#sam has finally seen dean not as a guardian-parent but as a weak and fallible person

[shallowseeker]

I know a huge theme of the show is that the characters, especially the brothers, keep each other human.

That said, there's something very special about Dean and Cas. The mark of the handprint that permeates their bond is a historic (cave-painting-like) symbol of humanity, too.

Humanity is a word for the qualities that make us human, such as the ability to love and have compassion, be creative, and not be a robot or alien.

And Dean and Cas don't "keep" each other human.

They make each other more human by giving each other something that's just them, by representing not acts of utilitarianism and duty...but by "just being."

For each other, they represent tireless, dogged determination and hope, a niggling persevering love that helps them believe they don't belong in 24-7, suicide-coded total warfare (symbols: Purgatory, Heaven, hunting), that they aren't just weapons...good for nothing else.

13x14 via @spnscripthunt

///

15x18 via @spnscripthunt

Their existence challenges the other not to give into unthinking, hopeless nihilism. They challenge each other to rethink what they've always known, to forgo perfectionism, to move beyond a black-and-white idealization of loved ones, to de-romanticize what a life together should look like.

They represent to each other a hope for the future.