#hope this isn’t a permanent change up i gotta do tho cuz i do really like burt’s bees lip balm

[singull]

been having lip peeling/cracking/chapping problems for a few weeks and mom gave me some coconut oil lip balm and aaaaaahhhhhhh relief!

my burt’s bees just wasn’t doing the job lately with how bad my lips decided to suddenly get. x_x; lips finally starting to feel normal again.

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

It's 2007 and somehow, miraculously, Supernatural survives yet another rocky (?) season of mediocre ratings to come back for a third season, or at least, half season, but that season starts out with a real bang! Like, just a real solid trio of an opener for season three. It reminds me of all the things I love about SPN and also it reminds us of all the things that frustrate the hell out of me on SPN. So where did we leave things off?

First up, there’s Dean, who sold his soul to the devil in order to bring Sam back from the dead. Sam, you’ll remember, was part of some overly complicated ponzi scheme to find the perfect vessel to open a door - yep, open a door - and lost to Aldous Hodge who just straight up murders Sam in the season finale. So Dean get’s Sammy back, but in exchange, he’s only got one year left before he permanently moves down south. Oh! And even though they got Sam back and Sam kills Aldous Hodge (RIP pal), they neglected to keep the door from opening. The door to Hell, that is, and now they’ve allowed a shiz ton of demons out to freely roam the earth. Way to go, boys, you lost again! They are two for two on these season finales guys!

OH but they DO kill the Yellow Eyed Demon, so that’s a plus, but not before he plants the most perfect seed of doubt in Dean’s mind - “How do you know what you brought back is all Sammy?” Like, ugh, UGH, ugh!!!! What a way to drive the knife in deeper! What a way to make the heart of this show slowly start to crumble! C’est Magnifique!! *chef's kissy fingers*

So with all that emotional baggage weighing us down, how do we start season 3? How else - with a threesome of course! And also some technicolor grading, it’s wild guys.

Oh boy guys, let’s talk about this opener for a hot sec. I got into it a little bit last season, but as much as I love Dean, you HAVE to admit that that boy is gross. Just like...he’s a little gross. I’m also old enough now to see exactly how many red flags he’s raising through the last 45 episodes. Like, sorry Little Me, but he is not boyfriend material. Not to mention that all this debauchery is 1,000% him distracting himself from the consequences of his own actions, but we’ll get into that later.

Meanwhile, Sam is doing something constructive and trying to figure out how to reverse the curse and save Dean’s soul. And here we have the culmination of two seasons worth of character development - faced with the imminent demise of Dean Samuel Winchester, Sam tries to step up and take care of his brother for once in his life; Dean parties like it’s 1999. There were two things I thought of during this episode - 1) isn’t this not unlike the sort of behavior you see in suicidal people who have finally decided to take their own life? Which is just, like, further held up by the fact that Dean’s big monologue at the end literally has the line “Truth is I’m tired, Sam. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” and like...dude, you are NOT ok! Why isn't??? ANYONE??? ADDRESSING THIS????? And 2) Dean is sharing a lot of similarities with the demons in this episode.

Because MEANwhile, there’s demons! So many demons! Specifically, the Seven Deadly Sins ones, but also, spoiler alert, Ruby, who is gettin’ reeeeealll into that ketchup.

All these baddies just really taking advantage of their time topside cuz Hell is, as they so artfully put it, it’s like Hell, so they’re just livin’ it up while they still can ~almost like foreshadowing or something~?!?!?

Real talk though, it being a real long time since I’ve watched this season, it’s these kinds of details that I’m impressed with this time around. There is so much character work that goes into this show and it’s something I definitely connected with the first time around, but not on conscious level. Now I can look at it through time and experience and articulate what I’m seeing, which makes this re-watch infinitely more enjoyable.

Episode 1 of this season continues what they started in season 2 and just keeps building out that Hunter Community. Like, there really is a whole Community out there that keeps in contact and works together and makes sure everyone’s up to date on the latest hot goss, and it all makes John Winchester come off like a real creepy splinter cell lone gunman type. And that in turn makes the Winchester sons look like total, unprofessional boneheads who managed to open a portal to Hell. “UGH Great Jorb Guys, but can we blame them? They’re John’s kids,” is a conversation between hunters that I am headcannoning, but also 100% support.

Honestly, I love the idea of the Winchesters being just these real, like, b-grade, Walmart Brand Hunters that other Hunters are just SO done with. We kind of see a little bit of that with Isaac and Tamara, but by the end of the episode, the Winchesters prove that they’re...better Hunters? I hope somewhere in the next 12 seasons I get an episode that is told from another Hunter’s POV who is legitimately better/more emotionally balanced than the Winchesters and the whole episode is them just, like, cleaning up a bunch of Winchester messes like, SONuvabitch, these two ASSholes. I think we see a fair amount of episodes from the POV of people who are less qualified than the Winchesters who end up being mentored by them, but I’d be stoked for them to run into just a group of people who hate them for totally legitimate, professional vs amature reasons.

Bobby does not count because Bobby signed up to be their Dad and so he agreed to take care of their messes when he took that job.

And then we get to “The Kids Are Alright” which showcases one of my fav changes for this season - BRIGHTLY! LIT! HIGH! SATURATION!!!! And of course, by fav, I mean, Most Hilarious.

I do walk a fine line on this one truth be told. Like, season 1 was definitely going for A Look. It’s super gritty and high contrasty and stylized. Now, I got what they were going for but I wasn’t always crazy about it, mostly because the quality on the DVD’s was terrible. Quick tip for everyone: in order to get 2+ hours worth of content on a DVD, you have to compress the final edit of the program to a pretty small bitrate. When we drop videos onto DVD’s at my work (it isn’t often, thank goodness), the discs themselves only hold, like, 2GB worth of content and that is NOT A LOT when it comes to video files. The more compressed a video file is, the less detail you’re gonna get in the visuals. Watching episodes on Netflix (where everything’s probably at a higher bitrate and therefore is a better quality visual), it’s not bad, but on my DVDs, the compression is so heavy that we get SUPER hot highlights and SUPER crunchy shadows - what a lot of people would called “crushed blacks” because you’ve lost all the detail in the shadows and you’re left with a grainy, noisy, black hole on the screen. Like I lost so much detail in the pilot episode guys, I could not make out this guy’s face.

A rough approximation of my DVD quality. Still recommend it over Netflix for the Accurate Soundtrack tho.

Season 2 SPN toned that Look down a lot, like, a lot a lot. Enough that you still got the general vibe they were going for but not enough that you couldn’t make out faces anymore. But through this whole process, the CW execs kept pushing for the show to look lighter, more colorful, less film noir more...well, CW. And in season 3 it finally happened!!!

I get what those execs were going for, but also, I feel like the colorists on these first few episodes just REALLY went wild out of spite. Lookit this shot from “Magnificent Seven” right before Envy causes some rando innocent bystander to beat a girl to death for her shoes -

GREEN GREEN GREEN GREEN!!!! I WONDER WHICH SIN THIS GUY IS????

Then in “The Kids Are Alright” the birthday party looks like everything is coated in day-glow neon.

The Winchester Bros look like they just got back from 3 weeks in Aruba - LOOK at the saturation levels in these skin tones! LOOK AT THEM!!

My screencap ability aside, only in SPN can a cemetery at night have brighter lighting than a diner in the middle of the afternoon.

This is definitely a thing I will be tracking the rest of the season because I have a distinct memory of a future episode where the brothers have been magically gifted completely different lives where they were never Hunters, they know nothing of Hunting, and they’re completely normal until the end when everything gets snapped back and the episode literally changes colors. V. Excited to see just how saturated this season stays through the end.

But maybe more importantly in “The Kids Are Alright” we learn that Dean does NOT, in fact, have a son. Not that he would be a good father...well...maybe? I mean, this Dean, this season 3, definitely-suicidal, completely-reckless, can’t-keep-it-together Dean, is not good Dad material. Later seasons Dean? Probably fine? Earlier seasons Dean might ALSO be fine? And if he’d found out that Ben was his legitimate kid, it could have made a WORLD of difference, who knows. I know he ultimately does become father-like to Ben and that gives me a lot of feelings. But this Dean is not in a good place to take care of anyone, including himself and really, someone ought to do something about that.

I gotta say, this is an actual bummer. I can’t remember if, in the later seasons, they do any clarifying on this or not, but I am legitimately bummed that Ben is not Dean’s kid and that as far as we know, Dean has no natural children floating around out there with surly attitudes and soft hearts. Dean’s motivation from Day 1 has always been family and despite what comments he may make in early seasons, Dean’s secret desire is to have the wife and the kids and the dog and the white picket fence. And honestly, we’re only 3 seasons in and I just want Dean to have nice things!!

And then guys, we come to “Bad Day at Black Rock,” and I just...WHAT a masterpiece. I had almost NO memory of ever watching this episode before and I don't understand why. What a glorious masterpiece this episode is. Let’s make a list -

More Hunters™, who should be really annoying but were actually kinda charming in a Marx Brothers kind of way

Gordon’s in jail, where he belongs, but also is masterminding a coup against the Winchesters which is A+ spooky stuff

Slapstick comedy that I didn’t know I was missing from my life

Bela F*cking Talbot

Guys, I think this is my fav episode so far purely because I felt, while watching it, that the last 10 years of my life were not in vain and that I had in fact grown as a human person. I remembered hating Bela Talbot. Like, I DID. NOT. LIKE. HER. To the point that I questioned if her British accent was even real. It is, her mother is from the UK and she lived there for a time, but like, honestly, the audacity of Little Me.

This time around? Oh she’s defs my new fav. Just everything about her is like, A+, Great Job, Why-Did-We-Cancel-Her??? Like, oh yeah, probably because somewhere in here they try to shoehorn a romantic side plot with Dean. I don’t actually mind rioting over shoehorned romance, but also, if they’d let this play out for a season or two and then got the two of them to bone? I’m on board. I’m 100% on board.

Maybe it’s just that she is unapologetically out for herself, maybe it’s the fact that she is definitely a match for the Winchesters in a non-murdery way, probably it is both of those things. She's smart, she’s crooked, she has impeccable taste, she’s honestly a helluva lot of fun and I am so excited to see more of her and so BUMMED that she will not make it past this season.

Despite the fact that I absolutely adore all three of these episodes, they also bring up the problem that I was starting to see in season 2 - WHO is this show about? Isn’t it supposed to be about the Brothers as a whole? But the majority of these first three lean pretty heavily on Dean’s emotional arc. Granted, it makes sense. I mean, of COURSE Dean’s demon deal is gonna be the BIG thing in a season where he is literally staring down the barrel, but knowing that there’s a side plot about Is Sam Evil?? seems like...something we should really explore more? I believe it comes up in season 4, or at least, Sam’s demon-blood powers become a bigger deal in season 4, but I would have enjoyed seeing Sam have a more active stake in this season. I can see planting some weird new ticks being planted for Alive-Again Sam that just get weirder and darker and then a mid-season finale or a run up episode to the end of the season where Dean (finally) decides he needs to stop his demon deal because he needs to stick around so he can keep Sam from going completely off the rails. As much as I love Dean 5ever, I do think the show works best when the emotional weight of the season is distributed equally is all. And to be fair to the writers this season, there could have been a bigger plan for something like that but they ran out of time - their season was cut by about a third due to the Writer’s Strike.

Still, all in all, a solid opening to the third season. I want to say that these episodes feel like Classic SPN, but then I remember that this is season three out of fifteen. These ARE Classic SPN. Mostly self contained with enough emotional drama to remind us of the overarching plot. Maybe a little heavy on the emotional drama, but Dean’s only got a year to live and the show’s only got 16 episodes to resolve that crisis, so it’s fine.

[propshophannah]

Hey:) so I have extremely bad periods like I mean I get really high fevers, chills, throw up, extremely dizzy and extremely confused every single day I'm on it. Not to mention I get the worst cramps ever that I can't stand that I've been sent to the hospital for and that's saying a lot seeing as I'm really good with dealing with pain. I've tried meditation to help with it, I've tried those stupid remedies you find on the internet I've tried literally everything including birth control 1/?

The pill& the shot which I’m currently getting every 3 months and they haven’t worked. It extended my period from the regular 3 days up to 2 weeks (the shot) and my doctor refuses to try anything else because I’m 17 and “I won’t know if I’ll want children in the future” which I’ve explained countless times that I like girls & I strongly dislike kids so the chances of me getting pregnant when I’m older are close to none but nooo like it’s so bad I’d honestly rather get run over by a train than 2/ 

Deal with it. Like I’m at a loss here it’s so bad I’ve missed a little over half my school year last year I was absent so much due to it I got kicked out of my classes bc the school thought I was just skipping when in reality I literally couldn’t move from my bed. So now I’m a full year behind in school and I’m frustrated and don’t know what to do. I’ve been following you for a while and you seem like the older sister/mom/cool aunt type of the fandom and I was wondering if you had any ideas ¾

And/or advice? (Sorry for the long question I saw you were answering questions and thought I’d ask)

—-

Woof. Not to freak you out—cuz I’m NOT a doctor—but this sounds like it could be some kind of menstrual disorder or something. If I were you, I’d find a new doctor.

That’s not to say that the doctor you have is not good, but sometimes a fresh pair of eyes/a second opinion can be life changing. Different people notice different things. So a new doctor might look at your case and know exactly what to do about it. You may need to see some kind of specialist, too. I’m not sure what kind of tests your ob/gyn has done, but I’ve known a few girls who had benign cysts on their ovaries and stuff that caused them to have HORRIBLE and debilitating periods. It could be something like that.

As far as the options outside of birth control, I assume you’re talking about permanently stopping your periods? (Cuz getting your tubes tied wont stop you from having a period.) There are birth controls that stop you from getting a period. I know the shot ones (which you said you’re on one of those) has options for totally stopping periods. I assume it can probably take a few rounds tho before its fully effective. But AGAIN not a medical doctor over here.

If you’re not satisfied, I’d say get a new doctor. If you like your doctor, then maybe you need to ask about seeing a specialist. I’m not sure what kind of specialists exist for bad periods, but I know they exist. A specialist would also be the gatekeeper for more extreme methods—such as a medical procedure or something that could stop your periods. They’re your best bet the get an insurance company to cover that kind of thing too. But also a specialist might be more actively aware of rare conditions or disorders that regular ob/gyns only read about a few times in a textbook in medical school. So again, second opinions are important. 

Also broaden your search. It might not be as period focused an illness as you and your doctor think it is. It could have something to do with pain receptors or something in your brain not getting the right signal when you get your period. If that makes sense? Example: (again not a doctor!) Lets say your body starts to get a normal period like everyone else, but this one little nerve (or whatever) in your brain misreads the monthly cycle information and overloads your body/part of the brain (again NOT a doctor) with too much a certain type of hormone or chemical. This results in you on the floor in pain, vomiting, with a fever for one week a month. Stranger shit has happened. So it might be that you need to start searching for other causes or change the conversation on how both you and your doctor focus on this problem.

The last thing I’d say, which is certainly a last resort, would be trying to get in with a specialist at the Mayo Clinic. It would likely take months and months to get an appointment, but if you’ve exhausted all your other options, I’d say go for it. 

This derails a bit but it might help you:

God. I’m really sorry this has been your experience with your period. Like this fucking sucks. IT SUCKS to feel like your body isn’t working correctly and that you’re not crazy when you say you want an immediate fix right now. I’m guess I feel like the only procedure that could stop your periods that a doctor would tell you no on would be a hysterectomy or something like that?? And honestly, I get why a doctor would say that to a 17-year-old. 

BUUUT, to that doctor, I’d drop the argument about knowing you don’t like kids and don’t want them. Because it’s too easy for people to excuse that as “typical” teenage behavior. So I’d reframe that argument in a way that is still true, but I’d say it in a way that a older person/doctor might be more receptive to hearing. 

FOR INSTANCE. I might frame my argument for more extreme options not as “I know I don’t want kids” but as a personal life-sacrifice I’m willing to make in order to have the chance at living a normal, full life.

I’d say that my periods are debilitating, humiliating, and have been infringing upon the quality of my life since they started. I’d say that when I was 13 (or whatever age you were before you got your period), I couldn’t wait to be 17 years old. I couldn’t wait to go to school and drive a car, to hang out at the beach or pool in the summer without a chaperone. I was excited about the future and the prospect of which university I’d attend and what it’d be like to leave home for the first time… But after years of suffering with debilitating periods, I no longer have that outlook on life. Because of my paralyzing periods (I’d maybe find a better phrase for periods but you get my drift), I spent my teen years watching from the sidelines. Then I’d go into the moments when you missed out on basic teenage life experiences your female peers did not. (I’d go traditional too. Meaning that because I live in America, I’d pick things that seem “All America” like football games, prom/school dances, going to the beach, playing sports etc.).

I’d paint a NICE picture about how your periods have been a “cancer” on your adolescence. How they’ve robbed you of opportunities everyone else got. I’d talk about how you’re now a year behind and how embarrassing that is and how you’re not going to graduate with your friends and AAAALLLLL that jazz.

You gotta frame your argument the right way. Make your horrible periods the invading army that must be stopped. It’s not that you don’t want to have kids, it’s that your quality of life has been so drastically altered by paralyzing and debilitating periods, that you’re willing to sacrifice a piece of your body to find inner peace and for the *opportunity* to live a normal life, for the *chance* to get back your youth, for the *change* to get some good years out of life, to salvage what’s left of your golden years. 

I would be careful NOT to play the victim—you’re the hopeful teenager willing to sacrifice in order for the *opportunity at living a normal life.*

And I would 100% practice NOT bringing up the not wanting children thing. I’d come up with a scripted answer to that argument from the doctor too. Gell, I’d come up with talking points and mock answers to questions. JESUS. This could be looked at as essentially a PR problem. And this has derailed a lot, but hopefully this might help you.