#like yes sam and dean are the main characters! they're important!

[angelheartcas]

guys i said that by the end of supernatural other characters were important alongside sam and dean and it wasn't a show about just two brothers in their car hunting monsters anymore, and how it was about more than that on twitter and they got SO MAD

[michaelmilligan]

Rotating Midam in my mind.

You have Michael, who is the biggest baddest bitch Heaven's got. A literal archangel, someone who killed his own sibling without flinching, someone who was ready to kill one of his once closest brothers, even though he still loved him. The guy who said that free will was an illusion, and that fate was inevitable.

And then you have Adam, who is... some guy. Sure, he's Sam and Dean's brother, and they're the main characters, but ultimately, Adam was never meant to be important. He was introduced in S4 as a gimmick, as a way to cause the brothers man pain. He's a Midwestern teenager, raised by a single mom, his lofty goal was becoming a doctor, but he was never fated to be anyone important, anything big.

And then Michael - the guy who said that there was no other way but for Dean to become his vessel - took Adam. He was under time pressure, sure. Dean just wasn't saying yes. But this archangel, who believed so much in his father's commands that he was going to kill his baby brother for him, chose to use Adam, the clammy scrap of bait, instead of his fated vessel.

And we don't really see them interact in S5. We don't know if Michael pressured Adam into this, if he scared him into compliance. We do know that Adam looked at the bright light descending onto the room, presumably Michael's true form - which had previously burned out people's eyes, in that bar Zachariah sat in - and he didn't look scared. If anything, he looked awed.

We don't know what they talked about. How much they talked. If Adam was conscious for that fight in Stull cemetery. We are led to believe that he is not, because Michael tells Dean that Adam isn't in right now, but he might as well just mean that Adam isn't in control, that he's Michael right now.

So we really don't know anything about their dynamic in S5, but we are led to assume from what we know about Michael that it isn't a good dynamic, we are made to see Adam being possessed as an unfortunate tragic. This poor bastard just won't stop being used by angels.

And then, ten years later, Michael and Adam come out of the cage, and we are once again led to assume the worst, because Lucifer said that Michael was insane, and everyone is scared of Michael, everyone still remembers the other Michael who brought so much death and terror upon the world - and when we see this world's Michael for the first time in ten years, when he's out of Hell and could have been anywhere in the world, or outside of the world really - he's sitting in a diner, smiling fondly at the just some guy, who is eating a burger.

This archangel, who would have killed indiscriminately for the sake of the plan, to fulfill his duty - he's chilling with this guy from Minnesota, who came out of the cage with more chill than when he went in, and whose first instinct on returning to the world was... greasy diner food.

This archangel - this eerie, dangerous entity, is smiling fondly at the guy he just spend over a thousand years (local) time with in Hell. And they talk openly, like friends, about their plans for the future. Michael mentions that he has nothing, and so does Adam, and they decide to stay together, and to maybe get a little job.

The biggest baddest bitch that Heaven had. And he doesn't even go back to Heaven. His closest brothers are dead, the apocalypse can't happen anymore with Lucifer already gone, and Michael just... doesn't care anymore. He seems a little melancholy, but ultimately he is content. Content to stay with Adam, content to sit with him in some random diner in a random American town, and content to stay with him, and let Adam show him what it's like to be human.

This archangel, who has never cared about humanity, or any human. This archangel looks at the gimmick character, the forgotten brother, and he is content. Adam is enough for him.

The guy who was dead before we even met him. And he's enough for the archangel who wanted to end the world.

Adam is everything he has, actually. And Michael is content.

[kurtcobainsgreencardigan]

pauuuuuuuuu i’ve got a question. i understand that you enjoy supernatural, so could you explain to me the whole destial thing? i’m like, fairly close to caving and committing myself to 15 fucking seasons of them and dean from gilmore girls (who i fucking hate(the character not the actor)) so like, i wanna know what i’m getting myself into, cause the only stuff i know is the meme that’s always going around, and that everyone and their mother is obsessed with dean winchester

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD @weeping-in-the-willows WE'VE DONE IT!!!

okay andi here we go its gonna be LONG (thats what she said?)

Destiel is a ship between two main characters, Dean Winchester, who is a monster hunter, and Castiel, who is an angel of the lord. Although Cas does not appear until season 4(?), when he does it's clear there's something going on between the two men (boys?), and, whether or not it's intentional, there's a LOT of gay subtext. I think they suffer a lot but it's worth it for the very few moments they get to enjoy, and you value them so much more which makes it so enjoyable.

As for Sam Winchester (Dean Forester), he's a young man with daddy issues who never met his mom and decided that instead of having that horrible monster hunter life he wanted to go to Stanford and study law and have a great academically successful life (Sam and Rory Gilmore would be best friends). He's a sweet, kind, smart, driven, ambitious (and hot) 22(!) year-old who would never voluntarily hurt a fly. Obviously life had other plans for him but what happens to him is up to you. Now, I will say that I'm not the biggest mid-series seasons Sam fan, but I think early Sam was one of my first fictional crushes and I still think of him fondly. His favorite singer is secretly Celine Dion.

Dean Winchester also has daddy issues but as in yes-dad-I'll-do-everything-you-say-so-that-you-love me-while-his-dad-still-loves-sam-more daddy issues (which I know all too well not not the time nor place), whereas Sam was more like "No dad, this is YOUR dream". Dean is like that jackass who thinks he's this huge deal and he think he's really hot and smart and always right, which is infuriating because it's true. But really imagine a giant teddy bear with a flannel. that's Dean Winchester. It's a bit funny but for him the most important thing ever is his family and he will fight with all his might to save it, blood or found, he will die for them over and over again with no regrets, except that one where his daug we don't talk about that. He's also incredibly funny, he likes Frozen and dad rock and pie.

Cas is an angel who very often forgets that. Funny thing about this guy is that they first portray him as like this scary creature, he's the most powerful thing they've ever faced and he's so intimidating but once they get to know him he's really just like if an alien saw a hot guy and went "that one". He talks to cats sometimes.

About the show itself, the firsts seasons they think they're like this moody, serious show, but as it goes on it quickly turns into a comedy. They meet Scooby-Doo once. There's a musical. Doctor Sexy wears cowboy boots. Dracula. Ghostfacers!

Now, I wouldn't go as far as "recommending" it to someone, but if i could start clean and had the choice to watch it again for the first time, I'd tell them put me back in it, and I would cry and curse and suffer, but I'd go through it again.

And that is all, unless Willow wants to add something?

Also I would avoid the last episode, I would not watch it if I were you, I wish I never saw it and I pretend it doesn't exist, it is not canon if I say it is not and I refuse to recognize it as such. Thank you.

[apocalypseornaw]

Eyes Extra Green

While watching Netflix Dean gets a bit jealous over a new character on your favorite show.

Warnings: cursing, strangers things season 4 vol 2 spoilers

You were laying across yours and Dean's bed waiting on him to get out of the shower. The first half of season 4 of stranger things had hit Netflix so the two of you had decided to stock up on snacks and watch the episodes. He was personally still pissed at Hopper's supposedly demise but you were certain they'd bring him back considering he was Eleven's adoptive father and a fan favorite.

You were twirling a licorice between your fingers when the door opened so you looked up to see Dean standing there. Even in his hotdog pj pants and plain black t-shirt you felt your heart flip at knowing he was yours. He must have noticed the look in your eyes because a smirk slipped onto his face "What are you smiling at sweetheart?" You shrugged, turning over on your stomach to look at him "I dunno. The fact that despite how unusual our lives are we get to do something as trivial as lay around and watch a show we both enjoy. Took a while but we finally found some balance"

He smiled and walked over to lean down and place a gentle kiss against your lips "Now scoot over and let me in bed"

"Aww the door's open three inches!" You cooed watching the screen from where you lay across Dean's chest. You could feel his light laughter "I swear the mixture of badass and softy that you are still amazes me at times!" "Oh hush" you laughed both of you turning your attention to the screen.

----------

The main reason Dean was so fast to want to watch stranger things with you was because of how much you enjoyed it. From seeing your excitement at hints of them finding Hopper to cursing at the screen when Eleven was picked on. The passion that you held for everything in your life showed yet again and seeing that was always a good time to him.

However the moment they showed Mike and Dustin with their D&D club at the school he clocked the way your eyes flicked up at the new character Eddie. He didn't say anything but felt that nip of jealousy quickly pushing it down by telling himself it was a show and new characters always intrigued you.

"He looks like a kicked puppy"

"Yeah Eddie was scared you dumbass. He's just trying to graduate,he doesn't have superhuman powers"

"Ok but Eddie headbanging and having the time of his life while the rest of the crew freaks because they're stealing an rv is funny as hell"

"Yes honey sos counts as Morse code"

The more episodes the two of you watched the more if became apparent that you had a crush on Eddie and that Dean was becoming a bit jealous over it. He was sure he could overlook it, hell you were his. You were in his bed every night and the two of you had been together for years yet when you ended up coming to bed one night wearing a "Hellfire Club" shirt he couldn't hide the fact that he was jealous.

------

You had just got out of the shower and decided to wear the shirt Charlie sent as a gift to bed. She loved stranger things also and had ordered her a hellfire shirt so she got you one at the same time.

You walked down the hall to the room you shared with Dean humming under your breath considering you'd been listening to one of Dean's playlists. He was standing at the dresser when you walked in and a smile slipped onto his face but you noticed the way his eyes also raked down your body not as if he was just checking you out but his eyes were glued to the front of your shirt.

At first you figured it was because you were wearing an oversized shirt and no pants but considering Sam had gone to bed hours before and the shirt was long enough to cover anything important you didn't really see it as that big of a deal.

"Dean?" You called his name lightly and he raised his eyes eyes yours, his smile softening slightly "New shirt?" You nodded "Charlie sent it last week. She ordered herself one and wanted to match" he studied you for a minute longer until he shrugged "Ready to go to bed?" "Please sir" you replied with a laugh as you reached out for his hand.

Dean laid down first then you climbed into bed curling up on his chest. He was quiet for a while simply tracing patterns on your back until he finally spoke "What's with the d and d club shirt? I mean I get Charlie she's big in the game but you only know the basics, I've only seen you pay attention to games when Karen Page is the dungeon master"

"First of all her name is Deborah Ann Woll" you laughed then cut your eyes up at him before adding "Besides its moreso a stranger things shirt than dungeons and dragons" he raised an eyebrow "Couldn't get one of those greetings from the upside down shirts?" You pushed yourself to be sitting up feeling his hand slip down your back to rest at your hip "Dean, what's this really about"

"Nothing sweetheart let's go to bed" when the realization hit you a hiccup of a laugh escaped you "It's cause of Eddie" Dean knew it was useless to deny simply because you knew all of his tells "Baby are you jealous?" You managed barely biting back another laugh. "You've been drooling over the guy since he appeared on the screen" it would've been humorous had you not realized he was seriously offended "Dean, it's rare you get jealous over people in real life so what's the issue?"

His fingers played with the hem of your shirt "I dunno honestly. I mean like you said I trust you in real life situations with other people actively flirting with you...I guess a part of me wonders if you've ever thought about him while we..." when he trailed off your eyes got wide "Are you serious?"

When he wouldn't meet your eyes you sighed lightly turning in the bed to straddle his waist "Look at me baby" he slowly met your gaze "There is no one on this earth that I would want more than you. I know you have a really shitty view of yourself but I told you a long time ago I will continue to remind me what type of man you really are until the day I die. I have to say though with how many people check you out on the daily, even mid hunt it's fuckin adorable to see you jealous over me having a thing for a character"

A smirk slipped onto his face right before he gripped your hips tightly flipping you over to be underneath him "Yeah yeah yeah. I'm adorable now let's see if I can make you forget any other man exists real or not"

Weeks passed and Dean's jealousy was forgotten. Life was how it always was. Hunts and the normal insanity that was your shared lives.

"Are we gonna watch the second part of stranger things?" Dean asked glancing at you in the rearview mirror. The two of you and Sam were on the way home from a hunt. You raised an eyebrow at him and he smirked "No being jealous I promise"

Sam chuckled at the two of you even though he was checking through his emails.

---------

"I didn't run this time, right?" You were curled up against Dean's chest sniffling as you watched Dustin fight back tears while Eddie died in his arms.

Dean's embrace tightened pulling you closer as the two of you watched the remainder of the finale in silence. Once it was over he clicked off the television then cleared his throat "Are you ok sweetheart?" You nodded "It's just a show"

After another moment of him rubbing your back soothingly he spoke again "Can I ask one thing?" You turned to look back at him then nodded "Why were you so attached to Eddie?"

"Hmm someone who knows every metal song there is but also a huge nerd, had issues with school so sees himself as dumb when he's anything but, most people would see as a freak or outsider but ended up being a hero willing to risk his life for people who would never know his sacrifice. Someone who had little family but would do anything for those he cared about"

Dean got quiet as you explained "Oh" "Yeah oh" you replied snuggling tighter in his arms. He kissed your forehead before glancing over at the dresser. He'd give you the tickets Charlie had manged to get her hands on to the stranger things meet and greet the next day, tonight he wanted to hold you because God now he felt like such an ass for ever getting jealous.

"I love you Dean" You whispered turning to fully climb into his lap pressing a hungry kiss to his lips. "I love you too sweetheart" he spoke against your mouth before deepening the kiss.

@marianita195

[trials-era-sam]

Hello! Sorry if this question is odd, but as someone new to Supernatural I was just wondering why do people hate Jared? He doesn’t seem bad?

Hi!! First of all, welcome to the fandom <333

Jared is adorable, and kind, and he's made mistakes because he's not perfect but hey, no one is! :)

The reason most of these people hate him is, very frankly, because they think he's the reason D*stiel didn't go canon. First of all he played Sam, who was always gonna be the most important person in Dean's life, and he also said a few times how Supernatural had never been about romance - which is true but has, in the eyes of those people... made him homophobic?? Because he didn't want his character's brother to end up with a genderless character?? ... all right. -_- Not to mention the fact that Jensen has literally said "D*stiel doesn't exist" at a con, too. As you can guess, they called him homophobic too, but they like to pretend he's changed his mind about it now.

Most of the bad things you'll hear about Jared are dead wrong.

He's not homophobic, in fact he and his wife have donated to and been involved with the organization Out Youth in Austin.

He does not own an MLM - his company, Mantra, does sell health supplements which is what some multilevel marketing companies sell, and I'm not saying you need to support health supplements (not really my thing to be honest) but MLMs are different - they're scams, they want you to sell their products but mostly they want you to find other people to sell under you, and most people involved with MLMs lose money because of them. So, yes, MLMs are evil. But Mantra is not an MLM.

He did get arrested, yes. In late 2019 he got into a bar fight. From what he says, he does not remember any of it but doesn't want to be that person ever again. He apparently accepted a drink from a stranger that night, but whether he was drugged or not, he doesn't want to use that as an excuse. He fucked up, and he's owned up to it with more maturity than a lot of other people who have fucked up have, and I trust that it's never going to happen again. His haters bring this up so often (as well as his mugshot from that night), you'd think he murdered someone.

He has not harassed Misha (or Jensen, for that matter). They have all played pranks on one another.

He does not hate Shoshannah Stern. He didn't want Sam to end up with Eileen because, again, SPN was not about romance. Shoshannah still speaks of him kindly from what I can see.

He has not had a falling out with Jensen. Jensen didn't inform him about the prequel before the news were revealed to everyone and he reacted to that on Twitter (granted, he probably shouldn't have said everything he said but I can hardly blame him, I've done worse when I was angry) and then they settled it privately, because that is what adults do. Jensen has directed a Walker episode since then and judging from everything I've been able to see from cons, they seem as close as ever.

These are all of the accusations I can think of off the top of my head haha But yeah, don't trust what his haters say about him. Hell, some of them even say they had a better time with him at cons than with the rest of the main cast (why they'd want to pay to interact with him if they hate him, I don't know, but I've stopped trying to understand their logic). I've interacted with him once and what I can tell you is that his smile lights up the room, he was super kind to me, and he gives the absolute best hugs.

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. LXV

It was a love story from the very beginning.

You are the one in my heart (Part I)

(11x11/11x12)

Hello my friends! Here we go again with another meta about season 11!

This time I'm gonna talk about the way this season makes us see that Dean is in love with Castiel and the angel being the only one in his heart. To talk more thoroughly about this, I divided the topic into two parts.

I want to say thank you to @destielle for beta reading this for all of you! Thank you girl! 💕

Get it out of my head!

Just a little thought about this quote that was repeated several times by several characters in episode 11x11 'Into The Mystic'. Of course they referred to the Banshee, but it was clearly a mirrored description of what was going on with Castiel, at that time possessed by Lucifer.

Cas left when Lucifer occupied his vessel, but while Sam openly worries about him, Dean confronts Sam and us with his trust in Cas and him disappearing… 'Cas is always fine!' 

He was so embedded into his drama with Amara that he had no time for additional worries. And Cas was always fine... Right?

This momentum is important because of the drastic change we will see in Dean’s stance on this after he discovers that Castiel is possessed by Lucifer. From then on he won’t rest until he is able to rescue him. His priorities will change and Amara will drop lower, behind Cas, on the list. But we will talk about this in the upcoming metas.

Oak Park and Broken Hearts

I need to talk about the two songs in the beginning of the episode: they're extremely romantic, talking about two lovers and how they meet again. So… these may be just little hints of Castiel coming back to Dean after being possessed. 

But let's jump to The Residence Oak Park. We meet Mildred, I know, but there's another interesting character, named Arthur. Arthur is the man in charge of the residence, but the reason why he sleeps at this place is because he separated from his wife. He starts talking about it with Dean, and it’s obvious he got his heart broken. He says this sentence to Dean…

ARTHUR: I should have sent the heart. I can be so stupid.

The meaning behind this? He regrets how they broke up over phone, but even more that he didn’t do more to keep her by his side. And these regrets are exactly the same Dean will be struggling with after discovering that Cas was in fact Lucifer the whole time. Maybe he should've paid more attention to what was going on with Cas, acting so weird… but because Cas is always okay, as he claimed... and with Amara on his mind, worrying him a lot, he just couldn't see it.

When Arthur is killed by the Banshee, we encounter through Mildred that he had a heart condition (valves issues), so we, as the audience, connect that bit to the symbolism of the broken heart. This also applies to Mildred herself when she says she has Atrial Fibrillation, another cardiac pathology.

So… why wanted the Banshee to kill Dean? What made Dean vulnerable? Also his heart! It was broken by his encounter with Castiel (Casifer) in the bunker!

Don't use me as bait

Before jumping to Casifer’s and Dean's scene, I want to point out how blatantly the writers helped us seeing the subtext.

First of all they made the Winchesters talk about broken hearts. Because they needed us to see that case revolving around that topic.

Secondly, after Dean and Casifer had their moment, Dean was very offended by the thought of Sam wanting to use Mildred as bait. Why? 

Because writers wanted us to see that what Cas inquired to Dean was to make him act as the bait to catch Amara. And that was the cause of Dean's vulnerability and broken heart… he thought Cas was asking him to play the bait, thus putting him recklessly in danger. His Cas, who always had been loyal to him and who would never hurt him, always took care of him even. It broke Dean’s heart, because he thought Castiel didn't love him the way he did. Again, the shadow of the unrequited love…

And that’s said scene:

Dean enters the bunker and finds Casifer searching for something, looking disheveled with rolled-up sleeves and no overcoat, especially without his trenchcoat. It’s an odd sight of the angel. And rightfully so, because it’s not the real Cas…

After this they start talking about Amara…

DEAN: Yeah, I know. Saying you're gonna kill is one thing, but... Actually doing it's something totally different.

LUCIFER/CAS: What do you mean?

DEAN: I've had two shots at Amara. I struck out both times.

LUCIFER/CAS: What are you talking about?

DEAN: I don't even know where to start.

LUCIFER/CAS: Dean... Tell me everything.

Lucifer found something that sparked his interest: why isn’t Dean Winchester able to kill or harm Amara? So he plays the concerned friend right here to gather more information from Dean.

DEAN: I tried to kill her.

LUCIFER/CAS: Well, the two of you are connected somehow by the Mark.

DEAN: Yeah, no, it's, uh... It's more than that.

LUCIFER/CAS: Attraction? Oh, Dean.

Gif set credit @starlightcastiel

DEAN: I know. I know. Okay? Whatever it is, a... Attraction, connection... I got to tell you, man, it scares me. I don't know that I can stop it. I don't know that I can resist it.

Dean defines his issue with Amara with the word ATTRACTION, but he doesn't know exactly what it is, because he can't control it. Because it’s a dark force that drags him to her. So he doesn't know what it is, but he knows what it’s not (I will talk about this in the next meta). So, Dean is terrified… he doesn't like it. 

Lucifer is lucky because he can use this against Amara, but he tries anyways to act like a comprehensive friend… but he fails… his first mistake is to place his hand on Dean's right shoulder (and that's when Dean looks at him suspiciously) because that's not Castiel's shoulder (profound bond shoulder).

And after this Lucifer says those unlucky words that will break Dean's heart, proning him to become a Banshee's victim.

Gif set credit @starlightcastiel

LUCIFER/CAS: Hey, it scares me, too. But we will find out what this is, I promise. In the end, it may help draw her out. This could be a good thing.

Dean looks at him hurt and confused. Why does Cas want to use him as bait? Doesn't he care about him? 

Dean is pining for Castiel

Gif credit @demondetoxmanual

Mildred was introduced in this particular episode as a wise character, with Dean she talks about watching sunsets and FOLLOWING YOUR HEART. Dean listens to her, and really reflects on those words as we will see in the final episodes of this season, when he follows his heart trying to rescue Castiel from Lucifer despite the main plan. It will be a war decision, more accurate in the circumstances, revealing he never changed his mind and will and has always put Castiel first, because Castiel comes first in Dean’s heart.

Another interesting and wise observation Mildred made about Dean, and writers were very specific to make us see it, is the following…

MILDRED: Darlin'... If there's one thing I've learned in all my years on the road, it's when somebody's pining for somebody else.

[Dean smirks]!!!!! Oh, don't try and hide it now. Follow your heart. Remember? I don't know who the lucky lady is, but I am damn sure jealous.

Mildred saw it, just like the banshee, Dean is pining for someone. The lucky one that has his heart however is not Amara, we know that Dean is afraid of her and he knows it’s not love that he feels for her. But Dean smiles nonetheless… he smiles, because Mildred found out. Yes. He is in love. Yes, he is pining for someone. And it’s a very hot, blue eyed and winged man. 

A little Destiel mirror

Just a couple of words about episode 11x12, we have Alex here with a boyfriend that turned out to be a vampire ( a monster) which she didn't know about before.

Pay attention to this dialogue after Alex finds out her boyfriend is a monster.

ALEX: (To Henry) Nothing? None of it was real?

HENRY: Seriously Al? You were a complete freak! I mean, you were an angry loner, creeping around the school like some kind of trench coat mafia?

CLAIRE: You're gonna burn in hell, you sociopath.

HENRY: (Still looking at Alex) I could never date someone like you.

It’s a switched mirror, Alex represents Castiel now, and the disappointment of being rejected will come at the end of the season when Dean calls Cas their Brother. Oh yes, the car scene… and the coward We/Us speech… my heart.

To Conclude:

Mildred served as a channel to show us Dean is pining for Castiel, delivering an advise Dean will follow once he finds out Cas is in danger.

Dean had his heart broken because of Cas (Casifer), drowning again in the idea that his love is unrequited.

Alex/Henry relationship was a switched Destiel mirror and a premonition of the "rejection" Castiel will feel when Dean calls him a BROTHER later on.

I hope you enjoyed this meta, see you in the next one!

Tagging @metafest @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @foxyroxe-art @authorsararayne @anonymoustitans @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @wildligia @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-is--endgame @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @tenshilover20 @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @isthisdestiel @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@imjustkipping @destielle @agusvedder @spnsmile @shippsblog

If you want to be added or removed from this list, just let me know.

If you want to read the previous metas From s11, here you have the links Vol. LXII, LXIII, LIV.

Buenos Aires, June 9th 2020 3:17 PM

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

Previously On Supernatural Season 3, we had a really rock solid trio of episodes to kick us off right, so what does SPN do next? It’s gonna lay the groundwork for some spicy character development that may or may not pay off by the end of the season. Let's find out!

To be honest, I felt the next three episodes just sort of plateau? There’s enough nuggets in these three eps - “Sin City”, “Bedtime Stories”, and “Red Sky at Morning” - that it does feel like they’re setting up for something big but it’s taking too much time. If the season had been longer, I don’t know that I’d be complaining, because there’s SO much potential introduced with these character developments, but I know it’s gonna get cut off at the knees in the very near future. 2021 Me has been trained on what to expect from a short season, so half of my brain wants to give the show slack for Unexpected Circumstances, but the other half of my brain is shouting YOUR NOT DRIVING THE BUS FAST ENOUGH, YOU’LL NEVER MAKE IT TO THE END OF THE LINE IN TIME!!!

And that’s maybe unfair because there really are some great nuggets in here. We’ve got “Sin City”, which is Dean’s episode. I mean, they’re ALL Dean’s episode, but this one more so than the other two in this post. Dean gets trapped with a demon who turns out to be...kinda...nice? In kind of a Stockholm Syndromey way I guess? She let’s Dean in on the fate that awaits him when his year long contract is up and it is NOT great. This isn’t the first time we see that there’s more to the demons than SPN has shown us in the past (hello, Ruby), but it is the first time Dean chills out enough to actually have a conversation with one. Dean doesn’t really get it, like he’s still not interested in getting out of his deal, but the fear gets planted, it just needs some time to grow. Oh, also, the Colt Ex Machina is back in action, so that's important.

This dumb bitch thinks he can fool us with that devil-may-care side glance but he caaaan't

But then we get “Bedtime Stories”, the Sam episode, where Sam learns...to let go? That’s the point of this episode right? It’s about letting go of someone before that person becomes too toxic and dangerous? At least, that’s the lesson that Dean wants Sam to take away from this case. But Sam will NOT learn this lesson, so instead he tries to cancel Dean’s deal by killing the crossroads demon who wrote it. Spoiler Alert: it doesn't work.

And then we get “Red Sky At Morning”, which opens and closes with some heavy emotional baggage, but then is stuffed full of fun. Like, this episode ricochets wildly in terms of Feelings, but then that’s probably what we should expect from SPN. I mean, what show have I been watching for 3 seasons now?

Fun Facts guys: I’m a tired Millenial, and swapping DVD discs was too much work so I switched over to watching this season on Netflix and GUESS WHAT???? THESE EPISODES COME WITH A SUICIDE WARNING!?!?!

They're not wrong.

And like, if that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about this season I don’t know WHAT will. Cuz Dean is absolutely suicidal and I am surprised (??) I guess (???) by how much the show acknowledges that. Or I guess, surprised by how much Netflix acknowledges that. It’s something that I did not...pick up on the first go around on season 3, possibly because I was 19 and I was an idiot and found this sort of emotional vulnerability to be endearing. Listen, I know there’s a lot to be said about the producers of the show making...umm…poor decisions in regards to character developments? But if the target demographic of this show was anything like me - and I suspect they were - then the viewers were also...probably...responding inappropriately to some of those character developments. And here’s the thing - I’m looking at this from 12 years in the future, with 12 years worth of real life drama that makes the heavy handed melodrama of television feel...well, heavy handed. Maybe irresponsible? Certainly a little uncomfortable. Big Me is having A Time confronting Little Me’s taste in TV Characters. It’s one thing to have a kink, Little Me, it’s another thing to romanticize suicidal depression.

And hey, I can’t deny that the character development for Dean makes sense. I actually appreciate that the show is thinking through the world and the relationship dynamics that they’ve built and the toll that these misadventures are having on their main characters. These episodes all get bookended by Impala Fights where Sam keeps pushing Dean to give a shit about his own life and Dean responds with an inability to care. That’s just where he is right now, and I get that. We’re early in the season still. But how will the rest of the season handle this? I honestly can’t remember but I also don’t want this to be a throw-away issue that they use to remind us that Dean’s supposed to die at the end of the season. I’m prob gonna come back to this throughout the season because I ~just~want~this~show~to be~repsonsiblllllleeeeeeeeeeee.

Lol, I know, that’s a lot to ask from the CW.

ON TO MORE FUN THINGS!!

Sam is gettin’ reeeeeallll bitchy in these episodes and #1, I love it, Bitchy Sam 5Ever, but also #2, was this supposed to be the sign that Sam was going darkside? Like, he’s snarky, he’s angry, he’s not pulling any punches and that could just be him reacting to his brother’s situation but it could also be….you know...him...becoming slightly...evil? For instance in “Sin City”, he kills the two demons who kidnapped Dean without even thinking. On the one hand, this is the Winchester MO, they kill demons, that’s their job, but on the other hand, Dean is actively telling Sam to stop. Same deal in “Bed Time Stories” - Sam kills the crossroads demon in cold blood (or maybe viscera). Again, we could blame this on instinct - the Winchesters were brought up to do exactly this - but 1) Dean keeps telling Sam not to and 2) that’s not Sam. This show spent 2 seasons telling us that Sam is the Good Brother, the White Hat, the Touchy-Feely One. This is not the Touchy Feely Sam who reasons with ghosts and falls in love with werewolves. Like, everyone else sees it too, right? Also, he is usually very nice to everyone but he is a REAL BITCH to Gertrude in “Red Sky at Morning.” Like, come on, Sam, she just wants to have a nice time. She is OLD. You really think she’s got what it takes to climb that tree?

Honestly, how tall are this lady's heels?

I know that there was a plan for Sam to start Turning in this season before the show’s episode order got slashed due to the Writer’s Strike. And man, I really would have liked to have seen this play out. Like, first season Sam is the Innocent, right? He’s our stand in for the viewer in those first few episodes and then he’s revealed to be kind of the only thing that went right in the lives of both John and Dean, so Baby Must Be Protected at All Costs. The fact that John ultimately lets Sam go off to college and doesn’t contact him for the next four years says to me that on some level, John felt the need to preserve that innocence, that kind of untouched quality Sam has. Dean is very similar - whenever Sam gets too into the job, Dean calls him out on it. So in the second season when we find out that Sam might be evil, it’s a real punch in the gut, for Dean most of all. But then the show admittedly got bored with that storyline and it didn’t really go anywhere. So whereas Dean has personality in SPADES that fluctuates and changes and develops/maybe just gets more intense as the show goes on, Sam remains that kind of blank slate that the viewer can put their face on. Except now we’re in season three, and if you’ve bought into this show, then you’ve bought into it, so the audience doesn’t need a Blank Slate Sam anymore. And if you start with Sam the Innocent and then introduce the idea of Dark!Sam and then just leave that concept hanging, then isn’t this sort of like Checkov’s Evil Sam? If you introduce Evil Sam in the first act you really ought to deliver on Evil Sam by act three, right? Wouldn’t that have been A+ and Wild? Wouldn’t that have made Sam’s arc and emotional struggles over the previous seasons have more weight?

Will this be resolved in later seasons? Maybe. I’m gonna be honest, this is the last season I watched all the way through and seasons 4 through...like, 8 were real touch and go for me. I know that Sam ultimately is revealed to be a vessel for??? The devil??? And Dean is ultimately revealed to be a vessel for??? Michael??? And then the two of them???? Fight to the death???? Point is, season 5 got weird guys and I’m not there yet.

Back to more fun things! You know what guys?? I think I ship Dean and Bela. I’m...almost ashamed to admit it? Like, I remember Little Me watching this season and just dumping on Bela, I HATED her, but this time? I am 1,000% On Board This Ship. Like, there is an alternate universe somewhere where these two got a spinoff show that ran for 6 seasons and I watched EVERY episode. And then, like, 5 years after it ended, they rebooted it with Dean and Bela’s grown up daughter as the lead and the whole OG cast makes cameos over the three seasons it stays on the air and it’s amazing. I’d own both shows on DVD.

What I like about Bela this time around (and again, I am WILDLY surprised about this development), is that she can dish it just as hard as the Winchesters can. Like, every line Dean throws at her she holds up a mirror to say, “Oh yes, I know the Kettle is black, but what color are you, Pot?” and I’m just continually thrilled. She is also just as damaged as Dean is but somehow channeling it into a healthier way? Like, she’s true Chaotic Neutral, which is not necessarily healthy, it’s just healthier than Dean. Or maybe it’s just that she’s better at managing it. In either case, they are HOT MESSES and I love it. I just love it. I know I complained about shoehorned romances but Ackles and Lauren Cohan just totally crush it in every scene and when Dean walks down the stairs all She’s All That in “Red Sky at Morning”, I yelled at the screen OMG just BONE already!!!!! And then like, 5 seconds later, Bela literally says “We should really have angry sex,” and it was probably the most vindicating moment I’ve had on this ride so far.

I just think they're neat!

WHY did we cancel her? WHY?? I don’t want to believe it was the Wincest again, so I’m gonna pretend that it wasn’t, but it was definitely fans. According to Kripke, Bela gets the axe at the end of this season because of the fan hatred of her. Now, I’ve already admitted that I personally held a grudge, but good Lord, what was wrong with us, as a Fandom? To be fair to me (and all of us), would we have felt differently if we had not been introduced to Jo a mere season earlier?? I'm gonna say yes. Although I had misgivings about Jo the first episode we meet her, by the end of season 2 I was certainly on her side. Working through season 3, I am remembering that, when we were introduced to Bela, I was immediately FURIOUS because WTF, WHERE’S JO? SPN just introduced to her. They just settled on a love interest for Dean and the writer’s just got me on board with that. Now they’ve completely done away with both that character AND that dynamic and you want me to get on board this NEW thing? And be excited about it??? So I'm gonna blame the love-interest-whiplash, combined with the fact that Little Me related my own personal self more to Jo than to Bela, that made me hate Bela in the first place. When you look at how quickly the show abandoned one character to introduce another character, it makes sense why fans got mad, but I’m also mad that we continued to hate Bela when she turned out to be such an A+ Frenemy. It makes me want to shout at the writers through the time void COMMIT TO A FEMALE CHARACTER YOU JAGWEEDS.

What’s wild watching this show now is just how Male it was, especially considering its audience was already skewed heavily female by this point in the series. If you made this show today, I don’t know that you could do that. Today, there’s a real push for balanced, diverse casts in programming, especially in sci-fi/fantasy and young adult. I think if SPN had started in 2021, they would have introduced the Harvell’s or Bela up in season 1, and that introduction would have been much more intentional. The benefit of having a shorter episode count as the standard is that there’s less of the “throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks” approach. Looking at it from 2021, reading snippets of interviews from Kripke, that’s definitely what they’re doing with the side characters in these seasons and you can feel that in Jo and Bela. A shorter season means that the storytelling has to be tighter, it can’t wander, so every decision has to be a load-bearing decision. On the other hand, one of the down sides of having a shorter episode count is the exact same thing - less room to throw stuff, less room to experiment. Heck, Bobby was technically a character they threw at the wall and he didn’t just stick, he became a tentpole character of the series. The only side character that actually made it into the series finale even!

So how much room should we be giving our television programs? I think it depends on the show, honestly. I think you have to decide up front if you want space to experiment, or if you have one, tight, compact story line that’s gonna drive viewers from episode 1 right through the finale without giving them the chance to catch their breath. You have to make the decision, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop making one style of show in favor of the other. Just because we’re in the Age of Streaming doesn’t mean there isn’t room enough for both.

[the-trashy-phoenix]

Supernatural season 1 review (part 2)

Link to part 1:

The good thing about deciding to rewatch a show that I started five years ago is that I barely remember what happens in the first seasons. I know of course the big events, but if you asked me how each episode ends I wouldn't know how to respond, so watching it for the second time, in some ways, has been like watching it for the first time. What really changed about it is the fact that now I know what happens later in the other seasons, I know who the protagonists will become and what they will struggle with and I myself am different from the 15-year-old I was while watching it for the first time.

Five years ago I liked season 1, but I couldn't say it was one of my favourites, mostly because of the lack of interaction the two brothers have with any other important character. Yes, they have their father (who I'll talk about later) and in the last episode there's also Bobby (at that point, during the rewatch, I thought he would have never made an appearance in the first season, fortunately I was wrong), but besides them they just have each other throughout the entire season. As I rewatched it the feeling remained the same, but I think I have enjoyed this season more than I did before. Was it because I was already passionate about them? Or because I know it sets up the basics of the show and introduces some links to the next seasons? Or because, knowing already what would happen, I could focus on each episode more? One thing I noticed indeed is that these first episodes have a good storyline, besides the main one (which is not that complex if you compare it with the ones that come next): the little plots are interesting and quite original, and even if I already knew that the two boys would make it I'd still be very anxious about what would eventually happen to them. Later in the most recent seasons I couldn't get the same feeling about the episodes that revolved around a specific case, but I think the main reason why I couldn't get as involved is because the main plot becomes way more important than the single case and obviously the attention of the show is totally shifted to it (but I still think there are lots of great single episodes in the most recent seasons).

Now I feel like I need to talk about the characters. When I watched the show for the first time I didn't really love John Winchester, but now that I rewatched it, supposedly more conscious, I can't stand him. You can see he has good intentions: he loves Sam and Dean and he wants to protect them. The thing that just makes me dislike him is the fact that he does it in the wrong way. He's not a good father, even if he cares about them: who would let their children by themselves to go hunting and maybe to never come back? Who would let his oldest child become the father and mother figure for his younger brother just because they couldn't do it themselves? Who would let his child start hunting when he's too young to even hold a weapon? Who wouldn't answer the phone when they know their children might think they're dead? And who claims they want to protect their children and yet sends them on hunts? The fight he had with Sam before his son went to college seems the least disturbing thing to me.

Talking about Sam, I think he's the one I like the most in this season. First of all he doesn't give a shit about his dad's opinion and we love it, second of all he has all of the good reasons to do it: why would he listen to someone who had prioritised his desire for revenge over his love for his children? I also adore the fact that he doesn't follow his father's rules until he knows their purpose, almost as if he doesn't trust him completely, meanwhile I feel like he would follow Dean's plans more easily without questioning them. The separation from his father seems to me a good thing for Sam, since I feel like he has also detached from some of John's principles that I wouldn't agree with (I'm mostly talking about the boss-attitude he has towards the boys and the extremely masculine side he priorities for himself and for his children, but there could be other things we don't necessarily see that have shaped his most attached child's personality and prospective, just saying). Overall you can tell this first season was more focused on Sam than on Dean. He is the different brother, the rebellious one, and the one who also has psychics ability (which I totally forgot about by the way, as long with his justified obsession for Jessica's loss, which apparently is a thing that still goes on in the last season). Dean at first on the other hand could seem like the ideal child for a person like their father.

Since I've watched this show Dean has always been my favourite character. I don't really know what made me fall in love, since I usually can't stand people who have his type of personality (especially the personality he has in the first season). I think what makes me like him the most, apart from his beautiful appearance, is the fact that, while Sam's character is already exposed and has already shown a lot of depth, Dean’s one is kept somehow in the surface (probably because Sam seems the real protagonist): we see him as the classical masculine guy who just wants to go hunting, drive his car and fuck some ladies (which, I mean, isn't entirely wrong, and I think nowadays the last point, portrayed as it was in Supernatural, would be considered extremely rude and with every right to do it), but at the same time there are tiny moments when he lets us see his others sides which he tries desperately to hide deeply. And what he tries to hide the most are, of course, his feelings: his love for his brother and his family, his fear of losing the people he cares about and even his love (or deeply affection) towards Cassie (a girl I completely forgot about, again, and that I really liked, especially for the name). I feel like what sculpted Dean and made him the boy he was in the first season was mostly his father: he was the man Dean has always tried to copy and follow, and it's not surprising at all that this is who he became. He pictures himself as a soldier who has to hunt in order to please his father and as a big brother whose only purpose is to make sure his little brother is okay. Don't get me wrong, these traits are important to this character, but I think there is much more to know about him.

And this is what really intrigues me about Dean; his complexity, his contraddictions and his constant torment between what he thinks he should do and what he really wants to do. Speaking of that, I really love when, during his dad and Sam's fights, he tries to calm them down, showing his care for them, but at the end of the day he stays on Sam's side, proving he will eventually always protect him.

And that leads us to the last thing I want to talk about in this already eternal review: the two brothers. They're what carries most of the show and all of season one (because, let's be honest, when you understand their father is being a dick you stop to care about what happens to him).

I love their relationship; it's not perfect at all, especially in the first seasons. They lie to each other, they fight, they keep secrets from themselves, they prank each other (which is the best thing they do), but they love each other endlessly, and you can tell it from the start: they would do anything for the other one (that doesn't mean I ship them though) and the other's well-being is the first thing that matters to them. After all you can already tell this show is mainly about the two brothers' relationship (although I think there is also much more to look forward to).

- Carly 💚

[mittensmorgul]

The Empty says he'll come for Cas when he's happy and I've been thinking that meant he had a heart to heart with Dean but isn't it more likely that his acceptance of his previous decisions will be what summons the Empty? He feels so much guilt for Heaven and the fall, etc. But he saw the AU and what would have happened if he'd not made his own choices. And we saw how terrified of heaven he is now, that he knows they're all shades of evil. So, maybe self forgiveness is the trigger and not Dean?

eep I have not had enough coffee for this yet… :P

Let’s start with the assumption that Cas is a multidimensional character with issues on a lot of fronts. Dean is not his sole reason for being, and not his sole emotional issue, you know?

That said, he knows the current situation in Heaven. Not only that, he knows that while he’s played a part in Heaven’s earlier problems, he’s been working harder than all the other angels put together trying to fix what’s wrong there– both as a result of his (and other angels’) actions in the past (because remember the whole apocalypse thing was NOT his idea and he has PROOF from GOD that he’s the one who kept trying to do the right thing… by the sheer fact that he was the one repeatedly resurrected, you know?) as well as now.

He’s consistently done everything in his own power to help Heaven, and aside from that one time he’d been partially taken over by the Leviathan and killed swaths of angels in “punishment” as Godstiel and that other time he was lied to and tricked into helping Metatron complete the angel fall spell (because he fully believed it would lock all the angels IN Heaven, not dump them out), Heaven’s problems really aren’t his fault, you know? There’s only so many times one angel can plead to all the others to let the past go, to accept that the world has changed, and that they either need to change with it or die…

Since then he has gone so far out of his way to try to make amends that it’s beyond ridiculous. I mean, I was just watching 11.02 a few hours ago, and even the angel who is probably Cas’s last “friend” in Heaven– Hannah– has played a part in Cas’s torture and manipulation. Cas had asked for help, and was the one angel who had a decent idea of the gravity of the situation with the Darkness, and yet even Hannah was ready to punish him in order to get Sam and Dean’s location out of him. NOT to talk with them and discover what had happened, but to punish and kill them for what they’d done.

There is no reasoning with angels. Cas had accepted that. The next time he asked for Heaven’s help (in 11.22), it was as a direct messenger of God, and he still had to beg, even when he had the authority of God behind him. So what did he really expect from Heaven? When Heaven approached HIM in 12.15, it was under the assumption that he would “repent” for what he’d done and return to them, and abandon his nonsense on Earth and with the Winchesters. But he firmly declared that no, he was doing all of this for the Winchesters. It was Heaven’s insistence they handle Dagon and Kelly their way that led to even more angel deaths.

Then they continued the same sort of campaign in s13– first attempting to kill Jack and then not letting anything stand in their way to capturing Jack to use his powers to “fix” Heaven. Dumah tried to ask for Cas’s help in “convincing” Jack to essentially be their magical little slave, but the truth was that the angels selfishly wanted to use Jack like some sort of battery, and not like a person. Which is honestly horrific.

I think that meeting his alternate version in the AU was more about understanding the differences between what he COULD have been versus what he IS. I don’t think it’s a matter of him realizing that Heaven is “evil” or corrupt or just flat-out wrong. Those were things he already knew. It was more about him being able to take his destiny into his own hands quite literally. Killing his AU self who’d been brainwashed and damaged beyond all recognition, precisely because he was never forced to consider free will, isn’t just about Dean having been the one to keep that door open for him, you know? Yes, the entire process never would’ve begun without Dean, but on every other level that mattered, the choices and actions came down to what Castiel chose for himself. Killing his AU self was entirely about him. They were even alone in that scene, you know? That was about Cas himself facing this. Not about proving Heaven was evil, or would torture him into compliance, or even about the fact that Dean had essentially saved him from that fate. It was about HIM, and what breaking free of Heaven’s control had finally allowed him to become. Which seems like a subtle difference, because yes Dean has been the catalyst (repeatedly, over the last ten years, opening the door in the first place and then continuing to support him to the point where he’s irrevocably become A Winchester himself in every way that matters, through trials and hard times as well as through successes), but the important thing to remember is that Cas could’ve chosen a different path at any point (like he did in s6), and yet over and over he continued to choose free will, even when he wasn’t sure it was the right thing, and even when he didn’t get it quite right. Reducing all of that to be “because Dean” is kinda reductive.

Obviously this summary here is seriously glossing over a lot. This is in no way everything that’s happened here, but just a quick lil refresher leading up to what I’m about to say… which is:

Cas has been making his peace with Heaven, and with himself, for a really long time. He’s even (shockingly) been given a sort of absolution from Naomi of all people, back in 13.19 when she walked him to the door and let him go. Then in 14.08 she acknowledged that Cas’s motives may not have been putting Heaven first in taking the actions he did to save them from the Empty Entity, which in itself is a sort of forgiveness or acceptance of who Cas is, and she also specifically THANKED him.

Naomi, at least (and probably Dumah) are now beginning to understand Cas and the fact he hasn’t been “working against Heaven” all this time, but searching for a better way, balancing the needs and wants of Heaven with the needs and wants of humanity on Earth. Because it’s never been “us or them,” as SO many angels have been convinced of over the years. This is not a black and white issue, on any level.

So when it comes to what could make Cas perfectly happy, what would trigger his deal with the empty, I think it must first and foremost be about Cas himself.

Even having Heaven’s forgiveness and acceptance wasn’t enough to trigger the deal. Even saving Jack wasn’t enough. Even reunited with the Winchesters as a family wasn’t enough. Because while I feel that yes, Dean will of course play a major part in Cas achieving that happiness, because Dean has ALWAYS been the major trigger for ALL of Cas’s growth over the years, it wouldn’t be as simplistic as some romantic declaration, you know? Because Cas as a character is so much more than that.

But since you asked me what I thought of this, I’m gonna tell you.

I’m not entirely sure it will ever come to this. I’m not sure they won’t find some other resolution to Cas’s deal before it comes to them laying out Cas’s happiness trigger on the table that blatantly, you know?

Not to mention, this is the sort of speculation I personally hate, because it’s based on the assumption that we’re looking at this from the right direction. And we literally have no way to know if we’re somehow obsessing over the entirely wrong thing, or interpreting it correctly.

Right now, this entire question and response is grounded on unstable foundations. It’s nothing more than a theoretical exercise, because we have no way to know what will actually be important by the end of the season. I can suggest that thematically and from a character perspective this will come down to Cas’s choices and his own opinion of himself, and that Dean will likely play a role as a catalyst in making his choice. But outside of that… I’m not even sure if the rest of this will ever actually be relevant in the first place. Because we’ve made the ASSUMPTION that we’re correct in believing this must come down to some sort of confrontation between Cas and the Empty, or that we will definitively have a singular moment of Absolute Happiness with unqualified certitude that it was One Singular Thing that sparked Cas’s doom. And that’s just… not how this works. At least not from the speculation side of things.

I mean, this is an interesting question from a purely theoretical standpoint, because it was interesting enough to me to spend the last two hours typing this nonsense up. But outside of this reply having been an interesting thought exercise for me, I don’t think there’s really any conclusion to be made. I think the question is unanswerable, because we don’t even know yet if canon will bear it out as a valid question in the first place, you know?

I really hope that makes sense. It’s just frustrating to me that there’s even this hemming and hawing over speculation like this, as if it has to be Destiel or Not-Destiel, and those are the only two valid assumptions going forward. Because that assumption negates all of this ^^, that yes of course it is all about Cas and his choices and being able to forgive himself and hopefully understand himself enough to make those choices about who and what he wants to be, but you literally cannot divorce Dean’s presence in Cas’s life and his influence in every one of Cas’s choices over the last almost 11 years from what Cas inevitably will choose for himself. 

I’m not saying that Cas will choose xyz thing because of Dean’s influence (hur hur), or because Dean pushed him into choosing it. Cas’s story arc is still primarily about HIM, just like Dean’s is primarily about Dean, and Sam’s is primarily about Sam. That’s how main characters function in a narrative, you know? But they also don’t function in a vacuum. What makes up the narrative is how each of the characters relate to the others, and how all of their choices are influenced by and consequently affect the others.

So at the very root, I think the question is looking to establish some false duality that it must be one or the other thing, that one of these things will be The Truth™ and will therefore negate or invalidate the other. And that’s just… not how this works. I think that really does a disservice to Castiel as a character, reducing him to a plot device when this has literally been his character arc since s4, made essential to the ongoing narrative structure since at least s8

[mittensmorgul]

As far as other characters not getting the same attention as the main 3...i mean, that's just my understanding of how tv shows work?? They can't pay all those actors to be on the show in order to give them the same focus and development, plus every show has a focus. Not every character can be a main character, y'know? I feel that all the other characters have gotten amazing development for being side characters, and if they're not on as much or were killed off, they just ran their course.

Yeah, Supernatural has a core main cast, and no matter how fleshed out or developed side characters may be, or even after they’ve returned over and over again over the course of years (like Bobby, or Jody, or Claire, or Donna, or...), all of the main storylines will eventually fall on that core main cast.

For a long time, that was Sam and Dean. When Cas first showed up, he definitely fell into that category of “useful side character.” But over the course of his first season on the show he went from amazingly introduced plot device (someone had to pull Dean outta hell) to a full fledged (heh) character in his own right. And because his narrative goals mirrored those of Sam and Dean, he clicked into their story like no other character ever has.

By the middle of his second season on the show, he had rejected Heaven, rejected the apocalypse, rejected billions of years of his own personal history, in order to take a one-angel stand for humanity. Team Free Will was officially born, and Cas had earned himself a place under Dean’s umbrella of “family.”

Cas is different. We know more about his character than pretty much any other “side character” in the history of the series. And his main character arc isn’t there just to serve Sam and Dean’s. It’s his, running in tandem to theirs. Their arcs intersect to such a large degree that often Sam and Dean’s personal arcs also serve Castiel’s. That’s not how “side characters” get written. That’s how a main character is written.

A show with multiple plotlines that serve an entire cast of main characters would essentially be a soap opera. And whatever else it is, that’s just not how Supernatural is structured.

Yes, Crowley had a long history of interfering in the Winchesters’ stories. He’d been both an ally and occasional enemy, but he’d always had his own purposes and reasons for whether he was currently helping or hindering their efforts from season to season. At the end of the day, we did learn most of his story (over the course of eight years), and understood his final sacrifice.

Mary of course came back both to further Sam and Dean’s plots (and even serves as a heavy mirror to Castiel’s current arc), but she’s also had a lot of growth of her own, coming to terms with the guilt and sense of failure that drove her away from the bunker in 12.03. And now, like Charlie after 9.04, she’s been dragged off into an epic quest in an alternate universe. In that respect, it seems like she will have at least a portion of the s13 storyline.

The fact that so many of our “side characters” are so amazingly well characterized is fantastic, because they expand the entire Supernatural universe for us. When the main characters meet up with recurring characters again, it’s a reminder that the world has gone on in Sam and Dean’s absence from their lives. I almost prefer to know those characters are just living their lives in between visits from the Winchesters.

Claire is off hunting on her own. Jody and Alex are doing their thing, with Jody probably taking on the occasional hunt when something spooky happens in her neck of the woods. Donna being adorable and keeping an eye on her own turf for the creepy, yet also possibly occasionally picking up a hunt with Jody or Claire. Garth and his family have probably been in hiding from the BMoL, but heck they’re still hanging on and doing their werewolf version of the apple pie life again now. Aaron and his Golem have hopefully wiped out the Thule, and maybe they’ve come back to the U.S. to help stomp other monsters now.

Max is probably struggling to adjust to what Alicia has become because of his choices, but hopefully Alicia is okay with it all. I worry about them.

One that gets me is Rowena. After 12.11, Sam and Dean promised to owe her one for the future... she’s still got one IOU from the Winchesters...

So even though the story is never going to focus more than an episode here and there on these “supporting characters,” they still feel like real people in that universe, you know? Even if the main plot of Supernatural isn’t directly about them. They’re still important to the plot, just by knowing they all exist in TFW’s lives, even when we don’t see them on screen.