keep him from killing the demon. Don't get me wrong - the Winchester brothers had no feelings of mercy towards Jeffrey at this point, nor should they have. There's a reason Dean shot him instead of making an attempt to disarm him. Nonetheless, I don't think Dean would have killed him directly accept to save another person - even if saving another person means saving the demon inhabiting that person. So much for the "No matter what meat suit he's in, I should have knifed him," argument that he gave a season later, after trying to kill Linda Tran.

(Also, so much for the fanon I've encountered that Sam cares about people he knows more than people he doesn't know, but Dean has no such prejudice...)

If killing Nora's son would have been wrong, why is it okay to kill so many nameless people who had the misfortune to have demons shoved inside them?

I’m skeeved out by how dehumanized the two villains are in in Family Remains. I've only once heard this talked about in fandom, and in a very limited sense: A fan (a Dean fan, of course) rightfully criticized Sam for describing them as barely human. But it goes beyond Sam. The narrative itself portrays them as subuman animals.

I find this disturbing, because incest and abuse are things that happen in real life. They are topics that are already wreathed in shame. And here we have a story about children conceived from incest who are subhuman. I am not OK with that.

Thoughts on SPN episode Metamorphosis:

( Demon and Angels )

One of the reasons I don't like Bobby Singer is that he so often feels like a plot device. His down-to-earth take-no-shit personality is supposed to be cute, I guess, but it’s shallow and cutesy because his actions don't match it. He goes along with what Sam and Dean want. In Lazarus Rising, he objects to Dean’s plan to summon Castiel, and to not tell Sam. But while he complains, he goes along with it. Dean felt the need to keep Sam out of the plan, but not Bobby. I’m also think of WtLB (where, again, Bobby objects to Dean’s plan but goes along with it). He also, in early S6, bizarrely supports soulless’ decision to not let Dean know he’s alive. I’m thinking, too, of Mystery Spot - here, Bobby does nothing but nag Sam. When he finally seems to actually do something, it’s the Trickster, instead. Bobby is ineffective when dealing with Sam and Dean. He acts as a sounding board, but rarely seems to have any influence over them.

( He's not their father )