#not really only if you squint

[mai-komagata]

so here is my melkor hot take of the day. i dont think melkor is more evil than sauron.

like yes, tolkien said sauron is less evil than melkor bc he is devoted and obedient to him, i.e. catholic theological legalese, since love and obedience are the catholic virtue things that dont originate from evil. cool. ASIDE FROM THAT.

and like, melkor is totally MORE POWERFUL than sauron by like orders of magnitude. sure. melkor is the evil soup that suffuses the world like original sin and the fall do in catholic theology.

but like if in looking at intent and what they do, i dont think you can say that for sauron's relative power, i hesitate to say he is more evil, but he is evil in a more insidious and dangerous way common to our age.

like i see melkor very much representing the evil of the natural world (and to some degree part of the universal plan of eru iluvatar). he is volcanoes. he is the blight of winter. he is disease and pestilence and decay. he is the coming of darkness, the destruction of creation. the entropy of the universe. he desires the spark or life but can only subdivide endlessly like bacteria.

but that is part of the fallen world in theological terms even if it shouldn't be part of a healed world of immortal quasi spiritual (or actually spiritual) beings. it is imperfection if the goal is deathlessness. but it is part of the world.

and to a degree i see valar as having this sort of impersonal force of nature quality about them. not just melkor. they all do. tolkien describes them like heavenly bureaucrats. they arent tied to the world and dont understand the world in a tangible personal way that even the maiar do.

sauron is different and i think there is a reason sauron is the villain in the books in the second and third age and specifically in the main book he published. he is the evil of our modern world.

because most mythologies dont have two dark lords. one representing chaos and destruction and one representing order and coercion and industry.

it represents a fundamental swing in how cultures started to conceptualize evil. we mastered science and thus a lot of the things that were a curse from the gods were being solved. and yet. the world wasn't becoming less evil. we still want to control each other, to subjugate others. we want to tame nature so much it kills her and makes her barren. we covet power because we are afraid of the lack of it.

so yeah. sauron and melkor are both evil. but sauron was subject to melkor (or natural evils) until we subdued and chained him. and then sauron's evils were dominant.

(is this character analysis or fictional theology? idk.)

i love these characters because they are symbolic of how we conceptualize evil in the world, as well as being stand-ins for a certain character archetype. i dont have to write them just as them being evil. but they are great for writing about difficult subjects because of their symbolic nature.

(and maybe like sauron i too love volcanoes and snow and mushrooms and thus am a bit enchanted with the force of nature that is melkor. i used to study a LOT of catholic theology, and now as an outsider looking in im like, maybe i can play with these myths and tropes. at the same time, the ultimate plan of eru iluvatar is meant to be a mystery.)

[mishiami]

i see a lot of art of hawks having this guy as his parental figure growing up

[toastytrusty]

i really like the idea of post-canon jfj returning to britain because he would just Not be okay. At all. which like obviously. who would be. but he would be so Uniquely not okay. we see through his storytelling and his confession to francis that he is always trying to create for himself a "great gilded life." and i love that phrasing. a Gilded life. because he passes off every horrifying terrible wretched thing that happens to him as a brilliant, daring exploit, and something that makes him Really Cool, actually. he turns every traumatic event he endures into essentially a form of marketing for himself. and their years in the ice are just about as bad as it gets. so what is someone whose primary defense mechanism their entire life's been turning their trauma into glory to do? continue doing that. build a new frame around themself. gild the walls of what they experienced. tell a story. retreat into the belief that you are better because of what happened, that it could not possibly have wounded you so deeply as you fear it did. and yet. and Yet. we saw throughout the entire expedition, but i'd say most especially after franklin died, just how Young james is. it's not obscure history to know he was passed over to lead the expedition because he was too young. and yet he had to lead it anyway, because franklin died like immediately. which was really embarrassing honestly. he had to be a leader and feel the crushing weight of everyone's death and everyone's suffering on top of his own and clearly in the moment he was Not coping well. and he would have to live with that after. obviously the degree to which things impact him would depend on when and how you choose to get them out of the ice, but he, and everyone he was close to there, would remember how undignified and painful it was. he can convince everyone who wasn't there that they were heroic and persevered off of honor and bravery---and doing even this much would require separating himself from everyone who Was on the expedition, because their undeniable and unforgettable suffering would be proof against the validity of his story---and to some extent he can convince Himself, but that all depends on the sensationalization; the dinners and dances and drama. it all depends on the story. and there's only so many times you can tell a story. there's only so many people that will listen. once it's been exhausted to every possible outlet---every newspaper has written about it, every family friend has heard about it---and the years pass, and the sensation dies, what's left? nothing. nothing but the suffocating reality of what you endured and the devastating lonliness you created to put off having to accept it. you are left with a deeply broken man who has completely isolated himself trying to ignore how broken he is. delicious

[fisheito]

before mirage of scales: I NEED YAKUYA EVENT

after mirage of scales: ah. um. i . i don't need yakuya event so much, anymo.re... hah..a...

[rottika]

Someone needs to revoke my free will. Like now, I think.

Alt version with red blood because why not? <3

[flickersofart]

Hey anyone remember the Siffrin Journey drawing from a few days ago. well. *bill wurtz voice* we can make an AU out of this

I happen to have many ideas for this already despite just having this and the Road of Trials drawing!! I will share soon hopefully 👀

[strazki]

I always see things on here about Ben's muteness and how it's gonna bite him in the ass one day, like if he ever is in danger and isn't able to scream or ask anyone for help. But, I raise you all an even sadder scenario.

Imagine Ben being the only one to notice a potential threat endangering someone in the group, particularly someone like Aiden or Taylor who Ben cares a LOT for. Imagine he is maybe somewhere behind the group and has a better view, or maybe he's just the first one to notice, but either way, someone he cares about is moments away from getting jumped by a phantom and getting seriously injured or even dying, and one of three things could happen:

Due to his muteness, he doesn't say a word. He tries to get their attention by making a bunch of noise or waving his arms around, but they just don't notice him, and he watches as one of the people closest to his heart is ripped apart while he could do nothing to warn them.

He decides that, if there is ever a time to forgo his muteness for the good of his friends, now is that time. He warns them, and they end up okay, but the whole group is a little put off by the sound of Ben's damaged, gravelly voice. Meanwhile, Ben is in pieces, haunted by how disgusting and horrifying his voice sounds, so much so that he can't hardly look any of his friends in the eyes for the rest of the day. It fills him with rage and shame that he can't just have a normal voice like everyone around him. Why did he have to be different?

And lastly, my personal favorite, and by far the angstiest, is that Ben decides to use his voice to warn his friends, but after so many years of not using it, no sound comes out. He was relying on them being able to hear him, but no matter how hard he tries, he can't get out a sound above a whisper. He's doing everything possible in his power; screaming, crying, begging, but nothing gets through. His screams are silent as he watches someone he cares for more than anyone in this world get torn apart because he was too angry and depressed to speak for so many years after he got attacked. If he had just gotten over it, got back into talking, and made the recovery everyone wanted him to have, his friend would still be standing there. But they aren't, because Ben failed to protect them.

[aerofbreath]

Prologue - How It Started

Currently 3 years since the Accident, 4 years from the present day.

To be honest, Danny thought that the big reveal with his parents would have turned out badly. Especially since they keep on proclaiming how they plan on ripping every ghost apart “molecule by molecule”. Of course, there were a lot of uncertainties at first, but that's kind of what he gets for literally keeping his parents in the dark for 3 whole years. But, again, it's not exactly Danny's fault. There were plenty of talks and definitely multiple hours of reeducation and, who can't forget to mention, an ungodly amount of conversations on what or what not to say to a ghost.

Overall, this turned out to be the Best Case Scenario. By the end of it all, Danny's parents greeted him with open arms. Life was amazing knowing that all his fears were mostly for nothing. Key word is “mostly”.

In the three years that Danny hadn't told them about his ghost half, his parents, without any better judgement, agreed to have a strategic partnership with the Ghost Investigation Ward. Fentonworks would supply the GIW with weapons and research while the GIW actually goes out and enacts “the law”. What a stupid fucking law. Within a year of partnering with each other, Fentonworks easily became the GIW's top suppliers in anything EctoBiology. So when the meeting came to suddenly withdraw from supply raised some major red flags in the GIW.

To be honest, it took the entire Fenton Family by surprise. After spending weeks just struggling to break free from the GIW's hold, it wasn't long until they also find out about Danny's Halfa status. He knows it wasn't his parent's fault in this case. The GIW literally came in while Danny was out on patrol with weapons that no Fenton was able to identify and literally shot Danny down to the point of detransforming. They should've expected it, but they still weren't fast enough as they watched Danny being taken away. Although not officially, the GIW had declared war with the Fentons (and by extension, the entirety of the Infinite Realms).

Many ghosts from Danny's council (“You mean to tell me that my little boy is the King of the Dead?!”) stood by the Fenton's side as they fought tooth and nail for Danny's safe return. Sam, Tucker, Ellie, and hell- Even Vlad fought hard for Danny to come home safe. And he did… for the most part.

Although (half) alive, Danny was found battered and beaten with an ugly Y scarring his chest. Some were horrified and some were sad but even Danny knew that everyone was pissed.

Everyone who was there on the rescue mission and even some additional people that Danny didn't expect to join were on a warpath to make things right. And by that, they mean destroy everything that the GIW has ever had. Databases were cleared and/or destroyed. People were killed (a mother's rage is just a whole different breed) and many bones were broken. Not anyone important, mind you, but it’s still an uncomfortable amount.

Despite everyone Danny ever loves running on just pure adrenaline and rage, they almost lost. After almost burning all of the GIW to the ground, everyone beloved to Danny had collectively decided that in order for the GIW to never get a hold of ghost kind, they will need to destroy everything. Everything that the adult Fentons had worked hard for and everything they had built and rebuilt. They all had to go.

His family and friends gave Danny everything he would need to survive. Photos of them. Flash drives of everything the Fenton's have ever created. Food. Clothes. Everything.

Danny continues screaming why but their only responses were that they just couldn't join him. They said that they don't know how much longer they can continue to hold back. He wasn't safe, they said to him. Be happy, they said. They’re sorry, they said. They love him, they said.

Danny continued to thrash around in his parent's hold as they forced him through the portal, ghosts from Danny's council waiting on the other side. As soon as he fully made it through the portal, it closed with a horrifying boom. An explosion.

The Young King screamed in terror, trying to force himself away from the hold of his council. He had to revert back to his human form in order to break free from the ghost's hold. There wasn't a lot that his council could do at this point anyway since they couldn't touch him. All they could do was watch their distraught king cry and scream as he watched his family abandon him in sacrifice.

Danny knew that he wasn't thinking clearly. Once he was able to calm down from his breakdown, only then did he remember that he's the Fucking King. Ever since he took up the throne, he's been training to get stronger. Although not currently at his best, he can still do what he needs to do. With hands burning bright with green, almost greener than the Realms surrounding everyone, Danny clawed at the air around him, tearing a temporary portal in front of him. Thanks to Wulf, Danny's been able to create portals on his own. There's a lot of work to be done, but for now, it works.

He knows that making portals can vary. You will need to know the exact coordinates in the Human Realm and with math and dividing stuff, you will be able to teleport to the exact location you want from the Infinite Realms to the Human Realm. The best thing in this current scenario, Danny didn't stray far from where he was thrown in, so he can easily make it back home whenever he wants to.

The thing is…

There just wasn't anything here.

Maybe Danny got it wrong? Maybe he actually did move. He looked back through the portal where his council stayed, all of them giving him sad looks. No… This isn't right! He's got to be at the wrong place, he's sure of it! After all, Amity Park had buildings and trees and- and people.

This place had a fucking crater.

“Why…?” Danny then said, floating down in disbelief. When he opened the temporary portal, it was supposed to be ground level. He should have been able to literally step out of the portal and touch ground. Instead, he floated down at least a good few meters (that’s a few meters too many) before he found solid footing in the center.

From what he can see, this crater goes on for miles. At first, he thinks that maybe he's just in the wrong universe? Or maybe the wrong timeline??? But no, the more he looks, the more he can recognize from whatever's left. The sky still looks the same and there's a very specific smell in the air because of the Nasty Burger that once stood. He can continue looking down the crater for maybe miles- It's not really, but it sure feels like it- and he can, unfortunately, recognize the god awful “Welcome to Amity Park!” sign. Although literally hanging by a thread, that seems to be the only thing that survived the blow. Whatever blew up here wiped out the whole town.

Wait.

No.

No no no.

Danny widened his eyes, bolting into the sky. For at least a mile up from the ground is the temporary portal. That shouldn't be right. Whenever he made the temporary portal, he made sure that it would open back up in his basement. That way, he can be able to help out his family if he needs to. By at least a 10 mile radius, there is just nothing surrounding the area.

Danny shook his head, now floating in front of the temporary portal. He is in pure disbelief as his thoughts started to form in his head, connecting the dots together. The Portal was the catalyst for this event. Most likely what happened was that when the Fenton's threw Danny through the original portal, they had set it to self-destruct taking everything and everyone with it. The Portal killed everyone who ever lived in this horrible town. His horrible town. His haunt.

Once the Poor King came to the realization, the air around him started to chill. The ghosts watching him can see the portal waver before it started to freeze over. They can see Danny curl in on himself as the ice begins to form on his person. It was only then that a few ghosts have started to make an effort to keep Danny from hurting himself. Unfortunately, it was all for naught as they were blown back through the portal once Danny let out the horrible wait he dreads so much. There was something odd about the way he wailed but he didn't dwell on it much further. It shook everyone to the core as he wailed his heart out, mourning the loss of everyone he ever cared for.

From after that point was a blur. Using the Ghostly Wail drains Danny to the point of detransforming. Danny fell from the sky before strong arms decided to catch him lest he break his head open on the ground. There was a bit of an argument that had happened before Danny regained his strength to retransform unconsciously and he  could reawaken if he wanted to but he can feel Nocturn's powers soothe him back to sleep, dreaming of people now gone from his life.

Many ghosts from afar came to Danny’s  need, also mourning the loss of his haunt. Pandora  probably had helped carry him back through the portal that he made. Someone else- Ember and Skulker maybe- held on to Danny's floating items for fear that some ghost would take it. Nocturn- most likely- led the poor soul towards The King's Castle where Clockwork awaited with a sad smile. Danny will know that although Clockwork knew all that was to happen, he couldn't do anything about it as it was meant to happen. He knows that Clockwork wants to say more, but he decided not to press on further knowing that he will never get that Ancient to talk. He'll realize much later that he will just need to trust Clockwork’s judgement since he knows that he would never do anything that will hurt Danny and therefore the timeline.

Not all timelines ended up the way it did, but this was the timeline that will lead to Danny's eternal happiness. For now, it will feel like he drew the short straw.

For the next few weeks, Danny mourned. Mourned the loss of his parents. He mourned the loss of his precious sister Jazz and his beloved friends Sam and Tucker. He even mourned the loss of Vlad, hilarious enough, because after so many weeks of being the Realms, that awful man still has yet to show up. He could only assume that he died too. He mourned the loss of his mirror twin. He doesn’t know where she is, but there was no way he could get in contact with her. Not without a home to return to. Not when the GIW are still out there, probably, hunting them down like animals. It would be safer for Ellie to not come in contact.

Eventually, that miserable feeling numbed down. Although having been dealt the worst card, he still had his Kingly duties to do. Duties to focus on instead of being infected with fear and grief.

For years, Danny decided to pour out his half life and soul to the beings of this infinite land. Making sure that everyone here stay loved and seen. They will all receive the care they all deserve so that they may live their afterlife in peace. Of course, there are those who are against him that anyone as kind as him is sure to fall. But they were easily proven wrong. For those who oppose him will understand why he is the King. They all fear him as they all love him. Because of that, it’s changed him. No longer was he the scared and scrawny Danny Fenton. No longer was he the baby ghost of Danny Phantom. He is now just The Phantom. The Phantom, Ruler of the Dead.

Prince of the Sky and Stars.

King of the Infinite Realms.

(This is not the horrible rough draft that I was talking about! This first chapter is maybe the actual complete first chapter (prologue)! If anyone wants, I can post the general plot in another post! Okay bye!)

[yioxxe]

movie night! (aka "bisexual friend group.clip")

i think about the concept of sebastian, kay, and klavier being best friends a lot. i love drawing this kind of domesticity

[uwumoth]

Made this little diy zine!!! It felt great to go back to my preferred medium, collage

[creativesparkz]

who here remembers my dhmis era ???? anyway i redid my recolor trio interpretation for shits and giggles 😊

[goldenspringmornings]

oh okay so now I’m fully convinced that rhys’s mom was convinced/desperately hoping his future mate/partner would be Illyrian cause why else are all the clothes she made full of slits and backless🤨sounds to me like she was planning on the female needing a lot of freedom of movement with those big ass wings. and it was only after rhys could “summon the Illyrian wings at will” that she took him to Windhaven for thirty years👀ya know, the place high fae are notoriously unwelcome🤨👀who was it the bat boys were fucking around with if not the Illyrian females🤨

[luna-the-cretar]

I have an urge to draw Gideon again but like. Better, this time. And with hair I can actually draw. Like, maybe if it was longer. And put into a low ponytail or something. And actually try harder with his facial hair. And jewelry (like horn caps and earrings), because I like drawing that kinda thing (if it wasn’t obvious considering that 99% of the characters I draw tend to have jewelry of some kind—usually earrings)

I also have an urge to draw Shepherd again. But better. And without shitty facial hair (he looks so goofy with the facial hair I gave him 😭😭😭). And maybe some silver horn caps. Or perhaps one silver horn cap and one gold horn cap. With flame designs on both. Bc dragons. And I’ll just claim that Sarnax gave them to him bc that lizards love language is gift giving goddammit.

[astroreoreoreoreoreoreoreo]

was joking to my girlfriend about a very elaborate scenario in which fugo would wear a shirt that reads "I taste as good as I look". The exact text is as follows

"A concept: fugo wearing a crop top that reads "I taste as good as I look" but it's laundry day (that's the only reason he's wearing it, it was a gag gift from Trish) and he looks like shit so it just looks like cannibalism deterrent" -Astro

I drew this to destress . Maybe I'll fix it up and make it into a proper drawing sometime. Not tonight tho

[shallowseeker]

I was thinking about Cas's little sarcastic dig in Family Matters here ("Of course. Your problems always come first.")

Sam, and especially Dean, don’t want to be treated like they’re being babysat by Cas, yet in the early days, they often hope Cas will be endlessly available, invincible, and strong.

(And it's complicated because... compared to them, Cas kinda IS!!!)

Cas, for his part, occupies a complicated space for them. While he is given room to be vulnerable at times, he’s also relied on to be everything at once: Dean's partner in times of trouble, someone who will "be there when Sam calls" and "tear the attic up for Sam," all while shouldering cosmic battles.

The irony is even deeper when Cas gets referred to as "a child" or "a baby in a trench coat"—yet his strength, sacrifice, and loyalty are counted on without question.

(Cas is often goaded into being stronger, of course, because Dean is scared and needs that strength from Cas more than Dean needs it from anyone else, even if Dean doesn't understand why that is. And even if Cas doesn't catch everything in those references, Cas can't help but FEEL that expectation.)

///

BY ANYWAY, BOBBY. In Weekend at Bobby's, Bobby is SOOooooo parent-coded in this episode in a way that kinda parallels Cas in s6.

It's an off-key parallel, but both Bobby and Cas are expected to be there. Bobby without "selfish" complaint, Cas without visible weakness.

Their struggles often go unnoticed unless voiced outright—something Bobby, in true crusty Bobby fashion, has no prob doing in Weekend at Bobby’s:

INT. BOBBY’S HOUSE – NIGHT BOBBY: I – I hear you, son. I – it just ain’t a good time. DEAN (over the phone): Yeah, okay. You know what – Forget it. I mean I'm baring my soul like a freaking girl here and, uh –And you've got stuff to do. So that is – that's fine. That's fine but, seriously, a little selfish. Not all about you. [Bobby gets angry and leans forward.]

///

Dean is going through a LOT, but it's funny how like a child he comes off here. He's spinning out, and he has "no one to talk to," and Bobby's his DAD!

Dean invokes his own emotions like "baring his soul," and is clearly taken aback when Bobby isn't immediately receptive. It shows how Dean expects Bobby to always be there, without question, no matter what Bobby might be dealing with.

That’s classic "invincible parent" territory: the idea that their needs are secondary, or even non-existent.

(Aside// This is sometimes a bit how Sam can treat Dean throughout the run of the series, and how both boys occasionally treat Cas in s6).

///

And then Bobby tears them a new one!!! :D Yay!!! It's a real family moment and I LOVE IT:

DEAN (putting Bobby on speaker after Bobby tells him to go get Sam): You're on speaker, Bobby. BOBBY: Sam. Dean. love you like my own. I do. But sometimes [Bobby pauses and takes a long drink.] Sometimes… You two are the whiniest, most self-absorbed sons of bitches I ever met! I'm selfish? Me? I do everything for you! Everything! You need some lores scrounged up – You need your asses pulled out of the fire –You need someone to bitch to about each other – [Sam looks at Dean, puzzled.] BOBBY (over the phone): You call me and I come through – Every damn time! And what do I get for it?Jack with a side of squat! DEAN: Bobby – BOBBY: Do I sound like I'm done? Now look. I know you've got issues. God knows I know. But I got a news flash for you. You ain't the center of the universe! Now, it may have slipped your mind …that Crowley owns my soul! And the meter is running! And I will be damned if I'm going to sit around –And – and be damned! So how about you two sack up and help me for once? Dean looks very humble and Sam calm. SAM: Bobby, all – all you got to do is ask. DEAN: Anything you need... we're there.

Hits like a tired, overlooked parent.

He reminds them he gets nothing in return from them, which is a HUGE call out to how invisible and thankless his role as caretaker has become.

Bobby’s "sack up and help me for once" is both a plea and a challenge, demanding they grow up and recognize that he, too, is vulnerable and needs support.

It's the parent figure finally voicing the toll of always being strong—for once, asking to be seen.

Dean especially is humbled here. He's been the caretaker for his family, so he gets it immediately.

How hard he was leaning on Bobby.

///

Aside/// This season, Dean's actual support group is small, maybe even consists of just Bobby and Cas. Dean is short on "Dean understanders" this season; that is, he's short on people who see his core experience as not merely a brother, but an actual *pseudo-parent. Dean is a parent of Sam Winchester: and Sam is a complicated, apocalyptic-torn person who's often saddled with shouldering waaaay too much cosmic responsibility...

...which in turn has Dean shouldering too much responsibility too!

So when it comes to Bobby and Cas, Dean puts what he can't take on them! His family!

///

But unlike Bobby, Cas doesn't ask for help.

Which... it's complicated. (And very human.)

For starters, thanks to his upbringing, Cas WANTS to be strong. He thrives and is comfortable being that. Second, there are definitely little ways Cas gets the not-so-coded message that it's bad to be weak, even if those weren't the messages Dean intended to send. (Dean is desperate for everyone to be okay, and he needs someone to want to shoulder the real, complete Dean, with all his duties and complications. And for some reason, subconsciously, Dean wants that someone... to be Cas.)

Regardless, lines like "Babies whine" and "Without your powers" dig a lot deeper than intended for Cas, because Dean didn't have the full scope of the angelic war or Cas's fears about Raphael. And even when Dean DID get glimpses of that, it didn't yield the full story.

///

For his part, Cas is keeping Sam and Dean at arm's length, trying to place them in a "these are my charges to protect" role.

Bu unlike with Bobby, who Dean firmly places in a parental role, something is trying to FUNDAMENTALLY shift between Cas and Dean.

They often find themselves eye-to-eye in the kitchen, making decisions together in a way that feels imho very spousal, creating a dynamic where Dean doesn’t quite know how to navigate this growing sense of wanting to be an equal partner with Cas.

So you get their weird push-pull power struggle between them, sniping and bitching, mirroring what happens in real-life couples early in the relationship when responsibilities are heavy and scary. It's this swirling mix of "Oh shit, I don't know what to do! And YOU don't know what to do! What do WE DO?!" And "You are such a baby / be careful you idiot / be stronger plz for the love of god"

But yeah.

So... Cas holds himself in the role of an ANGEL, remaining largely invisible throughout the season and trying his best to keep his struggles INVISIBLE too, including the war he's fighting on humanity's behalf. Cas prefers that. From a distance. Emotions are scary af; he even calls them CRIPPLING in Mommy Dearest.

(Aside///Call-forward to Mary’s: "I was trying to make things right. Just from a distance, because... being here with you was too hard. Seeing what I'd done to you and to Sam, I..." /// Mary was ashamed of her deal; And Cas was ashamed of his brothers, of angelicity itself, of what they KEEP doing to humanity.)

Anyway, Dean doesn’t quite know how to handle their strange bond, that longing, that closeness, especially as Cas insists on remaining emotionally and physically distant, trying to handle a war they can't even see.

//

As for Bobby and Cas...

While they have their moments of pushback (Bobby’s explosion in Weekend at Bobby’s, Cas’s barbed sarcasm in Family Matters), and it definitely reveals the strain they’re under...

...it often also works to underscore just how invisible their labor has become to the very people they love.

But while Dean begins to grow up enough to see and name Bobby's sacrifices, his understanding of Cas's struggle is murkier, tangled up in pride, love, and the deep, unspoken hope that Cas will always be strong enough for both of them. (Save-me-save-US-but-let-me-help-you.)

I think the thing I love about it all… is the dualistic (subconscious) desire for Cas to make everything okay versus the worry for Cas not to shoulder these burdens alone. It's SOOOOO! HNNNNNnNNnngg. It's very real.

///

EDIT DISCLAIMER: This wasn't exactly the point of this post (Bobby and Cas feeling misunderstood/underappreciated), but for completionist's sake:

Dean's grief is attenuated by the experience of being a "pseudo-parent," and definitely a caretaker in the context of "cosmic-inflicted illness," and that's a riptide that runs through season 6 in a big way. Dean needs the people he loves to SEE this aspect of his life in order to feel understood.

That's what 12x22 is all about. The thread from season 6 to season 12 is surprisingly thick! That's why this:

prefaces this: BEING SEEN

It's not a question of how fair or unfair it is, or if he "should be" or "shouldn't be" "a parent." It's about those very real efforts being seen and understood by those around him, including the grief and continued sense of responsibility this has wrought under worsening and frankly, incredibly unfair cosmic circumstances.

[stupidvillainousposts]

Werewolf Gene AU Stuff but It's Mostly Stan Saving the Kids from Ridiculously Avoidable Situations

Mabel, After Accidentally Starting the Gnome Uprising: *Slams Through the Shack's Front Door* DIPPER! WE GOTTA SKIP TOWN! GET OUR GRUNKLES AND MEET ME AT THE CAR!

Everyone Else: *Stares at Mabel in Silent Confusion*

Mabel: Guys! This is serious! We're gonna be torn to bits if we don't leave! NOW!

Fidds: Mabel, darlin', what exactly did you do?

Mabel, ominously: GNOMES.

Fidds, audibly annoyed: Gosh darn it...

Stan: Welp, time to go paint the forest floor red with the blood of our enemies. C'mon kids! It's time I teach you a new phrase; No Mercy!

-------------------------------

Dipper: *Kicks the Shack in Frustration* I'm tired of this stupid shack!

Random Shingle: *Falls Towards Dipper*

Dipper: Ah, crap.

Stan: *Knocks Dipper Out of the Way and Gets Hit on the Back*

Dipper: Grunkle Stan! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!

Stan, barely able to breathe: Nah, it's fine. I get the wind knocked outta me every other day.

-----------------------------

Stan, tossing Fidds over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes: C'mon, Cowboy. This Big Bad Wolf wants to show you his Big Bad-

-Loud Crash from the Kitchen-

Mabel: IT'S OKAY! WE DIDN'T DRAW BLOOD!

Dipper: AT LEAST, NOT A LOT OF IT!

Stan, setting Fidds down: *Sighs* I'll be back.

------------------------------------

Mabel, putting bows in Stan's mullet and tail: You'll be the prettiest princess at the ball!

Dipper, drawing on Stan's arms: With cool tattoos.

Mabel: Dipper! Princesses don't have tattoos! It's uncouth!

Dipper: You don't even know what that word means!

Mabel: Do too!

Dipper: Do not!

Mabel: DO TOO!

Dipper: DO NOT!

The Twins: *Screaming "Do not" and "Do Too" at Each Other Repeatedly*

Stan: *Ignoring Them Both and Watching Duchess Approves*

-------------------------------

Dipper: *Picks Up a Strange Gem*

Gremloblin: *Sneaks Up Behind Dipper*

Stan: *Tackles the Gremloblin and Wrestles it Into Submission*

Gremloblin: *Runs Off Cursing and Snarling*

Dipper, once Stan walks up next to him: Did you hear something, Grunkle Stan?

Stan, sniffing blood back up his nose: Nope.

------------------------------

Stan: *Staring at His Reflection in a Stream*

Dipper and Mabel: *Walk up to Stan and Wag Their Tails Curiously*

Mabel: What're ya looking at, Grunkle Stan?

Dipper: Yeah, you've been out here for hours!

Stan: What am I looking at? *Sees the Twins Nod and Smirks* I'm lookin' at a group of losers, that's what.