Mary was probably gung ho on the VW bus and every other trapping of traditional suburban living, so I might allow for a little wiggle room there, for fic purposes. He would have been anyone she wanted him to be, within reason, judging by the way he looked at her. Maybe just a woodsy family? I'm just thinking of teaching kids, but he never taught kids like kids, did he?

Do we know how long his tour was? He really switched that back on without hesitation. As soon as he believed, he was a soldier again.

Man, I love the choice to make the Campbells hunters, even though I think it was largely squandered in season 6.

and slicing his palm open

Yes, he looked very fierce and comitted to action and whatnot. However, it is an incredibly stupid thing to slice open your hand if you expect to need to hold weapons and use your hands to fight. I know they needed the blood, but they didn't need it from the palm of his hand. I'd hope a soldier would have known better.

Well, it was his left, It's a little something,

Slicing his palm open is a more dramatic visual choice, though. This is TV, after all.

I think John's tour in Vietnam is a huge plot hole -- I'm not entirely sure the dates line up, even. But I'm too tired to look it up now. I think I once figured he couldn't have done more than one, based on his age and when the war ended.

Dean is completely smart enough to suceed in a number of fields.

I think, however, he would need to be his own boss of something he gave a good damn about (HAI DEAN WE HAS STUFF IN COMMON!) because he would have serious authority issues and a low tolerance for bureaucracy and bullshit.

ION...SexyGeekLethalSam is hot like fire, but Dean still SO Does It For Me...

Random thought is random.

And there are a hell of a lot places in the U.S. where learning how to shoot growing up is not alternative. John had probably hunted (in the non-supernatural sense) long before he went into the military.

I do think the VW bus was something John was going for because it was what Mary wanted. He didn't take that much convincing to go for the Impala.

He really switched that back on without hesitation. As soon as he believed, he was a soldier again.

One thing I've seen in reference to Marines is that a big part of the culture is "there is no such thing as an ex-Marine." One thing I sometimes wonder, given that we see a photo of older!John in military gear, is if he was in the reserves for a while--although I'm not sure how he'd work that with being a small business owner.

I think John's tour in Vietnam is a huge plot hole -- I'm not entirely sure the dates line up, even.

If you go by what battallion he was in, per Show, the latest John could have been there was 1971--if you want to be a stickler for military history and not declare the entire 'verse slightly AU. His military service would not have ended right after his tour of duty in Vietnam, so he would have been (most likely) at Camp Pendleton for a while before returning to Lawrence. So, back from Vietnam in late '71, back to Lawrence in early '73, meaning there would have been some time for re-entry before going back home. The dates work, but barely.

Then, if you take the birthdate on the headstone on "What is..." as canon and not just Dean's subconscious plugging in the wrong date, it all falls apart again.

(Why yes, I may have researched this a little...)

Ah, Anne. It's nice to know I'm not the most obsessive one around here. I barely do any research that doesn't involve trawling canon or exhausting just my own knowledge of how things go. Which isn't to say I don't do that a *lot*. I just always feel cozy with people either side of me on the continuum.

Sneak peeks: [link] [link]

The first one is the whole stretch between the first scene (Dean opening the door) and the second (the veiled bride coming in) of the trailer. So no bride reveal, just Sam and Dean conversation, which illuminates exactly nothing and doesn't even include all of what we heard in the trailer.

Second one reveals a guest star who I'm sincerely hoping is not the bride--it's their initial meeting with Dean, and it lasts all of 10 seconds. Pretty paltry stuff, actually. But I'm glad. I don't want to know who she is, but I want to feel a little more spoilt.

Are they in Vegas? Because that would be awesome.