#supernatural meta

[follows-the-bees]

Let's talk about the two Dean and Cas hugs in S11 & 12.

These are the two hugs were Cas puts both of his arms higher than Dean, essentially engulfing him.

Dean usually is the one who does this or the split arm hug with all people he hugs. This is because he uses hugs to comfort others. But in the case of these two hugs, it is Cas who needs the comfort and who wants to comfort Dean. Dean knows this and let's his guard down, his vulnerability, and let's Cas take control of the hug. Their knowledge of each other's emotional needs, their ability to be vulnerable with each other, their need to comfort each other is unmatched.

In S11 hug, they hug thinking it will be the last time seeing each other. Cas clings on with a pained look on his face. Dean smiles at first, sending comfort to Cas and to himself. The smile drops a bit as Dean realizes this could be the last time he touches Cas.

After the hug, Dean even drops his eyesight and looks Cas up and down like he's trying to memorize what Cas looks like. He then offers more comfort to Cas by putting a hand on his shoulder and asks Cas to take care of Sam. The amount of trust in that.

S12 after saving Cas, Dean approaches him arms out, waiting for Cas to hug him. This is a reunion hug, Dean smiles even with Mary being there seeing how vulnerable Dean is at the moment. Not caring cause it's Cas.

Sidenote: you will never convince me this isn't Mary realizing her son is gay! It's okay Mary, you're already lesbian-coded, my love.

These two hugs hit differently for me than the others. And I think they are unique because both Cas and Dean allow themselves to be truly vulnerable in them with people around to see them, and Dean gives up control, let's himself really feel his emotions.

Originally posted here.

[beinghymen]

Thinking about Deancas' "the very touch of you corrupts" thing, and like.

By the time Dean shortened Castiel's name to Cas, he was already sowing the seeds for Cas's fall. Cas was no longer the "shield of god." He took away the 'iel', took away the obedience to God that had been ingrained in Cas since the Beginning. Dean stripped away Heaven's possession with just Cas's name.

No longer the shield of God, Cas made himself a protector. Dean's protector, every chance he got; even from the very God that his old name was sworn to obey. Dean's protector, right up until the very end.

[reallyunluckyrunaway]

[thefableddestiel]

Here’s a parallel I noticed that highlights the difference between Cas relationship with Dean and Cas relationship with Sam pretty well. Episodes 10x22 vs 14x15

When MOC Dean is beating up Cas, Cas doesn’t hit back even once. The most he does is try to bear hug him from behind to calm him down. But not a single punch.

When Sam is Justin Smith, Cas says he won’t hurt him, but he actually does pick him up and slam him into the ground. It’s not a big deal, obviously he knows Sam can take it, but it’s something he wouldn’t even do with Dean.

Before the actual fighting, Cas tells dean, “I’m your friend… I’ll be the one that watches you murder the world.” And then when MOC Dean is on top of Cas holding the angel blade to him, Cas holds onto the wrist Dean has on his tie and the only thing he says is, “please”. He doesn’t even try to grab the hand holding the knife. And then Dean stops.

On the other hand, when Sam is on top of Cas trying to stab him, Cas uses an entirely different approach. He’s forcibly holding back Sam’s arm that’s holding the angel blade. He tells him he understands that he wants to be happy, but that if he does this he fails the people they lost. He says “if you do this you fail Jack. Sam, you fail Dean.” And that makes Sam stop.

The difference that’s so stark is that Cas has to appeal to Sam through talking about Dean. But Cas can appeal to Dean through his own relationship to him. He doesn’t need to bring up what it will do to Sam or anyone else, because their own relationship is powerful enough and he knows it.

[cupidswurld]

last night i watched the first episode in supernatural and within 10 minutes i put it on pause because in NO way, through the 15 seasons, should anyone be happy with how dean's story ends with him dying whilst hunting

because in the 10 minutes that ive learnt about him is that he's spent his entire life fighting, and he dies FIGHTING

no satisfying narrative ends like that, especially not for one thats run for 15 years

[haley-harrison]

is this anything?

[strawlessandbraless]

Cas wakes up in a world where all versions of Dean exist at once. He makes sure to validate them all accordingly and hangs this up on the fridge

[thefabledpheasant]

So, we all know that Cas branded Dean’s soul with the handprint. And then in his last scene left a bloody handprint on Dean’s jacket.

But, have we ever considered that this last handprint was Cas letting dean go? Like, literally removing the handprint brand he left on his soul? That it’s Castiel saying, “I love you so much that I’m dying for you and freeing you from the claim I made on you. I know you are not mine even if I will always be yours and that’s ok. Please live a good life now that my burden is gone from you.”

And if that’s the case, do you think Dean could feel it? The mark being gone? Do you think that left an emptiness nothing else could fill and that’s one of the reasons he was so fine with dying? Because for the first time since he met him, there was truly nothing of Cas left on Earth or with Dean?

[ananke-xiii]

dude, sam winchester has been addicted to demon blood, possessed by lucifer, in the cage in hell, soulless, mentally abused by satan, possessed by a psycho angel, tortured by the MoL and yet

If asked what's the worst he had to go through

I'm 100% positive his answer would be:

"Living in a secret bunker with my closeted brother and his not-so-secret-husband angel and having to be the peacemaker in all their stupid quarrels"

I tell you, this man is DONE, i can't understand why the writers didn't give him a scene where he just screams at them. I would.

[s0fter-sin]

one of my favourite aspects of supernatural that you very rarely see in paranormal shows is that sam and dean are already versed in the world they live in. there’s no sudden discovery of ghosts and demons and now they have to learn about them along with the audience; they are born into it and already know all about it. it allows the audience to follow their personal story instead of also trying to figure out this new world and its rules

the first season is full of knowledge we never see them learn; “w*ndigoes are in the minnesota woods or- or northern michigan. i’ve never even heard of one this far west.” […] “great. well then this [his gun] is useless.” (1x02), “you don’t break a curse. you get the hell out of its way.” (1x08), d: “it’s a god. a pagan god, anyway.” […] “the annual cycle of its killings? and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. like some kind of fertility right.” […] s: “the last meal. given to sacrificial victims. d: “yeah, i’m thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan god.” (1x11)

almost every episode in the first season is a monster they’ve faced before that they then explain to the audience in a way that should feel patronising; like it’s the same speech given over and over again but instead, the audience almost feels included in the knowledge. it’s stated with such an innate confidence and comfort in said knowledge that it feels like we already knew it too; “spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. if they want inside, they just go through the walls.” […] “the claws, the speed that it moves; could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog.” (1x02), “it's biblical numerology. you know noah's ark, it rained for forty days. the number means death.” (1x04), “no no no, not the reaper, a reaper. there's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by 100 different names.” […] “you said it yourself that the clock stopped, right? reapers stop time. and you can only see 'em when they're coming at you which is why i could see it and you couldn't.” (1x12)

they already know and, at least in the first season, already have what they need to kill whatever they’re hunting; already know to salt and burn bones for spirits, fire for a w*ndigo, exorcisms for demons, a silver bullet to the heart for shapeshifters. there’s only three times in the entire first season that they run into something new to them; 1x14 when sam gets his first vision that leads him to another psychic, 1x16 when dean calls caleb for help on the sigil he put together and he tells him about daevas, and 1x20 when they find out vampires are real- and they only don’t know that bc john thought they were hunted to extinction and not worth mentioning

(there’s also technically two half instances if you count one of them knowing something the other doesn’t - sam figuring out the tulpa in 1x17 and dean already knowing about the shtriga in 1x18 - but those still rely on sam and dean having prior knowledge)

even when they’re uncertain about facing something, it’s not bc they don’t know what it is; it’s precisely bc they know what it is and acknowledge that it’ll be a difficult hunt (“i don't know, man. this isn't our normal gig. i mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. this is big. and i wish dad was here.” 1x04)

so much of the tension in paranormal shows typically comes from the main character(s) not knowing what is happening to them/the people around them and having to find out how to resolve it. supernatural is unique in that it operates more like a police procedural. the tension comes from solving the clues and identifying patterns to figure out who (what) the killer is and intercepting before they can take another victim

it’s such a different tone to go for when compared to other shows that came both before, during, and after its run. it sets sam and dean on even footing with each other since they both have the same knowledge going in, and it puts them in a place of authority usually reserved for an outside character

the shows i compare spn to most is charmed, buffy and teen wolf; every main character in those shows are brought into the paranormal world knowing nothing, putting them on the same level as the audience, and they have their mc interact with others already knowledgeable about that world in order to overcome their problem/monster of the week. the audience organically learns about this new world as the characters learn about it. it’s a sound writing strategy that prevents “as we already know”-style exposition but something that complicates it is if your world building isn’t unique or intriguing enough, this slow introduction can become boring

we’ve seen shows like these before; sitting through the same tropes of characters learning to use their powers, struggling with no longer feeling normal/relating to the regular world around them, and not knowing how much they can trust the people already involved in this new world gets repetitive. all three shows eventually reach the same level of comfort with their new world that spn starts with but if the characters aren’t enough to draw you in, you can end up dropping it before they reach that point (and often, before the overarching plot can really kick in and evolve the show beyond the villain of the week format)

it’s the superhero origin movie in tv format; dragged out and overplayed. dropping the audience into an established world of course comes with its own problems but you also have the benefit of pre-existing established character dynamics that let the audience slot in like they’ve always been there instead of just getting to know all the characters while the characters also get to know each other

sam and dean already knowing about the supernatural lets the audience immediately get to the core of the story; the conflict between sam and dean, the search for their father, and the mystery of what killed their mother

[bi4bisamjess]

yeah um. give us a heaven where everyone is happy and nothing is wrong and you drink the beer you first drank with your dad and you drive the same car he passed down and it never breaks down or needs repairs and you never get stuck in traffic and you never scrape your knees and get to put cute bandaids over the scabs and you can never ever escape. not to get existential. if death is just another life then what's the point of either? why have your heart stop if you are stuck forever in a mock life that is nothing more than simply existing? not to get biblical and miltonian or anything but. eden was heaven on earth. why did eve eat the fruit if there was nothing to be desired in eden? why would she have desire for anything if she was meant to live out a painless ambitionless ambling life? why would god put fruit containing the knowledge of good and evil in the garden if he did not want humanity to have free will? why would he give us the ability to fall from paradise at all? why would god put us back there if we've already tasted life?

pain comes with free will. i'd rather rule in hell than serve in heaven. i'd rather drive 6 hours to see my brother for a day and turn around and drive the 6 hours back. i'd rather drink warm beer.

[panicroomsammy]

Okay I think I’ve started to understand something about sex in Supernatural. The comments that Sam and Dean receive from people like Hendricksen’s comments about assuming their father sexually abused them are not just about sex but about class. Though instead of just being about class I would argue they are about Sam and Dean being coded as rural or as belonging to a peripheral space than solely about them being poor. Despite how many rural places may seem on the surface, sexual deviance is higher in those places than in more urban ones. This was demonstrated in the Kinsley study finding higher rates of homosexual activity in rural areas and in the (well known on tumblr at least) queer history of cowboys. This is because there is less enforcement of social rules in peripheral spaces and individuals can find a greater degree of freedom. This also applies to more harmful deviant sexual practices. Isolation also means that physically abusive sexual relationships and sexually abusive familial relationships are more likely to go undiscovered. The way that rural communities become close knit and refuse to see any flaws within themselves means that it’s easier to hide these relationships within the community. These sort of abusive relationships are associated with the rural poor in part because those social conditions do foster these things and in part through reinforcement when we see them in media. So when other characters make comments about assuming incest, sexual abuse, or homosexuality this is innately tied to the coding of Sam and Dean as rural and poor. The sexual microagressions are classist microagressions.

[dreamytfw]

I find it very interesting that there is, at best, minimal textual evidence that says or suggests Dean was sexually assaulted in Hell, but Sam being sexually assaulted in Hell is so blatant and explicit they constantly have Lucifer making "jokes" about it.

[reallyunluckyrunaway]

Castiel Character Progression: A Summary:

[pinbitch]

spn mentioning sam wanting to do normal teenage things instead of going bow hunting is so interesting cause we never once see the winchesters or any other hunter actually make use of that skill in fifteen whole years. really makes it seem more like a thinly disguised punishment. really makes it seem like it was more important for sam to be training than what he was training in. really makes it seem like john was trying to keep sam safe from monsters and humans safe from sam

[follows-the-bees]

Changing Channels analysis (cause this episode is so good!)

Let's first talk about Dean and how he relates to TV — and how that also relates to his sexuality!

Near the beginning we see Dean, mouth open, straight on staring at a dramatic medical show. From a character analysis, we see a couple things. Television has shaped so much of Dean's life and how he relates to it and uses it to relate to other people.

Dean uses these tv references to relate to others. But sometimes he tries to hide his viewing habits. During this scene, Dean tries to play off watching the show as a fluke, but even before the facade is lifted later on, he mentions: "I think it's based on a book," this tells us that Dean knows more about this show than he's letting on.

Later on, when Dr. Sexy makes his appearance, Dean is starstruck: blushing, first afraid to look him in the eye. He doesn't seem as fixated on the female doctor, the one notably in the elevator in the first scene. In fact, that character is obsessed with Sam.

It is Dr. Sexy Dean is obsessed with, the one where Dean can't put up the facade, who looks down blushing and sees that his shoes are not his usual sexy cowboy boots. For many people, this is one of the loudest Dean being bi episodes.

Moving on to a slightly related note: Cas

This episode is only a few after Free To Be You and Me and The End. If we take into account Dean and Cas' friendship by the time CC aired, Dean and Cas have become better friends. They worked a case together spending a lot of time together. Then Dean saw Cas in another world follow him to the end — a su*cide mission. And he realizes not only what Cas would do for him but his feelings about Cas may be deeper than he originally thought.

Throughout this entire episode he worries about Cas. He brings up Cas many times, worried about where he is. (At least 3 times it's brought up) And near the end, when they figure out who the trickster really is, one of the first things Dean does is threaten Gabriel to bring Cas back.

Dean was worried about losing Cas. He had to experience it in The End and I don't think he was ready to lose him again.

During the Japanese game show, the host also calls Cas "pretty boy angel" leading to a series of facial expressions on Dean's face. These expressions can be read as Dean realizing that Cas is pretty. Another example of both Dean's bisexuality and his feelings about Cas. Cas is also part of the reason Dean figures out who the trickster really is.

When Cas comes back for the second time and the trickster shows up, the trickster shows his cards. Cas says "if it is the trickster," then Gabe recognizing Castiel, and being so adamant about the apocalypse, Dean figures it out. I love this moment because sometimes SPN capitalizes on making Dean dumb for laughs, but this is a moment of Dean's brilliance. Also notable is that Gabriel is aware of who Castiel is. Castiel was not a worker bee angel, he led a garrison, he was tasked with getting the righteous man out of Hell. Gabriel and Cas are one of the few angels to fall and choose humanity over angels.

Cinematography

I wouldn't be me if I didn't mention the amazing cinematography that SPN can have. Angel fire shots are always so pretty and can cast a sinister light on the subject. This episode goes from a light-hearted sitcom to once of the biggest reveals of the season.

The light wallpaper and bright lights turn into a dark and dreary wet pipe factory matching the tones of the reveal. Sam and Dean were not aware of their roles in the apocalypse fully until this episode. They knew that Dean started the seals and Sam releasing Lucifer, but not about being vessels. Out of a sense of guilt and duty, the boys are trying to stop the apocalypse in their own way. But now they have this heavy weight on them, not only are they vessels but their fate is for one of them to kill the other. Even with this knowledge, Dean says no, they won't kill each other. Their siblingship is strong here even after the short break up of a few episodes here.

While CC starts off as a fun romp, when we look deeper, it is full of great character analysis of the TFW. I love it.

Original post here