Ten Expressions
| Fanwork | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Ten Expressions |
| Creator: | Kroki Refur |
| Date(s): | 2006-2009 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | Supernatural |
| External Links: | Ten Expressions tag of Kroki refur's LJ (locked as of 2015, a screen cap is here) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Ten Expressions is a series of blog posts by Kroki Refur recapping episodes of the first four seasons of Supernatural using screencaps of Sam's and Dean's faces. Rather than offering a straightforward retelling of the episode, Kroki Refur supplies humorous fictional dialog to go along with each set of "expressions." Some Ten Expressions are thematically tied into the plot of the episode that Kroki Refur is "reviewing." For example, in the recap of the episode Criss Angel is a Douchebag, in which Sam and Dean hunt a magician who is killing people, Sam worries that his Hogwarts' admissions letter has been delayed. Other Ten Expressions tie into fandom-wide events such as LiveJournal Strikethrough 2007. In this recap Sam panics because his LJ has been deleted due to the fannish interests he listed on his LJ profile page. Another running theme in the series has Sam playing the straight-man/ever suffering younger brother role with Dean offering the punchlines and acting out the tormenting older brother role. While the series is called "Ten" expressions, Kroki Refur would use as many screencaps as she felt necessary to deliver her joke. Kroki Refur's ability to find and locate subtle and nuanced expressions that often perfectly matched her humorous dialog was praised and the Ten Expressions series was popular and widely recommended, including by the CW Source, a studio sponsored blog.[1]
Over 45 Ten Expressions were posted between 2006 and 2009. Two representative samples are below.
In addition to posting her Ten Expressions, Kroki Refur also posted humorous episode review picspams called Episode Reviews of Doom for the first four seasons of the series.
Example of An Episode Related Ten Expressions
In the episode Born Under A Bad Sign Sam is possessed by a demon. The episode introduces Evil!Sam, a character who would become a popular Supernatural story trope for seasons to come.
Sam: “Dean?”
Dean: “Shut up Sam, I’m busy.”
Sam: “OK. Just thought you might like to know that I’m evil now.”
Dean: “You’re what?”
Sam: “I’m eeeevil. Bwahahaha.”
(click three times to fully enlarge each image)
Dean: “OK, seriously, Sam, I know I told you that chicks dig the bad-boy thing, but I really don’t think you can pull it off.”
Sam: “You underestimate me, Dean. Evil is my destiny.”
Dean: “Right. So tell me, what have you done that’s so evil? Killed any kittens?”
Sam: “Uh... no.”
Dean: “Killed anything at all?”
Sam: “I killed a mosquito this morning!”
Dean: “Oh yeah? What did you do after that?”
Sam: “I, uh, I had a funeral for it.”
Dean: “I see. What else?”
Sam: “I rang Mrs. Badcrumble’s doorbell and ran away! Bwahahaha!”
Dean: Sam, you’re not evil, you’re twelve.”
Sam: “Shut up, Dean! God, you never support my life choices.”
Dean: “Whatever. I gotta go, I got a hot date.”
Sam: “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, that waitress you asked out? I told her you have herpes.”
Dean: “...dude, you suck!”
Sam: evil smirk
Example of A Meta Related Ten Expressions
In 2007, Livejournal began a widespread campaign to delete blogs and journals it felt were violating its terms of service. Many communities were adult themed, focusing on sexual topics such as child abuse, pornography, incest and rape. In some cases, listing an "interest" that LJ deemed unsuitable on your profile page was sufficient to have your journal deleted. Each deleted blog or community would appear with a "strikethough" indicating it had been deleted. For more detailed background read Strikethrough.
One of the rallying cries in protest against the deletions was a Spanish speaking book club that had the misfortune of being in the midst of reading and discussing the novel Lolita. Many fans held it up as an example of the ludicrous and arbitrary application of LJ's policy.[2]
Even though the Strikethrough Ten Expressions had the fandom wide events as its main focus, Kroki Refur did not totally abandon referencing the show. She played on canonical facts such as Sam and Dean's method of laying evil ghosts to rest was to salt and burn the ghost's corpse. She also played on Dean's ignorance of many facets of the Internet, his preference for low tech research methods such as his father's written journal and his love of porn. In fact, some fans speculated that Dean only used to surf the Internet for porn.
Ten Expressions from the Great LiveJournal Strikethrough 2007
Sam: “Oh, man!”
Dean: “What?”
Sam: “My LJ’s been deleted!”
Dean: “Those bastards! Why?”
Sam: “I don’t know... the email says something about my interests.”
(click three times to fully enlarge each image)
Dean: “Oh. Uh. By the way, what’s an LJ?”
Sam: “You know, like a blog.”
Dean: “A... bog?”
Sam: “No, look, like a... like a journal. Like Dad’s journal, but online. And usually with less gore.”
Dean: “But more porn, right?”
Sam: “No! Well.... OK, yeah, maybe. A little.”
Dean: “OK, so, wait, they deleted you because you were interested in porn? But that’s what the internet’s for!”
Sam: “What? No! I wasn’t interested in porn! I was interested in... in Lolita. That’s literature.”
Dean: “Literature, porn, what’s the diff, right?”
Sam: “Dude, that’s the whole point! There’s a huge difference!”
Dean: “No, Sam, that’s not the point. The point is, writing about it ain’t the same as doing it, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have to jerk off nearly so much.”
Sam: “I guess you’re... hey! I do not write porn!”
Dean: “Whatever, Sam. Hey, what say I salt and burn those bastards at LJ for ya, huh?”
Sam: “Thanks Dean.”
Dean: “No problem, bro. Wouldn’t want you to be separated from your, you know, literature.”
Reviews/Reactions
- Refur is, quite simply, a genius, and her picspams inspire as much glee as the episodes themselves. We were first introduced to Refur's particular brand of madness through her "Ten Expressions" posts, where she takes 10 expressions from an episode and weaves them into a story. In these posts, we discovered the show's budgetary restriction on expressions, thrilled at evil make-up department plans, witnessed the salting and burning of the Internet, enjoyed the uses of flashbacks for brotherly torture, first set eyes on the Fabulous Drunk!Sam seal of disapproval, debated whether Sam is evil or 12, and discussed the philosophical implications of seriously cheesy movies. Plus, Refur came up with the single most brilliant explanation for what happened to Sam in All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1. Seriously – check them all out. Then we delved into her exhaustive and exhilarating Episode Recaps of Doom – perfect for when you want to relive the best of the episode. They're smart, they're funny, and they make you see things you may have missed the first time around. They're just the thing to get you through the summer.[3]
- "YOU BASTARDS! Why didn't you tell me about the Ten Expressions picspams.....They complete me!....You people could have written me a frickin' LETTER or something!"[4]
- "I got bitten by the LJ bug when I stumbled onto Kroki-Refur's too-awesome-for-words ERoD's and Ten Expressions at the start of season 4. (Do you KNOW how much I wished I had found it sooner? They make every episode 100% 116% better! "[5]
- "Expressions and Episode Reviews of Doom are just a couple of more reasons I love this fandom like woah. There are such amazingly talented people here."[6]
References
- ^ In the CW Forum article The CW Source: Supernatural Fan Art: Dive Into Kroki Refur's Genius Picspams, Archived version, Sarah linked to Kroki Refur’s Various (Ten Expressions) Picspams, saying:"This week, we're going to point you to the various picspams of Kroki Refur (about halfway down the page)." dated May 25, 2007.
- ^ One fan wrote a letter to LJ and reposted it in metafilter's livejournal suspends hundreds of accounts, Archived version: "If it will take only a couple hours to check journals and communities for content to be returned to members, why didn't you take the couple hours in the first place?....We're sorry is not a magical panacea that will regain that trust. But making restitution would make a solid statement of goodwill towards the core base of users you've insulted. Perhaps make pornish_pixies a permanent account? Or the Spanish group you deleted for daring to discuss the novel Lolita? Give free permanent accounts to some of the others. Make other gestures of goodwill towards fandom." dated May 30, 2007.
- ^ Kroki Refur’s Various (Ten Expressions) Picspams dated May 25, 2007.
- ^ kroki-refur Ten Expressions, Archived version posted to alt.tv.supernatural on June 27, 2010.
- ^ The Dorktastic Adventures of BabyBlueSteel - Comment in the The Welcome Post, Archived version dated April 12, 2009.
- ^ I'm Alive! For Three Whole Days In A Row!, Archived version dated October 14, 2007.