SPN Fandom: Faniversary the second

[caffienekitty]

On the occasion of approximately two years passing since Supernatural took over my brain, and two years of having had some thought or done some activity related to this show every single day (and no, that is not hyperbole), I just felt like saying this:


Why I love Supernatural.

-Because Sam is Sam, and Dean is Dean. Through all and everything. Epic world-altering demonic invasions, possessions, FBI, racist trucks, itching powder, death, psychic powers and lost shoes. Doesn't matter, it's all just what is pushing on the boys at the moment; the force they are struggling against. They are true to themselves and they are human, and make irrational choices, or change their minds, or say things they didn't intend and don't know why.

-Knowing that Dean without Sam or Sam without Dean is a very bad thing. It's not all about Sam. And it's not all about Dean. It's about SamnDean. And while some stuff seems to be more on Sam, and some more on Dean, it's still the two brothers. It's always the two brothers.

-Myth and legend and lore that's based on actual legends and lore, so that it feels real enough, but no realer.

-One-shot joke-named background characters that become part of the soul of the series, through the magic that is Jim Beaver.

-Looking at an episode like "Mystery Spot" or "Dream a Little Dream" and seeing the shadows of epic future meta, and knowing that even if I can't put it into words, someone brighter than me out there will manage, because damn this fandom is brilliant.

-Set design and all the hundreds of freaky little background details that hardly ever get conciously noticed but add to the whole experience anyway. Also, there's this car...

-The wardrobe people for making two guys living out of duffel bags re-wear clothing that occasionally looks like thrift-bin treasures, because that's what the characters would wear, adding a very grounding real-world touch to a show about the supernatural world and making the epic pie-chart madness of this fandom possible.

-These two guys from Texas, away from their friends and families, up here in cold, moist Vancouver, acting their freaking hearts out to an audience share that would've got the show cancelled years back on other networks. Not just 'phoning it in' and collecting a paycheque because the show doesn't have a high enough profile to be worth real effort. Crying real tears brought up by mentally putting themselves into the places where tears come from. For the people who do watch this little show, all over the world. For the fans. For us.

-Knowing that, as in any relationship, sometimes I may not agree with what show says, and there will be times when I am so angry at show that I can't see straight, but I know I'll find my way back regardless. Knowing that even when things don't align with the canon that I thought I knew, even if things do a complete 180 from what I'd taken as an indisputable fact, I'll still come back.

-And Kripke. Kripke, bless his little cotton socks, has a vision. And regardless of what that vision is, or where it takes the show, or who it kills off to get there, I trust Kripke to follow his vision. And I want to see it unfold, no matter where it ends. Even if it ends somewhere I don't like and I end up shrieking in all-caps for a week. I'm invested in this series harder and further than any series ever before. I want to know how the story ends, whether it's a tragedy, a comedy, a heroic tale, whether the world is saved or the world burns. Or the zombie hamsters invade. Or rocks fall and everyone dies. I'm in. Wherever it goes. I'm in.



*koff* Yeesh. That ended up waaaaaay schmoopier than intended. :-P Anyway, short version; *glomphs show*

Comments

[weesta.livejournal.com]

A-MEN Sister! Right on!

[caffienekitty]

*blushes*

[lnhart.livejournal.com]

Nicely put. I've never done this fandom thing before. Supernatural turned me as completely as creepy-neighbor-Glenn turned Madison.

For example, I agree totally with this:
The wardrobe people for making two guys living out of duffel bags re-wear clothing that occasionally looks like thrift-bin treasures, because that's what the characters would wear, adding a very grounding real-world touch to a show about the supernatural world and making the epic pie-chart madness of this fandom possible.

I'm in love with wardrobe people I don't even know. How did this happen? I'm glad it did. Congrats to you on your anniversary. Mine's in August.

P.S. I've never smished anyone online, but Kripke tempts me. Oh, does he tempt me.

[caffienekitty]

Kripke is adorably smishable, even when he's being evil. :-)

[right-as-rain.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love posts like this. I've been watching SPN since the beginning but I just recently got into the fandom part and you just NAILED this for me. Especially: Crying real tears brought up by mentally putting themselves into the places where tears come from. I can't remember the first time, but I remember thinking that I started watching this show for the hot guys and the sweet car, and then all of a sudden it was more than that--I was sitting in front of the TV at ten o clock on a Thursday night with tears in my eyes going Oh, boys and knowing that I was in love. For all the reasons you mention, plus more that I'm not eloquent enough to put into words.

*memories*

[caffienekitty]

It's a sneaky show like that. Draw you in with the guns and monsters or the car and cute guys and then wham.

*memories*

Wow, really? Thank you! :-D

[anniehow.livejournal.com]

*CLAPS*

[caffienekitty]

*blushes*

[malevolent73.livejournal.com]

I watch most shows kind of superficially and even though I really like them, (as I did with SPN in the beginning) I don't become invested and obsessed with them. The only thing that made this show different was fandom. If I hadn't read all those fics and watched all those vids (and ok, one dream I had really clinched the whole deal) I wouldn't feel nearly as obsessed with, possesed by, engrossed in, or generally fanatically overpowered by this show. And fandom makes me see all your examples so much more clearly than what I would've been seeing on my own. I admit it, I am a surface thinker, not much of a meta-hound. :) So thanks fandom in general! And thanks CK specifically, for reminding me why I love this show.

[caffienekitty]

Aw, thanks. Heh, I had one of those dreams at the start too, and then went looking for the fandom. The fic and vids and meta and so forth filled in the details I hadn't been conciously aware of, but when I saw other people writing about them went "Oh yeah!"

[angieb5.livejournal.com]

Awww, your list made me feel so mushy inside. This show means so much to me and it's so much more than a show, and more than a fandom, it's about the people. Whether they work on set, or write about it online, it brings people together that appreciate everything about this one fixed point in time.

[caffienekitty]

Aw. *pats your mushiness*

[spndpfrdcrck.livejournal.com]

SPN=LOVE! Can you imagine life without it....TV would be horrid

[caffienekitty]

Here's hoping we don't have to face that for years to come. :-)

[somedayleaving.livejournal.com]

Sing it. GIANT *WORD* to everything you just said.

[caffienekitty]

Absolutely. But I'll refrain from singing again. ;-)

[gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com]

Word.

But as far as the pie chart (which is fascinating!) is concerned, I put more stock in bellanut's clothing catalogs, which include a lot more pairs of jeans (and a few other items). Super-wiki's entry doesn't have John's Barn Coat, for heaven's sake (unless they're calling it something different).

And yes, I realize how much I'm adding to the crazy by knowing these wardrobe details....

[caffienekitty]

I couldn't see a link to her catalogs from her main page, but I'm kind of speed-surfing here. Personally, I can believe they only have two pairs of jeans each. I have no idea what a Barn Coat is but clex_monkie has the black coat that comes to mid-thigh listed for John for Shadow.

Anyway, it's all cool.

[gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com]

They've changed it on Bean's site to call it a Field Coat.

As for the jeans: Bellanut has that covered

And yes, it's all good... whatever they wear or don't wear. The point is that we're obsessed and proud.

[sugar-bumbee.livejournal.com]

OH YES. EVERY WORD. *happy sigh* I have never before been so swept away by a show. I mean, they OWN me. I know it, no matter what twists and turns and loops it takes, I WILL BE RIGHT THERE.

... tis a bit scary, actually. ;) LOL!

And because you were listening to Carry on my Wayward Son-- remember when THAT montage appeared on the screen! *SQUEE*

[caffienekitty]

Everytime I hear "Carry on" I fill in John's voiceover bit about the Colt from Salvation. And Dean's "Nooooooo!" from AHBL part 1, though I think I get it in the wrong verse sometimes.

[girlfan1979.livejournal.com]

Beautifully said.

I hope someone points it out of Kripke.

[caffienekitty]

There's a scary thought, Kripke on LJ o.O

[sandrinnad.livejournal.com]

:D :D :D :D

thank-you for introducing me :D

Happy Faniversary and hopes for many more!! :D

[caffienekitty]

Thank you for being introduced! :-D

[dendritejungle.livejournal.com]

I heart your brain, you know. *tousles its hair-covering*

Happy faniversary!

[caffienekitty]

Thanks! My brain needed hearted, I think, and the image of a brain with hair is making me giggle. (I know that's not what you meant, but the caffeine hasn't hit my system yet this morning and I'm a little cognitively impaired :-))